S T A R C I T Y
July 4, 09:01 PDT
PRESENT DAY

Reese, now twelve years old, perched on top of one of the bridge's support beams with Speedy and Green Arrow.

In the three years that it had been since Dick and Roy had found her on the streets of Star City, Reese had, reluctantly, mind you, allowed Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, the civilian identities of Arrow and Black Canary, to train her, in self-defense, archery, and controlling her own Canary Cry, which seemed to be, admittedly, stronger than Dinah's own.

Eventually, Reese became Green Arrow's and Black Canary's joint protégée, Silverbird, since she shared and used skills similar to both of them.

Her "uniform", as Batman liked to call it, consisted of a leather jacket and tight leather pants, with boots that covered her shins, and a pair of leather-like gloves. The bottom half of the jacket and sleeves, along with the pants were black, while the top half of the jacket was metallic silver in color, and so were some of the seams on her pants. Instead of a zipper on the jacket, it was instead like corset laces, and the forearm sleeves were the same way. Reese's hood in the same ombre effect as the rest of her outfit. Her hair, with its metallic silver streak weaving through, was styled in a thick fishtail side braid, hanging over her right shoulder. Across her eyes was a silver domino mask.

Roy, despite his prior grievances after she ran from him at the festival, became like an older brother to her, and Reese was one of the only people who could manage to calm the redhead down enough whenever he got into one of his "moods".

But, back to the matter at hand.

Seriously? Reese thought, enhanced eyes zooming in on the villain that was currently freezing the bridge, causing cars to crash and go all kitty-wumpus. Why does Icicle Junior decide he wants to attack today of all days?

Standing up, Silverbird, Speedy, and Green Arrow nocked their bows, before shooting an entire volley of arrows towards the teenage villain, one of them even catching his shoulder.

After a moment or two, the arrows exploded, taking Junior's ice-wall down and throwing him backward.

"Finally," Silverbird heard him mutter. Super-hearing had its advantages. "I was wondering what a guy had to do to get a little attention around here,"

"Junior's doing this for attention?" Roy echoed as he, Ollie, and Reese shot more arrows in order to block the icicles that Junior suddenly sent their way.

When it became clear that they weren't going to be able to stop every icicle blast, the three archers scrammed, running across the top of the bridge to the cable that connected the two sections together.

"He is so going to make us late," Reese muttered as she practically skated down the wide cable. Despite the perilous situation they were in, Roy smirked at his adoptive sister.

"You just want to see your boyfriend,"

"He is not my boyfriend!" Silverbird retorted sharply, shooting an arrow towards Junior without even looking. "Why does everyone keep thinking we're dating?"

In order to dodge her black-and-silver arrow that was flying towards his face, Junior made two separate ice-stalagmites appear out of the ground, bringing them together just as Reese's arrow and one of Roy's landed in the ice, making it explode again.

There was now a good-sized hole in the ice wall, and to say Icicle Junior was mad would be an understatement.

He shot more icicles towards the archers, mainly Reese, but Silverbird leaped into the air in a frontflip taught to her by Robin, nocking another arrow and shooting it towards Junior.

The arrow caught the villain right in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.

As Reese landed on the street next to Roy and Ollie, she noticed that Green Arrow was chuckling.

"Heh, the kid had a glass jaw," he quipped, and normally Reese would've laughed, but not right now. Not today.

Instead, the brunette only scowled at her mentor and adoptive father.

"So not in the mood right now," she grumbled.

"Hilarious," Roy deadpanned at the same time, walking forward. "Can we go? Today's the day,"

W A S H I N G T O N D. C.
July 4, 2010, 14:00 EDT

By the time they finally showed up at the Hall of Justice, the Justice League's public headquarters, the three archers had met up with Black Canary, who had been dealing with a simple bank robbery across town.

Silverbird was practically giddy as the team from Star City finally met up with the two other "sidekicks" who had already arrived with their mentors, Robin with Batman, and Aqualad with Aquaman.

Reese, forgetting for a moment where exactly they were, practically launched herself onto Robin's back, the Boy Wonder's hands flying to hold the brunette under her legs, while Reese wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.

