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YJ: Mission 16/Buried Alive by Secrets

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Mission 16/ Buried Alive by Secrets

 

“Now hold still.” Blue Diamond, Kana, knelt in front of Cat. She was sitting on the couch with the whole team including Red Arrow, Roy, crowded around the living room as Conner walked in.

“What’s going on?” As he asked Kana turned and looked at him, moving out of view so he could clearly see Cat. Her hair was brushed behind her ear and Kana was holding a piercing gun in her hand.

“I bought a piercing kit so that Cat could pierce her ears. My Christmas gift.” Zatanna smiled. “Kana’s got the best accuracy so she’s doing it to make sure they’re not crooked.”

“Don’t look so nervous.” Kana smiled.

“Come on, Kitty Cathy. It’ll be quick and you won’t even feel it.” Wally winked. “It’s a lot easier than fighting Killer Croc.”

“O-okay.” She held her breath and then- click!

“There’s one.” She switched ears. Click! “And there’s two. All done.” She opened her free palm and ice froze into the shape of a mirror. “Take a look.” Cat held her hair back and slowly turned her head both ways to see them. Two little pearl studs were planted in her ears.

“We need to disinfect them.” M’gann said as she snapped open a bottle of disinfectant.

“Was that so bad?” Dick chuckled.

“Didn’t even hurt.” She smiled.

“We told you.” Raquel said.

She looked at Conner. “How do they look?”

“They-” Before he could finish, she shot up off the couch with a distressed look on her face.

“Someone just opened a boom tube from another dimension!” A shock of pain hit her chest. M’gann sensed it. “Mphm!” She clutched her chest, a pained look took the place of the previous one.

“Cat!” Kana grabbed her.

She paused, breathing heavily. “It opened up in Happy Harbor’s park, down the street from the high school.”

“Are you okay?” Wally asked.

“For a moment, it felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside but I’m fine now.” She stood up straight. “Let’s go.”

“Being ripped apart does not count as being fine.” Artemis stopped her.

“We have to go-”

“You should stay and rest. You’re still wounded from our fight with Major Force-” Zatanna started.

“If anything disrupts this dimension, it’s my fault! I have to go!” She snapped. For the first time in a long time, her eyes appeared empty and lifeless.

“Well, I’m going.” Roy stated bluntly.

“Right. Everyone is going.” Kaldur ordered.

“If it’s a boom tube then it might not be anything good.” Conner said.

-YJ-

‘It’s going that way.’ Cat thought as she pointed towards the trees below. She was seated in the Super Cycle along with Conner and Wolf.

‘What is it?’ Roy asked.

‘It- they’re not human.’ Conner said, looking ahead with his thermal vision.

‘This is taking too long.’ Cat vanished.

‘She’s really on edge about this.’ Wally thought.

‘I almost forgot about her “rules.”’ Artemis thought.

‘How long has it been since she’s blanked out like that?’ Dick added.

‘Guys, concentrate. Don’t let your thoughts wander.’ Kana cut in.

‘There!’ Conner landed the Super Cycle and the team exited the bioship. Cat was surrounded by creatures that looked part tiger, part lizard. She seemed to be staring eye to eye with one of them. “Cat!” Conner caught the creatures’ attention as he called her name. They growled and started charging. Artemis and Roy were the first to move. They nailed the first two that lunged with tazor arrows.

“You gave away our position.” Roy snapped.

“I didn’t like the look on Cat’s face.” he said. A creature lunged at him, he caught it and sent it colliding into two other creatures.

Zatanna chanted something and the ground under the beasts’ feet who were charging crumbled. As they attempted the climb up, Kana froze them. They high-fived each other. There was a strange sizzling sound as the ice began cracking. The creatures shook themselves and the ice fell off as slush. “Been taking lessons from Sportsmaster?” Kana joked as she cart wheeled out of the way of one’s claws. “Freezeproof, Red!”

