Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
A/N: this is my first fan fiction, please review because I'm trying to improve my writing and I need feedback.
You don't have to read this if you don't like it, no hate just go away.
Chapter 5: A new team member.
Mount Justice August 8th 9:58 EDT
Kaldur, M'gann, Robin, Legend and Superboy all make their way out of the cave and to the beach. Dressed in swimsuits, carrying a picnic lunch, a volleyball, and a bogey board. M'gann stands on the beach, her arms stretched wide. "Hello, Megan." Then turns towards the boys over her shoulder. "We should hit the beach every day."
Robin smiles, then lowers his head into his free hand. "First, a moment of silence for our… absent comrade." He says, his voice empty. M'gann drops her head too. "Poor Wally." She echoes. "He's really missing out." Legend adds.
Central City August 8th 9:00 CDT
The school bell rings at Keystone High School. "Welcome, class, to the first day of Sophomore Year." A teacher's voice started, his voice broken and scratchy. Wally leans back, falling low into his chair as he groans.
M'gann and Robin splash each other in the water. Kaldur stays out because that would just be unfair. Though Superboy jumps into a cannonball, landing right between the two, drenching all of them. M'gann laughing as she dodges the wave he created. Legend swims around under them, he suddenly swims up to Robin, grabs his leg and pull him underwater. The others notice and their eyes widen, they start laughing after they see Robin come back up grumbling and see Legend using the bogey board to pretend to be a shark.
Wally stands in front of a water fountain, the pressure weak and uneven. As he leans down it sprays him in the face. Clenching his jaw and frowning Wally stands back up straight. Looking down he gasps, seeing that it makes it look like he wet his pants, letting out a shaky groan as he drops his head.
Hot dogs roast on the grill the Team has set up, Robin pick one up with a fork each to eat it. Rather than with a bun like the rest of the Team. Legend dropped a large fish that he caught onto the grill and grinned at Kaldur who looked conflicted at the dead Sea creature.
Orange mush is placed on a lunch tray, where there's already an apple, and something brown that might be bread. Wally looks down, groaning, though this time more in disgust than anything.
Kaldur serves the volleyball, getting it over the net, where Superboy bumps it to M'gann who spikes it back at Legend. Robin chose to referee so that the others could go all out.
Wally gets hit in the face with a dodgeball. Groaning he holds his fist up wanting to react but can't. Mostly because waves of more dodgeballs come at him, though he wisely uses his arm and leg to keep them from hitting his face or stomach.
M'gann pats one side of the sand castle, while Robin pats the other side. The castle was built on top of a sleeping Superboy. While Kaldur holds a red bucket, carefully pouring more sand onto the side closer to Superboy's face with a smirk. Legend uses a stick to carve out a design on the tower that they had already finished.
The school bell rings once more at Keystone High, now 3:30. The doors to the school fly open as Wally sped out, coming to a skidding stop at the sidewalk throwing his hands up in the air. Crying out "FREEDOM!" because now he can finally get to the Mountain.
Recognize:
Kid Flash; B 0 3
As he reappears in the Zeta Tube, carrying all the necessities for a day at the beach. "The Wall-man is here!" he calls out, running in his flip flops. "Let's get this party star-!" He's cut off as he trips on the pole of his umbrella, falling flat on his face. The beach ball goes bouncing into the main room just past an angry Batman as he watches Wally skid towards them. Lifting his head, he sees them dressed for a mission. "…ted." He finishes weakly.
All the other protégés look to him with knowing smiles and hold no remorse seeing him make a fool of himself.
"Wall-man, huh?" a new voice asks, Aqualad stepping aside so Kid Flash can see her. Decked out in green with an arrow on her chest and a bow in hand, it's pretty obvious who she's imitating. The colors accent her slightly darker skin tone, brown eyes, and bright blonde hair. "I love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"
Wally ignores her question as he steps up beside Robin and M'gann. "Uh, who's this?" he asks Kaldur, gesturing to her.
"Artemis, your new teammate." She says almost teasingly.
"Kid Flash, never heard of you." Wally continues in the same insultingly teasing tone as Artemis.
Green Arrow steps up. "Um, she's my new protégé."
Wally's eyes go wide. "W-what happened to your old one?" he questions, clearly worried, but can't ask further as the Zeta-Tubes behind him are put in use.
Recognize:
Speedy; B 0 7
"Well for starters, I doesn't go by 'Speedy' anymore." Roy states, walking out of the Zeta Tube. "Call me Red Arrow." The three original protégés are both relieved and tensed to see him in the mountain, but it's Green Arrow who reacts the fastest.
"Roy. You look-" Green Arrow begins, but Red Arrow cuts him off as he walks to the center of the training circle. "Replaceable?" He nearly growls, his gaze zeroing in on Artemis. "It's not like that." Green Arrow tries. "You told me you were going solo."
"So why waste time finding a sub?" Roy rhetorically questions angrily. "Can she even use that bow?"
