A/N: Hello folks! Sorry for the bit of a delay. Just do me a favor and make sure you wash your hands good. Trust me on this. We don't own most of these characters, only our OC's. Editing done by Ghost Fire 6 and MaxGentleman1. Enjoy.
Metropolis, August 3, 0708 EDT
It was the morning rush hour on the Reeves Bridge, with people driving to their places of work. At least, they were until part of the road gave out, causing the whole suspension bridge to wobble and several of the cables to snap. A pileup soon began, and several cars were pushed to the edge.
From his office in the nearby Metropolis building of Stark International, Tony Stark watched the scene unfold. He tapped his watch, and the wall next to him slid open to reveal his Iron Man armor. He was about to power it up, when he saw a familiar red and blue blur flying towards the bridge. Superman flew under the bridge and pushed it up, using his heat vision to begin to repair the damaged metal. Tony watched this occur, and then noticed a black dot hopping over to the bridge. He removed the faceplate of his armor and held it to his face, using it to zoom in on Superboy nearing the bridge. 'Hm. Let's see how they work together…' Stark thought, as Superboy landed on the bridge. The impact caused Superman to falter, before he resumed repairing the bridge. Superboy pulled up the first and second cars without much problem, but when it came to lifting the school bus full of children up, the Teen of Steel began to have a bit of trouble.
Superboy grit his teeth and grabbed the bumper, digging his heels in and pulling as best he could, before he fell on his ass. Superboy gasped, worried that the bus was falling into the bay…
When he noticed it was floating above him, being carried by none other than Superman, who set the bus on the now repaired bridge.
"I had that." Superboy stated.
"Clearly. You're lucky you're landing didn't destabilize the entire bridge." Superman scolded.
"Well it didn't."
"But it could have. We still don't know the full extent of your powers." The Man of Steel stated, and Superboy looked… almost hopeful.
"Well… maybe you can show me?" He asked, and Superman looked away.
"Batman and Captain America will help you figure it out."
"I know, and they have, but I just thought that you'd know-" Superboy started to say, when Superman's communicator went off.
"Superman here." The Man of Steel answered. "I-Cap, slow down. What's attacking? Yes, I'm available. I'll be right there." He said, shutting off his communicator and turning back to Superboy. "Sorry, Super… boy… duty calls." And without another word, Superman flew off, leaving Superboy alone to brood.
Tony had watched all this occur, using his faceplate's advanced audio receptors to pick up the conversation. He tapped his watch again, his communicator dialing a number. "Tony, I already got Steve's alert. Heading there now." The voice of Bruce Wayne said on the other end.
"I am too. But it's not about that." Tony said. "We need to talk about Clark."
Mount Justice, 1306 EDT
The team were all gathered at Mount Justice, gathered in the mission room as they watched Carter and Jason engage in a game of air hockey using the projection area. The two were tied, before Jason managed to get the 'puck' into Carter's goal, the projection chiming to signal his victory. "Haha, suck it, bug boy!" The Boy Wonder cheered, and Carter sighed.
"Round 2?"
"You're on!"
"Oh man, I'm so not looking forward to school starting back next week…" Wally groaned out as the rematch began.
"Ugh, tell me about it. So not looking forward to junior year." Francis stated.
"Yeah, sure must suck." Nolan teased, a smirk on his face..
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, Brainiac. Not all of us are super geniuses who graduated early." Carter shot back, as he got his puck into Jason's goal.
"I just hope we get another mission before school starts back. I'm going more than a little stir crazy, to be honest." Jason remarked.
"Well, I'm going to miss having you around here. It's been… nice getting to know you." M'gann said, stealing a glance at Francis before catching herself. "All of you, of course!"
"Don't you worry, sweet green. Soon as that bell rings, I'll be here in a heartbeat to keep you company." Wally winked, Jason couldn't help but groan at the horrid attempt of flattery.
"Really, Wall? 'Sweet green'?"
"What? She's sweet, she's green. What do you want me to call her?"
"How about something that doesn't make it sound like you're sweet talking a produce section?" Francis shot back, causing most of them to laugh.
"Recognize: Superboy, B-09." The computer announced as the Zeta Tube deposited a brooding Superboy.
"Hey there, Superboy. Enjoy your visit to Metropolis?" Nolan asked, but Superboy ignored him as he stormed through the holographic table, ending the game.
"Dude, what's with you?" Robin asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it." The Boy of Steel growled out, when the Zeta Tubes powered up again.
"Recognize: Black Canary, 12; Wolverine, 24." The computer announced, and out of the Zeta Tubes stepped Black Canary and Wolverine.
"Logan!" Laura exclaimed, walking over to him with a smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"
"Eh, I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by and check up on you. Settling in okay?" Logan asked, and she nodded.
"I believe I am."
"Good to hear." As the two began to chat, Superboy couldn't help but scowl at the two, before he began to storm off.
"Training is mandatory. Stick around. You may learn a thing or two." Canary instructed, but Superboy didn't seem willing to listen.
