A/N
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Episode III: Running Wild, Part I
Mount Justice is a somber sight to behold: the current sparring session is fragmented and unorganised, the team operating like they are all individual cogs working for different machines.
Conner' hands are tight and emotional, swinging at anything which comes into his sight, be it a wall, the floor, or an actual opponent. His eyes are wild and feral, looking around uncontrollably, unfocused and unpredictable.
M'gann's worried, her eyes glued to Conner with a sense of desperation and concern. She doesn't notice anything going on around her, caring only about how the clone is stampeding around, creating loud roars as he does. Her concern almost gets her hurt as she accidentally wades into the path of Kid Flash as he zooms around erratically.
Whilst Wally is bright and can be creative, his main strength is also his weakness; being a speedster entails a heightened and energetic state, meaning it's difficult for him to concentrate and slow down, especially for a hormonal teenager who is naturally enthusiastic.
Seperated from the group, Artemis is seated firmly on the ground, her hands gently caressing her bow, making a motion akin to playing a harp or a guitar on the weapon. Though it seems her attention is on the bow, Robin can see her thoughts are elsewhere, wandering around the undoubtedly conflicted centres of her already stubborn mind. Her upbringing definitely made her a lot more cautious and hesitant to expressing her emotions, but since Kyle passed away, he's noticed her shrink back further and further into her shell of feisty remarks.
As for him, despite the headquarters being well-lit by the lights built at the dawn of the Justice League, there's an obvious darkness lurking within the centre of the room- anger, annoyance, and even a hint of regret. The team's teetering on the brink of collapse under its own memories.
Nobody could have predicted the downfall of such a powerful group of heroes wouldn't be the Light or any other evil villain, it would be the loss of a person so close to all of their hearts.
And for all his training, past experience and tutelage under the watchful eye of the Batman, he doesn't have the first idea how to mend the rift between the team. There's no handbook, no instruction manual for leading a team which has no desire to be a team anymore. He could perhaps reign in Wally easily enough, but the others will be a challenge he might not succeed.
For the sake of his friends, he has to try, and at least make a dent in the iron ball within their hearts; show them there's at least one person out there which is standing alongside them.
Whether he believes he's ready or not, that journey begins now with a single step.
Watching his friends do battle with themselves more than each other, his eyes spectate Conner's frenzied swinging and leaping, and how every single time M'gann tells him to calm down he gets even more agitated.
If that's his way of getting out his frustration, Robin muses, maybe, we should let him.
"That's enough for today, guys!" he exclaims, hoping he's loud enough to be heard over Conner's grunts and roars. Luckily, it seems to have worked as they halt and recollect themselves, Wally using his forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Still furious, Conner's breathing is laboured and almost sounds like a bull snorting as it prepares to charge.
Without another word, Robin heads over to the storage locker, ignoring the confused looks thrown his way by the entire team; Wally shoots him an intrigued look, raising an eyebrow.
Bringing a heavy bag out of the locker and into the room, he lays it on the floor and turns his attention and body to M'gann.
"Mind holding it in place?" he asks, and she nods, the confusion and curiosity clear on her green face.
As the bag floats mid-air, Wally taps him on the shoulder.
"Dude, mind telling us what you're doing?" the speedster mumbles, to which Robin smiles.
"Letting it out," he answers before turning to the bag.
With an almighty roar of energy which pierces through the silent room, he begins to pound the bag, pouring into it his frustration, anger and doubt. His throat burns with the constant screaming, but he doesn't care enough to stop.
In fact, it feels exhilarating. Months of pent-up feelings and dark thoughts come rushing out into the bag through his fists, channeling his emotions into the energy to carry on.
Arms turning into stone with the effort of unleashing a flurry, he stops, gulping in the hopes of aiding his sore throat.
The room's full of shocked and awkward expressions as they watched his display, taken aback by the sudden outburst from a usually calm and collected Robin.
Zooming into the storage locker, Wally comes back with another heavy bag, motioning for M'gann to hold it up.
Showing Robin a genuinely entertained smile, Wally mimics Robin's flurry, yelling at the top of his lungs and slugging at the bag with super speed.
Before they knew it, Artemis and M'gann had also joined them in their catharsis, and soon the entire room was filled with the combined roars of four anxiety-ridden superheroes.
Out of the corner of his eye, Robin notices the way Conner is standing, shocked, but also proud at the same time, his eyes gleaming with something dangerously close to warmth; joining them, a massive mess appears after a short while, the bags being torn apart by human and Kryptonian clone alike.
Ten minutes later, they are all lying on the floor of Mount Justice, dozens of pierced and destroyed heavy bags are littered around them, the stuffing covering their bodies as though they had a pillow fight.
