Chapter 15

Mount Justice

"Recognized: Batman A02,"

The Zetatube hummed as Batman enters the cave in a flash of light. "How is the team?"

Martian Manhunter, Tornado and Shazam turned to face the Dark Knight. On the screen in front of them is an image of the team. None of the members are speaking. Everyone is sitting or standing around in silence.

"I am still shaken by what you and I have wrought. One can only imagine how these youths fair." J'onn says.

"I know our virtual reality training simulation went badly," Batman said with a pause. "But I'd hoped the Team would've rallied by now."

Shazam wore a look of annoyance at Batman's statement but said nothing. J'onn merely stared at his friend before speaking. "Trauma tends to linger as I know you know my friend." He calmly scolded the Dark Knight who showed no outward emotion.

"Canary?"

A sigh escapes J'onn. "She has her work cut out for her."

Batman groaned before looking towards the common area where he could just barely spot the team staring off into the distance. M'gaan, Conner, Kaldur, Wally, Artemis and Robin. "Still no word from Draken?"

"On the contrary, Wonder Woman did contact him the previous day." J'onn said. "He wishes to give the others space to deal with the events of the training simulation."

"His thoughts on the therapy session?"

"Not interested." Diana said as she walked in on the others. She threw Batman a disappointed look before continuing. "Unlike the others, he is actually familiar with the death of allies."

"But, isn't that enough reason for him to be here?" Shazam asked.

"If he refuses to come it's his choices." Batman said, before looking at the screen one last time.

Casltevania

After a rather long day at school, Draken wasted no time in teleporting back to the castle. The days activity having rendered him quite thirsty, made him retreat into the storeroom to feed.

After tending to the massive amount of livestock left behind by his father, a task he managed to complete due to magic, Draken began pondering the events of the Mental simulation.

"Neither Conner or M'gann were present in school today." Draken thought as he dropped the last set of hay for the cattles. "They must still be shaken by it. I honestly don't blame them though." He signed before picking up his next meal. A large hen on sensing it's impending doom, tried to fly over Draken's head, but the half vampire lazily caught it before twisting it's neck gently, instantly killing the bird.

Just as he was about to plunge his fangs into the hen's throat, Draken suddenly stopped at the sound of someone banging a door.

Thud*Thud*

For a moment, Draken stood motionless with his meal in his hand. At first, he thought he misheard the sound, but then it happened again.

Thud*Thud*

Now curious, Draken began heading for the castle's entrance with his food in hand. As the distance between the castle entrance shrank, multiple questions on how the protective spell on the castle was breached raced through his mind, though only his teammates seem to be the only individuals capable of doing that.

"Perhaps they're no longer bothered by the failed simulation?"

Willing the doors to open, Draken was surprised to find a totally different individual from his teammates, but still a familiar face nonetheless.

"Hey." Zatanna greeted with a wave of her hand once she saw Draken. "Long time no see huh. Nice cock by the way."

"It's a Hen…" Draken corrected, with a shake of his head. "...which is besides the point, what are you doing here?"

"What, can't I visit a friend again?" Zatanna asked as she walked past Draken into the Castle.

"I was unaware we were friends."

"Oh you cold man." Zatanna pouted in mock annoyance. "Couldn't you at least pretend to be nice?"

"No."

For a moment, both teens stood there in silence watching for who would break first. Then, Zatanna suddenly burst out in laughter, causing the vampire to chuckle at her outburst.

"And here I was worrying over nothing." Zatanna said, after regaining control of herself.

"You were worried about me?" Draken asked with a raised brow. "Why?"

"Well you see, I actually dropped by the cave yesterday, only to find everyone either sad or gloomy. When I tried asking about it, all I got was silence, or in KF's case, lame jokes. Plus you weren't there, so I wanted to see if it was just them or you as well."

"I appreciate your concern," Draken said sincerely as the door shut itself. "This past week has been rather difficult for the team." He added, gesturing for her to follow him.

"So, what exactly happened to them?" Zatanna asked once she caught up to Draken. "Besides my dad talking about a failed mental simulation, I'm pretty much in the dark here."

"The team died in the mental simulation."

"Creepy, but wouldn't you wake up if you died?"

"With a push from M'gann, our collective unconsciousness made the deaths feel…real." Draken said. "The real body of the one's who died did not wake up since their mind believed they were truly dead."

