A/N: May 26, 2014

TEMPEST

A scream split the thick silence.

Superboy, Miss Martian, and Artemis -and even I- all flinched. Captain Marvel (… Why was he still here?) restlessly tapped his foot and looked around nervously. Wolf whimpered and put its paws over its ears, which was a weird sight for such a large canine. Robin was the only one who didn't flinch but he tensed. We were sitting in chairs outside the Med-Bay. Inside, the last of the many surgeries for Whisper's arm was finishing. Unfortunately for him, he was a speedster, even with the inhibitor collar he had, which I never knew where he got anyway. That meant that any drug like anesthesia went out as quickly as it went in.

Still not understanding?

That meant that he had to endure the full pain of the surgery without any pain relief.

And it included screaming.

The Cave for the last ten days since the Injustice League battle in the Bayou Bartholomew has either been filled with screams or a sickening silence. No one had dared to speak even though it wasn't forbidden. It had started the day after we'd gotten back. A group of people including Black Canary, Flash, Superman, and Batman came in through the Zeta Tubes.

"Whisper," Batman had said. Whisper's face had fallen and I knew he knew what they wanted.

"It's time, huh," he muttered. Flash laid a hand on Whisper, who'd tensed, and he led Whisper away with the other people leaving only Batman and Black Canary.

'Those weren't heroes,' Robin said. He'd appeared next to my, his eyes carefully watching the direction the group had taken Whisper. But it wasn't an expression that said Whisper was in danger. More like… "If you hurt him, I will hurt you," Emphasis on the word 'if'.

"Then who were they?" M'gann whispered.

"What do you want with Whisper?" Conner asked bluntly. His arms were crossed.

Batman turned towards us. By this time, the remaining members of the Team had joined along with Captain Marvel. "His arm was injured during the fight yesterday. We called in some doctors to treat it."

Then the first of many screams started.

I started and then tripped and fell. When I looked around my ankles, I saw a bolas. Robin gave an apologetic look. As I undid the bolas, Artemis snarled, "What are they doing to him!?'

Batman gave her an unimpressed look but I thought I caught a hint of worry. "You of all people should the extent of Whisper's arm." From the way Artemis recoiled I knew she did.

"What about…" M'gann faltered, "what's it called…?"

"Anesthesia?" Superboy offered.

"Yes that, what about anesthesia? Isn't it supposed to numb the pain in… a surgery?" M'gann finished.

"That brings me to another subject." Batman said, "The Justice League has had experience treating speedsters. A speedster's power is accelerated everything, not just movements. Their thinking, heart rate, their internal systems."

"What you getting at?" Superboy asked.

A sliver of ice cold realization ran down my spine. "He means that drugs like anesthesia will just run through his systems like nothing and have no affect on him."

"Exactly," Batman confirmed, "Also, because of his accelerated speed, his arm may have healed itself incorrectly. The doctors will have to rip it open and repair it surgically. We've noted Whisper's healing rates and come to the conclusion that as soon as they try to set the tendons, muscles, bones, ect. In place, it will heal too fast. The only way we could see to heal it was to do multiple surgeries over a span of time. With each one, we'll fix it part by part so he'll heal it in those parts correctly bit by bit."

"What happens to the other parts?"Artemis pressed.

'They heal incorrectly and then they get cut open another time.' Robin said.

There was a moment of silence as we processed what was going to happen.

"I don't know what just happened," Batman said, "but I have a feeling Robin told you what would happen." He started to walk away. "Black Canary is your den mother for the time being. I'll see you again."

"So this is where you six went," Black Canary's voice rang out through the hallway.

"We were waiting for it to finish," Artemis said.

"Well you're late for your training session that has happened for the past week at 4:30."

We all winced (minus Robin). Black Canary took her training seriously. We had no excuse to miss it, especially since we have been doing it for the past week, same time same place.

"You have my apologies," I said and everyone (again, minus Robin) followed suit.

She just sighed, lifting her head towards the direction of another scream. "You're in luck," she said a glint of humor on her face, "I can't make you do them for more two hours, which I would've done if this was a normal day."

What was she talking about? Were they letting us go after Red Tornado? We'd wanted to since he'd turned on us in late September, but we'd held back against our protests of going after because it didn't seem right for Whisper not to go. But, that didn't mean that we'd probably take the chance to go if they let us go- with or without Whisper. Actually, the three JL protégés (or not so much in Superboy's case) would probably hesitate on not letting Whisper in, but Robin and I would convince them. Whisper would want us to go. He'd probably even ask for us to drop Red Tornado off a cliff or something for him.

"Are you letting us off probation on Red Tornado's case?" M'gann voiced my thoughts.