"Well, hello there, pretty bird," Dick said, chuckling a bit. The nickname had popped up a year ago, and for some reason, it stuck. Reese didn't mind.

"You excited?" she asked, plonking her chin down on Robin's shoulder.

"You know it," her best friend answered before Silverbird was yanked off of Robin and plopped back down on the ground, Speedy scowling at the both of them.

Reese just stuck her tongue out at him, before Green Arrow went to stand between his two proteges, Black Canary setting a hand on Reese's shoulder, giving her a slightly disapproving look.

"Today's the day," Reese heard Batman say firmly.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," Green Arrow added.

"Headquarters of the Justice League," Aquaman finished, and despite herself, Reese exchanged a glance with Dick as they both poked their heads around their mentors to look at each other.

Some headquarters.

"Aw, man. I knew we'd be the last ones here," a new voice joined the conversation, and Reese grinned, turning around to see that, finally, Flash and his protege, Kid Flash, also known as Wally West, had arrived.

"What took you so long?" Silverbird spoke up, smirking, but KF only glared at her.

"Funny," he retorted but wasn't able to say anything else before all ten of them needed to head into the hall.

As they went, Reese began to listen in on what the people gathered were saying.

"Is that Batman?"

"I see Flash, and Flash Jr.,"

"His name's Speedy,"

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

"I thought Silverbird was his sidekick,"

"Either way, it makes no sense,"

Reese held a gloved hand up to her mouth and snickered before Green Arrow leaned over to speak to Speedy, who really was his sidekick.

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Ollie asked, and Roy exchanged a glance with Reese before Silverbird stared up at her mentor.

"Born that way," they said in unison.

"I'm glad we're all here," Aqualad spoke up after a moment, and Kid Flash nodded.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" he asked, but was quickly cut off by Roy.

"Don't call us sidekicks," the other redhead said sharply. "Not after today,"

"Speedy..." Silverbird trailed off, exchanging another glance with Robin before Kid spoke up again.

"Sorry," he apologized slowly. "First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed,"

Robin sighed. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

Dick went to walk into the Hall, but Reese quickly caught up with him, setting a gloved hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Maybe..." she began. "It's because it's not a real word?"

Then, they all stepped into the entryway, where giant bronze statues of the seven founders stood tall overhead.

Now, Reese knew she was short, an inch shorter than Robin, even, but seriously, those statues were intimidating. Staring up at them certainly didn't help her acrophobia, or fear of heights, any.

"Oh," Dick spoke up softly. "Maybe that's why,"

The group stopped outside of a door that read AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY, just before the doors slid open, revealing the Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

"Robin, Speedy, Silverbird, Aqualad, Kid Flash," Manhunter greeted them stoically. "Welcome,"

Next to Reese, Dick and Wally exchanged a fist bump, before they all followed the older two heroes inside, the hydraulic doors hissing shut behind them.

"You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully-stocked galley, and of course, our library,"

"Make yourselves at home," Flash said, sweeping his arms out in a grand gesture.

Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin instantly sat down in a trio of chairs that were nearby, but Speedy remained standing, while Silverbird just perched herself on the arm of the chair that Robin was sitting in.

Noticing that their mentors had walked further inward, Reese brushed her hair away from her ear and listened in on Batman's words.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day," then, Bruce turned to the younger heroes. "We shouldn't be long,"

With that, the Justice Leaguers turned to walk into the Zeta tube that was nearby, a small camera descending from the ceiling and scanning each of them.

Recognized Batman 02, Aquaman 06, Flash 04, Green Arrow 08, Black Canary 13, Martian Manhunter 07, Red Tornado 16

The doors to the Zeta tube slid open, but before their mentors could go through, Roy spoke up, and he was pissed.

"That's it?" he bit out, and Reese hopped off the arm of Robin's chair, ready to intervene if things went messy. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass,"

"Roy, this is just a first step," Dinah said calmly before Aquaman spoke up next.

"You've been granted access few others get,"

"Oh, really?" Roy asked rhetorically, swinging his arm out and gesturing to the observation window, where several people were staring in, snapping pictures every now and then. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy," Green Arrow began, glancing at Reese over Speedy's shoulder before he walked forward. "You just need to be patient,"

"What I need--" Roy retorted sharply. "--is respect," Speedy glanced over his shoulder, before turning to the others. "They're treating us like kids. Worse, like sidekicks. We deserve better than this,"

While Robin, KF, and Aqualad glanced at each other, Silverbird stared down at her feet, having a feeling she knew where this was going.

