Location: La Hoya to the Jet
Interactions: The Team

---

After informing Talon of Ja's status over the radio, Rain heard the sound of gunfire. Aleen'a being spotted in the air, caused him to scowl at her in the sky. How did she let herself get spotted? Rain trying to maintain comms with Squad A only allowed for Aleen'a to perform a counterattack. She retaliated by throwing a vehicle and engaging the Kobra agents. He didn't bother saying a word. It was too late. Rain simply made sure he had a better hold on Daphne before carrying her all the way back to the jet as quickly and safely as possible. Once inside the jet,
Rain removed his helmet, revealing his face expressing irritation from the furrowing of his eyebrows. Despite his feelings, he ensured Daphne was seated and covered with blankets, keeping what might be vicious words to himself.

As soon as he figured she was secured, he quickly moved to the pilot's seat and proceeded to start the jet for a quick extraction once everyone was aboard.



Rain had volunteered himself to fly back. He hadn't really said anything about it, he just never left the pilot's seat. He needed time to process what went on during the mission. What they did right, and what they did wrong. Failure was not new to him, but the personal negligence he witnessed was unacceptable. There was one person who he could blame for everything wrong that occurred, but the more he thought about them, the more his skin felt hot. Rain set the controls to auto-pilot. Being too hands-on might not be the best idea.

"Zatara. Can you hand me my backpack?" He needed to eat some of the peanut butter-covered pizza he had packed inside of it.

---

Talon tossed his Court of Owls styled mask onto a seat inside the jet while the others were strapping themselves in. Rain had quickly taken the pilot's controls (again Talon feeling again his leadership being threatened with these small aggressions.) He turned to look around at the team as they caught their breath. The end of the mission came quite suddenly, as things seemed to be going perfectly fine in one instant, and then absolutely haywire the next. The frustrating part to Talon being that he was certain it wasn't his Squad to blame. Zatara, Mirage and Cybergirl all delivered. Talon took half a step to tell each of them that individually but...the mission was over now. Talking about this sort of thing now would be difficult. He didn't know if he could manage it beyond gruff expressions or anger. And he wasn't angry at them. He was proud. That part of him won out. The others all looked as though they were absorbing the fallout. Metamorph looked rather stricken - it was hard to tell with them sometimes. Weirdly enough, he was stuck to the ceiling of the jet. Meanwhile, Hex looked ill. Something was either on his mind, or he was just as disturbed by the pace of the mission as Talon was.

Finding an easy middle ground, Talon thought it best to approach Zatara. After the training exercises from their earlier days, Zatara had shown a part of himself that was particularly vulnerable. Talon had heard about the violent episode between him and Mirage. Now however, the two of them had demonstrated a really cohesive team. Their quick thinking to create an escape route enabled all of Squad A to get out of the base without issue. Talon opened his mouth to say something to the boy, but hesitated on his words. Instead he furrowed his brow and clapped the magician on the shoulder. That would have to be reassuring enough for now. Mirage meanwhile was sitting not far from Metamorph, likely hoping to get the details of his solo escapade during the mission. From behind him, Talon heard Rain call out to Zatara.

Talon turned his attention to the pilot seat.

In the middle of the mission, Rain had come onto the comms, nearly barking orders at him. Talon knew that Rain had questioned the decisions to put him in charge, whether out of some petty jealousy or some misguided belief in thinking he'd be a better choice in leader. But things ended up differently. Talon felt himself tense all over. The others might not see it, but Rain's holier than thou attitude and judgemental eyes were fixed on all of them. Talon was just susceptible to it due to his own growing inferiority complex. The way Rain silently absorbed the actions and words of the others. Talon knew it came with a harsh critique deep down.

Talon started to walk towards Rain at the front of the ship, with purpose. He'd grab him by his stupid collar and confront him over how Squad B had likely almost gotten them all in deeper trouble. As he walked, he passed a bundle of blankets breathing on another seat. But Talon was almost too distracted to give them a second glance. But he spotted her. The blankets were in fact his teammate, Nymph. Something was wrong with her. She looked pale white, and her breath was shallow - something was affecting her beyond the standard sort of cold weather they were all dealing with at once. Nymph was trying to stay as warm as possible wrapped in her shroud. Talon was of two minds. His raw mind went straight to frustration. The kind of thoughts he'd have from the before-times. Before Nightwing and the others. His second thoughts were on trying to help her. Nymph, as much of a stranger as she was still (and they were all strangers, really) had helped Talon more than once already. She had taken the time to communicate with him, to include him. That spoke to something in Talon he didn't quite know he had. Or had been beaten out of him by the Court of Owls. The boy named Talon felt frozen looking down at her, although not in the same way as she was dealing with. Wishing he could sign something quickly, he took out his phone in order to better get his words across to her while she looked so tired. He typed out the following:

"You have to rub your chest. Your arms will take care of themselves. Something Batman taught Nightwing."

Nymph already had the blankets that were aboard the Jet, there wasn't much he felt he could do for her. And he certainly didn't want to crowd her. Knowing this team, it was likely someone else could check on her in a real way, in the kinds of ways that Talon wasn't able to just yet. Let someone more capable help her. Like Hex, or Cybergirl. Talon had to put these complicated feelings of wanting to sympathize to better use. But of course, they turned into that same familiar anger. With himself. With everyone. With everything.

As Rain was preparing to eat something, Talon stood just behind him.

"Mission Report." He asked, fighting the urge to do so through gritted teeth. He wanted to know what had caused the issue in the first place. Including with what had happened with Nymph...

Mirage was settled into one of the jet’s seats, staring off at nothing. How had that mission gone wrong so fast?

Personally, she felt rather accomplished. She had done her part, and done it rather well, at least in her own mind. Her illusions and staff had both come in handy. Although she had very nearly lost it after two guards stared right through her. Thank goodness she’d been practicing invisibility since she was a child. Being spotted would have been… well, “bad” wasn’t even the word for it.

It was quiet in the jet. Rain was silent at the controls, she wasn’t sure if the others were sleeping, and poor Daphne was huddled in blankets near the back, where the engines were. She felt sorry for her fellow hero. Even though it helped to know that she wasn’t the only one on the team that struggled with confidence, she knew having a power that you couldn’t fully control could be… deadly.

Getting up and stretching her back, she crossed the seats to where Daphne was seated. Without preamble, she began to speak.

“It’s not your fault, Daphne. We’re all still learning. Those of us with unique powers… well, we have to learn with the current, don’t we?” Although she didn’t know it, the closest English expression was ‘learn on the fly’. Without warning, she wrapped up Daphne in a soft hug.

“I’m sure you’re all warm and cozy in your blankets. It’s okay to come out when you are ready.” Her voice was low, so only Daphne could here. Flashing the other girl a gentle, sharp-toothed smile, she retreated. Maybe that would help, maybe it wouldn’t.

Then she startled, her senses finally noticing Ja, on the ceiling of the jet very near Daphne. “Gah! Um.” She looked up slowly, waving. “Hi Ja. How are you feeling?” She noted that he had been somewhat morose once they all got over the adrenaline.

---

After a couple of minutes Daphne lifted her head back up. She stared straight ahead, seeing Viktor piloting the jet. She could only see the back of his head, his spiky charcoal hair sticking up every which way after being stuck under his helm for most of the mission. He'd carried all the way from the vantage point back to the jet, no questions asked and even more important to Daphne, no harsh comments. Something told her he was holding it in, but then why not just say it to her? Viktor never beat around the bush. Whatever made him decide to keep the peace she was grateful for it. She couldn't stomach being yelled at right now.

Maybe...
No, that was probably not what was going on at all. Daphne thought back on their moment of closeness, feeling a multitude of feelings. In that harsh weather he gave her a sense of safety she really needed. Maybe he didn't dislike her as much as she thought, at least not enough to let her freeze to death. Daphne got pulled from her thoughts by Talon's phone flashing in front of her wooden face. She hadn't even noticed his approach. Her tired eyes scanned the screen, reading the message. Daphne moved her hand underneath the blanket and began to massage her chest. Sadly it wasn't working, she needed an external heat source. Her cells had cooled down too much.

Kassy also approached her quietly. She listened to the Atlantean. They hadn't talked all that much prior to the mission. She appreciated her quiet kindness. It was nice to know her momentary weakness was accepted by someone in the team. Daphne leaned into Kassy's gentle hug, feeling a lot less miserable already. She nodded at Kassy when she left, smiling inside.

She watched Talon walk up to Viktor and her slowly beating heart managed to still skip a beat, fueling nerves to run through her numb body. They were going to discuss the mission and deduce much of their failure was her fault. Daphne averted her eyes, not wanting to face the inevitable. The blankets weren't of much use anymore, the little heat she'd trapped with them was already gone. Daphne unwrapped them and went to think of a different solution.

Her brain was completely scrambled. There weren’t any ideas popping up. Instead Daphne returned her attention to Kassy and also Ja, who was hanging from the ceiling right above her. If she could smile she would have. She managed a meek wave, trying to emulate Ja’s ever present cheerfulness.

---

Kilamanjaro hadn’t said a word since they took off to return to home base. He had done what Rain had commanded so far as placing the container on the jet. Along with the distraction that Aleen’a had given, he managed to fly to the roof and scoop up some members of Squad A to aid with extraction. Vicky had said nothing too, which got under Ja’s skin, making him anxious. He remembered that Djum Djum’s punishment did not happen when they failed the mission. It was when they returned home.

Regardless, he currently had nothing else to do but hope Daphne got better. On that front, progress was slow. It didn’t feel like she was suddenly dying anymore, but she didn’t quite recover yet. Thus, Ja felt the urge to stay close by despite not knowing what she needed. It seemed that the cold was the main issue, so hopefully the blankets would help.

Ja had long abandoned the mask to a counter on the jet, though his suit still took on something of a pale grey with brown spots. The guardian mentality of the German Shepherd remained in him but he had the feet of a fat-tailed gecko, using his palms to stick the roof above Nymph. He had watched after her for a bit, but eventually his eyes had closed. He kept quiet as he heard someone approach, though opposed to opening his eyes, the scent told him who it was.

It was strange, the warmth he felt from Kassy’s presence, even before she said a word. When she spoke to Daphne just below, with words of comfort, Ja was sure he could understand why. On Kassy’s yelping interjection though, was when Ja’s eyes jutted open. Considering that she was looking up at him, he wondered if it was something he did. He quickly looked down(or up) at himself. Nothing seemed wrong…Though, then again, he took note of the color pattern his suit had taken on because of the gecko…Perhaps she did not see him.

