From the original version of "Derailment"; I actually wrote this first before everything else as I began to develop the story. Parts will sound familiar, but overall, there is a lot that is different in this first attempt; not just Kaldur's inclusion. I obviously expanded on this as well . . . This is just one chapter, but in the published story several of its scenes were split between three chapters (Ch. 6, 7, and 8). This was just the initial idea. Believe it or not, I wrote this in one sitting. As with the other entries in this collection, it hasn't been edited, so forgive any mistakes. I stopped bothering improving it when I decided to change things up.

SPOILER ALERT: I've taken several bits and pieces and ideas from this chapter to use in the published story, "Derailment". You might want to wait until you've read "Derailment" to enjoy this entry.

Derailment - "Avalanche"

Warnings: Maybe Language (I can't remember), and Intense Peril . . . Rating "T"


The rumble was growing louder. Louder even than the train. That was saying something directly after experiencing an explosion in a confined space.

"What is that?" Robin asked as he dodged three shuriken. They hit the wall where he was standing seconds after he flipped away.

"What is what?" Artemis used her bow to smack away Sportsmaster's staff, and dropped down to attempt to kick his legs out from under him.

Her father jumped up onto a crate. There wasn't much room to maneuver on the train car. He brought the staff down, but Artemis was no longer there. Impressive, he thought to himself before a whip of water flew past his face and wrapped itself around his staff. She's improved.

"That rumbling," Robin called out.

Aqualad yanked the staff from Sportsmaster's hands, and Superboy leapt past him in an effort to reach the scientist that the two were transporting. The man didn't look nearly so confident this time. He huddled in the corner away from the fighting like a rat. But like a rat that is cornered, he had teeth.

The scientist had his hands in a smaller crate, and when Superboy landed in front of him, the cowering man pulled out a silver plated rifle.

"Stand back," he demanded.

"You know you can't hurt me with that," Superboy smirked at him.

"It won't hurt you, but it will allow you to be hurt by others," the scientist snapped back, his bravado returning now that he had a weapon in his hand.

"Quit talking and just shoot him," Sportsmaster yelled back at him as he now grappled with Aqualad.

The words made Superboy frown and he reached out to grasp the weapon just as the man pulled the trigger. A red beam of light emerged and struck Superboy in his side, just below his ribcage. He gasped and fell back.

"Wh-What did you do to me?"

"How does it feel to be vulnerable for a change," the scientist laughed. "I think this was what you were after," he announced smirking and waving the rifle around. "The Red Sun Radiation Laser Rifle will strip you or Superman of your powers for the next seventy-two hours!"

"Shut up, you fool," Sportsmaster growled, shoving Aqualad away.

"What is that rumbling," Cheshire asked.

It had grown even louder in the last two minutes; enough so that this time the fighting stopped as everyone now listened. The ominous roaring was punctuated by loud crashing noises. Everyone looked at one another with growing concern.

Artemis was nearest the end of the car that had been blasted away. She shot an arrow into the floor of the car and used the rope to brace herself as she peered around the shredded edges of the vehicle. The car was slowing down now that it was no longer attached to the train. Her eyes widened and her face paled.

"Uh, guys," she squeaked. "I think we have a problem."

"Yeah, we can see it," Robin called from his perch atop of a stack of crates. "Bridge coming up!" They would likely roll to a stop somewhere in the middle of that thing. From where they were, he couldn't see the bottom of the gorge yet.

"Not that," she yelled, pulling back. "That explosion set off an avalanche!"

"What?" Cheshire and Aqualad yelped at the same time.

"Brace yourselves," Artemis yelled as she ran away from the open end of the car.

Several hundred tons of snow slammed into the side of the car at that moment. One side of the car dented and collapsed under the extreme weight, not built to withstand the punishment. Suddenly a trunk of a tree split the metal and fiberglass and shoved through the middle of the car; splitting it. The car bent and ripped; snow, rocks and smaller branches plowed its way into the small space as the people inside were flung in all directions and smashed into walls and crates.

Without thinking, Superboy flung himself in front of Robin in an effort to protect the younger boy from the thick branches that were threatening to spear any in their path. One of the smaller branches tore through his jeans and into his thigh.

Conner screamed in shock and pain. What the hell! He grasped the branch, but it refused to budge. Conner was pinned to the side of the car; effectively buried beneath the pine boughs.

The car groaned and shrieked as it was flung onto its side. Luckily it was only the outer edge of the avalanche that hit them. The car folded over on the tracks but didn't leave them completely. The force of the snow shoved them toward the bridge with greater speed and if anyone was looking through the open end, they would have saw the green and browns of the Rocky Mountains give way suddenly to the open air of the wide gorge.

