Author's Note: Hi everyone. I hope the wait wasn't too bad this time. Anyway, this is the second part of the chapters based on the episode Failsafe. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or the plot of Failsafe belong to me. Only Des.

Chapter Sixteen

Sacrifices

The team had no time to rejoice, however. Just then, a new fleet of the alien ships arrived. They flew in fast, shooting their Zeta-Beams everywhere in the vicinity.

We're on our way! Aqualad alerted us, signifying that he was going to get the soldiers to join us at the front lines. Robin told him otherwise.

Negative, he said. We can't win this. Miss Martian, camouflage the Bio-Ship and— But it was too late to continue, because at just that moment the Bio-Ship was hit with a beam from one of the canons. M'gann and J'onn fell to the ground. They must have suffered some sort of injury due to their psychic link with the ship. Desmond, Wally, and Robin began to run back to the Hall. We're falling back! Robin told everyone. When the three heroes and the rest of the soldiers arrived, General Eely stopped.

"We're trapped," he said, looking towards the rubble that had covered up the path ahead. Aqualad seemed to be forming an idea in his mind. He opened the nearest door, and began walking inside.

"Maybe not," he said. The team and the soldiers ran into the library of the Hall of Justice. Several soldiers stood guard while the team moved to the Zeta-Tube, Conner carrying M'gann, and Desmond and Robin helping keep Martian Manhunter up. "We can all Zeta to the cave. If you can grant us computer access to the tubes."

"I can only transport one at a time," Martian Manhunter said. Aqualad told him to send the soldiers to go first, but Eely wouldn't have it, saying the team were assets they could not afford to lose. Martian Manhunter caused an override, and the team began filing through. First went M'gann, then Kid Flash. Next went Robin, and then Desmond. Once he arrived at the cave, Desmond quickly joined the others in waiting for the rest of there team. At first noting happened, and then a soldier came through, quickly followed by Superboy.

"Where're the others?" asked Robin, trying hard to keep the fear out of his voice. Just then there was another flash, and Martian Manhunter came through. M'gann ran up and gave him a hug. Then Robin walked up to him. "Aqualad?" he asked hopefully. J'onn averted his gaze from the thirteen year old, and shook his head sadly. Another pang of sorrow swept through the entire team.

"Kaldur…" Wally murmured to himself. M'gann began sobbing again, being consoled by J'onn this time. Superboy stood awkwardly, staring at the ground. Desmond suddenly yelled out loud, and punched the wall of the cave, leaving a large dent.

"What do we do now?" he shouted. "Kaldur's gone! Our leader is dead!" He took a moment to compose himself, and turned to the boy wonder. "What now, Robin?" he asked. Robin looked at him in confusion. "You're the leader now." Desmond stated, and no one made any objections. Robin wiped his nose on his glove, like a child would, but then cleared his throat.

"Our next mission is clear," he said, matter-of-factly. "If we believe the aliens have been teleporting their victims, then the only reasonable detention facility is here…" he typed into his holo-computer, and pulled up the image of the largest of the alien ships. "Their mother ship, atop what used to be Smallville. Ring any bells?" he asked Martian Manhunter.

"No," the Martian said, rubbing his head. "I'm sorry." Robin disregarded this, and turned to Superboy.

"Superboy, you'll create a distraction," he said. M'gann immediately interjected.

"No!" she said, and turned to Conner. "He's offering you as a sacrifice. Aqualad would never do that!" Robin looked at her sternly.

"You're right," he said solemnly. "Aqualad would sacrifice himself. A mistake that just cost us our leader. Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat, motivating the aliens to deploy.

"Worst case, he's teleported inside," Wally reminded us. "And we set him free along with Artemis, Kaldur and the others." Kryptonian locked eyes with his Martian girlfriend, and Des could tell they were having a private psychic conversation. Soon they both nodded, and Robin nodded back.

"But first we need to do what Aqualad sent us here to accomplish," he reminded everyone.

XxXxX

Robin hooked up the holo-computer so the signal they were giving off would tap into every TV, computer, phone, and any other electronic device in the world. The kid had a way with technology. Soon they were recording, and were being viewed by every survivor on Earth. Robin figured he would start it.

"Hello," he said, trying hard to keep his voice calm. "My name is Robin. As I'm sure you've seen in the last few hours, the Earth is being invaded. The invaders have wiped out the Justice League, and a good portion of the military." Robin had decided we would all switch of speaking, so he stepped down to let Wally talk.

"We used to be part of a group known as Young Justice," he explained. "With the League gone, we've taken over to become the new Justice League. And we will fight for you, just like the League did." He stepped down, and M'gann stepped up.

"My uncle, the Martian Manhunter, is still alive," she reassured. "This is because the alien's beams don't kill people when they get hit, only teleport them to a mother ship, located in Smallville." Superboy stepped up.

