A/N

Hello, and welcome my dainty viewers (yes, I mean all of you) and welcome to this latest installment of YJ. For everyone that doesn't like the awesomeness that is Young Justice: "It's YJ, or the highway." Don't murder me for putting that in, please.

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Chapter 12: Overwhelmed...

Robin's POV

10th October, 12:00AM- Mount Justice

Sweat pours down my armpits, and chest as the young bloods of Young Justice take on the unyielding Black Canary. We throw everything we have at her, but she easily defeats us- through divide, and conquer. Stepping up to the plate, my instincts take hold of my body, and execute a backflip; just as BC's roundhouse comes swerving in. Timed to perfection, I narrowly avoid the vicious attack, and land gracefully. Is she trying to seriously injure us? Damn... I think she is. My mind wanders, trying to figure out some obscure tactic to beat the bird.

Despite my best warnings, the duo of Kyle, and Conner keep on attempting a headlong assault, ending with them swatted away like flies. Conner Kent- aka Superboy- charges in with a roar, to be met with a swift knee to the face; after that, the clone is brutally thrown into the wall with hip toss. Even with the undeniable failure of our comrade, Kyle follows suit, and darts forward with a battle cry. Kyle Rayner has changed. Before today, we did everything in our power to disrupt the realisation creeping forth. But now, it's as clear to see as one of Wally's innuendos.

When he was a Green Lantern- a guardian, and peacekeeper- his movements were erratic, and seemingly random, yet you could observe how he planned out each attack; purpose drove his imagination. Watching the hybrid lantern as of this moment, all I can spectate is a primal fury. One that is uncontrolled, and apparentely lacking direction. His hard light constructs have superiorly less creativity on them, and more... instinctive. As though he is merely overseeing the battle, and his ring is doing the heavy lifting.

And, that is dangerous. Not only to Black Canary (due to their being no restrictions on killing, in both of his rings), but to his allies, as well. However, Kyle doesn't comprehend this. The only shred of control he has right now, is his fear. To my keen eyes, I ser the stress on his mind. Both his anger, and terror, are colliding in a colossal battle of the brain, and heart.

Next, I decide to shake off my inquisitiveness, and commence my engagement with the mother hen. Before she suddenly spins around, I aim a well placed foot her exposed back, although not enough to severely damage her, it visibly shakes her. However she hastily regains her composure, and responds with a deafening canary cry. My ears pop under the trauma, and Superboy collapses to his knees in agony; vibrations would be worse for a Kryptonian.

To my shock, Kyle's face contorts into an ugly expression of utter fury. Watch out BC, he's mad. Even though I am concerned about what might happen if Kyle loses his cool, it would be awesome if we win this round. Leaping forward with a sinister tenacity, Kyle forms a mace, and swings directly for the base of her skull. Oh geez, that will kill her! Perhaps sensing my distress, Miss Martian telepathically yanks Kyle back from her position in the audience of three- Artmeis, Miss M, and Aqualad.

"Enough!" Kaldur cries out, no doubt witnessing the intent of our fellow hero. "Black Canary, we must stop this." he adds on, calmly. The expression on BC's face says it all. She's partly annoyed that he would order her (a senior member of the league) around, and, because she was enjoying herself.

"Why did you do that!?" Kyle soars over, and yells in Megan's face. "I could have won!" he carries on with rant, now pointing at her menacingly. Feeling sorry for the alien, Artemis steps in, and shoves Kyle back a few steps. To which he replies by clenching his fists with an audible pop.

"Back off, jerk!" Artemis threatens with a deadly glare in Kyle's direction. "Or, I will beat you to next week." she states viciously, maintaining her unrelenting gaze.

"I've love to see you try," Kyle retorts. The way his facial canvas is organised makes him barely recognisable. The usual glint in his eyes is replaced by a fiery determination, and his laid back smirk is usurped by a ruthless, and calculating stare. Being in the epicenter of this feels like I am caught between an unshakeable mountain, and an unstoppable frieght train. Is this what most of the JL feels when Batman squares up to Superman? If so, that's downright frightening. "Artemis." he spits out as though her name is a foul taste in his mouth.

