Along for the Ride. Prolog
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"So let me get this straight," Sportsmaster stated as he stared down his client through the hockey mask before saying, "You basically want me to kidnap some brat from this small no-named country for you?" The villain was just wondering if this person read what he specialized in before hiring him.
"The child isn't just "some brat" and while the 12 Kingdoms aren't as well known as others, it does have an official name," the client stated sternly, not caring for the tone of the other. The client then explained, "This child has rather unique abilities that we would like to learn more about."
Sportsmaster folded his arms when he said, "Okay, so the kid's a Meta. Good to know."
The client gave Sportsmaster a look before saying, "I suppose that's accurate. The 12 Kingdoms does seem to have a lot of individuals in that category. The strongest granted titles as Warriors."
Sportsmaster raised a brow at this. 'If this is true then… Why is this 12 Kingdoms place barely known?' the villain thought, then wondered about what kind of powers this kid has.
That was when the client stated, "Now for your task." Sportsmaster was all ears. "The only opportunity you will have to acquire the child is when he will be left alone in the Temple of the Rat. He will be locked inside for a full 24-hours but the temple will be heavily guarded, so I would suggest you plan accordingly with the information we give you." The client then handed Sportsmaster a manila envelope, that probably had all the information that the villain needed to complete the task.
Sportsmaster raised a brow at what the client said and he then asked, "Wait, you're telling me that they're just going to leave a kid alone in some dingy building without anyone inside with them?"
"It's one of their traditions for becoming a Warrior," the client stated in a way that made it seem like they were talking to an ignorant teen. The client then said, "But from what our informants told us, it is guaranteed that the Warrior of the Dog is going to be your biggest challenge in acquiring the child."
Sportsmaster opened the envelope to read the data when he asked in confusion, "Wait, this kid's being made into a warrior? How old is he?"
"Seven," the client replied.
Sportsmaster glanced up when he said, "A little young to be considered a warrior or is the warrior thing just a title?"
The client replied, "It's an active title, and while the child is quite young his ability makes up for his… Inexperience. No wonder he earned the title of Warrior of the Rat."
"So the kid's got a pretty strong ability," Sportsmaster stated as his eyes went back to the data. He then asked, "Should I be worried about that when I nab him?"
"That, we have covered," the client stated with a smirk.
~}i{ Meanwhile }i{~
"What is the 12 Kingdoms?" Kid Flash asked Batman, who was scrolling through a holo-screen looking for the specific information.
Artemis couldn't help but comment, "Sounds like a location from a fantasy novel."
Conner glanced at the team when he said, "I don't remember learning about this place anywhere. Is it a recent country?"
Batman pulled the data and showed it on a hologram for the Young Justice team to see. The caped crusader then explained, "The 12 Kingdoms have been isolated from the rest of the world for an unknown period of time until recently, but even then they still choose to stay isolated from the world. From what little information we have on the residents, the majority of them seem to have some kind of ability or powers."
That was when Robin said, "So, they're Meta-Humans."
"Most likely," Batman stated in a matter-of-fact tone before he pulled up 12 different images, each having a different temple-like structure inside its frame. That was when he said, "From what we know, the strongest fighters take the title of "Warriors", each one represents a specific animal, one of twelve. Notice anything about these temples?"
The Young Justice team looked at the images. Each temple was structured the same but the animal statues and gargoyles decorated each of the temples were different. Each temple had one specific animal. One had either rats or mice, one had oxen, one had tigers, one had rabbits, one had dragons, one had snakes, one had horses, one had sheep, one had monkeys, one had either roosters or chickens, and the last had either pigs or boars. Why did this setup seem familiar to the team for some reason? Well, some of them. M'gann and Kaldur didn't understand the implications other than the fact that they seemed to be animal-themed.
Robin realized the symbolism the fastest when he said, "The Twelve Animals of the Zodiac!"
Batman nodded before he pulled up a chart of the Animals of the Zodiac. He then said, "Apparently, they seem to have some kind of Religion or Cultural Structure that is devoted to these signs. I would suggest that when you arrive in the 12 Kingdoms, you do your best to be as careful as you can in regards to that and be polite when you ask questions regarding their "Ideals". We don't need to accidentally start a war with them."
