Disclaimer: I do not own YJ, they belong to DC. I own Mia!
They reached the cloning chamber and Mia was forced to sit on the ground while the others were being locked in the pods. Mia struggles against the ropes but they started chaffing her wrists so she stops. After a few minutes the boys wake up and saw Mia sitting on the ground and Superboy standing in front of them.
"What? What-what do you want?" Kid desperately asks. No response from Superboy. "Quit staring. You're creeping me out" Kid states.
"Uh, KF, how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" Robin says looking at Kid then looks at Mia "You ok?" Mia grumbles and glares at him. "Right. The tape and rope, not ok but otherwise you good?"
Mia lightly shrugs and nods. She turns to Superboy and nudges his leg with her elbow grabbing his attention. Superboy looks down and narrows his eyes at her. She grumbles and somewhat moves the tape indicating that she wants it off but he ignores her and looks back at the young heroes while Mia lets out an irritated snort.
"We only sought to help you" Aqualad states.
"Yeah. We free you and you turn on us. How's that for grat-"
"Kid, please, be quiet. I believe our new friend was not in full control of his actions."
"Wha-what if I" he clears his throat "What if I wasn't?"
"He can talk?" Kid exclaims.
"Yes he can" Superboy angrily says.
They look at Wally and he responds with "Not like I said, it."
"Kid, you're an idiot" Mia thought glaring at him. She struggles against her restraints and grabbing Kid's attention.
"Hey Supey, how about taking off that tape from my friend's mouth?"
Superboy looks down at her again stating "No" she glares at him "You talk too much."
Mia gasps and starts 'yelling' at him but everything she was saying was muffled by the tape, although the boys had an idea on what she was saying by the way she's struggling and glaring at Superboy.
"Hey Mia" she looks to Robin "I wouldn't tick him off anymore."
Mia ignores Robin's warning and continues to glare at the clone.
"The genomorphs taught you telepathically" Aqualad concludes.
"They taught me much. I can read, write. I-I know the names of things" Superboy explains.
"But have you seen them? Have they ever actually let you see the sky? Or the sun?" Robin reasons.
"Images are implanted in my mind, but no. I have not seen them."
"Do you know what you are, who you are?" Aqualad asks.
"I am the Superboy, a genomorph a clone made from the DNA of the Superman. Created to replace him should he perish…to destroy him should he turn from the light" Superboy explains and the four of them were stunned.
"Dude that's dark" Mia thought as she looks at him.
"To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration. But like Superman you deserve a life of your own" Aqualad starts.
"That's what I've been saying but does anyone listen? No of course they don't" Mia thought as she grumbles "Will someone please take this tape off my mouth?!" she looks to the boys glaring at them but they ignore her for the time being.
"Beyond that solarsuit. Beyond your pod. Beyond Cadmus" Aqualad finishes.
"I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!"
"Your home is a test tube. We can show you the sun" Robin reasons.
"Uh, pretty sure it's after midnight but we can show you the moon" Kid offers.
"What?! It's after midnight?! Oh man Mr. Rogers is going to flip!"
"For starters the person next to you is a girl named Mia. She likes drawing and making sarcastic remarks" Kid gestures to Mia.
Superboy once again looks down at her. She looks up at him with a pleading look to take off the tape and reluctantly he did. Superboy peels it off with a snap of his wrist and Mia lets out a sigh of relief.
"Than-Ow!" she felt the sting "Holy mother of pearl! God Bless America that hurt! Try being a little more gentle next time ok?"
"Don't make me tape your mouth again" Superboy threatens.
"Ok, ok don't have to tell me twice."
Mia got comfortable as she could on the hard floor and sends the boys a smug look without uttering a single word to them.
"We get it Mia, our bad" Kid comments and she gives him a cheeky grin.
"We can show you, introduce you to Superman" Aqualad offers.
However, their conversation was cut short by Desmond when he walks in.
"No, they can't."
