Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Kara turned to Damien Darhk and used her freeze breath ability. Damien Darhk struggled as he used his telekinesis to block the attack. Through his concentration to keep the telekinetic barrier, he lost his grip on Arsenal. Arsenal ran forward. He grabbed Dark Archer's sword with his prosthetic. However, Dark Archer kicked him back and fired an explosive trick arrow. The arrow detonated which sent Arsenal back.
Arsenal collided with Kara. She was forced back by Damien Darhk's telekinesis. "Ouch… what was that?" Kara asked.
"Magic… You're vulnerable to it." Arsenal said as he got back up. Kara went back to hovering in the air. Arsenal jumped and fired a couple of explosive arrows. Dark Archer jumped to avoid the arrows. Dark Archer then shot a trick arrow with a metal bumper in the front. It hit Arsenal and sent him to the ground.
Arsenal groaned as he hit the ground. He huffed as he tried to get back up. Dark Archer approached him with his sword drawn. However, Dark Archer was hit by Kunoichi; Kunoichi had propelled herself forward with her chi to tackle Dark Archer. The villain managed to keep his balance from the attack and kicked her away.
Dark Archer pulled back his bow and fired the arrow at Kunoichi; however, she used her chi to repel herself up.
Zeta appeared behind Dark Archer and unbuckled the quiver full of arrows. "What the…?" Dark Archer said. He turned to strike at the young hero, but Zeta teleported in time to avoid the slash. Dark Archer was hit from behind by Kunoichi. He groaned from the hit as he stumbled forward. Arsenal aimed a trick arrow and fired it; the arrow released a metal chord that wrapped around Dark Archer.
Dark Archer fell to the ground and struggled to free himself from the metal chord. His sword and bow were out of reach. "It's over, Dark Archer." Arsenal said.
Dark Archer scoffed and he said, "Don't get too cocky. You should know by now that there's no cell that can hold me."
"We should help the others." Zeta said.
Arsenal looked up to see Static, Goliath, and Kara struggling in Damien Darhk's telekinesis.
Without a word, Arsenal raise his bow and aimed three explosive trick arrows at Damien Darhk. "Like that will do anything against me." Darhk said.
Arsenal turned to Kunoichi and he said, "Use your powers to propel my arrows. Kunoichi nodded and readied herself to propel the arrows. Arsenal released the arrows. Kunoichi repelled the arrows with her ability; however, it wasn't enough. The arrows came close to hitting Darhk, but his telekinesis blocked the arrows which exploded.
"I'm out…" Arsenal said as he reached back to get another arrow.
"What about that ion cannon?" Zeta asked.
"We've already seen that it can't do anything against him." Arsenal said.
"You know? Normally, I wouldn't punish creativity, but you children have pushed me over the edge." He made a hand gesture that didn't look good. Arsenal's eyes widened when he saw this. It looked as if Darhk was going to snap the other heroes' necks.
To everyone's surprise, the other three teenagers dropped to the ground. They weren't hurt.
"What? No… what's going on?" Damien Darhk said as he used his hand motions, but nothing happened.
Arsenal, Kunoichi, and Zeta went up to Kara, Goliath, and Static. "You three okay?" Zeta asked.
"We're fine, but what just happened?" Goliath asked.
Arsenal sent a glare to Damien Darhk and he said, "It doesn't matter. Take him out."
Damien Darhk pulled out his knife. "I'm still a trained assassin." Damien Darhk said.
"Won't matter." Goliath said. He transformed into his astral form. The astral form punched the ground where Damien Darhk once stood, but the man avoided the attack; however, he was blind sighted by Kara who delivered a knock-out punch.
Damien Darhk fell onto the ground. He was unconscious. The battle was finally over.
"I… didn't really hit him all that hard…" Kara said. She turned to Static and she said, "You weren't joking about that unlimited strength stuff."
"It's because of the yellow star that Earth orbits. You and Superman get your powers because of the sun." Arsenal said as he gestured to the setting sun in the distance. It was evening.
Kara nodded before she said, "Superman… He's a Kryptonian… but I didn't know if any other Kryptonians left Krypton."
The conversation came to an abrupt end when the six teenage heroes heard clapping. They turned to the nearby brush to see Lex Luther step out with Deathstroke by his side.
"Luther!" Arsenal exclaimed. He activated the ion cannon on his prosthetic, but he stopped when Deathstroke aimed his gun at him.
"I wouldn't try it, kid." Deathstroke said.
Lex gave a hand motion that gestured Deathstroke to stand down. "I merely wanted to congratulate you six on your first mission together. You rescued the Krytponian, took out Mr. Darhk and his accomplice, and started working as a team. Well done." Lex said.
"I don't understand. What are you doing here?" Goliath said.
