"Where did it go?" Robin asked again as he kept staring at the damp towel he last saw it on. He was sure it had been there, he saw Wally put it there. He felt his breath quicken as panic slowly started to set in. Wally immediately noticed this and sped over to the counter, hoping it to just have fallen into the sink. But it wasn't.

"M'gann, do you know where it is?" He didn't mean to sound accusatory, but he knew damn well how much that necklace means to his best friend. To think it went missing just because he made him take it off. M'gann, however, didn't answer the question. She had her gaze fixed on the young bird as she could feel his intense fear and panic grow exponentially by the second. The sheer emotional force coming off of him was enough to shock her into silence. Wally grabbed her shoulder and gave her a light shake, unaware of the predicament the Martian was in. "M'gann, please, you were the only one close to it, you had to have seen where it went."

Connor raised from his seat and marched over to the two. "This isn't her fault, why are you blaming her?" He questioned as he put himself between the two. Kaldur also stood up but remained in his place. "Please, this is not the way to handle this. I do not believe Wally was blaming her, perhaps he just used the wrong words for the question. But I do believe that whoever took it, must come forth and resolve this respectfully." He tried to mediate the tension while also not trying to point the blame to anybody, giving time for the culprit to confess and give Robin's possession back. But his words did not help as nobody came forth.

Robin, at this point, was starting to struggle to keep the tears welling up in his eyes at bay. "Please," his voice cracked, "I don't care who took it or why, I just want it back." He honestly couldn't care much about keeping his persona that Bruce prefers him to keep while on duty. His training was barely coming through to keep himself calmed and focused. But he wasn't sure how long he could take this. It felt like they were all silently mocking him already. He thought of most of them as friends but why was nobody coming forward or saying who it was when they are supposed to have each other's backs? If not here, then why trust them out in the field? He looked over at his best friend, the only one that sort of knows why it's important. The one he trusted when he took it off. But he can't blame Wally, he was just trying his best to clean it. No, really he should blame himself. If he hadn't been so small, or actually tried to find the stupid shirts, or just not drank around the speedster this wouldn't have happened. If he had just left it at home-, ha 'home', the only thing connecting him with his home and his past is now gone. Missing. Just like him. This was all his own fault. He should have been more careful, less of a baby, than this wouldn't even have happened.

With this thoughts turning against himself, he was forced to choke down a sob as it started to become too overwhelming. M'gann was silently releasing tears as she could feel immense amounts of pain flowing out of the youngest one. The violent waves of pain mixing in with self-hatred and fear she never knew he was capable of. She wasn't sure how she could help. If she could even help as she feared that creating a link between them would only release the floodgates on the already overpowering emotions, let alone the thoughts and memories that would be behind them.

"M'gann?" Wally asked again as he finally noticed her crying, not coming any closer to prevent angering the clone even more. Connor looked over at the Martian as well and saw heavy tears fall from her eyes. Her gaze still fixated on Robin who was now just staring at the floor. He gently shook her shoulder before she whispered out, "Mis." Connor frowned as he grabbed onto both her shoulders. M'gann started chocking out sobs as she kept repeating it, increasingly getting louder until she was just sobbing out the name, unable to bare Robin's emotions anymore.

"Artemis."

All the attention shifted rapidly to the archer as she looked more annoyed than anything else. "What?" She stated more than asked as she remained seated, leaning back. Wally took a step forward, anger boiling up as she smugly enjoyed the mess going on right now. "Did you take it?" The blonde rolled her eyes as she tilted her head to the side. "Oh, I don't know. Did I?" She mocked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Kaldur sighed as he now turned to face her. "Artemis, please, just hand it back to Robin so we can finally resolve this."

"Wait you knew? And you didn't say anything?!" Wally angrily exclaimed towards his team leader and long time friend. How could he not have said anything? Does he not see how much this is hurting Robin and the team dynamic?! Or how much it seemed to affect M'gann? Does he not care about the people he called friends for years? By now he was starting to regret electing Kaldur as leader if this is how he solves issues within the team. Kaldur raised his hands in defense as he looked between M'gann sobbing on the floor with Connor helplessly trying to calm her down, Wally clenching his fists in rage and Robin's silently shaking frame as tears rolled down his cheek. "Please do not misunderstand my intentions, I simply meant to give her the opportunity to come forward herself instead of being called upon. I did not mean to worsen anybody's feelings regarding this." Before the speedster could give his response, Artemis interjected. "Oh please," she laughed, "The only reason this is even a big deal is because bird brain over there is being a cry baby and M'gann copied him."

