MOUNT JUSTICE
September 23, 06:34 EDT
Claire sat next to Wally as Green Arrow placed a bowl of pretzels on the table in front of the two.
"Thanks... but no, thanks," Wally stated, pushing the pretzel bowl away from him.
Robin scoffed, "Yeah, what we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings."
"Exactly!" Wally agreed.
Claire shrugged and grabbed at the bowl. "If you don't want it, more for me, I guess."
"Nah uh. Leave the bowl." Wally commanded, reaching for the pretzels, only to have his hand swatted away.
"I don't think so, Kid Dork. These pretzels are now the sole property of Claire Bowen." The golden blonde announced as she began to shove pretzels into her mouth.
"YOU KNEW!" Claire heard Conner scream, causing her head to snap up from her devouring session.
M'gann levitated from her seat at the table to head toward the clone.
"Conner, what are you doing?" She asked frantically as Claire flew down next to her with Wally following the superheroine.
The clone grabbed Aqualad by the front of his suit and slammed him against one of the cave walls.
Claire dashed forward, "Get off him!" She ordered as she grabbed the back of Conner's T-shirt and threw him back away from Kaldur.
The clone slammed against the ground on his back, sliding back a little from the force she had used to pull him off of the Atlantean.
Conner growled at her as he stood back up. "Get out of my way Claire," He ordered lowly.
Claire moved into a combat stance, "Try it. I dare you." She replied as her fists began to glow ever so slightly.
The rest of the group stared wide-eyed as the two heavy hitters of the team seemed to be about to duke it out.
"Are you seriously defending him? Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" Conner revealed, taking Claire and the rest of the team by surprise.
Claire turned around to face the Atlantean, "Kaldur, what is he talking about?"
Kaldur glanced away from her and the rest of the team before speaking, "Yes, I was aware that there was a mole."
Claire sighed, moving away from Kaldur to stand next to Wally.
"You knew?"
"And didn't tell us!" Wally exclaimed, throwing his arms out to his sides.
"I sought to protect the team from-" He began but was interrupted by Artemis.
"Protect us from what? Knowledge that might have saved our lives?" She asked.
Conner turned to M'gann, "You almost died!" He stated with a growl. But the Martian just stared at him with shock written on her face.
"Enough."
That single word from the Batman brought complete silence to the area. It was so quiet that you could practically hear a pin drop.
"With Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift." Batman announced, gesturing to Captain Marvel, who walked forward with a smile on his face.
"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys."
Claire smiled slightly at his words. It wasn't every day that you heard a grown man use the word 'hanging.'
Conner glared at Kaldur, "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna-" He began, but Batman walked in front of him.
"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a league responsibility. You will leave him to us."
"I have another assignment for the team," Batman stated, turning around and gesturing to a holographic newspaper appearing in front of them.
Wally nudged Claire, "Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?"
Claire groaned, "Seriously, Batman?"
"Batman, please! Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase!" Robin exclaimed.
Batman's eyes narrowed into his signature glare, "I never joke about the mission."
Robin's eyes grew wide before he went silent and looked away from the glare.
"I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidences. Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out." Batman ordered.
Kaldur nodded, and the team began to walk out of the mission room. Claire moved with Wally as he walked in front of Kaldur, "Hmph. Your team."
Claire lightly hit him on the arm, "Stop it." She ordered as they followed Robin into the vehicle room.
Once they got in front of the bio-ship, Captain Marvel flew down in front of the trio.
"You're coming with?" Robin asked in surprise before Captain Marvel shrugged. "Sure! we'll have a blast."
Robin's eyes narrowed, turning around to face Wally and Claire.
"Translation, he blames us for the Red Fiasco. Doesn't trust us."
Just then, Kaldur walked up behind the trio, "It's a big club." Wally stated, giving the Atlantean a side-eye before following Claire, who shook her head disappointedly and walked into the ship.
