The interior of Bioship was as silent as a graveyard as the team flew toward their destination, each member of the team mentally preparing themselves for their first official mission from Batman; Harry was seated next to Superboy, and the pair almost looked like twins from the way they were seated. Both had their arms crossed over their chests, and both had their heads bowed, eyes closed, in silent contemplation.
It had been nearly two weeks since the team had rescued Nightwing from the Joker, and Batman had used that time to implement his own form of punishment on them for disobeying his orders, which could only be summed up in two words: living hell.
Each day, the team would be put through the most grueling form of training, ranging from a nearly interminable obstacle course, to being placed in the cave's version of the 'Danger Room,' where the team had to fight non-stop for hours. At the end of each day's training, when Batman would finally release them for the day, Harry and the others would drag themselves back to their rooms and physically collapse into their beds as their bodies screamed in agony; only for the whole process to start again the next day.
Batman, after the fourth day of training, had told them that perhaps they wouldn't end each day in such pain if they started acting more like a team and less like individuals, and loathe though he was to agree with him, Harry couldn't help but admit that the Bat was right. On the Titans, Nightwing had made sure that each person knew that they fought as one, that there were no individuals, only one team. It was why Harry and the other Titans worked so well together; they always knew where their teammate was and what they would do, making the Titans operate like a well-oiled machine.
Here though? Robin was used to no-word communication with Batman, Kid-Flash was used to working with someone who could operate faster than most could think, Superboy was an emotional rampaging beast who thought he didn't need anyone's help, and M'gann was brand new to being a hero, and so had no experience on how to act. Only Kaldur even attempted to ally with Harry during training, which resulted in the pair receiving far fewer bruises than the others, which only seemed to annoy the others even more and make their team even more unreliable.
Harry, to his consternation, had found no mercy from Raven and the other Titans when he had complained; Raven was still angry at Harry for nearly getting himself killed and said that he deserved to be punished for his stupidity and that, hopefully, the bruises from Batman's training would remind Harry not to do something so idiotic, again.
Cyborg and Beastboy had both been appalled when they found out what Harry had done, and the boy had been forced to sit through another lecture as the pair called him to berate Harry for his stupidity. Jinx, surprisingly, seemed to agree with Raven and told Harry so, when he first called her up; she and Starfire were taking shifts, with one patrolling Bludhaven, while the other stood guard outside Nightwing's hospital room in case the Joker tried to finish the job, which wasn't very likely seeing as how Harry's last attack had broken six of the clown's ribs and fractured his spine.
Starfire was the only one who seemed to understand why Harry had done what he'd done; she'd managed to sneak in some black-cherry ice cream into the cave, and the two had spent two blessed hours just talking about how much they each missed the other and the Titans.
"We're approaching Santa Prisca…" M'gann's voice called out, making Harry slowly open his eyes as he stared out the window at the quickly approaching island. It was hard to make out against the pitch-black darkness surrounding them, but he could still see the smudge of the island ahead.
As the others tensed slightly, Harry's mind wandered back to the briefing the team had received earlier that night from Batman.
XXXX
:FLASHBACK:
"Isla Santa Prisca," Batman said to the team, facing away from them and staring at the large computer monitor that was showing a detailed image of their upcoming destination. In contrast, other smaller images showed different pictures pertaining to the brief. Beside him, Red Tornado was quickly typing out commands onto the keyboard as Batman spoke. "This island is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neurosteroid, a strength-enhancing drug sold under the street name venom. Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is operating at full capacity, but all shipments of venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in."
Turning back to the watching team, Batman scowled momentarily in annoyance. The team was all dressed in civilian attire, and Wally further showed how unconcerned he was by quickly rifling through a bag of potato chips.
"This is a covert recon mission only," Batman continued, "Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will."
Turning back to the screen, Batman continued his briefing as two different locations were suddenly marked out on the island before the team.
"The plan requires two drop zones…"
"So, who's in charge?" Robin asked, cutting Batman off and making Batman and Red Tornado share a look for a moment before Batman turned back to the team and spoke again,
"Work that out between you."
Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes as he saw a smirk cross Robin's face at that, knowing that Batman's flippant remark was going to cause more trouble than it was worth.
:END FLASHBACK:
XXXX
"Drop zone A in 30," M'gann said softly, causing Kaldur to rise to his feet as his chair melted into the floor; with a quick touch of his belt, Kaldur's orange uniform shifted into entirely black.
"Ready," Kaldur called out with a nod,
"Putting Bioship in camouflage mode," M'gann replied.
Unseen by the team, the red spaceship flashed with light for a moment before suddenly disappearing, blending so well with the night sky that even the most skilled observer could not see it.
Lowering close to the ocean below, a hole suddenly appeared beneath Kaldur's feet, which he dove into, splashing into the ocean a moment later. Like a bolt from a speargun, Kaldur zoomed past the underwater mines and drew one of his water bearers from his back, willing it into a sword, which he used to slash the last obstacle between himself and the beach: an ordinary metal fence.
Once he reached the beach, Kaldur quickly raced toward a nearby machine that was beeping and flashing a continuous red light. Quickly retrieving the device that Batman had given him, Kaldur plugged the device into the machine, which continued to beep twice more before a strange sound emanated from it, and the beeping stopped.
"Heat and motion sensors are patched," Kaldur said into the communicator in his ear. "Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in."
