Washington DC- July 4th - 14:00 EDT

"Aw man, I knew we'd be the last ones here!" KidFlash complained as he and his mentor arrived at the Hall of Justice, greeted by the other heroes and their protégés.
"Actually, you're not. There's still one more." Robin told the speedster with a grin. KF looked confused.
"Who?" he asked, scratching his head.
"You'll see." Robin replied with a grin as the group of 4 heroes and 4 protégés approached the Hall, ignoring the crowd's rambling.

"Is that Batman?"
"I see Flash and Flash Junior!"
"His name is Speedy…"
"No! Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick!"
"That makes no sense…"

Speedy, AKA Roy Harper, was smirking with satisfaction as they all walked towards the Hall.
"You ready to see the Inner Sanctum?" Green Arrow asked his protégé.
"Born that way." Speedy responded with a grin.
"I'm glad we're all here." Aqualad said with a small smile.
"Have all 4 sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" KF asked excitedly.
"Don't call us sidekicks. Not after today." Speedy hissed.
"And there are 5 of us." Robin told him.
"Sorry; first time at the Hall, a little overwhelmed." KF said with a sheepish grin.
"Overwhelmed, underwhelmed, why isn't anybody just whelmed?" Robin asked no one in particular as they entered the Hall, seeing the massive golden statues of the JL founding members.
"Oh… Maybe that's why…" Robin answered his own question in a mutter.

The group was greeted by Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado as the door to the Inner Sanctum opened.
"Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, KidFlash, welcome." Martian Manhunter greeted as he turned and walked, the others following suit.
"You now have unlimited access to the Gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library." Martian Manhunter concluded his little speech as they entered the aforementioned library.
"Now, I believe our final guest shall be arriving…" Green Arrow trailed off as the Zeta in the room activated.
"Now." He said with a smirk.
"Recognised: Black Canary – 13, White Raven – B04"
Two figures emerged from the zeta tube. One was Black Canary, the other was a boy, about 17 years old, wearing a plain black T-shirt, azure blue pants, a short sleeved white hooded trench coat with black at the bottom and an azure blue clasp, black fingerless gloves, and an azure blue visor. The strangest part about this guy was his white hair, hence the 'White' in his name no doubt. (A/N: As per usual, check the cover image for a visual)

"Hey." He said with timid wave.
"I'm White Raven, Black Canary's protégé… But you can call me Danny…" He introduced himself. He clearly didn't like being in the spotlight. KF zoomed over to him and held out his hand for a handshake.
"Hey there! I'm…" KidFlash tried to introduce himself, but stopped when White Raven yelped in fright and disappeared from sight. Speedy and Robin walked over to KF and each whacked him over the head.
"Danny doesn't like being in the spotlight, Idiot." Robin said with a glare.
"We'll be lucky if he shows himself now." Speedy hissed.
"Hey! I didn't know…" KF protested, rubbing the back of his abused head in pain.

"Danny, it's alright. You can come out now." Black Canary called out. Nothing happened.
"Since when do you have a protégé?" Aquaman asked the heroin, who shrugged.
"Two months ago." She replied.
"And weren't informed of this because…?" Flash trailed off, expecting Black Canary to finish for him.
"I have trust issues." A timid voice said. Everybody turned their attention towards Speedy, seeing a body of white hair hiding behind him.
"Danny…" Speedy groaned.
"Sorry Roy…" White Raven mumbled. Aqualad slowly approached White Raven, and extended his hand.
"My name is Kaldur, but I am Aqualad in uniform." Aqualad said with a gentle smile. White Raven returned the smile and shook Aqualad's hand.
"You already met KidMouth." Robin said, pointing to KidFlash. White Raven nodded and took a deep breath, managing to calm down and share a handshake with the young speedster

"Before anything, a quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of 4 ice villains attacking on the same day. We shouldn't be long." Batman told the sidekicks… er, protégés.
"That's it?!" An outraged voice exclaimed as the zeta tube finished scanning the leaguers, one by one.
"You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass!" Speedy exclaimed, making White Raven rather nervous.
"It's a first step. You've been granted access few others get." Aquaman told the young archer.
"Oh really? Who cares which side of the glass we're on?!" Speedy exclaimed, pointing to a window with multiple tourists on the other side.

"Roy, you just need to be patient." Green Arrow said as he approached his protégé.
"What I need is respect!" Speedy shot back and turned to the other teens.
"They're treating us like kids! Worse, like sidekicks! We deserve better than this!" He all but yelled. The others seemed rather confused.
"You're kidding right?" Speedy asked in disdain.
"You're playing their game? Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be the day! Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League!" He practically screamed.
"Step one is getting a tour of the HQ." White Raven protested, having calmed down a bit.
"Except the hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy shot back, making White Raven disappear in fright again.
"Roy!" Robin hissed, but Speedy paid no mind.
"I bet they never told you! This is just a false front for tourists, and a pit-stop for catching Zeta tubes to the real thing! An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower!" He revealed angrily.

