OMG this was a long chapter. It took me about four hours to write non-stop because I got so into it. It's a little rough, but enjoy. =)
"Everybody in position?" Robin asked through the mental link.
"Yes!" Miss Martian said.
"Yeah," Artemis and Kid Flash answered at the same time. Superboy grunted.
"I'm ready," Red Arrow replied determinedly.
"Then let's do this," Robin exclaimed. He and Kaldur were walking up the street in Metropolis. It was 11:59 AM. Everyone knew the plan. It was quite simple: live or die. They reached the building where the Justice League was, but there was no League and no Kronos in sight. Robin and Aqualad looked at each other, confused.
"Kronos! Where are you?" Kaldur shouted. The silence was deafening. After a few beats of it, the Flash suddenly appeared in front of them. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Zatara, Captain Atom, Hawk Man, Hawk Woman, and both Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, appeared in the street. Kronos was on the roof of the building behind them. All of the League members wore looks of hostility.
"Well, well, well. The sidekicks have finally shown," Kronos said with a sneer in his voice. His face was still covered by that blank, black mask. His voice was amplified somehow with because it resonated through the city. The entire team was thinking the same thing: Don't call us sidekicks!
"Stand down," Kaldur commanded. Robin was tensed and focused at his side, said nothing. There were no civilians because everyone in a fifty mile radius of this street had evacuated. "We don't want to hurt you," he continued. Kronos laughed.
"You think you can harm the mighty Justice League? They will destroy you!" He screeched.
"I'm sorry you had to see it that way..." The League attacked without warning.
"KF now!" Robin yelled. A yellow and red blur flew past them. Superman gave out a choked sound and fell to the ground with a Kryptonite necklace around his neck. The blur, Wally, continued through the JLA before they knew what hit them. He took the spray paint doused the two Green Lanterns in yellow paint, cancelling out their powers. He quickly jabbed them both in the stomach then the face. They were unconscious before they hit the ground. Kaldur quickly poured water onto the street out of a fire hydrant, giving him an advantage.
The Flash tried to run after Wally, but he found it difficult to go fast on the wet surface without sliding all over the place. Wally dashed off, with the Flash in hot pursuit. Black Canary had reached Kaldur and the two started fighting, landing jabs and punches. Roy launched some flaming arrows at J'onn trying keep him away. It worked and J'onn flew away in fear.
Superboy joined the brawl, aiming at the big hitters, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and Captain Atom. He jumped from the building opposite the fight and landed on Captain Atom. He launched himself at Wonder Woman. He started to pummeled her, but was pulled off by Captain Marvel. They were soon upon him, and they let their fists fly into him.
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"Okay, Megan. Do your thing," Artemis said. They were inside the building across from Kronos. Artemis loaded an arrow in her bow and aimed out the window at the Leaguers down below. She let it go and then loaded another one with the speed that rivaled Kid Flash. Miss M closed her eyes and concentrated. Her job was to break Kronos's mind control over the JLA.
She felt her mind reach out, and felt something that felt slimy and disgusting. It was radiating from Kronos and it touched every League member.
"Artemis! I found where the mind control is. Now I just have to sever it from the League," she whispered. She heard the rush of wings as Hawk Man and Hawk Woman flew up into the window. Artemis yelled a battle cry and let loose five arrows each at both of the heroes. One got stuck in Hawk Man's wing and he fell to the ground with a thud, just barely missing Kid Flash and Flash as they raced by.
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'scatchingupohnopudddleofwater! Wally thought as he skid and fell to the ground with a crash. Flash skidded to a halt and stood smiling down at him. KF barely raised his arms in time to block Flash's flurry of fists. He did a back handspring off the ground and go to his feet. He threw in a few super fast jabs at his uncle before Red Tornado came up behind him.
The hero let loose a tornado that scooped up Kid Flash and twirled him around and around down the block where the Flash was waiting for him. He let loose a powerful punch that sent Wally flying through the air. He landed painfully against a lamp post. He felt a rib or two crack and clutched his side painfully.
"Uncle Barry," he whispered. The Flash stood above him smiling evilly. He was about to deliver a very nasty punch, when he was knocked aside by Superboy, who had just gotten knocked clear across the street by Wonder Woman. The Flash looked KOed as Superboy sat up rubbing his head. Captain Atom was suddenly slamming into Superboy before KF could even blink.
