Chapter Fifty: Conspiracy Part Two.

Volcana took a slight step back from her pursuers who had crowded around her. There were certain survival instincts that were built into the young woman throughout her life as she recalled everyone of them. The woman stood with the Stone of Gryffindor clutched in her hand as she wondered why it was not working. Surely this stone was supposed to empower her as it gave her the ability to defeat this team.

Yet, the stone was not working and Volcana was backed against the wall quite literally in the situation she was in. The Ultimen took a few steps towards her with Longshadow looking at her with a pacifying look. The other members of the team did not seem to be quite as pacifying to say the least and Volcana could tell that they had been driven completely around the twist by their powers. The red haired woman held the stone in her hand, flipping it over.

"Give us the stone and there will be no need for you to be hurt," Longshadow appealed to her, his pacifist nature detesting violence. Volcana's eyes snapped towards the group long enough to see that each and every one of them were extremely trigger happy and would not hesitate to take her down.

Volcana's face twisted into a grimace and her hot temper flared up, along with her powers. "I've got a counter proposal for you guys. How about you leave me alone and none of you will be the ones that will get hurt? How do you like that one?"

Juice showed precisely how much that he liked that by sending a current of electricity towards Volcana that came precious close inches from frying her. The red head dodged the attack and prepared to rush backwards, ducking and dodging the individual attacks. Juice poured on the juice and Volcana tried to escape over the fence to her freedom.

Said freedom was not to be soon when Wind Dragon kicked up a huge gust of wind to subdue Volcana and put her fire out. The young pryokinetic was further knocked back with ballistic fry when Downpour offered her contribution as several jets of water connected with the young red hair. Volcana's fire was put out and she was flung back into a wall viciously.

Shifter turned into a large white dinosaur and gave a mighty roar as he stalked Volcana. The young redhead braced herself for the end, but since Downpour had put her pilot light out, it would take a moment to dry off. The large white dinosaur took a few steps forward and Volcana braced herself, wishing that this stupid power stone would work for her.

Before Volcana could be eaten or seriously mauled by the white dinosaur in question, a green dinosaur lumbered in from the side alley. The pryokinetic let out a sigh of relief as the green dinosaur engaged the white dinosaur in a titanic battle. The two tyrannosaurus rexes locked their small arms and bared their sharp teeth, as the civilians on the street ran in terror.

"Guess I'm going to have to turn up the power," Juice commented raising a hand but before he could fire, a blast from cannon knocked him out.

Juice turned around to come face to face with Cyborg who fired another shot. The electricity based so called hero blocked the attack and fired back with a little shock of his own. Another shock but Cyborg blocked the attack at that point.

"I've got all of the power that you need, right here!" Cyborg shouted before he blasted Juice backwards with his arm cannon. The hero had struck a pose as he knocked Juice back hard "Boo-yah!"

"You've been waiting to say that one again for years, haven't you?" Raven asked at this point and Wind Dragon jumped in to engage her into battle, blowing a gust of wind at her. "You really don't want to do that, do you?"

Raven blocked the gust of wind by Wind Dragon and fired it back at him. The hero was knocked backwards with Volcana watching at that point in surprise. Wind Dragon tried to fire back, but a spell from Raven caught him in his own whirlwind. Like a spin cycle, Wind Dragon was knocked out of control.

Downpour growled, this was not going her way and her brother was losing badly to that would be hero. She recognized them from the files on Cadmus, they were the Teen Titans, well they were no longer teens any more, but they were still titans and still trouble. She summoned her full power to send a current of water at them.

Nightwing jumped in immediately, flinging a metallic disc towards Downpour. The disc hit the ground and froze the water that surrounded her, holding her into place. Nightwing jumped in after she was frozen and knocked her off to the side.

"What are these guy's problem?" Cyborg asked at this point when he engaged Juice in a battle, before Raven knocked Wind Dragon into him, taking both of them out.

Beast Boy had swung his tail and knocked Shifter into the wall. Shifter crashed into the wall and got knocked out from the process, unable to sustain an animal form. He turned back into his normal self and Beast Boy dropped to the ground.

"A whole lot by the looks of things, but we kicked serious butt," Beast Boy replied at the point, but then he turned to look at the long form of Longshadow. "And look there's one left."

"Let's leave him awake so we can interrogate him," Nightwing answered before the other three no longer Teen Titans could attack and the protégé of the World's Greatest Detective walked in to face Longshadow.

