Keybladelight – we will see that and much more in this sequel.
Trollzor69 – Thank! I hope this chapter is also another step forward.
Andresskorskiruiz – Maybe she will, maybe she won't. We'll just have to wait and see.
Shadow Itachi Uchiha – and your wish will be fulfilled.
10868letsgi – Thanks! Hopefully you like this chapter too!
The next day on January 1st, the Team had a mission to apprehend and capture of the renowned Gotham criminal, Clayface, as he had yet again escaped from Arkham. The Team was currently chasing him through a sewer under Gotham City. The members on this mission consisted of Superboy, Miss Martian, Bumblebee, Blue Beetle, and Beastboy. Superboy was taking lead in the pursuit of the mutated villain.
The half Kryptonian stopped when he saw a piece of material that seemed similar to Clayface's flesh and went to inspect it. When he did, Clayface used the element of surprise to attack Superboy from the waterline.
"You always fall for this gag." Clayface gloated. Superboy tried to us his strength to escape Clayface's grasp, but the monster's physiology made it impossible to escape, "Ha! Struggle all you want, kid. You'll never break my grip. You're done for. Even a Kryptonian has to breathe."
"Let him go!" They heard Miss Martian before using her powers to free Superboy from Clayface. Superboy then leapt backwards to avoid being trapped again by the villain. As he dodged the villain, Miss Martian sent out a telepathic message to her teammates, "Delta Squad, we've flushed the target out of hiding. Converge on our signal."
"We can play this all day, missy. Nothing you can do will hurt me." Clayface declared as he shifted the shapes of his hands to deadly spike covered weapons. That gave Robin the opportunity he needed to sneak behind him and throw a pair of batarangs that started electrocuting Clayface. That attack simply made the villain laugh as he turned to face the sidekick.
"That don't work on me anymore. You're gonna have to do better than that." He warned. Superboy pulled a capsule device from his pocket as he stared down the villain, "I have better right here in my hand. Try this!"
Clayface roared as he went to attack the clone. Superboy responded by throwing the capsule at the villain's mouth. It was effective and immediate as Clayface started choking and bloating up. The capsule released a compound that attacked the villain's physiology until it left him in an ice frozen state. It was something Batman developed a while back.
"Nice work. The distraction went off as planned, Robin." Superboy complimented.
"Thanks. I'm just happy it worked." Robin responded as he emerged from the shadows. This Robin was a lot different from the previous versions. He was a detective before a brawler, but that didn't mean he couldn't handle himself in a fight either.
Out of a sewer entrance came a green crocodile that shifted into the sidekick known as Beastboy. His powers were the result of getting a blood transfusion from M'gann all those years ago back when he was just Garfield Logan. His skin is now permanently green and he can turn into any animal now.
"Oh man, is it over already? I didn't even get a souvenir for the trophy room." Beastboy complained. A flying teenage in an alien space suit soon flew to the scene. His name was Blue Beetle but not much is known about the true origin of the source of his powers, the Blue Beetle.
"Woah, dude, you stink. I think the smell more than qualifies as something to lock away in a room to never be visited again." He said as Beastboy looked confused because he didn't think he even smelled that badly.
A small teenage female was flying around in a bee suit while investigating to make sure the scene was safe. Her name is Bumblebee and she was a newer sidekick. Once she saw it was clear, Bumblebee returned to her normal size to greet her teammates.
Miss Martian materialized and went to call the Cave, "Delta Squad to Cave. The target is neutralized."
"Good work, Delta. Come on home. Nightwing out." They all heard as they were all happy to finally get out of the sewers.
Itachi was back in the Cave along with Nightwing and Lagoon Boy. He watched on as the other two were sparring one another, and he used the term sparring loosely. It was more like Lagoon Boy was doing his best impersonation of a punching bag. Nightwing didn't even have to sweat to block a spinning elbow strike from Lagoon Boy. Nightwing stepped to the side at the last moment and then kicked him square in the ribs as the Atlantean landed hard on the ground. Itachi thought he looked just like what he was; a fish out of water.
"Neptune's beard!" Lagoon Boy shouted as he pounded his fist into the ground in frustration. Nightwing went over to the young sidekick to give him a hand. Lagoon boy smiled as he took the help, "I don't care how many years you trained as Robin and then Nightwing. One of these days, you're mine, chum. And then I'll be on to taking out that smug Crow over there."
"I don't doubt you one day beating me, Lagoon Boy, but you beating Itachi isn't something that I see in your future. No one has come close to beating him in all of the years that he has been here. Superboy has tried multiple times but not once has he even gotten past the six minute mark. Actually the closest one out of all of us has been Orphan. She is a prodigy and very much the daughter of the Crow." Nightwing replied.
"That girl…" Lagoon Boy said with malice. They didn't get along at all. In fact, she didn't get along with any of the other sidekicks. He knew not to say anything about the Crow's daughter while he was within earshot. Itachi has never retaliated against ill words towards Cassandra but his silent treatment was just as bad.
Nightwing went over to his friend for years after he noticed how distant he was being, "You're not mad about me separating her from most of the Team, are you? I just don't want her and Tim butting heads again."
"I'm not mad. I would've done the same thing. But they will need to learn how to work together eventually." Itachi responded.
"I know, but she won't give him a chance. Jason was like a brother to her and when Tim showed up in his uniform, it crushed her. I can tell that's why she is so cruel to him. She thinks of him as a replacement, but that's not what's on your mind, is it?" Dick asked.
