"Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken now!"
Cyra gasped as her eyes shot open from getting jolted awake. She soon forgot all about the voice as she saw that she was behind glass. As she tried to move her arms, she found they were tied down as she fought against her restraints. The other three were coming into consciousness and their eyes all settled on the Superman clone, who was standing in front of them, watching them.
Kid Flash was particular creeped out when Superboy's eyes fell on him and stayed there. This caused the annoyed speedster to lash out almost immediately, "What? What do you want?"
His question was met with the same stare, that could resemble a glare. He soon turned to stare at Cyra, who meet his eyes through her green mask. Amber eyes caught with blue as the Lantern shifted uncomfortably, having never liked to be directly stared at like she was at that moment.
"Uh, can you stop staring. It's uncomfortable," Cyra asked, her eyebrows coming together in a look of awkwardness and confusion.
"Uh, how about we don't tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?" Robin asked, worry present in his tone as he mostly addressed Kid Mouth.
Aqualad is the one who addressed the clone politely, trying to settle this with words, "We only sought to help you—" Kaldur was cut off almost right as he started to speak by a certain angry speedster.
"Yeah! We free you and then you turn on us? How is that for grat—"
Kaldur silences Kid with a stare as he snaps, "Kid! Now is not the time. I believe our new friend was not in control of his actions."
The Atlantean nodded his head towards Superboy and Cyra had to do a doubletake when Superboy actually replied, "What-what if I wasn't?"
"He can talk?" KF asks stupidly, making Cyra send a glare at him and he just looked at her with a 'what did I do' face. Cyra could see out of the corner of her eyes that Superboy was clenching his fists.
"What? It's not like I said it."
"Well, you're acting like he's stupid. He's a clone, not a dog."
"Well I am sorry for asking a simple question," Kid Flash scoffed.
Cyra let out a huff as she retorted, "More like a stupid question."
Kid Idiot opened his mouth, surely to shot a comment back, but was cut off by Superboy, "Yes, he can."
"The genomorphs taught you telepathically?" Aqualad inquired, pulling the pieces together in his head.
"They taught me much. I can read, write, and I know the names of things," Was Superboy's robotic response. Cyra thought of him as confused, just running on the basic facts that were inserted in him. He didn't actually understand what the things are.
Cyra brought her thoughts to him. "But have you ever actually experienced them? Got let out of your pod and gotten to see these things you know about?"
"Like the sky? Or the sun?" Robin expanded on.
"Images are planted into my mind," Superboy says, before saying quieter, almost sadly, "but no. I have seen them."
"Do you know who, what you are?" Aqualad said, seeming to have an end goal in his questions, unlike Cyra who was just talking about whatever came to mind.
Superboy stood up straighter, "I am the Superboy. A genomorph, a clone made from the DNA of Superman. Created to replace him should he perish or turn from the Light."
"Well that's nice and all, but what if Superman doesn't need replacing?" Cyra asked, leaning forward some as she twisted her wrist uncomfortably in her bonds.
Superboy looked conflicted about her question, not knowing how to answer it. Aqualad saved him with a slice of motivational wisdom of his own, "To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration, but like Superman, you deserve a life of your own. Beyond your solar suit. Beyond you pod. And beyond Cadmus."
I never knew Atlanteans were so wise and poetic.
This seemed to strike a nerve in Superboy as he shouted, "I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!" But his voice seemed to shake a little like he was trying to fight a useless battle.
"Cadmus, your home. The place that kept you in a pod your whole life and probably never planned to let you out," Cyra snapped at him and Superboy turned a glare on her. She was surprised she didn't get laser-eyed right then and there.
Robin shot the protégée a glare of his own before addressing Superboy in a gentle tone. "Your home is a test tube. We can show you the sun."
"I'm pretty sure it's after midnight, but we can show you the moon," Kid Flash put in his not-so-helpful opinion.
"Which is just as good as the sun," Cyra assured, poking fun at KF.
"We can show you—" Aqualad rephrased, "—introduce you to Superman."
