This is a filler! Has nothing to do with the actual show. But please, enjoy XD
"Arinna." M'gann sighed. "Look at this place, it's a mess."
I glanced around the couch. "How so?"
"You are just leaving your stuff around." She frowned. "Look. You're back pack. You're skateboard. Why is your shirt in here?" she lifted it up.
"I dunno. I think I was wearing two shirts or something and I got hot." I shrugged.
"This isn't just your house Arinna." She explained, "You can't just leave your stuff around. What if someone trips over it?"
"But Conner leaves his stuff around all the time." I frowned.
"He does not."
By something that can't be considered coincidence, Conner appeared through the Zata tubes. As soon as he was a few feet in, he dropped his bag, grumbled something and took off his shirt because he was hot. He tossed his shirt to the side, leaving it in the middle of the room as he went towards the kitchen.
I gave M'gann and pointed look. She didn't notice. She was too distracted with Conner. "See. It's fine." She cooed, hearts in her eyes at the sight of her shirtless boyfriend.
"Discrimination I say!" I yelled. "He totally just did everything I do."
M'gann blushed, "You should still pick up after yourself." She cleared her throat and shuffled off. She was being ridiculous.
…Well, at least, I thought she was.
That is until Zatanna came over to have a good place to practice her magic spells. It was hard to practice magic at home because some times things got a little crazy, and it was hard to hide it from her neighbors. But here, if things start floating for no reason, we won't mind.
She had told us not to interrupt her, incase she said something wrong and some weird spell happened.
We all agreed and went off to do our owns things. I stayed in the room however, watching curiously.
One should never mess with Zatanna when she is trying to say a spell.
If you do, you may just accidentally mess her up and make the spell go horribly wrong.
But, technically speaking, it wasn't fully my fault. Zatanna was moving around as she did her spells and when she took a step back, she didn't notice my skateboard there and slipped.
"ees ton nacI eso'ht egnahc-"As she fell, she shrieked, spouting out some random words of shock and she attempted to catch herself. "Ner'dlihc otni!" As smoke erupted from around Zatanna, I coughed violently, swiping at the smoke. "S-Sorry!" I said. I hadn't intended for my skateboard to be resting behind her. Or for her to take a step back, flip over it, and scream some random gibberish words in shock during her spell.
"Zatanna?" I asked, squinting through the fog. Stumbling through it, I coughed, then sneezed.
"Bless you." A small voice said. I froze, not recognizing it. It sounded like a child's voice. Whipping around, I was dumbstruck at the sight in front of me. A little girl, most likely around the age of 5, was on the ground, blinking up at me. She had wide baby blue eyes and curly short black hair.
"…Uh…" I gawked at her. "Hello?"
"Hi~" She giggled, opening and closing her palm at me. Kneeling down, I blinked rapidly.
"Little girl."
"Hmm?" she reached for her toes, wiggling them.
"How did-" I glanced around for Zatanna, who appeared to have disappeared without a trace. "How did you get in here?" I asked.
"I dunno." She giggled, falling backwards onto her back. She giggled, rolling under the couch. I dropped down to look after her. "Ooh, potato chip." She giggled, opening her mouth.
"No, no. Don't eat that." I reached for her. Grabbed her feet and dragged her out. She giggled wildly, wiggling to escape my grip, attempting to put the chip in her mouth, "You don't know how long that's been down there." I said when she kicked my cheek. I winced.
Snatching the chip I tossed it towards the trash. "Okay." I huffed. "Let's figure this out. I'm Arinna." I was starting to think that Zatanna did some sort of switch spell. Switched herself with some random kid in the world or something. "Who are you?" I asked. This was strange. I haven't really come into contact with a kid before. I've seen them, but never talked with them before.
"Zatanna."
"Hmm?' I frowned. "You know Zatanna?" I asked.
"No." the girl giggled. "I'm Zatanna. Me." She patted her head. "Me. Me." She twirled.
"Oh…" I paled, realizing what happened, "Oh dear." I covered my mouth. "You done messed up Arinna. You done messed up!"
"Messed up!" Zatanna cheered, leaping into the air.
"Oh dear…" I was pacing. "This is bad. What do I do? I mean, this is cool, but I mean, also really bad. Magic." I wiggled my fingers in doom.
"Magic?" Zatanna copied me.
"Zatanna." I grabbed her arm, hoping to fix this before anyone realized I was the cause of this. "Can you undo your spell?"
"What spell?" she asked.
"The one you just did." I explained.
"I did a spell?" She gasped, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I can do magic! I can do that just like my daddy! Yay!" she bounced. "Can we go tell him?"
"…Not a good idea.' I paled. "Plus, if he sees his little girl back to a 5 year old, he might not want to change you back." I rose to my feet. "I should go to the team-" I paused. I frowned when I realized that if I go to the team about this, M'gann will find out. And if M'gann finds out, she'll just rub it in my face that she was right.
I'll have to fix this in secret and beg Zatanna not to tell anyone about it when I return her to normal.
I would need some sort of support though.
"We're gonna need some one's help with this. To Conner's room!" I declared. I'm sure I could convince Conner to not tell his girlfriend about this.
"Yay!" Zatanna cheered.
Grabbing her hand, I led little Zatanna through the halls as sneakily as I could. Luckily making it to Conner's room before anyone could notice, I knocked on the door.
"Uh… Conner?" I peeked into his room. "Okay, you're gonna laugh at this, but I need your help." I chuckled nervously, leading Zatanna inside. "I uh… kind of left my skateboard laying around, which M'gann always tell me I shouldn't do, and Zatanna kind of tripped… and said some weird things. And something weird happened…" I trailed off. It was quiet. "Conner?" I looked around the room. "You here?"
