Read! READ NOW! THE FASTER YOU READ, THE FASTER YOU GET TO THE BOTTOM AND READ THE GOOD PART! GOOOO!
Ch.9: Home-front
Gotham City: September 22, 06:00EDT
An alarm clock blared, waking Artemis from her slumber. She brought the blanket closer around her as she opened her eyes. Across the room was another bed with a poster on the wall of Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat.
Artemis's older sister, Jade, walked around the room packing. "Please, please don't go!" Artemis pleaded, holding her teddy bear.
"Sorry sis, Mom's not getting out of prison anytime soon and I refuse to live in this house with just Dad." Jade said, continuing her packing.
"Dad, and you, and me!" Artemis said. "We have to keep this family from falling apart!" Jade looked at the small girl.
"Artemis, get up!" Artemis sat up in bed, her mom calling her from the doorway.
"I don't want you late for your first day of school!" Paula wheeled away and Artemis groaned. She flopped back on the bed and hid under the covers.
Later…
Artemis stood in Gotham Academy's court-yard, tugging at her skirt uncomfortably.
"Artemis," The archer looked at another blonde haired girl who walked up to her. "I'm Bette, you're new Student Liaison. Welcome to Gotham Academy."
Artemis gave her a smile. "Thanks, I'm Artemis. But you knew that."
Artemis was surprised when two ebony-haired, blue-eyed boys looked over her shoulder with a camera and a smile.
"We'll laugh about this someday." The two said and took a picture before running off, totally disappearing on her. She looked around confused.
"Uh… Who were those people?" Bette shrugged.
"A freshmen and his cute sophomore brother, ignore the freshman, try to land a date with the sophomore." Bette said.
"Dick, Danny, what was that about?" Barbara Gordon asked. The two boys came up behind her.
"Nothing Barbara." Dick said.
Danny smirked. "Just being friendly to the new girl."
She looked at the two suspiciously. "You two are up to something… again."
The boys laughed as she walked away, and followed her, looking at the picture.
Mount Justice: September 22, 18:43EDT
Megan and Superboy were having a make-out session when Sphere drove up. Megan laughed as they broke apart.
"Looks like someone's jealous." Megan said teasingly.
Superboy looked at it. "Maybe, or maybe-"
"Hey guys!" Kid Flash said, walking up, snacking on a sandwich.
"You too sure spend a lot of time working on his bike. Obviously you need the Wal-Man's expert help." Wally said. The couple shared a look and a smile and patted Sphere.
"So, you have told no one else of this mole?" Red Tornado asked Kaldur.
"I cannot be sure one exists, and if it does… If the Team is being betrayed from within, I must investigate without… tipping my hand. But… perhaps I should tell Batman." Kaldur said uneasily.
"Generally, the Batman expects the Team to handle its own problems. But the decision is yours. I will return after monitor duty at the Watchtower." Red Tornado said.
Kaldur watched him type something on the computer. "I thought you were exempted from monitor duty since becoming our 'den mother'."
"Recognized. Red Tornado; 16"
"I agreed to cover for Green Arrow. He has an inter-personal evening with Black Canary, a 'hot date.'" Red Tornado disappeared in the Zeta-Portal, leaving Kaldur to think.
Gotham City: September 22, 18:45EDT
Artemis, in costume, walked up next to an old telephone booth. She was about to enter when…
"Artemis?" Danny and Robin appeared around the booth, scaring the crap of Artemis.
"Robin, Danny! I… uh…" Artemis started uneasily.
The two boys walked forward with smirks.
"How random you're in Gotham City!" Robin said.
"Instead of Star City, where your uncle, Green Arrow, lives!" Danny said.
Artemis thought of a quick lie. "I'm… um… here to see my cousin. She was in the State Spelling Bee, here, in Gotham City." She rubbed her neck nervously.
"C-O-O-L." Robin said, and Danny gained a smirk.
"Did she W-I-N?" The Ghost Boy asked.
Artemis narrowed her eyes. "N-O."
The two boys smiled innocently. "D-R-A-G."
Artemis pointed to the phone booth. "Yeah, let's just go to the Cave."
The two boys bowed and pointed to the booth. "Ladies first."
Artemis placed her hands on her hips. "Your town, you go."
The two shrugged and Robin entered.
"Recognized. Robin; B01."
Danny entered next.
"Recognized. Phantom; B02."
Artemis entered last.
"Recognized. Artemis; B08."
"Get down!" Robin shouted and Artemis jumped out of the way of an in-coming fire-blast. Robin and Danny jumped out of nowhere and Robin threw a few bat-a-rangs. Danny's eyes turned blue, and he shot an ice blast.
