Young Justice: Solstice

Thirty-Five

I have always been afraid.

I knew I was afraid of the dark since that first mysterious, frost-bitten night on the mountain. Unable to see my parents, only able to hear Kamala crying out in fear above the wicked winds of the mountaintop, lungs crying out for air. 

Growing older, it never went away, no matter how stupid I thought my own fear was. I went to bed early, while it was still light out, and I slept with a night light all through high school. All I could think about was the cold, being trapped in sleep, and how that darkness and cold took my baby sister from me without even letting me say goodbye.

I hated darkness as much as I feared it. 

Maybe that was why I liked heroes like Rama so much. He wasn't fearless, but he moved on in spite of his fear of the darkness, which represented the evil of the world. He admitted his fear, and kept going.

I never thought that I could be Rama.

Reincarnation was not a foreign concept to me, but the fact that I was the form chosen was a little humbling.

Every time I heard Rama's story, of how he stood against the power of Rankor, it always made me wonder. If he was so scared, how could he face such doom?

I blasted Rankor every which way, desperate to wound him in some way, to prove that he wasn't infallible not only to him, but to myself. My heart pounded in my chest as I took inventory of my teammates.

"Link established," Miss Martian said crisply. the mind link felt like a wet blanket on my mind. Why did she blame me for Rankor? I was trying to stop him! He'd hurt her and all my other team members, he'd hurt my parents, and he'd hurt me. What was she still hung up about?

I took inventory of my teammates. Kaldur was helping Artemis against the demon who had taken her place. Artemis wasn't holding back like she used to. Zatanna and Raquel took on a six-armed demon together, and Superboy took on a couple on his own. Mal and Karen were two of the less powerful heroes present, but they fought hard and strong against the smaller demons, keeping them from overwhelming everyone else.

"There's too many of them!" Beast Boy cried out, still a giant, he brushed demons from his fur with his scepter.

"They keep coming!" Zatanna sighed. "None of this is going to mean anything if we don't take down Rankor."

I felt everyone waiting for Kaldur's instruction. 

"The main objective is to keep Rankor from crossing into our world. We cannot leave Solstice to handle it alone."

"If Rama did it, so can I!" I insisted.

"But Rama had help!" Cassie reminded me. "Save the it-rests-solely-on-me bullcrap for Batman!" 

"M'gann, we need your help,"  Superboy said. 

Miss Martian whimpered. "You don't understand. I- I can't-"

"You have to!" Beast Boy begged.

"We need you," Superboy told her.

I felt something tearing inside me as I stumbled out of the way of Rankor's magics. M'gann was fighting herself, not just the demons, to be able to help her friends. 

A telekinetic wave rippled across the plain, pushing back the demons, but leaving the heroes untouched. 

"Time to focus on Rankor. Bring the Goliath down!" Kaldur shouted.

Below me, my friends swarmed at Rankor's feet. Kaldur and Superboy attacked his legs, while Beast Boy swung wildly with the stolen scepter. Artemis shot arrows with her retrieved crossbow at any spot she could reach. Rocket used her bubbles to launch Guardian and Bumblebee wherever they could do any damage. Zatanna's earth-based spells were almost ineffective against any of Rankor's ten frowning heads.