All I can say is thank you to "Guest" for writing a review for William. He/she suggested that he's alive when Angelee gets to Trivoyian but dies in battle. I've thought of that too so as of right now, that's what going to happen unless I get a different idea. So… this chapter is Homefront; I'm pretty sure it will be separated into two parts like previous chapters. We are now, officially, at the good episodes of the season; super happy at that. So onto the chapter; please review with thoughts, suggestions and opinions.
Disclaimer in chapter 1
Chapter 20-Homefront Part 1
~Gotham Academy, September 22nd, 06:00, Dick and Angelee, and Bruce's POV~
"Dick! Angelee! Let's go! You guys are going to be late!" Bruce yelled up the stairs.
Hustling down the stairs, Dick ran for his life; Angelee screaming behind him,
"I'm gonna kill you!"
"Whoa," Dick hid behind Bruce who stopped Angelee in her tracks, "someone want to explain to me what is going on?"
Dick laughed,
"It was her idea!"
"It was my idea to spread the rumor that you're my boyfriend!"
Bruce raised an eyebrow,
"Alright," Bruce pulled Dick out from behind him, "you want to explain this to me?"
"There was an 8th grader who asked her to his Welcome Back Bash but she didn't want to go so I told him I was her boyfriend."
Bruce shrugged,
"And what seems to be the problem?"
"Now everyone at school knows about it. Not to mention all the dirty looks I get from the girls at Gotham Academy; everyone there thinks the same. I can't take a single step on campus without everybody staring at me."
"Don't worry about them," Bruce folded his arms, "ignore them. We need to get going or you two are going to be late," he pushed them towards the car, "now get in the car!" Being shoved out the door, they got in the car, "Alfred is going to take you today but I'll see you two later."
"Okay!" The car pulled away once again; leaving Bruce behind them.
~Gotham Academy, 07:00~
"Here we are Master Dick." Alfred stopped in front of campus.
"Thanks Alfred," Dick took off his seat belt, "bye Angel. See you at the Cave."
"Whatever."
Frowning, Dick let. He was just trying to be helpful but now it backfired…
"I guess it did a bit out of hand," a bunch of girls glared at him, "but then again… it did get all of the girls off me."
~Gotham Junior High~
"And your stop Miss Angelica."
"Thanks Alfred;" a lit kiss was planted on his cheek, "be careful going home!"
She heard the bell ring and ran from the car inside.
~Dick and Artemis' POV~
Standing next to a pillar, Dick was talking to an orange-haired girl. Catching Artemis talking to Bette; the student liason, he ran over with a camera,
"We'll laugh about this someday." He took a picture then ran off.
Dazed and confused, Artemis asked,
"Uh who was that?"
"A freshmen… ignore him." Bette lead Artemis to class.
Back to the pillar, Dick was smiling.
"Dick… what was that about?"
Laughing his little creepy laugh, Dick acted like it was nothing,
"Nothing Barbara… just being friendly to the new girl." (Ohh Barbara… I'm thinking it's Barbara Gordon… don't like her either)
Barbara walked away and Dick looked at the picture. The day was going to be interesting.
~Gotham Junior High, Angelee's POV~
Finally the day was done. She was looking forward to going to the Cave. Tired of getting dirty looks and hearing snickers from other students, Angelee hightailed it out of the school; teleporting to the nearest zeta tube teleporter.
"RECOGNIZED BLACK CRANE! B02!"
~Mount Justice, Normal POV~
"Ahh…"
"I heard the news," Meghan ran over and hugged her, "it's about time you two got together."
Grunting, Angelee held her head,
"We're not dating! He just acted that way to get a guy off my back!"
"Oh… too bad. Superboy and I thought it would be nice to have another couple to double date with."
Superboy chuckled,
"Give them time M'gann. It will happen."
"Okay can we not talk about this! I'll be in my room." Angelee flew to her room; tired of dealing with everything, "He was trying to help but it only made matters worse. I have to stop it before it gets too out of control."
~Angelee's POV~
"Finally, some time to myself." Drawing the hexagon on the floor with black chalk; 6 candles were placed, "Connect me to my past, connect me to my future. Show the mast to the suture of this world and Trivoyian. Bring to me a friend who can tell me the way. Blend this world and the day!"
William stood before her,
"Princess!" he grabbed her by the waist; swinging her in a circle, "I have missed you."