"The hell they can't" Mia turns to look back at Desmond "Great to see you again Dr. 'I Slap Like A Girl'. Did you improve your slap? I hope you did cause then I can bump you up to Dr. 'I Can Slap Harder Than A Girl'."
"Are we related?" Kid asks Mia "This guy slapped her? He's going down."
She quickly glances at him "I'm pretty sure that we're not related Kid. Trust me."
"Excuse me" Desmond spoke.
Mia looks back at Desmond "Sorry, you're not excused."
He growls "Who said that you're allowed to talk?!"
"I did! Now let us go peacefully and no one gets hurt" Mia calmly threatens.
Desmond laughs at her threat then looks to Guardian "Knock her out."
Guardian follows his orders and walks right up Mia. She sends him a hard glare "Tch. Looks like you are a villain" and that was the last thing she said before he knocks her out.
The boys yell out "NO!" as they saw her limp body fall to the ground. Desmond walks over to her and takes a good look at Mia thinking "She's perfect for the next experiment" he looks up to his assistant "Activate the cloning process."
"Pass. Batcave's crowded enough" Robin retorts "We'll save you Mia."
"And get that weapon back in its pod! Take the girl with you as well!"
"Hey, how can he gets to call Supey an it?" Kid sarcastically asks "Just hang on Mia."
Guardian walks up to Superboy placing a hand on his shoulder but Superboy shrugs it off.
"Help us" Aqualad states "Mia we will get you out of here, you have my word."
"Don't start thinking now" Desmond's G-gnome lands on Superboy's shoulder and instantly becomes under mind control. "See you're not a real boy."
"Mia would've made a witty remark about that" Kid thought listening in on the conversation.
"You're a weapon and you belong to me! Well to Cadmus, same thing. Now get back to your pod! And take the girl out of here!" Desmond orders.
Superboy follows his orders. He picks Mia up and carries her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes then walks out of the cloning chamber. The cloning process began and while their blood was being extracted, Aqualad whispers knowing that Superboy is able to hear him.
"Superboy, you live. That gives you the right to follow your own path. A weapon or a person the choice is yours but ask yourself, what would Superman do?"
Aqualad stopped talking after that because he was in too much pain from the painful DNA extraction.
Superboy runs back to the chamber, setting Mia down gently and rips the door open causing the extraction process to halt. After tossing the door off to the side, he puts Mia back over his shoulder and knocks Desmond, Guardian and Dubbilex out of the way.
"Don't give me orders" he stares at Desmond.
That's when Mia starts to stir and groggily wakes up "Wha-what's going on?" she winces when she felt pain flare up on the side of her head "And why does my head hurt?"
"Mia you're alright!" Kid exclaims.
"Kid? You guys good?"
"Yeah you can say that."
"Good. Hey um Superboy?"
"What?" he snaps at her.
"Think you can put me down and untie me? Just a suggestion is all. I don't think they appreciate looking at my butt, well maybe Kid considering who his mentor is."
"Hey!" Kid yells.
Superboy lets her down and unties her. She gently rubs her wrists "Thanks" and all she got in response was a grunt.
"You here to help us or fry us?" Kid asks.
Superboy stares at him for a few seconds "Huh, I don't seem to have heat vision, so I suppose helping is my only option."
Mia lets out a chuckle at the tone Superboy was using. Robin gets out of his restraints and Mia rushes over to him pulling him into a bone crushing hug.
"Mia can't breathe" he struggled to say.
"Sorry" she lets go "I'm just glad you guys are alright."
"Yeah yeah" he rubs his wrists "Ahh. Finally! Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long."
"Seriously, that's what you're worried about? The whole League will have our heads after tonight" Kid stating the obvious.
"I don't even want to think about what they'll do to me" Mia gave her two cents.
Robin walks over to the control panel and presses a button that opens the pods. He looks to Superboy "Free Aqualad. Mia and I'll get Kid Mouth."
"Don't you give me orders either."
