Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter took so dang long! Oy, I'm terrible at getting things written and posted right away, aren't I? Oh well: here's Chapter 7! Please R & R and enjoy...


The remaining Justice League members marched through the main corridor in the Fortress of Solitude—with Superman, Aquagirl, and Batman taking the lead—until they came to a stop in front of a large door. Superman pressed a button and took a small step back as the door opened. Batman and Aquagirl gasped in shock at what they saw: multiple starfish-like creatures had latched themselves to several large rocks towering above to a deep pool of salt water. The team stepped into the large cave in awe. "Starro really did use me to cultivate these things," Superman gasped.

"Looks like they're gonna be released into the ocean," Terry observed.

"And once they were out, it wouldn't be long before they'd take over," Marina added gravely.

Barda looked closer at some of the starfish, careful to keep a good distance away from them, as Superman spoke once more. "How do you propose we get rid of them?" he wondered aloud.

"You've been taking care of Starro for how many years and you don't know his weaknesses?" Kai-Ro asked in surprise.

"Batgirl used electricity earlier and it worked," Terry pointed out. "Why don't we use that?"

Barda pulled out the booming device and turned to her teammates. "I've got a better idea," she said solemnly.

As the large woman was about to press the button, a large bubble formed on the surface of the pool and moved towards the group. Four ripple lines appeared just before two of the starfish creatures jumped out, catching hold of the heads of Superman and Barda. Another of the creatures then jumped and did the same to Kai-Ro, who immediately tried to pull it off of himself. Aquagirl tried to keep one away from her face by catching it with her hands, but the creature was slick enough to get out of her grasp. Terry immediately moved to help Marina, but felt another creature pounce onto his back and it tried to crawl up to his face. Thinking quickly, he pressed the middle button on his utility belt. The suit's electrical field zapped the creature and caused it to jump off of him with a painful screech. Terry could only watch in horrified fascination as Barda tried to pry off the creature that held on to her, but went limp a few seconds later.

The now possessed heroes looked up at Terry in unison. The starfish holding Superman's mind captive moved down to his chest as his eyes flared up. The teenage Dark Knight backed himself up against a cave wall as the Justice League came at him, the starfishs' eyes staring at him with rage.

"You've gotta fight this thing, all of you!" Terry said urgently, looking at each person individually. "You can't let it control you. Aquagirl! Barda!"

The team still came at Batman, forming a circle around him to keep him from escaping.

~!~

Only a few seconds less than five minutes after their departure, Warhawk and Batgirl arrived at the Fortess of Solitude. Warhawk was the first to step out of the Batmobile. "You mind explaining to me again why we had to ride in that thing?" he asked irritably, rubbing his sore back. He had been sitting in a crouched position for the entire flight, which had become uncomfortable in just thirty seconds. With no room to shift into a more comfortable position, he had to wait painfully for the flight to be over. "Flying solo is easier on the back," he added.

Coba carefully lowered herself from the Batmobile to the snowy ground, feeling and hearing the snow crunch beneath her feet. "Hey, I offered you the pilot seat before we left," she pointed out. "Besides, it's better to fly the Batmobile through this blizzard than it is to fly solo through it."

"I still don't see why we had to take this crippling vehicle," Warhawk mumbled, hoping the sound of the blizzard would cover his voice.

To Stewart's chagrin, Coba heard every word he said. "It's the only vehicle wit the coordinates of this place built into its navigation system, and it has protection from the weather." She gestured to the Fortress entrance. "Ladies first," she jested.

The large hero's face contorted in disgust. "Have you forgotten that I'm male?"

The girl shook her head with a small grin. "No, but you seem to have."

"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?"

"Well, for the main thing, you're complaining like the average housewife."

Warhawk rolled his eyes, but could not suppress a smile. Leave it to a teenage girl to point that out, he thought. His face became grave once more as he walked through the entrance cautiously, keeping in mind Starro's previous warnings—told to him through Batgirl—about three to six Superman robot clones. For all the two companions knew, their teammates may have somehow evaded the three robots meant for them. "Leave most of the fighting to me," he whispered to Coba.

Not my style, Coba thought, although she nodded in understanding at her friend. "Alright," she murmured. He's worried about my lungs, but I don't blame him: they're still pretty torn up.

No sooner had they stepped into the main corridor did a pair of lasers come shooting at them, causing them to jump in opposite directions of each other. Batgirl instinctively threw a batarang in the direction the deadly rays came from. An explosion erupted, sending small shards of metal and electric circuits in every direction.

~!~

From inside the cave, the possessed Justice League members heard the explosion, causing them to look towards the main hallway instead of the cornered Batman. Superman narrowed his eyes seriously. "We've got company," he snarled. He turned to Lantern. "Kai-Ro, go see who's here and bring them to us," he ordered.

