A/N: welcome, boys and girls, and let me be the first to celebrate this story's one year mark! we tried to have this up by Tuesday, but alas, technical difficulties hobbled us. But fear not, for now we kick off an exciting saga!

All original characters belong to us. Cowriting done by Batmarcus, Editing done hy Ghost Fire 6 and Lord Zeppelin.

Chapter 13: Homefront

Manhattan. September 19. 05:30 EST

*DEETDEETDEET*

Francis's eyes snapped open as his alarm went off, and he groaned as he lazily hit the snooze button on his alarm. He rubbed his eyes, yawning as he sat up. His attention fell to an old bow mounted on his wall.

"Ok, hold on. Don't shoot." Francis held the bow steady, keeping the hand that held the string pulled back. "Ok, so how's it feel?"

"The string is...heavy." Francis answered, as Clint observed Francis's arm placement..

"You feel it pulling against you, right? Almost like it's going to snap at any moment?" Clint asked, the ten year old nodded. "It's gone taut, meaning you've pulled it back as far it'll go, and it's trying to snap back. That's what you wanna go for, everytime you pull it back."

"Every time?"

"Every time. Now, you see your target?" Clint asked, Francis looked down the notches on the bow he was using. It felt like the arrow was trying to fight him, but he did his best to line it up with the target.

"Yeah, I do."

"Alright, so you're aiming for that little yellow dot right there. That's what's called a bullseye. Now, since it's your first time, I don't want you to worry about hitting it. Just aim for the target in general." The archer instructed, Francis aimed down the notches on the bow. Don't worry about the bullseye, and just hit the target. Clint nudged Francis's foot, checking his stance. "Alright, stand and posture. Maybe loosen up the shoulders a little. Your fingers are good, and when you're ready, just… let go."

And let go Francis did. The arrow soared through the air, and impacted the target. It wasn't on the yellow bullseye, but rather landed on the red circle that surrounded it. Clint let out a low whistle as soon as it impacted, walking forward to inspect the arrow.

"Well I'll be damned. You're a natural, kid."

The Barton family had been on a picnic that day, and Clint had taken that day to teach his son how to shoot. They'd lived in Indiana back then, just after the events that lead Clint and Bobbi to join the League and move them to New York.

So much had happened since then. He'd followed his parents' example and became a hero, fighting alongside them. If he had told ten-year old him about everything that had transpired since that day, that he'd help form a sidekick black ops team and be dating a Martian, he'd have laughed in his own face. Still, no real point in dwelling on the past anymore.

"Welp, time to get to it…"

Gotham, 06:00 EDT

*DEETDEETDEETDEET*

Artemis groaned as her alarm woke her up, her eyes fluttering open to see the blinking red numbers. Groaning, she reached her arm up to hit the button to turn it off, causing silence to fill the room. Normally, she'd have taken a few extra minutes of sleep, but she couldn't afford that today. After all, it was a big day.

As the Team member sat up, her eyes drifted to the wall above the bed opposite hers, to the faded Alice in Wonderland poster and the grinning Cheshire cat.

Artemis sniffled, watching as Jade shoved her clothes into the duffle bag. "Please, don't go!"

"I'm sorry, Artemis, but we have to face reality. Mom's not getting out of prison anytime soon, and I refuse to stay with just dad any longer!"

"Dad and you and me!" The young Artemis protested, her voice cracking with tears. "We have to keep this family from falling apart!" She begged, Jade just sighed.

"You're young, so I won't hold it against you for being naive. This family fell apart the second mom got pinched." She bluntly stated, the younger girl just clutched her teddy bear tighter.

"Artemis, get up!" The young blonde was shaken from her reminiscing by her mother's voice through the door. "You're going to be late for your first day of school!" This caused Artemis to sigh, running a hand through her long blonde hair as she sat up. She turned to the poster, clenching her fist in frustration.

That had been the last time she'd seen Jade, before she'd run off to get away from their father. At least, it had been, up until that night in August. She hadn't expected to run into her sister after so long, especially the way that she did. What was Jade doing with the League of Shadows?

Artemis let out a sigh. Her sister had always been stubborn to a fault, even when they were little. Trying to figure out her reasoning was just going to drive Artemis insane, and for now, she had something more important to worry about.

"This is going to be fun…"

Wayne Manor, 06:15 EDT

Jason grunted as he blocked a strike from Cassandra Cain, retaliating with a roundhouse kick of his own. She blocked it with her arms, but it still knocked her back. Both of them were panting, circling and sizing each other up. Jason made the first move, delivering a jab to Cassandra's face, only for her to block and counter, throwing a punch that connected with Jason's face. This disoriented him, knocking him to the ground. As he picked himself up, he looked up to see the Batmobile's repair toolkit sitting not too far outside of the training area, his eyes focusing on the tire iron…

He didn't have long, he knew that much. Jason hadn't been lifting tires for long, but he'd been living in The Narrows his entire life. He knew which car belonged to which gangsters, and he knew where they liked to go. Most of them were standard small time thugs, but Jason had his eyes on the big fishes. People like Johnny Frost, the Joker's right hand man, who favored the My Alibi bar. Jack and Joe Morgan, twin lieutenants of Two Face who came in to collect protection money from local businesses.

But Jason's target today was Loose Lips Leblanc, a valued enforcer for The Penguin who frequented a brothel in the Narrows. Cobblepot was the richest gangster in the city, especially since he'd gone 'legit' with the Iceberg Lounge opening up a year ago, and he paid his thugs well. They had nice clothes, drove nice cars… which had nice tires. Jason figured that if he managed to get one, or even two of those, he'd be able to sell them for enough money that could last him the rest of the month. Or at least, until his father returned from whatever he was currently on and went back to work. Stealing from Penguin's men was risky, even suicidal, but the thirteen year old was just so hungry…

As soon as Leblanc went into the brothel, Jason moved fast. Willis wasn't good for much, but Jason had watched him enough to know how to strip the tire. After applying the jack then raise the car, Jason went to work on the tire, removing the hubcap and beginning to remove the lugnuts…

Jason hasn't had the easiest life. The Narrows was the name used to refer to an island in the middle of the Gotham River, and to call it 'troubled' was an understatement. After a certain infamous murder had occurred in Park Row, the Narrows had become ground zero for Gotham's decline. The GCPD had long abandoned the Narrows, and even after Batman began his war on crime, the island remained a favored place for the criminal elements. As a consequence, living conditions were poor, and Jason's father hadn't exactly been a stable element in his upbringing. He would disappear for days, sometimes weeks, and once even a month at a time, forcing Jason to learn to fend for himself. This had lead him to begin boosting tires, which in turn lead him here and in turn-

A familiar voice cleared his throat, stirring the Teen Wonder out of his musings, and Jason looked up to see Alfred standing at the entrance to the Batcave. "As much as I hate to interrupt a good training session, Master Bruce wishes for me to remind you that any more tardies at school will mean a suspension from patrol for one week."

"Alright, I hear ya, Al." Jason groaned out, as he picked himself up off the floor. Shaking his head clear, Jason felt Cass grab his arm for attention.

"You go see the Team today?" She asked, Jason thought for a second.

"Probably in the evening, after I do the homework. Bruce has really been getting on to me about my math…" Jason answered, his brow furrowed. "Why? It's never really bothered you before."

"Want to… I want to come with you." Cassandra answered, causing Jason to raise an eyebrow.

"Why now?"

"My words better… are better now. Want to meet your friends." It was true that Cassandra's grasp of the spoken language had been getting better and better every day. And after what had happened in Gateway the week before, Bruce had went ahead and entered Cassandra's information in to the Zeta Tube network, just for when they were ready.

"Well, I can't think of a good reason as to why not. They were always going to find out about you sooner or later, and today's a good a chance as any." The Teen Wonder stated.

"And Bruce?" Cass asked, causing Jason to wince.

"Well… he'll get over it. Though things could get a little confusing, what with the other new Cassandra…" Jason muttered out as he went to go get ready for school.

Stark Manor, 03:10 PDT

Nolan Stark couldn't sleep, he'd been awake now for about forty-five minutes and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. He let out a sigh, Riri probably wasn't awake yet so he couldn't even talk to her.

Rolling out of bed, he decided that he may as well do some work. He headed downstairs and into the "Birthing Suite", as his dad insisted on calling it.

"I really should get a place of my own." He muttered as he scrolled through a catalog of armors before finding the one that he really wanted to work on and selecting it.

The floor of the room seemed to part, and the suit of armor Nolan wanted to work on was elevated from the sub-basement. It was pretty similar to his main suit of armor, save for a few additional lights along the shoulder, though the differences were far from cosmetic. At least, they were planned to be. There were a few added features Nolan couldn't quite figure out. At least, for now. As Nolan picked up his tools and began to work, his mind began to drift…

"Pass me that screwdriver."

"Ok." Tony and Nolan were in the basement, where Tony had been working on repairing his armor after a fight against the Serpent Society the day before. "What are we doing now?" The eleven year old redhead asked as Tony worked on his red and gold suit.

