I've decided to play around with Electrolyte's magnetic powers a bit in this chapter. I got the idea when my friend and I were watching X-Men Evolution and we were wondering how Magneto managed to levitate around. I suggested that his suit was metal, and the floors were metal, and they had opposite magnetic poles...never mind, you'll see what I mean in the story. And I'm just going to assume the Hall of Justice has metal floors, okay?

Also, I've decided that I'm not going to make this as long as I thought it'd be. Yay me! Or...boo me, depending on how you view it. I'm not sure when it'll be wrapped up, maybe in the next chapter or so, but...yeah, figured I'd warn you now.

So, my YJ Reviews was taken down. A little upset about that. I actually finished this chapter yesterday, but I couldn't post it because I was being punished ): review and make me feel better! :)

Also, I've decided to write a sequel to my story Legend of the Commando. Just not sure how I'm gonna go about the plot. Any suggestions are welcome, because the story is still very much in the planning stages.

There's nothing better than simply reveling in the act of being...bad.

I rubbed my hands together in anticipation, leaning forward on the wide arch of the Hall's dome-shaped roof. Ravager stood behind me, silently fuming and muttering profanities under her breath. I ignored her, choosing instead to focus on the adrenaline coursing through my veins and my rapidly increasing heartbeat. Matilda nuzzled my ribcage and purred in content when I reached around to scratch her...neck..stem...thing.

I reached into one of the packs I slung over the plant beast's back and pulled out a dead rat, wrapped tightly in several layers of plastic wrap. I unraveled the stinking thing, tossing the soiled wrapping on the roof. I made sure Ravager was watching before I threw the rat at Matilda's maw and watched, oddly fascinated, as the vermin disappeared down her gullet. Matilda licked the droplets of rat blood off my fingers and then used her sharp teeth to chew off my watch.

"Hey!" I cried indignantly. "Give it back!"

Matilda turned away from me, almost like she was being sassy. I growled in frustration and hurled myself at the her, climbing onto her back so I could reach her mouth. I pried Matilda's jaw open with my hands and reached around in her mouth, feeling around for the hunk of metal. Just as my hand closed around something about the size and shape of my watch, Ravager grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me off the plant, muttering something about psychotic idiots. I held up my watch in triumph, not caring that it was a little slimy from being inside Matilda's stomach.

"I got it!" I announced, grinning broadly.

"You're insane." Ravager spat.

"Yup." I chirped, pulling away from her. "What gave me away?"

"Well, you just tried to climb inside a plant." She said. "And you've dragged me on this doomed-to-fail escapade that no one with half a mind would even consider attempting."

"Doomed to fail?" I frowned. "Sure, I spent more time pulling aphids off of my plant monster than I did preparing for this, but that doesn't necessarily mean..."

"Your lack of professionalism is not the problem here." She hissed.

"Then what is?"

"Look, we all know the Hall is a joke..." Ravager snorted. "That's why no criminals bother robbing it."

"Yeah?"

"So why are you bothering?" She asked, joining me on the arch. "It's a huge risk..."

"That junk'll increase my powers, Rav." I grinned. "Think about what I'll be able to do then..."

"So you plan on... nuking yourself?"

"That's the general idea."

"And you see no flaws whatsoever in your plan?"

"Nope. And I don't care, either, so..." I shrugged.

"You're...you're so...ugh!" Ravager fisted her bleach-blonde hair with both hands, clearly frustrated.

I checked my watch and smiled. There should be a guard change right about now, if the online blog about the Hall of Justice can be believed. Some of the information I found was a bit...sketchy. Most of it was so ridicoulous it was funny, especially the 'scandalous' crap. One word, kids: Batflash.

Giving Ravager a small grin I climbed over the edge of the Hall's roof, using my electric powers to magnetize myself to the front of the Hall. Ravager looked at me like I has just sprouted a second head while she pulled assorted cables and harnesses out of her pack she insisted we bring with us. I chuckled as the girl fumbled awkwardly with one of the straps. I almost felt sorry for her. I could crawl up and down on the walls like freaking Spider-Man, where as she was forced to rely on fancy gadgets and sneaky tricks to keep herself alive.

