Disclaimer: I do not own either Young Justice or its related characters. Such are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
(A/N: For some reason, and I have no idea why, this chapter was very hard to write. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of the characters are OOC, so please watch out for the and if you do see it, do not hesitate to bring it to my attention so that I may correct it in the future. In fact, please be extra critical of this chapter and tell me what I did wrong so that I can improve. I feel like a messed up majorly but I can't put my finger on how. Your help would be most appreciated.)
Signals
Chapter Ten: Canon in E Flat
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
Superboy-Dark sat at the tiny desk in his commandeered quarters aboard the Watchtower. He studied the most recent sensor reading logs for the past half-hour. The silent brigadier general was fairly certain that the thunk and scrape he'd heard had been caused by something from outside the station softly bonking into it. Space was not, after all, completely devoid of debris. But according to the logs, the scanners showed nothing. That just didn't seem right.
He keyed his datapad to display a schematic of the station and studied its layout for a moment. He was sure that the noise had come from the anterior segment of the station on the opposite side from the hangar. The schematic showed that there was nothing there, but that was an awful lot of empty space to have for no perceivable reason, especially on a space station where room is valuable. Superboy-Dark decided that this merited a moment's investigation.
…
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
At the first available terminal, Robin jacked into the Watchtower's computer in order to locate the Superman. He learned that the Man of Steel was being held in one of the station's interrogation rooms and the five made their way. Taking the most direct rout they possibly could without running the risk of being caught by patrolling Parademons or other occupying Apokoliptans. That meant air ducts and the ventilation system.
"Great. Again!" Artemis grumbled as she crawled through the ducts. "I gotta say, for our first mission off-planet its not very 'welming'."
"You can always wait in the Batwing." Robin commented over his shoulder as he continued to crawl one-handed, his over arm held in front of him to display a map of the Watchtower. "You can be the first to test the XM radio from space. Though, I don't think you'd like Batman's pre-sets. His taste in music is… well, old."
"Ya know, you can call him 'Bruce' now, Richard." The archer commented. "We know who you are."
To this, the little bird said nothing.
…
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
The Superman's little humming trick had halted her implantation of the core psychic control, so Granny turned up the intensity, turning what was a canon at the third into a canon at the fourth. He gritted his teeth behind his closed lips but continued to hum. So, she turned it into a canon at the fifth.
Clark snarled, breaking his already frayed concentration and stopping his humming. He feel the thing, whatever it was, making its way through his outer barrier into his Outer Web. It was not a physical feeling, more like a psychic awareness that something wrong was invading his mind. He panted a moment or two to catch his breath and then took up the humming melody again.
Granny increased it to a canon at the sixth.
He snarled again. Then, only because he had his fair share of country sass he said between breaths, "What? Are you trying to torture me or somethin'?"
She gave a short mirthless laugh and pinched his cheek hard enough to bruise even his near-invulnerable kryptonian skin. "My, you're a cheeky boy."
Clark said nothing in response to that. Truth be told, he did not have the energy to banter with the bad guys at the moment. He shut his eyes to the woman and returned his efforts to trying to keep her mind-control at bay for as long as he could. If he knew Bruce, then the Batman was likely on his way to rescue the other half of the World's Finest. But if the Batman was waylaid and couldn't make it to the party… well then, at least he would have delayed their inevitable face off for as long as he possibly could.
Man! He hoped Bruce was on his way.
…
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
/'There's Uncle Supes.'/ Robin leaned back from the vent grate to give the others a look.
/'What's she doing to him?'/ Kid Flash stared at the alien woman as she continued to turn a dial on the controls. Each time she did so, Superman gave a snarl or grunt of pain.
/'Donno.'/ Admitted the Boy Wonder. He found a small access panel in the shaft and pried it open to reveal a small portion of the station's computer network. He jacked in with his wrist computer and began typing out code. /'Miss M, can you link Supes up with us? I'm gonna distract the old lady.'/
The martian girl's eyes glowed with the power of her telepathy for a moment, but then she blinked with unease. Turning back to her Team, her mentally explained, /'I can't get in. Its like how Conner was back when he was under their control. There's a block that's keeping me out.'/
/'Fantastic.'/ KF groaned. /'We came all this way just to rescue a new spy. Worst. Mission. Ever.'/
/'You don't know that.'/ Aqualad contested. /'There's so much about who was controlling Conner and how, that we can't allow ourselves to jump to that conclusion.'/
/'Heh, you sound like Batman.'/ Robin snorted. /'"There's no sense jumping to conclusions before all the evidence is in, Robin, all it does is shift the focus of your investigation."'/
He finished with whatever coding he had been working on and pressed the ENTER button on his wrist pad. In the interrogation room, Granny Goodness' attention shifted from the alien machinery she had set up, seemingly to torture Superman, and examined a small alert light that had just begun blinking yellow.