Can't stay and help Supey. Gotta stick to the plan, he thought running towards Red Tornado.
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Roy and Kaldur were fighting back to back against Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary. They were dodging blows and using all their strength and agility to stay standing. I do not like the thought of hurting my king, thought Aqualad as he punched Aquaman in the face. Roy on the other hand seemed to enjoy beating on his old mentor. He struck as hard as could and was swinging his bow like a baseball bat. He struck Ollie in the stomach with it, knocking the breath out of him. Even though Aqualad had Atlantean skin, he was still forming lots of bruises and was earning many cuts from his mentor. He twirled his water swords in his hand and slashed at Green Arrow, who dodged the attack.
Black Canary used her sonic scream and blasted Red Arrow and Kaldur against the side of the building. Windows shattered and bricks rained down on them. Roy screamed and clutched at his ears, which were bleeding and passed out. Kaldur cracked his head against the wall and he saw a bright flash of white. When the throbbing in his head stop he found out he was on his own.
I hope your plan works Robin, Kaldur thought. He gritted his teeth and ran at his king.
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Artemis had managed to get another arrow into Hawk Man's damaged wing, so he was still on the ground. Hawk Woman on the other hand refused to go down without a fight. Artemis rolled and ducked as Hawk Woman swung at her with her mace. Artemis blocked another swing of the mace with her bow and was surprised when it held strong. One wall had already crumbled when it met the mace. Artemis was getting tired and she didn't think she could keep going on like this. She was only human after all.
Miss Martian was still in the middle of the room levitating. So far Artemis had kept the battle from reaching her yet. She was in a battle of wills with Kronos and his slippery tentacles of mind control. So far she was losing. Kronos was more advanced than her and his will was slightly stronger. She heard a scream interrupt her thoughts. Hawk Woman had smashed her mace against Artemis's left hand, which was now bloody and broken.
Artemis held back her tears as she fought valiantly with one hand. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought. I shouldn't have left her an opening, Artemis continued to chastise herself. She landed a blow with her right fist on HW's face, which stunned her for a second, giving Artemis enough time to grab an arrow from her quiver. She wielded it like a knife and slashed at Hawk Woman. She managed to cut Hawk Woman's arm with the arrow.
"Worra reappasid!" A voice said from behind her. She gasped as the arrow vanished from her hand. She ducked from Hawk Woman's mace and came up looking into Zatara's face.
Crap, I'm screwed.
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Captain Marvel threw another devastating punch at Superboy and he landed into the nearest building, almost knocking it down. He stood up and brushed himself up and the put up his arms to block a karate kick from Wonder Woman. He grunted. If he wasn't the clone of Superman, he would be a pile a jelly on the street now. Speaking of Superman, the man of steel was lying unconscious on the sidewalk, with the Kryptonite still around his neck.
I should get that off him before he dies, Superboy thought. Captain Atom came up from behind him and punched him back out into the sunlight. When he was back at Cadmus, all he dreamed about was to feel the sun's ray on him. Now he wished he was back in the safety of his pod. But he had to follow the plan and keep the heavy hitters busy while the others did their job.
A red and yellow blur blew past him and rocketed into Wonder Woman. The momentum threw her down the block and she crashed into a building causing it to collapse. Superboy turned around and threw himself at Red Tornado as he struggled to stop from chasing after Wally. He failed to stop and Superboy punched through the circuits where his stomach should be. He fell to the ground and didn't move. He diverted his attention to the two captains as they double punched him in the face. It's a good thing I don't have a glass jaw, he thought painfully
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KF staggered back rubbing his head. Okay, I'm never doing that again, he thought. He surveyed the scene around him.
Superman, Flash, J'onn, both Green Lanterns, Hawk Man, and now Red Tornado were KOed. Roy was out like a light too, but he was bleeding from his ears, which did not look too good. Superboy was getting his butt handed to him by Captain Marvel and Captain Atom. Wonder Woman was picking herself out of the rubble of a once five story building. Kaldur was getting the crap beaten out of him by Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman. He was pretty sure he heard a scream, which sounded a lot like Artemis coming from one of the buildings. He hoped the girls were okay because M'gann was pretty much not a part of the fight because she was using her mind to break the mind control, which left Zatara and Hawk Woman for Artemis.
He hadn't seen Robin since the fight started. Batman, either.
