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plzravagemethxxx · 8 months ago

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BLOODLUST pt. 2

BLOODLUST Masterlist

Part One Part Three

"Fine. Fine." Y/N raised her hands in surrender. "But I'm only consenting to reconnaissance. We go in, collect information, and we get out."

KF and Robin exchanged giddy smiles.

Then Robin turned to Y/N, a sly gleam in his eyes. "Ready to be whelmed?"

The fire is still burning bright when the four of them arrive at Cadmus.

The fire brigade was busily attempting to put out what flames still remained, as well as trying to rescue the scientists and workers who were in the building.

"STAY PUT," a firefighter ordered through a megaphone. "WE WILL GET YOU OUT!"

That was the last thing Y/N heard them say before suddenly the ground shook with the weight of a loud explosion from within the laboratory. She saw the impact blow two of the men in lab coats out the window and into the air.

"KF, go!" she shouted, and she didn't need to tell him twice.

In a blink of an eye, Kid Flash raced towards Cadmus and ran up the steep face of the building, catching the poor scientists before they could meet an untimely demise. His momentum led him to speeding up to the roof, where he deposited the scientists before he tripped and fell.

"Shoot!" he managed to yelp, before quickly finding purchase on the windowsill. "Oh, thank god."

"It's what's-his-name!" one of the firefighters exclaimed. "Eh... Flash Boy!"

Robin snorted.

"It's KID FLASH!" KF grumbled. "Why is that so hard?"

"He's soooo smooth, isn't he?" Robin mused as he, Aqualad, and Bloodlust ran up to the building.

"Shut it, Rob," Bloodlust snarked. She grabbed her knife and sliced her palms and the soles of her feet. Then she lunged up at the side of the building. "STICK!" Her hands and feet stuck strongly to the concrete, and she began to climb up like a spider towards KF. "Hold on, buddy."

"Yep!" KF replied. "Kinda all I can do at the moment!"

In a couple seconds, Bloodlust crossed the building and arrived just before KF's grip could falter completely. She grabbed his wrist, and he clung to her arm fast, and she hauled the two of them into Cadmus through the open window.

"Must they always run ahead?" Aqualad muttered as he watched. He sighed. "We need a plan—"

But then he turned, and found Robin, too, had disappeared from his side. Instead, he saw the youngest of them all running up the fire truck ladder before grabbing onto an unused hose and using it like a rope to swing himself into the window as well.

Aqualad sighed. "Of course."

He hurried over to the fire trucks, right beside the firefighters still trying to hose down the fire.

"I need to borrow that!" he quickly warned, before he pulled his two Atlantean weapons from their sheaths and redirected the water from the hose to propel himself into the air, up to the roof, where the two scientists remained. "Step aboard. Now."

The men didn't hesitate. Aqualad landed first, as he set foot on the windowsill his friends had entered through, then lowered the scientists down the ground.

"Finally," Bloodlust called as Aqualad entered the building.

"I appreciate the help," he sarcastically replied.

"Hey, you handled it!" Robin protested, typing away at one of the computers he'd opened. "Besides. We're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

"Yeah," Y/N noted. "Investigate. KF," she added sternly, leveling the redhead with a look as he made shadow puppets using the light of Robin's screen.

"Sorry, sorry," Kid Flash mused in a very unapologetic tone. He glanced back to see Bloodlust was no longer looking, then resumed his shenanigans with a silent snicker.

"Robin," Bloodlust called, "found anything?"

"No, not much yet," the Boy Wonder replied. "Check some of the physical files and stuff, might be something there."

"Got it." She marched over to another desk and plucked the papers off of it, struggling to read the contents in the minimal light. She found notes on different DNA samples the lab had been given, most likely via ancestry tests and the like. One paper had, in bold red letters at the bottom, PATERNITY TEST NEGATIVE. Y/N set that paper aside and kept looking.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar ding! of an elevator, and frowned. She looked up to see Aqualad had gone off, and KF was following, and so she did the same.

She found the two boys standing at the mouth of a hall leading to an elevator shaft.

"There was something in the..." Aqualad muttered.

KF frowned. "Elevators should be locked down."

"Well, this one isn't," Bloodlust replied, stalking over to it. She heard Robin's footsteps as he followed. "That's suspicious. Rob, is this what I think it is?"