Artemis steps up to defend herself. "Yes, 'She' can." She says, almost chipper sounding as she gets right in Roy's face.
"Who are you?" Wally finally questions. "I'm his niece." Artemis says "She's my niece." Green Arrow says at the same time. This response gets a smirk to grow on Robin's face. "Another niece?" he questions, knowingly.
"But she is not your replacement." Kaldur assures, speaking to Roy. Stepping up as Roy actually turns to look at him. "We have always wanted you on the Team, and we have no quota on archers."
From his left Wally pipes up, cheery once more. "And if we did, you know who we'd pick."
Artemis steps up once more. "Whatever Baywatch, I'm here to stay." Roy immediately walks away from her. Right by Kaldur who stops him by speaking up. "You came to us for a reason."
"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette." Roy admits, looking to Robin who tenses immediately at the name.
Then smiling he pulls up the data on his HoloGlove. "Nanorobotics expert at Royal University in Star City vanished two weeks ago." He states as screens around the whole circle come up.
"Abducted two weeks ago by the League of Shadows." Roy corrects.
Robin's joy shows through on his face. "Whoa. You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" he asks as he, Wally, Legend, and M'gann all step up, excited. "Hard-core." Wally agrees, offering a fist to Robin. Which the Boy Wonder hits.
While Roy replies tensely. "I already rescued her." Walking towards the lined up HoloScreens. "Only one problem." Pulling out a small grey box which brings up a larger screen in front of the ones Robin put up. "The Shadows had already coerced her into a weapon." Glancing at the screen to make sure the data's up.
"Doc calls it 'The fog'. Comprised of millions of microscopic robots, nanotech infiltrators, capable of disintegrating anything in their path- concrete, steel, flesh, bone- but its true purpose isn't mere destruction, It's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and delivers the stolen data to the Shadows, providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech."
Roy stood before the group, letting the horrible information fully sink in.
"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, and power broking." Artemis picks up, decidedly ignoring the angry look from Wally and the knowing look from Robin. "Yeah. Sounds like the Shadows."
"Like you know anything about the Shadows." Wally scoffs, a smirk falling onto his face, but what he doesn't expect is for her to smile tauntingly at him. His smirk falls and he looks confused before finally shouting out what's on his mind. "Who are you?!"
Roy deliberately ignores the argument going on beside him. "Roquette's working on a virus to render the Fog inert."
"But if the Shadows know she can do that…" Robin begins, quietly. "They'll target her. Right now, she's off the grid." Roy finishes. The picture changes again. "I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."
"You left her alone?" Green Arrow questions, shocked. "She's safe enough for now." Roy rebuttals.
"Yeah, safe." Everyone turns and look to see Legend looking at Roy with his arms crossed, he walked forward until he was in front of the team.
"Instead of bringing her here, where we all could have kept her safe, you thought the best option was to leave her in a school, where every wall, in every room, on every floor is full of windows where she can be seen and taken out. Smart move."
Roy gets in Legends face and glares at him, Legend glares back. Before anyone can say or do anything, Batman places a hand on each of their shoulders, stopping them.
Green Arrow glances at the Dark Knight before turning back to Roy. "You brought this to the team, It's their mission now." Green Arrow says calmly. Roy scoffs. "Then my job's done." He says walking back towards the Zeta-Tubes.
Recognize:
Speedy; B 0 7
"That's Red Arrow, B 0 7, update." Roy corrects. The Zeta Tube beeps, recognizing the update, and transporting him away.
Wally turns to Artemis with a glare, M'gann looks over as well, but she's more confused than confrontational. Artemis looks away from the gingers' looks.
Happy Harbor High School August 8th 21:59 EDT
Outside Happy Harbor High, M'gann and Superboy are on the roof with the Bioship camouflaged over their heads. While inside the school Aqualad checks the window to the hallway by the Computer Lab.
"Miss Martian, link us up. We do not want the Shadows intercepting our comms." From outside Miss Martian finds the others' minds with ease. "Everyone online?" she asks, checking the connection.
"Ohh." Artemis half groans, sitting down on the desk Dr. Roquette is working at to keep from losing her balance. "This is weird." She says with her hand on her head. "You'll get used to it." Legend tells her mentally.
"It is also very distracting." Dr. Roquette's voice cuts in as she continues to code quickly. "Coding a distributive algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less RAM than a wristwatch is hard enough." She stops typing and starts moving her body as if she were speaking aloud. "Now I have to hear teens-think in my skull?" she grips her head with annoyance and perceived pain from a headache she's bound to get.
Wally sits on the window ledge eating a granola bar, Robin is looking out of the partially opened blind of the same window row but hidden by the pillar. "Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?"
"Pot, this is kettle, have you met?" Artemis offers and Kid Flash is immediately defensive. "Hey, I don't need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the Team."
Artemis stands instantly and points directly at him. "That is so not on me." Behind her Roquette stops typing to give into her annoyance. "Fate of the world at stake." She tries to remind without getting too angry. "She started it." Kid Flash defends childishly.
