To Guest: Thank you! And I swear you read my mind about Spider-Man...he makes a quick cameo in this chapter hehe.
To Guest: Thank you! Okay, I think I will leave it in the YJ category for now. Thanks for the input.
To WaterLilly122: Okay, thank you. I think it'll stay here for now, but maybe in the future I'll change it. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or Marvel. But I wish I did.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
July 5, 00:01 EDT
Time runs short, a voice whispered in Talia's ear. She groaned, trying to stretch out. Her back was seriously sore. Wherever she was asleep, it was very uncomfortable. She must have fallen asleep in the lab again.
You must awaken, the voice said again. Talia squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore it. Uncomfortable though she was, she was exhausted. You must awaken now!
Talia's eyes flew open, her mouth opening so she could yell at whoever had awoken her. But her surroundings gave her pause. She wasn't in the lab, and she wasn't in her room. She wasn't even lying down. Talia's wrists were strapped above her head, and her back was pressed up against hard metal. A few inches in front of her was clear glass – she was in a pod.
Everything came flooding back to her: she'd snuck off to explore Cadmus upon hearing that the Justice League's teenager partners were there, and she'd run into them. The four had continued to explore and stumbled upon Superboy, who had proceeded to kick their butts. Standing a few feet away in the shadows was said clone that they'd attempted to save. He was glaring at the four other teens.
"What?" a voice shouted aggressively. It sounded like Kid Flash. "What do you want?" he shouted at Superboy angrily. Superboy's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't speak. "Quit staring!" Kid Flash ordered. "You're creeping me out!"
"Um, KF?" Robin cut in. Talia turned her head, trying to see out the sides of pod. Kid Flash and Robin were to her right, and Aqualad was to her left. "How 'bout we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" Robin continued sarcastically.
"We only sought to help you," Aqualad told Superboy. His voice was calm, as the Atlantean was clearly not trying to antagonize the Kryptonian. Kid Flash didn't pick up on that, apparently.
"Yeah," the speedster snapped. "We free you, and you turn on us. How's that for gratitude?" Talia groaned out loud, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, Kid Flash," she said, her voice as dry as a desert. "Take a leaf from Superboy's book and shut up."
"Yes," Aqualad agreed, voicing Talia's words in a gentler tone. "Please be quiet now. I believe our new friend was not in control of his actions." Aqualad made sure to emphasize the word "friend," as if to reassure Superboy once more that they meant no harm.
This was the first thing that appeared to completely get through to Superboy and draw a reaction from him. He frowned, his blue eyes falling to the ground.
"What if –" He began. He stopped, clearing his throat. "What if I wasn't?"
"He can talk?" Kid Flash cried, surprise coloring his voice. This comment didn't go over well with Superboy, and Talia winced when she saw him clench his fist. He glared at at the speedster, lifting his chin defiantly.
"Yes," Superboy snapped. "He can." Talia sighed, and she tossed Kid Flash an unimpressed look. As it turned out, the pods were perfectly angled for all of the teenagers to easily glare at Kid Flash. The speedster glanced from Robin to Talia and shrugged sheepishly.
"Not like I said it," he muttered defensively. Talia looked down at Superboy, wanting more information. He seemed intelligent, and Robin had mentioned that the G-Gnomes were "force-feeding him an education." She wondered just how smart Superboy was.
"So, you can talk," she began conversationally. "Cool. But how'd you learn – the genomorphs?" Superboy nodded, looking at Talia now.
"They taught me much," he replied. "I can read…write…" He paused, and then added. "I know the names of things." Robin looked at Superboy sympathetically, his eyes wide.
"But have they ever let you actually see them?" he questioned the clone. "Have you ever seen – the sky? Or the sun?" Superboy shrugged, looking at the ground.
"Images have been implanted in my mind," he murmured. "But – no. I have not actually seen them."
"Do you know what you are?" Aqualad asked, wondering how forthcoming Cadmus had been with Superboy about his place in the world. "Who you are?" At that question, Superboy looked up. He squared his shoulders and began to speak with confidence.
"I am the Superboy," he announced. "A genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman, created to replace him should her perish. To destroy him should he turn from the light."
A chill ran down Talia's spine at Superboy's words. Destroy Superman? How…was that even possible? Swallowing hard, Talia clenched in hands into fists, trying to pretend that her heart wasn't pounding in her chest.
"To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration." Aqualad finally spoke, breaking the tense silence. "But like Superman, you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solar suit. Beyond that pod…beyond Cadmus." Superboy had looked somewhat longing at first, but at Aqualad's last words he began to scowl once more.
"I live because of Cadmus," he snapped defiantly. "It is my home!" Talia raised an eyebrow at Superboy in a somewhat incredulous manner.
"Dude," she said. "Your home is a pod barely big enough to hold you." Robin nodded, adding to what Talia said.
"We can show you the sun," he offered Superboy. Next to Robin, Kid Flash cleared his throat, speaking for the first time since he'd ticked Superboy off.
"Uh…pretty sure it's after midnight. But we can show you the moon?"
"We can show you, introduce you to Superman," Aqualad said. Superboy's eyes widened. Aqualad's offer seemed to get through to him, making him think about what they were saying.
"Superman…" he whispered, his blue eyes faraway. He looked over all the teens, his eyes wide with hope. His gaze landed on Talia as he spoke. "Really?" he asked, sounding wistful. Talia grinned back at the clone encouragingly.
"I mean, that's all on these three," she said, jerking her head around to indicate the boys next to her. "But if you want to meet the Avengers, I could probably pull some strings."
"No," an unfamiliar voice broke in. Talia and the others looked up to see three people walking into the room. Guardian was one of them, and he was accompanied by two scientists. The one speaking had salt-and-pepper hair pulled back into a greasy ponytail. He crossed his arms, a sneer twisting his face as he spoke. "She can't. She and the others will be…occupied." He nodded at the female scientist. "Activate the cloning process," he ordered.
"Pass!" Robin called. "Batcave's crowded enough." Ignoring Robin's quip, Ponytail whirled around to look at Guardian.
