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To Be A Hero: Ch.23
🕑 Added 2025-06-25 17:41:55 +0000 UTC“Identify yourself!”, Aqualad barked out from behind me while I hid my shock as the girl narrowed her eyes at us.
“I refuse.”
“Are you refusing because you're scared or because you're wary of us?”, Artemis asked as she notched an arrow, not yet aiming it at her and I grimaced as I saw Titan's glare as well as the girl's eyes flash red.
'Okay, we're standing in front of the daughter of what is most definitely the most powerful demonic entity in this universe…at least to my knowledge. Wait, is Darkseid a demon or is he a god? Thoughts for later.'
“Okay, everyone, let's calm down,” I spoke up, making a subtle signal behind my back to calm the team down while giving a friendly smile to the girl.
“Apologies for our abrupt rudeness, but I heard your pain and decided to come see if you needed help.”
“Out of the goodness of your heart?”
“Is that a wrong thing?”
“…If you're being a naive idiot, yes.”
“Superboy, you believe she can be trusted?”, Aqualad asked as he lowered his weapon-thingies and I nodded as I took a deep breath before exhaling slowly as I saw a bit of the tension fading from her shoulders.
“Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Superboy, leader of the team you see behind you. I cannot disclose their names nor our team's name and our reason for being here without their approval, but I can say that we are simply here to investigate something and we'll be on our way. May I ask your name?”
“Are you with those Light bastards?”, She asked in turn and I glanced at the others before turning back to her with a shake of my head.
“Fortunately, no. We have had encounters with them and I am proud to say that we have foiled a plan or two of theirs, but we do not have any positive relations with that villainous group.”
“…You're not lying.”
“And how did you figure that out?”
“I was reading your mind,” She spoke inside my head and my eyes widened as I could not feel her presence. When I'm talking with Dubbilex, M'gann or Connor using telepathy, they always had this presence in my mind that felt foreign, but with her, there was nothing.
It was as if she was an obscure thought process that my mind could not care to worry about…and I have to admit that scared me slightly.
“Oh…Nice. We have two telepaths in the team, but none of them are as skilled as you.”
“Thank you for the praise…and the name's Raven,” The first part was a bit sarcastic and I chuckled softly, drawing narrowed eyes from Artemis and wary looks from Aqualad before I smirked as his eyes widened.
“She's quite good with telepathy, isn't she?”, I spoke with a grin, to which the guy nodded before I raised a fist to show that she is clear, making everyone relax as Titan calmed down while Goblin narrowed his eyes from my shoulders.
His horns glowed a light red before they turned a burning crimson, a frown adorning my face as he blinked a few times before nodding slowly.
“What's the matter?”
“I told him to stop reading my mind.”
“I simply wished to make sure you were not an enemy of Superboy.”
“Overprotective, much?”
“He is. We grew up together,” Technically, that was not a lie as Goblin has been with me since I was but a wee lad and Raven relaxed as Goblin nodded.
“Hey. Velocity, resident speedster and handsome guy of the group. Like the goth look,” And of course, Velocity couldn't help himself as he immediately appeared beside me, Raven leaning back slightly while looking to me as I shrugged.
“He's a bit of a casanova.”
“Ah, that explains the slight arrogance I sense with every words.”
“Chris, who are you talking to?”, M'gann's voice echoed in my mind and I looked at her to see the confused frown on her face.
“Oh, Chris is your name? Chris…I like that more than Superboy.”
“Really? Thank you. Also, Ms. Martian, she's a telepath, but I'm guessing she's hiding her presence from you.”
“I am. Nice to meet you, Ms. Martian,” I smiled as I saw the shock in Ms. Martian's eyes when Raven finally spoke before I held up a finger and curled it in.
“No telepathy from here on out. That means you too, Raven.”
“I'm not a part of your team.”
“No, you're not, but since you knew who the Light was, I'm guessing they have something to do with you or they want something from you?”
“The latter. They took my bike.”
“…Your bike?”, I asked with a furrowed brow and Raven frowned as she nodded.
“Yes, it was a gift from the bastard that calls himself my father and while I do loathe everything he stands for, it is still mine.”
“Got it. So, where did you last see your bike?”
“There,” She said as she pointed in the distance, an image of a camp in the desert surrounded by the smaller rocky mountains appearing in my mind and the others as well considering how they all flinched at the exact moment I did.
Yeah, she's far better with telepathy than Ms. Martian or Goblin.
“Got it. Are there any more of those that you've seen?”
“Other than that one? No, but I think they probably have a secret underground base under the camp considering how many times they've gone in one tent and came out from another.”
“Got it. Velocity, Robin, Ms. Martian, you're on scout duty. Remember-”
“No telepathy. Are you ever going to tell us why, though?”