Superboy seemed to actually be considering the offer and Cyra had to hold in her joy. But that joy was quickly burned to the ground as another scientist with brown hair, a lab coat, and glasses entered through the door, followed by Guardian, the lady Kid Stupid knocked over earlier, and some genomorph gnomes.
"No, they can't. They'll be otherwise occupied," He said with an evil intention in his voice as he turned to the scientist lady with a smirk. "Activate the cloning process." The female scientist responded back with a nod as she started prepping.
"Pass. Bat Cave is crowded enough," Robin said with a shrug.
Robin was ignored by the scientist, soon to be remembered as Dr. Desmond. Desmond yelled to, basically, anyone who was listening, "And get the weapon back in its pod!"
"Why does he get to call Supey an it?"
"Shut up, Kid Idiot."
Aqualad, the ever-serious one, said to Superboy, "Help us." A final plea.
Desmond scoffed at Superboy as he saw the hesitant look crossover his face. "Don't start thinking now."
A genomorph hopped onto the sixteen weeks old's shoulder and Superboy suddenly got a blank look on his face. "See? You're not a real boy! You're a weapon and you belong to me!"
Desmond paused for a moment, backtracking. "Well Cadmus, but same thing! Now back to your pod!"
With robotic movements, Superboy walked out, the steel door sliding shut behind him. Cyra could only vaguely hear Aqualad's small murmuring under his breath. She assumed he was praying, which is something she should have seriously considered because hope was coming in extremely small portions at the moment.
Then, needles emerge from the pods and poke into our sides, taking out blood roughly as static shocks flow through the sidekick's systems. The Green Lantern yelled out curse words as she struggled against her bonds. Her veins felt like they were on fire and moving in her arms back and forth, like a snake. Hal's protégée could feel the needles in her skin as she shook about, making them nick at her sides painfully.
Willpower.
The word flew through her head as she looked down on her ring and started to focus. But with her drained battery and pain, she wasn't getting very far. She needed to recharge. Her ring was still its regular emerald green color, softly illuminating off her finger.
You idiot. Your ring isn't the one who needs charging.
Cyra's eyes widened with the sudden realization as her eyes started to glow a fluorescent green. Her fists balled into fists as green started to surround her hands. Cyra was imagining greatly at the moment, the halo of green boxer-like gloves that surrounded her hands. The power it held behind her as she realized how the electricity was waking her up. It was complex, but she focused on the pain. It woke her up. Gave her the clarity.
You power your ring.
"Where's Dubbilex? Oh, lurking as usual. Get the G-gnomes downloading their memories. Then delete the source material." Cyra would faintly hear Desmond, but blocked it out from concentration.
The scientists watched in awe and Desmond yelled orders that no one really listened to. They were too late to stop the glass from shattering off the pod and the teenage girl from breaking through her bonds as she flew out of the pod.
Cyra could hear but didn't process, the sounds of relief that the sidekicks voiced. The cloning process stopped, which included the needles and shocking halting.
Almost like the domino effect, Superboy ripped the door open and knocked out the genomorphs, Guardian, the scientist lady, and a few pesky guards that wanted to try and get a nice raise.
"I told you to get—"
Superboy cut off Desmond. "Don't give me orders."
While Desmond was distracted, Cyra flew at him and hit him right into a wall, making him let out a gasp as he fell to the floor, lying on his back as he groaned in pain.
Both Cyra and Superboy stared at each other for a moment before looking back at the sidekicks. Kid Flash was the one to break the short-lived silence.
"So, you here to help us or fry us?"
Cyra rolled her eye as Superboy gave Kid Flash an intense glare. He stopped after a few seconds and Cyra could see a ghost of a smile on his mouth. "Seems like I don't have heat vision. Looks like helping is my only choice."
Cyra couldn't help but let out a laugh as she grinned at the newly acquainted team member. "It's a good thing Cadmus programmed you with a sense of humor. You would give Kid Mouth a lesson on jokes."
"Hey!" Kid Flash yelled at her, obviously not being able to come up with anything to say in return.