"And get the weapon back in its pod!" he shouted at the brainwashed hero.
"Hey!" Kid Flash protested. "How come he gets it to call Supey an it?" Guardian walked forward, placing a hand on Superboy's shoulder. The clone blinked, tearing his gaze away from the three Cadmus operatives to look back at the teenager heroes. Aqualad stared at Superboy, his pale eyes serious.
"Help us," he begged Superboy. The clone blinked again, looking at Aqualad. His conflict was written clearly across his face. Before he could make a decision, Guardian gripped Superboy's shoulder tighter. Frowning, the dark-haired boy shoved the elder hero's hand off. Ponytail walked up to the clone, and the G-Gnome perched on his shoulder leapt onto Superboy's.
"Don't start thinking now!" Ponytail admonished. The G-Gnome's horns glowed red, and Superboy immediately stiffened, his back going straight and his eyes going wide. "See, you're not a real boy, you're a weapon and you belong to me!" Ponytail hesitated, and then corrected himself. "Well, to Cadmus. But, same thing! Now get back to your pod!"
Superboy did an abrupt about-face, walking out of the chamber they were in. His face was blank and expressionless, completely devoid of any anger or emotion whatsoever.
Talia was so focused on watching Superboy leave the room that she didn't notice the metal prods rising up from the inside of her pod. She did, however, notice the pain that followed when the jabbed forward and embedded themselves in her skin.
Crying out, Talia tried instinctively to flinch away from the pain. Of course, she couldn't go anywhere. The pain was agonizingly mind-numbing; Talia was unaware how much time had passed when the pain stopped as abruptly as it had started.
Shoulders slumping with relief, Talia let out a sigh. She managed to lift her neck far enough to see Superboy had returned. He had ripped the door off its hinges, somehow cutting off the electricity to the room. Ponytail whirled around, his teeth grinding together in frustration.
"I told you to get back to your pod!" he shouted, storming forward. The female scientist and Guardian followed suit, all three of them attempting to subdue Superboy. The clone shoved his arms out, simply throwing the three humans aside as he walked forward.
"Don't give me orders," he growled, glaring at Ponytail's prone figure. He paused in front of the pods, looking up at the four teenagers being held captive.
"You here to help us, or fry us?" Kid Flash asked Superboy. The Kryptonian frowned, narrowing his eyes. After a minute his face relaxed into something that almost resembled a smile.
"Huh," Superboy said. "I don't seem to have heat vision, so I suppose helping is my only option." Talia grinned in relief.
"Awesome," she piped up. "Having a science experiment with anger-management issues on your side is a plus – trust me."
Superboy cocked his head. He seemed to be trying to figure out if he should be take offense or if her comment had been meant as a compliment. Before he could reach a conclusion and respond accordingly, Robin landed on the ground beside him.
"Ugh, finally!" he groaned, rubbing his wrists. He must have picked the lock to the handcuffs. "Lucky Batman isn't here – he'd have my head for taking so long." Kid Flash raised his eyebrows at the younger boy incredulously.
"Seriously?" he asked. "That's what you're worried about? The whole League will have our heads after tonight!" Robin leaned over to the control panel, touching a button that made the metal prods retract and the glass of the pods open up.
"Free Aqualad," he told Superboy, sounding a little annoyed. "I'll take care of Talia and Kid Mouth." Superboy scowled at Robin.
"Don't you give me orders, either," he snapped. Even so, he complied, leaping up to Aqualad's pod and breaking the handcuffs. Before long, Robin had picked the locks on both Kid Flash's and Talia's wrists and all five teenagers were on the ground.
As they ran past the fallen Cadmus employees, Ponytail lifted his head. Like any C-list supervillain, he just had to call one last threat after them.
"You'll never make it out of here!" he shouted. "I'll have you back in pods by morning." Robin tsk-ed his tongue disappointedly, shaking his head.
"That guy is not whelmed," he commented, pulling four explosives out of his utility belt. "Not whelmed at all." Robin flicked his wrists, all four birdarangs spiraling just right to hit the intended target: the glass test tubes beneath each pod that held the teenager's DNA.
"What is this 'whelmed' thing?" Talia asked Robin as the bombs exploded. The younger boy shrugged, smirking as the makeshift team made a run for it. They left the chamber and rounded the corner, sprinting down the hallway.
"We are still forty-two levels below ground," Aqualad said. "But if we can make it to the elevator –" he was cut off by a loud groan that sounded through the hallway. The source of the noise was soon discovered as the hallway was blocked by the giant genomorphs.
Talia and her friends skidded to a halt, surveying their options. One side of the hallway was blocked by the giant gorilla/elephant genomorphs, and behind them a bunch of sacs on the wall were glowing.
Right before Talia's eyes, the sacs broke open, and she realized what was happening. The genomorphs were hatching right before their eyes – and they were clearly ready for a fight.
A growl behind Talia made her whirl around. One of the huge genomorphs behind them was about to bring its fists down, which would surely crush the teenage heroes. Dodging the hit, Talia managed to follow Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad as the three boys scrambled to the other side of the genomorph to relative safety.
Superboy, on the other hand, was attempting to fight the creatures off. He slammed his fist into one of them, knocking it down. Another quickly sprang up and crushed Superboy into the ground. Talia winced, but the clone seemed to bare no ill-effect. He leapt back to his feet and slammed the creature into the wall, making it rumble dangerously. Little pieces of rock crumbled from the ceiling to the ground.
"Superboy!" Talia shouted. "We have to escape! You're gonna bury us here!" Superboy swung around, his blue eyes wild with anger.
"You want escape?" he roared. He whirled around again, picking up the genomorph to his side. He swung it around like a baseball bat, throwing it into the other two huge creatures that were making their way towards him.
After decapacitating all four of the genomorphs, Superboy seemed to calm down minimally. At least he managed to follow the other four teenagers to the elevator shaft, where Aqualad pried the doors open.
Kid Flash jumped onto the ledge on the side of the shaft, balancing precariously as he prepared to speed up the side of the wall. Without warning, Robin wrapped an arm around Talia's waist.
