A/N- Greetings fellow heroes and demigods! I am extremely overjoyed at your decision to read my story! I am very new to this, so please don't pull out your flamethrowers! ;) Reviews and such are greatly appreciated, but one more thing before we begin:
I DO NOT own Young Justice, DC Comics, or Percy Jackson because my leprechaun refuses to grant my wishes. ;D
Chapter One
Robin's P.O.V.
"Great, another recon mission gone wrong," I heard Kid Flash scoff over the mind link that our fellow Martian team member set up. We had been assigned a mission to collect intel about Deathstroke, and what part was he playing in whatever the next scheme was, but, of course, Batman regarded the mission with the same seriousness as always. Deathstroke isn't even one of the main players in this gig, sure he was strong and merciless, but I didn't think that he was really worth our time. That was until, just five minutes ago, we trespassed onto his private four story yacht and I hacked into his computer's mainframe in the computer room.
"Jeez! This guy knows something about everybody!" I exclaimed through the telepathic mind link we shared, "There are too many files to read through now, so I'll have to download it onto the flash drive, but it'll only take a couple minutes," I communicated to my friends.
"Deathstroke isn't due to be back for another hour, so I presume that we shall be fine," replied Aqualad, our Atlantean leader of the team,
"Team, split up and scour the decks, be sure that we don't miss any evidence."
"I'll be on look out!" M'gann volunteered. That girl was never not happy or cheerful, and that's what made her so much fun to hang out with, but I had to focus on the mission directive, get the information, get out, and don't be seen.
"Yes, but be careful Miss Martian," Aqualad concluded as we all continued the search and thought quietly to themselves and not to the group. The file was 50% downloaded onto the flash drive when I heard Miss Martian disrupt the silence.
"I didn't even notice him until he got inside, but I'm pretty sure he saw me… I'm so sorry," she said, but sounded a little broken up, "I'll bring around the bio-ship so we can- Whoa!" And suddenly the ship jerked to a start, this yacht was built for speed, so I was knocked off my feet.
"All team members commence on the cockpit to head off Deathstroke. Robin, stay with the information, we need to bring that back. That's our top priority," Aqualad commanded. You know, he sounds kind of like Batman when he goes into "Team Leader Mode". Sighing, I leaned against the wall next to the computer, it looked like I wasn't going to see any action tonight.
"He's not here!" Artemis exclaimed through the mind link, "Just an empty cockpit with the controls jacked up."
"But he knows that we're here," Superboy added.
"Great, another recon gone wrong," Kid Flash scoffed, "Now, whose turn is it to explain this to Batman?" he sarcastically said.
Just as I shook my head at my best friend's sarcasm, I felt a presence in the room. Instantly I straightened and grabbed three birdarangs from my utility belt.
"Hey guys, I think he's down here," I urgently added, even though Deathstroke isn't one of the major baddies, he doesn't have the nickname 'Deathstroke the Terminator' for nothing.
The lights flickered for a second, and suddenly I was staring down the sword of Deathstroke The Terminator. I didn't dare throw the birdarangs.
The cold steel was pressed against my neck, his eye and eye patch were locked on mine, and said, "You tell your little playmates to save you, I dare you."
And to which, I dramatically rolled my eyes and he put more pressure on the sword, "Yeah, maybe, but I'd like to know what you're up to, Deathstroke."
"Now that, kid, is none of your business-" he started but I cut him off by snagging the flat side of his blade and swiftly jerking it away so I heard it clang on the floor, but Deathstroke wasn't fazed at all. No sooner that his blade clattered onto the floor, I joined it, and my birdarangs clattered, just out of reach.
I was not expecting that, but I should've been, the League of
Assassins trained him.
Stop it, Grayson; you know who trained you? The Batman, so get your sorry butt off the floor, and kick Deathstroke's ass.
I flew to my feet and was able to block his volley of punches. Finally it was my turn to be offense when he backed me into a wall, so I ran up it and somersaulted over his head and swiped his feet out from under him. He crashed to the floor, but got back up inhumanly fast. Somewhere along the way, he was able to snatch up his sword again, so I got out my eskrima sticks to dodge his stabs.
A couple seconds of our intense stab and doge game later, I finally heard the footsteps of my teammates plodding down the stairs. However, Deathstroke tossed some small metallic balls near the doorway. He saw my confusion turn into a realization and took this distraction to his advantage and did something I never expected.
