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!
This is what made us who we became
Where they know me, not just my name
There's not another place the same
This is where I came from
-City of Ocala-
A Day to Remember
Kenna sighed quietly, resting her elbow on her leg. Her hand propped up her chin, eyes scanning the quad to keep boredom at bay. Allison was sitting on the step beside her, sunshine and happiness radiating off the brunette in waves. Kenna's head jerked back slightly and she gave a small yelp.
"Sorry girly but you have too many tangles in this birdnest. Seriously, did you even attempt to run a brush through it this morning at all?" Lydia asked, stopping her hands and leaning over the top of Kenna's head to see the blondes reaction. Kenna glanced up when the veil of curled fiery locks disrupted her vision. Her face held an a disinterested mixed with annoyed expression. She raised one eyebrow at the ginger before peering back down to stare at the quad.
"Do you think if I would have done my hair this morning if I had the time instead having you do it?" She deadpanned. Lydia huffed and leaned back up to continue to rid her hair of tangles before starting an intricate braid. Earlier this morning, Kenna had been running late. The previous night she had stayed up writing her essay on Romeo and Juliet, a book she truly despised. She had fallen asleep on her desk only minutes after finishing the pages. The next morning she had slept through both of her alarms. She barely had enough time to get dressed and cook a piece of toast let alone brush her hair before scurrying towards the zeta beams. Knowing that she look like a mess, Kenna sought out the fashionista queen to do something with her messy locks. Knowing Lydia, even if Kenna hadn't asked the redhead for help, she would have tied the blonde down to make her look acceptable.
Kenna glanced over at Allison, wondering why the girl was so quiet. With one glance, her answer became clear. The brunette had what Kenna had dubbed as the "tied by the vagina" look. Dreamy eyes, pearly white smile, always giggling. Allison was staring at her phone, taking seconds look at it before her fingers rapidly swept across the screen. She would smile or giggle every couple of seconds. Rinse, repeat, victory. It was obvious that Allison was talking to her boyfriend Tyler.
It had been three and a half weeks since Kenna's first day and since that day she had somehow found herself notched into a little group. There were so many things she learned about her friends in that short amount of time. Allison had moved to Gotham a month and a half ago from Star city. Her dad had been transferred to Gotham and due to her outstanding grades and test scores, was offered a scholarship to come here. She had meet both Lydia and Tyler on her first day. Lydia and her have been best friends ever since. Allison and Tyler began dating about a week after the brunette had moved here. Kenna was surprised at the news. They had fallen deep for only knowing each other for a week. Kenna didn't want to jinx their relationship but they were freshman. Dating when you were fourteen or fifteen seemed pointless, but that didn't mean that Tyler and Allison couldn't be together. In reality, they were disgustingly cute. Tylers world revolved around Allison. He lived and breathed to be with her. Lydia, on the other hand was single and ready to mingle. She had just recently broke up with her last boyfriend Kyle.
Kenna felt a sharp tug of her hair and she yelped, turning around to glare at the redhead. Lydia gave the blonde a smug look and Kenna could faintly hear Allison laugh at her in the background.
"Can I help you?" She snidely asked, pursing her lips in annoyance. Lydia dropped one of her hands from the braid and used it to turn Kenna's head back around to look straight.
"I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't been zoning out and instead listened to your friends like a normal person." Kenna gave mocking look, rolling her eyes.
"What were you saying then Lydia?" She asked, sighing in defeat.
"We were asking how things were going with Dick." Allison pipped up, causing Kenna to raise an eyebrow and glance at the girl.
"Yeah what's going on between you and Grayson?" Lydia added, gently running her fingers through the tangled lock before adding it to the braid. Kenna groaned and rolled her eyes once more.
Richard Grayson or Dick, was the bane of her existence. Since day one, the boy had been practically attached to her hip. Not that she didn't like Dick, he just enjoyed annoying her. Okay that was an understatement, the two teens existed to annoy the living shit out of each other. Their friendship reminded her of her friendship with Robin.
"Nothing is going on between Dick and I." She sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing the vein that was bulging from her forehead.
"Kenna that's bullshit and you know it." Allison spoke, causing the blonde to snap her eyes open and slightly turn her head to glare at the brunette.