Artemis got up and joined the fight, shooting arrows blindly. Robin was throwing bat-a-rangs and Danny was throwing ice. All of them jumped out of the way as another fire-blast soared at them.
"Who are we fighting!?" Artemis screamed, shooting at two figures covered by smoke.
"Don't know!" Robin shouted.
"But we're sitting ducks by these tubes!" Danny shouted also, sweating profusely, and becoming sluggish.
"We need to head for the exit!" Robin shouted and dragged Danny and Artemis to the exit. The three ran in, but a river of water appeared around the corner.
"Or not." Robin said.
The three were swept up in the current, and slammed against the wall. Danny, surprisingly, was the one that got the two non-meta humans up and running, his power having returned.
The three ran, and Artemis picked up her fallen bow and started shooting. The three ran, a fire vortex following behind. The three ran into the smaller gym, the doors closing behind.
"Robin to Team! Come in! Aqualad!" Robin said through the com.
"M'gann, can you hear me? Are you there?" Artemis pleaded through her mind.
The door burst open, and the fire cyclone sent shrapnel at them. Artemis, Robin, and Danny were sent to the ground, but they quickly got back up. Danny was once again becoming sluggish. They ran into the locker room, the cyclone following.
"Robin and Phantom to Bat-cave! Override; RG4!" Robin yelled.
Danny caught on. "Cave calling Justice League! HOJ/Watchtower! B01 and B02! Priority red!"
The three teens started turning on the showers and let them run with water. The teens ran back to the middle of the room, and Danny once again regained his power.
"At least the water's helping." Artemis commented.
The pipes started groaning.
Danny started whining. "Or not."
The nozzles and the shower heads started popping off, and the tiles on the wall started falling off the wall. The water quickly filled up, and they were sent underwater, the cyclone outside not daring to go in. Robin put a bat-a-rang on the wall and nodded to Danny. The Boy Wonder swam away, and Danny threw a strong ecto-blast at it, not at all phased by not being able to breathe.
The wall exploded, sending the teens into the hallway. Robin and Artemis coughed and Danny just shook his head, getting rid of the water from his hair. They got up, though, and started running into the kitchen.
"We need to get lost." Danny said, looking around.
"The air vent!" Artemis said.
"Good, go!" Robin said and headed for it. Robin gave the Ghost Boy his computer and Danny stayed behind to type something on the holographic computer.
Artemis took the vent's cover down, and looked at Danny. "What're you-?"
Danny gave her a small look. "Downloading cave blueprints onto Robin's computer. Could come in handy. You guys go. I can catch up easier than you guys."
They heard something.
"Go!" Danny whispered and the two non-meta teens jumped into the vent. With the blueprints fully downloaded, Danny flew after them, putting the vent cover back in place. Artemis led the three through the tunnels. Danny gave Robin his computer back and the Boy Wonder brought up the blueprints.
"Go left." They three just made it around the corner when a fire blast flew by, right where they were crawling.
"Too close." Danny said.
"Take the first right." Robin said, giving Danny an uneasy look, but he brought up the blueprints again. "There should be a vent cover right in front of you."
Artemis took the vent cover away and slid down, the boys following. They landed on a catwalk in the control room. Robin brought up his blueprints. "This way."
The three started running again. They were surprised to hear something land where they once were. They stopped running and saw a figure completely incased in fire. The figure looked around and let the flame spread throughout the room.
The teens ran, but Danny was once again becoming powerless. They hid in-between some machines and saw the scales were cracking and becoming over-heated.
"That's not good." Artemis commented and grabbed Danny's wrist and dragged him along for the ride.
Pipes started bursting and fog started spewing out. The figure spotted them and started to shoot their flames at the teens. They quickly hid behind another machine and Robin looked at the blueprints again.
"I know that other access tunnel is here somewhere…" Robin mumbled.
Danny shook his head. "You mean that one?"
Robin shrugged at the opening in the floor. He placed a bat-a-rang on the machine, ran, and jumped into the tunnel. From his spot hanging from the tunnel, Danny threw a weak ecto-blast and let go, falling into the tunnel. The blast blew up on an on-coming figure.
The three crawled through the crawl-space, when Robin stopped. "Hold on."
He took the case off of something, and plugged in his computer.
"Locking out Cave's motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us." Robin said.
Artemis gave him a bewildered look. "And I ask again, who is the enemy?"
Robin gave her a sly smile. "Let's find out. Downloading Cave's security footage, and… there!"