"Well, I am trying to figure out the Serpent Society messed up, while you are about to get a look under the hood that no one else gets…" Tony grunted out, he worked the screwdriver on a spot below the armpit. There was a click, and Tony jumped back as the red plating of the chest plate dropped to the floor. However, Nolan didn't care about that, as his jaw dropped.

"Whoa…" Once the plate had fallen away, it revealed an elaborate set of wires and components, that, to anyone else, would appear to be pure nonsense, but to Nolan, it was a work of art. Tony noticed the way Nolan was looking at the wiring, and couldn't help but smile.

"What do you see?"

"It's all… connected. These wires hook into the arc reactor, which channels power to these transistors, which then helps distribute it all throughout the rest of the armor." Nolan explained, and Tony chuckled.

"Not exactly, but you're on the right track. See, these right here connect to the flight systems and boot jets, while these connect to the weapons systems. And the cables have to be made of a certain material, to handle the repulsor energy…" As Tony continued to explain how the armor worked, Nolan's mind began to race.

Seeing the Iron Man laid out like this, seeing how it worked… it gave him an idea.

One that would bury itself in his head for years to come, before at last manifesting itself into Iron Knight. Now he just needed to improve the concept a bit.

New York, 07:27 EST

Francis let out a sigh as he opened his locker, his music pulsing in his ears as he examined the contents. Textbooks, some gym clothes that were starting to smell, a library book that he planned on reading if he ever had the time, and a picture of him and M'gann. He was working on getting his books for first period out, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over to see a boy about his age with black hair, and moved his headphones aside to better speak to him.

"What's up, Blake?" Blake Sinclair was one of the first friends that Francis had made when the Barton's had moved to New York years ago, and the two had been close ever since. However, Blake had no idea that the Barton's were a family of superheroes, something that Francis was eager to keep a secret from anyone.

"Debate team tryouts are next week. You in?" Blake asked, and Francis sighed.

"'Fraid I'm going to have to pass this year. Got a lot on my plate to deal with right now." Francis answered, causing his friend to sigh.

"Dude, what is your deal this year? You're not doing marching band, you didn't sign up for chess club, and you haven't been able to go to Kirby's at all." The other boy protested. "You get like, a job or something?"

"Something like that…" Ever since becoming Trickshot, Clint and Bobbi had wanted for Francis to at least try and have something of a normal life. That included debate team, marching band, chess club… standard extracurricular activities that most high schoolers did. However, once the Team had been formed, Francis had made a choice to cut back on his extracurricular activities.

It wasn't an easy choice, but the Team was important work. He'd always wanted to help people, and this was the best way to do it. But… Francis would be lying if he said that he didn't feel the pull sometimes. To put down his bow, hang up his mask, and never fight another costumed whack job again. And sometimes, on days like this… well, that pull was a little stronger than most.

"Does this have anything to do with this girlfriend you've been going on about?" The other teen asked. "Oh, and just so you know, most guys say their made up girlfriends are from Canada, not Rhode Island."

'Well, she's from Mars, not Rhode Island…' The archer thought to himself, as he shut his locker. "Look, I don't have to be anywhere for awhile today, so we can shoot down to Kirby's after school, and I can kick your ass at Street Fighter for a few hours." Francis taunted, Blake just smirked.

"You're on."

Gotham City, 07:30 EST

"God, I feel stupid…" Artemis muttered to herself as she stepped into the courtyard of Gotham Academy. She was currently dressed in the uniform of the prestigious private school, which consisted of a blue blazer with the Gotham Academy crest over a vest, a dress shirt, and a miniskirt. In addition to feeling like a walking Barbie doll, Artemis was honestly more than a little unnerved by the Academy. It was too… clean, in a way that the rest of the City wasn't. Hell, the whole of West Gotham felt like this, like it was somehow untouched by the trademark criminal element that had gripped the city for years before Batman's arrival. Like it was fake; an act that only the rich could afford to put on.

Artemis's home of North Gotham was far from the worst area of the city, but that didn't mean it wasn't without it's fair share of problems and seedier elements, including Artemis's own family…

"Excuse me, are you Artemis Crock?" A voice asked, and Artemis looked over to see a blonde girl with an almost sickeningly sweet smile approaching her.

"Uh, yeah. That's me…"

"Hi, I'm Bette Kane! I'll be your student liaison for your first few days to answer any questions you might have." Bette explained, Artemis had to bite back a groan. It was a school-albeit a very fancy one-how different could it be? But she had promised her mother she would give it an honest go, and so for now, Artemis would go along with… whatever this was.

"Sounds great!" If Bette picked up on Artemis' false enthusiasm, she didn't show it, instead clapping her hands.

"Great! First, let me show you to your locker!" The blonde eagerly exclaimed, leading Artemis into the school. "They wanted me to tell you all this stuff about the school's founding, and our alumni, but I'm sure that you don't actually care about any of that, so I won't bore you." Bette explained, the female archer let out a silent sigh of relief. As they entered the second floor, Artemis noticed that one section of the wall looked a little different than the other.

"What's the deal with that?"

"Hm? Oh, well, officially they say it was vandalism, but if you ask me, I heard that Superman got knocked through here in some kind of crazy super fight." More like Superboy, but Artemis didn't feel the need to correct her on why Superman would be in Gotham as Bette looked at her paper. "Now your locker's right over here, and-oh! You're right next to another Wayne Foundation scholarship!"

"Wayne Foundation…?" Is that how she got the mysterious scholarship? Artemis was about to ask another question as Bette lead her over to the locker, whose neighbor was currently open.

"Bruce Wayne is one of our most prestigious donors, and every once in a while, he selects the most promising students from around the city to attend here. He's my cousin, so take it from me when I say he's one of the most thoughtful guys in the whole city." Bette commented, as she peaked around the open locker door. "Jason, meet the new girl." She instructed, the other locker's owner just sighed.

"Bette, I told you, if this is another attempt to set me up, I'm not-" The voice started to answer as the door shut, and Artemis and Jason's eyes widened as they both recognized the other.

"Artemis, this is Jason Todd!" Bette 'introduced', and Artemis noticed Jason wince as the blonde spoke his last name. "Oh, you two probably know each other, since Bruce probably picked both of you personally!" She stated, Artemis narrowed her eyes as she folded her arms.

"No, this is the first time we're meeting." She flatly stated, while Jason looked like he wished for death.

"Huh…" Bette didn't seem too convinced, but either she took the hint or just wasn't interested. "Alright. We've got first period together, so I'll leave you here to get situated and meet you there. That alright?"

"Sounds good." Artemis's eyes never left Jason for a second, and the second Bette walked away, Jason slammed his head on the locker. "So, Jason Todd, was it? And she said Bruce Wayne selected you randomly? Weird. So does he know you hang out with Batman, or-?"

"If you finish that sentence, I am fairly certain that he will literally break his oath and kill me." The Teen Wonder stated. "You guys aren't even supposed to know my name or what I look like. Hell, only the League founders know who he actually is." Jason explained, before something clicked in his head. "Wait. You're… Green Arrow's niece, right? So why are you here in Gotham instead of Star City?" He asked, causing Artemis's eyes to widen.

"Uh… my mother lives here, and I go visit him in Star City on the weekends." She explained. Not exactly a lie, but not exactly the full truth either. "Look, I won't tell Batman you practically blabbed his secret identity, and you don't tell anyone else I live here."

"Sounds like a deal. And I guess that explains how you were able to save us from Amazo…" Jason muttered. "Speaking of, if you have first period with Bette, it's in the biology lab, right next to the new wall that's covering the Superboy sized hole back there." He advised, and Artemis snorted.

"Appreciate it. So, you going to the Cave today?"

"Planning on it. Though it'll be later, cause Batman… well, Bruce… has been grilling me about my algebra grades." He explained, as the five minute warning bell rang.

"And that would be your cue to get to class." Jason stated. "I'm guessing you take the Zeta Tube on O'Neil Boulevard? I'll meet you there tonight."

"Sounds like a plan. See you later." As Artemis walked off, Jason let off a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected for Artemis of all people to show up at his school, but all told, he was grateful that it was her, and not the others. While he knew that none of the others, not even Wally, would blab that secret, Artemis knew how to keep a secret. The others may not have picked up on it, but Jason was starting to suspect that she wasn't entirely being honest about her origins.

Still, he figured that it wasn't any of his business. If Artemis had something she wanted to tell them, she would have. Simple as that.

Someone cleared their throat behind him, and Jason turned around to see Cass glaring at him. "Jesus! How long have you been standing there?" He asked, but she just folded her arms.

"You told her!" She whispered, gesturing to the retreating Artemis. While Cass still was pretty shy around people she didn't know, she would talk to Jason if she was sure no one was listening.

"Hey, I didn't tell her squat. She figured it out." Which wasn't all that difficult to do. There were multiple conspiracy boards on the internet that believed that billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne was secretly Gotham's Dark Knight. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. However, what did take a rocket scientist was proving it. At the beginning of it all, Bruce and Alfred had laid in place multiple contingency plans that made it notoriously difficult to prove that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one in the same. "And we can trust her. That's Artemis over there." He explained, causing Cass's eyes to widen.

