"…What is this?", Batman asked us as Wally stood besides me and everyone pointed at me, making the Dark Knight look at me with narrowed eyes.
"I felt bad for Wally so I wanted to see if I can boost his speed and I may have overdone it somewhat."
"Wally is now able to go over 21 000 mph," Richard spoke up and Batman simply continued to keep his gaze on me as I shrugged before turning back to the group.
"We'll talk of that later. For now, we have two incidents that have taken place," He said while turning back towards the holographic screens floating behind him.
"At approximately 19:45 ECT, a group of mercenaries led by Bane on his island of Santa Prisca and a group of armed men led by two new villains started a war," Batman began as he maximised one of the screens, the playful atmosphere disappearing as we all paid attention.
"It appears to be that this new villain group has some need for Bane's supply of the neo-steroid Venom that is being produced. What's alarming is what happened at approximately 17: 45 MDT, a facility in Salt Flats, Colorado had a canister of Plutonium-238 stolen from them."
"That's at the same exact time," I answered as Batman brought forward another screen that had a man that was dressed in a long black overcoat with a red hood, red pants, black boots and gloves and a golden mask covering his face.
"The source of the attack appears to have been made by Psycho Pirate and yes, Superboy, the attacks were at the exact time."
"Think this is Lex's revenge for taking Chris away from him?", Wally asked and the others frowned as Batman simply nodded.
"The possibility for that being the case cannot be overruled, but for now, we will treat it as a joint-attack made by a different organization. The fight on Santa Prisca has been ongoing for the past three hours, but we don't know how much longer before Psycho Pirate decides to stop wasting time and just walk away."
"So, Psycho Pirate first and then Santa Prisca or is this two operations at the same time?"
"The latter. Robin, Aqualad, Ms. Martian, you three shall be heading to the facility to stop Psycho Pirate and get the Plutonium back. Superboy, Kid Flash and Goblin, you three shall be heading to Santa Prisca to stop this war between Bane and these two new villains as well as figure out just why they attacked his facility."
'Goblin?', I asked Connor even as I listened to Batman and stopped my smirk as the G-Gnome shrugged.
"I'm small, thin and a menace to anyone in my path. It fits."
"If that's the case, I believe sending Kid Flash and Goblin with Ms. Martian and sending Robin and Aqualad with me to the island would be better, sir," I said and they all looked at me as Batman simply hummed.
"Explain."
"Goblin and Ms. Martian are the only telepaths of the group and Goblin has experience in manipulating the mind to do his bidding so he'll be able to keep them out while Ms. Martian keeps them from being detected telepathically. Also, Kid Flash is faster than ever before so with their combined help, he will be able to not only get the plutonium back but also stop Psycho Pirate and take the mask away, which I presume is the source of his power?"
"You presumed correctly. What of Robin and Aqualad?"
"Robin has the most experience in dealing with Bane since he has had to fight the man alongside you and thus, his experience will be crucial in either stopping Bane or talking to him to ensure that we get him to surrender peacefully. Aqualad is the other heavy-hitter of this team and while I will be busy taking care of Bane in case negotiations go south, Robin needs an extra heavy-hitter to distract and potentially capture the other two villains on the island."
"…Damn, that's pretty good reasoning right there," Wally spoke up with a shrug and the others nodded as Batman frowned slightly before I smirked as he nodded.
"It is, indeed. Very well, we shall follow the plan presented by your leader."
"Leader?/ What?/ Wait, what?!/ Woah,woah~! I never said anything about a leader," Aqualad, Robin, Wally and I said respectively, to which Batman simply looked at us before turning his gaze directly at me.
"A leader is there to not only lead his team but also figure out the best course of action and make sure that the team performs to the best of their abilities. You lead by suggesting the plan, you decided the better course of action and you are making sure that your team is performing efficiently and to the best of their abilities with said plan. That is why you are a leader. If there is still some concerns about said leadership, you are free to discuss it when you get back. Dismissed."
"…One of you better become the leader when we get back or I'm making Megan the leader," I spoke up as Batman left and Robin simply scoffed while Wally snorted and Megan blushed.
"I-I don't believe I'm leadership material."
"Nonsense. All you need is to figure out the best plan and you're golden. Anyway, you, Connor and Wally ready for this mission?", I asked and she took a deep breath before slowly nodding.
"Not really, but we have to do what we can…right?", She asked with a nervous giggle and I smiled as I patted her on the shoulders and nodded.
"You'll do great, just like always. Just keep calm and lead the others to success, okay?"
"O-Okay. Okay."
"I will help her in case she gets distracted."
"I do not get distracted, thank you very much!", Megan spoke with a huff and I smirked as Connor simply shrugged before looking over at Wally as he threw a rapid barrage of jabs while bouncing from foot to foot.
"You ready for your mission, Mr. Boxer?"
"Always! With this new speed~ Hoowee~! I'm about to run laps on these idiots!"
"Remember, don't get arrogant and keep calm because if anything happens to these two, I'm dragging you to the depths of the ocean and drowning you there," I answered with a serious look and he gulped slightly before I chuckled and gave him a smile.
