Author's Note: I know cliffhangers are evil. But they are so fun! Anyway I don't own anything. Please review!
4. Trial By Fire
Robin quickly dived forward to avoid catching her cape on fire.
"Ah too close!" She pulled up her holoscreen with the lifted blueprints and called out to Artemis.
"Go left." She did so without question. Robin glanced back down at the holoscreen.
"Take the first right!" Artemis turned right and paused waiting for Robin's next instructions.
"There should be a vent cover right in front of you, that's where we want to go." Artemis yanked hard and pulled up the cover. They dove into the vent and landed in a room Robin knew Artemis had never been in before. It was in fact a room Robin only knew from studying the cave schematics, it housed the air conditioner as well as the furnace that heated and cooled the entire cave. Robin pulled up the blueprints again.
"This way." They raced down the stairs just in time to avoid the ball of fire that fell out of the vents where they had been moments before. Robin glanced over her shoulder as they leapt over the rails to the lower floor. She could just make out a figure, maybe a woman, in the middle of the inferno. Her attention was diverted however when she noticed a beeping sound. She glanced at the temperature gauges in front of her. The normally green gauge was almost completely red.
"That's never a good sign!" Robin pulled Artemis away from the machine as the glass on the gauge began to crack. Robin took the lead as Artemis fired at their mystery assailant. Robin didn't bother to look to see if she hit the mark or not as she raced past pipes that were rapidly venting scorching hot steam. She heard Artemis behind her and pulled up her holoscreen once more.
"That other access tunnel should be around here somewhere." Artemis whistled at her from down the row of mechanical equipment.
"You mean this one!" She pulled the hatch open and jumped in. Robin slapped another explosive on the machine next to her as she heard the distinctly metallic footsteps grow closer. She ran and dove into the opening as the machine exploded, buying them precious seconds. She pulled out a batarang from her belt.
"Hang on a second." She plugged her wrist computer into the socket on the wall. She began to type away and spoke, knowing that Artemis was wondering what she was doing.
"Blocking out caves motion and heat sensors. Prevents the enemy from tracking us." She turned to look at Artemis. Artemis looked scared but angry.
"That's great but who is the enemy?" Robin shook her head.
"I don't know. But I bet I can find out. Downloading cave security footage now." They watched their teammates interact and Robin couldn't help but feel like Aqualad was acting odd. But then they were attacked. The camera went black, the footage turning to static. Artemis gasped.
" What happened?"
"Explosion took out the camera I'll find another angle." Robin pulled up the other three cameras and watched dismayed as each one was taken out, almost methodically.
"That's it all four are dead." Artemis looked stricken.
"I meant the cameras! I'm sure the others are fine. Just give me a second to find the fastest way to the hanger." Artemis nodded.
"Of course their fine, they all have superpowers." Robin glanced up from her holocomputer. Artemis looked shaken. That wasn't good she needed to keep her head in the game. They headed off together down the access tunnels towards the hanger.