Location: Keystone High
Date: Sep 22nd
Time: 12:30
Emmy was irritated at the moment. She had seen multiple instances since starting school where Wally just let people walk all over him during gym. She understood the importance of keeping their identities secret, but he was being ridiculous. He didn't have to trip over nothing every two minutes, and he certainly didn't have to let every dodgeball hit him in the face.
They had done dodgeball in PE a few times this semester, but this was the first time Wally and Emmy had been put on the same team. Emmy didn't do anything crazy like a spin flip, but she did catch most of the balls that came at her and beaned most of the people she threw at. She had gotten Trent out in the first ten seconds of the game which made her smirk, but then she saw Wally lackadaisically throw and dodge. It hadn't bothered her when he had been on the opposing team and they were fighting, but now they were friend-adjacent, and she wanted to win so he needed to get his act together. She knew for a fact that he could hit any of these morons and catch any ball thrown at him without using his powers. He had good reflexes. They'd kept him alive for years in the field, but now he was shoving them down and taking more balls to the face than a Bludhaven prostitute. It was down to Wally and her against Zeke when a ball popped loudly and the teacher paused the game, sending a kid down to a supply closet to get a new one. Evidently, it was important to the coach to have an even number.
Emmy put the ball in her hand under her arm and walked to Wally, roughly pushing her left pointer finger into the unsuspecting chest.
"What is the matter with you?" She hissed quietly.
"Excuse you?" Wally matched her challenging tone. They had been affable since their trip to the park, and he was confused by her abrupt anger.
"We both know you could take out these dumbasses if you actually tried a little," she arched an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Listen, I know you're still a newbie, but it's important to keep certain things a secret," he rolled his eyes like she was an idiot.
"How would winning a game of dodgeball reveal anything?" Emmy leaned closer with narrowed eyes. "I'm not saying go super crazy or anything, just don't be an exaggerated klutz and then they won't have anything to laugh at. I mean doesn't it bother you?"
Wally glanced at the jocks on the other team, high fiving and chest bumping. Their taunting had gotten specific to him since they whittled down the team to him and Emmy. Of course, it bothered him to have to act slow and clumsy. He had dealt with their insults and teasing for years, and now that he finally had the ability to pulverize them, he had to hide it for the sake of protecting the very bullies that used to make his life miserable. It bothered him occasionally, but he had come to terms with it. So why did it bother Emmy? All she had to do was not transform into her uniform in front of anyone. He was the one who had to go above and beyond to dissuade suspicion.
"Why do you even care if they tease me? You've seen them do it during this game before." He pointed out.
"Because we're teammates this time, Wally," Emmy like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She meant it in more ways than one. "If they mess with you, they mess with me. We are a unit."
Wally rolled his eyes a little disappointed, thinking it was just an ego thing for her.
"Look," she glared up at him. "Zeke is the only one left on his team, so he's going to try to catch the ball to let the rest of his team back on the court."
Wally's eyes went half-lidded as he sighed at the girl using battle tactics and reasoning for a PE game.
Emmy continued despite his disinterest, "I'm going to throw a high and slow arc to his left, when he looks up to catch it, you blast him with a ball on his right."
"I'm not going to use my powers against him just because he's an asshole," Wally snapped lowly.
"Who said anything about powers?" Emmy flicked the exposed bicep peeking out of his yellow S.T.A.R. Labs t-shirt. "What are these decorative?"
He smirked smugly. "Ah, sorry, I forgot my arms distract you so easily."
Emmy narrowed her eyes at the redhead bitterly. She felt like that was a lie because his outfits had included less layered shirts since she very regrettably mentioned her opinion on them during the sparring match. She huffed, "Never mind. I'll do it myself."
"A pep-talk won't work against a loser like, West, so don't waste your time, Sexy," Zeke's annoyingly deep voice interrupted their argument. The new ball had been procured and the game was ready to restart.
Emmy walked away from Wally. "I'm coming for you next, Jockstrap," she pointed at him with her blue latex ball and sent a death glare.
