MOUNT JUSTICE
December 31; 07:16 EST
"We have reason to feel proud of yesterday's victories," Aqualad told them as they walk into the cave. "But one thing has not changed."
"Somehow the bad guys are still getting intel about us," Robin says.
"Yeah, but at least we know none of us are the mole." Kid Flash said.
"But how are they getting intel if none of us are moles?" Spirit questions.
"The mole was Red Arrow," Batman told them as they walked in.
"Roy?" Robin said.
"No way!" Kid Flash said
"Red Arrow?" Spirit repeats in disbelief. "Sure I dislike the guy, but he's no mole, no traitor."
"Batman, that cannot be," Aqualad spoke up. "He was Green Arrow's protege. We have all known him for years. "
"Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last three years is another Project Cadmus clone." Red Tornado revealed.
"We've learned the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick. The clone was pre-programmed with a drive to join the Justice League which is why he was so angry over any delays to his admission and why he refused to The Team. This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor. And his subconscious programming drove him to become League-worthy. So he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. When he was finally admitted his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared." Batman explained to them.
"Savage was subbed, but Red Arrow escape." Red Tornado told them. "He is now a fugitive armed and dangerous."
"If guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus." Superboy rubbed the back of his next.
"What about Nightingale?" Spirit asked stepping forward. "Has anyone told her anything, about this? Green Arrow, Black Canary how are they taking it?"
"Black Canary has gone to tell her the news," Batman address Spirit. " Green Arrow and Canary taking this as suspected."
"What, what happened to the real Roy?" Robin asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"We don't know," Batman told him. "He isn't at Cadmus. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead."
"The clone Roy, The Team will find him." Aqualad declared.
"Negative. Red Arrow's a member of the Justice League now." Batman told them. "Leave him to us. I'm needed on the Watchtower. Tornado, stay with the kids."
"Kids?" Spirit repeated deeply offended as he leaves the cave.
"Clone or no clone." Aqualad started. "Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him."
Red Tornado comes behind Aqualad but before he could touch their leader, the robot shuts down. The team gathers around the Leaguer with confusion.
"Tornado!" Ms. Martian gasp.
"What happened to him?" Superboy questioned.
"He's totally powered down." Kid Flash answered.
"All functions offline," Robin adds.
"Guys, I'm sensing a low-level mystic force at play," Zatanna revealed to them. " I-I don't know if it caused his shutdown but now that I think about it I was getting the same buzz off Batman."
"Batman. He called us kids." Robin said.
"I know right, the audacity."Spirit crossed her arms with a huff.
"No, he never does that," Robin tells her.
"Look." Kid Flash grabs something out of Tornado's hand, revealing the things that were the case they had gotten from Cheshire. "One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire."
"Something is not right," Aqualad said to them. "Robin, Kid, Spirit Zatanna, Rocket see if you can get Tornado back online. The rest with me to find Ro-- Red Arrow"
"The problem's hardware, not software."Robin started as Ms. Martian, Superboy, Aqualad, and Artemis run to leave the cave and go after Red Arrow. "But where do we start?"
"I have a thought." Zatanna looked up at the ceiling towards Red Tornado's apartment. Spirit followed her stare with confusion.
"What are you looking at?" Spirit questioned.
Now the five of them stand with Red Tornado and a human-looking android, on the tables as they plan to download the leaguer's mind into a new body. Kid Flash attaches a cord to the back of the android's neck. "Download in progress."
"So Tornado built this android to party," Rocket asked, as she, Zatanna, and Spirit watch Robin and Kid Flash work on the robots.
"Not how he's put it, but yeah, more or less," Zatanna replies.
"I can't believe I missed this," Spirit complained. "Only because I was a sidekick before all this."
"Recognized, Black Canary, 1-3" The computer announced the arrival of the heroine.
"Hey, guys." Canary greeted the team, as she walks in. "I wanted to check in and see how you're handling the-- What are you doing to Red?"
"It's not how it looks." Kid Flash claimed.
"It looks like you're downloading his consciousness into a new body." Canary retorts.
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Spirit cringed.
"But.." Kid Flash goes to defend them, but Red's new body sits up.
"Team, get out of the cave now!" Red Tornado ordered
Canary then lets out a sonic scream, and Tornado's new body begins to rip off, the top half hitting Kid Flash taking him down, and then his leg flying at Zatanna and Rocket missing Spirit completely. Spirit took out her staff, bringing it in front of her, for battle.
Robin jumps at Canary, but she grabs him by the arms swinging him down onto the ground, she then flips over him, and still holding onto his arms she throws him across the room. Spirit comes behind her, kicking her legs from under her, Canary goes to stand back up but a beeping sound stops her, she looks down at her shoulder to see that Robin had left her a little surprised. Spirit quickly moves out of the way, as gases erupt from the bomb, that Robin had placed on Canary. Rocket forms a force field over her letting the gas overtake her, knocking the Leaguer out.
"Black Canary a-attacked us?" Zatanna questioned with slight concern in her tone.
"Black Canary is the least of our problems." Red Tornado picked up half his body. "We must abandon the cave."
