Chapter 37

A/N: I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope your Holidays were good as well.

Onto the next chapter! I just own this story! Nothing else!

/comm/

Telepathy

"Bee's speech"

"Bee and someone else speaking at the same time."

Mt. Justice December 7

"Advanced weapons tech has been stolen from manufacturing plants throughout Europe, and each theft coincides with stops made by the Haly Circus," Robin informed. "Batman's sending us undercover to catch the thieves."

"This clown car have room for one more?" Roy asked joining them.

"We have it covered," Robin said.

"You three have the mission covered, but you could still need someone to watch your back incase they betray you in a fight," he whispered to the three he knew and trusted.

-.-

Haly's Circus December 8

"Madams and Monsieurs, ladies and gentlemen…" A flash went off in the ring and revealed an older man in a ringmaster's uniform. "Welcome to the Haly International Traveling Circus! Where the world of the center ring is your oyster, and these are our latest pearls—the Daring Dangers!" The spotlight went up to reveal a boy grab the trapeze. "Dan Danger." He swung off into a flip, flipping past him was a red-headed girl to the other trapeze bar. "Dawn Danger." They swung back and another black-haired boy dropped out of nowhere, grabbing Dan's arms, he flipped back onto the stand. "Dawson Danger."

The spotlight fell to a blonde girl with a bow and arrows. "Diane Danger." On the other side the spotlight showed a red-headed boy with the same gear. "Dene Danger."

In the center stood another black-haired boy tossing barrels up into the air, where the acrobats passed through it midair flew though the arrows. "Derik Danger." A red-headed girl ran out and Dean vaulted her into the air as he tossed barrels the girl flipping through them and bouncing off as they came up. "And Dinese Danger. You'll never see another trapeze act like this, folks, and all performed without a net!"

Dan jumped off the platform again, grabbing onto Dawson's arms, he was swung towards Dawn, doing a flip, he reached out, barely missing Dawn's outstretched hands.

"Robin!" M'gann screamed as he fell.

"Don't blow our cover!"

"Don't have to! Conner throw the next barrel extra hard!" Erica ordered. Doing as she said, he tossed it up just as she jumped off the last barrel, she landed on the new one and rode it up, jumping off she grabbed him and spin in the air sending him flying back up. Going back down Conner caught her and they watched as Bumblebee grabbed M'gann's legs and held her out and she grabbed Robin. Deptositing them both on the platform he swung back to the middle and grabbed the other bar, climbing on top he balanced precariously to check to see if they were alright.

"You two alright?"

"If you call using telekinesis to keep up with you two alright then I'm good," M'gann replied.

"I've been better, I think I caught that twenty-four-hour bug that's been goin' around," Dick answered wondering how exactly his friend was going to get down.

"But hey, the show must go on," 'Bee smiled. Swinging back down below the bar, he let the other one go and Megan caught it, watching as he swung towards the other platform, letting go he flipped off and landed on his feet safely on the other side.

"Show off."

"I do my best."

At that point the crowd began cheering, having been too afraid beforehand because of the acrobat still left on the bars by himself. "PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR THE DARING DANGERS!"

Getting to the bottom the joined the others for a final bow. "Didn't think you'd make it through," M'gann said.

"Neither did I, help me get backstage," Robin said and they walked back as the next act began.

"Ray have you seen my other torch?" the firebreather asked rushing over to a buff blonde man.

"Here, you dropped it outside the train," he said tossing it to him before patting the man on the back. "Break a leg."

"Thanks."

"Bear withness ladies and gentlemen to the dragon's breath!" the ringmaster announced before he quickly went backstage. "Haly what's the deal?!" a man complained. "Giving the top slot to those Danger kids!"

"That's our slot!" his brother agreed.

Seeing the ensuing argument, Roy elbowed Erica, Bumblebee, and Dick. "Was your slot, until you missed that performance in Paris," Haly replied.

"Carlo was sick. He's better now."

"Plus those Dangers are a sham, they say they're brother's and sisters, but they don't even look alike!"

"You just don't like the competition," Haly said shoving past them walking towards a white-haired man in a suit. "For cryin' out loud not you again! We're in the middle of a show!"

