( MADELAINE PRINCE )

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*"𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐓." a male's voice says . "you must awaken." none of the teens even flinch. " you must awaken now!" madelaine found her eyes shooting open and found herself gasping for a breath.

her eyes shoot down to outside of whatever pod she's in and she comes face to face with superboy, the boy just staring at the four not saying a thing with his arms crossed.

"what? what do you want?" the speedster asks "quit staring. you're creeping me out." kid flash' voice is heard besides her making her tilt her head as much as possible to see him in the pod besides her.

"uh, kf, how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" robin suggests to the freaked out speedster.

"we only sought to help you." aqualad tries to tell superboy, calmly. madelaine only stares at the clone knowing that aqualad's words weren't going to get through to him alone.

"yeah. we free you, and you turn on us." kid flash pipes up, clearly still annoyed at the minimum. "how's that for grat-" madelaine groans out in annoyance shutting the boy up and bringing all eyes to her.

"shut it! we just want to help you superboy, i don't think you belong here" the girl tried nearly pleading with the boy "i know you think that as well. i don't even think you know what you were doing when you attacked us"

with the conversation gaining ground robin activates a lockpick in the pointer finger of his glove and begins to work on his restraint.

"wha-what if I..." he trails with an annoyed huff, his voice never been used so his words don't come out quite right and his tone is slightly scratchy. "what if i wasn't?" he manages.

"he can talk?" kid flash questions shocked making madelaine roll her eyes at his words not meaning to find them funny.

superboy's hand clenches into a fist again as he practically growls his words at kid flash. "yes, he can." the three look at kid flash who looks rather confused back at them. "not like I said, "it"

"wow, do you want a prize?" madelaine asked sarcastically not even turning to look at him but knowing he'd give her a reply anyway.

"if its from you, then yes" he smirked making her try to suppress a grin at his constant flirting, it wasn't the time for it.

"the genomorph taught you telepathically." aqualad says out in realisation.

"they taught me much." superboy admits. "i can read, write. i- i know the names of things." madelaine found the clone adorable, he was like a child in a grown boys body.

"but have you seen them? have they actually let you see the sky? or the sun?" robin asks, knowing how much all four of them takes those things for granted.

"images are implanted in my mind," he admits, then looks down as if ashamed. "but no. I have not seen them." this causes madelaine to frown. she had made up her mind that moment, she was going to have superboy escape with them.

aqualad turns towards the more pressing matter. "do you know what you are, who you are?"

superboy stands tall. "i am the superboy, a genomorph, a clone made from the dna of the superman, created to replace him should he perish... to destroy him should he turn from the light." the last bit gets worried looks from all four of them.

"to be like superman is a worthy aspiration, but, like superman, you deserve a life of your own beyond that solar suit, beyond your pod, beyond cadmus." aqualad tries to approach him calmly.

once those words leave aqualad's mouth superboy gets angry. "i live because of cadmus! it is my home!" 

"this isn't living! we can help you live, you need to see the world. you're a kid!" madelaine argued with the boy making him turn to look at her, his blue eyes meeting her naturally purple ones which glowed.

"your home is a test tube." robin says rather simply. "we can show you the sun." it was now all the proteges trying to convince superboy, all except wally.

"uh, pretty sure it's after midnight, but we can show you the moon." the speedster offered as a substitute.

"we can show you, introduce you to superman." aqualad agrees with the young speedster, knowing how much that would mean to the teenaged clone before them. superboy's eyes widen slightly at the prospect..

"no they can't." desmond says as he, guardian, and the female scientist enter the chamber. "they'll be otherwise occupied" he says smugly now, then he turns to the female scientist. "activate the cloning process."

"i don't think so, my rooms not big enough for anymore versions of me" "pass! the batcave's crowded enough" madelaine and robin say at the same time both grinning.

"and get the weapon back in its pod." desmond commands of guardian. the way the man was speaking about superboy only angering madelaine.

