Peace of the Jedi [Sequel to Sword of the Lanterns]

Chapter Twenty-Seven- Betrayal

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Jaina was vaguely aware of her surroundings. It was like being locked in Despero's gaze again, unable to move, unable to think or comprehend anything. Still, she could faintly sense Jessica next to her, along with Connor and Wolf. Karen, Mal, and the rest of the team were all somewhere nearby.

Except for Jaime.

She tried to move her arms, but the air around her limbs felt solidified, preventing her from twitching her pinky finger, or even blinking her eyelids. 

She was trapped, and she couldn't even scream.

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Jaina leaped to her feet, reaching for her saber. "Jaime what the he-"

She tripped over a rather solid body, catching herself before she could hit her head again. Her arms gave out a second later.

"Language," Connor grunted from beneath her.

Jaina rubbed her eyes. That helped with them feeling like they were covered in fuzz. 

"What just happened?" She muttered.

Connor took a moment to let himself breathe evenly. He stood up, letting Jaina slide down to the floor of the little chamber that they shared with Wolf and Jessica.

"You doing okay?" Jaina asked, nudging Jessica gently.

"I'm good," Jessica said quietly. She held Jaina's hand tightly.

"Rapido, superninos!" Someone barked. Jaina turned. One of the boys she'd seen in STAR Labs was helping Superboy to steady himself. His companions, as well as Arsenal, were attending to the others who had just emerged from their stasis chambers.

"Is everyone here?" She asked.

"Everyone but Jaime," Impulse piped loudly.

"Forget about him," Robin grumbled, leaning on Wonder Girl for support.

Wolf looked at Jaina with particularly sad eyes until she nodded, accepting the Beast's offer of help. He crawled his way under Jessica and Jaina's arms, standing up to give them something to lean on.

"Good boy," Jaina struggled to keep her breathing even as she stroked Wolf's thick, white fur. 

"Good boy," Jessica obviously meant it more than Jaina did. Wolf helped them down to the floor, and a crashing sound drew their attention to Black Beetle, who was fighting the Mongul that Jaina could swear they had hog-tied just a moment ago.

"Come on! While they're busy!" Arsenal waved the team over to the nearby door.  The team slowly wove through the towers of stasis chambers with the help of STAR's Runaways while Mongul and Black Beetle kept each other occupied. Jaina couldn't help sticking out her tongue at Despero's gruesome form trapped in stasis.

"Okay, get ready," Arsenal warned, "There's a whole squad of Reach soldiers waiting for us on the other side of these doors."

Jaina wanted to ask how he expected them to fight when the Runaways Stepped up. The boy with long hair projected an astral shield around himself in the shape of a giant man. The girl with the headband held her hands in front of her chest, glowing with a faint purple aura. The boy with a baseball cap over his dreadlocks held his hands up defensively, fists sparking with some blue electricity. Their last friend held up a stolen Reach spear, and Arsenal aimed his gun-arm at the door as it slowly opened.