"No," Black Canary replied, starting towards the Mission Room. Superboy growled angrily at her response. The rest of us looked at each other and followed her. We made it just in time to hear the fading voice of the Zeta-Tube announcer saying, Zatanna Zatara, A03, Authorization Zatara, 11.

"Hi, Zats!" Captain Marvel said, waving his arm in a greeting.

Zatara was in his signature formal attire of many layers of clothes with a top hat and gloved hands holding a black magician wand. He scowled at the red-clad hero. "Please refrain from calling me that," Then, using his magician want, he gestured towards us. "Zatanna, this is the Team," Then he pointed it to a pretty, young girl, about Robin's age. She wore a formal schools' uniform: this one consisting of dark overcoat and skirt, a single breasted, white blazer, and a bolo tie. She had dark, mid-length hair and a slender build. "Team, this is my daughter, Zatanna."

Miss Martian floated down in front of Zatanna, and I instantly noticed she'd changed into mission attire. "Hi! I'm Miss Martian." She turned to face the rest of us and said pointed to each person, "That's Wolf, like an actual Wolf, Artemis, Tempest, Superboy, and…" Her voice trailed off. "Where's Robin?"

The Team instantly looked at me, including Black Canary while the magicians (I assume Zatanna is a magician as well) looked confused. "I'll go look for him!" Captain Marvel shouted eagerly, flying off.

I shrugged. "I do not know where Robin is. He is probably still at the Med-Bay though." I turned to Zatanna. "I apologize for my friend's rudeness. Another friend just recently got hurt so Robin is likely waiting for his surgery to finish." As if on cue, a scream cut the air. I tried to make a welcoming smile despite it. "But, welcome to the Cave."

Zatara looked alarmed. "What was that?" He asked Black Canaray. She sighed, rubbing her temples, and took Zatara away to explain what it was.

It was just us and Zatanna.

She looked alarmed as well. "That was your injured friend?"

Artemis snorted. "Yep. His name's Whisper. The idiot got himself injured badly." If it was anyone else, I would've yelled at them, but I knew that was just Artemis' way of coping. Also, she'd spent longer time waiting outside the Med-Bay with worry than any of us, not that she'd admit it.

Zatanna frowned. "But why is he screaming?"

"He's a speedster. A speedster's power is accelerated everything, not just speed. Their thinking, heart rate, internal systems. If a speedster is injured, his or her healing may heal it incorrectly in a flash. Whisper's arm was twisted a full 360° and then untwisted. Even though it was untwisted, it healed incorrectly. When a surgeon cuts it open to try to set the tendons, bones, ect., they'll just heal back. Due to that, the Justice League has concluded that if they do multiple surgeries, each one setting a part of the arm back correctly while the other parts heal. Unfortunately, the accelerated systems mean that anesthesia doesn't work on speedsters so Whisper has to endure the full pain." Superboy said robotically as if he was reading off a textbook and Batman's speech that he gave us eight days ago.

There was a lull as we half processed, half stood there in surprise because Superboy has never said that much before. Dimly, I imagined Whisper waving his hands in the air and screaming, "He's aliiiiiiiiiiiive!"

"So…" Miss Martian started timidly, "Are you joining the Team?"

Zatara suddenly appeared. "Let's not be too hasty. This is strictly a visit." He added stress to the word 'visit.' "Though I am sorry we missed your training. Zatanna could benefit from it."

"Don't feel that bad," Black Canary smirked, "The Team actually missed the training too,"

"We're sorry," we chorused again, "It won't happen again,"

"Why don't you give Zatanna a… tour," Zatara said, faltering. We looked around to see her on her knees giving Wolf a belly rub.

"Hey, I couldn't find Robin-" shocker, "but are you giving a tour?" Captain Marvel asked excitedly, flying back into the Mission Room.

We all exchanged looks. We'd been secretly planning to get back at the Reds since they attacked us on the September 22, but had to do it in a most clandestine fashion because we practically lived and breathed Justice League- the very people we didn't want to know that we were plotting to go after the Reds. We'd even worked on Superboy's anger about Red Tornado's betrayal and keeping it down so it wouldn't seem like we wanted to go after them. Even with Whisper down, this was as much of a time as any.

"Actually," Superboy started in a warm voice, "I'd love it if you took Wolf out for a walk. He really needs the exercise."

"Sure, sure, I'd love too!" Captain Marvel whistled. "C'mon, Wolf!" he shouted at the canine as he walked off.

The rest of us started walking past the Kitchen and the Lounge. "We're not really taking a tour are we?" Zatanna asked in an exasperated voice. I looked at her and rose an eyebrow. She'd changed out of her uniform and was wearing a casual light violet tank top and white pants.

