Atticus was in his civilian form as he stumbled down the streets and looked up to a bar and decided to sneak inside and as he came in, he saw his so-called friends he had made during the Throne of Atlantis story.
"Well, well, if it ain't Mr. Goody Two-Boots!" said one kid. "What, your super-friends not here to back ya up no more?"
"Hey, guys... Uh... I thought we could hang out..." Atticus smirked as he tried to look confident. "Uh, Rex... Bone... Spike."
"Heheh," Spike chuckled as he played pool with the others. "That's a funny story, especially when your emo girlfriend got us busted the last time we hung out."
"She is not emo or my girlfriend," Atticus grumbled before speaking up. "Um... Who needs her? ...Say, where is everybody?" he then asked as it seemed to be just the four of them.
"Out," Rex replied as he took out a cigarette. "The town's gone to Hell lately."
"You don't say?" asked Atticus.
"Yep," replied Spike. "Since those bad guys showed up, everyone is out cowering in their homes or out looting places. Total madness."
"So, uh, you guys decided to come out even though you might get killed?" Atticus asked.
"Is that the sound of someone chickening out already? Buck, buck, buck!" Bone laughed as he clucked tauntingly.
"...No," Atticus narrowed his eyes as he came to the pool table. "Roll me out, uh, bitch."
The three laughed from that as they decided to let him play with them.
"Awright, so you're not a huge goody-goody," Spike shrugged. "Let's see what you got."
At that moment, Mo, Terry, LJ, and Felicity arrived and saw the situation play out.
"Well, there he is," Mo glared. "With those jerks from school."
"You go to school with those guys?" LJ asked. "They look like they got held back like five or six times."
"I blame the smoking and drinking." Mo replied.
"Stuff stunts your growth," remarked Terry. "But not as bad as the Splicing craze. Still, how exactly are we gonna convince Unc to snap out of his funk and come back with us?"
"We should remind him of why he has his friends... His true, true friends." Felicity suggested.
"Good thinking," replied LJ, as he and the others came inside. "Let's hope it works."
Atticus smirked to his rebel friends as they hung out together.
"See who your real friends are now?" Rex asked.
"Yeah," Atticus smirked. "This is the bomb diggity."
The others groaned a bit from what he just said.
"We gotta teach you some new phrases," sighed Spike. "In the meantime, let's light a few up, get some cold ones, and then we'll go looting."
"Yeah!" Atticus replied.
"NO!" Mo cried out.
Everyone soon looked over to see Mo with the others who came to stop Atticus.
"Great, those little worms are back." Bone complained.
"Well, these worms have plenty of bite." replied Terry, smashing a nearby stool and taking one of the legs as a weapon.
"So come and see which of us is the worm, and which is the fish!" LJ added, taking a stance.
"All right, you asked for this!" Rex huffed.
"Guys...?" Atticus asked wearily.
"Atticus, you're way too smart to be this stupid." Mo told him about his new friends.
"No kidding," replied Terry as he flipped Spike over his shoulders. "If we didn't care about you, we wouldn't have come to look for ya!"
Rex broke a bottle and came towards Mo. Mo yelped as she backed up against the wall as Rex tried to cut her with the bottle.
"Hey! Cut that out!" Atticus cried out.
"Yeah, cut it out!" Rex smirked. "We're Atticus's friends now!"
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" LJ roared as he rammed Rex into the wall. "With friends like you, who needs enemies?"
Mo sighed with relief from her trouble.
"Shame, shame." Felicity told Atticus.
"You guys don't need me anyway," Atticus firmly pouted. "I just mess everything up. I can't even concentrate anymore."
"Look, that's just because you're dealing with your parental issues, and I can understand," replied Mo. "But hanging out with a bunch of delinquents isn't gonna help that. If anything, it'll make things worse."
"Besides, you really think these guys are gonna have your back when the cops show up?" added LJ.
Atticus just let out a snort of anger with disgust as he rolled his eyes, though he actually seemed a little sad deep down.
"Look, when I became part of your group, I made a promise: to stick with you through thick and thin," replied Mo to Atticus. "If something is your problem, then it's my problem too. I love you, Atticus Fudo, and nothing will ever change that."
"I love you too, Mo," Atticus said bashfully. "I'm just going through a rough time and I don't know what to do anymore."
"Well... Lucky for you that you're not gonna go through it alone," replied Mo. "Me and the others will help you get through it, and figure out a solution for your parental dilemma."
"I'm sorry, Mo," Atticus said. "I just feel like ever since I found out this mystery, it's like I can't do anything right anymore."