Raquel put a force field around Cat, the creatures turned and clawed at it. “Sorry, kitties. That-” one caught its claw in it and began tearing a huge crack in the shield. “Uh oh!” It was knocked aside by a flying kick from Wally. “They can cut threw my force fields! How is that even possible?!”

Kaldur quickly knocked one back as he pounced at him. Roy smashed his bow on one’s head, shattering it. It whined and dropped to the ground. “Blue! New bow, now!”

“Got it.” In a second, a bow formed in his hand. She tossed it to him. She twirled on her heel and nailed a creature with a kick. The two behind her were nailed by explosive discs by Dick.

“I got your back, Blue.”

“Just don’t get too distracted back there.” she joked.

Artemis ran directly towards a tree and used it as a springboard to back flip over a creature. It rammed into the tree but before it could shake the dizziness, she shot it with an arrow that exploded into foam. In less than thirty seconds, Wally knocked down four of them. “They’re easy enough to handle. Maybe Cat was worried for nothing.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he was tackled to the ground by one of them.

“Wally!” Artemis’s shouting snapped Cat out of her daze. She teleported out of Raquel’s force field and tackled the beast off of Wally. It rolled away from her as she barrel rolled back onto her feet.

‘Guys! More are coming out of the woods!’ M’gann warned as she blasted them back with her telekinesis.

‘Where are they all coming from?’ Conner slammed one’s head into the ground before turning and smacking down another.

‘Out of arrows!’ Roy thought.

‘And this is my last one!’ Artemis sniped a creature sneaking up on Zatanna.

Cat grabbed a hold of a creature as it was about to jump on M’gann. As soon as she grappled it she paused. “Wait- what-?”

“This isn’t good.” Kana said as she continually blasted them with ice. “They must be getting hotter because it isn’t even stopping them anymore!” The ice rose off of them as steam.

One latched onto Conner’s arm. He yelled as he grabbed it and threw it. His hand was singed. “Don’t touch them! They’re red hot!”

“Wait- stop fighting-” Cat was interrupted by a golden blast taking out the creatures surrounding Artemis and Roy. The beasts yelped in pain. A figure floated down from above, stepping off of a hoverboard. It was a boy in strange clothing that seemed familiar to Conner.

“Whoa.” M’gann gasped.

    The creatures turned to him, not paying any attention to anyone else, and charged at him. He blasted them one by one. He took a step right then left, avoiding each with a smile on his face. He stopped, took a strange stance and then slammed his fists together. It released a wave of blinding energy. The beasts whined. He slid one foot forward and crouched down, taking another stance. “This time you won’t be so lucky, abominations.” his eyes narrowed into a vicious glare. One of them gave a metallic roar and they all vanished in a red blur. The boy relaxed his stance as he stood up straight. The killer instinct that was emanating from him dissipated in an instant as he relaxed. A gentle smile was on his face as he turned to Cat, He approached her. “I saw the commotion and what caught my eye was a Celestian beauty amongst abominations.” He held out his hands to help her up. She hesitantly grabbed them and he pulled her to her feet. She blinked at him curiously, still holding onto his hands. “Ven’is hat ne gei, vasherr’a?”

“Huh?” It made her jump a bit as he leaned in a little closer.

“I asked if you were alright.”

“Oh-! Yes! Of course.” She retracted her hands.

“I wasn’t sure you understood me when I first asked so I tried a rift dialect. My motherbox is still working out the translation kinks.”

“Motherbox? You’re from New Genesis?” Conner asked as he stepped forward.

“You’re Superboy!” his expression turned to a surprised one. “You met my brother, Moonrider and his friends.”

“Yeah,” Conner smiled. “I didn’t know Moonrider had a brother.”

Older brother. You can see the difference in our power levels. I do not require many pieces to access my source as they do. I came to express my thanks to you for helping our recovery team. I was originally supposed to lead that mission but I caught a virus that was going around and the Highfather wanted me to rest.” He turned to Cat. “Although, they never mentioned a Celestian was among your friends.”

