I don't know what had happened, why or how, but I knew one thing; I couldn't remember anything! The last thing I remembered was prolonged darkness and something about someone called Superman.
That was it.
Looking down, I saw myself almost naked, apart from bits of material clinging to some of the more important parts of me. I also saw something that basically gave me a heart attack; I was a cartoon, pixels and everything! There was only one other person in the room with me. For some weird reason, he looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on where I knew him from. I just decided to talk with him to see if he knew what was going on.
"Oh, hey! Uh… do I know you?" he called, waving me over. I was stunned; for some reason, I didn't really want to have much to do with him, or anyone for that matter. I felt so weird, so violated. I had no idea about what had happened, nor where I was. I knew that I was inside a cave, but that was all I knew. The floor was polished, so someone must have lived here.
I continued walking over to the familiar guy, my hands behind me back and my eyes on constant surveillance of the ground.
"Hey, it's alright. I don't know what's happened either. We can work it out together. It seems like you're pretty confused yourself. But for some reason, all I can remember is The Justice League and Young Justice. There's… a few of them… I'll remember more later, I'm sure of it…" the stranger said to me, smiling, walking up to me and placing a reassuring hand onto my shoulder. Almost immediately, I started feeling weak. It wasn't the kind of weak that one felt when it love, it was more like I was having the power drained out of me. Without a single word, I backed away from the guy, finding myself blocked off by a wall. The boy was kind of cute; he had dark eyes and messy, blonde hair with streaks of brunette through it.
"Who are you?" a young voice called out from behind us. I could feel myself blushing as I turned around; there was a whole bunch of people standing right behind me! There was a boy who looked relatively young who was dressed in a red outfit with a cape and a mask, then there was a guy next to him with bright red hair and… cute, green eyes… I found myself staring awkwardly for a bit at the guy, but he didn't seem to mind. He was smiling casually at me. Then next to him, there were two girls, one blonde and one with green skin and finally, on the end, there were another two boys, older-looking this time. One was dark haired with light skin, while the other had dark skin with blonde hair. I found myself feeling frazzled; what was I doing here?
"Oh, my God! That's the Young Justice squad! That's Robin, that's Kid Flash… Oh, Artemis and Miss Martian! And Superboy and Aqualad! This is amazing!" the cute stranger informed me. I didn't even realise that he had moved next to me. The guy I had been staring at, thanks to the information given to me by 'the stranger', was apparently Kid Flash. Once again, I found myself staring, unable to control myself. What was happening to me?
"I said, who are you?" Robin repeated, stepping forward and revealing the half of him that was hidden behind Kid Flash. In a second, the guy with the blonde streaked hair looked at me, hoping that I would be the one to talk this time, but I had nothing to say. I just found myself stuttering a whisper.
"I-I… Don't know…" I mumbled, one arm over my stomach and the other playing with my hair.
"Aw, can we keep 'em?" I heard Artemis mumbled sarcastically to Miss Martian, who just continued to stare at us. Suddenly, someone stepped forward. He was a big man who looked like he was dressed up in a Halloween costume.
"Why are you here? How did you get in?" he asked forcefully, sending a shiver up my spine and a strange feeling to my head, as if someone had just knocked me in the back of the head. I felt my eyes close, but I could still hear every word.
"Is she okay?" I heard someone mumbled.
"Uh, let me just say, it's a huge pleasure to really meet you, though these circumstances might not be completely appropriate. Anyway, I'm… uh… I'll get back to you on that… And I have no idea who she is either. We just… came here," cute guy explained. I could hear a little bit of confusion in his voice, but for the most part, he was very believable. Brownie points, more than likely.
"Why shouldn't we have you thrown out of here for trespassing?" the man boomed again, stepping forward with a very stern look on his face.
"Um, Batman? Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on them. I mean, she looks so scared…" I heard Miss Martian say to 'Batman'. I opened an eye and looked up, but I couldn't see anything. After about three footsteps, I heard another man speak.
"Stay back here. You don't know what they can do," he whispered, but I could still hear him.
"I don't either…" I mumbled to myself, hoping no one would hear up.
"Aw, come on, Uncle J'onn! We have to know whether they really are a threat!" Miss Martian insisted, her footsteps coming closer to me.
"Hey, are you okay? Do you really not know why you're here?" I continued to stay silent, deciding anything that I said would probably have me dead by the end of the night.