"Oh, you'll be coming for me alright," Zeke smirked and fake moaned. "All. Night. Long."
The muscles in Wally's jaw ticked. His eyes narrowed. His hand clenched around the ball. The whistle blew, and Emmy threw a ball up in a slow arc. She had just grabbed another one when Wally squared up and sent a ball flying at Zeke as hard as he could without using any unnatural speed. The ball hit Zeke's face with a deafening crack that echoed through the gymnasium. The boy hit the ground with a thud and started moaning as blood pooled from his nose.
"It's broken!" Zeke whined. "He broke my nose."
Wally was staring at Zeke with mouth ajar. Okay, he hadn't meant to do that. All his classmates and even the football coach were gaping at him when a delighted cackle cut through the silence.
"That is what I am talking about," Emmy held her hand up for a high five and he met it on instinct. "Way to get in there at the last moment, West!"
Emmy's encouragement opened the floodgates and his whole team started cheering. His friends ran up and pushed him around in excitement. The coach eventually calmed everyone down, declared their team the winner and sent them all off to the showers. Except for Zeke who went to the nurse's office. After 30 congratulatory winks, fist bumps, and hugs, Wally was on top of the moon. He had never gotten this kind of a reaction for something he did without wearing head to toe latex. He ran into Emmy again on their way into the respective locker rooms.
"See?" She raised her eyebrow in an 'I told you so' manner. "No suspicion. Just everyone thinking you're the Wall-man."
Wally rolled his eyes but smiled at her. "Fine, you were right." He thought back to Zeke's nose crunching. He hadn't even used his powers. "That felt good."
Emmy smirked. "It looked good, too," and then she disappeared into the locker room leaving a red-cheeked speedster behind.
Location: Mount Justice
Date: Sep 22nd
Time: 18:21
Emmy finished her last Chemistry homework problem and popped her shoulders. She had done all the schoolwork she needed to turn in tomorrow, and she didn't feel like working ahead. Sage and Hunter were in Central City until 8:30 tonight. Emmy didn't really understand why, but it was supposedly a tradition for the elementary and middle school students to go to a trampoline gym on Sep 22nd each year. It had something to do with an anniversary of the Flash doing something or the other, and Emmy hadn't cared enough to ask Wally what it was about. She had been planning to go and watch them, but Sage begged her to just pick them up afterward, so Emmy had folded and stayed to do homework. She sighed. Sage seemed to think that the boy she liked would get a crush on Emmy instead of her if he saw the older girl, and Emmy was honestly offended. The notion was ridiculous in a hundred different ways, but she had agreed to pick them up later to keep the peace. Emmy rubbed her eyes tiredly as she thought back to part of the argument.
Sage huffed. "Please stay here. I don't want you to embarrass me or for you to start dating him instead!"
Emmy blanched. "You think I would date a child that you have a crush on?"
"You dated Akio, and you knew I liked him!" Sage stomped her foot.
"You were 8!" Emmy laughed harshly. "He was way too old for you! It never would have happened."
"He's two years older than you," Sage yelled.
"That's not that big a difference," Emmy glared at her sister.
Emmy leaned back in her chair with a sigh. Hunter had interrupted them with rapidly moving hands and a few oral words to let them know that he wanted to get to the Bounce Castle on time and without any more fighting. Emmy had dropped them off in defeat and told them she would be back at 8:20. Maybe she should try to get Canary to do a therapy session with Sage and her. Sage was angry about everything Emmy did lately, and they might need actual help at this point. A breeze hit Emmy's face and a red glove was waving in her face. She grabbed the hand and moved to punch the person when she realized it was Wally.
"Oh," she released his arm, dropped her fist, and returned to slumping in her chair. "It's just you."
Wally's face went from entertained to mildly offended, "Hey, I could totally be a threat."
Emmy snorted, "Yeah if I had food that I wanted to keep to myself."
Wally seemed to remember why he came into the kitchen when she said that because instead of responding, a yellow and red blur sped around the room for a minute. He sat down across from her with a gigantic sandwich. She tilted her head.
