After we returned to the bioship, we resumed our telepathic sweep of the desert. The spiral pattern had already increased to a few miles in radius, so Aqualad suggested that we start searching for nearby structures or landmarks instead. He reasoned that by this point Kid Flash and Artemis would have moved away from the open desert and started looking for shelter, so we should prioritize finding those first. We agreed and started flying to the unique bits of topography we had on our maps, rock formations and oases and the like.
About 70 minutes after we started, Miss Martian perked up, and I got the same sensation as I did the last time: two points of light forming in my perception. {There they are!} she said. {Kid Flash and Artemis, they're together! But…}
{But what?} I asked.
{I think I heard something? Like, an explosion.}
We got Moya headed in the right direction and I shifted back to humanoid. My ability to hear outside of the ship wasn't particularly good, but after a few seconds I heard a low thump, like a very loud noise originating from far away. And I had very few guesses as to what could be causing that. "I guess I was lucky to have found Superboy before anyone else did," I muttered to myself. Then again I suppose the military was lucky for that too.
In short order we found ourselves a rocky canyon, a ragged scar that cut through a small part of the desert. It would have been next to impossible to see from the ground, but from the air we could see down into canyon and at the dark blur moving quickly through it. Zooming my vision in I confirmed that it was Kid Flash, and he was carrying Artemis in a bridal carry. He moved in a zigzag pattern, and an explosion impacted a spot he had been occupying a split second ago.
Looking back towards the origin of the shell revealed the cause. There was a line of vehicles, several Humvees and an actual goddamn tank rolling after the pair. Two of the fast vehicles were accelerating after our teammate while two more of them hung back with the heavier armor. Kid Flash probably could outpace them, even boxed in like he was, but there was always the chance that tank would make a lucky shot. And just how is it managing to track the speedster with its cannon at all? I wondered.
I grunted and asked Moya to open a hatch in the floor. "Alright. You guys rendezvous with Kid Flash and Artemis, I'll take care of the tank."
"Wait, what-"
I didn't hear the rest of Robin's statement, as I had already dropped into the open air and was free falling towards the tank. The man standing in the open-hatch gun turret didn't notice me until I slammed into the armor next to him. To his credit, even while he screamed in surprise, his reflexes were fast enough that he immediately ducked down into the tank and closed the lid shut before I could reach him. I moved to the lid and pulled my arm back, my hand forming into a massive claw before slashing at the hatch. However, while several deep gouges formed on the armor, the hatch remain intact and shut.
I growled as I forced my fingers into the reinforced hinge on the hatch, simply tearing the metal apart with assimilation spikes. Note to self, step up research on high frequency weaponry, I thought as the metal gave way and I tore the lid off. The soldier who had dodged me before tried to duck down deeper into the tank as light poured into the vehicle's insides, but I reached down and grabbed him before he could get away. I yanked him up and glowered at him. "You fire tank shells at everyone who enters your country?"
I didn't get a response before I heard shouting behind me, and with my blindsight I saw one of the Humvees pull up alongside the tank, and a man on the mounted .50 caliber machine gun swing the weapon in my direction. I was still holding the soldier in my hand though, so I whipped out my arm and placed it between the gun and the man I was holding.
The original Psion shield I had consumed was very inflexible, forming a large, immovable dome that anchored the emitter in place. It was only recently that I managed to get something much more manageable. The emitter finished forming on my arm, and an instant later a transparent blue hexagon about a meter across formed as a shield, the incoming bullets causing ripples as they hit it. "Do none of you people understand the concept of friendly fire?!" I yelled at the gunner. With both of my other hands occupied, I grew a mechadendrite limb from my back tipped with a small laser canon and arched it over my shield. I fired at the ammo belt connected to the weapon, and the gunner had just enough time to dive away before all the bullets detonated.
With that out of the way, I returned my attention to the man in my grip. "Leave them alone or I won't be so careful next time," I said before I tossed him to the sand. I then climbed into the tank's command deck. The three soldiers inside screamed and pulled guns, but none of them fired (probably afraid of ricochets in such a tight space). "Hey guys, what's going on, oh hey this looks important," I said right before I shoved my hand into the bank of electronics next to me. My assimilation spikes spread throughout the interior wall of the tank, consuming and ripping apart anything I could find. The men took this opportunity to scramble out of the hatch and away from me. I didn't stop them, but I did use my free hand to grab one of the radios off their belt.
