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.
Signals
Chapter Twelve: Allegro Moderato
Watchtower
April 2 – (irrelevant)
Granny hated it when her children fought, or rather; she hated it when they fought without her go-ahead. A little violence between peers was healthy, after all. Still, tension between Lashina and the Superboy-weapon just wouldn't do. She considered the Ribbon Warrior's recommendation to have the kryptonian-genomorph removed from his command position, her reasons made sense but the old Granny was old enough to know that while her reasoning might be sound, her motives were ultimately self-serving. She wanted the weapon out of the way so she could take all the glory for herself. What a wonderful and opportunistic self-promoter she had trained! Lashina was just darling!
Perhaps Granny had been wrong in her decision to let the weapon keep his pet-Superman, of course, she would never admit that. No. Mistakes in judgment (and just mistakes in general) were always someone else's fault. So, the Superboy-Dark was confined to quarters. Granny Goodness then took over command of the Earth invasion herself. Lashina was capable, but why hand command over to an underling when she was here and could command? Hm? Besides, this was she got the glory. That was all that mattered really –glory, and by extension, Darksied's favor.
Granny perused the already laid out battle plans. She called-up a three dimensional hologram of the Earth on which the weapon had already marked the most powerful countries, important human military bases, strategic political centers, leaders' residences, and any other points of interest that might merit a small hit. There were just under one thousand targets in total. The forces of Apokolips were formidable, but that was spreading them just a tad to thinly in the old Granny's opinion.
She narrowed the focus for the second wave of their attack strictly to the military bases of the United States, China and Russia. Those seemed the three that would present the biggest threat of retaliation, thus, they should be dispatched quickly, gotten out of the way so as not to both them during the rest of the operation. They had already take care of the Justice League and their base was under Apokoliptan control. It was time to do the that for the rest of the Earth as well.
…
Batcave
April 2 – 8: 57 am
The music playing in the cave had shifted tracks from Pictures at an Exhibition to a mixed CD that the tiny MP3 control on the Batcave's main monitor array called the Vienna Master Series. The high violins and violas of Allegro Molto Appassionato by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy twirled and cavorted through Clark's ears and he had to interrupt Bruce's monologue to ask, "Okay, so why does the Batcave suddenly sound like the Metropolis Phil Harmonic?"
"Its just a precautionary thing." The Dark Knight shrugged. "The way you explained it before J'onn and I mind-wiped you, you said that Granny Goodness used a counter-signal to your and Superboy's natural signal, one that was, quote: 'more compatible with Apokolips', end quote. When J'onn and I cleared her tampering from your mind we used a kryptonian signal because you're from Krypton so, logically, your 'natural signal' would be something kryptonian. The rest of the League is –mostly- from Earth, so I'm using Earth music to block the enemy signals. Ya know, just in case anyone else is under their control and we don't know about it."
"But what about-"
"I've also mixed in a few Thanagarian tracks for the Hawks."
"And-"
"And some Martian ones for J'onn and his niece."
Clark closed his mouth. Of course Bruce had thought of everything, the Batman always thinks of everything. That's what the Batman does. He looked down at his own plaid shirt, a shirt he did not recall ever leaving at Wayne Manor (and he had a near perfect memory), the Batman had even thought to keep some of his civilian clothing in stock just in case the Man of Steel might be in need of a convenient wardrobe change while in Gotham. (Or in this case, while recovering from a short bout of memory loss post-mind-control.) Ah… the life of a superhero.
"One last question." He tugged on the collar of his shit to draw the Dark Knight's attention to it. "Have you been sneaking into my apartment again? Because I distinctly remember asking you to stop doing that!"
To this the Caped Crusader merely scoffed. "Pff, please, I haven't broken into your home in weeks." A pause. "Which reminds me, we're all out of peanut butter."
For a moment Clark looked politely violated and scandalized.
