Disclaimer:
I, Syraxes, do not own the Young Justice Animated Series, the Young Justice video game, the tie-in comics, the original comic series that shares its name, or the new comic series that also shares its name. They are the property of Time Warner, Warner Brothers Studio's, and DC Comics. I am simply a humble fan, making this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release.
Location: Unknown.
Time: Unknown.
The first thing he was aware of was his name. Match. He didn't know how he knew that was his name, but it was. Which begged the question of why that was his name. Match wasn't a name.
The next thing he was aware of was the air temperature. One moment he couldn't feel anything, and the next he realized just how cold he felt. His eyes snapped open and he sat up. Match found himself in the middle of a small, white room. Looking down, he saw he was sitting in some kind of pod.
On the other side of the room, the single door was open. A blonde girl was leaning in the doorway, staring at him. He knew a lot of things, though he didn't know how he knew them. Math, science, history, geography, and many other subjects came easily to him, but this girl was a complete mystery.
"You going to keep staring at me like a rock, or you going to get out of your pod?" The blond girl asked snarkily.
Match blinded, not expecting such a straight forward question from the girl. He pushed his legs off against the pod ground and jumped into the air, only instead of falling, he started to float. Before that moment he hadn't known he could fly, but now that he was doing it, Match couldn't imagine not being able to.
He slowly descended to the ground, landing lightly on his feet.
"You don't remember me, do you?" The girl asked. Match started at her, taking in the sight of her before he slowly shook his head. The red suit she wore looked vaguely familiar, but other than that, nothing about the girl was familiar.
She snorted. "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have thought any different. Harper warned me, but... I'm getting ahead of myself. Do you know who are?"
"I'm Match. The first clone of Superman. Unlike my younger brother, I am one hundred percent Kryptonian. I am created to stop or replace Superman," he said quickly. Match hadn't considered the words, instead, they came out of his mouth like an automatic response. He knew they were true though.
The girl extended her hand. "I'm Artemis. Or I guess I'm her clone. I have the first sixteen years of her memories if that counts for anything. Do you know where you are?"
He accepted her extended hand, shaking it. "No."
"That must have got whipped with the rest of your memories. Figured my boyfriend wouldn't remember me."
"We were going out?" Match asked, releasing her hand.
Artemis nodded. "We were until Harper got me out last month. This was the first time we were able to come back for you, but she warned me your memories might be fired. This wasn't the first time your head has been messed with."
Match didn't know what to say. He had no memories of Artemis. He had no memories of anything more complicated than flashes of imagines. Fighting his mirror image, his body becoming disfigured. Then there were the implanted images. People, places, and things. Superman and other members of the Justice League.
Before he could ask her what he had been made to forget, an ear-splitting sound filled the chamber. A siren echoed across the facility.
"That's our cue. We have to go," Artemis commanded. The small bow in her hand extended into full form, and she drew an arrow. "Come on. That's Harper creating our distraction."
Match didn't move, instead of watching her as she loaded the arrow. She appeared to be looking right and left, relaxing a moment later. Artemis narrowed her eyes when she looked at him. "Well, are you coming? We're here for you."
"Why? Why come back for me, if I don't remember you?" Match asked. He couldn't see the logic in it. Perhaps if the connection between the two of them still existed, he could understand why. Maybe if she didn't know about his memory loss, but hadn't she said that Harper warned her about it?
"Because I'm still your girlfriend, even if you don't remember me. Gives me certain rights to come pull your ass out of the fire," Artemis snapped. She put her hand on her and glared at him. "Now come on. Just because Harper wants to fight over it doesn't mean we can leave her hanging."
Match still didn't understand. Whatever connection they had was gone. As far as he was concerned, this girl was a stranger to him. How did he know she wasn't lying?
That didn't stop him from reluctantly following her out into the hallway. He didn't have any reason to trust her right then, but something in the back of his head told him she was worthy of his trust.
"Why would Harper want to fight?" Match asked once he was out of the room. Artemis gave him a look before she sprinted down the right hallway.
"Remember how I said it wasn't your first time getting your brain scrambled?" She asked, turning right at the end, kicking the wooden door open with her feet. "Well, you knew Harper before me. You were Really close to her."
Was there a hint of jealousy in her voice? "Where did the three of us meet?"
"Right here on this little hunk of metal."
"Hunk of metal?"
"We're in a base. Middle of the pacific ocean, to be exact. It's where you were brought when they captured you after you got loose. It's where they brought Harper after she was grabbed. Where they brought me after I was cloned," Artemis told him.
When she pushed the next door open, he came face to face with an assassin. At least he thought the person was an assassin. They were wearing the uniform of the League of Shadows. Another piece of information imprinted in his mind.
Artemis lashed out with her bow, striking him in the face. As a second shadow appeared at the top of the staircase, she fired an arrow, which exploded into a boxing glove. The glove slammed into the shadow's face, sending them toppling back down the stairs.
