Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own none of these characters, except the pharmatist:(
There are a couple of timeline problems, I think, sorry!
Chapter One
Wonder Girl had been busy lately, helping both the Young Justice and Wonder Woman battle villains, and she wanted a little time to herself. In two days the Young Justice was going to have their regular meeting, so she decided to head that way early, so that she could take time to just relax. As she walked through the forest towards the meeting place, she saw someone in green duck behind a tree. Curious, she got a little closer, and saw a flash of red hair. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two more people duck in the bushes. Apprehensively, she slowly began to fly up, in what she hoped was out of the way of any possible danger. Just then there was a bang, and she felt a searing pain in her side. She fell to the ground, holding her side, and saw a couple dozen super villains and their normal human sidekicks heading towards her. The girl realized then that the person in green with the red hair had been Poison Ivy, an enemy of Batman. The two people she'd seen in the bushes were normal humans- sidekicks of Two Face, another of Batman's enemies. Another person with red hair was visible, someone that she'd read about in the criminal files that Robin made the Young Justice go over- Lex Luthor, Superman's arch enemy. Catwoman, Two Face, Copperhead, Killer Frost, and one Wonder Girl especially recognized- the Cheetah- were there as well, accompanied by others that she hadn't seen but had read about. Surrounded by the villains, she leveled her gaze with Catwoman's and said, "A little ways from Gotham, aren't we?" Two Face spoke up.
"I've flipped the coin and left it to chance-"
"- it's time to choke out the JLA and Young Justice," Poison Ivy finished, petting an ugly plant. Although she knew there was no way she'd be able to win a battle against them, Wonder Girl resolved to bring their numbers down before they got to the others.
"On your way to the Young Justice's meeting spot, aren't you," Copperhead queried, gazing at her with bright eyes.
"So what if I am?" Wonder Girl challenged.
"Tell us where it is." Two Face said.
"No." The girl said simply.
"You'll tell us, or-" Bane growled threateningly. Lex Luthor put his hand up.
"I agreed to donate my genius advice and inventions to help you defeat the supers if I were allowed a few samples for study. It will be hard to examine her if all her bones are broken and such." The man said casually. "Capture her, so we can make her tell us where the meeting spot is." As he left the clearing, several of his and Two Faces human henchmen headed towards her. Aware of intense pain in her side, she pushed herself up so that she'd at least be on her feet when they came. She began to fly up, but Poison Ivy sent the plant she'd been crooning to up so that grew so huge and thick that it completely covered the opening at the top. Still hovering in the air, Wonder Girl raised her arms up, prepared to deflect any bullets with her magic bracelets. As one of Two Face's henchmen grew near her, she lashed out with a kick that caught the guy in the chin and sent him to dreamland. When one of Luthor's men got too close, she gave three quick punches, ending with a kick to his chest that sent him five feet out. The other goons , disregarding Luthor's orders in fear for their necks, pulled their guns on her and Wonder Girl deflected bullet after bullet, but the pain in her side grew so intense from lack of treatment that she slowed. A bullet ripped into her shoulder, and at the same time one landed in the same side as the first one had, and she fell to the ground. One of Poison Ivy's plants twisted around her wrists, and another around her ankles.
"Glad she wasn't too much for you," Bane said sarcastically, watching several of the goons groggily picking themselves up off the ground.
"Take her to the hideout," the Cheetah commanded, smiling as she watched the thugs drag the unconscious Wonder Girl to their hideout.
Chapter Two
Robin rolled his eyes, watching as Impulse raced circles around them.
"We're half a day late," Superboy grumbled. "I should just fly there and let Wonder Girl know that you're going to be a while."
Robin ignored the jab about his lack of super powers. "We should let Impulse run there. He'd be there, deliver the message, and be back in less than three seconds," he said wryly, watching as Impulse practically flew around them.
"Yes, but would Cassie be able to understand him?" Superboy asked, referring to the fact that their friend's speech was as quick as his stride speed.
Robin smiled. But the next minute he stopped short as Bart, a.k.a. Impulse, suddenly appeared before them.
