---

Iceburn shook some mist off her pale-blue hands, exhaling. That always shook the ice from her veins. When she turned her attention to the rest of the battle, it had already wrapped up. That was the advantageous of a four-on-four surprise attack!

"Nice goin' everyone! Thanks for takin' a hit for the team, buddy." She pointed an appreciative, high energy finger at Quiver. It was good that Mirage was looking over him. Iceburn had similar first-aid training, but she didn't want to crowd the space.

"But, y'know. Don't be afraid to stay in the backlines." She narrowed her eyes and shrugged, tilting her head forward in a 'whaddya gonna do' type of way. Quiver was injured, so, him getting hit felt pretty bad. Iceburn would much prefer she take the hit instead, since she was healthy and her C-Mist could absorb some of the damage. As a non-meta archer person, Quiver getting the attention of the baddies was a sign of something going wrong with their tactics. "Cuz, y'know, you gotta sit the rest of this one out if your stitches break." She added.

Iceburn set a hand on her hips and glanced around. "Garage works for me, as much as that other, unmarked mysterious hallway calls to me. We'll see if things stay 'too easy' the further we get into the facility. We just jumped four henchmen on their smoke break, not exactly Hero of The Year material." As she spoke, she went around and sprayed mist over all of the bad guys, solidifying them in place with iceblocks. They were very durable and would melt in a couple hours. The ice was cool to the touch, but like always she turned down the temperature so it wouldn't cause any damage to their skin or bodies. The iceblocks were more half-cylinders keeping them bound to the ground, it didn't cover their head or their feet.

"I was thinking of calling this one my Chill Pill technique. Eh?" Iceburn grinned, looked around at the others for approval.

Zach winced as the meta’s words cut deeper than any physical attack could. As the guy patted his tophat, Zach didn’t even flinch; he was too consumed by his own thoughts, the magic that once flowed through him feeling distant and out of reach.

The swift punch that followed knocked his hat askew, and Zach stumbled back, catching it just before it hit the ground. He stood there, clutching the brim of his hat. The comment about his parents hurt the most. The idea that they might see him as a failure now, after all his training and hard work. His father, who had sparked his love for the stage, and his mother, who had tried to protect him by sealing his powers. Despite everything, he had chosen this path, not to defy them but to honor them, to prove that he could stand on his own as both a magician and a hero.

Zach watched the meta walk away, anger bubbling beneath the surface, in spite of the raging feeling of inadequacy. He desperately wanted to prove the guy wrong, to prove himself. “Hey, you can badmouth me all you want. But keep my parents out of your mouth!” He slowly stood up, still trembling from all the conflicting emotions. “They were better people than you’ll ever be. Everything I am is because of them. “And I’m not going to just sit this one out,” he declared. “You’ll see exactly what I have magic for.”

“Mih barg seniv cigam!” Ethereal vines erupted from the ground, shimmering with a faint glow as they surged forward, wrapping around the man’s legs and arms, pulling him back toward Zach. “You think you can just walk away after insulting my parents? After making me doubt myself? Not happening.”

And then, Zach did something… unexpected. He punched the guy in the face while the guy was bound, as hard as he possibly could. “How about you sit this one out! Oh, and another thing. No one touches the hat but me.”

Location: Kobra Warehouse
Interactions: The Insiders
Mentions:

---

They almost reported a true SITREP… Viktor stood impressed among his companions that had infiltrated the facility. His only concern might be their pace but their advance was too smooth for him to voice it. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

“Let’s move forward then. I'll take point from here on,” Viktor stated walking forward. “And to your inquiry, Quiver…” He slightly adjusted his grip on his rifle so he could prioritize using the sonic emitter attached to the weapon.“This Kobra facility is utilizing and transporting an unknown compound. All we require is a sample. And I think we should stick to that objective. Something doesn't feel right about this place.” Viktor’s visor then turned to face Pei to at least humor the pitch for the name of her restraining technique.

“Chill… pill..? Hmm… Perhaps Ashwagandha or Benzodiazepine might be better contenders.” Viktor shrugged. His reply held a neutral tone despite this being a very poor attempt at delivering sarcasm. “Anyway, let's advance. I’ll disrupt any threats inside. Just be swift in following up.”

Once the four heroes were ready, Viktor approached the door while listening for any activity on the other side of it. Nothing yet but… Even with the others taking the brunt of the attention from their enemies, Viktor found this base far too empty. He wondered if there was something else being protected deeper within the base or if this was all intended. The latter seemed unlikely due to how events had played out so far.

