Teton County, Early Morning…
Albedo sat within a lab looking at what seemed to be Red Tornado.
"How long is it going to take either that Justice League or Ben Tennyson and his motley crew to find us?" Albedo thought. "They say the heroes have some of the greatest detective minds on Earth, but this is just disgraceful. Do I need to leave an actual clue for these people?"
Suddenly, the door to the lab opened. A thin man with longish brown hair and thick sideburns entered the lab carrying a large bag of chili fries. He has green eyes and wears dark coveralls over a white shirt.
"Hand it here, Brom." Albedo stated as he turned his seat to face the man.
"Right." The man stated.
He tossed the bag to the corrupted form, and Albedo took a whiff before eating from the bag. "As loathe as I am to admit it, you earthlings have sense Azmuth lacked." He turned to the androids. "I mean, what was Azmuth's defense against something like Malware?
Tiny guns that were no more than an inconvenience and jetpacks that could buzz around like an annoyance. It's a disgrace compared to machines like Amazo, the Red's, or Mr. Twister. With a little ingenuity, he could have built something similar with defenses against Mechamorphs."
"Does that mean you finished the suit?" Brom asked.
"Finished it?" Albedo smirked. "They've been done for days now; however, neither of us will pilot them."
"Sir, the only people I'd hesitate to go up against would be leaguers." Brom argued. "I mean, surely this covert team of theirs cannot be any sort of a threat."
"Underestimating them is what saw to the Injustice League's downfall at their hand." Albedo waved him off. "If you want to go to jail, be my guest. Your usefulness to me is getting these Chili Fries where I cannot. Quite frankly, it is your choice to make, and I care little about it."
Brom looked at the Red Tornado suit in deep contemplation.
Mount Justice, Evening…
More than a week had passed since the defeat of the Injustice League. Despite a solid win, the team decided it was time to put more effort into their training. They were riding high with their recent victory and didn't want to end up losing through lack of effort.
Currently, they were all in Cave's gym working out as a team and in pairs. After finding out that Kyle was someone who liked to train extensively, Cameron had claimed him as his work out partner. They were currently doing sets of squats over at the rack.
Ryuko and Dick managed to find a place for a matt and were doing combat training. Conner and Cassandra, who had been peer pressured into finally coming to the Cave not in costume, were benching weights.
Conner could lift considerably more than Cassandra, but it still worked. Wally, Ben, Gwen, and Miss Martian were on the treadmills with Kid Flash obviously pushing his much further than the latter three.
"So, who's our babysitter today?" Conner asked.
"Black Canary." Wally replied. "Though, I hear Zatara will be coming over soon, but I don't know why."
"Think it'll have something to do with Red Tornado?" Ryuko asked.
Conner scowled because bringing up the android was still a touchy subject with him.
"I doubt it." Ben replied. "The league is keen to keep this as their issue."
After finishing their working out, the team decided to head to the Cave's lounge. As they entered the room, the Cave's computer suddenly caught everyone's attention.
"Recognized: Zatara A11. Recognized: guest, Zatanna."
The father and daughter pair stepped into the Cave.
"Zatanna, this is the team." Zatara tucked his cane under this arm. "Team, my daughter Zatanna."
Zatanna stepped towards the group shyly while staring around at the Cave with curiosity. Gwen was always happy to meet a fellow magic user, and Kent had told her that anyone with the Zatara name was one.
Plus, it wasn't too hard to sense her magic, so she approached the fellow magic user. "Hello, I'm…"
Dick interrupted her. "… Robin. I mean, I'm Robin. Sorry, I'm just not allowed to share my real identity outside the team." He straightened up. "Anyways, she's Gwen, and they are Ben, Cassandra, Conner, M'gann, Wally, Kyle, Ryuko, and…"
Dick paused since he was unsure of how to introduce Cameron without scaring her.
Cameron heaved a sigh. "Yep, time for the awkward introductions." He stepped forward. "I'm Cameron Mahkent."
He was prepared for horrified gasps or sudden explosions in his direction; however, what he got was rather surprising.