"Both of you shut it!" Legend yelled over the link, making the other's jump. "Kid, Red Arrow doesn't want to be on this team and it's no one's fault but his, he had his chance he didn't want to take it, so don't blame Artemis." He scolds Kid Flash, tired of his attitude.
"How about I just help Superboy and Miss Martian patrol the perimeter?" she offers, already walking away from her spot by the doctor.
"Good idea." Aqualad agrees, his tone formal as ever but there's a noted edge of stress to his simple words. "You might want to cut her some slack. It was her arrow that saved your butt against Amazo." Robin points out, smirking at the last tidbit of knowledge. Kid Flash's eyes go wide. "What? No!" he denies instantly "That was Speed- I mean, Red Arrow's arrow. Right?" he tries, giving the Boy Wonder a small smile as if that would change his answer.
"." Robin admits, teasing clear in his tone. Kid Flash manages to huff in his head. "Well, still not giving her the satisfaction." He gripes.
Walking out of the building Artemis is quick to remind him that's ineffective. "You know, I can still hear you!" Wally grips his head and groans aloud.
"I couldn't get the Justice League." Roquette grumbles to herself, gripping the bridge of her nose before going back to coding.
"The virus won't be of much use if we cannot find the weapon." Aqualad surmises, stepping up to stand behind the doctor. "Can you track it?"
"My utility fog is not a weapon." She quickly defends, turning towards Aqualad. "It's science, brilliant science, and of course I can track it, but I'd have to go online." She turns back to the computer but doesn't continue coding. "Might as well rent a billboard with this address and 'assassinate me' written in neon." Placing her head on the fingertips of her left hand.
Aqualad places his hand on her shoulder. "We will protect you." He promises.
She glances back at the dark-skinned Atlantean then hits the enter key to begin tracking the Fog. "Tracking the Fog now." She tells him, though it's obvious by the way the targeting system is moving the digital form of the globe on her screen. Coming to a stop on a fully zoomed-in image of a plane sitting on a runway.
Superboy walks the perimeter, coming to a guarded stop as he hears bushes rustling. Following the sound, he leaps to the roof of the school and strides across it with precision, grace, and ease. Landing behind a tense M'gann and Artemis. The archer even had her bow strung. Though, seeing both are more relaxed than he is, brushes it off and walks away from the girls.
"Mmm…that boy." Superboy turns back, but upon seeing her look at him his eyes widen, realizing she meant him.
"He can hear you. We can all hear you." Miss Martian points out, a tenseness to her tone that is not normal for her.
Artemis is either oblivious to or just doesn't care. "Oh, I know." Miss Martian's eyes widen in shock.
"Miss Martian." Aqualad's voice cuts in, Miss Martian calming, while Artemis forces her gaze out of the corner of her eye to the sidewalk leading to where she and Miss Martian are. "Dr. Roquette has located the Fog. Reconfigure the Bioship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue."
Miss Martian raises her right hand and the Bioship lands in the small field before the fence. "Ready."
Superboy and Robin run out to it quickly, the open hatch closing right on their heels. The ship takes off quickly and smoothly, whichever one of the boys are flying has clearly been working at it.
Turning to walk back Miss Martian gives Artemis a small glare that's gone before the archer could even blink. Both miss the raven-haired woman behind the bushes wearing a jade green tunic with black under layers and a mask with a Cheshire grin splayed for all to see.
Miss Martian keeps her back to Artemis, her arms crossed before she finally gives in and talks to the girl. "You embarrassed Superboy."
Artemis smiles at the green-skinned girl. Almost looking innocent. Almost. "Didn't hear him say that."
Miss Martian turns towards the archer, even though she's looking away. "Must you challenge everyone?" Behind her turned back, the jade-colored, Cheshire-grin mask-wearing woman with thick black hair leaps over the fence. Silent.
"Where I come from, that's how you survive." Artemis states, dropping the conversation there. Though Miss Martian's frown lessens slightly.
Kid Flash is leaning against the wall outside the classroom. The woman's shadow on the floor catches his attention. He follows it to the intersection but then sees it at the end of that hall. He uses his speed to try and reach the source.
Skidding to a stop just before the pool, her shadow visible in the window for just a moment. He speeds into the natatorium, unaware of the hundreds of small spheres on the already potentially slippery floor.
He loses his footing, letting out a shocked "whoa" before landing on his back with a grunt. Groaning he looks up just in time to see the woman kick him in the face before all goes black.
She kicks his unconscious body into the pool, the 9ft depth of the pool. Then running off without another sound.
In the Computer Lab Aqualad and Legend stands beside Dr. Roquette as she continues to type. Aqualad looks at Legend who gesture to the door.
The door only creaks slightly as it opens, but it is only a jar before a shuriken comes whizzing towards the back of Roquette's head. Legend takes the hit for her; the weapon only cutting his shirt a little and fall to the floor. The doctor goes to stand, but Aqualad sees movement. "Doctor, get down." He calls out.
