I slept as best as I could and while I couldn’t have called it restful, I was at least able to remain functional for what was to come.

We arrived at Gustin State Park in the early hours, with the skies still pink as the sun crept over the horizon.  Liv pulled the van into a gravel lot which lay before the wall of trees before us. I had to give Liv some credit that she had made good time to get to Central City, especially with the state of her van/home. She didn’t seem much worse for the wear considering the drive, but the clattering cans of empty energy drinks she had demolished on the way here were definitely going to catch up with her sooner or later.

We all stretched out the kinks from the ride, blinking in the light of the new day. Autumn, in particular, took in a deep breath and held it in her lungs for a moment before releasing it. In spite of the heartfelt conversation we had a few hours earlier, she really did seem better. More confident. As if a weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders.

She bounded out into the woods and, after a brief delay, a wolf padded out of the thicket of trees with a pile of Autumn’s clothes in its mouth.

I rocked back a step as I saw the scale of Autumn’s change. In addition to a new gender identity and a new species, Autumn had apparently hit a sizable growth spurt, as she was now closer to the size of a bear rather than a dog.

The others were impressed, but I was absolutely floored by the change. “Holy shit… Wolfspaw… when… when did you learn to do this?”

Autumn gave a canine shrug as she trudged over to the van and deposited her clothes back into the interior. She gave me a doggy grin and, in the blink of an eye…

She was gone.

Everyone gasped in amazement, myself included. Invisibility was a fantastic trick, though how she learned it through everyday lycanthropy raised all sorts of questions. Only after another scan of the surroundings did Autumn’s expanded abilities become apparent.

What I had first thought was an oddly colored rock, I now realized was Autumn, but now the size of a ladybug, while still remaining in the shape of a wolf. I knelt down in shock.

“HOLY CRAP, HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?!” I exclaimed, squinting my eyes with difficulty to see her.

She visibly winced, covering her ears with her paws.

“Oh… sorry,” I said, quieting down my voice, “I just… I didn’t know you could change size… just change into a wolf…”

She shifted sizes again, this time approximating the size of a standard dog. Maybe a little smaller. Autumn gave me a little doggy shrug which I took to mean that it was just something that she figured out. I assumed there was a larger story, but she didn’t currently have the vocal cords to express it and I wasn’t about to ask her to become a human without the benefit of clothes.

Autumn sniffed at the air, circling around, before yapping happily, wagging her tail.

“What’s that, girl? Timmy fell down a well?” I said with a smirk.

She snorted in a canine gesture of unamusement as she turned tail and padded off into the forest, stopping a few meters away to allow us to catch up.

“I think she wants us to follow her,” I said, hiking a thumb over my shoulder.

None of the other Senshi commented on the change of pronouns for Autumn, and I was grateful for that.

Liv pulled out her Jupiter stick as we began walking. “Uh… should we…?”

I nodded. “Yeah, probably…”

“MOON PRISM POWER!”

“MERCURY POWER!”

“VENUS POWER!”

“MARS POWER!”

“JUPITER POWER!”

“MAKE UP!!!”

All of us pulled out our trinkets and said the words. If transforming alone was the experience of being at the center of a storm, then doing it together was like a hurricane. I could feel the energies of all of the other Senshi taking shape around me and coalescing and hitting the peak until…

In a flash, we were all standing in our costumes.

Liv looked down at herself in awe. “Holy shit what a rush…”

“No kidding,” said Rita, a little flustered.

Maya was visibly blushing but remained silent.

Lani smirked. “Let’s go.”

I shivered. I had done the same group transformation with Nao and Homura back in Japan, feeling the sense of strength amplified as we stood together, but this sense of warmth and presence of the others was a stark reminder that this was our team. We were in this together and could draw comfort and strength from one another,

We followed Autumn’s lead as we stepped onto the trail, but a few minutes in, she pulled off the mulched path of the Lake Gustin nature trail and into the denser woods.

It was brisk, but the magic of our uniforms kept us warm. The sprawl of trees spread out in all directions, with the pink sky visible through the breaks in the canopy. It was verging on spring, but the buds of new leaves had yet to show themselves. Our feet (and paws) crunched over the frost that settled onto the forest floor of roots and soil. Our breaths caught in the chill air as we walked.

