Mr. Freeze slid down the ice ramp he had created, past a family he had frozen in the middle of their Independence Day barbecue.
He took aim at the civilians fleeing the park.
There was a whizzing sound as a sharp object came out of nowhere and knocked his ice-canon away.
Freeze looked at the object now embedded in the ground, a black boomerang with bat-scallops.
"Batman," Freeze said. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Wrong-a-roo," a female voice said.
Freeze looked around for the source of the voice. A shadow appeared over him, causing him to look up as a pair of boots collided with his helmet, knocking him over.
As he fell to the ground, Freeze saw a figure land in front of him. She was a teenager with long blonde hair. Her costume was red and green with a yellow and black cape, and she wore a dark green domino mask. The 'R' symbol on her chest was unmistakable.
"Ah, the girl wonder," Freeze said dismissively.
"Freeze," Robin responded, taking two more batarangs out of her utility belt. These batarangs were of a lighter color than the dark one which had been thrown before. She threw them both at Mr. Freeze.
The left batarang hit the ice canon again. But instead of knocking the weapon away, the batarang exploded in a a spray of green slime which completely covered the large gun.
The other batarang struck Freeze himself, also enveloping him in the slime.
"Gooperangs," Robin said with a smirk, "gotta love em."
"You'll forgive me if I'm underwhelmed," Freeze said. The mechanical fingers of his large exosuit dug into the earth as he slowly pushed himself up.
"Yeah, well, I'm only here to slow you down, freeze-brain," Robin retorted.
Freeze struggled to rise despite the goop. As Robin's words sunk in he looked up again in horror. Another shadow appeared over him, far larger and more menacing.
He had no chance to react as a black fist collided with his face.
Three heroes stood in front of the Hall of Justice, the official headquarters of the Justice League of America in Washington DC.
With them stood their sidekicks, Robin, Aqualad, and Speedy.
Batman smiled, a rare sight, as he said "today's the day" in an equally rare pleasant tone.
Robin looked up at her mentor and smiled back. After everything that had happened between them since she first put on a mask and a cape, for him to bring her here was the most powerful sign of trust he could have given her.
The six spandex-clad heroes felt a burst of wind from behind them. They turned to see the red and yellow figures of Flash and Kid Flash, the faster man and teenager on Earth.
"Aw man," Kid Flash complained. "I knew we'd be the last ones here."
A crowd of onlookers cheered and took pictures on their cell phones as the heroes and sidekicks walked towards the Hall of Justice.
Robin spared a nervous glance at Batman. When she had first met the Dark Knight, he refused to allow any photographs of himself to be taken, and he refused to operate in the day. Even his membership in the Justice League had been unofficial until recently.
But now he simply stared ahead as if oblivious to all the people and camera flashes around.
Green Arrow leaned forward to speak with his protege, Speedy. "Ready to see the inner sanctum?"
"Born that way," Speedy replied, his tone betraying his impatience.
Aqualad looked around at his companions. "I am glad we are all here."
"Have all four sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asked.
"Don't call us sidekicks," Speedy said angrily. "Not after today."
"Sorry," Kid Flash said. "First time at the hall - I'm a little overwhelmed."
The entered the building and stopped. Before them stood seven enormous gold statues. Images of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Aquaman, the seven founding members of the Justice League, towered over them.
"Overwhelming is right," Robin said as she stared at the larger than life figures. But even as she stared in awe, a part of her brain noticed that the statue of her mentor was slightly shinier and less worn than the other six, a sign of its relatively late addition following Batman's public acknowledgement of his membership in the organization of the world's greatest heroes.
A door marked 'authorized personnel only opened, revealing Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.
Martian Manhunter addressed the sidekicks. "Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome."
Robin was only half paying attention as Martian Manhunter led them on a tour of the Hall of Justice. She looked up at Batman to see that she had his attention.
"So apparently all of us fought a different ice-powered dufus on the way here. That's way weird," she whispered.
Batman nodded, and she knew that he was going over the same problem in his head.
Manhunter led them into the library, which was "fully stocked."