"Then we'll talk after, but we will talk," the man said. "Another city last week, another tech firm robbed, another stop on your tour. If I prove you're responsible I will shut you down."

"I've got three minutes to gather props and get back to the center ring," Haly said walking away.

The man looked at them and walked over. Reaching into a coat he pulled out a badge. "Faraday, Interpol. New act?"

"Yea, just joined the tour," Robin answered.

"That clears you, but don't get comfortable, Haly's goin' down for this," he said leaving.

Bumblebee leaned over. "You want me to give him trouble? Dad is technically 'retired' from Interpol and my mom is still working there undercover; they both have influence," he whispered with a malicious smirk.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Dick said relieved that his friends had his back…even if they were having evil intentions.

-.-

"If Interpol's already on this why are we bothering?" Superboy asked.

"Because Batman said so; why? You got something better to do?" Robin asked glaring at the roof Superboy and M'gann were on watching the factory.

"How do we know the thieves will hit here?" Artemis asked.

"There are more obvious targets," Red Arrow added.

"Exactly, Interpol is already on those, besides this one fits the criteria for the theft," Bumblebee said.

"How are you feeling?" Emerald asked kneeling next to Robin as he rubbed his head.

"Lousy, but I'll manage."

"Contact, northeast quadrant," Superboy informed.

They watched as the man ran towards a lightpole, jumped and bounced off and over the fence, rolling to his feet on the other side.

"Guess we know why Carlo missed that Paris performance," Superboy growled.

"Could be Carlo, could be his brother," Robin said.

"Just keep an open mind guys," Emerald said grabbing the Boy Wonder and flying him down.

While M'gann flew down, Conner quickly slapped on a shield he got from Lex Luthor on Thanksgiving, before going to join them.

"See where he went?" Robin asked.

"He's inside, warehouse," Bumblebee informed from where he knelt on the banisters above their target. He watched as the man grabbed a crowbar, and pryed a box open, pulling out a small box.

The others ran onto the platform above him and Robin cackled. "Caught red-handed, red-faced too I bet," he snickered as the man turned.

"Acrobatics won't get you outta this," Artemis said as she and RA notched their arrows.

"I recommend you think before acting here buddy."

The man whipped around to find the youngest Autobot kneeling on the very box he just pried open. Pulling out a torch, he shot fire at him, but the spy backflipped back and up onto the next platform. He turned, breathing fire at the others, Superboy took the brunt as the rest dodged and spread out.

Aiming to fire, Roy stopped to see Bumblebee trying to flag him down. Seeing that he had his attention the scout pointed at the boldly painted words next to him before running off. "Those crates are full of live ammo!" Red warned.

Emerald flew around the rest of the team and made a shield just as the ammo exploded, dropping the shield, she allowed Superboy to shove off the matal covering them. That guy's dead meat!" the clone snarled.

"Superboy no!" Robin called.

"He's getting away!"

"And that matters more than Miss M? The fire is killing her," Robin said.

Superboy's eyes widened and he ran over, grabbed her and ran out.

"Artemis, Red Arrow, find the theif. Emerald, find Bumblebee," Robin ordered before collapsing to his knees.

"Because the theif matters more than you?" Emerald asked picking him up and handing him off to the two archers. "Get him out, I'll find Bee." Flying through the warehouse, she was about to leave when she saw a flash of yellow, going over she found her best friend unconscious, probably since he was so close to the explosion. Making a construct she used it to pull the metal slabs off of him, before dragging him out. Dropping the first construct she trapped her friend in a bubble and flew out of the building to join the others.

-.-

Demeber 9

"Another weapons plant is hit, and once again the circus is in town," Faraday said. "I don't believe in coincidences."

"I don't care what you believe! My people are not responsible, I did a bed check last night and everyone was asleep in their bunks!" Haly replied.

"Well we sure weren't," M'gann said.

"Actually we were, I used the holoform device that we use in our cars when we're not presently driving them around to make a bunch of pillows I set under the covers look like us," 'Bee replied.

"Oh…"

Going back on the train they sat down in one of the carts. "So we have two thieves, the firebreather and one of the acrobats," Artemis said.

