MOUNT JUSTICE
September 23; 06:34 EDT
The team was sitting in the mission room as the league updates the cave's security and fixes the mess that the Reds had left. While most of the team were at the table in the middle of the room, Spirit was floating in the corner of the room in Indian style with her eyes close, as she tries to recenter her powers. Unlike her former teammates she had in her previous life, she took mediation very seriously and enjoyed and felt it helps her with her fears and worries. And she needed that right now after the major hits she was taking yesterday. Spirit tried to cancel all that Kid Flash and Robin were saying to Green Arrow but she could help but want answers herself.
"You knew!" Superboy's abrupt outburst caused Spirit to break her focus and look at where the clone had taken his anger out on. Spirit saw Superboy grab Aqualad. "That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!"
"Connor, what are you doing?" Ms. Martian flew over to the two boys and questioned the boy of steel.
"Kaldur knew we had a traitor among us and said nothing!" Superboy tells her.
"You knew?" Robin asks.
"And didn't tell us?" Kid Flash adds.
"How you find out?" Spirit questions as well as she makes her way over to where they were gathering.
"I sought to protect the team from--"
"Protect us from what?" Artemis cuts their leader off. "Knowledge that might have saved our lives?"
"You almost died!" Superboy says to Ms. Martian.
"So did he." Spirit quickly interjects, "So you, so did I. So did everyone else. Why are you so hanged up on M'gann?"
"Enough." Batman's voice cuts through the air, causing the team to relax on each other. "With Red Tornado missing the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."
" I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys." Captain Marvel told them. A smile instantly took over Spirit's face when he steps next to Batman, while the rest of the team stand stoic.
"After I dismantled Red Tornado you and I are gonna--" Superboy began to threaten Aqualad.
"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility." Batman cuts Superboy off. "You will leave him to us." Batman then turns as the holo computer appears. "I have another assignment for this team."
"So wait we're just going not go to school today?" Spirit questioned, with a confused expression, but as always no one pays attention to her.
"Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla?" Kid Flash reads the headline aloud.
"Batman, please!" Robin complains. "Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase."
"I never joke about the mission," Batman told his protege with his deep and ruff voice. "I checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents." Batman then turns the leader of the team. "Aqualad, you and your team will depart for India and check this out."
"Hmph. your team." Kid Flash shoves past Aqualad and makes that comment.
Spirit was so confused as to how she was supposed to feel in this situation, on one hand, she was upset that Aqualad didn't trust them enough to tell them that he thinks that someone on the team was a mole, but then, on the other hand, it could be taken the same way that she doesn't trust them enough to tell them that she's from another universe. But Spirit just followed the team towards the bioship, she was just excited that she was able to miss school for this mission.
Captain Marvel flew up to the ship in front of Robin, Kid Flash, and Spirit. Robin questioning the leaguer. "You're coming with?"
"Sure! We'll have a blast." Captain Marvel replies. Spirit's smile returns to her face with a giggle, as the leaguer walks into the ship.
"Translation, he blames us for Red Fiasco," Robin tells his two best friends. But Spirit paid no mind to him as she continued to look at Captain Marvel as he walks away from them. "Doesn't trust us."
"It's a big club." Kid Flash adds as Aqualad walks up to them. Kid Flash and Robin move forward to go onto the bioship, but Spirit says but to talk to Aqualad
"Captain Marvel is so cool." Spirit squeaks out with red cheeks. "Do you think that he'll sign something for me?"
"I think that he would love too," Aqualad answered with a small frown. To which Marie instantly notice.
"You know they will get over it right?" Spirit assures. "They will so realize that you had no choice."
"And you are not upset with my decision?"
"No, we all have our reason to keep something hidden, whether it be bad or good. We all have done it at one point or another." Spirit tells him. "Like Robin and Batman, it's not that they don't trust the team and the league with their real names. It's just that they feel like they have to keep them safe. It's not that you don't trust the team, like you said you did what you wanted to protect the team."
Aqualad smiled at the girl, "Marie, you are very wise for your age. It may not seem like it. But when you speak overly, we should listen to what you have to say because you do have meaningful things to say."
