CHAPTER 43
BLUDHAVEN
Nightwing sat at his chair staring at Blue Beetle on the screen. His fingers clenched tightly around Tim's now broken birdarang.
"Jamie, what did you do?" He threw the pieces of the weapon onto the ground and slammed his fist into the keyboard, sending keys flying all over the place. He felt a sinking feeling coming from his stomach.
"Where are they?" He wondered flashes of Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Bumblebee, Guardian, Robin, Superboy, Arsenal, Impulse and Batgirl cycled through his mind. He jumped up hearing the door slam shut.
"Dick?" His heart swelled hearing M'gann's voice bounce off the walls.
"M'gann" He looked towards the entrance of the warehouse seeing her rushing inside. The two looked at one another for a moment before sprinting into a hug.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you're okay" He whispered into her hair..
"Dick, I'm so sorry I didn't know" She panted.
"It's okay….is Kaldur and Artemis with you?" Dick asked. He looked around seeing nobody else coming through the door.
"No, but they're safe and their cover wasn't blown. I made sure of it" M'gann informed.
"Well that's good news, I wished you came at a better time, it turns out Blue Beetle is now working with the Reach" Dick explained to her. M'gann's eyes widened at the statement.
"What? But when did he" She began.
"I don't know I can only assume Green Beetle had a hand in it but he has the team locked up somewhere Barbara, Gar; Tim, Cassie, Karen and Mal all of them" M'gann shook at this news.
"Conner" She whispered, holding her chest.
"Alright let's go find them" M'gann said the two walked towards the bio ship who's engine began revving the moment she spotted M'gann.
"I missed you too girl" M'gann flew over to her companion patting her roof. A yellow blur dashed past Nightwing.
"You didn't think I'd let you guys go alone did you?" Wally asked, clad in his Kid Flash costume.
"WALLY!" M'gann flew over, hugging him tightly. He pulled her deeper into the hug.
"Hey Megan, I'm glad you're okay" Wally rubbed her head tenderly.
"I thought you gave up on the yellow and red," Dick smirked.
"Not when my friends need me, now stop being a smart ass and let's find the team" The group got onto the ship and took off towards the War World.
BIOSHIP
Wally sat quietly, his finger thumping repeatedly on the armrest of the seat.
"I know you're angry, it feels like one thing after the other with me doesn't it?" Dick grumbled.
"This is a less than desirable sitch yeah, that's why I left the life I'm sick of these situations" Wally admitted.
"This one is on me, I didn't properly read Green Beetle's mind. If I did then we would have known he was up to know good," M'gann stated.
"You wouldn't have hesitated if I told you about Artemis and Kaldur's mission. This is my fault" Dick sighed. M'gann glanced at him and smirked.
"So is this the part where we hug and make up because we both screwed up?" M'gann chuckled lightly.
"I mean what else is left to do" Dick laughed at himself.
"Wally, I can see why we broke up before I'm so much to deal with….I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to take back your proposal" Dick choked out. M'gann gasped looking between the two. Wally looked off in thought for a moment with a bored expression.
"Nah, I think I'll keep ya" He laughed.
"Wait really?" Dick asked.
"Dude I've been in love with you since I was 15. If you think you're scaring me off this easily you've got another thing coming" Wally stood up from his seat and walked over to his fiance. Wally leaned down, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.
"I love you" Dick placed his hands over Wally's, a big smile forming over his face.
"I'm happy you two made up, it really sucked that you two weren't speaking for so long" M'gann commented.
"It really did suck and not in the fun way" Wally smirked seeing a faint blush form over Dick's cheeks.
"WALLY!" M'gann whined.
"Way to ruin a moment" Dick sighed fondly.
WAR WORLD
Bio Ship landed in the hangar bay of the artificial planet. The hatch opened, Miss Martian, Nightwing and Kid Flash exiting slowly examining the area.
"I found Robin's birdarang over here, it had traces of Blue Beetle's armor. I'll do a scan of the area to see if I can find any clues to where they are" Nightwing crouched down noticing a deep cut on the metal ground.
"I'll scout the perimeter to see if I can find anyone" Kid Flash sped away.
"I'll look for them telepathically" M'gann began to levitate her amber eyes shining a bright green. She sensed nothing on this level of the ship.
"Maybe they're out of range" M'gann phased through the floor and flew towards a distant noise she heard.
"What the?" She thought to herself, she gasped sensing an incoming thought.
"WHY DID WE COME HERE!" A panicked young man's voice rang in her head.
"Huh?" M'gann flew towards the psychic noise only to be met by a room full of Reach soldiers. They aimed their spears at her, M'gann quickly flung her arm to the left, all of their spears launched from their hand shattering against a wall.
"HIYAH!" She sent the rest flying across the room slamming against the far wall with a sickening crack. The wall behind her opened revealing a small army of guards.
