Episode 19: Misplaced
Mount Justice, November 5 2010, 19:35 EDT
Batman strode into the common room of the mountain looking grim.
It was fairly quiet with only four members of the team present.
Batman now looked away from them looking for the sight of blonde archer. As per his instructions Artemis should've been at the cave. But then he remembered she and Green Arrow had had to go quickly to catch a criminal on the way here, so logically she must've been in the showers.
M'gann and Conner were out collecting cave supplies so their absence was not so alarming.
Dick and Christine were sitting together and quietly reading out lines from a thin book.
Batman squinted as they lifted up the book to turn the page and smirked as he saw the cover. It was Shakespeare's Hamlet, both his protégé's new text for English. Dick had just been complaining about it this morning. Well he wasn't complaining about it now, but maybe that was because he was snuggled up close to his new girlfriend.
"When are we going to get to the skull bit?" Dick whined.
"That's in act two silly boy. But the 'To be and not to be' soliloquy is coming up soon" Christine shook her head fondly. Dick grinned and held her closer to read over her shoulder
Behind the lenses of his cowl Batman scowled grumpily. It wasn't like he wasn't happy for the two of them. He cared for Dick like his own son, but still…he thought he'd get a good few more years of getting to be a dad before Christine got a boyfriend.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as Kaldur's voice spoke silently and clearly.
"Explain in your own words Darwin's theory of the origin of the species?"
"Darwin's theory of the origin of the species, is that natural selection chooses organisms that possess variable and heritable traits that are best suited for their environments." Wally droned in boredom.
Batman looked towards the kitchen island. Wally was sitting at the kitchen counter with an open exercise book in front of him and a large biology textbook to his side which Kaldur was reading out questions from and testing him.
Batman cleared his throat loudly and the four teens looked up.
"Batman" Kaldur and Wally both stood up.
"Oh hey dad! How was Gotham?" Christine chimed happily as she and Dick looked up from their book.
"Same as always" the corners of Batman's mouth twitched downwards and he nodded once towards his partners in acknowledgement. Both their expressions faltered for a moment. Obviously one of his cases was not going well for him to be that moody.
"Superboy and Miss Martian will be back soon with the supplies for the cave. They will need your help to unpack"
"Sure thing. So we're off to the hanger then?" Wally grinned.
Batman nodded.
"Sweet! Race you there?" he grinned at Dick who rolled his eyes behind his shades.
"What's the point? You'll just super-speed there anyway"
"Uh huh! You're just saying that because you two lovebirds wanna walk hand in hand" Wally said the last two words in an irritating sing song voice.
"And you're just saying that because you don't even have a girlfriend" Christine snorted.
"Please don't tell me it's that time of month" he muttered under his breath but Swift heard it all the same.
"Time of month or not, it certainly won't stop me from putting your arm back in that sling"
Wally opened his mouth to retort, but seeing the dangerous bordering on deathly glare she was giving him shut it and swallowed. Super speed or not he had no doubt she would indeed be able to break more than just his arm if he pissed her off.
"Sorry" he mumbled.
Batman and Kaldur both sighed, though the former's one was less audible as they began to make their way towards the hanger.
Soon they came through the doors and were greeted by Zatara and Red Tornado.
"Batman it is good to see you" the magician shook Batman's hand before turning to Christine.
"I'm glad to see you're fully recovered Swift"
"Thank you Zatara, and also thank you for helping heal me back then" Christine smiled and reached out to shake his hand only for there to be a zap.
"Ow" they both pulled back their hands. Zatara's hand was smoking slightly as a hole in the palm of his glove burned, but Christine's palm was blemish free.
She opened her mouth to apologise but the older man just smiled kindly down at her.
"Forgive me. It must be the residue of magical energy from my last spell"
"Really because it felt much more intense…more like a zap if any…thing…." She trailed off her expression becoming strangely misted over and vacant. She shook her head.
"Argh! Sorry! I'm the magic novice and I shouldn't be assuming anything but thanks for all your help."
"It's alright" The older magician watched carefully as her purple eyes glinted strangely. But the moment passed and there was a rushing sound as the bio-ship descended in to land.
Hiya guys!
M'gann called telepathically to the team.
Hey Miss M.
Christine and Dick called together.
Hey gorgeous! Miss me?
Wally grinned. Kaldur rolled his eyes before replying
Welcome back M'gann, Conner. I trust your journey was safe.
Yeah…Pretty boring, nothing much happened.
Conner said, as he came out of the shadows of the ship holding two large wooden crates, one in each arm. His hair and clothes were slightly ruffled as were M'gann's, which were a blue variation of her civilian ensemble. Both their sets of cheeks were flushed slightly too.
"Pff! 'Nothing happened'.As if!" Dick snorted under his breath.
"Dick, you know the rules" Christine elbowed him in the ribs gently as M'gann stepped out using her telekinesis to hover two large cardboard boxes in the air behind her.
"Yeah! Yeah! What goes on in the Bio-ship, stays in the Bio ship" Dick smirked looping an arm around her waist as he leaned into his partners ear "Come to think of it you and I could use some quiet time toge-"
But Dick was forced to stop there when Christine clapped a hand over his mouth as Batman stepped forwards to the Bio ship.
Rule #2 on the team, never flirt with Swift in front of the Batman. You will get ferociously Bat-glared down. But thankfully Dick's comment went unnoticed…for once…
"Did you get everything?" Batman asked M'gann stiffly.
"Everything on your list Batman. Plus groceries" she smiled at Wally and Christine who both gave sighs of relief. The cave's pantry had been running low for a few days now and the teams two biggest eaters had to really hold back on their appetites until they reached home.