Angelee giggled,
"As I you. It has been a while," her hands were on his chest, "how are things? Are you alright?"
"Things are well. No major attacks from the Guards in the past week; not many executions have taken place," William beamed in delight, "how are things here?"
"Things are well here as well," she sat on the ground, "please sit with me. I have many things I'd like to ask you."
William sat in front of her,
"Of course Princess. How can I be of service?" His amber eyes shone in the candlelight.
"I'd like to know about the Kingdom Defenders… and the Lapram."
"Ah…Rukmell informed me about your little trip to the past," Angelee smiled, "what do you need to know?"
"Well… Rukmell mentioned the head of the Kingdom Defenders controls it. Who is the head of the Defenders right now?"
William grew nervous,
"I am sorry Princess, I should have told you earlier…" pausing to think of how to break the news, Angelee could never have prepared herself for this, "my father…" Shocked at the news, Angelee felt awful, "Your Majesty… I am not worried. I am prepared for my father's demise; I know that he must be punished for the crimes he committed against the people. But I ask one favor of you," she nodded, "I ask that you go lightly with him. I know he is a horrible person but he was just doing his job… and the head of the Kingdom Defenders take orders from the King."
"I was afraid of that," Angelee sighed, "of course William. I shall take that into consideration, if and when, I stop my Uncle." William was relieved, "But one other question. How does one become Head of the Defenders? Rukmell informed that he has the strongest powers outside of the Royal Family. How did your Father become Head?"
"Another rule your Uncle changed. He trusted my father and put him in control. Typically, there is to be a power duel where two defenders face off against each other. The one who wins becomes Head. The other goes back to his original post."
"Ahh…. I shall keep that in mind as well."
William chuckled,
"What other questions do you have for me Your Majesty? I have plenty of time today; it is night here and most attacks happen during the day; the Guards and Royal Defenders are scheduled to protect the Palace, Royal Treasury and all food storages."
Thinking to herself, Angelee thought of the perfect thing,
"Can I draw you?"
"Of course Princess. I would be honored."
Ecstatic, Angelee held out her hand; calling over her sketchbook and pencil,
"Now just hold still; try not to move." The book flipped to the next blank page and Angelee started.
~Mount Justice, 18:00or 6:00 pm Normal POV~
Angelee had spent the entire afternoon in her room talking to William. After drawing him, she went back to questions. Taking notes, she learned so much valuable information she hopes to use later on. Letting out a laugh, she shot up,
"Did you hear that?"
William stared at the door,
"I did… is everything alright?"
"I don't know." Someone banged on her door,
"Angelee! We need you; the Cave is being attacked!" Superboy's voice came from the door.
"Coming!" She turned to William, "I'm sorry."
"Go. Your friends need you!"
Giving him a small kiss, she blushed,
"I will talk to you soon. I promise."
"And I shall be waiting."
The candles were blown out; Angelee throwing her red suit on. Hustling through her bedroom door, intense heat greeted her,
"Superboy! M'gann," she coughed, "Kid! Aqualad! Where are you?"
"There you are!" A robotic voice echoed through the halls, "I was wondering where you were," a lava ball came flying at her. Dodging it, the voice laughed, "I have already managed to capture two of your friends. I see one managed to come alert you," another ball was hurled towards her, "I was told you'd be the hardest to beat… let's test that theory." One more lava ball came her.
With the help of the intense heat, Crane felt her fingers begin to burn,
"You have no idea just how strong I am!" Able to control fire now, she took hold of the lava ball; sending it back towards it master.
"What trickery is this?"
Crane laughed; using the smoke to cover her and make a getaway to more open space. Reaching the Mission Room, another robotic voice created her. This time, a wall of water came rushing. Using her force field, a cocoon was made around her; withstanding the force of the water,
"Fire… water… elements…opposites each other. Why are they fighting alongside one another?" The water grew to be too much for the force field; breaking it. Water surrounded Crane; but managing to fly above, energy balls were hurled at the wielder. Knocking him down, the water subsided. Thinking it was over, a high energy lava ball hit Crane on the back; sending her face first into the ground.
"You really need to learn how to pay attention to your surroundings." By now, the water wielder have risen again and was joined by the fire wielder. Together, they took Crane out; capturing her as well.
Being dragged to the hanger, Crane found herself in a holding cell made of water and fire; together… they prevented her powers from working. Next to her, she saw Aqualad and Miss Martian in a fire cage; Superboy and Kid strapped to some sort of clay in the water below them. Before her stood two red androids… the fire and water wielders.
