Chapter Ten
The speedster exploded up the gangway like an angry bolt of lightning, complete with pyrotechnic contrails that seemed to chase him everywhere he went. Within seconds half of the security team was unconscious, slumped in all sorts of awkward positions after being hit by the fastest racing car in human history. Unfortunately that's when the clan of Kobra came to life, pulling assault weapons from the faux ships company uniforms and firing blindly in all directions. Swarms of the cult rushed the deck seemingly out of nowhere, leaving the speedster worried exactly how many more could be stashed away on the boat. No matter how fast Wally was, he wasn't bulletproof. Luckily for him another member of his team was.
Conner Kent came crashing down on the deck with enough force the ship rocked like it had struck a reef, knocking everyone including the speedster from their feet. Teams of Kobra agents rushed the junior man of steel, but Conner brushed them away like mosquitos with little effort.
A loud crack echoed through the air, and seconds later Superboy dropped to his knees in pain as a high impact sniper rifle sent round after round at him, striking him in the chest and head. He may be bulletproof, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
Conner searched around for the hidden sniper when suddenly a few feet away, an unconscious body feel to the ground from several feet above, followed quickly by his rifle. Conner looked up and found a smiling Dick Grayson in mid salute grappling off in the direction of the ship's hold, looking for the vessel's deadly cargo.
Artemis looked down on the scene unfolding below her and it only took seconds to put the pieces together. All of the players had been right in front of her the entire time.
The rich energetic young CEO with limitless funds, his charismatic advisor and love interest, the annoying yet brilliant geneticist, even the sweet unassuming pastry owner with the sympathetic ear, along with the same name, minus the Martian pronunciation.
All of the pieces of this unique game of chess, set up and playing out right in front of her the whole time. They were the kings, queens and bishops, but what burned inside her was her role in this game. She was the pawn; she was the one who'd been played.
From the lower dock Zatanna continued to cast spells, speaking verbal commands backwards and turning the Kobra agent's weapons into snakes and serpents, causing them to drop them and run for their lives. With a satisfied smirk she began her journey up the gangway to join her teammates when out of nowhere a burst of energy slammed her from behind, driving her headfirst into the steel structure. Behind her on the dock, Shimmer stepped out of the shadows and smiled in satisfaction, hopeful she had possible crippled one of their enemy's most powerful members.
Before Artemis could make a move to rescue the sorceress, Dick Grayson landed beside her body from atop his perch on the shipping cranes, checking her vitals and throwing sonic grenades blindly to allow for some temporary cover to remove his fallen teammate from the fray. Shimmer stumbled backwards from the piercing attack, dropping to her knees as the sonic assault, similar to the frequency Black Cannery used, continued to slam her against the railings of the dock. Once the grenades silenced, she tried to stand but her knees where unsteady from the vertigo caused by the after effects of the ultrasonic strike. When her vision began to clear, the last thing she saw was the green glowing eyes of the Martian as her brain began to scream.
The attack on Zatanna had not gone unnoticed, and Conner soon rushed towards the gangway to assist his girlfriend. He rounded the quarterdeck and ran towards the exit when suddenly he was met head on by the savage fist of the creature codenamed Mammoth. Conner never saw it coming. The assault drove Superboy through the bulkhead and directly into the engine room several decks below. Through the rapture on the main deck, Mammoth jumped through the gaping hole to continue the attack. Within seconds the ship began to lurch wildly as the two powerhouses slugged it out. Wally sped to the rupture to assist when suddenly Mammoths's massive form erupted from below deck, barely missing the speedster and hurdling off the boat in the general vicinity of the massive cargo ships docked a few hundred yards away. Conner came flying out in the direction he had sent the creature to ensure it was unconscious, or was soon about to be.
Everything was happening too fast for the archer. Multiple attacks occurring simultaneously, while chatter and battle orders sped through the mind link. The team was used to filtering and sorting through multiple thoughts and conversations at once, focusing only on the perceived threats and targets, but she was not.
She held her head and tried to block out the mental feedback that blitzed her mind. Waves of emotions washed over her all at once from those who also shared the link. Anger, worry, revenge, fear, all radiated so strongly that she wasn't sure if they were coming from her teammates or herself. When she finally adjusted to the connection again, she looked through the binoculars towards the battle. All she could see was lightning zipping around the main deck, the floating form of the Martian slamming crew and guards into structures, cargo containers, and each other. Nightwing, Zatanna and Superboy were nowhere to be seen. She had no idea if there were any more hidden teammates or villains waiting in wait, but when she saw the large pale main standing in the shadows, she knew she'd found her target.
