A/N

Hello! Quite a few people have approached me recently about collaberations, requests, and such. I will try to get them made, but I can't promise how long it will take unfortunately. However, I am definitely going to have a crack at ideas sent my way from you, the reader!

Be sure to check out Nick Striker's crossfire as it's awesome, so far!

8,000 views! 67 reviews! 34 followers and 24 favouritors! Amazing!

Reviews

Elvisfonz23: I would go for a character that the audience would adore as replacement to Wally. But, I have a feeling that the Wall-man will come back.

Griffin13: Me too! And Starfire! Not too fussed about Cyborg, though. He wasn't as interesting in the comics and the Teen Titans series.

Guest: Fair enough. The character development and story arcs were stunted by the size of the group. Maybe, make episodes longer and tend to focus more on the originals? But, it sure did feel too 'crowded' a lot of the time. Nightwing needed to be involved more! You agree?

Jack: No ship spoilers, I'm afraid. Although... two have been hinted at various points in the story. One is clear and the other is less so, but still present.

Kyle needs to be in YJ! It needs a lantern!

Chapter 27: Amazonian Fury... And Otherwise

Kyle Rayner's POV

October 17th, 7:00AM- Ground site Beta, Coast City

Astonishingly, it turns out that all it takes is a mild threat to Superman for everybody to run around in circles, screaming and laughing their heads off. Joking, because that was how I reacted when I was volunteered to join up with Wonder Woman. Seriously, seriousness combined with a body more muscular than mine don't mix too well with me.

Batman, being the no-nonsense type of dude he is, informed me directly after waking up at eight o'clock sharp. Waiting outside of my bedroom- which had already been defiled by Batman's presence- was the Amazon herself, face composed into nothing- emotion, tenseness, or otherwise.

Gracefully and with a gentle touch, she shoved me towards the zeta-tube, following closely behind like a guard dog. Never have I felt more of a prisoner than I did in those short moments. And apparently, Wonder Woman is my temporary probation officer.

Instead of soaring through the bright skies with wind rolling over my cheeks, washing away the morning tiredness, I'm on a... subway, of all things. The princess was adamant that we go incognito until we reach our intended destination, which is tougher than it sounds.

Three times- I counted- she has verbally assaulted random people who even dared to brush past her to get somewhere. 'Men' and some obscure Greek words were volleyed at the intruders as though they imprisoned her rights.

"No respect." she mutters as another commuter brushes past her shoulder. With the current outfit she is wearing, anyone would confuse her with a normal woman instead of the warrior princess she actually is- glasses and all. "Does anyone ever use manners?"

"Well, WW... if you had to say sorry to every person you bumped into on a crowded subway, you would get tired of it too." I heavily sigh, rolling my eyes.

"Please, call me Diana." she corrects, however the blank expression on her face makes it difficult to assume the name as real.

"I would give you my name, but that's the downside of having three of us. Got to identify us somehow, right?" I joke. Her face doesn't register any signs of amusement.

"You need to improve your humour, Kyle, I've seen Minotaurs make better jests than you." Diana insults, a thin smile across her face. "But... it's refreshing, in any case. Very few heroes maintain their sense of humour throughout their journey. Once upon a time, Batman was prone to making the odd comment."

"The Bat made jokes?" I snort, skeptical.

"Yes. Dark and disturbing jokes are still jokes." her smile eventually fulls out, making her appear less formidable than she really is.

Finally grinding to a halt with an audible screech, we patiently wait our turn to leave, observing the scramble as they hop off the transport. The rare yelp or wince can be heard as someone steps on another person's toes or otherwise. Funnily enough, Wonder Woman also seems amused by the scene, as though imagining the same scramble on Themyscira. Amazon warriors turning into rabid and primal animals before your very eyes.

Once the temporary chaos died down, me and Diana amusingly trudge off without a peep of sound compared to just a few short seconds before.

Heading to the set of turnstiles before the stairs to the exit, Diana almost trips over a loose piece of flooring, causing me to break out in a fit of laughter. "What are you laughing about? I hope that you almost fall over a loose rock." she frowns, breaking the smile I placed on her.

"Imagine the headlines all around the world: Wonder Woman... felled by floor." I chuckle, restraining my volume to a good amount. It would be a disaster if someone overheard our conversation and realised that Diana is Wonder Woman. Reporters would be frothing around the mouth for a shot.

"Kyle, you do realise that falling over can't kill me?" she sighs, making her way through the turnstiles roughly, nearly ripping off the bars.

"What if there was a sharp piece of rock? That would kill you, obviously." I smirk, following her with a little more grace in my step. Well, as graceful you can be when inserting a card into a hole and nudging your way past metal bars that often smack into your unsuspecting knees. "And after that, I'll be left on my lonesome for the remainder of this mission."