"It's okay." Zatanna merely nodded. "My Dad already told me about you."
She smiled shyly at him which caused the ice user to feel even more awkward. "Oh…"
Ben decided to step in and put an arm around the guy. "Anyways, we'd all like to welcome you to the Cave." He nodded. "So, would you be here to join the team?"
Zatara intervened before she could answer. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves." He took off his top hat and held it to his chest. "This is strictly a visit. Though, I am sorry for missing your training. He turned to Black Canary. "It's something from which Zatanna could benefit."
"Hey, you're never too young to start training the right way." Ben shrugged as he stepped away from Cameron. "This team is always more than happy to help each other improve."
"Um, yes." Zatara nodded politely clearly not expecting that. "I'll keep that in mind."
He then moved to talk with Canary.
"Do any of you get the impression we're still on probation with Zatara?" M'gann asked over the mental link.
"Not just Zatara. I mean, why does Marvel keep coming around?" Conner asked.
"Whoa, Captain Marvel is different." Ben reasoned. "The guy's cool and eager to be here with us."
"I do like the guy to." Kyle added. "He's not like the other leaguers"
"Still, I kind of miss Red Tornado." Ryuko spoke up. "For the short time I knew him, the android seemed to trust in this team."
Cameron didn't have an opinion of the guy. Honestly, he had only just met the android a few seconds before he went psycho on the team.
"If you ignored the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him. He was a traitor!" Conner growled.
Zatanna stepped forward. "Are… you guys having a psychic conversation?" They turned to her in surprise. "'Cause I can't decide if that's cool or really rude."
Conner could feel Zatara and Black Canary's eyes at his back. "Fine." He turned to the league members. "We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack, and the league hasn't told us anything."
"The League is searching for Red Tornado." Black Canary's eyes softened. "Batman has made tracking them down our highest priority."
"Red Tornado, controlled or not, still attacked this team." Ben spoke up. "To us, it seems like the league is disregarding that. I mean, if one of us ended up attacking you, there's no way you'd let us exclude you. Even if everyone else ended up agreeing, Batman would go rouge to hunt them.
Since we came together, we've handled some dangerous missions with the last being the Injustice League. While Red Tornado is one the League's heavy hitters, can you honestly say he compares to a team of seven heavy hitters? You can't use the Rooters or Albedo as an excuse.
We handled that team and have fought Kevin alone who is comparable to people like Albedo and I. Black Canary, you are our den mother, so all we're asking for is what Red Tornado once did. Give us a mission to help someone important to the league like we did before."
The team, leaguers, and Zatanna were all stunned into silence. One of the biggest factors was the mission Red Tornado gave them to check in on Kent and the helmet. While not flawlessly executed, they did prevent the helmet from falling into Klarion's hands.
"Very well." Black Canary finally stated.
"Black Canary, you cannot be serious." Zatara interrupted. "What about Batman?"
"I'll handle Batman." Black Canary replied. "Yes, I am very serious. At this point, if I don't sanction this as an official mission, they're liable to go anyways. They did it with Cadmus, and they'll do it now."
Ben smiled. "Thank you, Black Canary."
"Don't thank me." Black Canary retorted. "Unlike prior missions, we have no information that you don't already know, so you're going in blind."
"We can deal with that." Ben stated.
"Before we go, could I suggest we bring Zatanna along?" Dick asked.
Zatanna looked hopefully from the team to her father.
"Not happening." Zatara stated causing his daughter's face to fall. "I may not be able to stop you ten from going, but I can keep my daughter here."
"Dad…" Zatanna tried.
"This is the end of discussion Zatanna." Zatara interrupted. "Maybe you can join them one day, but not until I am certain this is where you need to be over waiting a few years to join the Justice League."
"Why did you even train me if I had to wait years to use it." Zatanna muttered as she crossed her arms.
Ben decided not to put his team's luck to the test since they did just get this mission. "Alright team, let's get into costume and get moving."