The car screeched slowly to a halt; balance precariously on the train bridge sideways; blocking the tracks in both directions. The train itself had long since disappeared across the bridge and into the tunnel half hidden by the forest beyond. The rumbling and crashing sounded distant from where they had come to rest. Eventually the sounds of the avalanche died away and there was silence, but for the howling of the wind.


"I-Is everybody okay?" Aqualad's voice cut through the sound of the howling wind.

With the exception of him and Superboy, everyone in the car was human. Technically, he was as well, but his Atlantian heritage gave him strength and speed over and above that of the average human. As a result, Aqualad was a lot harder to kill, and wasn't easy to injure.

"Artemis?" Cheshire whispered. She had been closer to her sister when the avalanche struck.

Artemis groaned and pushed herself up. Blood ran down her arm from a deep gouge. A sharp pain in her side caused her to gasp, and she slapped a hand to the area. Looking down, she saw the beginnings of some bruising, but no other blood was present.

Internal bleeding? God, she hoped not. That was all she needed. They were at least forty miles from the closest town, maybe more.

"You okay?" Cheshire whispered.

"I'm not sure," Artemis admitted. "I think so. You?"

"Been better," she said, dragging herself out from beneath the tree trunk that had bisected the car. It had just missed her when it had crashed through. "But been worse, too."

Sportsmaster shoved at the broken wood that covered him. He grunted as he stood up; holding his arm close to his side. It appeared that more than the train car had been broken. He kicked aside a crate and used his good arm to drag the scientist to his feet.

"Get the rifle," he ordered.

Blood dripped down the side of the scientist's face as he picked up the rifle with shaking hands. He looked as though he would pass out at any moment. Apparently Sportsmaster thought so, too.

"Don't pass out," he growled at the swaying man. "Jade, time to go."

Pulling out his hammer, a heavy steel ball on a chain, Sportsmaster used it one-handed to enlarge one of the holes in the side up the train car. He shoved the scientist up and out of the side of the car and followed him up.

"Hurry up," he yelled down to Cheshire. "I've already radioed the helicopter. A storm's blowing in. If you aren't up here, we're leaving without you!"

As if to make his point, the wind gusted strongly; making the entire car squeal and quake where it sat precariously on the bridge. Jade helped to free Artemis, and then held out her hand.

"Come with us," she said. "You'll die out here."

Artemis glanced around. Aqualad was yanking crates off of Robin. Where was Superboy?

"You go on ahead," she told her sister. "I can't leave them behind."

"You're crazy. The forecast predicted a blizzard is moving into this area. You're fifty miles or more from the nearest town," Jade replied angrily.

"I guess we'll be walking then," Artemis snapped sarcastically. "Better get going. I can hear your ride."

"Stubborn," Jade grumbled.

"It comes naturally," Artemis snarked.

Jade leapt upward, catching the jagged edge of the hole and dragged herself through it. "Suit yourself, little sister."

Artemis climbed over the tree trunk to help Aqualad. "Is he hurt? Where's Conner?"

"I'm okay," Robin answered her. "Conner's pinned over there." He pointed.

She could just see the clone's legs peeking out from under several heavy pine branches. Her eyes widened. "Is that . . . blood?"

Kaldur spun around. "Blood? Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not sure," she snapped, worriedly. "He's supposed to be invulnerable! How could that be blood?"

Robin staggered a moment and then, seeming to find his equilibrium, climbed over a couple of unbroken crates. "Conner! You okay?" Pushing back a tree limb, Robin suddenly froze. "Uh oh."

"What's uh oh?" Kaldur climbed right behind him.

"I think that is Superboy's blood," Robin said, staring.

"What? But how," Artemis squeaked.

Conner opened his eyes and grimaced in pain. "Ow," he complained. "The scientist shot me with something he called a Red Sun Laser. He said it would strip me of my powers."

Robin kneeled down beside him to survey Superboy's injury. "Looks like it works," he muttered, digging in his belt for medical supplies. "Aqualad, I'm going to need your help here."

Kaldur glanced up at the hole in the side of the car where Sportsmaster, Cheshire, and the scientist disappeared through. "Artemis," he called. "I saw Cheshire talking to you. What did she say?"

"She said there was a blizzard coming. She and Sportsmaster are waiting for a helicopter to airlift them out of here before the worst of it sets in," she told him, looking up as well.

"It would appear that the laser is the merchandise," he surmised.

"It could be the scientist as well," she remarked. "He invented the thing apparently."

"We need to stop them," Kaldur told her. "We need to try to regain the scientist and the laser or, at the very least, one of them. Can you distract them while I free Superboy?"

She sighed. "Sure, but I'm going to need backup pretty quick."

