Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or anything referenced in this story. I only own Kenna and any other character I add to this story!
Just sit back and hold on, but hold on tight
Prepare for the best and the fastest ride
And reach out your hand, and I'll make you mine
Everything, everything's magic
-Everything's Magic-
Angels and Airwaves
I'm going to die. Those were the only words that came to mind. Gravity was pulling her down to her inevitable demise. She attempted to scream but no sound left her throat. If only she could fly, she wouldn't be falling to her death. As her body plummeted, she caught a glimpse of Artemis and Kaldur. The archer had brought out her crossbow and shot a grappling hook into the wall. She had caught Kaldur and the two were no longer falling but clinging to the wall. Leaning her body to the side, Kenna stretched out her hand.
"ARTEMIS!" The screech ripped from her lips. Artemis quickly looked over to see the girl falling with no means up stopping. Her eyes quickly widened and by instinct the older girl shot out her unoccupied hand. Artemis let out a pained grunt when more than one hundred pounds suddenly pulled at her shoulder. Kenna's body swung, as she brought her other hand to grasp Artemis wrist in utter fear. Her normal unexpressive face was riddle in terror. Her eyes pleaded with the older girl to not let her fall.
"McKenna I won't drop you I promise." Artemis spoke firmly, gritting her teeth. Kenna could only nod her head. Her teeth sunk into her bottom lips and a metallic taste of blood seeped onto her tongue. Artemis could feel Kenna's hand shaking causing the girl to look up for any means of escape. As she looked around the cave, she caught a glimpse of the young girl looking down at the boiling pit of lava.
"Kenna!" Her sharp tone caused said girl to snap her attention back up.
"Don't look down okay? Keep your eyes on me." She got nod in response.
"Having trouble maintaining altitude. I'm so hot." Kenna took a sharp intake at the martian's comment. That's right, fire and heat didn't bode well for the martian or the atlantean.
"You certainly are." She then let out the breath she had been holding before she began to glare. She took her chance and snapped her head down to look at the descending gingers.
"WALLY!" Artemis and Kenna bellowed. Wally snapped his head to look up and glare in return at the blondes.
"Hey, inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind." He spit back, as if that justifies everything. Kaldur's voice interrupted and Kenna turned her head to look up at her friend. He didn't look good, much like a fish out of water.
"My physiology and M'gann's are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly." He panted and glanced up to see how far away the hole was. That was going to be a long climb but at least someone had come up with and idea.
"Hello, Megan. We never truly answered the question." Wait what? What question?
"Red Tornado…. sent us to see if and the helmet were safe!" M'gann called between breaths, obviously affected by the heat. Kenna was confused. What did Tornado have to do with this? Then, as if a light bulb went off in her head, Kenna put the pieces together. She closed her eyes and groaned. How could she be that blonde? Of course, they hadn't given their intent on being in the tower. M'gann's words seemed to be the magic phrase, for the boiling pit of magma was covered by a large sheets of metal. Kenna let out a shaky sigh as Artemis repelled them towards the ground. She hesitantly released the archer when her feet touched the ground. She took a deep breath and could feel her legs begin to wobble. Her eyes frantically searched around, trying to settle her worried mind. All of her friends were okay. Alive and well. Her eyes then landed once again on the martian.
M'gann had finally stood to her full height but was still slightly hunched over, trying to catch her breath. She let out a startle sound as the wind was momentarily knocked out of her. A mass of grey and yellow had collided with her and was currently latching onto her as if she was a lifeline. M'gann peered down to see Kenna desperately clinging to her. Kenna had scrunched her eyes closed as she hugged herself to the martian. M'gann let the initial shock fade and she gave a sympathetic smile towards the blonde before wrapping her arms around the short girl. It was obvious that the whole ordeal had shaken the teen. Her normal front had crumbled into one of fear and worry, and so the girl was searching for comfort and reassurance which she knew she could obtain from the green skinned female. M'gann kept one arm around the girl and used the hand of her other arm to gently run through the blondes hair, trying to sooth her trembles. Kenna finally cracked open her eyes but she continued to cling on to her sense of relief. She directed her attention to the team leader, watching as the young man crouched down and spread his fingers out on the platform. Shouldn't that be scorching?
"This platform, it should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch." Cause you know that makes sense… physics and all. Wally walked over and wrapped his around the martian's shoulders, dragging her body closer to his and Kenna's as well. Kenna wanted to smack the ginger. This was his fault. And all because he wanted to impress M'gann, even though she admitted that the green skinned girl was adorable. That still didn't justify it. He also kept making it worse.
