Dick Grayson
Santa Prisca
Thursday, July 19th, 2012
"Another time then," Kobra says, before backing into the jungle. He disappears ominously into the night.
I sprint forwards, pushing aside the thick vegetation but it's no use. He's gone, blending into the shadows the same way Batman and I do every night in Gotham. If Batman were here, I'd go after Kobra. Squinting into the darkness, I can see the faint movement in the treetops, divulging the path he traveled. I could track him down, but after my embarrassing failure to land a single hit on him, I don't really want to try.
Besides, I can't run off on my team again.
I make my way back towards the clearing in front of the warehouse. Miss Martian descends from the sky, shaking her head to signify that Kobra's men have cleared out. Superboy's shirt is in tatters, but otherwise he, Aqualad and Kid Flash are unharmed. Behind them, the factory is in flames, black smoke billowing out the windows and holes in the ceiling.
I smile.
"We picked the right guy to lead," I smile, walking forwards towards Aqualad. I point at him, then step forwards, spreading my arms wide to gesture at the fire, "Automatically making you the right person to explain all this to Batman."
Oh, Bruce is going to be pissed. He assigned us a covert mission to observe only, and instead, we blew everything up, ran Kobra and his cult off the island and accidentally reinstated Bane's control over the factory.
Back in the bioship, the atmosphere is tense now that the initial exhilaration of victory has worn off. Even though we won, Sportsmaster still got away and we majorly failed the whole 'covert' thing. Even if Batman isn't furious, will the League still allow the team? This was a trial mission, and we couldn't complete the objective. I glance at Kaldur again and guilt pricks at my stomach. I sigh, the corner of my mouth pulling down unhappily. I can't let Kaldur take all the blame for this. It's not his fault that the mission didn't work out and his plan actually worked. Even if the Justice League decides that the Team can't continue, we need to act like a team. Besides, he's my friend and I'll always have his back.
We make it back to the cave at two in the morning. We didn't talk much during the flight and everyone is exhausted from the mission. Superboy has been playing with his ruined shirt the whole time. Wally fell asleep in about two seconds and he snored steadily through the entire flight. Kaldur hasn't said a word. He just stared at the wall of the bioship, deep in thought.
"We're here," Miss Martian announces and the seat restraints fall away. I stand up and stretch my back, listening to the cacophony of cracks that come out. I hate sitting still. Wally is slumped over in his chair so I walk over and flick his ear.
"KF! We're back, get up!"
"Uh... what?" he stirs, blinking violently. A yawn splits his face before he opens his eyes.
"We're at Mount Justice," I tell him. He yawns again and then nods in understanding. Miss Martian raises her hand to open the bioship hatch but before she can do anything, Kaldur says, "Wait."
We all turn to face him.
"I know this mission did not turn out as planned, but I wanted you all to know that I am proud to be on this team with all of you. I am proud of what we have accomplished tonight."
I smile and nod back at him. Kid Flash grins, "Speedy was so wrong."
Miss Martian hesitates before getting the courage to say, "We do make a good team."
We all grin at her before looking at Superboy. He crosses his arms and his mouth moves into a shape that could only be a smile.
"You guys are all right, I guess."
Mount Justice
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012
The whistle blows as Wally scores again. Kaldur looks down in dismay as he misses the holographic puck and loses the tournament. The holographic table lets out a series of beeps. Wally takes a bite of his banana, grinning arrogantly at Kaldur. Kaldur glares back. Before any of us can say anything, the cave computer system announces "Recognized: Superboy, B-04."
Superboy storms into the cave, looking furious. M'gann smiles warmly.
"Hi Superboy! How was Metropolis?"
He ignores her and marches straight through the table, causing the hologram to deactivate. Wally, Kaldur and I stare at him. Apparently, Metropolis did not go well. If Bruce doesn't get to it first, I'm going to have a serious talk with Uncle Clark. Someone clears their throat behind us softly.
"Ready for training, everyone?" Black Canary asks as she and Martian Manhunter enter the room.
M'gann's face lights up, "Uncle J'onn!"
She rushes forwards to hug him and he smiles down at her. Superboy watches them sourly from the far side of the training floor. After a few seconds, he tries to storm away but Canary stops him.
"Stick around. Class is in session."
Superboy rolls his eyes at her and I take a tiny step back. Canary is not gonna like that. Canary starts her lesson, giving us her version of a welcome speech. She's got a bandage on her arm, probably from one of the League's last missions.
