[ EPISODE 5: SCHOOLED ]

CRIMP — A small ledge where you literally crimp your fingers, bending them to put pressure on your knuckles with a tight grip.

CHAPTER THREE

"IF DISLIKE IS THE OPPOSITE OF LIKE, is disaster the opposite of aster?" Robin asked, shattering the comfortable silence that'd befallen the trio as he squeezed the accelerator and pulled up to level with Superboy and JJ. "See, instead of things going wrong, they go right."

Sunset bruised the sky, darkening by the minute, and JJ was starting to think she might not make this evening's training session after all. She checked the time on her phone. Yeah, if the mission didn't end in fifteen minutes, she'd miss it entirely. Though Olivia had assured her that she'd take care of her absences, Coach was going to put her on blast for it. And JJ didn't need Olivia cleaning her messes when she could do it herself.

Rolling her eyes, JJ slanted Robin a deadpan look. "Has the English language ever made any sense?"

"Guess not," Robin mused before looking at Superboy, who was either unresponsive for the sake of shutting Robin out, or there was a storm in his head, drowning out all outside noise. JJ didn't blame him, the drone of the engines on the road was easy to tune out, to draw them into their heads. Brows pinching together, Robin frowned. "Uh, clearly you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong?"

"Canary," Superboy snarled, knuckles blanching as his grip tightened fractionally on the handlebars. "And what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"

"Strength means nothing when you don't have technique," JJ said, Superboy's arrogance brushing against her skin abrasively.

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig," Robin reasoned, "Canary learned that the hard way, same with Batman and, well, me."

But it only served to rile Superboy up more, and JJ knew there was no reaching him with reason as he revved his engine and gunned his motorcycle ahead of the other two, zipping off in a rage towards the truck. It was like her mother used to say: there was nothing sadder than someone who couldn't see past their pride to better themselves. Stagnating was the worst thing that could happen to a person, and Superboy seemed too stuck in his own head to see that Canary wasn't mocking him, or undermining his skills. It almost made JJ feel guilty, judging him this harshly.

After all, JJ had been in Superboy's shoes just a month ago, having discovered her special abilities.

Pride had always been JJ's fatal flaw. Being so confident in her own abilities and so assured of her own self-efficacy often blinded her to the fact that there was a delicate line between knowing her strengths and overestimating them. And JJ fell prey to that macabre habit. In the first few days, JJ had been defiant and cocky, challenging Canary's teachings, constantly storming off in frustration because she'd had to learn this new thing from scratch, building a whole new skillset from the ground-up. It'd taken JJ getting beaten into the ground over and over again, for her to realise that every time Canary offered her a hand up, she wasn't being condescending by throwing her inadequacy back in her face or trying to make JJ feel inferior. She was just trying to make JJ learn, in spite of herself. And she could see now how frustrating she must've been to mentor. She saw it in Superboy now, and it was like looking into a mirror that reflected the uglier side of herself.

"That went well," Robin remarked, lips twisting in a semi-grimace. "Anyway, now that we've got nothing but road for miles, welcome to the Team! I know you said it's only provisionally, but, still. So what's your shtick?"

"My shtick?"

"Yeah. Your thing. Your gimmick. What makes you special enough to be recruited into the Team. Like, KF has his super-speed, Superboy's got his super strength and heightened senses, M'gann's thing is her alien abilities, and Aqualad's kind of a mini-Aquaman. I'm guessing if you're new to this, your shtick is either a superpower or Canary really wants a sidekick of her own."

JJ huffed. She was no one's sidekick. As much as she respected Black Canary as a person, JJ couldn't imagine committing her time to staying in someone's shadow, being ordered around and being minimised to the point of becoming the sideshow, the helper. "I can make psionic shields. I only found out about it a month ago, though. Canary managed to help me control it. This whole... super-hero-sidekick thing is completely new to me, I'm just on proving grounds now."

Robin let out a whistle. "Cool."

JJ shot Robin an incredulous look. "What's your shtick?" Everyone knew Robin was Batman's sidekick, the Boy Wonder, the prodigal boy who had the skills to keep up with his mentor and take down adversaries without breaking a sweat. But JJ was skeptical. How could someone be completely human and still have the means to go around living like this? JJ suspected that Robin must have some underlying super-power that granted him those abilities.

"Well, I'm me, and I kick-ass," Robin said, grinning like the devil, and though JJ couldn't see his eyes behind his shades, she was willing to bet they were gleaming like he knew the secret to the universe, "otherwise, I'm just like everyone else, minus the superpowers. I can tell you don't believe me. That's fine. I've been doing this since I was nine, so I make a career out of underestimation. Anyway, JJ—" he said her name like he was considering it, weighing her identity— "you got an alias?"

"Nope. Codenames are stupid, and I'm not hiding. It's just JJ."

"You should come up with one," Robin suggested, "We've all got ours. It's a protective measure on the field. For your family and friends, so the bad guys don't get to them."

"I don't have friends, and my sister can take care of herself. I think I'm good."

Robin hummed. "No mask, no disguise, no alias... boy, you're really sure about this, aren't you?"

