A/N Ha ha chapter four! Still taking suggestions for Wally's new name and still taking votes for switching and not-switching Cheshire and Red Arrow! Kinda felt bad for giving you guys such a short chapter last time, so this one is extra long! Enjoy!

Also, forgot to put in the disclaimer against last chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any related characters. Kinda glad I don't, because if I did, this story would end up being the whole season three.

Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis, protégé of his ruler, King Orin, the one and only Aqualad, had finally met his match.

His team no longer stood by his side, ready to fight to the death against evil. Only Artemis, brave and loyal, faced Aqualad's greatest opponent with him.

"Are you just going to stand there and look at it or what?"

Kaldur gave Artemis a slightly annoyed stare. "Please do not rush me, Artemis. Be patient."

"Hate to tell you this, but I'm the new Kid Flash. There is no being patient. It's starting to seem like the world's in slow-motion."

"I understand that you have inherited Kid Flash's lack of concentration. But I must do this in my own time."

"They're monkey bars!"

Kaldur sighed. It was true. In an attempt to test the limits of their new abilities,Artemis suggested that the two of them try out their new powers. Likely, they would never be as skilled in their newfound abilities as Robin and Kid Flash, but it was a beginning. Kaldur went first, agreeing to test his agility. Or his non-agility. He was not entirely sure which.

Artemis sighed and began tapping her foot on the floor, albeit at a much faster pace than normally. "Its not that tough. You just grab the bars and climb across. Is that so hard?"

Kaldur began to feel a twinge of annoyance. "I am not of the acrobatic type. I do not believe I have the physical ability to perform this endeavor."

Artemis groaned. "Why can't you just say, 'I can't do it'? At least try! You never know!"

The Atlantean nodded his agreement. "That is true. Very well."

He inhaled, exhaled, and began run. As he approached the monkey bars, he leapt into the air and managed to grab the first bar. Quickly, he used his hands to move to the next, and the next. He was halfway across before he had to drop to the ground.

"It would appear," Kaldur mused as he caught his breath, "that I did not inherit much of Robin's agility."

"Might be just because you're bigger than him, too. Most real acrobats are very short and wiry."

"That is also true. But what of yourself, Artemis? Have you tested any of your abilities as the new Kid Flash?"

"Does it count that I used super-speed to run into a wall?"

"...No."

"Then no. But I have found out what it feels like to Wally to have an accelerated metabolism. I almost pity him. Almost. Not quite."

Kaldur smiled slightly. "I take it that you are feeling hungry now."

"Duh, yeah. Have you found a kitchen in this room of gloom Batman calls home?"

"Of course. Please follow me."

Five minutes later found Kaldur and Artemis in a rather low-tech kitchen, considering that it was built by Batman. Kaldur slowly chewed on what Artemis could only guess were sardines, while she munched a rather large sandwich. It was bigger than anything she would have normally eaten, but it was far smaller than anything she had ever seen Wally eat. Besides, Artemis had these "magic" things Wally had never heard of-table manners.

"You do realize that our lives and powers are not the only things that have changed, correct?" Kaldur asked suddenly.

Artemis stopped chewing. "Meaning?"

"I believe we have also been sent back in time."

"How come?"

"In part, because I saw a news channel a few moments before you and the Flash arrived. What season is it now?"

"Autumn."

"And because of this, the leaves on the trees should be colored, or the trees should be bare of their leaves. Am I correct?"

"Yeah." Artemis started tapping her fingers against the table impatiently at an inhuman speed, wondering what the former Atlantean was trying to point out. "So what? What's it got to do with anything?"

"But when I saw the news channel, the leaves on every tree were still green and still attached to the trees. They have not fallen, almost as though it is no longer autumn, but summer."

Artemis's fingers stopped drumming abruptly. Her gray eyes turned away from the ceiling as she stared at Kaldur. "Were you planning on sharing this with me before or after you died falling off the monkey bars?"

"In truth, I did not begin to ponder this before now."

"We've been sent back in time, too? Is that why the team doesn't exist? Because we haven't met yet?"

"Perhaps so. I am slightly leery to ask Batman of the date, however, for fear that he will begin to wonder about me."

"Is that what we want him to do? Wonder? Maybe he'll figure out that there's something wrong, and that Robin's his real sidekick. And that I'm not supposed to have super-speed, and that you're an Atlantean."

"It is not so simple. I fear for our safety in this matter. Perhaps you should call it instinct, but we must not tell anyone that we have been changed, for the safety of e team, our mentors, perhaps even the world. We must find the others, but we must do it the same way that we originally met each other. On July 4th, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, and Green Arrow will bring their sidekicks to the Justice League headquarters. Speedy will leave, and you and myself, along with whoever is the new Aqualad, then break into operation CADMUS and release project Kr. In our world, this was Superboy. However, I fear that the fate that befell us has also befallen our teammates. Conner may not be the superhuman we release."

Artemis scratched her scalp and gave a deep sigh. "This just keeps getting better."

