Saiyan Anti-Hero
~September 23rd~
"Alright Kali, you ready to get started?" Goku asked, taking his fighting stance.
"Ready dad." Kali smiled.
Kali and Goku charged at one another, both of them excited for this fight, as Kali was wanting to blow off some steam. But unfortunately…
"GOKU, KALI, what do you two think you're doing?" Chichi shouted.
Goku and Kali both stopped and stumbled into one another, before they corrected themselves, and turned to see Chichi with Goten, and the Saiyan's wife seemed pretty mad if her expression was anything to go by.
"We're training." Goku said. "Kali needs to keep in shape for when she fights Neo Cell."
"I don't wanna hear it. Goku, you're supposed to be tending to the crops, and you Kali are supposed to be focusing on your studies." Chichi stated. "Don't make me get the sleep teaching equipment I used on Gohan."
"I'm starting to think I should call child services. She's nuts for using something like that." Kali said.
"I know, but your mother's always been a bit strict with the education of your brothers." Goku said. "Chichi, Kali already finished her studies for the day, and I managed to finish my work thanks to Kali giving me a hand."
"Wait, so you're both saying you're training because you have the time to spare?" Chichi asked.
"Yes." Kali said.
"Hey mom, dad. A car just pulled up." Goten said pointing to the car. "It looks like it's Mister Satan again."
"Oh yeah, he had something to talk about with you Kali." Goku said.
"With me?" Kali asked.
"Goku, Kali. Thank goodness you're here." Mr. Satan said. "Kali, I had received word you're being offered a reward for what you did to save the world from Beerus's destruction."
"I'm getting… an award? Again? One from the Snackians wasn't enough?" Kali asked.
"That's right. It's a formal event, so you'll have to wear your hero costume." Mr. Satan stated. "You'll also have to give a speech when receiving your award. They contacted me about it, because they have no clue on how to contact you."
"Well, when is the event?" Kali asked.
"It's in three hours. So we gotta get moving." Mr. Satan said.
"This is very short notice." Kali said. "I don't even have an actual hero costume."
"No more time for talk, gotta get going, and get you ready for the award ceremony. It's being held at a ball being hosted by the King himself." Mr. Satan said pushing Kali to the car.
"Alright, hey quit shoving." Kali said. "I guess I'll be back later."
"Hold on, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with Kali going alone. Goku, why don't you go with them?" Chichi suggested.
"Are you sure? Kali can pretty much take care of herself." Goku said.
"She's going to a social gathering with Mr. Satan; who knows what kind of people are gonna be there to influence her?" Chichi said.
"Good point." Goku said. "But I don't have any formal wear."
"I can handle that Goku, but if you're coming, get a move on." Mr. Satan called to him.
"Right, on my way." Goku said, running towards the car.
~Ceremony Hall~
"Tell me again, why I have to wear this costume?" Kali asked, sitting in front of a mirror while wearing a hero costume. "I know I didn't even set on a permanent one yet, so why this."
"Because the hero of the universe must be present with herself in full attire, that includes the clothes that are iconic to her." Mr. Satan's attendant said as she helped Kali with her makeup.
The hero costume consisted of her black sleeveless solar suit with the red House of El shield on her chest, white form fitting jean shorts, as well as a pair of white sky high combat heeled boots that stopped just bellow her knees, and an open front, hooded long sleeved, snowy white leather cropped jacket, finalized with a pair of white with black knuckled fingerless gloves. Her hair was done up in a way that made it look like she had a ponytail, while still leaving a good portion of it down and covering her upper back.
"But why does it have to make me look like a dominatrix?" Kali questioned.
"Oh stop, you look totally heroic. But where are those markings that you had on last time?" The attendant asked.
"Oh, right." Kali said, pulling back the left sleeve on her jacket, and pressing a button on her Scouter Watch, undoing the camouflage and bringing back her divine markings. "There they are."
"An' they actually look good on you. They compliment the suit nicely." The attendant smiled.
"Thanks, I guess." Kali sighed. "Alright, time to get to it."
"Kali, you ready in there?" Goku asked, knocking on the outside of the door.
"I'm coming dad." Kali said getting up from the mirror.
Leaving the dressing room, Kali felt like her heart was about to explode from her chest with how fast and hard it was thumping away. Walking alongside her dad, they both made it to the ballroom, but Kali was instructed to wait, while Goku was lead to where the others in the ceremony hall were.
"Hey." Goku said, getting Kali's attention before he could walk off. "You got this. Don't worry, I know you can do this."