"This is wrong," he agreed, pulling up his holographic screen to search his archives for a confirmation. "Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building!"

"Unless the building isn't just two stories," Bloodlust realized. She touched the doors and frowned. "Aqualad, you said you saw something enter the elevator?"

"Something that also doesn't belong here," he said.

He stepped up to the doors and gestured for Bloodlust to step aside. When she did, he placed his hands on the gap between the doors and pried them open with a shout.

The rest of them clambered beside him and gazed down at the elevator shaft. It stretched downwards for far longer than a supposed small-scale genetics laboratory should require.

"And that's why they need an express elevator," Robin quipped.

He pulled his grappling hook launcher out of his pocket and fired it into the ceiling of the shaft. Then he leapt into the shaft and continued to fall and fall until his line eventually came to an end at just around a floor labeled SB 25.

"I'm at the end of my rope," he muttered, a soft shock in his tone as he swung over to the door of the elevator. He quickly sidestepped until he found a decent spot to sit, then produced his screens again.

Aqualad came down next, followed by Bloodlust and then Kid Flash.

"I knew something was off with this place," Bloodlust hissed, touching the cold metal of the door again. "Not only is this an express elevator; these doors are heavily reinforced. They're probably not indestructible, but most definitely bulletproof. And I can feel it vibrating. Robin, these have tech behind them. Passcodes."

"On it," the Boy Wonder replied. "Bypassing security... there. Go."

Aqualad didn't miss a beat. He tore these doors open too, then the four of them slipped inside quickly. They found themselves, wide-eyed, in another enormous hallway. The lights were a deep red, the walls and ceiling and floor a murky black. Panel upon panel of black metal ran down the hall, giving the room a strange aura about it.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin announced.

Kid Flash wasted no time in rushing again. Aqualad tried to grab him to stop him, but the boy was far too fast. He sped ahead, only to severely underestimate his speed and fail to smoothly as he neared the end of the hall. He tripped and skidded across the floor, grunting in pain.

And then there was a thud. A heavy, scarily close weight dropping beside him, and KF opened his eyes as a strange, elephant-sized creature lifted its foot and began to lower it right over him.

Luckily, as per his powers, KF was more than fast enough to get out of the way of the herd of... creatures? As he stepped back and rejoined his friends, who were now in the hall with him, he struggled to understand what he was looking at.

The creatures were enormous. They had gravelly gray skin with strange red markings and pale underbellies and curved tusks emerging from the sides of their fanged mouths. Their eyes were a deep red and their faces seemed curved in permanent snarls. Bloodlust swore one of them met her gaze as it passed. They roared and blew steam from their nostrils, the heat so intense it was nearly disorienting.

"What are those?" Bloodlust asked in a hushed whisper, only for her eyes to then catch a glimpse of yet another anomaly. "Huh?!"

Seated in a sort of crouched position on the top of the monster was a tiny creature with beady red eyes and markings to match the bigger creature over its own cool gray skin. There were hard-looking lumps on their knees and curved appendages coming from the sides of its face. As the monsters passed, the tiny creature's horns began to glow a bright red.

Y/N's heart skipped such a long beat it might as well have stopped. There was this strange sensation in her body as she met the goblin-creature's gaze; a tingling which started at the top of her head and trickled pleasantly down to the tips of her bare toes. She was always aware of the blood in her body thanks to her metahuman powers but suddenly her understanding of it all was... heightened? Was that the right word? She was hyperaware of the beat of her heart, of the rush of her bloodflow, of the—

"BLOOD!"

Y/N jumped. "What?!"

Kid Flash was standing right next to her, his hand on her shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You sorta zoned out for a second."

"I..." Y/N took a shaky breath, then frowned. Why was her breathing so heavy now? "Sorry, I just... I don't know." She put her hand to her chest. "My heart feels like it's going supersonic right now. It... it must be the shock, I guess."

Robin didn't look convinced. "Doubtful. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Bloodlust assured him. "I'm okay. Um. What were those?"

Aqualad shook his head. "We do not know. But this is proof that Batman, Black Canary, and you were right. Cadmus is keeping far too many secrets."

"Well?" Robin prompted. "We're here now. Might as well uncover a couple more."