"Listen to her, bub. Canary's one of the best I've ever fought, and trust me, that's sayin' somethin'." Logan instructed, and Superboy sighed as he joined the others. The training area lit up, as Logan stepped out to observe.
"Let me start by saying that I consider it a great honor to be your teacher. Everything I've learned, I've learned from my own mentors-" Canary winced as she took off her jacket, revealing a bandage around her right arm. "-and my own bruises."
"What happened?" Carter asked.
"The job." The woman bluntly stated. "Now, combat is all about control. Always act, never react. To start off, I'll need a sparring partner."
"You've got one, beautiful." Kid Flash said, stepping forward. "I'm more than happy to show you my sick moves."
"Oh this is gonna be good." Trickshot remarked.
"I'm already recording." Iron Knight whispered, as Canary threw a punch at Kid Flash. He blocked it, but before the red haired speedster could react, she dropped down and swept his feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground. Scarlet Spider choked on some chuckles, faking it into a cough when Aqualad gave him a stern look.
"Care to tell me what he did wrong?" Canary asked.
"He ran his mouth, hit on the teacher, and got his ass handed to him?" Robin piped up.
"All good answers, but the correct answer is that he was overconfident in his abilities." Canary stated. "This allowed me to set the fight on my terms, and-"
"Oh please." Superboy's voice cut through, drawing their attention. "With my strength the battles always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time."
"Prove it." Black Canary said casually, surprising Superboy as she just smiled back at him. He glared, stepping up to her.
Kid Flash stepped away, and they all stood back as Superboy and Black Canary took ready stances. Superboy threw a punch which Canary dodged with seemingly no effort at all before grabbing his arm and flipping him over her and to the ground.
Kid Flash burst out laughing only to be elbowed in the ribs by Robin who muttered; "You did about that well."
Superboy stood up glaring at her and snarling as she said: "You're angry. Good. But don't react. Channel that anger into-"
Superboy leap in at her, yelling. She flipped over his head, ducked under his back fist attempt and swept his legs out from beneath him. He hit the ground and glared up at her as Kid Flash tried to hold in his laughter.
"That's it, I'm done!" Superboy growled making to storm off before Canary placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Training is mandatory." She said calmly.
Before he could do more than glare, the holo screen comm came to life as Batman spoke up; "Batman to the cave." He said as they all quickly gathered around.
"Five hours ago, a new enemy attacked Captain America. He called in backup, which proved to be disastrous, as it was capable of studying then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. With each new combatant, our enemy gained more and more power." He said as an image of an android fighting off Superman, The Flash, and Captain Marvel, each with some form of their own powers showed.
"Whoa, an opponent with the potential powers of the whole League?" Iron Knight said, impressed.
"In the end, it took eight Leaguers over four hours to defeat and dismantle the android." Batman finished.
"Wait, an android? Who made it? T.O. Morrow? AIM? Mad Thinker?" Scarlet Spider asked.
"Good guess, Spider, but Red Tornado doesn't think so." Batman shook his head.
"The technology bares the signature of Professor Ivo." Martian Manhunter offered.
"Ivo? But I thought he was dead." Aqualad said, causing Wolverine to actually laugh.
"We may have thought that kid, but in my time I've seen plenty of those I thought dead come back. Who knows for sure anymore?"
"To make sure that this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two seperate STAR Labs facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone else tries to recover the remains. You all will be split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."
"Alright! Road trip!" Kid Flash said, high fiving Scarlet Spider and Robin.
"So what? Now we take out your trash!?" Superboy demanded.
"You had something better to do?" Batman practically challenged him and he looked down.
Iron Knight spoke up suddenly; "We have coordinates."
"On our way!" Aqualad said as they all set out, Superboy at the back. Black Canary grabbed his arm.
"When you're ready, I will be here." She said calmly. He shrugged her off before setting out.
Litchfield County August 3, 20:08 EDT
In a field far away from prying eyes, Superman, Captain Marvel, and Flash watched SHIELD agents loading the remains of the android into trucks with the STAR Labs insignia on them. As they did so, he could see Iron Man talking with Wolverine about something, but it wasn't really any of his business. The Man of Steel looked at a nearby bush, using his X-Ray vision to look past it and see the Team preparing their motorcycles. Superboy looked his way, but Superman looked away before he could notice, causing Superboy to sigh.
"I just don't see why we have to use these things." Kid Flash stated, examining his bike. "I don't even know how to drive a car, let alone a motorcycle."
"Then it's a good thing the bikes are already pre programmed to follow the trucks. All you have to do is make sure they don't go off-road, and the bikes will do the rest. It's basically autopilot." Nolan stated.
"Let me guess, 'proprietary Stark tech'?" Jason asked.
"You know it. Doubt it'll ever be practical for civilians, but for following the trucks on these back roads it should do just fine." He explained. Back at the trucks, the doors shut as the engines revved up, and Captain Marvel nodded at Batman.
