I DON'T OWN YOUNG JUSTICE.
A/N: I truly am sorry about the space between updates. I haven't been busy, I'm just kinda bored of this story now. I will finish, but that's what the hold up is.
Read. Review. Enjoy.
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My vision was blurry. My head felt like it had been filled with rocks. It was going to take a while for this headache to vacate.
As my eyes adjusted, my heart rate rose. The wires and needles stuck in my arm and attached to my head were triggering my past memories of torture. My breathing began to become shallow. A hand touched my knee and I nearly ran out the room.
"Vanessa calm down." The voice was calm but stern. I relaxed a little as my brain forced itself to recognize the hand.
"M'gann?"
She smiled as she sat back.
"Can you please take these off me?" My body was starting to react to all the medical equipment, my hands trembled and I could feel myself sweating.
She quickly removed the needles and wires. I again relaxed. It's funny how life works. When we first met, I couldn't stand the sight of M'gann. I had hated the thought of having anything to do with her. But now, M'gann had become one of the closest to me.
"How are you feeling?"
"Okay I guess." I paused not really wanting to know the answer to the question I was about to ask.
"M'gann, what happened to me?"
She froze before answering looking at me intently.
"You had a seizure. Not a big one, but enough to cause concern. Have you ever had one before?"
I shook my head slightly. She continued to stare me down as I avoided her eyes.
"Vanessa what is going on? Before you seized up you looked like you were going to say something. What's happening?"
"I don't know," I said softly.
"Vanessa please don't hide this. I need to know."
"No. No." I stood up shaking my head. Another flash came through. A brief mental picture. It forced me to grab the rail of the bed. I was caught from behind as I grasped for something to keep me from falling.
"Vanessa take it easy. Sit down."
The voice wasn't M'gann's.
Artemis helped me into the bed once again. "Will you just take it easy? We don't need another scene."
"What do you care? You want me out of here right? Seizure and comatose should be the next best thing for you."
"Look this isn't any easier for me than it is for you. I'm trying to help you. There's no way you recovered that fast." She tried to put the needle back in my arm when I yanked it away, causing a cut.
"Now look what you did." She went to get gauze to wrap it.
"Just leave me alone. I don't want you to touch me."
"That's it. I tried. I'll be around if you need me M'gann."
She stormed out. I laid back in the bed as my head started throbbing, the pain shooting up behind my eyes.
"Vanessa I thought you wanted to make things right with her? Pushing people away is not going to help you."
I heard her but I wasn't listening. Another flash filled my head. I couldn't speak. I shook my head to try to get M'gann's attention.
"Vanessa? What's wrong?"
I pointed to my head.
"Another seizure?"
"No." I forced out. "Someone is in my head."
"Vanessa I'm going in."
"No. You'll make it worse."
"Look, I will tread lightly. If something's wrong I will move out."
"No." She put her hand on my knee again and looked at me longingly. I nodded.
PAGE BREAK
The initial contact caused me to panic.
"Calm down. It's fine. Now what is going on?" M'gann asked.
I took a deep breath. "I don't know. Before the seizure, I was thinking about what Alex said. Trying to make sense of it when you called my name. I saw the body on the screen and…"
The white blank screen of my mind started to change involuntary. The dreams of terror filled nights started to roll past as if they were slides on a projector. They suddenly stopped at the one where I had seen him before.
"Vanessa, what's going on?"
I slowly went through the door. The dark room and foul smell flooded my senses. M'gann grabbed me back.
"You need to be careful. You have to guide me or a repeat of last time will happen."
"I got an overload of information," I explained. "I guess that's why I had the seizure. But I had seen the body before."
I opened the door. I could see her tense with the anticipation. As I turned on the lights, I saw her jump slightly at the shock of the sight.
We moved slowly through the room as we tried to avoid stepping on any of the corpses.
"Vanessa, I had no idea you had to deal with this on your mind all the time. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not like it's your fault. Besides, this isn't the worst I've had."
"Who are these people?"
"People I know or care about. And some I don't."
She stopped between two. One of which was Artemis.
"My mother." I figured there was no need to acknowledge the other. We both were aware of who she was and how I felt about her.
"I thought it was you. You look a lot like her. Just younger."
I shrugged. I didn't want to stay here longer than I had to. "The man you're looking for is over here along with a bunch of other people I don't know."
She made her way over careful to avoid tripping.
"Are the rest leaders?" I asked.
"I'm not quite sure. I don't really know them all that well. But the others will."
We took another look around to see if we had missed anything.
"In this dream, everyone here was dead because of me. I know this isn't my fault, but I feel like it is."
I knelt down next to the body of my brother. "This is all your fault! Why didn't you just come back?!" I grabbed it and moved it closer to me, hugging it so tight. I hadn't realized how much I depended on him, needed him with me.
"Vanessa you have to focus. We don't want last time to happen again." I could hear the wavering in her voice. I knew she was right. I let Alex go, the blood staining my shirt. As I looked up to acknowledge what she had said, my skin began to crawl. B'rnazz extended his hand to me. I scooted away as his laugh filled the air.
I didn't see the cliff behind me as I pushed myself over. Panickedly, I reached out. My arms nearly jerked out of my socket as I struggled to pull myself up. A hand stuck out over the side. Quickly, my arm lunged at it.
