Bluejay: The Protégé of Black Canary

Ivo's Lair

Hey! Lava Girl!" Artemis shouted tauntingly.

I heard a thunk and the next thing I saw was an arrow shaft protruding from one of his eyes. The robot roared, and we could feel the temperature around us spike at his outrage. He dropped me to rip the arrow and my dagger from his shoulder. I fell to the ground and gulped in gasps of air so hot, it scorched my throat. The skin where he'd grabbed me felt like it was on fire. When the robot yanked  knife out, It was glowing red with heat. Uh oh.

I rolled to my left as his fist pummeled a crater into the ground where he'd dropped me. I was backed up against a river of molten lava. My eyes darted around. It was too wide for me to jump over it. Quick! What did Canary tell you about larger opponents!?

I racked my brain for information. Use your surroundings as an advantage. Well, that one wouldn't really work because this was his home turf. Use their momentum against them, and when their distracted, strike the weak points. I already tried that! He raised another fist as me, and I snarled at him.

"Bring it on, buckethead!"

I was about to attack him, but suddenly a jet of water slammed into him, knocking on away from me and into the moat of lava. I nearly slumped backwards with relief and let out a hysterical laugh. I owed Kaldur a basket of cookies or something.

"Nice hit!" Robin cheered.

"The hit was not mine." Aqualad said. "Look!"

Wait, if he hadn't controlled the water, who had? From behind Aqualad with his arms raised was Red Tornado's brother, the water android. At the sight of him, my heart leapt in my throat and I immediately wanted to leap in front of Robin. The last time I'd seen him at the robot together, I thought Robin had drowned.

But Robin wasn't his target. The robot sent another jet of water to his larger sibling, pushing him father into the lava. A blast of steam erupted, and the water hissed at it made contact with the boiling rock. It enveloped us in a thick fog, giving me enough time to get away.

The ground beneath me began to crack, the earth melting into lava underneath my feet from the high temperatures. I needed to move, or the floor would collapse underneath me! I pulled my staff from its holster and sprinted away from the volcano. I yelped as a part of the ground I was standing on broke, and and spew of lava surged upwards from the cracks.

I could feel the heat through my suit as I watched the thick, red liquid rise in the air. I dove to the side before it could splash down on me. Looking up to the sky, Red Tornado and the other female android joined the fight as well, hurling fireballs and knocking their largest brother back into the lava whenever he tried to climb out. I managed to escape the scene and run and back to my friends, where Artemis was waiting for me.

"Bluejay! Your neck!" She rushed to meet me, her fingers pulling at the collar and hood of my suit to look at the burns.

"I'm fine." I insisted, but was surprised at the horseness in my voice.

I shrugged away from her to observe the rest of the Team's physical states. No one looked too injured, except for Miss Martian who was still unconscious in Kid Flash's arms while Superboy stood guard. Zatana looked fine as well, with Robin positioned in front of her, ready to grab her in case of an emergency. Turning back to the fight, we all watched with tension, not knowing if we should join the fight again or not.

Shooting another blast of water, the water android joined his sister in the wrestle and all three of them vanished from sight under the lava. I could see the movements of the red liquid where the robots were thrashing in their fight. With a final blow from Red Tornado, he soared upwards and landed in the lava presumably where his younger brother was, shoving him deeper into the ground where their iron bodies would soon disintegrate. The lava splashed again, and I flinched and covered my face.