"It's more like a friendly suggestion" Mia offers.
All three of them went to work in freeing Aqualad and Kid Flash. Once they did, all five of them run past Desmond and the others. As they run past them, Desmond spoke "You, you'll never get out of here. I'll have you back in pods before morning."
"Yeah good luck with that Dezzy" Mia retorts.
"That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all" Robin states after throwing bombs at the containers filled with their blood.
"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" Kid asks.
They run down the hall trying to escape. As they turned the corner Aqualad states "We are still 42 floors below ground but if we can make the elevator."
They stopped when G-trolls blocked their path to the elevator and when they turned around some of the bubbles glowed red. G-elves started to come out of them.
"Are those supposed to do that?" Mia asks.
"I do not believe so" Aqualad answers.
"Great" she sarcastically said.
"You positive that we're not related?" Kid asks again.
"Yes Kid! I'm absolutely positive that we are not related."
The G-trolls were the first to attack and missed the heroes. Kid grabs Mia and carries her bridal style as they get away from the G-trolls but Superboy stays behind to fight them.
"Superboy, the goal is escape not to bury ourselves here" Aqualad yells out.
"You want escape?" Superboy angrily asks then throws a G-troll into the others.
"Well that's one way" Mia mutters.
"Got that right. Hang on" Kid states.
"You got it."
Soon all of them run to the elevator doors. Aqualad opens the door again with his bare hands and all four look up the shaft. Kid sets Mia down and Robin grabs hold of her waist as the both of them are propelled upwards by Robin's grappling hook. Mia looks up as Superboy and Aqualad pass by but soon they start to fall.
"Oh no!"
Robin throws a bird-arang into the wall and Aqualad grabs onto it.
"Superman can fly. Why can't I?" Superboy sounded so heartbroken.
"Don't know but it still looks like you can leap buildings in a single bound. Still cool" Kid says.
That earned him a kiss on the cheek from Mia. As soon as he opened his mouth, Mia talks before he does.
"That was for being sweet. And no, you're not getting one on the lips."
She helps Superboy down then he turns to Aqualad saying "Ahh. Thank you."
"Oh he said 'Thank you'. Our little boy is growing up" Mia pretends to wipe away a tear.
"Guys, this will have to be our exit" Robin exclaims as the elevator closes in on them.
Superboy punches the door and they got in just in time as the elevator sped by them. Unfortunately, the G-elves started to run after them and they ran down the hall to their left.
"Go left! Left!" Superboy said and they followed his directions "Right!" then they end up in a dead end.
"Great directions, Supey. You trying to get up re-podded? Ow!" Kid yells rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't yell at him like that!" Mia chides.
"No. I, I don't understand" Superboy says.
"Don't apologize. This is perfect!" Robin exclaims looking like a little kid opening presents.
"I'm not liking the look on your face Rob" Mia states.
Soon Robin takes down the grate and hops in the vent with Aqualad following him.
"Can someone give me a hand?" Mia asks and Kid gently claps "Hardee har har" then he does actually help her up into the vent. He goes in right after her and finally Superboy goes in as well. As they crawl through the vents, Kid starts complaining "Ah, at this rate, we'll never get out."
"Shh. Listen" Superboy warns.
That's when they heard the growls of the G-elves.
"Oh boy" Mia states.
"Go! Go!" Aqualad orders.
They started crawling as fast they as they could. Finally reaching a grate, Robin knocks it down and they got out as quick as they could. The team was able to stretch out their backs.
"Man, that's gotta be rough on your back" Mia rubs her lower back.
"I hacked the motion sensors" Robin claims.
"Sweet" Kid states.
"Still plenty of them between us and out."
"But I've got finally got room to move" Kid said excitedly as he rushes through the door leading to the stairs.
"I swear someone needs to put a leash on that boy" Mia retorts.
"You got that right" Robin agrees.
"Hey" Superboy gets on one knee in front of Mia.