Something shifted under the covers. Frowning at how abnormally small Conner seemed under the blanket I moved towards his bed. "Conner?" I reached out and lifted the blanket. A small child turned towards me as soon as I removed the blanket, sniffling as fresh tear trailed down his cheeks.
I froze. "…Eh?"
The little boy hiccupped. "I-I not cryin'…" he lost his composure and sobbed, rolling around to throw his face into his pillow.
Oh my gosh it couldn't be.
"C-Conner?" I gasped. The little boy looked up at me. "Oh my gosh..." I dropped to my knees. "Her spell affected you too?"
"Spwell?"
"… That was the cutest way to say spell." I nodded. "Yes. Spell. Uh…" I glanced around his room. "Huh…Now that I think about this logically, perhaps I should rethink my options." I rubbed my chin, "Okay, scratch my previous plan." I lifted Conner off the bed and placed him on the ground. "To Red Tornado!"
"Potato!" Zatanna clapped.
"Tomato?" little Conner asked.
"Close enough!" I marched out the door, the two shuffling after me.
Conner was cute. He was beyond cute. I was tempted to keep him this age forever. He just clung to my hand as we walked down the hall towards the communication room. I realized quickly I would need to get Zatara to the cave if I wanted to fix all of this.
"Up."
I paused when Conner lifted his arm towards me. "Hmm?"
'Up." He bounced a bit. Awkwardly I bent down and scooped him up into my arms. He placed his thumb in his mouth and rested his head against my shoulder.
Oh… my… golly… gosh…
Yeah, I'm never turning him back. Ever.
"I wanna be carried too!" Zatanna hopped around me.
"I don't think I-" she made a grab for my leg and clung to it. "That… works to." Blinking, I slowly moved forward, dragging my occupied foot behind me.
Not sure where Tornado would be during this time of day, I considered my best option would be the hanger bay, or at least around that area. If nothing else I could try to find the others and have them help. I'll just have to deal with M'gann's scolding and mockery.
I kind of deserve it for putting us all in this situation. And when I say we I think it is the strangest thing. Zatanna was changed, yes. So how is it that Conner was changed? I mean, he wasn't even in the room. I was right across from her but I'm still normal. So why was Conner-
"S'cuse me." I paused. "Miss?" Something tugged on my shirt. Turning around, I saw a third little boy. I couldn't recognize him honestly. He had similar black hair and blue eyes like Conner's, but his face was different. Who was this? "I'm lost." He sniffled.
… I'm at a lost myself mystery child.
Kneeling down on one knee so Zatanna could keep a hold of my leg, I titled my head at the child. "Oh. Okay sweetie." I said. Come on Arinna think. This has to be someone from the team but who? "What's your name?"
"Dick." He said with wide eyes.
It was ROBIN~ Oh my gosh he is so little! Look at this cutie!
"Hi Dick." I cooed. "Wanna walk with us and we can figure this out?"
Robin nodded. Instead of moving to grab my hand, instead he just grabbed a hold of my neck.
Guess I was carrying both Conner and Robin. Not that I minded. And Zatanna was having a blast clinging to my leg.
"I'm sorry you got lost Dick." I said to the small child.
"It's otay." He said quietly. "I du'mind."
His voice and his words were adorable. Like, seriously, I'm turning into goop on the inside. I have to remember to take a picture of these guys before we turn them back to normal.
Shuffling around the corner, I quickly moved into the training room, relieved to see Red Tornado passing through it.
"Red Tornado! I have a problem!" I called to him. He turned, staring quietly as I approached him with three children. "So uh… yeah um… I got kids." I said.
"I was not aware you reproduced."
I almost dropped Conner and Robin,"…Oh dude! Ew! No." I shook my head. "I mean I seriously am just carrying kids. They aren't mine."
Tornado nodded, "That does seem like the logical reason. How may I assist you?"
"Okay so um… Zatanna was practicing and her spells went wrong." I lifted my leg. "This is her."
"Hello." She waved.
"Then, I went to panic about it to Conner, but I found him like this." I pointed to Conner, who blushed as hid his face in my neck. (Flippin' adorable.) "Then I panicked a bit more, but it was calmed a bit by cute little Conner, only to run into Robin. Don't know how either of these two turned into kids since they weren't in the room."
Robin blinked a few times, sucking on his thumb.
"So in conclusion, I really really really need Zatara to come over here and fix this." I took a deep breath, lowering the kids to the ground. The instantly plopped down in a little circle, smiling and talking to each other.
They all seemed pretty open to each other, except for Conner who seemed shy.
Red Tornado nodded once. "The league, and more importantly, Zatara are all currently occupied." He said, "You will have to wait."
"Wha- really?" I sighed.
"Yes, there appears to be some sort of creature attacking Star City at the moment." Red Tornado explained.
"Oh…" I blinked. "Is- are they alright? Do they need help?"
"They have the situation under control. That is the reason I am still here. I am unrequired."
"That is good." I nodded. "I guess I'll just have to wait for Zatara then." I looked down at Robin, Conner and Zatanna, who were sitting in a little circle, playing patty cake. "Do you know how to take care of kids?"
"I have been assigned to this team for that very purpose." Red Tornado said. I frowned at him.
"No, kid kids. Not Teenagers. Like… toddlers and stuff. 5 year olds." I answered.
"I change my answer to no, I have not." He stepped forward, "It would also be wise to find the others."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"As you said, Conner was in his room when you found him and he was also turned into a child. Perhaps then, the others-"
"The others-" I frowned. "Does that mean the rest of the team-?"