"Yes, Superman," Kai-Ro said dutifully, before hovering silently out of the cave.

Terry decided to take advantage of the League's distraction. Thinking quickly once more, he pulled out a flare bomb and threw it between him and his captors. He flew up to the cave's ceiling and pressed a button on his utility belt as he broke through the rock, pulling himself to the surface. The Batmobile hovered above him with the lower door opened, allowing him to fly up into it. It didn't take the Batmobile long at all to get here, he thought. It's as if it was already nearby.

A sickening feeling formed in the pit of Terry's stomach. "Oh no!" he gasped in terror. Coba's here! She and Warhawk are the intruders!

It was not until the light from the flare had faded that the team realized their prisoner had escaped. Superman looked up at the newly formed hole in the ceiling. "Stay here and carry out the plan," he instructed his companions. "I'll take care of Batman."

Just as the teenage Dark Knight decided to turn around to help his sibling, the sight of the Man of Steel popping out of the hole to pursue him changed his mind. Sorry, Coba, he thought sadly. I'll have to help you when I get back. If I get back.

Inside the cave, Barda turned to follow Lantern. Aquagirl stepped in front of her companion. "What are you doing?" she asked sternly. "Superman told us to stay here and wait for Kai-Ro!"

"No, Superman told Kai-Ro that we would wait for him," Barda corrected irritably. "He didn't tell us anything!"

"He told us to stay here and carry out the plan," Marina pointed out.

"Which can't be carried out if Kai-Ro's distracted for too long," Barda countered. "You can't get me to change my mind. You can either help me or stay here."

Aquagirl watched as the large woman stalked out of the cave before following her. I can't carry out the plan on my own, so I may as well help them, Aquagirl thought.

~!~

Coba facepalmed. I just gave away our position with that explosion, she thought irritably. I know it would have been given away eventually, but I didn't want it to be this soon. An alarming sight pulled her out of her thoughts. "Look out!" she shouted to Warhawk.

Warhawk rolled to one side as more lasers shot at where he had been sitting. Coba had very little time to react as the robot came flying towards her, the deadly rays of its eyes getting closer and closer to her. She managed to dodge to the side, but immediately felt herself being lifted into the air by another robot. Warhawk was about to pursue them when he was thrown to the ground by the clone that first attacked. He jumped back up and faced the robot competitively, although he despised the idea of leaving Coba to fend for herself. "Bring it, tin-man," he challenged his opponent.

Thinking fast, Batgirl turned on her suit's electric field. The robot holding her released her immediately, though it did not explode until Coba had fallen halfway between it and the ground. The explosion thrust Coba to the ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. She coughed and gasped painfully for air before awkwardly standing back up.

The metal-clad warrior's blood boiled at the sight of Coba's fall, his rage driving him harder in his fight against the remaining Superman clone. The clone, however, managed to dodge every attack Warhawk made and was able to return it faster and stronger. Warhawk tracted out his claws and swiped them at his opponet. The robot dodged, slamming its fist into Warhawk's protected stomach. Although the robot's fist was crushed upon impact, the breath was knocked out of the hero's lungs. The clone took advantage of this time to slam its good fist underneath Warhawk's chin, sending him flying backward. Warhawk hit the ground and found himself unable to move as the robot came back at him, ready to tear him apart with its lasers.

Not this time, circuit-junk, Coba thought angrily. She charged at the Superman clone and jumped onto its back, yanking its head back and forth in hopes of dislodging it. The clone staggered backwards and started thrashing about, trying to get the abnormally small teen to release it. Coba clung on to it grimly with one arm around its neck as her other hand turned on her suit's electric field. Once the field was activated, the girl let go and managed to pull Warhawk out of harm's way as the robot exploded. She grinned at her companion. "So much for leaving the fighting to you. Exactly how many times do I need to save your life?" she teased, helping him to stand up.

Rex grinned back. "You did what you had to," he said sagely. His grin faded. "The battle's still young, kid, and I do believe that more life-saving will end up occurring."

"Whether it's me saving you or the other way around," Brooklyn said knowingly, "but definitely with us having to save the others someh—look out!"

Batgirl pushed Warhawk to the side as two large, glowing green hands tried to grab them from behind. Warhawk instinctively grabbed her and flew up into the air, gliding away from the hands. "What was that?!" he cried out.

"It was Kai-Ro," answered Coba as calmly as she could, even though she was just as surprised as her friend. Stopping the creatures may be harder than I originally thought. An idea popped into her head. "We'll have to turn back around," she informed him in a low voice.

"Are you crazy?!" Warhawk whispered back. "He'll catch us for sure if we do!"

"Not if you set me on the beam right next to us and maneuver those hands," Coba explained. "It'll be easier for you if you aren't carrying me while flying, and I'll be able to jump from beam to beam."

"How can you be so sure?"

Coba flashed a sly grin at him. "I'm the psychic sidekick, remember?"