Superman groaned. "Heh, if you've got company, I can always come back some other time."
"Quiet, naughty boy." She snapped and turned the dial on her alien machine one more time.
Superman snarled and groaned but said nothing more. In fact, it sounded almost like he was trying to… hum? The hell? The Granny glanced at the blinking light once before signing in what might have been exasperation and exiting the room.
The others turned to Robin. /'What is that?'/
/'Just a small alert-light.'/ He shrugged. /'They're used for calling Leaguers away from interrogations without cluing in the one being interrogated as to why. They were Batman's idea.'/
/'Of course they were.'/ Kid Flash sighed.
/'How often does the League end-up interrogating people up here?'/ Asked Artemis.
Robin did not answer. Instead he kicked out the vent's grill and, using one of his bat-cables, lowered himself to the floor. Clark lifted his eyes at the commotion and watched the boy, followed by the rest of the kids' Team, slowly file out of the vent. Bruce had sent the kids? What on Earth could have possessed him to send children into such a dangerous situation just to rescue him?
Robin studied the alien controls for a moment before (purely on a guess) putting his hand to the dial the old woman had been turning and twisting it in the opposite direction. Clark sighed as the dissonant melody began to recede. Turning from a canon at the seventh, to a canon at the sixth, the fifth, fourth, third, second, just a single melody and then it was gone. His whole body sagged with relief, his weight supported by nothing more than the terillium-carbon manacles that still restrained him.
He took a moment to catch his breath before asking, "What in the name of Rao's fiery corona are you kids doing here!"
/'Well, that's gratitude for ya.'/ Wally scoffed. To Superman he said, "C'mon, Uncle Supes, don't you recognize a rescue when you see one?"
Robin fiddled with the alien control panel some more until Superman's restraints were released and he fell, undignified, to his knees. Climbing back to his feet, Clark massaged his wrists where the cuffs had cut into them and flexed his fingers, trying to work the blood back into them.
"But you're just kids." The Man of Steel shook his head. "It was irresponsible of Batman to send you. " A pause. "Please tell me Batman did send you and you didn't just steal a Javelin and rush off on your own?"
"No, we did not steal a Javelin, whatever that is." Artemis huffed and thrust her hands on her hips.
"My distraction isn't gonna keep the old lady busy forever." Robin reminded them. "Remember the mission: Get Supes and get out. Lets go."
Everyone else nodded.
M'gann stepped toward Superman. "The resistance is gone, I'm gonna link you to the rest of us now."
"No." Clark hissed quickly. "She did something to my mind. I don't know what -exactly. But I don't want to risk being linked to any of you if it turns out they can control me like they did Kon-El."
All five teens exchanged equal expressions of unease.
/'I knew it.'/ Wally flashed Kaldur an 'I told you so' look.
/'What do we do now?'/ Asked Artemis. /'Should be take a possible spy back to Mr. Wayne's cave?'/
/'We have to.'/ Robin was sober and ever so slightly grim. /'It would be a million times more dangerous to leave him here. With everything he knows…'/
Once again the five exchanged a single unifying uneasy look.
"Alright, Uncle Supes," Robin said aloud. "Lets get going."
…
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
Superboy-Dark had been making his way to the unmarked segment on the station's schematic when he heard something knew, like creatures crawling in the walls. An infestation of space-rats, maybe? That was silly. But he definitely heard something moving in the walls, several somethings, actually.
He closed his eyes and focused his hearing on the new suspicious sound. They were in the walls and slightly up. The air ducts, maybe? And there was definitely more than one. Honing his hearing, he could detect five distinct pairs of… knees? hands? scrapping through the ducts. Had they come aboard the station with the mysterious thunk? Or was this unrelated? No, there were no coincidences in an invasion. He turned around and instead began following the sounds in the walls.
He was not tracking them long before Superboy-Dark realized where they were heading -the interrogations rooms, and there was only one interrogation room in use at the moment. That of Kal-El, Superman, his genetic-parent. He suppressed a silent snarl of defensive alarm. Whoever had infiltrated the station and was moving through the ducts intended to steal his father from him! Superboy-Dark was not going to let that happen!
Superboy-Dark turned back the way he had come. However they had gotten on the station, it was clear that they had landed either in or on the anterior aspect of the station. Probably in that blank space on the schematic. That meant that their vehicle was probably still there and if they needed it to get onto the Watchtower then chances were they needed it to get back off it as well. He would cut off their escape.
…
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
The six of them sprinted through the corridors of Watchtower heading back to the landing bay Batman designed as a 'back door' should they ever need one. Oh, Bruce, you plan for everything. We're so happy your one of the good guys.
They ran into one patrol of Parademons, but the Team with the help of Superman dispatched them with only a moderate struggle. They continued their jog towards the hangar but all six of them skidded to a halt at who they found waiting there, blocking their path.