"From… Team?" She asked, and he nodded.

"She won't blab." He reassured, but she still looked at him disapprovingly. "Oh come on, don't give me that look. Someone was bound to figure it out! Bruce can't do anything to me about that!" It was like her eyes were drilling deep into his soul, causing him to grimace. "Sheesh, are we partners, or are you my mother? Get to class…"

Chicago, 12:54 EST

Nolan let out a sigh as he stared at the computer screen, rubbing his eyes. "This is ridiculous…"

"Let me see." Rhianna said, looking over his shoulder at the screen. "Oof, this is a tough sequence…"

"Whoever designed this stuff was a genuine mad scientist." Nolan sighed as he massaged his temples. They were in Rhianna's room in Chicago, powering away on Extremis, in the same way that they had been for the past month. They'd made a lot of progress, but for every bit of progress that they made, they were stumped by incredibly complex code. Turns out that reprogramming a potential cancer cure that was turned into a super soldier serum that reprogrammed the entire body was tough. Riri frowned as she looked at the code, resting her hand on Nolan's shoulder as she leaned in closer.

"Hm. Maybe we could rewrite this number right here?"

"I thought about that, but then that wouldn't work with the hexadecimal code we worked on yesterday." And this had to be done perfectly. If just one value or line of code was wrong, the effects it could have on Nolan's system could be disastrous. And the creators of Extremis had been killed by the man known as Malen after his terror group had stolen the serum, so they couldn't exactly consult them.

"Actually, I think if we alter the code in this sequence, and then rewrite this one…"

"That'll get rid of the unnecessary heat!" Nolan concluded, entering it into the reprogrammer. "Good. That way I won't explode. Hopefully…" He muttered, before noticing Riri's hands on his shoulders. The two blushed, Rhianna pulling her hand away.

"So… lunch?"

"Sounds good…"

Mount Justice, 18:43 EDT

"Can you pass me the socket wrench?"

"Uh…"

"It's the one right next to the screwdriver."

"This one?" Cassie asked, picking a tool up out of the toolbox and handing it to Connor. He looked at it, and nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one. Thanks." He said, taking the wrench and using it to fasten a part on his bike. Cassie heard a chirping sound next to her, and turned to see Sphere rolling up next to her. It chirped a few times, before rolling around her.

"Uh, Connor? What's it doing?"

"Oh, that means he likes you. I think. Honestly don't know much about Sphere myself." He explained, patting the living technology. It chirped in appreciation, before Connor heard a familiar sound of someone approaching them while (very loudly) eating.

"So-" Wally's voice said, and the two turned to see Kid Flash approaching them with White Wolf, the former eating a candy bar. "-you can fly, and you can jump really far. And we have an alien bioship parked right over there." He stated, pointing to Cassie and Connor, and then to the sleeping bioship. "So what's the point of working on a boring old motorcycle?"

"I like doing it. I ended up with shop class, and I honestly find it pretty relaxing." Connor explained. "The Genomorphs loaded me up with all sorts of pointless info like this, and I like being able to put it to use."

"And I like helping. It's very… informative." Cassie explained, White Wolf took note of how she snuck a glance at Connor.

"I'm sure…" The Wakandan Prince 'accepted', before looking over her costume. She wore the black Wonder Woman tank top and red pants she had worn when they first met a few days ago, in addition to a black headband, silver star earrings, and silver bracelets much like Wonder Woman's. "Is… that your uniform?"

"For now, yeah." She answered, gesturing to the bracelets. "Diana gave me these, and she said that the earrings were enchanted by Doctor Strange and Zatara to keep enemies from recognizing my face." She explained.

"And the headband?"

"Oh, that's a normal headband. Flying can really mess up my hair." She answered, and Wally shrugged.

"Fair enough."

M'gann, Laura, and Carter were in the lounge area, all in their uniforms, watching M'gann pull a sheet of cookies out of the oven using her telekinesis. "Now those smell divine." Carter commented, Laura nodding in agreement as the Martian set them on the counter.

"Careful, they're still hot." Miss Martian warned, and noticing Laura looked a little down. "What's wrong, Laura?"

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing. Just… thinking." She cryptically stated, causing Scarlet Spider and Miss Martian to exchange a glance.

"About…?" Carter asked, and Laura sighed.

"Yesterday at practice, I saw Mal waiting for Karen, and it got me… I dunno. Jealous, I guess? I just… feel like I'm missing something." She explained.

"Uh huh, I see…" Carter nodded along, before leaning over to M'gann. "Who are these people?" He whispered.

"Karen's one of our teammates on the Bumblebees. Mal's her boyfriend." M'gann explained, and Carter's brow furrowed.

"Teammates? Did the League form another team or - oh my god you're cheerleaders." He realized mid-sentence, causing Laura to blush.

"Don't rub it in!" She groaned. "Look, M'gann talked me into it, and I actually like doing it. I'm just trying to figure out why I'm feeling the way I do!"

"Okay, let's walk through it. When you get… jealous… What happens? What causes it?" M'gann asked, Laura's blush grew in intensity.

"Well… I also feel it when I see you and Francis." She admitted. "You and Francis, Mal and Karen… I don't understand it at all." The mutant explained, they exchanged a glance.

"I… think I know what's going on." M'gann stated. "I think you want what we have. That kind of romantic relationship." She explained, causing Laura's eyes widened.

Was she right? Did she have that want? That urge for something more than friendship with somebody? And… did she know who that was?

As Laura had her existential crisis, Aqualad was in the main briefing room, talking with Red Tornado. "And you have told no one else about this… mole?" Red Tornado asked, Kaldur shook his head. The Atlantean had just finished briefing the team's android den mother about his encounter with Sportsmaster in Taipei, and the taunt he had hurled at him about T'zari and Bialya.

"I have not, for I am not certain that this mole even exists."

"And yet you have your doubts, otherwise we would not be having this conversation." The Android Leaguer stated, causing Kaldur to sigh.

"You are correct. I cannot completely ignore the possibility that the Team is being betrayed from within, and if they are, I cannot risk signalling the mole." He explained. "Ever since our encounter with Loki last week in Gateway, I have begun to consider the possibility that it is all connected. Hydra-Venom, the Amazo, the Shadows, the Tower of Fate, Cassie, even Klaue and the incident with Mister Twister."

"If your theory is correct, then it indicates a criminal conspiracy of considerable magnitude." Red Tornado stated, Kaldur crossed his arms.

"Part of me wonders if Sportsmaster's taunt was intended to sow paranoia and discord. Something he could very well accomplish if I am not careful." Kaldur concluded. "I have been wondering if I should bring this to Batman and Captain America."

"The chairmen of the League typically wish for the Team to handle their own matters. However, if there is credence to your theory, then they would wish to investigate." The Android surmised. "We will discuss this more when I return from monitor duty on the Watchtower." He stated, walking over to the Zeta Tube and entering his credentials.

"Wait, I thought you were exempt from monitor duty since becoming our mentor?" Kaldur asked, as the Zeta Tube powered up.

"Typically, yes. However, I am filling in for Spider-Man. He has an interpersonal event with his wife which he referred to as a 'hot date.'" And with that, the android was gone, leaving Kaldur alone with his thoughts.

Manhattan, 18:59 EDT

Trickshot entered the abandoned laundromat that served as the Bartons' base of operations, pulling out his phone.

FB: Hey, Megs, I'm on my way to the cave.

He sent the text, watching the message indicate that it was delivered. However, he couldn't help but notice that it wasn't read, which was odd. M'gann usually responded to his text pretty much immediately, but he wasn't worried about it too much. Maybe she was out with her cheerleading friends?

He approached the row of washing machines, typing in the code and causing the scanner to pop out.

"Recognize: Trickshot, B-02." The computer announced, and the row of laundry machines parted to reveal the Zeta Tube powering up. He cast one last look at the messages on his phone, unable to shake the uneasy feeling in his stomach, before shaking it off. He was about to be at the cave in a minute, and besides, what's the worst thing that could be happening?

At the same time, in Gotham, Artemis was approaching the phone booth that served to camouflage the Zeta Tube. Her first day at Gotham Academy had gone off without a hitch, and despite being initially put off by Bette's overeagerness, the girl was actually kind of nice.

Now, she was ready to get back to the Cave and put some sparring in with Laura, before she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She looked to see Robin waiting on a nearby fire escape, giving her a wave. "So, survive day one with Bette?"

"That girl is so sweet I almost got diabetes. Are all the preppy rich kids there like that?"

"No, she's actually one of the nice ones. The Kanes are one of the oldest families in Gotham, but unlike most of the people there, they don't mention it every chance they get." Jason explained, and he looked at the shadows he came from. "You can come down now!" He called out, and Artemis was about to ask just what the hell he was doing, when a piece of the shadows seemed to move.

What landed in front of her was a girl dressed head to toe in black leather, with a yellow outline of a bat symbol on her chest, and a black mask with pointy bat ears, and a pair of eyes and a mouth that looked like they'd been stitched shut. "Who the hell…?"

"Artemis, meet Batgirl." Robin introduced, and Artemis blinked as she processed it.