Superboy looked at me as if asking my permission to tell her, and I nodded. "No. We're going after that robot." he said determinedly.

We stopped. "Oh, wow, secret rebellion against the league," Zatanna said. I guess she heard how the league had firmly expressed Red Tornado was Justice League issue.

"You're, you're not going to tell, are you?" Miss Martian asked worriedly.

"I can't tell," Zatanna said matter-of-factly, "Not if you… kidnap me."

Artemis smirked. "Oh she's going to fit in great."

We all boarded the Bio-Ship. The rest of us had changed into our mission attire, but Zatanna remained unchanged. Robin had remained incognito but when the Bio-Ship was in flight, I saw him sitting calmly in a seat. Zatanna took a seat next to him and swiveled around to face him. He merely looked at her with his eyes when she moved, but then looked back out the all around windows.

"So," Zatanna said, resting her elbow on the dashboard and her head in her hand. "You're the mysterious Robin," Said person looked at her again and nodded.

"He's mute," Superboy said bluntly. Robin rolling his eyes at that and how Zatanna's face turned shocked. He looked at Miss Martian and tapped his temple. She smiled and then said, "Alright, it's up,"

'Just ignore Superboy when he's like that,' Robin's voice rang through our minds. Zatanna's eyes were wide. She looked at Robin who merely smirked. He crossed his legs in a lotus position and said, 'I don't mind being mute anyway. It's easier being nonchalant or staying traught when you can't talk.'

Zatanna's shock was wiped away and she rose and eyebrow. "Oh, and what's the problem with being chalant or distraught?" I swear if Robin wasn't wearing a facemask he'd have a grin rivaling the Joker's.

'For the time being, you and I are going to get along great.' Dear Neptune, if Robin gets 'inspired'… the chaos those two will create…

"M'gann?" Black Canary's voice rang out from the Martian's comm.-link. "The Bio-Ship wasn't authorized for departure,"

"We're kidnapping Zatanna!" Miss Martian said a little too happily for a kidnapper. "I mean to show her around Happy Harbor." She amended.

"Well, alright then," Black Canary said uncertainly, "Have fun,"

'Good,' Robin said, 'We have them off our backs now. I assume that Batman has been looking in every logical place for T. O. Morrow, who we assume is the one who built the Reds. If Batman, one of the world's greatest detectives, can't find them in logical places, we need to find illogical solutions- a really dumb idea.'

The empty seat behind Robin suddenly seemed so much more empty, if that was even possible.

Artemis groaned. "Where's the idiot when you need him?"

"What about Ivo?" Superboy suggested randomly.

We all looked at him.

He shrugged. "What? It's plausible. We thought first thought it was T. O. Morrow that built Amazo. What's to say that Ivo might know something about T. O. Morrow?"

We pondered that. "It's possible," I concluded. "It's our only lead. Where is he?"

"At Belle Reve Penitentiary," three voices said in unison- Miss Martian, Superboy, and oddly, Robin.

For some reason, I felt like Robin had a fascination with Belle Reve Penitentiary. There was a jump in his step and his eyes kept darting everywhere. Regardless, I led our group through the grey halls and to an electric double door. They slid open with a beep and we entered a room furnished in dark brown, a stark difference to the grey. A tall, Caucasian man wearing all black met us. He was bald but had sideburns meeting his trimmed beard. Robin snapped to attention and started staring intently at the man.

"Warden Strange," Miss Martian greeted authority. I realized with a jolt that this was Hugo Strange.

"Ah, Miss Martian, was it?" Strange said. He looked over her shoulder. "And Superboy. To what do I owe for this pleasure?" Despite his words, he didn't look pleased to see us at all.

"We need to see Professor Ivo," Superboy said.

Strange blinked. "You need to see who?" Robin narrowed his eyes. What was his fascination with Belle Reve? It was making me uneasy…

"Professor Ivo," Superboy repeated. "You know, that guy that got sent here because he built the Amazo robot. And those stupid monkeys…" he added in a mutter, "I hate monkeys."

If Strange heard those last two sentences, he didn't show it. "Why?"

Miss Martian's eyes narrowed. "Does it really matter? We just want to talk with him for a bit. It shouldn't be a problem being we're connected to the Justice League so you won't be expecting us to be helping with another prison break attempt." Smart, remind him of how she and Superboy stopped the prison break.

It seems Strange caught that hint as well. "Five minutes," he said sharply, finally. He walked to his desk and hit a button. "Guards, send Prisoner Ivo to Interrogation Room, Level 1." Then he turned back to us. "The guards will show you the way."