"Tan shed awukh za." He said. –'Nobody's going anywhere.'
This statement went ignored, however, as five pairs of eyes went wide with astonishment upon seeing him.
"Supey!"
"Conner!"
"The hell are you doing here?"
He was pounced upon by Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Artemis. Not violently so, in that moment, they did not perceive him as an enemy and Superboy-Dark, for his part, was so shocked to find the infiltrators were his former Team that he was at a loss as to how to react. He stood for a moment, frozen with indecision as the girls and Wally draped themselves around him with affection. He heard the beating of KF's heart; it had always been a bit faster than the others', felt Artemis' warm breath against the chest plate of his battle suit, and inhaled the intoxicating scent of M'gann's hair.
Kaldur and Robin hung back from the others, the atlantian gaping in shock while the Boy Wonder's eyes narrowed in suspicion, one hand drifting into a back pocket of his belt and closing around the leaded ring-box Bruce had given him.
"Guys…" He began a warning but wasn't sure what exactly to say.
"Back away from him slowly." Clark's voice was that of strong but quiet command –his 'Superman voice', a watered-down and family-friendly version of Bruce's 'Batman voice'. Robin had heard it often, but this was a first for the rest of the Team.
The three glanced back at the Man of Steel in confusion.
It was then that Superboy-Dark made any sort of move, though it was not the move either Clark or Robin had feared he might make. No. He wrapped an arm around the martian girl's waist and pulled her flush against him. Taking her chin in his other hand, the Boy of Steel tilted her face upwards and leaned down to mash his lips against hers in an aggressive and sloppy kiss.
Alarm reverberated through M'gann's psychic thread. That was not the way Conner kissed, at least, that was not the way the Conner she knew kissed. Her Conner's kisses were heated but hesitant, as if there was a deep and raging tide of feeling and desire within him that he was striving to hold back for fear harming her in his fervor. But this Conner, this other Superboy that held her now, that currently had his mouth locked with hers was… cold. The kiss was aggressive and demanding, but there was no heat behind it. No passion or eager enthusiasm.
The others backed off. M'gann also tried to pull away but he held her firm. She shifted her form, her body becoming as in substantial as water in his arms and the martian girl melted from his locked embrace, retreating back to her Team. When her 'base form' rematerialized, the back of her hand was to her mouth, as if trying to wipe away the feel of him.
"That's not Conner." She hissed.
"Did his tonsils give it away?"
For that the Kid Flash received a smack on the shoulder from Artemis accompanied by a, "Not the time!"
Superboy-Dark offered her a lopsided grin, "Ta, shod-zhaol i skilor?" –'Surely you recognize your lover?' Then his focus shifted to the Superman. "Ukr-kah, ewor zhed." –'Father, tell them.'
"What'd he say?"
Clark suppressed the urge to groan. This was just getting ridiculous. He clearly understood English, there was no reason why he shouldn't be able to speak it as well. Unless he was under the influence of that one piece of red-K that had prevented Clark from communicating in any other language but Kryptonese. But that particular chunk was locked-up in his Fortress, so that couldn't be the reason. But whatever it was, now was not the time to be agonizing over it.
"Step aside, Kon."
He did not. Instead, Superboy-Dark assumed a fighting pose and glared hostilely at the assembled half-dozen.
"We don't have time for this." Robin growled. He pulled Bruce's kryptonite ring from his belt and jammed the large ring onto his middle finger. It was his largest digit but the silver band of the ring was still loose on his hand and the Wonder Boy closed his hand into a tight fist to keep it from slipping.
Clark felt the telltale dizziness the moment Dick withdrew his hand from his belt. He didn't need to look to see that Bruce had given his little bird the ring. The Superman placed a hand against the nearest wall to steady himself and chance a glance at his clone. Kon-El looked to also have felt the effects instantly, but there was no recognition on his face, he didn't know what the dizziness meant.
Robin rushed forward and landed one solid punch to Superboy-Dark's stomach. No where near as hard as the kryptonian-genomorph was used to being punched, but then, with kryptonite on your side it didn't take much. Really, a light tap would have been enough. Kon-El dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach. He glared up at the Boy Wonder with mingled disbelief and loathing accented with a generous helping of pain.
"Ta-?" He groaned.
"Sorry, Supey." A second punch to the side of the face had Superboy-Dark laying on the ground at Robin's feet. Not unconscious, but unmoving non-the-less. His crystal blue eyes sparkled with confused disorientation as glanced around wildly.
Poor Kon, between the standard light-headed effects of kryptonite and the blows Dick had just given him, he probably had no idea what was going on. Clark wanted to go to him; to place a hand on the boy's head and tell him everything was going to be okay, but he didn't dare take a step near Robin while that ring was out and in play.
