Sorry for the late post, I went out of town for the weekend and I didn't have access to my computer. Jett's appearance here is just a cameo, she's not going to be a regular or anything. Also, I forgot how close together these episodes take place, and how much important stuff happens in them, so there might be more crossing over than I had hoped. We'll see how it works out. As always, hope you like the chapter, and please review!
Later that night, the League was in an emergency meeting at the watchtower to discuss how to proceed with the news of the aliens. Superman had been found in time for him to help attack the bases, and now he was leading the discussion.
"People are scared. We have to help them settle down and regain any trust we may have lost with all of this," the Kryptonian said.
"Agreed," Batman replied, "but how will it look for us to provide a scanner just after the threat is revealed?"
"Worse than it would look if we do nothing," Wonder Woman pointed out.
Batman sighed and turned to Dr. Palmer. "Can you adjust the scanner to look for Kroloteans impersonating people?" he asked.
The Atom nodded. "Yeah, it shouldn't take more than a few hours. We don't have enough to make it widespread, but we have enough to give the designs and one operational one to all of the governments that the bases were in."
"How fast can we distribute them?" Canary asked.
"Tomorrow," The Atom replied.
They seemed to be in agreement, then Hawk Woman said, "I just had a thought." They looked at the Thanagarian. "If we give governments these scanners, what's to stop them from changing it to scan for any type of alien? Then they could start discriminating against anyone not from this planet."
Mallory thought back to the lecture she and Isaiah had gone to. "They've had that technology for years," she said. "If they wanted to, they could make another scanner whether we give them these things or not."
"She's right," Clark said. "Besides, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we need to make sure that the public keeps their trust in the League, and avoid a mass panic."
Shayera didn't look completely convinced.
"Let's take a vote," Batman suggested. He clicked something on his screen, and a simple poll was sent out to each of the others' personal screens. Mallory immediately hit yes, and the others voted just as quickly. The vote showed that the majority of the League was in favor of the proposal.
"All right, if that's all, the meeting is adjourned. We will brief Catherine on our public statement and she can call a press conference in the morning," Nate said.
The others pushed out of their chairs and made their way to the zeta tube, more than ready to call it a day. Mallory met Zatanna close to the tube, and they went to the cave, where the team was long gone, all except Mal, who was waiting up to find out how the meeting went. He shut the TV off when the zeta tube came on.
"So?" he asked.
"The League is going to give the governments of the countries that we found bases in a way to scan for Kroloteans impersonating humans," Zatanna said. She said a spell and her suit was replaced with shorts and an oversized sweater. Mallory was too tired to make a comment about being jealous of her friend.
"Well, the team's going to return all of the prisoners to their lives tomorrow, and try to capture the Kroloteans still impersonating them," Mal told them.
They nodded. "What about the Rann squad? Have you heard anything from them?" Mallory asked.
He shook his head. "Not yet."
Mallory sighed. She hated the waiting. She wanted to know about the missing sixteen hours, and why Savage sent the League into space, and who hired Lobo to catch that first Krolotean, and how long the Kroloteans had been replacing people. There were too many unanswered questions. It made her jumpy.
"I'm going to bed," Zatanna said.
Mallory nodded. "Yeah, me too. Thanks for the help, Mal. You're getting good with the dispatch," she said, smiling at her cavemate. He nodded in acknowledgement, and the girls went down the hall to their rooms.
The next night, Mallory was patrolling in Metropolis. The city was quiet, with most people staying indoors rather than braving the January snow and ice. She was watching the news through a window across the street from where she was sitting, using her mask to zoom in so she could read the subtitles that were up.
"So, the Justice League finally provided scanners to every government on Earth to root out those filthy little aliens posing as real human beings. But you have to wonder, how were they able to whip up this tech so fast? Or, more accurately, how long have they been keeping it from us? Oh, sure, they offer it up like a gift from the gods, but have you never been told to take everything with a grain of salt? For all we know, they're the ones responsible for these robots in the first place."
Mallory scoffed, looking away from the screen. "There's no pleasing some people," she muttered. How could he use the word 'finally' and then say that it was too fast? The logic didn't even make sense. She looked up suddenly when she heard a crash not far from where she was. She flew towards the alley and saw flames leap towards the sky, dying out almost as fast as they'd appeared. She was over the alley a second later and saw Blue Beetle, Bumblebee, and Bibbo in the alley, the robot Bibbo lying at their feet with the stomach open.
"No, it would not have been preferable to vaporize him back at the dinner," Blue said, looking off to the side. Karen and Bibbo gave him weird, concerned looks.
