A/N

As promised my dear fans and friends. Your support is constantly so overwhelming and it's awesome!

If this was a series, I would totally make a tribute video to Kyle, Wally, Supes, and Artemis with 'We could be heroes' as the song. All of them are underestimated at this stage, so it would be cool to see. You guys could make oneeeee? Just kidding (or am I?)

6,000 views! 52 Reviews! 19 Favouritors! And 29 Followers

Reviews

Guest 1: THE CAPS IS REAL! I'M SO SORRY YOU WERE WAITING FOR THIS! LOL!

Guest 2: Even 'good chapter' fills my heart with joy.

Elvisfonz23: Your comments are awesome as always, my friend! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

MoustachedCat: You're very welcome. I'm glad that you enjoyed Conner's POV, as I also enjoyed writing it. Not as much as I do Kyle, but it's close.

Chapter 22: Escape Escapades

Kyle Rayner's POV

"Aaannnddd... we're back to square one." I huff at the increasingly dire predicament we bundles of joy face. By that, being utterly surrounded by varying degrees of savage animals- wolves, tigers, a hippo, and a few giant rats. Not to mention we found out that they have been experimented on- and mindcontrolled- by the evil brain. A literal brain.

"Well, technically this is your fault, because you were the one that suggested we confront slimy over there." Artemis speaks out, her back and Kaldur's pressed up against each others and mine, forming a triangle of vision. "So, you have to find a way to get us out."

"Unless calling Dr Phil or Oprah is a viable option, I'm fresh out of miracles. What about you guys? Any biblical acts of legend up your sleeves, if you have any sleeves." I deflect the conversation away from the blame game. Eventually, they will forget this moment and come to terms that I am awesome.

"Apparently, the animals are waiting for something in particular. An order from the brain, perhaps?" Aqualad suggests. "We should aim to take out the machine as quickly as possible."

"How do you plan on doing that? Are you expecting them to let us destroy the brain of the operations?" I snort at the observational command.

"Don't tell me you just said that pun." Artemis sighs.

"Focus, you two. As for your remark Kyle, I'm not expecting them to let us. I'm expecting to not be able to stop our advance." Kaldur says, sternly. "Are you ready for this?"

Gulping at the fiercesome growls that the rabid beasts are making, I mutter "Nope."

"You're not afraid, are you?" I could practically taste the playfulness in Artemis' words.

"Of them, no; of your jokes, yes." instantly, I come up with a retort to shoot back at the blonde archer. "Let's get this over with, guys." I add on at the end.

"Kyle, you focus your attacks on the larger ones. If I can cover you, will you be able to shock the brain, Artemis?" Kaldur bellows out his instructions like the strong and decisive leader that he has grown to be. "On your mark, Kyle."

Theoretically, going on my mark should mean that everyone does their part after I initiate the attack, however, the Young Justice definition of 'on your mark' tends to mean 'you do something and all hell breaks loose, and nobody ends up doing what they're supposed to do.

"Uh... charge! attack! scream! insert inspirational quote here!" I yell at the top of my lungs, despite the growing fear inside my stomach. "Damn it, just hit the things!"

With that, we stampede forwards with teenage tenacity, heading straight for our intended targets. First on my annihilate list is the nasty looking hippo, who is almost crushing the floor with it's weight. Even with one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy, the prospect of facing off against this monstrosity is frightening.

Right before reaching the mammal, I do a mid-air Immelmann maneuver and during the reverse, I construct a golden chain around it's massive neck and use the turning motion to launch it into an unsuspecting lion preparing to pounce on Artemis.You owe me one.

However, what I didn't expect is for the hulking beast to get back up unhindered, and without any visible signs of physical injury. "Okay... that shouldn't be happening. Whatever experiments done on these things is far out." I talk to myself whilst formulating another battle plan.

But, I don't get enough time to form a strategy before something hits me from behind, knocking me to the ground face first. My face smacks off the ground painfully, but without injury due to the rings protection protocols.

"That's not fair!" I flop around until I am lying on my back and point my rage ring towards the rodent assailant. It's whiskers twitch around in a weirdly cute way, before it receives a blast of energy to the head. In a similar way to the hippo, it gets back up and shakes off the damage like it was a papercut.

Charging at me, I only just dodge the attack by rolling to the left, narrowly missing by an inch. That blow would have certainly caused me misery when I wake up in the morning after this, so thankfully the bite didn't connect as intended. Instead, the teeth contact with the solid ground with a cringing scrape and screech.

Hopefully finishing this battle with a rage-constructed baseball bat, I slam it into the temple of the massive, oversized rat.

Even with the odd enhancements made to these creatures, the rat falls to the ground with it's chest still heaving; knocking unconscious, and out of the fight for the time being. Now, I can direct my valuable attention on the hippo, which is still staring at me.

