I thought of this story after rewatching s1 of YJ, after SO many years as I was disappointed with s3 :(
This was just for pure enjoyment and fun, also, the YJ team still went to Santa Prisca, so Superboy, Artemis and Miss Martian already revealed their secrets to the team.
The Justice League had decided on their new members; the Atom, Dr Fate, Plasticman, Icon and his partner Rocket who would be joining other teenagers and Red Arrow aka Roy Harper, green arrow's first sidekick
"Well, Roy's going to be pleased," Green Arrow said, slightly celebrating, hoping that this would mend their relationship
"yes, Roy has managed to impress us with his vast skills in taking on the Shadows," Batman said "Green Arrow will be the one to inform him"
"I'll do my best, but he does have a habit of disappearing when he wants to, probably learnt it from Robin" the League laughed and went on their way, with Green Arrow disappearing in the Zeta tube to find his former sidekick and tell him the good news.
That had been 2 hrs. ago, and Roy was still standing frozen in his apartment and wouldn't move, not even to blink
"what happened?" Batman asked for what seemed like the 100th time since he arrived
"I told you, I came to his apartment and tell him the good news, he looked like he was in the middle of doing a weekly inspection of his arrows, I always say: a broken arrow is a useless arrow, I said that to him for old times sake, when he suddenly froze!"
"hmmm," Batman frowned even more before standing up and facing Red Arrow "who are you?"
"I am CADMUS clone #38919081, my mission is to infiltrate the Justice League and bring them under the control of Vandal Savage" Roy responded in a robotic tone, Green Arrow's eyes widened under his mask while Batman's narrowed
"a-a clone?" Green Arrow stuttered out "like corner?"
"It appears so," Batman said, keeping his voice neutral
"But how? When?"
"I'm guessing when Speedy was sent to investigate the suspicious activity from Lexcorp, they must have grabbed him and cloned him. After that, they left a fake trail for you to follow to rescue this Roy harper and train him, then once he was 'ready' his programming kicked in and drove him to become League worthy"
"But...why is he frozen?"
"I'm guessing it must be a control of some kind, like a pause button. I'm guessing the Shadows use this to implant new instructions and gather inside information on the League. They must have told him to plant in our heads that someone is a mole, not knowing that he was the mole himself"
"they wanted to drive the team apart!" Green Arrow realised "they knew that if one of them was a mole, they would drift apart and then the kids would be out of the way!"
"most likely" Batman frowned, slightly angry at himself, he prided himself at being the world's greatest detective, but he was only human.
"oh god! This is all my fault! I never should have sent him alone" Green Arrow moaned and rubbed his face, Batman walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder
"no," the dark said in a surprisingly gentle voice "it was not your fault, this Roy was obviously programmed to act and behave just like the real Roy, CADMUS most likely gave him all the memories and characteristics of the real Roy, no one could tell the difference. Not even me"
"We should tell the kids" by kids, Green Arrow meant Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad as they were the closest to Roy
"no. The team must not know, we will keep this between the two of us. The Shadows are most likely waiting for the right time to carry out this plan, we will wait. Until then..." Batman turned and faced the clone "how will Vandal Savage gain control of the justice league?"
###
A few weeks later, Red Arrow, Icon, Plasticman, Dr Fate and the Atom gained their League Membership and joined the team, the Justice League went back inside the Hall of Justice to celebrate but found that it was empty
"where are the kids?" Wonder Woman asked as Batman pulled up the computer
"gone" he frowned at the coordinates of a plane crash that Cheshire had caught, behind them, Red Arrow remained natural as he stared at the screen.
Most of the Justice League went to the Watchtower to show their new members around, while Batman, Red Tornado, Black Canary and Icon went to the cave to wait for the kids.