"That means that your friends and family that have been taken from you are still alive. And so are Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, and the rest of the League." Des took it from there.

"We too have lost loved ones," he said. "Many of us had mentors taken by the aliens, and two of our team members, Aqualad and Artemis, were abducted." He had to bite his lip to keep his voice from quivering when he mentioned Artemis.

"And though we know all seems lost," continued M'gann. "The one thing the aliens cannot destroy is hope."

"Hope survives because the battle is not over," agreed Superboy. "Not as long as even one of us is willing to fight."

"It doesn't matter how many fall," Wally said. "For new heroes will always rise to carry on. Bringing all their resources, their skills, their talents to bare, to defeat the enemy."

"We cannot be snuffed out like a candle," Desmond said. "We are no small flame. We are an inferno! Raging onwards towards these invaders!"

"The people of Earth will survive this," Robin concluded. "We'll rebuild, and we will thrive. Never doubt, and never forget. The Earth will NEVER surrender!" With that done, he shut off the transmission, and the team went to board the Bio-Ship to Smallville.

XxXxX

The ride was all but silent, with occasional debriefings from Robin. They had to remain camouflaged for the entire ride, as they passed several ships. Superboy had suggested they take them out, but Robin assured him that it was necessary nothing deter them from their destination. The soon arrived at Smallville. It was completely destroyed, a desolate wasteland ravaged by the alien invaders. Desmond had visited Smallville once when he was on the road. He could pick out a few of the destroyed spots; Smallville High was leveled, an old theater-turned-coffee shop known as The Talon had been crushed. Only a few houses remained standing. The Bio-Ship landed, and the team (plus J'onn) got out, and found an area that was secluded, but offered a good view of their target. Robin looked through a pair of binoculars at the ship, though there was no way someone could be in the area and not see it. The thing was huge, covering several blocks of Downtown Smallville. Cars were flipped over, and there were several fires coming from half demolished buildings.

"First team, deploy," commanded Robin. J'onn and M'gann nodded, going into camouflage mode. M'gann removed her cloak, and draped it over Desmond. Since it was organic, M'gann could still control it, and she willed it to stay in camouflage mode, effectively concealing Desmond. The aliens lifted off the ground, and Superboy grabbed Desmond's hands. He spun in a few circles, and threw the cloaked hero off towards the ship. Now that he was in the air, Desmond could lower his density to the point of flight. Doing so, he followed Miss Martian and her uncle to the side of the ship, and all three phased through it.

In position, she told the rest of the team. Be careful, Conner. I love you. Under other circumstances, she would have kept that just between them. But seeing how things were going, there was no point. They heard a thump as Superboy landed atop the alien ship.

"That's my cue," Shifter whispered. J'onn rested a hand on Desmond's shoulder, and M'gann gave him a quick hug.

"Keep him safe," she whispered to Desmond, who nodded solemnly. Lowering his density again, Desmond rose up towards where he had heard Superboy land. He got up just in time to see the Kryptonian yank a canon off the side of the ship, and point it at several others.

"Alright you glorified trespassers!" he shouted. "You want to see how a real alien fights?" The canon began blasting away, hitting other canons in the process. Desmond ran to another area, and shoved his hand inside the canon's base. He pulled out a hunk of circuits and wires, and heard the canon shut down. He moved to the next one near him, and this time he hardened himself, and punched a hole through the side of the weapon, disabling it. Suddenly there was the sound of dozens of hatches opening, and Desmond watched about a hundred ships deployed.

Now or never! Superboy shouted mentally. Shifter looked to the ground and saw a streak of black moving along the dirt. He knew it was KF and Robin, and they quickly jumped aboard the mother ship. Desmond turned to Conner, and started running at him.

They're in, he thought to the boy of steel. Let's get inside, before— but it was too late. Desmond watched in horror as an alien ship swept down and fired a laser, hitting Superboy right in the red S shield on his chest. He was gone. "CONNER!" shouted Desmond, ignoring the mental link. Suddenly the ship spun around, and faced Desmond. He had just enough time to sink back into the mother ship before a canon fired at where he'd just been standing. Desmond slowly floated down, and found where Kid Flash, Robin, and the Martians were standing. M'gann was on the ground, weeping, being comforted by her uncle. "You know?" Des asked. Robin nodded, and Wally walked up to M'gann.

"It's alright," he assured her. "We'll find him with the others. I know it." Suddenly Martian Manhunter stood up.

"No," he said. "My mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility, no prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose." KF grabbed Martian Manhunter by the lapels of his cape.

"No, you're wrong!" he said. "The Zeta radiation proves they're alive. They're—" Robin quickly grabbed him, trying to make him get a hold of himself.

