Hello there, and welcome to another chapter of The Chimera! Now, onto the reviews!

Death Fury, Red Eyes. B God & Raidentensho: Glad you all think that I'm doing a good job writing!

Raidentensho: Neither one of the Crock daughters have any romantic intentions, all references are those that I know of, and more of the classic 10 will appear later!

Coast City, Oregon

August 3rd, 2010 5:24 PDT

The ever so memorable theme of Fargo (the movie, the TV show that doesn't exist yet) coming from my phone wakes me from my sleep. I immediately grab my phone, wondering what's going on that requires Batman to call me at this hour of the morning. Picking up, I hear "There's an unknown android copying the powersets of League members. Do you have anything?"

I yawn. "Hello to you too. Does the android have elf ears and green pants?"

"Yes."

I sigh. "The name's AMAZO and it's the unfortunately alive Ivo's masterpiece. Keep any very powerful League members away from the thing regardless of what powers they have, make sure to limit whoever does join, and make sure that Zatara and Captain Marvel just stays away from it entirely. I'm not sure if he can copy magic, but best to be on the safe side. We don't want a hell lord making deals with supervillains just because of a hunk of villainous scrap metal."

"Agreed. I'll inform the others of your recommendations."

And with that, he hangs up. Does he really needs to have the last word? No wonder many Bruce Waynes have a tumultuous relationship with the rest of their vigilante families.

Pushing aside those thoughts for now, I put my phone on my bedstand and try to fall asleep for a few minutes before deciding the effort isn't worth it. I immediately change from my pyjamas to my civilian clothes consisting of pants and a t-shirt of me in my Chimera uniform raising the Omnitrix up with my original ten coming out of the Omnitrix. If it weren't for Wayne Enterprises owning the merchandise rights to pretty much every Justice League hero and their proteges forever, then I'd probably have to turn to Etsy, or worse, bootlegs. At least with Wayne Enterprises' merch, any excess money goes to funding the League and charities after profit.

Once I see myself dressed up completely, I grab a pair of socks and put those on before I head downstairs and make myself a breakfast sandwich and a cup of black tea. After I finish that, I brush my teeth before I leave my house, locking the doors.

Seeing that there's nothing better to do, I immediately jog to the practice zone to do some practice with Shockhenge. After doing some research on electricity (because knowledge is power, knowing is half the battle, et cetera, et cetera), I discovered that plasma's created through electrically charged gas, and I want to see if I can replicate it. While I can practice at the Cave, I feel that doing so could bar me from further doing so unless I'm supervised. After all, I want to create what the sun is making.

After reaching the practice zone and making sure that nobody's around me, I immediately dial in Shockhenge and push down the core. After the transformation ends, I yell out "Shockhenge!".

As soon as I finish my transformation, I immediately try to shoot plasma, only to get blue bolts of electricity. I continue attempting to shoot plasma, only to get more bolts of electricity. Maybe if I were to concentrate the electricity, then would I get plasma?

Eventually deciding to concentrate the electricity into a beam, I smile as blue plasma just launches out of my hand for a bit. I let it just stay in a little ball until the beep beep beep of the Omnitrix signals my time is up. With a sigh, I glance at the Omnitrix's digital clock and I see that the time is 6:36 AM.

Once I check to see that nobody saw me detransform (can't help but to be on the safe side), I decide to practice with Construct once I finish recharging. After I transformed, I yell out "Construct!" before I make a drill with my hands, or try to, given the snapping sound my left arm makes when I try to spin it around. Seeing that the drill idea's a bust really irritates me, but I can't really do anything about it so I go to plan B: Shovel arms, which do work. I try other things such as hammer arms and shield arms before I detransform again. Seeing that it's now 6:56, I decide to head back and call training off for the rest of the day. Or that's what I would say if I didn't see Connor land down right next to me in his supersuit.

"Connor! What brings you here?" I ask.

"I need you to teach me."

I tilt my head and I question him in the most confusing tone I can make. "Teach you what? Your genomorph education is pretty top notch for sciences, mathematics and humanities last time somebody checked."

A frustrated "Teach me how to use my powers." is all I get as a response.

"Okay, just give me a moment to dial in Solarion." Connor grunts, which I take as permission to continue. Once done with turning into Solarion, I ask Connor "What do you need help with?"

"Heat vision and my senses."

I frown. "Didn't you use heat vision at Santa Prisca?"

Connor clicks his tongue. "I have no idea how I did it, which is why I'm asking you!" Deep breaths follow as I take in that.

Stroking my chin, I think of a metaphor to use as a way to express heat vision. "Okay, so first off, imagine a form of energy flowing through your body. That is your power. Now, imagine that energy leaving your body through your eyes. That's heat vision."

"...really?"

"Really. That's how it works. You can control the temperature of your heat vision by increasing the output of energy coming out of your eyes."

I get a grunt in response before Connor's eyes glow red and hit me in my left shoulder. Wincing in pain, I go "Good job. Next time, make sure that you don't aim at people. Seriously, you could kill somebody with it." And aren't we lucky that it hasn't happened yet.

"Sorry. I was angry."

"...Alright, what happened? You need something to happen for you to get this angry."