Liv, surprising me, slid back a little and gestured to me to follow suit. Hoping that she would be offering some kind of forgiveness for speaking without thinking in that alley, I slowed down.

“Uh…” she said, pursing her lips. “Okay… so… I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to come out and say it… I heard you and… Autumn… talking last night.”

I cringed, faltering a little in my steps. Liv was gay, or at the very least bisexual, so I hoped that she would be understanding… but she also tended to be brash and unpredictable too. I steeled myself.

“Relax,” she said, glancing at me from the corner of her eye, “It’s okay. I’ve got transgender friends. I shared a hospital room with a transgender woman while I was in for HIV treatment.”

I blinked. I dimly remembered Leslie/Livewire saying something about AIDS but I had assumed that it was just her fury. But she had talked about having a limited life expectancy, too.

“Look, you’re a chick if that’s what you want,” said Liv, holding up her hands. “Same with wolf-girl. I mean… I had no idea that you.... uh… used to be…”

“Eh… I’ll admit that I kind of cheated the game,” I said, gesturing to myself, “The brooch sort of gave me a fast-track transition. And sort of gave me the best possible outcome for my change.”

Liv thought for a moment. “Huh… nice.” She licked her lips. “So, I just… wanted you to know that I’m here for you, okay? And… I’m not going to judge anyone for just trying to live…” her gaze hardened for a moment, “Same from you?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. We’re a team. And I take that seriously. And I’m sorry about yesterday… I’ll do better. I promise.”

“Cool,” said Liv, offering a fist. I pounded it and it seemed to settle the issue.

Liv peered around her, breathing deep. “Huh…” she grunted, “Not going to lie… this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Never really liked nature hikes and shit all that much, but I gotta admit, this is alright…”

“You’re drawing energy from the area,” I said, trying to stifle a yawn. “You’re in your element.”

“Huh?” asked Liv, blinking, “What do you mean? Aren’t I electricity powered or whatever?”

“Jupiter, in Japanese, is called Mokusei or the Planet of Trees,” I said carefully, “So, in addition to your electrical powers, you get power over plant life and trees. Sailor Jupiter can call on flowers and trees to attack in addition to electricity. Also, when you are in your element, you’ll recover power more easily. I’ve noticed the same thing when I fight in the light of the moon.” 

“Huh…” frowned Lani as they slowed down to join in our conversation, “So if I fight in the rain or in the ocean or snow or something, I’ll get more power?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “Or at the very least, you’ll recover strength faster.”

“Now hold the fuck up,” said Rita indignantly, “Where does that leave me? I got love powers… where do I get to recharge or whatever? A wedding? A whorehouse? What?”

“I… honestly don’t know,” I said helplessly, throwing up my arms, “Sorry… I could ask the Japanese Venus for you, if that helps.”

“Those Sailor Bitches need to get their asses over here,” she grunted, “I got some words for them, because this is some fucking bullshit.”

Maya nervously slid up to me. “Wait…” she asked quietly, “Does this mean I would have to fight in a fire? That sounds dangerous…”

“Mars has the power of both fire and spirit, I think,” I said, scratching my head, “I think Sailor Mars can draw power from flames, but also from fighting around her home shrine. Or maybe graveyards. I would imagine, you would have an advantage fighting in a… uh… mosque or something?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I could possibly get away with dressing like this…” she gestured to her outfit, “At any mosque I’ve ever been to.”

“Their loss,” said Liv, winking at Maya.

Maya blushed and turned away.

Barking ahead alerted us to something, so I doubled my pace to catch up with Autumn. She looked up at me knowingly and slowed her pace, panting slightly.

In the distance of the woods, I could hear voices. And as I followed the sound, I was able to spot figures as well. We cautiously and slowly drew closer.

The voices grew a little more distinct as a very cool and composed female voice seemed to be in a disagreement with a younger, agitated, masculine voice. As I got closer, I saw that the voices belonged to a pair of figures standing opposed to one another.

Both of them were noticeably green.

One of them was a tall, imposing woman with fiery red hair and a figure that was improbable to say the least. She was wearing tight pants and a dark green leather jacket which contrasted with her verdant, bright green skin. I knew her instantly, as any citizen of Gotham City would. Poison Ivy, the mistress of plants herself. Easily one of the most powerful supervillainesses of Gotham.