"Stop it KF," he demanded. "I've been scanning for League and team signals since we got inside. They're not here. Kaldur is gone." He looked to M'gann. "Conner is gone." He looked to Desmond. "And Artemis is gone. But our mission still holds purpose. To destroy this mother ship." M'gann stood up, wiping away tears, and nodded. They all exchanged looks, and ran through the nearest door. Inside was some sort of giant glowing ball, seemingly made of energy. Robin scanned it with his computer. "This is the power core. Blow this and the whole mother ship blows." They sprang into action. Robin landed on a platform, and was suddenly being sucked towards the core, like it had its own gravity filed. Kid Flash jumped to him and grabbed his hand, but he began slipping as well. Desmond ran towards them, and grabbed KF's ankle. Then he thrust his hand into the platform they were on, and re-hardened it while it was still inside. They weren't going anywhere. Desmond lowered his density again, and the three heroes slowly floated down to the glowing ball in the middle. Once they touched down, Robin removed the two straps from around his chest, revealing them to be explosives.

"You knew," said Wally, taken aback by the fact that Robin knew all this time that their friends were gone, and said nothing about it. Desmond was equally displeased.

"We willingly sent Conner to his death out there," he said. "And you knew full well that we weren't getting him back. You sent me out there too! Did you plan on me dying?" Robin couldn't look at either of them.

"We need to make sacrifices," he said at last. "It's what Kaldur, Aqualad, and the League would have wanted. Now let's go, there's four minutes till these things detonate." They quickly got away from the power core, trying to retrace their steps. They soon ran into a door that was shut, with no visible way of opening it.

"Perfect," said Kid Flash. As if to make matters worse, four security robots came out of nowhere, and open fired on the remaining members of the team. They quickly dove out of the way, hiding behind some pillars.

Sixteen seconds, Robin informed everyone. Manhunter, take Mss Martian and go! M'gann shook her head.

No! she shouted. We won't leave you.

That's an order, Robin said, without leaving it open for debate. We'll follow you as soon as we can open those doors. Without another word, M'gann and her uncle phased through the ground. Desmond glanced at Robin's countdown. Ten seconds, and dropping. The three heroes that remained all exchanged looks, and realized they weren't making it out alive. They nodded, and sprang from their hiding places, using the last few seconds of their lives to take down the alien robots. Then there was a thundering roar, and everything went white.

XxXxX

Desmond awoke with a start. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest like a jackrabbit on heroin. He slowly sat up, gasping for breath, and saw his teammates in the same condition. All of his teammates. They were all alive. Conner, Kaldur… and Artemis. A wave of relief flooded Desmond's entire body as Captain Marvel walked over.

"Whoa there, Des," he said, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Take it easy now. You've got to be careful." Desmond realized he was drenched in sweat. He looked around again, and saw Batman talking with Martian Manhunter. What was going on?

"What happened in there?" asked Batman sternly. In where? What was he talking about?

"The… exercise…" said J'onn. He was sweaty too, and having trouble breathing. "It all went wrong."

"Exercise?" asked Robin, sitting nearest the two heroes.

"Try to remember," Batman said. Then he began the tale of everything that had happened to them in the last few hours. "What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the seven of you within an artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a 'train for failure' exercise. No matter what the team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware that nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."

"That is why you hardly grieved," Martian Manhunter said. "But all that changed when Artemis died." Desmond couldn't help but look over to her. She was staring at her feet, clearly lost in thought. He hoped she didn't think any of this was her fault. "Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise. And her subconscious took control, making all of you forget, too." All heads swiveled to M'gann, who looked guiltier than Artemis.

"I-I'm so sorry," she said. Superboy angrily glared at J'onn.

"This isn't her fault," he declared. "Why didn't you stop the exercise?"

"We tried," Manhunter assured him. "But M'gann had… a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened after she died, was so convinced she had passed, she slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to wrest control of Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much… noise to think clearly, or to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Superboy helped. But only when the mother ship exploded, and Robin, Kid Flash, and Shifter were silenced, did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose. To shock M'gann out of the exercise, before your comas became permanent. My apologies, I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous." He looked to his niece, who was crying quietly. "So damaging."

So that's done. But what are they feeling now? Does M'gann feel guilty? Does Kaldur feel bad about his sacrifice, or Robin about his? How do Des and Artemis feel, about that kiss from chapter 15? Keep reading to find out.

Also, I'm going to do some self-promotion here. I've started a new fic, for the cartoon Stoked. It's not a really popular show, and it's been off the air in some countries for a few years. I'd really appreciated if you'd check it out. The show is all about surfers, and it's actually what inspired me to become a surfer myself. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, I hope you'll enjoy my Stoked fic, and I hope you'll keep reading. Special thanks to those that have favorite or reviewed recently.