Longshadow did not get involved involve in the battle for he saw no point, these Titans were heroes, so should they not be fighting on the same side? He saw the imposing presence of Nightwing and whilst Longshadow could grow to impressive heights, he felt very small indeed as one of the more famous super heroes looked at him.

"Where is Starfire?" Nightwing voiced to Longshadow who backed up and held his hands in the air.

"I do not wish for trouble," Longshadow responded trying to articulate this point to the entire group, but Cyborg just looked at him before he responded with an obvious statement.

"There isn't going to be any trouble if you tell us where Cadmus is keeping her."

"Cadmus, I have no idea what you're talking about, we were sent here to apprehend this criminal," Longshadow answered at this point and felt a shift of pain through his hand, but he ignored it.

"Are you alright, man?" Beast Boy asked Longshadow.

Longshadow paused as he could feel a few stabs of pain through his body; his entire team could have felt them even. There was a moment where he slumped forward but shook off the pain.

"It's nothing," Longshadow replied at this moment.

"That seems like an awfully painful nothing," Raven replied with a narrowed expression through her eyes when she surveyed the Native American, but Longshadow shrugged it off, taking a moment to compose himself.

The entire team looked at each other to remain calm before Nightwing spoke.

"Whatever it is, we'll see what we can do about it, but first, we need your help, you have to have some base of operations," Nightwing offered the young man, looking at him with a glance that seemed to leave no room for argument. "We can't help you unless you help us."

"I know," Longshadow responded as he hung his head at this point, before he took a moment to step back.

"And don't look now, but the other four have just flown the coup," Beast Boy replied and sure enough the Ultimen had vanished from where they were knocked out.

"I don't understand, why would they leave me behind?" Longshadow asked at this point, taking a moment to reflect upon everything.

Raven just held a hand up and saw that Volcana was gone as well, which complicated things. Did she leave on her own or did the Ultimen take her. The Titans had been a bit rusty, this would have never happened years ago. Batman in particular would throw a fit if he found out that Nightwing had allowed criminals to get away.

Right now, Raven had to answer a communication and she picked it up.

"Yes, Wonder Girl, Arcane and Supergirl have located where Starfire might be. Give me their location, and we'll be right there."

It was go time for the Teen Titans, one would hope that super herorism was much like riding a bike. Yet, the four of them had a common goal in mind regarding Starfire and the need to rescue her. They assumed that she had been dead for years, and Raven looked for her. They all wondered when she had returned and when Cadmus had grabbed her. That was another matter for another time.


Harry and Kara appeared in a darkened facility several miles outside of Metropolis. The two of them were on their guard and had switched to their mental link for all communications.

'Whatever is in here, we don't want them to get the jump on us,' Kara thought to Harry and Harry stood forward, the lab appeared to be abandoned. M'gann was helping Linda and Karen try to track whatever labs she could but she only knew so much.

'Any progress is better than no progress at all,' Harry thought at this point taking a moment to walk forward to the lab and the lights flickered on.

Neither Harry nor Kara did that so the two of them stood high on their guard. As it turned out, they were right to be on their guard for four more figures popped up at that point in the lab. Harry and Kara saw the four Ultimen standing before them. Downpour, Shifter, Juice, and Wind Dragon all stood before them and it was Downpour who spoke at this moment.

"Supergirl and Arcane, Maxwell Lord told us that you are among public enemy number one," Downpour remarked at this point. "It is fortunate for you that we're…"

Kara blasted Downpour with a piercing spell before she could finish saying what it was fortunate about. This caused Shifter to contort in agony and he shifted into a large gigantic bird of prey. Shifter rose in the air to attack the one that had attacked his sister, but Harry jumped right in for the attack to knock Shifter out of the air.

Shifter flew backwards and crashed down to the ground, with Wind Dragon and Juice looking towards them, before one party kicked up a huge gust of wind and the other party kicked up a huge amount of electricity. Supergirl and Arcane prepared themselves for the battle at hand, knowing that these three had very distinct powers that they could exploit.

As it turned out, neither of them needed to attack as Wind Dragon gave a large grimace of pain and screamed out loud. His head throbbed in agony and Supergirl and Arcane moved forward to check on him, but it was at this point that he was crumbling, his skin was cracking.

"Someone help me!" Wind Dragon grimaced feeling his skin cracking and shifting, as he dropped to his knees. This was agony beyond anything that he had felt before as it felt as if there were several knives stabbing deep into his skin and ripping him apart from the inside, out. This was an experience that he wished he could forget, but he never would.