"Guys, settle down." I plead, wanting to stem the negativity irradiating from this confrontation. "we are all friends here, right?" I beam at them. Then, Kyle turns his attention to me. A massive mistake on my front, as the emotion drooling of his mask transforms the Bat-glare into a pout.

"Shut up, unless you want to fight me, along with her." he snarls in a very unlike-Kyle way. Returning his peer with my own adapted version of my father's infamous glare, I snap my fingers ahead of nose.

"Nah, I know you wont fight me, or her, so just shush." I counter, another error. Duh, Robin. Kyle runs of anger, so making his more enraged isn't the greatest idea.

"Hold on, what is going on here?" Black Canary finally intervenes with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing that concerns you." Kyle growls with a heinous tone, eying the Canary with a scowl. "Find me when we have something interesting to do." Kyle proceeds to storm out of the vicinity, and heads towards his room.

"Stay here, I'll deal with him." Black Canary resolutely commands us teens, then chasing down the lantern in a pace the Flash would admire.

"That was unexpected." I point out. "Let's chill for a second." I motion for the peeps to follow me to the furnished lounging area. Obeying, they closely tail me, and we slump into the assortment of seating available, with me slouching on a beanbag. To say that the silence that emerges is awkward, would be a drastic understatement.

"That was... interesting." Superboy shatters the silence with his usual monotony. Against all reasoning, the clone always manages to be partly grumpy, coming in many shapes and forms. So, it's not very surprising that he was the one to grumble first. If I had to take a wild guess, Wally would have been the person to comment, after SB.

"And weird," Miss Martian notes in the choking pause that comes subsequent to Conner. "and gruesome to watch." she says as an after thought.

"Indeed." Aqualad solemnly agrees. "Kyle may have seized an opportunity, but he also was willing to cause harm on another. This shows how unstable he is." Kaldur muses to the group, his posture remaining tight, and reflectful.

"Unstable? More like he doesn't give a damn, anymore." Artemis interferes, sitting with her arms rigidly crossed over her chest. "Guess he's finally lost his cool. "

"Okay guys, arguing, isn't helping the situation." I settle them down, preventing them from breaking out into a scuffle. It's like trying to calm rowdy kids, fighting over the latest toy. I sigh. "We need to find a solution, and fast." I imperiously mandate.

"I agree with you, the best way forward is attempting to resolve Kyle's anger problems." Kalder assents.

"Ha, and people say that I need anger management." Conner heartily preaches, which is extraordinarily out of character for the replicate of the Man of Steel.

"You do." Artemis caustically confirms, to the contempt of the Kent.Great way to stir the proverbial pot, Artemis. We really need another angry male on the loose. "Besides, at least Kyle is useful when he's in rage-mode." she defends the lantern, simultaneously winning a crack at Conner.

"Shut up." he shoots back, warningly daring the blonde archer to push him over the cliffside.

"Hello, Megan," Miss Martian smacks her head in a comical facepalm. "why don't we sign him up for management sessions?" she gleefully suggest, clapping her hands together.

"We already discussed that, Megan." I notify the shapeshifter, and view as her form turns sour.

"Oh." she mumbles, nevertheless she speedily shifts back into her joyful demeanor, and beams at all of us. "Anything else we could do?" she begs.

"Actually, anger sessions will be beneficial." Aqualad declares, his eyes squinting somewhat in consideration.

"Are you joking? Who will do it? Oh yeah, Superman would love to teach a teenager how to be a goody boy, like him." Artemis acerbically jests, her contemn aimed at the Kryptonian's knack for being labelled as a boy scout.

"He's not a goody boy!" Superboy raises his voice, evidently taking the insult to heart.

