My first fanfic-reworked and re-uploaded. Hullo to new people, and glomps to old readers. Gods, it feels so good to be writing this again. This fic is placed right before "Downtime," the day before they fight Clayface, and will probably go AU around "Targets." It'll roughly be following the show outline, but as I said, it's AU. If you like the show as it is, don't read this.
I give my endless gratitude to Icydrummer and Vertikalen, my awesome betas, and thank you jareddude for
I'll be updating on the 17th of each month, except for special holidays if I can muster it. That means that there might be a chap out on the 4th of July (YJ ANNIVERSARY!) no promises, but fingers are crossed!
(this is where i'll be replying to anonymous reviews.)
If you're new, skip over this part: This isn't the same story. Generally, there's still the same opening elements, but some old OCs are taken out, and some character have been reworked, including Kathy. So beware. Hopefully, you guys will like this much better. I'll leave you to figure out what's changed and what's not.
Chapter 1
Happy Harbor, Rhode Island
August 27, 3:42 EST
Glowing eyes glared at her with newfound hatred, stained yellow. Kathy backed up steadily.
"Guys, I don't want to do this, please fight him," she pleaded, hating the fact she'd been reduced to this.
The eyes steadily advanced. She felt the power surging out of her fingertips as she held up her hands as a pretense of surrender. The electricity arced into the pair that had helped her get out of the living hell, the ones that had been her friends during the dark times.
They were knocked out now, bodies steaming slightly. Panicking, she hurriedly got her gloves on then felt for a pulse. She sighed with relief when she found one.
A click behind her revealed a gun was cocked to her head.
"Game over, sweetheart."
The man's eyes crinkled in mirth as the trigger was pushed backwards. A scream of pain started and wouldn't end as the bullet flew towards her, a syringe forming around it, a needle as its head.
"NO!" Kathy screamed, bolting upright. A blast of electricity shot from her hand, blackening a patch of bricks across from her. She stared at the charred spot, stupefied. Taking deep breaths until she finally gathered her racing mind together, she caught a few stray thoughts to hold onto. It's not my fault, I came back and they were gone. Please let them be alright, and not with Coren. The Asian teen hid her face in her hands, feeling bits of sunlight warming her fair, uncovered skin. Kathy wearily glanced down at her half-hidden legs, watching bits of electricity flickering about her sweaty palms.
"It's a dream…just a dream…just a dream," she whispered, strands of hair clinging to her sweaty face. She looked around, seeing a deserted brick alleyway, with her violin case, knapsack, and knife within arm's reach. There was no sign of the place from her nightmares. Closing her eyes, Kathy sank back into her sleeping bag with a groan. At the same time, a piercing scream split the air, startling her into an upright position, nearly tripping on the sleeping bag.
"Oh c'mon, gimme a break," Kathy muttered, trying to get the t-shirt off her crackling skin. Again.
Her heart pounded in her chest furiously, hair matted with sweat. Kathy wiped her bangs away from her face.
I'm gonna need to cut it before it starts down my neck again, she thought distractedly, trying to unfocus the images from her dream. A yell followed by the sound of something breaking echoed over the harbor, breaking Kathy out of her stupor.
That's it, I'm going, she thought, slinging on her violin and various bags over her shoulder. She ran awkwardly out into the harbor. Another piercing scream was accompanied by a pained yell. She ran toward the sound before stopping short at the sudden heat wave. A wisp of smoke was steadily drifting upwards, the source hidden by a warehouse. Kathy cautiously crept toward the smoke as evident sounds of a fight grew louder. More explosions were heard. She rounded the corner and stopped short at the sight of something resembling a fire-covered Santa Claus, only taller. And with a bad temper.
No way…they were all destroyed the explosion. Kathy gaped at the Pyrobreather. Coren had engineered a family of inorganic destroyers, the Pyros being the not-so-distant cousins in the mix (makes for an interesting family reunion...) But he'd gotten tired of the project and destroyed them all.