"Go back upstairs." Bruce reached over the table to pat him on the shoulder. "Take a couple minuets to digest everything I've told you, I know it's a lot. Alfred's probably finished with your uniform by now, go change. The entire League, plus the Team will be having a meeting at 9:30 to plan our response to the threat, be back down here by then. Other than that, free time."
"'Free time'?" Clark echoed. "What, are we suddenly in kindergarten?"
"With Hal and Barry, Wally and Roy, the rest of the kids' Team not specifically mentioned and Captain Marvel all under one roof? … Yes, Clark, we're in kindergarten."
"Poor Batman." The Superman teased. "You work so hard for all of us and we do nothing but vex you."
"Don't patronize me Clark, I've been up for thirty-two hours and had to deal with a lot of crap –from all sides." It was a testament to just how vexed the Batman truly was that he didn't threaten the Superman that he had kryptonite and wasn't afraid to use it. "Your dogs are outside, by the way, because I won't let them in the cave or the house. Go do something about them so that I don't have to worry about them anymore. That would help un-vex me."
With a sigh, the Man of Steel rose from the table, heading for the Batcave's back entrance. As he did so the music track shifted once again, this time to Scène Des Wilis (Entrée D'Hilarion) from the ballet Giselle and Clark shook his head, calling over his shoulder, "I just got a horrible mental image of the Hawks flying down into the cave to the accompaniment of Ride of the Valkyries."
Clark waited. There was a pregnant pause, then a small snort, then the rumble of suppressed laughter audible only to Clark's superior hearing, and then the suppressed rumble grew in intensity until Bruce Wayne, the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, the Batman was good and truly laughing. Clark smiled to himself. It was nice to be able to make one of the gloomiest people in the League (possibly on the planet) laugh every now and again at nothing more than a lighthearted and good-humored joke.
He exited the cave to find both dogs (technically one dog, one wolf) sitting with their backs to him, tails wagging expectantly, eyes focused on Miss Martian whom hovered above them, levitating a bag of Milk-Bones well out of their reach.
"…Stay …stay." She commanded.
For a moment Clark wondered if Krypto was just going to fly up and take the treats without earning them, but while he might lift a front paw every now and again, his butt remained firmly on the ground, his tail dusting the dew moistened grass.
"Good boys!" M'gann lowered two Milk-Bones, one for each super-dog, and held them in front of their respective intended canines to take them in their jaws. "You're such good boys!" she continued to coo now in the 'baby-voice' most people tended to use when speaking to animals and small children. "Who're the most adorable puppies in the whole world? Who're my adorable little puppies? You are! Yes, you're my adorable little puppies."
It was Krypto that noticed him first, turning around and offering his Milk-Bone to Clark, presumably as a 'get well soon, Master' gift. The hyper-intelligent kryptonian canine could not have missed all the noise and commotion Bruce claimed he made when he and J'onn had cleaned out his mind. Clark patted the super-dog on head and was about to tell him to keep his treat when Wolf pounced upon him. The cobra-venom enhanced predator jumped up on Clark, barking happily, wagging his tail excitedly and getting wet grassy paw-prints all over his flannel shirt.
"Wolf, no!" M'gann shouted at him. "Down! Bad! Bad, Wolf!" Using her telekinesis she pulled the animal off of Clark and set him down again gently, placing herself between the predator and the man. "I'm sorry. He's really very harmless and friendly."
"I know." The Man of Steel nodded and brushed wet grass of himself.
"We've been trying to train him but he doesn't really listen to anyone besides…" A pause, melancholy hesitation. "… He's a wolf, not a dog, you see. Superboy was his 'Alpha' so he listened to him and Superman smells like Superboy because, well, that should be obvious, so he listens to Superman too. But he's indisposed at the moment. Wolf kinda listens to me a little bit, because Superboy and I… we, well…"
"You're the 'Alpha-female'." Clark supplied. It made sense, if Kon-El was the Wolf's Alpha, then it stood to reason that Kon-El's mate would then be the Alpha-female of the Wolf's perceived pack. (Though, to be completely honest, Clark felt the girl was just a little to sweet and gentle to posses an actual 'Alpha-female' personality.)
