I had nearly forgotten about updating! My cheesy goodness, I am so sorry! n
And this chapter seems kinda short to me... Sorry once again... Lots of busy stuff happening and I just seem to procrastinate so much and I'm just so- stuck on where this story is going. The next chapter is going to be better and longer, but- not so much in this Young Justice dimension. It's gonna be an AU. And I hope those of you will be staying around next weekend to read it, I'm kinda excited for it.
Review please!~ (And sorry about posting this at eight minutes past midnight! I was a bit subdued by Father's Day. I hope those of you gave your Dads hugs and kisses! ^^)
"So, Wally. When did you first realize your honest affinity for sorcery?" Artemis asked the redhead from her seat at the front of the Bioship. I scoffed inwardly and crossed my arms, looking at my comrade with an interested eye. Wondering what his little story would be this time.
"Well, I- I don't like to brag, but, uh, before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself." He declared with a smug grin, raising his arms and folding them behind his head. I rolled my eyes and bit my tongue, my retorts could be saved for later.
Artemis mimicked my actions and returned her gaze on the scenery outside.
"We've reached Tornado's coordinates, but-," M'gann started and trailed off, a bit confused. I nodded absentmindedly and sighed.
"Nothing's there," Superboy and I both said at the same time, we shared an uneasy glance from across the small space of the Bioship. Something was definitely up, and Kent Nelson could most likely in more trouble than I had guessed that a almost ninety year-old could get into. Even if he was a Justice Leaguer.
"Take us down," Kaldur ordered calmly. M'gann did so quickly, the camouflaged Bioship took landing on a empty parking lot of the city, Salem.
I had not yet gotten used to travelling via a flying vehicle, yet had I even told my teammates about my little condition. Or should I rather say, conundrum. Being a hefty weight that broke scales yet somehow managing big contraptions like these- it still was not satisfying. I feared the day that something like this would crash under my combined weight and I would plummet to my doom.
I did only have two major organs in my whole body that weren't solidified and protected by the malleable coating.
Either way, I could lightly hypothesize- with hardly any hope that it could be true- that M'gann knew, she had said that she and her Bioship had a mental connection before, I think. I never was a good one at remembering things like that. Perhaps the Bioship could manage.
"Let's take a look around," Kaldur suggested, standing and setting off. Wally flashed off, the rest of us got abroad the mission. It was time to take Doctor Fate's disappearance into our own hands. And find him. Hopefully- alive.
I sighed, rubbing my temples and sitting down on freshly trimmed grass of the empty field. Our search seemed fruitless and the cookies from earlier had already diminished to wasted energy twenty minutes earlier. I was starved. The empty and upturned search spot for- whatever we were looking for (again, very short memory to something not-so-important and a half-awake teen)- made me very- extremely unhappy as well. I was really determined that we'd have more luck than this.
Then again, it wasn't a game of hide-and-seek. It was life and death, and I could hardly believe where a Leaguer's hideout (that's what it was...) could ever possibly be would not be in a dumpster or behind bushes. This was ridiculous.
"Nothing. This isn't simple camouflage." Our redheaded speedster reported, having zipped back a millisecond ago. I groaned from my spot on the ground, M'gann gave me a worried expression. "Sorry, just tired," I mumbled quietly to her, she nodded in understanding as I stood again.
"So what do you think, adaptive micro-opto-electronics combined with phase shifting?" Artemis hypothesized sarcastically. Well, I would guess sarcastically, because- then again, who did and could not believe magic? I, on another note, was a bit neutral of the subject. I had yet to see magic, but I also wanted to be hopeful of the foreign and native issue on-hand.
"Absolutely," Wally began, then, seeing M'gann suddenly on his left-
"...Not. Clearly mystic powers are at work here."
I rolled my eyes and let out a sharp exhale. I could get vertigo body dizziness from this. Artemis, Superboy and I were unamused by his antics, obviously. Aqualad seemed to be used to it.
I yawned tiredly, granting M'gann's piqued interest on my status. I was getting that a lot lately. "Are you okay, Vera?" She asked worriedly, using the shorter version of my name which made me give a lopsided smile. I embarrassingly yawned once more, "Sorry. Uh, yeah I'm fine. Just rough sleep is all." Sort of the complete truth.
The rest of the group exchanged glances that I felt were keenly on my behalf. I sighed, "No need to worry. Let's just worry about Doctor Fate right now."
"Yes, let's," Kaldur begrudgingly agreed. Since when was I some sort of sympathy drive? I was fine. Wasn't like I was dying or anything... That would be a sight to see, even for me. It was as hard as it could get just to cut me.