Y/N frowned. "Robin, I said only reconnaissance."

"C'mon!" KF protested. "Blood, we're already here. We can't exactly leave now! You can't say you're not curious."

This is a bad idea, Y/N noted. She glanced at her friends' faces, their looks of hope for her to agree with them (even in Aqualad's gaze, surprisingly). But I am intrigued by all of this. What were those things? Can we find that out? And not be caught by our mentors?

"Fine," she amended, waving KF away from her face. "Fine, fine. But if things go south, I'm calling Arrow."

"What?!" KF demanded.

"Hey, better him than Bats, right?" Y/N reminded him. "And he can help keep Canary from killing me."

"It's a deal," Robin said, cutting off Kid Flash before he could get annoyed. "If stuff hits the fan, you can call GA."

"Good." Y/N nodded. "Now. Where do we start?"

They were shocked upon opening the first vault, which really didn't bode well.

Robin found a bit of difficulty in hacking open the vault, which he was initially frustrated by.

"That's a first," he grumbled. "Hold on."

There was no need to hold on, however, because he managed to crack the code five seconds later. With a satisfying click and hiss, the vault doors slid opened.

"Okay..." Robin muttered, looking into the vault. "I am officially whelmed."

Inside the vault was column after column of cylinder-shaped semi-transparent containment chambers. Within each chamber was yet another unidentifiable organism with similar characteristics to the giants and gremlins from earlier. At the center of the room was an energy of sorts; a buzzing, bright blue ball of something, flashing rapidly as it drew power the containment chambers.

"They're... they're living batteries," Bloodlust realized.

Kid Flash marched up closer to the chambers. "This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world! The real Cadmus isn't on the grid! It generates its own power with these... things." He placed his hands on his hips. "It must be what they're bred for."

Aqualad turned to Bloodlust. "You were right, my friend. They truly live up to the legend of their name."

Bloodlust nodded silently.

"So Cadmus creates new life," Robin noted. He marched up to the blue sphere of power, to the little control panel at the base of the structure, and connected his own monitor to the controls. "Let's find out why."

Y/N saddled up beside Robin and read his screen over his shoulder. Her eyes fell on paragraph after paragraph of scientific terminology and lab reports.

"They call them Genomorphs," Robin narrated. "Whoa! Look at the stats on these things!" He tapped on the image of the giant creatures from earlier, opening up a window with a characteristic breakdown of the organism. "Super strength, telepathy, razor claws—these things are living weapons!"

"They're engineering an army," KF muttered. "But for who?"

"Wait." Robin leaned forward and tapped on one of the files. "There's some other stuff. Project Kr and... ugh." He shook his head. "The file's triple encrypted. I can't—"

"DON'T MOVE!"

The four of them whirled around at the sudden shout, eyes wide and hands clenched into fists. Rushing towards them, a group of growling Genomorphs at his heels and shoulder, was... was that Guardian?!

"Wait!" he shouted, stopping dead in his tracks as he scanned the faces of the teenagers. Recognition flashed in his eyes. "Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? Bloodlust?"

"Hey, at least he got your name right," Robin teased KF before he continued trying to hack into the files.

"I know you," Aqualad spoke up. "Guardian. A hero."

"I do my best," Guardian humbly said.

"What are you doing down here?" Bloodlust demanded. "And why've you got those Genomorphs with you?"

"I'm Chief of Security," Guardian explained. "You're all trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League is going to approve of you breeding weapons?!" KF fired back.

"Weapons?" Guardian questioned. "What're you... what am I..."

But he was cut off as the Genomorph on his shoulder turned to him, its horns glowing red. Y/N, too, staggered back, suddenly overcome with a strange urge; although, to do what, she was unsure.

Guardian pressed a hand to his head, groaning in discomfort. But then he opened his eyes again, a glimmer of determination in his eyes, and he looked back at the protégés. "Take them down hard! No mercy!"

Bloodlust was the first to act. She slipped her knife from its sheath and slashed at her palms, allowing the stray drops of her blood to fall.

"SMOKE!" she ordered, and her blood erupted into billowing red smoke.

Robin was quick to take advantage and produced his grappling hook launcher again. He fired it up onto the support beams overhead, then leapt up, allowing the wire to carry him to brief safety.