The Young Justice Team glanced at each other before looking at the chart as Zatanna asked, "Okay, so what is the mission that involves this… Place?"
Batman pulled the request up as he explained, "Apparently, the 12 Kingdoms has a "representative" of each of the Zodiacs that are deemed "Warriors", and they are inducting a new Warrior of the Rat to their ranks next week. They have a tradition of what these new inductees are to do for them to "become Warriors". The request is for you to provide extra protection during this Rite when this new Warrior of the Rat is isolated." He then zoomed in on the Temple of the Rat when he added, "He is to be locked inside this structure alone for an entire 24 hours to commune with the Spirit of the respective animal. At least, according to the requester."
Artemis raised a brow when she asked, "An anonymous request?"
Batman made no motion when he said, "They didn't want the other Warriors to know that they made this request, but they were worried about the safety of their new Rat and chose to edge on the side of caution." Batman read one of the paragraphs when he committed, "They also ask that they want you to be cordial when you arrive. The 12 Kingdoms aren't exactly "Friendly" towards outsiders, so don't give them any reason to pick a fight. Although, the requester recommends talking with the Warrior of the Monkey when you arrive. She's the mediator of the 12 Kingdoms and is the one who would be more willing to work with you than the other Warriors would be."
Conner raised a brow when he asked, "I'm curious, why would this person give us all this information if they were "just concerned" about their new Warrior?"
Kaldur thought about the information when he said, "While I would agree with Conner on this, but if the 12 Kingdoms are as hostile to outsiders as they are saying, then it makes sense that they would want to avoid any type of conflict before or during the Warrior of the Rat's Rite."
That was when Artemis asked, "But what's got this requestor so worried in the first place? I mean, if all these Warriors are Metas, then they can take care of themselves, right?"
That was when Batman dropped one piece of information that they haven't heard yet, "The individual that will be the new Warrior of the Rat is seven years old, the youngest they've ever inducted into the Warrior title." The Young Justice Team was shocked at that by this, even Conner. Batman waited for the teens to calm down before he said, "This child seems to have a rather strong ability despite his young age."
Kid Flash then asked, "Any… Info about this kid's ability?"
Batman shook his head when he replied, "The requestor didn't say, or rather they chose not to say."
That was when Robin said, "So they want the help but they themselves aren't trusting of us. Makes some sense given what they've already told us… But how'd they know that we would be willing to help if the 12 Kingdoms aren't trusting of outsiders?"
M'gann couldn't help but say, "I guess we're so well-known that even the 12 Kingdoms have heard of us. And I guess that the well-being of a child might have been enough to cause someone from the 12 Kingdoms to just want a little more help, just in case something was to happen."
Artemis was the one to ask, "But, if this kid is being made into a "Warrior" or whatever the title they're using, doesn't that mean that this kid is a capable fighter too?"
Batman looked over the request again before saying, "There's no mention of this, but keep an eye on all the Warriors. Including this child."
The Young Justice team could only nod. And now, they needed to prepare for their new mission.
~}i{ Five Days Later }i{~
"Are we there yet?" M'gann asked as she wiped some sweat off her brow. It was certainly hot in the jungle the Young Justice team was currently trending through as they followed the map that they were given. Humongous trees were everywhere the team looked, not to mention every other type of foliage that they came across. They have spotted a few animals along the way, mostly birds chirping about.
The team was doing their best to follow the map they were given, but one thing that wasn't mentioned was how dense and rough the terrain was going to be… Not a fun little omission for the Team…
Robin looked over the map again before saying, "According to this… The 12 Kingdoms should be about 4 klicks ahead." He then pointed to the dense patch of trees ahead of them.
Everyone looked in that direction before sighing in union. They continued anyway. NOW they understood WHY The 12 Kingdoms were so isolated, the place was in such a dense location that they couldn't leave so easily and outsiders would have a hard time finding the place.
Kaldur noticed a colourful, red parrot-like bird sitting on one of the branches above just staring at them as the Team made their way through the jungle. The bird tilted its head to the side as if trying to figure out why these people were here. To the Atlantian, it made sense, the bird probably doesn't see anything that walks on two legs often. Kaldur didn't give it much thought when the team looked at the map again.
"It feels like we're in some kind of maze," Artemis got out in annoyance, before looking over Robin's shoulder and asked, "You sure we're not lost?"
