- Antarctica
- 1:12pm
- July/25/2010
The team struggles to remain standing as the frenzied teen roars. The power he exerts causes the ice beneath them to crack and shatter while a violent, white aura forms around the boy. "Superboy, take point!" The clone smirks, readying himself before letting out a battle cry and charging towards the frenzied teen. Superboy launches into his assault, throwing punches at the boy as the armoured teen takes the hits without response. After a few hits, Superboy begins to hesitate. "He's not fighting back?" The thought crosses his mind, causing him to cease his movements. The teen takes this as his chance, slamming Superboy in the gut with his clenched fist. The young hero doubles over before the teen brings up his knee, striking Superboy in the face. The boy flips into the air from the sheer force of the blow, allowing the teen to grab ahold of Superboy's leg by the ankle.
The teen let's out another roar as he slams Superboy into the ice, repeating the process two more times before throwing him at the incoming team members. Superboy's body slams into Aqualad, pushing them both back. A white blur collides its fist with the teen's jaw before Robin leaps to the side and throws a pair of batarangs at the teen. As the teen steps back, trying to regain his footing after being hit by Kid Flash, the batarangs land at the teen's feet, beeping for a moment before exploding. Superboy and Aqualad rush into the ensuing smoke, hoping to land a decisive hit on the teen, only to wind up swinging at nothing. "Where'd he-!?" The teen connects his fist to Superboy's head from above, knocking him down before meeting Aqualad head on.
The atlantean swings his water-bearers, currently shaped as short swords, towards the teen. The teen barely avoids each swing before delivering a punch of his own directly to the team leader's face. The force of the blow caused the boy to spin, though he in turn uses the momentum generated to swing his water-bearers, now shaped as a giant hammer, towards the teen with much more force. The teen is sent spinning, barely keeping his footing as he forms a sphere of energy in his hand, launching it towards Aqualad. Though the team leader is able to form a water shield in front of him to take the brunt of the blow, the ensuing explosion still rockets him backwards.
On cue, Kid Flash zooms in, delivering a flurry of random punches to the boy in various places, centring on his face mostly. Growing annoyed, the teen let's out a low growl before roaring to the sky. An invisible force is suddenly expelled from the teen's body, knocking Kid Flash off his feet and flying through the air. The speedy boy is stopped mid-flight by Miss Martian's telekinesis and lightly dropped to his feet. "Please! We don't wish to fight!" "Speak for yourself!" Superboy rushes up behind the teen, wrapping him in a full nelson hold.
The teen stumbles forward before regaining his balance and begins struggling to free himself, behaving almost like a wild animal. Slightly taken aback by her teammate's actions, M'gann thinks fast, quickly flying towards the boy. She outstretches her hands towards his thrashing head, trying to avoid her hands. "Please, calm down." She manages to place her palms over his temples and her eyes begin to glow white. What she sees next, startles and shocks her.
She stands in total darkness. A cold chill runs down her spine. "This...is his mind? It's so empty." As if to answer her likely unintended insult, the scenery shifts. A bright, circular room with a platform in the centre. Two figures are sparring against each other. The first; a boy around 16 years old with black hair, a brown tail wrapped around his waist and wearing nothing but a pair of black pants. Facing him, is a boy no older than 10 with similarly coloured black hair, a black tail listlessly swinging behind him, white pants and a red, spandex singlet that leaves nothing to the imagination. "Round 2? Isn't this more like round 100?" The young teen taunts his younger sparring partner. "It's 78! I'll have you beat by 80!" The boy charges, giving the teen no time to respond.
The teen chuckles, stepping out of the way of the boy's wild swing. The teen sticks out his leg in front of the boy, tripping him before the teen catches him by the tail. To Miss Martian's surprise, the boy seems to lose all energy when this occurs. "79 rounds and you still haven't learned to keep your tail wrapped." He drops the boy, letting him fall on his face. "Come on, I think I have just enough time to prove your 80 round theory wrong." The boy gets to his feet angrily, positioning himself in a fighting stance. "Keep laughing. I'll make you eat those words."