Dressed in identical clothes to confuse people," M'gann added.

"Maybe not just two," Robin said as he pulled up several vidoes. "Here's the Madrid security footage." The video showed a man bending the iron bars protecting the windows. "And now Paris." They looked to see a man walking across a powerline.

"I'm amazed he didn't get barbequed," Emerald said. "But that adds the strongman and the clown to our list."

"The entire circus could be involved, Haly might very well be the mastermind," Roy said.

"One problem," Bumblebee voiced, "I fallowed the theif since he jumped the fence, there was no switches. The same guy who breathed fire at us was the same one who jumped the fence."

"You sure?" Robin asked.

"I never make mistakes when I scout, it was the same man."

"Could just be someone doing Haly's dirtywork," Conner scoffed.

"I told you to keep an open mind," Dick growled walking out.

Erica and 'Bee looked at each other with a nod and fallowed him out, but before leaving 'Bee looked to glare at Superboy. "Don't think so closed minded on these things, for all we know this is a man acting alone, using the circus as a ruse to keep himself hidden."

"Hello Megan! I can read his mind!" the Martian girl exclaimed.

"I'm not sure we can trust you to do that without tipping him off," Roy said.

"Or maybe you don't trust her period, I heard you talking to Bumblebee, Robin, and Emerald back at the cave. I know you're only here to spy on the three of us!" Conner snapped.

Roy shoved the clone's arm away from him. "There's a mole on this team, and there are good reasons to suspect all three of you. Artemis and Miss Martian have already been caught in lies, and you could be programmed by Cadmus without even knowing."

"Or maybe I take your head off without even trying!"

"Keep this up and I'll come back in there to kick both your afts!" 'Bee threatened as he and Emerald grabbed their coats and ran out to join Robin.

"Need some company?" Erica asked as they walked along the train.

"You two don't have to be out here," he said.

"We know, and we don't care, you need it and that's all that matters," 'Bee replied as they walked to a poster with the Flying Graysons.

Robin looked at the poster quietly, silently thankful that they forced him to make them come. Hearing his comm beep he answered it.

/Dude where are you?/ Wally asked.

"Confidential mission from Batman," he replied.

/Wow, you wanna know what I'm doing? Making a baloni sandwhich, just like you did/ he scoffed. /I talked to tornado, you guys aren't on a mission, not an official one anyways/

Dick began walking, Erica and Bumblebee joining him silently, listening to the conversation. "A friend, Jack Haly."

/The circus guy? From your old Flying Grayson days?/

"Yea, he's implicated in this global crime spree. Someone in the show is dirty, but I need to prove ol' Jack's clean or he may lose the circus," he sighed.

/Then why not bring me along?! I know your backstory. I know what that circus means to you; it's where you grew up, it's where you—/"

"Finish that sentence Wally and I'll be there so fast you won't be able to run away or beg for mercy," Erica warned.

"It's ok Em," he said patting her shoulder. "I didn't bring you because you know my backstory, the only reason your cousin and 'Bee are here is because they threatened to track us down and join anyways. I didn't want my best pals questioning my objectivity."

/Dude, that's what best pals are for/ Wally said.

"Thanks man, I'll make a note for next time," he said hanging up. Wiping away some of the wetness in his eyes he looked at his two friends. "We should get back inside, the show's about to start."

"Dick, we're here if you need anything, ok?" 'Bee said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yea, you don't have to worry about coming to us, we won't spill secrets," Erica said hugging him.

"Thanks guys."

-.-

December 10

"And that was our show! Farwell good people of Bruges!" Haly said. Coming back in took off his hat and wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Pack it up! train leaves for Geniva in two hours!"

Going outside they started to help pack thing up. M'gann and Conner were handing Erica and Bumblebee the stuff and they set it inside the cart. Picking up a suitcase, Megan jumped as another hand grabbed it, she looked up to see Ray smiling at her.

"Need a hand?" he asked.

"I got this," she said. "You could help the others, a lot of them seem to have that flu."

"Yea it's goin' around," he shrugged.