Robin checked the map again when he said, "I'm positive! Well, at least I'm sure we're heading in the right direction… Let's just head up 4 klicks and hopefully, we'll be there. Or close to it at least." He then moved ahead of the rest of the team.
The rest of the team glanced at each other before following the Boy Wonder. They walked for close to a klick before Kaldur noticed that same colourful, red parrot again. As the Team continued on their way, the parrot continued to follow as discreetly as it could. The Atlantian didn't visibly call attention to the bird, but luckily, the Team had another way to communicate.
[We're being followed] Kaldur said through the Telepathic Link M'gann established before they left. He made sure to keep his gaze forward so as not to tip off the little spy.
[I don't sense anyone close] M'gann stated in the Link as she did a quick sweep of the immediate area. No one but them was there.
[Not by a person, a bird. It's been following us for a while. The red one right behind us] Kaldur responded as Kid Flash glanced around randomly, or seemingly randomly. The speedster saw the bird during the glancing.
[Oh yeah, I saw that bird earlier. Didn't think much of it] Kid Flash stated as he sent a mental image of the red bird.
[Same, just thought it was just in the area and was curious about us] Artemis admitted.
[I did snap a picture of that bird earlier, cause, you know, cool red bird, but I didn't know that it was following us] Robin added as he pulled up a picture near the corner of the map he was using.
[Why would this bird even follow us?] Conner asked, glancing between his teammates when he added, [Even if it was out of curiosity, I don't think an ordinary bird would follow us this far].
That was when Zatanna stated [I have a hunch that that bird might've been trained by someone…] She then muttered, "Laever ot ym seye taht der s'drib retsam." The magician's eyes made a soft white glow. A quick flash showed the image of the red bird appearing in front of the sorceress' eyes. Then the image changed to a close up of the bird's eyes. That was when Zatanna could see a pair of lime green eyes ghost over the image of the bird's eyes. The mage let out a soft gasp before she quickly messaged to the rest of the Team, [Someone is using that bird's eyes to watch us! Right Now!]
Artemis acted quickly as she snatched one of her non-lethal arrows from her quiver and shot it at the red bird. It hit the bird before it had any time to react. The arrow emitted a short but strong electrical surge and knocked the bird unconscious. Kid Flash quickly caught the bird as it fell. The speedster gently placed the bird at the base of a tree, under some bushes. Artemis gave Kid Flash a look before the speedster stated, "What? It might've been a spy but that doesn't mean that it was doing it by its own will! Plus, we're not going to leave a defenceless bird out in the open to who knows what kind of predators that wouldn't hesitate to pass up on a free meal!"
"Dude, no one is saying anything about that," Robin stated before he signalled everyone to switch to camouflage and hide, just in case they were being watched.
[I still don't sense anyone else nearby,] M'gann stated as she went intangible as the others scattered and hid among the thick brush of the forest.
[Just because you cannot sense them doesn't mean that they aren't somehow still spying on us,] Zatanna stated as she looked around the area she chose to hide. Trying to see if any of her teammates were either nearby or there was anything out of place.
That was when Zatanna heard a beeping noise. Her eyes shot towards the noise just in time to see what looked like a remote activated grenade. [Oh shi-] The mage got out in the link before the device detonated in a blinding light. That was when Zatanna lost consciousness.
}{
[Zatanna!?] Kid Flash go in before he turned to see that there was a blink of bright light shining where the Mage was. As the speedster started running towards his friend, the ground suddenly shot up in a hand-shaped form and nabbed the hero in its thick and solid fingers. "What the!" Kid Flash got out in a shocked grunt when he realized what happened. That was when he saw a trail of discoloured earth leading from where he was trapped to where a young woman with short ginger hair was standing.
Kid Flash's eyes widen when he got out, [Uhh, M'gann, didn't you say that you didn't sense anyone but us, right?]
}{
[Yes, I still don't sense anyone around, why?] M'gann stated as she and Kaldur looked around where they were.
[If that's the case… How come there's a person standing right in front of me? By the way, she's got me trapped,] Kid Flash said through the link before he suddenly lost consciousness.
}{
[Hey! What happened?] Artemis called out through the link as she glanced around, trying to figure out what was going on.
Click!
Artemis recognize what that sound was and reacted as it practically started raining bullets in a barrage of noise.