Supergirl tried to fly forward, but the current of electricity blocked her attack at that point.

'The more they use those powers, the faster they break down,' Harry thought to Kara and Kara really got the hint immediately, horror flooding over her at this point.

'You mean they're unstable?' Kara thought to Harry.

'Both mentally and physically,' Harry confirmed as he watched Wind Dragon's skin age to that of an old man before he spontaneously combusted and dust dropped to the ground.

"What did you do to him?" Juice demanded in a crazed voice, blowing up several light posts outside and he felt his heart beating against his chest. "Answer me, answer me!"

Juice felt the pain of being ripped apart by his own powers, but that was something that he blocked out. His rage could not be denied at that point as the lights cracked, but these attacks had an unfortunate side effect. They caused him to deteriorate faster and faster, with the pain going through his body.

With another movement, Juice aged rapidly before his body decomposed like Wind Dragon's did and the other two followed shortly, when they tried to use their powers. Downpour and Shifter exploded into nothingness, their screams of pain echoed through the ears of Kara and Harry who watched in horror.

'They were…just pawns of Cadmus, created for a purpose and now they're dead,' Kara thought to Harry and Harry responded with a nod at that point.

'I'm guessing this isn't the first team of Ultimen," Harry thought to Kara at this point as she nodded in response before she scooped up the sample of the dust. This DNA sample would hopefully pinpoint something about what Cadmus hoped to obtain.

The communicator on their belt came to life and Harry answered it finding out that it was Linda on the other end.

"Karen and I were going through some records and we found an abandoned Luthorcorp Facility fifteen miles from where you are. M'gann took a look through the floor plan and it looked familiar, I think that's where they might be keeping Starfire. But you better hurry…M'gann's come off to see what she can do to help."

"She could get captured again," Harry responded at this point, but Kara placed a hand on Harry's to assure him that M'gann likely would have found a way to not get captured.

Kara and Harry honestly were both surprised that the League had not gotten involved at this point. While they were trying their best to keep the personal nature of this mission suppressed, it was just inevitable that the League would find out. They had been tied to many of the things involving Cadmus as well.

It was just inevitable that they would find out about everything eventually, especially Batman, because that's what Batman did, he found out things. Still at this point, Harry and Kara had to move off to the Cadmus facility as Linda mentally fed the coordinates to them.

There was also a slight hope that they would be able to find the clone there, but they were not holding their breath. They did not think that anything would be that easy, it rarely was, but once Starfire was rescued, then it would be one hundred percent focus towards going after the clone and tracking her down.


Psimon stood with a robe billowing behind him and his glowing eyes searching for any Teen Titans that he could see. He got the news from Maxwell Lord immediately to tell him what to do.

"Yes, yes, I understand, you're trying to get the replacement group of Ultimen online," Psimon answered. "Don't worry, contingency plan three is ready and willing to go."

"I don' t know what contingency plan you have, but we're shutting you down Psimon."

Psimon spun around to face off against the Teen Titans, but a knowing smirk spread over his face when he stared down the entire group. The psychic had the air of knowing something that the entire team did not really know and it was at this point where he just applauded them. It was a mocking slow clap that he gave.

"Bravo Titans, you blundered into my trap," Psimon answered in a dull voice. "Did you not think I would have not prepared for this?"

Psimon waved his hand to the figures who awaited in the shadows.

"Yeah, you geeks are going down."

A young bald man who had the resemblance of a child showed up at this point, lifting up on mechanical spider legs. His name was Gizmo a member of the original class at the HIVE academy.

"Gizmo, you haven't gone through puberty yet?" Cyborg taunted and Gizmo just gritted his teeth in anger, snarling at Cyborg.

"Shove it in your piehole, nerd," Gizmo stated at that point and he waved the other members of the HIVE crew, Psimon's contingency plan. "The Titans got back together, but guess what geeko, we're putting the entire band back together as well.

A large man with dark hair and a bulky physique stepped out of the shadows at this point. This mammoth man had a fitting name, that being Mammoth and he growled, staring down the Teen Titans, recognizing his old enemies at once.

Another figure stepped out of the shadows, a tall young woman with auburn hair dressed in black leather. Her name was Shimmer and she could transform any element into any other. That made her a dangerous enemy to have at this point or any other.

There was a young man dressed in red wearing goggles and on his uniform he had division signs on it, his name was Billy Numerous. He could divide himself into multiple enemies, but it had the process of warping his sanity.

