Author's Note:
'Telepathy'
"Phone Calls"
"Communicator"
'Scarab and Sphere speak'
THE WATCHTOWER
JULY 20, 2:00 EDT
Confusion has sent in among the people in the Watchtower as the Team and the Leaguers that tried to protect the four runaways are now standing in the mission room trying to figure out what just happened tonight. After Alpha Squad and Beta Squad picked themselves up from their failure, all active teams decided to reconvene at the Watchtower to find out who had went after them and how they were unable to stop them. Everyone went over the recording from Bruce's cowl and watching how the mysterious person moved around the room until Artemis asked a question. "So, who attacked you?"
"We don't know but whoever this person is...they move like a ghost." answers Bruce, staring at the screen as the video feed paused on when the person planted their foot on his chest. His eyes narrow and he crosses his arms over his chest before looking over to Barbara as she ran the person's mask and symbol on their armor through the JLA database. "Batgirl, have you found anything in relation to this insignia that was seen?"
Barbara continues to type on the holo-computer looking for anything relating to the insignia until a notification comes from the screen as case file after case file opens up with the same insignia being seen in different places. "I've found numerous case files by multiple intelligence agencies and special ops groups from across the world. There's nothing but speculation on his true motives or origins but they do try to look out for them at all times. The international community does call them the 'Dead Knight' but all basically refer to them as and I quote, 'a militarized Batman'."
"Is there anything about him working alone or having a team?" Bruce asks, looking at the different pictures taken by different agencies.
"Surprisingly, there is but it's not a team...it's an army." Barbara says, pulling up photos of what appears to be a giant militaristic force with the same insignia as the Knight in urban areas to jungles. "Still nothing more than speculation about their main operation but the only thing sources can agree on is their name, the Ghosts. This group has been connected to killing members of the C.I.A., Spetsnaz, S.A.S., Marines, et cetera..."
"We get it, these guys are no joke for anyone." says Conner from the other side to the mission room, using another holo-computer as he going through his Cadmus folder while listening to what Barbara is telling everyone else. "But what does that explain about tonight and why they're after our teammates?"
"It seems obvious that they have been watching us for years if they knew are weaknesses." Kaldur adds on, looking over to Conner to see what he is doing. "Speaking of weakness, Superboy, what was that red gas they released on you and Superman?"
"Yeah…what could possibly be powerful enough to take out our two main powerhouses?" Tim asks, as everyone that was apart of Alpha Squad was also confused on what type of aerosol could bring the two Kryptonians to their knees.
Conner stops typing on the holo-computer, staring in shock at the screen in front of him before composing himself a moment later and looking over his shoulder at the others, hitting a key that pulls up a video. "Here's your answer." Is the only answer Conner gives before hitting another key, walking away from his computer and making his way out of the mission room.
"I didn't mean it as a bad thing." Tim says silently, not meaning for the question to cut one of his leaders so deep.
"I don't think he took it as an insult, Tim." Cassie says, placing a comforting hand on her boyfriend's shoulder to assure him that he said nothing wrong. "I wonder what he meant by 'here's your answer?'"
They all turn to the monitor Conner left on as the image of Dr. Desmond appears to reveal that a recording had just started and that Conner had played it for them.
"May 28, 2010, Log 28, Dr. Mark Desmond." Opened the doctor, lifting up his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. "After multiple tests of the subject strengths and abilities, Mr. Luthor says it's time to test the subject's weaknesses to make it entirely immune. That being said, Mr. Luthor had sent me what he calls 'Red Kryptonite' to test on Project:Kr." Desmond explained, panning his camera over to reveal a red crystal sitting inside a glass container.
"Red Kryptonite?" Bruce says, looking over to Clark in hopes that he may have answers. "Clark, have you ever heard of this type of Kryptonite?"
"No…this is new?" Clark answers, just as surprised as everyone else by the revelation of there being another kind of Kryptonite.
"As Mr. Luthor explained to me, natural Red Kryptonite is made when Green Kryptonite passes through the gas cloud of a dead red sun. While it has not been tested on any Kryptonian, Luthor as given me permission to use it on the weapon." Desmond explained, bringing the camera closer to the Red Kryptonite for a better view. "While the natural's affects are unknown, this artificial version that Mr. Luthor, himself had created, has shown to have multiple…terrifying effects on the test subject."
The video cuts to an observation room above a large laboratory with large metal doors and metal paneling around the room while Conner was asleep in his Project: Kr pod, wearing only his solar suit. Desmond turned on multiple cameras that have multiple angles of the room with wireless EKG electrodes around Conner's heart on top of his solar suit as they transmitted the readings to the observation room. In the observation room, Dr. Spence and other scientists were at computers and control panels while Guardian, Dubbilex, and Desmond were looking through the glass down at Superboy in his pod.
"Red Kryptonite Testing 03. Oppose to other testing, we will be testing the weapon's ability of solar absorption. Particularly, yellow sun radiation but with the natural Red Kryptonite. Prepare the solar lamp to 25% power and aim it at the weapon." Desmond told the other scientists in the room as they adjust the power and solar lamp, keeping their eyes on Superboy's vitals for any possible irregularities.