Flash smiled at the sidekicks and said: "make yourselves at home." Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad quickly sat down in three of the comfort seats which were placed around the library, but Speedy remained standing.
The adult heroes gathered at the end of the room. "A quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice-villains attacking on the same day," Batman said. "We shouldn't be long."
He turned as a spherical scanning device lowered from the ceiling. Each league member was scanned individually.
Robin frowned at the system. There were similar scanners at the entrances to the batcave, but they were silent, faster, and less intrusive.
The wall in front of the leaguers opened.
"That's it?" Speedy demanded angrily. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass."
"It's a first step," Aquaman responded. "You've been granted access few others get."
"Oh really?" Speedy gestured at the large window above them, where a crowd of fans was gazing inside. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"
Green Arrow stepped forward to address his protégé. "Roy, you just need to be patient."
"What I need is respect," Speedy insisted. He turned to his fellow teenagers.
"They're treating us like kids!" he complained. "Worse, like sidekicks. We deserve better than this."
The other three looked at each other and shrugged.
"You're kidding," Speedy said. "You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be the day, step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League."
"Step one," Robin answered. "There's no guarantee that all of us, or any of us, for that matter, will actually join the League."
"And besides," Kid Flash added. "Step one was just a tour of the HQ."
"Except the hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy declared. Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad leaned forward, their mouths open in surprise.
"I bet they never even told you. It's just a false front for tourists, and a pit stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the watchtower!"
Green Arrow grimaced and turned to Batman, who was glaring at him with his arms folded across his chest.
"I know," Green Arrow said in a guilty tone. He forced a smile. "But I thought that maybe we could make an exception?"
"Or not," he said as Batman continued to glare at him.
"You are not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman told Speedy. "Stand down, or … "
"Or what?" Speedy demanded. "You'll send me to my room? I'm not your son."
He glared at Green Arrow. "I'm not even his. I thought I was his partner, but not anymore."
He took off his hat and threw it at Green Arrow's feet before turning around and storming out the door.
The three remaining sidekicks rose and stared in shock as Speedy walked out.
For a moment, Robin wished she had telepathic powers so that she could tell Batman he had gotten off easy having her instead of Roy Harper for a sidekick.
"Guess they're right about you three," Speedy said when he reached the door. "You're not ready." And with that, he was gone.
He had hardly gone when a siren began to blare and a gigantic monitor turned on, revealing the figure of Superman.
"Whoa," Robin blurted out involuntarily at the sight of the Man of Steel.
"Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."
"I've had my suspicions about Project Cadmus," Batman said. "This may present the perfect opportunity to –"
The siren blared again, and one of the League's magical members also appeared on the screen.
"Zatara to Justice League. "The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Attan to blot out the Sun. Requesting full League response."
"Superman?" Batman asked.
"It's a small fire," Superman responds. "Local authorities have it under control."
"Then Cadmus can wait." The Dark Knight pressed a switch on the console. "All Leaguers, rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out."
He turned to the three sidekicks. "Stay put."
"What, why?" Kid Flash asked.
"This is a League mission," Aquaman began.
"And you're not trained," Flash added.
"Since when?" Kid Flash pressed.
"I meant you're not trained to work as a part of this team," Flash clarified.
"There will be other missions, when you're ready," Aquaman assured them.
"But for now, stay put," Batman said, giving them one of his trademark glares.
"When we're ready?" Kid Flash asked after they left. "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like, like sidekicks?"
Aqualad looked down with a sad expression. "My mentor, my King. I thought he trusted me."
"Trust?" Kid Flash asked sarcastically. "They don't even trust us with the basics! "They've got a secret HQ in space!"
"What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad asked.
Robin shook her head and smiled.
"What are you laughing at?" Kid Flash demanded.
"This is your first time being treated like this, isn't it?" she asked.
The boys looked at each other and then back at Robin. "You're saying you go through this with Batman a lot," Aqualad observed.
"All the time."
"How do you deal with it?"
She shrugged. "Sometimes I obey. Sometimes I disobey. Depends on the situation."