"Black Crane," Aqualad was losing strength, "thank goodness you are alright."
"That's more than I can say for you. You're losing strength."
"I shall be fine. Can you reach Robin?"
Crane shook her head no,
"The mental link requires my powers to work; this cage prevents any of them working. I can't even create a force field the size of my finger." She felt herself becoming weak.
"Stay with me Crane," Aqualad huffed from loss of strength, "Robin and Artemis have to come to the Cave sooner or later. Robin will not let anything happen to you; you will see."
~Robin and Artemis's POV, Gotham City~
Outside a phone booth, Artemis looked to make sure the coast was clear.
"Artemis." Robin appeared out of nowhere; startling Artemis.
"Robin… I… uhhh.." she couldn't find the words.
"How random you're in Gotham City instead of Star City where your Uncle Green Arrow lives."
Artemis had to lie… she had no choice,
"I'm um… here to see… my cousin," her right hand went behind her head, trying to look calm, "she was in the state spelling bee…here in Gotham… City."
Robin played along,
"C o o l." he spelled the word out, "did she W I N?"
Artemis wasn't enjoying this; not at all.
"N…O!"
"D R A G." he smirked; he was having way too much fun with this.
Wanting to end the charade, Artemis did,
"Yeah let's just go to the cave."
"Ladies first." He bowed and ushered to the door.
"Your town. You go." Artemis put her hands on her hips.
Shrugging, he entered the phone booth.
"RECOGNIZED ROBIN! B01!" A bright light flashed forcing Artemis to shield her eyes. She then entered the booth.
"RECOGNIZED ARTEMIS! B08!" Another bright flash of light.
~Mount Justice, 18:53 or 6:53pm~
Getting into the cave, red smoke welcomed her. Shielding her eyes once again, Artemis saw a thing of fire above the smoke.
"Down!" Robin's voice warned her.
A giant fire ball was launched in her direction; flipping to dodge it. Robin landed next to her and threw some BatDiscs into the smoke. They bounced something metal then more fire came their way. Hitting the floor, the fire hit the wall. Artemis armed an arrow,
"Who are we fighting?"
"Don't know," Robin threw more BatDiscs, "but we're sitting ducks by these two. Head for the exit!" They took off down a hallway; a line of fire above behind them; a pool of water in front of them, "Or not…" they tried to turn around; the water engulfing them then slamming them into a wall. Getting back up, they ran down another corridor to the gym; the door closing behind them, "Robin to team come in! Aqualad!" Static in the com.
"M'gann can you hear me? Are you there?" Artemis got no response.
The gym door was blasted open behind them forcing the two to run into the showers.
"Robin to BatCave. Override RG4! Cave calling Justice League; H O J/ Watchtower! B01! Priority Red!" Robin and Artemis began to turn the showers on, "Com is down; blocked," Artemis armed her bow, "at least the water's helping." So wrong he was. The dials blew out; water expelling out into the showers. As if that wasn't bad enough, the shower head blew off; water pouring out from there as well. Quickly filling the shower, Robin and Artemis looked around, "Or not." The shower completely filled with water. Pulling a BatBomb from his utility belt, Robin swam over to a wall blowing a hole to let the water out. Getting to another hallway, they coughed from the water then quickly took off again. They reached the kitchen, "We need to get lost."
Artemis frantically searched the kitchen,
"The air vent!" The best idea she had all day.
Robin went protective,
"Good! Go!" He went over to a panel next to the door while Artemis took the crate off the vent.
"What are you…?"
"Downloading Cave blueprints. Could come in…" he heard noises, "go! Go!" He ran over to the vent forcing Artemis to climb into it. He followed soon after.
"Can you reach Crane? You two have that mental link thing; she can tell you what's happening!"
"Crane… Angel… can you hear me?" No response, "Nothing… something's wrong. Seriously wrong."
"Maybe you finally succeed in ticking her off enough she's ignoring you." Artemis went deeper into the vents.
Robin brought up the blueprints of the Cave,
"Go left," Artemis went left just as a thing of fire came behind them. He huffed from the heat, "too close. Take the first right," he looked at the blueprints again, "there should be a vent cover right in front of you." They landed in the engineering room, "This way." Robin pulled up the blueprints again. Running down the stairs, they froze when something exploded behind them. Turning to investigate, they saw a body engulfed in flames.
