Sorry it took so long for me to update. I really hope you like this chapter, I thought it turned out pretty good. One thing that I did change from the episode was that Mallory goes into Roy's apartment instead of Kalder, and I did that because I haven't really shown Roy and Kalder having a really close friendship in the story, so for this I just thought it made more sense for Mallory to be the one to talk Roy into coming with the team. Anyway, please review with thoughts or suggestions. I love reading reviews.
The next morning, the team was in the living area when Batman called them to the training room. As they walked, Mallory asked, "What do you think the Batgrump wants?" She grinned at the look Robin shot at her.
"Whatever it is, he can't be mad at us after yesterday," Zatanna said.
"We have reason to feel proud of yesterday's victories," Kalder said as they entered the training room, "But one thing has not changed."
"Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel on us," Robin said.
"Yeah, well, at least we know none of us are the mole," Wally pointed out.
"That's correct. The mole was Red Arrow," Batman told them.
Mallory's eyes widened, and a pang of fear, hurt, anger, betrayal, and mostly disbelief went through her.
"Roy?" Robin asked.
"No way," Wally said.
"Batman, that cannot be. He was Green Arrow's protege. We have all known him for years," Kalder said.
"Unfortunately, the Roy Harper that we have known for the last three Years is another Project Cadmus clone," Red Tornado said.
Mallory stared at the holographic picture of the boy who had been like a big brother to her for the past few months. He'd been a clone the whole time. She didn't know how to feel about the news.
"We've learned that the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick. The clone was programmed with a drive to join the Justice League, which is why he was so angry at any delays, and why he refused to join the team."
Mallory stared at the picture as Batman explained what had happened. No. He had reasons for not joining the team. This couldn't be true. The realization that Batman was never wrong hit, and it felt like a pit in her stomach.
"This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone, or a traitor. His subconscious programming drove him to become League worthey. So he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. Once he was finally admitted, his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced that he was a clone, and we were prepared," Batman continued.
"Savage was subdued, but Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive, armed and dangerous," Tornado added.
Conner rubbed the back of his neck and murmured, "If you guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus…"
Robin suddenly looked up. "What happened to the real Roy?" he asked.
"We don't know," Batman said. "He isn't at Cadmus. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead."
Mallory looked at Robin, Wally, and Kalder. She didn't know how to feel about all of this, but she did know that she'd never known the real Roy. They may have. Zatanna put a hand on Robin's shoulder, and when Artemis hesitated to comfort Wally, Mallory stood beside the speedster and put a hand on his shoulder.
"The clone Roy. The team will find him," Kalder said, his voice husky.
"Negative. Red Arrow's a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us." His comm clicked on and he said, "I'm needed on the Watchtower now. Red Tornado, stay with the kids."
Mallory looked up and saw Zatanna put a hand on her head, a strange look on her face. When Batman zetaed away, Kalder turned to the team.
"Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him."
Tornado walked up behind Kalder and raised his hand, then shut down. "Tornado!" Megan exclaimed.
"What happened to him?" Conner asked.
"All functions are offline," Robin said, scanning the android.
Zatanna put both hands to her head. "Guys, I'm sensing a low level mystic force at play. Not sure if it caused the shutdown, but now that I think about it, I was getting the same buzz off Batman."
"Batman! He called us kids. He never does that," Robin said.
Wally pulled something out of Tornado's hand. "Look," he said, holding the chip up for them to see, "It's one of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire."
"Something is not right. Robin, Kid, Zatanna, Rocket, try to bring Tornado back online. The rest of you with me. We will try to find Ro- Red Arrow," Kalder said.
Mallory and her half of the team started to run for the hangar.
"Do we even know where we're going?" Artemis asked as the bioship took off.
Kalder pulled up a computer. "We will track his zeta transfers. He had to zeta off the watchtower. That will give us a place to start." He typed something on the keyboard, and the last location Roy zetaed to came up on the screen. "There. We are going to the Hall of Justice."
On their way there, Artemis said, "Ok, so the computer says Red Arrow zetaed to the Hall from the Watchtower, but he could be anywhere by now."