"Why are you in uniform already?" They didn't have training with Canary tonight, but the team had decided to get together for sparring between themselves before a Team Dinner.
"Because it looks fantastic on me," Wally declared through an aggressive mouthful.
Emmy rolled her eyes and went back to staring at the wall, precariously balancing her chair on the back legs.
"Unlike you," Wally continued after he swallowed. "Some of us haven't given up on looking good."
Emmy was wearing her outfit from their Tower of Fate excursion. Dark green crop top, jeans with a belt, and her typical black combat boots. She looked good, but he had no desire to voice that opinion. Emmy wasn't paying attention to his teasing and kept her eyes on a tiny crevice in the wall.
"How old were you when you started hating your parents, disagreeing with everything they said, and not wanting to be around them?" Emmy asked instead of quipping back.
Wally raised an eyebrow at her lack of retort. That was unusual. He finished his bite, considering her question before responding, "Well, first of all, I don't hate my parents. The disagreements got bad when I was 13 and recreated Flash's experiment, but they eventually supported my choice to become Kid Flash. And I still like being around them most of the time."
Emmy sighed and crashed forward on her chair as the front legs roughly reacquainted themselves with the ground. Figures, he would like his parents. He was a ball of overactive sunshine, so they must be annoyingly supportive. I bet they still tuck him in at night, she thought sourly.
"Trouble with our favorite spice?" Wally inquired.
Emmy crossed her arms. "Evidently, I'm an embarrassment that will steal her prepubescent boyfriend."
"Well, we already know you're willing to cradle rob." He wiggled his eyebrows with a grin.
"There's not enough amnesia in the world to make me interested in an 11-year-old," Emmy deadpanned. They had taken to indirectly joking about Bialya to make it a little less awkward. "Then again," she smirked slightly, "I guess the argument could be made that you have the mind of an 11-year-old."
"So, you're saying you're interested?" Wally leaned toward her with an overly charming smile. She snatched his sandwich out of his hand as punishment and took a bite while he gawked.
"You-I-that's…" the speedster sputtered.
"You don't put enough mustard," Emmy said around the chunk of food in her mouth. She wasn't a huge sandwich person, but she hadn't eaten dinner, and Wally's shocked look of outrage made it worth it.
"I put the perfect amount of mustard, thank you very much," Wally stood up and reached across the table. "Now gimme!"
Emmy smirked and activated her ring.
"Emmy," he pointed at her threateningly, "don't even think about it."
She was already flying down the halls with the sandwich in hand. Emmy made it to the hangar with the Bioship quickly. Megan and Connor were standing close to each other while Sphere rolled into Connor's hand. She waved at them with the sandwich.
When they got back to the cave after their prison mission, Emmy had taken one look at their flushed cheeks and happy eyes and yelled, "Finally! You guys took your sweet time confessing to each other. I have had to listen to both of you talk about the other for months now." They had blushed bright red, but their smiles were sickeningly sweet, and they had asked her not to tell anyone else on the team because they wanted to keep it private. She agreed as long as they each told her how it happened. Megs told her a romantic, superfluous version while they grilled steaks for dinner, and Connor told a blunt, yet starry-eyed version in the gym the next morning. Emmy was happy for them, they were adorable and honorary members of her family, but part of her was still jealous. She kept thinking about when she first started dating Akio, and then she'd get mad at herself for thinking about him at all when he was such a mistake, and the cycle would continue.
Emmy shook herself out of her thoughts and smiled at the new couple, "Hey, sorry guys, I didn't know you were-"
A breeze knocked into her, and Emmy was yanked off her feet.
"Gimme my sandwich, Green Turtle!" Wally demanded. One of his arms was around her waist and keeping her off the ground while the other reached around for her right hand.
"That's not even clever, Kid Fatuous," Emmy called over her shoulder, holding the sandwich out of reach and lightly kicking at his legs.
"Who are you calling fat?" Wally gouged her ribs and was surprised when she let out a barking giggle.
"That's not what that word means, Einstein," Emmy snapped through her laughter.
