Chapter 25

Mount Justice

December 31, 07:16 EST

The Team spent the night at the Cave when they got back from Santa Prisca. After breakfast, Batman called them to the mission room.

"We have reason to feel proud of yesterdays victories," said Aqualad as they made their way to the mission room. "But one thing has not changed."

"Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside Intel about us," Robin concluded.

"Yeah, but at least we none of us are the mole," said Kid Flash cheerfully, as he walked beside Artemis.

"That's correct," said Batman as they entered the mission room. He and Red Tornado were standing by the holo computer. "The mole was Red Arrow."

As Roy's picture appeared on the screen Wally felt himself go numb with shock.

"Roy?" asked Robin.

"No Way!" yelled Kid Flash.

"Batman that cannot be," protested Aqualad. "He was Green Arrow's protégé, we have all know him for years."

Red Tornado spoke up, "Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another project Cadmus clone."

"We have learned the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick," Batman continued. "The clone was preprogrammed with a drive to join the Justice League. Which is why he was so angry over any delays to 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 become League worthy. So he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. When he was finally admitted, his secondary programming kicked in, and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced that Red Arrow was a clone, we were prepared."

"Savage was subdued," said Red Tornado. "But Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive armed and dangerous."

Superboy rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "If you guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus…"

"Wha-what happened to the real Roy?" asked Robin.

"We don't know," said Batman. "He isn't at Cadmus. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead."

Kid Flash closed his eyes and wished that this was all just a nightmare. Roy was his friend. But when he opened his eyes, he knew it was real.

"The clone Roy, the Team will find him," Aqualad demanded.

"Negative," said Batman. "Red Arrow is a member of the Justice League now, leave him to us."

Batman then turned and headed for the Zeta Tubes. "I'm needed on the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the kids."

That struck Kid Flash as odd, since when did Batman call them kids?

Aqualad turned to the rest of the Team and said through the mind link, "Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him."

Red Tornado walked up behind Aqualad and lifted his hand, but then suddenly stopped short and seemed to shut down. The Team crowded around him to see what was wrong.

"Tornado," Miss Martian gasped still using the mind link.

"What happened to him?" asked Superboy.

"He's totally powered down," said Kid Flash.

"All functions off line," Robin reported scanning him with his glove computer.

"Guys, I'm sensing a low level mystic force at play," said Zatanna, clutching her head. "I-I don't know if it cause his shutdown, but now that I think about it I was getting the same buzz off Batman."

"Batman?" Robin asked looking up from his computer. "He called us kids, he never does that."

Kid Flash then noticed something In Red Tornado's hand. "Look," he said pulling it out, and holding it up. "One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire."

Aqualad frowned. "Something is not right. Robin, Kid, Zatanna, Rocket, see if you can get Tornado back online. The rest with me to find Ro-Red Arrow."

The Red Arrow team turned and ran for the hanger.

"The problem's hardware not software," said Robin. "But where do we start?"

Zatanna stepped forward and looked up at Red Tornado's room. "I have a thought," she said.

Her thought was this. awhile back Zatanna, M'gann, and Conner had gotten bored and snooped around in Red Tornado's room. While they were in there they discovered that Tornado had been building himself a humanoid body. Zatanna's plan was to try to transfer Red Tornado's mind into that body.

When Kid Flash hooked the last wire into place Robin said, "Download in progress."

"So Tornado built this android, to party?" asked Rocket, like she couldn't quite believe it.

Zatanna shrugged. "Eh, not how he'd put it, but yeah more or less."

Just then the Zeta Tubes announced the arrival of Black Canary. "Hey guys," she said. "Wanted to check in, see how your handling the-" she stopped short upon seeing what they were doing. "What are you doing to Red?" she shouted.

"It's not how it looks," said Kid Flash quickly.

"It looks like you're downloading his consciousness into a new body," she snapped.

Kid Flash looked back at the computer, which had just completed the download before turning back. "Okay, it's pretty much exactly how it looks, but-"

Before he could finish Tornado's android self sat up and shouted, "Team Get Out Of The Cave, NOW!"

Black Canary scowled and unleashed her Canary Cry at them. The force of it ripped through Tornado, sending his upper body crashing into Kid Flash, while his legs knocked over Zatanna and Rocket.

Robin jumped up and tried to attack Canary, but she threw him to the side. But his attack did its work, as he was able to plant a knockout gas pellet on her jacket. Rocket put a force field around Canary and the gas making it impossible for her to escape. Canary breathed in the gas and was knocked out.

"Black Canary a-attacked us," said Zatanna not fully believing it.

"Black Canary is the least of our problems," said Red Tornado. "We must abandon the Cave."

Tornado tried to move, but with out legs he had a hard time doing so.

"Here let me help you with that," said Kid Flash pulling out his wand. "Reparo!"

Tornado's parts flew together, and the android was as good as new. If Red Tornado was surprised by the revelation of Kid Flash's magic, he didn't show it.