As I took the inside of the tank apart, I kept careful note of the components that made up the electronics, and sure enough I found several bits that weren't made on earth. Similar to the parts I found inside the drones. I swiftly tore out the radio console (leaving it intact) before I tried to extract the components, but they self-destructed like before. Well, that would do. I didn't have time to dig in and destroy the engine, but without all the electronics the thing would barely be able to function anyway. I affixed the radio console to clamps on my back and climbed back out onto the top of the vehicle. As I emerged I spotted two Humvees speeding away, heading in the direction I had seen Kid Flash and Artemis. Two shots with a laser canon took out a wheel on each and I took off back into the air.
I flew high to get a clear view of the area, wanting to make sure there were no other surprises waiting for us. Scanning the immediate area revealed no new threats however, and even after I hung in the air for all to see for a few seconds nothing tried to attack me. A sweep of the horizon didn't reveal much either, though it was hard to make out any details with the air wavering in the heat. I thought that I might have seen something near the mountains on the distance, but I honestly couldn't be sure.
A short while later I found the rest of the team around the mouth of the canyon, the rock falling away into a gentle sandy slope. I saw an overturned Humvee a little ways into the canyon itself, but other than that nothing. Kid Flash and Artemis stood still as rest of the team approached, and I landed in time to hear the Kid Flash say something to Miss Martian. "-J'onn, but I'm not sure the new look screams 'Manhunter'." Kid Flash said as he eyed her up and down.
"She's his niece, KF." Robin said as he trotted up to his teammate. "Would have thought you'd remember her of all people."
The redhead ignored that and broke out into a grin. "Robin! So happy to see a familiar face!" He clasped hands with the boy before seeing past him. "And Aqualad! The whole gang's here. Though you may want to get out of the sun, buddy."
Aqualad nodded. "It is good to you managed on your own, even without your memories."
"Yeah, about that, wanna clue me in on what's going on?"
Robin smirked. "Short version, we have our own team, we were given a mission by Batman, and we all got hit with a psychic mind whammy which made us forget the last six months. Fortunately, MM here can fix all that."
Kid Flash perked up at that. "Our own team? Finally! Wait, does that mean Speedy's here too?" He asked as he looked around.
"Speedy was an ass and didn't want to join." I said as I stepped up. "Artemis on the other hand is one of us."
The girl in question gave me an odd look. "I'm a superhero? With… other people?"
"Yep. Why, is that so surprising to you?"
"Kinda, actually." She said as she rubbed the back of her head. "Always… saw myself doing the solo gig."
I was reminded of just how little I knew about Artemis, or why she had been brought to the team in the first place. Still, now was not the time to pry, so I said "Well, I'm glad you joined."
She looked like she had more to say, but Kid Flash cut in with "Wait, what happened with Speedy?"
I rolled my eyes as Miss Martian steeped in and started to explain how she would restore their memories. In the meantime Aqualad approached me. "Machina, I am becoming concerned." He said in a low tone.
"With what?"
"With you. You're behavior has been more… aggressive than usual. Especially for a mission."
I mentally checked what I had been doing, and realized what his issue might have been. "Ah, shit, I'm not undermining you, am I?" Aqualad was the leader at the moment, but I hadn't waited for his signal before I went after the tank. I… just hadn't thought about it.
However, he waved me off. "It is not that. I am just concerned when one of my teammates suddenly starts behaving differently. Are you sure that you weren't affected by the psychic?"
"What? No, of course not." I guess I was acting a little different, but I didn't have a good answer for him. Eventually I said, "It's just… I need to make sure everyone makes it back safe."
"And you have." He insisted. "We only have one left. And we will find her together."
Miss Martian then seemed to finish with the other two, Kid Flash and Artemis shaking their heads to get over the psychic tampering. They then noticed how close they were standing next to each other, and promptly stepped away. "Right, so uh, what's the plan now?" Artemis asked.