"It was, but not at the forefront. I know she will grow past it eventually because I have seen just how kind my daughter can be. I have no doubt that she will clean her act up with Wonder Girl and Batgirl." Itachi responded.
"Then what's up, man? You…you haven't found The Masked Stranger or the Light have you?" Nightwing whispered.
"No. It's about Carson." Itachi said hesitantly. Nightwing put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Is Carson alright? I know she has been sick for a few weeks but I was hoping it wasn't too serious. Did she give you bad news?"
"We found out why she has been sick. I thought it was just the flu…I wish it was just that simple," Itachi said as he sighed. Even after a whole night to sleep on it, he still couldn't believe it, "Carson is pregnant."
"Oh," Dick said. Itachi smiled at his friend because that was his same reaction to hearing that news. It was good to know that his reaction wasn't that strange after all. Right when Nightwing was about to respond, the Delta Squad started to return from their mission.
"Don't mention this to anyone, especially M'gann. I'll tell them when I'm ready." Itachi instructed.
Nightwing knew where this came from, "Conner doesn't blame you for what happened between him and M'gann."
"I blame me." Itachi said as the others started to zeta-beam into the Cave. Itachi turned towards the group that was being zeta-beamed over. They all went to greet Nightwing and the others after another successful mission.
Bumblebee came flying out of the chamber and went towards her boyfriend, Malcolm. He greeted her and asked if they still had plans for later tonight, to which she apologized since she had a lab session with Dr. Palmer and asked if they could reschedule before rushing to get changed in enough time to make it. He had a look of disappointment on his face but accepted all the same.
Another couple went to greet each other, this one being Miss Martian and Lagoon Boy. They hugged each other before greeting, "Welcome home, Angelfish."
"Thank you, La'gaan." They then started to display major public displays of affection by kissing each other were the others could see them. It wasn't done maliciously, they just sometimes got carried away. Wolf growled at them and Conner simply walked past them, paying the couple no mind outwardly. But on the inside it bugged him badly. Once he was past them, he had a scowl on his face as he felt jealously well up inside him but his features softened once he saw Itachi also looking on. Conner didn't want to give his friend any indication that this was his fault. Itachi had enough that he blamed on himself, he didn't need to add his relationship as one of those things.
"I'm hitting the showers. That battle wore me out." Conner said before walking off. Jaime was completely oblivious to Conner mood and motioned to agree with him while looking at the sewer covered Garfield, "Now that sounds like a plan. You know, for you, hermano."
Garfield wiped some of the sewer leftovers off of his uniform, but knew that the smell left behind was still potent. While that was going on, Robin went over to greet Crow and his mentor Nightwing, "Clayface is safely back in his Arkham cell."
"Good work." Nightwing responded. Robin became shy and modest about being praised as he always did, "I didn't do much. I only-"
"You did what you were supposed to do. Sometimes, that's all that matters on missions." Crow interrupted. Unlike his daughter, Itachi and Tim had a very cordial relationship. They weren't as close as he and Jason were, but Itachi made sure to never make it seem like he held ill will against the boy. Tim was always grateful for his kindness.
"So…where is Cas-" Tim was interrupted by the news monitor flashing on. Captain Atom came onscreen and addressed them, "Emergency alert. The United Nations headquarters is under attack."
Malcolm checked the surrounding area soon afterwards, "Beta squad is only two blocks away."
"Captain Atom, the Team's Beta Squad is in the vicinity. The estimated time of arrival is three minutes. Orphan is with them as well for support." Crow said as he wondered who could be so bold as to attack something as public as the United Nations headquarters and why.
'This can't just be a random attack. Something is up.' Itachi concluded in his head.
In New York City, a major attack was going on just as Captain Atom had reported. Security guards were being mauled down one by one by the mysterious attacker. Bullets from guns couldn't even stop him as the white skinned alien simply knocked three security guards out with his strange weapon.
It didn't help that he didn't speak English so they couldn't even negotiate with him. The rest of the security scrambled to protect Secretary General Tseng, pushing all the way back to his office as a last ditch effort against the alien. The alien brought the entire wall down in his vigor to get to his target. The guards trained their rifles on the alien and opened fire in a desperate attempt to slow him down. None of the bullets affected him as he slowly made his way to the guard and broke the nozzle of the rifle.
The alien stalked down his prey in Secretary General Tseng while talking to him in his native tongue. Tseng begged and pleaded since he couldn't even understand what the alien was saying.
"Please, I don't understand what you are saying. I don't know what you want!" He begged. The alien glared at him before pushing a button on his belt that translated his words to the English language, "So that's how you want to play it? Fine. The contract calls for the main man to put on a show for the locals. So I'll say it one more time…surrender or die."
"Contract…show?" Tseng repeated with confusion.
"Die it is." The alien said with a grin on his face. Just then, Wonder Girl flipped in front of the alien and punched his in the stomach with a wild left cross. Orphan and Batgirl busted through the windows soon afterwards to secure the General Secretary, "Wonder Girl, keep him busy! Orphan and I will get Secretary Tseng to safety. Orphan be prepared to provide back up in case of a breach."
"Got it." They both said in unison. Batgirl and Orphan took Tseng to the hidden elevator towards the back of the office as Tseng questioned what they were doing. He had to stifle a gulp as Orphan turned towards him and pointed her finger to the ground.