“W-what did you call me?” Cat was taken aback.

-YJ-

“-I see.” Batman was in mid-conversation with Red Tornado when Cat appeared in front of them.

“Batman! Red Tornado!”

“What is it, Cat?” Tornado asked.

“There’s a guy here from New Genesis.”

“New Genesis?” Batman questioned.

“Not only that, he knows what I am!” This shocked Batman though he barely showed it.

“-and he really ran away like that?” Wally chuckled as they walked into the briefing room.

“I couldn’t believe it either. I distinctly remember shouting ‘at least come back and get your pants!’” the new god joked. The team laughed until they spotted Batman. “You are the one they call Batman and you are Red Tornado.”

“And you are?”

“Jonah Vheiys. New God from New Genesis.” He bowed his head respectfully. “I was told that you may need information from me.”

“You have information on the Black Cat’s origins?”

“By the Black Cat, I assume you mean this lovely creature.” He motioned to Cat. “I was not aware that your kind lacked this information. Your dimension is so culturally diverse that I assumed you at least knew about them.”

“No. There’s no one else like me. I… I don’t even know about myself. Until you called me that I had no idea what I am.”

“I didn’t know. I just assumed you did. Even among my people, New Gods, the Celestians are a mystery. They’re known as rift dwellers that occupy and control the dimensional rift. I would not call them mortal but I would not call them gods. They are… something else. There is a saying on my world that not many people have ever even seen a Celestian but you can always tell when one has been there. They’re known for leaving grand impacts wherever they go. Unlike most, since their home lies between dimensions, there are no parallels like this dimension and many other dimensions have. You will never meet a variant of a Celestian because there are none. Also, since their home lies in the center of the rift, the metaphorical ‘eye of the storm’ as humans say; it is nearly impossible to get to. That’s why they’re so elusive. Millenniums pass in many universes but they have remained an unknown. It is said that they watch over the dimensions to keep order.”

“You think that Cat is one of them?” M’gann asked.

“I’m quite certain though this is the first time I’ve ever seen a live one.”

“What do you mean?” Cat asked nervously.

“During April, many Celestian corpses leaked into our through a dimensional tear.” Cat gasped. “It appeared to be from a serious battle. Our leader, the Highfather is the one who identified their race. He had had dealings with one before.”

“…how…how many were there?” she asked.

“A little over two dozen. Considering the effect one can have, that is a lot.” Everyone noticed her frightened expression. M’gann even picked up on the sharp pain in her chest.

“Cat-” Conner started but was beaten to the punch as Jonah reached out and wiped the tears from Cat’s now watering eyes.

“I believe I have said too much. Don’t cry because of my words.”

“It’s fine.” She wiped her eyes. ‘I can’t sense anything from him and I’ve already come in contact with him twice.’

‘Is it because he’s a New God?’ M’gann asked.

‘Maybe. I’ve never met one until now to know any different.’

“April was when Superman and Green Lantern discovered the Black Cat outside of a collapsing wormhole.” Red Tornado said.

“That can’t be a coincidence.” Dick said.

“But she does not remember what happened?” Jonah asked.

Cat shook her head. “Can… we just stop for now? This is a lot to take in.” her attention went to Batman. “Did you have a mission for us?”

“Yes. Though it is more than one that will require a division of the team. Robin, Aqualad, Artemis and Blue Diamond shall take the first one.” Red Tornado stated.

“The rest of you will be investigating a mystic anomaly in a small town in southern France.” Batman added. “Doctor Fate said that Zatanna and the Black Cat should be able to figure out what’s going on and possibly come up with a solution if necessary.”

“I’ll go in the Black Cat’s place.” Jonah volunteered. “In fact, Miss Zatanna and I should be sufficient. If a large group of strangers is seen moving through the area, it may raise suspicions. I was considered the specialist when it came to handling mystic and interdimensional threats on my world so it should be easy enough. Besides, it is the least I can do after Superboy helped the Forever People. I would not feel right if I did not offer my aid.”