M'gann blushed daintily. "Yeah. I guess that's it."
"How're you holding up?" Clark asked. He was still reeling from all that Bruce had told him and he'd only just recently grown to know Kon-El. But Miss Martian had known him, been friends with him and come to care deeply about him for far longer. She must be just as, if not more, torn up about Kon's turn to the dark side than he was.
She glanced at him startled. "I… I'd rather, um… Thank you for your concern, sir, but I'd rather not discuss it with someone I don't know." She fidgeted uncomfortably then offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I know you must be a member of the League or at least a trusted ally since you came out of the cave, but I don't know you and you didn't know Superboy, so…"
Clark pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and suppressed an ironic smile. He had almost forgotten that at the moment he was Clark Kent and not Superman. With his spit-curl combed out of the way and his glasses on, even his most intimate friends and co-workers couldn't recognize him for the super-powered titan that he was.
"I understand." He shifted his focus back to Krypto and knelt down in front of the super-dog. "I need you to go to the farm, boy. There're more bad people coming and you gotta make sure Ma and Pa stay safe. Ya got that? Now get."
M'gann stared in confusion as the super-dog flew off to carry out to glasses-wearing stranger's command. She glanced from Krypto's retreating cape, no longer visible to her eyes, back to Clark whom just stood there smiling. It hadn't quite clicked yet.
"Wolf was so excited to see me because I smell like Kon-El." He said.
Then it clicked. Her eyes went wide. "Uncle Supes!"
He once again readjusted his glasses and offered her a self-conscious smile, then paused when he saw that she had started to cry. "M'gann?"
The martian girl shook her head and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "Its just Conner… That wasn't Conner that we met up there. He didn't act like Conner –you're gonna say it was the mind-control, I know. That's what Arty said to make me feel better. But he didn't feel like Conner either. There was nothing like Conner there on the outskirts and when I tried to get in… there was a block. He never had any barriers before. I used to think that's why he hated my telepathy, because I could just waltz in any time and he couldn't stop me. But now his barriers are iron-clad. I couldn't get in at all and I'm afraid that there's nothing of him left in there! The Conner I knew… the Conner I… my Conner…"
She broke down into sobs, burying her face in her hands.
Clark quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around the weeping girl. "Hey now." He chided her softly. "We'll get him back. After all, they tried to do the same thing to me but Batman and your uncle brought me back. We'll do the same thing to Kon-El and everything will be fine again."
This did not seem to comfort her and Clark couldn't understand why. Then again, Clark didn't really have a full grasp of the situation. Bruce had conveniently left out the bit about Clark's mind-control thing-a-ma-bobber having been located much shallower in his psyche than Conner's was. Clark had only lost a day's worth of thoughts and memories, but what would Conner louse with the psychic-receiver placed right next to the center of his Self? That was what worried M'gann. One way or another, it seemed like Conner was lost. He might as well have been dead. She explained none of this to the Superman, however.
Clark patted her back in an attempt to offer what comfort he could. He had never been very good when dealing with weeping girls. His talents laid in smashing things to make problems disappear, not offering soothing words and comforting gestures. He would call his Ma when he got back inside and ask her advice on the matter. Speaking of going back inside…
"C'mon." He said to her. "Bats says that there's gonna be a meeting in a little less than a half hour from now and we both gotta be there."
The martian girl dried her eyes. "You can call him by his name now." She said absentmindedly. "We know who he is. Unless… unless you don't know. Sorry. Hello, M'gann! It was an accident that we found out, Batman probably hasn't let anyone else know who he is."