"Thank you." Spirit nods with a smile. Before flying into the bioship with Aqualad right behind her.
NORTHERN INDIA
September 23; 21:36 IST
Robin and Artemis are the first to exit the bioship by cable. Then Miss. Martian lands the ship and the rest of the team jumps out of the bioship.
"All clear," Robin informs them.
"Switch to stealth," Aqualad orders them. Both Ms. Martian and Spirit do as he says, Spirit pressing her right shoulder turning her suit into a darker grey, and Ms. Martian morphing her clothes. "We will review mission parameters."
"Parameters? We don't need no stinkin' parameters." Kid Flash spat at the team leader while changing his suit into stealth mode.
"It's recon, We know what to do," Robin adds, Spirit looks down towards the floor as her best friends backtalk to Aqualad, and go to walk away.
"Kid, Robin," Aqualad calls out to them.
"The four of us started this team because the Justice League was keeping secrets from us." Robin turns to their leader.
"Or did you forgot that like you forgot to tell us about the mole?" Kid Flash adds as he pulls down his goggles. "You coming Spirit?"
"Uh, I- I." Spirit for the first does not know what to say, she looks up at Aqualad not wanting to disobey the leader.
"Oh, we see." Robin says, "You're taking his side."
"Guys-"
"I thought you were our best friend." Kid Flash cuts her off before he and Robin ran into the woods not wanting to say anything else to the two traitors.
"B-but I am," Spirit calls out after them. Spirit pouts, putting her head back down.
"Come on," Superboy says, grabbing Ms. Martian's arm.
Spirit looked at Superboy with narrows eyes. "Aggressive much?"
Ms. Martian pulls her arm away from the clone and glares at him, probably talking to him through a mind link or something.
"I just wanna protect you." Superboy's expression falls.
"Like Aqualad protected us?" Artemis steps up to the Kryptonian. "I'm not sure your protection or your patronizing is good for our health."
Then the two girls walked away in a direction of Robin and Kid Flash. Spirit looked at Aqualad hoping that he would find the strength to call them back and get everything under control but at last, he doesn't.
"Why didn't you stop them?" Superboy questions him harshly. "You're supposed to be in charge."
"I am..." Aqualad starts to speak to Superboy, but he just holds up his hand to him and leaps away in the opposite direction.
"Um, did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?" Captain Marvel asked Aqualad. Spirit giggled at his comment, as she looks at him with glossed over eyes and tinted cheeks. Aqualad sighs at what the leaguer says and starts walking. Captain Marvel and Spirit just following him.
Captain Marvel went to the skies to take an ariel view of the area, which would have been something that Spirit would have done, but she decided to stay near Aqualad while they were with Captain Marvel.
Said leaguer comes down landing on his knees, and touches where the paw prints were. "Guess this is where the Mayor Hills monkey business went down." Captain Marvel stands up and looks at Aqualad. "So at least we've confirmed his story, right"
"Ha, you're so funny." Spirit laughed. "Monkey business. Cause of the Gorilla."
"Aqualad." Captain Marvel questions the leader as he moves further into the field, after giving Spirit a cheeky smile.
"My apologies, captain," Aqualad says to the hero. "I am plagued by doubts. Perhaps I was wrong to withhold. And I know Marie what you said earlier did help, but I'm still--"
Aqualad was cut off by sounds of rustling coming from the trees all three heroes turn towards the sounds, in a fight stance. They move around as the sound comes from all sides. Spirit lifts herself off the ground further as she prepares herself for a fight.
"So what do you think it is? Loins? Bears? The gorilla?" Spirit lists off the names of animals that could be getting ready to storm them.
"Oh maybe-" Captain Marvel went to join in Spirit's guessing game but he was cut off by the animals coming out from the trees.
"Elephant!" Spirit exclaims, as she moves flies several feet higher, Captain Marvel flies at the animal slammings into the creature.
The elephant grabs Captain Marvel by his leg and throws him, through one tree and into another. Spirit looks at the animal with wide eyes.
