Fight or Flight

by Caeci

There are three things that Thanagarians treasure above all else, making a name for themselves in battle, battle, and family. Hawkgirl has been living on Earth for seven years when she and her fellow "sidekicks" discover a clone of Superman and form a team of their own. She's not sure how they ended up where they are, but she does know that she's in for a hell of of a fight.

1. Today's Almost the Day

For new readers, welcome! This story has been a labor of love, a long work in progress, as you can see by the date originally posted.

For old readers, you might remember me saying I was planning on updating the first few chapters? Well, that turned out to be... More like every chapter so far. The word count is... much longer now. I am a husk of my former self, but satisfied. Author's note chapters will be deleted, and any and all oneshots included as part of said notes or at the ends of chapters will be cleaned up and moved to Fight or Flight: Side Stories.

For new readers, there is a supplemental story, Side Stories, where I post what ifs, au's, and oneshots that don't fit into the rest of the story.

Due to the nature of the editing process, don't expect too many author's notes until more current content.

Comments, questions, and concerns are always welcome, and I hope you have a lovely day!

---

ST. ROCH
JULY 4th, 2010
12:00 EDT

"Move!" Hawkwoman's warning came barely in time, giving her daughter only seconds to duck out of the path of the swing of her mother's mace, as the spiked head crashed straight into the side of the Snowman's head. The giant yeti let out a pained, low-toned yowl that set her teeth on edge, but she took the opportunity given to her. Now that the hulking villain's attention was fully off of her, Hawkgirl tucked her wings close to her body, momentarily disengaging from the conflict. All the while, her mother rained blow after blow on the Snowman, forcing him into maintaining a defensive stance.

Once she was far enough away, she flared out her wings and took to the air, maintaining a low hover so she could try to locate her father. The Snowman had backhanded him into a building, sending him careening towards a stack of shipping containers. Locating the one that seemed nearly bent in half from sudden impact, she saw her father attempting to carefully extricate himself out of the twisted metal. He said nothing otherwise, so she assumed he was fine. It took a little more than that to take down Hawkman.

Swooping back down towards where her mother was relentlessly smashing the Snowman over and over again, Hawkgirl landed and readjusted her grip on her mace. Activating a hidden mechanism on the hilt, the Nth metal spiked ball on the end popped off the end of the handle, revealing a long, thin chain that spooled out of the hollow compartment within. Whirling the chain around in an arc to build momentum, she sent the newly formed meteor hammer towards the Snowman's legs, letting the chain circle around his knees. Only once it had made two paths around did she grasp the chain with both hands, yanking with all her strength. His knees pulled and locked together by the metal links, the raging yeti was forced to switch tactics from fending off Hawkwoman's blows to maintaining his balance before he toppled. The Snowman's massive hands tried to tear at his makeshift bindings, but Hawkgirl yanked harder, digging the chain further into his long fur and making the task even more difficult.

That was all the opening Hawkman needed as he made his grand appearance. A guttural war cry leaving his through, he dived straight into the Snowman, burying his gauntleted fists in their enemy's abdomen. A well-timed yank from Hawkgirl and one last, decisive hit upside the jaw from Hawkwoman's mace sent the yeti sprawling onto the asphalt, unconscious.

With the rampage ended, the first responders waiting patiently at the scene of the crime swarmed in, clamping electrically charged restraints on the Snowman and loading him into the back of a secure transport vehicle. All the while, the Hawks had taken to the air and found perches on the roof of a nearby building, keeping a careful eye on proceedings just in case the Snowman began to stir.

Standing between them, she really looked like the perfect amalgamation of her two parents. The base of her uniform and her helmet were nigh identical to her mothers', albeit she had insisted on actual pants and a solid long-sleeved undershirt with no unnecessary cut outs. Her armor on the other hand, gleaming golden Nth metal alloy, were patterned closer to her father's, with knee high gold boots, matching gauntlets (slimmed down greatly to account for her more lithe frame) and even the bird skull embossed pauldrons.

"That was quick thinking, tripping him up." Hawkman began, putting a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "It sure made knocking him out a hell of a lot easier."

Her wings flared a little from the praise, but she couldn't resist the urge to tease him. "I'm sure you needed the help, considering how easily he got the drop on you."

That earned her a scowl, albeit one with no real heat behind it. Her mother barked out a harsh laugh, brushing the tip of one of her wings against her daughter's own feathered appendages. "So very true. I think he's getting slow in his old age."

