Usual Suspects

Abandoned Warehouse, Happy Harbour: 6:48am, December 7th, 2010

P.O.V Change: Matthew Spectre

I open my eyes and just see wild black hair. I focus my eyes and see Jade holding me tightly. I smile a so go to touch her but my hand passes right through her. I pull back in surprise. I see my hand and notice that it's transparent. I can see right through it. I stand up suddenly as I look around, I see a bird in mid flight but the strange thing is that it's almost completely still, it's wings are slowly flapping. I turn back and see myself, an open wound in my chest. Jade holding me close with tears falling down her face. Artemis and Rachel embracing her. "Weird, isn't it?" I hear a voice say as I turn and see a blue glow manifest into a man, he steps forward to me. I see his eyes glow with a gentle blue. Long dark hair pulled back into a stylish ponytail. Strong fit build with a Greek toga covering his form. "Who are you? What is this? Am I...am I dead?" I say in rapid succession. The man looks down, his eyes turn back up to me. "I'm pretty sure that you know the answers to your questions, Matthew."

The figure says as I recongise his voice. It's not a growl or echoing with the voices of past Riders like before but the distinct tone of voice that always was present. "Zarathos?" I say in bewilderment as he smiles. "It's nice to finally meet you. Face to face." He says as he approaches me. His light glow encompasses me as I feel at peace in his presence...safe. I turn my head down to my body and everywhere else. "What is this? What's happening?" I ask. "Your soul has left your body. What you are seeing is the Astral Dimension. Before souls pass, they pass through the Astral Dimension. To be accepted...or damned." He says as I walk around. Everything seemed normal but it's just unnerving how...still everything is. It's all on motion but it doesn't seem real. "So I'm dead...it's done." I say as I sit by Jade, Artemis and Rachel, just watching, seeing the hurt and pain etched on their faces. "Yes. Your heart has stopped and by the obvious...your soul has left your body." He says as I scoff. "I knew that this would happen. Told myself it was for the greater good...we both said that it was needed. And with it done...why does it seem like a failure?" I ask him as he sits beside me. "Because you have loved ones. You know that what had happened was necessary but you feel that you have now abandoned your loved ones. You feel like a failure because you feel that you have left them with nothing but grief." He says as I wipe my tears away. "I don't want to leave them...I can't." I say as I feel his hand sit comfortingly on my shoulder. I look at him as he smiles. "Then don't." He says as I look at him with wide eyes. He stands and walks over to my body. "You coming?" He says as I look bewildered. "But what about your kin. You have your Angel form back. Why would you stay? Why would you bring me back?" I ask him. He looks down at my body as he points. "Because of them. Because of humans. Mankind is young and foolish. The innocent need protecting. I made a promise to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. I won't stop now...and with you. You have been the most willful host that I've ever had. You have made me realise that there are some that deserve second chances. Some that deserve to be helped, regardless of their origin. You have opened my eyes to the things that I turned a blind eye too. I can protect the innocent...but with you, I can hope to inspire them...something that I never thought that I could do." He says as I kneel beside him. "We're really doing this?" I ask him. "Yes...things will be different. The Evil has been purged from my aether but the Hellfire remains. The Heavenly Fire within me has also made its way back to me. When we go back, we'll be both the Spirit of Vengeance and the Angel of Justice." He says as I nod my head. "We're going to have a rough time with that, are we?" I ask him as he sighs. "Maybe...maybe not...but we can overcome it."

I nod my head as he holds his hand out to me. I clutch it as his other hand glows with blue flame as he touches my body. The whole world becomes a blurry image of white before suddenly...black.