"I will be right behind you," he promised. Kaldur was already bending to inspect the limb that had impaled his teammate's leg. "This is going to hurt," he warned the Kryptonian.

Superboy grunted. "What's a little pain amongst friends," he tried to joke. It fell flat.

Robin winced. "You need to work on your delivery," he suggested as he moved out of the way.


Artemis winced in sympathy at the roar of pain that followed her out of the train car. She looked over to see her father talking to someone on a communicator device. The wind was far worse out here; whipping her hair across her face. Snow flurries had already begun.

"You can leave, but you can't take the rifle or the scientist," she called out. This was so not going to work.

"Your idea of a joke is sadly lacking, baby girl," Sportsmaster said as he closed his communicator; slipping the device back into one of his pockets.

"It's no joke," Artemis insisted. She pulled out her bow and notched an arrow. "Go! Start walking, but you're leaving the scientist and that weapon behind."

Jade stepped in front of the scientist. "The scientist and his weapon were kind of the whole point of this."

A whistle sounded in the distance. Artemis frowned as she looked beyond her family. Jade turned as well, glancing behind her.

"What was that?" Artemis asked, although she didn't think she really wanted to know.

"Sounded like a train whistle," her father commented.

"I know what it sounded like, but I thought the train kept going after you disconnected the car," she snapped.

Jade looked from Sportsmaster back to Artemis. "It did."

The girls' father started laughing. "It's a new train," he said, lightly. "Headed in the opposite direction."

Jade frowned now. "But the opposite direction means it is coming toward us."

"Exactly," Sportsmaster agreed.

"But the car is balanced across both sets of tracks," she exclaimed.

"What?" Artemis looked down for the first time.

Her sister was right. Their train car was bent, almost broken in half, and lay across one set of tracks, but a portion of it extended across the tracks that ran parallel to theirs. She glanced behind her and saw that nearly a third of the car also jutted out over the side of the bridge, into open air!

"Oh no!" It didn't take a genius to see that when the other train barreled into the end of their car, it would sent it plummeting into the gorge below.

The snow was picking up. Visibility was getting worse. Would the engineer see them in time to stop?

It was still daylight, but with the storm approaching, it was more like twilight. Dark enough that they could see a light approaching in the distance. It was too high to be the oncoming train, however.

Dad's ride, Artemis determined.

"You can still come with us," Jade told her.

Artemis glanced down in the dark interior of the car. "I can't leave my friends."

"They'd leave you in a heartbeat, baby girl," Sportsmaster replied.

Artemis frowned. "No! They wouldn't. And neither will I!"

"Don't be a fool! You'll die out here!" Jade repeated her earlier warning.

"Not likely," she told her, but her bravado was wearing thin. Oh God, Artemis thought. We are so going to die out here . . .


"You guys need to get up here in a hurry," Artemis called below.

The helicopter hovered above them. The door opened and a rope ladder descended. Sportsmaster pushed the scientist toward it. As the man started to swing the rifle over his shoulder, Artemis shot an arrow that knocked the weapon out of his hands.

"No!"

Sportsmaster dove for it, but the Laser fell off the car and between the tracks. They watched as it disappeared in the snow and brush that lined the large river below. It was a long drop; one hundred feet or more. There was no guarantee that, should they recover the weapon, it wouldn't be damaged beyond repair.

"Damn it, Artemis!" Her father took a couple of menacing steps in her direction.

"No time, daddy dearest," Cheshire grabbed his shoulder. "The pilot is signaling us to move. The wind is picking up."

"The rifle . . ."

"We still have the scientist that designed it," she reminded him.

"Or not," Artemis said as she let loose another arrow. This one had a net that engulfed the man. He toppled and almost fell, but for Sportsmaster grabbing the net at the last minute.

"Hang on," he said, pulling out a line and attaching it to the net. "Just hang tight."

It was a testament to Sportsmaster's strength that he could climb the ladder one-handed while lugging the smaller man's weight. It was slow going, however.

Aqualad leapt through the hole and leaned down to give Superboy a hand up. Robin followed last. It took only a few seconds for the trio to sum up the situation as dire. The light from the oncoming train had rounded the bend. The vibrations announced the second it began crossing the bridge. Visibility was terrible and it wasn't likely that the engineer would have time to stop by the time he saw the train car.

"I got the rifle, but they're getting away with that scientist creep," Artemis yelled over the wind. She pointed at the other side of the bridge. "And there is another train coming! We have to get off of here now!"

"You're not going anywhere yet, Cheshire," Aqualad called. He used his water bearers and whipped them forward, slicing the ladder off right above her head.

"I disagree," she said with a smile.

