Mount Justice; September 22nd; 18:43 EDT
M'gann's ship was docked inside the cave on a platform above the small waterscape. Spider-Man was walking with Kid Flash in the hallway leading to the area. Kid Flash was eating a sandwich while Spider-Man ate a banana with the bottom half of his mask open to eat. "We have an entire cafeteria of food and you choose a banana?" Kid Flash asked him.
Spider-Man took a bite, "I wanna eat healthy." he said with his mouth stuffed.
"A sandwich is healthy." Kid Flash said as he pointed to the half eaten sandwich in his other hand.
"And I'm not that hungry, man." Spider-Man said and swallowed his banana.
Kid Flash took another bite, "So, we still down for later?" he asked.
Spider-Man nodded, "The deal's still happening tonight. And with the fact a symbiote is there with the biggest crime boss in history, I'm gonna need all the help I can get." Peter told him and took another bite. After what felt like an eternity, Kingpin called Harry and organized a deal for that night. At 21:00 EDT.
"Are you sure you're gonna be in the right place for this?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Spider-Man asked, not sharing a glance with Kid Flash.
"Well... For one, Harry is your best friend. He's dying. And he's gonna be there. You're basically ripping the one thing that could definitely cure him away from him. And two, Kingpin's gonna be there. Last time you guys met, he kicked your butt." Kid Flash explained.
"I was beaten to a pulp by Prowler before that. I'm gonna be in peak shape tonight. I'll be alright. And Harry... I don't know what I'm gonna do there." Spider-Man said. They finally walked into the area and saw M'gann and Connor standing in front of the hallway to the rest of the cave with Sphere near them. The two of them were pretty close.
Well that was probably from the fact they were dating now.
Peter wasn't surprised they were dating now. He was pretty much the first person Connor told when they kissed on that mission of theirs. Kid Flash didn't seem to know of their relationship though.
"Hey, guys!" Kid Flash called out as they headed up the stairs. They saw Superboy's motorbike behind them, "You two sure spend a lot of time working on his bike. Obviously, you need the Wall-man's expert help."
Connor, M'gann and Peter all shared a look and a small smile before Connor and M'gann patted Sphere.
Kid Flash walked over to the side of the bike and crouched by it. "Gotta say. You do know your bikes, Connor." he said. Spider-Man then saw in the corner of his eye, Kaldur walking up the stairs to them. "Torque wrench." Wally called out. M'gann used her telekinesis to float the tool over to his hand, "Thank you, Green-Cheeks." Kid Flash thanked enthusiastically.
Kaldur then spoke up, "I have been meaning to ask. Any problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?" he asked curiously.
"No." Connor said quickly and simply.
Spider-Man shook his head as he finished his banana at last, "Not really. I've been dealing with that for a while. I just deal with it on my patrols and stuff when I have free time."
"Juggling's just one of my many talents." Wally said pridefully with a slight chuckle, "Socket wrench."
M'gann gave it to Wally using her telekinesis as she answered Kaldur's question, "Cheerleading practice has presented a challenge." She then turned to Kaldur, "Oh, but my first loyalty is always to the team. This team, not the Bumblebees."
"Artemis starts school today. Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?" Kaldur asked.
"I believe in her. She'll be alright." Spider-Man said then threw his banana peel across the large room, straight into the trash can.
"What, did you give her tips or something." Wally laughed.
Spider-Man pulled his mask down, "Actually, yes." he said.
Everyone looked at him, "What? When?" M'gann asked.
"She comes over from time to time. We talk." Spider-Man answered. Everyone continued to just stare at him, all shocked by how much they talked, "What? We can't talk outside of hero-time?"
Wally stood up, "Back to the topic..." he said awkwardly, "Eh, she'll manage all right. I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can-"
Spider-Man's spider senses activated, "MOVE!" He did a backflip away just as large stream of later shot out from the water. One large stream hit the team.
All of them quickly got up. Kaldur activated his Water Bearers and M'gann flew over to Spider-Man's side.
More stream of water began shooting out towards them. Kaldur and M'gann began making their way up the stairs to M'gann's ship, but a stream of water attacked them as well.
Spider-Man dodged every shot of water coming at him, until he felt a blast of fire hit his back mid-air. He slammed into the ground and before he could get up a splash of water shot down onto him, knocking him out.
Later,
Spider-Man's eyes shot open. He began to take in his surroundings. He was still in Mount Justice. But now, he was stuck in some tough gray metallic or rock substance. He couldn't even move his arms or legs to break out.
"Already tried." Superboy said. Sider-Man looked to his right and saw him and Kid Flash stuck in the same substance. If Superboy couldn't get out. There was no chance Spider-Man could.
He groaned, "What happened?"
"Looks like Red Tornado has siblings." Wally told him then looked up.
Spider-Man looked in the same direction and saw a female Red Tornado with fire surrounding her. His eyes widened, "What the-" The robot then landed in what looked like a fire cage. Inside was an unconscious M'gann being held by Kaldur.
"How is she?" Spider-Man asked them.
"Unconscious. But she'll live. That's not enough fire to kill her." Superboy said. Spider-Man could tell he was pissed off. M'gann was his girlfriend after all.
