M’gann switched the T.V. off after awhile, going back to the cookies she’d left. Kaldur had gone back to Atlantis, while Nathan had convinced Wally into a game of air hockey. Artemis was chatting up with the teenage martian in the kitchen about the teens they’d all just seen. M’gann couldn’t seem to stop gushing about the girls’ dresses, while Artemis was finding parts of the interviews to criticize, whether it be Dick’s jacket hem or Danna’s hairstyle.
Robin had gone down the hall to check out if Delta was ready to go home yet, considering they had a fundraiser to go to that night. He knocked on her door, surprised when he got no reply, and opened it slowly.
“Delta?”
She jumped up out of practically nowhere and shoved a phone in his face. “I just received an S.O.S. signal from our sister!”
He looked at her, unbelieving. “Delta, if that was true, I’d be getting one--” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he looked down at it. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” she hissed, pushing past him. Storming out into the front room, she went straight to the zeta and began typing something in, attempting to see where her sister had zeta’d to, but stopped when her computer was locked up. “What?” she growled.
“Ooh, sorry bat-brat, did I break your computer? My bad!” someone cackled from behind her. She shut her eyes tightly and turned to find Joker’s bloody grin spread across the holographic screen. “Hey-yo, kiddos!!”
Delta narrowed her eyes behind her glasses and Robin came in, arms crossed. “What do you want, Joker?”
“Ah, nothing, just how wonderful today is! The sun is shining--”
“It’s the middle of the night,” Wally muttered.
“The birds are singing--”
“How would you know, you’re inside!” Nathan almost shouted, but managed to keep it quiet.
“And I have a lovely little firecaster girl that has just been dying to talk to you all! Hahahahaha! Dying!”
Everyone rang out in a collective yell as the camera turned to focus on said firecaster, hanging limply by a pair of handcuffs attached to a wall. She looked up and smiled weakly, but it was wavering and she looked scared. A stream of blood made it’s way down the side of her head and she flinched when it touched her skin. “Guys, ‘m alright,” she muttered, though no one believed her. She winced as Joker’s loud cackle rang through the room.
“We’re going to play for a little bit! She’ll talk to you soon, alright? Say bye-bye!” He cackled again and the screen switched to another, somewhat younger maniac.
Robin growled and Nathan snapped at the teen. “Brennan, what the hell!”
“She, despite your very low faith, will survive if you’re fast enough. But the longer you wait, the less the chances of her living are.” He grinned. “Good luck.”
The screen snapped off and everyone stood, frozen and wide-eyed. “We’re leaving. Now.” Delta demanded, and no one disagreed.