Cameron was the last to leave since this situation spoke to him. Honestly, he kind of wished to have a father like Zatara over Icicle Sr. This one interaction told just how different it was to grow up with a father that cared about you beyond a mere tool.
"Zatanna, you don't know what you have it, and how lucky you are." Cameron spoke up genuinely causing both magic users to stare at him stunned. "Your dad's just trying to protect you." He nodded. "Take it from me. You shouldn't be so quick to discard that."
Cameron then ran off after his team causing father and daughter to nod in shock.
Ship
This time, the team decided on taking Ship who rocketed them out of the Cave with the ten members of the team ready for action. Well, Cameron was split between being ready and thinking about his own father. Mentioning him easily put his mind to it, and it wasn't good.
"Dad is behind bars, so he can't tell me what to do anymore." Cameron frowned. "For how long?" He felt a shiver down his neck. "God help me then."
"So, where are we going?" Wonder Girl asked.
"Batman is the world's greatest detective." Robin stated blatantly. "He's been searching for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're going to do better, we need an illogical solution." He faced the rest of the team. "A truly dumb idea."
His, and everyone's, eyes fell on Cameron. "What?"
"It was well known that you were prone to making poor choices in battle." Lucky Girl admitted.
Cameron's cheeks were ever so slightly pink which was his skin's equivalent to turning a bright, cherry tomato.
He crossed his arms uncomfortably. "Yeah well…."
Superboy turned to him. "Do you have any ideas on how to find Tornado or Morrow?" He shrugged. "The guy may not even be behind this, but it is at least a lead to follow."
Cameron sighed as he gave it. "The only people who might know where Tornado is would be Albedo or Morrow. Neither of those guys are reachable unless we go to the guy who might know where the latter is…"
Cameron gulped because he was quite reluctant to continue his train of thought.
"Where can we find this person?" Ion asked.
Cameron looked at this group solemnly. "Belle Reve Penitentiary."
Belle Reve Penitentiary
"Warden Strange owed us a favor for stopping last month's prison break." M'gann learned over the table Dr. Ivo was sitting at. "He's given us five minutes with you."
Professor Ivo glared at the heroes but said nothing. Cameron shifted while glancing out at the two-way mirror across from them. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd in here talking to Batman. The ice user shuddered while crossing his arms to touch the recently healed rib.
"Spill Ivo!" Superboy brought his fist down on the table denting it. "How do we find T.O. Morrow"
Ivo rolled his eyes. "Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?"
"It's because you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game." Kid Flash stepped up to the table. "Who better to keep track of what he's up to and where he is?"
"Fair point." Ivo leaned back in his chair. "Last I heard, Morrow is hiding in a secret, underground base located under Yellowstone National Park. To be precises, it's one hundred meters south of Old Faithful."
He then gave a nasty smile directed at Cameron. "Before you leave with these young heroes, Junior, how interested do you think your father will be to hear about what you've been up to?" Cameron tensed and the inventor laughed. "Ah, very interested… I see."
The team set out to leave with Superboy throwing an arm around the ice user. "Let's just get out of here."
As the team left, Warden Strange watched the recording. Everything had gone as planned. Granted, they hadn't managed to draw in the Justice League, but this team should be a decent test run.
Yellowstone, Albedo's laboratory
Albedo was currently on a primitive, to him, Earth computer which displayed footage of the real Red Tornado, Mister Twister, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, and Red Volcano. Along with that were their schematics, which had been Morrow's, he was looking over.
The nearby phone rang catching the corrupted form's attention as it was from Ivo, so he picked it up. "What do you want Ivo?"
"The Justice League's covert team ended up taking the bait." Ivo replied.
"Perfect." Albedo stood up and hung up the phone. "Brom, we're leaving!"
Bioship
"What's our ETA to Yellow Stone?" Superboy demanded. "I am way past ready to stuff Red Tornado into a trash-compactor."
"Are you sure that he really betrayed us?" Bushido asked.
"Aren't you?" Superboy looked furious. "I don't know if you remember, but he knocked us out which helped Kevin Levin and his group escape!"