"You're kidding, right?" Roy asked when no one else spoke up. "You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be the day. Step One in becoming full-fledged members of the League,"

"Well, sure," KF began. "But, I thought Step One was a tour of the HQ?" Oh no.

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ," Behind Roy, Reese was able to see every Leaguer's eyes widen. "I bet they never told you," he continued after a moment. "It's just a false front for tourists and a pit-stop for catching Zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the real thing. An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower,"

Green Arrow turned to look behind himself at Batman, who only crossed his arms.

"I know, I know" Ollie began sheepishly. "But, I thought maybe we could make an exception?" The lenses of Bruce's cowl only narrowed dangerously. "Or not,"

"You're not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman spoke up next, walking forward. "Stand down, or--"

"Or what?" Roy retorted. "You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son, I'm not even his," he turned his head to glare at Ollie. "I thought I was his partner. But, not anymore,"

Then, to Reese's absolute shock, Roy reached up and practically tore off his yellow Robin Hood hat, throwing it onto the ground.

He turned around and began to stalk away, but not before glaring at Robin, KF, Aqualad, and Silverbird.

"Guess they were right about you four," he grumbled. "You're not ready,"

"Roy, stop," Reese quickly jumped in front of him just before Speedy was about to leave. "You're not thinking clearly,"

"No, Reese," the redhead retorted. "For once in my life, I think I actually am thinking clearly. No one can stop me, not even you,"

Then, the boy that Reese saw as an older brother brushed her aside, making her stumble backward, before he walked out of the hall, not once looking back.

Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, a transmission suddenly showed up on the massive computer next to the Zeta tube.

"Superman to Justice League," the Metropolis hero began as Reese took a deep, shuddering breath, coming to stand next to Robin, who gently set a hand on her shoulder.

Dick knew how close Roy and Reese were. Watching her surrogate brother walk out like that must have really shaken her. Hmph, Robin thought to himself. Roy didn't need to be such an jerk about it.

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus," Batman's voice jerked Reese from her thoughts, and she snapped her head up.

"Cadmus?" she echoed but looked down at the floor again when everyone turned to stare at her. After a moment, Batman continued, though Robin still gazed at the girl next to him, confused.

"This may present a perfect opportunity to--" before Bruce could continue, another transmission came through.

"Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response,"

"Superman?" Batman turned to the Man of Steel.

"It's a small fire," he answered. "Local authorities have it under control,"

"Then Cadmus can wait," Batman pressed down on another button. "All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out,"

As he hung up, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Robin, and Silverbird walked up but were stopped by Batman.

"Stay put," he said firmly.

"What?" Robin asked. "Why?"

"This is a League mission," Aquaman answered calmly, and Flash continued his thought.

"You're not trained--"

"Since when?" Wally cut his uncle off, and Barry scowled.

"I meant you're not trained to be part of this team," he gestured to Batman, Aquaman, and himself.

"There will be other missions for you guys," Black Canary said softly, walking up next. "When you're ready," She glanced over at a still-despondent Reese for a moment before meeting Robin's eyes behind his mask.

Dinah had been a psychologist long enough to be able to read people's body language and to know that Dick was pissed.

And frankly, so was she. Roy could have handled his exit better. Reese looked up to him, and to have him just brush her off like that?

"But, for now, stay put," Batman continued, and Dinah followed Bruce, King Orin, and Barry to the Zeta tube.

"Glad you didn't bring you-know-who?" Oliver asked J'onn and the Martian nodded.

"Indeed,"

With that, every single one of their mentors, plus a few others, entered the Zeta tube, the doors sliding shut behind them.

Reese slumped down in an empty armchair, holding her head in her hands, while Dick glanced over at her worriedly.

Meanwhile, Wally lost his temper.