P.O.V Change: Rachel Roth

I hug Artemis and the other woman as I feel something. I open my eyes and look at Matt. His eyelid twitches. My own eyes widen as I pull him away from the other woman. She looks up sharply as she pushes me away. "Don't touch him!" She shouts as I fall on my butt. "Jade." Artemis says as the Wan clams down but the fresh tears begin now. "I'm sorry...but I feel something. Something is happening to him." I say as the woman, Jade, hesitatingly, let's him down. I look him over, I see his wound as I open his jacket and shirt. His skin in knitting back together. "He's healing." I say I'm bewilderment. "What? What does that mean?" Artemis asks as I hover my hand over him. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." I cast a soul detection spell. My eyes widen, I feel a faint flicker but it's there. "He's alive! I can feel his soul." I say as Jade looks down at him and caresses his face. "Come back to me." She says with love in her voice. I feel something else coming, the team is coming...as well as Batman, Arrow, Canary and Manhunter. "The team is coming. I don't know who you are but you obviously care about him. You need to go." I say to Jade as she shakes her head. "No...I won't leave him." She says as Artemis turns her towards herself. "Jade, you can't help him while you are here. You know what the team will do. You need to go." She says as Jade wipes a tear and begins to leave. She grabs my arm as I look up at her. "Please...make sure he's alright." She says with fear and a hint of threatening. "I promise. He's my friend." I say as she nods and runs off, taking the sword with her. The team arrives as Artemis holds Matt in her lap. "What happened here? Batman asks as I go to say something. "Rachel was able to get through to him. But Lilith's hold proved too strong. I stabbed him in the heart, the shock of the act finally broke him out of it. Rachel then put him in a deep sleep." Artemis says as Batman narrows his eyes and looks at me. "Is this true?" He asks. Too anyone else, his stare would be intimidating, but to me, who has suffered far worse, it's nothing. "Yes...he's in a deep magical induced coma." I say as I subtlety place the necessary magic for that on Matt, just in case Batman calls up Zatanna or Fate to see if I'm lying. His eyes remain on me and Artemis. "I can hear his heartbeat. It's steady." Connor says as Batman looks at him. "Alright. Let's get him back to the cave. But he will remain under close watch. We don't know what Lilith has done to him, nor what after effects could be in place."

Mount Justice:

Matt had been placed into the Vault. A tight security cell that the League used for capture and interrogation in their early days. It was outfitted with the alien, technological and magical defenses. No one would be able to enter and leave the Vault without proper authorisation. But Zarathos is a being that is from a plane of existence that is above such things. A single twitch of his finger and the entire mountain could be bathed in Hellfire. These defenses will be useless. "How is he?" Artemis asks me as she walks up beside me. We gaze through the window. A single bed with wiring and medical machinery attach to him. I can sense that he is fine. His soul is...healing, for lack of a better word. Never heard of someone coming back from literal death. "He seems to be alright. But coming back from death, it's never happened before...don't know how well he's going to be when he wakes." I say as I see out of the corner of my eye and see her with a raised eyebrow. "Pretty sure this is where you would have said something more optimistic." She says as I turn to her. "Would you rather the truth or a lie? I can't answer your question the way you want to hear it so I said the truth." I say back as I turn my attention back to Matt.

"I just hope that when he does wale up, hell be the same as he was before." She says as I turn and head out of the room. "I hope so." I say in passing as I walk out of the Vault. I head upstairs and enter the common room. Everyone is sitting around, waiting for any news. Batman, Red Tornado, Superman and Doctor Fate have been within the Vault, updating its weaponry and defensive capabilities. Green Arrow, Canary and Shazam decided to hang around and give the team comfort. Blake walks up to me and signs. "How is he? Will he walk up soon?" I take his hand and try to comfort him. I'm not very good at this but I can sense Blake's worry. Blake and Matt are really close friends. The only two that I would say are closer would be Robin and Wally but I can sense that Blake trusts Matt...he is very loyal. "I don't know. It's too early to tell but his readings, vital and magical signatures are ok." I say to him as he hangs his head and nods. We walks out of the room and heads to the Vault. "How did you incapacitate him? He's not someone that even the Team's heavy hitters can take. Beside you...how did Artemis incapacitate him?" Red Arrow says condescendingly as everyone turns an angry glare at him. "You really want to go there?" Connor growls out. "Now's not the time for your constant questioning." Wally growls out but Red Arrow raises an eyebrow. "I'm just saying what everyone is thinking. Don't tell me you find it a little bit convenient?" He says. "Roy, back off." Green Arrow says. "No. I want to know how Artemis and a 10 year old were able to take down a brainwashed Ghost Rider?" He says. "I used a powerful neurotoxin." Artemis says as I turn and see her enter the room. "Rachel may be young but she's powerful with magic. With his body shutting down from the venom. Rachel was able to break Lilith's hold on Matt and place him within a powerful deep sleep...do I have to go on?" She says as she stands beside me. "Ok. That's enough." Canary says as she stands in the middle of the room. "It doesn't matter how they did, they did. Matt is out of enemy hands and is recovering, that is all we need to worry about."

Canary says finally as Red Arrow walks off with a scoff. I give him an ugly eye as he walks past me. I hate that guy...gets under my nerves. I walk towards my room, the last few hours have been a toll on my mind and emotions. I need mediation.

No P.O.V:

Weeks have passed. Christmas had come and gone and now, New Year's was literally right around the corner. The Team has made it their mission to interchange watch of Matt. After weeks, he showed no sign of waking up. Rachel, Artemis and Blake were the most frequent watchers. Matt's health had returned to normal, though Doctor Fate had stopped by now and again, to do a magical examination and had determined that his soul and spirit were in perfect health but he remains in deep slumber. Rachel had tried to reserve the magical induced sleep that she placed within him but Fate decreed to leave him be. Any outside magical influence could react violently with him. The team didn't have any missions and Red Arrow had decided to leave, declaring that the team wasn't for him. With his attitude lately, no one really gave him a goodbye. Wally was mad for his degrading of Artemis. While the speedster agreed with Roy about the Cheshire and Sportsmaster mess up, he didn't support how Roy went to town and complete demoralise Artemis, Rachel and Matt. Artemis was thankful of Wally's support. The two of them might argue and not see eye to eye but she was his friend and he would always stand up for his friends.