JJ didn't answer him, hoping they'd spend the rest of the ride in silence. She didn't want to think too hard about Robin's question, but it kept echoing in the back of her head, planting that seed of doubt. There was a reason why JJ didn't need an alias, why she hadn't wanted one in the first place. All superheroes had one. JJ didn't think she'd even make it that far. Her intentions for joining this team wasn't exactly for the sake of doing good. What had hooked her was the promise of finding people who might understand her, what she had gone through with the death of her parents, and her recent near-death experience that'd unlocked something deep inside her genetic make-up.

Thing was, in theory, that sounded really good. In practice? Whole other ballpark.

Social anxiety was never an issue for JJ, so she knew that her problem wasn't that, exactly. She wasn't particularly inclined to make friends, and the less people knew about her, the easier it was to be among them. And the more abrasive they found her to be, the more distance she put between them and herself.

As she watched the sunset paint the sky a vibrant purple, the fading light gilding the wheat fields on either side of the road, JJ felt a pang in her chest. If she hadn't agreed to give this motley crew of teenage sidekicks a shot, she'd be in the climbing gym at Gotham Academy, training until her fingers bled and her body ached. It hit her now, how displaced she was, and how much she missed the comfortable tension of her climbing team. Although she couldn't stand them and vice versa, no matter how alienated she was, JJ already knew her role amongst them. She was their competitor, the object of their envy and chagrin, the one they couldn't beat in the climbing gym so they bitched about in the locker room. Here, she was a fish out of water. What use was a month's worth of combat lessons and mastery over her newfound abilities when she had zero field experience? These kids were practically trained professionals, each of them already perfectly assembled in their little jigsaw puzzle of vital roles they had to play. JJ had no idea what she was doing.

"What's in the backpack?" Robin asked, apparently unable to take the hint. "What gear did you bring?"

Squeezing the handle bars of her motorcycle, JJ clenched her jaw. "Just my rock climbing stuff. I had training this evening."

"Sheesh," Robin said, frowning. "What were you gonna do? Ditch us halfway?"

JJ shot him a sour look. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

A rustle in the wheat cut Robin off, and JJ turned just in time to see a troupe of robot monkeys burst from the crops, emitting automated sounds reminiscent of shrieking chimpanzees. Their eyes glowed green, and JJ couldn't comprehend how they were floating until she realised they weren't; they had little jetpacks attached to their backs. Horror turned JJ's blood to slush and her jaw went slack as the robot monkeys gunned straight for the carrier truck, hitching themselves to the cargo compartment with a metallic clang.

One of the monkeys zipped over JJ's head, nearly clipping her helmet as she ducked in the nick of time. "What the f—"

Over the in-ear comms, JJ heard Aqualad's voice crackling with urgency, "Robin, Superboy, JJ, our truck is under attack!"

"Kind of figured," Robin said, a grimace on his lips as the monkeys began to clamber over the cargo door, and their audible chattering sounded like they were laughing at them.

"I hate monkeys," Superboy growled, a visceral resentment burning in his tone, and his already wound-up expression turned livid.

JJ had to pinch herself. It was so bizarre, but it was happening right before her eyes. The monkeys crawled to the front of the truck, and JJ heard the sound of metal smashing against glass. With a sick feeling, she realised they were trying to punch through the windshield. Ahead, the truck began swaying on its course, tires screeching against the tarmac. The driver was blind now, a hazard on the road.

"Robot monkeys!" Robin let out a surprised laugh. "Totally Ivo's tweaked style."

He hit a button on the panel of his motorcycle and his front wheel disengaged with a mechanical hum and converted into a drone, shooting into the air.

"Hey, hey, switch your rides to battle mode," Robin said.

Baffled, JJ nudged her engine, accelerated a little and veered her vehicle closer to Robin's. Too many bewildering things were occurring at once, and JJ didn't have time to be bamboozled about technology she hadn't been given a crash course for, or the fact that her motorcycle was equipped with something called battle mode. So she shoved all her feelings into the box beneath her senses and focused up. "Tell me where."

"No point," Superboy said, and JJ heard something in his voice that told her he was about to throw the plan out the window.

Just as Robin reached over to sort out her motorcycle, Superboy leapt from his motorcycle and landed on the roof of the truck with a powerful thud, sending his motorcycle skidding. Alarm flashed over his features as Superboy's abandoned motorcycle toppled and slid backward from the force, Robin's brows lifted.

"Or not!"

Reacting on reflex, Robin snatched JJ round the waist, whipped a device out of his utility belt and shot a line at the back of the truck that snatched them both out of their seats before Superboy's motorcycle could crash into theirs. JJ grimaced as they hit the metal door and her arm shot out to catch ahold of the handlebars, her feet instinctively finding grooves for holds. The monkeys attached to the truck chattered louder. Green laser beams shot out of their eyes as they begun to sear into the truck, as though trying to burn through the metal.

"They're going after the cargo," JJ yelled over the sound of the truck's engine and the loud chattering, and felt dumb immediately after. Everyone else must've realised that already.

"These android monkeys must be working for Ivo," Robin said through gritted teeth as he held onto the device suctioning him to the truck and kicked a robot monkey off with a grunt.

