GREEN LANTERN NEW GENESIS: RECHARGED
Chapter 13: Cold Case
'This is boring, really boring.' Shinji thought to himself as he endured a theoretical lesson alongside the rest of the team. Their lecturer being Captain Atom regarding the topic of information gathering. Which for someone like Shinji was an oxymoron. After all he was a Green Lantern, a person who would shine their light where there was darkness, and if he needed info he would have asked his ring.
So he suffered double the amount of his neighbours, Artemis from the left and Wally on the right. He still tried to remain attentive and listen to the Leaguer's lecture.
"When your mission relies on subterfuge, resist the urge to go on the offensive. Last thing you want is to risk exposing yourself and the team…Because a covert operation means keeping to the shadows. Concealing your identities, infiltrating your targets…And that means advance research. Study, and long hours on stakeout…And, of course, you must always remain alert— "
Suddenly Captain Atom's lecture was cut by a loud yawn. One which Shinji identified to be Superboy's.
"This is boring, isn't it?" Captain Atom then asked, for a second snapping back everyone into attention.
"Oh no Captain, it's quite-" But before Megan could finish she was once again interrupted by Superboy.
"Yeah, it's boring."
For a second Captain Atom stared them down. For Shinji, it reminded him of his old teacher in Tokyo 3. A lecture so boring that nobody ever paid attention, if it wasn't for Hikari nobody would take anything from those lessons.
"All right. Let's learn in the field." Captain Atom stated before bringing up a confidential file.
"This is a Cold Case. Vietnam Era." He started before opening the file, which showed a photo of a blond man with blue eyes dressed in a USAF uniform.
"Captain Nathaniel Adams, United States Air Force. Convicted in 1968 of murdering Air Force General Clement Lemar. Adams died in prison. But I've received a reliable tip that he was framed." Captain Atom said, allowing the team to note the information before continuing.
"Your assignment: Investigate. Prove Adams's innocence and report back to me." He finished, earning a look of confusement from the team.
"Really? You need super-powered operatives for this?" Superboy asked, earning a smirk from the atomic hero.
"Right then, I'll continue the lecture." He said quickly earning objection from the rest.
"NO!" Quickly the whole team objected, earning a nod from Captain Atom.
"Good, the case was already reopened so it will make your job easier, all the data you'll need is in this file. Good luck." He said before walking towards the Zeta Tube and vanishing. Leaving the team to themselves.
"So, are we going?" Shinji bluntly asked, to which Kaldur got up from his chair.
"Gear up everyone, we're leaving."
The flight to Washington remained…silent. Up to that point all of their missions, while insanely difficult and dangerous, were straight and laid out up front. In this case, they had to assemble the clues and mission themselves in order to complete their task.
"Hey." Suddenly Wally spoke up before turning towards Shinji. "Why don't we just use Shinji's ring? After all he used it to find out who I am and presumably has data on everyone and everything in the universe. Let's just ask it if Adams was innocent and go home earlier."
That comment caused everyone to turn towards the Lantern, who only sighed before looking at his ring.
"Yes, I do possess a ring with a far more extended database. I do not want to cheat my though. Despite not feeling well with espionage." Shinji said earning a nod from Kaldur.
"I agree; we should not rely too much on the fact that Shinji could do anything for us. Especially considering there is a possibility of him not being aviable to partake in every mission." Kaldur explained while looking at Wally, who only gulped.
"Same here, although I need to ask." Artemis said before she looked at Shinji, who was sitting in front of him. "Weren't you a soldier before becoming a Lantern? I thought you would already have a bit of knowledge on Espionage?"
Shinji only nodded hearing Artemis's question, noticing a subtle smile on her face.
"I was, but my job mostly involved shooting, stabbing and punching." Shinji said before temporarily summoning his uniform, with an addition of a holographic projection of his badge, flashing like a police siren.
"And as a Green Lantern. My job is to protect the innocent and shine the light wherever there's darkness. You know, that "no evil shall escape my sight"." He said before desummoning his uniform. "Also I really need some experience in espionage, considering what happened last time."
That last sentence caused the rest of the team to raise their eyebrows.
"And what happened then?" Megan asked peaking from the controls, seeing that now everyone was looking at him. Shinji decided to tell the story of his first mission.
"Well, it was when I was still a Whitecircle. Our trainer got a report of a ship leaving his sector and that it already destroyed three worlds." Shinji begun, he noticed their shocked expressions before continuing.
"Unfortunately the resident Lantern was already busy with another mission. So it was up to us, and while our trainer was taking care of the enemies outside. We were supposed to infiltrate the ship and take out the bridge, unfortunately for me, because of my prior experience I was made the team leader."
Now the team was looking at him with wide eyes, visibly captivated by the story.
"So let me get this straight. You got pulled out of training early, got forced into a leadership role and made it out alive? I don't see how this could be a failed mission." Robin said, making Shinji nod with a slight smile on his face before he continued.