"Hold on!" he shouted, shooting his grappling hook towards the ceiling. Talia's eyes widened in surprise as she and Robin shot upwards alarmingly fast. She yelped, more surprised than she was scared.
The two teenagers landed on a ledge, a safe distance away from the pursuing genomorphs. They were right next to the elevator exit for sub-level fifteen. Talia sat down, glaring at Robin.
"A little warning next time, please," she muttered, taking a deep breath and trying to calm her heart rate.
"I said, 'hold on,'" Robin replied, grinning at her. The grin slid off his face as he glanced up to see how the other two members of their group were doing.
Superboy had grabbed onto Aqualad and attempted to fly up the elevator shaft. Unfortunately, he'd discovered at that very moment that he couldn't fly, and both boys were falling at a rapid pace.
Thinking fast, Robin through a batarang upwards, purposely embedding into the wall of the shaft. Aqualad managed to wrap his hand around it as the two boys fell past, effectively catching himself and Superboy before they fell to their deaths.
"Superman can fly," Superboy murmured, his eyes downcast and somber. "Why can't I fly?"
"Don't know," Kid Flash replied. "But it looks like you can jump tall buildings in a single bound – still cool!" Talia reached up to help Superboy and Aqualad hop down onto the ledge the other three teenagers were balanced on. Then she looked up again and cursed quietly.
"Guys! We gotta move, now!" She pointed upwards, at the elevator that was plunging down the shaft, towards the teenagers. If they didn't get out of the shaft, it would crush them. Aqualad followed her gaze, his eyes widening as well.
Despite being upset, Superboy reacted quickly. He leapt across the elevator shaft, the other teenagers following suit. The clone slammed his fists into the metal door, and it easily crumbled under his strength. Talia and the other teenagers rolled into the safety of the hallway seconds before the elevator came speeding past.
Talia's eyes flicked around. The hallway they were in now was much more "normal" looking. The walls were paneled with wood, and there was florescent overhead lighting. But the snarls of a genomorph, very out of place in the office-like setting, caught her attention, and Talia stood up.
"Company," she warned her new friends. The four boys also got to their feet and the team began to run down the side hallway, away from danger.
"Go left! Left!" Superboy suddenly commanded. Kid Flash, who was in the lead, obeyed Superboy's order and turned at the corner. A moment passed and then Superboy spoke again, "Right!"
This new direction brought the five teens to a dead-end in the corridor. There was a solid wall with no doors or any way out except back the way they came. Kid Flash skidded to a halt, whirling around to berate Superboy.
"Great directions, Supey!" the speedster cried, sounding irritated. Talia, who'd been slightly behind the two super-powered teenagers, along with Robin and Aqualad, had managed to catch up to the other two boys. "Are you trying to get us re-podded?"
"No," Superboy replied. His blue eyes were shadowed with confusion. "I – I don't understand." Robin shook his head, a broad grin plastered across his face.
"Don't apologize!" he insisted. "This is perfect." The Boy Wonder scaled the wall with his grappling hook, and then made quick work of removing the cover to the air vent. He dropped it to the ground with a clatter and ducked into the ventilation system. "Come on!" he called, his voice echoing in the small space.
Talia eyed the air vent apprehensively, faintly wondering how she was supposed to get up there. She was too short to reach, and not athletic enough to jump that high. Before she could ponder this further, Superboy knelt down, silently offering Talia a leg up.
"Oh," she said, a little surprised. "Thanks." The clone nodded, pushing her up so that she could catch her hands onto the edge of metal vent. Talia slid into the small space, and she and Robin backed up to give the others room.
"Hey, JARVIS," Talia ventured, wondering if her A.I. was back online. After a moment of silence, there was a response.
"Hello, miss," JARVIS replied, admittedly sounding more static-y than normal. Even so, hearing his voice made Talia weak with relief. "What happened?"
"Long story," Talia replied. "Um, I'll be moving around, but could you try to send the suit when you get a chance?" Robin began to crawl forward, and Talia followed him. "Thanks, J," she said when her A.I. agreed.
Once all five teenagers were safely in the air vent, Robin began to lead them forward, consulting with the blueprints he'd pulled up.
"We're never going to make it out at this rate," Kid Flash hissed from behind Talia.
"Sh," Superboy commanded suddenly. "Listen." The others stopped to strain their ears, but no one heard anything except for Superboy. "They're coming," he explained when he saw the others staring at him in confusion.
"Don't worry about it," Robin replied confidently. "Let's just keep moving."
He led the other teens through the maze of the vents for another several moments. Finally they reached another vent cover, which Robin shoved open.
Landing on the ground, he pulled up his holocomputer. Still crouching on the ground, his fingers flew over the keys briefly. After a minute he looked up with a cocky grin on his face.
"I hacked the motion sensors," he announced proudly.
"Nice," Talia said admiringly. Robin shot her a smile, standing up.
"There's still plenty of them between us and out," he warned the others. Kid Flash grinned, lowering his goggles over his eyes.
"But I finally got room to move," the speedster said. With that, he turned around, shoving the door to the stairwell open. In a blur, he sped off, scaling several floors in seconds. Before Talia could follow the speedster, JARVIS spoke up.
"Excuse me, miss," he said, sounding a little proud of himself. "The suit is incoming." The familiar sound of thrusters made Talia turn her head. Sure enough, her suit was flying down the hallway.
"Yes!" Talia cheered, holding her arms out to the side so that the suit could read the trackers on her wrists. "JARVIS, you rock." The suit attached itself to her wrist, opening up and surrounding her body completely. Once the suit was fully on, Talia flipped the face plate up to grin at her friends. "Alright," she said with a mischievous grin. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."
Firing the thrusters, Talia piloted the suit through the narrow staircases with ease. She was careful to remain a safe distance above her teammates so she didn't torch them.
Ahead the other four teenagers was Kid Flash, who had knocked over several of the genomorphs that had attempted to cut them off.
