Hey again!
Thank you Thank You so much for all the reviews!
As promised, here is the next (really long) chapter :]
Truthfully, I'm able to update this fast slightly cause its holidays now. :P
But either way, thanks to you all giving reviews, I update fast too :]
Crossoverpairinglover: if you're asking as to where Rocket is, the answer is that she's not in this sotry. Simply because I wrote this before she even came out in YJ, and it would be too troublesome to add her in at this point of time.
CHiKa-RoXy : Haha really? That was a cliffy? Mmhmm. :3
mixxi: Yes, yess, it IS fishy ;]
Dark Goddess Of Shadows : What do you mean by OT7?
VampirePrinssess : You'll see some of it in this chapter. Who knows if they're telling the truth ;]
Neko Tiger: If you mean like SuperboyXMiss Martian and ArtemisXWally and ZatannaXRobin and stuff like that, then yeah, I'm keeping them. I prefer them to the pairings now :/
Please Review!
Tell me what you thinK! :]
Previously on In Blackest Night:
Wally was the first to take action. He sped over to his uncle, knocking him off his feet.
The two speedsters lay on the ground, Wally on top of his uncle. The Flash stared back at his nephew in shock. "…Wally? Is that really you?"
Wally West laughed out heartily before he hugged the scarlet speedster like there was no tomorrow, nodding. "Uncle Barry!"
Chapter 8: Vantage Point
Used
Martian Manhunter – Robin
"Who am I?"
"Martian Manhunter, Megan's uncle."
"What is your Alias?"
"Robin."
"Name?"
"Richard Grayson-Wayne."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"I was 14. I'm now… 16 biologically, 24 mentally."
"Tell me everything you remember happening, from the start."
"I was used." The young bird shrugged, slumped in his seat as he faced Megan's uncle. "Ten years ago, on that last mission, I had been captured for a while when I went ahead without the team. You know how much I like doing that disappearing act thing? Yeah. I don't really remember much of that time, but I know Queen Bee was there. She did something to me, and suddenly, I just saw how badly the league had been treating us."
The Martian knew he was sincere; there was something in his voice that told him he was telling the truth. There were no hesitations or wavering at all. Since 10 years ago, although the boy claimed to be only 2 years older than he was when he left, the Martian could see the growth spurt. Robin was now about a few centimetres taller than his shoulder, and although he was quite slim, he could see the muscles that were there that weren't there before, and his shoulders were broader.
Robin paused. "Well, I still kinda think that now. You guys never really trusted us." He looked at the black mirror, at where he suspected Batman was, turning back after a while. "I think I was instructed to split the team up, that's why we weren't really getting along. I made it so that no one listened to Kaldur, nobody cared about Miss Martian, people went too far with Supey, nobody bothered with Wally, people were too nosey with Artemis and people misunderstood Zee."
"And so, that was how we broke up. We split up and hid from the league, well that's what happened, I assume." His voice took on a bitter note. "I was used again, to track them down one by one, and bring them back to the base we were kept in to be tortured, trained, educated and frozen."
Robin sighed. "The last thing I remember was waking up and breaking out of there."
Martian Manhunter reclined on his chair.
This was worse than they thought.
Frozen
Batman – Aqualad
"Who am I?"
"Batman."
"What's your Alias?"
"Aqualad."
"Name?"
"Kaldur'ahm."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"I was 17… I'm now 19 biologically, 27 mentally."
"Tell me everything you remember, from the start."
"After that last mission, everybody just fell apart. They doubted themselves and they doubted me, as their leader. It was not very surprising to me that we disbanded. I took a trip around the worlds' oceans, discovering other species and stopping some of Ocean Master and Black Manta's men on the way. When I went back to Atlantis only a short few months later, I saw that my King had replaced me with Garth and Tula. I was… sad." Kaldur told him, "So sad, that I decided not to return. I left and continued with my travels… until I was stopped by Robin. We talked, and it was quite refreshing to talk to someone. But then we were ambushed, and Robin revealed that he was the traitor. Of course, we found out that he had been brainwashed during our first awakening."
"Wally was the last to be captured." Aqualad stated. "During the time needed in tracking down the others with Robin's help, they broke us down. Physically and mentally, we were exhausted, though they continued giving us plentiful good food and comfortable rest areas. Truthfully, we were waiting for the league to rescue us. In the end, you never came."
Batman's eyes narrowed behind his mask. It was the truth – the league never searched hard enough, maybe thanks to the fact that it was them who left of their own accord. This slightly older Aqualad was more muscular than before; taller, and seemed to be a lot more confident in himself.
