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Assimilation [Young Justice SI]

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12.4
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    • =====A=====​

    Troia took a few seconds to take my measure before she launched herself at me, flying with her arm cocked back for a fast straight. I stepped to the side the moment she reached me, but Troia immediately adjusted, planting a foot to stop her forward momentum and turning the attack into a hook. I stepped back and knocked the arm aside, but I felt the strength behind the swing. No hard blocking any of these, I thought as she advanced with a series of rapid jabs. Definitely in the same weight class as Kori and Connor. Lucky for me, I didn't have to face off against her directly in order to beat her. At least, not according to the rules I set out.

    The day had finally come for Troia to run through the test I had made, to see if she qualified to join the team. To be honest, my tests were more for me to see what sort of skills and knowledge the young woman had more than seeing if she was good enough. I had gone through a number iterations of complicated trials I could run her through, but in the end I had decided to keep it simple; a series of questions followed by a sparing match. And the goal of the spar was simple: knock me out of the sparring ring within 3 minutes.

    She did have some assistance though. Just as I managed to get away from Troia, I looked up just in time to see Starfire coming down at me in a textbook Kamen Rider dive kick. I was forced to fire my thrusters and launch myself to the side, narrowly avoiding a foot to the sternum. Starfire twisted in the air and flew after me, chasing me around the edge of the arena. She sped up to catch me, but at the last moment I changed direction and shot forward, sliding underneath her as she flew over.

    Ok, fighting the two ladies at once would normally be a bit much, even for me. Both of them were stronger than me and had many years of combat training. However, I was the one who had set this scenario up, so I had an advantage set up for me as well.

    Troia made to come at me again, but before she could reach me I made a slight gesture and a strong wind slammed into her side. She tried to push through, but the wind twisted and quickly became a small cyclone as tall as she was. She was forced to skip back before it sweep her away.

    Even though I had just recently got a big boost to my wind tech, what I was doing now was beyond what I was normally capable of. However, the sparring ring was currently surrounded four pylons, about three feet tall each and topped with glowing rings. They were something I had thrown together as part of my experiments into better effector field emitters. As a first attempt they weren't particularly good on their own, having a very limited range, but with the four of them arranged together like this it gave me a lot of control over the air within the sparring ring.

    This may have seemed a bit unfair, but this was supposed to be something of a boss fight. It was also the reason I currently had a rock remix of 'Bloody Tears' playing over the speakers.

    I laughed as I swatted away Starfire with a blast of wind. "It is foolish to try and stop me," I said imperiously, my holographic green cloak blowing in the holographic breeze. "There are mere minutes before my Storm Reactors across the globe reach full power, and then the world will be under the control of Doom!"

    Troia sighed in exasperation (not for the first time either), casing a sidelong glance at Starfire. "Is he for real?"

    The other woman was focusing on me, though. "You will not prevail, villain!" Starfire proclaimed, having fully gotten into it. "The world will never accept your rule, and we shall not fall to a petty tyrant!"

    "…oh my god they're both dorks."

    With that Troia suddenly surged forward and barreled into me, knocking us both off balance. She tried to capitalize on it by grabbing ahold of me and bearing me to the ground. In response, my body twisted unnaturally fast, breaking her grip with a first rotation and knocking her aside with the spinning kick from the second. We both hit the ground and rolled to our feet, but I was faster and closed the distance before she could react. I threw three jabs in quick succession at her head before ducking low, springing up to deliver a rising uppercut that launched her into the air.

    Starfire caught the other woman and steadied her in the air. "Be wary in close combat," she said. "Machina's body allow him to move in unintuitive ways. He will not engage you on your terms."

    Starfire was quite familiar with the form I used for sparring by now, but this time I made a few extra modification on top of it. My body was currently 7 feet tall, and less armored than my standard combat form. The reason being that much of my internals were configured for speed and precision. My actuators were supplemented by muscle-like strands, and I had weak but numerous kinetic manipulators all over my frame .In addition, I increased the amount of mass that my processing network usually took up, dedicating it towards processing physical motion. I didn't quite have perfect kinethesis, but it was a step towards it.

    The end result was that I wasn't actually strong enough to hurt the ladies, at least with physical strikes. But I could dance around them.

    The seconds ticked by as I jumped and twisted in the air, dodging a low dive from Starfire. Troia hung back and watched as Starfire spun back around and flew at me again, no doubt trying to get a better read on how I fought. I sent another twister her way before I refocused on the woman throwing a flying, spinning round house at my neck. "I am far from a mere 'petty tyrant'!" I exclaimed, deflecting the attack with a blast of wind before moving on the offensive, moving in sharp bursts to catch her off guard. "I am the one who stands above all! None deserve to rule as Doom does! And no mere 'hero' is strong enough to stop me!"

    Starfire was well used to my erratic movements however, and repelled my assault by skillfully weaving around my attacks in the air. She even managed to get a few counter strikes, the last of which knocking me back from her. Focused as I was though, it was not enough for me to lose track of my surroundings. And so, I fired my thrusters and launched myself up to avoid Troia, who had moved in behind me to take advantage of the situation. Her left hook missed as I turned my motion into a flip before I landed on the other side of her. She grunted, looking back at me. "You are dead set on playing this diabolical villain thing to the hilt, huh? Surprised you haven't dismissed us as 'weak women doing a man's job' yet."

    In response I snapped my fingers and a whole new swam of twisters filled the sparring ring. As the pair were forced to dodge, I fell back onto a cushion of air, a hologram of an elaborate throne appearing beneath me as I settled into a sitting position. My head rested against my fist, braced against the armrest. In my other hand a holographic goblet formed. "Doom has a thing for strong and capable women," I said. "Thus the world that Doom rules shall be egalitarian!"

    "Yeah, that's one way of putting it," I looked to the side of the sparring ring and spotted our spectators, comprised of the rest of the Team along with Red Tornado and Wonder Woman. In particular, Artemis was looking at me with a small smirk. "All Starfire has to do is smile and you fold like a lawn chair."

    "No sassing Doom from the sidelines!" I yelled.

    Meanwhile, the two ladies were still keeping their distance. "We are running out of time," Starfire said over the wind. "But I believe I have a way we can prevail."

    "We?" Troia shot back, trying to push through the wind to get at me but not quite managing it. "Isn't this my test?"

    "Yes, and it is up to you how you want to proceed."

    The dark haired young woman looked at Starfire before glancing at the clock. Just under a minute left. "…Fine. Let's do this." She broke off from her attempt and flew to Starfire's position, giving me a defiant glare. "I'm not going to let this drama queen stop me."

    I 'crushed' the goblet in my hand, rising from my seat. "So be it, heroes! Have at thee!"

    Starfire raised her hands, glowing green with energy. "Follow my lead and mirror what I do!" She said before she fired off a short range starbolt, the ball exploding amid the twisters between us. This opened up enough of a gap in the wind wall for the pair to come at me.

    I created another set of twisters to head off the ladies' charge, but as one the two split off in opposite directions, circling around me a high speed. I swiftly thrust my arms out to create a protective cyclone around me, but too late I realized my mistake. Since they were circling in opposite directions, one of them was moving in the same direction as the wind. And sure enough, Starfire burst through the wind wall and came arcing at me.

    I rolled with the hit to lessen the impact, but as I turned to face the woman's assault she instead flew away from me. I was confused for a moment before I barely managed to dodge Troia coming in to knock me to the ground.