"All system parameters are set and ready. We are ready to begin." said Dr. Spence from her control panel.
"Begin the experiment." ordered Desmond as Conner's pod was filled with Red Kryptonite gas while he breathed it in, sounds of suffocation can be heard as the gas dissipated and he started breathing comfortably again. Desmond nodded to the scientists and they flipped a few switches as the solar lamp released the yellow sun radiation into Superboy's pod. "Vitals?"
"The Superboy is absorbing at normal recorded rate and should be fully charged within three minutes. Heart rate and blood pressure are normal, as well." Spence said.
"Increase the power to 50% at a gradual rate." Desmond said and Spence followed, turning a dial as the power to the solar lamp rose while they kept an eye on Superboy's vitals.
"30…35…40…leveling out at 50%. Vitals are still reading normal and absorption rate has increased." Spence informed. "The rate until fully charged had changed to one minute."
"Uh…Dr. Desmond, there seems to have been a momentary flux in in the Superboy's absorption." A scientist called out.
"Is there a problem, Doctor?" Guardian asked Desmond.
"Everything is under control. It was just a momentary change, nothing too serious to be concerned about. Change the power to 100% and leave it there for further testing." Desmond told them as they kept working when a small tremor shook the facility, making everyone stopped working while Desmond looked at Conner before turning and looking to Dr. Spence. "Spence?"
"Small seismic activity coming from below us. Interesting, given that there weren't any problems of seismic activity today" Spence answered, looking ta the data from her control panel.
"Will it grow in power or interfere with the test?"
"No. It seems the seismic activity has ceased completely." Spence answered. "There may be an aftershock or two, but we should be fine."
"Then let us continue with-" Before Desmond could finish his sentence, Superboy let out a bloodcurdling scream while his restraints started to whine without him actively trying to get out of them. Another tremor happens but this time is much stronger than the last one and knocks everyone off balance but Desmond leans himself against the wall before he looked to Dubbilex. "Dubbilex, contact the G-gnomes and shut him down!"
Dubbilex looked to the G-gnomes in Conner's pod and his horns glowed but a minute later, they stop glowing and he looked back to Desmond. "I am trying but he has blocked out their telepathy!"
Another tremor happens as everyone is knocked off their feet. While this is happening, Superboy's absorption level started to increase rapidly as an alarm goes off in the laboratory. "Spence, I thought you said the seismic activity had ceased!?"
"This is not normal seismic activity! Epicenter is coming from…the Superboy!?" Spence said out loud, confusion in her voice as the alarms in the observation room go off and the screen with Conner's vitals turned red. Spence looked at the screen as she looked in shock as Desmond looked at her as if waiting for an explanation but did not get one.
"Spence, what is happening!?" Desmond asked.
"His absorption rate has increased way past expectations. 90…92…95…98…100%...the weapon has reached 100%!" Spence informed before looking at the screen with his vitals as a larger DANGER sign flashed on it. "Wait…body temperature has risen to 120°F and heart rate is at 166."
In the lab, Conner's eyes glowed red and out of nowhere heat vision fired out with great vibrancy as the beams of concentrated solar radiation melted through his pod's glass and heated the parts metal walls it came in contact with in the laboratory.
"Desmond, shut this down now!" Guardian ordered.
"Do not tell me what to do! I am in charge of this experiment!" Desmond told him.
"Well I am in charge of everyone's safety and protection! And I said this experiment is over!" Guardian snapped back.
Desmond glared at Guardian before looking over to the scientists. "Turn off the solar lamp!" One of the scientists pressed a button on the control console but the lamp did not turn off, so they pressed the button again but the solar lamp still stayed on as Conner kept absorbing the radiation. "Spence!?"
"The solar lamp will not turn off from here! It needs to be deactivated manually from inside the lab!" Spence told him.
"Guardian, send a team into the lab and shut down the lamp!" Desmond ordered.
"Are you insane!?" Guardian asked, genuinely wondering if the lead scientist had lost his mind. "No one is going to that lab!"
Desmond turned to Guardian as the G-gnome on his shoulder horns glowed red. "You must have misheard me. Send a repair team to turn off the lamp now!"
The G-gnome on Guardian's shoulder looked at him with it's horns still glowing red as Guardian entered a trans-like state, pressing on the side of his helmet and turning on his communicator. "We need an emergency repair team to turn off the solar lamp in Lab 52!" And a minute later, a repair team walked into the lab with blue full body radiation suits as they began to try and fix the problem.
"Desmond, are you sure the suits will protect them?" Spence asked.
"The suits were designed to of withstand the temperature of the Sun. The suits also reflect radiation, making it completely safe for them." Desmond answered pressing a button on the main control panel and moment later, the door to the laboratory closed as the repair team stopped working and looked up at the observation room while Desmond got onto the intercom. "I'm closing the door to stop any radiation from into the building. You need to first shut down the solar lamp manually to stop further radiation and then activate the metal plating in the pod to contain it."