Crickets chirped loudly from their hidden stages within the grass. Orchestrating a night jamboree on our dark summer dusk, the mystery behind the man we were currently initiating with blind senses didn't falter their worries nor music. If it had been any other day without the Team breathing down my back, worrying about me or searching for Kent Nelson, I would have happily enjoyed the insects' melodies.
"A test of faith." Kaldur said quietly from behind me, stepping forward after a moment in thought. "Stand behind me," he told us, putting the key that Red Tornado had given him before.
Our eyes widened in shock as the unthinkable happened. A door appeared amongst a stature of sorts, looking similar to a lookout castle. Man, was Doctor Fate's hideout small. I expected something more... Grander? Larger? More modern in architecture?
Without saying a word amongst ourselves or even against the fact that we had found a piece of what we had been previously searching high and low for, we entered the threshold. I felt my body quake slightly after the door shut solemnly behind us. It was something I would have anticipated for the elder man's man cave. Though I still remained in a silent pause above it all.
"Uh, where'd the door go?" Wally wondered after a moment's hesitance. I shrugged in answer to his question, though he did not look like he noticed. Nor did anybody else, they all seemed in a mute distraction of surveying our surroundings until a glowing hologram of a man I recognized all-too-much appeared before us. My mouth let out a quiet squeak of surprise that maybe Superboy only heard, I kicked myself internally.
"Greetings. You have entered with a key, but the tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent." The hologram of Kent Nelson insisted, looking ahead of us like a ghost zombie. I felt a chill go up my spine, wondering and hoping that the real Kent Nelson had not turned into either of the two.
"We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate." Our idiot ally, Wally, answered. I facepalmed at his attempt to woo my martian teammate and friend, M'gann.
I recognized the apologetic expression upon the hologram's face, I felt the chill return back up my spine, once again. I looked to Wally with a firm glare and bit my cheek as the glowing form of Kent Nelson vanished like a ripple in a lake.
Creak
My Team yelled out in surprise as the floor beneath us crumbled, I flailed my arms in a weak attempt to balance myself in the situation without a floor. I barely registered the pool of lava at the bottom of the pit, only scared for my partners' lives and not of my own. Was that bad?
M'gann flew off to the side of the wall of the pit, grabbing our other redheaded teammate as well. Artemis, somehow armed with a grappler that I had yet to see her use it in action, used that to get her and Kaldur out of harm's way and against the wall of the rocky pothole. I didn't even bother to brace myself as Superboy used both free hands to latch onto the dirty stockade.
"Veronica!" M'gann, Artemis and Kaldur cried out. Wally was probably a bit winded from the fall and Superboy yowled as his boots were scalded away from the burning liquid.
I blinked as I did not hit the bottom, only the impact made me shake my head as my feet continued into the lava. I quickly held onto a patch of the rock wall to subdue my descent any further. My toes throbbed at the sudden action that transpired in what I would have expected would be a action-free mission.
My pants were on fire, just at my mid-thigh as my teammates screamed out once more in astonishment. I growled, irked as I patted out the fire on my leggings while also holding onto the rock wall. There was no real bottom of this pit as I would have guessed before.
"Those were my last pair." I hissed at the substance below me that had burned away my last pair of pants. The trip to the mall couldn't be any sooner.
"Those were my favorite boots," Superboy grumbled from the side. "This Nelson guy better be worth it." He added while taking a livid glance over to me, blinking and taking notice, "What about you?"
"What about me?" I asked innocently, he blinked again and shook his head. I sighed at my leggings-turned-shorts, the ends curled up and blackened. They weren't even decent anymore, it would be embarrassing to walk around in public like this. Practically skimpy and unbefitting, it was barely five inches off the top of my thigh. It made me extremely uncomfortable.
"Having trouble maintaining altitude. I'm so hot." M'gann quavered from above, holding our team speedster with one arm, and thankfully having recovered from the shock of me landing in the lava. "You so are," Wally stated from her grip, I rolled my eyes and wished I could cross my arms, helpless at the pool of bubbling lava. It was pretty much threatening me. I was still a bit surprised Artemis, Kaldur or Wally had yet to ask me how I was surviving the intentional doom of the liquid.
Guess it was neither the time nor place, I shrugged at the thought.
"Wally!" Our archeress screeched from under our atlantean's protective arm sling while she held onto the grappling mechanism.
"Hey, inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind." The freckled teen protested.
Kaldur wiped his brow and panted, "my physiology and M'gann's are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly."
M'gann was slowly descending the end of the elongated pit, and I sensed Superboy's angst of falling into the molten rock, as M'gann and Wally's. I was prepared to try and prevent my fellow teammates from meeting the agonizing pain of the substance, or at least try to subdue it until they figured out something. It would only last so long though...
