They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
~Uprising ~ Muse~

... December 30, 2010...

The team is in the living quarters of the Hall of Justice, watching on the big screen live coverage of the five new heroes joining the Justice League.

I keep quiet not paying attention to anything around me as I remember what Catwoman told me to do.

"I'm glad they didn't kick Billy out," Wally says, taking a bite of his apple. "And I love the fact that there's a 10-year-old on the League."

"There is?" Rocket asks.

Robin elbows Wally hard in the stomach.

"Owww!"

"Way to keep a secret, genius," Robin huffs.

"Hey, she's on the team now, right?" Wally claims.

"Superman is now handing out official League membership cards. Starting with Doctor Fate," the lady on the tv announces and Zatanna lowers her head, Kaldur places his webbed hand on her shoulder for reassurance. "The Atom, Plastic Man, and Icon."

"You know, I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place. I should be outside, celebrating with him. Not hidden away in here!" Raquel huffs.

"Welcome to our world," Kaldur chuckles.

"Well," she says, looking at Kaldur up and down. "I suppose there's an upside, too!"

"Finally, Green Arrow welcomes his former protégé, Speedy, now known as Red Arrow to this roster of heroes," the woman continues.

"Way to go, Roy!" Wally cheers, throwing a fist into the air.

"At last, he has his wish," Kaldur says.

"The first of us to make it! No one will call him a 'sidekick' anymore," Robin says.

"Wait, since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration," Raquel says.

"Well, see six months ago–" Robin begins but is cut off by a beeping sound from his watch. "We got a mission in the Smokey Mountains. It's Cheshire."

We all give each other a look before we head to the cave and load up the bioship.

"A-are you sure it's her? I mean, are you absolutely positive?" Artemis asks about Cheshire.

"See for yourself. This is the security footage from the Asheville Regional Airport. Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen. But you've seen her without her mask. What do you think?" Robin asks, showing her the pictures.

"It's Jade. Cheshire," Artemis whispers, looking away.

"Agreed, but focus on what Cheshire carries," Kaldur says. "Is that the case you saw in New Orleans? The one that got away?"

"Yes," Artemis answers.

"Okay, I'm guessing from the mug shot that this 'Cheshire' is the bad guy," Rocket says. "But what's so important about that case?"

"Remember the Injustice League?" Robin asks.

"And their giant evil plants? Uh yeah!" Rocket exclaims.

"The Team and the League put them in prison, but their allies still scheme and whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans," Aqualad concludes.

"We had the chance to grab it in New Orleans, but someone screwed up," Wally scoffs, insinuating someone as Artemis.

"Just kiss already you're so annoying!" I finally speak up in a huff.

The two turn away with blushes dusting their cheeks.

"Approaching their jet," Miss M reports.

We all give a light gasp as we see the wreckage of the jet.

"Looks like there are no survivors," Megan says, scanning the area.

We leave the bioship in the sky and head down to investigate the wreckage.

"How come Homeland Security and the NTSP aren't all over this?" Wally asks.

"Cheshire's ID was a League alert. Authorities didn't pick it up and her jet didn't follow it's flight plan. Flew under the radar. Literally. But the Watchtower audited the jet and recorded the crash."

"Then why isn't the League here?" Rocket huffs.

"Because Robin has some mighty hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first," Zatanna says.

"And because Cheshire and that case represent our unfinished business," Aqualad says.

"Where are the bodies?" Superboy huffs, throwing a wing of the jet aside.

"Here's one," a chilling voice says, appearing over the hill. "And it is stunning."

Cheshire appears from over a nearby hill, earning a small smile from Artemis.

"I am flora, not fauna," a voice announces from above them with a snap to release pylons from the ground, powering up and creating a force field around the area. No way in and no way out, unless you can teleport. They look up to see the Riddler along with Mammoth and Shimmer, and about a couple dozen mercenaries. "I am foliage, not trees. What am I? Come on, you can get this! I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I..."

"Am-bush," Robin and I answer.