"Am I to assume that was sarcasm?"

"Yep."

A silence filled the room. Kaldur cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking again. "I am curious, Artemis. Kid Flash has the ability to vibrate the molecules of his body at a speed that allows him to phase through walls. However, he never mastered the technique. I merely wondered, do you share this ability?"

Artemis blinked. Then she turned to Kaldur and gave him a cold glare. "You just want to see me get a bloody nose."

"No."

"I'm not stupid."

"I never said anything that implied that you were."

"Wait a second! You don't think I can do it, do you?"

The former Atlantean pursed his lips together and appeared to be thinking. "I believe that it will be necessary to learn whether or not you have the ability."

"You don't think I can do it."

"...I am highly dubious."

"Fine!" Artemis stood up from her chair so quickly that it toppled to the floor. She didn't bother to pick it up. She marched to the nearest wall, stood before it for a moment, and then began to vibrate her entire body. She took a swift step toward the wall, still vibrating, only to bank into it hard and stumble backwards, holding her face. "Ow!"

She turned swiftly to Kaldur and pointed an accusing finger at him as a thin stream of red flowed from her left nostril. "You did that on purpose! You knew it would happen!"

Kaldur managed to suppress a chuckle and stared back at Artemis without even smiled. "I only suspected, I did not know."

"You're as bad as Robin, you troll!" Artemis's anger disappeared suddenly as a thought hit her. "What if we're switching personalities, too? I'll be a flirting, redheaded mess!"

"We are not switching personalities," Kaldur assured. "I honestly only wished to know if you had the ability to vibrate through solid objects. I did not intend for it to be amusing."

Artemis gave a nasally sigh as she pinched her nose and tilted her head back. "Tell Wally and I swear I'll kill you both."

"The secret is safe with me." Kaldur held back his laughter as he wondered what Robin himself would think of this incident.

Although Kaldur didn't know it, Robin was still in Atlantis, having even more fun. He figured out that for some reason, everyone in the underwater city thought that he was Aqualad, and that he always had been, and apparently, Kaldur simply didn't exist anymore. Robin was less than keen on this and suspected mind control. But over the entire city? It was unbelievable.

But on the other hand, it contained an entire new world of possibilities for his scheming mind. Literally.

Now THIS was asterous.

He decided to go along with Tula's insistence that he was Aqualad. "Of course I'm Aqualad! How could I forget? I'm so sorry to have caused you worry, my beautiful Tula." Needless to say, Tula was less than impressed with his mocking attempts at flirting, and was a little uneasy at his use of actual contractions. Apparently, in Atlantis, no one spoke real English.

Best. Day. Ever.

A little begging, pleading, and puppy dog eyes got Robin out of the bedroom and into the world beyond. Mesmerized by the feeling of cool weightlessness in the water, he swam alongside the teenaged Atlantean. She led him to a large arena-like area, where two males swam in a tight circle around the center. An elegant woman floated nearby, watching. Suddenly she let out a cry in the language of Atlantis, and the larger of the two men sent a stream of water toward the other, who barely dodged before a glowing blue blade slipped out a metal handle. The second man swiped and sliced at the other, ensuing an exciting battle.

"They are training in Atlantean sorcery," Tula explained, seeing Robin's musing gaze. "They must learn to use it in combat, for they shall soon join an elite force dedicated to protecting the city. But, of course, you already knew that, did you not, Dikel'ahm?"

"Yeah." Robin resumed watching the practice battle until the woman clapped her hands and uttered a few more sentences of the strange language. It was rather obvious that she was congratulating the two on their impressive performance.

"That is Queen Mera, the wife of King Orin, ruler of Atlantis," Tula said, interrupting Robin's thoughts. "You knew that as well, I assume?"

For some reason, Robin got the impression that he was being mocked. But he ignored it. "Yeah."

Tula swam closer to the stage, and Robin followed her. Tula spoke a few words in Atlantean to the Queen, who nodded in reply and cast a few worried glances in Robins direction.

Oh, this was gold.

Queen Mera turned away from Tula and approached Robin. "Hello, Dikel'ahm," she said sweetly.

Robin ignored the already-hated nickname and grinned. "Hi."

Instantly,the Queen and Tula exchanged glances. Queen Mera turned back to Robin and spoke a few words in Atlantean. Robin gave a sly grin and shrugged. "Sorry, don't speak that language."

Queen Mera blinked, once, twice, three times, and made a face like a guppy for several long moments before she found her voice. "Er... perhaps you should wait out this lesson," she suggested.

"How come? I feel great. In fact, why don't you pair me up with that guy for some sparring?" Robin pointed to the tallest, thickest, and obviously most advanced student in the arena. Queen Mera glanced to the person and gave a quick gasp before turning back to Robin with a pale face.

"Dikel'ahm," she breathed. "That is Natumok, Dikel'ahm. He is undefeated. He could hurt you, badly!"

"Maybe then I'll learn my lesson, eh?"