Wally was ready to start a fight with her right then and there if it wasn't for Robin speaking up in a barely audible whisper. "Could I just please have it back?" All of his anger towards the archer was out on the back burner as concern for his best friend took over. He walked over to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but the younger flinched away from the touch as he wrapped his arms around himself in self-comfort.

Artemis snickered lightly as she took it out of her pocket and started lazily spinning it around her finger in front of her. "Why is it even so important, huh?" She smirked as what little of Robin's face was visible contorted with fear. "Did you get a little girlfriend to give this to you?" Robin took a shaky step forward as he reached out for it, nowhere near in grabbing range. "Please, don't do that, I just want it back." Artemis simply moved her arm to the side as she kept spinning it and ignoring his request, speeding up the spinning in the process. "Damn, whoever made this must have really been broke. It isn't even made that well. Why do you even care so much about crap like this?"

Before she could continue her taunts, both Dick and Wally tried to rush forward to take it from her. With his speed and having to avoid colliding with the younger, Wally ended up tripping over the forgotten blanket on the floor, taking Dick down with him. The Bat in training was just fast enough to look up, only to see his precious necklace fly off her finger and collide with the wall. He cried out in utter despair as he scrambled to get up and run towards the shattered pieces of his necklace.

Realization finally dawned on Artemis as she saw the absolute wreck Robin was. She got up from her spot and tried to walk towards the broken bird. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" She wasn't allowed to continue her sentence as Wally punched her to the ground. "Haven't you done enough yet? Leave him alone." He growled before calmly approaching his crying mess of a friend. It truly hurt to see him this way. To think this could have been avoided if he wasn't such a fuck up. But now wasn't the time to delve into self-loathing. Now he had to desperately try and help Dick before the worst happened.

He crouched down next to him as he could see his hands tremble, wanting to pick up the pieces but too scared to touch it. What was once half a bird, shaped out of copper wire was now a dented piece of metal. The red stone that was its wing was completely shattered, broken into millions of pieces. The stone itself looked duller than before, as if what was giving it life and color drained out of it. It would take magic at minimum to restore it, but it's not like they could Harry Potter it back together. Wally could only stare at the ruins as he didn't want to make it worse for Robin.

"It...It broke." His voice trembled with every letter that came out of his mouth. Robin seemed almost in disbelief, even though the proof lay right before him. "It broke." He repeated, tears clearly building up again in his eyes as he kept staring at the remains of his beloved jewelry. "Man, I am so fucking sorry. Maybe if we get everything together, Agent A could fix it back up? He always seems to do the most impossible things, so maybe?" He tried to lighten the mood, but failed miserably as Dick finally dared to try and pick up one of the bigger pieces of the red stone, only for it to fragment even more.

Dick finally let the tears fall and he desperately tried to grab onto something, anything, that would remain solid enough for him to hold. He curled forward, holding the few remains he could grab onto close to his chest as he finally let the tears flow. Wally hovered over him, loosely holding him in a hug, fearing if he moved the younger that it would only become worse. He rubbed the younger's back as he tried to silently support him. As Robin's tortured cries continued, so did M'gann's as Superboy desperately tried to calm her down in a similar fashion to Wally. The only difference was that M'gann was desperately clinging on to his shirt as she tried to find comfort.

"It's broken, Wally." Dick choked out in between pained sobs. "This was all I had left of them. I should have never taken it off. Neven even brought it here. If I just stayed home then-" He broke out in another round of uncontrollable crying as Wally could do nothing more than be there for him. The rest of the team, namely Kaldur and Artemis, felt absolutely useless as there was nothing they could do. Kaldur helplessly looked between his crying teammates, wondering how it went wrong so fast. He took a short glance at Artemis, who was still sitting shellshocked in the same position she fell into after Wally punched her. At this very moment he truly felt like he failed as a leader. Failed to keep his team safe. Failed to keep his friend safe.

