Chapter 19
Last chapter was a bit shotty at best. Sorry about that. Anyhow this chapter will be decent enough—I hope. Hm I can't wait till Saturday day! New Young Justice! I swear the suspense is killing me! I'm also hoping to see more of my favorite witch-boy too ;3 *sigh* well I'm going to get on with it ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
"MARIKO!" Mariko heard Tony scream as she fell to the pavement below; she had released her grip on the window sill. Robin knew everything about her; the Martian had showed him, but why? She had no reason to! Now all Mariko wanted to do was let go, let go of everything.
"Wow! You really are pathetic aren't you?" Klarion's voice boomed inside Mariko's head. She scowled, "I'll save you this once."
"Don't talk to me about being pathetic! Jigoku Shonen!" she shrieked, then felt an endless darkness around her. "Klarion…you really suck."
Above her, Tony, Gemini and the Team stared as Mariko's body disappeared. Tony glared at Robin who stared over the edge.
"You jerk!" Tony shouted punching Robin and knocking him to the ground, "You…you killed her! You killed Miss Mariko!"
"Tony; calm down." Gemini said, Tony glared.
"No! She's gone because of him!" he shouted, "Miss Mariko was right; you people are evil. How could you do this to her! She needed your help and you…you killed her…"
Tony brought his fist back hoping to beat the snot out of Robin; first he rejected Mariko; now he had killed her. However before his fist made contact with Robin's face, Tony's body—along with Gemini's—disappeared into a cloud of red smoke. Soon Klarion stood in the middle of the group, glaring.
"Klarion…" Artemis growled pulling the strings of her bow back, "What are you doing here?"
Klarion looked over his shoulder, Teekl hissed at the group from Klarion's shoulders. He then shrugged.
"Saving a friend," He said then snapped his fingers as a small explosion went off around him, "I'll take mine, and you can take yours; count yourself lucky; baby heroes!"
With Mariko and her group gone, the only thing left to do was snap Robin out of his daze, and take Vertigo to prison.
"Robin; Robin snap out of it." Kid flash said Robin stared; he didn't expect Mariko to actually let go. He knew Mariko was insane but this…he never thought she would kill herself. A sudden smack to the face snapped him out of his daze.
"Robin; get up." Artemis said, "We have to get this guy back to Belle Reve; we can deal with Mariko later."
Robin looked up and nodded; right now they needed to focus on Vertigo. He could deal with Mariko later.
~0~
When Tony and Gemini reappeared they were in Mariko's room. Tony was furious; he hated Robin before now he wanted nothing more than to rip the jerk to shreds for what he did.
"Savage is going to kill me." Gemini said, Tony glared.
"Miss Mariko is dead and all you care about is that your going to lose your job?" He growled, Gemini frowned, then punched him hard enough to send him across the room.
"I don't expect some child like you to understand; if Mariko Miko is dead so am I, and you for that matter." She hissed. Suddenly Klarion's figure appeared between the two.
"Oh would you two quit your whining?" He asked then smirked, "No one is dead….yet…"
Tony sat up, leaning against the wall as he looked to Klarion and Teekl.
"Miss Mariko…" He mumbled, Klarion shrugged and pointed to the coner of the room.
"She's alive…sort of. If you count what she is as alive anyway." He said then glared at Gemini, who sighed at the sight of Mariko sitting in the corner; her back towards everyone while she somewhat laid against the wall. Teekl growled as he sat upon Klarion's shoulders.
"Quiet you stupid cat." He hissed, silencing his familiar. Tony stared, walking over to Mariko whose back was still to them.
"Miss Mariko…" He mumbled. Mariko looked over her shoulder and glared.
"Out." She whispered plainly, "All of you."
Tony smile of relief faded as he noticed Mariko's multi colored eyes were tearing up. Robin had hurt her, might not have been physically but she was definitely hurt. However he nodded, and left the room, leaving his master to her thoughts. Gemini scowled; she had no intention in leaving the brat be; what she had done was stupid and nearly got herself killed. However upon her hesitation Tony grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away, leaving Mariko, and Klarion behind.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Klarion said, walking over to the young genius and pulling her up by the shoulder strap to where she stood on her own feet. He then spun her around so that she was facing him.
"Jigoku Shonen; you should have let me splat." She mumbled bitterly. Klarion scowled.
"In a different life I would; but I like you Mariko, so I'm keeping you alive, at least until I'm bored." He said, crossing his arms. Mariko narrowed her eyes.
"Jerk."
"I've been called worse." He said, "Now listen to me; I need to warn you of something."
Mariko looked up.
"Warn me of what?" she asked, Teekl hissed as he jumped from Klarion's shoulders to the door of Mariko's bed room. Mariko scowled, "Jigoku Shonen? What's going on?"
"Don't trust Gemini." He said finally, Mariko cocked her head to the side.