"When we're ready?" the speedster scoffed, glancing over at Aqualad. "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like--like sidekicks,"

"My mentor," Aqualad began quietly, glancing off to the side. "My King. I thought he trusted me,"

"Trust?" Wally echoed, throwing his hands in the air. "They don't even trust us with the basics. They've got a secret HQ, in space!"

"What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad spoke again, and this time, Silverbird gave her voice, though it was immensely softer than usual.

"I have a better question," she whispered, glancing upward morosely. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

For a moment, all four of them looked down at the ground, before Aqualad spoke up, looking inquisitive.

"What is...Project Cadmus?"

Robin narrowed his eyes. "Don't know," he said honestly, before smirking. "But I can find out,"

Dick went over to stand in front of the computer, beginning to hack the system. But, the computer at first said 'ACCESS: DENIED'.

"Hmph, wanna bet?" Robin retorted, and a line of code appeared on the screen, leaving Kid Flash in awe.

"Woah, how are you doing that?"

"Same system as the Batcave," Robin sing-songed, pressing a button, just in time for the computer to let him in.

But, before the file for Project Cadmus to appear on the screen, Reese spoke up from her spot behind the other three "sidekicks".

"Cadmus is a genetics lab, here in Washington," Robin quickly skimmed the file, before glancing over his shoulder.

"How do you know that?" Dick asked, but Reese shook her head quickly.

"That's not important right now," she said firmly, stopping Robin's protests before they even started. "What is important is that if Batman's suspicious--"

"--Maybe we should investigate?" Dick continued her thought.

"Solve their case before they do," Aqualad continued, giving a half-smile. "It would be poetic justice,"

"Hey, they're all about justice," Robin told him.

"But, they said stay put," Aqualad sighed.

"For the blotting out the sun mission," Robin observed. "Not this,"

"Wait," KF suddenly cut in, glancing between Silverbird and Robin. "Are you two going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going,"

Despite Reese still having a few doubts about going to her father's former workplace, she, Wally, and Dick all turned to Aqualad, innocent smiles on their faces.

"Just like that?" the Atlantean spoke. "We're a Team on a mission,"

"We didn't come for a playdate," Robin retorted, and Aqualad just gave a smirk in response.

-----

The last thing Silverbird saw as she, Robin, and Aqualad ran up to the street across from the Project Cadmus building was an explosion before two scientists were thrown clear out of the window.

Kid Flash ran straight up the side of the building, saving the two scientists, but Reese froze, her eyes staring up at the flickering flames as events from four years ago flashed in her mind.

She didn't know how long she stood there, stricken, but it couldn't have been longer than a few seconds, because the next thing Silverbird knew, Robin was snapping his fingers in front of her face, trying to get her attention.

"Pretty bird, I know it's hard but I need you with us," Dick said firmly, and Reese shook her head, the flashbacks disappearing from her mind.

"What?" she asked distractedly, before realizing what Robin had said. "Oh, right, right,"

"Come on," Robin said finally, grabbing Silverbird's hand in his and dragging her along with him as he flipped onto the firetruck's ladder, before using his grappling line to swing to the window where Wally was hanging, and they both pulled him up.

After a moment or two, Aqualad appeared again with the three of them in the office, where Robin was currently trying to hack the computer, trying to find any information.

"Appreciate the help," the Atlantean said dryly, but Robin only glanced over his shoulder.

"You handled it. Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

But, Silverbird noticed that Aqualad was no longer listening. Instead, he had already begun to walk out of the office, and Reese decided to follow him.

The two of them rounded a corner, in time to see a horned...thing, inside the elevator, but the doors closed before even Reese, with her enhanced sight, was able to get a good look at it.

"You saw that right?" the brunette asked, glancing up at Aqualad, and the Atlantean nodded gravely.

"Indeed I did," he spoke just as KF and Robin joined them, Wally tilting his head to the side.

"Elevators should be locked down," the speedster said, and Robin suddenly ran in front of his friend, coming to a stop just in front of the elevator.

"This is wrong," Dick said simply, pulling up his holo-glove and what looked like some sort of schematics. "Thought so," Robin spoke again after he inspected the blueprints for a few seconds. "This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building,"

"What Aqualad and I saw doesn't belong in a two-story building, either," Silverbird spoke up, peering over Robin's shoulder. "Or any building, for that matter. At least, not one from Earth,"

"You think it's some kind of alien?" Dick asked her, glancing over. But, all Reese could do was shrug.