Roquette looks to the source of the shuriken, only to see a cheshire grin. Her eyes widen and two more shuriken fly towards her, which Aqualad takes to the outside of his right arm as he knocks the doctor to the floor.
The assassin, Cheshire, pushes the door fully open, running behind the computer desks. "Hmm." She muses, twin Sai held in a reverse grip as she runs towards the doctor, clone, and Atlantean. "That had to hurt."
Aqualad pulls the last shuriken out of his arm, his right tattoo glowing brightly. "Atlantean skin is quite dense." He states, as he pulls out his Water Bearers to form dual swords. Just in time to block her Sai.
"And my shuriken are quite poisoned." She says, slashing at his stomach, then dodging under his strike at her head, then striking towards his arm which he blocks once more and pushes her away. Kicking her in the chest. She flips through the hit, landing silent and confident in a crouch on a computer table.
"M'gann, Kid, Artemis, we are under attack in the computer lab." Aqualad calls out.
Miss Martian and Artemis storm through the double doors, Artemis knocking an arrow as she runs towards the computer lab. "We're on our way." The archer assures.
Miss Martian stops short, her eyes going wide. Before flying back to the last intersecting hallway, she and Artemis passed.
Cheshire slashes again at Aqualad, while Legend kept the doctor behind him And away from the fight. In retaliation, Aqualad strikes at her head, which she ducks under and she once again slices at his core, which he jumps back from. She fakes a high roundhouse and gets both her legs over Aqualad's shoulders and yanks him to the ground with an oof.
Roquette watches the fight like a sports game. Cheshire throws her shuriken at the doctor, forcing Legend to block the attack. Though it was stopped, it still got her to jump back with a yelp.
"Almost." Cheshire mutters as both she and Aqualad stand up, his Water Bearer. "Poison slowing you down?" she asks as he strikes with both swords once more.
"Jellyfish toxin, I'm largely immune." He tells her, getting her face.
She uses it to her advantage and head butts him, giving him all the pain and her none, despite the height difference, due to her mask being what makes contact. Knocking him to the ground and both his Water Bearers out of his hands.
"Largely." She agrees, raising her Sai. Only for it to be shot out of her hand. Turning to find Artemis already prepared with another arrow. "Don't. Move." Artemis states slowly.
Miss Martian's eyes glow red as she raises Kid Flash's unconscious body out of the pool.
Cheshire chuckles, hearing Aqualad get back to his feet as Legend moved him and the doctor as he step up to face her since she's been watching Artemis step closer to her. "This is getting interesting." She brings out a single-handed collapsible sword. Standing ready for Artemis. Who releases arrows in rapid succession, however Cheshire slices through them, nearly in half every time.
Miss Martian and Kid Flash enter the door and find Doctor Roquette standing in stunned shock as arrow halves fall at her feet. Artemis pauses upon seeing them. Which is what prompts Cheshire to look as well. Now finding herself outnumbered five to one.
"Maybe a little too interesting." She admits as Artemis knocks another arrow. She deflects it and drops a flash grenade.
Kid Flash jumps through the smoke, hitting nothing and stumbling right into Artemis' arms. Both of them bumping foreheads. Shocked to find them so close together, and practically sharing breaths, he stumbles back with his eyes wide. Then looks to the now empty space. "Gone." He grunts.
"She's getting away! You're letting her get away!" Roquette yells at Aqualad.
"This was all your fault. You were on the perimeter! How'd that Shadow get in?" Kid demands of Artemis, who boldly stands before him.
Her eyes merely narrow at him, but enough to make anyone's skin crawl. "That's not really fair." Miss Martian says calmly, walking up to them. "I was outside too."
"Outside being distracted by her." He retaliates. "Besides, I can't be mad at you." His tone gone flirtatious and almost sweet as he changes who he's defending. "You gave me mouth-to-mouth."
Miss Martian's eyes go wide, realizing something he hasn't yet. "We heard that!" Artemis snaps angrily, while even Aqualad seems annoyed, Legend sighs.
Kid Flash turns and walks away, dropping his head. "Dang it!" he gripes. Giving Miss Martian and Artemis the ability to talk without him separating them.
She gives the newest member a genuine smile. "I didn't do half as well in my first battle." she offers, even placing her hand on Artemis' shoulder in an attempt to increase her comfort by offering it physically. "And I know you can't have been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long."
Before she can respond Aqualad cuts in. "Focus, everyone." Though out of the two Miss Martian seems the most annoyed with the interruption. "The Shadows will be back."
The radio beeps. "Robin to Aqualad." The addition of a new voice catches the Atlantean's attention immediately.
The camouflaged Bioship flies over the coastline of a big city. Looking at an image on his HoloGlove as he flies the Bioship. "We're over Philadelphia, but we're too late." Robin says him and Superboy watch the building crumbles beneath them.
His eyes go wide at the efficiency and completeness of it. "It's destroyed, totally destroyed." Even Superboy's eyes have gone wide with shock. "The Fog decimated it."