"STAR Manhattan is a go."
"STAR Boston is a go."
Batman nodded, and as the trucks began to move out, he nodded to the team. They began to move out, with Aqualad, Trickshot, Miss Martian, and Kid Flash to go with STAR Boston while Robin, Iron Knight, Superboy, Scarlet Spider, and X-23 went off with STAR Manhattan. Once the trucks were gone, the League began to go their separate ways. Iron Man nodded at Wolverine, before he flew off. Superman was about do the same, when Wolverine grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, you needed anywhere?" Wolverine asked, and Superman raised an eyebrow.
"Not at the moment, no. Why?"
"You and I need to have a talk."
STAR Manhattan
X-23 was in the lead as the STAR Manhattan rode in relative silence. "So… anyone up for 'I Spy'?" Nolan asked over their commlink.
"Oh, I'm down. Let's see… corn, corn, corn… oh look, more corn!" Jason teased.
"Hey, I'm just trying to pass the time. Long ride to Manhattan." The Stark responded, and Superboy sped up until he was next to X-23.
"You seem more than a little down even for dealing with Stark. Want to talk?" The other clone asked.
"It's just… Canary. I mean what business does she have teaching combat to a guy with super strength?" He demanded.
"Taking down people with superior strength is a skill worth learning. Trust me, I learned that the hard way. Similar could be said, at least I assume, with Canary, Batman, Black Widow, Trickshot, even Robin back there." She said, giving as close to a shrug as she could while riding her bike.
Superboy just let out a sigh and sped up to get closer to the truck.
Meanwhile, at STAR Boston, the escorts were having a slightly more productive conversation. "So is Superboy going to be ok?" M'gann asked. "I promise I wasn't reading his mind again, it's just… I could feel the anger coming off of him in waves."
"Eh, he'll be fine. Probably just pissed with how things are going with Superman." Francis reassured her. "Seeing how Laura's getting along with Wolverine probably isn't helping things along."
"Dude probably just needs to clear his head. What he needs is a nice, quiet mission." Wally said, pulling up alongside M'gann. "Nothing like some peace, quiet, and a beautiful view." He said with a wink, causing the Martian to roll her eyes and teenage archer to subtly grip his handlebars tighter.
"Hey Kaldur, how much longer?" The archer asked, his voice carrying just a hint of irritation.
"Two hours, roughly." The Atlantean leader stated, and Francis just sighed. This was going to be a long drive. At least, that's what he thought until they drove past a cornfield. Wally was about to hit on M'gann again… when several robotic monkey's, all wearing jetpacks, flew out of the cornfield, heading straight for the truck.
"What the hell?!" Trickshot exclaimed, as Aqualad grit his teeth as he activated his comlink.
"Aqualad to STAR Manhattan, we are under attack!"
"Kinda figured!" Robin said from the Manhattan team as they watched the monkeys land on the truck.
"The hell are those things?!" Scarlet Spider asked.
"Does it matter? We gotta stop them from getting the parts!" Iron Knight called out, tapping his watch before he pressed a button on his bike. Instantly, the back half separated as the front wheel folded in to provide better balance, as the back wheel split apart and turrets appeared as it began to float behind him. The familiar whine of the repulsor cannons precipitated it, blasting at the monkeys, but they retaliated with green energy blasts from their large eyes. Nolan and Laura managed to avoid them, but one of the blasts hit Carter's front tire. The bike flipped over, but the spider did backflipped and shot a web line at the truck, pulling himself over to stick on the of the robots tried rushing him, but he grabbed it and smashed it on the side of the truck.
"Someone likes the Wizard of Oz a little too much!" He called out, and Nolan looked at Superboy.
"Come on, switch your bike to battle mode!"
"Don't need it!" Superboy growled out, as he leapt off his bike and onto the truck, pulling himself up onto the roof as his bike wrecked.
"He's got the right idea!" X-23 called out as she did the same, using her claws to dig into the side and slash at any monkeys that came her way. Superboy punched down any monkeys that got near him, using his helmet and then his fists to crush them. However, when he grabbed one and attempted to smash it against the roof, it's head rotated around and blasted him in the face, searing his eyes and blinding him. X-23 ducked underneath one of his swings as he flailed away blindly, before several of the monkeys swarmed him and carried him off, dropping him on the road as the truck sped off.
Back with STAR Boston, Aqualad was using his water bearers to create a water whip that destroyed the monkeys heading towards his bike. Kid Flash had already been forced to abandon his bike, running alongside the truck and smashing any robots that he could. Miss Martian had done the same, flying alongside and using her telekinesis to throw the monkeys into the road. Trickshot had switched his bike to battle mode, but the robots had already destroyed the flying turret. Instead, he was firing arrows at the monkeys that were using their laser blasts to try and cut into the cars.
Inside the front seat, the driver could only watch in terror as the robots crowded the windshield, bashing their heads against the bullet resistant glass. He tried in vain to shake them off, swerving the truck, but it was useless. At least, it was until Miss Martian came and blasted them off with her telekinesis. They continued to swarm her, to the point she had to generate multiple arms across her body to throw them off.