"hey, how come he gets to call supey an "it"?" kid flash questions, seeming partially annoyed and partially saddened by the prospect. guardian steps up, placing a hand on superboy's shoulder. superboy looks at the four trapped teens.

aqualad realizes the depths they have gone to "help us." he pleads with superboy. the clone shrugs off guardian's hand, looking to the older hero with an angered look.

desmond walks up behind him. "don't start thinking now." his genomorph hops off his shoulder and lands on superboy's shoulder. it hisses as it's horns glow red, taking telepathic control over superboy. "see you're not a real boy. you're a weapon, and you belong to me!" he pauses for a moment, realizing his mistake. "well, to cadmus. same thing." he defends. "now get back to your pod!"

"please" madelaine tried one more time as she speaks to the boy telepathically before he turns fully and begins to walk out of the room avoiding her eyes as a pool of regret begins to build in his stomach.

once the door closes with a thud behind him, desmond nods to the scientists at the control station. she hits two more buttons on the control station, causing robotic arms to come out of the base of the four protogés' pods. kid flash reels back, attempting to maneuver away from them, but he's still restrained completely.

the tops of the arms break apart into four fingers, two prongs on the tips of each one. with no hesitation and a slight electrical buzz they plunge the into the teenagers chests. all four scream out, which only increases as the fingers begin to pull out a reddish gas which then fills the spheres below their pods.

"where's dubbilex?" desmond asks guardian and the other scientist. only to see the anthropoid shadow coming out of the darkness. "ooh!" he gasps, taken off guard. "lurking as usual. get the g-gnomes downloading their memories. when that's done, delete the source material." the man grins mischievously before turning to the screaming girl.

"and make sure you take your time with her, she's extra special" the man begins to laugh as madelaine starts to slip in and out of consciousness, her vision disappearing. before she completely loses her sights she's able to hear a loud bang.

superboy returns ripping the large metal door off the wall, then holds it over his head with ease. as he does the torture devices on the four teens power down. then he throws the door away and stalks into the room. desmond, guardian, and dubbilex all make their way towards superboy.

"i told you to get back to you-" desmond begins, but is cut off as superboy's right-hand swipes him away and his left takes out both guardian and dubbilex. guardian getting thrown into the wall, while dubbilex and desmond hit the ground with a thud.

superboy stands tall and glares down at desmond. "don't give me orders." he nearly growls, then steps up to be back in front of the teen heroes.

"you here to save us or fry us?" kid flash questions, seeming actually sincere in the question. honestly he's still unsure what the clone will do.

superboy glares for a moment, but nothing happens. "huh. i don't seem to have heat vision, so I suppose helping is my only option." this brings a smile to madelaine's face.

robin manages to get his wrist restraints open, then jumps from his pod. "ahh. finally!" he says, annoyance in his tone as he rubs his wrists. "lucky batman isn't here. he'd have my head for taking so long."

"seriously, that's what you're worried about?" kid flash deadpans. "the whole League will have our heads after tonight." he snaps angrily making madelaine laugh. "what?" he asks incredulously turning to the girl.

"we are defo dead when we're out of here" she laughed as she could feel her energy beginning to course through her again, nothing being able to suck the life out of her anymore.

robin ignores him and goes to the control station. hitting one of the buttons, which retracts the arms from kid flash, mystique and aqualad and opening their pod doors. he turns to superboy. "get aqualad and mystique. i'll get kid mouth." 

"don't you give me orders either." superboy growls but does go to release aqualad anyway, ripping the restraints apart with ease. then floating over to madelaine ripping hers off and wrapping his arms under her legs and arms and carrying her bridal style.

weak from the torture the boy has to catch his shoulders to keep the girl from falling to the ground below the floor of his pod. "you came back." she acknowledges him with a small smile.

"well i don't belong to them, do i?" he asks with a straight face but she could hear the sincerity under his tone. superboy nods once more before getting up. robin gets kid flash's restraints open, letting both of them drop to the ground. the five of them beginning to run.

