Hi! Quick explanation for this chapter before we get started. Since this episode goes back and forth between Red Arrow's intervention and Superboy's mission, it's going to be handled a little differently. So don't be confused when it's all of Siren's POV first, it'll make more sense later on.
~/~/~/~
Washington D.C.
February 13, 22:00 EST
Siren was in a bad mood.
She hadn't been prepared to see Kaldur again a couple of weeks ago, especially not on Malina Island. Since then, her emotions were all over the place.
She had to remind herself where her priorities needed to lie with helping Nightwing lead the team and finding time to spend one-on-one with Sam, all while starting her last semester of college. And after that mission, everything seemed to be going wrong.
At least she could find time to clear her head by driving around on her motorcycle at night. The blistering wind shocked her body enough for her to focus on that and only that.
Green Arrow's voice coming through her comm interrupted her peace though. "I found him. And it's worse than we thought."
Dammit. Siren gritted her teeth. Glancing down to check her GPS for the pre-set coordinates, she made a sharp turn down another road. It only took about ten minutes of driving—which was easier than trying to find another Zeta-Tube—before she reached the building they planned to meet Red Arrow at.
After ditching her bike in an alley, she zipped up to the top with her grappling hook. The others were there and waiting, having met up after scouring the city as she had been. There was Nightwing, of course, plus Black Canary. And Jim Harper was there, who was known as Roy's 'uncle' when in reality, it turned out he was an older clone of the original Speedy.
Then there was Wally. Siren missed having him and Artemis on the team, but she understood their wishes to go to college and live a relatively normal life. It was something she almost could see herself doing, but she wouldn't give up being a hero for anything.
It did make time management a bit stressful though.
"Hey, Jen," the speedster said as soon as Siren immediately wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
She said nothing for a moment as she just enjoyed the warm embrace. The thermal leggings disguised as her usual fishnets could only do so much. Letting out a long breath, she stepped back.
"How're classes going?" she asked.
"Don't ask. How's graduation prep going?"
Siren managed a wry grin. "Don't ask."
"So this is where Red Arrow lives now?"
Siren glanced over at Nightwing when he spoke. "Actually, it's a couple of buildings down. But Green Arrow tracked his route before and he goes in this direction almost every time."
At that moment, Green Arrow appeared. "He'll be here any second."
Siren sighed. She hadn't seen Red in several months. She wanted to see him again, but she was worried about what she would see.
She joined Nightwing and Wally as they slipped behind a brick stairwell that led into the apartments below. They discussed it prior, and they all agreed upon Green Arrow's desire to approach Red Arrow first to hopefully keep him from bolting at first glance.
Siren felt like she could do the job too, but Red had never been the same since that day five years ago when the truth about who…what he was came to light. Lately, none of us have been.
The telltale sound of someone sliding down a zip line grew louder and louder. Siren could hear that someone make an impact with the roof, but almost immediately, they tumbled to the ground, losing their weapon along the way. What the hell, Roy?
"Hey, Roy. Need a hand?" Green Arrow's voice was heard across the rooftop.
"No." Red Arrow sounded sharp, being defensive and aggressive at the same time.
This is ridiculous. Siren stepped out into the light. "You sure about that?"
"Because we think you do." Nightwing joined her side as the rest of them also walked forward.
The remaining heroes gathered behind Green Arrow so that Red could get a good look at them and vice versa.
Siren crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at the sight before her. Long, unkempt hair, a five o'clock shadow, body so thin she wouldn't doubt that underneath his suit ribs would be visible.
Red Arrow was a mess. All because he felt obligated to search for the original Roy Harper that was taken eight years ago.
"I have nothing to say to any of you," Red said to them, glaring over at Green Arrow. "Nothing to explain, nothing to justify."
He began to grab his fallen bow and stalk off, but GA grabbed something from his back pocket. "Nothing?" he questioned, holding up the item.
A thick wad of cash.
Siren scowled. So he's stealing now?
Thankfully Red actually stopped, his body language proving that he was at least guilty. "It's…not what it looks like," he defended himself, turning back to face them. "I mean, that store owner won't miss it. He offered me a reward anyway."
Then he tried to find a reason which Siren felt was even worse. "Besides, I deserve it. Guy wouldn't have any of his money back if I hadn't stepped in."
