Bunkered down in the Home Economics classroom, the Team spread themselves out once more. This time with Kid Flash and Artemis (unfortunately) paired together with the deep-faked doctor and Aqualad on perimeter. They knew the Shadows knew they'd moved, it was only logical afterall, but Aqualad hoped that this ruse would buy them enough time to secure the wayward Fog and cease any further damages wrought by it.

'Stop it!' Aqualad chastised as he sat hunched in the bushes lining the perimeter. 'Both of you'

'WHAT?!' Artemis and Kid Flash chorused in exasperation.

'I can HEAR you glaring' He replied as he shuffled over to a new spot, well-aware of the way the back of his neck tingled. It felt like the atlantean already had eyes on him. He knew that The League of Shadows moved fast, but this was nuts! They'd barely even moved—barely even settled into their new positions—when he'd felt that familiar sensation. He could only hope that they did not already know of the Team's ruse. "Ms Martian" Aqualad spoke aloud, hoping to divert the Shadows' attention for just a moment. "Stay in camouflage mode and make a wide perimeter sweep"

Aqualad may have felt the eyes on him, but that did not mean he saw when they attacked. Familiar red webs surged from the canopy overhead and glued themselves to his upper half as he was introduced to Cheshire's partners. Two familiar partners that the sidekick had met previously, in a dalliance he oft did not like to remember.

A series of hits were thrown, the atlantean making sure not to rouse any suspicions, before he was tossed none-too-gently from the trees and into one of the few vehicles still parked outside. Slumped over against the ground, Aqualad held his breath as his pursuers joined him. For their plan to work, the Shadows had to think that they had gained the upper hand, starting with knocking out the sidekicks' leader.

"The martian could return at any second" Cheshire worried, sharing her concerns with Hook and Web who gathered around the fallen hero. "And I'm not keen on evening their odds. We end Roquette now"

No sooner had Hook and Web trailed off after Cheshire, banging the doors open and making them slam back on their hinges with unneeded force, did Aqualad climb to his feet once more. Artemis, Kid Flash and Ms Martian could handle those three, he was sure of it. At the very least, they'd be able to buy them some much needed time because as of now, the chase was afoot.


8 August 2010
Sandbar Internet Cafe, Happy Harbour

Just as short jaunt away from Happy Harbour High School stood the local hub consisting of the usual harbour necessities. There was the ice cream parlour on the corner which was rather popular during summertime and the rowdy pub where the fishermen would go to take a load off after a long haul out on the open sea. Snuggled between the bookstore and a fish 'n chip store along the boulevard, sat the internet cafe which the sidekicks had commandeered. It was closed, of course, but a quick trick with a lock pick and suddenly the store was open for business.

"…I've almost got it!" Doctor Sterling chirped as she glanced up briefly from the computer screen, her face illuminated by its glow. Off to the side, Raven sat perched upon a nearby desk nursing an egg-shaped bruise which was already turning a nice puce colour. Thankfully, the young witch wasn't too hurt by her interaction with the Shadows, if anything she was a little embarrassed to be taken out so easily. But, she supposed, That's why it's called a 'sneak attack'

On the other side of the store, seen only by the faint window display in the store's bay window that illuminated his edges, Aqualad prowled up and down as he remained on the lookout for any sign of their pursuers. There had been nothing yet, but the sounds of fighting in their ears thanks to the comms which had remained on. By the sounds of it, the others were keeping true to their word and keeping Hook, Web and Cheshire busy for the time being.

On the first line, there was Robin and Superboy who had moved onto the next location, as allocated by Doctor Sterling's programme. Listening to them blabber, Raven felt like she was listening to one of Kent's telenovas—suspenseful and attention-grabbing even if she wasn't in the room. Crimson eyes scanned the internet cafe whilst she listened to their escapades, for a lack of something to do. "Next target's a WayneTech facility!" Robin breathed in despair, "In theory its systems' software could be used to hack the—"

"—The what?" Superboy replied, just as confused as the witch who was listening in. Robin had clearly been about to say something important before he cut himself off.

