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CHAPTER TWELVE: Eureka
Artemis sat on the counter of the island in the Cave's kitchen. After their disastrous performance in Metropolis, Green Arrow had ordered them back to Mount Justice. So the blonde sat there, staring at the back of Superboy's head while he sat on the sofa staring at the black screen of the television. Megan was somewhere behind her, puttering around the kitchen but not actually doing anything. The emotions that hung in the air were too much for the young telepath.
The three of them were all that was left of the team.
Black Canary had been concussed, a serious injury despite the simplicity of it. As she had not yet fully recovered from her injuries during the battle with Amazo, she didn't come back to the Cave with the young team. She had taken a leave of absence, temporarily removing herself from training duties until she felt comfortable doing so.
Aqualad was out for the count. Sportsmaster had done a real number on their leader, the worst but not least of his injuries was a flailed chest. Red Tornado was certain the Atlantean would survive, but once he was stable Kaldur was being returned to Atlantis while he recuperated.
Wally had stayed with his uncle when the Justice League had shown up. The Flash was in critical condition, having almost bled out by the time they had arrived, but he was slated to make a full recovery. KF had gone into shock when his mentor's heart had stopped, and even when it had started again under CPR he hadn't fully come out of it.
Superman, by far, was the worst of their casualties; although they still didn't know if he had even survived.
M'gann's uncle had arrived and looked over the Kryptonian for barely a few seconds before the Martian Manhunter was lifting the Man of Steel and shooting straight into the atmosphere. The poison in Superman's system was synthesized from a kryptonite solution and the man had stopped breathing.
All of that, and they still didn't get Robin away from Sportsmaster and Guardian.
Talk about epic fail…
When Red Arrow walked into the rec room a few minutes later, three sets of eyes turned to him expectantly.
"Is there any news?" Megan asked, her eyes wide with concern for her friends.
Roy shook his head. "Nothing's changed. Flash is still in surgery and no one's heard anything from J'onn."
"So, what's going to happen now?" Artemis watched her fellow archer as he helped himself to a soda from the fridge.
He shrugged. "Wonder Woman's taken command of the League for the time being, and she's furious with everyone and with the mess this has become."
"What does she expect," Superboy growled with a shake of his head. "They have Robin; of course things are going to fall apart."
Three gazes fell onto the clone in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" Artemis voiced the question they all had.
"He was the first," the clone said as if that answered everything.
"The first what?" Megan asked quietly.
"Sidekick," Roy stared at the other boy in wonderment as he started to understand what was being said. "Batman was the first to take a protégé."
Superboy nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "He's also the youngest of us; even me, despite the technicality of my biological age. I don't know about the rest of you, but instinctively I've felt very protective of him at times."
"But he's the most experienced of us," the young Martian pointed out. "He's proven time and again that he can take care of himself."
Artemis turned to look at the other girl, "His experience has nothing to do with it. I feel the same way and I've been on this team the shortest. Rob is human, completely."
"So are you and me," Roy reminded her.
"Yeah, but we're not in the thick of it like he is. We attack from a distance; he's hand to hand." Artemis looked back to Superboy. "It's like Supe said, it's instinctual. Whether he likes it or not, Rob is not only the youngest he's also the smallest and most vulnerable."
"It's in our biology as sentient beings to want to protect him," Megan suddenly understood what they were saying. "But I still don't understand."
"Think of it this way," Roy told the alien gently. "Rob is thirteen, and he's been Batman's partner for four years already. He was introduced to the League three years ago, just before they went public, and if we – who are only a few years older than him – feel so protective of him now when he's older, can you imagine how the League would feel toward him when they met him at an even younger age?"
"Talk about tugging at the parental instincts," Artemis shook her head in amazement. "It's no wonder then, what's going on with the League right now."
"Hawkman was furious when he realized Robin's abduction had been kept from the rest of the League." Roy told them. "He's livid, specifically at Superman for the decision not to get involved from the beginning and last I heard he sent it out to all current members."
"So what's happening now?" Superboy asked.
Red Arrow shrugged. "I don't know, but Green Arrow was on his way here when I talked to him last."
Recognize: Green Arrow, 0-8; Kid Flash, B-0-3
"And there he is."
The four teens were moving out of the rec room quickly, encountered the ragged looking pair a moment later in the corridor.
"Debriefing room, now," Green Arrow told them. He walked with one hand on Wally's shoulder, guiding the shell-shocked looking boy ahead of him.
"Has something happened?" Roy asked his foster father once they were situation in the command room.
"Batman's gone off the grid," the man answered grimly. "He staged a very public break down for Bruce Wayne in front of the press, going as far as having to having to be 'sedated' by the family's doctor. No one is going to question it when they don't see him before the ransom drop tomorrow, and now he's disappeared into the Batcave. He's shut down the Zeta Beam access, he's not responding to any transmissions, and even Alfred won't answer our queries when we call the house directly."
"He's planning something," Artemis leaned forward in her seat and rested her elbows on her knees.
"But what?" Megan asked.
"And will he include us?" Superboy snarled.
"So what if he doesn't?" the angry voice of Kid Flash sounded quietly. "We've got as much right of going after these bastards as he does."
"Sportsmaster nearly killed your uncle," Green Arrow reminded the boy.
Wally was on his feet and standing toe to toe with the older man before any of them blinked. "That is why I'm not going to sit around here and wait for him to kill my best friend! You didn't see Robin! You didn't see what they've done to him!"