"I'm going with Barda's earlier comment on that," Warhawk said uncomfortably.

"Which was what again?"

"Psycho," the large hero replied.

Brooklyn let out an irritated sigh. "Just trust me on this, alright?"

Warhawk thought it over briefly. Well, she has been right so far, he thought, and I still owe her a few for saving my life. "Alright, kid," he said quietly. "Be careful."

"I'll try," Coba promised. "Good luck."

Without further ado, Stewart placed Coba on the beam before looping around in the direction opposite of the one he had been flying in. Coba switched on her suit's camouflage feature, grateful that it still worked after her battle with Superman, and jumped from one upper-wall beam to another. She eventually came to a stop just above the cave entrance, pausing briefly to watch Warhawk weaving his way pass the young Green Lantern. Coba quickly pressed herself against the upper wall as she heard Barda and Aquagirl come out of the cave.

"Guard the entrance," she overheard Barda instruct Marina. "I'll help Kai-Ro get Warhawk and Batgirl."

"Alright," Marina agreed.

Barda dashed to where Kai-Ro was struggling to grab the elusive Warhawk. Silently, Coba lowered herself to the floor by climbing down, for her gliders had been torn off by Superman earlier that evening. After making sure Marina was still unaware of her presence, the small teen shut the cave door and manually locked it. Aquagirl turned too late to see Coba turn off her invisibility and slash her hand across Aquagirl's face with her claws slightly electrocuted, only striking the starfish-like creature and causing it to yell out in agony and release her. Marina shook her head as if to clear it before looking at her liberator. "Batgirl...?" she murmured.

Coba let out a small sigh of relief, for she had managed to not scratch the older League member in the face when she clawed the starfish. She pulled out a bag similar to the one she had placed Starro in earlier and placed the creature inside it before tying the bag shut. "Are you okay?" she asked Aquagirl.

Aquagirl nodded as she cast a glance behind her. "Yes, I'm fi—watch out!" she yelled suddenly, throwing herself and Batgirl to the ground.

A ray from Barda's megarod had shot at where the two heroines were standing just a moment before, sending a few pieces of rock flying everywhere upon impact. The large woman stopped directly in front of them, the starfish's single eye glaring at them competitively. Coba instinctively jumped back up and charged headlong at Barda. Aquagirl noticed Barda preparing to blast Coba with the megarod. "Batgirl, no!" Marina screamed in terror.

Warhawk heard Marina's scream just as he pulled out an electric taser Coba had handed him earlier and lightly zapped Lantern with it. The fish released Kai-Ro at that moment. Much to Warhawk's relief, Kai-Ro recovered quickly. "Grab Barda once I distract her from the 'Girls!" he instructed in a serious tone as he flew in the direction of the fight. There's no way I'm going to let Batgirl die right now: I worked too hard to save her as an infant.

"Got it!" Kai-Ro replied.

Fortunately, Coba had managed to dodge to the side as Barda shot at her. The young vigilante flicked a batarang at the possessed League member's hand, knocking the dangerous weapon out of it. She had no time to react as Barda jumped at her and pinned her down, clamping her hands around her throat as she did. Coba struggled to wriggle free, but her attempts did nothing to loosen Barda's deadly grasp. Marina jumped on Barda to try to help the teen, but was roughly bucked off, sending her to the hard ground. Coba was unable to reach the button to turn on her suit's electrical field, for her arms were tightly pinned beside her body. She knew that all she could really do now was to wait for suffocation to take its toll or for someone to stop Barda before it got to that point.

"Batgirl!"

Coba looked in the direction of the voice and saw Warhawk smash himself into Barda, driving her to the ground and causing her to release Coba. The girl gasped desperately for air and tried to sit up. Aquagirl quickly rushed to Coba's side and helped her stand up. "Are you okay?" she asked nervously.

Batgirl nodded, gently touching her now bruised neck. "Yeah," her voice rasped out.

One of Kai-Ro's glowing hands enveloped itself around Barda and held her tightly as Warhawk pulled out his electric taser. Unfortunately, Barda forcefully kicked it out of his grasp before kicking him away from her. She struggled wildly in Lantern's grasp. "She's breaking loose!" Kai-Ro exclaimed.

Without giving it a second thought, Coba rushed to Kai-Ro's aide. She turned on her suit's electrical field as Barda broke free from the tough grip of Green Lantern's glowing hand. Barda charged headlong at Batgirl, her powerful fists ready to beat the living daylight out of her opponent. She threw a forceful punch at Coba's face, only to have the girl dodge it. Coba sprang at the large woman and grabbed her tightly, allowing the electricity from her suit to zap Barda. The starfish clinging to Barda's face released its grip with a painful shriek before being grabbed by the claws of Coba's left hand, the girl turning off her suit's electricity at that moment.