"That was so awesome!" Spirit exclaims, "Also! That is also kind of frightening!"
Another elephant comes out from the trees, causing Aqualad to look at it, then the one who took down one of the powerhouses of the league came up to the team member.
"Now the issue lies how on earth are we going to stop these things," Spirit says. The one who took down Captain Marvel charged at Aqualad. And the leader of the team dodged the large feet of the mammal. Spirit pulls on her hair a little bit as she thinks of a game plan on how to take these animals. " Okay, maybe I can create a large enough gust of wind that will knock the two down? Or maybe I can create a tornado that will lift the elephants? But all those will end with me hurting the elephants. I need a different plan. Maybe I can pull a Tornado and remove all the oxygen from them and knock them long enough for us to escape? Or-"
Spirit lets out a scream as she smacked by a trunk, she plows into the ground below her. Spirit groans out in pain, she turns on the ground that Aqualad and Captain Marvel were only a couple feet from her and there was a tiger in front of them. But the tiger ran away when Aqualad landed in front of them.
All three of them jumped into action when the elephants came back to play. Captain Marvel hits the one, while Spirit held one back with her powers sending a huge gust of wind at the elephant keeping him or her at bay. It moves out of the stream of air and slammed into Captain Marvel sending him flying. The grey elephant attacked Aqualad with the latter using his water bearer into water whips. Aqualad jumps onto the creature pulling the giant collar off of it. Then the beast just blink at Aqualad and began walking away.
"Remove the collar!" Aqualad told the leaguers and Spirit who were fighting the reddish tinted elephant.
"On it." Captain Marvel nods, Spirit nods as well. She quickly takes her place under the elephant's chin and blasts her air up causing the beast to have their neck up revealing the collar to the leaguer.
Captain Marvel zooms in and breaks the collar off of the elephant. And he or her too, start to walks off, Aqualad look as the two animals walk away as if nothing has happened.
"Pretty sweet the way you figured out the problems was the collars." Captain Marvel tells Aqualad, as he and Spirit land on either side of the Altenen.
"But the collars indicate intelligence behind this attack," Aqualad tells them. "The rest of the team may also be at risk."Aqualad then presses on his comm. "Team, report status." Then with a slight jump, "Ugh. Com is jammed. And Ms. Martian failed to establish a telepathic lick before we split up."
"Actually, you let everyone split up before communications were set." Captain Marvel told him, Spirit made a face at the leaguers.
"They would not listen!" Aqualad defends himself.
"I guess." Captain Marvel agrees just to entertain him. "But back at the cave, Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word."
"In his defense. Batman is Batman." Spirit says. "Batman is super scary and I think that no one on the team what's to get on Batsy's bad side... Don't tell him I called him Batsy."
"Hey, you don't have to tell me." Captain Marvel said. " When I first joined the League all he did was boss me around. And it's hard to take it personally. But I never disobeyed an order and that's probably what kept me alive."
"So what's saying is that all those losers are all dead and I'm not because I followed the little to none instructs from Kaldur." Spirit jokes with a smile.
"Batman takes command. He has to... for the good of the League." Aqualad puts it together. "Thank you for helping me understand."
"Hey, Wisdom of Solomon."
"Aqualad, Spirit can you hear me." Ms. Martian's voice came through their minds.
"Yes, Ms. Martian, report," Aqualad replies.
"Artemis and I were attacked by animals wearing inhibitor collars like those used on convicts at Belrad prison." Ms. Martian tells him, Captain Marvel looked into the brush to see and hear the tiger from before.
"Cool, the tiger!" Captain Marvel said Spirit looked at the Captain. "I'll be right back!"
"Captain, wait, "Aqualad said.
"Wait! Where's the tiger?" Spirit called out him, but he sped off into the sky.
"Hey, Speed of Mercury," Aqualad said with a sigh.
"Ms. Martian I need a telepathic link up with the entire team, now." Aqualad orders the Martian.
"Link Established." Ms. Martian said.
"Should you really still be giving us orders?" Artemis questions. "And should you really be following them?"
"Listen, please," Aqualad speaks up.