"you- you'll never get out of here!" desmond shouts, but the teens don't listen, they only continue to run. "i'll have you back in pods before morning."

robin turns at the doorway and pauses, causing kid flash to do the same. "that guy is not whelmed." he mutters then launches four disks back into the room the four disks hit all four of their dna containers and begin to beep, then explode, destroying the material they would've used for cloning and the pods themselves . "not whelmed at all."

"what is with you and this whelmed thing?" kid flash asks as they turn to leave. madelaine slowing down so she's running besides the two.

"i don't even think he knows" she chuckles out as she begins to run faster to catch up to kaldur and superboy.

in the hallway, the four are running down the as the wall begins to glow the same red color as the horns on the g-gnome. "we are still 42 levels below ground." aqualad says, not even panting as he runs at full tilt. "but if we can make the elevator..." he trails a g-trolls block their way, the first two further away, then more and steadily getting closer to them.

the five stop and look back the way they came and see the glowing orbs now have pale white figures moving inside them. genomorph elves come out in a large group. "i haven't even turnt sixteen yet" madelaine groaned out under her breath at their predicament not thinking they'd get out alive.

the lead g-troll strikes from behind and all five jump back to avoid it's crushing blow. aqualad moves right around it, madelaine taking flight, while kid flash and robin go left. superboy glares and jumps to cross it in the jaw. knocking it down, but he is then surrounded by three more and is brought down as one pins him to the ground with its massive paw.

another drops low on all fours and swings its head towards aqualad, attempting to hit him with its large horns. aqualad jumps into a backflip over the assault, giving robin the chance to get in front of it and take its attention as he grabs his horn to follow aqualad over the g-troll's shoulder.

madelaine was concerned with the two small ones hanging on to her feet crawling up her leg, the girl kicking as they only clutched their fingers into her skin making her groan before elbowing them both in the heads and then sending blasts as they fell to the floor.

kid flash had another tailing him and runs it into the wall, before running along it to end up beside aqualad and robin. the four proteges turn as they hear the hallway shake and crumble. their attention lands on superboy who is fighting off g-trolls and slamming them into the wall and using his full strength despite the fact that it's causing the hallway to begin to fall apart.

"we're not trying to bury ourselves in here!" the girl nearly screams at him as she lands besides aqualad, the two of them sharing concerned looks.

superboy turns to the four with an insane look, but also anger playing across his features. "you want to escape?" he demands, grabbing an unconscious g-troll's arm and throws it into the two that are coming towards him.

as he does aqualad pries the elevator doors open, this time taking no care in the fact that he's bending the doors. kid flash and robin join him, looking at the twelve story drop below them, and the seemingly never-ending darkness above them.

kid flash jumps to the side of the column, while robin uses his grappling hook to get a couple stories above them. madelaine jumping straight in grabbing kid flash' hand and pulling him off the wall as she floats the two down. a g-troll comes to take out both superboy and aqualad with a mighty punch the boy of steel grabs aqualad's waist and jumps into the elevator shaft. attempting to fly, and getting nearly 30 levels before gravity begins to pull them back down.

shock shows on superboy's eyes, while confusion shows in aqualad's." i-i'm falling." he realizes numbly. robin's eyes widen as he realizes what's happening, using his birdarang he give aqualad something to hold onto, he strains but doesn't let go. superboy's eyes have sadness and confusion filling them "superman can fly. why can't I fly?"

"don't know," kid flash says, drawing the boy of steel's attention to three who are standing on the level just below them. "but it does look like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound. still cool." then he helps superboy down to the small ledge. aqualad follows shortly thereafter.

a whir from above them catches robin's attention. "guys, this will have to be our exit." above them, the high-speed express elevator is coming down.

aqualad and superboy take out the doors, now showing that they are on sl-15. all five of them just making it out of the column in time. g-elves are attracted to the sound and make their way towards the five teens in a squad of five, followed closely by a g-troll.

"go left! left!" superboy relays loudly not letting the others question him as they all listen and turn. "turn right" he says again only for the quicker teens to run ahead and run into a dead end. the only thing available is an air vent a few feet below the ceiling.

