Leadership [Young Justice]

Six

"We've got an explosion at STAR Labs!" La'gaan shouted.

"Oh no, Ed!" Virgil exclaimed. Mal looked around at the limited amount of team members and that had showed up at the alarm. Static, Lagoon Boy, Blue Beetle, the two newbies, and himself.

"Everyone, to the tubes! Head for Taos!"

Thankfully, the zeta-tubes seemed to be the only thing still working at the STAR Labs' Erdel initiative. But all heck had broken loose. flaming debris fell from the ceiling, and smoke filled the air. Mal waved his hand in front of his face, but it was a magic gust from Traci 13' staff that cleared the air enough for them to see the injured scientists lying around.

"What happened here?" Guardian asked Doctor Adam Strange, lifting the scientist's arm up over his head, and helping him towards the mostly clear exit. 

(If I see one comment saying "BuT hE's MaRvEl!!1!1!!111" I am going to scream. And if you comment just to spite me you're getting blocked) 

"Get the civilians to safety!" He yelled over his shoulder to the others, who had mostly been just standing around, staring in shock at the scene and wishing they could just hop back through the tubes. Static grabbed his friend, Ed, with help from Solstice. Lagoon Boy lifted Doctor Dorado and followed hot on their heels, giving the fires as much of a berth as he could.

Adam coughed against Mal's chest, wheezing with the effort. He coughed again, his body shaking.

Mal winced at the invasive sound. "D-Don't worry about talking if it's too much for you, Doc," he amended, "Just keep working on breathing!"

He picked up the pace in the hallway, which was mostly clear, but the ceiling shook and rubble crumbled down inches from Mal's nose.

"I got this!" Traci and Blue Beetle shouted at the same time. Traci shouted a spell while Blue powered up his sonic canon, and they both aimed it at the rubble, which was eviscerated in moments.

"Good work!" Guardian nodded as he urged Doctor Strange forward. 

"Go look and see if there's anyone else trapped inside, then get them out!" He told Traci and Blue. 

Solstice took care of making sure that the rest of their path out of the building was clear, They got the three out to the parking lot. They had all fainted from excessive smoke inhalation, but they were still breathing.

"Medics still won't be here for a few minutes," Mal grit his teeth, noticing how Eduardo Dorado Junior's breathing was beginning to slow.

"I-I know some healing spells," Lagoon Boy spoke up. "They're basic, but they could probably help."

"Do it," Guardian commanded. Lagoon Boy began to chant, his tattoos on his arms and back glowing, even as he turned to Solstice and Static.

"You two, with me. We're gonna clear that building."

"I got the second floor," Solstice said, analyzing the sunken staircase. Elevators were virtually useless in this situation, so no use looking for them.

Traci 13 and Blue Beetle came in from the way Solstice had gone, carrying about three people each.

"Scarab reads about ten other people in the building!" Jaime said.

Mal nodded. Ten. Ten was doable. They could rescue ten people together before this building fell down.

"Keep up the good work!" He called after them. 

Guardian and Static found three people knocked out in the Labs' cafeteria. Guardian took two, and Virgil insisted on dragging the other one out all by himself. As the building shook and burned around them, Mal began to doubt that they could actually rescue the rest of the people in the building. Static nearly fell over under the weight of his rescue-ee, and it was getting incredibly hard to breathe. And then the roof above their heads was pulled off, and a giant glowing hand reached.

"Alright, Tye!" Static cheered, right before he started coughing. Tye Longshadow's giant-form carefully carried them over and deposited them in the parking lot, with Blue, Traci, Solstice, Lagoon Boy, and everyone they'd saved, along with Asami Koizumi, who carried two scientists slung over her shoulders like a couple of sacks of flour.

"Virgil called us, said that Ed was in trouble," Tye grunted as his giant-form disappeared, helping Ed sit up and patting him on the back to help him cough out the bad air. "STAR really needs to stop getting attacked by whacked-up nutjobs."

"I don't think this was an attack, Tye," Blue said, looking at the smoking remains of STAR Labs.

"Sumimasen!" Asami exclaimed, hugging Virgil tightly in greeting.

"Y-yeah, Sumimasen," Virgil agreed, dusting rubble off his shoulders.

"My son!" Someone screamed. Guardian spun towards the rest of the STAR Labs employees they'd rescued from the fire, finding a man with "STONE" embroidered on his labcoat running between each of the scientists, looking for someone. "Have you seen my son?" He shouted.

"Sir, please, you need to calm down and rest," Solstice tried to tell him calmly. 

The scientist shook his head frantically. "My son, my Victor is still in there!" He cried. 

"Sir, are you sure?" Mal asked.

"Yes! I was speaking to him when the explosion went off! In my lab! At the back of the building!" Stone insisted. Pounding his fists at his head, head fell to his knees. "I need to tell him...I didn't tell him..." He sobbed. Jaime awkwardly tried to help Kiran comfort Doctor Stone, while the other heroes helped the medics revive and tend to the other twenty-something scientists.

Mal turned to La'gaan. "I'm going back in. And until I come back out, you're in charge." He said.

"Wait, what!?"

But Mal was already inside the still-flaming building

MAL AND KAREN ARE MARRIED AND HAVE A DAUGHTER IN REBIRTH I'M DEAD DC IS TOO GOOD TO ME