"Are most likely children as well. I suggest we search the cave for them."
Baby Wally, Artemis, Kaldur and M'gann huh?
…Yeah this gonna be an awesome day.
"Okay well uh, I'll find them. I'm sure they will freak out less if they see me first over you since you are a robot." I explained but paused, "No offense." I flinched.
"None taken."
"Oh, good. Then-" I looked down at the kids, "Dick, Conner, Zatanna-" the kids looked up at me. "This is Mr. Tornado." I smiled.
"Hello." They waved to him.
"He's gonna watch over you for a bit, okay?"
"Your weaving?" Conner's upper lip trembled. I almost fell over at the sight. It took all my will to nod.
"Only for a little while." I promised. "Will you be good for me until then?"
They nodded their heads, motioning for him to sit down with them. It was the cutest thing watching Red Tornado play patty cake with them.
Beaming I ran down the hall. Okay, so if I were little heroes, where would I go? I guess I should look in the first places that I last saw everyone. M'gann was in her room, but she might have gone to look for Conner at some point. I'll attempt to look in her room first.
Knocking on the door, I hesitantly peeked in. "Hello?" I called in. "Any kids in here?"
There was no reply, but something shifted underneath the bed. That had to be her.
"Excuse me." I smiled, creeping into the kneel by the bed. Getting on my hands and knees I peeked under it. "Hello-" I trailed off, my eyes spotting something… strange.
Something very strange. It didn't look human. Scratch that- it wasn't human. It was moving and breathing and holy cow it's coming at me!
"AGAHAAAA!" I shrieked, throwing myself towards the other side of the room when a little white creature shot out from under the Bed. What was that?! WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT?!
At the sound of my scream, the creature panicked and ducked down into the corner of the room behind the book shelf.
Huffing a few times, I scrambled to my feet, quickly grabbing a broom for a weapon. "W-W-W-"
How did this creature get in the cave?! What even was it? Did Conner find something and bring it home again?
It started to speak in a language I couldn't understand. I shook my head. "W-What are you doing here?" I demanded.
It blinked, titling its head curiously, giving my broom a weary stare. "Eturan..." it paused, clearing it's throat. "W-Who is you?" the white creature inquired from the darkness. It could speak english. Slowly shifting my weight, I glanced at the door.
"A-Arinna." I stammered. Why am I telling a stranger my name again? Dumb Arinna! Very dumb Arinna!
"Are human?" it inquired. Though it spoke english, it's grammar and wording weren't the best. This creator most likely only recently started learning the language.
I shivered at the question. It was… an odd being. Completely white with long arms and three long fingers. It's brain stuck out from the back of it's head as it's skin follow suit, making it's face look pulled back, like a creepy skeleton.
"Yes." I nodded. "…Though my brother says that is debatable."
"You look human." The creature giggled, "I always want to meet human someday."
"Oh. Well-" I gulped. "Yeah… I guess that mean you aren't human." No duh Arinna. Obviously it's not human.
"Nice meeting you." The creature said politely. At least it was polite. Now if I could just wrap my brain around what in the world was happening, perhaps we could have a decent conversation.
"N-Nice to meet you too uh- Do you have a name?" I asked hesitantly, hoping I could reach my communicator in my pocket to SOS Red Tornado before the creature could notice.
"M'gann." It said. My hand froze just as it reached into my pocket.
…Wait. Hold the phone.
M'GANN!? Our M'gann? The green skinned Martian M'gann? I-I thought she was green! Not white with a very visible brain! This is so weird. THIS IS SO WEIRD!
None of this is making sense.
"It's no different on mars." I remember M'gann telling Conner and me on our first day of school, "The White minority are treated like second class citizens by the Green Majority. O-Of course I'm green but… yeah…" She had sounded so sad back then.
It was only now that I think I understood, for the most part. Was M'gann really a white Martian? Why was she pretending to be green? Maybe she thought she would scare us. I was definitely frightened a bit ago. But that was mainly because I had no idea what was going on or how M'gann, who I thought was just a random creature, got in here!
And seeing her like this would definitely take some getting use to, but we would accept her…
I frowned, gripping my shoulder. If she wanted to hide it I can't say I would blame her. There are a few of my own fears I've begun to hide from the team. I just gotta be cool about this.
"Hello there M'gann." I said as gently as I could. "What are you doing here?"
"I dunno." She answered, wringing her hands together. "I just woke up here, on earth. Imma on Earth now." She giggled, but paused. "This is earth that right?"
"Yes." I chuckled. "Yes it is. Welcome."
She jumped up and down excitedly. "Yay!" she twirled. "I can meet humans! Oh, but I need ta look human. I can look human too!" M'gann said. Twirling, her body morphed to a little girl with auburn hair, the color I always saw her with, tucked in cute pigtail and a flower dress. "Tada!" her skin was light peach instead of green or white this time.
I clapped. "C-Cool." I glanced around. "So um… there is a little party going on in the other room-"
"A party?" she gasped. "AH! Parties I enjoy!"
She was definitely M'gann.
"Wanna join?" I mused. She nodded, running out of the room. I quickly followed after her to show her the way.
As we walked down the hall to join Red Tornado, I stared at M'gann, wondering what I had just witnessed. Right now she looked like the younger version of the her I always say. I knew she could shape shift but I never thought that the form we always saw her in was just a shaped form. She never showed us her true form.
When we turned her back to normal, I wonder if she would talk to me about it. If she didn't it was okay, I wouldn't mind.
"I found M'gann!" I called to Red Tornado when we got back to him. He looked up from the cards he was holding. They went from playing patty cake to playing Go Fish.
"Greetings." He said.