"Superman." is all I get as a response. As soon as I process that, I check the news and I see various headlines saying something to the extent of 'SUPERMAN SCOLDS MYSTERIOUS SUPERBOY AFTER SAVING A BUS OF KIDS'. Of course Clark would berate Connor harshly despite his inexperience. I may not have been violated like he has, but it's annoying for Clark to pretend Connor doesn't exist at all. He has to live with what happened, yes, but that doesn't make him in the right to push Connor away because Connor wants to know his good dad.

Pushing those thoughts away, I go back to my lessons. "So you've got the hang of heat vision, correct?"

"Correct."

"That's good. Now, let's move to supersenses. You ready?"

"Sure. How do I increase my hearing?"

"That's simple. Channel that energy into your ears and just listen to the world around you. What do you hear?"

Connor closes his eyes. "I hear cars, animals, voices, electricity, and movement. I can hear a man talking about his wife to his friends in a Pizza Hut. I hear a woman getting drunk just as soon as she wakes up. I hear many other things.."

"Good. Now, let's practice some more. Can you focus on a single noise source?"

Connor closes his eyes. "Yeah. It's a bit hard, though."

"I know. Just focus on that noise. Let nothing else distract you such as this." And with that, I whistle loudly at Connor, knowing that he hasn't trained to consciously induce auditory exclusions. Pain in the ass to master but worth it to avoid having superhearing exploited against me. God, I'm such a paranoid superhero.

Before I can self reflect on my preparations, Connor finishes screaming in pain. "Argh!" He grabs me by the neck. "What was that for?!".

"Training. You need to learn how to focus and to manage your anger. Speaking of which, go see Black Canary for therapy sessions. They help!"

"Why should I?"

"Because talking to a professional about your problems can make life easier. I should know. After all, I see Black Canary for therapy."

Connor looks at me like I grew a second head. "Why do you see Black Canary?"

"Just because I'm well put together doesn't mean I'm the picture of mental health. Remember my origin story?"

"What about… Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Now, shall we move onto the supersenses in the eyes?"

"Let's."

"Imagine a dial representing what your eyes perceive. Now, imagine there are these options: Normal, X-Ray, Telescopic and Microscopic. Try switching the dial to its different settings."

Amazement appears on Connor's face. "Wow. How do you deal with this?"

"With great difficulty." I smirk. "Now, do you want to get something to eat?"

"No thanks. I think I'm good. But before I go, I have to ask: how is it that you have a solid grasp on your powers?"

"I'm pretty sure the Omnitrix implants false instincts for the species I'm transformed into to make the transformations easier to use. Not sure how, but that's what's going on."

"Huh. Well, thanks again." And with that, he flies off and the Omnitrix goes into recharge mode, leaving me powerless.

"...You're welcome." Suddenly, a vworp wvorp wvorp comes from my phone. Turning it on, I see a notification saying that mandatory hand-to-hand combat training is going to begin at 13:00 EDT. Checking the time zones, I see it's currently 10:19 EDT/7:19 PDT, so I have about a few hours to kill. Now, what should I do?

I muse on future activities before I walk out of the training area and decide to walk to the park and spend some time there. Hopefully that'll clear up my mind before the combat training session.

Mount Justice

August 3rd, 2010 12:48 EDT

After a lovely walk in the park, I Zeta into the cave's locker room to change into my Chimera uniform for the Team's first hand to hand training session with Black Canary. I still remember the first time I went to therapy with her. It was surprisingly productive despite my amusement and her embarrassment upon me discussing my joy on how her EPs existed here and how I listened to them back home. Looking around, I see everybody else costumed up, ready for a mission.

"Hey Zeke!" And with that, Wally zooms over to me. "Want to play some air hockey?"

"Sure!" I smile. "Haven't played it in years!"

Wally looks at me. "Do I need to teach you or…?"

"No, I know the basics. I'm just rusty at it."

Wally smirks. "Oh, okay. Best of three?"

"You're on!"

Despite my best efforts, Wally wins all three of the games because of his superior experience and reflexes (which I am not irritated about, no matter what anybody else says). It's only upon hearing Recognized, Aqualad, B-0-2 that I perk up.

"Kaldur! How's life?" I enthusiastically ask.

I get a cryptic smirk. "Life is good right now. You?"

"Eh, I've had better mornings and I've had worse mornings."

Recognized: Robin, B-0-1

The whirring of the Zeta tubes gather everybody's attention as we wait for the brawn of the Bolsterous Brosome (Wally, despite his many faults, is more intelligent than Dick, in scientific matters.).

Robin smiles upon seeing us. "Hey everyone, how's it going?"

A chorus of positivity comes to Robin before he turns his head. "Where's SB and MM?"

Kaldur answers the question easily. "Connor has been seen flying around recently after an altercation with Superman and M'gann is coming down from her room."

As if on cue, M'gann comes levitating down the room. "Hi guys!".

"Hello, Megan." I smirk as the groans from my pun amuse me before I shrug."What? Is the pun that bad?"

Robin snaps at me. "You know just how bad that pun was!"

"Of course I knew that the pun was bad. You just couldn't tell a rhetorical question from an actual one."

"...Well played. But mark my words, I'll get you one of these days!"

"We'll see about that."

Before we can rib each other any further, the Zeta Tube whirs up and Recognized: Superboy, B-0-6 fills the hall. Connor himself is still wearing the supersuit, presumably because he's been working hard saving lives trying to avoid thinking about the disaster that happened this morning.

"Hi Connor, how was Metropolis?" M'gann asks him.