Hawkman's scowl deepened, and he shot a look at his now chuckling wife. "Old? And who was it that sprained a wing last week and had to have Superman fly her home?" He dodged to the side as Hawkwoman made a lazy swing for the back of his head with her wing. Katar apparently deemed it safer to change the subject instead of potentially gaining further ire from his wife. "It seems as if things are well in hand here. We don't want to be late."

"If we're late, we're late." Shayera offered. "Though I doubt we'll be the last."

The reminder of exactly what awaited her today made Ski'Lira Hol frown. "Today's the day, I suppose."

"Everything's going to be fine, if that's what you're worried about." Katar assured her immediately. "Besides, we all know that this thing is a complete farce anyway."

This time, his reflexes didn't kick in fast enough to dodge Shayera's swat on the bare part of his arm not shielded in gleaming gold armor. "It's still important and we're going to be supportive parents... Even if you are right."

H

WASHINGTON, D.C.
JULY 4TH, 2010
14:00 EDT

Shayera's prediction proved true, as despite being literally two of the fastest people on the planet, Flash and Kid Flash were the last to arrive at the gathering place before the Hall of Justice. When they landed, the second to last to arrive, she had shot her husband and daughter a look that emanated vibes of 'I told you so'. Wordlessly, they joined the line up of proteges and mentors. Aqualad had offered her a smile and small wave in greeting, while Robin's was a more enthusiastic grin. Speedy's heated glare was expected, and she returned it tenfold, even if some of the intent was lost behind the opaque lenses of her mask.

If this had been a normal gathering, she had no doubt Robin would have dragged her and Aqualad into conversation, with a reluctant Speedy roped into it as they waited for the speedsters to arrive. But this was far from a normal day. Instead, they stayed resolutely silent by their mentors.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," Green Arrow greeted, definitely playing up the theatricality of the moment, mostly for the benefit of the fans and reporters littering the grounds.

"Headquarters of the Justice League," The addition from Aquaman was unnecessary, but once again, this was all about playing it up for the crowd.

Feeling a pressure on her shoulder, she looked up at her father, who tilted his head in a way she recognized as a hidden eye roll. She managed to stifle an outright laugh at his antics, knowing how much he hated all this pomp and circumstance. A small smile played on her lips instead, an expression any bystander could interpret as excitement for being here or nonverbal praise from Hawkman, rather than the exasperation it was.

Her feathers were suddenly ruffled as a gust of wind swept over the party, accompanied by a frustrated, "Aww, man!" A thoroughly disappointed Kid Flash had finally arrived with Flash. "I knew we'd be the last ones." He crossed his arms in a huff.

"Now that we're all here..." Batman cut off the whining before it could continue, maintaining attention on the matter at hand. "Let's go."

Even with her sensitive hearing, she only caught a few words of Kid Flash and Robin's quiet conversation, half because she just didn't care enough to pay attention and half because of the rise of excited chatter and photo taking from the crowd. The cacophony of noise was grating and a little disorienting, but her parents' firm presences on either side of her kept her grounded. Soon, they stood in front of the Hall of Justice, the closest any of them had ever come to this particular building. A few flimsy velvet ropes were all that cut them off from the citizens. If there were any less members of the League present, no doubt there would be some sort of attack here, but she supposed even some of the maddest villains didn't want to take their chances on League home turf.

Unable to shake a sense of unease from the sheer amount of unknown people here, she did her best to keep her spine straight, and the well-trained indifferent expression on her face as she walked in step with her parents. She managed to catch choice exclamations from the gathered crowd.

"Is that Batman?!"

"I see Flash! And Flash Jr!"

"His name's Speedy, duh"

"No, Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick!"

"Well that makes no sense!"

"Look, the whole Hawk family's here!"

"I'm glad we're all here." The comment from Aqualad drew her attention, his tone warm and sincere. She'd only met him once before, and she was unsure how many times he'd spoken with the other three. Hawkgirl still counted him as a friend and a colleague, and she returned the sentiment wholeheartedly, even if she didn't voice it aloud.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash wondered aloud as they headed towards the doors.

The answer to that was a resounding no, but before she could say as much, she was interrupted with a scathing remark from Roy. "Don't call us sidekicks... Not after today." She shot him a look at his aggressive tone, which he returned with a sneer. That right there was the reason why this might be the first and only time they'd all be together like this, considering her... less than friendly relationship with Roy.

"Sorry," the young speedster immediately apologized, sounding genuinely sheepish from the reprimand. "It's my first time at the Hall, I'm a little overwhelmed."