Overhead, Bioship quickly lowered closer to the ground; a moment later, M'gann called out,
"Drop zone B," as she willed the ship to stay in place.
Harry quickly rose to his feet and pulled his hood over his head, as M'gann raised her arm and willed several harnesses to fall from Bioship's ceiling, which the team all began to hook to their belts.
After hooking himself up, Kid-Flash touched the lightning bolt symbol on his chest, causing his red-and-yellow uniform to change entirely to black.
"How cool is this?" Kid-Flash asked, turning to M'gann with a smirk,
"Very impressive," M'gann smirked back before slowly lifting her hands and causing black ink to spread from her feet to her shoulders, changing her uniform entirely black, save for her dark blue cloak and a red X harness that crossed her chest and wrapped around her waist. Looking back at Kid-Flash, M'gann placed her hands on her hips and smirked at him as he stared at her with a small blush.
"Uh… That works too…" Kid-Flash replied with a grin; turning to Superboy, Kid-Flash quipped,
"Hey, Supey, it's not too late to put on the new stealth tech!"
"No capes, no tights, no offense," Superboy replied from where he stood, crossing his arms over his chest. As always, Superboy was wearing his simple dark blue pants and a black T-shirt with Superman's symbol blazoned in red on his chest.
"It totally works for you…" M'gann offered with a smile; as Superboy turned to her, she realized what she had just said and blushed before continuing quickly, "… In that, you can totally do good work in those clothes!"
Arcane snorted softly as M'gann's obvious crush once again made itself known; Superboy stared at M'gann silently for a moment before turning away, causing the girl's face to fall for a moment before she quickly pulled up her hood and disappeared.
A moment later, Arcane and the others all softly made their way to the ground and unbuckled their harnesses; Superboy decided to forgo using his harness and chose instead to just jump out of the ship, slamming into the ground with such force that his landing actually created a small crater.
"Knew, I didn't need a line," Superboy smirked as the others shook their heads.
"And yet, creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the covert!" Robin complained from where he was sitting, his back against a nearby tree.
With a small smirk, M'gann raised her hand to her communicator and whispered into it,
"Kaldur, drop zone B is go."
"Head to the factory," Aqualad replied. "I'll track your GPS and rendezvous as soon as possible."
"Roger that!" Robin replied, bringing up the holographic screen on his gauntlet and looking at the map for a moment.
After a moment, Robin nodded and rushed forward, the rest of the team following close behind; as quickly and as silently as they could, the team blew through the forest toward their destination, carefully looking for anything that might be an ambush.
Suddenly, Superboy stopped and quickly looked around,
"Wait! Did you all hear that?"
"Uh… No?" Kid-Flash replied, looking around for a moment. "Wait, is this a super-hearing thing?"
"You do have great ears…" M'gann replied softly; unseen by all, Arcane was rolling his eyes at the girl.
"Okay, Rob, now what?" Kid-Flash asked, turning back to his friend, only to see that Robin had vanished, "Man, I hate it when he does that!"
From their communicators, the team heard Aqualad's voice call out,
"Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared! See if you're being tracked!"
Reaching up and pulling his goggles over his eyes, Kid-Flash watched as several heat signatures bloomed into life, coming right at them.
"Got a squad of armed bozos incoming," Kid-Flash called out softly, causing the team to quickly duck behind cover.
Superboy narrowed his eyes as he gazed at a spot not far away from the team, seeing more incoming heat signatures.
"Two squads," Superboy growled, "But they'll meet each other before they find us."
Superboy's words proved true moments later when shots rang out through the forest,
"No super hearing required now!" Kid-Flash snarked back as M'gann raised her hand to her mouth in shock.
"Swing wide, steer clear!" Aqualad's voice rang out from the team's communicators,
"Y-yeah, just as soon as I find Robin!" Kid-Flash called back, running into the forest and disappearing in an instant; activating his superspeed, Kid-Flash feverishly began searching for his best friend, only to slip in some mud seconds later and lose his footing. With a painful cry, Kid-Flash began to roll down the hill towards the gunfire, completely out of control; a moment later, Kid-Flash rolled directly into the middle of a battlefield, with Bane and his men on one side and a group of red-robed individuals on the other. As he lay groaning between the two fighting groups, they stopped their shooting and stared at the teenager in shock, caught off guard by the hero's sudden appearance.
Slowly raising his head with a groan, Kid-Flash looked around for a moment at the gaping faces before stating in a small voice,
"So much for the stealthy…"
Bane was the first to react. Growling in annoyance, he began to open fire on the teen hero. A moment later, Bane's men followed suit, causing Kid-Flash to jump to his feet with a cry and activate his superspeed as he tried to avoid being shot.
The red-robbed figures suddenly opened fire on Kid-Flash as well, temporarily forgetting their fight with Bane and his men as both sides tried to kill the hero; a moment later, Superboy burst from the forest, slamming his fist into Bane's face and sending the man slamming into a nearby tree, his rifle flying from his fingers.
As Bane's men continued to try to hit Kid-Flash, Robin suddenly dropped from above, knocking one thug out with a well-timed kick to the jaw. He then spun on his heel and delivered an uppercut to the second thug; both men slammed hard to the ground and were quickly rendered unconscious.
"What is wrong with you guys?" Robin called out. "Remember covert! Why didn't you follow my lead and vanish into the jungle?"
