A/N: Muahahaha, this was just a spontaneous one-shot that popped into my head. I'll say that there are definitely humorous parts to it and minimal hints of Supermartian and even tinier (I mean, seriously tiny) hints of Spitfire, but then there are serious parts, so I call it a good balance of everything here. So yeah. Here goes nothing!
Sidenote: This isn't my usual writing style 'cause there's less detail and thoughts and such, but this is mostly a dialogue based one-shot. Wanted to forewarn ya.
Disclaimer: Instead of owning it, I've decided to kidnap it. Good idea, right?
10 Wishes
"I already hacked the system. We get sixty-two fireworks tonight, ten of most things or shared stuff with another color and then two that I can't decipher." Robin continued to tap on his little computer while his eyes flitted from the screen to the sky. "We've got approximately five minutes before it all starts." And the little raven-haired boy shut his laptop before sliding it in a case. For safety. There were countless things in a cave of heroes that could damage a laptop.
"Five minutes of absolutely nothing," whined Wally while swinging his legs from where they hung over the little ledge's edge. "Great." The sarcasm that laced his voice was pure. He got a good punch from Robin which was quickly followed by an "Ow!"
It was Megan's voice that broke the short silence that followed the complaints of Wally. "What if we made wishes?"
A arched brow from Robin and a laugh from Kid Flash. Superboy was sitting passively on the green girl's other side while Artemis came out with popcorn and Kaldur at her side. "What'd we miss?"
"Megan thinks we should wish on fireworks." Wally reached up and snagged a handful of popcorn as Artemis plopped herself down beside him, Kaldur on the archer's other side and Miss Martian next to him. Robin and Superboy capped off the ends of the line. "Which is a bit funny, ya know, since you wish on shooting stars, not fireworks."
"I think it is a good idea." Kaldur'ahm got a few weird stares for that, but he was quick to explain. "They are a bit like shooting stars."
There was another short pause that Superboy decided to interrupt. "I like the idea."
That was settled right then and there. If Superboy liked the idea, that was that. They'd all go along with it; not going along with the idea was almost like guaranteeing that they'd face an angry clone later. The Boy of Steel was very supportive of anything Megan said.
"So that's settled," concluded Robin with a little clap as his legs swung over the edge of the cliff's drop. "We all get ten wishes. Six of us, sixty-two fireworks. Fair enough? And there are… give or take, six colors. We can all call dibs on whatever seems about right." Which also gave him the opportunity to add in, "Dibs on the sparkly ones!"
Wally groaned. "But I love the sparkly ones!"
Being the thirteen-year-old he was, he stuck his tongue out immaturely. He was Robin. He was still allowed to do that without looking stupid.
"Orange and yellow then," sighed Kid Flash while leaning back on his hands to admire the black sky that let stars shine through the night. He had to pause and think for a second. "Wait, are there orange fireworks?"
No one knew.
"I'll take the white and silver fireworks," said Miss Martian, her chipper voice ringing out as she folded her hands together and kicked her feet in anticipation. Wishing on fireworks… The girl wasn't sure if there could be a better moment in life. With Superboy by her side? Just that much better. "If that's alright with everyone, I mean."
"I will have the blue fireworks." Aqualad was fine with that. Blue like the ocean. That was fair, wasn't it?
"Red." Superboy did have his very blunt approach to things. It could be both admired and feared.
"I'm cool with green. You know, it matches my uniform and my mentor's name, no problem, stick me with the lame colors, no worries, I'm not offended or anything." Artemis tossed a piece of popcorn in the air and caught it in her mouth. "I'm totally cool with it." She received an elbow from Wally and then promptly returned the gesture with a scowl in an Artemis-esque way.
"And the random two?" asked Robin from his end, a raised eyebrow accompanying the questioning half-smile that he offered. "What do we want to do with those?"
"Dibs!" Needless to say, Wally got an elbow in his ribcage from both sides, which was followed by yet another "Ow!"
Megan said, "Group wishes. We can all wish on them for something that we all want."
No one argued. They wouldn't, not as long as Superboy was nodding on the other side of Miss Martian. They had a habit of acting dumb sometimes, but none of them were stupid enough to protest something that Superboy agreed with.
"Well, the statistics are ten reds, ten blues, six silver, four white, three orange-" Even as Robin spoke, Wally pumped his fist into the air. "-ten of three different kinds of sparkly ones, seven yellow-" Another fist in the air from the ginger. "-and ten greens. Then two that I, again, can't decipher."
Artemis was the first to bring it up. "Does anyone else find it weird that he could just rattle that off like it was natural?"
There were a few murmured "no"s and a trail of shrugs.