    Ah, so that's how they're going to play it, I thought as I dodged and parried a few more attempts. Well, they will have to do more than skirmishing attacks to-

    Suddenly Starfire broke the rhythm, turning back to attack me again moments after she broke away. I managed to juke her in time, but I wasn't able to stop Troia from shoulder checking me. She moved in for a few follow up strikes until I managed to get my footing back and made to counter attack. However, even though I saw her tense and fight against her instinct to stay in, Troia fell back out of my range. Which is of course when Starfire came back in again.

    This repeated over and over, the two slowly getting better at working in tandem and keeping me from getting the upper hand. Even as I tried to gain space with wind, the two made sure to never let up. As the seconds ticked down to zero I stumbled back towards the edge of the ring, raising my arms to simply blast the two women away and give myself some room. But before I could, they already closed in on me from both sides, and I hesitated. Starfire had her fist cocked back, her hair and eyes blazing bright. Troia mirrored her, stars and bracers shining silver.

    Sun and Moon, the thought came unbidden, just as their fists impacted my face.

    I was sent tumbling backwards head over feet, clear out of the ring and crashing into the back wall. As I crumpled to the ground in a heap, I heard the computer give a chime of victory for the ladies, and Troia saying "Ah crap, is he going to be alright?"

    "He's fine," Starfire said. "He's suffered from much harder blows than that."

    "Usually at your hands," I muttered as I picked myself up off the ground. I dusted myself off, shifting back to a more normal form as I walked back towards the pair. "Anyway, you did great. Welcome aboard."

    "Good work, Troia." Wonder Woman said, approaching us along with the rest of the Team. "I had no doubt that you would succeed."

    A self-satisfied smile formed on Troia's face before she looked between me and Starfire. "This wasn't just to test my teamwork, was it?" She asked. "It was to see if I could follow someone else's lead."

    I pointed. "Just so. You are very perceptive."

    "Yeah, well, I've had a lot of situational awareness training," she glanced at Wonder Woman. "And that included figuring out why you're fighting as well as what's going on."

    Typically, Kid Flash jumped in with "Brains to go with the beauty, huh? A great combination."

    "You just… can't help it, can you?" Artemis pinched the bridge of her nose before she looked at her newest teammate. "Ignore him. I promise the rest of us are normal."

    "Normal as a bunch of superheroes get." Robin remarked. "But don't worry, I can tell you'll fit right in."

    "So long as I don't have to give overly dramatic speeches as part of the job…" The young woman muttered, with a pointed look in my direction.

    "Don't underestimate style, my dear woman," I said. "If nothing else, it lets people recognize us for the veritable titans of justice that we are."

    "Hey," Robin said, pointing at me. "I kinda like that."

    "…Of course you would," I muttered. I honestly wasn't thinking when I said that.

    There was a sudden beeping sound from the computer and a holographic screen popped up in front of me. Troia looked at it curiously. "What's that?"

    "A crime alert," I said as I looked through the feed. "I set up a monitoring system that trawls and aggregates criminal activity news." Still, the computer normally wouldn't be alerting me so directly unless… "Looks like this one is nearby. A bank robbery in Charlestown." I hesitated for a moment before I looked back at her. "You up for a field test?"

    ------------------------​

    Before we set out in Moya, there was a brief moment of awkwardness as we figured out which of us would be going. The Team now had 9 members, which was a bit much to send to stop an apparently mundane bank robbery. In the end, we settled on myself, Troia, Aqualad, and Robin. It was a fairly balanced squad in terms of power and skillset, so it should have been fine for this particular outing. The rest of the Team stayed back at the Mountain, and Wonder Woman headed back to New York, confident that her protégé could handle herself.

    In Moya, it took us very little time to reach our destination, and from the pilot's seat of the bioship's command deck, I steered us over the bank in question. "Alright, looks like the cops got here before we did," I said with a frown, looking out one of the bioships viewports. There were several cop cars parked outside the building, along with a few police officers crouched behind them. "And if they're still out there, that means the bad guys are dug in, and possibly have hostages."

    I had hoped that we could just rush in, or maybe just follow them after they left, but it looked like that wasn't possible. Still. Moya was cloaked, so no one had noticed us yet. We could work with that.

    Aqualad agreed with my assessment, as he said "Indeed, in would be unwise to barge in without a plan. We need more information."

    "Leave it to me," Robin said, getting out of his seat. "I can get in and scope the situation without anyone noticing."

    "Sounds like a good chance to test out the Knife Missiles, too." I said, and with a wave of my hand a pair of the aerial drones floated up to just over my shoulder. They were only about a foot long each, narrow triangles with several control surfaces and a patterned grey exterior. I had been waiting for a chance to test my recon drones ever since I finished them, and this was the first opportunity I got.

    Robin arched an eyebrow behind his mask. "They seem a little conspicuous for stealth. And the name isn't helping either."

    "It's a reference to the 'Culture' novels." The lot of us turned in surprise to Troia, who gave a small start at the attention. "What? It's a well-known book series."

    "First of all, you have good taste," I told her before addressing Robin. "And second, I added some stealth features." On command, the drones' optical camo kicked in and the pair disappeared from sight. It wasn't perfect, but they were much more difficult to see now.

    The Boy Wonder was suitably impressed. "Nice... Alright, I can work with this."

    I linked his arm computer in to the drones' datafeeds before I moved the bioship to the back of the bank. Robin discretely dropped out of the ship into the back alley and expertly cracked the electronic lock on the back door in seconds. I sent one of the drones in after him while the other I sent out on overwatch, just in case.

    I brought up a holographic window showing the feed from the drone following Robin, and we got the image of some mundane bank offices and cubicles. It didn't take long for us to spot our target. "Yep, they have hostages alright," Robin said over the comm, pointing to a bunch of scared looking people on the other side of an office window. The man standing in front of the office door was dressed head to toe in biker leathers, with a helmet covering his head. In his hand he had a bulky pistol of some sort, but I didn't recognize the model. The man's gaze swept back and forth, but he didn't notice anything amiss.

    "Robin, keep exploring, we need the whole picture." Aqualad said.

    "Copy that," he replied, and he started to make a full sweep of the building. As he did I built out a wireframe map, placing icons at points of interest. Eventually Robin came to the main lobby. "Looks like we've got six guys in total, one guarding the hostages and the rest out here," Robin said, the video feeds from the drones backing up his claim. They were all dressed and equipped the same as the first man, crouched behind various bits of cover. They also weren't talking, merely keeping an eye out while sitting on some small duffel bags.

    Were they waiting for something? Back up, maybe? "What's the plan?" I asked our leader.

    Aqualad looked at the holographic map for a moment before he said "We should make this quick. With only one of them guarding the hostages, Robin can neutralize him swiftly. The rest of us will enter through here and here," he pointed at a pair of windows on either side of the main lobby, "and engage the main group. Between all of us and the element of surprise, we should be able to resolve this swiftly."

    "What about the police?" I asked. "There's a big risk of crossfire if one of the bad guys starts firing blindly. I don't want to risk them getting hurt." I paused before I continued. "The front of the building isn't that wide, I should be able to cover the door and windows with shields. I'll also block them from running."

    The teen mulled this over before he looked at Troia. "Do you feel able to fight that many men with just the two of us?"

    "Please, I've faced double that on my own."

    Aqualad nodded. "Very well. Machina, you drop in the front when I give the signal. Troia, with me."

