I think you all will enjoy this chapter...as well as the illustration I have provided ;)
~Lizard
March 31, 2016. 00:16
Atlantic Ocean
~~Emma~~
I was still groggy from the "experiment," if you could even call it that. It was pure torture. I'd been knocked out after what felt like the hundredth sonic headache. It was hard to keep track of everything they did. It was so fast, so strong, so painful.
I was almost completely out of it. On the verge of hallucination. In fact, I was half-convinced that this whole thing was a dream.
So why did the Aqualad standing outside my pod look so real?
"What..." I took a deep breath for my burning lungs. "What do you want?" My voice was slurred, my vision blacking in and out. If Bruce could see me now, he would have my head for allowing myself to get in this deep.
He just stood there, staring at me. I blinked my eyes a few times to clear my eyes, and he was still there.
It was a staring contest. For two full minutes we stood there. I counted every second. Then, he did something that I honestly never expected him to do.
He opened my pod.
I took one step, and tumbled to the ground. My mind wasn't the only thing suffering from the experiments.
I pointed my arm at him, forgetting that I'd lost my powers. Instead of retaliating to my threat, Kaldur took my hand and pulled me to my feet.
Before my tired body could react, he swiftly pulled me close and kissed me.
And not a quick peck, a nice, long kiss on the lips.
I found myself wide-eyed in shock, unable to process what was going on or react in any way, shape, or form.
Then just like that, without a word, he was gone.
I saw his stupid black armor take a right exiting the door, and then I stood alone in the middle of the room. Free of my pod, but two other unconscious girls still trapped.
Then the alarms began to wail, I heard them echoing through the ship, and my adrenaline kicked in. I quickly pulled off the inhibitor collar and turned to the control unit, trying several switches to see if they would open Tammy and Terra's pods.
As I did, my dream-was-it-really-a-dream replayed in my mind. Had Kaldur kissed me? Had he really set me free? Or was it a trap and I was about to be surrounded and shocked to death my a hundred alien soldiers?
There was a loud hissing sound behind me, and I turned to catch each girl, one with each arm. But the weight was too sudden and I was still recovering, I fell flat on the floor.
"Nightingale!" I familiar voice hissed.
I looked up at what I thought to be a Manta Trooper upon first glance, but the face was Willow's.
"Wildfire!" I gasped.
She pulled me up and grabbed me in a fierce hug. "Oh my word, Emma, are you okay?" She whispered, afraid of anyone hearing.
"I'm great, but these two girls are not," I pointed to my fellow prisoners.
"And by the way, that suit makes you look totally cute and I'd love to know where you got it, and I have a few very strange dreams that I need to tell you about, but we have to get out of here!"
-------
The first thing Rachel feels is a falling sensation. Then her face smacks into the floor, and her keen ears catch the sound of three other bodies hitting the floor too.
"Rachel? Garfield? Are you alright?" Rachel is relieved at the soothing mental touch of her big sister as she pushes herself up.
"I knew you'd come," Garfield says, fighting off the same pain that Rachel is. Once on their feet, the twins are able to examine M'gann, and are surprised to find that she has shrunk down to their height!
"Thanks for the rescue!" Rachel looks past M'gann to Bridget and Bart, who have gotten up as well.
.
Bridget nods her gratitude, "We'll find Jaime and Sarah!"
"Impulse! Blur!" M'gann reaches after the speedsters, but they are gone in a blur. So impulsive.
Sighing, Beast Girl leads her brother and sister out into the hall of the alien ship.
"Which way?"
Gar, the better bloodhound of the two, sniffs the air for the familiar scent of the rest of their teammates, his nostrils growing huge! "This way!"
"You know, your nose looks really unappealing when you do that." Rachel giggles at Gar's appearance, running down the halls on all fours after her older twin.
Then turn the corner, and Beast Girl nearly crashes into Beast Boy.
"You!" Miss Martian growls viciously at a black, armoured form looming over the three of them.