"Just kidding…or am I?"
"I take it back. This guy is far too dark to be our leader. Are we sure he's not a villain?!"
"He is simply playing…right?", Kaldur asked as he looked at me and I smiled before nodding as I patted Wally on the shoulder.
"I believe it is called morbid humour."
"Dark humour."
"Right! Dark humour is the name. Thank you Connor."
"My pleasure."
"If we're all done socializing, Batman did say that we don't have long before Psycho Pirate decides to leave so can we leave?", Richard asked with a frown and I raised an eyebrow before shrugging.
"Sure thing. Just know that if you keep stressing like that, you might get gray hair before you turn twenty. Then you'll actually be Grayson. Heh, get it?", I spoke and was proud at Megan's pity giggles and Connor's sarcastic laughter while the other three just looked at me before Kaldur spoke up.
"…How is he our leader?"
"Everybody's a critic."
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"We're approaching the drop point!", Megan called out and I gave a thumbs-up as Robin, Aqualad and I stood at the opening in the centre of the Bio-Ship.
"Got it! Good luck to you guys!"
"Same to you!", Wally shouted and Robin, Aqualad and I simply gave a thumbs-up before I took a deep breath as the ship began to fly lower.
"In three…two…one…now!", With Connor's callout, Aqualad dropped down into the water and Robin and I waited a few more seconds as we flew across land before Robin leapt onto my back as I dropped down.
Waiting until we were a few meters from impact, Robin quickly leapt from my back and spread his cape out to activate its parachute mode while I dropped onto the ground with a heavy thud, the boy wonder landing next to me only moments later.
"Aqualad, we have landed. Are you ready?"
"I have made it into position and ready to start the operation."
"Good, we start in three…two…on-Robin's gone," I muttered while pinching the bridge of my nose as I looked to my side, unable to see any sign of the boy wonder anywhere.
"How did he vanish from your senses?", Aqualad asked and I simply shook my head before frowning as I saw a squadron of five coming from the left in front of me and another eight from the right.
"I'll shout at Robin later. Meet at the designated meeting point to the south-east in five?"
"See you there," He answered and I nodded before I began to rush down the hill, hearing the two squadrons shooting at each other before I frowned as I broke the tree line to see Bane standing at the front line of his team.
With a grunt, the ground under me cracked as I dove forward, Bane spinning to me in surprise only to wheeze as he got a lariat to the chest that sent him rolling head over heels into a tree.
Moving and ducking around the men shooting at me now, I was quick to pick up a series of rocks from the floor before rapidly throwing them at the soldiers.
Each was thrown with enough force to not only shatter their weapons but also sent them flying ass over kettle through the air, to which I quickly rushed in and knocked them all out one by one to make sure they were out.
Turning as I heard Bane groaning, I simply frowned as I saw Robin standing on the man's chest with his staff aimed at his head.
"Firstly, Robin, put the weapon down. Secondly…", I grunted as I kicked outwards, Bane's eyes rolling into the back of his head as he was knocked out completely by a kick to the jaw while Robin looked surprised as I lifted him up by the collar.
"Listen up because I'm only going to say this once. When we make a plan, we expect everyone to follow it. You're no longer working for the guy that lets you act as you please. You're on a team now and that means you follow the decision of the team because if one screws up, all of us suffer. Understood?"
"I understand," He spoke with a frown and I shook my head as I placed him down before turning my head right as Aqualad burst through the bushes with a frown.
"…Was it necessary?", He asked and I simply gestured to the unconscious Bane, to which he nodded before he looked at Robin who frowned.
"I get it, okay? I won't just run off again."
"Good. We can't afford to have a precious member of the team be lost because of their own stupidity."
"See, you thought I said it harshly and then you hear that," I spoke up and Robin snorted as Aqualad just looked confused at our words.
"Was it something I said?"
"Eh, don't worry about it. Anyway, should we start the interrogation?", I asked while gesturing towards Bane and Aqualad nodded as he walked closer, with me helping the man sit upright as Robin tied him to the tree before Aqualad woke him up with a powerful spark of electricity.
"Urgh~! What the hell?!", Bane growled as I picked up the numerous men that were knocked out while Robin and Aqualad began talking to him.
"Quiet! Who is attacking your island?"
"Why the hell do you wanna know?"
"Because we wanna stop them from taking away your supply of Venom and doing who knows what with it, dipshit. Now, stop being a hard-ass and give us the information," I spoke up from where I was tying the large group of henchmen to a tree and shrugged at the stern gazes from both Robin and Aqualad.
"Fuck! Fine, I don't know who the hell is attacking me, but if you wanna find out, there's a secret entrance that I could show guys that will let you enter secretly and see who it is."
"And why should we trust you?", Aqualad asked with a frown and I spoke up before the wrestler could.
"Because the enemy of his enemy is his friend, right Bane?"
"Hehehehe~ Right. I like this one."
"You're seriously thinking of working with this guy?", Robin whispered as he stood up and walked over, Kaldur looking just as confused and concerned as I sighed and shook my head.
