The woods were cool and foggy. The mist slowly curling and twisting around the tree trunks and playing with the grass. The silvery moon was full although hidden behind the mysterious fog. The forest around the D.E.O was surprisingly quiet, no crickets even chirped. But, somewhere in the dark wood, something stirred.
"uhh…" Superboy groaned bringing a gloved hand to his throbbing forehead. The last thing the poor boy remembered was Lutwidge's husky voice, and the incredible pain in his head. He muttered some profanities as he sat up. "Where…?" He wondered as he looked around.
As if he were in some freaky horror movie, the light from the D.E.O shown vaguely through the thick trees. There was no noise except for the sound of his own heart and someone's low breathing. Someone's low breathing? Superboy thought and slowly turned his head to see Impulse curled up at least five feet away from him.
"BART!" Superboy cried seeing his fallen teammate. "Bart man! Who did this to you?" He saw a painful looking bruise and marks on Impulse's face. One of the speedster's yellow lenses had been broken in. SB's mouth opened wide in horror. "If I ever meet the slime that did this to you…" Superboy trailed off little knowing that it was really he who was the slime.
As if God decided to play an amusing joke, Impulse's eyes slowly opened. His vision was blurred and his head throbbed. Someone was talking to him. But their words weren't making sense. He struggled to focus and he saw Superboy's concerned face come into view.
"AH!" Impulse cried out in surprise. Still thinking that Kon was crazy, Impulse began attacking him mercilessly.
"Dear God Bart, NO!" Superboy yelled as Impulse pummeled him. "AH!! Stop Bart STOOPPPPP!!" The confused Kid tried to hold him off turning on his TTK. "What has gotten into you?"
"I believe I can answer your questions." Red Tornado answered.
"GAH!" Kon yelped as Red Tornado emerged from nowhere. Bart was still intent on taking Superboy down before he hurt anyone else. Fortunately, Bart's persistence wasn't paying off. "Get him off me." Superboy gave an annoyed look at the android.
"Impulse," Red Tornado spoke to Bart as he zwipped around retrieving various items to break through Kon's TTK, even though his joints were freezing up. "put down the dynamite and listen closely. Superboy is back to normal now. The insane stage of his disease is over."
Bart suddenly stopped working the lighter and looked up at Reddy, "Really?" His eyes brightened. "Hey Kon! Great to have you back!" Impulse exclaimed. Superboy rolled his eyes but then realized what Reddy had said.
"You mean…all that time I'd been unconscious, I was really crazy?" He asked realizing the obvious.
"Yes." Red Tornado stated robotically. "I've come to see if you two were all right, fill you in, and make sure you two get the antidote." Superboy perked up.
"Antidote? They got the antidote? They have the cure?" He asked excitedly.
"Yes, there is much that has been going on while you were sleeping."
"Just calm them down." Robin yelled massaging his temples slowly. The instant Marina arose from the wreckage saying she had found the cure, the creatures of the D.E.O went into frenzy. Pushing, shoving and trampling to see who would get it first. Marina yelled, terrified and hid behind Secret.
"Everyone just calm down! Hold it, hold it!" Arrowette cried. She hopped on the Super Cycle and it landed softly in front of the crowding masses. "Everyone stay calm! You will ALL get cured. If you keep pushing and shoving, someone will get hurt." Arrowette struggled to calm them down. The Super-Cycle revved up protecting Cissie like a bodyguard to N'Sync. The crowd shoved up against one another impatiently.
"Who gets it first— ?"
"I need it the—"
"I feel sick someone give me—"
"I have a wife and kids! I need it!"
"You do NOT have a wife and kids!"
"…one day…"
"Help I need it—" Random voices rose from the people, hysteria arising once again.
"We're all gonna die!" One overly panicked guard screamed clutching his hair.