"Don't worry, Megalicious. I got you." Kenna could only roll her eyes. Why did he have to be such a dick? Artemis then took quick strides towards the trio, anger flowing off her in waves. She placed her hand on the speedsters chest and pushed him away from the other females. Wally stumbled backwards, trying not to fall due to the blondes anger.
"Enough! Your little "impress Megan at all costs" game nearly got us all barbecued!" She accused. It was almost like Kenna saw the older version of herself at the moment while she looked at the older girl. She was her spirit animal. Wally of course retaliated against the words and spewed his own back.
"When did this become my fault?" Really? Kenna gave M'gann one more squeeze and released the girl from her embrace. She turned her body to give her companions her full attention. Her arms cames up to wrap around her abdomen in an attempt to comfort herself. She had to get a grip, they were no longer in danger and all of her friends had survived with minor scrapes and cuts. Except Superboy. Poor Superboy, he had lost his favorite shoes.
Kenna zoned back in when she heard M'ganns slightly deflated tone. She snapped her head to look at the distressed ginger.
"Wally, you don't believe?" It almost sounded as if the green skinned girl had just found out that Santa wasn't real. Her question made the speedsters facade crumble.
"Fine! Fine! I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie, a major load!" He said with conviction. Kenna could see his point. Magic did seem like a farce but when it came to the world she lived in now, magic seemed possible. She had superpowers for christ sake, magic had to at least be comprehensible. She was vaguely aware of the new presence next to her. Kaldur had taken a couple steps to come and stand next to the blonde.
"Wally, I studied for a year at the conservatory of sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin icons that power my water bearers." Kaldur tried to reason, his words falling on deaf ears. Wally turned his gaze towards the dark skinned boy.
"Dude, you ever hear of bioelectricity? Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magical, too. Today it's all just a bunch of tricks." Kenna quietly sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. They should all just stop trying to convince him. Artemis didn't take his words very seriously as she took a step towards him and brought his attention back to her. The archer placed her hands on her hips, the movement drawing the attention of the youngest teen. Kenna watched as Wally glared at the archers movement.
"You're pretty close-minded For a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers." That was a very interesting point. Wally's glare intensified as he took a step towards the archer. They were chest to chest, trying to ignite each other on fire with their minds.
"That's science. I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment, and here I am. Everything can be explained by science." He bit back. Kenna couldn't deal with the thick cloud of hatred anymore. She took quick steps towards the pair, placing her hands between the two teens. She gently pushed the pair apart to where they wouldn't be in decking position.
"Okay guys, let's just drop the argument. We can't force our opinions and beliefs on each other. So why don't we try to act our age?" Kenna spoke as she shifted her gaze between the two. They both continued to gaze at each other in anger but they held their tongues. Kenna let out a soft breath and dropped her hands. She was the buffer zone for everyone and their quarrels.
"Why don't we test your theory." Kenna raised an eyebrow at the dark skinned boy's words. She quickly turned around when Wally reacted to Kaldur's words and moved to to stop the leader.
" Wait! The back-draft from the lava will roast us alive!" Wally frantically called, eyes wide in fear. His words did nothing, for Kaldur grasped the handle of the panel and lifted it up. Kenna shivered when a gust of wind and snow touch her skin. What? How was this possible? She brought her hands up to vigorously rub her arms. The temperature in the room dropped drastically and Kenna could feel her teeth begin to chatter.
"It's snow." M'gann softly said, placing her hand into the air to catch the cold particles. Kenna glanced to the side to see Artemis with a smug look.
"Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" The archer taunted, slightly moving her face closer to his. Kenna had to resist the urge to smoosh their faces together. Wally glared once more. Kenna could only roll her eyes and grabbed the ginger's hand. They watched one by one as the team jumped through the hole. Kenna's brain began to freak out. They fell vertically through the hole and end up horizontally in a different area. She released Wally's hands and spun in circles, gazing at the frozen wasteland. When she stopped spin, her vision was obstructed. Her expression became puzzled as she grabbed the object on her head. Wally had taken off his outer shirt and had draped on the blondes head. She blinked multiple times before shifting her gaze to the ginger. She didn't say any words but conveyed her question through her eyes. Wally gestured to the fabric, wanting her to put it on. It wasn't much but it would stave of some of the bitter chill. Kenna quickly placed the fabric on, putting her hands under her hair to pull it out from under the collar. She shuttered, enjoying the heat that had been trapped inside due to Wally's body. Her right hand grabbed the left side of the unbuttoned shirt and brought it over; doing the same with the left hand and the right side. The shirt fit like a dress, falling down to her knees. God she was freaking short. She crossed her arms to keep the sides lapped over each other as she looked at Artemis, who had begun to talk.
