Risk It All: Tells (ch. 18) (Patreon)

The League of Shadows was after Koi, and given the message that Cheshire had given me, it was my Uncle's way of testing me. Again. My Uncle, who knew my secret identity as Koi. However, given the evidence we had, it seemed unlikely that he told them that Ren Song was Koi, which also explained why the League of Shadows had no clue that Beifong was also me.

However, expecting that to remain true was a lot of trust to place into the hands of a guy that had tried to kidnap me. Which is why we didn't.

"This place feels weird," I noted , looking at the small building located in the suburb of Happy Harbor. A three-bedroom, three-bathroom house -- single story -- that was painted dark blue with white trimming. There was a lawn covered in green grass, a fence that blocked off the view from the back yard… in all, it was a house. A perfectly ordinary house.

It was super weird thinking of it as my home.

"Weird how?" Mom asked as she stacked up boxes for me to take inside, and with my strength, she could stack them high. A fact that she exploited relentlessly.

How to put it… "We have a front yard. And grass. And a driveway. And I don't think I'm going to get shot at if I walk down the wrong street. And it's way too quiet," I listed out my complaints in order of weirdness. Never in a billion years did I ever think I would live in the suburbs. I grew up in apartments in Chinatown and it's always where I imagined myself living to my dying day.

Yet, here I was. Carrying boxes into a house that looked nearly identical to every house in the cul-de-sac.

"Well… you'll get used to the front yard and the grass. You can get your fill of being shot at as a hero, and you could always play music if it gets too quiet," Mom said, setting another box on top of the pile in my arms. "This is the last of it. Master bedroom."

"I have a pocket dimension," I pointed out as I walked towards the front door, carrying the leaning tower of boxes in my hands.

Mom shifted the grip on her own, singular, much lighter box. "Appearances. Suburbs aren't that different from apartment complexes -- no, actually, they're worse. Everyone is always in everyone's business, and if you stand out, the neighborhood association will burn your house down for something as minor as mowing your grass differently than the rest of the neighborhood."

That… sounded oddly specific. Specific enough that I didn't want to know.

"Right," I agreed, bringing the boxes into the master bedroom. Everything was already set up. Dad was having his first day at work -- the job had been arranged prior to us moving to Happy Harbor. He had simply transferred out of Gotham, but he would continue to work for a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. So, while I had been doing all of the heavy lifting, Mom had been unpacking.

The house was nice, I guess. Felt too big, but I was used to apartments. The furniture, which had always felt so large in our various apartments, suddenly felt so small. The master bedroom was adjacent to the living room and kitchen. A wall separated the two bedrooms which made up the far wall of the house , and they were in turn adjacent to the garage. It was currently only occupied by my motorbike at the moment.

Which I wasn’t allowed to drive until I got my license, sadly.

The spare bedroom had been converted into an office for me. I had used some Prestige to get myself a standing desk and a computer that was better than my laptop. Overall, it was a step up from my previous setup, even if I did have to sacrifice some space for aquariums for Guppy, one in each bedroom, which I changed out which one he was in depending on which room I was using.

It was a step up from the apartment that we lived in. I could admit that much. And I could even still use the old place if I kept up the rent and utilities -- something that was looking possible with advertisements from my various accounts.

However, despite it all, I found myself a bit dissatisfied. “It feels like I ran away,” I muttered to myself, stepping into my office and grabbing Guppy. Waterbending the water in his tank so that the water coiled around me, I headed to the closet. I had already cleared it with Mom, so it was no problem. Stepping inside the closet, I pressed a hand on the wall by the doorframe, and after a few seconds, the ground beneath my feet began to lower.

This, I’m guessing, wasn’t something you would find in the traditional suburb home. After a quick drop, I stepped inside the hidden basement. It was about the size of the house itself -- but the space was used well. On the far wall was a Zetatube, and the powerful generator that had been provided to power it without leaving my family with a five-digit power bill. There was also room for storing equipment , but I honestly doubted that I would ever use it. Why bother when you had a gluttony demon?