Flinging herself from her thoughts, Kathy instinctively hurled small balls of electricity into the creature's eyes. The thing roared with pain, makeshift hands rubbing at its singes. Geez, they're still as stupid as ever, she thought, inching forward and blasting off a more noticeable bolt at the monster.
"What's attacking it?" a feminine voice yelled from above her. Kathy looked up to see a blond dressed in green scanning the area from the roof. She immediately flattened herself against the warehouse.
"Who cares? I'm getting M'gann!" A boy in a black t-shirt came into view, scooping up a limp form Kathy hadn't noticed before. She noticed the bundle in the boy's arms was a green skinned girl.
What the heck did I get myself into? Great, I keep leaping in. Yay hero complex! Kathy quickly scooted toward the corner she'd come around. The sudden movement attracted the Pyrobreather's attention, which had finished rubbing its eyes in self sorrow. Its eyes focused in on her. She gave a resigned groan, wondering again why she didn't leave at the glimpse of the fire thing.
Dumping her possessions before running along the side of the warehouse, she also caught the attention of the boy.
"Hey, what're you doing—" he was cut off by Kathy's yell as she again targeted the fire being's eyes. This time it was smarter, using its hand to block the attack, unaffected by the electric shock. Kathy cursed then aimed at its feet in hopes of finding the fatal point there. The monster definitely got that message, chucking it's own fiery attack at her.
An arrow shot out, engulfing Kathy in a black cloth moments before the fireball hit her. The heat from the impact, however, threatened to knock her out.
It took her a moment before realizing that she wasn't a fried crisp—that was the cloth crumbling before her—and the blond was now beside her, an arrow loaded in her tightly gripped bow. Dazed from the heat, Kathy wondered where the archery equipment had sprang from.
"You better move, it's going to fire again!" cried the archer, pulling Kathy with her as a barrage of fireballs slammed into the warehouse behind them. The shock wave blasted them backward, nearly launching them into the murky water outside. Turning around, Kathy could barely make out the hazy outline of a metal pole thrusting itself into the Pyro's chest. Surprisingly, it didn't melt.
A feral cry came from above as the boy, holding a shield of metal grating that he pulled up from the floor, slammed another pole into the Pyro's head. Irked, it fired a stream of fire from its mouth at him. Kathy's eyes widened in horror.
"He'll be fine," the blond grunted just as the unharmed boy came into view, remains of the sheild splashing around his boots.
"Okay, who are you people?" Kathy fired another shot at the monster, distracting it from firing another bad breath flame at the boy. It turned to the girls, tiny eyes squinting in recognition. They dove behind another warehouse as it fired.
"I'm Artemis, the guy's Superboy, and Miss Martian is right here." The archer knelt down to the fallen girl who lay in a sweaty heap, the smell of burnt flesh hanging in the air.
"What happened?" Kathy asked, horrified. She looked around the corner at the fight. The guy—Superboy—had gotten the monster's attention again, and was currently dodging fireballs that charred the deck.
"Miss M's got a weakness with fires, and she got a few hits which knocked her out. Who're you?" Artemis applied a poultice for the Martian's burns as she spoke.
"I'm Kathy, um, be right back." The teen rushed out.
"Hey ugly," Kathy yelled, waving her arms, "betcha can't catch me." The boy looked at her as if she were insane. Which she probably was, being in the open like this. The thing gave a roar, grinning. It raised its foot to step towards her, leaving leaving behind an ashy circle. Kathy took the opportunity to shock across the bottom of it's foot. A roar of pain answered her as it sat down hard. It glared at Kathy before shooting a barrage of fireballs. With nowhere to go, she leapt in the water.
Oh man don't let anyone be swimming right now! she prayed, feeling electrons surging all around the water, frying a few fish. The liquid above her boiled from the heat of the passing fireballs and the electricity that churned beneath it. From her position a few feet under the surface, Kathy heard a few eerie yells.