A short sigh left Robin. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed... Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" His eyes widened in surprise as they stepped into the entrance hall, being dwarfed by the statues of the founding members of the Justice League. "... Oh... Maybe that's why."

The small group of vigilantes was soon joined by both Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter, the latter of whom moved forward to address them directly. "Robin, Speedy, Hawkgirl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, welcome." Turning, he led them further into the depths of the Hall. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library."

Taking stock of the room the Martian had led them to, Hawkgirl took in the walls lined with bookcases filled from end to end. Her interest in the massive screen and console at the end of the room was dwarfed by some of the titles she spotted, but she shelved the thought of perusing them for later. A few chairs and tables were scattered around the space to give it a more casual feel.

"Make yourselves at home," Flash gestured widely, and Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad didn't hesitate to do so, settling down into the plush armchairs. She herself remained standing, deeming the time it would take to find a comfortable position for her wings unworthy.

Resisting the urge to idle over to the nearest bookshelf and inspect the first tome that piqued her interest, she moved to stand near Robin, as her parents moved to join the rest of the League members. She wondered if this meant this faux-introduction was finished.

"That's it?!" Speedy's explosion was unexpected, and she couldn't help the way her muscles instinctively tensed, ready to move at a moment's notice. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass!" His outburst had stopped the Leaguers in their tracks.

Aquaman was the first to attempt reason, hands held up placatingly and tone neutral. "It's a first step, you've been given access to what few others get."

That did nothing to diffuse the situation, in fact, it only seemed to spur Roy on further. He angrily gestured to the crowd of civilians watching the proceedings through the window. "Oh really? Who cares what side of the glass we're on?!"

With Aquaman's failure, Green Arrow took the initiative in calming down his protege. "Roy, you just need to be patient."

"What I need is respect." Whirling to face the rest of them, it was clear he was looking for allies amongst his peers. "They're treating us like kids... Worse, like sidekicks." He spat out the word like it was a curse. "We deserve better than this."

Silence reigned after his proclamation.

Seeing quickly that no one else was going to join his side, Roy's face twisted into a deeper scowl. "You're kidding, right? You're playing their game? Why?! Today was supposed to be the day! Step one to becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

Kid Flash offered a half-hearted shrug. "Well, sure? But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy snapped suddenly, earning startled looks from Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash.

Hawkgirl herself was surprised, but for an entirely different reason. They hadn't known about the Watchtower? Was it supposed to be a secret?

"Bet they never told you it was just a false front for tourists and a pit stop to catching Zeta-beam tubes to the real thing!" Roy continued. "An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Green Arrow became the subject of scrutiny, visibly wilting under the attention. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?" Judging by the stare down he received from Batman, something no one wanted to be on the wrong side of, he had made a grave misconception. "Or not."

Aquaman tried to talk Roy down again, now that the redhead was becoming more frantic. "You are not helping your cause here, son. Stand down."

Usually, the calm and collected King of Atlantis was an excellent voice of reason, but this was a situation where his target was too far gone to fully deescalate.

"Or you'll what?" Roy snapped. "Send me to my room? I'm not your son! I'm not even his!" No one missed Oliver's minute flinch at the comment, but Roy was far from done. "I thought I was his partner, but not anymore." Tearing off his yellow hat, he threw it on the ground and stormed out of the room. He paused only long enough to send one last scathing comment at his former colleagues. "Guess they're right about you four, you're not ready."

A heartbeat after his dramatic exit, a harsh beeping filled the room before the present heroes could begin to reassure the younger ones. The massive screen suspended on the wall blinked into life, revealing a live feed. "Superman to Justice League, there's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

All thoughts of Speedy's defection were immediately pushed away in the face of yet another threat. "I've had my suspicions about Cadmus," Batman said. "This may present the perfect opportunity to-"

The Dark Knight was interrupted as yet another distress signal came through, this one from their resident magician. "Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response."

"Superman?" Batman prompted.

"It's a small fire. The local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait," jabbing a key on the computer interface, Batman broadcast a message of his own. "All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman, out." The live connection to both the Kryptonian and the magician were cut off, the screen going dark as he turned to face the 'not sidekicks'. "Stay put."

Head snapping up, Robin immediately protested. "What, why?!"

"This is a League mission," the emphasis on the term was clear as Aquaman answered.

"You're not trained-" Flash started to add, only for his own mentee to interrupt him.

"Since when?!"