"Dude, are you even listening to yourself?" Wally snapped at him.
"Look, I need it. I need it to find Speedy. The real Roy Harper." This again… "A search like that is expensive. Especially when the rest of you have all given up."
Siren squeezed her bicep tighter. "Sure, it's not like I was the one who held out the longest to try and help your stubborn ass," she muttered, but by Red Arrow's sharp look, he had heard her.
Black Canary stepped forward to try and reason with him. "Roy, I know you feel lost," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But that doesn't mean you're alone."
Red stepped away, moving to the edge of the roof. "I'm not the one that's lost."
"When was the last time you trained? The last time you slept?" Canary countered.
"Don't even start. I'm in the best shape of my life."
Siren scoffed. The longer she looked at him, the more she could see how haggard he had become. "Oh, really?" Red barely had time to look back before Canary was swinging.
He didn't even seem to block her punches and kicks; all he did was try to dodge. Not that he was doing a very good job at it. Black Canary was easily forcing him away from the group and to the rooftop edge.
It was clear he wasn't even aware of his surroundings, stumbling when his heel hit the barrier and nearly falling off the roof if Canary hadn't been ready to grab him and yank him forward.
"Best shape of your life?" Canary repeated. "That was me holding back. Way back."
Siren walked forward, siding up to her sister. "The last time I checked, Banshee could make that ride down on a zip line and stick the landing," she countered. "The Red Arrow I know would care about keeping his body in peak condition."
"Roy, you used to treat your body as a temple," Canary agreed, releasing Red Arrow who simply fell to his knees. "But now…"
"Now you're going to seriously injure yourself if you don't get it together," Siren snapped.
Her shoulders slightly relaxed when Canary rested an arm across her shoulders. Take a breath, Jen. She did just that. Granted, it was huffy, but it was a breath nonetheless.
"My body's no temple," Red scoffed, "It's a cheap knockoff, a clone."
Siren's heart ached in sympathy. Despite the shit month she had been through, despite her frustration toward how Red Arrow was acting, she felt bad for him. She wouldn't even be able to begin understanding what it was like to be in his shoes.
To live three years believing that nothing was wrong. To have an overwhelming urge to become a part of the Justice League as promised just to find out that that wasn't happening anytime soon…although she could relate to that. To finally achieve that goal after months of waiting, just to betray the entire League for Vandal Savage. And to top it all off, to turn out to be a clone, a weapon only designed to infiltrate the League.
Five years later and it still surprised her that they were never able to see it from the beginning.
Green Arrow stepped past Siren and Black Canary, extending a hand out to the man still on his hands and knees. "Roy, come back to Star City," he coaxed. "It'll be like old times. You and me, training, fighting crime, just hanging out, shooting-"
Red had ignored GA's hand, standing on his own and turning to glare. "You're confused. Probably thinking of the other guy. The original, the one you stopped looking for…" I swear if he brings up the clone thing one more time- "…me, I'm just-"
"We get it. You're a clone." Siren apparently wasn't the only one tired of hearing that word as Jim decided to speak up. "But you're not the only clone on this rooftop."
He approached Red Arrow next as Siren finally stepped back to stand between Wally and Nightwing. Her friends had yet to really say anything besides a comment here and there. Part of her wondered what they thought about the whole intervention and Red Arrow's refusal to cooperate.
"I know from personal experience how tough it was to come to grips with being a copy of someone else," Jim was saying. "That's why I gave up my identity as Guardian. So that I could figure out exactly who Jim Harper is supposed to be."
"That's not the only thing you gave up," Red sneered.
Siren had to stifle her groan. Roy, I swear-
Jim didn't want to give him a chance to find a reason to blame them all for giving up again. "Roy, you know we both spent years looking for the original Speedy. And everyone else here did the same." Exactly. "We never found him, because the Light didn't keep him alive. It was Cadmus policy to delete the source material."
That made Siren feel a bit of bittersweet nostalgia for when she went to Cadmus with Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad, nearly getting cloned themselves before they escaped with Superboy. I met one of my closest friends that day.
"He's dead, brother," Jim said firmly. "Which is all the more reason you have to live. To honor the Roy that was."