Kalder sighed. "We must find him. At least with this we know where he was."
Mallory studied the map from her seat. "Wait, I think I know where he went," she said. They turned to her. "Roy-uh, Red, told me that when he became Red Arrow he set up equipment caches in some major cities. When Robin, Wally, Roy and I would team up, sometimes we would go to those caches. One of them is right here." She pointed to the place on the map, an old apartment house a few blocks from the Hall. Megan flew the bioship to the building and landed on the roof.
"Wait here," Kalder said.
"Wait," Mallory said, standing. "Let me go." She waited anxiously for Kalder to decide.
Finally, he sighed and sat back down. "All right. Stay on the link, though. He may not be the person you think he is." Mallory nodded solemnly and went into the building.
She found apartment B06 and tried the door. It was locked. She went to burn the lock off, then looked at the smoke alarms directly above her. She sighed and kicked the door in. Roy was standing there, aiming an arrow at her chest.
Initially, alarm shot through her, but she forced it down. It was still Roy, she told herself. It had to be Roy. But the sight of him, ready to shoot her, nearly broke her heart.
"Is this what you want?" Mallory asked, taking a step closer.
"Stay back, Inferno," Roy said, pulling his string tighter. Mallory stopped.
"What happened to 'little sis'?" she asked sadly.
Roy glared at her. "I know you're not here to talk over old times," he said.
Mallory sighed. "You know you're going to have to come with me. The team needs answers. I need answers."
Roy stared at her. "You know I can't come with you."
She looked at him sadly. "You said once that you couldn't join the team, but you did that. Come on, Roy. I don't want to fight you, but I will." She made her eyes glow red, punctuating the threat.
"I'm not Roy. I don't know what I am," he said. That nearly broke her.
"You're the only Roy I've known. You're the one I had all those adventures with. You're the one who pretended to be my brother and threatened my boyfriend. You're the one who let me sleep on your couch and got me through moving out of my parents' house. You're the one I think of as a brother, not the other guy. Please, Roy, please don't make me fight you." She was close to tears by the end, and Roy's face softened and he lowered his bow.
"I'm sorry, Mallory. I'm so sorry," he said.
Mallory walked over to him and hugged him, and he clung to her like she was the only solid thing in his world.
After a moment, she pulled away. "We need to get back to the team," she said. He nodded and followed her as she led the way to the roof. Megan let them in the bioship and they sat down. She flew the ship off the roof. As soon as they were settled, Kalder turned to Roy.
"We were told that you were the mole, but we have reason to doubt."
"Forget doubt. I was the mole," Roy said.
Mallory took a shaky breath. So much had been happening lately, she just felt emotionally numb. Still, there was a dull throb in her chest, hearing that he was the traitor.
"I was a sleeper agent. Preprogrammed to infiltrate the League. I think Sportsmaster was my handler. He had a key phrase, broken arrow, that shut me down, put me in a hypnotic state so he could steal secrets for his superiors or incorporate further programming. I'd then carry out all orders subconsciously, completely unaware of what drove me." he turned to Megan, Conner, and Artemis. "I think one of those orders was to focus suspicion on the three of you. I'm sorry."
"How did Batman discover this and prevent you from betraying the League?" Kalder asked gently.
"He didn't," Roy said gravely. Mallory looked up, terrified of what he was about to say. "I infected them with the chips that were in the case. They're under Vandal Savage's control."
Fear drummed in Mallory's chest. The entire Justice League under the control of a madman like Savage? He could destroy the world, and even if he didn't want to aim that high, he would surely destroy the League's good name.
"I'm sorry, but how is it that you are no longer enslaved?" Megan asked.
"No starotech for starters, just my Cadmus programming. Once I had satisfied its last parameters, my mind began to clear. I'm sure Savage planned to starotech me, too, but he paused to- bask, and I escaped."
"I promise, I can clear any residual Cadmus programming from your mind," Megan told Roy.
"Miss Martian, are you in range?" Robin asked over the link.