"Oh, good, Aqualad's voice in my head. I've so missed that." Kid Flash jabbed.
"Can you lay off him." Spirit defends her leader.
"Oh look it's Marie, the traitor." Kid Flash went after Spirit, the younger teen want to retort but Robin had begun speaking.
"Hey, Kaldur, K.F and I were attacked by giant vultures," Robin told him. "Course, since we're moles you probably think we attacked ourselves."
"If he did, he wouldn't tell you." Artemis joins.
"Superboy are you online or just pouting." Ms. Martian addresses the clone.
"Busy. Call back later." Superboy told them.
"What gets me is how nonchalant he is and how unfazed Marie is about him not telling us." Kid Flash continued to go after his friends.
"She should be chalant. Way chalant. Extremely chalant." Robin adds.
"How can we be a team if he doesn't trust us with his secrets?"Artemis says.
"We're superheroes! We keep secrets it's part of the job! We all keep secrets from the people we love. Well, I don't cause I have no one not tell, but Green Lantern kept his ID a secret from his long-time girlfriend for the longest. And Robin you can't take, no one here knows who you are." Spirit said as she and Aqualad walk to a place with three towers and drags prints in the dirt.
"That's different!" Robin retorts to her. "And you're one to talk! I bet you knew this whole time about the mole, that's why you not fazed."
"I didn't know!" Spirit exclaimed. "I'm just not a baby about not being included!"
"Did he really think you or I could have been the mole?" Kid Flash questioned.
"We've known each other for years!" Robin said Spirit was too busy arguing with Robin and Kid Flash, to notice that Aqualad was looking at the dirt.
"And... what does have to do with anything! He said he didn't want to hurt the team! That's all that should matter!" Spirit shouts.
"Trust is a two street," Artemis said.
"And you know they'd hate it if we kept secrets from them." Ms. Martian added.
"Not that we will do that."
"Never."
"You all are all hypocrites. You all act like you haven't made any mistakes in your life!" Spirit shouted, her chest was burning with anger at all this drama. She hated this, how easy they will turn on their friend just because he made a mistake, a mistake he thought he was doing to keep the team safe. This is why she hates school in the first place. The willingness everyone had to just go after one person because that's what the group was doing it. "Robin, you disappear into the night without a word, not telling what your plan. You keep things from us."
"Why are you coming after me?" Robin questioned the girl.
"Because K.F tells us everything. He is probably the only one who could be upset at the moment."
"Enough." Aqualad told them as he grabs a tower, Spirit turned to him as he ripped it out of the ground and it spark, "Captain Marvel has been captured and we must act as a team to save him."
"Hmph. Under your leadership I don't think--"
"This is not up for debate." Aqualad cuts off Kid Flash harshly, causing a smile to creep up Spirit's face. "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."
"I also want to point out that Aqualad will be the only person I will listen to so, I wish luck to the person who's going to leader. Because I can pretty hellish when I want to be." Spirit warned. As she flies after Aqualad who threw down the tower and started to walk away.
The six teens, not including Superboy met at a building in the middle of the forest where they believe that Captain Marvel is being held captive. Kid Flash and Robin came beside Spirit, as Ms. Maritan flew into a tree, Aqualad and Artemis were on the other side of the tree.
"I'll fly over." Ms. Martian said.
"Negatory." Kid Flash told her. "The field extends like a dome over the whole compound."
"Pylona are insulated but one good shock could cause a momentary gap," Robin tells him, as he looks through his wrist computer.
"I see a target," Artemis tells them.
"Then be ready to hit," Aqualad told her. "Be ready, all of you."
Spirit, Robin, and Kid Flash look at each other. Aqualad moves forward, to the force field. Aqualad uses his skin icons to open up a small hole in the field.
"Now!"Kid Flash said, Artemis quickly took her shot and hit her target. Bringing the whole field down.
The team moves forward to the building, with Kid Flash speeding to Aqualad's side, with Ms. Martian moving beside him as well. But Robin has stopped and looking causing Spirit to the same, with Artemis behind them.