    A hole opened up in Moya's floor, and Aqualad jumped down. I expected Troia to follow, but she hesitated, looking at me with an odd expression. I raised an eyebrow, and she said "You're… oddly pragmatic. What happened to style?"

    Guess I made a bit of a wrong impression with that boss fight bit, I thought. Knowing we didn't have much time, I settled on just saying "It's hard to have fun with real fights when you know that if you fuck up, people could die."

    Troia's expression softened slightly, and then she followed Aqualad out the hole in the bioship floor.

    I moved Moya to the front of the building, getting out of the pilot seat so that I form some mechadendrite limbs from my back. Four in total, each one was tipped with a Psion Shield along with another pair on my arms. I also changed the surface of my body into the optical cloak mesh. No need give away what I was doing till the last moment.

    I only had to wait a handful of seconds before everyone was in position. "Now!" Aqaulad commed.

    I dropped down through the bottom of the ship, a second later landing on the sidewalk in front of the bank. My extra limbs stretched out, and with a loud snap several panes of blue energy popped into existence. I heard cries of surprise from the police officers behind me at the same time I heard my teammate break in through the windows. I turned back to look, decloaking as I did so. "Sorry for the start, officers. We have this under control."

    By the time I looked back, the fight was pretty much over. Let's face it, a couple of mooks against the likes of Aqualad and Troia, who had the element of surprise, stood no chance. A few shots were fired off, but they hit nothing, and seconds later the fight was over. They men were all knocked out and disarmed, a few of them having their helmets knocked off to show several average looking men.

    "Lobby is clear!" Aqualad called out.

    "Hostages are safe, they went out the back," Robin called. "Gotta say Machina, these shock Escrima sticks are real handy."

    With that out of the way I retracted my shields and walked towards the police, talking to them to keep things smooth and tell them what happened. While we talked I sent the second Knife Missile out of the bank to join the first in keeping watch, just in case these guys really did have backup coming.

    Things were going about as well as could be expected, but the whole situation still felt off to me. Why the hell were guys hitting up a bank this size? It wasn't a small bank, but it couldn't have that much money outside of the vault, and it didn't look like they had brought anything to break in to it.

    Before I could mull on that too much, I suddenly lost contact with one of my drones. My first thought was that it had been destroyed, but the strange thing was that the other drone still had line of sight with the first one. It had stopped in the air for a moment before turned around and retraced its path. I recognized the behavior as what it was programmed to do it if suddenly lost contact with me, and sure enough a few seconds later the connection was reestablished.

    I frowned, finishing my conversation with the officer I had been talking to and stepped away. I sent the drone back out and the same thing happened again. Is there a jamming signal? But it's not that far away, I should have noticed if there was. And even then the signal should get weaker first, not suddenly cut off completely. I moved the drone back and forth, trying to find the exact location of the disturbance. And to my surprise, I found that the barrier had a curve. And it was curving towards us.

    The drone follow the curve until is spotted something on a rooftop: a high tech antenna, right along the edge of the cut off zone.

    "Something wrong," I announced, swiftly walking into the bank. "There's some kind of… radio barrier surrounding the entire block-"

    At that moment, a robber that had been slumped against the wall suddenly sat up and swung his arm at me, far faster than a human should have been able to. His sleeve was ripped to shreds as his arm folded out into some kind of high tech cannon that fired a scintillating white beam at me. I was quick enough to move my center of mass out of the way, but the beam clipped my hand and-

    I screamed as static ripped through my mind. Pain took me as I fell to the ground, my body not responding for a moment. It started to fade and I awkwardly rolled on the ground, trying to get my feet under me. I raised my blackened hand in front of my face just in time to see it fall apart into dust.

    Troia was the closest. She didn't hesitate to close the distance and smash the man's arm into dust, but the rest of the 'robbers' were breaking out of their bonds and moving toward me, their own arms folding out into weapons. My coordination was still shot from whatever that energy did to me, but I still had the shield emitter on my arm. I crouched low and activated it just before the lot of them open fire at me. The shield held, but I felt my 'skin' crawl as that energy washed over it.

    "Team, the guy I put down just got back up!" Robin commed.

    Aqualad lashed out with his water-bearers, slicing the arms off two off them and cutting into the face of a third, ripping off the skin and revealing the cyberskull beneath. Another one moved to the pile where their handguns had been placed and grabbed one, but rather than shooting it he actually threw the weapon at me. Not taking any chances, I awkwardly threw myself to the side, just in time to avoid the pistol exploding in that same white energy.

    My back slammed into the wall and I raised my shield to block another series of energy blast. These... things we almost completely ignoring my teammates in favor of shooting me. Which turned into their downfall, as Troia and Aqualad were making short work of them because of it. Troia grabbed the one that had thrown the grenade-gun and hurled it at another, both of them breaking apart into metal pieces. Aqualad continued 'disarming' his targets, and soon the shots ceased.

    The robots must have realized that their plan had failed by that point, because as one they all gave a brief twitch before their heads exploded in a hail of shrapnel. The pile of guns also exploded, but thankfully I was nowhere near that white energy explosion as it went off.

    The lobby was filled with the sound of sizzling metal, but other than that things were still. Aqualad turned to me. "Machina! Are you alright?"

    "I think so," I said as I got to my feet, focusing on my stump of a hand. The area felt weirdly numb, absent of that physical awareness I had become so used to over the past few months. Trying to reform my hand felt like trying to pick up a penny through oven mitts. The sensation was slowly fading, but I poured magic into the arm to speed up the process. Soon enough I got sensation back, and my hand reformed. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

    "Who were these guys?" Robin asked, suddenly appearing next to one of the mangled frames. He picked up the shattered remains of one of their metallic skulls. "Or more accurately, who made them?"

    "Someone who has it out for Machina," Troia said, looking at me. "The moment you walked in the room they all came at you."

    "Using a weapon that seemed designed specifically to hurt me." I agreed, looking among the debris. I reached for the most intact android body and used my Technological Pattern Analysis script it. It was… mundane, as far as you could apply the term to an android. There was nothing particularly interesting or exceptional about it. I wouldn't call it poorly made so much as… economical. These things were made to be disposable. The only exception was what that weapon had been, but that had completely destroyed itself along with the head.

    It was then I noticed that one of the pistols was somehow still intact, just knocked to the floor. Why hadn't that one exploded with the rest? Maybe one of the one Troia threw had it's failsafe trigger broken?

    Either way, I walked over and used the script again on the gun, and found what I was looking for. It was a functioning pistol, but the extra bulk was taken up by a very complex… well, effector, if I had to put a name to it. If I understood it right, the field it emitted would sink into and wrap around metallic structures, kind of like water mixing into sand. Except then the field would then beam energy right into the particulate. The field would have no effect on organic matter, and even normal electronics would only suffer minor damaged given how the larger metal parts would act an energy sinks. But if your target would made entirely of tiny, highly complex computers…

    "Nano disassemblers," I muttered. I had given some thought as to how I would fight an entity like myself since the Fog, but I had never seen anything like this. "This plus the androids… I guess Ivo decided he wanted some revenge for his wrecked toy."

    "Who's Ivo?" Troia asked.

    "Mad scientist, I'll tell you the story later." I stood up. "Right now we need to head back to the Mountain…" I briefly send a signal to our base's computer, and sure enough I got no response back. "Because our signal's being blocked somehow."

    "Concerning, but perhaps it was just to prevent you from calling for help." Aqualad suggested.