"I don't want to, but if we try to go with our own method, it may result in us losing the Venom samples to this new organization."
"Hah, fine, but how are we going to make sure he's going to do as he said?", Aqualad asked and I simply smirked as I looked towards Bane with a sly look in my eyes.
"Oh, I got an idea."
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"This is demeaning," Bane grumbled as we walked through the forest of his island and I rolled my eyes while adjusting the grip of the spit roast he was on, Kaldur doing the same while Robin typed away at the computer on his wrist.
"Oh, shut up? Or would you rather I tie a rope around your balls, tie it to my foot and then yank you forward with each step?"
"…You wouldn't do that to a fellow man" Bane spoke with a frown, but even he looked nervous as I smirked and shrugged.
"A fellow man? Not at all, but I'm the hero and you're the villain. I have to do what it takes to make sure the world survives even if I have to sacrifice a future generation to do so."
"And you people call us the villains."
"In Kaldur's and I's defence, we wanted to let you walk freely."
"That's a lie. You wanted to make him have a collar around his neck."
"I'd rather take the balls rope than the collar," Bane spoke with a huff and Robin sorted before I turned to Aqualad as he spoke up.
"How much longer?"
"I can hear voices up ahead from the cliff so a few more seco-Ah, we're here," I whispered as I crouched down, Robin and Aqualad doing the same before I turned and ripped Bane's bindings off.
"Alright, bud. Time to hold up your end of the bargain."
"Pendejo," I heard him whisper under his breath as he walked away, but I ignored as I watched him walk over to a giant boulder before ripping the side of it off to reveal a tunnel that led down from the mountain.
"Just follow it down and you'll get to your location."
"Good," I answered while chopping his neck, blinking in surprise and a bit of pride as I watched Bane's eyes roll back and collapse to the floor.
"That actually worked? Holy crap."
"Must you bring harm to others?", Aqualad asked with a frown as he moved Bane out of the way and I shrugged while Robin tied the man back up onto a tree.
"He was going to use us or betray us so I made sure he didn't bring harm to any of us."
"And what if he had not?", He asked with a frown and I simply raised an eyebrow at that.
"Really? You honestly believe he would not have tried to betray us to get his supply of Venom back?"
"…He may have, but that does not warrant using excessive force to harm someone who has not inflicted the harm you spoke of."
"So, you would rather he first harm and/ or kill someone before we stop him, even though someone that has fought him has no problem with what I just did? I understand that you want to try and put everyone on a better path and I do too, but there's a fine line between being noble and being stupid. One must know how to walk that line."
"He is kind of right here. Bane has tried many times in the past to betray Batman when the two of them are working together," Robin chimed in with a shrug and Aqualad sighed as he nodded.
"I understand. It's just…"
"You like to see the good in others no matter how small it is. To be honest, I respect that. A lot of people tend to only focus on the bad so it's good to have someone that can see the shred of humanity left inside of everyone," I said with a smile as I raised a fist and Aqualad smiled as he bumped it before we nodded and turned to Robin who crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
"In no way, shape or form am I doing a fist bump with you two. You can do that on your own."
"Come on~ One fist bump?", I asked and the boy wonder glared at us for a while before I grinned as he huffed and very quickly bumped his fist against ours.
"Hey~ Well, now let's get ready to rumble with these goof…Oh, me and my big mouth," I muttered as we made it to the end of the tunnel, looking at the two armies standing a few paces away from each other.
I recognized the Mammoth with his Kobra-Venom upgrade as well as that girl, the Prometheus-looking guy and Sportsmaster, but what surprised me was the monster standing right besides Mammoth with a fanged grin.
Dark green scales shimmered in the dim light of the moon and the bipedal crocodile humanoid towered over everyone as his muscles bulged and flexed with each movement, his lower body thankfully covered by a pair of blue baggy pants that were torn up to the knees as well as a thick collar around his neck.
"Bane was fine, but Killer Croc?! Yeah, we need to go now!", Robin whispered and I didn't disagree as we went to turn around only to be surprised by the sight of a smirking Bane standing in front of us.
"Next time, chico maravilla, don't use the same knots the dark knight does. Enemy Attack! Enemy Attack!", He shouted while shooting out the support of the tunnel and I cursed as I watched in collapse before spinning around just in time to see the roaring duo of Killer Croc and Mammoth charging at us.
"Well, looks like we're fighting, boys! Come and get it, bastards!", I exclaimed. as I charged at both Mammoth and Killer Croc, the ground trembling below our feet as we leapt up at the other and clashed with a roar.
A/N: And we end on a cliff-hanger~!
Like I said, this story is going to be half-canon up to the five year timeskip jump that occurred in the original story and from there, I'm freeballing it.
Also, I don't know if Killer Croc is in the show considering I never saw him in season 1, 2 or what I've seen of season 3, but he felt like too good of a monster to not add and he perfectly fits in with the snake theme that Kobra guy was going for.
Next chapter: Making some wooly clothes and a pair of leather boots.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!