Red Tornado's dormant body lay in the med bay. Batman had installed new technology that would help Red Tornado's body to repair itself. Kathy Sutton sat beside his bed, patiently waiting for him to awaken.

Kathy sighed. She'd been through this many times throughout the years. John always seemed to find a way to blow himself up or become fatally wounded. One time his soul was transferred into a human body, and he actually had his arm ripped off and eaten in front of him. She supposed she should be grateful his body was still intact this time. Usually it took time for him to be rebuilt. And after that it took even more time for his spirit to re-enter his body.

Kathy intertwined her fingers with his. "Come back to me, John."

"Why am I doing this?"

Siphon blocked a punch.

The Kitchen had improved since he'd last fought in it. Siphon side stepped the next attack and countered with a gut punch, followed by an uppercut.

The Atomic Skull hologram stumbled back.

"We're just testing the limits of your powers," Superman explained from above. "And I know we've tested them before, but it's been two years. They could have grown."

Siphon looked annoyed. "Who said they needed to be tested?"

"I did." Batman's gravely voice boomed over the comm link. The Dark Knight was busy, so Superman was overseeing the exercise.

Siphon rolled his eyes. "Fine."

In a show of power, Siphon's head exploded into purple fire. His head looked like Atomic Skull's, skull and everything. He formed balls of radiated energy and hurled them at his enemy.

Batman had upgraded the Kitchen's systems as well, using Apokaliptian tech from their last visit to the hellish planet. The holograms were hard light projections, based after the power rings of the various Lantern Corps. Much like the power rings, Siphon could absorb the projection's energy and use it himself.

Atomic Skull evaded the projectiles, but Siphon wasn't done. He rushed forward and hurled another blast. This one hit him square on the chest. A groin kick brought the 8 foot Skull down to Siphon's height. Siphon grabbed his head and absorbed all of the radiation. He let go, and the smoking Atomic Skull toppled over.

Siphon concentrated and the fire burned out, replaced by his normal face. "Happy?"

Up in his position above the fight, Superman smirked. "Very. You're free to go," he called out to the teenage hero.

Siphon grinned and did a sloppy salute before leaving.

Superman descended to the ground and typed in the codes for the Kitchen to shut down before he left. The Man of Steel left the Kitchen, ready to go home to Lois. But he had a message to send first. He took out his iPhone.

As he left, though, the Kitchen didn't shut down. It reactivated, waiting for it's commands.

Kara Kent lay lazily on the couch, flipping channels. Her phone began to vibrate . She grabbed it and checked her messages.

"I'll be right there!" Kara typed the same sentence into her phone.

She scribbled a note for Ma and left the Kent farm in a blur.

Jamie stepped out of the shower and tied his towel around his waist. His opened his locker and retrieved his 'street clothes'. He smiled. It was the same locker he'd had before as a Justice League member. They'd kept it for his return. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed being in the League.

"All done with the Kitchen?"

Jamie looked over his shoulder towards the source of the voice. Aquaman and Flash were passing through the locker room.

"Yep. All yours." Jamie buttoned his jeans.

"Thanks kid." Flash smirked.

"Whatever, Wally." Jamie pulled on his white long sleeve Hollister shirt and grabbed his bag, full of his things.

He left the locker room, taking in how much everything had changed in such a short amount of time.

He was so lost in thought, he hadn't even heard her approach.

"Hey there, handsome."

Jamie's eyes widened in surprise.

Kara Kent was even more beautiful than she had been, if that was possible. He golden hair flowed down past her shoulders. Her pink Roxy shirt fit her well, and her jeans clung to her like a second skin. Her light brown boots finished off the dazzling outfit.

"Kara!"

She smiled, and he felt all of those feelings he thought he'd buried bubble back to the surface. He hadn't seen her since they'd agreed to be friends, even though they'd promised to stay in touch. She hugged him, and he hugged back, savouring her touch. He didn't want to let her go.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Jamie admitted.

Kara shrugged, still smiling brightly. "A friendly reporter told me you were here, and since it's been so long…"

"Too long," Jamie said regretfully.

Kara's smile saddened for an instant. "How about we go grab a coffee?"