"And what do you think you can do to stop him?" Oliver snapped back. "Or better yet, how do you plan on finding them?"
"By figuring out their big plan instead of just reacting," Artemis suggested calmly.
Green Arrow turned to his angry frown to his new protégé, "How?"
"Well, we know what they've stolen, right?" Megan bit her lower lips. "If they've planned their phony ransom exchange for tomorrow, they should have everything they've wanted, right?"
Roy was moving from his seat toward the computer, ignoring the glare he got from the senior archer. "So what do we know?"
"New York, Geneva, Gotham, Star City, Metropolis," Superboy recited.
"What was taken in New York?" Wally turned his back to the League member and walked next to his friend.
"Information," Red Arrow answered, bringing up the file. "One of the College's professors was writing a paper on theoretical special and temporal worm holes within the atmosphere and the effect one might have on the surrounding environment."
"And in English?" Artemis walked past her mentor to join the boys.
"The short of it," Roy told them, "is basically that there are hidden tears in space and time everywhere and he was speculating a means of tracking them."
"The CERN facility was attacked next," Superboy joined them, Miss Martian hovering above them all. "I didn't think much was stolen."
"Just parts," Red brought pointed to the screen. "The particle accelerator there is the largest in the world and it's been taken offline because it was harvested for several key components. It'll take months for them to repair it."
"And Robin was stolen from Gotham," Miss Martian offered. "Have there been any other thefts of note in that city we may have missed?"
"I'll check," Artemis moved over to another console and started pulling up police reports.
"In Star City they took the high yield compressor that was being tested," Roy skipped to the last file. "And in Metropolis they stole the Laser prototype."
"So what does it all add up to?" Wally asked.
"I'd say some kind of weapon," Superboy pointed to the file from New York, "except for this. What does this have to do with anything?"
"Unless they were planning on opening such a worm hole," Megan tossed out casually.
Artemis snorted from where she scanned the reports. "What would be the point?"
"Well," the young Martian had a small smile as she started to explain, "Theoretically it could open a portal to another dimension, or another time."
The blonde archer's hands froze over the keyboard as she turned to look at her equally stunned teammates staring at the other girl. "... what?"
"It's only a hypothesis," M'gann shrugged. "I don't think it's been attempted on this planet, and I know the attempts on Mars have not been successful. Worm Holes are naturally unstable and take a great expenditure of energy to even open the tear enough to be visible. The most recent experiment on Mars was nearly twenty earth years ago, and did not end well. The resulting shift in gravitational pressure of the opening only a few millimetres in diameter caused the entire building to collapse in on itself. Everyone was killed."
Superman found his voice first. "Pressure that might be compensated by, oh I don't know, maybe a device that's to be used to pressurize things out in space?"
It turned out the green skinned Martian could go pale. "B-but they would not be capable of opening the tear!"
"They could if they used the laser as a component in the construction of their own particle accelerator," Roy went back to the computer with shaking hands. "A Hadron Collider can be used to create new matter, which potentially results in the creation of antimatter-"
"Which is the most powerful substance known," Wally shook his head. "If they managed that, and used it to power the already more powerful laser-"
"They would still require a focus point in the exact location of the tear," Megan whispered in disbelief.
"Like a flawless diamond retrieved from the Mariana Trench three months ago on a deep sea expedition?" Artemis asked from where she was once again going through police records? She pulled up the complete file, including a picture of the gem. The horrified expression on M'gann's face was enough of an answer. "Then Robin wasn't the only thing they collected when they were in Gotham."
"No, he wasn't."
The arrival of the Dark Knight had gone unnoticed by the group of teens, but they were too stunned to react.
Batman joined the gathered youths and glanced at the shell-shocked Green Arrow. "This is why they wanted Robin," he told the man. "Were it known they were attempting to open a worm hole inside Earth's atmosphere they would have had the entire League after them."
Green Arrow understood. "A distraction."
"And bait," Superboy quietly. "They used him to catch Superman with that kryptonite dart trap."
Batman nodded. "It's not widely known, but it's no secret that Superman is... fond, of Robin."
"They knew that Superman would be preoccupied trying to help Robin," Roy clenched his hands into fist, "Just like they knew any hero in Star City wouldn't lift a finger to stop them."
"You and me," Oliver shook his head. "Are you telling me Guardian and Sportsmaster thought this all up on their own?"
Artemis scoffed. "My father's not exactly a thinker."
"And Guardian wouldn't try something like this," Wally glanced at Batman. "Would he?"
"Maybe," Miss Martian said almost hesitantly, as if she didn't like what she was about to say. "Maybe the Genomorph's are still controlling him?"
"Then why warm Artemis and me when we were on the roof?" Red Arrow pointed out.
"And why give us the lead to Star City?" Wally added. "Or Metropolis? It's because of the little mind monkey's message that we even know what they're up to."
"So someone else still higher up?" Superboy asked. "Cadmus?"
Batman shook his head. "Not their style."
"Then who?" Miss Martian asked.
"Does it really matter at this point?" Artemis frowned.
"Not at all," Green Arrow matched her expression. "We need to inform the League and find them."
"And save Rob."
Batman looked at the team of teens then focussed on Kid Flash. "We will try, but-"
"No!" Wally snapped angrily. "No, not you! You do not get to give up on your son! We find them, we stop them, we save Rob! No buts!"
After a moment Batman nodded. "No buts."