"great directions, supey." kid flash says sarcastically. "are you trying to get us repodded?" his words making madelaine smack his arm as a way to shut up.

"no. i, i don't understand." superboy confesses as aqualad and robin finally catch up to the three faster teens.

"don't apologize. this is perfect!" robin says excitedly making them all give him confused looks before he notices the vents making madelaine sigh out in exhaustion.

———

in the vents robin leads the way, followed by aqualad, madelaine, kid flash, then superboy bringing up the rear "ugh, at this rate we'll never get out." kid flash complains.

"i'll never see my sister again" the girl mumbles under her breath thinking if his words were true or not. she hadn't seen cassie in over three years and would've liked to have said goodbye.

"shh." superboy tells the two, coming to a stop and so do the other four. "listen." within the vent system are the g-elves, coming after the four attempting-escapees. however the sound dies out eventually.

"i hacked the motion sensors." robin says smirking as he continues advanced keystrokes on his hologlove.

"sweet." kid flash says brightly, though probably just happy to be out of the vents and in the hallways again.

"still plenty of them between us and out." robin grumbles, but they are also right by the emergency staircase.

kid flash brings his goggles down over his eyes. "but i've finally got room to move." then opens the door and starts running up levels at super-speeds. coming down the same staircase from a level above him are droves of g-elves. he doesn't stop but he smirks and increases his speed. taking them all out and clearing the way for aqualad, madelaine robin- who is still hacking- and superboy.

"more behind us." robin calls out to superboy. as Superboy gets to the platform he stops and slams his foot down on the connecting stair. knocking the whole staircase down and all the g-elves on it.

"are we are cut off from the street?" madelaine asks as she catches up with kid flash with the others tumbling behind her.

kid flash rubs the back of his head with a grimace. "what do you think?" he asks before gesturing to his head which he had slammed making the girl wince.

superboy walks past the fallen speedster, punching the door, but not even getting a dent in it. he begins trying to pry it apart, but can't do. aqualad takes half and he takes the other, but even their combined strength cannot get the doors open.

robin is typing at high speeds on his gauntlet, grumbling annoyed. "can't hack this fast enough." g-trolls growl and another two come around the corner.

madelaine begins to look around before seeing a red door to the right, her hands latching out for something before she finds another one and grabs it "that way" she yells to the others before beginning to run not even turning to look at who's hand she's holding.

the g-trolls can't make it through the door, but in the adjoining hallway is a drove of g-elves, another pair g-troll, and guardian waiting for them.  there were angry g-gnomes on every creature's shoulder. behind them, a third g-troll and a half dozen g-elves cut them off. madelaine found herself squeezing the hand tighter.

aqualad removes his water-bearers, forming dual swords as the other drop into fighting stances. one of the g-gnome's horns begin to glow, setting off a chain reaction as all the other g-gnomes do the same. linking everyone against the heroes telepathically. all five teens straighten out of their dropped stances before falling to the ground. only superboy falls to his knees.

superboy's eyes widen in realization "it was you." he says looking up making madelaine's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"yes, brother. i set the fire and lured your new friends into cadmus, woke them when they were in danger-" dubbilex lists. madelaine didn't know if she could trust the creature but everyone else seemed to. the person holding her hand pulling her closer making her turn to see it was kid flash.

"and guided me." superboy finishes. "why?"

"because you are our hope, the genomorph hero. you will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom." dubbilex tells superboy.

guardian begins to groan and grips his head, then the g-gnome jumps from his shoulder. "what's going on?" he questions, making madelaine turn to the man, his eyebrows furrowing seeing the girl again.

"what is your choice, brother?" dubbilex asks superboy as he stands tall.

"i... choose... freedom." superboy states with conviction aloud so everyone can hear him, a smile forming on the teenagers faces.

"feels... like fog... lifting." guardian manages before madelaine lets go off kid flash' hand and walks closer to the man.

"thought we'd lost you" she says before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug which he responded to after thinking for a second. he pulls away and looks down at the girl before the other four.

"go." he tells them with conviction. "i'll deal with desmond."