Footage of Kid Flash, Megan, and Superboy appeared.
"Door wrench." Wally said. Megan gave him the tool of choice.
"Thank you, Green Cheeks."
Kaldur appeared. "I have been meaning to ask, any problem juggling school work with your responsibilities here?"
"No."
Simple is the way of Superboy.
Kid Flash remained working on the bike. "Juggling's just one of my many talents. Socket wrench."
Megan levitated him the next tool. "Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge. Oh, but my first loyalty is always to the Team. This Team! Not the Bumblebees."
Kaldur placed his fists on his hips. "Artemis starts school today. Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?"
Artemis glared at the screen.
"Nah, she'll manage alright. I mean, how much more hostile and annoying…" Kid Flash was abruptly cut off by a blast in the wall, and the screen turned to static.
"What happened?!" Artemis asked worriedly.
Robin glared at the screen. "The explosion took out the camera."
Danny explained simply. "Robin, find another angle."
Robin did as he was told, and each time the camera was taken out before they could see the culprit.
"Find another." Danny said.
"That's it. All of them are dead." Danny and Artemis both tensed and Danny was about to have a panic attack.
"The cameras! I meant the cameras! I'm sure the others are ok! Just give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hanger." Robin calmed.
Artemis fell back and Danny gave Robin an almost insane smile.
"I hate you so much, Robin." He said before falling back.
"Yeah, they're fine Danny. They've all got super-powers. They can handle anything." Artemis said.
Danny shook his head. "Not everything, Artemis. Not everything."
Robin quickly found a route, and that's how they ended up in the library.
"There's a secret passage behind one of these bookcases." Robin said.
"Seriously, cliché much?" Artemis said as they jumped over the side of the railing.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it is. But whoever made this wasn't very creative, so sorry for the lameness. But if you think this is lame, you should see the Bat-cave."
Robin chuckled. They were walking calmly when they heard the door open. They quickly ducked behind a book-case. They heard someone walking, sounding a lot like metal.
"Artemis. Robin. Phantom."
Artemis smiled. "It's Red Tornado!"
She ran out, but it wasn't Red Tornado. She gasped, and was quickly knocked away by the boys.
"Yes on the Red! No on the Tornado!" Robin shouted as they ran to the nearest exit, to be blocked by another android, only feminine. The three jumped on the book shelves as the feminine one shot fire at them.
"What are they?!" Artemis screamed.
The sprinkler system came on, spraying water on them. Robin and Danny jumped into an aisle as Artemis shot an arrow. Imagine her surprise when the guy android made a water shield, and the girl knocked the shelves down, creating a domino effect. Artemis jumped down, and Danny opened the passage, just as the book shelf fell on them.
They ran down the stairs, and the book shelf closed up, just as the two androids looked to see if they had gotten the kill.
"Did you know Tornado had… siblings!" Artemis shouted at the two boys.
"No…"
They came to an intersection and the boys were about to run down a hall, but Artemis grabbed Robin's arm.
"Now what? Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League! How are we supposed to take down two of him?!" Artemis questioned.
Robin gave her a worried look. "They do seem user unfriendly."
Artemis glared at him. "Don't joke! They-"
"Attention Robin. Attention Artemis. Attention Phantom. You have exactly ten minutes to surrender. Or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished."
Robin, Danny, and Artemis shared a scared look.
Kaldur and Megan were in a cage made of fire. Megan was unconscious, and Kaldur was trying to shield her from the heat. The female android floated closer, her hair made of fire keeping her from the ground. Her eyes became brighter, and the fire of the cage intensified.
Kid Flash and Superboy were stuck in twisted metal with a bunch of water on it.
Poor Sphere was jammed into the wall.
The male android appeared out of the water that was flooding part of the hanger, and brought more in, causing the water to rise, and get ready to drown the two boys. The two struggled harder.
"Nine minutes, and forty-five seconds."
Artemis, Robin, and Danny resumed running down the hall, trying to get to their friends in time.
"Eight minutes."
"We can access the hanger from here." Robin said, stopping their running, but their access was soon flooded and so would the tunnel if they didn't get out.
"I repeat; or not." Danny said, as they began running again.
"Oh, would you please stop saying that!" Artemis shouted.
They were swept up in the water again, and Robin, losing his cape, got out his re-breather, took a few breaths, and handed it off to Artemis. She tried handing it off to Danny, who refused. They were surprised when Artemis's ankle was grabbed by the male robot. The archer tried punching his head, but it was Robin, jabbing an arrow in his eye, who got her out. The robot then was kicked by Danny and part of his armor froze.