“I’m fine with it.” Zatanna agreed.

“I can go-” Cat started.

“You have had an intense day so rest.” He smiled at her. “After all, those abominations could have killed you.”

“But they wouldn’t! I don’t know how I know but they weren’t abominations at all! I could sense it and when I grabbed one of them-!”

“I agree with the new guy. Cat should stay.” Roy stated. “With your mini heart attack earlier, you could use some R&R.”

“It wasn’t a heart attack…” she frowned.

“Whether or not it was a heart attack is not the issue. If Mister Vheiys is offering to look into this for us, we’ll give him the opportunity.” Batman ordered.

“Yes sir.”

-YJ-

“Cat, can you read me off the ingredients?” M’gann asked as she opened the fridge.

“Sure.” Cat walked over to the counter where the cookbook was laying.

Roy and Conner were sitting on the couch watching a comedy skit on the television. Conner stole glances at Cat every so often. “Let me guess,” Roy was checking the tips of his arrows while he was occasionally watching the show. “You don’t like this ‘New God.’”

“So? You don’t seem to like him either.”

“I don’t trust him but coming from me that doesn’t mean much. I know he claims he’s your friend, Moonrider’s brother but even I can tell something’s off about him and I’ve never even met Moonrider.”

“Yeah but I can’t really place what it is.”

For starters? For someone who was here to show you gratitude, his attention was on Catherine the whole time. I understand that she’s a mystery but I would expect a New God who is as good at handling interdimensional incidents as he claims to be would know how to stay focused on his mission. Not only that, Cat’s contact telepathy didn’t pick up anything on him. What’s the normal circumstance for that? She’s never had a problem with any other race. Look at you and M’gann, even Red Tornado.”

“That’s… true.” He was really starting to think about it.

“And my favorite: Every time he said something that upset her, he once apologized but instead preyed on her moment of weakness. It was like he refused to admit he was at fault.”

“Or he said it on purpose knowing how she would react.”

“Batman sent him with Zatanna likely to separate him from Cat. Which is why we’re sitting here waiting for our signal to go after them.”

“We have to tell her.”

“Would she even believe us? I’m the skeptic and she’ll just accuse you of being jealous- which isn’t exactly false. She’s dense but I doubt someone with contact telepathy can ignore the obvious advances you make.”

“Still. Cat would believe me.” He stood up and walked into the kitchen.

-YJ-

“This is the place.” Zatanna said as they jumped off of Jonah’s hoverboard and it vanished. “The rumors in town are that people have been snatched by monsters in this area and those who return are brainwashed as part of some cult and run off for hours at a time.”

“Would it still be considered kidnapping if they were returned?” he asked jokingly. “Anyway, it’s the creatures they’re likely worshipping that I’m interested in.”

“Cults are never a good thing.”

“Ssh! Someone is coming.” They hid behind the trees as they heard voices.

“This is completely ridiculous.” A female voice said.

“Not completely but mostly.” A male one agreed.

“I hate being the one to handle Klarion’s mystic crap.”

“Want to go back and tell Queen Bee that?”

“Ugh. No thank you.”

“I know that voice. That’s Ember, she works for one of the leaders of the Light.” Zatanna whispered.

“Not a friend?”

“Not at all.”

“How are these disappearances any of our business?” the boy asked.

“I don’t know. Normally he welcomes the chaos but Klarion looked like he was about to start spewing fire. Something about someone intruding on his territory.”

“I know that boy.” Jonah whispered. “Mute Granger. He is of Apokalyps.”

“Though you shouldn’t worry too much about Klarion. He’s not the one you need to be afraid of.” Ember warned.

“Why do you work for these people?”

“I don’t have a choice.” She turned to him.

“You always have a choice. I am only here until I find-” he paused as he turned and charged up a blast of energy.