    I gave him a flat look. "When have we ever been that lucky?"

    "…Everyone back to the bioship, now!"

    -----------------------​

    Needless to say, we were back in Moya and heading back to the Mountain at top speed less than a minute later. I gathered up the remains of the androids and their weapons (scanning them for traps and trackers as fast as I could), and threw them in the back, but I had other things to focus on. Like just what was happening to the rest of my team.

    The moment we passed the barrier, I immediately received an emergency update from the Mountain. I passed in my admin credentials before I created several holographic screens to display what I was getting, diving into the situation report.

    Intrusion alert: Two humanoid entities forced entry into the Mountain 4 minutes 32 seconds prior. Moon Pool doors breached, security shields destroyed. Structural damage to vehicle bay. Structural damage to 3 ancillary room and 4 corridors, along with security systems within. Intruders currently engaged by defenses in junction 2-13. Standard radio communications blocked, primary landline connection non-functional, secondary landline connection operational.

    Good thing I made so many fail safes    , I thought as I tried tapping into the cameras in the relevant room. The feed I got back was less than helpful, the image filled with a mess of fire and steam whipping about at high speed. I tapped into the internal comm system and said "Machina to base, can you hear me? Respond."

    The was a moment of silence before Starfire's voice replied "Machina! We are under attack by a pair of androids! The Mountain's defenses have slowed them down, but they're currently in combat with Red Tornado. Return immediately!"

    "We're already on our way," I said. "The bank robbers were androids too. They specifically tried to kill me. I guessing that this is Ivo trying to get revenge."

    "Ivo?" Starfire sounded confused. "But why would Ivo make androids that resemble Red Tornado?"

    "What? What are you-" At that moment the video feed cleared up as the fire and steam were blown out of the way to reveal the room. Much of it was still on fire, but at one end of the circular chamber I saw Red Tornado pulling back, along with Starfire and Superboy. On the other side I saw the two intruding androids, and the similarities to Red Tornado were unmistakable. They had the same red/ yellow color scheme, and even the external chassis has a similar minimalist aesthetic. One was female shaped and wreathed in a corona of flame, whereas her masculine companion was directing as torrent of water at my teammates.

    This… doesn't make sense. Why would Ivo build robots that looked like they were the same model line as Red Tornado? I vaguely recalled that Ivo worked as Morrow's apprentice for a time, so I guess it was possible the man could build something like them, but…

    As I mulled this over, something caught my attention on one of the other feeds. Namely the ones showing the damage that had been done by the androids before they reached their current spot. I saw the damage to the vehicle bay and the security systems, but the one that got my attention was the common room. The TV had been smashed, and the couch was burnt to cinders.

    Something about that caused me to feel that phantom ache in my chest, my eyes narrowing as I looked at the ruined space where I spent time with my friends.

    They were wrecking my house.

    They were violating my home.

    Blue lines traced themselves over me as I accessed the Mountain's systems, and I poured my will, outrage into anything I could reach as I roared over the PA "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

    On the video feed, the two android froze. They then looked at each other for several seconds… before they both turned and rocketed down the hallway in the direction they had come from. My team tried to pursue, but both androids released powerful blasts of their respective elements behind them, creating a shockwave in the corridor that knocked my team back.

    Somewhat stunned, I watched the two hustled back to the vehicle bay and dived into the water, their wake showing them heading straight out of the Mountain and out of sight. "…I did not expect that to work."

    =====A=====​
     
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    • Satire Swift said:
    "There are mere minutes before my Storm Reactors across the globe reach full power, and then the world will be under the control of Doom!"

    Troia sighed in exasperation (not for the first time either), casing a sidelong glance at Starfire. "Is he for real?"

    The other woman was focusing on me, though. "You will not prevail, villain!" Starfire proclaimed, having fully gotten into it. "The world will never accept your rule, and we shall not fall to a petty tyrant!"

    "…oh my god they're both dorks."
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    She is now regretting getting involved in a couple's roleplay.

    Satire Swift said:
    it lets people recognize us for the veritable titans of justice that we are."

    "Hey," Robin said, pointing at me. "I kinda like that."

    "…Of course you would,"
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    I'm sure is has nothing to do with the fact that he's short.
     
    Satire Swift said:
    I laughed as I swatted away Starfire with a blast of wind. "It is foolish to try and stop me," I said imperiously, my holographic green cloak blowing in the holographic breeze. "There are mere minutes before my Storm Reactors across the globe reach full power, and then the world will be under the control of Doom!"
    Click to expand...
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    This is great. I love it.

    Machina has a new weapon he needs to find a counter to, and to upgrade the base security even more. I really love the way things were resolved too. Machina is the last person tech based villains would want to fight. Sure, people can occasionally get one over on him, but the fact he can also use tech based magic means the normal counters people come up with don't work nearly as well as they expect.

    Edit: on re-reading I also loved that teen Titans joke and the boss music. It's nice humor to go with the violation of a home invasion in the second half.
     
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    12.5
  • Threadmarks
    • =====A=====​

    I was alone in the tech lab, my attention split between the damage report that the Mountain was feeding me, and the scans of the android bodies that had attacked us at the bank. The rest of the Team had regrouped before splitting up to sweep the Mountain's corridors, making sure that there were no surprises left by our visitors. I'd be making my own rounds in the vents as soon as I could (just in case they dropped some drones off when I wasn't looking), but for the moment I needed to focus on the bigger picture.

    All told, the damage to the base wasn't too bad. Or, at least it was localized to a small part of it. The vehicle bay had taken the worst of it, as there had been a short fight between the androids and Conner and Rommie. The two happened to be in the bay when the intruders arrived, and while they put up a good fight, they retreated once they realized they were fighting a very powerful hydrokinetic in space with a giant pool. After that the Mountain's defenses hemmed the two android in and kept them as contained as possible, but the two brute forced their way deeper in. And the structural and system damage to those spots was severe.

    Still, none of the Mountain's core systems were damaged, and in the brief talk I had with Batman he told me that he would get Green Lantern to do the bulk of the repairs. I already had a few things in mind that I would like to change if we were going to be remodeling.

    As for the android bits, I had some of them inside a spectral analysis device, and the rest stored in a secure material locker (including the surviving pistol). 'Secure' in this context meant a reinforced steel and tungsten box embedded in the Mountain's stone, covered by a hard shield. It may have been a bit excessive, but I wasn't declaring these things safe until I fully had the chance to take them apart. I suppose it was a risk bringing them here in the first place, but I checked the electronics for any traps or surprises I could find. And it wasn't like they didn't know where we were.

    The holographic display on the spectrograph flashed green, and my mouth pressed thin, "Just as I thought…" I muttered.

    "Team, we have arrived. Assemble in the main hall." Batman's voice echoed over the intercom.

    I finished up my scans and stored the bits with the rest before I left the lab, putting some hustle into my stride. We had called the League as soon as we managed to get communications back online, and naturally Batman insisted coming over as soon as possible to get the details. I mean, Red Tornado did give him a summary, but I guess he wanted to get the news directly from us.

    Also, once we had communications again, I made sure to contact Serling and tell her about what happened. Those nano disassemblers may have been made for me, but considering how much her own nanomachines were modeled after my own, they could prove just as lethal to her. Since almost all of her blood had been replaced by the stuff, having it suddenly rendered non-functional would bad for her health. I didn't think she was in danger, but if nothing else it would be good to have another mind on figuring out how to counter this new weapon.