"Cookie fixens?" Wally now zipped over to an open box full of food.
"Snicker doodles" M'gann nodded.
"Babe you rock my world" he said dreamily as he began fishing in the groceries for a snack. "Hey Swift! Catch!" he chucked the girl wonder a crinkling packet which she caught deftly.
"Thanks Wall-man!" Christine grinned unwrapping it and taking a bite. "Thank god" she sighed as the chocolate and nutty goodness filled her mouth.
"Nice little food-gasm there huh?" Dick smirked before swiping the food bar from her hands.
"Hey!" she growled chasing after him as he went behind some more stacked up crates, just as Zatanna and Artemis came through the automatic door to the hanger.
"Glad you're back Zatan-WHOA!"
The blonde archer quickly pulled the young magician back as the two birds darted quickly in front of them.
"Sorry Arty! Zee!" Christine called back before glaring at Dick "Wonder boy get back here right now!"
Dick flipped over Kaldur and Conner's heads blowing a raspberry back at her mid flip.
"Oh yes because that's real mature" she grumbled as she followed his trajectory.
Both the super-clone and the Atlantian caught each other's eyes and shook their heads in fond amusement.
Batman sighed before turning to Zatara who gave him a small reassuring smile before casting a spell to levitate some of the crates Conner and Kaldur had just taken off the ship.
"Ha! gotcha!" Christine cried out as she lunged at her partner, grabbing him around the waist and tackling him into the floor. They thudded to the floor just as several things crashed down.
They both looked up in fear that they'd hit something, only to gasp as Batman, Red Tornado and Zatara were engulfed by a yellow light.
"DAD!" Zatanna and Christine both cried loudly in unison.
But too late, the grownups had disappeared.
Christine and Dick both scrambled to their feet, the latter holding his partner back as she balked to rush forwards.
She turned back to glare at him but paused as she saw him pull up the cave's holo computer.
After a couple of moments the computerised voice announced at large.
Beginning Search: Batman 0-2, Zatara 1-1, Red Tornado 1-6.
"Wait for it" Dick raised an eyebrow at his partner's panic stricken face as the loading bar quickly filled up. There was a swirling circle for a moment as the results loaded before red text flashed across the screen. The computer spoke again from the cave speakers.
Search Results…Negative. System Error.
"Try again" Christine grabbed Dick's arm. "Change the parameters"
"I did a full scan Swift, but there are no other life signs in the cave asides from the team and Zatanna" Dick looked at her desperate face and his eyes softened "I'm sorry"
"So that means…" she breathed.
"It means we are on our own. For now" Kaldur stepped forwards to them both. Behind them the team was assembled, Wally and Conner standing alert as if ready for a fight, M'gann in a telepathic trance as she tried to trace down other life forms and Artemis trying to console a hyperventilating Zatanna.
Christine spared the girl a look of sympathy before turning back to Kaldur who nodded gravely. She took a deep breath.
"OK guys! Suit up!"
"Swift!"
Swift looked up from her holo computer next to Robin as Aqualad strode into the cave's main hall.
"Strategy meeting?" She asked. He nodded.
She looked back at Robin who gave her the thumbs up.
"I'll keep manning the coms."
"I-I can help!" Zatanna squeaked.
"Ok" Swift nodded giving Zatanna a smile. She'd been on the sidelines as the boy and girl wonder both helped her learn how to use the holo computer. Thankfully she was a pretty fast learner, so Swift felt pretty certain about letting her man the coms.
Swift exchanged a quick kiss on the cheek with Robin before following Aqualad back to the main common room.
"How're things looking out there?" he asked as they sat down at the island counter in the kitchen.
"Not good" Swift sighed. "Batman and the other leaguers are all missing and if the kid's reports from the internet are anything to go by every single person over the age of 18 in the world is missing too."
"Have you tried contacting Red Arrow?" Aqualad raised an eyebrow. Swift nodded.
"I did but he already had his eighteenth birthday in late July so I don't think he's reachable."
"What is the rest of the team doing at the moment?"
"Kid Flash, Artemis, Superboy and Miss Martian are currently trying to help their high school friends set up make shift relief centres for all the kids in Happy Harbour."
"And the other cities?" Aqualad asked quickly.
"I've managed to contact some of my friends from Gotham, and they're trying to help but as for Metropolis and the other cities…we don't know yet. You haven't heard anything from Atlantis?"
"I've tried contacting Garth and Tula at the conservatory and I've even tried contacting the royal palace. But I've only been getting static."
Aqualad sighed before slamming his fist down on the arm of his chair. "This is absolute bullshit! We still don't have a clue of what is going on!" he cursed under his breath.
Swift raised her eyebrows in astonishment.
"What?" he looked up at her scowling.
"Nothing…I've just never heard you swear before" she said calmly, though inwardly she was kind of freaked out. Usually it was the opposite way around, she'd be swearing and he'd be the calm one.
"Because you've never seen me really stressed before" he snorted. His eyes turned downcast. "I just hope it won't all fall to pieces like that failsafe simulation"
Swift's posture softened as she reached out to grip her friend's shoulder. He looked up as she looked him straight in the eye before saying in a sure steady voice.
"It won't, trust me."
Despite himself Aqualad couldn't help but smile. Swift smiled back.
"So now el Capitano! What is our plan of action?" she leaned back in her chair folding her arms.
"Since the team is already starting to set up shelters, maybe we could spread the word to the other teens and kids around the world to help with the efforts."
"A televised announcement" Swift nodded in agreement.
