Catgirl: Young Justice BOOK 3 (ON-HOLD)

CHAPTER 21

|Mount Justice
|February 28 2016, 10:07

"Decryption completed. Translation completed.", the computer Nightwing was working at echoed.

Felix glanced up from his catnip-laced martini, watching as the new Robin approached with that green kid- Beastboy, maybe?

"Is that the Krolotean intel?", Robin asked.

"No.", Felix was quick to sarcastically reply, "I'm standing here for fun."

Beastboy turned to Robin, asking, "What Krolotean intel?" Clearly, the older members of the team weren't keeping all the younger ones in the loop.

Before Felix could think of anything to say to Beastboy, Nightwing explained, "Calico had a data file sent over containing information about Malina Island before it was destroyed, by Calico."

"Huh...noted.", Beastboy said, taking a step back from Calico.

Nightwing continued, "Apparently the Kroloteans were snatching humans to use as guinea pigs."

Felix shrugged, "Checks out." He knocked back the rest of his martini, handing the empty glass to Nightwing before pushing him out the way to take over the computer. "Looks like they were trying to find something inside us."

"What?", Robin asked.

Nightwing hesitated, "There's...there isn't an English word for it."

"Metagene.", Felix dubbed it.

Robin raised a brow under his mask, questioning, "What's a metagene?"

Beastboy elbowed him, grinning, "Never met a Jean I didn't like.."

Calico chuckled at the pun, about to give his best guess when the holographic screen infront of him disappeared and the computer alerted, "Warning: unknown energy impulse detected."

Judging by the reactions of the others, Felix managed to guess this wasn't just a drill, it was real. He knew it wasn't any of his guys, and if it was one of the heroes' then the impulse wouldn't have been unknown. Reluctantly, he stepped back from the electric-like ball forming next to them. Even if it was a villain, it was in Felix's best interest to side with the heroes- if he wanted to get out of here with Katherine sooner rather than later.

Nightwing stood infront of the younger heroes protectively, motioning for them to stay behind him. None of them knew what to do when the electric-like ball revealed a giant metal pod, which dropped to the ground, smoking. The lock on the door of the pod clicked open. Nightwing ordered, "Stand ready.", as he pulled out his escrima sticks.

Felix, for obvious reasons, was unarmed, so he backed up behind the others, waiting to see who or what they'd be up against.

As the door of the pod swung open, two red gloved hands searched their way through the thick smoke from inside. Then what Felix immediately recognised as one of Flash's jumped out into the clear, but none of the heroes got out of their fighting stances.

"Ta-daa!", The unknown boy exclaimed. Judging by the rest of his appearance, he couldn't have been much older than Robin or Beastboy.

"Intruder alert.", The computer reconfirmed this was not one of the heroes, "Intruder alert."

"Computer, lock down cave.", Nightwing commanded.

Felix chuckled at how tense he was. "Well you found that unknown energy impulse.", he said, slowly lowering one of Nightwing's sticks. The kid clearly wasn't a threat to anyone here.

"Impulse?" The kid took less than a second to think about it before deciding, "That's so crash! Catchy, dramatic, one word-", he sped off to the group, confirming he was infact a speedster, "-like Nightwing, and Robin, and Calico, and Beastboy- except, that's two words-" Even Felix with his own superspeed and hearing couldn't keep up with what the kid said next until, "Hey, is he here too? Nevermind. Impulse can find it out for himself."