}{
Robin heard the gunfire where he was and quickly made his way towards it when he said through the link, [Artemis! What the he-].
Suddenly a ray of ice fired from above and struck the boy wonder and quickly froze him in a block of ice.
}{
Superboy was racing towards the gunfire when he was blind-sighted but a towering giant that literally came out of nowhere. Before the clone could register what hit him, the giant wrapped a humongous hand around the head of the teen and slammed Superboy's head into a nearby boulder.
Superboy lost consciousness due to the impact.
}{
[This is bad! We've lost nearly all our team!] M'gann stated as she and Kaldur rushed towards where the gunfire was coming from.
[Let us save Artemis and hopefully, we shall get the answers to what's happening] the Atlantian stated as they stayed hidden when they found their remaining teammate.
[Please hurry! This lady's got some weird guns with a helluva lot of ammo!] They heard Artemis say, before she added, [She's been shooting at me non-stop for close to two minutes! And she's still not out of ammo!] Okay, that was what motivated the Martian and Atlantian to quicken their pace.
The two saw that a tall woman with long blonde hair was wielding a pair of large AK-47 Semi-Automatics unloading a barrage of bullets at their teammate, who was skillfully dodging while trying to find a moment to shoot her attacker with an arrow.
Miss Martian acted quickly as she used her telekineses to yank the AK-47s out of the blonde woman's hands. She responded in a surprised, "Hey!" as the gunfire ceased as soon as those weapons were out of the woman's hands. M'Gann also levitated the woman off the ground, to prevent her from escaping or retaliating against the remaining team. The woman quickly started trashing and doing everything she could to get out of whatever force was keeping her in the air.
Artemis flopped back to the ground as she got out in a gasp, "Damn! I thought that was never going to end! It felt like those guns had unlimited ammo or something." Right now, all the archer wanted to do was catch her breath.
M'gann and Kaldur walked into view as the Martian kept her captive in the air. Kaldur went to inspect the semi-automatics. 'Odd? These look like the designs used for those kinds of weapons on the surface world in the 1990s…' the Atlantian thought as he remembered Robin explaining about Semi-Automatic weapons, the history, and how to handle them. 'Why would she use something that outdated?' Kaldur thought before he noticed just how maintained the two weapons were. Despite the age of the guns, they gleamed as if they were brand new. 'And they've been modified to hold a lot more ammunition than it was originally was able to,' The Atlantian thought before reaching out a hand to touch the cold metal of the weapons.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH AISHUU AND INOCHIGOI!" the woman snapped in anger when she saw the Atlantian place a hand on her precious weapons.
"Aishuu?" Artemis got out in confusion.
"Inochigo?" M'gann questioned, trying to understand what was going on.
[Uhh, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think is she talking about those guns?] Artemis asked over the link.
[Is it normal Earthling behaviour to… Give a weapon a name?] M'gann asked in confusion. She then looked at the angry woman when she added, [This is so strange, this person is right in front of me yet I still cannot sense that she is here… Is she… Robotic like Red Tornado?]
[Unless all of us were ambushed by robots, that wouldn't explain why they'd bother with a bird rather than a droid,] Artemis stated as she got to her feet. That was when the archer added, [Though she seems to be waaaay too emotional to be artificial].
Before anyone could add any more to this, a plume of fire cut between the team and the strange woman.
M'gann and Kaldur are hit immediately by the sudden heat.
The woman tried to take advantage of the Martian dropping her to go right for her weapons, but Artemis managed to load a net-arrow and fired it just as the woman was about to pick up the Semi-Autos. The woman was now pinned down, unable to do anything.
Another plume of fire shot out from the side landed right next to M'gann. The Martian collapsed to the ground as the heat was already taking its toll on her. It seemed a little obvious that whoever was aiming the fire wasn't out to kill the teens but to contain them. Artemis quickly fired an arrow where the fire came from, causing whoever was nearby to dodge and reveal themselves.
The young man had short lavender hair, yellow snake-like eyes, and had what looked like a flamethrower on his back as he held the nozzle in his hands ready to aim.
