Then, Metropolis

"Outta the way, wimps!"

The resulting cries of confusion and chaos were music to the ears of the young man-mountain known as Mammoth.

Clad in his signature black and yellow unitard (not his idea, but it did the job), he was currently stomping and smashing his way through Downtown Metropolis traffic.

With moneybags in hand and his red-headed sister Shimmer by his side, Mammoth didn't think life could get any better.

So naturally, life decided to give him a fist to the face in the form of…

"Superman." Shimmer said in awe before charging up her hands with energy. "Taking you out will do wonders for the rep."

"You wouldn't be the first person to say that." The Man of Steel responded as he floated down from his place in the air. "I'm giving you one chance. Stand down. Are you taking it or not?"

Dropping the money, Mammoth charged, fist at the ready. "HOW ABOUT NOT?!"

The young meta could've sworn he felt bones crack when his fist connected with the Kryptonian's open palm.

"Then I guess I have no choice." Superman responded calmly.

The next thing Mammoth knew, he was being spun in a circle by his wrist. Just when he thought he was going to puke, he felt himself be released and he wailed as he went flying into the stratosphere.

"Mammoth!" Shimmer cried before gritting her teeth. "You're gonna pay for that, Boy Scout."

She transmuted the ground into quicksand which Superman quickly tornadoed out of before blowing a gust of wind her way.

The villainess gasped in surprise before mutating the wind into a spear of calcium that she grabbed and threw back at the Man of Steel.

It shattered harmlessly against his chest but it did give him pause as she planned her next move.

Creating a sword of iron, she sliced the base of a lamppost before morphing her hands into a gloves of Mercury and touching the exposed wires.

As she'd hoped, the electricity conducted through her hands and she began targeting it towards Superman.

This time, he appeared to be hurt as he stumbled back against the current.

Kneeling down and drawing his cape over himself, Shimmer caught a brief glimpse of glowing red eyes before twin beams of heat blasted her hand away from the wires, cutting off the flow.

In 2 seconds, Superman crossed the distance between them and held her arms behind her back.

"Get off me, creep!"

The Kryptonian said nothing as he held her fast with one arm while outstretching his other behind him.

Shimmer was confused for a moment before she heard her brother's voice coming from the sky.

Just before he hit the ground, Superman floated upwards and grabbed him by the collar.

"Looks like your partner's ready to surrender." Superman said, nodding to the queasy and near-unconscious Mammoth. "How about you?"

Shimmer gritted her teeth in rage. She needed her hands to be able to use her abilities and this guy's grip was like, well…steel.

Mammoth looked down for the count. She sighed, almost grateful when her acknowledgement of defeat was interrupted by sirens.

Superman waited until the Metropolis SCU had prepped their metahuman restraints before floating down.

"Captain Sawyer." Superman nodded politely. "Any idea who these two are?"

"They're called Shimmer and Mammoth. If you can believe it, the boy you're holding is only 19."

Superman blinked in surprise. "He looks older."

"Genetic mutations do wonders for that." Maggie smirked before turning her attention to the glowering redhead clad in black leather. She offhandedly thought in different circumstances, she'd have a fetish for that, although if she voiced those thoughts aloud Toby would kill her for sure.

"Shimmer here has the ability to transmute anything into any element or compound she chooses."

"Where'd they get their powers from?" Superman asked as he helped the officers restrain the two metas.

"They're street kids. Offered themselves up for experimentation. Parents gave them up for adoption. They're lost in the wind so these two have been on their own ever since."

"Where will they go now?" The Kryptonian asked, as they were driven away.

"Stryker's. Once processed, most likely Belle Reve."

"Aren't they a little young for Belle Reve?"

"She's 25, and he's old enough to be tried as an adult." Captain Sawyer said dismissively. "Funny, you're not usually this sentimental about the people you put away."

"They're not exactly criminal masterminds, just desperate."

The woman paused for a moment, absorbing the words. "Be that as it may, they broke the law. Now they've gotta pay for it." Extending her hand, she said, "Anyway, thanks again. I don't know what we'd do without you, Superman."

Returning the gesture, he grinned, "Turpin would probably rest easier. Tell Commissioner Corporon I said hi."

"Will do." She grinned back as the Man of Tomorrow ascended towards the heavens, disappearing into the sky.

Gotham City

James Gordon cursed under his breath as he fired another shot at his pursuer.

The attack had been swift and unexpected.

One minute, it was another typically long night at the GCPD. The next, they were under assault by the latest freak spawned by this city.

The man was dressed in an ensemble of black and white with a blinding circular chestpiece in the middle, capped off by a white cape for good measure. On his head, he wore a helmet with a fin, for reasons Jim didn't bother to think about.

He was too busy trying not to get fried to bits.

The rest of his officers downstairs had been taken out rather quickly, leaving him alone while he raced to the roof.

If he could just get to the signal…

Ducking under a blast of searing light, the Commissioner lunged and was able to pull the lever to activate the call for the cavalry.

"Excellent work, Commissioner Gordon." The man boomed regally. "It was taking you forever to get to that thing." Igniting his chestpiece, he grinned, "But now that you've outlived your usefulness…"

With deadeye precision, a non-lethal blast connected with Gordon, sending him rolling across the roof before hitting the edge, unconscious.

With a small smile of satisfaction, Arthur Light turned to his true target all along.

Ah, the Bat-Signal. A shining beacon of light for the dark city known as Gotham.

Whenever the symbol of the Bat cut across the skyline, its denizens felt both hope and terror in equal measure.

Dr. Light intended to provoke much more of the latter.

Raising his hands, he activated his gauntlets and began siphoning the light of the Bat-Signal, drawing it into himself and stealing the rooftop of any light that remained.

"This city could use a little light." Arthur said to himself. "Especially since I've plunged it into darkness!"

The man laughed uproariously to himself.

"What are you doing?" A harsh voice spoke out of the darkness.

Immediately on guard, Dr. Light whirled and flashed a ray of brightness in the direction of the voice to find no one there.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" He demanded as he kept surveying the empty rooftop.

"I don't know what you think you're doing but I suggest you stop. Right now."

The cold and grating voice scared the would-be villain more than he'd like to admit as he jumped and spun to find himself face-to-face with the Batman.

Gathering his wits, the good doctor boomed, "I am here to shed a little light on Gotham City. This dark city, decayed and decadent, has been under the cloud of darkness for far too long. I am here to liberate it from-"

"What are you really here for?" The vigilante cut in, annoyed.

Speaking in a more casual voice, the villain answered, "Look, I just wanna gain a little respect so I thought I'd take you out. I know you have a fetish for sob stories and gimmicks like this." He said, flapping his cape. "Since you clearly have no patience for this, can we just skip to the fighting part?"

The Dark Knight smirked in response. "Sure."

"All right." Dr. Light sighed, revving up his gauntlets. "PREPARE TO BE—"

CRACK!

Once Arthur came to in police lock-up with a sore jaw, he asked, "What happened?"

It was clear Commissioner Gordon was trying to hold in his laughter while his right-hand man Harvey Bullock cut straight to the chase. "Pointy Ears knocked your sorry ass out." The Detective shook his head in amazement. "One punch. Heh, lightweight."

Bullock paused for a moment before laughing even harder. "Hey, I just made a funny! 'Lightweight', get it?"

Arthur wasn't nearly as amused. "Will you just take me to jail already?"

Gateway City

"See ya never, ya pit-sniffing pigs!" The tech whiz known as Gizmo cried in glee as he fled the scene of his latest caper, his laughter heard even over the roar of his jetpack.

Cale Pharmaceuticals had been working on a new wonder drug to stimulate body growth for the malnourished.

There were two reasons the red-bearded techhead had stolen it. One, it would do wonders on the black market. Two, the dwarf hoped it would boost his own stunted growth.

Every woman he'd ever met had always made him look puny. But that was all about to change…

His thoughts were cut off by a pressure around his sizable gut as he was yanked to the forest below.

Once he'd gotten his bearings, Gizmo couldn't help but sigh. Speaking of women making him look puny…

"Return what you've stolen and you won't be hurt." Wonder Woman ordered, holstering her lasso, her voice somehow being gentle while brooking no room for argument all at once.

"Y'know, you're right, Lady, I did a bad thing. I should stop this before I make it worse for myself, right?"

"Right." The Amazon cautiously agreed, arching an eyebrow at how easy this appeared to be.

"Wrong!" Gizmo cried, firing a grenade at her.

With a flick of her wrist, the Themysciran Ambassador was able to deflect it into the sky above her head while giving Gizmo time to move.

The man zipped through the tree-line, bobbing and weaving, hoping to shake the Amazon Princess.

A cursory glance behind him revealed that wasn't the case.

His eyes bugged out as he took in the sight of Wonder Woman chasing him on foot (in heels!), surprisingly keeping pace.

Quickly readying his wrist laser, Gizmo incinerated the tree line behind him.

Try running through that, ya stinkin' bimbo.

He thought he was scot-free until he was hit in the back of the neck with some projectile.

