CHAPTER 102

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[David Lance POV]

Soon after Batman gave us the mission, we embarked on Miss Martian's ship to Santa Prisca in order to figure out what was going on there. On the way, I gave the team a few directives to follow in order to optimize our performance.

I also asked Miss Martian to establish a telepathic connection between all of us so that we could communicate more effectively.

Within a few minutes or so after our departure from the base, we arrived at the island, where we equipped our camouflage equipment, leaving the ship in the middle of a safe location in stealth mode.

As I exited the ship, the first thing that struck me was the eerie silence. There were no birds chirping, not even the sound of insects. It was almost as if the place was dead; taking that into account, I gave the team a nod as we proceeded cautiously, letting them know that we might be walking into a trap.

-Do you guys hear that?- Superboy asked as he came to a halt, looking to his right.

I shook my head; as good as my hearing was, Superboy's hearing was better. -Superhearing. Very well then, Kid Flash switch to infrared and see if we are being followed. Robin, try to see if you can catch any radio signals around.-

They both nodded.

-There's an armed squad a few hundred meters away down south,- Kid Flash said, using his goggles to locate the enemy.

-There's another squad coming in the opposite direction,- Superboy added as he squinted his eyes ahead. -They'll meet each other before they meet us.-

-There are a few radio signals around, all encrypted,- Robin chimed in. -I can't fully connect to them, but based on what I see, I think it is safe to assume there's more than one group in here. The question is, are they allies?-

Unlikely. Bane wasn't a villain to think too much out of his comfort zone, at least in this iteration of him.

Here was a villain, but above all, a drug lord. And if there was something all drug lords hated, was their cash flow stopping, so the chances of Bane stopping all shipments were highly improbable, especially considering that a freeze of this level would hurt his professional reputation.

Suddenly, as I dwelled on that thought, we heard the sound of gunfire and explosions starting in the distance.

-What do we do?- Miss Martian asked.

-We figure out what happened here,- I replied, turning to Superboy and Aqualad, who were both behind me. -Superboy, Aqualad, you two are coming with me. Robin, Kid Flash, you two scan the area for any other groups approaching the place, don't stray too far from the group; your priority is not to be noticed, so keep a low profile. Raven, Miss Martian, you two will provide Kid Flash and Robin with aerial support.-

The team nodded, and so, we parted ways, each one having their task to complete.

Without a word, Superboy, Aqualad, and I made our way toward the gunfire rushing through the dark forest as silently as possible. As we got closer, we could see the two groups fighting and shooting at each other; with a simple glance, I recognized one of the groups as part of Bane's men, the other group two a few extra seconds to recognize, but part of their uniform gave their identity away.

The Cult of Kobra.

A pseudo-religious criminal organization that is to blame for some of the worst terrorist acts of the decade. Its members, called Kobra Cultists, worship their leader Kobra as a living god; normally, their cultists wear deep red robes with hoods with attached fang imitating masks hiding their faces.

-It seems Bane is having a war with the Cult of Kobra,- I said, already coming to a few conclusions, and possible reasons as to why the Cult was attacking Bane.

-Why would the cult attack Santa Prisca? It's unlike them to things like this,- Aqualad said as he analyzed the situation.

-When in doubt, pick one or all of the following, money, power, or revenge,- I replied, my eyes fixed on the scene ahead. -If the Cult's actions prior to this are anything to go by, this must be a struggle for power.-

-But why now? Why not sooner?- Superboy asked.

-My guess is that they've been planning this for a while, and were waiting for the right opportunity,- I replied. Then again, the date and reason behind this move were quite possibly minor factors when dealing with the logic of a villain with a God complex, like Kobra was.

-So, what's the plan?- Superboy asked.

-We need to stop them,- I replied, reaching for my belt to pull a few explosive knives out of it. -We need more information before proceeding with our mission, and if we allow this war to continue, we will get none. Dead men tell no tales.-

Both Superboy and Aqualad nodded.

-Superboy, you take care of cultists,- I said before turning to Aqualad. -Aqualad, you're with me.-

And with that, we rushed into the fray, jumping out of the darkness of the forest, efficiently taking down both groups one by one. The two groups had been so focused on each other that they had barely noticed us as we moved through them like a hot knife through butter, allowing us to take down more than half of their numbers before they realized what was happening.

"Shoot them!" Bane roared, aiming at me with an assault rifle. It seems he didn't have his precious drug to enhance himself, meaning that this would be easy.

Weaving through the shower of bullets, I threw a knife at Bane's rifle, exploding his weapon before he could take another shot, the explosion causing him to crash against a tree behind him. Giving him no time to recover, I rushed toward him, grabbing his arm as he tried to attack me, slamming him face first into the tree before kneeing him in the back right down the middle.

At this, he doubled over in pain, and I used that opportunity to hit him over the head with the hilt of one of my knives, knocking him unconscious. With Bane out of the picture, I turned around to check on my teammates, only to see that Superboy and Aqualad had already incapacitated the rest of the soldiers.

-Tie them up,- I instructed, taking a deep breath as I turned my gaze back to Bane. -Everyone, regroup at our location as soon as possible.- With Bane captured, there was no need to scout for other sources of information; after all, if there was someone that knew about what was happening in Santa Prisca, that was Bane.