Aqualad walked forward and pried the elevator doors open with his bare hands, revealing a deep, dark elevator shaft that went down a long way. Wonderful (note the sarcasm).

"And that's why they need an express elevator," Robin said, kneeling at the edge and peering down. Then, he shot his grappling line at the top of the elevator shaft, before grabbing Silverbird and jumping down.

"I could've done this myself," Reese mumbled in his ear as they passed SL-10...SL-11...etc., but Dick didn't say anything in response. His arm though, which was wrapped around her waist, tightened minutely.

Suddenly, they were both jerked to a stop at SL-26, when Robin's rope suddenly went taut. Almost as if he were surprised, Dick stared up from where they had come down.

"I'm at the end of my rope," he said, before turning his head slightly to look at Reese. "You'll need to swing to the ledge,"

For a second or two, Robin began to swing both of them back and forth, in order for Silverbird to get enough momentum to be able to jump to the ten-inch wide ledge in front of the elevator doors, without falling who knows how many floors down.

Luckily, Reese managed, and Dick followed soon after, then Wally, and then Aqualad. Robin sat down on the ledge and pulled up his holo-glove again.

"Bypassing security..." Again, five of little Robin-heads that showcased that the Boy Wonder had hacked into Cadmus' systems appeared on the holo-screen, and when they all turned green Silverbird knew that Robin had been successful.

But, as Aqualad pried open the doors, and Reese saw what was inside, she swore she almost swallowed her tongue.

On either side of a long hallway were large metal containers of...something, they were opaque, solid, and considering Silverbird didn't have x-ray vision...

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin said, and Reese narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

Something about this place was...familiar almost.

Sure, her father had worked here a couple of times before he died, but the brunette was almost positive she had never been here.

Suddenly, there was the sound of loud, rhythmic clomping, like elephant feet, and they almost seemed to shake the floor. Silverbird clamped her hands over her ears, and Robin glanced over at her.

"Silverbird, you okay?" he asked worriedly, and Reese cracked an eye open, looking over at Robin.

"You don't hear that?" she whispered, and Dick warily shook his head, reaching a hand outward and wrapping it around her wrist, holding her hand lightly in his. "It's like...elephant feet...or an earthquake,"

Before anyone could stop him, Wally had already sped forward, bypassing Aqualad without a second thought.

"Kid, wait!" Wally either didn't hear the Atlantean's warning, or he didn't care, but whatever the reason, what happened next was beyond weird, even by Reese's standards.

KF tripped as he was coming to a junction of hallways, and was almost crushed by these massive creatures, that looked like they were made of stone, with beady red eyes and menacing tusks. They really did look like elephants, sorta, without the trunks.

"There are your elephants," Robin spoke up, looking up at the creatures in slight awe.

On top of the creatures' heads was a similar one, though much, much smaller, and they reminded Silverbird strangely of small monkeys.

The smaller one's horns glowed for a moment before it dissipated, and Aqualad spoke up again.

"No, nothing odd going on here," Silverbird was frankly...a bit surprised at the sarcasm.

All four of them watched as the line of "stone-elephants" as Reese was beginning to call them inside her head, disappeared at the other end of the hallway.

Not wanting to run into them again, Aqualad, Silverbird, Robin, and Kid Flash went in the opposite direction, finding a large door at the other end.

Quickly, Dick hacked into it, and when the doors opened, Reese found herself gobsmacked all over again.

"What was it, you said, Robin?" she asked, staring in awe at the room in front of them. "Whelmed?"

"Yep," Robin answered, seemingly as in shock as Silverbird was.

"Then," Reese continued. "Consider me, officially whelmed,"

On the other side of the door was what looked like the inside of some sort of high-tech warehouse, with strange bug-things stuck in pods, lightning crackling around them as the entire room was bathed in a blue glow.

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world," Kid Flash thought out loud as the four of them walked inside. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power, with these...things," he gestured to the bugs in the pods. "It must be what they're bred for,"

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

"And this Cadmus creates new life too," Robin added, before walking over to a computer console nearby. "Let's find out why,"

He plugged a USB cord from his holo-glove into the console, the holo-screen popping up again. After a moment, he spoke.