"Didn't Batgirl used to be taller, with a different suit?"

"She's… retired. That's someone else under that mask, just like how I'm not the first Robin." Jason explained, and Batgirl seemed to be sizing Artemis up.

"What's she doing?"

"She's trying to figure out if you can be trusted." Jason answered, and Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, she's not exactly thrilled I let you figure out the whole secret identity thing, so she's trying to figure out if she can trust you." Batgirl looked over the archer, before pointing at her chest.

"Green… Arrow?" She asked, and Aremis nodded.

"Uh, right. I'm Green Arrow's sidekick, who just so happens to live in Gotham." Artemis explained, and the other girl's expressionless mask looked her over.

English wasn't Cass's first language, but rather movement was. She'd been trained her entire life to read body language, down to the slightest twitch, and right now, she was reading Artemis like a book. The blonde had training, and from an early age too, as evidenced by the ways in which her muscles twitched when she moved with a kind of restraint even Artemis likely wasn't aware of. Her fingers had calluses on them which clearly indicated proficiency in archery, but from the way Artemis held her bow, the way her fingers were slightly readjusting her grip, it was clear she was still getting used to carrying that particular bow around like that. She was slightly nervous, as indicated by her pupil movement as she looked at Cassandra, but that wasn't unusual. Her mask tended to have that effect on people. However, moving beyond her nervousness, Cass picked up on a desire to prove herself, both to herself and others, and an earnestness and stubbornness that she recognized in Jason.

"Good. Worthy of tru… trustworthy." Batgirl spoke up, causing Artemis to let out a sigh.

"My life got really weird, really fast…" She sighed out, and Jason smirked.

"Oh, I guarantee you you haven't seen weird yet." He teased, and gestured to the Tube. "Ladies first?" Batgirl moved to the tube, shutting the phone booth and causing it to scan her.

"Recognize: Batgirl, B-15." The masked girl disappeared in a flash of yellow light, and Artemis was next. "Recognize: Artemis, B-12." The archer was the next to vanish in the yellow light, and last but not least was the Teen Wonder himself. "Recognize: Robin, B-07."

In Chicago, Nolan walked through what seemed to be a scrapyard. However, while it appeared to be a regular scrapyard in the harbor, it was actually owned by Stark Industries, and played host to one of the League's Zeta Tubes.

Nolan had chosen to forgo his armor today, as there were some updates he wanted to run on his current model, so instead he'd travelled by foot. While normally he would be thinking about the various upgrades he could do both on his armor and the Extremis, instead he was fixated on his relationship with Rhianna.

Over the past few weeks, working on reprogramming the Extremis together, the two had grown… close was the best way to describe it. There was something there, but Nolan wasn't sure how best to describe it. The shoulder touch in the room today was just one of several similar incidents, and Nolan was going to have to figure out a way to solve it, and fast.

Still, no sense dwelling on it now. He approached a shed in the middle of the junkyard, moving aside a panel on the shed to reveal a thumbprint scanner. A piece of trash moved to allow a scanner to emerge from the ground, analyzing him.

"Recognize: Iron Knight, B-03." It announced, and as the Zeta Tube powered up inside the shed, Nolan took a deep breath. He stepped into the golden light of the tube…

And was immediately greeted with a blast of hot air to his face, as the cave appeared to be consumed in flames. "What the f-"

"Get down!" Robin yelled, tackling him to the ground just as a fireball impacted where he'd been standing half a second ago. Robin looked down at him, his eyes widening.

"You picked a helluva day not to wear your armor!" Robin commented, as the boy genius blinked.

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you when we figure that out!" The Teen Wonder answered, and Nolan looked up to see Artemis, and a girl in a bat costume he didn't recognize. Batgirl threw batarangs into the smoke, but they only thudded off some kind of metal as more fire shot out of the smoke. Artemis fired an arrow at the flames, and the arrows exploded in a kind of white foam that extinguished the flames in their tracks.

"You got any more of those?" Jason asked, and the other archer frowned.

"Nope. You?"

"Left my cold bombs at home." He responded, and more flames prepared to launch at them, before two arrows impacted the ground in front of Artemis and Batgirl. They exploded into columns of ice, and the four turned to see Trickshot at the entrance to the briefing room.

"That's not going to hold them for long! Come on!" The male archer called out, and the four heroes ran after him. The flames began to melt the ice, the five ran through the tunnel as a jet of flame shot through the ice. Robin ducked, the flames singing his cape, as they ran into the hallway. "This way!"

"Where are we going?!" Artemis asked.

"Anywhere but there!" Trickshot answered, but as they rounded the corner, they were greeted with the sight of a wave of water rushing towards them.

"Wrong way, wrong w-" Nolan was cut off as the wave crashed into them, filling the hallway and taking the teenagers along for the ride. They crashed against the wall of the Cave, Robin letting out a cry of pain through the water as his right shoulder slammed into the rock. The water subsided, and Jason keeled over as the others gasped for air.

"Jay, are you…?"

"My… shoulder…" He winced out, causing Artemis to let out a curse.

"Spooky, grab him!" Trickshot instructed to Batgirl, who simply nodded. She draped his left arm over her, as they hurried through the cave as more fireballs came after them.

"Artemis to team, come in! Aqualad, White Wolf, anybody!" The female archer yelled over the comm, only to get a burst of static in her ear.

"M'gann, can you hear me?" Francis thought, hoping to reach his girlfriend telepathically as they entered the gym. However, much to his dismay, the mindlink they shared even off missions was silent. "I… I can't reach M'gann!"

"If M'gann can't pick us up…" Nolan muttered, as he held his watch up to his mouth and clicked the buttons. "Knight to Iron Man, come in!" When this was met with silence, he frowned.

"Override communications, authorization NS-3! Cave calling Justice League, can you read me? HOJ/Watchtower, B-03 requesting assistance, priority alpha!" He yelled into his watch, only for the watch to flash a red block of text he was dreading to appear on the face.

Connection Failure.

"Shit…!" He gasped out. "They're jamming our communications! I can't raise the-" Before he could finish that sentence, the door to the gym exploded, and hot air filled the room as a tornado made of fire swirled towards him.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Artemis yelled, and Jason looked up through the pain of his shoulder.

"The… showers!"

"Good idea!" Nolan commented, and the five all ran into the showers. Artemis and Trickshot began turning the water on in all the showers into full blast, and as water filled the room, the tornado seemed to stop, causing Nolan to let out a sigh of relief. However, his relief was short lived, as Batgirl tapped him on the shoulder. She pointed at the faucet, and Nolan noticed the showerheads all beginning to shake.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Trickshot's intuition was proven correct, as the temperature knobs flew off their positions and water poured from them, as the shower heads were blasted from their positions by jets of water, and water even surged forth from the drain. The showers rapidly filled with water, that Nolan noticed wasn't pouring out the open door but was rather held in place, and soon they were all submerged. He grabbed Batgirl, pointing at a specific point on the wall, and miming an explosion. It seemed the new arrival got the hint, as she pulled out a specific batarang. She attached it to the wall, and it exploded just as they ran out of air.

The water poured out into the hallway, and the Team was sucked out into the hallway. They barely had time to gasp for air, before Trickshot looked up to see the kitchen just ahead of them. Quickly ushering them up, they ran into the kitchen, and Francis had to try really hard not to think about how it still smelled like fresh cookies.

"We need to vanish!" Jason grunted out, as Nolan ran over to a console by the doorway. He held his watch up to it, and a hologram appeared from the face as it downloaded something.

"These cave schematics should help, but right now, we're sitting ducks."

"Don't you have a suit here?" Artemis asked, and he frowned.

"It would have been the first thing they took out."

"Any ideas on who 'they' are?" Trickshot asked, Nolan frowned.

"Pyro? No, he's too loud. Molten Man? Pyrokinesis like this isn't his strong suit. Could be Firebrand, but that doesn't explain the water, and I doubt that's Hydro-Man. The water moves like it's being controlled independently, not like it's a part of something…"

"We don't have time for this! We need a strategy now, or-" Artemis started to yell, when Batgirl looked up at the vent above the stove.

"Die… Hard." She stated, drawing their attention.

"Got any advice that's actually helpful, or…?" Trickshot asked, Jason's eyes widened as he followed her attention.

"Strategy training…" He gasped out. "It's not advice, it's the movie!" He explained, Trickshot and Artemis exchanged a glance.

"I don't have any better ideas!" She stated, he shrugged.

"Go for it. I'll check on Rob." He instructed, and as Artemis went to help Batgirl removed the grate from the vent, Trickshot kneeled down to check on Robin.

"I think… it's dislocated."

"Yeah, looks like it to me." Trickshot confirmed, taking out an arrow.

"Whoa, I think it's a little early to 127 Hours me." Robin stated, Trickshot let out a chortle as he extended the arrow to Robin.

"Bite down on the shaft, and try not to hate me for this." Robin understood what he was about to do, and bit down on the shaft of the arrow. Trickshot got in place beside Robin, grabbing his wrist and placing a hand on Robin's arm. "On three. One, two…"

"Mmmmmph!" Jason couldn't help but groan in pain as tears welled in his eyes, as Francis popped his shoulder back into place. He spat out the arrow, panting as he looked at Francis. "Do me a favor and never became a doctor. Your bedside manners suck."