"Doesn't matter, what matters is WayneTech operates a 24-hour workforce! We'll never evacuate the building in time!"

On line two of the comms, there was Ms Martian, Artemis and Kid Flash who had remained at their primary location and was helping to buy them some time before the three League of Shadows' assassins cottoned on to the fact that they had, in fact, been duped by children. Where line one was full of action and suspense, line two seemed to be filled with angst and conviction. "…You'll never find Doctor Roquette!" Ms Martian declared, shedding her disguise in favour of her own skin.

"…" There was a pause as a reply was stated, one that Raven couldn't hear.

"Pursuing their leader!" Artemis shot over her shoulder as she ran out of the door, "Take the rest down!"

"You are SO not the boss of me!" Kid Flash childishly spat as he ducked beneath a wild swing.

"Just DO it!" Artemis retorted in exasperation.

THUMP!

The sudden thump on the roof wordlessly alerted both witch and atlantean to their newest peers. Shaking off her stupor, Raven rolled up onto the balls of her feet, hands clenched around the edge of the desk and ready to move at a moment's notice. "We have company!" Aqualad warned.

"Uploading now!" Doctor Sterling replied as her fingers flew across the keyboard like a speedster on caffeine. "And, by the way, you said you'd protect me!"

"Raven! Go!" Aqualad order as a smoke bomb rolled in through the back door, only to have tranquilliser darts fly in from the cracked skylight.

"Right!" Raven nodded, launching herself from the desk, hands outstretched towards the blonde. Together, the pair dove towards the shadows surrounding the cafe, easily concealed inside.

Raven had been practising this for some time now, the ability to bring other people into her shadows with her. Usually, she used Robin as her practise dummy because he was about the same build as her and so she had less room to cover. Doctor Sterling, of course, was several heads taller than the ten year old and so provided a bit of a challenge, but Raven could do it. She had to, otherwise everything would have been all for naught. Not to mention, she could just hear the doctor's snarky remarks as she was dragged off by the very people she was running away from.

"̸̢̨͚̟̺̹͉̀̽͋̕͜͜B̸̺̭̼̻̙̣̳̦͉̀̓̒̈́͝͝ȓ̶̡̛̲̗̥͋̓͂̎̉͊̉͗̕ë̷̯̲̭͔̖̭͔͖̬̲̒͗̒̃̈́͘â̶͚̮͙̩̜̼̏t̶̮̝͓̅̏̃̕ḧ̶̨̠̭͇̫̠̮́e̷͕̠̗̠̙̮̙̬̅̏̏"̵̛̗̂̀Raven soothed, her voice sounding oddly—eerily—layered in the dark as she none-too-gently shoved the slim rebreather in between the doctor's lips. One thing that she had discovered whilst training this little quirk, was that others unlike herself, could not breathe in the shadow realm. To them it was like they were underwater or swimming in ink. Their movements were sluggish and their breaths coming in short gasps as they flailed about in the new environment. Raven on the other hand, moved with ease, practically soaring through the dark endless mass like she was born to it.

"Let's test the limits of your jellyfish immunity, shall we?" Cheshire purred. Although Raven and Doctor Sterling were still hiding in the shadows (pun intended), they could still hear everything that was going on. On the downside, with them in hiding, Aqualad had been left alone to face the assassin. But on the upside, Aqualad had been left alone to face the assassin which meant that he didn't have to worry about accidentally hurting the doctor in the midst of the fight or worry about her whereabouts because he knew exactly where she was.

All Raven and the doctor could hear was a series of thuds, thumps and grunts as the assassin and sidekick traded blows. Part of Raven felt guilty for hiding like this and leaving the lion's share to the atlantean. But the other part of her was glad she was on guard duty because that meant that she didn't have to face a League of Shadows assassin when she clearly wasn't ready for it. The young witch was powerful, yes—there was no doubt about that—but power and natural talent only did so much. And in the face of someone who was a masterfully trained assassin—someone who killed for a living—she was pretty sure she'd end up skewered on the business end of a blade.