"It was more so of a luck factor, but let me continue. We found ourselves on board the ship. Using my ring I downloaded the ship's corridor layout. That was before I discovered density shift, so we had to travel though corridors while keeping an eye for enemies. The whole thing went south went we discovered there was a hostage on board, a Tamaranian princess."
That sentence caused Robin and Wally to look at each other, both having smirks on their faces.
"Was she hot?" Wally blurted out.
"Wally!" Artemis said quickly scolded him, but it couldn't hide the truth from everyone, as Shinji's face covered itself with a crimson blush remembering the fiery princess. Whose beauty could only be compared to another alien Shinji found himself close to.
"Well…how did you deal with that?" Kaldur finally asked, trying to change the topic.
"The girl carried out the "screw up" part for us. By attacking her captives, she was held by cuffs that were locking her powers away. Deciding that it was only a matter of time before it would set off the alarm, I left our hiding spot and helped her. My train of thought was that if she was already trying to escape before, she would already know the way to the bridge. And luckily for our group, she knew a way that dodged the guard patrols. After a short flight though airshafts and corridors we reached the bridge. But before we could come up with a plan, she blasted through the door and went rushing at the ship commander. She was a warrior after all, the guy was powerful. He had some sort of armour that could create weapons from literally nothing, so we tried conventional attacks, they didn't work. So I resorted to using the strongest weapon in my arsenal."
Shinji paused for a second before summoning a compact version of a positron sniper rifle.
"It's a rifle which full sized version needed the electrical power of entire japan to fire a single blast. Continuing, I fired the rifle, which ripped the whole ship apart. The prep teleported away, and we returned with the princess to Oa. It was enough for me to become a full-fledged Lantern and earn my badge, as did my fellow trainees. Still, we needed to take the princess back home, and since she wanted me to do that. I complied, after completing that, GL took me under his wing and the rest is history."
Shinji finally finished his story, taking a deep breath.
"This is doesn't sound so bad. Actually less screw ups then our second mission. Or first mission, I think you did a good job." Robin said, showing Shinji a thumbs up.
"And you got some one-on-one time with a hot alien babe! Which I can understand." Wally said before glancing at Megan. Earning a chuckle from Robin.
"Pentagon in vicinity." Megan then reported causing Kaldur to get up.
"We can talk about Shinji's space travels later. For now, we need to analyse what Captain Atom gave us in the file." Kaldur said before turning towards his team. It was time to begin.
"'Entering Pentagon now.'" Miss Martian reported via mental link, as she in camouflage mode entered the US department of security though the front door. Before making her way to the women bathroom.
"'The coast is clear.'" She then said before turning visible, while shapeshifting to a form of a female captain that was supposed to meet up with a general that was there during Adams's trial.
"I'm in."
Quickly adjusting to her role she made her way towards the office of said general. With a quick knock she entered the office before standing on attention in front the general.
"General Eiling, sir!" She said matching her voice to the real captain.
"At ease, Captain. Sit. And explain to me why the Judge Advocate General's Office is reopening this case?" Eiling asked, making Miss Martian sit down in a chair in front of Eiling's desk.
"Respectfully, I am not at liberty to do that, sir." Miss Martian said before continuing. "You were the judge at Adams' court martial, which makes you a potential witness— "
"Witness to what? The Adams case was open and shut." Eiling said, cutting Miss Martian off.
"Why don't you just tell me what you remember, General?" She asked, all while Robin, now clad in his suit was laying hidden in the vent. While a small camera with a built-in microphone transmitted the conversation both to Robin, and to Shinji's ring, who himself was waiting in the camouflaged Bioship close to the pentagon, serving as his teammate's eye in the sky and connection between various groups, now spread through the entire country. He was the only one who could get between them fast enough and without any suspicion, after all Miss Martian wasn't a public hero and Kid Lantern was a well-known "sidekick", much to his annoyance.
"Fine, Captain Nate Adams was your classic malcontent…We were barely acquainted before the incident. In fact, I was better acquainted with his victim." EIling begun before continuing.
"Adams blamed Lemar for a Viet Cong ambush…As if any officer would intentionally get his own killed. But Adams would not listen to reason. He was caught in the act by an MP. Sergeant Polk, I think his name was. I was only a colonel when I drew the case. I found Adams guilty and sentenced him to life in prison."
Eiling then took a deep breath before delivering the sad ending.
"It turned out to be a short sentence. Adams took his own life before a year was out."
"You heard that?" Robin asked over the comms while Shinji kept watching the footage.
"Yeah, already sent it to the rest." He replied, one of the aids they could have in regards of communication, a side from Miss Martian's telepathy.
"Great, leave the Bioship and go join KF and SB." Robin instructed, to which Shinji complied and summoned his uniform. Before giving a nod to the ship, which released him from its restraints before releasing the floor beneath him.
