Eclipso {Young Justice/Aqualight}

:07:

"What are you doing?" Klarion asked.

"I'm concentrating," Kiran had, getting into a yoga pose she knew very well. Donna had her create a routine to help her regulate her powers and keep fit. Kiran had decided to use yoga to keep her body and mind in tune, and keep her powers regulated. It was something she had always done with her parents anyway.

"No!" Klarion whined, "No concentrating!"

Kiran looked at the Witch Boy in surprise. "But...isn't concentrating supposed to help you control your powers or something?"

Klarion snarled, eyes flashing red. "No! Concentrating means you're holding yourself back, Sunshine. If you want to use your powers, you gotta let it all out."

Kiran glanced around uneasily. They were still in the library tower. That's all that there seemed to be to Klarion's lair, probably floating somewhere in limbo or nonbeing like Doctor Fate's tower. Wasn't very useful information to relay back to Donna to try to plan an attack. Nor was it very helpful in planning potential escape routes.

"What about the books?" She asked nervously. "Won't they get burned? Don't you need them?"

"I said, let it all loose!" With that, Klarion lost his temper, hurling a ball of fiery red magical mana. 

Kiran barely had a chance to scream before she threw her hands up in front of her face, her only thought being for survival. Light burst back at Klarion from her hands, deflecting the bolt of his magic.

"C'mon, sunshine, you can do better than that!" Klarion poised, ready to strike again.

Kiran knew that he would kill her if she gave him the chance, but she couldn't give him the chance. Too many people were counting on her, Mum and Dad needed her to come home, Donna and the team needed her to get back to them, and Aqualad would need her help in staying undercover. She couldn't let any of them down.

She put on her best "angry face", the one Charley always said made her look like a puppy, and tried to forget months of control in an instant, swarming Klarion with a burst of light.

Teekl yowled, and darted under a chair. If Kiran didn't harm the familiar, then Klarion would make it through anything she threw at him.

When she was too tired to hold her arms up anymore, she let the light fade. The acrid scent of burning parchment filled the room, and when the smoke cleared, Klarion was floating, smirking at her.

"Beautiful," He whispered, floating closer. Kiran involuntarily took a step back as he landed right in front of her.

"I didn't know you had it in you, sunshine."

Teekl meowed, entwining herself around Kiran's legs like a pair of shackles. 

:::::::

They weren't exactly surprised to see him at this point. By this point everyone in Manta's fleet knew of Manta's claim that Aqualad, of all people, was his son. What was even crazier, was that Aqualad seemed to believe him, and proved it by freeing his supposed father from captivity in Belle Reve.

It wasn't surprise that followed Kaldur, but distrust, etched into the eyes of each of his former adversaries as he followed Manta across the bridge of the Manta Sub.

Though, technically, they were still his adversaries. Kaldur just had to pretend that they weren't, for the time being.

"You didn't have much of a cause to learn piloting in Atlantis, did you?" David chuckled, taking his seat at the helm. Wisely, most of their eavesdroppers at least acted like it was normal to have the leader of the Justice League's covert ops team, rather than silently asking their leader if it was wise to have the man who had almost single-handedly taken down the Manta organization on their bridge.

Kaldur pretended to ignore them as well, for the time being. "Sadly, no. However, I did receive some experience piloting the Martian bioship that was used to transport the team to many of their missions."

That got everyone's attention, even the most skilled of their actors.

"Interesting," Manta hummed. "Tell me, my son, do you know of any ways that the bioship can be hacked."

Honest as ever, Kaldur shook his head. "Not by your computers," He gestured disdainfully. "Like most Martian creations, it is organic, with a mind of its own. It would require a living computer, more sophisticated than a mere android to break into its systems. Though I suspect you know that it, as well as Miss Martian, are vulnerable to sonic waves, such as those of Vertigo."

Manta smiled, pleased. "We have friends with the means to create this technology. I will see what they can do about it."

Kaldur nodded. Another thing he would have to warn Nightwing and Troia about. 

"Ah, no worries, my son," Manta said. "I will have you leading this organization in no time."

That's what Kaldur was afraid of.

"My men have located a large shipwreck, containing a prize that our friend Klarion has become interested in."

"Oh?" Kaldur asked.

Manta nodded, scrolling through the feed on his personal tablet. "Our problem is that it's too close to the borders of Atlantis. Your first task, Kaldur'ahm, will be to lead a squad to retrieve our prize."

The troopers weren't even pretending to ignore the not-so-private conversation between father and son. David stood at the head of the bridge, facing his unflinching son.

"Prove yourself loyal to me, my son, to this organization," David spread his arms, clearly intending for his men to hear and bear witness.

"Break through the wards of Atlantis, and bring me the Scroll of Ra."