Green Arrow turned to the other heroes, who were glaring at him
"I know, I know, but I thought that maybe we could make an exception?" Green Arrow asked sheepishly. Batman narrowed his eyes at the archer.
"Or not..." he trailed off as Aquaman stepped towards Speedy.
"You are not helping your cause here, son. Stand down, or-" he started, but was cut off by the livid protégé.
"Or what? You'll send me to my room! And I'm not your son! I'm not even his." He said, glaring at Green Arrow.
"I thought I was his partner. But not anymore!" Speedy took his hat off and tossed it to the ground in anger. Everyone was shocked as he stormed off.
"I guess they were right about you four; you're not ready." Speedy said to the others as he approached the door.
"And I expected more from you White Raven!" He exclaimed as he left. The door shut, and a slightly shaky White Raven appeared behind Black Canary, who sighed at Speedy's actions and held her protégé close.

Out of nowhere, a transmission notification appeared on the massive computer, showing Superman.
"Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire." The Man of Steel reported. The adult heroes surrounded the computer, leaving the teens behind them.
"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus. This may present the perfect opportunity to-" Batman started, but was cut off by another transmission.
"Zatara to Justice League. The Sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Atem to block out the sun. Requesting full League response." Zatara reported. Batman turned to look at Superman, a question look behind his cowl.
"It's a small fire. Local authorities have it under control." Superman told the Dark Knight.
"Then Cadmus can wait. All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates, Batman out." Batman cut the transmission.

"Stay put." Batman said as he turned to face the teens.
"What?!" Robin asked, outraged.
"This is League business." Aquaman told the Boy Wonder sternly.
"You're not trained-" Flash started, but was cut off by his protégé.
"Since when?" Kid Flash said.
"I meant you're not trained to work part of this team." Flash said, pointing to himself and the other Leaguers.
"There will be other missions, when you're ready." Aquaman explained calmly.
"But for now, stay put." Batman said with glare, which was mostly directed at his mischievous protégé as the rest of the leaguers left through the zeta tube.

"When we're ready? How are we every supposed to be ready when they treat us like… like sidekicks!?" Kid Flash exclaimed in anger.
"My mentor, my king… I thought he trusted me." Aqualad muttered as he looked down at the ground sadly.
"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in space!" KidFlash exclaimed furiously.
"Wonder what else they aren't telling us." White Raven mumbled forlornly. He trusted Black Canary and Batman with everything, so why would they not do the same? Robin looked at the white haired teen for a moment.
"I have a better question; why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

A moment of silence passed before someone spoke.
"What is Project Cadmus?" Aqualad asked. Robin looked up at the older Atlantian.
"Don't know," He said, but then smirked.
"But I can find out." He turned to the computer, only to see White Raven hacking into the computer.
"Way ahead of you Boy Blunder." White Raven said with a smirk, earning a playful glare from Robin.
"Dude, Bipolar much?" KidFlash asked in a deadpan tone.
"Haha very funny." White Raven said with a half-hearted glare, then paused.
"And also true." He said with a single nod of realisation as he continued working.
Access Denied.
"Oh really?" The Ghost boy asked with a slight grin as he pressed a few more keys.
"Whoa, how are you doing that?" KidFlash asked in awe as White Raven worked his magic.
"Super-Genius level intellect." White Raven said with a grin.
"It also helps that this computer uses the same system as the Batcave." Robin added with a grin. White Raven rolled his eyes.
Access Granted
White Raven pulled up a file about Cadmus.

"Alright, Project Cadmus; genetics lab, here in D.C. That's all there is." Robin read the file.
"Though if Batman's suspicious, something's going on." White Raven said with a grin.
"Raven's right. Maybe we should investigate." Robin said as the 2 boys bumped fists.
"Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic justice." Aqualad said with a sly grin. Robin turned to him with an equally sly grin.
"Hey, they're all about justice." He said.
"But they said stay put." Aqualad remembered with a sigh.
"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this." Robin reasoned.
"Wait, are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going!" Kid Flash exclaimed excitedly as he turned Robin to face him.
"I'm going." White Raven said as he pulled his hood up. They turned to Aqualad, grinning.
"We got the 2 birds, the cheetah, now we just need our shark." White Raven said with a small smirk, making Robin laugh a bit. Aqualad rolled his eyes.
"Just like that? We're a team on a mission?" he asked.
"We didn't come for a play date." Robin said, not losing his grin. Aqualad grinned back and nodded.

"Appreciate the help." Aqualad said sarcastically as he and White Raven jumped into the building, having saved the civilians themselves.
"Yeah, go team." White Raven added, just as sarcastic.
"You 2 handled it." Robin said to the two with a grin.
"Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic Justice, remember?" He asked as he typed away at a computer and KidFlash looked through some files.

White Raven and Aqualad walked into a corridor and noticed the elevator was open. There was something inside it as the doors closed.
"There was something in the…" Aqualad trailed off.
"Elevators should be locked down." KidFlash mentioned as he and Robin joined the other 2. The group approached the elevator, and Robin pressed the down button.
"This is wrong." He said as he brought up his holo-computer.
"This is a high speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a 2 story building." Robin mused as he analysed the elevator.
"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad added.
"Maybe this isn't a 2 story building." White Raven said as he approached the elevator. Using his ghostly strength, he pried the door open in millisecond.
"Dude! You're stronger than Kaldur!" KidFlash exclaimed in surprise. White Raven grinned as he looked inside the elevator, seeing the long way down.
"And that's why they need an express elevator." He mused sarcastically.
"No kidding." Robin said as he pulled out his grappling line. He shot it at the ceiling and jumped down. White Raven shrugged and floated down the shaft.
"Oh and he flies too." KidFlash said sarcastically as he jumped onto Robin's line and slid down, Aqualad following.
"How many powers do you have?" KF asked the Ghost Boy as they went down.
"More than I care to count." White Raven responded forlornly as Robin's line ran out.