They look over the broken remains of the entire lab, everything shredded and cracked. "This is bad. STAR Labs is cutting-edge science, and now their secrets are in the hand of the enemy." There's actually a bit of anger starting to show through in his words.
He and Superboy share a look. "What's our next move?" he asks Aqualad. Aqualad looks to the unhurt Doctor Roquette. "Rescan for that Fog. Find it." Then he glances back at the Doctor once more. "We're moving the doctor."
Bells ding in the distance, while Artemis walks around behind the doctor Kid Flash sits on top of the computer tower. When the blonde comes to a stop and glances at him, he glares right back.
"Stop it, both of you!" Legend's telepathic voice cuts in and draws their attention away from the glaring contest that was about to begin. "What?" both ask at the same time.
From within the bushes outside their location, Aqualad remains calm. "I can feel you glaring at each other." He informs them. Then heads off towards the tree line. "Miss Martian, stay in camouflage mode and make a wide perimeter sweep." Aqualad instructs, but aloud.
The trees rustle behind him as a shadowy head appears. This one covered.
Aqualad is snagged by red vines before he could even hope to react and brought up with only a slight cry of shock. There are hits and grunts, leaves that fall to the ground below, but the attacker and now Aqualad are covered by the foliage.
Until he's kicked out and slammed hard into the side of a parked van, leaving a dent and him to rebound until he falls to the concrete. Looking up he sees the shadow leap out of the trees. As the assassin- Black Spider- lands in a crouch before the Atlantean he stands, only to get hit in the shoulder blades by a man with a crane hook for an arm- accurately named Hook. It knocks Aqualad down and out.
Cheshire flips beside his fallen body. "The Martian could return any second, and I'm not keen on evening their odds." She tells the men. "We end Roquette now." With that she's gone again.
In the single room building, Kid Flash is watching Roquette as she types, still hanging out on top of the computer tower. The doors burst open and from the doorframe, Black Spider flips out.
Kid flips to a similar position, but his left leg out to the side, which allows him to stand and pick into a run with ease. Going to sweep out Black Spider's feet, but the man lives up to his chosen name. Flipping to the ceiling and clinging there. Before shooting red webbing at Kid Flash.
Who rolls out of them and towards the narrow cylinder trashcan which he throws at Black Spider to get him to drop back down to the ground. The assassin springs through his crouch, coming in with a cross that Kid Flash easily dodges and counters with a hit to the ribs.
Artemis goes to shoot the assassin when the glass window in the ceiling behind her shatters and Hook drops to the ground.
She changes her aim and shoots at the white-haired man, who dodges the shot, and the next three by diving between the pews.
Artemis knocks another arrow, while Roquette stops typing and turns to her. "Don't stop working." She instructs the doctor, before releasing the arrow. Roquette says nothing and turns back to the computer.
From the double windows, Cheshire lines up an arrow in a crossbow. She releases it, but a desk is telekinetically put in the way of the shot. "Martian's here. It's now or never." She commands Hook and Black Spider, ditching the crossbow.
Kid Flash runs at Black Spider, but the acrobatic assassin executes a sudden spin which places him under Kid Flash and able to kick him in the stomach and away with both feet. Finding his footing with ease he shoots red webbing at the desk blocking Roquette.
Artemis has another arrow ready to be shot at Hook, but when she sees Cheshire drop down before Roquette her distraction is rewarded by a hook to the face. The hook returns to Hook's hand while Cheshire looms over the fallen Roquette.
She twirls her Sai, finding her expert hold and ready to stab her in the back. When she was suddenly put in a full nelson by Legend. "Please surrender, I'd prefer not to hurt a women if I can help it." The doctor's skin suddenly turns green and her head turns to look right at Cheshire. "We've been duped!" she calls out, both angrily and to alert both men working with her.
At the Sandbar Internet Café is the real Doctor Roquette working on a computer as Aqualad stands guard. "I've almost got it." She tells him.
"The next target's a Wayne Tech Facility." Robin says, shocked as the camouflaged Bioship comes to a slow just outside the building. "In theory." now he has Superboy's attention, the clone can hear the emotions raging through Robin's voice. "its system software could be used to hack the-" he cuts himself off.
"The what?" Superboy asks expectantly. "Doesn't matter." Robin tries to brush off. "Wh-what matters is Wayne Tech operates a 24-hour workforce. We'll never evacuate the building in time."
Miss Martian returns to her classic form, levitating in the air a good four feet over Cheshire and Hook's heads. "You'll never find Doctor Roquette." She tells Cheshire with conviction.
"Never is such a long time." Cheshire teases. "Pursuing target. Keep 'em busy." She calls out, she hits Legend in the crotch with her heel and head-butts his knuckle into his face. Legend released her and held his nose and crotch. "Sorry handsome, I'll make it up to you later." She said to the clone who was kneeling in pain before Running off.