"Thanks dad." Kali said, before turning back to look at the doors that blocked her path into the ball room. It was another minute or two of waiting for Kali, as she continued to feel her nerves fraying at what she was gonna do, before she heard Mr. Satan begin to address the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen." Mr. Satan said. "I apologize for the wait, but the moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived. You've been dying to see her, you've been eager to meet her. I present to you, the hero of the Universe, Kali."
With that being her cue, Kali opened the doors, and made her way into the ballroom, where everyone who'd never seen her before, gasped at her appearance as the spotlight shined down on her, before they clapped and applauded alongside those who were familiar with what she looked like.
"Now Kali, how about you give us a few heroing words before I give you your award?" Mr. Satan suggested, handing a microphone to Kali.
The Saiyan teen looked to the device, before looking around, and saw the King, a rather short anthromorphic gray furred dog man, looking at her from the balcony. With him watching, Kali knew she couldn't mess this up.
"Well… Let me start by saying, that I am honored to be receiving this award." Kali said. "Being a hero, isn't about the fame, or the glory you can garner from it. Being a hero, is about doing what's right, no matter the cost to yourself. If you're willing to put your life on the line, every time you put on that mask, or cape, despite the chance you may never walk through your front door again, just to save the life of someone you've never met, then you are a hero. I say these words, not to put anyone down, but rather to inspire and make sure everyone knows, power isn't what makes you a hero, it's heart. For a true hero, isn't measured by the size of their strength, nor their weapon, but by the size of their heart and conviction."
When Kali put the microphone down, she was expecting the silence to remain, but instead she got a round of applause, resonating like thunder around the room, and she saw she even moved some people to tears, before Mr. Satan put the award, a gold statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders, in her hands.
With everything winding down, Kali felt a bit better about the situation, while having a drink, before Goku came to her side.
"That was some speech." Goku said, coming to her and wearing a 3 piece suit. "Did you think of that on the fly?"
"To be honest, yes. An' I was so nervous about it, I nearly choked." Kali said. "So I got my award, can we go home now?"
"Not yet. There's someone here who would like to meet you." Goku said.
"Who? I've met practically everyone here. The only one I haven't met is…"
"Kali is it?"
Kali jumped at hearing someone behind her. She'd been so nervous that she didn't even notice that someone came up from her rear. Turning around, Kali saw King Furry accompanied by his two bodyguards.
"Your majesty. It's an honor to meet you." Kali said with a bow.
"The honor is all mine. I did not think that I'd have such a powerful fighter, capable of going toe to toe with a deity, walking in these halls." King Furry said.
"I appreciate your kind words, but I was barely keeping myself together. I don't even remember what happened after the last attack was thrown." Kali said, making Goku stiffen a bit.
'Crap, if she asks me about that, I'm screwed. Beerus made me promise not to tell her, until she's able to access her divine power on her own.' Goku thought, his drink shaking as he tried drinking it.
"Pardon me sir, but you look awfully familiar, have we perhaps met somewhere before?" King Furry asked.
"Hmm? I'm not sure." Goku said, trying to think back, while happy to have the topic switched. "I remember seeing someone like you, when I defeated Demon King Piccolo, but I was pretty exhausted and out of it for some time after the fight, so I might have just been hallucinating. Plus I was just a kid back then, so it's been a while."
"Ah, so it is you." King Furry said. "I was there when you defeated Demon King Piccolo. The power you showed was splended, and I never got to properly thank you for what you did in saving our world from him that day. I take it Kali is your protégé then?"
"She's my daughter actually." Goku said.
"Oh my, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." King Furry said. "She certainly has your strength."
"So you two know one another. That's great." Kali smiled, before her Scouter Watch went off. "Excuse me for a moment." She said, before turning away. "This is Kali."
"Kali, we need you to return to the base. It's an emergency." Aqualad's voice echoed from the piece.
"On my way." Kali said, before turning back to the others. "I'm sorry your majesty, but I have to go, an emergency has come up, and I am needed."
"Oh by all means, go if you must." King Furry said.
"Thank you so much sir." Kali said, before running out of the building.
~Mount Justice~
"Boy, they really did a number on this place." High Voltage(Shazam) said, as he and the Green Lantern John Stewart, were replacing the power core for the hideout. "That should do it." He said, as the lights came back on.
"Synchronizing, cave security protocols, with Watch Tower mainframe." The synthetic voice of the AI said.
Off deeper into the cave, the rest of the team were suffering the pain of what had transpired, with their humiliating defeat and the betrayal.