With a swift push, Viktor swung open the door to the large garage. It was dimly lit and filled with several vacant cargo and personnel vehicles. The area was conveniently held together by thick cement support beams and initially appeared to be empty. Unfortunately, those very beams were being used as cover for several henchmen waiting within to fire at the doorway. They were expertly hidden but a slight shift gave them away to Viktor's sharp senses.

“Take cover!” Viktor shouted as he preemptively fired his sonic emitter out toward the far side of the garage. It caused the group of henchmen to pause from firing momentarily, giving the group a short window of time to take cover.

“Quiver. Smoke?” Viktor asked as he reached into his utility belt. Whether Will had the means, Viktor would use smoke bombs to as concealment to close the distance between them and the henchmen that had ambushed them.

Location: Kobra Base, Everglades, Florida
Interactions: Nymph @dreamingflowers

---

Vincent stood in his carbon cloud, bullets plinking harmlessly off of his armor as he thought about his next move. Alright, I earned some time to think, he thought as a bullet bounced off of his cheek. While he couldn't see them, and they were currently too far away for him to really do anything, Vincent could sense the men and their weapons outside of the cloud, able to pick out the denser concentration of carbon, as well as the steel in their weapons, amidst the background noise of the cloud. He could tell they were standing in a loose semicircle, having set up a crossfire without risking hitting each other, with the meta standing in the middle of them, their attention focused on the cloud. What to do, what to do... he thought.

Slowly, a grimace grew on his face as another bullet whizzed by his ear. "I hate this idea," he muttered, his voice drowned out by the gunfire, "but I guess it's my only option, right now..."

---

The men outside continued to fire on the cloud, reloading when they could. They had all seen how their bullets had no effect, so they hoped the gunfire would at least keep the young hero pinned until the cloud dispersed and the meta could finish him off. They were so focused on firing into the cloud that they didn't notice as it slowly encroached on them. Suddenly, one felt something wrap around his ankle before pulling him into the cloud, screaming as he dropped his gun. The same thing happened to the second, then the third. The fourth looked down just in time to see a jet black, disembodied hand clutch his ankle before pulling him in. The man screamed from inside the cloud before suddenly going silent.

The meta stood there, poised to counter Vincent the moment he saw him. He thought about dispersing the cloud with his power, but if was anything like smoke, he felt that it wouldn't have any effect. There was suddenly movement to his left as a humanoid figure leapt out of the cloud. Reacting quickly, he turned, focusing on the figure and hit it with as much force as he could. The figure fell to the ground...and shattered. It was only then that he realized that the figure was just a carbon doll and quickly turned.

He was too late. Vincent, clad in the carbon plates that let him close the distance so quickly, his fist encased in the steel he stole from the guns of the men he pulled into the cloud, was already in striking distance. He slammed his foot onto the ground, bracing himself as he put his whole body into the punch. He felt steel connect with the meta's face as crimson blood appeared from his broken nose, and followed through, forcing the man down to the ground with a crash. The man out cold, Vincent knelt down, pinning him with his knee as he encased the meta's hands in carbon and anchored them into the ground. Vincent spat at the ground and muttered, "Should've killed me when you had the chance. I hate going the roundabout way."

Standing up, he looked back toward Daphne and saw that the glowing green orb was still in play. "Nymph, I'm coming to back you up." He took a moment to gather steel from the rest of the discarded weaponry around him, then launched himself toward the meta controlling the orb, ready to throw an armored punch.

These guys went down pretty easily, and Cora was feeling pretty good about her little magic show with Zach. She flowed through the purple clouds and watched him knock a dude out- a holy shit, he could throw a punch! Okay, so far so good. Cora would’ve wished this could’ve been a bit more sneaky. But then again, they were raiding this place in broad daylight. The best they could do now was take advantage of the surprise attack while it was a surprise.

Four of them were going inside… Cora had an idea. She couldn’t fight in confined spaces around others, it would’ve risked blinding someone. But she could get in her natural element.

”I’m goin’ above, so take cover,” she announced, over the channel. Stormcaller floated higher and higher above the building, high over it where she could see the whole battlefield. Her skin stung with static, but she’d manage for now. That was an awfully big compound, it had to be hot in there in a climate like this. Cora could imagine they had to have some kind of AC system in there, something she could sabotage and maybe spit out dust. Or maybe she could get inside and use that other advantage.

Looking behind her, that ominous green blob was still behind her. ”Make sure you’re looking over your shoulders, there’s a green thing being sneaky,” she announced over the channel.

If she had to guess, the big important stuff was likely to be in a central location or on a subfloor. It wouldn’t do much, but just for good measure, she floated closer and fired off some rather loud strikes of lightning at exposed fans on the roof, the kind that brought cool air into the rest of the building. It could scare someone, maybe spit out dust and choke them. Or maybe they’d get heatstroke.

