I ducked under Zatanna' kick and swiped to the side and went to kick her legs out from under her but she jumped over my kick, doing a handspring to reposition her body to face me. She went for another attack, this time running full on and forcing me to duck and roll to avoid it, but I was able to stand back up and push her so she fell, hitting the ground.
"You're getting a lot better." I complimented, putting my hand forward. "Then again...I'm no Robin when it comes to martial arts, and no Superboy when it comes to strength."
"Please, you're no slacker." Zatanna said as she stood up, smiling at me.
"Practice makes perfect." Kaldur said and I turned and smiled at him, thanking him for his positive feedback.
Suddenly, the Zeta-tubes came to life.
"Recognized: Green Arrow 08, Red Arrow B07."
I spun around super fast, seeing both archers step into the room. I was happy enough to see Roy, but the fact that he was with GA: this was really good.
I flew over and stood beside Roy, smiling up at him.
"Hey Shorty." He said, rubbing my head.
"Must you continue to call me that?" I smirked jokingly. Roy laughed before pulling me into his side for a hug.
"What are you doing here?" Wally asked, zipping over.
"Roy's finally agreed to join the team." GA said.
"Really?" Wally exclaimed.
"Really." Roy said, smiling.
"This is great to hear my friend." Kaldur said, smiling at Roy.
I believe Artemis called this bromance
"Roy, this is Superboy, Miss Martian and Zatanna." I introduced.
"It's nice to meet you all." Roy said.
"Recogized: Artemis B08."
This isn't going to be good...
We all turned to see Artemis, hands on her hips in a confident stance.
"Artemis." GA greeted his neice as he clapped his former protege on the back. "Look who decided to join the team."
"Finally!" Wally exclaimed, being completely oblivious...As usual.
"Sure." Artemis said, voice dripping with anger. "Team needed a real archer anyways."
"Artemis!" I exclaim, trying to avoid the awkward silence beginning to form as Artemis walked forward.
Luckily, GA took over.
"Okay people." The blonde archer said. "Dynamic Duo's on a case in Gotham, but gave me heads up." GA pulled up an image of Sportsmaster and two other pictures from security footage. "Sportsmaster was spotted coming through Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport."
"In full costume?" Zatanna asked. "Nervy."
"In street clothes." GA corrected. "Facial recognition software picked up the ID. Find out what he's up to."
"All of us?" Conner asked. "Seems overkill for a shadow job."
"Perhaps a small squad?" Red suggested. "Miss Martian's camoflage ability seems ideal."
GA sent a look to Kaldur, Roy, Wally and I. "Thought the sidekicks–sorry–ex-sidekicks could suit up on this one." The four of us sent excited looks and Wally slugged Roy in the arm. "Aqualad, Kid Flash, Zephyr, Red Arrow."
"Good." Conner grunted. "Stake-outs make me crazy."
"We could use the night off..." Megan said, smiling.
"I want in." Artemis said sternly, surprising all of us. "With Robin and M'gaan out: nobody's logged in more hours with the bioship."
"Artemis, are you sure?" GA asked, causing Artemis to glare.
"Absolutely." The blonde girl said sternly.
Oh this is going to be so awkward...
"Target's heading north." Red said through the com system. "Pursue, but maintain a discrete distance, and that goes double for you Artemis. Sportsmaster's proven adept at spotting Martian camoflage when in motion. Zephyr stay in the trees!"
I did as I was told and followed two yards behind Sportsmaster's jet-boat, flying close to the trees lining the water, but stopped when Roy radioed again.
"He's stopped, maintain positions." Roy said. "I'm moving in for a closer look."
After a long moment, I heard Roy, Wally and Artemis engage in combat with Cheshire before seeing Sportsmaster driving away.
"Target's escaping, I'm following. I won't interfere if I don't have to." I said as I picked up speed to get closer to the assassin.
"Copy that, I'm following but the Target's seen me. I take a dive but Zephyr and Aqualad, you two follow in stealth, we'll follow using the tracer." Roy said.
I saw Sportsmaster throw an explosive as Roy, who pretended to be thrown off his jetski before stopping and moving to the back of the boat. I paused, ready to take action but was surprised when he picked off Roy's tracer. He then dropped the tracer, along with other things into the water. I didn't know what they were until I hears a faint beeping.
"Kaldur!" I screamed, but it was too late as an explosion went off in the water.
I swooped down, ready to dive when Kaldur and Roy popped up.
"Here." The Atlantean said, and I sighed in relief. "Artemis, Kid; listen. Throw the fight with Cheshire after planting a tracer."
"Copy." Wally said through the com before I lifted the boys out of the water.
When we caught up with Wally and Artemis, the fight was already over and Cheshire was nowhere to be seen.
"How did it go?" I asked.
"We threw the fight as ordered, after Artemis planted the tracer." Wally explained and we turned to see Artemis walking through a dark forest pathway.
"Cheshire's headed north." Artemis said, holding up a GPS system.
"Sportsmater's headed south, kind of like this mission." Roy growled.
