Chapter 98

November 5th 8:05 am.

Artemis PoV

Today was my day to clean the bathrooms. That’s right, not just my bathroom, but all three of them. The one near the gym, the one between second and third floor, and the one between fourth and fifth.

You’d think that something called first floor would mean it’d be closer to the ground, but it was the exact opposite for the Titans Tower. With it being numbered from the top down.

I think it was a security measure… or they just didn’t know what they were doing. Which isn’t too crazy of an idea, considering who I was cleaning the bathrooms with.

“Woah…!”

Kid Flash yelled out before slipping yet again. Passing a glare in my direction before picking himself back up. Grumbling as he rubbed the back of his neck. As if it was my fault for doing my half of the work.

Cleaning with superspeed made him fast yeah, and he’d have finished in record time…if he actually planned out his spots accordingly. But instead, he just washed what was easiest for him to get. Ignoring the areas that were already clean until he tried to run over them and slipped.

I had to actively fight the urge to point it out. We had already been reprimanded for arguing before, and I really didn’t want to hear another one of Starfire’s friendship lessons again. That was the absolute last thing I wanted.

…Mom was starting to talk about school again.

Something like that was completely worthless. I wasn’t going to be a doctor, a lawyer, or whatever it was she thought I could be. I didn’t care for anything like that, nor was I even that smart.

If it was about fighting or shooting, then I was your girl. That’s just how I was raised.

Maybe if someone had me read books instead of counting bills after a heist, I’d actually be more inclined for something like that. Shit, I was even forced to skip all of third grade! The school just decided to push me through to fourth grade because they couldn’t be bothered to care.

And what did I have to show for it?

I could fight.

That was the only thing I could really do. Studying? Nope. Even when I was still in Gotham I just cheated off my friends. I was street smart, not book smart.

And there wasn’t anything wrong with that. Just look at Law. He didn’t go to school at all. He was raised on the streets of Gotham, and he was probably the second smartest Titan in the Tower!

I just think you should have a plan just in case…

Mom would say, attempting to steer the conversation back to school. It didn’t make sense. A plan just in case…what? I give up?

That’s not going to happen. I enjoy doing this. I have friends. I’m making money, more than I’d ever get flipping burgers or being a server. Which is exactly what would happen if I gave up and just decided to get a normal job.

If anything, going to school and doing crime fighting part time would be the bad choice. Wally wasn’t always here, and he missed out on a lot of group events. Not enough to be an outsider, but he sure didn’t fit in perfectly.

When you can’t be called on for backup during school hours, people tend to not call you for backup at all. Is it 2 pm, or is it 4? Either way, it was better to play it safe and ask for someone else.

And this was the guy with super speed! If he was barely making it work, what exactly was going to happen to me??

I’ll tell you what. I’d get to the Titans tower around 4:30, and maybe be able to start patrolling at 5:00. Maybe I’d be put on the late night patrols and missions which would of course impact my schooling. As I’d be too tired to learn or think. Which in turn would impact my ability to fight crime.

It was a vicious cycle. One that didn’t have any positives for me. Only downsides.

“Tch…”

Kid Flash clicked his tongue in agitation, causing me to immediately wheel on him. He looked up in surprise before putting up his hands. His eyebrows knitting together in confusion and annoyance.

“What’s your problem?”

“What’s my problem!? I’m not the one treating this place as a slip and slide!”

I spat out, causing him to recoil slightly, and for a moment I actually felt bad. Like I had crossed some sort of line.

Click.

That is, until he balled up his hands and stepped forward.

“Why are you cleaning the back wall and floor first anyways!? You’re making it harder for me to clean when you’re blocking me in like that!”

“It’s called prioritizing! Cleaning in, then washing out! If you knew anything about that, then you wouldn’t be CLEANING THE FLOORS BEFORE THE WALLS!”

Click.

Kid Flash put a hand over his chest to indicate how offended he was. I rolled my eyes at how melodramatic he was being. Acting like a middle-aged woman with how he gestured his hand out.

“It’s called super speed! Of course, the floor is going to be scrubbed clean if there’s some soap and water nearby. am I supposed to do about it? Not run and take several hours to finish this up with you? “

Ugh! Why was this…this man child so freaking annoying!? I swear, even hanging out with Jade was better than this!

Click.

…What was that?

I paused, looking around due to the strange sound. Unfamiliar noises weren’t completely abnormal in the Tower. For being as high up as we were, it’d be stranger if there wasn’t.

Kid Flash smirked. Putting his hands on his hips as he leaned forward. Leering at me with annoyance still flashing in his eyes.

But I didn’t pay attention to him, instead I was focused on listening.

“What’s wrong? Don’t have a comeback for tha-”

“Shut up for a second.”

I immediately cut him off, this time with vitriol out of my tone. Well, mostly anyway. It was enough that even Kid Flash dropped his annoyed tone and began to look around in confusion.

I don’t know why, but I felt a strange sense of foreboding.

“…What? What’s wrong?”

“Just…listen for a second.”

We stood there for a minute or two. Looking around the bathroom intently before scanning the showers. I even pulled some of the curtains to see if I could find anything.

Nothing.

Kid Flash gave me a questioning and suspicion gaze, but in return I simply shrugged my shoulders. My cheeks feeling a bit warm due to how stupid I looked right now.