"Just checking…"
And the first explosion rocked the sky after Wally had kidnapped another handful of popcorn from the bowl in Artemis's lap. Blue illuminated the sky. Five pairs of expectant eyes watched Kaldur'ahm.
A slow voice said, "I wish the ocean were bigger."
Yeah, that was something Kaldur would wish for.
Then there was a red that erupted alongside of a blue and two inaudible wishes were mumbled from the lips of Superboy and Kaldur'ahm as the real show began.
Yellow sparks put the stars to shame. "I wish I had a cake the size of Kansas."
A few laughs came from Artemis and Robin and a little giggle was released from Megan.
An explosion of fiery crimson. "I wish I could fly."
"Join the club," snickered Robin from the other end of the line of young heroes.
Green and yellow blasted into the sky at the same time. Then two teens' voices emerged from the darkness. "I wish my dad weren't such a jerk." Glares of green and blue were passed before the two fell silent again, Wally groping for some popcorn as Artemis attempted to swat him away. Another pairing of yellow and green soared through the blackness. "I wish Artemis weren't so annoying" was said at the same time as "I wish Wally weren't so annoying."
It was time for a silver to light up the faces of the six teens. "I wish I understood Earth better." She felt the nods of approval from her teammates around her and the girl's heart swelled a little bit. At least she had these people to help her ride out the storm.
Sparkles. Robin did love sparkly things. Like fire. And glitter. Not in a weird way. He just liked shiny things. And sparkles were shiny. "I wish I could drive the Batmobile." Another sparkly firework shot off into the air and blasted with an earth-shattering BOOM! "I wish I had a castle."
Wally slapped him a high-five.
Red soared into the air. The world was rocked with the shock of the sound. Very Superboy style. "I wish I had heat-vision."
Megan gave him a gentle nudge of reassurance. "Eventually, Superboy," she told him in a soft voice. Her brown eyes watched him nod. "Be patient."
More sparkling and the sound of something like rapid gunshots filled the air. Sparkly. Robin's eyes watched the dancing glitter as it floated down into the ocean below. "I wish I could talk to my parents one last time." He had always secretly wished that, but it was the first time he was saying it aloud. For some reason, it made him feel a little bit better. He was wishing to talk to them instead of for them to be alive. The difference was tremendous. He could still be the Boy Wonder this way.
No one said anything to that.
Red, white, and blue crackled into the sky all at once, filling the air with shimmering dust. The three sixteen-year-olds all said inaudible wishes, their voices mixing together in a mishmash of unintelligible words.
Yellow blasted into the air. "I wish I had really big sunglasses." Another yellow. "I wish I had a cool computer like Robin." Wally really had nothing good to wish for. His life was pretty good other than his butthead of a father. More yellow. "I wish Robin would tell us his secret ID." He got another elbow. Yellow. "I wish you guys would cut that out!"
White bathed the sky in brightness. "I wish my cookies were better." More nods came. Her cookies were decent, but no one was going to argue with her on making them better.
Red washed down on the faces of the six teens. "I wish I had a unicorn."
Laughs were the next thing to erupt. Robin looked a bit like a guy who'd just taken some of the Joker's laughing gas and Wally felt like his sides were about to bust open. Even Artemis was cracking up. Artemis, of all people!
Blue and silver burst out at the same time and two wishes were said, neither understood. The following red was a bit late, but it also made Superboy's wish a bit more audible. "I wish people would stop ripping my shirt."
Megan had to bite her lip to keep from protesting this wish. She didn't mind his shirt always being ripped off…
A rocket shot up. Green sparks were released. "I wish I had an unlimited supply of arrows."
A blast of sparkles was quick to follow. "I wish Batman would stop bringing women home."
Blue erupted in glimmering sparks. "I wish there to be no more whale poaching."
Orange blasted through the darkness and chased away the old wisps of smoke. "I wish people would get my name right."
Silver blocked out the stars in brilliance. "I wish no one would get hurt."
Red. "I wish Superman would notice me."
A quick succession of blues. Three in a row. "I wish my king prosperity. I wish Garth had joined me in this role." A little breath was taken as the smoke cleared and another rocket shot up. "I wish Tula were here." The blast of the three came in quick bursts like gunfire.
The rocket exploded into silver. "I wish I were a Green Martian." This wish was whispered. No one needed to know. But one of the other five did have super-hearing…
Sparkles and white paired off. One then the other, four fireworks in total. Two of each. Wishes were murmured, voices too low to understand after the thunderous noise of the explosion.
Two greens, a orange, and a red were all fired off at once. The lights made a few members shield their eyes. Wishes were said quickly and quietly as the BOOM! resonated in ears.