"Hey,guys,IranonaheadandsawthemeetingplacebutnoonewastherewhichmeansthatCassiehasn'tgottenthereyet,whichisweirdsincewearesolatealreadyonaccountofRobin'snotbeingabletoflyandall."
It took a minute for his friends to be able to decipher what the boy had said, but when they did, Robin pointed out," Hey, we're late on account of me? Superboy's the one that was on the computer chatting with Arrowette all day, not me." Then he stopped. "You said that Cassie's not there? That's weird. We're so late I thought she would have been there a long time ago." He looked worried. "Well, maybe she's running later than us. Are you sure she's not there?"
Robin had barely finished his question before he was looking down at their meeting place from a very high view. He realized that Impulse had actually picked him up and together with Superboy's powers of flight had brought them over to their meeting place- half a day's walk away! Superboy glared at the two other teens he was holding in the air.
"Next time, give me some warning before you jerk me like that," he complained.
"Oh, you think I planned this?" Robin snapped. Then he looked down. "You're right, Impulse, I don't see Wonder Girl anywhere. Do you think she got tired of waiting and left already?"
"Quiet!" Superboy ordered. For once, Robin took orders from him and became quiet. "Listen. Can't you hear that?" He asked. Robin smiled at his friend, though he was feeling slightly nauseated from the height.
"No, you're the one that has the super hearing, remember? Bart, Kon, put me down!"
Before Impulse could move, Superboy warned, "Not here! Let's go back to where we were." Before he knew what was happening, Impulse, still in Superboy's grip, was dropping him from fifteen feet above where they'd been earlier.
"Ooof!" Robin groaned. He glanced up to see a flash of color that must have been Impulse zipping past him. Superboy was standing on the ground beside him, and helped him up.
"Impulse, come over here!" He called.
"Yeah, just come on over," Robin growled menacingly, rubbing his shoulder. An instant later Bart was standing in front of them, vibrating impatiently. Before his impossibly short attention span ran out, Superboy said hurriedly to his friend, " Bart, you were wrong, Cassie is there. But don't go," he added quickly, before the super could go to check this out for himself. "I heard them talking about how they were waiting for the rest of Young Justice to get there." Impulse stopped vibrating.
"Kon, now you're talking more nonsense than Impulse," Robin cried impatiently. "Who's 'they', and do they have Cassie?"
"'They' are dozens of super villains," Superboy explained. "All kinds of people- Copperhead, Killer Frost, Poison Ivy, Catwoman. And, …," he glanced at his friend. "…even Bane." Robin's face went white as he recognized the name of the only person ever to break his mentor, Batman.
"Bane has Cassie!" He gasped.
"And Two Face, and even the Cheetah. And Luthor," the super growled, thinking of the villain.
"We can take 'em!" Impulse cried. Superboy reached out quickly and grabbed the boy's costume.
"Bart, wait. We can't take on all of these super villains at once. Even if we had the JLA with us, we still might not be able to. I mean, we're talking dozens of villains."
"Including Bane." Robin was still pale, but he said, "We've got to get her out of there! But it's going to take us and the JLA to do it. Superboy, fly over to Superman's Fortress of Solitude and get him. You two can get Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn. Impulse, you get Arrowette, the Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the Green Lanterns- and make sure they can understand what you're saying. Both of you, bring anyone else you can think of."
"What're you gonna do?" Superboy asked.
"I'm going to get Batman." The Boy Wonder answered.
"But you can't fly, and you don't have super speed or anything. It'll take hours for you to get to Gotham," Superboy objected.
"Well, I don't think Batman would take kindly to you or Impulse zipping around. So, I'll get him, Batgirl, and, Nightwing." Robin began to jog down the path.
Chapter Three
"You say that several super villains have banded together and kidnapped Wonder Girl?" Batman stared at Robin.
"We've got to rescue her," Nightwing urged. Robin had told him first, so that he'd have extra backup for when he told the Batman.
"Wonder Woman, Superman, and the others can handle it," Batman said, turning his back. "They've handled villains like Cheetah and Luthor before."