"Well... Admitting you goofed up is the first step to fixing things." replied Terry.
"And besides, at least you found your parents," replied Mo. "I don't have that kind of chance... And neither does Lionel."
Atticus looked soft from that. Mo smiled softly at him back. The two seemed to hug each other as Atticus sniffled a bit with tearful eyes.
"You want more? I didn't think so!" Felicity glared. "You idiotic jerks!"
"Let's scram!" remarked Rex, as he got up, and scampered out.
"What about Fudo?" asked Spike.
"What about him?" retorted Bone. "He's dead weight!"
Atticus glared a bit from that.
"What did we tell ya?" Terry said to Atticus.
"Hmph," Atticus snorted. "No wonder my conscience plagued my head about meeting those dicks."
"Some friends," remarked LJ. "So... You ready to fix your goof, Unc?"
"Yeah, I think so," Atticus replied. "Think Lionel will forgive me though?"
"After how you flipped out on him?" asked Terry. "It's a slim chance, but better than no chance at all."
"Plus you called him a jerk when you said he started it," Felicity added. "Yes, I heard you."
"Oh, I wasn't talking about him," Atticus sighed. "I was talking about me."
"Well, I doubt he knew that," replied Mo. "So you might wanna clarify that."
"Well, you know when you're mad, you can't think straight." Atticus said.
"Oh, yeah, I know," Mo replied. "I used to get mad all the time long before I met all of you guys."
"Hopefully Mother and the others are having better luck convincing Father to return," remarked Felicity. "We should join them."
"Wherever they might be." Terry added.
"Though, I might have an idea." LJ replied.
In the Other Realm...
"Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phone~," Thor was heard singing to himself as he seemed to be baking a banana cream pie. "Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring banana phone, I've got this feeling, so appealing, For us to get together and sing. Sing!~" Just then, he heard a small thump, followed by the sound of his sister Phoebe watching "Maggie and the Ferocious Beast" on Nick Jr. "Hmm... Sounds like I have company..." The warlock teen said to himself as he put his pie in the oven and dashed off to see what was going on. "Bebe, was that you?" he then asked his little sister.
"No..." replied Phoebe, as Lionel was now on the couch, and his costume looked torn and moth-eaten, with him now having a five o'clock shadow.
"Oh, hai, Lionel." Thor said.
"Yeah... I dunno where he came from, but he smells like you and Daddy on Super Bowl Sunday." Phoebe told her big brother.
Lionel let out a low, sad groan as he settled in to watch television on the sofa.
Thor came over next to him with his cheeks puffed. "Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gus~..." he greeted with a cutesy baby voice. "What's gotcha so blue?"
"Blue's Clues is coming up next." Phoebe giggled.
"I'm sure he is, Bebe, but I gotta talk with my buddy now." Thor told his sister.
Phoebe thought. "Hmm... Okay." she replied as she moved to the carpet to make room.
"Thank you," Thor said before he jumped over the couch to sit next to Lionel. "Wanna chat, li'l buddy?"
Lionel sighed. "...Okay..."
"Talk to me," Thor smiled. "I'm listening."
Phoebe smiled as she looked oblivious while watching her shows on the TV.
And so Lionel explained what happened. "...And then I got so mad... I left." he finished.
"Oh... I'm so sorry..." Thor said. "Also, it doesn't sound like Atticus to do all of that. Why, I think if someone would make a bonehead move, it would be me."
"I wanted to help, but he let us fall," replied Lionel. "And after I called him out... He had the balls to actually say to my face, 'Oh wait, you don't HAVE any parents'!"
"Atticus said that?!" Thor asked as he recoiled slightly.
Lionel gave an angry nod.
"Aw... I'm so sorry..." Thor said as he came to reach out for a hug. "I'm sure he didn't mean it, but I'm sorry that had to happen to ya."
Lionel didn't say anything as he just hugged Thor in response.
Thor hugged Lionel back. "Why don't you stay here a while?" he then suggested with a whisper. "I'm sure it'll get better later, but we shouldn't try anything beyond hugging since I'm babysitting right now and getting ready for Sunday night dinner."
Lionel nodded silently.
"Ooh, you look so poor and sad, but I could still snuggle up with you by the fireplace on Christmas night if I could~" Thor gushed a bit as he looked down at Lionel.
Lionel blushed visibly at that, and smiled a little. "...Thanks..." he replied.
"Sure thing," Thor said. "Could I get you a soda or something?"
"Alright." replied Lionel as Cherry and the others arrived a few minutes later.
