CHAPTER FORTY ONE: "I was bed ridden for a week"
GAR HAD FALLEN INTO A STATE OF SHOCK, TRAPPED IN A COMA HIS BODY INITIATED IN DEFENCE. He also desperately required a blood transfusion as his body struggled to survive under the injuries sustained. With none of the young heroes O negative, M'gann offered her assistance, using her shapeshifting abilities to alter her blood to match Gar's.
The rest of the Team sat in an anxious shared silence as they waited for the transfusion to be complete.
Robin released a heavy sigh, slouching in his seat. "And on top of all this, Harjavti steps down tomorrow, subjecting all of Qurac to this danger."
Katherine stared for a moment, flicking her eyes down to where his hand laid on the armrest. Hesitantly, she let her hand fall to his clenched fist, squeezing it gently. "We'll figure something out," she insisted with a smile, making eye contact with his masked eyes.
Supergirl shared her father's remarkable ability of optimism and hope. It was an incredible thing to witness and Robin felt himself smile. He fell victim to her magical spell, stumbling into her crystal blue eyes as they stared at one another. He suddenly straightened up and shook his head, tearing his hand from beneath her's. "KF, can you find a news station?" he called out, ignoring the faint sound of protest Katherine made. A deep frown had crossed her lips and her heart practically fell to her feet.
"Uh, sure..." Wally stammered, his eyes following the Boy Wonder. He spared a quick glance at Katherine, noticing how the Girl of Steel slumped in her seat with a frown, arms crossed tightly across her chest. "Which remote is it?" He fiddled with one of the remotes, pointing it at the small TV screen.
It flashed to life, the familiar sound of a school bell ringing filling the air. Faith flinched at the sound, recognising it all to well. Her mind had suddenly forgotten where she was and her heart leaped at the thought of being late.
The group turned their attention to the TV, watching as the vintage 'Hello, Megan!' title screen was displayed with the catchy theme song playing in the background. The group watched the introduction play with the song filling their ears and threatening to be stuck in there for weeks to come.
The group crowded around the TV screen with mild interest. Connor furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of Megan's love interest. "Maybe it's a coincidence?" he offered, but was quickly defeated as the episode began.
Megan came hurrying down a set of stairs, announcing that she'd be going to library only to be reminded that she invited someone. Opening the front door revealed her love interest. "Connor!" she exclaimed, hurrying to embrace the man. "I thought you'd never get here."
Katherine frowned, squeezing Connor's shoulder sympathetically as he refused to watch anymore. Faith watched from the couch, muttering a faint "awkward" under her breath.
"It's done. All we can do now is wait." The Team let out a grouped gasp as M'gann's soft voice appeared. Wally fumbled with the remote, it almost falling from his hand as he struggled to flick the TV display to something else. He managed to successfully change it to the news as Robin had requested minutes prior.
"My fellow Quracis..." Harjavti greeted his citizens with a surprisingly calm tone. "...Queen Bee's rule is a gift Qurac."
"Hey, that guy in back. I know him," Connor suddenly stepped forward with narrowed eyes focused on the TV screen.
Faith curiously weaved through the growing crowd, narrowing her eyes at the screen before gagging. "Ew..." she muttered childishly at the hooded figures appearance. "He's gross."
"It's Psimon. The psychic we fought last time we were in Bialya." M'gann spoke sternly, slight aggression in her tone as she recalled her powerful battle with the psychic. "He was working for Queen Bee then. He must be controlling Harjavti for her now."
Wally groaned, face palming. "I remember the headache from when he brain-blasted us."
"I was bed ridden for a week," Katherine spoke up, rubbing her temples as she recalled the immense pain he put her in following the mission.
"We have to get Harjavti away from him," Robin stated, earning a collected agreement from his friends.
Marie soon joined, looking exhausted but having returned from her panicked state. "I think it worked. Garfield's stable," she said with relief.
"Good. Because we have our mission."
✨
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DHABAR
November 23, 22:11 UTC+2
FAITH WAS SMALL. She knew she was short and believed it to be one of her best features. But, she hadn't expected that to mean she'd be sent through the air vents to Harjavti's office alone.