"That's a very cynical view of things, Kyle. You should try to see the brighter side of things." she waits for me to join alongside her before continuing up the stairs. "Besides, it will help to have a positive mind for the battle ahead."

"Yeah... having a 'positive mind' when it's constantly polluted by fear is tough."

"Is it that bad? I have heard from Hal that it would break even the strongest of minds by feeding and amplifying the user's terror." Diana asks, a twinge of genuine concern laced among the steely tone of determination that can be usually found whilst she speaks. Truly, she is a remarkable person.

"It takes a lot to hold back the emotional storm back, but it could be worse, right? I could have been forced to serve that slime ball Sinestro in his Sinestro Corp."

With that, the conversation became too deep to carry on and so, it halted. Instead, the bright morning sun invades me eye sockets the instant that we emerge from the final step, unveiling the modern jungle named Coast City. Diana gulps. Something whispers to me that she rarely ventures out into the world of man, because to every other person it's a typical, boring sight.

"Alright, Diana, where is the target? I've not been here often, but I can figure out a way to get there." I ask, however she refuses to answer and immediately tumbles towards a café straight across from where we are.

"Kal has told me about these. He has told me about the wonders of 'hot chocolate'" she gasps, and before I could respond she tightly grabs hold of my hand and leads me to the café. Hopelessly, I try to undo her strong grip, to no avail. Apparently, I have become only a limp toy to her as she doesn't notice my struggling. "Come on, Kyle, we have time to waste."

Deflecting the curious stares the civilians are shooting at me with an awkward smile, I think about how seriously wrong this looks- a sixteen year old literally being dragged along with one hand, on the verge of looking like a kidnapping. Nothing to see here, I force a smile as I start to lose all feeling in the hand.

Unknowingly destroying all sense of pain in my hand with excitement, she forces me into the café, hurriedly sitting down on a leather couch that encircles the right hand corner as though the apocalypse is among us, and those seats would be used to save the world from utter destruction. Exagerrations aside, she practically flops onto the leather furniture, releasing the painful grip she held over my poor, human hand.

"Damn it!" I curse whilst following her lead and sitting on the same couch, but opposite, with a table dividing us. After examining my deathly pale hand, I want some form of physical barrier between her and me.

"What's the matter?" she unbelievably asks, before her eyes drift to my hand- clutched closely by my other- and they go wide. "I'm so sorry, Kyle." she apologises, reaching to grab and inspect the hand. Seeing as though it would be futile to resist her concern, which would end in more pain, I warily allow her to reach across and take the hand in hers. "How did I do this?"

"It's not that bad, really. Besides, you didn't know how hard you were clutching my hand." I watch her flip the hand over, her eyes carefully inspecting it.

"That is not an excuse, Kyle, I should have known better than lose control over myself. What if you weren't a friend?" she shakes her head.

"Friends? We've only spoken once or twice since I started YJ."

"Yes, I would say that we are friends. Although we haven't spoken as often as I would have liked, you are a... friend, of sorts. We all have to get along for us to protect the world." Diana counters, letting go of the hand, so I slowly draw it back. "No damage to your hand, luckily. The ring must have done something about that as any other human would be sporting a broken hand." she gives her analysis, though unnecessary.

Breaking our conversation- albeit simply doing her job- a waitress approaches with a small frown on her face. "What do you need?"

Since Wonder Woman's face is mired in stark confusion and anxiety, I decide to take the initiative and help her escape this awful social situation. "Two hot chocolates please, as many topping as you offer." The waitress takes off without another word leaving her mouth.

"Uhh... thank you for that, Kyle." Diana shows an awkward smile.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but do you do this often? I mean, going out into the civilian world and stuff?" I ask, tapping fingers on my knees.

"No. These days, I have more important things to do: running the Justice League, holding back the various threats that we encounter, and even refusing letter that are asking me to return to Themyscira, until I am done here. Leisure time is not existent for me." she huffs, finally showing her weariness. Having countless years of experience in battles and stress must be immensely tough, even for an Amazonian princess.

"I know the feeling- spending so much attention to your duty that you neglect other things, and look where that got me. I'm an emotional mess." I clench my hands to stop myself from jittering. "Take my advice, Diana: Get out there whilst you can as the next time you fight... could be the last time. Or not. Just saying."

"For such a hopeless and sometimes annoying teenager, you have a wisdom that many others lack." she smiles.

"Yeah... I knew that." I smile back. Diana lets out a chuckle, but instantly recomposes herself afterwards. "It's not unnatural to have fun, you know?" I comment on the rapid recovery that would put Batman or Robin to shame.