The next domino fell. That domino being Robin, who managed to get out of his cuffs and Cyra caught the quick glance of a small lock-pick receding back into the Boy Wonder's glove. "Finally! Luckily Batman isn't here. He would have killed me for taking so long."
Kid Flash spoke with outrage in his voice, "Seriously? That's what you're worried about? The whole League will have our heads after this!"
Everyone's heads turned to Cyra, who let out a groan before grinning sheepishly at them. "Do we really need to tell the League about this?"
The several pairs of narrowed eyes and glares she got in return of her question was answer enough. Cyra let out another groan as she ran a hand through her hair.
I'm so dead. Hal will drown me in chores.
"GL, you get Kid Mouth. Superboy, get Aqualad," Robin orders, his high voice sounding funny giving such strict orders and Cyra had to fight against her growing smile.
"Aw, you don't have to smile at me like that, babe. I'm all yours," Kid Flash was too quick not to catch her small smile.
A smirk grew on Cyra's face. "Mine to fatally wound?"
"However you want to do it."
Cyra's smirk dropped as she replaced it with a disgusted look. Kid Flash started laughing loudly, earning a glare from our favorite intergalactic hero.
"What's taking so long?" Robin asked, Superboy already had Kaldur down and they were all standing at the door ready to go.
"Can we leave him here? Tell the League he got obliterated or something?"
Kid Flash glared at her, but Robin put on a sly smirk as he played along. "If you wanna."
"Guys!" Kid Flash whined, still cuffed in his pod.
Cyra was grinning, but her grin flattered as Kaldur caught her eye, giving her a disapproving look. "Green Lantern."
"Hm?" Cyra hummed out, playing the innocent card.
"Get Kid down."
Cyra let out an overdramatic groan as she walked to the pod and uncuffed the ginger speedster. But not before whispering in his ear, "You're lucky Aqualad's nice. I would have left you here."
Kid Flash curled his lip as his eyes narrowed some. "You love me."
"Who fed you those lies?"
"Kid Flash! Green Lantern! Let's go!" Came Aqualad's annoyed voice, cutting through the conversation.
Sheepishly, the two heroes turned back to the others and they started walking to the door, looking all cool in their suits and making an awesome exit. But, Desmond had to ruin the mood by opening his big mouth.
"You'll never get out of here! I'll have you back in pods before morning!"
Cyra huffed, crossing her arms and walking over to Desmond with her chin in the air. She looked down at the weak scientist. "Good luck with that."
That was what the Green Lantern said right before she sent her foot flying at his face. One hit was enough to make him lose consciousness. She turned back to the team, who were all giving her the 'that was boss and we will not mess with you' look that she loved to receive.
As they turned and headed out, Robin muttered, "That guy is not whelmed. Not whelmed at all."
"What's with you and this whelmed thing?"
Robin throws his batarangs at the containers that were filled with their blood, making them explode.
"Dang. The only other time that much blood came out of me is—" Cyra was cut off, making the other boys feel relieved they didn't have to hear the end of that sentence.
"We are still 42 levels below ground. If we can make it to the elevator . . ." Aqualad's sentence remains unfinished as the big beasts from earlier move in front of them. The team slides to a stop in front of them.
Cyra sees the lumps on the wall start to pulse before they break open, releasing more of the genomorphs. The whole team leaps into action, Superboy running straight into battle like a bull with his horns ready. He made a quick job of punching and throwing anything that could be punched or thrown.
Cyra powered up and flew, trying to get a vantage point. Which was hard with all the dust from the ceiling falling with Superboy hitting the walls like crazy.
"Superboy!" Aqualad, gaining his attention. "The goal is to escape, not bury ourselves here!"
"You want escape?" Superboy yells, anger lacing in his every word. He throws one of the larger beasts at the others, trying to clear a path but it is almost immediately filled with other genomorphs that seem to be appearing much quicker than they could fight them.
"Green Lantern! Get us out of this mess!" Came the authoritative order of Aqualad through all the noises of fighting.