I landed on the ledge. The face of my savior was my own. But as I looked harder I could see it was the woman in the picture, my mother.
"Mom?"
"Guess again." She shifted into B'rnazz.
I started running. As I looked back, it was no longer the martian chasing me. It was Wellsworth. I ran into the chemical shelf. I had to get away so I began to climb. I reached the top and Alex was waiting.
"You came back."
I ran to him for an embrace. He side stepped me.
"All hail the Light." They were the last words I heard him say before he pushed back off the shelf.
I landed slightly stunned when the guards were all around me. They roughly grabbed me as I struggled, forcing me into the lone examination chair. Wellsworth walked over, shoving a needle in my neck. I could feel the cold liquid moving down my back as I became paralyzed with fear.
The room went black as it began to shrink around me.
"No. No, no, no no!"
I shut my eyes and scrunched my nose, crouching in a position I had held myself in many times before. I started humming the familiar tune I had heard so many years ago. But the pain didn't go away. It increased. It felt as if my head was going to rip apart.
Then silence.
I opened my eyes, breathing was deep. My hands hurt from how hard I had squeezed M'gann's hand.
She had sat all the way back in her chair. She looked pale and woozy as if she might puke.
"M'gann are you okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I tried to focus. But everything hit me. My dreams. They all were forcing me to lose control."
"It's okay Vanessa." Her voice was soft, but loud enough to cut through my uncertainty. "There was no way anyone was going to be able to focus through all of that. The sheer fact that you are able to endure that daily speaks a lot about you. I'm sorry we... I, haven't been able to see that."
I nodded, not truly knowing how to respond.
"Recognized. Robin B01. Kid Flash B03." We both turned as the zeta tube went off in the background.
"We should go tell the others." I nodded in agreement. I didn't want to talk about what had just happened. This would be best.
PAGE BREAK
THIRD PERSON POV
Robin and Kid Flash walked in solemn looks on each face. They were met by the Team in the training area.
"What were you able to find?" the leader asked.
"Nothing we hadn't already speculated." Robin answered. "The martian was there and someone killed the prime minister. The only thing we really found was that the martian didn't kill him. He was there, but the energy wasn't his nor the M.O. It was sloppy. The incision was jagged like someone got stuck halfway through. It was forceful, but it was set up to look accidental. The shirt had a neat cut like it was slit on the desk."
"But the facts still lead to Alex." Artemis assumed.
"Then we're back at square one." Superboy sighed.
M'gann walked in leading Vanessa behind her. Everyone stopping to watch.
"What's everyone looking at?" Vanessa snapped.
"Well at least her personality's intact." Superboy muttered.
"What are you doing up? You want a repeat of earlier?" Artemis ground out.
"I'm not talking to you," the girl snarked.
"Vanessa, are you alright?" the leader cut in.
"I'm fine."
"Fine, you nearly passed out just standing up. You need to go back to bed now. M'gann how did she talk you into this?" Artemis snarled.
"She's fine. Now can we get back to the matter at hand?"
"Wait, wait, wait. What is going on here? What's wrong with Van?" Robin finally cut in.
"She had a seizure." Superboy replied blandly.
"What?" Wally's surprise was heard in his voice. "No one comes back from one of those that fast. I'm with Artemis. You need to rest."
"I already said I'm fine."
"No you're not. You never listen to anyone. What is it? Are you afraid of the truth? You don't want to hear what we have to say because you know we're right, and you can't handle that. You like the lie you call a life you're living. Don't you?"
"Artemis that's enough!"
Everyone was surprised by the raised voice of the most soft spoken of all the inhabitants of the room.
"Vanessa is fine. I made sure of it. But if she wasn't, your guilty banter and pointless badgering wouldn't make it better. Now if we could talk about the prime minister, I think I have something that may help."
The room remained silent.
"I don't think that the prime minister is going to be the only one."
Vanessa stumbled back, nearly falling over. She quickly recovered. M'gann paused, looking concerned.
"I'm fine. Keep going."
Her eyes began to glow as she showed the mental image from Vanessa's dream to everyone, careful to shield the rest of the bodies from the others. "This is the prime minister in the exact position he was found earlier today. While the rest, of these bodies I don't quite recognize, I'm sure these are the other leaders of the most important countries of the world."
Robin went over along with Kid Flash examining the remaining bodies.
"Russia, China, Germany. All the major countries."
"Except America." Artemis pointed out.
"Where did you get this image from?" Superboy asked.
M'gann was hesitant. "She got it from me," Vanessa spoke out. "I don't know how, but I had it in a dream weeks ago. And its not the only one." The scene changed. Disaster ranged through from left to right. A blizzard in Russia, a fire in Germany, a hurricane in China, a tornado in London, a flood in France. "I get mental flashes which is what I think caused the seizure." A bright light flashed and they were all back in the Cave.
"The Light is attempting to take out the world powers." Aqualad realized.
The alarm began to sound as Batman rushed in.
"A series of world disasters have sprung up all over the globe. Each Leaguer has gone to a different country. You will be deployed with your mentor."
A blizzard in Russia, a fire in Germany, a hurricane in China, a tornado in London, a flood in France appeared on the screen.
"And me?" Artemis asked having sat out on the last mission.
"We need all hands on deck for this one."
"But what about the leaders?" Vanessa yelled.
They all moved to the zeta tube.
Miss Martian looked back at me. "We will take care of it, but right now we have to take care of this."