Kid Flash grabbed one monkey's tail and used it to pull himself up enough to use it as a stepping stone to get up on the roof, where he saw some Monkeys had already gotten in through the roof. He was about to go in, when he noticed Miss Martian's arms. "Ga!" He exclaimed, startling her as she dispelled the arms. "You can make extra arms? That's cool." He said, as a water whip hit a monkey coming up behind him.
"Talk later! Stop them now!" Kaldur called out as the back of the truck was carved away by blasts from the robots, a group of which emerged from the back carrying the case with the parts in it. Trickshot aimed an arrow at them, but before he could fire it, a monkey destroyed the wheel of his bike with a laser blast. Before he became a stain on the road, Miss Martian caught him with her telekinesis as the truck ground to a halt. Aqualad stopped his bike, removing his helmet as he watched the monkeys flying away.
STAR Manhattan was fairing a bit better. Scarlet Spider was punching and kicking away any of the robots that were trying to get in through the side, Robin threw shurikens at the robots on the other side, X-23 sliced and diced any that got near her on the roof, and Iron Knight used his turret to fire on the robots. It seemed as if they were going to be able to repel the invaders…
"Grahhhh!" When Superboy landed back on the roof, his eyes still shut from the Monkey's earlier laser blast. He couldn't see, but he could hear the chattering noise they were making. He began swinging in their direction, occasionally hitting one, but Laura would occasionally be forced to duck under his swings again.
"Watch it!" She growled at him, before her distraction enabled one of the monkey's to tackle the clawed mutant from behind, knocking her off the roof and into the cornfield.
"Shit!" Robin cursed out as two monkeys went to the tires and blasted them until they exploded, causing the truck to overturn. "Everyone jump!" Scarlet Spider heeded the warning, grabbing the driver and jumping into the cornfield as the truck flipped, skidding on the ground with Superboy on top. Now that there were no more distractions, the monkeys were free to use their lasers to carve open the side of the truck, going in and retrieving the case with the parts and flying off. Superboy watched them leave and growled before he leapt off after them. Nolan and Jason's bikes each ground to a halt.
"Superboy, what are you doing?!" Nolan asked.
"I'm not letting them get away!" The kryptonian yelled in his ear.
"At least wait for backup and-" a burst of static cut him off, causing Nolan to sigh. "Aaaaand he ditched his comm unit. Wonderful."
"Is everyone ok?" Jason called out, and Scarlet Spider groaned as he came out of the cornfield.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded, and there was a rustling a little behind them, when a severed robot head was thrown out onto the road, Laura stepping out of the cornfield, her face still healing from the monkey that tackled her. "Uh… you alright?"
"I will be." She flatly stated, when their comms all activated.
"Aqualad to Manhattan Team. Did they get your parts too?"
"Yep. And Superboy took off after them." Jason replied. "He ditched his comm, too, so we can't track him." Back at the Boston truck, Aqualad sighed.
"Wonderful… Miss Martian, can you track him?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"He's already out of my telepathic range."
"The guy might not be able to fly, but he can still leap tall buildings in a single bound. No telling where he could be by now." Trickshot stated, crossing his arms.
"Actually, there may be a way." Stark stated back at the Manhattan team, tapping his communicator. "Kaldur, we would have heard if any of the decoy trucks attacked, right?"
"Right."
"But the robots knew exactly which trucks to attack. Now, they could have just guessed, but the odds of attacking the right trucks on the first try?" He explained, allowing the rest of them to reach the conclusion.
"They have a way to track them."
"Bingo, boy wonder." Nolan stated as he checked his watch. "Can't hack it right now, but I can in three, two, one…" Before the others could ask what he meant, there was a loud *thud* behind them, and they all looked to see his black, red, and gold armor touchdown. The front opened up, and Nolan stepped inside it as the Iron Knight suit closed around him. "Aaaand there we go."
"Where's that been this whole time?" Jason asked.
"It was supposed to be a covert mission, remember? Flying suit of armor isn't exactly 'covert.'" Knight stated as he walked over to the monkey head Laura had tossed onto the road. "Give me five minutes." He said, as he picked up the head and pulled a cord out of his arm, cutting his external voice channel as he plugged the chord in. "Hey, it's me. Are you there?"
"You know I am." The encrypted voice of Guardian Angel said in his ear. "What's going… why do you have a monkey head?"
"I need your help to hack this thing."
"Really? The great Nolan Stark can't hack a simple robot monkey?"
"I can totally hack this, but we're short on time. Our friend's running off half cocked, and we're all worried about him."
"Isn't that a bit hypocritical, coming from your group?"
"Look, you said you wanted to help, right? Well here's your chance to prove it." Nolan offered, and the line was silent for a moment. He was almost sure his mystery 'friend' had hung up on him, when her encrypted voice spoke up.