"I'm here, Robin. Linking both squads and decamouflaging."
The supercycle came in through the floor and Robin jumped out. "Good, because we really need to compare notes.
Mallory flew through Metropolis, straight to Isaiah's apartment. She made sure that the coat covered her suit, then knocked on the door. Mrs. Crocket answered it.
"Why, Mallory, it's nice to see you. Was Isaiah supposed to meet you somewhere?"
"No, but I need to talk to him. Can I come in?"
Mrs. Crocket let her in and brought her to Isaiah's room. When he saw her, he got up and walked over.
"Mallory, what are you doing here?" he asked. Mallory glanced at the door, and Isaiah shut it softly.
"I came to see if you would help the team, but I need you to really think about it and really be sure. This mission, we might not make it out the other side."
Isaiah stared at her. "What is it?" he asked.
"We're going up against the Justice League. They're being mind controlled, and we need all the help we can get."
Isaiah stared at her. "That's crazy. You can't win against the Justice League!"
Mallory looked at him gravely.
"We have to try. We're all that's left. I get it if you don't want to come. I hate that I have to ask, but like you said, it's crazy."
Isaiah paced the room, rubbing his hair. "I don't know, Mal. Do you have to go?"
Mallory's face hardened. "You remember when I told you that Inferno would always come first? This is what that looks like. Look, Isaiah, you don't have to come, but I'm going. I just came to ask if you would help us, and if you said no, then- to say goodbye."
Isaiah stared at her. Mallory pulled the little glass figure he'd given her for Christmas out of her suit. She had attached it to a string and was wearing it around her neck.
"I told you I'd keep it for as long as I lived," she said quietly, then she looked at him. "I love you."
She turned to go, but Isaiah grabbed her arm.
"Wait, I'm coming," he said.
Mallory stared at him, not sure if she was relieved or terrified that he was coming. He changed into his Hotspot suit and they walked out the door and to the Daily Planet.
"This is where the team said they'd meet me. The rest of them went to see if they could get an antidote to the mind control thing."
The bioship picked them up a moment later, and they started into space. Mallory stared out the window at the stars, and at the Earth. It seemed fitting that they could see what they stood to lose if they failed. Megan sidled the bioship up to the bottom of the watchtower at a maintenance door and they got out.
"RT did it, he wirelessly bypassed security for us as soon as he arrived. Savage shouldn't know we're here," Robin announced.
"Move out," Kalder ordered.
Mallory locked eyes with Isaiah, then followed her team into the watchtower. They came across a few Leaguers, and they put the anti-starro patches on them, knocking them out.
Mallory kept with Robin and Conner as they made their way deeper into the League's headquarters. They found Hawkgirl and Robin got a chip on her. Mallory barely had time to warn Robin before Wonder Woman threw her lasso at him. She readied her fire, but Rocket put Robin in a force field just before the lasso tightened around him. Wonder Woman pulled her lasso back and Rocket put the Amazon in a force field. She started punching the bubble.
"Can she escape it?" Robin asked.
"Not if she keeps punching it like that. The kinetic energy only makes it stronger. But I'm stuck here."
"Look out!" Mallory yelled. She shot fire at Batman just before he landed on Robin, who rolled away. Mallory watched her friend stand up, a grave look on his face as he readied himself to fight his mentor. Mallory got ready to help him, but then she saw Superman fighting Conner on the level above them. She gave Robin one more glance before flying up to help Conner fight her mentor.
She burned him, keeping him back a little and allowing Conner to get a few punches in. Then, Superman flew up and pushed towards her. Fear filled every crevice of her being as the man of steel pushed past the flames, an empty look in his eyes. He flew close and grabbed her by her throat.
She stopped shooting at him and dangled there, her hands trying to loosen his fingers and desperately trying to breath as his powerful hand crushed down on her windpipe. "Clark," she gasped, hoping there would still be a small piece of him left, but there was no recognition in his eyes.
Something hit him from behind, and he was pushed forward a little. He glared at Mallory and threw her. She slammed into the wall and fell twenty feet to the ground. She lay there, gasping for breath like a fish out of water.
