"My Name Is Ted"
Previously: Two years ago, Young Justice was disbanded after a mission gone wrong. Now, Robin, Wonder Girl, Damage, and Omni are all attending college together, where the H.I.V.E. is coincidentally looking for the final component of their new power core... Under the depths of the ocean A teenage merman with dark blue hair sat by his mother, holding her hand. She had been dead for a while now, but he couldn't part with her, as she was the only person who had ever cared for him. "I'll find the one who did this to you," Seren vowed. "I will kill him and make a trophy of his spine." A short while later, Seren had laid his mother to rest, grabbed his trident, and swam away, following the trail of his mother's murderer, his merman tail swimming gracefully behind him as he headed toward the coast. Grant had finally lost Cam when he told the boy that the flowers on his plant were starting to wilt in the sun, causing him to rush off in a panic in search of water. Grant wasted no time rushing back to his dorm. He closed the door and headed into the bathroom to take a relaxing shower before going to bed for a few hours. Outside, the foot soldier was calling the H.I.V.E. Headquarters to tell them to send more men as soon as possible. He'd found the one component they needed to get their power core up and running. Connor Kent stood in the doorway, hoping to find some hot twenty something college women in his midst. What he found was a 50th Reunion, with the room filled with senior citizens. "You have got to be kidding me," Connor said to himself. "Where are all the babes?" "We're right here," an old lady with a walker said as she hobbled toward him. "You remind of my grandson. Have some candy." She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of hard candy with dust and lint on it. Connor backed away toward the exit as the seniors walked toward him, like it was a Night of the Living Dead parody. "I'm out of here!" Connor said as he flew out the door. Tim, Cassie, and Bart were headed back to their dorms when they saw more of the H.I.V.E. foot soldiers sneaking around. "These guys don't give up, do they?" Tim asked as he ducked behind some bushes to change into Robin. Bart opened his Flash ring as his Impulse costume leapt from the ring to his body. Cassie spun around at superspeed, changing into her Wonder Girl costume instantly. The three heroes rushed toward the foot soldiers, who were waiting for them to arrive. Before they could strike, a flash bomb went off, temporarily blinding them. "We've planted explosive devices all over the campus," the foot soldier told them. "Set to go off in about forty five minutes. And they're motion sensitive so your fast friend there can't just pluck them up and take them away." "What do you want?" Robin asked as he held his bo staff. "I could tell you, but then she'd have to kill me," the foot soldier said as he smiled at Robin. "Clock's ticking, bird boy." "How many bombs?" Robin asked angrily. "Well, that's for us to know and you to find out now, isn't it?" the foot soldier replied. "They could be bluffing," Wonder Girl told him. "We can't take that chance," Robin replied. "Not with all these innocent lives at stake. Impulse, can you search the campus?" Impulse zipped away, and then quickly returned. "Twenty one bombs, all over. And I can't just get rid of them; they have to be disarmed manually." "Then draw me and Cassie a map," Robin replied as Impulse quickly drew up two maps of the campus from memory. "Everyone spread out and disarm as many bombs as you can!" The three heroes took off as the foot soldiers laughed and headed toward Grant's dorm. "I don't believe this," Connor said as he walked along the street. "Nothing but old people and college nerds. Not one single hot girl." It was then that he saw Wonder Girl flying overhead. "Cassie's going here?" Connor said to himself as he decided to follow, but ran into Cameron. "Hey, watch where you're going!" "Sorry," Cam told him. "I'm trying to find my new bestest friend so I can tell him my plant's alright." "... Right," Connor said as he backed away slowly. "First bomb disarmed," Robin said as he talked into his communicator. He headed away from the cafeteria. "Second bomb disarmed," Wonder Girl said as she flew away from the science lab. "Bart, do you need me to talk you through the disarming process?" Robin asked as he rushed toward his next destination. "No, I think I got it," Impulse said as he disarmed the third bomb. "I got bored one day and read some books on how to build and disarm bombs. Did you know that you can build a bomb out of a Yoohoo bottle and cleaning detergents?" "Yes, yes I did," Robin replied. "You have to know this stuff when you work for Batman." "I can't believe he willingly let you go solo," Wonder Girl told him as she flew toward one of the dorms. "I thought you were partners to the end." "He doesn't want to make the same mistakes he made with Nightwing," Robin told her as he rushed toward the Auditorium. "He's giving me room to grow and be my own hero." "Looks like Robin's not just a sidekick name anymore," Impulse said as he quickly turned the fourth bomb off. "None of us are sidekicks anymore," Wonder Girl replied as she found her next target. "I guess." Grant stepped out of the shower, and walked into his room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He immediately realized something was wrong when he saw the door wasn't closed. He cautiously stepped into his room, his hands glowing with blue energy. As soon as he got through the doorway, two foot soldiers attacked. Grant grabbed their guns as soon as they jumped down at him. He tossed them away, and then punched the soldiers. More of them filed into the room as Grant looked around. "One against twelve?" Grant asked as he smiled. "I feel sorry for you guys." "Where's the component?" one of the soldiers asked. "He can't have it on him, unless it's under the towel." "I think... he is the component," the other soldier replied. "Take him down!" The soldiers rushed forward as Grant started using his powers to keep them at bay while trying to keep his towel from falling off. Several minutes later, Grant was standing over a pile of downed soldiers, trying to catch his breath. "Is that all you got?" Grant asked as a dart hit his neck, followed by several more along his chest. The tranquilizers