"More behind us!" Robin warned. Talia maneuvered in the air so that she was flying backwards, hitting the genomorphs in front with several blasts from the repulsors. It was enough to keep them at bay while Superboy literally broke the stairs to keep from being pursued further.
The makeshift team burst out of the stairway. They were just in time to see Kid Flash smash into a closed door headfirst. Which was A) pretty funny to watch and B) pretty concerning, as it meant they were trapped.
"We're cut off from the street," Aqualad said. Kid Flash groaned, rubbing the back of his head.
"Thanks," he muttered sarcastically. "My head hadn't noticed." His eyes fell on Talia and widened comically. "Woah," he said appreciatively. "Nice suit, babe." Talia rolled her eyes underneath the facemask, but she couldn't help the smile that slid onto her face.
Superboy stepped forward, hitting the door several times. It didn't budge, so Talia and Aqualad moved up to help him. Superboy took one side, and Aqualad and Talia took the other, both sides pulling at the doors in attempt to open it.
"Can't hack this fast enough," Robin muttered. Talia glanced backwards, swearing when she saw that the genomorphs had caught up to them. Robin glanced around wildly, and then kicked a door in. "This way!" he shouted.
The others followed the Boy Wonder, only to realize that their move had been anticipated. The team reached the junction of the hallway where they saw that genomorphs surrounded every possible exit, filling the entirety of the hallway. Guardian was standing in front of them.
Realizing that they weren't getting out without a fight, Talia moved into a defensive position and raised her hands so the repulsors faced their enemies. Before she could attack, the G-Gnomes' horns began to glow red, and a sudden wave of exhaustion swept through her.
Talia's eyelids fluttered against her will, and she slipped unconcious.
Talia looked at her father from across the lab table. She still couldn't believe he was here – alive. Just recently, he'd been missing for three months, and presumed dead for over two. When her mom had come into her room to tell Talia that Rhodey had found her dad, worse for wear but alive, she almost hadn't believed her.
But here he was.
Talia was sitting in her father's lab, watching him work. It had only been a few days since he'd battled the Iron Monger – it still stung four-year-old Talia's heart to think that Obie was not only apparently dead, but evil – and come out as Iron Man.
As if he felt her gaze, Tony raised his head to look at his daughter. He looked tired and run-down, but he managed a smile for his little girl.
"What's up, sweetheart?" he said, crossing the room to pick her up. She giggled as he lifted her up high onto his shoulders before he went back to his work. Reaching up, Tony tugged gently on his daughter's foot. "Watch carefully, Widget," he commanded, calling her by his special nickname for her since forever. "Tell me what I'm doing."
Talia bent over to look at the diagram from her perch on her father's shoulders. She studied the hologram carefully, tipping her head to the side. Her dark eyes scanned his work, and she grinned with delight when she realized she recognized some of the science and math.
"It's an equation," she said, pointing like she'd made an epic discovery. "You're trying to make the arc reactor power more than just the suit." Talia rested her chin on her father's head. "What for?"
Tony smiled, reaching back up to settle his daughter on the table. His question had been simple enough, but her understanding of it was still impressive for a four-year-old, and he was proud of her.
"The arc reactor is clean energy," he said. Talia's eyes widened with interest, but she also stifled a yawn. Tony smirked. "Am I boring you?" he teased his daughter. "Guess I won't explain, then." Talia's eyes widened in distress.
"No – o!" she whined, sticking her lower lip out in a pout. "Explain!" She demanded. Tony laughed, scooping her up again and setting her on his hip.
"Okay, lesson of the day," he agreed. "But after that it's off to bed." Talia hummed in agreement, resting her cheek against her dad's shoulder as he talked. Some kids went to bed with lullabies; when Talia was with her dad, she went to bed with science lectures.
"Clean energy," Tony said as he walked up the stairs with his kid in his arms. "Is energy that powers everything without adding to pollution. Some current sources are solar panels and wind mills." Tony walked into Talia's room and set her down on her bed, pulling the covers back so she could crawl into bed. "I think, with a little work, I can use the arc reactor as another source."
Talia smiled, her eyelids fluttering with exhaustion. She stretched a hand out to touch the arc reactor gently. She'd already gotten used to the bright blue light, as much as a comfort now as her father's voice or her mother's laughter - or the presence of a baseball cap. She removed her hand from the glowing circle in her father's chest, reaching for the night-stand to grab onto her well-worn baseball cap that awaited her.
"And I would help you…right?" she asked, looking up at her father with huge doe eyes as she wound her fingers through the hole in the back of the cap. Tony laughed, bending down to kiss his daughter on the forehead.
"Of course, you would, Widget," he murmured. "You already have." He didn't tell her then, not wanting to scare her, but it was Talia who had given him the hope and will to fight back when he was being held captive. He had wanted – no, he had needed – to see his daughter grow up.
"Good," Talia murmured, her eyes slipping shut and staying closed. Tony waited a few minutes, thinking she was asleep. When he got up to leave, however, she called after him in a sleepy voice. "Daddy?" she said. Tony turned back to her, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
"Yes, Talia?" he asked, brushing her hair out of her closed eyes. Talia smiled faintly.
"When I get bigger," she told him in a dreamy voice. "I wanna be a superhero like you. I wanna be just like you." Tony swallowed hard, his heart clenching painfully. Talia had nearly fallen asleep, so she just barely heard his whispered response.
"That's what I'm scared of."
Talia woke to JARVIS speaking to her in an urgent voice. She squeezed her eyes shut and then cracked them open gently. She was still encased in the suit, so she'd been sleeping standing up.
"I'm okay, J," she murmured, cutting the A.I. off mid-question.
"Very good," JARVIS responded, sounding relieved. Talia shook her head to clear it and looked forward. Superboy was standing up, and the other boys were slowly waking up as well. Guardian was holding his head in his hands, his expression confused.
"I…choose…freedom," Superboy said out loud. His voice was strong, and he stared at the humanoid genomorph across from him. Ponytail-Scientist had called him Dubbilex earlier, if Talia was remembering correctly. Dubbilex nodded his head, looking pleased at Superboy's words.