"Alright, this thing's programmed to follow some kind of signal. I've got two signals heading towards each other, and fast." Angel explained, as a map appeared on his display. "I just uploaded the tracking software to your suit. Hope your friend's alright."
"Thank you. I mean it." He said, as the call disconnected. He turned back to the group, reactivating his helmet's speaker. "We were right. The android's parts are emitting some kind of signal, most likely a transmitter beacon."
"So where are they headed?" Scarlet Spider asked, and Iron Knight checked his map.
"Let's see, from the direction and speed they're heading, they're going to meet up around...Gotham?"
"Batman's not going to like this…" Robin sighed out.
"So we stop them before they assemble the parts." Aqualad stated back at the Boston team, and turned to Kid Flash. "Kid, can you make it to Gotham in time?"
"Literal walk in the park for me."
"Then get moving." He instructed, and Kid Flash nodded, before running off in a burst of wind and dust. "Manhattan team, you know what to do."
"On it, boss." Knight stated, and looked at the others, before taking off and flying in the direction Superboy had gone.
Metropolis, 21:18 EDT
This was far from Clark Kent's first time in Hob's Bay, the area of Metropolis that had once been nicknamed 'Suicide Slums'. As a reporter for the Daily Planet, he would often have to venture here for the sake of pursuing a story, and as Superman, he would often be drawn here by cries of help. Perhaps the fact that this was one of the rougher parts of town was exactly why Logan had led him here. As a longtime ally of the X-Men, the Man of Steel wasn't unaccustomed to the shorter man's temperament, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out exactly what Wolverine had wanted to talk to him about.
"We're here." Logan spoke up after several minutes of silence, leading Clark into the Ace O' Clubs bar. The two entered the establishment, and prepared to take a seat…
"Ah hell no!" Bibbo Bibowski spoke up, pointing at Logan. "You got a lotta nerve showin' up here after last time! Da claw marks messed up the bar so bad I had to get da whole thing replaced!"
"Easy, Bibbo. He's with me." Clark spoke up, and Bibbo looked over at him.
"This guy ain't no good, Mister Kent. Every time he walks in, he costs me a whole grand!"
"He'll behave, Bibbo. He's working with me on a story." The reporter assured him, and gestured at Logan.
"I promise, I'll behave." Bibbo didn't look so assured, but he let them be for now, as the two took their seats in a corner booth.
"So, it takes a lot to make Bibbo not like someone. What exactly did you do?" Clark asked, and Logan shrugged.
"Last time I was here, some jackass had a few too many drinks, started voicing his 'interesting' opinions on mutants. So, I taught him a lesson."
"You didn't-"
"Relax, Boy Scout. I didn't give 'em nothing they wouldn't heal from." Logan reassured him.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Clark asked, and Logan sighed.
"Look, I respect you too much to dance around it, so I'll get straight to the point: you gotta do something about Superboy." As soon as the clawed mutant said that, the bespectacled reporter looked away, trying to avoid eye contact.
"Did Bruce put you up to this?" The Last Son of Krypton asked, and the X-Man nodded.
"Yeah. They said a bunch of things I happened to agree with. Namely that you need to stop treatin' the kid like he doesn't exist. Help him with his powers."
"Superboy, he… he looks up to me too much. Steve and Bruce are more than capable of-"
"Look, I respect those two more than anyone I've ever met, but they're not. They've got enough on their plates as is." Logan stated. "That kid, he's got a lot of anger, and a lot of power. A boy like that… he needs someone who understands what it's like. He needs his father." As soon as Logan said that last word, Clark rose from his seat.
"I'm not his father!" He stated, and began to storm off…
When Logan grabbed his wrist, and grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt. "LIsten up, Kent. Those kids, Laura and Superboy… they may be our clones, but they think of us like we're their parents. And if you continue to neglect and refuse to even acknowledge his existence… he's gonna start to resent you, and trust me, the end result of that ain't pretty." Logan growled out, and he and Logan maintained eye contact for a minute. Clark saw a pain there, something deeper and darker than even Bruce's or his own. It was at times easy to forget that Logan was much older than he looked and had seen, done, and learned a lot in that time.
The silence hung in the air for a moment before Clark spoke up. "Is that all?" He asked, and Logan let out a sigh.
"Yeah, it is."
"Then I'll see you around." And with that, Clark left the restaurant, leaving Logan to sit in the booth by himself.
"Well, gotta say, that went better than I thought it would…"
Kane County Line, 21:21 EDT
Superboy, having ditched the motorcycle jacket, leapt along the countryside, trailing the monkeys to a train. He landed on the car, ripping a hole in the roof and dropping in. It was pitch black, save for the dull green light emanating from the monkeys.
"Well well well…" A voice spoke up. Superboy turned around to see a short man with graying auburn hair wearing a green sweater vest over a white dress shirt and red bowtie, surrounded by the monkeys. "...since when does the Big Blue Boy Scout have a brat?"