Hook launches his hook at Miss Martian to prevent her from following. Artemis is just starting to get her feet when Cheshire runs by. She quickly gets back to her feet. "Pursuing their leader." She calls out. Kid Flash is still fighting Black Spider, blocking his punches, then managing a cross to the assassin's face and knocking him down. "Take the rest down." He watches the blonde run out the double doors.
"You are so not the boss of me." Kid calls after her, annoyed and purposefully dragging out the so. "Just do it!" she snarls over her shoulder, not losing stride.
Behind his turned back Black Spider gets to his feet and throws his arms around Kid Flash so he can't move his arms. His left arm slides closer to the speedster's neck as his right-hand grips the ginger hair tightly.
Artemis follows Cheshire outside the building, but the cat-themed assassin notices the lack of an unconscious Aqualad immediately. "Oh, I do not like being played." She murmurs to herself. The lenses of her mask light up and she can now see Aqualad's footprints as they lead down the road. She takes after them quickly.
Artemis stops in nearly the same spot Cheshire did, knocking an arrow and releasing it.
Cheshire strikes it out of the air. "I was hoping it'd be you." She says, the smugness in her voice shows that the smile on her mask is almost definitely on her face. Then she takes off down the street again.
Getting to the rooftops and running across them rather than on even ground with Artemis. She lands before two chimney stacks, but before she can make her way around them another of Artemis' arrows is released. This one sticking to the chimney on the left and releasing a purple gas. Causing the assassin to cough a Few times before she loses a grip on her Sai and falls unconscious with a groan.
Artemis lands in a crouch, bringing another arrow out of her quiver, stringing and bringing slight tension to it. When she's close, Cheshire turns to her side, putting her hand underneath her body, and knocking Artemis' legs out from under her. "Mask has built-in filters." The assassin taunts.
Artemis goes for the sidekick, which Cheshire blocks with her arm, moving through the motion Artemis goes for a roundhouse to her head. She winces but gets back to her feet. Unfortunately, Cheshire gets her hands locked behind her back and knocks her bow out of her hands.
"Better luck next time, kid." Cheshire teases with ease despite the amount Artemis is struggling. She hits the archer in between the shoulder blades. Knocking her to the ground with a yelp, But before she could hit the ground, she was caught by Legend. Cheshire looked both surprised and impressed that she didn't notice him. Legend laid Artemis on the ground and stood protectively in front of her.
"I'm impressed, there aren't a lot of people can sneak up on me." She says putting her hands on her hips. "Like I said before, I'd prefer not to hurt women, but sometimes we have to do thing we don't like." Legend says taking a stance. Cheshire pulls out her Sai and runs at Legend. While they were fighting she noticed that she was only cutting his cloths, she jumped back and locks eyes with him.
"Your durable." "What wrong, sad you can't make me bleed?" "No, I'm happy because now I've got a challenge." Cheshire charges at Legend, aiming for his eye, she thrusts her Sai at him, he bent back to avoid it.
Cheshire took advantage of that and swept his legs, knocking him to the ground with a grunt. Cheshire jump on top of him, straddling his waist, she pinned his arms to the ground with her Sai. Legend was shocked that she knocked him down.
Chuckling, She removed her mask and leaned down. Artemis began to stir, opening her eyes the first thing she sees is Legend being pinned down by Cheshire, but not only that, she was kissing him, she froze seeing this. Cheshire broke the kiss with Legend and looked down at him, his face looking dazed. "I told you I'd make it up to you, and in my line of work you have to keep your word." She winked as she put her mask back on and ran off, leaving the to teen hero's on the ground, shocked and confused.
Aqualad hears a thump on the roof and immediately turns to Roquette. "We have company." He says tensely. "Uploading now." She says, typing even faster. "And by the way, you said you'd protect me." She snaps.
A singular sphere rattles its way down the dark hallway, coming to a stop just within the visible range. Before stopping and immediately releasing a smokescreen. Aqualad whips out his Water Bearers quickly, forming solid swords in seconds. Roquette stands up beside him when nothing happens for a few seconds.
From behind him a ceiling panel is pushed loose. Sensing something he turns, only to get three darts to the chest in rapid succession.
Cheshire drops to the ground confidently. "Let's test the limit of you Jellyfish immunity, shall we?" She taunts.
Aqualad shakes his head in order to clear it before charging at the assassin. He strikes high with his right. Which she ducks under, then at where her face is now with his left. Which she tightly flips over. He strikes downwards, but she steps out of the way and lets his momentum throw him off balance. As he turns towards her, she unleashes a roundhouse kick to his face. Which knocks him straight to his front on the floor. Both his Water Bearers losing their integrity and the tattoos dimming in unison.
"There, limit tested." Cheshire says simply. Then turns to Roquette. "Now, doctor, time for my appointment." She enunciates by bringing out a Sai, which gets Roquette to cautiously move away from her. All while the upload is being processed.
With the Bioship still camouflaged Superboy and Robin wait by the opening back hatch. "It's downloading." Robin informs, watching the progress on his HoloGlove.
