An all-out brawl ensues

The Penguin, garbed in his iconic tuxedo and identifiable by his round golden monocle. It was him. There was no mistake. The innocent people cleared the path for the short, stocky man. He was accompanied by two intense characters too: Lady Shiva, carrying a broadsword, and her ex-lover, David Cain. Shiva garnered his personal attention due to her risque outfit. A skin-tight blood red bodysuit with a notable boob window and swaying sash. She had an eerily steady centre of balance. Whereas her husband was loaded in silver and metal, she was a goddess personified as a martial artist.

"Welcome, Penguin. I am honoured by your arrival," the Manhunter greeted, voice booming. The Penguin paid him no mind.

"So this is your little Chosen One business? It's grotesque, I have to admit," the Penguin said, "but this pure Dionesium sure is valuable. Heh. I'll be sure to put it to good use…after I kill ya!"

There was no further conversation. As soon as those words left his lips, Lady Shiva and David Cain–the Orphan–dashed forward. The man was in silver armour and there was an extra bounce in his movements. Like a superhuman, he was able to make the impossible jump and reach the two Leviathan heads. The platform started to move again and climbed back up to its throne.

David Cain crossed swords with Angel Breaker. There was a great clash that shook the little platform.

Lady Shiva, meanwhile, climbed the impossible. The tiny indents were a massive stepping stone and she swiftly climbed her way up. The skill, the flair, the self-assurance–only through decades of training could an individual achieve such a feat.

Also, he didn't want to be a pervert but she had an incredibly toned ass. Cassandra seemed to have inherited that from her.

He pursed his lips and closed his eyes in frustration. 'That wasn't me, that was just my powers. I wasn't leering at Cass' mother because I wanted to. It was the powers…'

He opened his eyes and returned to the fight. And what a fight it was. Lady Shiva bounced on her heels and leaped left and right as she assaulted Mark Shaw with a barrage of kicks. Her lower body shifted and gathered energy in a fraction of a second. Each kick could shatter a bone.

Source: Young Justice Season 4

If Catwoman was an opponent he considered to be skilled in the highest measure, then Shiva was somehow five steps above that. It was eerily reminiscent of how Cassandra rode him during sex. It was technical and precise and deliberate to an excruciating degree. Her thick, muscled thighs were addicting to watch as they smacked against the dense metal plate of armour.

Then it happened. A snap in Mark Shaw's movements. Speed and strength exceeding his defensive self two seconds ago. Amplified, he was able to weave through her attacks and limit the damage and pain. His defences were sharp. No, they were growing sharper.

Miraculously, to the shock of the Manhunter, Lady Shiva went faster. The great leader backed away. Eventually, the pair edged out of sight, their grunts and smacks still heard. Aaron didn't know where they were heading and he didn't want to stick around to find out. They needed to leave. Now.

While David Cain was keeping Angel Breaker busy, Aaron turned to his friends. "Let's go."

A switch was pressed when he said those words. All of a sudden, everybody wanted to get out. They swarmed the entrance and ran through the once blocked path like a hurdle. The Penguin was protected by seven large men who acted as a fork. The criminal boss' cackles filled the air as loudly as the steps of a hundred.

Since Aaron and his peers were at the back, they were last to reach the open hole. As soon as they arrived, however–

"Back, back, back–"

"W-what," Todd exclaimed as a man came and shoved past him. Two more came, a stocky man and a short woman, each using their panicked reflexes to move past them. A dozen more soon arrived.

The momentum had suddenly turned on them. The people were running back in spades. It was pure chaos. Aaron didn't know what was happening except that something terrible had occurred ahead and nobody wanted to be a part of it.

BOOM!

From the distance ahead, there was an explosion. The cavern shook. The droplets of Dionesium above doubled in pace.

Aaron turned his head back. The platform was gone as was the Penguin and his minions. In the minutes of anarchy, something important had happened.

'Fuck, I should have been paying attention.' Not only had he not made progress, but he was stuck here with a hundred innocent people with no direction or calmness. Their jitters nearly affected him. The voices. The concern. The fear. It was contagious. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he managed to control himself. 'Okay, so the Penguin is gone. He's probably helping Shiva and David Cain against Mark Shaw and Angel Breaker.'

"What happened ahead?" Aaron asked a nearby woman. Although short of breath, she managed to supply him with an answer.

"Bullets. People. Explosions," she replied. "I think…I think the Penguin's men were fighting Leviathan's soldiers."

"Does the Penguin even have that kind of enforcement?" Todd wondered out loud. "I mean, Leviathan is a big deal. I'm impressed."