    I ended up arriving last, and I caught the tail end of what Kid Flash was saying. "…still can't believe you don't know who those two were! They look just like you!"

    "I am aware, Kid Flash." Red Tornado replied. "However, I have never seen them before. I do not know who or what they are."

    As I walked into the room I was a little surprised to find that not only Batman but Wonder Woman was waiting with the rest of the team. I supposed she was looking out for her sister, things did escalate rather quickly. Then again, she should probably just have assumed that would happen on any outing the team went on by this point. Regardless the woman asked "Is it possible that Morrow made more androids?" She asked. "Perhaps he made several and chose to only use you?"

    "Perhaps," Red Tornado agreed. "But if so, I do not know where they have been all these years."

    I stepped up beside Troia, who was current in a staring contest with Rommie. The two didn't quite seem to know what to make of each other. She noticed my arrival and asked "What is the ball and why is it staring at me?"

    [The star-touched one reminds me of a night long passed. I believe I have seen those constellations before.]

    Before I could answer, Batman said loudly "Now that we're all here, let's go through the events one last time." He turned to Aqualad. "Aqualad, what happened at the bank?"

    Our second in command then recounted what happened on our excursion, and when he was done we switched over to Starfire saying what happened here at the Mountain. I already knew most of this. We had debriefed each other as soon as we regrouped, and I made a point of studying the security footage. I was particularly interested in just how the androids managed to get through all the defenses I had installed, and it turned out the answer was a mix of cleverness and sheer brute force. For instance, the pair had gained entry to the Mountain via the moon pool, which was protected by a steel door and energy shield. When they found that they couldn't breach the latter, the water controlling android simply drilled through the side of the mountain to get in.

    The amount of power and control to do that with water was massive. Given that, it was little wonder that they had managed to make it as far in as they did. Still, it gave the team left at the Mountain plenty of warning before the Androids breached the interior. What happened next was a slow slog as the pair blasted everything around them with so much force that it became impossible to get near them. Most of the interior defenses (in the form of arc generators and freeze cannons) were slagged or pulverized before the intruders could enter optimal range. This was an oversight I was planning on fixing.

    Starfire started to wrap up her debrief. "… and then Machina told them to 'Get out of his house'. They then left."

    The various superheroes turned to look at me, and I shrugged. "To be honest, I was as surprised as you are."

    Batman regarded me levelly. "Did you use your abilities to make them leave?"

    "I…" I hesitated before I stated again. "I'm not sure. I know I was using it at the time, but I didn't specifically try to force their actions." I looked at Red Tornado. "I should ask, when I told the androids to get lost, did you… feel anything?"

    Red Tornado stared at me for a long moment, and I started to wonder if I had asked a stupid question. However, her eventually replied "…Yes. I am not sure how to describe what it was I… felt. If I had to put a word to it, I felt your anger."

    I guess that was what I was going for at the time, I thought. I'm not sure I liked the idea of having mind control abilities. Yes, I know that was stupid considering the androids were attacking my home, but it just didn't sit right with me.

    Robin got us back on point. "That's great and all, but we need to focus on why they came here, not why they left. These guys came after us. Not only did they know our base was here, but those androids at the bank were sent to draw us out. To draw Machina out."

    "I have a lead on that." I said, and with a gesture a holographic blueprint of one of the robber android appeared in front of me. "I analyzed the remains of the androids that attacked me, trying to get a trace on the components. Turns out these things are custom made, right down to the transistors. Ring any bells?"

    Robin perk up. "Like Mister Twister."

    I nodded. "I ran some comparisons between them and found several integrated circuit components to be identical, along with the same metal composition. Whoever made Mister Twister made these guys."

    "Does that mean we can track him down?" Kid Flash asked.

    "Not sure… the metals and minerals used aren't particularly unique. Or at least our database doesn't recognize them as such. Best I can tell is that the metals come from somewhere in North America. I'll have to do more research."

    "Alright, but there can't be that many people who can build androids that can match Red Tornado." Robin pointed out.

    I nodded, a slight frown forming. "Well, going by people we know, our two main culprits would be Ivo and T. O. Morrow." I looked at Red Tornado. "What ever happened to Morrow anyway?"

    "He disappeared once he realized that I had no intention of destroying the Justice Society." The android replied. "He had monitoring systems placed within me, so that by the time I lead the Society to his lab, the doctor was already gone. He has not been seen since."

    "70 years is a long time to lay low," The lot of us turned to look at Troia, her hand on her chin. "To be honest, for that much time to have passed, I'm kind of surprised how… low key this was. I would have expected some kind of doomsday weapon from a mad scientist that tried to take out the Justice Society."

    Wonder Woman's brow furrowed. "Regardless, Morrow may be intent on finishing the job, however late. I need to inform Jay and Alan as soon as possible."

    Batman nodded. "We'll be sure to offer protection if they need it. However, there is also the matter of Machina being targeted. With a weapon specifically designed to kill him."

    "Honestly, I think it might just be that he saw me as a threat," I said. "My fight with Amazo was in the news, and if this is Morrow, he would have taken notice of me beating his apprentice's robot. And if he somehow knew I could eat machines… then it would explain why the androids ran the moment they learned I was on my way back."

    Starfire hummed in agreement. "It is plausible. Regardless of who is responsible, it's clear they not only have great proficiency in artificial life but have interest with… you. There were two primary targets, Red Tornado and Machina. One to capture, and one to kill."

    "Not disagreeing, but how do we know they meant to capture Red Tornado?" I asked.

    The android himself answered "Aside from how they specifically avoided attacking me whenever possible, there was a moment when the water android approached within reach and tried to grab me. In that moment there was a strong electrical surge that extended from its hand, one that managed to compromise several of my systems. The frequency and modulation of the burst was such that it was trying to download data directly onto my hardware."

    "Like a virus? How did you fight it off?"

    "I… am not sure. I believe that, due to the increased electrical shielding I've added to my chassis, I only received a partial signal, and thus my automated systems were able to repair the damage."

    "Whatever the reason, I'm glad you're still with us," Miss Martian said with a smile. "This place wouldn't be the same without you." Her smile then faded. "But, what's to stop them from trying again?"

    I looked around the cavernous room. "Well, I'm going to be reinforcing the hell out of this place and hunting down any information on these guys on any database I can get my hands on. But, I don't know if that's going to be enough. We need to know what they're up to right now."

    Before I could continue, Batman then said "The fact that Red Tornado was targeted makes this a League responsibility. We will investigate this matter."

    "Yeah, well the fact that Machina was targeted makes this the Team's responsibility!" Superboy shot back. "We can't just do nothing if someone comes after one of our own! I say we find them and hit 'em hard!"

    Batman fixed the boy with a glare. "You will not run off on you own. Any action taken must be approved by me first. If you're so eager to do something, I have an assignment-"

    "No!"

    Everyone turned to see Starfire move up to Batman, staring him down with a fierce glare. "I will not let you send us on unrelated tasks while someone is out there willing to assassinate one of my team! We will handle this threat ourselves whether you want us to or not!"

    That… actually seemed to stun the man for a moment. He managed to recompose himself and replied "This is not up for debate. Missions are chosen for you so that you don't get into too much danger-"

    "Like Bialya?" I said as I stepped up behind my leader. "Louisiana? Santa Prisca? You couldn't have predicted how those went down, but at this point it's becoming a trend. The danger is coming to us now."