Kaldur had left Roy with a few choices words. Basically saying that he is welcome to the Cave but his constant questioning about his team would no longer be tolerated. Trying to find the mole was one thing but to completely and blatantly attack his teammates and friends was something that the Atlantean would not tolerate. Robin was in agreement. The Boy Wonder simply called Roy pathetic and left it at that. Zatanna and Rachel had grown close over the last few weeks, Zatanna would be with Rachel whenever either of them were on watch. Zatanna continued to teach Rachel magic and also kept the girl from slipping into a grief depression. Rachel had not gotten help right away after the event and she felt partially responsible for Matt's condition. Felt that she could have done something different, Zatanna was always present to make her see that nothing was her fault.

Blake and Connor were very moody, typical of them but Matt's condition had not improved. Connor was being comforted by M'gann but even she was distraught and worried. Artemis had slipped into a self isolation. Rarely ever coming out of her room, only for dinner and to take watch over Matt. Wally had tried to bring her back into a routine of normalcy. He even went as far to apologize for his words about the Cheshire and Sportsmaster incident. He even got on his knees and begged for her to come out of her room. For the first few days, Artemis wanted nothing to do with him but eventually she accepted his requests and returned back to the team. Artemis had also made sure to meet up with Jade, every few days to inform her about Matt's condition. Jade was ecstatic about Matt getting better but was still distraught that he wasn't waking up. Jade almost had the intention of marching into the cave to see him. Artemis had to slap her sister for that one.

With Matt out of the picture for now, Artemis had taken up the role of being the listener to Jade's informat details. Artemis had swallowed her courage and approached Batman about what really happened that night and the information that she now possesses. While the Dark Knight wasn't particularly happy that the information of the informat had breached into four people nor about what really happened to Mat, he accepted those facts and realised that he needed someone to receive Jade's information...and with great reluctance, he accepted Artemis's new role. Jade had informed Artemis that her position within the Light was still secure. Lilith knew who she was and where her loyalties truly lied, so she was concerned as to why the demon sorceress hadn't told the Light members or went out of her way to actually kill her. It unnerved both Jade and Artemis. The younger of the sisters simply told the older to keep your head down and make sure not to attract any further attention to herself. Besides all that, Blade and Castle were seen around the Cave a few times before heading out on their own. Blade told the team that he'll keep in touch, the presence of demons and vampires working together is not a good sign...not for anyone. Castle wasn't one for goodbye but did say that he'll keep a look out, him and Blade would be heading to hunt down and interrogate some vampires and other persons for any information of Lilith or the demons movements.

As of now, a day before New Year's Eve, the team were gathered inside the Hall of Justice as they watched the new Leaguers being inducted. With the hero Icon being inducted, Batman had approached the team about introducing his protege Rocket to the team. The team had decided to handle membership themselves, to give themselves a more sense of responsibility. Blake was adamant about Rocket joining the team. He told the team that having an extra flyer would be vital, plus her force field projection would be a vital defensive option. The team had cracked smiles as Rachel had send the attraction radiating off of Blake. Rachel had known the real reason as to why Blake said yes and gave him so much shit when they were alone. Blake would deny it but Rachel would always smile knowing. The team had agreed with Blake's "reasoning" for Rocket to be on the team and one unanimous vote later, the team had its tenth member.

Hall of Justice: 9:16am, December 30, 2010:

P.O.V: Blake 'Black Bolt' Burton

"You are watching live coverage of the Justice League's induction of its five newest members. Looks like the entire League had shown up to welcome the new blood. Everyone from Batman to Shazam." The news lady says as we see Billy scartch his head nervously, I turn my lip at that. All the clues were there and we whether we're too dumb or too blind to notice...or maybe his personality just seemed very funny and ignored it. "I'm glad they didn't kick Billy out. And I love the fact that there's a 10 year old on the League." Wally says while munching an apple. I turn my eyes sharply to him to see Robin elbow him in the gut. "There is?" Rocket says in surprise. Damn Rachel and her not keeping her business to herself. Yes, Rocket is attractive and I'm not going to lie, I thought that first but she does bring a lot to the table. Her abilities would be a vital asset to the team. Flight is always a versatile ability and her shields can be used for offensive and defensive. Rachel just made it a habit of bothering me about my attraction. I'm not going to lie and say that I don't but that doesn't mean that I'm going to tell people about it. "Way to keep a secret, genius." Robin says to wally who looks at him bewildered. "Hey, she's on the team now, right?" Wally says in his defensive as I mentally slap my forehead. Still doesn't mean that you say it out loud.