Blinking to herself, Talia wondered what she'd missed. Was Dubbilex letting them go?
"Feels like…fog lifting," Guardian murmured, still clutching his head. Around Talia, the boys had risen to their feet once more.
"Guardian?" Aqualad asked cautiously, his pale eyes locked to the hero. Guardian lifted his head and nodded it once. For the first time since they'd encountered him, his eyes were clear and determine instead of glazed over.
"Go," he ordered. "I'll deal with Desmond."
So that's what Ponytail's name was, Talia thought to herself. Before she and her friends could make their departure, a chilling chuckle echoed through the hallway.
"I think not," Desmond said, stepping up to confront the others. The genomorphs parted for him. He stood at the end of the hall, the patented crazy-scientist gleam in his eyes. He brandished a test-tube of glowing blue liquid at them. "Project Blockbuster will restore order to Cadmus," he announced. With that, he raised the vial to his lips.
"Um, dude?" Talia said. "I would seriously recommend against drinking that…okay, then. Never mind."
Desmond threw back the vial, and immediately effects began to take place. He grimaced in pain, a sound gurgling in his throat as he convulsed. The test-tube fell from his hand and shattered on the ground.
Right before their eyes, Desmond transformed. Talia had seen Bruce transform in the Hulk before, and it was significantly less creepy than watching this. Bruce just kinda got green and looked like he'd gone on steroids, but Desmond's skin literally began to rip off his face.
As Desmond's flesh tore away, it was replaced with grey, tough skin underneath. He grew several feet, gaining both height and muscle mass. His body quickly became too large for his clothes, and he ripped through them, arch in his back.
The monster that Desmond had become threw his head back and roared. Whether it was in pain or anger, Talia couldn't tell.
Guardian stepped in front of the teenagers, spreading his arms out to protect them.
"Everyone back!" he ordered, charging at Desmond. The former scientist turned monster easily swatted the hero aside, throwing Guardian into the wall. Superboy charged at Desmond next.
The clone had a little more success than Guardian. He managed to get a punch in before Desmond hit him down, and even so, Superboy popped back up nearly immediately. Superboy punched Desmond across the face again, but Desmond hit him backwards. Superboy somersaulted across the ground, popping back to his feet nearly immediately.
Yelling out, Superboy leapt at Desmond, holding his fists above his head. Before the clone could bring his fists down on his adversary, Desmond jumped up. The creature wrapped his arms around Superboy's middle, and both of them crashed through the ceiling.
"Okay," Robin said, looking at the hole the brawling foes had made. "That's one way to bust through a ceiling." He reached into his utility belt, pulling out his grappling hook and shooting it upwards.
"You think Lab-coat planned that?" Kid Flash asked, grabbing his friend's arm so that Robin's grapple pulled both of them upwards.
"I doubt he is planning anything anymore," Aqualad replied, leaping after the other two boys. He cleared the twelve-foot height in one jump. Talia allowed herself a moment to be impressed, and then she followed her friends to above ground.
Hovering above the hole, Talia's eyes widened as she saw the fight going on. As she watched, Desmond scooped Superboy up and threw him across the room. Kid Flash and Robin managed to move out of the way in time, but Superboy was thrown directly into Aqualad. In turn, both boys hit Talia head-on.
It was credit to how well her father (and Talia) had designed the suit, that even roughly four hundred pounds thrown at a fast rate wasn't able to knock her out of the sky. Talia tumbled over in midair, her flight stabilizers kicking in. Her thrusters flared, steadying her.
On the ground a few feet in front of her, Robin and Kid Flash were helping Aqualad and Superboy to their feet. Kid Flash glanced over his shoulder, looking a little concerned.
"You okay, babe?" he called. Talia rolled her eyes at the flirtation, but shot Kid Flash a thumbs-up to acknowledge his concern. She flew forward slightly, so that she was standing (well, flying) even with her friends. On an unspoken command, all of them charged forward.
Kid Flash zipped off, sliding between Desmond's legs in order to distract him. Superboy and Aqualad leapt at Desmond, both of the boys punching him in the face. Desmond staggered at their combined strength, and Kid Flash slid forward slightly so that he was kneeling on his hand and knees just behind Desmond. This caused the creature to fall over backwards, having tripped on Kid Flash's body.
"Learned that one in Kindergarten," Kid Flash teased, standing up and brushing his hands off. Robin jumped up, flipping over Kid Flash with extreme grace. He launched two birdarangs at Desmond, but he swatted them aside.
Talia flew forward at a low altitude, launching shot after shot from her repulsors at Desmond. The creature barely flinched. He reached up, attempting to snatch Talia out of midair. Talia flew upwards, but Desmond managed to catch her foot with his hand, yanking hard on her left thruster.
"J!" Talia shouted. In response, her A.I. fired up her thrusters to full power. Talia yanked her boot free from Desmond's grip and flew away, once again stabilizing her thrusters to remain steady in mid-air.
Superboy jumped after Desmond, but the monster easily flipped the clone around and slammed him into the stone pillar. Talia flew forward, opening up her shoulder pads were tiny missiles hid. JARVIS pulled up the Head's Up Display, allowing her to aim carefully. Before she could fire them at Desmond, Aqualad jumped into the line of fire, making Talia hesitate.
The Atlantean whipped two streams of water, wrapping them around Desmond's arm to pull him back, away from Superboy. At the same time, the Atlantean used the leverage it gave him to leap up and balance precariously against the pillar. He formed his water into a mace and began to bring it down on Desmond's head.
Desmond grabbed Aqualad's water-mace in one hand and used it to sling the boy into the ground. As soon as Aqualad was out of firing range, Talia launched the missiles at Desmond's back.
The missiles hit their mark perfectly, but the explosions didn't even stun Desmond. He whirled around, grabbing Talia and slamming her into the stone pillar. Talia groaned, the display in her mask flickering slightly. The room shook dangerously, pieces of the ceiling raining down.
"KF, Talia, get over here!" Robin shouted. Talia fired her thrusters, peeling herself out of the crater her suit had created. She piloted the suit over to where Robin was standing.
