Long Past Dawn

"Indeed." the villain says, turning away from me. "That was quite turbing. Thank you." then leaves as the others groan back to consciousness.

F.u.c.k! I yell at myself as I slam my fist into the wall and pain shoots through my hand. That didn't feel good, I have a bad feeling it might be broken and from the angry red swelling, I might be right. That'll take a while to heal even with my fast healing.

Right now I just have to focus on getting up and checking on the others, they might be hurt a lot worse than me. While I focus on those thoughts I stupidly put my right hand down to push myself up and cry out as another jolt of pain crashes through me. But I grit my teeth and get up, though stars swim past me and I stager a bit.

I look out the doors and see Wally and Twister. Oh no, I try not to move my wrist as I stumble over to the doors, only stopping to pick up my sword with my left. Outside, in the beginnings of the forest with the evidence of his crash landing from earlier surrounding him Wally sees Twister leaving he runs in front of the villain, then rolling to change direction and rolling through two more somersaults to stare down Twister. "What have you done to my team?" he demands.

I clench my uninjured hand. Wally why are you being so stupid. "Embarrassed them, largely." Twister says, then bringing both his hands together to form a singular twister that snatches Wally up and is heading right for the outside wall of the power plant.

"Shit!" I cry and open my wings and pain shoots through my back, after a moment I feel bone fitting back into place and I'm able to move them without pain. I lift up into the arm and catch him by the collar but almost drop him when the pain rushes through me again but I grip on tighter.

Through the clearing dust I see M'gann, Robin, Superboy, and Kaldur at the entrance and I fly us over. Unfortunetly when we're just a few feet above ground I have to drop Wally as the pain in my wrist gets too much to handle.

"Ohh." he sighs in relief and drops the three feet with ease. "Thanks."

"I would have thought you had all learned your limitations by now." Twister speaks to us.

"What do you want?!" Kaldur yells angrily at the villain, who rises into the air.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero." Twister tells them, proving his thoughts that they are not that.

"Read his mind, find his weakness." Aqualad throws over his shoulder to M'gann.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that." M'gann objects, now slightly hesitant and equally confused.

"It's okay with the bad guys." Robin tells her.

Determination sets in as M'gann sets out to do just that. "Nothing. I'm getting nothing." then she breaks her concentration, knocking her head slightly. "Hello, Megan. Mr. Twister is Red Tornado in disguise." all of them look up to the 'villain' in hurt shock. No... She has to be wrong... Somehow I just know that she is.

"He's inorganic, an android." Kaldur turns to M'gann. "And how many androids do you know that generate tornadoes?" now both Robin and Wally turn towards her as well.

"No!" I yell at them and am still panting.

They all turn to me surprised. I need something to prove that this gut feeling that she's wrong is right or else they won't believe me, "It can't be Tornado it just can't, it has to be some other robot like him."

"Red Tornado sent us here." Aqualad says. "None of us want to believe it but we must."

No... No no... They don't get it, it's not that I don't want to belive it, it's that it can't actually be possible. It's someone else but how do I prove it to them.

"After saying we'd be 'tested soon enough'." Robin continues. "This is his test, something to keep us busy."

"Speed called it." Wally says, then hangs his head sadly. "We're a joke."

Aqualad makes a noise of frustration before slamming his fist into his hand and turning back towards the 'villain'.

"This game," Wally vocalizes, as he and Robin step up to join Kaldur. "so over." the three stand alone before Twister as M'gann stands slightly behind them and me in the doorway of the factory.

"We know who you are and what you want." Robin accuses.

"So let's end this." Kaldur confirms.

"Consider it ended." Twister says darkly, raising his hands over his head and the two funnels begin creating dark clouds and a massive full sizes twister. As this happens, Robin's resolve gives slightly. A small amount of worry causes his lip to drop. Oh god...

"An impressive show," Kaldur calls out, before exchanging glances with Wally and Robin as my stomach drops. "but we will not indulge you." all three face back towards Twister. "We will not engage."

Lightning cracks into the eye of the storm, Mr. Twister. Wally turns towards the other two, now nervous. "Uh, can Red Tornado... do that?"