As Robin began fending off the robot monkeys with impressive dexterity for such limited range for movement, JJ grabbed the closest one by the tail and ripped it off the truck. It gave a shrill shriek and powered up its thrusters. JJ let go just as the heat of the flames seared her fingers. Just as it came after her again, JJ closed her fist and a blue dome of pure energy projected from her body and encased her entirely like a protective shell. The monkey bounced against the shield with a dull thunk like a bug flying into a lightbulb.

Around her, the force field flickered, like it was about to dissipate, but JJ gritted her teeth and held on as the monkey kept trying to break through and more of its friends caught on, and begun to ram into her psionic force field. She felt their anger, their wicked intent as they chattered mockingly, taunting her. With every hit, JJ felt her force field weaken. Every object had its tensile strength. Apply enough pressure and it would break. At some point, her shield would shatter and leave her vulnerable.

Sweat rolled down her temples, plastering her hair to her forehead. Her force fields were also dependent on her own strength, and her body absorbed the impact of every slam. Still, JJ held on, pulling herself to the truck.

When she was climbing, there was a certain laser-focus she slipped into without hitch. Now, JJ called on that same instinct. This was a mission, and there was an objective. If she could disregard the fact that she knew nothing about operating on the field, it was exactly like any lead climbing competition she'd participated in. And won. There was the starting holds, a time limit, and a goal she needed to achieve by the time the timer ran down the seconds. Same principle: don't fall, don't hesitate. She had one shot at this.

She couldn't move just yet while holding her shield in place, but she could eliminate these bastards. Pulling on every impulse in her body, JJ felt her heartbeat racing against her skin, heard only her blood pounding through her temples and swore viciously as she pushed the energy outward with everything she had in her, the way Canary had taught her once. The shield exploded outward like a shockwave with vehement force and blew the monkeys to pieces. As they fell away onto the road, JJ felt the wind once more.

Drained, JJ did the only thing she knew how to do properly, and started climbing. Mantling herself into the roof where Superboy was busy fighting off the monkeys, tearing them apart with raw strength and with a feral vengeance, JJ turned to extend a hand to help Robin up, but more monkeys erupted from the crops and begun to swarm the truck, crawling over the door, lasers beaming from their glowing green eyes as they burned through the doors.

One of the monkeys slammed into the back of her helmet, knocking her off-balance, but before she could even call on her ability, her body seemed to react on instinct, and another force field projected outward from her chest, pushing the monkey off her. Behind them, the drone from Robin's motorcycle let out red energy blasts that zapped the monkeys clean out of the air, but it was quickly disengaged by two of the monkeys, and JJ watched, lips pursed, as it imploded mid-air. JJ tore her helmet off and cast it to the side. With all of her might, JJ pushed her shield outward, blasting the monkeys off the roof. Immediately, the force field dissipated upon impact. There was nothing she could do about the ones in the air, or the ones bursting from the plants on either side of the road.

"Think you can do that for the entire truck?" Robin yelled, ripping more monkeys off the door as he clung on, barely winded.

It took a moment for JJ to realise he was talking to her.

"I don't know," JJ said, frowning. "I don't think I'm strong enough to hold it for very long."

Temper flaring as he grappled with a bunch of monkeys latching onto him at once, Superboy snarled, tearing one of them into pieces. "Then you're useless to us."

"Hey, fuck you, Super-temper," JJ hissed with equal acidity in her tone, irritation blazing beneath her skin as she resisted the overwhelming urge to kick him in the lower region. It was practically an open goal now. Never be too above dirty moves if it proves to be more effective, Canary had told JJ, once, and immediately yanked on her ponytail and threw her to the ground to demonstrate.

"Try, anyway!" Robin shouted, and JJ could hear the urgency in his tone. "You can do it! I believe!"

Just as JJ was about to form another shield, the monkey in Superboy's hands let out a keening shriek and reared its head back and shot out a laser beam right into Superboy's face. An enraged roar tore from Superboy's chest as his hands flew to his smouldering face. Four robot monkeys launched themselves at him, picking him up and blasting him upwards, before dropping him from a height that should've killed any normal human being. Superboy only hit the ground rolling, the tarmac beneath him cracking from the sheer force. Shaking off the impact, Superboy was on his feet in seconds, and launching himself at the truck, leaping across a tremendous stretch of road.

Meanwhile, Robin had managed to get on top of the truck, and was fighting off as many monkeys as he could take. On nimble feet, Robin struck and slashed through the robots with his metal rods, smirking each time he watched them fall away and power off.

JJ called on the ball of energy shimmering in her hands once more, but it only expanded to the size of a bowling ball before fizzing out. Looks like she'd already hit her limit today. Before JJ could try again, eight pairs of metallic claws trapped her in a vice grip, and JJ's stomach pinched in horror as the robot monkeys took off into the air, carrying her up with them. After they reached a certain height, they hovered mid-air. JJ looked down, to the road that was now a thin line of black bisecting a field of crops, and a truck that looked the size of an ant from up here. The ground swayed below her. There was no way she'd survive this fall.

"JJ!" Robin shouted, concern tugging at his tone.