The Genomorphs advanced, slashing through the smoke and snarling; but their vision was obscured. Bloodlust took full control of the smoke and concentrated it around the eyes of the Genomorphs, blinding them but allowing her and her friends full visibility.

One came too close for comfort, and she lunged at the monster, letting the blood on her palms touch its skin.

"BURN!"

Instantly, the Genomorph let out a high-pitched, agonized shriek as its flesh began to burn and boil. It fell to the ground, and Y/N moved on to the next enemy combatant until she heard the electric crackling of Aqualad's weapons and followed the sound. She saw him knock down Guardian, and she ran alongside him and KF to escape the vault.

They booked it as fast as they could, staying out of reach of the Genomorphs by just a hair. Alarms began to blare, sending waves of pain through Bloodlust's head, but she kept sprinting until she found Robin, busily hacking away at the elevator. KF ran ahead, seemingly scolding him, until the elevator door opened and they rushed inside. Bloodlust quickly followed.

"You couldn't wait for us?" she panted, turning to Robin with a glare.

"You made it!" Robin grinned. "No need to complain!"

The growling of the Genomorphs grew closer, and Y/N looked up and yelped, pushing herself against the side of the elevator just in time to allow Aqualad to jump into the shaft. The doors shut behind him, trapping them inside.

"Okay, good," Bloodlust sighed. She stood and dusted herself off, then commanded her hands to heal. "Now, we leave."

But the floor level display continued to increase. They were going deeper into the sublevels.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad demanded.

"Dude!" KF turned to Robin. "Out is up!"

"Excuse me?" Robin frowned. "Project Kr? It's down, on sublevel 52."

"This is out of control," Aqualad protested. "Perhaps... perhaps we should contact the League."

"On it," Bloodlust began, but before she could reach her communications device, Robin grabbed her wrist. She leveled him with a wide-eyed glare. "Explain yourself or I will cut off your hand, Robin."

"Look, Blood, I think you're going to want to see this stuff," he implored. "Trust me."

"You promised that I could call Arrow!" Y/N reminded him. "Make good on your word!"

But then the elevator dinged open, and soon Y/N was too shocked by what she saw to even remember to call Oliver.

The hall—if it could even be called that—was strange, red, and flesh-like in appearance. Glowing blue pustule-esque structures jutted out from the wall, emanating ominous light.

"What is this place?" Bloodlust whispered.

Robin ran ahead.

"No!" Bloodlust reached for him, but he was already too far. "No, I don't like this at all, guys."

"Well, we are already here," KF tried to convince her, before quickly shutting up because Bloodlust gave him such a cold look he turned away. He elected to run after Robin.

Aqualad sighed heavily. "I will go with them. If you wish to stay back, that is your decision."

Y/N wanted to fall to her knees and kiss his feet in thanks. She hated this feeling of being here. The air was thicker, the walls looked alive, it was unnatural, unreal in all the worst ways.

But then Robin's words came back to her:

Look, Blood, I think you're going to want to see this stuff. Trust me.

"N-no." Bloodlust swallowed her nerves. "I'll come with you."

Aqualad hesitated. Then he offered her a gentle smile, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That is quite brave of you, my friend," he assured her.

Y/N nodded. "Thanks."

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plzravagemethxxx · 9 months ago

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BLOODLUST pt. 1

BLOODLUST Masterlist

Prologue Part Two

"Well," Y/N sighed. "This doesn't look too hot."

Icicle Junior had leapt down from the posts of the bridge and had created a steep ramp in the middle of the road, sending cars flying. He threw his head back and laughed manically as the civilians swerved to try and avoid the ice.

Y/N rushed towards the cars as they flew through the air. She heard people's screams from within and ran as fast as she could, whipping out her knife and slashing her palms open. She felt the blood gush onto her skin and shouted, "STRONG!" as she caught the car midair and lowered it to the ground as gently as she could before moving onto the next one.

"Finally!" Junior shouted, noticing her. "I was wondering what a guy had to do to get a little attention around here!"

He lurched towards Y/N, only to be thwarted by an arrow piercing the back of his shoulder. Several more forced their way into his wall of ice.

Y/N scoffed and pressed down on the microphone of her earpiece. "Took you long enough."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Roy Harper grouched. "I don't see you fighting Junior."

