"We have reason to feel proud of yesterday's victories but one thing has not changed." Kal said as we walked down the hallway.
"Somehow, the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us." Robin added.
"Yeah, but at least we know none of us are the mole!" Wally said. I smiled in agreement. It felt good to know that.
"That's correct." Batman said as he pulled up a screen. "The mole was Red Arrow." My jaw dropped. Red Arrow was the mole?! But…what?
"Roy!" Robin exclaimed.
"No way!" Wally gasped.
"Batman that cannot be! He was Green Arrow's protégée, we have all known him for years!" Kaldur told him.
"Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for three years is another Project CADMUS clone." Red Tornado explained. My jaw dropped even further. Roy was a clone like Conner and, on some level, me?
"We've learned the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick." Batman explained. "The clone was preprogramed with a drive to join the Justice League which is why he was so angry to any delays in his admission and why he refused to join the team."
"This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor and his subconscious programming drove him to be League worthy so he struck out his own as Red Arrow. When he finally admitted his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared."
I didn't think it was possible for my jaw to drop any further but it did.
"Savage was subdued but Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive, armed and dangerous." Red Tornado added.
Conner rubbed the back of his neck. "If you guys hadn't rescued me from CADMUS…" He trailed off but we got the picture. That could have been him.
"W-what happened to the real Roy?" Robin asked.
"We don't know, he wasn't at CADMUS. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead." Batman told us. I placed my hand on Kal's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"The clone Roy, the team will find him." Kal growled.
"Negative. Red Arrow is a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us." Batman replied. "I'm needed on the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the kids." Batman then left before Kal turned to us.
"Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him."
I raised my eyebrow as Tornado walked up to Kaldur, was about to put his hand on Kal but stopped. "What just happened?" I asked.
"He's totally powered down." Wally said.
"All functions offline." Robin added.
"Guys, I'm sensing a low level mystic force at play. I don't if it caused his shutdown but now that I think about it, I was getting the same buzz off Batman!" Zatanna told us.
"Batman…..he called us kids! He never does that!" Robin was right. "Look!" He pointed at Tornado's hand.
Wally pulled it off him. "One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire!"
"Something is not right. Robin, Zatanna, Rocket, Shade: See if you can get Tornado back online. The rest with me to find R- Red Arrow." I squeezed Kaldur's hand gently as he corrected himself. Kal was the one who was closest to Roy out of all of the sidekicks. This would hit him the hardest.
"The problem's hardware not software. Where do we start?" Robin asked as the others ran off. I walked over to him but something caught my eye. The hatch to Red Tornado's apartment. Then I got an idea.
"Zatanna, Rocket, could either of you fly up to Red Tornado's apartment and get his human body?" I asked.
Zatanna nodded before saying "Nepo eht hctah!" The hatch opens and both Zee and Raquel fly up to get the body. They bring him down while Robin pulls to two platforms. Wally and I move Tornado onto one while Zee and Raquel come down and put his human body on the other.
Wally pulled out a plug and inserted it into the back of the human body's neck. Robin told us that the download started.
"So Tornado built this android…to party?" Raquel asked.
"That's the weirdest mental image I've ever had" I said which caused the girls to giggle.
"Not how he put, but more or less." Zee told her. The computer announced the arrival of Dinah.
"Hey guys wanted to check in and see how you're handling…" Her eyes widened when she saw what we were doing. "What are you doing to Red?!" She looked furious. Uh oh.
"It's not how it looks!" Wally exclaimed.
"It looks like you're downloading his consciousness onto a new body." Dinah replied.
"Okay, it's pretty much exactly how it looks-"
Wally was cut off as Tornado's human body sat up and exclaimed "Team get out of the Cave now!" Robin and I ducked behind the platform as BC started to scream. We jumped out and started to fight but she grabbed my ankle and threw me across the room before slamming Robin into the floor repeatedly.
Luckily, Robin had left a little present on her jacket. The gas erupted out of the bomb and covered Canary. Rocket then created a bubble around her to seal the gas in to knock her out.
I got up as Zatanna said in shock "Black Canary attacked us?"
"Black Canary is the least of our problems." Red told us. "We must abandon the Cave." My eyes widened when I remembered Scarlett. I got up and sprinted to my room.
"Where are you going?" Raquel called.
"Two seconds!" I called back before going into my room and pulling my phone out of my jeans, which I had left here the day before. I called Scarlett and ran back to the others. "Pick up. Come on, pick up." I mumbled.
"Hey Lila, what's wro-"
"Where are you?" I asked.
"Just about to go up to the Watchtower-"
"Don't!" I cut her off.
"What's going on?" She asked, hearing how urgent I was. I jumped into the supercycle and we started to fly out.
"Recognised Icon: 21. Doctor Fate 17. Captain Marvel: 15"
Just in time too.
"Something's wrong with the League. I don't have time to explain. Where are you?" I asked.
"The Zeta Tube near the school." She told me.