"Superman is now starting to hand out League membership cards. Starting with Doctor Fate, The Atom." The lady starts as I notice Zatanna's downcast face, Robin places his hand on her shoulder, contorting her. Those two are so cute...why doesn't Rachel pick on them rather than me?"Plastic Man, and Icon." The lady continues as Rocket gets mad. "You know, I was the one who convinced Icon to become a superhero in the first place. I should be outside celebrating with him. Not hidden away in here." She says as I make my way over. She looks at me. She's very beautiful...get your head out of the gutter, Blake. "Welcome to our world...but nothing is stopping you though." I sign to her as she shakes her head. "I'm sorry but I don't know sign." She says as I hang my head embarrassingly. Stupid dumbass, don't presume that everyone knows sign language. "He said 'welcome to our world, but none is stopping you though'." M'gann says as I lift my head up. She looks at me, smiles and gazes her eyes up and down me. I blush embarrassingly at her gaze. "Thank you...there is an upside in here though. Maybe I'll stick around." She says...I don't know if she's flirting or just speaking truthfully...damnit, now I can't even think properly. "Uhh, get a room." Wally says as I turn to him and harness the electrons on my forehead. He gets my warning and shuts up. Rocket laughs as I relax and smile.

"Finally, Green Arrow welcomes his former protege Speedy, now going by Red Arrow, to this roster of heroes." The lady continues as I turn my attention back to the screen. "Way to go, Roy." Wally says quietly, while everyone is happy for him, the animosity of his leaving was still fresh on everyone's, par Rocket's, mind. "At last, he has finally gotten his wish." "First of us to make it. No one will call him a sidekick again." Kaldur and Robin say respectfully as Rocket turns sharply to them. "Wait, since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You guys were my inspiration." She says but Robin looks at her with a reserved look. "Well, see, six months ago-" He doesn't finish as we hear a ping as everyone looks to Robin, who is faxing at his watch. "Guys, Cheshire was spotted in civilian clothing bordering a flight. The image also had the suitcase from New Orleans." He says as Artemis hops to her feet. "You positive?" She questions as Robin nods his head. "Then we haven't a moment to lose, we'll zeta to the cave and head off in the Bio-ship." Kaldur orders as we head to the zeta. "You guys go ahead, I'll think that I'll wait for Icon. Not sure that I'm...ready yet." Rocket says nervously as I step up beside her."You are one of us now. You said that we were your inspiration. This is your moment to shine...but ultimately, the decision is yours." I sign as Robin translates for me. She ponders for a minute before smiling up at me. "Ahh, what the hell. Could be fun." She says happily as she walks right past us. I notice Robin giving me a look, one that I've seen on Rachel many times. I narrow my eyes as I open my mouth slightly, a breath inhaled. Robin's eyes widened as he speeds to the zeta. I close my mouth as I nod my head with authority. That's what you get.

Smokey Mountains: 10:48am, December 30th, 2010.

P.O.V: Artemis

We fly over the snow covered Smokey Mountains as we approach the signal ping. "Robin, you sure it's her? Absolutely sure?" I ask him as he projects his holo-computer to the ships window. "See for yourself." The screen shows video of Jade in civilian clothing boarding a plane. "This is the security footage from the Ashfield Regional Airport. Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen. But...you've seen her without her mask. What do you think?" He asks as I gaze up at the image. "It's Jade. Cheshire." I say as I lower my eyes. "Agreed. But focus on what's she's carrying. Is that the case you saw in New Orleans? The one that got away?" Kaldur asks as I focus on the image. It's most definitely the case. "Yes." I answer him as he nods. "Ok, I'm guessing from the mug shot that this Cheshire is the bad guy. But what's so important about that case?" Rocket asks as Robin brings up an image of the Injustice League. "Remember the Injustice League?" Kaldur asks Rocket. "With their annoying plant monsters? Uh, yeah." She says. "The Team and the League put them in prison. Well, all except Joker, but that is neither here or there. Even with them put away, their allies still scheme. And whatever is inside that containment case seems important to their plans." Kaldur says as Wally takes over. "We had a chance to grab it in New Orleans. But, we weren't able to get hold of it." He says, I can hear sympathy in his voice as I give him a small smile. "Approaching Cheshire's jet." M'gann says as we enter a small valley. We all gasp in shock at the sight, the jet is completely destroyed, wrecked beyond any repair.