She flung a couple of balls the size of marbles. They exploded, not in front of Aqualad, but next to Robin and Superboy. Robin rolled and flipped; catching the side of the car. Superboy, however, was flung backward by the blast and toppled off the edge into empty space.

"Superboy!" Artemis and Aqualad yelled.

"Stop her! I've got him," Robin called out, and he kicked off the roof of the car and into a dive.

Cheshire stepped to the edge of the car and pulled out a shuriken. "But who's got you, Boy Wonder?"


Robin grabbed the sides of his cape; holding it tight against his body in an effort to make him more aerodynamic and increase his speed. The wind was blowing him further from the bridge. He wasn't going to catch Conner this way.

Yanking out a batarang, he flung it in the clone's direction and prayed he had compensated well enough for the wind. It circled the older boy's legs and the rope attached wrapped around them. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done! Robin pulled hard to tighten the hold enough that Conner wouldn't slip free.

"Hang on, Superboy," he yelled, even as he turned and fired his grapple at the bridge construct. The sound of the grapple catching the girder was lost, but it stuck true. As it pulled taut, Robin worked to control his swing.

"Grab hold," he instructed Conner. The clone nodded his understanding and grasped one of the girders as soon as he was close enough.

"Got it!" Conner yelled back. He looked up in time to see something zipping through the air above the boy. "Watch out!"

Robin didn't see the shuriken that sliced his line, but he felt the tension give way, and then he was falling. Superboy grabbed the line that was around his legs, but Robin had already let go of it once the older boy was safe. The Boy Wonder attempted to shoot another grapple, only to have a gust of wind snatch it out of the sky. It flew out and away from the security of the bridge supports.

"No! Robin!" Superboy gasped as he watched helplessly.

Robin didn't panic. He was still high enough to save himself. He grabbed another batarang like the one he saved Superboy, and flung it at another girder. It wrapped around a beam securely. Unfortunately, his fall had become too fast to make this a comfortable save. When the line jerked taut, Robin cried out as his shoulder muscles tore under the strain. At least his shoulder didn't go out of joint, he thought, dazed.

His body swung wildly, buffeted by the wind, and he slammed into a support beam violently. Stunned, the line slipped from his hand, and once more Robin was falling. His height by this time was only thirty feet above the surface of the river. Not enough to kill him on impact, but enough, with the shock of the freezing water, to knock the breath out of him.

The torrent pulled him under and out of sight.


"No!"

Artemis screamed as she watched Robin disappear into the water below. Without a word, Aqualad dove off of the car after him. She gasped. This was a hundred foot drop and that wasn't a bottomless ocean beneath them! Kaldur would surely be killed when he hit the raging river.

The train was barreling down on them. The snow swirled in a dazzling display in front of its light. The whistle blew shrilly as the engineer finally saw the car in front of him, but there was no way to stop in time! He could only push on through in an effort to shove the bit blocking his side of the tracks away, and hopefully keeping his train from derailing in the process.

Jade grabbed the rope thrown to her by her father and threw an arm around her sister's waist. The helicopter pulled up; struggling for control in the turbulence of the incoming storm. The crack was deafening as the train hit the car. The girls spun wildly in the air; missing the top of the train by mere inches.

The car toppled over the edge of the bridge.

"I've got you," Jade told her sister.

"No, you don't," Artemis growled. She had to get down there to her team!

She twisted out of her sister's grip. Jade screamed as her sister fell. Artemis was already reaching for the arrow she wanted. As soon as she cleared the edge of the tracks in her freefall, she made her shot. The arrow flew around one of the girder supports and Artemis swung onto a steel beam several feet above Superboy's head, just as the car crashed into the dead trees at the water's edge. The water's swiftness pulled much of what was left of the car into the river and out of sight. There was no sign of Robin or Aqualad, however. Did Kaldur make it down safely? She didn't know!

"Can you see them," she called down to him.

"Thank God," Conner gasped upon seeing her. "I thought that maybe you were still on the train car."

"Conner! Where is Aqualad and Robin?" Artemis began making her way down to her remaining teammate.

Superboy looked worriedly at the river below. It was partially frozen, and chunks of ice were constantly breaking off and swirling downstream; following the river's path.

"They disappeared around the bend. We need to get down there and go after them." Conner shivered violently; noticing for the first time how truly uncomfortable he was feeling; over and above the deep throbbing pain from the wound in his leg.

"Hang on," Artemis told him. "I'm coming down to you."

"H-Hurry," he called out over the moaning of the wind.


REACTIONS? This original version split the team up differently. In this, Artemis and Conner remain together while Kaldur and Robin are separated from the others by the raging torrent of the river. Big changes were made from this version to the final one.