"Thanks, but no thanks." Wally said as Green Arrow put a bowl of pretzels down in front of him.
"Yeah, what we want are answers, about Red Tornado and his siblings." Robin said. "Where's Kali?"
"She's on her way. I just called her." Aqualad said, before Kali appeared next to them, with Krypto by her side.
"I'm here, sorry I'm late. Had to grab Krypto from my parents place." Kali said, before turning to Robin, as Aqualad went to speak with Batman, as he was second in command of the team. "Fill me in on what happened."
"Red Tornado betrayed us, that's what happened." Robin said.
"I'm gonna need further details on that." Kali stated. "Because what you just said makes zero sense."
"The base came under attack last night, by two androids who seemed to be a lot like Red Tornado. But they were different." Megan explained. "One of them had a feminine figure, the other had a more masculine figure. They could control different elements, fire and water. They called themselves Tornado's siblings. Robin and Artemis managed to beat them using an EMP, but when Tornado came after it went off and killed the power to the Zeta Tubes, he turned on us, and we were on the receiving end of one of his attacks."
"He betrayed us, and helped his siblings escape in the process." Robin stated.
"He's an android, so there's gotta be something more at play here." Kali said. "It's possible that…"
"YOU KNEW?" Connor's booming question echoed through the hall, as he ran at Aqualad and grabbed him by the shirt, raising him off the ground in anger. "That android, and his maniac family, nearly killed M'gann."
"Connor, stop it." Kali said, she and Megan prying him off the team's second in command. "Cool off Superboy."
"What are you doing?" Megan questioned.
"Kaldor knew we had a traitor among us, and said nothing." Connor stated.
"You knew?" Robin asked.
"An' didn't tell us?" Wally added.
"Everyone enough." Kali stated, going Super Saiyan, with the shockwave of power pushing them all back. "Aqualad didn't say anything, because I ordered him to keep quiet. So if you have any anger, then direct it at me."
"Why would you keep this information from us?" Megan asked.
"I sought to protect the team." Kali sighed, powering down.
"Protect us from what? Knowledge that could have saved our lives?"
"I wanted to keep us from tearing one another apart." Kali stated. "Look, the source of the information regarding the mole, came from a couple of unreliable sources. I didn't say anything about it, because I couldn't validate if it was accurate, or just a ploy to turn us against one another. The last thing I wanted was for anyone on my team to get hurt, and when you needed my help the most, I was off world, attending some stupid award ceremony on my dad's earth. Wally was right, I am a failure at being Team Leader."
"If you're all done with this, we have some important business to take care of." Batman said. "With Red Tornado… missing, the team will now be taken care of by rotating supervisors."
"There, is someone else that could take his job until we find him again." Kali said. "I've never met him before, but I think he'll accept the job since he's also an android, well more like a cyborg, but he's from my dad's earth."
"If you think he can be trusted, then by all means, get in contact and we'll interview him." Green Arrow said.
"I'll send a message to my dad to start looking, and to bring him here when and if he agrees to come." Kali said. "First, let's hear what else you have to say Batman. Knowing you, it's got to be interesting."
"Continuing from where I left off, High Voltage has volunteered to take the first shift, until Kali's recommendation comes to take Red Tornado's place." Batman said, as the red suited man of magic came to their group.
"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." High Voltage said.
"I also have another assignment for this team." Batman said as a projected image of a newspaper clipping came into view.
"Gorilla trades bananas for bullets?" Kali asked. "What's this about?"
"Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerrilla Gorilla?" Wally asked.
"Batman please, tell me you're not sending us out on this joke of a wild ape chase." Robin said.
"I never, joke about the mission." Batman stated.
"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but there is a chance Sports Master may be involved. This could prove that he managed to salvage a few samples of the Cobra Venom back during our first official mission as a team." Kali said. "An' that Gorilla could be a byproduct of experimenting with it."
"She makes a valid point." Batman stated. "You'll deploy immediately."
"So we're heading out now then?" Kali asked. "I could use a bit of a distraction after the night I've had."
~Bioship On Route~
Things were calm in the ship, the air was still but tense, so tense you could cut it with a knife.
'I messed up keeping this information a secret from them, but I couldn't trust Irro's words, not entirely.' Kali thought.
"Hey."
Kali looked to Connor, as he pulled her attention to him.
"I gotta ask, what's with the outfit?" Connor questioned.
"I'm wondering that myself. That your official hero costume?" M'gann asked.
