章 85: To Fail
"Miss Martian, Kid Flash, get here now!"
As the strange, monkey robots swarmed the truck, Esau unholstered his machine pistol, taking aim and firing on one of the monkeys purchased on top of the truck. They were durable, taking six bullets to take it down and with his extended clip, Esau was only able to take out five more before discarding his pistol with a click of his teeth.
"Change of plans." Esau ordered, Batgirl looking at him in shock at the strange order. "Our aim is to find out who is behind the robot and capture them. Batgirl, place trackers on the pieces and on the robots and get ready to pursue. KF, MM, you're with me, our job is to secure the safety of the drivers."
"What?!" Naturally, Wally was against this plan. "Our mission is to make sure that these guys don't get ahold of the robot. Not hand it over to them."
"This is my team and my mission." Esau was undeterred though. "I've given you your orders, follow them."
At that moment, Esau switched the bike to autopilot, Esau propping his feet up on the seat before jumping into the air and towards the speeding truck. His feet lashed out as he flipped, kicking two monkeys away as he landed on the roof of the truck with a roll, coming out into a crouch. One hand reached behind him and unclipped his extendable staff, Esau shooting to his feet and already in motion as he swung around at numerous approaching monkeys.
They were incredibly durable, each capable of taking numerous bullets before exploding.
However, Esau was capable of exerting enough force into each swing by targeting certain areas on their body that caused them to explode instantly.
"Aqualad." Bartgirl called over the radio, also switching her bike to battle mode as she threw a few Batarangs to an oncoming cluster of monkeys. "Our truck is coming under attack, yours?"
"...Ours is under attack as well." Aqualad affirmed, grunting over the line as he seemed to be fighting against something.
"Maelstrom has new orders." Batgirl continued, watching as Esau moved towards the front of the trucks, no doubt to ensure the safety of the driver. "We're to place trackers on the robots and the android pieces while securing the safety of the guards."
There was silence down the other end.
"...Understood."
"Batgirl." Esau called over the mind link. "I'm taking control of the truck, we can't let them drive us off the road with the guards still inside. You get in and get them out, knock them out with gas if you have to. But make sure that they're not perceived as a threat by the monkeys."
"On it." Doing as Esau had, Batgirl propped her feet onto the seat of her bike and jumped forwards, grappling gun aimed forwards and firing out, embedding into the back of the truck as it pulled her sharply towards it. Bracing her feet against the metal surface, Batgirl quickly flipped herself up, feet striking against a monkey that attempted to approach her from the rear where she landed on the roof.
There, she caught a short glimpse of Esau climbing into the front with the driver, the truck becoming much smoother and steadier, but her gaze focused upon the monkeys emitting lasers from their eyes that were cutting through the roof. They were nearly complete when Batgirl throw a handful of Batarangs that took them out.
Until the guards inside could be secured, Batgirl was not about to let those robots inside.
This was precisely when Miss Martian and Kid Flash arrived, the latter coming along with great speed moving over the side of the truck and destroying a number of monkeys. Miss Martian on the other hand took to the sky, her eyes glowing as she picked up five monkeys with her telekinesis and slammed them together causing them to explode. She then used the spare parts, pushing them at great speeds along the other side of the truck taking out a few more monkeys.
"Cover my back!" Batgirl called, pulling out a laser pen to finish the work that the monkeys had started, opening the hatch where she quickly ducked back to avoid being killed by the bullets that fired up. Rather than say anything to calm the guards though, Batgirl instead just pulled out a sleeping gas pellet from her utility belt and drop it inside, waiting a few moments before stepping back. "The guards inside are out cold. Entering inside to plant the trackers, MM, give me a few seconds more."
"Okay."
-X-
Tuesday 3rd July 2010, 20:45.
Connecticut,
Litchfield County.
Cruising along the highway at a steady pace, Aqualad turned his gaze from the truck he was following to his two teammates, Superboy and Robin. Despite having fewer members on their team, it was arguably the most powerful of the two, something Kaldur realised was the reason for the selection in the process.
Robin, in terms of pure skill, was one of the best on the whole team, arguably equal to Batgirl, slightly above himself and below Maelstrom. Even Kaldur struggled to imagine himself being able to match Robin in pure skill alone, let alone in his tactical and strategic capabilities. Then there was Superboy, the strongest and most durable member of the team on account of his Kryptonian physiology, but while lacking the skill of a fighter, more of a brawler than anything else, Superboy's power was too great for many to handle.