Fear iced her veins, and JJ only had time to squeeze her eyes shut as the monkeys let go, and she went plummeting to the ground.

Moments before she hit the ground, a flash of blue encased her as another force field projected from her body, creating a protective bubble around her. JJ's eyes snapped open, and found herself floating in the middle of the force field shield, suspended in mid-air. JJ released the shield, and she landed on her feet just in time to watch the monkeys blow out the tires on the truck, sending it fishtailing down the road. Robin crawled to the head of the truck, seized the driver, and launched them both into the field on one side of the road where the crops cushioned their fall.

In a blink, the truck went flipping down the road, throwing sparks.

Superboy was still on it, JJ realised, pursing her lips. Though she had confidence that he could take this beating. Probably deserved this one, anyway, since he's such an asshole.

When the truck skidded to a halt on its back, the side of the cargo container burst open with a loud bang and the robot monkeys poured out the truck, smoke billowing from the hole as the soldiers inside stumbled out, coughing.

JJ sighed. Her first mission was already a fail.

Static crackled in her ear. "JJ! Are you okay? Where are you?"

Starting towards the truck, JJ put a finger to her comms. "I'm fine," she grunted, picking up her pace and breaking out in a sprint. Years of learning how to fall from a height had habituated her to the shock of it, and, for once, she meant what she said. She was fine. Not a scratch or a single sprain. Maybe a little annoyed at how flawed this mission had gone. "Comin' at ya."

The truck loomed closer as JJ drew nearer, and Robin set the weary driver down at the side of the road gently as Superboy punched out of the cargo carrier, rubbing at his eyes. Together, they watched the monkeys take off into the distance, drawing further and further, carrying the cargo away.

"Surely we can track them," JJ said, panting a little.

Brows pinching together, Robin frowned. "Yeah, but, it just depends on whether we can get there before they reassemble the android and use it against us."

Superboy bared his teeth in fury, and with a growl, launched into the air, gunning after the stolen cargo.

"Superboy!" Robin shouted, but his efforts to get Superboy to listen were futile as the monkeys shot higher into the air, and Superboy landed in the wheat field, creating a small crater from the impact. He'd just missed them.

"Aqualad to Robin," a voice over their comms said, "We've lost our cargo. Did you—"

"It's gone," Robin sighed, defeat and frustration etched in his tone, as they watched Superboy leap after the cargo as if he could take flight, disappearing down the field. "And so is our partner."

"Aqualad to Superboy. Radio your position. We'll help you."

JJ half-expected Superboy to rip out his in-ear comms and ignore Aqualad.

"I don't want any help!" Superboy roared, and they heard his landing in the distance down the road, "Don't want any!"

"Superboy?" Aqualad called.

"I think he ditched his comm," Robin said, scratching the back of his neck. So JJ was half-right, anyway. Superboy was just that predictable. She wanted to roll her eyes. Boys. They were the same on every kind of team, it seemed.

"Super! Now, we can't even track him," Kid Flash exclaimed, and JJ detected the annoyance in his tone.

While the others on the other end of the line argued the prospects of their next move, Kid Flash's dissent with Superboy's impulsivity emerging more prominently than the rest, Robin ushered JJ over as he plugged a wire into the back of one of the broken robot monkeys that fed back into a device around his wrist.

"—except for the part about us not knowing where to look!" Kid Flash yelled, exasperated.

"Maybe we do," Robin said, and JJ could see the gears turning in his head as he keyed something into he screen. "We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked. So how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?"

"Like I said before," JJ drawled, crossing her arms over her chest, leaning over to take a look what Robin was doing. "We practically pointed them to the trucks. The decoys had no convoy. Anyone could guess which trucks had the goods."

"You got a point there, but it seems like the robots were already planted in the field before we hit the road," Robin said, and the screen on the device strapped to his wrist blinked from <DECODING> to projecting a hologram that formed a map not unlike one on the navigation controls in Olivia's car. (Obviously, this one was a lot more high-tech than the regular navigation feature, but JJ recognised the resemblance.) Robin let out a short laugh, smirking at his own genius. "Ha! The parts have GPS, the monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them with the one I captured." The hologram showed two roads running alongside each other, eventually tapering into one road. JJ assumed the two points on the navigation map that were moving down the road were the cargo. Robin lifted a brow. "Huh. Looks like both sets of parts are converging on..."

"Gotham City," JJ and Robin exclaimed in unison, realisation dawning on them. A corner of Robin's mouth tugged down as he grimaced in something akin to disbelief.

"That far south? Megan and I won't get there anytime soon," Aqualad said. "I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out."

Robin hoisted the "dead" monkey over his shoulder and pressed a couple buttons on the device on his wrist. Within moments, JJ spotted a motorcycle tearing down the road, engine roaring, headlights flashing over the tarmac.

Smoke streamed from the wreckage behind them, pouring to the sky as JJ pursed her lips and rolled out her neck, hearing the bones crunch. "Do missions always go this... disastrously, or did I just catch you guys on a bad day? Does this count as a disaster?"

Robin ran a hand through his mussed hair. "Definitely a disaster. Heavy on the dis. Hopefully, we can save it though."