"Televised, live stream the works. We need to be able to reach as many signals as we can if that's possible"
"It should be if Robin and I can get our hands on some league resources!" Swift rubbed her palms together.
"And can you?" Aqualad asked hopefully.
"Pff! Of course! We could do it eyes shut, hands bound and hanging over a precipice of death if you wanted. Total kids' stuff! What's going to be harder is wording the actual speech itself and making sure we have access to the watchtower's generator."
"Why would we need the Watchtower's generator?"
"Because at the cave we only have enough processing power at the cave to stream only to most of North and South America. The watchtower however has more than enough juice to power ten Mount Justice's. No doubt Dad and the league didn't factor in that one day we, the team, might need to use those resources in a crisis like this."
She looked back at Aqualad who was looking at her blankly
"Not that I doubt what you're telling me is true, but how do you know all this?"
"I might have… borrowed some of the Watchtower's blueprints from the Bat Computer…" she shrugged sheepishly.
"Borrowed?" Aqualad arched a brow.
"Yeah…y'know for… light reading"
"I see"
Swift bristled as Aqualad's eyebrow went even higher.
"OK! OK! Robin and I might of hacked into the League database after Independence Day! Ya happy now Kal?!" Swift blushed with embarrassment as Aqualad smirked. He grabbed Wally's exercise book, which was still lying around with his school homework on the counter.
"So…what do we write?"
So as Robin hurried into the common room in a rush of excitement, it was to find Swift and Aqualad leaning over a piece of paper and talking in hushed whispers. Robin felt his gut flare up as he saw how close the two were next to each other.
"Let Kid Flash say this bit" Swift pointed to a point on the page.
"If he can keep a poker face." Aqualad snorted.
"Y'know Kal, you'd be very surprised at how good he is at card games"
"Really? I always thought he'd be good at more physical games? Like that spinner or what's it called uh…"
"Twister?"
"Yeah that one"
"Yeah…no….it's not so much a Wally game as much as it is Robin's-"
Robin cleared his throat loudly and the pair looked up.
Swift turned round on her bar stool to face him. "Hey Wonder boy! You got something?"
Robin bristled as he tried to settle the beast in his belly down. Now was not the time for jealousy, but that didn't stop the words tumbling out of him in a rush.
"Zatanna'smadeadiscoverythatwhateveriscausingallthisismagicandifitisthenshemightbeabletolocatethesourceusingherdad'sspell"
"What?" Aqualad tilted his head to the side in confusion but Swift just stood up and walked over to her partner.
"He said that apparently the reason why the adults are missing is because of magic and that Zatanna is our best bet at finding its source using the same spell her dad used to locate the Injustice League. But apart from that what's wrong?" She put a hand on his cheek and he sighed.
"Nothing…" he sighed heavily "just hoping this doesn't turn out like the simulation"
"Ok! One of these days I need to really see what happened in that exer-"
"NO!" Aqualad and Robin both cried out at the same time. Swift looked very surprised. Both boys were looking very, very worried and terrified.
"Ok…then no…" she backed off before quickly grabbing the paper. "Rob, where is Zatanna?"
"She's still in the main hall" Robin heaved a huge sigh of relief at the change in topic.
"Then I'll take her to the training room to practice her spell work" Aqualad said before turning back to Swift.
"In the meanwhile I need you two to contact the rest of the team. Tell them to rendezvous back here ASAP. After that you must hack Justice League systems and get us access to the Watchtower's generator so that we may access more processing power and their live translation software."
"Wow! Can we even do that? Won't Bats be pissed?" Robin looked a bit worried.
"Silly boy! If we can hack the deepest depths of the Batcave's computer then we can surely get past the Justice League. And besides this is an emergency" Swift smirked mischievously.
"Damn! Girl wonder you are sneaky" Robin grinned.
Aqualad rolled his eyes as Swift winked flirtatiously back at her partner.
Bringgg! Buzzzz! Brinnng! Buzzzz!
"Swift are you alright?" Aqualad asked concernedly as Swift jumped right off her chair.
"Just a moment" Swift squeaked as she grabbed at one of the back pockets of her utility belt.
She quickly pulled out her Wayne Tech phone and saw spread across screen the photo ID of a girl with curly blonde hair. She immediately tapped the answer button.
"Hey Freddy! How are you doing?" Swift said calmly only to wince as her best friend's voice blasted right into her ear from the cell phone.
"HOW AM I DOING? MY MUM AND DAD BOTH JUST VANISHED INTO THIN AIR, ALL THE KIDS IN GOTHAM ARE RUNNING WILD AND I'M UP TO MY KNEES IN DIRTY DIAPERS AND BABY FORMULA HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL!"
"Ok! Ok! Calm down! Tell me exactly what's happening" Swift scowled as she wrung out her ear with a finger.
"One moment we were all watching TV together and then there was this bright light and Mum and Dad were both not there. I just…"
"Panicked?" Swift nodded.
"Yeah…Sorry!" Freddy gulped on her end though she still sounded rather distraught. "What about you? Are Bruce and Alfred gone too?"
Robin narrowed his eyes in concern as he saw his partners face harden slightly.
"Pretty much yeah. But it seems like everyone over the age of eighteen has vanished."
"The Justice League too?"
"Yes! But enough about us, have you heard anything from Barbra, George or Martin?"
"I called them just before I called you." Freddy sniffed "they're trying to set up a refugee shelter in the Gym for all the kids in the area."
"Ok Good." Swift sighed in relief, looking over at Robin who was using his hands to tell her something in sign language.