"Were you planning on obeying or disobeying this time?" Aqualad asked.
"Obeying. Blotting out the sun isn't exactly something I was trained for," she said, acknowledging Flash's point.
"I see," Aqualad responded. "And what is this Project Cadmus?"
Robin looked up at the monitor. "Cadmus is a genetics research lab that opened up here in DC soon after the Hall of Justice was built. There's a file on it in the batcomputer, but so far Batman's got nothing other than vague suspicions."
She wasn't supposed to know any of that. Batman didn't know that she had figured out how to hack the batcomputer and seen many of his hidden files.
"Here's an idea," Kid Flash chimed in. "What if we went over to Cadmus ourselves?"
"Solve their case before they do?" Aqualad smiled. "It would be poetic justice."
"Oh, no," Robin whispered. She knew where this was going, having done the same thing herself too many times.
"But they told us to stay here," Aqualad reminded Kid Flash.
"For the sun-blotting mission. Plus, technically, Cadmus is 'here,' if by here you mean in DC," Kid Flash responded.
"What do you think?" Aqualad asked Robin, who had begun to examine the book collection on the library's walls.
"That depends on what you guys are actually planning to do," Robin said.
Robin did not share the same disappointment as Speedy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad. Her experiences were different from theirs. Where their mentors had always been fully supportive of them, she had to struggle to gain the smallest modicum of approval from Batman. For a long time, Batman had been adamant that she give up crime-fighting for good. And when he finally agreed to take her on as a sidekick, there had been so many conditions and threats that he would fire her that she never felt like she was truly a partner. There were many times when she felt Batman was embarrassed by her.
So the fact that he took her to the Hall of Justice at all was a huge deal for her. Yes, he had not been entirely truthful about the purpose of the visit. And yes, she was a little annoyed that he never told her about the satellite. But Batman had seen fit to introduce her to other superheroes, not just other sidekicks, but founding members of the Justice League. That was already more than she could have hoped for either when she first put on a cape or when she first assumed the name Robin.
"We could investigate," Kid Flash suggested. "Find out what's up at Cadmus, and then be back before anyone even knows we're gone."
"Cloak and dagger stuff is a bit more up my alley," Robin admitted. "Here we go."
She found a particular book and turned it over. A portion of the bookcase opened up, revealing a false wall with an attaché case.
"How'd you know that was there?" Kid Flash asked.
"Batman's kind of OCD when it comes to being prepared," Robin responded. "No way he wouldn't have a hidden supply cache here."
'Always look for the Anton Chehkov book,' she thought to herself as she began to restock her batarangs. 'Chekov's batarangs and gatling guns.'
"Aww, man. There's no gooparangs in here," she complained. Of course, Batman didn't use that variant himself and he had no intention of having her operate out of the Hall yet.
With the utility belt on her waist full, she began to fill the empty one on her thigh with smaller tools such as tiny smoke pellets, darts and spikes, gas capsules, and anything else she thought might be useful.
"I take it this means you're coming with us," Aqualad observed.
Robin stood up and smiled, her preparations complete. "Well, someone's gotta watch your butts."
Aqualad's grin widened considerably. "And just like that, we're a team on a mission."
Cadmus was a two-story building which covered an entire block. The fire was confined to the right side of building, but was far from contained.
Two scientists in white trench coats stuck their heads out of a window on the second overlooking the fire-truck and ambulance which had arrived at the scene.
"Help! Get us down!" they screamed.
One of the firemen took a megaphone and called out to them: "Stay put. We will get you out."
Something exploded behind the scientists, creating a shockwave which knocked the scientists out of the building.
A yellow blur shot past the firemen, catching the scientists in midair and carrying them up the side of the building. Kid Flash dropped them on the roof as he slowed down before he began to fall himself. He grabbed hold of the window ledge.
"It's what's his name!" the fireman yelled. "Flash-boy!"
"Kid Flash!" the speedy teenager yelled back, still hanging from the window. "Why is that so hard?" he complained under his breath.
Robin and Aqualad stopped across the street at the sight of Kid Flash's predicament.