Upon awakening from her imprisonment, the first things Barda saw and felt were of Coba releasing her tight grip on her and of the sight of the starfish in the opposite hand. Barda's jaw suddenly clenched in anger, her body tensing up at the same time. Coba took a cautious step back, although she kept her gaze calm and firm. After a long, tense moment, Barda managed to relax and smile at her. "Not bad, Batgirl," she complimented. She winced at the pain shooting up from where Coba had gripped her. "I could've done without being electrocuted, though."

"Sorry about that," Brooklyn said apologetically. "There was nothing else I knew of that would've worked. Well," she said, realizing otherwise, "except maybe laser-vision, but I don't have that at all. The only person who does have it is Superman, who's not here but has probably already been taken care of by now."

"He has been, sis."

The League turned to the main corridor's entrance in surprise to see Batman standing next to Superman, who was obviously still a bit dazed, and was supporting him. Coba could clearly see a bag in her half-brother's right hand, correctly guessing that it was containing the creature that had been controlling the Man of Steel. Terry grinned at her. "What do you know?" he spoke again. "We both defeated Superman without using Kryptonite or killing him!"

"We Bats have quite a few tricks up our sleeves, don't we?" Coba said with a sly grin.

"I trained you both well, then," Bruce's voice said into their com-links. They could tell he was grinning as he spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in," Superman groaned painfully to the two young Bats, unaware of Bruce's statement. It was then that he realized he was talking to Coba as well as Terry. "I thought you were going to stay behind!" he said incredulously.

"I was, but I changed my mind," Coba answered.

Kal raised an eyebrow at her. "What made you come here and drag Warhawk along? You could've gotten both of you killed!"

"You could've been killed too, you know," Batgirl countered coolly. "And I didn't 'drag' Warhawk along: he chose to come with me." Her eyebrows narrowed into a Batglare, causing everyone to flinch. "We can either stand here and argue further while those starfish creatures figure out how to take us all on, or we can save all discussions until after we round up those things and get them out of this world. So what's it gonna be?"

All of the League members stared at Coba in shock, surprised that she had spoken in that manner to one of the world's greatest superheroes. Batman covered his face in embarrassment. I can't apologize to him for my half-sister's behavior because she's absolutely right, he thought. She has to apologize herself—hopefully after he apologizes to her.

Despite his fondness for Superman, Terry could clearly tell and not appreciate that Superman had something against Coba for an unjust reason like Terry's mother, Mary McGinnis, once had. I'll probably be frowned upon for backing Coba up, but she's in the right as usual, and Superman can either get with the program or die with the knowledge that he had ruined everyone's futures by holding a prejudice against her. He turned to Kent. "Well, have you decided yet?" he asked gruffly. "Or would you rather be controlled by one of those—" he gestured to the starfish Warhawk had removed from Lantern earlier— "things again?"

Warhawk stepped forward. "I'm in," he said. He looked directly into Kal's eyes, narrowing his own. "Even if you're not," he growled.

"I'm in, as well," Marina agreed. "Sorry, Kal, but they're right."

Without saying a word, Barda and Kai-Ro stood next to their companions. Coba could tell they were willing to help her and Batman. Superman heaved a sigh, steadying himself as he tried to stand up completely on his own. He suddenly stumbled, falling as he did. The only thing that broke his fall was Coba, who instinctively caught him as he fell and helped him stand on his own. He looked at her curiously, wanting to ask why she helped him although he had been so cold to her. What came out of his mouth instead was: "Is this what it's like to have weak legs?"

Coba nodded solemnly. "Yeah, for the most part."

Superman was silent for a moment. For a few minutes there I was practically walking in her shoes, he thought. He grinned at her appreciatively. "Alright, I'm in."

Batgirl grinned at him briefly before it faded and she turned to face the others as well. "Kai-Ro," she inquired, "can you create a large tank with water for us to put all of the creatures in?"

Kai-Ro nodded sagely. "Of course I can."

"Barda, does your booming device have enough energy to be used again?"

"Yes," Barda answered. "What do you plan to do?"

"To catch the creatures and boom them somewhere else," Coba replied. "I don't know where, though."

"We'll have to deal with that after we've caught the things," Batman said seriously. A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Did Starro say where he came from, by any chance?"

"No, he didn't," Coba confessed. "I'll have to ask him later." She remembered something. With the rest of the team following behind her, she unlocked the cave's door and opened it. It would help us to get the job done sooner if the door's unlocked first, she thought, fighting off her feelings of embarrassment. She turned back to face her companions, her facial expression still solemn. "Alright, let's do this."


Chapter 8 is currently in the process of being written, and I should be able to get it written faster than this one.

I re-did the character poll on my profile, so now the three who already voted on the previous one can vote again if they want- -since I added a few more characters a while after they voted.

Please leave a review below: they are always appreciated!