"That's…wow…"

"That is one way to put it."

"I honestly can't imagine how that's like." Zatanna said as they stopped by the kitchen. "Must have been weird…dying I mean. How are okay though?"

"I didn't die in the simulation."

"Oh. Might be why you seem okay. Still, it must have been hard watching them die."

"I, do not know." Draken said after a drawn out silence.

"What do you mean?"

"During the simulation, I ended up killing M'gann to free us."

"You did what!?"

Mount Justice; October 29th; 11:13AM

"I can't imagine what it must've been like, losing your friends, comrades, in essence your family, convinced all the while that it was real; it must have been hard for you," Black Canary sat across from Conner as she spoke. "I get it," she announced after a pause of silence in which he refused to speak, "You're Superboy, you're not supposed to have feelings of sadness or weakness-"

She was interrupted by his standing up from the chair, facing the door without looking at her, "You don't know what I feel," he muttered before walking off towards the door which slid open for him and allowed him a quick exit.

"Conner!" She shouted but, received no response as he left the room.

...

"So," Black Canary started staring down at her clipboard, "Where should we start?"

Artemis sighed. "Look, me dying during the exercise might have started things going south but I was coma-girl. Missed out on all the fun of forgetting it wasn't real. So no trauma. No need for the shrink-rap."

"You're too tough to need help." Canary rephrases, a disbelieving tone in her voice.

Artemis looks away, bringing her feet onto the chair with her. "Whatever. Maybe."

"Or maybe too tough to admit you need help." Canary leans forward. "Artemis, it's not a sign of weakness to open up to your friends."

"I know that."

"But you still keep secrets from them." she points out.

Artemis' eyes go wide, and she is nearly ready to jump out of her chair. "You won't tell them. You can't!"

"I won't." Canary agrees. "But you should. You could start by admitting you're not really Green Arrow's niece."

She merely scoffs and looks away. "Right. Can you imagine what Wally would do with that?"

"Interesting. So, the person you're most worried about is Wally." she observes.

Artemis tenses for a moment, out of surprise before she relaxes and simply looks back at Canary, not saying a word.

...

Kaldur sat with his elbows on his knees facing the ground, "I was second in command, the lieutenant, yet I acted like a solider and sacrificed myself, I'm not fit to be on this team…"

Canary took on a sympathetic look, "You performed well, Kaldur."

"I was supposed to be the most logical; Had I not sacrificed myself, perhaps Draken would not have been tasked with such a difficult decision." he closed his eyes and gave a long sigh.

Canary sat back and analyzed the situation, "Who would you recommend to take your place, in Draken's absence, as current temporary leader of the team?"

He looked off to the side, "Artemis is too raw and un-trusting, Kid Flash too brash and impulsive, Miss Martian remains too eager to please, Superboy is consumed by anger…"

"Leaving Robin as the most logical choice?"

Kaldur sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, "But, he is so young."

She leaned forward with a comforting smile, "You're all young, Kaldur…"

He kept his eyes on the ground and gave a sorrowful exhale; "I suppose I must withdraw my resignation."

...

Wally sat upside down on the armchair across from Black Canary who was bewildered at his nonchalant attitude, tossing popcorn into the air and catching it with his teeth, "So, let me get this straight, you want me to believe that after everything that happened, even your own death by fiery explosion, you're peachy?"

Wally chuckled a bit and tossed another kernel into his mouth, "I'm, uh, fairly certain I never used the word 'peachy' but, you got the idea."

"So, you really have no intention on confronting your complete denial in your team's death?"

He choked on a chunk of popcorn and sat up coughing, "I'd rather talk about you, babe…"

"Wally, you're in denial."

He thought for a second and reached his hands behind his head, sitting back once again, "I'm good with that."

…

"Hurting? Try traumatized," Robin muttered looking down at the ground, "I ended up sending the entire team to their gruesome deaths; I know I did what I had to but, I hated it."

Canary was silent as Robin continued, "When we started this team I was desperate to be in charge, not anymore, and that's not even the worst of it… you can't tell Batman," he gave her a solemn look of utter-shame.

Canary gave a short smile, "Everything you say in here is completely confidential," he sighed and looked back down at the ground.

"I've always wanted to grow up and be just like him, and the hero part? I'm still all in but, that thing inside of him? That thing driving him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission, I'm not sure I have it in me anymore."