"It could've gone better." Connor replies in an even tone.

All of a sudden, we hear a sultry female voice go "So I've heard." As we turn to the corner of the room where the voice comes from, we see Martian Manhunter and Black Canary come from the shadows.

"Ready for training, everyone?" Black Canary questions.

Before anybody can say anything, M'gann rushes up to glomp her uncle. "Black Canary! Uncle J'onn!"

J'onn looks at me in fear before he lowers his head to meet his niece's eyes and puts his hand on her shoulder. "M'gann, I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting."

"A few bumps, but I'm learning."

"That's all I can ask." Okay, I can definitely see the father-daughter relationship they have and are in denial about.

Suddenly, Canary calls out "Stick around. Class is in session." before she walks to the center of the ring and turns the tiles white with a blue barrier. She prefaces her training with "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you starting from everything I've learned from my own mentors." before she takes off her jacket, revealing a part of her arm wrapped up. "And my own bruises."

"What happened?" A worried M'gann asks.

A blunt "The Job." is all we get. Inwardly, I wince. AMAZO really didn't go easy on the League, did it?

Black Canary throws away her jacket before she continues. "Now, combat is all about controlling conflict. Putting the battle on your own terms. You should always be acting, never reacting." All of a sudden, her tone becomes kinder. "I need a sparring partner."

"Right here! Yeah." An enthusiastic Wally walks up to the ring and starts flirting. "After this, I'll show you my moves." I facepalm.

Oh my god, not only are you flirting with a woman older than you, it had to be the one who is: a) a skilled martial artist b) a metahuman with a sonic scream so loud it can kill people and c) the Justice Society's metaphorical daughter who was taught by them. What made you think it was such a good idea?

The smirk on Black Canary's face is all Wally gets as a warning before he gets sweeped off the floor with a kick after blocking Canary's punch. We all wince as KID FLASHSTATUS: FAIL appears on the computer in big blocky letters.

Wally groans. "Hurts so good!"

"Good block. But did anyone see what he did wrong?"

As always, Robin is the first one to put down Wally's ego. "Ooh! Ooh! He hit on teacher and got served?"

"Dude!" I swear watching the Bolsterous Brosome is like watching the greatest comedy act ever to hit the clubs.

"He allowed me to dictate the terms-"

Connor interrupts in a condescending "Oh please." to which Canary reacts with the cliched raised eyebrow. "With my powers the battle's always on my terms. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time." You really got to put yourself down like that and take us with you?

A cocky yet justified "Prove it." is all he gets.

Wally moves back, sensing the chaos about to happen. Connor throws a punch only for Canary to dodge it and use it for a toss. Without any further notice, Connor fails.

"You're angry. Good. But don't react. Channel that anger into-". Without any further warning, Connor tries to punch Canary again only for her to flip and sweep him off his feet.

M'gann and Kaldur shoot worried looks, I wince, and Wally rubs his right arm upon seeing Connor's humiliating defeat.

"That's it! I'm done!"

Canary reminds him "Training is mandatory." and puts her hand on his shoulder only for him to push it off. Before things get more tense, a holographic screen appears with Batman to which we all walk towards.

"Batman to the Cave. Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new opponent." AMAZO. Really hope he can't duplicate the Omnitrix's... everything. That would be messy.

"Whoa. One guy with the powers of the entire League?" Wally said in shock.

"In the end it took four Leaguers two hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android? Who made it, T.O Morrow?" Robin asks in an interrogatory manner.

"Good guess, Robin. But Red Tornado and other sources-" I swear Batman looks at me for a second "-think otherwise."

Martian Manhunter says what the Leaguers and I think of the situation. "The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo."

"Ivo? But Ivo's dead!" A shocked Kaldur points out.

Black Canary turns to Kaldur. "So we all thought. Or hoped."

I then speak up with my words of wisdom. "Don't believe a villain is dead unless you have irrefutable proof. I think that goes without saying."

"Chimera is correct. To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate S.T.A.R Labs facilities in Boston and New York for further evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo-or anyone- tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

"Yes! Road trip!" Wally proclaims.

Connor shoots off a death glare and growls. "So now we take out your trash?"

"You had something better to do?" replies a snarky Batman. Huh. You never see that happening in costume.

Suddenly, my phone and Kaldur's flare out. "Co-ordinates received. On our way." We all rush to the bioship ready for takeoff.

When we enter the bioship, all eyes turn to Con-Superboy. Miss Martian, being the heart she is, asks "Superboy, why were you angry at Black Canary? She was trying to help."

"I don't need her help!"

I tsk before replying "Believe it or not, you can't rely on your powers to haul your ass out of the fire all the time. I spend a good chunk of my time with the Lanterns with some occasional help from Hawkman, Superman, and some very small advice from Martian Manhunter to work on a martial art that suits me and the Omnitrix. I can't rely on it all the time (yet), so I try to learn how to fight that isn't 'Turn to an alien and fight until victory'."

"But you're different."

Aqualad tries to calm Superboy down. "Of course he is. He's not you. And you are not Chimera."

"So you're saying be myself? That is not what we're talking about."

I sigh. "I'm saying that everybody needs to be suited to a fighting style unless they want to be subjected to unpleasurable fates."

We all grimace before I shift the conversation to a less grim yet still problematic topic. "So, what's the deal with Ivo? Why does the League fear him and hope that he's dead?"