Suddenly, a feminine voice begins to laugh from the general direction of the Zeta tube. The voice belongs to none of than the armoured Hawkwoman, her amusement signalling she obviously wasn't expecting to arrive to the sight of five teenagers laid out like this.
Soon, they're all laughing together. Not the sort of laugh coming from a witty joke or a intelligent remark, but one directly from the heart.
They burst out even more and Wally accidentally kicks out and hits Conner's head, the clone scrambling up to chase after the speedster as the ginger realises his mistake and scurries off.
We might just have a shot after all.
Cooling beads of sweat dripping down from the scalp of her tied-up blonde hair, she feels it's cold touch as it caresses down her forehead and drops from the tip of her nose to the ground below.
When Robin suggested they go for a run through Happy Harbour as he attempts to interrogate Batman, she didn't expect it to mean such a long distance. They've pretty much ran around the entire town multiple times with short breaks in between.
Even Conner grimaces with the strain of carrying on with their final lap.
Of course, Wally's used to running massive distances, but just not without his super speed. The ginger's face is bright red and his breathing is equitable to Darth Vader's at this point.
"Almost... there," the speedster mutters to himself, willing his legs onwards.
Artemis has always had a soft spot for Wally; he may be annoying and downright infuriating at times, but his heart is in a good place and he's generally considered the cheerleader of the team. No matter what was going on, him and Kyle could make it work.
Just thinking about the deceased Lantern carves a deeper hole in her heart. She's experienced loss before, in terms of being abandoned and secluded by her family, however, his loss was much more personal.
When she was stubborn, he'd find a way to open her up. When she was tired, he would make an infantile joke to keep her entertained. When she was clouded by doubt, he'd divert her attention by doing something the others usually don't do: talking to her.
It's annoying how she wants to speak with someone, but at the same time, doesn't. In the end, if she speaks about what happened, it sort of turns it into reality.
Although she tends to be realistic and pessimistic, this is the one thing she refuses to accept. Perhaps he isn't dead, and it was all an illusion by the Light to kidnap him. It wouldn't be the first time they had placed a cruel trick on them.
Then again, that means Kyle is out there somewhere, probably locked inside a tight cage and being tormented by all manners of villains and thugs. Still, it makes her feel better to believe he's much more determined to die in such a sudden way.
Kyle may be many things, but completely stupid isn't one of them; maybe, he faked his own death to get the Light of his back, so he could track them down.
If she spoke to them about her theories, they would shrug it off and blame it on mourning, and she definitely wouldn't blame them for it. For the most part, she's noticed they've begun to move on.
"I need... to take a... breather," she calls out to the group, panting, before coming to a halt and bending off trying to regain some oxygen.
"I'll stay with her," Conner states, also stopping and attempting to recover, waving the other two onwards.
"Can't stop... wont stop," Wally jokes, making a wheezing noise as him and M'gann jog off into the distance.
Feeling a little awkward as she sits down and recovers- mainly due to her not having an incredibly social relationship with Conner- she looks over the clone as he stares blankly at the surroundings.
"Uhh.. I just wanted to say sorry," Artemis apologises, turning Conner's attention to her.
Nodding, he responds, "Forget about it."
"No, I shouldn't have yelled," she continues, earning her a slight scowl from Conner.
"Forget about it," he repeats in the exact same indifferent tone.
"So," she commences, mind searching for a way to break the ice, "How've you been holding up?"
Conner's expression slowly turns softer as he takes a seat directly opposite her on the floor, seated with his hands on his knees.
"Angry, frustrated," he answers.
"That's a surprise," she sarcastically states, being tempted to roll her eyes as well, but opts against it. "I thought those were the only two emotions you had."
"That's what none of you get," he mumbles solemnly, head dropping and his eyes plastered on his kneecaps, "I can't help it."
"You might not be able to, but maybe we can; Robin's good with this kind of stuff."
"If it was that easy, why haven't you talked to anyone?" he asks, raising a valid point. "M'gann's constantly asking how you are and you shrug her off."
"Touché," Artemis snorts.
"We have each other back, and we have the Mountain back, but," Conner begins, pausing and contemplating, "nothing feels the same anymore. The rooms feel different, despite everything being the same. I keep on walking by the couch and expecting him to sit there with a stupid grin making jokes about me behind my back when he thinks I'm not listening."
"Does he even wash that shirt?" Conner recalls the Lantern's remarks. "Will he be as ugly as Superman when he grows up?"
Despite the seriousness of Conner's voice, Artemis let's out a chuckle.
"What's funny?" the clone looks at her, a hint of irritation in his eyes.
"Did he really say that?" she incredulously asks.
"Yeah."
