The Thing Inside Me

Chapter 11

I teleported everyone on top of a building near one of the city's tech facilities. "If Interpol is already on this why are we bothering?" Superboy asked, "Because Batman said so. Why, you got something better to do " Robin replied quickly. "How do we know the thieves will hit here?" Artemis questioned, "There are more obvious targets." Redarrow added. "And Faradau will have them covered. And I've analyzed the take stolen, and the pattern suggests this is the place. " Robin responded. He placed one of his hands on the side of his head. "Robin?" I started but Mis. M finished the sentence for me, "How are you feeling?" She asked. "Lousy actually. But I'll manage." He said assuringly. "Contact. Northeast quadrant." Superboy said, turning our attention to a man across the street.

He leaped and flipped expertly over a heigh chain link fence. "I guess we know why Carlo missed a performance." Superboy observed. "Could be Carlo, could be his brother. Keep an open mind, and move in." Robin added. "He's a bit large to be one of the twins." I concluded on our approach. "Yes, but-" "I know, I know. Keep an open mind." I said cutting Robin off. "Did you see where he went?" Robin asked as we hid around the corner of a nearby building. "He's in the-" "The warehouse." Superboy interrupted. We moved in, I pulled Robin back. "Be serious, are you okay?" I asked, "I'm fine." He said. And we approached the building along with the others.

We easily found our culprit, "I bet he tries to open the crate before he used the crowbar right beside it." I said leaning over the edge of the support beam we were standing on. The man attempted to lift the lid, letting out a quiet grunt. He adjusted his stance for better gripping, his foot hit the crowbar on the ground. He picked it up and pried the boy open and removed its contents. Robin started laughing, "Caught red-handed. Red- faced too I'll bet." He Robin said. The man turned to face us. "Acrobatics won't get you out of this." Artemis said, the man drew back his hand when he released it fire blasted at us. "Look out!" Red shouted, we all scattered. "Those crates are full of live ammo. Move!" Red shouted. We all took off, I quickly used my telekinesis to move large doors from a nearby crate to block the blow. Everything was suddenly burst into flames, the power from the explosion sent the doors flying into me. I flew backwards landing on the others. We were all squished into a corner, the doors I had moved blocking us in and saving us from the deadly flames.

"Superboy, a little help?" I asked trying to push the doors off of us. Together we easily pushed them aside, Superboy went running into the fire. "That guy is dead meat." "Superboy, no! You need to get her out." Robin said, "He's getting away!" Superboy shouted. "And that matters more than Mis. M? The fire's killing her!" Robin asked, Superboy's face quickly went from anger to concern. "Right." He said as he quickly picked Mis. M up. "Artemis, Arrow, find the thief." Robin said weakly, he suddenly collapsed onto his knees. "Robin!" I panicked, "Cause he matters more than you?" Artemis questioned while helping Robin up, Arrow helped too. "I'll hold the building up till your out." I said as I flew to the centre of the building, I raised my hands using my telekinesis to hold the building up. Arrow and Artemis nodded and they carried Robin out of the building.

Dick's POV
A loud ringing sound echoed in my ears, muffled voices yelled in the background. My eyes were heavy, my body numb. Helplessly laying on the ground somewhere. Slowly the ringing faded and the muffled voices turned into words. "Robin?" Artemis called out, "Robin you have to wake up." Redarrow said shortly after. Wake up? I am awake! I just can't move. "We can't move him all the way back to the tent by ourselves." Arrow declared, "Well we can't just leave him here?" Artemis said quickly. It went quiet. "Dick you have to wake up." Nightslash's voice echoed in my head. I can't. My fingers won't even move. I said back to the voice. "You have too, your team needs you." The voice said assuringly. "Try again." It encouraged, my fingers started to move at my command. "Arrow, look! He's waking up!" Artemis said with relief. I opened my eyes and Redarrow helped me sit up.

"What happened?" I asked rubbing my head. "You blacked out while we were carrying you out of the building." said Artemis. "Where are the others? Is Megan okay?" I asked while adjusting my position on the ground. The two of them went quiet, "What happened to Megan?" I panicked, "We don't know, but the fire weakened her so her powers will be offline for a while. Conor will take care of her." Artemis assured me, but she fell quiet again and the two of them were avoiding eye contact. Telling me something else was wrong. "Nightslash. You didn't tell me where she is." I pointed out. The two of them looked at each other, Artemis opened her mouth then closed it suddenly. She got up and walked over to the edge of the building. Redarrow spoke quietly, "She held up the building so we could escape. When we got you up here where you were safe, we headed back down to the building." Arrow stopped and swallowed hard, "We- we-" He repeated as he tried to form the right words. "We barely made it to the building before it collapsed." Artemis said bitterly. I wanted to yell but no words came to my lips. Just silence and anger. I'm the leader, this was my fault. I could have been stronger. I stood up with little aid from Arrow. "Head back to the tent." I said walking over to the edge where Artemis stood gazing at the now smouldering and crumbled building. "Aren't you coming?" Artemis asked stepping away from the ledge. "Ya, I'll catch up in a second." I called over my shoulder. And the two of them left in silence. The police had arrived and were closing off the area. I watched silently from above, my eyes turned their attention back to the pile of rubble. "I'm sorry."