Small things added up, right?

”Stormcaller comin’ in. I’m working on wrecking their AC. If you smoke ‘em out, they’ll have nowhere to go if they bunker down in the central areas. I might be able to get through the vents and ambush somebody.”

---

Iceburn scoffed good-naturedly at Viktor's dry banter back at her. "Okay, those might be literally chill pills, but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And besides, the 'chill' part is also because it's cold. And it's a cylinder so it's pill shape. But it's also forcing them to- okay nevermind. It's Chill Pill. Fuckin'- fuckin' Chill Pill technique." Iceburn dusted off her shoulder even though there was no dust, to figuratively settle the matter.

She took a few breaths into her palms and then rubbed her hands together, making sure her C-Mist was topped off. Plenty of magic ice juice left in the tank, as long as she had a moment to catch her breath. Without a source of water (humid air helped) her ability to create ice drew from her stamina instead.

Iceburn moved inside, hands up and broiling over with mist, her stance low. She didn't notice the bad guys before Viktor did, but of course she would take his word for it. When Viktor fired his sonic emitter she followed his line of sight and saw some of them. They had regular guns, not the advanced stuff some of the others had. Of course guns were lethal, but they lacked the supernatural punch required to deal with her powers.

"Making cover!" She responded, using the moment of time Viktor bought to her advantage. She fired a blast down at the floor in front of her and created a wall of ice that leaned forward slightly, about seven feet tall. Bullets fired her way would crack and burrow into the ice, dealing little structural damage. A big sonic boom gun probably could have broken it in, like, one and a half shots. "I think making cover is better than taking cover. Haha." Iceburn quipped.

"Suppressing Icefire!" She shouted almost gleefully, and punched a few rolling uppercuts into the edge of her ice wall. The chunks arced towards the enemies in cover like kicked soccer balls. They would explode on contact, knocking anyone caught in the radius off balance. The ice would disable any guns on direct hit with the enemy's body, and of course knock them on their ass. The idea here was to force the baddies into hiding so they couldn't shoot her teammates. Still, one overeager gunman was flattened by a direct hit, their gun becoming useless as it was soaked in water and snow chunks. He stumbled to his feet, grabbing a sidearm and diving behind one of the pillars.

"Pow pow pow!" Iceburn shouted, making a show of it.

Location: Kobra Warehouse
Interactions: The Insiders
Mentions:

---

Though Viktor inquired about utilizing smoke for concealment to Quiver, he wasted no time awaiting an answer. Viktor preferred and often employed aggressive tactics against his foes. Fast and lethal… without the lethal nowadays.

“Cover the rear, you two!” Viktor ordered as he tossed a smoke grenade to form concealment in the open space beside Pei’s avenue of approach. As the grenade produced its thick smoke, Viktor holstered his rifle on his back and immediately rushed forward to support Pei with a flanking maneuver. The walls of smoke and ice did well in splitting the attention of the Kobra agents. The one of ice presented an obvious threat as it advanced on their position while being used as a weapon against them. While the smoke brought on feelings of anxiety, wondering when and where Rain might leap from its confines.

With more focus on the devil they knew, a few of the gunmen found themselves unprepared for what came next.

Cora’s sudden lightning strike not only disabled the central air system in the facility but it caused a flickering in its lights.

NOW!

Viktor leaped from the smoke, performing a vicious lariat to drop one gunman while continuing forward with little change in his momentum. Blitzing the next agent, Viktor hit him with an opened palm thrust, sending him flying back into the garage’s back wall.

With the counterattack proving to be successful, Viktor took the opportunity to respond to Cora’s previous message on comms.

“Hold off for now, Stormcaller, I think we may have found what we're looking for,” he said just before delivering a kick to the ribs of a Kobra agent attempting to pick himself off the ground. Viktor continued forward toward a pallet stacked with canisters filled with an unknown substance. With the smoke cleared and the ice settled, Viktor grabbed two canisters from the stack. “My squad has secured the objective. Your squad should focus on securing our extraction. We’ll meet you outside and then we'll attempt to rush back to the boat.” Viktor approached Kassy with a single nod.
“Mirage. When we get out there, try to save your energy. We need you for crossing.” Viktor might have said, ‘We might have pushed you too hard,’ but he knew Kassy could take the pity as an insult.

Once this squad was ready, they'd make their way outside to rejoin the others and finally get the hell out of this swamp.