Silence erupted and filled the room with a saddened tension, "I don't want to be the Batman, anymore."

…

"It was my fault," M'gaan muttered with her hands tightly in her lap, "Hello Megan, who else could take a simple exercise and turn it into a nightmare that terrorizes everyone?" Suddenly, her skin melded into a milky-Caucasian instead of her normal Martian green.

Canary raised a brow, "You've… You turned white."

M'gaan freaked out, standing up abruptly and glaring down at her hands, "Oh," she gave a sigh of relief, "You mean Caucasian; I'm fine being Megan but, I can't be trusted to use my other powers."

Black Canary chuckled, "M'gaan, you're a Martian, refusing to use your powers would be like me refusing to speak." M'gann refuses to meet her gaze. "Which, by the way, I tried for a while after my very first Canary Cry nearly deafened my entire first-grade class." M'gann finally meets her gaze sadly. "So, I get how you feel, but not being yourself is never the answer and won't make your feelings of guilt go away. Learn from what happened. Your uncle would be happy to train you." M'gann finally perks up a bit, looking back up. "Practice until you gain control and regain your confidence.

"I'll try." M'gaan said, before shifting back to green.

"That's good to hear." Canary said. "Now let's talk about the other thing bothering you. Your death at Draken's hand. It must have been tough watching one of your first friend kill you."

"I understand why he did it, still it was how he did it that bothered me."

"Could you explain that?"

"Well, from the beginning, Draken has always been hard to read. I mean both physically and mentally."

"He does seem like that most of the time." Canary muttered

"That's not all. It's lonely even when you're standing next to him. It's strange."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure. He's intelligent, sometimes even witty, in his way. And he's certainly half-human. More than half-human. He's a person in his own right. But it's like he's a cold spot in the room."

"Like sadness?"

"Yes." M'gaan answered. "His sadness is like an icy well. It's bottomless...and it swallows up your voice or thought and anything you try to drop into it. I felt that even more when he was about to kill me."

Canary pondered this information for a moment before asking. "Do you hate him for killing you?"

"No!" M'gaan said, slightly offended by the question. "He did what he had to do in other to save us, I can't hate him for that. Though I'm afraid if given a choice in a similar scenario that was real he would do it again. I'm worried for him."

"Draken's past is a rather complicated one, though it's not my place to tell you. I'll just ask that you give him some time." Canary said.

Casltevania

"So let me get this straight…" Zatanna said as she watched Draken prepare the chicken he had originally planned to drain. "...you're telling me you killed M'gaan and it didn't bother you?"

"Among other things."

"Oookay…it's could probably be cause it wasn't real."

"In all honesty, I believe I would have still done it if the situation was real."

"W-what…why?"

"I feel the choice of killing one teammate to save the others isn't that difficult."

"Not difficult?" Zatanna asked, now completely flabbergasted. "What type of hell have you been through to think such a choice wasn't difficult?"

"It's, personal." Draken said as he placed down a plate of food for Zatanna.

"You can talk to me about it if you want though. I'm good at keeping secrets."

"It's not about keeping it a secret…" Draken said with a sigh.

"Then what is it?"

For a brief moment Draken remained silent as he contemplated what to say. "About 500 years ago, my father waged a war against humanity. Then again, it never really felt like a war. It was more of a one sided slaughter."

"At first, I wasn't really against it. Humans did kill my mother…" on hearing this Zatanna felt like saying something to comfort him, but held herself back for him to finish. "... but then, my brother showed me the error of my ways, but by that time, my father was already sinking in despair and revenge. So I was left with a difficult choice. Help my brother kill my father to save humanity. The very man who raised me. The one who was closest to me than even my mother. Or do nothing and watch my father kill my brother and humanity."

"In the end, I chose to fight by my brothers side. But even that wasn't enough. We were losing. In a last ditch effort, my brother sacrificed himself to hold my father down long enough for me to finish him. In the end, I ended up killing not just my father but brother as well."

Looking at the stunned eyes of Zatanna, he continued. "I've already killed the closest people to me for the greater good. Killing people I just met this year is not much of a difficult choice."

With Draken done, Zatanna could only sit there in silence as she contemplated what he just said.

"I don't know what to say…" She said in defeat. "...I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"It's fine. I've moved on from it."

