Chapter 85: The Hunt Part 1

(General P.O.V) (3 Hours Before)

The holographic projector came on with a hum of energy, displaying a map of the African Continent, that was magnified to focus on East Africa in particular. Captain Atom pointed to a red blinking icon near the border of Kenya and Ethiopia.
"This is known as the Valley of Ghosts. A 20 square mile stretch of jungle. The locals avoid it and any settlement near the Valley is at least half a mile away from the edge of the forest." The Team's overseer, paused to see if they were listening and continued with a nod.

A picture of an attractive blonde man with gray eyes and a scruffy beard appeared beside the map.
"Hey, I know that guy. His book was on the recommendation list for a history project I had back in school. He's a world renowned archaeologist. An expert on Ancient Egyptian customs and relics."
Artemis explained.
"He also helped Batman on a case involving Maxie Zeus. So we can add a deep understanding of the Greek Mythology as well."
Robin added. His eyes widened right after his statement and he levelled a questioning glance at Captain Atom.
"Which means this mission must have come straight from Batman."
He connected the dots. This brought about surprise as the rest of the team looked confused. Everyone except Aqualad.

"Wait, I thought The Dark Knight resigned from the League?"
Miss Martian wondered out loud.
"I didn't buy it for a single second. Batman pretty much runs the whole thing."
Connor commented while crossing his hands.
"It was to my understanding that although Batman resigned, the League decided to keep him on as a close associate. He's not involved with any of the decision making or entitled to a seat at the table but has taken on a new role as a consultant."
Aqualad explained to the rest. It wasn't surprising that he knew of this but some of the Team members were slightly turned off that he kept the information to himself. Robin spared Aqualad a brief glare.

"Come on guys, Superboy is right. There is no way Batman would leave the Justice League." Kid Flash raised his voice.
"The Dark Knight is all about contingencies upon contingencies, safeguarding the earth from any threat, external or…internal."
Captain Atom narrowed his eyes slightly at the speedster.
"The Justice League is made up of… practically gods. There are only two leaguers without powers in the League. One now that Batman has 'left' the league. He would never break ties with the League because someone needs to monitor them. To make sure that they use their powers for good. Batman was that check."

Silence dominated the room. A thin trail of sweat fell down Robin's back as the implications hit him like a speeding truck. The rest were also all speechless, save for Kid Flash who had no idea the impact his words had.
"What…why is everyone so quiet all of a sudden?"

Captain Atom cleared his throat and decided to prioritize the mission first. The insinuation of Batman having a countermeasure for each and every member of The League was a cause for concern but Atom could understand Batman's intentions. This would be addressed later.
"Moving on. Guy Lisbon is as some of you seem to know, a famous Archaeologist and a League associate who was last spotted with his team right here. A little center called Njoya." Saying that, Captain Atom pointed to a small market place a few miles away from the Valley of Ghosts.
"… And he was heading towards The Valley on one of his expeditions when all contact was lost with him and his team. The mission is simple. Get in, do a search and rescue. Upon finding him and his team, extract them and make it back to the Watchtower. Are we clear?" Atom's words were clipped and firm with soldier like efficiency.

"Yes sir."
Aqualad stepped forward and nodded.
"One more thing. I don't need to remind you to stay in stealth mode. The Kenyan Government or even Ethiopia cannot know of your presence there."
Atom gave another order and Aqualad nodded.
"Ok Team. Let's move out."

(Aden's P.O.V)

I frowned as my body shot through the sky. I knew the general direction to take but even after flying for a few seconds I couldn't spot anything that stood out. The layout of the valley was strangely similar in all directions. Two hills that were concealed by the mist and the darkness, providing no discernible features I could reference and the jungle itself was thick. I couldn't see the floor of the forest.

I stopped in mid air. This wasn't going to work. Looking back, my frown gave way to confusion. I couldn't even spot the village back the way I came. Ok, something is definitely up. I closed my eyes and spread out my senses. There was a slight hum in the air…a hum that was meant to confuse someone's senses. Perhaps a security measure by The Tree that was in the Shrine of He Who Illuminates The Garden? Makes sense I suppose.