Stopping to rub his neck, Gizmo looked up just in time to see Wonder Woman snatch her tiara out of the air and put it back on her head with all the dignity and grace manageable while nursing burn marks that were rapidly healing.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance, little man." She said coldly, brandishing her sword with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Using the forest was a dirty trick, if not a clever one. But it won't save you."

"Rah, screw this!" Gizmo cried in frustration. "I just wanna be taller, all right? You wouldn't understand, lady."

"I'll petition the gods for you." She said sarcastically. "But I can't allow you to get away with stolen goods, no matter what my issues are with Veronica Cale."

"You want this?!" Gizmo cried, brandishing the vial. "You're gonna have to take it, Wondy. "

"My pleasure." She said, sheathing her sword.

With a warrior's cry, she slammed her bracelets together, a wave of concussive force being the last sensation Gizmo felt before he woke up in prison the next morning.

Midway City

"This is so not how I wanted to spend my day off." Green Lantern groaned as he took shelter behind a shield of his own making.

Hal Jordan was a man of simple taste. All he'd wanted to do was kick back and spend the day with his pal Barry, sipping on bourbon and chowing down on hot dogs.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

Their friend, J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter had called them in to help apprehend some telepath known as Psimon. The creep had escaped from Belle Reve and was apparently hiding out in Midway City.

Batman and Superman were unavailable and Wonder Woman and Aquaman were in Themyscira and Atlantis, respectively.

Fortunately, the two remaining Leaguers were more than enough to handle the job. Or so they thought. J'onn had been able to guard their minds from Psimon's influence but it required a decent amount of effort on the Martian's part.

The operation had started simple enough…

5 minutes earlier

Psimon, formerly known as Dr. Simon Jones, chuckled to himself, almost not believing his luck.

He was walking down the street in broad daylight, his disconcerting visage in full view. But thanks to his mental capabilities, he was able to project the illusion that he was a nondescript and irrelevant peon like all the rest he passed on the street.

Soon enough, he would find a safehouse and be able to plot his next move after his escape from that wretched complex known as Belle Reve.

Without warning, Psimon's world went sideways as he sank into the ground before reemerging in an alleyway, a grip of steel on his shoulders.

"Come quietly and you won't be harmed." A baritone voice intoned firmly.

Shrugging free, the telepath found himself staring down the Justice League's resident E.T. "I don't intend to surrender ever again, my dear Martian."

A shadow passed over the villain and he looked up just in time to see a green energy construct enclose him inside.

He sneered as he realized the box was a makeshift prison cell. He leaned through the bars to see the Green Lantern descending from the skies.

"Sorry to interrupt this fascinating repartee but I've got a life to get back to. It's my day off."

"Really?" The villain smirked. "Then Psimon says you should SLEEP!"

Harnessing his energies, he sent a psionic burst the Lantern's way, fracturing his focus causing the cell to disintegrate.

Not wasting any time, the bulbous-headed criminal dashed into the street, halting traffic with a wave of his hand.

Once he was safely across the intersection, he turned to find Lantern and the Manhunter flying after him.

He hissed with irritation and levitated some stray garbage cans, launching them their way while he ducked into an adjoining alleyway, bending a fire escape off its hinges so it would block his exit.

Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter let the trash pass harmlessly through his intangible body while Green Lantern put up a shield.

"J'onn, stay on that creep! I'll check on the civilians!"

Silently following his comrade's commands, J'onn floated through the debris to find a concerning sight.

On top of an apartment building, Psimon was mentally holding panicked and confused civilians aloft, sadistic glee clearly written on his face.

"Back off, Martian! Or the people get it!"

"Don't do this, Psimon! You'll only make things worse for yourself."

"Not before making things worse for them!"

J'onn gaped in horror as the villain released his hold on the people, about 15 in number, children included.

There was no way he could rescue them all.

Fortunately, he didn't have to.

Psimon stared in awe while J'onn sighed with relief as a red-and-yellow blur intervened, snatching innocents out of the sky in milliseconds.

5 seconds later, all were accounted for and unharmed, the Scarlet Speedster to thank.

"The Flash." Psimon sneered. "Well now it's a party."

Floating towards his friend, GL threw up his hands. "Seriously, man, you're the fastest one out of all of us and you're still late."

Flash simply shrugged with a sheepish smile.

"I swear you'd be late to your own funeral." Lantern tutted.

"Au contraire. You're right on time!" Psimon cackled.

Harnessing his energies, he stretched his influence out to the crowd who had begun to gather on the street. One by one, he ensnared their minds under his thrall.

Soon enough, he had an army.

"Minions! Attack the Justice League!"

"Y'know, I never did think we fully won the people's trust." Hal quipped dryly.

"We must merely stun them!" J'onn shouted, keeping the group on task.

"We won't have to!" Flash called out. "I'm ending this right now!"

The Crimson Comet launched himself in the direction of Psimon only to find that the telepath had formed a human shield around himself.

Concentrating, Barry smirked to himself and phased through the throng of slaves only to find Psimon had rabbited somewhere else.

The speedster scratched his head in confusion for a moment before looking up to find a group of slack-jawed puppets looking down at him from various buildings with Psimon higher than them all.

"Flash! Psimon says, fetch!" The telepath shouted down as he mentally ordered his hostages to dive off of the rooftops.

"Damn." Barry muttered.

Assessing the situation and doing some lightspeed calculations, Flash sped to the center of where the sprawling bodies would land and began pinwheeling his arms, creating a whirlwind.

As planned, the updraft caught the civilians and gently lowered them to the ground. Psimon seemed to have loosed his hold as the people looked around confused at their strange sense of vertigo.

Once he was sure that everyone was unharmed, Flash raced back to his teammates. "Lost track of Psimon. J'onn?"

Switching tactics, the Martian used his abilities to peer through the buildings and spot their man.

"He's heading for the pier, 8 blocks from here."

Charging up his ring, Green Lantern created a bridge that reached towards the shoreline. "Flasher?"

Grinning in realization, the Sultan of Speed raced across the bridge and in 4 seconds, he was divebombing a disbelieving Psimon.

Belle Reve

"Hey, Jerry. You see the headline from Midway Municipal Times? Shows Flash knocking Megamind's lights out."

"Laugh it up while you can, ingrates." Psimon glared coldly at his handlers from behind bars. "I'll remember this when I get out of here."

"And I'll remember this when Flash or whoever puts you right back in here." Jerry chortled as he and his partner walked away. "Play nice with your new cellmate!"

Growling to himself, Psimon lazily pivoted to eye the bearded man laying in the cot across the room.

"No inhibiting collar? What makes you so special?"

Arthur glanced over, unimpressed as he appraised his new cellmate. "I took on Batman."

"I took on three members of the Justice League."

"And I reiterate: I took on Batman."

"And got taken out in one punch, I hear."

"From what I hear, that's all it took for the Flash to put you down too."

"I'd think a setback from a man faster than the speed of sound holds more weight than taking one from a psychopath in a fright mask."

"You'd be wrong."

"What are your skills, exactly?"

"Manipulation and mastery of all light. With a suit of my own invention."

"Unlike you, I don't need a suit. I am the weapon."

"And yet somehow you're still locked in here, same as me."

Psimon glowered before meandering over to his bunk.

"I have a plan to remedy that, you know."

"Do you?" Psimon responded skeptically, his back towards his cellmate.

"Look, I have a man in general population. He's done some work for me before. And he has a connection on the outside."

"And just who would that be?"

"He calls himself Gizmo. He helped me…'acquire' some necessary components for my suit. Turns out he's locked up here, too. Wonder Woman brought him in."

"And what is the significance of his supposed 'connection'?"

"It's his kid. Turns out being a criminal super-genius runs in the family."

"What is he, 18, 20?"

"10."

"You're kidding."

Reminiscing on his one encounter with the boy, Arthur simply shook his head. "You'd have to see it to believe it. But the kid's good for it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I need power. And it never hurts to have a few friends."

"Let's leave it at associates for now."

"Fair enough."

"What happens now?"

"I give Gizmo the signal that we're ready to move. The boy can have us transferred to Jump City."

"Why there?"

"Everyone loves sunny California. And Jump is just prominent enough without us being overexposed. Besides, there's no superheroes there to get in our way."

"You know the Terminator has been rumored to be hiding around there. And H.I.V.E. has laid roots in the place as well."

"I don't fear the H.I.V.E. and I don't plan on going anywhere near Deathstroke."

"Very well. You have yourself a deal, Mr. Light."

"It's Doctor. Doctor Light."

"Whatever."

…..

In the days since he'd become acquainted with his new cellmate/co-conspirator, Psimon could feel himself losing brain cells.

Thus, he found it imperative that he make his way to the prison library to remind myself there was a life beyond the mouth-breathers and petty thugs who inhabited this hellhole.

Unfortunately, the place was off-limits during mandatory activities. Psimon didn't particularly care for woodshop or whatever it was that was considered "constructive" around here, so he'd quietly stole away to the library, intent on getting some peace and quiet.