"It's the truth! I have known Grayson since middle school. He never pays attention to girls our age, and yet he seems to be spending all the his free time with you. He has girls practically throwing themselves at him. The boy has his own fan club at this school, for God's sake!" That's right, how could she forget that? The fourth day of school, Kenna found a bunch of death threats in her locker. Puzzled, Kenna sought out her friends only to be told that they were from the " Richard Grayson Fanclub". Kenna had looked at Dick at the moment before she began to cackle. The girl was laughing so hard that she couldn't breath. It had been a very interesting day.
"Even though I would never even consider dating him, I have to admit that he is pretty attractive. I would give you my approval if you guys were to date." Lydia said as placed the a hair tie at the end of braid before placing it over her shoulder. Kenna sighed and grabbed her bag which was resting against her leg and hoisted it over her shoulder, standing to her feet. Allison had clambered to her feet and was now giving the female a smug look much like Lydia. Kenna gave both girls an annoyed face, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Okay first of all i'm so glad you guys approve of my non existent love life." She spoke, her voice riddled with sarcasm. Both Lydia and Allison snickered at the blonde. Rolling her eyes once more, Kenna gave both the girls an apathetic look.
"Second of all, Dick is way out of my league. He would never even consider dating me. You guys said so yourself, he constantly has girls thrown at him. Why would he like me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Come on Kenna, he may have girls falling all over him but he only pays attention one and that's you!" Allison pleaded, leaning forward to grab one of Kenna's hands from her crossed arms. Lydia brushed some a lock of long hair behind her ear, the movement catching Kenna's eyes.
"I doubt that he's out of your league. Besides take Allison for example. She's way out of Tyler's league and they're still dating."
"Hey!" Allison called, her tone offended. Kenna let a smirk pull at her lips when the brunette lightly smack Lydia's arm. As her friends began to bicker, something caught her eye. The young girl furrowed her brow in confusion. Her eyes followed the sway of a long blonde ponytail. The girl that the hair belong to was spinning frantically and Kenna got a glimpse of the person's face. Her lavender eyes widened in bewilderment. Momentarily forgetting her friends, Kenna scampered down the stairs and quickly jogged towards the other blonde.
"Artemis?" Said girl spun around to face voice. Kenna watched as the girl visibly paled, the blood draining from her face. Kenna barely had time to register anything before Artemis' hand latched onto her wrist and dragged her to a deserted place. They came to a quiet place with no people before Artemis relinquished her and whipped around to face her.
"What are you doing here?" Artemis asked, eyes shifting around to make sure no one was in hearing distance.
"What i'm doing here? I go here. I have been going here for three weeks! What are you doing here?" Kenna restored, furrowing her brow in confusion. Artemis bit her lip and brought both hand to grab her temples in frustration. The older girl had yet to respond and Kenna watched her have a mental break down. The girl looked visibly sick, a green tint to her already paling skin. Kenna grimaced in remorse, feeling at fault for the older girls mental breakdown. Maybe if she had just ignored the archers presence this wouldn't have happened. Oh who was she kidding, they would have seen each other around school sometimes. This confrontation would have occurred anyway. Still, she needed to fix it. Leaning forward, Kenna placed a tentative hand on the archer's arm causing the other girl to stop in the middle of her breakdown and look up.
"Hey i'm sorry. I didn't mean to find out something that you obviously wanted to keep a secret." Artemis sighed, shifting her eyes to avoid the younger girl.
"It's fine. It's not like this could have been avoided. We would have ran into each other eventually." She sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose. Kenna's hand came up to play with the end of her braid, biting her lips in awkwardness.
"So… I'm assuming it's safe to say you're not Olivers niece." Her question was met with no answer but with a nodding of the head.
"You can't tell Kenna! Not anyone!" Artemis begged, catching the young girl off guard. Kenna jumped at the sudden proclamation. Artemis pleaded with her eyes, searching for confirmation.
"I won't, I promise. But Artemis, no matter how hard you try to keep it secret, we will find out eventually." Her words left a bad taste in her mouth. Kenna hated hypocrites yet here she was, telling some else to not hide their secrets when she was desperately hiding a secret of her own.
"I know, I just don't want you guys to end up hating me." The archers words felt like a punch to the stomach, leaving her feel guilt ridden. It seem as if the two girl were more similar than originally thought. Kenna gulped, contemplating her next moves.
"I will make you a deal." The statement caught the archer off guard. She watched Kenna flinch uncomfortably. Kenna finally found the nerve to look Artemis in the eyes.
"When you tell the team your secret," She paused, sucking in a breath.
"Then I will tell them my mine."