Her question made him pause. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was feeling. They all made it back alive and mostly unharmed, but his fear failed the team of their mission. All he had to do was keep from getting found, and he lost himself to memory when he felt Daphne in trouble. It surely wasn’t Daphne’s fault for their failure. From looking at her, the skin had become tree bark, her leaves browned and withered. Looking back, his senses were probably also trying to tell him fall and winter were coming, through her.

Clearly, her powers were something that she just had to grow to understand, Ja supposed. The boy knew what that was like, despite it being a little while since he lost control. He would try his best to help her to control them, when the time was right…

His mouth moved to answer, as he realized he was taking a while, but he caught movement below. Seeing Daphne move on her own to wave brought a small smile to his face. She was better…Sort of, her face was still stuck. He waved back to Daffy-Knee, and returned focus to Kassy sharing the smile with her too.

”I am okay…It was my fault that the alarms went off…” He admitted causing the brief glimmer in his eyes to falter, still trying to maintain a more mellow tone than monotone.

Squad A managed to get out and board the jet in record time. Now they had some downtime on the way back to HQ. It looked like they got what they needed, he thought… We’ll see what Alisa managed to pick up. He wished they could have destroyed that supply of Kobra venom, but Old Justice would probably take care of that. They had some close calls, but all things considered this mission actually went pretty well.

Talon must have thought so too. He put his hand on Zach’s shoulder, and the young magician grinned in return. He would be so nice, if only he talked more…

The moment was interrupted when Viktor asked Zach to hand him his backpack. “What am I your secretary?” Zach sneered. Then he picked up the bag and placed it on Viktor’s lap. “You’re lucky you’re handsome. Zatara doesn’t fetch things for just anybody!” He winked.

Then he turned his attention to the rest of the group. “Well, we had a few hiccups, but I think everything went pretty well all things considered. Selbbub!” Zach was surrounded by a bunch of bubbles. Ordinary bubbles in all respects. He popped a couple to prove that point. Yet, Zach was able to reach out and grab some of the bubbles without them popping. He then juggled them for a few minutes. Somehow the bubbles turned into clear solid orbs. How did he do that? He didn’t say anything backwards, so how did he turn the bubbles solid? Magicians secret.

Location: The Jet
Interactions: The Team

---

The view of the night sky helped Rain... No. It helped Viktor drown out some of the negative thoughts that tugged at him. Piloting the jet had been a decision made out of the need to distance himself, but he hadn't expected to feel so calm where he was. Maybe it was because he was in control, or perhaps it gave him a sense of solitude. The small exchanges that occurred behind him were mostly ignored. He heard them, but wasn't actually listening for substance.

"Mission Report."

Viktor couldn't help the sigh that escaped him. He was aware of the importance of an after-mission debriefing, but he was still bothered by the events that had transpired. Before he could address Talon, Zach handed him his bag he had requested. It came with a bit of snark and a compliment, but that was somewhat expected.

"Thanks." He simply said before setting the backpack down beside his seat. "Mission Report. Squad B was tasked with conducting surveillance support to Squad A. Members included myself as command and control, Nymph on comms, Brightheart and Coal as overhead surveillance, and finally Gold Rush and Hex simply had eyes on the target facility from different vantage points. Comms were established by placing Nymph on the same channel as Squad A and remaining in the same position as myself. I made the decision to keep the rest of Squad B and myself on channel 2 so Squad A would only receive pertinent intelligence from me through Nymph. The mission progressed and Metamorph was investigating the unmanned vehicle. Myself and Brightheart had eyes on Metamorph and his surroundings for some time before I tasked Brightheart to conduct a brief overhead scan of the perimeter. While watching Metamorph, I spotted someone approaching from his blindside. I reported what I saw to Nymph who was behind a large boulder at our position. My message was not transmitted due to Nymph being incapacitated by her transformed body's prolonged exposure to low temperature…" He clenched his jaw before continuing his even-toned report to Talon.

"Metamorph never received the report in time and was spotted by the enemy. I had taken over comms for both squads that were on separate channels while Nymph's attempted to use my body heat to raise her core temperature. The alarms sounded and I ordered my squad and Metamorph who met Nymph and I at our position, to begin extraction. I wanted him to take Nymph, but she was… stuck clinging to me. I made the decision to remain on channel 1 to maintain comms with Squad A. It was during this brief time that Brightheart was spotted by the enemy and engaged by small arms fire. She retaliated by throwing the vehicle previously reported at the group of attackers before engaging them in hand-to-hand combat. Once your squad escaped the facility I carried Nymph with me to the jet. Brightheart followed..." He seemed to contemplate his next words before speaking again. He could have ended the report there. He could have.

"Our two points of failure in this mission were caused by Nymph's lack of understanding of her own abilities and Brightheart's disregard of our objectives. Metamorph was spotted and likely the direct cause for the alarm, but that would have been prevented if Nymph reported her issues regarding the cold. Brightheart might need some education on the idea of a covert mission, but Nymph simply does not belong on this team and I'm sure even she would agree with that fact. Here is not the place to learn about what you're capable of. It's what you're capable of that puts you here. This isn't training anymore." He did not care how harsh he sounded or that the others could clearly hear him.

---

Daphne's tired brown eyes darted from side to side listening intently to the extensive mission debriefing Viktor gave Talon. She flinched every time her name was mentioned. It hurt to have her mistakes pointed out for everyone to hear. She really thought she was making a well thought out decision by transforming, with her heightened pain tolerance the cold would bother her less and she could hold out longer. What ended up happening instead was her powers working against her in a way she hadn't expected.

"But Nymph simply does not belong on this team and I'm sure even she would agree with that fact."

The teen girl covered her ears with her hands, not wanting to listen anymore. She stood up from her seat, feeling a pang in her chest. She retreated to the back of the jet. Obviously she knew she messed up, but did he really have to be that harsh? She didn't do it on purpose. Of course she would have warned Ja if she could, being on the comms was her opportunity to keep everyone safe by giving them important information. Even worse, she wasn't sure she disagreed with Viktor. Maybe she didn't belong here. She'd never been sure of herself as a superhero. The main reasons she joined the initiative were to help people with her powers and to get away from home for a while. It was both an escape and an opportunity to learn to use her powers.

It was unfair, she had her powers for half a year at most. Shortly after the robbery her dad immediately started weekly sessions of extensive studying. Every week they discovered something new. Even without him she was still uncovering the extent of her meta human abilities.
How could she have known her powers would react this way?
She would have had to torture herself in a cooling cell. Her thoughts were jumping every which way, from agreeing with Viktor to being angry at the unfairness of the situation. It exhausted her already tired body. She just had to not think for a couple of minutes.

Daphne knelt down onto the floor, close to one of the heater units on the jet. With her hands on her ears she drowned out the noise around her. She took a few deep breaths, focusing her attention on emptying her mind, recalling her lessons with the Martian Manhunter. At first her negative thoughts kept creeping back in, but she kept at it. After a while her mind started to calm down. Her body sensed the calmness and started to revert back slowly, body and mind again working as one. The bark retreated, freeing up her face and the wilted leaves were restored to brunette waves. Daphne sighed in relief and managed a tiny smile. She felt a little proud of herself right now.

She turned back to her team and made her way back to her seat quietly, avoiding eye contact. Everyone had been fawning over her and she didn't want to cause any more trouble and prove Viktor right. Daphne retrieved a cherry jam sandwich from her bag and took a small bite, staring out of the window of the jet. It was a clear night sky due to the cold air and she could count the stars passing them by. Daphne felt the sudden need to call her dad. By the time they landed he would probably be sleeping, or working on his research. Either way she would disturb him.

---

---

Alisa felt useless. Even though she had saved the day with her extraordinary memory recall, she had still failed to get all the information off the computer before Talon had called it. Idiot. It was an irrational feeling, she knew- she had done her best- but surely there was something else she could’ve done. If only she worked like Talon thought she did! Some sort of download port would have to be on her enhancements list, she thought. But that would have to be after the League poked through her memories for the information she had managed to glean.

Still, she shouldn’t have been so upset. Their mission, for all intents and purposes, had been a success! They had gone undetected and had gotten information and a container of Kobra Venom. A feeling of wrongness and dissatisfaction still settled in her gut. It felt like they had done something wrong. The atmosphere on the plane wasn’t helping that. Everyone seemed to be in a similar state to herself, although the negative emotions varied.

She leaned back in her seat and made a sighing sound. Alisa had anticipated having to fly again, but Viktor had insisted. So here she was, sitting with absolutely nothing to do. Before he started flying, she told him to let her take the controls if he was feeling sleepy, but that was really all she could do right now- be a backup pilot.

For once, one of Zach’s quips brought a smile to her face. She turned to him and laughed, reaching her hand up to touch the bubbles. He was right in a sense, although she expected that to be the last time she ever thought that. Nothing had gone grievously wrong. “Thanks for the bubbles,” was all she could manage.

From in front of her, she caught the brewings of… something between Talon and Viktor. She listened, brows furrowed. She was curious about what happened to make the alarm go off. Had it been their error?

Oh. It had been Daphne. Alisa’s eyes turned to her almost immediately, scrutinizing. Yet another malfunction of her power? That must’ve been why she was sitting sadly under blankets in the corner.

“Viktor…” Alisa reprimanded softly. “That’s harsh. Now isn’t the time or the place.” Despite his harsh words, Alisa didn’t disagree with Viktor. First the choking and now this… was Nymph’s power so unpredictable? But she also wondered about herself. If they kicked Nymph off the team for messing up, what would they do once she inevitably malfunctioned?

---

Talon couldn't stand that look on Rain's face. His stoney look grated at Talon, and the tone of his voice sounded as if the jerk would have gladly been doing anything else. Talon appreciated the straight-forward nature and details Rain provided, but it came off to Talon as a smug superiority and implication that Rain felt he was stuck at the kids table. He wasn't wrong exactly, but that was the whole point. Still, Talon was grateful at least that Cybergirl was willing to speak up about it. Talon knew that Cybergirl and Rain had become pretty fast friends from the start, it made Talon more confident to speak up against Rain's choice of words.

"I told you before this mission started: I didn't need you to babysit the others, I needed you to support them. When you are the leader, you shoulder that blame too. Until mission de-brief this is still my team, and if you're going to insult my team - I'll take it personally. And I don't emote well unless I'm throttling some jerk who thinks his tights are too big for the team." Talon had gotten near face to face with Rain, and he could feel a fresh wave of anger and fury run throughout him. In all probability this was just likely due to the adrenaline that was still coursing through his veins from the mission.

"They did what was asked of them, and when things went south they handled it. Are you going to act like a dick anytime some girl clings to you?" Talon was wearing himself out with the amount of talking he was doing, but he was flustered enough by all of the information he had been given by Rain. As far as he could tell, the mission went FINE. And he'd be damned if Rain ruined what everyone thought was a success with this display. Talon was the leader of the mission, he wanted a clean record. None of whatever this was. Now Metamorph, Brightheart and Nymph would have an asterisk next to this mission. It reflected poorly on Talon too.