"And just like that, Batman and the League're gonna know we were here," Robin said exasperatedly. "Oh well, in for a penny."
"Wait!" Aqualad called after Robin as she ran off. "We need a plan!"
Robin leapt atop the fire truck and fired her grapple gun at the tower ladder to swing into the window. She pulled Kid Flash up.
Aqualad scowled approached the firemen who were holding the fire-hose.
"I need to borrow that," he told the surprised firemen as he pulled out his water bearers. The tattoos on Aqualad's arms glowed as he summoned the water from the hose.
The water coalesced in a platform at Aqualad's feet. He raised the water platform to the roof and addressed the two scientists.
"Step aboard, now," he ordered.
The scientists, with no better options, climbed onto the water platform and were shocked to find that it supported the weight of three men. Aquaman lowered them to the second floor window and leapt inside before lowering the platform safely to the ground. Paramedics immediately approached the scientists and took them to the waiting ambulance.
Aquaman leapt into the room and glared at Robin. "Appreciate the help," he said angrily.
"Kid Flash needed my help more than you did," Robin explained as she put a batarang back in her utility belt. "Besides, I also put out the fire."
Aqualad glanced around the large room, much of which was covered in a thick layer of ice from several of Robin's icerangs.
"What now?"
Robin approached one of the few computers which appeared to be undamaged and attempted to access it. "We've got two options," she said. "We either go back now and face the music, or we do what we came here to do in the first place and investigate."
"I vote for investigating," Kid Flash said.
"Very well." Aqualad walked into the hall and stopped at the sound of the ping of an elevator reaching their floor. He turned his head and gasped.
As the elevator door was closing, Aqualad made out a shadow of a figure with long, sharp horns sticking out of its head.
"There was something in the –" Aqualad began before cutting himself off. Now that it was gone, he couldn't be sure that the figure he saw wasn't a figment of his imagination or the shadows playing tricks on him.
Kid Flash came up behind him. "That's weird. Elevators should be locked down during a fire."
Robin gaped at the elevator. "What the hell?"
"What?" Kid Flash asked.
Robin approached the elevator to examine it closely. "This is a high-speed express elevator, the kind you'd see in a twenty-story building, not a two story one."
Aqualad stepped forward and pulled the elevator doors apart. The three sidekicks looked out over the elevator shaft, which seemed to have no bottom.
"Whoa," Kid Flash said. "How far down do you think it goes?"
"Only one way to find out," Robin replied, taking out her grapple gun again. She fired it at the ceiling of the elevator shaft and leapt down, the grapple rope extending as it lowered her as fast as it could.
Kid Flash and Aqualad looked at each other and leapt after her, holding onto the rope as they slid down it.
Robin's descent began to slow around the twentieth floor as she began to run out of rope. She came to a complete stop at the twenty-sixth floor below ground.
She looked down, and in the darkness she still could not see the bottom of the elevator shaft.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she complained. She swung herself over to the narrow platform at the nearest door and landed on it. Several second later Aqualad and Kid Flash reached the end of the line and leapt to join her on the ledge.
Robin pouted at the sight of the grapple line hanging in midair just out of reach. Batman was not going to be happy with her losing over 250 feet of line.
She took out her second grapple gun and fired it at the wall just to the side of them.
"Looks like we're rappelling from here, boys," she said.
"Wait," Kid Flash asked. "Why don't we just get out here?"
"Because," Robin explained, "if you want to know someone's dirty secrets, you search his basement. I mean, this is all one giant basement, but the juiciest stuff is definitely on the bottom level."
Robin took a small hook from her thigh belt and used it to attach the line to her utility belt. She then took out two more hooks and gave them to Aqualad and Kid Flash so they could do the same.
All secure, they began their decent again, this time leaping from floor to floor.
"Ugh. This is taking so long," Kid Flash complained when they were at the fortieth floor.
"That's what sneaky missions are all about," Robin said.
They descended a few more levels, and Robin called out: "Hey! I think I see the elevator!"
"About time!" Kid Flash responded.
"I'll say. This line is nearly out of rope too."
