( MADELAINE PRINCE )

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*"𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐃 𝐘𝐄𝐒!" wally exclaimed as he threw his hands into the air, careful to not drop his overstuffed sandwich

madelaine only rolled her eyes at the boy trailing behind her as they trailed up the stairs "he's a nice boy" she shrugged.

"nice? nice! i'm nice" the boy complained, madelaine had just told him about the fact she had a date that weekend with chad the quarterback at their highschool.

"well you've never asked me out have you?" she countered with a smirk as she got closer to the boys face, his cheeks becoming a bright red.

"so you would say yes if i asked you out?" he asked suddenly as he rushed to be by her side.

"not saying yes or no, wally" she argued as they entered the hallways to the rest of the cave where the bioship was.

"hey guys!" wally's voice calls out to m'gann and superboy, heading up the stairs with an overstuffed sandwich in his hand. "you two sure spend a lot of time working on his bike. obviously, you need the wall-man's expert help."

madelaine only smirked in the two older teenagers direction knowing what they were actually doing, she'd found out a week before about their relationship considering she lived with them and walked in on them kissing in the kitchen.

———

"torque wrench." wally calls out. m'gann uses her telekinesis to float it over to him. "thank you green cheeks."

"ew" madelaine mutters to herself as she stays sat beside superboy, wally sending her a wink

superboy stands with his hands on his hips as kaldur finally joins the group.

"i have been meaning to ask, any problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?" he asks curiously.

"no." conner is quick to reply.

"juggling is just one of my many talents." wally says pridefully with a slight chuckle. "socket wrench."

"i've seen you juggle, no its not" madelaine shot him down as she thought back to a time she visited the boys family and tried juggling different tubs of ice cream.

"it was cold!" he argued only to receive a wicked smile from the girl

m'gann gives the socket wrench to wally with her telekinesis as she talks to kaldur. "daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge." she admits, but is quick to turn towards kaldur once wally has the wrench to assure him. "oh, but my first loyalty is always to the team. this team, not the bumblebees."

"artemis starts school today. do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?" kaldur asks.

"nah, she'll manage alright." wally says as he stands up. "i mean how much more hostile and annoying can she can be"

madelaine sent a small zap towards wally making the boy yelp "i trust artemis, she'll be fine" madelaine speaks up to kaldur with a smile.

"what about you? with your new boyfriend and all?" wally asks with a hostile tone as he sends madelaine a small glare, the three others turning to her with confused eyes.

"you have a boyfriend!" m'gann jumps excitedly as she rushes to madelaine's side.

"i do not! i have a date" the raventte clarified well sending another zap to wally "pumpkin head over here is just jealous" she muttered just loud enough for the team to hear.

"me, jealous? psh, no! and esp-" the boys words are cut off as an explosion sends the five off them flying across the room, before they're able to get up three large streams off water hit them submerging them for a second.

madelaine pulls herself up before joining m'gann in the air, the two girls beginning to fly to higher ground in the cave but before they're able to more water hits them knocking them all out.

———

a hissing sound from the right side of madelaine made her groggily open her eyes, her body feeling restrained causing a small shock to overcome her.

"mads" wally's voice caused her to look right to see the boy trapped in a sort of goop from the ground, looking down she noticed she was in a similar situation. she turnt to her left to see superboy also stuck.

the water android rises up from the cave's naturally occurring water pond. raising a hand to flood the dryland. overtaking the stairs, and quickly rising up by madelaine, conner and wally.

"9 minutes and 45 seconds." a red robot which is similar to red tornado informs from inside of the water in front of the teenagers.

madelaine gulps down as she watches the water rise dangerously quick around them, "we're going to die" she says to herself.

"no we're not, don't think like that" wally's calm voice cuts through to her , turning her head she sees the speedster smiling gently at her. if they weren't about to die she'd have blushed.

suddenly robin and artemis break the surface of the water gasping for air.

"look out!" conner's voice yells out as both artemis and robin look up, taking a deep breath, before diving under the surface to dodge another fireball. they surface, only to have to dive under again to avoid her second shot.

madelaine, wally and conner look around as the female red tornado continues to search for the two other team members . robin and artemis surface less than two feet from wally .