Kali looked herself up and down, realizing she was still in the costume she wore for the award ceremony.
"Remember that award ceremony I told you I was attending? It was for me."
"No."
"Yep." Kali chuckled. "I was being given an award for protecting my dad's earth, and fighting off a deity. Specifically, Lord Beerus."
"You serious?"
"I put the award right next to my Snackian Medal, if you wanna take a look at it when we return to Mount Justice after this mission." Kali said. "But in order to receive that award, I had to be dressed as a hero, so Hercule had this thrown together, don't know how he got my sizes though, and I was presenting myself to an entire ball room full of people at King Furry's ceremony hall, in his castle."
"But you hate audiences." Connor laughed.
"Yeah, but I had a lot riding on that. I got around a hundred million Zeni as well, but dad said, he'd hold onto it. I think my mom's gonna try and use some of it for herself. So I told him, to tell her, she's not allowed to touch any of it without my permission." Kali said.
"Seems fair." Connor said.
"How much is a Zeni worth?" High Voltage asked.
"Equivalently, one Zeni is worth about ten to twenty Canadian dollars. Don't know how much it would be in US though."
"If you got it converted to our currency, you'd be pretty well off and could retire from the hero business." Connor stated.
"As much as I'd like to, I don't think I could." Kali sighed. "It's in my nature, to just jump into action when or if I'm needed."
"Sounds like you've got the true heart of a hero." High Voltage said.
"I guess." Kali chuckled. "But you know, I'm watching this Japanese anime, and in the first couple episodes, there's a statement saying, every great hero's story, have one thing in common. Their bodies just moved on their own, without even thinking."
"Right, you've got plenty of posters and figures involving that show decorating your room." Robin said.
"Dude, you sneak into her room? Not cool man." High Voltage said.
"I was in there when she gave me the bag of Senzu Beans during our first official mission." Robin said, trying to defend himself.
"But I didn't have any of my MHA stuff at that point." Kali said. "So what were you doing in my room to find that out?"
"Busted dude." Wally said. "Just come clean with it man."
"Fine." Robin stated. "I wanted to get back at you for that little stunt you pulled during our first mission by hanging me by my cape on a tree branch like I was a kid, so I went looking for your diary to see if I could find some dirty little secrets to use against you."
"Whoa." Wally said.
"Hey." Connor added.
"You what?" Aqualad asked.
"You've got to be kidding me." Artemis stated.
"You're so dead." Kali stated.
"Not cool Robin." Megan said.
"So not cool." High Voltage stated. "When we get back to the cave, you're on toilets for a month. A girls privacy is not something you can dig through like that."
"Right." Robin sighed.
"We've arrived at our destination." Megan pointed out.
"Alright, Robin, Artemis you're up." Kali said.
Robin and Artemis both nodded, before they connected themselves to jumping cables, and went to scout the area ahead.
"All clear." Robin stated as the Bioship landed, with High Voltage flying out the open bay hatch.
"Switch to stealth. An' we'll review mission parameters." Kali said.
"Parameters? We don't need no stinking parameters." Wally said, reminding Kali that despite their jab at Robin for invading her privacy, they were still mad at her for keeping quiet.
"It's recon, we know what to do." Robin said, before he and Wally headed off.
"Kid, Robin." Aqualad began.
"Let them be." Kali sighed stopping him. "I didn't explain why I kept this a secret, so of course they're still a bit sore we kept the secret."
"An' that secret keeping's tearing our team apart." Aqualad said.
"Evident, by how Superboy, M'gann, and Artemis just left." High Voltage said.
"Ugh." Kali groaned, before crouching down on the ground, burying her face in her knees. "What am I even doing? I knew it was a mistake to make me the TL in the first place."
"We all have our ups and downs." Aqualad said. "No one said being a Team Leader was easy, but it's the mistakes we make, that help us to learn, to grow."
"He's right." High Voltage said. "All we can do at this point, is hope the others get over this, and it'll all be something to laugh about further in the future."
"Right." Kali sighed. "Let's just do some recon. I'm sure the others will be able to handle themselves."
Heading deeper into the jungle foliage, the trio remaining quickly found the sight where the Mayor's encounter with the ape, took place.
"So, I guess this is where Mayor Hills monkey business went down." High Voltage said. "At least we've confirmed his story's real enough. Right?"
"True." Kali said, holding her arms together.
"Everything okay?" High Voltage asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Kali said. "Just some bad memories dealing with Venom."
"Your first official mission, I read the file." High Voltage said. "But hey, you're strong. You got over the addiction easily."