"WHOA!" he gives her a weird look "Look Superboy, I'm flattered but I don't think now is the time to pull this out on me. I mean we just met like 20 minutes ago."
"Shut up and get on my back."
Mia shrugs "Ok."
She hops on his back and they made their way up the stairs. They noticed some of the G-elves were passed out along the stairs which meant that Kid's been through here.
"You know that I was just joking right?"
"I know."
"Good. And just an fyi, if you ever propose to a girl you have to get my approval and blessing first got it?"
"Yeah whatever."
As the duo continue to make their way up the stairs Robin shouts "More behind us."
Superboy stops and smashes the stairs behind him with his foot causing it to collapse. Mia looks over his shoulder muttering "Nice job."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Now going back to the proposal idea…"
"Oh god" Superboy mutters.
Apparently Mia was very serious about Superboy proposing to a girl in the future. After much debate they had finally settled that Mia is unofficially officially Superboy's 'Legal Guardian', she'll be planning the wedding, as well as the godmother of any and all of his future children, plus she gets to name the first born child. They continue their trek to sub-level one and when they reached the floor, Mia leap frogs over Superboy landing in front of him and ran with the others. Just as they turned the corner, she hears a loud thump and thought "That's gotta hurt."
"We're cut off from the street" Aqualad states.
"Thanks. My head hadn't noticed" Kid sarcastically remarks.
"Kid, shut up" Mia retorts.
She helps him up while Superboy and Aqualad try to open the door and Robin tries to hack the system but neither option were working.
"Can't hack this fast enough" he stops when he notices G-trolls were coming at them and kicks open a door "This way!"
They followed him but they end up surrounded by all types of genomorphs.
"Oh great" Mia mutters.
Suddenly the G-gnomes' horns started to glow red and the boys fall unconscious while Mia still stands.
"Guys?" she looks around and got in a fighting stance "If I'm going down, then I'm going down swinging." Mia notices Dubbilex walking towards them "What did you do to them?! What do you want?!"
"Relax child. We do not wish to harm you. I would like to extend gratitude towards you for believing that we have a choice in how we live our lives."
"How'd you know I said that?"
"We have many ears" Dubbilex gestures to the G-gnomes.
"Why you little sneaks" she thought looking at the G-gnomes.
"But I am curious as to why you are not being affected by our telepathic abilities" Dubbilex curiously wonders.
"Guess I have a hard head" "Why am I not on the ground unconscious?" "So you're here to help us?"
"We'll see what Superboy has to say."
Mia looks at Superboy and saw that he was awake but he didn't speak and neither did Dubbilex. "They must be having a psychic conversation."
"What's going on?" Guardian asks like he had just woken up.
Soon Aqualad wakes up as well.
"I…choose…freedom" Superboy confidently states.
"Feels like fog lifting" Guardian comments.
"Feel better?" Mia gently asks giving him a small smile.
"Yes and I'm sorry for what I've done to you."
"It's ok, you weren't yourself. Glad to see you are a hero after all."
Guardian smiles at her. Soon Robin and Kid were up and ready to go.
"Guardian?" Aqualad asks.
"Go. I'll deal with Desmond."
"I think not" Desmond appears and the genomorphs parted like the Red Sea to let him pass "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus."
Desmond held a vial of blue liquid and drank it. Slowly he turns into a creature and when he finished transforming, parts of his old skin were still attached to him.
Mia declared "Oh that is so wrong."
"Everyone back" Guardian orders.
He attacked the creature but got flung off to the side. Superboy goes after it and they begin to fight. After a few minutes of fighting, the creature takes Superboy with him through the ceiling and continues to fight while the others were still on sub-level one.
"Okay. That's one way to bust through the ceiling" Robin comments.
"Yeah no kidding" Mia retorts.
"You think lab coat planned that?" Kid asks.
"I doubt he is planning anything anymore" Aqualad turns to look at Mia "Stay here."
"The hell I am. I'm going with you guys!"
