A cool musty smell filled the air. It was so lonely. Dark walls on all sides and slight dripping could be heard in the distance. It was probably something in the Med-Lab that had not been cleaned up yet. Every little noise broke the endless silence. Crickets from somewhere inside, the dripping of a chemical splashing to the rock floor, the whispers of a breeze snaking down the Justice Cave halls, the high-pitched blips from the Terminal Odyssey game Bart was playing.
"Boring." He griped defeating the last level of the video game. He reclined back in the recreation room sighing. "This is so boring! I'm so bored. Where is everybody? So bored…I'm so bored." He complained some more leaning back as far as he could. Robin had commanded Impulse to remain in the Justice Cave for safety reasons. Bart assumed it was for his safety. But, some knew better. Currently caught between stages 3 and 4, Bart seemed perfectly fine. Of course, he did not know that after stage 4 comes the last stage. And in the last stage, he dies. "I'm so bored…I wish Max was here!" He shuddered. "I did not say that!"
He got up out of his chair as it crashed to the floor. He stretched a little and sighed. He sped off toward the meeting chamber of the Justice Cave and began his search.
"I know it's here somewhere…" Bart trailed off looking under the table. He pushed aside a few soda cans and pizza boxes, but to no avail. The item he was looking for was still lost. He ran around at top speed till almost the entire meeting chamber was switch all around. Bart sat down and sighed, "I can't find it anywhere…I had it a second ago." He got up again to look around when he had a sudden impulse he turned around to see what he had been looking for was lying where he was just sitting! "Hey, hey! There it is. Hmmm, I should've felt it…oh well." He grabbed it up and dusted it off quickly. He smiled, "Young Justice is a team, right? And I'm part of the team, right? And teams stick together, right?" He slipped his mask on, "Next stop…the D.E.O!"
Robin stealthily landed the Super-Cycle in the thick woods. The fog was still hard to see through, but luckily, it had lightened a bit. Just enough to see the building. He got out his binoculars and focused in on the area. There was a huge hole near the bottom of a stone wall. Moving his binoculars upward the tall wall he saw a row of windows stretching across near the top. The majority of them were shattered with bits and pieces of the glass jaggedly pointing out in all directions. The Super-Cycle whimpered from behind him.
"Shhhh…Cycle." Robin hushed it straining to hear anything. The Cycle started to growl. "Cycle, shhh!" Robin hushed it again. He placed down his binoculars carefully in the wet grass and pulled out a walkie-talkie to see if he could get in contact with Bart. Suddenly shots rang out behind him from some unknown source, hitting the wet bark off of a tree near by. The Super-Cycle blasted into action firing lasers and strange beams off everywhere creating a colorful light-show in the gray fog. The light illuminated a figure in the darkness. With amazing speed, Robin whipped out two bat-a-rangs and whipped them toward the figure. The bat-a-rangs tore into the figure's clothes and pinned him to a large dead maple. His gun feel to the soft ground harmlessly.
Carefully, but quickly Rob approached the figure who was struggling shakily against the bat-a-rangs pinning him and his clothes to the tree. Robin grabbed him harshly. D.E.O agent. Rob thought. He looked straight into the agent's fearful eyes.
"Who are you and what's going on in there?!" Robin asked harshly pulling him up by the front of the shirt. The agent let out a shaky cry.
"Ahhhhh! I'm….I'm…Agent J-Johnson. I…don't know what's going on in t-" At that moment Robin jerked him harder.
"What's going on in there?" He questioned darkly. His opaque lenses burning into Johnson's wide brown eyes.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Johnson yelped, "I-I lost contact with Lutwidge…"
"Lutwidge." Robin repeated narrowing his eyes. Before Robin could speak another word, a thunderous crash was heard. The ground shook and rumbled beneath his feet knocking him and Agent Johnson to the ground. The trees shook barely grasping onto the ground beneath them. The maple Robin had pushed Johnson against cracked and fell forward it's deep shadow falling over them even through the thick fog. The ground still grumbled below as Robin rolled out of the way taking Johnson with him. The maple splintered on the shaky ground, spraying water and sap as it hit. Johnson's foot was nearly caught under the heavy wood. Robin was getting slower with the increasing of the disease.
The Super-Cycle reacted immediately hovering above the quaking ground, rushing to the Boy Wonder's side. It scooped him and agent Johnson up in a quick swoop. It headed toward the D.E.O building swiftly.
"Thanks Cycle." Robin said as Johnson caught his breath. The Cycle vroomed it's own "welcome" and sped up.
"Holy—" A guard's panicked shout was drowned out by the sound of the gun firing off a shot. A bluish laser beam was emitted from the cannon hitting the back wall with such a great impact that the whole wall nearly collapsed.
"How'd he get into the 'Warfare Research' department?!" A guard wondered that aloud firing off shots at Superboy. No answer came to him as SB fired the next shot directly at him. The guard had barley enough time to get out of the way as the laser beam blew passed him.
Superboy just smiled. Fully engulfed in the 2nd stage of the disease. He raised the gun again, the unconscious Marina still in his right arm. She curled up close to him, as if this boy wielding a gun was a source of comfort. Ignoring her, he fired another laser. But the shots were becoming too far apart. Guards were making their way through. They kept getting closer and closer in-between his firing. Without a change of the smile on his face, the ground began to slowly shake. A slight rumbling at first beneath everyone's feet. No one noticed at first until it grew. The ground shook violently knocking creatures, guards, and heroes alike to their knees. The Boy of Steel wasn't even concentrating.
"What the hell's going on?!" Someone shouted over the "earthquake". But their only response was the floor shaking harder. Their struggling seemed hopeless until a masked figure appeared ready to put an end to the chaos.
