Chapter Ten
Mt. Justice; Three Hours Later
Bioship had flown at a speed even Miss Martian didn't know she could reach and they were back at the cave quickly. Superman and Superboy were rushed to med bay by Wonder Woman and Green Lantern (Hal). Everyone else was filing out of the ship, with Batman being the last to leave out, carrying a sleeping Cardinal. Her inhibitor collar had been removed in transit to the cave but having her powers come back after being without them for hours; she passed out.
Once everyone was in Med Bay and getting assessed; a gloom filled the room as everyone saw Conner's veins glowing green though his skin. Martian Manhunter had arrived to get the bullets out of the two Kryptonians, and that was done quickly. As Superman started to come to, he looked over to his brother and wanted to hold him, but seeing the green glow, he didn't want to be affected by the alien rock again. Clark knew Conner was in for the fight of his life.
Batman was ALWAYS prepared as he pulled out a dialysis machine, and pushed the regular needles into Superboy's arms. The machine went to work, but everyone knew it was going to take time to get all the liquid Kryptonite out of the clone. Robin's arm was treated for second degree partial thickness burns and wrapped to protect it.
"Uncle J'onn….is Conner going to be okay?" M'gann asked as tears came from her eyes at the thought of losing Conner.
"As you have seen over the past two years; Batman is very prepared for anything. I do hope that the Kryptonite has not done any permanent damage." Martian Manhunter said.
"Don't worry, girl; If Conner is ANYTHING like Clark, then he'll be just fine, even after what happened." Green Lantern said.
M'gann smiled at how Hal spoke of Conner, as she felt he was right. Kaldur was feeling better, but stayed in bed as he had learned after the others left that he had two broken ribs. Roy was still laid up with both arms broken, but he was happy that the twins were out of danger. Most of the team may have been out of the game for even a little while, but they came back alive, and that was all that mattered.
"You know, Bats; I've been thinking about this for years, but how is it that Reiena has powers, but Dick doesn't." Flash asked as he turned his attention from his nephew for a moment.
"I'm sure the potential has been in their family for generations, but Reiena's showed the heart and ability to handle it. She and Dick may be twins, but even identical twins are different. Seeing her in the circus that fateful day, she looked like she had been working as a fire dancer since she was born. It must have come to her naturally to see the beauty in fire." Bruce said as he removed his cowl.
The team had learned the twins' identities last year, so Batman didn't have to hide behind his cowl any more than he had to. It was at the mention of Reiena and her powers that everyone looked over to the special chamber that she had been placed in. As she slept, the chamber was regulating her body temperature slowly to get it back to normal. Robin was at the chamber's side as he watched his sister sleep to regain her strength.
"We'll leave you all to talk; you need the time as…..siblings." Bruce said as he pulled his cowl back up and left the room.
Hal, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and the now fully healed Superman headed out as well. The team…..and Roy were alone now, and they kept looking at Conner.
"I'm sure you guys heard the pain in his mind." Artemis said as she thought back to when the Kryptonian clone reached out with his mind through the team link.
"I wanted to come help you guys find him, but…" M'gann told her family.
"It's alright, the twins were in major trouble, and we didn't know Conner's situation till we found him." Wally said.
"You did what you had to, M'gann." A familiar voice said and everyone turned in its direction.
Conner was awake now, and his body didn't show as much of the liquid Kryptonite as it had when he first arrived back at Mt. Justice.
"Conner!" M'gann shouted as she flew over to her boyfriend and hugged him.
"I'll be alright, M'gann. Did Luthor get what was coming to him?" Conner asked as the hug broke and he looked to Artemis.
"Tazer arrow set to high." The young archer remarked.
"Deserved worse, but I'll accept that." Conner said as he weakly grinned.
"The Kryptonite's going to take some time to get out of your bloodstream; you get some rest, which is what we all should be doing." Robin said.
Kaldur heard the tone in the boy wonder's voice and knew that it wouldn't be much longer before he was ready to become leader of the team as he was destined to be. Everyone settled in and Artemis said goodbye as she had to head home to help her mother. The team was asleep in no time, and Robin was asleep in the chair by the special chamber his sister was in. M'gann had lain down in the bed with Conner to know that he was still alive and fell asleep quickly.
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Luthor's Ship; Two Hours Later
The League had returned to the ship to arrest Luthor and Bane as well as disassemble the second AMAZO but they found the ship abandoned. AMAZO's body was there, but Luthor and Bane had escaped as the injured and dying heroes were taken back to Mt. Justice.
"We'll get Luthor one of these days." Batman said; the thought of what the Metropolis villain has done to the twins…..along with the other young heroes over the past two years coming to his mind.
"You're right about that, Batman." Superman said, rubbing his hand across the tear in his suit where Luthor's Kryptonite bullet hit him.
"The gods showed favor to the children today." Wonder Woman stated; seeing what happened to AMAZO, and the FILLED hold of the ship.
"I think they show favor to ALL heroes, Diana." Batman said.
He did not really believe in the Amazonian Princess' beliefs, but he learned early on to never question her faith in the Greek Gods. Wonder Woman smiled at Batman and returned to physically breaking apart the android.
"Will Kon-El be okay?" Superman asked, not caring about identities right now.