"Would anyone like to be my sparring partner for the first demo?" she grins. I know that smile, and there's no way any of us are stupid enough to volunteer for—
"Right here!" Kid Flash's hand shoots up. I grin at Aqualad, who doesn't smile back, but he does shake his head at Kid Flash. It was nice knowing him.
"You know, after this little demo, I'd be happy to show you one of my moves."
Black Canary raises an eyebrow and in two moves, it's over. Wally's lying flat on his back, groaning. She gave him a punch to block and before he knew what was happening, she'd already swept his legs out from under him. I tilt my head to the side, grinning from ear to ear. Huh. From this angle, Wally looks just like a smashed bug.
"Good block. But did anyone see what he did wrong?" Canary asks as she helps Wally to his feet. I can't help myself.
"Ooh, ooh! He hit on teacher and got served?"
"Dude!" Wally protests.
Canary starts explaining about dictating the terms of battle, and it's basically the same as what Slade has been telling me. Know your limitations, learn from your opponent, use your surroundings, yadda yadda yadda. The only problem is that dictating the terms of battle isn't really practical when you're fighting someone forty years older, a hundred and fifty pounds heavier and with ten times more experience. I've never really gotten to spar with the other sidekicks—I mean, people my age. I'm sure it's going to be fun.
Superboy interrupts Canary mid-sentence.
"Oh please," he growls, "With my powers, the battle's always on my terms."
Is he crazy? Interrupting the instructor is the worst thing you can do. If I interrupted Batman during a mission briefing or even training in the Batcave, he'd make me wax the Batmobile or do another hundred sets. If I interrupted Slade… A shiver runs down my back. I think he's got some kind of super power that can drop the temperature of the room when he gets annoyed. And did I mention the no-holds-barred full-contact sparring yet?
Miss Martian flinches.
Aqualad is watching the argument with a controlled grimace, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The rest of the team looks equally alarmed by Superboy's outburst, but Black Canary just rolls with it.
"Prove it," she challenges.
Superboy narrows his eyes. Wally backs away from the center of the ring where Kaldur and I can protect him. He glares at me like he can hear my thoughts and I stick my tongue out at him. Our instructor drops into a fighting stance at the same time Superboy does. He throws the first punch and totally over-commits his weight. Canary steps back, putting her body in line with his, and while his center of gravity is off balance, she grabs his arms and throws him. He lands on his butt.
I burst out laughing, pointing at the fallen Kryptonian. Kaldur elbows me and I cover my mouth with my hands to mute my giggling. Told you. Bad mouthing the trainer always ends badly. Always. He's lucky Canary has a good sense of humor about it. Superboy gets up again, glaring at Canary with rage filled eyes.
"You're angry. Good, but don't react," she says.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes. That's going to go over well. To the surprise of absolutely no one, he charges her again and she knocks him to the floor easily. Seriously, he telegraphs all his moves! Fighting a Superboy 101: Just move out of the way until he trips himself.
"That's it. I'm done," Superboy growls. Black Canary tries to talk to him, but a glaring match ensues. Before a real fight can break out, the video screen opens.
"Batman to the cave."
I let out a sigh of relief. Batman has the best timing.
Superboy and I follow the convoy, speeding down I-95. I've never seen this few cars on the road before. I like it. Trying to protect a convoy on a crowded road would be a complete disaster. Huh. Disaster.
"If like is the opposite of dislike, is disaster the opposite of aster?" I ask Superboy over the comm link, "See, instead of things going wrong, they go right."
Superboy glares down at the road in angry silence.
"Uh, clearly you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong?"
"Canary," Superboy says, gripping his handlebars angrily, "And what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?"
Oh boy.
"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig," I tell him, taking my eyes off the road to look at him, "Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman and well, me."
Superboy revs his motorcycle and speeds ahead, leaving me trailing behind. I roll my eyes. Does he really think that having super strength is the only thing you need to be the perfect hero? He probably thinks I'm just some kind of joke. That because I don't have super powers, I must be helpless. Well guess what? I have the most experience of anyone on this team. I've spent thousands of hours training, honing those combat skills Superboy thinks are useless. I've spent more time training with Slade than he's even been out of his pod. Size isn't everything and neither is strength. If that's all Superboy has, what's he going to do the first time he has to fight someone stronger than he is?
The corn around us starts rustling, and I sigh. So much for an easy mission.
"Hey Superboy?" I say over the commlink, "Quick heads up. We're about to have some company."