"That's what you were doing?" Kid-Flash demanded as he ripped a thug's rifle out of his hands and slammed the buttstock against the man's jaw, knocking him out, "Way to fill us in! We're not mind readers, you know!"
Two more of Bane's thugs suddenly slammed into a nearby tree, causing Robin and Kid-Flash to spin in place, only to see M'gann descending to the ground with her arms raised.
"Well… I'm not, anyway!" Kid-Flash added as he stared at M'gann,
"You told me I could only read the bad guys' minds!" M'gann countered,
"That is true, dude," Arcane added as he stepped out of the trees, a tentacle retracting back into his hand; not far away, a red-robed figure was lying against a large tree with what looked like a broken nose, "You did say that."
Kid-Flash rolled his eyes at that before taking a careful look around; it looked as though most of Bane's men had either been knocked unconscious or run away once they saw the fight was lost. Only two red-robed figures were lying on the ground, so the rest must have likewise fled the battle; a sudden cry of pain made the team look behind them, only to see Aqualad walking out of the forest a moment later, dragging a figure in red behind him.
"I recognize those uniforms," Robin said as he knelt down to examine the figure Aqualad was dragging, "They belong to the cult of the cobra."
"I am certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's venom operation," Aqualad countered.
"Agreed," Robin nodded, "And since there's clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons, I'm betting Cobra came in and tossed them out!"
"That would explain why normal supply lines have been cut off," M'gann added,
"Cool, mystery solved," Arcane replied dryly, "Can we go home, now?"
"Yeah, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Arcane," Kid-Flash added. "Mystery solved. Kobra wants superpowered cultists. Radio Bats and we'll be home in time for…"
"These cultists aren't on venom!" Robin said, cutting his friend off, "Kobra's hoarding the stuff! We don't leave until I know why!"
"Until YOU know why?" Kid-Flash retorted with a raised brow,
"This team needs a leader," Robin stated,
"Oh, and it's you?" Kid-Flash asked in annoyance, "Dude, you're a thirteen-year-old kid, who ducked out on us without a word!"
"And you're a mature fifteen?" Robin laughed condescendingly, "You blew our cover the first chance you got! Even Arcane's a better choice than you!"
Robin and Kid-Flash both looked over at the boy whose wide green eyes could be seen staring at the pair from beneath his hood; quickly raising his hands, Arcane hissed,
"Hey, don't drag me into this! I've no interest in this pissing match you two have got going."
Both heroes blushed at that, but none more so than M'gann, who was watching the confrontation with a sad expression on her face; turning to Superboy, M'gann asked,
"Don't you want to lead?"
Superboy quickly scoffed at that and shook his head in the negative,
"You?"
"Not really…" M'gann replied, her pride still sore after the lecture she had received from her uncle J'onn for participating in the rescue of Nightwing, "Not after the whole Joker debacle…"
"You did alright," Superboy replied warmly, causing M'gann to blush for a moment.
As Robin and Kid-Flash continued to argue, Superboy cocked his head to the side; Bane's men were having an intense argument in Spanish, telling the villain to cut his ropes and kill the heroes while the team was distracted. Bane quickly told his men to be silent, saying that he would use the team to 'get what he wanted, first.'
Superboy smirked at that, realizing that Bane didn't know that Superboy could not just hear them, but also understand them due to the language lessons that had been put into his head when he was a guest of CADMUS labs.
"Yeah? You don't even have superpowers!" Kid-Flash argued, bringing Superboy's focus back to the team.
"Neither does Batman!" Robin countered angrily, making Kid-Flash scoff,
"Dude, you're not Batman."
"Closest thing we've got, dude…" Robin growled back.
Shaking his head at the teenagers, Bane suddenly chuckled, making the team turn to him,
"Clever little ninos," Bane sneered. "But you only know half the story. How about you let me show you the rest? I'll get you into the factory via my secret entrance."
"There is a secret entrance," M'gann said, her hand pressed to the side of her head as she tried to read Bane's mind, "But he's also hiding something…"
M'gann's eyes suddenly began to glow as she increased the strength of her mind-reading abilities, trying to see what Bane was hiding from her.
"Ah, ah, ah, Chica," Bane chuckled, "Bane is not that easy."
"Ohh, he's mentally reciting football scores en Espanol," M'gann groaned as she pulled out of Bane's mind, "This could take a while."
"It's not complicated," Bane offered with a sinister smile. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You help me take back my island, and I'll get you inside the factory."
"I've got a better idea…" Arcane growled, making the others turn to him as he stalked forward, a tentacle slowly extending out of his hand and changing into a spear, "How about I just stick this into you repeatedly until you tell us what we want?"
"Whoa, hold up!" Kid-Flash said, grabbing Arcane's wrist as Bane's eyes widened, "We don't do that sort of thing!"
"Kid-Flash is right," Aqualad added, "That is a line too far."
"You think I care!" Arcane snarled, ripping his wrist out of Kid-Flash's grip, "This piece of crap is the reason Jump City is a smoking ruin! He was there! He was one of the people responsible for the deaths of all those innocent people! He killed Cassie!"
The team shared a sad look as Arcane shouted the last sentence, his voice echoing throughout the night. Slowly, Robin approached his friend and placed a calm hand on Arcane's shoulder.
