NOW!
“Awwww!” Miss Martian said, floating closer to the pair, her eyes almost unnaturally large.
Seeing the soft look in Kon’s eyes as he watched the scene, Kara knew she had won. Kori would side with her and Aqualad felt indebted for the equipment she provided, he wouldn’t deny a favor, that only left Kid Flash and Robin. It was four against two even if they refused.
“Please,” Robin said, staring at the rabbits with wide eyes. “Please tell me those aren’t what I think they are.”
“What?” Kid Flash asked.
“That’s really not aster! It’s the opposite of aster!” the boy wonder complained. Being Batman’s sidekick —even if he disliked the title— allowed him to connect the dots faster than anyone else. “I forbid it, Batman forbids it, the League forbids it!”
“Dude, calm down,” Kid Flash gave his friend an odd look.
Floating by Aqualad’s side, Kori seemed to understand her end goal. “Kara, you know you did not need to do this,” her girlfriend said, coming closer and hugging her. “We will be moving in a few days and you made sure the new habitation was entirely impregnable, yes?”
“Sorry, it just wouldn’t leave my mind,” she gave the girl a sheepish smile.
“It seems I’m missing something here,” Aqualad said, coming closer to look at the rabbits. “Why are those creatures so important?”
“Look up, solar lamps are in the ceiling instead of the normal ones and she just gave us these lanterns, lanterns specifically made to affect someone like her,” Robin said. “She’s also a mad scientist and Superboy said she was experimenting with kryptonian genetics to help his other clone.”
“Oh,” the team leader said, taking a far more serious look at the cute animals. “What exactly did you do to those rabbits?”
“Nothing much. Just gave them kryptonian powers,” Kara said smoothly. “I’ll give you guys the data I have, but they are much weaker than an adult kryptonian, if you make sure to depower them for an hour every day, they shouldn’t grow stronger than an Atlantean. Also, their horns will make it so they won’t be able to damage anything they’re touching, not beyond what a normal rabbit can at least.”
The rabbits could still eat after all.
“Somehow, that’s not exactly reassuring,” Aqualad commented, watching as Miss Martian took one out of the cage and the other followed after, floating.
“Well, I guess the question is if they’re gonna start breeding,” Kid Flash joked. “I don’t think the world is ready for a plague of super-rabbits.”
“No, the problem is who she’s gonna empower next,” Robin said with dread.
“... She wouldn’t,” Kid Flash said, realization hitting him.
“She had to test on something else first,” Robin said, looking at Kara with horror. “She’s gonna use it on the beast.”
“You… you ARE evil,” Kid Flash said, his entire body shivering.
“Come on, Dexter isn’t that bad,” Kara protested.
For a second, every Titan but Kori stared at her, disbelief in their faces, even Miss Martian, already holding one of the rabbits to her chest and slowly petting it.
“If I may ask a question,” Aqualad said, hesitantly. “For how long can a Kryptonian hold their breath?”
“In good health? Indefinitely,” Kara said, unable to help being amused.
“... I was afraid of that,” Aqualad sighed and continued in a lower voice. “I will need to warn my King.”
Snatching the second animal from the air, Kara held it up, pink nose turned towards the Titan’s leader. “So, will you refuse them? Leave the sisters homeless or condemned to the cold, empty halls of the Fortress of Solitude? After all the equipment I supplied you?”
Aqualad’s eyes darted every which way, but even he couldn’t ignore Miss Martian’s eager gaze or the rabbit’s cuteness, getting a nod from Kon and Kori, he sighed. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“YES!” Miss Martian shouted.
Letting the rest of the Titans get acclimated to their new pets, Kara approached Kon and sat beside him on a rock. “How is Im-El doing?”
“Confused,” her younger cousin said, leaning against the rock she was sitting on and crossing his arms while staring at the girls playing with the animals. “... He’s having problems with CADMUS indoctrination and the learning program you used.”
“Ugh, I had Dubbilex check him for mental commands, but we didn’t want to intrude more. I hoped they hadn’t progressed with his indoctrination since there weren’t any hidden orders.”
“Can you ask Dubbilex for help again? I talked with M’gann but she’s not skilled enough to help him.”
“Of course, but I think M’gann’s uncle would be better here. Dubbilex is good and, with the other Genomorphs, he can be impressive, but the Martian Manhunter should have far more experience.”
“Alright, I’ll see if she can get his help.”
“You could talk with Kal, he works with the Martian too,” Kara commented. Turning to look at the boy, she waited until he started to move to go join the others and asked. “By the way, have you asked her out yet?”