He wasn’t going to drop this, was he?

“…I guess it wasn’t-“

Click.

There!

Our eyes immediately locked. For once he seemed to actually be taking this seriously as his eyebrows furrowed.

“…What was that?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

I answered. Both of our eyes started to track the sound down before eventually looking outside the bathroom. We nodded at each other before leaving. Bringing us to the stairs in-between floors as well as the nearby elevator. The sound was either coming from above, or below.

Either way, it was pretty close.

Was Beast Boy playing on something? No wait, he was on a mission outside I think. Could it be Miss Martian then? Maybe Cyborg installing some additional security or something? I don’t think there was anyone else here besides us four…

Was I wrong though?

I looked back at Kid Flash before pointing upstairs.

“You go check up. I’ll check down.”

He frowned at that.

“Who made you the boss?”

…Of course he was going to be a kid about this. Why wouldn’t he?

I rolled my eyes before answering.

“Fine. I’ll check up and you check down. Better?”

He crossed his arms at that and looked away.

“…Maybe.”

“Urgh!”

I grunted in annoyance before turning back and-

“Duck!”

Barely missing a javelin to the face as Kid Flash narrowly pushed me out of the way. A second later it hit the corner of doorway to the bathroom and EXPLODED. Taking out a chunk of the wall and causing pipes to immediately burst and start flooding the place.

My eyes traveled with Kid Flashes until we were both looking at the same perpetrator. A blonde hair man wearing a tacky ass hockey mask. His left arm was covered in protective under armor, while his right arm had nothing. He was also wearing some sort of Kevlar like material around the rest of his body.

To top it all off, he was a villain that I was familiar with.

VERY familiar.

“Sportsmaster!?”

Kid Flash called out in confusion. Less about his identity, and more about how he in the world did he get into the tower?

And if he was in the tower…

This was bad.

This was really, really bad.

“In the flesh.”

He commented before taking a step onto the stairs from the fifth floor to the fourth. I didn’t have my bow with me. Hell, I was lucky to even have my costume on. So, there wasn’t much I could even do. Kid Flash on the hand…

I never thought I’d be saying this, but for once I was glad he was actually here. I disliked having to rely on someone else with actual powers, but in this situation, I think I could make an exception.

We only gave each other a look before rushing down the stairs.

Kid Flash got to him first, obviously. Sportsmaster saw the attack coming and moved to block it, but it can only do so much when there was that much momentum behind the blow. It also didn’t help when Kid Flash immediately went behind him, and punched into the side of his ribs.

Sportsmaster immediately swung back, but Kid Flash had already moved by then.

As he prepared to intercept Kid Flash for a third time, I finally closed the distance. Leaping off the top of the stairs to do a flying kick. Sportsmaster seemed to have immediately saw through it, and evaded it. Grabbing my leg with a scoff…before recoiling from Kid Flash hitting him in the liver.

That recoil gave me the time needed to shift gears and move my momentum into my other leg. Copying a page out of Black Canary’s book and slamming my foot into his face.

He stumbled back a step or two, and let go of my leg. Letting me drop down and start pummeling away at his chest. Unfortunately, that didn’t have enough pressure to push him back.

At the same time Kid Flash sped behind him and attempted to sweep his legs. My eyes widened as he failed, only kicking the side of Sportsmaster knee before he got picked up and slammed into the nearby wall. Taking all the breath out of him.

Sportsmaster slammed his fist into Kid Flash’s stomach twice while holding him up by his neck with his other hand. Choking him until he saw me slide down and attempt to sweep him.

Or at the very least, he thought I was trying to sweep him…until I slammed full force into his ankle.

“Son of a…!”

He swore before wobbling and then falling down the rest of the steps down. Which wasn’t much, admittedly. Only four or five.

Sportsmaster attempted to drag Kid Flash down with him as well, but he was able to use his superspeed to kick out of Sportsmaster’s hold just in time. Instead of falling on his back, he simply slammed his legs into the ground and balanced himself out. Ignoring the pain of his ankle.

“Not bad…kid.”

He commented, and I just knew he was saying that to me. Because of course he would.

“This guys no joke. Why aren’t the alarms going off!? We need to call this in-”

Kid Flash started to speak, and for once it didn’t annoy me. As I was just as worried as he was. But before he could continue, Sportsmaster cut him off.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“Oh yeah? And why is that?”

He huffed in amusement. His eyes narrowing as he moved to grab something from his pocket.

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to mess with radios near bombs?”

That got us both to freeze.

Was he bluffing? Was he telling the truth? Had he been planting bombs around the Tower and we just haven’t noticed it until now? Just how long has he been in here?

And how!?

It was then that he slowly pulled out what appeared to be a transmitter. A small hand-held device with a button on top. Didn’t take a genius to guess what it could be.

“You wouldn’t blow up the building while still being inside.”

Kid Flash called out, calling his bluff. In return, Sportsmaster narrowed his eyes.

“Would I?”

…It was hard to say. It depended on whether or not he thought he could survive the explosion. He was an idiot who only cared about himself, but he was still pretty tough. He was the one who taught me how to fight after all.

My eyes locked with my dickhead of a dad, as he stared us down.