"you guys okay?" robin asks lowly.

"forget us." conner snaps. "help m'gann." bringing their attention to the fire cage on the outlook.

madelaine furrows her eyebrows before turning her head as far as she can to see aqualad holding an unconscious m'gann in his arms in a fiery cage.

"oh my gods" she muttered to herself, the situation become clear to her knowing that if they didn't get out soon they'd all die.

"aqualad, is she-" artemis can't bring herself to finish her question

"she is unconscious." kaldur shouts to them. "i fear she... we cannot much longer." his own voice breaking shows just how much trouble he is in as well.

robin and artemis are forced to duck below the surface again as more fire is thrown at them. the two make a break for it while under the water. coming up by the stairs by sphere.

madelaine began to feel light headed as she blinked to keep her eyes open "guys, somethings wrong" she choked out as her stomach began twisting. something was causing her body to react.

"i'm gonna be sick" she choked out as grey goop left her throat , the grey staining the sides of her mouth. the sounds of her emptying her guts catching kaldur's attention, the boys eyes widening.

"what are you guys trapped in?!" he asks urgently, wally and conner staring at madelaine with worried eyes before looking down to the goop.

"i don't know, it's grey and hard looks like it can melt easily" wally yells up as his worried eyes catch madelaine's again.

"madelaine what was that thing you said weakened gods to again?" kaldur shouts down, a conversation from a few months back reaching his memory.

"adamantine" the girl gets out through ragged breaths, wally's eyes widening as he stares at the goop surrounding the girl.

"i didn't think that was real" he said to himself "hey mads, don't breathe in the toxins too much, it'll kill you" the redhead yelled trying to keep the girl awake and further away from death.

"i'm trying!" madelaine tried yelling lowly as she felt her head lolling forward, wally and conner yells becoming distant as her mind slipped from her control.

———

"my child, awaken" madelaine heard as she opened her eyes with a gasp leaving her throat, her chests feeling of being restricted suddenly gone.

soft and nimble hands grasping her cheeks as her face is pulled into a familiar embrace "my sweet daughter" circe's smooth voice whispered time and time again.

madelaine pulled back quickly with wide eyes as she took in the sight of her mother, younger than ever, with the darkest purple hair and brightest intoxicating  blue eyes. still in the same dress she wore when being banished to tartarus.

tartarus. was she in tartarus? that meant she must be dead. her legs pushing herself up and away from her mother as she took in her surroundings. she was in a cell, the bars made of red rock which looked like bones.

"am i- am i-" she couldn't get the words out before her mother also pushed herself to her legs rushing to her daughters aid, grabbing her arms.

"no!" she repeated, brushing madelaine's hair out of her teary eyes "just unconscious, weak. but alive" circe clarified.

it had been years since she'd been able to hold her daughter this close, she had seen her from afar always watching out for her. but to have her back in her arms so close was something a mother in her situation could only dream of.

madelaine felt tears leaving her eyes as she threw her arms around her mother, her head stuffed into the woman's neck taking in the scent of sea salt and orange blossom. it comforted her in a way.

"my dear, you have to wake up" circe whispered into her ear, madelaine only tightening her grip on her mothers waist. "you must get home to your family" circe told her.

she knew her mother was right, but she couldn't she live in this fantasy for a bit longer?  her friends would make it out alive, right? her friends. robin, artemis, m'gann, kaldur, conner and wally. maybe wally was a bit more than a friend in a way.

"i'll see you soon" circe said as she pulled away from her daughter, brushing off imaginary dust and a fallen tear. she created a distance from the teenage girl as she tried to act like this didn't affect her as much as it did madelaine.

she knew it seemed harsh but it was also the only way madelaine would go willingly.

"i don't want to go, i want to stay with you" madelaine said as an invisible barrier stopped her from moving forward, her eyes shooting to the ground to see water leaving the cracks and quickly rising.

"your day will soon come" circe's voice blended in with the silence of the room, the rising of the water being the only thing she was aware of. and with one last fleeting look into her mothers eyes she awoke with a gasp.

———

"mads!" a voice yelled as madelaine's eyes opened widely, a bright glow leaving them brighter than before. 

she could feel the burning leaving her lungs and was no longer left submerged in water, throwing her head to the right she saw wally shaking his head and trying to get all the water out of his mouth.