"We are still missing Starfire." Aqualad said as he turned to her. "Our goal is to find her and then return home. We have a rough idea of where she went, so-"
It was at that moment the radio console on my back crackled and a female voice came from it, in English. "To the particularly irritating grey 'monster' that has been harassing my men, I suggest you answer if you're listening. If you want you and your team to live that is."
I paused before I took the console off my back and stared at it, arching an eyebrow. I looked at the rest of my team and found them staring at me expectantly. "Well, I'm not going to do it." I said. "If we send out a signal, they'll start tracking our position."
"Machina, what is that?" Aqualad asked.
"It's a communication console I ripped out of the tank. I figured we could use it to keep track of the military's communications." I explained. "I made sure there are no trackers in the thing. Kind of surprised that whoever this is thinks we can hear her, actually."
Speaking of which, the voice on the radio continued. "Well? I am waiting. I am sure you think yourselves very clever and capable for besting my men and psychic, but you have not yet begun to see the full might I can bring against you."
Robin perked up. "Wait, I recognize that voice. That's Queen Bee herself!"
Miss Martian tilted her head in confusion. "But, why is the queen of all people trying to talk to us? Is Rommie really that important?"
I frowned. "I don't think Rommie herself is, but if what she was saying is true, then Queen Bee is negotiating with some very bad people. Rommie was probably some sort of 'gift' from Apokolips."
It was then the voice on the radio let out a sigh. "Oh very well. I had hoped to get something useful out of you lot, but I supposed I don't need all of you. It won't matter in a few seconds anyway."
"Wait, Rommie? Apokolips?" Kid Flash asked. "The hell are those?"
"Rommie is-" I started to say as I turned towards Kid Flash, but stopped when I noticed something odd. On his chest there was an odd flicking light in infrared. In a split second I realized what it was: a laser sight.
"Down!" I screamed as I jumped in front of him, knocking the teen to the ground to try to shield him from the shot.
Which never came.
I looked around desperately to see where the sniper had shifted his aim, but to my surprise it remained on my chest. I looked at it in confusion as the rest of the team looked at me in alarm. "Machina, what's wrong?!" Aqualad said as he looked around for threats.
"Infrared laser sight." I said as I passed my hand in front of the dot, trying to figure out its origin. After some gesturing, and to my surprise, I traced the angle to almost straight up into the sky. I stared at a spot in the uniform blue sky for several long seconds before I finally spotted the barest hint of a different color, a grayish-red that blended into the sky the further away it got from the laser sight. "It's a stealth drone. I can barely even make it out… but it's not shooting, so what's with the-"
Oh no.
Fast as I could I whipped my arm up as it formed into a laser canon and fired at full power. There was a small explosion in the sky as the beam hit its mark and I turned back the team. "MOVE!" I screamed as I started to run away from the canyon.
They complied, though Miss Martian yelled. "Why? What's happening?"
Artemis was fast on the uptake. "Laser guided missiles!"
I heard the shriek in the air before we crested the first sand dune, and looking behind us I could see the dots rapidly growing in size. The first one touched down where we had been standing moments ago, the huge explosion ripping apart the rock walls of the canyon. Several more dropped down in a pattern around the first, carpeting the area in explosions. I spotted Moya parked a short distance ahead of us, if we could-
One of the missiles touched down about a dozen meters to the side of Moya.
The flash of light and shockwave from the blast stopped some of the team in their tracks and knocked over the rest. After a few seconds the rumbling finally died down, and I heard Aqualad call out, "Everyone, status check."
We all gave back affirmative, save for Miss Martian, who was focused on something else. "Moya, Superboy!" She screamed and shot towards the bioship, which I could see hadn't come out of the attack unscathed. There was a large scar running down one side of the ship's main fuselage, and one of the wings had a noticeable break in it. I both heard and felt a trill of pain from the ship as it folded in on itself slightly.
I kept an eye on the sky as the team rushed forward to the bioship. Miss Martian flew to the side of the ship and gently touched its injures, her face a picture of distress. "She… she'll be ok, but she's hurt. She needs to heal before she can fly. I-"
The Martian cut herself off as Moya opened her back ramp, and Rommie rolled out. Along with, surprisingly, Superboy. "Uh… w-what?" The teen said as he stumbled and look around in confusion. "What happened? Where are… wait, who are…?"