"I'm at the end of my rope." Robin pointed out with a grin, making White Raven roll his eyes. Robin and the other 2 jumped off of the rope and landed on the ledge by the SL26 door. Robin brought up his holo-computer and hacked into the security.
"Security's down." He announced. White Raven grinned and floated right through the door.
"Whoa!" KF exclaimed as White Raven pried the door open from the other side.
"How…" KF trailed off as they all passed through the door.
"One of my many powers." White Raven said with a grin as they all looked down the corridor.
"Welcome to project Cadmus." Robin announced in awe. Out of nowhere, Kid zoomed down the hallway.
"Kid, wait!" Aqualad called after the speedster, to no avail. Kid kept running until he bumped into a large grey creature.
"Whoa." Robin said in awe as the others caught up to KF. The creatures were the size of 5 elephants on top of each other, and walked using their legs and arms, like gorillas. They had red marks scattered across their bodies.
"No, nothing strange going on here." White Raven muttered sarcastically.

White Raven phased the group through a big door, leading them into a room full of pods with strange creatures.
"OK, I'm officially whelmed." Robin mumbled in shock.
"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world." KF said in realisation as they examined the pods.
"They're off the grid. These things power the REAL Cadmus." White Raven added.
"Must be what their bred for." KF reasoned.
"Of course! Even the name is a clue!" Aqualad said in realisation.
"Right! The mythical Cadmus created new life by planting dragon's teeth into the ground!" White Raven realised, picking up on Aqualad's suggestion.
"And this Cadmus creates new life too." Robin concluded as he and White Raven approached a terminal.
"Let's find out why." He added. White Raven nodded as Robin plugged his holo-computer into the terminal and typed away on his gauntlet, while White Raven typed on the terminal.

"Their called Genomorphs." Robin reported.
"Look at the stats!" White Raven exclaimed.
"Super strength, speed, telepathy, razor claws." He listed.
"These are living weapons!" Robin exclaimed in horror.
"Their engineering an army." KF whispered in realisation.
"But for who?" He added.
"Wait." Robin said as he continued hacking.
"There's something else. Project Kr." He reported.
"Krypton?" White Raven asked. They all looked at him, much to his dismay.
"Uh, the atomic symbol on the periodic table." He said timidly.
"Think this has to do with Superman?" KF asked. White Raven nodded timidly.
"Unless they're building a giant spark sphere, I would think so." He said.
"Let's find out." Robin said, and tried to hack the program, but to no avail. He scoffed.
"Files triple encrypted." He said, frustrated.

"Don't move!" a voice growled. The four boys turned and saw a group of Genomorphs, being led by a familiar hero.
"Gaurdian?" Aqaulad asked, confused.
"Wait, Robin? Aqualad? KidFlash?" Gaurdian asked, just as confused.
"At least he got your name right." Robin told KF with a grin as quickly continued hacking.
"At least he knows your name." White Raven mumbled.
"Gaurdian, you're a hero." Aqualad pointed out.
"I do my best." Guardian responded modestly and crossed his arms.
"Then what are you doing here?" KF asked, confused as to why a hero would be working for Cadmus.
"I think that's my question boys. I'm chief of security. And you're trespassing. But we can call the Justice League. Figure this out." Guardian told them calmly. A little too calm, like he didn't know what the four boys found.
"You think the League's going to approve of you breeding weapons!?" KidFlash yelled at the hero in shock

"Weapons?" Guardian asked.
"What are you...? What have I...?" He mumbled, but stopped when the genomorph on his shoulder turned its head and its horns started glowing red.
"Ah... My head..." He said as he placed his hand on his head.
"Take them down hard! No mercy!" He ordered suddenly with a glare.
The creatures around lunged at the heroes, snarling. White Raven got in front of his friends and held his hands above his head. The protégés were suddenly surrounded by a thick black mist, hiding them from view. Robin took the opportunity to using his grappling line and shot it to the ceiling. He pulled himself up and swung straight for the elevator.
"Kid, run! Aqualad, take my hand!" White Raven ordered. The two nodded and did as he said. KidFlash ran after Robin, and White Raven turned both him and Aqualad intangible and flew after the other two. KidFlash, White Raven and Aqualad found Robin hacking into an elevator.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" KidFlash growled at his friend.
"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin asked, not taking his eyes off his holo-screen.
"We weren't!" White Raven hissed as he created a wall of ice to block the genomorphs.
"Whoa!" KF exclaimed.
"Is that gonna be your reaction every time I use one of my powers?" White Raven asked in a deadpan tone as Robin hacked the elevator.
"Let's go!" he called. The other heroes nodded and followed the Boy Wonder into the elevator.