“…Training to see if we can use the hand signals I made,” I spoke with a smile, thankful for the fact that I did do some training on the subject with them as Robin nodded while Velocity groaned.
“But why~?”
“Because Ms. Martian won't be always there and having a second secret communication system is key to our job as a covert unit, Velocity. Now, what about the rest of you?”
“Titan and I are too loud for this kind of job so we'll be waiting for an attack. Aquald, you want to join in?”
“It's the desert so I think I'll pass for now,” He spoke with a smile and I nodded as I saw the slight sweat droplets on his face despite the fact that it was early evening.
“Got it. Go rest on the Bio-Ship because we need everyone rested. Goblin will be with me and monitoring you guys for me in case something happens. Finally, Artemis-”
“Is best at long-range so I'll be on support,” Artemis answered and I blinked before turning to the group with a nod.
“That. Velocity, I want you in and out of tents. Make sure you're quick and you stop only when you see something important. Robin, hack into every thing that you can. Every little bit of information counts. Ms. Martian, I don't usually like it, but we're going to need to find if there is a secret entrance and exit so…just skim everyone's memories for that.”
“Got it/ Affirmative/ Right, will do,” They all spoke and I nodded before I turned to Raven who stood and watched us in silence.
“You want to do anything or just stay out of the way?”
“Help me steal my bike, that's it.”
“…Got it. Velocity, you're on bike stealing duty with Raven as well.”
“I'm not a part of your team.”
“Then you're a civilian and I can't allow civilians to take part in the mission. Besides, it's only until you get your bike back, right?”, I spoke with a smirk, watching as Raven narrowed her eyes at me before I chuckled as she turned and made her way to the Bio-Ship.
“Team, back to the ship and let's get ready for the mission.”
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“Titan, you monitor the left and I'll do the right.”
“Got it,” Titan nodded as the two of us laid on the ground, my senses focusing on the left side of the camp below us while Raven sat down and Artemis laid down beside us.
“So, what exactly are you looking for?”
“Anything that I can relay to the other three to make their job easier?”
“And how exactly are you going to do this from here?”
“With me. Anything?”, Velocity asked as he crouched beside me and I shook my head, the speedster vanishing instantly while I focused back on the larger tent in the back.
I could see two presences in it, one being a lot more subtle than the other as I could barely hear their heartbeat and their breathing while their scent was almost non-existent.
'A bit raw with some kind of fluid that almost smells like blood. Yeah, that smells like a guy with an exposed brain,' I thought with a grimace, remembering the psychic that had intruded M'gann's mind and forced her to do his and that Queen Bee's bidding.
I want her to reveal her identity as a White Martian, but I don't want her to be forced to do so and that Psimon was also responsible for why that Queen Bee woman mind-controlled Garfield's mom into driving off the cliff and turning him into an orphan, which means…
'I may have to take a life today. Hah, for the greater good.'
“You see your bike yet?”, I asked Raven, wondering if it's the Sphere thing that canon Superboy used as his mode of transport and I glanced at Raven to see her eyes a pure white while a black aura with a white outline enveloped her form.
“There is no underground lab. There is a laboratory in the second to last tent on the back right of the camp that has a few researchers who are currently testing a spherica-That's my bike.”
“Got I-Wait, how did you just get that information?”
“By reading the mind of he psychic at the back of the camp in the large tent,” Raven spoke as she cancelled her spell and I looked at her before focusing my senses back to my surroundings.
“Artemis-”
“Long-range support. Got it,” She nodded as she stood up into a crouched position, already taking an arrow from her quiver as I looked to Titan.
“Laser eyes. The large tent. Full blast.”
“Full blast,” Titan nodded as his eyes glowed and I took a deep breath before exhaling out a chilling mist that floated down onto the camp and tapping my earpiece.
“Titans, psychic in the camp so we may have been compromised. Robin, Ms. Martian, capture the psychic. Raven, you're with them. Titan and I'll get your sphere back. Velocity, high speed hit and run.”
“Got it!”, Velocity spoke with a grin before Goblin hopped off of my shoulder, Titan and I immediately shooting through the air and crashing into the tent that had the laboratory with a deafening boom.
Without waiting for the dust to settle, I shot forward and grabbed the large metallic sphere that was attached to numerous wires, hopping back to the cliffside right as Titan clapped his hands and unleashed a shockwave that utterly destroyed the lab.
Landing next to a surprised Raven and a focused Artemis who was shooting every person that aimed at us with perfect accuracy, I placed the sphere down while looking at the camp where Velocity was running around and handcuffing anyone with anything he could find.