Robin looks at me like he can't believe what I'm saying. "Shouldn't you know? After all, you've been intensely studying the League's database."

"Humor me." I reply, hoping nobody can realize that I haven't reached the letter I yet.

"It was 2006. The League received reports of a 'Composite Superman', some sort of android that looked like the bastard child of Two Face, Superman and Batman and had the combined powers and abilities of Superman, Batman, Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. It took the League 3 hours to end the threat, during which a dozen people were killed and hundreds more were injured. When Ivo was met with the League, he was glad that 'progress' was made before he initiated the self-destruct on his base, which killed a few dozen more."

Looking at Robin in horror, I reply "What the fuck was that bastard doing?"

"Trying to prove that human technology is just as good as superpowers and extraterrestrial technology."

"Christ." Overkill, much?

Eventually, we landed in Litchfield County. There are six motorcycles for us, two blue, two red and two yellow. I take one of the yellow ones and Batman walks up to us.

"Alright, There are two trucks. The one on the right is S.T.A.R Labs Boston guarded by Superboy, Miss Martian, and Chimera. The one on the left is S.T.A.R Labs Manhattan guarded by Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. Do not argue with your team placements, they have already been decided for maximum efficiency. Before we begin, do you have any questions?"

I raise my hand up.

"We will instruct you on motorcycle usage after the questions."

I lower my hand down and Kid Flash raises his hand up. "How long will this take?"

"Depends on the destination. The entire mission should take four hours counting both ends if nothing goes wrong."

Robin raises his hand up. "No Robin, you cannot stop for food, water or the bathroom. Any other questions?"

Looking around furiously, Batman sees that we have no more raised hands. "Good. Now, let us begin."

After an hour of the League's standard issue motorcycle operation course (during which, several Leaguers including Superman arrived), the two trucks finished loading up the remains of AMAZO. Superman glares at us and Superboy glares back before Superman walks away. (Note to self: Have them discuss their issues to Canary together).

We all helmet up and rev our engines while the trucks close down. "S.T.A.R Boston is a-go. S.T.A.R Manhanttan is a-go."

Batman signals us to move and we do so.

It's about a half hour before something happens. M'gann moves close to me and asks "Do you think Superboy's okay? I-I wasn't reading his mind, I swear, but anger flowed off in waves."

I ponder my answer before answering. "He needs time to cool off. He didn't get a great start to his day, and the training session hammered home whatever insecurities he has."

Speaking of the devil, Superboy comes by and growls "I am not insecure." Inside, I smirk at this confirmation, however indirect it is.

Before we can continue our discussion, black and green robot monkeys suddenly appear and cover the truck in their metallic bodies. I activate comms and announce "Team Manhanttan, our truck is under attack."

"We are also under attack!" Aqualad replies. Well shit, guess we're going to fight our way out of this. Fortunately, I know how to use voice-activiated transformations after reading the manual. "Omnitrix, initiate Galvanic Mechamorph transformation."

A green glow surrounds me as I become Upgrade. "If you think you're wonderful tech, wait 'till you get a load of me." With that, I merge with my cycle and shift it into battle mode. The front wheel of the cycle disconnects before shifting into a battle drone with miniguns, which immediately start firing on the monkeys. Seeing that it's not that helpful, I shape what remains of the motorcycle into a samurai robot.

I turn my head to Superboy. "Superboy, would you care to help us?"

"With pleasure." He grins before jumping off his cycle and onto the truck, attacking the monkeys and tearing them bit by bit. Before the cycle hits anything, I shoot a laser from my head, destroying it into a million little pieces. "Miss Martian, prepare for combat!" I say as my drone is destroyed, but not before I manage to assimilate the 'me' in the drone.

While Superboy manages to make some headway into the drones, he eventually stops due to being blinded by lasers and dropped onto the road. Miss Martian flies by and uses her telekinesis to remove the monkeys from the roof. However, the monkeys target her instead, and manage to dogpile her for a bit before she decides to grow extra arms. As for me? I create a katana out of my 'biomass', charging the blade with what constitutes for Upgrade's bioelectricity.

Despite our best efforts, the monkeys managed to break into the truck and grab the half of AMAZO we were guarding. Before I can chase after them, I merge the two bits of me into one mass, the sounds of lazers and explosions come into range of my audio sensors, and I see that the truck is overturned. I immediately catch the truck and I see that the drivers are alive but injured.

Superboy starts flying and I detransform before I try to radio him to get him less berserky for lack of a better term. "Chimera to Superboy. Care to wait for somebody?"

"I don't need help! I don't want any!" Well shit. Just when I think this doesn't go from bad to worse, Aqualad radioes in.

"Aqualad to Chimera. We lost our cargo."

"Chimera to Aqualad. We lost ours as well, and our resident flying brick is chasing after it like Batman after the man who ruined his life." The rage Bruce was in when he found Joe Chill killed his parents taught everybody to not piss off Batman." Pretty sure that Gotham's underworld is still reeling in from the sudden collapse of the Moxon crime family.

"Aqualad to Superboy. Radio in your location."

"Don't bother. Already tried that, and I'm sure he ditched his comm."

Miss Martian turns to me. "He's out of my telepathic range. This Professor Ivo, if he is still alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?"

I put on my confident smile. "We aren't calling him yet. We're trusted to do this ourselves, so unless calling in RT is the only choice left, we can do this."