[We are safe, though this one is delirious!] Rommie beeped. [He chose an interesting time to awaken, though I am not certain when he shall be functional.]
Artemis ran over to help him sit, and thankfully the teen didn't attack her. Kid Flash shifted from one foot to the other as he looked around. "We can't stay here, we'll be sitting ducks! It's only a matter of time before they send some more goons to investigate! Or fire more missiles!"
"But the bioship can't move right now!" Miss Martian insisted. "And we can't leave her here!"
I started to breathe deeply in order to calm myself down, but it wasn't helping. Rommie might be able to carry the less mobile of the team, but I doubted she could tow Moya. I didn't know what to do, but I had to get the team to safety. I had to find Starfire before something happened to her. I had to-
And then that damn radio turned on again. "In the off chance that you survived that, I am sure that you now see that you are not beyond my reach. I have far more powerful devices at my disposal as well. Frustrating that you removed my ability to immediately check, but we'll have eyes on you again soon enough."
I held the console out in front of me, wondering if I should just destroy the thing. The queen was just gloating at the moment, and she wasn't giving me any new information. I suppose I could use it to track where she was broadcasting from, but I didn't see much of an immediate use for that. Unless… that was also where the missiles came from.
The queen continued. "You need to understand, this nation is mine. You do not have my leave to simply come and go as you please, and my men will keep hunting you until you are destroyed. However, I am not without mercy. If you come forward and surrender you will be spared. And if you need more incentive, I will also spare the lovely young woman we captured." A pause. "Say something, won't you dear?"
A new voice came on over the radio, screaming in fury. "Karnath re'c makal! Dana'c suresh ven-AAAH!" It cut off with a crackling sound.
That was Tamaranian. Kori.
"Rather feisty, isn't she?" Queen Bee continued in a smug tone. "Bit of a handful to be honest, but we've managed. She too underestimated the technology I possess. Now, if you are listening and haven't already been blown to bits, I command that you surrender. If you don't, well… I'm sure that my men can find a use for her."
My hand pierced the side of the radio console, reconfiguring it along with my arm into radio tracking gear. After a few seconds I had a direction and a location, but I pushed further, sending out a signal that traced through all the relays and transponders the signal had bounced through. A few seconds after that, I had the origin of the signal.
A radio jammer formed in my chest and started broadcasting white noise on a wide range of frequencies. I then launched in air and shot towards the mountains in the distance. My body reconfigured and became more missile-like as I optimized for speed, my arms fusing into my sides and my legs fusing together. My internals changed to allow for a massive thruster which formed from my feet, and a seconds later I rocketed forward at even faster speeds.
After some time, the base then appeared before me, nestled at the base of a mountain. There were five hangers, seventeen buildings, a concrete wall running around the perimeter, and a runway some distance behind it. And a tower with a radar dish mounted on the top. That wasn't the origin of the signal, but it was close.
I barely slowed before I hit the tower, the top collapsing inward as I smashed through several layers of steel and concrete. I came to a stop, and my body shifted to toss off the rubble and reform for a new purpose. High energy induction coils formed all over my body before they unleashed a powerful electromagnetic pulse, electricity arcing out from all of the equipment around me. I searched again, and found that signal came from somewhere else on the base. The administrative buildings.
There was nothing on that floor of the tower. I smashed through the floor and landed on the next story. I repeated the process over and over, not finding anything. The tower groaned as I reached the bottom floor, and I charged out. Bullets impacted me as I moved, but I ignored them. Kinetic dampeners switched to amplifiers as I slid underneath a Humvee that moved between me and the administrative buildings, and a punch to its underside flipped it over. A few rockets then impacted near me, but nothing hit, and I charged forward again. In a matter of seconds the first building was in front of me, and I tore straight through the wall to get inside.