-
NORTHERN INDIA
September 23, 21:36 IST
Robin and Artemis jumped out of the bio-ship as it landed, quickly scouting the area before the rest of the team walked out of the vehicle.
"All clear," Robin called out, reappearing in front of the team with Artemis at his side.
Kaldur nodded and pressed the emblem on his suit, "Switch to stealth, and we'll review mission parameters."
"Parameters? We don't need no stinkin' parame-" Wally began going on a rant, but Claire quickly covered his mouth and pressed his emblem, putting his suit into stealth mode.
She gave him a look before tapping her own emblem.
"It's recon. We know what to do." Robin stated with a harsh glare in Kaldur's direction.
"Kid, Robin..." The Atlantean began with a saddened tone.
"The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us," Robin stated angrily, gesturing to himself, Wally, Claire, and Kaldur.
The speedster nodded, "Or did you forget that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?"
Kaldur looked down as Wally turned to Claire.
"Well? You comin'?" He asked, pulling his goggles down over his eyes.
Claire shook her head, "No. You're all actin' like a bunch of babies. So what if he didn't tell us? He obviously did it for a reason." She stated stubbornly with crossed arms.
"You serious? He almost got you killed! I don't know what I'd do if you-" Wally started but stopped abruptly with a frown, turning around and sprinting through the jungle trees. Robin followed closely behind him.
Claire went silent, staring at the spot he once stood before her face hardened, "And what's that supposed to mean?" She exclaimed, turning around to face the other teens.
All of them looked at her with disbelieving expressions except Captain Marvel, who looked just as lost as Claire. If not even more so.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Conner walked over to M'gann and grabbed her arm, "Come on. I'll keep you safe."
The Martian snatched her arm out of his grip and stared up at him with a glare.
"I just wanna protect you." He stated, confused at her hostile reaction.
Artemis moved next to M'gann with a glare at the clone. "Like Aqualad protected us? I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health."
The two walked away with Conner gazing after them.
He turned to Kaldur with a glare, "Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be in charge."
The Atlantean looked surprised before he spoke, "I-" But he was stopped by Conner, putting his hand up and jumping away from the now group of three.
Claire looked on with a disapproved expression before Captain Marvel spoke, "Um, did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?"
"Guess the plan is to wing it," Claire responded as she hovered into the air.
After a while of them moving through the jungle, Kaldur finally called up to a flying Claire.
"Stellar, there's something that you should see!" He announced, cupping his hands over his mouth before the heroine landed next to them.
Claire kneeled down to looked over the object of Kaldur's query.
"Footprints?" She questioned, getting a nod of response from the Atlantean.
"Guess this is where Mayor Hills' monkey business went down." Captain Marvel announced before turning to Kaldur.
"So, at least we've confirmed his story, right?"
The Atlantean just kept facing ahead with a look of concentration on his face.
Claire and Captain Marvel turned to each other before Claire walked beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You okay?" She asked with a concerned expression.
That seemed to snap him out of his stupor. He turned to the two other heroes with saddened eyes.
"My apologies, Captain, Stellar. I am... plagued by doubts." Kaldur revealed to the two. Captain Marvel raised an eyebrow, while Claire nodded in understanding.
"Perhaps I was wrong to withhold-" He began but was interrupted by the sound of rustling from deep in the jungle trees.
Claire's eyes narrowed sharply, "Who's there?" She called out into the jungle, expecting a response but getting none.
Until three super-sized elephants stampeded out of the trees.
Claire gasped while Captain Marvel quickly jumped into action, flying directly into the face of one of the elephants. Before the elephant's trunk wrapped around his torso and flung him into a nearby tree.
Claire clenched her fists, "Alright, let's dance ugly."
The blonde flew up under one of the elephants and uppercut it before wrapping her arms around its trunk and doing a front flip in the air, slamming it down on its back.
"You know, this might be animal abuse, but it's for the greater good."
The elephant that she had knocked over rolled to the side and stood back up. It's red eyes glaring at her.