The Team had somehow 'accidentally' learned Bruce's identity? Well, that was… new. Clark was torn between being amused that the ever-paranoid and always prepared Batman had slipped-up in some way, or deeply concerned that the ever-paranoid and always prepared Batman had slipped up in some way. It was a coin-toss. But to M'gann he said, "He didn't used to line his cowl with lead until after he met me."
She paused. Thought for a moment. Gave a snort.
"There ya go." He smiled back at her, happy to have dispelled her sorrowful mood if only a little bit. "C'mon, lets get back inside."
They reentered the cave together. Batman looked up from where he had moved back to the coffee maker to refill his cup. Clark gave him a nod as they passed, Krypto the Superdog was out of his hair. Of course, the Wolf was still here, but he wasn't quite as problematic for the Dark Knight as the kryptonian canine tended to be. At least Wolf didn't fly or shoot lazers out of his eyes. The Superman escorted Miss Martian through the cave and back into the mansion proper.
"Have you eaten?" He asked as they were passing the dinning room.
"Not hungry." She whispered.
"You should eat something." He steered the girl into the dinning room where Alfred was just refilling the buffet-style breakfast bar with hot scrambled eggs, cool sliced fruit and chilled orange juice. It was good to see that he was making sure everyone had a chance at the food before the Flashes inhaled it all. He gently pushed M'gann in the direction of the breakfast bar before turning his attention to the rest of the Leaguers that had gathered in the dinning room.
Robin had apparently risen. The little bird, much like his mentor, was not a morning person by nature and he looked irritable and snarly, snapping at anyone who tried to bother him. And Kid Flash did bother him a great deal, poking him in the arm, telling him to wake-up, look alive, rise and shine, all the while trying to snag food off his plate. Artemis look equally as irritable as Robin but had the luxury of not being the focus of the young Kid Flash's attention. Of all the kids' Team, Aqualad seemed the most composed, awake and alert.
He was the first to notice Clark after first registering M'gann's entrance, but his face showed no recognition. He didn't recognize the Superman either. Clark once again pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, pleased that his civilian disguise was so full-proof to spite being so paper-thin.
The Man of Steel had already eaten with Bruce and had no desire for a second breakfast (unlike the Flashes, he was not a hobbit mythkin). He was about to turn to leave when Hal Jordan called out to him.
"Hey! You're up!" The Green Lantern used his power-ring to materialize a giant glowing green hand twice the size of his head in the air above him. Effectively making him, and by extension Clark, the center of everyone's attention. "Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?"
The floating green hand held up two fingers in a peace sign or 'victory sign' (depending on who you ask). But the moment it had Hal raised a third finger, then lowered two, raised another three, lowered two so that he was now making the 'devil horns' hand sign, then raised another, lowered two more, raised his thumb in the 'hang loose' sign, materialized three extra fingers…
Sitting next to Hal, John Stewart's face fell into the palm of his hand.
Clark for his part refused to play along. "A brain-dead joke. Cute."
The Hawks stood and left, they had little patience for the Lantern's childish shenanigans and tomfoolery.
"You're still alright." The Lantern smiled and used the giant green hand to pull out a chair. "Come sit down."
"Naw." Clark waved off the offered seat. "I gotta track down my uniform before the meeting. I just came in here to make sure Miss Martian got some food in her."
The aforementioned Miss Martian carried a deplorably sparse selection of fruit to the table and sat next to Artemis. She lifted a slice of melon to her lips, nibbled a bit, sighed and set it back down. The fem fatal archer, for her part, seemed not to notice her friend for the moment, however, as her attention was devoted instead to trying to place the man bantering with the Lantern. He had the neatly combed hair and thick horn-rimmed glasses of a nerdy book-worm but dressed like a complete hill-billy. She couldn't for the life of her imagine which hero he could possibly be. Another civilian ally, maybe? Like Snapper Carr or Alfred?
Finally she asked, "Who are you?"
This question was met by snorts of amusement from Robin and the elder Flash.
Hal materialized a second giant green hand and clapped excitedly. "Oh, I love watching people's faces when they realize."