Artemis hurried forward, running down the staircase. Match followed closely on her heels.
"Why were we brought here?" He asked as Artemis kicked open the door on the bottom of the stairs.
"Listen, Match. I promise we'll answer all your questions. Once we're not behind enemy lines. Just wait a little bit, okay?"
Though she couldn't see it, he nodded. As he moved through the door, the sight of the crystal blue sea greeted his eyes. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see, vast endless water in all directions. Above them, the bright orange sun sat in the middle of a cloudless blue sky.
They seemed to be on some kind of metal barge. All around them were shadows, seemingly divided into two groups. The first group was shooting at a small figure in the sky as it zoomed around. The second was shooting at the ship hovering above the barge.
"That's a Reach ship." Match knew it on sight. The Reach were a race of alien conquerors, who the Light brought to Earth. Match knew much about the race, including the fact that they had abandoned Earth. What was it doing here?
"That's our ride. Come on!" Artemis ordered. She sprinted towards it and Match had no choice but to follow.
"We're leaving on an alien scout ship?" He asked dubiously. The ship in front of them wasn't as big as the proper fleet, being merely a scouting vessel.
As soon as Artemis got close to it, the ship fired two laser cannons at a group of shadows, dispersing them. From the hall, a door opened, and a small ramp extended. Artemis ran up the ramp, into the ship. As Match followed her in, the ramp extended back, and the door closed.
Match could feel the ship ascend into the air, and watched from a viewing screen as the barge got further and further away. To his surprise, a beetle warrior flew up to the ship, returning fire on the shadows.
He was aware of Blue Beetle, the human who had been taken over by the Reach Scarab. In the end, he got control of it and helped stop the invasion. The other two beetle warriors Earth had seen were both gone, their scarab's destroyed. Considering the beetle in front of him was wearing black armor, he didn't believe it was Blue Beetle.
The image of Black Beetle appeared in his mind, but the one he was seeing on the screen didn't match it. The screen beetle was smaller and judging from the way its body curved, it was female, whereas Black Beetle had been male.
The shadows were returning fire, but the ship was already out of range of their conventional weapons. Soon the platform was just a tiny spec on the sea.
Above them, a hole opened in the roof, and the black female beetle came through. She looked back at them, and though her eyes lingered on him, she spoke to Artemis: "Well?"
Artemis nodded. "You were right. They did do something to him."
The beetle girl sighed. "I'm not happy about being right. I know you were hoping."
Artemis returned the sigh, crossing her arms. "Yeah well..." She trailed off.
The beetle girl's armor surrounding her face retracted, revealing the vestige of a human girl. "Hey, Match. I'm Harper Row. We used to know each other, a few months ago."
Match, who just wanted an explanation, crossed his arms. "Right. So she's told me. Artemis also promised me answers, and I'm tired of waiting. What is that place?"
It was Harper who answered: "I'm not too clear on all the specifics, but it seems like it's an affiliate of Cadmus. That's the labs where you and Artemis were created. Something had changed, and they needed to move you both out quickly."
"Why fry my brain? I don't see the point of erasing my memories." If they wanted to keep him loyal, they could screw around with his head in better ways. Artificial loyalty that couldn't be broken. Or control chips.
"When you were first created, Cadmus wasn't as familiar with Kryptonian DNA. They left sequencing gaps that drove you mad. Erasing your memory wasn't intentional. It was a side effect of them trying to restore your generic sequence. The Light still doesn't fully grasp Kryptonian DNA. The only reason they fixed you was the help their partner offered. I don't know who that partner is, before you ask."
"If it's a side effect of helping me, why did you come get me? Shouldn't I be back there, making sure I don't fall apart?"
"You don't have to worry about it. The genetic modification is already finished. I checked that before we left," Harper told him. As she spoke, the armor receded from her body, revealing blue jeans and a hoodie. Her hair was dyed blue, cupping her face.
"The other two Reach scarabs were destroyed. How do you have one? Is it a warrior beetle?"
Harper nodded. "The Light, or at least certain segments of it, have been interested in the Scarabs for a long time. Since Blue Beetle had the only one on Earth, and he was under the Justice League's protection, they had to acquire another one. As far as I am aware, they killed the previous owner of my Scarab. A Reach warrior. That's as much as I know."
"They just gave a teenager the Reach weapon they went out of their way to get?" He asked sarcastically.
At this, Harper smiled bitterly. "Hardly. They lost it and it attached itself to me. Kidnapped me the same day."
Match looked over at Artemis. The blond girl had been silent for the whole conversation. "What about you? You said you were a clone, like me."
She nodded. "I am. I was cloned from Artemis Crook. I... She is a hero. A member of some special ops team associated with the Justice League. I only have members of her life for the first sixteen or so odd years. Whenever she joined, it was after they gave me her memories."
Why hadn't they given him Superman's memories? Or Superboys? What made her different from him? Shouldn't he have been given memories, if it was untimely his destiny to take Superman's place?