Ask her to help with the hacking from the Batcave so you and Aqualad can finish making the speech faster
Swift nodded. It was a good idea. Though it would seem very strange beneath the preppy popular girl façade, Swift and Robin both knew that Freddy was an excellent hacker, probably better than themselves. The only thing that stopped her from doing it on a regular basis was that she didn't have the tech available to her on a daily basis. Which was probably a good thing as Freddy, like Christine, had an unusual knack for getting herself into trouble.
She could hear Freddy gently shushing her crying baby sister.
"Freddy, I know you're scared but I need your help"
"What do you need me to do?"
Swift sighed in relief and gave Robin the thumbs up before signing back with one hand.
Hack Batmobile systems and send commands to it to auto drive to Freddy's place to pick her up
She turned her attention back to the phone and said in a soft voice so that Aqualad and Robin could not hear her.
"Ok…Listen very carefully to my instructions ok, because I'm not going to be able to repeat myself. I need you to pack up all your supplies for yourself and Emily and wait outside your house. Robin's going to remotely program the Bat-mobile to pick you up. Don't bother driving, just get into the back seat and it will take you to the Batcave. Once you get there both of you go down to the Bat-computer and hack into the system. Once you're in there will be a screen that asks you to log in so type in the username Iota. You should then have access to all Bat-cave and Justice League systems. Once you're in Rob will join you in the hacking."
"So is iota in caps, lower case or something?" Freddy asked.
"The I is uppercase but the other letters are normal lower case. It's also going to be your code name when you and Robin work so no calling us by our civi ID's" Swift nodded.
"Gotcha! Iota equals codename and call Dickie bird Robin and call you Swift. Ok I'll get ready. Oh and Chris?"
"Yeah?"
"Good luck"
"You too. Don't worry. Everything's gonna be fine."
Swift turned off the phone and looked up towards Aqualad and Robin, the latter of whom nodding.
"The batmobile's on its way. I'll go to the control room."
Aqualad said standing up "I'll go check on Zatanna's progress with the spell. Swift you go with Robin and contact the team to get them back here ASAP. Also if you can contact as many other people you know and spread the word to being making more shelters. Once you've done that can you finish the speech and type it up on the cave systems"
"On it Kal!"
Robin grabbed Swift's hand and they both made their way down the corridor.
Once they were out of sight of Aqualad and the common room, Robin dragged Swift around a corner.
"Dick the main hall's this wa- hmff!" Swift grunted as her partner crushed his lips against hers in a rough lock. She wriggled and struggled slightly against his tight hold, but he held her steady, his lips moving in time with hers.
When he pulled away she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Dick this really isn't the time to be kissing" she hissed.
"I know." He frowned anxiously "But just in case this doesn't go well-"
"Jesus Christ! How many times do I have to repeat myself to everyone?" Swift rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulders shaking them slightly. "We can make it through this! We will make it through this! League or no League! You got it!"
Robin looked into her determined face and sighed.
"I got it"
"Good! Now get traught Wonder Boy!" she leaned up and gave him a small peck "We gotta world to save"
"Have you got everything set up?"
Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin were now standing in the main hall in front of a holographic communications screen.
"Yep" Swift nodded before smirking. "You boys ready for your big debut?"
"You bet gorgeous. How do I look? Dashing? Handsome? Say, I look better than Boy Wonder? Come on don't be shy you can say it if you want!" KF winked at her only to receive a fierce bat-glare from Robin.
Swift chuckled and shook her head. "Cut it out you two. Iota and I are going to open up the link in ten, nine, eight"
Robin and Kid Flash immediately turned and forced their serious faces on.
"Five, four, three, two, one" She mouthed the last two numbers before hitting the command for go.
Soon she could see their faces on a screen beside her.
Aqualad spoke first "Attention children and teenagers of Earth, I am Aqualad. These are my friends, Robin and Kid Flash."
Swift nodded and Robin spoke up.
"We're using Justice League tech to cast and stream to every TV, radio, computer and smart phone on the planet"
"We know you must be scared, and angry. We know without your parents there's a temptation to run wild. But please stay calm"
Swift had to admit she was impressed by how serious Kid was actually being right now. She pointed to Aqualad and he began his turn again.
"We will find a way to bring the adults back. But for now the oldest among you must step up"
"Take care of your younger siblings," Robin added "Take care of kids who have no one"
"Protect them" Kid Flash said and as he did Swift typed in another set of commands which then proceeded to translate those two words into every available human language on the JL systems.
"It is up to you to help in any way you can. So stay calm and keep safe." Aqualad concluded. He nodded to Swift who pressed the off button.
"Not bad" Came Freddy/Iota's voice from her com.
"The signals got across?" Swift asked quietly.
"Yeah, most people should've gotten the message by now"
"Good Iota, thanks for all your help. But I think you should go back to your home, just in case the adults return any time soon. It'll be the first place your parents would look"
"Yeah! You're right, besides I'm starting to run low on formula for Emily, and she might need a diaper change too" Freddy said sounding rather tired.
"Don't worry, we'll bring them back soon. I promise" Swift muttered. " The holo screen in front of her blipped off and she sighed.
"Freddy's going home?"
Swift looked up and saw Robin walking towards her. Kid Flash and Aqualad were both gone.
She nodded and Robin sighed.
Swift tilted her head as she examined his body language. He looked really tired.
He caught her eye and gave a half-hearted grin. "Man…and I thought 2012 was supposed to be the year of disaster? Totally heavy on the dis!"
"Yeah, so did I" Swift chuckled, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist frowning slightly.
"So does KF look better than me on the screen?"