Her chest had sharp, white hot pains going through it with every ragged breath she drew in, forcing her to exhale in short hisses. Her whole body ached from pushing her powers so far trying to keep Superman away. Her throat felt half crushed, and between that and her chest she felt like she was slowly and painfully suffocating.
She looked at the scene in front of her with blurry vision. Oh, well. If she was going to die, at least it had been doing something worthwhile with the people she loved. She thought about her parents. She should have told them she was going. Well, at least they would have another kid soon.
She was on the verge of unconsciousness when a particularly loud grunt from Robin pulled her attention to him. He was on the ground, and Batman was going towards him slowly, a batarang in hand. Mallory pushed herself painfully to her feet. She couldn't let anything happen to Robin.
She rammed her body into Batman just as he held the razor-sharp batarang to Robin's throat. He fell over from the unexpected force, and then stood. Mallory faced him, ready to die if that was what she needed to do.
Then, he pulled a gun from his utility belt. The sight was so strange, she wondered briefly if she was hallucinating. Then he pulled the safety off and she realized it was very real.
"No!" Robin yelled.
Batman pulled the trigger, and Mallory's hands went up instinctively. Nothing happened. She cracked an eye open and saw melted metal dripped onto the floor and a fire shield in front of her. The power was too much, and she had to let the shield down. She held her chest and stared at Batman. He glared at her and was about to pull the trigger again when Robin kicked it out his hand.
"Get rid of it!" he told Mallory as he struggled to hold his own against his mentor. Mallory took a breath and burned the gun, melting it on the floor. She screamed in pain as the use of her powers went over the line, then she collapsed, clutching her chest, still gasping for breath, her chest still protesting the movement.
She watched as Conner fought Superman and Robin fought Batman. Then they teamed up. Conner threw Robin at Batman, taking him out, then Robin pulled kryptonite out of his belt and Superman went down. Robin helped Conner up, then the boys went to Mallory's side.
"Inferno, are you all right?" Robin asked, fear creeping into his voice. Mallory pushed herself up, wincing as everything screamed for her to just lay down and die.
"Great," she said weakly, her voice hoarse from being choked. Robin grabbed the arm that wasn't holding her chest and put it around his shoulder, supporting her.
"Can you walk?" he asked.
"I think so," she said. She stared at Superman lying unconscious on the ground and let it sink in that she'd survived.
They went to where Klarion and Vandal were, just on time to see them get away through a portal. Mallory stared at Canary and Roy, lying motionless on the floor.
"Are they…?"
"They have heartbeats," Conner said. Relief washed over her and Robin let her stand on her own. The rest of the team and Hotspot came over soon.
"Inferno!" Hotspot said, staring at the bruises on her arms and neck and the way she was holding her chest. Mallory tried to laugh, but the action made her double over in pain. When she got control of it, she looked at her boyfriend and smiled.
"I'm fine. It's probably just some cracked ribs." He stared at her in disbelief, but didn't say anything else. Aqualad knelt beside Red Tornado.
"Congratulations, team. You have won the day," the android said. The team looked at each other with satisfaction.
"Happy New Years, Justice League," the computer said.
Mallory watched Wally pick Artemis up and smiled. Megan and Conner kissed, then Zatanna and Robin, then Rocket and Kalder. Mallory turned to Isaiah and he leaned down and kissed her gently, like he was afraid he might break her if he did it too hard.
"Human customs still elude me," Red Tornado said from the floor. Mallory ignored him and leaned into the kiss. They were all alive to see another year. That was a reason to celebrate.
A few hours later, the League started to wake up. Roy and Canary were first, and Mallory went over to Roy. The team had made her go to Medbay and get a scan, which had revealed four cracked ribs, one broken one, a lot of bruising, a partially crushed windpipe, and strained vocal chords, but once they'd taped her up she'd insisted she was fine and they'd let her go.
"Welcome back," she told him with a smile. Roy looked her over, concern immediately clouding his face.
"What happened to you?" he asked.