Talon was thinking of all these things as he stared down (well, up) at Rain. The black domino mask around his eyes emphasized his angry stare, and the two of them didn't blink. Talon's ego wouldn't let him be the first to break. Rain's face was a mask itself.

The air was tense, and could get violent any second....

And then one of Zatara's bubbles floated between them both. A massive one that was like 3 or 4 bubbles grouped together. Talon could see his own reflection off of the shiny skin of it. It was RUINING Talon's stare. And then it popped lightly sprinkling them both in the eyes. Talon broke and looked annoyed.

S E C R E T S A N C T U A R Y

---

"C.C. Haly and Norton Bros. Circus"
For this briefing Batman had come to Mount Justice in person. There was no other leaguer present in the briefing room. Red Tornado was on urgent league business at an undisclosed location. The collection of screens were playing a montage of the Haly's Circus. A couple of minutes passed in order for the teen heroes to quietly take in the performances. The Team didn't know it yet, but they were soon going to join the ranks of the artists and performers.

“Based on the intel retrieved by Cybergirl at La Hoya we found a link between Kobra and Haly's Circus selling a component to the Kobra Cult's weapon.”

Batman drew up the schematics of the modified Kobra venom Metamorph managed to recover and take back to HQ. The container was part of the supply of Kobra venom the team had left behind at the factory. Several major cities were on a list of targets for Kobra. The League hadn’t figured out which city or what Kobra was planning. There was a chemical weapon being developed and it was unclear how and if the modified venom was involved.

On the screen next to it, a list of suspected involved circus staff members rotated, displaying their stage name and act.

“With the help of Zatanna we’ve identified possible suspects, but….”
The dark knight narrowed his eyes at the team, making sure they were all paying attention, leaving intentional pause between his sentences.
“This list is by no means exhaustive and until proven otherwise everyone could be involved. Be discerning.”

Batman paused and lowered his arms, his cape folding over his hands. He was about to state their mission objective was simple, but he knew that something simple didn’t guarantee the Team would succeed. Especially given their track record, by no means would he tolerate a repeat of what happened at La Hoya.

“Your objective is simple….”
“Infiltrate the circus, come up with an act, get close to the staff and figure out who has ties to Kobra, report to the League. Do not attempt to capture, question or in any other way harass the suspect yourselves”

With the main briefing done Batman stalked towards the zeta tubes in silence. It almost looked like he was leaving when he abruptly stopped. He checked the time and narrowed his eyes at the teleporting devices.

She’d better not be late….again.

“As stated previously Zatanna and Booster gold are attempting to find Hex and Gold Rush, that is if they can be recovered. In the meantime the League recruited new recruits to bolster your ranks and as possible replacements”

Batman was talking in a very matter of fact manner. His priority was to have a functioning Young Justice initiative. If there were casualties which threatened the already fragile balance of the team he had to take countermeasures.

About a week after their failed mission, the day dawned clear, bright and warm. It was a stunningly beautiful spring day, the kind you just wanted to spend outside. And that is just what one member of the team decided to do.

Kassy headed down to the beach with her MP3 player tucked in her top and a pair of sun-yellow waterproof, wireless headphones. Soaking up sunlight was usually Daphne’s deal, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the day too. Once she settled down on the sand, some way away from Mt. Justice, she relinquished her legs for her usual orange tailfin. The cold ocean water washed over her tail. It felt fantastic to be in her natural state during the day.

Slipping the large headphones over her ears, Kassy did the one thing she would never do in the presence of others. She began to sing.

Ja in the meantime had just gotten his first bit of outside for the day. Today was gonna be one of the days he decided to bother someone else. Daphne would need some time to try the meditation techniques he had taught her, on her own. To truly master one’s abilities, they had to battle with themself. That inner fight had to become a conversation until your abilities could finish your sentences. This was what Iwisa taught him.

She also told him that he needed breaks, lest losing himself to the Red Beast. So, today was a break from training and stuff too. Going down the list of people to bother, he realized that he hadn’t gotten around to Kassy as much as he liked to. Well, maybe not bother her but at least see what she was up to. It was getting close to lunch time…maybe she’d want to eat lunch with him and stuff!

So far, his sniffer had led him outside as he didn’t feel her presence from the Blue on the inside of the base. Remembering she loved the ocean, intuition led him to the beach. For such a trip, he wore the green sleeveless hoodie he was gifted and some simple black swim trunks just in case she was swimming already.

On the way, he debated on sneaking up on her to surprise her. Mischief made the decision for him, chattering softly, he skittered across the sand like a raccoon. Upon catching sight of her, Ja was careful not to make a sound as he approached. Though as he got closer, he found himself slowing down and his ears twitched. His lips quivered a little and the back of his eyes stung as he listened.

Ja could do nothing but sit back and listen. The boy had heard singing many times in his life, and at times even sang himself. This, however…this was much different. Beautiful felt like the wrong word…it wasn’t strong enough to describe Kassy’s voice. Ja’s memory told him that she said that she wasn’t very good at singing…She lied.

Kassy had gone back to the excellent music store in the mall for more things. They taught her how to get the music onto her device, and even offered some suggestions. Today’s soundtrack was Queen (Queen of where, she didn’t know) and she was simply singing along to one of the songs without a care in the world. Freddie Mercury spoke to her soul.

“Can anybody find me… somebody to love?” Her voice carried across the beach, a velvety alto, rich and smooth like melted butter. It belonged in a smoky speakeasy, crooning into a silver microphone over a jazz band.

There was a bit of amateurishness, her voice lifting excitedly as she ran through the lyrics with Freddie. She was just a touch too fast, perhaps too loud. She gestured along with the music animatedly. But she was clearly, utterly happy.

“Every day, oh I try and I try and tryyyy!” She carried on, blissfully unaware of Ja’s presence behind her.

The boy had only gotten about an arm’s length away and a little off to her left side before stopping. He simply sat with his hands laid on his knees in silence. Any thought of pranking the mermaid vanished into thin air. He could feel the happiness in her voice and it, in turn, made him smile a little. He felt a foreign warmth come to his face, one that the rest of his body didn’t share, but he didn’t mind.

“Uzuri wa kichawi…” Ja couldn’t help but mutter softly.

The song finished, Kassy nailing a high note near the end. She grinned to herself, as the music died down. Then she blinked, and ever so slowly turned her head.

“...”

On pure instinct, she dove forward into the water, splashing heavily as she doused herself, her music kit, and Ja. Poking her head up, she stared accusingly at him.

“How long have you been there?!”

Getting super soaked by the splash of Kass’ panic knocked Ja out of the daze that she inadvertently put him in. He jumped a bit, but still sat pretty stably, albeit shaking any large clumps of water from his afro. Upon her question, he blinked and pursed his lips. The wonder in his eyes still remained as he stared back.

“I…am not sure…I was going to surprise you but you were singing so nice and…” Ja trailed, having retraced his steps. Oddly enough, the way her eyes bore into him actually made him feel kind of bad, to which he broke eye contact.

“I am sorry, Kassy.”

Kassy’s gaze softened, and she looked away as well. It was hard to be angry at Ja and his soft, pretty eyes. “It’s okay. I’m not mad, you just… startled me really badly.” She ran a hand through her thick curls, dislodging water. “...I’ve never sung in front of anyone before. Please don’t laugh too much, okay?” The fact that he said she had been singing nicely had seemed to soar straight past her.

His wandering eyes blinked back into focus on her last bit of words.“Laugh? At what?” His tone found genuine confusion.

“I mean…I suppose startling you would have been funny if it wasn’t that bad for you…Plus your singing made me too happy to laugh…” Ja said, though the phrase tasted strange. Being too happy to laugh didn’t make sense, but he didn’t quite understand how to describe it.

“Uzuri wa…kichawi…” He said it aloud again, hand on his chin to remember and his head bouncing left to right.

Kassy looked just as puzzled right back at him. “I don’t know what that means. But -- wait, are you saying it wasn’t terrible?” She seemed lost for several moments, gaze going distant. “But I was always told…” Dropping into silence, she went very still. “She always told me to…” Something strange seemed to be happening, as her gaze darkened. There was something different about her eyes, suddenly. She shut them, taking in a deep, deep breath. When she looked up again, everything seemed to be fine.

“Thank you, Ja. Knowing my singing isn’t bad makes me really happy.” There was a shy, sharp toothed smile on her face now.

Ja nodded to answer her question, but she seemed aloof. The distant look in her eye spoke to memories, the jungle boy knew the look well, he wore it sometimes too. Seeing it emboldened him to crawl closer. He was at the ocean’s rising and falling border with the land when she seemed to snap out of it. Her smile quickly reflected one from his face as well.

“It is not only “not bad” but it’s actually really good! I have not heard anything like your voice before.” Ja felt the need to elaborate, unashamed by the enthusiasm in his tone.

“Wait, really?” Kassy’s eyes lit with happiness, and even her cheeks lit with embarrassment. A happy embarrassment, if there was such a thing. Swimming forward toward the shore, she grabbed Ja in a sudden hug. “T-thank you! That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

She let him go just as fast, looking down as she had practically saturated his shirt. “Oops. You might have to change. Sorry.”

The sudden cold of the water rushed through his system, but his training kept him from instinctively flinching. Instead, he giggled. “It is okay, Kassy.” He reassured, clawing through the back of his hair in hopes that his hand didn’t get stuck. Ja wanted to say something else but a low rumbling growl escaped from his stomach.

“Oh yeah, I forgot why I came out here…again.” He chuckled. “I was wondering if you wanted to go find food with me. Of course, you can always go back to your singing though, and I’ll leave you be this time.”

Kassy giggled, having heard Ja’s stomach complain. “Food sounds good. I think I skipped breakfast so I could get out earlier. Would you like me to hunt some fish? There’s decent pickings around here. Big, fat, lazy fish that have never been hunted before.” She grinned, sharp teeth on display.

Ja bit his bottom lip in thought. There was American food on the inside that was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Then there were times that someone inside would yell at him or Red Robot would have to chase him from the kitchen because a bag had someone’s name on it. Ja wasn’t sure why they were so mad…he didn’t eat their bag.

On the flip side, he didn’t get the chance to go to the ocean too much. BSF claimed that he would swim away…though to Ja, he wasn’t sure where he could go. He could get pretty lost on his own…but this time, he wouldn’t be, and surely Kassy knew the way back. So, returning her toothy smile, he nodded.

“It sounds like fun!”

“Great!” After depositing her headphones and music player in the sand, Kassy pushed herself back toward the water. “I know a really good spot full of tasty ones. Let’s go!” And she slipped into the ocean with barely a splash.

