We quickly grabbed our stuff, which was just sitting on one of the tables, and quickly ran out of the room into a never-ending hallway. But then the reality hit me, “Oh my God!” I shouted, still in full pursuit of the door at the end. “What?” Roy said, suddenly alerted. “I just punched my boyfriend!” I said panicked. “I. Punched. My. Boyfriend.” I slowly repeated, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Red Arrow kept running, until he realized what I had done. “Why did you stop?” He asked, with a hit of frustration in his voice. “I-I punched Blade! In the face!” I was probably going into a panic attack now. He clenched his fist, “Can I ask you a favor? A really big one, because I know it will be hard for you.” I nodded. “Can you not talk about your little boyfriend, and focus on getting out of here?” He asked sternly. I didn’t know what to say, “Ca-Can we go back and check on him at least? He might be-“ He shook his head no. I frowned and continued to run, leaving him behind. I stopped at the end of the hallway and waited for him to catch up. He quietly motioned for me to open the door, and I slowly and silently did.

“You’re late.” Cheshire smiled and looked at Roy. I stared at her and the maybe 30 men behind her, all armed with various weapons. “Um, Red? Are you able to handle these guys so that I can go warn the others before anything bad happens?” I asked without turning my head. He slowly grabbed an arrow and positioned it on his bow, “Probably, not. But you need to go warn them... so go.” He said. “You’ll be ok, right?” I asked as I grabbed my gun. “Yes. Go.” He said sternly. “Ok, let me buy us some time.” I quickly loaded my gun with a smoke pellet and fired at the feet of Cheshire who quickly flipped backwards. The smoke exploded in a flurry of gray, giving me some time to quickly slip away onto the roof. In the background I could hear the sound of fighting, but no sure answer of who was winning. Reluctantly with a sigh, I ran off toward base.


“Guys!” I slammed the door open, to find everyone just sitting on the couch, with static coming from the TV. Rae looked at me and jumped up, running over to me and embracing me in a hug. I didn’t hug back, I just stared. Rae let go and looked at me in the eyes, “Is he ok?” She asked gently. I closed my eyes and started to sob quietly. Rae bit her lip, “I-I’m sorry, I-I can’t…” She closed her eyes for a few seconds and ran off to her room, Artemis followed her. Robin whispered to Corey, “Why did Rae just...” “To many emotions… she can’t handle it.” He whispered back. I opened my eyes and shook my head, “Sorry guys, I-I shouldn’t have left… I’m a horrible leader… Now, Roy is probably right back where we started, and I… I have this weird feeling that Alana is there too…” My voice trailed off. Ryder jumped off the couch, “Alana? Alana’s there?” Kid Flash stood up, “Dude, relax! She only said she had a feeling that she was there.” Ryder let out a little chuckle, “NEVER doubt Syd’s senses.” He said sternly. Kid Flash put up his hands in defense. The two of them started to get into an argument. Aqualad walked over to me, “It is not always easy to be leader. Trust me, I know. But if you ever need to talk to anyone, I will always be here.” He grabbed my hand gently. “Thanks, Aqualad.” I smiled at him. He smiled back, “Call me Kaldur.” I laughed quietly, “Ok, Kal.” He laughed back, “Kal. I like that.” He said.
And for a moment, I was happy. Kaldur reminded me of Blade. His eyes, his smile, he just reminded me of him. One night, before Blade had ruined his life by going bad, he was actually kind. He was actually… normal. He found me in the city, and he was just like me. Alone, longing, and surprisingly, happy. Blade’s actual name was Chase, but that name brought back bad memories for him, terrible names. When I was maybe 10 or so he had found me in the city and we became friends and lived together in an abandoned apartment for 2 years. Then one day, he disappeared and came back 2 months later trying to kill me, he said that he was trying to “prove himself.” But he never did, and he never will, when he had a blade (hence the name) to my throat, he couldn’t do it. He loved me, and I loved him. A sharp thud came from one of the rooms. “Ow!” I heard Corey yell. He probably forgot to activate his powers. “Corey!” I yelled playfully. He opened the door and walked into the hallway out of his room. He was rubbing his head, “The weirdest thing just happened. My powers didn’t work.” He said astounded. “Strange, the same thing is happening with me.” Miss Martian said, looking at her hands. “Mine are dead.” Superboy added, trying to punch the wall but having no success with the concrete. “Let me try.” Ryder said, walking up to the wall and punching it. He screamed and grabbed his hand in pain. “I’ll take it’s not working?” I asked, getting an idea about what was happening. Kid Flash tried running to Rae’s room, but only going at the speed a normal person would, “That. Is. Freaky.” He said slowly. “Rae! Get out here!” I called to her. Both she and Artemis ran out, “What?” She asked. “Read my mind.” I told her. “What?” She repeated. “Read my mind.” I demanded. She looked at me, then shook her head, “I can’t.” She said, confused. I clenched my fist. “Blade’s here.” I said bitterly. “What?” everyone said in unison. “I’ll be right back.” I said, grabbing more darts to make up for the ones I lost. “No.” Ryder said in protest. “Why?” I asked. “Because last time, we lost our leader and our best man for 15 hours, not knowing where they were or what we should do.” He lectured. I rolled my eyes, “I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” I said, and ran out the door before anyone could say anything. Upon slamming the door, Blade was there, with Cheshire. And several other men holding an unconscious Roy and Alana. “How come every time I open a door, someone is waiting there for me?” I groaned.