The rest of the room seemed to be a sparring area. I hadn’t used it yet, but I’m guessing it was so I could practice my skills privately. I appreciated it. I would give the Justice League this -- they could move fast when they wanted. They had this place made for me in a day- no, it was more like twelve hours or less. And it really drove home just how fast you could upend your entire life and move.

Rolling my shoulders, Guppy swam in the water around my body while I input the command code for the Zeta Tube. It spun up, a bright flash building in the tunnel, and a second later, I saw the familiar scene of the Mountain. Felt a bit weird teleporting here when it was less than a thirty-minute walk, less if I used flash step or Airbending, but it wouldn’t be much of a secret base if people saw me coming and going.

“Ren!” Megan greeted me, a bowl filled with a dough of some kind that stirred itself lazily over her shoulder. Telekinesis was a pretty incredible skill. I really hoped that I won it in a roll eventually. “We’re making cookies!”

I cocked an eyebrow, “We?” I questioned, because I couldn’t imagine that Superboy would ever be caught making cookies. Honestly, I didn’t know what the guy did most of the time. I did hang out at the Mountain less after the initial week, but every time I did drop by, he was always watching a screen of static. In response, Megan smiled and pointed to the door.

Zatanna stood in the doorway, offering a hesitant wave and a smile. “Hey?” She tried, “up to cooking with us?”

It wasn’t really what I was here for, but there was no reason why I couldn’t. “Sure,” I agreed. I didn’t have a cooking skill, but one wasn’t needed for cookies.

"Great! I'll go tell Superboy that you're here!" Megan said, flying off and taking the bowl with her. Zatanna opened her mouth to stop her, but there was no stopping Megan when it came to Superboy. So she sighed as I approached, giving me a small shrug.

"We'll have to wait for her to come back," Zatanna confirmed my suspicion. "So… what brings you to the Mountain?" She asked as we headed into the kitchen. "I, er, know you don't like spending time here. Megan mentioned it," she said when I glanced at her. So, they were gossiping about me, huh? Well, I wasn't surprised about that. Given the state the Team was in, I shouldn't expect anything less.

"I popped by to speak to Red Tornado or Batman, if they were here. And to let Superboy and Megan know that I live in the neighborhood now," I explained.

"You moved?" She echoed as we entered the kitchen -- it looked like cookies weren't the only thing they were cooking. There were pans and bowls that were piled up in the sink with row upon row of cooling racks for various food items. I saw cupcakes, danishes, and pastries. Enough to fill a bakery or one Kid Flash.

I nodded, "Yeah… turns out that the League of Shadows is after Koi because of my Uncle. When we told Batman, he had us move out to Happy Harbor for protection."

Zatanna frowned as I spied an espresso machine. Time to see if my skill Barista lived up to the name, "Your Uncle would target your family?" She questioned, sounding aghast at the idea.

I had my back turned to her, so she missed my frown. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure. "My Uncle… no? I don't think so, at least. I mean, he is trying to get me killed, but in his way, he's trying to help me grow stronger." Not that it really balanced out with the whole trying to get me killed thing, but I could see things from his perspective. "The family from the Mainland are all about strength. So, sending a league of assassins after me is his version of a birthday present."

I glanced over my shoulder to see that Zatanna was trying to wrap her head around that, "That sounds… complicated."

Shrugging, I frothed the milk after adding the ingredients to it, letting my hands work of their own will. Much like all my skills, the knowledge was all there without me ever learning it. "Kinda. But, I don't think my Uncle would target my family. Moving was more of a precaution. I'm still going to do my heroing in Gotham with Guppy." In response to that, Guppy swam in circles, speeding around the coil of water wrapped around me .

"I was going to ask… but, Guppy?" Zatanna questioned, sounding amused by the change in topic. I stopped frothing the milk, tapped the milk, then I started pouring.

"He's my sidekick," I said with a straight face. "He's technically a Spirit Beast, but he's just a baby one," I explained, finishing off the latte with a bit of art. A top hat, a stage magician's cane, with some stars in the background. I had to say -- it looked pretty good.