"Arcane, I know how much you hate him, but Bane didn't kill Cassie. That was Grodd, and he's going to be executed for it. Killing Bane won't do anything but ensure that you end up in a cage just like the rest of the scum that attacked your home…"
With visible effort, Arcane willed the tentacle back into his hand before shaking off Robin's hand and storming away.
"Do whatever you want…"
Bane said nothing as he watched the boy walk away; it had only been for a moment, but Bane had seen it. Arcane had truly wanted to kill him and perhaps would have if he had been alone, without the team to stop him. Bane could well understand the boy's anger, yet it had been the first time he had ever seen a hero come that close to the edge; the only other hero Bane had seen give off the level of killing intent was Batman after Bane had nearly beaten Bruce Wayne's butler to death.
M'gann immediately followed after Arcane and wrapped her arm around his shoulder as she whispered something into his ear; while she was doing that, Robin and the others turned back to Bane,
"Here's the deal," Robin said. "You'll lead us to this secret entrance, but if you betray us, you'll be the first one I'm putting down. Got it?"
"Heh, heh," Bane chuckled, "Understood, nino…"
XXXX
Half an hour later, after walking for what seemed like miles, the team stood at the top of a cliff looking down at Bane's factory, where a flurry of activity was going on; pulling out a set of binoculars, Robin stared down at the factory with a critical eye. There were dozens of Kobra Cultists, some were armed and standing guard for the first sign that something was wrong; others were driving forklifts or pushing hand carts, upon which sat large crates filled with venom.
"Look at all that product!" Robin gasped. "A buy is going down! But if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects, then…"
"We need to identify that buyer," Aqualad finished,
"Just what I was thinking," Kid-Flash quipped, making Robin chuckle,
"Yeah, you're the thinker."
"Sarcasm? Dude," Kid-Flash sneered, "A real leader would focus on getting answers."
While Robin and Kid-Flash were arguing, again, Bane approached a nearby rock and easily lifted it out of his way, revealing a hidden passageway behind it,
"Answers are this way," Bane smirked before walking inside.
"So, now El Luchador is our leader…" Kid-Flash scoffed as the team followed the masked villain inside the tunnel.
Quickly stepping up behind him, Arcane leaned in to whisper into Bane's ear so that no one else could hear,
"I know you're going to betray us at some point, I just want you to know that when you do, I'll be waiting…"
Unseen to Arcane, the coldness in the boy's voice actually made Bane swallow nervously as he kept walking.
"I didn't kill your friend, nino…" Bane whispered back, "Jump City meant nothing to me. It was strictly business."
"You killed innocent people," Arcane hissed back, for once grateful that Robin and Kid-Flash were too busy arguing to realize that Arcane and Bane were speaking to each other, "Destroyed the only home I've known and tore apart my family all for money!"
"That's all that matters in life, nino," Bane nodded back, "It didn't matter in the end, though. The bounty on your head was rescinded before any of us could collect. Perhaps next time, though…"
"There won't be a next time for you…" Arcane snarled, "Because the moment you turn on my team, that's the moment when you're mine. And I'll make it so that you can never hurt anyone again!"
"Arcane, is everything alright?" M'gann asked, seeing how close he and Bane had been for the last few minutes; at M'gann's voice, the others focused in on the boy as well, and Robin's eyes narrowed at how angry his friend looked. Slowly, unseen by all, Robin's hand lowered to his belt, just in case he needed to draw one of his birdarangs.
"Yeah…" Arcane mumbled as he fell back, taking his place beside M'gann again. "Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just making some things clear to our guide."
"You shouldn't let him get to you like that…" M'gann whispered back, "He's not worth it."
Arcane said nothing, just focused on Bane's back and continued to walk.
XXXX
An eternity later, the group finally approached a large, rusted metal door; stepping forward, Bane pressed his thumb onto a fingerprint scanner, which issued a shrill beep before the door slid away to reveal Bane's factory.
Robin was the first through and quickly looked around,
"All clear!" Robin hissed before he vanished around a large stack of metal barrels; as the team followed, they all issued a collective growl of annoyance as they lost sight of Robin.
"Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane spat,
"No," Aqualad sighed, "He just does that…"
"Stay put," Kid-Flash said as he pulled on his goggles, "I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder!"
"Wait, Kid!" Aqualad tried to say, but the speedster was gone a moment later, and Aqualad hissed in annoyance.
"Great chain of command…" Bane sneered contemptuously, causing the others to share a furious look of agreement.
Up in the control room, a Kobra cultist was typing away commands on the keyboard when a Birdarang impaled in the screen; a moment later, sleeping gas was released into the room, and the cultist's head slammed down onto the console as he passed out like a light.
Quickly shoving the cultist out of his chair, Robin began to furiously punch in commands as he tried to hack into the system.
Back on the ground floor, the other members of the team were watching as dozens of cultists loaded an uncountable number of boxes onto forklifts and dragged them out of the factory.
"It's a massive shipment," Aqualad observed,
"Yeah, but they're only taking new products off the line," Superboy added. "They're not touching this venom."
"Maybe freshness counts?" M'gann offered, causing Arcane to snort,
"Not likely, it's gotta be something else."
Suddenly, Superboy's head cocked to the side as he listened to something only he could hear,
"Helicopter's coming."
XXXX
Up in the control room, Robin had finally cracked the system and was downloading all the intel into the computer on his wrist gauntlet; a moment later, Kid-Flash zoomed into the room.