"i think not." desmond growls, all genomorphs behind guardian part ways to allow desmond to be visible. "project blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to cadmus." he says then downs one of the blue vials that he was working on in his lab.

guardian backs up, standing protectively in front of the five teenagers as desmond begins to transform. his veins begin to pop under his skin, but as he falls to his knees and his body rips through his lab coat and shirt. desmond's head lifts from his arm as growls, some of his skin tearing off as his sclera turns black and his irises go bright red. finally, he stands back up and growls all his old skin ripping off him and now replaced by thicker grey skin instead of his normal skin in most areas. superboy tenses as he roars, but doesn't attack, even as desmond turns towards the five heroes and growls, some his hair and old skin still attached to the left side of his head, breathing heavily.

guardian puts his hands out to the sides, but the palms turned towards the teens behind him. "everyone back!" before he runs at blockbuster, only to be swept aside like he's nothing and into a wall a good three or feet off the ground.

———

"oh my god" madelaine whispers out before superboy runs at the man and swings at it's face hitting the mutated scientist in the jaw. however, he's hardly affected and retaliates by punching downwards on superboy's shoulder. 

superboy plants his feet and turns a tight 180 to hit an uppercut on blockbuster's underjaw. blockbuster finds an opening and unleashes his own hard cross to superboy's face, knocking him back a good ten feet. superboy lands on his shoulder he keeps his momentum going and rolls back to his feet. standing up and charging, but this time jumping into the air with his hands over his head. blockbuster jumps at superboy, catching the teen's core and throwing both of them through the ceiling.

"okay." robin murmurs, amazement in his voice as he, aqualad, mystique and kid flash stand under the hole. "that's one way to bust through the ceiling." releasing his grappling hook through the same hole.

"you think labcoat planned that?" kid flash questions as he grabs onto madelaine's hand and the girl floats them back down to the bottom level

"i doubt he is planning anything anymore." aqualad replies darkly, before jumping through the hole himself and joining his team.

blockbuster attempts to confine superboy by holding his arms to his sides but the boy of steel is stronger that the mutant and breaks the hold. ready to strike at blockbuster, if he hadn't grabbed his shins and thrown the taller raven at the other four heroes. kid flash and robin are just barely missed, but aqualad and madelaine who are closest together gets slammed into hard.

kid flash uses his speed to keep a closer step on the three entangled older teens who then separate. the speedster positions himself between their heads as robin runs to join him.

blockbuster roars as robin helps superboy back to his feet and kid flash helps aqualad and then madelaine. its silent before blockbuster charges at the five. kid flash reacts first, then aqualad, then robin, then mystique then superboy.

kid flash uses his speed to run right at blockbuster, before sliding underneath him and dodging a crippling downward punch, he remains crouched and low to the ground gaining blockbuster's attention, before he turns back and finds superboy and aqualad both jumping at him with twin punches. the two hit him right in the face, and knock him back making him spin before madelaine shows up behind him, "over here you troll" she taunts before the creature starts to go for her as kid flash helps the process by straightening his legs slightly and causing blockbuster to trip over him.

"learn that one in kindergarten" kid flash laughs making madelaine smile before kid covers robin, the boy then jumping and throwing two disks at blockbuster.

 blockbuster swings his arm and deflects them as he staggers so he's facing away from the two teens. only to find superboy waiting for him. superboy stands ready, but blockbuster, being as large as he is, he catches superboy around the core with both his hands, before standing up and ramming the boy into the nearby pillar.

superboy doesn't seem to feel it, as blockbuster pulls away he unleashes a one-two combo on the large mutant. blockbuster pulled away so he could muster a devastating cross to superboy's head. hitting superboy right in the face, but also crushing him into the pillar behind him.

as blockbuster goes for a second, a water whip wraps around her upper arm. turning he finds aqualad on the end of it coming at him and hitting the villain in the face with his knee before planting his feet on the pillar above superboy's head as his water-bearer turns into a mace. unfortunately blockbuster catches with one hand and throws the stunned atlantean to the side while his other hand holds superboy. aqualad hits with a cry, the floor even cracking under the force, as blockbuster grips superboy tighter and then throws him to the second story segment of another pillar. superboy falls and hits the floor with a gasp, before a slab of the pillar he fell into falls on top of his left arm and shoulder.