After learning that the team had managed to get hold of the biotech that would later be used to gain control of the league, Batman congratulated them and gave them a rare smile, the rest of the team looked happy as Icon examined them, upon confessing that even he was unfamiliar with the tech, Batman took the case with him to the tower where the rest of his team were waiting. Red Arrow had disappeared with Green Arrow so Batman discreetly informed the leaguers about what was to transpire, he convinced them to play along until Vandal Savage was in the Watchtower. Thanks to the information that Red Arrow had supplied, he was able to make a cure and injected them all into the league so they would not be affected.
Later, Batman secluded himself from the others and continued to analyse the strange tech, so that they could perhaps use it someday, but without the victim being completely under control when Red Arrow entered the room, he mentally braced himself as he felt Red Arrow's hand touch his neck and a cold piece of metal enter his skin, but thanks to the cure, he remained unaffected and was able to maintain control. He then turned around and walked to the main part of the tower where the rest of the team was waiting and walked to the zeta tubes to allow Vandal Savage to enter the Watchtower. Upon entering, Batman and the rest of the league made sure to bow as Red Arrow shook his head as his mind cleared, glancing around he saw that Vandal Savage was in front of him and the rest of the League bowing to him.
"I...I was the mole?" Red Arrow said in shock
"yes," Vandal Savage said as he walked past and stared at the earth, behind him he could hear the voice of the Zeta tube accounting Red Arrow leaving "go after him" he ordered as he turned around, he frowned when he realised that none of his minions made a move, "I said, go after him! Listen to me!"
"oh, we're listening alright," Batman said as he stood up and faced him, the rest of the leaguers following "but not to you" Vandal Savage took a step back in shock, his plan, had failed? How? "easy" Vandal Savage glanced at Batman, had he said those words out loud?
"yes, you did. As for how your plan failed, well. For once, it was an accident"
"When I went to tell Roy that he was now in the league" Green Arrow stated, not bothering to hide his former sidekick's identity since Savage probably already knew "he was in the middle of maintaining his arrows, so I said one of my favourite sayings; a broken arrow is a useless arrow and that..."
"triggered his subconscious programming to freeze and tell you what you wanted" Vandal ground out
"that's right, upon learning that he was the mole I asked him for every bit of information about your plan and managed to make a cure, so we would be unaffected by your little toys" Batman finished
Vandal Savage growled and used the ring around his finger to release the demon boy Klarion who immediately blasted magic at the league, but was quickly stopped by Dr Fate and trapped his familiar Teekl in a cage, meanwhile Wonder Woman used her lasso of truth to capture Savage before he could do anything else.
"it's over" Wonder Woman growled
"don't be so sure, eventually, the world will see the Light" Vandal Savage grinned as an inhibitor collar was placed on him
"so, what should we do with them?" Flash asked
"I will take care of the demon boy," Dr Fate said and used his magic to get rid of Teekl making Klarion disappear
"Okay...but what should we do about savage?" Green Lantern (Hal Jordon) asked "if we lock him up, someone will break him out eventually"
"true, for now, he will stay at the Belle Reve Penitentiary in a crystalline prison cell"
"We should go find Roy," Green Arrow said, worried for his sidekick and adoptive kid
"NO, let the others find Red Arrow. To him, we are still under Vandal Savage's control and are looking to kill him. WE will search CADMUS for the real Roy while the others find red arrow" Batman said in a voice that said 'no arguments', Green arrow sighed, but agreed. Knowing that (as usual) Batman was right, he followed batman into the zeta tube along with Red Tornado and Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Flash, Superman, Green Lantern (Hal) and Aquaman escorted Vandal Savage to the Belle Reve Penitentiary, the rest stayed behind to monitor the tower.
####
To say that the team took the news lightly was an understatement, there had been a lot of yelling and denial, mostly from Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad, Conner was surprised and was grateful that he had been rescued before it was too late, Miss Martian was upset as she could have found that information out while they were battling the shadows and Artemis was...unreadable.