"For me, it is. When the whole world counts on you to defend it, happiness is a luxury that I can't afford." she gazes out of the window longingly.

"Happiness isn't a luxury, but a necessity in these dire times. It's what separates us from people like Luthor." I correct her, making her attention shift back to me. Our eyes catch each other for a second, however she swiftly moves them elsewhere when the waitress returns with the drinks.

Silently basking in the glory of hot chocolate, the various expressions that are appearing on Diana's face gives me the impression that she is thoroughly satisfied with the fairly modern beverage. "Kal was right... it is good... although, nothing compares to the sweet tickle of nectar." she eventually reviews, placing down the cup before I even took a third sip. I guess the Amazonian durability also extends to extremely hot drinks.

"I'm marking this day down in the history books where the Wonder Woman said 'sweet tickle'." I chuckle to myself, almost splurting out another gulp that had only just entered my mouth.

"Hurry up, Kyle, we don't have long until the others get into position." she says. Annoyingly, she proceeded to stare at me whilst I drink the rest as fast any human can go, her eyes following the cup being brought to my mouth and back.

After a few precious minutes of gulping down the seething liquid, steam literally bellowing out with every breath afterwards, I triumphantly place the cup down. Without paying, Diana strides out of the café, dumping the responsibility to pay onto me, the minor. The Justice League needs to start giving me an allowance. Hal won't pay for me forever, I inwardly sigh, shoving notes onto the table and zooming after Wonder Woman with a brisk walk, the energy from the drink empowering my legs.

Catching up to Diana, who needless to say didn't even acknowledge that I am behind her, I synchronise into her fast, constant walk and travel at her side. Wait a second... how many people can say that they walked next to the Wonder Woman? the though was abruptly interrupted by one of my rings- I can't differentiate which- who informed me of a rapidly approaching lamp post, which I strafed to avoid and resumed the journey at my companion's side.

"Did your ring tell you about that? I was about to tell you as you weren't concentrating. It's intriguing how the power rings are very similar to that of the Green Lantern Corps." she asks, interest and thought on her voice.

"Well, I think it was the Sinestro ring as I haven't heard of the rage ring having safety protocols. I think that the Red Lanterns don't even have a universal translator like some of the others do- they have that 'war is everything' attitude." I answer, fiddling with rings whilst speaking.

"We will need that when we assault the LexCorp base. Remember though, I have your back." she says.

"That's... assuring, Diana, but are we even sure that it's a real target? Batman did explicitly say 'potential'."

"With the feeling that I am receiving, I am almost certain that we are the unlucky ones."

Bruce Wayne/Batman's POV- One hour later

"Batman to all available strike teams, what is your status?" I speak into the official Justice League communicator, Aqualad lurking the background, pacing back and forth.

"Flash here- Rob's and I have arrived to an empty warehouse and further inspection yielded nothing. This place is bare." comes the first response. A part of me is glad that they weren't the ones to encounter LexCorp as Robin is the second half of the duo. Although I know he can handle himself- extensive training saw to that- I still allow myself to be protective on the occasions that I can afford to.

"Same here with us, Batman. Superkid and Artemis are just reconning the area again, now." Green Lantern is the next to report in. In the distance of the comm, I can barely make out the ravings of someone in Hal's area, with one sentence being prominent- 'stop calling me that!'. "Geez, okay, I'll stop." Hal huffs over the comm.

"KF, or Kid Flash here! OMG, this is so cool." he enters in a hushed squeal, acting altogether like a three-year old. "Batman, this position is empty, I repeat over, this position is empty. Wait... don't you guys always say that?"

"What are you doing with a league communicator?" I sternly demand from Kid Flash.

"Martian Manhunter said for me to report in whilst he looks around. Can you believe he said he'll be quicker than me?" he responds.

Choosing to ignore the response for now and punish later, I act as though I didn't hear his words. "Superman?"

"If a LexCorp facility exists, it's all on Wonder Woman and Kyle. Everyone converge on their position, if their target ends up as real, help would be necessary, Superman out." Kal-El brings about the final report, albeit with severely less enthusiasm than the others were delivered.

"Get there as fast as you can without being detected by the populace, Batman out." I turn my attention to the awaiting Aqualad. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Let's do this."

A/N

Thanks again for reading my devoted and much appreciated viewers. Before you go and do your own things, I have some things to say.

Firstly, it's been an honour to provide you with this series, and I hope you will carry on to the sequel. Believe me, it will be tonnes better! Or, I hope it will be anyway.

Secondly, are you excited for the Justice League movie!? Have you all seen the awesome costumes!? Absolute bliss!

And last: Have you got any questions about the Superboy standalone? Review the questions, or PM me!