Mallory landed a few feet away. "Speak for yourself," she said. They looked at her, and she continued, "Let me guess, he knew you were coming." Beetle nodded, and Mallory sighed. "Then I don't think the others stood much of a chance, either. If Gordan had just kept his mouth shut one more night, we could have ended this."
"This is your city, Inferno. Any idea where the sewers lead to?" Karen asked.
"Yeah, all under the city, through to the treatment plant over by the docks. But forget it, you're not going to catch him now."
The next day, Mallory got the call that Megan, Conner, and Gar were back from Rann. She zetaed back to the cave from Metropolis and found Zatanna, Rocket, and the rest of the team were there as well. Gar went straight to Peter, showing him some sort of strap with alien writing on it. Mallory said a quick hello to the younger boy, then went to the older members to hear what had happened.
"Well?" she asked.
"We know what happened," Megan told her. "The six Leaguers went on a rampage during the missing sixteen hours, attacking everything in sight on a planet called Rimbor. They're what brought Earth to the Kroloteans' attention."
Mallory's eyes widened, along with all the other people who were hearing the story for the first time. She felt physically sick, thinking about the destruction they must have caused, the sheer amount of pain and death, and they didn't even remember, they weren't even in control of themselves. Her mind went to Clark and she instantly felt so much worse, knowing how he felt about his image.
"We don't have time to dwell on that right now," Dick said, giving the others a firm look. "Miss Martian managed to get information out of the Krolotean that Robin, Lagaan, and Beetle captured. She found out that they have a base in a volcano on Malina Island. A combination of Leaguers and team members are going to go. We can still finish this."
"Who's going?" Peter asked.
Dick smiled. "Well, I thought a collaboration would be nice. Lagoon Boy and Aquaman will hit the island from the waters, while Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Jett, and I will come in from the bioship. Other groups are Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl, Superman, Superboy, Inferno, and Vigilante, and Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter will be standing by in case we need reinforcements, and they're collecting the data we need."
"When do we leave?" Batgirl asked.
"Tonight, so get ready."
The zeta tube came to life, announcing, "Jett, A-12."
The others smiled and looked at it, and the girl appeared in her new suit, solid black, even the utility belt, and a simple black domino mask and a silver arrow on the chest. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail to keep it out of her face.
"You ready for this, Jett?" Mallory asked.
The girl grinned and dropped the duffel she was carrying. "Please," she said dismissively, "I'm always ready."
As soon as it started getting dark out, the team and the Leaguers that were going on the mission piled onto the bioship. Mallory stayed with Clark and Conner towards the back, and Peter stayed with her, grinning up at her as they made their way over the Pacific Ocean. Mallory chuckled softly and ruffled her brother's hair.
"You know this is serious, right?" she asked.
"Well, duh, but come on, this is so cool! We never do League-team team ups, and I actually got to come on this one!"
Conner and Clark smiled at him, but Batman's voice brought them back to the seriousness of the situation.
"Remember, this is primarily a recon mission," the Dark Knight said from his seat at the front of the ship. "We want to discover all we can about the Kroloteans' invasion strategy before we shut them down and deliver them to the Green Lantern Corps."
"Approaching drop zone beta," Nightwing announced from the pilot's seat.
Aquaman and Lagoon boy nodded to him, and he opened a hole in the floor. They dropped down to the water below, and the bioship continued on to the other side of the island. They cleared the side of the volcano, and Nightwing stopped the ship.
"Drop zone gamma," he announced, and the others got ready to move. The Bats, Jett, and Vigilante made a final check of their supplies, then they went to work. The more stealthy members took out some of Black Manta's patrol, which made Mallory look around at the others in confusion.
"How is Manta involved in all this?" she asked on the link. The others shook their heads, not having an answer, and filed out of the ship. Superman opened a set of large doors, holding them open long enough for the team and Leaguers to get through, then shut them gently behind them.
"All right, get in position," Nightwing said. He and the other Bats, and Jett and Vigilante, went high, staying among the rocks. Superman gave Mallory and Conner a lift, and Wonder Woman and Cassie flew up with them, and they stayed at the top edges of the volcano, watching the Kroloteans making general repairs and talking. Mallory could hear their screeching from where they were. It made her skin crawl.
Nightwing dropped down onto one of the walkways silently, and he made a hand motion. Robin, Jett, and Batgirl dropped down just as quietly. They paused for a moment, waiting to see if they'd been discovered, then they started to move in different directions. It was then that Mallory saw Black Manta on the ground level, not far from the docking pool that she knew Lagaan and Arthur were in. He turned back towards the ship, then he suddenly stopped and shot his lasers into the water. His men went on alert, and one of them pointed to where Tim was crouched behind some machinery.