Lex scoffed and he said, "Taking care of business. Mr. Darhk has been an annoying thorn in my side… so when I saw that he was less active than normal, I decided to investigate. I dare say that manipulating a Kryptonian was very clever…. He must have masked the pod's entry from the Justice League. All to claim the pod for himself." He turned back to the teenagers and he said, "Lex Corp has been very busy crafting a dampener for Mr. Darhk's talisman, but it seems to be a success."
"How on Earth were you able to nullify magic? That's impossible?" Arsenal said.
"Let's just say I have friends in high places." Lex said. "For now, I must take my leave. You young heroes should celebrate this victory." Lex Luther turned and walked away with Deathstroke following behind him.
There was a moment of silence among the young heroes. "A friend of yours?" Kara asked.
"Hardly… If anything, he's very dangerous." Arsenal said.
"He's also very skilled at manipulation." Goliath said. "We kind of found that out the hard way… nearly got us killed because of it."
"All for what?" Kara asked.
Arsenal sighed and he said, "Later… for now… I guess I owe you all my thanks… Without you, I'd be dead."
"What are friends for?" Static said.
"Besides, we probably wouldn't coordinate all that well without our leader." Goliath said.
Arsenal sighed and he said, "You're still stuck on this whole leader thing, huh?"
"Look, I know you probably prefer going at it alone, but… you can't deny the results when working with a team." Zeta said.
"We trust you. You helped us back at the Warworld." Kunoichi said.
Arsenal shook his head and he said, "You're wrong… Nightwing was right. I put myself before the team. I ran because I was getting overpowered and… I didn't want to be captured again. I spent eight years on ice… I was frozen and locked up somewhere while my clone lived my life… He got everything in the end… He became a member of the Justice League and he's even got a family… That was my life… That is what I should have become. But no… now I'm nothing but his shadow…. I will never be able to be better than him. He even has my mentor's respect… That's something I figured I would never achieve…"
The group members looked to him with sympathetic glances as Arsenal looked over to Damien Darhk and Dark Archer. "Come on… We have to get these two in a prison cell." Arsenal said.
"Okay." Goliath said. He went into his astral form and picked up the two villains. After a few minutes of searching, the team found the magical talisman with a device attached to it. It had L Corp written on it. Goliath also picked up the talisman and carried it back to the cave. The other group members followed behind him.
"I'm sorry… for earlier." Arsenal said to Kara. "I was trying to make a point… I was trying to convince them that I don't work well with groups."
"I understand but I don't think you convinced them at all… If anything, I think you were trying to convince yourself but even that failed." Kara said. "I'm sorry that your life got turned upside down like that."
Arsenal nodded and he said, "Worst part is… I don't really know who to blame. At first, I wanted to hate my clone, but… he didn't do anything wrong. I mean… he spent five years tirelessly searching for me. I couldn't hate him especially when he was the one who found me. Then I turned that hate on my former mentor… But again, that didn't work… He helped me get off the streets… He was the closest I had to a father… even if we didn't agree all the time. Finally, I concentrated that hatred on the man that was involved in my abduction, Lex Luther. I tried to kill him for what he did to me, but he outsmarted me. He offered me a choice. Die with some sense of vengeance or live with satisfaction." He lifted his prosthetic and looked it over. "I chose satisfaction… and thus, my hatred came to an end… or at least, it should have."
Kara nodded and she said, "I keep wondering what I'd be like right now if Krypton never… died. I would be with my parents… watching Kal-El grow up… Now… I have to find Kal-El on this world and raise him. I'm not too sure if I'm up for the task."
Arsenal nodded and he said, "We'll help you find him. Who knows? Maybe the Justice League have already located him."
Kara sent a smile to Arsenal and she said, "Thanks…"
"No problem…" Arsenal said. "I'm… Roy Harper… in case no one told you."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kara Zor-El in case you didn't catch my name." Kara said.
Arsenal smiled and he said, "Nice to meet you."
The group returned to the cave to see the sheriff and a couple of officers standing by. Captain Atom and Green Arrow were talking to Eduardo Sr until they noticed the teenagers coming out of the forest. Goliath placed the two villains in front of the officers and the talisman in front of the two League members. Goliath returned to his normal size as the two League members approached the teenagers. Green Arrow appeared to be furious.
"Do you have any idea how stupid that was?" Green Arrow inquired. "Damien Darhk and Dark Archer would have killed you kids!" Static, Goliath, Kunoichi, and Eduardo lowered their heads out of guilt. "And on top of it all, none of you have gone home to your parents! What have you been doing this whole time?"
"On that note… good job." Captain Atom said. Arsenal's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting Captain Atom to congratulate the team. The other four teenagers looked up with shocked stares.
"What? Are you serious? They… They put their lives in danger when they could have contacted us!" Green Arrow exclaimed.
"Arrow, you are right, but… at the same time, they have shown that they are capable of becoming a team… It almost reminds me of Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy after their mission in Cadmus… five years ago." Captain Atom said.
"This… They can't do this alone. They should join the team under Nightwing's leadership." Green Arrow said.