Red Arrow sank onto a nearby A/C unit. He was still being stubborn, but at least he wasn't trying to leave. "I'm whelmed by all this attention," he muttered, making Siren roll her eyes as she glanced over at Nightwing.
Red looked up at Jim again but then noticed the trio standing behind him. "What are you even doing here, West?" he asked, addressing Wally. "I thought you ditched the hero game."
"Ditching the game doesn't mean ditching my friends," Wally pointed out. "And before you round back to the original Roy again, let's face the facts. He was never our friend."
Red Arrow didn't seem to like that comment, but Nightwing pushed on. "We've all done the math. Speedy was abducted before any of us met."
"You're the guy we trained beside, fought beside. You're the only you we know," Wally continued.
"You're our friend. Just 'cause you're a clone with anger management issues doesn't change that."
"Seriously. Have you met Superboy?"
Siren brushed off Wally's little joke as she knelt in front of Red. "You're my family. I've told you before that being a clone isn't going to change that," she said softly, placing a hand on his forearm. "And if I have to repeat myself a hundred more times for you to get it in your head that we care about you and not the kid that was abducted all those years ago, so be it."
Red Arrow dropped his head with a heavy frown. Siren nearly had hope that they got through to him, but when he spoke, that hope diminished. "All done?"
He stood up, forcing Siren to stand as well so she wouldn't get knocked over. "You wanna salvage someone's soul? Go get Kaldur to see the light," he suggested as Siren went rigid. "From what I hear, he needs course correcting, but leave me out."
Red walked to the edge of the roof, glancing back at the group one last time. "Write me off. Or don't. Either way, blow."
Then he left, jumping off the roof onto a fire escape, judging by the clatter.
Siren's jaw tightened. Nothing is going to fix him other than finding Speedy. Which means he may never be fixed.
A hand on her shoulder made her look up. Black Canary was looking at her with a worried gaze. It wasn't until then that Siren realized tears had begun to fall down her face so she quickly wiped them away.
"I'll be fine," Siren answered her sister's silent question. "Classes are stressing me out and tonight didn't help." Among other things.
She backed away, sparing a glance at her friends off to the side and then back to Canary. "I've got some assignments to do anyway, so, uh, I'll see you later," she said feebly, quickly turning her back to the group as her face fell.
She had no desire to stick around so she dropped back down into the alley she left her bike in. Just before she set coordinates to the nearest Zeta-Tube so she could go home, she saw that she had missed a message coming through on her communicator.
Dude! Can we meet up tomorrow? You won't believe what happened tonight.
Siren sighed as she read the message from Sam. She would have liked to say no just so she didn't have to interact with anyone more than she had to, but she didn't want to neglect her protégé.
Sure. Meet me on campus after five? Can't wait to hear all about it.
With a depressed frown, she shoved her helmet back on and took off into the streets. She couldn't wait to go find some crime and beat some criminals up.
~/~/~/~
Mount Justice
February 13, 21:51 EST
Sam's night had been considerably more exciting. He had been about to go home, just like most of his teammates already had, but he decided to stay and watch the activation of the long-awaited Zeta-Shield that would prevent anyone outside Earth from entering the planet. Luckily, it wouldn't cause problems with the League's Zeta-Tubes. God knows how impossible it would be to get from California to Rhode Island nearly every day.
"We're ready," Adam Strange said over the video call relating to the Watchtower and to the Cave. "Zeta-Shield relay satellites are all in place. Activating satellites…"
Sam watched as the second screen displayed each satellite being activated, slowly forming a barrier around the globe, just as it was in real-time.
"Congratulations. The Zeta-Shield is now operational."
"Absolutely historic," La'gann praised. "Professor Carr! You should have your cave-schooled pupil write a term paper about this."
Sam snickered when he watched Garfield make a slicing motion across his throat which La'gaan didn't seem to notice. The kid was under the watchful eye of his tutor—Lucas Carr, an ally of the Justice League and team—as he was busy doing homework…something Sam needed to get home to do as well.
"With the Zeta-Shield in place, no alien can teleport to our planet from off-world," La'gaan continued, glancing over at Superboy as he passed by. "Even your Strange friend won't be able to travel to and from Rann without approval."