"Oh that's a great plan!" Kid Flash begins sarcastically. "Except for the part about not knowing WHERE TO LOOK!"

"Robin?" I ask, feeling confident.

"The parts have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them with the one I captured. Looks like both sets of parts are converging on… Gotham City." Robin finishes with the appropriate horror one gets when you hear that the item on your fetch quest is several thousand meters away from you and there's no quick travel."

"That far south?! Robin and I won't be able to get there anytime soon. I'm sending Kid to meet you there. Aqualad out."

I detransform to let my charge get filled up, and I see Kid Flash join me in his Kid Flash costume/uniform. "Wanna race?"

"Sure. Just give me a moment to let my charge build up." A warble sounds from the Omnitrix indicating a full charge is ready. I activate the selection screen and dial in Fastcat before pushing the core down.

"Loser buys winner dinner?" I ask Wally.

"Sure. Now, let's race!"

We immediately shoot off into the cornfields, one a streak of blue and black and the other a streak of red and yellow. It takes us about a few minutes, but eventually I manage to reach the city limits. Tilting my head, I see Robin joining in on a motorcycle and Kid Flash just behind me.

I smirk. "Looks like you owe me dinner. When are you available?"

"I think I can make it Friday. Your town or mine?"

"Yours sound good. Haven't had a chance to try midwest cuisine."

"Really? According to Flash, you travel around a lot."

"Sadly, none of it is Flash's territory."

"If you're done talking, I identified that the android is heading through Gotham but it veered. Wait, dude, they're at…"

I keep my expression neutral. "Go on…"

"Uhhh…." Somehow, I get the idea that Robin is confused to inform me about his secret identity. Kid Flash looks at the GPS before trying to cover for him with "Well, you see, Robin has a certain connection with this place."

I smirk. "Is it his school?" Seeing that nobody else knows how to react, I decide to go with the first 'reveal of a secret identity discovered' excuse. "It wasn't too hard to identify Robin as Richard Grayson. Seriously, domino mask and sunglasses? It was obvious to figure it out, especially since his family was murdered and he's one of three people capable of a quadruple flip."

The Bolsterous Brosome turns to each other before Kid Flash turns back at me. "You must not tell anybody about it."

"Relax. I've known for months now. Unless Miss Martian blabs, then your identity is secure."

The two of them simultaneously burst out "Miss Martian knows?!"

"She's known for a few months as well, but it was about a month after I found out. She read my mind and we had a very important discussion about telepathic etiquette." Which reminds me, I need to tell her that I told Robin that she knew.

Robin growls. "We'll talk about this later." Lovely, as if I didn't have enough to deal with already.

A while later, we arrive at the gym where Superboy is fighting the rebuilt AMAZO, with Ivo and some of his monkeys watching the fight. Before the floor gets painted with a splash of blood red and brain pink, Kid Flash runs up, catches Superboy and yells "Yoink!"

Shortly thereafter, I run into the gym, panting because I detransformed as soon as I stepped on Gotham Academy's campus, having decided that running into the gym was a good idea despite my relative lack of training in the area.

I see an android with green pants and elf ears attacking like a relatively smart toddler with creative stertility. As Kid Flash, Robin and Superboy are attacked by AMAZO using what appears to be Aquaman's hydrokinesis (I seriously forgot he has that power), I get the notification that I'm ready to rock (or for the more serious, I'm recharged).

I spin the dial around, looking for a suitable counter to AMAZO. CheMystery's out due to being counterproductive to the mission (melting or rusting the robot is not what the League needs nor wants), Solarion, Oceania, Hawkdown, Xenowulf, Greenhouse, Construct, Aperachnid and Fastcat are out due to either not being helpful, adding onto AMAZO's powers, or both, and the Martian form's out due to being the Martian form. I don't need to add more fuel to the fire.

The only forms left are Brainstorm (who might cause AMAZO to become sentient, which might be bad), Shockhenge (who can create EMPs similar to Bakugo and explosions), and Upgrade (who could disassemble the android).

Before I can come to any further ideas, I hear "Ooooh, Chimera's joined in. Shame AMAZO can't copy the watch, but if I get it then it'll be futile. AMAZO, Get Chimera's watch by any means necessary without damaging it, Priority Alpha. Kill the brats, Priority Beta."

Just as AMAZO comes close to me using speedster powers, the sound of a bow being fired fills the hall before an arrow hits the android's eye and breaks from the impact. Seeing an opportunity, I transform into Upgrade.

"Alright, you bucket of bolts, let me show you how a real nanotechnological swarm does things." And with that, I jump into AMAZO.

A few seconds later, I walk around a physical representation of AMAZO's code. I see a building labelled 'Powers Copied' and I see holographic statues of Aquaman, Black Canary, Superman, Hawkman, Kid Flash (When were his powers copied?) and Miss Martian. Seeing that I can do something, I whip up malware based off Upgrade's source code in a few probably-minutes and program it in form of several chunks of C4 and a detonator and I plant it around 'Powers Copied', 'Standing Orders', 'GPS', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Failsafes', 'Network' and 'Firewalls'. Once done, I hit the detonator before I leave AMAZO.

"Bah, did you really think you could hack my amazing AMAZO?"

I grin as best as one can when your face is a green circle. "Yes."