"We were frozen, and during that time, the Light pumped everything theoretical that could possibly be of use to us into our brains. Some of us were frozen for 2 years, some more, some less. I was forced to train with Black Manta, and it was extremely brutal. Though for the past few years, I am positive that we were frozen."
Hurt
Green Arrow – Zatanna
"Who am I?"
"Green Arrow."
"What's your Alias?"
"Zatanna."
"Name?"
"Zatanna Zatara."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"When I left, I was 15… I'm now 16 biologically, but 25 mentally. It's because of a de-aging spell Klarion forced me to put on myself and Kid Flash, because we were awake more than the others."
Green Arrow sucked in a breath, before continuing. "Tell me everything you remember, from the start."
"Nobody seemed to understand me after that last mission we went on, and I was quite depressed. I mean, my father never really let me go to normal schools, so they were my only friends that were human and my age. So being ignored was pretty unasterous." Zatanna giggled slightly at Robin's made-up word. "That day, the team had this horrible, horrible, fight. Everyone was shouting and screaming at each other, and I felt so irritable. Every little thing just shook me and I hated it. Then, everybody just blew up, and as a team effort for the last time, we disbanded and left Mount Justice."
"I went back home for a while, studying more in-depth magic. It was a few months before I decided to come back to this earth. It was then when I was tracked down and knocked out. They knew my weakness, and covered my mouth first." Her eyes narrowed. "Since I had gained a lot of knowledge already, most of the time Klarion trained me on hand to hand combat and first-hand training, along with Wally. That's why Klarion forced to perform the de-aging spell on both of us, although it didn't exactly… go perfectly. It didn't de-age our bodies properly, which is why I look older than I am biologically."
Green Arrow nodded slowly, collecting all the 'data' in his head. Her uniform was different, consisting of a white, laced tube body suit that exposed her stocking clad thighs, a black suit jacket over it and a white choker necklace. Her long black hair was slightly curly and she wore a black magician's top hat sometimes. Zatanna seemed slimmer, and more developed.
"We were frozen this past year or so, though. The next thing I knew, we were awakening, and the bonds that we had were gone. So we broke out, and I tracked most of the main leaguers down to the Hall of Justice."
Trained
Superman – Kid Flash
"Who am I?"
"Supey Senior."
Superman rolled his eyes, though he made no comment.
"What's your Alias?"
"Kid Flash, Fastest Boy Alive."
"Name?"
"Wally West."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"Hmm... Lemme think about that. I guess I was 16 when I left? Now, without anything, I'm supposed to be 26, but I'm 18 now, thanks to the spell from Zee. Without it, I should be around 23 or 24."
"Tell me everything you remember, from the start."
"I hated those days after that last mission the team went on together. It was chaotic, and everybody was annoyed with each other. Supey seemed almost deranged, and Megan seemed so lost. When the team disbanded, I ran off and explored the world. For a while, Artemis tagged along… and maybe, something happened between us. Anyway, people seemed to like giving food to the 'little speedster' they'd seen on TV, so I didn't steal or anything, and I caught stuff in forests and seas. It was kinda like a really long Camping trip that took place all around the world." Wally shrugged. "I learnt to avoid speed detectors, avoid routes Uncle Barry always took during his daily laps around the world."
"There was one day, though. It was the only time I'd run into The Flash after that day. I knew he'd been looking for me, and it looked like he just ran into the Speed Force. So I tried vibrating his molecules in reverse to stop them from speeding out of control. It worked; I called the police using a public phone, and sped to Africa." The teenage speedster explained. "I was caught last, because I'd been travelling around the world so much and avoiding all trouble. Most of those years with them were physical work. I… I was glad they finally froze me. It was so tiring I just slumped down after one day, every day."
Superman nodded understandingly. Examining the speedster, it was easy to see how he'd changed. His body was slimmer, more streamlined for speed. The freckles that were normally splashed on his cheeks were gone, and he seemed tanner. They'd probably tried regenerating him every night with fake Vitamin D.
"Though, I never gave up hope that one day; Uncle Barry would barge through those walls, kick those guys' butts and free me and the team, all with that smile of his. But that day never came. The only upside was that they fed me well, at least. And you know how my metabolism works. Truthfully, that's all that kept me surviving."
Compromised
Doctor Fate – Artemis
"Who am I?"
"Doctor Fate, Giovanni Zatara, whatever."
"What's your Alias?"
"Artemis"
"Name?"
"Artemis Crock."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"I was… 16 when the team broke up. Now, I'm 17 biologically, should be 26 though."
"Tell me everything you remember, from the start."