Kenna squeaked, hand flying to her chest. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. She couldn't help but glare at the boy wonder. The asshat just had to pop out of nowhere, like a daisy.
"Artemis, how random that you're in Gotham City instead of Star City where your Uncle Green Arrow lives?" Kenna furrowed her brow, shifting her gaze from young detective to the archer. Artemis glanced at the blonde as if to tell her not to say a word. Kenna watched the archer stumble for words.
"Um she was just telling me about her cousin." The sentence slipped past her lips before she could stop it. Kenna could feel Artemis staring into the side of her head. The archer cleared her throat before answering.
"That's right! I'm, uh, here to see my cousin. She was in the state spelling bee." The lie didn't that plausible to begin with and Artemis couldn't help but put the final nail in their coffin.
"Here. In. Gotham. City." Kenna had to do everything she possibly could to avoid face palming. It was obvious that Robin knew they were lying. A child could detect their lie from a mile away. The young detective was obviously fishing for answers. It was almost like he already knew Artemis' secret. At that very moment Kenna felt like an idiot. Of course he knew! He always knew everything that had to do with missions and the team. The boy probably googled Artemis five minutes after meeting her.
"C-O-O-L. Did she W-I-N?" Oh now he was being a cheeky little bastard.
"N-O" The strain in Artemis' tone set off warning bells. This is wasn't going to end well.
"D-R-A-G." Robin was just asking to get slapped. Kenna was surprised that Artemis was able to hold her annoyance for this long.
"Yeah. Let's just go to the cave." The archer sighed, crossing her arms. Kenna let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.
"Ladies first." Robin said, bowing at the waist and gesturing to the phone booth in a chivalrous manner. Artemis uncrossed her arms and put her hands on her hips. Kenna raised an eyebrow as she watched the interaction between the two teens. They acted much like Robin and Kenna but with a more sibling kind of feel.
"Your town, you go." Robin shrugged at the blondes words, moving to push open the phone box doors. He then pushed them closed to activate the zeta beam.
"Recognized Robin. B-01." Kenna hear the familiar robotic voice before Robin disappeared in a flash of light. Artemis glanced over her shoulder to look at her companion.
"Go ahead." Kenna said, flicking her head towards the box. Artemis nodded, and shifted towards the box. Much like Robin, Artemis was announced and then disappeared. Kenna sighed, her hand coming up to run through her hair. She lifted her hand to push open the doors, fingers meeting the cold glass underneath the out of order sign. The doors squeaked in protest and she moved to fit her body with the contraption. She closed her eyes feeling the familiar tingle run through her body. It felt good the bed home.
"KENNA GET DOWN!" That was the moment when all hell broke loose. Kenna immediately dropped to the floor, a ball of incineration soared over her head, crashing into the wall behind her. Kenna looked up terrified. She inhaled, her lungs burning.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" She cried, eyes frantically taking in her surroundings. The cave was on fire, well the room she was currently in. Smoke and fire took over the room making visibility impossible. Kenna coughed violently, trying to get to her feet. She felt something grab the upper part of her arm, hoisting her to her feet. She continued to cough, unable to breath correctly. Her eye's began to water due to the smoke and thought that came with it. Her home was set ablaze. Who could have done this. Through her watery sight, she could make out a black ball land in front of her.
"Who are we fighting?" Artemis called, releasing the young girl from her grasp. Her hands went to grab her bow before notching an arrow. Much like Robin she began firing projectiles into the clouds of red smoke. Kenna Tried to stop coughing, a hand gripping her throat. She needed to get a grip, her friends need her.
"Don't know, but we're sitting ducks by these tubes." Robin called back, throwing two more projectiles. Kenna only had a second before she ducked once more to avoid the fiery inferno ball. Robin and Artemis jumped to the side to avoid the attack. Kenna propped herself up, eyes staring into smoke. Squinting her eyes, she could make out two figures.
"Head for the exit! " Stumbling to her feet, Kenna ran for the exit. She skidded to a stop when a rushing wall of water poured into the corridor. Robin came to a halt next to her, eyes widening in alarm.
"Or not."