I formed new sensors, powerful ones based off of the Psion sensors that could detect unique electromagnetic phenomena. Looking for traces of a unique plasma. It wasn't in the building. My arm became a sonic cannon which tore the walls in front of me down as I headed to the next building in the row. I exited one building and entered the next, repeating the process. Again, nothing. So I did it again with the next building. Nothing. So I did it again with the next-
Just as I entered it, the building exploded. Everything was fire and fury until I tumbled clear of the rubble and got my limbs underneath me. Through the smoke and flames there was a pair of tanks rolling towards me. My body twisted and expanded as I pulled on more mass, extra legs forming to support my new frame. My arms fused into my torso as it elongated and took shape, and moments later the Heavy Rotary Plasma Canon spun to life and opened fire on the first. Plasma bolts stripped the tank's armor in seconds, the metal turning hot and soft where it was not simply blasted off. The vehicle ground to a stop.
I turned my aim on the second one, advancing as I fired. It tried to turn away, but the plasma bolts quickly stripped the treads and rendered it useless. Bullets impacted me, but I ignored them. I then saw more tanks, these rolling out of the large hangers that made up most of the base. The machine gun mounts had already turned towards me, and the main turrets were moving into position.
I stared at them for a moment before my form changed to become more spider-like, and I leapt at the second tank. As I arced through the air, I formed both a freeze canon and a plasma canon. I fired a burst of plasma at the top hatch before quickly following up with a cold beam. By the time I landed on the tank the now brittle metal of the hatch shattered from the force of impact. I pried open the gap before reaching in a pulling all the refuse out, tossing it aside to make room for myself. When the space was clear enough I climbed inside.
I tore the command deck apart until I found the ammo store for the main canon. The whole tank then shook and a deafening blast sounded from outside. The other tanks had started to open fire. One of my arms gripped the ammo hopper and shifted into an automated ammo belt, and I climbed out of the hole I made. Once I was in the open air, four of my limbs reshaped into massive gun barrels. There was a hum as electromagnets came to life, and in moments I opened fire with the coil-autocannons, tank shells firing in a rapid staccato rhythm. My fire swept across the tanks that had managed to leave their hangers, explosions destroying their turrets in rapid succession. I then turned to the hangers themselves and began firing at the walls and supports. A few more vehicles tried to escape, but many more were crushed as the metal roof and walls collapsed.
Soon enough my store of tank shells ran dry, and everything around me was either running away or on fire. My gun barrels peeled open to expose the red hot internals to the air, cooling them off after such rapid fire. I shrank back down and looked around. For a long moment, there was nothing.
Then a sound grabbed my attention, and I turned to see a cargo plane taxiing down the runway. I jumped off the tank and started to move in that direction, but then a dull red beam light appeared out of thin air and stuck me in the side. Part of my hip disintegrated as I tumbled to the ground and I looked around for a target. I saw nothing with either my normal vision or my blindsight, not until the same reddish light bloomed in the air off to my left side. As I dodged the beam a drone floating in the air became visible, cross shaped and made of a grey and red metal, before it disappeared from sight.
I quickly reformed my body and fell to all fours, sprinting in a zig-zag pattern towards the fleeing cargo plane. More beams materialized out of the air around me, too many in number and from too many angles to have come from just one. It was so many that it was costing me time to dodge all of them. Several mechadendrite limbs formed from my back, each tipped with a Psion shield. When they all activated it formed a partial shell around me, and I let the beams impact the shell as I ran flat out at the plane about to take off.
By the time I got within range, the cargo plane was already halfway down the runway at takeoff speed. I formed and fired a pair of grapples at a spot just behind the wing, and when they hit I pulled myself forward. My path took me through the exhaust of one of the engines, and the lines pull taut as I swung with crushing force into the side of the fuselage. The drones that had been pursuing me also took the same path, and their camouflage failed as the plane's exhaust sent them tumbling away.
As I pulled myself together the plane reached the end of the runway and took off into the air. I cut a small hole in the fuselage and slipped inside the cargo hold. The inside of the plane had a number of large cargo pallets scattered about, though there were no soldiers or people visible. There was a door all the way in the back of the cargo hold leading to the forward section of the plane. I was still for a moment as my sensors scanned the air, and came back positive for the type of plasma I was looking for. This was the place.