What are you waiting for, big guy? I muse at the awkward sight. Come to your local vet, Kyle Rayner.

Seems to me that the fella's waiting for me to make the first move. Not the greatest strategy as it gifts me plenty of time to think, which in turn equals me coming up with a creative way of taking him out. The power rings versatility is my best asset, but my colourful brain comes at a close second, in my opinion. I could chain him down and buy time for the others, but they appear to be fairly strong without any modifications. Let's go with that for the moment, Kyle.

Amidst the chaos of the battle and the accompanying sounds- roars, cracks as hits land, and the occasional yelp from Artemis- I begin constructing a large net, ready to drop the apparatus on the hippo and any other animals that happens to cross paths with the crimson red hardlight.

Before carrying out the action, I swiftly scan the abnormally large space for my heroes-in-arms. Aqualad is in the process of drawing the attention of the beasts, with Artemis trying to wait for a gap through the animals, so she can end this by incapacitating the brain.

Hopefully, the special training and immense experience of the two will be enough to power through the defences and get that brain on a set of wheels. Here's hoping. I think to myself, fixing my eyes on my prey once more.

Still, the rabid hippo didn't have the gall to seize the advantage by attacking whilst I was glancing around to note the progress of my team. Well, our team.

"You ready for this, toughie? Because I'm coming for ya." I encourage the less fearful half of my personality to take the helm and steer me towards victory.

Without another word, I imagine the net landing over the rooted mammal, and the ring does the rest of the work. Before my waking eyes, the net floats itself over the enemy and drops down, coating the hippo with it's unbreakable embrace. Struggling slightly under the powerful webbing, the animal thrashes around for a few moments before seemingly giving up and freezing.

From where I am hovering above the violence, the fear creeps up, a pungent aroma that starts to cloud my senses from within my own mind. Feeling my grip on rage slip from my heart and fright building in the deeper crevices of my head, I prepare to deal with the consequences.

Sure enough, the crimson net dims minutely, but painstakingly continues growing darker and darker. Perhaps noticing the looser hold, the entrapped animal re-emerges in a frenzy, biting down on the net with the force of Superman.

Really? Out of all the moments my rings could have went loco, they decide to do it when I have a weirdly durable and highly dangerous beast under control. I resist the temptation to whine and cry about how unfair my life is. That's Conner's job, the last I heard.

Robin's POV- Meanwhile

Heading down the fourth hallway that we have encountered, the others are starting to fatigue, with Wally falling behind the most. "Wally, have you had anything to eat lately?" I ask the semi-speedster, knowing the repercussions that come with him not eating the amount of calories he should be.

"No... got... nothing... left." he gasps out in exhaustion.

"Do you want us to stop for a second?" the thought will be good for the dynamic duo of Miss M and Superboy as well, seeing as though they are both sweating.

"We can't." Conner speaks up, his eyes narrowed on the empty space ahead.

"Wally needs to rest, Conner. He's running out of energy." M'gann implores Conner, to which his gaze softens and he gradually slows down to a slight jog and falls in line with, he does the most Conner thing to do and swoops him into his arms before speeding up again.

"I guess that works." I mutter to myself.

Silence ensues as we carry on, both exhausted and determined to escape this place. Thankfully, the intense training Batman makes me the most fit person in the team, even without the powers of Conner, Kaldur, M'gann, Wally, or Kyle. I guess that Batman always knew that I was going to need the added endurance in the future. Or, he simply enjoys forcing me to the limits of human capabilities every time we train together. Either way, it's the training that's keeping me ahead of the other members.

It lasts until our dunce- Kid Flash- takes the opportunity to do his daily dose of flirting and inappropriate names. "How are you feeling, sugarcake?" he asks M'gann. The metaphorical steam coming out of Conner's ears makes the rude comment even more amusing to the redhead.

"I'm fine, Wally. My legs are starting to go heavy, but is that normal? We didn't run a lot on Mars." she answers without breaking stride, her voice showing no awkwardness. She probably thinks that he's just being friendly.

"Uh... why aren't you flying, M'gann? You can do that, right?" Wally changes the subject with the temperamental clone threatening with his eyes. "It should make things a lot easier for you."

Roughly, Miss Martian slaps her forehead. "Hello, Megan!" she exclaims and takes off into the air. "I totally forgot that I can fly." she matches the pace of us grounded heroes with a smooth cruise.

Out of all the members of our team, is M'gann the only one that actually has no idea what's going on? Sometimes, it's almost impossible how carefree she can become, even with the world descending into utter chaos around her. As Batman would say 'reality is different from what it appears' or that's the sort of cryptic riddles that come out of his mouth, making the Riddler look normal and perfectly sane.