"Well?" She smirked, placing one hand on her hip. Wally turned his gaze from the younger blonde to the older one.
"Ever hear of string theory? We're in a pocket dimension." Kenna dropped her head towards her chest in defeat. Wally would never see that side of logic. Science could explain everything. Artemis groaned and rolled her eyes, huffing at the gingers words.
"A…. what is that?" M'gann's words snapped everyone back to the task at hand. She had been pointing at Kenna; or better yet, behind Kenna. The young girl swiveled around to see a floating cane. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion as she took a step towards the floating object. Why did this thing look so familiar? Curiosity killed the cat as the blonde reached out her hand to grasp the item. She wasn't the only one. Two other hands grasped the object above her small hand.
"I got it." Artemis and Wally stated at the same time. Kenna looked up at them and decided that she didn't want to get between the two again. It was getting annoying. She went to let her hand drop but she couldn't and her eyes widened in fear. It was as if her fingers were glued to the cane.
"Guy's I can't let go." She shrieked causing the team to draw their attention to the panicking blonde. She tried once more to rip her hand free but she stayed attached to the floating and now glowing object. A yelp escaped the young girl's lips as she was rapidly suspended in air. The cane flew up, getting higher and higher into the night sky. She felt a heat surround her; a pleasant heat that felt as if she was sitting by a fire and the next thing she knew she was lying snuggly between Artemis and Wally as if they were having a sleepover. The cane was laying on her chest and she leaned up as did her other companions. She glanced around to see where they had landed only to have one word come to mind. Stairs. Why were there so many stairs?!
"Well would you look at that." Wally called. Kenna glanced up to see three people. A flamboyant man with a wand, cat boy and who she assumed to be Mr. Nelson. She watched as the older man smiled before his body began to fly towards them. As he landed on the ground, Nelson grasped the cane which untied his bonds and allowed the three teens to drop their hands. He stood up and pointed his cane in front of him.
"In here." He called, an elevator door appearing out of nowhere. Kenna didn't have to be told twice. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed the person closest to her which happened to be Artemis. Both girl shuffled into the elevator followed by Wally and then Mr. Nelson. The door closed and they stood in awkward silence, while cheesy elevator music played in the background. Kenna stood between Wally and Artemis. She had dropped the archer's hand only to grasp onto the back of Artemis' jacket. She wanted to keep track of her friends. Her other hand sought out Wally's. Wally let the young girl hold his hand, knowing that she was in need of some comfort. Things hadn't been going well for the blonde tonight. She went from nearly boiling to death to freezing her ass off. She was warn out and out of any energy.
"I'm Kent Nelson, by the way." Mr. Nelson said, breaking the awkward silence. He looked over his shoulder to gaze at the three teens. He raised an eyebrow and Kenna raised her own in return. What was he staring at? She racked her brain for an answer before it dawned on her. With her being as short as she was and grasping onto both of the older teens, it must seem like they were some kind of family. When realization dawned on her, Kenna quickly dropped all contact between her and her friends. He must think that Artemis and Wally were her parents. It would make some sense, she and Artemis were both blonde. She needed to stop being so touchy feely and act her age. Her immediate drop of contact caused both teens to glance down at her. kenna had crossed her arms and avoided all gazes, directing her own gaze at her shoes. Artemis looked back up to wally and shrugged before shifting her gaze to the older gentlemen.
"I'm Artemis, this is Wally and McKenna." She said gesturing to each person. Nelson had turned around to face the three teens, a smile on his face. Kenna did not want to be rude and so she glanced back up when Artemis introduced her.
"Well, Artemis, we're up against an opponent With tremendous mystic power." He replied. Wally rolled his eyes with a scuff. He crossed his arms over his chest before he spoke.
"Abra Kadabra? Flash proved he uses futuristic technology to simulate magic. Guy's all show and no biz."