Once he'd finally made it safely to the dusty old room, he exhaled a calming sigh of relief which quickly turned into an anxious inhale when he saw a giant shape looming over him.

A giant young man with a red mane of hair was glaring at him, arms folded, as he stood protectively in front of a redheaded woman with close-cropped hair.

The young lady was sitting at the only table in the room, a book splayed in front of her, with only a small lamp for light. Her intense gaze met his, silently daring him to make a move.

The tense standoff was broken as Psimon pulled out a chair across from her and sat down, grabbing a book of his own to read. The scraping of the legs might as well have been a bomb going off, as quiet as it was.

As he calmly thumbed through the pages, he was aware of the others' gazes never wavering.

"I see you two thirst for knowledge as well." The telepath said calmly without looking up.

"Better than woodshop or whatever else is considered 'constructive' around here." The girl answered, going back to her own book.

"My thoughts exactly." Psimon grinned, pleased to have met another intellectual. "May I ask your name?"

"I'm not interested." Giving him a once-over, she snorted. "You're not exactly my type."

"Neither are you mine. I prefer my women with a more traditional look. Besides, I assume your boyfriend wouldn't approve."

"I'm her brother, pal." The giant rumbled. "And hands off her or else."

"I don't threaten." Psimon said, placatingly lifting his hands. "It simply doesn't hurt to have some friends in here."

The siblings scrutinized him for a moment before the girl spoke. "Shimmer. And this is Mammoth."

"I hope those aren't your legal names, my dear."

"What's your name?"

"Psimon."

She raised an eyebrow. "Birth name?"

"Simon."

She shrugged. "Selinda."

Psimon nodded in acknowledgement before lifting his eyes to the boy.

"Baran." He answered with a hint of embarrassment.

"Good to meet you." Psimon leaned forward, hands folded. "Am I to assume you're the two who went toe-to-toe with Superman?"

"You could say that." Mammoth frowned, a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Well, what would you two say if I told you I was working on an escape plan with some other associates?"

"I'd ask what's in it for you." Selinda answered suspiciously.

"I don't particularly trust the other two involved. But I have a good feeling about you two. Besides, our plans once we escape just might get you another crack at Superman as well as some help."

Selinda considered the offer before glancing back at her brother who nodded with a smirk.

Shooting back one of her own, she looked back to Psimon. "We're in."

Belle Reve Cafeteria

"What?! This is a three-man operation, Psimon. I didn't approve of you letting anyone else in on it."

"I don't recall asking for your permission, 'Doctor'." Psimon said sardonically. "I recognize the potential in those two. They would serve our little group quite well. Now are we meeting this friend of yours or not?"

"Fine." Arthur grumbled. "But this is it. No one else."

"Of course not. I trust the rest of these Neanderthals as far as I can throw them."

With a huff, Light motioned for Psimon to follow him to a table where a grubby-looking midget sat, brushing crumbs out of his full red beard.

"You can't be serious." Psimon groaned.

"I know he doesn't look like much, but trust me, he's legit. Come on."

Too late to back out now, Psimon thought as he prepared to engage this slovenly-looking creature.

"So you're the famous Gizmo." He started. "I'm told you have a connection with someone on the outside who can help us?"

Wiping his mouth and letting out a belch, the man answered, "Yeah, my kid." At the other man's skeptical look, he continued, "Don't look so surprised. Sumalee…that was a good night. Only chick that was short enough for me to get with. Anywho, the kid's not only inherited my boyish looks but he's got the brains too. He's good to spring us."

"I told you." Light grinned smugly.

"All right, then. How soon are we moving?" Psimon grumbled.

"I'll let ya know when the kid sends word."

Tri-State Prison, Jump City, 2 weeks later

"All right, maggots." JCPD Police Captain Arthur Hall called across the courtyard. "I don't know how or why you all got transferred here but I'm here to tell you right now that shenanigans will not be tolerated. If you think you're gonna have it any easier here than at Belle Reve, think again."

Tri-State Prison's five newest transfers remained silent, inwardly laughing at the Captain's bravado.

Young Gizmo had done his job well and gotten Shimmer, Psimon, Light, Mammoth, and his father moved to Tri-State Prison without a hitch. Psimon had his doubts but clearly the boy's talents were not exaggerated.

Everyone had their own parts to play in the plan and they'd discussed them at length. Now it was time to put them into action.

.

It had taken time. Longer than he'd liked. But Gizmo was finally able to saw an opening small enough in his cell that he could squeeze out for a nightly stroll. The benefit of being a dwarf was that he was able to duck detection as long as he stayed low, hugged the wall, and clung to the shadows. As he explored, he was able to find a ladder in the janitor's closet and used it to reach up and hack the cameras. The contraband the kid had gave him had come in handy.

Knocking up Sumalee just might've been one of the best investments I've ever made. Gizmo smirked to himself.

Another gift from his progeny had been a remote control that allowed him access to the cells. The boy had been doing some work of his own, every time he visited with his unaware mother.

While she wasn't a saint herself, she probably wouldn't approve of her son aiding a prison break.

Still, where his mother had urged the kid to redirect his gifts for other things, his father had encouraged him. Despite how little they saw each other, there was still a bond between them, their similarities in demeanor if not looks quite apparent.

Whenever he'd wander out of his cell after lights out, he would scout the guard shifts and look for blind spots in the courtyard and report them back to his son in preparation for their escape.

When the guards finally noticed the tiny opening in the bars, Gizmo simply said it must have been rusty. There was no way to prove he had left. After all, had they seen him on camera?

As tempting as it was to just open up the cells and make a break for it, Gizmo knew he had to wait. Light had a plan. He just hoped it was a good one.

…..

Mammoth wasn't exactly a cunning super-genius but he was good for one thing: stomping holes in anybody who pissed him off.

With this in mind, everyone typically gave him a wide berth. The guards were no exception. Taking note of this, Light labeled Mammoth the enforcer. Any contraband they gained would be given to Mammoth as no one would be willing to shake him down or assume he was capable of planning a breakout.

He was also tasked with intimidating the other prisoners and keeping his allies protected inside. Soon enough, Mammoth began gathering a following of his own and his exploits in the weight room became a daily spectacle.

Taking advantage of his charisma and newfound influence, Mammoth had slowly been riling up and rallying the other inmates to rise up and take control.

By the time the breakout was set to go down, the inmates would be spoiling for blood, providing the perfect cover for an escape.

And they say I'm just a big dumb ox. Mammoth snorted to himself. Eyeing the guard who'd said so the other day, he sneered. "I'm taking you out first, Yorke."

.

While his role in the plan wasn't as grandiose as the others, that was fine. Arthur had the vision. In the prison workshop, he had been creating some crude flash-grenades. Nowhere near as effective as his costume but Gizmo said his kid would bring that with him on the getaway truck.

On the side, Arthur had been mulling over an idea in his head. Something to give them an edge over the Justice League and whoever else sought to get in their way.

Psimon had been unsure when he had broached the subject to him but he couldn't let the idea go.

He theorized about creating life out of his light constructs. Sentient and powerful creatures obedient to him. Er, them.

They could rule Jump City with minions like that backing them up.

While Psimon was skeptical, he did seem intrigued by the prospect.

But Arthur supposed they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

Which would be fairly soon. All was nearly in place.

.

"It's…Sobel, isn't it?"

The young guard startled. "Huh? Uh, y-yeah."

"What's it take for a girl to get some booze around here? I'm suffering from withdrawal over here."

"Can't help you there."

"Aw." She pouted. "Even so, you're a lot nicer than the other guys in this place. Normally, the response I'd get is 'Quiet, Inmate!'"

The man chuckled. "Sorry to hear that, Shimmer."

"Please…call me Selinda." She smiled bashfully.

"Selinda." He smiled back.

And with that simple opening, Selinda soon had her new friend Vince spilling his guts soon enough. All it had taken was her giving him samples of her backstory and a pouty lip before the guard was under her sway. Turned out Vince was having problems at home. Too much time away from the wife. Truthfully, she felt a measure of pity for the man. He was cute in his own little way.

Apparently, Dinah wasn't a very good listener. But that was okay. Selinda had all the time in the world to listen to whatever daily minutiae "Vinnie" was concerned about. After all, she wasn't going anywhere. At least not yet.

After the first few weeks, she finally felt comfortable enough to ask the question: "When can I see you again?"

He'd almost been too eager to toss out info about his next shift and hadn't thought much of it when she'd asked who would be on duty at what time.

Finally, the day she'd been waiting for had arrived.

For Vinnie, it was just like any other day as he pulled up a chair and regaled her with whatever Dinah had done to piss him off that morning.

Naturally, he'd been completely shocked when the alarms started blaring and her cell door unlocked.

Her eyes lit up as her inhibitor collar powered off and unclasped. She melted it into toxic sludge before setting her sights on Vince who hadn't moved.

With a wave of her hand, she formed a carbon battering ram that slammed him into the wall, unconscious.

"Sorry, Vince. I really did like you." Shimmer grinned maliciously as she darted away. "Tell Dinah I said hi."