THUMP!

"There! Limit tested" Cheshire smirked as Aqualad hit the floor, the sound echoing about the shadow realm. "Now, time to catch me, a birdie"

FLASH!

"Ugh!" Raven cried out in pain at the sudden flash of light that pierced the darkness, blinding her and in the process of doing so, launched both occupants back out onto the surface where the cat stood waiting. Pain lanced through the witch's head, making her dizzy as she curled up tight and shoved her palms in her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the dots dancing there. The flash-bomb had been an unexpected, but smart move on Cheshire's part because that brief moment of distraction was enough for the cat to advance on the doctor.

"Now, doctor" Cheshire leered as she strode over to the blonde sprawled out on the carpet, breath knocked out of her at the sudden ejection from the dark. "Time for my appointment…!"

BEEP~!

"Ah! Uh—ah!" Doctor Sterling squealed as she was hoisted to her feet. The happy chirp of the computer caught her attention, briefly taking it away from the bladed sai pressed up against her cheek. It had worked! The virus had downloaded into her precious, prized Fog!

"So, you finished the virus; eliminating the reason for your elimination. Though not the entertainment value" Cheshire hummed threateningly, before she shoved the blonde back to the ground. "Lucky for you, my orders are clear. You live to programme another day. Afterall doctor, the Shadows may find another use for you!"

With that last warning in mind, Cheshire sauntered from the internet store without a care in the world, swinging her sais as she went. Raven, who had previously been cowering on the floor, was able to shake off enough of pain & dizziness to clamber to her feet and stumble over to Aqualad to rouse him. "You said you'd protect me!" Sterling couldn't help but snark as the witch tried to wake their leader. Thankfully (in part to his jellyfish immunity), it hadn't taken very long before he was awake and more or less on his feet.

"You're alive, aren't you? Raven retorted with just as much sass. That seemed to shut the blonde up for the moment because she moved to help pull the boy to his feet, one arm hooked around her neck.

Shuffling out into the street, the three were met with the sight of Artemis looking despondently off into the horizon and looking for-all-the-world like someone had just pissed in her cereal. "Heh…heh…Artemis" Aqualad puffed, coming to stand in front of the archer. "Where's the…assassin?"

"She uh, she got away" Artemis admitted, unable to look any of them in the eye.

"Ohoho? From you? Oh big surprise! Notice: we got ours"" Kid Flash greeted, zooming into frame as if summoned. His attention then slipped to the forgotten feline mask on the floor as Ms Martian joined them soon after, Hook and Web in tow. "Cool! Souvenir!"

"Her mask?" Raven mused, head tilted in question. "D'you see her face, Artemis?"

"It was dark!" Artemis retorted hotly, "And not all of us have night vision!"

"…That was uncalled for" Raven mumbled through her pout, slightly hurt.

"It is fine" Aqualad sighed (it clearly wasn't), his, hand coming to rest on the witch's soldier as his metabolism cycled out the toxins in his body, allowing him to stand on his own. "Robin and Superboy neutralised The Fog and Doctor Roquette is safe. Thanks, in no small part, to you. Welcome to the Team"

"I've always wanted a sister" Ms Martian admitted as Artemis shook hands with the tired atlantean. "Here on Earth, I mean, I've got twelve back on Mars. But trust me, it's not the same"

"I…wouldn't know" Artemis replied hesitantly as Raven was pushed to officially greet the blonde archer next. "But, thanks"

"Welcome" Raven mumbled, still a little butt-hurt about the earlier comment and still slightly dizzy from the flash-bomb, but she shook the older girl's hand anyway. Mostly because Ms Martian was staring her into submission; but she wasn't alone in her reluctance.

"Ow!" Kid Flash hissed, hand coming up to his ribs where Raven had childishly pinched the reluctant speedster. "Yeah, welcome or whatever"