"You think I'm Tornado?" the lightning gains intensity. "Ironic." Twister says darkly before the lightning strikes the ground and hits just before us and knocks the others out. No way. Ironic? That's it. At the realization my eyes grow wide and my breath hitches for a moment.

"That's not Tornado!" I scream at them again, or those of them who are still slightly awake, "The reason he wants a real hero here is because-"

I get cut off by the wind and lightning overhead and none of them seem to hear.

Superboy still stands and his coat is scorched, and he rips it off to fully show off his Superman t-shirt, before launching himself at Twister. The weather villain, barely glances down as he hits Superboy with twin bolts of lightning from his hands. Knocking Superboy into the ground with enough force to cause trench behind him.

Tch... We can't call Tornado, they still think it's probably him and even if we did that would just be giving him what he wants. Twister approaches, prepared for the final shot.

My hand tightens on my sword. He could kill us if he gets the chance. I have to protect them. I change into a fighting stance as my legs and arms shake. 'Iferis,' I plead, 'Help me.'

'Always, we are one after all,' There's a ripple in my shadow and after a moment Iferis lunges out, ready to fight. I grab onto her and pull myself up as she lifts off. This will be tricky but I have to be strong.

He throws a twister at us and Iferis flies through it easily. I. Will. Protect. Them.

As we get closer the tip of my sword just manages to scratch the tubes. There's a hiss of air and some blue liquid spurts out. Twister looks mad if a robot can be.

Again he manages to rip the sword from my grasp and the force of it pulls me off Iferis and I open my wings as I fall but he sends a twister that engulfs me and I'm thrown from side to side. "I won't deny that you have power," he says as the wind grows.

Out of the funnel comes a red, robotic hand and grabs me before pulling me out. Twister punches me in the stomach before letting me drop to the ground. No... I think to myself weakly...

Twister looks down at me as I fall, "If you confront me again, I will show no mercy."

He doesn't wait for me to hit the ground before he leaves, heading in the direction of Happy Harbor. I clench my jaw as my vision blurs then blacks out completely, and the last thing I know is that I'm wrapped in an embrace of black feather.

"...let... Arlet... Scarlet!" Familiar voices fill my head and I groan. I don't want to wake up though... That isn't my name. I want to be called by my name.

"Dawn," A voice that haunts me in my dreams says. I recognize that voice... Jikan.

My eyes snap open and I desperately look around for her. She has to be here, but where? I'm greeted by the familiar landscape of the PowerPlant factory and the woods on the edge of the land. I groan with pain as a sudden headache comes on to annoy me.

Kaldur, M'gann, Robin, Wally, and Superboy stand in front of me, worry playing on their faces and deep in their eyes. "Jikan...?" But she's nowhere to be seen.

"We thought we lost you there..." Robin says after a second and the relief in his voice is clear, "You took a real beating."

"Anything for you guys," I grunt as I push myself up. I look around but there's no sign of Iferis. She must have gone back to my shadow when they woke up. 'Thank you,' I say mentally to her.

There's no reply and a worn of dread seeps in but I push it away. "What happened?" I ask them.

"I placed the Bioship between us while you were fighting Twister," M'gann explains.

Superboy stands and releases to hook punches on an unsuspecting rock formation. "And that's supposed to make it right?" all three other boys stand up as Superboy stalks towards as still sitting Miss Martian. "You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado and you didn't even think about helping Scarlet, what if she got really badly hurt or even killed. We should have listened to Scarelt when she said it wasn't him."

That probably isn't possible, for the me dying part anyway. But I don't voice it, though just from that rest I can tell I'm pretty much all healed up.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Kaldur says calmly.

"It-it was a rookie mistake." Robin agrees. "But you're right, we shouldn't have listened."

"You are pretty inexperienced." that catches M'gann's attention. She turns straight to Wally, his head drops slightly. "Hit the showers. We'll take it from here. You too, Scarlet, you got it pretty bad."

"Stay out of our way," Superboy says darkly as he walks past M'gann.

"No," I hiss at them, "We're a team and we're going to work like one."