The three teens were swept away by the river, tumbling through the liquid until their backs collided with the wall. A sharp pain radiated through her body and she collapsed to the floor. Water dripped from her soaking hear, and she coughed up the water in her lungs. Hissing in pain, she stood up on wobbling legs. She gritted her teeth, hand coming up to grab her rib. Great the was probably bruised. She couldn't think about that now. The pain began to dull as she ran, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She hopped to the left to avoid a beam of fire. The beam dissipated then began to spiral into a blazing tornado. Chanting to herself to not turn around, Kenna glanced over her shoulder to see the element hot on her heels. Turning her attention back around, she continued to pump her legs. The door in front of them hissed open and the three entered the weight room. Kenna watched Robin bring a hand up to his ear.
"Robin to team. Come in. Aqualad!" He called. Another door his open, trapping them at a dead end. Kenna slide to a stop and frantically looked around. They had ran into the shower room. Currently right now she wasn't a big fan of water, but the showers may be the best stronghold. As an act of impulse, she ran to the wall. Her fingers grabbed two faucets and began to turn them. Water drops beat down on her head she moved to the next shower.
"Robin to Batcave. Override RG4. Cave calling Justice League. H. O. J. slash Watchtower. B-01. Priority red."
Once all the showers were turned on, the three stood in the middle of the room facing the door. Water began to pool around their feet. Kenna moved her fingers at her side, feeling her powers crackle between the small digits.
"Comms are down." Kenna's eyes met his, an uncertain look upon her visage. Her eyes widen in alarm as the ground began to shake below their feet. A horrible groan, much like one you would hear coming from a haunted house sounded through the area. Kenna yelped when a faucet shot off the wall and whizzed in front of her face. The room began to fill rapidly with water, causing the teens to float towards the ceilings. Kenna took a big gulp of air as the water consumed her. Robin saw towards a wall, fishing into his utility belt. His gloved fingers placed a red dick upon the wall and it began to blink. Before she knew it, the current pulled her through the gaping hole and she landed on the ground in another hallway. Great now her other rib was bruised. She spit the liquid out of her mouth, taking generous gulps of air into her lungs.
"I'm… really… starting… to… hate these dickwads." She panted, pushing on her thighs to stand to her feet. She glanced up to look at the hallway. This was the way to the kitchen. The familiar room came into view and they stopped to look around for a second.
"We need to get lost." Robin called, masked eyes scanning the room. She followed his lead, lavender eyes flicking around the room.
"The air vent!" Kenna snapped her gaze to the other blonde, eyed flowing her hand which was pointing to the air vent above the stove.
"Good. Go!" Kenna found a smile breaking out on her mouth as she jogged to the archer's position.
"You are bloody brilliant." She said, giving the older girl a look of appreciation. Artemis gave a ghost of a smile and pulled herself up to sit on the stove. Her long fingers reached above her head and pried the vent cover off. Clambering up into the vent, Kenna took Artemis' place on the stove. Looking over her shoulder, lavender irises searching for her black hair companion. She found him standing by the entrance, fingers skimming over a control panel on the wall.
"What are you…" She began to ask, her eyebrows furrowed but he cut her off already knowing what her question was.
"Downloading cave blueprints. Could come in," He paused mid sentence. The hollow sound of metallic footsteps echoed down the hallway, becoming louder with each step. Robin turned to face the blonde and frantically gestured for her to move.
"Go. GO!" He commanded, running towards her. Taking a second for her mind to catch up with her body, Kenna then hoisted herself into the vent with Robin not very far behind her. Her knees hurt as they thumped against the metal of the vent.
"Go left." Robin called behind her. Artemis turned left and Kenna followed her. A loud rumble sounded shook the vent and almost close to the sound of a jet engine, a stream of fire flowed through the intersection behind them. The flames nearly singed Robin and he let a breath.
"Ugh. Too close." He called, gesturing with his head for Kenna to continue through the vent.
She found herself in another vent. A different one, but a vent nonetheless. Tucking her legs underneath her, she leaned over to watch Robin type on his hologram.
"Locking out Cave's motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us." Robin spoke, breaking the silence. Kenna closed her eyes and let a tired smile pull at her lips. God she loved him at this moment. If it weren't for his technology and hacking know how, the three teens would have died along time ago.
"And I ask again, who is the enemy?" Kenna's eyes slide open, looking over at Robin for an answer to the archer's question.
"Let's find out." Without even glancing down, Robin opened a pouch on his belt and pulled out a batarang. He used it to pry open the casing on a box with a bunch of wires feeding out of it. Placing the projectile back in it's place, he then pulled a USB cord from his glove and plugged it into one of the slots that had been revealed. They soon had a video feed of the caves security cameras. Shuffling closer, Kenna looked over Robin's shoulder to glance at the screen. She could make out the group of their friends, circling around Connor's bike. They were having a casual conversation about everyone's schooling when an explosion erupted on the screen, taking out the camera feed. The screen became fuzzy like when you have no cable access.