Her unlikely conversational partner was a smaller boy, also with green skin, and short-cropped dark hair, wearing a woven hemp jacket which seemed to be vibrating slightly as he shook with fury. His teeth showed a visibly prominent pair of fangs which he bared as he spat back at Ivy. It took a moment, but I eventually recognized the boy as a member of the Teen Titans, Beast Boy.

“No, absolutely not,” he said, his pubescent voice unwavering as he stood before Ivy, “I don’t care what you do on your own time, but if I’m here, then we do this right. We clear out the building before destroying it.”

“Right,” deadpanned Ivy, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear distractedly, “Because we want STAR Labs to be able to get plenty of time to sic their dogs on us after we politely ask their permission to destroy their shit... do you hear yourself?!”

“People will get hurt otherwise,” snapped back Beast Boy, “Innocent people.”

“Right, because that’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of people who willingly work for a planet-blighting conglomerate. Innocent…” she snapped her fingers impatiently, “Oh wait, no… that’s not the right word. Oh yeah,” she sneered, “the word was complicit.”

Beast Boy let out a growl that sounded nothing close to human. The trees surrounding Ivy rippled noticeably. For a fraction of a second, everything stilled but the tension vaporized immediately as a high-pitched scream erupted from behind the two of them.

“OH! MY! GAWD!~” shrieked a nasal voice as a figure pushed past Beast Boy heedlessly and all but sprinted towards us. I drew back a step, ready for a fight, but was surprised to receive a bone-cracking hug instead.

“OHMYGAWDOHMYGAWDOHMYGAWDOHMYGAWD!~” she shrieked into my ear, still compressing my ribcage, “HOLY FUCKING SHIT, IT’S YOU!”

“Urk…” I croaked, unable to say much else until the woman finally released me. My eyes nearly dropped out of my skull when I realized who had just tackle-hugged me.

She was a smaller woman than Ivy, but more imposing in spite of her smaller stature. Her toned, stark, pale body contrasted with her blonde, twin pigtails that were colored a cotton-candy color of pink and blue on each side. Her eyeshadow matched the color scheme as her eyes were wide in barely contained glee, her hands pressed together and resting against her mouth and barely concealing her ruby red lips in a wide, manic smile. Her red and black top and bottoms did very little to cover her flesh for the cold, but she wore a dark leather jacket in acknowledgement of the morning chill.

I knew who she was… again, as any citizen of Gotham would. It was reasonably well-known that she was working with Poison Ivy nowadays, but everyone knew her as the former right-hand-woman of the Joker, himself. Harley Quinn. The other most dangerous woman in Gotham.

Whatever terror she inspired in me was immediately quashed as she made a strange squeeing noise as she looked me up and down.

“HOLY SHIT, IVY, LOOK! IT’S HER! HOLY FUCK!” said Harley, jumping up and down. “IT’S SAILOR MOON! OH MY GOD IVY!”

“Uh hi?” I said waving uncertainly.

The two others approached cautiously. Ivy watched me and the other Senshi with the dangerous look of a predator. Beast Boy, by comparison, only looked surprised.

“Hey,” said Ivy smoothly, “What are you all doing here? I mean, I’m glad that Harley here can meet her childhood icon and everything, but I need an explanation.”

Autumn barked and Beast Boy looked down at her curiously. “Oh!” he said, turning to Ivy, “Wolfspaw said that these girls are here to help out.”

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” squealed Harley, shaking Ivy by the arm, “OH MY GAWD, IVY! I’M TEAMING UP WITH SAILOR MOON AND THE SAILOR SCOUTS! DID YOU HEAR?!”

Ivy, visibly unmoved, continued to look us over. “Well… I’m not going to say no, but I should ask how you got roped into this.”

“Wolfspaw is an old friend,” I said, patting her head. “We’ve been together since their first wolfbite. Granted…” I raised an eyebrow. “That was before they were able to change sizes.”

“Oh!” said Beast Boy, raising a hand, “I taught him-”

Autumn let out a brief bark and Beast Boy stopped. He looked at her in shock for a moment, but nodded.

“Sorry… I taught her how to do that,” Beast Boy continued, “Lycanthropy is sort of a magic thing and with a little help from my girl Raven, we figured out that Wolfspaw can become a wolf based on her conception of a wolf. There’s some flexibility in the magic. So if her idea of a wolf is the size of a bus, then that’s how big she is. Or if her idea of a wolf is the size of a lima bean, well.”