"Didn't you think we'd be tipped you were on Cheshire's trail? We're tired of your interference, kiddies. This is the end game. Ordered from above and executed by their master strategist. Moi!" Riddler tells them.

'Miss Martian, is everyone linked?' Aqualad asks.

'Yes,' she responds.

'Go!' he orders, causing everyone to engage in action.

Zatanna says something, and the area turns into a blizzard.

"I call Riddler!" I announce. This is payback for the ridiculous riddles you sat me through.

'Superboy, the pylons!' Kaldur commands.

'Working on it,' he responds.

I speed up to Riddler and sucker punch the side of his face. "That's for all the annoying riddles you put me through."

He falls to the ground.

'SB, you're-you're flying!' Robin suddenly exclaims, causing everyone to look at the Boy of Steel to see him holding Mammoth by the hair and throwing him into the force field then pummeling him into the cliff side.

I watch as the cliff tumbles off and almost lands on Artemis if Cheshire hadn't pushed her out of the way.

The fight is over quickly and most of the villains escaped, leaving Mammoth, Shimmer, and Riddler behind. Superboy is still pummeling Mammoth.

I hurriedly run over to Conner and rest a hand on his shoulder. He gives me a furious glare and turns to pummel me before realizing it's me, and his gaze softens.

"Bolt, I–"

"You can explain later when everyone's around," I say, grabbing both his large hands. "He's down. You won. We won. Let's go home."

He lifts me before flying up to the ship, and everyone looks at Superboy in shock once they all arrive but all decide to remain silent. All witnessed something they usually wouldn't. We meet with Batman, Red Tornado, Icon, and Black Canary in the mission room after landing back at the cave.

"Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives. And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons, proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity," Batman scolds and pauses for a second. "Well done." Everyone shifts and looks at each other with glee. "And then, there's this." He looks toward the suitcase that Cheshire had. "Bio-technology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry."

"Though I am unfamiliar with the species, the bio-component is clearly not of Earth," Icon says.

"We'll take it to the Watchtower for further study," Batman says, leaving with RT.

Rocket flies over to Icon. "Congratulations on the League thing! Sorry I skipped out."

"Yes, well. We both seem to have found teams that suit us," Icon responds, earning a smile from Raquel.

BC places a hand on Icon's shoulder. "We should go, too. Don't wanna miss the League's induction party."

"Recognized: Black Canary, 13. Icon, 20."

The team is left in their silence.

"You realize we were set up," Robin admits.

"Yes, Cheshire and Riddler were tipped and ready for us," Kaldur says.

"Not the mole thing, again!" Artemis exclaims.

"A mole thing? Again?" Raquel asks curiously.

"We had intel that there was a traitor on the Team," Wally says.

"Namely Artemis, M'gann, Bolt, or me," Conner huffs, walking toward Raquel.

"It is more complicated than that," Kaldur says, resting a hand on Conner's shoulder who smacks it off. "But your recent behavior does concern me. Your attack on Mammoth nearly got Artemis killed." Conner walks off and suddenly grips his head. "Superboy?"

"There's... something I need to do," Conner says, turning to the team. "Something... I need to tell you... Last month, on Thanksgiving, I went back to Cadmus and found a few things out. When I was cloned, only half the DNA was Superman's. The other half was... human." Everyone shifts with surprise. "That's why I don't have... will never have, full Kryptonian powers."

"You sure? Cause you sure seemed to have 'em today," Robin says.

"I've been using these," Conner says, pulling up his right sleeve. "Shields. They suppress my human DNA. I get the flight, the heat vision, but I think I also get angry. Well, angrier. I'm sorry."

"Where did you get those?" Kaldur asks.

"From my human father," he looks down, closing his eyes for a moment before looking up. "Lex Luthor."

Everyone's eyes widen with horror.

"Lex... Luthor... is your dad?" Robin asks exasperated.

"He's summoned me to Santa Prisca," Conner says.

My eyes widen.

