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.
Titans Tower
January 30th, 05:06 PST
The view of the bay and Jump City's skyline was beautiful against the backdrop of the night. Match couldn't put his finger on the why but viewed seemed almost sad. It seemed that Jump City was a place that didn't close down during the night. Always awake and on the move.
As he stared at the brightly lit buildings, he wondered what the story of this city was. Who found this location. Who created it. Why was this city created? In a way, Match felt a certain connection with it. Though they were both made with a purpose in mind, Match had abandoned his back on that platform at sea. It was the place he was supposed to be. This city was still doing what it was created to do. It had abandoned nothing.
When the elevator opened behind him, Match didn't look to see who it was. He could hear their breathing, but the only thing he wanted to look at at that moment was Jump City. As she walked towards him, Match deduced it was Artemis. He knew the sound she made as she walked, and she didn't miss a beat. She was much quieter than most people, perhaps owing to the training that was built into her from the original.
"Couldn't sleep?" Artemis asked.
Match shook his head as she sat down next to him. Sleep avoided him no matter how long he laid in bed. Eventually, he had given it trying all together that night and instead chose to watch the lights of Jump City. "No."
"Well, that makes two of us."
Her heartbeat picked up a little, and Match wondered if it was because of the cold. He didn't feel it as keenly as humans did, but that didn't mean it couldn't affect him. "Are you cold?"
"Just a little," Artemis admitted. It didn't bother him much, but he chalked it up to Kryptonians running at a higher temperature. Hoping that she wouldn't mind, Match reached his arm out and draped it over her shoulder. When she didn't complain he pulled her closer.
"The day we meet... You were screaming at your dad, weren't you?" Match asked. The memory (if that was indeed what it was) had come to him sometime during the night. He could see Artemis wearing normal clothes, yelling at the villain Sportsmaster. He had been the one to escort her to the platform. She did what he said despite how angry she appeared.
"Artemis' dad. The real me. But yeah, I didn't know I was a clone at the time," she explained quietly. "I had all of Artemis' memories up until she was fifteen. The memory I had from her life was the day before her mother was getting out of prison. He told me plans had changed and we had to go pick her up."
"You're real," Match said as soon as she finished talking. "You might not be the original, but that doesn't make you any less real."
"Really? I don't know. It seems like I'm the cheap knock off."
For a reason he couldn't explain, her answer made him angry. "If you're a knock off, what am I? I'm just Superman's clone."
"It's not the same," Artemis pressed.
"How is it any different? Superman might be Kryptonian, but that doesn't mean that I'm any less of a clone than you are." He stopped speaking, waiting for her to say anything. When she didn't, Match continued: "My younger brother is also a clone. I'm fully Kryptonian, but he's half-human. He's a clone. Despite being a knock off, he started his own life. He has a house and a fiance. At least that was what my creators put in my head. What would you say about him?"
"I think your little... Brother is lucky," she told him softly. "I think he's luckier than I'll be."
"I don't believe that. I think if he can make his own life, there's no reason we couldn't."
When Artemis pulled away from him, he was afraid he made a mistake. Instead, she took the chance to kiss him, pressing her lips to his. The kiss wasn't gentle like the one he shared with her before, but it was closer to the ones they had back when they were stuck together on the platform. Match had gotten a few memories of them kissing back, and they were always passionate. Like the kiss, she was giving him now.
Match closed his eyes and leaned into it. She put her arms around his shoulder and climbed on him. He locked his arms around her waist.
Though it closely resembled the kisses they shared before he lost his memory, something was different. It had the same passion, but right at that moment, she seemed to be full of sadness. In all the memories that slowly returned to him, she had never mentioned the fact that she was a clone like him.
"When did you find out you weren't the original?" Match asked after their lips had parted.
"After she got me out, Harper told me. Hacked their systems while we retreated under the water," Artemis recanted to him. "Until I was rescued, I thought I really thought I was her. Did you ever think you were Superman?"
As Match shook his head, he heard someone land silently behind the elevator. He was going to demand to know who it was when he heard the person walk. Harper tried to move as quietly as possible, but his super-hearing wasn't about to be that easily fooled.
"No. I always knew I was his clone," Match told her, returning his attention to Artemis. As he spoke, he made sure he was listening to Harper's footsteps.