Clark shot the Lantern a disapproving look.
"Ooh, let me!" The Boy Wonder now suddenly seemed awake and full of energy. He stood, pulled his chair over to where Clark stood and climbed onto it so that he could approach the man's height. He ruffled his hand through the Man of Steel's hair, causing his trademark spit-curl to fall over his forehead. "Recognize him now?"
Artemis squinted. "He looks… familiar…"
The elder Flash suppressed a laugh from behind his hand. The Kid Flash likewise squinted at Clark but he showed just as little recognition as Artemis had.
"I don't really think your mentor would approve of you trying to out me like this, Robin." Clark crossed his arms over his chest.
"Sure he would." The little bird insisted. "Its only fair, after all." Then to his Team, "Seriously, you guys don't recognize him yet?"
"No…?" Wally, Artemis and Kaldur all shook their heads in a negative.
He pulled off Clark's glasses.
"Oh my god!" Both Artemis and Kid Flash leapt to their feet in surprise, jabbing fingers at the Man of Steel. "You're Uncle Supes!"
Both Lanterns snickered at the nickname.
Clark sighed. He was done. Maybe now that they'd had their fun they could all start acting like responsible heroes. The Earth was under attack after all. He pulled his glasses from Robin's loose grip and picked the boy up off the chair to place his feet back on the floor where they belonged. Chairs were for sitting, after all. "If you've had your fun I'm gonna go. I hope you all behave better at the meeting in ten."
…
Anacostia-Bolling joint Air Force Naval baseApril 2 – 9:30 am
Captain Stephen Rockwell Trevor, better know as Steve Trevor to most, suppressed the urge to yawn as he squinted up at the mid-morning sun, searching the skies for any sign of his 'Angel'. It had been early evening the previous day when Wonder Woman had called him with a quick warning to be careful and stay safe because the Earth was apparently under attack. The Earth was under attack! Well, that was nice. But a call like that should have been put through to the Pentagon, not his private cell! But before the young airman could tell him Angel this, she had hung-up, apparently having more important things to do.
Thus, it was Captain Trevor and not Wonder Woman whom had attempted to get in touch with the Secretary of Defense and it was Captain Trevor that spent well over an hour arguing on the phone with various assistants (all very skilled at saying 'no' without ever actually saying it) before he was finally transferred to an Army General. Fine. So, he wasn't the Secretary of Defense, he was still someone higher-up on the food chain than Steve was (even if he was army and not air force. Hmph.)
General Samuel Lane had been willing to listen to him. The General didn't care that he was being addressed by a mere Captain from a division of the military over which he had no direct authority, no, the good General heard the words 'Earth' and 'attack' and suddenly was all ears. He grilled Captain Trevor, asking him question after question (often the same question several times in different ways) but sadly, Wonder Woman had not said much more than just "Earth's under attack. Be careful, Steve." He did not know who the enemy was. He did not know what the enemy was. As it turned out, Steve proved rather useless.
At least, he thought he did. General Lane, on the other hand, sounded like Christmas had come early the way he ranted into the phone that he'd always been right about 'those damn aliens'. Steve had mentioned nothing about 'aliens'. Wonder Woman had mentioned nothing about 'aliens'. Where had the General gotten that idea? Captain Trevor listened a bit more about repelling the 'invasion' (Steve had said nothing of an 'invasion'), and his daughter in Metropolis (ah yes, it was widely rumored that General Lane's opinion of Superman was highly suspect), and then something called Coluan… Finally, the Captain decided to risk being rude and cut the General off.
Lane apparently had gotten the ear of the Secretary of Defense because a few hours after that conversation, all military personal both active and on leave were called back to their bases (Captain Trevor included).
That was what brought Steve to now, standing just outside the Anacostia-Bolling's mess, with a bland breakfast of eggs in his belly and a quarter night's sleep under his belt, searching the skies for a beautiful raven-haired flying woman in a strapless bathing suit and high-heeled boots. Sadly, his Angel did not float into his field of vision drifting on the current of a light breeze. No.