Putting his hands up, Flash made an apologetic face, trying desperately to avoid a second hostile confrontation today. "I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team." A completely valid reasoning, in Hawkgirl's eyes. Throwing a bunch of rookies into a tightly knit team like the Justice League would only make things more difficult.

"There will be other missions when you're ready." Aquaman assured, clearly itching to leave as soon as possible.

"But for now, stay put." Batman finished, his order clear. He and the others swept out of the room with singular purpose. The last to leave were Hawkgirl's parents.

"Stay out of trouble." Hawkman tossed over his shoulder in their native Thanagarian, guaranteeing only she and her mother could understand. "But if you do get in trouble, make sure not to cause too much property damage."

With that, she was left alone with the boys, all of whom looked less than thrilled at the direction today's events had taken. Honestly, she had no idea what they had been expecting out of this. Full membership of the League? They were all teenagers, not seasoned heroes.

It was only a few moments before the lingering tension came to a head, broken as Kid Flash shouted, nearly tearing his hair out in frustration. "When we're ready? How are we supposed to ever be ready when they treat us like sidekicks?!"

There was a hurt look in Aqualad's pale green eyes. "My mentor... my king... I thought he trusted me."

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in space!"

"What else aren't they telling us?"

"I have a better question..." Robin pointed out. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

Thoroughly bored by this point, Ski'Lira finally gave into the urge and disconnected from the conversation entirely, snagging the nearest book she could get her metal-clad fingers on. Flipping it open, she was pleasantly surprised to see an account of maritime exploration. She had scarcely turned to the first page, before a quiet inquiry from Aqualad drew her attention once more.

"What is Project Cadmus?"

"Don't know," Robin admitted with a shrug, but from the look in his eyes, the gears were already turning in his head. "But I can find out."

Sensing she wouldn't be getting in any peaceful reading today, she made a mental note to come back and steal the book later, snapping it shut and placing it carefully back where she'd plucked it from. Meanwhile, Robin had made a beeline for the console, manipulating the keyboard like he was an expert musician playing an instrument.

"Access denied," a mechanical voice droned.

Said denial seemed to do nothing more than amuse the Boy Wonder, and spur him to try harder. "Heh, wanna bet?"

"Whoa, how are you doing that?" Kid Flash's green eyes were wide as he tracked the rapid scrolling of Robin's work.

"Same system as the Batcave."

"Access Granted."

Thoroughly broken in, it only took moments for Robin to locate the relevant information and start relaying it to the rest of them. "Alright, Project Cadmus, genetics lab here in DC... That's all there is, but if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate?" There was a slightly unnerving grin on his face at the prospect.

"Solve their case before they do..." The thought struck a chord in Aqualad. "It would be poetic justice."

"Hey, they're all about justice."

"... But they said to stay put."

A long pent-up sigh left Hawkgirl, her first audible vocalization since they'd gotten here immediately garnering the others' attention. "If I remember correctly, and I'm sure I do, Batman restricted us from taking on Wotan, not stopping a local fire, nor did he tell us exactly how long we were to stay put."

That earned her a megawatt smile from Robin, and Kid Flash looked between the three of them. "Wait, are you going to Cadmus? 'Cause if you're going, I'm going."

One of Aqualad's eyebrows rose, out of amusement maybe? "So, just like that? A team on a mission?"

"We didn't come for a play date." She didn't know it was possible, but Robin's smile only widened.

H

The moment they'd reached a consensus, that they were actually doing this, Kid Flash had picked up Robin bridal style and sped off into the streets of DC, leaving Hawkgirl and Aqualad alone. She took pity upon the land-bound Atlantean.

"Want a ride?" She offered once they were outside, safely ensconced away from the crowds by virtue of taking a surreptitious back exit that J'onn had pointed out on the initial tour.

"I do not wish to be a burden." Aqualad denied, giving a soft shake of his head. "The location is not far."

"Yes, but it is currently on fire." She pointed out with no small amount of impatience. "If it's weight you're worried about, don't. If I can carry a fully unconscious Hawkman in full battle armor, I can carry you a few miles."

Her argument was sound enough, and he gave a nod. "How do you want me to...?"

"Just hold your arms up like this," she demonstrated, stretching her arms up towards the sky. After a moment's hesitation, he did so, looking a little goofy and well aware of it judging by the slight blush tinging his cheeks.

Hawkgirl took to the air, maintaining a hover just above him and wrapping her hands tightly around his wrists, careful to make sure the razor sharp points of her gauntleted fingers didn't sink into his vulnerable flesh. When her grip was secure, she shot up into the air with cargo in tow, earning a startled noise from said cargo.