The fifth figure who stepped out of the shadows was named Icicle Junior, the son of a legendary criminal mob boss from back in the day. He had the ability to control ice and shift it into any material that he wished.

"The odds aren't in your favor, are they Titans?" Psimon answered at that point, but an invisible form became visible. Psimon's voice had become disgusted when he had seen who had shown up. "The Martian."

"That's right, figured you could use a little backup," M'gann answered in a cheerful voice as she looked at the Teen Titans as well.

"And you didn't think that you were getting the entire crew back together without me, did you?"

Suddenly, the Teen Titans turned around and saw the Flash standing right behind them at that point, a former member of the Teen Titans as Kid Flash. Wally stood before all of them, and the HIVE children backed up.

"Man, you guys don't know when to give up, do you?" Flash commented and he turned to Nightwing. "Good thing I kept my Titans communicator for a keepsake, was surprised to see it go off, so I rushed over here, and found you guys."

"Do your team mates know about this?" Nightwing asked, but before Flash could answer, Billy Numerous divided into multiple versions of himself, offering a cornball laugh as he did so.

"You Titans are in for a rootin' tootin' time now," Billy Numerous offered at that point, as his drones cackled.

Flash just shrugged with a smile before he turned to Nightwing and sped off, knocking the various clones out with a series of rapid fire punches.

"Too slow, still not fast enough, come on, are you even trying? That was pathetic."

The clones had been knocked down with punch after punch with the Flash nailing into them. It was to the point where he could lean back and yawn and he would still not be enough to take him down. The Fastest Man Alive ducked, dodged, pivoted, and spun taking out each and every one of the Billy Numerous clones to the point where they propelled them all backwards.

Nightwing dodged a blast of ice from Icicle Junior, as he tucked his head and rolled. Each and every individual blast was fired at him. Nightwing scaled up to the catacombs to avoid his attack and swung on down. Icicle Junior tried to freeze the rope, but Nightwing jumped down, before Mammoth rushed him. Nightwing tripped up the charging Mammoth with his staff and sent him flying down to the ground.

This allowed Beast Boy to jump into the battle, seeing a brief glimpse of Raven and Shimmer doing battle above. Beast Boy shifted his form into a large hulking rhino and charged forward to engage Mammoth. The strength of this particular member of HIVE blocked the attacks of Beast Boy, but suddenly an arrow shot from above, blowing up the ground.

Red Arrow had jumped down to the ground and armed himself, before he shot another arrow, catching Icicle Junior off balance. Another former member of the Teen Titans had shown up at that point to help with the battle and another barrage of arrows had been fired at the enemies as Nightwing and Red Arrow stood back to back.

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with me," Nightwing remarked casually, knocking Icicle Junior to the ground with a punch and on the other end, Red Arrow shot another arrow at one of the numerous clones of Billy Numerous.

"I don't, it's just that this is a perfect opportunity for a fight," Red Arrow answered at this moment and he waved at the Flash who rushed by.

"Just like old times again," Nightwing remarked, watching the battle between Shimmer and Raven that was taking place up top.

"Not really," Red Arrow answered in a flat voice knowing that Nightwing had his own share of demons, Red Arrow had them too, but that was beside the point. "Just stay focused on this one, Nightwing, and we'll get out of this."

"It's more than me, they have Starfire," Nightwing responded as he knocked out another clone of Billy Numerous and he landed on the ground hard.

Cyborg and Gizmo circled each other, with Gizmo trying to launch miniature pellets from his walker. The tech-savvy Teen Titan had no idea what they did to him, but knowing that Gizmo had cooked them up, it was something rather nasty. Gizmo gave a laugh that sounded like nails grinding on the chalkboard.

"Look, why are you involved with something like this?" Cyborg asked at that moment as Gizmo just chuckled.

"To see the look on your ugly faces."

Gizmo fired a miniature rocket, but Cyborg dodged that attack. He pivoted himself onto his before he prepared to arm his arm cannon and fire a sonic pulse at Gizmo. Gizmo screamed out loud at that point, his ears bleeding from the attack and an arrow from Red Arrow had been shot out. It blew Gizmo's spider legs out from underneath him and without his walker, he was just another obnoxious little brat.

Beast Boy swooped down and turned into a vulture, before he picked up Gizmo and hung him out to dry from the rafters. Gizmo began to kick his legs, cursing up a storm against the Teen Titans, but he had been hung out to dry.