Kon’s feet slid and he had to grab the rock for support, his fingers digging into the gravel and leaving five small holes as he regained his balance and glared at her. “I… ah…”
“Come on, you’re cute together,” Kara teased with a smile. “I wasn’t gonna start teasing until later, but you’re much better adjusted than I thought you’d be by now so it’s fair game now.”
Kara’s phone rang before he could give her an answer, interrupting their conversation. Kon shook his head and grumbled, but went to join the Titans.
For a second, Kara just watched the group, smiling as Kori gave her a wave and tried to call her over. Instead, she lifted the ringing phone and pointed to it, getting a nod from the girl.
Finally, she activated the sound blocker on her costume and lost her smile, answering the phone with a serious voice. “Bobo.”
“Good news, I found them,” the chimp said, immediately causing Kara to squeeze the phone tighter. “Bad news, they’re ready to act, two days at most. Are you sure you don’t want the Super Friends involved? Or the junior squad?”
“I’ll warn them something is happening,” Kara said, looking at the Titans crowded around the horned rabbits. “But I’m ready. We’re more than enough.”
“Listen, ya sure you want to do this girl? I know you’re itching to have a go at the clown and Wotan, but some things you just can’t take back. You sure you’ll be able to look your cousin in the face after this? The Furry?”
That made her pause, Kal had understood her fight against Faust, but he REALLY didn’t approve of it, doing so again would stretch even his goodwill. She had made a lot of progress in their relationship, grown so much closer… Unable to help herself, Kara smiled.
“I don’t care about Batman. Well, I respect him, particularly now that he’s working on making improvements, but his opinion doesn’t affect me. As for my cousin… He’ll be disappointed, but it won’t change how he feels about me.”
She’d like more time, to scout out the location and make more contingencies, but she always wanted more time, she could never have too much. Still, she had made enough preparations.
“Well, at least they’re gonna be on watch in case they need to save our butts,” the chimp sighed. “Guess I’m not drinking tonight, can’t have a hangover on the job after all.”
Taking a deep breath, Kara stretched her neck and got up. “Some things just have to be done. I’m willing to go on trial later if Kal wants me to, it shouldn’t be that hard for you to avoid hitting the bottle for one day.”
“Heh, easy for you to say, not like there’s any idiot who would condemn you for it. I’ll call the others.”
Bobo quickly hung up, allowing Kara to turn off her sound filter, her smile returning. Later, she’d have to talk with Kori, she had promised not to fight without her, and she was going to keep it.
Caught up.
The Joker(spits on name) must die,and screw Batsy. Some THINGS don't deserve to live,Joker(spits on name),is one of those things.
Thanks for the chapter!
And if she does go to trial for killing some of those asses, I refuse to believe people won't riote or protest saying that she's done nothing wrong. And I also believe many will hail her as someone who is FINALLY getting rid of the villains the government refuses to kill.
The odd thing is, why doesn't the govt kill them? I get that in comics the bad guys need to loose at the end of each story line, and we need a good villain to drive the story so they survive. But real world they would either be dissected, 'suicide squad'ed or just plain executed for their list of crimes.
I'd imagine there would be daily protests outside of somewhere like arkum asylum with protestors claiming the politicians must be brought by the supervillains they refuse to kill.
The question I have is why would the JL hate Kara for rescuing Ivy without them? Is she not allowed to do hero work if super villains are involved? As long as she doesn't murder one of them in their sleep killing in self defence is acceptable morally and under law.
@Golanth it's a relatively new addition to the DC multiverse but there's a group of Gotham City elites called the Court of Owls, a group dating back to the foundation of the city, who control everything from behind the scenes. It's generally thought that due to their wealth coming from various industries like healthcare and insurance as well as other forms of organised crime, they directly benefit from allowing dangerous criminals to remain free.
@Ultrabenosaurus So yeah, daily protests, especially from the families of victims. Kara and other anti-heroes will probably get fan-mail from these people when they hit a certain infamy threshold, bounty requests too.
@Golanth oh yeah, in the multiverse with all the other heroes and international groups like the Justice League it doesn't make much sense, but within the scope of the Batman comics it fits.
Not sure if it was just the author's take on it in a fanfic or canon (can't find mention of it in the wikis) but I've seen one explanation that connects the Court of Owls with powerful, ancient curse magic. Essentially the original settlement that becomes Gotham City was built on an ancient Indian burial ground and the settlers figured out how to make use of the curse upon them, by sacrificing both innocent and criminal lives over the years to cement their reign from the shadows, which had the effect of spreading a "miasma" over the city that encourages evil. That fanfic even put the Joker as more of an entity manifested from the curse pervading the city, so killing the current Joker without dealing with the curse would just cause another Joker to appear soon after and everyone would treat them as the same person that somehow survived or something.
@Ultrabenosaurus Do you remember the name of that fic?