"Uh oh" She got in a defensive position. Suddenly a yellow blur zoomed past knocking four guards out at once. A smoke pellet hit the ground hard covering the area in a thick black smog. Nightwing dropped down slamming his escrima sticks into a guard's neck, into another's gut and into the last one's knees. He holstered his sticks and crouched down.
Nightwing flipped backwards pulling out six birdarangs 3 in each hand and tossing them downward into the ground. They beeped for a moment before exploding, sending the guards flying.
"Nice one babe" Kid Flash bounced off a wall kicking a guard across the face hard enough to send him spinning to the ground.
"It's all about skill" Nightwing cackled, he kicked a guard in the chest. Miss Martian lifted a group of them up with her telekinesis and slammed them back into the ground.
"That's all of them" Nightwing looked around at the now unconscious guards.
"Just like old times" Wally cracked his neck.
The door opened revealing Arsenal, Asami, Eduardo, Virgil and Ty in defensive positions with the rest of the team recovering behind them.
"Well if it isn't our fearless leader" Arsenal strolled over to Nightwing.
"I see you found some strays" He glanced at the runaways.
"And I see you pulled an old suit out the closet" Arsenal glanced at Wally. Everyone flinched hearing explosions. Dick's eyes widened behind his mask seeing Black Beetle and Mongul battling.
"We should go before they declare a winner" Arsenal stated.
"Right" Everyone ran towards the hangar bay. Karen leaned against the ship holding her head in pain. She opened her eyes glaring at Roy.
"Gar" M'gann hugged her little brother tightly, kissing his cheek.
"M'gann" Gar whined out.
Virgil and Eduardo were helping Bart to the ship.
"I remember you, you showed up with that Blue Beetle guy and Beast Boy when Black Beetle devastated your team…..what happened? That can't be the same guy I saw destroy Red Volcano" Virgil commented.
"He's totally modded" Bart whispered.
"What does that mean?" Virgil asked. Bart gasped in pain feeling a sharp sting in the back of his head. Ed's fingers grazed against the wound.
"This is nasty back here, you should probably get stitches" Ed commented.
"I appreciate the concern but I heal fast, I'll be fine" Bart looked the older teen up and down.
"I remember you from the shrink sessions with Black Canary, good to see you're using your gift for good" Bart smirked at him.
"Amigo gift is still a bit of a stretch….but I guess it does have its perks. I assume speed holds those same perks for you" Ed brushed a strand of hair out of Bart's face. This caused the younger one to blush.
"Heh, well thanks for the help guys, stay crash" He placed his fist on Ed's chest before speeding into the ship.
Conner groaned, rubbing his head.
"Not the smoothest mission" He grumbled.
"At Least we're not in those stasis pods anymore" Robin rubbed his arm.
"Are you alright?" Conner pulled Tim into a warm embrace.
"I'll be fine Kon, just need to get home" He explained. Conner felt a soft push against his shoulder and turned around to see Sphere.
"Hey girl glad you made it" He placed his hand on her. Wolf placed their head down allowing Tim to get on their back. Roy stormed over to Dick.
"We have to talk about Blue, he betrayed us" Roy seethe.
"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! Last thing I remember you blew an airlock putting our lives in danger and absolutely ensuring our capture" Karen snarled. Dick looked between the two of them.
"If it wasn't for me we'd still be in those pods, thanks to me you're free to stand there and complain so how about a thank you" Roy clenched his fist.
"You're right Arsenal...and when we get back to earth you're off the team" Nightwing said with such contempt.
"What?" Virgil gapped.
"No way, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have been able to save anyone" Ty defended him.
"That may be, but this isn't the first time he's done something risky to further his own agenda. You have demons Roy and until you deal with them it's not safe working with you" Dick explained, Roy glared at his former leader.
"Fine," He snarled.
"Now let's get on board" Dick began walking toward the ship.
"Thing is, we don't need you," Eduardo stated. Asami pulled the fatherbox out of her pocket.
"Wait, is that?" Dick was taken aback by the device.
"Need a lift?" Eduardo asked.
"Definitely" Arsenal smirked.
"Home please" Asami asked, with a loud rose a boom tube opened under them. The Runaways and Arsenal dropped into the portal before it vanished. Nightwing let out a frustrated sigh, he leaned on the ship pushing the bangs off his forehead.
"You did the right thing" Wally wrapped an arm around his fiance's shoulders.
"I know….just wish it felt like it" Dick placed his head on Wally's shoulder.
"It's okay, we got the team back. Artemis and Kaldur are safe and now we can go home. I call today a win" Wally listed off their achievements.
"Not yet" Both young men turned around to look at Bart.
"Bart? Everything okay?" Wally questioned his cousin, seeing the fear in his eyes.
"We have to talk about Blue," Bart started.
"Not here, Mongul and Black's fight might be over soon and I don't want to be here when the winner comes looking for us" Dick stated.
"Best idea I've heard all day, let's dip" Wally rushed on board. Dick chuckled lightly before following. Bart took a last look at the War World before entering the ship.