Robin took out his grabbling gun, put his arm around Artemis's waist, and propelled them forward after he shot it. Danny followed behind, using his flight as a propeller. Before he left though, the Ghost Boy threw another ecto-blast at a dozen bat-a-rangs, which promptly blew up in the androids face.
Robin and Artemis broke through the surface, gasping for breath. Danny broke through a minute later, just fine.
"Look out!"
The archer, Boy Wonder, and Ghost Boy dove out of the way of another fire blast. They came up again by Superboy and Kid Flash.
"You guys ok?" Batman's first protégé asked.
"Forget us! Help M'gann!" Superboy shouted. They looked up and saw the cage.
"Aqualad! Is she…!" Artemis shouted, frightened.
"She is… unconscious. I fear she… we… cannot survive… much longer." Aqualad said, panting.
The female android appeared and shot at the two humans and the Ghost Boy. Danny, instead of diving under the water, flew into the air to help Megan and was about to go intangible and get the two out when the bright red flames turned green.
"Dang it!" He tried to freeze it, blast it, do whatever, but everything bounced right off. Kaldur remained sweating and Danny was becoming weak again. He didn't see the female android walk up behind him, until she blasted him the back with a green shot.
Danny slid across the ground, dazed. The female walked up, radiating heat that made him sweat and his vision hazy. She felt her put his hands behind back, and lock something to his wrists. She moved his sleeves over the cuffs, and he found out why. The cuffs were made of ecto-ranium!
Ecto-ranium does not only cancel his powers, but hurts like-
Danny did not have time to finish the thought as the cuffs started eating the skin on his wrists and the pain made him scream. The android put a gag in his mouth, a plain rope, but she also put the same cuffs around his ankles and his eyes, making him scream and hiss in pain. It was not long before he was crying, and put in a flaming green cage, making this experience feel like a hell-hole.
Robin and Artemis had swum to the stairs and were running up them, when the male followed. Artemis grabbed her cross-bow, and was ready to shoot, but the female appeared behind, flames in her hands.
"I'm almost out of arrows." Artemis said.
"Distract her, now!" Robin said, and took the male.
Artemis shot an exploding arrow, but the female came out of the rubble unharmed. The flames becoming like hair.
Robin threw bat-a-rang after bat-a-rang at the male but only managed to almost skewer Kid Flash's head.
The female and the male threw water and fire at their respected opponents, but the archer and Boy Wonder jumped out of the way, and into the water before the elements could hit them. They swam down deep, and took off another vent cover, and swam into the vent. They finally broke through the surface in one area, and climbed onto the dry ground, coughing and panting.
"Six minutes."
"What do we do now?" Artemis questioned.
"We save them." Robin said, seriously. "That's how it works."
Artemis gave him a small glare. "Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those robots already took out our five super-powered friends!"
Robin gave her a small smile. "You seem distraught."
Artemis gave him a full on glare now. "Distraught! M'gann is dying! Danny was captured! We have no powers! And I'm down to my last arrow! Of course I'm distraught!"
"Well get traught or get dead!" Robin yelled back, and started crawling.
"How can you be so calm?" Artemis asked.
"Practice. I've been doing this since I was nine, and I'm the adopted brother of the guy who took down a ghost king." Robin said. Artemis followed the Boy Wonder.
"What good is that now? What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?" Artemis asked.
Robin stopped. "Uh, duh! They're machines! And one electro-magnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range."
Artemis smiled. "Great!"
Then frowned. "Except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility beltcause I know I don't have one in my quiver!"
Robin kept smiling. "I'm fresh out, but I'm betting we can make one. What do you say, KF?" Robin asked through the com.
Kid Flash was currently looking at the bat-a-rang right next to his head.
"Doable?" Robin's voice said, coming through the bat-a-rang.
"Totally doable." Kid Flash said casually.
"Five minutes."
"You know, if you had more time."
Robin and Artemis exited through the vent, and into the med bay.
"Med lab, x-ray machine." Kid Flash said through the com. Robin went over to the x-ray machine.
"You'll find a small tube called a vercator that converts high energy pulses. You can reprogram the unit's micro-waves from x-ray's to EMP's with a cascading energy vector directed outward." Robin took the tube from the machine.
"A ripple effect! Like dropping a stone in a pond." Robin said, checking something on his computer.
"A stone with 10 to the 12th power wattage, yeah." Kid Flash said casually.
Robin kept looking. "So I'll need to hook it up to the Cave's main generator." He said.
