{Edited: 2017-05-06}

Chapter Three

The Truth

September 17

Cadmus Labs in Rhelasia and Bialya

They were contained in these . . . these . . . pods like all those years ago, and when Wally was still alive. However, this time, the entire Team, aside from Batgirl and Wonder Girl and the rest of the League, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary were being contained along with us. Batman's finger pick had been dismantled from him, so he could not pick the cuffs containing him. Hell, not even Nightwing could pick it himself, for they had taken everyone's weapons as well. Not to mention, Superboy was in an irate mood, most likely due to his transparent animosity towards Cadmus and their testing tubes.

The room was now empty, aside from the guards safeguarding from outside the thick, soundproof, metal walls containing them. The Team were now either still unconscious from the Light's poisoning or attempting to free themselves from their chains. At this point in time, only Green Arrow, BatmanSuperman, Superboy, Nightwing, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin were awake.

"So what now?" Nightwing asked, looking specifically at Batman, since he was the mastermind for just about everything. He and Robin were out of ideas.

"We have thought of every plan, but to of no avail," Aqualad sighed in agreement.

"This is just great," Kid Flash exhaled loudly. "Not only are we comprised in these . . . tubes . . . but even five other Justice League members are contained as well . . . A-and, not to mention, other League members will eventually be on their way here by the end of this week!"

"I'm just hoping that Cassie doesn't come after us or anything," Robin muttered from the tube beside Nightwing's.

The tubes were not exactly soundproof; unlike the metal doors containing them. Was the enemy begging them to escape? It wasn't a bad thing, Nightwing had to admit.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the metal doors receded, revealing Lex Luthor, the Brain, Queen Bee, and Vandal Savage.

Superman glared at Luthor, while the rest simply scowled and glowered at the four of them.

Savage chuckled icily, barely giving them a glance, before heading towards the database panel before their cells.

"Why are we contained here," Batman questioned, however in more of that of a statement. His eyes glaring at his enemies, as they didn't even spare them a mere glance.

Lex Luthor gave them all that classic chuckle of his, "You were far more gullible for a genius as yourself, Batman. Luring you was easy as soon as we found your weak link, courtesy of Catwoman. She told us you were missing something important . . . your ward."

The emotionless man snapped, biting his inner mouth to prevent himself from lashing meaninglessly.

"We were told that she would send data via mail quite often. When Queen Bee suggested we fake a few letters to your residence, I was afraid she would write in code, but alas, it was English after all, since the letters we sent were in the language. It almost seemed too easy," Luthor smirked at his captives.

A glimpse of a shadow moved upwards from the beams of the "ceiling." There was no ceiling, but there were black horizontal beams keeping up the structure.

"How did you procure her handwriting and signature," Batman inquired almost too mechanically so seem like he cared.

"I remember on a previous mission," Luthor began. "You sent her to infiltrate me company as a secretary. Not everyone can fake handwriting all the time, especially in at a desk job."

"Enough of this! So where is she? Where is Adrianne," Superman spat at his nemesis. "What did you do to her?"

"Ah, truth be told, we don't know where she is," Queen Bee sighed. "Though she would have become a great asset to the Light and our . . . allies."

"Not to mention," Luthor continued still with a smirk, pulling out a USB drive from his pocket, earning a few caught breaths from around the room. "The file within Green Arrow's bag containing all League activity and the League's true identities. Everything now just has to be downloaded. By the time we return, the cloning processes will begin, and it won't be long until we have a mini Justice League of our own."

Everyone fumed with spilling anger, but there was nothing to be done, aside from attempting to unchain themselves from their cells.

Unbeknownst to them, another shadow lurked from behind the four Light members before abruptly disappearing.

"Now, now, we don't want to ruin the surprise we have for them in stock, now do we?" Savage smiled smugly, before exiting the metal doors alongside the other Light members, which closed upon their departure.

The same shadow lurked before then jumped down from the ceiling's beam up above—someone wearing a mask similar to that of Sportsmaster's. The person wore a dark black packa jacket with dark-gray leggings. Judging from the figure, the person was a female with black hair. The mask shadowed her face.

She stealthily glided over to the super-computer at the center of the room. She turned it on and plugged in a USB from her pocket into the designated slot. As she went through file-to-file, downloading and then deleting each, she eventually stumbled upon the given information of the League, and their secret identities. From the corner of my eye, I noticed both Batman and Green Arrow hold in their breaths. What was she going to do with the information?

No one said anything.

After staring at the screen, she fumbled upon several keys on the keyboard and deleted the files before any of the Light could apprehend the identities of the League's members and affiliates. After exiting the pages, she installed a virus into the system, supposedly downloading data into her USB. She finally turned to look at the prisoners behind her.

"Who are you?" Aqualad questioned, glaring daggers at her—not viciously, but rather in cautious inquiry.