"Murderer!" She screams as her eyes glow green.
Then Rachel sees who it is.
She faints, falling down again as Aqualad lets out a loud, inhumane scream and falls to his knees.
-------
"M'gann? Willow? Are you there?" Connor begs for an answer, for reassurance, but then he realizes that all the voices in the back of his head are gone.
"Link is down!" He yells over his shoulder to Batgirl as he runs for the exit, "I'm going in to check-"
Superboy is thrown back, and Batgirl, Robin, and Finch all assume defensive positions as they size up the monster who took out their biggest heavy-hitter.
"Apologies, meat, but no one goes anywhere."
-------
Willow carried Tammy, and I carried Terra, running down the halls towards the docking bay where the bioship was docked.
"Take a right!" Willow told me. I turned down a hallway, adrenaline and energy rushing through me as I quickly shocked two red alien guards in our path.
I skidded to a stop, spotting something in an adjacent hallway. Aqualad had fallen to the floor, M'gann had collapsed to her knees, and Garfield held his unconscious sister in his arms, looking between Aqualad and Miss Martian with great confusion. M'gann's face was crestfallen, and Aqualad's was empty. It didn't take too many brains to figure out what had happened.
I ran to M'gann's side in case Aqualad got up and tried to attack them again, and Willow followed, a dozen horrifying situations running through her mind.
The ninja-cat-girl came from the same direction Willow and I had. She gasped, spotting Kaldur and ran to his side.
I couldn't help but be jealous, lighting up my fist with electricity as she said his name so affectionately and knelt by his side. She looked at Miss Martian, guessing what had happened
Gar didn't seem to like the way that she was looking at his big sister. He leaped towards her, transforming into a tiger in mid air as the hallway filled with dark smoke, leaving only the mystery ninja girl's deep voice. "I'll take mine, you take yours. And count yourself lucky, sidekicks."
"Don't call us sidekicks," Willow coughed as the smoke cleared.
I helped Rachel stand up and Garfield shook M'gann's shoulder
"M'gann, you did good! You took out Aqualad! But the others still need our help." M'gann mutely nodded, and Gar helped Rachel to her feet.
"Who's that?" He asked me, looking starstruck at Terra, who still remained unconscious in my arms.
"Another abductee." I explained. Rachel moaned, looking slightly greener than usual as she leaned against Gar for support.
"Now come on! The others need our help!" Willow reminded us.
Beast Boy's nose led us the rest of the way to the dock. As we approached the door he turned into a gorilla, and Beast Girl turned into a jaguar, their favorite animals.
"Can't you get the link up?" I winced as Beast Boy yelled in my mind.
"Oh, thanks. Now get this door open!" He commanded Miss Martian.
"What's going on in there?" Beast Girl asked the others inside.
"I don't know, I'm cut off aboard the bioship!" Came Nightwing's frustrated reply.
"We're fighting some sort of alien soldier!" Finch explained. I pressed my ear to the door, hearing the grunts and thuds of a struggle.
Then there was a scream, a scream that made my insides freeze.
"Robin!" Finch cried. And then she was silenced too.
"Finch!" I screamed too late.
"Nightingale, they're alright, they're just- Superboy look out!" Cassie yelled a warning. Only a moment later there was a loud crash from inside the docking bay.
"Connor!" Willow screamed, not even bothering to use the mindlink. She ran forward with Tammy still in her arms. She took one fist, covered in fire, and began to pound on the alien door. But unlike the walls of the cave used to, this door would not yield.
"It's just Batgirl and me now!" Wonder Girl lamented.
Gar and Rachel turned to their blood sister, "Do something!" They both begged her.
"W-what?" M'gann asked dazedly.
"What?" Gar asked, outraged, "You know what; Density-shift!"
"Oh, right, right. I can still do that."
What did she mean by that? I gave the still-distressed Willow a confused look, and she shrugged, as if to say, "You're the detective here, not me."