Superboy grunts in response. I rev my engine and catch up to him, and to be fair, he doesn't try to pull ahead again. A high-pitched cackling fills the air, coming from all directions. It's loud enough to drown out the roar of the motorcycle engines. Green robots shoot out of the corn and fly through the air, jetpacks built into their backs. Cackling like hyenas, they latch onto the truck with magnetic thuds. Their eyes and bodies glow with green light, faces stuck in huge, glowing grins.
"Robin, Superboy, our truck is under attack," Aqualad's voice warns over the commlink.
"Kind of figured," I answer, watching the robotic tails swing back and forth. Next to me, Superboy glowers.
"I hate monkeys," he growls. There's a thudding sound and the truck swerves into the wrong lane. I can't help but stare at the tiny green robot monkeys. Sure, they're attacking, but they're also super cool.
"Robot monkeys!" I grin, "Totally Ivo's tweaked style."
I activate the command on my motorcycle that reconfigures it, detaching the back end. The machine unfolds into a battle drone and begins shooting at the robots.
"Hey, switch your ride to battle mode," I tell Superboy, grinning as the drone knocks another three robots off the truck. Batman comes up with the coolest tech.
"No point," Superboy snaps, zooming forwards and launching himself onto the truck. Without him on it, his motorcycle loses control and goes careening right into mine.
"Or not!" I yelp, jumping onto the seat of my motorcycle and throwing myself into the air before I crash. I shoot my grappling gun at the truck and hear a crash and an explosion as the two cycles collide. My hands and feet hit the tuck and I kick a robot trying to laser its way through the metal. I look back to see a red and black cloud rising into the air. I gulp and my palms feel sweaty.
If I'd been a second slower, I would under that mess.
Broken robot parts fall through the air around me, and Superboy's grunts accompany the sound of smashing metal. More robot monkeys lunge at me and I kick them away. The grappling gun connected to my wrist is the only thing keeping me attached to the truck and my shoulder strains under the weight. My feet are just inches from the truck bed, but I can't risk releasing any of the line to lower myself down. If I fall, I'll hit the pavement at sixty miles an hour.
The battle drone is still shooting monkeys, which is definitely helpful but the small explosions are way too close to my head for comfort. The monkeys laugh even harder and two of them land on the drone, sending it barreling off to the side. I grab the base of the grappling gun and use it to pull my body around, kicking the robots that are still cutting through the truck over my head. Superboy lets out a scream, and suddenly he's being pulled into the air by five of the green monkeys. They drop him and he crashes to the ground.
"Superboy!" I shout. He doesn't answer. Oh, this is bad. So not feeling the aster.
I pull out a birdarang that doubles as a climbing hook and smash the robot on my left side. I jam the birdarang into the truck and detach the grappling gun from my wrist. I scramble up to the roof in time to see a monkey pull one of the guards out of the truck. He screams, hitting the robot with his free hand but it shoots off into the air, dragging him behind it. The robot drops the man into the corn and shoots back towards me. I don't have time to see if he's okay.
I pull out my escrima sticks and twirl them to loosen my wrists. I charge forwards, smashing robots as they shoot towards me. I flip, crushing two of them in one motion when I land. I steady myself while the truck careens from side to side and ten more robots land on top of the truck. Before I can do anything, Superboy smashes down onto the top of the truck, and the shockwave knocks me off my feet. I stumble backwards and lose my balance. I flip a latch on my escrima sticks, causing small spikes to protrude from the ends, and I slam them down into the truck as I fall. The metal punctures the roof of the truck, and I stop falling, my head hanging over the end of the truck.
Holy shit, that was close.
I jump up before the robots can attack, getting back into a defensive position. Suddenly, there's a bang that sounds like the tires exploding, and the truck shoots off to one side. I stumble. There's no time to waste. The driver is going to lose control any second. I lean over the edge and shout, "Get out!" at the driver. The door opens and the second it does, I grab the driver under the arms and jump off the truck.
Corn stalks whip against my body, cracking under our combined weight. We crash against the ground and the impact sends me skidding over rocks and through more corn. My helmet catches the brunt of the impact, but the rest of my body burns. In the background, I hear the truck crashing and rolling and skidding, and I hear Superboy yell in pain. There's another explosion and then the monkeys are laughing again, shooting into the sky with the box of Amazo parts between them.
I pull off my helmet and force myself to stand up.
The driver looks dazed, but he's still breathing and he's not bleeding. I reach down and help him up, supporting his weight on my shoulder. I curse myself for being short, and in the end, I have to practically drag him back to the road. I let the driver down slowly, and he faints the second he hits the ground. The truck is burning, flipped on its top. It rolls over as Superboy pushes it off him. He stumbles, but before I can say anything, he shoots into the sky, following the monkeys and leaving me alone.