"They call 'em genomorphs...Whoa, look at the stats on these things!" Looking at the holo-screen, Reese realized that Dick was right.

"Super-strength, telepathy, razor claws--these things are actual living weapons!" the two youngest heroes exchanged a glance with each other, and KF, from where he had walked up next to them, narrowed his eyes.

"They're engineering an army," Wally spoke gravely. "But, for who?"

"Wait, Robin, there's something else," Silverbird pointed to a section of his screen, and the Boy Wonder enlarged it.

"Project Kr?" but, when Dick tried to hack into it, it was unsuccessful. "Ugh, the file's triple-encrypted. I-I can't--"

"--Don't move!" another voice shouted at them, and the four turned in time to see more of the weird monkey creatures, though these ones were about the size of a dog, along with a man dressed in a blue-and-gold uniform with a gold helmet on his head.

Reese's eyes widened as she recognized him. The man did too, it seemed because he stopped in his tracks.

"Wait, Robin, Silverbird, Aqualad, Kid Flash?"

"At least he got your name right," Robin muttered to KF before going back to trying to hack into the Project Kr file.

"I know you," Aqualad began. "Guardian, a hero,"

"I do my best,"

"Jim," Silverbird began, recognizing Roy's own uncle when she saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm chief of security," Guardian said firmly, the creatures next to him tensed, almost like they were itching for a fight. "You're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League and figure this out,"

"You think the League's gonna approve of you breeding weapons?" Kid burst out.

"Weapons?" Guardian asked, actually sounding confused. "What are you--" On his shoulder, the small little creature's horns glowed red for a moment. "What have I--" it looked like Guardian was having a bad headache, or something to that degree. "Ugh, my head--"

"Robin, I'd hurry it up if I were you," Reese hissed over her shoulder, just as Guardian's whole demeanor changed.

"Take 'em down, hard! No mercy!" the genomorphs--at least, that was what Silverbird figured the creatures were--jumped forward, ready to attack, but Robin threw down a smoke bomb before they could.

Dick shot his grappling line up at a thick cement supporter beam, letting it pull him up while Reese began to shoot trick arrows at the genomorphs.

Thank God Dinah had taught her how to fight.

Silverbird didn't know where Robin had ended up, but as soon as Aqualad had shocked Guardian by using the Atlantean eel tattoos that crisscrossed his arms, Reese, Wally, and Aqualad made a fast exit, the genomorphs chasing after them.

The three skidded to a stop at another junction of hallways, and Reese saw Dick hunched over by the elevator doors, trying to hack into them.

KF scowled and sped over to him, while at the same time Silverbird and Aqualad stared down the hallway again, just as the genomorphs rounded the corner towards them.

"Wait," Reese held a hand up towards Aqualad. "I want to try something. Cover your ears,"

The Atlantean complied, and as the genomorphs got closer, Silverbird opened her mouth and let loose a Canary Cry, a hypersonic soundwave almost twice as strong as Black Canary's own, and it threw the genomorphs back.

Above, the ceiling cracked, and a few pieces of plaster fell down onto Reese's head, which was what made her stop before she made the entire building fall down on top of them.

The genomorphs weren't defeated, not entirely, but Silverbird had bought them all some time, however little it may be.

"Way to be a team player, Rob," Kid Flash said sharply, and Robin glanced over.

"Weren't you right behind me?" he asked, just as the doors slid open, the black-haired boy and the redhead quickly going inside.

Turning around, they noticed that Aqualad and Silverbird were still running from the genomorphs.

Just before she dove inside the elevator with her friends, Reese stopped, before pivoting on her foot and swinging her other leg out in a spin kick, her boot catching two genomorphs and throwing them to the side.

Then, she felt hands grab her shoulders, just as Robin yanked her inside the elevator, the doors sliding shut just as the genomorphs slammed into them.

Silverbird tried to catch her breath, leaning against the wall, before she realized that the numbers of the floors up on the screen were going down, not up.

"We're going down?" Aqualad asked, and Kid Flash turned to glare at Robin.

"Dude out is up!"

