Hey Guys! I'm soooo sorry for making yall wait so long! I have to admit I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted a chapter! So just for that, here's a extra long chapter! Please let me know if there's anything you want to see in this story and I'll see what I can do! Trust me I still have a lot of plans for this crossover! So anyway, allons lire!

~Skylar Day

|Unknown Location

|August 26, 12:26 PDT

Luthor straightened his tie as he stepped off his personal jet. The visit from Batman and Superman yesterday had been a big surprise for the supervillain. Although he would never admit it, Luthor had been shaken up after Batman's rough interrogation. He hadn't been lying when he told the Dark Knight that Klarion had gone against their plan, the justice brats were all supposed to be transported to the Light's second base in Earth 9.5. Now instead of them being nicely packaged and delivered right into their hands, they would have to use their resources to track the heroes down and capture them. It would not be easy. And now for the hardest part of all, Luthor had to break the bad news to his associates. The billionaire gulped at the thought.

Luthor took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and strutted into the dense trees before him. Their ancient trunks seemed to part suddenly as the billionaire got closer to his destination; a large building sitting in the middle of a clearing, seemingly out of place. Vines draped over the side, like a green blanket, almost covering the dark red brick underneath. Luthor arrived at the entrance and knocked on the building's large door. Not long after, it was opened and Luthor found himself face to face with Vandal Savage. The man's shadow alone dwarfed Luthor in comparison, and the billionaire had to follow the line of his red shirt and blue overcoat just to find his frowning face.

"I hope you have a good reason for calling this meeting." Savage grunted. Luthor gulped. While he did hold a lot of power, there were some people, like Vandal Savage that he just did not want to mess with. Luthor straightened his tie, a nervous habit he had recently developed, and followed the large man down the hallway.

"Unfortunately we have had a small setback in our plan." Luthor said watching his ally carefully for his reaction. Vandal Savage spun around suddenly, his shoulders scraping against the walls of the hallway.

"What do you mean a setback?" Savage growled, his face contorting angrily. Luthor took a careful step back but made sure to keep his confidence.

"The team of sidekicks were transported to Earth 9.5," He paused, "but not to our intended destination."

Vandal Savage grunted, briskly turning back around and the two villains walked the rest of the way down the hall to the meeting in silence. At the end of the hall, Vandal and Luthor walked through a door into a long conference room. There at the table sat Ra's al Ghul, Queen Bee, and Brain.

"Where's Black Manta and Klarion?" Luthor questioned as he sat down at the table.

"Neither were able to attend today." Queen Bee answered. "Manta has business in Atlantis and Klarion is busy due to unforeseen conflicts. This meeting was called quite suddenly." She sent Luthor a glare.

"Typical." Luthor scoffed. He was more than a little peeved that Klarion wouldn't be there to take the blame.

"Why have you called this meeting?" Ra's asked, getting straight to the point.

Luthor straightened his tie again as he prepared for the backlash of this latest failure. "Ah well you see, we have a little problem with our plan." He began.

"Klarion and I enlisted the Joker's help like we had hoped…"

Queen Bee promptly cut him off eying him suspiciously. "While the Joker is a useful albeit unreliable asset, he is not essential to our plan. Just tell us why you have called this meeting." The other villains nodded their agreement.

"Klarion was able to send the brats to the other universe. However, he failed to send them to our intended destination." There was a wave of frustrated murmurs from the other members of the Light.

"You had one job Luthor! One job and you failed?" Ra's rubbed his face in frustration.

"Klarion was the one who caused this! And if you'll notice, he conveniently decided not to come today!"

"We must recuperate from this minor setback." Brain said, "Maybe we can call on our new allies?"

Luthor folded his hands on the table with a menacing grin. "Well that's where this gets slightly more interesting. I already reached out to one group and they happened to have captured the Batman's young protégé. I was able to –ah– initiate 'phase one' on the boy. He will lead us right to the rest of his little team without even knowing it." Luthor sat back in satisfaction and watched the rest of the Light relax once more.

A grisly smile stretched across Vandal Savage's face. "Well done Luthor. You're not such a screw up after all." The villain looked out at the rest of his comrades. "It seems our plan is still on the right path my friends. Before long everyone will see the Light."

|Jasper Nevada

|August 28, 7:00 PDT

Rafael wiped a glob of thick yellow mustard off of his glasses and looked up at the tall red-headed senior towering above him.