Shimmer and Raven continued to do battle up towards the rafters, but Raven had managed to figure out the young girl's pattern. She closed her eyes, before she decided to do what she must have do now.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

The bolt of magical energy shot Shimmer hard and caused bandages to wrap around her, mummifying her at that point. Shimmer crashed to the ground as she was wrapped up. She joined Mammoth, Gizmo, Icicle Junior, and Billy Numerous out on the floor.

"Psimon says kneel!"

A bolt of psychic energy caught Nightwing, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Red Arrow, Raven, and Flash, bringing them to their knees. Psimon had a sadistic expression on his face, when he suddenly realized that he had neglected to put a person within his psychic squeeze. The former Titans were on their knees and struggling with because of the pain that they suffered, agony beyond belief.

Suddenly, Psimon felt a blast nail him in the back of the head and he was pulled onto the astral plane where he came face to face with the Martian. M'gann stared him down with an expression of determination etched in her green eyes and the psychic criminal just laughed at this point amused by her efforts.

"Do you really think that I can be defeated that easily?" Psimon taunted M'Gann as the two circled each other on the Astral Plane.

"Easy, maybe not," M'gann mused at that point before her eyes began to glow when she faced Psimon. Determination crossed her face as she prepared to engage the psychic criminal. "But I can defeat you "

Psimon's astral form turned into that of a gigantic fire breezing monster and M'gann's shifted into that of a large white dragon. The two figures circled each other on the Astral Plane, neither of them giving up any quarter. This was a true struggle of mental proportions and they began to clash together in a flash of white light.

Seconds had passed on the outside world, but in the theater of the mind, it was a long and labored struggle. M'gann looked rather determined to defeat Psimon and she managed to pull the essential information out of his mind. Psimon realized that her powers when unchained could be a dangerous thing.

Psimon backed off as he screamed and howled in absolute agony, wondering when the pain was going to stop. He wondered when the pain was going to stop while the psychic's expression shifted towards the White Martian.

"No, stop, I demand…"

Psimon was punched hard in the Astral Plane by a wave of psyhic energy and M'gann transformed back into her normal form, a smile crossing her face before she addressed Psimon.

"You didn't say Psimon says."

M'gann returned to the real world just as the Titans were coming too on the ground. She could hear Supergirl and Arcane arrive at the lab above them, but right now she had information that the Titans needed to hear promptly.

"Guys, I've good news and bad news," M'gann remarked to the group, who prepared themselves for the worst. "The good news is that Starfire is here, in the lab above. The bad news is that they're going to kill her tonight."

There were no words for that, the Titans scrambled off. Despite the Flash being the fastest man alive, it was Nightwing who had taken the lead to save their former teammate. After finding her again, there was going to be no way whatsoever that the Titans were going to lose Starfire.


The scene in the lab was rather quiet, but never the less, it was time for Harry and Kara to make their way up the stairs. The two had taken the top entrance inside and had slipped inside, past the alarms that had been sent inside. This was as far as they dared to go without any help and in fact, all electronics on this floor were garbled.

That indicated one thing and one thing only, that meant that someone was hiding something, but the question was what were they hiding? Kara and Harry stood side by side, before they shifted to the shadows.

It was quite, a little bit too quiet and that fact alone made the pair of them extremely nervous. They felt shivers down their spines as they walked into a lab, where they saw several containment tanks containing the same people that they fought earlier this evening. There were hundreds of pods containing all of the Ultimen and the two Potters looked at them.

'They are manufacturing assassins,' Kara thought to Harry as they walked over to the console. 'We have to shut this place down immediately.'

'Working on it,' Harry though as he tried to hack into the computer, but he found that there was another secret room behind them. He pointed this out to Kara, who nodded and prepared to go over to break down the wall. 'Do you have everything?'

'Yes and no,' Kara thought to Harry at this point, when suddenly there was a rumbling from the stairs below. The two Potters had been taken off guard and a gust of wind blew up the stairs at this point.

The Ultimen had returned, well a new version of them never the less, led by Maxwell Lord. Lord stood by Shifter, Downpour, Juice, Wind Dragon, and Longshadow, the team of government sponsored super heroes stared them down immediately. Lord stood in the background, but there was a voice that broke the silence.

"Hey, Lord, looking for this?"

Volcana stood in the shadows bold as brass with a smile over her face as she stared down her enemies. There was no question about it whatsoever, she was someone who was ready and willing for a fight. The redheaded Pryokinetic stood in the background and held the stone, before she moved over towards Supergirl and Arcane.