"Why are we headed down?" White Raven asked as he noticed the change of the floor numbers indicating greater depth.
"Down!? Dude, out is up!" KF yelled at Robin.
"Excuse me? Project KR is down! On sublevel 52." Robin informed matter-of-factly.
"This is out of control," Aqualad said as he rubbed his temple.
"Perhaps… Perhaps we should contact the League..." The other three shared a look as the doors opened to reveal a hallway that looked more like the inside of a living creature than the inside of a building. Robin ignored Aqualad's words and shot out. White Raven rolled his eyes at the younger hero.
"We are already here," Kid said before following the boy. White Raven and Aqualad shared a look and groaned before following. They came to a crossroad and stopped.
"Which way?" Aqualad asked.
"Bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?" Robin asked sarcastically.
"Halt!" they heard a voice command.

They turned to see another genomorph. He was humanoid, with grey skin, white clothes and long horns on his forehead. Suddenly, his horns glowed red and he held out a hand. Three crates shot up and towards the heroes. Aqualad and KidFlash quickly dodged the first one, Robin through an explosive at the second, destroying it and White Raven held up his hand. The third crate stopped mere inches in front of him, developed a green glow and shot back at the genomorph. The Genomorph's horns glowed again and the crate exploded, buying our heroes enough time to run. They found a door, with 'Project Kr' on it, and White Raven phased each of them through.

"I disabled the door," Robin said, typing on his holo-computer..
"We're safe." He concluded.
"We're trapped." Aqualad grumbled in annoyance.
"Um... Guys..." KF mumbled as he and White Raven stood in front of a control panel.
"You'll want to see this," White Raven said as he pressed a few of the buttons on the panel. Lights turned on and a pod was revealed. Inside was a young boy, about 16 years old, with black hair, wearing a white body suit with a red superman symbol on his chest.
"You were right Raven." KF said with wide eyes. White Raven also has wide eyes, and a bit of Déjà vu.
"Raven, your turn to hack." Aqualad said. White Raven nodded and typed away on the control panel.
"Weapon designation: Superboy. A clone, as I suspected." He mumbled the last part, earning throat-clear from Aqualad.

"Continuing… Forcefully grown in… 16 weeks!" he exclaimed.
"16 weeks?!" Robin repeated in shock. White raven nodded.
"From DNA acquired from Superman!" White Raven read.
"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad corrected.
"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid reasoned.
"Of that I have little doubt." White Raven mumbled as he continued his work.
"His solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7," He read.

"And these things?" Robin asked, pointing to the three creatures that sat on top of the clone's pod. They were identical to the one with Guardian.
"Genomorph gnomes," White Raven reported.
"Primary function: telepathy. Force feeding him an education." He explained.
"And we can guess what else," Kid mentioned. White Raven nodded in agreement
"They're making a slave out of Superman's son." He growled with disgust. This reminded him so much of Plasmius.
"Now we contact the league," Aqualad said pressing the symbol on his belt. It turned blue but all they heard was static.

"No signal," White Raven sighed
"We're in too deep." KF added.
"Literally." Robin mumbled.
"We can't leave him like this," Robin said, pointing to the clone.
"I'm setting him free." White Raven said. Aqualad nodded in agreement as the boy started typing on the panel again and the pod opened. They watched cautiously as the clone woke up slowly. His fists clenched, and his eyes shot open.
"Hey there Superboy…" White Raven said calmly. Before he could say anything else, Superboy shot off of the pod's pedestal and attack Aqualad.

"Whoa! Hang on, Supey!" Kid yelled as he and Robin pulled the clone's arms away to keep him from punching Aqualad again.
"We're on your side." Robin said through teeth gritted in strain. Superboy let out an angry yell as he pushed the 2 off of him. KF practically flew through a glass case, and Robin was sent into a wall. Both of them were knocked out.
"Calm down Superboy!" White Raven screamed. The clone turned his attention to White Raven, looking enraged. Aqualad took the opportunity to kick Superboy off of him. Superboy managed to catch himself and landed on the ground in a criouch.
"Enough!" White Raven yelled. He lunged at Superboy, and a hammer made of that black mist from before appeared in his hands. He swung it and hit Superboy, sending the clone flying into the pedestal from his pod.
"You OK Aqualad?" White Raven asked he helped the Atlantian up.
"Yes, thank you, White Raven." Aqualad said with a small smile. White Raven smiled back and looked at Superboy.

"This guy was taught with telepathy, maybe it can be used against him." White Raven thought out loud.
"You're a telepath?" Aqualad asked in shock. White Raven nodded and approached Superboy. He removed his visor, revealing neon green eyes, and looked straight into Superboy's glare.
"Superboy, I'm trying to help you." White Raven said telepathically. Out of nowhere, White Raven and Aqualad felt a sharp pain in their heads. They screamed in pain and fell to the ground. That's when darkness clouded their vision.

"Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken NOW!" A voice yelled in the boys' heads. They all woke with a startled gasp in strange pods, seeing Superboy glaring at them. White Raven noticed he didn't have his visor on. He must have dropped it when fighting Superboy.
"What? What do you want?" Kid hissed. The clone just raised an eyebrow.
"Quit staring! You're creeping me out." He growled.
"Um... KF?" Robin called for his friend's attention.
"How about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" He asked before Aqualad spoke.
"We only sought to help you." He said.
"Yeah! What's with that?" KF asked angrily.
"We free you and you turn on us! How's that for gratitude?" The young speedster growled.
"Hush Kid. I don't think he was in control." White Raven spoke up. He seemed calm, but he was having a panic attack on the inside. He did NOT like being bound.
"What... What if I wasn't?" the clone asked thoughtfully.

