Road Trip (a Young Justice fanfiction)

Chapter 17: "Freed"

Connor's POV

Exhaustion. The only word I could use to describe the last however many days I've been stuck in here. I've been attacked, tortured, and without my powers, I've been completely vulnerable and helpless. I hated feeling this way. M'gann was probably feeling the same way, and it was killing me that I couldn't help her.

I slumped down in the corner of the blank room, giving up completely. I didn't make a sound, curling my fingers around my collar again, wishing with desperation that I would be able to rip it off. I gripped it hard with rage and yelled in frustration as I tugged at it. The collar didn't break. I did it again and shouted angrily. All of the sudden, the collar snapped, crushed under the pressure of my fingers.

"What the..." I was cut off as Artemis burst through the handle-less door and grabbed my arm, yanking me along out of the room and into a long hallway.

"I found Superboy on Black Manta's ship! Requesting back-up!" she said into her earpiece.

"How did you-"

"No time for questions! We have to find the others, before it's too late!" Before it's too late? I thought. What does that even mean?

I yanked my arm out of her grip and ran after her. I could keep up by myself. I realized I was extremely weak, my legs could barely support me, but I tried my hardest, only M'gann on my mind.

I noticed a door on the left hand side of the hallway once Artemis and I had been running for a good two minutes, and Roy burst out, holding Miss Martian by the arm, the same way Artemis had grabbed me.

"M'gann!" I exclaimed, running forward to pick her up bridal style. Roy looked at me, annoyed.

"No time to be all lovey-dovey, we gotta get going to find Aqualad," Roy snapped. "We're on Gamma, so there won't be back-up for another five minutes. We can't stay put too long. Let's go."

They took off at a quick pace and I struggled to keep up with my exhaustion and with M'gann in my arms. I managed though, and we reached another door. We stood by it and waited, until finally Roy said into his com, "Red Arrow to Garth, do you read, Garth?"

He hesitated before repeating. Still nothing. "Who's Garth?" I questioned. It seems I'd missed a lot.

"He joined the team while you were gone, and Tula, too. They're friends of Aqualad's, and they wanted to help find you guys," he replied with a hint of annoyance. "Anyway, Artemis and I came with Tula and Garth, but Garth isn't replying. We found you two on here, so logically Aqualad should be here too, right?" I nodded, not having enough energy to say anything.

"I'm going in," Artemis hissed restlessly, reaching for the doorknob and turning it, only to find it locked. "Dammit," she growled. She backed up and kicked the door down. It flew open, to reveal a squad of Black Manta's guards, waiting. They had us at gunpoint.

Roy gulped. "Gamma to Watchtower. We're really gonna need that back-up."

"Put your hands in the air!" one of the guards shouted. I looked down at M'gann, and she nodded. She stood on her own and raised her hands.

Link established. I smiled internally as not to give us away.

So, whats the plan? Roy asked.

Simple, M'gann replied. We take them out using our powers and abilities, since Connor and I haven't been able to use them in a while.

"What are you waiting for?" the same guard yelled. "Come with us."

"I don't think that's gonna be happening," I smirked.

The guards recharged their guns. I laughed. Leaping into action, I grabbed a guard by the head and smacked him into another one. I punched one in the face and turned around and knocked another one down by slamming his chest to the ground.

I noticed Roy and Artemis standing back to back, shooting arrows and kicking the cronies away. M'gann used her telekinesis to smack them aside and together. Soon, they were all down, and we were basically walking in a minefield of guards. We continued running through the halls, looking for Garth and Tula, a renewed energy coasting through my veins from the battle.

We encountered another rarity, a door, and we didn't know whether or not we should go through it due to the outcome of the last time.

All of the sudden, Artemis exclaimed, "Alpha's on the ship!" Hope sparked inside me.

"Who's on Alpha?" M'gann asked.

"Kid Flash, Zatanna and Nightwing," replied Roy quickly. At the mention of the last name, question popped into my eyes but the archer continued, "No time for that, we'll explain later." He lifted his leg and drove it through the doorknob. Wood splintered everywhere and what we saw on the other side of it was horrifying.

Aqualad was chained to the wall, held up by his wrists, slumping and unconscious, skinny as a toothpick. "They didn't feed him!" I burst out, astounded. The skin around his ankles and wrists were red and raw from the friction of the chains.

Roy ran forward, pulled out an arrow and started hacking at the bonds that contained his wrists. "Roy, I got this," Miss Martian said gently, floating forward and placed her fingers on her temples, her eyes turning green and the chains exploding softly. Aqualad collapsed into Roy's arms. He stared at his best friend, speechless with rage, pity and worry.

"No..." he whispered.

"Roy," Artemis empathized, coming closer to him to place her hands on his shoulders.

"No!" he spat, looking back at Artemis. "This is all your fault! You're the one who let your grudges get these three captured!"

Artemis was tough, but she was close to Roy. The hurt in her eyes as he said that couldn't be disguised. "Roy..." Her voice cracked and she turned on her heels and ran.

Artemis! M'gann said telepathically.

Get out of my head! the archer screamed. Roy's head drooped.

"What the hell, Roy?!" I bellowed. "She may have let her grudges get in the way of her hero work, but she didn't let her little temper-tantrums interfere with her relationships!" I tore after Artemis, hoping to catch up to her.

Before I knew what was happening, someone crashed into me and I fell to the ground, startled. "Artemis?" I asked before I could see anything.

"Does this suit really make me look that girly?" Wally's spunky voice rang through the hall, and I breathed a breath of relief.

"You're here!" I exclaimed.

"Yep, in the flesh."

"Have you seen Artemis?" I inquired.

"Zatanna's with her right now." Phew. They're best friends, Zatanna should be able to talk some sense into her.

I took a deep breath. "Come with me, we found Aqualad."

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That was a long one, tell me if you prefer long chapters or short ones. This was a hard one for me to write because I didn't know what to add, but I got on a roll.

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