Psimon's part of the plan was possibly the most revolting, save for Selinda cozying up to a low-level grunt.

He played the role of the model prisoner. He'd had to endure insults and turn the other cheek constantly, but he was kept warm by the fact that his enemies would pay the price soon enough.

It had been gradual but Psimon had discovered that even with his collar on, he could still project low-level mind manipulation. Nothing major or outlandish, just subtle commands.

A request for another few moments out of his cell, newspaper clippings to keep informed, and currying the favor of the Warden who allowed him access to the library.

It had been happening so often that no one was the wiser, when, with Shimmer's information from Officer Sobel, Psimon asked to read in the prison courtyard after dinner.

Naturally, his new friend Warden Donal acquiesced. After all, why wouldn't he?

Alone against the wall, Psimon feigned interest in his book where he hid a transponder inside.

Clicking the button, he simply said, "Now."

"And here…we…go." Gizmo grinned as he opened the cells.

….

There was utter chaos outside, just as they'd planned.

Kid Gizmo had timed the shift change perfectly. Mammoth had rallied the other inmates to strike hard and fast, overwhelming the guards before they even knew what was happening. Light had used his flashbangs to aid in the uprising while Psimon simply stood back and enjoyed the show.

A full-scale riot was in effect. Just as he'd promised, Psimon used his powers to psionically track the others down as the Five found each other in the chaos.

"C'mon!" Gizmo called to his cohorts. "The getaway vehicle's over the south wall!"

"Is the gear in the bag?!" Light shouted over the noise, eyeing a duffel near the guard tower.

"Just as promised." Psimon said with delight. "All it took was a few mental suggestions for the guards to 'ignore' it. A psychic blindspot, if you will."

Opening it, Light cackled in glee as he found his suit, primed and ready to go. Gizmo outfitted himself with his own tech, ecstatic to be back in the saddle.

"Now all we have to do is clear the riff-raff and we're home free." Psimon smiled.

"So all you're saying is that we have to clear a path through a half-mile of human carnage to get to freedom?" Mammoth stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.

Shimmer stretched out a hand, morphing a catwalk into toxic sludge and giggling with malice as a slew of guards tumbled into the riot below.

"This is gonna be fun."

….

Now, March 14, Titans Tower, Jump City, 6:15 PM

"….Playtime's over, kids."

"Uh, sorry…just who the hell are you guys?" Victor demanded.

"And how the hell did you get in here?" Robin ground out.

"We're the kid's real teammates." The giant rumbled.

"And as to how we got in here…that would be me." The mummy said, jabbing a thumb at himself.

"Then I'm guessing you can see yourselves out the same way." Robin ordered more than asked.

The helmeted man stepped forward. "Like I said, playtime is over. The boy's coming home with us."

The boy in question was frozen, slack-jawed as he mutely observed the dispute.

"Last I checked, the kid ran away from you guys." Victor said, defensively stepping in front of the changeling. "And why wait almost 2 months to track him down? He wasn't exactly hiding."

"That's none of your business." The man answered, clenching his jaw.

"Beast Boy is our friend and teammate." Starfire stepped in. "I believe it is most definitely our business."

"Not to mention you're in our house without permission." Raven interjected. "I think you owe us an explanation."

The woman broke away from her group to lean down and lay a comforting hand on the stationary Garfield's shoulder. "Sweetheart, I know it looks bad but we just wanted to give you time. Don't you want to come home?"

"I…"

Before he could finish his thought, the Ops room television alerted everyone to an incoming transmission.

Seeing it was from Captain Hall, Robin strode over to answer the call but not before giving the intruders a baleful once-over.

"Captain Hall, what is it?" Robin asked once the JCPD captain's face appeared onscreen.

"There's a prison break in-progress at Tri-State Prison. I've already got reinforcements en route but there's a batch of super-criminals wreaking havoc up there. Figured that's what you kids were for."

"We're on our way." Robin affirmed, ending the call.

He turned just in time to see Beast Boy's old team enveloped in dark energy and disappear.

"So how do we get upstate in time?" Cyborg asked. "By the time we get there, it'll all be over."

"Maybe not." Robin answered. Turning to the empath, he implored, "Raven, can you teleport all of us there?"

"I'd have to know where I'm going. Or at least have familiar energy to lock onto."

"If I know Mento like I think I do, then the Doom Patrol's already there." Beast Boy spoke up quietly, all his enthusiasm from minutes earlier completely drained.

Robin nodded as he processed the information before turning back to Raven. "Can you lock onto their energy?"

Shutting her eyes for a moment, Raven concentrated. "I think I've got it. Everyone huddle up."

Following her instructions, the Titans were sucked into a world of cold and darkness before reappearing in the middle of a prison courtyard.

Raven took a steadying breath as she swayed for a moment. Teleporting multiple people still took it out of her and only recently escaping the Control Freak ordeal didn't help matters.

Meanwhile, the riot was in full swing. The guards were doing the best they could but were at the risk of being overrun. In the distance, the Doom Patrol was engaged in combat with the newest transfers.

"Titans, go!" Robin ordered.

The Doom Patrol leader known as Mento was engaged in what appeared to be a psionic struggle with the bulbous-headed inmate known as Psimon.

Further down the way, Elasti-Girl was dodging Shimmer's attempts to subdue her. The villainess was currently hurling sulfuric acid at the shapeshifter.

While she was fortunately able to evade the spheres of the compound, the fumes were beginning to take their toll.

Taking notice of this, Shimmer grinned as she shifted tactics.

Creating a sphere of chromium, the redhead encased herself inside before spreading sulfuric fumes towards her enemy.

Elasti-Girl began sputtering for air before she was snatched out of the fray by Starfire.

"Thank you." Elasti-Girl choked out before noticing the girl's strange expression. "Are you all right?"

The girl's face twitched before she turned away and sneezed in the direction of a few rioters.

The force sent out an explosive wave that floored a battalion of inmates.

"My apologies." Starfire sniffled. "I am allergic to metallic chromium."

"Gesundheit."

"Pardon?"

"Never mind."

"Oh, ladies!" Shimmer called. "Forgetting about little old me?"

"Look out!" Starfire cried, shoving her out of the way.

Elasti-Girl looked back to see the girl absorb the full brunt of a gold wall sent their way.

The redhead was thrown back for a few moments before planting her feet and blasting the wall to pieces.

Scooping up a handful of dirt, Shimmer transmuted it into a chromium-encased ball of sulfur which she hurled in their direction.

With a yelp, Starfire flew out of its reach only to find it following her.

Elasti-Girl stretched out her arm a few feet to grab it but Shimmer had anticipated that.

Enclosing her fist, she willed it to burst, the fumes inside proving overwhelming to the shapeshifter and knocking her unconscious.

Still manipulating the chromium shell, she tossed it over to Starfire who had banked around to check on the other woman.

Before she knew it, the Tamaranean was up to her neck in metallic chromium, sneezing up a storm.

"I'd really like to kill you two, but fortunately for you, I've got a ride to catch. Ciao, ladies!" Shimmer blew a taunting kiss as she ran off.

…..

The burly bearded tech whiz known as Gizmo was currently giving Robotman fits, cackling all the while.

"What's the matter, Robo-bum?! Can't fly?!" The man jeered, floating just out of the giant's reach, firing lasers.

Gizmo's jeers were interrupted by a sonic cry that caused him to clutch his ears.

"Need some help?" Cyborg asked as he joined the party, cocking his wave cannon.

"Not really, but I'll humor ya, kid." Robotman dismissed him.

Victor frowned in response before resuming his sonic attack, causing the tech whiz to drop out of the sky.

"He's mine!" Robotman roared, shoving Cyborg aside.

"Think again, ya dumb clod!" A high-pitched voice broke in.

Cyborg and Robotman turned just in time to be snatched and tossed aside by robotic claws.

Both were stunned to see a prepubescent Asian boy in a jumpsuit and goggles balancing on four robotic legs.

"And where the heck were you, kiddo?" Gizmo asked his son.

"Trying to save your bloated carcass, old man! C'mon!"

"I swear you get that mouth from your mother." The elder Gizmo grumbled.

Throwing down an EMP behind him, he fired up his jetpack and escaped the blast radius.

Cyborg and Robotman weren't so lucky, falling uselessly to their knees.

"Nice going, kid." The copper giant rumbled.

"Me?! You weren't doing squat until I jumped in!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

…..

On the other side of the yard, Dr. Light was threatening to overpower Negative Man, who was being bombarded by an assault from the villain's gauntlets.

"What's the matter?! Afraid of the light?" The villain taunted.

Suddenly, the area was encased in shadow.

"That depends." Raven intoned as she emerged from the inky blackness. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

"I fear nothing, girl." The good doctor sneered, settings his gauntlets alight.

Raven put up a shield just as Light's beams reached her.

"Thanks for the save." Negative Man nodded. "Think you can get me close to that jerk?"

"I can't do any more teleportation today. It's been a long one." The girl responded tiredly.