"Oh… Um… Do you know what happened? What brought you here?" Again, I made no attempt to respond, but it seemed Miss Martian had other plans. She grabbed my hand lightly, which sent a chill down my spine, and dragged me back to the people that were in the cave with us.
"We really need to get to know them! If they were out to hurt us, then they would have done it by now!" Miss Martian insisted, smiling at me. I looked at everyone, the big guys included, but every time I looked at a Young Justice member, I felt my eyes lock for an extra few seconds with their own. I didn't deserve to be there. I didn't deserve to be in the presence of people who were superior to me in every way. I didn't know how I knew they were…
I just knew.
As I looked at everyone, they all seemed to be smiling at me. All except one. Artemis. Instead, she had walked back slightly and was actually scowling at me. I knew now that I definitely wasn't wanted. Lowering my head, I continued to stare at the ground.
"You can't remember anything. You can't help them at all. Why are you even here? All you're going to do is get in their way. You can't even remember your own name!" I thought to myself, closing my eyes again and feeling people moving closer to me.
"Don't worry, we'll find out your name," I heard Miss Martian say, but when I looked up, she didn't say anything. I felt myself jerk my hand out of hers as I took a few steps away in shock and fear. But soon, I was being pushed back toward the entire gang by the cute guy.
Everything was starting to scare me. The fact I didn't know anything about myself, the fact that I was practically naked and the fact that Miss Martian had just gotten inside of my head!
"Oh, sorry… Forgot…" I heard her say aloud.
I nodded and smiled slightly, looking back up at her. Miss Martian's smile was so sweet, it made you just want to smile in return.
"Wait… Wait… Are you really… Are you really Batman? And Superman? And Red Tornado, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter and Black Canary?" The cute guy asked excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other. I just stared, unsure of what he was talking about. The only person I recognised was a man with a big 'S' on his outfit.
Superman.
"So, you really don't know your name?" Robin and Kid Flash asked at the same time, then looking at each other awkwardly. I nodded again, stepping closer to them but still refusing to talk, but as soon as I made a move, I felt the back of my shirt falling off; I didn't really want to be walking around in a bra and short shorts.
Confused glances bore into me as I quickly threw my hands behind my back and started backing away.
"Hey, it's okay, I've got you, and call me M'gann," Miss Martian reassured me, turning me around and following me, directing me to another room. She called for cute guy to follow, who just slowly tagged along, bidding farewell to the Justice League.
As we continued walking through the cave, everything felt so new to me, yet somewhat familiar. Eventually, we arrived at a strange looking, kind of metallic room.
"Uh, you can change in here. I brought you some clothes to change into, too," M'gann told me with a smile. Again, I returned the gesture, but this time, I was a little more enthusiastic.
"Oh, and you can take turns at getting dressed. There's only this one room available. I'm just down the road if you need anything," she added, throwing some clothes at cute guy, who just looked at me, confused.
"What's with the act?" he shouted, a little annoyed. I simply stepped back, not wanting to stand too close to him. I had been feeling so weird… Especially around the boys… No wonder I didn't seem to be getting along with cute guy. For what felt like the hundredth time that day, I remained silent and looked at my clothes. I didn't really know what to think of them.
The colouring was black, silver, and green; a combination that seemed familiar as well, but I didn't know why. The top was what seemed like a long-sleeved bra, with silver rimming the outline. It was mainly black, with silver sleeves that went down to cover my hands as well as my arms. At my shoulder, there were slits that divided the straps from the rest of the sleeve, but the straps and sleeves were still connected.
My pants were tights that were black on one leg, silver on the other and green around the waist. A red 'T' was imprinted on the right side of the waist on the pants, taking up only a little bit of space where the green spread around.
The shoes were flat boots that came nearly up to my knees. They were black, with 'T's also imprinted on them, but on the outside of the tips. The ridge of the shoe was threaded with silver and a green ribbon laced them. I was starting to get the feeling that this choice of outfit was design for something more than just casual wear.
As I held up my outfit, cute guy just smiled at me, then noticed my outfit.
"Wow… That's hot… What letter does yours have? Mine has a 'C'… I hope they're not trying to insult me…" he commented, looking off into the distance, a little doubtful about his outfit. It was black and dark blue, with red also for the letter. His had a massive 'C' imprinted in the centre of the chest.
"Mine's… 'T'…" I whispered, staring absently mindedly at the letter on my pants. Perhaps 'T' had something to do with my name or something in my life?