Now as Kid Lantern, he quickly left Washington. It didn't take him long to get to Nevada, a little less than 10 minutes of flying a little over the speed of sound and he found himself in Las Vegas. Thanks to the information they received from Captain Atom and research quickly gathered by Robin, it was where Adams' defender was hanging out these days. Quickly he found the casino Robin stated was a hangout spot for Lieutenant Henry Yarrow.
Locating where the "safespot" to quickly phase through safely, that from his experience was always the bathroom cabin. He landed inside, desummoning his uniform before setting his feet on the bathroom floor. Instinctively he flushed down the toilet to dodge any potential confusement before leaving the cabin. Not wasting his time, he walked outside the bathroom to see Wally and Superboy, dressed in their civilian clothes.
"What took you so long?" Wally cheekily asked, to which Shinji only raised his eyebrow in amusement.
"Flying over controlled airspace and trying to not potentially set off any government air space trafficking systems considering I flew from the Pentagon is something to consider. Let's just find Yarrow." Shinji said, to which Superboy pointed at a blackjack table.
"Found him already, we were just waiting for you." He stated, to which Shinji only nodded before making his way towards the table, at which sat an older man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt.
"Lieutenant Yarrow?" Superboy asked stepping in front of the trio. To which the man only turned with a tired smirk.
"No." He begun before putting the card on the table. "Retired from the uniform and the title. Now, I'm just Mister Yarrow. But you can call me Henry, hit me."
With those words the Croupier put his cards on the table.
"Twenty-two. Bust. And, sir, no one under 21 is allowed in the casino." The Croupier said turning towards Superboy, Wally and Shinji. "Are you under 21?"
"In weeks or months?" Superboy asked, to which Yarrow turned towards the three teenagers.
"Cute, you must be the Journalism Students. Come on, my luck's run out anyway. Let's find a place to talk." Yarrow said before walking out of the game room, with the three undercover heroes following him. Soon they found themselves in another portion of the complex, Yarrow found an empty table at which he sat down, while Superboy and Shinji sat in front of him. All while Wally vanished as he saw an all you can eat buffet.
"So kids, what are you looking from an old guy like me?" Yarrow asked, to which Shinji begun talking.
"We were giving a task of investigating a case from the Vietnam War, since the Nathaniel Adams case was…problematic, we decided to look into it closer. As we believe there is much more to it than meets the eye."
Shinji's statement caused Yarrow to chuckle.
"Indeed there is more to it kid, you have an eye for little things." Yarrow said, to which Superboy gestured for Shinji to begin the transmission, and so he did as show by the dimly lit up ring.
"You were Nathaniel Adams' Defence Counsel?" Superboy then asked, all while Wally kept shoving chicken wings into his mouth.
"4.95 for all you can eat buffet! My kind of town!" He said between portions while Yarrow begun to talk.
"I was his friend too. Served together in the 'Nam. The only survivors of Hill 409. Nate worked in Air Force Intelligence. He suspected a weapons smuggling ring and confided as much to general Lemar. Lemar claimed to have heard rumours too. Ordered Nate to take a squad to Hill 409. It was an ambush. Nate saved my life. The rest of Nate's men weren't so lucky. Nate became convinced Lemar was part of the smuggling ring and had sent us into ambush. I tried to talk him out of it. But Nate insisted on confronting Lemar, only to black out moments later. Later, Nate would insist he had been drugged and I believed him. Cuz there is no way there's no way the Nathaniel Adams I knew would murder a man in cold blood! I took on Nate's defence. But the prospector lieutenant Kevin Blankly proved Nate's service knife was the murder weapon. And the medical examiner Shirley Mason testified there were no drugs in Nate's system. So the judge found Nate guilty and sentenced him to life in prison."
Yarrow stopped for a second before letting out a sorrowful sigh.
"And that's where Nate died. But get this, that judge Colonel Eiling. He married Nate's widow and raised Nate's two kids as his own! Tell me that doesn't stink to the high heaven!"
Robin, while in a distant location with Miss Martian, listened to the transmission from Shinji's ring.
"If Adams was framed, looks like the place to start would be with Shirley Mason. The medical examiner who said Nate wasn't drugged."
"Looks like the Medical Officer needs a Medical Officer." Robin said as he and Miss Martian looked at the twisted dead body of Shirley Mason.
"She's got something in her hand. I don't want to disturb the crime scene, but we need to see what it is." He added before Miss Martian raised the corpse with her telekinesis.
"How's this?" She asked just as Robin noticed the photo frame the corpse was holding.
"Perfect, looks like the photo was taken in the 60s." Robin said scanning the photo with his gauntlet, before projecting the photo. Which showed the group supposedly involved with the Smuggling Ring, with an addition of a small boy of Asian descent and surpassingly, a North Vietnamese General. "The woman might by Mason…but the 60s were a long time ago."
"They don't have to be." Miss Martian before her face begun to transform.
"Here's the woman in the picture." She said as her face resembled young Shirley Mason.
"And here's the woman on the floor." She said before her face then transformed into one being a direct copy of the found corpse. "They're musculoskeletal structure is the same, she's definitely the woman in the picture."