The repair team nodded before returning back to work but it did not take long until one of the repair team members pressed on his communicator to contact Guardian. "The circuits and controls are fried! The solar lamp cannot be deactivated manually! Everyone pull back we're getting out of here! Desmond, be ready to open the door for us!"
Desmond pressed the door release but the door did not open, so he pressed the door release again but the door still did not open as a repair team member banged on the door. "Desmond, what's going on with the door!?"
"The door release is not responding!" Desmond told him before looking to the genomorph. "Dubbilex, send some G-trolls to pry the door open!"
The building shook again with a greater magnitude and the lights in the room turned red as Spence looked back down at her control panel in shock. "The Superboy's radiation level is reaching critical! The system can not keep up with it's absorption levels! The readings have gone way past 100% and has more energy than that of our sun and is…this can't be right!"
"What!?" Desmond asked.
"The computer is reading a type of nuclear fission coming from the Superboy's body. All conclusions are leading to the signs of…"
"Spence, signs of what!?"
"Of a supernova!"
Through the glass of the pod, Conner's body started to glow light orange as the temperature in the room rose exponentially as the metal panel in the laboratory started to warp from the heat. "The suits were not designed for these kinds of temperatures, Desmond! We need to do something!"
"Dubbilex, where are those G-trolls?!"
"They are almost here!" The genomorph answered.
The repair crew ran to the door and started banging on it while Conner's body started to glow even brighter by the second as the emergency systems started to kick in and the blast shield for the observation room window started to come down. "Get us out here! Please, someone get us out of this room!" A repair member yelled out.
Guardian looked through the glass as the blast shields were almost completely closed, trying to keep it opened but it was still coming down ever slowly. "Desmond…override the emergency systems!"
"I can't! When these systems were placed in a way so that they could not be overridden!" Desmond explained. "But I can see what is happening through the cameras in the lab!" Desmond brought up the live-feed from the laboratory's cameras with the repair crew still banging on the door as the room started to fall apart with chunks of concrete falling from the walls and ceiling. Open wires and lights were surging while Superboy was glowing too bright to be seen from the cameras and as if out of nowhere, all the cameras in the room went out and were replaced with static.
"What just happened?" Garfield asks, but no one had an answer for what they just saw as they continue to watch the video.
The feed came back to Desmond sitting in a chair with the camera on the table while wiping off his forehead with a handkerchief, but behind him, small pieces of concrete could be seen on the floor from the camera's point of view.
"The testing with the Red Kryptonite was a complete failure. The test resulted in catastrophic damage to the surrounding area and certain parts of Washington D.C. This new ability, dubbed the "Super-Flare", seems to be the most powerful out of all abilities that a Kryptonian could use. It allowed Project Kr to absorb extra solar radiation and jettison it all out of his body at once." Desmond explained, showing images of molten rock and metal from the laboratory that the experiment took place in. "I believe the ability is triggered through heat vision but further tests would have to be conducted. This power can also prove to be a problem do to it being seemingly uncontrollable and seems it's primary use is for destruction as seen through the quakes. Many of these tremors caused by the weapon is has drawn the help of the Justice League and should they find out we were behind the quakes, it could prove very problematic for our future work."
Desmond rubbed the bridge of his nose before turning the camera to the right to reveal a sleeping Conner in his repaired Cadmus pod. "On another hand, Project Kr seem to be showing signs of mental trauma, most likely from fragmented memories of previous tests. Though I do not want to erase all of his memory, this trauma could possibly lead to insanity in the future. The Light has agreed that if Project Kr becomes insane or too dangerous to test on, a contingency must be in made."
Desmond picked up the camera and walking closer to Conner's pod before zooming in on his face. "Immediate termination, although undesirable, has been authorized.
Young Justice: War
Episode 3
Outsider
The video ends and all the group is left with is static and shocked looks on their faces as many are equally surprised by the destruction caused from the experiment and the authorized termination of there friend from the Light. There is a pregnant silence in the mission room before Dick looks the Bruce in a moment of realization at the date this video took place. "Batman, is this why you were investigating Cadmus back in 2010?"
"I was using the Watchtower Computer when it detected a large power surge and seismic tremors on the East Coast." Bruce explains. "It wasn't until the next day when I learned that the Cadmus facility in Washington DC was the point of origin. But I would have never-"
RECOGNIZED BLACK LIGHTNING, 2-3. EDUARDO DORADO, JR, A-
Batman stops talking as both Jefferson and Ed run out of the Zeta Tube and looks at the group of heroes, with Ed taking a moment to catch his breath and laugh at his fortune tonight. "It is so good to see you, amigos."
"Ed, are you okay?" Barbara asks while the younger Team members go over to check on him.
"Si, estoy bién. I was able to give them the slip and made it to the closest Zeta Tube I could find." Ed explains, looking around at the others. "Wait. Where's Virgil and the others?"
"Where is Virgil?" Jeff asks.