Ja watched her go and his grin stayed. He hadn’t met someone, other than his Amai, that understood the excitement of the hunt before…He wanted to jump in the air but didn’t for now. Instead, he looked down at his shirt now soaked by water. Pulling off his gift from Daffy-Knee, he found two sticks to prop up the shirt in the sand to allow it to dry.

Turning back to the unknown bounds of the ocean, he felt a side of the Red that he hadn’t dove into yet. It felt like the first time he was thrown off of a cliff to fly. Though, this time, it was by choice that Ja took the leap.
--



Kassy was once again in awe of the Batman. Even she knew his exploits. To see him in person was actually a little scary. His presence had shut her up entirely. Even though she had questions. Like 'what was a circus' and 'wouldn't it be suspicious if they just showed up and pretended to fit in'. But she didn't say anything, not yet.

---

Think of the worst reality tv show on network television… Viktor has probably sat down and enjoyed it, or perhaps enjoy isn't the right word. He did watch it enough that he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it. None of the others besides Aleen'a watched reality tv with him, leaving him by himself in the lounge most evenings but being alone never bothered Viktor.

Tonight there was a marathon of all of the retro seasons of the long running show, The True World and he couldn't help but get pulled in. He could… relate to it. A show about several strangers from around the country living in one house. He was hooked, watching episode after episode despite the night creeping closer to midnight. All the while, everyone in the headquarters either retreated to their rooms or slumbered. Hell, it was a Wednesday.

The more of the show he watched, the more he noticed something was lacking in his current socialization. It seemed very often that the people on the show "went out" and enjoyed the nightlife. There were so many people he could observe that the opportunity to go do the same pulled at him. However, he could not go alone and everyone was asleep… no. There was one person who was always awake. The curfew was an obstacle, but Viktor never let an obstacle stop him.

"A." After turning off the television he went searching for her, and it didn't take long either. Viktor entered the lab where he found Alisa working on a new hand augmentation.

"A. I… Hmm. I need you to break your curfew." He requested rather seriously.

“Gah!” A pencil clattered to the floor as Alisa, startled, jumped into the air. At this hour, she was nearly always alone. She had planned on being productive, making herself a new hand with a flash drive component, but the blueprints had proved a bit more challenging than she had originally thought. She wanted to be able to install and access information without putting herself at too much risk of a cyberattack, but in order to do that she had to both integrate the drive and isolate it from her core systems… confusing stuff that even she could barely wrap her head around. Before Viktor had come into the room, she had been hunched over blueprints, pencil in hand, drawing out the problem. It wasn’t going well.

Alisa turned around to face him, eyes still wide from fright. She laughed. “You scared me!” she teased. If she had been paying attention, she would’ve heard him coming down the hallway, but she evidently hadn’t. She raised her brows, amusement turning into curiosity at his request. Of all of her teammates, she probably would’ve placed Viktor as the most straight-laced. It was nearly two hours past curfew, and Red Tornado had been very clear that they weren’t to leave past it. Ultimately, she settled on a wide, cheerful grin. “You are speaking my language, man!” she crowed, starting to put away her blueprint materials. “I mean, you should know I only help bury bodies on a case-by-case basis, but I’m totally down. What are we doing? Also, more importantly, how are we not gonna get caught?”

"Well… Wait you bury… Ah, a joke." Viktor sighed at his inadequacy in figuring that out in the first place. "We won't get caught if we don't use the Zeta Tubes. They're loud and I'm positive they have some type of log system." He placed a hand on her shoulder with a slight smirk he had been practicing for the past two days. "You and I are going out to experience the nightlife. Just meet me outside of the garage… Suit up." He ordered with his expression going back to "normal".

“You’re getting better at jokes!” Alisa laughed again, this time at his smirk and misunderstanding of her joke, and set away her materials in a drawer. Maybe a bit of time away from it would help her focus. And she would’ve been lying if she had said she wasn’t excited to go to her first party. She wasn't sure what the ‘nightlife’ was like in Happy Harbour, but she had never done anything like that. Nevermind that alcohol had no effect on her- just dancing and talking to people sounded so fun.

“Alright! I’ll wear stealthy clothes, don’t you worry. See you in 10.”

"Perfect." He said as he watched her leave before raising an eyebrow. "I hope not too stealthy." He briefly imagined Alisa in League of Assassins gear before heading to go change himself.

Exactly 10 minutes later, Alisa stood at the entrance to the garage, wearing what she thought constituted “stealthy clothes”. Dark skinny jeans hugged her legs and a black hoodie with a floral design concealed most of her upper body. She wore black Converse on her feet, and her hair was down (as usual). She looked around for Viktor, eyes glancing to and fro. It would be so awkward to explain to Red Tornado what she was doing in the garage at this hour…

"A!" Viktor whispered sharply from behind her. He was wearing a fitted black short-sleeved henley shirt, dark denim jeans, and black mid-top sneakers. He decided to keep his hair as is. "I like what you've chosen. Stealthy but stylish." He managed a compliment, trying to add some inflection, but it sounded forced. He didn't mind testing out his socializing with Alisa due to how well they got along. No animosity, nervousness, or judging.

“Thanks, and I like yours too, but I wouldn’t call this stylish,” she jested quietly, turning back to him. This time, she had heard his approach, and was duly prepared. “This is me trying to be low-key.” She gazed around the garage. “Are we going to take the Jeep or something? I hope they don’t check the garage cameras…”

"Not if there's nothing to be suspicious of… But as a contingency, I'm going to back the jeep up until it's not in view of the camera overhead. Then you're going to quietly get into the back seat and duck down until we're clear." Viktor gave Alisa a confident nod before going to the jeep and reversing the vehicle exactly as he planned. Once Alisa snuck into the backseat and shut the door, Viktor put the jeep in drive and exited through the garage's automatic doors. "Stay down, there are a few more cameras… and… there! We're free." Viktor glanced at the backseat. "Climb up here, so you control the music."

Once they were out of the garage, Alisa awkwardly climbed over the center console to sit in the front. She finally sat after a solid 30 seconds of wriggling and trying her best not to fall. She buckled up her seatbelt. “Really? It’s usually the driver's choice, but alright…” She messed with the radio for a moment, until it settled on Top 40. She leaned back, content, and stole a glance at Viktor through the side of her eye. Was that almost a smile on his face? “What’s gotten into you tonight? You seem… well, different,” she commented, a smile on her face. What she really wanted to say was less grumpy, but calling someone grumpy tended to make them grumpy.

"Different?" Viktor raised an eyebrow while keeping his eyes on the road. If Alisa had not brought it up, Viktor wouldn't have really noticed. He had always tried to ease up on his seriousness whenever outside of a mission or training but it was never by much, and it just came across as forced when he did. Being the quiet blunt serious guy was just natural to him "I think it's because I'm trying to be more like the others." His face was pensive as he said this.

Alisa scrutinized him for a moment, trying to read his face and failing. She couldn’t tell what he meant. “I didn’t mean different in a bad way. But… like the others? How so?”

"Social. Like you, Zach, Ja, and even Daphne. It's not easy, but… Actually I am not sure how well I'm doing. Maybe an assessment? Perhaps you can assess me. You're quite honest and you are a social butterfly." He used the term but didn't understand it. Butterflies didn't appear to be social. To Viktor, social ant or bee would have made more sense.

Despite herself, Alisa burst out laughing. The loud, raucous sound of her cackles broke through their previously quiet voices as she slapped her knees, laughing so hard she couldn’t talk. After a moment, she recovered and drew herself up again. All the while Viktor appeared a bit confused as to why she was laughing so hard. “Viktor… no offense, but you do realize you’re asking the girl who isn’t even… well, a real girl for social tips, right? Up until about a month ago, I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t even know anyone who could be my friend. I think that I might be just as new to this as you are.” Truth be told, Alisa did feel lost. While she enjoyed making friends and being friendly, she found it confusing and difficult. She could only try to please people the best she could, and juggling that with staying true to herself had proved harder than she thought.

“Although, I’ve heard it said that the way to be friendly is to just be yourself and to be kind. Does that make much sense?” A smile barely crept onto Viktor's face.

"So I'm not kind?" Viktor asked as they turned onto a street with a brightly lit strip of bars, clubs, restaurants, and even food trucks wherever they could fit in between. For a Wednesday night there was a decent-sized crowd, but sparser than Viktor anticipated.

“I did not say that,” Alisa insisted as her eyes drifted to the window. Happy Harbor had nightlife? It looked to be only one street, but it was still shocking for such a small town. “You’re not mean. At least, not most of the time. You just could be nicer to some people.” She meant Nymph, but she hoped that was implied. He nodded almost to himself as Nymph came to mind. His thoughts briefly went back to when he was piloting the jet and shared his feelings about his teammate. “Do you know where we’re going?”

"Um… well on the True World, they always went to a bar or club… It's my first time out, but I've watched enough of the show to see that it was easy to get in." He pulled into a parking lot next to a dive bar called Catcher's Bait. Music could be heard from the outside and the bar seemed quite lively. "Come on, A. Time to experience the nightlife."

“Alright, whatever you say!” Alisa opened the side door and hopped out of the jeep. True World had to be one of Viktor’s reality shows. Back home, she had watched that sort of thing when she was bored, but she had never heard of it. Maybe it was new?

The two plodded across the parking lot to the entrance. There wasn’t a line, like Alisa had thought- just a door and what appeared to be a bouncer. She peered inside. It looked frightfully boring. There was no dancing, no loud music, no neon lights… just a bar and people talking. She frowned. Alcohol was well and nice, but it didn’t do anything for her. “Are you gonna get like drunk or something?”

"Should I? Hmm. Can I?" He pondered as they walked towards the bouncer at the entrance. "You don't seem too excited, A. Is this place not adequate?" Before she could answer. The bouncer spoke to them.

"IDs." Viktor raised an eyebrow. This was not in the show. They never showed this part, but he took out his wallet and handed his ID to the bouncer.

"Here."

Alisa slid Viktor the most incredulous look of her life as he handed over his real ID.

"You're kidding me. 21 and over. Sorry but you're gonna have to find someplace else. What about her?" The bouncer was handing Viktor's ID back.

"We'll just go." Viktor furrowed his brows before looking at Alisa and shrugging. "Your turn to choose a place."

Alisa opened her mouth and closed it again, still looking at Viktor incredulously. She grabbed his sleeve and stomped off back to the car.

“What the hell was that?” she hissed as they returned to the Jeep. Her nice demeanor had vanished, replaced by an angry stare and wide, scared eyes. “I thought you were going to say you forgot. He could’ve called the cops! We could’ve gone to jail!” Alisa stuffed her hands in her pockets, trying to conceal how they shook. There was no way the Justice League would let her get disappeared again, but the possibility shook her. Wasn’t Viktor supposed to be smarter than this?