Zatanna flashed a smile as I passed the cup to her, "Cute," she remarked, bringing it to her lips, before her eyes widened. I smirked at the look that she gave me, "Did you use the same coffee that we used earlier?"

"I did. One of my powers is being a supernaturally good barista," I told her, going to make another cup.

"Wow. No wonder Robin is so jealous of you," Zatanna said, making me pause for a brief moment before I continued. Robin was jealous of me? That didn't sound right. Jealousy had nothing to do with his attitude towards me. He hated me because I knocked over the first domino that led to Batman resigning from the League.

However, before I could respond the door opened, revealing Megan and Superboy. Megan looked a bit sheepish, "Sorry," she said, bringing the floating bowl over with her to the table. Superboy looked to me, his expression blank.

I held up a cup, "Coffee?" I asked him.

"Sure," he said, taking a seat at the table instead of the couch that I usually found him on. He looked like the picture of boredom, but he was here. That counted for something. Probably.

I began making Superboy a cup, "So, what's with all the food?" I asked them, making Zatanna and Megan glance at each other before they answered. Which I recognized as a bad sign. I wasn't going to like their answer.

"We… were thinking about trying a team bonding day?" Megan answered, "I got the idea from-... Uh, TV! I thought, maybe, if we all hung out that things would be less…"

"Tense," Superboy supplied when Megan trailed off. "Then we could finally get a mission instead of playing clubhouse all the time," he tacked on, sounding annoyed, but it didn't sound directed at me.

I swallowed a sigh as I finished making his coffee. The team had yet to get a mission, and it was pretty obvious why. I can't imagine that Batman would be willing to send us on a mission with the team in the condition that it was in. I also couldn't imagine that Robin neglected to mention the argument that we had to Batman, and with half of the team at odds with each other…

That being said, I wasn't sure we were ready for a mission either.

"The others are coming?' I asked, earning a nod from Megan.

"I invited them to stop by. I would have invited you too, but you already showed up before I could !" She quickly added, and I waved off the reassurance that I wasn't being excluded as I handed the coffee to Superboy. His reaction was far less expressive, but he offered a nod as a thank you. I'm guessing that he liked it.

Honestly, I don't think Megan had a mean bone in her body. And that just wasn't because she didn't have bones to begin with on account of being a shapeshifter.

"If you think it'll work, I'll try anything at this point," I admitted. I was getting pretty sick of the drama. This was supposed to be a hero team, but it reminded me a lot of High School.

Megan looked incredibly relieved, "That's perfect! Everyone will be-'' Megan began, only to be interrupted as the door opened. Batman stepped inside, making all of us freeze. His gaze swept over us before it landed on me.

"The Team has a mission," he told us, making my eyebrows shoot up while a jolt of excitement visibly shot through the others. I was excited too, but my first thought was that it was too soon. The Team was fractured in half. Sending us on a mission was asking for a disaster. "Gear up. Ren, follow me." He ordered, and it felt a lot like I just got called up to the principal's office in the middle of class because of the looks I got. But I followed all the same.

I followed behind Batman down a long hallway, and it was only after we had a few sets of doors between us that he spoke. "Beifong," he spoke the name of my alter-hero identity. He said nothing else, simply prompting me to explain myself.

I knew that this was coming, so I had a response prepared. "I wanted to make sure that it was difficult to connect me with the Team. If one of the bad guys recognizes Koi who turns out to be Wonder Woman's sidekick, then I thought that it would lead to them finding out about the existence of the Team. And since we're supposed to be Black Ops, I figured that would be bad, so I created a new identity so I could continue to be a hero in Gotham while leaving Koi to be Wonder Woman's sidekick. I was planning on creating another for the team, but I didn't think we'd get a mission so soon."

It was solid logic, I thought. Separate identities for separate locations.

"And since my Uncle has connections with the League of Shadows, and he knows about Koi…" I trailed off, as Batman remained silent, not offering any commentary.

