Summary: YJ S1 Ep 16
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
The team huddled around the monitor room of the cave, watching as alien ships descended onto the planet. Superman and the space-based heroes were the first to fall. Dick watched as Connor blinked at the sight, not showing any physical discomfort at his genetic template dying. However, Megan gasped and flinched a bit at seeing her uncle get disintegrated. The next to fall were the ground forces. Wally and Artemis looked away for a second as their respective mentors fell to the invaders, and Kaldur tried his best to keep a stoic demeanor as he saw his king die. Last to go were the sky defenses. The whole team watched as Tornado and Wonder Woman fell, and Dick looked on as Bruce was shot out of the Batwing and sent plummeting to his death. He, like Kaldur, had no reaction to this. This was a simulation and everyone knew it wasn't real. He and Kaldur had also been trained to maintain composure no matter the situation. Although he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little distraught over watching Bruce die. It was kind of like reliving his parent's fall, only this was somehow worse. Bruce had become closer to him than anyone else, even closer than he was with his own parents, and so even if he knew it wasn't real, it hurt a bit. He just pushed it to the side to carry on with the task at hand. Just like Batman would.
"We are the last line of defense."
"So what're we waiting for, a theme song?"
"A strategy. We need a proper way to repel the invaders, as it has been made tragically clear that a head-on assault will do nothing." They pulled up a holo-map with readings to indicate where every enemy ship was.
"This one get lost?" One stray ship was up at the North Pole. Dick's eyes went wide as he saw what the location was.
"That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"
"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?!" This wasn't news to any of them except for Connor, for some odd reason, and Megan tried to comfort him.
"It's power source musta been what brought the invaders here."
"Must be some fortress."
"Connor-"
"No, it's fine. I guess there's a lot about him I'll never know."
"We will travel to the fortress and investigate. Perhaps, with this lone ship, we can find some way to defeat the invaders." The team took off to the fortress, dressed in polar stealth gear. Once they arrived, they noticed that the ship had been knocked down. Probably from the space battle. Alright then, let's see what we've got. The team got to work dismounting the particle cannon and integrating it into the Bio-ship. With the enemy's weapons, they stood a better chance at winning. However, mid-integration, they were attacked by more ships. Kaldur ordered for everyone to get inside to make their escape, but one of the ships got a stray shot off, killing Artemis. Dick gasped at this, and Megan screamed out in shock. Suddenly, the whole team felt a strange new feeling in their minds. A feeling that was telling them that this was real. Dick and the others forgot that they were in a simulation, and Robin's breath started to hitch a bit as he realized Artemis had just died. Kaldur ordered everyone inside, and they took off at top speed.
The flight back to the Hall of Justice was quiet. Wally was beyond angry at Artemis's death, and Kaldur and Connor sat there, deep in thought. Megan was obviously crying, and Dick was trying his best to maintain composure. But it was not going well. Not only had he just seen his friend die, but the realization that Bruce, his father and the only real family he had left other than Alfred, was gone had finally hit him. The only thing keeping him from breaking down was his training to keep on task and push emotions to the side, as they would only cloud judgement. Just like Batman would.
The team arrived at the Hall of Justice, and Kaldur addressed the army leader with possible future steps to take. Dick visibly flinched when Kaldur introduced them as the Justice League. We're not the League. The League is gone. Bruce is gone. Wally, Connor, and M'gann went inside to see the broken down statues of the League, and Connor tried to comfort his girlfriend as she broke down. Dick looked on at the destroyed mantle of the Batman, and he started to turn away as tears pricked in his eyes. He did not let them fall, though. He needed to keep a hold of his emotions and maintain focus on the mission. Just like Batman would. There would be time to contact Alfred about this after the invasion was gone. Wally walked up to Dick, knowing what he was feeling at the time.
"Hey, bro. Are...you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Really? Y'know I lost him too. We can talk, if that's what you-"
"No, we need to focus on the mission. There will be time to mourn when all this is over." Wally looked in shock as Dick walked away. He had never seen him so...emotionless. It reminded him of Batman during mission briefings or actual missions. The team turned back to find M'gann moving the Martian Manhunter statue out of the way to reveal...J'onn? What?! How is he alive? Is Bruce- Kaldur rushed up
-Quick, read his mind!-
-I-it's him. I can confirm it!- Megan embraced her uncle, and Dick couldn't help but feel a sting of jealousy as he saw this.
"How are you alive? We saw you, Superman, and the League get-"
"I...am unclear. My mind is foggy. I was certain I needed to tell you something."
Wally grinned and grabbed Dick, zooming off to the cannon attached to the Bio-ship. "Check it for Zeta radiation!"
"What?" Dick did as he was asked, and noticed that it did contain traces of Zeta energy. But the readings were not nearly as high level as the tubes they used to teleport.
-It has some traces of Zeta energy, but-
-I knew it! This proves that they are all still alive. Manhunter probably just density shifted or something when the beam hit him so he ended up here instead of wherever it was supposed to take them! This means Artemis and Barry are alive!- Before Dick could respond, more ships arrived to bombard them with blasts. He and Wally ran back inside as they looked for Manhunter.
"Can you grant us access to the Zeta tubes to get to the cave?"
"I can only override one at a time."
"Send the soldiers first."
"Belay that! You six are assets we cannot afford to lose!" Dick and the others reluctantly agreed as they each went in one at a time. Dick followed Wally in, but as the Zeta tubes shut down, Kaldur was nowhere to be seen. Megan started to cry again as Dick realized what this meant. No time for that now. Stick to the mission. Just like Batman would.
Dick took charge, formulating an attack plan quickly. "Connor is the most likely to be seen as a threat, meaning the aliens will most quickly deploy, allowing our entrance in."