"It's a monkey!" Spirit points out with a smile. The monkey then let out a howl causing the team to jump. The alarms start to blare and then several more of the apes come from behind them. "Oh, oh, look there's more! Awe they're so cute! Can I keep one?"
"Remove their collars," Aqualad told the team they fight their fair share of monkeys.
Spirit flew a couple of feet into the air, as a monkey jumped at her. Spirit sent a blast of air at the poor animal causing it to fly back. Spirit went forward and grabbed the collar on the monkey and ripped it off of him. The monkey looked at Spirit with wide eyes before walking off.
"Sounds easy when he says it." Robin fighting two apes. Artemis kicks on of the apes and shots two arrows at the monkeys attacking Robin, shocking off their collars.
Two monkeys come from behind Artemis and Robin throws two disks at them, knocking the two's collars off. After that a Gorilla with a machine gun and a fedora.
"Look, look!" Spirit exclaims as she points at the ape with a grin. "It's the Gorilla! This is so awesome!"
Guerilla Gorilla grabbed Ms. Martian as she tried to past and threw her to the ground. He pressed his machine to her.
"Get your paws off her, you darn dirty ape." Kid Flash said, he sped into the ape but Kid Flash just bounced on him and into the ground.
Spirit was cut off from the show when two more monkeys came out her. Spirit quickly grabbed the collar one of them ripping it off as she swung her foot around kicking the other monkey before it could to her. When she kicked the one, she had kicked him or her right where the collar was breaking it free from it' mind control. "Sorry."
Ms. Martian threw the Gorilla threw the wall and into the lab of that Captain Marvel was being held in. Spirit flew in with her teammates, in the room Captain Marvel was strapped to a metal table with a laser being pointed at him. The tiger that Aqualad and Spirit have seen earlier was there. And the big bad was to be revealed to be a brain in a robot body.
" It's the brain!" Kid Flash tells them, knowing who the villain of the day was.
"Uh, I can see it's a brain." Artemis retorts.
"Not a brain. The Brain." Kid Flash corrects the girl.
"In the flesh." The Brain says. "So to speak."
"Ha get it, he's mostly metal." Spirit laughs.
"Mallah." The brain turns to the ape.
Mallah then pushing a button, For towers exactly like the one Aqualad and Spirit had seen, raised from the ground. The six of them fell to the ground.
"Urg why can't anything be easy!" Spirit exclaimed as she lands on her side next to Robin.
"Ms. Martian, Superboy, now." Aqualad orders.
Ms. Martian using her powers took the remote from Mallah, turning the towers off. The six of them quickly got up, and then the wall from behind Mallah crashed down, Superboy and a white wolf stood there. The wolf launched at Mallah, but the Gorilla stood up and Kid Flash jumped at him. The ape started firing his guns, at the speedster and the boy wonder came swinging down on, kicking him. Ms. Martian used her powers to pick Mallah off the ground and onto his back. Mallah quickly back onto his feet, and started shooting again. Superboy then leaped at the gorilla, Mallah jumped back, causing Superboy to slam his fist into the ground. Superboy then is thrown back, with Mallah firing at his chest. Spirit flew at the Gorilla, she slams her feet into the gorilla's chest, though she didn't do much, she used his body to flip herself up and blasted air from her feet, causing the ape to stumble back.
Spirit lands on her feet and Mallah goes to shot at her, but Artemis fires an arrow at him landing it in his pack, Robin then threw two disks onto him. The disk turned red and then went boom!
The brain was firing at Aqualad, but Aqualad ducked out of his range to go free Captain Marvel, and the rest of the team surrounded the two baddies. Once the captain was free, and then take the collar off of the tiger.
Mallah roared when he noticed that they were surrounded on all sides. Superboy cracked his knuckles, as he stares the ape. "Try it. I hate monkeys."
"No Mallah, this not be our Waterloo." The brain told his henchmen. Then the robot brain guy started extending his parts out creating what seems like a weapon. And with a deep, slow voice, the brain said goodbye to them in a different language {Maybe french}. "Au revoir, mes amis."
"Get down!" Kid Flash exclaimed.