"Are you sure that's not Crane?"
The flames intensified,
"Positive…" him and Artemis jumped over the railing, "the generators can't take this much heat. Crane would know this," he looked at the body, "besides, she can't control that much fire at once," Robin saw the generators start to overhear; the glass breaking, "that's not good." They took off again. Smoke began to expel from the pipes. Hiding behind a large generator, fire bombs exploded next to them. Looking at the blueprints again, Robin actively tried to find something, "I know that other access tunnel is here somewhere."
"You mean this one?" Artemis lifted a crate and jumped through.
Following behind her, Robin placed a bomb on the generator and went through the tunnel,
"Hold on," he popped open an electrical box and plugged in his usb cable, "blocking out cave's motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us."
"And I ask again," Artemis didn't understand, "who is the enemy?"
Robin grinned,
"Let's find out. Downloading cave's security footage…" videos showed up, "there."
The footage went static,
"What happened?"
"The explosion took out the camera. I'll find another angle," he typed away on the keypad. But every angle was cut out, "that's it… all four are dead." Artemis panicked, "the cameras… I meant the cameras. I'm sure the others are okay." Artemis wasn't buying it. "Just give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hanger." Artemis sat against the vent; worried.
"Yeah… they're fine. They've all superpowers; they can handle anything."
Robin was growing worried too,
"Angel come on… please respond…"
"Any luck reaching Crane?"
"No… the link is down… something is blocking her from using her powers…" he found a route, "there. We go through the library… it's the fastest," they jumped down into the library, "there's a secret passage behind one of these bookcases."
"Seriously? Cliché much!" They began to look.
"You should see the BatCave." The door opened; forcing them to hide between two bookcases.
"Artemis… Robin…" the voice impersonated Red Tornado.
Artemis shimmered with hope,
"It's Red Tornado!" She went into the aisle with a smile but soon stopped when she realized it wasn't. Instead, a red android, who wasn't Tornado, stood before her. It held out its hand ready to attack. Robin threw her out of the way,
"Yes on the Red. NO on the Tornado!" They rolled under a table; it smashed into pieces.
Heading for the exit, another red android blocked the doorway. Making a pitch to the right, Robin and Artemis dodged the fire from the android's hands. Having no choice but to run on top of the bookcases, Artemis asked again,
"What are they?"
From the intense heat of the fire, the overhead sprinkler system went off. Robin landed between bookcases while Artemis fired an arrow at the two androids. One of the androids knocked over the bookcases; creating a domino effect. One by one, bookcases toppled over. Getting off, Robin found the passage. Pulling a small red book, the bookcase lowered into the floor; revealing the secret passage. Lunging through to escape the toppled bookcase, they escaped into the underground tunnels.
"Did you know Tornado had siblings?"
"No." Robin was flat. He was beginning to worry; especially since Crane had contacted him yet. Robin tried to turn left at an intersection but Artemis grabbed his arm,
"So now what? Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League! How are we supposed to take down TWO of him?"
"They do seem pretty user unfriendly…" more sarcasm. The only way he knew how to burrow his worry.
That annoyed Artemis,
"Don't joke! They…"
"Attention Robin," a voice interrupted them, "attention Artemis… you have exactly 10minutes to surrender. Or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished!" Robin lowered his eyes.
"Crane…" Him and Artemis glanced at each other.
"Hold on Angel… I'm coming for you."
~Black Crane's POV~
Crouching low to the ground, Crane felt herself fading in and out.
"I'm… for you…"
"Robin…" Crane looked to her right. Aqualad was holding Miss Martian against his chest; her body unconscious, "hold on Miss M… help is on the way."
"How…" Aqualad was fading as well, "do you know that?"
"I got a real staticy message from Robin… it was broken up but I put two and two together." The fire android flew onto the hanger next to the fire cage. Its red eyes brightened; growing the intensity of the cage around Aqualad and Miss Martian, "please… stop…" her eyes began to water, "Robin… please hurry." She started to worry when the sound of rushing water made Kid and Superboy squirm in the plaster below her, "the others… are in trouble…not much time." She blacked out.
Okay, that's the end of this chapter. The next one will be part two; the saving of the team. The chapter after that will be Alpha Male; Wolf will be introduced; so… I love that wolf… so cute. Sorry, rambling here. Please review with thoughts, suggestions or opinions.