"This is not for debate, you are staying here."
And with that Aqualad jumps through the hole leaving Mia behind.
"There's no way in hell that I'm staying down here" she looks to Dubbilex smiling "Take care of Guardian."
"We will."
"Oh before I go" she pulls out her book and pulls out the sketches of him and a G-troll then hands the drawings to him "Keep them. I know they're not much but I thought you would like to have them."
Dubbilex looks at the drawings and smiles "We shall treasure them. What is your name child?"
"Mia."
"Thank you Mia."
"Your welcome" and she gives him a quick hug.
When she lets go he quickly says "Mia" she turns around "It is strange for someone to not be affected by psychic powers however it is even stranger for a telepath to not hear someone's thoughts. Why is it that I cannot hear your thoughts?"
"You tell me" she shrugs "Maybe I've got a really hard head" Mia turns back and went to walk in front of a G-troll saying "Hey think you can give me a lift big guy?"
The G-troll opens his hand and Mia hops on. It raises it's hand then once Mia was close to the hole, he tosses her through it. She lands just after Superboy was knocked out of the way.
"Mia watch out!"
She turns just in time to see the Blockbuster creature slapping her out of the way and into a wall. "Okay…that one hurt" then she falls to the ground. Robin rushes to her aid while the others fight the creature.
"You ok?"
"I think so" she places a hand to where her head wound is then she notices something sticky, she lowers her hand seeing blood "Well that's not good."
"Just hold on and stick by me."
"No argument there."
They ran to the other side of the room. Robin leaves her for a second to throw bird-arangs at the creature but it deflected them. Soon the creature's attention went back to Superboy and starts punching him then Aqualad intervenes only to be thrown on the floor yelping in pain. Kid races to punch it but it grabs his arm and tosses him into Aqualad causing the both of them to fall back to the ground.
"I got to do something" "Yo. Dr. 'I Slap Like A Girl!" it turns around "Yeah you! That slap was nothing! You didn't improve at all doc, it still felt a little bit on the weak side."
The creature growls at her and starts charging at her.
"Mia!" the boys yelled.
"I've got this guys! Don't worry about me" she stood her ground.
When the Blockbuster creature was on its way, she started to run towards him. Once the two were just a foot apart Mia teleports them and reappear just below the ceiling. It tries to grab her but she kicks it in the stomach and teleports away allowing the creature to fall. The force of the impact it made should've caused it to pass out but it didn't, in fact it barely fazed it while Mia appears next to Kid with a soft thump. Kid groggily gets up and notices Mia leaning up against the pillar behind them.
"You alright?"
"Yeah but I guess my plan didn't work" she notes that the creature was still up and attacking Aqualad.
"Hey it was worth a shot."
"You're right."
"KF, Mia get over here!" Robin shouts.
Mia grabs onto Kid as they made their way to Robin. After showing them the plan he asks "Got it?"
"Got it."
"Yep."
"Go!"
Kid went to do his job while Mia stayed behind to help Robin.
"How's the head?"
"Still hurts but nothing I can't handle."
"Good. Superboy, Aqualad!" and he shows them the plan. Mia looks up to see Kid getting beaten to a pulp.
"Kid!"
"I'm alright!"
"This one and that one" Robin orders Aqualad and Superboy.
They did their job as well as Robin. Once the creature was electrocuted by Aqualad's power, Robin set the chargers and yells "Move!"
When the chargers went off, the building started to collapse around them. The creature got hit by an avalanche of concrete while Superboy covers Robin and Aqualad covers Kid but no one got to Mia. As the building settled, Superboy tosses a boulder away and they stood up.
"We…did it" Aqualad said breathing heavily.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Robin asks then high-fives Kid and both wince in pain at the contact.
"Where's the girl?" Superboy wonders and the boys had grim looks on their faces.
"Mia?!"
Robin notices Mia's shredded blue plaid shirt on the ground. After close examination, there wasn't any blood on it and he internally sighs in relief but the question remained; where was Mia?