"You two seem a little ragged." The Doctor called to them. "I know just how to brighten up your day."

Joining his hands together, he unleashed a wave of light energy that blistered their skin and rendered them down for the count.

"Oh, it's good to be back." Light grinned to himself.

Psimon had his adversary on the ropes, whoever he was when he felt a kick to his ribs, causing him to cry out and lose his concentration.

He rolled over to find the Boy Wonder in a fighting stance.

"You're going to regret that, brat." Psimon growled murderously.

"I don't need your help, kid!" Mento barked.

"Too bad, you're getting it!" Robin snapped in response.

"Why don't you both settle your differences when you wake up?!" Psimon shouted, sending a psionic wave their way.

The two heroes doubled over in pain and nausea.

Despite his efforts to hold it in, Robin couldn't help but throw up.

"I told you you'd regret that." Psimon smirked, kicking the boy down as he walked past him.

…..

While his teammates old and new had struggled to get along, Garfield had elected to go solo, coming after the biggest bully in the yard: Mammoth.

He'd transformed into a deer and charged Mammoth who saw him coming at the last second and stopped him dead in his tracks.

Swinging him by the antlers, the hulking strongman tossed him into a sea of inmates who didn't look too happy about it.

The men lunged for him but Garfield morphed into a butterfly and fluttered out of their clutches before shifting into a bee and stinging Mammoth's hide.

"That supposed to hurt, Green Hornet?" The giant chuckled before swatting him down. "What else ya got?"

Straining a little harder, Beast Boy took the form of a Golden Retriever and sank his teeth into Mammoth's arm, to no avail.

Shaking him off easily, Mammoth tutted. "Bad doggy. Looks like I'm gonna have to take you to obedience school."

Changing back to human, Garfield huffed for a minute. Doing so many transformations in such a short time was beginning to wear on him.

Desperately, he shifted into a falcon, flitting around his opponent and jabbing and pecking.

This only served to annoy the man, however. With a yell, he clapped his hands together making a shockwave that knocked Garfield out of the sky, causing him to shift back to human, unconscious.

"Better luck next time, kid." Mammoth chortled, lifting his hands to deliver the finishing blow.

"Mammoth!" Psimon called. "We're leaving!"

"You get a stay of execution, kid. You're lucky. This time." Mammoth sneered as he ran to the prison wall, hopping into the getaway transport with his cohorts.

After a few moments, the two teams began to stir from their defeat, the sounds of sirens awakening them.

"Great, they got away." Mento briefly turned to the Titans with contempt. "I'm sure you all can handle cleanup. Doom Patrol, move out!"

Garfield flinched as his former leader turned to him. "I trust you still have your communicator somewhere?"

The boy nodded meekly.

"Then you'll know where to find us." The man answered before joining his team as they vanished into thin air.

"Nice guys." Victor grumbled.

Noticing her friend's disquiet, Starfire prompted, "Friend Garfield, are you well?"

The boy startled as if just remembering the others were there. "Uh…I'm not sure." He halfheartedly shrugged.

"What now?" Raven asked.

Robin curled his lip with derision. "We handle 'clean-up'."

.

"Well done, my friends." Light blustered proudly as the villains clamored into the abandoned warehouse young Gizmo had steered them into. "I think we acquitted ourselves quite well."

"You kidding, Light?" Mammoth crowed as he took a seat at the table in the center of the room. "We mopped the floor with those yahoos, whoever they were! Plus, did you see the look on Yorke's face? Priceless!"

"I must admit I had my reservations about this alliance." Psimon spoke out with a grin. "But it appears it's already paying dividends."

"Yeah, well, 'dividends' don't exactly pay the bills." Gizmo grunted before turning to his son. "Ya got a TV in this mudhole? I wanna see how many pigs we took out."

Kid Gizmo snorted before grabbing a remote and turning on a TV hanging over the lounge area.

"…Bethany Snow live on the scene. I am here with JCPD Captain James Hall at Tri-State Prison, the site of a mass riot where we are told that five super-criminals who gave the Justice League a run for their money are loose in our city. Any truth to that, Captain?"

"How did you-?! We didn't release that information to the public!"

"I have my sources, Captain." Bethany said evasively before pressing forward. "Besides, isn't it in the people's best interests to know when their lives are in danger? By the sound of it, it looks like you were planning on covering this up until disaster struck. What else are you hiding, Captain?"

"This interview is over." Captain Hall sneered, turning on his heel and muscling through the throng of cameras.

"What's wrong, Captain?!" The woman called after him. "Trying to cover up for your new pals, the Teen Titans?!" Turning back to the camera, she said, "Speaking of whom, we are told that Jump City's new 'heroes' were on the scene. By all accounts, their mission was unsuccessful. Which begs the question…what can the Teen Titans do against the Fearsome Five, who have given the Justice League themselves headaches? Can the Teen Titans really protect us from real threats that our police force can't handle? Or will this little experiment flop before it's truly gotten off the ground? I suppose we'll have little choice but to shudder in terror as we wait for the answers to these questions and more. This is a disappointed and fearful Bethany Snow, signing off."

There was a pregnant pause as the fugitives reveled in the havoc and fear they had brought to Jump City.

"The Fearsome Five?" Shimmer spoke up. "Ugh, is that really what they're calling us?"

"I believe it has a certain dramatic flair to it. It never hurts to have a little je ne sais quoi in this line of work." A smooth and calm voice spoke out of the darkness.

The five fugitives turned their heads to find a white-haired man in a suit stride out of the shadows.

"It would seem congratulations are in order. I must admit, your escape was rather impressive. Messier than I'd prefer, but commendable nonetheless. In light of that and given your abilities, if you're interested, I'd like to offer you all a place in my organization."

"And just who are you?" Psimon asked, confused as to why he couldn't pierce the stranger's mental defenses.

"Oh, excuse me. Where are my manners?" He paused, as if for dramatic effect. "I'm Damien Darhk."

"Leader of the H.I.V.E.?" Doctor Light asked in astonishment. "I've heard about you."

"Does that mean you're interested?"

"Now hold on a moment." Psimon interjected. "I've never heard of you. And in case you haven't noticed, we're busy forming a little cabal of our own. I do believe we'll get by without your assistance, Mr…Darhk, was it?"

"I see." Striding to their table, he placed something down and slid it in their direction. "Here's my card for when you inevitably fail."

On that note, he buttoned up his lapels and headed back in the direction he came before stopping to speak over his shoulder. "Oh and by the way, your little 'cabal' won't make much headway in this city with the Teen Titans in your path. I'm in the process of dealing with them but if you beat me to it, I'd have no complaints."

Once they were assured that their visitor was gone, the group began to speak amongst themselves.

"I, for one, think it's a great opportunity." Light spoke first.

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about the guy." Gizmo put in. "H.I.V.E. does cutting-edge stuff. We'd be on top of the food chain in no time."

"I don't want to be under anyone's thumb." Psimon insisted. "We're powerful enough on our own and he didn't look that threatening to me."

"Besides," Shimmer spoke up, "That guy gave me the creeps."

"For good reason, if the stories about him are true." Light assured.

"Kookiness aside, he did have a point about the Titans." Mammoth said.

"Fair enough." Psimon agreed. "I suppose we'll have to make examples of both them and whoever that other group was. Once that's done, we can claim this city for ourselves and work our way up to defeating the Justice League. Individually, we gave their members fits. Evening the odds should give us the advantage."

"Now all we're missing is a name." Shimmer mused.

"Tacky as it is, I suppose it'll work." Psimon sighed. "The Fearsome Five it is."

…..

Robin sighed as he hung up on a conference call before swiveling back to his teammates. "Captain Hall says none of the guards were seriously hurt. Everyone in general population is accounted for and back in their cells except for the Fearsome Five."

"You don't sound too thrilled about that." Cyborg noted.

The Teen Wonder knit his eyebrows together, staring at the floor before lifting his eyes to their resident changeling. "I just think we could've handled this ourselves. We don't need any help. There's five of us and five of them. The odds are even so I'd appreciate it if you'd tell your old team to back off."

Garfield's eyes flashed with irritation. "You think I told them to come in and make us look like idiots?! I was just as surprised as any of you guys when they showed up. I figured they'd forgotten all about me in the two months they didn't bother to contact me. " He finished bitterly.

"B, you told them you're a Titan now, right?" Victor asked calmly.

Garfield's silence spoke volumes.

The hush was ended by the sound of beeping.

Instinctively, Beast Boy whipped out his old Doom Patrol communicator before guiltily looking at the others. "Mento's summoning me."

"And I suppose you'll just come running." Raven snarked, rolling her eyes as she floated in the direction of her room.

Garfield glared at her back, inwardly knowing she was right.

Starfire sidled up to the boy, sadness in her eyes. "I understand the burden of duty to your family, Garfield. Do what you feel is best."

With that, the Tamaranean exited the room, tossing back a glance over her shoulder at the boys.

Victor elected to follow her but not before clapping Gar's shoulder, saying, "Just do what you want, kid. And don't worry about whose feelings ya hurt."