I look away with hurt wrenching in my heart. "Looks like their were no survivors." M'gann says as we hear a ping, we turn to Blake who is pressing buttons on the his side table. "Until we see bodies, keep a look out, you never know." The Bio-ship was outfitted with a speaker that allows Blake to communicate within the usage of his sign language. Blake thought that it would be better for everything, especially within the ship. "We stop here, keep the ship in flight." Kaldur says M'gann who nods.

We are on the ground as we inspect the wreckage. "How come Homeland Security and NTSB aren't all over this?" Wally asks as I step out of the cock pit and into the open. "Cheshire's bID was a League alert. Authorities didn't pick it up and her jet didn't follow its flight plan. It flew under the radar. Literally." Robin says as he inspects the black box of the plane. "Though, the Watchtower auto tracked the jet and recorded the crash." He says as Rocket speaks up. "Then why isn't the League here?" She asks as Zatanna answers with a smile. "Because our Boy Wonder has some mighty hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first." She says as Robin perks up and places his hands on his hips, heroically. Simp. "And because Cheshire and that case represent our unfinished business." Kaldur says as Blake lifts a broken part of the wing and throws it away before turning to us and signing. "Where are the bodies?" I nod my head as I look around. "Good question. If it was a crash then there would be bodies, so where are they?" I ask as we all hear a chuckle. "Here's one. And it is stunning." We look up and see Jade in her Cheshire gear. "I am flora, not fauna." We hear a very annoying voice as we turn and look up to see The Riddler, Mammoth and Shimmer, also backed up by by ninjas with Apocolyptan weapons. "I am foliage, not trees. What am I?" He says condescendingly as he snaps his fingers. Pylons shoot out from the cliff face as green energy forms a massive shield around us. The pylons are very similar to the ones that Brain used in India. "Come on, you can get this. I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I..." He starts as Robin growls out. "Ambush." He says as I roll my eyes and load an arrow. "Very creative." I drone sarcastically.

"Didn't you think we'd be tipped you were on Cheshire trail? We're tired of your interference kiddies. This is the end game. Orders from above and executed by their master strategist, moi." He says annoying as I fire the arrow up at his feet. The arrow explodes, making him fall down the cliff face. "Now you can shut up!" I say as I feel a probe in my head. "Go." Kaldur mentally commands as we head off. Zatanna chants a spell, a massive blizzard forms within the shield. Wally and Kaldur deal with the ninjas while Superboy tries to destroy the pylons. Mammoth is occupied by Blake who just beats him around. I fire an arrow at Jade who dodges it and pulls out two swords. I fire another, which she just blocks and charges me. I defend against the relentless assault, my bow deflecting every slash and poke. "Feels like old times. Dad pitting us against each other." She says, not cool. Not cool at all. I catch one of her swords and maneuver it only the other one before giving her a hard headbutt. With her dazed, I grab her arms and break her hold on one of the swords before kneeing her in the gut. She breaks away from me and lands a spinning heel kick to the side of my face. I get to my knees as I see one of the ninjas fire a dial at Rocket which begins shocking her. Blake flies over and barrels the ninja that shot the disk before grabbing said disk. He scowls in pain but remains silent. He crushes the disk and blasts it with a small beam of energy from his fork.

I see Mammoth punching Superboy but he catches his arm and...flies up. "SB, you're flying?" Robin saying mentally with a shocked tone. I feel a rumbling a few moments later. I shake my head from the hit that Jade gave me. "Artemis!" I hear my name being called as someone tackles me to the ground, I see that a small avalanche nearly crushed me. The snow clears as I see that it was Jade that saved me. "Thank you." I whisper to her. "Any time, little sis." She whispers back as she gets up and walks off. I get my bearings and see that she has disappeared. I see the case half buried under some of the rubble. I grab the case as I see and feel the blizzard die down. We gather back at the jet as we look between each other. "Got the case." I say as Connor pushes Mammoth forward and Zatanna and Rocket drop a bound and gagged Riddler at our feet. Robin puts a bound Shimmer beside Mammoth. "We did good here today. Let's get back to the cave and review our findings." Kaldur says as the Bio-ship lowers to us. We head inside, I turn my head and glance back to see Jade on a cliff side a bit far away, I see her give a slight wave as I hold my hand up in a small wave, I head into the ship. I feel a small ping from my phone as I sit at the back of the ship as I see the message. "I have to take you to Santa Prisca. Dad wants you to join us, Lex Luthor and Queen Bee will be there. This is the moment we have been waiting for." I smile on the inside. The game has began.