PAGE BREAK
VANESSA POV (FIRST PERSON)
I felt wrong about this, but there was nothing I could do.
The room had emptied out quickly. I looked back at the screen as the disasters played across it from different places across the globe. Something still wasn't right in me. Like some important piece of information was being left out.
The flash that had hit me before M'gann's presentation had showed me Alex in a small white room. Another had showed me some sort of device. Something connected them, but I didn't know what.
"Every power. Stop them all. No survivors. I have to."
That's when it clicked. The natural disasters were just a distraction. The real target was to take out the world power leaders, like the dream. And the room Alex was in was the President of the United States. Stop them all. No survivors. Every power. I had to warn the others.
I ran over to the zeta tube hoping to get to Washington before Alex did. I tried to punch in DC, but only received "Unauthorized user." After several attempts, I had had it. I shot the panel. I know the Team would be upset later, but now was a matter of life and death. I would deal with the repercussions then.
The tube geared up as I walked through. My stomach flipped as I rematerialized in DC. The town was in utter chaos. Buildings were up in flames and people were scattered in all directions.
I started running through the crowd. Another flash nearly knocked me to the ground. I was stunned, but I was able to quickly catch myself and press on. There was something in the back of my mind as if guiding me on, giving me an intuition about which way I was supposed to go. I didn't really know where I was going, but it felt right.
When I finally got there, it was worse than the streets. People were screaming as they were consumed by flames. Buildings billowed out smoke. I started sweating as the heat became immense. That's when I saw the source of the flames.
"Johnny! What are you doing?" I had to admit, I was surprised to see him. I know the Team had a run in with him earlier, but they had told us he was back with his parents. Regardless, he was laying waste to the architecture and population of the nation's capital. I had to stop him.
"Johnny, stop!"
He turned the flames to me. Instinctively I shot back creating enough of a barrier for me to escape with minimum singe. But he wasn't finished with me. He had that same crazed look in his eye as everyone who had tried to kill me in the last couple of weeks. I ran making sure to keep one step in front of the fire. The heat was ridiculous. I couldn't keep this up. I began to run toward him in a circling motion. When I was close enough, I fired off several energy burst. While he was able to dodge most of them several knocked him to the ground stunned.
I got close to him hoping to get some answers, talk some sense. "Johnny, what's going on?" He turned to look at me. I could see the confusion on his face, then a moment of enlightenment. He opened his mouth to say something, drawing me closer.
"All hail the Light."
I jumped out of the way seconds before it was too late. A pillar of fire headed straight for me. I hit him from the side, another barrage of attacks. He retaliated stronger. I ran hiding behind a tree. It instantly went up in flames, burning my back. I got angry, the gloves coming off. Every bit of emotion I directed at him. He fell to his knees immediately unconscious.
I could feel myself getting excited. I had stopped the situation all by myself. It quickly dissipated as another explosion from behind took the place of Johnny's distraction.
The chaos caused by the explosion seemed to have escalated. People scattered haphazardly. Through it, I could see Derek. He had some contraption with him. It was the device I had seen earlier. This close it looked like a type of bomb. It was huge; bigger than me. I knew I couldn't just let him go wherever with it. He was clearly controlled by the Light. But I needed to get to the White House. Alex was going to assassinate the President. There was no way I could stop this by myself. It was too much, and I was in way over my head.
Braced myself as I prepared to use the mind link. It's not that I was scared, but the permanent damage from my early years would make me hesitant as it was more painful for me than others.
"M'gann, it's the leaders. They're going to kill the country's leader to gain power. And Alex is going to kill the President of the United States. Then they're gonna blow it up."
She responded a lot quicker than I anticipated.
"Vanessa where are you?"
"In DC."
"Stay where you are. I'll tell the others. We're coming."
I knew they would get there as fast as they could, but I couldn't just stand by and watch as Alex became a wanted criminal for assassinating the President. I headed to the White House, that instinctual feeling guiding me again. I knew I couldn't just barge in. I would be spotted and this whole thing would be over. Besides that, the Secret Service would be all over me. A hand placed itself around the back of shirt collar and yanked back. Another hand covered my mouth. I was quickly turned around to see Artemis has grabbed me, relieved I wasn't under attack.
"Didn't we tell you to stay put?" she whispered.
Miss Martian descended behind her. "Never mind that now. We have to get in there and stop Alex from murdering the President."
"What about the bomb?" I reminded them.
"What bomb?" Artemis asked, clearly confused.
I was hit with another flash. It wasn't as powerful as the other ones, but enough to cause me to recognize its message.
"It's underground. Under the… White House."
"What kinds bomb is it?" Miss Martian asked.
"Does it matter? Miss Martian you go stop the bomb. Vanessa and I will stop Terror Twin two. Tell the others to rendezvous with you there when they finish."
Miss Martian nodded and made herself invisible to us and was gone. Artemis began to move as soon as she left. I ran to catch up with her. She ran across the yard, climbing a large tree that provided plenty of cover.
"Why did you choose to do this? I thought you hated me." There was a little bit of venom in my words. I couldn't tell if she detected it or not. She was silent helping me to the top. She carefully looked through her quiver taking out a special arrow. As she replaced it on her back, I could see the slight grimace from the pain creeping up on her face. The arrow was put on the bow and aimed at the center of the lawn.
