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.

Titan's Tower

February 2nd, 20:20 PST

"Recognized: Red X, S-Zero-One."

The Zeta-Tube flared to life, the golden energy assembling in front of her. Kori watched as the gold slowly formed into the shape of a person. John's body slowly formed out of the gold, becoming solid. He was wearing his Red X uniform, though he grabbed his mask and took it off when he spotted her. "Welcome back."

John smiled at her. The same smile that had gotten her through those dark days after her sister led a revolt against her. After she had come to Earth, only to be taken into the custody of the Court of Owls.

"How did it go?"

"Aquaman was able to introduce me to Blue Beetle. I got a few hours to talk to him about his time with The Reach. He was able to let me talk to the former Martian beetle. I think I got everything Harper might need."

He held up a USB drive. "What do you have on it?"

"The information beetles blue and green gave to me. I think it might help put Harper's mind at ease. I don't know if she's been worrying about the scarab taking over, but Blue Beetle assured me if it's off mode, it can't do to her what it did to him. Another scarab would have to physically reset it."

"Could the Reach beetle do it?"

John shrugged. "I guess it would be possible for the beetle to do it, but it's pretty risky the way I hear it. If it goes wrong, Harper might be able to overpower him. Reset his scarab. Or outright destroy it."

"Which places Harper in the same danger," Kori surmised.

John nodded. "Yes. It's a two-way street. According to Blue Beetle, it comes down to how in sync her and her scarab are. Has Harper mentioned anything about it?"

Now it was Kori's turn to smile. "I did some one on one training with Harper. so I could gage her skills for myself. It didn't appear she had any problem with using it. I talked to her after, and she assured me both of them got along. Better than they did at first. Are you going to tell her?"

"She has a right to know. With that scarab attached to her spin, she'll always have a connection with the Reach. They might always be after her. She should know what that really means. Know what will happen if they get her on mode. If it were me, I'd want to know."

Kori nodded. It was better to tell her upfront than keep her in the dark. She needed to know what awaited her so she could prepare. The appearance of this new beetle was proof enough that the Reach was coming for her.

"Were you able to speak with Zatana?"

"I was, but she doesn't know anything. Her experience with demon entities and magic is limited. She did promise that she'd look into the problem more. Apparently, she has a friend who specializes in that particular realm of magic. In the meantime, she put me in contact with Doctor Fate. He said he'd come to take a look at Raven's gem today."

Underground Training Facility

February 3rd, 13:47 PST

Match had nearly two hours before team training began and in that free time, he decided to train. Well, maybe training was to fancy a word for what he was doing. Hitting durable training dummies to relieve stress was more accurate a description. He wasn't so sure about joining the Titans at first, but after being able to let his frustration out, he decided it was worth joining.

As his fist connected with the training dummy (one programmed to move and fight back), its metal head caved in a little and it went down. It's glowing bright eyes dimmed and it stopped moving.

"Okay, maybe I went a little too hard," Match mumbled. He leaned down to examine his handy work. He reached out to touch the dummies head, only for a puff of smoke to explode out of it. "Damn. I hope John isn't too mad."

It might have been better if he held back. He was pretty much Superman. The strongest hero on Earth. Match sighed and stood up, rubbing the back of his head, wondering how he was going to explain it. He couldn't exactly tell John and Koriand'r the reason he didn't hold back as much was that he was slowly getting his memories back. They'd ask too many questions that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to answer.

Like why they were coming back. It started out as a small trickle, but ever time he slept, Match didn't dream. He only remembered. What used to be small moments and still images in his head had become full scenes. He lived through himself, again and again, watching as his interactions with Harper, Artemis, and his captors play out. All the feelings of love and joy, sorrow and anger flooded him again and again. How many times had he relieved falling for both girls. How many times he had did he live through hating Lex Luthor for creating him, hating the Light for keeping him hostage.

Match didn't care for being inside the head of two Match's that wasn't him. He was who he was now, but the Match that Harper and Artemis had gotten to know wasn't him. He wasn't as overly emotional as he had been with Harper, willingly engaging in displays of public affections. Nor was he the aggressive, but caring Match who attacked the guards to impress the beautiful blonde archer who seemed to have similar anger problems. These had been him at one time, but beyond the memories forcing their way back into his head, those Match's were gone.

Would the person he was right now soon be gone? The memories had already started to change him. Match found himself laughing more. Relaxing. Where he had been more subbed before, that was starting to change. Would the person he was right now be gone completely?