Kobra, the leader of the cult, stood underneath the pylons supporting the ship's bridge, watching the battle unfold. His expression was unreadable, though Artemis thought she noticed just the slightest hint of annoyance on his pale features. She'd not been properly briefed, but when the head of the Kobra clan makes an appearance, it's a safe bet that he's the mastermind behind it all.
Her orders were clear; to stay put and call out anything out of the ordinary, but with so many teammates missing or engaged in battle, it was time she took matters into her own hands.
Despite being engaged with the enemy, the speedster and the Martian immediately sensed the cult leader's presence. Since the first shots were fired, both had been waiting for him to make his entrance, he was too arrogant not to, but both Wally and Megan knew they were shorthanded, and to take on a man this powerful, this deadly, they knew they needed to be at full strength to even have a chance.
Now was not the time to attack, they needed time to regroup and quickly put a plan in place. This man was likely responsible for the drug that plagued Gotham, and the ship was probably loaded with all the proof they needed. If he got away, it would only be only a matter of time before more of this drug would arrive into the U.S. Maybe not by boat, maybe not in Gotham, but somewhere just as vulnerable, and when it did, lives would be destroyed if not lost altogether.
Megan reached within the mental link to search for her missing teammates and warn them that the Kobra leader had finally arrived. Dick would have a plan in place within five minutes, and then they would soon begin their attack, unfortunately no one told Artemis that.
As the razor tipped titanium arrow lodged itself into the cold steel of the cargo ship, the nylon kernmantle rope attached to it created the transit method for Artemis to grapple from the warehouse roof to the vessel. Megan looked up to see the archer flying over the fray, holding onto her bow for dear life as she used it to ride the rope down to the main deck.
"Artemis no!" the Martian screamed, but before she could act was rushed on all sides and tackled to the ground by the last remaining armored mercenaries.
Artemis now stood toe to toe with the villain, measuring him up and preparing her attack. Her mother had given her a strong foundation in martial arts, but it was Arrow's training that had truly taught her how to fight. She began with a series of high kicks to Kobra's head, followed by strikes to the solar plexus, groin, and knees. Any other man or woman would have been down in seconds, but she was dealing with a villain who considered himself a god.
Artemis's attacks were countered quickly and easily, and despite her training, never saw the blow that slammed her to the bulkhead and nearly out of consciousness. She'd never seen anyone that fast, well almost anyone. His massive hand reached out and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her effortlessly above the ground. His vice like grip crushed her windpipe and he drew her face to his. With an annoyed expression, he shook his head in pity.
"Gnat," he bemused and tossed her aside brutally, smashing her body against the unrelenting steel of the ship several feet away. Kobra closed his maroon cloak and turned on his heels and slowly walked away, leaving the battle to the infidels, while he moved on to the next phase of his plan.
Artemis gritted her teeth, forced herself to her feet, and began sprinting after him. When Kobra reached the hatch, he looked back and smiled at the approaching archer, and it was sent chills up her spine. He stepped inside without any concern to her pursuit and shut the hatch securely, disappearing within the bowels of the ship.
xxx
There's a term all the great athletes use, a moment in time when the world around them seems to slow to a crawl, when an individual feels they have complete control of everything around them. They call it the flow.
It's like when a pitcher watches the ball leave his hands and curve almost at his command, or when a QB threads the needle between two defenders to mentally guide his pass perfectly into his receiver's hands on the fly. The moment when they are the masters of their domain and all is possible.
At the same token those athletes understand that the phenomenon works both ways, and can turn against you in less than a second. The moment when that same control is lost, leaving them helplessly awaiting their fate, all in slow motion.
A pitcher watches the ball crack off the bat sending minute particles of chalk flying in all directions while the ball speeds off towards the warning track, or that same QB sees the rage in a linebackers eyes, feels his breath on the back of his neck, helplessly awaiting the car crash like impact that is about to knock him senseless. Sometimes it's just the feeling of falling with no hope of being caught, or tensing up as ground bellow ruthlessly awaits your violent landing.
As the archer ripped open the hatch door, time stopped for her in much the same manner and she felt herself sliding into the flow.
Artemis winced as the blinding flash erupted from the deck below and then immediately understood what Kobra had done. Without any regards to the members of his cult or the mercenaries he'd hired, he'd detonated a bomb hidden within the hold of the ship, ensuring any and all evidence would not fall into the hands of the heroes' who could either trace its origins or learn to counter them.
She watched helplessly as the fireball began its slow savage journey upward. Suddenly she was back in that rundown apartment in Star City, hopelessly outmatched against her antagonist, but this time there would be no Green Arrow there to save her.
Her skin began to prickle, soon to be replaced with blistering from the raging heat forcing its way topside. Her body tensed as she began flying ever so slowly backwards, awaiting the crushing force that would send her to her death. When the impact finally struck, she closed her eyes tight and prepared to die.