Thor came back to the kitchen a bit.
"Um, hey..." Cherry said to Lionel. "Took us a while to find this place. I couldn't remember which way to turn from here or to the Pleasure Dome... Whatever that place is."
"...Okay." Lionel replied.
"Um... It'll be okay," Cherry said. "Why don't we talk a bit?"
"Uh, no offense, Cherry, but I think Lionel wants some alone time right now," Thor said as he walked over with a cooler of sodas. "Okay, buddy; I got Dr. Pepper, Coke, Sprite, some Crush, Root Beer... Whatya thirsty for?"
"Crush would be cool," replied Lionel. "I'm not in a picky mood right now."
"All right," Thor said as he took out a can to pass over to him. "Hope you're cool with orange."
Lionel nodded as he cracked it open and began to sip it quietly.
"...There's always a rainbow at the end of a cloudy day?" Cherry said to him, trying to help warm him up a bit from the argument.
Lionel looked at her, as if she had grown a second head.
"Ugh..." Cherry groaned with defeat.
"I think you should go back to where you came from," Thor told Cherry. "He's not in the mood, so go back, or you're gonna be a talking seat cushion."
"Uh, wait! I have a reason why I'm here!" Cherry replied. "It's Atticus. He's really sorry about what happened."
Lionel shot up with a glare. "Oh, IS he now?" he asked with a scowl.
"Erm... Yes..." Cherry replied. "But, uh, don't take my word for it."
Atticus looked over from where he stood as he looked a bit crestfallen.
"She says you came to apologize." Lionel spat.
"I did," Atticus said. "I'm sorry I called out on you like I did, but I haven't been able to concentrate properly recently. I just feel like I've lost my touch with this family mystery I've been forced to solve while also being a superhero-in-training and a high school student. I let my pressure get to me, and you're my friend."
"Oh, am I really?" asked Lionel. "Here I thought I was just a jerk with no parents."
"Lionel, don't be like that, it was stupid and I wish I could take it back," Atticus sighed. "I'm just stressed out and I'm sorry that I treated you badly for saying that."
"I know I act like not having a family doesn't bother me, but it really does," replied Lionel. "You think I like knowing that I have nobody to care for me or have my back? Or to teach me about life itself and the many wonders it holds? Not only do you have adoptive parents, you have blood-related parents. And what you said hurt me. More than any physical weapon ever could."
"I know..." Atticus sighed with his eyes shut.
Thor pouted as he tried to comfort Lionel, though glared a bit at Atticus with a growl.
"...But I forgive you," replied Lionel. "I knew you were going through rough stuff, and I had no right to yell at you. So what if you dropped us to help Superman fight? ...I guess I had it covered. I shouldn't have said any of what I said."
"I'm sorry I left you guys like that," Atticus said. "I don't know what I was thinking... I should've at least landed us to safety before going off like that."
Lionel nodded. "Then I guess we're both sorry." he replied.
"Yeah..." Atticus said. "Erm... It's okay, Thor... You can stop being mad at me."
Thor looked to Lionel, still glaring though like he was waiting for an okay to stop being mad, looking as mad as a hippo with a hernia.
Lionel patted Thor on the head. "It's alright, man; I forgive him," he replied. "If I was still angry, I'd have socked him around the planet three times over to get it out of my system." he added with a chuckle.
Thor soon smiled brightly from that.
"You look terrifying when you're angry." Cherry told Thor.
"Mom says I get it from her side of the family." Thor stated proudly.
Lionel extended his arm to Atticus. "Need a hand... Super-pal?" he asked with a smile.
Atticus looked over with a small sniffle and a small smile back. The two soon reached out with smiles to each other as they began to join hands and shook on it.
"Oh-kay then..." Lionel beamed. "Ladies, gentlemen... LET'S GO SAVE THE WORLD!" he announced, spinning back into his costume.
"Yeah!" The others agreed to that.
"I'm sorry, guys, I'd go with ya, but I gotta watch Bebe," Thor said. "Do me a favor though?"
"What's that?" Cherry asked.
"Kick that evil butt extra hard for me." Thor narrowed his eyes.
Lionel kissed Thor's hand. "Gladly, my friend!" he replied. "And now... WE GO!" he added, making himself and the others vanish with a flourish of his cape.
Thor waved to them before turning back with a small smirk. "Ya saw nuthin', Bebe."
Phoebe shrugged before turning back to watch "Blue's Clues".
Eventually, the group returned to the main room... Only to see the Justice League lying on the ground with electric energy surging over their bodies.