I turned away from Ravager and put all my focus on the skylight. Cutting would be too noisy, and it's not like I have anything on me that would slice cleanly through glass anyway. I would have to melt it instead. I pulled off one of my gloves with my teeth and pressed my open palm against the glass. The electricity running through my body heated the skylight until it began to glow red hot and softened considerably under my hand. I knew the glass wouldn't drip very fast, so I got it at a nice, high temperature and started pulling the stuff out of its pane in large clumps with my gloved hand. It was heat resistant, so I wouldn't burn myself. When the gap was large enough for me to squeeze through, I pulled my hands away and let the glass cool for a few moments before I started pulling myself through.

I fell through the gap, giggling madly as I plummeted back towards the ground. I quickly charged the metal flooring below me and changed the polarity in my magnetic field so that I came to an abrubt halt in mid-air, stuck between the pull of gravity and the push of the opposite pole. Slowly, I reverted the floor back to its normal state so the push on my body was gradually weakened until I landed gently on my feet.

I smiled, proud of my new trick. Until Ravager swooped in attached to a metal cable, accomplishing what took me at least five minutes to do in mere seconds, and landed beside me. The arrogant little gnat smirked at me, obviously feeling triumphant. I mumbled some dark words under my breath and let it go. She could be as overconfident as she wanted, as long as she was aware I was in charge of our 'partnership.'

"Quit playing around," I snapped. "Get to work before we get caught."

Ravager glared at me, but quickly moved to comply. Rolling my eyes at the annoyance, I went to explore in the opposite direction. I looked at some of the display cases, admiring the League's trophies while still searching for the vial. Every once in awhile I'd look around the room to see if any security the League employed had noticed that I was here.

The lack of activity concerned me more than I'd like to admit. I didn't think there would be hords of hired muscle or laser grids, but the extreme quiet was unnerving me. Maybe I was just paranoid, but...

"Ravager?" I called out.

No answer. Typical.

"I'll kill her later..." I promised myself before I turned back to the cases.

I spent the next five or six minutes poring over the junk accumulated by the League over the years. I always wondered why heroes feel the need to take trophies from the villians they take down, because it almost never works out for them. Maybe it's just me, but where's the logic in taking potential dangerous supervillian technology and placing it in the middle of a tourist trap? I'm surprised their hasn't been any casualties via explosives that some idiot hero thought looked 'cool.'

Lost in my mental ramblings, I didn't see the glass case standing proudly at the center of the room and almost tripped over it. The glass was thick, but it wasn't anything I could easily smash through if needed. Inside sat a vial or bluish liquid nestled on little red pillow with gold trimming on top of a marble pedistal. It seemed like a little too much decoration for a bottle of goo, but maybe that's just me. Excited, I pressed my face against the glass and let out a shrill squeal.

"Ravager! Get in here!" I shouted.

Silence.

"Ravager?" I pulled myself away from the case.

Not even a whisper.

I sighed in annoyance, quickly using my electricity to melt a hole in the glass case. I paused briefly, expecting an alarm to sound. When nothing happened I grabbed the vial, stuffed it into one of the compartments on my belt, and then scurried off to find Ravager.

"Does she even trust you?" A voice, obviously male, inquired. "Does she care about what happens to your well-being?"

"I can't tell." Another voice, Ravager, admitted. "But..."

The last part of the sentence was lost to my, but I was already suspicious. I hugged the wall beside me and slunk down the corridor. When I neared the source of the voices, I knelt on my heels and peeked my head around the corner. Ravager was there, awkwardly shifting in the hallway. The other person, I realized with a start, was the Boy Wonder himself.

Robin seemed calm and collected, not at all like someone who is facing off with a teenage villainess. He had a smal burn mark on his cheek, but besides that he didn't seem at all affected by the fire. I felt a little disappointed in myself. The least I could've done is left Robin with permanent facial damage...Eh, maybe I'll get lucky and the burn with scar over. The bigger problem was what my new 'friend' and Robin were saying. I leaned forward I'm an effort to see better...and slipped.