Blue and sparkles accompanied each other into the air, the combined blast powerful enough to make probably even Batman shudder if he'd been there. The little bird and the Atlantean murmured wishes.
Silver and a pair of greens lit up the night. Artemis had to talk fast to get her wishes in before the glittering sparks danced away and Megan's voice was lost in the wave of sound that closely followed the three explosions.
Superboy's voice rang out as a red scorched the sky. "I wish I had a real name." When another red found its place and let its blast ring out, he wished again. "I wish I had a real family."
The hardcore wishing was followed up again by a spluttering sparkly. "I wish Tony Zucco were in prison." He'd been released only a little while ago, much to the disgust of the Dynamic Duo.
Green pierced the night. "I wish Red Arrow would stop hating me."
Orange blew the darkness wide open and shut out the light of the moon. Wally was too awestruck by the sheer power of it to even make his wish. He didn't think he'd ever seen a firework so big or one so loud…
Silver. A whispered wish. "I wish Superboy would notice me."
He heard her.
Emerald sparkles dropped shortly after the firework had taken its moment of power. "I wish I would've caught Cheshire." Kaldur'ahm's hand found her shoulder. Forgiveness. No one really cared. For a rookie, she was doing a Hell of a lot better than most of the others had done on their first day.
Blue and sparkles danced side by side. Faces were lit up by the brilliance of it. Unintelligible words were spoken, but Wally could faintly detect the word "video games" from Robin who sat to his right. The redhead couldn't help but smirk. Typical Robin…
"Mine are all near the end!" pointed out Artemis as her finger stabbed the night just as another green one erupted with a puff of gray ash. "I wish I could tell you guys the truth."
No one was going to say anything. Just accept it. It was what wishes were all about.
"I wish I could be leader." A sparkly firework died only a heartbeat before he said it. It was only expected. Robin already knew his destiny as did the rest of them.
"Group wishes?" asked Wally, poking his head out of the line to look at the faces of his comrades. "What are we doing?"
No one said anything for a moment. The finale was coming up and each and every one of them was expecting something epic. Two fireworks left, right?
"Respect?" It was Superboy who spoke out. "That's what this team's about, isn't it?"
It was at that moment that a fierce shade of purple dappled the darkness. The color lit up faces as the sound and power rocked them all backwards a bit. "Respect," said Robin.
"Respect." Artemis looked to the other three who were repeating the same word in unison.
It was only a second later when a peace sign erupted from the darkness. The rocket the fireworks had been sent up in was nearly invisible in the darkness. Part of the firework was white, part of it red, part of it blue. American colors. "World peace," said Kaldur'ahm as his silver eyes watched the dazzling colors dance through the blackness.
"World peace," murmured the other five as they stared up at it in wonder. How they make a firework like that, the world may never know…
As the smoke cleared and the darkness was filled with the lights of Happy Harbor again, the team stiffly began to rise to their feet. Robin was up first, perky as ever. He offered a hand down to Wally. "I'm stayin' at your place tonight, right?" he asked with a questioning cock of the head.
"Yup." Wally was hauled to his feet by the smaller boy. "Tent's already up in the backyard."
"Cool." The Boy Wonder grabbed his laptop bag. "We're out guys. Catch you in the morning."
"If we're not hung over 'cause of the Mountain Dew or anything." Smirks were exchanged and the two boys headed off after making bets on who could eat the most cupcakes.
Artemis stretched out and watched the stars for a few moments while Kaldur took his dive into the ocean that spanned out below them. He was headed home. The blonde archer rolled her shoulders a little bit to shake out her stiff muscles and fix the crick in her neck. Then the girl stood. "I'll catch you two in the morning," she said with a slight yawn before curling the bowl of popcorn against her stomach and popping a few more kernels into her mouth while retreating back inside. "Try not to die before I get back." Then she was gone, her lithe form vanishing into the shadows.
Superboy and Miss Martian continued to watch the sky as if expecting more fireworks. Neither spoke. Neither moved. The silence lingered like the smoke from the fireworks. Nothing needed to be said. Wishes were made. Some fulfilled, some not. Some were even unnecessary. "I notice you." And with his two-pence thrown in, Superboy stood up and went back inside the cave. The door shut behind him. The show was over.
A/N: Urgh, I hate how the end turned out. I just finished up a fluffy Gwevin thing and I guess that kind of carried over. Bleh. Oh well. This was a bit more of a character introspective almost. Without all the thoughts. And the details. And yeah, I know I used a lot of the same words. But sheesh, that's some hard shizz! I wrote fireworks exploding and blasting and such for the past two hours. Eventually, you run out of words!
Review please!
~Sky