JJ rolled her eyes. "Let's just close the distance between us and Superboy before it's too late. Shed the dis. Make us tance." What am I saying? JJ thought, equal parts disgusted and horrified at the vernacular she was packing. I spend an hour with these idiots and I turn into some illiterate heathen already?

Amusement lit up his features as Robin laughed at her lame attempt, shedding his civilian clothing and readjusting his uniform—the whole tights and cape shebang—before exchanging his shades for his domino mask so smoothly JJ didn't even catch a glimpse of his eyes before they disappeared behind the whites of his domino mask. "Nice try. Loving the energy there. Doesn't work when you say it, though."

JJ scowled, heat flushing up her neck in embarrassment. "Whatever. At least I don't wear a cape."

"Hey, now, capes are cool."

"Yeah, but you've watched the Incredibles. Edna Mode disapproves."

Robin shrugged. "Cape's worked fine for me. Edna's just a hater."

"Well," Robin said, as the motorcycle screeched to a halt in front of them. He clambered astride and glanced over his shoulder at her. "Time's a-wastin'. Better get to Superboy before he gets into more trouble. Climb on. You might wanna make yourself a new helmet, since you lost yours. Safety, and all that, y'know?"

"Not how it works," JJ grunted, and clambered onto the motorcycle behind Robin and secured her arms around his waist. Even though both of them were built lithe and thin, it was still a little bit of a tight squeeze to cram two teenagers on one seat.

"Eh, worth a shot."

✷

STARS EMERGED FROM THE NIGHT SKY AS EVENING CLOSED IN, cloaking the city in darkness. JJ watched the colours bleed out behind the mountains as they tore down the road, guided by Robin's GPS. A flash of bright red and yellow in periphery had JJ doing a double-take.

"Sup, losers?" Kid Flash said in a sunny tone, as if he wasn't sprinting at a speed so fast that all JJ saw was a lightning yellow streak. Kid Flash threw JJ a wink and tapped two fingers against his temple in a salute. "How're you finding the mission so far? Think you could take a chance on our team?"

"It's been... interesting?" JJ said, not entirely knowing how to answer the question in a way that wouldn't put her on blast. "We'll see."

In spite of her surface hesitation to pass judgement just yet, the answer was a definite no. Truth be told, JJ didn't know how these kids did it. From an objective perspective, she could definitely see the appeal of stopping bad things from happening to the world, but it was all too soon and too strange to JJ. And it scared her. What if something happened to her on a mission that rendered her unfit for climbing? It was too risky. Maybe if JJ trusted herself more, she would be willing to join them—maybe as a part-time member, since climbing came first, always—but for now, she was just going to try and see this mission through before she told Canary to take her off. Plus, based on Superboy's behaviour, the cohesiveness (or lack thereof) of this Team was also another factor that fed into her aversion to sign on officially. They were a disaster. There was no other way to put it.

"So you changed, too," Robin remarked as Kid Flash kept pace beside the motorcycle, still gunning at full-throttle. Up until now, JJ had seen only videos of the Flash's sidekick on the internet, and it'd been impressive, alright, but up close and in the flesh? Again, whole other ballpark.

"You kidding?" Kid Flash shuddered, not even a hitch in his breathing. "I feel naked in civvies. You still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading through Gotham," Robin said, turning back to the map, "but they veered."

"Wait. Dude," Robin said. "They're at my school!"

Craning her neck, JJ peered over Robin's shoulder to look at the map, and frowned. "Hold on, you go to Gotham City Academy, too?"

Robin didn't answer her, or chose not to.

When they finally pulled up to Gotham City Academy, even though she was agnostic, JJ hoped to all heavens that Superboy and the android freak-show hadn't touched the climbing gym. Everything else was up for grabs. As they sprinted through campus and down the corridors of the first floor towards the indoor basketball court, following the tracker on Robin's navigation map, JJ noted the trail of destruction that Superboy seemed to have left behind like conspicuous breadcrumbs. A sound of disdain wrangled its way out from the back of JJ's throat as she glimpsed the ruined row of lockers. "Eugh—Super-Temper wrecked my goddamn locker."

Finally, they burst through the double doors to the gymnasium just as the ground rocked with the heavy impact of Superboy landing on his feet. Robin put his hand out in front of JJ as though to keep her from venturing in further as the android advanced on Superboy. In a flash, Kid Flash darted ahead and yanked Superboy out of the way as the android's huge fists came bearing down, smashing craters into the polished wooden floor. JJ blinked, and Kid Flash had already deposited Superboy at their feet.

JJ set her backpack full of climbing gear down in the corner, hoping it wouldn't get eviscerated in the aftermath.

With a flick of his wrist, Robin set a blade hurtling straight at the android. But before it could slash into its broad chest, the android opened its mouth and out came the command, "Martian Manhunter," just as its body seemed to glitch and turn into a permeable veil. The blade passed clean through and came out the other side as though it'd phased through the body, not even drawing a single scratch, hit the wall, and exploded like a grenade.