"W-what happened?" She question, her expression frazzled and worried.
"Explosion took out the camera." Kenna bit her lip, soon tasting the metallic tang of her blood.
"I'll find another angle." That didn't prove to help. Each angle showed the team fighting water and fire before losing the feed.
"That's it. All four are dead." Kenna could feel her heart stop. Her she felt as if someone was squeezing her heart, tighter and tighter each second. Robin seemed to realize his words and the two girls expressions were connected. His eye widened for a split second.
"The cameras. I-I meant the cameras." He attempted to reassure. He glanced over at Kenna, reaching out a hand to give her clenched fist a squeeze.
"I'm sure the others are OK. Just give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hangar." Artemis leaned back, her back resting on the wall of the cramped shaft. Kenna watched the older girl pull her knees closer to her body. A somber look crossed the archer's face as she quietly ranted.
"Yeah, they're fine. They've all got superpowers. They can handle anything." Kenna hoped to god that the older girl was right. She desperately clung to that hope like a lifeline. They all had to come out of this okay, that's all that matter to her at that moment. Each and every one of them surviving, that was the goal.
"SINCE WHEN HAS RED TORNADO HAD SIBLINGS?!" Kenna yelled vaulting over a table to avoid being seare to medium rare. Growling, she popped up from behind her cover. Eyes turning purple, Kenna brought her hand up to trap the advancing androids in her phase lock.
"Rob, this would be a great time to find this cliche exit!" She called over her shoulder, keeping her focus on the holding the android.
"Obviously!" He called back. This was not the time for back sass. She flicked her wrist, the phase lock imploding and flinging the androids in opposite ways. That would keep them down for long. Kenna spun around and followed the other teens. Robin used his momentum to jump on top of a book case. Artemis jumped and grasp the edge before hauling herself up. Kenna cursed herself for being vertically challenges. Extended her arm, Artemis grabbed onto the young girl's hand and hoisted her up. They followed Robin, leaping from bookcase to bookcase. Robin and Kenna jumped down in between two bookcases. Artemis had yet to hop down, shooting arrows at the advancing androids. Kenna watched the arrow explode when it came in contact with a floating puddle of water. Her eyes widened when the female one of the numerous book cases, causing it to tumble down as if it were a domino. She whipped around to see Robin find the fake book to open the secret passage way. Just as they ran through the opening the last book case fell into the exit. The pitter patter of their feet slapped against the ground. The ran down various hallways before Kenna had to stop to catch her breath. She stopped in the middle of a cross roads. All the adrenaline was wearing off, causing the throbbing of her ribs to return with a vengeance. She hunched over, taking one of her hands to put pressure the rib cage. She felt a hand gently rub up her back. Her eyes could see the green of Artemis' pants. The older blonde was trying to sooth the young girl. Kenna took a sharp breath, closing her eyes to help concentrate on her breathing.
"So now what? Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League. How are we supposed to take down two of him?" Artemis' tone came out desperate. Kenna could sense another presences next to her. Robin had taken a step closer to her before answering.
"They do seem pretty user unfriendly." Kenna snorted, of course he would joke at a time like this.
"Don't joke!" Artemis chastised but was interrupted by a loud intercom. Kenna snapped her eyes open and begrudgingly leaned back up to her full height, hand still gripping her side.
"Attention, Robin. Attention, Artemis. Attention, Siren. You have exactly 10 minutes to surrender, or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished." Kenna's tongue ran across her bottom lip, moistening the chapped skin. Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.
"Seriously? What is this, a James Bond movie?" She snarled in aggravation. Taking a deep breath, Kenna willed herself to not focus on her injuries.
"You good to go?" Robin asked, causing the blonde to look over at him. She nodded her head.
"Lead the way dude." Robin nodded his head, then turning his body to the left. His feet picked up and he sprinted down the hall. Artemis followed after with Kenna only a few strides behind her.
"Eight minutes and forty five seconds." The countdown continued to weigh on Kenna's consciousness. What if they didn't save them in time? Kenna could never live with the herself if her friends were to die. Shaking her head, Kenna put on a determined face. She had to go against her usual philosophy. Now was the time to be optimistic, not cynical and pessimistic. She had to do this for her friends but mostly for herself.