quickly overtook him as he fell over, unconscious. The foot solider who shot him emerged from behind the bathroom door. Cameron was following Connor, as he tried to get away without revealing he was Superboy. "Look, kid," Connor said. "I really appreciate your... friendliness, but I really have to go." It was then that he saw the H.I.V.E.'s foot soldiers carrying a rather large laundry bag out of the dorms. Connor rushed toward them, with Cam following behind. "Great, more trouble," The foot soldier carrying Grant said as he prepared to pull out his gun. "Can I help you guys with something?" Connor asked as the foot soldier pulled out his gun and fired, but the bullets didn't even get to Connor's chest before his tactile telekinesis deflected them. Connor looked at them with a pissed off look. "Well, that was a stupid thing to do." "Run away!" the soldier shouted. Robin, Impulse, and Wonder Girl met back up at the science lab. "Bart, I thought you said there were 21 bombs," Robin said as he looked over at Impulse. "We've got 20 disarmed, where's the last one?" Impulse looked at the map. "According to this, where we started. In the building those foot soldiers were headed into." "Then let's hurry before- Hey, isn't that Connor?" Robin asked as he saw the soldier fire his gun at the Teen of Steel. "Hey, they've got a guy in that laundry bag!" Cam shouted, feeling Grant's powers running through him. "It's Grant!" "Kidnapping?" Connor asked as he pounded his fists together. "I was going to let the attempt to kill me slide, but now I'm going to have to kick your asses." Robin, Impulse, and Wonder Girl flew toward the commotion as the foot soldiers prepared to fall back. "We've got to get out of here," the foot soldier holding Grant said. "Retreat! Back to the Honeycomb Hideout!" "I think you mean H.I.V.E. Headquarters, don't you?" the other foot soldier asked. The first soldier stared at him blankly. "You just have no sense of humor at all, do you, Ted?" The five heroes flew toward them, just as the final bomb went off, blowing the dorm up in a fiery explosion. The teens were thrown back by the explosion as the foot soldiers made their getaway. "We have to put the fire out!" Robin said as Connor started using his tactile TK to hold back the flames while Impulse created a vortex around the building to suffocate the fire. Wonder Girl opened a fire hydrant and directed the water toward what was left of the fire. "Connor, what are you doing here?" Wonder Girl asked as she rejoined the others. "Long and embarrassing story," Connor replied as he looked at Cam. "Who did those guys kidnap?" "His name was Grant Emerson, he's a teacher's aide," Cam replied. "I felt his powers. He's a meta." "That was Damage," Robin realized. "Those uniforms...those guys work for the H.I.V.E. What would they want with Damage?" "Let's find out," Impulse said. He was preparing to rush off as Robin grabbed him by the collar. "Hold on. We need to know what we're up against," Robin told him. "We don't even know where they're taking him, or how many of those soldiers they have." "Wait," Connor said as he pulled Omni close. "We've got a tracking device right here. If we can get him close enough, he can feel Grant's power." "Then let's hurry," Wonder Girl said as she floated in the sky over the teens. "Who knows what they have planned for Grant." Robin kneeled down and picked up a soil sample with his gloved hand from one of the soldier's boot prints. "Hmm... You guys go on ahead. If you can't find him, then maybe this soil sample will tell us where they've taken him." "A piece of dirt's going to point us in the right direction?" Superboy asked. "Exactly," Robin said. "This soil came off of one of those soldiers. It could lead us right to them." The foot soldiers had brought Grant to a small boat on a pier, and were getting ready to launch when Impulse zipped by with Omni, who was siphoning his powers. "He's close," Omni said as he looked around. "On that boat!" "Those kids again," Larry the head foot soldier said. "We need to take them down before they catch us." "You think?" Ted asked as the soldiers pulled out their guns and fired. Superboy and Wonder Girl were still miles away, searching for the foot soldiers on campus. "So, how have you been?" Superboy asked as they flew along side by side. "Good," Wonder Girl replied as an awkward silence filled the air. "I'm almost a full Amazon." "That's... that's great," Superboy replied, trying to avoid eye contact. "Congratulations." "What about you?" Wonder Girl asked. "I thought you'd be in college somewhere." "I'm going to Smallville High," Superboy replied quietly. "I need to get my diploma before a college will accept me. But I've got a best friend now. His name's Kenny. He's pretty cool." Wonder Girl resisted to ask him if he any female friends. "Sounds like you've got a good life with the Kents." "They treat me like I'm their real son," Superboy replied. "I've... never had anyone treat me like a real person before. Like I'm not Superboy, but a real human kid. It feels great to be able to act like a real human being once in a while." The two continued to avoid looking at each as they flew along, finding no signs of Grant or the H.I.V.E. foot soldiers. Tim Drake was in the college science lab, examining the soil sample. He focused the microscope a little more closely. "I think I know where they're taking him," Tim said to himself, not realizing that he was being watched by a raven sitting on the windowsill. Impulse avoided the bullets flying toward him as Omni just plucked them out of the air with Bart's speed. "They're still coming," Ted said as he looked over at Larry. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Larry shouted. "Alright, just give up now and-" Impulse said as he rushed onto the boast, just as Larry tossed his gun, hitting Impulse in the forehead, knocking him out. Ted looked blankly at Larry. "Well, I was out of bullets," Larry said innocently as Omni prepared to zip forward, tripping over Impulse and hitting the ground, where the soldiers grabbed him, knocking him unconscious with the butt of the gun "Get rid of them so we can get going." The soldiers tossed both of the boys overboard and into the water as the boat sped away, with Omni and Impulse sinking beneath the water. To Be Continued... 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