We followed said guards, but for a moment I thought I was going to have to scour the place for Robin (who'd disappeared) and drag him out of the room despite him being fully capable of taking me down. Fortunately, Robin appeared behind us at the very last second as the doors to Strange's office closed. I doubt the others even realized he'd left.

"What were you doing?" I demanded of him. He gave me a slightly surprised look (and I realized it was from the unusual harsh tone of my voice) and then smirked. That's for me to know and for you to not. I sighed. That's just Robin, I suppose I should accept this by now seeing it's been four years.

The guards led us through a hallway and then directed us to a small room. The floors and walls were dark and the lights were covered by a shade enforced by rectangle frames on the ceiling. Ivo sat in an orange jumpsuit and inhibitor collar sitting in a black chair at the head of a black table.

Miss Martian slammed her hands down on the table and Superboy took a threatening stance next to her. "Warden Strange owned us a favor for stopping last month's prison break. He's given us five minutes with you.

"Spill, Ivo! How do we find T. O. Morrow and his Reds?" Superboy demanded. I was impressed. Those two had grown since I'd first met them.

Ivo gave them a disdainful look. "Now why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?"

"Because," Artemis jumped in, "You're Morrow's biggest competitor. What better way to find information about someone than through their enemy?"

"Ah, I see your point," Ivo said, folding his hands, "So let me rephrase: why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?"

"He knows," I said. I turned to Miss Martian. "Do what you must,"

Her eyes glowed teal and Ivo laughed. "Oh please, as if I've never faced a telepath before."

I frowned. "Zatanna, do you have a spell that could…?"

As if to answer my question, the approaching girl leaned down and said, "Trulb tuo S'worrom eurt noitacol!"

Instantly, Ivo said as if he was reading out of a textbook, "Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Yellowstone National Park, one hundred meters south of Old Faithful." Then the realization of his actions dawned upon him. "Wait! What just happened?"

While everyone stared at Zatanna in surprise, discreetly, Robin tapped me. I glanced at him and he moved his eyes. I followed them with my own and mentally frowned. He'd seen Strange's security cameras. I rose an eyebrow in his direction, asking what he wanted me to do about it. He frowned and shrugged. Nothing I suppose, I guess I just thought you should know.

After that we left the room and the guards entered taking Ivo. Towards the exit, Strange escorted us out. "Always a pleasure, come again." He said shortly and slammed the doors behind us.

"Well, he certainly sounded delighted to have us," Artemis huffed.

"I thought he was charming," Zatanna admitted.

We all stared at her.

She gave us a look of disbelief. "You actually thought I was telling the truth?"

'We need to stop at Old Faithful first,' Robin said.

We all stared at him. "Why?" Artemis asked.

He held up a camera. 'I need to take a picture of it erupting for Whisper.'

We gave him a dumbfounded look. Superboy blinked. "So… A picture of a geyser that erupts every ninety-one for Whisper is more us getting revenge on Red Tornado?!" he ended angrily.

Robin shrugged as if to say, "What can you do about it?"

I rubbed my temples. "How about we just take the longer way? We'll pass above Old Faithful and drop Robin off their. Then we'll head towards T. O. Morrow's base without Robin." I looked at him. "You can manage one hundred meters, right?"

He gave me a hurt look. 'Of course! I'm offended you doubt me.'

"Right, right," I agreed, "Robin can manage everything himself."

He glared at me. 'And don't you forget it,'

"Woah, there," Zatanna said, "Egotistical much?"

Robin grinned. 'Of course not. I'm tistical.'

We all boarded the Bio-Ship then. After dropping Robin off (who left with a smirking salute and then just dropping out a hole in the Bio-Ship) we sped off for Yellowstone National Park. There were many mountains, and by this time, the sun had set and the only light was from the moon. "Block out all external communications. Soon Black Canary and Zatara, Batman too I imagine, will know of our… visit to Professor Ivo. We haven't much time." I said. I turned to Zatanna. "What are your limits?"

"My limits?" Zatanna repeated, confused.

"Can you teleport us to Morrow's hideout? Can you blow up the Reds? Can you send Morrow to a cell? Can you-" Artemis listed.

"-create world peace forever?" Zatanna finished, understanding now. "No. Even my father can't do that and I'm nowhere near his level. To perform a spell, I need to know it hands down, or at least have time to prepare it. Also, all magic needs power which usually comes from within."

"What spells do you know?" I asked.

"Well, as you saw, I can do interrogation easily. I can also make some illusions and levitate people. That's all I can think about right off the bat, but I'm sure I can do a bit more."

I absorbed the information, filing it away for later use. "Then I'll lead you to do what you need until the time comes." She nodded in acknowledgement.