"We can access the hangar from here." Robin said before skidding to a stop. Kenna almost slide into him, his arms coming up to catch her. All three heros watched as water came crashing through the hallway.
"Or not."
"Will you please stop saying that?!" Both blondes begged simultaneously. Kenna let out a grunt as water crushed against her small body. Her hold on Robin was ripped away, her body spinning in the clear liquid. When she was finally up right, Kenna swam towards her friends. Robin had lost his came and pulled out a breathing apparatus. Taking a few needed breaths Robin then handed it to Artemis. Kenna could feel her lungs begin to burn from the lack of oxygen. Artemis brought her hand up and pulled the apparatus from her lips and passed it to the young girl. Kenna gladly took it and placed it between her lips, inhaling the sweet oxygen it provide. A strangled gasp left her lips when something grabbed her ankle and jerked her backwards. The tiny machine fell from her lips and she turned around to see the culprit; water android. Kenna frantically tried to maneuver free. With each jerk of her body, oxygen became slim. In a last attempts of escape, Kenna attempted to pound on the 'face' of the robot. Robin then appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the android in the eye with one of Artemis' disposed arrows. The weight on her leg was relinquished. Kenna's vision began to darken, the lack of oxygen shutting down her brain. She faintly felt something wrap around her waist and she felt a hard chest pressed against her back. Then the feeling of something latching onto her ankle once more appeared. With each passing second, Kenna could sense herself slipping away. Then she touched the surface. Her head hurt like a mother. That intense feeling when you hold your breath for too long. She then opened her eyes to see Wally and Conner trapped in some kind of hardened crystal like substance. They were alive and okay.
"You guys okay?" Robin asked, switching his gaze between Wally and Conner.
"Forget us. Help M'gann!" Kenna shifted her gaze up, eyes widening at the sight. Kaldur and M'gann were trapped in a cage made of fire.
"Aqualad, is she…" Artemis trailed off, her voice cracking at the end of her unfinished question. Kenna shook her head in denial. M'gann couldn't be dead. The world would dim without the happy go luck martian.
"She is unconscious. I fear she, we cannot survive much longer." Kaldur struggled to say, clearly affected by the fire. Kenna saw movement out of her eye, and survival mode kicked in.
"Guy's get down!" She called, diving under the water to avoid the incoming fireball. She had no time to look back and see if Artemis and Robin were okay. Her legs kicked furiously through the water and she saw to the small amount of steps that were submerged under water. Her body emerged from the water as she ran up the stairs. Robin and Artemis emerged not long after here. Kenna pivoted between glancing at the top and bottom of the stairs. Chick android on top and dude android on bottom. They were sitting ducks on this stair case. Artemis notched an arrow to her bow while Robin moved to get his projectiles.
"I'm almost out of arrows." Artemis warned, looking at both Robin and Kenna. Kenna could feel the knot grow tighter in her stomach.
"Distract her!" Kenna didn't have to be told twice. Artemis fired her arrow, it exploding in the android's face. Although the arrow didn't actually do any damage, it worked as a decoy for Kenna's attack. Once the dust settled, a swirling vortex of energy collided with it's chest. The android was knocked back a few inches, soon recovering from energy hit. To them, that attack must feel like a slap on the wrist. The android moved closer to the girls, raising her arms. Anticipating the robot's movements, Kenna prepared herself to dive into the water. Apparently she wasn't the only one with that idea. The wish of the flames shot Kenna reflexes into action. All three heroes dove into the water, missing the collision of the water and fire androids attacks. Kenna swam through liquid, following Robin and Artemis, They came to a stop at the bottom of the lake. Robin found a grate and pried it off of the whole. Artemis swam through followed by Kenna and then Robin. Their bodies weaved through the tiny corridors, until they met the an opening in one of the vent shafts. Painting, the teens pulled themselves out of the water and into another vent shaft. Artemis leaned her back against one side while Robin and Kenna did the same to the other. The area was cramped but it allowed them to take the much needed breaths. Kenna closed her eyes and leaned her head on Robin's shoulder, using one of her arms to hold her up and the other to wrap around his waist. She need this right now, something to hold on to while she recollected herself. She then felt him wrap an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She buried her forehead into the crook of his neck enjoying the comfort he was giving. She felt him bury his nose in her hair, sighing deeply.
"What do we do now?" Artemis asked, the inevitable question left to linger in the air. Robin took one more deep breath of Kenna's sweet smelling shampoo before turning his head to answer the older girl.