Queen Mera's fair face twisted into an unsure and frightened expression as she slowly announced, in Atlantean, the next two sparring partners. Robin only caught two words: Dikel'ahm and Natumok. Robin gave his eerie little laugh, which made Tula and several other students give him dubious stares.

"Perhaps you do not understand," growled Natumok in a deep voice as Robin approached the center of the ring with him. "I am the undefeated champion at this school. You may be Aqualad, but you have nothing against my skills. Give up now and you will live."

"Uh, let me think about that one... no. Bring it, you whale."

Queen Mera spoke again in Atlantean, and Natumok instantly shot a stream of hard water at Robin. Robin dodged and kicked Natumok in the shin. The Atlantean howled and grabbed his knee. Three hits later, Natumok lay on the ground, defeated.

Queen Mera cleared her throat awkwardly before she gave Robin a warm, surprised smile."I am impressed, Dikel'ahm. But why did you not use your water-bearers?"

Robin's cocky grin froze. "Water bearers?"

Queen Mera nodded. "Yes."

Tula frowned and leaned over to whisper in Robin's ear. "You have forgotten how to use them, did you not?"

"Yeah." Actually, he never learned how to use them in the first place, but, same difference.

"Come with me." Tula led Robin away from the rest of the group, then pulled out two silver handles and held them out to Robin. Robin took them and frowned.

"Concentrate on the form you wish the hard water to take shape as," Tula suggested. "If you wish to handle them as a knife, focus on the form of a blade."

"A blade," Robin repeated. "Okay." He closed his eyes, and a few seconds later, blades appeared from the handles of the water-bearers. Robin opened his eyes and grinned. "Hey, I did it! Can I do it with any shape?"

Tula smiled. "Very nearly, Dikel'ahm."

Robin ignored the name and focused on forming the hard water into a small shield, like he had often seen Kaldur do.

"This is so perfect!" Robin said with a laugh. Tula frowned when she thought she detected a small cackle near the end. Robin laughed again, and Tula's large eyes widened when the cackle was definitely there. "Eeheeheeheehee..."

"I could use these for so many things!" Robin added, ignoring the fact that Tula suddenly looked terrified and was backing away. When she turned around, however, he looked down at the water-bearers, pointed one at Tula's departing back, and made a small sphere of hard water pop out the end.

Tula shrieked when the hard water connected hard against her backside. She covered the spot with both hands and swam away as quickly as she could, leaving a scheming, dreaming troll laughing too hard to breathe.

Three days previously, the first thing Conner felt was coldness. He was chilled to the bone, and lay in the dust. He was having trouble breathing through the dust, for as he couldn't lift his head off the ground, he was inhaling it, red, chalky dust.

It seemed like hours before he found the strength to move, and when he did, he could have cursed himself for feeling so weak. He was the clone of SUPERMAN. Ihe was the the very emblem of the word strong. Or, at least, the clone of the emblem.

Conner sat up. He was in a dry red desert. It reminded him vaguely of the time the team was trapped in Bialiya. But out there, the sky wasn't gray, and the sand wasn't red. And this time, he knew exactly who he was. At least, he thought he did. And he could only imagine where he was this time. Mars, for all he knew. Why did his skin look weird? Eh, probably just the lighting.

As much as he hated too, he tried to call the team through the ever-present mind-link. "Kaldur, come in. I'm lost in a desert. I don't know where I am, and I need M'gann to come in the bioship and pick me up."

No answer.

Conner tried again. "Kaldur, come in. This is Superboy. Do you read me?"

Silence.

"Robin? M'gann? Wally? Someone, come in. Artemis, do you read me? Come in, come in. This is Superboy. Do you read me? Someone, come on, answer me!"

No answer came.

Conner frowned and stood up. Looked like he was walking from here.

Wait, no. What was that? Conner saw something in the distance. Was it... he couldn't tell. For some reason, his super-powered vision didn't seem to be working. Great, first, no laser vision, then no super-sight at all?

He started walking toward the object. It was red. Bright red, and made from some kind of metal. A spaceship? It was sleek, aerodynamic, and... it was the bioship! Conner started running. He grabbed the doorway and peered in. Empty. M'gann would never leave the bioship unattended and not in camo mode. Something was up.

Conner took a few steps forward. He glanced around, confirming that there were no enemies. He took a few steps forward, and suddenly, the door of the bioship closed behind him.

Conner frowned as he turned back to the door. He tried the handle, but it was suddenly locked. Great. He considered smashing the lock with his fists, but M'gann would be upset. So that left him trapped in the bioship all by himself.

Conner leaned against the wall and slid to the floor with a sigh. Something told him that being locked in the bioship was the least of his worries.

A/N Whoo! Was that long enough? Hope so!

Also, a lot of people are asking where Wally is. Don't worry, he'll get here soon, I promise! Just working out some "minor" plot holes...

Next chapter: Independence Day, rewritten! May be a two part chapter...

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