"Superboy!" I shout. He doesn't listen, and I see his form moving farther and farther away, "Aagh!"
I kick at a stalk of corn. Is he trying to kill me?!
"Aqualad to Robin. We've lost our cargo. Did you—"
I sigh, anger fading into tiredness.
"It's gone. And so is my partner."
Aqualad sighs too.
"Aqualad to Superboy. Radio your position. We'll help you."
"I don't need any help. I don't want any!" he shouts and I almost rip out my comm link in frustration. What the hell does he think teammates are for?
"Superboy?!" Aqualad demands, but there's no answer.
"I think he ditched his comm," I tell him.
"Super. Now we can't even track him," Kid Flash says, voice thick with irritation.
"Are you alright?" Aqualad asks.
"A little banged up, but I'm fine. I'm going to need an ambulance for the guards."
"We'll send one your way."
"He's out of my telepathic range," Miss Martian says, "And this Professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us."
"No, he's not. He just has trackers in his robots and a busload of monkeys to throw at us," I snap irritably. Ivo was one of the first villains Slade covered. He likes to build messed up robots, test them by setting them loose, and then he collects whatever parts are left to build a new-and-improved version. Wait. If he has trackers in all his robots, maybe I can hack the signal.
"Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?" Miss Martian offers.
"Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves. And the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they're reassembled," Aqualad says.
"Well, that's a great plan, except for the part about us not knowing where to look," Kid Flash yells. I look around at the smashed robots littering the ground for one that looks somewhat intact. There's one robot with its face smashed in, but the rest of it looks fine. Bingo!
"Maybe we do," I say, bending down and pulling an extension cable from my holocomputer. I plug it into the robot to decode the schematics and programming, "We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked. So how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?"
My computer finishes decrypting the system and the holocomputer screen opens, displaying a map.
"Ha! I was right! The parts have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them with the one I captured. It looks like both sets of parts are converging on…"
I watch as the moving dots pass through Litchfield and into Fairfield County and keep moving.
Yikes.
"Gotham city," I finish. Oh, Batman is not going to like this.
"That far south? M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out."
I sling the monkey over my shoulder and stand, looking out over the wreckage. I sigh, pressing buttons on my wrist computer, praying that there's something left of my motorcycle.
"Definitely a disaster, heavy on the dis."
My motorcycle zooms to a stop next to me, looking a little battered, but considering what it's been through, it could be so much worse. I pull my outer jacket off and raise the seat, revealing my costume in the hidden compartment. I change quickly, clipping my cape on and stowing the gear I managed to salvage under the seat. I climb on and throw my helmet over my head. I rev the engine and then I'm zooming towards Gotham city. It's twenty-five minutes away going sixty miles an hour. If I push ninety, I can get there in about fifteen minutes.
My cape is flying behind me, the wind buffeting it in every direction and I wonder if it would really be a terrible thing to detach it. I just can't get the whole "no capes!" speech from the Incredibles out of my head, but it's too short to have any risk of getting caught in the wheel and it's designed to protect me from explosions or blunt trauma. So, the cape stays and I push the cycle just past 95 miles per hour.
The sign for Gotham City comes into view as a yellow blur pulls up beside me and instantly, I relax a little. Having Wally makes any situation easier.
"So, you changed too?"
"You kidding? Huh. I feel naked in civvies. You still tracking the parts?" Wally asks.
"They were heading through Gotham," I say, "But they veered."
The screen on my cycle changes and my eyes widen.
"Wait, dude! They're at my school!"
"Weird," I can hear Wally's grin over the comm link, "You know, we don't have to stop Amazo…"
"I wish," I take a hard right, zooming off the road and onto the grass, "This way! It's a shortcut."
Wally follows me through a short stretch of woods, and then we emerge on a main road. Luckily, it's empty at this time of night. We zoom down the road, turning past a short stretch of farmland that the school rents out as part of an extracurricular program, and turn left past the community center. Gotham Academy comes into view and I slow, letting my cycle come to a screeching halt. Wally stops with me, leaving skid marks in the fire lane. I can't resist leaving my motorcycle on top of the "no parking, buses only" area. Hey, I'm a hero. But nobody said heroes can't be petty.
"Let's go save Superboy," Wally says, and we charge into the school. I open my holocompter as we race down the hallways that look totally different at night. We round a corner and I can't stop myself from pouting.