With that Miss Martian shifted back to her regular form before turning towards Robin.
"I'll run a facial recognition software on the rest. It could take a while, but I should be able to generate a list of names to go with Mason's." Robin said just as they heard police sirens.
"And that's our quo." He added before jumping from the open window, followed by Miss Martian.
Kid Lantern quickly found himself above Hawaii, this mission required him to serve as the middle man between all of the three teams dispatched for gathering intel. After all him being a glowing space lawman didn't seem to fit with espionage. So Kaldur assigned him to a seemingly easiest task.
Which still required him looking for landing spots in places filled with people, in this case Honolulu. He managed to locate the restaurant where he, Artemis and Kaldur were supposed to meet with Nathaniel Adams' children, Peggy and Randall Eilling. In order to quickly fly unnoticed he took a dive into the ocean. Not wasting any more time, he phased though the floor of the bathroom before desummoning his uniform.
"I'll never thank Tula enough for teaching me how to swim." He said to himself before looking though the bathroom's window, seeing vast ocean in front of him. And while the Atlantian redhead helped change his perception of the ocean, it still made him feel a little bit uneven when looking at it, as if he felt that something would happen.
But that wasn't important at the moment, what was important was the mission. He left the bathroom before making his way towards the table where Kaldur, Artemis and their guests were waiting.
"Sorry for being a little late." Shinji said noticing their guests. Peggy had short reddish hair and wore a red shirt, a black skirt and yellow sunglasses over her blue eyes and a rosary hanging from her neck. Her brother on the other hand was dressed in a USAF uniform, visibly showing he didn't want to be here.
"Being late a little over a minute isn't something terrible. I should be the one thanking you for meeting us." Peggy said, making her brother scoff in disgust.
"I'm only here for my sister Peggy's sake. Nate Adams is not a topic I would ever choose to discuss." Randy said causing Peggy to hit him on the arm.
"Randy, you're talking about our Father!" Peggy scolded, to which Randy remained undeterred.
"Wade Eiling is our father, He raised us." Randy begun his tirade. "Adams gave up any rights the day he betrayed our country and murdered his superior officer."
Peggy quickly straighten up hearing her brother's accusations.
"Our mother never thought he was guilty! And I don't believe it either!" She countered, to which Randy only raised his hand.
"I love you Sis, but your opinion doesn't count. Dad died in prison before you were born."
Peggy only chuckled hearing her brother's tirade.
"Hah! you just called him Dad!" She laughed, all while the three team members shared a look. 'This is going to be a long talk.' Shinji thought to himself letting out a silent sigh.
Shinji, Artemis and Kaldur were walking through the beach. Unfortunately for them in comparison to other field teams they didn't get much from Adams' children, it made sense considering they weren't old enough to even remember him.
The young Lantern was however focused on the ocean, so much so he didn't notice Artemis's hand slightly brush against his. Fortunately for the young Lantern, he wasn't focus on what she was wearing. A green sundress, as it could bring some bad memories.
"Well, Randy's a little…intense. But at least he's realistic. Biology hardly guarantees parental skills or even basic honesty. Nathaniel Adams may be guilty as charged, right Shinji? Shinji!?" Artemis asked causing Shinji to snap back.
"S-Sorry! It's just, I was looking at the views. I phased out for a second." Shinji said turning towards Artemis, who only smiled at him.
"Appreciating the views?" She asked turning towards the waves as well.
"Not really, a friend told me that the ocean is life and that we should all learn how to appreciate it as a breathing organism." Shinji said looking down at the approaching water, knowing that somewhere beneath those waves of water was the Atlantis.
Artemis only slightly rolled her eyes, yes she had a crush on him. But talking with him was an exercise in itself, as if he didn't understand any basic flirting. Then again he was a Green Lantern, who seemed to only think about the mission at hand all the time they were on duty. So she decided upon connecting the small talk with the task at hand.
"And what about your parents?" She asked causing Shinji to freeze for a second, before Kaldur placed his hand on his shoulder.
"You may not know that, but we have agreed to let Shinji talk about his past whenever he will feel ready." He stated, although he himself was thinking about Atlantis, more specifically Tula.
"So, how about you tell us about your parents Kaldur?" Artemis then asked, completely giving up her current approach, after all she was seeing Shinji every other day.
"My Mother, Sha'Lain'a, is a native of Atlantian city of Shayeris. Her skin is nearly as golden as her hair, and her gills are quite large and gorgeous. My Father, Calvin Durham, is a surface-worlder like both of you. Genetically altered by Black Manta to infiltrate Atlantis as a water-breather." Kaldur begun causing Artemis to raise her eyebrow.
"Your father works for Black Manta!?"
"He did, but his love for my mother caused him to switch sides. So perhaps we should reserve judgement on Captain Adams until all the facts are in." Kaldur said just as Shinji's ring lit up frequently.
Quickly he projected the image in front of him, showing a green hologram of Robin.