"We take you down. You quiet." Orphan said as she and Batgirl brought him into the elevator and left Wonder Girl to take care of the alien hunter.
Wonder Girl had a cocky smirk on her face as she got into a fighting stance and threw a left hook that connected with his jaw, "Okay, big guy. Let's see how much punishment you can-"
He palmed her face with one hand and easily threw her into a wall behind him as he focused on his main target, "How weak. That crazy fem thinks she can take down the main man."
"We're going to get you out of her through the general assembly building. Orphan, you-" The alien crashed down behind them when he crashed through the top of the elevator. Orphan and Batgirl quickly responded by throwing smoke bombs at the alien to give them some cover. Once the smoke cleared, the alien saw that the three of them had disappeared much to his frustration.
Batgirl hid General Tseng behind one of the rows of chairs as Orphan threw a shuriken at the alien through the smoke. He easily knocked the shuriken aside, but failed to notice that it was only a distraction as Wonder Girl had recovered and tackled him from behind.
"Hold it, clownface! We weren't done dancing!" Wonder Girl announced.
"I join too." Orphan said as she had more shuriken in her hands.
"Keezy fem!" The alien said as he got ready for a fight. He came at them with an angry right hook at Wonder Girl, to which she dodged by ducking it. Orphan took the opportunity to sprint into a slide to get underneath the alien's defense. Wonder Girl then hit the alien with a soaring uppercut just as Orphan placed a paper bomb on his chest. The result of the combination attack was his head being knocked back from the punched and his body being flung backwards due to the explosion. Wonder Girl then drew out her lasso and used it to constrain the bounty hunter.
The hunter took a hold of the lasso and used it to pull Wonder Girl towards him so that he could punch her into the ceiling. When she landed on the ground in a painful heap, Orphan and Batgirl hopped into action to engage the hunter. They each leapt into the air and used the hunter's body to summersault in front of him. Batgirl placed an explosive device on both of his shoulders while Orphan placed a paper bomb on the nape of his neck. They backed away as the bombs went off successfully and sent him to his knees.
Wonder Girl came back to and tried to tackle him from behind, but she was loud with her approach and let him know her location. He ducked under her, caught her by her leg, and threw her at Batgirl and Orphan to get them out of the way so he could focus on his real target.
Tseng tried to run away but was caught by the pale hunter and lifted up by both arms, "Time to die, Krolo."
The female heroes looked on helplessly as the General Secretary was ripped in half by the hunter, but instead of the man being killed by it, he turned out to be merely a mechanical suit dressed up to look like a human. At the head of the suit was another alien species that was small and green. It almost looked like a goblin.
The hunter took hold of the green alien before it could run away, "Blasted Krolo. The main man's contract is complete. Keezy Fem, your world is your world!"
They watched on as the alien's vehicle blasted a hole in the wall. The hunter quickly hopped on and secured the Krolo onto his bike for the trip back to space. Once they blasted off, the girls went to check on the wreckage that was left behind.
"I-I think clownface was some kind of alien." Wonder Girl said while still in shock.
"And that's not even the scary part." Batgirl added as she inspected the mechanical robot that the green alien was operating under the ruse of being Secretary Tseng.
"We report father and others." Orphan said as she was still trying to understand what had just happened.
A news broadcast from New York was being played as the world looked on in shock at what just happened to General Secretary Tseng. They saw the video of how the bounty hunter ripped him in half and revealed a green alien had been Tseng all along. Leading the charge of the reaction was G. Gordon Godfrey, a news reporter who seems personally predisposed to the Justice League.
"See, see! The big alien rips open the phony Secretary Tseng and pulls out the little alien. Oh I know what you're saying, folks. The good old G. Gordon has lost it. What's this…the eight billionth he's run that clip? But that's because I'm trying to wake you up! Turn and look at the person next to you, my friends. How can you be sure he or she is even human? When is the almighty Justice League going to find a way to scan for these aliens? Who exactly are they trying to protect? Okay, sure, Superman and the Manhunter from Mars seem to be on the side of the angels, but that's two aliens on the good column and two in the bad. Let's see if we can get some answers!" Gordon announced from his studio.
The broadcast then changed to a reporter who was outside of the Hall of Justice, "Thanks, Gordon. This is Cat Grant at the Hall of Justice. I'm gonna try to get a statement from the two newest members of the League; Zatanna and Rocket."
"No comment." The magician quickly responded as she and Rocket went inside. A spokeswoman quickly berated the reporter, "Miss Grant, I already told you. The League will issue a statement soon."
The broadcast switched back to Gordon, "Did you just see that? That was League public liaison officer, Catherine Cobert, literally stonewalling GBS's own Cat Grant. What's the League hiding? We know it provides safe haven for a Kryptonian and a Martian, but what if that's not all? What if the Amazons came from outer space? What about that battle between Crow and Wrath in Gotham all those years ago? How do we know instead of the terrorist attack the League spun it out to be, that it wasn't really an alien grudge match that we got caught up in? How do we know that The Crow is human? We've never seen his face to know. Or the Atlanteans? How do we really know Flash isn't an alien? Or Hawkman? Or Icon? What are they keeping from the real Earthlings like us?"
On the Watchtower, members of the Justice League and senior members of the Team all converged to discuss what had happened with Tseng being revealed to be alien. Zatanna and Rocket had just zeta-beamed to the tower as Green Lantern was briefing the group on the incident.