She clambered out, judging it to be as safe as you could get at the moment (partially from her head throbbing of oxygen deprivation). She was welcomed to the dock by a fireball, forcing her to do a sloppy roll out of the way.
Okay, not so safe after all, Kathy thought, assessing the scene before her. The Pyro was now being distracted by Artemis, who was rapidly firing arrows at its eyes and legs. It blocked about an eighth of the arrows, roaring in frustration. Meanwhile, Superboy was repeatedly jamming more metal poles into the thing.
At this rate, it's going to be a metal hedgehog, Kathy thought wryly. Her fingers twitched as she held her arms in front of herself. Relaxing her pointer and middle finger, she let an arrows of electricity soar through the air, piercing the monster's body. Unable to decide which way to fire, the monster zeroed in on the floor, blasting the wood with repeated fireballs.
"I'm glad that malfunction wasn't corrected," Kathy muttered breathlessly, coming up next to Artemis, who gave the Asian a quick glance before returning to the situation at hand.
"You're soaking wet," the archer noted. Kathy shot her a look saying naw dip, before turning her attention back onto the Pyro, which was now systematically destroying the floor that held all of them above the waterline. She quickly formed a plan.
"Aim for the left when I yell!" Kathy shouted, running at the monster before them. The Pyro stared at the creature stupid enough to run towards it, then realized that the creature was within shooting range.
Kathy gave a feral yell as she fired blasts of electricity to neutralize the fireballs and to get the creature to freaking lift up the leg already! It finally lifted the leg to squish and char the teen annoying it, which was its fatal mistake.
"NOW!" Kathy screamed, beating a fast retreat and tripping. A barrage of arrows appeared on the Pyrobreather's foot. It looked at its foot in stupid confusion before starting to fall backwards in a comical slow motion, fire dissipating quickly as it did so. By the time it clattered down onto the charred deck, only a robot torso and fried arrows remained.
"You're either really brave or really crazy," Artemis smirked, helping Kathy up from where she'd fallen.
The teen gave a tired grin, adding on,"Or both."
Superboy walked up, supporting Miss Martian as she stirred slightly, brown eyes opening to the surroundings.
"What exactly was that?" asked the Martian, pushing herself off Superboy, a blush noticeable on her cheeks.
"Pyrobreather, made by that robot thing there," Kathy nodded to the fallen robot torso, "put a bunch of chemicals and sciency whatnot to make it come alive. Two weak points—eyes and heel-destroys it." The three looked at Kathy with surprise and a little suspicion.
"You pick up things on the run," she shrugged, knowing this wasn't helping her case of trust. M'gann randomly put a hand to her forehead, eyes glowing white.
"The guys are in trouble!" she yelped, starting to rise up. Superboy pulled her down gently.
"You're in no shape to go," he informed her sweetly, a tone that Kathy couldn't have guessed was possible from the gruff looking teenager. Kathy nodded, then saw some dead fish floating on the surface of the water. Oh dang it all, she thought, hating her powers again.
"Where are they?" Kathy and Artemis asked together. They looked at each other as M'gann answered.
"Other side of the wharf." Miss Martian again tried up rise up, but this time lowered herself, "Ugh, you're right Superboy," she smiled bashfully. "I'm in no shape to go. They're fighting an electric thing like what we—you guys—just fought."
"Wonderful," muttered the archer, "we'll never get there in time." Kathy eyed one of the motorboats on the wharf.
"I could hot-wire a boat," she said tentatively, not facing the others.
"Good," she heard Artemis say, "Superboy, you help Miss Martian to the ship, I'll go with Kathy to help the others." Kathy went to the sturdiest looking watercraft, apologizing silently to the owner and to the fish and fishermen around here as she rearranged the wires. The girls got into the boat as Kathy gripped the wheel. She saw Superboy taking a leap over one of the warehouses before the harbor disappeared out of sight as she drove the motorboat out.
Feel free to leave a review about what i need to work on, noticed typos, how it seems so far, what you dis/liked, CONSTRUCTIVE critisism...that sort of stuff. ^^