I flipped over Superboy as he charged at me, using the arm that wasn't in a cast to spin my body around in order to deliver a kick to the clone's back: knocking him too the ground.
I grinned at my victory: spinning around and laughing.
"I emerge victorious!" I cry. "I have defeated Superboy! I am the strongest being the universe has ever known!"
I hear Conner chuckle as he gets up.
"That's because we're not using our powers." He says, swatting his hands together. I pause in my victory spinning to ponder before shrugging and continuing.
"Great job guys." Dinah, our weekly 'den mother' says. "In fact, it's been a very productive week."
"Ya, for everyone except Kid Malinger-er." Artemis smirked, glancing at Wally.
"Hey! Arm broken in chat against the Injustice League!" Wally says and I cock an eyebrow.
"Um, Wally..." I say, pointing to my hand, which was covered in a plastic cast similar to his.
Dinah laughs before looking at all of us. "I've really enjoyed being your...Den mother...This past week."
Before anyone could answer: the Zeta-tube came to life.
"Recognized: Zatara 1-1"
The sorcerer walked in and pulled up a holo-screen and began typing in something.
"Access Granted: Zatanna Zatara A03. Authorization: Zatara 1-1"
Suddenly, a petite girl walked out of the Zeta-tube. She was about the same age as Robin, had long raven hair, and wore a school uniform type of outfit. She held a shy demeanor and a small smile.
"Zatanna, this is the team. Team, my daughter: Zatanna." Zatara introduced.
Megan flew over to do introductions. "Hey, I'm-""Robin!"
Suddenly, Batman's protege ran in front of Megan: cutting her off.
"I mean...I'm Robin, she's Megan. That's...Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, Lina, and Conner." Robin clarified.
I waved and smiled at the girl as she looked over all of us.
"Welcome to the cave." Kaldur said kindly.
"Uh...Thanks..." Zatanna said awkwardly.
"So...You joining the team?" Robin asked excitedly. I smiled, finding his young-teen flirting adorable.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" Zatara said urgently. "This is strictly a visit. Though...I am sorry we missed the training: it is something Zatanna would benefit greatly from."
Suddenly, I felt a link go up.
"Anyone feel like we're still on 'prohibition' with Zatara?" Megan asked.
"Not just him, why's Marvel still around?" Conner asked.
"Hey, he's not so bad." I said, finding that over the last couple weeks that I'd grown fond of Marvel's...uniqueness.
"Ya! We like having him around." Wally said.
"You like having him around because he waits on you hand and foot." Artemis said.
"And your point is..?" Wally asked rhetorically.
"It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's term here as our supervisor." Kaldur said and I felt my spine tense at the mention of my mentor's name.
"Ya, at least he trusted us." Robin agreed.
"If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him!" Conner growled. "That machine nearly got M-all of us killed!"
"Hey!" I found myself growling. "That wasn't his fault! And don't insult my mentor!"
Before anyone could comment on my outburst, Zatanna interuptted.
"Are you guys having a psychic conversation?" The new girl asked, catching us all off-guard. "Cause I can't decide if that's cool or...Really rude."
The two leaguers in the room turned to us and Conner and I shared a look before nodding.
"Okay fine." Conner said. "We were talking about Red Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack and the league hasn't told us anything!"
Dinah sighed. "The league is searching for Tornado, as well as the Android's that attacked the cave and their creator; T. O. Morrow. Batman has made tracking them down a top priority."
"But you haven't found anything!" I exclaim.
"Not yet." Dinah said calmly. "But Red Tornado is Justice League: the team is not to pursue."
Ya, you've made that abundantly clear
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked to see Kaldur with a calming gaze staring at me. I took a breath and tried to calm down.
"For now why doesn't the team take Zatanna on a tour of the cave?" Zatara asked.
Begrudgingly, we began making our way to the hallways: Zatanna following behind.
The moment we were out of sight, Zatanna walked forward: suddenly wearing a purple tank top and khakis.
"When did you-""We're not really taking a tour, are we?" Zatanna cut Robin off.
The group looked at each other before coming to an agreement.
"No." I said. "We're going to find my mentor!"
I looked to the rest of the team for confirmation.
"Yes, we are." Kaldur agreed.