This meant I couldn't trust my usual senses. Ah! Jokes on you… security mechanism thingy. Telepathy for the win. I had used my budding Telepathic sense to find Miss Martian's hiding place during the absolutely cake walk of a fight that was me vs them. I didn't see why I couldn't use it now to find Masali and the others. I doubt whatever was actively messing with my senses could account for mind POWAH!!!

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I cleared my throat and locked my inner weeb back in his cage. To concentrate better, I sat cross legged in mid air. The position was one I was most familiar with and made me relax. Without wasting more time, I flicked my switch on my mental awareness radar and tried to stretch it out as far as I could. Sweat started falling down my forehead after a minute, as I strained this power more than I ever had before. Unfortunately, nothing registered in my telepathy. The range was too small. About 70 meters or so.

I massaged my forehead knowing that each time I spent trying to find the warriors was more time Masali's stupid impulsive actions got more of them killed. I had to change tactics. What if…an idea came to me. I didn't know if it would ould work or not but here we go. Instead of stretching my range out, I sent a pulse out. A sperm whale can locate prey up to 500 meters away. I used that same principle but applied it to my telepathy. A wave of psionic energy escaped my mind, spreading out across the whole space. Through this, my range was expanded exponentially because I wasn't struggling to maintain the pulse, just to read whatever it bounced off of.

I grinned. Gotcha. A little over 300 meters away to my right, over 20 minds registered in my telepathy. I changed course and shot off like a rocket. My brows scrunched up a little because before I had completely cut off my telepathic pulse sense, I caught the flavor of a few familiar minds. It was probably nothing. Maybe my inexperience with the skill. Just to be sure though, I sent another pulse out. Nothing unusual registered in my senses so I increased my speed towards Masali.

(General P.O.V)

"Guys… Aden's here."
Miss Martian informed the others. The atmosphere in the ship suddenly changed. A sharp intake of breath from Artemis, Kid Flash narrowing his eyes and Superboy tightening his fingers into fists.
"Should we call it in?"
Artemis asked already knowing what the answer would be. Everybody looked towards Aqualad. There was a brief silence from the team leader. Aqualad closed his eyes and thought it through.

Aden's presence here showed that this mission had changed from a simple search to something else. Who could he be working for? Time and time again, Aqualad saw what being a leader actually was. While it was a noble position to have the team's trust placed on him, he couldn't help but see it as a burden. Protocol dictates they were supposed to report it but…this is what they had been waiting for. A chance to bring him back. In cuffs or not didn't matter.
"No. We continue the mission. A few adjustments are to be made however. Miss Martian and Artemis, you are to stay in the bio-ship. Do a scan of the whole valley and see if you can spot our target or any of his people. You will also be our eyes in the sky. The rest, we will be confronting our wayward teammate. There's a high chance that Lisbon might be who Aden's after. Or at the very least have information on his disappearance."

Artemis looked ready to argue but instead settled for a curt nod. She would only be a liability. Superboy on the other hand was feeling the opposite. He was ready to prove once and for all that he wasn't weak. He patted the noticable bulge in his pant's pocket. A gift from his…other father. He had wanted to report it to Superman, to take the patches that suppressed his human d.n.a to grant him his full Kryptonian abilities to him and confess. What stopped him was the humiliation from before.

He could remember getting swatted off the sky like an insignificant fly by Aden. His super strength made useless upon clashing with the other boy and finding him more than a match for Connor's Kryptonian strength and durability. Aden had been playing with him during their sparring matches. Superboy had even gone as far as to review some of their sparring matches footage and what he saw made him even more sure that Aden had been hiding his true power.

Maelstrom would barely be breathing hard while Connor would be on his last legs. The matches with Robin, Artemis and Black Canary revealed more of Aden's hidden depths. He took to every match with a clinical and surgical approach. A glint on his eyes that showed you, even if you put him down now don't expect the same thing to work next time.

So Connor had come to the conclusion that there was no way he could beat Aden in pure skill. The guy was a monster in versatility. Instead, Connor decided to do so by overwhelming power. The D.N.A patches were staying with him. Just until they brought Aden back, he promised himself.

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