"Access Red Tornado." Red wind swirled beneath the android, engulfing its legs as it rose into the air in the same fashion as the actual Red Tornado, ripping up the floor of the gymnasium as it shot towards the Team. At the feel of the wind whipping her hair out of it's braid, JJ barely had time to leap out of the way and roll clear before the others were blown off their feet by the tornado spinning with a vicious fury beneath the android, and were sent crashing into the bleachers.

"Access Captain Atom."

Kid Flash let out a yelp as a blast took out the ground at his feet just mere seconds before he cleared across the court. For protective measure, JJ pulled a shield around her, the blue dome gleaming. The android was relentless, a one-man army coming after them with the mercilessness of an entire battalion and the arsenal of limitless abilities.

"Access Black Canary."

The air pulsed with a high-frequency shockwave that sent Kid Flash flying backwards from the force generated. JJ lowered her dome just before he could hit it, and brought it back up again around the both of them. The android stated more commands, lashing out against Superboy's attack from its flank and knocking him away as if he were nothing more than a fly on his sleeve, and evading Robin's grenade-blades with Martian Manhunter's armada of alien abilities. JJ pushed her forcefield wider, forcing it to cover both Superboy and Robin as the android's arms extended into long ropes that rained devastation onto the bleachers, smashing through the rows. The ground shook, and one of the android's extended arms slammed down on the top of JJ's force field with enough force to make the ground tremble. Horror clawed at her chest as it flickered and threatened to give, but she held on, teeth gritted in determination.

"Nice," Robin said, grinning up at JJ.

Only when the arm retracted did JJ let her forcefield go. One more tap would've shattered it anyway. In an instant, Kid Flash shot right towards the android, but before he could land a hit, it caught him, and threatened to crush his spine in Superman's vice grip. Kid Flash thrashed and writhed, but it wouldn't let go. Out of the blue, something whistled through the air, and just moments before it struck the android, it called upon Martian Manhunter's ability to phase, and let the arrow pass through. It struck the ground beside Robin and JJ. Chancing upon this moment, Kid Flash slipped through the android's grasp and sped away.

Superboy ran up behind the android, charging with intent to smash into him like a battering ram, but the android only accessed Black Canary's combat abilities and flipped Superboy over its shoulder using his own momentum, sending Superboy flying right into the bleachers.

The android moved as though to attack Superboy again, but was stopped in its tracks as Robin hurtled more explosive blades at its head, seeking to distract him.

Red gleamed in the android's mechanical eyes as laser beams shot right at Robin. At the same moment Kid Flash tackled Robin out of the blast-zone, JJ called upon every combat lesson she'd received from Canary, and leapt at the android while it had its back turned to her. Latching onto its shoulders, JJ wrapped her arms around its metallic neck, and projected a forcefield around its head, encasing it in a blue sheen, sending the laser beam bouncing around the ball of energy, creating an asymmetric grid of red within the forcefield. JJ hissed in pain as the laser threatened to cut right through her forcefield, its heat searing through the barrier of energy. The laser beam struck the android in the face multiple times, sending it stumbling back from the force, but it didn't explode and disintegrate like JJ had hoped. As the android staggered, threatening to collapse from its lack of balance, JJ clung on tighter, as it tried shaking her off, digging her fingers into any groove she could find in its exterior.

"Access Martian Manhunter."

Ah, shit.

JJ felt the android phase right through her, escaping her hold. JJ fell to the ground, no longer having anything to hold onto, and flipped out of the way as the android solidified again and brought its foot down to smash her skull in. It kept advancing, and JJ kept giving up ground, helpless and fearing for her life. As her back hit the edge of the bleachers, JJ threw up a hand to project another forcefield, but the android seized JJ's arm and flung her across the court.

As though triggered by sheer survival and the eminence of another NDE, a forcefield shell formed around JJ, dissipating when she stopped short of smacking against the wall. JJ dropped right on top of Kid Flash and Robin with a quiet oof, as though the android had intended on discarding them there like a pile of fish. The two boys groaned under the sudden addition of JJ's weight.

"I'm way out of my depth here," JJ hissed. In her head, alarm bells were ringing non-stop, and JJ wanted nothing more than to be at home, in bed, watching bouldering competition videos on Youtube.

Kid Flash laughed, and then coughed, wincing in pain as he held his ribs. "Are you kidding me? You were awesome out there!"

"That was pretty smart, using his own thing against him," Robin mused. "But you mind getting off of me? I can't really breathe."

"Rude," JJ drawled, pushing herself off Robin and lowering herself to a crouch beside him. But she couldn't help the surge of pride that pricked her chest from their approval.

A feigned yawn from high up in the bleachers echoed in the room. JJ turned to glower at the man perched atop the bleachers, lounging with leonine arrogance, robot monkeys flanking him as though his loyal dogs.

"Normally, Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what's the point?" The man—Professor Ivo, JJ reminded herself—said, boredom painted over his expression, the moonlight pouring in through the window gilding him in a silver halo. "You're all such poor copies of the originals."

The monkeys chattered and JJ felt something hatred-hot and visceral stir in the depths of her chest. She despised that sound. After today, JJ never wanted to see another monkey ever again.

Superboy stood in the midst of the crater that he'd made when he landed in the bleachers. And even though they were at a clear disadvantage, even though the android could clearly beat them out, and had beaten them out, Superboy smirked.

