The Watchtower,
Headquarters of the Justice League
Certain members of the Justice League have been summoned by Batman to discuss with him about their protégés' curse placed on them by an unknown villain. Gathered in the meeting hall of the Watchtower with a built-in giant window that has a big view of space and the Earth itself.
Together in the hall id Batman, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, the Flash, and Aquawoman. The members who aren't are responsible of the young heroes are present Red Tornado and Black Canary. Because Red Tornado is their mentor, and Black Canary as their trainer and psychotherapist. Weirdly enough for Canary is Superman is there with them, probably he actually cares for Supergirl or that Batman quilted him to attend.
"With each of our protégés have been cast a spell that caused them to change their genders to reverse," Batman says. "Information of reversing it are quite possible, and from Zatara she has been able to find a spell to reverse the spell."
"So why have everyone here just to tell us that you've found a reverse-spell," Flash asks. "You've got an idea who's responsible for this?"
"We have a possible suspect," Batman says, pressing a button on a remote that brought a picture a boy. A scraggy looking, thin, and pale-skin boy No older or younger than the kids' ages. Klarion the Witch boy.
"Klarion?" Flash asks looking baffled. "That little punk responsible, why has it to be him?"
Green Arrow chuckles. "I remember the time that he had you in a giant hamster-wheel," he says laughing like he's going to bust a gut. "That was so funny!"
"Hey!" Flash shouted at the Emerald Archer. Normally Barry's the calm and a joker of the Justice League. But he doesn't like being the butt of a joke, usually he does laugh at himself.
"What?" Green Arrow asks, everyone looking at him Batman his usual face and Dinah with her usual "embarrassed" look at Ollie. His laughter dies down for him to talk, "Okay, I'm sorry. But it's kinda funny if you think about."
The Flash then starts to laugh himself at it the memory of being in a giant hamster-wheel, being forced to run in it. It even had a giant water-dispenser for him drink, that he actually did after finally escaping it feeling thirsty. "I'll admit it was kinda funny, dude."
Batman waits for the two to be quite for him continue talking. He explains that Klarion is a trickster from an alternate dimension where everyone uses magic, but traveled to their world because of his dangerous curiosity on black magic with his pet familiar cat named Teekl. Causing trouble and chaos wherever he goes, and he toys with the adult heroes for fun.
After the meeting has been called adjourn, Black Canary walks past Superman and the Manhunter talking to each other, and has Canary stop when Superman mentions meeting M'gann when he came by Mount Justice. Or Supergirl for he mistakenly was J'onn's niece.
"I do not understand what you're saying," J'onn says. "I was with my niece in the Cave, helping her to control her shape-shifting. I arrived there quite early before you did."
Superman looks confused. "I meet her flying in a dress and having blonde."
J'onn J'onzz shakes his head. "You are mistaken," he says, and he looks at Dinah Lance who was standing beside them. "Black Canary, do explain to him he's mistaken."
Damn it, Black Canary thought to herself. She was hoping that she'll keep her word of not telling anyone about Supergirl, especially to Superman. Sighing, she looks towards him, and finding words to avoid telling Superman the whole truth. "True, it wasn't Miss Martian that you've meet outside the mountain. It was. . . Superboy."
Mount Justice
Happy Harbor, Rhode Island
The day after meeting Superman; Batman, and Black Canary, and Martian Manhunter came to the Cave to tell them while Zatara isn't back yet to reverse them Bats has a mission for them, and everyone is upset about the mission except M'gann, who is worried about everyone else. Supergirl—boy, she thinks—he thinks angrily, boy you can't have the BOY—Superboy wants to tell her he's okay, wants to take away at least a little of that worry, but she's a . . . he's a horrible liar.
He's a liar.
She's . . .
M'gann touches his arm and gives him a concerned look and asks him "Are you going to be alright?" skin soft and under her breath and he nods, tried to nod, wants to nod but it doesn't work, it won't, it can't, he is a horrible liar. He is a horrible liar wearing girls' jeans and girls' boots and a baby-doll T-shirt with Superman's symbol on it and he is not anything he wants to be, or anything Superman wants him to be. Which is "gone", probably, and he wonders if Superman ever realized that he hadn't to M'gann yesterday. If it matters to him either way.