"Yes, and you don't need to worry about the Kryptonite affecting him from within the machine, I had it lead lined for just such an occasion." Batman said as he made sure the circuit of AMAZO would not connect back up in any other way.
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Mt. Justice; The Next Day
Robin had woken up several times to adjust the temperature within the chamber, and he even removed the dialysis machine from Conner when he saw that no more Kryptonite was coming out in the exit IV. There was still a lot of recovery for the boy Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad found in the Cadmus pod those two years ago, but the boy wonder knew that Superboy would come out of this back to his old self.
As Robin was checking the chamber is sister was lying in, a soft moan came from within. Cardinal turned her head to the left and smiled at her brother. Her smile then turned to a frown as she caught sight of his arm.
"Just second degree burns, I'll be fine in a couple of weeks." Robin said, knowing what made his sister frown.
"How did it happen? I lost consciousness just as I boarded Bioship." Cardinal asked.
"Well, Artemis remembered a little trick that Conner pulled off with AMAZO and we went with it. My arm was burned when AMAZO blew in half." Robin answered.
"Getting as reckless as Conner now, huh." Cardinal remarked as her smile returned. "Oh, how much longer do I have to be in here?"
"Was just waiting for you to wake up, your body temperature is back to normal." Robin answered as he worked the controls of the chamber and it opened to allow Cardinal to exit.
She was happy to be free of the inhibitor collar and to be back to full strength, but she wanted a piece of Luthor for what he's done to her family. She figured from the way Roy and Kaldur looked, the attacks on them must have been precision planned.
Kaldur started to stir and as he opened his eyes, he smiled to show that he was happy that the twins were safe. He then caught a glimpse at Conner and was worried as he was unmoving except for breathing.
"He'll be alright, Kaldur." Robin said, seeing the smile change.
"I am glad to see you safe, my friends. I am only sorry that I could not be there to help in your rescue." Kaldur said.
"It's fine; the team was great even with you and Roy, it seems, laid up." Cardinal said.
"You need some more rest, Kaldur; Batman said you have two broken ribs and well Roy's not going to be fighting any time soon." Robin told the team leader.
"You should rest as well, my friend." Kaldur said, looking at Robin and seeing how tired he was.
"I have been resting, just waking up enough to take care of Reiena." Robin said.
"You and Reiena have a bond unlike any I've ever seen in a family." Kaldur remarked.
"When you lose your family the way we did and are the only ones of the bloodline left, you have to watch each other's backs." Reiena, having removed her mask, said.
"Well, she is awake and seems to be, as you would say, feeling the aster. Why do you not get some true rest?" Kaldur said.
"Was just about to." Dick Grayson, as he had also removed his mask, said and with that he headed out of the room and left his sister to watch over their family.
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Two Months Later
Today was the day.
Roy was the last one to heal as BOTH of his arms had been broken, and now came his rehab, which he was going to hate, but he had to do it anyway. The twins, Kaldur and Wally were there to help him through it; the five original protégés together again. Wally was being his usual self as he teased Roy about not being out in the field for a while, but that was soon stopped as Reiena threw a fireball at him.
"Oh come on guys, do I really have to go through this, I should be fine." Roy said.
"Sorry Roy, but you have lost muscle mass in the past two months, so you have to build up your strength." Kaldur remarked.
"It doesn't take long if you stay at it." Reiena said
"Says the girl that was doing gymnastics the MORNING her cast was removed after Bane broke her arm two months ago." Conner said.
"Alright, I get it; I'm as stubborn as can be, but can you blame me…..I mean look who I live with." Reiena said, blushing a bit.
"I won't be that stupid, but thanks for being here guys." Roy said as a smile came to his lips.
"We're a family; we'll always be here for you." Dick stated.
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Undisclosed Location
The past two months, Luthor has been working hard with the Light to get some new partners in their plan for world domination, well world evolution in Savage's case. Today they were meeting with them to plan their arrival on the planet.
"Gratitude for the meeting, Vandal Savage, but why is it only two members of your organization?" One of the partners said as they stepped into the light of the room.
The new partners looked like insects in a way, but they also had a human look to them. There was a male and a female; then along with them was a large member of the species that seemed to be clad in all black armor that looked oddly familiar.
"The other members of the Light are dealing with different scenarios to prepare for your arrive in a couple of years." Savage said.
"So the young heroes you mentioned have been hauled for a while?" The male of the alien species questioned.
"The past two months have been very easy to work with as two of the young heroes had broken bones, and the one we mentioned that might be a problem only recovered from his ordeal about a week ago." Luthor said.
"Very well, our competitors should be arriving soon enough, let them believe you are helping them, then when we are ready to come forth, they will be….ended."
"Very well, Ambassador. I must say that your enforcer wears a type of armor similar to one I have seen before, yet it was blue." Savage said as he noticed that the large member of the alien species. "The similarity is the metal components that come over your enforcer's shoulders….the bug legs if you will."
"This is…..interesting news, we will look into this before we return." The Ambassador said, and with that the three aliens left the meeting area.
"Well, we can't wait around here; there is much to do to ensure that the Kroloteans are not interrupted in their endeavor." Luthor said and with that, Savage agreed and the two Light members left the area.