"What have you got?"
"Chemical formulas," Robin replied, "I'm guessing it involves venom, but…"
"This one's venom," Kid-Flash pointed out, pointing his free hand at the screen while he ate a granola bar from the other hand, "But that one's… Whoa. It's the Blockbuster formula from CADMUS. Mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice is three times stronger than venom… And permanent. But how did Kobra get access to project Blockbuster?"
"Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier!" Robin hypothesized, "Using the cult to create a Blockbuster venom super formula!"
Quickly raising his hand to his ear, Robin called out,
"Robin to Aqualad, we've got…" Static buzzing echoed in Robin's ear, causing the boy to grit his teeth in annoyance, "Static… They've jammed our comms."
XXXX
As the helicopter landed, the door slid open, and Sportsmaster stalked down the ramp, taking a contemptuous look around at the cultists surrounding him before making his way to their leader.
"Lord Kobra," Sportsmaster said in as much of a respectful voice as he could manage,
"Sportsmaster," Lord Kobra replied, staring at the man with distaste, "The shipment is ready."
A cultist stepped up to Sportsmaster and opened a small box that she held, showing several small vials filled with purple liquid. Sportsmaster carefully picked one up and gazed at it thoughtfully.
"The new Kobra venom?"
"A complete success," Lord Kobra replied, pointing toward the hulking monster behind him. "Our friends will not be disappointed."
Sportsmaster stared at the monster for a moment with a critical eye; the thing was nearly eight feet tall and was practically bulging with muscle, so much, in fact, that its skin was ripped open in several spots, showing the red muscle beneath. The only clue that this beast had ever been human was the red hair and sideburns that fell around the monster's face.
"This is a game changer," Sportsmaster breathed, "Finally, we can go mano-a-mano with the Justice League!"
Unseen by all, M'gann was silently and invisibly hovering over the pair, listening to every word with narrowed eyes.
"Aqualad, sending you a telepathic image of the buyer, now," M'gann said through the shared mind link she was currently sharing with her teammate.
Above the factory floor, Aqualad was seated on a catwalk, with his eyes closed as the image was sent from M'gann's head into his own; as the image passed into his mind, Aqualad's eyes opened with surprise,
"Sportsmaster? He is the buyer?" Aqualad asked as he turned to Superboy and Arcane.
"We have our answer," Arcane whispered, "Time to call in the cavalry!"
"Agreed," Aqualad replied, raising his hand to his ear, "Red Tornado, do you read me?"
Only static was Aqualad's reply, and he growled in annoyance, as he tried to reach Robin or Kid-Flash, only to fail as well.
"Ugh, can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid. They're jamming our communications; we need a plan now."
"I have a suggestion," Bane smirked before he jumped over the side of the catwalk to the surprise of the others; landing on the factory floor below, Bane quickly grabbed one of the cultist guards and snapped his neck before delivering an overpowered punch to the other shocked guard, which sent the man high into the air before crashing onto a wooden crate with a painful cry.
The other watching guards stared for only a minute before they raised their rifles and began to open fire, causing Bane to duck away to cover.
"What is he doing!" Aqualad demanded; before anyone could answer, though, a shadow appeared behind the glass window on the opposite side of the catwalk that the team was kneeling on. A moment later, a monster crashed through the glass and slammed its fists onto the catwalk, breaking it in two and sending the heroes crashing to the ground. As Arcane floated safe above the floor, he stared at the monster before him as a wave of recognition came over him,
"Mammoth…?"
"The monster growled for a moment before, to the surprise of all, it actually smiled,
"Been a long time, brat…" Mammoth growled, his voice far deeper than when last Arcane and he had met, "Look at you all grown up…"
"Oh Mammoth… What did you do to yourself?" Arcane asked in a sad voice,
"What you forced me to do!" Mammoth roared, "You took Jinx from me! You broke up my family! Now, with this body, I'll make you all pay!"
Arcane opened his mouth to respond, to tell the beast that he had the chance to join Jinx and had chosen instead to remain a villain, but before Arcane could say a single word, Lord Kobra entered the factory door and saw what was happening.
"Enough words! Destroy them!"
With a roar of rage, Mammoth barreled forward to crush Arcane, only for Superboy to appear from out of nowhere and slug the beast in the jaw, sending Mammoth crashing into the far wall.
"You want him; you gotta go through me first!" Superboy shouted as he rushed forward; Mammoth seemed only too happy to agree, quickly rising to his feet and running to meet Superboy's attack head-on.
While that was going on, Aqualad was forced to bring out his water bearers and transform them into a shield to protect himself from the bullets that were quickly being shot at him by the Kobra cultists; keeping one as a shield, Aqualad transformed the other into a water gun and began to fire pressurized bolts of water at the cultists, taking them out one by one.
Overhead, M'gann was using her telekinesis to lift cultists into the air and hurl them into the nearby walls and iron beams holding up the roof of the factory; unfortunately, Sportsmaster's uncannily gifted vision had spotted her, invisible though she was, and he hurled one of his javelins at the girl. M'gann stared in horror at the approaching weapon and quickly made herself intangible to avoid the weapon, only for it to explode as it passed by her, sending her crashing on top of one of the venom production vats.