"There!" he yelled, and he and the rest of the men opened fire. Batman dropped down behind them, taking out the two that were shooting at Tim, and Mallory looked up at Clark.
"I think that's our cue," she said.
Aquaman and Lagaan jumped out of the water, the Bats were in full combat, and Vigilante was right alongside them. The Kroloteans started sending large spider-like machines at the heroes on the ground.
"Ok, now," Clark said, and he let Mallory go. She flamed up and flew down, the Supers and Wonders right behind her.
"Manta and his men are trying to escape," Nightwing reported.
Mallory looked, but it was too far away for her to get there quickly. She flamed up, fighting her way through the machines alongside Superman and Superboy. Vigilante made his way towards her, fighting off individual Kroloteans at her side.
"This is totally awesome!" he exclaimed, grinning up at his sister.
Mallory allowed herself a smile. "Mind on the fight, Vig," she reminded him, punching through one of the machines and pushing it over onto a group of Kroloteans.
"Oh, come on, like you're not loving this," her brother retorted.
Mallory laughed. "Ok, fine, I'm loving this, but stay safe." As she said it, she saw one of the troopers aiming a gun at her brother's back. She jumped in between them and shot fire at the gun, forcing the trooper to drop it. "And watch your back!" she told him.
He hadn't even lost his stride. "That's what you're here for," he replied with a grin.
She saw Superman throw Conner up, and the clone took out four of the machines. Clark smiled proudly. "Quadruple, nice," he said, and he turned to Mallory. "You want to see if you can beat it?"
Mallory grinned and ran over. Clark grabbed her wrist and she curled into a ball. The Man of Steel threw her up, and she let her feet crash into the first machine. It fell into a second on the way down, and she gave herself a boost with her fire to make it to one across the room, and on her way to the ground she took out a platform with troopers and Kroloteans alike on it, watching with satisfaction as they fell the ten feet to the ground.
"I'll take it," Clark said.
Mallory grinned. They were closer to the dock now, and Mallory turned to stop Manta, but Lagaan and Aquaman already had that covered. Lagaan was puffered up and he punched Manta into Aquaman, who punched the villain to the side, the force enough to make the villain's mask go flying. She landed right behind Aquaman, Conner and Peter on either side of her, the others surrounding them. The man stood up slowly and turned around, and Mallory's heart stopped as she immediately recognized the face glaring back. She took a step backwards, shock making her forget everything that was going on around her. They'd all known that it was a strong possibility, but knowing that it could be a reality and seeing it in front of her were two very different things.
Aquaman put words to everyone's thoughts, saying, "I had not believed it until this moment."
"You did not want to believe it!" Kaldur yelled.
"None of us wanted to believe it!" Conner said, taking a step closer.
Kaldur turned to Mallory. "You have nothing to say?" he asked.
Mallory snapped out of her daze, her face hardening, but her eyes showing all of her pain. "How could you betray us?" she asked, her voice at once sounding strong and small, conveying both her present anger and all of her broken trust.
Kaldur glared at them. "You dare question me? After all of you let Tula die?" he yelled, pulling out his water bearers and shaping them into the familiar swords that used to make Mallory feel safe when she saw them.
Nightwing dropped down in between Kalder and the others before he could charge at them, probably knowing that they weren't ready for that fight. "Kaldur, that was a mission, Aquagirl knew the risks," he said, and Mallory added, "besides, you're fighting on the side that killed her! Or are you forgetting that Black Manta was there that night, too?"
"Neptune's beard!" Lagaan exclaimed, stepping forward angrily. "Don't coddle this traitor! He has joined forces with our King's greatest enemy!"
Kaldur scoffed. "Do you mean the king who hid from me the true identity of my father?" he asked.
"That was my error in judgment, Kaldur'ahm. No one else need suffer for it."
"All will suffer if Black Manta demands it," Kaldur said.
"How can you do this to us? How can you turn on our family?" Mallory demanded.
Kaldur glared at her, and missile launchers came out of his shoulder pads. "Blood is thicker than sea water," he said, and he launched the missile right at Conner. The group's eyes widened, and Superman landed in front of it. It exploded on contact with his chest, but it didn't even phase him. Mallory flew through the explosion, the smoke blinding her, but she kept going. When she looked back, Kalder, Nightwing, and Conner were gone. She pressed on, scanning the way, and found a tunnel that went down. She entered it, flying down.