"V-Vince! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" He stuttered looking fearfully at the older teenager.

Vince looked down at his ruined polo shirt and his pasty face turned almost as red as his hair.

"Esquivel!"

The bully slapped the rest of Raf's lunch from his hands. Raf watched his turkey and swiss sandwich fall to the floor in a splat and the tray followed soon after with a clunk! The twelve year old frowned and looked back up at the bully, but all he could see was Vince's clenched fist flying towards his face.

THUMP! Red hot pain erupted in Raf's eye and the next second, his head slammed against the cold cafeteria floor.

"Vince!" Shouted a familiar feminine voice. Strong hands pulled Raf off of the floor and gently turned him around. Raf panicked when he couldn't make out who had pulled him up, but quickly realized his glasses had fallen off of his face. All he could see was a blurry black haired blob.

"Raf are you all right?" Jack's voice came from the blob.

Raf nodded and then winced as his head throbbed slightly. "I-I'm ok." He could feel Jack pressing something to his face and was suddenly looking through cracked lenses. Jack looked at him, concerned, before his attention was caught by something behind Raf. Rafael turned around and saw Miko pinning Vince to the floor. The thin girl pulled back her small fist and drove it into Vince's face snapping the bully's head to the side.

"Miko! Stop!" Jack yelled and grabbed Miko from behind, pinning the girl's arms to her side as she writhed and struggled to get her hands on Vince. After a few seconds, she managed to free herself from Jack's grip and stood menacingly over the red head.

"Don't you ever hurt Raf again!" She yelled, "Do you hear me? You even look at him and my fist will reunite with your FACE!" The Japanese girl's pig tails whipped angrily as she spun around and began to stomp off.

"Oof!" Miko's eyes widened in realization and fear as Vince grabbed her arm and spun her back around. The senior reeled back his arm and Miko braced herself for the impending impact.

THUMP! Surprisingly, not even the slightest breeze reached her shut eyelids. The japanese girl's eyes widened in surprise and she quickly pressed her hand against her mouth to suppress a fit of laughter. Vince was once again moaning on the ground and dorky, shy, sweet, Jackson Darby stood in between her and him, one fist still stretched out in front of him. Who knew the guy could throw a punch!

"Whoa." Raf said astonished pushing his glasses up onto his face.

"Jackson! Vincent! Miko! Rafael!" The three that were still standing twirled around to their Principal's bright red face.

"My office! NOW!"

"Ugh! Not again!" Miko whined.

OoOoOoOoO

"Conner! I needed that!" Ratchet scolded the super teen.

"Uh oops… sorry." Conner sheepishly jumped off of the large, alien… tool… he had previously landed on. At least he was pretty sure it was a tool.

"Can't you just use the stairs like the rest of the humans!?" The orange and white mech groaned again.

"Well he's not exactly human remember R?" Robin smirked up at the medic before returning his attention to the TV. He and Wally had been playing some racing game on the TV since the bots left to bring their charges to school.

"Ugh don't remind me, as if three normal children weren't trouble enough!" Ratchet scoffed and turned back to face the computer screen.

"I'm hurt Ratchet! I'm totally normal!... Actually, on second thought, I'm too cool to be normal." Wally puffed out his chest, turning his attention from the game just long enough for Robin to take the lead. "Dude!" He yelled, focusing back on the bright screen, his fingers hitting the buttons looking like little blurs of color.

Conner jumped down the last level to the ground floor, making sure not to make a dent this time, and walked towards the back of the silo.

"And where do you think you're going?" Ratchet asked him without turning away from the computer screen. "You're all under strict orders from Optimus and Aqualad to not leave this silo alone."

Conner chuckled, "Relax Doc, I was just going to check on M'gann and Artemis." The old Autobot grunted in what Conner hoped was approval.