They alighted on top of the elevator and disconnected their hooks. Robin pressed a button on the grapple-gun's grip, causing the grapple to discharge itself from the wall on the twenty-sixth level and recalling the line back into the grapple gun.
'At least I didn't lose two grapple guns,' she thought as Aqualad got to work opening the emergency hatch in the elevator roof.
They jumped into the elevator, which was unoccupied, and Robin examined the controls.
"Looks like this is the bottom floor."
"So there is a bottom," Kid Flash said.
"And since we're coming through the normal elevator and not forcing the doors open, we shouldn't alert security," Robin observed. "Assuming we haven't already alerted the whole place."
She pressed the button to open the door, but put her hand over her mouth and nearly gagged when she saw what was on the other side.
The walls, floor, and ceiling of sub-level fifty-two were covered in a reddish pink organic substance. The substance appeared wet and slimy.
"Oh god," Robin said, still covering her mouth. "The smell. I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Whoa," Kid Flash said. "Looks like the infection from the Dead Space games."
Robin stood up and took a deep breath. "Do me a favor," she said, "and don't make any references to anything with 'dead' in the title until we're out of here."
"So, this is Project Cadmus," Aqualad observed. He was the first to take a step out of the elevator.
"Ick," Robin exclaimed as she stepped onto the flesh-like substance and her boot sunk a little into the squishy floor.
"So what are we looking for?" Kid Flash asked.
"We'll know it when we find it," Aqualad answered.
"That is how this usually goes," Robin said in agreement.
They ran along the hall until it split in two.
"It's like a blood vessel, splitting off to different parts of the body," Robin said. "Gross."
"Which way?" Aqualad asked.
The decision was made for them when two figures appeared from the left. One was a large man in a dark blue jumpsuit with a golden helmet and carrying a golden shield. The other was demonic in appearance, with scaly blue skin, large pointed horns growing out of his head, no nose, pointed, fin-like ears, and two sharp protrusions of flesh extending down from his cheeks.
"It's-it's the thing I saw in the elevator!" Aqualad yelled.
"Wait," the man in the helmet said. "Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash?"
"I know you," Aqualad said. "You're Guardian, a hero."
"If you're a hero, then what are you doing here?" Kid Flash asked.
Guardian put his hands on his hips. "I'm chief of security, and you're trespassing, though we can call the Justice League to straighten this out."
Robin grimaced and shifted her cape to hide the movement of her hands. "Why do you think we're here in the first place? The League knows something's fishy at Cadmus and they sent us to investigate. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by cooperating with us now."
Aqualad and Kid Flash looked at Robin in surprise, and Guardian gawked at her, unsure how to respond.
'Please don't call my bluff,' she thought to herself.
"You can start by telling us what that thing is on your shoulder," Robin added, mustering all the false confidence she could.
Guardian glanced at the creature perched on his right shoulder. It was a smaller version of the demon to his left, but was even more animalistic in appearance, crouched on all fours with red eyes.
"This is my genomorph … " Guardian began to answer. The creature looked at him, it's eyes and horns glowing bright red. Guardian's eyes glazed over for a moment, and then he glared at the teenagers with a steely expression.
"Enough!" he yelled. "Intruders must be dealt with! Dubbilex, stop them!"
The demonic looking creature's eyes and horns also glowed red. It raised an arm, and two metal barrels rose behind it and launched themselves at the sidekicks.
Robin's hand emerged from her cape, and she threw two batarangs at the barrels.
The sidekicks threw themselves to the ground and covered their ears as the barrels exploded on contact with the batarangs.
"Exploding barrels?!" Robin yelled. "This really is a videogame!"
As they rose, Aqualad drew his water bearers in preparation for a fight. Robin raised her other hand and threw two more batarangs at Guardian and Dubbilex.
Dubbilex's eyes and horns glowed again, and the batarangs froze in midair in just front of him and Guardian.
"I think he's got god mode enabled," Kid Flash observed.
"Run!" Robin yelled as more exploding barrels were launched at them.
The sidekicks turned down the other hallway and ran as fast as they could.