“Zatanna, move!” They both bolted from behind the tree as Mute blasted it.

“Well looks like the traitor came to me.” Mute smirked. “Who’s your friend?”

Zatanna chanted something and a cyclone blew towards him furiously. With a wave of his hand, Mute caused the cyclone to spin around him and vanish. “Wind powers?”

“Nice try but I don’t blow out like a candle.” Ember chucked a fireball at Jonah, causing him to jump back. “I’ll handle him. Fry the magician.” Ember took off after him as he turned and ran.

“Jonah?!” Zatanna shouted after him.

“I need more room to maneuver! Divide and conquer!”

“You picked the wrong partner, mortal.” Mute growled.

-YJ-

“So what did you want to talk about?” Cat asked as she and Conner stood in the hangar. Her attention wandered to his motorcycle. “Did you finish the new modifications you were making?” she said as she looked at it closely.

“Uh, yeah but that’s not what I wanted to… Cat, I need to talk to you about Jonah.”

“What about him?” she stopped eyeing the bike and turned to him.

He swallowed his nervousness and dawned a serious expression. “I don’t trust him.”

“You too, huh? I don’t trust him either.”

“What…?”

“I wasn’t exactly telling the truth earlier when I said I sensed nothing from him. Cold heartedness and ruthless ambition. I don’t have to copy his memories to sense when someone’s trying to manipulate me. I’m the one who told Batman.”

“You knew the whole time he was flirting with you-?” his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. “Why’d you let him grab at you like that?”

She frowned. “I was trying to get a better read on him but I’m starting to think this conversation is no longer about whether or not I trust Jonah. What does it matter? It’s got nothing to do with you.” She started walking away.

“It- it bothers me, okay?!”

“It shouldn’t! You’re not my boyfriend, Conner, so quit acting like it!”

“Catherine… what if I wanted to be?” this made her stop in her tracks.

She turned and looked at him. “My name… that’s they first time you’ve ever called me by my full name.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” After a moment, his serious expression returned. “Catherine-”

“What… what am I to you?”

“Well,” he took her hands and held them gently. He was surprised to see a hurt look on her face.

“Don’t do that. You think I can trust my contact telepathy to tell me the truth when I know what I want find? Sometimes I need to hear you say it or I just don’t know if it’s real or… just me getting my hopes up.”

“I’m not very good at saying how I feel but… I like you. A lot.”

“You’ve already told me that, remember?”

“I mean, more than friends. A lot more.” His stance shifted. “How do I explain this?” He suddenly remember something. “The desire to be near you and be the center of your attention all the time, is that how you put it?”

“I think I understand that.” She blushed as she looked at him which earned a smile. She twitched, her eyes growing wide. ‘Someone is opening a dimensional portal nearby and it’s not a boom tube!’

‘Where?’ M’gann asked telepathically.

‘In- In here!’ Suddenly, a symbol appeared in midair. It was almost looked like a magical symbol The air seemed to swirl around it. As the symbol glowed like a portal, As the symbol glowed like a portal, Roy and M’gann entered the hangar.

“What is that?” Roy asked, A boy stepped through the portal. He had short, creamy blonde hair and wore a strange platinum suit of armor with a great sword on his back. The portal closed behind him.

“The trail leads here. I suppose it’s as good of a place to start looking as any.” He glanced around the room but froze when he saw Cat. “But- how…? Your majesty!”

To Be Continued…

[Mission 16//END]

 

Woo woo~! New chapter~! *cough*finally*cough*
Backstory is finally going down! Conner finally making his move~ 

Another two parter XD 
Here's a list of the previous ones~!

Mission 1/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 2/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 3/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 4/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 5/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 6/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 7/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Misson 8/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 9/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 10/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 11/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 12/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/YJ-…

Mission 13/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/You…

Mission 14/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/You…

Mission 15/ enthaga.deviantart.com/art/You…

 

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seffykoepsel's avatar
wow, interesting. can't wait for the next chapter.