He had pulled up a diagram of the room on his holocomputer. He told the other two teenagers his plan, to purposely knock down the pillars critical to support and bring the building down on Desmond.
"Get it?" Robin asked, looking up at his friends.
"Got it!" Talia and Kid Flash chorused. Talia eyed one of the pillars. One of them already have sufficient damage; she was pretty sure that she could knock it down by using herself as a battering ram.
Firing her thrusters to full power, Talia flew towards the pillar. She crossed her arms in front of her head, flying straight into the pillar. The stone crumbled around her as she flew through it, creating a hole in the middle of the pillar and sufficiently destroying it.
Talia whirled around in midair. Desmond was in the center of the room now, only a few yards away from where he was supposed to be. He was stumbling slightly; clearly Talia's friends had taken care of decapacitating him.
"Miss," JARVIS said in her ear. "I calculate that Desmond would need to be at least another fifteen feet and eight inches towards the north side of the building in order for the plan to work." Talia tilted her head, running the numbers in her head.
"Thanks," Talia said. She flew forwards, close to the ground. Talia coasted upwards slightly, picking up Desmond and flying forward. She dropped him right on top of the 'X' Robin had made. Stopping short, Talia's thrusters fired, and she coasted around, trying to catch up with her friends and get to safety.
As the building began to collapse around them, it became clear that they weren't getting out to the street before the ceiling caved in. She saw Superboy and Aqualad cover Kid Flash and Robin in order to protect them, and she flew in, swooping down over them.
The armor expanded in her back, forming a sort of shield as Talia planted her feet behind Superboy and Aqualad. It wasn't large enough to completely protect them from harm, but it would at least stop them from dying.
Hopefully.
The teenagers stayed huddled together until the dust settled and the building had completely collapsed. Once the rocks had mostly stopped shifting on top of them, Superboy uncurled himself and punched upwards, hitting a rock out of the way. Talia allowed the armor to shrink back to its normal size.
By the time she was done, Superboy had punched his way out of the wreckage, clearing a path for the other teenagers in the process. Talia stood up, the gears in her legs creaking. She flipped the face-plate up, grinning at the other teenagers.
"We…did it," Aqualad gasped out. He was panting heavily, as were the others. Even so, Robin managed to grin triumphantly back.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Robin responded, sounding just as breathless. He and Kid Flash high-fived, and then both of them grimaced in pain, gripping their sides when the movement hurt. Talia laughed breathlessly.
All of the boys' costumes were ripped and torn, revealing scraped skin and bruises. The armor, although dented in places, was mostly intact and had done a lot to protect Talia from any sufficient damage. Still, she was betting she was going to be sore in the morning.
Superboy, who had remained quiet the entire time, stepped down from the pile of cinder blocks. He walked over to Desmond, who was currently trapped underneath a large rock.
"Look!" Kid Flash said, pointing at the sky triumphantly. "The moon!" Superboy turned around, his eyes going wide as he looked at the sky for the first time ever. And as all of the teenagers gazed upwards, Superman appeared right before their eyes. "Oh," Kid Flash commented. "And Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?"
Superboy didn't answer, but his eyes widened with hope as he gazed at the sky. As Superman descended towards the ground, other members of the League appeared. Talia's eyes went wide at the sheer multitude of heroes landing around them. Those who couldn't fly were being levitated on a platform made by one of the Green Lanterns.
"Miss," JARVIS's voice said in Talia's ear. He sounded unusually smug. "Now that your life is no longer in peril, I think it best to inform you that I have contacted your father." Talia's heart dropped in her chest, and she swore as she saw a familiar glint of red and gold landing next to the League members.
Iron Man stood there with his arms crossed. His face was covered by the helmet, so his expression was unreadable. Talia couldn't even tell where he was looking. Heck, he might have been asleep!
But in reality, Talia knew: her father was livid.
Breaking her training of thought and distracting her impending doom, Superboy stepped forward to meet Superman. He didn't speak, but instead picked up his ripped solar suit to show the S emblem on his chest.
An immense array of emotions flashed across Superman's face in a very short amount of time. At first, he looked suspicious, then surprised, then almost hopeful before his face finally settled on anger. Superboy's shoulders slumped, and Talia winced sympathetically. Batman stepped forward, taking a better look at Superboy for himself.
"Is that what I think it is?" he asked, almost rhetorically. Kid Flash stepped forward, cupping his mouth and stage whispering.
"He doesn't like being called an 'it,'" Kid Flash sing-songed. Superboy scowled, dropped his hand to his side.
"I'm Superman's clone," he snapped. At this assertion, the entire League's composure changed. For the most part, Talia was guessing they'd just been trying to seem intimidating, but now they all looked shocked. She didn't blame them; she'd been pretty surprised herself and she didn't even know Superman.
But no one was more surprised that Superman himself. The Kryptonian reeled backwards, his eyes flashing.
"Start talking," Batman ordered, his eyes narrowing. "Now."
Talia stayed mostly quiet throughout the explanation, as did Superboy. Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin all took turns telling the story of the best twelve hours. Why they'd snuck into Cadmus in the first place and what they'd found.
To be completely honest, Talia learned a lot. She'd assumed that the League had ordered them to come here, and the reason they'd been hesitant to call was because they hadn't wanted to admit they needed help, not that they'd snuck there. And to be even more honest, Talia found herself liking the three boys even more because of it. They had guts.
As Kid Flash finished explaining how they'd ended the battle with Desmond, the Leaguers turned and walked off practically without a word. Several of them flew off with Desmond in captivity, while others huddled a few feet away, talking. Iron Man joined Aquaman, Batman and the Flash in their conversation, making Talia extremely nervous.
Superman turned around, walking back over to the group of teens. Superboy had his arms crossed angrily, but he looked up when Superman spoke.
"We'll…uh, we'll figure something out for you," he told Superboy awkwardly. "The League will, I mean. Until then…" Superman hesitated, clearly trying to think of an excuse to get out of there. "I better make sure they get that Blockbuster creautre squared away," Superman said in a rush.