"Mia where are you?!" he shouts.
"A little help!" everyone heard and started looking around "Up here!" they look up to see Mia free falling. Before they could do anything to help, Mia ends up falling on top of Robin and Kid.
"Sorry guys."
"It's not your fault" Robin says.
"Yeah, we're used to girls falling for us" Kid comments.
"You know, I'm so tired that I'm going to let that one slide."
She rolls off of them and they helped her up. All three of them lean against each other for support.
"See? The moon" Kid said to Superboy and all of them look up at the moon.
"It sure is beautiful tonight" Mia comments.
Before another word was spoken, they saw a figure flying towards them. As the figure got closer they saw that it was Superman.
"Oh. And Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?" Kid states.
Suddenly members of the Justice League started appearing around them. Finally Batman walks to stand next to Superman and waited to see what would happen. "Wow, I've got to sketch this later" Mia thought as she took in all of the members' presence. She watches Superboy walk towards Superman and when he lifts up part of his suit showing the symbol, a look of shock was shown on his face.
"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asks.
"He doesn't like being called an it" Kid chimes in.
"I'm Superman's clone" Superboy's comment sent a shock wave through all members of the League.
"Just shout it to the heavens why don't ya" Mia mutters knowing fully well that Superboy and Superman can hear her.
"Start talking" Batman orders.
Soon they told him everything that happened from Mia to now. Batman looks at Mia after the explanation then left to talk with the other mentors. Superman walks to Superboy having a quick conversation then leaves in a hurry.
"Well isn't he father of the year" Mia retorts.
"Cadmus will be investigated all 52 levels but let's make one thing clear-" Batman was cut off by Flash.
"You should have called."
"End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, involved a civilian and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."
"What?!" all eyes turned to Mia as she made her way to the front of the group and points at Batman "I've got a bone to pick with you buddy."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. How dare you treat them like this. They were only doing what you guys taught them! They are not sidekicks, today they're heroes and they did what they thought was right. If they hadn't done this then who knows what Cadmus would've done to Superboy and what else they had planned to do. You should be grateful that they did the mission and completed it with the Blockbuster creature in custody and Superboy being freed from Cadmus' hold."
"Mia…." Robin started to say but got quiet when she glared at him then continued.
"And another thing!" she walks up to Batman and glared right at him "The least you can do is congratulate them on a job well done."
There was a moment of silence, everybody was too stunned to do or say anything about what was happening. A civilian having a stare down with "The Batman" and told him off. Everyone can agree on a single thought "This girl is not to be messed with."
After a few more seconds of silence Batman asks "Would you like to say anything else?"
"Yes. Can I get some medical attention? My head is bleeding."
Mia got her head wound treated while the boys continued to talk with their mentors.
"I am sorry, but we will" Aqualad states.
"Aqualad, stand down" Aquaman orders.
"Apologies, my king, but no." Aquaman was shocked but allowed his protégé to continue. "Mia is right, we did good work here tonight the work you trained us to do. Together on our own we forged something powerful, important."
"If this is about your treatment at the Hall the three of you-" Flash starts.
"The five of us and, it's not" Kid states.
"Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us or why teach us at all?" Robin reasons.
"Didn't I just say that?" Mia wonders as she makes her way back to the boys with her wound bandaged "I swear all of you people have very poor listening skills."
"Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple. Get on board or get out of the way" Superboy states.
All five of them stare down the entire League aka mostly Batman. Batman slightly nods and the Team had a quick celebration until Batman walks and stands right in front of Mia. She looks back at him with the same intensity and doesn't back down.
"Yes?"
"You're coming with me."
"As if. Look I've got a place not too far from here and I can totally make it."
"It wasn't a suggestion."
"Neither was what I said" Batman sighs "Is there anything else I can do for you Batman?"
"No."
"Good. C'mon Superboy" she grabs his hand.