The Team had been with the Autobots all weekend and had already started to form friendships with them and the other teenagers. Naturally, Aqualad had been spending time with Optimus, as the two collaborated to send the Team back home, and were currently out on patrol. Jack, Miko, and Raf had been really fascinated with the Team and all weekend they (well mostly Miko) had berated each hero for stories of their missions and patrols back home. The heroes understandingly obliged and entertained their hosts with some of their more active missions, missing the concerned faced of the seasoned veterans who were almost never out of earshot. One thing they did notice, however, was that the Autobots seemed to be more relaxed around them as the hours wore on. At first it was almost as if they expected them to attack Jack, Miko, and Raf at any moment. And as understandable as their paranoia was, it made everyone's lives easier to simply allow the super teens to go about their daily business without constant supervision. Finally, after two days at the Autobot base, it seemed as if they were treated just the same as the original three children.

Conner thought about all of this as he walked down the giant hallway to the girls' room. Though the Autobots did not have any human supplies other than the TV and the sofa, June Darby had set about making sure the teens would be comfortable until further arrangements could be made. Currently the team was split between three small rooms, the girls in one, Kaldur and Wally in another and Conner and Robin in the last. Each hero had been given a sleeping bag and pillow and an extra blanket. Since Jasper was situated in the middle of the desert, the nights tended to get pretty cold.

Conner stopped in front of a large metal door and listened to see if the girls were awake. When he didn't hear anything, he turned the doorknob gently and crept inside. The interior was dark and the Kryptonian could hear Artemis and Megan's calm breathing as they slept. He bent over his girlfriend and gently shook her shoulder to wake her. The Martian girl blinked sleepily and yawned, looking into her boyfriend's grinning face.

"Conner? Wha-" Conner shushed her and motioned for her to follow him outside the room. M'gann stood up from the ground and stretched. She followed Conner outside and closed the door quietly to allow the archer to keep sleeping. She looked into her boyfriend's face trying to read him.

"Is something wrong?" She asked raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"I- no not really. I just thought you might want to be up to get some breakfast." He answered sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "…And I worry about you." The Martian giggled and blushed lightly.

"That was very thoughtful of you." She placed her hands on either side of his head and carefully pulled him towards her, her soft lips brushed lightly against his. Conner softly took hold of M'gann's head and pressed his lips to hers. After a few seconds, the two pulled away and resigned to holding hands and simply enjoying each other's presence. Conner's forehead was wrinkled and M'gann could tell something was on his mind.

Conner felt the gentle prod of M'gann's mind against his and lowered his walls to allow her to enter.

What's wrong Conner? She thought, beautiful amber eyes gazing into his with concern.

I was just thinking about Artemis. He admitted. She's not getting better very quickly.

Well she was pretty badly hurt, M'gann consoled him, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb as she looked into his deep blue eyes. And she's finally walking on her own again.

I guess so. It's just, with her hurt, and us stuck here... and I'm pretty sure Robin's been hiding something…It just all seems so…

Hopeless? M'gann finished as he pulled her closer to him. He couldn't help it. With everything that had been going on lately, he felt a constant need to protect his girlfriend. Wait, you think Robin's been hiding something? Her brow scrunched in confusion.

It's just a feeling. He seems slower than usual, and he won't tell us where he was before this.

He always has been a private person. Do you think he got hurt?

It's possible.

The two stood in comfortable silence thinking their situation over, before silently deciding to leave Artemis to her slumber and join the others in the main room.

OoOoOoOoO

Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead returned sometime later after dropping their charges off at school. By that time Wally and Robin had finished their tenth race and instead decided to spar to pass some time. Conner and M'gann had gone off to explore the base and Artemis was sitting on the edge of the platform watching her teammates fight, her feet dangled between the guard rails just above them.

Robin dodged another one of Wally's punches and responded with a series of sharp jabs just at the base of the speedster's ribs. Wally managed to escape a few of them but was promptly knocked to the floor by one of Robin's sweeping kicks.

Artemis clapped dramatically. "Wow Baywatch." She said smirking, "Beat by the pipsqueak again? I think you really need to step it up."

"Hey!" Both boys shouted up at the smug archer from below the platform.

Arcee watched the exchange with amusement, put a servo on her hip, and walked towards the three heroes. "Those were some impressive moves." She gestured to Robin. "How long have you been active?"

Robin pulled Wally off the ground and dusted his hands off before turning to answer the femme.

"Only about four years. I trained a lot before that though."

"It shows." The Autobot complimented. "Mind if I watch the next round?"

Both boys nodded, "Sure." They said simultaneously, large smiles on their faces. The femme walked over to the platform near Artemis and leaned against it to watch the next round of sparring.

