Dick's POV
"Decryption completed...Translation completed." The computer announced.
Nightwing stood in front of the Cave's main holo-screen, watching as the Krolotean words were being translated into English, or as close as they could get to English.
Two sets of footsteps sounded from behind him, one lighter than the other, Nightwing immediately knew that one belonged to Robin. The other one was also easy to determine, the swishing of something furry indicated that set of footsteps belonged to Beast Boy.
He was right on both.
"Is that the Krolotean intel?" Tim asked as soon as he saw what he was working on.
"What Krolotean intel?" Beast Boy asked, confused.
Nightwing's focus did not leave his work as he adjusted a couple of images on the holo-screen. "The data files M'gann and J'onn recovered on Malina Island before it was destroyed." He answered.
"Ah, noted."
"Apparently, the Kroloteans were snatching humans to use as guinea pigs..." He continued on, analyzing the file as he spoke."They were hoping to find something...Something inside us."
"What is it?" Tim urged on.
"There's no English word for it...The nearest translation is Meta-Gene." That got him confused even more. Apparently, Tim didn't get it either.
"What's a Meta-Gene?" the Boy Wonder asked.
Garfield didn't seem as concerned about this as the two Bats are. He nudged Tim with his elbow. "Never meta Gene I didn't like." He joked. Tim looked unamused at this and looked like he wanted to argue back when suddenly the security system came to life.
"Warning. Unknown energy impulse detected."
The room flashed red as the wind began picking up in the enclosed space. Dick's hands went instinctively to his Escrima Sticks strapped to his thigh. Even though he didn't know where the threat might be, Nightwing stepped back a little and shielded the two younger ones behind him.
Then, out of nowhere, a gigantic machine materialized in midair and dropped down straight in front of the trio. Smoke and electric sparks popped around the weird machine, and it slowly began to open.
"Stand ready," He told the other two and heard the unmistakable sound of weapons being drawn from behind. Nightwing tightened his hold on his own weapons as a figure dressed in red and white suddenly leaped out from the machine.
"Ta-da!" The boy from the machine cried happily.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert." The room continued to flash the warning.
"Computer, lockdown Cave," Dick commanded.
"Well, I think we found our unknown energy impulse." Beast Boy said, a little nervous at the sudden appearance of the stranger.
The boy didn't seem to mind the comment, in fact, he seemed rather interested with just a single word in that entire sentence."Impulse? That's so crash! Catchy. Dramatic. One word." He took a step forward and suddenly appeared right up against Dick's face. "Like Nightwing. And Robin. And Beast Boy, except that's two words - Blue Beetle's two words. Hey, is he here too?"
Nightwing blinked. The kid has superspeed. But before he could register the entire situation, Impulse was already five steps ahead of him.
"Never mind. Impulse can find that out for himself. Ha-ha-ha." The joyish laughter rang down the hallway as Impluse was gone within a second.
Dick quickly shook himself out of his shock. "You two, take him down. Now!" He told the two boys and they ran off. "We're crash?" he muttered, tasting the word on his tongue. It felt like forever ago that he was the one making jokes on the English language, now he rarely does it anymore. His special someone wasn't here to tease him about it.
Enough about that! Time to catch some speedster.
If his prediction was right, and judging the Cave has no other exits, and if Tim and he were thinking alike, Impulse should be heading back right at him any moment now. If there's anything Dick had learned from Wally over the years, it was that speedsters don't watch where they are going when moving fast, they tend to get cocky too quickly.
He reached into his utility belt and pulled out several small smoke pellets and deactivated them. The sound of wind moving towards him notified Dick that his predictions were right. He rolled the pellets into the hallway Impulse was bound to come through and hid around the corner of the hallway.
As suspected, the boy took the bait and moved through the pellets with ease.
"Ha. Can't catch me that eas-Uh!" Dick moved out and slammed his upper arm against the boy's chest, just hard enough to knock the wind out of him and the boy fell down on the ground with a heavy thud.
Nightwing took out two pairs of handcuffs and quickly bound up the boy's hands and feet. "Now, that was crash." He said mockingly.
Impulse groaned and sat up on the floor. "For you maybe. Me, I'm totally feeling the mode."
A moment later, Tim and Gar appeared back in the room, both breathing hard from the chase. Nightwing put away his sticks and hooked an arm under Impulse's as Tim took up the other side and together they hoisted the boy up from the floor and plopped him down on a chair in the center of the room.
"So, care to explain yourself?" Dick asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.