He didn't say anything until we reached a doorway, "It's good that you are taking precautions," he told me, looking down at me. "However, you are playing a dangerous game. What happens when people make a connection between Koi and Beifong?" He asked, pressing me.

I had an answer, "The idea is that I'll use the abilities that overlap in a different way. Bending the elements is pretty different from my breathing styles, so any similarities will be fairly superficial. And, my end goal is to get an ability that lets me make a copy of myself," I added, being honest. I had an option available for that right now.

The Multiform technique. However, buying it at TRwas fifty thousand points. Not only that, but the copy of myself would take half of my stats, so I would be physically weaker on top of being limited on the techniques I could use. My endurance stat was the soft limiter on how long I could fight. So, before I could even think about buying it, I needed to majorly upgrade my stats.

For now, it just wasn't practical. It was something I had to work up towards.

"Then, all I have to do is let Beifong and Koi be seen at the same time, and that should prevent anyone from thinking they're the same person," I explained. Batman was silent for a long moment, his expression blank before he offered a curt nod.

"Don't make any additional identities besides Beifong, and you can use Koi for the Team. Contingencies are in place in case that the Team is recognized as the Justice League's partners," Batman said, earning a slow nod from me. I would take his word for it. After all, it was a pretty big major flaw in the whole Black Ops idea. My trust in the League had been shaken, but I still trusted Batman. If a bit less than I had before.

"Okay, that's what I'll do," I agreed. Then Batman's eyes dipped down to Guppy. Who had been seen with Beifong.

"I'll put him in a tank-" I started, only for Guppy to disagree. He broke off from the water coiled around me, condensing the water into an orb that was about the size of a soccer ball, before Guppy began rolling away from us. Batman and I watched him go, similarly at a loss for words.

That timing… by now, I was certain that Guppy was sentient, but I wasn't sure if he was sapient. Was that just like a dog recognizing the word vet, and not wanting to go? Or did he understand us enough to know that he was about to be shoved in the tank?

"Alright, you do you, Guppy," I muttered as Guppy rolled away. Batman turned to me, clearly expecting an explanation, but I could only give a shrug in response. With that, the door opened on some unseen cue, revealing a dressing room.

I looked to Batman, who simply walked away before I stepped inside when my gaze spotted a costume. It was a copy of Koi's -- a skintight undersuit, with a pair of shorts and hooded vest. The only real difference was that the undersuit came with gloves and shoes. Reaching out, I found a button at the collar of the hood, pressed it, and the yellow trimming became a dark gray.

Camouflage. Cool.

Getting dressed in it, I secured my mask to my face -- it was different from my previous one which was just a mask you could get at a dollar store. Now it was made of hard plastic that formed to my face and secured in place. It had better filters and more structure to it. Regardless, it was a step up from my previous cobbled-together outfit.

Once I was dressed, I stepped out and headed to the briefing room, finding that everyone else was lined up. They glanced back at me, but I found myself looking at Robin. His expression was blank, no sign of emotion…

And then it clicked into place.

Robin had lied.

There's no way that Batman would send us on a mission if he thought that Robin and I were still at odds. However, if he thought we had managed to work together… that would explain how we managed to get a mission literally the next day. Our teamwork was the last thing holding us back.

I looked away from Robin and stood next to Zatanna, who was dressed in her magician costume. I said nothing to contradict the story that Robin must have given. If worse came to worst, we would just do what we did last time -- purposely avoid fighting with each other.

Batman and Red Tornado stood in front of a hologram that displayed the reconstruction of an island, "This is Santa Prisca, a small island off the coast of Honduras. It is also the world's only production center of the drug called Venom, which radically increases physical performance to superhuman levels. However, some time ago, it went silent. Your mission is to recon the production site, gather Intel on why it was silenced, then extract yourselves and report your findings ."

His gaze swept over all of us, "This is a recon-only mission. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

…

Megan had an airplane called the bioship. All seven of us were seated and buckled in as we headed to Santa Prisca for our first mission. Some of us were more enthused than others.

