Chapter 37: Search for Radion Rocks
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27th May, 2012
…
Mount Justice:
"Great job, team. That was exceptional work," Dinah commended.
"Yeah, the coordination was solid. Aquagirl was today's MVP," remarked Robin, glancing at the new team member.
"I just did my job," said Aquagirl, scratching the back of her head.
"Don't be modest, Tula. You did great," complimented the new guy next to her, codenamed Tempest.
"You too, Garth. Excellent work out there," acknowledged Kaldur, known as Aqualad.
"Yeah, yeah, enough compliments! Let's get to eating! I'm hungry!" exclaimed Wally as he rushed to the kitchen.
"What an idiot," remarked Artemis as she joined the others.
Coming out of the gate, Zatanna and Rocket were conversing before noticing Megan and Connor.
"Megan, you can't be using your powers that way!" scolded Connor.
"I'm trying to do what's best for the mission!" defended Megan.
"What about the people you hurt?" questioned Connor.
Zatanna sighed, while Rocket commented, "Looks like the lovebirds are at it again."
"Access Raven B-11."
Raven walked in from the gate, observed everyone, and floated toward her room directly.
"Raven, wait! Please come with us! We're doing a girls' night out!" pleaded Aquagirl, trying to persuade Raven.
Raven stopped, looked right, then turned to her and said, "Sorry, I'm busy." She then went straight to her room.
Artemis placed her hand on Aquagirl's shoulder and said, "Don't mind her. She's been like this ever since... It's not you."
"Raiden Kagawa, right? Isn't he a murderer?" asked Garth.
"Raiden is a hero and a missing member of our team," clarified Robin.
"He still killed someone, right? If he's found, will he even be allowed back here?" questioned Garth.
"He did it to save us. He is still a member and will always be one of us," asserted Robin, with a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"If you ask me, he's probably hiding somewh-ughhh," before Garth could finish, Tula hit him in the side with her elbow.
Robin turned and left as Kaldur spoke, "You should mind your words. Raiden is much more than you've heard of him, and he is certainly not someone who would hide. I can assure you of that." He then turned and left.
"What's wrong with you!" said Tula.
"I just wanted to see their reactions to my words. Of course, someone who took down Doomsday and Ivo in the same day wouldn't be so weak as to hide!" revealed Garth.
"Then why?" said Tula.
"I just wanted to know why The King praised Raiden's personality, and... it seems that he is respected even here. The entire team seems to like him. I hope we find him. I would love to meet such a great person and get to know him," said Garth.
"There were better ways of going about this," said Tula, to which Garth raised his shoulder. "Just don't speak about him negatively again, especially not in front of Raven!"
…
In the bat cave
"Master Wayne, it is your bedtime," spoke Alfred.
"It's a long night today, Alfred. I'm a bit busy with this research," said Batman, engrossed in his investigation. To find Raiden, he had dedicated the past six months to developing a tool to search the Phantom Zone. His goal was to locate Raiden and open only that part of the Phantom Zone to save him.
"I'm aware of the necessity of this research, but it's been six months already. Shouldn't we consider the possibility that he is..."
"He is not dead, Alfred. He is not someone that will die that easily," declared Batman with confidence.
"I was going to say that he might have already escaped, but I'm glad that you seem to have a very high respect for young Raiden," said Alfred, correcting Batman's assumptions.
"Escaped... That could be possible. With the wide variety of heroes in his arsenal, I don't doubt the possibility of him escaping. But then, where is he? Raiden isn't someone who will just disappear without a trace," pondered Batman.
Deciding to leave his master at work, Alfred asked, "That I don't know. Now, what would you like for this long night? Tea? Or coffee?"
"Coffee," said Batman.
…
In Space
"We're approaching Karna. I'm going to activate the ship's stealth mode," announced Kori as she entered the planet's atmosphere.
"Raiden, come here," called Kori.
"What?" said Raiden as he took a bite of his meal.
"Do you see this?" asked Kori as she pointed at a specific button in the ship.
She pressed it, and the ship's system spoke, "Auto Pilot Mode."
She then pressed another button.
"Auto Pilot Mode: Landing."
"And that's how you land without almost breaking the ship," explained Kori.
"Yeah, alright. That looks easy enough. I'll fly next time," said Raiden.
Kori got up from her seat and went back to the ship's storage room. She then returned, carrying some clothes. "Now, both of you, wear these. We'll be able to blend in easily with the locals."
"Also, here's this," she gave them a small circular device. "This thing will translate everything you say into the language that the Karnans speak," explained Kori.
"Remember, this is Citadel Territory. Do not do anything suspicious, okay?"
"Yup, got it. Right, Cary?" said Raiden.
"Yeah!" replied Cary.
"I feel like you're mocking me," said Kori.
"Nooo… Never."
"Why would we? Miss too Serious!" said Cary as she smiled.
"Okay, you're learning too much from Raiden! Come here!" said Kori as she chased after Cary.
*Beep* Beep * Beep*
"Please be seated, approaching landing zone," spoke the ship's computer. The trio all went to their seats, strapped themselves in, and awaited the ship to land.
"Landing complete."
The trio got up from their seats, grabbed their clothes and translators, and walked off the ship.
"What in the Jesus, X'hal is this?" said Raiden as he looked around. Trees were everywhere, and the planet seemed like an enlarged version of the Amazon forest by 1000 times.