The protégée nodded, her mind racing for the best way to do this. She settled on making a large, green transparent wall that expanded as she pushed it forward. This made the genomorphs bounce off uselessly. This was one of the moves Cyra basically mastered, making it easy for her to fly forward and push all the genomorphs out of the way as the team ran behind her to the elevator.
Aqualad forces the doors open and Robin gets out his grappling hook and leaps into the elevator, climbing up. Kid Flash follows behind Robin as I fly up. Superboy grabs Aqualad, jumping up. But he soon started to fall, confusing shaping his face. Cyra was lucky enough to be close to them and quickly grabbed Superboy's hand. Unfortunately for Cyra, she was stuck lifting two of the heaviest and well-built boys she knew.
She soon had to make a platform, using her complete focus on it by standing on it with them. That way she didn't have to think about flying.
"Superman can fly. Why can't I fly?" Superboy asked, staring at his hands in confusion.
"Don't know. But it looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool," Kid Flash reassures as Cyra threw Supey a half smile, which he returned with one of his own.
"Guys, this will have to be our exit!" Robin yells to the rest of the group as an elevator ascends upon them.
Superboy managed to rip open the elevator to let us end, giving me relief from the platform. He then pried the doors open when he got to the closest floor and we all took off running down a hallway.
"Go left!" Superboy suddenly yells.
The team didn't really have any other options, so they followed the Boy of Steel's directions.
"Left!"
They turned left.
"Right!"
The next turn brought them to a dead end. A plain wall was the only thing in front of them with a small vent on the top.
"Great directions, Supey! Are you trying to get is re-podded?" Kid Flash yelled at Superboy.
Cyra punched him in the shoulder. "Don't be a jerk."
Kid Flash rubbed his arm, muttering words Cyra couldn't catch under his breath.
"No, I don't understand . . ." Superboy said quietly, seeming to be in deep thought.
"Don't apologize. This is perfect!" Robin threw his arms out with an obvious cheer in his voice.
Cyra soon found herself in an extremely small vent behind Kaldur and in front of Kid Flash as they followed some holographic map Robin pulled up.
"Is this a bad time to mention I have mild claustrophobia and right now I can barely breathe?"
"Yes," Was the only response the green-clad hero got from Batman's protégé.
"Might I just say, I'm loving the view," Kid Mouth said, Cyra could detect the flirty nature of the words.
Cyra believed that actions spoke louder than words. So it was no surprise when Cyra stopped and threw a kick back at the emerald-eyed flirt behind her. It was times like that where Cyra cursed superspeed when KF caught her foot before she could kick him.
"Hey!"
"When we get out of here, you will feel that kick."
"What's the holdup?" Superboy asked from behind Kid Flash.
"They're flirting!" Robin yelled from ahead with a giggle following his words.
But Cyra almost always had a comeback. "If you think violence if a way of flirting, I would flirt with you anytime, Rob."
The vent erupted I laughed in buckles from everyone except Robin as they managed to find a bigger part of the events and Robin sat down and started doing the tipping-tap on his high-tech glove.
A few moments later, Robin turned to us smirking. "I hacked the motion sensors."
KF congratulated the Boy Wonder as Cyra just gave him a thumbs-up, trying not to let her breakfast get out of her stomach.
"But there is still plenty of them between us and out."
"As long as we get out."
The team managed to get out of the small vents, making Cyra fall dramatically to the floor and pretend to kiss it. "You're overreacting. It wasn't that bad," Robin rolled his eyes.
"You're, what, 4'11? Of course, you wouldn't find it as small," the quick-witted Green Lantern protégée shot back. Robin scowled at her before Kid Flash pulled his red goggles down on his face.
He stretched his arms as he said in a relieved tone, "Finally! Room to move."
The speedster took off up flights and flights of stairs as genomorphs were knocked out of the way. The emerald-eyed teen was quickly followed by the rest of the team with Cyra flying through the air.
"There's more behind us!" Rob yelled, causing Superboy to turn and stomp his foot on the staircase they just exited from. That cut off the other genomorphs chance from following them.
