Hi again! So this one's quite a bit shorter than the last, but I thought it might be appreciated if I post it anyway. Thank you so much for the reviews so far! Please do share your thoughts and ideas about the story! Hope you enjoy XD xxxxxx

Chapter 2 - The Crunch

Just as a few short moments ago, Wally had felt as if the world was slowing down around him, the sight of the watery beast heading towards him served to slam him back into reality. And, man... what a horrific reality it was. A rush of shouts became clear, but as to which friend they had come from, Wally had no idea, but instead focussed on the screaming faces in front of him.

"Kid Flash! Wally, Move! You have to move now!"

Well, that had to be Kaldur. Ever the leader, even in situations such as these, he had already reverted to calling the redhead his superhero name. Whether that was purely based on instinct or in an attempt to ensure that the speedster understood the seriousness of the predicament, Wally was not sure, however, he did understand the message behind the words. They were in danger and had to get out.

Turning quickly to face Robin, Wally fully expected the kid to have come up with about three different escape methods by now, seeing as how the boy always seemed to know what to do. But, instead, the dark haired teenager was stood exactly where he had been before, staring with terrified eyes up at the approaching death trap. He was clearly scared and Wally immediately realised that this was not Robin dealing with the situation, but a horrified Dick Grayson.

Grabbing his best friend by the arm and shaking him out of his apparent stupor, Wally began to drag the acrobat and himself as fast as he could (Why the Hell couldn't super speed also provide him with super swimming?) towards a animatedly beckoning Kaldur, whose gaze was split between themselves and the roaring wave that chased them.

In the distance, Wally could see Conner angrily smashing at the water as he tried valiantly to reach the group in time. His expression was a mixture of frustration and determination, although Wally could see that, even with his excessive power, the clone was never going to reach them in time.

And they weren't going to reach the shore in time.

Suddenly, Wally felt a strong grip wrap around his forearm, and he jolted in surprise as Aqualad's face broke through the surface of the water. The Atlantian must have dived under the water before swimming towards them. Once again, Wally realised that the older teenager was speaking to him (more like urgently yelling at him) and he immediately decided to pay the bigger boy some attention.

"-isten to me, Wally! There is no time to reach the shore from here. You must hold on to me and Robin. You have to hold on!" The dark skinned boy commanded, panic visible in his eyes. He felt a smaller grip on his wrist and realised that it was Dick, gripping both he and Kaldur for dear life, one arm wrapped around Aqualad's neck and the other clinging desperately to his own arm.

Wally wished he'd had time to reassure the kid as his eyes clenched tightly in fear. He wished he'd been able to look to the beach in order to observe how the rest of the team were faring. He wished that he'd had a chance to tell his Uncle how cool it was to be the partner of the Flash, you know, just in case...

He really wished that they hadn't decided to come to the beach today.

And then it hit.

In a second, M'gann had swooped over to Artemis, who had also began to run towards their friends in the water, pulling her friend upwards and into the sky, above the gigantic jaws of the tidal wave. With frightened eyes, she observed how Conner continued to smash his way through the current, despite the obvious futility of the attempt to reach the other party. She looked on as their leader pulled the younger team members closer to his chest, and ducked his head, after a final glance to the wave.

And then it hit.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, M'gann was aware of the girl in her arms screaming something. Screaming at her, their friends, at the wave... Painfully, the martian heard how the archer's voice broke into a choked sob as the wave passed through and no teammates became visible.

Where were they? Surely, they had not drowned? No,Kaldur was a man of the sea! He wouldn't let the water take them! It wasn't possible! But, nevertheless, the green skinned girl soon added her own voice to the devastated screams of the archer.

"Conner! Superboy, where have you gone!"

But she could not see him. She could not see any of them

Artemis clung miserably to the martian, wailing as they soared down over the seemingly calm ocean, searching frantically for any sign of their friends. Unlike M'gann, Artemis had seen the devastation caused by Tsunamis in countries such as Thailand in the past. She knew that there were many consequences to the natural disasters and that death was a frequent result.

Realising that her own presence was serving as a hinderance rather than much of a help, Artemis directed the green skinned alien towards the rocky edge of the Cave entrance, which did not seem to have been damaged too terribly. As soon as her feet hit the floor, the archer's wobbly knees gave way and she sunk to the floor, wrapping her arms around herself. Aware of the martian's worried glances, Artemis swallowed her terror and faced the other girl.

"You go fly back out there and search for the others, okay? I'll go and get help so that when you've found where they are, we can rescue them really quickly, alright? Simple as that!" Artemis orderer, trying in vain to sound traught, as Robin would have put it, but even she could here how pitifully hopeful she sounded.

Nevertheless, M'gann was quick to shakily nod her head, before flying back out towards the site she had last seen her friends. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Artemis pulled herself to her feet, before sprinting into the depths of the cave, screaming out for help to anyone who was nearby.

This was a nightmare.