"Then you couldn't know," Artemis growled. Her sudden attitude change caught him off guard. "I really believed I was here. Can you imagine finding out that you're not who you thought you are? Not the person you have fifteen years of memories being?"
While Match could put himself in her shoes, he didn't think it would really do her justice. He had always been Match, Superman's clone. Not the man of steel himself. He hadn't his identity.
Before he could answer, Artemis came in for another kiss. Match didn't know how long they stayed locked in each other's embrace, but when she finally pulled away, the sky had lightened.
"Mm. You're still a good kisser," Artemis said as she stood up. "I'm glad that hasn't changed."
"Was I a good kisser before?"
Artemis smirked. "The best."
Match met her smirk with a smile. As he turned back to the city skyline, his thoughts were more confused than before.
Artemis
She watched him silently before she decided to try and get a little bit of sleep. They'd be skipping school that day in order to pack everything to the tower, which meant that she had longer to sleep in.
As she stepped into the elevator, Artemis noticed Harper in the corner. She glared at the other girl and jammed her thumb against the down button. She didn't speak until they doors closed and they were descending. "Were you watching us?" Artemis growled.
Harper held up her hands. She had the nerve to look embarrassed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to overhear. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. Went out flying."
"And the reason you decided to come spy on us?"
"I didn't mean to. I landed on the rough and I was going to take the elevator back down. Then I heard you two speaking, and I didn't want to interrupt="
"You shouldn't have stayed!"
"I didn't want to risk being seen."
"Then I hope you enjoyed the show," Artemis huffed, digging her knuckles into her waste.
"If it's better, I didn't watch."
"Oh, so much better."
Artemis turned away from her. She crossed her arms and glared at the elevator doors. She just wanted it to hurry down so she could get away from her peeping Tom of a teammate.
"I'm not giving up either," Harper said suddenly.
Artemis rolled her eyes and turned around. "What aren't you giving up?"
"Match," she said quickly. "I knew him just as well as you did. You know we were close. I'm not going to step aside so you can have him."
Artemis snorted. "Whatever." She knew that he would pick her in the end. He had even started to remember her.
"Which is why I wasn't kidding about sharing," Harper continued.
Artemis whipped around and glared at the beetle warrior. "Share? You think I'm the kind of girl to share my boyfriend?" She hissed. Artemis had more self-respect than that. She wasn't willing to start sharing her boyfriend with another girl.
"That might be the wrong to say it," Harper spoke quickly. The beetle took a step closer, and she was face to face with the other girl. "I like you Artemis."
For a moment, she didn't understand what Harper had said. Then it hit her and Artemis felt her face going hot. "Wha-what?" She mumbled, trying to back away. She didn't get very far, her back hitting the wall of the elevator.
Harper walked right up to her, and before Artemis could say anything, Harper pressed her lips to hers. It wasn't a very long kiss, but it was enough to really get the point of what she said across her head.
As the elevator dinged and the doors open, Harper pulled away, a stupid grin on her face. "I like you, Artemis. I've liked you for a long time. And I like Match. I want you both, and I'm not going to give either of you up."
With her declaration made, Harper stepped out of the elevator. Artemis was left reeling about her teammate's decision. Artemis wasn't sure how she felt about it.
Happy Harbor
January 30th, 16:16 EST
Collin Row had been having a very hard time in the last few months. After his sister disappeared in November, his father had started taking all of his aggression out on Collin. Without Harper to protect him, the fits of rage had been worse than he could have imagined. It got bad enough that he had been sent to the hospital, at which point he finally got away from the bastard that he shared his DNA with.
Now he found himself in Child Protection Services for the last three months. He had still been allowed to attend school at Happy Harbor Middle School, but he came right back to his foster home every day. His father was still in town and his foster family didn't want him to have any contact with the man.
Not that Collin would have to worry about it for very much longer. He had been officially adopted and would be leaving Happy Harbor today. Which was the reason he was in the small room he had been sleeping in since he came there, packing the few meager possessions that belonged to him?
A knock at the door startled him. "Collin? Someone is here to see you," his worker called through the door.
"Okay! I'll be right out!" He called, closing his suitcase. Running his hand through his hair, Collin took a deep breath and reluctantly opened his door. His worker smiled when she saw him and waved him over.
"Follow me."
Collin kept pace behind him, wondering who this person would be. He didn't know the procedures for adoption, but he thought he would at least meet them before the day they came to take him in.