The flight was short, and their location was easily marked on approach by the steadily growing plume of black smoke curling into the air, accompanied by the unmistakable shrieking of humans in distress. Dropping altitude, she slowed down just enough to drop Aqualad down next to Kid Flash and Robin before sweeping back up again towards the upper floors of the building. Several employees were practically hanging out of windows, desperately trying to wave for help.

Keeping herself at a stable hover, she started the process of ferrying civilians safely down to the ground in groups of two and three. Below, she caught sight of Kid Flash and Robin rushing in through the ground floor. Once the ones actively at the windows were safe, she tucked in her wings and dived in through the window itself, locating those unlucky few too injured to move on their own. As the only one with water-based abilities, she trusted Aqualad to actually put out the fire.

The entire process was almost clinically quick, and soon she was standing alone on a smoke-scarred top floor, satisfied the building was empty of those in distress. Heading over to the stairs, she made her way down a floor, where she could hear Kid Flash's distinct, unnaturally fast heartbeat. It seemed Aqualad had the same idea, as he arrived a moment after she did.

"Appreciate the help," Aqualad offered sarcastically as he moved to join the small investigative group they'd formed. Robin was already deep into slogging through a computer's files, while herself and Kid Flash were taking the traditional approach and combing through filing cabinets.

"You handled it, besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?" Robin reminded him, not bothering to look up from the screen.

With an accepting nod, Aqualad joined in on the investigation. But his movement further into the office seemed to trigger something, and a sudden blur of motion from the elevator caught in the corner of Ski'Lira's vision. Head whipping around, the files in her hand were forgotten in lieu of the unusual silhouette standing in the elevator. It was visible for only a moment before the doors slid shut decisively. She tracked the noise of the cubicle descending... and it was going deep.

"There was something in the..." Trailing off, Aqualad didn't so much as startle as Kid Flash appeared at his side in an instant.

There was a thoughtful frown on the redhead's face. "Elevators should be locked down."

Hawkgirl and Robin had already been moving to join them, the latter activating the holoscreen on his glove, resuming his perusing through the building's security systems. "This is wrong." He muttered to himself. "Though so, this is a high speed elevator. It doesn't belong on a two story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Striding forwards, Aqualad forced his fingers into the crack of the elevator, tearing the doors apart and revealing a seemingly endless hole.

"And that's why they need an express elevator." Snagging his grapple gun from his utility belt, Robin fired the anchor to the top of the elevator shaft, dropping down into the dark abyss with an uncanny confidence. Aqualad waited a few moments to make sure there was enough clearance between him and his fellow vigilante before jumping forwards and grasping the rope, riding it down, his thick Atlantean skin no doubt protecting him from rope burn.

With a flourishing bow, Kid Flash gestured to the rope. "Ladies first?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, unseen under her helmet. Without saying a word, stepped up to the doorway and turned, so her heels were hanging on empty space. Raising a hand, she flipped him off before allowing herself to drop backwards into free fall, feet first. She heard his startled laugh as she fell. The space was large enough that she dropped down past both Aqualad and Robin without risking dislodging them. A loud whoop came from the youngest present vigilante when she passed him, and when she saw the floor approach, she reached out and sunk her clawed gauntlets into the walls. Large grooves cut into the smooth concrete as she descended, slowing her fall enough that she was able to hop down effortlessly to the ground.

By the time the others made their way down, she was impatiently tapping her foot and standing with her arms crossed.

"Show off," Kid Flash teased, as Robin pushed past him to access the elevator's controls.

"There, go," he announced after a moment's fiddling, revealing an extensive hallway nearly two stories tall. "Welcome to Project Cadmus."

Before he could be told to stop, Kid Flash zoomed off into the depths of the complex, leaving them to race after him. Fortunately, he hadn't made it far, as he was halted by the sight of a colossal quadruped, dissimilar to any native species on Earth. He didn't even register their arrival at first, he was so shocked.

Out of the quartet, herself and Aqualad were the only two nonplussed about the sight. Aqualad had certainly grown up with the strange sights of those beings that evolved in the deepest depths of the ocean. She herself had certainly seen stranger from her lessons of the greater universe and its unusual denizens.

"No, nothing odd going on here," Aqualad deadpanned.