---

The young heroes began to turn the tide inside and outside of the facility, yet it seemed that there was no ending to the Kobra agents outside. Unlike inside the base, the agents outside made use of every weapon they had at their disposal. With some of their metas taken down, the troops strangely became even more aggressive as they fired their sound emitters with no disregard for crossfire.

The woman agent making strange motions with her hand to control her green blob grinned bigger and bigger before the blob just only grazed Cora’s backside. In an instant, she was easily pulled into the translucent green blob that was oddly quite comfortable inside. The air was breathable best of all, cool. The issue for Cora would be her ability to escape its slightly elastic yet impenetrable walls.

“Checkmate!” With her prey caught, the woman had one hand raised toward Vincent and the other toward the sky where Cora was in her slowly descending green bubble. “HEY! HEY! STOP! Make another fucking move and she FUCKING DEAD! I am keeping this thing from crushing her to the size of a basketball! You hear me too, flower girl?! It's like a dead man's switch! Don’t test me!” Her threat caused Daphne to revert from her petal form and displayed her raise her hands.

“Talos… I won’t- No, we have to do something.” Daphne didn't want to give up so easily but the situation seemed dire. She felt at fault for not going after the meta more quickly. Every second they remained still, kept Cora safe. At the same time, those same passing seconds made the two more and more exposed to the many barrels aimed their way. “Let her go and we're gone!” The team had secured the objective so all they needed to do was leave. “We won't return. We'll leave and we won’t come back.” A hint of panic was carried in her tone as she looked back and forth between Cora floating in the bubble and the woman holding her.

Meanwhile, Zach had finished delivering a clean punch to the mug of the meta he had wrapped up in ethereal vines. Though the guy endured the punch, there was little he could do about the vines at the moment. He knew he should have swapped opponents and faced Vincent instead.

“How about your shoes?!” He asked as a reply to Zach’s previous statement. Pink foam fired from several directions his Zach’s lower body, hardening and encasing him by the second. “Just give up Zatara. You're better off being a social media sensation. That's your stage. Here, not so much.” Though he hadn't hit Zach again, a wave of doubt and demoralization washed over the magician yet again. He could fight but what could he do as he was being immobilized?

Location: Kobra Base, Everglades, Florida
Interactions: Outside team

---

Vincent swore under his breath as he skidded to a stop, his gaze flickering between the meta and Cora, who was now trapped in the green ball. He turned his attention back to the meta as she warned him and Daphne not to move or else Cora was a goner. He clenched his fist as he glared at the meta and growled, "Fucking coward." The sound of footsteps and cocking weapons resounded all around him, but he didn't spare them any thought. Daphne could turn to petals again and he could just put up his defenses if they opened fire, though the sonic weapons might be an issue. He heard Daphne try to reason with the meta and replied, "Save your breath, Nymph. Even if she agreed, I seriously doubt she'd just let Cora go like that."

As the standstill persisted, a nagging thought started to worm its way into his mind. He and Daphne were surrounded, Cora was trapped, Zach was still dealing with the other meta from earlier, and half of their team was inside. "What's the deal? You've got us. Finishing us off shouldn't be too much trouble, not with this kind of firepower. Even I can't do anything if I get hit by one of those sound guns. So why aren't you?" he asked, his eyes locked on the meta, though he was ready to move if anyone twitched.

He was well aware that he wasn't the smartest one on the team and he had no problem admitting that. The way he saw it, being too smart was more trouble than it was worth, anyway. One thing he always prided himself on, though, were his instincts. In fights and in his daily life, he always listened to his gut and it was almost always right. He was listening to them, now, and he wasn't liking what they were telling them. He narrowed his eyes and asked as an unsettling feeling of dread began to creep up on him, "What're you waiting for?"

Cora did as Rain ordered, and just held out. That was fine, it sounded like they were going to pull out of here anyway, so she drifted back and felt something latch onto her from behind. Cora would've done something about it, like drop and restart her flight, but the green sludge thing that she literally just warned everyone about fucking grabbed her. Next thing she knew, Cora was enveloped in it like she had fallen off a boat and into water. Her training taught her not to let this sort of thing get the drop on her, so Cora's first reaction was to zap whatever had grabbed her. But the flash didn't do anything, and being surprised like this just caused something in Cora's head to go on autopilot.

"Storm-" KHZZT! "Need help! I'm trapped, can't get- ##lp! Someone get m# out of################"

Whatever words anyone listening would have heard quickly devolved into a thick wave of static, due to the fact that Cora's earpiece exploded beneath her helmet. The green bubble she was trapped in became a miniature blue sun, blindingly bright and filled to the absolute max with her metahuman lightning. The sound of crackling spilled out through it, filling the air with a sound like the world's largest grease fryer. The last thing anyone could possibly hear from Cora before she went supernova was her suddenly going from perfectly relaxed in the heat of battle to absolute panic. She wasn't a heavy hitter like Talos or Rain, and she wasn't the kind of superhero that could easily get out of this sort of thing like Nymph or Zatara.