"Wait, are you ticklish?" Wally's eyes were full of evil, and she frowned immediately.
"No."
"You two are so cute when you flirt," Megan interjected mischievously, making Connor chuckled under his breath.
The lantern and speedster jumped away from each other instantly. Wally ripped his hands off of Emmy like she had burned him, and Emmy plopped the sandwich in his hand as she returned to the floor a few feet away from him.
"Ew, M'gann." Emmy deadpanned with crossed arms.
Wally glared at her for a second before cradling his sandwich lovingly and turning to the Martian, "Yeah, ew, Megalicious. You know I only have eyes for you."
Emmy snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Besides, Emmy is going to marry, Basketball Boy."
"Ugh, I am not," the girl in question glared at the speedster.
Wally ignored her with a smirk and walked toward the Martian and Kryptonian, "You two sure spend a lot of time working on his bike. Obviously, you need the Wall-man's expert help."
Conner and Megs shared a look before patting Sphere. Emmy realized that they were in the middle of a moment before she showed up with their obnoxious teammate in tow. She signed a 'sorry' at them as the speedster broke their bubble.
Emmy let the trio play with Supey's bike while she checked the tire pressure on Bumblebee Junior. The kids told Emmy and Megs that the Bioship was lonely, and they needed to park the Camaro next to her so she would have some companionship. M'gann tried to explain that the Bioship was fine, but Emmy just nudged the girl with her elbow and a laugh, and Bumblebee Jr. had been parked in the hangar with the ship ever since.
"Torque Wrench," Wally called out from underneath the bike. Megs floated one over to him. "Thank you, Green Cheeks."
Superboy sent Emmy a jealous look with his hands on his hips and the lantern snorted. She patted his shoulder as she walked past, "I gotta go charge my ring. She's getting tired."
Kaldur appeared and Emmy halted, "Hey, Kaldur. How's it going?"
"I have been meaning to ask, any problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?" The Atlantean answered Emmy's question to the group.
"No." Conner replied bluntly.
"Juggling is just one of my many talents," Wally chuckled. "Socket Wrench."
"One of your talents like busting a civilian's face?" Emmy quirked her head to the side innocently. The group turned to Wally with raised eyebrows.
"Hey!" Wally sat up and waved the socket wrench Megs levitated to him at Emmy, "You made me do that."
"I told you to win the game, not break his nose, Mr. I'm-More-Moral-Than-You-Are," the lantern grinned triumphantly.
"Yeah, well, the asshole deserved it," Wally grumbled while moving back to the bike. Emmy furrowed her brows in confusion for a second but then she turned to Kaldur.
"I'm fine. I'm more likely to ditch school for the team than the other way around." He nodded at her with a hint of mirth, Kaldur had been on the receiving end of a few of Emmy's complaints about Batman making her go to high school again.
"Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge," Megan admitted to Kaldur, before smiling brightly. "Oh, but my first loyalty is always to the Team. This Team, not the Bumblebees."
Emmy turned to Megan, "I totally forgot your mascot is the Bumblebees. They should put the Transformers on your uniform instead of the insect."
"Geek," Wally snorted from under the bike, wincing when Emmy dug her toes into his thigh.
"Artemis starts school today. Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?" Kaldur asked.
Emmy frowned at him slightly. This felt like an odd turn of conversation. She had been suspicious of the archer when she first arrived, but Emmy had talked to her a fair amount since then. Artemis seemed like she genuinely wanted to be a hero. Emmy understood the desire to separate yourself from Lawrence Crock more than anyone else in the world. She trusted Artemis, and she wasn't sure she liked Kaldur's tone.
"No. Why would she? Artemis is very loyal." Emmy put her hands on her hips with slight suspicion.
"Yeah, she'll manage alright." Wally stood up after finishing whatever he was doing with the bike. "If she got anymore hostile and annoying, she could be Emmy's twin."
Emmy's stomach flipped with the implication that Artemis could be related to her. Even if it was a joke, she didn't need that idea planted in anyone's mind.