"Back for more already?" She asked with her hands on her hips, preparing to fly at the monster again before Kaldur stopped her with a yell.
"Remove the collars!" He announced.
Claire nodded, flying up to the elephant, holding her right hand out and blasting a steady stream of golden energy into the object. Cutting it in half and causing it to drop from the animal's neck.
The elephant's red eyes stayed on her before softening as the collar landed. The animal made a small sound of approval, strutting off with the other elephants following.
Claire flew down to stand next to Captain Marvel and Kaldur with her hands on her hips.
"Pretty sweet how you figured out that the problem was the collars." Captain Marvel commended the Atlantean.
Kaldur nodded, "But the collars indicate an intelligence behind the attack. The rest of the team may also be at risk."
Claire tapped the comlink in her ear, "Hello? Anybody there?" She called but only got static in response.
"Coms are down." She stated with a shrug.
Kaldur growled, "And Miss Martian failed to establish a telepathic link before we split up."
"Uh, actually, you let everyone split up before communications were set." Captain Marvel corrected.
Kaldur's eyes went wide, "What? But they would not listen!" He replied, gesturing his arm out toward the expanse of the jungle.
"I guess. But back at the cave, Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word."
Claire nodded, agreeing with the second Captain that she knew.
"But then again, Batman is Batman," Claire replied with a thoughtful expression.
"Hey, you don't have to 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." Captain Marvel stated, his motivational speech almost as good as Kaldur's own.
The Atlantean stared at Captain Marvel with a confused expression before seeming to understand the statement's reason.
"Batman takes command. He has to... for the good of the league. Thank you for helping me understand." Kaldur stated thankfully.
"Hey, Wisdom of Solomon." Captain Marvel replied smugly, his fists on his hips.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" M'gann's voice rang in Claire's mind.
"Yes, Miss Martian. Report." Kaldur replied.
"Artemis and I were attacked by animals wearing inhibitor collars, like those used on convicts at Belle Reve prison."
Claire snapped her fingers in realization, "That's why they looked so familiar."
Captain Marvel, who wasn't connected to the link, just stood around awkwardly until he spotted another collared animal.
"Cool, a tiger! I'll be right back!" He announced to the team over his shoulder before running and taking off into the air, after the animal.
"Captain, wait!" Kaldur called out, but the leaguer was already gone.
"Hey, Speed of Mercury." The Atlantean mocked, causing Claire to roll her eyes.
"Don't worry; I'll go after him." She announced, flying off after the clad red hero.
When she finally caught up to him. He was slowly flying to a tiger that growled at him menacingly.
"Hey there, mister. Bet you'd like good ol' cap to take that nasty collar off ya, huh?" He asked.
Captain Marvel landed in front of the tiger with his hand outstretched.
Claire followed, standing next to the hero with her arms crossed, at least until she felt that something was wrong.
"Captain get ba-" She began, but four mechanical rods protruded from the ground in a square, trapping the two heroes in.
The rods glowed and a blue energy field formed around them.
Claire and Captain Marvel dropped to the ground. The energy field felt to Claire as if the weight of an entire building was holding her down.
She couldn't move a muscle.
They were trapped.
-
FIVE MINUTES LATER
"Miss Martian... I need a telepathic link-up with the entire team, now." Kaldur ordered frantically.
"Link established."
Artemis scoffed, "Should you really still be giving us orders? And should you really be following them?"
"Listen, please." Kaldur sighed into the link.
"Oh, good, Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that." Wally said sarcastically.
"Hey, Kaldur, KF and I were attacked by giant vultures. Course, since we're the moles, you probably think we attacked ourselves."
"If he did, he wouldn't tell you," Artemis added.
"Superboy, are you online or just pouting?" M'gann asked with a condescending tone.
"Busy. Call back later." The Boy of Steel replied sassily.
"What gets me is how nonchalant he is about not telling us." Wally jeered.