"Yeah yeah, leave me three stars later." Francis retorted as he removed Jason's cape from his back, tying it around his neck to form a sling. He guided Jason's arm into it. "There. That should hold until we can get some actual medical attention."

"And that's if we actually survive this…" Nolan muttered out, as the girls got the grate off the vent.

"Hurry!" Artemis yelled out, and they all hurried to the vents as they heard metal footsteps approaching.

Jason was the first one in, followed by Nolan, Cass, Artemis, and then Francis. Nolan pulled up his hologram of the cave schematics, using the cave's motion and heat sensors to get a sense of where they were. "Head up there, and take a left!" He instructed. As soon as they all made the left, a jet of flame blasted where they had been a few seconds ago.

"This is getting too close…" Trickshot muttered out, as Iron Knight consulted the schematics.

"There! Take a right, and get that vent cover off!" He instructed, helping Jason do just that. One after another, they slid down the tunnel into the temperature control room, panting as they did so.

"What is happening? I thought the Cave was supposed to be top secret!" The newest archer asked.

"It's location isn't, but no one's supposed to know it's still in use." Jason stated. "Whoever these guys are, they're looking for something, and… is it getting hot in here to anyone else?" As soon as Jason asked that, Cass took note of the temperature gauge beginning to climb. They looked up on the walkway to see one of their attackers surrounded in flame, a woman's silhouette clearly visible.

"Where's that grate?!" Francis asked as he readied an arrow, preparing to launch it at the woman.

"Over here!" Nolan stated as he opened a floor grate, and Trickshot let the arrow fly. It exploded into fire retardant foam, but the flames only subsided for a moment before they reignited.

"Guess that's a trick that only works once…" The male archer commented, and one by one they jumped into the grate. Before he did, Francis pulled out another arrow, stabbing it into the water heater beside them and priming it. As he jumped down the hole, their unknown assailant rounded the corner, before the arrow exploded.

"Should buy us some time…"

"But how long?" Nolan asked, as they made their way through the service tunnel. Soon, they spotted a panel, and Nolan whistled for Jason to approach him. "Here, give me your left arm. I'll type for you." He instructed, opening the panel and removing the cable from Jason's gauntlet. He plugged it into the panel, causing the computer to activate. The boy genius began to furiously type, careful not to brush up against Jason's injured arm.

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked.

"Disable heat and motion sensors, in case that's how they're tracking us. I'd try to send out a signal, but I'm fairly certain they're running a strong jamming program." Nolan explained, and soon the holoscreen changed. "While I'm at it, I'm also downloading security footage, see if we can't figure out what happened to the others." He explained, and soon, the five saw an image of their friends in the hangar, gathered around Superboy's bike.

"Torque wrench." Kid Flash stated, Superboy handed him the wrench.

"You know, I can do this just fine on my own. Besides, do you really know anything about bikes?"

"When I was little, I used to help my dad work on this old Mustang. Picked up a few things." Wally stated, before turning back to T'zari. "Hey, isn't Wakanda super advanced? Can't you fix this thing up to run even better, no sweat?"

"Engine tune ups are out of my wheelhouse, as the saying goes. Now my aunt could probably fix this up, and make it fly while she's at it." The resident Wakandan stated, Cassie's eyes widened.

"Wait, you guys have flying cars?"

"Eh, flying is an overstatement. It's more like they hover." T'zari clarified, as Aqualad approached them.

"I have been meaning to ask, have any of you had problems juggling school work with your responsibilities here?" He asked, earning a head shake from Carter.

"Nah, Spidey's a scientist, so if I'm never having trouble with schoolwork, he's more than happy to lend a hand."

"And Diana personally offered to help me study if I need it. Isn't that awesome?" Cassie commented, as M'gann ate one of her cookies.

"Daily cheerleading practice complicates things, but we'll manage. As much as we like the Bumblebees, our loyalty is always to this team first." She stated, causing Wally to raise an eyebrow.

"Wait, we?" He asked aloud, Laura sighed.

"Alright, you were gonna find out eventually, so I'll come out and say it. Me and M'gann are cheerleaders. Get your jokes in now." She dryly stated, causing the redheaded speedster's eyes to widen.

"Whoa. You of all people as a cheerleader? That is… so ridiculous it loops around to being awesome. Though I am now seriously scared for the other teams…" Wally commented, and Kaldur folded his arms.

"Interesting how secret activities always find their way into the light…" At this, Francis's brow furrowed.

"Why's he talking like that?"

"I dunno. He's been acting weird ever since that whole thing with Loki the other day…" Jason commented, as the footage continued.

"Artemis starts school today as well. Do you think that she will have any trouble balancing her loyalties?" Artemis narrowed her eyes at this. Just what the hell was the Atlantean trying to say?

Carter winced, grabbing his temples. "Guys, my spider sense is going off. Something's-" Before the arachnid could finish talking, a massive explosion knocked out the camera, causing their eyes to widen.

"And that looks like our new friends…" Jason commented, as Nolan pulled up another camera at a different angle. This showed the team rising to their feet, and whatever they saw seemed to shock them. Before they could react, water surged out of the pool and knocked out Superboy, T'zari, and the camera.

Camera Three revealed X-23, Aqualad, and Miss Martian charging at their attacker, only for a blast of flame to knock out the camera. The final camera showed Kid Flash, Scarlet Spider, Wonder Girl, and Sphere getting ready to launch an attack, before a massive wave of water knocked out the camera.

"They're all dead…" Nolan muttered, before he caught his choice of words. "I-I mean the cameras! They've gotta be alive. Just… give me a second to find a way to the hangar." He stated, as Artemis slumped against the wall of the tunnel, beginning to hyperventilate.

"We're dead. They took out all of our superpowered teammates, one of us is hurt, and another doesn't even have his armor. What chance do we have…?"

"Hey, we've never needed powers before to kick someone's ass." Trickshot corrected, though on the inside, he was trying to keep from panicking as well. The others, Sphere, M'gann… they were all blindsided. They never saw it coming, and if their superpowered teammates couldn't handle them…

Before he could panic any further, Batgirl knelt down in front of Artemis. "Scared. Don't be." She bluntly stated, before pointing at the symbol on Artemis's chest. "Symbols… mean things. Make bad people scared, give good people hope. We're… good people. Not weapons, not bad guys. Up to us to help other good people." She finished, causing Trickshot to chuckle.

"Your friend doesn't say much, but I like what she says."

"Yeah, you'd better get used to that." Jason stated, silently proud of his partner. When he first met Cass, she could barely say a sentence, and now she gave her own version of a motivational pep talk to someone she didn't even know.

"Alright, I think I've got a path." Nolan spoke up, looking at the map. "We're just above the library, and there should be a secret passage that will lead us to the hangar."

"Secret passage? How paranoid do you have to be to have that in your own secret base?"

"You've clearly never met Batman. You should see the Batcave..." Jason commented, as Nolan unplugged the computer.

They descended into the library, looking around. "It should be around here somewhere. Start pulling books off the shelves." Trickshot stated, and so they did. Trickshot, Nolan, and Batgirl went to one side, while Robin and Artemis went to another. They started pulling books off the shelves, only to hear footsteps steadily approaching. Artemis readied an arrow, preparing to run out and fire…

"Artemis, Robin." A familiar voice robotically stated, and Artemis broke out into a grin as she recognized the voice.

"It's Red Tornado!" She declared, Robin's eyes widened as she ran out.

"Artemis wait!" His protests fell on deaf ears, and Artemis ran out from behind the corner…

Only to not be greeted with the sight of Red Tornado. Instead, it was a similar looking robot, though the eyes and mouth glowed red, and rather than the yellow T in a circle, this android had a yellow inverted triangle on its chest and head. It reached for Artemis, but before it could grab her, one of Robin's shurikens hit it in the face. This caused it to stagger.

"Go!" Robin yelled out, throwing shurikens as best he could with his arm. However, as he looked around the room, he knew things didn't look good. If one was here, then the other wouldn't be far behind. And if it arrived before they could find the secret passage…

His life on the street hadn't been easy. But it had taught him an important lesson: sometimes you had to lose some in order to win some.

"Hey!" He called out, jumping on top of one of the bookshelves. "Over here, you overgrown toaster!" This drew the androids attention, allowing Artemis to scurry over to the others.

"What the hell is he doing…?" Nolan asked, and Trickshot frowned.

"Buying us time. Don't waste it!" He whispered, as they continued to throw books off the shelf.

The android held it's hand up, causing spears made of water to manifest before it. It launched them at the Teen Wonder, who dodged each one and jumped onto the second level walkway. However, before he could throw another weapon, he felt hot air on his neck, and narrowly avoided a fireball hitting him. He spun around to throw it at the other android, but it grabbed his neck.