Just as AMAZO comes and walks towards me, it collapses down on it's knees. "Error: Malware in firewalls. Error: Malware in GPS programming. Error: Malware in powers copied. Error: Malware in failsafes. Error: Malware in standing orders. Error: Malware in Network capability. Er-r: Mmm-alwa-re in Art-f-c-l in-ll-nce."

And with that, the red eyes of AMAZO turn into a haunting black as it stops all movement.

I turn to the professor, who's about to pull his hair out in rage. His monkeys, on the other hand, are in stunned silence. "How did you infect AMAZO with malware?! I programmed its firewalls MYSELF!"

"You do realize that Upgrade can merge with technology on a molecular level, right? Besides, it helps that the programming language I'm using is of superintelligent alien origin. A few minutes (from my perspective) programming to make sure that I got a relatively crude malware that is fast acting, compatible and- this is the important bit - unstoppable."

Ivo jumps up and points at us. "Argh! Get them my pretties!" The monkeys promptly rocket at us with electronic laughter following them, only for them to fall and shatter in several pieces as their jetpacks promptly shut off.

I put on my best faux-apologetic tone. "Oh, I forgot to mention. The malware's all over your network now. In fact, I think it'll be done erasing all your data in a few hours. I would say 'Have fun rebuiling', but you're under arrest."

Ivo walks down, kneels on the basketball court and puts his hands behind his head. Superboy walks up to him, growls "This is for the monkeys." and punches him into unconsciousness.

Kid Flash runs up to me. "Were you bluffing when you said that your malware would destroy the entirety of his database?"

"Nope! AMAZO had a two-way isolated connection to Ivo's database, presumably for remote control and data gathering. So when I created the malware, I made sure that it could spread through the connection by hiding it in a data package. Once it arrives on Ivo's servers, it'll create a variant of itself dealing with the firewalls and anti-viruses before erasing itself once it has no more data to eat."

"Damn. That's horrifyingly brilliant."

"The best part is that it's unstoppable due to the programming language being the same as the one used for Upgrade's source code. Because not a lot of people in the universe knows how to deal with Galvan++, not many can deal with my malware."

"Wouldn't nobody know how?"

"I'm not risking the chance that some people would manage to figure it out. But then again, I can make a version with better programming."

At this point, Kid Flash's face is one half fearful, one half amazed and one half jealous. I know it's three halves, but there's no better way to explain it. "Dude, I don't care what anybody says, you're the scariest fucker on the planet."

"Thank you!"

As I hit the Omnitrix to detransform, The rest of the Team walks up to us, tired but ecstatic that they managed to take a League-level threat down faster than the League. The first one to speak is Aqualad. "I'm impressed by you exploiting the nature of our enemy to win."

"It was nothing."

"It may seem so, but what if you weren't there?"

"Honestly, I'd guess that you'd gang up on him until one of you managed to figure out his weaknesses, more than likely accidentally."

"That would seem like us."

I clap my hands. "Now then, on to business. Robin, can you call Bats to request a League pickup?"

"You got it. After all, you made this mission an aster!" Internally, I sigh. Sooner or later, I'm gonna buy a thesaurus to throw at Robin.

It's only a few minutes later that some military-esque troopers walk in, cuff Ivo and carry AMAZO out on a dolly. "Well then, I assume that everybody's good to go home."

Kid Flash just scratches the back of his head. "Eh, just one last thing. Can I keep the broken arrow as a souvenir?"

"Why are you asking us? One man's trash is another man's treasure."

"Is that a yes?"

I facepalm. "You don't need to ask to keep a souvenir."

"I asked because I'm not sure if this counts as theft of evidence from a crime scene."

"The crime scene has come and gone. Ergo, it's not stealing evidence because there's nobody killed by an archer." At least, that's what I hope is legal. I need to check.

"Ohh, right. I need to look up regulations regarding supervillian crime scenes."

"We really should. Now then, any other questions?"

Superboy raises his hand. "How are we going to the Bioship without anybody noticing?"

Miss Martian speaks up. "I was told that if the mission went really wrong, then we're supposed to use the nearest Zeta Tube while Martian Manhunter takes the Bioship to the cave."

"Why didn't you tell us about this?"

An akward smile crosses Miss Martian's face. "I didn't think it was necessary?"

The entire Team turns to look at her and Robin responds "Please tell us next time. It would've been nice to plan for that."

"I will!"

I clap my hands. "Now then, where is the Zeta Tube?"

Robin smirks. "Follow me!"

It takes us about a half hour, but we arrive at the Zeta Tube hidden in a phone box in a disused alleyway in Park Row, the bad part of town. Thankfully not The Cauldron, the worst part of town. Speaking of which, I should check up upon Tommy Monaghan. Hopefully he has powers.

Mount Justice

August 3rd, 2010 23:58 EDT

As we Zeta into the Mission Room, we see Black Canary, Batman, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado in a circle looking at some monitors. As always, Batman is the first job to speak up.

"Good job on detaining Ivo and the android. However, I have a question for Superboy. Why didn't you wait for your team?"

Superboy looks apologetic. "I was angry. I felt furious by the fact that I wasn't able to prove myself with Black Canary, so I went rogue to prove my self worth."

"Hmmm. While I understand your reasoning, this will be where I draw the line. I am putting down therapy sessions with Black Canary over the next couple of months to deal with your anger management issues and inferiority complex regarding Superman. Now then, report."