Bruce shifts his attention back to his fellow Leaguer. "Lightning, what are you-"
"Where is Virgil!?" Jeff asks again, glaring at Bruce while waiting for an answer.
"He was kidnapped, along with Tye and Asami, by someone none of us have ever encountered before." Bruce explains to his fellow Leaguer. "We are trying to find his location but so far, we have nothing."
"How did this happen?" Jeff asks, placing a hand on his hip to stop himself from getting worked up.
Batman looks to Kaldur and vice versa as if they are uncertain of what to tell Jeff, because than the insignia they saw and the limited information Barbara found, they truly had no idea who this person is or what they want. "We truly do not know, but we will find him and the others."
"What about the issue with Conner?" Dinah asks.
"What happened with Conner?" Jeff asks, not knowing what just transpired before he arrived.
"Aqualad, have Superboy take a leave of absence until he has a therapy session with Canary." Bruce tells Kaldur. "I need you both to make sure his mind is right before he goes back into the field."
"What about Starfire, Virgil, Tye, and Asami? We still need to find them." Barbara asks.
"Before I was incapacitated, I was able to put a tracker on the attacker." Bruce explains. "But seeing how they claimed to have know us, they more than likely has already disabled it."
"How so?" Clark asks.
"Because if it was still active the transmission would have already came back. We might just have to start from where-" Before Bruce could finish, the holo-computer that Superboy was using starts to beep rapidly and out of curiosity, Barbara walks over to the computer and starts typing on it while the others stare at her. "Batgirl, what is it?"
"I'm getting a locator beacon coming from DC." Barbara says. "The only question is why?"
"Does it say who the beacon is from?"
"It says the beacon is coming from…Starfire." Barbara informs as the holo-computer shows Kori's insignia coming from the country's capitol. "I think Conner was using this computer to locate them and he found a way to locate her and the others' position from here. We should probably let him know that-"
"Superboy is not allowed to leave the Watchtower until further notice." Bruce cuts her off before looking to Kaldur. "Aqualad, get a team ready. You are leaving for DC." Batman tells him, walking out of the mission room and when he was out of sight, turns on his Batcave communicator to get into his contact with his loyal butler.
"Master Bruce, l had heard what happened. Are you all right?" Alfred asks, concern clear in his voice.
"I'm fine Alfred. I need you to find something for me." Bruce says.
"What is it that I am looking for, sir?"
"Find anything you can on someone called the Dead Knight."
WASHINGTON D.C.
JUNE 20, 02:27 EDT
Washington D.C. looks beautiful at night as the lights from the monuments and federal buildings can be seen from even as far as the more rundown parts of the country's capitol. Looking at a large abandoned building near the capitol, Kaldur and his squad, consisting of Dick, Artemis, Tim, and Jaime, are standing on a rooftop near the location of where the beacon is transmitting. Kaldur and Artemis look around the area from on top of the building they are standing on before Kaldur presses on his communicator to get into contact with Dick, Tim, and Jaime, who are on the building next to them looking at their holo-computers. "Nightwing, how close are we to the beacon?"
"Beacon's close." Dick answers from his group. "The three of us compared images from the satellite and it says it's right in front of us. If Kori's here then we can assume so are the others."
"Then we need to proceed with caution." Kaldur explains to them all. "There is no telling how many of these Ghosts are in here so stealth is our only option. Nightwing, I need you to..." Kaldur stops himself from finishing his sentence when he turns to look over at Dick, only to see that both he and Tim have disappeared into thin air while leaving Jaime on their roof. "Nightwing?"
"Perfect, he's doing the whole disappearing act again." Artemis says sarcastically.
"Wait…what do you mean again?" Jaime asks.
"We'll explain later." Artemis tells him.
"Move in." Kaldur says as Artemis shoots a zip line arrow while Kaldur opens the nearby fire hydrant and uses the water to lift himself and Jaime uses his thrusters to join them on the roof. They all meet on the roof and see that the roof entrance is already open, leading them to guess that Dick and Tim already went inside ahead of them as Kaldur presses on his communicator. "Batgirl, be advised we are moving in. Communication will be kept to a minimal."
"Understood. Good luck." She answers.
The trio enters the stairwell and they walk down the several flights of stairs, descending into the building while staying on guard for any potential threat that could come their way. When the three reach the bottom of the stairwell they come across a catwalk that leads into the main part of the building, so they quietly and quickly walk on it and it leads them them into the rather massive loading bay of the building. While crouching on the catwalk, they look down below them and see multiple Intergang members moving and carrying Apokoliptan equipment and weapons around the loading bay.
"What's Intergang doing here." Jaime asks, looking to Artemis and Kaldur but instead he sees them staring off into the distance down below. He follows their line of sight and sees what they are staring, it is the Dead Knight and Ugly talking to each other while Kori, Virgil, Tye and Asami are all unconscious in front of the two. "Aqualad, is that the 'Dead Knight' guy, you guys were talking talking about?"
"Yes." Kaldur answers punctually, glaring down at the two men standing over their friends.