"He should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant." Robin added angrily.
Artemis scoffed, "How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?"
"Or if Conner doesn't trust us to take care of ourselves?" M'gann added with a sigh.
"Did he really think you, me, or Claire could have been the mole? Us three have known each other for years, and Claire's saved our lives more than once." Wally stated with disbelief.
"Trust is a two-way street, and you'd know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them!" M'gann shouted into the link.
"Not that we'd do that. Never." Artemis added sarcastically.
Wally scoffed, "Huh, Claire's silent. That's a first. Did you finally realize that this is all his fault?"
"Enough!" Kaldur growled into the link.
"Both Stellar and Captain Marvel have been captured."
"WHAT!" Wally's voice rang through everyone's minds.
"How'd she get captured? You were with her! How did you let her get taken?" The speedster exclaimed angrily.
Kaldur sighed, "I do not know how they were captured, but we must act as a team to save them."
"Hmph. Under your leadership? I don't think so; we'll get her back without you-"
"This is not up for debate. You all chose me to lead. When the mission is over, if you wish to select a new leader, I will happily step down. But until that time, I am in command here." Kaldur snapped, silencing Wally.
-
Claire awoke to a bright purple light shining down on her.
"Hm?" She mumbled as her eyes focused, only to find various scanners, screens, and lab equipment was strewn around above her.
The blonde tried to get up, but she couldn't feel anything; she couldn't move her head or the rest of her body.
"Seriously? I can't move for the second time today." She thought inwardly.
A soft snarl came from beside her, causing her gaze to travel to the right and find the tiger from before staring down at her.
Her gaze moved to the left, and there sat Captain Marvel, lying still on a medical bed identical to hers.
"Psst, Captain Marvel. Wake up." Claire whispered over, eliciting a groan from the leaguer before his eyes opened.
"Stellar? What's happening?" He asked nervously.
Claire opened her mouth to say that she didn't know the answer to his question before a third voice interrupted her.
"The brain enhancement of this tigre already pays dividends, no? For he has brought us prizes most glorious." A French voice announced.
"Le Capitan Marvel et Stellar."
"Why can't I move?" The leaguer asked.
The sound of mechanical whirring and buttons beeping entered Claire's ears as the mystery person spoke.
"It is obvious, no? Your collars are set to prohibit le movement from the neck down." They answered.
"I have allowed you both to retain the power of speech, as your reactions may be instructive during las procédures."
"Las procédures? What procedures?" Captain Marvel wondered aloud.
The mysterious character chuckled lowly, "I have often pondered the effect of your super pouvoirs on basic human anatomy."
"Truthfully. I long to see le Wisdom de Solomon up close. But Stellar was a pleasant gift."
Claire's eyes widened in realization, "Wait, you said procédures as in plural? As in me too?"
The voice chuckled once more. "Yes, Stellar, you heard correctly. Instead of studying the invulnerability of one, with you here, I have two source matériaux to choose from."
"Now, we must not delay any longer. Monsieur Mallah, prepare for surgery."
Claire heard the sound of large footsteps hitting the floor. As she looked over to the right, a large gorilla stood glaring down at her with a snarl before it pulled a medical mask over its face.
"Nope, nuh-uh. If I'm gonna get cut open, I better not catch some weird gorilla virus or I'm gonna sue you for all you're worth." Claire shouted at the French man, still in the shadows.
"Your humor is enjoyable, but it will not save you from what is to come." The person replied.
Immediately after, the sound of sirens enveloped the lab, causing Claire to smile as one of the screens in front of her pulled up a live video feed of the team storming into the compound.
"Looks like my humor bought us some time." She mocked happily, grinning from ear to ear.
The French man growled, "Go, Mallah. Deal with these intruders. I can handle mon Capitan's brain extraction myself."
"You stay away from him!" Claire shouted back as a clear jar of liquid was mechanically pushed behind Captain Marvel's head.