"Was I really in a relationship with both of you?" He asked after a moment of contemplation.
Harper shrugged. "Weren't in anything as official as real dating. No boy or girlfriend... But we were close. We had been together for a month. Just us and masked shadows. It brought us together."
"Well, we were boyfriend and girlfriend," Artemis said butting aggressively in. "I'm not giving you up without a fight. You like me, even if you can't remember it. I don't know what you and Harper had together, but you were my boy."
"We could always share?" Harper suggested, a smiling pulling at her lips. Match didn't know if she was lying.
As Artemis bit back, Match considered what the two said. About him not remembering his life (if you could call it that), about his relationship with them. He didn't feel very interested in a relationship with either of them at that very moment, but he must have meant something to them if they were bickering over it.
"Where are going?" He asked the two, interrupting them. His life was back at that base. He was created to replace or kill Superman. The very thought of Superman made him angry, though he didn't understand why. If he had hazard a guess, it was probably programmed into him. Either way, without the purpose he was created for, what did Match have? Did he want to leave with them? Leave everything he knew?
"We're going home," Harper said. "Or the place we've been calling home, anyway."
Dakota City
January 27th, 19:09 CST
2019
Virgil threw on his Static costume, grabbing his collapsible saucer. He flung it out his window, watching it transform as it came into contact with his electricity. He jumped out the window, landing on top of it.
He moved it forwards, hoping his pops wouldn't be made about him leaving the house so late. He reached into his jacket, pulling out his cellphone.
He pressed Francis' contact again, holding the phone up to his ear. "Hello! You've reached Francis Stone. If I can't come to the phone right now, either I can't get to the phone right now or I don't like you. If I don't like you, don't leave a message. You know who you are."
When the beep sounded, Virgil spoke quickly: "Francis, it's me, Virgil. If you're around, please answer! I haven't been able to get a hold of you all day!"
Francis had left a message for him that morning. An email of all things. They didn't normally send each other emails, so when Virgil first saw it, he was confused. After reading it, he was a little freaked out. He had said it felt like someone was watching him. Stalking him.
Francis hadn't been at school all day. Neither of his parents knew anything about it, both off in Gotham City for work. They trusted him enough to watch himself.
Virgil made a good time, arriving at his house in less than ten minutes. He landed in the front yard, hopping off the saucer. Collapsing it again, Virgil ran to the front door, slamming his hands against it. "Francis!" He yelled.
The house was completely dark, which it shouldn't have been. Francis' light should have been on. His friend never went to bed earlier. Most of the time he wouldn't be asleep until one or two in the morning, looking like a zombie when he first came to school.
A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Virgil grabbed the door handle, sending electricity through it. He heard the lock click opened and Virgil threw himself inside. The front hallway was dark, and Virgil closed the door behind him.
"Francis!" He yelled again. Nothing answered. Creating a ball of light, Virgil went through the dead house, finding it empty. No signs of a struggle, no Francis.
Checking his friend's room, he found it empty like the rest of the house. However, on his bed, Virgil saw his phone. He quickly grabbed it, opening it, seeing all the missed calls, from himself and Francis' parents.
In the corner of the phone, Virgil noticed the video icon flashing. He clicked it, and Frances's face appeared. He had just slammed his front door shut and was racing upstairs, breathing heavily.
"If you're seeing this, then they got me," Francis said into the phone. "I knew someone was stalking me, but I can't say why. Shit."
When he was at the top of the stairs, the sound of pounding could be heard, echoing from the front door.
"I don't know why they are, but they've been stalking me all day. I'm going to leave this here in my room, in case..." Francis trailed off, taking a deep breath. The sound from below started getting louder. "In case something happens to be. Leave proof someone is after me. I'm going to head to my friend Virgil's house. I'll sneak out the back. Hopefully, he'll be able to help."
The video ended as Francis threw the phone on his bed.
Author's Note:
Hello! First off I want to thank you for checking out my story! I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of Teen Titans: Rising
Yep. Here is my reupload. Accidentally posted a much different chapter here the first time. Haha. Well, hopefully second times the charm.
This story is an AU, diverging after Invasion. Everything up to the end of season two is canon to the Young Justice verse.
Greg Weisman has clarified that Warrior Beetles are stronger than Scout Beetles on his Ask Greg Website.
I don't really care for original characters in Fanfiction. For me, when I read a fic, I read it for the canon characters only. As such, I will be doing my best to not use any original characters. Instead, I may repurpose other characters from DC (comics, cartoons, live action, etc) and put them in this fic. As such, in the author's note at the end of every chapter, I will be putting a list of any canon characters from DC that I've added. As well as what media I've taken them from.
This will effectively be a mini fic. Just five or six chapters long at the most. I'm writing this to see if anyone is interested in this idea, and if at the end there are people who want to see more, I will continue it.
Also, I have a account. If you like this story and want to support me, please consider doing so. It would be very much appreciated!
Pa tr eon . com (slash) Syraxes