I hope Rob knows what he's doing, Kid Flash thought to himself as he darted over to Kaldur to try and help. Good thing too because as soon as he got there Kaldur was KOed by Aquaman. Harsh, he thought, cringing.
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While the fight was going on below, Robin was preparing himself for what he had to do. He had the remote in his pocket and with one flip of the switch the entire battle would be over. But everyone would end with it. He shook himself and snuck up onto the roof where Kronos was. He was in the middle of a mini mind war with Miss M. That was the plan. Keep everybody busy until he got to Kronos and knocked him out himself. If that failed then he had a backup. An explosive backup. His team was holding their own and none of them were severely injured... yet. He shook that thought off and continued sneaking up to Kronos.
Right when he was about to strike he felt a prickle on the back of his neck and dove to the side as a batarang stuck itself into the ground where he was just standing. He turned to see the Batman right behind him. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he chastised himself, not realizing that Artemis did the same exact thing when she let Hawk Woman too close. He and Batman stood like statues waiting for the other to make the first move.
They lunged towards each other. Robin jumped and did a handspring off Batman and kicked him in the face. Before he landed, Batman grabbed Dick's leg and whirled him off the roof. Robin used his grappling gun and shot it off towards the fire escape. Using the momentum he swung himself back onto the roof. Batman was already charging towards him. He punched him in the face and Dick rolled away from Bruce. He came up from his roll to do a back flip and swept his legs underneath Batman's and knocked him off balance. Robin scrambled to the other side of the roof, unsure of what to do.
They stood staring at each other breathing heavily, before Kronos startled them both.
"You didn't think I would be stupid enough to leave myself unguarded, did you?" Kronos asked Robin. Robin turned to him in disbelief. He was supposed to be preoccupied with Miss Martian. "Yes, the Martian girl was doing a good job keeping me occupied," He said with a smirk in his voice, reading Robin's mind. "That is until my minions defeated Artemis and she had to stop to save her pathetic friend."
Batman lunged at his young ward when Robin wasn't paying attention. He was knocked to the ground and Batman put his hands around the young boy's neck and squeezed. Robin was unable to breathe and his vision started going funny.
"B-Bruce," he squeaked, clawing at his mentor's hands. If he couldn't get out of this then he would have to flip the switch and end it all. He kept one hand tugging at Batman's hand on his throat and the other inched towards his pocket. Kronos laughed at his feeble attempt to fight off Batman.
"You've lost boy!" He cackled. Robin stared into Batman's eyes and he could see something inside of them. He saw a struggle. Bruce was fighting off the mind control! When the hands around his neck loosened he breathed in deeply, appreciating the clean oxygen he was inhaling.
Bruce stood up and stepped away from the boy. Kronos was staring at him with disbelief.
"You are mine!" He screamed. He couldn't accept the fact that Batman was winning. "I am the most powerful mind controller on this planet! How?" He screamed
"Because I'm the god damn Batman," he stated triumphantly before passing out. Kronos stood still, not accepting the fact that he lost. Robin took advantage of this and attacked the masked man. He threw punch after punch at the man's face until Kronos could not keep his hold on the Justice League's minds. One by one the League was released by Kronos. Robin tore off Kronos's mask to find the face of a very average, middle aged man. If he had passed him in the street, Robin would never have remembered his face.
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Kid Flash looked around to see that the JLA were waking up. Their minds were finally free. He ran over to Superman and ripped the Kryptonite off his neck and ran it as fast as he could to Happy Harbor, left it on the table, and then ran back to Metropolis. Superman's pulse was weak, but he was groaning so that meant he was going to be okay.
Robin actually did it, he thought happily. He darted from person to person, making sure no one was seriously injured. Red Tornado needed some serious medical robot attention. Roy looked like he had a concussion. Hal and John were sitting up, rubbing their jaws. Aqualad and Superboy were still unconscious, but Superboy looked worse than anybody. He was actually bleeding and both his eyes were almost swollen shut. He checked on the girls and found Artemis bloodied, unconscious on the floor. Her head was in Megan's lap and the Martian was murmuring things to her.
"Did we win?" Artemis asked from the floor. Her voice was quiet but strong, which was a good sign.
"We kicked butt," Megan said happily. Wally gave them the thumbs up sign and ran to find Robin.
IDK when the next chapter will be up, but it'll be the last one!