"Hey, we're heading Annapolis and there's a chance we'll need your firepower. I've sent the coordinates to you. We're waiting." Robin reported before vanishing. Shinji then turned towards Kaldur, who only nodded in agreement.
"We are done here for now, go." He said, earning a salute from Shinji before he vanished in a green trail. Summoning his uniform mid-air and making his way to the mainland.
Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Kid Lantern were standing in front of a large house built in eastern standard.
"'I know my grasp of Earth history is based largely on Earth Sitcoms…But why would a North Vietnamese General be in a 1968 photograph with US personnel?'" Miss Martian asked via mind link. All while Robin kept scrolling though the information on his gauntlet.
"'Good question. This General Trang was the first person my facial recognition software identified. But that doesn't explain how Trang wound up living in a mega-mansion in the states."'
"'That takes money and connections…'" Robin finally stated.
"'Two things participation in an illegal ring might provide." Kid Flash then added.
"'If so, then Captain Adams' investigation might have been correct.'" Kid Lantern said to himself, internally comparing the smuggling ring to SEELE. Although in a much smaller scale.
Superboy meanwhile was looking though the area with his infrared vision.
"'Wait a second! Trang's not alone in there!'" Superboy said, seeing another figure standing in front of a sitting figure. "'Someone's with him. Someone with a sword!'"
"'Shirley Mason was killed by a sword!'" Robin concluded.
"'Then what are we waiting for!?'" Kid Flash asked, both him and Superboy eager to attack.
"'Let's get him!'" Superboy added, before both he and Kid Flash were stopped by green Eva hands appearing in front of them. Both of them turning towards Kid Lantern.
"'No, we can't allow ourselves to be spotted by either Trang or the assassin. This is a covert operation; we should use the fact that we aren't obligated to use force as an advantage.'"
"'KL is right. We keep to the shadows; we don't take to the offensive.'" Robin added backing up Kid Lantern's argument. "'Miss M, you're in.'"
With that, Miss Martian put on her hood before turning to camouflage mode and flying away. All while Kid Flash turned towards Robin.
"'Dude, you were actually listening to that lecture?'"
"I know why are you here. I still have my sources, I know about Mason, and I know about your work." Trang, a visibly old man clad in a kimono begun. "But I am disappointed, Rako. I have protected you since you were a child. Have you no loyalty?"
Trang stared down the supposed Rako, a man dressed in what appeared to be a black Samurai armour with golden details and a red belt, complete with a helmet that had a red visor hiding Rako's gaze.
"I do, just not to you." Rako said reaching out for his sword, the blade lighting with some sort of blue energy.
Rako then raised his sword, getting ready to slice Trang down. Before suddenly the sword was yanked from Yako's hand. The sword flying towards the ceiling, much to Yako's surprise and amusement.
"A new security system?" Rako asked, unfortunately for the infiltrating Miss Martian, Rako's helmet had infrared as well.
"Impressive, most impressive."
With that he chopped Miss Martian so hard that she turned her camouflage mode off, before toppling onto the floor.
"Too, bad I'll have to dismantle it." Rako said before taking back his sword.
"Never gonna happen!" Superboy suddenly roared as he toppled though the window, all while Kid Lantern fazed though the window, with his badge pulsating in a police-light manner. Quickly he summoned a pair of Eva hands, but before they could catch Rako he already managed to slice though Superboy's shirt.
"I'm, I'm bleeding?" Superboy asked, shocked. Just as much as Miss Martian and Kid Lantern.
"'Superboy, you're cut?! But a Kryptonian can't be cut!'" Miss Martian said in shock, while Kid Lantern regained his cool and wrapped Rako in a construct wrapping.
"Sorry man, but you fell out of fashion when the Edo Period ended!" Kid Lantern quipped out loud. 'I really need to work on these.' He thought to himself as meanwhile Kid Flash joined the fight trying to tackle the already wrapped Rako, who managed to parry him despite being wrapped sending the speedster into the wall.
Rako then freed himself, his attention turning towards Kid Lantern. Spotting him as the most dangerous target, he threw ninja stars at him. Which were deflected by Kid Lantern's aura. The Lantern then created an Eva 01 construct, which suplexed Rako as if it was a pro wrestling ring.
Miss Martian took the chance and used her telepathy to lift Rako up, the Samurai managed to recover from the temporary stun and threw another set of ninja stars at Miss Martian, which were once again tanked by Kid Lantern, who this time summoned a whole shield. He then brought up a construct of an Eva Pistol and begun to shoot Rako, who simply sliced all his bullets with his sword.
While Rako was busy trying to deal with Kid Lantern, Robin meanwhile tried to use that to his advantage, by sneaking behind Rako, who despite fighting on multiple fronts noticed the Boy Wonder. Sending him onto the floor with a punch.
Meanwhile Kid Flash helped Superboy up.
"Come on Supey! Get it together! We can't leave Lantern alone!" He said while Superboy was still baffled from the fact that Rako's sword managed to cut him.