"Civies are more important than villains," Y/N mused. She stepped a bit farther from Icicle Junior as the arrows began to beep, indicating that they were armed with explosives. "That's my motto, Speedy."

The blasts went off, and Junior grunted in pain as his wall broke apart. He fell back and snarled up at where Speedy and Green Arrow stood atop the bridge, their next arrows prepped and ready.

Junior summoned massive clumps of ice on his arms, then roared with effort as he chucked them up at the two archers.

"Junior's doing all this for attention?" Roy demanded. He let out another explosive arrow.

"I know," Y/N grumbled. "It's odd." She rushed at Junior, bloody hands extended, and ordered, "BURN!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Icicle Junior leapt back, narrowly dodging Y/N's hands, which had started to smoke with heat. "Nobody told you, pretty girl? Ice and fire don't mix!"

He tossed several spikes of ice at her, but Y/N simply smacked a couple out of the way and they turned to puddles at her touch. The rest embedded themselves in the ground, and Y/N kept running.

Meanwhile, Roy and Oliver had made their way down to the street, and were firing off more arrows at Junior as he attempted to dodge each of Y/N's attacks.

"I'm telling you now," Roy stated. "This little distraction better not interfere."

Icicle Junior saw the arrows coming and quickly put up a frozen shield all around him. The explosive arrows made a hole in his barrier, and Y/N began to punch through the ice as well. Her burning blood splattered across the ice, reducing it to water in seconds.

Trapped, Junior threw one last attack. He punched the air in Speedy's direction and kicked at Y/N, sending massive blasts of sharpened ice crystals at them both.

Y/N ducked out of the way, but felt some of the ice pierce her abdomen as she tried to escape the blast. Pain shot through her body and she yelped.

"HEAL!" she commanded, feeling the cuts on her hands seal quickly. The wound from being impaled began to patch itself up, a bit slower than her hands.

Roy, however, practically smirked as he jumped over his attack, pulling an arrow from his quiver and releasing it mid-air. The arrowhead slammed into Junior's chin hard, knocking him unconscious.

Green Arrow looked down at their adversary and chuckled. "Kid had a glass jaw!"

"Hilarious," Speedy said quickly. "Can we go?"

"Wow, such patience," Y/N teased, throwing her arm around his shoulders. "It's almost saint-like."

"Can you blame me?" Roy asked, quirking a brow at her. "Today's the day."

"That it is," Black Canary agreed as she pulled her motorcycle up to them. "Y/N, you good?"

"Peachy." The girl tapped the mended skin of her abdomen, feeling the newly formed flesh. "No more injuries. I may need a snack on the way, though."

"That's good." She tossed a helmet to the girl. "Get on and grab a bar. You don't want to be late, do you?"

The Hall of Justice was not the main base for the Justice League. Y/N had known that since Canary had elected to go off on a solo mission for a month, leaving Bloodlust to work with Green Arrow and Speedy. After a particularly grueling patrol, Oliver had invited the two of them to his house where he proceeded to patch them up, get drunk, and reveal the truth about the Justice League's headquarters.

"You see," he'd mumbled, "the Hall is just a fro-hic!-a front. We used to be at Mount Justice but then-hic!-our enemies found out about it." He'd spread his arms and eyes wide, looking absolutely scandalized. "Can you bel-hic!-believe that?" He'd shaken his head and returned to his bottle. "I can't believe that. How'd they-hic!-find us? I don't know."

Y/N had met Roy's eyes, sending him a silent question:

Do we ask more questions?

Roy had answered by turning to Oliver, his lips pursed in thought. "So, um. Where is your headquarters?"

"Mm." Oliver had lifted a hand and pointed to the ceiling. "The-hic!-Watchtower." He'd nodded firmly. "It's-hic!-in space. A satellite." Then he'd smiled softly. "Lovely view."

And so Y/N knew they were being played when Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado greeted her and the rest of her colleagues.

"Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Bloodlust," Manhunter listed off, "welcome. You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course..." He trailed off as the doors to the library opened up. "Our library."

"Make yourselves at home," Flash offered, gesturing to the armchairs scattered about near the large computer screens beside the Zeta tubes on the far side of the library.