"Excuse me?" Robin retorted. "Project Kr? It's down, on Sub-Level 52,"

"This is out of control," Aqualad walked between Robin and Kid Flash, rubbing the back of his neck, as Reese gave Dick a look. "Perhaps--Perhaps we should contact the League,"

Before any of them could say anything, the elevator dinged, before the doors slid open, this time revealing something that looked like something straight from another alien planet, complete with weird bulbous...things attached to the walls. Everything glowed a faint red color.

Robin ran out first, and KF turned back to Silverbird and Aqualad, who were still standing in the elevator.

"We are already here," Kid reasoned, before running out after Robin. Staring after her friends, Silverbird sighed.

"Is it always like this?" Aqualad asked her, and Reese shook her head.

"You have no idea,"

Finally, the two of them caught up to Dick and Wally where they were both crouched down between some barrels.

"Which way?" Aqualad asked firmly, and Robin scoffed.

"Yeah," he said, gesturing with a birdarang. "Bizarre-Looking Hallway One or Bizarre-Looking Hallway Two?"

"Hold!" another voice suddenly shouted, and from Bizarre-Looking Hallway One stepped what another genomorph, though this one was more humanoid, and even wore what looked like white surgeon scrubs, or something of the like.

The genomorph's horns suddenly glowed red, just like the little ones' had earlier, and two barrels suddenly levitated into the air, before the genomorph telekinetically threw them towards the four younger heroes.

They ducked, and the barrels hit the opposite wall, exploding just as Robin threw his birdarang. The genomorph's horns glowed again, and the projectile was stopped mid-air.

Using the split-second gap as a distraction, Robin, Silverbird, Kid Flash, and Aqualad ran down one of the "bizarre-looking hallways", just as the genomorph threw more barrels at them.

Wally sped ahead like he usually did, and when Reese, Dick, and Aqualad rounded the corner, Reese saw three things at once.

One, there was another scientist on the ground, and she assumed KF had knocked her down.

Two, there was another pair of massive doors, that were slowly sliding shut.

And three, the doors said Project Kr.

Kid Flash braced a heavy triangular container between the two doors as a means to keep it open, but Silverbird could see it wouldn't last very long.

"Hurry!" Wally shouted over his shoulder. Robin and Silverbird quickly hopped through, before Aqualad followed them, kicking the door block out just as Guardian and the other genomorphs rounded the corner.

Robin quickly hacked into something on his holo-glove, before looking up.

"I disable the door," he said, glancing over at Aqualad. "We're safe,"

"We're trapped," Aqualad corrected him.

Reese walked over to where Wally was standing, and when she saw what the speedster was looking at, her own eyes widened as well.

"Robin?" she asked over her shoulder, and Dick glanced over. "You and Aqualad may want to take a look at this,"

She pressed a button on the console in front of her and Wally, and lights shone down on a pod that was in the center of the room.

Inside was a teenage boy, dressed in an almost-blinding white bodysuit, with an all-too-familiar red S-shield across his chest.

"Oh, duh," Silverbird suddenly spoke up, knocking her palm against the side of her head, walking closer to the pod as the dots began to connect in her head. "Big-K little-R, it's the atomic symbol for Krypton,"

"You thinking clone?" Wally asked, but before Reese could answer, Aqualad glanced over at Robin.

"Robin, hack,"

"Right, right," the Boy Wonder said distractedly, before plugging the USB cord into the console, bypassing the password-lock. "Weapon designation: Superboy," he began as Reese walked back to join them. "A clone force-grown in--sixteen weeks? From DNA acquired from Superman,"

"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad corrected him again.

"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash spoke up, and Dick continued to read 'Superboy's ' file.

"Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow-sun radiation twenty-four/seven,"

"And these...creatures?" Aqualad asked, pointing towards the little genomorphs that were in smaller pods above Superboy's head.

"Genomorph gnomes," Silverbird read it straight from Robin's holo-screen. "They're telepathic. It looks like they're force-feeding Superboy an education,"

"And we can guess what else," Kid Flash added. "They're making a slave out of, well, Superman's...son,"

"Now we contact the League," Aqualad said gravely, before tapping the A-shaped belt buckle, making it light up blue.