Robin was silent until he heard the doors shut, signaling Victor's exit.

Sliding a communicator across the countertop, Robin simply said, "This is yours if you want it, Beast Boy. But you have to make a choice. Are you with them or us?"

On that happy note, The Boy Wonder exited the kitchen, leaving his green friend with a decision to make.

….

Garfield took a shuddery breath as he gave one more furtive glance to his Doom Patrol communicator to confirm he was in the right place.

Morphing into a fly, the changeling entered the hotel and flew up to the hallway. Changing back to human form, he hesitated a moment before screwing up his courage and knocking on the door.

To his relief, he was first greeted by the pleasantly surprised face of his mother. "Sweetheart, you made it! We weren't sure if you'd come."

Garfield smiled briefly in response as he stepped inside.

"Good timing." Larry said. "We were just about to head out to the electric plant. There's a completely unnatural lightshow happening over there. It has to be Dr. Light and the others."

Noting the discontented look on the boy's face, Cliff tilted his head. "What's wrong, kid?"

Steeling his nerves, Garfield turned to look into the eyes of the man he'd been avoiding eye contact with since he walked into the room. "You should work with the Titans. Not against them."

"Excuse me?" Mento prompted, as he put his helmet on.

"This is our city and our problem. You guys wanna tag along? Fine. But we're letting you guys help, not the other way around." Emboldened, he fished into the belt of his uniform and dug out his old Doom Patrol mask. "And another thing. This thing right here? Goofy. I'm not gonna be your team mascot anymore. With the Titans, I'm a teammate, not an accessory, and not a liability. I'm a Teen Titan now, whether you like it or not." Awkwardly shifting his weight, he added, "But I'm still keeping the uniform because it, y'know, keeps my clothes on."

Negative Man chuckled under his breath while Robotman admitted, "The mask was pretty goofy."

Rita laid a comforting hand on her son's shoulder as she and he looked to her husband.

The leader of the Doom Patrol stood silent for a moment, his gaze giving nothing away.

Huffing out a breath and putting his hands on his hips, he uttered, "Fine."

Rita felt the tension in Garfield's shoulders lessen minutely. "Fine what?" The boy asked tentatively.

"Fine, we'll help you and your team. Now, I believe we're needed?"

Steve gave the boy a ghost of a smile and his surrogate son returned it with a beam of his own.

Just then, his communicator began beeping.

On instinct, Garfield reached for his Doom Patrol one before realizing and retrieving his new Titans' one instead.

Flipping it open, Robin's image filled the tiny screen and the others could be seen behind him.

"Beast Boy, there's something happening at the power plant. We think it might be Dr. Light and the others. We're about to go check it out. Are you coming with us or not?"

Looking up to the faces of his family around him, Gar looked back down with a toothy grin. "We'll be there."

Beast Boy couldn't help the sense of pride and familiarity wash over him as he met his friends at the entrance to the power plant with the Doom Patrol backing him.

Robin nodded at Mento before stepping forward. "I'm guessing it's pretty obvious it's a trap."

"Obviously." Mento agreed. "Do you find it all right if we pair off the way we did at the riot?"

"Sounds good to me." Robin confirmed. "Beast Boy, can you handle Mammoth?"

"Consider him handled, dude."

"Good." Mento walked ahead of Robin, slowly prying open the fence. "Everybody ready?"

The two teams nodded their assent.

The beacons of light in the sky had stopped ever since the heroes had entered the premises, confirming their enemies knew they had arrived.

"Mento, do you sense anything?" Elasti-Girl whispered to her husband.

The man closed his eyes for a brief moment and concentrated before shaking his head. "No. Psimon's shutting me out."

Raven put out her own psychic feelers before speaking out. "They're here."

"I don't suppose they're projecting warm and fuzzy feelings our way?" Beast Boy joked.

"Sure. They've got fruit baskets and juice boxes waiting for us, too." Raven responded sarcastically.

The main entrance was melted, no doubt by corrosive material.

"Guess we know how they got in." Cyborg muttered.

"Negative Man, scout ahead and tell us what we're up against." Mento ordered.

Wordlessly, the meta followed his leader's command and projected his form deep into the compound.

The heroes sat in silence before Robin broke it. "How long does this normally take?"

"He can only be gone 60 seconds before he has to return." Mento answered.

"And how many have passed?"

"67." The older man replied grimly. "Let's move it, people."

"Fan out!" Robin cried, as he and Mento raced down the corridors. "Everybody get into their groups."

The two leaders reached the backlot of the plant only to stop short in horror as they found Negative Man, groaning in pain as his form was trapped in a sphere of intense light that they could scarcely look at.

"Ah, how nice of you all to join the party." Dr. Light boomed menacingly, emerging from the shadows.

"What are you doing to Negative Man?" Mento demanded.

"I'm simply showing him how to…lighten up."

"Enough games, Light!" Robin roared, reaching into his belt and flinging a trio of birdarangs at the villain.

Light simply scoffed as he lifted a hand to incinerate the measly weapons. "Good try, Boy Blunder. But you'll have to do better than that."

Gritting his teeth, Robin brandished his bo-staff and dashed towards Light.

His attempt was thwarted by the arrival of Mammoth who was barreling towards him at an alarming speed.

Fortunately, Mento stopped the rampage in its tracks, mentally lifting the behemoth and tossing him in the direction of Dr. Light.

The caped man gasped and jumped aside just in time while breaking his concentration, setting Negative Man free.

Before he could collapse to the ground, Mento telepathically intercepted him and floated him to his side.

"You all right?" He asked gently.

"I will be. As soon as I stop seeing spots in front of my eyes. Thanks. Weren't you supposed to be bringing backup?"

"Good idea." Gizmo Jr. sneered as he and his father floated into view above their heads. "'Cause you gunk-munchers are gonna need it!"

The premature gloating was silenced by a sonic cry.

"I couldn't agree more, half-pint!" Cyborg smirked as Robotman ran by him to attack the father-son tandem.

Laughing triumphantly, Robotman plucked the two geniuses out of the air. "I'd rather be a gunk-muncher than a midget."

Both of them roared in outrage while simultaneously throwing grenades at his face.

Yelping, he dropped them quickly and skidded into Cyborg, the force blowing him back.

When the two men looked up, their quarry was gone.

"Where'd they go?" Robotman grumbled.

"Hang on a second." Victor held up a hand. "I'm switching to infrared."

He scanned the battlefield for a minute before finding a heat signature behind a bed of generators.

Where's the other one? Cyborg mused to himself before speaking aloud, "C'mon!"

1 minute ago

"Kid, get outta of here!" Gizmo shouted at his son. "And take this!" He exclaimed, shoving a card into his hands.

"What-?!"

"Just go! Follow the address and join up. I'll find you when all this is over!"

"But…"

"NOW!"

Reluctantly following the command, young Gizmo fired up his jetpack and flew over the wall.

And not a moment too soon as the older tech whiz was rammed from behind by wave of sonic force.

"Goin' somewhere?" Cyborg asked as Robotman flanked him, arms folded.

Rather than reply, Gizmo pulled a flamethrower from his belt and fired it.

The two heroes dodged which was what the redhead had been counting on. Using the stream of fire, he began melting a support beam, causing it to groan and collapse on top of his foes.

"Sorry, fellas. But I've got places to be."

As he began flying away, Cyborg and Robotman shared a look of determination before pushing up against the massive beam they were buried under.

With their combined strength, they were able to hoist it above their heads with dual cries of efforts before tossing it in Gizmo's path.

It happened so suddenly that Gizmo had no time to stop before he slammed into the beam and collapsed, unconscious.

"Nice work, kid." Robotman acknowledged. "I did most of the work, though."

"Sure you did."

Across the yard, Mammoth shook off the cobwebs and began to gear up for another mad charge before getting rammed in the ribs by a green mountain goat.

"Kid, you are so gonna pay for that!" The behemoth snarled in irritation.

Changing into a squirrel, Beast Boy darted away and awaited the next pass. He'd learned his lesson from last time.

He'd tried to go pound for pound with this guy before. Since that didn't work, it was time for another approach.

Steve had been preparing him to do something like this for years but the option had always been unappealing. But Garfield supposed now he had no choice.

"You've still got time to give up, dude." Garfield taunted. "I don't know if you can handle this next morph."

"Oh yeah?" Mammoth grinned. "And what's that?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Gar smirked in kind.

With that, he shrank down into a koala, striking a ninjutsu pose for good measure.

Mammoth stared for a moment, dazed, before he threw his head back and began cackling with abandon.

Just as Garfield had hoped.

Shifting into a sparrow, he flew over quickly before shrinking into something even smaller and diving down the giant's wide-open gullet.

Mammoth choked for a moment before recovering his wits and wondering where the half-pint had gone.

He soon had his answer when his intestines began to rumble as he dropped to his knees. He doubled over before gagging and retching up blood and a green tapeworm along with it.

Changing back to human form, his uniform miraculously unscathed, he dusted off his shoulder with a proud grin.