"So everyone keeps saying." His smug exterior morphed into pure, unadulterated fury, lips pulling back into a feral snarl. "It makes me angry!" He leapt into the air, and JJ only realised what game he was playing when Ivo paled and jumped clear as Superboy landed in the spot he'd been sitting in, smashing the seat to smithereens. "Wanna see me channel that anger?!" Superboy roared, his voice reverberating around the gymnasium with a savage vehemence.

Kid Flash's eyes went wide. "Great, he's gone ballistic again."

Robin grinned, catching onto what Superboy was doing. "Maybe not..."

JJ lifted a brow. Maybe the Super-Temper had some brains after all.

"Amazo, protect your master!" Ivo yelled, panicking now. "Priority alpha."

Superboy launched himself at Ivo with a war cry, and only just missed him by a hair's breadth.

Amazo stated another command, and extended a hand towards Superboy. The palm of his hand glowed as the weapon charged up, before sending a blast right at Superboy, knocking him off his feet. But JJ had learnt that he had the skin durability of a Kryptonian, and would get back on his feet in no time.

JJ glowered at Ivo. "Let's speed this up a little. We need to kill this bitch so I can go home and shower."

"Woah, woah," Kid Flash said, eyes widening, "we don't kill here—"

"I will if we don't end this soon!" JJ snapped, not caring much for semantics. Or ethics, apparently, since she felt at the end of her tether already. She was tired and shaken and she wanted to sleep for five days straight. That was enough motivation for her to resort to murder.

Robin grabbed JJ's elbow. "You know what you said earlier today about all of us attacking the guy at once?"

It took only a second for JJ to understand. She nodded. "Machine overload."

Robin smirked. "Lets test that theory."

JJ couldn't help but mirror the smirk. There were many times she'd offered insight on strategy to her teammates on the climbing team, but her climbing team had refused to acknowledge it, even though she was right and they would greatly benefit from her advice. Now... it was nice, having her ideas recognised like this. For the first time, she felt seen and listened to.

"Anyone wanna play keep-away?" Robin called just as the robot monkeys clamped onto Ivo, but just as they were about to take off, Robin slammed into him, kicking Ivo clear of the monkeys, which let their master go.

"Oh! Me! Me!" Kid Flash yelled across the court, zipping across the court.

"Access Superman," Amazo commanded, and brought his foot down again, sending out a shockwave that tunnelled through the ground, cracking the floorboards and sending Kid Flash flying into the bleachers for the thousandth time tonight. The quiet whisper of Robin's explosive blades slicing through the air was barely heard over the chaos, but Amazo called on Martian Manhunter's abilities again and glitched out, letting the blades phase through him. Just before Amazo solidified into corporeality again, Superman put his fist right through the android's head.

Clawing for purchase on the ground as he struggled to crawl away, murmuring under his breath, Ivo was failing spectacularly at being inconspicuous. Lip curling in disgust at such a pathetic sight, JJ stomped her foot down on his back, sending him face-planting on the ground, startling a cry from him.

Feeling particularly sadistic tonight, JJ kicked Ivo over, drawing an anguished cry from him before wrenching him up by the collar and throwing him to the ground. Since he wasn't a big man—perhaps no taller than herself and possibly lighter—he weighed practically nothing to her. JJ didn't consider herself a violent person by choice. Before last month, she'd never engaged in any form of combat, ever. Her parents hadn't even taught her how to throw a proper punch. She'd figured that out by herself through common sense. But tonight was different. As Ivo let out another pained grunt, JJ realised another thing about herself: she couldn't find much mercy within herself regarding people who put hitches in her plans. And Ivo's antics had forced her to miss a climbing session. The extra kick she sent to his solar plexus was completely necessary.

Without taking her foot off Ivo, preventing him from getting back up, JJ turned back to the heat of the battle.

Heart pounding, JJ pulled up another forcefield around the android's head, encasing it in a dome of blue energy. Electricity crackled around Superboy's fist as Amazo regained his solid form, forming around Superboy's arm. With trembling arms, JJ held her forcefield as the android's head exploded within it, knocking both JJ and Superboy away.

With a great clang, the headless android toppled over, and the forcefield fizzed out, smoke pouring from the hole between its shoulders. Lifeless. Defeated. Destroyed.

Silence hammered against the walls of the gymnasium.

"Help me disassemble him now!" Robin commanded, sprinting towards the fallen android. JJ scrambled to her feet to lend a hand.

"Dude, the guy has no head," Kid Flash said, holding his injured arm.

"Don't take any chances." The door burst open, slamming against the walls with a resonant thunk, as Aqualad ran into the room with M'gann flying on his tail. M'gan immediately flew over to Superboy's side, landing beside him, worry etched over her features as she assessed the damage.

"Superboy, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Superboy said, a smile softening his hardened features, bleeding the anger out of his expression. He looked at Robin, who was busy disassembling the android. "Feeling the aster."

"Hey!" Kid Flash said, interrupting the moment. "Where's Ivo?"

JJ glanced around the gymnasium, which was empty except for the Team.