They tied and gagged Black Canary, and then ran for the Hanger. As they were loading onto the Supercycle they heard the Zeta Tubes announce the arrival of more Leaguers. The Supercycle flew away before they could even leave the Zeta Tube platform.

"Stay off your radio," Red Tornado instructed as they flew away. "Let the Supercycle track Superboy. Instruct her to mask all signals. We can not allow the League to track us."

"Right, of course, just one question. Why Is The Justice League After Us!" Kid Flash yelled.

Tornado explained, "The entire League is under the complete mental domination of Vandal Savage. Red Arrow seems to have been his means. His method was something Savage referred to as Staro Tech. An alien bio-organism infused with nanotechnology and magic. It shuts down the mind's autonomy, allowing Savage to reprogram the individual to suit his needs. Even my inorganic brain was not immune. But the process requires 0.16 nanoseconds to fully integrate with its hosts nerves system. That delay allowed me to create an internal subprogram, which would disconnect my power cells if I attempted to infect another person. Fortunately the Staro Tech is body specific, as John Smith I am now free of outside control."

"This Staro Tech, it worked on super powered humans, four flavors of alien, an android, even Doctor Fate? Defeating all of you without a fight?" asked Robin incredulously.

"Indeed," said Tornado. "A remarkable achievement. One not easily countered."

A minute later Robin said they were in range of Miss Martian's mind link. They all heard her reply. "Here Robin, linking both squads and decamouflageing."

The bioship appeared over head and the Supercycle flew upwards into its hatch.

"Great," said Robin, "'cause we really need to compare notes."

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The Watchtower

December 31, 23:16 EST

After a brief incident where Black Canary woke up and tried to escape, and talking things out with Red Arrow, the Team focused on finding a cure for the Staro Tech. They contacted Queen Mera of Atlantis as well as Doctors Roquette, Spence, and Vocol, to create one. Not only did the four of them create a cure, they also made the cure a vaccine to keep people from being reinfected.

Once they had the Cure Tech they came up with a plan to save the League.

Red Tornado, Red Arrow, and Black Canary went ahead to the Watchtower, pretending to be under Staro Tech control. Once there, Red Tornado shut off the alarm system allowing the Team to sneak on board from the bioship.

Once the Team was all safely aboard the Watchtower, Robin checked the systems. "RT did it," he said. "Wirelessly bypassed security for us as soon as he arrived, Savage shouldn't know we're here."

"Move out," Aqualad ordered.

The Team was able to sneak up on Plastic Man, Hawkman, the Atom, and Captain Atom, and apply the Cure Tech before it became clear that the bad guys knew they were there.

Kid Flash and Artemis were confronted by Flash, Green Arrow, and Aquaman in the cargo bay. Despite the combination of Artemis' arrows and Kid Flash's speed and spells, they were still barely holding their own against the more experienced heroes.

"Hey, if you guys aren't busy!" Kid Flash called, knowing they needed some back up.

"On my way," said Aqualad.

Artemis had just dodged an exploding arrow sent by Green Arrow when she ran over to Kid Flash and said, "I'm amazed we're still alive."

"It's 'cause they're being controlled," said Kid Flash bitterly. "They're limited by whoever's pulling their strings. The very thing putting us in danger, is the only thing giving us a chance."

"Artemis! Kid!"

They turned to see that Aqualad had arrived. He slammed the airlock shut and yelled, "NOW!"

Artemis fired an arrow with a rope that imbedded itself into the door. She and Kid Flash held on tightly to their end of the rope.

"Hold on," ordered Aqualad.

"Holding!" said Kid Flash and Artemis in unison.

Aqualad held on to the door handle and opened the cargo bay doors causing the air in the room to be sucked out. Their mentors lost their footing and started to be sucked out as well. Before they could Aqualad closed the door causing the three adults to slam into it, knocking them flat. Using his speed Kid Flash ran over and applied the Cure Tech to all three of them before they could get back up.

"Apologies, my King," said Aqualad, once he was done.

The three of them heard from the rest of the Team and found out that they had cured the remaining members of the League. The three then ran to the main room just in time to see Vandal Savage and Klarion the Witch Boy disappear through a portal.

They walked over to Red Tornado, who was on the floor because he'd had his arms and legs ripped off. Once they reached him he looked up and said, "Congratulations Team, you have won the day."

The rest of the Team soon joined them. Just then an electric holo clock appeared and an electronic voice announced, "Happy New Year, Justice League."

Kid Flash glanced at Artemis then scooped her up bridal style. "I should have done this a looong time ago," he said.

She wrapped her arms around him and said, "No kidding," before she leaned in and two of them shared a kiss.

Around him he could hear the rest of the Team following their example. Superboy and Miss M were a given. From the sound of things Zatanna surprised Robin with theirs. And Rocket remarked that she was liking the Team more every day before giving Aqualad a kiss.

From the floor Red Tornado remarked, "Human customs still elude me."

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A/N Young Justice is done, now I have to make up missions, I don't know if that sounds scary or fun. More on Hogwarts next chapter.

Also mission ideas are welcome and appreciated.

I own nothing