Robin swallowed hard as he found his voice breaking more and more due to the strain on his vocal cords. "I should have never left it alone. I should have been there, protected him. If I had he wouldn't have gone missing and he wouldn't be gone now!" Robin cried out harder as Wally had to reel back from the static shock he got. He was, quite literally, painfully aware that Dick was no longer just talking about the necklace. The young speedster looked at his best friend and saw the sparks coming off of the copper wire as the youngest talked.

Fearing the worst, Wally looked around and noticed that the lights in the kitchen started to flicker. The hairs on his arm were starting to stand up and he immediately knew he wouldn't be able to handle this alone. He pulled out his phone and pressed in just a few buttons before he had to throw it away as heat quickly build up in the device. It barely had time to land on the floor before it blew up. Wally had no time to complain as the small explosion brought Kaldur, Artemis and Superboy out of their thoughts. "Stay back!" He yelled out as he could already see Kaldur trying to back him up.

They didn't have much time as the electricity surrounding Robin drastically increased as the bird clutched the broken pieces of his bird closer. Both Dick and M'gann screamed out simultaneously as the electricity finally build up and exploded in a release of energy. It crackled across his body as the barriers that were holding him back had been broken. The floor under him completely charred as the energy reached it.

Unable to take the onslaught of overwhelming emotions, M'gann's psyche finally gave up and, in a last ditch attempt to self-preserve, passed out. Superboy managed to catch her, but was unsure if he had to remain to protect her, or to get ready to protect the rest of his team.

Wally got knocked back from the released energy as he could only stare in shock and horror at his best friend. Robin's black pants and hair had turned to a brilliant snow white while the once red Flash shirt had turned a bright cyan. His head snapped around and glared at Artemis, revealing burning neon green eyes that shone right through the cracked sunglasses.

With every step Robin took, green electricity danced across the floor leaving even more charred marks where it passed. The lights above shattered, leaving only the distorted light from the tv and the glowing aura that surrounded Robin to illuminate the living room. "You took him from me." His voice itself echoed as he spoke, creating a haunting illusion of multiple voices. Wally rushed forward to try and hold his friend back. "Robin this isn't you. Snap out of it! You would never hurt a teammate! Please! Just calm down before you do something you'll regret!" Without even looking at him, Robin raised his arm and pushed the speedster back against the wall. When he came to a rest, the red head noticed he was encased in a neon green orb. If he even tried to touch it, he would get shocked. No matter, he kept trying to hit the walls and yell out to his friend. The banging and shocks slowly creating burns his body couldn't heal quickly enough before the next hit came. But his words would fall onto deaf ears as Dick had his focus on Artemis. "You took him from me. I'll make you regret that."

He raised his hand as sparks formed around it. They gathered in his hand until they formed a glowing green ball, much like the orb Wally was trapped in. Without a second thought, Robin released the ball aimed straight at Artemis. Smoke erupted from her location at it appeared Kaldur had managed to create a liquid shield around her from the taps that Superboy had opened in the kitchen.

Robin looked at Kaldur, face void of emotions. "Why do you still protect her?" The Atlantean faltered in his stance for a split second as the haunting voice was directed at him. "Because she may have done wrong, but she does not deserve this harsh of a consequence! Stand down, my friend. We can still peacefully resolve this!" He barely believed his own words, but he had to try. He had to find an opening. But how would he even find an opening when he barely knows the person in front of him anymore.

Robin started to raise his hand again, not yet charging up his next attack. "She took him away from me. He was the last thing I had left. She will pay for it. You are either with me or against me. Now get out of my way."

Kaldur sighed as he moved to stand in front of Artemis, placing himself in the water shield as well. "I am sorry my friend, but I will have to stand against you if you refuse to back down." He said as he readied his defenses.