“How big… or small, I guess, can she get?” I asked curiously.

“Uh… I think we got her to the size of like… an elephant once?” said Beast Boy, looking down on her.

Autumn nodded and yipped in agreement.

“And she can get seriously tiny. Microscopic, even,” said Beast Boy, rubbing her head, which she clearly enjoyed.

“Okay…” said Ivy, clapping her hands for attention, “So… first off, hi, I’m Ivy. That’s my girlfriend, Harley…”

Girlfriend? I thought to myself. I wasn’t about to judge or anything, but I had to admit that it caught me off guard.

“You probably get this a lot, but I’m a huge fan of your work,” said Harley gleefully, “Like… I’ve bought… well, not bought, but pirated all of your episodes!”

“Uh, not to rain on your parade, Miss Quinn,” I said hesitantly, “but I should probably mention that I’m not the original Sailor Moon exactly… I’m-”

“Naw naw,” she said, talking over me, “I get it! I caught you on that podcast,” She looked at me solemnly, which was even scarier for her than the manic glee, “That was some real great stuff you said, Miss Moon. All about feminism and inspiring others and all that stuff. And as far as I care, you’re the real Sailor Moon, okay?”

In spite of coming from a woman with a criminal record that beggared imagination, I was honestly touched by her words.

“T-thank you,” I said, smiling, “That… actually means a lot to me.” I swallowed down the lump in my throat and turned back to Ivy and Beast Boy. “Uh… right, so I heard your conversation, or at least part of it.”

“The kid wants to let all the STAR Labs goons escape and warn their boss before we take the place down,” said Ivy, glaring at Beast Boy in irritation. “Rather than just nuking the place and going home before they know what hit them.”

“You can’t just slaughter all those innocent people!” shot back Beast Boy, “You’d be no better than them!”

“Hold up!” I interjected. 

To their credit, they fell silent, turning their attention on me. I didn’t know how to feel about my sudden authority, but I wasn’t about to let it waver when it mattered. 

“So, let’s outline the situation a bit here:” I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts together. “We have three real issues in play: one is, as Beast Boy mentioned, the employees at STAR Labs. We need to get them out of the building in a way that doesn’t alert Flash or his cronies. Secondly, we need a way to get rid of the toxic chemicals in a way that doesn’t make the situation worse. And lastly, we need to cripple their operations to ensure that they can’t easily make more.” I opened my eyes, scanning my audience. “Does that all sound right?”

I was shocked to see all eyes on me. Even the wild Harley and the stoic Ivy seemed visibly impressed with me. Trying not to let the attention go to my head, I continued to speak. 

“Uh… so let’s talk about the first point,” I continued, not quite meeting anyone’s gaze too long, for fear of losing my train of thought or getting nervous, “We need to clear the building in a way that doesn’t set off suspicion.”

Ivy raised a hand. “If I can get to the air circulation, I can fill the whole building with sleep spores to knock them out.”

“Okay,” I said, trying to keep from shuddering at the scale of her power. “But then we have to work to get all of those unconscious employees out of harm’s way. That’ll take time and if the whole facility goes dark for too long, then it’ll set off alarm bells. Anything else?”

Maya raised a hand, which surprised me, but I looked at her expectantly. “What… what if there is a fire? People would have to leave to get it put out.”

Harley clapped her hands in excitement and, after digging through her jacket, pulled out a pair of bottles stuffed with rags. “On it!” she chirped. She turned to leave before Ivy grabbed her arm.

“That… might work better,” I said, thinking carefully, “The problem is that we would need the fire to be controlled but dangerous enough to clear out the whole building. And a fire might draw Flash and company here, too.”

“What about… a gas leak?” said Lani, raising their hand as well, “They’d have to clear out the building… but it should be innocuous enough not to draw any capes.”

I nodded, “Okay, that’s perfect…” I turned to Ivy, “Can you use your plants to mimic the smell of natural gas?”

“Hee hee,” snorted Harley, “Gas.”

“Yeah,” said Ivy, nodding, “Sure…”

 “But we need someone on the inside to spin the narrative…” I reached behind me and pulled out my phone.

 Liv suddenly looked very upset by this as she pointed an accusing finger at me.

“HOLY FUCK!” she shouted, “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?”

“I pulled it out of my pocket?” I said absently, realizing that I had a text.