"Not without the help of Lord Beerus's attendant Whis." Kali said.
"Hey, relying on others doesn't make you weak." High Voltage stated. "It makes you just as mortal, as the rest of us."
"Says the immortal Demigod." Kali chuckled.
"I do not mean to interrupt this moment, but there is something large, and dangerous heading for us." Aqualad said as the ground was trembling.
Through the foliage, the source of the rumbling became evident, as a giant mutated elephant stormed through the trees, filled with rage, and had a collar around its neck.
High Voltage leapt from the ground, and body slamming the elephant between the eyes, sent it sliding back, before the elephant grabbed him with its trunk, and threw him through a tree out of the clearing.
"High Voltage." Kali called out.
"Behind you." Aqualad called to her.
Kali turned around, and jumped out of the way, just as a second elephant came through.
"Where did these things come from?" Kali questioned, before grabbing Aqualad and taking to the air.
"I don't know. But they don't seem to wanna let up on their attempts for taking us down." Aqualad stated. "Where'd High Voltage land?"
"Over there, and it seems he's got trouble of his own." Kali said, spotting their escort, as his animal opponent stepped away from the fight. "That is one big tiger."
"Throw me down." Aqualad said.
"What?"
"Throw me down towards one of the animals. I have an idea." Aqualad said.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Kali stated, before winding back and throwing Aqualad down.
Heading for one of the Elephants, Aqualad pulled out the hilts to his weapons, and combined the water, to make a giant hammer that sent the elephant careening.
With that issue taken care of, and only two more animals to worry about, Kali flew down towards the other elephant, and slammed into its chest, right in the exposed muscle. While down there, she noticed something.
"High Voltage, aim for their necks." Kali called to him.
"What? Why?"
"They're wearing collars. Most likely they're attacking us against their own wills." Kali stated.
"You got it then." High Voltage said, before he flew for one of the elephants, and destroyed the collar.
Once the collar was destroyed, the elephant seemed to calm down, before turning away and leaving.
"It worked." High Voltage said.
Doing a quick turn around, Kali flew straight into the other elephants path, and with her strength, shattered the collar that kept the elephant under the wielders influence.
With all three elephants free of the control, Kali landed on the ground, with a sigh of relief, before High Voltage put a hand on her shoulder.
"Pretty sweet how you figured out the collars were responsible for the problem. That was some smart thinking." High Voltage said.
"But the collars indicate an intelligence behind this attack." Aqualad said, coming up to them. "The rest of the team, may also be at risk."
"Don't bother with trying to contact the others." Kali sighed. "I tried the instant we were attacked, our communicators are being jammed, and M'gann failed to link us telepathically before we split up."
"Actually, you let everyone split up, before communications were set." High Voltage said.
"Yeah, I know." Kali sighed. "It was unfair of me to pin that on M'gann."
"But back at the cave, you stopped everybody from arguing, just by shouting one word." High Voltage said.
"Because I went Super. If I had done that here, I would had lead our enemies right to us, and the Bioship." Kali said. "Batman could probably do it, because he's Batman."
"He certainly, is intimidating."
"Hey, you don't gotta tell me. When I first joined the league, all he did was boss me around, and it's hard not to take it personally. But, I never disobeyed an order, and that's probably what kept me alive."
"Batman takes command, he has to." Kali said. "For the good of the Justice League. Thanks for helping me to understand High Voltage."
"Hey, Wisdom of Solomon." He said, tapping his forehead.
"Kali, can you hear me?" Megan's voice echoed in Kali's head.
"I'm here, what's the situation?" Kali asked.
"Artemis and I were attacked by animals wearing inhibitor collars. Like those used on convicts at Bell Rev Prison."
"Cool, the tiger. I'll be right back." High Voltage said, running off before he flew after the tiger wearing the collar.
"High Voltage wait." Aqualad called out. "Hey, speed of Mercury."
"Just great, Wisdom of Solomon, with the attention span of a gold fish." Kali sighed.
High Voltage flew after the tiger, stopping in mid air when he noticed the tiger was stopped in the path, and looking back at him.
"Hey there Mister. Bet you'd like good old High Voltage to take that nasty collar off, huh?" He said, landing on the ground, as the collar shocked him.
The instant he got within a certain range, three pillars of steel popped out of the ground, while producing a sonic energy that immobilized him, and sent High Voltage to the ground. Looking towards the Tiger, his attention was drawn to the area behind it, to see the Gorilla that had attacked the Gotham Mayor.