Meanwhile, Arcane was trying to fend off six cultists on his own, his tentacles transforming into every weapon imaginable as he alternated between trying to avoid being shot and trying to even the odds as quickly as possible. One tentacle wrapped around the waist of a cultist and hurled him through a nearby window, while another tentacle transformed into a spear and embedded itself in a nearby cultist's leg, making the man scream in agony for a moment before another tentacle transformed into a bat and smashed into his face, knocking several teeth loose as the man fell to the ground unconscious.
A moment later, Arcane threw his arms into the air, making his cape billow as six tentacles burst from different parts of Arcane's body, transforming into large 'pillar-like' objects that slammed into six different cultists with such force that the men and women were hurled into the walls, leaving indentations as they slid to the ground unconscious.
Finally managing to fall back to cover, Aqualad sent out a mental message to M'gann,
"M'gann, comms are down; link us up!"
With a weary shake of her head, M'gann complied with the order, and the group all shook their heads in annoyance for a moment at the strange sensation.
"Everybody online?" M'gann asked, her voice echoing from within their skulls,
"Yeah…" Superboy sighed in resignation,
"You know it, beautiful!" Kid-Flash replied, causing Arcane to groan.
"Wally! Seriously not the time!"
"Good, we need to regroup," Aqualad stated,
"Busy now," M'gann replied brusquely as she made two cultists rise into the air and slam into one another before dropping lifelessly to the ground.
XXXX
As Robin dropped to the factory floor, he quickly took account of his surroundings, only for a voice behind him to make him turn,
"Batman must indeed be busy if he sends his whelp to task me," Lord Kobra sneered as he approached the boy.
"What's wrong, Koby?" Robin smirked, "You look disconcerted."
"This is beneath me," Lord Kobra sneered before turning to his companion, "Shimmer, take him."
With a smirk, the female villain charged towards the grinning boy, causing Robin to jump over her and ready himself into a fighting stance; before the fight could actually begin, however, Robin heard Aqualad's voice reverberate in his head,
"Robin, now!"
With a growl of annoyance, Robin pulled a small ball from his belt and threw it onto the ground, causing a flash of light to erupt that temporarily blinded both Lord Kobra and Shimmer; when the pair could see again, they both looked around in annoyance as they saw Robin had vanished.
XXXX
"We need to retreat!" Aqualad's voice echoed through the mind link, "Kid, clear a path!"
Quickly doing as he was told, Kid-Flash zoomed through the cultists, cutting a swath through them as the team followed back to the secret tunnel entrance Bane had shown them. Superboy was still fighting Mammoth at this point and growled angrily as the beast slammed his fist across the teen's jaw; grabbing Mammoth's arm, Superboy spun on the spot and threw the villain at the rapidly approaching cultists, creating a pile of angry, cursing bodies. As he followed behind, Arcane used his tentacles to pull down the large heavy wooden boxes, creating an avalanche of wood that made the cultists run back toward the factory entrance, lest they be crushed.
Once they were all in, Superboy quickly grabbed the metal door and shoved it closed; their relief lasted only a moment before Mammoth slammed into the metal door, ripping it completely off of the wall as the team ran (or in Arcane and M'gann's case, flew) down the darkened tunnel.
"Superboy, the support beams!" Aqualad shouted as the team rushed down the tunnel. Superboy immediately began to smash the wooden beams to bits as he raced past, Mammoth and half a dozen cultists following behind him. A moment later, the roof caved in, and an impenetrable wall of rock and dirt separated the team from their pursuers, giving the team a much-needed moment to breathe.
Quickly cracking open four light tubes, Robin threw them to the ground in disgust before kneeling to the ground with a look of shame on his face.
"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong…?" Robin lamented,
"You do have the most experience," Aqualad replied softly, "But perhaps that is exactly what has left you so unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined, you do not need to talk. But this team is new and needs a leader who is clear and explicit. Above all, he cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands!" Robin retorted with a groan, throwing his hands up and running them down his face before turning back to the team. "Who am I kidding? You should lead us, Kaldur. You're the only one who can."
"Please!" Kid-Flash scoffed, "I can run circles…"
"Wally, come on," Robin said, cutting his friend off, "You know he's the one, we all do…"
"Hello, Megan!" M'gann cried jovially, "It's so obvious!"
"Could have told ya," Superboy smirked,
"Well, I mean, he is the best option, I suppose…" Arcane smirked.
Aqualad looked at Kid-Flash for a moment before the speedster seemed to realize that everyone had made up their minds; with a smirk, the boy nodded at Aqualad,
"Okay."
"Then I accept the burden," Aqualad replied seriously as he approached Robin and placed a warm hand on the boy's shoulder, "Until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon."
Robin nodded at that, a small smile gracing his face; turning back to the team, Aqualad spoke in a much more serious tone,
"Alright, then, our first priority is to ensure that the shipment doesn't leave this island."
"Funny, I had the same idea," Robin joked, "That's why I sabotaged their helicopter."
Kid-Flash guffawed at that before quickly slapping Robin on the back while Aqualad nodded in approval.
"Good work, Robin. But we cannot hope that your efforts will stop them for long. We must make our way back to the factory and devise a plan to stop them for good."
Nodding as one, the team quickly made their way back to the tunnel entrance,
"Sportsmaster is the supplier/buyer, but it still doesn't track," Robin said as the team raced down the dark chamber, "He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula or to get Kobra to do his dirty work!"
