Here's the next chapter, we're almost through this thing. I have two new great people Betaing for me. Harley McCoy and and youngjusticefanatic. There's a poll on my profile regarding what to do after this story is finished. Please check it out for me guys. Thanks!

Edit- So, I've been without internet access for awhile. So sorry about the spacing guys, I had line breaks but they kind of vanished. I added them back in and I hope they stay this time. Don't forget to check out the poll, thanks.

Chapter 24

"We have to stop it." Robin threw off his harness and jumped out of his seat.

"What?! No! The radiation levels are rising, we have to wait for back up-" Black Canary snatched his cape and held him back. "Batman wouldn't want me to let you go running out there alone, not with everything that's happened. I know he doesn't say it but he doesn't want to lose you again-"

"Look out there!" Robin gestured wildly to the window, "The longer we wait, the more likely it is that we'll die! We have to go now! Batman would want me to find a way to end this!" Robin ran to the back of the Javelin, expecting to gain support from his teammates. Surely they'd agree with him. However, Roy had slumped over with M'gann sprawled out next to him on the floor. They both looked smaller than they actually were. Roy actually looked like Speedy again when he slept, the hardened edges dulled by his mental link had wiped both of them out."Superboy, Artemis, and Aqualad, this is Robin. Miss Martian and Red Arrow are down." He said over their com link.

"What? Are they alright?" Artemis demanded. The com crackled with static. Robin was sure that soon, it would go out.

"Looks like exhaustion. We know The Society's here. We have to go in now!" Robin threw open the airlock and prepared to hop down.

"Robin, wait! We need the others-" Black Canary reached out to grab him, but missed by inches.

"What we need to do is end this. There's no time to regroup! The others will catch up when they get here." Robin slid down the side of the Javelin and Black Canary soon followed.

"So we just leave them here? No defense? Nothing?" She gestured to the jet, carrying an unconscious Miss Martian and Red Arrow.

"They would want us to see this through. If not for us, then for them. So that's what we're going to do, team or not. If you won't stand beside me, I'll leave you." Robin's voice held a conviction she had never heard before. "I would do anything just to end this."

'Anything?' she thought, 'Just how far is he willing to go for the sake of the mission?' "Alright," she finally said, "Let's get moving."

Robin nodded sharply and took the lead. He attempted to call Batman but found that the link was already dead. They were truly on their own. "We'll have to take a stealth approach. From what I saw, the building isn't going to be easy to get into."

"Do you have a plan?" the older woman inquired.

"As a matter of fact, I do. That's our plan." He gestured to a partially hidden grate embedded in the ground. "Sewage line."

"Sewage line?" Black Canary quirked an eyebrow. Surely it couldn't be that simple.

"Big building. Lots of people in one space means a lot of waste. I bet this line will take us to where we need to be. Directly inside the dome," Robin said. He placed charges around the little square grate. "Stand back."

"You carry plastique?"

"Yeah, always be prepared."

"Boyscout." She teased him quietly and placed her hands on her ears in preparation of the coming noise.

The grate exploded in a puff of smoke and the iron bars fell into the pipeline below.

"Hope you like the smell of human waste." Robin joked as he jumped inside.

"Just when I thought this was going to be fun." Black Canary wrinkled her nose and followed him in.

"Hera, there it is." Wonder Woman said in awe. "It's even worse than we ever imagined."

"We have to get in there. I've lost contact with Robin. The radiation must be interfering." Batman steered the Javelin closer to the ground. "I can't find a point of entry from here."

"That's when we make our own." Wonder Woman unbuckled herself and stood to her full height. "Try and get into contact with Superman, he can follow me in."

"I'm opening the airlock, good luck." Batman disengaged the lock.

"May the gods be with us all and have mercy on us if we fail." As soon as the door opened, she took off.
Batman shot the closing door one last glance before steering the jet back up into the clouds.

"Glad to see we had the same idea. We might as well take the hard way in." Shayera saluted Wonder Woman as she flew up next to her. "Are you going to knock or shall I?"
"It would be my pleasure." Wonder Woman slammed her fist into the side of the dome, satisfied by the resounding crack of the concrete splintering. Shareya followed quickly with her mace, shattering what was the dust settled, they starred into hole well over the size of a doorway.

"Amazons first." Shayera followed Wonder Woman through the opening.

"Batman, we've made it inside. Do you copy?" Wonder Woman found only static. "It's dead. We're on our own until back up arrives." Shayera nodded and the cocked her head to the side.

"Hear that?" She asked.

"Guards. No doubt they heard us." Wonder Woman agreed. She pulled her lasso from her belt.

"It's good that it's us then. If you're like the Diana from my universe, we'll give them hell." Shayera raised her mace and let out a war cry.

"Robin is in there, all alone and they want to bench us? This is ridiculous!" Artemis flailed her arms above her head. Green Arrow had landed their javelin to reunite with Aquaman at the edge of the swamp. The two adults thought it best to leave the children behind.

"It is most unfortunate." Aqualad replied coolly.