"Have you though?" Zatanna asked in a concerned tone.

"I don't know." He admitted.

Metropolis

Metropolis Park is calm and fairly populated since the weather is nice when suddenly a golden portal opens with a BOOM. A large ship flies through the portal, causing people to panic.

"Hero Danjar!" the man driving cheers as they fly straight upwards. He is a large man with fur clothes, bright red hair that is pulled into two low lying, loose pigtails, and a black guard around the edge of his face and hairline.

"Zo! Nos Kemnos! Danjar thara, thanka, tabore." a small blonde with freckles, a missing front tooth, blue eyes, a black cowboy hat with bright blue trim, a green neckerchief, and an orange serape with the same electric blue accents.

A man a row in front of him, wearing what looks like armor, looks to the Motherbox in his hand. The Box bings as the blonde keeps talking. "But when can we see some cowboys?"

"Your obsession with the barbarians must wait, Serifan." he tells the blonde, then turns back to the box in his hand. "Motherbox, please, camouflage all extraterrestrial energy signatures. Then scan the planet and advise."

The Motherbox beeps.

"What we seek is on-world. Let us-"

The Motherbox beeps again, cutting him off.

"The New-Genisphere is on Earth." the black-haired girl beside him says brightly, her cold-shoulder tops are a bright pink v-neck and a dark shawl.

"Then we shall take her back." the driver says strongly. The Forever People will not be denied! And woe to any who stand in our way."

One of the motorcycles kicks into gear, Conner lining himself up with one of the many closed doors of the Mountain. "Red Tornado, hangar door." he says as he pulls out a helmet.

Before he could put it on, Sphere gets in his way. Wolf walking behind him.

"Sphere, out of the way!" he shouts.

Sphere revs as Wolf sits at Conner's left, both watching intently as Sphere shifts into a more tricked out and Extraterrestrial version of the motorcycle he's currently standing over.

Conner and Wolf stare in disbelief, but they both climb on. As Conner drives Sphere up the ramp the Cycle takes off into the air pulling a shocked, but excited "Whoa!" from the teen.

Batman runs to the open door, watching as Conner takes off. Bringing his hand to his cowl. "Superboy, return to cave."

"Superboy, return to cave." he looks to the right as he hears his own voice, finding Conner's earpiece on the ground. He picks it up, then sighs.

Metropolis

Conner sits behind Wolf's spot in the newly changed Sphere. His controls are very similar to the motorcycle he was planning on taking. The water splashes up against the rocky shoreline as he flies mere meters over it. "Let's see what our boy can do."

Wolf barks in agreement.

The engine revs and they take off into a nearly perfect 90-degree change in direction before Conner leads it into a loop.

Wolf barks happily once they're right-side-up again.

"Oh, yeah!" Conner whoops.

The alien ship cuts Conner off short.

He lets out a sharp "Whoa!" as he forces it to a stop and swerving left to avoid a collision.

"Return the New-Genisphere and the rest of the technology you have stolen from New Genesis, human." the one in green demands.

"Who are you?" Conner shouts over the wind, tilting his head to show his confusion. "What are you-?"

"Let's keep this simple." the driver cuts him off. "That," he gestures to Sphere, "belongs to us. Give it back."

The engine revs, but Conner's hands are perfectly still.

The Motherbox picks up on the revs, letting out a sharp ping just as the blonde and two black haired occupants stand up. Tensed.

The one in green stands quickly. "Forever People, stand down. This one did not steal the New-Genisphere. He saved it from the real thieves."

The driver breaks out into a wide grin. "Apologies. The Forever People embrace you as a friend, ally, and worthy warrior."

Conner gives them an odd look. "You're kidding, right?"

"We are young Gods. New Gods." the driver says as if that explains it.

"Right." Conner mumbles.

"They call me Serifan." the blonde with the Old West clothes says.

"I'm Dreamer." the girl introduces. "This is Moonrider," she gestures to the one beside Serifan in the row behind her. "and our leader, Vykin." she gestures to the one holding the Motherbox.

"Hmm, I am named for an animal that does not exist on this world," the driver muses then snaps as a thought comes to him. "but you may call me… Wolf."

"This is Wolf." Conner says bluntly.

Wolf snarls a little and turns away from the large man.

"Ah, Bear, then. Yeah, Bear is even better." Bear says brightly.