"And neither of them have the chops to bond the Blockbuster formula to venom," Kid-Flash added, "That took some major nerdage."
"I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg,'" Aqualad said softly as the team approached the tunnel entrance. They stopped when they saw that someone was already there.
"Halt ninos," Bane smirked, holding up his arm to show the team the detonator clutched in his fist, "I'm feeling explosive."
At Bane's words, the team looked up to see the glowing line of lights above their heads; one wrong move and the team would be buried alive under a literal mountain of rock and earth.
"You betrayed us!" Aqualad cried, "Why!"
"I want my factory back," Bane shrugged, "So, I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies or die trying."
"Kid, you will need a running start!" Aqualad called out over the mind link,
"No need," Arcane replied over the link, "He's mine!"
"If the latter, the Justice League would certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks," Bane continued, "And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would mine once more! Blowing the tunnel with all of you inside should have the same effect."
With a sinister smile, Bane raised the detonator to set off the explosives, only for Kid-Flash to zoom past, grabbing the detonator out of Bane's hand.
"And how are you gonna do that without this trigger thingy?" Kid-Flash asked with a smirk,
"As Bane screamed in outrage, Arcane sped past the team and crashed into the villain, slamming him into a nearby tree before Arcane began to pummel Bane's face; in mere moments, Bane's face looked like ground-up hamburger meat, and yet Arcane kept punching, screaming out his hatred and fury for the man who had destroyed Arcane's home.
"Do you remember what I told you would happen once you betrayed us?" Arcane hissed, goosebumps down Bane's body at how cold the voice sounded, "I'm a man of my word, Bane."
A tentacle suddenly appeared out of the top of Arcane's forearm and shifted into a jagged-looking blade, which Arcane placed under Bane's chin as the rest of the team watched in horror.
"Arcane!" M'gann called out, rushing forward, only to stop when two of Arcane's tentacles shot off the boy's back and transformed into swords, which pointed straight at the startled girl, "Stop!"
"Give me one good reason why I should?" Arcane hissed; seen only by Bane, Arcane's eyes appeared to be glowing with power, making his green eyes look all too similar to the same curse that had killed the boy's parents, and making the villain come to the sudden realization that Arcane wasn't kidding. He actually planned on killing Bane!
"Because if you do this, you'll forever tarnish your memory of Cassie," Robin stated with narrowed eyes, his hand resting on his belt, "She wanted you to live and accomplish her dream, so how are you going to do that from behind bars?"
For several tense moments, Arcane glared down at the villain, the team too tense to move and risk Arcane accidentally slitting Bane's throat; finally, just when Robin was planning on making a move, Arcane brought his fist back and slammed it into Bane's jaw, breaking it with a loud 'crack.'
Looking down at the unconscious man, Arcane felt rage like he had never known spread throughout his body; throwing his head back, Arcane screamed so loud that it felt like his throat would rip. Arcane's savage scream echoed throughout the forest and back to the factory behind them; Sportsmaster and Lord Kobra both frowned at the scream as the other cultists shuffled nervously.
"What the hell was that?" Sportsmaster asked as the noise faded,
"That," Lord Kobra replied with a strange expression on his face, "Was the sound of suffering…"
Back with the team, Arcane slowly rose to his feet and stepped away from Bane's fallen form, allowing Robin to do a quick check to ensure the man was still alive; once he had, Robin nodded at Aqualad, who sighed with relief.
"I know it's hard, Harry…" Aqualad whispered, placing a warm hand on the boy's shaking shoulder as Arcane faced away from Aqualad, "But you did the right thing."
"Thank you, Kaldur…" Arcane whispered, "You're right, Cassie would have been furious with me if I had followed through with it…"
"I know it hurts, Harry," Aqualad replied softly, "But you're not alone. We're here for you, and always will be."
"Yeah, what he said," Kid-Flash added with a smile. M'gann decided to forgo actual words and instead pulled Arcane into a hug, holding the boy tight as his shoulders shook.
"Come, we still have a mission to complete," Kaldur said softly, "Then, we can go home."
Robin, however, was staring at his friend with narrowed eyes; this was the second time that Arcane had lost control, and perhaps it was something that Batman needed to be made aware of.
XXXX
Sportsmaster stared at the surrounding area with a careful eye as the cultists tried to repair the helicopter; though he would never admit it, that scream had unnerved him in ways that he couldn't accurately describe. As one of the cultists approached, Sportsmaster's attention was brought back to the present,
"The helicopter is repaired, exalted one," the cultist replied with a bow.
Shimmer approached then and handed Sportsmaster the box containing the vials of the Blockbuster venom formula, which he took with a wicked smile that none could see due to his hockey mask.
As he turned to leave, the landing field was suddenly consumed in smoke; a moment later, Kid-Flash zoomed onto the field, knocking over cultists left and right as he followed the plan the team had created.
"Take the shipment!" Lord Kobra snarled at Sportsmaster, causing the villain to run for the helicopter as the other heroes began to attack; Superboy suddenly slammed onto the ground in front of Mammoth and Lord Kobra.
"Go again?" Superboy taunted, making the beast snarl with fury as he rushed forward, "Sorry, not the plan."