“What pocket?!” said Liv indignantly as she patted down her skirt. “This shitty thing doesn’t have any pockets!”

“The bow above your ass,” said Rita, rolling her eyes. “Reach into it. Some kind of magic pocket that holds all the shit you have on you when you transform.”

Liv reached behind herself and seemed surprised to find the bow afforded her the space. With some careful searching, her face lit up as she brought out a pack of smokes and a lighter. “Oh thank fuck…” she sighed, opening the box and putting a cigarette in her mouth, “Holy shit, I was afraid I’d have to quit.” She flicked her lighter but was unable to draw a flame. “Damn it!” she hissed.

“Here,” said Maya, offering a hand and creating a small flame on the edge of her index finger. Gratefully, Liv leaned forward and lit her cigarette on Maya’s flame. 

“Thanks, cutie,” she said with a smile. Maya, in turn, became beet red and turned away.

“Ooooh… I like this reboot,” said Harley, dreamily as she watched the two of them.

While I would normally be upset at the sight of Sailor Jupiter smoking like a chimney, I was mostly absorbed in the text that had been sent to me from Riley.

I’m right in front of the building, but I’m going to need a hell of an excuse to show up here unexpected

I began typing out a response.

Tell them that you’re here to investigate a gas leak. We’re getting some of our friends to stink up the air quality a little. Once we clear the building, we can really get to work.

Riley sent a quick reply.

Okay, that works. The facility is going to have digital security… I think I can hack the video feeds, but there are still the doors and keycards that are hardwired. 

I thought for a moment. What about an electrical surge? Would the doors unlock if the system was overloaded? Otherwise it would be a fire code violation or something...

I mean... sure... responded Riley, But do you have something to generate that much electricity?

Sailor Jupiter literally commands thunderbolts. We'll be fine.

That works. I'll message you when the cameras are down.

I sighed in relief as the plan was beginning to take shape. I looked up from my phone. “I have an inside man who can help us sell the gas leak story and get the cameras taken down. So, once we’ve got the building cleared and cover our entrance, we’ll need to neutralize the chemicals.”

“I can create a plant to metabolize the chemical into something more harmless,” said Ivy. “But if I’m going to be busy fumigating the complex, then I need one of you to deliver one of my plants to the chemical vats.”

“You can do that?” I asked, in awe.

Harley squeezed Ivy. “Yeah! Ivy’s a super-smart biochemist!”

Ivy shrugged as she scooped up a bit of greenery from the forest floor into her hands. “It’ll take me a little bit, but I can whip something up.”

“Right,” I said, nodding, "Jupiter, we need you to disrupt the power system. Just overload the wires with your electricity. If the power starts fritzing out we should be able to get into the secure areas without a keycard or blowing off the doors."

"Yeah... I think I can do that," Liv replied, "Livewire showed me how to override a vending machine once... same thing, right?"

I uncertainly shrugged. “Okay, so the last step… we need to make sure that they can’t do this anymore. I think our friend on the inside can wipe the servers… and if not, we can use Jupiter to amp up her power and fry all of their electronics. But they’re still going to have machines…so…” I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I think we may need to… do a… controlled demolition of the chemical production facility…”

“OH MY GAWD, SAILOR MOON IS ASKING ME TO BLOW SHIT UP! THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!” Harley squealed.

“Uh…” I looked at Harley nervously, “Miss Quinn… while I appreciate your enthusiasm… this needs to be handled carefully.” I looked to Beast Boy. “Could you and Wolfspaw turn big and flatten the facility?”

“Yeah…” said Beast Boy, nodding. Autumn yapped happily. 

“Okay,” I said, nodding, “so that covers all the bases. Remember, everyone, we need to do this quickly and efficiently. We should have the element of surprise for a little bit, but once a giant wolf or a giant green dinosaur starts rampaging around, all bets are off.”

“So, we need to split up into teams here,” I indicated Ivy and Liv, “Jupiter, Ivy, you two will be on the roof to gas out the building and fry the electrical systems, if necessary.”

“Mercury… Mars… Harley…” I winced as I saw the look of glee in her eyes as I said her name, “You’re with me.” 

Harley was too unpredictable to leave to her own devices, and I hoped that my presence would limit some of her more destructive tendencies. “As soon as we get into the building, we find the production areas and plant Ivy’s chemical extraction solution into the vats. Probably want to get it into the soil, too, just to keep it away from the groundwater.” 