"Well, they were definitely here," Wally says as we run past the wreckage.
"They busted the trophy case! I had a plaque!" I whine.
"For what? Chess club?" Wally teases.
"No! Mathletes!"
"Oh my god, Robin. You nerd."
My holocomputer beeps.
"Got them! They're in the gym."
"I got it!" Wally speeds off towards the gym, leaving me free to climb into a vent. I know the ventilation system better than I know the hallways. There's a direct path to the gym that's way faster than going through the cafeteria, past the wood-shop and down a flight of stairs. I crawl through as quickly as I can and kick the vent cover. I drop down the hole I made, pushing off the top bleachers and flipping down to the ground. I land just as Kid Flash pulls Superboy out of Amazo's way. They speed over to us and I throw a birdarang at the robot.
"Access Martian Manhunter," the robot says, turning incorporeal, and the projectile passes through him, exploding against the wall, "Access Red Tornado."
A red funnel starts swirling around the robot, picking us up and throwing us across the room. I hit the wall, but my suit absorbed most of the impact. I get up, but the robot is shooting at Kid Flash. He zooms around the gym, dodging Captain Atom's energy pulses as they destroy the gym around him. He speeds towards the robot, who says, "Access Black Canary."
The sonic wave knocks Kid Flash off his feet.
I look around, trying to find something we can use to our advantage as Superboy charges the robot again. I'll leave the heavy-hitting to Superboy and KF. I can't take Amazo head-on, and I'm not going to be able to get close enough to plant a bomb. Even if I could, he'll just go intangible if he realizes it's there. Amazo knocks Superboy back and I throw three more birdarangs, trying to catch him off guard. The robot's arm swings out and elongates, letting the projectiles explode against the metal harmlessly.
His other arm swings towards me and I dive to the side. Superboy doesn't move in time, and the arm slams into him, destroying a huge section of the bleachers with it. Kid Flash tries to get a punch in while he's distracted, but Amazo grabs him around the middle and says, "Access Superman."
It starts squeezing, and I can see the fear in Wally's face as the force presses in on him. Before I can do anything, there's a sound like an arrow being launched, but that can't be because Roy isn't here and the League is too far away, but then Amazo turns incorporeal and Wally falls, and the arrow embeds itself in the floor next to me. Wally scrambles out of range and Superboy charges again. Amazo throws him, using one of Black Canary's moves, and he crashes into the bleachers on the other side. I throw another birdarang, trying to distract the robot, and Amazo turns to me.
"Access Superman."
His eyes light up red and I don't have time to get out of the way and then Kid Flash crashes into me, pulling me out of the line of fire. We crash near the doors, dazed from the explosion. In the bleachers, Ivo starts monologuing, probably trying to enrage Superboy.
"You're all such poor copies of the original," Ivo finishes with a smirk in his voice.
"So everyone keeps saying," Superboy spits, "It makes me angry!"
He screams the last part and launches himself into the air, but there's something different about his attack. If I didn't know what it looks like when he loses control, I wouldn't see the way he positions himself to cause the most damage and angle himself so that Ivo's only escape is to the right.
"Want to see me channel that anger?" he shouts.
"Great, he's gone ballistic again," Kid Flash says, but I shake my head.
"Maybe not," I grin. Sure enough, Ivo panics.
"Amazo, protect your master, priority alpha."
And just like that, the rules change. Superboy smashes the bleachers behind him, sending Ivo running straight towards me and Kid Flash. Amazo attacks Superboy, leaving the monkey robots to pick up Ivo.
"Anyone up for a game of keep away?" I shout, kicking a dazed Ivo in the back. He flies across the room, skidding on his face. Ouch.
"Ooh, me! Me!" Kid Flash shouts, running towards Ivo.
"Access Superman," Amazo says and stomps on the ground, sending a shockwave across the floor that sends Kid Flash flying into the air. It sends Ivo into the air too. I see Superboy moving in and throw a birdarang to give him his opening. Sure enough, Amazo lets it phase through him and Superboy punches through his incorporeal head. When he reforms, Superboy's arm is going through his head and the robot fizzles with electricity, every circuit frying. The robot's head explodes and its headless body falls backwards.
"Help me disassemble him! Now!" I shout, charging towards him to start pulling the parts off. Kid Flash just stares at me.
"Dude. The guy has no head."
"Don't take any chances," Aqualad orders as he and Miss Martian charge through the doors. I grab Amazo's left arm and start pulling. Kid Flash moves forwards to help me.
