This chapter is a little longer because I combined two episodes. Hope you like it, please review!
Mallory went nearly a month with minimal contact with the League or team. She went to meetings, did her turn on monitor duty, and stayed in Metropolis for the most part. The others had noticed something off about her, but she explained it away by claiming it was only finals stress, and they left it alone. It worked well, because she didn't have to see Nightwing, and she wasn't in a position to tell the others what she knew. It was working out perfectly, until, that is, a second moon started coming towards Earth..
She got the call one evening while she was studying for her last test the next day when Captain Atom did an all-Leaguers alert on the situation. There was something called War World, a planet controlled by a being called Mongul. The 'world' was larger than a moon, and had enough firepower to wipe out an entire planet. Mallory pushed her books away, no longer concerned with the pointless math equations she'd been pouring over.
"How long do we have?" Flash asked.
"Not long," Captain Atom replied grimly. "We're going to need all Leaguers on call. There's no telling what this guy wants." Mallory looked out her window and her jaw dropped slightly. She pressed her comm. "Yeah, I think we're out of time," she said, staring at the new presence almost as big as their moon in the night sky.
The War World did not go unnoticed. Besides the obvious problem of there being two moons, the effect on Earth's gravity caused the tides to alter, resulting in mini tidal waves around the world. This didn't only affect people on the water, but near the coast as well. That included Metropolis's warehouse district, which was where Mallory spent the next few hours as she helped the police and coast guard with evacuation and water rescues. Panic was spreading through the world as people speculated what this new planetary body would mean for the Earth.
Finally, when Mallory finished taking care of her city and stopped getting calls for rescues around the world, she marched into the watchtower to get some answers of her own. Captain Atom was there with Aquaman and Nightwing. They were calling out to the War World. Dick noticed her and nodded a greeting, but she ignored him and went to the other side of Aquaman to listen.
"Attention Warworld, this is Captain Atom of the Justice League representing the planet Earth. We would like to open negotiations," he said. They waited a beat, then a deep voice came back to them over the line.
"I am not interested in negotiations." The heros' faces hardened as they continued to listen. "The Earth under the Reach's thumb is too dangerous for my long-term plans. It must be destroyed. And frankly, if you understood what you were in for with the Reach, you'd thank me for putting you out of your long term misery. Now."
Mallory was already moving towards the window, and she saw the War World shifting its outer surface to reveal a cannon-like gun. Her eyes narrowed, and she started towards the airlock and grabbed an oxygen mask. She was about to close herself in, but Dr. Fate beat her to it. He came through a portal and put up a shield, catching the energy from the gun and sending it back at it. The cannon exploded, and the Warworld started shifting again. Captain Atom met her in the airlock, grabbing a mask, and Dr Fate opened a portal for them, depositing them with Captain Marvel and Green Beetle and Rocket into space.
Rocket put up a shield to protect Dr. Fate as little bombs were shot towards both him and Earth. The Lord of Order put up a shield, concentrating his efforts on catching them all, but the others went for the ones that slipped through the cracks. Mallory remembered her last time trying to use her powers in space and kept things small, shooting down one bomb at a time instead of trying to put up a shield. The others were focusing on taking out the guns themselves. Atom's voice came through the comm.
"Not sure we're doing much damage in the grand scheme of things, but we seem to have Mongul's attention."
"Good," Nightwing replied, "because the team's already inside."
Mallory winced and looked at the Warworld, praying that they could stop this threat, and that the team, and her brother, would be ok.
The battle against the bombs continued for a long time, with more of the super-powered Leaguers coming to help in space. They didn't get updates from the team after the announcement that they were in, which didn't make Mallory feel great, but she didn't have the time to dwell on it. She was starting to wear out, and there were still too many bombs slipping through Dr. Fate's shield. She pushed herself, then she saw the slight movement of Martian camouflage as the bioship, with Batgirl, Robin, and Vigilante aboard, helped the League take out the gun. She smiled a little. At least there were three of them she wouldn't have to worry about.
The good feeling didn't last, though. The bombs stopped, and the face of the Warworld shifted again to reveal missiles covering the side facing Earth. Mallory took out the last of the bombs and froze, her eyes wide as she stared at the weapons.
"Uh, guys?" she said, waiting for an answer, a plan, even an acknowledgement, but no one said anything, and the missiles started coming at them. Dr. Fate put up an even bigger shield, but they could all tell that their efforts wouldn't be enough.
Mallory was running out of energy, to the point that she had started using superstrength to destroy one and the heat from its explosion to set off the next. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to keep it up. Missiles were coming into space from Earth, helping with the enemy fire slipping through. Still, it didn't look like enough. She could see the missiles getting too close to her planet.
"We need more defenses!" she yelled over the explosions and the pounding in her ears. She heard explosions behind her, and when she looked, there were hundreds of smaller Reach ships coming towards them, shooting at the missiles and running into them.