"Bane's with them." Robin said quietly. He and Nightwing watched as Batman stiffened. Without turning around, he asked, equally quietly, "Are you sure?"
"Superboy heard them," Robin explained. "Apparently, when Wonder Girl wouldn't tell where our hideout is Lex Luthor used a brain-reading machine on her that revealed where the Young Justice's meeting place is."
Batman was silent for a minute, then headed toward the door. "Let's go."
"Superboy used his super hearing and heard several villains. He wasn't able to hear who all was there, but the Cheetah, Bane, Poison Ivy, Copperhead, Catwoman, Killer Frost, and Luthor were definitely there." Superman spoke to the assembled super heroes. Superboy was standing near him. In the back, a good distance from the others, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin stood silently with a stoic Batman. Wonder Woman was pacing angrily, berating herself for letting Wonder Girl, her charge, get captured while the Flash and Impulse were both vibrating, ready for action, until a glare from Batman stopped them. Hawkgirl was smoothing the feathers on her wings and fingering her mace, itching to get into battle, as others, too, prepared for the fight.
"Is everyone ready?" Superman asked, surveying the crowd.
"You bet!" Superboy exclaimed.
"No, you kids stay here." Superman ordered. Nearby, the Flash was doing the same with Impulse, as Batman was with his charges.
"Wonder Woman's already lost her charge, and we don't want to lose ours." Superman explained.
"No way!" Robin exclaimed. "Cassie is both our teammate and our friend, and it's partially our fault that she's captured."
"How do you figure that," the Flash asked, glancing at Impulse.
"We were a half a day late for our meet with her." Superboy explained. As one, everyone glanced over at Impulse. The Flash was incredulous.
"You were late for something? Are you slowing down, or what, Bart?" Robin ignored them.
"If we had been there when we were supposed to, we might have been able to save her. Therefore, we're partially responsible for what happened." Robin glanced desperately at Batman. His mentor gave no sign that he'd heard.
Nightwing glanced at Robin, then looked at Batman and said, "Batman, you said the same thing a few years ago when Donna was in trouble. You didn't want me to help because you thought I was too young. As it turns out, the only reason she survived that day is because I went and helped her. Now, the same thing might be happening with Cassie and Robin. You've got to let him go help." He gazed at his masked mentor. "Well, I'm going." He started off towards Superman, with Batgirl trailing behind him. Robin looked up at Batman.
"You know I've got to go." He pleaded. He wanted to help Wonder Girl, but he didn't want to disobey Batman either. Batman finally met his gaze.
"You really think you're ready for this?" Though the eyeholes of the Dark Knight's cowl were covered, Robin could imagine the pain in his friend and mentor's eyes, and knew that he was remembering his greatest enemy, Bane. He was silent for a moment as he looked into his eyes before saying, "Yes."
Superboy walked beside Robin. Both had been silent, thinking of their imprisoned friend. They watched Wonder Woman, who looked like even Impulse's or the Flash's speed couldn't get her there fast enough.
"You know, I'm glad Batman decided to let you go," he said finally. "After he did, then Superman and the Flash let Impulse and I come."
"Do you think Cassie's all right?" Robin looked desperately at his friend. Kon was quiet for a minute before replying.
"I don't know." Impulse appeared at their side, and immediately asked, "Do you think Wonder Girl's all right?"
Superboy glanced at Robin before saying, "We don't know."
"She's just gotta be okay!" Bart cried.
Superman must have heard them because he ended his conversation with Nightwing to fly over to them. "Look, kids," he said. "We're going to do everything we can to make sure we get Wonder Girl out of there safe. We'll be there soon. You need to stay towards the rear, further away from harm." He gave Impulse a look before walking off to comfort Wonder Woman. Superboy looked at them.
"Let's get ready, then. Superman's right, we'll be there soon." They brought Batgirl and Arrowette over, and the teens prepared to fight.