Aqualad nods. "The AMAZO android is physically intact with it's programming tampered with to prevent further attempts to use it as a weapon and is currently being safely analyzed at the two separate S.T.A.R Labs. In addition, Ivo is detained and has gone into a rage-induced breakdown. Since Chimera's virus is spread all over Ivo's network, we expect that Ivo will no longer be a threat without outside funding and support."

Black Canary speaks up first. "Interrogating Ivo and investigating his safehouses are going to be a League priority."

Martian Manhunter continues the train of thought. "But we understand your mission encountered… other complications."

Batman walks towards us. "Complications come with the job. Your ability to handle them has impressed the League."

Superboy blinks. "The whole League?"

"Given time, yes. Kryptonians as you know have very hard heads." As Superboy looks away satisfied, Batman continues his spiel. "Of course, there's no shame in asking for help. That's why the League exists. Because there's some problems we can't handle individually."

Robin, as cocky as ever, speaks up. "Please! If we needed help, we'd never get the chance to ask!" He then holds the tip of the broken arrow. "Look familiar? You were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!" Robin, please think before you speak.

Before things get worse, Batman calms down Robin. "We didn't follow you." As that happens, Green Arrow gets one of his arrows and we see that it's different, more jagged.

"...And that's not your arrow." Robin concludes lamely. "But that means-"

"Speedy!" Kid Flash continues.

"He has our backs." Aqualad finishes.

Y'know what, I think I should speak up. "Ummm, actually, that's not one of Speedy's arrows. I should know. I ran into him after the campfire, and he threatened me to not hurt any of you."

Wally, as impatient as ever, blurts in. "How is any of this relevant?"

"It's relevant because I saw his arrows during our 'chat', and I saw that the feather bits-"

"Fletchings." Batman and Green Arrow simultaneously speak up.

"-were red. So we most likely have a mystery archer on our hands, and I for one can't wait to figure them out."

Batman speaks up. "J'onn, can I have a private mental link with Chimera for a few minutes?"

"Of course, Batman." Suddenly, I feel an intense throbbing feeling in my skull. Batman, as always, heads for the point. I assume this isn't Helena Bertninelli?

No. The Bertninelli crime family is still alive, not to mention the arrow looks like it's supposed to be fired from a normal bow, not a crossbow as Huntress prefers. Besides, there's not a lot of Gotham mobsters killed by arrows right now.

That's concerning. Any thoughts?

Best guess is that this is a newbie with lots of training, an upset in their home life, and in need of serious therapy and friends probably using top of the line commercial stuff and whatever guardian they have is kept in the dark. I'll send you a copy of Notes for the Future and I assume you'll narrow it down by seeing who fits excessive purchases of archery gear, people with upsets in their home lives, and people with unique combat-oriented backgrounds simultaneously?

Sounds like a plan. I'll let you know when I find her so that you can help me recruit her.

I sigh. What about Green Arrow? Archer camaraderie and all that.

He'll join us. I think that having somebody else new to the scene would be helpful with recruiting.

I see. I'm taking my leave.

Same here. Out loud, Batman narrows his eyes. "Thank you, J'onn. As for the rest of you, you're dismissed."

As I head to the Zeta Tube, I get accosted by Robin who asks "What was that all about?"

"That's for me to know and for you to gain my trust in knowing."

"I could figure out what's going on with you."

"But you'll be using limited data. And don't bother asking Batman for help, he and I are in agreement that the truth behind me is need-to-know. As in, I decide who needs to know."

Robin groans. "I'll figure you out sooner or later."

I smirk. "I expect nothing less."

Apartment 342, 174 Sprang Boulevard, Gotham City

August 7, 2010, 22:22 EDT

Green Arrow grumbles. "Remind me again, Bats. Why'd we bring the kid here?"

"Because I believe that we have the highest chance of recruitment with him."

"So what? You think we won't get the kid to join the Team?"

"You misunderstand me. I believe we'll succeed regardless or not of him being here. The main reason why he's here is to show Artemis that we understand where she's coming from."

"Okay, yeah, I see that."

I speak up. "A better question to ask is why are we walking up to the front door in uniform? Wouldn't it cause a breach in secret identities and all that?"

"People will assume that we're here because of a case I'm investigating that has ties to Star City and Coast City. It's not the first time this has happened."

I knock on the door and a voice shouts "Who is it?"

I reply with "Two Justice League members and an associate" in the most serious tone I can.

A Vietnamese woman with black hair, black eyes, a stunning face in a blue cardigan, white shirt, dark green trousers, black sneakers and a wheelchair opens the door for us. Upon looking at us, her face goes from 'neutral' to 'scared shitless'. As I see we're going to be standing here for a while, I ask gently "Can we come in, Ms.-?"

"Crock."

"Crock. We have things to discuss with you and your daughter."

That somehow gets her more and less worried at the same time. "O-of course." She moves away from the door and we walk in the apartment. Contrary to what I expected, I feel a sense of sadness and fear that's lingered for years, and that happiness and joy have only come into play.

Our esteemed host motions to the couch. "Please, sit."

"No thanks, I'll rather stand."

Green Arrow shrugs. "I'll stand as well."

Batman speaks up. "As will I."

"Whatever makes you comfortable. Now then, if I may ask, what exactly did my daughter and I do to invite your attention?" Under her breath, she mutters "Don't tell me Artemis's a criminal."