Red lights suddenly start flashing all around them as a steel, metal door slides over Kid Flash's original escape attempt. Cyra heard Kid's cry, "Crud!" As she turned and made a bubble around the door, so when he hit it, he went into it before popping back out and hitting the ground. He still hit the ground hard, but not as hard as he would have it the door.
"Ow! You couldn't do any better than that?"
"It was either you hit that sold door at full speed or hit that bubble. A thank you would suffice," Cyra scoffed, annoyed that the teenager in front of her was so stubborn.
"We're cut off from the street," Aqualad said, looking back to see genomorphs trying to make there way back up the stairs.
"My head didn't notice," Kid Flash whined, standing up.
Kid Flash was ignored as Robin tried unsuccessfully to hack into the door as Aqualad and Superboy tried to pry the doors open. Cyra might have been feeling good, but she knew she couldn't blast through that thick of a mental wall.
"I can't hack this fast enough!" Rob yelled. Genomorphs were coming in hot from behind them.
Cyra was making busy making a wall between them and the genomorphs, so if one was to get near, they would bounce off.
"This way!" A door was kicked in by Superboy as everyone ran into it. Cyra was the last one, flying quickly in and they shut the door behind them.
It ended up being a bad call. The team was surrounded by genomorphs, but before they could move to attack, Cyra got a heavy dizzy-spell. Her head throbbed, as she dropped to her knees. The world started to get black spots as she fell to her side, unconscious.
Cyra came to, the whole world seemed to be tilted until it managed to correct itself. Cyra could still feel the aftereffects of the telepathy. There was a dull pain in the back of her skull as she saw Superboy sitting on his knees, looking up at a larger and more human version of a genomorph gnome. The Green Lantern protégée recognized him as the man they saw in bizarre hallway number one.
"I . . . choose . . . freedom," Superboy struggled out as Cyra sat up.
She felt an arm on her shoulder and looked up to see Kid Flash standing there as he helped her up. The pair stayed silent, Cyra only nodded thanks to KF. They felt this wasn't something they should interfere on.
Cyra caught sight of Guardian, bringing his head out of his hand, "It feels . . . like a fog lifting."
"Guardian?" Aqualad asks, the whole team holding their breath to see if Guardian was back to normal. His un-mind controlled state.
The man's back straightened as he got an authoritative note in his tone. "Go. I'll deal with Desmond."
"Fine by me. Let's get out of this place," Cyra agreed, quickly turning around and was about to walk out when she says Desmond, brown hair everywhere and glasses hung crookedly on his face.
"I think not," The doctor held up a vile of some blue liquid. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus."
And before anyone could stop him, Desmond gulped down the blue liquid in a few gulps. He turned to the team with a vicious smile before he screamed out in pain. His bones cracked as his muscles started to bulge and grown, ripping his lab coat apart. His skin looked frail and decayed as he grew higher, extremely tall and big.
"Everyone back!" Guardian orders, but it didn't take long for Desmond to knock him into a wall, knocking him out instantly.
Superboy was the first to react, jumping at Desmond. Superboy punched him, but Desmond, in his new form being stronger, took hold of him and threw him through the ceiling. The monster's own body close behind the Superman's clone.
"Okay, that's one way to bust through the ceiling," Rob said, attempting a joke.
Cyra ignored him, flying up into the hole in the ceiling after Superboy. Cyra had trouble focusing. The intense throbbing that once filled her head was now nothing but a dull ache, but that made her lose her focus.
Cyra focused hard, thinking on how important this was.
This is what being a hero is like. You're a hero now, so you better suck it up and get your head in the game, Lantern.
Cyra's eyes narrowed in concentration as she saw Desmond giving Superboy a run for his money. Cyra took little time flying at the once-was-scientist and putting a shield in front of her. The protégée's plan was to ram him with full speed, but right when Cyra was about to hit him, he punched at her. Cyra was hit hard and she rebounded off.
Cyra went sailing into Aqualad, who attempted to catch her but was taking to the floor with her. Aqualad is helped up by Robin and Kid Flash helps me up, standing rather close.