Right on cue, Miss Martian stood up stating, "We're here."

"About time!" Superboy snarled practically ripping the seatbelt off.

I stood up as well and stopped him. "Hold, Superboy,"

"Why? We need to get back at Red Tornado! He's a traitor! Don't you believe that?!"

As Miss Martian started to land the Bio-Ship, I faced Superboy's enraged face and said, "I believe that Red Tornado deserves a second chance to prove himself not to be the weapon he was designed to be." While Superboy mulled that over we finally landed in a mountainous, pine forest with a rugged terrain. "Stealth Mode," I ordered even though my mission outfit already is in stealth mode. I start walking towards the exit with the other's following in stealth mode, but Zatanna was already there.

"If you're coming along," I said, "I suggest you change your clothes."

She smirked and said, "Emit ot yrt eht wen kool!" Smoke spiraled from her feet to her head, enveloping her, and when it faded, she stood wearing three layers. The first was a white shirt. The second was a low cut yellow vest. And, the third was black blazer. Around her neck was a white bowtie, and on her hands were white gloves. She wore black mini-shorts, grey stockings, and black boots on the lower half of her body.

I decided to just say, "Perfect," What else was I supposed to say?

We exited the Bio-Ship and started running towards the mountain. I wished Robin was here so he could check if there actually was something under there, but he wasn't. I was suddenly aware of the lack of Whisper's and Robin's presence. I'd been with them for so long that not being with them was like being on crutches.

A flash of red caught my eye making me stop. I looked up and saw Red Tornado just floating, doing nothing. The others stopped upon my halt. "Red Tornado," Superboy growled. I shot him a warning look to calm down but he didn't seem to notice it.

"Why are you doing this?" Miss Martian asked. His response was to lift his arms and summon two tornados. The wind instantly started to whip around and my eyes started to sting from the restless dust. Then, the two tornados split and more seemingly sprouted from the ground until we faced a wall of twisters. And then I saw it. Carved into the earth were two words: PLAY DEAD

'Message received,' Miss Martian said.

Keeping up the pretense of hatred towards the robot, Superboy yelled, "Who cares why? Get him!"

He jumped up throwing a punch at the robot. Red Tornado easily blocked it and threw him back down. Artemis shot some arrows, but it was pointless. Red Tornado controlled wind. Why would you throw projectiles at him? He proved me right by stopping them without moving and sending them flying back down at the archer. The explosion caught Miss Martian in the blast leaving both Artemis and Miss Martian out. Three down, two to go. Twisters surrounded Zatanna and collided to her, but I heard her say "Etaerc a dleihs dnuora ym ydob!" The twisters crashed down on her, but when they faded they revealed an unharmed Zatanna.

Red Tornado sent more twisters after Zatanna and then went after me. He created one giant twister that surrounded me. As soon as it started closing in I realized his intentions. He wants to suffocate me! Frantically, I waved my water-bearers to gather the water in the atmosphere in an attempt to create a pillar so it could push me through the top, but I ran out of time.

"Tempest-!" Zatanna cried out, getting cut off with a choke before she could say more.

Robin

Snap!

The flash of the Polaroid camera was the brightest thing around here so I momentarily blinded when I took the picture. When the black dots faded, I took a look at the picture. It wasn't that bad. Old Faithful's eruption was at its peak and the fading sunset in the background reflected a myriad of warm colors. I blinked. How oddly, some-what poetic of me. Great, I was turning into a sap like Whisper.

He better like his picture.

Anyway, I pocketed the picture in one of my inner pockets (if I put it where my weapons where it would get damaged and I'd have wasted a perfectly good ten minutes) and headed on my way to where the others went. If I remember correctly, Ivo said Morrow's hideout was 100 meters south. I looked in the direction of the sun, turned left 90 degrees and started running in that direction.

I spotted the Bio-Ship and knew I was in the right place. I kept to the forest and saw the Team on the terrain with Red Tornado approaching them. I stopped, tensing, ready to jump in if they needed help.

"Why are you doing this?" Miss Martian yelled. Red Tornado summoned his tornadoes and I instantly noticed the message: PLAY DEAD.

Well, they had that handled. No doubt that Morrow would figure it out and there'd be hell to pay for Red Tornado, but we'd deal with that when the time comes.

Anyway, I ran to the foot of the mountain and ran my hands along the rock. How the heck do you enter? I bet the Reds had no problem getting in and out of the mountain with their elemental powers, but there has to be an opening for the human, Morrow.

