Telepathic Game

Sentry flew into Mt Justice carrying a suitcase full of her clothes. Since she was the den mother, she had gotten a whole room to herself right there in the cave. Even if only one female was in the team of the young heroes, Miss Martian was high maintenance at the moment. Her telepathy was out of control and she was deeply unsure of herself and this all stemmed from her white Martian part of herself.

"Sentry, do you have a mission for us?" she was ambushed by the five eager teenagers before she could even enter. She then remembered that Mis Martian was 48 Earth years old so she was technically an full grown adult but due to the way Martian's grew and their long live spans, she was a teenager.

"I thought it was agreed that Batman would give you the missions," she told them, making them droop their shoulders simultaneously.

"That's what Red Tornado said to us," Kid Flash groaned. Sentry looked at their bored looks and came up with an idea.

"How would you like to go on a telepathic mission?" she asked them. This made them perk up in an instant.

"What's that?" Aqualad asked.

"Don't know, don't care. As long as it is a mission then we're in," Kid Flash excitedly said.

"Let me keep my suitcase in my room then we can start," she told them. They made way for her and seeing their reluctance, she decided to hurry it up so she used her superspeed, went to her room, arranged it the way she wanted then went to Red Tornado's picked him up and went back to the kids. To them, she was standing behind them with Red Tornado in just a fraction of a second. Everyone of them were surprised, Kid Flash was ecstatic. He always had fantasies about women and seeing how fast Sentry was, he just couldn't help but keep imagining how they would make a power couple.

"What is going on? What am I doing here?" Red Tornado asked, confused.

"Sorry about intruding your privacy, Red, but I wanted you to be present and since I didn't want to explain myself twice, you will be in the dark on this one," she apologized to the android. She then made a glowing box out of the air, surprising all of them.

"You can do magic?" Miss Martian asked in excitement. Aqualad had a frown, Robin was interested, Superboy was frowning even more probably wondering if Kryptonians can do this.

"Not magic, just molecular manipulation. I just made an entire city to fit inside this box. Inside, there is all kinds of things, from were wolves, giant crocodiles, giant predatory birds and finally, the big bad which is a giant. Take this like a dungeon in which you fight the scrubs in order to get to the big boss and finish the level," she told them. Everyone of the kids were shocked by this.

"Y...You can create life!" Robin asked the question in all their minds.

"It's quite easy, actually. My power molecular manipulation gives me the ability to manipulate and shape molecules into whatever I want. I can a universe inside of another universe, inside the universe! I can teem it with all kinds of life all with just my imagination," she answered them. Even Red Tornado was very much shocked by this news.

'Holy cow, if she ever becomes a threat then we can forget about defeating her! She can just make all kinds of things, weakness to all of us and use them against us!' Robin thought.

"Any way, the goal to this exercise is to see how good your team work is. Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash have been working with their mentors for some time and they have a basic idea of what to expect. So, I'ld tell you to follow their lead if I didn't know they would mess it up. You have to work as a team in order to beat the scrubs and get to the big bad boss and no amount of soloing will going to help you from a gruesome death," she warned them.

"Gruesome death?" Red Tornado asked in a higher tone.

"Yes, gruesome. But not to worry, all five of you will be in there psychically. Only your minds will wander in the box, with all your powers and effects. When one of you die, it is game over for the whole team and you have to start over again," she reassured all of them, making them sigh in relief. She made five reclining chairs and told them to sit on them.

"So, first order of business is to yank your consciousness from your heads and bring it into the box. When you die, all of you will be yanked back into your bodies and you will be punished by having a sharp migraine for half a minute before you are sent back in if you want. Red Tornado and I will be keeping an eye on you and see if you need any help and I will bring you all out if it appears you are in danger of having your minds broken. If any of you don't want to participate then it is your choice. Red Tornado can mayhaps give you another task to do," Sentry told them. All of them looked at Tornado and their eyes firmed in resolute. Here there were been given a chance to do a very cool team exercise mission while Red Tornado asked them to explore the entire cave if they were bored. It became instant that Sentry was the coolest Supervisor of the two.

"We'll do it," all five of them agreed at the same time. Sentry nodded and told them to sit. Once all five were comfortable, she reached into their minds, gently. Miss Martian was a little hesitant but sending her positive waves made her relax. Sentry then gently yanked their consciousness before making miniature versions of themselves in the box following what they perceive as themselves.

She had to admit that their wills were strong, especially Robin, so she did not have any trouble making them. Superboy version of himself was Superman and he was very adamant about that but she made him as he was. She then put their consciousness inside them while making sure they were tethered back to their real bodies.