"We save them. That's how it works." He responded. That was easier said than done. Artemis looked at the boy he not thought anything through?
"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those robots already took out our four super-powered friends." Artemis spoke, her voice on the edge of yelling. How could he think this was easy?
"You seem distraught." His words seemed to set the archer off. She leaned forward and gave the boy and icy glare.
"Distraught?! M'gann is dying! We have no powers, Kenna's too exhausted to use her powers properly and I'm down to my last arrow. Of course I'm distraught!" She yelled. What the older girl was not expecting was for the boy to yell back.
"Well get traught, or get dead." Robin could feel Kenna flinch at his words. They all didn't want to admit but that seemed to be what life was dishing out at the moment. Robin turned his head to look away from the archer. He tightened his arm around the girl who was clinging to him.
"How can you be so calm?" Artemis asked, her tone broken. Robin's hand began to rub up and down Kenna's arm as he answer, not bothering to look at the older girl.
"Practice. I've been doing this since I was nine." The words fell from his lip with no emotion attached to them. He felt the arm around his waist tighten. Kenna gave him one last squeeze before leaning up to detangle herself from him. She crawled over his lap to make her way through the shaft. Artemis and Robin followed her lead.
"What good is that now? What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?" Artemis question. Kenna nearly face planted when Robin grabbed her foot and give her a light tug. He had only meant to momentarily stop her, not take her balance out from under her. Kenna caught the message and stopped moving, looking over her shoulder at her friends.
"Oh,duh! They're machines, and one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range." He spoke as if some magnificent light bulb had gone off in his head. Kenna furrowed her brow in confusion.
"You mean an EMP?" She pondered. Robin gave the blonde a grin, nodding his head at the assumption.
"Great. Except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt because I know I don't have one in my quiver." Artemis sarcastically quipped, her hand going up to grasp the edge of her quiver to make her point. Robin gave the older girl a tired smirk.
"I'm fresh out. But I'm betting we can make one." Robin replied, tapping the the comms in his ear. Kenna raised an eyebrow to his action. Where the comms back up?
"What do you say, K.F.? Doable?"
"Totally doable." Kenna never been so happy to hear the ginger's voice.
Kenna was absolutely enthralled about the fact that she was friends with a technology nerd and a science geek. Kenna crossed her arms over her chest, eyes followed the careful movement. Robin followed Wally's instructions and gently separated the core small core from the X-ray machine.
"You'll find a small vacuum tube called a vircator that converts high energy pulses. Reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from X-rays to EMPs, with a cascading energy vector directed outward." All Kenna got from that explanation was that it was science geek lingo. Thank Moses that Robin was there to elaborate.
"A ripple effect. Like dropping a stone in a pond." Yeah that definitely made more sense. Robin connected his USB cord to the core and brought up his hologram. His gloved fingers skillfully maneuvered over the screen.
"A stone with 10 to the twelfth power of wattage, yeah." Came Wally's response. The hologram screen disappeared and Robin quickly got to his feet.
"So I'll need to hook it up to the cave main generator." He said out loud, more to himself than anyone. Catching on to the plan, Artemis shifted to look at the black haired boy.
"Which is where?" She asked. Robin never spoke a word but his expression said everything. Kenna groaned, running both hands down her face in frustration. Of course the main generator just happened to be in the room they had escaped from not five minutes ago. The three teens made their way out of the med bay, weaving through the hallways when finally they came to an opening that gave them a nice vantage point to the room. Kenna's eyes found the generator then skimmed across the area to find the androids. Kenna took a couple steps closer to Robin, waiting to take his place.
"Okay. Make with the distraction." Robin leaned to the side and attached a zip line to the wall. He then clipped the line to his belt before gesturing for Kenna to give him the EMP. Nodding, Kenna handed him the core. Kenna's eyes followed his back as he shrunk, getting further away. She could hear Artemis equip her bow and notch and arrow on to the string.
"Hey, red tomato! Who's your girlfriend, Red Onion? " Wally taunted. Kenna shook her head at the insult. I guess it wasn't that bad considering they were machines that didn't understand humor or insults.
"Yeah. And by the way, worst death trap ever. We can escape any time we want." Connor added.
"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two." Wally continued to insult. Blocking out the mindless chatter. Kenna glanced over at Robin. He had the core in place but something must have been wrong. Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to snap her head towards the androids. The male rose his arm, pointing it in Robin's direction. Artemis seemed to notice it to.