"Enough chit-chat, we need to head for the others." I order my teammates in the same tone as Aqualad would.

Kyle's POV

So... being the ignorant fool that I am, the whole point of my role in this fight is to stop the bigger beasts from grouping up on the support squad and well... the outcome is exactly as it shouldn't be. When the hippo you are trapping escapes and immediately heads for Kaldur, it's definitely classed as an absolute failure on my part.

They are so going to put me in intense training for the rest of my life, I mentally groan. Say goodbye to your hero placement, Kyle.

Terrifyingly fast and powerful, nature's tank is charging straight for the turned back of the unknowing Atlantean. Still, I have precious time to react as it has only reached halfway to its intended target, and that changes the balance in my favour. All I have to do is dwell on ways to halt the thing in it's four-legged tracks without bringing any harm to the others in the process.

Bearing in mind that the fear ring at what I call 'stronger than the other ring' charge, I can't acid spit the flooring in front of it.

Think, you ape, think. What's the use of a ring limited by your imagination if you don't have any? The answer is zero, none, and nothing, I anxiously think with the distance rapidly decreasing.

Then, the most unimaginable (not so much, because I did imagine it) idea pops into my head. Letting the image brew like boiling water in the deep trenches of my brain, I allow it to flow around my body, carried by the veins to the tips of my fingers and back. Doubt- through fear- creeps in, but I easily quench it for this moment of pure genius. Out of all the constructs I have fashioned together, this has to be the peak of perfection.

Opening my eager eyes, I see tens of me standing still, each one facing the charging animal. The linings of each shape occasionally glints gold, however to the untrained eye it would be reasonably true to life.

With another amused thought, the copies all start chanting. "Who's the best!? Who's the best!? Who's the best!?" although not in synch with some screaming and others muttering, they all say the question with equally funny faces. The shouting carries on without them attempting to breathe.

As expected, many of the combatants, including Artemis and Kaldur, startle in surprise. Even Aqualad appears to be mortified at the prospect at more than one me, which is totally understandable, coming from the person that they would hate to have clones of. Add in the wide-eyed trance that Robin Hood has roped herself into and you have a highly entertaining sight. If only Conner was here to witness this display of utter brilliance, it would make for a magnificent memory.

"No!" a distant, male voice sounds out. Speak of the grump and he shall come, I roll my eyes.

"Not another one!" he cries, being emphasised by a lion landing on top of a few of 'me' people.

Seizing the opportunity they needed, Artemis leaps over the massively confused animals and bounds two steps at a time towards the Brain, who is weirdly still hanging around the fringes of the ensuing battle, despite having no real abilities to note.

Before any enemies could change their position, she fires a trick arrow into the Brain and it lodges in the exposed circuitry at the front of the mechanical body. Sparks visibly surge around the machine and as it powers down, words could be heard from the sick villain. "Sacré Bleu!... I would have succeeded if not for you meddling kiddss." it eventually shuts off the awful French accent with an audible sound, comparable to a computer powering off.

Since the animals scurry of like rats- no pun intended- I release the constructed ploys and let out a yell of triumph. "Oh yeah! That'll teach you to mess with us!"

"Shut up." the less agitated Conner scowls.

"What's up, buddy? My genius saved this team, friend." I wink at him, causing further anger to radiate from the teenage clone. "Thanks will be humbly taken, but only if it's genuine. Apart from that, how are we going to get info from that... brain... thingy? Because I am not being the one that touches that mess."

"Hold up and go back a second... what do you mean by 'my genius'? Because that wasn't smart, more incredibly creepy, I would say." Artemis crosses her arms across her chest in her serious pose.

"Without me, you two would be dinner." I snort away the criticism.

"Okay, guys and girls, chill out. We got the baddie and are all fine, so that's a victory in my book." Kid Flash says.

"Indeed. We did good work today." Kaldur agrees with the speedster, albeit in a more depressing tone. "Let's get to the bio-ship."

Suddenly, a hand drags me back, preventing me from leaving with the rest. Robin was who the appendages belonged to, weirdly enough. "Can I speak to you for a second, Kyle? Whatever's said needs to stay between us." she whispers, nervously glancing to make sure that Superboy is out of earshot.

The question is vague, but has me hooked. "Sure, I guess."

Pulling me in closer, he whispers into my ear "We have a traitor on the team."

A/N

Thankfully, I was able to upload this on Wednesday as promised. However, it is near midnight in UK GMT, so it might be day for everyone else. Lol, I have no idea how timezones work!

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the 22nd Chapter. We are really starting to power along to the finale, aren't we?

Next episode/part will be on Wednesday, I expect.