"The league is now escorting Vandal Savage to the Belle Reve Penitentiary and searching CADMUS to find the real Roy, while we are doing that, you will need to find Red Arrow, he might listen to you more than us"
"understood Batman," Aqualad said, and the others agreed with him
"uhh, I have something to say," Superboy said, rubbing the back of his head "there's another Superman clone in CADMUS
"and how do you know of this?" Batman questioned, squinting under his mask
"Lex Luthor contacted me" Superboy sighed and told out his story, about how Lex was his half-father and that other clone was pure Kryptonian and was unstable, so he was to remain frozen until he could be controlled "if it's possible, could you also rescue him? I don't want him to suffer any more than he already has, or worse, turned into a weapon"
Batman stared at him for a long time before sighing "very well" he said before leaving through the zeta tube
"don't worry, we'll find the real Roy and bring him home" Black Canary reassured them before following Batman and Red Tornado, Green Arrow hesitated
"Is everything alright?" Artemis asked her mentor
"I'm not sure, I thought I had the real Roy, but it turns out he was a fake. I left the real Roy all alone. I never should have let him go on that mission alone" Green Arrow sighed
"it's not your fault Ollie," Robin said and placed a calming hand on Green Arrow's shoulder "you had no choice, Roy had just started being your partner, it was too dangerous for Roy to fight Merlyn"
"yeah, the shadows had us all tricked" Fid Flash added "if anything, it should have been us to notice something was wrong"
"you will find the real Roy Harper" Aqualad reassured and Green Arrow sighed
"thanks, who knows? If we're lucky, we can be done with our missions before the New Year?" Green Arrow said, with a forced smile, but no one commented on it and wished him luck as he left, the teens then turned to each other
"let's find our friend," Aqualad said determinedly and the team made their way to the bioship.
It didn't take long to find him, he was hiding out in an apartment that was rundown, the team agreed that Aqualad was the best person to talk to Roy as they were best friends, and that's probably why Roy told Aqualad that there was a mole in the first place.
They made the right choice, Aqualad was able to convince Roy that the League was alright and were currently looking for the real speedy, and to come back with them so miss martian could remove any programming left by CADMUS so he would not be controlled by them anymore. Along the way, Roy told them his story, how he was a 'sleeper agent', how he carried out his orders subconsciously, how he was ordered to focus on Miss Martain, Artemis and Superboy. They tried to tell him it was not his fault, but he refused to believe them, harbouring all kinds of guilt they couldn't imagine.
"Batman to team, come in" Bateman's voice suddenly rang through the communicators
"we read you Batman" Aqualad responded and Batman's picture appeared
"you managed to find Red Arrow, good job"
"How was your mission?" Robin asked
"we managed to find both the real Roy and the other superboy clone, although CADMUS gave him the name 'Match', they were both frozen, we admitted Roy into the medical wing and leaving the Match frozen until you get back. Manhunter says he might need Miss Martian's help getting rid of whatever driving him to be unstable"
"acknowledged Batman, ETA 20 minutes," Miss Martain said
"good. Over and out" Batman's image disappeared, but Red Arrow's tension didn't
"relax, the League aren't infected. They're not after you" Robin tried to calm his friend down
"its not just them, I'm nervous to meet the real...Roy. I'm not sure how he'll react, that he's been frozen for 3 years and that another...him has been living his life"
"look, Roy..."
"DON'T CALL ME ROY!" Red Arrow snapped at Kid Flash who held his hands up in surrender "sorry, it's just that...I don't deserve to be called that." he sighed "I'm not the real Roy harper. Just a copy, that's not my name, it's just a stolen identity"
"then what do you want to be called?" Robin asked
"I'm...I'm not sure"
"you'll pick a new name when the time is right, but to us, it doesn't matter what you are or what you are called. all that matters is that you are our friend" Aqualad stated, Red Arrow didn't answer and continued to stare straight ahead and the rest of the trip was silent.