"Where do you think you're taking him?"
"Back to my place" Batman glares at Mia and she sends one back "I'm not letting you guys take him someplace that will make him feel like he's not welcomed. We'll lay low for a few days until you contact us. Now if you'll excuse me, I do believe that I'm not the only one here who needs a hot shower and a good meal" Mia struts away with Superboy in tow who's very confused on what just happened.
When the two of them left, the others waited to see how Batman was going to react and his reaction shocks everyone; he gives a very small smile and an even smaller chuckle. He looks to Robin who instantly answers his unspoken question.
"Amelia Ramires, the painter" Batman nods and Robin continues "She has powers. Teleportation."
Feeling satisfied, Batman heads back to the Batmobile with Robin right behind him. Some of the other Leaguers lingered behind still completely shocked on what they had just witnessed.
"Did that just happen?" Flash asks.
"Yes, yes it did. Mia's awesome isn't she?! I swear I think we're related. You should've heard all of her witty and sarcastic remarks tonight" Kid exclaims.
"I can't believe a little girl stood up to the big bad Dark Knight twice and survives the Batglare three times. Do you think she's related to Batman?" Green Arrow wonders.
"Sorry G.A. but she's not. Mia is too happy and snarky to be related to Batman. That's why I still think that she's related to me" Kid answers.
"We should not underestimate her" Aquaman comments.
"You are right, my king, no one should underestimate Mia. There is something about her that I do believe will cause problems to those who do underestimate her" Aqualad mentions and everyone nods in agreement.
Mia and Superboy ended up walking back to her place for one main reason: she's too tired to use her powers. When they reached the front door of the building, Mia looks back at Superboy with a tired smile.
"Don't say anything and just follow my lead."
"Ok."
She opens the door. As soon as they reached the front desk, Mia was enveloped in a tight embrace.
"Oh thank God you're alright Mia" Mr. Rogers exclaims.
Mia laughs a little "Of course I'm ok Mr. Rogers. I told you not to worry about me, you know that it raises your blood pressure."
He lets go taking a good look at her and gasps in horror. Mia looked like she went through hell and back: her braided chocolate brown hair is disheveled, a bandage around her head, cuts and bruises on practically every inch on her tan body, her torn denim shorts had gotten more tears in it, her favorite blue short sleeved plaid shirt was gone, her white tank top covered in dirt and shredded throughout and finally a small cut above her left eyebrow as well as being barefooted. Mr. Rogers looks at Superboy suspiciously.
"Who's he?"
"Oh that's my cousin. He's visiting from Boston."
"Why does he look just as bad as you?"
"Tackle football with some friends of ours" Mia lied through her teeth.
"Where's his luggage?"
"You know he just decided to surprise me today and didn't bring anything with him. He's just going to be staying here for a few days, that's all. Mr. Rogers can he borrow something to sleep in? Please."
"Only for you Mia. I'll be right back" Mr. Rogers left for a few minutes giving the duo a small window to talk.
"Mr. Rogers?"
"I'll explain when we get to my place."
Mr. Rogers comes back with a pair of pajamas and hands them to Superboy "They should fit, these belonged to my son. Both of you seem like the same size."
"Thanks Mr. Rogers. See ya later!" Mia grabs Superboy's hand and takes him to the elevator.
She presses the button for the third floor and patiently waits for the elevator to reach their destination. Once it reached the third floor, the duo walks out and turns right then stops two doors down from the elevator. Mia unlocks the front door and steps in softly saying "I'm home" knowing that she'll get no response. Superboy follows her in and gives her a weird look.
"I'll explain everything, just let me shower first. There's a second bathroom down the hall first door on your left, a bedroom right across from the bathroom and my room is at the end of the hall. Knock yourself out" Mia told him.
Both took a nice hot shower they desperately needed. After the shower they went back to the living room and Mia explains (almost) everything to Superboy. There are some things that she just can't talk about. When Mia finished explaining the situation, Superboy looked sad like he was sorry for everything that happened to her.