"I'm Con- Superboy." he stumbles and frowns.

"This is Motherbox, the living computer." Vykin explains, holding up the device. "She has tracked technology stolen from our homeworld, New Genesis. And she has found our rescue drill there."

The two ships swing into the still brightly lit city that they'd been flying towards this whole time. They come to a stop above the tall buildings, looking at the world below.

"It is beneath us," Vykin informs them all. "18 meters underground."

"That's a construction site. Perfect cover for drilling." Conner mumbles to himself, then looks around the site. "Especially with the Federal Reserve conveniently located across the street." The Forever People look at him with no understanding "The government keeps money there."

"It's a heist." Serifan realizes. "Come on, partners. Let's ride in there," and pulls the two pistols out, "guns blazing and round-up them outlaws."

Dreamer looks from Serifan to Conner. "He's watched a lot of Earth Westerns." she tries.

"Yeah, well, there's a time to go in strong and a time to go in smart." Conner says sternly.

"It is your world, Superboy. We shall follow your lead." Vykin informs.

Conner looks surprised for a moment.

"Norman!" all three guards turn, guns raised, but the one with a scar running over the bridge of his nose shows a brief bit of recognition. "I brought you a jacket."

"Mom?!" He looks at the woman walking up to him, no one anywhere near her, jacket in hand, he walks up to her. "What are you doing here?"

The two men behind him get zapped from a distance. He turns his back on his mother, gun raised again. "Mom, get down! It's not… safe." he finishes dumbly as he watches his mother's figure fade and Dreamer's take its place.

Vykin raises a hand and his gun hits him in the face until he falls to the ground.

At the bottom of a hole, three more large guards stand, unaware of what's happening on the surface.

Conner, Wolf, and Bear drop in and take them down with one hit each. Conner and Wolf take off for the tunnel while Bear gestures for his teammates.

Conner sends a 'quiet' signal back to the New Gods before he and Wolf take off down the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel, the drill is fully off, and a hole is through the brick of the basement walls of the Reserves.

One man stands guard, while another takes gold bars out on a hover-pallet. The third, a red-haired woman turns to the tech in her hand. "A billion in bullion, Ugly. The old creep's gear performed as advertised."

Behind her a large man wearing technology similar to the armor the New Gods wear. "Yeah, Whisper. Gave me a score tops any my old man ever delivered to Intergang."

There are three more people walking into the drill's storage space with just as many gold bars.

Away from the thieves, still hidden by the shadows due to a curve in the tunnel Vykin goes to walk past Conner. "Wait." he hisses, but Vykin just keeps walking. "Guess we decided on the direct approach after all."

"That drill and these carts are the property of New Genesis. You will return them now." Vykin states, even pointing at his feet as he says "now", then moving his hands to his hips.

Conner steps up behind him. "Gold goes back too."

"Interfere and things get ugly." Whisper snarls, dropping her tech to the ground.

"I'm Ugly." the large man behind her growls as the tech he's wearing activates. Creating a large cannon that is mounted directly to his chest and fires red disks at the two of them.

Vykin uses telekinesis to raise the ground to protect them. When that doesn't work, he knocks Conner to the ground as four disks come to a stop in the air behind him and pass current between themselves. One tiny adjustment to Vykin's stance brings him right into the beams.

Once he falls to the ground, more disks come, the other New Gods duck out of the way as Conner drops again and Wolf takes cover.

Serifan pulls out the pistols and shoots the disks just before they reach Bear. The large man sends a smile as Serifan blows at the smoke coming from the muzzles. Then firing two more shots as Bear starts moving to take out two more disks that tried to follow him.

Vykin is still being shocked by the four around him, Moonrider takes out one, but gets one directly attached to his back. Sending him rolling harshly on the ground, and when he stops the earth around him encloses on him.

Someone stands beside Ugly, smirking, he and the man behind him have lasers on their hands compared to the chest cannon, while Whisper pulls out two whips.

"These weapons aren't from New Genesis. They are of the enemy." Dreamer says.

"What enemy?" Conner questions.

"The enemy. The Gods of anti-life. These weapons are of Apokolips."

Vykin continues to scream as he is electrocuted.

Bear rushes past Vykin to take on the four Intergang-hired thugs.

The two with technology enclosing their hands, slam one hand each to the ground, causing a ripple between them and Bear that turns into quicksand that Bear immediately sinks to his shoulders in.