"Yeah! You're not taking my brain!" The divine superhero added with a glare to the ceiling.
"S'il vous plait, Capitan, do not struggle. Brain extraction is largely painless, but the benefits are enormous." The French man informed.
A shadow appeared at the foot of their medical beds.
"Just look what it has done for me."
The shadow crept between the two beds and into the light. Revealing to Claire, what looked to be a robot bowl with a brain inside.
"Eugh! I think I'm gonna throw up!" Claire grimaced, now feeling lightheaded at seeing the French man's true form.
If it wasn't for the purple light, you could probably see that Claire's face had turned a shade of green that could challenge M'gann's skin.
A complex machine whirled down from above them, moving between their two beds and in front of the Brain.
"That thing won't work on us." Captain Marvel informed nonchalantly.
To which the French brain responded with, "Possibly. But it works on solid steel, so I'll try my luck."
"I'm told you have the courage of Achilles, no? Maybe you should have asked for his invulnerability instead."
Claire scoffed, "Maybe you should have asked for that gorilla to build you a new body."
The brain growled and turned to her. "Perhaps we should start with you instead. I'm told you have quite le montant of powers."
The machine moved until it was right above Claire before it began to power up. The notches on the device glowed as it began to get closer and closer to her.
Claire held her breath, shutting her eyes. She wouldn't admit this aloud to anyone except Wally. But she was afraid.
"Come on, Wally... keep your promise. Come save me."
She waited in anticipation for la procédure to begin, but instead, she heard the sound of metal clanging and a growl from the other side of the room.
Claire peeked one eye open, and the brain man laid across the floor with the tiger above him.
"Traitor!" The brain shouted as it rolled back up into a standing position. "You will suffer for that!"
As soon as those words were said, the collar around the tiger glowed before electricity sparked through it. The tiger howled in pain as it fell to the ground.
"No! Stop it! Stop!" Captain Marvel yelled, but the French brain only chuckled darkly.
"Do not worry, Capitan, once I am finished with you two, this will be a very familiar feeling for the both of you."
The tiger continued its cries of pain until a loud crash was heard by the two heroes.
Their eyes moved to the right to find the gorilla from before lying on the ground in front of a gaping hole in the lab's wall.
When the dust cleared, the rest of the team stood glaring around the lab, causing Claire to let out a breath of happiness.
Wally glanced at the robot before exclaiming, "It's the brain!"
Claire rolled her eyes. "Yes, it's a brain; none of us are blind."
"Not a brain, The Brain." He corrected.
Brain man rolled forward, "In the flesh, so to speak."
"Wait, so you're a brain... with your supervillain name being The Brain? Kinda plain if you ask me." Claire stated with a condescending tone.
She would have shrugged her shoulders to add to the sassy remark but rolling her eyes once again would have to do for the time being.
The wall had broken behind the Brain and Mallah to reveal Conner and a white wolf.
"Go, Mallah, attaque." The Brain ordered the gorilla, who snarled in response and raised its gun, aiming at the team.
Mallah began shooting at the team while Kaldur ran to free Captain Marvel and Claire. The Atlantean tapped their collars, releasing a small electrical burst that deactivated the devices and caused them to fall off.
Claire lifted her arms and destroyed the clamps around her hands with no effort.
"Finally." She smirked, hovering off the bed and flying down in front of Mallah and The Brain.
The gorilla roared at them, but Claire only smirked. "What do you say, Captain? Ready for some payback?" The blonde asked, clenching her fists and causing them to glow.
"Yep, I'm ready." The hero replied, cracking his knuckles.
Mallah stepped in front of his master defensively, but the Brain just sighed, "No, Mallah, this will not be our Waterloo."
The Brain's body began to shift into what looked to be a giant weapon.
He chuckled, "Au revoir, mes amis."
"Get down!" Wally ordered as The Brain's body began to glow a bright red.