There! I grinned. I rapped my knuckle on a specific rock. The sound that resounded was different than the surrounding rocks. Now, I could easily find the switch near the rock to reveal and open the door. or, I could just destroy it. But if I destroy it, then there's a chance I'd break the door and prevent me being even able to enter. If I just find the switch then the entrance would be revealed and it'd open cleanly and nicely.

Eh, I'll just destroy it. So much simpler.

I withdrew a kunai and stabbed the rock hard. It cracked with the first stab (proving it wasn't really a rock by cracking so easily) and lashed at it several more times. It broke apart and I squatted, balancing on the balls of my feet to wait for Morrow's hideout to appear. Sure enough the rocks on the wall crumbled to finally show metal double doors. As per usual with technical, metal double doors, there was a panel for entering codes at eye-height (or in my case as tall as me). Pulling out my holo-computer, a quickly bypassed all the firewalls, and the doors opened with ease. It revealed a long corridor as wide as the two doors. It was crudely made, just a carving into the mountain with only the floor somewhat smooth. I ran inside and in a my rush nearly ran into the back of the Reds. I scampered back behind a wall, cursing my stupidity, just in time for them to turn around. I stuck to the shadows and looked around. Everything was made of grey metal. Lights hung from the ceiling somehow, machinery climbed up the walls, an operating table lay in the center with monitors surrounding it-

Bingo.

I smirked and ran behind one of the monitors. I backed up so I was still in the shadows and scanned the monitors, once again wishing for Whisper's eyesight. Was there any way to get access its information...? I thought, Ah, there.

So, what's their plan... I frowned. That's their plan? To kill all humanity and repopulate the world with Red robots?

That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard.

After briefly reading their plan, I connected the holo-computer to the monitor, wincing at the little bell chime that pinged, announcing that the download was complete, but thankfully, the Reds didn't appear to hear me.

A boom rattled the mountain. I stiffened. What the heck is going on? I was about to dart out when Red Tornado whirled in. It stopped in front of the other two. "We need to stop him." Red Tornado said. I felt for a button in one of my pockets and hit it.

"Why?" a woman's voice said, "Once we believed we lived. Now there is only Red Inferno and Red Torpedo." Oh, that's helpful. Why should we help humanity when we were never human?"

"The premise of your question is wrong." Red Tornado countered, "You were never human, but you were always heroes." That caught their attention. The two Reds looked at each other and I knew that they were sold. I hit the button again. Maybe that conversation would be useful at some point. Probably not though.

After the Reds left, I ran through the same way I'd entered and rounded the corner. I sighed, rubbing my eyes. I was greeted by what looked like hell at exploded. Magma practically covered the mountain and a crevice had opened in the earth along with multiple cracks. A third unknown robot stood on a plateau in the middle of the lava lake it'd created.

I scowled. Who was that robot? I wasn't informed of its existence-

Screams interrupted me. Walls of earth rose from the ground and rushed to slam the Team down. I stared at the walls unimpressed for a moment and then ran over and jumped on the wall. Planting a bomb quickly, I was off as soon as I was on. It exploded and only small rocks hit Zatanna. 'Miss Martian?' I tested. A moment later a felt the mind-link connect and I said, 'What's the status of everyone's condition?'

'Well, considering I'm able to talk to you, brat, I'm alive!' Artemis retorted.

'Arty, charming as ever,' I responded, 'What about you, Tempest, Zatanna, Superboy, Miss Martian?'

'Superboy and I are good,' Miss Martian said for both of them.

"I'm alive," Zatanna said both aloud and mentally. She still wasn't used to the mind-link.

'... Tempest.' I said harshly. Where was he!? Respond!

'I am currently hanging off a cliff in a canyon,' He said hesitantly.

I swore. 'Why the hell haven't you said anything before!?' I snapped at him, 'Miss Martian, show me where you two are. I'll take you're place. Look for Tempest and get him off that ledge.' I could feel everyone's mental shock but I ignored it. Whisper and Tempest were the closest to family I had. Whisper was down and under pain, I couldn't let Tempest even get hurt.

'We see you!' Miss Martian said. I looked around and saw them. I ran over to them and yelled for Miss Martian to start searching for Tempest. In the background, I heard Tempest leading her towards him, but I ignored it to focus on the robot.

'Who is this?' I asked.

'No idea,' Superboy finally said something.

And of course, the only thing he says is wonderfully useful. 'Then what do we know about it,' I nearly snapped out. I was getting aggravated with my lack of information and Tempest and Whisper and my stupid team.

'It can control earth and lava or magma,' Zatanna stepped in.