"Ah, for fuck's sake," she growled, more irritable now that the actual bad guy had escaped her clutches. Now, she wouldn't be able to have her revenge on him for taking up her time away from rock climbing training. There would be no satisfaction until she could see him rot in jail. "Must've gotten away when Terminator blew up."

✷

BACK AT MOUNT JUSTICE, JJ stood with the Team in the mission briefing room. A bunch of screens were projected over them, containing statistics and diagnostics of their performance. Apparently, JJ had even been included in the report, with all of her contributions documented. Still, she hung back, standing apart from the others as they stood together to present their mission before the adults.

"The Amazo Android is in pieces again," Aqualad said, "safely being analysed at the two separate STAR Labs. But Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech, he's arguably more dangerous than the android."

"Capturing the professor will be a league priority," Canary said.

"But we understand your mission encountered other... complications," said Martian Manhunter, crossing his arms over his chest.

In unison, everyone seemed to glance at Superboy, who cast his gaze downward.

Batman stepped forward. "Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the league."

"The whole league?" Superboy asked, brows pinching together, and JJ heard the tinge of hope in his voice, and his expression, once an uprising, was now reminiscent of someone who was desperately searching for something to hold onto.

Batman held Superboy's gaze for a moment. "Given time, yes. Kryptonians, as you know, have very hard heads."

"So this is all about Superman?" JJ hissed, nudging Robin, who merely shrugged.

"Of course, there is no shame in asking for help," Batman continued, "That's why the league exists, because there are some problems even we can't handle individually."

"Please," Robin scoffed, "if we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask." From his pockets, he procured the arrow that'd been shot seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of battle with Amazo. Robin's expression cinched together in what JJ best explained as a cross between annoyed, desperate and pissed off. "Look familiar? You were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!"

JJ glanced at Green Arrow, who stepped forward to pluck the arrow from Robin's hands. Honestly, JJ didn't have much issue with the League backing them. Or even hovering, like Robin claimed. If anything went wrong, they'd have the safety net of the big guns to take over. But JJ understood that it was about proving themselves to the adults, that they weren't just sidekicks. That they weren't just children who were playing games bigger than themselves, walking into destruction without knowing what they were up against. Because they wanted to prove that they were capable.

"We didn't follow you," Batman stated simply, his expression deadpan.

Green Arrow pulled one of his arrows from his quiver, holding up both arrows—which were visibly different in make—for the Team to see.

Robin's fight deflated, leaving behind only confusion. "And that's not your arrow." Realisation struck him then. "But that means—"

"Speedy!" Kid Flash exclaimed, beaming.

"He has our backs," Aqualad said, a touched smile glossing his lips.

Kid Flash darted towards the adults and snatched the arrow out of Green Arrow's hands. "Souvenir!"

JJ gravitated towards Canary. "Hey, D."

"I honestly can't wait to tell Liv what you did. I'm really proud of you, kid. You did good out there. What'd I tell you?" Canary smiled, throwing an arm around JJ's shoulders and tugging her into her side. "So? What'd you think? You gonna stay?"

Biting her bottom lip as she surveyed the others, who gathered around Kid Flash, JJ thought about her initial decision. Before the battle with Amazo, she'd already made her call. She was going to walk. But after... something had changed. Since Ivo had gotten away, she'd left the mission dissatisfied. She needed another do-over, another chance to redeem herself for letting the Professor slip away when she had him just moments before. JJ glanced at Robin, who met her indecipherable stare with a grin. He was probably the first person on any team she'd been on who'd ever listened to her opinion, even though they didn't know each other at all. And he had zero obligation to care about her wellbeing on the field. But he had, and JJ didn't know what to think anymore.

Letting out an exhale, JJ cocked her head, craning her neck to meet Canary's curious gaze. "I don't know yet. But I think I'll give this Team another shot. See how I feel after the next mission."

Canary hummed, and patted JJ's arm. "Sure. Have a think about it. By the way, Liv made strawberry shortcake. The Japanese kind. She insists that we need to try some. You want any?"

JJ pulled a face. "I don't know how to tell her that eating this much sugar is so unhealthy."

Shaking her head, Canary chuckled. "C'mon, you just completed a high-risk mission. You deserve to have a treat."

"Fine," JJ said, rolling her eyes, "just a little piece."

An awkward cough, as though someone was trying to politely clear their throat, caught Canary's attention, and JJ turned to face Superboy, who nodded at her in acknowledgement. There was none of the initial hostility from when they'd first met, and JJ, though her expression was carefully blank, nodded back before stepping aside to let Superboy speak to her mentor.

Severed from company, JJ crossed her arms over her chest. She felt the exhaustion now, eating at her bones, and she ached for the shower and her warm bed.

"I'm really happy you're staying," M'gann said, sidling up to JJ, a bright grin on her face. When JJ narrowed her eyes, M'gann put her hands up in defence, eyes widening. "Oh! No, no, I didn't read your mind. I just overheard you talking to Canary! I didn't mean to, I swear!"

JJ hummed. "It's okay. Next time, just be less weird about it."

M'gann blushed.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

believe me when i say wally and jj are boutta recreate this scene at some point

anywhore! thots!!!!