"We're coming to get you, stay out of sight." I called out "She's at Zeta Tube near the school." The Supercycle turned and flew down. The others knew I wasn't going to leave her alone while the League was out to get us and her as well. We landed near Scarlett, in an area cut off from the road, and I got out of the supercycle.
"Really glad I didn't go to the Watchtower tonight." She muttered as I pulled her arm around my neck.
"Etativel Ttelracs!" Zee says and Scar started to float. "Ecalp ni eht elcycrepus!" Scarlett is then placed in the same seat I was in. I mouth a thank you to Zatanna and she nods before I get back in.
"What about your wheelchair?" I ask.
"Screw the wheelchair." She replied as we fly away.
…..
When we were a short distance away from the mountain Red told us "Stay off your radios. Let the supercycle track Superboy. Instruct her to mask all signals. We can't allow the League to track us."
"Right, sure. Just one question: Why is the Justice League after us?!" Wally exclaimed.
"What's controlling them?" Scarlett asked.
"Biotech integrated with some kind of circuitry." Robin told her. Her eyes widened when she saw the circuitry. "Created by?" She asked.
"Vandal Savage and his associates. Savage has the entire League under his control. Red Arrow seems to have been his means. His method was something Savage referred to as Starro tech, an alien bio organism, infused with nanotechnology and magic. It shuts down the minds autonomy and allows Savage to reprogram it to suit his needs."
"Even my inorganic brain was not immune but the process requires 0.16 nanoseconds to fully integrate with its hosts' nervous system. That delay allowed me to create an internal sub-program, which allowed me to disconnect my power cells if I attempted to infect another person. Fortunately, the Starro tech is body specific. As John Smith, I am now freed of outside control." Red explained.
"This Starro tech, it worked on super powered humans, four flavours of alien, an android, even Doctor Fate! Defeating all of you without a fight?" Robin exclaimed.
"Indeed. It is a remarkable achievement. One not easily countered." Red replied.
"But you think it can be?" Scarlett asked.
"I believe so." Red replied. The Bioship appeared above us and we were levitated in. Looks like the others were back.
"Good, because we really need to compare notes." Robin said. We get out of the supercycle and explain what happened.
"We must figure out a way to combat the Starro tech." Aqualad said.
"It involves magic. Seriously ancient magic." Zatanna told us.
"Plus nano-robotics and genetics." Kid Flash added.
"We could get Doctor Roquette?" I suggest, remembering the Doctor way back from our mission in August. She worked with nano tech.
"And Doctor Spence from CADMUS and Scarlett too?" Superboy asked. He turned to my godmother to see her reaction.
She nodded. "I think I can help."
"Atlantians are skilled in the mystic arts. I will get Queen Mera and Vulko, one of the researchers, from Atlantis." Kaldur said. During our talk, Robin was contacting Doctor Spence and Doctor Roquette while M'gann was taking us to a STAR Labs facility. Scarlett gave me an encouraging smile. We got out of the Bioship and went into the facility while Kaldur went to Atlantis via Zeta Tube. Once we arrived we brought everyone into the facility and waited for the scientists.
Once they arrived, along with Queen Mera and Vulko, we were ready to work.
…
Finally, after long, stressful hours, the cure was finally finished. They managed to make thirty pieces of the cure and all looked tired and stressed. "They are ready. Good luck." Queen Mera told us with a soft smile.
Black Canary shook her hand. "Thank you so much for your help."
"It was our pleasure." Queen Mera replied.
"It was no problem." Dr Spencer added. Apart from Scarlett, they all left the room.
"So what happens now?" Scarlett asked.
We all exchanged looks before Aqualad said "We go into the lions den."
"Good luck. I'll be on the comms. if you need me." She replied.
…
"RT did it. Wirelessly bypassed security for us as soon as he arrived. Savage shouldn't know we're here." Robin told us.
"Move out." Aqualad commanded. Aqualad and Rocket went after Captain Atom, Robin went after Flash, Miss Martian and Zatanna went after Atom, Artemis and KF went after Plastic Man and Superboy and I went after Hawkman.
We were in one of the halls and I had managed to crawl along one of the ledges. I followed Hawkman as he walked down the hall. He gasped when he saw Superboy but wasn't expecting the punch that sent him down the hallway. He slid backwards and I jumped onto his shoulders, before placing the cure tech on his neck.
"Where to now?" I asked as I jumped off Hawkman.
"The garden." Superboy replied. I nodded and we took off sprinting through the halls. However, as soon as we entered the garden, we were both swept off our feet and slammed into the wall. I groaned and got to my feet.
Superboy went to take care of Superman, for obvious reasons. I had Martian Manhunter. Great. He slammed into the wall again and I fell with a grunt but not before sending an explosive in his direction. The explosive burst into flames that would hopefully go through him. By the sound of his cry, it had worked.