"Oh wow, out loud and everything." Zatanna smirked. In a way, she reminded me of a younger version of Artemis: spunky, sarcastic, and strong. I have a feeling that shy-girl act from before was something she just did in front of her dad.
"What about new-girl?" Artemis asked.
"She won't tell!" Robin blurted.
"I cant tell." Zatanna smirked. "Not if you kidnap me."
We all were taken back by her answer.
"Oh she's going to fit in great."
As we flew over Happy Harbour: the com system in the bio-ship came to life.
"M'gaan, the bioship was authorized for departure." Dinah's voice asked.
"We're kidnapping Zatanna!" Megan said happily, making us all whirl around. "...Too show her Happy Harbour!"
"...Copy that." Dinah said, her voice heavy with uncertainty.
"So where exactly are we going?" Robin asked. "Batman's' the world's best detective and has looked for Tornado in every logical location. If we're gonna do better, we need an illogical solution." He turned to Wally. "A truly dumb idea."
Following suit, we all turned to look at the ginger speedster.
"...As a matter of fact..."
Wally's idea lead us to Belle Reve penitentiary-a super-jail for bigger villains-we were primarily there to see the other big android creator: Ivo.
I know, we were all ecstatic to see him again.
"Warden Strange owed us a favor for stopping last month's prison break." Megan explained, glaring at Ivo. "He's given us five minutes with you."
"Spill it Ivo!" Conner growled. "Where's Morrow and his Red?"
"Now why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo asked, smirking.
"Because-and here's a truly dumb idea-you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the Android-making business." Wally explained. "Who better could keep tabs on what he's up to, and where?"
"Ah, I see your point." Ivo stated. "So let me rephrase: why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?"
Suddenly, I felt all my anger explode and I slammed my hands on the table.
"We don't have time for this!" I growled. "Where are they?"
My outburst seemed to shock everyone, except Kaldur who came up and gently pulled me away from Ivo.
"He knows." Kaldur said to Megan. "Do what you must."
Megan stepped forward and her eyes glowed green, but Ivo simply leaned back and laughed.
"Oh please! As if I've never faced a telepath before."
Suddenly, Zatanna intervened.
"Trulb tuo s'worrom eurt noitacol!"
"Morrow is in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone National Park, 100 meters south of Old Faithful!" Ivo blurted, and everyone raised their eyebrows.
As we began out fly to Yellowstone, adrenaline-filled silence filled the ship. I in particular found my heart pumping father then usual.
Reaching down, I unclipped my gold Z insignia pin from my hip and brought it up to study, running my fingers over the cool metal surface, lost in thought.
We were going to get Red back. Finally, we were going to save him and bring him back home. Everything was going to be okay.
I smiled, hugging my insignia pin to my heart before pinning it back onto my sash.
"Block out all external communications." Kaldur ordered. "Black Canary, Zatara, and Batman too I'll imagine will know shortly of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time."
We all nodded and complied.
"Look..." Robin started, leaning towards Zatanna. "I'm trying to be all nonchalant here..."
"Why?" Zatanna asked. "Be as chalant as you like."
I felt my eyes sparkle with joy and I smiled like a maniac. It was official: they made an ADORABLE couple.
"I think we're all just trying to get a handle on your powers." Artemis explained. "Could you teleport us to Tornado or Morrow to a cell? Or force his bots to surrender?"
"Or create world peace for all time?" Zatanna asked rhetorically. "Zatara couldn't even do all that, and I'm nowhere near or on my dad's level. I need to know a spell cold, or at least have time to prep it. Plus all magic requires energy which usually comes within: I can't just make the impossible happen at will."
"What's our ETA on Yellowstone?" Conner growled, cutting the info session short. "I am way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor."
Out of anger, I whirled around to glare at Conner. I loved him like a little brother, but he crossed a line.
"Hey!" I growled. "Don't threaten my mentor!"
"He nearly killed us!" Conner yelled.
"That's not his fault!" I said, standing up. "Look, I know the situation looks bad, but I know Red. He wouldn't betray us like that, not willingly! How do we know that he's not just a victim to his programming?"
I paused, questioning if I should make this next move, knowing it could be risky to use against Conner...screw it!
"I think you in particular would be able to understand that someone deserves the chance to be more then the weapon they were designed to be."
A look of anger crossed Conner's face before it haded into one of confusion and...Guilt?
I sat back down, waiting for our arrival.