Faith focused on stabilising her breathing as she crawled through the vents. It was the first time she had hated her height, because whilst the others waited for her instruction to come through the window, she was forced to enter via the sticky and uncleaned vents.
"This is worse then when Sinestro threw me into a lake," she said with a deep frown, continuing to scramble forward.
"When in the hell did you fight a Yellow Lantern?" Wally clearly didn't believe her judging on the sarcasm lacing his voice. It was followed by a faint yelp as Katherine slapped the back of his head.
"Enough!" Robin cut in. "Faith, continue forward." With a tracker tucked away in her pocket, Robin guided her through the long vents with ease and she followed without hesitation. "Stop over the third grate."
Faith slowly came to halt, counting the grates out loud and pausing as she hit three. "Okay, um... how does your camera thing work?" She hesitantly pulled out the long camera, the metal cold to the touch as she fiddled with it.
"It's already on. Just stick it through the vent and I'll take a look around."
Faith followed his instruction. The faint rays of the moonlight lit up the empty opposite and avoiding placing a spotlight on the young girl hidden above.
"Harjavti's alone."
With a grunt, Faith pushing the vent grate open, dropping silently to the floor. Her golden magic was dimmed and she flicked a hand out to open the large windows. As the latch unlocked, Katherine appeared on the other side, sliding it open with ease. M'gann, Robin, Connor and Wally soon followed, and the speedster shut it behind him.
Harjavti shakily lifted his head, a sullen look upon his face. "Where's my daughter?" he abruptly asked, startling the young heroes. He let out a faint groan, clutching his throbbing head before his eyes widened in realisation. "Where's Psimon?"
"Forget him. Let's get you out of here." Robin's plan was however brought to a halt as the doorways slammed open and a large group of soldiers marched in. They were armed with extraterrestrial devices, the blinding glow of red lighting up the darkness in an ominous shade of danger.
Robin and Katherine instinctively stood defensively in front of their youngest teammate. Faith quickly brought her palms together, feeling her magic light up in the palms of her hand.
The General soon joined, shaking his head in disappointment at the sight of the heroes. "Well, well, American heroes, here to assassinate the president." M'gann silently landed behind him, hidden from the eye as the General continued to taunt them. "Such a shame we arrived to late to stop them."
"What do we do?" Faith asked with a slight tremble in her psychic voice. "Do we fight or..?"
"No, those are Apokaliptan weapons," Connor told them.
Faith didn't understand. "Uh, what?" She was ignored.
"Which they'll use to kill Harjavti, we get blamed and Queen Bee gets to rule Qurac." Robin shared a knowing glance with his friends. "Form up around the president."
Even though Faith was unfamiliar with the weapons, she knew what the instructions referred to. Defend the President Harjavti. "I can summon a protection spell," she offered. "It won't be on the level of Nabu or Nova's but it'll help defend him from the attacks."
Robin glanced at her, offering a firm nod. "Do it."
As Faith's focused her energy on defence, M'gann turned back from the doorway. "I've found Psimon." Her translucent outline glided through the doorway and down the hallway, out of sight.
"I'll get her-" Connor insisted in response to Robin's protest only for the Boy Wonder to cut in, "No. the mission is Harjavti."
"Do I have permission to possibly bring down a building?" Katherine requested, glancing expectingly at Robin. He nodded, swiftly pulling out a collection of smoke pellets. Katherine waited for the small gadgets to make impact with the carpeted floors before releasing her wrath. Securing the protection spell, Faith widened its grasp and gave it to the rest of the Team. A temporary golden hue took over the room and the group hurried into battle together.
The building shook violently as the walls shattered upon the mere impact of Katherine's heat vision. The thick stench of ash filled the air as clouds of soot and smoke continued to pollute the atmosphere and escape through the shattered windows. Faith recalled her training with Nova and Hal, remembering them agreeing that constant movement is a must when in the mist of battle.
The Team worked together effortlessly, earning multiple assist and combos as they threw their enemies amongst one another. Robin easily flung himself over the backs of the soldiers, avoiding the red blasts. He slammed his feet into their shoulders, sending them forward only to be shoved back as Katherine slammed her fist into their jaw. Faith swung a rope around effortlessly trapping three soldiers at once and pulling them into a large blast of energy.