    "And not letting us do anything about it is going to make it worse when it finds us," Artemis stepped forward. "Face it, doesn't matter what you want, we're doing what it takes to beat these guys."

    Batman scowled at all of us, but we looked just as fiercely back at him. The air was thick with tension… which broke when a soft chuckle came from behind us. "Man, you guys really don't mess around, huh?" Troia strolled forward to join us. "And here I thought this was a team of sidekicks," she planted her hands on her hips and gave Batman a smirk. "Looks like I'm joining a team of heroes instead."

    Batman's entire body was tense, and I could almost see his mind at work. Would he relent, or would he make good on his promise and dissolve the Team right then, for all the good it would do? He finally came to a decision and opened his mouth-

    Wonder Woman's hand fell on his shoulder. "Perhaps we can make this a joint venture then?" She suggested as all eyes turned to her. "Both the League and the Team working together. After all, something like a direct attack on our members should be taken that seriously."

    I could see the silent conversation that the two senior superheroes had, even if I didn't fully understand it. A few small motions and changing facial features was all it took, and a few seconds later Batman turned back to us. "This will be discussed with the rest of the League. Until then… gather information as you see fit." And without another word, he turned and walked to the Zeta Tubes. He clearly wasn't happy about this, but it seemed like 'relent' had won out for now.

    I shared a look of solidarity with the rest of my team. I think I heard Wonder Woman mutter 'Just like the last time…' under her breath, but Starfire was already giving orders. "Batman is right that we cannot be ignorant of someone who can create androids powerful enough to damage our home. Machina, work with Red Tornado to find out anything you can about Ivo and Dr. Morrow. Robin, you will look into other possible culprits, we cannot assume we know who it was just yet. I will work with the Justice League to make sure all information is-"

    "Wait." Red Tornado said, and everyone turned to look at him. Even Batman stopped and turned to look back at the android. Red Tornado hesitated, and then looked to Kaldur of all people. "Given the circumstances, I believe it would be in the best interest of all if certain information was shared."

    Aqualad grimaced. "Do you think that is wise? Why the sudden change in opinion?"

    "Wait, what?" Robin said, perking up in confusion. "What are we talking about?"

    Red Tornado ignored him, continuing to address Aqualad. "Circumstances have changes. Now that we have been attacked and have discussed certain parties… I fear the consequences may be dire if we do not address the matter immediately, and with everyone present."

    "…Very well." Aqualad said awkwardly, before turning to the group at large. "We may have a mole on our team."

    And we just had a great team building moment, too, I thought bleakly as there were a number of suitably dramatic gasps. "Explain." Batman said as he walked back towards us.

    "When I went to Rhelasia to provide assistance to Red Arrow, we fought several assassins from the League of Shadows, Sensei included. During my fight, Sensei made reference to our missions in Louisiana and Bialya. He hinted that they were getting information from an inside source."

    "…and you actually believed him?" I asked.

    Aqualad shifted his gaze a little. "Not completely, but I couldn't discount it either. The fact that our base has been assaulted does lend credence to this."

    I shook my head. "I don't think so. Whether or not the person behind this assault knew at the time, our fight with Mister Twister showed them we were in the area. And the Mountain has been an open secret ever since four years ago. Besides which, the most likely candidates are still Ivo or Morrow, neither of whom have any connections to the Shadows last I checked."

    "Most likely," Red Tornado interjected. "But the perpetrator of the attack could have gotten their information from the Shadows. And considering how little we know about the current whereabouts and motives of Ivo and Morrow, we can't discount that they have joined the Shadows recently."

    "Even ignoring recent events, I was trying to discretely find out if there was any truth to the claim," Aqualad said. "I wasn't certain the mole was even real, so I didn't want to worry the Team. I informed Red Tornado about this yesterday, but he suggested that the Team should take care of its own issues."

    Batman looked at the android. "Is this true?"

    Red Tornado nodded. "At the time, the matter seemed small enough that I felt Aqualad could manage it on his own. However, if the Team does have a mole working for whoever staged this attack, they would be aware that we suspect them the moment said mole gets in contact with them. As such, I felt it best to bring up this matter now. "

    Batman frowned ever so slightly. "For future reference, potential security risks should always be brought to my attention. Whether or not the Team should handle it on their own."

    "Why?" Robin asked, folding his arms across his chest. "So you can look over our shoulder the whole time?"

    I turned to face the boy. "Probably so he can check for leaks on his end. Also… a mole really isn't something we can assume a team of inexperienced operatives to handle in a swift and effective manner. The amount of damage any one of us could do in the meantime would be massive."

    "So what, you think we should all be under surveillance now?!" he shot back.

    "No." I said simply. "Like I said, I don't believe that anyone our team is a mole. If there is an information leak and the bad guys aren't just sharing info, I would guess that one of our networks or systems have been compromised." I turned to the rest of the team, planting my hands on my hips. "Alright, which one of you set your password to 'password'?"

    My attempt at levity was unappreciated though, as I was meat with a bunch of flat stares. I sighed. "Ok, let me just ask this right now: are we seriously entertaining the idea that one of us might be a traitor?" No one answered, but I could see the uneasy expressions on a few of my teammates. I didn't think any of them really believed it, but I knew how crippling that little paranoid voice of 'but what if?' could be. "Alright then." I walked over to Wonder Woman, stopping just short of her and holding my arms had sides. "Wonder Woman, if you would be so kind?"

    She looked at me evenly, and then looked between myself and the team. "Are you sure?"

    "We need trust for a team to work," I said with a nod. "And that's not going to happen if we have niggling doubts about our loyalties."

    "Arguably, magically compelling you to tell the truth is not a sign of trust," she said, but still unhooked the Lasso from her belt. With a toss, she threw it around my shoulders, and as it tightened the rope glowed gold.

    "I'm lost, what's going on here?" Kid Flash asked.

    "That is the Lasso of Truth," Troia explain. "Anyone bound by it is compelled to speak the truth, both in letter and in spirit. So, no fancy wordplay will save you."

    Artemis perked up in alarm. "Wait, no one was accusing you of being the mole. Why are you doing this?"

    I shrugged. "Well, I was going to say we should all do this," As I talked, I noticed that I could feel the magic of the lasso with my own, similar to what I felt when Mera had used her magic on me. And just like then, my technomancy found very little to latch on to. I supposed I could try to make more of an effort, but that seemed like bad form at the moment. "I'm going first in front of all of you to show that I willing to go through it as well."

    "Oh. I-" Artemis stopped and started again. "I don't think I'm really comfortable with that."

    Oh, I didn't think of that. Artemis had always been a bit reserved, so of course putting her through a lie detector in front of other people would make her uncomfortable. Fortunately, Wonder Woman spoke up "Don't worry, I'll keep my questions brief and on point. If you're uncomfortable doing it around others, we can do it in private instead."

    Artemis didn't answer immediately, so Wonder Woman returned her attention to me and her voice took on an authoritative tone. "Machina, have you been giving information to the League of Shadows or any other individuals about the Team."

    "No."

    "Have you done anything to compromise the Team or its missions?"

    "No."

    "Why don't you think any member of you team is compromised?"

    I tilted my head as I replied "Because after everything I've been through with them… I just can't believe they would be anything other than heroes." I gave Wonder Woman a look that tried to convey how risky a question that was. What if I had said 'because they never went evil in the comics'?