"I don't, but why not?" She asked, Klarion pursed his lips before he spoke again.
"Just trust me on this; eventually I'll be able to find a way to get rid of her." He said.
"I could just kill her; Savage-sama loves me after all. He wont be cross." Mariko said proudly. Klarion shrugged.
"That's too boring; just stick to not trusting her near any of your stuff. Especially Match." He warned, "As for that Robin problem."
"He doesn't believe it." Mariko mumbled. Klarion scowled.
"Well no duh he doesn't; you don't have the best track record with them yaknow." He said, Mariko frowned.
"Neither do you." She hissed. Klarion huffed.
"Yes but I'm not in love with any of them am I?" He asked. Mariko paused.
"Do you even have that emotiom?" She inquired.
"Do you?"
"I do now."
Klarion sighed, that argument was going no where. He then called for Teekl who jumped into his arms and meowed.
"I'll be back later; I've got something I need to do for the Light." He said, "And so do you."
"Yay…" Mariko said half heartedly. Klarion rolled his eyes then disappeared; leaving Mariko to her thoughts. Mariko sighed; what was she going to do? Then another thought came to her. If Robin just figured it was all a lie then she was fine with that. She'd rather the Justice league believe the story of her life was false then find out the truth. She looked to the picture of herself and Takumi which sat on her night stand. She sat on her bed and plucked it from its place.
"Oh Takumi; what am I gona do? I'm losing my edge." She mumbled, then heard a loud beeping noise, she grabbed her remote from her belt which laid sloppily on a chair, and turned on her large computer screen.
"Hai; Savage-sama." She said, looking to the large image of Vandal Savage on the screen.
"I heard you had a bit of a run in in Star City." He said, Mariko's eyes shifted, "Care to explain?"
"I was buying DVDs. That's all." She mumbled, Savage frowned.
"Why was the Injustice League after you in the first place?" he asked. Mariko debated lying to Savage, but then decided it would only incriminate her. So she told the truth.
"They contacted me," She said, Savage's brow rose. "They wanted me to do something for them."
"And what did you say?" he asked, Mariko frowned.
"I told them no of course. I'm loyal only to you Savage-sama." She said, "…They didn't take that so well."
"I see; then Gemini came in handy after all." He said, Mariko nodded.
"I still don't like her Savage-sama; she's nosey." She said. Savage nodded.
"Cannot be helped; I want to keep you safe. The only way to do that is to use Gemini." He explained. Mariko pouted, but if that's what Savage-sama wanted; she would agree to it. Though she couldn't help but wonder why Klarion had warned her not to let Gemini close to her.
"It's good to see that you are alright." Savage said finally. Mariko smiled and nodded, holding onto her picture frame. "Is everything alright Miko?"
"Everything is fine Savage-sama," She said with a smile, Savage frowned; not at all believing what she was saying. Mariko nodded picking up on his lack of trust on the issue.
"It's almost December." She finally said vaguely, Savage nodded; understanding what she was trying to say.
"I see. I'll see what I can do about the issue." He said, Mariko smiled.
"Really?"
"Really; now behave and stay put for a few days." Savage said then ended the transmission. Mariko looked down at the old photo of her long gone friend.
"Takumi…"
~0~
"Ugh I can't stand this cold." Mariko said a few days later, she was wearing her usual attire only in a winter's version with snow boots, bright leggings and long wool coat that came down to her knees, "It wasn't nearly this cold last week!"
"Then again we weren't in the lair of Icicle Senior last week." Tony mumbled, Mariko huffed; he was right. The trio; Mariko, Tony, and Gemini, had been asked by Savage to speak with Icicle senior, and hire him for a small job. He had agreed, however the catch was they needed to go to one of the coldest places on earth; the north pole. Mariko narrowed her eyes.
"Hurry up it's bloody cold!" She hissed. Icicle Senior and Icicle Junior looked to the young genius. "Don't look at me like that. We can't all be super used to the cold."
"Mariko, hush. I can't use my powers in this kind of weather to keep you from being put on ice." Gemini said, Mariko glared.
"Don't tell me to hush you overly stretched rubber band!" she growled, then felt a hand on her shoulder. Mariko groaned; it was Jr. he had taken a liking to the girl—why she would never know; nor care to find out.
"Dad's just finishing now. How bout we head back; I'm sure I can warm ya up." He said, Mariko gagged.
"Cool off creep." She said, "I'd rather freeze to death than ever be that close to you."
Jr. scowled; talk about a cold shoulder. He shrugged however and looked to his father who motioned for him to come help.
"This would go a lot fast if you helped too brat." Sr. growled. Mariko glared and stomped her foot in the snow.
"Don't call me a brat! I'm the smartest person alive!" She shouted, "And I shouldn't have to help you; I'm only here to make sure you actually do it right, and fry you if you don't."