"Those early days, I remember feeling so at peace, even with those fights with Wally. It felt like I finally belonged. But after that last mission, everything changed. Slowly, I just felt more and more irritated with the others and I couldn't stand anyone at all. I still feel guilty about starting that fight with Wally – I think it was the one that made us decide to disband the team." Artemis sighed. "After that, I went back to Gotham one last time and hitched a ride with Wally for the first few months. It was pretty fun, but I got tired of being on the move so much, so asked him to drop me off at Star City. That was, if he didn't mind. It was really risky, and if we weren't careful, he could've been caught."
"Being Wally, he agreed, obviously. I tried convincing him to stay with me, but he told me he wasn't ready to go back to his uncle. We said goodbye, and went our separate ways. Of course, before I could get up to Ollie's place, I was nabbed off the street." The archer shrugged. "It seems kinda clichéd now, white van, chloroform to the mouth and everything considered. I was trained by Sportsmaster again, and those captured hardly saw each other. It wasn't until Kid Mouth was captured that I was frozen."
Doctor Fate could see the changes in her. Her muscles were hardened, and her hands were even more calloused than before. Whatever innocence that was left in her eyes had been extinguished in those ten years.
"It seemed like just a dreamless sleep, and I was only awakened one other time. The next thing I knew, I was awake, we broke out, and you know the rest of the story."
And Survived
The Flash – Superboy
"Who am I?"
"The Flash, Wally's uncle."
"What's your Alias?"
"Superboy."
"Name?"
"Conner Kent."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"I was 16, and I'm still 16."
Barry perked up. "Why's that?"
"My genetic material doesn't allow me to physically age… but I was awake for 2 or 3 years, so I should be about 18 now, though I really should be 26."
The Flash made a face as something cracked – really loudly – on the other side of the one way mirror. "Well then, kiddo, let's get this over with. Tell me everything you remember, from the start."
"Those days after that last mission, I felt… angrier than usual – much more. Every little thing ticked me off, and the methods Black Canary taught me in keeping calm weren't helping much. So that day when that fight broke out, I couldn't stand it. Something in me just broke, you know?" Superboy shrugged. "After that day, I rode with Sphere and Wolf to Superman's fortress of solitude. I felt so guilty that I'd taken Sphere and Wolf away from the team that I froze them, and ran off."
"The computer recognized me as Superman, though. It was easy enough – I do have half of his genetic material, and the conditions up there weren't too good for electronics either. Those days, I felt so hopeless that I just gave up on my way back to America that I just… gave up. It wasn't long after that they found me, and in my weakened state, I couldn't fight back." The clone explained with a slightly sour edge to his tone. "I was put through many tests after that, designed by Luthor, I was frozen, and that's it."
Flash nodded, standing up. The boy didn't look different from ten years before, at all, except maybe slightly taller. He seemed more… solid too, somehow. And he had a feeling Superman would have to go check up on his little fort soon enough.
But not without any scars.
Aquaman – Miss Martian
"Who am I?"
"Aquaman."
"What's your Alias?"
"Miss Martian."
"Name?"
"Megan Morse."
"How old were you when you left the league, and how old are you now?"
"I was 17 when the team broke up, 27 mentally and 18 biologically."
"Tell me everything you remember, from the start."
"I didn't know what happened, after that last mission. Everyone's thoughts were so chaotic and jumbled and angry!" Megan took a breath. "I didn't want to get affected, but it was really hard to block out such… strong emotions. After the team broke up, I rode out in the bioship and we stayed camouflaged for a few days while I meditated to get rid of the stress."
"Since I couldn't go back to the league or my uncle, I decided to return back to Mars. While I was preparing for the trip, my guess was that I was tracked down. On the night I was meant to take off, I heard them coming. I knew what they were planning to do – to freeze us and 'train' us, so I hid the bioship and put her on permanent camouflage and lockdown, unless I were to open her myself." Miss Martian continued, taking on a pained tone. "They were ready for me, and they had fire. So much fire." She paused, closing her eyes for a while.
Arthur allowed her a brief respite.
"Psimon, Queen Bee… There were so many of them who came and went, who tried to train me to become a stronger person altogether. The rest of the time, I was sleeping."
He could see the difference. She seemed much older, more serious than when she'd first arrived on Earth. The length of her hair was shocking. But even more so were the emotions in her eyes.
"I was so relieved when we broke out of there. After Zatanna tracked down most of our mentors, we raced over as fast as we could, though Wally had to stop by some place because his metabolism was acting up. I saw the cannon about to fire, and I didn't think. I just flew in front of it and blocked it as best as I could."
"Who was it that captured you?"
"The Light."
So there it is, a super long chapter that might hopefully answer some of your questions.
Another question from me to you is : Do you think they're telling the truth? ;]
Please keep up the reviews and you'll most likely get another update as fast!
Please Review!
Tell me what you think!