"She could have gotten you killed," Superboy argues as he points to M'gann.

"I'm not that weak," I say as I dust myself off, I'm surprised that my sword returned to being a normal bracelet again, or almost normal anyway.

"Fine," Superboy growls, slightly giving in. "But she goes back."

M'gann's face falls as she watches Superboy accelerate into a run, then jump. Just behind him, Wally chooses that same spot to book it to supersonic speeds. Robin uses the dust cloud to disappear from sight.

"I was just trying to be part of the team," M'gann says sadly, her bangs falling in front of her eyes.

Kaldur stops a few steps in front of her and at least three to her left. "To be honest, I'm not sure we have a team." then he too takes off.

I look at her fallen face and I sigh, I feel like I've been acting like a bitch to her. "You know you should stand up for what you want, we're a team, we're supposed to work together. Right now it might not seem like we are, but we'll figure it out."

With that, I leap into the air and start flying towards where the others are.

Happy Harbor isn't in its best shape right now, seeing as there are twin twisters blow through the small town, triggering car alarms and panic. One rips across the harbor, picking up boats and dropping them in the town square before that same twister runs through a building. Taking it down with ease.

Twister stands in the center, controlling the destruction. "Certainly this will get the required attention."

"You've got ours!" Kid Flash shouts, gaining Twister's attention. "Full and undivided!" Wally rips down the road, hitting Twister hard enough to knock him back a good three feet.

"Immaterial and insufficient!" Twister proclaims. "You are a distraction I can no longer tolerate."

Before he can act on his annoyance Superboy drops with a battle cry and hits Twister hard enough to knock him back three or four times the distance Wally did. As he comes to a stop, both boys stand ready.

Twister unleashes another twister that is going straight for them. Robin and Kaldur jump over a parked car, coming at Twister's back as he throws a boat at Superboy. However, he turns right to them, creating small twisters. Which Aqualad dodges with ease and continues for Twister. Before getting caught in a disk spiral and launched at the Town Hall building and crashing into the railing of the second-story deck.

I try to get a good aim to trap him in crystals but he moves too fast and with the others darting in and out, the best shot I've gotten so far was a bit of a scratch on his shoulder.

Wally speeds at him, only for Twister catch him as well. The villain brings him over his head and Wally finds his opening. Dropping out of the current and rolling into a crouch he takes off as Twister creates another twister. Which heads right for Robin. Who evades and in his place the twister explodes. He launches three more at Twister, which are deflected, but leaves the villain barely enough time to avoid Superboy's punch that dents the ground.

In his evasion, Twister can summon another twister, which picks up Superboy and launches him away. Right to where Kaldur is just getting himself out of the rubble from his own fall. Twister sends a boat right after him.

Kaldur moves out of the way, knowing Superboy is invulnerable. Though the boat's motor lands mere inches from him. Thankfully he has minimal troubles lifting the heavy piece of equipment then throwing it at Twister.

I hide with Robin behind one of the other thrown boats and Wally speeds around to join us. Robin pulls his yellow utility belt out of his jacket sleeve and throws it over his shoulder.

"You brought your utility belt?" Wally questions, sounding more annoyed than surprised.

"Never leave home without it-" Robin confirms and defends, clipping it together. "First thing Batman taught me."

"Yeah, right after don't go to the bathroom without it" Wally grumbles.

"Listen to me." M'gann's voice comes over what I assume is a mental link. Robin grabs his head in his hands as does Wally, though his eyes noticeably clench shut as well. Aqualad gets thrown back by Superboy, who managed to get himself out from under the boat. "All of you."

I smile to myself lightly as I take aim again, this time hitting the same spot but it goes a bit deeper, looks like she took my advice.

Superboy grabs his head. "What did we tell you?"

"I know, and I know I messed up," M'gann admits. "but now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please trust me."

Two citizens are still running around the town. A police officer is directing everyone. "Get Back! Everyone clear the area!" unaware of the twister headed right for him.

"You've got my attention," I say as she explains the plan to us all.

A citizen running away watches as Red Tornado flies over him, and he smiles.