"Miss Martian was the logical choice to stop the bomb. With me not having any powers, I'd be vulnerable if it went off, no matter what kind of bomb it is. Miss Martian's skill set makes her capable to disarm and protect herself if need be. That left me with you."
I knew the choice had made sense, but I was hoping for a different reason, maybe that her feelings had changed about me.
"And I don't hate you." She hadn't even looked back as she said it.
"What?" Her answer threw me off guard. I hadn't expected it. I thought the pause in between the phrases had ended it.
"I don't hate you. It's like you said, you're a lot like me, meaning I know how you feel. Not knowing who to trust or who's for real or not. I get it."
I could feel the smile sneak on my face. She then lowered the bow and turned to face me.
"That doesn't mean I completely trust you. Just because I know how you feel doesn't mean I understand it. You nearly took me out. I felt betrayed after all I ever tried to do was help you. It's gonna take me a lot longer to get over that and get trust back in you."
I nodded. I understood. I couldn't expect things to go back to the way they were; they weren't the same.
"But you're on the right track." With that, she turned to the lawn and aimed again. "Cover your ears."
I did as I was told. The arrow went sailing through the air to the middle of the lawn. I could faintly hear the high frequency noise that was wailing on the yard of the White House. The Secret Service men went to their knees, and many fell unconscious. After what felt like forever, the noise stopped. Artemis jumped down, pulling the earplugs from her ears and beckoned me to follow. We had an assassination to stop.
PAGE BREAK
"Mr. President, how gracious of you to let us in. I'm sure we can just make ourselves at home."
The few Congressman there immediately dropped to the ground as B'rnazz forced his way into their minds, overloading them. Alex snuck in behind him as the Martian then forced the POTUS against the window. The boy then grabbed him preparing to end his life.
"Honey, what's going …" The First Lady ran in followed by three young kids.
"Well, Mr. President, looks like you brought is a live studio audience."
"Please, let them go. It's me you want."
"You're right, but that doesn't mean they can't be an added bonus for me. I don't get the pleasure of killing you, the boy does. They would be my reward."
The family began to whimper. "No, Mr. Martian. Please! Don't kill our daddy."
"Your cries aren't going to save him. He knew we were coming. He didn't take the time to amp up security. Not that it would've mattered. Besides it's nothing personal, just business. Now Alex, could you please do the honors."
The pleas of the family became louder and more frequent. "No, please." "Leave him alone." "Stop."
Alex looked back and forth between the President and the family, clearly torn about what decision to make.
"Please Son, not in front of my family. If you're gonna do it, fine. But please don't make them watch."
"They should've thought of that before they rushed in here. Now Alex we don't have all day. Kill him."
He positioned his hand ready to strike, the same way he had killed the Japanese Prime Minister. He pushed a hand to his chest as an arrow cut across his face, the blast extinguishing before it could be released.
Artemis and I walked in through the still open door.
"Why won't you heroes expire?!"
B'rnazz threw Artemis across the room. She slowly got back up, her injury slowing her down. Alex came charging straight for me.
"I told you to stay out of this. Now you're gonna listen." He jumped to tackle me. Grabbing his arms, I pushed him down and jumped on his back, propelling me out the way. As I turned to see him I caught the family running out the room as well as the President. Well at least the easy part was done.
Alex grabbed me by my arm and threw me through the window. I hit the dirt, but by the time I had rolled to a complete stop Alex was standing over looking as if he wanted to bash my head in.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?"
He hesitated leaving me enough space to roll away for an escape. He swept my legs from under me as I stood. He shot near my head but didn't come toward. I got up again and the onslaught of shots started.
I started dodging left and right.
"Alex, you have to come back."
"I already told you I couldn't. But you never listen to a word I say, do you? I'm not coming back. I can't."
"Why not? Alex, I'm not going to stop coming after you."
"I just can't. I've done…" The firing became sporadic.
"Done what?"
"You wouldn't understand. She told me to. Her blood is always on my mind. I can't go back with you. Just listen to me for once! I have to stay. So just leave me alone!"
"Alex, I'm not gonna stop. I need you. And if you stay with the Light, I'm gonna follow you. I'm not losing you."
"You can't!"
"Why not?!"
"Because I killed her!"
"Who?!"
"Sierra!" The firing stopped.
"What?"
"I didn't want to. But I didn't stop myself either. After you escaped, they were gonna kill Sierra. B'rnazz said I needed the experience. I couldn't… I mean I didn't mean to, it just happened."
The news stunned me. I didn't really know how to take it, but what surprised me more was how Alex was acting.
"So you didn't come back because you made a mistake?"
"This isn't just some mistake. Her blood is on my hands. That's not something you just brush off. It was someone's life."
"It was still an accident. You think the Team wouldn't take you back for that? You know what I did to Artemis, yet they let me stay. Alex you have to come back."
"Not with the Light still a threat. If I stay then they'll stop coming after you. That's the only reason I'm still alive. Everyone knows you have more power than I do. But if they thought you were dead, I was the next best thing. But with you trying to find me, they're gonna keep after you. I can't have that. So just stop trying. Let me go."
I hadn't realized the sacrifice he was making. But I didn't care. I was willing to risk capture if I was with him.
"Alex, I can't stop. I need you. The only way we were able to survive is 'cause we had each other. And I appreciate you trying to protect me, but it's like you said. I'm a stupid, stubborn kid. The best way to keep me out to danger is to be with me because I won't stop to anything short of death."