Just as the fight is about to start again, a large man with barely a tuft of hair on his head, yellow and black armour and a large, muscular body walks through the door. When M'gann lays eyes on the man, the scenery melts away, replaced with one of regal appearance. Looking around, a group of armoured men and women stand in a large, rectangular room. The balding giant stands at the head of the group, kneeling at the feet of a large throne. The room itself is regal, filled with intricate tapestry among other art. The most striking of which is along both walls. On the left, images portray a lone figure standing before an army. In the next image, the figure is seen looking towards what appears to be a moon. In the next, the humanoid figure has been replaced with that of a giant ape, though unlike the apes from earth, it has the tail reminiscent of the species present in the room. The next image is one of destruction. The ape, golden fur covering its body, looms over a burning planet.
M'gann shifts her gaze over to the right, taking in the artistry on the opposing side. This time, six figures stood before an army. They gather around a single warrior and the clouds part. The army is decimated and the figure stands tall amongst its comrades. M'gann already liked this row of images much better than the previous. It reminds her of a team, working together, just as she hopes her team would become some day. A team. A family. The next image, however, disheartens her. The warrior loses their fervour, fading back to their previous state and from the ashes of the battlefield comes a group of survivors. Each with a tail extending from their backsides, they proceed to slaughter the team.
As M'gann is contemplating the horrid art, she notices a figure standing in he shadows, watching the precession. The boy from earlier who now appears to be 11 years old, has a pained expression. Wondering what could have caused it, M'gann returns her focus back to the balding man. "Your Highness, the boy is not suited for battle. His soft-heartedness is nothing but a hindrance on the battlefield." The female figure seated atop the throne sighs. A long mane of black hair, white and red armour with a black spandex-like suit beneath, a regal, red cape lined with gold hangs from his armour. The man strokes his beard before staring down at his subjects. "If that is the case, I have no use for a warrior who cannot fight. Remove the boy's tail and transfer him to meat processing with Cara.
The hidden boy seems shocked by the lackadaisical command from the ruler, likely known as the King. Just as the boy is about to leave, someone speaks up from the doorway. "With all due respect, my King, placing that boy away from the fight would be a mistake." The men and women inside all turn their heads to face the intruder. As it turns out, the intruder is none other than the teen the boy had been sparring with. Alongside him, is a woman with mid-length black hair, blue and white armour and a brown tail wrapped around her waist. "How dare you intrude upon the King's throne room! Men, take him out!" "Delay that." The King speaks in a commanding tone, disregarding the balding man's words. The group obeys the king, quickly standing down.
The King's gaze falls upon the teen who spoke. "Mayze. You believe you have something to add?" "I do, my king." The teen bows, placing his right hand over his heart. "Then rise and approach the throne." The teen does as he is asked, walking at a respectful pace and stopping just in front of the balding man. "Speak." "Yes. As you know, I have been in charge of training the boy for two years now." The King nods. "In that time, I have witnessed the boy grow in many ways, not the least of which is his prowess in battle." The balding man scoffs, clearly unconvinced. "You have proof otherwise, Aikon?" The balding man, Aikon, stands beside the teen, bumping into him with his shoulder. "I do, your Majesty. The techniques the boy learned while under this one's tutelage is nothing when compared to his performance in the field."
At the mention of 'the field' the room shatters like glass, replaced with a visage that begins to terrify the female martian. Fire. In every direction, there is nothing but fire. She tries to escape and soon comes across the sound of crying. Following it, she finds a small child. The child is of a race she doesn't recognise. Moments later, the building the child is in begins to collapse. Miss Martian can only watch in abject horror as the rubble falls towards the child. Moments later, the sound of a grunt and relieved sigh enters her hearing, followed by the child's frightened sniffles. Curious as to what happened, the martian floats towards it. She's surprised to see the boy, now around 12 years of age, standing over the child and brushing off the debris that had fallen on top of him. "There's a ship not far from here." The boy points to the north. "You need to go." The child seems to refuse as they begin to cry once more. The boy clicks his tongue in annoyance before a blast of energy sails through the air towards them.
Realising the target, the boy jumps in front of the child, startling them but defending them from certain death. "Aikon! The hell are you doing!?" Recognising the name, Miss Martian glares at the incoming figure, now completely bald. "Stupid brat! We're here to conquer not play house!" When the female martian turns to gauge the boy's reaction, he appears to be conflicted. It's obvious that the boy has no love for this man or the way he does things, though if the murals in the throne room were anything to go on, this was how most of their race behaved. "This isn't right. Fight or die, conquer or die, eat or die, it isn't right! Our race might be born to fight but there are other ways!"