The flow began its fade back into real time, but before it did, just for a second she thought it odd that the force of the impact came more from her side instead of head on as she expected. At that moment time sped up in a hurry, a real hurry
The deafening thunder of the explosion suddenly sounded as if it they were hundreds of yards away. She opened her eyes to find herself cradled in yellow clad arms. Artemis craned her neck to see the fireball light up the dock that was shrinking away by the second. Bolts of lightning chased behind them as the world around her had transformed into a blur of strange lights and sounds. Landmarks and cityscapes became impossible to focus on, but not her savior. His face was hidden behind the mask and goggles, but the hair was the dead giveaway. Wally West, aka Kid Flash, had her cradled in his arms and was traveling like a bat out of hell away from the detonation. Her pony whipped wildly as they sped across the water like it was made of glass. He didn't acknowledge her, all of his focus was directed straight ahead, but his determined face seemed to be hiding something. She turned ahead just in time to see the island ahead literally appear out of nowhere.
Of course she'd seen him on the news before; she'd seen all of them. The Flashes were graceful, could cut and stop on a dime at blinding speeds. She'd even watched a Youtube video of them literally flying up the side of a building as if gravity held no hold on them, so when she felt his body down-shifting, the archer expected a smooth transition from the waters of Gotham Harbor to the approaching island ahead.
Moments later she found herself bouncing across the island as if she'd been launched like a missile.
Artemis continued to tumble helplessly until finally her momentum came to a stop. As the momentary vertigo subsided, she glanced back to see Kid Flash having slid to his knees, breathing heavily and looking as dizzy and disoriented as she felt.
Her elbows were bloodied, and the open midriff of her uniform, which seemed stylish at the time, was now painfully impractical as her exposed skin was covered in road rash. She was bloodied, bruised and pissed off, and one of the culprits was kneeling thirty feet from her completely unaware he was about to feel her wrath.
"Motherfucker!" she screamed, getting to her feel while every open wound and rash on her body fired up her nervous system all at one. She closed her eyes and powered through the pain and limped over to the kneeling speedster.
"You fucking assholes, you all played me, you played me from the moment we met, she hissed, "and I was stupid enough to fall for it. I should have seen this coming. The poor little delinquent girl from Star City somehow gets the job of her dreams, and now I know why. Because you fuckers needed a pawn, needed someone stupid enough to join your idiotic crusade without asking who any of the payers were, and it almost got me killed. This has all been one giant fucking lie after another and I fell for it."
Wally looked up at her, completely out of breath pulling off his goggles, searching for a response.
"You should never have come to me, I wasn't ready for something like this and you all should have known it. God I'm such an idiot. The job, the apartment, this stupid team, my gut told me it was all bullshit, but I didn't listen!"
She continued her tirade, cursing every other word, blind fury flowing from her lips until the speedster had finally had enough.
"Will you quit screaming and shut up for or a minute!" he yelled, startling her momentarily as his anger ratcheted up to hers. "This was not my idea so quit bitching at me!" he snapped through broken breaths. "I just need a minute…ok?"
She began to shake in anger when she noticed the small blotches of crimson forming on the front of his uniform. His breathing continued to quicken and he fell forward on his hands and knees when she saw the steel rebar sticking out of his back, resting between his ribs and directly in his right lung, one that had probably embedded itself when he came to her rescue. The blood on the front of his uniforms was nothing compared to the pools that spilled from his back.
"Oh my god!" she panicked
"I'm fine," he panted.
"No you're not! You've got a freaking steel rod sticking through your back."
"Calm down," he asked.
"I am calm!" she snapped back.
"Will you please stop yelling," he asked through gritted teeth, "my head hurts enough as it is. I know you're pissed off, but I could really use your help right now."
She took a deep calming breath and answered nervously. "Ok, what do I do?"
"I need you to pull the damn thing out!" he replied angrily.
"Are you crazy? You'll bleed out you idiot!"
"I'm doing a good job of that on my own right now, and do you think maybe you could save the insults till later. Trust me, I heal a lot faster than you guys do, but I've got to get that thing out for it to start."
She placed her hands on the rod, but quickly let go. "I can't do it."
"Yes you can!" he yelled.
"Stop yelling at me." she demanded.
"You're the one yelling damnit, Now just put two hands on…Owwwwww!" he screamed, completely unprepared as Artemis pulled out the rod without any warning.
"Little warning next time," he coughed with relief, spitting out globs of blood. It was still agonizing to breathe, but having the rod out was a good start.
"Now what?" she questioned, trying to get her bearings on the small inlet they were stranded on. In his current shape, there was no way the speedster would be able to recreate their trip back to the harbor.
"We wait here till they come rescue us." he winced, trying to get back into a kneeling position.
"Brilliant plan Einstein, how are they going to find us?"