"You never did listen to me did you?"
Artemis flew between us, somersaulting to a stand position.
"Come on, that's not gonna hold him for long." She shifted her attention from me to Alex.
"Are you with us or not?"
He looked from her to me. I sported a weak smile on my face.
"With you," he answered.
We all took off running.
"Miss Martian how are you holding up?" Artemis was trying to make contact with her over the comlink in her ear. Apparently she wasn't getting the answer she was looking for.
"Miss Martian do you hear me?"
There was a small pause before she started talking to us again. "They stopped your friend. But they're still looking for a way to disarm the bomb. It's nuclear and they don't have much time. Everyone is there, but no one has any ideas."
The familiar feel of being nearly slammed to the ground returned. Both Alex and Artemis looked at me with slight concern.
"The kid, Derek, he can thrust it into the atmosphere. Or he could make it light enough that someone else could carry it skyward. That way no matter the radius it will be out of way of people."
Artemis radioed the others as soon as I finished talking, telling them what I had said. She looked at us and nodded once the message had been delivered. We took off.
In the distance, I could hear the Martian we had left in the White House.
PAGE BREAK
THIRD PERSON POV
The Martian stormed out of the White House. The archer had bounded him to the wall, and now they were gone.
"This ends now!" he snarled into the air.
PAGE BREAK
The ship hovered over the capital city. The Light watched the monitors of various situations unfolding underneath them. The city was in total chaos as well as the other cities around the world, which is what they wanted, but one factor still remained. The President. No matter if the other leaders were alive, if the Unites States was under their control, the rest of the world would be at its knees.
"The Martian should have been finished by now. Where is he?" Ra's Al Ghul had come far past the point of impatience.
Vandal Savage connected to the communication link that the group shared with their lackey.
"Martian, where are you? Report in now."
There was a great silence. An anticipation build up before he answered.
"What?"
"Watch your tone Martian," Ra's chimed.
"What is the status of the president?"
Another pause ensued.
"He's not as dead as I would've hoped. But I'm handling it."
"That's not an answer."
"Look, I'm handling this. Don't contact me again. I will let you know when I have him." The line went dead.
"We cannot lose this city. The Martian has had his chance. Ra's send your assassins after the president. The rest, kill the Martian."
The Demon's face curled to a smile.
The rest of the villainous group continued to monitor the screens. Luthor speaking up as he noticed the Leaguers' protégés running towards them.
"Wellsworth, it seems that we may be in for some unexpected obstacles. Send every child we have at our disposal to keep them busy and perhaps cause more chaos."
"With pleasure." He exited the aircraft.
"We are not losing this city."
PAGE BREAK
VANESSA POV (FIRST PERSON)
We ran to the Hall of Justice, there we met the rest of our friends. They had apparently taken care of the bomb.
"POTUS is safe, bomb is out of harm's way. Looks like a mission success to me," Robin exclaimed.
"What of the other important cities?" Aqualad inquired.
"The Leaguers are currently handling them so that we could come out here," Superboy answered.
"Ditto," Kid Flash replied.
"Now what?" Artemis asked as she looked towards me. I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't have anything. No informative mental flashes. Nothing. Alex remained quiet not drawing any unwanted attention.
A blast from behind us grabbed all of our attention. It was the girl I had seen when I had been recaptured. The one who had lost both her brothers. She had that same crazed look in her eyes that everyone else. Another blast sent the Team into action.
Artemis released a sleeping gas arrow. Aqualad caught the girl as she fell to the ground. As he laid her down gently, he was slammed to the ground next to her. Kid Flash tripped the kid who had done it from behind. Robin followed with sleep gas of his own.
Superboy groaned out in pain as yet another child attacked him, sneaking behind him and sending a wave of dizziness over him. Miss Martian entered her mind, quickly knocking her out.
"I think we're under attack," Robin retorted.
"What gave you that impression?" Artemis asked as another explosion shaking the ground beneath them.
"They must still be after the president." Miss Martian observed.
"We need to stop them without hurting them." Aqualad instructed.
"Tell them that," Superboy commented as he got off his knees.
The Team began running towards the rest of the children from the facility. Alex and I followed.
"Whoa. Where are you two going?" Kid Flash asked.
"Look, we all would hate for you two to get lost in the scuffle. Besides it would be a travesty if either or both of you sided with them again. It's easier if you just stay put." Robin backed.
"That's not fair. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even have gotten this far," I shot back.
"We don't have time to argue this. He's right and you know it. We don't even know if we can trust Alex. Now please just wait in the Bioship." Artemis had yelled back to us. I lifted my head to protest, but Alex put his hand on my shoulder. We began to head dejectedly towards the Bioship.
"Why didn't you help me?" I asked my brother.
"Because what they said makes sense. The best way for us to help is to stay out of the way."
We were about to board when a high frequency sound blitzed us. Immediately, we were forced to our knees as the sound proved more than we could bear.
We were lifted in the air as B'rnazz came into view. He had a disgusted look on his face.
"Well, well, well. Looks like you two have reached the end of the line."
"We're not afraid of you," I said.