He doesn't know why he's even wondering. There's no reason it would.
Batman briefs them and sends them away and they cobble together civilian disguises appropriate for infiltrating a club called Chaney's in Metropolis. Wally blurs into tights and T-shirt dress, Robin switches his mask for pink sunglasses and shimmies into bright girlish leggings and an over-large button-down shirt that hides his utility belt, Artemis gets into ripped-up jeans and a tank top, and Tula uncertainly picks out a sleeveless, high-necked shirt and a pair of very short shorts. M'gann just shifts, of course, and then her clothes look a little like what Superboy wears when he's the right. . . when he's . . . when he's "fixed".
Artemis snaps at the other boys into the accessories, arguing with Wally about what's appropriate and threatening them all with makeup, and Superboy just stares at the racks of clothes and doesn't know what to wear. What would the right Superboy pick, he wonders, what is he supposed to choose? This isn't him, but he is supposed to be "him".
He doesn't have anyone else to be.
M'gann comes up with a frothy white mini-dress, and he wants to yell at her, wants to snap and last out—SuperBoy I am a BOY stop making me feel like it's okay if I'm NOT! —but she is smiling and the dress is. . . it's so . . .
It looks like it weighs nothing, while everything else in the world is too heavy to bear.
Superboy puts it on, and M'gann daubs something pink and glossy on his lips and traces his eyes with a brown pencil. It feels odd and sticky and he doesn't really like it, but girls don't go to clubs without makeup and they're supposed to . . . they're supposed to act like girls, for this mission. Batman said . . . Batman said to be girls. To be not suspicious.
Superboy wants to cry again, but weapons don't cry.
M'gann's room. . .
"Superboy," M'gann says softly, lowering the pencil, and he blinks fast and doesn't cry. "I'm so sorry about . . ."
"It's not your fault," he cuts her off quickly rather than ever hear those words again, and she just looks sad.
"I know," she says. "But I'm sorry."
Superboy doesn't understand what she's trying to say, but by then the others are all dressed and accessorized and made-up and they're leaving. Wally and Robin and Tula all look upset and keep trying not to touch their makeup or catch their jewelry on anything, and Artemis just looks uncomfortable and embarrassed and won't look at Wally at all, just like Wally won't look at her.
Superboy doesn't understand what she's trying to say, but then the others are all dressed and accessorized and made-up and they're leaving. Wally and Robin and Tula all look upset and keep trying not to touch their makeup or catch their jewelry on anything, and Artemis just looks uncomfortable and embarrassed and won't look at Wally at all, just like Wally won't look at her.
They leave. Superboy ignores the way that his chair in the Bio-ship cradles him more softly than usual because paying attention to that would mean paying attention to the other ways it's different, smaller and curved in places it didn't curve before. He sits stiffly and refuses to relax into the promise of its comfort and the others sit the same way, all wrong in their bodies, and that's the first time Superboy wonders—do they all feel heavy wrong now? Is that they've all been so upset?
What's wrong with him, he thinks, that he feels right when everyone else feels wrong, and wrong when everyone else feels right? Is it because they were all made naturally and grew up naturally and he was grown in a tube, in his pod?
Would everything not hurt, if he was like the rest of the team?
No one talks very much. Wally and Artemis argue, but strangely, and they keep cutting themselves off in the middle of sentences. Robin says a few sniping things and laughs a few times, and a few times, M'gann says a few soothing things and tries to smile a few times, and Tula says nothing at all. That seems like a good idea, Superboy thinks, and follows suit.
He remembers what Superman's cape felt like wrapped around him and in his hands, and the way Superman smiled at him when he didn't know who he was. He remembers that and he thinks; if weapons had hearts, if weapons were allowed to be happy and real, if he'd been made right or at least just born right . . . if anyone of those things, if all of those things, if anything . . . if . . .
he remembers what Superman's cape felt like wrapped around him.
"You're very pretty."