Suddenly, one of the cargo pallets surged towards me, sparks arcing off the ground and metal groaning as it slid across the plane's floor. I jumped to the side to avoid it, but as I moved a massive figure darted out from behind and grabbed me, slamming me into the floor with a hand that covered my torso.
It was a large robotic exoframe colored in grey and red, a New God pattern of lines covering its surface. It was 4 meters tall with thick limbs and no head to speak of, but in the chest there was a curved transparent panel revealing a sort of cockpit. "You're not the only one with nice toys, freak." The form inside was dressed in a military uniform adorned with medals.
I twisted in the exoframe's grip, my body changing shape to slip away just before the other fist came down and crushed where my head had been. I skipped back and formed both a laser canon and plasma cannon, firing as the exoframe charged at me. My attack merely struck it armor and fizzled, and with a burst of speed it closed the distance and hammered me in the chest. I flew straight back through a cargo pallet, the ammunition it was holding either spraying everywhere or igniting from coming in contact with the heated barrels of my weapons. I rolled to my feet before I jumped up to the ceiling of the cargo hold, crawling back and forth as the exoframe tried to grab me.
As I moved I cycled through various weapons, but nothing was effective. Sonic waves barely slowed it down, and it broke through any ice I made with the freeze ray. I landed a few parting slashes with my claws, but they barely scratched the surface of the armor. Eventually the exoframe managed to grab my leg as I was forming the aerokinetic core, and I blasted it with a massive burst of lightning. The grip went a bit slack as electricity arced off the robotic frame, and I jumped back down to the floor to watch.
After a few moments… the exoframe was fine, the remaining electricity fading out. A laugh resonated through the cargo hold. "Is that the best you can do? For all your technology you really are just scrap." Inside the cockpit, medals twitched and sparked a little before settling down.
I was silent and still for a long moment before I shifted to my armored form, standing up straight as I smashed my fists together in challenge. The exoframe charged in response, and as it closed the distance I formed a hidden electromagnetic repulsor in my chest. The moment it was on me I fell backwards from the punch it threw and grabbed the arm, pulling the entire robotic frame down with me to the ground. Just as it was positioned directly over me, I revealed and activated the repulsor.
The magnetic field didn't move the exoframe, but it did move the medals inside the cockpit. Specifically, through the middle of the cockpit. There was a brief scream before it was cut off by choking on blood. The grip went slack and I surged up, my fist driving the whole thing back. Two more strikes drove the exoframe to the metal wall of the plane, and I paused for a moment for my arms to form into striking pistons. Each punch after that dented the metal further and further, the whole plane starting to groan as the metal came close to simply shattering.
"W-wait!" The form in the cockpit managed to get out between coughs of blood. "Do-don't! I'm-"
"Just meat."
A final strike drove the exoframe through the side of the plane, and it went tumbling into the sky and out of sight. I anchored myself to the floor as plane lurched, wind ripping through the inside of the cargo hold through the massive hole I had just created. I turned and moved to the door in the back, tossing it open and heading deeper into the plane. Sirens were blaring and lights were flashing as I moved down the narrow corridor, and I quickly reached another open space.
On the other side of the room, I found her. She was restrained on an upright slab of metal shackles on her arms and legs, with her hands being covered completely. Her light flared and rippled furiously as she tried to free herself, but she stopped when she saw me. I pushed some refuse out of the way as I approached, and when I got to her-
"Torva'l?" She asked in confusion.
I…Wait, what? Right, right she doesn't remember.
I blinked and shook my head before I reached up and ripped the restraints off her hands and feet. She floated away from the slab and looked at me warily. She had a number of cuts and bruises scattered over her body, but otherwise looked no worse for wear. I held my arms at my sides spreading them slightly. "Cor nock toresh nal voerkeni saul." I said.
We must work together to escape.
Starfire looked at me in confusion for a long moment before her expression became resolute, and she nodded.
I then turned to leave but a voice stopped me. "Wait!" I looked to the side, and to my surprise I saw Queen Bee herself hanging on desperately to the webbing lining the wall, trying to stay on her feet as the plane rocked violently. When the hell did she get here? I wondered, noting the gash on the side of her head and how her arm hung limply at her side. She was also quite angry as she yelled, "You can't just leave me here! You're supposed to be a hero, aren't you?! Do something!"