M'gann floated forwards and began to phase through the door. She was about halfway through when her body went limp.
"M'gann!" The four of us cried.
-------
Sarah is panicking. No, not panicking, she is way past that and all the way off the edge into sheer terror.
She grits her teeth against the pain as they unleash another round of torture- sonic sound waves. She is barely keeping awake. The only thing that keeps her from blacking out is the fear that if she falls unconscious, she will never see her best friend again.
"While removing the scarab will kill this, "Jaime Reyes," meat is plentiful here." The alien soldier had said.
They were conquerors. Ruthless, merciless invaders. They cared nothing for human life, or any life at all, for that matter. They just wanted their "advance scout" and Jaime's scarab looking it's memory was a humongous dent on their plan to take over Earth.
And then there was Sarah's scarab too.
"How could a mere Earthling create even this simple knockoff of our own technology?"
"Neither the girl nor her scarab are as simple as you deem them to be, ambassador. It is an exact replica of our own technology."
Sarah had felt a surge of pride just then, but pride turned to terror when she realized that these aliens wanted to now reboot her scarab as well.
-------
The speedster twins race through the ship at lightning speeds, searching for their beetle teammates. No matter how much Bridgit acts in distaste for Sarah, she needs to help her. The future depends on it.
They zig-zag through the halls, vibrating through doors to check each room and move on to another.
Then they find them.
It's only half a millisecond, but half a millisecond gives Bridget and Bart a enough time to use that telepathic twin instinct to scan the room and come up with a plan to free Blue Beetle and Brass Beetle.
Blur takes out the Reach scientist, adding a few more blows than necessary in revenge for her family in the future. Impulse tears down the sonic beams shooting at Jaime and Sarah.
Both of them know which button to press. They've had to escape from these pods more times than they can count.
Bridget catches Sarah and Bart catches Jaime. Both beetles take a minute to wake up.
"You...You guys came for us..." Blue Beetle is astounded as Impulse loops his arm over his shoulder. "Why?" Brass Beetle is just as amazed as her friend.
Impulse nods at Blur. It's Time that they know.
"That's how it was- I mean, how it will be. Some how the Reach get you on-mode and Blue and Brass Beetle become the biggest baddest, big-bads in history." Bridget finds it hard to keep from crying as they recount their tale, remembering what monsters that these two would become. How much they had destroyed their home.
"No..." Sarah is in obvious denial.
"We wouldn't..." as is Jaime.
"But you do. And that's the reason-"
"The main reason we came back to the past." Bridget interrupts.
Bart is slightly miffed, but nods. "To keep you two from bringing on Reach Apocalypse"
-------
The moment Blue Beetle and Brass Beetle arrived with Blur and Impulse, the door to the docking bay mysteriously opened. Everyone on the team who had been trapped inside was unconscious, wounded, or both. Only Batgirl was still standing. But the huge Black Beetle standing in the middle of the room was disinterested in Barbra once he spotted Jaime and Sarah.
"Little brother, little sister, one way or another, I am putting you back on-mode. You are of The Reach."
Beast Boy and Beast Girl stopped to help Miss Martian and Impulse picked up Wonder Girl from where Black Beetle dropped her. Wildfire and I ran over to Batgirl, who scooped up tiny Bumblebee and brought her onto the bioship
Nightwing ran up to us, "What's going on?" He demanded as sounds of a fight echoed from the bay.
Barbra carefully took his hand and placed Karen in his palm, "Blue and Brass are keeping Black occupied. We'll drag everyone in. Once we're all in, you need to be at the helm, ready to make a fast exit."
"R-right." Richard said, looking slightly red, "Execute."
((Lol, trying to give you all ship hints here! XP))
I placed Terra on the floor next to Tammy. Those of us on the team who were able carried our unconscious comrades in from the docking bay, now flooding, probably due to collateral damage from the Beetles' fight.