But with Wally's immaturity, M'gann's naivety and Esau's uncontrollable powers, Kaldur was worried about how unbalanced the teams were. Even with fewer members in his team, Kaldur had no doubt that this lineup was the strongest of the two. However, that didn't mean there weren't problems with his team because there was, one very large one in fact, Superboy.
His anger issues and inability to control said anger could and would cause many problems and considering Superboy's track record, Kaldur doubted that he'd be able to control it. Even more so with todays events, his rejection at the hands of Superman, which hadn't been difficult to figure out and then his humiliating defeat at the hands of Black Canary. It meant that Superboy was not in the best of moods, something all had picked up on and were incredibly wary about.
"If dislike is the opposite of like. Is disaster the opposite of aster?" Robin asked curiously, causing both Superboy and Aqualad to look at him in confusion, both wondering exactly why Robin was asking such a strange question. "See, instead of things going wrong, they go right." He explained with a shrug and Aqualad smiled in bemusement while Superboy looked away. "Eh, clearly you're not feeling the aster."
Seeing Superboy's disinterest and knowing what the problem was, Aqualad attempted to reach out to him with words. "You know, you can tell us what's wrong, Superboy. We are your friends."
There was silence from Superboy as if questioning whether he should answer or not. "...Canary." He eventually answered. "What business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?" The irritation in Superboy's voice was clear and both the sidekicks frowned at his words.
"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig." Robin clarified. "Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman, Batgirl, Maelstrom and well, me."
"Robins right." Aqualad continued. "I am not as strong as you, nor as fast or as durable. Yet I have learned not to rely on my superior physiology. Before choosing to become Aqualad, I was going to join the Atlantis Military, I was training to be a soldier. I learned to fight so that my powers didn't become my main source of strength, but instead, they are an aid."
Superboy was done listening however, revving his bike's engine, the clone accelerated forwards temporarily doing a wheelie as he did so. With a sigh, he had Robin also sped up to keep Superboy from getting too close to the truck.
"Aqualad, our truck is coming under attack, yours?" Batgirl said over the radio.
At that moment though, monkey-like robots burst from the cornfields and swarmed the truck right before them, Kaldur narrowing his eyes. "Ours is under attack as well." Aqualad affirmed as he pulled out one of his handles revealing it to be one of his Water-Bearers, a whip of water forming as he drew upon the chamber of water inside his bike. With a single strike, he lashed out taking out a number of monkeys that had been using their eyes to create a hole in the back of the truck.
"I hate monkeys." Superboy growled out, his earlier anger rising to unmanageable heights.
"Maelstrom has new orders." Batgirl continued.
"Robot monkeys." Robin on the other hand just laughed happily. "Totally Ivo's tweak style." With a quick press on the screen, Robin turned his bike into battle mode as did Aqualad who continuously used his water whips to take out the monkeys within his reach. "Hey ace, switch you're ride to battle mode."
As Kaldur listened to Batgirl, he also looked towards Superboy, trying to gauge his response to the situation at hand. "We're to place trackers on the robots and the android pieces while securing the safety of the guards." That made Kaldur pause though, temporarily not paying attention to what was going on around him as he tried to figure out why, but that proved to be a mistake.
Despite his words being loud and clear, Superboy was beyond the point of listening.
Ignoring Robin's words and what he could hear from Batgirl across the radio, Superboy focused everything on the monkeys he hated. "No point." Jumping off his bike, Superboy landed on the truck with a thump, causing the roof to dent slightly as he glared out upon the robots with every ounce of anger coursing through his body.
However, his bike no longer having a rider went out of control and Robin was unable to avoid it, but managed to jump off his own bike as it was taken out. Then, while suspended in the air, fired the grappling gun that pierced into the truck and pulled him towards it, the monkeys being cleared off by Aqualad who had swerved to avoid Superboy's bike just in time.
"...Understood." Kaldur eventually answered, frowning deeply at the sight unfolding before him. "Robin, you know what you have to do, right?"
Climbing up onto the top of the truck where Superboy was using his helmet as a bludgeoning weapon against the robots. "Yep, I got it." Robin replied, looking to see Aqualad speeding up to the side of the truck, clearing the sides as he went. "You secure the driver." Despite having words he'd like to say to Superboy, Robin decided against it as he recognised the look on the clone's face.