H

The smell lingering in the twisting passageways was a revolting amalgamation of organic matter and harshly chemical, which didn't bode well for whatever else lay inside. Never once did her hand stray from the handle of her mace, prepared to swing at the first hostile entity that leapt out at them. They'd taken as direct a path as they could through the hallways, with Robin forming a map as they went to make sure they didn't end up hopelessly lost in the sprawl.

It was by pure chance that they stumbled into a large cavern bearing some kind of power generator, an unconventional one at that. Lining the walls from floor to ceiling were crystal clear glass tubes, each bearing an insectoid creature that sparked with its own electricity. The energy was congregated, then funneled into a contraption at the end of the room via a long series of conduits.

"Okay..." Robin looked a little paler than normal, even under the eerie lighting. "I'm officially whelmed."

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world..." There was almost a reverence in Kid Flash's tone as he examined one of the nearest tubes with a critical eye. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid, it generates its own power with these... things. Must be what they're bred for..."

"Even the name is a clue," Aqualad offered. "The Cadmus of myth made a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"Highly unregulated genetic modification, in pursuit of creating new species?" Hawkgirl mused. "No wonder they've been going to such lengths to hide."

"This Cadmus creates new life too..." Activating his glove again, Robin set to the process of hacking into the nearest console. "Let's find out why..." After only a moment, an image of one of the creatures they had spotted earlier burst into existence. "They call them genomorphs... Whoa! Look at the stats on these things! Super strength, telepathy, razor claws... These are living weapons."

Kid Flash voiced the immediate thought that ran through her head. "They're engineering an army... But for who?"

"I can think of a fair few possible culprits..." And Hawkgirl wasn't bluffing, there was a long list of supervillains, both in and out of custody, that would relish in having their own personal army.

Robin interrupted further guessing on the ones responsible. "Wait, there's something else... Project K-R. The file's triple encrypted, I can't-"

"Don't move!"

Hawkgirl's mace was instantly in her hand, wings flaring out behind her in a battle stance as the newcomer stormed into the room, accompanied by one of the smaller breed of genomorphs on his shoulder, and a pack of wolf-like entities surrounding him like faithful hounds. She was surprised to see an actually familiar face, or rather, the familiar helmet of Guardian. "Wait, Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? Hawkgirl?"

Despite being caught red-handed, Robin didn't cease his hacking. "At least he got your name right," he muttered to Kid Flash.

"I know you," Aqualad began to relax from his own stance, though she made no such moves. This didn't sit right with her at all. "Guardian, a hero."

"I do my best," the helmeted hero admitted, also visibly wary of their presence.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kid Flash demanded.

"I'm Chief of Security. You're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League is going to approve your breeding weapons?"

Guardian blinked in shock, the older hero visibly thrown for a loop. "Weapons? What are you-?" As he began to question, his face contorted in discomfort, eyes closing as one hand drifted up to his temple, as if warding off a sudden onset migraine. "What have I...? Ugh, my head." In the span of a heartbeat, his entire countenance changed, face and eyes going eerily blank. "Take 'em down hard! No mercy!"

At his command, the pack of lupine genomorphs surged forward towards the teens, only to be met with a smoke bomb hastily thrown from Robin's seemingly endless utility belt. He fired off his grapple gun, disappearing into the ceiling and leaving the remaining three to fend off the pack themselves. Hawkgirl found batting away the creatures with her mace almost insultingly easy. She had no clue how the others were faring, other than hearing the spike in heart beats and sounds of exertion. Though based on the lack of frantic screaming and the distinct sounds of tearing flesh, they were probably fine.

Hawkgirl had been more than prepared to continue fighting off the creatures before lunging at Guardian and taking him down next, but a sharp whistle caught her attention.

"HG, move it!"

Growling under her breath at Kid Flash's insistence, she disengaged, reluctantly retreating with the others to the hallway leading to the elevator. It was a pity, really. Seasoned hero or not, she was fully prepared to go toe to toe with Guardian.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash shouted once they had caught up with the wayward member of their little band, who himself was working on opening the elevator doors once more.

"Weren't you right behind me?" He asked, the doors sliding open and they all piled inside, narrowly escaping the pursuing horde of genomorphs that had caught up to them.

Crushed between the back wall and Aqualad's bulk, Hawkgirl pulled her wings in as tight as she could manage and set her jaw, feeling an all-too-familiar tightness slowly building in her chest. The sooner they got out of this underground nightmare, the better.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad's words made her attention snap over to where his gaze lay, namely on the numbers continually increasing on the elevator's display.