'Don't forget, what Red Tornado knows, he knows.' Tempest added. That was good. Whisper, Tempest, and I never really ever went all out so it doesn't know the extent of Tempest or my abilities. I glanced at Zatanna. And, Red Tornado never met Zatanna. Despite this, we should Zatanna should fight the least as a wild card. I thought, And we can't rely on the maneuvers we were taught by Black Canary. I sighed. It's still help with Whisper. And, most of us are physical attackers- fighting against metal will be... difficult. Artemis' arrows are useless, and most of my weapons are meant for living things. I smirked and started collected the required materials. But a robots, a robot, and robots are just advanced computers.

"Meat bags, where are you?" a harsh mechanical voice resounded. I waved my hand backwards, telling the team to hide in the trees. In an instant, they vanished from view and my sight was blocked by foliage. "Hmph, I guess I'll just have to exterminate you." Immediately a flood of magma rose and swelled and charged forward. Sudden realization dawned upon me and I nearly screamed. Tempest and Miss Martian were still there!

'Miss Martian-!'

'We're fine!' Tempest and Miss Martian shouted back in unison.

'Good, get to the woods. Are you guys affected by the heat at all?'

'We're fine, just a bit fatigued,' Tempest replied.

The tsunami was lava was approaching fast, and I really didn't want my hands bloodied with the destruction of a national park. I've done a lot of things that don't need to be named and escaped government punishment, but a national park? Destroying the national park would have the entire America after me! I probably die before they got me from my paranoia levels rising so much!

I checked my items- what looked like a mess of wire and metal- and was satisfied. It was set to transmit a virus that was kill all the robot's software no matter where it entered. Then I launched myself out. 'Robin!' The others all shouted. I wanted to roll my eyes. So what if I was jumping in a lake of lava? It could be worse.

The air was shivering from the heat, slightly blurring my vision, and the heat also was starting to make me sweat. Even though it was night, the lava gave off a fiery red light that illuminated the area. Regardless, I kept my balance on the small rocks, moving quickly thought. I felt the air move as Miss Martian tried to approach me from behind. When she tried to grab me and pull me up, I rolled like I was doing I cartwheel in place and kicked the air. My foot hit and Miss Martian recoiled. She made a small shriek of pain.

'Robin!' Superboy growled, warningly. I scoffed. Hadn't I already proved I could beat him when Black Canary first came?

Tempest sighed. 'Leave him, Superboy. He has a plan. And besides, if he wants to die, let him.' How suitably cold, Tempest. I thought dully, Something's changed with you. And I'm going to find what it is.

The robot spotted me finally, then, and the lava rose to try to overtake me. I took out two grappling hooks and jumped up, shooting one at the plateau the robot- who I am now dubbing Earth-Robot- was on. A spark of fire burst at the end of the line and started running towards me, but that was fine. That grappling hook had served its purpose and propelled me forward. I cut the line and sent the second one at Earth-Robot's eyes. It landed in its left eye, broke the glass, and caught itself in the robot's head, its eye's light flickering out. Without flinching it, it reached to rip the hook out. I hit the retract button to go faster. I should really pack more than two grappling hooks, I made a mental note.

The hook was ripped out, but I made it. I tugged on the rope to give me a boost and leaped the best I could while doing it not on a surface. Somehow though, I barely made it to the ledge, my fingernails nearly being torn off as I scrabbled for a solid grip. From the corner of my eye, I saw a red figure moving. Pushing the slight exhaustion down, I got a grip and flung my self so both my legs swung at Earth-Robot in a side kick with the only effect of him sliding.

I swore. Duh! Robot! Made of metal? No nerves? Ring a bell, Robin?

No, Robin, your excellence ninja bird, I haven't heard of this! Care too explain it?

... That sounded too close to Whisper than to my liking.

...Not a word of this to anyone.

Agreed!

Shut up.

Killing the thoughts that mimicked Whisper, I made the first move and struck a kunai in one of the joints of Earth-Robot's armpits. Then, when it tried to grab me, I dropped down, zoomed between its legs, and then tackled it from behind.I planted a small bomb in another joint, this time in the neck, and bent my neck as far away as I could so I wouldn't be blinded by the blast. It let off a sharp pop and lo and behold, Earth-Robot's armor was uncovered. Then I planted my device on in the opening just as Earth-Robot managed to grab my legs and throw me over its shoulder. This time, I let Miss Martian snatch me without any complaints. I hung limp in her grasp as she hurriedly flew to the safe the trees.

Once we reached the trees, I was smothered by Tempest. "Don't do that again," he murmured. I rolled my eyes.

'What did you do to it?' Artemis asked incredulously. Tempest's grip loosened. I instantly took the opportunity to free myself, and turned in the direction she was looking. A huge chunk of the Earth-Robot's neck had been blasted out making its head lean precariously forward. It's eyes were flickering with the effort to stay... online? Is that the word? Whatever.