So, as Superboy began to tear through the robot monkeys, ignoring those clinging to his back, all the while Robin moved to start opening an entryway into the truck, relying on Superboy to cover his back. That didn't last very long though as two green lasers fired from the monkeys struck his eyes making Superboy recoil away with a cry of pain, completely exposed and vulnerable. The robot monkeys then swooped down and grabbing hold of Superboy's clothes, lifted him off the truck, he was helpless to stop them as they then released him and let Superboy drop to the ground, the distance between them quickly growing.
Though, as Robin quickly came under assault from the monkeys, forced to abandon his actions, he was pleased to note that it didn't keep Superboy down for long. However, the roar of anger that ripped across the landscape, he wondered if perhaps the clone had finally been pushed over the edge and the thought sent a chill down his spine.
That was the last thing they needed right now.
As his escrima sticks ripped through the air, Aqualad jumped up onto the front of the truck, a whip of water swinging out and giving Robin much-needed breathing room, Superboy then came crashing down upon them. His landing was unrestrained and powerful, almost upheaving the truck and Robin briefly felt himself floating helplessly in the air, the truck passing by underneath him rapidly.
He was just barely able to catch himself, one hand desperately gripping hold of the edge of the truck and ensuring he didn't land on the road that had rushed to meet him. The monkeys cutting into the hole that Robin had started making also shared the same fate, Superboy not letting this opportunity go, fists clenching and muscles tensing as he unleashed a plethora of powerful and destructive blows that caused them all to break apart.
"Superboy, Robin!" Aqualad shouted urgently as he grabbed ahold of the driver and leapt onto his bike. "Get off there!" For as he did, Kaldur had noticed the monkeys moving towards the tyres of the truck and firing upon them, each one bursting apart.
His call came too late though, Robin and Superboy were forced to react as best as they could, or Robin was, Superboy was beyond the point of listening at this point. In that fraction of a second, they had to react, Superboy continued to unload a plethora of blows upon the monkeys without care for his own personal safety or that of those around him, fist twisted into a vicious and terrifying visage of rage and anger.
Robin, on the other hand, managed to in just the nick of time, use his grip on the side of the truck to throw himself into the cornfield.
It was by no means graceful nor comfortable, but the landing at least provided him with some cushioning that saved him from any serious injury, though he was forced to lay there dazed for a few moments. His gaze was dizzy and his breath was raspy as the wind had been knocked out of him, Robin reached up to his face in a vain attempt to stop the pounding of his head.
He then slowly pushed himself to his feet, seeing the truck had flipped over and skidded to a halt, Aqualad a little further down the road having come to a halt, taking his helmet off. "Superboy, no!" Robin quickly turned back, seeing that he had missed the figure of Superboy crawling out of the truck along with two guards, the clone then leaping away, neither of them able to stop him in time.
"Where the hell's he going?" Robin asked as he came up to stand beside Aqualad.
Aqualad just frowned. "Aqualad to Superboy, radio your position."
"Don't need help, don't want any."
"Superboy?" Aqualad called a few more times but quickly realised that either Superboy had turned off his radio, or had discarded it altogether.
"Aqualad, what's happening?" Maelstrom demanded over the radio and Aqualad sighed, turning to Robn questioningly, only to receive a shrug in return.
"Superboy's gone rogue." There was a curse down the other end, neither Robin nor Aqualad feeling good about how things had unfolded. "Don't bother reaching out to him, he's discarded his radio." Aqualad added at the end, the silence that followed only made that feeling even worse, and Robin moved to crouch down beside one of the monkeys.
"And the trackers?"
"We didn't manage to plant one on the pieces." Robin was the one that answered as he pulled out a chord that he inserted into the back of the monkey. "But I'm hacking into one of them now, should hopefully have a location on where they're headed soon."
"We already know." Maelstrom's words made Robin pause, his and Aqualad's heads slumping as they realised how badly they had messed up on their end. "Gotham City, we're already on our way there now. KF should be able to rendezvous with you on the way there considering you're closer." Yet despite the good news, Robin felt his frown become more prominent, Aqualad clenching his fists tightly.
Their team had been the stronger of the two and Aqualad had shared his worries about such a distribution of their members, yet in the end, it was their team that had failed, not Maelstrom's.
They had been the ones to fail.
クリエイターの想い 
Carrots123
Carrots123 So, another chapter is done and I imagine a few of you by the title of the chapter imagined that Esau or the whole team would be the ones to fail. But nope, Esau succeeded, it was Aqualad, Robin and Superboy that failed because they just couldn't function as a team. At least Esau and his team pulled through and succeeded. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
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