madelaine flies over worried for her two friends, but knows they need to take the beast down before he escapes. the girl creating a negative force of energy between her hands before pushing it all out at once towards the creatures feet, one after one causing him to lose his balance but not before grabbing her leg and pulling her down, her body slamming into the floor.

kid flash speeds in, as aqualad manages to get out of the way of blockbuster attempting to step on his head as he falls. blockbuster opens his monstrous hand, causing kid flash to lose his balance and allowing blockbuster to catch the speedster's smaller wrist. aqualad stands, his tattoos glowing as his water-bearer turns to a mace once more, prepared to hit blockbuster's turned back. though blockbuster swings kid flash like an extension of his arm, throwing the two into each other letting their bodies spin through the air.

madelaine stayed on the ground groaning out in pain as she rips her arm out of the floor which was dented by her impact, her wrist aching way too much and a piece of bone sticking out of it. "ew" she grimaces as she pulls herself up and drags herself to robins side.

"that looks bad" robin says looking at her with a frown before back at the gauntlet, the girl rolling her eyes as he points out the obvious but cradles her wrist.

aqualad falls but slumps against the pillar just managing to look up before blockbuster hits him with an uppercut to the atlantean's stomach. the move destroying the pillar but blockbuster continues his move until he has aqualad pinned against another pillar and a hand around his throat.

the whole building shakes and the pillar cracks where the floors meets at one of the corners. blockbuster hits aqualad again making madelaine's safety mode kick in as she took flight and threw her body in blockbusters making him lose his grip on aqualad and drop him to the floor.

"of course." robin realizes, pulling up the floor plan of this room. "kf , get over here!" kid flash gets to his feet and follows the robins call as blockbuster grips madelaine's broken wrist, ready to punch the girl, but barely having time to after being stopped by aqualad's water-bearer.

superboy charges at blockbuster. hitting him in the gut just as his grip on madelaine breaks. seeing the affect it has, superboy hook punches the same spot before jumping and grabbing blockbuster's neck in a chokehold from behind pulling him away from madelaine. blockbuster throws madelaine to the side before aqualad catches her. blockbuster grabbing superboy and throwing him into a pillar causing it to break.

"got it?" robin asks kid flash as the damage is being shown in real time on his hologlove. the speedster nodding before he zips off towards superboy and blockbuster.

blockbuster throws superboy down and goes after kid flash. just missing the speedster with two downward strikes from over his head. giving superboy enough time to get his grip again and force himself to his feet.

"superboy, aqualad." robin calls pulling up the hologlove again as the atlantean runs towards him with an injured madelaine in his arms.

 "come and get me, you incredible bulk!" the speedster gets out of the way of the punch that destroys the pillar, but some of the debris hits him in the shoulder knocking him off his feet.

"this one and that one." robin point to the pillars he wants destroyed, the two stronger boys nod before kaldur places madelaine down and runs to it as robin pulls out three more disks.

superboy hits an already damaged pillar breaking it with ease, while behind him aqualad's tattoos glow as his water-bearer forms a mace as he destroys a second one.

kid flash drops under a cross by blockbuster and stays just to his right, another pillar now wakened. blockbuster attempts to hit the speedster again, only to miss.

robin passes some chalk to madelaine as they use it draw a white x on the floor and aqualad uses his water-bearers to create a puddle that kid flash skids through covering up to said x. superboy jumps and hits blockbuster on his way down with a cross that knocks him straight to the ground right on the x.

"move!" madelaine calls as aqualad releases his hold on the electricity. the three remaining pillars are robin's disks, which are now glowing red and green and beeping before they explode. the weight of the roof becomes too much and it breaks right over blockbuster's head dropping the rubble right on his shocked face.

all five teens run to make it out of the debris field, but can't make it far enough, superboy jumps over kid and madelaine and aqualad over robin before madelaine uses what little power she has left to create a shield around them. once the sound stops she drops her shield and the five crawl their way through the remaining rubble.

breathing heavily aqualad turns to robin, mystique and kid flash. "we... did it." 