"If she beat up one of her classmates, she could be your twin," Emmy winked at him with false casualness.
Wally huffed but he was repressing a grin, "You are enjoying this way too-"
A giant explosion shook the hangar and sent the team to the ground in a burst of fiery heat and deafening noise. Emmy's ears were ringing, and she sat up with a groan. She blinked rapidly and grabbed her head. Wally was shaking her shoulders and yanking her to her feet. His lips were moving, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. He tugged her toward the stairs where the rest of the team was heading. Emmy looked at the wall of the cave. Three massive streams of water were crashing through and filling the hangar rapidly. She shook her hand loose and threw structures against the wall. It stopped the flow for a few seconds, but then her head rang again, and she fell over. The water resumed its raging. She could see that half of the hangar was on fire and the other half was flooding, and then her vision turned black.
…
Emmy blinked slowly. Something wet and warm was running down into her left eye. Blood. She moved to wipe it away, but her arms wouldn't move. Emmy snapped her head up quickly and groaned in pain when the world spun.
"She's awake!" A voice called from her left. "GL are you okay?"
Emmy turned to the left slowly. Wally and Connor were standing on the ground in a light grey goopy substance. She was stuck in the same material. There was a cage of fire in the air holding an unconscious M'gann and Kaldur who looked close to joining her. Even Sphere was stuck against the wall underneath the fire cage. A red android surfed a wave of fire up to the cage, and the fire around her teammates raged brighter. Another android appeared from a body of water, it raised its arms up and the water level rose to Emmy's trapped knees and kept going.
"What the fuck?" Emmy muttered.
"9 minutes and 45 seconds." The water android spoke.
"9 minutes and 45 seconds to what?" The lantern asked the boys to her left who were looking increasingly worried. Her head still felt fuzzy, but she was becoming more aware of her surroundings. The androids disappeared up the stairs.
"There was an explosion. You passed out. Now we're trapped, and Rob and Artemis have that amount of time to turn themselves in." Wally's explanation was clipped and anxious.
"Shit." Emmy was seeing two of everything and trying to blink her way back to one. Her brain suddenly remembered her kids. "What time is it? I have to get the kids at 8:30."
"It's 7:58." Connor said. He was programmed with a perfect internal clock."
Emmy's vision was closer to normal in the eye that wasn't shut with blood. She tried to make a structure to break through the goo. Nothing happened. She tried harder. Nothing.
"You have a head injury, Em, but can you get us out of here?" Wally asked.
Emmy's breathing increased a little. The goop was so tight around her body that her ribs barely had room for the expansion that accompanied air.
"Lanterns. We-" She felt woozy. "Our power comes from our ability to focus. No focus. Willpower won't work. No structures."
She swore to herself and her vision went dark again as her teammates called her name.
…
Emmy's chin was wet. Two people were saying her name. She inhaled a bit of water and coughed.
"Six minutes." The familiar robotic voice called.
"You're awake," Wally sighed with relief before turning cold. "Don't pass out again."
"We've been shouting your name," Connor's voice was a little panicked. "We thought we were going to watch you drown."
Emmy's head felt a little clearer. She was able to look at her teammates with her working eye.
"How are Kaldur and Meg?" She breathed out.
"M'gann is unconscious," Kaldur's low voice was pained and slow. "I fear I am not far behind."
Emmy nodded slightly and tried to make a structure. A giant ball around her. A knife. A dragon. Anything. Come on. I'll take anything! She called to her ring, but it didn't work. The room was still rotating slowly, and she couldn't focus. She swore to herself. Her breathing picked up and she looked around unseeing. She couldn't move. She couldn't escape. The water was almost at her neck. She would drown. Her kids would be alone. Her team would die. Her breathing picked up noticeably.
"I can't-" her panting voice cracked. "I can't make anything." Emmy felt like she couldn't breathe. Sage and Hunter would be all alone because she couldn't make a damn ball. If they were alone, then they couldn't protect themselves. If they couldn't protect themselves, then their father would find out they were still alive and-
"Hey, Emerald. Look at me and breathe with me, okay." Wally's voice uncharacteristically mellow. "Let me help you time your breathing. I think you're having a panic attack."