Mallory chuckled, the action still sending spikes of pain through her chest. "It serves me right for picking the most powerful guy on the planet as my mentor."
Roy got to his feet. "Thanks, Mal. For everything," he said.
Mallory smiled and gave him a one armed hug. "Any time, big bro." He smiled at that.
Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Mallory turned around to see Superman standing there. When he saw her, he stilled, his face pale.
"Did I do that?" He asked. Mallory nodded. "Oh, Torch, I'm so- how could I- I-''
Mallory walked over and hugged him. "It's fine, Clark," she said quietly, "I know it wasn't you."
Superman held her tight. "I could have lost you, Torch. I couldn't have lived with myself if I had killed you. I'm so glad you managed to stop me."
Mallory stepped away. "You know, I didn't stop you alone. Superboy did most of the work. He's the one you should be thanking."
Clark looked over to where Conner and Megan were standing, but he didn't move.
"I'm serious, Clark. Without him, you would have killed me." She touched her throat, remembering the emotionless look in his eyes as he was about to snap her neck. It had been haunting her since. "Don't you think it's about time you at least talked to him?" Mallory continued, shaking off the memory. She looked at him hopefully.
Clark sighed heavily. "I suppose so." He smiled at her, all of the love, pride, and admiration he felt for her conveyed in that one look, then he walked over and started talking to Conner.
She pulled the figure out and rubbed the glass between her fingers. Isaiah came up behind her.
"You brought that with you?"
"Yeah, I wanted a piece of you with me in case I didn't make it out. I'm surprised it didn't break when I was fighting Superman."
Isaiah hugged her from behind, resting his chin gently on her shoulder. "You feeling any better?" he asked.
"Well, I'm not gonna be fighting a super any time soon, but I'll be fine."
Isiah nodded. "Hey, what you said about Inferno always coming first? I guess I didn't think it would actually come to you sacrificing your life. Still, I knew what I was getting into, and I shouldn't have suggested you stay behind. I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "Don't be. Thanks for coming. It was nice having you here after the battle."
He pecked her cheek and let go. "I think Supes wants you," he said.
Mallory sighed, but she went to her mentor. "Yeah?" she asked.
"Roy is leaving the League," Superman told her.
"Why is he leaving?" she asked, looking around the man of steel to see her friend sitting at the table with his back to her.
"He wants to find the real Roy, and he doesn't think he deserves to be on the League. I thought you should know, considering how close you've become."
Mallory nodded. "Thanks," she said. She didn't want to talk to him in front of the Leaguers, so she went back to Isaiah.
"What's up?" he asked. She eased down next to him.
"Roy's leaving. I need to talk to him, but I'll do it later, when we're alone. Do you need to get home?"
"Yeah, I guess I do. See you tomorrow?"
Mallory looked over at Roy. "I don't know. I'll call you when things calm down." He nodded and gave her one last kiss before heading to the zeta tube. Mallory waited there until Roy walked away from the table, then got to her feet and hurried after him.
"Roy?" she said. He stopped and she walked so she could see his face. "Superman told me you were leaving the League."
"Listen, Mal, I got all the ego boosters I can swallow from GA and Canary. You're not going to change my mind on this."
"I don't want to change your mind. I just wanted to say goodbye, and tell you that you can call me if you need me. You're still one of the team, no matter what you think, and we'll be there if you need us."
Roy nodded and mustered a small smile, ruffling her hair. "Thanks, little sis, but this is something I need to do on my own." He gave her a hug, then went on to the zeta tube. Mallory watched the light take him away, in the back of her mind wondering if she would ever see him again.
"He'll be fine," Wally said, coming up behind her.
Mallory nodded. "I know, but he doesn't think he's worth anything. That's more what I'm worried about."
Wally stared at the zeta tube in silent agreement. "Come on, let's go round up the rest of the team," he said.
Mallory followed, moving slowly to keep her chest as still as possible. They went to the table where Robin and Kalder were sitting with Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman. Robin was just telling them about the sixteen hours the six Leaguers had been missing for. Batman stared out the window gravely.
"Sixteen hours. What did we do?"
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