Artemis groans. "Listen. Superboy's not the only one suffering from bad DNA." She turns, heading to the side to bring up pictures of people on the computer screen. Huntress, Cheshire, and Sportsmaster appear. "My mother is Huntress, an ex-con. Rest of my family aren't even ex... My Dad's Sportsmaster and he's sending my sister, Cheshire, to fly me to Santa Prisca, too."

"That's why–" Wally begins but is cut off.

"Yeah. I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out."

"I knew," Robin voices, and her eyes widen. "Hey, I'm a detective, but it never mattered. You aren't your family. You're one of us," Robin says.

Artemis gives a gaped look but it turns into a relaxed smile.

"So, who's next?" Wally asks, leaning on Artemis' shoulder.

"I am," Megan admits.

"I swear I was kidding," Wally admits, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Queen Bee's been... blackmailing me..." Megan says. "She wants me in Santa Prisca, too."

"Blackmailing? How?" Kaldur asks.

"She knows my True Martian form," Megan admits.

"Bald M'gann?" Robin chuckles. "Who cares if–?"

"No," Megan cuts him off. After a soft sigh her face becomes determined, and she transforms into a large, nightmarish grotesque monster with white skin, long limbs, and a hunchback.

Everyone takes a big step back with loud gasps.

"Oh!" Raquel voices.

"I realized you would never accept me if you saw what I really am," she says, hugging herself after noticing all the gaped mouths and large eyes.

"M'gann, did we truly seem so shallow?" Kaldur asks.

"I couldn't take a chance being a White martian among the Green on Mars, I endured constant rejection. I couldn't face that from–"

"From me?" Conner interrupts.

She looks up as he walks over, grasping her hand. They have a telepathic conversation and Megan returns to normal shortly after.

I let out a shaky breath. "Guys, I-I need to go home and talk to my parents. They're upset with how late I've been staying out," I lie. "I will meet you all in Santa Prisca."

"Bolt!" Robin calls out.

"I'm sorry, Richy," I whisper as I exit the cave.

"Recognized: Bolt, B08."

I run straight to Catwoman's house.

"Ah, kitten. You made it."

"Why are you doing this to me?" I ask.

"Because you can't do both, kitten," she says. "The truth needs to come out."

"I'm not ready to tell them yet!" I sob.

"And if I didn't do this, you never would be."

"Aunty Selina, please."

"I don't have a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not the only one being blackmailed," she responds. "Klarion took Isis."

"You're going to ruin my life because of a cat?!" I shout.

"I'm sorry, kitten." She shakes her head. "I didn't want to do this. That damn kid made me."

"Does he know who I am?" I ask.

"No, they all just know that I have some dirt on you that you wouldn't want the Justice League to know about," she responds. "Now, we need to go. There's a private jet on the roof for us. It should take us straight to Santa Prisca."

I slowly follow after her as we get in the jet.

Almost 4 hours later, we arrive in Santa Prisca.

I look out the window to see my friends below, Conner, Megan, and Artemis. The jet descends to the ground, landing itself gently.

"Please, aunty."

"Sorry, kitten. We both need to do this," she responds as she opens the door. The door unfolds and Catwoman walks down the ramp. "Oh, am I late to the party?"

"Right on time actually," Lex admits.

I hide myself in the jet, taking many quick breaths.

Get it over with and become a permanent villain.

"Where's your partner?" Queen Bee asks.

"Hiding in the jet. Kitten, come on out."

I cascade my sight to the ground as I exit the jet. Gasps come out of my three previous team members.

"Bolt?" Artemis blurts out.

'Bolt, you're the traitor?' Megan asks through the mindlink.

'No, I haven't told them anything,' I reply. 'Catwoman is blackmailing me too.'

'For what?' comes Robin's immediate reply.

'I'll... tell everyone after this is over... I don't want you all to think of me differently. If I told you now, you'll never trust me.'

Superboy speaks aloud. "Give me more shields and I'm in, too."

Lex Luthor walks up to him seriously then grins. "My boy. You're a terrible liar." This makes Superboy agitated and about to punch him. "Red sun." Superboy freezes and moves to be frozen.