"Robot." M'gann gawked at him. "Hellooooo." She patted his head and listened to hallow sound.
"M'gann." I scolded, "That is rude."
She pulled her hand away as if it burned. "I sorry!"
"It is alright." He assured her, handing her some cards. "Care to join us?"
"Yeah!" she moved to the others. "Hello! Hello!" she waved to Robin and Zatanna, but lowered her hand when she saw Conner.
They looked at each other, their eyes widened. "H-Hi." Little M'gann blushed as she sat next to Conner. "I'm M'gann."
"Conner." He paused from munching on the cookie he some how got a hold of to grin at her. Love at first sight. How cute!
"Okay, we need Wally, Artemis, and Kaldur." I concluded. "Any ideas?"
"I believe you shall locate Wally in the kitchen."
"Probably." I agreed. "Watch the others again, I'll be right back!" I was off and running. Red Tornado was like a pro in handling in kids, so I knew I could trust him.
Moving back towards the kitchen, I peeked in. I heard the sound of clinking pots and pans long before I even noticed a child was in the room.
Peeking over the counter, I smiled.
"There you are." I sighed, moving towards the open fridge to see Wally standing in front of it with his chubby little fingers reaching inside to grab a snack. He froze, turning to me, caught in the scene of the crime.
"I wasn't doin' nothin'." He said innocently.
…He was pudgy. Cutest Baby fat ever!
Struggling to hold back the urge to just scoop him up and swing him around, I pursed my lips, cooing, "Is that so?" Glad I found him so easily.
"Yeah I was just… just… hungry." He frowned, patting his tummy.
"Well-" I closed the fridge. "How about some crackers?"
"Crackers!" he cheered. He didn't even seem to care that I was practically a stranger to him. Just that I was giving him food.
"I'm Arinna." I said as I reached for the box of crackers in the cabinet.
"Wally." He grinned cheekily.
Grabbing a few crackers I handed them to him.
Munching on the crackers I gave him, he waddled over to the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen. I was him curiously as he held a cracker out to on of the slightly open cabinets. "Got ya a cracker." He said. From the door that was cracked open, a hand appeared from it, taking Wally's second cracker.
And that must be Artemis. Found two in one search, sweet!
"Artemis?" I guessed. She peeked out, looking nervous yet on guard, as if she expected me to attack her. "What are you doing in there?" I asked.
I started to wonder if these kids kind of recognized me since none of them seemed overly nervous around me and were pretty open. Or was that just how little kids were?
"I dunno where I am…" she sniffed.
"Aww, sweet heart." I frowned, my heart breaking at the sight of her tearful eyes. "This is the cave." I answered, knowing she probably didn't understand what I meant. "Here," I held out my hand. "How about I take you back to the others and we'll figure this out?"
She frowned at my hand. "…Mama says I shouldn't go with strangers."
"This is Arimma." Wally pushed in front of me, tripping and falling back into my arms. I caught him with a chuckle.
"Arinna." I said.
"Aphila."
"…Close?" I frowned. "You can stick with Arimma if that is easier."
"Arimma." He nodded. Curious, Artemis stepped out of the cabinet a bit more. "No stranger." He kicked his legs a bit.
"Oh… Otay." She nodded. "No stranger." As soon as she was out, she clung to Wally's arm. "You not go away?"
"I stay." He smiled. "Where I go?"
"Nowhere." I gushed at the two. "We're just gonna go join the party."
"PARTY!?" they gasped, instantly excited and bouncing.
"Yes, a party." I motioned for them to follow. "This way."
They book it after me, running into everything. Themselves, me, the walls, you name it. As we pushed back into the room, Artemis' wild excitement died down a bit at the sight of strangers. Stepping behind me, she blushed in embarrassment, looking nervous.
"It's okay." I assured her. "They are your friends."
"Will they pick on me?" she said with wide eyes.
"I'll beat 'em up if they do." Wally assured her, taking her hand. She gave him a big grin. She was missing a few teeth and it was adorable.
"Otay." She ran off with him. Signaling to Red Tornado that I was going to go find Kaldur he nodded.
I admit… I've been waiting for this moment since I started looking for the others. I really really wanted to see baby Kaldur. So badly!
Yet fate was jerk, as he always his. I couldn't find Kaldur anywhere! Maybe he wasn't even in the cave. I don't remember actually seeing him this morning so maybe he wasn't here at all? He might be off with Aqua Man for all I know.
That idea made me sad, cause I really wanted to see baby him- or uh, toddler him?
5 year olds are considered more along the lines of toddlers over babies, right?
Sighing in defeat, I trudged back into hanger bay to tell Red Tornado the news. "Okay, I can't seem to find Kaldur- AGAH!" a plastic arrow slapped me in the forehead and I fell over.
"Wiberty!" a voice shrieked! "Freedom!"
Rolling to my side, I lifted my head to rub the red spot on the forehead. "Ow!' I wined, jumping to my feet. Knowing that could have only been Artemis, I frowned. "Artemis that isn't-" I trailed off at the sight of Artemis standing on top of Red Tornado's chest as if he were a piece of land that was just conquered. He was covered in bubble and tapping wrap, and appeared he was not ready to move any time soon.
"Red Tornado!" I yelled, "What are you doing?"
"I have been conquered." He explained simply, "The children have now named me Tomato island."
"Tomato island!" the children cheered, marching around Red Tornado.
I take back what I said before on Red Tornado being able to handle children, because it was crazy in here! Artemis was jumping on top of him, Wally had some how got a hold of an entire bag of candy and was running around like a loonatic. Conner was kicking the wall, and severly cracking it cause he was angry or something. M'gann was just floating up near the ceiling trying to help a sobbing Robin who some how activated the grappling hook on his utility belt and shooting him up to the ceiling, where he was now stuck, and I had to some how fix this.