'Alright, you can open your eyes now!' she told them psychically.

They all woke up at once. Miss Martian immediately looked at herself frantically only to see she looked the same. Robin was doing some warm ups to check her body while Kid Flash was doing some laps. Aqualad checked his mystic powers and sighed in relief when he found them while Superboy was trying to see if he had the complete Kryptonian powers to no avail. When everyone was done checking themselves out, they turned their attention to the surrounding.

"It's a post apocalyptic world!" Robin exclaimed. There were ruins of buildings all over from skyscrapers to two storeyed buildings. Cars husks were laying all around with vegetation taking over the empty city. They air look dirty with heavy red clouds covering the entire city.

'Exactly. Your goal is to fight against the mutated humans and animals till you reach the end boss. Good luck,' Sentry told them. As soon as her mental probe disappeared, they heard a screech that shook them to the bones. From a building, they saw a praying mantis the size of a truck peek out and its creepy eyes zeroed on them. It screeched once again, before lounging at them, breaking the building in the process.

....

"Is this dangerous?" Red Tornado asked Sentry while looking at the glowing blue box.

"No. This is to build their teamwork. The mentors of Robin and Kid Flash usually work alone. They must have projected that to their sidekicks so the two will most likely try to strike it on their own first. Batman's whole MO is to stick to the shadows. He has an unspoken language with Robin which the boy will most likely must have picked up. So he will expect the others to do the same," she analysed.

"You don't think they will pass the test?" Red Tornado asked.

"No," she answered resolutely. "I'll go bring a packet or two of aspirins."

She flew out of the cave, leaving Red Tornado looking at the box in fascination. Her hero suit disappeared, replaced by civilian clothes as she headed to Happy Harbor town. Landing in an inconspicuous alley while invisible, she walked out visible and headed to a drug store.

"Three bottles of aspirin, please," she told the attendant who nodded and picked three bottles off the shelf. He rang it and gave her the total which she paid up. She took the bottles and walked out of the store only to see a cyclone sweep past the street, a giant robot riding in the centre of it all.

'T.O. Morrow's lab assistant is already here,' she sighed to herself. She made a javelin made of light and threw it to the robot. The javelin travelled at light speed, blowing a giant hole between the robot's chest, destroying the android inside it. The cyclone stopped as the robot fell to the ground. She walked to it to confirm the kill before stretching her left arm towards it. From the hand, metal melting heat came out, reducing the robot and the android inside into a puddle of molten metal.

'Sure the robot would show them the kids they needed teamwork but they still lacked that when Batman gave them their first mission. With the training method I gave them, they will be a better team before Batman sent them to Santa Prisca,' she thought before flying back to the cave.

....

"How did they do?" Sentry asked Red Tornado while the two watched the five rubbing their temples painfully.

"This is their third exit," Red Tornado informed her. "They are terrible at this."

"They sure are, that's why we are here to help them," she told the android and went to the kids.

"Here, have some aspirins," she said, throwing Aqualad a bottle. The Atlantean quickly gave the pills to the five who gobbled them in like they were life saving medicine.

"What are we doing wrong?" Kid Flash asked in frustration.

"You and Robin keep going ahead. Superboy is a powder keg ready to blow and Miss Martian is too conservative," Aqualad answered them.

"Seems to me you need a leader to help you all straighten up," Sentry told them. "Who here seems like the perfect choice to lead you for the moment." The five looked at each other before Robin spoke up.

"Aqualad is probably the perfect choice," he said, reluctantly. His mentor was the defacto leader of the Justice League but he himself could admit that Aqualad was the perfect candidate to lead instead of him.

"Why is that?" Sentry questioned.

"Because I am too Batman. I work better alone and it will take sometime to come out of my comfort zone. Aqualad was the only one who tried to bring order to the chaos in there and so I think he is the better choice," Robin admitted.

"Knowing your weaknesses and accepting them is the first start to better teamwork. That's a good first attempt," Sentry congratulated the five, a warm smile on her face. "Now, Aqualad as the leader, all four of you must listen to his words because I have increased the migraine to one minute. Aqualad, as the leader the team's failure is your own. As that, your migraine will last to two minutes." All of them paled hearing this. Aqualad had to know that being a leader was not fresh roses and daisies. He had to accept the risks that came with the position and understand that the team's failure reflect in his capabilities as a leader so, a harsher punishment would befall him.

"You are teaching them life lessons," Red Tornado told her when the team was back inside.

"I am preparing them for the field. Out there, we might not be able to protect them but in here, we must equip them with all the tools they need to protect themselves," she answered him. Red Tornado nodded as he processed that information.