"WOW! Brother Raiden, look! That tree is huge!" exclaimed Cary.
"This could be kilometers in height. Sheesh, this place is a vegan's heaven," remarked Raiden.
"Vegan?" asked Kori.
"People who don't eat meat, they exist a lot on Earth," explained Raiden.
"Earth must be pretty peaceful to have people who refuse to eat certain foods. Anyways, I made sure the autopilot parks far away from the city of Kundala. We will have to walk there and inquire about the Radion."
"I don't know about that, Anyways, let's get going," said Raiden.
…
After walking for about two hours, the trio reached the city.
"Looks like we're here. Let's get you something to drink, Cary. You seem pretty tired," said Raiden as he looked at the panting Cary. He had tried to persuade her to hop on his shoulders, but she refused, saying that she needs more stamina.
"There, seems like a place to get drinks," said Kori as she pointed at a nearby bar.
"Come on, Cary, get up," said Raiden as he grabbed her and placed her on his shoulders. She complained, saying, "I can still walk!" but Raiden didn't care.
The trio walked into the bar, and a lot of eyes looked at them, but they quickly ignored them, except for one group.
Raiden walked to the counter and said, "We want something to drink," as he put some Citadelean coins on the table. He had stolen many from the Citadel soldiers and kept them as souvenirs.
"Strong or weak?" asked the Karnan bartender.
"One strong, two weak," said Raiden.
The bartender turned around and grabbed the drinks.
"We're being eyed," whispered Kori to Raiden.
"Yeah, just stay calm. We'll be fine," said Raiden.
"Here you go," said the bartender as he brought the drinks.
Raiden looked at the drinks, then whispered, "Kcehc eht sknird." Seeing that the drinks were fine, he handed one to Kori and one to Cary as he started drinking.
"So, what did you want to know?" said the bartender.
"Huh?" replied Raiden, confused.
"I see, so you are new here. You paid five times the drink's amount. That either means you want info or you're new."
"Well, I'm both. Can you provide good intel?"
"The best in town," replied the bartender.
"Aight, we'll see about that. I need Radion, Radion Mineral."
"Hmm, that could prove to be difficult," said the bartender.
"What? I thought you were the best in town?" mocked Raiden.
"Oh, I still am. I already know where you can get that. What's difficult is that most of it is run by the Citadel. I would guide you to the north. There are mines there, abandoned. You might find some leftovers," said the bartender.
To this, Kori interjected, "We're not looking for leftovers; we need a large sum."
"The planet has been stripped of all of it. The Citadel is employing their best machines to draw out more, but all the Radion on the planet is in the Citadel's storage currently. You either have to find a vein of it in some mine that's not been stripped completely or get it from the Citadel's storage, which is impossible."
"Why is that? Can't we just buy it from them?" said Raiden.
"Heh, that will never happen, kid. The Citadel's greatest asset is the Radion Cannons. They are very destructive; they run on Radion Energy, and to get that energy, you draw it out from the rocks. They would never sell it; it's priceless," said the bartender.
"I see, so that's why it's rare," said Raiden.
"The only storage of raw Radion rocks is in the east, inside the capital city, Shakti. It's currently the most secure place in the Vega system after the Citadel's home planet."
"Well, thanks for the info, sir," said Raiden as he turned to leave.
"One more thing, kid."
"What?"
"Be careful; you've drawn a lot of attention already. Karna is mostly a military planet, so bringing your woman here wasn't a great idea. I suggest you leave as soon as possible," said the bartender.
Just as the bartender was speaking to Raiden, some man got up and interrupted Kori and Cary, who were leaving before Raiden.
"Hey beautiful, why don't you ditch that kid and join us for some fun? Hahahaha," said one of the men who got up as the others started laughing too.
"Gross, you should consider taking a shower... all of you. And just so you know, I don't hang out with lowlifes," said Kori.
"We're not asking, bitch, come over here," said the man. His pride was hurt because of what she said, and he raised his gun, aiming at Kori.
Kori disappeared from the man's sight and appeared in front of his face, with green light energy coming out of her hand. The man's head was destroyed in a second.
The others all fell on the ground, scared, looking at their buddy's headless body spewing blood.
Seeing this, Raiden looked at the bartender and said, "My woman can handle herself pretty well. Thanks for the heads up though," as he threw another large coin at the man, tipping him.
Walking out with Cary and Kori, Raiden said, "That was way too gruesome, you know? We've got a kid with us," said Raiden.
"Oh, oh, I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry, Cary; you shouldn't have seen that," said Kori as she grabbed Cary and hugged her, apologizing.
"It's okay, Sister Kori. I need to get used to it anyway."
"Wait didn't you say we shouldn't do anything suspicious ? I think blowing a man's head off is pretty suspicious"
…
In Space
A man cruised on a sleek space motorcycle when a message flashed on his bike's console.
"Seems like the main man is heading to Vega, AHAHAHAH."
(Author's Note: Hi Guys, I'm really sorry about the late release in this week, mid term exams will start next week, and i'm very stressed out about them, i'm trying o focus on both writing and studying, and i'm Also especially sorry for you guys who support my story on patreon, it may not seem like much, but i'm super grateful for you all, you have seriously made my life actively better, so Thank you so much for your support, and I'll try to do better, by making this story the best it can be for you all !)
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If you wish to read more or simply support me just because ? than check out my patréon at
"https://www.patréon.com/Riadooo"
Don't forget to change "é" to "e"