Chapter Four
"This is it," Superboy whispered, so quietly that only Superman could hear him. They were entering the clearing when suddenly super villains appeared everywhere, surrounding them.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Did the JLA decide to start having it's meetings with the kids?" Catwoman was perched in a tree, lying on a branch. "Hey, Bats," she purred. "A little way's from Gotham, aren't we?"
"I could say the same for you." Batman's gravely voice replied. He glanced around and saw Poison Ivy, Two Face, …and Bane. He took a moment to control his voice before saying, "Bane, what a surprise. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Actually, you did, remember, 'cause Superboy overheard them talking and knew that Bane was with them, and told Robin to go tell you." Impulse offered.
Robin rolled his eyes, and surveyed their surroundings. Directly in front of them, Lex Luthor was standing, his arms crossed, staring at them. He was flanked by a dozen men, all of whom had their revolvers drawn.
"Well, Catwoman, that's quite all right, because you see, now I will have even more, fully developed specimens to study," he assured her, giving Superman a special glare. He glanced at Wonder Woman. "I'll add them to my, ah, collection."
It was too much for the woman. She ran at him, using her bracelets to deflect the goons' bullets. Impulse was charging at anyone he could, with the Flash following him. Batman, Batgirl, Robin, and Nightwing automatically formed a tight circle, back to back. Superman and Superboy followed Wonder Woman, punching the thugs. The battle went on for a while. Whenever a villain went down a new one was always there to replace him or her. Hawkgirl had just taken out both Killer Frost and Copperhead when she gave a cry and fell to the ground. The Flash was there in, well, a flash, with Impulse on his heels. They found that she had taken a bullet in her wing and quickly carried her off to the rear, where J'onn was preparing to heal wounded heroes. Batgirl found herself being covered by a monstrous plant released by Poison Ivy and hacked at it, but the weed was too strong. Batman, Nightwing, and Robin all attacked the plant, finally flinging it off her. Batman knelt beside her and found that she was suffering from lack of breath due to the plant's attempt to suffocate her. Her limbs were weak from the pressure, and the Flash instantly appeared to carry her off the field, leaving Impulse to bring one of the Green Lanterns to safety, as well. Batman, Nightwing, and Robin, without Batgirl's extra muscle, made an even closer circle. Catwoman appeared in front of Nightwing, while Batman found himself facing Two Face. And right in front of Robin was Bane.
Chapter Five
Impulse, running excitedly around at superspeed, glanced around the field and watched as Lex Luthor retreated to the forest, leaving his cohorts to bring him 'specimens'. He watched in horror as the Flash was suddenly frozen by Mr. Freeze. In an instant he was by his side and had carried him off the field before the villain could realize that his victim was gone. He looked to see how his Young Justice team members were doing. Superboy seemed to actually be enjoying himself as he knocked out human henchmen after human henchmen, Arrowette was locked in hand-to-hand combat with Poison Ivy, Robin was with Batman, staring at Bane, and… Wait. Bane! Impulse whipped his head around and saw Bane swing at Robin. He watched as his friend narrowly missed being knocked down by the man. In an instant, he was at Robin's side, running in circles, creating a mini cyclone that swept up Bane- and oops! Robin. He dashed into the tornado and grabbed what he thought was his friend's arm. He looked down to see that he'd actually picked up Bane.
"Oops!" He cried as he dashed over to the twister, and yanked Robin out, at the same time stuffing Bane back in. He knelt beside his still friend. "Rob? Y'okay?"
Robin gasped, coughed, and opened his eyes. He looked at Impulse. "Don't ever do that again," he threatened. At his friend's downcast expression he smiled. "Thanks."
Batman came over. "Are you all right?" He asked, staring at his charge as he lay on the ground.
"I'm fine." The Boy Wonder replied, standing up. "Good," Batman grunted. "You and Impulse need to get the other kids and get out of here."
"No, we're going to stay and find Cassie." Impulse cried.
Robin gazed at his mentor. He could see one of his eyes through a hole where the glass in his mentor's cowl had broken, and it looked determined. But then, so was he.
"Imp's right. We came here to find Cassie, and that's what we'll do." He headed into the battle, leaving Batman to stare after him.