Aikon's face contorts with rage at the boy's statement, obviously disagreeing. "Guys like you..." the bald man forms a small ball of energy at his two fingertips. "Should just die with the filth!" He swipes his arm, creating a razor sharp line of energy that carved through the rubble, debris and the boy's chest. He screams in pain as he staggers back, bleeding from the slash through his armour. The child behind him runs, hiding behind a nearby piece of debris and curling up in a bundle of fear. The boy glares back at Aikon, clearly angered by his attack. "You would attack me?" "I would attack a traitor!" The boy's eyes seem to flash with a strange light for a moment before the scene fades one more.
When next M'gann sees the boy, he is once again surrounded by destruction. Alongside Mayze, now fully grown and the female warrior, the three of them rush into a room filled mostly by destroyed pods and empty silos. Through the sheer amount of explosions, M'gann struggles to make out anything the group says, however when Mayze slams his fist into the boy's face, followed by his knee into the teen's gut. The last words she makes out, are Mayze's. "Avenge the Yasaijin." The pod is launched and Miss Martian witnesses the two warriors sacrifice themselves, the destruction of the ship keeping the boy's pod from leaving and finally, from space, she witnesses something horrific. The entire planet collapses in on itself, imploding. All that remains is an empty space, alongside a sudden feeling of loss, grief and anger. So much anger. "M'gann!"
Superboy's voice calls out to the martian, bringing her back to her senses. She sees the teen still held by Superboy; her hands, sweating vigorously as her breathing appears to have hastened. The teen let's out a mighty, rage induced roar that blows away the martian. The Yasaijin teen then follows up by stomping on Superboy's foot and head butting the boy with the back of his head. The resulting pain causes Superboy's grip to loosen, allowing the teen to escape his grasp and deliver multiple powerful punches to the boy's stomach.
The teen grabs ahold of Superboy's head from either side and collides heads once more. The teen lets go of the half-kryptonian at the last second, allowing the force of the headbutt to send the hero skidding on the ice along his back. Without wasting another second, the teen charges, cracking the ice with every powerful step. Kid Flash attempts to intercept him, however, the Yasaijin swings his arm out to the side, clotheslining the boy. Robin throws a flurry of batarangs at the teen and though they hit heir mark, exploding, the teen pushes through the pain, bursting from the smoke and launching an energy blast at the human boy.
The blast hits, sending the youngest member of the team careening across the ice, knocked out. Struggling to his feet, Superboy gets in a defensive stance, ready to block a punch or kick, not expecting the teen to grab his face and slam it into the raised ice shelf behind him. The ice cracks beneath the teen's feet once more as he starts sprinting, dragging Superboy's face through the thick sheet of ice. Reaching the end of the shelf, the teen throws Superboy high into the air before gathering energy in his mouth. The half-conscious boy barely has enough time to see what's going on when the Yasaijin launches a yellow beam of energy towards him.
Seconds before the beam hits its mark, an invisible force pulls the hero to the side. The beam misses its intended target but still manages to wound the boy, taking the front of his shirt along with it. Superboy floats there in marginal pain, more concerned with his current floating status. "Am I...flying? Whoa!" The boy begins falling as M'gann is unable to keep up her telekinesis at such a level and distance. The boy lands on his feet, indenting into an icy crater. Meanwhile, the raging teen opens his clenched fist, forming a ball of white energy. As he rears his arm back, his legs give out on him, forcing him to his knees.
The team notices the teen's sudden fatigue. "He's tiring! We can do this!" As the others appear to regain their morale, M'gann instead reveals a more concerned expression, knowing what the boy's last memories are. The boy forces himself to his feet before launching the white ball of energy into the sky. It stops once it reaches a high altitude and when the teen clenches his fist, it suddenly grows much larger, like an extra moon had suddenly appeared in the sky. "Ha! What's with that aim!" Kid Flash taunts while M'gann realises the teen's intent. "A moon..." M'gann's thoughts return to the mural on the wall of the throne room. "Everyone! Watch out!" The team looks to their martian member, confused. "He's going to transform!" The team's expression turns from one of confusion to worry. "Transform into what?"
