Tornado exchanges a glance with him when he shows up. Just a nod, but enough to let him know that Tornado has been compromised (of course he was or Dinah wouldn't have sent him down) and that they have a job to do. He wonders exactly what the thing is—what it is that can take control of an android, assorted aliens, and even return his legs to him.
Again he wonders if there's some reason that some part of him remains free. He wonders if the others that the Light have taken are also trapped within themselves. Dinah hadn't given any sign of inner rebellion, and he wonders if there's a reason why the Light had gone to such trouble as to not only enslave him, but to give him back his legs …
He wonders, but that's all he can do.
The other part of him—the part that belongs body and soul to the Light—that part of him is already falling back into old habits. He knows who he will take down first if it comes to that; how he will defeat each one of them. He knows just how brutal he will have to be.
And he hates himself for it.
"Roy a traitor," Robin says as he works on the main computer. "I just can't believe it."
"He didn't have a choice, kid," he's wheeling closer to the boy—ostensibly to look over his shoulder—and out of the corner of the eye he sees Red Tornado approaching Superboy from behind.
And just when he's about to drop one of the Things on Robin, Red Tornado freezes solid.
"What the-?" Robin turns and races over to Red's side. "What happened? What does he have in his hand?"
"It looks like those bio chips that phony Huntress took with her when we fought in the Smoky Mountains," Superboy mutters.
"Maybe that explains this strange magic energy I've been sensing… but I'd swear I started to feel it before Red showed up …" Zatanna begins.
"You think that Canary might have been affected?" He puts the suggestion out there before the Team has a chance to latch onto the truth.
"Did you notice anything strange about her? She was with you for quite a while before we showed up." Superboy gives him an odd look, and he's grateful that the teenager doesn't have the full visual powers of Superman.
"Now that you mention it, she did seem a little off." He looks at them. "Maybe we should get Red into the lab and see if you can reboot him or access his memory banks or something to tell us what happened."
"Sounds like a plan." Robin nods and Superboy picks up the stuff body of Red Tornado and heads towards the lab.
Zatanna pauses, giving him a strange look.
"We should get going," he wheels himself towards the lab. He wonders how long it'll be before the Light sends someone else to check on the situation—wonders how much they can see through his eyes. He doesn't know, but then he was used to working without backup so there's no reason to think the Light had reason to believe he was in too deep just yet.
Time.
He's running out of time.
They all are.
Robin finally determines that whatever's wrong with Red Tornado is hardware rather than software related. Zatanna suggests hooking Red up to the android body he'd been making for himself, and seeing if that will get them the answers they need.
He doesn't know what's going to happen when Red wakes up. He doesn't know if the android will still be under the Light's control. He gets himself ready for either option.
It seems to take forever.
His inner self, his free self, is worried for his old friend. Red's more than his jailer; he's his friend. Hell, he's family now. What if whatever was done to him is irreparable? What if he's gone forever?
The android body—the new body—bolts up right, and looks him straight in the eyes. Even before Red speaks, he knows the gig is up. "Run!"
He bolts out of the chair and punches Zatanna in the throat. The girl falls to her knees, retching.
"Zatanna!" Robin's angry and leaps him at him as though he's going to tear him apart with his bare hands.
Bad idea.
He catches the Bird's hands and swings him into Zatanna. Hard.
Neither one of them get up.
"Crock! What's wrong with you?" Superboy jumps over Red's old body and tackles him. The boy is stronger, faster, and almost impossible to hurt. By rights, that should have finished the fight then and there.
But he's no ordinary man. He's the Sportsmaster. He spent decades fighting super powered men and women and coming out on top.
The secret is being prepared.
There wasn't any kryptonite in the cave, and the League had confiscated the small amount he'd had when they took him into custody. It would have made things easier, but he had fought Superman without it, and he knew there was one other weakness the Big Red S (and his boy) had that was just as effective against them:
Magic.
The knife isn't especially large or lethal in design. He doesn't know what was it used for—he doesn't even know where Paula got it, but she had given it to him as a present after the first time they'd made love. Maybe it's an Atlantean letter opener or something.
Whatever else it is, it's magic.
And when he stabs Superboy in the neck with it, it goes in just as easily as the Boy of Steel wasn't invulnerable at all.
He's not sure if Superboy was just lucky enough to be moving or if he was somehow able to prevent his outer self from severing an artery, but the wound, while painful, isn't fatal.
He kicks Superboy off him.
"Leave them alone, Lawrence."
Red Tornado is trying to rise from the bed.
"I would if I could, Red. You ought to know that. I ain't got a choice."
"There's always a choice, Lawrence."
Do it, Red. Don't talk. Just do it! Don't let them win—don't let mewin!
His javelin is in his hands. One thrust and Red's new life is over before it really begins. He pulls back.
Do it, Red! Do it! For the love of God, stop me!
Red raises his hands and a scarlet whirlwind slams into him like a freight train.
He's grinning when he hit the wall.
Good job, Red. Keep them safe… Keep my girl safe … keep allmy kids safe …
And then the world goes black.