Mount Justice: 3:46pm, December 30th, 2010

"Tell me if this sounds familiar? You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives." Batman rips into all nine of us. We stand emotionless, just waiting for him finish. "And your initiative resulted in the captive of 3 escaped felons, proving that Warden Strange uses Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity...well done." He finishes with a small smile as we widen our eyes and look between ourselves. "And then there's this." Batman continues as he opens the case. Canary, Tornado and Icon look within. Small red things with red points. "Biotechnology integrated with some form of nano circuitry." He says as Icon lifts one of them. "Though I am unfamiliar with this species, the bio component is clearly not of this Earth." He says as he places it back in the case. "We'll take it up to the Watchtower for further study." He says as all four Leaguers head through the zeta. Rocket runs ahead and intercepts Icon. "Congratulations on the League thing. Sorry that I skipped out." She apologize to him but he just looks back at her. "Yes we'll, we both seemed to have found teams that suit us." He says with a small smile. Rocket beams at his response. "We should go too. Don't want to miss the League induction party." Canary says to Icon as they head off into the zeta.

As they leave, Robin turns to us. "You do know that we were set up, right?" He says as Kaldur answers. "Yes. Cheshire and Ridder were 'tipped' and ready for us." I hold my hand up to my face. "Not the mole thing again." I say tiredly. This mole thing is annoying and just needs to take a hike. "The 'mole thing'? Again?" Rocket asks bewildered as Blake signs. "It's a pain in the ass. Damn thing is more trouble than what it should have been." M'gann translates for her. "We had intel that there was a traitor on the team." Wally says as Connor shoves his way forward. "Mainly Artemis, M'gann or me." He says angrily as Kaldur puts his hand in his shoulder. "It's more complicated than that." He says but Connor shoves his hand off and walks away. "But your actions today and behaviour do concern me. Your attack on Mammoth nearly got Artemis killed." He says but Connor doesn't acknowledge him. He holds his head in pain as I narrow my eyes. "Connor?" I say as he turns back to us with a reserved frown.

"I...have something to tell you. Last month, on Thanksgiving, I went back to Cadmus and found a few things out. When I was cloned, only half my DNA was Superman's. The other half was human." He says as our eyes widen in shock. "It's why I don't have, will never have, full Kryptonian powers." He says but Robin tilts his head with a smile. "You sure? Cause you sure had them today." He says but Connor rolls his sleeve up, revealing a black shield, similar to Superman's symbol. "I used these. Shields. They suppress my human DNA. I get the flight, heat vision...but I think I also get angry...well, angrier than usual. I'm sorry." He says with a sad look. I notice that Kaldur is looking at him with a stone cold look. "Where did you get those?" He asks as Connor takes out a small box. "From my human father, Lex Luthor." He says as we are all surprised and shocked by the reveal. "Lex...Luthor...is you dad?!" Robin says with shock. "He has summoned me to Santa Prisca...I think that he wants his weapon completely under control." He says as I feel something deep down inside. I remember what Matt said to me a few months ago. "This is your secret, you decide how to handle it."

"Ahh, listen, Connor's not the only one suffering from bad DNA." I say in reservation as I walk over to the computer. No going back now. I put on a few commands as images of Jade, Sportsmaster and my mother from her prime. Words 'active' are on my sister and father's image and 'retired' on my mother. "My mother is Huntress, an ex con. The rest of my family aren't even ex. My dad is Sportsmaster. And he's sending my sister, Cheshire, to escort me to Santa Prisca too." I say as I run and see their reactions. Out of everyone, it's Wally I'm focused on. "That's why..." He starts as I interrupt him. "Yeah. I was so adamant and desperate that none of you found out-." Robin interrupts me as everyone turns to him. "I knew." He says knowingly as I widen my eyes at him. "Hey, I'm a detective, remember? But it never mattered. You're not your family...and if Matt was here, he would tell you the same thing." He says as I smile. "Thanks Rob but it was Matt that brought me into the team, not Green Arrow. Matt knew from the beginning." I say as Wally slaps his head. "Of course Matt would know! How did we not figure that?" He says as everyone par Robin thinks about it. "Yeah, that's messed up. How did we not figure that? Matt can read souls, he knows all of our secrets. That is some serious miscalculation on our part." Robin says as I laugh on the inside of the irony. Robin figured out my identity but couldn't figure out that Matt could have learnt everything from a single gaze.