I fell forwards and landed on my stomach, creating a sound that echoed throughout the hallways. When I managed to scrape my face away from the marble floor, I found myself looking up at the sharp edge of a birdarang aimed at my face. Ravager stood behind Robin, blinking in surprise.

I kicked Robin's hand, sending the batarang flying, and then aimed two quick rabbit-punches to his abdomen. Robin bent over sightly in pain, giving me the opportunity to grab him by the cape and throw his body off to the side.

"If you're still on my side..." I growled to Ravager. "And if you value your worthless life, I suggest you help me. Get Matilda, now!"

Ravager scampered away to do my bidding. If it wasn't for the fact that Ravager hesitated before answering Robin's questions, I would've killed her where she stood. And I saw the look in Ravager's eyes when she was with Robin...she doubted him, she didn't trust him just as much as she didn't trust me. I was still mulling over whether or not to launch her out a window for not beating the boy senseless as soon as he revealed himself, though. Meh, I'll see how I feel after I get something to eat and take a nap.

"Still trying to woo every girl in sight, I see." I smiled Robin who has recovered enough to kneel on his hands and knees.

Robin just scowled at me and swept his leg around, trying to trip me up. I dodged the kick, but ended up landing funny and stumbled. Before I could get my balance back, Robin swung a knee up to my face.

I jumped back, but it was too little too late. Robin's leg extended completely, nailing me in the chest with enough force to knock me off my feet. Winded, I writhed around on the ground for a second before I felt Robin's boot come down hard on my chest. I looked around for a moment, expecting the Dark Knight to pop out of the shadows and grinned when I realized the bird was alone.

"So where's Batsy?" I asked. "Chilling out in the BatCave?"

"Shut up." He snapped.

"And what about your little sidekick friends? Did they abandon you too?"

"Shut. Up."

My smirk faded. I furrowed my eyebrows and examined the Boy Wonder's features closely. At first glance he appeared stoic, bored even. But when you looked deeper you could see that he was quietly seething. Robin's whole body was tense and the muscles in his face were strained. This kid wanted to kill me. What did I do that make him so...Oh, that's right. The fire.

"Did your little witch burn, Robbie?" I cooed. "Did she cry for you as she died?"

Robin's heel moved to my throat, constricting my air flow. I laughed, which came out more like a strangled squeak. I'd really out done myself this time. I had done this to him. I had made him Robin into a creature of hate. I wonder if Batman knows how far his little bird has sunk.

"Zatanna is fine." He growled. "Hospitalized, but fine."

"Damn." I croaked, twisting my features into a pout.

Robin snarled, moving his foot away from my body. Before I could sit up, however, Robin grabbed a hold of my shirt collar and slammed me up against the wall. The sudden change in position made me a little dizzy, probably because Robin's foot had cut off the flow of oxygen to my brain.

"I'm gonna throw your ass in prison." He said. "And I'm going to enjoy it."

I looked at him, blinked, then started laughing. The pressure on my throat increased, muffling my giggles, but not stopping them. When the lack of oxygen started to get to me, I paused. Robin eyed me suspiciously as I drew in a long, shaky breath and smiled broadly at him.

"What's so funny?" He demanded.

"You." I said, breathing heavily.

"You threaten me with jail time because I hurt your little magician friend. But you don't get it. It won't be enough, Robin."

"What?" He seemed puzzled.

"I'll be imprisoned, maybe in Arkham, maybe not. But I'm crazy, Robin, the whole world says so. No matter what you say or do, I will never be a prisoner. I'll be a mental patient, yes, but even the worst metahuman psychos get released from time to time. And even if I'm not, even if I stay in Arkham for the rest of my life, Zatanna will still have been hurt. You will still feel like you failed her. After awhile, you'll feel as guilty as if you'd started the fire yourself. You'll find yourself hating people simply for existing. You'll start to look for someone to blame. It doesn't even have to be their fault, as long as you convince yourself that it is and it makes you feel better. The grief and anger will consume you, Robin. And soon enough..."