"What's the plan?" Superboy asked Rob as he, Imp, and Rob had retreated to plan.
"You're going to use your X-ray vision to look for Cassie. When you see her, we three will go rescue her," Robin explained. "As one. Not one of us dashing, flying, or zipping off," he added, with a warning glance at Impulse.
Superboy scanned the area and stared at one spot for a long minute. "Did you find her?" Robin asked quietly, fearing the answer. Wordlessly, his friend nodded. "Let's go."
As they neared the spot that Kon had indicated, Robin got a feeling of dread. What had Kon seen? Was Wonder Girl still alive? A minute later they came to a cave, and Superboy motioned for them to enter. As they entered the dark cave, Robin glanced around, wary that there might be a trap. But at the same time, he enjoyed the feeling, as the place reminded him of the Batcave. Superboy indicated a long, dark passageway and they started down it. They had been going for about twenty minutes when the tunnel suddenly widened into a large cave. And suddenly, Robin no longer thought it resembled the Batcave. Huge inventions were set up that must have belonged to Lex Luthor, and many plants thrived in a corner under an artificial light in the dark cave- no doubt those were Poison Ivy's. But most shocking of all was the sight of Wonder Girl. The boys' friend was lying on a cold metal bed, restrained by strong vines from an ever-moving, evil- looking plant. The vine circled around her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were closed, and she had a feverish rash on her face and limbs that might have come from the monstrous plant. The teens stared at her for a long moment before Robin found his voice.
"Come on," he whispered.
Chapter Six
The three walked slowly towards her, even Impulse. When they reached her, they found that she was breathing, though shallowly. Superboy reached for her restraints but Robin put a hand on his arm.
"Those plants must have caused the rash, Kon." Robin pointed out. "Don't touch them, or the same might happen to you." His friend nodded, and as his friends watched, he used his telekinesis to tear the vines from his restrained teammate. When they had all fallen to the stone and dirt floor he reached out and effortlessly picked up Wonder Girl. They had started towards the tunnel opening when a familiar figure appeared in the opening. Lex Luthor was staring at them, smiling. Robin glanced at the still form of Wonder Girl in Superboy's arms and then back at Luthor.
"Well, well, now I have even more specimens for study," the villain grinned. He looked at Robin. "But, of course, I have no need of you, as you, Boy Wonder, leader of the Young Justice, possess no actual super powers."
Next to Robin Impulse was vibrating, ready for action. He flew towards the eccentric scientist faster than the eye could see. In horror, Superboy and Robin watched as their speedster friend was suddenly frozen in place by a containment field similar to the ones the Green Lanterns used.
"Anyone else?" Luthor asked, a nasty grin on his face. Robin glanced at Superboy, who shrugged and said, "Yeah, why not?" The super tossed Wonder Girl's motionless body to Robin as he flew up to the cave's ceiling. The teen easily took up a huge boulder that was on a ledge and tossed it at the villain. But Luthor only casually made a type of force field from the same device he'd used on Impulse, stopping the boulder in midair before hurling it back towards the super. The boy had no time to move before the boulder threw him against the wall. Lex put his hand in his pocket. Robin braced himself, expecting the scientist to pull some strange, deadly weapon out. But the villain instead pulled a green rock out. Robin was shocked as he watched Luthor toss the rock up on the ledge next to Superboy before putting a containment field around him. Robin winced as he watched his friend's normally happy face turn into one of horror and dismay.
"Kryptonite!" The teen gasped before the field surrounded him. Robin gasped and turned to the scientist.
"You'll kill him!" He cried, tying to think of a way to help his friend. Luthor looked at him.
"He will hold out for about twenty minutes." He gave the boy a nasty grin. "But you won't." He pulled a gun from his pocket. Robin was surprised to find himself actually relieved.
"At least," he thought. "I know what to expect from a gun. Luthor's crazy inventions could do anything." He leapt behind a steel invention, still carrying Wonder Girl, and listened to the ping of bullets ricocheting off the contraption. He laid Wonder Girl down and peeked out from behind his shield. Lex was standing there, waiting for him. He ducked back behind the invention as more bullets came at him. The boy glanced at Wonder Girl's still form.