"kaldur, how's m'gann?" conner's worried voice asks worriedly.

kaldur  groans as he pushes himself to his rest on his right elbow. "she breathes. i believe she will recover." he looks over her head. "what of robin and madelaine?"

"i'm good" madelaine yells up as she coughs trying to fully clean her lungs, feeling the mobility in her fingers return as she's still encased in the goop.

artemis drops her bow and skids to her knees beside the boy wonder. cautiously touching his head and his chest. he hacks, but thankfully no water comes out. "he- he's breathing too." she says, teary.

robin continues gasping until his breathing regulates. "way to get traught." he tells her with a smile. relief sinks in as she falls back to sitting.

———

robin, kaldur and artemis stand before wally, madelaine and conner who are still encased. m'gann leaning heavily on the atlantean. the still disabled reds are now on the same level as them, while artemis holds some type of cutter that has no power.

"figured my only shot was to surrender, pretend to drown before I actually did." robin says confidently. "blacked out though." he shrugs.

"m'gann." conner asks worriedly, taking her hand in his.

"I'll be fine." she assures, though her voice isn't as strong as it normally is.

"guys" madelaine speaking up catches all their attention "cover your heads and duck" she says quickly as she feels her body being overtaken by a large amount of energy, her finger tips feeling like they're being ripped open before the goop surrounding her blows off her body and into the cave walls.

a steaming surrounding her as she drops to her knees in the spot she was once trapped in, her team members coughing through the fumes well trying to understand what just happened. the surge of energy that just left her body leaving her weak and tired.

"i think i fed on the energy the goop emitted" madelaine breathed out as she accepted robins hand to stand up, leaning on the boys side.

"okay will you quit playing with that thing and cut us free now ?" wally demands as he turns from mads to artemis.

she gives him a deadpanned look. "it's not working genius. emp shuts down all machines, remember?"

"all machines present at the time." red tornado's voice speaks up as he makes his way across the room, landing beside wally and conner. only when the tornado stops whirring does he continue. "what has occurred?"

"had a little visit from your family." robin looks at the reds, putting his hands on his hips.

"your extremely nasty family." artemis is quick to gripe, earning a nod of agreeance from madelaine.

"i was not aware I had relations." tornado remarks.

"where have you been?" conner demands.

"monitor duty on the watch tower." tornado remarks, making his way over to the other robots. "when it became clear that cave communications were down I attempted to investigate, but your zeta tubes were also non-functional." he kneels down beside the two. "i transported to providence and proceeded here."

sphere starts to whir, catching his attention. managing to himself free.

"hey boy." conner greets and gets beeps in return.

the machine- a laser- turns on in artemis' hands.

"the pulse has worn off." kid and robin say in unison.

red tornado reaches out to red inferno, and a zap connects their fingers as her eye light back up.

red tornado's eyes glow in return. before turning towards the team and using a tornado to raise him up, and two aimed at them.

artemis drops the laser cutter, clutching her neck. kaldur drops m'gann in surprise as he holds his neck as well. madelaine falls from robins side and clutches her neck as robin stumbles, as he loses his breath. conner and wally can't fight back and slump in their holds.

madelaine's vision dotting black as she watches robin fall over before her own world tilts and goes black.

———

"madelaine. can you hear me?" she groans as she opens her eyes to find superman above her. he looks to the side, towards the source of the buzzing. "she's alright." she grunts as he helps her stand up.

before her is diana, looking to her. batman, who is talking to robin. flash, who is using the same tool she had to help kid out. atom, who is melting conner out. martian manhunter, who is kneeling beside a still sitting m'gann. black canary, who is watching over them. finally aquaman, who is speaking to kaldur.

diana's worried eyes meet the girls as the older woman wraps her arms around madelaine pulling the girl closer quickly, madelaine sighing into the woman's chest

"what happened here?" superman demands.

"what do you mean what happened?!" artemis demands back. "the reds happened. tornado and his..." she stops trying to figure out a way to describe them when she realizes something's missing. "wait, where are they?"

"gone." only then does robin turn towards her. "all three of them." he is clearly beating himself up over it, but the malice in his voice is obvious. "gone."