"Shield's great, but it won't stop a spaceship or a boom tube," the Kryptonian pointed out.
"What's a boom tube?" Jaime asked, but turned his head as if he was listening to something rather than waiting for Superboy to respond. "Not compatible with what? I swear I don't understand half the things you say!"
Sam rolled his eyes, slowly getting more and more used to the new kid's personality.
"Feeling's mutual," Mal muttered, making Jaime look away embarrassed.
"Where's Siren and Nightwing?" Superboy questioned, sounding impatient.
"Taking the night off. Personal business."
Superboy sighed. "Both of them? Perfect." He looked over to where Garfield was busy studying then to where M'gann and La'gaan were canoodling.
He then immediately turned around and grabbed Sam and Jaime by the shoulders. "Tag, you're it."
"What?"
"Hey!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Con. Yo, what are you-"
Superboy cut Mal off. "Taking the night off. Personal business. Sam, you got your mask?"
"Uh, yeah, because I was about to go home. What's the deal?" Sam didn't fight against Superboy's push though.
Part of him was curious as to why he was dragging him and Jaime along, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to get out of the Kryptonian's hold anyway. He would know; he'd tried during training.
Superboy dragged them to the hangar. "Sphere, we're going for a ride."
His pet machine made a series of beeps before she completely transformed into the Super-Cycle with enough seating for the three of them plus Wolf.
"Get in." Jaime and Sam exchanged a glance at Superboy's command, but, figuring that there was no point in arguing, Sam hopped onto the Super-Cycle alongside Jaime as his friend changed into his armor.
"So, care to explain- Whoa!" Sam got jostled around, almost losing grip on the mask that he was trying to put on, as the Super-Cycle suddenly took off, flying out of the hangar door. What's his deal? Whatever, I'll find out as we go.
~/~/~/~
Banshee wasn't planning on going anywhere besides home, much less D.C. But Superboy was on a mission, literally, as they soared through the city.
"Shh!"
Banshee eyed Blue beside him. "I didn't say anything."
"Not you," his friend waved off before immediately changing demeanor. "All right, already. I'll ask."
Banshee was bewildered, contemplating jumping ship if he had to deal with Blue Beetle talking to himself and a grumpy Superboy all night.
"Ask what?" the Kryptonian asked, overhearing the conversation.
"Oh…any piece of this mission you feel like letting us in on?" Blue wondered, sharing a look with Banshee. "Look, I know you only picked us because Gar was studying, and La'gaan and M'gann were…whatever-ing. But we're here, ése. And I dunno about Sam, but I wanna help."
Banshee sighed. "Well, I'm already stuck on this little road trip so, yeah, I'm down to beat some guys up if that's what you need."
Superboy looked back at the two teenage boys in silence before relenting with a sigh. "Yeah. Okay." He hit a button on the Super-Cycle, turning on projections in front of himself and the duo behind him.
It was satellite imagery of Malina Island blowing up. Banshee grimaced. They had nearly died in that very explosion.
"The bomb Aqualad used last month to destroy Malina Island was clearly of alien origin," Superboy explained. "Obviously, the Kroloteans that perished there didn't know anything about it. So we need to figure out where it came from."
The screen changed to some criminal files and images that were likely of said criminals.
"The criminal organization lntergang has a history of trafficking in alien tech smuggled to Earth through boom tubes," Superboy continued. "So I've been keeping tabs on Whisper A'Daire: one of lntergang's top lieutenants. Tonight, her boss Bruno 'Ugly' Mannheim crawled out of hiding to meet up with her. They're both in that truck."
Banshee looked down at the road below to see a single white armored truck making its way down the street. So that's why it felt like we were going in an oddly specific direction.
"And it looks like they're headed for…the Hall of Justice."
Banshee searched the skyline to find the easily-recognizable building. Why would they be going there of all places? Not like there's anything that would be of use to them in there…right?
Just as Superboy expected, the truck came to a stop just outside the Hall of Justice. The pair of criminals were quick to get out and head for the entrance, but how they were planning on getting inside was beyond Banshee.
Maybe whatever they wanted inside had to do with the case that Ugly was carrying.
"Can you scan that case?" Superboy asked Blue Beetle, just as curious about it as Banshee was.