"Which is where?" Artemis asked.
"The hanger. But you guys better hurry. I don't think Megan or Danny have a lot of time." Wally said.
The male and the female walked around the burning cage, which was now back to its red gleam. Danny was still in a burning green cage, screaming through his gag. Green and red blood was dripping from his ankles, his wrists, and down his face like a waterfall.
"Four minutes."
Robin and Artemis exited another vent, and secretly watched their teammates andenemies.
"On with the distraction." Robin said quietly.
"Hey! Red Tomato! Who's your girlfriend?! Red Onion?!" Kid Flash yelled.
"Yeah, and by the way, worst deathtrap ever! We can escape anytime we want!" Superboy yelled along with him.
"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two!" Kid Flash yelled again.
"Cover me." Robin whispered, taking out his grappling hook, and hooking it to the wall, and heading down the rope.
"And you can't drown a Kryptonian, dumb-bots! We don't breathe air!" Superboy yelled.
Kid Flash laughed mockingly. "And Miss Martian! I can't believe you're buying her act!"
Superboy smirked. "Yeah, you know how hot it gets in the caves on Mars?! That cage is just making her homesick!"
Robin hooked up the tube and got out his computer and hooked his up. "Rerouting power now."
There was a pause. "It's not working."
Robin looked over his work, and spotted a gap between the tube and the generator. "The circuit's in-complete. I need something conductible, a piece of metal."
"Robin, look out!"
The Boy Wonder didn't have time to do anything as he was swept up in a wave.
Artemis got ready to shoot but a blast made her lose her aim and hit the ground next to the male. The female fired some blasts, but Artemis dodged, and went for an arrow. She didn't have any. She climbed into the vent, and started crawling for dear life. A blast knocked her off course a bit, but she got right back up and kept moving.
She found a hole and saw Robin in a pillar of water. The pillar went up to the roof, and stayed there. They weren't going to take him out. He was going to drown.
She also saw Danny trying to escape his binds, more and more blood dripping to the floor. Kid Flash and Superboy were neck-high in the water. Megan and Kaldur were not doing so well either.
She backed away from the hole, and grabbed her head, seeing the images implanted in her brain. She curled up in a ball and started saying 'no' over and over again.
She didn't know that they let Robin wash up on the platform, unconscious of course.
"I surrender. I die with the others." Artemis whispered, but started crawling. "But if I find a way out… Out of the Cave, out of the mountain… I can get help. Call in the League…"
She slipped and slid down the vent, and landed in Kid Flash's souvenir room.
"Three minutes."
Artemis sighed, and sat up. "Who am I kidding? Best I can do is hide. Hope the League finds me before the Red's."
She looked at the giant bookcase with only half a shelf full of souvenirs.
"I know you understand." She said to Cheshire's mask.
"We have to keep this family from falling apart." Jade looked at the small girl.
"Toothbrush, duh!" She said, hitting her head. "Knew I was forgetting something."
Artemis looked at her sister. "Dad'll come after you."
Jade put the toothbrush in her duffel bag and zipped it up. "Let him. I'll disappear… Like the Cheshire Cat."
Jade put on a ball cap, and walked in the doorframe, and stopped. "You should get out too."
Jade looked at the small girl. "I'd let you come with me, but you'd slow me down."
Artemis looked at her sister. "Someone has to be here when Mom gets out."
Jade gave her sister a look. "Haven't you learned anything? In this family, it's every girl for herself." Jade shut the door, and Artemis fell to the ground.
Artemis picked up the mask. "That might've been true about our family, but I found a new family. And here, we're all for one, and-"
"One minute."
Artemis put the mask back, but looked at her arrow that Kid Flash had kept as a souvenir. She put it in her quiver and took the elevator to the hanger. She exited, and looked at her cross-bow.
"I surrender! Stop the clock." She said.
Kaldur, still conscious, looked at her face, her determined face. Artemis's eyes traveled over Robin's prone form, and then to Danny's thrashing one, tears falling down his face. Kid Flash gasped as the water rose over his nose.
Artemis prepared to give her bow to the male's waiting hand and as she was about to hand it over, she jumped up and kicked his head. The female shot a blast and Artemis got her last arrow and shot. It flew past everyone and right into the gap of the EMP, completing the circuit. A pulse was released, and the two androids fell to the ground.
The fire cage disappeared, and the water drained away.
"Kaldur, how's M'gann?!" Superboy shouted.
"She breaths! I believe she will recover! What of Robin and Danny?" Kaldur asked.