I did wince a bit when I saw him pulling down electric wiring, but thankfully, Titan and I's landing appeared to have knocked down the power as he quickly wrapped up the scientists before moving on.
“One sphere as ordered. Now, if you'll excuse,” I spoke before flying away once again, this time flying to the spot where I could hear Ms.Martian's panicked breathing and Robin's strained grunts.
As I burst through the tent, I immediately focused on the figure standing at the back, his eyes widening as I rushed in and delivered a harsh punch to his chest that made his eyes roll back.
“S-Superboy! Robin's mind is-!”, Quickly turn around, I lunged forward and grabbed Robin in a tight chokehold, making sure not to apply too much force as I pinned his arms to his chest with one arm while wrapping the other around his neck.
“Go! Check his mind!”, I ordered, Ms. Martian nodding quickly as her eyes turned a pale white and Robin slacked in my grasp. A few seconds later, Robin gasped as Ms. Martian's eyes turned back to normal.
“You okay now?”, I asked as I let him go, Robin nodding slowly while taking deep breaths while I looked up and saw Ms. Martian struggling to stay afloat.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, just…the control was a bit stronger than I was expecting.”
“Speaking of him…,” Robin trailed off as we looked at Psimon, who was lying on the floor with drool pooling from his mouth and his breathing ragged.
“…Did I hit him too hard?”
“Not hard enough,” I blinked at Robin's grumbles as he placed a pair of handcuffs on the psychic, which had a light on it that went from green to red immediately.
“Careful, Robin. I don't know if I broke any bones or not.”
“Fine, I'll be more careful,” Robin grumbled, but I gave him a flat stare as he dropped Psimon to the floor before dragging him away by the leg.
“Well, I guess there's going to be a few more injuries,” I muttered, looking to Ms. Martian to see her smiling before I caught the brief grimace on her face.
…Ah, shit.
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“Hey, Rave-Ooh~ Nice bike,” I murmured as Ms. Martian and I floated up the cliff, to which Raven nodded as she sat upon a black sports motorcycle with light purple accents and the insignia of a violet raven on its sides.
“Yes, but there's a problem. It's utterly useless. They've done something to the system and now when I try to start it…”, As soon as she turned the key, I winced as I heard the rumbling of its engine sounding like the rattling of an old smoker.
“Well, that's…that's not good. And you need it to get back home?”
“Pretty much. I haven't learned the spell to open the dimensional portals yet.”
“Ah, crap. I can't say any of us know much about bikes…right?”, I asked as I looked at the guy who trained under the man that's supposed to know it all, Robin rolling his eyes as everyone else did the same.
“No, I don't. I know about how to fix a jet and a car, but Batman didn't trust me with the Batcycle because he's too scared I'd drive it around. It's a motorcycle that's been outfitted with jet thrusters! Of course, I'm going to drive it around!”
“…Well, Robin's gone mad. Anyone else got a plan?”
“Unfortunately, not. I don't even understand the tech behind the Bio-Ship and I've flown her for a few years,” Ms. Martian murmured and I chuckled at that before turning to Raven with a hum as she sighed.
“Hey, you wanna join the team?”
“What?”
“What?!”, Ms. Martian and Artemis exclaimed in unison while Raven raised an eyebrow as I smiled and shrugged.
“Yeah, if you join the team, we can get Batman and the others to take a look at the machine. Maybe they could help or maybe we simply have to activate the system of the cycle again and let it fix itself.”
“That is true. Batman is one of the smartest people on the planet so he would most definitely know how to activate its system if not help you do so.”
“Oh, hey, Aqua. Finally cooled off?”, I asked, Aqualad nodding in response to my question before we turned back to Raven who was looking at me.
“…He won't take anything from her?”
“Nope and if he does, I'll fly over to the Bat-Cave and destroy it from the inside out as revenge. Kryptonian's honour,” I answered as I held up my left hand and crossed my heart with my right, smirking as Titan mimicked my actions.
Raven didn't say anything as she continued to stare me down before I grinned as she nodded.
“Very well. I will go with, but I will not be joining your team. This is simply a transaction.”
“Got it. Just a transaction.”
“…Gods above and below, this is idiotic,” She murmured as she stood up, placing her hand on the console of the bike and I watched as it glowed before it snapped and twisted back into a spherical form.
“Anyway, we've got the guy and we've got the sphere. Did we miss anything?”
“We also got the information on why the hell there was a power surge,” Robin spoke with a grin as he held up his portable PC gauntlet and I let out a bark of a laugh before nodding.
“Then, that's our mission complete. Team, time to head back home.”
A/N: And we got a new member…sort of…kinda? Eh, it's a new member and an original one at that~!!
Next chapter: Talk with Batman.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!!