    However, the woman just gave me a knowing smile and lifted the lasso off me. "I think that is satisfactory." She turned to the rest of the Team. "Now, is anyone else willing to-"

    Naturally, Starfire immediately stepped up. "I will."

    I moved to the side and let Starfire get lassoed. As the questions began, I leaned towards Troia and said "Hell of a first day, huh?"

    She looked sidelong at me. "Starts with a sparring match, turns into an assassination attempt by killer androids? Yeah, I wasn't expecting that."

    "You sure you want to stick around?"

    "Are you kidding?" She turned her head to me and flashed a brilliant grin. "It just reminded me how exciting how all this can be."

    ---------------------​

    In the end, everyone but Artemis got questioned in front of the whole group, the latter of which being taken off into a side room. Everyone was cleared, as I expected. I didn't waste time, instead getting back to securing and fixing up the Mountain. Well, mostly securing the vents. I knew it was incredibly unlikely I'd find anything in there, but now was not the time to leave anything to chance.

    Just as I was finishing up though, I did hear something on the edge of my hearing. It was… someone calling my name? I crawled through several junctions before I found the source of the sound. "Artemis?"

    I was behind her when I said this, so the girl gave a small scream and spun around. Well, more like flopped around considering she had to crawl through the space. "Jesus Christ, don't scare me like that!" she yelled. "Especially not looking like that!"

    My xenomorph form made it easy to move through vent, but I could see how it would unsettle her. I detached myself from the vent roof and shifted into my humanoid form, crouching on the balls of my feet. "Well, you wouldn't have gotten that scare if you had just called me on comms like a normal person. Why did you come crawling into the vents?"

    She settled into a sitting position with a huff. "I wanted to talk in person. Besides, it was pointed out that everything in this place in recorded." She paused before she awkwardly continued. "Thanks for removing my face from all the security footage by the way. I… didn't know you were doing that."

    "No problem. So, what's up?"

    "Why didn't you wait around? For Wonder Woman to confirm I wasn't a mole."

    Odd question. I shrugged, careful of the confined space. "I had a lot to take care of. And I didn't think there was anything I needed to hear. Why, was I wrong?"

    "No, no," She waved me off. Artemis hesitated before she said "When you said that stuff about thinking we were heroes… you included me right?"

    I stared at her for a long moment before I sat on the ground opposite Artemis, fixing the girl with a look. "I'm sensing some self-esteem issues."

    She rolled her eyes. "That's not… It's not that. I'm just wondering what it is you see in me. The rest Team… ok, M'gann is nice and Kori thinks the best of everyone, but you seem like a regular guy, and you believe in me. I'm just not sure why."

    I was silent as I tried to figure out just what the deal was with the girl who was looking at me expectantly. Eventfully I said "I've never been that great at reading people." She gave me a confused look, but I held up a hand so that I could continue. "It's gotten easier since I've gotten my new senses, but I have a habit of taking people at their word. And beyond that, what they do afterward. And everything we've been through, all the missions and every time we've just hung out here, tells me that you're someone I can rely on."

    "So, maybe you are a bad guy. Maybe you somehow bypassed the lasso and are such a spectacular actor you've let none of your real intent through. And then we'll find ourselves with me at your mercy and you mocking me for ever trusting you." I put a hand on her shoulder. "But I'm not going to put much stock in paranoia or what-ifs. Until you give me a reason to think otherwise, you're a hero in my eyes."

    She said nothing, a number of emotions flickering across her face before she looked down at the floor. I waited for a minute, but when she still didn't say anything, I started to ask if she was alright.

    She beat me to it. "Sportsmaster is my father."

    My mouth clicked shut. Without looking up she continued "That's the thing I've been keeping from the rest of the Team. I was raised, I was trained, by a killer." She finally tilted her head up and returned my gaze. "So, that's it. That's my secret."

    Ah. That… explained why she had been so reluctant to tell anyone about herself. To tell me. I leaned back as I tried to think of what to say. Eventually I settled on "I see. I… I'm sorry I put your father in jail."

    She blinked. "What? No, that's not what you're supposed to- wait, you put him in jail?!" she asked incredulously.

    "Err, yeah. It was out first official mission. I happened to run into him."

    "…and you actually beat him?" The tone of incredulity had not left.

    I shrugged. "He underestimated me and I overpowered him."

    Artemis calmed down a little. "That… oh."

    "Yeah… so, are we good?"

    "Yeah, we're- no wait!" She exclaimed. "That's not what you're supposed to focus on!"

    "…What else is there?"

    "The fact that I was raised by an amoral mercenary! Doesn't that bother you?! Aren't you worried that I might turn out like him?!"

    I frowned and folded my arms across my chest. "Young lady that is not how genetics work and you know it!"

    "Damn it you know what I mean!" She yelled back, before she lost some of her fluster. "You… really don't care?"

    I shrugged. "Have you personally done any heinous crimes before you joined the team?"

    "No…"

    "Then do you really need me to give my whole trust spiel again? You're not your parents, Artemis. You're already, like, a million times better than he'll ever be."

    "…Thanks." She mumbled.

    I smiled. "Glade to be of help. Now, let's get out of these damn vents. It's hell for your posture." The two of us got up and made our way to the nearest exit vent. As we walked/crawled though, a thought occurred to me. "Wait, I remember reading in Sportmaster's file that he was Cheshire's father."

    She winced a little. "Yeah… she's my sister."

    "Ah…" I shifted a little. "I'm sorry I put your sister in jail."

    "Oh my god please stop."

    =====A=====​

    I figured Artemis would have time at some point to browse the Mountain's database and find out about Cheshire, especially after Jacob's run in with her. Also, Batman did some editing of said database to remove Sportsmaster's connection to Huntress just before Artemis joined the team.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • And thus we see a weakness to the lasso...
    it doesnt cause someone to tell the truth if they think they are unaware they are lying...
     
    Great chapter, I really liked the team stepping up and demanding responsibility, and Machina's "this is silly, we're all heroes, let's just truth lasso and get this over with".

    But this:
    Satire Swift said:
    She beat me to it. "Sportsmaster is my father."

    My mouth clicked shut. Without looking up she continued "That's the thing I've been keeping from the rest of the Team. I was raised, I was trained, by a killer." She finally tilted her head up and returned my gaze. "So, that's it. That's my secret."

    Ah. That… explained why she had been so reluctant to tell anyone about herself. To tell me. I leaned back as I tried to think of what to say. Eventually I settled on "I see. I… I'm sorry I put your father in jail."
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    Satire Swift said:
    She winced a little. "Yeah… she's my sister."

    "Ah…" I shifted a little. "I'm sorry I put your sister in jail."

    "Oh my god please stop."
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    That honest to G-d had me cackling. All in all, excellently done.
     
    One aspect to T.O. Morrow that isn't really gone into during Young Justice is that he isn't "just" a super-scientist. In his original incarnation, his greatest invention was a device that could look into the future. He used it to steal future technology, creating inventions with technology that wouldn't exist for centuries. In a few stories he would use this in the way one might think you'd use a "future viewer", to shape his own future, but it seems like that kind of precise vision was difficult for the technology to deliver. (Also, he grows noticeably unstable in any story where he's messing around with time travel or time viewing technology.)

    Be interesting to see if you bring that aspect of the "Morrow mythos" into play.
     
    What the lasso does do is confirm to the team that any spy isn't doing it deliberately. From a high level, there's no real difference between someone who's being mind controlled to give information and someone who's been bugged. It only really becomes an issue when the person being mind controlled receives different orders.