"Here is three of your four targets plus an extra." The Knight says, turning to the Intergang leader with their arms crossed over their chest.
"I didn't ask for an extra, Knight. I wanted all four by tonight." Ugly says.
"The fourth one gave one of my units the slip so I took her as a replacement." The Knight explains. "Think of her as a courtesy for my services to your business partners, as an exchange for the one that escaped. Or would you rather I just take her with me and you keep the other three? Let you explain to your business partners why you do not have the people they asked for?"
Ugly looks over his shoulder and nods his head at Whisper as she walks up to the Knight with a briefcase in her hands, placing it on a stool and opening it, showing him lots of money within the briefcase. She closes it and leaves it on the stool, allowing the Knight to pick it up for himself and offer his hand to Ugly, who reluctantly shakes it while glaring at the Knight. "A pleasure doing business with you." The Knight turns around and walks for the exit door of the loading bay but before he leaves, he looks up and sees the three on the catwalk above them. "Not my problem." The Knight says, continuing on their path to the exit door, completely unfazed while the others look down, unsure if the Knight had actually saw them.
The group of three continue to watch the Knight with more interest than before as he opens the exit door, now unsure of what to think about this mystery person. "Do you guys think he heard our comms? Do you think he knows we're here?"
'All possibilities lead to the likely possibility that the Dead Knight having gained access to the Justice League communications system.' The Scarab answers in Jaime's mind.
"I will make the same promise I made Conner, Kaldur. I will kill you, him, Dick, and Bruce to gain the answers I seek." Knight voice comes through on their comms. "Until then, you can have your team back. It was only my job to deliver them to Intergang, not to protect them from being rescued. Have fun." With that, the Knight pushes the door all the way open and walks through it, closing it behind them and leaving the group of three surprised on the catwalk.
"He knows who we are?"
Jaime is startled by the voice and turns around to see the sudden reappearance of Dick and Tim but Kaldur and Artemis did not turn to look as they keep their eyes on Kori and the others. "Nightwing, Robin? Where have you been?"
"We found a place where we could get closer without being seen. Just follow me." Dick says as he and Tim quietly walk across the catwalk, the others three following Dick and Tim across the catwalk and being led into a dark abandoned office space with a large window that looks out at the loading bay from above.
"So how do we get to them without being spotted and shot at?" Artemis asks Dick.
"I've been scanning the room for a while now." Dick says, pulling up his holo-computer through his gauntlet with the positions of the Intergang members in the building. "If we could take out the guards on patrol, we could move in close enough to take down Ugly and save the others.
While the three veterans are talking about a plan of attack Tim and Jaime stood to the side listening in when the voice of the Scarab poops into Jaime's head. 'Warning, Jaime Reyes. A object is moving to this location from space at high velocity. Time until arrive is two minutes.'
"Coming here? Why?" Jaime asks.
"Blue, what's wrong?" Tim asks, grabbing the attention of the three veterans who happened to hear him.
With Jaime now at the center of attention, he looks nervously before he explains what was just told to him. "Scarab's telling me that something is coming to this location from space."
"From space? Are you sure?" Kaldur asks.
"Positive. Scarab says it's being tracked by different satellites." Jaime answers.
Kaldur presses on his communicator to get into contact with the Watchtower. "Batgirl, are you tracking anything heading earth-bound from the atmosphere?"
"I am tracking something flying to Earth but it's moving too fast to be seen visually." Barbara informs him. "It'll be at your location within the minute."
"Scarab is saying the same thing." Jaime adds on.
"What do you think it could be?" Dick asks his leader.
"Unsure, but be ready for anything." Kaldur tell him before lifting a hand to Dick. "And please, do not disappear to got see what it is."
"You're no fun." Dick says with a smile.
"Were you guys always like this when you were on missions?" Tim asks.
"More or less." Artemis replies.
As they come up with a plan, something bursts through the ceiling and kicked up a lot of dust, forcing the group of five covered their eyes as they hear weapons being fired and attacks being thrown from below them. Before anyone could anything, an Intergang member is thrown through the glass of the office the five are in making, them moved out of the office and run back onto the catwalk and into the now chaotic loading bay of the building while energy projectiles are flying by them, forcing them to dodge in order not to be struck with a lethal blast. They run to the middle of the catwalk but on their way there, an energy blast flies by and the blasts grazes Jaime's shoulder, knocking him back into the rail of the catwalk before falling on his back while grasping his shoulder.
"Blue!" yells Tim, seeing the blast hit his friend and knocking him down onto the catwalk floor and rushes over along with the other to check on their friend's health. "Are you okay!?"
Jaime lifts his hand and looks at his exposed skin, seeing that it his shoulder is bloody and bruised but it starts to heal quickly as the Scarab regenerates the suit around it. "I'm fine!"
Before anyone could react, a stray blast hit one of the catwalk's ceiling cables and a concrete support lands on the catwalk, the sudden force stretching out the other cables as they begin to snap from the extra weight. Dick looks at the stress on the cables and quickly figures out what is about to happen before turning to the others who also notice it "Grab on to something!"