Just as soon as Wally made his entrance he was tripped up on the balls, and he smashed into the wall then tumbled onto the floor.
Deathstroke grabbed me into a chokehold with one hand, bound my hands with his other and forced his sword's blade on my neck with a dangerous amount of pressure. He even lifted me up a foot or two, so I flailed my legs and tried to pry myself from his grip, but I couldn't move much, or I'd slit my own throat. The rest of the team entered only milliseconds after Wally did. Artemis ran over to Wally, who was still sprawled on the floor, and helped him up while the others formed a semi circle around us.
"Release him, Deathstroke," Aqualad commanded, "And you will be able to surrender."
"Surrender? To children?" Deathstroke scoffed, "The only reason he's still alive," he says motioning to me as I try to squirm out of his grasp without cutting my throat, "Is so I could get all of you together to take you out," he finished. His grip loosened ever so slightly, loosening the bind holding my hands, but I'd take whatever advantage I could get.
I wiggled my hands from the loose bind as I quickly snagged two gas pellets from my utility belt and smashed them on the floor.
Deathstroke wasn't wearing his mask on all of his face, so he released me to pull it down, and I dashed over to where my friends were. Superboy charged into the smoke just as it was clearing, and I saw Deathstroke's orange and gray costume blur as it moved impossibly fast to get out of Conner's way at the last second, sort of like a bull fighter does, so Conner broke a hole through the outer wall, letting in the fading light of dusk.
"Thanks for that, kid, but I've gotta go before I blow the place sky high. Speaking of which," He said, stepping through the gaping hole and grabbing onto a helicopter ladder, then fiddling with a remote, "You've got about a minute and a half. And if we meet again," his face darkened, "I'll kill you." Artemis tried to notch an arrow with Wally hanging off her, due to his newfound limp, but Deathsrtoke was already out of range. We watched him disappear over the ocean in the helicopter.
Well that sucked.
"Team, we need to evacuate now! Miss Martian is the bio-ship here?" Aqualad demanded as he started up the stairs and we followed in suit, Artemis helping Wally. M'gann's face dropped.
"No, I'm sorry I didn't bring her around when I said I would, but I got distracted," she said as she stopped hovering and stood on the ground with her head pointed the same way.
"M'gann, its not your fault, we were all taken by surprise," Superboy assured her, and she immediately started to hover again. We continued up the stairs.
"Okay, now the bio-ship is out of my immediate telepathic range, so I'll have to drop the link to bring her up here," M'gann explained when we made it to the deck. We then noticed how far from the pier we were. I looked down at my watch, which I'd synced with the explosion time.
"We have one minute, fifteen, and counting," I announced. Wally released himself from Artemis and she started pacing nervously. Aqualad walked to the edge of the boat.
"I can swim my way back to the New York City pier, it seems that we're only 20 miles away," Aqualad concluded.
"Go ahead, I think that I'll take the Supercycle back, and she'll be here in a second," Superboy announced, and with that, Aqualad gave a nod and dove in. I could see the bio-ship and Supercycle over the horizon and they were gaining fast.
"Hey Robin, you have the flash drive, right?" Kid Flash asked, limping over to me. Oh crap, I thought as my eyes widened.
"Crap, crap, crap! Oh man, KF, my bad. I'll go grab it!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air, as I dashed to the stairwell, but before I could react, the yellow and orange kid hopped in front of me and blocked my way, "Wally, get out of my way! I've got about 50 seconds, and I can make it, but you obviously can't!" He looked down at his leg, which was probably only fractured from his fall, and then looked back at me, his gaze completely full of protection.
"Um, no, dude. This ship's about to explode, plus our ride's here," he said as the bio-ship and Supercycle pulled up to the yacht, "C'mon." He motioned to where the rest of the team was filing in.
"This mission got really messed up, but the flash drive is crucial, so I have to get it," I cried urgently, trying my best to not sound like a whiney kid, looking around the deck franticly. Then I spotted a small piece of a speedboat sticking out from under a cloth covering, "You guys go ahead, I'll follow you in the speedboat!" I finished, carefully shoving Wally out of my way, as not to injure him any more but still get my point across, and sprinting down the steps to get to the third deck. Through my peripheral vision, I saw Wally reluctantly hobble away and board the bio-ship with the others.