This one had a more feminine appearance, and had a yellow stripe going along her chest and thigh. Robin tried hitting it's arm, but it was clearly unfazed by this. Instead, it threw him against the railing as the other android held up its hand. Water launched at him and knocked him against the wall, knocking him out.

As it did this, Batgirl pulled a book called The New Frontier, causing the wall behind them to open up. Not letting Robin's sacrifice be in vain, they piled into the secret hallway, which shut just as the male android rounded the corner.

"That was stupid. What the hell was he thinking?" Nolan asked, Francis sighed.

"It was a bad situation, and he knew that the only way for us all to get out was to sacrifice himself."

"And for what? We have no idea where we're going, no idea where the others are, no idea who Red Tornado's siblings are, or what they want!" Artemis protested.

"I actually have a theory about that." Nolan spoke up. "I've been running it over in my head, and I don't think they want us dead."

"Explain." Batgirl demanded.

"Ok, so we know one of them-I think the guy- Can control water, to the point where he can keep water from spilling out of an entry way, like he did in the showers. He could have easily drowned us when we first got here, but he didn't. And when they cornered Jason, they knocked him out using the water, not the fire. Everything they've been doing has been intended to incapacitate. Not kill." The Iron Knight explained, Francis let out a sigh.

"More things change, the more things stay the same…" He muttered. "This is good. That means they want us alive for… something. Leverage, information, whatever, but that means they won't kill us."

"And that's a positive?!" The newer archer blurted out. "How are you so positive? Our friends, your girlfriend, are being held hostage by androids that want to capture us, and you somehow aren't freaking out?!"

"Because I've been in this shit before." He cut off. "When I was ten years old, a bunch of whack jobs called Ultimatum kidnapped me. They used me to blackmail my ex-SHIELD parents to steal something from the League, but my parents turned the tables on them, got the League's help to save me." The archer explained. "The entire time I was held hostage, their boss didn't let anyone do anything to me. Because if I was gone, then they couldn't get my folks to cooperate anymore. That's what's happening here."

"You don't know that for-"

"Attention Artemis, Trickshot, Iron Knight. You have exactly ten minutes to surrender yourselves." The synthetic, Red Tornado-like voice echoed throughout the Cave, travelling through the vents and into the secret corridor they were in. "Failure to comply will mean forfeiting the lives of your teammates."

"Well, normally I like being right…"

In the hangar, Kaldur panted under the heat of the flames, but compared to his cellmate, he was doing well. M'gann had passed out almost immediately, and though she didn't display any outward signs of illness, the Atlantean knew that her Martian physiology couldn't handle the heat.

None of the others were doing any better. Superboy, White Wolf, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash were bound to the ground with metal that had been warped to contain them, and Scarlet Spider and X-23 were held in spheres of water, their heads just barely sticking out. Kaldur was working on figuring a way out… when the female android flew into the hangar, clad in flames. She tossed the unconscious Robin onto the ground, before her eyes glowed red, causing the flame prison to grow in its intensity. Meanwhile, the male emerged from the water, raising its hand and causing the water to slowly flood the hangar, causing Kid Flash to nervously frown.

"Oh man…" As the water began to steadily rise, it raised it's other hand, causing the water prison's to begin to constrict.

"Nine minutes and forty five seconds remain." It announced. As this happened, the four heroes made their way to a door in the secret passage.

"Alright, the hangar should be just through here." Nolan instructed, and Trickshot peaked out the door, surveying the situation. His fists clenched as he saw M'gann in the fire cage, but he swallowed those emotions down.

"Alright, here's what we gotta do." He whispered. "Nolan, no offense, but you're a liability out here. You need to stay back here, figure out if they have a weakness of some kind."

"I'll…I'll see what I can do."

"Artemis, you see if you can get Carter and Laura out of those water bubbles. I'll see if I can get Superboy out."

"Why him?" Artemis asked.

"Because if I free him, then they'll have a pissed off Kryptonian to distract them while I work on the others." Trickshot explained, before turning to Batgirl. "They didn't mention you. That means they have no idea who you are, meaning you're our wild card."

"Wild… card?" It was clear that Batgirl didn't quite understand the phrase.

"It means that they don't know who you are or what you can do. Hell, I don't know that much about you myself, but if you're running around dressed like that, I think I know what you're capable of." He said, gesturing to her costume. "Stick to the shadows, and do what you can." The newcomer nodded, and Trickshot took a deep breath.

"Let's move."

Wonder Girl grunted as she strained against the warped steel imprisoning her. "Come on…" She grunted, but it was no use. The steel was warped in such a way that she couldn't move her arms to exert any kind of force against the metal. Hell, she could barely breathe…

"Any luck?" Kid Flash asked, and she shook her head.

"Nope. T'zari?"

"I… cannot use my claws, or reach my daggers." The Wakandan prince stated, causing Superboy to scowl.

"I'm gonna tear these tin cans apart…"

"That's the spirit. Just hold onto that a little longer…" The voice of Trickshot whispered, as he stealthily rounded the corner and approached the bound kryptonian. He tapped the bottom of his quiver and pulled out a small cylinder. He clicked it, and the torch lit up, and Francis began carving into the metal.

Meanwhile, Artemis approached the water spheres holding Carter and Laura. "Hey, Artemis. Meet our new friends?" Carter whispered.

"Oh yeah, real hospitable. Any idea how Kaldur and M'gann are doing?" She asked, and Laura concentrated her enhanced senses.

"Kaldur's doing… well, fine is a strong word, but compared to M'gann… I don't know how Martian physiology works, but her heart rate sounds more erratic than his."

"That's… not good." Artemis muttered. "Alright, just sit tight, and we'll-" Before Artemis could finish, her friends grunted as the water spheres seemed to constrict, and her eyes widened as a pillar of water raised the male android to look right at her. "... shit."

Meanwhile, Francis was still working on carving out Superboy. Burning through melted steel with a small torch wasn't easy, but he was making progress.

"Look out!" Nolan's voice called out, Trickshot barely avoided a fireball sailing past where he'd been standing. The female android was looking directly at him, clad in flames, and Trickshot grimaced. There goes the plan…

He reached for an arrow… only to smell smoke. His eyes widened as he realized that the fireball had grazed his quiver, and he scrambled to undo the strap. Trickshot slung the quiver at the android, the fire reaching the trick arrows and causing it to explode in the android's face. He used the smoke to run back towards the panel on the wall, but a fireball impacted the ground in front of him.

As that happened, Artemis narrowly dodged a blast of water from the male, firing an explosive arrow at him. It exploded, but it didn't have any effect, as it fired a blast of water at her. The water sent Artemis tumbling to the ground, the fall knocking most of the arrows out of her quiver. It grabbed her by the throat, but Artemis reached into her quiver and pulled out her second to last broadhead, stabbing the android in the eye. This seemed to stagger it, causing it to release her. She jumped off the platform she was on to land just behind Trickshot, and the two were back to back.

"I'm low on arrows."

"And mine… exploded." Trickshot grimly stated, and Artemis just frowned.

"Don't suppose you've got a plan for this, do you?"

"Eh, working on it."

The two androids moved closer, flames burning brighter and water preparing to surge on the two archers…

When a batarang flew out and hit the male in the head, exploding. This drew their attention to Batgirl, who was running past the fire cage and throwing two more batarangs. They were blasted out of the air by the female, and Batgirl leapt down to join the two archers.

"Swim." That was the only word she said before she jumped into the water. The two archers exchanged a glance.

"And there's the plan." Trickshot commented, and the two dove into the water just as a blast of water met a blast of fire. They rapidly swam as fast as they could to follow Batgirl to a grate at the bottom of the pool, and she got the grate off just in time. They swam through the vent and into the tunnel, swimming through it and until they came up for air in a cramped tube.

"You know, when I say I want to be closer to you guys, this isn't what I mean…" Artemis groaned out, as Batgirl climbed the ladder into a vent.

"Follow." She instructed, and the two shared a look. "Have… plan." The new sidekick stated, and before they could answer, the synthetic voice of the man rang out.

"Six minutes remain." He stated, and Francis shrugged.

"I've got nothing better." And with that, they followed Batgirl through the vent.

"Is it just me, or is weird that we're following the person who's never been here before?" Artemis asked.

"So far, it is the least crazy part about today." Trickshot stated, as they continued to follow Batgirl. Eventually, she opened a grate, and dropped into the room below. The two of them followed her, and Artemis looked around.

"Is this… the infirmary?" The female archer asked, Trickshot looked around.

"This is the last place we need to be. We need to get to the locker rooms, get our spare quivers. That's the only way we can-" He started to say, when a panel of the wall slid open.

"Whoever designed this place has a serious hard on for Pan's Labyrinth…" Nolan muttered out, as he examined some sort of schematic being projected from his watch. He looked up, surprised to see them all there. "Oh, sweet, you all made it. I was kinda worried we would lose Francis."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Why are we here? I don't think a bedpan is going to be much help against Red Tornado's messed up family." Artemis asked.

"Because I have a plan. Worked it out while you were trying to free the others." Nolan responded. "Think. How do we know they're related to Red Tornado?" He asked, Artemis's brow furrowed.

"They look and sound exactly like him, duh!"