Artemis ran over to the Boy Wonder, knowing only he could possibly get the cuffs off Danny. She barely touched him, and he started coughing.
"He's breathing too!" Artemis shouted.
Robin smiled up at her. "Way to get traught."
Artemis's smile vanished. "You have to help Danny."
Robin nodded, and she helped him over to the still thrashing halfa.
Robin cut off Danny's gag, and was immediately met with screaming.
"Get them off! Get them off! Get them OFF!" Danny shrieked. Robin put Danny on his stomach, and started lock-picking the cuffs around his ankles, then his wrists, and finally his eyes. When they were off, they threw them away, and Danny stopped thrashing, his breaths coming out in pants.
Blood covered his wrists and ankles. The cuffs had burned away practically all the skin down to the bone. His eyes and head were the worst. A stripe around his head was covered in burns and blood. The blood was dripping into his closed eyes, and down his face, some stray tears falling with them. It also matted his hair on the back of his head.
"We need Batman! We need somebody!" Robin shouted worriedly, checking over the damage.
"Get us out, and we can try to help!" Superboy yelled.
Artemis nodded, and went down to help the boys with a machine. She tried starting it up, but it didn't work.
"Stop playing with it, and get us out!" Kid Flash yelled.
"EMP remember? Shuts down all machines."
"All machines present during the time."
Red Tornado flew in. "What has occurred?" He asked.
"Long story short: your extremely nasty family." Artemis said.
"I was not aware I had relations." He said.
"Where have you been?" Superboy asked.
"Monitor duty at the Watchtower. When it became clear that Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate. But your Zeta-Tubes were also not functional. I transported to Providence, and proceeded here."
Sphere came out of the wall.
"Hey boy." Superboy said. A red beam came out of Artemis's machine, and burned a hole in the metal.
"The pulse has worn off!" The two trapped boys said. Red Tornado attempted to engage with the male, but the male's eyes turned red, and Red Tornado's repeated. He flew up and started sucking the air out of the hanger. Everyone gaped and tried to get some air, even Robin, who fell on top of Danny, but they all passed out.
Time Skip…
"Artemis… Artemis, can you hear me?" The archer opened her eyes and saw Superman standing above her.
"She's alright." Superman announced, and helped her up. She saw mentors standing by their protégés comfortingly, except Batman.
"Where are Robin and Danny?" He asked her. She gasped, and so did the others, totally forgetting.
The protégés that were free tried to run to them, but they were held back.
Batman grabbed Artemis's shoulders. "Where are they?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The mentors looked up, and Batman ran up the stairs. What he found, he did not expect.
Robin was now covered in Danny's green blood, and the Boy Wonder was about to have a panic attack. The Ghost Boy was out cold, his skin a very pale color, even for him. The burns, which usually would be healed by now, were still bleeding. The blood around them was a frikkin puddle, and the smell of blood, death, and decay filled the air around the three.
Batman ran up to his protégés, and took out some antiseptic wipes. He brought Danny's limp form into his arms and started wiping the blood away from the burns, and off his eyes, and the hair around his burns. He did the same to his wrists and ankles.
Robin watched worriedly, not noticing his friends and his friends mentors come up behind him. He was completely focused on Batman's work.
Robin's mentor took out a little bottle, which he opened to reveal a light blue serum, which he spread across Danny's ecto-ranium burns. It took a few minutes but the burns and cuts started healing.
Robin looked like he was about pass out from relief, not noticing the others were the same way, and got out some gauze for Batman. His mentor took it and wrapped it around Danny's ankles and wrists, but not his head, knowing that if he did, and Danny woke up, the boy would hyperventilate, and that would be bad.
A silent message went through Robin and Batman, and the two stood up, Danny in his mentor's arms.
"We're taking him back to Gotham." The others nodded.
"We were about to do the same." Aquaman said.
"But what happened here?" Superman asked.
"What happened? The Reds happened! Red Tornado- Wait, where is he?" Artemis yelled, but then looked around.
"They're gone, all three of them." Batman said. Dread settled in the teens, even Danny, who was still knocked out.
To make matters worse, the alarm for 'ectoplasmic life form' went off.
The one who set it off, a girl with white hair and electric green eyes, appeared off the ground. The League (being a bunch of idiots) attacked. The girl let out a startled 'hey!' before starting to blast back angrily. "DON'T YOU PEOPLE ASK FIRST, SHOOT LATER!?"
"Shouldn't we do something?" Robin asked his mentor.
"Should. But aren't. I want to see how she does." Batman said. Danny stirred in his arms and the Dark Knight set the teen on his feet, hovering over him worriedly, should he collapse.
