(Aden's P.O.V)
"It all makes sense now. These hood wearing guys are part of Kobra."
Robin said referring to some of the men we had tied up.
"Well, share it with the rest of us."
Wally told him impatiently.
"I'm thinking, that Kobra came in and hijacked the factory from these other guys. That's why the factory is still operating normally but the supply lines have been cut off."
"So what are they making? More Kobra? Or something else."
Aqualad's question made the Boy Wonder rub his chin.
"That's what I need to find out."
"You need to find out? We're a team Rob. You're making it seem as if you're the leader."
Wally protested heavily.
"I am the one with the most experience."
"Dude you're just a 13 year old kid."
Wow. I hadn't known Robin was that young. When did Batman even start training him?
"Ah! And you're a mature 15?"
"Now is not the time guys. We need to stay on track."
Aqualad broke the argument apart, leaving one teenager frustrated while the younger one was smugly smiling.
"Hahaha such clever Minos."
Bane laughed
"Perhaps I can be of assistance? It is my factory after all."
I turned to look at M'gann and nodded imperceptibly towards Bane. Realization dawned on her and she nodded back. I walked closer to Bane and crouched before him.
"And why should we trust you?"
I asked him making him chuckle.
"Because I am your only chance to get into the Factory undetected."
I looked at him skeptically
"You know of a secret entrance?"
"Yes and I propose we work together, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
I nodded and got up.
"Did you get it Miss Martian?"
I inquired, walking away from Bane.
"It wasn't easy but I was able to see where the secret entrance is."
Robin gave her a thumbs up as everyone else looked confused.
"I asked her to read his mind then started asking pointed questions to make it easier for her."
"That's good foresight Maelstrom."
Aqualad praised, making me shrug.
"She did everything."
"You tricked me? That is very smart but you still do not know the layout of the factory on the inside. You need me."
"Not really. Get me to the control room and I'll have access to everything."
Robin crushed Bane's last hope.
"Hell yeah. Let's do this."
Kid Flash said, putting on his googles.
"Wait. I think we should inform the League first. The mission was to investigate covertly. The situation has changed drastically from the mission parameters."
I held up a hand and suggested.
"No. Not yet. We still need to investigate and gather some concrete Intel to present to the League. Having them intervene on our mission is the same thing as saying we're not ready."
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Robin spoke up. I looked at everyone's faces and saw determination. A smile worked it's way on to my face.
"Just making sure we're on the same page. Something tells me, this mission will not be easy."
"Ok. What's the plan?"
Wally asked.
They all turned to look at me.
"What? You can't be serious."
"You took charge during the Mister Twister fiasco."
Wally shrugged, making the others nod. I looked at Robin.
"And you're okay with this?"
"No. Not in the slightest. But I want to hear you out first. Besides, us following your plan doesn't automatically make you the leader. Just the guy with the plan."
He smirked in that infuriating way.
I sighed.
"Alright. So I'm thinking we keep it simple. First of all, M'gann did you get any other information from El Luchador's mind?"
Robin snickered while Bane ground his teeth.
"I think the name disturbs him. Wonder what he needs to do to be turbed."
"No one gets it bro."
Wally's words made Robin scoff.
"The buyer is arriving tonight. That is the reason why he," she pointed at Bane. "Was trying to regain control of his factory."
I smiled at the others.
"M'gann connect our minds."
She nodded after getting a nod of consent from everyone and inside my mind, I felt an alien sensation.
" I didn't want to risk anyone hearing the plan." I stopped to study their faces. Seeing the looks of concentration, I continued,
"So here it goes, we use the secret entrance to go in. Robin accesses the control room to find out as much as he can about what they're making, who's funding them and who the buyer is. The rest of us will remain in position, hiding. Once we have gathered enough evidence to present to Batman, We'll take out the lights and deal with the Underlings first. Then as a whole we'll attack Kobra and his circle as a team. He must be packing some real firepower if he managed to force Bane out of his factory. Before the Buyer arrives, the Factory needs to be under our control. We have roughly half an hour based on the information stolen from Bane's mind. Any objections?"
There were none.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Things are bad. Kobra managed to combine venom with blockbuster. The result is three times as strong as venom and permanent."
Robin informed us through the link.
"So just as we thought, Kobra is no doubt working with someone else with the knowhow to combine the two formulas together. I doubt they can do that by themselves."
Kid Flash added.
"Have you found out anything about the mysterious buyer?"
"Nothing."
Robin answered Aqualad's question.