"The big guy is Lobo. He is an intergalactic bounty hunter. He's extremely dangerous, but not likely to return. The little guy is another story. That is a Krolotean and Kroloteans always travel in packs." John Stewart explained.
"Meaning more of them are on Earth." Batman concluded.
"I believe my friend will have vital information on that point. Some of you have not met Adam Strange of Star Labs Erdel Initiative. He is the scientist responsible for maintaining the zeta-beam technology we use for teleportation." Manhunter said as he introduced the scientist.
"I was wondering why a stranger was allowed on a top secret Watchtower." Conner thought telepathically.
"And he has a story to tell to us." Manhunter finished as the floor now belonged to Adam Strange.
"Uh…it's a little involved. I wish I had visual aids or something…" he started. Itachi stepped forward and activated his Sharingan much to the doctor's worry. The other young heroes chuckled at Strange's apprehension while Itachi shook his head, "I can assist you. Just tell your story and my eyes will provide the visual aid you need."
Adam grabbed his head when he felt an odd sensation start but was assured by the group that this was normal as they were all linked to his vision now. He heard a run-in with Crow could lead to this but he never expected to be put in a genjutsu personally.
He looked around at their normal reactions and took that as his cue to continue, "Okay. I was performing a routine zeta-tube upgrade when something went wrong and I found myself transported halfway across the galaxy to a planet called Rann. There was a scientist there, Sardath. He was conducting his own experiments in enhanced, very enhanced, zeta-beam technology. It took weeks just to establish even basic levels of communication, but Sardath eventually made me understand that some of his zeta-tech had been stolen."
The vision ended as the group processed what he had just revealed to them. Green Lantern endorsed the story about Krolotean habits from his own run-ins with them. Turns out their entire culture is built on stolen technology.
"Sardath detected transmissions between a single location on Rann and multiple locations on Earth. He was attempting to trace those when he accidently transported me to Rann. He gave me this device. It detects trace zeta radiation and can pinpoint all the locations where Kroloteans have beamed to Earth." The doctor revealed.
Captain Atom took charge after that, "I'm ordering a two-pronged attack. We will stage simultaneous raids on every Krolotean target on Earth while a contingent of Leaguers travels to Rann with Strange to cut the Kroloteans off at the source."
Strange got nervous at the second part and decided to inform them on information they must not have known, "Uh, we have a problem with that second prong. Totally unclear on the why, but Earthlings are persona non grata on Rann's corner of the galaxy. And these six Leaguers, being Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkwoman, are wanted criminals."
Nightwing thought back to when Vandal Savage took over the Watchtower for a brief period of time a few years back, "That must be the missing sixteen hours!"
"Agreed. Five years ago, Vandal Savage and The Light took complete mental control of the entire Justice League. These exact six Leaguers went missing for sixteen hours." Batman concluded as he saw himself on an intergalactic wanted poster.
"It never even occurred to us that Savage might have sent us into space. I'll alert Guy. He and Kyle are on Oa with the Green Lantern Corps." Stewart informed.
"Meanwhile, we have fifteen other active Leaguers to send to Rann to investigate." Atom decided. Strange figured he was still missing the point as he continued with the bad news by displaying even more wanted posters, "You're not getting it. There is a planetary watch alert out for every registered Leaguer, even you."
"Not all of us are Leaguers. I'll captain a squad to handle the Rann end of things and investigate about what went down during those sixteen hours without causing an intergalactic incident while Nightwing coordinates an assault on the hiding Krolotean bases on Earth." Crow offered.
"Itachi, what about you-know-who? Well, both of them for that matter. Are you sure you want to leave like this? Nightwing asked.
"You let me worry about them. This takes precedence." Itachi telepathically said to end the discussion before the others got curious about what it was really about.
"Do it." Atom said as he gave his approval. As they started walking away a thought came to Itachi concerning the mission, "Conner, I plan on taking you with me to Rann. Don't wear that shirt. It'll cause unnecessary attention to yourself if you wear the insignia of a wanted criminal. And this is coming from someone who used to be a wanted criminal."
Zatanna and Rocket went to join their old friends from the original Team, "You know that thing about you not being Leaguers…you four still have an open invitation. I mean Itachi has had the option since even before we did."
"We know, Z." Nightwing responded.
"But we're all pretty happy-" Miss Martian added.
"Where we are-" Conner continued
"Together as a family." Itachi finished as his thought went back to his family and how it was about to be bigger pretty soon.
Back at the Cave, Nightwing led a brief to the members of the Team about what was about to happen, "All hands will be on deck for this. The League and the Team will hit all fourteen Krolotean zeta locations simultaneously. Your priorities are to destroy all zeta-tubes or platforms and search for any humans the aliens may have abducted. As always, Mal is Ops Manager, coordinating communication with all squads from the Cave."
"Come on, Alpha Squad." Lagoon Boy said to himself with the hopes of being put on the A-squad.
"Wonder Girl, you and I are Alpha. Our assignment will be Philadelphia." Nightwing announced.
"Yes!" She whispered to herself. Lagoon groan at getting looked over, "Fine, okay. Give me Beta."
"Batgirl, Bumblebee, you two and Wolf are Beta and your assignment is Vlatavastok." He decided much to Lagoon Boy's disappoint meant and dread. Disappointment for being looked over again and dread of knowing who will be teamed with as a result.