"You're going down Bird-Brain!" Wally taunted the younger boy.

"Ha! That's a good one Kid Klutz! Bring it!" Robin shot back. Their banter drew the attention of the others in the base and Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Bulkhead all turned towards the two. None of the bots had really seen any of the heroes in action.

Kid Flash and Robin stood opposite each other motionlessly waiting for someone to make the first move. As usual, that someone was Kid Flash. Robin saw the twitch of his best friend's hand just before Kid Flash decided to race past him. Robin gracefully jumped over his friend and opened up towards him. Kid Flash swiftly changed direction and ran back towards Robin, barreling into the smaller hero. Robin twisted his body in the air landing in a crouch, and immediately sprung off the balls of his feet over Kid as the speedster sped past him again. Robin pulled a few dull training bird-a-rangs from his belt as Kid Flash slowed down to assess his surroundings. Wanting to give their audience a memorable show, Robin flicked his wrists, intentionally missing Wally's head with the bird-a-rangs by centimeters on either side. The speedster's head whipped behind him to stare at the offending weapons.

"Dude!"

Robin used the distraction to advance on Kid Flash, and before anyone could blink, the two were just blurs of punches and kicks. Although his friend was astronomically faster than he was, over the years, Robin had come to realize that unpredictability was the best way to beat a speedster. Fists flew in all directions as both heroes threw and blocked punches from the other. Kid Flash stuck out a foot to trip up the younger, but Robin jumped over the leg gracefully. He landed softly on his feet and immediately jumped back into the air, flipping and landing on top of Kid Flash's shoulders. Cackling loudly, Robin put his gloved hands firmly over his friend's eyes and gripped tightly onto his shoulders to keep himself from being thrown off.

"Dude! So not fair!" Wally griped trying to shake the smaller hero off of his shoulders.

"Ha-ha!" Robin laughed, "Who said fighting had any rules? As long as you win, it's fair in my book!" Artemis and Arcee smirked in amusement and Bumblebee rolled on the floor with silent laughter. Even Ratchet seemed to be trying to suppress a cough or two. Robin uncovered Kid Flash's eyes and jerked his body backwards suddenly. Though small, Robin's momentum sent Wally toppling backwards towards the floor, and with another jerk, Robin flipped Wally over his shoulders and onto the ground and landed lightly on his feet.

"Fail. Kid Dork." Artemis smirked, imitating the training system they had back at the Cave.

Robin bowed once, twice, three times. Each one getting lower than the last. "Thank you! Thank you!" He said as the onlookers clapped politely. Robin cackled again and did a backflip to drain the rest of the adrenaline from his body. He strutted over to Kid Flash and stuck out his hand to help him up… again.

Wally glared lightly up at the younger boy but took his hand anyway and let himself be pulled off the ground.

"Wow kid." Bulkhead chuckled, "That was some impressive fightin'. Where'd you learn all that?"

"Mostly from Batman," Robin shrugged, "Although some of it is my own. I'm an acrobat so I try to work that into my fighting style to give me the upper hand."

Arcee watched the exchange carefully and noticed how Robin's body language changed ever so slightly when he told Bulkhead he was an acrobat. Interesting. She thought. She wasn't suspicious of the super teens anymore, well not like she had been when they first arrived. She was more concerned for them than anything. Just judging by Robin and Wally's spar, they had a lot of experience, and that was not normal for humans their age. Arcee couldn't help feeling anger towards the kid's mentors. What kind of hero brings children into the crime fighting business? Of course, the femme was no stranger to kids that had to grow up too fast, but in a place that was not at war, it seemed unnecessary. Arcee promised herself to get to the bottom of it, and give any assistance she could to the teens. She might not be able to stop them from what they were doing, but she knew what this kind of life could do to a person, and at the very least she could help the teens deal with what they've been through. The femme chuckled under her breath. It looks like June is rubbing off on me more than I thought. Arcee stood up straight again and stretched before turning towards the two boys in front of her.

"So this Batman… you said he's your mentor right?" Robin turned around and stretched his neck to look the femme in the optics.

"Yeah. Why?" The boy raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Just curious. Judging from your talent, he must be pretty good at what he does. How long has he been in the hero business?"

"Um I'm not so sure… thirteen years maybe." Robin shifted his weight between the balls of his feet, he was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable about the femme's line of questioning.