"pff! In his dreams" Swift giggled before pausing and looking around.
"What?" Robin looked down at her in confusion
"Just checking" she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to her lips just as someone stepped into the main hall.
Swift and Robin both looked up as Artemis stopped short, in the middle of pulling on a green glove. She raised her eyebrows.
"Seriously you guys have the worst timing ever!" she smirked at the two shocked birds as a whirring yellow light lit up the room.
Recognised Superboy B05, Miss Martian B06
The three of them turned as Superboy and Miss Martian stepped out of the Zeta tube both holding hands.
Artemis rolled her eyes.
"Great another couple" she grumbled
"What? What's up?" came a voice from behind her.
Artemis flinched slightly as Wally zipped beside her, but stood her ground all the same. Miss Martian and Superboy quickly dropped each other's hands but Swift and Robin were too slow and KF saw them.
He grinned "Seriously? You got caught again? Dudes you really have bad timing for these things"
"That's just what I said" Artemis smirked. Kid looked delightedly surprised.
"Oh god please tell me you actually caught them in the act" Kid laughed as Swift and Robin's faces turned pink.
"Yeah! I totally did!"
He looked down sidelong at Artemis who looked back at him.
Swift's eyes widened as she saw them hold each other's gaze.
No way… Don't tell me…Wally…Arty…Oh god…HA!
She pursed her lips to stop her excited grin as she saw Wally's cocky smirk slowly softening into his actual grin.
There was the sound of someone's footsteps and the golden moment passed when Aqualad came into the hall, leading a very nervous Zatanna behind. She was wearing a female variation of her father's magician's tail coat suit with a short black skirt, grey leggings and black boots.
ARGH! WHY KAL? WHY?!
If ever Swift had wanted to bang her head repeatedly against a wall until she got permanent brain damage, it would have been then. There was a loud sigh closer to her. She looked up and saw Robin's disappointed look.
"Damn! So close" he hissed.
"Tell me about it" Swift huffed. "He really should've made his move"
Robin looked down at her slightly confused.
"Made a move? I was talking about getting the perfect blackmail material"
"Gah! You boys!" Swift rolled her eyes as she slapped his chest.
"Ow!" Robin whined childishly.
"Oh hush! You've dealt with dad's blows in training, you can sure as hell deal with a tiny slap"
"Not when it's your slap" He grumbled gingerly rubbing at the spot. "Man! For a girl you hit hard"
Swift raised her eyebrows "It's because I am a girl that that my hits are hard in the first place." She slapped him playfully again to emphasise her point.
"Ow! Ok that's it!"
Robin's frown split into a wide grin and he moved forwards with both hands, fingers twitching to tickle her sides.
Someone cleared their throats and they both jumped apart to see the team exchanging smug looks while Aqualad raised his eyebrows at them as if to say.
Really? Now?
"Sorry" Swift straightened up and turned to Robin "Pull up a holographic globe please"
"Roger that!" Robin said his fingers quickly swiping over the new holo keyboard.
The holographic globe appeared again and Zatanna stepped forwards nervously. She took out a wand from her tail coat pocket and held it out in front of her.
"Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!"
Swift watched as the white mist of magic flew from Zatanna's mouth and settled onto a spot high up on the globe.
"Co-ordinate's locked. Roanoke Island!" Robin announced giving Christine a relieved smile.
Zatanna turned around looking worried but Swift nodded calmly.
"You did it!" she gave her a thumbs up. "Don't worry we'll find them"
Zatanna gave a small smile but still rubbed her hands nervously. "I'm sorry…I just need to…bathroom" she mumbled the last bit before running off.
"Will she be ok?" Miss Martian said as soon as the ends of the tail coat disappeared around a corner.
"It's just the stress and the nerves that are getting to her. She's not used to dealing with these high pressured situations. Just give her a little bit of time." Swift said calmly, though she too had half a mind to run off to a bathroom and puke her guts out from her anxiety.
Instead she swallowed and began typing away at the holo computer pulling up stats and maps of the island they were probably about to target. Aqualad stood to join her, watching each screen as they appeared and scanning each one to memory.
Robin joined them both as well silently keeping an eye on the two team leaders as they kept focused on the screen. He himself was feeling nervous, but he could only imagine how pressured they must be feeling, being the only two hero's officially in charge of the world's safety.
He opened his mouth to say something when…
"SHAZAM!" someone yelled.
They all stumbled back as a large bolt of lightning crashed into the centre of the hall.
As soon as the light faded there was a loud cry of excitement.
"It works!"
Swift stared wide eyed in alarm at the uninvited guest. He seemed to be no older than ten years old, with black hair, blue eyes, wearing a warm red jacket over a pair of worn out jeans and sneakers.
He grinned at them all as they walked up to him quickly.
"Where did you come from? Who are you?" Aqualad demanded fiercely but on the contrary the kid's face split into an excited grin.
"Quick read my mind!"
Miss Martian hesitated for a moment before her eyes glowed green as she entered her mental trance.
The boy stood there grinning, completely unperturbed by the fact that a Martian girl was reading his mind.
After a few moments she gasped "He's…Captain Marvel"
"Yeah and I'm Speedy Gonzales" Kid Flash snorted derisively. "Please, just because he believes he's Cap-"
"Gee Wally! Do I really have to bring you nachos and pineapple juice to get on your good side?" The kid smirked. Swift stepped forwards, pursing her lips to hide the scowl as she realised that the kid was only a few inches shorter than her.
"If you uh…"
"Billy, Billy Batson" the kid piped in helpfully.
"Right Billy. Since you're hero identity has an adult form, how did you end up here with all the kids?"