Anyone else would've been vaporized in there, but Cora didn't feel much of anything once the light show came to an end. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and there was smoke fuming around her once people could actually see her.

And she wasn't moving.

Zach’s legs stiffened as the pink foam hardened around them, trapping him in place before he could react. His mind raced, but his body felt sluggish. Weighed down by the foam, but the doubts creeping in again.

Zach grit his teeth, his heart pounding in his chest. Maybe the meta was right—maybe he was just a performer, a magician with a flashy act and a popular image online. What could he do here, in the real fight, when he couldn’t even move?

But then, a spark flared inside of him. Zatanna had always told him the stage was wherever he made it. The audience is wherever you perform. Zach wasn’t just a social media sensation—he was a Zatara. The whole world was his stage, and that included the battlefield.

Gritting his teeth, Zach lifted his hand, despite the growing heaviness around his body. The foam might trap his legs, but his magic didn’t need his feet to work.

“Gniht siht kaerb!” he shouted, his voice shaky but determined.

Suddenly, cracks formed in the hardened foam, and with a loud shattering sound, the pink encasement exploded into fragments, freeing Zach’s legs. He stumbled for a second, regaining his balance. Still, the weight of doubt loomed over him. His thoughts were racing with questions. Am I really good enough? Can I even win this?

But he shook his head, forcing the thoughts aside. He had to focus on the moment. He couldn't let this guy break him again.

"Oh honey, social media's just one of my many stages." Zach said. "But here’s the thing—when I’m on any stage, I always give a show."

Then, Zach preceded to punch him again. “Now be quiet! Don’t make me do this a third time.

Earlier

Quiver held one arm up, allowing Mirage a moment to inspect his injury. At the same time, he felt a sort of cool energy wrap around him, like ocean air. The feeling of Mirage's cloaking, no doubt. Quiver always found it strange to be exposed the others super powers. Being un-powered himself, he wondered what it was like for each of them to have experience the blooming of their near god-like abilities. But now he was wondering what Mirage was thinking, seeing Metamorph's handiwork slashed across his abdomen. Did she pity Quiver? The poor human? Did she get a thrill out of knowing her paramore could gut the rest of them without a second thought? Quiver felt a pain above his brow. These were the thoughts of the old Talon - an angry, explosive, lonely kid. He instantly felt embarassed, and ashamed. Here she was, this teammate he barely knew on any real level, helping to keep him alive, keep him going on the mission. She was caring.

Or she felt guilty herself.

He shook his head, trying to ditch this line of thinking. It wasn't helpful and it wasn't productive. He couldn't meet Mirage's eyes as she looked up to let him know all was well.

Now

"Quiver, smoke?"

Quiver heard Rain call out to him, and he obliged. pulling three smoke pellets from his belt, he threw them in a wide arc across from the team, adding it the group's considerable shielding. The trio of Rain, Iceburn and Mirage each exploding in a cacophony of lights and violence, cold air blasting throughout the garage. Quiver leaned back, conscious of Iceburn's suggestion not to over do it. He felt patronized, but heard Ollie telling him his team was only looking out for him, and that their empathy was genuine.

He scanned the garage and any enemies he could read through the smoke and hail of Rain's gunfire. His domino mask gave him additional sight variations, and he scanned through them in order to get a count of how many hostiles were active. The heat vision almost gave him a laugh when it was nearly blocked completely by subzero temperatures - the results of one of Iceburn's frozen walls. It was only a few moments before the fighting was over barely a moment after it began. On their comms, Rain called out to them, that he felt that their true target was within grasp.

The hooded archer walked behind Rain, glancing over his considerable shoulders and at the pallet of strange cannisters before him. Quiver grabbed one himself, inspecting it. Whatever it was that Kobra was trying to accomplish, these had a major role to play. Rain looked focused, if not slightly out of breath. Quiver opened his mouth to tell him he had done a good job on this infiltration, when suddenly they were both wincing. Quiver grabbed at his comm device in his ear, getting a gross whine and screech of some sort of electrical feedback.

He thought he could make out Stormcaller's voice. Something was going wrong - for a second he wondered if his comm's had fried.