"And to think we came to rescue you," he thought bitterly. Then he looked at her wrists. On them were her bracelets similar to Wonder Woman's- magic bracelets that deflected bullets. The boy took them off her and stared at them in his hands.
"Do I really have to do this?" he wondered, wincing at the idea of wearing a girl's bracelets. The sound of Luthor reloading his revolver decided him. He stepped out from behind his impromptu shield, freshly armed.
"How does Wonder Girl make this look so easy," he wondered, moving his wrists around, deflecting bullets. Luthor's laughter sounded in a temporary cease-fire.
"You don't have your own powers, so you steal others," the cruel man said. Robin glared at him.
"No, maybe I don't have any special powers, but I do have brains enough to know what to do about it." He charged at Lex. The scientist was surprised but raised his gun. But Robin was ready. Using the bracelets, he deflected bullets, steadily gaining ground. The villain actually looked worried as he was backed against the wall. Then he ran out of bullets and Robin saw his chance. He lunged at the man, knocking the box from his hand that controlled the force fields. Instantly, the fields disappeared. Impulse, who had been in mid stride, fell to the ground before he had a chance to recover. Superboy, however, had been seriously weakened from the exposure to the Kryptonite and collapsed. Luthor, with a useless gun and his main weapon smashed, was obviously scared. Impulse, who had gotten up to his feet in an instant, had already climbed up to Superboy and zipped back, reporting that their friend was barely hanging on. Robin glared at Luthor.
"I thought you said he could hold out for twenty minutes!"
Luthor gave him a strange look and pointed to a clock on the wall, saying, "We've been fighting for nearly half an hour." Robin stared at the clock in disbelief.
"Then Kon could be in serious trouble!" Impulse, vibrating with energy and rage, began running around and around, creating another mini cyclone. It swept up Lex and several of his inventions, including the now-useless box that had created the containment and force fields. Robin was in danger of being swept up as well, but Impulse had learned from his last experience. He dashed to Robin and had set him on the other side of the room in an instant. The cyclone, much more powerful than Bart's last one, swept by the opening, throwing boulders into it, blocking their escape route.
Chapter Seven
"Oh, great!" Robin yelled to be heard over the wind. "Now what do we do?" Impulse disappeared for half a second, and when he returned, he had Wonder Girl and Superboy both slung over his shoulders. He grabbed Robin's hand and began vibrating.
"How about this?" He grinned. Robin laughed, relieved. An instant later, Impulse had vibrated so fast that he, Robin, Superboy, and Wonder Girl had all passed through the stone and dirt safely, and were far away from the cave. Impulse was grunting as he held two of his friends on his shoulders, slowing down.
"Kon," he muttered. "You really need to lose a few pounds." Robin laughed, relieved.
When they reached the battlefield they had left, Robin frowned and glanced around.
"Where's the others," he asked, looking around for Batman and the other supers. Just then the adults came through the forest into the clearing to join the teens.
"There you are!" J'onn cried. Many of the heroes were carrying wounded friends. The kids knew that he'd been healing the others, and he looked exhausted. Batman was staring at Robin, and Impulse raised an eyebrow at him. The Boy Wonder looked down and realized that he still had on Wonder Girl's bracelets.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, embarrassed. "I-"
"You found her!" Wonder Woman shouted ecstatically. "Wonder Girl!" The teen opened her eyes and looked around. There was something in her eyes that made Robin shrink back. The girl stood up and looked at him.
"Those are mine," she growled, yanking the bracelets off of his wrists. He looked at her in shock. She slipped them onto her own wrists and swung a fist at Robin's face. He landed on the ground, rubbing his tongue against his teeth to see if any had been knocked loose. The other supers were all staring at her in shock and disbelief.
"Cassie," Wonder Woman stammered, starting toward her. "I'm sure Robin had a good reason for-" WHAM! Wonder Girl sent a kick up that caught her mentor in the face, and quickly gave her a swift uppercut to the jaw, knocking her out.