Without even saying good-bye, the Kryptonian flew off. He jetted away into the sky so fast that you'd have thought there was an actual emergency somewhere, not just Superman running away from responsibilities.
"Cadmus will be investigated," Batman's voice said. Talia turned around. The Dark Knight, the Flash, and Aquaman were all walking up to the group of teenagers. Iron Man was with them, and Talia's stomach twisted. "All fifty-two levels," Batman continued, drawing Talia's attention back to the conversation. "But let's make one thing clear – "
"You should have called!" The Flash broke in. He was scowling at all of the teens, but Kid Flash in particular. Batman shot the Flash a look, but he didn't disagree with the speedster.
"End results aside, we are not happy," Batman agreed. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."
Talia exchanged a quick look with her new friends. All of them were in immediate agreement on how to respond, and Aqualad was the one who spoke for all of them.
"I am sorry," he replied, stepping forward. His voice was calm and polite as always, but his opinion was unwavering. "But we will."
"Aqualad," Aquaman commanded his protégé. "Stand down." Aqualad dipped his head, placing a finned hand over his heart.
"Apologies, my King," he murmured. "But no." Aquaman's eyes widened in surprise. Talia wouldn't have been shocked if this was the first time that Aqualad had disobeyed him so blatantly. "We did good work here tonight," Aqualad continued. "The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful. Something important."
"If this is about your treatment at the Hall," the Flash began, stepping forward. "The three of you –" Kid Flash shook his head, interrupting his mentor.
"The five of us," he corrected. "And it's not." Robin finally stepped forward, approaching his mentor with his arms spread.
"Batman," Robin said, his voice soft. "We're ready to use what you taught us. Or why teach us at all?"
"Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy snapped, finally uncrossing his arms. "It's simple," he added, stalking forward, his shoulders tense. "Got on board or get out of the way." Talia raised her chin, looking at the Leaguer's confidently.
"Superboy is right," she said. "We will continue to do this with or without your 'blessing.'" Talia looked at her dad, her heart beating fast in her chest. "So you might as well give it."
None of the Leaguers spoke, and neither did Iron Man. The sole Avenger among the group looked at his daughter. He was not pleased with her actions, to say the absolute least, but he also knew that he didn't have jurisdiction here – at least not further than his kid. So, he let Batman decide.
"Give me three days," Batman finally said, after thinking for several minutes in silence. Without waiting for an answer, he swept around, his cape billowing out dramatically.
Talia blinked, surprised. She'd been expecting either an immediate no or an immediate yes. Not "three days."
"Three days isn't so long?" Kid Flash finally said, breaking the tense silence among the group. Talia shrugged. She was about to disagree with the speedster when Iron Man finally stepped forward, speaking for the first time.
"Talia," Iron Man said. Even through the speakers of the helmet, his voice was displeased. "Let's go." Talia raised her head, lowering the face plate.
"Coming," she said weakly. She glanced back at the boys. "Uh. See you guys soon?" she said hopefully. Iron Man's thrusters fired, and he spoke again.
"Talia, now!" Talia winced, firing up her suit and following her dad into the cold night air.
"That is," she muttered to herself. "If I survive the next three days."
AVENGERS COMPOUND
July 5, 04:33 EDT
Tony gave his daughter a pretty good chewing out on the half-hour flight back to New York. By the time the two of them reached the compound, Talia's verdict was in place. She was completely grounded for the next three days. No leaving the compound, no electronics, no time in the lab. After Batman made his decision, Tony would then decide whether or not to ground her for longer.
All in all, Talia was feeling pretty lucky when she walked into the compound. Losing lab time sucked, yeah, but at least her dad hadn't actually murdered her.
"Ooh," Clint teased as Talia and Tony walked into the common living area. She scowled at him, her shoulders hunching as she glared at the surrounding Avengers.
As expected, Steve was frowning at Talia with great disapproval, giving her the patented "Captain America is very disappointed eyebrows" and Clint was practically cackling. Natasha was the only one else still awake, and she looked pretty amused as well, although more contained.
"Someone please remind me how to say fuck you in sign language," Talia muttered as she dragged her feet towards the stairs. Clint made mock-surprised face at her, placing a hand over his heart as though she'd wounded him. Then, smirking, he signed "language" at her, which drew a flicker of a grin to Talia's face.
"I saw that," Steve muttered, sighing. He'd accepted the continuing gag, albeit reluctantly. Tony smiled, ruffling his daughter's hair affectionately.
"Alright, Widget," he said. "Now go to bed before I change my mind and decide to ground you for longer."
"Uh-huh," Talia replied, dragging herself towards the stairs. She glanced downwards, making sure her dad's back was turned before flipping Clint the bird and racing away to her room.
As soon as Talia entered her room, she flopped down on her bed. She was asleep immediately.
Two days into her three-day sentence, Talia was bored out of her mind. She was lying on the floor to her room, throwing a tennis ball at the ceiling and catching it when someone rapped on her window.
Looking up, Talia had to stifle a shriek. Because balanced precariously on her windowsill was none-other than Spider-Man, aka her friend, Peter Parker.
Peter and Talia actually hadn't been friends for very long. They'd met a few months ago, when Spider-Man first started popping up around New York and Tony had taken Peter under his wing, but they weren't immediately friends. To be honest, Talia had been a little bit jealous of the attention Tony gave Peter.
Their friendship had been cemented when Talia's friend Shuri came to visit. Talia had been lucky enough to have been invited to Wakanda with her father and the rest of the Avengers a couple years back, and she and Shuri had bonded quickly. The Avengers had been out on a mission when JARVIS had told the two girls that Peter was waiting in the common area for Tony to return. Shuri had casually asked who Peter was.
"Oh," Talia had responded. "He's this kid that my dad took a liking to. They met a few weeks ago when Peter and Cap got into a fight – long story – and Peter was actually able to hold his own."
Shuri had immediately dropped what she'd been working on and ran up three flights of stairs to the living room where Peter was. Peter's first impression of the princess of Wakanda was her bursting into a room and shouting "How did you take down Captain America?" at the top of her lungs, while recording his reaction on her phone.