"I don't get panic attacks!" Emmy snapped even as black dots invaded her field of vision and her panting turned into hyperventilation.
"Oh, sure! Be stubborn then!" Wally serenity exploded into frustration. "In that case, keep hyperventilating if you secretly want me."
She scowled at the boy in confusion despite the spinning room. "What?"
"Yeah, I bet you want me bad. Megan was right earlier. You were flirting with me." Wally's voice was smug with an undertone of worry she couldn't identify in her current state.
"Was not," she glared at him and her breathing slowed a fraction. The whirling room came to a stop. Her dizzy, abstract terror was melting away to reveal the physical world again.
"You so were. You know why you call me Mr. Happy Meal? Because you're lovin' it."
"I thought it was because you're cheap and tasteless," the lantern managed to form a complete sentence as her hyperventilation turned to irritated huffs.
"And yet you keep coming back for more. Yep, keep gasping for air and darting your eyes around in a panic if you want me so bad, you have dirty dreams about me each night."
Emmy's dread abruptly transitioned to annoyance. "Get over yourself, it was one time!"
"And keep-" Wally suddenly got an enigmatic look on his face. "Wait, what? I was just pissing you off, so you'd calm down. What happened in the dream?"
"I killed you with my bare hands." Emmy glared with her good eye, breathing and mentality back to normal.
"I said dirty, nice try-"
"Team!" Kaldur's voice was weak, but it stopped the argument.
Emmy focused on the matter at hand. She could finally think again. She called to her ring. It was too tired. She gritted her teeth. You could handle three days on Mars, but you want to tell me you're too tired after a few hours? I am not letting my team die. I am not letting myself die. Get me out of here!
A blast of green light and Emmy was stumbling out of the goop and swimming in the water. It was getting close to the boy's shoulders. They cheered for her quietly when she got out. Emmy moved to free them, but her ring died. She was unmasked and in her civies again.
"Fucking hell!" She hissed as she held onto Wally's chunk of goop so the unexpected current wouldn't wash her away. Emmy scooped water and scrubbed her left eye roughly. The dried blood cracked away and she opened it. Her vision was a little fuzzy on the left side, but it would do.
"I'm going to charge my ring." She looked at Wally and Connor in determination. "Don't die."
Wally called something after her, but she was already diving into the water. She had a job to do.
…
"Four minutes." An android warned over a speaker system as Emmy fell out of a vent outside the hangar, gasping for air. She was not an incredibly strong swimmer, and the current had been against her as she dove for the submerged vent entrance. She stood up shakily. Four minutes. She was a ten-minute walk from her room. Emmy started to run.
…
Artemis and Robin opened a panel and jumped into the room they had been looking for.
"Okay. Make with the distraction," Rob commanded KF through the commlink he established when he threw a Batarang to ricochet between Emmy's then unconscious head and Wally's leaning one.
"Hey, Red Tomato! Who's your girlfriend, Red Onion?" Wally yelled. Connor was confused for a moment before adding to the taunts.
"Yeah, and by the way, worst death trap ever!" The clone shouted, prompting the two androids to look at him. "We can escape any time we want."
"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two!" Kid Flash jeered.
"One of the children has escaped." The fire android turned to the water one. "Find her."
Wally and Connor looked at each other in concern. They hadn't considered that part of the distraction.
…
Emmy passed the library. She was close to her room. Smoke reached her nose as she rounded a corner. She skidded to a stop, narrowly missing running into a wall of fire. She gaped at the flames. She didn't have time to find another route.
"Why is it always fucking fire," she whined to herself. She set her shoulders and backed as far against the wall as she could. She would need as much speed as she could get. She bounced on her toes.
"Okay, Emmy. You can do this," she sighed shakily. "You ran through fire for your family once. You can do it again."