"No no! No one is going to die!" Arrowette cried raising her arms to calm them. "Now you'll all get a chance to be cured and NO ONE is going to die. We first need to deal with the people farthest along in the disease." Cissie spoke calm and rationally. Robin sighed in relief. His head hurt, he ached all over, his cheeks were still hot, and he swore he had pulled a muscle in his back. Suddenly his eye caught something zooming out of the forest. Sup—when suddenly Superboy came flying out of the woods knocking Robin over.
"Je—" Robin said crashing to the ground. Superboy hid a smirk and called a vague "sorry" back toward him. He landed quickly next to Cissie.
"Where's the cure?" Superboy asked impatiently, eager to get cured and go home. Sleep…that sounds so damn good right now. Just flop down on a nice, comfy, warm, soft—
"Kon you're up!" She exclaimed a little surprised. Last time she'd seen him, he was beating up Impulse, now he acted as if it had never happened.
"Oh yeah, also hi and it's nice to see you…what the--?!" He questioned finally realizing the amazing destruction around him. A piece of the building still smoldering on the grass, WonderGirl guarded by Secret (after Red Tornado had gone to revive the boys), and Lutwidge lying unconscious, a few loyal guards protecting him. "Boy…I missed all the fun." He said sarcastically starring out.
The crowd began to get unruly. One girl standing between them and the cure. A few began to sneak around. "Let's just hold it right there!" Superboy said regaining a grip on the reality. The crowd began to panic finally remembering who this kid was.
"He'll kill us all!" That one panicked guard cried out again. Superboy looked puzzled toward Arrowette.
"No! No you guys, he's not crazy anymore—wait stop!" Cissie cried out as the throng dispersed. Superboy quickly tried to bring the crowd back together, remembering that if any ran out into the woods, they could spread it to a nearby town.
Marina held the container close to her hiding behind Secret with WonderGirl as she heard the screams. "What…what's going on?" She asked peeking around to see Superboy flying after picking up some stray individuals. Marina gasped, "Not again!" She rose up, a fountain of water and shot towards Superboy with the speed of a rocket, although she was exhausted. "Leave them alone!" She yelled.
"What are you—AHHH!" He cried as Marina blasted him into the side of the building. He dropped the individuals to the ground as the jet of water hit him. "AHHHHHHGGG!!" He was pressed against the wall hard as he had been not that long ago, feeling his breath escaping him.
A dark glow burned in Marina's eyes for a second. "Die you bastard die…" She uttered focusing her energy on breaking his body.
"No Marina, NO!" Arrowette cried trying to get her attention. "He's not crazy anymore! He's not evil!" Arrowette ran toward her. Marina shook her head getting out of her almost hypnotic trance.
"Really?" She asked lessening the pressure off of him. She stopped and Cissie thought she saw Marina's cheeks glow a light purple. "Sorry." SB slid down the wall, sopping wet and gasping for air. He felt as if someone had dropped an anvil on his chest, repeatedly. But he managed to cough out:
"It's cool."
Robin, meanwhile had climbed to his feet, and gave off a groan. His head throbbed so hard and his joints began to feel really stiff and sore. But, that wasn't important right now. People were panicking, a teammate was down, and he had no idea how to administer the antidote to hundreds of people. Then again…those hundreds of people were not his concern. His concern was his teammates. How could I think of such things! Those people need my help as much as my teammates. Robin thought hurrying over to check on SB and give some orders.
"Are you okay?" He asked helping SB up. Superboy shook off Robin's arm tersely. Robin seemed a little surprised.
"I'm fine." Superboy glared. Robin narrowed his eyes.
"Has anybody actually thought how we're going to administer this medicine to all these people?" Arrowette question, breaking the moment of tension. "After all, we don't know if this is something that involves a shot or if it can be taken orally." Arrowette thought aloud, the people calming. With Secret protecting the serum, Arrowette could stop chasing everyone around.
"I think I…I could help out…with that." A stuttering voice was heard from behind them. All members turned around quickly to see a mere shadow of a man speaking up. Agent Johnson.