She heard Kaldur say, "Just you and me, old friend?"
"No!" Conner said, and he and Mallory entered the basement-like room at the same time, readying for a fight. "It's a regular reunion special."
Kaldur stood down, replacing his waterbearers. "Fine," he said, "you can take me down. Or you can save everyone from this bomb." The three heroes stood down, their eyes widening. "I am told the yield is quite impressive," Kaldur continued.
Conner ran at him, and Kaldur flipped him to the ground with one move, pinning him with an electrified hand. Mallory shot a fireball at him, and she and Nightwing ran towards him. He looked at them darkly. "You have two minutes," he said, standing and running for the water.
Mallory stared at Dick as he ran to the bomb, kneeling to check on Conner.
"They're getting away!" Cassie said over the comms.
"We'll stop them!" Lagaan promised.
"Negative," Dick said sharply, looking at Mallory. "We have a bomb down here. Alien tech. I cannot disarm it."
"I'll take it out," Conner said.
"No! It might have pressure or motion sensors," Dick said. "All squads, evacuate to bioship. Now."
The three of them followed their own advice, double timing it back up the tunnels to their original entrance point. The bioship was there, and they did a quick assessment to make sure that everyone was there. Mallory grabbed Peter's arm and pulled him to the front of the ship, making sure that he would be ok. Megan and J'onn were on the ship, still morphed into Kroloteans.
"Hello Megan!" Megan said when she saw the heroes' reaction to them, "knew we forgot something." They shifted back into themselves, and J'onn handed Batman a disk with all of the Kroloteans' data on it.
"Find a seat, everyone," Megan said.
"Wait," Conner said, looking around, "where's Superman?"
Mallory looked around and her heart skipped a beat. "He went back for the Kroloteans," she said, knowing her partner all too well. They all exchanged grim looks, and Megan made the ship take off. "I'm going back," Mallory announced, starting for the door.
Batman grabbed her arm firmly. "No, there's no time. You might not survive the explosion, the force is enough to kill you. He has a chance."
Mallory's eyes widened. She didn't like the sound of "a chance".
They were several miles out when the volcano exploded. It was the biggest one that Mallory had ever seen, and even at the distance they were at, they were caught up in it. The force knocked the ship over, and they all grunted as they were pitched around. They felt the heat spike, but they were on the outer layers, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The initial rings of force and heat dissipated, and they looked back at the destruction that it left. The volcano was gone, just a pillar of flames and smoke and ash.
"Clark!" Mallory muttered under her breath, fear hitting her. She didn't know if even he could take the full force of an explosion like that. Megan doubled back, getting the ship as close as she could without it burning up in the heat, and she opened the back door. Mallory and Diana jumped out, scanning the sea for signs of the Kryptoinian.
"There!" Mallory exclaimed, pointing to his unconscious form falling fast towards the water, right next to the now non-existent island. They flew towards him, but he hit the water before they got to him. His cape came up as he floated face down in the sea. Each woman grabbed one of his arms to pull him out of the water, and Diana carried him back to the ship. Mallory gave the island one last look before following Wonder Woman back in the open doors of the bioship. Conner had been waiting for them, and he now had Clark lying in front of him. Diana pulled the Man of Steel's head into her lap, checking his pulse.
"He's breathing, his pulse is strong. He'll be alright," she announced.
Mallory and Conner looked at each other gravely. "He didn't save the Kroloteans," Conner said. "He won't be alright with that."
"This is going to kill him," Mallory murmured.
"What just happened?" Cassie asked.
Megan looked at her. "The Kroloteans were clearly trying to build a new ship."
"They had to, Angelfish. It was the only way for them to leave Earth without their zeta platforms or their original ship."
"Uh, but was Aqualad helping them escape? Or luring them into a trap?"
Mallory glared up at the other original team members, their body language all the same.
"The bomb was of alien origin, yet the Kroloteans clearly knew nothing about it," Nightwing said, diverting the conversation. "So where did it come from?"
"I have a feeling that it may be up to you and your team to find out," Batman said, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
Mallory sank to the floor of the ship, resting her head on the wall. The whole way back to the cave, all she could see was Kalder's face when he knew that they saw him. "Blood is thicker than seawater." The words hurt more than any of the other injuries she'd gotten during the fight. Did he really hate them so much, that he was willing to let them be blown up, except when it threatened his safety? She didn't want to believe that the person that had been like her big brother for so many years would have changed so much, but what other choice did she have?