Wally walks over to me, putting his hand on my unburnt shoulder. "So, who's next?" He says jokingly but I notice M'gann's downcast look. "I am." She says with sadness and acceptance. Wally hold his hands up. "I swear I was kidding." M'gann looks between everyone before looking back to ground. "Queen Bee has been...blackmailing me. She wants me in Santa Prisca, too." She says as Kaldur raises an eyebrow. "Blackmailing? How?" He asks. It's a good point. How do you blackmail someone who can read your every thought. "She knows my...true Martian form." She says but Robin speaks up. "Bald M'gann? So what, we-". He gets interrupted by M'gann. "No." She sighs out a breath as she hunches over and shifts. Our eyes widen as M'gann grows to a monstrous size. Her skin becomes an ash white, her legs elongate and her arms become gorilla like, with three long fingers. Her face is shaped like an exposed skull with skin tightly covering it, her teeth exposed in a frightening smile. Her brain elongates down her back, almost resembling a human spine. Everyone par Kaldur, Connor and Blake, step back in fear. M'gann looks at all of us before crossing her arms over her chest, shielding herself from us. "I realised you would never accept me for who I really am." I hear her mentally say. Her voice is broken, the pain is tugging at my heart strings. Oh, M'gann... we're so sorry. "M'gann, did we seem so shallow?" Kaldur says but M'gann hangs her head. "I couldn't take the chance. Being a White Martian among the Green on Mars, I faced constant rejection. I couldn't face that from-." She says but Connor interrupts her. "From me?" He says as M'gann looks at him, he approaches her and takes her massive white hand. We see the emotion on their faces, the expression. A private conversation. After a while, M'gann reverts back into her original form. Connor embraces her softly, she hugs him back as I smile and join in. Wally soons comes in, followed by Robin, Zatanna, Kaldur, Rocket and Blake. "Thank you, all of you." M'gann says as we break from the hug. "Don't worry about it, it might be a little freaky but Wally, when he eats is much more terrifying." I say to her as she smiles. Wally looks at me with mock-hurt which drops into an amused smile

"Ok...now that all the secrets are out. What are we going to do now?" Zatanna asks as myself, M'gann and Connor look between ourselves. A satisfied smile on our faces. "We'll think of something."

Santa Prisca: 5:53pm, December 30th, 2010

I'm sitting in the second pilot seat as Jade flies the helicopter to Santa Prisca. The team had reviewed the mission and decreed that myself, M'gann and Connor will provide the distraction for the team to slip on undetected. Making Luthor, Bee and Sportsmaster believe that we are still playing their games when in reality, were playing then for chumps. "It ends tonight." I say to here as the island shows in the distance. "This might be your chance to get out. Your information has revealed the Light to Batman, me and Matt. We have them by the balls." I say to her as she smirks at me. "You need to watch your mouth." She says as I just laugh. We just sit and laugh as we enjoy which others company. Years of resentment, guilt and hurt just pushed aside as we feel what we were always meant to be...sisters. "How is he?" Jade asks me and I hang my head. "His condition hasn't changed. As of now, it's just waiting until he wakes up. Nothing we can do for now." I say as Jade nods sadly. Jade hovers over the meet point as I prepare myself for the show. The chopper lands as I open the door. I fake a gasp as I notice him. Both myself and Jade walk shoulder to shoulder as I approach Sportsmaster. "The hero thing wasn't working out. You know how it is, no trust. This is where I belong." I say to him as I see the shocked look on his face. I feel Sportsmaster hand rest on my burnt shoulder. I wince slightly but I'm able to reel the pain back in. "It's a growing club." Queen Bee says as the Bio-ship flies overhead. I notice that Luthor's secretary, Mercy is also here. Standing behind Queen Bee is a towering shark man with tactical gear on. King Shark. Bane is also present and so are his men. Every one of them has Apocalyptan weapons.

M'gann levitates down as she gasps at sighting me and Connor. "Why are they here? You promised." She turns angrily to Bee. "I've kept your secret and my promise. Now you keep yours." Bee says as she stares M'gann down. M'gann pulls her cloak closer to herself, slipping into her submissive character. "Give me more shields. The ones I have are useless. I know that you have better ones." Connor says as he marches up to Luthor. Luthor smiles as he narrows his eyes. "My boy, you're a terrible liar." He says as Connor goes to charge him. "Red Sun." Luthor says with a smile as Connor stands perfectly still, like an obedient dog waiting for an order. I walk forward as I stand in the middle of everyone. "What do you want us to do?" I ask with a hint of venom.