The walls were well and truly destroyed when the battle had concluded, the wooden scaffolding barely clinging on. The furniture had crumbled and the wallpaper had melted away. Flames blew violently in the midnight breeze entering through the fallen window panels.
Faith let out a victorious cheer, clapping her hands together excitedly. The Team could only praise her for her successes and skilled fights. Sure, she didn't do much but the few soldiers she took out on her own were out cold in seconds. It was impressive for a girl who hadn't ever fought before. Well, unless you count her short encounter with Sinestro which she was only involved in as a distraction to give Hal the upper hand... and the battle with Klarion that she did almost nothing in.
"Thank you for saving my father." Harjavti had shown up mere seconds ago, instantly dashing to the president's side and engulfing him in a desperate hug. "We will take care of him now."
Making sure they would be all right, the Team turned their attention to M'gann. They hurried through the tall halls of the palace in a desperate search for their dear friend.
"M'gann, we coming-" Connor was cut up as the group was blasted with a mental attack. Psimon was mere meters away from the when the Team crumbled to the floor in scorching pains Faith screamed out, stumbling to her knees with her hands clutching her throbbing head. She felt a hand fall protectively over her shoulder, looking up with squinted eyes to find Wally sat next to her.
"It'll be okay," the speedster murmured before the group was knocked out cold.
Faith was dreaming the she was in the world of My Little Pony when she felt someone shaking her unconscious body. She winced, her consciousness being dragged away from the dream and back to reality. She blinked, looking up to find Robin and Katherine hunched over her, looking down with worry at the young girl.
Faith groaned, taking Robin's outstretched hand to help her sit up. "Take it easy, it takes a while to ease," he said softly, taking a seat beside the young girl. "Like Kat said, you might be bedridden for a week."
The sorcerer shakily nodded her head. "Is this what it's always like?" she asked hesitantly.
"Depends on the mission," Katherine offered, unsure of how to describe it. Robin stayed silent but managed to cast a reassuring smile at the Kryptonian. Faith was stuck in the middle, watching the pair's nervous gestures towards one another with squinted eyes. How was it that she noticed the intimate connection they shared but they didn't?
"Psimon brain-blasted you," M'gann spoke up. "I stopped him." Katherine tilted her head as she heard the Martian's heart race nervously, but she decided against pushing for a reason why.
The Team turned their attention to the evil psychic, finding Psimon to be sat in the rubble at the opposite end of the theatre. His eyes were wide open but he was left in a comatose face, unmoving.
"I have to admit," Faith began, still keeping a hand against her sore head. "That was pretty cool." She looked up with a grin as Katherine and Robin helped her to her feet.
"Does that mean you'll stick around?" Robin asked hopefully.
Faith glanced over the Team, finding their attention fall to her. Glimmers of hope struck all of them as they wished to have her as not just their friend but their teammate. She had proven herself to be ready that day.
The young sorcerer nodded before her movement slowed and she frowned. "That's if Nova let's me-"
"We'll put in a good word for you," Robin said, squeezing her shoulder. He shared a grin with Katherine, the two silently agreeing to talk to the Immortal when they got back to the Cave.
They soon found themselves back in the President's office, M'gann putting on a big display of hatred below as Queen Bee. Harjavti followed along, and it was soon revealed that Queen Bee was behind everything.
M'gann morphed back into herself as she entered, her soft smile still on her face as she became the friend they all knew and love.
"Sorry you had to lie to everyone," Robin said. "I couldn't think of any other way to convince the public Queen Bee was behind this." M'gann gave a small nod to assure the Boy Wonder that all was well.
Wally suddenly punched his best friend's shoulder, a grin upon his lips. "Dude, saving a country and recruiting a new member for the Team. Pretty big win for your first turn as leader," he praised.
Robin didn't share the excitement. "Yeah, thanks..."
Katherine frowned, watching as Robin's shoulders fell in defeat and he took a shallow breath. She wanted to hug him, to reassure him that he did good as leader. But before she could move, Robin insisted for them to move out and soon enough, the Team was back at the Sanctuary.
Garfield had woken up, his body having reacted to the transfusion successfully with his injuries already healing themselves. It was a sight that brought happiness and relief to the young heroes, especially M'gann.