"Jail? No crime was committed. Just a lack of planning… I should have had a better plan… with contingencies." He was avoiding eye contact with Alisa as he tried to think about their next move. "What if we…" As he looked up at Alisa, he could see how visibly upset she was. "Sorry. I'm going to figure this out." His expression was serious, as if this whole thing had become a mission. He placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure his friend. "I promise."

Alisa made a sighing noise. “It’s alright. I just… I don’t like cops, so if we could avoid situations where we might run into trouble with the law...” She didn’t elaborate, instead pulling out her phone. She searched “teen-friendly nightlife” and a few appealing options popped up. “There’s a late night bowling alley on Cornwallis Drive. We could try that?” she suggested. He removed his hand from her but peeked at her phone to see what she had found.

"Bowling… Let's do it." And it's right down the strip. He got the car less from his pocket. "I'd race you there on foot, but we're trying to be covert. No… low-key." He used her term with a genuine smirk. It was mild, but not forced this time around.

That got a genuine laugh out of her. “And I’d win!”

Again, the two got into the car and drove. It was only a little ways down the street, and they were parked in less time than it had taken to almost get into the dive bar. Alisa hopped out of the car again.

“Alright. Bowling.” She started to walk to the front. She had seen bowling in movies and sitcoms, but had never actually done it herself. “I’ve never bowled before,” she told Viktor. “But we don’t have to bowl. There’s dancing inside, some arcade games, a bar if you want to have the full “nightlife experience”...” She shrugged.

"Hmm."

“I’ll stick to games and dancing. Alcohol doesn’t have any sort of kick for me. Tastes bad.” She slid a suspicious gaze to him. “Just… if you’re gonna buy drinks this time, say you forgot your ID. Don’t give the bartender your ID.”

"I wasn't trying to buy…" He started off defensive but stopped himself mid-sentence. Be kind… and myself. He let loose a light sigh. "I'm not out here to drink, A. I just wanted to experience the nightlife... with a friend. My best friend I think. So… We are going to stick to the games and dancing too."

Alisa’s face lit up. Best friends? She had heard all sorts of things about best friends, but had never had one. They were supposed to be very important. She nodded vigorously, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Awesome! We could try bowling too if you wanted… I think it’s like soccer. Or football. And then you throw the ball at some pins.” Viktor raised an eyebrow.

"Roll the ball at some pins." He corrected.

“Oh, roll. It’s not like basketball, then.”

"You'll see."

They entered the bowling alley and headed to the counter, where they paid for a few rounds of bowling and rented shoes with their team-issued credit cards. The alley was nearly dead at this hour- there was only a group of middle-aged drunk men sitting at the bar, a group of teenagers by the end of the alleys, and another group of laughing teenagers in the arcade. There was cheesy pop music blasting on the speakers, and apparently, it was black light night, because everything was glowing in the dark.

"This is different." He commented as he looked around at the black lights and neon-themed bowling alley. "We should bowl first. Since you've never done it before. It's simple… I think the hard part for us might be regulating our strength." Viktor nodded towards a teen rolling a bowling ball down a lane. "See."

“Ooh, yes. I see.” Alisa sat on one of the chairs and put on her bowling shoes. They were ugly things, but there was probably a reason why bowling required special shoes. Then, she began to set up the overhead score counter. Finally, she got up and picked up a bowling ball- blue, her favorite color.

She scrutinized the lane. Viktor was right- she would need to watch her strength. Hurling the bowling ball would certainly be fun, but they’d probably get kicked out. So, like she had seen a few other people do, she firmly rolled the ball across the lane.

It only hit a few pins- her aim had been off, but she understood the concept. “Your turn, then!”

"Your first roll could have been better, but I think you'll adapt. Especially with a little competition. And you actually get to go again." Viktor gave a nod towards the overhead monitor where Alisa's name was highlighted. "Since you haven't ever bowled, what did you ever do with… the people you lived with?" He didn't know whether he should use the word "family" for them.

Alisa turned quiet and contemplative for a moment before giving a small snort. “Nothing. My… parents never really let me do anything. Sometimes we would go on a hike or they’d let me go to the store with them, but otherwise they never really let me leave the property.” Despite saying such terrible words about her family, Alisa felt a flash of homesickness. She had spoken about them so little since she had gotten here. “And you? What did you do for fun in Gotham?” She sat in one of the chairs and leaned back. Viktor took the seat across from her, thinking about how to answer her question in the most efficient way.

"Before HIVE, I'm pretty sure I did everything any young boy did. Watched baseball games with my father, rode my bike around the neighborhood, played with the other kids, went to the movie theater, and of course bowling. My father wasn't always there, but I remember being so happy when he was, because he'd always take me to do something enjoyable." He winced during his natural pause. "After HIVE though… I guess… I guess I rarely do things just to enjoy them anymore. Well until recently anyway." He forced a smile and got up for his turn, grabbing the standard black ball.

Alisa frowned. “That’s terrible. I never left the house, but at least I was allowed to have fun…” No wonder Viktor was the way he was. “HIVE. Those are the villains that trained you, right? What was that like?” Alisa regretted saying it the minute it came out of her mouth. What a dumb question!

"It was interesting. Very strict, like I was not permitted to have any distractions or friends. They granted me one constructive hobby that had nothing to do with combat or missions. It was just something to give my mind a break. At least that's what I think." He reached into his pocket and showed Alisa a sheathed knife. "Wood carving."

“Oh. Nice knife. Do you still wood carve?”

"About a click away from the tower, I've done a bit on a few trees. I actually went back to doing it after our mission. I'll show you some time. But what about you? If your family wanted to bring you into this world, why didn't they have you do much?"

That was a tough question. Alisa leaned forward in her chair and sighed. “They wanted me, but they were paranoid,” she ultimately told him. It was true. “My mom- the woman who programmed me- was terrified that “the feds” or something would come and take me away, because… I’m not supposed to exist. My creators, they were, well…” Alisa paused awkwardly, and then settled on the most accurate word, “Anarchists. The government wouldn’t’ve liked them creating a sentient robot.”

"Anarchists? To think they would build you and for you to eventually become a hero sponsored by the Justice League. But this is also coming from me, a guy who was trained and operated under a criminal organization… We're more than what we were meant to be. I'm not just some super soldier and you're not just a sentient robot. I honestly think that one might believe I'm the robot between the two of us." He chuckled but appeared surprised by it. He briefly covered his mouth before speaking again. "Are things better here for you? On the team?"

Alisa giggled at Viktor’s joke. “Well, they didn’t exactly have a choice in the whole superhero thing! It just sort of happened.” She considered his other question for a moment as Viktor took his turn. “I think they are. It’s really nice to have friends and to go out and do things. This is… well, it’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s pretty close. I never really thought I’d be a superhero, you know? But it’s… it’s nice.”

"Agreed. It is nice, but… what exactly did you want?"

She shrugged. “A life. Friends. Normalcy. Freedom, I guess. I didn’t get all of that, but I also didn’t set out wanting to be a superhero. It just sort of... happened.” Alisa got up and rolled the bowling ball, this time getting more pins. “Sweet!”

"That. That is something that I like about you. You may not be very experienced, but you're a quick learner." He looked up at their scores. "A loser, but a quick learner." He leaned back with his arms spread across the seats beside him.

“Oh, come on!” Alisa jumped out of her seat and stared, flabbergasted at the results. She had lost to Viktor 7-2. “You had an advantage. We’re playing another round and I’m gonna win!” she yelled at him with conviction, a fiercely competitive look in her eyes.

"Bring it." The next game led to another, then the arcade, a few attempts at dancing to cheesy pop music, and then the night was pretty much called. All in all it was a great time filled with laughs, conversation, and more importantly, bonding. As the two left and headed towards the jeep, Viktor gripped the keys with an idea in mind.

"Catch!" Viktor tossed the keys to Alisa and made his way towards the passenger's seat.

Alisa walked down the parking lot with him, carrying an adorable stuffed frog that she had won at the claw machine. She caught the keys and fixed Viktor with a strange look. He wanted her to… drive? She had never driven a car before, although she was quite good at piloting planes. “Hopefully not too different from driving a plane,” she muttered, under her breath, and boosted herself into the driver’s seat. She was painfully short, so she had to adjust the seat, but she ultimately got herself comfortable and started to drive down the road.

“The right pedal is the brake, right?” she half-joked.

"Not funny." He smirked. "This should be easy for you. And if you crash… I think we'll survive." Though it seemed like a joke, he was quite serious.

“I’m sure I will. You? Eh,” teased Alisa.

The rest of their ride went by alright- Alisa was terrible at clean stops, and accidentally ran several red lights. Ultimately, they drove to the secret garage entrance on the edge of the mountain. A bit of anxiety was starting to rise in Alisa. If they were to be caught, it would be now.

She turned and looked at Viktor. “I had a lot of fun tonight. Thanks for asking me to come with.” She smiled, and started to hit the brake to get ready to park.

Or what she thought was the brake. Instead, she hit the gas, and the car sped up right before slamming into the mountainside.

"Shit!"

The Jeep crashed into the mountain with a nearly deafening sound. Alisa’s face smacked against the wheel just as the airbags inflated and the car alarm started to go off. I crashed the car I crashed the car I crashed the car HOLY SHIT-

“Viktor? Are you alright?!” She shook the boy next to her, voice panicked. “I am so sorry, oh my God, I thought I was hitting the brake- do you think that woke them up? Are you okay?” They were in so much trouble.

Viktor groaned with his face against the deflating airbag. He sat himself up looking more irritated than hurt.

"I'll be fine… Shit…" He hadn't looked Alisa in the face yet. Not until he spoke again. "If you're quick you can… too late. He's here." Viktor sighed as Red Tornado landed next to the driver's side of the jeep with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Oh, Jesus…” Alisa buried her face in the airbag, cheeks turning red. His robot eyes were so judging.

"Cybergirl. Rain."

"We can explain Red Torn-"

"Get inside! You will both explain why one of you was breaking curfew and why an unlicensed driver was behind the steering wheel of the team off-duty vehicle that is now disabled. The lounge. Now." Red Tornado was stern and not looking for excuses now, especially when the two teens appeared to have come out of the accident intact. The two left the vehicle where it was, and Red Tornado quickly disabled the alarm before heading inside after the two.

"You know despite this, I had a lot of fun too." Viktor said on their way to the lounge.

Once the two young heroes were seated side by side, Red Tornado stood before them and gave them the longest and most in-depth lecture of all time. Then came the actual punishment.