Serifan takes out the other disks trapping Vykin, giving him a smile.

Whisper jumps over the now full line of armed Intergang thugs and slashes her whips horizontally at them. The only thing that prevents them from getting hit is the rock Vykin puts in the way. "The confines of this tunnel favor their weapons. We must bring this battle into the open." Bear forces himself out of the quicksand while Conner gets Moonrider out of the rock.

"More room at the top!" Conner shouts as he and Wolf take up the back of the pack.

The New Gods have Bear helping them boost out of the hole.

"They're getting away!" Whisper shouts, slashing her whips once again, this time they travel all the way down the tunnel.

Conner quickly jumps between Wolf and the nearly flame-like tendrils. Grunting as he puts his arms in an X to block his face, but not seeming to take much damage like the New Gods were.

Bear gives Wolf a boost as they dissipate.

"Move!" Conner shouts, watching Bear jump first and then following him.

He lands just in front of the New Gods and Vykin speaks the second he's up from his crouch. "I have no wish to prolong this battle."

The breaks loose and the thugs easily pile out of it. "Finish him." Ugly snarls.

"Fear not. She will protect us." Vykin says calmly.

"Who, Dreamer?" Conner questions, seeing that she, like the rest of the New Gods, is not tense for a fight.

"The New-Genisphere." Vykin corrects.

Sphere flies around, now armed with her own gun. "Cool." Conner mumbles as she flies over his head. "Wait. Sphere's a she?"

A few simple shots take out the Intergang thugs and she circles back around.

"It is time." Vykin says looking at the Motherbox in his hand.

"Time for what?" Conner questions.

The Motherbox beeps as Vykin raises it up and all five of them shout "Taru!" in unison, all holding their own Motherboxes in their raised hands.

Conner raises a hand to cover against the sudden flood of gold light, now staring a bit dumbly as he takes in a now-massive android-like figure colored in gold with white lines and blue armor. "Okay. That's… new."

While they were focusing on the Sphere, the large, combined form of the New Gods was able to march towards them. Until they heard the footsteps.

Turning the two men with tech encompassing their hands try the quicksand trick again, and while it slows the New Gods down, they easily step around it. Then use the eyes to fire lasers at the tech and it simply disappears with no harm done to the hired thugs.

The two with cannons mounted to their chests fire disks, but with a simple raise of their hand the trajectory stops, and they fall to the ground. With their other hand, the New Gods let out a concussive wave that kicks all four men up and over Whisper then back to the ground.

Undeterred Whisper readies her whips. They fly out towards the New Gods, who catches them easily in their hands, and uses their laser eyes to destroy the whips at the handles.

Whisper stared dumbly at the place where they used to be, missing how the New Gods raised their hand again this time swiping it to the side as they unleash the concussive wave.

Whisper groans as she gets herself sitting up again, looking over at her fellow hired thugs.

Ugly, armed with a similar box to Vykin's, opens a gold portal and runs through. The three other thugs follow him through.

"Ugly, wait!" Whisper shouts as she takes off running for the portal. "Hey!" she snaps when the New Gods get her chest wrapped in rope.

They hold their hand out towards the drill, and a portal opens underneath it. Dropping it from sight.

Finally, the combined form fades into gold light before the five of them all return to themselves. Conner just staring at them. "What was that?"

"Infinity Man." Dreamer says. "We merge to become part of the Source and greater than the sum of our parts."

"Glad my team's not that close." Conner grumbles, crossing his arms.

"Lower beings tend to fear intimacy." Bear states.

"None of this makes any sense." Vykin pulls the conversation away from that topic. "How are these humans acquiring technology from both New Genesis and Apokolips?"

They all approach Whisper.

"I'm not talking." she snarls.

"You were not asked." Dreamer informs, then raises her hands to her temples as her eyes glow purple.

Whisper shivers and trembles as a whisp comes from her head and takes the form of a horribly mutilated person with glowing red irises, covered head-to-toe in a cloak. Laughing maniacally.

All the New Gods gasp.

"Desaad." Dreamer manages.

Casltevania

Once they were done eating, Draken wasted no time taking their plates away to clean. Zatanna on the other hand, requested to help him clean, an act Draken warmly welcomed.

Once done, both teens decided to tour the castle briefly, before arriving at the entrance.