Robin stepped over the KO'd kryptonian and pressed the door release for the back-door hangar. "Lets go, people."
The other four kids on the Team rushed into the hangar, Clark hung back. "I wanna take him, too."
Robin nodded. Conner was his friend and wanted to see him removed from the enemy camp as well. "He doesn't come back to the Batcave, though."
Clark nodded his understanding. Dick fished back in his belt for the ring's box and Clark gave a sigh as the leaded box was closed around the silver ring. The Boy Wonder disappeared into the hangar; Clark knelt down and lifted Kon-El into his arms then followed the little bat-bird.
"You took the Batwing!" He paused in the doorway. "Are you sure Bats actually sent?"
"Yes." Robin said over his shoulder, voice dripping with exasperation. "Batman sent us and let us take the Batwing."
"I don't think we're all gonna fit." Artemis called from where she and Kid Flash were already crawling into the cockpit's second seat. There was no doubt about it, there was no way Clark and Conner would fit in that plane along with everyone else.
"Not a problem." The Superman assured them.
He set Superboy-Dark down and walked over to a wall panel that opened up to reveal an ordinary equipment cabinet. From this he pulled two oxygen masks, designed to fit over the nose and mouth but leave the face otherwise unobscured. He fit one on himself before taking a second and walking back to the still prostrate Kon-El. But the moment he knelt down to fit the mask on the still seemingly disoriented boy, Superboy-Dark grabbed Clark by the back of the neck and head butted him hard in the forehead.
Both men grunted from the force of the blow, Clark staggering backwards, Conner slumping back down. The ring was back on Robin's hand in an instant but before he could cross the room to where the two Supers stood, Clark held up a hand.
"No." He said, his breath causing the mask over his nose and mouth to fog slightly every time he spoke. "Just get in the plane and make sure the cabin is sealed."
"But-" The little bird protested.
"Just do it!" Superman snapped.
Kaldur sat in the front pilot seat and Robin hopped into his lap, M'gann shifted into her most space-efficient form possible and took-up her place in the small storage behind the second seat, KF and Artemis were already situated. Closed and sealed the cockpit.
"What is he thinking?" Asked Aqualad once they were sealed in air tight.
"Probably something 'super'." Answered the little bird in the same way some people say 'something stupid'.
Superboy-Dark climbed to his feet and glared at the Superman. For a moment it looked as if Clark was going to forget all plans of escape and just go ahead and duke it out with his clone instead. They both assumed fighting stances and began to circle one another slowly. But when the main bay door release came into the Superman's field of vision, he shifted his focus from the boy facing him to the control panel behind him and let loose a light blast of heat vision.
The small hangar suddenly became a vacuum as the bay door was opened and everything inside was suddenly sucked out into freezing space, Batwing and kryptonians included. Superboy-Dark's eyes went wide with horrified shock and he grabbed madly at the smooth surface of the hangar's floor in an effort to keep from being sucked out, his nails making long but shallow streaks on the steel panels as he was pulled. It seemed that in addition to missing the memo about kryptonite he'd also missed the memo that he could survive just fine in outer space provided he had oxygen of some sort.
Superman wrapped one arm around the boy's mid-section while his other hand jammed the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. "You'll be fine."
With only the slightest of kicks, Clark pulled Kon-El off of the makeshift handholds he'd carved into the floor and the two of them were suddenly free-floating in space. Superman took a moment to reorient them, with Earth as 'down' and the Batwing as 'ahead'. There was no uniform directionality in space, you had to make it up as you went along. 'Down' was usually whatever direction gravity pulled, but if you were at a Lagrangian point where there was no gravity or if multiple gravitational forces were acting on you at once, you had to improvise and make the call yourself.
At the moment they were still within the boundaries of the L1 point in which there were no gravitational forces acting on them. So, Clark chose Earth as 'down'. It seemed the intuitive thing to do.
Of course there were other schools of thought. Looking 'ahead' at the Batwing, Robin seemed to have chosen to orient himself with Earth as 'slightly up and to the left on an axis of 34 degrees'. Clark suppressed a smile of amusement; space travel took some getting used to. He tapped the communicator built into the chin of his oxygen mask and asked, "Need a little help there?"
"I've got it." The Boy Wonder's voice came over the channel, sounding a little preoccupied. Two small thrusters on one wing set the bat-shaped convertible plane-space shuttle into a slow spiral. Robin cursed.
"Laws of motion, kiddo." Clark reminded him.
Robin activated the thrusters on the other wing and that stopped the spiral for a moment or two, until he pushed the thrust that extra little bit that sent the plane spiraling in the opposite direction. Ah, space. Ain't it great. "Not. One. Word."
"I didn't say anything."
"How's Supey." Just to change the subject.