"He can talk!?" Kid asked in shock.
"Yes, he can!" Superboy growled.
"Not like I said 'it' or anything." KF mumbled.
"The genomorphs taught you. Telepathically," Aqualad said, changing the subject.
"They taught me much. I can read, write. I know the names of things." Suberboy replied, seemingly in a slight daze.
"But have you actually seen them? Have they ever actually let you see the sky? Or the sun?"Robin asked calmly.
"Images are implanted in my mind. But... No. I have not seen them." Superboy answered, a strange longing in his voice.
"Do you know who and what you are?" White Raven asked, shaking a little in his restraints.
"I am the Superboy." The clone said, standing up straight.
"A genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish. To destroy him should he turn from the Light." He said with a hint of anger.

"To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration. But like Superman you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solar suit. Beyond your pod. Beyond Cadmus." Aqualad told the clone.
"I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!" Superboy shot back.
"How you came to be is irrelevant. What you choose to do with your life is important." White Raven said in a serious tone.
"We can show you the sun." Robin added.
"I'm pretty sure it's after midnight, but we can show you the moon." Kid corrected.
"We can show you, introduce you to Superman," Aqualad told him calmly.
"No they can't," A voice said. The boys all turned their attention to the voice's owner: Doctor Desmond.
"They'll be otherwise occupied. Activate the cloning process." He ordered.
"Pass. Batcave's crowded enough." Robin stated in a deadpan tone.
"Getting the strangest sense of déjà vu here. " White Raven mumbled.

"And get the weapon back in its cage!" the doctor growled.
"How come he gets to call Supey an it?" KF complained as Gaurdian placed his hand on Superboy's shoulder.
"Help us," Aqualad whispered to the clone, who shook off Guardian's hand with a slight glare.
"Don't start thinking now." Desmond growled as the genomorph that was on his shoulder hopped over to Superboy's.
"You see, you're not a real boy. You're a weapon. And you belong to me. Well... Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod!" Desond ordered as the genomorph's horns glowed.
Superboy walked off, his eyes wide as if in a trance. The doctor nodded to the woman by a control panel. She pressed a few keys and four rods rose in front of each boy. The rods jammed themselves into the boys' skin, extracting DNA. White Raven grunted in pain, since his core absorbed the electricity, but he still felt the needles, and he screamed in panic, while the other 3 screamed in pain. He tried to phase out, to no avail.

"Where's Double X?" Desmond asked the woman. He gave a slight yelp as said genomorph came out of the shadows.
"Lurking as usual." The good doctor grumbled.
"Get the ge-gnomes to start downloading their memories. When that's done, and you're sure the clones are viable, delete the source material." He ordered

Aqualad was in terrible pain, screaming along with the others, but he pulled through and managed to let out a whisper.
"Superboy. You live. That gives you the right to follow your own path. A weapon, or a person. The choice is yours. But ask yourself, what would Superman do?" He asked and continued screaming. White Raven picked up on the whisper with his own super hearing, but wasn't sure whether it would help. A few minutes later, Superboy burst through the door. The electric shortage of the door being ripped out stopped the DNA extraction.
"I told you to get back to your-" Desmond started, but Superboy pushed him and Gaurdian away.
"Don't give me orders," The clone growled and approached the teens. White Raven was breathing heavily, trying to prevent another panic attack.

"So, are you here to help us or fry us?" KF asked. Superboy narrowed his eyes.
"Huh. I don't seem to have heat vision. So I guess helping is my only option." He said, almost jokingly. At that point, Robin managed to pick his restraints, and White Raven froze his, shattering them.
"Finally… Lucky Batman isn't here; he'd have my head for taking so long." The Boy Wonder said as he fell to his feet and rubbed his wrists.
"And Black Canaray mine." White Raven mumbled on all fours, panting heavily.
"Seriously? That's what you two are worried about?" Kid asked, exasperated.
"The whole League will have our heads after tonight!" He exclaimed. Robin rolled his eyes and unlocked the other 2 pods.
"You help Aqualad." He said to Superboy.
"I'll help Kid mouth." He added with an eye roll.
"Don't you give me orders either." Superboy said with a glare before he jumped… to help Aqualad.
"Thank you." Aqualad whispered to Superboy, who gave a ghost of a smile and nodded.

The five teens ran out of the room.
"You, you'll never get out of here! I'll have you back in pods before morning!" Desmond yelled after them.
"That guy is not whelmed," Robin joked as he threw explosive disks at the DNA pods, destroying them.
"Not whelmed at all." He said as they continued running.
"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" KF asked with an eye roll.
"Something tells me we're gonna have to get used to it," Raven muttered as they ran off down the halls.