He just walked toward me, but didn't say anything. I couldn't read him. That same disgusted look rested on his face, but I couldn't tell what he was waiting for, or even what he was about to do. He turned back to Alex as if he was going to say something, when the sudden high frequency noise came back. We all grimaced. Alex and I fell back to the ground as B'rnazz had lost his concentration on us. He was then attacked by a group of assassins. Two more came and lifted my sibling and I off the ground. We were turned to face the attacker. Wellsworth stood in front of us, he only had a primitive gun in his hand pointed straight at us. With his other hand he placed what appeared to be a remote in his coat pocket.
"You don't know how long I have waited for this. You two have been the cause of all my pain while working for the Light. Now it all pays off."
"What do you want?" I asked.
He began to snicker. "What I seek is far more precious than fear. What I want is rache. Revenge."
He started walking towards us and pressed the barrel of the gun to Alex's chest. "All the work I did for nothing. I told them nothing would happen until you ruined everything." He spat out every word, the utter hatred seen in his face. "Now you're going to feel my pain, feel her pain. The same way you ended her is how I'm going to end you."
Alex looked uncertain of himself, as if he was trying to comprehend who the crazed doctor was talking about and put an emotion to it at the same time. He wasn't afraid, but he didn't look confident either. However, I couldn't stand by as he threatened to kill my brother.
"Leave him alone."
"Halt den mund! Silence. Because your justice is long over due as well. Once I finish crucifying him, you're next." He turned back to Alex, pushing the barrel further in his chest. "What are your last words? I want to hear you beg for your life." Alex looked at him, determined not to give him what he wanted. "Fine. Have as you wish. But make sure you say hello to them in the afterlife for me."
He cocked the gun and began to squeeze the trigger. I watched in horror as it unfolded before me, unable to do a thing about it. But it seemed fate was on our side. One of the assassins B'rnazz had been fighting found their way to Wellsworth, knocking him off balance and causing him to miss despite the point blank range.
Wellsworth regained his balance and directed his attention to the martian.
"Looks like you missed," the alien taunted.
"Martian, I always knew you had a soft spot for these two. Too bad your fondness for them is going to be your demise."
"Like Sierra will be for you."
"Don't you talk to me about her! I will destroy you."
"Is that a fa-," B'rnazz began before being cut off by two more assassins.
"A fact? I believe it is." The demented doctor turned back to us. This time he aimed the gun at me after reloading it. "You must think me a dummkopf. I always prepare for the unexpected. Now then Alex. Perhaps I shall approach this differently. I kill her while you watch. I want you to feel every inch of pain I felt before I kill you." I was struck with Deja vù as he placed the cocked gun to my chest.
Another body came flying at the doctor. I suppose he saw it with his peripheral vision as he cleared himself of the assassin, the gun was still cocked and aimed at me. He quickly turned to me. He snickered and fired.
I ducked my head so I wouldn't see it coming and braced myself for the impact. But it never came. I turned my head back to see what was happening.
The Martian stood in front of me. His body was shivering as he took a knee.
"What's this? I knew you cared for them. I didn't know you go this far. A fool wasting your life for these two. And only delaying the inevitable."
B'rnazz suddenly turned invisible. Wellsworth made his way back to us. I don't know why we weren't resisting the hold we were in. I suppose we were just too engrossed by what was happening around us.
He approached us as he was suddenly knocked back, tripping himself up and landing on his back. B'rnazz appeared in front of the man, picking him up by his neck.
"Well, well, well. Looks to me you've been placed in quite a position. Any last words Doctor? I want them to be memorable."
"You're not going to kill me. You don't have the guts."
All we could hear was Wellsworth's bloodcurdling scream. B'rnazz dropped him to the ground as he finished. He turned back to look at us. His body transformed into a hideous monster as he slaughtered all the guards and assassins around us. Alex and I picked ourselves off the ground. We were greeted by that same disgusted look he gave us before.
Without warning, he dropped to the ground. I suppose his legs were too weak to support him. The initial shock of it all caused my brain to freeze. After I had fully analyzed the situation, my body began to move instinctively, rushing to help the man who had just saved my life.
Alex continued to stare. "Don't just stand there. Help me." It took him a minute to move.
"Right, right." He bent down to put B'rnazz on his shoulders. He began glowing, meaning he was using his super strength, but he had no emotion. Usually it only worked if he was angry.
"When did you learn how to do that?" I asked.
"Something they taught me after you escaped." He paused. "What now?"
"Take him to the Bioship."
He looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
"Do you have any better ideas?" I snapped. He simply shook his head as we continued to head that way.
Once on the ship, Alex set him on the floor. He didn't move for a while.
"You think he's dead?" Alex asked. B'rnazz began to moan as he positioned himself with his back against the wall. We both geared ourselves. He was still unpredictable especially now.
"Oh calm down. Do I look to be in any position to fight?"
We both relaxed a little.
"Are you alright?" Alex asked.
He just gave him that same disgusted look. His body began to shake again. He went transparent. A small clank sounded as the bullet landed on the floor. Alex picked it up and studied it. I placed my hand on his chest wound. It began to glow as I concentrated on it. B'rnazz removed it.
"Don't. It'll take more power than you have to make any difference."
The loud noise beside us got both of our attention. Alex had slammed the bullet to the ground. It rolled over to us.
"Something you want to say Alex?" B'rnazz asked.
"I don't get you. Two weeks ago, we couldn't catch a break from you. Now you jump in and save us twice. Why did you take the bullet?'