"Right you are. Abra is a charlatan, but Klarion, the witchboy, the kid with the cat, he's an actual lord of chaos. The ultimate enemy of a lord of order like Doctor Fate." All Kenna could do was blink as she tried and somewhat failed to understand what was going on. Lord of Chaos? Doctor Fate? This was all going over head and it was making her brain hurt. She leaned her head down in frustration. God she was a horrible superhero. She didn't jack shit about anything that involves the superhero universe.
" Right, you're a lord of order."Wally scuffed in amusement. Mr. Nelson only shook his head.
"Oh, no, not me. I'm just an old coot fate used to put on Until my wife Inza convinced me there could be more to life." He spoke. The change in his tone drew Kenna's attention. His voice gave away his feelings as well as the way he looked up in nostalgia. Her eyes then caught the glimpse of something shiny. Mr. Nelson had brought out an old pocket watch which she assumed had a picture of his wife with in.
"Anyhoo, Klarion's after the helmet. If he gets his sticky little mitts on it, he'll turn the planet into his own personal playground of pandemonium." Mr. Nelson said, drawing attention back to the problem at hand. The elevator dinged and Kenna snapped her gaze to the door. She couldn't feel the elevator stop but she assumed that the contraption was at a stand still for the door opened wide, allowing its occupants to exit. They were back in the room of weird stairs. Seriously they needed a better architect. The only thing different about the area was the large bell at the top of the set of stairs they were standing on. She found herself skipping up the steps, trying to avoid looking over the side of the hazardous stairs. Kenna came to a stop in front of the golden instrument. A loud grunt made the three teens pivot around to see their friends fall through a trap door in the ceiling. Well Kaldur and Superboy had slammed into the ground while M'gann floated through the hole. A groan left both Kaldur and Superboy as they leaned up in a sitting position. Kenna watched as Artemis ran towards the group, coming to a stop next to Kaldur. A smile tugged at her lips, happy that her friends were in perfect health. She took her own steps towards to group and came to a stop next to the stoic clone. He hadn't noticed her presence for he had closed his eyes and cracked his neck to relieve the tension in his body. When he opened his eyes he came face to face with a small hand. Superboy's eyes followed up her arm and met the smiling face of of the young blonde. His expression didn't changed but he still took the small girl's hand. Kenna had to lean back to help pull the heavy clone to his feet.
"Thanks." Was all he said in return as he dropped her hand. Kenna continued to smile.
"I'm glad you guys are okay." She spoke, looking at the black haired boy then peering around him to catch a glimpse of Kaldur and M'gann. Artemis had helped the atlantean to his feet. Kenna received a smile from the other heroes in return. The nice moment was disrupted as a blue beam shot over Wally's head and came in contact with the ground at Kenna's feet. She yelped and stumbled backwards. Her eyes widened, soon realizing that she had been close to the edge and was about to fall off. She stretched her arms out as her body teetered backwards. She could feel gravity pull her down for the third time that evening. A strong grip latched onto her wrist. Superboy had noticed the small girl's lack of body control. With a quick tug, Kenna stumbled forward and fell to her knees, far from the edge. She glanced up to see the rest of the team scatter when more beams made contact with the ground. She then scanned around to see where the threat was coming from. Abra was standing on a weird staircase by himself. Her eyes followed the witch boy as he flew into the bell after Wally and Mr. Nelson. She scrambled out of the way when another beam shot at her. He was really starting to piss her off. She managed to get to her feet. Arrows zoomed above her head towards the magician. He deflected them with ease. Kenna had cartwheel to the side to avoid another shot from the man. Feeling her powers begin to crackle between her fingers, Kenna lifted her hand and fired multiple vortexes towards the man. He may have been able to deflect one or two of her attacks but not all of them… right? She felt her powers dissipate when she realized that he had put up some kind of force field.
Wally, we're in trouble. Tell Kent we need Doctor Fate. M'gann said, the thought ringing in Kenna's head. They were in deep shit. She heard a pained yelp and whipped her head around to see Artemis and M'gann trapped under some form of electrical cage. Her distraction was her downfall. A scream ripped from her throat. She tumbled to the ground, feeling as if her skin was searing off. Much like the rest of the team, Kenna was now trapped under an electrical cage. And just like that the pain subsided. Kenna groaned, leaning up to see a gold symbol appear behind the magician. Abra was stripped of his clothing and wand, leaving the cages to disappear. A satisfied smirk appeared on her lips as she watched Superboy stand up and knock Abra on his ass in one punch. Her legs were a bit wobbly but she managed to clamber to her feet. She dusted her shirt off as she stood to her full height. She walked forward to stand by the knocked out magician. She crossed her arms over her chest and moved her foot closer to nudge the man, wanting to see if he was truly knocked out. She turned her head to look over her shoulder to glance at the team.