"Hey, the mission's not over yet. It'll be okay." I said, trying to loosen the tension.
"Maybe he'll double back, maybe she will." Artemis agreed.
"Either way they'll meet up, and we'll find them." Wally said.
"We had better." Kaldur said sternly. "Sportsmaster acquired an attaché case, we need to learn what it contained. If you had stayed aboard the bioship..."
Artemis' spine tensed even more then it already was. "I saw Cheshire sneaking up on him." She pointed to Roy.
"Then you radio a warning!" Roy growled.
"And if she found you by hacking our frequency?" Artemis asked.
"She has done it before..." I said, looking at Roy.
"It is true, we have come to rely on M'gann's telepathy over our radios." Kaldur agreed.
"So let's stop looking to place blame, and start looking for Cheshire!" Wally groaned.
"Here," Artemis said, throwing the GPS to Roy. "Since obviously I can't be trusted."
Roy caught the GPS but it was grabbed out of his hand by Wally. "Artemis..."
The blonde archer sighed before turning and walking away. "It's fine, I'll just...follow in the bioship."
Kaldur and I shared looks before I flew away, following Artemis.
"Artemis, listen to me." I said, gripping her shoulder and making her stop as soon as we were out of the other's eyesight. "Just because Roy's been our friend for longer then you have, doesn't mean you have to prove yourself. You've already proven to be a good teammate and a good friend. What matters right now is that we catch Sportsmaster and Cheshire, so will you please stop being so cold and defensive and be the awesome Artemis we know and love?"
My words seemed to spark something in Artemis' eyes as she sighed and looked down at her feet before looking back up at me and smiling. "Alright."
I let out a breath of relief and hugged her quickly before flying back to the boys.
"Go." Kaldur commanded to all of us. "We will follow the river and we will all follow as originally planned."
The faster I flew, the more I realized that the only thing able to go this fast for this long, was the train a yard away from me.
"Where is she?" I asked. "Going this fast is really tiring."
"I've found the tracer." Kaldur said, sounding tired but still annoyed. "It was on the train!"
I flew a little faster a joined Kaldur on the train where he showed my that it was indeed Artemis' tracer.
"Great..." I mutter, but then furrow my brows. "Roy, you there?"
"I've found Red Arrow and Cheshire." Roy said. "Rendevu at my coordinates."
Kaldur and I shared annoyed looks.
Of course he went off on his own
"Acknowledged, sending Kid ahead." Kaldur said.
To say the ride back to the cave was awkward would be an understatement.
But the debrief when we finally got back to the cave was even worse. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, and my body forced me to wrap my arms around myself to try to shield it away from me.
"Let me be perfectly clear." Kaldur said, his voice laced with anger. "We failed. Though the Injustice League is in custody, their allies still scheme and we have learned nothing of their plans."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Roy said venomously as he looked to Artemis.
"Hey, who figured out Sportsmaster was working for Brain, Klarion and Ivo?!" Artemis shot back.
"Ya, great intel." Roy said sarcastically. "Except Ivo's been in Belle Reve the whole time. The guards just checked, it's the real Ivo: not a robot."
"Maybe the Ivo we saw was the robot, that could still mean he'sscheming." I said, trying my best to save Artemis.
"You know, I'm getting pretty tired of you dumping on her!" Wally growled, stepping between Roy and Artemis.
Roy pulled out a tracer, one similar to the one found on the train.
"Her tracer? So what? Cheshire ditched it." Wally exclaimed.
"No, Artemis ditched that," Roy motioned to the tracer Kaldur was holding. "to send us on a wild goose chase. She put this one on Cheshire!"
Wally's face flooded with confusion and anger as he slowly turned to Artemis.
"Artemis?" He asked, almost begging her to explain herself and prove Roy wrong. But she didn't. "Were you seriously that freaked about Red Arrow joining the team that you thought you had to take down the bad guys solo? Please tell me I'm wrong!"
Artemis looked away, almost in shame.
"Wow, nice going." Wally said. "What you 'proved' is that you're insecure and selfish. Keep the sai." Wally threw the sai he had collected from Cheshire as his souvenir and grabbed the tracer from Red Arrow. "This is the right souvenir for the mission."
Wally stormed away and, out of desperation Artemis turned to me, and I tried to say something...but my mouth couldn't make a sound.
I couldn't believe the girl I had grown to see as a sister, a best friend, had betrayed us. Was this just going to be a recurring theme in life? The people closest to me betraying me? No, it was just a mistake...it had to be.
"So how will you betray us next time?" Roy shouted at Artemis, but was stopped when Kaldur grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Enough." Kaldur said. "If making a mistake was betrayal, we'd all be traitors. I have to report to Batman, the rest of you...get some sleep."
Everyone walked away. As I moved to the Zeta-tubes, I looked over to see Artemis and at the last minute, I decided to say something,
"If this really was a mistake, please...just come to one of us." I said, before continuing toward the Zeta-tubes and teleporting home.