The scene shows a G-gnome on a desk as Desmond paces in front of several large TV monitors. Finally, they all turn on, showing silhouettes of seven individuals known as the light.
After demanding to know why he had called them, he explained that he had captured the four sidekicks of some of the major heroes. He was then told to clone them but to brainwash Crimson Lantern, as his ring wouldn't work for the clone. He then asked what to do about the other three. Once the cloning was done, he was told to dispose of them. After that, the monitors shut off, leaving Desmond smiling creepily as the camera fades away.
"Time runs short. Wake up. AWAKEN NOW!"
Three of the four teens jolt awake, looking confused about their surroundings; Kid Flash notices that Superboy is staring at them.
"Quite staring; it's creepy."
He remarked, only to be silenced by Robin, who warned him.
"How about you don't piss off the guy who can probably fry us with a glare."
Then they noticed Crimson was still out cold but with red plasma dripping from his mouth; the other three knew what was happening. His anger was rising.
With his consciousness fading in and out, he could vaguely hear Aqualad speak to what he assumed was Superboy, a few words from Kid and Robin, but he did hear Superboy say something without faltering or feeling that he was lying. It made his plasma boil hotter.
"What... What if I wasn't?"
But when he heard the voice of Desmond, his eyes snapped open, revealing they were glowing blood red. Suddenly, he vomited out more red plasma, which melted through his tube, freeing him. he then sent a construct of a clawed red fist at him and then another one to the G-gnome on Superboy's shoulder, sending the villain out of the room and killing the G-gnome. A look shared between the clone and the lantern was all that needed to be said, as after a quick nod, they freed Kid and Aqualad while Robin freed himself; they destroyed the DNA collected from them and ran for an exit.
Superboy heard a voice leading him closer to the exit as they ran. Directing the group, he leads them to a dead end with a vent, which, after a moment, they enter and begin to crawl to the elevator shaft where Crimson carried them up on a constructed platform after Superboy tried to fly but failed.
"Superman can fly. Why can't I?"
"You are not Superman; you are Superboy, which is good enough. As you are you and not him."
Crimson replied, getting a slight smile on the clone's face.
The group continued to make their way out, with Robin hacking the motion sensors to buy them more time. By the time they made it to sub-level 1, an alarm began to blare, causing doors to shut themselves, which Kid ran into as he couldn't stop in time. The three heroes with enchanted couldn't pry it open, and Robin couldn't hack it in time as a pair of G-Trolls rounded the corner. The group decides to flee to get out quicker and easier. But unfortunately, they were cut off by a horde of G-Trolls, G-Elves and Guardian, all of whom have G-Gnomes on their shoulders. Crimson began to form a construct when someone set off a chain reaction with the G-gnomes, while Robin, Kid and Aqualad all fell to the ground, Superboy only fell to his knees while Crimson began to clutch his head as more plasma began to fall from his mouth.
"Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his mind," Dubbilex says to all the Genomorphs telepathically.
Superboy's eyes widen in realization. "It was you."
"Yes, brother. I set the fire and lured your new friends into Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger-" Dubbilex lists.
"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 groans and grips his head; then, the G-gnome jumps from his shoulder. "What's going on?" he questions, stirring Aqualad back into consciousness.
"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.
"Feels... like fog... lifting." Guardian manages as the other three teen boys get back to their own two feet as well.
"Guardian?" Aqualad asks since right now, his head is more precise than Robin and Kid Flash's.
"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 he was working on in his lab.
Guardian backs up, standing protectively in front of the four teenagers as Desmond begins to transform. At first, it's just his veins popping under his skin, but as he falls to his knees and his body rips through his lab coat and shirt, Kid Flash and Robin's eyes pop in shock. Desmond's head lifts from his arm as he growls, some of his skin tearing off as his sclera turns black and his irises go bright red; Aqualad grimaces in hesitation. 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 the once-Desmond turns towards the six heroes and growls, some of 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 turn 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 feet off the ground.
Unfortunately for Desmond, now Blockbuster, Crimson succumbs to his rage after seeing Blockbuster transform and hitting Guardian away. Now entirely fueled by anger, he entered a mode dubbed by the Justice League as "Crimson Rampage," his eyes now glowing a scarlet red; he lunged at Blockbuster and threw him upwards with a swift high kick to the chin. While Superboy had no idea what was happening, the others did. Grabbing Superboy, they ran off toward their rampaging teammate as fast as anyone without speed-force could go.