I sure hope this isn't a mistake.
"Thirty five seconds, yeah I can make it," I said to myself under my breath as I rounded the corner into the computer room. Thankfully, the flash drive was still sticking out of the main console. That's probably the best thing to happen to the team all night with the 'splendid' luck we have. Through the hole in the wall, I noticed the bio-ship and Supercycle travel off towards the distance.
I snatched the flash drive from the computer, and ran towards the stairwell. Who says you need to disconnect it 'safely'. Sometimes I crack myself up, but now can't be one of those times. I glanced down at my glove's screen. I have twenty seconds as I emerge onto the deck, slip the flash drive into my belt, and throw the cover off of the boat. I immediately check the gauges, and my heart sinks as I realize how big of a mistake I made.
The fuel gauge had its needle pointing towards empty. "Damn it!" I exclaimed, kicking the boat. I looked down at my clock it read 15 seconds. Cool it, Grayson, you need to stop acting like a child and figure a way out of this mess.
"M'gann?" I tried to telepathically contact her though the link, but no, I forgot that she took it down. Great, just freaking peachy! Next, I'll try the comm piece.
"Come in, Kid Flash?" I stopped, since all I was receiving was static. I ripped the tiny chip out of my ear and flung it towards the ocean. I was running out of time and I really didn't want to die at age thirteen.
"I'll have to swim," I concluded with a heavy sigh as I heard my watch beep, "Dam-," was all I had time for. Suddenly, there was a large bang from under the deck as fire erupted from the stairwell, lighting up the ever darkening nigh sky. I bent my knees and prepped for the dive, but the deck split apart and flew upwards, carrying me with it.
The heat from the fire seared into my back, and as quick as we went up, the wreckage and I were falling downwards towards the angry looking ocean. I would love to say that I was able to get into a proper diving position to make it into the water, but that wasn't the case, some of the wreckage caught up to my speed and whacked me in the head. The pain throbbing in my skull was unbearable. Other, larger pieces got attached to my cape, choking me at the same time while others scraped me up. I could see blood oozing from the large scratches. A large piece of metal decided to embed itself into my skin, creating an extremely deep cut with a lot more blood seeping out of it.
We hit the water in a muddle and a huge splash. I was being dragged under, and was still seeing stars. I can usually hold my breath for an extremely long time, but flailing and creating a huge splash with yacht pieces around and on top of me, knocked the wind from my lungs, and therefore made my breath-holding time substantially less. Also, I was sinking with the heavy metal pulling me down, and the deeper I sink; the more pressure there is that can kill me.
My mind was swimming with thoughts while my body kicked and drowned in the dark water. Thankfully, I started relax and get my bearings. I disconnected my cape from my suit, and started swimming towards what I presumed was up. Fishing through my utility belt, I found that I was fresh out of breath devices from our last mission. I silently cursed myself for not restocking. Straining to look "up", I saw a large piece of the hull come hurtling down at me.
Definitely not expecting that. When it hit, a millisecond after, the remainder of my precious oxygen was expelled from my lungs, and even more stars danced in my vision. I was dazed as I drifted deeper into the abyss of the ocean.
Dark spots clouded my vision and my lungs burned. My sense of direction seemed to get fuzzy, then disappear all together. I didn't panic, though. I was kind of relieved, actually. The water felt nice, not too hot or cold. My mind was racing and it was hard to stay on just one thought.
Yeah, I'm going to die. No questions asked. I've only got a couple seconds left anyway. But at least I'll see my parents.
As if my lungs weren't burning before, now it felt as if there were trapped in a raging inferno. They were the only things keeping my relief out of reach. Letting go sounded really tempting, but my friends would want me to hold on. Wally, Bruce, the team, they'd want me to be strong, but I just can't. It's hard, and it hurts.
Maybe my time's just come.
The dark spots are all I can see, now. The deep abyss beckons me to stay and rest, and I decide to go with it. I welcome the relief and let the water take me, but right before I black out, I take a breath of air.
A/N- Whew, writing is hard! I have a feeling that you probably see where this is going, so guesses and ideas are welcome! (But not all ideas are going to be used... Sorry, it's still MY story) I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, and are willing to come back for the second. Of which, I promise more Percy Jackson people, since they weren't even introduced in the storyline yet, but trust me, it'll be worth the wait! I shall update soon, but for now, I bid you farewell!
