Tunnel

Thursday 22nd July 2010, 21:30.

Caribbean Sea,

Santa Prisca.

Narrowing his eyes, Esau kept his gaze focused on following Bane the entire way through the forest, never once looking away lest he misses any sign of deception. The walk had been entirely silent, no one sure on what to do or say with a known criminal in their midst, not willing to let slip any information that could potentially be used against them. Either way, Esau had been making sure to keep Bane under constant scrutiny, waiting and hoping for Bane to prove him right and betray them or lead them into a trap, just for the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."

Yes, he was being petty.

'I almost want him to lead us into a trap.' Esau thought to himself as they broke through some thick foliage and out onto the cliff overlooking a factory. 'These sidekicks could do with a serious kick up the ass.'

Making sure to keep Bane in his sights, Esau slowly moved forward keeping himself in the shade e of the tree that the rest of the team was hiding under to spare a quick glance at the factory below. Just as they had expected, the Kobra Cult has assumed control of the production of Venom, but while they might have been stockpiling Venom, it had not been for themselves as initially expected.

That fact alone changed the mission entirely.

Venom from what he had seen, read and been told was sold in small doses to small-time criminals across the world to increase demand. It wasn't overly powerful in those small doses, just enough to give anyone who took it the strength to overturn cars with ease and at least appear superhuman. The downside was that it only lasted for a short time and most importantly, was highly addictive much like most drugs, increasing the demand for it a hundredfold.

It was a smart operation, even Esau could admit that.

But whereas Bane operated for profit, the Kobra Cult was running things differently.

Bane had a constant stream of Venom coming out to match the demand by using small doses.

The Kobra Cult on the other hand seemed to be selling Venom in large shipments which was a cause for concern.

The reason Venom wasn't as well-known to the public or used by common criminals on the streets was that it was so expensive to get ahold of. Esau had only a limited experience with the substance thanks to a few instances of men and women in his old apartment complex managing to secure themselves a vial or two.

The only positive that would come from Kobra Cults' new business system was that there would be fewer criminals able to get ahold of Venom in the rare instances they did. However, it also meant that those richest enough to get their hands on Venom would be able to make themselves and their servants much more powerful and dangerous. Though, thinking upon it further, it did narrow down the list of those that could purchase that much Venom by quite a large margin, another positive, if it was only a small one.

"Look at all that product." Robin whispered as he looked through his binoculars. "A buy is definitely going down. But if Kobra's not selling to the usual clients, then who?"

But as the others began whispering amongst themselves, Bane took that moment to move away from the group, yet it was far from subtle. It was a very obvious movement and one that made no attempt to be stealthy, and yet, most of the team were so focused on studying what was going on below to notice. However, Esau was at least pleased to see that Superboy of all people, had picked up on Bane's movements, the two turning watch where was going.

"We need to identify that buyer." Aqualad stated, rising to his full height as he looked to Esau, only to see that he and Superboy were watching Bane closely.

"Just what I was thinking." Kid Flash muttered.

Robin smirked, seeing the perfect opportunity to respond only for Batgirl to shake her head.

There were a few moments where he considered going through with it anyway but eventually decided against it.

That was when they heard the sound of rocks moving followed by grunting, each of them turning to see Bane moving a rock. The overall weight of the rock alone should be over half a ton and it was a testament to his own strength that he managed to move it with only some minor difficulty. He in fact lifted it cleanly off the ground before dropping it to one side, revealing a tunnel.

Dusting his hands off, Bane turned to Esau and waved one hand to the tunnel. "Answers, are this way." Saying nothing, Esau indicated with his head for Bane to get moving and he did so, Esau and the team following behind him.

"So, el luchador is our leader now." Kid Flash snarked and Esau ignored the obvious dig, instead keeping silent as they walked down the tunnel. Yet, while outwardly he was quiet all to ensure he didn't reveal any information to Bane, he knew other ways to communicate with the team.

{"Miss Martian."} It was a wild guess to see if she could hear him, but he didn't want to give any outward sign that could tip Bane off. As much as he disliked the idea of working with Bane and he still did now, he couldn't deny that it did have some uses. Bane especially could prove to be extremely useful.

There was a long pause of silence in which Esau tried a few more times before he eventually got an answer. {"Maelstrom?"}

{"Good, you heard me."} Esau released an internal sigh of relief, with a link established between him and Miss Martian, it would make his job much easier. {"Can you link the whole team up?"}

{"Eh, yeah, but I was told to only read the bad guys' minds."} She admitted.

{"Don't worry about that, I need you to establish a link and I'll take the blame for it. I am technically the leader so you have to do what I say so if they're annoyed by it, that's your excuse."} Esau explained and while still unsure, Miss Martian gave a mental nod, he couldn't see it but he could tell she had done so. {"Now, link us up."}

{"Right."} A few moments later, Esau heard her voice once more. {"It's done."}

{"W-what?"} There was a few other mutters of confusion over the link, but before any of them could do or say anything to tip off Bane, Esau took control.

{"I've asked Miss Martian to establish a psychic link between us, it'll allow us to communicate mentally,"} Esau explained. {"Some of you may be confused as to why or dislike the idea entirely. However, I don't trust Bane nor is he in charge. I have no doubts that at the first chance he gets, he will betray us and I'm not going to let that happen. So, we're going to use Miss Martian as a way to communicate without revealing our plans to Bane. You may not like it however, I'd rather the minor discomfort of the idea of someone else, someone I trust being in my mind purely for secure communication than allowing a known criminal to betray and possibly get us killed. If you have complaints, save them until after the mission is complete, is that understood?"}

There was no answer, no sounds to show discontent, but he could just tell some didn't like it.

Whatever Miss Martian had done to connect their minds in this way, allowed him to at least feel their discontent with this whole thing. Not everyone was however, some were accepting and even welcoming of the idea, if a little begrudgingly in some people's cases.

{"So, what's the plan?"} Batgirl asked and Esau took a few moments to think it over.

{"Kid Flash, Robin, you've been at each other's throats the entirety of this mission. Keep bickering to keep Bane thinking we are just inexperienced children. Let him think that, the rest of us, we're going to wait. I have no doubt Bane will do something to blow our cover and force us to fight alongside him."}

{"And what makes you think he'll do that?"} Robin asked.

Esau frowned slightly. {"Because it's what I would have done."} There was silence over the link as the others took in what he had said and he could just feel that most did not like the reminder of who he used to be.