“Use this on the vats. I’ll get another one ready for the groundwater.” Ivy handed me a thick seed roughly the size of a baseball. “Keep my Harley safe, moon girl,” she said sharply, “If anything happens to her, I’ll be using your remains to fertilize my azaleas.”

 “I will,” I said solemnly, “And thank you for your trust.”

Ivy raised an eyebrow at that. “Uh… sure?” Clearly she wasn’t used to being trusted. Or people being okay with plant-centered threats.

“Lastly, Beast Boy, Wolfspaw, Venus… you’re on the destruction team. As soon as we’ve cleared out, you smash the whole facility to rubble. Leave nothing standing,” I said sternly.

Beast Boy and Autumn gave growls of excitement while Venus removed her chain belt and wrapped it around her fist. “Alright,” she nodded. 

“And remember…” I said, “we leave as soon as the job is done. We don’t let them get a good look at us through the chaos and we don’t stay long enough for Flash or his goons to catch us in the act. Got it?”

They nodded. It was strange seeing them listen to me so readily. I was surprised at how easily I had assembled a plan, but it really wasn’t that different from any other superhero throwdown. This was the kind of planning we did when I was in high school, for both superhero antics and storming the dungeons in D&D. It was just about breaking down the problem into its component parts and brainstorming.

Only this time, instead of rolling twenty sided dice or foiling a bank robbery, I was facing a multinational conglomerate with the powers of a moon goddess. Slightly more complicated.

I texted the plan to Riley who seemed on board. He said that he could knock out the cameras long enough for Ivy and Jupiter to get into position, but not long enough to take them out permanently. So it would be up to Jupiter to take out the electronics in the long term.

Jupiter said that she’d seen enough of what Livewire could do and had practiced enough with her power that she’d be able to fry the surrounding cameras and short-circuit the building’s power system once people were cleared out. 

We had everything we needed to succeed, but I knew all too well that no plan would survive first contact with the enemy.

We walked further through the forest to approach the facility and the closer we got, the more visible the damage of STAR Labs was. There was the faint, metallic scent of something unpleasant in the air. The trees surrounding us became fewer and fewer, and the ones that remained were sickly, with patchy bark and feeble limbs. Green plantlife was becoming rarer up to the point of nonexistent and a number of dead and rotting animal carcasses were visible on our journey. Until finally, once we caught sight of the facility, I saw the full extent of the damage.

All grass around the complex was dead, leaving nothing but a stretch of mud. Smokestacks were venting something into the air. The complex itself was a sprawling, uneven concrete and steel sprawl, with a small pond attached to it. Even from here, the water looked dark and unpleasant as something was being dumped into it through an array of pipes. Surrounding it was a tall barbed wire fence and cameras at its perimeter.

Ivy looked quietly furious, and I saw that what few trees still surrounded us had suddenly twisted and begun to sprout thorns bursting from their bark in response to her anger.

Beast Boy spat in disgust, wrinkling his nose. Autumn whined, scampering back slightly.

I stared at the blatant environmental cruelty for a solid minute before speaking. “There’s no excuse for this…” I said, my voice hard, “I don’t care about technological progress or jobs or profits… there’s no excuse for this… we end this… here and now… Whatever we have to do and whoever we have to fight this ends.”

“Agreed,” hissed Ivy through gritted teeth.

Maya shook her head. “I don’t understand… how could they do something like this? Why hasn’t anyone else stopped them?”

Beast Boy stepped up, crossing his arms over his chest. “When I told Nightwing and Cyborg, they didn’t believe me. When I showed them the pictures, they said it wasn’t our fight. Because we’re willing to fight any villain or criminal imaginable… except for one of our own. We’re so convinced that we’re the heroes that we can’t consider the idea that any of us might be in the wrong or mistaken.” He grimaced. “I might lose my membership in the Titans over this. The big boys told me not to get involved. But…” He shook his head. “How could anyone look at this and not get involved? How can they call themselves heroes?”

“Because heroes,” said Lani, intoning the word with some disdain, “don’t do things like this. And rather than realizing that they’re becoming villains, they continue to make excuses why they’re still the good guys. All the little wanna-be gods in spandex just clutch their pearls, wring their hands and shuffle their feet.” They gestured to the scene of decay. “This isn’t unique. This isn’t a fluke. Banks still defraud their customers, politicians still take from the governed and big business continues to treat their workers like garbage. The League hasn’t changed that and haven’t stopped them.”