Way to be Red Tornado.
Sighing, I got to work.
Snatching up Wally as he passed, thankfully he didn't have his full super speed at this point, I tucked him under my arm. "No." I scolded when he started screaming. Turning on the TV, I placed him in front of it. He kicked and screamed for a bit, eventually calming down enough to realize the TV was on. His eyes growing wide, he glued all his attention to the screen. TV you are glorious.
Moving on, I grabbed Artemis next. She was a little more reluctant. "You can't just-" she smacked an plastic arrow on my forehead. "Hit people with arrows!"
She yelled a few times. Throwing her on the couch with Wally, I ran the center of the room, looking up at M'gann and Robin. "Dick!" I called up. "Just hold on okay?"
His cries for help grew louder. "I'm coming buddy! I'm coming!" I called, running to the end of the room to open a draw where a few of Robin's other grappling hooks were. Using that, I shot myself up the roof with him and grabbed him.
He clung to my desperately, sniffling and sobbing into my shirt. "Shh." I patted his head. "It's okay buddy." I gently rocked him back and forth for a few minutes, reaching out with my other hand to pat M'gann's head. "Go watch TV." I said to her.
"I love TV." She beamed, flying to join the others. As I moved around with Robin, waiting till he had calmed down enough, I quickly realized that I had no idea where Zatanna went. "Where is Zatanna?" I frowned down at Red Tornado. Ripping easily out of his restraints, he pointed towards the end of the room. She had fallen asleep in the corner surrounded by a few pillows. Well, I can just leave her there for now.
Keeping Robin perched up on my hip, my arm surrounding his small frame, I moved to Conner.
"Hey- Hey!" I grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Hey." I said soothingly. "What's wrong buddy?"
Huffing a few times, his face red with rage he started to yell a few things I couldn't quite understand. Something about Wally taking something that was his or what not. Through his yelling though, his voice cracked and he started to sob. I think someone needs a nap. "C'mere." I lifted him up in my other arm. Holding the two sniffling boys, I brought them over to Zatanna and laid them down on the other ends of pillows. Patting their heads, I placed a blanket over them. As soon as their heads hit the pillows they began to close their eyes, sleep over whelming them.
...They were cute. Must take a picture. I'm not a creep brain, don't judge me.
Putting away my phone, I let out a yawn. I was exhausted myself. How do mom's handle kids? They are crazy! "You are the worse baby sitter ever." I accused Red Tornado when I got back to him.
"I apologize." He said. "Were you able to locate Kaldur'ahm?"
"No. I don't think he is here."
"He Zata tubed into the cave earlier this morning. There was no report of him leaving." Red Tornado said.
"Then he is here?"
"Most likely."
I sighed. "I'm gonna go try again. I'll be back soon." I paused, "It better be like this when I get back!"
I took this whole cave apart in trying to find Kaldur. I looked through every room, in the vents, and even in the lower levels where the water of the ocean pooled in. He wasn't in there.
I eventually remembered to check the Bathrooms after an hour of searching. Would you believe he was in there? Cause he was. I don't know why he was, but he was there .
Kaldur was sitting in the sink for some reason when I found him. Just sitting there, letting the water run against his legs. When I entered, he turned to me confused. He spoke in an odd language that I could not understand.
I assume it was Atlantean.
I would have to get through to him with… sheraids~
Moving my body in weird ways, I attempted to portray the question "What are you doing here?"
He frowned at me, very confused. I flipped and flopped on the ground a few times, wiggling my arms. Kaldur shifted back a bit.
I sighed, "Really? You are getting none of this?"
"Oh." He blinked. "Speak English?"
"Ah!" I gasped, leaping to my feet, almost slipping and catching myself. "You speak English! Why didn't you say that before?"
Kaldur blushed. "S-Stranger…"
"Oh." I brushed my hands against my pants to clean them. "Hi." I held out my palm. "Arinna."
"…Kaldur'ahm." He took my hand, shaking it slowly. He… was… adorable!
Big eyes, curly hair, button nose- SO FRIGGIN' CUTE!
"Can I can ya Kaldur?" I gushed. He nodded sheepishly.
"Yes Ma'am."
"You can call me Arinna."
He looked at his feet, twiddling his fingers together, smiling. "Okay."
Helping him out of the sink, I lead him down the hall. Wondering if he was getting hot or something and maybe that was why he was in the sink, I grabbed a spray bottle.
As soon as I handed it to him he stared at it confused. It wasn't until I took it back and sprayed him on the gentle settings that he realized what it was. Grabbing it back, he sprayed himself a few times, looking please. "Are we on the surface?" he asked.
"More or less." I nodded. "We're in a cave. But the cave is half in the ocean so we're half on the surface?" I said. He blinked a few times, nodding "Okay!" I called as we entered the room, gathering everyone's attention. "I'm back!" everyone was awake and done watching Tv by this point, so now I could help out Red Tornado in watching them. "Zatara free yet?" I asked.
"Not for another few hours."
"Alright, then, lets have some fun for a few hours!" I threw my arms up. The children cheered. "Everyone, this Kaldur. Kaldur, this is Wally, Zatanna, M'gann, Conner, Artemis and Rob- I mean, Dick." I said.
"Hello." He said
"Hi." They waved.
"Okay, so who wants to play some games?" I asked.
"Me! Me!" they raised their hands.
"Here, come here." I motioned for Conner to come closer. Moving towards me, I twirled my finger for him to turn around.