The figure shrugged as she walked over to an unconscious Artemis, who hung limply in her cell.

The girl opened the tube, looking much more sickly than the rest who were unconscious, most likely due to an internal inflammation of the poison administered. She took out a syringe containing some hazy fluid, and injected whatever serum it was into Artemis. She didn't bother closing the tube.

"What did you do to her?" Kid Flash yelled, not wanting Wally's love to die so soon just after he had.

The girl simply glanced at him and put her pointer finger at her lips above her mask, signaling him to be silent.

She then strolled back over to the super-computer, typed in the password, and continued looking into the Cadmus files.

"Hey!" the speedster shouted in a tantrum. "Are you listening to me?"

The rest of the Team awake were too cautious to cause anymore trouble and were instead analyzing her. She deleted their files, but she drugged Artemis. Whose side was she on?

A few moments later, as if on cue, Artemis opened her eyes slowly, adjusting her eyes to the lighting of the room.

"Artemis! You're alright!" Kid Flash shouted in glee, attempting to give her a hug but failing from the chains.

"Yeah, I guess," she replied as she blinked her eyes continuously before eventually returning to its normal pace.

Batman, Robin, and Nightwing froze. That voice . . . It was familiar . . . but whose was it?

Without warning, the doors to the room opened revealing Vandal Savage and Psimon, who was probably summoned to erase the Team's minds and later download them into clones.

"What's with all the racket in this room?" Savage boomed menacingly before his eyes flared to the girl, who, in turn, did not even bother to look back at the two evils behind her. "How did you get in here?"

The last phrase sounded more of an imperative mark, instead of a question.

The girl turned around, flashed him a dazzling smile, and returned her eyes to the screen.

Savage squinted his eyes at her, before lunging, and for the second time that day, she spoke: "Arsenal."

With that being said, a red arrow came shooting at Savage, engulfing the man in coral foam, before it transformed into cement, encasing the man completely in the substance.

Soon afterwards, attempting to warn the others, Psimon attempted to escape, but to no avail, as another arrow came crashing down toward him, giving him the same result as Savage.

"So," a masculine voice from above asked. "Can I come down now?"

"Indeed you may," the girl replied, mocking an English accent.

Arsenal, formerly called "Speedy," was Green Arrow's protégée, before he was captured by Cadmus, cloned, and encased in blue serum, losing about eight years of his life, before his clone, Red Arrow, freed him from his captivity.

No one really knew where Arsenal (a.k.a. Roy Harper) went until now, but why was he here with the girl?

"Roy!" Green Arrow shouted in joy at the sight of his former protégée. "You came to rescue us! Where have you been?"

The man coughed before replying, "I, um, actually came here to delete the information about the League from the Light's possession as a training exercise with my partner."

"Wait, since when did you have a partner?" Green Arrow replied in exasperation, raising his left eyebrow significantly. "You didn't even bother telling me?"

"Well," the girl laughed. "He doesn't have to tell you everything."

Green Arrow narrowed his eyes at the girl.

Just then, the doors opened, revealing Lex Luthor and Queen Bee, who both entered shocked at the unconscious Savage and Psimon.

"What is going on here?" Queen Bee screamed on the slight calm side of the spectrum.

She and Luthor glanced at the girl, hacking away at the files of the Light.

"You!" Queen Bee pointed her finger accusingly. "You're the one who freed all of our test subjects last month! You're one of the reasons the Light and the Reach had trouble reaching another agreement! You hacked their security systems and took intel from our grasp . . . You monster . . ."

The masked girl stifled a laugh before replying simply, "Personally speaking, I don't view myself as one."

Queen Bee narrowed her eyes at her before using her psychic powers to control her.

"Nuh-uh-uh," the girl sing-songed, waving her pointer finger at the villain. "That won't work."

She charged at the woman in hand-to-hand combat, blocking each and every punch or hit to her body with ease and stealth.

Everyone watched as the girl hit the pressure points of Queen Bee, eventually rendering the woman temporarily paralyzed and unable to move.

The girl then curtsied before Luthor, taunting him in the process.

"Perhaps another time," Luthor replied grimly before disappearing into the fog of his smoke bomb.

"Done downloading and deleting the files yet, Roy?" the girl asked her partner.

"Yeah," he replied, taking the USB out of the plug-in. "What about the Team and the League members?"

"You know what to do," she nodded. "I need to get back quickly. I'll see you there."

"That's true," he replied as he hacked the system, setting the cell chambers' release.

Just before she turned to leave, Batman intruded, "Wait."

She turned to look at him.

"When were you planning to return . . . Adrianne."

Nightwing snapped his eyes open, staring at the woman who walked out of his life and never returned. The woman he spent his childhood with—he spent training with—he spent most of his life with . . .

"Thought you wouldn't recognize me," she turned around with a smile plastered on her face . . . as she took off the mask, revealing her beautiful face underneath.