"Told ya." He shrugged cheekily to his prone foe. To himself, he added, "Ugh, that was gross. Lay off the red meat, dude."

Mammoth made to reply before retching a second time.

"See what I mean?"

"What did you do to him, punk?!"

Beast Boy whirled around to find that the voice belonged to Shimmer, who was incensed at her brother's current state.

His voice cracked nervously as he responded, "Educated him on the consequences of his diet?"

"You think you're real funny, don't you?!"

"Some people don't think so."

Growling, she raised her hands to attack him before a punch from 5 ft away knocked her for a loop.

Watching the hand retreat back to its owner, Garfield called, "Thanks, Mom!"

"Anytime, honey!"

Capitalizing on the distraction, Starfire put Shimmer down for the count with a well-placed starbolt as she descended from the skies, hands and eyes glowing.

Downwind, Mento was engaging Psimon once more.

While the two engaged in another war of wills, Robin came up from behind and wrestled Psimon down in a sleeper hold, causing him to yield as he gasped for breath.

Meanwhile, Dr. Light was backing away from the chaos to try and get his bearings. Unbeknownst to him, an inky darkness began to shroud around him until he could see nothing else.

"This again, girl? I told you, I'm not afraid of the dark."

He took an involuntary step back as four pairs of red eyes gleamed in the darkness. "You should be."

Roaring in outrage, he began firing blindly into the darkness, never hitting his target. "I think I've found your weakness, child. You only seek to distract me. You hesitate to go on the offensive, to attack."

He heard the flutter of a cloak which was all he needed. He fired in its direction and was satisfied by the grunt of pain that answered him.

Finally tagging her, the darkness dissipated. "I don't." He grinned smugly, charging up an attack to eliminate the witch for good.

"Don't try it, Sparkles." Cyborg called out from behind, the entirety of the two teams behind him. "Or it's the last move you make."

"You've lost, Light. It's over." Mento said.

"Not quite, my friends." Light said, lowering his hands. "There's still one more gambit up our sleeves."

"Our?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

Rising from his supposed unconsciousness, Psimon shouted, "NOW!"

Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Light generated a shockwave that scattered the heroes across the complex.

Acting quickly, he raised his hands and channeled the full power of his gauntlets to absorb the electricity of the entire complex into one concentrated burst.

Grunting with the strain, Dr. Light began to concentrate and focus his energies into giving the power a humanoid form.

"PSIMON!" He cried over the roar. "DO IT!"

The psychic grinned with malice for a second before closing his eyes and stretching his hands towards the mass of power. He cried out in anguish as he turned his full attentions into giving the power life.

The Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans began to stir, looking on in horror as the colossal mass of electricity glowed harshly.

Finally, the two villains ceased as they both keeled over, drained and unconscious from their work.

Nonetheless, they had succeeded. They had created life.

"My God." Mento breathed out as the being straightened up.

"What is it?" Elasti-Girl beckoned her husband.

"They gave it…life."

"You're saying that thing is ALIVE?!" Beast Boy cried out, grabbing his hair, watching in horror as it turned and began to move towards the city, beginning to carve a path through the surrounding forest.

"It won't be for much longer." Robotman declared. "What are we waitin' for?!"

Racing after it, the metallic being dived at it only to be repelled by a spike of electricity, leaving him searing and sparking.

Negative Man sunk into the ground, using his powers to make the forest floor intangible, sinking its feet underground. The creature stopped midfall and floated back above ground before continuing its trek towards civilization and more power.

Her eyes glowing white, Raven uprooted trees and generators from their moorings tossing them at the creature who hardly slowed its advance.

Cyborg approached cautiously, gasping as a stray bolt of lightning struck at him. He instinctively raised his hands, groaning as the energy made his teeth chatter. Strangely, it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.

Dad must have made me a lightning rod, Victor realized gratefully as the energy passed safely through his body.

Elasti-Girl hovered in the vicinity, dodging energy spikes herself. "Aghh!" Rita gritted her teeth. "I can't get close to it!"

Robin tried his hand, throwing explosives and ice discs to no effect.

Mento used his helmet to try to hold the creature back by force of will, which only lasted a few moments before it shrugged off the effects, trudging forward.

Starfire was whizzing around it head, shooting starbolts that may as well have been flashlights for all that monster knew.

"This isn't working." Garfield muttered to himself, watching the others' efforts.

Giving it some thought, he realized the problem. Everyone was working on their own.

"Guys, we have to do this together!" Garfield shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"Any ideas, Green Genes?!" Victor asked frustratedly.

"Yeah, actually. Everybody huddle up!"

Reluctantly following his command, the two teams came his direction, warily watching the monster ignore them.

"What are ya thinking, kid?" Robotman asked as the others looked at him expectantly.

Not used to being the center of attention like this, Garfield took a calming breath. "I'm thinking that you, Cyborg, and Starfire should group together. You guys are the strongest three people we have. And there's strength in numbers, right?" Continuing, he said, "Larry, you can try to interface with that thing, right? If you can find out whether it has a soul or whatever, then Mento can get inside its head." Turning to their resident empath, he said, "That's where you'll come in, Raven."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you have that empathy stuff, right? Maybe you can use your powers to keep that thing calm."

"I've never tried anything like that before."

"Well, there's a first time for everything. Besides, I believe in you."

She looked surprised for a moment before schooling her expression back into a mask of calm with a hint of trepidation. "Thanks." She said quietly.

Simply nodding, he looked to Robin and his stepmother. "Robin, I don't think there's too much the rest of us can do here. That thing's heading for the city at, like, a snail's pace. I say we get ahead of that thing and try to warn some people."

Robin looked impressed while Rita looked proud.

"Good thinking, Gar." Robin agreed. "I'll call ahead and let Captain Hall know what's up. If there's any collateral damage, we'll be there to help out and usher people to safety."

Beast Boy and the others subconsciously looked at Mento.

"You heard the kid." Steve said. "We have our orders. Let's follow them."

Garfield beamed before morphing into a horse and nodding at Robin and Elasti-Girl to hop on his back.

Once they did, he whinnied and raced through the trees to get to town before 'Overload' did.

"Here we go again." Cliff sighed, as he and Cyborg ran after Starfire who flew ahead of them to slow Overload down.

Downtown Jump City

"Clear the area, now!" Elasti-Girl shouted to the populace, morphing her hands into a kind of megaphone.

In the streets below, Robin was talking to the JCPD about the situation they were up against, urging them to remain calm and insisting that the situation was being handled.

I wish I was that confident about this whole thing, Garfield mused as he stood on a rooftop, watching Overload approach.

Cliff was hurling boulders at the thing while Cyborg and Starfire were trying to blast it to kingdom come to no avail. No matter what the powerful trio threw its way, Overload continued to trudge forward.

While he wasn't lying when he'd said he believed in Raven and the others, he still found it hard to resist the urge to bite his fingernails through his gloves.

"C'mon, guys." He murmured. "Any time now."

"You guys' ready yet?!" Robotman shouted to the remaining three members of their respective teams.

"You up for this?" Mento asked the girl behind him.

Raven stepped forward. "I'm ready."

With a resolute nod, Steve fired up his helmet to full capacity. "Showtime, Larry."

Negative Man passed through the creature, confirming there was a soul inside for Raven to interface with. "Now!" He called.

Stretching out a hand, Mento reached out to its chaotic and garbled mind. He felt it beginning to fight him less and less as Raven began chanting under her breath.

Sweat began running down his face but Mento could feel the defenses weakening. Finally breaching it, he ordered it to stand down and disperse.

There was a cloudburst of light and sound before it dissipated as if it had never been there at all.

For a minute, it was quiet as everyone paused to catch their breath and recover from the battle.

They all looked up as a green steed raced out of the tree line, Robin and Rita in tow.

Once they dismounted, it changed back into an ecstatic Garfield Logan.

"You guys did it! That was awesome!"

"Hey, it was your idea." Victor grinned, raising his hand for a high five that Garfield happily gave him.

"Now what?" Garfield spoke, addressing the others.

"Now we handle clean-up." Mento said with a wry glance in Robin's direction.

Jump City Power Plant

The Titans and the Doom Patrol returned to where their battle began, intent on apprehending their still-unconscious enemies and beginning to tie them up for the authorities that Robin had called to bring them into custody.

"All's well that ends well, I guess." Beast Boy proclaimed, grinning like his old self to both teams' amusement.

"Not quite." Mento rebutted.

Garfield froze, worried about what his stepfather's latest complaint was. "What do you mean?"

"We're missing two of them."

"Oh yeah." Cyborg agreed, eyeing the blood patch where Mammoth had been laying. "Too-Tall and Midget #2."

"Hey! Don't talk about my kid like that!" Gizmo spat from his restraints as he awoke groggily.

Lifting him by the collar, Robotman asked, "Where'd he go, Shorty?"

"I dunno, Metal-Mouth. For all I know, he's on his way to Milwaukee."

Mento quickly scanned his mind. "He's telling the truth. He sent the kid somewhere but he never actually checked the location. Smart."