"He doesn't." Superboy growled out, and the man just clicked his tongue.
"Oooh, I'm sensing a bit of hostility there. Trust me, young man, you'll find no shortage of daddy issues in the crowds we run with." The man stated, but Superboy ignored his comments.
"So, I'm guessing you're Ivo?"
"The one and only. Tell me, did you enjoy my Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators?" Anthony Ivo asked, holding his arms out as two MONQIs charged Superboy. He responded, by punching one, before grabbing the other and smashing it into the wall.
"I hate monkeys…" He growled out, and Ivo sighed.
"And after all the trouble I went to creating an acronym for 'monkey.' Oh, well." Ivo tapped a few keys on the computer next to him, and Superboy could hear what sounded like whirring behind the short man.
"Access: Captain Marvel." A cold, computerized voice declared, and before Superboy could react, a yellow blast of energy blasted him square in the chest, knocking him back.
"If Professor Ivo's Magnificent Monqi's don't float your boat, then perhaps my newest invention will." Ivo stated, and the figure stepped out of the shadows. It was a large, humanoid robot with orange skin and pointed ears. "Feast your eyes, young man, on my amazing Amazo! Amazo, be a dear and give him a demonstration, will you?" Superboy got up to his feet, holding his fists up.
"Gimme your best shot, tin can." He challenged, and Amazo's red eyes glowed for a moment.
"Please, my android has the strength of Superman, the speed of the Flash, the power of Captain Marvel… I could go on, but the point is that it can easily handle a dollar store knock-off such as yourself." Ivo taunted, and Superboy charged forward with a yell. He swung a punch that Amazo easily caught. Superboy unleashed a few more punches that the android easily blocked, until he managed to land a lucky hit. The clone was about to follow up, when Amazo caught his fist, delivering a right hook that knocked the Boy of Steel back.
"Access: Black Canary." It's mouth opened to deploy some kind of speaker, one that unleashed a sonic blast strong enough to knock Superboy against the wall. "Access: Flash." The android rushed forward, delivering a series of lightning fast blows that kept Superboy from being able to focus.
"Oh dear. No wonder daddy keeps you locked away. Don't really do the old 'S' shield justice, now do you?" Ivo taunted, as Amazo continued to beat down Superboy, before it delivered an uppercut that sent Superboy flying into a car with construction equipment. "Ooooh, that looked like it hurt."
"Shut the hell up!" Superboy yelled out as he rushed Amazo again, about to deliver a devastating blow to his head…
"Access: Martian Manhunter." When he passed right through the android as it turned intangible. Superboy landed on his feet, and spun around to deliver a right hook, only for Amazo to catch it. "Access: Superman." Superboy's eyes widened as Amazo began to overpower him, and it delivered an even more devastating uppercut that sent him flying off of the train and into Gotham, crashing into the top floor of the nearby Gotham Academy.
"Hm. He can't fly, but he sure can soar…" Ivo remarked, and turned to Amazo. "Finish him off. Priority Alpha." He ordered, and Amazo processed the command, flying off.
A few miles away, Iron Knight was flying ahead of the others, with Scarlet Spider on the back of Robin's motorcycle, all of them in their regular clothes. "We almost there?" Scarlet Spider asked.
"We're almost at the city limits." Robin stated, as Kid Flash ran up alongside them, now in his yellow costume.
"Hey guys. Enjoying the ride?"
"You changed clothes too?" X-23 asked, and he nodded.
"Yep. I feel naked fighting without this thing on." The teenage speedster replied. "Where are the parts?"
"I'm still tracking them. They met up a while ago, but they just veered off their course into the city." Iron Knight stated, reading the map on his display. "Says here they're at...Gotham Academy?" He stated, causing Jason's eyes to widen.
"They're at my school?"
Back at Gotham Academy in a chemistry lab, Superboy staggered up to his feet. He had no idea if Amazo had been able to copy his fa-... his source material full strength, but it sure did hurt like hell. Superboy was beginning to wonder if running off without the others had really been his best idea, when Amazo flew through the window, tackling Superboy and launching him through the wall and back into the hallway, the clone hitting a row of lockers. He groaned as he sat up, and panted as he glared at the android. "That… that all you got?"
"Access: Flash." Apparently it wasn't, as the android charged at him with superspeed and slammed him into the lockers, knocking the wind out of the half-Kryptonian, before it grabbed him by his shirt. It's whole torso turned as it spun him around, before tossing him into a trophy case. Superboy couldn't even get back on his feet, instead grabbing a rather hefty looking trophy and chucking it at the android.
"Access: Spider-Man." Instead of phasing through it like it had before, the android leapt up and stuck to the ceiling to avoid the trophy, and aimed it's hand at Superboy once more. "Captain Marvel." The energy blast knocked Superboy through the wall and into the gymnasium, the boy of steel grunting as he landed on the hardwood floor of the basketball court.
"Ow…" He groaned out, as the android landed in front of him. Superboy heard a slow clap, and turned to see Ivo sitting in the bleachers.