I blinked and looked him dead in the eye. "You'll become just like me."

"...I'm not like you." He said firmly, but I noticed the hesitance. "I'll never be like you."

I was already shaking my head. "You say that now, but just wait. It'll happen one way or another, Robin. My advice: Don't fight it."

And with that, I let my head fall against the cool metal wall behind me and watched as a giant green tendril shot out of the darkness and wrapped around the boy's waist. Surprised, he tried to wriggle free but ended up just entangling himself more. I whistled once and watched as Matilda slammed Robin up against the wall and the floors multiple times before his body fell limp in her grasp. I reached out, checking for his pulse and smiled when I felt it. Good. I wasn't done playing with him yet.

I gave my beast an affectionate head pat, before turning to face the girl who came closer to dying than she could ever know tonight. Ravager's alabaster hair glowed in the low light and the shadows on her face seemed accented, making her look older than she was.

"Gather up the gear and let's get out of here." I ordered. "If you see anything interesting, take it. I don't think you will, though, the Legaue wouldn't be dumb enough to keep the really cool stuff in this dump."

"And what about him?" Ravager pointed to Robin's unconscious form.

I smiled and cooed a soft order into Matilda's blossom. She growled low in her throat, expressing her displeasure, and wrapped her strong appendages around Robin so he woudn't bounce around and fall off Matilda's back during the ride. I looked at Ravager, who was eyeing my plant warily as if she still expected Matilda to go on a rampage and eat someone.

Silly Ravager, Matilda only eats people when I say it's okay.

"Bird Boy's coming with." I said.

"This is ending, Ravager. Tonight. Screw planning, screw waiting around until I can take down all the people who turned me into a freak. Seeing Robin made me realize truly how bad I want my revenge. One way or another, I'm gonna spill some blood."

"Oh...okay." She said hesitantly, turning to collect our stuff. My hand shot out and found Ravager's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. Stiffly, she turned around and met my gaze evenly. I searched her eyes for any sign of nervousness or guilt, and found none. I knew this didn't mean anything, though. Just because someone seems innocent, it doesn't mean they are.

"What were you and Robin talking about?" I asked.

"He, uh...asked me why I was working with you. Gave me a lot of crap about how I could do better and how I seemed 'different.' Pulling dirty tricks like he always does." she chuckled.

I didn't return the smile. The words I caught sounded innocent enough, but I couldnt't be absolutely sure. Something seemed...off about it. The tone, maybe. Or their expressions. And now, Ravager as trying to joke around with me. She didn't like me or trust me, ao why was she suddenly being so friendly?

"Fine." I relented, for now. "But Ravager?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever hesitate like that again, I will kill you where you stand. Understand?"

She paused a moment and looked at me like I must be kidding, decided I wasn't, and nodded her agreement.

"I understand," She lowered her head. "It won't happen again."

"It better not..." I mumbled.

I watched Ravager leave with narrowed, suspicious eyes. I managed a smile when my gaze rested on the girl's shoulder. There, just below the shoulderblade, I planted a small explosive I found in Robin's belt.

If I see ever see even the slightest sign of betrayal in Ravager again, I'm going to blow my new pal to smithereens.

Is it just me, or is no one updating their stories?

Random: (I've been lazy when it comes to my random observations, haven't I?) Okay, so at the end of Depths, Black Manta congratulates Kaldur on telling the truth about what happened to the satellite. I'm so glad that honesty is a desired trait in the sons of psychotic supervillians working with the Light.

In all seriousness, I'm glad that Black Manta actually likes his kid (Yes, Kaldur is using his father to get to the Light, but that's irrelevant right now.) It's nice because there are other supervillians who treat their kids like crap and think of them as little more than lackeys. Icicle Senior, Imma lookin' at you. You hurt my baby, so now you have to die.