"SIMULATION OVER."

My eyes immediately shot open, which was my first mistake. Harsh light burst across my vision, causing a groan to leave my mouth as I shakily rose a hand to cover my eyes. I rolled over, feeling a hard surface beneath me and assuming that I had just fallen off of my bed in the middle of the night. There was suddenly a small gust of wind, my stomach lurched, and then my body slammed roughly into the ground.

Second mistake.

"And there's the floor," I muttered as I put my hands under me and slightly pushed my head up. I was greeted by heavy black boots and a matching cape swirling between the two muscular legs. I almost groaned in frustration. We had to stop meeting like this.

"You've gotta be kidding me, Bats," I groaned as stood up, using the table I was apparently previously laying on for support. My head felt light and legs shaky; throat dry and eyes narrow as I glared at the Caped Crusader.

In a vain attempt to regain my balance, I slowly began to take in my surroundings. I was in the main room of the base, leaning on what looked like a smoothed cement block about four feet high and six feet in length. Around me stood Bats, Green Girl's dad or whatever (mental note: find out who he actually was) and Squidkid.

The room was silent, the only sound being the humming of the generators in the background. I suddenly froze, realization striking. Sure, my arms were shaky, but they didn't hurt. Come to think of it, none of my body was actually in pain. And wasn't I just fighting a bunch of guys? And wasn't I just in my pajamas? And wasn't I just busy, you know, shooting my fake ex-partner?

Just as the question began to form on my tongue (and perhaps it was better that it had been stopped, seeing it was probably going to be something along the lines of "what the hell did you do to me, you bat-brained son of a bitch?") a voice appeared in my head. And I usually have a lot of voices going on inside my headー you would all know, since one of the many is currently being used to tell this story to youー but this was a voice that I definitely did not conjure up on my own.

It was deep, modulated, and so monotonously soothing that it almost made me momentarily forget that someone was invading my mind. Almost.

"Please, do not be alarmed. It was simply a test."

I stumbled away from the cement block, clutching my head. I looked up at the three men and noticed that Megan's brother (still don't know who he is!) was staring back at me with glowing green eyes.

"You!" I shouted accusingly, one hand leaving my head as I pointed a finger at him, "get out of my head! That's just... it's just... I could technically sue you for that!"

"And I could technically throw you in jail because you have a body count of fifty-four."

I turned to the new voiceー which was out loud this timeー and sneered at Bats.

"Oh, shut it, Rich Kid. Who even gave you consent to pull this stunt anyway?"

"You did."

I scoffed. "No way! I would neverー"

I was cut off when suddenly the Martian Man stepped forward, eyes once again glowing green.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you'reー!"

* * *

"Let me get this straight. You want me to actually just let you knock me unconscious, invade my mind and all of my secrets, then put me through some crazy test which you have complete control over, all while I'm just supposed to trust that you won't do something.. Batman-ish when I'm asleep?"

I stared at the man expectantly, hands on my hips and an eyebrow raised. His face was unchanging as he spoke a gravelly, "Yes."

A short chuckle of disbelief left my lips. "You're crazy! You would never agree to that in a million years, so why should I?"

Squidkid finally spoke up from next to him. "Blackout, this is simply an opportunity for us to study your reactions to a crisis. The rest of the team, including me, were all put through similar tests as well. Martian Manhunter has also promised not to delve further than any information necessary for the simulation."

"Information necessary for the simulation," I mocked, air-quoting his words. "Puh-lease! Knowing the World's Broodiest Detective over here, 'necessary information' basically includes my entire autobiography and every weakness I've ever had."

"You have my word that I will not invade your privacy any more than I must. What you wish to be hidden will continue to do so unless you decide otherwise," the Martian added.

I rolled my eyes. "No offense or anything, but your word means nothing to me."

A small scowl creased his brow before Squidkid spoke again. "If you do not wish to perform the test now, I understand. I, too, was scared before the first simulation. Although I must warn you, until it is completed you will not be allowed on missions with the team."

I sneered again.

"You're lucky I like you, Squidkid. Or else that pathetic attempt at reverse psychology would so not have worked."

"So you agree to the simulation?"