"Can we bag this guy and go home? My bed is calling my name from a distance and its complaining about the fact that my face is dug into my pillow."
Kenna let her legs swing back in forth lazily as she sat on the table. She tiredly watched Wally glance at the souvenirs on the shelf before placing the gold helmet next to the cheshire mask. Kenna was surprised that she was still awake; it was 3:45 in the morning. She deduced that it was because Wally and Artemis still had yet to vacate the cave and she didn't want to go to bed until she knew that they were both safely back home. Superboy had gone to bed and Kaldur had zetaed to Atlantis. M'gann had been finishing some things up. Bpth Wally and Kenna's gazes snapped to the door when Artemis began to talk.
"You never said what happened to you when you put on the helmet." Artemis softly asked, leaning against the frame of the doorway. Kenna turned her gaze to Wally, wanting to hear his answer. He hadn't really said anything about what had occurred on top of the tower. All she knew was that Wally had put on the helmet, became Doctor Fate and saved the day. And Mr. Nelson died. Kenna didn't really know how to feel about it. On one hand she had only met the man once but on the other hand when she had met him he had been a very sweet person. She felt sad but also… happy. His life had ended but he was now going to be with his wife. Wally turned to the older blonde to answer her question. Kenna was somewhat surprised that the two had managed not to get at each other's throats in a while. It was an accomplishment for the pair.
"Energy from the thing rewrote my brain's beta waves. I was bioscripted into becoming Doctor Fate for a few minutes, no big." He said nonchalantly, as if it were an everyday occurrence. Kenna could only shake her head in amusement. Wally's comment made Artemis look at him with a puzzled expression. He still didn't believe?
"Wait. You're still claiming there's no such thing as magic?" A she asked. All Wally did was shake his head causing the archer to scoff before speaking once again.
"If that's how you feel, why keep it at all?" She demanded, no longer leaning her body against the frame of the door. Wally shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at his friend who had perched herself on the table. Kenna raised her eyebrow at the ginger, watching as he turned his head to look at the helm once more before turning back to the older blonde.
"Souvenier." Kenna could only snort at the gingers words. Of course. That was the speedsters reasoning. Artemis glared before turned to leave.
"Geek!" She chastised, exiting the room in a huff. Kenna shook her head, a knowing smirk on her lips. They were going to live happily ever after. A sigh blew from her nose, moving her arms to take off Wally's outer shirt. She fished her arms from the sleeves and gave a whistle, causing the ginger to glance over at her. He had been staring at the helmet once more and the sound drew his attention. All of sudden his his vision was obstructed and he brought his hands up to catch the material that had hit him in the face. He glanced down at the shirt before looking back up at the blonde. Kenna had placed her hands on the edge of the table as she leaned forward, a soft smile on her lips.
"Thanks Wall." She said, gaining a grin from the ginger. They both paused when the sound of footsteps pad down the hall. They turned their attention to see M'gann pass the door. Wally watched her disappear before glancing back at the blonde as if asking a question. Kenna gave a soft chuckle before giving him the "go" gesture.
"Go on. Go get her you spazz." She dramatically sighed. Wally grinned once more before chasing after the green skinned girl.
" Hello, Megan. Guess who bought us two tickets to a magic show." He said, vanishing around the corner. Kenna gave a content sigh, hoping off the table. Her eyes moved to peer at the golden mask. She stood there for a minute before exiting the room. She was going to bed and no one was going to stop her.
Author's Note: Hey guys! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and had a very Merry Christmas!:) I hope this chapter met your expectations. I wanted to make sure that Kenna interacted with everyone. I also want to thank you guys so much for reviewing and favoriting. I'm almost up to 50 favorites and it make me so happy, you guy's don't even know! So you know I will be skipping the episode Downtime. Seeing as the team doesn't really interact with each other, I don't really feel like giving you guy's a crappy filler. I realize that I could get a little bit more into Kenna's background but I wanted to save that for a specific episode and moment. So please don't be mad at me! Anyway so the next chapter will be Bereft, which i'm so freaking excited to write about it! I hope you all had a great holiday and are looking forward to the New Year! So don't forget to review and favorite. Remember I'm always here to answer questions. Love you guy's so much!3 :)