"Whatever you say." Artemis rebuts, echoing the glower that Conner has marked her way. More conflict, just what we need. Batman would so kill me for this. In some ways, I comprehend both sides of the divide- Conner is clandestinely concerned for his friend, though is hiding before his external shell; Artemis is vexed, because of not only Kyle, simply her inability to perceive his condition. Wow, Rob, way too deep.

"Anyhow, this doesn't solve anything." I moan. "We need a plan that can be played out slowly enough, so that Kyle won't notice it, because if he does, you will throw a fit." I consider, pondering on possible paths to controlling our resident Red/Yellow Lantern. Whatever we can come up with, I'm assuming that Kyle isn't going to necessarily conform with us.

"So... you're asking for the impossible." Artemis snorts. "We would have better odds in forcing Wally to fast for a couple of hours."

"Nothing is ever impossible, Artemis; not when you set your mind on a specific goal." Kaldur placidly certifies, holding his knees with his webbed hands. "I suggest we all work together on this task." he implies that he wants absolute co-operation from the team.

"Conner doesn't have a mind worth mentioning." Artemis offends Superboy's intelligence, even so he remains deathly peaceful.

"Perhaps if you spent more time using your brain instead of your mouth, Artemis, we will have more success in our considerations." Aqualad serenely barks, betraying the anger in his words.

"This isn't going too well, guys." Megan expresses her doubts openly to the group.

"Patience is key, or at least that's what Batman keeps telling me." I say. "If we stay cool, and run through the scenarios, nothing will get in our way, because we're YJ." I pledge to my fellow teenage heroes (except SB, who is kinda older than he is.)

"That rhymed." Superboy evinces to everyone, who don't particularly care, including me- the Boy Wonder.

"I think I may have an idea." Aqualad prompts. His stature has changed to fit his reflectfulness, both of his legs are tight together, and his spine is directed straight up, never bending. "Kyle may be feral, but I have heard about a weakness of the Red Lantern ring... hope."

"Hope?" Conner sneers. "That's you're big plan? Letas catch some hope, and launch it into Kyle's heart. " he perseveres in his mini-rant. "I'm sure that will be possible, all we need is a unicorn, and a pair of magic geese."

"How do you know about unicorns?" I beseech.

"Team, back to my suggestion, please." Kaldur refocused our weary group. "Hope can cleanse the impurity from a Red Lantern's veins. So, all we have to accomplish is make him have hope."

"That's a great idea" Megan inputs her opinion.

"Are you sure about this?" Artemis inquires, to which Kaldur gravely nods his head. "Okay... I guess I'm game."

"Good, as we need all the help we can muster." Kalder speaks. "First of all, we need to figure out a way to instill hope in him. Secondly, we must take into account a plan, in the case that Kyle rejects our attempts to re-educate him." he arranges the order in which we are supposed to act on our scheme. I feel like a villain. I stifle a giggle at the notion.

"What are talking about?" a voice surfaces from behind Superboy, causing him to jump in astonishment. "Answer me." it grunts again. To my realisation, it can only be one person. It has to be the Batman.

"You know, stuff." Artemis lies, also noticing the owner of the deep voice.

"Don't lie to me, Artemis." Batman at last sneaks into the centre of us all, standing perfectly in our viewlines. "So, someone tell me what you have planned." he decrees, his gaze fixated on me. I'm so grounded if I don't tell him.

"We are attempting to solve the resident angry teenager." I divulge, cognizant that the Bat will see through any deception I can throw at him. "In a... non-violent way." I utter. For a few moments, he examines me scrupulously, seeking out any hints of any falsehood.

"Come with me... all of you." Batman eventually gestures towards the training circle by striding to it's general vicinity. "Recently, the League has encountered several distress messages." he stiffly rambles up to the computer, and rapidly keys in several buttons.

"From who?" Miss M asks the Bat.