"was there... ever any doubt?" robin questions, barely exchanging a look with kid flash before they high five, but are forced to drop it as they aggravate their injuries on their sides.

"never listening to you guys again!" madelaine tries screeching but is so out of breath she whispers it, clutching her wrist again before turning to ace the others. the younger boys laughing before running to hug the girl.

superboy steps fully out of the rubble they were covered in and looks to the still pinned blockbuster. "see?" kid flash speaks up, drawing superboy's attention away from the villain and using his thumb to gesture. "the moon."

superboy stands and takes it all in as madelaine pushes the younger boys off her and walks up to superboy placing a hand on his shoulder. but then a figure appears in its light, cloaking them in shadows. they all squint slightly, trying to see who it is. madelaine mentally screaming when she realises.

"oh. and superman." kid flash comments, surprised. "do we keep our promises, or what?" not the time she told herself.

martian manhunter, zatara, captain marvel, and red tornado fly behind the man of steel. followed by captain atom, hawkman, wonderwoman, hawkwoman, and the first green lantern. the second green lantern brings a platform for the leaguers who can't fly; black canary, aquaman, batman, and green arrow.

as batman steps up to superman, flash zooms in, standing to batman's left. superboy steps up first leaving madelaine's side, gaining scrutiny in superman's eyes, but not stopping as he lifts the torn front of his suit, revealing the same s that is mirrored on his own costume. superman's eyes widen in shock, while superboy's features soften. only for superman's gaze to turn hard and cold, bringing on an annoyed look of confusion on superboy's face.

madelaine frowning and feeling anger rise in her at the mans reaction. after everything they'd just done to save superboy. "is that what I think it is?" batman questions. kid flash scoffs walking up to madelaine.

"he doesn't like being called an it" the two say at the same time before glancing at eachother quickly and back to the adults.

"i'm superman's clone!" superboy speaks up. all of the adults looking onwards shocked.

batman's eyes zero in on his protégé's. "start talking."

———

superman sighs as he meets his cross-armed clone. "we'll, uh, we'll figure something out for you. the league will, i mean." he corrects himself quickly. "for now I better make sure they get the blockbuster creature squared away." then he flies away leaving superboy following him with shocked, hurt, and confused eyes.

"cadmus will be investigated," batman says drawing the teens' attention to him, flash, wonder woman and aquaman as they walk towards them. "all 52 levels but let's make one thing clear-"

"you should have called." flash pipes up, even catching batman's attention.

"if we could've, we would've" madelaine spoke in defiance and annoyance bringing attention to her, it was if the adults had just realised her injury. diana stares at the girl with a disappointed but concerned look which madelaine ignores.

"end results aside, we're not happy." the dark knight growls. "you hacked justice league systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. you will not be doing this again."

"i am sorry, but we will." aqualad states strongly, even robin steps up slightly.

"aqualad, stand down." aquaman attempts to command the older teen.

"apologies, my king," he tries to make reverence as he speaks, then his voice goes firm once more. "but no." this catches an eyebrow raise from the king of atlantis. "we did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. together on our own we forged something powerful, important."

"if this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you-" flash tries to understand where they're coming from, but is completely off.

kid flash doesn't hesitate to correct him. "the five of us, and it's not." making madelaine turn to him with a smile for sticking up for them and superboy as well.

"batman, we're ready to do what you taught us, or why teach us at all?" robin speaks the quietest out of the group, but as he steps up to speak to his mentor it's obvious that he feels just as strongly about it as they do.

"why let them tell us what to do?" superboy questions, his arms uncrossing as he too steps up. "it's simple. get on board or get out of the way." all four protogés were watching him, but they all turn back towards their mentors. standing tall, proud, and defiant.