Despite still being a little woozy from the hit he had just taken, the strange speedster had a wide grin on his face. "Why the hostility? We are in the same business, only at different times! I traveled back about fifty years, you know, to sightsee!"
Tim raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so you're a tourist...from the future?"
"Why so surprised? Half the meet at Comic-Con is from my era." The others looked doubtful. So Impulse tried again. "Look, look, guys, we should all be friends. I'm really one of you. Part of the heroic legacy, right? My name's Bart Allen. You know, grandson of Barry Allen. The Flash." That bit of information came out as a shock to Nightwing. But seeing is the only way to believe. So he left the scene and came back with a glass of water in his hand.
Beast Boy was clearly not buying Bart's story. "Noted. Not believed. But noted."
"What's not to believe?" Bart cried incredulously. "I've clearly got Flash's speed, his amazing good looks. Frankly, I can't wait to meet him! Uh, you know, back when he was in his prime."
"Well, Bart," Dick states, walking up to the speedster with the glass of water. "Coming all the way from the future you must have worked up quite a thirst."
"Thanks," Since the young speedster was cuffed, Dick had to place the glass right in front of the boy as he slurped loudly at the water. Then Bart's eyes popped wide open and he gave him a wide smile. "Oh, ah. You're trying to get a DNA sample. You need my spit." He spat into the glass. "Ha. That's such a Dick Grayson thing to do."
Nightwing's heart skipped a beat at the sudden mention of his name but his face remained neutral, acting like he wasn't the one who just got his secret ID busted. Tim was too shocked to even register what had happened.
"How did-" He quickly stopped himself when Dick gave him a look.
Bart seemed chill about the shock displayed on Robin's face. "See? I know stuff only a future boy would know. Dick Grayson. Tim Drake. Garfield Logan."
Gar looked confused. "Wait, Your name's Tim? And yours is ...Dick?" The green teen can't quite place his finger now that he knew two of the Bats' identities. Dick was suddenly struck with the realization that now that Gar knew, the rest of the Team won't be far behind. Oh, well, Batman would have to wait to beat him and Tim up when he gets back from his trials.
Apparently, the realization didn't just hit Nightwing alone, it hit Bart straight in the face as well. "Oops, spoilers. This secret identity thing is so retro." He said guiltily. Then his expression quickly morphed into nonchalant. "I mean, you can call me Impulse or Bart or Bart Allen or Bart "Impulse" Allen. It's all crash."
Tim looked conflicted. "Is it possible he might actually be telling the truth? Could he really be from the future?" He asked Dick. Beast Boy decided to take matters into his own hands.
"Tell us something we don't know yet. When do I become the leader of the Team? When do I join the Justice League? When do I get my own reality series?" He demanded.
Impulse shrugged. "Sorry, BB. Never was the best history student. Besides, can't risk altering the time stream. Do that, we're all feeling the mode."
"And the mode would be...bad?" asked BB.
"Doesn't get any worse. Always better to crash the mode."
"Uh... Noted?" said BB, still confused.
"Recognized, Malcolm Duncan, A-1-0." the computer suddenly announced.
Bart's eyes lit up at the sound. "Ooh. Sounds like a door opening somewhere. And that's my cue." Right then, his entire body began to vibrate and the metal cuffs on his hands and feet clattered to the ground. He jumped up. "Bye-bye." He said happily to the stunned trio and took off.
Man, this boy was faster than Wally!
Gar snapped back to reality and turned to the two Bats. "Don't worry. The Peregrine Falcon is the world's fastest bird. He won't get away." He changed form and took off after Impulse in bird form.
"Doesn't stand a chance, does he?" Tim asked, crossing his arm.
Dick smiled a little, he handed the glass of spit water to Tim. "Nope. Impulse is too fast." He said, pulling up a holo-screen. "But at least we can track him."
"You planted a tracer? It'll fall off at his speed."
"It won't," Dick said confidently. "He drank it."
A lightbulb came on in Tim's head. "Subcutaneous micro-tracker in the water." He realized, raising the glass to his eye level. "Nice."
"Thanks." The tracker on the screen moved across the map of the US speedily, it didn't take long for Dick to have a general idea of where Bart was going. "He's making a beeline for Central City."
He reached into his belt pocket and pulled out his phone and speed-dialed a number. "Hey. Need your help."
...
As Wally went to take care of Bart's case in Central City, Dick went ahead to take care of the DNA sample he had gotten from the new young speedster. Tim stayed behind to help as Mal was busy recalling their bird-teen Beast Boy back to the Cave.