"That's almost 14 vorns!" Bulkhead whispered to Bumblebee. The younger Autobot reeled back in surprise. Bree Vrrr Rhoww!

"That's a long time. For a human." The femme smirked, trying to put Robin more at ease. It worked. The Boy Wonder cackled lightly and smiled up at her.

"So how long have you guys been at war?" Artemis asked Arcee.

"A very long time." She answered with a sigh.

Wally snorted, "Very specific."

"You should not make light of our war. It has been going on for centuries, I can hardly expect you children to understand what that's like." Ratchet scoffed.

Artemis gingerly rose to her feet, using the railing to help push her up. She put both hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at the elderly Autobot. "Our job is no walk in the park either." She challenged, looking him straight in the eye.

Bulkhead stuck both servos out trying to console the young heroes who had all tensed from the doctor's accusation. "The Doc didn't mean anything by it. It's just we've been fightin' this war for centuries, I'd say that's definitely different from what you've been through."

Wally raised an eyebrow up at the Autobots who all seemed to be in agreeance. "Hey we all know what you are thinking. Trust me, we met a lot of backlash from back home, especially from adults. But you don't seem to understand what we do. Rob and I? We've been doing this for a long time and we've already proven ourselves to the hero community and the rest of our world. And I know you all are like super old and everything, but we've got to carry some of the same baggage, right?"

"Baywatch is right. We may just be teenagers, but we understand the gravity of war. It may not be exactly the same as what you do, but our world is a very violent place. We have all seen the worst of people." Artemis added.

There was a silence as everyone thought about what the archer had said. The bots still weren't ready to accept that children were fighting a war against crime, but they would not accomplish anything by arguing. Their thoughts were interrupted when a loud noise erupted from the main computer.

"It's Jack." Ratchet said as he pressed the screen to answer the call.

Arcee stepped forward, being careful not to step on the heroes under her pedes. "Jack? Is something wrong? Why aren't you in class?" She demanded, her voice underlying worry.

"H-Hey mom!" Jack's voice came out from the computer screen. The slightly nervous shake in his voice made Arcee narrow her optics suspiciously. Mom? He was obviously not in any danger, but what exactly was he playing at?

"L-Look I know what you're going to say –um– Mom, but I can explain. Miko, Raf and I kinda got in a fight with Vince at school…"

"A fight!" Arcee barked. "Jackson Darby you had better have a good reason for this!" Everyone in the room could practically hear Jack flinch. As far as Arcee saw it, if Jack was trying to hide this incident from June, she wasn't going to be the one to rat him out, but she was not going to let him off the hook either.

"I'll explain it all when I get –um- home." Arcee's charge paused as if waiting to see if Arcee was going to yell at him again. She just barely managed to hold it in. Jack was a level headed kid, there had to be a good reason for this.

They could all hear Jack taking a deep breath before starting again, "T-The principal is here, he suspended us all for the day and we need a ride home. Just Miko, Raf, and I" He added quickly, "N-Not Vince."

Bulkhead sighed in frustration and rubbed a servo across his helm. It seemed Miko was always getting in trouble. He hoped that her rebellious nature was something that would mature out of her somewhat, but so far that was not the case. "I can go get 'em." The wrecker said, "You guys all stay here in case somethin' comes up."

"Ok," Arcee answered him before turning back to the phone call, "But we need to have a talk when you get here Jack. Understood?"

"Got it." Jack sighed and quickly hung up the phone.

"Ooh! Busted!" Kid Flash laughed as he and Robin fist bumped, snickering like they had just pulled a prank. Arcee sighed and shook her head. The kids had better have a good explanation for this.

OoOoOoOoO

Aqualad watched the trees zip by the country side as Optimus drove down the road away from base. This was only the second time Aqualad had gone on patrol with the Autobot leader. They had come to a wordless agreement to help each other get him and his team home, and to do so, Optimus would need to know as much information as Aqualad could give him. The first time they had gone out was very formal, Optimus asked Aqualad about the abilities of his team and the things they had learned from M'gann's memory-fetching session. In return, Aqualad had questioned the Autobot about his motives for helping his team and the things that they could provide in return for the Autobots' help. Optimus had made it quite clear that he didn't want to put the team in any unnecessary danger. Aqualad agreed to some extent. He M'gann and Kid Flash had done well against the Decepticons the first time, but that was mainly due to the element of surprise. Now that the Decepticons knew about them, Aqualad doubted that they would have such luck again.