"You will both be subject to reduced allowances and no leisure outside of the headquarters for two weeks. You will also explain to the rest of the team why the Jeep is under maintenance no later than tomorrow evening. Finally, effective immediately, the established curfew will apply to Rain until further notice. Do you both understand?"

"Yes."

“I understand.”

"Now, if there are no other issues I would prefer you two go to your respective rooms." Red Tornado turned away from Viktor and Alisa, making his way to the Communications Complex to report on the situation. Viktor sat silently for a moment before sighing.

"Not a successful mission, but worth it." A soft smile on his face despite being grounded.

That made Alisa smile. “We were almost successful! I bet Red Tornado wouldn’t even have caught us if I hadn’t crashed the car. Totally worth it, though.” She then snuck a glance at the other robot’s retreating figure and sighed. Being grounded would suck… but at least she had a good memory to go with it. “Let’s get to our rooms before he talks to Black Canary or someone and makes us clean the bathrooms for the next month. Come on.”

The two shuffled off to their bedrooms, thoroughly punished, but having had a fun night to remember.

---

Brightheart, like her teammates, was resting aboard the jet as they made their way back to their base. She had some bruises and cuts here and there but none too major thankfully. She was glad all of them made it in one piece back at the jet. Well, some looked worse than others either way.

She looked at the others that were still reflecting on what happened a while ago. Daphne was huddled in layers of blankets due to some unknown factor in her power but other than that, everybody else seemed to be as fine as they could be. She ran her hands through the wounds on her arms and let out a relaxed sigh once she fully got to sit comfortably on one of the seats in the jet. Brightheart wasn't used to pouring her all when it was night time so she needed to conserve whatever energy she had left. If the Warlords could see her right now, they would be very disappointed at how weak she became. In her defense, humans could make being lazy so productive which resulted in her slacking in her training. She vowed to herself to resume her regimen once they got back to the base.

Talon then approached Rain on reporting about their mission. Zatara tried to lighten the mood by conjuring bubbles which didn't fail to let out a little giggle of delight out of Brightheart but she could still sense that everyone was tense. Like the rest, she listened as Rain told Talon their side of what happened during the mission. She was impressed that Rain could remember all that had happened. All Brightheart could remember was trying to dodge all those bullets and that weird feeling she got when she saw him hugging Nymph. She remained in her seat as Rain seemed to have finished his report, yet he continued, stating the ineptitude of his teammates.

She couldn't believe what she did was wrong. She thought she was doing the right thing by giving the others enough time to retreat to the jet by distracting the Kobra agents. She thought she did right given the circumstance of the situation but she was disappointed to find out she was still wrong. Even in the way Rain said it too, like he was throwing spears right at her heart.

Poor Nymph got the worst of it too. None of them knew she would react like that in the cold and it seemed that Nymph didn't even know this herself as well. It wasn't her fault that it happened to her but Rain made it seem like it was, even going as far as saying she didn't belong in their group. She wanted to approach Nymph but didn't know the right words to say or even if it was the right time so she stayed silent. It made Brightheart wonder if he valued her as a fellow teammate as well and not just someone who's only beneficial to the group because of her flight and super strength. If she didn't have those qualities, would Rain say the same thing to her too?

Brightheart looked out to the window and sighed. One of Zatara's bubbles floated toward her face, reflecting her sad and heartbroken expression. "Rekma..." Brightheart solemnly said as she popped the bubble, feeling that something within her was gone too.

---

---

Aleen'a spent the next few days doing what she vowed to herself that night. She worked out and used the base's combat simulation whenever she could to train herself and get herself back to top shape. She rarely had the time to talk with the others unlike before, usually because they all had their own thing going on as well. At least she gained a new hobby: meditating above the clouds as the warm sun basked her in golden light. She felt so at peace and refreshed whenever she did that, so she still couldn't help but be sad.

Hex and Gold Rush disappeared during the week. Search as they might, they couldn't find any trace of them within the area. Not a word, just went away like a bubble popping. Aleen'a could only hope that they were okay wherever they were.

Additionally, being reprimanded by Batman himself was one of the worst experiences Aleen'a had on Earth so far, counting that time she experienced the freezing of the brain when she and Kori ate ice cream too fast before. The worst of it was that while Batman did seem angry, he was more disappointed and really fully explained to Aleen'a the repercussions of her actions. She was humbled and solemn the rest of the week, venting all her frustrations during her work-out and training sessions.

She also couldn't get the opportunity to have a talk with Daphne to see if she's okay because Aleen'a was either working out or Daphne was just in her room that time. However, the Tamaranean wasn't trying hard either. Whenever she saw Daphne, she remembered that feeling of jealousy and anger towards her and Viktor when they hugged back at La Hoya. Kori was still away on a mission with the other Justice League members and, while they do get to talk every once in a while, she didn't want to make her cousin worry about her. She took a deep breath in and exhaled to try and calm herself. Whatever this was, she will get through this on her own. She had to.

She was then alerted of a meeting with the others and, even though she still wasn't comfortable being close to them, Aleen'a steeled herself and went to the mission briefing room. She was surprised that it was the Batman in the flesh himself that was now briefing them, now less blue than before. She shyly filed in like the others and listened attentively to the hero while trying to avert her gaze at Viktor. She did brighten a bit at the prospect of meeting new members as new members always equal new friends! Her short-lived happiness was quenched when she remembered their two missing friends. She could only hope that they were fine and well, wherever they may be.

Aleen'a shyly raised her hand mid-way "Um... Sir Batman, sir? What is a seer... seer-kus? Also, when can we meet our new teammates?"

Zatara's Magic Show feat. Viktor

At the table of the kitchen section of the lounge, Viktor was cutting into his lunch, a medium-rare steak. As usual, he kept things simple. He didn't expect much from today, even if it was Saturday but little did he know, today would be rather interesting.

Just then, Zach barged into the room with his smartphone, livestreaming. “Goooooood afternoon Zatarans! It is I, everyone’s favorite teenage magician Zachary Zatara! Streaming live for all my lovely subscribers!” The magician looked up at Viktor, smirked, and put his arm around his shoulder. “This is my roommate, Viktor. You have anything to say to my viewers?”

"Um… Hi viewers." Viktor said awkwardly before looking at Zachary. "What is even going on this time?" He asked plainly before taking a bite out of his steak.

Zach chuckled and looked at his phone. “Ain’t he funny folks?” He then turned his attention back to Viktor. [color=darkviolet]“It’s a livestream, Vik. I’m broadcasting to thousands of my fans. People want to know what I’m up to!”[color]

"And what are you up to today?" Viktor wondered, knowing Zach always had something grand going on. He had never been the sit down and chill type, which actually helped pump a lot of life into the team.

Zach smirked. “I’m so glad you asked!” He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a deck of playing cards. Then he started shuffling them. “I’m working on a magic trick. And I need a lovely assistant. Who better to fill that role than you? Anyway, I have here an ordinary deck of playing cards. I haven’t done anything to them, or altered them in any way.” Next, he lay the cards face down on the table. “Now, first I want you to pick one. Look at it, but don’t show it to me.”

Viktor raised an eyebrow. He was aware of Zach's magical prowess when it came to logomancy, but was a tad skeptical of card tricks in general. "Sure." Viktor pulled a card from the center and raised it in front of his face. Ten of Hearts. Viktor nodded at the card. "Now what?"

“Excellent. Now we have to make the card unique.” He ripped the corner of the card Viktor and handed the section of the card he tore off to Viktor, then he shuffled the rest of the card back into the deck, and also handed the deck to Viktor. “Now, on the count of three, you're going to throw the deck into the air, and I’m going to find your card… He snatched the steak knife. “By throwing this knife. And for a little extra… excitement. dlofdnilb.” A cloth blindfold appeared over Zach’s eyes.

"Um… Zach?" Viktor held the deck firmly in his hand as he stared at his blindfolded teammate. Of all his teammates Zach was the second to last person he trusted handling a knife skillfully. He did not trust Talon with a knife in general, but that was a separate issue from the one he was currently faced with. "Are you sure about this? I mean don't you have to rehearse these things?" Though he was sure a steak knife wouldn't end him, he was not cool with getting stabbed on a Saturday afternoon.

“Considering what we do, and you’re scared of a little knife?” Admittedly, this was his first time doing this trick in front of a live audience. Even Zach was apprehensive if this would go like he’d hoped. He would never hear the end of it if something went wrong. Still, it was too late to turn back now. His fans were watching, it was now or never. “You’ll be fine. I got this. Now, on the count of three, throw the cards. 1… 2… 3!” Then he threw the knife forward as Viktor in turn threw the cards while bracing himself.

The knife flew through the cards, cutting into just one that smoothly passed by Viktor and hit the wall behind him. With widened eyes, Viktor was impressed and he was not alone as he noticed Zach's live chat filling up with comment after comment. The pinned card had the tear Zach had put in it, but for some reason, it being faced down created a sliver of doubt. I don't know if I could do that. Did he… No, he didn't say a word. He slowly approached the card pinned to the wall by the knife. He reluctantly pulled the knife revealing the Ten of Hearts and held it up for the viewers to witness.

"How… How did you do this Zach?"

Zach breathed a sigh of relief that it worked. He didn’t know how he was going to explain that to his subscribers if it had failed. “Magicians secret hun.” Zach said with a wink. “I can’t go blabbing all my tricks to everyone.” Zach grinned. Finally, he managed to impress Viktor. He turned his attention to his phone, which was filling up with comments, and took a bow. “Thank you, thank you. Remember, this is completely live. No camera tricks or editing involved here.”

"Another." Viktor piped up with a stern look on his face. "Do another trick Zatara. Just as or more impressive than this one." He challenged, wanting to know whether or not this was some sort of fluke. He just couldn't believe Zach was this talented. Then again, there had to be a reason for such a large following.

Zach had to think about it for a second. He didn’t really have any tricks like this one prepared. But he couldn’t say no to Vik, and his screen was filling up with comments demanding an encore. Zach couldn’t let his fans down. “Well, maybe just one more thing…” He took his top hat off and put it over Viktor’s steak. “Ynnub!” He lifted his hat, and Viktor’s steak had been replaced by a small white rabbit. “I turned your lunch into a rabbit!” The truth was Zach couldn’t turn something nonliving into something living yet. His cousin could do that no problem, but Zach wasn’t there yet. He just replaced the steak with his own rabbit. Viktor’s steak was just sitting inside of Zach’s hat.

"...." Viktor stared at the rabbit on the plate. He was trying to figure out how Zach had transformed a cooked part of a cow into a complete living rabbit, but he was also trying to figure out what he was going to eat now. "This was also impressive, but what do I do with this?" Viktor carefully grabbed the rabbit, holding it in his arms.