    It's a super hero universe, so I'm sure plenty of people are familiar with mind control and will write it off as just one of those things too. The most important thing is the lasso lets everyone skip all the distrust and "What ifs" that are murder on friendships and group cohesion/effectiveness.
     
    didn't superboy get the redson code removed after it was discovered by accident? or am I remembering a different story?
     
    Satire Swift said:
    Circumstances have changes.
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    changed
    Satire Swift said:
    "Err, yeah. It was out first official mission.
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    our
    Satire Swift said:
    Glade to be of help
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    Glad

    Story moving along nicely. I wonder if part of the reason they couldn't take Tornado was that he considers the red one to be part of "his house". IE, Don't fuck with my toaster!

    Machina also forgot all about translating Sphere's message...
     
    Leafy503 said:
    Or if they are a don't know they are themselves a spy. ;)
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    It does as a matter of fact. The Lasso compels the truth of what is asked even if someone is unaware they are lying.

    The most famous example of this was when Power Girl was brainwashed into a sleeper agent. During a battle where she teamed up with Wobder Woman, she had grabbed onto the lasso to return it to WW and while she was sit holding onto it WW casually asked "What are you going to do after this?" And Power girl replied she would go kill Superman because that's what her brainwashing was gonna make her do even though she was unaware.

    So if Red were to hold the lasso and be asked if he was a mole, they he would reply yes. But that's assuming OP keeps the lasso the same power wise.

    Comic I was referring to

    EDIT: Link lives to fight Ganondorf once more
     
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    FallenKingSeton said:
    It does as a matter of fact. The Lasso compels the truth of what is asked even if someone is unaware they are lying.

    The most famous example of this was when Power Girl was brainwashed into a sleeper agent. During a battle where she teamed up with Wobder Woman, she had grabbed onto the lasso to return it to WW and while she was sit holding onto it WW casually asked "What are you going to do after this?" And Power girl replied she would go kill Superman because that's what her brainwashing was gonna make her do even though she was unaware.

    So if Red were to hold the lasso and be asked if he was a mole, they he would reply yes. But that's assuming OP keeps the lasso the same power wise.

    https://2static2.fjcdn.com/comments/Actual+panel+_686f4a9407eaaa01fde11b3ef2a3cf3a.jpg

    The comic I was referring to
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    12.X - Mask
  • Sidestory
    • Here's a short scene I couldn't quite fit in this serial.

    =====A=====​

    It was just before dinnertime that I was finished with my latest creation, so I wandered over to the kitchen to find my roommates. Sure enough, I found Connor and M'gann setting the table, while Kori was placing down various food items. They all turned to me as I approached, and I stopped to dramatically place my hands on my hips.

    "Everyone, behold!" I declared. A moment later, the surface of my lower half rippled as a dark material spread out across it. It took shape around my legs and a moment later the color and texture changed to blue denim. "I have pants!"

    The group looked at me at me flatly for several long moments before M'gann spoke up. "Oh, umm... congratulations, I think. You managed to learn how to shape yourself into clothes?"

    "Nope, this actually isn't 'me'. These are completely different nanomachines, which I made. You can think of them as the nanotech equivalent of your morphic garments." I had been working on and off on claytronics ever since I had met Serling, and now I finally had a working product. Sure it incredibly crude compared to what she could create, but as a first step it was surprisingly functional.

    And a big part of why it worked so functionally was the finished complier. Though shifting through my nanites software architecture was a bit like wandering a maze with no idea where to go, I was constantly stumbling on useful little things. One such thing was how I learned to 'whitelist' certain technology so that my nanites didn't eat it automatically when placed inside my body. I could do that before if I actively focused on it, but it was next to impossible to prevent when I shapeshifted. Now though, I had a second set out nanomachines which I was free to tinker with and build from the ground up, complementing the ones my body was made out of. And these Mask nanites could interface and be controlled by me directly.

    My outer surface rippled again, completing the outfit. A pair of sneakers for my feet, and a white tee with an open black over shirt for my torso. "At the moment, I'm limited to emulating a few types of materials," I said as I adjusted my cuffs. "And their cohesion isn't terribly strong, just barely matching leather at their toughest. But still, it'll be nice to have an outfit ready to go at any time."

    Connor grunted. "Didn't know you cared about that. You seemed fine to always walk about house just 'wearing' tight shorts. And you're still going to stand out considering-" He cut himself off and winced a little, realizing that he might have stumbled onto a sore point.

    I hesitated for a moment before I shrugged. "Well, they can go a bit farther…" I said, and my outer surface rippled again. This time, there was a sharp intake of breath from everyone present. "Jacob!" M'gann exclaimed. "You look normal!"

    I frowned slightly, raising my hand in front of my face. "Normal is a bit of an odd thing around these parts," I muttered. My hand, along with the rest of me that wasn't covered by clothes, had changed to a creamy light tone. My hair was sandy blonde, and my eyes had a human sclera and pupils. "I'm still working on this, it's not quite right."

    "What do you mean?" Kori asked. "You look like a normal human to me."

    "He doesn't have veins," Connor remarked, his eyes narrowing as he looked closely. "The color of his skin is a little to smooth, and his heat map looks weird."

    I nodded. Of course Connor would be able to see it. "It's probably fine, most normal humans won't be able to tell unless they look at me for a while. It's just bothers me because I can see it all the time."

    M'gann smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, you look fine. Have a seat, diner's almost ready."

    M'gann and Connor walked back to the kitchen, but Kori approached me. "Is something wrong?" She asked, her brow furrowed a little as she looked me in the eyes. "It may not be as good as you want, but I thought you'd be happy by this progress."

    "No, it's good. It's just…" I paused as I let my Mask nanites withdraw back into my body. "I don't think I care. About looking more human than I already do, I mean. I've already more or less gotten the physique I want, and I'm focused on getting all of my sensations back. By comparison, my coloration seems kind of minor. I… honestly, I've gotten kind of used to being grey. I'm not sure how to feel about that."

    "Oh, that means you're happy with who you are!" She exclaimed. "That's a wonderful thing!"

    I couldn't help but smile. Leave it to Koriand'r to see the bright side without fail. "Yeah, you're probably right. Still," I said as my grin turned sly. "That doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it…" I brought my Mask out again, and Kori's eyes widened in surprise. My skin had changed to a burnt orange shade close to hers and while my eyes were still the same blue, they had changed to the almost solid color that Tamaranians had. A loose loin cloth was around my lower half, and while it didn't have anything in it, a tool belt wrapped around my waist. "So, Torva'l huh?"

    For the first time since I had known her, Kori actually blushed. Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of orange as she looked away. "Ah… to be fair, your appearance combined with the situation did have some remarkable similarities."

    I chuckled and steeped in, pulling her close. "It's fine. I just find it amusing is all." My voice dropped a little as I continued. "Like I said, my coloration doesn't matter much to me. And it's not like Tamaranians are built that much different from humans. If you want… I can look like this when we're together."

    Kori looked me up and down as an odd smile slowly crept over her face. "Change back."

    I blinked in confusion, but I did as she asked and her smile grew wider. "This is who you are, and what I want… is you, Jacob Morgan. Not you pretending to be someone else. I want the man I fell for."

    In response, all I could do was helplessly smile and kiss her.

    That's how our roommates found us when diner was finally ready.

    =====A=====​
     
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