"We are still 42 levels below ground! But if we can make the elevator-" Aqualad said, but stopped talking as they saw more of those massive genomorphs approaching. They all skidded to a stop. Ahead of them were four of thos great beasts blocking their path, while behind them, the sacks hanging on the walls glowed red and more genomorphs emerged. The G-trolls tried to pummel the boys, but they managed to dodge the attacks, while Superboy let out an angry yell and fought the trolls, smashing them into the walls.
"Superboy! The goal is escape, not to bury ourselves here." Aqualad yelled after the Kryptonian.
"You want escape?!" Superboy yelled angrily as he grabbed one of the creatures and threw it into the others, knocking them all down like bowling pins.

The five of them ran to the elevator where White Raven pried open the doors to allow through. Robin pulled out his grappling gun and shot up the shaft. Kid followed. Superboy grabbed onto Aqualad and leapt into the air, White Raven following. However gravity seemed to take its toll.
"I'm falling," Superboy mumbled. White Raven heard and shot a spike of ice into the wall, which Aqualad quickly grabbed.
"Superman can fly… Why can't I fly?" Superboy asked himself.
"Don't know." Kid said from where he and Robin stood, just a few feet below them.
"But it looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Don't worry. When Superman was 16, he couldn't fly yet either." White Raven comforted.
"Thanks…" Superboy mumbled gratefully, both to Aqualad and White Raven.
"Guys! This will have to be our exit!" Robin yelled as the elevator started moving above them. White Raven turned the door intangible and the boys jumped through just in time. They genomorphs approaching them and ran off.

"Turn left brother." Superboy and White Raven heard in their heads.
"Go left!" They ordered in unison.
"You heard it too?" Superboy asked the ghost boy in shock, who nodded.
"Turn right." The two conveyed the message and the group followed. This led them to a dead end.
"Great directions, you two!" Kid exclaimed in annoyance.
"Are you trying to get us re-podded?" He asked sarcastically.
"No..." Superboy said, extremly confused.
"I don't understand." White Raven mumbled.

"Don't apologise, this is perfect!" Robin exclaimed with a massive grin. They were about to ask him what he meant, but he beat them to it by opening the air vent and climbing in. Understanding his plan, the others followed.
"At this rate we'll never get out!" Kid groaned in annoyance as they crawled through the vents. Superboy shushed him.
"Listen." The clone whispered.
"I hear it too. Genomorphs." White Raven informed.
"Not anymore. I hacked the motion sensors." Robin said with a grin.
"Nice thinking Boy Wonder." White Raven said, matching the grin.
"Thanks Ghost Boy." Robin responded as they all jumped out of the vent into another hallway

"Still plenty of them between us and out though." Robin added as he stood up.
"But I've finally got room to move!" KidFlash said as he pulled down his goggles. He raced up the stairwell, knocking down the genomorphs as he went, while the others followed.
"There's more behind us!" Robin yelled. Superboy and White Raven turned around and delivered powerful kicks to the stairwell, destroying it so as to prevent the genomorphs from following. They were almost out, on Sub level 1. But, the doors shut and KidFlash was running too fast to stop in time and ran right into the door.
"We're cut off from the street!" Aqualad said urgently as they all caught up to the downed speedster.
"Thanks, my head hadn't noticed," KF replied sarcastically. Superboy stepped forward and punched at the door, trying to force it open. White Raven and Aqualad joined, to no avail. White Raven tried to turn the door intangible, but that proved to be just as fruitless.

"I can't phase through!" He informed grimly.
"And I can't hack fast enough!" He heard Robin yell from behind him.
"This way!" Robin yelled and kicked down a door on his left. The 5 boys ran in to find themselves cornered by genomorphs of every kind. Suddenly, Superboy and White Raven fell to their knees, feeling weak, while the others passed out.
"Perhaps for the sake of all genomorphs our brother, Superboy, should make up his own mind." A familiar voice said in their heads. They turned and saw the horned blue-skinned genomorph from before.
"It was you." The boys said in simultaneous realisation.
"Yes, brother. I set the fire that lured your new friends down into Cadmus. Woke them when they were in danger." The Genomorph said to Superboy.
"And guided us. Why?" White Raven asked.
"I guided my brother. I did not anticipate you being a telepath." The Genomorph explained. White Raven nodded in understanding and allowed the two 'brothers' to talk.

"Why did you help me?" Superboy asked.
"Because you are our hope; The Genomorph Hero. You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom." Double X told the clone as he directed his attention to Guardian.
"What's going on?" Guardian asked in a daze as the genomorph on his shoulder hopped off, severing its grip on his mind. Aqualad came to and moved a little, looking around him with slight confusion.
"What is your choice, brother?" Double X asked Superboy as the clone stood up.
"I… choose… freedom!" Superboy said out loud, eyes full of determination.
"Feels like... Fog lifting..." Guardian mumbled as the unconscious protégés stood up.
"Guardian? You OK?" White Raven asked in concern for the hero. Said hero nodded.
"Go! I'll deal with Desmond," He ordered. Before the younger heroes could do anything, a voice spoke.
"I think not!" They turned and saw Desmond, holding up a vial of slightly glowing blue liquid.
"Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore Cadmus!" He growled and poured it down his throat. He fell to the ground all fours, and his lab coat ripped as his muscles expanded. Following his coat, his human skin ripped, revealing a stony grey interior as the serum mutated him into a roaring monster.