The worst part was the memories before Harper and Artemis. Memories of his body decaying as he went on a rampage. Fighting a boy who looked like him, but was weaker. Carving an S into his chest with his heat vision. Being unable to think, only act. Little better than an animal. The fear, the pain, the hatred...

"Match?" Artemis' voice called from behind him. He shook away the memories, turning around to face her. "Here I thought you liked to hold back."

"I was holding back," he told her defensively. "Just not as much as I used to."

He was afraid of what he could do if he didn't hold back at all. Let all his strength go at once.

Artemis laughed. "You once told me that if you didn't have a control chip on you, tearing through that place would be like tearing through butter. I thought you were crazy when you first said it."

That was one of the scenes that chose to haunt him. She was the first girl he had been around that wasn't wearing a Shadow's uniform. He had wanted to impress her, and eventually bragged about being a Kryptonian.

"I bet I was pretty full of myself."

"Oh boy. You were. You couldn't stop bragging the day I first met you. Don't worry, you got better."

"I hope I did. How long did it take?"

"Maybe a week. After I knocked you down a peg."

Match didn't have any memories of her doing something like that. He considered asking but decided against it. What was the point when it'd come back to him sooner or later.

"What's wrong?"

The question was so out of the blue that Match was caught off guard for a moment. "Wrong? What makes you think anything is wrong?" He challenged. There were a lot of things wrong about him, but he wasn't going to admit it. He might be changing, but the familiar sense of stubbornness didn't appear to be going anywhere/

Artemis shrugged. "Hey, if you don't want to talk, it's cool. At Gotham North, there's this noisy school counselor who was always trying to pry into my business. I know something about not wanting to talk. I won't pry... Just speaking from personal experience, it might do you some good to get it off your chest."

Even if he wanted to tell her, Match wouldn't even know where to begin. "Thanks. I'll... consider that."

Her smirk returned. "Good. So I actually came down here for a reason. Kori gave me this card to help with expenses. I was thinking, how about you come with me and we go see a movie?"

"Go see a movie?" Match frowned. "Like a date?"

"Exactly like a date," Artemis affirmed. "I think the two of use would look good together boy."

Had been only a few days ago, Match would have declined. Since his memories had started to return, those old feelings he had for her and Harper started to come back. He wanted to spend more time with them, and going to the movies was a perfect way to accomplish that. With the possibly added effect of getting his mind off his current anger problems.

Reach Infiltrator Ship

February 3rd, 17:09 PST

Djo Zha watched the recording of his battle against the other beetle and her allies play out. Again. Djo had been allowed to sleep and eat when he returned, Commander focused entirely on the events that unfolded. The respite he had been given didn't last long though, and once his scarab judged he had enough time to rest, it woke him up, dragging his body to Commander.

Where the battle played out, again and again, Commander studied everything about it. Which left him being forced to watch, unable to speak or move. A prisoner in his own body.

"I had contingency plans for our wayward warrior beetle had made contact with Jaime Reyes, or the Justice League," Commander muttered. "I suppose these three may be leaguers. Our competitor's data banks would surely be incomplete now. They've had years to expand their membership to new heroes. Yet I have a distinct feeling that the beatles two companions are not league members. I suppose that our next move would be to gather more information. And find allies."

Thankfully, his scarab asked what he was thinking: "Allies? The Reach's reputation is dirt on this world."

Commander nodded. "Yes. After our failed invasion, the people on this backwater world have developed a healthy... How do humans say it? Distrust of us. But like with every other species in the galaxy, there are those motivated more by money than anything else."

Murakami High School

February 4th, 12:09 PST

Harped popped around french fry into the air, moving slightly too caught it in her mouth. She used to miss all the time when she tried that trick, but having the scarab attached to her spine helped in the aiming department.

"Nice shot!" Milagro called. Harper leaned up from her spot on the bleacher, catching sight of her student liaison. Normally Milagro was surrounded by her friends, but she said she'd be meeting with them a couple of times a week at lunch. "Just you today, Harper?"

Harper grinned. "Caleb is meeting with the coach. I think he wants to try and convince him to join the football team. And Artemis is running late."

Which was disappointing. Whenever they were at the tower, she was either using the underground training rooms, studying or was with Match. Not that Harper could blame her, because she was in the same boat, but she wanted to spend more time with the blonde archer.

Milagro didn't set her tray of food down. She wouldn't be staying here long. "About meeting you after school, I'm sorry, Harper. I can't."

Harper frowned at her announcement. Harper had her eyes set on Match and Artemis. Those were the two she wanted and she'd fight for them, but Milagro wasn't at all bad to look at. In fact, she was one of the most beautiful girls Harper had laid eyes on. In another time and place, she might have tried to pursue a relationship with her. If it didn't work out with Match and Artemis, them maybe...