Kaldur was a little woozy from the heat but he was able to see what was happening around him. He wanted to help defend his teammate, however… A sudden hit to his gut was quickly followed by a sharp wave of pain. Kaldur slowly realized through the pain that someone managed to sneak up on him and managed to land a good hit on him. He was only able to glance up at this person, only to see that they had long black hair with a red underside, ox horns, and dark eyes before he was hit sharply on the back of his neck with something solid. The next thing Kaldur knew, he was in darkness.
Artemis managed to see what happened and tried to shoot an arrow at whoever this person was, but they managed to dodge the arrow while carrying Kaldur off and out of the battlefield. 'Shit! This is just getting worse!' she thought as she shot another arrow at the guy with the flamethrower to keep him from shooting the thing. Artemis was so focused on the battle before her that she didn't even notice that someone was behind her until she felt her quiver being sliced off and had two swords to her throat.
"Drop your weapon and come with us willingly," Artemis heard the person behind her say. The voice sounded like a man judging by the tone. One of the blades pressed a little closer to the blonde teen's throat when he said, "Your comrades are going to be coming with us too if you're worried about them."
Artemis couldn't help but glare at the blades, not seeing much of a choice, before she dropped her bow and the arrow she had in hand before she raised her hands in an 'I surrender' position.
The flamethrower holder got the net off of the blonde woman, though he wasn't careful about it.
The blade tapped Artemis' neck twice before the man behind her said, "Start walking, don't try anything funny or else I'll turn you into one of my Tomodachi (1). I don't think your comrades would be happy about that."
Artemis raised a brow at the bizarre threat when she vocalized, "Tomodachi?" as she wondered why this guy would use those little digital pets as a threat.
The blonde woman huffed in annoyance as she picked up the Semi-Automatics when she said, "Just come along and don't raise a fuss. You are far too young to be killed so senselessly."
Okay, that was a more understandable threat.
Artemis complied with the demands of whoever these people are. As soon as she did, she saw a towering giant walking into view with an unconscious Superboy being carried under one of his arms and an unconscious Zatanna in the other. The next to appear was another lavender-haired man who looked identical to the man with the flamethrower but had an ice-thrower on his back and seemed to be floating a block of ice with the Boy Wonder still frozen inside. The ginger-haired woman appeared next with the unconscious Kid Flash still trapped in the stone hand but instead of the speedster walking it was the stone structure that seemed to have tiny feet at the bottom that was walking the structure along so it can keep its grip on the trapped teen. The flamethrower guy carefully picked up M'gann while that long-haired man easily slung Kaldur over his shoulder. Soon, they all started heading in the same direction.
'Hopefully, we'll get out of this and get to The 12 Kingdoms before the kid becomes a Warrior…' Artemis thought as she followed these people while making sure that her neck was as far from those swords as she could under the circumstances.
After what seemed like a good ten minutes, the group and their captives came to what looked like a village that had twelve very familiar temple-like structures standing in a circle an equal distance apart from each other.
That was when Artemis asked her captors, "Wait? Is this The 12 Kingdoms?"
The towering giant turned to the archer when he asked, "How do you know of us?"
That was when Artemis explained, "My team and I were called to help protect the kid during the Rite, or somethi-" The next thing the archer knew she had the point of a sabre being directed right at her nose.
The one holding the blade was the long-haired man with the ox horns. He seemed to be holding the sabre effortlessly in one hand while holding Kaldur over his shoulder with the other arm when he asked in a cold tone, "Where did you hear of that?"
Artemis quickly remembered what the anonymous requestor mentioned about what they are supposed to do when they were to arrive. The archer took a deep breath before saying, "A request from someone inside your village, they were just concerned about this kid." The tip of the sabre moved a little closer before Artemis stated, "Just! Just let us talk to the Warrior of the Monkey! I'm sure we can work something out!"
That was when all of these people seem to have their full attention on Artemis for some strange reason.
Next thing Artemis knew all the blades that were directed at her were suddenly withdrawn as the ox horned man stated coldly, "So, you truly are the group that was called upon." The group continued on their way into the village when the ox horned man said, "Keep following, you're going to need to be with your comrades when they awaken."
Artemis was still confused about the 180 but it seems like none of them are under the threat of death now and these people seemed to be on their side. That was good. So Artemis followed these people to the real mission to begin.
~}i{~
To be Continued…
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Tomodachi (友達; ともだち; or トモダチ) is a Japanese word meaning "friend(s)"
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