I looked at her for a second before I grabbed a parachute from the rack next to me and tossed it to her. Starfire and I then left, exiting the room, and shortly thereafter the plane, flying free into the sky.
Kori lay on the bed in the back of the bioship while M'gann stood next to her, the Martian's eyes closed as she focused on fixing her friend's memory. While she may have not been that injured, Kori had become exhausted by the time we gotten back to the rest of the team, and had taken the opportunity to lay down. She seemed to trust us enough that it did take much convincing from M'gann to fix her memories, despite not remembering who we were. And since Moya had managed to heal, and since she had already set us back on a course to the States, there was nothing left for the team to do back wait for our leader to get back to her senses.
"So…" Wally drawled out as he looked at me. "You know we could have come with, right Mac? Probably would have been easier and stuff."
"It was fine. I got her out."
Wally smirked and gave me the finger guns. "Oh, I see. Wanted to be the one to save the damsel, eh? Well, I suppose I can let you throw your hat in the game, but don't be surprised if her gaze wanders in my direction…"
I grunted, not really paying attention.
M'gann's eyes then opened. "Ok, that should do it." Sure enough Kori's eyes fluttered opened and she let out a groan, sitting herself up on the bed. M'gann leaned forward. "Hey, are you feeling alright? What's the last thing you remember?"
Kori stared forward for a moment, her brow furrowing. "I… remember now. There was that spike of pain in my mind, and I somehow forgot. I was captured, but then I was saved by-"
She cut herself off as her gaze drifted to me, and her eyes widened. "Jacob!" She shot forward and wrapped her arms around my neck before kissing me. I stumbled back from the sudden motion, not expecting her to just…
Oh.
I felt something… go slack inside of me that I hadn't known had tightened, and a sense of relief poured through me as I wrapped my arms around her in kind. I hadn't realized just how worried I was about Kori losing her memory of… us.
We held the embrace for a moment longer before we pulled apart, and I smiled. "I will always come back for you." I whispered, and she smiled back as she leaned against me.
"What?!" The two of us looked over to see Wally gaping at the two of us. "You two are-?!"
"For the Fastest Kid Alive, you sure can be slow on the uptake sometimes." I said, pulling away from Kori.
The rest of the team's reaction to our fraternization ranged from amusement to mild surprise. Save for Artemis, who was completely unphased. She arced an eyebrow at my inquisitive look. "What? It was obvious. Every time she entered the room you always got this dopy smile on your face."
"…no I didn't."
"You totally did."
I snorted. "Anyway, I'm ready to go home. I've had enough of this damn country and don't want to wait around long enough for something else to go horribly wrong. The debrief with Batman is going to be rough enough." Particularly for me.
The lot of us settled into our seats, and most of the team started to nod off. The stress of the day had caught up with, and they all deserved their rest before Batman started grilling them for details. One of them had something on his mind though. "Hey, Jacob?" Superboy asked as he settled in next to me. The teen had regained his faculties in my absence, and was now giving me a strange look.
I turned to look at him. "What's up?"
"Just how did you take me down anyway?" He asked. "I mean, I didn't think you had anything strong enough to put me down like that. Or, at least burn me like this and put me down." He gestured to the first degree burns on his face, already smaller than they had been several hours ago.
I took a deep breath. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but he deserved to know. After all, if I figured it out, someone else might too. "Well, after all the punching didn't work… I was forced to take you down by making my laser cannon emit the same radiation as a red sun."
Superboy instantly froze, and I put my hands up to placate him. "I know, I know, it was a dirty move, but you were not yourself. I promise I'll never exploit that in normal circumstances but you have to… understand…"
I trailed off and frowned as the teen continued to sit perfectly still. The shock really should have transitioned to something else by now. I leaned to the side and Superboy's eyes remained fixed straight ahead, unblinking.
I stared at him for a few moments longer before I turned in my seat. "Uh, M'gann…"
=====A=====
A/N: Writing an extended fight scene is tiring for me. So is writing in a different tone of voice. Doing both at thee same time is exhausting. I hope that part didn't come across poorly...