"Kaldur'ahm" The semi's voice brought Aqualad back to the present. The eighteen year old focused on Optimus' steering wheel. When he had first asked Optimus if he could see within his own cabin, Optimus had chuckled and had confirmed his suspicions. Kaldur decided then that the Autobot's steering wheel would be the best place to focus on in order to address the alien respectfully.

"How long has your team been in commission?" The Autobot rumbled.

Aqualad pondered his question before answering, "We found Superboy in the beginning of July, so almost 2 months I suppose."

The young leader could feel the Autobot rumbling in thought.

"Your team works well together." Optimus observed. "You are the oldest, yet I know how hard it can be to lead on your own. How are you handling this responsibility?"

Aqualad blinked in surprise, no one had really asked him this question before, aside from Black Canary that is.

"It is very rewarding." His brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "But it can also be hard. I worry sometimes that my decisions could put my team in a dangerous place. I also worry that they will not listen to me. Human teenagers can be very… stubborn." Aqualad smiled fondly.

The Autobot leader chuckled in agreement. The next time he spoke, Aqualad could hear amusement in his voice. "It is not just humans who can be stubborn." He confessed. "Your worries are normal for a new leader, if you ever need advice, I can provide the necessary assistance."

Aqualad smiled and returned his gaze out the window. He could see the Autobot base approaching and prepared himself to return to his responsibilities.

The red and blue semi sped up slightly and drove off the paved road in the direction of the well-hidden base. With Robin already having found the base on his own, the Autobots had found no reason to keep the location hidden from the rest of the team. Aqualad shut his eyes as the Autobot approached the scarlet sandstone wall in front of them. He had come in through this entrance before, but it still unsettled him every time.

As always, the cliff opened up to the main hallway of the base, and the two leaders drove into the main room. Immediately, Aqualad could tell something was wrong. Optimus stopped and opened his door and Aqualad climbed out as the other transformed back into his bipedal form. The other Autobots all seemed to be crouching in front of someone in concern. Aqualad quickly looked around for his team and found them all nearby and unharmed.

"Autobots," Optimus' voice rang out in concern, "What has happened?" Ratchet stepped away from the huddle and turned towards Optimus and Aqualad. Aqualad was surprised to see anger filling the medic's features.

"See for yourself," He grumbled. Aqualad frowned as he finally saw what the cause of all this attention was. Raf, Miko and Jack stood in the center, staring up at the others crowding around them. Raf was sporting a nasty looking black eye and Jack and Miko looked absolutely furious.

Optimus frowned deeply and went to kneel in front of his three human charges.

"Rafael," he said gently, "What has happened to your eye?"

Raf pushed his newly cracked glasses up onto his nose. "Mm, it's nothing really." He said looking down at his feet, "Vince was just being a jerk."

"He was being more than a jerk!" Jack bristled angrily.

"Yeah talk about a total douche bag!" Miko snarled.

"Miko language!" Bulkhead groaned.

"Well he was!" The girl huffed putting her hands on her hips. "He punched Raf just because Raf accidentally spilled his lunch on him!"

Optimus raised his eyebrows and looked over the three humans.

"You are here, instead of school, because of a fight?"

"Hehe…" Jack rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "The principal saw… a-and he suspended us for fighting on school grounds." The boy admitted.

"Yeah but Vince was suspended too!" Miko smirked, "He deserves more than that if you ask me!"

"All three of you fought against one opponent?" Optimus inquired.

"As if!" Miko said while the other two had the decency to look embarrassed over the Autobot leader's observation.

"I saw Vince hit Raf first and decided to show 'im what for!" The girl swung a fist in the air as if to demonstrate her actions. "Of course Jack decided to pull me back before I could really show him what I could do! And just as I was turning around to walk away, Vince, the coward, tried to get me when my back was turned! But Jack was too fast, and next thing I know, Vince is on the ground moaning in agony!"

"Sounds like he deserved it." Superboy added in support. The rest of the Team nodded in agreeance.

"I do not normally condone fighting in school, but it seems you handled the situation appropriately" Optimus said finally, ignoring Superboy's comment. "How long are you suspended for?"