Clark looked at the boy he still held by the mid-section. He was wide-eyed staring wildly in every direction as if in a panic and breathing heavily enough as to approach hyperventilation. "Scared witless." The Superman assessed. "With all their brain-washing and mind tinkering I guess they forgot to mention to him that he could survive in space just fine."
Clark turned the boy to face him so that he could see how calm he was and know that there was nothing to be scared off. Kon-El just stared at him wide-eyed, but his breathing began to calm. Clark released his grip on the boy's waist to give him a bit more space, but the moment Kon-El felt himself begin to drift he clawed madly trying to get back to Superman. He flailed his arms madly, looking rather much like someone drowning out of water. He got a hold on Clark's wafting red cape and pulled himself flush against the Man of Steel's back, wrapping both arms and legs around him.
'Wow…' Clark thought. 'And just a few moments ago he seemed like such a big tough bad-guy.'
He reached a hand up to pat the boy on the head. This was probably the most uncomfortable he'd ever been in space and that's including the time he and Lobo teamed-up for a little while.
…
Watchtower
April 1 – (irrelevant)
A high-pitched alarm trilled and the whole bridge was filled with red and yellow flashing lights and Lashina and her Furies were at a loss to interpret them all.
Loss of pressure in anterior landing bay/ She didn't know the station had a second landing bay. Bay door non-responsive/ Manual closure required/
Station wide oxygen levels dropping/ Seal-off compromised segments recommended/ Oxygen levels at 85% of normal/ 78%/ 71% 64%/…
The Ribbon Warrior studied the Earthling controls and punched, what she hoped, was the correct sequence of buttons and dials that sealed off the air circulation in the station. There was no airflow at all now, each segment of the station had its own air, but nothing was traveling through the carbon-scrubbers and back again. It was not a solution, but it at least gave her the time to figure out what the hell had happened.
"Speed Queen, do a quick check of the ship!" She ordered. The Apokoliptan speedster was quick to follow. "Guilatina come over here and start running diagnostics. Hariet-" a pause "-just stay out of the way. I'm going to figure out where the hell Blue Eyes is."
She left the bridge and dashed through the corridors towards the cabin the kryptonian-genomorph had claimed as his own. She typed in the short key-code that opened the door, the tall panel slid aside to reveal an empty room. So much for that. There was only one other place on the station he could be and that was the Superman's interrogation room. …And then with crystal clarity the reason behind this sudden emergency became clear. Blue Eyes was supposed to kill him, instead he brought him home and asked if he could keep him. Obviously, the Superman had found a way to escape and do some damage to their captured base while he was at it.
She slammed the door back and dashed back to the bridge.
"Scramble the Parademons!" She ordered.
…
Space (somewhere between Watchtower and Earth)
April 1 – (irrelevant)
"We've got company." Robin's voice crackled over Clark's comm.
The Man of Steel glanced ahead to when the Batwing had finally righted itself but saw nothing. He turned to look behind him and saw the 'company' Batman's bird-boy was talking about. Parademons. Two dozen of them. Great.
He tried shifting Kon-El's hold on him to something that would allow for more mobility. But the boy refused to budge. Clark gritted his teeth in annoyance. He looked from the on-coming Parademons to the Batwing and tapped his comm.
"Robin, you can't pilot that thing in a combat." He said. "Take it in and let me handle our company."
"What about Conner?"
"I'll handle Kon-El, too."
Speaking of the young mister Superboy-Dark, he was finally beginning to calm down enough to realize that he could breath, hadn't frozen to death, his body was still pressurized and his blood hadn't boiled out of his ears. He may not be able to fly, or in this setting, propel himself by his own power as his genetic-parent could, but he hadn't gone spinning off into the void either. His zero gravity hysteria subsided enough for him to find the button that controlled the comm on his oxygen mask.
"Zierdah, Ukr-kah." He said. "Kao-zhgam bim Watchtower khap." –'Give-up, father, and return to Watchtower with me.'
"Don't start with me, Kon." He growled. Clark was in no mood to put-up with offers to join the dark side. They hadn't sounded appealing in a James Earl Jones voice and they sounded even less appealing coming from a melancholy and brainwashed teenager.
The Parademons surrounded them.
Superboy-Dark pushed off from Superman's back, latched onto the Parademon closest to him and swung himself around it to spend the rest of his momentum before coming to a halt. Well, he certainly learned how to move in zero-G without a flight ability rather fast. He hung there's suspended in the vacuum, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Noveneh kol-sof." –'This is your last chance.'
Clark only glared at the boy.
Superboy-Dark raised his hand high above his head. The Parademons turned their attention to their commander. Kon-El's arm fell. The Parademons swarmed Clark.
…
Earth's Exosphere
April 1 – (irrelevant)
"You're not just gonna leave him there, are you?" Kid Flash twisted in his seat to try and look behind them at where Superman was fighting a squad of Parademons, but no matter which way he turned he couldn't seem to see around Artemis.