"Hey!" J'onn yelled. He ran towards her. "Wonder Girl, I'm sure we can work this out-" He, too, was knocked unconscious. Other tried to stop her, but they were all battle weakened, and many of their number were already unconscious from the battle. Batman himself received an uppercut that made him see stars. Impulse made another mini cyclone, but succeeded only in sweeping up five other members of the JLA and Batgirl. Wonder Girl easily flew up out of the way. Her eyes had a crazed look as she battled Impulse from in the air, finally sending him crashing down to the ground. Robin, still lying on the ground after Wonder Girl had attacked him, looked around. Everyone was unconscious other than him and Wonder Girl. Superman had received a couple of bullets during the battle with the super villains, and Superboy was still unconscious from his exposure to the Kryptonite. Batman had been swept up in the cyclone, and the Green Lanterns had either gone with him or had been wounded in battle. Others had either fallen in the fight or had been KO'd by the crazed Cassie. Robin slowly stood up. Wonder Girl saw and flew toward him. She stopped on the ground a few feet away.
"You're the only one left," she growled, starting toward him. Robin leaped out of the way, looking around for some kind of weapon. She'd be able fly out of the way of Nightwing's freezing disks, Batman's tools had been swept away with him in the cyclone, and he wasn't sure he could use the Green Lanterns' rings, or Hawkgirl's mace, but maybe… He leapt toward the still body of Wonder Woman, and grabbed her magic lasso from her limp hand.
Facing Wonder Girl, he said, "Wonder Girl…Cassie…I don't want to hurt you. What's wrong?" The girl answered with a strong kick, flying out of the way of the lasso Robin brandished. The boy flew back- straight towards the cliff. He yelled as he fell, but stopped his screaming short when, miraculously, the end of the lasso that wasn't in his hand caught on to a branch from a protruding tree root. Gasping for breath, he pulled himself up until he was able to support himself by putting his arms on the ledge. Robin worked desperately to get the lasso loose, and when he did, held onto it, knowing that it would be his only chance against his crazed teammate (and that Wonder Woman would kill him after she woke up for losing it). Wonder Girl landed in front of him. As she raised her foot to smash it down on his arm, he threw the lasso around her.
"Wonder Girl, stop!" Robin cried. Instantly, she stopped. But she was caught off balance.
"Whoa!" she cried. The foot that had been raised to crush Robin's arm was still in the air, and Robin, using the hand that held the lasso, pushed on it with all his might. She fell back, landing on the ground. But the force of the push left Robin hanging only to the lasso that was around Wonder Girl.
Chapter Eight
"Wonder Girl! Cassie!" He yelled. "Pull me up!" The girl, still crazed but under Robin's control so long as she was tied by the lasso, looked as though she loathed the idea. Against her will she grabbed Robin's arm and pulled him up. He quickly rolled away from the ledge and stood, making sure the lasso was still securely around her.
"Now c'mon!" Firmly gripping his end of the lasso, he led Wonder Girl over to where Batman was lying, tossed several feet away by Impulse's cyclone. With one hand holding the lasso, he used his other to shake Batman.
"Hey, Batman, wake up!" A minute later, Batman was on his feet, trying to figure out what was wrong with Robin's teammate.
"Tell me what happened from the minute you found her. Describe everything you saw." Robin racked his mind, describing what he remembered from his trip into Lex and the other villain's hideout. His mentor was silent until he came to the part where he described Wonder Girl's being restrained by strange plants. Batman had Robin describe the plant in detail. When he was finished, Robin looked at his mentor hopefully, wanting to see some sign of recognition. Batman grabbed Wonder Girl's arm and examined it.
When he straightened up he said, "We don't have much time. Poison Ivy has used this plant before. It weakens it's victims before driving them insane, with their power fully restored, before turning them against their friends." He frowned. Robin was confused.
"If that's all it does, than this is the worst it can get, right? We just give her the antidote. Why don't we have much time?"
Batman looked down at his charge. "Eventually, it kills whoever it infected." He stopped. "You kids didn't touch the plant when you went in, did you? Is that why Superboy is so weak?"