"Just one measly day!" Miko huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I still can't believe they suspended you for that!" Artemis huffed crossing her arms. "You should not be punished for self-defense."

"Hey! After all this trouble, the least they could do is give us a full week off! I should have punched the jerk harder." Miko frowned in frustration.

Artemis frowned in contemplation. "You know, if you want I could show you how to make sure that bully never touches you again. All three of you actually."

The Team and the Bot's eyes widened in realization of what the archer was implying. Miko's face lit up in pure joy.

"You mean you'd train us to fight?" The girl was practically exploding with glee, apparent by how she was jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Artemis, I don't think…" Bulkhead began, but was cut off quickly by the blonde.

"Relax Bulkhead, I can teach them how to use their fighting responsibly. That's what we do after all." She gestured to the rest of the team, "besides, I'm still working up to my normal training regimen, it wouldn't be too difficult for them. Call it an outlet for anger if you will."

Jack and Raf looked at the hero curiously while Miko jumped for joy. "Sweet! I'm in!"

OoOoOoOoO

It was almost too easy. With all of the commotion in the control room, Robin slipped into the shadows and travelled down the base's towering hallways with curiosity. It was about time he had some peace and quiet. Robin sighed and let his strong façade fade into the scared kid he was, placing a shaking hand just under his ribs, hoping to find some release. The boy wonder winced with the initial pressure but eventually the pain in his side began to subside, at least a little. Robin shivered, thinking about his time in captivity. It was short, sure, and he'd been interrogated before, but he'd always been able to count on Batman bailing him out. This time was different.

The raven-haired hero listened to the almost silent tapping of his footsteps as he meandered through the serene hallways. His captor had wasted no time in telling him where he was when he woke up. The cruel scarred man seemed to love rubbing it in his face that no one would be looking for him in another dimension. That was how he found out were they were truly. Robin slouched with fatigue and continued his slow brooding trek. The truth was, he knew something was wrong with him, he just couldn't put his finger on what. It had been two days since he arrived at the base and none of his wounds seemed to be closing up. Sure he didn't expect to be fully healed, he had injuries both from Klarion and from his captor, but he had enough experience to know that it was a bad sign when open wounds weren't closing up. Having reached his destination, Robin slipped into a small room with metal walls. It was the room he and Conner had been sharing the past few nights. There wasn't much in the room, just two teenage-sized sleeping bags, a small mirror, and a hanging lamp that looked like it was from a stereotypical movie interrogation room…

…From the ceiling hung a single bright round lamp and to Robin's right was a surgical table filled with a multitude of unrecognizable torture devices…

Robin gasped sharply and stumbled to the wall for support, holding his panicking heart with one hand, and steadying himself with the other. What was that? Robin wondered in shock. It was almost like one of the PTSD episodes he used to get as a kid, but he'd stopped having those… for the most part anyway. Hot tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he took a second to reign in his emotions. Come on Grayson! This is nothing! You're Robin, you can push through anything. He tried convincing himself. As always after any sort of kidnapping or capture, after the adrenaline of his escape had worn off, the events of what he went through slowly crept back into his mind to torment him. These past few days had been rough, no matter what kind of mask he put on for the rest of his team. Robin pushed himself off the wall, taking a few deep breaths and turning towards the small mirror on the opposite wall. Steeling himself for what he needed to do, the boy wonder pulled off the yellow velcro flaps of his uniform and gently pulled the top of his suit off over his head. The sight of his marred chest, as it always did, soured his already somber mood. He may have overdone it, training with KF.

Under his ribs on his left side, was a large round, purple, yellow, and black bruise, the size of a fist, right where Klarion had punched him before sending him through the portal. Most of the rest of his chest was littered with new bright red gashed about the size of a thumb, all about an inch deep. Each one was slowly leaking bright red, where they should have stopped by now. But the only concerning thing, in Robin's eyes at least, was the big gash in his stomach just barely above his bruise to the right. Robin had already covered this one with bandages to help stop the blood flow, but it had already soaked all the way through. Robin sighed and gently peeled off the soiled bandages to look at his wound. The boy wonder reached into his utility belt to take out his last roll of emergency bandages to rewrap the wound when the door to his room opened suddenly, followed by a sharp gasp.