Rocket, Spirit, Zatanna, Kid Flash, and Robin along with the broken pieces of Tornado's new body, made it over to the sphere it was morphing into the supercycle but a longer version of it, suitable for everyone.
"Recognized, Icon, 2-0, Dr. Fate, 1-7. Captain Marvel 1-5."
The team along with Wolf, Red Tornado both his bodies and a tied Canary quickly gets onto the supercycle and promptly exits the cave before they could have an encounter with those three leaguers.
"Stay off your radios. Let Supercycle track Superboy." Red Tornado tells them. "Instruct her to mask all signals. We cannot allow the LEague to track us."
"Right of course. Just one question." Kid Flash speaks up. 'Why is the Justice League after us?"
"The entire League is under the complete mental domination of Vandal Savage." Red begins to tell them. "Red Arrow seems to have been his means. His method was something Savage referred to as Starotech. An alien bio-organish fused with nano-technology and magic. It shuts down the mind's autonomy allowing Savage to reprogram the individual to suit his needs. Even my inorganic brain was not immune. But the process requires 0.16 nanoseconds to fully integrate with its host's nervous system, That delay allowed me to create an internal subprogram which would disconnect my power cells if I attempted to infect another person. Fortunately, the Starotech is body specific. As John Smith, I am now free of outside control."
"This Starotech, it worked on super-powered humans four flavors of alien and android, even Dr. Fate, defeating all of you without a fight?" Robin questioned.
"Indeed. A remarkable achievement. One not easily countered."
The team continued to move on, Robin tried to reach Ms. Martian through his mind, and he succeeded as Ms. Martian's voice enter their minds. "Here, Robin. Linking both squads and camouflaging."
The bioship appears to appear and opens a hatch for them to enter through. "Great, 'cause we really need to compare notes."
Spirit quickly noticed a new addition to the squad when they entered the bridge of the bioship, " Gale? What are you doing here?"
"The team made a pit stop." Nightingale smiled at her. "Thought I would come in handing if Roy was truly a baddie."
The team plus Nightingale, now stood in the Watchtower, thankfully with no interference from the controlled Justice League. "RT did it. Wirelessly bypassed security for us as soon as he arrived. Savage shouldn't know we're here."
"Move out," Aqualad ordered them.
"Woah," Nightingale rolled her eyes up at her head with awe. She and the team follow Aqualad's ordering moving in further into the League Headquarters. "You guys always just talk in your heads for every mission, even when you guys are like zero inches away from each other."
The team splits up, Spirit, goes with Nightingale, Robin, and Superboy. The four of them encounter Hawkman in the hallway. Superboy sneaks behind him punching him toward Gale and Spirit. Spirit swings her staff at his face, while Nightingale kicks his legs from under him. Bringing him onto his back, the Leaguer flips him onto his hands and feet, but Robin jumps down from above onto his back placing the Curotech on the back of his tech. Hawkman then collapses and goes unconscious.
Spirit along with Gale, Robin, and Superboy ran into the 'outside' of the Watchtower. Spirit was instantly smacked away by a Green construct, "Ah!" Spirit steadied herself to see that it was not her mentor but John Stewart who had attacked her.
Spirit got back to her feet quickly, before John could take advantage of her disposition. She held out her hand and a pillar of air shot up from below the Green Lantern sending him into the ceiling. Then back down creating a dent in both the ceiling and the ground. Nightingale swiftly stood above the Leaguer placing the curoteach on the back of John's neck.
The rest of the team runs up to the main room of the Watchtower, to see that the main villains of the day Vangal and Klarion had already escaped while Kid Flash, Zatanna, Artemis, and Aqualad stood in the room with a ripped apart Red Tornado.
"Happy New Year, 'Justice League'." The computer tells them as they just reached the group.
Kid Flash picks up Artemis bridal style," I should have done this a long time ago."
"No kidding," Artemis replies, before giving him a kiss.
Ms. Martian and Superboy engage in a kiss as well, Zatanna pulls Robin into one, and Rocket walks up to Aquald, "Liking this team more every day." Before giving him a kiss as well.
Spirit glares at Robin and Zatanna, Nightingale chuckles before patting the girl on the shoulder. "It's alright, I'm painfully single, too. You're still a little on the young side before things get sad, me on the other hand... yeah."
"Human customs still elude me." Red Tornado says from the floor.
Spirit flew over to her mentor as he finally gets up from his encounter with Red Tornado, Red Arrow, and Black Canary. Spirit helps him up as he moans in pain. "Oh ow! That hurts."
"Yeah, I would think so, you just got out of major mind control," Spirit said to him.
"Yep, that would hurt wouldn't it?" Hal replied.
"Hey, question," Spirit stated. "Can I go to Jessica's tomorrow?"
"Are you serious, you just saved the whole world plus the League, and you're asking me that?"
"Yeah, I had to cancel with her today, because you know, saving the world."
And with that Book One is DONE!!!!! Stay tuned for the Sequel! Thank you guys for reading Spirit it means the world to me! Love you guys <3!!!!