Bumblebee tapped Conner's shoulder and pointed to the downed men, getting what his silent teammate meant, they went over and started helping load the supplies.

"All aboard! Everyone, now!" Haly ordered.

"Someone's in a hurry," Roy said as they went inside their cart.

Going to their bunks, M'gann laid down, and Erica felt her forehead. "She has a fever."

Dick, Roy, Conner, and Bumblebee walked into the girl's bunkroom. "Everything alright in here?" Robin asked.

"Yea, M'gann may've caught that bug that's been goin' around. You feeling better?" Artemis asked.

"Yes," he replied looking down at the girl on the bed. "Sorry M—Dawn, hope you didn't catch it from me."

"I feel so silly, who knew a Martian could be vulnerable to a human illness?" she chuckled.

"I did."

"Other than those who have either lived for thousands of years or travel through space frequently," M'gann corrected giving 'Bee and Emerald a half-hearted glare as both just smiled.

"When did you first feel sick?" Robin asked.

"Just after boarding the train, it came on suddenly."

"Same with me the other night. I remember that Ray rubbed my head for good luck."

"That roustabout? He touched her before we boarded," Superboy said. "Guy must be a walking petri dish."

"Must be one fast acting virus he carries," Emerald said. "Hit's the body hard before the immune system can respond, but once the body knows it's there it's easy to fend off."

Robin looked down as he thought of the info 'Bee gave him the other night, the scout seemed to have the same idea, because when he looked at him he gave a nod. "Maybe, but…" Running out into the hall he bumped into Haly pushing a cart.

"Dan, you look refreshed," he said.

"Yea, hey, Jack, how long has Ray worked for you?"

"I picked him up at the start of the European tour, poor guy's down with the same flu as the rest of them."

"We'll go check on him," Artemis offered. "It's the least we can do."

"If you insist."

As they started walking down the hall Robin put a hand on M'gann shoulder as she walked out. "You should stay in bed Dawn."

"As a friend of mine once said, 'I'll manage,'" she replied and they ran off down the hall.

Getting to Ray's bunk they walked in to find the bed empty. "Guess he wasn't that sick," Superboy muttered.

"Does this circus have an elephant I don't know about?" Roy asked looking down at the box of elephant feed.

"Not on foreign tours," Robin replied.

Erica ran over and opened the box. "Why have an empty box? Wait!" Shoving herself inside she popped back up smeared in a gray substance. "Ash! From the warehouse fire! The perpitrator's clothes were here!"

"Uh…guys, I found Ray," Artemis said and they all looked at the mask of the man she pulled from under the bed.

"Partner up and search the train!"

-.-

Dick and Bumblebee walked down a hall, peeking into rooms. Hearing a muffled call they pressed their ears to the door. "Stand back!" Robin said as he kicked down the door. Rushing in they found Jack Haly tied up. Robin yanked off the gag while his partner turned and pulled out a knife, cutting the ropes. "Who did this?"

"Ray! Ray the Roustabout! Right after the train left Bruges," he informed.

"M'gann?" Robin called as they ran off. "Dawn come in."

/Dan? Dawson?/

"We couldn't reach you the other way."

/I think this flu has knocked out my other way/

"Fantastic. Dineese, Derik, Dean, Diane come in."

/What is it?/

"We're chasing someone who's stolen Dawn's act, her whole shtick if you catch my drift," Robin informed.

In another car, Erica groaned. "Great, just great," she grumbled moving her ring to a more accessable spot.

The clown walked in and both quickly rolled into different hiding spots. Taking the separation opportunity, Conner slapped on a shield came out just as a bunch of desks flew towards them.

The clown left the car with the box, and he chased after. "I got him, but he's onto me!"

/I'm not far behind/ Emerald called and he saw a flash of green fly past outside.

"He's exiting the dining car now."

/He's on the roof!/ Climbing up, Superboy was telekinetically thrown off the car, when a green construct caught him and dumped him back on. "Nice try creepy clown!" she growled landing next to him.

Behind him, Robin and Bumblebee hopped up. "That's no clown. It's the Parasite! The guy who once stole Superman's powers," Robin warned.