"So be it then." Robin said as he changed his aim towards the water connection. As his blast made contact, it severed the connection with the tap. All the water to the left dropped to the floor. The little bit that was to the right of the bast still managed to make it to Kaldur's shield. Now with only limited supply, Kaldur knew he had to be careful. He didn't have enough to make it through multiple hits of that first blast. Unfortunately for him, there was no way he could get back up. Artemis was unarmed, her bow and quiver left at home. Wally was trapped. M'gann was still unconscious and Superboy was the only person that could guard her for now. If they split up, Robin would surely aim for Artemis so the focus of his shield should be around her. It would then cause an opening to strike as he would have to wait for the smoke to clear to see his target again.

Sadly enough, there was no way to convey this to her without Robin knowing as long as there is no psychic link. She hadn't been part of the team for long enough to know their signals so it would be a shot in the dark. Hoping his plan would work, he jumped out of the shield right before Robin fired. The blast hit the liquid shield as smoke filled the area again, only for Artemis to be shot out of it by a second blast. Kaldur cursed himself for underestimating Batman's protégé. Had he been too predictable or was he able to read him too well? The Atlantean didn't have much time to dwell on it as Robin had fired another blast, this time aimed at him. With no water to shield himself left, he had no choice but to brace for the impact. The impact was too powerful for him to keep his footing as he got pushed back. His arms were only slightly scratched, mainly thanks to this thicker skin.

Robin fired another doubled shot at his team leader. He braced himself for the frontal impact again and as it hit he felt less push back than the first time. The blasts seemed to be less strong as the energy surrounding the younger was slowly burning out. Nevertheless he braced for the second shot but it appeared to have missed the target. Only to explode right next to him, knocking him off his feet. The hits were starting to hurt more as they managed to create some minor cuts, but nothing as bad as the blistering burns that were forming on Wally's arms. Kaldur looked up to see Dick walking closer to where Artemis was hiding. With a low energy beam he shot away the chair she was hiding behind. Luckily for both of them, before Dick had time to fire again, Superboy roared as he jumped in for hand to hand combat. As the only powers Robin had displayed so far were ranged, it did not seem like a bad idea to try out close range.

That was the theory at least. Robin was able to easily match Superboy in reactions and attacks as he seemed to have gained some form of empowered speed and strength. Or maybe the Robin they had been training with had been holding back. Without much extra thought, Kaldur too joined in on the fight. Together with Superboy, he managed to keep Robin busy enough so he wouldn't be able to continue his attack on Artemis. Using this as her chance, Artemis rushed over to the far corner behind the tv. She removed a panel from the wall where a panic button was hidden. Before she even had time to press it herself, Superboy crashed into the wall, a mere inch of where she stood.

Superboy got up and rushed back into the fight as Kaldur was no match for the newly empowered Bat in training. Their training had prepared them to fight stronger opponents, but it had failed to prepare them to fight one of their own. This wasn't a mock battle where they could stop if it got too out of hand. Robin had the full intent to hurt Artemis and right now they were the only ones standing in between that. But that didn't stop them from faltering every now and again. How could they hurt their own friend? Their teammate? Especially for Kaldur, who had known Robin for years now. Sadly they had no choice but to use their full strength as the longer they fought him, the more rage build up in the younger. His anger seemed to fuel his power as he slowly started to outmatch both of them.

With the two taller boys fighting him at such a close range, Robin created a dome around him and expanded its radius. Not knowing if they would get shocked like Wally, Kaldur and Superboy jumped away to avoid it. Superboy noted that with how much they had been fighting and distracting him, the Orb encasing Wally had started to pulse. It's intensity wavering for a second after each hit the younger dealt out. Though they might be able to free Wally if they landed enough hits on Robin, the red head was practically begging them not to hurt him. He doubted the speedster would actually help them out, perhaps even team up with the younger.

Robin took the freed up space as a chance to lunge towards Artemis. His fist became surrounded in the same glowing energy his blasts were made of. Artemis could do nothing but accept her fate as she knew she wouldn't have enough time to run. She tried to brace herself as well as she could, waiting for an impact that didn't come. She uncovered her eyes to see Superboy holding onto his right arm as Kaldur held the other. They had practically wrapped their upper bodies around the younger's arms so he wouldn't be able to escape.