"NO! He's trying to send you on a suicide mission!" Dick frowned. He didn't want to sacrifice Connor like that, but this was war, and the best tactical strategy involved Superboy being the distraction. He only hoped Megan wouldn't hate him for it. Connor talked Megan into going along with it, and Wally was hell-set on freeing the supposed prisoners, mainly Barry and Artemis. Dick knew there were no prisoners. The Zeta radiation wasn't concentrated enough to cause teleportation. But he couldn't tell Wally that right before the big mission and risk him going on a reckless rampage. It didn't feel right using his teammates like this and lying to them, but the mission came first. He had to remember that. Just like Batman would.
Dick deployed Connor and Bio-ship to make the distraction while Manhunter and Megan carried him and Wally up to the ship. They made their way inside, when M'gann suddenly fell back, tears flowing down her face, only to be caught by Wally.
-He-he's gone- Dick felt extremely guilty. What did I do?! I got Connor killed! Kaldur would have never let that happen!
-Don't worry, it's just a teleporting blast. We'll free him and Bio-ship along with Artemis, and Barry, and Kaldur, and everyone!-
-No, my mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no teleportation. Our mission holds no purpose- Dick looked down as Wally started to go on a rampage.
-No! You're wrong! The Zeta beam radiation proves she-
-STOP IT! I've been scanning for League signals ever since we got here. They're gone- Dick held back his own tears as he said this. This was him accepting that Bruce was truly dead. -But the mission still holds purpose. If we destroy the mothership, it'll send the aliens packing. Let's go- Dick walked off to the direction of the core. J'onn looked in awe at the boy's determination as he headed off to complete their mission with no doubt in his mind. Just like Batman would. He and the others followed Robin into the core room. The martians held off the security as Dick and Wally made their way to the power core. He took off the two spare utility belts he had brought with him and planted them on the core. Wally's eyes went wide as he realized what Dick was doing and why he brought the belts.
-You knew. You knew all along why we were really here!- It wasn't an accusation, and Wally's voice carried no venom or anger in it. Just realization. Dick was grateful for that. He couldn't face his best friend and have him return hatred at this time. It was hard enough doing this as it was.
-Explosives primed. 2 minutes- The group made their way back to the exit, but the security was too heavy. Dick checked his holo-computer. -16 seconds. Manhunter, take Miss Martian and go, now-
-No! We won't leave you!-
-That's an order! We'll follow you as soon as we blow these doors- Everyone knew that was a lie, but J'onn phased himself and M'gann out of the ship before she could protest further. Dick turned to his best friend, a sad smile on both their faces. They knew exactly what was going to happen here. The two of them clapped their hands together as they accepted their death, satisfied that they would at least go out together, as friends.
Dick snapped awake along with the rest of the team to find himself in the cave's training room. Am I dead? Why does heaven look like the cave? He looked around to see that everyone was in civilian clothing, and they were all lying on beds. Bruce approached him, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. Bruce?! He hugged his mentor with tears in his eyes. They quickly broke apart, only to see the others just as devastated as Dick was.
"What happened?"
"Try to remember." Dick thought back hard, and began to pick up pieces of what had happened before everything.
"This was a training exercise. You all knew this going in. Manhunter psychically linked all of you up in a fake reality that only existed in your minds. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise."
"The simulation was designed to progressively get worse so that we could see how you all fare against the growing challenges. That is why you all barely reacted when watching your mentors get killed before your very eyes. But all that changed when Artemis died. Though Miss Martian knew it was a mirage, her subconsciousness truly believed Artemis to have perished, and she took control of the simulation, making you all believe, too." Everyone looked to Megan. Damn...so it was all fake?
"I-I'm so sorry!" Megan was on the brink of tears, and Connor was getting angrier.
"This isn't her fault! Why didn't you stop the exercise?"
"We tried, but M'gann had a death grip over the simulation. Even Artemis, who should have awakened on her death, was so convinced she had passed, that she slipped into a coma. I realized I was going to have to wrestle back control over the simulation before you all were lost, but upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by the collective emotion, and had lost my purpose. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped clear my mind, but it wasn't until the mothership fell, and Robin and Kid Flash were silenced, did I truly remember my mission. To shock M'gann out of the scenario. I am so sorry. I had no idea a training simulation could be so...damaging." Manhunter started to collapse as Batman and Tornado helped him up. Shazam and Connor went over to check on Megan, who had broken down into tears. Wally stared at Artemis, who was sitting there in a mixture of shock and confusion over what had happened following her death. Kaldur was doing his best to stay traught but was failing miserably. And Dick looked at his hands, horrified at what he had done. He had sent his team to their deaths without a second thought, all for the sake of some mission that wasn't even real. Just like Batman would.
Manhunter looked to Dick, and then to Bruce. "Go and check on him. I will be fine. Your son needs you right now." Bruce nodded before leaving him in Tornado's care. He walked over to Dick, placing a hand on his shoulder. Dick made a beeline for the Zeta tubes. He needed a safe place to break down. Bruce followed him closely, and stayed with him as he fell to his knees and let his bottled up feelings finally come out.
Alright, this one was more summary-heavy, but I tried to cram Dick's thoughts into it, showing how he's thinking more like Batman. Next chapter will be ep 17, which is just Dick realizing what he's done and having bonding moments with the team. The chapter after that is bonding with a few Leaguers. Then comes ep 18 from Dick's POV, which is the Zatanna/Artemis Halloween episode. It'll be a shorter one since Dick's side of it was just the mole discussion with Kaldur, Bruce, and Roy, but I'll try to throw in some Chalant at the end of it. Anyways, I'll try to post the next chapter by today, but no promises cuz I have to get some other work done. Feel free to review and comment thoughts and suggestions. Next chapter up soon.