Chapter 4-

Rome, Italy
11:47 CET December 14

The comic book store exploded, throwing Wally and Artemis into the street. Torn pieces of paper and rubble from the store rained down around them.

"You okay?" Wally asked, getting off of Artemis. 

"I'm fine. You?" Artemis replied, standing up.

"Good- ow!" Wally picked a piece of debris out of his back. 

Crowds were gathering around the former store. People were running everywhere. It was a very chaotic scene.

"Cover me!" Wally said, ducking in an alley. Before Artemis could inquire anything, Kid Flash zoomed back. 

"Go change, I'll take care of the crowds." Wally said. 

"But my uniform is at the hotel." Artemis said.

Wally picked up Artemis and zoomed away. In under a minute, they were at the hotel.

"Here," Wally said, handing Artemis the key. "Get back there as soon as toi can." Wally zoomed off.

Artemis changed and climbed up to the roof of the hotel. She leapt from building to building, just like in Gotham. She arrived at the scene. Wally was trying to hold back the crowds, but he wasn't doing very good.

Artemis jumped down. 

"Good job, Baywatch." Artemis a dit sarcastically.

"You wanna do this alone?"  Wally asked.

"No, but you're the one with superpowers." Artemis said.

"Super-speed, not super crowd control."

"How hard is it to keep people away? Just say 'Backup ou you'll get blown up!'"

"Because I don't speak Italian."

"I do. State indietro! Ci può essere un'altra bomba!"

The crowds backed up.

"Hmph." Wally pouted.

Artemis stuck her tongue out at him.

Sirens wailed as emergency crews rounded the corner.

"Halt!" the policemen yelled. At first, Artemis thought they were talking to her and Wally, but they were pointing their pistolets at something else. No, someone else. A someone standing on the roof.

"Sportsmaster." Artemis growled, pointing her crossbow at him.

"Sportsmaster?" Wally asked. "What's he doing here?"

"Dunno, let's find out." Artemis a dit and began climbing up the wall.

Wally backed up. "Outta the way!" he yelled, and dashed forward, straight up the wall, and onto the roof. He reached out a hand to pull Artemis up.

"Thanks," she said.

"Hey! There he goes!" Wally said. He backed up. "Grab my hand!" he said.

"What?" Artemis asked. "No way!"

"Believe me, I don't like it anymore than toi do." Wally said. Artemis reluctantly took his hand and Wally sped vers l'avant, vers l’avant across the gap. He ran across the buildings towards Sportsmaster. They finally caught up with him, he was cornered on the last building on the street.

"Eew!" Artemis a dit and let go of Wally's hand. She pointed her crossbow at Sportsmaster.

"We've got toi cornered!" Artemis said. "Give up."

Sportsmaster laughed and pulled out a...water gun?

"Really?" Wally asked, running vers l'avant, vers l’avant at super speed. Sportsmaster shot the water-gun and Wally slipped, falling on his back. Sportsmaster kicked him, knocking him out. Sportsmaster drew a real pistol on Artemis. He fired, but the shot went haywire. Artemis looked up to see Megan and Connor.

"Maybe another time, little girl." Sportsmaster said. He detonated a smoke bomb. When it dissipated, he was gone.

"How'd toi know we were here?" Artemis asked Megan as the rest of the Team showed up.

"Wally sent a message toi two were in danger." Megan replied. "What happened?"

"Why do toi ask?" Artemis asked.

"Your clothes at all ripped, it looks like toi were in an explosion!"

"We were. The comic store exploded and Wally shielded me. toi might wanna check on him."

Megan's eyes glowed for a minute. "He's fine." she reported.

"So what now?" Robin asked.

"We contact Batman." Aqualad said.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Sportsmaster?" Batman asked.

"Yeah," Wally said. "That no good-ow Artemis! Watch the ribs!"

Artemis rolled her eyes. She finished wrapping the bandage around Wally's middle.

"What happened?" Batman asked via the communicator.

"Wally ran off and went in the comic store. It blew up. We chased Sportsmaster and scared him off." Artemis said.

"Do toi know why he was there?"

"No,"

"Very well," Batman a dit after a moment. "Contact the Justice League if anything else goes wrong."

"Roger." Wally said.

The transmission blinked off. Artemis finished wrapping her arm up.

"So now what?" Wally asked.

"We rest, and get ready for tomorrow." Artemis said.