"Ok Guys. We have learned what we can. It's time we took these guys down. Kid, get Ready. Take away all their guns and knock them out once the light goes off. Use your googles. M'gann bind them together using the Zip ties Robin gave you. Superboy distract the big guy while Aqualad knocks him down. I doubt he can resist a high enough charge. Robin and I will take down Kobra and the girl."
I reminded them the plan.
"Roger."
"Cool."
"Let's do this."
"I'm ready."
"Mnh."
I aimed for the lights and tiny wind bullets shot off from my fingers. The lightbulbs above shattered and the whole factory was plunged into darkness. Instantly, guns started firing wildly as the Kobra goons were taken out by Kid Flash. Luckily, all of us could fight in the dark. Superboy, M'gann and Aqualad because of their unique biology, the rest of us because of the thermal imaging and night vision on our mask, googles and visor. That advantage was what enabled us to overwhelm them despite being outnumbered.
Within a few seconds, most of the Kobra goons were down. Three figures appeared on my visor, the night vision had a green tint to everything but I could tell that one of those figures was massive.
"Mammoth find out who is causing this and crush them."
A deep voice from the one in the middle said.
Mammoth grunted and took a few bounding steps into the dark, towards the last position he had heard of movement.
Kobra was either very confident in his capabilities to split up with his main powerhouse or a fool. Superboy took a running leap and punched Mammoth out into the open night. A stream of moonlight shone through the hole in the factory illuminating the surroundings.
I stepped out into the light. The palm of my hand faced backwards as I gathered the air around it.
"Stand down Kobra. We have you surrounded and trust me, we will take you down hard, if you fail to comply."
The girl, Shimmer I think, stepped forward to stand between me and Kobra.
"How far the has League fallen to allow mere children to do their dirty work?"
"Robin, now."
"let's see if you keep the same sentiment once we kick your ass."
Birdarangs shot through the air as Shimmer's hand rose up. The Boy Wonder's projectile dug themselves around Shimmer and the blast lifted her off her feet with a cry of pain. In the same motion, I pushed my hand out and an air bomb exploded outwards, sending an unsuspecting Kobra flying off to slam onto the walls of the building.
Kobra fell to his knees with a grunt and raised his head only to find my fist heading straight for his face. The hood had come off and I saw a slight widening of his eyes. At the last minute he bent his head backwards and managed to evade my right hook, only to miss the chi blocking strike aimed at his mid ribs.
The blow connected and his breathing became laboured, His fingers swept out but a blast of wind blasted him onto the wall again. Coming down, I aimed for the chi points on all his limbs and Kobra slumped down, immobilized.
Just then, a telepathic message came through our link.
"Mammoth is down. How are things on your end?"
Aqualad informed us.
"Kobra has been taken care of. Robin?"
I sent through an image of the bald and pale man. Robin chuckled.
That's Kobra alright. Miss Martian has the rest of the underlings tied up. I'm currently copying everything they have in their systems. Then I'm scrubbing the whole thing. Kid Flash is with me."
Robin reported.
" Wait, I can hear something."
Superboy told us.
"It's a helicopter."
"The buyer?"
Wally asked.
"Highly possible. Let's regroup and lay an ambush. Miss Martian sneak into the helicopter once it lands and sabotage it. The rest of us will capture this mysterious buyer."
Aqualad laid out the plan.
"I'll stay behind to make sure that Kobra and his cult don't escape their bindings."
I told them and broke off contact. I looked at the man in question and saw his eyes watching me with hate.
"I don't like the look on your face. Something tells me you want nothing more than to skin me, so off to dreamland with you."
"You will pay for..."
A sphere of wind surrounded his head, cutting off his words and sucked out the oxygen around him. He suffocated and passed out. I didn't want him to break his bindings and have us repeat the same dance and song. Plus I had another reason...
I closed my eyes and connected with the air. A small breeze swept through the whole factory. I used the wind to sense any movements throughout the building and smiled once I found out that the team had left. I was all alone with Kobra and his men.
Gunfire started outside the factory and I knew I only had a few minutes at most. Despite being a good mercenary, I doubt Sportsmaster could handle 3 sidekicks and two Superpowered aliens in a fight.
I approached a crate with the new product that was riddled with bullets and opened it. Inside I saw the vials of Kobra-venom, most of which were destroyed. I nabbed two of the vials and placed them into my utility belt. I couldn't use them right now because I couldn't know what effect they would have when mixed with the Blockbuster formula.
After doing that, the Team came back with a bound Sportsmaster. The mission was more than a success. The only problem was that Bane had escaped.