Everyone grabs onto the railing just as the last of the cables snaps and the catwalk finally gives way, breaking apart and falling to the floor fast until they hit the ground and everything goes black. The first to awake from the brief knockout is Artemis as she groans, shaking her head and opens her eyes to take a look around seeing the others are still unconscious from the fall. She looks to her immediate side and sees Dick coming to as he groans and gets on his elbows while she stand up and makes her away over to him. "Are you okay?" She asks, offering him a hand.
"Yeah." replies Dick, taking her hand and stands up only to wince as he clutches his side, letting out a pained laugh. "Oh yeah…something's bruised." But as Dick is about to joke more, both he and Artemis hear groans and look over to see Kaldur, Tim, and Jaime standing up a little dazed from the fall. They walk over to the others as they come out of their daze, checking them over to make sure they are not injured while helping them keep their balance on their feet. "Are you guys alright?"
"We will be fine." answers Kaldur as the group looks around the loading bay and sees all the Intergang thugs are unconscious on the floor, groaning and some appear to have broken or dislocated bones upon further inspection of them. Also on further inspection, the thugs are covered in open cuts and dust while broken glass and concrete are all over the place as if a bomb had just went off within the building and they were all caught in the blast.
"Looks like a war zone happened down here." Jaime says, looking at the rubble around them.
"What could've caused this much destruction?" Tim adds on.
Kaldur looks over at where Kori and the others last were, only to see that no one is there but he does hear a groan as Ugly comes to and begins to push himself up off the floor. Without wasting a second, a glaring Kaldur marches over to Ugly and pulls out one of his water bearers, turning Ugly over and putting his foot on his chest while forming a water saber, putting the tip just millimetres away from a frightened Ugly's face. "Where are they?"
"Wh-Wh-Who?" stutters Ugly.
"The four people you had tied up! WHERE ARE THEY?" interrogates the Atlantean, pressing his foot into Ugly's chest.
"I-I don't know!" Ugly says, clearly not wanting to give the wrong answer.
"Aqualad, stop!" Artemis yells, running to his side and placing a hand on his shoulder to make sure he doesn't do anything he would regret.
"Who did this? Who attacked you!?"
"I-I don't know, I swear! No on-one could s-see it!" Ugly explains, wanting to answer in anyway he can so the man on his chest won't kill him. "It-It was moving too fast to keep track! It just mowed r-r-right through us!"
"Aqualad!" Dick calls out placing a hand on his friend's other shoulder to try and calm him down.
Kaldur retracts his water saber and puts his water bearer away only to head-butt Ugly afterwards, releasing him to fall to the floor and lets out a deep sigh to curb his anger. He turns to his team with a stern look in his eyes, his anger not completely gone but enough to keep himself level-headed. "They did not vanish into thin air."
"We know that but we're not gonna get anywhere if we interrogate these guys. They obviously didn't see anything so we need to look for anything that can help us find them." says Dick, both he and Artemis squeezing their friend's shoulders to reassure him. "Don't worry. We'll find her, Kaldur."
"You are right. My actions as your leader were inexcusable and I am sorry." apologizes Kaldur, knowing how he reacted was not right. They all give him a nod, understanding where his heightened emotions are coming from. "We need to look around and find anything that can tell us what did this."
"Wait, Scarab says it's found something." Jaime informs them.
"What is it?" Kaldur asks.
"It says it's found an energy signature but it's familiar somehow." says Jaime, sounding confused from the Scarab's readings.
"Familiar, how?" asks Artemis.
"Well, it says we've all been exposed to it. I mean prior to tonight." Jaime explains before pointing to the the three veterans of the Team. "It also says you three have been exposed to it more than we have."
"Watchtower to Aqualad." says Barbara, her suddenly coming through the comms.
Kaldur presses on his communicator to answer the call for him. "This is Aqualad, Batgirl. What is it?"
"After the object broke atmosphere, the tracker network went offline. I'm still waiting for the network to come back online." Barbara explains to him. "What happened? Did you find the others?"
"No." Kaldur answers, solemnly. "Whatever that thing was took them. Has her tracker yet to come back online?"
"Not yet. Just give me a second and…tracker's back online. Reloading the tracker feed and…wait."
"What?" Kaldur asks.
"The tracker has to be broken because what it's saying is impossible."
"Barbara, what's impossible?" Dick asks, using his communicator to join the conversation.
"The tracker says that Kori is in the Watchtower."
The five look at each other with shock and confusion on their faces upon hearing the news, knowing that it could not be possible for them to be on the Watchtower when they were just here minutes ago. "Where?" asks Kaldur, wanting to get to the bottom of this.
"Hold on…the medical bay. Bringing up camera and…Kori, Virgil, Tye and Asami are all in the medical bay. Wait, I think…"
"What's going on?" asks Artemis, now deciding to join the conversation.
"You won't believe who's in there."
"Who?" asks Kaldur, confused on who Barbara is referring to.
"You might want to come back up here and see this."