"No way… We want Arsenal as our leader." Goliath said.
"Look, I'm sure Nightwing has proven to be an effective leader, but Arsenal led us back in the Warworld and helped us to keep Black Beetle preoccupied long enough to free Mongul so that he could fight off Black Beetle. All of it so he could create a distraction that could help us free the others and escape without putting our own teammates lives in the crosshairs." Static said.
"This isn't up for debate." Eduardo Sr said. "Nightwing has more experience."
"Experience with his team, papa." Zeta said. "Not with us and he made it very clear that he didn't want Arsenal back on the team."
"There's a reason for that, Junior." Eduardo Sr said.
Arsenal stepped forward and he said, "I did mess up back in the Warworld and at that plantation. I'm still getting a grasp on everything, but I can assure you that I will become a better leader."
"What makes you so sure, Arsenal? You've been a loose cannon since Red Arrow rescued you." Green Arrow said.
"Because… I now have a team that's relying on me to not fail. I may not be ready to lead, but I'm all that they have." Arsenal said.
Captain Atom smiled and he said, "About the best we're going to get when it comes to a promise." He walked up to Arsenal and he said, "I don't know much about leading… I was somehow the most qualified. Aquaman knew that his responsibilities in Atlantis would take up too much of his time, Green Arrow and Black Canary had personal responsibilities, Dr. Fate is too focused on keeping order in balance to be a good choice, Red Tornado couldn't do it for obvious reasons, and the other members are either too inexperience or too young. So… I accepted temporary leadership of the League. I can tell you one thing for sure. Being a leader is different from being a teammate. Here's one thing I learned, a real leader knows how each person in his team functions…. And I think you got that down."
Arsenal nodded and he said, "I'm going to do my best…"
"I'll hold you to that." Captain Atom said. "For now, I need to take this talisman back to the League's headquarters."
"Someone's got to keep an eye on them. It's fine that Arsenal leads them on missions, but what about mission assignments and training?" Green Arrow said.
"I think Black Canary would enjoy teaching the new team since she liked her role in the first team's training." Captain Atom said. "We'll talk more later. Just give me a few minutes."
Green Arrow sighed before he nodded his head.
"I'll stay here until then." Eduardo Sr said.
"Very well… I'll be back." Captain Atom said. He took the talisman and flew up with it. Soon, he wasn't visible in the evening sky.
"We're taking off from here, Green Arrow." The sheriff from earlier said. "We got to get the paperwork done for Mr. Darhk's and Dark Archer's transfer to Belle Rev."
"Alright… Thanks..." Green Arrow said.
"Don't mention it." The sheriff said before he went over to his squad car.
Eduardo Sr sighed and he said, "Well… what should we do until Captain Atom comes back?"
"The cave is suitable for a base. It just needs some minor renovations." Eduardo said.
The two men looked to each other before looking back to the children. "We'll be the judge of that." Eduardo Sr said. "Green Arrow." He made a gesture to go into the cave, but Green Arrow was more preoccupied by Kara.
Green Arrow walked over to the girl and he said, "I don't recognize you. What's your name?"
"Kara." The girl responded.
Eduardo Sr approached the girl and he said, "Oh yes… are you running away like the rest of your team?"
Kara looked to him with a questioning stare. "I don't quite understand."
Tye walked over and he said, "Eduardo Jr, Asami, and I are all runaways. The Reach abducted us after we ran away from our homes. They performed tests on us."
"Why would you run away?" Kara asked. "And what kind of tests?"
"Well… it's complicated as to why we left… And the tests they ran were… to awaken our metagenes." Tye said. "It's rare if anyone has a metagene, but if someone does have a metagene, then that person will have abilities that very few people possess."
"I see… I've heard stories about the Reach. I hoped that they would never be on Krypton, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore." Kara said.
"Krypton?" Green Arrow said with wide eyes. Eduardo Sr was also surprised to hear this.
Kara turned to the two men and she said, "Yeah… I'm from Krypton."
The two men were still very shocked to hear that the girl was in fact a Kryptonian. "Man… if only Superman was here. He'd be thrilled to know that he's not the last Kryptonian in the universe." Green Arrow said.
"I'm not here alone. My baby cousin, Kal-El, is out there somewhere." Kara said. "In fact, I have to go find him."
"Now hold on. I think… um… How long has it been since you left Krypton?" Green Arrow asked.
Kara shrugged. "It might have been a week or two. The blast from Krypton's destruction threw my pod off course, but I think it did correct itself and went to the right planet. Of course, all these powers that I have are new…"
"Listen… I might know where your cousin might be at, but can you wait until morning?" Green Arrow said.
"I… guess so…" Kara said.
Green Arrow nodded and he said, "Thank you… Now… let's see what if this place has any potential." He went inside the cave with Eduardo Sr and the teenagers following him inside.
…To be continued.
A/N: Yeah, this is a good place to end the chapter.