Danny rubbed his eyes and looked at the scene in front of him with startled recognition.
"Dani!?"
The girl turned to the older teen with a gigantic smile. "Daddy!"
"Daddy?!" The other teens and Leaguers repeated.
The girl, Dani, zoomed into Danny's arms. The older teen spun her around, laughing, and then planted a few kisses across her face.
"Where've you been, Baby Cakes?" Danny asked.
Dani shrugged. "I know I've been to Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Rome, and Alaska. I was last in Quebec when I decided to drop in for a visit."
Danny laughed. "That's amazing, Baby Cakes! I'm so happy you're enjoying the world! I wish you'd stop in more!" Danny said, rubbing his nose to hers, making the smaller girl giggle.
"I would but your place is so far away." Dani complained. Danny rolled his eyes. "Rome is far away. It wouldn't kill you, oh that was bad wording, to visit Gotham!"
Dani waved him off as she was set of the ground but she remained super close to him. "Oh, we'll see."
Dani then waved to Danny's adopted brother and mentor. "Hey Rob! Hey Bats!"
"Sup Dani." Robin said casually. Batman nodded in greeting.
"Who those idiots?" Dani asked, gesturing to the rest of the Leaguers and their protégés.
Robin had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing while Batman seemed to be agreeing with the girl.
Danny snorted. "Those idiots happen to be the Justice League and my friends. That's Kid Flash, Aqualad, Artemis, Megan, and Superboy." Danny said, pointing to each of his friends as he did.
"Superboy?" Dani asked her supposed father. Danny nodded, growing nervous by the second.
The white-haired girl walked right up to Superman's clone, who looked down at her with a forlorn gaze. The air seemed to get extremely awkward right about then. They were both clones but both of their stories were completely different when it came to donors.
"Least they got the gender right." Dani mumbled.
Danny whined from his spot. "Could we, I don't know, not stand around like statues?"
Everyone looked at him with a weird look. Danny whined again. "I still suck at words..."
Dani rolled her eyes and then walked over to Superman with her arms crossed. Danny's eyes widened. "Dani..."
"HOW COULD YOU BE SO INSENITIVE?! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GO THROUGH LIFE FEELING UNLOVED BY THE ONLY PERSON YOU WANT LOVE FROM?!" Dani screamed and then promptly lunged. She was mauling Superman's face when Danny hooked his arms around her waist. He fell back and continued to struggle against his daughter who was dead-set (bad wording) on killing Superman.
"Bad Dani! Baaaddd Dani! It's not nice to maul people! OW! You bit me!"
"I'm ok with that!"
"OK, it's time for a talk!"
Danny got up, struggling as he did, and the threw Dani over his shoulder. "I will be right back!"
The white-haired teen headed for the door, wavering very much in his step because Dani was still thrashing in an angry fit. He walked into a closet and shut the door behind him. There was a lot of yelling in Esperanto, or so Batman said.
"Nice job, Dani! Maybe we'll finally kick some sense into Supes' head!"
"Oh yeah! We're awesome like that!"
"Though next time, restrain yourself from biting me."
"Heh heh, sorry."
The two came out, Danny pointing at Superman's traumatized face. Dani trudged over with a scowl. "Sorry..." She mumbled.
"It's ok." Superman said warily. Dani kicked him in the nuts, not that it mattered, and then promptly ran away from her father who chased her down a hall, yelling.
"IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU, SUPERBOY!"
Danny turned into a hall and let his angry face fall into a grin. He picked his daughter up again. "Nice job, Baby Cakes! You might've gone a little overboard on the kicking though."
Dani waved him off. "Not that I care."
Danny laughed and then smiled sadly. "So, you gonna head off so soon?"
Dani nodded sadly. "Yeah, but I'll visit you a lot sooner than this last time. I wish you too much for that."
Danny chuckled. "But before you go... Kiss."
Dani smiled brightly and pecked Danny's lips. He pecked her forehead.
"I'll see you soon, Baby Cakes!"
"Ok! Bye Daddy!"
Danny watched Dani fly through the stone ceiling and leaned against the wall with a smile.
That last part was dedicated to anyone who wanted to see Dani! The idea was knocked into my head by combining Supaherolena02's idea and TomgirlBre's idea. Both of them rock. And both of them let you all have early Dani, since she wasn't supposed to come in till much, much later.