~Kali~
"M'gann, I need a telepathic link up with the entire team, now." Kali said, as she and Aqualad followed the direction High Voltage went in.
"Link established." M'gann said.
"Should she still be giving us orders, and should you really be following them?" Artemis questioned.
"Listen please." Kali said.
"Oh good, Kali's voice in my head. I've so missed that." KF said sarcastically.
"Hey Kali, KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. 'Course since we're moles, you'd probably think we attacked ourselves." Robin stated.
"If she did, she wouldn't tell you." Artemis said. "Aqualad as well."
"Superboy, are you online, or just pouting?" M'gann asked.
"Busy, call back later." Superboy said, with some snarling in the background.
"What gets me, is how nonchalant she is, about not telling us." KF said.
"She should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant." Robin said.
"How can we be a team, if she doesn't trust us with her secrets?" Artemis questioned as she an Aqualad moved through the brush, and found the trap that High Voltage had triggered.
"Or if Connor doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves." M'gann said.
"Did Aqualad really think you or I, could have been the mole?" KF asked.
"We've known each other for years."
"Trust is a two way street." Artemis stated.
"An' you know they'd had it if we kept secrets from them."
"Not that we'd ever. Never."
"Okay, that's enough. All of you!" Kali stated, tearing one of the probes from the ground, causing a massive surge of electrical energy to shoot through the air as she crushed it flat in her hands. "M'gann, Artemis, I know both of your secrets. So unless you want me to spill them, shut up with your damned hypocrisy!"
"What secrets are you talking a…"
"White Martian, Sports Master, and Cheshire." Kali stated, those words being all it took to shut them up. "Good, now everyone listen, and listen well. High Voltage has been captured. An' we must act as a team to save him."
"Under your leadership? I don't think…" KF began with a scoff.
"This is not up for debate KF!" Kali stated. "Either you follow my lead, or I take you back to Earth Omega, to be my dad's punching bag!"
"Yes ma'am." KF said meekly.
"Listen, to what she has to say." Aqualad said, noticing the tracks that were left behind when High Voltage was dragged away.
"You all chose me to lead." Kali continued, after calming down. "When the mission is over, if you wish to select someone to replace me, I will happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here!"
There was a tense moment of silence, before one person spoke up, someone Kali knew would always have her back in tough times.
"What are your orders Team Leader?" Superboy questioned.
~High Voltage~
The sound of growling echoed through High Voltage's ears, as he regained consciousness, and noticed all the medical equipment around him, before he spotted the tiger, with someone speaking in a french accent making themselves known.
"The brain enhancement, of this tigre, already pays, dividends, no?" The voice asked as the tiger walked away. "For he has brought us a prize most glorious. Le High Voltage."
"Why can't I move?" High Voltage asked.
"It is obvious, no?" The voice asked. "Your collar is set, to limit movement from the neck down. I have allowed you to retain the power of speech, as your reactions will be, instructive, during la procedure."
"La procedure, what procedure?" High Voltage asked.
"I have often pondered, the effect of your powers on the cerebral cortex. I long to see, de Wisdom of Solomon, up close." The robotic owner of the voice said, before turning to the enhanced gorilla. "Monsieur Mallah, prepare for surgery."
"You do know you're just gonna be wasting your tools right?" High Voltage asked.
"Please explain?"
"The tools of man, cannot hurt me." High Voltage said. "Only magic, can hurt magic. An' my body is filled with limitless magic."
"We shall see about that." Brain said, bringing himself into the light.
"Brain?" High Voltage questioned, before the alarm began to sound, and the video showed the Young Hero team, fighting off the Howler Monkeys. "Go Mallah. Deal with these intruders. I can handle High Voltage's brain extraction, myself."
~Outside~
Aqualad moved back, slamming one of his weapons into a monkey's back, and knocking them to the ground, before it was back on its feet. At the angle he was at, Aqualad noticed the collar around the monkey's neck. The instant the monkey charged at him, he put his weapons away, and caught the monkey as it grabbed for him, before slamming it into the ground, and paralyzing it with shock for only a moment, but that's all he needed to tear the collar off, allowing for the monkey to run away from him, free and scared.
"Remove the collars." He stated.
"Sure, it's easy when he says it." Robin said, trying to fight off two monkey.
Artemis kicked away one of the monkeys that came after her, before she fired two arrows at the monkeys holding Robin down. With their minds their own again, they ran off. The instant Robin got to his feet, he paid back the favor to Artemis, and destroyed the collars on the two that snuck up behind her, with two of his explosive bird-arranges.