Jamie grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

The Flash raced around the Kitchen, dismantling robots. He zigzagged through them, pulling off arms, legs, heads, and any other appendages.

Aquaman put his trident to good use by impaling robots and slicing their heads off. He ripped an arm off one, and used it bash another one. He grabbed the last one and shoved his trident through it, finishing the training program.

Neither Aquaman nor the Flash suspected their workout was about to turn deadly.

The Kitchen's control console began to work by itself. The difficulty level rose to it's maximum level.

Aquaman blinked as the robots suddenly disappeared. "Flash? Did you start another program?"

Flash slowed to a stop, puzzled as well. "No…"

The new program began. Flash and Aquaman backed up as Darkseid appeared. With a cruel smile that would make the real Darkseid proud, he unleashed his Omega Beams.

Jamie and Kara sat in Starbucks, catching up.

Kara laughed, and Jamie smiled. He'd missed her so much, and he couldn't stop staring. He really hoped she hadn't noticed. He suspected she had moved on, yet he wasn't willing to give up hope.

She sipped on her coffee, and he couldn't help notice her lips. "So what are you studying?"

Jamie played with the straw in his iced coffee. "Criminology. I'm going for a police officer. It should help with my 'other' job."

Kara smiled. "I can see how that would -"

An explosion on the street outside of Starbucks drew their attention. All of the customers in Starbucks crowded around the window, desperately trying to get a peek at what was going on.

"Looks like the other job calls," Kara said grimly.

"Now what?" Jamie muttered, annoyed by the disturbance.

The two left the store, pushing through the onlookers. What they saw made their blood run cold.

Red Tornado's eyes snapped open. He slowly sat up, much to Kathy's relief.

"John!" She hugged him, relief filling her voice.

Red Tornado looked down at her. There was no life in his eyes.

Kathy took a step back. "John…?"

With a flick of his wrist, Red Tornado sent out a gust of wind that knocked Kathy against the wall, rendering her unconscious.

Red Tornado got off the table and left the med bay.

Three androids stood in the middle of the street. Each one bore an uncanny resemblance to Red Tornado, only without the T logo. One was a slim female, who manipulated water. The other two were male, and the larger one controlled the earth. The other male controlled fire.

"I got the big one!" Kara leapt into the air and slammed into the largest android.

"Guess I have the other two then," Jamie muttered, running at his opponents.

The two androids saw his approach and reacted fiercely. One hurled a stream of fire while the other caused a wave of water to race towards Jamie.

Jamie dodged the fire, but was swept up by the wave. He crashed into a car, leaving him dazed. Jamie tried to push himself up.

"He is weakened, Red Inferno. Shall we finish him?" The female looked towards her male counterpart.

"No, Red Torpedo. The Creator wants him alive."

"I'm not going either way." Rising up, Jamie unleashed a torrent of fire on Red Torpedo.

Red Inferno attempted to step in, but Jamie kicked the lid off of a nearby fire hydrant. He directed the water at Red Inferno, knocking the android to the ground. The combination of the fire and water caused a massive cloud of steam that blocked Jamie's view.

When the cloud finally cleared, the androids were gone. Jamie looked around frantically, searching for any sign of them.

He looked up in time to see blazing fists raining down.

Kara pounded away on the large android. She grunted as something crashed into her back, distracting her.

The android took the opportunity to strike, sending Kara flying back. She quickly recovered, but was pelted by rocks in every shape and size. They drove her back into the street.

Kara smashed some to pieces, while blasting others with her heat vision. She saw Jamie fall before Red Inferno.

That just made her angry.

Pushing through the onslaught, she unleashed a haymaker on the large android. It crashed through a nearby building. With that android incapacitated, she focused on the other two.

"Get away for him!" Kara blasted Red Inferno in the back, making it fall to it's knees.

A wave of water rushed towards Kara, but she froze it in a breath. She crashed through the wall of ice and grabbed the female android by the neck.

"Who sent you?" Kara lifted her off the ground.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Kara felt her hair being grabbed, and soon she was slammed into the ground. The large android dragged her across the ground, leaving a trench behind her. He then threw her into a nearby building. Red Torpedo and Red Inferno combined their powers and blasted her with hot and cold.

Even Kara's kryptonian body couldn't take the stress, and she passed out.