"Understood. We on our way." Kaldur says, releasing his communicator as the others nod their heads at him and leave for the Watchtower. Not even a minute after they leave, a Boom Tube opens in the main room and out steps Desaad, who looks at the destruction in front of him and walks over to Ugly as he stirs from Kaldur's head-butt along with Whisper.
"What happened?" Is all the Apokoliptan scientist asks.
"Something came here and attacked us." Says Ugly, getting back up to his feet.
"And the subjects?"
"It took them." answers Ugly.
"You allowed my test subjects to be taken right from you!?"
"We couldn't attack it! It moved too fast to target it!" Ugly tries to defend.
"That is no excuse!"
"We'll get them back, I promise!" Ugly says, not so much afraid of the scientist but of his master and what he will do to them.
"You better or it will be your head!" DeSaad states, leaving Ugly no room for interpretation. "Aside from that I have new targets for you. DO NOT MESS THIS UP!"
THE WATCHTOWER
JULY 20, 02:52 EDT
RECOGNIZED NIGHTWING, B-01; AQUALAD, B-02; TIGRESS, B-07; ROBIN, B-20 ; BLUE BEETLE, B-22.
The group of five walk out of the Zeta Tube and into the mission room of the Watchtower where Barbara is using a holo-computer waiting for them to return so they can be debriefed. Upon hearing the Zeta Tube announce their return, she turns around to them and pauses the video on the holo-computer as they make their way over to her to see what she has found. "Good, you got here just in time. You won't believe who was in there with them."
"Who?" Someone asks, making the arrivals turn around to see Batman walking into the mission room with a stern look on his face.
"You told Batman?" asks Kaldur.
"I had to let him know what happened?" Barbara explains.
"Blue Beetle, how is your shoulder?" Bruce asks the teen.
Jaime rotates his shoulder but it is still sore but not as painful as it was originally. "It'll be fine."
"Now that your all here, I can show what you needed to see." says Barbara, turning back to the holo-computer and rewinding the footage on the screen back for them. "I recorded the camera feed from five minutes ago." Barbara plays the video as the shadow figure sits in a chair next to the wall as it moves to leave the room, but as the figure walks into the light, Barbara pauses the video while the figure is in the light and the returning five look at the person in surprise.
"Where is he now?" Kaldur asks.
"I tracked him to the training room. I'll stay here to make sure that he doesn't up and disappear." Barbara informs the group, all nodding to each other and walk out of the mission room, down to the training room to find answers as to what happened not just half an hour ago. Standing outside of the training room, Kaldur presses his hand on the scan pad to open the door to the room only for the pad to buzz aggressively. "The door's been locked from the inside. Give me a second to unlock it for you." says Barbara, and a second later the scan pad hums and the door opens. They were about to walk in only for a metallic object to fly past them and land in the hall, all of them turning around to look at the object and see that it is a training droid but it was now damaged beyond normal repair.
From where Jaime is standing, the Scarab scans the droid before the word MATCH appears on his HUD as two energy samples are shown to him. 'Energy signature on the droid is a 100% match to that of the signature in the Intergang base. Energy signature also matches that of the energy found on the Aqualad, Nightwing, and Tigress.' The Scarab informs Jaime.
"Scarab says that the energy found on you is also found on this droid." Jaime tells the others, all of them looking back into the room as a drone is thrown into another and explodes. They look around the room and take notice dents and scorch marks on the metal walls and in the middle of the room is Conner ripping a training droid in half while taking in short breaths.
"Superboy, we need to talk." says Bruce.
Conner stills for a moment before turning to the group with the ripped-in-half droid still clenched in his fists while giving Bruce an annoyed stare. "What?"
"Where did you go earlier?" Bruce interrogates.
"Out."
"To save the others?" Bruce questions, looking for any changes in Conner posture but seeing none. "We know about the tracker you put on Starfire."
"So?" asks Conner, not wanting to play around and for Bruce to get to the point.
"If you had told us about it we would have been able to find them sooner." Bruce states.
"Like I said yesterday, I don't have to tell you anything." says Conner in a matter-of-fact way to the Dark Knight. "The same reason why you didn't tell the others anything about what the Knight wants."
"Your assault on the Intergang base injured Blue Beetle. You're becoming reckless and that is putting your teammates in danger." Bruce argues.
"Last I checked the beacon wasn't for you. For any of you." Conner states that last part, looking past Bruce at his teammates. "So don't tell me I put my teammates in danger. None of you should have been there to begin with."
"Then you leave us no choice then." The Caped Crusader says, stepping towards Conner in an authoritative manner. "Until your mental state is cleared by Black Canary and backed by Aqualad, you are to stay on the Watchtower until further notice."
"Are you going to stop me?" The Kryptonian stepping up to Bruce's challenge as he and The Dark Knight get into a glaring contest. It only stops when Conner, now tired of this argument, walks pass Bruce and his teammates, not once looking back as he walks out of the training room and into the hallway. Kaldur, Artemis, and Dick are about to go after him, they being his best friends and family and wanting to make sure he is all right, but stop when they hear his voice in their heads. 'Black Canary, Miss Martian, Aqualad, Nightwing, Artemis, if you can hear me, meet me at the Cave in one hour. We need to talk.'