The Beast Twins, in monkey form, swung in carrying Finch and Robin. I grabbed my brother and sister tightly, hoping I'd never have to let them go again.
Batgirl turned to Nightwing, "Everyone's aboard except Blue and Brass Beetle!"
Around us team members, who acted like a flood was a perfectly normal thing we experienced every day, abductees clung to each other, Trying to keep their feet from getting wet.
"Going back in for 'em!" Impulse yelled. He and Blur ran for the hatch, but a wave threw them back.
Willow screamed, and I used my wings to shield her from getting too much water. Staying dry was impossible at this point.
"Nightwing, seal the hatch, docking bay is flooding our hull!" I yelled.
"But what about Sarah and Jaime?" Beast Girl asked, holding Impulse and Blur
"We can't help them if we drown or get crushed by the pressure at this depth!" Batgirl chided her.
Naturally, Nightwing took off, releasing the water from the bioship and going back in camaflouge mode.
The dark waters around us lit up with lasers as the alien ship fired on us. Invisible, we dodged with ease, and Lagoon Boy spotted the Beetles floating in the water. He brought them on board and got the heck out of there.
Only then, did I relax.
"Emma!" Mara screamed when it was just team members in the cockpit. She hugged me around my waist, and wouldn't let me go. Barbra saw to Tim's bruise while Nightwing safely steered us away. Willow sat next to Connor- leaning her head on his shoulder, and Tim, Rachel, Gar, Bart, and Bridget greeted Jaime and Sarah as they woke up.
"Mission accomplished." Rick said, smiling at everyone. He stood up from the pilot's seat to give me a hug, even though Mara wouldn't let go.
"Care to take the controls, Miss M?"
La'gaan stood behind M'gann, who hadn't been "all there" since she fought off Aqualad (psychic battles can do that, you know).
Garfield chuckled nervously, "I think she's still basking in the glow of victory! She totally nailed out Aqualad! You should have seen it! Well, actually, it didn't look like much, but I'm sure it was very cool inside their heads!"
Rachel groaned, "I black out for a minute, and what happens? Something awesome happens!" She held her arms in the air, and let them drop to her sides.
Sarah chuckled, tugging Rachel's ponytail. "Welcome to the club, BG."
I laughed with the others, and Mara finally let me free to join Bridget, Sarah, and Rachel in a group hug
"Um, excuse me?" Tammy asked, appearing in the cockpit entryway, "Are you taking us home now, cuz I don't really want to go home."
Bridget looked up. "And you are?"
"Tammy."
All four girls looked up. "TAMMY!?!?!?"
-------
"By now they'll have moved their ship, and there's still the Beetle connection to figure out.. but you can tell the world they're here. Their secret invasion is no secret anymore." Nightwing finished as I took a long sip from my juice box. Being captured makes me thirsty.
"That would be an understatement."
Aquaman walked up next to Captain Atom and pressed a few buttons on the holographic keypad. A small news feed appeared in the corner of our screen, and Nightwing turned up the volume so that the rest of the team in the hall could hear.
"Repeating today's top story: a small group of extraterrestrials, the Reach, have arrived at the United Nations headquarters, in New York City. For more on this, we go live, to GBS's own G. Gordon Godfrey..."
I stopped listening. There's was absolutely nothing of any importance we could gain from this biased, egocentric, idiot.
"So before we warn the public, they go public." I growled through clenched teeth, squeezing my juicebox in my fist.
"It could be worse," Kaldur's old mentor pointed out. "At least we know where they are."
Richard nodded, defiantly pounding his fist into his palm. "That's right. We know what we're up against."
I looked at the floor, thinking about my-not-quite-dream of Kaldur.
Did we? Did we really know what we were up against?
If there's one thing I learned from Bruce, it was to never overestimate or underestimate anyone. Not your enemies, not your allies, not your assets, not the innocents, and especially not yourself.
Whew! One long, intense, suspenseful chapter. Done!