He winks at the Lantern and Cyra just raises an eyebrow.
"Not the time, Kid Idiot."
The Blockbuster monster started charging at them. The whole team went into high gear, which included Kid Flash sliding around the monster as Superboy and Aqualad both punch the monster, which made him stumble backward and over Kid Flash.
"Learned that one in kindergarten!" KF said with a childish grin as he directed his statement mostly to Cyra as he tried to use that as a flirting tactic. A sad way to impress a girl, if Cyra was being honest.
Cyra takes the distraction as Blockbuster turns to Kid Flash to image a huge fist and throws it into the monster's back. Kid Flash saw it coming and was smart enough to get out of the way as Desmond flew into a pillar and the foundation of the building shook with the impact.
"Of course!" Cyra heard the Boy Wonder yell as he called over Kid Flash.
Cyra and the two boys, one an Atlantean and the other a Kryptonian, kept fighting Blockbuster. Cyra was about to send another fist when she was suddenly swept up as the whole world blurred around her for a second before she found herself in front of Robin.
The Lantern held her stomach, closing her eyes tightly as she tried not to puke from sudden nausea that flowed through her. "Sorry," Kid Flash said sheepishly. "It always happens to first-timers."
"Never do that again," Cyra said when she felt she was safe from not expelling the contents of her stomach.
Kid Flash grins cheekily at her and she rolled her eyes as she turned to look at Robin for an explanation. Robin told her the plan he had in mind. In simpler terms: distract Monster Desmond, so then Robin could give Superboy and Aqualad the rest of the plan, which involves destroying the rest of the pillars.
Cyra flew away before Kid Flash could think of the idea to grab her and he sped up to Blockbuster, taking his flaky nose right off of his face.
"Got your nose!" Kid Flash smirked as he laughed and ran off. Cyra, when he was distracted, managed to materialized two green boxing gloves and punched with her own fists. The gloves copied her movements as the gloves beat into Desmond with raining punches. She spun the gloves around his head, making him turn his body around and around to make sure his eyes could follow the gloves.
The plan executed when Robin finishes drawing an X on the ground with what looks like chalk from his utility belt and Aqualad had water spread out over the target, Cyra summoned the gloves over to the X, Desmond chasing them until he found himself on the X. The gloves disappeared as Aqualad shocked the water.
Desmond roared in pain as Cyra heard a faint beeping noise.
"Move!" Robin yelled.
Cyra instantly went over to the team and managed to imagine a big enough shield that covered all the sidekicks as the bomb went off and the building fell around them. Cyra grunted as the weight of the rocks fell onto them. She had to minimize the shield and the sidekicks were huddles tightly together.
When the debris settled, Cyra let out gasping breaths she didn't know she was holding in as she let the shield drop. The sidekicks stood there for a moment, silent.
"We . . . did it," Aqualad said, disbelief could be heard in his voice.
Robin laughed as he spoke, "Was there ever any doubt?" Robin and Kid Flash high five, only to wince in pain from fighting Blockbuster.
"Oh yeah. Tons. We're the luckiest idiots in the whole galaxy!" A smile broke out across of Cyra's face despite her words.
Superboy could be found staring up at the moon and the stars as Kid smiled at him before pointing at the round cheese glowing in the night sky, "See, the moon."
Cyra squints her eyes as she sees a shape growing closer. She can make out a strong build and flapping cape as Superman descends upon the five.
"Oh. And Superman! Do we keep our promises or what?" Kid Flash grins as the whole League, including Cyra's mentor, Hal emerging from the sky around them.
"Do you think we can get away in time before we get in serious trouble?" Cyra whispered, but the older Green Lantern walking towards her heard.
"Don't even try. We have this area surrounded," Hal said to his protégée.
Cyra dropped her head as the whole League surrounded around them, watching there move as they assessed the damage. Which was the whole building destroyed around them and the currently knocked out Desmond.
Superboy walked up to Superman silently as he took a piece of his torn shirt and held up the red S symbol. Superboy looked happy for a second until Superman's face went from wide eyes to narrowed as Superboy then frowns. To Cyra, it was like watching a silent movie.