"Hello, Megan. We never truly answered the question," our martian ally realized, facepalming in her own conclusion, "Red Tornado sent us to see if and the helmet were safe!"
The lava wasn't disappearing, but a solid floor began to cross over it. Superboy reached over and grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulling me up so the new floor wouldn't close over my legs that were still submerged halfway in the liquid. One by one, the Team- subtracting our absent Robin- dropped to the new floor. I turned to the kryptonian clone, "Thanks."
"No problem," he grunted.
"This platform, it should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch." Aqualad said with a confused gasp. I grimaced at my burned pants, a bit thankful I had actually been cautious for something like this. I rummaged in the back pocket of them- once again, thankful that I hadn't gotten my the entirety of the clothes below my waist burned- and grabbed the tautly folded, thin version of my cloak in my pocket and unfolded it with a wave. I put it over my shoulders and let the familiar sense of security- that it usually gave me- wash over with gusto.
"Don't worry, Megalicious. I got you." Wally flirted/assured my exhausted comrade.
"Enough! Your little 'Impress Megan At All Costs' game nearly got us all barbecued," Artemis exploded, pushing Wally away from M'gann who was still recovering. The two of us returned a small expression of alarm.
"When did this become my fault?" Wally asked loudly.
"When you lied to that- whatever it was- and called yourself a true believer." The blonde seethed, glaring him down. I crossed my arms underneath my cloak and scoffed. Superboy seemed to join in on the blame brigade part of our team, standing behind me and M'gann.
"Wally, you don't believe?" M'gann asked disbelievingly innocently. Had she really not seen him fawning over her? Trying to- ugh, he was really getting under my skin.
"Fine! Fine! I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie, a major load." He admitted, crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes.
"Wally, I studied for a year at the conservatory of sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin icons that power my water bearers." Kaldur explained from his position on the floor. Though I had yet to even know some of this information about Kaldur- or atlanteans alternatively- it made more sense than science could provide. Then- on another note- I preferred simple explanations over science's more difficult ones.
Wally didn't seem to want to give up though, on his more scientific behalf.
"Dude, you ever hear of bioelectricity? Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magical, too. Today it's all just a bunch of tricks." He countered stubbornly, I gave him a deadpanned glare.
"You're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers."
"That's science," he said once again. "I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment, and here I am. Everything can be explained by science." I sighed and lifted a hand to rub my temple, feeling the excitement from earlier fade and let my tiredness return.
"Let us test that theory." Our atlantean companion interrupted their banter, beginning to remove the floorboards beneath himself. I felt the chill return.
"Wait! The back-draft from the lava will roast us alive!" The redhead urged the atlantean.
A cool breeze emanated from below the board, bits of snow flying out and around us.
"It's snow." M'gann piped up, the cool wind brushing back her red hair. However, Artemis seemed satisfied with the turn of events, "Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" She said snarkily.
I huffed and jumped in after everyone else had, the hole we had jumped through dispersed in a echoey noise and a flash of yellow light. I pulled my dark garment around myself in comfort more than warmth, seeing as the heat nor cold could bother me. It seemed to a be a subject of debate in my head if the rest of the Team were to ask now or later.
It seemed the latter was more plausible.
"Well?" Artemis questioned Wally as I walked over to stand beside M'gann, who looked uncomfortable with the argument ceasing to end.
"M'gann," I whispered quietly, the girl responding with a quick glance as our other two teammates continued their charade. "Just letting you know, even if a little late, but- you know I would've gotten you back there in the pit," I assured her, almost mutely. She smiled, about to respond when her face contorted into something more serious, "what's that?" I turned around to the direction she was pointing at.
A cane. With a golden knob that jut outwards in a elegant hold, a dark wooden base and frosted bottom. Possibly because it had previously been hiding in the snow.
"Ooh. Maybe it's Nelson's magic wand," the speedster mocked as I strode over to it, having been the closest to the levitating stick. Artemis moved over to stand behind me.
Wally zoomed over and grabbed the ancient walking cane just as I held it as well, I glared at the incompetent redhead. "I got it," I snapped just as he said the same. My body began to tremble inwardly, a force making my head spin wildly.
The cane glowed with the same yellow light that the hologram and portal emitted from before.
"Ahh. I can't let go!" We both realized simultaneously, eyes widening to the same degree.
A intolerable noise pierced my ears, like one would hear downwind of banging a gong or cymbal and waiting. I felt my body whoosh upwards alongside Wally's as the cane's strong force whipped us up towards infinity. We yelled loudly, mimicking one another's surprise.
So much for destiny, I suppose.