Dubbilex turned to Guardian. "They're heading for Project Kr!" he said telepathically.
Kid Flash was well ahead of the other two. He came to the end of the hall as a female scientist exited from a large vault door. Upon seeing her, he tried to stop, but he was too close and fell, tripping her and rolling towards the door.
Looking up, Kid Flash saw the door was starting to close. He looked back and saw that Robin and Aqualad were too far away to make it in time.
He rose and looked around. There were several metal cannisters just outside the door. He picked one up and placed it between the two segments of the door, holding it open.
"Hurry!" he yelled. Robin and Aquaad leaped through the narrow opening.
Aqualad turned around and looked through the doorway. Guardian was coming after them, accompanied by half a dozen creatures like the genomorph on his shoulder and Dubbildex. Aqualad kicked the cannister away, and the door shut completely, separating them from their pursuers.
When he turned back to his comrades, he found them both breathing hard. Robin slumped down against the door.
"Find … door controls," she said in between pants. "Short-circuit … the door."
"I see," Aqualad said. He scanned the wall and found the control panel Robin was talking about. He raised one arm at the panel and activated the eel tattoos on his arm. A burst of electricity streamed forth from his arm, causing the panel to spark.
"There. Now no one can get in," he said. "But we are also trapped in here."
"Better here than out there," Robin said. She rubbed the sweat off her forehead. "Did you see what that geno-thingy did to Guardian? He just changed right there. That's gotta be mind control."
"Mind control? That's just great!" Kid Flash said. "It's no wonder the League was looking Cadmus!"
"It is … most concerning," Aqualad said in agreement.
Dr. Desmond, the lead scientist at Cadmus, ran up to the entrance to Project Kr, where Guardian, Dubbilex, and a small army of genomorphs were gathered.
"They're in there with the weapon?" Desmond demanded.
"We can't get the door open," Guardian said.
Desmond turned to Dubbilex. "Use your telekinesis!"
"I have tried," Dubbilex responded. "The door is too lheavy."
"Uselss!" Desmond fumed. He turned to Guardian again. "This is a debacle! Get some g-trolls down here to muscle the door open."
"Already on their way," Guardian responded.
"You realize," Desmond said in a serious tone, "that once we get in there, we can't ever let them leave."
"Doc," Guardian said with concern, "these are not your typical meddling kids. You don't want to get on the wrong side of the Justice League."
"Better than getting on the wrong side of the Cadmus Directors, believe me," Desmond snarled.
"Uh, guys," Kid Flash said with a gulp, "you might want to come have a look at this."
He flipped a switch and turned on the lights in the back half of the laboratory.
Standing in isolation was a large glass and metal pod with a person inside it. His eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. He appeared to be a boy of about 15 years of age. He wore a white bodysuit with an s on the chest inside a pentagon, the same symbol as Superman.
The glass covering the pod also contained same symbol, a rectangle with the letters 'Kr' written inside it.
"Big K, little r," Kid Flash said in awe, "that's the atomic symbol for Krypton!"
"Of course it is," Robin said under her breath. She stepped up the computer terminal in front of the pod and began typing.
"Good. It's still logged in. That woman must've only been stepping out for a little while. Let's see what we've got here."
"Oh my god," she whispered. "Cadmus is building living weapons. Look at this. They've made hundreds of those things, all with different powers. The little ones are telepathic. Bigger ones have super-strength. Medium-sized ones have telekinesis."
"The name is a clue," Aqualad observed. "The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sewing dragon's teeth into the earth."
"What was it Guardian called those things?" Kid Flash asked. "Genies?"
"Genomorphs," Robin said as she read through the files. "They're making an army of them."
She looked up at the pod. Sitting above the boy were three small creatures, each identical to the one which had been on Guardian's shoulder.
"The little ones. The things that do mind control."
"And what of our friend here?" Aqualad asked.
Robin scrolled through the files.
"Weapon, designation: Superboy. A clone force-grown in … wow … 16 weeks - poor guy skipped the whole childhood part – from DNA acquired from … sigh … Superman."
"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad said angrily.
"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash added.