Cheshire continues to back the nervous doctor up, away from the unconscious Aqualad. Grabbing the front of her shirt elicits a gasp from the doctor as she closes her eyes, expecting her end. Before that, she looks to the computer with the download progress showing.
Cheshire follows the woman's gaze just as the bar shows full download and the computer beeps in agreement. The assassin turns back to the doctor. "So, you've finished the virus." She states. "eliminating the reason for your elimination." despite her words her Sai is getting closer to the doctor's neck and face. "though not your entertainment value."
She gets right in front of her and watches as the blonde's eyes go wide. The sudden release of her grip sends the doctor to the ground. "Lucky for you, my orders are clear. You live to program another day. After all doctor, the Shadows may find another use for you." She shies away from the assassin, the final statement more terrifying than any proceeding it.
At the Wayne Tech Facility, the Fog is still running rampant, but Robin is fully focused on the download status of the virus. Once it's fully uploaded to his HoloGlove the result is instantaneous. The screen of the computer he's logged on to goes red.
Inside the computer, the Fog Bots turn red mere seconds before exploding.
Robin turns to watch as the Fog Cloud behind him turns red before disappearing. The woman behind the counter breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Yes!" he cheers, clutching his unoccupied hand. "The infiltrators have been out filtrated!"
Cheshire walks out of the Sandbar Café. Only to be stopped as four of Artemis' arrows land before her and explode quickly. Her mask falling off and out of the smoke.
As it clears, she's on her hands and knees, her back to Artemis' who had an arrow pointed at her. She subtly pushes up, but Artemis sees it. "Don't move a muscle." The archer snarls.
Despite the warning, Cheshire stands. "Wow." She murmurs, turning to face Artemis over her shoulder. Her eyes open to reveal the same murky, dark, expansive brown as Artemis' own. "I am completely at your mercy."
Artemis' eyes widen slightly as she gasps. "It, it is you."
"I suppose now you bring me to Justice? Let your new friends interrogate me?" She taunts. "I wonder if your position's secure enough to survive them learning everything I know." There's a long pause where neither of them so much as breathe. Then, Artemis lowers her bow. "Didn't think so." She starts backing up, smoke curling around her. "So, like the Cheshire Cat, I'll just disappear, tell you're your big friend he's a great kisser." With that, even her shadow has gone missing.
The smoke stays for another moment then it too disappears.
Aqualad pants as he's mostly supported by Dr. Roquette as she helps him out the door. "Artemis, where's the assassin?" he questions. "She, uh- she got away." She stutters out quietly.
However, Kid Flash and his big mouth are right beside her in an instant. "Oh, from you?" he taunts. "Oh, big surprise. Notice, we got ours." He says not noticing that Legend was coming up behind him. "Not the time." Legend scolds Kid, hitting him in the head with a chop.
Miss Martian floats down to the still knocked out assassin closer to the ground.
After rubbing the top of his head with a pout, he looks down and his eyes lighten, a small smile on his face. "Cool." Then picks up Cheshire's mask. "Souvenir."
Aqualad recognizes it instantly, walking towards Kid Flash without Roquette's support, but the doctor remains close, just in case. "Her mask?" he questions, wincing as he yanks one of her darts out of his chest. "Did you see her-"he cuts himself off as he rips out another dart. "her face?" he finishes, yanking out the last dart.
"It was dark." Artemis defends, then looks towards the bay. "What about you Legend, did you see her." Legend is silent as he looks at Artemis who looks back at him in fear. "I didn't see anything either." He answers, missing Artemis's look of surprise.
"It is fine." Aqualad assures, reading his body language since he won't say anything. "Robin and Superboy neutralized the Fog, and Dr. Roquette is safe, thanks in no small part to you."
Artemis glances over her shoulder before fully turning to face him as Miss Martian lands beside Kid Flash.
"Welcome to the Team." She gives a small smile in return. Aqualad steps up before her and offers his hand. After a slight hesitation, she takes it. Legend gives her a smile from behind Aqualad.
"I always wanted a sister." Miss Martian says sincerely. "Here on Earth I mean. I have twelve back on Mars, but trust me, it's not the same." She clarifies, even Kid Flash is willing to get close to 'the newbie who kicked Red Arrow off the Team' according to him.
"I wouldn't know." Artemis decides to say, though a small chuckle does come through. "But thanks."
Miss Martian elbows Kid Flash in the chest. "Ow." Kid grumbles, but still, no one says anything. "Yeah. Welcome." He says begrudgingly.
Artemis offers her hand; he only hesitates slightly before taking it. Though he does look at it the whole time like he thinks it's going to either explode or eat him.
Gotham City; August 9th; 1:16 EDT
An out of order telephone booth glows gold, as it shuts off Artemis opens the doors. Looking around as she walks into the center of the alleyway. Her eyes narrow as she looks to her right blind spot.