"As if you kids are who you claim to be, please," he scoffed as he transformed back into…a purple mess.

"Ok! Which end is his head and which is his aft!? Because I can't tell them apart!"

"Stay out of his reach, there's no flu going around, the weakness comes when he makes visible contact and feeds off the powers and abilities of others," Robin warned and a blaster was deposited in his arms.

"It's on stun."

"I'll admit I have been a bit of a glutton today, chowed down on the skills of practically every loser in this troupe, but oh my, the piece de resistance was Dawn Danger, or whatever her real name is. Thought I'd munch on her trapeze skills, imagine my surprise when she tasted like Martian Manhunter instead." He looked to see that the others had joined their friends on the roof. "She was a lovely appetizer, but guess who I want for my entrée?" Superboy was suddenly yanked over into his grip. "Mmm, now there's the full body kryptonian flavor I love!"

"Everybody stay whelmed! Subdue, but keep your distance!" Robin called.

Red Lazers shot out of Parasite's eyes and vaporized the archers' bows. "You know I amost never say this, but I'm sated," he said dropping Superboy. "Hate to eat and run." He flew up levitating the box with him. Emerald flew after, along with Bumblebee and Robin hopping onto the crate, before leaping at Parasite. "Sorry, no hitchhikers!" He slammed them back, sending them flying back down. M'gann caught Robin, but 'Bee fell past. Catching the blaster that Robin dropped when he was hit, he turned the safety off and fired, hearing Parasite cry out as the shot it.

Grunting as he bounced into something, he sat up to see that he was caught in a green bed and Emerald was flying next to him. "I know you would've survived that fall, but I really didn't want to wait for you to catch up," she said depositing him next to Robin as the others pulled him up.

"Conner!" M'gann called rushing over as he got up.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Dude, you're drained," Emerald said.

"She's right, he took more power than you even have! Heat vision?" Robin asked.

"I have the genetic potential for it, must've been enough for him," he stated as they made their way back to get into uniform.

"Wasn't a complete loss," Robin said holding up a flashdrive as they met up ready to go. "I managed to pick this from Parasite's pocket."

"Nice."

"I did get extra training from the best," he said fist-bumping the Cybertronian. "Anyways, turns out Parasite is working for Intergang." Superboy and Bumblebee groaned. "Everything he's taken, their all pieces for something. They're putting together a weapon that generates…black holes?!"

"C'mon! To build that you need a particle accelerator," Red Arrow scoffed.

"You mean like the Bozon Collider in Geneva?" 'Bee asked raising an eyebrow.

"The circus' next stop," he said.

"Really? I didn't know," Emerald said. "Thank you Captain Obvious. Anyways, now that Parasite can fly he's got a big head start on us."

"Sorry," Miss M apologized.

"It's not your fault," Robin said, "but this thing could wipe out entire cities. We need to hurry."

"Correction, the four of us need to hurry," RA said grabbing his spare bow. "Bumblebee has long range weapons and can deactivate the accelerator. The rest of us don't have powers, the others will hold us back."

"You're not the only one with a back-up bow," Artemis said and they jumped as bang resounded in the small room. Looking towards the door they saw a large dent in the wall were Superboy punched it.

"My powers are back," he growled.

"How?"

"I'm still…"

"There's no way."

"I guess Kryptonians recover faster than humans or Martians," he lied rubbing his arm.

"Don't even think about leaving me behind," Miss Martian said.

Roy looked like he was about to protest. A chill went up his spine, slowly turning he saw Emerald giving him a dark smile; staying silent: good idea.

"Alright, hey Ratch, can you give me a groundbridge to the particle accelerator in Geneva?" 'Bee asked and the others grinned.

-.-

Geneva

The bridge opened and they raced out, finding the guards unconscious. "This way!" Bumblebee said as he and Robin lead the way.

Superboy hung back and didn't notice that the scout had slowed down as he applied a new shield. Seeing that Superboy was starting to fallow, 'Bee ran in a different direction than from where Robin lead the rest. Jumping onto another floor, he ran down the hall and onto a platform, where he lowered himself onto the pipes above Parasite.

