Going Blue

Red Volcano

We were flying over some mountains when Kaldur turned to M'gann. "Block out all external communication. Soon Canary and Zatara, Batman too I imagine, will know of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time."

Robin looked at Zatanna, "look, I'm trying to be all nonchalant here-"

"Why? Be as chalant as you like." Something in the way she said that came off as weird to me, and I quirked an eyebrow at her as Artemis continued Robin's thought.

"I think we're all just trying to get a handle on your powers. Could you teleport us to Tornado? Or Morrow to a cell? Or force his bots to surrender?"

"Or create peace on Earth for all time?" She retorted. "Zatara couldn't even do all that, and I'm nowhere near on my dad's level."

"Yeah, don't you think he would have done that already if he could have?" I asked, the sarcasm slightly higher than normal.

"I need to know a spell cold, or else have time to prep it. Plus all magic requires energy which usually has to come from within. I can't just make the impossible happen at will."

"So that's why you can only do a few small spells while Zatara can fight using solely magic," Robin realized, turning to me.

I nodded, "every living being has at least a small amount of that energy within them. Unfortunately most will never be able to tap into it no matter what they do or how hard they try. I'm one of the lucky few who can tap into the small amount that I have; Zatanna and Zatara on the other hand have both a large amount of the energy and the ability to use it, which is far rarer."

"Exactly. The energy we're talking about is something similar to mental energy or physical stamina, and yet not quite either. It's difficult to explain aside from just using the term 'mana'."

"What's our E.T.A. to Yellowstone?" Conner burst out, impatient as ever. "I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor."

Kaldur, ever the voice of reason, spoke up, "are you so certain he betrayed us?"

"Aren't you?!"

"I am not convinced. And even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming. Certainly he deserves a chance to prove he's more than the weapon others designed him to be."

We could all tell that that had struck a cord with our kryptonian friend as his face and shoulders instantly relaxed and grew more resigned. We stayed quiet for the rest of the trip, though the way Zatanna had talked to Robin stayed stuck in my head, playing on repeat.

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As we neared our landing zone I spotted Old Faithful erupting. "Always wanted to see that," I muttered with a smile.

After landing Aqualad stood up and tapped his emblem. "Stealth mode," he commanded. I watched the others KF and Artemis tap their emblems as well and shifted into my stealth suit with a small flash of blue light. As we walked to the open end of the bioship Aqualad spoke with Zatanna, a moment later I heard chanting and turned to see Z in what I can only describe as a magician's outfit.

"Nice look Z."

She smiled, "thanks E. I actually got the idea for this one from you and Dad."

"Not that I mind, but we are on mission right now. Maybe save the chitchat for later?" Artemis said, her words sounding annoyed but her tone focused and even.

With that the eight of us took off for the geyser, running or flying through the forest, though I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.