"What? Alright." Superboy said before he, Kid Flash, Robin and Miss Martian rushed at Rako, who was still busy with Kid Lantern. "Let's take him!"
But before anyone could make a single move the entire building suddenly went dark.
"Hey! Who turned off the lights!?" Kid Flash asked, before Kid Lantern lit up the whole building with his ring, turning on the main lights in the process.
"What the?" The young Lantern asked himself noticing a cloth thrown over his teammates, without a second thought he grabbed the said cloth with his ring. Revealing only Kid Flash, Superboy and Miss Martian.
"This is embarrassing." Kid Flash said wiping the back of his head. "Practically a comedy."
It was then when Kid Lantern, alongside other team members noticed the supposedly hidden behind the cloth. Meanwhile Robin could only sigh in frustration while checking Trang's pulse.
"It would be…if Trang's corpse didn't scream tragedy."
The team regrouped in Metropolis, in a diner called "Bibbo's". Which was supposedly a trusted spot by the League. While they were exchanging information by a …unique way, all of them looking at their phones while supposedly not saying a single word.
"Kids today." The bartender, Bibbo Bibbowski said. "They stay out 'till all hours, and for what? So they can ignore each other! In my diner!"
"'Has everyone downloaded the annotated photo we found in the dead Woman's hand?'" Robin asked via the mindlink. Receiving confirmation from of his fellow team members except Superboy. Who meanwhile kept focusing on his scar, still not being able to understand how he could be cut.
"'Superboy? Is it your wound? Does it still hurt?'" Megan asked.
"'What? Yeah photo downloaded, oh, it's just a scratch. I'm fine, move on.'" Superboy quickly replied shutting down Megan's further digging. Meanwhile Robin begun to lay out all information out.
"'Facial Recognition Software has identified almost everyone in the photo. Which we think was taken in 1968, the year Adams was charged with murder. The only players not in the photo are Nathaniel Adams himself…And General Wade EIling, who was the judge at Adams' court martial. EIling sentenced Adams to life in prison, where he died…After which EIling married Adams' wife and raised his two children, Randall and Peggy."
Robin finished his report before Shinji looked up from his phone.
"'Listen, while we fought that Samurai. I ran a silent scan through his armour to find any blind spots. I ran a facial recognition, maybe we found our match.'" Shinji said, projecting the image of Rako's head, before comparing it with the child from the photo. Quickly he ran an artificial ageing simulation.
"Facial Recognition Complete, 100 percent accuracy." The Ring AI stated. Earning nods from fellow team members.
"'So now we know that this Rako is the child from the photo. But he said he was loyal to someone else than Trang.'" Megan added, all while Robin looked at the face of the only person they didn't check.
"'it's a good bet that 'someone' was our missing CIA spook, Alec Rois.'" Robin said quickly connecting the facts.
"'This photograph is looking more like a hit list! Somehow Rako and Rois found out we were investigating the Adams case…'" Artemis continued.
"'And decided to tie up the loose ends! That means either Sergeant Polk or Adams' old buddy Henry Yarrow are the next to die!'" Wally said, finally ending setting the course on the team's next step.
"'So, what's our next move Boss-Man?'" Robin asked Kaldur, who unbeknownst to them was looking at a picture of Tula.
"'Our next move? We split the team. Half of us investigate Polk, here in Metropolis. While other half heads to Las Vegas to protect Yarrow.'" Kaldur said, to which Wally immediately nodded.
"'Ok, so who's going with who?'" He asked.
"'Me, Megan, Artemis and Shinji stay behind in Metropolis. While you take the Bioship and travel to Vegas.'"
"Well, at very least we didn't need to wait long." Artemis said as she, Aqualad, Miss Martian and Kid Lantern were looking at the body of Enos Polk. A visible bullet hole in his chest and a M1911 pistol laying close to his hand.
Kid Lantern then stepped in front of the two girls before facing Aqualad.
"Sorry, but may I analyse the crime scene? I'm not Robin but I'm sure my ring can give us more awareness in the situation." He said, earning a nod from Aqualad.
"As long as it won't disturb the crime scene, you have my full clearance." Aqualad said, to which Kid Lantern nodded. He took a deep breath before formulating his request.
"Ring, perform a full body scan and wound autopsy."
With those words his ring immediately scanned the body, before raising a green construct of the former MP.
"Appears that death was caused by a gunshot wound, the analysis deducted that the calibre was 11,43 millimetres. The firearm laying close to the body inducts that Enos Polk tried to defend himself." His ring AI stated before Aqualad raised a question.
"Can you perform a full room scan?" He asked, to which Kid Lantern immediately nodded. In a second the whole room lit green before the light evaporated. Suddenly a creature resembling a mannequin stood in the doorsill, holding a pistol seemingly aimed at the hologram.