"Sure, whatever. If it gets you idiots off my backーhit me with your worst."

* * *

I blinked twice, coming back to the real world as the flashback shut off in my mind.

"So.. you're telling me that you woke me up at 5:30 in the morning, nearly killed me, then proceeded to make me shoot my own ex-partner all for a test?"

When there was no answer, I frowned, stepping forward with another accusing finger pointed towards the trio. "That is manipulative, evil, immoral, and downright cruel."

Again, silence.

"You know, I think I'd be a lot more pissed.. if I wasn't so impressed! I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but well done, Bats. That's the kind of work I'd expect from a Gotham Kid, unlike all of your usual 'justice not vengeance' garbage."

"I'm glad you liked it," he said flatly, almost seeming upset that he didn't get more of a reaction out of me. Less reason to punish me, I suppose.

I rolled my eyes again. "Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I'm starving. Any chance you'd let me take the Batmobile to get a burger? "

As he walked past me, I could've sworn I heard a scoff, which I assumed was Bat-language for "over my dead body."

"Nice to be on a team with you, too!" I called as I watched the ends of his cape disappear down the hall. After another moment I turned back around, only to find Squidkid staring at me and the Martian nowhere to be seen.

"Alright... anyways, what do you people do around here for fun? If you even have that."

"It depends," he began as we started to walk towards the living quarters, "most of the team have lives outside of the base, although Miss Martian, as well as Superboy, live here full-time. We typicallyー"

He was suddenly cut short by a bright yellow streak whizzing by us.

"Watch it!" I called after it as I flailed my arms, rapidly attempting to brush the wind-blown hair from my face back to its normal wavy stance.

Not much later there was an almost-inhuman roar as a shirtless Superboy with a crappily-drawn mustache on his face suddenly rounded the corner, bounding in the direction the yellow streak had gone.

I had finally finished spitting out the last piece of hair, brushing it away from my face with a dignified huff. I looked up to Squidkid with an expectant eyebrow raised, but couldn't keep the amusement from tugging at the corner of my lip. He held my gaze for another moment before sighing frustratedly.

"I will be back."

A short chuckle left my throat as I watched him turn around and trudge very un-Squidkid-like down the hallway in search of the crashing heard from somewhere in the base. I cocked my head to the side. Maybe this whole "hero" thing wouldn't be a complete bust.

I turned around, prepared to walk back the way we came when I suddenly crashed into a face. I stumbled backward, clutching my nose with a steady stream of curses falling from my lips. A figure suddenly fell from the ceiling in a heap of red and black.

My body tensed, fists balled as I was already half-way to a fighting stance when the heap on the floor suddenly groaned.

"Okay, that was so not asterous."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, looking up and seeing the thin black grappling line that the figure was previously hanging off of. I glanced back down. The pale features of none other than the Boy Blunder greeted me as he flipped back to his feet.

I didn't hesitate to land a hard punch on his shoulder.

"Hey!" the boy cried, voice cracking slightly.

The annoyance in my body outweighed the urge to make fun of him for that, but don't you worry, I never forget something embarrassing I can potentially use for blackmail later.

"What the hell, Birdbrain?" I glared at him. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I can dream," he muttered, rubbing his shoulder.

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms. "What do you want?"

A cheeky smirk rose on his lips as he copied my stance. I inwardly frownedー any trace of his previous, well, blunder, washed away by his suddenly cool facade. Two could play at that game.

"Just wanted to see how you were adjusting to the team, you know, making sure you weren't going around shooting your allies or whatever."

Anger flared inside of me and I had to resist the immediate reaction of reaching for my gun. Taking a deep breath, I shifted my weight back onto one foot, raising my eyebrows amusedly. "What, jealous I actually passed?"

He scoffed. "I'd hardly call shooting your ex-partner, 'passing.'"

"Oh please, I bet you probably curled up in a corner and cried for Daddy Bats to come and save you during your simulation."

His smirk faltered, and mine grew in turn. The wall finally starts to crumble.

And then suddenly the cocky look was back, along with a snicker which rang in my ears as his next words were spoken.

"Hate to break it to you, Brielle, but no one had to take that test but you."