Down in the main room, Parasite sighed a he pulled out what he believed was the last piece. "This would be so much easier with my flashdrive," he muttered sticking it in and it started to power up. "Well, let's see what will be left of Geneva."

Behind a series of pipes, Robin held out a camera and they looked to see what the playing field would look like. "So, we need to take him down," Emerald growled.

"Or at least lure him away so we can safely disengage—where'd Bumblebee go?" Robin asked and they all looked behind at Superboy who just shrugged. "And now I know how you all feel every time I do that."

"Doesn't matter, odds are he's waiting for us to make a move, he know's his objective to to shut down the system," Emerald stated.

At that point Superboy roared and barreled through the wall of their hiding spot right towards Parasite. "Seconds? No I couldn't," he smiled yanking the boy towards him. Superboy reeled back his fist and punched parasite in the face as he got close, allowing him to land behind the man. Lunging at him again, Parasite punched him back. Levitiating the clone he slammed him into the wall, the floor and then grabbed him again. "What a rush, I don't think Superman recharged this fast, what's your secret?" Tossing the boy aside he looked around for the rest. "Come on out Dangers. It won't be long before this baby's done warming up and eats Geneva."

"Should we do it?" Roy asked.

"Hey, it's the best plan we got," Emerald said.

Nodding M'gann flew out. "What do you have against Geneva anyways?" she asked.

"Never liked the food but the menu keeps improving," he replied using telekinesis to bring her to him. he punched at her, but she ducked under and swiped his feet out from under him. "Here's the main course.

"Parasite got up, and was hit with two arrows that encased his body is fast-hardening foam.

"Foam? You think Foam can hold me?" he sneered and yanked the bows away from the archers and they were yanked into the air grasping their throats. "Or stop me from choaking you with a thought?"

"And do any of those free you before I'm done?" Bumblebee asked typing away quickly.

"This one does," he replied using his heat vision. Putting up and arm, he used his armor to deflect the beams as Robin joined him to continue helping while he was multitasking.

Emerald flew out and made a construct that wrapped around his eyes, making the heat vision case an explosion in backlash. "Clever, using my powers against me to start a fire, but you forget, I have…invulnerability…fire…can't…touch me." he huffed.

"Unless you make a meal of my powers and take my weaknesses as a side dish," Miss M said with a proud smirk.

"No…no," he said fainting where Emerald tied him up close to the fire with a construct.

"Poor thing, I think it's something he ate," the Lantern mock pouted. "Hey! Are you two done?!"

"Wow, you have crazy good timing," Robin said as they got the machine powered down and Bumblebee started taking it apart.

"That was far simpler than I expected," he said.

"We'll take it from here," Farady said as he and several other agents walked around with fire extinguishers.

"He is all yours," Emerald said dropping him as the inhibitor collar was slapped on.

"Thanks for the tip by the way, helps to have an inhibitor collar in advance," Faraday said.

"Glad to be of service," Robin smiled.

Artemis held out a hand as Roy got up, smiling he accepted it and looked at all three he suspected of being a mole. "Wow, he dares to touch the hand of a suspected traitor," Artemis smirked.

"Mind open. I guess I never saw you three in the thick of it before, Superboy's a hot head—"

"You're one to talk," Emerald and Bee said.

He glared at them, before taking a breath and continuing. "You each could've betrayed us here, you didn't. I'm sorry I doubted any of you," he said. "There is no mole."

-.-

December 11

Bumblebe and Erica leaned against the train car waiting for Dick to come out. Hearing the door open, they smiled as they saw the big grin on his face. "So how'd your talk with Haly go?" Erica asked practically bouncing.

"Well, he knew it was me from the start," he said rubbing his neck and both burst out laughing. "Let me finish! Anyways…you think the guys would be ok with doing one last performance?"

"I bet they'll be happy to." Hearing his comm ping, 'Bee gave a wave and walked off to the side. "What's up?"

/Bumblebee, where are you?/ Optimus asked.

"Just finished saving Geneva from a man made black hole, no big deal. We're about to do one last performance at Dick's old circus. So what's so important?"

/Bumblebee, we'd like to offer you a position in the Justice League/