"What's hap-"

Even from inside the compound, Quiver and his team could hear a large sizzling snap, like a loud generator or something suddenly exposed to the air. He shuffled quickly through his vision again, saw through the walls to a sort of electrical viewfinder. He could see various wiring throughout the building, but outside, a blinding white light. And then suddenly, it flashed out. Not faded - completely fried.

He relayed this same information to the others, not sure of what to make of it.

T H E E V E R G L A D E S

---

“Retrieve the lightning bug. She should be a good addition when reducated right.”

The man of smoke instructed as he watched the battlefield from a nearby tree, hidden among the foliage with thermal binoculars. As soon as the command was uttered, the bubble on Stormcaller dissipated. While the rest of the team was occupied with their own battles and locations, the soldiers with red armbands moved on toward the burnt-out heroine’s body. They shot a flame-retardant net around her that they could pull on a cable to transport her without being too close.

“Already on it, sir. However, the others will surely be outside to provide resistance soon. Is it time to call in the big gun?”

“Not yet, the right moment will present itself shortly. Something tells me that we will soon be met with an old friend…”

---

---

---

Kila knew of and experienced the strange phenomenon that a person isn’t always able to recognize their own voice over a recording. It was often described as though hearing another person entirely. However, when Viktor showed him the recording taken apparently only a few days ago, the young lion almost didn’t believe it. It was his own voice essentially explaining to him that he…or they, rather, had DID. It was hard to say that the news was a complete surprise, he’d had his own suspicions. Though, his thoughts were more to the idea that he simply had a side to him that was more instinctive in nature.

The one that introduced himself as “Ja”, his…their childhood nickname, wasn’t merely a persona that represented animalistic instincts. It was as though listening to another version of himself, oddly enough. Yet, Kila didn’t recall saying those words. The tone and pattern of voice used seemed different to his own, instead being almost childlike. The sheer lack of knowledge shook Kila to the core. Enough so that, he apparently passed out, and ended up waking up in Kassy’s arms in the medbay later.

There were too many questions regarding his past as it was. This revelation could possibly fill in some blanks, but added more questions. If his team could put this together, who else knew? It felt initially impossible to believe that BSF, the Justice League…That his own Mother, didn’t know what was going on with him. Why was he the last to know? A sense of betrayal from his superiors piqued through him.

Before he could talk to Viktor and Kassy about it more, duty called, and Kila was still held off from hero work. It left him with only his thoughts now, which he now called into question.

Maybe his Amai didn’t know. From what she’d explained, he was taken by them when he was too young to remember. But with how they’d treated him in Buredunia, President Bland definitely knew about it. Did they cause his condition? Was it intentional?

Iwisa…the person who knew him best. The mother that gave her life for him…would tell him that sitting in his own mind for too long would eat him alive. To put his anxieties and energy to work by doing something more productive.

Kila had looked at her gauntlets in his room that he tried his utmost to keep in their best condition…and he noticed something. Something that made his stomach fall to his shoes. He didn’t know when it got there— whether it was via a mission taken by his alternate in Ja or this Red Beast, but there was a tracker on the right gauntlet. A tracker that the Meta himself had onced used in Buredunia.

They’d been tracking him. For how long, he wasn’t sure, but it couldn’t have been before recently with all these recent spells of memory loss. Which all started with the mission when he woke up in the middle of battle…in Kassy’s arms. The mission in Arizona! They were hunting children that day and using the girl to do it. They were trying to bring them all in. Damnit!

They’d nearly succeeded then. It took all of them working together, and even then half of their team was incapacitated by the end. The other missions since then, going by the reports, were likely feeling out what they were capable of, since they got new members. The team still had no idea how all these things were connected. Meanwhile, They would be prepared this time. This mission was a trap!

Initially his thoughts went to inform Red Tornado, or Tenzi Dinah…someone…but ultimately, he decided against it. Trying to explain all of this would have just likely come across as him trying to make up a reason to be involved. They’d patronize him and it’d be no use.

So, he’d taken a zeta tube to Fort Lauderdale. After everything that happened, he was trying to get his mind off of things. He’d heard about how the Florida beaches were nice and wanted to check them out. While he was there, he ended up taking an air tour…Thankfully it was a private tour.

One that he’d booked before he left. That way it wouldn’t cause much of a scene when he jumped out of the aircraft passing over the everglades. Then once on the ground level, he’d used the team comm’s tracking system to pinpoint their whereabouts…

All of which led him to the current moment. Through the sounds of specialized weapons, supernatural abilities, people yelling, and a blinding light of an electrical explosion— A new but familiar voice entered the comms.

”Team, you need to get out! This mission is a trap! I repeat, this mission is a trap!”