'No, he's right. A mobster like him could never match up to Leviathan. Leviathan has state of the art military-grade weaponry and armour. Unless…the D.E.O. Talia al Ghul. Cassandra mentioned she was working with the Penguin.'

"It was…it wasn't a cave. It…I-I couldn't tell you what or where we were exactly, but going forward was…" the woman cut herself and caught her uneven breath. She realized she wasn't making sense. "Impossible. It's impossible."

"Advanced weaponry. Did you see it? Lasers, that sort of thing?" Aaron asked hurriedly. The woman thought for a moment before nodding. That confirmed it. Talia was supplying the Penguin with state of the art military equipment. For now, he would keep his conclusions to himself.

"Then it's too dangerous to go out," Aaron told his friends. "We should stay here."

"Jesus, this is insane," Todd muttered under his breath. Staring at the pool of liquid underneath and shaking his head as if losing his mind, he added, "This sucks. Fucking hell, this sucks." He paced around in circles, eyes wild and teary. His rib cage expanded and deflated at an explosive rate. "Am I ever gonna see my sister again. I never…god–"

Noah put a hand on his shoulder. The poor man was hyperventilating. Swallowing, Noah conjured a few words of comfort, "It'll be okay. Trust me. Batman…he'll come. He'll help us. He always does."

His nose flared red. Todd didn't believe it. Yet in spite of his own lack of faith, he calmed down. He stopped speaking and looked into the pool and his blue reflection.

"Dude," Todd croaked, "I think I'm gonna die here."

Noah pursed his lips. "Nonsense–"

"I am! I can feel it! I'm just…some background fucking character. A nameless victim. A number for the inevitable headline Vicki Vale writes." His voice went lower and lower till it was a mere whisper. "A nothing."

Todd fell to his knees and his hands were engulfed by the Dionesium. His shaky panting was horrendous to listen to. He was losing it. Everybody in the vicinity was losing it. Their hushes becoming screams and sighs and eventually…silence.

Sweat-soaked, weak, and ruffled. No one could raise a fist. The platform, the sole star in the cavern, had dissipated. The noises of battle groaned in the background.

Aaron needed to do something. Was it the Dionesium? Was it affecting their moods? Their feelings? The negativity was so intense that it was tangible. Given its unnatural properties, humans were not supposed to come into contact with pure Dionesium for long, yet there were some here who had bathed in it for a week.

Their minds were eroding. He could see the energy melt off Todd's back. The once enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky nerd was gone. What remained was a shell of a man muttering in despair.

"Noah, I need your help," Aaron asked. The taller male locked onto him with unexpected resolve. The security guard didn't need a speech or an explanation. He wanted to help and he wanted to do it now. Aaron, brimming with confidence, continued, "I need to reach that platform."

"You'll need my help too," Henry interjected. "We've had a lot of people try and make the jump. None of us had the balance or the patience to do it but…I guess it's now or never."

"Yeah," Aaron agreed, "it's now or never."

Coming together to overcome a great obstacle. Aaron had never thought he of all people would be the one to push for a goal like that but here he was.

The ground was shaky from the shocks of a great battle. Aaron had experienced earthquakes before but none like this. Henry was beginning to stumble. Even Noah, a man who prided himself on his physicality, seemed troubled.

The platform was not gone, merely pushed inwards. Whatever lied past there was important. Perhaps they could find something. A button, a tool, a ladder. Hope. He couldn't afford to stay in this cavern any longer.

'The Penguin was somehow able to get on it. Lady Shiva or David Cain must have done something on their side.'

Tangible proof for hope. No one wanted to listen but it was there.

With Noah on Henry's shoulders, extending out his palms for Aaron to leap from, they tried. They tried and tried and tried.

They failed every time.

The jump was simply too high. What was it–forty feet? Aaron on his own had a vertical of four feet. Thirty five was left to cover. Using Noah and Henry as a step, he reached nearly twenty feet. Half of what he needed.

It simply wasn't enough. The Dionesium was really fucking slippery too so maintaining balance was impossible. It was like the universe was doing everything in its power to make this impossible for them.

"Um, excuse me?"

Panting, exhausting and annoyed, Aaron flipped his head to see…a little girl. She must have been five feet tall because Aaron had to **** his neck way, way down to see her. A black patch of hair, freckles, and youthful features, he suspected she was a highschool student.

"I see what you're trying to do, but have you guys ever done cheerleading?"

"Cheerleading?" Aaron glanced back at the two men behind him. They shook their heads. "No," Aaron replied.

The little girl smiled. "That's okay. I-I think I might have an idea though. I think!"

She sounded too chirpy. "How old are you?" Noah asked cautiously.

"I'm seventeen! I'm in my senior year!" she declared. "Oh, right! Um, my name is Mia Mizoguchi! You can call me Maps!"