"Robin, La'gaan, Beetle, and Orphan. You will be Gamma Squad. Prep the Bioship because you're heading to New Orleans." He ordered. Beetle and La'gaan walked away with the Atlantean lamenting about being put on the weakest squad with someone like Orphan. She heard the comment, but ignored it as she went over to her father before he left on his own mission. Robin was talked to by Nightwing before he left as well.
"Tim, you'll be running Gamma." Nightwing told him. This shocked Robin since Orphan was the most experience of the group, "Me? But Dick, I've never led a squad before and Cassandra…you know her and I don't get along on missions."
"That will make this a good opportunity to get your feet wet as a field leader and bridge the gap between you and Cassandra." Nightwing said to pep him up.
"Because its Gamma and you're not expecting trouble or because we're stretched thin and you have no choice?" Robin responded with bitterly.
"Neither. Believe it or not, there was a time when I absolutely distrusted Itachi. I thought he was nothing more than a liar and a dark person, but that was only because I didn't know him like how I thought I did. Now we're as close as brothers. That never would have happened if Canary decided to stop putting us on missions together or if he and I just avoided each other like diseases. We went on missions, fought together, talked together, and worked it out. If we can do it through all of our issues, then my adoptive little brother and his adoptive daughter can do it too. So just don't die, okay. And no unnecessary risks to the squad. That is an order." Nightwing answered with conviction.
Robin nodded with respect as Orphan made it to her father before he left, "Why him with me? That you?"
"Yes, it was my idea. You and the others are going to have to learn how to work past your differences if this Team is going to do anything worthwhile. You have to learn to listen to people that aren't myself or the original Team. You can't do everything alone. Trust me, I tried…and I failed. Tim is a good kid and wants to work with you. All I ask is that you give him a fair chance." Itachi answered as he finished counting his tool belt.
"And others? Hate me because I better them." Cassandra said bitterly.
"They don't hate you, Cassandra. They don't even know you. When I first joined the Team, I dealt with the same thing. When my past was discovered by the group, some of them refused to trust me. It was only through perseverance that we were able to overcome our differences and become like a family. You're like me. You're not good with words so you'll never be able to tell them about the best parts of yourself no matter how hard you try. Even though you don't have my eyes or my blood, you have my name as an Uchiha. I know that you will find a way to show them the great hero you are meant to be. I've seen it for myself. You'll do fine." Itachi said as he signaled for her to come closer to him like how he does with Carson and Sasuke.
She did and inevitably got poked in the forehead, just as she always likes it, "I won't disappoint, father. Come back safe."
"I will. Just don't go overboard. Lagoon Boy has an inferiority complex and Blue Beetle isn't yet confident in himself as a hero. Robin will lean on you on this mission. Be a friend to him and help this mission succeed. And just so you know, if this was the safest route, there's no way I'd have sent you to this squad so stay prepared." Itachi instructed her.
"Yes, father. I protect comrades." She promised. He smiled at that, "Watch over Carson until I return. She will be mad at me for leaving in lieu of the news from last night, but give her my regards and a hug for me. She enjoys yours more than mine."
She nodded before going to Conner and M'gann, whom she considered one of her aunts and uncles, "Good luck. Not let you down."
"Good luck to you too, Cass." Conner said as he patted Cassandra on the head.
"We'll keep your father safe and make sure he doesn't do anything reckless either." M'gann added with a nod and a wink.
Cassandra smiled and nodded before going back over to her squad to prepare for the mission. Itachi put his Crow mask back on and turned back to address his squad of Miss Martian, Superboy, and Beastboy.
"Let's go. We have a job to do." Crow ordered as they left for the zeta-chamber.
The Bioship was in stealth mode as they flew to New Orleans to conduct their raid on the Krolotean base. They used their scanner and deduced that the zeta chamber was located in the toolshed that was in the middle of a junkyard they were flying over.
"A toolshed? There's barely enough room for one zeta-tube in there. I knew we got the soft gig." Lagoon Boy lamented.
"And yet, I'm strangely okay with that. Hey, yes I am. Yes I am! Yes I am!" Beetle said as he argued with his alien artifact.
"Everything not always as seems. We be prepared." Orphan said as she scouted the area much to the eye roll of Lagoon boy. Robin took heed of her words before reporting in, "Robin to Cave. We're in position."
"Acknowledged, Team Gamma. All Team squads and Justice League units are in place and ready. Go time." Malcolm responded. The four of them jumped from the ship after that and landed in the junkyard for a more hands on approach. Robin gave the signal to Blue Beetle and had him blast the shed away with his sonic cannon. Lagoon Boy went to investigate soon afterwards.
"Congratulations, Blue. You took out an actual tool shed." The Atlantean said teasingly. Orphan scanned the area because something seemed off. Her father always taught her to look beyond the limits of her eyes because that was where the answer usually was. So she silently thought to herself as Robin called in the Cave to report that there was no zeta chamber in sight.
'What is beyond the junkyard? What are my eyes not seeing?' She thought to herself. Cassandra pulled out the tracking device and looked it over one more time. She noticed something that she hadn't noticed before and went to Robin, "Look. Signature below what we see."
Robin's eyes widened from seeing that tracking device, "Orphan, you're right. The signature is coming from underneath the waterline. Lagoon Boy, you're up."
Lagoon Boy dove underneath the water line in search of the Krolotean base. He began to see what looked like a secret entrance as he dove deeper into the water. After confirming the entrance, Lagoon Boy signaled for the others to join him.