Robin kept a firm grip on his controls. "I've seen Supes play ping-pong with asteroids," (actually he only heard about it from the Lanterns, but it was an awesome game) "if he wants to win and come back to the Batcave, then he'll win and come back to the Batcave. If not… then there was no point in us trying to rescue him in the first place."
"Remember what Batman said," Kaldur calmly cut in. "It is more important that we all come back than we bring him back."
"Then what was the point of this mission?" Artemis crossed her arms over her chest.
Robin said nothing, instead focusing his attention on the plane's re-entry.
…
Space (somewhere between Watchtower and Earth)
April 1 – (irrelevant)
'Didn't I just leave this party?' Clark thought as he grappled with Parademons commanded by his clone.
First an onslaught of the creatures at his Fortress, then a match with Kon-El in the desert, and now here he was facing a combined force of both of them out in space. Well, not really a combined force. Superboy-Dark might be a quick study in the field of zero-G maneuverability (once he got over his initial panic) but without a flight ability he didn't have the freedom of movement necessary to partake of a real combat.
Clark considered his options.
He was fast and he was strong, much father and much stronger than the genomorph and much faster than the Parademons. He could quickly grab Kon then zoom back to Earth before the Parademons knew what had happened. But once they got back to Earth, where would he take the boy? His Fortress was overrun, the Cave had been sealed and Bruce would never admit the boy into the Batcave while under the control of the enemy.
Reluctantly, Clark had to admit that, while he wanted to, taking the boy was not a practical move right now. Not until they found a way to undo his mind control. There was only one course of action open to the Man of Steel now, and loath though he was to do it, he took it.
He ran.
…
Batcave
April 1 – 11:20 pm
Robin guided the Batwing into the concealed hangar, taxied to a full-stop and then popped the cockpit. Everyone jumped out from the plane, just as eager to get out of the cramped cabin as they had been back on Watchtower.
"What was the whole point of that?" Artemis growled as she cracked her back.
"Yeah, really." Kid Flash seconded. "We bust him out of that weird alien torture rack thingy just to let him go right back in to cover our escape?"
"That's what Superman does." Robin huffed. "He's like the grand captain of self-sacrifice. …And sanctimonious speeches. But mostly self-sacrifice."
"What's he done this time?"
Five heads turned to see Batman standing in the doorway to the hangar, arms crossed over his chest.
In a bout of unprofessional teenism, all five of them launched into an explanation all at once. The hangar was not a briefing room as so they had no reason to assume the Dark Knight had wanted an official debrief. He held up a hand for silence. "Perhaps I was unclear in what I asked." He said. "One of you, please explain to me what stupid and ultimately pointless self-sacrifice the Big Blue Boy Scout's made this time?"
Before anyone could take up the task of answering this time, they were all given pause by a tell-tale sonic boom and then a moment later the afore mentioned Big Blue Boy Scout was floating into the hangar.
"Hey, Bats." He said in the kind of forced chipper voice that he usually reserved for pulling people from burning buildings, rescuing victims from natural disasters and dealing with Lois Lane.
"Apparently none." Robin commented dryly.
"What are we talking about?"
"The Team was about to debrief me on their mission."
That spurred the Superman. "Bats can I speak with you alone?"
The rest of the Team exchanged that same look of unease.
The Batman nodded, then turning to the rest of the Team said, "Okay, I have a new mission for you."
"Already?" All five, plus the Superman, asked in unison.
The Dark Knight nodded. "You are to follow Robin out of the cave and into the house. He's to take you into the media room and you are to all play Just Dance 2 until at least one of you has beaten Superman's score for each song."
They blinked at him.
"Well, get going."
…
Batcave
April 2 – 12:00 am
"Okay, Clark, explain this to me again and please, try not to sound like a duttering hippy this time around." Bruce groaned with exasperation and slumped down in his chair. The Dark Knight pulled his half-empty coffee cup towards him and wondered how many more he'd have to drink before he was forced to resort to stronger stimulants to get him through tonight.
"Like a hippy?" The Man of Steel blinked. "How is saying that they use a counter tone to the natural melody of a person's place in the universe sounding like a hippy?"
Bruce paused. Decided that any answer to that question should have been self-explanatory and obvious and so remained silent. He drained his coffee mug, stood, refilled it, sat back down, looked at Clark. The Superman just looked right back, still expecting an answer.
"Seriously?" He finally said. "You don't see how 'the music of the universe' is hippyish? How are we friends?"
Clark opened his mouth to answer.
"Rhetorical!" The Dark Knight added quickly. "Lets stay on point. You say that Granny told you she's controlling Conner and tried to control you by using a counter melody that canceled out your-" he cringed "'natural melody'. So, then, to change him back to normal, we just need to fine a 'natural melody' for his existence."