"Maps," Noah called, "let the adults handle this–"

"No, let her help," Aaron cut in. Her voice might have been ridiculously high-pitched but he saw something in her. "We need help anyway. Nobody else seems to want to."

Indeed, the rest of the crowd was muttering and occasionally running into the hole. Not a single soul came back. The tension, the fear, it was rising exponentially.

"Fine," Noah muttered. "Also, Henry, get off."

"M-my bad."

Maps giggled at their antics. "Okay, okay. My idea is this. You know how cheerleaders do that thing where they hold a person up with their hands?"

"We tried that," Henry responded. "We had Aaron climb up and jump from the top but since we're so shaky he couldn't go that high."

"Right," Maps drawled, "but this time, you'll have me."

"You're going to make the jump?" Aaron asked.

"No way! It has to be you, um, Aaron." Her cheeks flushed for whatever reason. "I mean, nobody here can jump as high as you. You just need focus. Time. I'm sure if I can hold you long enough, you can do a mega high jump."

"I weigh way too much. You'll hurt yourself," Aaron pointed out.

Maps smiled. "That's okay!"

"That's okay?" Noah repeated, incredulous. "Look, it's impossible for you to–"

"Relax, Noah. I get that you don't want to involve kids but we don't have a choice." Noah pursed his lips shut at the rebuttal. Aaron peered down at her. Her whole face had lit up from his curt defence of her. Maps was thin, bright and short. Full of spunk but little in the matter of physicality. Regardless, he offered a hand. "It might be painful."

"I know!" Maps grinned and then jabbed a thumb at the people behind them. "But you need help! They need help!"

Aaron acknowledged her determination. He respected it. Looking into her eyes reminded him of Cassandra and not just because they were both Asian, no. There was a deep sense of justice that manifested itself in their eyes. It was a moral compass that Aaron vied for his whole life.

First was Henry. Noah slowly raised his hands and picked him up. It was a tedious process that required his entire body's strength. Then came Maps. She was small so climbing up Noah and Henry was easy.

"Woah!" They nearly tipped over as Maps balanced one foot in Noah's hand, then the other. Again, it was a considerable struggle.

And the hardest part was just coming. Now Aaron had to climb twenty feet worth of people. The raised arms, the shaky bodies, his weight almost made the structure collapse. They weren't professional cheerleaders. They were normal people. Noah was stronger than the average person and taller too, acting as a solid foundation. The weakness came in Henry. He was a measly business man. His body was trained to sit at a computer rather than do intense cardio.

Maps' naturally tiny body was a negative too. She was short and did not help them reach their goal as much as they hoped. Unfortunately, she was all they had.

"Ready?" Aaron asked as he stood on Henry's shoulders. Maps **** a smile and nodded. Tightly gripped her shoulder, he heaved himself up. He placed his left foot first and then his right. His equilibrium was perfect. He could do this.

"Steady," he said to her. Maps grunted and her face went red. He checked to make sure she could maintain this posture before glancing up.

'Fuck, there's so much left. Ten feet maybe? If it hadn't gone back up, we would have made it by now…'

It was daunting. Map's small palms trembled.

But they did not give in.

Aaron lowered his centre of gravity and gathered up his muscles in his legs. His eyes scanned the indents on the rocky wall. He replayed Shiva's climb in his head. The quick touches, the swift explosion of energy. He needed to imitate it.

He jumped.

It was like an instinctive dance.

His bare feet scraped up the smallest notches and used them to leap like a missile. He climbed and climbed and climbed. He didn't breathe. He focused, his peripheral delving into a world of rocks and stones. In the recesses of his memories, he recalled Lady Shiva. He couldn't mess up. He couldn't–

'There.' His fingers clasped the edge of the platform. Rather than rock, there was cool metal. Both hands gripped it and he dangled off the ledge for two seconds before heaving himself up.

Below was pure bewilderment. He must have been a spider with his calculated movements. He sent a thumbs-up.

"You…fucking made it!" Henry yelled, hands cupping his mouth like a speaker. "You're amazing, Aaron! Holy shit!"

"Language," he heard Noah chide. "We have a kid here!"

Maps wasn't paying Henry or Noah attention, her focus soaked up the mesmerizing sight of his accomplishment. "Amazing! You're amazing! You gotta teach me that!" Her eyes sparkled and her smile took up half her face.

Aaron was too socially self-conscious to yell back so he instead gave another thumbs-up. Yeah, he sucked. Still, he had a job to do.

Behind him was a door formed of pure metal. He approached it carefully. He could hear sounds of battle. Sensing his presence, it automatically slid open and unveiled a monitor room.