The Atlantean changed his shape so that he could force the entrance open to allow them all swam through until they reached the hidden Krolotean base. They were all shocked to see the base and just how many Kroloteans there actually were. And this was just one of them. There were bases that the League probably still doesn't even know about.
'How far does this go?' Orphan thought as they swam to a platform hidden in the shadows. Robin contacted the Cave once the coast was clear, "Gamma to Cave. Orphan's hunch was right. We hit the jackpot. This base is huge and filled with alien tech. Also, there are multiple zeta-platforms with more Kroloteans than we can count."
"Acknowledged. We'll send backup. Until then, just lay low." Malcom ordered.
"Too late." Orphan responded as she took out a kunai and pointed to the main platform. They all saw themselves on a giant alien screen as an alarm was going off throughout the entire facility. Blue Beetle was about to ask how they had been caught when Orphan threw the kunai above them and took out a flying alien insect. It had been recording them from above.
"See us. They fight now. No lay low." Orphan said as they all saw a legion of Kroloteans coming their way. Blue Beetle groaned to himself and lamented on how this was supposed to be a soft gig.
Orphan smiled behind her mask as she got her weapons ready.
Back at the Cave, status reports were being given to Malcolm from all of the squads out in search of Krolotean zeta-chambers.
"Beta to Cave. We found the zeta-platform. It was the kind Strange described. There were two Kroloteans here but they zetaed away before we could apprehend them. There aren't any human prisoners." Batgirl reported.
"Acknowledged. Destroy the platform and report back." Malcom instructed.
"Alpha to Cave. There's one platform, that is now nonoperational, and one Krolotean but he escaped. We didn't find any abductees." Nightwing reported.
"Leaguers are getting the same results and so did Beta." Malcolm informed. Nightwing asked about the status of Gamma and caused Malcolm to hesitate before giving a response to the former sidekick, "Yeah, about them…"
Robin surveyed the frenzy of Kroloteans heading their way and quickly came up with a formation that he thought would best combat them, "Everyone, form up! Blue, you have our six with your cannons. Orphan, you and I will take up the vanguard to take out as many of them as possible. Lagoon Boy, you'll clean up any stragglers that get past me and Orphan. We can't afford to go it alone. We need to work together and as a Team. Can I depend on all of you?"
"I will follow you." Orphan said as she thought about her father imploring her to give the boy a fair chance. The others concurred.
They all leapt into action after that. Robin brought out his staff to strike down the first wave of Kroloteans. Orphan opted to use her bare hands. She kicked of the alien into the water with a front kicked, delivered a powerful uppercut to another one that sent it airborne and knocked it out cold, and picked a third one up by its head and slammed it into the ground before delivering several thunderous blows to its head. She caught two of them attempting to slip past her and threw shuriken towards their direction. She only manage to hit one of them though as the other kept making its way towards La'gaan.
"Lagoon Boy, one your way!" She hollered. The Atlantean transformed into his muscular form before going wild and crushing any Krolotean he could get his hands on. For every one Krolotean they took down, three more rushed in its place. Robin had to even use the power amplifier on his staff to give him more of an edge as he sent currents of electricity to every alien he took out.
Robin swung his staff and hit three Kroloteans at once, knocking one of them airborne. Orphan saw this and used Robin's shoulder as a leapfrog to meet the alien in the air to kick it back to the ground. As she was still in freefall she saw three more aliens sprint at Robin and threw kunai with paper bombs at them. That, combined with the explosive bombs Robin threw, blew all of them into the nearby water.
Behind them, Lagoon Boy was going to town as he lifted pieces of the ground itself and used it to crush a bundle of Kroloteans. Blue Beetle did as he was told and used his sonic cannon to make sure none of the aliens attacking his squad from behind. He also provided support and dwindled the number when he saw one of his teammates being overwhelmed.
As Orphan finished delivering a flying knee to one of their heads, she noticed that the Kroloteans had stopped moving after they got a good luck at Blue Beetle. They then suddenly started scrambling away from them in what could be described as a frenzy filled with fear as they headed towards their zeta-chamber to be zetaed away somewhere safe.
"They not like you, Blue. Remind me of father in Gotham." Orphan called out. Even Lagoon Boy noticed, "Yeah, she's right! They really don't like you. I'm a little jealous. Hey, get off!"
"Wait, he said what?" Beetle asked in response. La'gaan thought Blue was asking him, but Beetle was really talking to his alien companion, "Not you! That Jefe over there!"
They all turned to the direction that he pointed, saw the Krolotean, and all had the same reaction to it, "You can understand the screeching?! How?"
"I-I don't know how exactly, but that Jefe is ordering all the Kroloteans to zeta off world. He's setting this base to self-destruct in four minutes!" Beetle informed them.
"Then we're getting out. Is there anything else I need to know?" Robin asked as he heard the bone of a Krolotean brake after it got hit by his staff.
"The only other thing he mentioned was about sacrificing the playthings below." Beetle revealed.
"Playthings? No, the abductees!" Orphan quickly realized much to the shock of the others. Beetle quickly reminded them that whatever they were about to do, they had better do it quickly because they were coming up on less than two minutes left before the explosion. Robin had to think about the next decision quickly.
"Nightwing said no unnecessary risks to the squad…but this is necessary. We have to get below!" Robin ordered.