"Yeah, sure." Blue's arm morphed into a type of scanner gun, and he aimed it directly at the suspicious object.
"Can you even reach it from this high up?" Banshee wondered.
"Not compatible again? What does that even mean?" Blue groaned.
"Well, that answers my question…sort of."
"Blue, what do you mean?" Superboy asked exasperatedly. "Who are you talking to?"
"It's the scarab. The thing stuck to my spine that gives me the armor, the powers," Blue Beetle explained. "It's an artificial intelligence created by Ted Kord. You know, the previous Blue Beetle."
"Yeah, I knew him," Superboy mused. "Good man."
The name sounded familiar to Banshee. With all of the information he had learned about the League and the team, it was hard to remember specific details like names sometimes. But what he did remember was that the grotto had a projection of the former hero.
"So I hear. Guess he was a super genius or something," Blue surmised. "Captain Atom figures the Scarab was Kord's ultimate invention, but the Light killed him before he had a chance to use it."
He shrugged. "The scarab advises me. Think…Jiminy Cricket with a really bad attitude," he chuckled. "But it can't scan the briefcase for some reason."
"Can it scan the Hall?" Superboy questioned, turning back to the building as Blue Beetle tried scanning again. "Ugly may launch an attack against whoever's inside and it's shielded from my infrared vis-"
"Scan complete. Hall's deserted."
Banshee's brow furrowed. "Then they're not after someone. They're after something. But what?"
Ugly and Whisper had come to a stop by the side of the building. Ugly put down the briefcase in his hand, opening it up to reveal a strange piece of machinery inside.
"What is that thing?"
As if to answer Blue Beetle, the Super-Cycle began to rev, the LEDs on her wheels and side beginning to flash rapidly.
"Don't know," Superboy answered. "The way Sphere's reacting, I bet it's Apokaliptan."
"And that's…" Banshee's voice trailed off.
"It's bad news. Let's go." Superboy took out, guiding the Super-Cycle closer to the Hall.
Banshee knew it wasn't going to be very subtle, but he still tensed when Whisper heard the sound of the engines and looked up to see them approaching. Her lips were moving, but from their distance, he couldn't catch what she was saying. In response to whatever she said, Ugly stood with the tech in hand.
At first, it didn't seem like anything was happening even with it turned on, but Blue Beetle suddenly cried out in pain. Banshee swiveled his head around to watch his teammate practically double over in pain.
"Blue?!" he cried out at the same time as Superboy.
Blue managed a groan. "Hurts!"
Banshee grabbed his arm, worriedly. "What does?" But his teammate was in too much pain to answer.
He spun around to look at the criminals down below, honing in on the device. "We need to stop them from using that thing!" he told Superboy.
"Stay here with Blue."
Superboy then jumped down to the ground with Wolf before Banshee could say anything else. His voice was a bit hard to hear over the Super-Cycle's engines and the wind, but he was still audible when he confronted the duo. "Game's over, Ugly. Time to hand over the device."
"You're half right," Ugly said with a wicked grin matching Whisper's. "Game is over."
He had no later than said that before the wall behind him busted open. Banshee could only stare with a gaping expression as a creature stepped out of the building. It was entirely made out of a mixture of wood, stone, and crystal, and gold markings were glowing all along its body. Not to mention it was massive, nearly standing as tall as the surrounding trees.
And whether willingly or unwillingly, it attacked.
Banshee shifted his gaze between Blue Beetle and Superboy as the latter was dodging the creature's blows and retaliating as best he could. What do I do?
Luckily, Blue Beetle's agony was beginning to finally cease as he blearily stared at their current problem. "What is that thing?"
"Are you talking to me or your scarab thingy?" Banshee said exasperatedly.
Blue wasn't paying any attention to him though. "You know, I'm bilingual, and I still have no idea what you just said."
Banshee sighed. "Your scarab thingy, got it." He felt like that would make things even more confusing, but at least he knew Blue Beetle wasn't just talking to himself all the time.
Blue then grinned. "Okay, that I get." His wings extended, pushing him up into the air as he aimed a cannon at the unknown creature.
Banshee dropped down from the Super-Cycle. "Blue, what are you-"
"Blue, no!" Superboy's warning cut off Banshee's question, but it was too late.