Location: Kobra Warehouse
Interactions: The Team
Mentions: Cybergirl

---

“What… was that?” Viktor was on one knee with a hand against the side of his helmet as he recovered from the sharp feedback. It especially affected him due to his acute hearing abilities. Fuck. With a sigh stood back up and faced Quiver who had relayed what he was seeing. Viktor knew the only thing or person that could accomplish such a thing from outside was Cora. Remembering the fallout from the Taos mission caused him to tighten his fists before uttering, “It won’t be like last time. He rushed the garage door control, setting it to open.

“Let’s move! We need to make a break for the others and extract! We have the objective. Iceburn, give us a path to them. Mirage, assist as you see fit. Quiver, you and I will need to stay right behind them to keep the canisters secure. Let’s go!” As everyone pushed through the opened garage door, flanking the troops outside, Viktor contacted others over comms. “Inside team coming out. We’ll push through to you and then-”

“Team, you need to get out! This mission is a trap! I repeat, this mission is a trap!”

“Huh? Kila?” It was a rare occasion when Viktor called someone by their name during a mission but he was taken off guard by not only his teammate’s voice but his warning as well. A trap? No… Viktor hugged the canisters with his left arm and held his rifle in his right, firing taser rounds as he followed Iceburn and Mirage’s lead. “We need to extract, now! It was difficult to see where Cora was while focusing on the threats ahead of them.“And what is Stormcaller’s status?”

---

“I know it’s hard to remember and harder to change, but you’re not with HIVE anymore. We’re supposed to be a team. We need to be a team to achieve what they need us to. If we keep acting like this, someone’s going to get more hurt than they are now. I’m new to this whole hero thing too, but… to me, it seems like we need to work together. And we can’t work together if one person doesn’t look out for anybody else.”

“The team.”

“How does this sound then? ‘As long as it ensures the team’s success… it matters.’”

“Much better. But let’s add well-being. As long as it ensures the team’s success and well-being, it matters.”

“Hmm… Of course. As long as it ensures the team’s well-being and success, it matters…”

---

"Right, Alisa." Viktor glanced down at the canisters limiting his ability to assist the others. Knowing Quiver had one secured, Viktor dropped the two he was holding. Gripping his rifle with both hands, Viktor fired a hardening foam grenade round, disabling several foes in one shot. Trap or not, Viktor refused to keep his friends in the crosshairs of the enemy.

Finally that damn meta stopped talking. Zach let out a sigh of relief. He was done with throwing puches. How does Viktor do this all the time? His knuckles were throbbing. Hand to hand combat was not his style. Magic was far less hard on the hands.

And then, Kila’s voice came over the comms announcing that this mission was trap. To say Zach was annoyed would be the understatement of the century. He tapped his earpiece. “Are you kidding me? We went to the Everglades, where I got nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes, threw hands with a meta that decided to give me a therapy session I did not ask for, and now you’re telling me it was for nothing?” He let out a frustrated huff, too tired to actually scream.

“So, what now? Are we ditching this place? Or are we sticking around for more bullshit? Oh, and congratulations on being a rulebreaker like the rest of us Kila! I’m sure Batman’s gonna love this.”

Location: Kobra Base, Everglades, Florida
Interactions: Nymph, Cora

---

“Team, you need to get out! This mission is a trap! I repeat, this mission is a trap!”

Vincent jumped as the sound of Kila's voice suddenly came over the radio. He was supposed to be back at their base, but he found himself hard-pressed to be upset. "Well, look who decided to show up!" he teased. "Good to hear your voice, man! We could use an extra pair of hands!"

He turned his attention back to the woman in front of him as she dispelled the bubble that held Cora while some soldiers wearing red armbands approached with a net. Seeing his chance, Vincent covered himself in steel, which took on sharp, angular, and aerodynamic shapes. In the gaps of his armor, where his skin could be seen, was jet black as he hardened his skin. "I'm going for it," he told Nymph. "I'll grab Cora and we can get out of here." Turning back toward the woman, he lowered his stance and narrowed his eyes as he glared at the meta in front of him, though his focus was locked on the rooftop behind her.

"Move."

However, before she could react, Vincent was on the move. As he approached, using his control over his armor to give him a huge boost in speed, he swung his arm in front of him, catching the meta on the side of her head with a backhand. As she fell to the ground, his wings sprung forth from his back and he took off toward the rooftop where Cora was. One of the soldiers noticed a shadow fall over himself and his comrades and looked up just in time to see the winged silhouette of Vincent bearing down on them. As he raised his sonic rifle, several feathers detached from Vincent's wings and morphed into long, steel rods before launching toward the men, forcing them to scatter. He landed next to Cora's unconscious body and wasted no time shredding the net with small blades, careful not to cut his friend.