Superboy tensed up as if he was going to launch at the brain and Artemis got ready to fire her arrow. Then suddenly the room got dark, and when lights turned off the Brain and Mallah were nowhere to be found.
"You see now I don't know what to say." Spirit deflated. "On the one hand, I could complain about how things aren't ever easy and then on the other I could say how awesome that was."
"Wait that big weapon thing was..." Kid Flash started."... A light switch."
"What are you grinning about?" Artemis question Kid Flash as they all made it up to the bioship.
"One word. Souvenir." Kid Flash told her, putting on the fedora of Mallah.
"Two words, Gorilla lice." Artemis retorts before ahead of him.
"Huh? Oh, man! Uhh." Kid Flash quickly takes the hat off his head and moves it away from him.
With Aqualad, Robin, and Spirit, the youngest member of the team was taking the collar off of one of the monkeys from earlier. The wind-powered hero has been trying to convince Aqualad to allow her to bring the ape back to Coast City with her, but the leader was not allowing her.
"That's the last of the collars?" Captain Marvel questions the tiger after Spirit had freed the last monkey. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" The tiger roars in response. "Good. I'll be back for a visit. I promise." The tiger then ran away and Captain Marvel just waved at it as it went. "I think I'll call him Mr. Tawny."
Robin and Spirit were standing on the ramp, Spirit was listening to Kid Flash, Ms. Martian, and Superboy talking about how the latter was going to keep the wolf that helped them fight The brain and Mallah.
"So not fair," Spirit mumbles, crossing her arms. "Superboy gets to keep a wolf, but I can't take a monkey."
"There's a difference between you and Superboy, one you live in a two-bedroom apartment in Coast City, while Superboy lives in a secret HQ own by the Justice League inside a mountain," Robin tells her.
Spirit nods, but she looks down, remembering that she and Robin are in the middle of a disagreement. "Um... uh so. I know you're upset with me. And I'm upset with you. But I- uh- I'm sorry for not going with two when the team was splitting up. I wanted to but it's just--"
"You didn't want Kaldur to think that everyone was against him," Robin added with a bow of his head. "I understand."
"Are we okay? Are we still friends because no offense to Kaldur but I can change my opinions real quick." Spirit tells him.
Robin laughed. "We're okay. And you don't have to do that."
"Yay!" Spirit smiled, "I'm going into the ship, the bugs are killing me."
But before she could go in, Aqualad came up behind her and Robin spoke to him. "Look, I need to know. Why did you keep the mole intel a secret?"
Spirit stopped in her tracks, even though she was on Kaldur's side one hundred percent she also was curious as to why he kept it a secret and not the short 'I wanted to protect the team' version.
"The source of the tip was Sportsmaster," Aqualad told them.
"What? You can't trust him!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Oh no!" Spirit shouted at Artemis. "We're not going to have this. You have to pick your mind. We're not going to have another thing because-"
"Spirit, it is alright," Aqualad tells Spirit before going back to Artemis. "I do not trust Sportsmaster. 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," Robin says. "But you had to consider it might be true."
"Yes. As leader, I did." Aqualad tells him. "In which case, I did not wish to alert the traitor."
Robin sighs. "Hate to say it, but.. Makes sense."
"Look at all you y'all looking like a bunch of idiots. And me, being the smart talent, and kind one, knowing what side is the best." Spirit says as she flips her hair side to side.
"I am still prepared to step down," Aqualad told them, ignoring the little show Spirit was putting on to distract from the fact that they were made at her as well.
"All in favor of keeping Aqualad as leader?" Kid Flash questioned. Every team member rosed their hands with a smile.
"Guess it's unanimous." Captain Marvel places his hand on Aqualad's shoulder. Giving him a handshake. "See you tomorrow."
"You're not coming back with us?" Aqualad questions the leaguer.
"Nah, gotta fly." Captain Marvel tells him before taking off.
Spirit giggles, "Isn't he so cool. He's like the better version of Superman. No offense Superboy."
No one comments on what Spirit says as they move onto the bioship.
"You know one of these days you guys are going to ignore me and you're going to miss vital information." Spirit mumbles.