Miss Martian flies to Superboy's side worriedly.
"Superboy! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Feeling the aster," he responds and my jaw drops open. I stare at him and he smiles back at me.
"Hey? Where's Ivo?" Kid Flash asks. We all stare around the smoking hull the used to be the gym, but there's nothing but us and the partly disassembled killer robot. Okay, so maybe this is a little bit of a disaster, but on the bright side… gym class will probably be cancelled for a few weeks.
"Hey, uh, Robin? Can I talk to you for a second?" Superboy asks, standing in the doorway to the Team's gym uncomfortably. I'm doing a handstand on the parallel bars, and I bend my arms, lowering my head towards the ground while my body points straight in the air. I push up and let my body swing forwards, using the momentum to swing all the way through and fly into the air. I do a full flip and land softly on the ground between the bars. Then I turn towards Superboy, ducking under the bars so I can grab my towel and water bottle.
"Canary finished whooping your butt?" I tease, moving towards my teammate.
Superboy smiles. Superboy smiles?! What?!
"Yeah. She's actually… she knows what she's doing."
I put my hand over my heart in shock.
"What happened to 'I don't need combat skills'?"
Superboy smiles uncomfortably.
"Look, I just wanted to say," he pauses, taking a deep breath and exhaling sharply, "I'm sorry."
My brain freezes. Superboy. Anger issues. Trust issues. Minor superiority complex. No social skills. Not a team player. Stubborn. Very stubborn.
"What?"
"I'm sorry. I was a pretty awful teammate today. You could have gotten hurt because I wasn't thinking. I shouldn't have left you behind to go after Ivo myself, and I should have waited for backup," he pauses, face torn between pride and guilt, "And… I'm sorry about what I said. I don't think that you're weak and I'm sorry that I said you were. You deserve to be on this team more than anyone. Except… except maybe Aqualad, but he's—"
"It's okay," I interrupt him, "It means a lot to me that you're apologizing."
Superboy looks up, his eyes clear and relieved.
"I know this is probably a lot harder than you thought it would be. I mean, if I had super strength, it would be a lot easier, but it's taken me a long time to get where I am now. I mean, even when I'm not being Robin, I still spend most of my time training. This hero stuff is really hard and it takes time to get better at it."
"I didn't think," he pauses, "I didn't think I would be so bad at it."
"You're not bad at it. Yeah, okay, maybe there's places to improve, but you're not bad at it. You're just new. Even Superman was new once."
"Really?"
"Yeah," I grin. Payback time, Uncle Clark, "You should hear some of the stories about when he was growing up. Every time a new power came in, he had to start from scratch. You know, if you ever need some 'blackmail,' I'll tell you all about the rabid fox and the barn roof."
"The what?"
"Rabid fox and the barn roof. It's hilarious. Or, if you want, I can yell at him for being a jerk to you."
"You'd do that for me?"
"Duh! What are teammates for?"
Superboy actually smiles, "Maybe this team thing really isn't so bad."
"If we can ever get the hang of this 'covert' thing," I grin.
"Someone once told me that difficult things take time to learn," Superboy says seriously.
"You mean, I told you that three seconds ago,"
Superboy nods, smiling even bigger, "Hey, it was good advice."
I think I misjudged him. Maybe Superboy is better adjusted than I thought.
"Hey, do you think you could show me how to do some of that stuff?" Superboy asks, pointing at the parallel bars.
"You're not too sore from Black Canary's super-fun beat down?"
"I think I'll manage."
"You sure? Because Robin boot camp is nothing like you've ever done before."
"Because… I've never done it before?"
"Exactly," I snap my fingers, "Now you're getting it!"
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From: DT3b59N8v3st_LexSecure_org
Heard a rumor you're interested in recovering AMAZO. How badly do you want to find it?
From: LL94483_LexSecure_org
10K if your intel is correct. Paid on confirmation.
From: DT3b59N8v3st_LexSecure_org
JL stashed it in upstate New York. Storage facility on the Howard Stark Land Trust.
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Blueprints and security system plans are yours for another 30. Payment up front.
From: LL94483_LexSecure_org
You expect me to believe you've obtained secure League schematics? You make a pathetic con man, Wilson.
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You're a businessman, Lex. Aren't the plans worth the risk that I'm lying to you?
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If you're lying to me, you'll regret it.
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From: LL94483_LexSecure_org
How did you get these?
From: DT3b59N8v3st_LexSecure_org
Now you're getting to the expensive questions, Lex. Contact me as needed. It'll be much more affordable.