Robin immediately flopped into one seat, as did Kid Flash. Aqualad instead gestured for Y/N to take the remaining chair, and she did with a polite smile, kicking one leg over the other. Speedy rested his hand on the back of her chair, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Don't tell me," he whispered, barely audible to anyone but Bloodlust, "this is the end of the tour."

"It better not be," Y/N hissed back.

But much to her disappointment, their mentors huddled close together, physically cutting the protégés out of the conversation even if they could still hear.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day," Batman explained, turning his head back to the sidekicks. "We shouldn't be too long."

With that, the adults turned to the Zeta tubes. Batman typed in his command into the computers, and the tubes whirred to life.

"Recognized: Batman, 0-2," the automated voice rang out. "Aquaman, 0-6. Flash, 0-4. Green Arrow, 0-8. Black Canary, 1-3. Martian Manhunter, 0-7. Red Tornado, 1-6."

"That's it?" Roy demanded, standing up straight. "You promised us a real look inside! Not a glorified backstage pass!"

"It is the first step," Aquaman replied calmly. "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh, really?" Bloodlust growled. She gestured up to the windows, outside of which several civilians watched with cameras flashing. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on? This is insulting."

"Y/N," Canary began, stepping closer, "I understand your frustrations. Both of you," she added, nodding to Roy. "But you need to be patient."

"Patient?!" Y/N scoffed.

"What we need is respect," Roy scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked to Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, who seemed appalled at the outburst. "They're treating us like kids. Worse... like sidekicks. We deserve better than this!"

But to Y/N and Roy's shock, none of them said anything. Then it hit her.

They don't know about the Watchtower, do they?

"You're kidding, right?" Roy seethed. "You're playing their game?! Why?!"

"Wait, Roy." Y/N tried to reach out for him, but Speedy shrugged her hand away.

"Today was supposed to be the day! Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League!" Roy shouted.

"Well," Kid Flash muttered, "sure. But I thought step one was a tour of HQ?"

"Roy, they don't know," Y/N said softly, her anger slowly ebbing away.

Roy just leveled her with a cold look. "Then it's about time they learn." Then he turned back to the other protégés. "I bet they never told you, huh?"

Y/N didn't miss the way Oliver stiffened, nor the way Dinah's head shot over to him, the unmistakable air of fury about her.

"This place," Roy began, "the Hall of Justice, isn't the real thing. It's a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching zeta beams to the real thing; an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Batman, Aqualad, and Flash all rounded on Green Arrow. Canary's fingers twitched, like she was seriously considering strangling the man.

Oliver sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception!"

"And you told Y/N, too?" Dinah growled. "Without my permission?"

"He didn't even tell us on purpose," Y/N reported. "He was drunk."

"Regardless, you are not helping your cause here, lass," Aqualad said. He tried to step closer to Y/N and Roy. "Stand down, son, or—"

"Or what?" Roy interrupted him furiously. "You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his," he snarled, turning to Oliver. "I thought I was his partner. But not anymore."

Y/N froze. "Roy, what—"

But he plucked his cap off of his head and dashed it to the ground. He turned his back to the Justice League, and shook his head disapprovingly at the protégés, who sat in stunned silence.

"I guess they're right about the three of you," he said coldly. "You're not ready. C'mon, Bloodlust."

But Y/N didn't move. She stood still as the world seemed to pause around her. She felt the piercing eyes of Dinah on her back, the bated breath of Roy before her, both eagerly awaiting her decision.

And what would her decision be?

They don't fully trust me, she noted. The League, at least. I'm only sixteen, I don't know my way around this line of work as well as I act like I do. Of course Dinah didn't want me finding out about the Watchtower. I could never make it on my own at this level. Petty thieves are one thing, but now the world associates me with Justice League-level threats, and I'm just not there yet. Not by myself.

But with Roy? I wouldn't be alone, I'd have someone with the same level of training as I. He trusts me, he's shown that time and time again. We're friends. He's my best friend.

But Canary—Dinah—she's like an older sister to me. Without her, I'd still be working three jobs to barely be able to support myself. I'd be broke and alone and I would never have made it this far.

What do I do?

"I..." Y/N swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry, Roy. But I'm staying with Canary for now."