Spinning tightly, she crouches to her knee, aiming her bow at the shadowy figure whose only noticeable features are their bright-white eyes. "Step into the light." She demands, her arm shaking slightly from the effort of holding her drawstring back so long and moving into that position so quickly. "Now."
Nonchalantly Red Arrow does. "Nice move." He says with a slight scoff as he walks towards her. Artemis releases the drawstring and stands up.
"Almost made me believe you are Green Arrow's niece." He says a resentful tone to his words as he stops before her. "though we both know you're not." Artemis glares but remains silent.
"Still, I'm sure G.A. and Bats had a reason for lying, so your cover's safe." He leans down and into her personal space. "But I warn you; do not hurt my friends." He practically growls, then walks away.
Behind his turned back Artemis' shoulders sag. "Report." A voice demands.
The old man's eyes open, sitting in the center of a semicircle with Light Screens above his head. "Masters, before Ojo's capture he transmitted the S.T.A.R. Labs data you required, but the Wayne Tech intel still eludes us.
"Once again the young… heroes interfere." L-2 states. "So, it's fortunate that we have an operative… on the inside." The old man smiles dreadfully.
Mount Justice; August 20th, 19:39 EDT
Kaldur walked up to Legend who was watching a movie on the TV. "Hey Legend, what are you watching?" Kaldur asked getting Legend attention. "Ip Man." He says without turning around. Kaldur looked at the screen to see an epic fight scene. "Can we talk really quick?" Kaldur asked.
Legend sighed, paused the movie, stood and turned to look at Kaldur. "Sure." Legend said, stretching. "In private." Kaldur said, gesturing to the empty hallway that was far enough away from the others that Superboys super hearing wouldn't be a problem. Legend nodded and they walk into the hallway.
Legend leaned on one wall while Kaldur stood in front of the other. "So what do you want to know." Legend asked with a serious face. Kaldur cleared his throat. "I wanted to know about your powers." Kaldur said in a calm tone. "Ask away, but I don't know everything about my powers yet so I might not be able to answer all of your questions." Legend responds in the same tone that Kaldur used.
Kaldur nodded in understanding and took a breath. "back when we were guarding doctor Roquette, right before the assassin's showed up, it seemed that you could tell that the assassins were coming. Can you tell me what you know about that ability?"
Legend shook his head. "I don't know." He says with a chuckle. "It's just, it's like I could sense them, and their desire to kill the doctor was intense enough for me to tell that they were outside the room, that's the best way that I can explain it."
Kaldur's nodded his head in understanding. He brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking pose. Almost a full minute later Kaldur looked back to Legend. "That explains it pretty well actually, thank you." Kaldur said in the same tone he had at the start of the conversation.
"One more question." Kaldur said, holding up a finger. "Fire away." Legend said ready to answer his question the best he can. "while we were fighting the assassin's you were with Artemis when she faced off with that one in a Cheshire Mask right?" Kaldur asked, looking Legend dead in the eye. "Yes." Legend says dragging it out. Then tell me, did you see her face?" Kaldur asked, his stern gaze never leaving as he stared at Legend. "No I didn't, it was dark and she moved to fast for me to see anything."
Kaldur's eyes narrowed. They stared at each other for several seconds, until Kaldur backed off and sighed. "Alright, thank you for answering my questions." Kaldur walked off, as soon he was out of sight Legend looked down in shame for lying to not only his teammate, but his friend. He may be doing it for another friend but in his mind that doesn't make it any better. He sighed again, deciding to take his mind off of it and went back to finish his movie.
While he was back on the couch, Legend thought back to the conversation he had with Artemis after the mission.
(Flashback)
"Come here, we need to talk." Artemis whispers in a demanding tone, pulling Legend by the back of his shirt.
"Hey, hey, you don't have to drag me, you can just ask you know." Legend says while Artemis pulls him into his room to talk in private. Once they were in the room Artemis let go of Legends shirt and shut the door behind them. "Okay what the heck is this about?" Legend asks, fixing his shirt. "Listen, you can't tell anyone anything about that assassin you and I fought." Legend raises an eyebrow. "Why?" Artemis looked away. "It's personal." She replied, looking down and clenching her fist.
Legend saw this and understood. "Okay." "It's just that I can't-, wait what did you say?" Artemis started to say but cut herself off when she Blinked and realized what Legend said. "I said okay. If you don't want to talk about it then I won't." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"You can't be serious." Artemis said, she walked up to him and poked him in the chest hard. "Why? What's your angle? Why did you just agree like that?" she asked sternly, pointing her finger into the taller teens face. Legend gently grabbed her hand and lowered it, maintaining eye contact with Artemis the whole time. "Because you are my teammate and friend." Artemis's eyes widened and she was stunned by his words. Legend let go of her hand, gave her a small smile, and walked out of the room, leaving Artemis alone with her thoughts. She soon left the room later.
(Flash back end)
"I lied to a friend for another friend." He groaned to himself after he finished his thought. "I just hope this will end well."
Chapter end. Please review, it really helps. I'll do my best to update the story quicker. Thanks for reading.