Suddenly, another Red Tornado-android appeared, rising from the cave's naturally occurring water pond. It raised a hand to flood the dryland. Overtaking the stairs, and quickly rising up by Spider-Man, Kid Flash, and Superboy.
"9 minutes and 45 seconds." It said.
The three looked worriedly at each other as the water rose. The android, as if distracted, suddenly turned around and submerged itself back into the water.
"Out of all the things I thought I would die from, this was at the bottom of the list!" Spider-Man said, trying to reach his head higher so the water would reach him later.
"Drowning was at the bottom??" Wally questioned.
"Look, in my line of work, I'm more likely to die from SAND than water!"
Suddenly, they saw 2 people bursting from the water, gasping for air.
Robin and Artemis?
The fire android threw a fireball at the 2 heroes. "Look out!" Kid Flash quickly yelled out to them.
Both Artemis and Robin looked up and took a deep breath. They quickly dived underwater, dodging the fireball. They surfaced, but had to dive again to avoid another shot.
The three stuck heroes looked around as the female android continued searching for the loose heroes. The Robin and Artemis resurfaced right in front of them.
"You guys okay?" Robin asked quietly.
"Forget us." Connor snapped. "Help M'gann." They turned to the fire cage.
"Aqualad. Is she..." Artemis couldn't finish the sentence.
"She is unconscious." Kaldur shouted, "I fear she... We cannot survive much longer." he said with his voice breaking.
Fire was thrown at them again, forcing Artemis and Robin to duck under the water. They eventually came up at the stairs by Sphere, who was stuck in the wall.
The male Red Tornado android -Red Torpedo - stood out of the water, blocking them from it. The fire android - Red Inferno - landed at the top of the stairs to block their way up.
Artemis quickly pulled out an arrow from her quiver and turned to Robin, "I'm almost out of arrows."
"Distract her. Now." Robin snapped as he headed down the stairs. Whoa! Six minutes. What do we do now? We save them. That's how it works. Maybe that's how it's supposed to work...but those robots already took out our four superpowered friends. You seem distraught. Distraught? M'gann is dying.
Artemis fires her special tipped arrow at Red Inferno. They bounced off the robot. One ricocheting and coming close to Kid's head and into the water.
"Whoa." the teen Speedster mumbled lowly.
Red Torpedo raised his hands to form columns of water. Robin and Artemis backed away from their own enemies each faced on their side. Waiting for the moment the two are about to strike before they dived into the water.
The water and fire meet and screech into steam.
Robin and Artemis dived deep into the water. Robin ripped off a cover to the vent system, letting Artemis in first as she made her way to the first set of vertical pipes and followed them up.
Both broke the surface high in the mountain, gasping for air. They pulled themselves out of the water and into the dry vent.
"Six minutes." Red Torpedo called out.
"What do we do now?" Artemis asks worriedly.
"We save them." Robin said lowly, but even though he sounded calm. he very much was not. "That's how it works."
"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those robots already took out our four SuperPowered friends." Artemis snapped, sounding more and more angry.
"You seem distraught." the young hero commented.
"Distraught?!" she almost screeches. "M'gann is dying. We have no powers and I'm down to my last arrow. Of course I'm distraught!" she yells at the younger teen:
"Well get traught or get dead!" Robin finally lost it.
"How can you be so calm?" She asked as she followed him down the vent.
"Practice." Robin said with a light smile. "Been doing this since I was 9."
"What good is that now?" She replied. "What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?"
"Oh, duh..." He said slowly. He began to speak more lightly, "They're machines. And one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range."
Artemis gave a bright smile and a sarcastic, "Great!" But she was still annoyed. "Except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt. I know I don't have one in my quiver."
"I'm fresh out." Robin smiled, "But I'm betting we can make one." He brought a hand to his ear, "What do you say, KF? Doable?"
Kid Flash replied through the disc Robin through right next to Kid Flash's ear and was stuck in the hard substance, "Totally doable." he said with a smile.
"Five minutes." Red Torpedo suddenly said.
Kid looked down worriedly at the water level, "You know, if you had more time."
Later,
Robin pushed a panel open close to the floor, as he and Artemis stepped out. "Med Lab, X-ray machine." Kid instructed.
Robin made his way through the lab, staying slightly hunched.
"You'll find a small vacuum tube called a vircator!" Robin opens a panel on the X-ray machine. Finding what Kid's talking about. "that converts high energy pulses." Robin plugged his HoloGlove.
"Make sure they reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from X-rays to EMPs!" Spider-Man said quietly to Kid Flash.
"Right. Reprogram the unit's microwave conversion from X-rays to EMPs" Robin does as he said, then shuts off the Holo before reaching to take it out "with a Cascading energy vector directed outward." He turned it slowly before it pops out.
"A ripple effect," Robin realized. "Like dropping a stone in a pond.'
He opened the Holo again. "A stone with 10 to the twelfth power wattage," Kid recited with a joking tone. "Yeah."
"So, I'll need to hook it up to the Gave's main generator."
Artemis arched an eyebrow as Robin shut down the Holo. "Which is where?' she asked. He said nothing as he continues to look down.