Roy turned to face her, eyes wide. There was a glimmer of rage in his eyes, mixed with a twinge of hurt. His jaw loosened as he stared deep into her eyes.

"You're joking."

Silently, Y/N shook her head. For the first time in the years she'd known Roy Harper, she had never had him look at her this way. It stung in a manner she didn't know was possible.

"No." Y/N stood her ground. "I-I'm going to stay. With Canary. And them," she added, waving vaguely at the three boys watching this unfold. "I'm not confident in my ability to go off on my own, Roy. I-I don't doubt you. But I'm not strong enough yet."

There was a moment of silence.

"Fine," Roy whispered. "I can't say I'm not surprised. But it does hurt."

And with that, Roy stormed out of the room.

His absence left a bitter taste in Y/N's mouth. She kept her eyes on the doors, even as behind her, a notification alarm went off and the image of Superman projected onto the screen. She kept her eyes on the doors as Zatara, too, joined the call. And she kept her eyes on the doors as Canary walked up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I know it hurts, Y/N," she whispered, "but you did the right thing."

"It doesn't feel like it," Y/N replied in the same hushed tone, her voice cracking at the end.

"Hm."

"So..." Kid Flash started once the heroes had Zeta'd away to handle the threat Zatara had warned them of. "Are you okay?"

Y/N almost laughed at the question. "Do I look like I'm okay, KF?"

"Right, stupid question, sorry."

Y/N nodded.

Aqualad sighed heavily. "My King, I thought he trusted me. And yet... what else are they not telling us?"

"In Arrow's defense," Robin said, "Bloodlust did say he was intoxicated. But I've got a better question. Why didn't you leave with Speedy, Blood? And why didn't we?"

Y/N did not respond. Instead, after a beat of quiet, Aqualad looked up with a frown.

"What is Project Cadmus?"

"Genetics lab," Y/N replied swiftly. "Based here, in D.C. Don't know much else."

"Well!" Robin stood and cracked his knuckles before marching over to the computer. "Let's see what else we can find out."

"Access denied," the computer replied as Robin punched in some codes.

"Ha! Wanna bet?" Robin smirked and his fingers flew over the keyboard again. Soon, he managed to tear down the encryptions on the file.

"Whoa..." KF mused. "How are you doing that?"

"Same system as the Batcave," Robin replied. He pressed one last key, and the computer screen switched to a file titled 'Project Cadmus.'

"Access granted."

"We can see that," Y/N whispered, turning to see the screen. She skimmed the text, then shook her head. "Yeah, that's all they've got. Genetics lab in D.C."

"But if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate?" Robin prompted.

"Solve their case," Aqualad translated, "before they do."

"We'll get in so much trouble," Y/N pointed out.

"Not like you're not used to that," Robin fired back. "Don't think I haven't seen your file, Bloodlust."

Y/N glared at him. "Alright. I might be fine. But you?"

"I stand with Bloodlust," Aqualad said. "They told us to stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission," Robin stated. "Not this."

"Wait!" KF cut in, raising a hand to stop them. "Are you guys going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going."

"Just like that?" Aqualad seemed surprised. "We're a team on a mission?"

Y/N chewed her lip. "I'm still not certain about this. But..." She turned to the screen, looking long and hard at the Cadmus logo. "I'll admit. Canary and I were worried about Cadmus. Have any of you guys heard of the legend?"

"Yes," Aqualad replied. "The Cadmus of myth created a new race by planting dragons' teeth into the ground."

"Yeah. We were worried that this Cadmus may be more like their namesake than they say," Y/N said. "Like, their genetic experiments may verge into illegal territory."

"I see..."

"Great!" Robin clapped his hands together. "I mean, not great, but great! That gives us another reason to check it out for ourselves! C'mon, Bloodlust! If they're doing what you suspect, we could bring them to justice. Our mentors can't blame us for that."

"They are all about justice," KF mused.

Finally, Y/N heaved a sigh. "You're not going to stop trying to convince me, are you?"

Robin just grinned.

"Fine. Fine." Y/N raised her hands in surrender. "But I'm only consenting to reconnaissance. We go in, collect information, and we get out."

KF and Robin exchanged giddy smiles.

Then Robin turned to Y/N, a sly gleam in his eyes. "Ready to be whelmed?"

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