"There!" Orphan called out as she saw a pack of Kroloteans escaping from another entrance. Blue Beetle flew over there and quickly clear them out as he went to investigate the space. The rest of them quickly caught up to Beetle and were able to apprehend a Krolotean thanks to Orphans use of wired kunai. She then noticed the sounds of people calling for help and found the abductees all caged up.
"It's Robin and Orphan! The Boy Wonder and Terror of Shadows. Why are they together with that monster? Her being here can't be good. Oh no, more aliens are here!" One of the civilians shouted.
Orphan backed away at their insult, but Robin came to the defense of his comrade, "Hey! That 'Terror of Shadows' just helped us save you, so show a little more gratitude!"
"And we are not aliens," Beetle added. He then heard the tied up Krolotean screech and growl some more before remembering that he was still there, "Oh, well he is, but we're not!"
"Orphan, blow that door open." The young Uchiha member did as was ordered and placed a paper bomb on the cage. She motioned for everyone to step back as she remain in place to oversee the explosion. The bomb did its job as the cage now had a giant hole in it that was big enough for all of the hostages to escape. The man who insulted her felt bad and went to apologize.
"I'm sorry. All I know about you is what I see on the news. You're no monster…you're a hero." He said to her.
"It's alright. I get a lot. I am monster, but only to other monsters. I never hurt innocent on purpose." Orphan replied without any hint of malice in her voice. La'gaan thought about how much she reminded him of Crow's kindness because of her response. He knew that he also owed her an apology after this was over.
Robin went over to Blue Beetle to get an escape route form their hostage, "Ask him what the fastest way out is."
"Dude, I don't speak th-wait you can?! Well, what are you waiting for?!" Beetle began communicating with the alien in its native tongue as the other looked on in confusion. It seemed to be giving Beetle a hard time, but that was before Orphan took out a kunai and stabbed its left kneecap with it. The screeching it made sounded horrible and reminded La'gaan of the Crow's ruthlessness, but it did the job because the Krolotean changed its tune quickly after that and started talking to Beetle in a tamer tone. The answer Beetle got after that must've been satisfactory because he had the entire group follow him towards where the Krolotean pointed at.
At this point, they knew they had no other choice and little time to argue. They did so just in the nick of time because the timer went to zero and the base went up in a giant explosion. Thankfully, the direction given to them turned out to be the right one because they were far enough away from the base to not get harmed by the explosion.
As the group all swam for air, Robin noticed that La'gaan still hadn't come up yet. He started to fear the worse but that was when the Atlantean came up hollering about how Gamma Squad rules. He looked back at Orphan and saw her shaking her head at the young man which got him to smile. He was so preoccupied that he hadn't even noticed what Blue Beetle had; that the entire Justice League and Team Squads had shown up above them.
Robin saw his mentor flying above them the cycle with a stern look on his face and thought that he and the others were in trouble. After a long pause, Nightwing's face finally relaxed as he hunched forward with a goofy smile.
"Dude! Way to get your feet wet! Looks like putting you and Orphan together didn't lead to the end of the world after all!" He said jokingly.
Gamma Squad all started smiling at that. La'gaan then went over to Cassandra to give her something that he knew she was owed, "Cass, I'm sorry for being so mean to you. You didn't deserve it. I guess I was just jealous and unwilling to get to know you. I hope that we can be friends."
Cassandra didn't know how to react to that, but one look from her uncle Nightwing was all she needed before she shook the outreached hand of La'gaan, "Yes. Be friends."
Dick thought back to when he and the rest of the Team had accepted Itachi all those years ago and knew that Cassandra would be just fine after all.
As Cassandra was finishing up her mission, Itachi and his Zeta Squad had just touched down on Rann. Superboy, Miss Martian, Beastboy, Crow and Adam Strange now had the task of traversing this planet to figure out just how to clear the names of the fugitive Justice League members.
"Zeta Squad, this is Rann." Strange announced. As Beastboy was in awe of the new world, Itachi kept his focus on what they came here for. He had no doubt that Cassandra would be successful on her end. Crow knew that he had to do his job too. Because he wanted to focus on Carson, Itachi decreased the amount of missions he went on, but he knew this was one of the few special occasions that deserved his attention, 'And so it begins.'
It has been a few hours since Orphan finished her mission, but still no word from Itachi. Carson was back home in Gotham waiting for Itachi and Cassandra to get home. She knew Cassandra had her mission already but hoped that Itachi would be able to come home after it was done. Unfortunately, she saw the broadcast of General Secretary Tseng being attacked and exposed as an alien by some pale bounty hunter and knew Itachi would've been called upon to get involved.
It had gotten so late that Carla had went home since she had to her husband and two year old daughter, Hope. Carla had gotten remarried after losing her first husband to the attack by Masked Stranger. She said that it was time to move on finally and be happy again. She visits from time to time to check up on Carson. This time Carla came to celebrate the news of her and Itachi expecting a child. They ate ice cream and reminisced about how things used to be. It was a fun time for both the women.
Now Carson was alone and thinking about who to tell next. It was between James and her best friend, Artemis. Both would have been very happy to hear the news, but they were hard to get a hold off nowadays. James decided to join politics and fight for the image of the heroes he once hated. Itachi truly changed his mind about them and made him want to fight for all of the heroes on Earth to get a fair chance before judgment so that the mistake of Wrath could never be repeated again. Artemis was living the retired life in Palo Alto with her partner in Wally West. They just wanted to be a normal couple.