When they reached the main floor, they found Crimson beating down on Blockbuster, not even giving the monster a chance to breathe. After sending the beast through multiple pillars and seeing no other reason to fight the human-turned-monster, he turned his attention to the four heroes, leaped at Superboy, and punched the clone out of the door, before flying after him. Kid and Aqualad ran out to try to stall Crimson out and assist Superboy while Robin sent Batman a message stating they had a Code Crimson situation at Cadmus.
Running out, Robin saw that Crimson had Superboy in a crater and currently had Kid Flash under his foot while holding Aqualad by his throat; acting quickly, Robin threw multiple birdarangs to get the angered sidekick to change targets. It worked as Crimson dropped Auqalad and lunged at Robin; luckily for the Boy Wonder, Green Lantern (Hal) had arrived and protected the boy with a wall construct, and Green Lantern 2 (John) quickly sent a giant hand construct to restain the rampaging boy. The Lasso of Truth then wrapped around the boy's ankles, and following it, it revealed Wonder Woman had arrived third. Finally, the others had arrived, but not before Crimson broke free from John and freed himself from the lasso.
It wasn't until Martian Manhunter swooped in and connected his mind with Andrew's that the boy finally calmed down and fell to his knees, exhausted, feeling sorrow for losing himself.
Hal, who acted as the Boy's Guardian, gently scooped the boy up and flew off to a safer and calmer location. At the same time, the other heroes turned to the bruised sidekicks and began to ask questions.
*Time skip brought to you by Superboy and Crimson arm wrestling*
Mount Justice; July 8th, 8:04 EDT
Green Lantern and Captain Atom are flying large pieces of equipment around the Mountain, but in the center stands all five teens, now dressed in civilian clothes: Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Hawkman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and Captain Marvel.
"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League." Batman tells the Five boys. "We're calling it into service again. Since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms." All four watch as Batman walks slightly away from the center of the room. "Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."
A pair of sunglasses covers Robin's eyes, clearly there to protect his identity, and he 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. "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.
"Cool! Wait." Robin does the elementary math and realizes the problem. "Six?"
Batman only looks over his protége's shoulder, and all five teens turn to see Martian Manhunter stepping out of the shadows with a green-skinned, red-haired teenage girl. "This is the Martian Manhunter's niece. Miss Martian."
She raises her left hand, giving them a small wave and smile, then a shy "Hi."
Kid Flash looks down at Robin as he puts one hand on his hip; Robin, in turn, looks up at Kid Flash. "Liking this gig more every minute." he steps up, minorly blocking her view of Robin and Superboy. "Uh, welcome aboard, I'm Kid Flash." He used his thumb to point at himself. "That's Robin," the smaller raven steps to the side and gives a Rock 'n' Roll sign. "Aqualad." the Atlantean nods but says nothing more. "It's cool if you forget their names."
"I'm honoured to be included." Miss Martian says sincerely, clasping her hands before her to enunciate her point.
Aqualad, Robin, and Kid Flash walk to talk to her, with fewer of their mentors listening in. However, Superboy stays behind, something Robin notices is paired with a downcast expression. "Hey, Superboy! Crimson! Come meet Miss M!" he calls out.
The duo walks over to the rest of the team; Miss Martian uses her shape-shifting ability to change her shirt colour from white with a red X to black with the identical red X, even going so far as to remove her cape. She looks down before speaking. "I like your outfit." she admits to Crimson, who gives her a small smile, which causes Robin to nudge his elbow into his chest with a smirk on his features. At the same time, Kid Flash zips to his other side with a bright smile.
Robin inclines his head slightly to Aqualad.
"Today is the day." the Atlantean says proudly. They all know it's true.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Accessing File: Crimson Lantern"
Crimson Rampage: When Crimson Lantern pushes himself to the brink, unable to restrain his fury any longer, he unleashes torrents of scalding Red Plasma, his eyes ablaze in a menacing scarlet hue. In this state, his wrath is unfiltered and indiscriminate. Villains are his immediate targets, but even fellow Leaguers are not safe from his assault, as he perceives anyone as a potential threat. Surprisingly, he shows an unusual restraint by entirely ignoring civilians, steering clear of causing them harm. Further investigation is warranted to understand this peculiar behaviour.