"Why does this one thing keep coming back to me?" I heard cute guy complaining, sitting on a seat that was near him. It matched the rest of the room in its metallic look and feel. I just shot him a confused look and watched as he walked behind a room divider to change into his outfit.
"I think I'm supposed to be called Cade… I don't know why though…" he thought, striking a heroic pose, which I simply giggled at. Did I have to be so helpless and… weak?
As soon as 'Cade' finished changing, I stood behind the divider, sighing in confusion. What was really going on here? I needed to know. Ripping off what was left of my beige singlet and denim shorts, I started to put on my outfit, finding it a lot easier to put on than it looked. The shirt was made of some strange material that actually moved with my body, not against it.
"Um, is it okay if the team and Justice League ask you a few questions? You can take a group each, I guess," I heard M'gann's voice from the door, immediately followed by the agreement of Cade.
"Sure, send 'em in!" Cade exclaimed happily. I was still putting my pants on when I heard them all scuttling to the door.
"Let me past!" I heard Kid Flash yelled, followed by a similar sentiment by Robin.
"Don't give me orders!" another voice boomed. I didn't know who it was, but I was sure it was one of the older two boys.
"Um, excuse me, but are you ready?" M'gann asked, standing next to the divider, quickly followed by the boys. I knew Artemis wasn't there; why on Earth would she want to talk to me? I figured that she wouldn't want another person in the group. Especially with what happened between her and the gang…
But how did I know any of that?
With a final tug, I pulled on my right boot, the last item of clothing, and slowly walked around the divider, feeling awkward and self-conscious.
"Wow… You look… Amazing…" Kid Flash flashed me a smile and started walking up to me, followed by the rest of the gang.
"He's right. You look really nice," she complimented, looking at her own outfit and losing her smile a little. I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"M'gann, you look beautiful. Don't think otherwise," I told her, tilting my head slightly so she knew I wasn't lying. M'gann was the only one who really made me feel welcome. I knew I had to make her feel that I accepted her kindness.
"Wow, she can talk!" Kid exclaimed, looking excited.
"KF, I think we've already had this conversation," Robin nudged him, smiling at me. Suddenly, I felt my eyes draw toward Kid Flash again. Similar to what happened earlier, but this time, it was longer. I stared into his amazing turquoise eyes and I felt some strange connection. I didn't know what it was, but I could feel my energy draining again.
"Hey, are you two alright?" Robin asked, stepping between myself and Kid, cutting off the connection.
"Wh-what just happened?" I asked softly, rubbing my head.
That's when I heard Kid Flash come back to reality as well. "I don't know… but I liked it!"
"Well, I'm whelmed," Robin stated, smiling at me again. I looked into his eyes for a second and I felt the same thing happen again… And then somehow Aqualad and Superboy were caught in my gaze. I heard Kid Flash and M'gann trying to communicate with us, but to no avail. My energy was being drained more and more every second, until I could barely stand. After another ten seconds or so, I felt the connection break, and I collapse on the metallic floor, my chest barely able to breathe fast enough to reproduce the oxygen I needed.
"Hey, are you okay?" M'gann asked, helping me to my feet.
"T-Tempest… Call me… Tempest…" I mumbled, using her shoulder as support for my legs, but that didn't work. Suddenly, I felt myself lifted off of the ground on placed onto the bed by strong, masculine arms. I looked up to see Superboy, smiling at me, although very subtly.
"Tempest. It means storm. Why are you naming yourself Tempest?" I heard Aqualad ask, very kindly too. I shook my head. I didn't know why. It just came to me. The 'T' on the outfit. It must have had a deeper meaning than just being a letter.
"I'm… not sure…" I replied, rubbing my head again. As I went to stand up again, I found myself falling onto Kid Flash accidentally. My first instinct was to blush and again, I found myself staring into his eyes, but this time, I wanted to.
"Hi," he smirked at me, having a hold of my arms. I smiled in return and melted a little.
"Hi," I replied, blinking rapidly and losing control of my legs, which collapsed underneath me.
"Hey, M'gann, I'll take her from here," Kid Flash offered, but his offer was refused because 'I needed to rest'. After Kid Flash and Robin lifted me back onto the bed, and with a bit of annoyance, the boys walked out of the room, each giving me one last glance before they left.
"They'll need a bit of time to adjust to you being here," M'gann explained, flashing me a final smile before leaving. As time passed and thoughts roamed my head, I eventually found my eyes closing and myself drifting off to sleep.