"Well…" Billy looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully "I was back home with my uncle watching TV as a kid when he and all the other adults disappeared. I tried to transform but I couldn't, so I tried to get to the watchtower to check-"
"And no one was there?" Swift nodded but Billy shook his head.
"I couldn't even get in, the computer didn't recognise me. Eventually I managed to transform into Captain Marvel and I flew here to the cave and met with Batman and Zatara"
"And they're alright?" Robin asked quickly.
"Yeah! And I told Batman about how I managed to find them and he says that there are now two dimensions one for adults-"
"And one for kids" Aqualad said with dawning comprehension. "So because you can switch between adult and child form, does this mean you can also-"
"Switch between dimensions? Yeah!" Billy grinned. "I can do it now and pass a message onto Batman"
"Good! We might be able to solve this if we put our heads together" Aqualad nodded.
"Ok then! Be right back! SHAZAM!" there was a flash of lightning and Billy Batson disappeared.
A few moments passed in silence before Swift broke it.
"Ok…this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder" she rubbed her temples with her fingers.
And so they were able to co-ordinate a plan, Billy switching back and forth between dimensions to relay the messages from one side to the other.
The plan was simple enough in words. A simple co-ordinated simultaneous attack from both teams in both worlds. Since they were dealing with high levels of sorcery they needed to act fast to disrupt the efforts of their opponents before the effects became either permanent or devastating, or even both.
But hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
Hopefully…
Roanoke Island, November 6 2010, 02:06 EDT.
Swift shifted uncomfortably in her seat in the bio ship as they began hovering into the last drop point above Roanoke Island. Robin, Artemis, Kid Flash and Superboy were all gone and dropped off at their drop zones leaving with Swift and Zatanna next up and Aqualad and Miss Martian to go last.
"Team Delta assemble" Aqualad called. She stood up gritting her teeth. The wind around her shifted, sending a buzz of much needed energy through her body.
"Ready" she and Zatanna said in unison. Miss Martian nodded and a hole appeared in the bottom of the ship.
The two girls dropped through, Swift using her wind powers to help Zatanna stick a safe landing.
"Thanks" the girl huffed as she hit the floor on her feet.
Swift nodded and put a finger to her lips before motioning down the forest path they were standing in the middle of.
Zatanna nodded and they both began running down the direction in silence.
Swift knew they were approaching the spot when she heard the sounds of bangs and clashes up ahead mingle with her friends' cries.
They both finally reached just in time to see Kid Flash, Superboy and Aqualad be thrown back down the paths they came. Someone cackled loudly.
Swift narrowed her eyes towards the centre of the battle field where a red dome was covering a magic circle. Inside it a young scrawny teenage boy in a black suit, with dark wicked eyes and hair styled into what seemed like two devilish horns on the sides of his head, grinned as Zatanna put both hands forwards and fired a spell.
It bounced off the red dome pathetically and the boy snorted.
"Tch! Baby magic" he snorted in an annoying nasally voice before quickly chanting something under his breath, casually flicking his wrist at her.
"Gah!" Zatanna shrieked as she was thrown high up into the air.
Swift growled and blinked her eyes hard. The multi-coloured wind ribbons suddenly appeared before her eyes, several of them swirling in desperation from within the red dome.
Swift watched as the boy turned his attention towards a struggling Aqualad with narrowed eyes.
"Oh no you don't" She grunted. With a flick of her hands she aimed a ribbon to his stomach. It bowled him over, winding him and making him hit the edge of his own dome.
He looked around for a moment wildly, until she hit him again with a gust from behind. He stumbled forwards and glared up at the sky. As soon as he saw her his face split into a wide smile.
"Finally!" he jeered up at her "Someone who knows how to have a little fun around here!" he grinned and sent a spell her way. She turned invisible and dodged it just as many rocks came hurtling towards the dome as Miss Martian used her telekinesis.
The boy turned to her with disdainful boredom. "Tch! Interrupting my playtime? How rude!"
He opened his mouth and roared. Miss Martian gasped as she quickly flew to the side avoiding the blast of fire that, dragon like, had been fired at her from the boy's mouth.
Swift reappeared and tried firing one of her wind slices with her hands at the dome. Unlike her other attacks it merely bounced off.
OK so wind ribbons work, slicing no work!
She reasoned in her head as the boy turned on her and aimed another breath of fire at her. She dodged it quickly but…
"OW!" Swift and Miss Martian both yelped as they crashed head long into each other. They slammed into the ground. Swift rolled over to her side grunting in pain.
"Oh come on is that the best you've got?!" he cackled as he sent a bolt of red energy at her.
On impulse she pushed a large wall of air between herself and the stirring Miss Martian, which made them both roll away from each other. Swift used the momentum to roll onto her feet and grab two ribbons of wind, both a bright blue and freezing to the touch.
She gripped them hard and slapped them against the ground like a pair of whips so that they cracked over the surface of the red dome. Upon impact there was a loud crack of energy and a flash of blue white light.
"What the…" Swift watched in amazement as what appeared to be white crystals burst into being, suspended in the air above the red dome.
"Swift look out!"
Swift turned just as something dark hurtled into her from the side snarling ferociously. She looked up in terror as a large feline beast, with orange fur, black stripes and large red eyes growled down on her as she lay between its front paws.
"…nice kitty" she breathed taking in the size of the beast's head. By god that mouth was big enough to take her head off in one bite. As she gulped the feline gave a loud roar baring sabre like fangs, its spit and fur flying in her face. She reached out blindly and grabbed a broken branch from somewhere to the side which she held out in front of her as the cat came down for a bite.