"Dude," Arms flailing slightly, Kid Flash narrowly avoided smacking one of them straight in the face. "Out is up!"

"Excuse me? Project Kr?" Robin reminded them. "It's down on sublevel fifty two."

This seemed to be Aqualad's breaking point. "This is getting out of control. Perhaps... Perhaps we could contact the League."

That idea was met with contemplative silence, interrupted by the muffled 'ding' noise as the metal box came to a halt on floor fifty two. Despite their reservations, they moved out into the hallway, continuing on their venture anyway. The moment she left the elevator, she stretched her wings out to their full length, only to immediately retract them as the ends made contact with a soft and squishy surface coated in a thin coating of mucus. Her stretch turned into a shudder, the mucus clinging to her wingtips as she returned the appendages to a more natural resting position.

The pungent aroma that lingered in the upper levels was near deafening to her olfactory senses. In her distraction, Kid Flash had made a comment about 'already being here' as motivation to stay and continue investigating, which at the very least mollified Aqualad for the time being.

The Atlantean gave a resigned sigh, but nonetheless set his shoulders and followed. "Which way?"

They had come to a fork, looking to Robin for insight. "Yeah, bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?"

Any decision they could have made was interrupted by the appearance of yet another genomorphy. "Halt!" It shouted, and equipment around them began to hover before it was launched in their direction. Hawkgirl mentally added telekinesis to the growing number of abilities these genomorphs had been given.

The only way to move was forward, and Robin tossed a birdarang at the genomorph to distract it, leading the charge out of the immediate area. Kid Flash surged forward, tearing past them and plowing accidentally into a Cadmus scientist, sending her sprawling to the ground. Ignoring potential injury he could have caused, the speedster snagged a metal tank and lugged it towards the rapidly closing metal door. He jammed it open, giving the three of them enough space to get through the gap. The last one through, Aqualad kicked out the metal tank, allowing the door to seal shut behind them.

"I disabled the door," Robin announced after a moment. "We're safe."

"We're trapped." Aqualad corrected.

"Uh... guys?" Kid Flash's shaky tone drew her attention from where she'd been watching the door, making sure their pursuers weren't taking the brute force option to reach them. "You'll wanna see this."

With a press of a button, harsh white lighting burst into life, revealing the crown jewel of Cadmus, Project Kr, the very reason for all of this secrecy.

A near exact clone of Superman.

With a newfound spike of bravery, Kid Flash was the first one to approach the glass coffin, pressing his fingers briefly to the symbol engraved on its surface. "Big K, little R... The atomic symbol for Krypton."

"Robin, hack," Aqualad snapped.

Hawkgirl examined the being a little closer. It was a little stranger seeing a much younger version of her Uncle Clark, but it was unmistakably his face. Though she had no doubt that his personality would be anywhere near the same, if this was how he was being raised... isolated in a glass coffin... if he had any independent consciousness of his own. That thought definitely unnerved her, for more reasons than she could name.

Files successfully retrieved, Robin started to rattle off relevant information. "Weapon designation: Superboy, a clone force grown in... sixteen weeks?! From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad clarified, with no small amount of distaste.

"No way the big guy knows about this," Shaking his head, Kid Flash was fidgeting in place, his uneasy jitters in full force.

"His solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four seven," Robin continued.

"The fastest way to power him up without letting him above ground," Hawkgirl mused. "So he's ready for... whatever they made him for."

"And these... creatures?" Aqualad's eyes were locked on the small genomorphs perched on the clone's immobile shoulders.

"Genomorph gnome, telepathic... They're force feeding him an education."

Kid Flash's face twisted with this news. "And we can guess what else. They're making a slave out of, well... Superman's son."

The veneer of calm Aqualad was taking great lengths to maintain began to crack slightly under the growing pressure. "Now we contact the League."

"No signal," was Robin's reluctant response.

"We're in too deep.. Literally," Kid Flash's tone was solemn, despite the small attempt at humor. "This is wrong."

"We can't leave him like this."

"Set him free." Aqualad ordered, Hawkgirl nodding in silent agreement. "Do it."

Hawkgirl was no fool, tightening her grip on her mace and preparing for this all to go horrifically wrong, this entire situation gave her a bad feeling. And Hal Jordan had taught her never to ignore a bad feeling.

With a few taps of the keyboard from Robin, the pod cracked open with a pneumatic hiss.

They watched with bated breath and unblinking eyes as Superboy's hand abruptly twitched, clenching into a tight fist. A second later, his eyes snapped open, revealing a brilliant blue that matched the Man of Steel's perfectly.