"Are you seeing this?" Nightwing asked from the watchtower.
"Yes. What do the stats look like now?" Captain Atom asked.
They waited while he looked, then he came back on, his voice sounding relieved. "It's enough, for now."
"How're things going on the team's end?" Captain Marvel asked.
"Don't know, they haven't checked in in a bit. But I'll let you know when I hear something," Nightwing replied.
A few minutes later, the missiles powered down, and the Leaguers looked at each other hopefully. "All surface weapons have been silenced. Does this mean it's over?" Nate asked.
"Team reports that Mongul is down and contained. They are regrouping in the entry point, and we can meet them there," Nightwing replied, relieved and proud.
Mallory exchanged a look with the others, and Rocket made her way over to Mallory, containing her with a bubble. Mallory nodded to her friend gratefully. "We did it," she murmured with disbelief.
Rocket grinned and jutted a hip out. "Did you ever doubt that we would?" she asked.
Mallory chuckled. "Not for a second," she replied.
Raquel nodded firmly, a smile on her face. "Good. Now, let's go home."
They made it back to the Watchtower, but when they got there, they could tell that something wasn't right. Aquaman was there alone, and his eyes were darting nervously between the younger Leaguers.
"What is it?" Raquel asked.
He gave Mallory another concerned look. "We– do not know. Blue Beetle sent us a message that something was wrong, and then the communication went out. Captain Atom, Dr Fate, and Green Beetle went straight to the Warworld, and Dr Fate just brought Nightwing to them."
Mallory and Raquel stared at each other. Rocket's eyes showed fear, and Mallory's were burning with anger, her fear rooted so deep this time that she couldn't even distinguish the difference between that and the anger that always fueled her.
"I want to go," she said.
Aquaman took a step towards her. "Inferno, I do not think that is a good idea…" he started.
Mallory narrowed her eyes, silencing him. "I wasn't asking your permission," she snapped, and she put a hand to her ear. "Inferno to Fate, I need a portal to the War world," she said. It opened before her a second later, and she walked through without a word, Rocket right behind her.
They came out at the team's entry point, where the bioship was still docked. The others were watching as she and Rocket entered, though the latter was barely noticed with how hot Mallory came in. There were flames jumping out of her eyes as she pushed past Nightwing and went right up to Jaime.
"Where. Are. They?" she growled, barely restraining herself from slamming the team member into the wall and holding him there.
Jaime looked up at her without a hint of fear, only a look of regret. Before he could answer, Nightwing came to her side and put a hand on her arm.
"Inferno, not here," he said firmly.
She jerked her arm out of his grip, glaring over her shoulder at him. "Don't touch me," she said, her voice low and threatening.
Raquel walked over. "Inferno, he's right. Blue's been through enough, let's let him get back to Earth." She finished the sentence with a subtle look, telling her to get control, and Mallory took a breath, feeling the flames in her eyes go down, though they stayed red. She nodded and looked back at Jaime.
"I'm sorry, she's right, you should get home. I'm sure your mom's worried about you."
"I will ensure that he gets home safely," Green Beetle said.
Mallory stared at the Martian, narrowing her eyes as suspicion started to come back to her. Blue looked around the circle.
"No! I wanna stay, I want to help!" he said.
Nightwing sighed. "You will help, but right now you need rest. Sleep. Go."
Blue sighed, but he nodded and turned towards the portal. Right before he went through, he looked back at Mallory and Dick. "I'm really sorry," he said.
Dick's eyes narrowed. "No," he said firmly. "Whoever did this. They'll be sorry."
Blue nodded, and he and Green went through the portal. As soon as he was gone, Mallory turned to Dick.
"What. Happened?" she asked, still furious.
"Blue said that a boom tube opened after the mission, taking the team and Mongul with it. He only escaped because he flew out of its reach."
Mallory narrowed her eyes. "You know that doesn't make any sense, right?" she asked.
He gave her a helpless look. "There are trace reading of boom tube activity, and this is Blue Beetle, why would he lie?"
Mallory shook her head. "I don't know, maybe because we know that he's involved with the Reach apocalypse, and he's been getting real chummy with Green Beetle lately. I mean, why was Green even here?"
"He gave us the information about the Warworld, and how to disable it," Nate supplied.
Mallory narrowed her eyes dangerously, the fire starting to come back. "He what?" she asked in a low voice. "And why exactly did we decide to trust everything he says?"
"He hasn't given us any reason to distrust him," Nate said.
Mallory raised an eyebrow. "No? How did he get this information, or any of the rest that he's given us? His scarab that conveniently happens to know everything about everything we've faced since he showed up, all while Blue's doesn't seem to know anything about it. That doesn't strike you as suspicious?"
"What does that really prove? And it's not like we had a choice, they had to get inside and shut the Warworld down, or there wouldn't be an Earth right now."