He didn't say anything. He simply picked up the bullet and began to study it as well. "Wellsworth developed this bullet to shut down the organs of whoever was hit with it. A slow painful death. A man his size, it would've taken an hour. Someone like Alex, 30 minutes. Like Vanessa, 10 to 15."
"What about you?" I asked.
"Martian physiology is different than a human's. It may shut down some organs, but not enough to kill me. Just enough to seriously wound me."
"You still didn't answer my question. Why take the bullet? What do you gain by keeping us alive?"
Again, he paused.
"I gain nothing, but the night your mother died, I promised her that I would protect you two."
"Yeah right. All that torture you put us through. All that I went through just in the last week. Some protection."
"Don't you realize all the subtle help I gave you. Vanessa you don't think I didn't see you sneak food for your brother? Or when he came back, you don't think I didn't see him stuffing his face with it? What about the fact that you knew what was going on and how to avoid all the troubles surrounding you and your sidekick friends? Are you going to just ignore those?"
"Wait, those were you?" I asked.
"Of course they were me. Did you think you just all of a sudden got this intuition? The stone that Sierra gave you, I gave her the idea to give it to you through telepathy. It allowed me to contact you telepathically without being put into a coma. All the ideas and visions that sent you here was me guiding you."
"If you cared so much why not tell us?" Alex asked.
"I couldn't make it blatantly obvious. If they would've found out and got rid of me, you two would have had it much worse. Would you have wanted Wellsworth be solely in charge of you?" He repositioned himself against the wall. It was clear he was in a lot of pain.
"Who was Wellsworth talking about? What did he want revenge for?" I asked. Alex bowed his head.
"He was talking about Sierra. She was his niece."
"How? She hated him."
"Wellsworth had a twin brother, Hans Lungstum. Both became scientist. Lungstrum settled and had a family, two daughters. While the two were close, Wellsworth got involved with the wrong people, the Light. He had gotten in trouble with them and was on the run. He kidnap his first niece, Deandra, Lungstrum's first child as a peace offering, but it wasn't enough.
"They came to kill him at his office. However, he and his brother worked for the same company. Lungstrum had stayed to work late and the hired assassins killed him. Wellsworth heard the news and went into hiding which is why he changed his name from Lungstrum to Wellsworth. His brother's wife had died in labor with his second niece. So he took care of her.
"The Light eventually caught up with him. They took Sierra too as compensation. He tried to do for her what I did for you."
"Then why did you force me to kill her?" Alex was choked up. I could tell he still hadn't forgiven himself for it.
"The Light was on my back. Besides, I hate Wellsworth. This was double payback. What is that Earth saying, 'two birds, one stone'? And I believe you forget. I may show a fondness for you two, but that doesn't mean I have any emotion for others. I am still a criminal."
"Then why did you promise our mom that you would take care of us?" I asked.
He took a pause before answering.
"On Mars, I was labeled early. Granted I deserved it, but I was always an outcast.
"When I was liberated from that dirtball, the Light immediately recruited me. They didn't tell me their plan, but trained me and assigned me to your family.
"Your parents had the perfect moldable DNA the Light was looking for. One that Wellsworth could easily give a genetic enhancement if necessary. But your parents weren't who they wanted. They wanted you two; young impressionable children that could be manipulated to do what they want.
"I was sent to assess you two. So I disguised as Barnabas Naitram and befriended your family. In the meantime, I took other subjects. Neighborhood children, orphans, abused, well off, I had no preference and neither did the Light. You two were the most important. That's why I was always there. At the parties and the awards and the games."
"You took the picture at the Grand Canyon?" I asked.
"Yes I was there. And shortly after-"
"You killed are parents. I'm not seeing the compassion that you supposedly had toward us or our mom." Alex fumed.
"Yes. I did terminate them, but not entirely of my accord. Your father I never liked. He was an Air Force Fighter Pilot. Soon after your vacation, he was called in. A bomb on the undercarriage blew up as he reached an altitude of 30,000. There wasn't enough of him left to bury when the plane finally crashed.
"They buried an empty casket. In the weeks following, your mother buried herself in her work. She was a nuclear scientist. But the Light was pushing up the timetable. The death of your father should have been followed closely with hers, but I couldn't bring myself to do so.
"Your mother was different. She saw more to me. I always had a sense she knew I wasn't who I said I was. But she always seemed to know how to handle me. When I came over and something was wrong she knew. I wanted to tell her, but I couldn't. I wanted to spare her, but it was too late."
"Did you love her?" I asked. He simply looked at me, but said nothing.
"What happened?" Alex asked. His face was stern. I don't think I had ever seen him this concerned or focused. He looked older, different than when this whole ordeal first started.
B'rnazz sighed before he started up again. "She was called into work late. Being a widow now, she heavily relied on me as a family friend. She called me to babysit the two of you. Like I said, the Light was pushing me to finish this. So after she left. I executed the operation.
"Vanessa was already asleep, and being as young as she was putting a drug in her system would have killed her. However, I did drug Alex. He was asking entirely too many questions and wouldn't go to sleep.
"One of the assassins accompanied me with a getaway car. I placed you both in it. The plan was to drive out of town and disappear entirely. Break any contact that your family had with that city. But I couldn't take off without saying goodbye.