"Exactly." Robin shrugged. "If he really wanted to kill us, he would have. Instead, he put just enough force into knocking us out. All of us, save Ben who had been teleported to safety, were all unconscious making us easy targets, but he just left."
"Albedo is still a Galvan no matter what he looks like on the outside." Lucky Girl added. "Not only that, but he was once Azmuth's assistant. Someone like him would be more than smart enough to mess with Tornado's programming."
Superboy's anger had almost faded, but Omni had something to add. "Based on our records, Red Tornado had been built as a weapon against the League, but they let him in anyways. You were created to be a weapon against Superman, yet we trusts you. Until we know the truth, Red Tornado deserves the benefit of the doubt."
Yellowstone National Park, Night…
"Alright, let's move people." Omni declared.
So, the Team moved out. When they got to where Ivo had directed them, Robin used his holo-computer while Superboy used his X-ray.
"Ivo was right." Robin informed. "There's a structure about a hundred feet down."
"Unfortunately, it's lead-lined." Superboy added. "I can't see inside."
The team only got a few meters into the park when a gust of wind kicked up. It got stronger and stronger, until only Superboy and Wonder Girl were able to stay on their feet. The wind then gained a crimson color to it and formed into a series of tornadoes.
Red Tornado was atop the center twister with his arms crossed and cape flapping in the wind. In front of them, more tornadoes materialized digging furrows in the ground. Omni was struggling to reach for his Omnitrix.
"Why, Tornado?" Miss Martian yelled over the screaming wind. "Why are you doing this?"
Omni eventually reached his Omnitrix as everyone else managed to struggle to their feet. He choose a Galvanic Mechamorph and slammed the device down.
"Upgrade!" Omni stated as he had an easier time standing. "Superboy, maneuver seven!"
The clone held out his hands for Upgrade who ran into them and was hurled at Red Tornado. The winds died down, and he made no attempt to dodge. This allowed Upgrade to morph over the android… for about a second. The moment Upgrade seemed to have control; he was shocked off.
What seemed to be Red Tornado created a new twister and sent it straight into Upgrade knocking him into the ground near the others. "That's not Red Tornado." He stood up. "Also, Upgrade's a no go."
"What do you mean?" Cameron asked.
"It's not even an android." Upgrade hit his symbol and became Feedback. "Red Tornado has been repaired before, and never has he been hollow enough for another machine to fit within him. What I'm saying is, take him down!"
Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, and Ion flew at Red Tornado with Superboy having jumped up behind them. One of the vortexes got into their direct path. Lucky Girl's eyes glowed golden shortly before Superboy. The first three were caught and thrown away.
Thanks to Lucky Girls magic, Superboy managed to get through and land a powerful punch on the suit damaging the face. In retaliation, he sent two twisters to drill into the clone knocking him back. Kid Flash was able to come on in as a sort of twister himself by spinning quickly.
He sucked Red Tornado in. "You're not the only spin doctor here, Red!"
With Red Tornado currently occupied, the wind died down. Frankenstrike and Cameron moved into the right positions before Kid Flash stopped flinging the suit of armor into the air. Tornado tried generating more wind, but he was nailed by lighting and ice from both sides.
Robin then threw some explosive disks which nailed the suit damaging it further. Bushido jumped up above the now crashing suit with his blade which Ion reinforced with will power. The swordsman then thrust the blade into the suit with all his might impaling him into the ground.
All they were left with was a wrecked suit in the image of Red Tornado. Other mechanical pieces were littered about, and when Superboy pried open the suit, there was a just a destroyed, android version of T.O. Morrow within.
Happy Harbor, Later…
The team returned to Happy Harbor carrying a laptop Robin found and downloaded everything he could get from every computer located in what they assumed was T.O. Morrow's main base. The doctor seems to have made android copies or himself to continue his work as he grew old.
Beyond that, they couldn't find much else, so any lead on where Red Tornado may be would have to come from whatever they got within that base. They explained this all to Black Canary who they had immediately reported to. They had also given her the laptop.