"Everyone, back!" Guardian ordered the teens. He rushed towards the mutated Desmond, now Blockbuster, but the mutant just sent him flying into the wall. Superboy jumped him and managed to land a punch but Blockbuster punched back just as hard. Angered, the clone towards the mutant, but Blockbuster jumped up as well slamming into Superboy and sending both of them through the ceiling.
"OK, that's one way to bust through the ceiling." Robin muttered as he pulled out his grappling gun and pulled him and KF up.
"Do you think Lab coat really planned that?" KF asked the others curiosly.
"I doubt he is planning anything anymore." Aqualad said as White Raven grabbed his wrist and floated up through the hole.

They watched as Blockbuster threw Superboy towards them. White Raven bathed the clone in a green glow, letting him down gently with his telekinesis. The five boys faced the monster, ready to fight. KidFlash ran towards Blockbuster trying to distract him. He skidded between his legs and stopped right behind the beast as Aqualad and Superboy punched him, causing him to trip over KF. As Blockbuster got up, Superboy was about to hit him, but the monster rammed into the clone, slamming him into a pillar, making it crack. He was about to deliver more punches, but Aqualad and White Raven came racing up to the monster, maces made of water and dark energy, respectively. Blockbuster threw Superboy into the two weapon wielding teens, sending them all into another pillar, causing it to crack. Kid tried to attack the beast, but got thrown into another pillar, this time going right through, making the roof start to collapse. That sparked a light bulb in Robin's mind.

"Of course!" he yelled, activating his holo-screen.
"Kid, Raven, get over here!" He called to his friends. Kid came rushing over, and Raven teleported next to him, ignoring KF's startled comments. Robin showed them a 3D floor plan, showing the pillars that were left. One disappeared as Blockbuster smashed Aqualad through it.
"Got it?" Robin asked the other two. White Raven nodded.
"Got it." Kid said and rushed off. While, Aqualad, Superboy and KidFlash distracted Blockbuster, the two bird themed heroes focussed on the pillars. Robin threw explosives, while White Raven threw crescent shaped waves of green energy at the pillars, cutting them; he called the waves Ecto-moons.

"Aqualad, Superboy, KidFlash!" Robin yelled as he drew an X on the ground with chalk, marking where the ceiling would fall. Aqualad covered it in water while Superboy and KidFlash led Blockbuster to it. As KidFlash stopped running on the other side of the X, Superboy delivered a powerful punch to Blockbuster's head, causing the beast to fall on the X.
"Raven, you're up!" Robin yelled. White Raven nodded and held his hands up. They were sparkling with green electricity.
"Go Ghost Stinger!" he yelled with a massive grin as he electrocuted the water. The water amplified the electricity, giving Blockbuster more than a little shock.
"Move!" Robin yelled as the explosives he planted in the remaining pillars started beeping.
"Everyone, get close to me!" White Raven ordered. They all nodded and gathered around the white-haired teen. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He held his hands up, and as he opened his eyes, revealing them to be completely black, the teens were surrounded by a dome of dark energy, protecting them from the debris. Blockbuster wasn't so lucky.

The Cadmus building was in ruins. Out of nowhere, two hands, one in a white sleeve and the other in black fingerless glove, punched through the debris. Superboy and White Raven pushed a massive slab of concrete off of them and their friends, revealing them all panting in exhaustion, their cloths torn.
"We...did it!" Aqualad said as he panted.
"Was...there...ever any doubt?" Robin said, breathing just as heavily. He and KidFlash shared a high five, but immediately pulled back, groaning in pain. Superboy looked at the knocked out form of Blockbuster, buried in a blanket of debris.
"See?" he heard someone say. He turned and saw a smiling KidFlash, pointing into the sky.
"The moon." He said. Superboy stared at the moon in awe. He felt such a sense of internal happiness, actually seeing the moon, rather than an image in his mind. As he stared, he noticed a small figure coming towards them. He narrowed his eyes, and was shocked when he saw who it was.
"Whoa. And Superman." Kid said with a slight chuckle.
"Do we keep our promises or what?" He joked, not noticing White Raven tense up. Superman landed in front of the group, the whole League behind him. The boys watched as their mentors were lowered on a disk of green energy created by one of the Green Lanterns in the league. White Raven was a quivering snowball of nerves, fighting the urge to turn invisible. Superboy stepped forward and faced Superman. With a small, yet hopeful smile, he pulled up his torn solar suit, revealing the S-shield. The entire League's eyes widened.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked as he stepped forward next to Superman.
"He doesn't like being called an it..." KidFlash whispered to the hero in a nervous sing-song tone. Seeing Superman narrow his eyes, Superboy did the same.
"I'm Superman's clone!" He blurted out angrily. All of Leaguers shared looks with wide eyes, minus Batman, who narrowed his eyes. That did it. The tension was too much. White Raven disappeared from sight, making Black Canary sighed in exasperation, while Green Arrow facepalmed.
"Start talking." The Dark Knight said sternly, ignoring the Halfling's disappearance.