I got up and sent another one before sprinting towards him. He fell back with another cry but got up before I got there. He decided to send me over the edge this time. I let out a cry as I feel but was encased in a bubble. I looked to the side to see Rocket nod at me. I mouthed 'thank you' at her before being lifted back onto the platform.
I managed to roll out of the way when Superman decided it would be a good time to test his laser vision. I narrowly dodged being turned into a crisp. Martian Manhunter also decided it would be a good time to become visible and we started to fight.
From the sound of the slam behind me, either Superman had hit Superboy or vice versa. Either way, it sounded painful. I cried out as Martian Manhunter slammed his fist into my jaw and narrowly missed a punch to my stomach.
Manhunter used his telepathy again to send me into the wall. I was getting really tired of being thrown into the wall. Superboy was slammed into the wall by Superman, as well. Manhunter started to come towards me but my saviour, Sphere, slammed into him.
He hit the ground with a thump. I sprinted over to him but it wasn't fast enough. He got up and used to his telepathy to choke me. I gasped at my neck and desperately tried to inhale. Then my saviour, Miss M, arrived. Her distraction managed to get Manhunter to drop me but he grabbed M'gann instead.
She transformed into her white Martian form and got Manhunter to stop. I took the opportunity to run over to him and placed the cure tech on his neck. M'gann placed him on the ground but, what we didn't see, was Superman slamming his fist into us, sending us into the wall.
We groaned and I got on my knees, placing a hand on her sinewy shoulder. "You okay?" I asked.
She transformed back into her stealth gear and replied "Yeah."
"You are my saviour by the way. Thanks for rescuing me back there." I said.
She grinned. "No problem. Anything for my earth sister." I grinned back at her and, even though I knew now was not the time, I pulled her into a hug. We jogged back to where Robin and Superboy were standing, having defeated Superman and Batman.
"You defeated both of them? Badass." I said.
The pair grinned and Superboy said "Heh, thanks."
Rocket flew over to us. "Do you guys know how hard it is to get that thing on Wonder Woman? Jesus, that woman packs a punch."
"Ain't that the truth." I mumbled, remembering our training session the month before.
"Come on, we should get to the others." Robin said. We ran over to the others the date appeared on the screen. It was midnight already.
"Happy New Year, Justice League." The computer said. I smiled as it started to play 'Auld Lang Syne.'
I grinned as Wally picked up Artemis bridal style. "I should have done this a long time ago."
"No kidding." She replied before they kissed.
"About time to." I said before walking over to Kaldur and wrapping my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me.
"All by myseeeelf!" I burst out laughing at Rocket's singing and Kaldur chuckled as well. I could hear the Team laughing as well.
Our laughter got harder as Red said "Human customs still allude me."
…
TWO YEARS LATER
"I have to go Kal, I've class in half an hour." I told Kal as he pressed kisses on my neck. I groaned and said "Kaaal."
"Do you have to go?" He asked.
"Yes!" I placed a lingering kiss on his lips. "I'll be back tonight though. See you later."
He sighed and pulled his arms away. "See you later." He replied. We had been talking in his room when he decided to press me against the wall and covered me in kisses. I had to go though. I was taking classes at Gotham University to get my degree in Nursing.
I gave a quick wave to Donna and Tula before making my way through the Zeta Tubes. I walked out of the phone box and remembered I had to stop off quickly at my apartment. I still had books to get. My apartment was luckily near the University. I walked up the four flights of stairs and entered closing the door behind me.
What I wasn't prepared for was something hitting my neck. I gasped as I started to feel tired immediately. I staggered about, my hand hitting the counter the pages on the floor. I gasped on my hands and knees, feeling the liquid flow through me.
"I have to admit, you've gotten better at resisting the toxin but this should help."
I tried to scream as I heard the voice. No, no. This couldn't be happening. It was her! I gasped as my head slammed against the counter and finally, darkness overcame my vision.
….
Dun! Dun! Duuuuun!
OH MY GOD GUYS I'M GONNA CRY SHADE IS OVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEER.
But that isn't the end of Lila Archer and he adventures, oh no. It continues in the sequel to Shade,
I WILL RISE UP
Which unfortunately won't be coming out until February. Sorry guys. I want to write the chapters and focus on my other story, Catgirl, for a while.
BUT I WOULD LIKE TO THANK MOLLY GRACE 16, PIGGYTHELAW AND MURDERCROWTHER FOR BEING ABSOULOUTE GEMS AND REVIEWING NEARLY EVERY CHAPTER. Seriously, without you guys, I don't think I would have made it past chapter ten.
I would also like to thank everyone else who reviewed, favourited and followed! You're all marvellous!
piggythelaw-:D
mayemerald9-Thank you (for the review you sent me through PM) :D
patattack- Thank uou!
Molly Grace 16- Thanks! I also thought that too!
Murdercrowther- Sorry I can't! But you will have the sequel to look forward to hopefully! Thanks!
I WILL RISE UP COMES OUT IN FEBUARY