"Wow," she smiles, remembering or stupidly annoying he was. "You know... he used to make fun of me too. In fact, he used to make fun out of all of us, especially Wally for being ginger."
Once, she'd be far too moody to acknowledge the true meaning behind Kyle's many jokes and jabs at them. In the end, all he was trying to do is make Young Justice a lot more fun, and a lot less serious. He'd kept them from growing up too fast, and wanted to make the most out of their teenage years.
"I miss him," Conner sighs, taking Artemis aback slightly.
"Didn't think you would," she replies.
"Neither did I. But, whenever he make a joke about me, I actually kind of liked it. I spend all my time trying to be Superman, he used to remind me I am my own person, and not Superman."
"No matter what you think, we like Superboy more than we like Superman," she reassures the clone, giving him a friendly smile. "Besides, I don't think Superman can sit come and have a conversation like this with Batman."
A brief silence envelops the two as Artemis takes a deep breath.
Might as well see what he thinks, Artemis thinks to herself as she formulates the best way to ask the clone his opinion.
"Conner," she starts, gaining his attention, "Do you think there's any possible way... that Kyle... is still alive?"
The clone's face turns into an expression Artemis can only describe as absolute sympathy. For once, Conner seems to be genuinely sorry for the blonde archer, and has taken slight pity on her.
Sympathy tends to annoy her even more than Wally, but this time- coming from the emotionally rigid clone of Superman- she feels like she doesn't have a choice but to listen to what he has to say.
"If he was, where has he been for the past few months?" the clone returns, perhaps trying to assure her he's never coming back in a discreet way.
"You know," he adds on, "I always went to sleep hoping that when I woke up, I'd be as strong or as heroic as Superman. When I woke up, I had to remind myself that the reality is I'm not, and all I can do is try and live up to Superman's name."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Don't try and change the reality; just try and live up to Kyle and his memory- he wouldn't want you to be moping over him instead of being out here making the world a better place."
Considering Conner's usual grumpy mood swings and his tendency to act before he thinks, Artemis is pleasantly surprised by the wisdom and thoughtfulness of Conner's words.
"Thanks," is all she can muster, soaking in the information.
"And Wally would say, that's what friends are for," he smiles, before soon realising what he's said, "Don't tell the idiot I said that."
"My lips are sealed."
"Good."
Running huge distances without using his super speed causes him to realise what the others go through on a regular basis.
Is it really this boring? he mentally complains, picturing a succulent meal awaiting him at the finish line to spur him onwards.
"I find it fun," M'gann enters his mind. "And I don't think there's going to be food waiting for you."
"Oh, I know, it just makes me feel better," he responds, deciding to ignore her intrusion, as it only proves his point.
If she wasn't so bored, she wouldn't have tried to waste the time by entering his head; normally, he'd take a little bit of offence due to the lack of consent, but it is M'gann after all, and she probably has a reason.
"Do you think Batman's going to be mad we let Bane get away?"
"First off, when is Batman ever happy with us? And secondly, technically we didn't let him escape since we couldn't have anticipated a portal appearing out of nowhere," Wally assuages M'gann's undoubted guilt. The poor Martian always ends up taking responsibility for something which isn't her fault- reminds him a lot of Uncle Barry in a way.
"If he isn't, I don't think Robin's going to take it easy on him,"he adds on with some afterthought.
Despite being the only member of the team who knows Robin's true identity, and therefore Batman's, Wally still doesn't know the Batman as well as Dick does. Even then, the acrobat is always affirming he still hasn't scratched the surface of the true grimy nature of the Batman, which needlessly raises his nerves around the Dark Knight.
On the other hand, his mentor- the Flash- is open and fairly easy to talk to. He's gotten very lucky in those regards, to get such a same-minded mentor, who also happens to be everything he aspires to be; Robin doesn't aspire to be akin to the Batman, which creates an interestingly unusual dynamic in Wally's mind.
Though, this does not impede their abilities as a team, considering everyone in the superhero community looks up to them as a pairing worth respecting. They quite literally set the bar for mentor and student efficiency, and no-one else is close to reaching it.
Thinking about it, there may actually come a day he's the mentor, and has his own pupil to teach and cultivate.
"What's up with you and Supes anyway?" Wally interrupts his wandering mind.
"What do you mean?"
"I thought you were getting close, but now you're sort of avoiding each other," he explains, sending a cheeky wink behind him at M'gann, almost tripping up over a small rock. "I'm lucky today," he mumbles.
"Wally!" M'gann mentally yells, grabbing him and halting him abruptly, pointing over to a group of teenagers.
It wouldn't be unusual, apart from the massive vines and plant life enveloping them whole.
"Well, I guess today I'm not so lucky."
A/N
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