Suddenly, Vincent staggered, nearly falling to his knees as a deafening sound enveloped him. He turned his attention to the man from before, training his sound gun on him. He closed his eyes and felt himself faltering, nearly falling to his knees. His armor and wings rippled, threatening to lose their shape as he felt his focus slipping. It was almost too much.

Almost.

Forcing his eyes open, he glared at the soldier, using every bit of his willpower before he succumbed to the weapon, he shot a feather toward him. The razor-sharp feather sliced into the emitter of the weapon, silencing it. Vincent chuckled as he slowly straightened up, still woozy from the effects of the sound gun. "Looks like...those aren't as good...as I thought..." The steel covering his body began to shift, gathering behind his shoulders with his wings as they changed shape. Before long, two extra pairs of arms stretched and flexed as he re-hardened his body. "Unless you've got a way of putting me down for good," he growled, "I'll make sure you won't take her or any of us."

Mirage went from exhaustion to confusion. Between the terrifying screaming and then sudden lack of it from Stormcaller, to the voice of someone she'd been thinking of since they left... A part of her thought she'd imagined KJ's voice. But when the others responded to it too, she knew it wasn't just an exhaustion fueled fantasy.

Why was Kila here? How was Kila here? What was going wrong now?! So many questions... But no time for any of the answers.

"I will never say 'too easy' again... or even think it." She exhaled and made sure her staff was strapped securely to her back. The others were relying on her now - especially Rain. As much as she hated to admit it, her magic was all but tapped. Despite being surrounded by water in this swamp, she felt off. Fighting a heavy battle might push her over the edge. So she would do the next best thing. When Rain set down his canisters to hoist his rifle, she picked one up. And she gestured for Quiver to hand his over.

"You need both hands for that, don't you? I can still do this much." It took a few moments longer than usual, but she faded out of sight after that. No matter what, she would keep these cans safe.

---

After serving up a proper Grade A ass-kicking, Iceburn was feeling pretty damn good about her own performance and the team. Sure Quiver was hurt, but that was inevitable in the line of duty. He would be okay. Viktor and Quiver had grabbed the canisters of evil, anti-karmic juice. That was the objective, and it had been secured.

But before she could even think that she shouldn't be celebrating too early, it was too late. The thought of not celebrating too early counted as celebrating too early. Something bad happened to Stormcaller, they had all heard it through the comms.

"Ssshit." Iceburn frowned, biting her lower lip. What was going on out there? They had to find out and help, especially now that they had the serum they needed. Rain commanded her to push forward and surge ahead. Sounded just fine to her. Now that they were on the way out, she could go all out without worrying about conserving her energy. It wouldn't matter if she was exhausted if she was safely extracted with the others.

"I'm on it!" Iceburn called out. She forged ahead, slamming her foot on the ground and launching herself into the air. "Make way for Yooooung JUSTICE!" She slammed both fists on the ground, creating a large explosions of fog, mist, and wind that shot outward and knocked into every armed guard aiming at them.

She then widened her stance, and inhaled, before clenching her fists and brining her elbows in with a harsh bark. "RAH!" Iceburn flexed her arms, shaking with exertion as the fog solidified into two walls on either side, creating a pathway for them to move through, about seven feet high. Like always her walls ate regular bullets for breakfast, but sonic weapons would create large cracks in the barrier after just one shot.

Iceburn then jumped onto the wall with a poof, figuring Viktor could do the same if he wanted. The wall was just wide enough to comfortable stand a single foot on, so acrobatically minded people like herself and Viktor would have no trouble navigating on top of it. She also used the ice wall to grip onto her boot and propel herself forward, sliding as she blasted ice missiles to suppress all the bad guys, focusing on the ones with sonic weapons first.

As a result, one of the riflemen got a few good shots on her before she could move back into cover. The rounds sparked off of her thanks to her natural superpowered mist barrier, and she fired a double ice rock blast to knock the bad guy to the ground. Still, her shoulder and arm were bleeding now, stinging from where the bullets hit her. The mist barrier only gave her a small margin of error to make mistakes like that, she couldn’t withstand sustained fire. It would take time to get her personal ice mist recreated in that spot again. A thrill shot up Iceburn’s back and she continued forward with her mission, concentrating intently.

Hopefully with her efforts the team could easily make it outside and reunite with the others.

Iceburn spotted the unconscious Stormcaller with Talos defending her.

"The objective is secured, Zatara!" She informed the magician. "We got what we came for, let’s get the hell outta here!”