The moment of peace was abruptly shattered as a growl ripped itself out of the clone's throat, the only warning he gave before he lunged straight for Aqualad. The Atlantean was knocked prone, the clone straddling his chest and keeping him pinned to the ground. Moving in quickly, Robin and Kid Flash grabbed at the clone's arms, desperately trying to pull him off.

"Whoa, hang on, Supey!" Kid Flash ground out through gritted teeth, heels digging in to try to gain more leverage.

"We're on your side!" Robin added, but it wasn't nearly enough to sway him.

Kid Flash was thrown backwards first, courtesy of a casual flail of the arm he'd been hanging onto. Thrown into a glass tube, the thick glass thankfully didn't shatter, only erupting into spiderweb cracks. When he flopped limply to the side, making no effort to protect his face, Hawkgirl switched her trajectory quickly to the speedster's side. A quick check of his pulse confirmed he was still stable, just knocked out.

Robin had managed to divest himself of Superboy's iron grip, slamming a canister of tear gas straight into his face to ward him off Aqualad. Taking the opportunity while the clone was reeling, Aqualad snapped a foot into the middle of his attacker's chest. The sheer amount of strength put behind the blow was enough to send him flying backwards into the pod he had just been released from. The impact was so rough that there was a perfect dent of his body left behind in the metal.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Robin fired off a taser while the clone was downed to try to keep him there, but Superboy snagged the wires out of the air before they impacted. Pulling on the wire, he tugged Robin forward, knocking the youngest hero off balance enough he too, hit the ground. Before he could tuck and roll, Robin found himself on the wrong end of a super-powered kick straight to the chest.

When Hawkgirl heard his ribs crack, that was the last straight. Letting out a vicious war cry that made the clone wince from the sheer unexpected volume in such close quarters, Hawkgirl charged forward. He brought an arm up to block, but he wasn't prepared for the full power of an enraged Thanagarian's strikes. Superboy was immediately forced on the defensive, as she rained down blow after blow, her only goal to drive him away from the vulnerable members of her small team.

"We're trying to help you!" Aqualad shouted, desperation clouding his tone, as he summoned two maces out of his water bearers, not too dissimilar from her own weapon in shape.

Hawkgirl, for one, was a little unnerved seeing a semi-familiar face staring at her without a single spark of recognition, and filled with such malice. Their opponent seemed to take the plea as permission to attack, charging at the both of them with single-mindedness. However, this time, they were more prepared for his onslaught. Though they'd only fought together once, very briefly during their meeting, she thought they did a decent job of tag-teaming the clone through this fight. Switching off between offensive and defensive positions, this method might have worked on any opponent who didn't have Kryptonian-level endurance.

As it was, Aqualad and herself only grew tired and slower, while Superboy never broke his relentless pace. In a last ditch attempt, Aqualad slid behind Superboy, locking his arms behind him in a full nelson and pouring waves of bio-electricity through his body. Hawkgirl retreated back, making sure to maintain her position between the clone and the two unconscious boys. She watched as Superboy's legs tensed, unable to shout out a warning before he jumped straight up into the ceiling, crushing Aqualad over and over, until the Atlantean was dislodged, and falling unconscious to the ground with a meaty thump.

Cracking her neck from side to side, Hawkgirl readjusted her grip on her mace, activating its final mode, white crackling energy forming around the head of the mace. This mode was usually reserved for magic users, thanks to the inherent magical nullification properties of Nth metal (the signature metal of her people). But each strike would still deliver a nasty shock with each hit, though the charge wouldn't last long, so she had to make it count.

Spitting out a mouthful of saliva and blood, she made direct eye contact with the clone, who had paused. "I'll give you some credit, this is the first decent fight I've had in weeks."

He blinked at her once, before his eyes narrowed, and he charged once more.

Logically, she knew she had no chance of winning this fight. Superboy had managed to take down all three of her teammates in an embarrassingly short span of time, despite the years of experience they had between them. But she wasn't about to let unbeatable odds keep her from savoring this battle before she was inevitably defeated.

Later, she couldn't tell anyone exactly how long she'd lasted in solo combat against Superboy, the perception of time lost in the haze. The multiple blows he directed at her helmeted head certainly didn't help matters, disorienting her further and further until she couldn't properly dodge or block his incoming blows. The moment her mace was torn out of her grip, the fight was done, a last, sloppy punch to the back of her head sending her straight into darkness.