"How could you lie to us like that?" the original Longshadow said as he showed up to face the duplicate. "You said we were runaways who had been attacked, stricken by amnesia, you cured us."

"The only cure will be when we finish you off," the second Longshadow said at this point and Lord just offered a crisp nod at that point. "You are a defective copy, I'm the original deal, and I will put down."

Lord stood behind them, his mental attacks planting suggestions in the heads of the Ultimen and it riled them up to the point where they stepped forward to engage the heroes. All five of them stood ready for battle as Supergirl, Arcane, Volcana, and Longshadow waited for them to attack.

The odds got a bit more in the favor of the heroes when Raven appeared in the doorway. Nightwing followed Raven, then Cyborg and Beast Boy showed up. Flash rushed in at super speed to join them and Red Arrow dropped down. Miss Martian was the next one to face them, but Maxwell Lord just clapped at them slowly.

"You children are out of your league," Lord said in a smug tone of voice as his eyes began to glow and he tried to compel the group of heroes to stand in their place, to allow the Ultimen to attack them.

"STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Volcana angrily hurled a blast of fire towards Lord which broke his psychic attack and allowed M'gann to jump in to lock onto his mind. The two psychics struggled in battle, neither of them giving the other any quarter.

The Ultimen charged in with the battle.

Wind Dragon once again engaged Raven in battle, but he fared no better in combat then his predecessor. Raven once again repelled his wind attacks back at him to knock him down to the ground. Wind Dragon returned fire battling Raven.

Supergirl and Arcane circled Wind Dragon and flew at super speed into the vortex. The two heroes were into the Vortex, and Flash added his own input at super speed. Wind Dragon spun around and around like a demented spin cycle, before he was flung into the wall.

Downpour and Shifter engaged Beast Boy and Cyborg in battle, with Shifter shifting into a large rhino and Beast Boy copied his movements. Beast Boy and Shifter butted heads and horns, neither backing up from the other's assault. The loud crash and slam of two rhinos headbutting each other could be heard.

"Why won't you fry?" Juice demanded sending a bolt of electricity at Nightwing who promptly dodged it.

Nightwing was not going to outgun Juice, at least not one on one, but unfortunately he had some added help. Red Arrow jumped in and aimed, ready to fire. The arrow was shot out and Juice caught it, laughing, before a pulse caused him to short circuit. Juice dropped down to the ground and Flash rushed in at super speed, before sending him down.

Flash stopped, brushing off his hands, when the water sprinklers went off courtesy of Downpour, an action that caused Flash to stagger. Supergirl fired her heat vision at the floor and caused the water on the floor where Downpour stood to boil. The mutant staggered back at this point and Cyborg aimed his arm cannon.

"In your face!" Cyborg yelled triumphantly before blowing Downpour backwards and the young member of the Ultimen flew head over heels.

Longshadow battled Longshadow with the original feeling the pain of the breakdown starting, but he pushed through. He was more than just a weapon and that much was true when he grabbed his duplicate around the throat, pushing him back against the wall. Longshadow struggled against the grip of Longshadow and kicked him off.

Raven jumped in and closed her eyes before the second Longshadow was frozen in place. This allowed Cyborg to jump in and cut him down to size, blasting his legs out from underneath him. Longshadow tried in vain to balance himself before he crashed down to the ground and the original Longshadow made sure his duplicate had stayed down.

Shifter was sent crashing into the wall by Beast Boy and slammed with a vicious, violent charge. The young man was unconscious and seemed to be among the first to feel the early processes of degeneration.

Lord and M'Gann continued their psychic battle on the other end with M'gann trying to push through the barrier, but Lord fired back with an attack of his own.

"You won't defeat me, little girl," Lord grunted trying to smash M'gann's mind into an eggshell with a well-placed psychic smash.

Arcane sensed this as an opportunity to get involved before he sent a blast at Lord. Lord was thrown off by this attack as his mind was attacked. Supergirl got involved on the attack, as did Power Girl and Matrix when they locked onto the bond link.

Lord shrugged off the initial barrage, but M'gann jumped back in, before slamming the full force a brutal psychic punch through the mind of Maxwell Lord. The eyes of Lord rolled in the back of his head and he staggered around, before he dropped down to the ground.

M'gann dropped to her knees and Volcana caught her in her arms, with a smile which M'gann returned.

"I think your friend is back there," Volcana told the Titans and the group all nodded, making their back to back wall that Arcane and Supergirl had found earlier.