"Trust me Artemis; they've known the whole time. Why do you think Nightwing makes you carry that stupid communicator everywhere you go? As soon as they wrap things up, they'll be here; you just need to be patient."
"Not my strong suit," she snarked.
"No kidding," Wally wheezed.
"I could shove that pole right back where I found it, might even find a better place to put it."
"I think I'll pass. They'll be here. You can activate the homing signal if you want, it would probably speed up the process some," he replied, coughing out another huge clot.
Artemis began dumping out the contents of her quiver. Arrows, replacement tips, survival rations, all spilled out onto the ground. Instead of searching anymore for her com unit, she grabbed the first aid kit and carefully placed gauze and bandages on Wally's back.
"I knew you cared." he grinned through pale clammy skin. If he had accelerated healing abilities, she sure hadn't seen them yet.
"Shut-up and be still. I can't find my com unit, it probably fell out when you slammed on the brakes and forgot to warn me jackass."
"Again with the insults…." he sighed
"Where's yours?" she asked, glancing around his torn bloody costume. Other than the storage bins on his gloves, which were now open and empty, there wasn't much place for him to store one."
"Back at my place, I don't carry mine much."
"Just brilliant," she growled, "and why the hell not?"
"Whoa," Wally murmured blinking. He grew unsteady and fell forward on his hands and knees again. He rolled to his side and pulled down his cowl in an attempt to get more air. "Well I think I'm gonna pass out now, don't worry they'll be here when they can."
"No Wally!" she yelled, running to his side and holding his head in her hands. He sighed at her touch, until she began smacking his cheeks and shaking his head to stay awake. With the moonlight shining through her golden hair, Wally thought she looked like and angel, unfortunately one with a mouth like a sailor, and the bedside manner of a serial killer.
"Just a little catnap beautiful," he yawned. "I'll be fine as wine in a few."
"No Wally!" she screamed, but her pleas echoed out through the small wooded island and fell on deaf ears as the speedster began to snore.
"Perfect," she groaned.
xxx
Below deck as explosions rocked the Shchepetov, Kobra slid comfortably into the escape sub. The heavy glass dome above closed, forming an air tight seal while he started up the engines. His members had played their part and their sacrifice had ensured their exulted leader would live on, filling their last moments with misplaced pride and satisfaction, completely unaware how little their lives or their sacrifice actually meant to him.
The ship's chamber filled with water and the escape doors folded open allowing the sub a quick exit. As the small vessel slid out the bay, the hull rocked, sending the sub towards the cargo ship's large propellers, steel on steel scraping against each other. Kobra quickly regained control and entered in the coordinates that would take him safely out to sea.
The dark sky above shaded the water, allowed the sub to blend perfectly with the surrounding water, becoming virtually invisible against the ocean floor. Kobra activated the sonar system and began scanning ahead when he noticed the dampness of his cape. At his feet a small pinhole had formed from the collision with the Shchepetov's propellers, and water was slowly tricking in. At the rate the water was entering the cabin, the cult leader felt confident he could escape Gotham harbor and hit the open seas, staying close enough to the shoreline to navigate north to the predetermined safe house the cult kept just for situations like this.
The interior lights flickered and shorted out, but the engine remained active, seemingly unaffected by the leak. Kobra would not activate the exterior light for fear of discovery, but the sub's sonar would allow him to easily navigate out of the shipping lanes. At this time of night, he doubted any vessels would be coming in or out. Suddenly a klaxon went off and the leader glanced at his screen to see a small blip resting directly ahead.
He squinted his eyes as the object ahead began to glow. Without warning the ship rocked violently back and forth, as if struck by an unknown force, throwing him against the walls of the sub repeatedly. The fierce jolting continued until all systems shut off and the sub sank helplessly to the ocean floor. The pressure of the decent and depth caused the rupture to enlarge and water began flowing in at an accelerated pace. When Kobra stared out the glass dome, he was greeted with the steel blue eyes of Kaldur'ahm floating feet before him, water bearers charged and ready, illuminating all around them.
"Surrender peacefully and you won't be harmed," Aqualad spoke through the depths, his voice echoing off the sub at twice the volume
"Never insect!" Kobra sneered through the glass dome.
"Then let's see how long can you hold your breath," Kaldur smiled.
Author's Note Five weeks is incredibly not cool for update and I am sincerely sorry. Been traveling a lot and when I have the time, writing a story on an iPad sucks. For some reason this was a tough chapter to write, but I have the next one outlined and should not have to wait more than "let's say" two weeks for the next. This story is just about over, so bear with me. I believe the ending will be worth it. Thanks and welcome to all the new followers, and as always I appreciate reviews, positive or negative. It's the only way to improve. Thanks again and sorry for the long wait. Won't happen again.