Their question is answered immediately when the teen's body begins to convulse. Black hair begins to sprout around his face as his body changes shape, growing to enormous size. "That's a big monkey..." Kid Flash and the rest of the team gaze up at the giant ape standing before them. The great ape roars, tearing the ice apart from sheer air pressure. "M'gann! You seem to know about this. Any ideas!?" Aqualad calls out to the martian, hoping her little mind meld with the teen had enlightened her on a weak spot. "I..." she stares up at the beast, unable to take her eyes off the pained creature. Recalling the scenes she witnessed inside the teen's head, M'gann remembers what could very well help them win this. "Go for the tail!" Without time to question, the team nods in agreement.
Kid Flash zooms off with Aqualad while M'gann goes to check on Superboy. Lastly, Robin checks his body for injuries. Not finding anything too serious, the boy runs off to join the others. The giant ape immediately spots Robin running across the ice and snarls. Lowering its arms to the ice, it pushes its fingers into the ice shelf, digging up a large boulder of frozen water. "Oh, that's not good." Robin leaps out of the way as the boulder smashes into the ground where he once stood. The surrounding ice shatters and splinters, cutting through the boy's costume and bruising his body. "Guys...I think I'm gonna rest here for a bit..." the apprentice of Batman slumps down, tired and hurt, leaving the rest to his allies.
The giant ape roars, noticing Miss Martian and Superboy not paying attention. It begins to walk towards the pair, crushing the ice beneath its feet with every step. "Miss Martian, watch out!" At Kid Flash's words, the martian girl swivels her neck to face the giant beast. As the monster rears back its fist and attempts to smash the two small figures, Miss Martian makes use of her telekinesis, barely holding back the giant ape. With the strain evident on the martian's face and Superboy currently down for the count, Kid Flash and Aqualad race behind the giant monster as it struggles to break free of the martian's telekinetic hold. "Throw me!" Aqualad shouts to his speedy ally, receiving a quick nod. The boys grip each other's arms before Kid Flash begins rapidly rotating, picking up speed before throwing the dark skinned atlantean towards the beast's tail. Aqualad lets out a cry as he forms a large blade with his water-bearers, slicing through the Yasaijin's massive, black tail.
The massive tail hits the ground with an enormous thud, breaking the ice beneath it like glass. The next to fall is Aqualad, skidding along the ice before Kid Flash catches up, helping him back to his feet. "Did we win?" The beast begins to shrink as its red eyes regain their white sclera and black irises. His body begins morphing back to one not unlike a human. Now that the teen lacks his tail, the similarities are even more obvious. The boy falls to one knee, panting and in pain from the loss of a limb."
Slowly, he gets to his feet. "Okay, round three then." The Yasaijin reacts to Kid Flash's voice, glaring at him with killing intent oozing from him in the form of a volatile, white aura; wild and untamed but much weaker than before. Even those not at all versed in Yasaijin abilities could tell he would go down soon. The teen roars weakly, forming a ball of energy in his hands, intent on blasting his aggressors to oblivion. His attempt is interrupted when Superboy's fist connects with the side of his face, sending him careening across the ice. "Take...that!" The clone boy pants heavily, exhausted and injured.
The team attempts to regroup. "Uh, guys? He's getting back up again." Kid Flash points to the teen slowly struggling to rise. "Tch. Just stay down!" Superboy shouts out to the teen as he charges, intent on finishing the job with one final blow. "Wait, Superboy!" M'gann's call falls on deaf ears as Superboy rushes. The injured teen begins to gather energy in his right fist, charging it with a yellow light. The teen rotates his body, roaring as both he and the shirtless Superboy throw their fists at each other's undefended faces. Both attacks hit their target. The two boy's stand still for a moment as their faces contort from the sudden impact. The ground beneath them shakes and cracks as both of them suddenly shoot off in opposite directions. Superboy bounces and slides on the ice, digging up shards of frozen water as he careens across the frozen desert. As for the teen, Superboy's punch sends him flying into the icy cold ocean. A large amount of water erupts from his impact zone. "Think that did it?" "You two help the others, I'll go check on him." Aqualad responds without an answer to Kid Flash's question, unsure of it himself.
Floating in the icy waters, the Yasaijin boy lays there, heavily injured and barely breathing. His frenzied rage had been stopped and the team could now report their mission results to Batman. After that, the team would get some much needed rest.