"Right, and because of your blind trust, we just lost the entire team." The reality caught up to her, hitting her like a brick wall. She staggered forward slightly, putting a hand to her head. The others looked at her with concern, but Dick didn't make the mistake of approaching her again. She recovered and glared at him. "Conner, Gar…Peter. They're gone. All gone."
"And we're going to get them back," Dick said firmly.
"What, and I'm just supposed to believe you?" Mallory hissed, so he was the only one who could hear her.
He narrowed his eyes. "Enough. If we're going to move forward from here and get them back, we need to stop focusing on what we lost and trying to place blame. You need to go home."
Mallory glared at him. "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "Maybe you're forgetting, but my brother is one of the ones that went missing. I have a stake in this."
"I know, but you're not in the right mind to be of much practical help," he said boldly, then his face softened a little and he added, "besides, you're exhausted, and I know you overused your powers out there. Go get some rest, Mal. You can help when you're stronger."
Mallory opened her mouth to argue, but Rocket gave her a look, and she sighed and finally nodded. "Fine," she said, not looking at any of them. Dr Fate made her a portal, and she started to walk through it. Right before she did, she turned back, her eyes burning, and said, "What you said to Blue goes double for me. Whoever did this, I will make them sorry."
Fate's portal brough Mallory to Central city near her parents' house. When she realized where she was, she backed away from their street instinctively, not wanting to face them. She found herself standing by the phone booth, and she pushed the door open and slipped inside. She punched in her coordinates without even thinking about it, and the light brought her to the familiar street just off the Stanford University campus. She didn't even think about what she was going to say as she made her way to her friends' apartment. When she knocked on the door, Wally opened it immediately.
"Mallory, is everything ok? I saw the news about the moon attack," he said.
"The team's gone," she said simply.
His eyes widened and he swung the door open, letting her in. "What happened?"
Mallory scoffed. "Depends on who you ask," she muttered.
Wally looked at her. "So…they all disappeared?"
She nodded. "Almost. Lagaan's in the hospital, Megan, Artemis, and Kaldur were already gone and in danger, and now the rest–"
"What do you mean, Artemis and Kaldur?" Wally asked.
Mallory gave him an unimpressed look. "I know, Wally. Dick told us when Megan was captured."
Wally ground his teeth. "Yeah, I didn't like it from the beginning. It's probably a good thing for him that he told me that news over the phone."
Mallory sighed. "I was so mad at him when I found out, I thought I had lost more than I knew how to deal with, and now…" Tears started pooling in her eyes as the anger started to drain, leaving the rest of the emotions bare. "Wally, Peter was with them. And Gar."
Wally pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Mal. But we are going to get them back. You know Dick's not going to give up until he finds them."
She sighed and looked up at her friend. "Can you come with me to tell my parents?" she asked. He sighed heavily, and she rushed to add, "I know it's not your family, and you don't have to, but I just, I hate to face them alone."
He nodded. "I was there to help convince them to let him become a hero, I guess it's only fair to come with you now."
She nodded her thanks and stood to go.
"Wait, you can't go like that," he said, nodding to her costume.
She looked down and winced. "Oh, I forgot," she said.
"Hold on, I'll find something for you," he said, and he went to the bedroom. He came back a moment later with one of his sweatshirts. "Here, that should cover most of it," he said. She pulled it on, the shirt hanging down past her hips. "You ready?" Wally asked.
She shook her head. "No. But let's go."
Ten minutes later, the redheads were at her parents' door. Mallory let herself in and they went to the living room, where her parents were sitting on the sofa, their eyes glued to the news as it recapped the attack and summed up what it meant.
"Mallory!" Elaine exclaimed when she noticed them, jumping out of her seat and pulling her daughter into a hug. Darrin wasn't far behind. "What happened?" he asked.
"Well," Mallory started, but Elaine interrupted.
"Where's your brother?"
Mallory's throat closed up, and no matter how hard she tried to get the words to come out, they wouldn't. Her parents were thinking the worst, she could tell, and Wally jumped ahead, explaining the situation to them. They looked slightly relieved, but mostly worried.
"So what can we do? How can we get him back?" Darrin asked, but Mallory didn't hear him. She was looking past him, her eyes glued to the TV screen.
"Mal?" Wally asked, then he and her parents turned and immediately understood. The Reach ambassador was coming on stage. Darrin turned the volume up for the ambassador's speech.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank a great hero. A hero who almost single-handedly saved the planet Earth from the Warworld. He saved your lives, he saved our lives. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…Blue Beetle."
Jaime came on stage and took the mic. "Thank you. Thank you all," he said, holding his hands up. "But it is I who should express gratitude to you, ambassador, for giving a normal, average human like me…" He took the mask of his armor off, showing his face, then covered it back up. "The power of the Reach, the power to save the world."
Mallory narrowed her eyes, her hands clenched into fists. "I knew it," she growled, glaring at the TV screen, or more specifically, the traitor on it.