20 mins later, they finally reached the cave and met the rest of the justice league, with Red Arrow lingering behind as the others reunited with their mentors. Green Arrow walked over to Red Arrow who tensed up as he was pulled into a hug, eventually, he relaxed and sunk into his mentor's embrace and let lose the emotions he had been holding back. Anger, confusion, fear. They all came out, Green Arrow didn't say a word, he just held on tight.
"I'm sorry" Red Arrow whispered, but Green Arrow just shushed him and whispered reassurances
"so, can we go see Roy? The real one?" Kid Flash asked from Artemis's side where she was watching the scene
"yes, but it's better if Green Arrow and Red Arrow were there to explain it to him first, it is a bit overwhelming," Batman said
On the other side of the cave, superman was talking to superboy
"so, where's Match?" Superboy asked superman
"at the moment he's Manhunter, waiting for Miss Martain to help him he said that she's better at the mind-stuff than she is"
"oh, ok."
"so, I hear you've taken up a name?"
"yeah, Conner Kent"
"huh, my real name is Clark Kent"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"No, it's fine. it...fits" Superman gave his clone a smile which was returned "look, I'm sorry with the way I treated you, usually I give people a chance before I judge them, but I could help but be cautious about you. I guess I was worried that you would...turn bad." Superman rubbed the back of his head in guilt as Superboy's head shot up "I know, I know. But I couldn't help but be cautious. Uou were unstable and there was no telling what you could do. I now see that I was wrong and hope you can forgive me"
"I guess I have to apologise to you too. I treated you, all of you badly. All I could see from you was this...giant shadow you cast over me, like...I'm you, but not you at the same time. If that makes sense"
"Yeah, it kinda does" Superman confessed and both of them stared at each other "you know, I'm visiting my parents over the weekend for the New Year, you're welcome to join me if you want"
"i...I would like that. Thanks" Superboy smiled "but only after we fix Match"
"of course"
Both Clark's then joined the rest of their respective teams as the computer announced that it was now January 1st, Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash and Aqualad all managed to score a kiss as Red Arrow and Green Arrow disappeared into the infirmary to wake for the real Roy to wake up.
"I think my name should be Will. I don't want to be 'Roy'" Red Arrow said to his mentor
"that's fine, but why Will?" Green Arrow asked and took off his mask, becoming Oliver Queen
"I met a young boy named Will. He was one of the few kids that the Shadows had captured. He was one of the bravest kids I ever met, he insisted I rescued the other kids first as he was the oldest one there, I couldn't save him, so by being Will, it's like...a way to remember him. But I'm still keeping the last name if Roy will let me"
"Will Harper," Oliver said, trying the name out "it fits" he smiled at his former sidekick now college who took off his mask
"Thanks, Ollie" Roy-will whispered as they entered the infirmary where Roy (the real one) was still asleep
"When do you think he'll wake up?"
"not sure, he's been frozen for 3 years, could be a while"
Both archers continued to keep a vigil eye on the sleeping Harper and discussed what had happened over the last year, how far they had both come when a small groan was heard from the bed, they both quickly glanced and saw that Roy's eyes were fluttering before they suddenly shot open, but closed them at the bright light
"wha-what happened?" he asked roughly, coughing at how dry his throat was "where am I?"
"Roy?" Roy glanced over and saw his mentor with tears in his eyes, he must have gotten injured during the mission, but looking closer, he noticed that his mentor had grown a goatee, and he had a few wrinkles, he moved to sit up, but something felt off. Glancing down he felt like throwing up, as below his elbow, the rest of his arm was gone. The only evidence it had been there in the first place was the white bandages.
"wha-what... happened?!" he demanded glaring around Roy and flinched back, as in front of him was a carbon copy of himself, except taller and had more muscle and had less chubby. "Who-who are you?!"
"I'm you...well, more like a clone of you," Will said sighing before launching into his story, how CADMUS grew him, how he took over as speedy, how the other kids had formed their own team, how he betrayed the league and how they [the league] found him
"Woah" Roy muttered, trying to process the information
"I know it's a lot to process" Roy huffed at the understatement from his...clone "but if it makes you feel any better, I changed my name. I didn't feel like I deserve to be called Roy. That's your name"
"...thanks, I guess," Roy said, "so, what do I call you?"