"Oh, how I wish I was recording this. It'd make one hell of a sales pitch." The scientist taunted, and Amazo was about to fire on him again…
When Iron Knight crashed through the windows, firing on the android with his repulsors. "Hiya, Supey! Have a fun trip?" Knight asked as he fired on the Amazo, but the android simply aimed at him, firing energy blasts back. He dodged some of them, but the gym didn't give him as much room to maneuver as he would have liked, and eventually Amazo got a lucky shot in.
"Oh goodie, more playmates." Ivo remarked as Robin, Kid Flash, Scarlet Spider, and X-23 entered the gym.
"Oh man, someone liked Lord of the Rings a little too much…" Kid Flash remarked, as Robin pulled two shurikens out and threw them at Amazo.
"Access: Superman." Two beams of heat vision blasted the shurikens out of the air, and Scarlet Spider hooked a bench on a web line and tossed it at Amazo, only for it to phase through and smash against the wall.
"Oh come now, you'll have to do better than that!" Ivo taunted as X-23 leapt at it with her claws popped while Scarlet Spider and Kid Flash leapt at it from the right, only for a gust of wind to surround Amazo as it accessed Red Tornado's abilities, blowing them away and against the wall. Robin sent three more shurikens at it, but Amazo was prepared.
"Martian Manhunter." It's arms seemed to stretch out and act as whips to knock the shurikens out of the air, and Robin's eyes widened as it focused on him. "Flash." The Boy Wonder barely had time to jump out of the way before the android rushed his position, but the android grabbed him by the foot, spun around, and threw him into the wall. He groaned, and Amazo aimed it's hand at him and began to charge up, when a repulsor blast from a recovered Iron Knight drew it's attention.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, Legolas?!" The Stark challenged, and Amazo turned towards him.
"You aren't exactly his size tin can kid." Ivo pointed out as Amazo raises its hands: "Captain Marvel." It unleashed blasts on Iron Knight who dodged some took a few others but never failed to fire back.
Kid Flash soon came around to attack it from behind. Amazo appeared to sense this turning to face him it said: "Access: Black Canary," Before it unleashed a sonic scream knocking Kid into the bleachers.
It turned to face Robin, X-23 and Superboy as the Teen Wonder threw several explosive shuriken at it. "Martian Manhunter" It's arms stretched out catching them all mid flight and causing them to explode before it used it's extended reach to slam both Superboy and X-23 through the bleachers.
Kid Flash rushed in to try and and hit Amazo but it grabbed him in a bear hug arms to his sides and began to squeeze as it said; "Superman."
Kid Flash began to scream out in pain, and then there was a sound and the Amazo's head turned; "Martian Manhunter." It said before going intangible in time for an arrow to fly through its head and land near Robins foot who starred in surprise.
Superboy leap in for an attack and Amazo flipped him over with casual ease and sent him flying into the opposite bleachers with Black Canary's usual style of fighting. As the Boy of Steel hit the bleachers, he shook his head, biting back a curse. Amazo was mopping the floor with them, even with his added backup. No matter what they threw at it, the Android was capable of adapting to it no problem.
'Always act, never react.' Canary's words from the Cave rang in his ears. Back then, Superboy had been so angry over Superman neglecting him, he hadn't bothered to listen to her. But after getting tossed through a few walls, the Kryptonian was starting to reconsider Canary's qualifications.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Access Black Canary." And Superboy opened his eyes, looking at the battlefield with a new perspective. His friends were faring about as well as he had alone, and Ivo seemed to be enjoying the show, flanked by his two Monqi's as he yawned.
"Oh, this is getting old. Normally, my Amazo would just study and replicate your abilities, but what's the point? You're all just poor copies of the originals…" The mad scientist lamented, and Superboy smirked as he got an idea.
"That's what everyone keeps saying...and it's starting to make me mad!" He yelled out, and leapt towards Ivo, who barely managed to get out of the way before Superboy smashed into the bleachers. "Wanna see me channel that anger?!"
"Oh great, he's finally lost it…" Kid Flash lamented.
"I don't think so…" X-23 theorized as a panicked Ivo began backing away from Superboy.
"Amazo, protect your master! Priority alpha!" He ordered, and Amazo shifted his attention to the bleachers.
"Acknowledged." It stated as it aimed it's hand at Superboy, firing on him with Captain Marvel's powers and staggering him.
"I get it now!" Iron Knight declared, looking at Ivo and firing several small missiles from his shoulder compartments. Just as he expected, Amazo blasted them out of the air with heat vision, allowing X-23 to rush it and slash the android's side with her claws. It backhanded her away, before it noticed Robin throwing shurikens at Ivo. Deploying heat vision again, it switched to Black Canary as it noticed Kid Flash running towards Ivo, blasting him away with a sonic scream. However, before the speaker could retract all the way, Scarlet Spider fired a blast of webbing, covering its face in webbing. Blinded, it's hands moved to tear it away, allowing Laura's claws to dig through it's sides once more.