"So you're only 17?" she nods "Why aren't you in school?"
"I was in school but something happened and I just didn't go back. But I'm ok now" she forces a smile.
"No you're not" her smile drops "That's why you joke around and make those snarky comments. You don't want people to see the real you."
"I guess the cat's out of the bag. Look the reason why I do this is so people don't look at me like I'm some fragile piece of glass that they should tread carefully around. If I show them the real me then they'll want answers and I just can't give them out just yet. So that's why I act the way I do plus I learned a few moves from a buddy of mine, taught me to defend myself."
"Who?"
"Secret."
"Fine."
"C'mon lets get to bed. I'm done for the day."
Mia gets up and Superboy follows her lead. As each of them reached their rooms, Mia looks over her shoulder saying "Night Superboy" and smiles when he responds.
"Night Mia."
A few days had passed and everyone was called to meet Batman in Mount Justice. Mia just stared wide eyed and mouth ajar as she takes in the beauty that is the inside of Mount Justice. "I seriously need to sketch this pronto" she thought looking around.
"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight you'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions" Batman states.
"Real missions?" Robin asks.
"Yes, but covert."
"Cool" Mia smiles.
"The League will still handle to obvious stuff. There's a reason why we have these big targets on our chest" Flash says pointing to his chest.
"But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly" Aquaman states.
"The six of you will be that team" Batman starts.
"Cool! Wait. Six?" Robin asks.
Robin, Kid and Mia look back to see a girl with green skin walking in with Martian Manhunter.
"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece. Miss Martian" Batman finishes.
"Hi" she said.
"Yes, I'm not the only girl on the Team!" Mia exclaims and rushes over to hug her who awkwardly hugs her back.
"Nice to meet you?"
"Oh my bad sorry" Mia sheepishly laughs then looks back to the boys.
"Liking this gig more every minute" Kid states "Um, welcome aboard. I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Aqualad and Mia. It's cool if you forget their names."
"Shut up Kid" Mia retorts.
"Wow she could be related to Iris" Flash thought watching the interaction between Kid and Mia.
"I'm honored to be included" Miss Martian said.
Soon Robin, Aqualad and Kid walk over to have a conversation with Miss Martian. Mia was about to join them but she felt a pair of eyes staring at the back of her head. When she turned around, she wasn't surprised to see that it belonged to Batman. She walks over to him and waits for him to speak but he doesn't so she starts the conversation.
"What can I do for you Batman?"
"I need you to stay here for a few days to monitor your abilities."
"Ok but I'll have to notify my super."
"Already done."
"Perfect! Now all I need is a name and a suit."
"Later but for now you are to remain here. Is that understood?"
"Crystal" she smiles at him and returns to the group.
"Hey Superboy come meet Miss M" Robin states.
Superboy does end up coming over to meet her. Mia went to stand next to Aqualad as Superboy stands in front of Miss Martian. She changes the color of her shirt.
"I like your t-shirt" and Superboy smiles.
"You got him to smile. You actually got him to smile. I've been trying the past three days to get Mr. Pouty Face here to smile! I thank you Miss Martian" Mia bows dramatically.
"Ok she is definitely related to either me or Kid" Flash thought.
"Your welcome?"
"Don't mind Mia, you'll get used to her" Robin states.
His statement earned him a slap to the back of the head from Mia as well as an insult. "Shut it Short Stack" and he quickly glares at her. Then the four of them look to Aqualad.
"Today is the day."
In an undisclosed location, a meeting was taking place.
"Can the Light afford to leave Guardian in charge without the G-gnomes?" a voice said.
"We have subtler means of control. What concerns me is the children. We now know the League is willing to employ young heroes to do their dirty work. That's a dark twist" a second voice said.
"Yes, but one that can be played to our advantage. Even the temporary loss of the weapon may prove useful. Eventually everyone sees the Light" a third voice spoke.