Artemis walks forward. "What do you want us to do?"

Lex nods toward Sportsmaster.

"You three, follow me," Sportsmaster says.

"What about Superboy?" Miss M asks.

"He'll be fine. He simply requires a few... adjustments," Queen Bee says.

The three walk towards Sportsmaster, giving Superboy a sad glance before passing him.

"Bring him along," Lex says to Blockbuster.

Before Blockbuster gets too close though, Artemis springs into action, shooting a foam arrow at him and causing him to growl.

"Sorry, dad, wanted to play you like you tried to play me. But I can't let him mess with Superboy's head," Artemis shouts, aiming her bow at Sportsmaster.

Miss Martian's eyes glow and she lifts Artemis with her telekinesis out of the way from getting swiped by Sportsmaster's sword. Using her other hand, Miss M smashes Queen Bee against a tree, effectively knocking her out. Artemis spins and shoots the explosive arrow at the ground at Sportsmaster and Cheshire's feet.

'Queen Bee is down. Superboy, you're safe from her control,' Miss M says through the telepathic link.

Superboy becomes determined and heads toward Lex Luthor. "May not be much of a liar, but I fooled you."

"And I'm so proud. I take it Miss Martian cleaned 'Red Sun' from your mind?" Lex asks.

"And confirmed that Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash, rescued me from Cadmus, before you had time to install any other programming."

"All true, personally, I blame Doctor Desmond," Lex says, causing said man to tackle Superboy to the cliff. Lex then looks toward Bane. "Un poco de ayuda."

Bane points without saying a word and shots begin going off from his gang members. Supercycle takes to the sky and fires her blasters at the men.

"Bolt, stop them," Catwoman tells me.

I look up at her and shake my head. "I'm sorry, aunty, but I cannot."

"Then your information will be sent to Batman."

"Go ahead, my information is about to be out in the open to my teammates soon," I scoff, charging up a ball of electricity and effectively knocking her out. I move to take out Bane's gang.

'Guys, reinforcement time!' Artemis calls.

Rocket is the first to appear and takes one of the gang members to the skies to drop them once up high enough. KF comes next and knocks out some more of Bane's goons members. Bane uses his equipment to grow to his maximum size. Lex Luthor, Mercy, and Queen Bee try to make an escape, but Aqualad cuts them off before he gets blasted back by Mercy. Robin appears, taking on more of the gang members. Zatanna recites a spell, wrapping a member in snakes before they turn into rope. Both Zatanna and Robin are tackled by Bane. Mercy, Lex, and Bee escape in a helicopter, flying away. The fight continues and eventually the battle escalates in our favor and we slowly win.

We gather around as Artemis and Wally walk up.

"It is always like this!" Rocket exclaims.

"Told you!" Zatanna boasts.

"Hey, disaster averted. Feeling the aster," Robin says.

"Agreed. This has been a good day," Kaldur concurs, turning to me. "But we do need to know what you meant when you said we would not trust you after you told us the truth."

I look down, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I look back up my eyes drifting to each person I've come to love as a family. My eyes begin to water, knowing that they won't accept me again after this. Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, Raquel, Zatanna, Megan, Conner, and... Robin... My glance stays on Robin a few moments longer than the others. I definitely won't have a chance after this. I sigh, closing my eyes and tilting my head to the ground.

I let down my Bolt suit, leaving on a mask across my eyes, into a simple dress. I keep my eyes closed, feeling them tear up more, before looking up at the team and changing my hair to green.

"Bolt..." Wally murmurs surprised.

Electricity cackles at my finger tips and I make the mask disappear, causing Artemis and Robin to gasp. "My name is Aura Evans, but a few of you know me by Dawn Joleen."

"Dawn, you–" Robin begins, but Wally cuts him off.

"Aura," Wally gasps. "You're Strike, Flash's first partner!"

"But the rest of you would know me..." I shift my clothes into my Jester Quinn outfit. "...as Jester Quinn..."

I watch as everyone's eyes grow.

"You're..." Raquel gasps breathlessly.