Thanks to these people for favoriting and/or following: EarthtoEmily, The Crossover Addict, Draconis Ignitus, ExplosiveCreation, Tsukinopen, Doggy Bye, Brooke Vengence, Skyefall O. Bunnymund, Abbydobbie, Zoeshade, Vendiche and Avalon, R. Firefly, Allycat826, and FareyaWH.
Reviews:
THEBOXGHOST113: Uuuuhhhhh, I enjoyed your reviews? They were kinda random sooooooo...
Apologetic Guest: ...SERIOUSLY?! My goodness, I hate it when there's a giant miscommunication! Thank you for clearing that up! Now my feelings aren't hurt anymore and now that you made your point a lot clearer (because when we're tired, we tend to leave things out), I still agree with you! I get the whole Danny-centric thing, cause I really do, but if I made this way too Danny centric, I would be able to switch the out characters with others and it would still be the same. I have yet to find that middle (I either lean too far one way or too far another). And I'm glad you think I do a good Danny, as he is the only person I am comfortable writing. And the un-originality comment... I can forget it. Totally forgive you. Glad you're lovin the story though (aside from the few problems)! Hope to not see another review like that yesterday ever again cause there was A LOT of doubt in my mind. :DDDDDDDDD
KuriMaster13: *sees I am losing argument about arguing* *sweats nervously* UHHHHHH... YOU SMELL FUNNY. (Kadzait: *facepalms* Idiot...)
Sakurastar: Awwww, thanks so much! And holy crap, I am sooooo fitting that idea into my Justice x-over for this story! IT'S FANTASTIC!
Em: You so get me! Daddy-Bats is great, isn't it?! AND I AM SO HAVING DANI KICK SUPES BUTT LATER ON! AND DON'T WORRY SUPERBOY! EM AND I LOVE YOU! *hugs Superboy* Hahaha, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
GreenDrkness: So glad you loved it! And a lot of people enjoy me updating everyday! :D
Guest(1): Aww, you think I'm one of the best? THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME! :DDDDDDD
Sina Xiel: It's fine! I was out all day yesterday and didn't get your email till late! MORNING BUDDY! And yeah, Danny was a total mess. I'm glad you thought this was exciting! WHOOP WHOOP!
Hitomi-tama: Hahahaha! I'll see what I can do with it! (Again, been writing this for a long time and I gotta find a place for it!) And the only reason he gave in so easily was because of the promise thing. We see how he gets when he makes a promise. After two years of nothing but torture and being broken, a promise would be a really big thing to you to. :DDDDD
BringbackDannyPhantom: Actually, I didn't have to rewrite it. It was on Word but I went through and edited it a TON and I was seriously ticked off when the editing didn't save. I had also written responses to reviewers and I had to rewrite those again too. But I will accept that virtual cookie. *eats cookie before you can take it back* HAHAHAHA! YOU'LL FIND MORE ABOUT THAT BEFORE LATER~~~~!
Supaherolena02: FLUFFINESS! OH YEAH OH YEAH OH YEAH! AND HEALING FACTOR! WHOOP WHOOP! I hope you enjoyed that last part. I had a lot of fun writing it. At eight in the morning. :DDD
Lexosaurus: SO GLAD THIS MADE YOU HAPPY! I'm happy you're happy! (Hey, why were you in rush? I'm curious like that. :D) HEHEHE! The chapter I'm really proud is Failsafe. HEHEHEHEHEHE! YOU'LL FIND OUT WHY!
LeanneK: Aww, I'm so happy to help! I'm glad you're loving this! Thanks for your support! And I am ALWAYS open to suggestions! I WILL FIND OUT WHERE TO BLOODBLOSSOMS CAUSE THAT IS A GREAT IDEA! And yes, I did say Dani could beat Superman for this reason: Overshadowing. She could phase right into him and knock him out via nerves in the brain before he could push her out (if he had enough willpower). Ghost powers: gotta love them. AND YOU WILL FIND OUT THAT QUESTION MANY CHAPTERS FROM NOW! HEHEHE! :DDDDD!
Azorawing: Oh, it was a pain. Especially since I was doing something constantly and then all the work never gets saved. (Frikkin iPad...) And yes, YES WE DO. :DDD
TomgirlBre: I sincerely hope you enjoyed that last part. Nothing makes a person happier than by Daddy/Daughter team up! WHOOP WHOOP!
ThePurpleSuperCow: Yeah... But it's a bummer cause I love being an evil mastermind... And I'm glad I did justice to one of your favorite episodes!
IWasNeverReal: Hahaha! A promise is a big thing after a year of unknown torture. :DD And I hope you had a good sleep! I also hope you enjoyed this chapter!