A moment later, a pillar of water slammed into Mammoth, knocking the villain from his feet and sending him sprawling to the floor; before he could gather his wits and counterattack, Aqualad stepped out of the shadows as the one controlling the water. Continuing to control the water with one hand, Aqualad stuck his other hand into the pillar and released a stream of electricity into it, which struck Mammoth with all its fury; Mammoth screamed as he was electrocuted before falling unconscious to the ground a second later.
While this was going on, Sportsmaster was keeping Superboy at bay with a continuous spray of gunfire; M'gann attempted to sneak behind the man, only for him to quickly realize she was there and wrap his arm around her throat, using her as a shield as he backed up towards the helicopter.
"This has been fun," Sportsmaster snarked, "But I gotta fly, see ya!"
Shoving M'gann towards Superboy, Sportsmaster raced into the helicopter and started it up; as the pair watched Sportsmaster get away, M'gann smirked as she held her open palm towards Superboy, showing the detonator that Kid-Flash had stolen from Bane. Pressing the button on top of it, the pair watched with smiles of victory as the helicopter was suddenly turned into a ball of flame, compliments of the explosives that Arcane had snuck inside, which was rapidly falling toward the factory behind them.
Sportsmaster could be seen parachuting to safety, but neither hero was much concerned about him, there was always another day to capture him; as the helicopter slammed into the factory, it exploded into an enormous tower of flame as the venom within was burned to ash.
Not far away, Robin was quickly losing his battle against Lord Kobra and was beginning to rethink his idea of fighting the cult leader; currently, Robin was on the ground, with Lord Kobra's boot pressed into his chest as the man glared down at him contemptuously. Shimmer was not far away, cursing as she tried to free herself from the bindings that Robin had hit her with.
"I am beset by mosquitos…" Lord Kobra sneered,
"Good." Robin groaned, "Cause this mosquito is mighty concerted over your pain!"
Knocking Lord Kobra's foot off his chest, Robin quickly rolled away before jumping to his feet and standing next to the other heroes, staring at the cult leader with protective fury. Seeing that he was outmatched and that the factory was now a smoky ruin, Lord Kobra smirked at the heroes for a moment before backing away into the shadow of the forest,
"Another time, then…"
"Get back here, you son of a Slytherin!" Arcane cursed as he charged forward, only to discover the man had disappeared.
"So, what's a Slytherin?" Robin asked; before Arcane could answer, however, Kid-Flash suddenly sped to one of the unconscious cultists and ripped the man's mask off,
"Ooh, souvenir!"
As the team wearily shook their heads at the speedster's antics, Robin gently punched Aqualad's shoulder with a laugh,
"So, you know that being our leader means you also get to explain this to Batman, right?"
Aqualad grimaced at that as the others looked at him with sympathy.
XXXX
"A simple recon mission," Batman growled, getting dangerously close to each hero's face as he stood in front of them, "Observe and report. That was all you had to do. You will each receive a written report detailing your MANY mistakes. Until then… Good job."
The team all looked up in surprise before smiles of delight began to spread across each of their faces.
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy," Batman continued, placing his hands behind his back and walking away from the group. "How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads determines character. Dismissed."
As the group began to shuffle away, Robin slowly approached his mentor, a look of worry on his face as he did so.
"You said you had something you wanted to discuss," Batman said softly, "What is it?"
Looking over at the team, Robin saw M'gann laughing at something that Wally had just said, while gently feeding Hedwig some treats; Harry was talking to Kaldur and seemed to be smiling.
"Nothing…" Robin lied after a moment of silence, "It was nothing…"
Batman looked unconvinced but let the matter drop, all the same; stepping past his ward without another word.
Robin didn't know why he lied to Batman. The only reason the boy could come up with was that Harry was his friend and a member of this team; therefore, he would keep Harry's dangerous nature a secret for now…
XXXX
As he stepped into the center of the room, Sportsmaster couldn't help but glare angrily at the screens where each member of 'The Light' stared down at him imperiously, their true identities hidden behind flashes of light.
"All I was able to recover was a single dose of Kobra venom," Sportsmaster growled angrily,
"A pity…" One member of the light replied softly, "But the drug can be reverse-engineered, so it is no great loss. What concerns me is the young heroes who continue to stick their noses in our plans—first with CADMUS labs, then with Mister Twister, and now, Santa Prisca."
"Once is happenstance," another hidden member of the light added, "Twice is a coincidence, but three times is enemy action. And enemies of the light shall not stand…"
XXXX
Far away, in a place that both existed and did not, a cloaked figure watched Harry Potter with narrowed eyes. The figure understood that her chosen was in terrible pain, but the decisions that Harry was currently making were perilous to his future and to the future of the entire universe.
"This cannot be allowed to continue..." The figure said softly, "I will not lose another one..."
Slowly rising to its feet, the figure stepped out into the darkness of its chamber to do what needed to be done before it was too late.
XXXX
Author's Note:
Holy crap, I didn't realize how long this episode would take to write! Lol, I hope you like how I've written it, and if not, let me know how I could have done it better.
To those who ask why Harry appears weaker in the last chapter when he was able to take on almost the entire Justice League during the Trigon arc; yes, I intend to make Harry the strongest being in the universe, but right now he's just a twelve year old kid. When Trigon fought the Justice League, he had access to nearly Harry's entire arsenal of powers, plus his own demonic abilities. Right now, Harry only has access to the power previously stated and does not have full access to all the powers he will one day command, and trust me, there will be a lot of them before the end.
Until next time!