"After I gained my powers and was with Flash for a few weeks, I ran away to Gotham. Spent some time there before I was recruited by papa and momma." I shake my head. "S-sorry, I-I mean, Joker and Harley Quinn. I've been with them ever since then."

"You've attacked us," Conner voices. "And kidnapped Robin."

"But she also freed me," Robin says. "You can be in two places at once?"

"Yeah, electric duplication." I show them before becoming one again and continuing. "Yes, I've attacked you, and... I've also killed people... Under pa—Joker's influence. Of course, the people I killed were horrid criminals that pissed off Joker, but I knew it wasn't right. I knew it wasn't, but I still did it. I knew it was wrong, but... it felt so right. It made me feel powerful... I'm incredibly conflicted, I have a voice in my head that's trying its hardest to turn me completely evil, and I can't control my emotions as well as I used to. I've been raised by villains, Aunty Sel—Catwoman, Livewire, Aun—Poison Ivy, Riddler, Deadshot, Penguin, Joker, and Harley. They taught me everything I now know. I was planning to use the knowledge to be a hero, but the hate consumed part of me." My voice begins to crack as tears roll down my cheeks. "I-I've always wanted to be a superhero, but that's not who I turned out to be. I don't know who or what I am. I can't be both, but at this point I-I won't be able to be either. I know you don't want me to be near you after hearing this. I don't doubt that you'll kick me off the team and throw me in jail."

Everyone stares at me with unreadable expressions.

Look they despise you.

It's silent for quite a while before anyone speaks up.

"How many people have you killed?" Kaldur asks.

"For sure I know 3," I admit, turning back into the dress, uncomfortable continuing to be Jester Quinn. "But I've also set off explosions to buildings that may or may not of had people inside. I didn't think about it when Joker gave me the detonation button on my birthday. It looked abandoned, but I'm not sure. That was when I turned 13."

Everyone gives each other glances.

"I honestly have no idea how to handle this," Kaldur admits.

"I-It's alright," I sniffle. "Just lock me up."

"We can't just lock you up," Artemis sighs. "You're not the only one who has killed people under the influence of her parents."

I look up at her as does everyone else.

"Y-you've killed too?" Wally asks.

"Once, ...a very long time ago," Artemis admits, wrapping her arms around herself and casting her eyes down.

"We can get you help," Robin voices. "We've seen you save more people than how many you've killed. We know Joker is abusive. Batman and I have seen him do it to Harley repeatedly even for little things. I can't imagine what he did to you, knowing you heal fast."

"Joker and I had more fun together than him actually hurting me. As odd as that may seem... They don't know that I'm Bolt, but they do know I have electric powers. If they find out what I've been doing, I won't have anywhere to go..."

"Bol—Aura, you can stay at the cave," Robin says. "We all know you won't kill us otherwise you would've done it by now. Actually, we'd prefer it if you stayed at the cave."

"Technically, Flash is your legal guardian," Wally admits.

"I still have belongings at home."

"Then you can go get them," Kaldur says.

"That would include Storm, my hyena."

"I'm sure Wolf would like a friend," Conner says.

They hate you. Look at their expressions.

I shake my head. "Why aren't you kicking me out? I've done terrible things to all of you!"

"But you always made up for them in some way," Robin admits. "You rescued me from torture."

"I was the one that tortured you!"

"But you didn't force a lot of pain only minimal."

"I broke your ribs and fingers and who knows what else!"

"6 broken fingers, 3 broken ribs, broken nose, split lip, and quite a few cuts and burns, but I'll heal just as you do just slower."

"You all should hate me!" I scream at them as tears run down my cheeks. I unintentionally cradle down to the ground, bringing my knees to my chest. "You should hate me..."

Artemis leans down to me, placing a reassuring hand on my knee. "We don't hate you for what Joker made you do. You were taken advantage of at a young age. That's not your fault."

I look up at her through blurry eyes before wrapping her in a hug, sobbing. She immediately returns it, and slowly everyone moves down to join in.

"Thank you... Thank you..." I whisper through tears.