She ran as fast as she could and pushed on the wall with her right foot. She placed her left foot on top and catapulted off the wall, flipping over the flames. She landed on the ground, somersaulted forward, and ran into her room. Emmy slid on her knees, jamming her fist between her bed and the desk. Her ring hit the lantern core, and with a flash of green light, Emmy was in her uniform and flying back to the hangar. A tidal wave of water came through the hallway, putting out the flames the initial explosions caused. The lantern narrowed her eyes and cut through the water, ramming into the water android. They looked like Red Tornado and the Mister Twister robots. She had a little bit of experience with disabling those.
The android sent a firehose of water into her face, but Emmy sent a as many spears as she could through the android. The water bot was pierced in a thousand places, and she tore off the head as quickly as she could, racing toward her team. Emmy crashed into the hangar and saw that Artemis was backflipping and shooting an arrow near the remaining android. The archer had that under control. Wally and Connor were submerged in the water now, and Emmy dove into the water throwing a bubble around the Kryptonian and speedster. She was tearing them out when the water level rapidly receded. Emmy dropped the bubble and starting using large hand structures to rip her teammates out of the goop.
The remaining fire android was on the floor, electricity crackling around the fallen body. Wally and Connor were gasping for air. The fire cage had dissipated, and Kaldur and M'gann were both on the ground. Artemis was on her knees near Robin.
"Kaldur, how's M'gann?" Connor asked as soon as he had air in his lungs.
Their leader groaned and pushed himself onto his elbows. "She breathes. I believe she will recover." He looked to Artemis on the platform. "What of Robin?"
"He's-he's breathing too!" Artemis's voice was elated and teary.
"Way to get traught, 'Mis," Robin smiled through his gasps for air.
Emmy paused on her efforts to get Wally and Connor out. "Are you okay, Kaldur?"
"I will be fine," their team leader nodded as he slowly stood up, helping the newly conscious Martian stand. Emmy sighed with relief and let her forehead fall onto the goop between Wally's and Connor's shoulder with a laugh. A few minutes ago, she had thought they were all going to die.
"Hey, why don't you get us out of here before you start trying to hug anyone," Wally grinned in her ear.
Emmy snorted but moved to yank them out again. Everything except their feet were free in a minute. Her grin dropped.
"Wait what time is it?" She whirled to her left looking for the clock on the wall. It was 8:15. "Okay, I have to go get the kids. I'll be right back."
Emmy was gone in an instant.
…
Emmy, Sage, and Hunter flew back into the hangar. She had Zeta'd to them, hidden behind a tree until they came out of the trampoline place, and flown them to the Zeta quickly. They were updated on the attack in a minute and trying to help the rest of the group. The disabled fire android was on the ground next to the team. Artemis was fiddling with a cutting device.
"Figured my only shot was to surrender, pretend to drown before I actually did," Robin relayed confidently before throwing a slightly sheepish shrug, "Blacked out though."
"M'gann," Conner took a green hand in his own from his trapped spot.
"I'll be fine," Megs promised weakly.
"How about you, Kal?" Emmy asked while the kids ran to the trapped Connor and Wally. "Need some water, or…?"
"After we free our other teammates, yes," he nodded solemnly. "You will need to get your head wound checked." Emmy had forgotten about it. Her adrenaline was still raging.
Wally smiled at the lantern, "Emmy! You're back. Great will you get us out of here? Rapunzel can't get the cutter working."
Emmy freed their feet while Artemis quipped that the EMP shut down all machines.
"All machines present at the time." Red Tornado walked next to the newly freed Wally and Connor. "What has occurred?"
"Had a little visit from your family," Robin put his hands on his hips.
"Your extremely nasty family," Artemis carped accusingly.
"I was not aware I had relations," Tornado deadpanned.
"Where have you been?" Conner interrogated.
"Monitor duty on the Watch Tower," Tornado spoke, moving toward the fire android. "When it became clear that Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate, but your Zeta Tubes were also nonfunctional." Emmy shared a frown with Wally. She and the kids had just used the Zeta Tube. "I transported to Providence and proceeded here."
Sphere whirled over to Connor. "Hey boy," Connor smiled slightly at the beeping Sphere.