Claire tensed up and instinctively moved in front of the speedster protectively, attempting to shield him from whatever was to come.
All the lights in the lab turned off, and the heroes were bathed in darkness, except for the glow of Claire's golden hands.
After a couple of seconds, the lights reactivated. Both The Brain and Mallah were gone; Claire looked around confusedly.
"Wait. That big weapon thing was... a light switch?" Wally asked incredulously.
Claire rolled her eyes and stood up straighter, moving from in front of the speedster.
-
Claire walked next to Wally and Artemis. The ginger was smiling widely with his arm around Claire's shoulders.
Usually, she would knock it off, but it seems like the more she pushes it off, the faster he puts it back on there.
"What are you grinning about?" Artemis asked.
"One word. Souvenir." He replied, putting Mallah's red hat on.
Claire made a disgusted sound at the same time Artemis smirked, "Two words. Gorilla lice." The archer replied.
"Huh? Oh, man! Uhh!" The speedster shouted, ripping the hat off his head and throwing it to the ground.
Artemis passed them up just as Wally pouted, "My souvenir."
Claire smirked before holding her left hand up, waving one of the collars in the air in front of his face.
"I thought that you'd need one." She revealed with a smile as Wally snatched the collar out of her hand.
"Beautiful, you know me so well."
Claire rolled her eyes as they both walked up to M'gann, Conner, and the white wolf that they now had.
The wolf was licking Conner's face. While the clone laughed in response, "The rest of the pack is gone. What are you still doing here?"
M'gann giggled, "I think he wants to stay with you."
"Can I keep him?" Conner asked excitedly.
Wally laughed, "First the sphere, now this beast. Dude, you sure have a habit of collecting strays." The speedster commented.
Claire elbowed him, causing him to take his arm off of her shoulders.
"Sphere is literally my favorite team member. Don't you dare call him a stray," Claire ordered, jokingly pointing her finger at Wally accusingly.
His eyes widened in response before he held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry babe, uh, sphere not stray." He announced in a caveman-like voice.
Claire nodded in approval before turning back to the two lovebirds.
"So, what's his name?"
"Ooh, how's about Krypto?" Wally asked, causing the wolf to snarl at the speedster.
The two other heroes just stared into each other's eyes as if Claire and Wally weren't there at all.
"Uh... how about some alone time," Claire whispered to the speedster and pulled him away from the Martian and the clone, walking in front of the bio-ship.
"Ooh, sounds like fun." Wally flirted back, causing Claire to raise her eyebrow. "I was talking about them. Not us."
Wally smirked, "Oh? So there's an us?" He asked, making kissy faces at the blonde. To which the superheroine responded by pushing his face away from hers.
"Not a chance Speedy Gonzales."
Kaldur walked past the duo but was stopped by Robin walking in front of him.
"Look, I need to know. Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"
Wally crossed his arms and glared at Kaldur, "This better be good." He whispered to Claire. Who shrugged him off.
"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster." The Atlantean revealed.
Claire groaned, "Seriously? Him again?"
"Yes. It seemed possible, even likely that he was attempting to divide the team with false information."
"And given how this mission went, he nearly succeeded. But you had to consider that it might be true." Robin added, his fist falling to his hips.
"Yes. As leader, I did. In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor." Kaldur replied.
Robin scoffed, "Hate to say it... but makes sense."
"Aha! I told you, Kid dork! I told you, I told you, I told you!" Claire exclaimed, pointing at the speedster before doing a victory dance.
Wally scoffed in reply, "And you called us the babies."
-
YAY UPDATE DAY, EVEN THOUGH I'M TWO DAYS LATE! SORRY ABOUT THAT!
Okay, so I did create what I think both Claire and Trent look like with an app. If you guys want me to, I'll post them at the end of the next chapter.
I didn't want to just spring it on you guys, just in case you want to continue to imagine them how you want. But if I do end up posting them, the people who don't want to see can just skip the author's note at the end.