7/8/17

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Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else I may mention.

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Cursed

Chapter 16: A League in The Shadows

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(March 3, 2005)

My eyes grow wide as I turn to look at the red blur. My heartbeat speeds up, feeling as though at any moment it will fall out of my chest. Standing mere yards away from me, binder in hand, is The Flash. It's the new one, the one who wears the red mask that covers his hair instead of the old man with the silver helmet, but it doesn't matter because he's The Flash and he's here!

A smirk forms on his face as he holds up the binder triumphantly. "Look, as much as I hate to take things from people without asking them first, Firestorm's gonna need this research back. Could be dangerous in the wrong hands and all that."

His words remind me of where I know the names on the binder. Martin Stein was a famous scientist who was working on a nuclear power plant several years ago. However, something went wrong, and when the plant exploded he got superpowers instead of dying. His powers used to be a secret and he called himself Firestorm in order to protect his identity. He soon became one of the most well-known heroes in America, even joining the Justice Society! But one day one of his old students became a supervillain, and he accidentally killed her while trying to stop her. Her best friend, Louise Lincoln, recreated the accident that gave her powers on herself, and because she knew his identity she was able to get revenge.

The professor's wife had a great nephew, Charlie, who was one of the smartest child prodigies in the world. Charlie liked to help his uncle on experiments, and the two were very close. Because of this, Louise had the idea to kidnap Charlie and publicly execute him. Martin tried to save him, but he was too late. Louise disappeared before she could be arrested, but only after revealing Firestorm's identity to the world. Martin retired as a hero because of the grief of not only losing Charlie and his student, but also from losing his wife who divorced him soon after the incident. I don't remember any of this happening for myself, since I was so young when it happened. My foster parents told me the story after I saw a news report about Charlie's sister Caitlin, who was born the day he died. Apparently his intelligence is genetic, if how many grades she's skipped is any indication.

"Ah, Flash. I see you are still running errands for the big kids," Madame Rouge sneers.

The Flash gestures to the sky. "Well, I don't think it's just errands if I brought back-up. Now!"

Suddenly, a translucent shape appears above us in the sky, losing it's semi-invisibility and transforming into a plane. One que, the entire Justice League surrounds us, trapping us against the building. I should be terrified. I should be running to them, realizing that I'm the one at fault and begging for forgiveness and mercy. But instead, I feel a rush of energy coursing through my blood and giving me strength to fight.

"Speedy!" Black Canary yells (quietly, for her), worry in her eyes.

Immediately, Roy breaks away from us and runs to her. Before any of us have time to process what just happened, Hawkgirl lands in front of the Headmistress.

"Surrender Hive Queen, the kids are coming with us," she says, mace ready. I remember Angela saying she's from Thanagar like Hawkgirl is. I wonder how true that statement is.

Someone laughs, and it sounds like it's coming from on top of the warehouse. "You think you can take the extra soldiers AND the binder? That's cute."

Our attention snaps to the rooftop, where a blonde man dressed in a tacky, dark purple costume stands. A large group of people make an appearance from behind the building, aiming their weapons at us, causing Jade to start crying. I'm about to grab her hand, but she refuses it.

"They're not soldiers Sportsmaster. They're children," Wonder Woman says, glaring at him.

The brunette woman leading the group from behind the building rolls her eyes. "Well, if that's how you feel, you should be relieved that's not why we're here. The contents of the binder are far more intriguing to us, so by all means you can have the children. Oh, except for the one who's here with us. Where is she?"

My heart twists inside my chest as Jade breaks away from me and begins to push her way through the crowd.

"I'm right here Miss Al Ghul," Jade says.

I don't miss the way she trembles at the sight of the woman, or the way she averts her gaze. I can't help but wonder. Were Jade and Roy really my friends? Or was that just another thing they were faking? I blink back my tears as the Headmistress's eyes begin to glow. Roy readies a bow, while Jade hides behind an Asian woman dressed in green. I feel my own hands begin to tingle with sparks of purple energy.

"So we're doing this the hard way? Students, attack!"