———

green lantern and captain atom are flying large pieces of equipment around the mountain, but in the centre stands all five teens, now dressed in civilian clothes, batman, aquaman, flash, hawkman, black canary, wonder woman, red tornado, and captain marvel.

"this cave was the original secret sanctuary of the justice league." batman tells the five. "we're calling it into service again. since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight you'll do it on league terms." all five watch as batman walks slightly away from centre of the room. "red tornado volunteered to live here with superboy and mystique and be your supervisor."

"you're staying here?" robin asks turning to madelaine, the girl nodding with a small smile.

"me and diana talked it out and it'd be better if i stay with kon-el" kid flash frowning slightly at how close the two seemed to be already. his small crush on the girl clouding his feelings.

"black canary's in charge of training. i will deploy you on missions." batman continued cutting the kids off with a stern look.

a pair of sunglasses covers robin's eyes, there to protect his identity, speaks up. "real missions?" he checks.

"yes, but covert." batman confirms stepping back to be closer to the boys before him.

"the league will still handle the obvious stuff." flash speaks up from behind kid flash's right shoulder making madelaine smile at the older man. "there's a reason we have these big targets on our chest."

"but cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." aquaman continues, then turns his head towards batman to continue the flow of conversation.

"the six of you will be that team." batman states, madelaine becoming confused before a shit-eating grin took over her features knowing what he meant.

"cool! wait." robin does the very simple math and realizes the problem. "six?"

batman only looks over his protégé's shoulder and all five turn to see martian manhunter stepping out of the shadows with a green skinned, red haired teenaged girl. "this is the martian manhunter's niece. miss martian. she'-" the man is cut off by madelaine.

"m'gann!" she yells as she flings her arms around the martian girl who she'd shared her favourite memories with and loved with her whole heart.

"mads!" the martian says in reply hugging her friend tighter, aqualad, kid flash and robin all seeming to be confused walk closer, wally grinning like an idiot as superboy stayed behind.

m'gann separates from her friend who stays at her side and raises her left hand, giving them a small wave and smile, then a shy "hi."

kid flash looks down to robin as he puts one hand on his hip, robin in turn looks up at kid flash "loving this gig more every minute."  he whispers to the boy before stepping up "welcome aboard, i'm kid flash." using his thumb to point at himself. "that's robin," the smaller raven steps to the side and giving a rock 'n' roll sign. "aqualad." the atlantean gives a small nod, but says nothing more "it's cool if you forget their names."

"and apparently you already know mystique? or mads?" kid flash questions not actually knowing the girls real name. madelaine smiles as she looks at the ginger and then to wonder woman behind him who nods.

"madelaine prince. and me and m'gann have known eachother for a few years" she explains as her smile grows, robin knowing how she loved the fact that diana had given her the last name.

"i'm honoured to be included." miss martian says sincerely, clasping her hands in front of her to enunciate her point. the four all walk to talk to her with less of their mentor's listening in.

 superboy stays behind, something madelaine notices before quickly walking over to him "hey superboy come meet m'gann!" she smiles before clutching his hand waiting to see if he'd pull back and when he didn't dragging him forward. 

m'gann uses her shape-shifting ability to change her shirt color from white with a red x to black with the same red x, even going so far as to remove her cape. she looks down before speaking "i like your t-shirt." she admits as superboy gives her a small smile, which causes robin to nudge his elbow into his chest with a smirk on his features.

"yes" madelaine whispers under her breath as kid flash zooms to her side watching as she looks at the two closely and then looking down at her wrist which was in a cast. a bit of confusion rising in him considering how closely she acted to superboy before.

"aren't you jealous?" he asks making sure his voice is low and only she can hear, she looks at him pushing her black hair behind her ears and tilting her head in question "i thought you liked superboy?"

she laughs at this placing a hand on his shoulder "he's not really my type" and with that she walked closer to m'gann leaving the ginger boy smirking like an idiot.

"good to know" he says to himself before joining the others, the girls words giving him some hope.

"today is the day." the king of atlantis says proudly as he stares at the six teenagers.