"Is that what I think it is?" Batman's gruff voice says from behind Superman.
"He doesn't like being called an it," Kid Flash says, but it ultimately ignored.
Superboy has a sudden anger appear as he yelled, "I am Superman's clone!"
The Justice League all share looks that range from wonder to disbelief, to pure shock, to anger. Batman turned back to the small group, saying what the whole League wanted to be said. "Start talking."
A while later and a lot of explaining and story-telling later left the sidekicks all standing around each other, not knowing exactly what to do. Superboy was staring at Superman and when the Man of Steel looked back, the sixteen weeks old turned away quickly. Kid Flash placed a hand on Superboy's shoulder as Cyra threw him a half smile. Superboy tried to return one, but it came off as forced.
Hal walked behind Superman as some other Leaguers took away Desmond. Superman came to stand in front of his clone as he stuttered, "Well, uh . . . We'll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean. For now, uh, I better get that Blockbuster creature squared away."
Superman then flew off, leaving Superboy sad and angry as he turned his back on the rest of the group with his arms crossed.
Batman then approached the group as he assured them in his deep voice, "Cadmus will be investigated, all fifty-two levels. But let's make one thing clear—"
Batman was cut off by the Flash, who spoke with outrage. "You should have called."
Hal stepped up to, leveling a stern look at his protégée. "Or stayed and did as you were told."
Batman looked annoyed to be interrupted, but continued on, "End results aside, we aren't happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again."
The end of Batman's statement held a lot of authority, the kind you wouldn't argue with as he sent a hard glare their way. Cyra frowned at that, here eyebrows coming down as she looked at Hal with the 'are-you-serious' face.
"I am sorry, but we will," Aqualad said, shocking the Leaguers that surrounded them.
Cyra and Hal were having a silent conversation that went from smirks to frowns to glares. Hal was mad that she went off without him, trying to fight on her own. Cyra was mad at him for leaving her to go on a League mission. Also, agitated that he didn't fight with her against the league.
"Aqualad, stand down," Kaldor's mentor spoke, putting a hand in front of him like it would stop the young Atlantean.
"Apologizes, My King," Kaldur spoke politely and respectfully, despite going directly against his mentor's word. "But no."
"We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful. Important."
"A team," Cyra said, the eyes of the League turning on her as she stared back without flinching.
The Flash scratched the back of his head as he said, "If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you—"
The speedster was cut off by his protégé, "The five of us and it's not."
"Well not all of it," Cyra put in her not-so-helpful opinion.
Robin speaks up in an almost pleading tone, "Batman, please! We're ready to do what you taught us to."
Batman's eyes flashed around, locking a stare with everyone on their own little team before Superboy turns to us, annoyed. If it was from who he was based on flying away or them being treated like kids, the others didn't know. But Superboy did look mad.
"Why let them tell us what to do? It's simple," The boy turned back to the League with his arms crossed. "Get on board—"
"Or get out of the way," Cyra finished.
All of them turned to face the League, faces etched in determination. Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, a Green Lantern, and Superboy. Five kids that stood against the League, ready to do what they were trained to do. To fight and bad guys, on there own. Without their mentors. Without the League, if they had to.
Mount Justice
July 8, 08:04 EDT
Cyra stood in civvies, just like the others were wearing. She was in black jeans and a green sweatshirt. Her lucky green converse was on her feet as she wore a green hat and green aviators on her head. Her blonde hair was let free as she examined her teammates around her with her amber eyes secured behind her aviators.
Kid Flash didn't have a mask on, showing the rest of his face, which consisted of the green eyes being surrounded by orange eyebrows and loads of freckles. Superboy was in a black shirt with the same red S symbol on his chest as Aqualad wore the same outfit as before, which seemed to be regular Atlantean attire. Robin, who was told by Batman not to show anyone his secret identity, was wearing black sunglasses over his eyes and a green sweatshirt under a leather jacket.
Cyra didn't care much about her secret identity. She just thought her glasses looked cool.