Robin shook his head. "I wouldn't let either of them touch it, and I didn't. Lex used a kind of containment field on Impulse and Superboy, but when he put one around Kon, he put a chunk of Kryptonite in with him. You know that he and Superman are susceptible to it."
Batman grunted. "We're going to have to get him checked out. Along with the others," he added, looking around at his fallen teammates.
"Do you have an antidote?" Robin asked.
"In Gotham. But there's no way I'm going to be able to bring it back in time to be of any use to her."
Robin's face fell. "But," his mentor added. "I can make one if I can get a sample of the plant. Show me where the cave is."
Robin started toward it but stopped. "What's wrong?" Batman asked.
"We can't go in the cave," Robin said sadly. "Impulse made a twister and it blocked the entrance with boulders. It'll take hours to get it cleared."
Batman grunted. "Hotheaded speedster," he growled. "Just like the Flash." He stopped. "If the exit is blocked, then how did you kids get out?"
Robin explained how they'd escaped. Batman headed towards Impulse's still figure.
"If he can get out, then he can get right back in," he said.
After he woke the speedster up, he told him to go get a sample of the plant. Before Batman could remind him to wear gloves, or Robin could tell him to look out for Luthor, the teen disappeared. Before either of them could say anything, he was back, holding an unconscious Luthor and a sample of the plant, safely wearing his gloves. Batman silently took the sample from him, while Bart tied Lex up. He gathered the remaining necessary ingredients in a couple of hours, buying what he couldn't find in the forest at a pharmacy two miles away. The clerk had been so scared at the sight of the muscular masked man standing silently at the counter that he told him to take them free of charge. Batman had silently tossed him a twenty, more than enough to pay for the groceries, before heading back to the clearing. By then, many of the superheroes had woken up. Wonder Woman had taken the lasso from Robin and was sadly watching Wonder Girl as she sat on the ground. When Batman came into the clearing she looked up hopefully. Batman silently started a fire and heated the ingredients together in a pan he'd bought at the pharmacy. He put the stuff into a syringe and stood over Wonder Girl. He pushed the needle into her arm and she screamed. But tied by the magic lasso, she was under Wonder Woman's control. Immediately after Batman had administered it to her she fell into a deep sleep. Her mentor looked at Batman.
"How long till we know?" she asked.
"I don't know. Several hours, at least. We have to get her and the others who are injured to the hospital." Those who were able carried their fallen companions. Wonder Woman herself carried Wonder Girl, while Robin, Impulse, and a revived Batgirl dragged Superman. J'onn carried an unconscious Superboy, while Batman hoisted Nightwing onto his shoulders. The others who were able carried the rest.
When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors were already prepared to treat the victims. They had seen heroes and villains flying in the sky, and had seen monstrous plants, ice pillars, and other weapons rising up out of the forest, and had prepared to treat fallen heroes. Hawkgirl was the first to recover, her only injury being a bullet in her wing. A little later Superman came out and asked where Superboy was. As soon as they told him he headed up to sit by his hospital bed. The others healed, and eventually even Superboy, smilingly commenting that he "hated allergies" when he explained about the Kryptonite to the others, was feeling strong enough to come down to the waiting room to see his friends. The only word they could get for a long time on Wonder Girl was, " She's sleeping." Superman used his X-ray vision to see into her room and reported that the doctors were telling the truth, to which the doctors gave him a dirty look. Finally, they got the okay from the doctors to see their friend. Wonder Girl was still weak, and was going to take a while to heal. But the doctors said that she'd heal faster than most people because she was a super. The girl thanked the others for rescuing her, and demanded to know all of the details. When they got to the part about where the teens had found her, she shut her eyes.
"I couldn't do anything against them," she said. "There were so many," to which Impulse commented that that was okay since the Young Justice, Justice League of America, and the Green Lanterns combined had barely defeated all of the super villains. Wonder Girl laughed and said, "But as soon as I've healed, should they ever threaten us again, I'll be ready!"
The End.
