Disclaimer: I do not own the existing characters that we know and love of Young Justice, although I do take ownership over the new characters i.e. some of the teammates
A/N: Thank you for your reviews so far, so how is Stem Cell going to save Gotham this time? Because from where I'm sitting, it doesn't look good!
Chapter 08
Stem Cell was lying curled up on the stony excuse for a bed. Nothing has happened in the two hour window that Metallica had given as a head start. She was facing away from the observation window to hide her emotions from the supers passing by.
"No. Enough is enough," she muttered to herself, rolling over and slamming her fists against the glass.
It caught the attention of a young boy wearing a black and white suit. "Be quiet prisoner!" the child barked weakly. His voice clearly indicating he had not yet hit puberty.
"Oh come on kid- grow up! I want to talk to Nightwing and I want to talk to him now. So run along like a good like minion." Stem Cell used a spiteful tone to match the youngster's.
"I'm not a minion, I'm just protégée- my name is Jester and don't you forget it."
"Sorry I've forgotten it already. Who are you again?"
The boy stuck his tongue out at her before pressing some buttons on the panel by her chamber.
"No! Don't you dare!" Stem Cell screeched. "Don't you dare tint out the glass like that one across the way."
The alarms blasted their ears in the whole of the headquarters. Clearly signalling a problem was about to arise.
"Open the door!" she shouted, throwing the cuff chains at the glass. "Open it now or so help me!"
Nightwing appeared beside the boy, grabbing hold of his wrist. "I thought I told you not to talk to the prisoner, Jester." He unlocked the door and ushered Stem Cell out. "You're getting a slim opportunity to prove yourself and your loyalty. What is Metallica planning, Stem Cell?"
"Please, I swear to you that I don't know." Stem Cell pleaded, trying to grab hold of Nightwing. When she noticed he wasn't listening, she stopped walking. "No. I'm not helping you unless you start trusting me."
"Trust you!" Nightwing snapped, turning to stare down at Stem Cell. "We trusted you before and look where it got us! "
"Then let Miss Martian root about in my mind and I promise I will not hide anything or manipulate my thoughts. Put me to sleep if you have to and that way, you'll see my deepest, darkest secrets. I don't care if you find out my likes, dislikes or even crushes. Nightwing, please... I'm begging you. If not for me, then at least for my baby sister... she's innocent in all of this." Stem Cell clasped her hands together, dropping to her knees. "I don't want to lose her."
"Well there isn't time to play mind mapper so your secrets are safe for now. If you try anything-"
"I promise you I won't." Stem Cell rose to her feet. "Because if Metallica is doing what he said he would, he's going to try and release a toxic cloud over Gotham. Maybe not using the original chemical, but a similar one. The chemical he's going to use has the ability to eat human flesh and render cars useless- the safest bet is to stay inside."
"How do you know this?" Nightwing guided her down to the garage where some of the other supers were waiting.
"Metallica is a showman... he is the sort of villain who will tell you the plan before it's even executed. Once he took my transmitter out, he told me everything."
Aqualad frowned like Nightwing was. "So what do you propose we do then?"
Stem Cell paced quickly towards the garage doors. "Nobody is safe outside in the open, so we need to get to a news station first. Tell people to stay inside. The quicker the better."
Nightwing nodded slowly. "Impulse, take Kitty and make sure the message gets across."
The yellow suited speedster nodded, jumping as Kitty pounced onto his back. Once the girl was ready and gripping tightly, Impulse shot off towards the news station.
"Next?" Nightwing prompted.
"Mass execution would never work- if Metallica was serious when he said it would eat the inside of the cars up, the population will be stuck on the bridges out of Gotham."
"Batgirl - you and Raven go to the police department and have them set up barricade on the bridges. I know it doesn't sound like a plan, but you have connections and the people need to be protected."
Stem Cell felt an overwhelming sense of victory in the bag. "Someone needs to be our point of call- coordinate everything. I can do that..." She saw the expressions on the other supers' faces. "Okay- still not trusting me. So we block off the bridges. Have a news broadcast going out- ah, we should have gotten Impulse to go to the radio station. We can use a spare burner phone as an SOS line."
Aqualad was already heading towards a car. "I'll go to the radio tower..."
Starfire and Miss Martian agreed to take on the SOS hotline, knowing that they would be able to coordinate rescue missions and offer assistance.
Starfire squeezed Nightwing's hand as she passed him. "Come back safe."
"I will. You can count on it," Nightwing replied quietly.
Stem Cell felt as though she was missing something as she racked her brain. "The rest of us can disperse throughout the city and keep updating Starfire and Miss Martian." Stem Cell went to go out the door.