For a moment she thought it had worked, as the big cat began chomping around the branch, slightly confused as to why its mouth was being blocked. But her hope was short lived. As she struggled to get out from under it there was a sickening crunch and the branch broke asunder in the feline's mouth. It growled for a moment spitting out the broken fragments before turning its attention back on her.
She shrieked in terror, pulling her arms up to shield her face as the sharp teeth began to hurtle down towards her at killer speed.
"HNGH!"
Swift felt the cat's body heat quickly fly off her as Superboy rammed the cat down with a football like tackle. It rolled off her slamming into a tree where it stumbled around slightly dazed from the impact.
"You ok?" Superboy huffed pulling her up to her feet with one hand.
"Yeah! Thanks" she panted rubbing the frightened tears out of her eyes. He sighed in relief but stiffened as the cat's angry rumblings began anew as it reared for another strike.
"Get back in the air now!" Superboy yelled picking Swift out without a second thought.
"HEY!" She cried out in alarm as he tossed her upwards into the air. She managed to hold herself up before gravity could take its hold. She quickly flew around the battle field and spotted Artemis firing an arrow which was about to be hit by a spell. She quickly aimed a swipe of wind at the spell and it ricocheted off onto one of the tree's allowing the arrow to hit the barrier. But for all the good it meant, they might as well have chucked a pebble at it.
This was ridiculous, they'd never be able to win this one.
The centre of the magic circle in the red dome began to glow white blue.
The witch boy in the dome glared down at it and pouted angrily as the energy began to fizzle out of what seemed to be a crystal in the form of white lightning.
"So you've decided to team up with the grownups? Teamwork is so overrated." He huffed, flicking his wrists. The white lighting shifted its chaotic course and directed itself towards the team on the ground in front of the boy.
"ROBIN!" Swift cried in horror as her partner flew across her path with Artemis close behind. They hurtled into the ground and she landed running towards them, just as Zatanna came level with them.
"Robin! Wake up!" Swift tapped his cheeks sharply. Robin grunted but otherwise didn't stir.
"Artemis is not responding either" Zatanna's voice wavered before glancing back towards a clump of trees. Swift followed her gaze which led towards a large rock. Swift and Zatanna exchanged glances. Both knew what was hidden beneath and both didn't like the sound of it. Aqualad said it could only be used in a time of desperation. Well now they were pretty desperate.
She nodded to Zatanna who raised her palm and chanted a spell, revealing a golden helmet.
Swift rushed forwards to pick it up, not noticing the small glint of golden energy surround the helmet of fate at the last second.
She touched both her palms to it.
BOOM!
"SWIFT!"
But Swift could not hear any of her friends cries of her name. Something white flashed over her eyes and she fell…
Fell into darkness…
"Come on child! It's time to get up!"
Christine winced as something hard and wooden prodded her stomach.
She opened her eyes and was greeted with the sight of a mass of swirling colours.
"That's it, get up" the object prodded her again and a shadow crossed over her face as someone stood over her.
She blinked.
It was an elderly man with short grey hair and big bushy grey eyebrows which were crinkled in a small frown. A cane hovered over her stomach as if ready to prod it again.
"Who…who are you?" she breathed, slowly sitting up and rubbing her stomach.
"Me?" the old man's face split into a gentle smile as she stood up. "I'm Kent Nelson. But I don't need to ask you who you are, do I? Christine Evelyn Hallows"
Christine's eyes widened and she bent her legs in a fighting stance.
"Whoa there little miss! Don't blow your top!" Kent quickly put both hands up in token of peace before chuckling. "Heh! Stuart was right you do have a hot head"
Christine stopped in her tracks "You knew my papa?"
Kent's eyes softened "Yes indeed. In fact your father was a good friend of mine"
"Funny" Christine narrowed her eyes straightening up "He never told me he knew you"
"I figured that was the case, even though he talked about you often" Kent's brow furrowed as he assessed her. Christine looked down on herself and saw that she was in her favourite white summer dress, not her Swift uniform.
"How the hell?"
"It's the magic of this space" Kent explained calmly gesturing to the swirling masses of colour around them. "A sub-dimension where your true soul can exist without leaving your body."
"A sub dimension? what do you-" but she was interrupted when the wind began whipping up around them.
"Well by jove, she's early" Kent muttered brushing off his jacket calmly as someway away a whirlwind began forming.
"She's early? Who's she?" Christine called as the wind blew in her ears.
She watched in amazement as the whirlwind began twisting and convulsing into a greyish translucent shape. First a head, then a pair of shoulders, then a female torso…
Christine gasped as the form of a ghostly woman became visible from the mass of wind. To say she was beautiful would've been an understatement and yet it was very difficult for swift to pin point her features clearly.
Her transparent hair whipped around, swirling and twisting, morphing back into the whirlwind which seemed to wrap around her body like a robe. Then her eyes opened and Christine really couldn't hold back the cry of alarm that burst from her throat as she stared into a pair of familiar veronica purple irises. The exact same pair she was accustomed to seeing every time she looked in a mirror.
"Hello Christine" she said in a familiar deep voice.
"YOU!" Christine pointed her finger at the spirit "it's your voice I've been hearing all this time?!"
"Yes indeed" The woman smiled down at her in what could only be described as fond amusement. "It is good to finally get to meet you at last."
Christine was about to open her mouth as something crashed behind her. She, Kent and the spirit woman turned round just as a raven haired girl in a black tail coat struggled on the ground, the golden light around her fading.
"Zatanna!" Christine ran over to her friend and helped her to her feet.