"Well, I promised my boyfriend I'd help him study," the other girl said back. "That, and I can't leave campus without written permission."

"Even after school?"

Milagro smiled. "I'm a boarding student. I live in the dorms. My family is from Texas."

"Texas? That's quite a long way away," Harper observed. It was a shame. It looked like she wasn't going to get the chance to take the girl out for fun.

Milagro nodded. "Yeah. My grandfather is the principle of Murakami and he was the one to suggest I attend. I couldn't talk my parents out of it. My living situation aside, how is the school? How are you fitting in?"

Well, she was having a better time here than at her old school, though how much of that can be attributed to not having her father around she didn't know. Harper imagined her time at Happy Harbor High School would have been better if it wasn't for Marcus Row.

She told Milagro that she was adjusting well and so far everything was good. She had even made some friends, though those relationships weren't the strongest. She still spent most of her time with Caleb and Artemis.

"It seems you're adjusting fine," Milagro observed. "Remember, if anything's bothering you, feel free to ask. Oh, and if you see Caleb, tell him I need to touch base with him."

"Will do," Harper agreed, making a mental note to do just that.

Once Milagro was out of sight, Harper turned towards the far end of the bleachers. "Going to come out now, Artemis?"

As Harper tossed two more french fries into her mouth, the blond archer stepped out, tray in hand. "How long did you know I was here?"

Harper shrugged. "Probably not as long as you've been there. Any reason you were hiding?"

"This girl in my history class, Shannon, thought it'd be cute to put a lizard down my shit. I showed her how cute I thought it was."

"Let me guess, by physical violence?"

Her smirk said it all.

"You know, you could try not resorting to violence?"

Artemis snorted, sitting down next to her. "Where I come from, that's how you survive. If they think you're weak, it won't stop. She won't be doing it again."

Harper considers those words. She knew the original Artemis was the daughter of Sportsmaster, Huntress, and the younger sister Cheshire. A family of villains, and despite her going on to become a hero, she might really have grown up in the environment of challenging everything. Sportsmaster didn't strike her as the type of person who accepted weakness in his family, though she had never met the man.

"I think you should try and relax," she said to the blonde archer. Grabbing the red apple of her tray, Harper tossed it to Artemis. "And try to not get expelled."

Artemis caught it and shrugged. "I only returned the favor. Shoved the lizard down her pants."

Harper had seen Shannon, though she had never had the pleasure of interacting with her. She seemed like the typical queen bitch cliche. Maybe having a lizard shoved down her pants would teach her a lesson.

"Did you get in trouble?"

"No one saw it. Just Shannon and her minion." Artemis took a bite out of the apple.

Harper closed her eyes and leaned back on the bleachers. The day was beautiful. Bright yellow sun in the cloudless blue sky. A gentle cool breeze. Harper could probably just lay back and go to sleep if she had the mind to.

"Hey, Artemis?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you like me?"

"You got me out of that hellhole. I'd say I like you."

Harper couldn't help smiling. "I mean, do you like me? I like you the way I like Match."

There was a long pause and Harper wondered if Artemis would answer at all. It was a question that came out of left field, and perhaps a bit more personally than might be appropriate.

"So you swing both ways?" Artemis asked finally.

Harper couldn't keep the smile off her face or the laugh that followed. "I do." For a moment, her mind flashed back to Violet, the girl she had met shortly before she had been kidnapped. Harper had a boyfriend at the time, but Violet made her chest heat up and tighten in a way he never could. She wondered what the other girl was going right now.

"I've never thought about girls like that," Artemis admitted slowly. "Plenty of boys. Match hits all the right buttons for me. From my borrowed memories, I remember Artemis, the first Artemis, having a thing for the quarterback at Gotham North."

As the archer spoke, Harper leaned closer to her. "I can recall a few others from her memories, but I never thought about any girls like that."

"It's not too late," Harper whispered. She grabbed Artemis' chin and planted a kiss on her lips, hoping that the other girl wouldn't take offense to what she was going. Harper didn't know if Artemis liked her, and she wasn't about to force her kiss on the other girl. If Artemis wanted to pull back, she'd let her.

Both to her surprise and joy, Artemis didn't pull away. She didn't push Harper away in shock, instead leaning into the kiss. In those sweet seconds, Harper found out that Artemis was a very good kisser.

Author's Note:

Hello! I hope you have enjoyed the eighth chapter of Teen Titans: Rising

Pa tr eon . com (slash) Syraxes