"From an ally of the League -the Queen of Atlantis- Mera." Batman callously imparts, ignoring the aghast expression of Kalder, unfolding on his habitually blank features. "There has been an estimated one every ten minutes for 2 hours. Only until eight hours ago, when they ceased."

"She must have been rescued by my King." Aqualad reasons.

"I have already spoke with Aquaman, and he admitted he doesn't know where she is." Batman resists, the fact on his tone.

"But, the Queen is powerful, no-one could po-"

"Aqualad, Superman is also powerful," Batman cuts him off. "and yet, he has been beaten several times. Power doesn't make defeat impossible, just less likely." he wisely re-affirms, making no attempt to console the Atlantean with his voice.

"What are we here for? Can't the League deal with this?" Conner queries. Even though he could have phrased it better due to the mess, he does formulate a fantastic point- it's league business, aren't we under-qualified.

"That may be so, but we need a team that is ready for action. The rest of the Justice League is busy dealing with another of Doomsday's rampages; to which I must assist with. Robin, take point." he reports, before zooming out of the mountain. Within a blink, he manages to powerwalk out of our YJ home.

"I guess you're briefing us, Robin." a feminine voice belonging to Black Canary calls out, sauntering over with Kyle in two. Whereas Canary is emotion-less, Kyle has a perma-frown stuck to his youthful face.

"Well, apparently I am." I complain at the turbulent chain of events. "Let's see..." I mumble as I sift through all of the data that Batman has left at our disposal- datalogs, the distress signals, and most importantly of all: locations. Weirdly, the location is endlessly moving, it's co-ordinates changing every second. "It's on the water, guys." I whine, putting the markings on the computer. A dark red blimp shines in the middle of the Atlantic.

"Not on the water, I think it is under." Kaldur presumes, observing the dot swiftly darting across the screen. "It's fast, but not too fast." he analyses. "To be moving across the ocean without hiding, must mean they are underwater; a submarine, if I were to assume."

"That's helpful." Artemis snarks. "Unless you have failed to notice, I can't use my bow underwater." he shrugs her shoulders.

"I can help with that." Kyle rudely butts in. "Me, Miss M, and Aqualad don't need scuba gear. I can use my atmospheric controls underwater. Thus meaning I can extend it to your arrows, they will fly as though they were in the air." he says, calmer than he was before.

"Amazing, utterly amazing; you just made world peace, congratulations." Artemis sarcastically bites back. "I might actually forgive that you are a jerk."

"Tell me when, it will be my pleasure to hear you say it." Kyle responds, a little sum of his old cheekiness crawling back to his personality. "As for now, shut up, and focus on the mission." he cracks at her, his words like a whip.

"Before you start confronting, might I remind you that we are a team." Aqualad assays to pacify the swirling storm of emotions. "Miss Martian, is it true?" he petitions.

"I think so. Maybe, I could change into a mermaid." she bounces on the spot in anticipation.

"What am I going to do?" Superboy asks, begging to be allowed on this mission. It has been a couple of days since he last hit something, so in my opinion, it's better than him blowing up in a training session.

"Wait. We will infiltrate the vessel, and locate my Queen, meanwhile you, and Robin will prepare to provide extraction." Kaldur answers. "Next, you will help us take over the ship."

Ten Hours Later...

Kyle's POV

Aboard the bio-ship, we assemble our spirits, and organise our gear. They are looking at you, always. They think that you are an abomination. They will be proven wrong, no matter how long it takes. Shoving away the acidic thoughts, I converge my attention on a focal point- the red, and yellow glows of my rings- just how Black Canary instructed me to. At first, I was cynical. Of course it wouldn't work, how could it? The fury I feel inside of me no longer plagues my actions, yet remains present in the dark expanses of my heart. Every waking moment, my blood boils, never relenting; never merciful. Is this how I will live my sorry life from now on? Cruel, and insensitive? I guess only time will reveal.

A/N

Thank you all for reading this chapter, and I wish that you enjoyed it. Only around 20 chapters left to go!