Blue's sonic cannon hit the crystal on the creature, which didn't seem to do much at first, but a rebounding wave slammed into Superboy and Wolf, almost as if the creature absorbed it.
"Oh no," Banshee muttered, realizing what was about to happen.
Sure enough, the wave hit him and he let out an agonizing scream. Thank god his tech wasn't turned on otherwise it probably would have gone off. He clamped his hands over his ears to try and stave off the overwhelming ringing in his ears. Now I know how the bad guys feel when Siren attacks them.
But his attempts wouldn't have mattered anyway as Superboy collided with him. Banshee crumpled to the ground, succumbing to unconsciousness.
~/~/~/~
A hand shaking Banshee's shoulder jolted him awake. He straightened up in his seat, having returned to the Super-Cycle. With a quick glance, he found that they were back up in the air.
Blue Beetle was watching him with concern as he seemed to speak, but the ringing in Banshee's ears was still too loud to hear what his blue-armored friend was saying and the artificial mouth on the kid's faceplate made it near impossible to lip-read.
"What?" he asked, but by the wince on Blue's face, he said it louder than intended.
He shook his head to shake the fog. The more alert he was becoming, the more he could hear the roar of the Super-Cycle's engine.
"I said, are you okay?" Blue repeated. "But your response answered that for me."
Banshee smiled sheepishly even though his mask hid it. "Sorry."
"Superboy, how are the ears?"
"Fine!" The Kryptonian's voice was extra loud too, but he realized his tone needed to be quieter easier than Banshee did. "Uh, fine. But what were you thinking? Using sonics against an Appellaxian?"
"That's what that was?" Banshee said quizzically.
He remembered learning about those things. It was what formed the League, similarly to how finding Superboy at Cadmus was what created the team.
But Blue Beetle had no clue. "Dude, never even heard of an…Apple-Laxative before tonight," he said, making Banshee roll his eyes.
Superboy sighed. "You freshmen never do the homework," he muttered, ignoring Banshee's cry of indignation. "Haven't you read the case file on the League's first mission? Haven't you taken the guided tour?"
"Those are rhetorical questions, right?"
Banshee snorted. "Yes and no. Siren has wanted to take me to the Hall to show me around on a full tour, but she's been crazy busy with classes."
Superboy turned back to face the direction they were going—wherever that was—but Banshee felt like the clone was two seconds away from dumping them off the Super-Cycle.
"The Appellaxians were an alien race of energy beings that attacked Earth twelve years ago," he explained. "They inhabited elemental host bodies, including one made of crystal"—he glanced back at Blue—"that could absorb and redirect a sonic attack."
"Well shit," Banshee muttered.
"Oh," Blue Beetle drew out. "So…what were they doing inside the Hall?"
Superboy seemed to not be in the mood to explain everything to Blue, but he did anyway, even if he sounded more irritated as he went on. "The original seven members of the League drove the energy beings off-world. The empty husks the aliens left behind became the League's first trophies."
Banshee perked up. "Wait then how were they…was it moving around? If there weren't any sentient beings inside?"
"Good question. Ugly's device must have reactivated the husks…combined them somehow into a creature he could control," Superboy surmised. "Sphere's tracking the device's Apokaliptan energy readings."
At that moment the Super-Cycle started making sounds again like she was trying to communicate.
"We're closing in."
Sure enough, as Super-Cycle began to descend above an open field, Banshee could spot the giant Appellaxian creature, now equipped with wings. They must have hitched a ride out when we were unconscious.
Ugly was explaining something to Whisper as they drew even closer. "-with this thing as my enforcer, I can expand Intergang's reach exponentially."
"Wow, five syllables" Superboy quipped. "I didn't think you knew any words with more than two."
"Hilarious," Ugly sneered. "But we'll see who's laughing when I-"
Superboy was ready this time. "New Genisphere, jam all Apokaliptan signals in the area."
The device in Ugly's hands sparked, forcing him to let it go in order to not be harmed. Even better, the Appellaxian creature slammed its foot down right on top of the device to ensure it couldn't be used again.
And it was pissed.
Before Ugly could utter out much more than an 'uh-oh', the creature slammed its hand into the criminal duo, knocking them back onto the snowy ground.