"Martian Manhunter." The mutant passed right through it once more. However, before it could materialize, Superboy rushed it, placing his arm through it's head just as it rematerialized. "Acceszzzzz SuPer100011111000011101" Was wall it managed to say before it's head exploded, and the deactivated android fell to the ground.
"Oh dear…" Ivo muttered, as Iron Knight ran over to the android.
"Quick, X, help me disable it for good!"
"How do you want me to-"
"Cut where I tell you to cut."
"Dude, he has no head." KF stated.
"Don't feel like taking any chances. Alright, start right around the shoulder…" As the two went to work, Ivo slowly made his way to the exit, about to leave through the side door…
When an arrow impacted the wall in front of him. "Now just where do you think you're going?" Trickshot asked as he, Aqualad, and Miss Martian entered the gymnasium.
"Well drat." The mad scientist sighed out as Aqualad went over to the others.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Few scrapes, few bruises, nothing too bad." Scarlet Spider reported, and Aqualad looked at Superboy, who had taken the most punishment.
"And you?"
"I'm fine. Just had to figure out what my own terms were." He stated.
Mount Justice,August 04. 00:52
"The Amazo android was successfully disassembled, and we delivered the parts to both STAR Labs facilities." Aqualad reported to Batman, Captain America, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkeye, and Superman. "We handed Ivo off to the SHIELD branch located in New York, where he awaits trial."
"Good work. We'll all sleep a lot better knowing that Ivo's locked up." Batman stated.
"Good job adapting like you did. Complications are a part of the job, and how you handle and adapt to those complications show what you're really made of." Canary stated. "Still, this thing was no slouch. No harm in asking for help."
"Like you would've given us the chance." Robin stated, pulling out the arrow that had saved Wally's life. "You had Hawkeye and Arrow following us, weren't you?"
"We weren't, I promise you." Batman said, as Hawkeye took the arrow from the sidekick's hand.
"Hm, craftsmanship isn't half bad. That's not one of mine, though." He stated, pulling out an arrow as Green Arrow did the shame. Hawkeye's arrow had a purple shaft and a bladed arrow head similar to Arrow's green one, while the one from the gym had a more traditional arrow head.
"Not one of mine, either." Francis said, pulling out an arrow to show that his had a black shaft and purple fletching, as well as a bladed tip.
"Then that means… it wasn't any of you." Robin sheepishly admitted. "Then that means…"
"It was probably Speedy- I mean Red Arrow!" Kid Flash concluded as Scarlet Spider looked at the arrow…then the speedster, lenses giving him a raised brow.
"Uh, Kid. The arrow isn't even-" That didn't stop him from going on.
"Ah, I knew he couldn't keep that lone wolf gig forever, he has our backs!"
All Carter could do was shrug, accepting Wally was set on who it may or may've not been. "Guess we have a souvenir." Out of the corner of his eye, Aqualad noticed Batman and Green Arrow exchange a glance, but he let it go for now.
After the debriefing was over, Superboy was headed to his room, ready to turn in...when Superman approached him. "Hey there, Super...boy." The Man of Steel awkwardly greeted.
"Oh, uh, hey." Superboy greeted back, and SUperman scratched the back of his head.
"I uh...I heard you fought the android alone for a while, and you managed to take it down." Superman stated. "I know it couldn't have been easy. I just wanted to say...good job." Superboy's eyes widened at the congratulations, stunned senseless. "I should...probably get going. Even we Kryptonians need our sleep. So...see you around." And with that, Superman went into the Zeta Tube, leaving Superboy alone...before he smirked to himself, heading into his room.
Epilogue One
Malibu, 10:42 PST
Nolan was in his room, running some last minute diagnostics on his armor, when his phone beeped. "Hey. You help your friend?" Angel's voice asked.
"Yeah, I did. Thanks for your help." Nolan stated, typing on his tablet. "If it'd been just me trying to crack it, then I don't know what would've happened to him."
"Well I'm glad I could help." The voice stated. "Hope to help you again soon." And with that, the call ended, and Nolan smirked as he typed on his tablet.
"Oh, we'll be talking again soon, alright." He said, as he pressed a prompt on his tablet.
*BEGINNING TRACE PROGRAM*
Epilogue 2
STAR Labs Manhattan, 01:53 EDT
At STAR Manhattan, a man yawned as he finished cataloging the parts of the Amazo android. "Hey Doc, is that it?" The security guard asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah. That's everything they brought us." The man yawned out, as he began shutting off all the lights. As he left the lab, he locked the door behind him, submerging the room in darkness. Time passed...before the computers flickered on with an ominous red light, as they began going through readouts of the android's capabilities, it's strengths and weaknesses, it's performance against the Justice League, and what it would take to repair it.
"Oh yes. This shall do nicely." A cold, calculating, digitized voice said. "Soon...soon the world will be a better place."
A/N: dun dun duuuuun. See y'all next time.