Robin continued to examine the file on Suberboy. "Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7. The genomorphs are telepathically force-feeding him an education."
"And we can guess what else," Kid Flash said grimly. "They're making a slave out of Superman's … son."
Robin stepped back from the computer and turned around. "I didn't think any place could be more messed up than Gotham, but congratulations, DC, you did it. You really did it."
"Now would be a good time for us to contact the League," Aqualad said
Aqualad pressed the communicator on his belt while Kid Flash attempted to use the communicator in his mask and Robin attempted to use the communicator in her ear.
"No signal," Kid Flash said when they all received static on the other end. "We're in to deep, literally."
Robin pulled her communicator out and threw it against the wall in frustration.
"Um, you ok there?" Kid Flash asked.
"Well, I'm more scared of dying here than I am of getting fired," Robin answered angrily, "so that's a new feeling."
Aqualad looked at Kid Flash. "Unlike the two of us, Robin has no special powers to rely on."
He walked up to Robin and put his hand on her shoulder. "Even with our powers, we're just as scared as you are. This is not what any of us expected, and we were not prepared for it."
"Perhaps our mentors were right," he admitted. "Maybe we're not ready."
Robin looked down. "Tell me something," she asked, "why do you want to join the Justice League so badly?"
Aqualad smiled a little. "To be honest, I have not thought about why I want it. I guess I simply wish to live up to my king's example and to the faith he has placed in me."
"I guess it's the same for me," Kid Flash admitted. "There's like a million different reasons I want to be in the League, but when you get down to it, it's mainly about doing Flash's legacy proud."
"You both want to be like your mentors," Robin observed.
"I'm sure it's the same with you and Batman," Aqualad said.
"Actually, it's not."
Robin looked up. "I don't want to be like Batman. And I've never pictured myself as part of the Justice League. Meeting you all, meeting the Leaguers, it's a dream come true, but I never really thought of teaming up with any of you before today. That's not why I do this."
"Then why do you do it?" Kid Flash asked.
"You know that look people give you when you save them from a mugging or from a burning building?" Robin said. "That look of wonder and hope that tells you you did something that really mattered."
"I guess I just want to feel like I'm making a difference in people's lives, like I'm actually doing some good and helping people. Saving the world is great and all, but that's not what I set out to do."
There was a loud thud from the door, bringing the sidekicks back to their situation.
"We'll be the ones in need of help if we don't do something fast," Aqualad said.
Robin turned her head and looked up at the unconscious Superboy. "Maybe there is someone we can help while we're here."
"Yeah," Kid Flash said. "This is wrong. We can't leave him like this."
"I agree," Aqualad said. There was another thud at the door. "Besides, I think we need his help as much as he needs ours right now."
"You think you can kayo those three genomorphs before they make him kill us?" Robin asked Kid Flash.
"Sure," Kid Flash responded.
Robin nodded and walked up to the computer console again. "All right then. Here we go."
She pressed the switch to open the pod. The sides of the pod began to lower into the floor or rise into the ceiling.
"Now!" Robin yelled. Kid Flash broke into a run, moving at several hundred miles an hour. The horns of the genomorphs had just started to glow red as he struck.
The speedster reappeared in front of them, holding the unconscious, diminutive creatures. "That felt wrong," he said as he put them down.
Robin sighed nervously. "At least now, if he kills us, it'll be his choice."
The three sidekicks stared in apprehension as Superboy's hands and eyes began to twitch.
Author's note: This is just a story where I put 2 of my favorite DC characters who don't get enough attention into a show I really like. I know Stephanie Brown is in Young Justice season 2 and 3, but she doesn't really have anything to do outside of 1 episode and doesn't get any characterization. I also wanted to explore the idea of what it would mean if she was actually accepted as Robin and what it would be like for her to be on an actual team of super-heroes. The other character I want to focus on is Supergirl, specifically the Linda Danvers version which everyone seems to have forgotten about. I hope people enjoy and aren't offended by my replacing Dick Grayson with Stephanie Brown or any of the other changes I will make as this story progresses. It's just for fun.