“Because it’s not about right or wrong,” sighed Rita, shaking her head. “It’s about keeping the status quo in place.”

“Fuckers,” spat Liv.

“Let’s smash 'em,” sneered Harley, cracking her knuckles excitedly.

I nodded resolutely. Everything that needed to be said had been said better by others.

My phone buzzed again, informing me that Riley had covered the security cameras to allow us access into the building. Looking out to the others, I pointed to the complex.

“Okay, so the cameras are out… but if we get any closer to the complex, we risk being spotted by anyone peeking out the windows,” I said, “Beast Boy… turn into something big and flying and get Wolfspaw, Harley and Ivy over the fence and on top of the building.”

I turned to the senshi. “As for us… I have an idea… everyone grab one another’s hands.” I reached out for them.

Warily, the others joined me in holding hands in a circle, all of them waiting for me to explain. I nodded, crouching down and trying to tug the others down to follow me. “We all leap at the same time. Our combined force alongside the moon-gravity we operate under should be enough to carry us to the complex in a high arc. Nobody will be looking high enough to spot us.”

“Uh…” intoned Lani, frowning, “Are you sure? This sounds like it could go badly… like… either we fall short or our little moon jump carries us so high we risk breaking legs when we land.”

“Well… we could use your powers and Mars’s to adjust our vectors on the fly. Thrust from fire and water blasts,” I said, scratching my head. “Sort of like a moon-lander, type situation, I guess. Jupiter would be able to give us a softer landing with her plant powers, too.”

“I still don’t know how to do that,” snapped Liv impatiently, “I literally didn’t know I had plant powers until today.”

“Hey, at least you have powers that can actually help here,” grumbled Rita.

“Okay! Everyone on three,” I insisted, trying to manage the wandering attention spans of my teammates. I bounced slightly on my knees, counting along. “One… Two…. THREE!”

I jumped and everyone did the same alongside me. 

It wasn’t perfect, I could tell that immediately. We drifted west as the uneven power of our jump carried us higher into the air. The speed of our ascent was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It was a hell of a view from the top of our collective leap, seeing the horizons filled with forests and the sun shining over it all. Obviously, like a spreading rot, I could see the growing boundaries of the chemical seepage into the land around us. It was impossible to miss from up here.

Lani was able to use a jet of water to nudge us on course at the apex of our jump… but unfortunately, the extra force also caused us to clump up and as we began our descent, we did so as more of a senshi-ball than a cohesive unit.

I screamed as the concrete roof of the building rose up to meet us, but thankfully, we landed in a soft mass of flowers rather than bone-breaking cement. They exploded in a wave of pink petals in all directions as we collided with them.

“Nice work, Jupiter,” I breathed, trying to untangle myself from the others with mixed success. I was forced to blow a petal out of my vision. “I knew you could do it.”

“That was me,” said Ivy’s voice, amused as she stood over us. Harley, Autumn and Beast Boy (currently in the form of a pterodactyl) watched us struggle as well. “Wouldn’t have been much use to us if you’d gotten pancaked.”

“Next time we do this,” snarled Liv, shoving herself to her feet, “Can we avoid the literal rocket science and try something simpler?

“Seconded,” grunted Lani, wiggling out from under Rita.

“It worked, didn’t it?” I snapped impatiently. Though I agreed that we probably wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon. Drawing myself up, I began dividing up the team into their assignments.

Liv and Ivy would stay on the roof to mess with the air circulation and electrical systems. Ivy would simulate a gas leak to empty out the building and Liv would short the electrical systems so we could enter the building and get into secure areas without setting off any alarms.

Beast Boy, Autumn and Rita would move to the top of the chemical production area (clearly shown by the massive smokestacks putting god-knows-what into the air) and flatten it on our signal.

And the remaining members of our team, myself, Harley Quinn, Lani and Maya, would infiltrate the building and meet up with Riley on the inside.

In the back of my mind, the saying, ‘No plan survives first contact with the enemy’ arose. I could accept that, certainly. Improvisation is part of the superhero game, after all. But the larger issue for us was if we could survive first contact with the enemy. 

Taking a steadying breath, I led my team into the unknown.