Zatanna swooned slightly. "Ugh! Swift! Where…where am I?"
"I dunno in a weird sub-dimension! But what happened to you?"
"I…I put on the helmet of fate"
"WHAT!" Christine and Kent both exclaimed in shock.
"Yes!" said a loud booming voice of a man and they all looked up to see the golden clad magical warrior standing amongst them. "This child has granted me the use of her body and soul. And so did you young Swift. Now here you shall both remain."
There was a deliberate cough and he turned to face the windy spectre and gasped upon sighting her.
"You…"
"Yes Nabu" she glared fiercely "And I know you are desperate to live in the outside world again but you know you cannot break the rules of Order."
"But it is clear that the world needs Dr. Fate! And for Dr. Fate to exist I need a host" Nabu glared back.
"But you can't take the life force of two people…of two children!" Kent yelled.
"This conversation holds no purpose to you old man! Begone!" Nabu turned on his former host's soul and waved a hand. Kent gasped as his hand began to turn transparent.
"KENT!" Christine cried out, but the old man's soul had already vanished like a puff of smoke.
The wind spectre rounded on Nabu fiercely.
"Nabu! You fool! Kent was right! You may be able to possess the soul of one but you cannot take the souls of two! Not unless you want to be sent to the nether world for the rest of eternity"
"And why would you care so much?" he snarled glaring down at both Zatanna and Christine who were both clutching at each other in fear of the two great magical forces. "Why would you care for the pathetic souls of these two children? Unless…"
He trailed off as his eyes fixing on Christine's eyes.
"Your reincarnation... So…it is time then?"
Christine looked up at the wind sprite who narrowed her eyes but nodded.
"Yes it is time"
"Time? Time for what?" Christine asked.
"Silence child!" Nabu yelled sending a blast of golden energy at her. Zatanna cried out her name but Christine's vision was already fading and the sounds she could hear were muffled drones.
Time? What time? Who are you? What does this all mean?
But her mind had once again drifted back into the darkness.
Batman looked around the clearing, his heart heavy with guilt and fatigue as he looked down upon Zatanna who was on her knees sobbing her heart out into Artemis's chest as the archer girl held her close along with Miss Martian.
He couldn't stop it this time, not without paying a heavy price and now another child was missing their parents. They'd managed to return the world back to normal…but he still felt like he'd failed.
He heard the crunching of dirt under feet and turned to see Robin wandering looking around the clearing worriedly before staring wide eyed at a spot behind the Dark Knight.
Batman wheeled around and his breath caught in his throat.
She was standing walking towards them slowly, the wind whipping through her long brown hair and the white slits of her mask glowing…glowing a bright purple.
"Swift?" he growled low. She stopped in her tracks, eyes still glowing.
There was silence as the rest of the team noticed her presence.
Batman whipped out a batarang, one set with knock out gas,
"Who are you?" he growled low,
She held out her hand, palm outward in token of parley.
"You need not fear Batman. I am Zephyra, Daughter of the Winds and Lady of Order"Though it was the voice of their friend it was strangely double toned with a whispering something underneath the usual sound.
"Where is she?" Robin stepped forwards glaring hard. "Where is Swift?"
Zephyra smiled softly at Robin. "Calm yourself little bird, your lover is quite safe. She just needs a few more moments to recover from Nabu's spell. Then I shall release her"
Despite himself Robin blushed slightly at the word lover.
"You'll release her? Just like that. No tricks?" Batman narrowed his eyes sceptically at Zephyra who sighed.
"Contrary to popular belief Batman, not all lords or ladies of order are as greedy as Nabu. Hmph!" she snorted derisively "He was always a selfish brat! Selfish but powerful."
This comment was replied with a loud wail as Zatanna began bawling her eyes out again.
Zephyra's expression softened sympathetically as she looked down on the sobbing girl. "Dear child, I am sorry for your loss. But please take heart when I say this. As a lady of order I can shift into the dimension in which all our souls can meet. I will make sure that no harm will come to your father's soul while Nabu is in control."
She paused her smile faltering for a second.
"She's awakening now. I must go" She sighed and gave them all one last look. "Farewell"
The team, Batman, Captain Marvel and Red Tornado all watched in awe as the wind around Zephyra/Swift's body died down and the purple glow left the eyes.
Kid Flash zipped forwards as Swift's body fell to the ground. He caught her quickly and laid her back down on the ground as she groaned. Robin rushed forwards to her side.
"Ugh!" she cracked open an eye before wincing. Her entire body felt like it had been crushed under a large rock it was aching so bad.
"Welcome back" Batman breathed heavily in relief as he saw her face scrunch up in discomfort.
"I'd say I was glad to be back" Swift groaned sitting up stiffly "But something tells me I won't be tomorrow"
Robin sighed and instantly dove in for a kiss. When it was over he quickly pulled her into his arms holding her against him.
"Dad Why?! Dad! Dad!"
Swift looked over his shoulder and saw Zatanna sobbing on the ground with Miss Martian and Artemis holding her shoulders.
Oh Zee
She felt her eyes tear up and she buried her face in her partners shoulder.
Zee…I'm so sorry
Oh poor Zatanna lost her dad! :( so sad.
Sorry for the long wait! busy enjoying private time for meself! I've been trying to learn a little bit of 3D animation. it's going ok but I have to use a pre rigged character from an outside source to learn but its been fun!
So we've got a little more info about Swift's powers and their origins. Strange how she made ice...anyone care to guess how that happened? Keep watching out for hints in the next chapter "Coldhearted".
Keep R&Ring for more