"Oh, is that all?" Clark scoffed in a bout of uncharacteristic pessimism.
Bruce stood and chugged his coffee. Yeah, he would be needing something a bit stronger to get through tonight. "Wanna help me conduct an experiment?"
"Are you actually asking or is this one of those 'you have no choice in the matter but I'm phrasing it as a question anyway to put you at ease' things that you do?"
"Yes." He exited the debriefing room.
"That wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' question." Clark followed after him.
"Yes."
"Now you're just being difficult."
Bruce led him through the main room, passed the Batcomputer's monitor array to where J'onn had been meditating against a far wall and out of the way. He opened his eyes as they neared. "Yes?"
"That theory I mentioned back in February," Bruce began. "Its time to test it."
J'onn stood.
"What theory?" Asked Clark.
"Follow." The Batman beckoned to them both.
The two aliens followed the Dark Knight back across the main chamber, but it was not to the debriefing room that they returned. Instead, Bruce made a sharp turn behind his giant penny and led them to his weapons cabinets, the place where he stored most of the assorted paraphernalia that filled his utility belt. But it was not baterangs and smokebombs that he had come to grab. He walked down the line until he had reached the end cabinet, where he kept his 'single focus' or 'single use' items. From this cabinet he withdrew… a crystal.
"Hey, that's mine!"
"I know, you lent it to Robin last month."
It was the audiocrystal crystal that had given Conner a piercing headache so strong it had reduced him to whimpering on the floor. It produced an effect on the boy's mind that, according to J'onn, the psychic 'receiver' that had been implanted in him was highly averse to.
"I don't know what you plan to do with that." Clark crossed his arms over his chest. "Kryptonian crystal-tech isn't compatible with anything you've got here."
"Oh, ye of little faith." Bruce sighed.
…
Batcave
April 2 – 1:15 am
The scientific method is a body of techniques used for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, correcting and integrating previous knowledge, or just general problem solving. In its simplest form, the scientific method could be broken down into six easy steps; those of, observation, defining a problem, forming a hypothesis, testing or evidence gathering, either rejecting or retaining your hypothesis based on the results of your experiments or evidence gathered and finally, forming a theory.
(From the Batman's Case Logs)
'Observation 1: Conner Kent, the Superboy, fell under the enemy's thrall whenever he heard a particular signal on a frequency only kryptonians can hear.
'Observation 2: Upon hearing a particular track of a kryptonian audiocrystal, the foreign presence in his mind henceforth called the 'enemy receiver' reacted strongly and violently.
'Problem: Superboy is under enemy mind-control. Said mind control, based upon the above observations appears to be at least somewhat music-based. Certainly it an auditory form of control.
'Hypothesis: J'onn's account of Superboy's mind would imply that Clark's kryptonian symphony music can be used to combat the 'enemy receiver' that is allowing them to control the boy. It stands to reason that prolonged exposure to the string segment of the second track could possibly cleanse the mind of all enemy control. The possible side-effects of this, however, cannot be foreseen.
'Test: Clark admits to the enemy puppet-master, Granny Goodness, having attempted to place him under mind-control as well. He fears that she may have succeeded. After an examination by J'onn it is found that he does, indeed, have an 'enemy receiver' in his mind as well now. However, while Superboy's had been placed in the 'core' of his psyche, Clark's seems to have been halted just at the edge of his mind. It is possible that playing the audiocrystal repeatedly might force the 'enemy receiver' from Clark's mind. If the experiment proves successful, the process could be repeated on Superboy.
'-Variables: Music's volume and balance, signal intensity, subject's resistance, signal layering'
"Bruce, you scare me sometimes."
Clark leaned over to examine a crude but functional looking crystalplayer. It wasn't kryptonian crystal, of course, it looked mostly to be made of glass with a bit of quartz thrown in here and there, and the innards were definitely metal –copper wiring and such. But it looked like it would play music and the audiocrystal fit in it perfectly. Now the question became, could the thing actually read it and convert the imprinted information into sound?
Either way it was still impressive that Bruce had managed to construct this in a month. McGyver much.
"Aw…" The Dark Knight feigned being flattered. "Complements will get you experimented on."
"And here I thought it was because I'm an alien."
"Not tonight, at least, not directly. But I call dibs on your body if you die!"
"You just took a turn into Creepysville."
Bruce was about to reply but J'onn cut him off before he had the chance. "If we could proceed."
Clark forced himself to relax. J'onn placed his hands on the man's temples and did a cursory examination of his Outer Web before the experiment formally began. Aside from the foreign presence currently floating there, the landscape of his mind remained much the same as it had appeared to the Martian Manhunter the last time he had mind-linked with the man, which had been a considerable time ago.
Bruce fitted the audiocrystal into his makeshift crystalplayer and pressed the play button.