'James is my brother and would be thrilled to be an uncle, but Artemis has been rooting for us since before we became a couple. Ugh, why is this so frustrating?! I'll just tell Artemis first. Yeah, she'll definitely be thrilled about the news and Itachi wouldn't mind since she is his best friend too.' Carson reasoned with herself.
Carson brought out her cell phone and went to select her friend on the Caller ID when she heard a knock on her door. She thought it was odd since it was two in the morning but went to answer it, thinking it had to have been Carla forgetting something again. She got the shock of her life when she answered the door to see that it wasn't Carla at the door. It was the last person she had been expecting at the door.
"Ayumi…Uchiha. Why…what are you doing here?" Carson asked as she backed away. Ayumi gave the girl a warm smile as she closed the door behind her and locked it, "It's been too long since I last saw you. I wanted to check and see how you were doing. That's not a problem, is it?"
Carson didn't know how to answer. Her hand instinctively went to her stomach as her mind was going a crazy thinking about why Itachi's mortal enemy would be here in her home. She felt the air around get so cold that she started to shiver. Ayumi noticed Carson's hand moving to her stomach and cocked her head to the side, "You're preg-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence because a figure crashed through the window next to them. Ayumi turned to see that the identity of the figure was the vigilante sidekick of Crow, Orphan.
Orphan wasted no time in acting as she grabbed a kunai and quickly sprinted towards Ayumi with the intent of stabbing her through the jugular. Her father had told her about a woman he said he never wanted her to meet. Itachi instructed her that if she were to ever cross paths with a woman named Ayumi Uchiha, she was to get Carson to safety and run away. Ayumi was the only person Itachi ever had given her strict orders to never fight.
She was on the rooftop across from their building listening in on them when she heard Carson say the woman's name. That was all Orphan needed to hear to have her crashing through the window with the intent of getting Carson to safety. Because of how they were positioned, running away wasn't an option. She'd have to cause a diversion and hope that Carson would know enough to run away. Cassandra didn't care what happened to herself, but she refused to let any harm come to Carson or her new future sibling.
"Die!" She yelled as she rushed in. Ayumi activated her Red Chidori and held her hand out as she waited for the girl to come. Cassandra saw this and had her free hand ready with another weapon as this had become a game of who stops first. It was obvious that neither side intends to back down.
"Stop!" Cassandra and Ayumi all of a sudden found their progress halted by a third party. Cassandra was in shock that her blade was caught, not by Ayumi, but by Carson. To add to her shock, she also saw that Carson had blocked Ayumi's Chidori with her other hand as she was now between the two of them.
"H-How did you-" Cassandra started. She looked and saw Carson's hand was cut from how she grabbed the kunai and immediately let go of it. While Cassandra was shocked by the move, Ayumi stood there smiling like a proud parent, "I see your training is coming better than I expected. You used to not be able to act so decisively. Also, it seems my son has been training his new ward to the Uchiha standard. A strong warrior who acts with conviction and knows how to make the tough calls no one else will. Cassandra, you make me proud."
Hearing her name come from this stranger's lips confused Cassandra. She was adopted after Itachi beat the Stranger, so there should be no way that Ayumi would know about her, "Know name?"
"Of course I know your name. You're an Uchiha and you are my granddaughter. Now, sit down child. I'm sure you have many questions. Like how exactly Carson was able to stop your blade and my Chidori without any formal training. I have the answer to that, or would you rather stab me in the neck with that blade you have hidden with your free hand?"
Cassandra was still contemplating what to do when Carson grabbed her hand and shook her head, "Cass, please don't fight her. She only wants to talk. She's not a bad woman."
This really had Cassandra confused though she did as was told and stopped fighting, for now. Cassandra did still have questions though, "How you stop us? Why defend her? She father enemy."
"Do not fret, granddaughter. I will explain and answer all of your questions to the best of my ability. I am a woman of my word. To answer your first question, she stopped us by using the training given to her." Ayumi said as she sat down by table.
"By who?" Cassandra asked. Carson was the one who answered this time, "By her. Cassandra, for the past four years that you and your father have been fighting crime and saving the world, Ayumi has been training me and acting as my teacher. That's how I was able to stop you."
This left Cassandra speechless. She didn't know how she nor her father had noticed this was going on. Ayumi saw the look on her face and smiled, "That's not even the tip of the iceberg. You'd better sit down, this is going to take a while. Let me catch you up on how this story came to be."
From the serious looks on their faces, Cassandra knew that this won't lead to a happy ending. She just hoped her father would get here soon before things went from bad to tragic.
That's it for this chapter! Sorry for the delay. Navy life and all that jazz. Fortunately, I should be able to write more frequently. Carson has some explaining to do. Looks like plan are beginning to unfold. Itachi has his hands full with trying to clear the Justice League's name, but he also has to deal with wound that he helped cause amongst his friends. We also saw Cassandra start to be accepted by her squad mates and got a peek into some of the friction between the older members that I'll dive deeper into in the following chapter. Ayumi is back and ready to strike back in an effort to complete her goal of changing the world.
So, with the feedback I got from you guys, I will be doing a Death in the Family spin-off featuring Itachi and Carson to give a background into some of the rifts that you will see in this story. I don't know when the first chapter will be out, but be on the lookout for it. As always, thank you guys so much for the turnout of the first chapter. It was so cool to see the positive vibes. Be sure to support with a follow, favorite, review or PM! Thanks again and see you all next time!