Cyborg smashed the wall open and sure enough in a containment tank was the unconscious form of Starfire. She looked a bit older than they last remembered her with longer hair that went nearly down to the floor and also was more developed, but they hoped that their friend had not been twisted to the point.

"So can you get her out?" Nightwing asked Cyborg in a pleading voice.

"I should be able to," Cyborg replied, hoping that he was not too late. With that in mind, he began to hack into the machine to find his way inside and sure enough after a couple of moments of tense actions, the containment tank opened with Starfire falling out.

She looked up at the Titans in recognition and said two words.

"My friends."

She collapsed on the ground the moment she exited the tank, but Raven and Nightwing had caught her. Supergirl stepped forward to take a look at Starfire and put a hand to her forehead.

"Teleport her back to Patronus, Karen and Linda will both know what to do," Supergirl responded after a deep breath. "Starfire's been through a lot, and we just got to her in time."

Raven did so as the Teen Titans circled around, both past and present. The Flash stood in the background and Nightwing walked towards his former Teen Titans teammate before taking a long look at him.

"So, did the League know about this mission?" Nightwing asked in a somber tone and it was Flash who seemed to look a bit nervous at this point.

"Batman has been investigating Cadmus business for some time and this was one of the facilities that was on the list, don't tell him I told you though," Flash answered Nightwing and Nightwing turned around long enough to fold his arms, to peer out into the distance.

So Batman had an idea about this place, well Nightwing was going to have a few words with his mentor about what just happened. It was not the first time that Batman hoarded vital information away from him, but it was most certainly an extremely frustrating occurrence when it happened. Nightwing clutched a fist and scowled long and hard.

Volcana turned to Harry at this point, not wanting to meet his eye, before she placed the Stone of Godric Gryffindor in his hand.

"We're even," Volcana answered at that moment, before Harry placed a coin in her hand. "What's this for, bus fare?"

"It's to send you back to Patronus, until we can get this sorted out, Longshadow is being sent back as well,' Harry told Volcana and he also transported the stone into the security vault with Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

Volcana had no time to argue, she knew that Arcane was not going to give her another chance and she might as well try to rely on them. The coin activated within her hand and caused her to disappear in a flash of light. There was no trace of the girl but a smug of dirt where she had once stood.

Harry and Kara looked at each other, a resolved expression on their faces, and knew they had their work cut out for them. The first thing they were going to do was try and find that clone.


Kara and Harry exited the Cadmus facility after it had been cleared out, both of them having searched it for any information. Unfortunately, Cadmus had been crafty enough not to leave too much behind at this point and thus the pair of them were just essentially back to square one. The Teen Titans had long since left.

'Well that one was a bust,' Kara thought to Harry in despair. 'I can't help but….be worried that something might have happened to her. It feels almost like a part of me is getting tormented as well, it sounds silly I know.'

'No, it's not absurd at all, she is you, and we'll find her, sooner or later,' Harry answered at that point, but before they could leave, several government vehicles rolled up to the base. 'We've got a bit of trouble.'

Harry saw several armed government officials and troops exit the vehicles at this point. Behind them was a large black woman dressed in a business look and an expression on her face that indicated that she was going to not take any guff from anyone. She walked forward and came face to face with the two Potters.

"Step away from the government lab," Waller commanded in a swift voice, and no sooner had those words escaped her mouth, the government facility blew up, along with all of the half completed clones having been destroyed. Waller was flummoxed at this action by the two Potters. "How dare you?"

Kara jumped right in defensive mode and stared down Waller. "How dare I? How dare I? How dare you? You're the one who are keeping people against their will, with your genetic cloning experiments, and you're conditioning them into your little soldiers."

Waller was not about to be talked back by an alien, especially one who was so dangerous. She worked hard for this country and was proud to be an American. Even if she had to work with Lex Luthor to achieve those ends, there was a certain means that would justify them. It was better to make the deal with the devil to save the lives of many.

"We're only out for the best interests of the people, human people," Waller answered at this point. "Do you think we are blind? Project Cadmus is for the benefit of the world. The Justice League is growing, they are forming an army, and they have that orbital space station that could potentially fire upon innocent people."

Harry stared down Waller at that moment, but Waller decided to turn her attention to him, the most dangerous one of them all.

"And do not think we have forgotten about you, Mr. Potter. I've learned about what wizards can do, I've heard the reports of the disappearances and what Riddle did. If a small group like that was able to cause so many deaths, then a larger group was going to be able to cause even more deaths."