"Finally, they gave us a mission," Kid Flash said for about the fifth time. Proving that he had an infinite well of patience, Kaldur answered him in the same tone of voice as he did the first time Kid Flash had said this.

"Which is why we must prove that we deserve the trust that they are giving us," He said, not even sounding tired of repeating himself.

Kid Flash waved that off dismissively, "They know they can't keep us from the action for too long," he argued, and I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. "if they didn't give us a mission, then we would have just kept doing our own missions."

I blinked, but Superboy beat me to the punch, "You were going on missions?" He demanded, a growl in his voice, earning a sheepish expression from Kid Flash as Robin glared at the side of his head.

"Not like these kinds of missions -- we just teamed up for the occasional bust, is all," Robin defended, shrugging when Superboy shifted his glare to him. "What? Those don't count!"

Kid Flash didn't exactly help by adding, "Sorry, baby blue." Superboy scoffed and crossed his arms, staring angrily ahead. "Hey, it's not our fault that you couldn't tag along."

Except it kind of was? "Weren't you supposed to show us the ropes?" I questioned pointedly before I could stop myself. I should have just let the topic drop, but it was like Kid Flash wasn't listening to himself. Like he couldn't see the blatant contradiction in his words. "Like I didn't even know that this was a Black Ops team until Kaldur told me at the last minute."

Kid Flash winced ever so slightly, but instead of admitting that I had a point, he dug his heels in. "Well, maybe if someone knew the meaning of the word restraint-"

"Enough," Kaldur snapped, revealing that that endless well of patience wasn't so endless after all. "What's done is done. Leave it at that," he ordered, earning a dismissive shrug of my shoulders, and a low muttering from Kid Flash across the ship.

Zatanna turned and glanced at me, and I just shrugged again, answering the silent question in her eyes . As much as the problems had started between me and Robin, Kid Flash involved himself in it too. He had been pretty blatant about taking Robin's side, and that was something I could understand . I'm not going to hate the guy for having his friends back.

But, things were cooling off between me and Robin. If only marginally. A memo that Kid Flash seemed to be missing.

"I can't wait to get some action," Kid Flash continued, looking up at Megan, who piloted the ship from behind us. "Been dying to show off my skills for you, babe," Kid Flash said, and I grimaced. I was hardly a lady’s man, but it couldn't be more obvious that Megan was crushing on Superboy if it was written on her forehead. I understood that you didn't see what you didn't want to see, but I really wish he wouldn't subject the rest of us to his terrible attempts at flirting.

Megan smiled thinly, "I've been looking forward to showing off too, Kid Flash." She said, not shutting the flirting down. Which is why I guess Kid Flash kept thinking he had a chance. And why he kept doing it.

I heard Zatanna let out a noise of amusement before she glanced back at me. I purposely rolled my eyes, earning a smile from her as we came into agreement that Kid Flash was obnoxious.

"It's just a recon mission, so no showing off from anyone," Robin said, pointing a finger at Kid Flash, singling him out. "Just follow my lead, and this mission will go off without a hitch."

"Follow your lead? How about following my lead?" Kid Flash shot back, dismissing the idea.

I rubbed my eyes, finding myself increasingly annoyed with the argument. However, Megan proved to be a lifesaver because she spoke up, "We're arriving at the designated drop-off point." She informed us, killing the argument. Temporarily. As one, we all got up as ropes descended from the ceiling. All of us activated our camo, except for Superboy, and attached ourselves to the ropes before we descended.

Superboy simply chose to jump down from a hundred feet in the air. I caught him with my Airbending, slowing his fall so he landed lightly. When I touched down, he shot me a sharp look, "I would have been fine." He snapped at me, sounding unhappy.

"Seismic events are a no-go when it comes to stealth missions, Superboy," I pointed out, earning an uncaring shrug.

Zatanna landed next to me, her costume dark grays and blacks, leaving her body covered from the neck down. "That was a new power," she pointed out, earning a nod from me.

"Airbending," I answered simply, taking my bokken out of my gluttony demon. I reinforced it with my Qi preemptively.