He turned so his back was facing me and stepped back, stepping onto my feet. Lifting his hand, I grabbed them and we began to walk and giggle.
"I'm a Conner Monster!" I said in a deep voice. "Rawr!' we moved to the others kids. They grinned, squealing as they scattered around the room. We stomped after them, rawring together.
It was so much fun.
0000-0000
Kids like sandwiches, right? I'll just make everyone a whole lot of sandwiches for lunch. That sounds like it will work.
"Am I awone?"
I paused from making lunch to look down at Conner. "What?" I asked, not sure when he got in here.
He was wringing his hands against his shorts, frowning. "Am I awone?" he asked. He had gotten off the chair in the living from to join me in the kitchen. I could still hear the others in the other room.
"Alone?" I placed the butter knife to the side and knelt down to look at him. "Why would you ask that?"
He frowned at his feet. "Wally's got his Mama and Papa. Artemis got her Mama. M'gann got her uncle... Dick got Bat Man. He's his papa though he says he's not he is." I nodded in agreement. "Zatanna got her papa. Kaldur got his Papa and Mama too... I got no one."
"Conner..." I frowned. "Do you think about this a lot?"
He bit his lip, nodding. "Supa man don't want me." He reached up to rub his sleeve against his eyes when he realized he was starting to cry.
"Conner that isn't-" I sighed. It was kind of true, but there was no way I could say that to him. "You don't need Super Man." I grabbed his hands.
"I don't?"
"No. If he doesn't want to be around you that is his loss Conner. Cause you the best person I know."
He was shocked. "I am?" he sniffed, brightening.
"Well yeah." i snorted. "You are strong and cool. You've already proven that you are so much more than what Cadmus meant for you to be in more way than one. If that isn't enough, you've saved me a billion times. You're always so brave and even though you pick on me, your my best friend. You are way better than Super Man in my books."
Not sure if that was the right thing to say, or if that helped, but Conner smiled. "And hey, I'm not a Mama or a Papa- but you always got me." I ruffled his hair. Beaming, his hugged me around the waist. Kissing the top of his head, I brushed away a small tear. "So cheer up. All of us definitely prefer Conner or Super Man."
"Otay."
0000-0000
"Noooooo!" Wally whined, attempting to wiggle away from my grip.
"Wally!' I growled, "I'm not letting you go out in the sun for several hours unless you put on sunscreen!" I sprayed some more onto his back. "You'll get a sunburn."
"No I won't! Imma too fast!"
"It doesn't matter if you are fast." I sprayed some on his arms and legs. He shoved his hands against my face, squishing my cheeks to get away. "Why you-" finishing the job, I let him go. He quickly rolled away and scampered across the sand. I sighed. "Okay Dick." I said. Unlike Wally, he obediently held out his arms for me to apply the sunscreen. Glad he was more cooperative, I squirted a little on my finger and poked his nose. He giggled.
"Are you positive it is a good idea to let them out of the cave in the state they are in?" Red Tornado inquired as he stood behind me. He was wearing a sun hat that I placed on him. The kids said he wasn't allowed to take it off. It was cute.
"We're already out here, so it is kind of too late to say that." I snorted letting Dick run off to join the otehrs. "But hey, I have a question, how come you didn't turn into a kid?"
"I am a robot Arinna, I have no child form." He answered. "That does leave the question why you are also not a child however."
"I was wondering that myself." I shrugged.
We sat out there for a while, staring out into the ocean and building castles. For a while, I wondered how the others would react when I told them that they were turned into kids once we return them to normal. Would they remember turning into kids? What an odd experience that would be to remember if they did.
Ohh! Oh! Dolphins!
I leapt to my feet when I spotted them in the distance. "Dolphins!" I cheered.
"Dolphin?" Artemis gasped. "Where?!"
"Over there." I pointed to them. The others were quick to gather, stepping on their tippy toes to get a good look.
"I see them." Conner clapped.
"Hello Dolphins!" I called. They ignored me. I sighed.
I didn't notice Kaldur step next to me until he began to yell something. He sounded like a dolphin! Suddenly, the Dolphin's looked towards us, moving a little closer. I gasped.
"What did you just do?"
"I told them you said Hi." He said softly, looking up at me. I covered my mouth, recalling what Kaldur and me had promised a few days before. Does this count? I mean, Kaldur did say it would be just the two of us...
...It counts I say! Not sure if I could handle it being just the two of us anyway.
"Aww! Kaldur! You always keep your promises." I cooed, kneeling down to hug him. He blushed furiously, looking at his hands.
It was so cute. I wonder if I can made 17 year old Kaldur blush? That would be super cute too.
"Oh! Oh! Can you tell them that I think they are beautiful?" I asked. He nodded, saying a few more things in Dolphin. The Dolphin's quickly replied.
"They said thank you." He smiled.
"I wanna talk to Dolphins too!' Wally ran into Kaldur, grabbing his arms. "Tell them I like sandwiches!"
"Why?" Kaldur frowned
"Just tell 'em~!"
Hesitant, Kaldur called to the Dolphin's one last time. He turned to Wally, his face forming a deep frown. "They say you are weird."
"Weird!" Wally scoffed. "I am not! I am awesome!" he turned to the ocean, shaking his fist. "I dare ya to say that to my face cowards!" he called. It might have sounded threatening if he wasn't 5 and sounded adorable.
0000-0000
"Wally! What do you think you are doing?" I called to him from across the beach. I was enjoying the day, tanning in the sun and collecting shells with Kaldur and Zatanna but had to pause when I heard the faint noise of someone crying. It was Conner.