"Most unfortunate? Biggest flipping understatement of the day, of the whole year. Our teammate needs us. We're the only one's he trusts besides Batman. We have to get in there and we have help him!" Artemis cried and stomped her foot indignantly. She was so angry. How could they do this now? After everything they'd been through, how could they just shove them to the side like nothing?

And damn it Aqualad, he was so calm. Like nothing had even happened. Like Robin hadn't walked right into the lion's den with no one but Canary to look after him. It was a recipe for disaster. If they went down, they were supposed to go together. Not like this, not all scattered and alone to unseen enemies. They were supposed to be able to fight back, to always fight back.

"And what do you wish to do about it?" Aqualad asked her, a challenge in his eyes. For a second, she wanted to smack him for not caring about their teammate, for being so willing to offer Dick up on a platter. Not a split second later, she realized his game. Kaldur was strong. He was their leader. He had to know how far Artemis was willing to go before he made a decision to go against the League again.

"You know what, Kaldur? I say it's time we reevaluate the situation." Artemis replied as she slung her bow over her shoulder and opened the hanger.

"Indeed, I believe our mentors were merely making a suggestion." Kaldur nodded in agreement.

Artemis smiled wryly and looked towards the dome. "Let's go save the world."

"Batman says that Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl are already inside." Superman said. "Green Arrow and Aquaman left Artemis and Aqualad back at their Javelin. We're supposed to drop Conner off with them."

Conner snorted, "Well you might as well take me along. Artemis and Aqualad aren't going to just sit there while Robin's in danger. My best guess is that they're already there, finding their way through the building." Superboy crossed his arms and leaned against the back of Clark's seat.

"I'm following Batman's orders." Superman protested.

"Now hold on, Conner's right. We can't honestly expect Aqualad and Artemis to just leave their teammate hanging. Conner should just come with us. He can join up with his team there." Clark countered flatly. "We could use the help. I thought we'd established we need all hands on deck for this one."

"Orders are orders"

"And you're being and ass, again." Conner growled in a low voice. He haughtily pushed off the back of Clark's seat and headed to the hanger. His team needed him and he wasn't going to be benched again.

"Superboy?" Conner wasn't sure which Superman spoke and at that point, he wasn't sure he cared anymore. He ignored both of them and jumped.

Artemis and Aqualad ran through the swamp as fast as they could. Occasionally, they would see guards patrolling the area. They would duck into the greenery as quickly as possible and wait for the danger to pass. At times, Artemis tried to not even breathe. She just knew they could hear her.

Once one of the guards was gone, she let loose a sigh of relief and turned to Aqualad. "That was closer than last time."

"We are getting closer. Do not give up yet." Aqualad wiped some of the sweat from his brow as he turned to face her.

"Who said anything about giving up? I'm just worried about time. We have to get there." She took a breath and then began to run again, Aqualad close behind. The continued for a few more miles, coming closer and closer to their destination. "That's the dome. How the heck are we supposed to get inside?" she cried.

"That, might be our best option." Aqualad pointed high. An air duct filtering out the swamp's oppressive heat protruded from the side of the dome.

"Good idea." Artemis pulled an arrow from her quiver, knocked it, and fired almost straight up into the air. The arrow embedded itself deep into the concrete above them. "Let's get climbing." She said.

"Are you almost done?" Black Canary hissed, nervously tapping her gloved fingers against the console. They'd been there a full ten minutes. She'd already had to knock out five unsuspecting guards that happened to wander their way.

"Almost. You can't rush these things. Hacking a super villain's mega laser is never easy." Robin chided."We're actually quite lucky. With Wonder Woman and Hawk Girl up their distracting most of the guards, we have plenty of time." His long fingers danced quickly across the keys, scanning the lines of code. "I have to shut this down."

"I know. Forgive me for being apprehensive. We are in the belly of the beast after all." Black Canary sighed and leaned up against the console. "I just don't want anything to go wrong." Robin didn't spare her a glance.

Suddenly, there was a banging in the air vent above them. Black Canary took up her ready stance. "Keep working. I'll handle this."

"I'll hold you to that." Robin answered. She hear could his fingers tapping faster over the keys.

"Canary? That you?" A voice called in a loud whisper.

"Artemis?"

"Yeah, Aqualad's with me. Hold on." A few moments later, the grate above came unscrewed and fell to the ground with a clank. Artemis and Aqualad jumped down. "Glad we finally found you. We've been circling the dome for nearly an hour trying to find the two of you."

"Smart. We used the sewage system to get in." Robin commented. He didn't look up from his work. "I should be able to fully disable the weapon within the next three minutes."

"Good, we'll stay with you. Without M'gann, we really don't have a link to use." Artemis unsheathed her bow and drew an arrow.

Superboy was halfway to the dome when he heard the crash. With his enhanced vision, he could make out Shayera and Wonder Woman breaking in.

"That's not going to work." He muttered to himself. The Society of Light was a lot of things but stupid wasn't one of them. A frontal assault would surely fail. They had to take a much more covert approach. Robin, Artemis, and Aqualad would have agree with him, he was sure. 'Keep low and out of sight.' He told himself. He'd be fine. After all, they still had to save the world.