I decide to start things off. "It's recently come to our attention that your daughter has decided to become an archery focused vigilante. While we're usually content with 'live and let live' being the League's official policy towards non-members and League affiliates, we've decided to make an exception regarding your daughter due to her age and background."

Batman then continues where I left off. "The League will be providing whatever they deem necessary to help Artemis in both her civilan and cape lives. Therapy, education, training, friends, you name it, we'll provide it."

Green Arrow finishes the first part of the recruitment pitch to Ms. Crock. "Hell, I'll let her be my official sidekick and have her join in on my patrols if it's alright."

Ms. Crock's eyebrows narrow and her expression shows fury as she goes from 'worried mother' to 'Furious Mama Bear'. "I have just one question to ask: What will she be doing outside of patrols with Green Arrow?"

Batman decides to speak up. "We have a team that's composed of young vigilantes such as Chimera here. They do undercover, low risk missions that would be problematic for the League but are perfect for their skill sets."

I follow where Batman's going. "In fact, I'm the second in command of the Team-Yes, that's the name-and I can say that whatever missions we have been deployed so far have resulted in minimal injuries. And this is not counting the hand to hand combat and therapy sessions, which are provided to us free of charge. We had our second combat session today and it went swimmingly."

"I see. If Artemis will be safe and happy, then I'll give my permission as long as you talk to her first."

Green Arrow speaks on our behalf. "Thank you for considering the idea."

"No, thank you for letting me know. I already lost one daughter, I can't afford to lose another."

Hmmmm. I sense something odd going on here. I open my phone and I check the primer document on the Crocks. Apparently, Ms. Crock's maiden name is Nguyen. I compose a text message that says "Just FYI, The Crock Family and Chesire have no known familar or professionial relations to the other in many alternate universes. It's not useful outside of potential issues when Artemis and Chesire meet up together."

We wait a few minutes until the sound of an open window comes from across the hall. "Artemis!" Ms. Crock calls out. "Could you come out here please?"

"Um, sure, Mom. Just a sec." And as expected, a tall half-Vietnamese olive-skinned with a Rapunzel-long ponytail and a slender yet muscular build comes to us in a poofy white bathrobe. She looks at us starstruck before yelling "Mom! What did you do?!"

Batman growls "We're here to see you." with Green Arrow going "Artemis, we know what you're up to." and I reply with "Believe it or not, we're here to help you. We have a covert team of fellow teenaged heroes and we came here to recruit you."

"And yet, you didn't reply when I reported a potential supervillian meeting with my dad about three weeks ago."...what.

"We deemed that Eon, despite bearing a perfect resemblance to Chimera's civilian identity, is a low priority to the League." ...What?

"'A minor threat to the League' would be the Penguin. Somebody who claims that he can control the fabric of space-time is not 'a minor threat.'...WHAT?!

As the questions in my mind grow, I decide to ask the prevalent one. "Out of curiousity, what did Eon do that made you call the League?"

"He spent some time talking with Dad, and convinced him that he didn't need to prepare for you and placed a half starfish looking thing on dad's neck that went inside him. I only called the League after GCPD didn't believe me."

Batman decides to shake things up with "There were no traces of foreign biomatter inside of Sportsmatter when he was checked for processing into Belle Reve."

"Wonderful." She begins, sarcasm rolling off her tongue with every word. "So now I claimed that a supervillain was in my home and I don't have any proof to support it. Just what I needed to hear."

Great, just what we need. An evil alternate me with powers over space-time. I reply with a thanks and I make a note to begin investigating history textbooks for anything relating to Eon, including if he allied with Savage or not.

Batman speaks up. "Tt. Getting back on track, we would like you to join the Team."

Green Arrow walks up to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. "We think you'd make a great addition to the Team… if it's alright with your mother."

Paula speaks up. "You have my permission."

Artemis glances at her before looking back at us. "I'm not even sure if I'll fit in."

I groan. "You're concerned you won't fit in on a team that consists of the bastard clone of Superman and Lex Luthor with daddy issues, a naïve-ish Martian acting like a sitcom character to hide her issues, a speedster with a Casanova complex, a unpowered crimefighter who frequently butchers english and fights like a circus brat, an Atlatean child soldier with homesickness, and me, who has an actual neurological disorder and is proven to be from an alternative universe where superheroes, supervillains and superpowers don't exist?"

"...Well, when you put it that way…"

Green Arrow then moves his arms in a motion that can be best described as 'choose something'. "Alright kid, you in?"

"One condition: You don't tell the Team who I am… who my family is." Behind Artemis, I see her mother begin to tear up, likely because she doesn't know what exactly happened to her daughter.

Batman agrees with "Your private life is your business." and I speak up with "We can just say that you don't want to talk about your family because you think that the Team might stereotype you. I've lied about my past using somewhat true lies."

"Then, I'm in! I'm so in!" As I turn to Paula, I see that she's crying tears of happiness and sadness simultaneously. I pull out my right hand in preparation of a hand shake with Artemis and I go "I must warn you. The criminals we face are some of the most dangerous on the planet and as such, we expect nothing short of excellence. If you think you can handle it, then I welcome you to the Team."

"I've handled worse." Artemis then grabs my hand and shakes it.

"Very good then, Artemis. Welcome to our world."