"Guess this is where I take my leave huh?" Zatanna said while staring at the entrance door.

"You can always visit whenever you want."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Zatanna managed to smile. "Also, I'm sorry I made you bring up your past."

"It's fine." Draken said. "Talking to someone about it was a nice change in pace."

"I know I wasn't much help with it, but I want you to know it's fine to let your emotions out…Man I'm really no good with pep talks."

"It's the thought that matters." Draken said with a smile. "Still I'll be taking your words into consideration."

"You do that." Zatanna said as she walked out of the castle. "Also, I think you should go see the others. They need their leader now more than ever."

"I'll do that." He whispered once she was completely gone.

Metropolis

"All will suffer." Desaad hisses then pulls his hand out of his sleeve. "All will suffer!" throwing what looks a lot like a hand grenade high into the air.

Infinity Man(who is the Forever People merged), hits it with the laser eyes, and it explodes, but from the explosion comes a concussive wave that when it hits Infinity Man causes it to glow and disassemble. Conner and Sphere drop.

Wolf finds the one box that isn't in one of their possessions, which pings before Wolf bites it to bits.

Sphere is twitching and damaged near Conner who eases himself back to his feet as he realizes how bad she looks.

He places a hand on her, sad. As he hears Vykin come to a pause beside him does he speak. "She's… hurt."

"The damage may be beyond repair, but Motherbox will try." Vykin offers, placing his Motherbox on the damaged red overlaps- which no longer do so and are oozing black sludge.

As the Motherbox pings Sphere's pieces begin to fit back together before rolling back up into her default shape. Conner looks stunned.

"The healing process has begun and will be completed on New Genesis." Vykin says.

Conner turns over his shoulder in an instant. "Sorry, what?"

"We thank you for your help, Superboy. But we must take the New-Genisphere home now." Dreamer says from behind Vykin, leading the rest of the New Gods towards the two of them.

"No. No way!" Conner denies.

"Why should we leave her with you?" Serifan questions. "To us, she lives. To you, she's merely technology."

"No, it's not like that!" Conner shouts.

"Then what is it like?" Bear demands, crossing his arms and keeping the volume high.

"We bonded, okay?!" Conner snaps.

Serifan and Bear share a smile. Dreamer smiles over Vykin's shoulder before he smiles too. "In fact, it is. You may keep her."

Mount Justice

"Recognized: Draken, B06."

Stepping out of the caves teleporter, Draken was slightly shocked to see the team gathering around something.

"Look who decided to show up." Wally said, before signalling their leader to come over.

"What is that?" he asked. The team was gathered around a massive, motorized tricycle.

Conner patted it affectionately. "Draken, meet the Super-Cycle."

"I came up with the name," said Wally proudly as Draken walked forwards.

"Nice name, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Let's just say I had a weird day," said Conner with a shrug, "Apparently, Sphere was some kind of alien mega-bike. She can fly and seats eight!"

Draken gently lay his hand on the machine and it revved happily. "Huh," he said, "That's…impressive."

"Indeed," agreed Kaldur, "It certainly will help if the team needs to split up for separate missions."

"I know, right?!" grinned Conner. Draken turned and looked at his team. They were all smiling in awe at their cool new asset. This was what they needed; an impressive distraction from the recent events. For what it's worth, Draken was glad they were getting better.

…

Here's the ugly truth," Conner admitted sitting across from Canary as her last therapy patient of the day, "I wasn't devastated, even with Superman, Tornado, you, the whole League dead; even though I didn't save Wolf, watched Artemis and Kaldur die, and abandoned the team as a sacrifice… I felt, at peace," he stared at the ground with a completely destroyed expression.

Canary nearly gasped but, held back as she continued to listen to what he had to say, "You see, since the moment I opened my eyes in that Cadmus-pod, there's one thing that I've wanted and feared, to know what it is to be Superman. And with all of you gone, I knew that feeling so, I was happy, hell, I was thrilled!"

A tear formed in his eyes but, he didn't let it fall, "Everyone I know and care about dead and I'm happy… how do I get passed the guilt of that? How do I live with myself?"

She stood and reached a hand out, placing her palm on his knee, "I don't have any easy answers, Conner but, one thing is clear… admitting it is the first step."

He looked up at her and they met eyes, he knew she understood his pain and he lowered his head in thankfulness.