Nightwing blocked the way. "Where do you think you're going?"
"If Metallica wants to make the town suffer, then u can't stand by and watch. I'm going to the tower where he's hiding to shut off the machine."
"Superboy and I will come with you."
The other super nodded in agreement, but Stem Cell panicked, spouting out a torrent of ranting.
"Nightwing- you can't. Your bodies can not sustain the effects of the chemical. I can at least heal myself as I go. Finding shelter to heal." Stem Cell let out an exasperated scream. "I could have run instead of staying, but I didn't! Millie is out there, scare and in Metallica's evil clutches. There's not a chance in hell that I'm going to stand by and let Metallica belittle me or my hometown of Gotham. You got that?!"
A chuckle passed Nightwing's lips. "Then go... But Superboy and I choose to come with you."
Stem Cell rolled her eyes and went to open the door.
A green puppy shot out into the garage, barking at the three. It was a large labrador with wispy hairs on top of its head.
"Beast Boy, no. You are not well, you need to stay here..." Stem Cell smiled, dropping to the ground by the dog and wrapping her arms around the dog's neck. "Stay here." She took something from behind Beat Boy's collar and shoved it up the sleeve of her hero suit.
Nightwing, Superboy and Stem Cell left the green dog inside the headquarters and were left with mouths agape at the sight of the city. In the distance, a yellow cloud was beginning to fill the sky and descend onto the town.
"Nightwing- it's Starfire. The broadcasts are working, but there are still people wandering the streets. I've called on any remaining supers to help round them up. Blue Beetle, Static and Logoon Boy are already out there- Batgirl but Wondergirl and Robin are not responding..." Starfire's voice echoed into his ear.
"Keep up the good work - remember you can send Miss Martian out if you need to. Or Beast Boy and Jester if you think they are up to it. You can handle anything and you sure as hell can handle this." Nightwing picked up the pace, shouting to people on the street to get inside and watch the broadcast.
-o-
By the time the cloud was completely over Gotham, the supers had managed to execute the intricate parts of their plan.
Impulse and Kitty had sent out an improvised message to the people about the cloud. Whilst the original broadcast was out, they were struggling to convince the chiefs of the station to put it on repeat.
Across the city, Aqualad was working his charisma on the radio DJ and tapping into as many stations to keep everyone informed. With Starfire's help, the townspeople of Gotham knew exactly who to call and what to do.
The bridge barricades were set up in the nick of time - panicked residents were clustering, but when they listened to the Gordon family, they immediately sought shelter in nearby public buildings. The art gallery, the police station, even the public library.
People who found themselves trapped in cars relied on the quick thinking of Starfire and the sub teams who used the sewer system to navigate the city and get to trapped individuals.
The only problem was the overcrowded hospitals.
Stem Cell knew this was going to be a problem, but until she was beside the generator, she had no choice. Getting to the generator Metallica was using was there top priority.
Superboy and Nightwing were helpful in acquiring access to Metallica's tower. It was much easier than she anticipated it being, which only worries Stem Cell more.
The three burst into the main room, high above Gotham - half expecting to see Metallica standing beside the generator, clapping sarcastically.
"Millie!" Stem Cell skidded across the floor to kneel beside the wooden chair the little girl was tied and gagged to. "Millie, wake up!" She knew exactly what to do, and she ignored the reminder from her parents to not heal their daughter. Dropping the cloth gag, Stem Cell channeled the healing power into Millie and watched the bruise on cheek vanish. "Millie..."
"Carrie?" she whispered as Nightwing untied her. "That man made me remember to tell you that he know you're going to try and stop him- so he is going to find the green alien first. And- and- the generator is in a different place, but in plain sight." The youngster's face contorted with tears and fear.
"Millie- don't cry. You've done amazingly, but I need you to stay right here."
"No!" Millie wailed, grabbing Stem Cell's gloved hand. "Don't leave me. You can't! I'll tell on you."
"It's okay. Superboy will stay with you." Stem Cell kissed her sister goodbye. "I love you Mills - never forget that." She started out of the room before anyone could argue with her.
Hiding in plain sight... she thought about the message as she ran out into the city.
Nightwing was close behind her, she was noticing a change in his complexion. "Keep going! We need to save the city!"
"What about Starfire? She is at your headquarters which is exactly where Metallica and Uppercut are heading."
The impossible choice presented itself to Nightwing. A while passed as they ran I silence, panting heavily. "I'll stay with you."
Stem Cell turned a corner, about to reach a busy intersection. That's when she saw the generator, balanced precariously in the arms of a statue in the middle of the park beside the intersection.
"Oh my god..."
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = A little bit of a shorter chapter, but hopefully it won't be long until the next chapter is written