Artemis stared in shock as tears of fear built up in her eyes. As Robin angrily growled out while struggling against her teammates, she couldn't help but think this was all her fault. She caused him to lose control. She caused him to hurt his friends. All because she was scared she wouldn't fit in. Instead of just giving it back or respecting his boundaries, she pushed it and acted like it was all a game. Oliver had told her how close the boys of the team were. What they went through to create the team themselves. He also told her that Robin and Wally enjoyed pranking and playing games with each other. So she tried to force herself into that dynamic. She was overly confident that she could just playfully bully them, just like it always was with her sister. She didn't mean for it to break, nor does she really understand why she decided to be so rude when it clearly was way passed being a joke or playful. Right now, all she felt was fear as the two strongest people on her team were struggling to hold back the raging friend she hoped to make. The absolute hatred that burned in what little of his eyes were visible through the cracks in the glass send shivers down her spine.

Robin tried to pull his arms free, but what he once considered friends had too tight of a grip on him. He was so close to her but just couldn't reach her. This angered him even more than when they were holding him back before. "Let me go!" He yelled out as he could feel himself getting weaker, having burned through most of the energy he had pent up in his body. Kaldur tightened his grip by just a fraction as he tried to twist Robin's arm into an uncomfortable position to keep the younger from pulling. "You know we cannot do that unless you back down, Robin! You need to stop this!" Robin's thrashing became more erratic as he felt his eyes well up with tears yet again. "She broke it! She took him away from me! He was the last thing I had left! She has to pay for that!" His voice was starting to lose the hauntingly echoing effect it had as it started to become clear to all that he was running out of energy. His movements were starting to lose power as they noted that the tips of his hair were fading back to black. The shield around Wally had immensely decreased in power as it no longer shocked him. The speedster himself barely had any energy left but found new hope as the hits to the orb were finally causing cracks to appear.

Robin didn't want to let it end like this. Not when he was so close. He had to make sure she paid. He mustered up as much strength as he could. In the process, he pulled back the energy he was using to maintain Wally's prison orb. But it didn't matter as the speedster wouldn't be able to stop him in time even if he tried. With a final roar he pulled his left arm forward and slammed Kaldur into Artemis and Superboy. From the shock of the slam, the boys released their grip as they both lost their consciousness. They had endured a lot of hits from the youngest but the final blow was too much for them to handle.

Wally looked up from where he had fallen after the orb faded. He watched helplessly as Robin picked up Artemis by the neck. He tried to get up but felt exhaustion crash into him as his legs gave out under him. He had tried so hard to escape that what little energy he still had, his body was forcing into healing his bleeding burns. Artemis was clawing at Robin's hand but it didn't do much. Robin readied his fist, aiming straight for her head. Until an explosion near his hand made him release his grip on the blonde.

Robin whipped around to find the source of the attack only to see Batman standing next to where Wally had been. Before he had any time to react to the appearance of his mentor, or the disappearance of the speedster, he felt a prick in the back of his neck. He felt the last remains of his power fade away as the normal colors returned to his body and clothes. As the world around him faded into darkness, he felt himself falling into the comforting embrace of his best friend.

Batman looked at the chaos that was left over as he thew a large energy bar at the exhausted speedster. Wally scarfed down the bar, thankful that Batman managed to get here on time. "What happened here?" The Bat scruffily asked as he quickly checked up on each unconscious teen scattered across the floor. He could already tell that they were all going to have severe bruising at the very least. The print around Artemis's throat already forming rapidly. Wally couldn't bring himself to utter the words as he held Robin close to him. He was so mad at himself that he couldn't protect the younger when he needed him that he feared he would fall apart if he now let go. Still feeling the gaze of Batman on him, Wally weakly pointed to where the broken remains of the red stone and copper wire still lay on the floor.

Batman walked over and tried to pick up as many pieces as he could gather and placed them in a pouch. He stood back up and asked the red head if he could stand. With shaky legs, Wally managed to stand semi stable and gave a nod to Batman. Silently he thanked the older man for the energy bar as he surely would have joined the rest of his team in unconsciousness without it. Batman was about to escort the two to the infirmary, until the Zeta AI announced the arrival of a newcomer amid the silence.

Recognized. Robin, B01