Collin didn't know what he was expecting, but the sleek, black limousine wasn't it. It was the kind of car that rich or important people would ride in. What was it doing here?
When the driver stepped out (an older man Collin noted), he waved him over. "This way, Master Collin." The driver even held the door open for him.
He climbed inside the door closing quietly behind him. As he took his seat, a woman was sitting on the other side, waiting for him. It took Collin a moment to recognize her. He had seen her on TV a few times. "You're Lena Luthor."
She smiled. "You're Collin Row. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
The car hummed silently to life. The building he had been staying in since his father got arrested dissipated as they turned the corner.
"What are you doing here?" Collin asked. She had to live in a mansion or a Metropolis Penthouse. What was she doing in a small, sleepy Happy Harbor? Other than the Justice League once calling Mount Justice home, there wasn't anything of note in the small sleepy town.
Collin watched her reach into the expensive suit she wore, pull out a phone. The clothes she wore looked like it cost more money than his father made in a year. "I'm adopting you," she answered. Lena offered him a small smile.
"Why?" The question slipped out of his lips before he had time to consider just what exactly he was saying. If there was one thing he learned growing up with his father, watching Harper being hit every other day, it was never looking a gift horse in the mouth. If anything could be called a gift hoarse, getting adopted by the sister of one of the wealthiest men on the planet was high up there.
The question remained, regardless. Why did she want to adopt him, some gutter trash from a small town on the edge of the country? There had to be plenty of kids in Metropolis. Or she could have a child the old fashioned way. Collin didn't see why she would go out of her way for him. How did she even know who he was?
"I was a friend of your mother," Lena Luthor said after a moment of silence. "I meant her while I was in college. She used to be a teacher. I was there the day she married Marcus."
Collin was shocked. His mother died when he was very young, but Harper had told him stories about her. How she stayed with their abusive father for them. If she had a rich and powerful friend like Lena Luthor, why did she stay with his father?
Gotham City
January 30th, 20:09 EST
The rain fit John's mood perfectly. When he realized that he had to come back to the city where he lost his family, he made sure to make time for this. The place that Haly's circus had once been was empty. It had long since moved on, but that couldn't keep him away.
Since the Court had saved him, John had wanted to come back here. To the place where it had all happened. If his parents hadn't died, he wouldn't have become a Talon candidate. He wouldn't have been stored on ice while they fixed him, losing years of his life. John had known for a long time before the accident that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in the circus. If it hadn't happened, where would he be right at that moment?
The rain began to soak further into his clothes, but John didn't move. Zucco, the man who took everything from him. Arranged the accident because he wanted money. John had been on ice when Batman and Robin brought him to justice, and now he was rotting inside a police cell. A part of him (the part that was more Talon than Red X) wanted him dead. Zucco owed him many lives, but John would settle for his.
But that would make him no better than them, and John swore that after he left the Court he wouldn't take any more lives.
"John?" Kori's soft voice called from behind him. He slowly turned around, catching sight of the most beautiful girl in the universe standing below a dark umbrella.
"Kori. What are you doing here?"
"You didn't come back," she said simply. "You said you'd be back at the hotel an hour ago."
That surprised John. "Oh. I'm sorry. I must have lost track of time." That was an understatement.
Kori didn't answer right away, her eyes boring into his. "Is this where it happened?"
John nodded. Kori walked towards him and before he could speak, she wrapped one arm around him. The umbrella sheltered him from the rain. "I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry about?" Kori wasn't responsible for what happened to his family. She didn't arrange an accident because a circus wouldn't pay extortion money. She had nothing to apologize for. If anything, he was the one who would be apologizing. To her and Raven. With them, he never would have come back to himself. Without them, he might still be Talon.
"I'm sorry that it happened to you," Kori explained. "If you want to spend more time here, I can leave-"
"No," he interrupted quickly. "I've spent too much time here as it is."
The phantoms that kept him here had enough of his time. Now that he could go anywhere in the world via zeta-tube, John decided that he'd come back more often. Maybe bring flowers for his family next time. Right now though, he had other things to worry about. Things he had been putting off.
"Thank you for coming to get me," John muttered, rubbing the tears out of his eyes.
Author's Note:
Hello! I hope you have enjoyed the sixth chapter of Teen Titans: Rising.
Pa tr eon . com (slash) Syraxes