But, when Silverbird tried her own commlink, all she got was a loud burst of static, which in turn made her flinch.

"No signal," she and Robin said in unison.

"We're in too deep," KF spoke up. "Literally,"

Reese stared at Superboy, raising an eyebrow when the tiny G-gnomes' horns glowed slightly for a moment.

"This is wrong," Wally said, and Robin glanced up at Aqualad.

"We can't leave him like this," the Boy Wonder spoke, and Aqualad seemed to think it over for a moment before he spoke as well.

"Set him free."

Quickly, Robin disabled the pod's locked, and each side of the container hissed before, with a burst of steam, they uncovered Superboy.

For a moment, nothing happened, before Superboy's fists clenched, knuckles cracking, and his eyes popped open.

Suddenly, he shot straight out of the pod, making a bee-line for Silverbird, wrapping one giant hand around her throat and squeezing the breath out of her as he tackled her to the floor.

Reese scratched at her throat, trying to pry Superboy's fingers off, before Aqualad dove at him, knocking the clone off of Silverbird, and letting Reese suck in a huge breath as Robin knelt down by her side, looking worriedly at her neck.

"You okay?" Dick asked her quietly, and Reese gave a small nod.

Then, considering Aqualad's face was currently getting punched by Superboy's face, the two of them, plus Kid Flash, tried to pry him off of the Atlantean.

"Hang on, Supey," Wally tried to reason with him.

"We're on your side," Robin added, and Superboy's fist slipped out and under KF's grip, before then punching Wally straight in the nose, throwing the speedster back, and knocking him into another pod, where Kid Flash then lay, unconscious.

"Don't make me do this," Silverbird said quietly, before taking a small gas pellet from Robin and exploding it in Superboy's face.

While the clone was distracted, Aqualad recovered enough to kick Superboy in the chest, throwing him back into the console.

Unshouldering her bow, which was remarkably undamaged, Reese shot an arrow at Superboy, but he knocked it out of the air.

Then, Robin took his taser, letting the two cables lock onto Superboy as well, but they didn't seem to do much damage. Instead, Superboy yanked on them, and Robin was jerked forward, where Superboy then slammed him onto the floor, stepping down on his chest.

"Robin!" Silverbird exclaimed, before readying herself and letting loose a Canary Cry. It did make Superboy grab onto his ears in pain, but he recovered surprisingly well and went to attack her again.

Instead, Aqualad interfered, using his water-bearers to generate a glowing blue hammer that he used to knock Superboy away from Robin, making the clone slam into where his pod used to be, cracking it.

Silverbird and Aqualad helped Robin sit up, but the Boy Wonder held his chest, before flopping back down. Reese stared down at her friend worriedly, but Superboy attacking again kind of diverted her attention a bit.

"We are trying to help you," Aqualad said firmly, standing up and holding out one hand. But, it seemed like Superboy didn't really want to listen because he sped forward and punched where Aqualad was standing, the Atlantean only just being able to move out of the way.

Aqualad tackled Superboy to the ground again, slamming him into the opposite wall, and went to punch him, but Superboy caught his fist inches before it would've hit his face.

Thus began a fight between the two, all the while Silverbird was trying to find an opening in order to shoot an arrow filled with knock-out gas towards Superboy.

"Aqualad!" she cried. "I can't get a clear shot!"

Even when the Atlantean used his tattoos to shock Superboy, the clone reacted to fast for Reese to shoot without hitting Aqualad as well, and she didn't want to risk rendering her friend as well.

Superboy slammed Aqualad into the ceiling before doing it again, and this time, the Atlantean fell down onto the ground, out cold.

Silverbird was the only one left. As it were, her throat was still hurting from when Superboy had tried to choke her out earlier, and if she used another Canary Cry she'd probably really bring the entire place down on top of them.

So, she tried using the knock-out arrow. Emphasis on tried. It didn't work. When the gas dissipated, Superboy was still standing, and the last thing Reese saw was his fist flying towards her face.

Then, everything went black.

-----

Okay, the first chapter/episode is done.

If it helps you visualize, Silverbird's costume is basically Thea Queen's Speedy costume from Arrow, only silver instead of red.