"Now draw the estimated trajectory of the bullet." Kid Lantern ordered, to which the green mannequin fired at now frantic moving representation of Enos Polk. Before a green bullet pierced Park's chest, before the green hologram collapsed in the same way Polk's body laid on the floor.
"So we know he was killed by gunshot, so we can immediately be sure that Rako wasn't the one to kill Polk. Then the only possible answer is-"
"Alec Rois, but we need to be absolutely sure. Lantern, is there any genetic in this room that doesn't belong to Polk or us?" Aqualad asked, making Kid Lantern turn towards the doorsill, signalling Miss Martian and Artemis to move aside. The rectangular shape of the doorsill then lit up.
"Rogue DNA sample locating." Kid Lantern ring's AI stated before the faceless mannequin begun to shift into a visibly older, yet definitely being an older Alec Rois.
"Now show the location of Alec Rois." He added before the ring displayed the area of the entire country minus Alaska, before a signal begun to pulse in Utah.
"Alec Rois located: current location, Saint George, Utah. USA." The ring stated, earning a nod from Aqualad.
"That's where we're heading, but first." Aqualad said before pressing the button on his earcom.
"Aqualad to Robin, we've found Polk's body, unfortunately he is dead. Did you manage to protect Yarrow?"
"Robin here, we've had similar luck to yours. Yarrow's house blew up with him still inside. So what's the plan?" Robin asked over the comm.
"We'll fly to your location and regroup, then we'll head to Rois' current hideout, if there is somewhere who'll know the truth. That will be him." The team, now all clad-in-costume, went inside where Kid Lantern's ring lead them towards. An abandoned hangar closed to Utah's border with California.
"Can we just get this over with?" Kid Flash asked, him tired of the case just as the rest.
"We can indeed." A voice suddenly said, immediately all lights lit up. In a second the team was surrounded, first by Rako and then by Alec Rois.
"You're Rako, General Trang's protégé, all grown up to become his killer." Miss Martian said looking at the armoured man.
"And you're Alec Rois, the CIA spoof." Artemis stated.
"Alec Rois is dead." The former agent said causing Artemis to roll her eyes.
"So, you're his ghost. Whatever."
"That just leaves the big boss..." Robin added.
"Henry Yarrow." Kid Flash ended looking upwards at the man they thought died in an explosion.
"You don't seem so surprised. Did you also guess you were walking into a trap?" Yarrow asked.
"We did actually. Not much of one, though…we outnumber you six to three." The speedster countered, only making Yarrow chuckle.
"After 40 years in the arms game Kid, let me offer a little tip. Quality trumps quantity." Yarrow said before Rois took out a detonator. "My friend is holding a dead man's switch. If anything makes him unhappy, or causes him to let go, this whole hangar goes boom."
Kid Lantern meanwhile looked at his ring, and then at the detonator. Suddenly he had an idea.
"'Listen guys, I have a way out. But you'll need to close your eyes, Kid Flash, remember when we fought Black Hand and Mirror Master?'" He asked over the mind link.
"'Dude, of course I do. But in this situation I'm not fast enough to speed blitz any of them.'" Kid Flash replied, all while Kid Lantern only had a subtle smile on his face.
"'Don't worry, if I didn't think this would work I wouldn't propose it. Unless Aqualad gives me clearance.'" Kid Lantern said, all while Aqualad looked at his team and then at Kid Lantern, and nodded.
"'Lantern, if your plan gives us tactical advantage, do it.'" Aqualad said, earning a nod from Kid Lantern.
"Ring, code 1012 every explosive in the area."
With those words, the detonator's electronics suddenly fried, causing Rois to drop it. With nothing happening.
"Everyone close your eyes now!" Kid Lantern yelled out throwing a green flashbang into the sky. Immediately blinding the whole smuggling ring.
"What the hell?!" Rois suddenly asked before being speed blitzed by Kid Flash, as meanwhile Kid Lantern pulled all the light back into his ring.
"My sword could cut though that Super brat. It sure can kill this green twig!" Rako said just as Kid Lantern summoned two Mass Production Evas to face him in a fight.
"Rako you idiot! It's only because your sword is made out of a stolen X-Ionizer, it could cut real Superman!" Yarrow yelled out as a warning. Only for two Evas to suddenly shift into bands which trapped Rako.
'Thanks Arisia.' Kid Lantern thought internally, remembering how the Graxonite would transform her constructs into anything without any problem.
"He's yours." Kid Lantern said, moving out of the way and allowing Superboy to punch Rako square jaw in the face, knocking him out immediately. Quickly Kid Lantern ripped Rako out of the armour before throwing him into the wall.
Yarrow meanwhile could feel his chest tighten as everything was falling apart, because of a little Lantern. But as he watched what was happening on the ground, he realised something. That one of the brats was missing.
"Wait a minute, where's the flipping Boy Wonder!?" He said taking out his gun, before Robin landed his feet on Yarrow's chest.
"Flipping your way now!" Robin countered, making Yarrow fall. But still remained capable of counterattack.