"Well, you may not have found Red Tornado, but finding a suit made in his image is a sign if every I saw one." Black Canary nodded. "It's more than the league has turned up. Rest assured; I'll see this computer delivered to Batman for further analysis."
Despite finding no further clues on where the leaguer was, at least the team had accomplished something. All of them, Superboy included, felt confident Red Tornado hadn't betrayed anyone because he wanted to.
Unknown
Albedo sat behind a desk with a new computer as wires were fed into Red Tornado, Mister Twister, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, and Red Volcano. Data was downloaded into the five of them as screens behind the five androids showcased scans taken of the entire team.
As Brom checked on the machines themselves, Albedo smirked. "By compiling the data of these younger heroes with data taken from Kevin, myself, and various villains' own data, these five will better serve the Light…"
For this chapter, it took me a minute to determine what I wanted to do. I couldn't very well go with canon because anything stressing T.O. Morrow as someone important to these episodes was taken over by the Rooters. So, I decided to give this plot line to Albedo with a twist. He is a Galvan, so he'd be smart enough not to create Red Volcano in the same way that canon saw him threatening the world.
In the end, I decided this chapter would be a more set up focused chapter as all the pieces where there to keep Albedo seemingly as far from this current matter as you see this chapter. Let me stress, this Red Tornado was not the actual product. If anything, I would link this to a Mister Twister level threat. By now, the team knows how to be a team and are much stronger than when they fought canon Mister Twister.
With this chapter coming to a close, we move onto some of my favorite couple of episodes in season one for how it really changed Young Justice. As for Zatanna joining the team, that will still happen; however, with how this diverges from the canon events, it didn't make sense to throw her with the team for this mission. Sorry about that.
Jebest4781: Thank you
Aztec 13: It was a cool idea someone gave me. I just can't remember who.
TFG: Yep, those are the current members of the light; however, Cyrus is King Cyrus in this universe.
Afan: I can understand your point; however, allow me to explain. If you still feel the way you do, that's fine.
1: The Injustice League were underestimating this Young Justice.
2: Wotan was still back at HQ while Black Atom was the only one out there. The powerhouses were divided.
3: This is a team of ten which sees seven members staying back to fight four Injustice League members. That's almost two Young Justice per Injustice member there
4: This is a stronger Superboy that in canon as displayed by certain feats I've given him. Bereft is a great example since it took more than the canon five on each arm to hold the animalistic clone
5: Ben and Gwen, no offense to canon Aqualad, are stronger than Canon Aqualad.
Yakuza2010: Thank you. I do have plans for them to meet Verdona before going into the second season content of Young Justice. I don't know about Looma.
berrus-sama: Basically, though Ben did make his own in Omniverse, so it's not without presedence.
Guest: Potentially
OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOV (Ch. 1): Thank you. I thought so to on them. By this point, you'll probably see that quite a bit has changed.
Guest: Not sure on Max since random people don't really get to just come into the Cave; however, I got a little something special planned with Max and Ben for Disordered.
Guest: I'll keep that in mind.
Guest: Since the starfish ended up on the surface anyways, I was just going to put it there. Don't worry, just because I wanted some Green Lantern rep on the team doesn't mean I'll exclude Atlantis. It just might mean that you'll have to wait until the events of Season 2 content to see something there.
OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOV (Ch. 2): It my earlier thing to show that I am not afraid to genuinely mix Ben Ten elements with DC elements. Hopefully there growth has not disappointed.
OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOV (Ch. 3): It's more a mimic of the Hal Jordan situation from Green Lantern First Flight with this situation.
Guest: There is a lot of content to cover, but I will do my best to use as much of Ben Ten's world as I can.
OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOV (Ch. 4): Thank you for your review.
HinataSoup: I thought it'd be something Cameron woudl say.
TFG: I'll keep them in mind.
OmnipotentUIJudgeOfCharacterOV (Ch. 5): With this story, I wanted to do something a little more unique in the team set up. I really wanted ot try my hand at introducing some older heroes people may not have heard about
Guest: I'll think about it.
Guest: I'll keep that in mind.