"Nothing!" Wally called, lifting a bucket of sand and dumping it over a squirming form.
Rushing over to him, I frowned at the sight of Conner half buried in the sand. Wally continued to pile sand ontop of him, leaving only his face visible, despite Conner's cries.
"Wally." I tugged him away. "Why are you trying to bury him?" I started to brush the sand away and help him up. "That isn't nice."
"His fault!" Wally huffed. "He took my shell. So he's goin' to da afta life."
"The after life?" I frowned. "No, Wally. You don't bury people when they upset you." Reaching down I grabbed Conner under his arms and scooped him up with ease. "Conner, did you take Wally's shell?"
He clung to me, sniffling. His cheeks were red and his eyes puffy. "Y-yesh…"
"Will you give it back?" He slowly held out his tiny hand and dropped it in my palm. I handed it back to Wally. "There."
He cheered. Instead of putting the shell in his pocket, he ran to Artemis. I watched curiously as he tugged on her hand and gave her the shell. "There you go!" he grinned. She stared curiously at the shell.
"For me?" she asked.
"Yeah, to match your pretty eyes."
I covered my mouth in awe. Man, kids took these kind of things so fast!
"Aww, thank you." Artemis gushed happily. Normally she probably would have hit Wally for saying something like that. And normally Wally wouldn't be caught ever saying those kinds of things to Artemis. But neither of them seemed to be even thinking about what their older selves would think.
Naïve children I suppose.
"I wanna go swimmin'." Conner tugged on my shirt, pointing to the ocean.
"Can you swim?" I asked.
"…" He blinked, his eyes growing wide with dread as he gave the ocean a weary look. "Swim with me?" He said instead of answering. I smiled, nodding.
"Of course." Letting him down, I walked with him to the ocean. We went in until it got to Conner's torso then stopped. Waiting until he was comfortable enough with the area to let go of my hand, I laughed when he attacked me. "Take that!' he splashed water at me. I fell to my knees with a gasp.
"No! Not water! My one weakness!"
Conner cackled, splashing me a bit more. He gasped suddenly, ducking away. "AHHH! TYPHON!"
…Typhon? What was he-
As I turned, I paled at the sight of M'gann laughing above me lifting her hands high. She must have thought it was part of the game because she was using her powers to lifts a huge wave of water up from the ocean.
"M-M'gann wait-!" I shrieked seconds before it hit me.
Flung back, I spun a bit within the waves struggling to find the surface. Gasping for air when I reached the top, I huffed a few times. "N-Not… part of the game M'gann." I sighed up at her.
"It's not?" she asked innocently.
"No… No it's not. Conner?" I called.
"I here." His head peeked up from the water. "I am shark." His hair was spiked upward as he circled me. "I eat Arinna."
I snorted at the sight. "A Conner Shark huh? Please don't eat me."
"It's too late, I eat you. Dun dun." He began to hum the theme of Jaws as he moved towards me. "Dun dun."
"Dun dun dun dun dun." Robin giggled behind me.
"Oh what?" I gasped, realizing his was in the water too. "That's not fair. You two can't gang up on me." They snickered, both doggy pattling around me.
"DADADAAAAAA~" they leapt at me. I fell backwards.
"OW!" I shrieked. "Conner! No actual biting!'
"Sorry."
000-Later-000
"Remind me how this occurred." Bat Man frowned.
"Well, it's was a strange set of circumstances." I shifted my weight.
"Certemsplances." Conner agreed.
"Possibly involving Zatanna and my skateboard."
"Skate board." He nodded.
"And some odd incantation."
"Incineration." Conner cheered.
"Conner shh." I chuckled, patting his head. He froze, folding his arms behind his back and blushing a bit, nodding. "Otay. Shh." He held his finger to his lips.
"But yeah… and if you can't seem to find a way to change them back Zatara, I would be perfectly okay with that." I grinned.
"I might just agree with you." Zatara gushed, hugging his daughter tightly. It must be a dream come true to see his little girl actually be a little girl again.
"Hi Daddy." she giggled.
"Hello my little star." he cooed.
"Zatara." Canary sighed. "They need to be turned back to normal."
"Pleaseeee." Green Arrow begged, wincing when Artemis tugged on his ears. She was currently sitting on his shoulders, pulling on him. "Beard!" she tugged it. He shrieked. "Zatara!"
Black canary sighed, lifting Artemis off Green Arrow's shoulders. "Zatara."
He sighed sadly, "I suppose you are right. I do however need to know what kind of spell what use so I can properly negate it." He glanced at me.
I shrugged, "I don't know. All your spells are complete gibberish to me."
"We'll look over the security camera to figure it out." Bat man offered. He paused when Robin grabbed his hand, holding onto it.
…. Ah… Ahhhhhhhh. Cuteeee.
Instead of pulling away, Bat Man turned, leading Robin to the computer and using one hand to pull up the survelliance footage. Zatara watched curiously as the footage appeared on the screen. Listening to the spell Zatanna chanted, he nodded. "So that is how it occurred."
"What did she say? Canary asked.
"A spell that turns all those she within the area that she can not see into kids. That is probably why Arinna has not been turned into a child, for Zatanna was looking directly at her. She did not see the others, or was looking at herself, thus all of them were affected."
"Ooh!" I nodded. "That's why. Can you reverse it?"
"Yes." He smiled at Zatanna, kissing her nose. She giggled.
"I dunno guys-" Flash was throwing Wally up in the air and catching him. "Can't we keep them like this for a while? I didn't really get to see Wally when he was little. He's pudgy!" he tickled Wally's belly. He shrieked, kicking and giggling wildly.
"Right? They are so cute!" I gushed. "look! Look at this cutie!" I held up Conner.