"And I assure you, the Wayne Foundation is here to do whatever it can to help and your people rebuild Qurac." Bruce Wayne had arrived soon after the battle, swiftly doing damage control. The Team's inference was kept hidden from the public.
As the TV flicked off, Wally leaned forward, nudging Robin. "Gee, Bruce Wayne sure got here fast. Almost like he knew-ow!"
Robin swiftly jabbed his elbow into his friend gut, knocking the breath from his lungs. "Don't you have a souvenir to collect or something." The Boy Wonder casually leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head. He defended his mentor's identity with ease.
"Hello, Megan!" Wally slapped his head to mimic the iconic gesture and dashed forward. He picked up the stray VHS tape of the shows first and only season. Unexpectedly, he turned to M'gann, presenting the tape to her. "Something you'd like to tell us?"
Despite wondering the same thing, Katherine dove forward, tearing the tape from Wally's grasp. "Leave it alone," she said sharply in defence of her friend. "She'll tell is when she's ready to her, stop-"
"No, it's okay, Kat," M'gann assured through a sigh.
Katherine glanced back at the Martian, and her short burst of distraction gave Wally enough time to take the VHS tape back.
"Growing up on Mars was not a happy time for me," M'gann began to explain, unable to make eye contact with her friends. "I started watching the broadcasts my uncle sent from Earth to teach us about our sister planet. And when I saw Hello, Megan! Something just clicked..."
Marie watched silently, her heart aching in her chest as M'gann told her story.
"Maybe it was the similarities in our names. Maybe it was the way all Megan's problems could be solved in twenty two minutes. All I know for sure is that Megan helped me smile through a lonely childhood. So when I can to Earth and had to adopt a human form, I chose you... well, Megan." She glanced at Marie anxiously, but the woman merely offered a soft smile.
"Which begs the question..." Robin hesitated. "What do you really look like?"
The Team watched silently as M'gann stood and showed them her true self. Her hair slowly vanished, but other then that, she was the same Miss Martian they all knew and loved dearly.
"Bald M'gann," Wally remarked with his typical irritating smirk. "Still hot-ow!" He yelped as Katherine's heat vision collided with his arm.
Faith squinted her eyes. She didn't buy it. There was something M'gann was hiding. She resembled her uncle without any hair, it seemed odd that she'd purposely changed herself despite not being alone with the appearance.
Connor stepped past Faith, the girl having been sat crosslegged on the floor. He took M'gann's hands into his own. "You know you don't have to put on a mask for me."
M'gann backed up, crossing her arms self-consciously across her chest. "I do it for me. This is who I am inside." There was regret in her voice and she turned to look at Marie specifically. "Please don't be mad."
"Mad? I'm honoured." Marie's reassurance gave M'gann a burst of relief and happiness. "M'gann, you saved my son. He says he's your blood brother now, and I agree. You're family."
M'gann hurried forward, hugging her idol tightly. "Thank you. You can't know what that means to me."
✨
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MOUNT JUSTICE
November 23, 18:03 EDT
WHEN THE TEAM ARRIVED AT MOUNT JUSTICE, NOVA WAS WAITING PATIENTLY. She stood from the golden construct acting as her seat as Bio-Ship silently entered the hangar. Before she even set down on the cold floor, the back was opening up and Faith hurried out, calling for her mentor excitedly.
Faith leaped forward and crashed into Nova with a large grin. "It was so much fun! We saved an entire country, and met a celebrity!" she continued to blurt out the details of the mission with excitement. Nova was barely able to process what she was saying.
"She did good in other words," Katherine said, landing in front of the Immortal with Robin by her side. "She was... brave and caring and skilled."
"She took down an enemy aircraft," Robin added with a grin. "And summoned a protection spell for the rest of us. She's definitely ready for something like this."
"Is that so..?" Nova dragged out with a smirk. She glanced down at the ten year old, watching as Faith tilted her head back and looking up with childhood curiosity and hope.
"Nova! They said I could join!" Faith exclaimed, her eyes wide with joy and glee. She pulled back from the hug, clasping her hands together in a desperate plead. "Please can I join?" she exaggerated the please, but her desperation was clear.
Nova let out a faint sigh and a kind smile fell onto her lips. "I guess so," she said. Faith cheered and Katherine and Robin shared a knowing glance before high-fiving one another.