The five boys, White Raven having reappeared, were standing in a circle, their arms crossed as they waiting for their mentors to finish talking. White Raven tapped Superboy on his shoulder, gaining the clone's attention. He tapped his forehead asking permission to use telepathy to talk. Superboy grunted in disdain, but nodded nonetheless.
"Thank you. Don't worry; there is no link. I'm merely sending my thoughts out of my mind at a frequency that only you can hear." White Raven informed the clone. The clone took a deep, calming breath and nodded.
"He'll come around." The Halfling assured the clone.
"How do you know?" Superboy asked sadly. White Raven gave him an assuring smile.
"I did." He said, earning a confused look from the clone.
"I myself have had my DNA stolen and cloned." White Raven explained, earning wide eyes from Superboy.
"It was difficult at first. I felt violated and enraged, but I got to know my clone. I gave her a chance. Now, she's my Baby Girl." White Raven said with a fond smile. Sensing Superboy's confusion, White Raven continued.
"There was a screw-up in the cloning process, and the clone ended up as a girl." He explained. The reason he wanted to use telepathy to talk about this is because if the entire League knew about Danielle, there's a chance she would be taken away from him. Superboy nodded and took the information in. He looked at Superman, glaring as the older Kryptonian looked away.

Martian Manhunter saw the clone's glare and placed his hand on the Man of Steel's shoulder. Superman looked at his clone just as Superboy looked away. Sighing, he walked to group to face Superboy.
"We'll uh… figure something out for you. The league will, I mean." He stammered, visibly uncomfortable.
"For now, I better make sure they get that Blockbuster creature squared away." He said as he turned around and flew away, Superboy glaring at his fading form as he pondered White Raven's earlier words.

"Cadmus will be investigated, all 52 levels." Batman said as he approached the teens from behind, making them turn their attention. White Raven started shaking again.
"But let's make one thing clear." He said. He was about to continue, but someone else spoke.
"You should have called!" Flash interjected, earning himself a bat-glare. Flash shrunk back and Batman continued.
"End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again." The Caped Crusader lectured sternly. White Raven was on the brink of disappearing. Aqualad stepped forward.
"I am sorry, but we will." He said.
"Aqualad, stand down." Aquaman ordered his protégé and subject.
"Apologies my King, but no." Aqualad replied firmly. Aqauman's eyebrow went up in surprise.
"We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important." He concluded.

"If this is about you treatment at the hall, the four of you-" Flash was cut off by his protégé.
"The five of us. And it's not." KidFlash shot back.
"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us." Robin said as he walked forward to face his mentor.
"Or why teach us at all?" Everyone heard White Raven mumble.
"Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy asked loudly, startling White Raven into disappearing.
"It's simple; get on board, or get out of the way." Superboy said firmly as he and the three visible teens stood firm. Batman narrowed his eyes at the group.

Mount Justice- July 8, 08:04 EDT

The five boys were standing in the middle of the cave, looking around in awe as the Green Lanterns moved some large equipment. They were all in civilian clothes, Robin and Danny wearing dark glasses, and Danny wearing black jeans, black sneakers, a white shirt with a raven on the chest, and a red hoodie, obviously the hood was up.
"Where's White Raven?" KidFlash, Wally West when out of uniform, asked, looking around. Danny couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips.
"I'm here Wally." He said. Wally looked completely dumbfounded as Robin burst into in laughter.
"Wait… Where's the white hair?" he asked in confusion.
"I can switch between 2 forms." Danny said with a shrug as he pulled his hood down, revealing black hair and blue eyes behind the glasses. He also had dark circles under his eyes. Robin kept laughing at Wally's shocked face while Batman approached.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary for the Justice League." He started, so as to gain their attention.
"We're calling it into service again. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms." He said sternly. The five boys nodded.
"Red Tornado has agreed to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions." Batman finished his lecture.
"Real missions?" Robin asked his mentor.
"Yes. But covert." The Dark Knight answered.
"The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we wear these big targets on our chests." Flash said, pointing to his emblem.
"Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that will operate on the sly." Aquaman told the teens.
"The six of you will be that team." Batman said.

"Cool," Robin said with a smile.
"Six?" Danny asked as he tilted his head. Batman nodded and gestured to behind them. They saw Martian Manhunter, with teenage girl, with green skin, red hair, and an outfit similar to Manhunter's.
"This is Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Batman introduced them.
"Hi." she said with a timid smile.
"I'm liking this gig more every minute!" Wally said to Robin and Danny as he zoomed to Miss Martian.
"Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Raven, Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names." He said flirtatiously. Robin and Danny shared a look and rolled their eyes.
"I am honoured to be included." The girl told them with happy smile. Robin, Wally and Kaldur went off to say hello. Danny took a deep breath and was about to say hello as well, but he noticed Superboy standing with his hands in his pockets, not moving.
"Hey, let's go meet Miss M," he said with a small smile. Superboy nodded and the two boys walked over to meet their teammate. As they approached, Miss Martian's shirt changed to black with a red X across the entire torso.
"I like your T-shirt." She told the clone with a small smile, which Superboy returned.
"Today is the day." Kaldur said as the entire group smiled.

A/N: OK, BIG note here: I will not be updating again for a LONG time. Rest assured, I WILL be back, but I am almost finished with all of my schoolwork, and then I have exams to study for, then I need to go searching for a job, so on and so forth. So, once I do start updating again, it will be slower than before. And it will not be for a while. I uploaded this because I thought I'd give you guys something new to read before I leave. Again, I WILL be back, I promise.