Red Tornado comes to the center of Happy Harbor where we stand just out of Twister's range. The villain stops as he sees Tornado. "Hit the showers." the he instructs, landing. Though not accompanied by his usual red tornado like he used when greeting the Team outside the Mountain "I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now." Robin objects with a frown.

"The subject is not up for debate," Tornado tells us. We say nothing as we walk away.

"I was beginning to believe you'd never show up," Twister tells Tornado.

"I'm here now," Tornado says, his right hand reaching out beyond his cape to create a twister he sends right at Twister. Who counteracts it, but as Tornado attempts an attack on his turned back, Twister sends another at him.

Tornado disperses the attack before any damage can be done. "We are evenly matched, Twister," Tornado says, using both hands to create a tornado behind him to throw at Twister.

"No, Tornado, we are not," Twister emphasizes his point with a punch that blocks the rubble with a wall made of air before shooting lightning at him.

Tornado dodges and takes flight, guiding the lightning to one of the crashed boats which explodes into him knocking him to the ground as he sparks.

Twister lands beside him. "Remain still, android." all his fingertips become computer connectors which fall around the back of Red Tornado's head and neck. "The reprogramming won't take long."

Tornado grabs the wires, turning his head towards Twister before turning into M'gann's head. "Longer than you might think." her voice hers once more.

"No." Twister gaps, then M'gann launches him back with her telekinesis, ripping out the wires from his hand. Into an oncoming twister, which catches the villain and sends him over her head. As it comes to a stop, you can see that Wally was the one creating it, by spinning.

Superboy hits the off-balance villain with a hard punch to the kidney area, before hitting him hard in the stomach as he grabs the massive arm under his own and hitting him twice more in the c.h.e.s.t. Causing smoke to start coming out of the seams in the metal plates. Then he reels back hits him straight in the face, knocking him into the harbor with an impressive splash.

As he sinks, he turns to find Aqualad waiting for him, impaling the two points in the metal he's using into his already damaged c.h.e.s.t area. Then his tattoos begin to glow and electricity passes into Twister. The explosion brings him back to the ground. One of his arms missing. M'gann uses her telepathy to bring him off the ground and rip his other arm off as Robin throws exploding disks that knock Twister to the ground.

Even with no arms Twister rises to his knees, only to find the whole us all standing before him. The c.h.e.s.t panel opens, revealing a man, fortyish, medium-length brown hair in a green and white suit. He falls out of the exo-suit and to the ground. "Foul. I-I call foul." he stutters.

"I think it's time for you to sit still," I say as I raise a finger to point at him and his body freezes.

M'gann steps up, an angry look in her eyes, before telekinetically reaching over to pull up a massive slab of the ground. Realizing what she's doing Kaldur attempts to stop her by forcing her arms back to her body, but at that point, it was already over the man. The rock hits, crushing him before our eyes. I look at the big stone, and all I can think is about how glad I am that my wrist has already healed up.

Wally and Robin stand stunned before Robin gets angry and steps up to M'gann. "Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth, we don't execute our captives!"

"Wow," I sigh and shake my head before sharing a look with M'gann, "For a Boy Wonder you can be thick-skulled sometimes."

M'gann seems undeterred from the comments though. "You said you trust me." She then lifts the boulder to reveal another android, though now it's in crushed pieces. "That's why I couldn't read his mind."

Wally steps up and grabs one of the eyeballs. "Cool. Souvenir." fl.i.c.k.i.n.g in so he can catch it in in his fist as he looks to M'gann.

"That is probably the grossest thing you've done so far," I say to him as I eye the 'souvenir'.

"Glad to see you're counting," He says with a wink and I try not to shudder.

"It really wasn't a complement," I shoot back as I turn away from him and that conversation.

"We should have had more faith in you," Kaldur tells her sincerely.

"We all should have had more faith in each other," I correct him.

"Yeah, you rocked this mission." Wally agrees. When no one says anything he has to ask. "Get it? Rocked."

"Unfortunately we did," I roll my eyes but still smile.

Robin mutters an, "Ignore him." then continues in a brighter tone. "We're all just turbed you're on the Team."

M'gann chuckles. "Thanks. Me, too."