"You two. Follow me." Sportsmaster says to me and M'gann. "What about Superboy?" M'gann asks as I give Sportsmaster a dirty eye. "He'll be fine. He just needs a few... adjustments."Bee says as Luthor walks away from Connor who remains perfectly still. Luthor takes Bee's hand as M'gann approaches me. "Bring him along." Luthor orders Kind Shark who nods with a growl. I see M'gann give a subtle nod a so narrow my eyes. I charge forward and level an arrow at the huge sharkman. I fire as my polyurethane foam arrow. The foam expands as it covers King Shark. I turn and point an explosive arrow at Sportsmaster and Jade. "Sorry, dad. Wanted to play you like you tried to play me but I can't let them mess with Superboy's head." I say but I feel myself being levitated. I see M'gann's eyes glow green as her hand moves me up into the air. I try to move but to no avail. I see M'gann give a subtle telekinetic push which sends Bee flying into a tree. I level out as I fire the arrow in-between Sportsmaster and Jade. The arrow blows as they are sent skidding across the ground. "Queen Bee is down. Superboy, your safe from her control." M'gann says as Connor frowns, he begins marching towards Luthor who stands beside Bee's unconscious body. I land safely on the ground as I load another arrow. "May not be much of a liar, but I fooled you." Connor says to Luthor who smirks. "And I'm so proud. I take it Miss Martian cleaned the Red Sun from your mind." He says as Mercy stands in front of him, protectively. I level the bow at Luthor who glances at me. "You move and I drop you." I say. "Not only that but they confirmed Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Ghost Rider freed me from Cadmus long before you had time to install any further programming." Connor says angrily. "All true. Personally, I blame Doctor Desmond. I hate that Ghost Rider left him comatose before I could deal with him." I hear a roar as King Shark breaks from the foam as he charges Connor. The two heavy hitters go at it as Bane and his squad begin firing at us but the Super Cycle levels the playing field. I dodge a javelin thrown at me as I turn and see Sportsmaster with his ball and chain out and Jade with her sais at the ready. "You have been a very naughty girl." He says condescendingly as I fire an arrow at him. He deflects them as they march closer to me. "Guys, reinforcement time." I say mentally as Wally speeds against Bane's men. Rocket and Blake fly over and send some of them for a ride. Robin and Zatanna start tearing through the remaining thugs. Aqualad has tried to stop Luthor from leaving with Queen Bee but he is thrown aside by a blast from Mercy.

I turn my attention to Sportsmaster. He swings the ball and chain but I dodge out of the way and fire an arrow into his leg. He groans in pain but manages to break the arrow off and pull it out. Jade thursts her sais but I maneuver her hands away from me as I drive my knee into her mask. She groans in pain and I kick her away but she grabs my leg, tripping me. She maneuvers me into a triangle hold but I flip over and force my elbow into her throat. Her leg swoops over my neck and drives the back of my head into the ground. She gets me up and starts to punch me, she hits me twice. The third punch I catch as I knee her in the stomach and hurricrana her into the ground. I turn back to Sportsmaster as I level another arrow but he throws the ball and chain at my bow which shatters on impact. I'm sent to the ground as I see Jade hold one of her swords to my face. "You know that I don't tolerate disobedience, Artemis." He says as I turn to him with an angry glare. "Sure, dad. Jade and I learnt that the hard way." I say as I glance at her. She is barreled by a black streak. Wally charges towards Sportsmaster but he catches Wally's and throws him into a tree branch.

Sportsmaster keeps up a relentless attack on me as I dodge every strike he sent. The ball and chain is a pain on the ass to deal with. "Artemis, now!" Kaldur shouts via the mental link as I jump up and grab a branch. I see Kaldur hit the ground with the Apocolyptan weapons that we salvage from the Smokey Mountains incident. The ground becomes swampy as Sportsmaster is caught in the muck. I drop down onto him as I use my weight to push him further into it. I jump off as I land on solid ground. I turn and see Jade across from me. "Jade!" Sportsmaster calls out as he holds up his hand, asking for aid. Jade removes her mask as she smirks. "Sorry Dad. In this family, it's every girl for herself...you should have been a better father...maybe then I might have helped you." She says as she puts her mask back on and slips into the darkness of the jungle. "Jade!" Sportsmaster shouts as I stand in front of him, he stares up at me. I scowl my face in anger and kick him right in the head, knocking him clean out. Wally walks out of the bushes and stands next to me. He picks up Sportsmaster's hockey mask as he hands it to me. I smile and push it back to him. "Souvenir." I say as he smiles back.

We all gather around. King Shark is in the same muddy muck that Sportsmaster is in. Bane is knocked out by Robin and Zatanna. "It is always like this" Rocket says happily. "Told you." Zatanna says as Robin leans closer to the sorceress. "Hey, disaster averted. Feeling the aster." He says as Kaldur smiles. "Agreed. This has been a good day." He says as Connor and M'gann share lovey dovey eyes and hold hands. Rocket is leaning her arm on Blake's shoulder who is blushing furiously under his cowl. I smirk on the inside at that. Blake is one of the most stoic people I know...to see him look that is very funny...he's going to the brunt of many jokes once we get back to the cave.

Mount Justice:

No P.O.V:

Meanwhile back at the cave. Rachel is doing her daily meditation within the vault. As she prepares her chant, Matt's machinery starts kicking into overdrive. She drops down on surprise as the machinery blacks out. "Matt?" Rachel says as she stands over Matt. His face is twitching as contorting. After a while...his eyes open...revealing a gentle blue colour forming in his irises.