But something else did.
They looked like a swarm of gnats at first, or maybe bees (seeing as they were mostly yellow in color), basically some sort of unpleasant swarming insects. There was no real formation or order to them; they were just there …and quickly coming here. Was this what Wonder Woman had been talking about? Her message yesterday had been short and vague. He didn't get a chance ponder that question, however, as it was at that moment that the bases warning system leapt to life with a cornucopia of alarms and sirens that sent everyone with a pair of legs scrambling.
Steve sighed as he made a mad dash back to his barracks to exchange his uniform for a flight suit. It was as he was climbing into his fighter that he mused to himself that there was never a dull moment when you were friends with a superhero (even when she wasn't around), and today looked like it was going to be more interesting than most.
…
Batcave
April 2 – 9:30 am
Chaos.
That was Clark's first though when he stepped back into the Batcave, now wearing his Superman unitard and cape, still dryer warm and mountain scent fresh. (Although, if he had the time, Clark would have mentioned that it was not actually what mountains smelled like. Mountains smelled of pine and granite and moist fertile earth. Mountains smelled alive and strong, they did not smell like what most fabric softeners would make you believe. But, there wasn't time for that right now.)
Bruce stood in front of the Batcave's main monitor array, his chair forgotten, not taking his eyes off the screen as he listed off, "They've hit the Pentagon in Virginia, Pearl Harbor Hickam in Hawaii, and Pensacola in Florida…"
"… also Camp Pendleton in California, Point Loma also California, Yuma Arizona, and Anacostia-Bolling in District Colombia." Dick added from where he stood before another consol. At some point in the fifteen minuets since the Superman had seen him last the Boy Wonder had changed from his pajamas into his Robin costume.
"Anacostia-Bolling?" Diana echoed from somewhere off to the side where she had been coiling her lasso. "That's where-"
"Later." The Batman cut her off. "You can rush off and rescue your dude in distress after we all know the full scope of the situation."
Clark cast her a sympathetic look.
"Its not just us." John Stewart threw in from yet another consol. "Reports of attacks on mainland China and Russia."
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose beneath his mask. "Robin, pull up a map of the globe and mark every location we know of that's been targeted."
The little bird boy did as he was told and the center of the room was filled with a blue translucent hologram of the Earth. Both coasts of North America, Hawaii, the coast of China and parts of the inland and several places in Russia sported bright crimson dots, like chicken-pox. Barry Allen whistled.
"That's a lotta ground to cover."
"We split-up." Bruce growled as if this should have been obvious. "Like we always do for the wide-spread problems. This is no different from any other crisis."
The others might have missed it, but Clark could hear the tension in the Caped Crusader's voice and he knew that man did not believe his own words.
"First we repel their forces." Continued the Batman. "Then we launch our own counter offensive." He took a few moments to arrange the sixteen members of the Justice League and six five members of the Team into pairs (and one team of three for the odd one out) and assigned them a base to defend (or rather, a short list of three or four bases to defend if they could manage it), and he was kind enough to assign Anacostia-Bolling to Wonder Woman. Let it never be said that the Batman was without empathy. "Try to repel the enemy as best you can, but if you're overwhelmed just save as many people as you can. Bases can be rebuilt after this is over, people are a lot harder to replace. Keep your JLA comms on at all times and if anyone sees Superboy call me or Superman immediately!"
Taking that as a dismissal, the League and Team (sans the Dark Knight and Man of Steel) took their leave, dashing, flying, zipping and sprinting off to complete their missions.
The cave now empty but for the two men, Bruce strode over to the work table had and Clark had shared breakfast over no more than a half hour earlier. He picked up a brand new ear-bud comm-link and presented it to Clark. "Here's you're new comm. You left your old on in your Fortress."