'I created a virus that would shut that down.' I replied, turning away. It was finished.

'Well, it doesn't look shut down!' Artemis shouted. What?

I spun back around. Earth-Robot's head rose, twitching. The wires whipped out as they somehow repaired themselves. I swore. How had I underestimated it?! Ugh, I blame this stupid 'team.' It probably made me more confident and relaxed after all the easy missions.

'Now what?!' Artemis exclaimed, whirling to me.

I crossed my arms and sat down, lotus position. 'Now, we're screwed,'

'You're just giving up?' Tempest asked in disbelief.

I shrugged. 'Sure. I know my limits.'

'So, you're leaving us to die!?' Superboy nearly roared.

I rolled my eyes. 'I'm going to die to. Besides, you are free to take Artemis and leave. Tempest and Miss Martian can get away no problem.'

'We aren't leav-'

'Fine. I don't like it, but fine.' Tempest interrupted Miss Martian. Hmm, that's weird. I'm surprised Tempest didn't just grab me and take me away with the others. And his voice, it was oddly distant. Not cold like trying to block out the feeling, or even sad like he knew I was right. Wonder what that's about... Maybe it's just an off day for him, but you never know.

Anyway, I was totally ready for death. Death is inevitable. If I was going to die, I was going to die. And, it seemed like now was the time.

Just as the lava was going to hit hit the trees, something slammed into my abdomen and then my vision flew backwards as I was dragged up. I looked to my right and saw, to my surprise, Red Tornado. "Are you alright, Robin?"

Perfect, fine, just dandy, I wanted to reply, but settled with a nod. Also, I thought you'd turned evil or whatever because of your programming. What happened to that? It couldn't be possible that he'd broken the control through sheer will? My eyes narrowed a bit at the thought. Impossible. Robots don't have emotions.

But, I don't forget. I remember quite clearly fainting from asphyxiation. That'd been proof he'd been programmed to turn on us, but yet here Red Tornado was. Rescuing me from death by burn.

I'll have to make of a note of this.

A loud boom shook the air and disrupted my thoughts. Smoke started billowing from the volcano. I swore. It was going to erupt. That reminds me... Oh yeah, Earth- Robot's plan... EARTH-ROBOT'S PLAN!

Hastily, I freed my arm from Red Tornado's grasp and started typing rapidly (I may be all for world domination, but I happen to like the world and would rather it not be a nuclear wasteland.) Without a voice to get Red Tornado's attention, I shoved the screen in his face. You need to vent off the pressure of the volcano so we don't have a nuclear winter. I know there's more to it but whatever! We're kind of in a hurry here, and science is more Whisper's thing.

While he was reading that, I said, 'Artemis, you need to create openings-'

'Brat, you are so lucky that Red Inferno and Red Torpedo-' Ah, so those were the names of the other two robots- '-just melted Red Volcano.' And that robot too. 'Also, I kinda need to know where to shoot!'

I almost growled in frustration. Artemis, I don't have time for your attitude! I took a deep breath and typed, I need you to drop me near Artemis.

"What about venting-"

This time, I did growl. I squirmed and dropped myself from the sky. Artemis let out a screech when I landed nearly an inch away from her. 'Here, here, and here,' I snapped projecting a map of the pressure points. She glanced at it briefly and then shot the spots accurately. Right on cure, Red Tornado flew upwards right into the swirl of clouds. Wind whipped up and circled around us, obscuring my hearing with loud whistling. The smoke and ash that had been accumulating in the sky, swirled in the direction of the wind. All the smoke and ash funneled through the tornado and the lava on the volcano noticeably darkened, proof it was cooling. Red Tornado nearly crashed to the ground as he returned.

'I can fix whatever programs Morrow had installed. Superboy, bring Tornado back into the lab.' Superboy set Red Tornado on the table and I immediately got to work. Shortly after, I was finished.

"I can speak again." Red Tornado said. Way to state the obvious.

"You saved the planet," Tempest began."

"The planet would've survived. It was humanity that was saved. And not by myself but by my brother and sister. They were the true heroes this day."

I sighed and wandered off. While the Team finally came to the realization that Red Tornado wasn't the mole and he wanted to become more human, I would go explore. Hmm… So much to have. I'd just take it all. I grabbed a bag and started stuffing everything and anything in it. Exploring also left me to my thoughts. Whisper was fine. Everything was going to plan. Tempest was under watch. The League Team was slowly growing but still ignorant. Zatanna looked like she was becoming a permanent part of the Team soon. While I supported the idea, that meant more work for me, work that I couldn't let myself be distracted by.