"Fake men." Cass spoke up, drawing their attention. "Don't move like us. No muscle, no nerves, no body language. Regular person like...books. These like...pictures. Not alive." She 'explained,' Artemis's eyes widened.

"They're just machines." She finished, and Francis's eyes widened as he realized what Nolan was getting at.

"You want to use an EMP." He realized, Nolan nodded.

"An electromagnetic pulse would take out everything electronic in range. If these things are as much like Tornado as we think they are, an EMP would take them out."

"Well, I did have an arrow that could make a localized EMP, but it was in my quiver when it blew up. And I don't think we're lucky enough for Artemis's last arrow to be one."

"Fresh out of luck." Artemis surmised, Nolan sighed.

"And I'm guessing that none of us have a spare nuke lying around, so we have to get creative. Which is why I had Batgirl bring you guys here." The boy genius explained, pulling up the schematic with his watch. He kneeled down in front of the X-Ray machine, opening up a panel. "See these vacuum tubes right here? There called vercators, and they convert high energy pulses. I'm going to reprogram the converter from x-rays, and readjust the dispersal pattern to go outward in a ripple effect…" The three watched as he typed on a holographic keypad, before dismissing it. "And done. One localised EMP generator, made to order."

"Seriously? I was kinda expecting something with more duct tape and paper clips."

"This isn't a seventies tv show." Nolan responded, as he delicately removed the device from the machine. He turned to them, a frown on his face. "Making the thing is the easy part. Actually using it is where things get complicated."

"What do you mean? Just fire that thing up and let's save our friends!" Artemis said, but he shook his head.

"This isn't nearly as powerful as something I could make with proper resources, and time. As far away as we are, with all this rock surrounding us, I don't think it'll work right here. The only way we can guarantee that it'll work is if we hook it up to the Cave's main generator."

"And that is…?" Francis asked, and Nolan frowned.

"Remember how I said the hard part's yet to come?"

The Hangar

"Four minutes remain." The male android announced, as it and the other android looked out over the hangar. The water was now neck deep, Scarlet Spider and X-23 had lost consciousness, the fire cage still burned, and Robin was still unconscious. The main power generator was on the far side of the hangar, and a panel soon pulled away to allow Nolan and Batgirl to crawl out. Nolan looked out as at the hangar, and frowned. If the Reds spotted them before they got to the generator, it was game over. He noticed Superboy was still conscious, and got an idea.

"Superboy, if you can hear me, blink twice." Nolan whispered, and to his joy, Superboy complied. "I need you to distract them. Just buy me a minute or two." Superboy nodded, and he thought for a second.

"Hey! Red Jackass!" Superboy yelled out, getting the attention of the female. "Is this seriously all you've got? Worst death trap ever!"

"Dude, what are you doing?" Wally asked, but T'zari, who was right next to Superboy, happened to glimpse Nolan and Batgirl, and caught on to the idea.

"I have to agree! Wakandan battle armor features built in rebreathers!" He boasted, Wally's eyes widened as he realized what they were doing, and he turned to Cassie.

"Play along!" He whispered, as he looked at the android. "Is this metal really the best you can do? I can vibrate my molecules and phase out of this, no problem!"

"Uh, yeah! And I'm half-god! I just have to think about it and I can bring down a thunderstorm and obliterate this place!"

"And I'm a Kryptonian! I don't even need to breathe!" Superboy boasted, and White Wolf looked at him.

"Is that true?"

"I don't know!" He whispered back, as the male android looked over at him. It's remaining eye glowed red, and the water began to rise.

"Oh boy…"

As the water began to rise, Nolan was instructing Cass on how to hook the EMP device up into the generator. "Alright, just plug this here. I'm rerouting power now…" Nolan instructed, plugging his watch into the generator as Cass set the device in the cradle.

This was going to work. It had to. Nolan had to push aside that little voice inside his head, the one telling him he had gotten some calculation wrong. The others were counting on him, and if that little voice won out…he couldn't think about that.

Batgirl followed his instructions to the letter, as he rerouted the power supply. "Alright, power's redirected. 3… 2… 1." He pressed a button on his watch… only for nothing to happen. "I… I don't understand. It should be working. Why isn't it working?!" He asked, Batgirl examined the device.

"Short." She stated simply, getting a glance from him.

"What?" She pointed at the device, and he examined it. It was in there right… with one exception. His heart sank, as his deepest fear was proven true"It's too short…" He gasped out. "Quick, give me something metal, or-"

"Look out!" Wally's voice was the last thing they heard before the waves washed over the two, knocking them out. The male held up his hand, and the water flowed over to him and carried the two over, keeping them suspended in the water

"No!" Artemis yelled out, pulling out her last arrow from her vantage point. She fired it at the Reds, but it exploded when the female threw a fireball at it.

"Time to go!" Trickshot yelled, grabbing Artemis by the quiver and dragging her back into the hallway. They scrambled back up the vent they had come up through, crawling through the vents. They narrowly scurried into another vent before flames blasted where they had been a minute before, and Trickshot stopped to look through the warped metal at the hangar.

"Three minutes remain." Francis narrowed his eyes through his mask, watching as the android kept the other two suspended in the water. The two archers had stayed back just in case the plan didn't work, and for the second time that day, Francis hated being right.

Things were going to shit, that much was for certain. They'd staked it all on that plan, but it had gone wrong in a most spectacular way. And now Nolan and Batgirl we're gone, leaving only two archers without arrows. How were they going to get out of this one…?

"This is bad…" He muttered to himself. "Artemis, if you've got any ideas on how to pull this off, I'm all ears." The Barton stated, only to be met with silence. He at least expected a witty retort…

He looked behind him just in time to see Artemis round a corner, and he went after her. "Hey, where are you going!"

"I'm trying to find a way out of here!" She called back, as he crawled after her. "The Reds took out all our superpowered teammates, our super genius, and what I can only assume to be a ninja! We have no chance to-" The female archer started to say, when a grate fell out from under her. Artemis fell into the trophy room, Francis dropping down after her.

"You ok?" He asked, only to be met with panting. "Artemis?"

"No, I'm not ok!" She yelled at him. "Nolan is a super genius. Batgirl and Robin were trained by freaking Batman, and all the others have superpowers. We shoot bows and arrows like we're in goddamn Robin Hood! Way I see it, our only option is to get out of this Cave, get to town, and call the League!"

"And leave our friends to die?"

"What do you think'll happen if we surrender?"

"I told you, they want us-"

"Yeah, you said they want us alive. But they seemed awfully ready to kill the others back there." Artemis stated, as she began to pace the trophy room. "This is insane, and the fact that you're remaining so… so calm is driving me up the goddamn wall and-"

"Is that what you think? That I'm not fazed by any of this?" The older archer cut off, pulling his mask down.

"Do you honestly think I'm not right behind you on this meltdown? That I'm not scared shitless by the fact that we're alone, unarmed, against the Red Avatars out there, while our friends, my girlfriend, are about to die out there? Because believe me, I am!" Francis yelled.

"Do you honestly think that I don't think about quitting. That… that I don't think about hanging up my bow and walking away, forgetting about all of this? Well I do, and I ignore that shit because there are people counting on us!" He finished, and the room was silent for a moment.

"Why?" She asked, causing Francis's face to twist in confusion.

"What?"

"Why do you do… this?" Artemis gestured to his uniform, causing him to look at his mask.

"When you were a kid, what did you think about Green Arrow?" He asked, causing her to become confused now.

"What?"

"Green Arrow, Hawkeye. Just those two. What did you think? Be honest." Francis asked, causing her to sigh.

"I… honestly thought they were kinda lame. I mean, even Batman had all this crazy tech and they had… well, bows and arrows." She explained, and he actually laughed at this.

"You're not wrong. I mean, bows and arrows against guys with death rays? Insanity, pure and simple. So that's why we have to be insanely good." Francis explained. "You know who saves the day? When the chips are down, and the backs are against the wall, and the planet's about to explode? The idiots with the bows and arrows are the ones who hold the line. When Galactus came to Earth, Green Arrow used a flashbang arrow to distract his herald long enough for Superman to punch him back into space. When Red Skull tried setting off a Madbomb in the middle of New York, it was my dad who put an arrow in his hand, keeping him from setting it off. When Sinestro-"

"Three minutes remain." The Red Man's voice called out, cutting off Francis.

"Point is, everyone writes off the arrow guys, but we're the ones who keep the world turning. Because the ones stupid enough to fire arrows at death rays are the ones stupid enough to not know when to quit. Because if we don't, then no one else will." He ranted, and part of him wondered if he was talking to himself or Artemis. "And that's why I do it. Not because of what happened to me when I was a kid, not because of who my parents are, but because someone has to help make sure the world's still turning tomorrow."

Artemis hugged herself, looking over at the trophy room. The Helmet of Fate, Klaue's sonic cannon… and Cheshire's mask. Jade's mask.

The last time she had seen Jade, she'd packed her bags and walked away. And then, six years later, Artemis was reunited with her sister with an arrow pointed at her. Rather than choose life with their father, Jade had run away, walking down a path that led her into the Shadows.