Zach cringed. “Definitely don’t eat her…” He took the rabbit back in his arms, and spoke into the phone. “Um… Well, that’s all the time I have for now. I’ll be back soon don’t forget to like and subscribe and follow me @Zatarathegreat on all social media. Bye!” He immediately stopped the livestream, and sighed. Then he gave Viktor back his lunch. “Look, unlike my cousin, I can’t turn something nonliving into something living. Bunny here is a prop. But I can’t let my fans know that!” Viktor gave Zach a simple shrug and eyed his steak.

"Even so, isn't a lot of magic about making people believe in something that's not truly there?" Viktor forced a smile. "Zatanna is very capable, yes. But that comes with experience. I think what makes you truly impressive is your ability to… fill in the gaps. You didn't change a steak into a rabbit, but it's what everyone believed. Belief is powerful Zach. Don't discount that." Viktor had attempted to be nice to his teammate as he had put on a show for him and even included him in it.

“True…” He frowned and looked at the floor for a moment. He knew Viktor was right, but still. His cousin performed to sold out crowds every other night, and is still a prominent member of the Justice League. She doesn’t even have social media. Zach knew if he was going to succeed in his own right, he had to get on her level. “I appreciate the help. You’re really sweet when you want to be.” Then, he gave Viktor a hug.

"If you ever need an assistant, you can… count me in. I think your viewers like me too." Hugging wasn't his thing, but he returned it as he felt it would be the right thing to do. He even added a pat on the back, which was usually a gesture he witnessed accompanying the hug.

—-




A week later, Batman had given the team a new mission. They were had to infiltrate a circus. Zach’s eyes lit up excitedly. Performing magic tricks on YouTube was one thing. Performing in front of a live audience was something else entirely. This was the opportunity of a lifetime!

Zach stood up right away.“Ok, I’ll keep this simple for the out of towners. A circus is a group of performers that put on a variety of different acts for an audience. I call dibs on leading this mission. If anybody knows about putting on a show, it’s me. Now then, obviously I’m a magician. Talon, I assume you have acrobatics training correct? Surely, Nightwing must be teaching you something. You can be our Acrobat. Aleena, you can be a strongwoman. They perform feats of Strength. Viktor, well… you did say if I ever needed an assistant to count you in. Well, I’m taking you up on that. As for the rest of you? Well, tell me what you can do, and we’ll see what kind of act we can build around that.”

P I E R 1 2

---

M A Y 2 6^{T H} 2 0 2 1 | 1 0 : 5 0 P M | G O T H A M C I T Y , N J

"Come on, boys, we gotta get all these crates loaded onto the boat by midnight. That's a hard deadline, y'hear? Black Mask is gonna be real disappointed if we lose even one box of cargo."

Pier 12 was bustling with activity that evening, though this activity was decidedly surreptitious. A group of thugs, some of them armored, some of them strapped with guns, and all of them wearing black facemasks, were loading crates full of illegal weapons onboard the large freight ship that was anchored at the pier that day. The man calling the shots, a 6'4" fellow known as Shanks, was distinguishable from the rest of the thugs not by his face, which was also covered in a jet-black full-face mask, but by the clean white suit that easily established him as one of Black Mask's enforcers, and the immediate superior of the group assembled at the docks that night.

The crew continued their grunt work, loading crate after crate on board the freight ship as fast as they could. After all, they didn't want to make Black Mask mad. Many of them, truth be told, hadn't ever seen Black Mask before, and if they had, it probably wasn't for very long. That being said, Black Mask's enforcers were scary enough, and the guy that bossed the enforcers around? He had to be the scariest of them all. Despite the imminent threat of being fed to the fishes, though, there was another pressing issue that gnawed into the minds of the hardened thugs, and that was the girl in the chair.

The girl in the chair was pretty young. Not a kid, but not old-old. College-age, maybe. She was wearing some sort of antiquated armor that the weebs among the gang recognized as being samurai armor, albeit highly-modernized, well-forged, crimson samurai armor. She had long brown hair and a black eye from Jim smacking her across the face with a nightstick. She was also tied to the chair, and was actively glowering at the goons. The girl, who was apparently some type of vigilante named 'Demonslayer', had been spotted in her hiding spot after her phone's ringtone went off- the most Gen Z way of being caught, it seemed. The thugs had quickly knocked her out cold and tied her to the chair. Apparently, this girl had been causing some trouble for Black Mask recently, and Black Mask wanted to speak to the vigilante girl in the near future. And by speak, he probably meant kill. And so, there she was, tied helplessly to a chair. Her magic sword, which had burned Bobby's hands badly, had been stuffed into a barrel of fish and left for the time being. Another gift for Black Mask. \

Shanks, the enforcer, watched his crew load the boat while simultaneously thinking about just how big of a promotion he would get. Not only was he moving thousands- no, millions of dollars worth of military-grade weapons out of Gotham City, but he had also captured a major thorn in Black Mask's side. Shanks rubbed his hands together, dreaming of his soon-to-be-purchased yacht, as he made his way over to his hostage. He hadn't gotten a chance to intimidate teenagers since he was a bully in high school. He missed those simpler times of swirlies and wedgies. Not that he didn't enjoy extortion and torture, but some nostalgia was always nice. Shanks leaned in, hands on knees, to lower his mask to just above the girl's eye level. "Enjoying the view of the water, twerp?" he taunted, before chuckling to himself.

To his surprise, though, the girl bit back. "It's pretty nice. Y'know what I don't enjoy, though? Your stench. Wash your mask or something, dude, jeez."

Shanks was almost hurt. "You're talking a lot of smack for a girl that got caught because her phone started blasting Destiny's Child. And also for a girl that's, I don't know, tied to a chair right now. "

"First of all, not my phone," Maya said quickly. "And second, have you ever considered that maybe I wanted to get captured? And that I have you exactly where I want you?" Maya added with a hefty dose of swagger, craning her neck to look straight into the eyeholes of Shanks's mask.

The enforcer chuckled. "Sure thing, girlie." He leaned in so that his mask was only a few inches away from Maya's face. "I call your bluff-"

Maya then headbutted Shanks square in the face, crushing his nose. As the enforcer staggered back, blood oozing from his nostrils, he looked up to see that Maya's hands were somehow untied, and she was holding her sword somehow. Before he could truly process the information, however, the girl had swung her blade low, chopping the ropes off of her feet, and then had charged forwards, slicing Shanks directly across the chest. The masked enforcer was hit by a wave of pain. Unimaginable, grueling pain. He howled as he dropped to the floor, clutching his chest wound, and Maya stepped over his downed body. She looked up at the shocked gang of thugs, who were slowly gearing up to fight, before looking down at the katana she clutched in her hand again. "You ready to kick some ass, Senshi?"

"I am prepared. In the future, though, please try to avoid being captured because of your cellular phone," the demon responded to Maya.

Maya grit her teeth. "I told you, it was intentional," she muttered before charging into action.

Maya's motions were swift, deliberate, but also controlled. Each slash was dampened in its ferocity and severity by Maya's restraint. Maya vastly preferred incapacitating people non-lethally. The curse of Blood Moon was more than enough to neutralize even the burliest of opponents with even the smallest scratch. As such, Maya quickly bounced from thug to thug, striking nimbly at each one before darting to another. Her movements were sudden and unpredictable, and it was impossible for any one goon to get a clear shot on her without endangering his or her buddies. Though she had hardly cut the men, they were all writhing on the ground in pain as Maya only just touched them with her sword. In a matter of minutes, Maya had sawed through the entire group of men, and she stood alone in a circle of downed, moaning goons. All in all, a success. Except for her black eye. That wasn't so great. Still, make-up could do wonders.

As soon as Maya sent the last man careening to the ground with just a pinprick to his neck, Maya immediately dropped Blood Moon to the ground and fumbled at her armor. A moment later, she pulled her phone from belt and began dialing a number in. From his position on the floor of the docks, Senshi scoffed. "You are a liar, wakai hito. I should have known you weren't setting a trap."

"Shut up, you stupid demon," Maya grumbled as she rested the phone to her ear. A moment later, she spoke. "Katana? Hi. Sorry for not picking up. You, well, you caught me at a bad time." Maya rested a hand on her bruised eye. "What's going on?" Maya listened quietly, phone resting against her ear. "Young Justice initiative? About time they reached out to me...I know, I know...of course, I can do it, Katana...watashi wa yakusoku shimasu, watashi wa junbi ga dekite imasu...roger that. Thank you, Katana. I won't let you down." Maya pulled the phone from her ear. "New level of crimefighting, here we come, Senshi! You excited?"

"Please remove me from this disgusting, fishy floor."

"Right," Maya said quickly, kneeling down and plucking the katana from the ground. She removed a polishing cloth from her belt, wiping the grime and faint traces of blood from the blade, before giving Blood Moon an effortless twirl. "Now, let's chop up some military firearms, and then let's blow this popsicle stand. I have a lot of calls to make, and a good bit of packing to do, too. Where the hell is a Rhode Island, anyway? Is that in Canada or something?"

M T . J U S T I C E

---

M A Y 2 8^{T H} 2 0 2 1 | 1 0 : 0 0 A M | H A P P Y H A R B O R , R I

"Somebody say new teammates?"

Just as Brightheart asked Batman about the identities of the new members of the Young Justice team, a shimmer of light sparkled from the Zeta-Tubes, and out from the teleporter emerged Maya. Maya looked, for the most part, like your average teen girl. She had a red t-shirt with a large chibi cat face on it, a pair of faded jeans that was torn at the knees, and a pair of combat boots, one of which was untied and had its laces dangling on the floor. She had definitive oriental features, a healthy, athletic build, and long walnut-brown wavy hair. The only thing unusual about Maya was the fact that, clipped from her belt, hung an ornate koshirae, and sheathed inside was what appeared to be an equally-ornate katana.

As the light show from the Zeta-Tube behind her died down, Maya's features turned into a sly grin as she swiftly drew her katana, twirling it around her hand, before throwing the blade directly in the air. The sword spun like a helicopter blade, a cyclone of metal spinning in the air, and it shot upwards before descending down towards Maya. Maya simply leaned backward and opened her mouth, catching her sword between her teeth by the hilt. She smirked as she held the sword in her mouth, giving a coy wink over to the Tamoranean girl at the briefing, before dropping the blade back into her hand, holding the sword in a reverse grip.

"Maya Kobayashi," the girl introduced herself, giving the blade one more spin and twirling it around her body before sheathing it once again. "You can also refer to me as 'the Demonslayer.' Though I think just Maya will suffice." Maya gave a quick salute to Batman before taking her seat at the briefing. "Heard something about a circus? Sounds fun. So long as I'm not the bearded lady, at least." Maya scooted her chair back, crossing her legs and resting her feet on the edge of the conference table. She listened to the well-dressed young man speak about circus roles. "I work with sharp things. Knife throwing, maybe? I'll note that I actually throw knives and don't just conjure up illusions." Her gaze shifted onto Zach briefly, a playful smile on her face, before she spoke again. "If anybody wants to be strapped to the dartboard, we can do a two-man show."