"What's even better, is that we now know not just what Conner looks like as a child, but also, Super Man." Green Arrow announced. I paused.
"You're right." I gasped. "Super Man was a cute little toddler!"
"Supa man?" Conner said. "I dun need him. I got Arinna." he hugged me.
"Aww Conner." I sniffed on the verge of tears.
"We need to focus." Bat Man frowned. "We need to change them back-" Robin hugged his leg, letting out a cute little sneeze. "…"
"I'm sorry Bat Man." I smirked. "What was that? We need to do what now?"
He turned away, scowling.
Hah, no one can wish away these cute little faces.
"Then it is decided!" Aqua Man laughed behind us, lifting Kaldur high above his head. "It will be a joy gallivanting around with my small protégé."
Kaldur looked really to explode from the embarrassment, his eyes shinning. I think anyone would feel the same if they were suddenly lifted off their feet by their king and swung around in the air.
"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!" M'gann giggled as she circled around Man Hunter, who was beaming with joy at the sight of his niece. I wondered if he was secretly a white Martian? If he wasn't, did he know M'gann was? He must have.
"Only for a few hours." Bat Man declared.
"Fine with us."
-0000Later0000-
"Okay Wally, time to grow up." Flash sniffled, placing his nephew on the floor. "Your gonna have to deal with your parents smothering you when you get home cause I took pictures." He snorted. "And then sent them."
Not understand the meaning behinds his works, Wally blinked. "…Otay?"
"Flash." Canary frowned at him.
They League had placed all the kinds in line. Arinna had to stand next to Conner to keep him still. "So how does this work?" she asked. "You just say some words and everything is fixed?"
"In a way." Zatara nodded.
"Okay cool." Arinna smiled. "And after all this, I've learned a good lesson."
"What is that Arinna?' Green Arrow inquired.
"Never leave my stuff around." She sighed sadly.
Zatara chuckled. Lifting his hands, his began to say an incantation. Suddenly, smoke enveloped the children. When it cleared, the familiar sight of the teenage team came into view.
The blinked a few times, then looked down at their hands to examine if the change had occurred. Realizing it worked, they shoulder's relaxed.
"Ah, it is good to be me again." Wally sighed looking down at his feet to make sure he was the same height he was before.
"That was… weird." Artemis hugged herself.
"Quite an odd experience, yes." Kaldur agreed.
"Yeah, though, I don't really remember much.' Zatanna frowned.
"That is so true." M'gann blinked. "I mean, I remember turning into a kid, but nothing of when I was an actual kid."
"Magic works in a mysterious ways." Zatara chuckled. "I am glad you all appeared to have return to normal without any problems."
"Dad." Zatanna smiled at him. "Thank you."
"Of course my child." he smiled kindly, "I am honestly happy it occurred. You were truly my little girl again. Though, you shall always be my little princess." He kissed her forehead.
"Dad." She blushed. "You are so embarrassing." She pulled away. "Sorry to cause all this trouble though. I didn't think my powers would get so out of hand."
"It's cool." Wally assured her. "You didn't mean too."
"Yeah and it was kind of… fun, to be a kid again.' Artemis agreed. She paused and opened her palm. Seeing that there was a shell in her grip she frowned in confusion, not sure where it came from. Unable to part with it for whatever reason, she placed it in her pocket.
"Didn't think I'd ever be that age." Conner admitted. "Almost nice to have the experience."
"How did that end up happening anyway?" Wally asked.
"I tripped I think." Zatanna admitted. "Not quite sure what I tripped on."
Zatara pursed his lips. "Well, we can ask Arinna about that." He paused, "Speaking of which, where did she go?"
"Did she run off to avoid being blamed?' Conner guessed.
"Uh…Guys?" Robin spoke up for the first time since returning to normal, but his voice was numb. "We got a problem." The team turned to see Robin looking down at something at his feet. A 5 year old was crouched behind his knee, hiding her face in his cape, giggling. "I'm not here!"
"…Is that-" Wally trailed off.
Zatara was frowning at his hands. "Whoops."
"Whoops?!" Zatanna turned to her dad in shocked, "What do you mean whoops?"
"Seems my spell changed you all back to normal but Arinna-"he smiled nervously. "Well…"
"Weeeee!" the small child sprung out from behind Robin's cap to run around the hanger with her arms extended out from her sides, pretending she was a plane.
"Oh!' M'gann covered her mouth to hide her smile.
"Are you serious?" Artemis snorted.
"IMMA SUPA HERO!" Arinna cheered. "Ooh! HALL WAY!" she made a break for the hall.
"There she goes!" Artemis said.
"W-Well stop her!" Robin called.
"Arinna wait! Come back!" Wally cackled.
"Well, the situation seems only fair." M'gann snorted, flying after the group.
The League watched quietly as the young team chased around their now 5 year old member. Canary covered her mouth to stop a giggle that was attempting to escape.
"All's well that ends well." She said.
"If that is what you could call this." Green Arrow shook his head.
And we are done! Yay!
Sorry for the long delay. I kept trying to post the chapter, but everytime I tried the page wouldn't load. I thought it was Fanfiction for a while but quickly figured out the problem had something to do with my computer. Fixed it though, so I should be fine to post the rest of the chapters.
Wonder what happened after Arinna turned into a child.
I'll leave you all with a challenge if you will accept it. If you write what happened after Arinna was turned into a child, I write you something in return.
Example: If you write something that had 500 words or what not and send it to me, I'll write you 500 words back of anything of your choosing.
Sound like a deal? Don't have to participate if you don't want to.
Next chapter comes out on Halloween!