Jade had thought it was every girl for herself. That she only had to look out for herself, and the same was applied to Artemis and Paula. And, for a while, Artemis had thought she might have been right. But then she met the Team. Watched how they all went out of their way to help each other and complete strangers, regardless of what would happen to them. Hell, she knew deep down that even Wally would help her out if she truly needed it, just as she would help him now.

It might have been everyone for themselves in her old family… but she had a new family now.

"You have a plan?" She asked, and he looked around. He looked at the souvenir shelf, his eyes resting on the arrow between Crossbones and Cheshire's masks.

"Yeah, I kinda do."

The Hangar

"One minute remaining." Red Man asked, Red Lady standing beside him in front of the flame cage. Kaldur had joined M'gann in the realm of unconsciousness, and Carter and Laura were now fully engulfed in their water prisons, just like Nolan and Cass were. Jason was still unconscious, and the four in the metal prisons were about to be fully submerged.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal Trickshot walking out, his arms raised. "Alright, alright, I surrender!" He declared, approaching the reds.

"Query: Where is Artemis?" Red Lady asked.

"W-we were running through the vents, and she fell down one head first. The fall broke her neck, killed her." Trickshot explained. "Look, I did what you want and surrendered, so just… ease off, alright?" He begged, and the two androids exchanged a silent, expressionless look.

"You will remain here while we verify your statement." Red Man stated.

"Wait, that wasn't the deal. I surrender, you don't kill my friends."

"The deal necessitated surrender. Survival was never promised." Red Man countered. "Only upon verification of the death of Artemis will conditions be relaxed." As Red Man spoke, a panel on the far side of the hangar slid open. Artemis stepped out, and silently approached the doorway. Francis had them distracted, and she had only one shot at this.

She reached into her quiver, pulling out the arrow she had fired at the Amazo. She notched the arrow, planting her feet firmly. She pulled the arrow back as far as she could, to the point where it felt like it was going to snap.

They were all counting on her. Francis didn't just give her the arrow because she still had a working bow. It was because he knew she was stubborn, stubborn enough that he knew that she would make the plan work through her sheer force of will. He was placing all their lives in her hand, and she sure as hell wouldn't let them down.

And then the notches were lined up with the EMP device. It was an impossible shot, like trying to shoot a bullet through a needle. But she couldn't worry about that. She simply had to have faith in herself that she would hit the target.

And so she let the arrow fly, the green projectile sailing through the air. By the time the Reds processed it, it sailed towards the generator, and the metal arrow head hit it's target right where the device fell short. The metal completed the circuit, and the device glowed as it powered up. Before the Reds could react, it released its built up energy, sending out an electromagnetic pulse. Every light in the hangar went dark, the lights went off on Sphere, and the Reds spasmed before collapsing, their red eyes going dark. As soon as they collapsed, the flame cage vanished, the water stopped rising, and the water sphere dissipated. Nolan and Batgirl collapsed to the ground, both of them coughing up water.

"That… sucked…" Nolan sputtered out, before his eyes went to the unconscious mutant and arachnid. "Carter and Laura!"

"Already on it!" Artemis called out, jumping from her vantage point. She ran over to Laura while Cass ran over to Carter, and they began pumping their chests. Laura awaken much faster, eyes snapping open as she coughed up water.

Carter was taking longer, and Batgirl frowned under her mask. She pulled her mask up, and then Carter's mask, and then leant over to give him mouth to mouth. She tilted his head to the side, and he coughed before spitting out water. His lenses moved as if he were blinking, before looking up at Batgirl.

"Cass…? What the hell?" He muttered out, still coughing. "What the hell happened?"

"You all just got your asses saved by one arrow." Artemis stated, as Francis ran over to M'gann and Kaldur, the latter of which was regaining consciousness.

"Kaldur, is she…?" He asked, kneeling down and cradling the Martian.

"I… I do not know…" The Atlantean stated, and Francis frowned, before M'gann slowly stirred awake.

"Mmm, five more minutes…" She mumbled out, Francis breathed a sigh of relief.

"She's… she's fine."

"Uh, that's great and all…" Wally said, drawing their attention. "But can you get us out of this stuff?"

"Uh, right…"

Several Minutes Later

"...and so me and Artemis stayed behind just in case Nolan's plan didn't work out." Francis finished explaining to the others, who were gathered around their friends who were still trapped in the metal. Nolan was currently helping Artemis with a fusion drill, which they would then use to cut the captive teens out of the metal. "I just had to keep the Reds distracted, while Artemis… well, it would have been easier to hit a frog's eye in a hurricane."

"It was no big deal. Someone had to do it." Artemis responded, and Francis sent back a smirk of appreciation.

"Uh huh, that's nice and all, but uh, can you get us out of this? My legs are starting to go numb…" Wally spoke up, Artemis sighed.

"It's an EMP, dummy. Knocked out every piece of technology in the cave, not just the Reds." Artemis shot back, Carter let out a sigh.

"Aaaaand we're back to business as usual…"

"Did you really expect anything different?" Jason asked, still nursing his arm. He then gestured to Batgirl, who was skulking behind her "By the way, guys, this is Batgirl. She's been training with me and Batman, and I figured she could tag along today. Picked a hell of a day to do it, though…"

"Well, we're certainly glad you brought her. I don't think we would have made it without her." Laura stated.

"No argument there. Though I'll have to say, where does Batman even find a Die Hard-loving ninja?" Trickshot asked, Jason shrugged.

"That's…story for another day. I didn't expect today to be so nuts." Jason commented, Kaldur approaching him.

"Regardless, her skills proved invaluable. I… believe we may have a spot open." Kaldur offered, and Jason turned to Cass.

"Well? What do you say?" He asked, the outline of a smile was visible through her mask.

"I… accept." She said, Carter gave her a thumbs up.

"Hell yeah! Trust me, guys, we won't regret having her here."

"Intriguing. I was not aware that Batman had additional sidekicks." A familiar voice stated, the others turned to see Red Tornado entering the hangar. As soon as he did, Artemis's eyes widened.

"Wait, the EMP-!"

"Only affects machines that were present at the time." Tornado explained, touching down and dispersing the wind that carried him.

"And speaking of present, where the hell have you been?" Superboy asked.

"Monitor duty on the Watchtower. When it became clear communication with the Cave had ceased, I took it upon myself to investigate. However, the Cave Zeta Tubes had also gone offline, and I was forced to teleport to Providence. From there, I travelled here, where I found most entrances to the cave offline." Red Tornado explained. "What has occured?"

"Your family dropped in for an unannounced visit." Carter spoke up, gesturing to the Reds, which lay deactivated.

"And, I gotta say, they share your lack of manners." Jason commented, Red Tornado looked at the deactivated machines.

"I was unaware I had… relations." Tornado stated, investigating.

"Did they say anything about what they wanted?" Nolan asked, and M'gann shook her head.

"No. They just… attacked us. We were taken completely by surprise, and they didn't say anything until you guys showed up." She explained, a familiar chirping echoed through the cave. The lights on Sphere turned on, the strange machine picking itself up out of its crater and rolling over to them. As this happened, the fusion drill turned on, and Artemis had to shut it off before it drilled a hole in Wally's leg. Nolan's eyes widened, turning to Tornado, who was reaching towards his 'siblings.'

"The EMP's wearing off!" It happened in an instant. As soon as Tornado touched Red Man, there was a sort of… static shock between the two, and Tornado's eyes turned red.

He rose up, and before anyone could react, raised both his hands at the Team. Cyclones enveloped both his arms and his legs, siphoning all the air in his direction. The Team gasped for air, and Trickshot dropped to his knees. The last thing he saw before his vision went black were Tornado's glowing red eyes…

"...ncis. Francis!" The young archer's eyes fluttered open, and he was face to face with the worried visage of Mockingbird, who let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god…" She gasped out, and looked to his right. "He's awake!"

"...Mom? What's going on?" He asked, and Hawkeye knelt down to help his son up.

"Easy, bud. How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I'm confused, and…" His eyes widened as he recalled what happened. "Wait, the others…!"

"Are fine." Mockingbird reassured him, and he looked over to see the others being checked on by their mentors. Iron Man, Flash, and Black Panther were working on getting the others out, and Captain America was staring at the open hangar. Francis was about to ask what was going on, when Wonder Woman flew in.

"Well?" Cap asked, and Wonder Woman frowned as she addressed her husband.

"No luck. The air currents indicate he travelled to Providence. From there, he took the Zeta Tube." She explained. "He cleared two guests to travel with him to the Zeta Tube in Denver, but by the time we got there, he'd already gone." Cassie's mentor explained. "He used his powers to alter the air currents enough to throw us off his trail. Superman and Thor stayed behind to try and pick up a trail, but they didn't sound optimistic."

"Dammit…." Cap muttered under his breath, and Francis's brow furrowed.

"Wait, when they say he…"

"Yes." Batman spoke up, rising from where he was checking on Robin and Batgirl. "As of now, it looks that Red Tornado… has gone rogue."

A/N: The Red Menace Saga begins now. We are all beyond excited to show you all our vision. Until next time!