Without even telling myself what to do, I find myself running headfirst into a battlefield. Standing in place and throwing punch after punch, I will myself to stop but find that I cannot. And soon, I don't want to. I feel a rush of energy as I shoot hexes at one of the men who was hiding behind building, dodging the bullets from the gun he shoots at me.

This feels… nice. Natural even. The pride that surges through me when I strike an enemy overwhelms me, and I begin to actively search for foes rather than stand in place and wait for them to come to me. I feel invincible, as if nothing can stop me!

Suddenly, I'm pushed to the ground by a gigantic, muscular man. He laughs, pulling out a sword and stepping on my stomach with one foot. I freeze up in fear, completely unable to move. I feel myself start to hyperventilate, and I feel like throwing up. Is this the end?

All of a sudden, a small blur of yellow zips past, taking the man with it. In the blink of an eye it returns. Where the blur used to be is a red-haired boy around my age, wearing a yellow Flash costume.

"Are you okay?" he asks, holding out his hand to me.

My heart flutters as I reach out to take it, before I see the man from before running up to us. I waste no time and jump up from the ground myself. I run towards him, repeatedly hitting him with hexes. The boy joins me, though his only power seems to be superspeed and that complicates things a bit. Still, that's never stopped the real Flash before, so the kid Flash manages to land a few hits as well. We spend the next few minutes chasing him around before I lose track of them and manage to find other foes.

"League, forget the binder! Just save the kids!" Superman yells.

I barely have time to wonder what he means before a thick cloud of smoke fills the air. The smoke fills my lungs, and I begin to feel drowsy. I fall to the ground and begin to cough. Finally, my eyelids droop shut.

The last thing I remember seeing clearly is Jade being carried away by the man who tried to kill me.

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I lie on my bed, hugging Zippy and Clover to my chest. I sob quietly as my eyes wander the empty room, void of any signs Jade had ever lived there. I'm alone now, and I probably always will be.

The Headmistress came in earlier. She talked for a while, voicing her disappointment in me. She told me there wouldn't be a punishment this time, but I know it's a lie. My true punishment isn't something that can be given by her. It's separation from my friends.

I hear a knock at the door, but I ignore it.

"Mallory?"

I turn over on my side, back to the door.

"It's me, Baran. Selinda went with the Justice League too. Do- do you want to talk about it?"

My heart breaks even more, if that's even possible. I cry harder, feeling as though I'll choke. Even that would be less painful.

"I understand. I'll just- I'll go now."

I hear footsteps as Baran walks away from the door, but calling for him would feel pathetic. I lift my head and stare at the empty space above Jade's bed where the Alice in Wonderland picture I drew for her used to hang. I wipe the tears from my eyes as I slowly start to realize something. No matter how much you love someone, they will fail you.

The only person you can trust is yourself.

…..

I'm sorry. Not just for not updating, but also for the Jade and Roy thing. This isn't their last appearances in the story though, I promise they'll be back. The cameo of little Wally should be enough of a peace offering until then.

For Firestorm fans who read my retelling of his backstory and have Concerns (TM), don't worry. The classic "Ronnie with Stein in his head" Firestorm comes later, I just thought it would be amusing if Stein had used the powers on his own previously and then had to deal with an idiot teenager being the one in control (no offense to teenagers seeing as I am one, and definitely no offense to Ronnie since he's one of my favorite characters ever). Besides, as you can see I'm kind of playing around with backstories anyways.

(And for those of you who aren't Firestorm fans, sorry if you're getting annoyed with all the references I'm dropping into the fic. I'm trying to drop hints at plotlines for other stories set in this continuity of fics, but I think I've done a few too many in a row. Oops.)

I'm trying to get an update schedule in place, but I don't know how successful that will be. I don't have school or work for a while though, so fingers crossed?

Thank you everyone who reviewed, followed, and added this story to their favorites! I don't have time to list everyone right now since I need to go to bed, but you're highly appreciated :)

Quote of the day!

"Eat well today! You've earned it! And by "it," I mean "massive food allergies"! And by "earned," I mean "acquired". I should proof this stuff before I read it out loud. Let's try that again. You've acquired massive food allergies! Yes, much cleaner. Eat well!" -Welcome To Night Vale

May the odds be ever in your favor,

Spectrobes Princess