Clark accepted it with a sheepish "Thanks" and shoved the bud in his ear.
Bruce then picked up a long coil of thin cabling and held it out for the Man of Steel. "Break this."
Clark looked confused but took the offered cable. Wrapping the end around one hand and a little around the other, the Superman pulled. The line did not snap. He pulled harder. There was a sound of strained fibers, but it still held firm. Clark gave it a third hard tug and the cable snapped in the center of where he held it. "What does that prove?"
"Could someone with two thirds your strength break that?"
Clark paused for a moment. It had been a bit of a challenge and while it hadn't hurt his hands to pull it so tightly, it did leave faint red lines on them. "Not easily…" He didn't feel comfortable giving Bruce an absolute like 'No.'
"It'll have to do." The Dark Knight grunted and, tossing the cable back onto his work table, pulled a pair of wire cutters and six small but heavy looking weights to him. After a few more minuets and some fiddling Bruce held up a bolo, six weights, three on each side, held together by a long thin cable of a flexible but heavy tensile-strength material. The perfect tool for immobilizing an opponent without causing actual harm. Bruce made two more of the bolos before carefully coiling each of them and placing them in his belt.
Speaking of the belt, Clark too a moment to study all that the Batman had added to it in response to this latest of threats to Truth, Liberty and Freedom. There were his smoke bombs, his flash bombs, his gas pellets, darts, batarangs… those were all standard. Bruce was a master of Shurikenjutsu (the martial art of throwing things to hit other things) and so most of his weapons were crafted to fit that style. In fact, Clark didn't really see anything that was overtly different, he had probably just augmented the stuff he already had, like he just did with the bolo. However, given the nature of the opponent they expected to face, Clark couldn't help but think something was missing.
"I let Robin keep the ring for now." Bruce answered his unasked question. "I can't freely use a weapon that poisons my partner as readily as my opponent."
"So, you plan to take down a kryptonian clone with flash bombs and darts?" And he thought the Batman was supposed to be smart.
"With red-flash bombs and darts tipped with your kryptonian sedative, yes." He nodded. The Batman picked-up one final item from his work table and showed it to Clark. A pair of what looked like ordinary noise-canceling headphones but with a USB port on one side, as if to connect them up to a computer like one connects an iPod or other such MP3 player. "Can I trust you to carry these onto the field and not smash them, or should I find room on my belt?"
"What is it?" Asked Clark.
"A simple portable MP3 player-headphones hybrid." Said the Caped Crusader as if this should have been obvious, which it almost kinda was, but only because the Superman was familiar with his work. "Its only got one track loaded and its set for continuous play. A kryptonian canon at the seventh in E flat."
Clark's eyes brightened. "That's for Kon-El! We're gonna turn him back!" With a smile the Man of Steel accepted the noise-canceling headphones/MP3 player and attached them to his own bright yellow belt by hanging it by the headband.
The corners of Bruce's mouth then turned downwards in a serious frown. "Clark, just to remind you, you lost a day's worth of memories after hearing that melody. Chances are-"
"I know, I know." The Superman cut him off. "Kon will probably forget more." He offered a self deprecating smile. "Heh, if I'm lucky maybe he'll even forget all the way back to how much of a negligent deadbeat I was before. That would be really convenient."
Bruce gritted his teeth. That had not been what he was going to say. He had been about to remind Clark that while his mind-control 'receiver' had been extricated from the surface most layer of his mind, Superboy's was lodge almost in his Center. That it was possible that not only would he louse all of his memories (not just most of them), but that he might also louse his mind as well. Not in the feral 'rawr Imma gonna attack everything' sort of way, but rather in the 'drooling vegetable for life' sort of way.
The Dark Knight said none of this, however. Instead he walked over to the coffee pot to drain what was left in it. He forwent the formality of a mug and just tipped the dark liquid directly into his mouth and chugged. That done, he turned to the Man of Steel and asked, "Now then… shall we join the fray?"
…