About a half an hour has passed since the disastrous encounter with Conner earlier and the group went their separate ways for the rest of the night, with the oldest members of the Team waiting to leave the Watchtower and go to Mount Justice an another thirty minutes. Currently entering the medical bay right now, Kaldur looks around the room and sees Kori laying in one of the infirmary beds next to Asami, taking the seat Conner was sitting in and moving it over to the infirmary bed that Kori was laying in. He grabs her left right hand from and watches her sleep peacefully until she groans in her sleep, squinting her eyes and placing her left hand on her forehead as she starts to stir. "Koriand'r?" The Atlantean asks.
Kori opens her eyes to see Kaldur sitting next to her in a chair and smiles at him as she sits up and looks around the room to see Virgil, Tye, and Asami in beds like the one she is in. She looks confused at the sight before her brain remembers the events that just happened earlier that night and becomes a little frightened of her surroundings. "Where are we?" She asks her leader.
"You are in the medical bay." Kaldur informs the Tamaranean and a second later from out of nowhere, Kori hugs Kaldur much to his surprise as she releases him and a tear steam downs her cheek. Of course, seeing Kori cry would make Kaldur panic as he is not sure what could have her emotions so heightened right now, and so he uses his right hand to squeeze her left hand. "What is wrong?"
Kori wipes away her tears and looks at the Atlantean in joy and relief. "Before the Knight's dart knocked me completely unconscious, I heard them tell Superboy that the disk on your chest would kill you. I was worried that I would not see you again." She says, hugging him once more and tighter than the last time.
"Worried about me?" Kaldur says in genuine shock. "Kori, I was afraid that the Knight would hold you hostage or worse."
"We were both worried about each other. I guess this shows how much we care about each other." Kori says, a light blush appearing on her cheeks at how much the Atlantean cared for her. "Thank you, Kaldur. For concerning yourself about me."
"It is all right, Kori. I should let you rest, you have had a rather eventful night tonight." says Kaldur, standing up and putting the chair back against the wall next to Kori's bed. "I will come back later." And with that, Kaldur flashes Kori a smile and heads to the door to leave the med bay.
"Kaldur?" Kori calls out to him.
Kaldur stops just as he reaches the door and turns back to her with a smile. "Yes, Kori?"
"Since we technically did not complete our date, maybe another day we should go out again."
Kaldur nods to her, happy to hear that so his night was not entirely ruined by the circumstances. "I would like that very much."
MOUNT JUSTICE
JULY 20, 4:00 EDT
RECOGNIZED BLACK CANARY, 1-3; NIGHTWING, B-0-1; AQUALAD, B-0-2; MISS MARTIAN, B-0-5; TIGRESS, B-0-7.
The Zeta Tube whirs up as Dinah, M'gann, Kaldur, Artemis, and Dick walk out of it in yellow light as they look around and notice that the lights in the Cave were back online. Not just in the mission room, aside from the projector also being on and working again as a holo-computer was left open with nothing on it but the halls leading to the mission room were also on.
"Conner got the power working again." says M'gann, surprised that he was able to get the entire electrical system working within an hour.
"At this rate, we could probably move back in sooner." Artemis adds on.
"It seems like it." Dinah says, not completely surprised by the Kryptonian's ability to work hard. "Wait, where is Conner?" Her question is quickly answered when they all hear a loud thud coming from down the main hallway of the Cave. They walk around the Cave as the thuds lead them to the Cave's training room and when they open the door, they hear a loud yell as Conner punches the concrete wall and leaves giant cracks all over the wall.
"Great. He's destroying this training room too." says Artemis, peeved by Conner's sudden need for destruction.
"Conner?" Kaldur call out to his friend.
Conner stops, looking over his shoulder at his friends as a piece of the mountain falls off the wall and onto the floor. "What?"
"We're all here, just like to asked." Dick says, taking a step toward his friend. "So what is this all about?"
Conner sighs before taking a towel from around his neck and wiping off his knuckles. "Nothing, never mind." Conner says, passive aggressively. "Sorry for waiting your time in coming down here."
Now it is M'gann's turn to take a step toward her boyfriend and see if she could get answers from him. 'Conner, what's wrong? What happened?'
"You could never understand." Conner answers her aloud for all to hear.
"Why's that?" Dinah asks.
"Because you're not like me."
"What do you mean?" The Blonde Bombshell asks, confused by the hybrid's words.
"I'm the one thing a hero can't be." Conner answers, his anger clear in his voice. "The thing Cadmus planned for me to be."
"Why would you say that about yourself, Conner?" Dinah asks, becoming more concerned about his emotional state.
"Because I am a killer!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note:
For everyone who has been reading and following my stories I have a special announcement to make. I am going to be making some changes with my writing and I hope you like it. I'll be posting the second part soon, but until then I'll see you all later.