But once they were down, the creature wasn't going to stop there. With a leap into the air, it smacked the Super-Cycle down, barely giving the heroes time to react.
Banshee toppled out into the open air with a yell. Not again! He threw his arms up to shield his face as his body slammed into the ground. He flipped a couple more times before coming to a stop as a tree trunk halted him.
Banshee let out a pained groan. He could hear the sound of his teammates being smacked around then fading footsteps of the creature, but opening his eyes felt like too much effort. He finally did though when he heard the cries and grunts of Whisper and Ugly. Superboy had grabbed them, shoving them against two tree trunks.
"You freed the beast, Superbrat," Ugly groaned. "Now no one's controlling the monster."
Superboy wasn't paying them any attention though. "Blue, lock them down."
Blue Beetle obliged, firing what resembled blue staples to pin their arms to the tree without causing any actual harm.
Banshee grunted as he managed to get to his feet, stumbling toward the Super-Cycle where Superboy was boarding. He glanced back when Blue Beetle made a retching sound followed by a firm 'no'.
"What did it say?" Banshee wondered, climbing onto the Super-Cycle.
Blue grimaced. "You don't wanna know."
"Blue, let's go," Superboy urged. "Fight your inner demons later."
"Demon. Singular," Blue Beetle corrected. "One's enough, believe me."
He quickly joined Banshee and not a moment too soon as the Super-Cycle immediately rose in the air. The situation had quickly become urgent, which meant there was no time to spare. Even when it came to a little annoying voice in Blue Beetle's ear.
When they made it down the hillside, they found the Appellaxian creature had already breached the concrete walls, barely being scratched by the guard firing at it.
The Super-Cycle began to fire at the creature as Superboy called out orders. "Deploy! We can't let it breach the reactor!"
Banshee grabbed onto Blue, using his teammate to be dropped off at the feet of the creature. Quickly scanning the area, he spotted a stairwell which he fired his grappling hook at.
Rather than make the line retract, Banshee sprinted around the other side of the creature to tangle its legs up. He planted his foot against the side of a metal unit, groaning as he pulled with all he had. I hope this doesn't snap!
The vibrations in the wire made it hard to keep a firm grip as Superboy, Wolf, and Sphere all slammed into the creature to try and force it down. It was Blue Beetle coming in with a battering ram morphed into his armor that actually did, forcing Banshee to retract his hook so it wouldn't break or send him flying.
It took Wolf and Superboy using all their strength to keep the creature's arms down but it kept struggling to move. Banshee knew that it wasn't going to be that easy after the thing had nearly knocked them out twice before.
"Hold it down!" Superboy called out to Blue. "Lock it down!"
"Working on it!" Blue Beetle formed large enough tech to create staples ten times the size of the ones he used against Ugly and Whisper, pinning the creature down similarly.
Superboy grunted as he fought against the giant arm of the creature. "Sphere, pill bug mode. See if you can take control of it!"
As Sphere attempted to do just that, the creature suddenly raised up, slamming into her and sending her careening into Banshee.
My family's gonna wonder why I have so many bruises when I get home. Belatedly, as he lay on the hard ground, he wondered if he should have told them he was going to be out a bit later than usual.
Craning his head sideways, Banshee watched as his teammates were knocked down yet again. Blue seemed to fare slightly better than before, managing to prop himself up with his arm.
"I don't suppose we could just ask it to play nice," he groaned.
Banshee sighed. "I wish." He didn't care if Blue was talking to him or his scarab. Man, this is already confusing.
But he was surprised to see Blue Beetle's eyes go wide. "Wait, you mean it's possible?"
Banshee sat up. "What?"
Blue had run forward, aiming his sonic cannon at the creature, but not firing just yet. Panicked, Banshee scrambled to his feet.
"Dude! Remember what happened the last time you tried that?" he reminded.
"Ban's right, Blue. Sonics don't work," Superboy agreed, catching up with the two of them.
"Not as an attack, but maybe as a-"
He cut himself off for a second before firing his cannon anyway. Instead of the crystal absorbing the sonic blast, it seemed to ricochet off and hit the armored hero.
Which didn't turn out to be a good thing as Blue suddenly screamed in pain. Superboy and Banshee sprinted forward to try and help their teammate.