"I telepathically took over the driver's mind and he drove us to the plant. The plan was to have the reactor overheat and explode. Sure the other scientist would be killed, but I didn't care about them. Your mother was my only concern. I had him drive by the plant so I could get her to come with me… us. I rushed out the car when we got there. The entire crew was behind the protective barrier, but it wouldn't do them any good if the reactor blew like it was supposed to."
"Wouldn't a reaction like that destroy a good portion of the state?" I asked.
"The reactor wasn't large enough for that. They tested all their hypothesis on a miniature version in case of a meltdown or something to that extent. So it wouldn't blow the entire state. Anyway, she saw me as soon as I came in. I density shifted into the facility. She rushed over to me as soon as I came in, begging me to get out for my safety. I tried reasoning with her to bring her out, but she was stubborn. She has always been stubborn. I was tempted to render her unconscious, when I was distracted." He looked over at me. "Somehow, you managed to escape the car. And when your mother saw that, she went ballistic, practically throwing me out herself. I told her she was in danger; that the reactor was going to blow any minute. And I'll never forget what she did next.
"She took my hand and looked me in the eyes. She knew she was going to die, and she wouldn't let me save her. She told me she didn't care about what I had done in the past. She wanted me to just promise her that I would protect you two, no matter what. I told her I wasn't the man she thought I was. She shook her head and told me it didn't matter. I had made the choice to come and get her and that I needed to give myself more credit. Then she bent down and hugged Vanessa for a while humming the same song Vanessa does now when she is afraid, telling her how she had to go now and to be good while I looked after you two. She told her to take care of Alex, and how she would always love the both of you. She then handed Vanessa over to me, and forced me out. I tried one last time to get her to come with me, but she turned back to the others behind the glass trying their best to stop the reactor, and told me that she had a responsibility to them. 'Protect them' she told me, and I nodded and started to density shift both of us out. As your mother ran back, the reactor exploded. She was the only casualty.
"The radiation was strong, and while I tried to block out as much as I could, we were too close for me to stop all of it. I don't know how, but Vanessa was able to absorb the radiation, which is why now her power exceeds Alex's. The rest I'm sure you know.
"In the early days, I tried to forget all this, what she said,but it wouldn't leave me alone. No matter how much I degraded you two, I couldn't make it as bad as was required."
"Why? I thought you said you were a villain. You didn't care." I said.
"Because of you."
"Me?"
"You're a spitting image of your mother. Every time I try to forget her, to move past what she has to say, you bring it back. You look like her. You talk like her. I can't help but think of her. So in a way, you are lucky you are your mother's child. Though it annoyed me to know end, it save both your lives."
There was a silence in the room as we all digested the magnitude of what had been said. The atmosphere was heavy, tense. No one wanted to say anything.
The tension was suddenly broken by a violent shaking of the ship. Alex went to look through the window.
"They're coming." He simply said. His face was solemn. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. My gaze fell to B'rnazz as he stood.
"I believe it's time for me to go." He paused as he reached the door. "Looks like you both got what you wanted. You're finally rid of me. Try not to get yourselves killed without me."
We watched him leave, but something inside me didn't sit right. Sure he had mistreated us greatly, but after all he had just told us, it shouldn't end like this.
"Wait."
He turned to face us.
"I know you tortured us and mistreated us, but I didn't really know our parents. Really, you're the only parent figure I had. So, in a weird kinda way, you made me who I am today whether that is for better or worse. I guess I'm trying to say be careful and … thank you."
He nodded. We both looked to Alex as he turned his head, remaining silent.
"Well, I suppose the custom is to say you're welcome. But don't expect any hugs or anything. I have never been the touchy feely type." The ship rocked violently under us again. B'rnazz took the opportunity to escape, when he was suddenly pinned to the wall. Artemis held him with her bow to his neck.
"Remember me?" she asked through gritted teeth. There was a vengeful look in her eye.
"Artemis, no!" I yelled out. I ran to push her off him. The martian used me as a distraction, kicking her into me. The rest of the Team soon moved into the ship. Upon sight they became defensive and attacked.
Artemis pushed me off of her and joined in. B'rnazz was holding his own, but he was getting tossed around. He was still weak from taking my bullet. I owed him as much to get them off his back so he could escape.
I threw myself in front of him, nodding back at him.
"Get out of here." I told him mentally. I used my ability to charge objects on myself. The whole area erupted with light. When it finally settled, Brnazz was gone and everyone had there eyes covered.
Artemis recovered first. "What the hell was that?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "It's complicated."
"That's all you have for us? You let the guy who pretty much started all this escape and all you can say is 'it's complicated'?" Superboy ranted.
"Seriously Vanessa, what side are you on?" Kid Flash asked.
"You guys need to get traught. Learn who your friends are." Robin responded.
"Hey. Lay off her okay. He got what was coming to him. He'll be dead soon. Let's just move on." It was the first time Alex had spoken in a while.
"Agreed." Aqualad stated. "There is no need to dwell on this longer than necessary. However, I would ask the two of you where your loyalties lie. While we are willing to protect you, a mutual trust has to be built."
We all sat down as Miss Martian started the Bioship. The silence from earlier had returned. I wanted to tell them, but they wouldn't understand.
I didn't know what this meant for Alex and my future, but it looked as if we were going to lose friends along the way. So I guess the question was had the gain of one frenemy been worth the loss of six friends?
I stared out the window not wanting to face the answer.