"Perhaps, but anyone is capable of causing deaths," Harry answered without missing a beat. "Some of the greatest atrocities in the history of the world have been committed by ordinary human beings who did not have a drop of magical blood or powers within them. But naturally, they were all doing what was best for the world."

Waller faced Harry at this moment, conceding that he had a point, but she was not about to back down and let him know that she agreed with him on this front.

"Volcana and Longshadow, hand them over to us, Mr. Potter," Waller responded at that point and Harry just stood to face her.

"Sorry, can't do that," Harry replied at that point, staring Waller directly in the eye, almost daring her to take a shot at him so he would have an excuse to put her down. "The two of them have been victimized by the government in different ways."

"Longshadow will perish in less than a day, so it doesn't matter to begin with," Waller answered at that moment.

"Maybe through normal technology, but you'd be surprised with what we're capable of," Kara answered at that point, floating off the ground.

Two rather determined forces stared each other down with neither blinking at this point.

"You have just validated my point," Waller answered, with the very obvious fear that Supergirl, Arcane, and their wives were too powerful to be allowed. Yet, there was only one thing that could potential take them down that she was seeing and that was unwilling to play that particular card at that point. "Volcana has committed many crimes, and should be locked up for her own good."

"One could accuse Cadmus of flaunting the law as well with their illegal manipulation of genetics and working with known fugitives," Harry responded at that point to Waller, throwing her words back into her face. "We can go back and forth on this all day and all night, Ms. Waller. The fact of the matter is that you can sugar-coat what you're doing under the illusion of it being for the Greater Good all you want, but we all know better."

Waller stood back, making sure to keep several men between her and the Potters. She knew that she was fighting a losing battle at this point and Waller turned around.

Harry and Kara allowed Waller to leave, mostly because they had placed a tracking charm on her person. It was the only shot that they had to tracking down Luthor, Kara's clone, Astoria, and anything else that Cadmus might be cooking up.

When Waller was out of sight a voice whispered in her ear.

"I removed the tracking charm those two put on you Waller and you were a fool to even think to engage them face to face. Do you not understand the consequences of what could have happened?"

Waller refused to let some teenage witch tear her down in such a manner. Waller spun around, eyes flashing in anger, before she went to respond to the girl in question.

"I fear nobody."

There was enough time for Waller to depart before Harry and Kara figured out that the tracking charm had been removed from her. Perhaps it was a calculated risk for Waller to confront them and it hit her that if they had Volcana, they also had the third stone. That was another reason why Greengrass was in a bit of a snit.

Cadmus would still serve its intended purpose and protect the world. Tonight's mission had been the first real failure where nothing had gone right. However, Waller would rebound and would recoup, because that was the type of woman that she was.


Nightwing stood on a rooftop overlooking Gotham City before Batman dropped down behind him. Given that he was rather used to Batman's unexpected dropping in, Nightwing did not even flinch for a second before he turned to properly face his mentor.

"So, I've heard you've had a busy night."

"One might say that," Nightwing responded without looking Batman in the eye or even looking at him period. He tried to keep his voice calm and given the Dark Knight a chance to explain, although Nightwing did wonder sometimes why he even bothered. "Starfire was alive, Cadmus had her."

Nightwing waited for Batman to give the reaction and sure enough Batman gave it.

"There have been rumors to that extent," Batman answered, once again keeping his voice calm as he stood in the shadows.

"So, you did know?" Nightwing offered and there was no response other than the silence. "You couldn't have given me the heads up."

"The League had to be for sure," Batman answered to Nightwing.

Nightwing just turned around and peered over the ledge, looking down into Gotham City.

"So, that's it, now I couldn't have been told before you? I've been busting my hump for you for years and you couldn't even clue me in that one of my oldest friends could still be alive in a government base somewhere."

"I didn't want to get your hopes up, Nightwing," Batman answered and there was a long moment before Nightwing looked off into Gotham City, before he turned around.

Nightwing remained silent and calm, before he walked off and just shot a grapple towards a gargoyle across the way before he swung off. He did not even know why they were even bothering.

Batman stood and turned around, knowing his old partner well. He would stew for a few days and then he would be back. The fact of the matter was that Cadmus was increasing their operations.

The Justice League was at a crossroads and Batman had to report back what he found out. The team could be potentially taking the first steps to a full blown round of becoming like the Justice Lords so they needed to proceed with caution. It would take much consideration to determine what their next move was.

To Be Continued in "Thawing."