"ROBIN LOOK OUT!" They frantically called and Kenna watched the large waves consume her best friend. She turned back to look at the androids but step to the side to avoid the massive ball of fire sailing towards the females. Kenna's eyes widened as she stumbled back and caught Artemis terrified face as she fell backwards, gravity helping her plummet to the water.
"MCKENNA!" That was the last she heard before she was swallowed into the depths of the water. Her worlds soon went black.
"Kenna? Please be alive. Mckenna?" The soft yet worried voice was enough to bring the girl back from the other side. She groaned, shaking her body before slowly opening her eyes. It took a second for her double vision to re-correct itself. Soon she was able to make out the worried yet relieved expression of the blonde archer. Placing a hand on her forehead, Kenna was able to lean up. What she hadn't expected was for the older blonde to practically tackle her. Kenna, now fully aware and awake, blinked her eyes in confusion. She hadn't expected Artemis to be a touchy person.
"I thought you were dead." It came out as a whisper and Artemis hugged the girl tighter. Things then began to make sense. Smiling softly, Kenna hugged the older girl in return. Artemis slowly let the girl go, standing to her feet. She then lent her hand to pull the young girl to her feet. Kenna stumbled, the blood rushing to her head. Her head pounded and she didn't hear the soft footsteps walking her way. Robin took the girl's arms and placed it over his shoulder.
"Come on Blondie, standing on your feet right now is not going to help your condition." Kenna nodded tiredly, the two teens using each other for support. They took a few steps towards the rest of their team to hear the end of Artemis and Wally's argument.
"It's not working, genius. EMP shuts down all machines, remember?" She snidely replied to the gingers complaint.
"All machines present at the time." Kenna slightly groaned. She knew that the voice was Red Tornado and normally she liked him but currently, robots and here were not on good terms. Robin was able to turn them to face the leaguer.
"What has occurred?" The android asked. At this point Kenna zoned out. She leaned more of her body weight on the boy wonder. Her head was pounding so hard that it had it's own pulse. She just wanted nothing more than to sleep. She could feel her brain begin to go fuzzy and before she knew it her body collapsed to the ground. And unaware to her knowledge so did the rest of the team.
Her body was jostled, and a voice that sounded painfully familiar called her name. She was able to crack open eye. The lights of the blinding and she furrowed her brow in uncomfortableness.
"Kenna sweetie you have to wake up." The voice became clearer and soon she was able to identify the person it belonged to; Dinah. A groan slipped past her lips and she tentatively opened her eyes. The lavender irises focused on the bright blue orbs of her mother figure. A smile graced the older woman's lips and she help Kenna lean up. Dinah's motherly instincts kicked in and she cradle the young girl to her chest. Kenna felt like she had been hit by a truck. When her brain began to catch up with her body, Kenna glanced around to look at all her friends. M'gann rested on the floor next to her uncle, Wally and Conner were being freed by Flash and and Captain Atom, while Robin and Kaldur were conversing with their mentors. What had happened? She could remember blacking out in the water, waking up to Artemis, Red Tornado showing up and then nothing. She felt broken, wishing she could recall her memories more sufficiently.
"What happened here?" Superman asked. Kenna couldn't help but growl. Really? That's what you ask when you find all of your protege's passed out and the cave flooded or burned to a crisp?! Kenna wanted to give a snarky remark but Artemis beat her to it.
"What happened?! The Reds happened! Tornado and his.." She screeched, but paused, peering around in confusion.
"Wait, where are they?" Robin turned around to answer the archer.
"Gone. All three of them. Just gone."
Author's Note: Hey guy's! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Man, when I had started typing it I never thought it would end up being this long. Any way, I really loved this episode, mainly because it revolved around my two favorite characters in the entire show; Artemis and Robin. I hope you liked Kenna's interaction with both of them, especially the stuff about Dick Grayson at the beginning. I find it funny, I always imagined Dick having some kind of fan club at school. Because let's be honest, he's a child prodigy, grows up to be really freaking attractive and is Bruce Wayne's adoptive son. Girl's would have been all over him just for his money alone. Okay last thing, so I have a request of you guys. I would really appreciate it you guys could review more and give me feedback. I just want to know how you guy's are feeling about how the story is progressing so far. I don't even care if you review to tell me that I suck at writing and shouldn't ever write again. I would really appreciate your thoughts and questions so please help a girl out! I love you all and you know what to do.:)