The team was in a large cave, cut out from the mountain. It was huge and had everything they needed, like just-in-case rooms, a kitchen, living room, bathrooms, etc.
"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League," Batman as Cyra looked around the room with her arms crossed. She was pretty impressed, but it wasn't like she would admit that.
"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," Batman continued. "Red Tornado has volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary's in charge of training and I will deploy your missions."
"Real missions?" Robin asked.
"Yes, but covert," Batman said, but it caused Cyra to grin anyway.
She was finally going to be apart of a real team. She loved Hal, but he could get annoying and tiring. With him, she was always learning and had the mentor-protégée relationship. But on this team, she could bring what she had without be scolded everything she did something wrong or always being told what to do. This just made her feel like Cyra was one step closer to being a real Green Lantern. A real hero.
"The League will handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests," Flash's voice brought Cyra back to reality as she looked to the Flash's chest where he motioned.
That's a lightning bolt. Not a target.
"But Cadmus proves that the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly," Hal finally speaks up. He wouldn't admit it, but he was proud of his protégée and how far she has come.
Batman continues, all of them working together to make the words come out in the coolest and boss ways possible, "The six of you will be that team."
"Cool!" Robin said as he and Kid Flash shared a high five.
"Wait, six?" Cyra questioned, quick to notice that there wasn't five of them.
Cyra could count.
A cough sounds from behind us and we all spin around to see Martian Manhunter and a girl, who looked to be around sixteen. She was obviously a Martian with her green skin. Besides the green skin, she had orange hair and eyes. She was wearing an X over her chest, similar to Martian Manhunter's.
"This is Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian," Aquaman introduces them.
"Hi," She waved shyly with a small smile on her face. But Cyra could sense she was nervous.
Cyra could hear Kid whisper to Robin, "I am liking the gig more every minute."
As the Green Lantern walked past the two boys, she rolled her eyes and thumped Kid Idiot in the back of the head. The speedster let out an, "Ow!"
Cyra put on a grin as she walked up to the Martian. "I'm a Green Lantern, this is—"
Cyra was cut off when Kid Flash speed up to them, knocking Cyra out of the way and making her hit and ground with a grunt as Kid Flash grinned at Martian Manhunter's niece. Cyra looked up from the ground, her hat falling over her eyes a little. Robin rushed over to her and helped up the blonde as she glared at Kid Flash. She whipped the dust off of her as she muttered angry words under her breath.
"You okay?" Rob asked.
"I'm gonna kill him," Cyra growled.
"Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash. That's Green Lantern, Robin, Aqualad, and Superboy," Kid Idiot motioned to the other sidekicks. "But it's cool of you forget their names."
As the speedster was shamelessly flirting with the Martian, Cyra walked up to the ginger angrily and punched his arm with a little Power Ring help.
"Ow! What was that for?" Kid Flash yelled as he rubbed his arm.
"And don't think I forgot about what you said in that vent," Cyra said darkly as she kicked the green-eyed teen in the shin with extreme force. That caused another yelp from the speedster as he brought his shin out and rubbed it as he looked at her with a worried expression.
Green Lantern turned back to the teenage Martian in front of her as she gave her another smile and said, "Welcome to the team."
Any worry for the idiot that was currently rubbing his two injuries from the blonde in front of him disappeared from the Martian's face as she smiled at the girl in front of her. "I'm honored to be included!"
The whole team gathers around her. Robin looks back to Superboy, that stood away from everyone else with a stoic expression on his face.
"Hey, Superboy!" Robin called out to the clone,"come meet Miss M!"
Superboy hesitantly walked over and Robin and Cyra moved out of the way, so Miss Martian could see Superboy. Suddenly, Miss. M's shirt shifted to be black with a red X on it, to match Superboy's.
"I like your shirt," Miss Martian shyly smiled as a light blush appeared on her face.
The corner of Superboy's mouth quirked upward in a small smile as Robin elbowed the Boy of Steel's side with a grin of his own.
"Today is the day," Aqualad summed up with a smile.