"Will. and if it's alright with you, I would like to keep the last name"
"so...we would be like brothers?" Will gave a small nod and Roy grinned "I would like that. Never had a brother before!"
Will huffed and gave a large grin "I'd like that" both of them shared a laugh and Olliver sat back in his chair to watch them, glad to see that there would be no bad tension between the two.
"hey, guys! Dinner's ready-Roy?-ROY!" Wally cut off as he entered the room with Kaulder and Dick, who were all out of uniform, and to Oliver and Will's surprise, Dick was no longer wearing his sunglasses
"hey, guys!" Roy greeted them, waving his hand "what's going on?"
"Nothing much," Wally said and joined them "so uh...have you decided on a name yet?" Wally asked Will
"Yeah, call me Will" Will answered with an amused smile "Will Harper"
"Will Harper..." Dick said "I like it, Bruce and I can get it legalised if you want"
"thanks. So where are the cool shades?"
"oh, yeah. I took them off. I decided that since the others revealed their secrets, it was only fair that I revealed mine to them" Dick explained with a small smile, he looked more relaxed than usual.
"well, I have to say it's about time," Oliver said,
"How are you feeling Roy?" Kaulder asked Roy
"tired I guess, overwhelmed too" Roy explained with a sigh
"I am glad you are alright," Kaulder said, giving him a warm smile as Will stood up and stretched his legs
"umm, I'm gonna go. give you guys some space," he said quietly and left the room, Oliver let out a small sigh
"Still the same as always," he said fondly "I should probably follow him" he stood up and walked to the door "mind keeping an eye on him?"
"Sure, no problem," Dick said, Oliver, nodded and left the room, softly closing the door behind him
"so...you guys formed your own team? What was that like?" Roy asked the teens
"Pretty awesome," dick said
"so...how did that happen?"
"well, it all started when we got to visit the Hall of Justice..."
While Dick, Wally and Kaulder told Roy their story, down the hall, Megan and Jo'oan used their psychic abilities to dive into Match's head and erase everything that CADMUS did to him, it was a very long and complicated process as a lot of CADMUS programming had been planted into him and they had to remove all of it but had to make sure not to take away everything and leave him as an empty shell.
'CADMUS has done a great deal of harm to him' J'onn said telepathically to Megan
'yes, I just hope we will be able to help him' she replied
The process took many hours, but they eventually managed to get rid of everything CADMUS had done leaving a confused and afraid Match, the Martians decided that Conner would be the best person to first see Match. It took a while, but Conner was able to get through to match and he got a new name Casper, he was still slightly wary around superman, but still agreed to join them to visit his (Clark's) parents.
The rest of the teenagers went home to celebrate the New Year with their families, enjoy a rare moment to relax and think back on the last year, while preparing for what's ahead.
I imagine that since Kid Flash and Robin are best friends because they like to pull pranks and are closer in terms of age, Kaulder and Red Arrow are best friends because they are older and more serious.
I hoped you like the reason why Oliver wasn't with Roy when he investigated the Lex Corp illegal activities, I mean, Oliver would just let Roy go on a mission by himself when he only just became Speedy, so there had to be a reason why he wasn't with him
And I know that Roy seems very different from when he was introduced in s2, but remember this Roy was only frozen for 3 years not 8, so he doesn't blame Oliver for not looking for him as he didn't know. And as for how he treats Will, again, since it was only 3 years, he doesn't hold that much hate towards the two archers.
Season 2 still happened, just differently, since the Justice League never attacked the alien planets, they were never invaded. The Light still exists as Will was never given any information on them or their plans
Sorry, the scene between Superboy and match were so short, this story was mainly about Red Arrow. I wonder if we'll see Match again, we last saw him still frozen and belonging to CADMUS, why hasn't he been rescued yet?