Without missing a beat, Peter raised his head and replied in a terrible German accent: "I shot him in ze legs, because his shield is the size of a dinner plate, and he's an idiot."
And that, followed by the embarrassment of having the Avengers walking in on the three of them crying with laughter on the floor, was all it took have a cemented bond. Peter and Talia saw each other often enough, as they both lived in New York. Shuri they'd only seen once in person since the incident, but the three of them were in a group chat that exchanged at least twenty memes a day. And now, six months later, Peter was sitting on the windowsill of Talia's room, grinning at her.
Rolling her eyes, Talia crossed the room and shoved the window open. Peter shoved his mask off, grinning at Talia with poorly concealed glee.
"You blew up a building?" he asked, smirking at her. Talia glared at her friend.
"I'm going to push you out this window," she threatened, pouting as she crossed her arms. "And I didn't blow it up, I just made it collapse…with help!" Peter laughed, unable to resist the opportunity to tease his friend.
"I'm just saying!" he teased. He paused, and then couldn't resist adding, "When I went to DC, I saved a national monument from collapsing…" Talia stuck her tongue out at Peter childishly.
"That's an exaggeration," she replied. Peter's mouth dropped open, but before he could protest, Tony called to Talia from outside her room.
"Talia?" he called. "Who are you talking to?" Talia opened her mouth, pondering her options. JARVIS would tell her dad she was lying if she claimed she'd been talking to JARVIS, she wasn't supposed to be on her phone or computer, and she wasn't supposed to have anyone over.
"…myself?" she offered.
"Why did you scream?" Tony asked, sounding thoroughly unimpressed and unconvinced. Talia looked at Peter, a grin spreading over her face as she answered her dad.
"Uh, there was a spider," she replied, trying not to laugh at the expression on Peter's face. "A really – a really big spider, at my window." She was laughing as she finished, because Peter was hitting her playfully. She hit him back, making him yelp and wrap his legs firmly around the ledge of his window. The resounding scuffle almost drowned out Tony's words.
"Uh-huh," Tony said, sounding somewhat amused. He raised his voice so that Peter could hear him clearly. "Peter, I know you're in there. Now get out of my daughter's room; she's still grounded for another eighteen hours."
"Sorry, Mr. Stark," Peter apologized. He pulled his mask down over his face and flipped backwards effortlessly. Talia leaned out her window to watch him as he swung from building to building and then out of sight.
"Show-off."
MOUNT JUSTICE
July 8, 08:04 EDT
Three days after Cadmus, Talia and her father made the trek to Happy Harbor. More specifically, to a hollowed-out mountain near the ocean that, Batman explained, would serve was the Team's new headquarters.
"This Cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League," Batman announced as Talia stepped out of her armor. She was dressed in street clothes underneath, a blank tank top with straps that crossed in the back, and high waisted skinny jeans. Her dark, wavy hair was pulled back in a ponytail sticking through her black baseball cap. "We're calling it into service again." Batman turned to look at the five teenagers gathered in front of him.
"Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight," he continued. "You'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and act as your supervisor. Black Canary will be in charge of training. And I will deploy you on missions."
"Real missions?" Robin asked, sounding hopeful. Batman dipped his head, taking a few steps forward.
"Yes," he responded, making his protégé grin in excitement. "But covert." The Flash grinned, tapping the lightning-bolt emblem on his chest.
"The League will still handle the obvious stuff," he said. "There's a reason we got these big targets on our chests."
"But Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter," Aquaman added. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Batman nodded his head.
"The six of you will be that team." Talia frowned, doing some basic addition in her head. That didn't make sense.
"Cool!" Robin exclaimed. Talia stepped forward, tilting her head to the side.
"Hold up!" she said. "Six?" Batman nodded, looking above the Team's shoulders at someone walking up behind them. Talia turned around.
The Martian Manhunter was approaching the teenagers, accompanied by a girl with green skin and auburn hair. She was dressed in apparel mirrored the Martian Manhunter's clothing, and it didn't take a lot to put together that she was an alien as well.
"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece," Batman explained. "Miss Martian." The girl smiled shyly, lifting a hand and waving at the others nervously.
"Hi," she greeted them. Kid Flash elbowed Robin, a grin spreading over his face.
"Liking this gig more every minute," he muttered. He walked over to Miss Martian, a smile plastered on his face. "Welcome aboard!" he said. "I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin, Aqualad, Talia and Superboy. It's cool if you forget their names." Talia rolled her eyes at Kid Flash's obvious crush but smiled when Miss Martian's eyes landed on her.
"I'm honored to be included," Miss Martian said enthusiastically. She clasped her hands together, looking around in slight awe. Talia and the others crowded around Miss Martian, getting to know each other, but Superboy hung back.
"Hey, Superboy!" Robin called, turning around to wave the clone over. "Come meet Miss M!" The clone stiffened, and then turned, walking over to the group. Miss Martian blushed, shifting her t-shirt so that it was black and red instead of white and red.
"I…like your t-shirt," she said, smiling at Superboy. The clone blinked, looking a little surprised. He smiled back, his face relaxing.
Aqualad glanced at Robin and Kid Flash. The three protégés had started this mission, hoping it would allow them into the League. Now they had another option, one more fitting for the three of them.
"Today is the day."
um so yeah.
this second half of the chapter felt kinda hard to write idk why. anyways.
i'm sorry in advance if the editing is bad; i did it on my phone and i'm exhausted. I might re-edit and some point, but for now this is good.
about talia's ship, i know i said last chapter i wanted to ship her with kaldur. and to be honest, i still really do. but i was thinking more about it and it just...it doesn't make sense. their characters don't make sense together. in fact the more i thought about it, i realized that talia doesn't seem to eb romantically compatible with anyone in the YJ universe. so idk what to do. please let me know if you have any input on her ship, i'd love some feedback.
also please let me know what you think about this chapter and the story in general. i love reviews; they make me smile! thank you!