"Where's Kali?" Artemis questioned, as Mallah came out with his gatling gun.
~Kali~
"You're not taking my brain." High Voltage said.
"S'il vous plait, Voltage. Do not struggle. Brain extraction, is largely painless. But the benefits, are enormous. Just look what it has done, for me." Brain said.
"I told you earlier, your tools aren't gonna work on me." High Voltage said, as a laser primed itself over his head.
"Perhaps. But it works on solid steel, so I'll try my luck." Brain stated. "I'm told you have the courage of Achilles, no? Perhaps, you should have asked, for his invulnerability, instead."
"An' I'm pretty sure that's not how his powers work."
High Voltage smiled the instant Kali's voice rang out through the lab, before the tiger leapt over the operation table, and tackled Brain, knocking him away from the hero, as a Ki blast destroyed the laser.
"Traitor, you will suffer for that." Brain said, as he'd picked himself up, before producing something that looked like a remote control.
"I'm pretty sure that's not gonna work, without this." Kali said, stepping out of the shadows, and crushing the collar she'd removed from the tigers neck. "Oops."
"I knew you could do it." High Voltage said.
Kali smiled as the tiger came back to her side, before the wall behind the Brain shattered, as Mallah came tumbling through, with the others following through the dust cloud.
"It's the Brain." KF said.
"I can see it's a brain." Artemis said.
"Not a brain, the Brain." KF stated.
"In the flesh, so to speak." Brain said, as Mallah picked himself up. "Mallah, now."
"I don't think so." Kali said, hitting Mallah's hand with a Ki blast, showing she destroyed the remove the gorilla pulled out from, somewhere. "Superboy, now!"
Before Mallah could do anything to fire at her, the wall to Mallah's back crumbled, and in came Superboy, with a white wolf as tall as his shoulders.
The Boy of Steel and the canine charged at the gorilla, both knocking him down, before KF came in and hit the gorilla with a double kick. The rest of the Young Justice team continued to hit the gorilla with an endless assault, while Kali was attempting to break High Voltage's restraints.
"I've almost got it." Kali hissed.
"Watch out." High Voltage called out.
Kali looked up instantly, before bringing her arms up, and blocking an attack fired at her from the Brain. She hissed as it left her forearms singed, with the jacket sleeves destroyed.
"You shall not take, this golden opportunity from me." Brain said.
"Kali, my collar." High Voltage said.
Kali looked to the collar, before gripping the restraining device, and easily breaking it. With his full strength back, High Voltage broke through his restraints, and shielded Kali just as Brain fired another shot at her.
Mallah growled at the heroes as they surrounded him, and the Brain. None of them looked too pleased with the villains.
"Try it, I hate monkeys." Superboy said, with the wolf growling at his side. "No offense Kali."
"I'm not a monkey, so none taken." Kali hissed, before her ears twitched, when she heard something soft coming from the back corner.
Mallah growled, and roared at the heroes, ready to keep on fighting.
"No Mallah. This shall not be our Waterloo." Brain said, his robotic body changing, and looking rather menacing. "Au revoir, mes amis."
"Look out." KF called out, before all the lights went dark.
Moments later, the lights came back on, showing Brain and Mallah, were nowhere to be seen.
"All that, for some fancy light switch?" Artemis asked.
"An EMP." Superboy said. "Not as potent as the one you and Robin used in the base last night, but still it was enough to cover their escape."
"We should move, Kali's arms are hurt pretty bad." High Voltage said, before turning to the girl. "Kali, let's…"
He paused when he saw she wasn't standing right behind him. She was further back near some cages, where the animals who'd been injected with Kobra Venom, had been held before the collars had been placed on them.
"Kali, is everything okay?" Superboy asked, as he came to see what was up with her.
"I don't know." Kali sighed, getting to her feet, showing him a surprising sight.
In her arms, was a white tiger cub, that looked like it was still reliant on its mothers milk.
"No way, a cub?" Superboy asked, before looking to the cage to see an adult white tiger, lying motionless, with some more cubs in a similar state. "Oh no."
"Read the clipboard." Kali sighed, holding out the boarded paper.
High Voltage took the paper, and read over it, his eyes widening in shock.
"Seems like Dr. Desmond, wasn't the only one experimenting with Kryptonian DNA." High Voltage said. "The female tiger in the cage, was the first and only test subject Brain got his probes on, unaware of her pregnancy until after he'd already injected her with an experimental mixture of Kobra Venom, and Kryptonian blood."