While running DNA analysis, Nightwing suddenly remembered the little locator he had put into his back pocket. So he pulled it out but was unsure of what he was supposed to do with it. He looked down at it and almost dropped the device in shock.
"Nightwing? What's wrong?" Tim asked worriedly.
Dick didn't answer right away, his eyes glued on the little screen of the device. He swore he saw the screen flash.
"Nightwing?" Tim asked again.
"I-I'm fine," He answered hesitantly. "Let's keep working."
Tim glanced at him worriedly but said nothing more.
...
Percy's POV
She found out the hard way that her Zeta-ID was erased from the system. After walking her feet off around the entire Manhattan because she had forgotten where the Zeta transport is (she personally blames Hera and her memory wipe and whatever after-effects it may have), only to be met with "Not recognized. Access Denied". Percy groaned loudly at this and banged her head on the wall.
Really people? Two years, and you have already erased my access code?
But then she thought through what had happened 5 years ago with Roy and realized the others must have done it to ensure safety. But it's not like they could clone a demigod right? Half of her DNA is the golden Ichor of the gods, pretty sure they can't replicate that. Then again only Bruce, Alfred, Dick, and perhaps the Helmet of Fate had known about her heritage so her mood lifted slightly again.
"Okay, Percy, think," She muttered to herself, walking around in circles in front of the run-down photo booth where the Zeta-tube is located. She doesn't have any money or electrons to contact the Manor. She can't very well just walk all the way back to Gotham without dying of dehydration and monster attacks first. "Uhhh, this is stupid!" Percy yelled in frustration and punched the wall. Her force made a fist-sized dent in the wall and water began spewing out from the crack.
"Whoops," She muttered guiltily.
...
Dick's POV
Wally managed to sort out Bart and Central City's problem with the help of the rest of the speedsters while Dick and Tim sorted out the DNA analysis. And true to Bart's words, he had indeed proved to be the grandson of Barry and Iris. Everything seemed great, Bart had satisfied his tourist dream of the 'past' and was on going to be on his merry way, until his time machine broke down and wouldn't function anymore. So Bart got stuck at the present.
Nightwing yawned widely after settling Impulse into one of the rooms in the Cave. The speedster would have to stay here for the time being, until they can sort out his problem another way or get him back.
Wally was waiting for the Bluebird hero by the Cave's control room entrance with a cup of coffee in hand.
"Hey man," He said casually.
"Long time no see," Dick said smiling. "Back to yellow and red, huh?" gesturing to Wally's suit.
The former Team member shrugged. "It's just for today, tomorrow it's back to being normal."
Nightwing shook his head. "So, how are things with Artemis? How's college?" He asked.
Wally had a fond smile on his face when Dick mentioned his girlfriend's name. "It has been a wonderful time," He said. "We made the right decision to settle down...." Then his expression turned to seriousness. "But you know that's not what I'm here for."
Dick sighed. "I know..."
"I don't like the plan you have," Wally said. 'It's too dangerous, for her and for him. If they get caught-"
"They won't!" Dick said firmly. "We just have to be cautious and make our move carefully."
"How do you know that what they are about to do won't be detected by the bad guys?"
"Because Kaldur gained their trust!" Dick said loudly, then sighed. "Kaldur's deep cover mission had been going on for months now, we had planned everything. From betrayal to raising ranks in Manta's force. The bombing of Malina Island was a surprise but a good one, Kaldur had further infiltrated the enemies' force. We need just one more blow."
Wally closed his eyes for a moment. "I knew I should have stopped Artemis right away when she agreed to the plan right after you said it."
"Would you have been able to stop her though?" Nightwing asked with a hint of sarcasticness.
The ginger smiled. "She's Artemis..." He said, a little helplessly. "After being with a girl for that long you did pick up a few things."
"Wish I had your experience..." Dick muttered quietly, which didn't go unheard to Wally. The speedster glanced at his best friend carefully.
"Hey, she's still out there, I know it," He said gently. "She's probably trying to find a way back to you this very minute...."
Dick laughed bitterly. He felt like a helpless child right now. He can't keep up the Leader image in front of his best friend, the walls just simply crumbled as he buried his face into his hands. Wally respectfully didn't say anything but simply placed a hand on Dick's shoulder. He doesn't know what he is going through right now, the pressure, the anxiety, and the heartache. Dick fears the future, the near future, that is going to take place in just the next few days. The plan to send two innocent lives straight into the lion's den, they can only pray that they will return safely.
I have way too much time on my hands lately. So Here's another chapter from moi. I'm posting as much as I can because once late March early April hits, I'll be as busy as a bee.
Stay Safe~
I Purple You~