---

Talon's week had gone by in a blurry haze. The heated interaction he almost had on the Jet with Rain had quickly extinguished thanks to Zatara's magic, and they hadn't spoken of it since then. In the interim days between then and now, Talon and Rain hadn't spoken, only glaring at each other in the halls or as passing ships in the training area. Talon knew that Rain was in the wrong, and he refused to be the first to try and make nice. But the longer it went on, the more that Talon wanted to have it out with him physically.

But the confrontation with Rain was not weighing the heaviest on Talon at this time. No, it was the sudden disappearances of both Gold Rush and Hex. When Talon joined the team, it was Gold Rush who had first really interacted with Talon, and Talon was a little starstruck, having known him from watching his commercials and exploits on Oracle's television set. Talon had been looking forward to becoming friends with him, and now he was gone. But even moreso than that, Talon was surprised at how hurt he was that Hex had left. Hex was Talon's first friend he had made on his own, and the ghost boy had opened up to him quickly. There was obviously something going on with Hex behind the scenes and between missions, he was seemingly distracted all throughout Talon's first mission. And now the boy who had talked to him even when he was at his most infuriated and embarrassed was gone. No explanation. Talon assumed they must not have been as close as Hex had implied.

Of the rest of the team, Talon had felt himself feeling more comfortable with a few of the others. He didn't know much about Brightheart, but Mirage and Zatara were much more willing to be around Talon (or at least put him at ease.) Talon even had put some time aside one day to watch some of Zatara's "vlogs." He was impressed at how many friends (Zatara called them subscribers, but Talon couldn't tell the difference) Zatara had. Even Metamorph had a more welcoming energy with Talon, although that seemingly would come and go - Talon honestly had a hard enough time picking up on people's energy, but with Metamorph, there was something even more complicated to it. Talon wasn't exactly equipped to diving deeper, and so settled with being friendly if not overly communicative (to Talon's level at least.)

The other complicated feeling that Talon had been dealing with was in regards to Nymph. Again her powers had gotten out of control, and Nymph had started to close up around the others. More than once Talon had lingered in a room hoping that she would want to open up and communicate more, but Talon was having little luck. Thinking his relationships had regressed before that even had a chance to grow, Talon began to withdraw and isolate, spending more time in the Library. It was here one day that a passing interaction he hadn't expected would start a catalogue of changes for Talon...



Now however, it was time to be briefed for another mission. Talon was expecting to be left out of the leadership role this time around. Probably it was a matter of taking turns, or learning who steps up and how. Talon himself however was, unsurprisingly, in a sour mood. Yesterday he had his second meeting with Black Canary. A one on one therapy session that had started after their previous outing. Although the first one went well, and Talon mostly kept silent, the second one had Black Canary dig a little deeper into who Talon had been, and who Talon was now. She spoke to him in sign language, and she was able to cut right to the heart of a lot of what Talon was feeling. Not just about the situation he was in on the team, but about how he felt about himself, and how he felt about the others. It was an uncomfortable conversation, and Talon was still struggling with a lot of Canary's questions from the night previously. He had sipped a mug of coffee at breakfast and nothing more, as the topic of the two new recruits (replacements for his former friends) pushed Talon out of the room to sulk.

Later, he and the team were lined up with Batman presenting them the details of the mission. This time they would be infiltrating a circus, and each of them would be responsible for coming up with an act of some kind. Great. The others all looked excited as the prospect of an exciting mission, but were interrupted by the arrival of the next two members of the team. The first called herself "Demonslayer" and she carried a Katana. Talon's eyes were drawn to the blade briefly. The second entrant was stone cold, who walked in on the phone, thick boots on her feet and an arrogant look on her face. She certainly commanded everyone's attention. She ruined it by talking. Talon rolled his eyes.

Demonslayer seemed pleased with her sword trick performance, and the other already was grating on him.

Glad at least these two are having fun. He thought to himself.

---

The first couple of days after La Hoya weren't great for Daphne. She spent a lot of time by herself, keeping busy with her plant diary or training with the Martian Manhunter, most of all she was trying to avoid the Team. It was a noticeable change in her behavior which she tried to cover up with thoughtful gestures. Every day she would leave some kind of baked good in the kitchen, with a note reading something along the lines of
"Eat me xxx Daphne".

She would clean parts of the HQ even when she wasn't on duty for chores. Every kind of activity which required the least amount of interaction with others became her go to. Avoiding the Team made her paranoia worse and when she did interact with them she was overthinking the interaction. Questioning if they were being nice out of pity and if they would rather see her leave.

Viktor she avoided even more than usual, it wasn´t just the odd bunch of nerves she felt around him, it had turned into a sort of panicky fight or flight response. If she happened to cross paths with him she stayed polite. She knew they had to talk, but for now she was avoiding confrontation and she could live with that. With Aleen´a Daphne had hoped on a friend to share the bulk of the mistakes made. The fact that she wasn´t the only one who messed up made her feel better. They never talked though. Daphne saw Aleen´a around HQ but neither of them approached the other for their own reasons.

The feelings of uncertainty lingered and kept her awake at night. When she stared at the dark ceiling at 3 am she thought about Casper and Felix. One day they were there and the next half of the Justice League was looking for them. The fact that their mentors hadn´t managed to find them was not a good sign. It felt strange to miss people she met just a few weeks ago.

Daphne never used to have insomnia, only experiencing it shortly after the robbery. It died down after a while and she hoped the same would happen this time around. Unexpectedly though it lead her to a 3am heart to heart with Alisa. Daphne went up to her dorm room on a particular rough night and they had tea, braided each other's hair and learned about their respective backstories.

The therapy sessions with Black Canary gave her some relief. No longer the stern combat instructor Dinah allowed her earlier motherly instincts to take the reins during their sessions. Daphne experienced for the first time in her life what it was like to have a strong female figure guiding her, giving her advice and support. It made her feel a lot better about her situation.

By the end of the week things were looking up and Daphne regained a bit of her confidence.

---

Location: The Sanctuary, Base level, Teleporter room
Interactions: The Team

---

Daphne smoothed out the wrinkles of her dress. It was one she made weeks ago, not having the confidence to wear it out, until today. She had a good feeling about this mission. Daphne knew Haly's circus. Her favorite thing about it was the fair. She really hoped they had time to visit it before going into hero mode.

Two potential new team members entered the HQ through the Zeta tubes. Daphne's eyes followed each girl, looking them up and down. There were a whole bunch of thoughts running through her mind. Maya so far seemed to have the best attitude between them. Daphne felt ashamed at what the blonde girl was saying to Batman. She brushed her hair off of her shoulders, a vaguely green flush on her face. Batman barely reacted and introduced the girl as Bex a.k.a She-Devil as she hadn't bothered to introduce herself.

Undeterred by her bad attitude Daphne walked over to Bex, holding out her hand with a friendly smile.
"Hi, welcome to the Team, I'm Daphne..." Her look was definitely intimidating. Her brown eyes turned down and she spotted Bex's pink dr Martin boots.
"Cute boots..."

Location: Communications Complex
Interactions: The Team and Daphne

---

It had only been a week, but standing within the Communications Complex felt much different than last week for Viktor. After the previous mission he felt was a failure with Batman reinforcing it as such to his squad, Viktor decided to do something very different.

He went to speak to Black Canary. Yes, Viktor sought out what he would call “introspective guidance”. It was totally NOT counseling. Try. That is what he summed up most of his single hour long session from the experienced leaguer. And so he did. He cut out some of his physical training to do wood carving in order to take his mind off of the previous mission and the eventual next. He let himself be open minded to Zach including him into his online magic performance for the subscribers. And lastly, he decided to go against the rules in order to experience the “nightlife” with Alisa.

If he was being honest with himself, trying different went somewhat well. His negative thoughts of both the results of the mission and the performance of his teammates he blamed for its failure had not lingered. Viktor managed to bond with Zach and give him a well deserved compliment on his magical talents. And lastly, though he and Alisa wound up wrecking the jeep, breaking her curfew, attempted to get into a bar, and getting punished for their actions, Viktor learned a lot about her and himself that night while just doing something for the enjoyment of it with a friend, regardless of rules set in place.

Talon, he kept at a distance. It was only a matter of time before the two traded blows. It almost felt inevitable, and part of Viktor desired it. Was it competition or simply animosity at this point? Maybe they’d soon find out. When it came to the loss of his teammates, it had not impacted him like it might have impacted the others. It was a combination of Viktor’s cold nature and his not so established bonds with the two.

The mission briefing was delivered by Batman just like previously, this time he was physically present. It shouldn’t have seemed any different, but it did. Him being there caused Viktor to almost instinctively analyze his very being. Every movement, change in inflexion, and of course, who he focused his attention on. To Viktor, everything the dark knight did came across as deliberate.

The mission was more unconventional than the last. This time it was the infiltration of Haly’s CIrcus. He’d been to one of their shows, but he couldn’t clearly remember it. It was so long ago, and he’d gone only once but he was sure it was enjoyable. Zach piping up and volunteering to be the leader for this mission, caused Viktor’s eyebrows to raise at the sudden initiative.. Playing to his strengths… good. Viktor simply gave Zach a thumbs up when offered the role of being his assistant. To him, it meant he could possibly split his attention between investigating the mysterious seller of the chemical component for Kobra’s weapon and Zach’s act.

And then they appeared. The replacements for Casper and Felix. Hex and Goldrush.

The first to appear was a female of Asian descent wielding a katana, Maya Kobayashi or Demonslayer. Her handling of her weapon, albeit flashy, also demonstrated the level of comfort she had with it. It couldn’t have been all for show if she was chosen by the Justice League, but he didn’t agree with all of the decisions they made, so there was still room for doubt. Like he had done with everyone else, he would assess her. As far as her attitude, she seemed to be as outspoken as… Zach. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but just something to note.

Next to appear was not as flashy, just a whole lot louder. Blonde and… insulting, Bex or She-Devil as Batman had helped to introduce her. She was interesting. Viktor couldn’t really get a read on her except that she was very different from the rest of the team. Outspoken, unfiltered, and rude. I wonder how she’ll mesh with the rest as there is no one truly like her. Talon? No, he only despises me… Ja when he is off[? Hard to say.

Daphne approaching Bex to greet her, was a sign for him to approach Alisa. He did not want to watch Bex socially destroy Daphne, whether it was verbal or not.

“Any ideas on what you’ll perform?” Viktor asked, slightly curious, but really just trying to shift his focus from an interaction he predicted going south.