"Cool," Zatanna said , while I turned to the others that were making their way down. As soon as Robin touched down, he planted his hands on his hips and swept his gaze over us.

"This is our first mission, and we all know that we're walking on thin ice as it is. This mission has to go off without any problems, and as the resident expert on all things stealthy, I say that you all should follow my lead," Robin began, sounding like he fully expected everyone to be on board with the idea.

And… It wasn't a bad one. Stealth was Batman's entire shtick, and Robin had been doing this the longest out of all of us. The most experienced should be leading those with less experience. The only issue being that Robin was around thirteen or fourteen years old. Making him the youngest out of all of us.

Not to mention, I really didn't like the idea of Robin of all people bossing me around like he had tried to earlier.

"Alright," I forced myself to concede, swallowing my pride. He was right -- this first mission was important to prove to the League that we could handle this line of work . Compromises had to be made.

"No way," Kid Flash denied with a shake of his head. "Resident expert my butt -- I'll just zip around the place, in and out no problem! No need for stealth when you move so fast the bad guys can't see you," he pointed out. Which… was also a valid point, just in the worst and most arrogant packaging imaginable.

Megan raised a hand, "I thought Koi was our leader?" She offered, earning a surprised look from me. She wilted ever so slightly when everyone looked to her, "It worked out fine with Grundy?" She said, her words supported by an agreeing nod from Zatanna.

"He did coordinate us during the fight, even with a dislocated arm," she pointed out, shooting a sharp look at Kid Flash when his face twisted like he had eaten an entire lemon tree.

The attention of the group shifted to me -- I had absolutely zero idea why they were trying to make me the leader. I was one of the most inexperienced people here. So, I pointed at Kaldur , "I thought Aqualad was our leader? Since he has military experience?"

And Kaldur seemed equally surprised about the nomination as I was. "Limited experience, and never in a leadership capacity," he corrected. "But I am honored you think so highly of me," he offered. An olive branch, if I had to guess. Not that it was needed. I never really had any problems with Kaldur .

Right. "I vote Aqualad," I said, raising my hand, using diplomacy to make the decision for us.

There was a brief moment of silence before Robin raised his hand, looking extremely disappointed, "I vote Aqualad."

I looked at the others, expecting the dominos to fall in a landslide of a victory. And, in a way, it was.

"I vote Koi," Zatanna said, raising her hand. Megan hesitated a bit before doing the same, shooting an apologetic look at Kaldur . Who simply offered a small smile and raised his hand as well. Lastly, Superboy raised his hand impatiently.

Right. Right. Diplomacy was a mistake. What was the saying? A person was smart, but people were dumb? I didn't know how best to summarize what had just happened.

What were they thinking? Making me the team leader?

"Dude, no way," Kid Flash shook his head. It was Robin's turn to look like he had eaten something sour.

I took a deep breath and settled in my Moon Breathing style. "Okay," I said, my mind shifting gears as I ignored Kid Flash and Robin's obvious unhappiness. "Superboy, are you cool with telepathy?"

Superboy scowled but nodded, "I'm over that." He answered simply, earning a nod from me as I looked at Megan. She smiled lightly as I explained to the others that hadn't been there with Grundy.

"Miss Martian will link us up telepathically so we don't need to rely on our radios," I told Kaldur before I felt a mental knock at the front door of my brain. Before, it had been a simple thing to open the door. Now, however, there was a chain lock, a deadbolt, and a normal lock that needed to be undone before I was able to let her in. "Aqualad, you're second in command."

Kaldur nodded, accepting the position. I still thought he should be the leader, which made him the natural choice.

Then my gaze settled on Robin, "Resident expert on all things stealth -- how should we approach this," I asked him, knowing that I was out of my depth. I could try to bluff it, but… I wasn't going to risk the mission, possibly people's lives, because I wanted to save a little face.

Robin looked a bit caught off guard, but then he smirked.

"Here's what I would do…"

...

No chapter next week -- Risk It All will be back on the 27th.