"This guy gets it." The neckbeard smirked.

"Either way, you're all still going behind bars." Robin declared. "Your kid should be joining you soon enough." Glancing at Shimmer, he said, "Mammoth, too."

The villains glared as they were hauled to their feet as the police arrived to take them into custody.

10 minutes ago

Lil' Gizmo took a breath in the woods, watching as the giant monster collapsed. He was so entranced by the sight that he didn't feel a presence behind him until it touched his shoulder.

"Wah!" He yelped.

"It's just me, half-pint!" Mammoth whisper-shouted, raising his hands in surrender.

"What do ya want, munch?!"

"My sister told me if this went south, run and find that Darhk guy. I'm guessing your Pops told you something similar?"

Casting a sad glance at the power plant before quickly schooling his face again, he glared. "Yeah, so?"

"So why not go together?"

"Fine. But only because they'll shoot at you first."

"You sure this is the place, kid?"

"That's what the friggin' address said, alright?!" Surveying the gross alleyway, Gizmo wrinkled his nose at the stench. "This place is a dump. Is this some kind of a joke?!"

Without warning, the earth shifted beneath their feet and the two boys scrambled back as a panel slid aside, a dozen soldiers clad in black and yellow rising from a staircase, weapons at the ready.

Gizmo blanched and held his hands up in surrender while Mammoth looked ready to charge.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Gizmo pled. "Hang on a minute!" Brandishing the card his father had given him, he continued, "We got sent here! My pops is Gizmo! Your boss paid us a visit the other day and invited us, ya dumb clods!"

The battalion was silent before one of them tapped his helmet, seeming to listen to a command.

"Get in." He ordered.

Nervously stepping past them, Gizmo nodded at Mammoth to follow as they descended the staircase which led to a giant door resembling that of a bank vault.

The commander put his hand on a panel, granting them access.

"Woah." Mammoth breathed in awe.

They were on a catwalk inside a structure vaster than they'd imagined. All over the complex, hexagonal patterns like a beehive adorned the walls. Below them, there was a receptionist desk of all things along with a directory.

As they were ushered to the bottom of the steps, a familiar face waited for them, a young girl standing rigidly behind him.

"Gentlemen, good to see you." The H.I.V.E. Headmaster greeted them warmly, though his eyes still held a calculating look. "I'm glad to see you made the right decision. The Headmistress was just looking for some new recruits. Allow me to introduce you to your liaison." Turning to the girl behind him, he beckoned, "Jinx, if you would, please help our friends Mammoth and Gizmo get settled in."

"Yes sir, Mr. Darhk."

The gray-skinned girl with pink pigtails moved from her position to give the two boys the once-over. Her gaze reached high to inspect Mammoth while having to dart down to appraise Gizmo.

"Welcome to the H.I.V.E. Academy, boys."

March 15, Titans Tower, 11:00 AM

While Mammoth and young Gizmo had been lost in the wind, the Doom Patrol considered their work finished, trusting the Teen Titans to handle it on their own.

Mento and the others had returned to the Tower to bid the Titans farewell, carrying a box with them, oddly enough.

"I am curious, Friend Rita." Starfire spoke, tilting her head quizzically. "Why did you and the other Doom Patrol members not stay and receive the congratulations with us?"

Elasti-Girl smiled kindly at the girl. "The Doom Patrol prefers to fly under-the-radar, Starfire. We find it easier to operate in secret. Less red tape, less distractions, and less chances of being threatened."

"I see." The girl nodded. "Nevertheless, you all are heroes in my mind and were a great help to us."

Rita laughed gently. "I'm glad."

A ways from them, Larry was engaged in conversation with the Titans' resident empath.

"Y'know, Raven, you handled yourself pretty well out there. You've said that your powers are actually magic?"

"Sorcery, technically. But yes."

"Impressive. Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure of the nature of my own powers. From what I gather, it seems you have to rein in your power too."

"More often than I'd like." Raven pursed her lips.

"You strike me as a level-headed young lady. I think you'll be just fine."

That coaxed a small but grateful smile out of the girl.

"You got spunk, kid." Robotman assured, smacking a hand on Victor's shoulder. "'Course having all those fancy gadgets probably helps."

Victor grinned wryly. "Well, we can't all be as one-note as you are, man."

"Ha ha. But seriously, I know it can't be easy being in the public eye looking like…y'know."

Victor raised an eyebrow, an expression of challenge forming on his face.

"I don't mean black!" Cliff backtracked nervously.

"I know what you mean." Victor laughed. "Just kidding. And yeah…it takes some getting used to. But being with these guys makes me feel a little less freaky, y'know?"

"Yeah." Cliff smirked, eyeing his teammates fondly. "I know."

In the center of the OPS room, the two leaders of the respective teams shared a conversation.

"Thanks for your help." Robin said, shaking Mento's hand. "I appreciate it. You guys really should get more credit."

"Don't need it or want it, kid." Steve replied. "We'll leave the glory-seeking to the Justice League." Remembering who he was talking to, he paused. "Sorry."

"Don't mention it. Even so, I think it's good for people to see heroes in the light of day doing the right thing. But coming from someone who's worked under Batman, we need people in the shadows too."

"How old are you, son?" Steve asked, scrutinizing the boy's face.

"Doesn't matter." Robin retorted, brushing the matter aside.

"Can't be older than 16." Steve forged ahead, as if he hadn't heard. "You're gonna go far, kid. But like my wife is always telling me, don't let the job consume you. Stop and smell the roses every once in a while. Before you know it, you'll be my age. And speaking of age…"

Walking up to his son who'd been watching the conversation from afar, he smiled.

"Happy birthday, Garfield."

There was shocked silence in the room.

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Victor exclaimed.

"We were kinda busy." Garfield replied, sheepishly rubbing his neck.

"No excuse not to celebrate a birthday!"

"Yeah." Robin chimed in. "As someone just told me…don't let the job consume you."

Garfield grinned, his heart swelling with emotion.

Retrieving the box he'd brought with him from the kitchen counter, Cliff removed the cover, unveiling a birthday cake adorned with green and purple frosting.

"So who's tearing into this bad boy first?!" Cliff shouted in glee. "After the birthday boy, of course." He smiled over at Garfield.

As they all gathered around the kitchen table, the candles were lit, Garfield sat down, his family old and new surrounding him.

"Make a wish, honey." Rita grinned.

Garfield closed his eyes before blowing out the candles. "I don't think I could wish for anything better than this." He responded softly.

As the others began to get their own slices of cake, Steve nodded silently to Garfield, indicating he follow him.

Inundated with Steve's commands his entire life, Garfield almost found it disturbing how easily he found himself quickly leaving his chair to follow his father figure.

Once the boy joined him, Steve put his hands on his hips and heaved a sigh. "Seems to me you've really found your place here, Garfield. You were right about working with the Titans and you showed some great leadership out there in the field. I'll admit, I didn't think you had it in you."

Digesting the information, Garfield tentatively posed a question. "So…do I get to stay a Titan?"

"You tell me. You're the one who boldly declared it yesterday. So are you a Teen Titan or not?"

"Definitely." Garfield paused, unsure what to do now. "Thanks."

"I'm going to need the uniform back, though." Steve said sternly.

"What?!"

"Just kidding." The man smirked. "Lighten up a little." He finished with a wink.

"So the old man's got a funny bone, huh?" Garfield said with mirth.

"I guess some of your bad habits rubbed off on me." Steve jested back.

The two chuckled together for a moment before the moment was interrupted.

"Hey, is this cake vegan?!" Victor shouted in the background as the others laughed.

….

Once everything had been cleaned up, the remaining members of the Doom Patrol prepared to take their leave but not before a final warning.

"You all keep my son safe, do you hear me?" Rita Farr commanded, more than asked, her face deadly serious.

"Yes, ma'am." Robin and Cyborg responded in unison nervously.

"Good." Leaning down towards her son, she said, "Sweetie, call me every once in a while, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am." He blushed as she kissed his cheek.

"We're all proud of you, honey." Rita assured as she straightened up. Glancing back at her husband, she said, "Even if some don't express it as much as others. Be safe, okay?"

"Aren't I always?"

He had to laugh at her deadpan look in response.

"Happy birthday, kiddo." She smiled fondly, blowing a final kiss his way. "If you need us, you know where to find us."

"Likewise. And when there's trouble, you know who to call."

The End

A/N: Hey, everybody! I apologize for another long wait. This chapter took longer than I had anticipated but I'm pretty proud of it. Once again, I thank you all for being loyal readers and for reviewing.

Special thanks to carlsniper1990, alicetrollz, Rockondude, doggy bye, Song of Shadow, Scrubylue, FanOfmanyThings1, and Nevermourned for favoriting and following.

I took some liberties here, particularly with Negative Man's powers, since I don't know the Doom Patrol all that well and haven't watched the show.

Finally, a reminder to stay safe, wear a mask, and whenever possible, stay home! I believe God's got this but we all have to do our part. Once again, thank you guys and stay tuned for the next update!

Next up: Joyride!