"But this little thing doesn't have the normal Kobra Venom markings." Robin said.
"What are we gonna do with it?" Aqualad asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We gotta put it down." KF said.
"No, we're not killing an innocent creature who's barely had a chance to live." M'gann said. "Poor little girl's the only survivor from the litter."
"I'm sorry, I don't want this either. But Kobra Venom is one thing, mix that with Kryptonian DNA, and you're just asking for trouble." KF said.
"I'll take responsibility for her." Kali said. "If Batman doesn't like it, then he doesn't like it. But I won't willingly standby as she's put down, without being given the chance to live first."
"You're dead set on this, aren't you?" Robin asked.
"You should know by now, that when Kali has her mind set on something, she doesn't give up, until she's achieved her goal." Superboy said.
~Bioship~
"What are you grinning about?" Artemis asked, walking up to Kali with KF at her side.
"I got a new souvenir." Kali smiled holding up Mallah's beret, in a plastic bag, while still cradling the white tiger cub in one arm. "Lack of oxygen should kill all the lice. If not, I can soak it in baking soda and apple cider vinegar."
"The rest of the pack is gone. What are you still doing here?" Connor questioned, scratching under the white furred wolf's chin.
"I think he wants to stay with you." M'gann said.
"Sure seems that way." Kali smiled.
"Can I keep him?" Connor asked, excitedly.
"First the sphere, now this beast?" KF asked, scratching his head. "Dude you sure make a habit of collecting strays."
"Maybe because he's such a stray himself." M'gann smiled.
"KF did you wear the beret before I put it in the bag?" Kali asked.
"Yeah, why?" Wally asked.
"M'gann, when we're in the Bioship, quarantine him to an isolated section, and have Bioship produce a mist that kills gorilla lice. I don't want it spreading." Kali said.
"No need to tell me twice." M'gann said.
"Well, he's gonna need a name." Wally said. "How's about Krypto?"
"Not his style it seems." Kali said with a chuckle, making her way to the ship. "Besides, it's already taken."
Stepping up the ramp, Kali stopped when Robin stood at the entrance, blocking it off from her.
"Look, I need to know." Robin began. "Why did you and Kaldor keep the mole intel a secret?"
Kali looked to Robin, before looking back to the others, surrounding the ramp of the Bioship, before Kaldor looked to her with a nod and smile.
"The source of the tip we got, came from Sports Master, and a biological android named Irro." Kali said.
"What? You can't trust him." Artemis said. "Or that android."
"I'm assuming that's why you mentioned him and Cheshire earlier." Superboy said.
"We don't trust them." Kali said. "Irro's dead, he died the instant I found out what he was built for. But it was more then possible, that he and Sports Master, gave us that intel to try and cause a division within the team, because it was nothing but false information."
"An' given how this mission went, they nearly succeeded." Robin stated. "But you had to consider it might be true."
"As leader I did. I was afraid that Aqualad was the traitor and just playing along since he was the one told by Sports Master. But I'm glad to see I was wrong." Kali sighed.
"Hate to say it but… makes sense." Robin stated.
"If you guys wish, I am still prepared to step down." Kali stated.
"All in favor of keeping Kali as leader?" Wally questioned, raising his hand.
The others did the same, with the wolf even barking in agreement.
"Guess it's unanimous." High Voltage said, holding out his hand for Kali to shake. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"You're not coming back with us?" Aqualad asked.
"Nope. Gotta fly." He said, before taking to the air.
'Probably past his bedtime. Not all that surprising since he's ten.' Kali thought.
"So, what are you gonna call him?" M'gann asked as she, Superboy, and the wolf were the last to enter the ship.
"What's wrong with, Wolf?"
"Generic, but acceptable." KF said.
"What about you Kali?" Superboy asked, looking to his sister. "What are you gonna name her?"
"Let's see… I think I'll name her, Athena." Kali smiled, the cub was playing with Superboys finger, as he scratched the cubs tummy with it.
"I'm sure Wonder Woman will be happy about that." Aqualad smiled.
"Alright team, first stop on our way home. A pet shop for pet food and toys." Kali said happily.
~A/N~
This story isn't dead, I've just seen Young Justice so many times I know the scripts for Seasons 1&2 by heart, which makes it hard to keep motivated for writing it.
Also I saw Fury of the Gods, and thought High Voltage was a good name for Billy's Shazam form. Since he's legally not Captain Marvel anymore, I thought I'd use that name for him.