"Blue, break off," Superboy ordered. "Whatever you're doing, break off before it kills you!"
Blue grabbed the Kryptonian's hand that was trying to move the cannon. "No! It's not attacking."
"You sure? Because you're currently writhing in pain," Banshee countered.
"It's communicating," Blue explained quickly, the agony in his voice evident. "Communicating its pain, listen."
The teen's eyes glowed gold as he began to speak, but in a different manner than before.
"Where is the stillness of wood, of stone, of crystal, of metal? All this noise, all this life, is pain." Blue pointed at the reactor. "We sensed the power in this place. Power enough to destroy us, to end the pain, to be still again."
"I can relate," Superboy muttered, causing Banshee to shoot him a concerned glance. He quickly corrected himself. "I mean, we can help you. We will help you."
Banshee felt sorry for the creature. It didn't ask to be merged into one. After several years of peace, it couldn't have been enjoyable to suddenly be alive again, an echo of what it was before, forced to do the bidding of someone evil.
A sharp ringing, similar to his own scream, shot past Banshee. He yelped, covering his ears to shield himself from the sudden pain. What the?
Forcing one eye open, he watched as the Appellaxian creature began to crack and crumble before it finally exploded. "No!" he cried out.
But the creature was gone, blown to smithereens. Nothing was left to show it was even there except for the debris raining down on them.
Blue Beetle let out a groan, collapsing as he fainted back into Banshee. Siren's protégé quickly caught his friend, sinking to one knee.
Banshee looked around, trying to process everything. "What just happened?" he asked Superboy who was kneeling beside them.
Superboy looked back out into the woods where the sonic blast must have come from, but as Banshee did the same, he saw that no one was in the tree line.
"I don't know," Superboy finally admitted.
The two guards that had been firing at the creature before had come out of hiding. But they didn't sense the somber mood between the trio of heroes.
"Don't know who you guys are, but you took that thing down!" one guard said excitedly. "Probably saved the whole East Coast."
Banshee was glad his frown was hidden. I guess that's good…
"It was alive."
Banshee looked down at Blue Beetle who had woken up again. He reached out, letting a gold speck fall into his palm. "And now it's gone."
He looked up at Banshee. "Who attacked? Who killed it?"
It was Superboy that answered instead. "Someone ugly."
Banshee tilted his head. "How though? How could they have done something like that to kill the creature?"
Superboy stood up. "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out."
Banshee glanced down at Blue as the latter began to slowly stand up. Banshee copied his movements, remaining behind his friend in case he was still too weak and collapsed again.
They, along with Wolf and Sphere, trailed after Superboy. Banshee was hesitant though; he didn't think they had the right culprits.
"Ugly said that no one could control the creature," he pointed out. "Why would he say something like that if he had a solution all along? He and Whisper were getting beat up just as badly as we were."
"I'm telling you, they're long-"
Superboy stopped in his tracks when he reached the crest of the hill. "Gone."
And Banshee could see why. Ugly and Whisper were in fact exactly where the trio had left them. But something had happened while they were gone.
Ugly and Whisper both were awake but non-responsive. Their eyes were blank and their faces were slack as they stared off at nothingness.
"Oh my god," Banshee whispered.
Blue Beetle held up a scanner at the two criminals to likely assess their condition. "They're alive, breathing. Steady heartbeats, but non-responsive."
Superboy examined them, even snapping his fingers in Ugly's face, but there was no reaction. Not even a blink.
Banshee was confused. Whoever blew up the creature had to have done this to Ugly and Whisper…but why?
As Superboy set about contacting the League so that they could send some heroes out to help with the situation, Banshee reached into his pocket to grab his communicator—gifted by Siren—to message his mentor. She's gonna want to hear about this.
Dude! Can we meet up tomorrow? You won't believe what happened tonight.
Banshee glanced back up at the catatonic criminals, eyeing them warily. But he didn't have to look at them long before Siren had sent a message back.
Sure. Meet me on campus after five? Can't wait to hear all about it.
A small smile curved up on Banshee's lips. He stashed his communicator away as he went to rejoin his teammates. He couldn't wait to finish up and go home.
~/~/~/~
Hope you enjoyed! There's not much to talk about for this chapter, so I'll be back with a new chapter next week!