Nothing happened.
Clark gave a snort.
"Not. One. Word." The Dark Knight growled.
"Didn't you try it out before tonight?" Obviously the Superman wasn't intimidated by a flustered Batman. "I mean, you did have the crystal this whole time."
"Clark, if I wanted your input I'd ask for it. Now, I invite you to shut it while I figure this out."
Clark smiled.
J'onn sighed.
Bruce examined his machine. He pressed the stop button, the play again; when nothing continued to happen he turned the machine off and pulled the crystal out and then put it back in exactly how it was. Turned it back on, pressed play, nothing. Giggled the crystal in its place, nothing. Hit the machine a few times, nothing. Bruce grew frustrated.
Clark continued to smile.
Bruce got an idea. He picked the crystal back up, flipped it the other way around and then put it back in. Pressed the play button. The orchestra warming up their instruments filled the room.
Clark still didn't say anything.
"Ya know, you could have just told me I had it in backwards."
"I'm sorry." He smiled. "I was busy RSVPing my invitation to 'shut-it'."
The Batman snarled with exasperation and skipped the orchestra's warm-up to dive right into the first movement. Music filled the living area, soft and slow at first but climbing in tempo. Beginning with low wind instruments first, a combination of woodwinds and a metal flute similar to Earth's oboe (though, obviously not made from the same material). They set the melody, but as cadence continued to climb, the winds were joined by moderate percussion, not to bold but just enough to meld into the rest of the melody. …And then the strings took-up the melody.
Clark groaned and leaned forward, placing a hand to his head.
"It's reacting?" Asked the Batman.
"The enemy's 'receiver' is agitated." J'onn confirmed. "But it does not appear to be reseeding from his mind."
"The old woman…" Clark groaned. "She… used a canon."
Martian and man exchanged equel looks of confusion over the kryptonian's bowed head. They were pretty sure he didn't mean she fired a literal canon at his head. Didn't the term have some other meaning within the context of music? Bruce pulled out his phone, his normal civilian cell phone. They had an app for that. They had an app for everything.
Terminology of Music – "canon" n. a piece in which the same melody is begun in different parts successively, so that the imitations overlap.
Pff. He could totally do that. Just hook the makeshift kryptonian player up to his own sound system and play the same track with a thirty second delay. Easy. …And with a bit more tinkering, it was done. They had turned the melody into a canon at the second.
The sensation in Clark's head intensified and he let out yelp of pain.
J'onn continued a to monitor the Superman's mind. Waves of angry dissonance reverberated from the presence on Clark's Outer Web. It seemed almost like whatever it was were trying to push the sound or maybe the sensations it caused out of the his mind. It sent ripples undulating across the web, the small shockwaves crashed on and were stopped by the inner barrier that separated Clark's Inner Web from his Outer one, so there was at least no danger on that front. But J'onn feared that under higher intensities it would rip Clark's Outer Web apart.
Bruce fed the melody through a third speaker, turning it into a canon at the third.
The violence of the enemy receiver's presence intensified, but now J'onn could detect it… fizzling, almost as if it were beginning to dissolve. "It's working."
Bruce turned it to a canon at the fourth.
Clark was on his knees on the floor now, J'onn bent over him, determined to keep a close vigil on his friend's condition. The fizzling became more apparent, yes, the thing was definitely beginning to dissolve now. But it was also wreaking havoc on Clark's Outer Web. Surface thoughts and short-term memories were being torn and destroyed by the presences attempts to fight back.
Bruce turned it into a canon at the fifth.
Clark's knees collapsed under him, no longer able to support himself. He lay on the ground, screaming.
It was dissolving faster now, it was almost gone. But it would take a good portion of Clark's Outer Web with it. Surface thoughts, passing thoughts and a good deal of short-term memory. He probably wouldn't remember anything that happened today. J'onn hoped Bruce had gotten all the information he needed or that he could from him because it would be gone after this.
Bruce turned it to a canon at the sixth.
The Superman's screams reverberated off the walls of the cave and J'onn wondered if it had been a good idea to attempt this underground. But then, rather abruptly, it was over. The thing was gone and, as Conner had said almost two months ago, once it was over it was like it never happened. Except this time there was evidence of its happening. There were great gaping holes in Clark's Outer Web, thoughts he no longer had, memories he'd never got back. Thankfully, his natural mental barriers had protected his Inner Web and his Chalice, but what would have happened if the 'receiver' had been closer to his center rather than simply the peripheral? What would happen to Conner?
Clark lay unconscious on the floor.
J'onn looked up at the Batman and Bruce met his eyes.
"So, ya wanna help me carry two-hundred and thirty-five pounds of kryptonian dumbass up three flights of stairs?"
…
(A/N: Overall, I'm not satisfied with this chapter.)