"Should've let the sleeping dogs lie, kid." Yarrow said firing from his pistol, before Superboy rushed in front of Robin. The bullets bouncing off without even destroying his shirt. Karma however had another opinion, as one of the bullets hit Yarrow back, causing him to grab tightly onto his chest.
"Guess…the kid, was…invulnerable." Yarrow said before finally dropping onto the floor.
Miss Martian then flew towards Yarrow, before putting her hands on his head.
"'Henry Yarrow, we must know the truth.'"
After what felt like forever, the team was back at Mount Justice. Facing a debrief from Captain Atom.
"Adams uncovered evidence of a Weapons Smuggling Ring." Miss Martian begun. "He brought intel of a weapons drop to his superior officer, General Lemar. Unfortunately, Lemar was part of the ring and saw Adams' intel as an opportunity. Lemar could get rid of Adams and the head of the ring, Henry Yarrow. Yarrow was only a lieutenant, and the general resented taking orders from him…So Lemar tipped off their North Vietnamese contact, General Trang. Yarrow was told Trang had simply been instructed not to show at the drop. All were meant to die, including Yarrow. But Adams spoiled Lemar's plan by heroically saving himself and Lt. Yarrow."
By then Kid Flash took charge in explanation.
"His incorruptible buddy Nate, who knew Lemar was part of the ring… And Lemar himself, who had tried to have Yarrow killed. So Yarrow pitted one problem against the other…It wasn't hard to get Adams riled up against Lemar. Wasn't hard to drug Adams' drink either. Yarrow sent Adams to confront Lemar…The drug took care of Nate. And Yarrow's man Polk took care of Lemar, using Nate's knife to frame him. The trial that followed was a joke, nearly involved everyone. Yarrow, Mason, Blankly and Polk, was a member of the ring."
Captain Atom only rubbed his chin, until now everything seemed connecting into a logical conclusion.
"What about EIling? The judge at the trial?" The Leaguer asked.
"EIling wasn't in the photo of ring conspirators. Far as we know, he truly believed in Adams' guilt." Robin stated, supposedly cleaning any allegation for EIling being a part of the conspiracy.
"Yarrow's psychic "death-bed" condition didn't confirm that?" Captain Atom asked.
"I'm new at reading a non-telepathic mind. And Yarrow died seconds after we linked…" Miss Martian explained.
"Yeah, for the second time. The Yarrow that died in the explosion was supposed to be Polk, but luckily for us we had helped from an Intergalactic Lawman." Artemis said putting her arm on Kid Lantern's shoulder.
"Yes, this is Polk, and this is "Polk" that died, to give Yarrow credit. They look extremely similar, even having the same tattoo, but luckily for us. The whole conspiracy had a blind spot. One that didn't consider the fact I could locate anyone in the universe and that Rois didn't bother with a proper clean-up." Kid Lantern explained showing the holograms of two now dead men.
"The height of the corpse we found in Vegas didn't much Yarrow, but matched Polk perfectly." Aqualad added, confirming Kid Lantern's case.
"And thanks to Lantern's ring, we knew that we needed to make our way to St. George. It obvious that we were being set up." Superboy said finally ending the report.
"Team, I'm impressed. You did good work." Captain Atom said shaking Superboy's hand.
"Yeah, work that comes too late to help Nathaniel Adams." Artemis said looking away. Captain Atom noticed the trouble expression on Artemis' face, and put reassuring arm on her shoulder.
"But not too late for his kids. Go tell them what kind of man their father was."
Kid Lantern, or rather Shinji finally returned to Coast City. While Artemis and Kaldur returned to Hawaii to talk with Adams' kids. The strain of staying up without keeping himself up with his ring was taking a heavy toll on him. So the best course of action was to take a long, long nap to replenish himself. It's not like Hal would mind, since he was currently at Ferris. So Shinji allowed himself a quick meal and a hot, warm shower. Silently lamenting on the fact that he couldn't take a long bath.
He finished combing his hair before he noticed something odd on his comb, a single silvery hair.
"Wow, am I going grey early?" He thought to himself out loud before washing the comb in the washbasin and making his way towards his room. He was so tired; he didn't even ask himself what the hell was code 1012?
A/N: It's been, really long. But we're back! So, you were expecting that we would already adapt episodes? Well no, and as the first chapter that's entirely set after the original story cease to publish. I decided to adapt the story line from Young Justice comic series from issues 9 to 10. I initially wanted to skip to another episode, with this storyline only being mentioned in a flashback. But I decided to adapt this story in its entirety. So I hope you enjoyed it, and yes. The prior storyline about a the team camping will be adapted soon, but now with Artemis being a part of the team. Some of you may be wondering. How can the ending tease it when Shinji already has Ion inside of him? Well, give me some time, or at least wait before Shinji gets the chance to use the Ion powers. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review if you want to help me with improving and creative process. And as always I don't own Evangelion and DC Comics, that belongs to Studio Khara and Warner Brothers Discovery.