"That's reassuring." Tony mumbled scratching the back of his head, then looked down at his hands; he was the only one—besides Jr.—who wasn't wearing something to keep him warm. Mariko had told him that it was just easier to shut off his pain receptors for this trip, than to find him a new coat—especially since they had only been given a day's notice for this.
"Would you cut that out!" Sr. growled, "If you keep yellin' like that you're bound to cause an avalanche."
Mariko frowned; she didn't like being talked back to. Especially by someone that spent most of his time in a uniform that helped him generate the same powers as Mr. freeze. Mariko would never understand men's fascination in the cold.
Suddenly an arrow hit the machine the group was working on, and began beeping. Mariko stared, and was pulled back by Gemini just as the device exploded, but not having much of an affect.
"Miss Mariko are you alright?" Tony asked, Mariko glared.
"Of course I am you stupid cyborg!" she hissed, "Find those twerps and end them!"
"Yes Miss Mariko," Tony nodded then turned to scan the area. Jr. and Sr. glared and looked to Mariko.
"You want to make yourself useful little girl? Keep these kids off my back!" Sr. shouted, then sent Jr out to help the trio. He went to Mariko and held out his hand.
"Need a hand?" He asked cleverly. Mariko glared and smacked the boy's ice grip away from her.
"Gemini! You help Tony!" She hissed standing up, then opened her coat up to reach for her belt as she removed her remote taser. Gemini shook her head.
"My job is to keep you from getting killed." She said, Mariko made a face then aimed her remote at Gemini and pressed the button; sending electricity through Gemini's body.
"Don't back talk me hag! Just do it!" she growled, Gemini nodded and went off toward Tony. Just as someone sped by Mariko and Jr. Mariko turned seeing the blur of red and yellow speed off towards Sr.'s machine. She aimed her remote and fired, hitting her mark and sending kid flash to the ground.
"Etativel etomer!" Zatanna's voice shouted, and Mariko's remote was taken from her and crushed, Mariko glared.
"I hate magic!" she hissed, "Jr. do something useful would ya?"
"Right," Jr. shouted and went to throw an ice ball but was grabbed by Superboy. Mariko smirked and reached into her pocket and pulled out her old necklace.
"Hey Supy; remember this?" She said happily and pressed the stone to his arm. Superboy let out a cry of pain and released Icicle Jr. "Ice him junior."
"Superboy!" Miss Martian shouted, seeing the weakened Superboy on the ground. She then glared at the duo until Mariko turned to look at her. She froze.
"Long time no see; Martian," Mariko said then pointed to her temple, "How's your mind? I'll tell you, mine hasn't been the same since our last encounter."
"What did you do to him?" She shouted, Mariko shrugged and placed her boot on Superboy's back, and dangled her necklace over his head.
"Oh a little of this, a little of that." She said playfully, "Junior; freeze her."
Junior smirked, and pointed his hands at Miss Martian.
"This is for breaking my heart in Belle Reve!" he shouted, Mariko snickered at the comment only to have a baterang thrown at her. It hit her hand sending the kryptonite flying in the air, away from Superboy. Mariko looked down.
"Oh, crap." She said with a sigh as Superboy came up and grabbed her, "So, kryptonite huh? Nasty stuff isn't it?"
Superboy frowned and threw her aside into the snow. She sat up and began shivering.
"I-I…h-hate the cold!" she growled, then looked to see a pair of shoes in front of her in the snow. She looked up and saw Robin standing over her. Mariko gasped.
"Artemis, Aqualad, get Icicle Senior now!" Robin shouted, then looked to Zatanna, "Take out that Machine!"
"Edolpxe!" Zatanna shouted waving her arms around a bubble formed around the Machine the group had been working on and the machine exploded. Mariko frowned.
"Savage-sama is not going to be happy with this." She mumbled, then a loud rumbling sound was heard. Everyone looked up to see snow falling from the hill. Mariko laughed.
"HA! And you thought I'd be the one to cause an avalanche!" She shouted to Icicle Senior. Sr. groaned.
"Everyone take cover!" Aqualad shouted. Everyone ran for cover, except for Mariko who ended up falling to the ground.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding." She mumbled and looked back to see her foot was caught in spare wire that was being used for the machine. She sat up and began frantically untangling herself from her own trap. "Come one you useless crap!"
Robin looked back, seeing the young genius trapped and the snow falling fast, turned around—since death was against the bat-brat code of conduct. He made it to Mariko and began pulled out a knife and began cutting wires. Seeing the snow Mariko reached into her belt and pulled out a small device and pressed a button just as the snow crumbled over top of them.
"ROBIN!"
Are they dead?! Of course not otherwise I wouldn't have a story anymore right? Haha anyhow next chapter will be one on one time with Mariko and Robin. How will that go? Guess we'll find out eh? n_n review! 'See you later armadillos—unless I see you first! Hahaha!'