The machine Artemis put on the floor after Emmy got their teammates out of the goop turned on.
"The pulse has worn off," Wally and Robin said simultaneously.
"Was there another android?" Red Tornado asked, kneeling by the fire android.
Emmy frowned again, "Yeah. It's dismembered down by the library. How did you know there was a second one?"
Red Tornado's eyes glowed in response, he raised his arms, summoning a large tornado sucking the breath from those in the room. Emmy threw a protective bubble around Sage and Hunter as she joined the rest of the team and fell unconscious.
…
"Emerald. Yo, Emmy. Lantern 003 of Sector 2814 report," a familiar voice brought Emmy to awareness.
She sat up with a hand on her head. It was bleeding again. "Hal?"
"Hey, Kiddo," he grinned down at her. "Phew, lemme tell you, that is one impressive structure. I've never seen one hold when the Lantern was knocked out before."
"Huh?" Emmy remembered what happened and turned to see that Sage and Hunter were still in the sphere. Three League members were around the ball, and the kids looked a little grumpy at being trapped. "Oh." She dropped the structure, and the kids ran to her. "Are you two okay? Are you hurt?" Emmy signed quickly.
She looked around. Green Arrow and Superman were pulling Artemis up from the floor. Batman was talking to Robin. Flash was eating a granola bar with Kid. Atom was patting Supey on the shoulder. Martian Manhunter was on his knees by a sitting Miss M. Aqualad was talking to Aquaman intently, and Black Canary was observing the whole team from afar. Hal was telling the two youngest Easts that they were very brave as they sat in their sister's lap.
"Have you done anything else unusual with your ring, Eminem?" Hal asked curiously.
"Uhm," Emmy thought. "My ring comes to me when I call it if it's charged. I don't know if that counts as unusual or not."
Hal made an interested noise despite the frown on his face. "How would you feel about joining your old man on a trip to Oa sometime in the next week or two?"
"It depends on the kids' schedule," Emmy glared at Hal slightly. "And never call yourself that again."
Hal told her he'd talk to Batman about an Oa trip later.
"What happened here?" Superman's indicting voice cut through the multiple separate conversations.
"What happened?" Artemis asked the Kryptonian indignantly. "The Reds happened. Tornado and his-" the archer cut herself off as she looked around. "Wait, where are they?"
"Gone." Robin turned from his mentor to the team with a regretful frown on his face. "All three of them. Gone."
"Even the water one?" Emmy arched an eyebrow. Robin nodded solemnly. "I threw his head in a vent on my way back to the hangar. It might still be there."
Robin started typing on his hologlove and disappeared. Hal eased the kids off of Emmy's lap and pulled the lantern to her feet.
"Why don't you power down and I'll clean that gash on your head," Hal nodded at the cut. It was partially covered by her mask. Emmy depowered and returned to her normal clothes. Artemis gasped loudly. The lantern quirked an eyebrow at her half-sister.
"What?" She asked.
Artemis's eyes were glued to the lantern's side. "Holy shit, Emmy."
Emmy frowned and raised her right arm to look at her obliques. Her mouth fell open slightly. Part of the crop top was blackened at the edge, but the real problem was underneath. Emmy had exposed muscle and two white ribs in the open air. The skin around the wound was blistering, peeling away, and charred black. Emmy couldn't feel the area at all. That meant it had to be a third-degree burn. She met multiple pairs of horrified eyes. Artemis's curse had drawn attention to the lantern's side.
"I am not feeling the aster right now," Emmy looked down again. She was trying to lighten the mood with some Rob vocabulary, but she felt like vomiting. "It's also not 'concerting to look at. I think I need to sit down."
There was a breeze and two hands under her armpits.
- Shoutout to KirikaAndo (I'm honored that you lost sleep to read my story lol) and ukitakeitalialover041757 for reviewing. Fair warning, I am not a huge fan of the Light plotline, so I'm just ignoring it. That means Alpha Male isn't going to end in the typical way, and I'm treating the missions like separate events instead of being related to one another.
Until next time,
TheDarkAbyss
