#Wally West x Oc

[oathofoaksart]

sandwich a la speedster

Perching her head on interlaced fingers, Lei watched Wally line his knife across the top of his sandwich.

He kept making microscopic adjustments to the blade, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth from the effort. One millimeter left, two right. Finally after a few more rounds of the kitchen hokey-pokey, Lei said, “Oh my God, Wally. Cut it.”

“Almooost…” Wally kept his eyes still fixed on his sandwich, but didn’t move any faster than he had been.

Lei gestured vaguely at the set up strewn over the kitchen counter– half a fridge’s worth of ingredients she was pretty sure weren’t meant to be together. “You could’ve been done ages ago.”

“We’re not going anywhere,” Wally said, finally sawing through the first layer of his triple decker. “And I happen to like the process.”

“Well.” Lei snipped without any real fire, “Like the process faster.”

He laughed and sucked a bit of mustard off his thumb, his sandwich now cut perfectly down the middle. “There’s merit in taking things slow, y’know, have a little respect for the art.”

“It’s three meats on rye.”

“It’s the human experience.” Wally said with a gleam in his eye.

“Oh-kay.” She flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder, but she didn’t hide the lacing laughter in her tone.

“Our ancestors have been stacking stuff between baked pieces of grain since the dawn of civilization.” He said, tapping the counter in emphasis, “Every sandwich is our connection to our forebearers. Our history. Our…”

Wally looked out somewhere beyond Lei’s head, but judging by his faltering expression he’d exhausted his muse.

“Essence of life.” Lei suggested.

“Essence of life.” Wally agreed as he wrapped a half of his sandwich in a plastic sheet– taking care of folding it neatly– before handing it to her.

“I’m out of gold leaf.” He said when she hesitated, “Sorry, Miss I’ve-Got-A-Personal-

Michelin-Star-Chef.”

Lei rolled her eyes and snatched it from his hand, spinning the seat of her chair as to turn her back on him. She shot a smile over her shoulder, “It’s two personal Michelin chefs and their respective crews, thank you.”

“Oh, gee. My bad.” He said around a mouthful.

Lei studied her half of the sandwich. It didn’t look half-bad. Sandwiches weren't her go-to food the way it was for Wally– who swore up and down were acceptable for all three meals of the day– but she’d been forced to miss lunch earlier.

That was the excuse she gave herself when she took a sniff, quickly followed by a bite. She hummed appreciatively, turning back around to face Wally.

“I’ll eat it if you don’t want it.” He said, reaching out for it, only for his response to be a swift slap of his hand. “Ow?” Wally clamped his sandwich between his teeth, rubbing at the sting.

“Don’t be dramatic.” Lei said quickly, making sure she took another extra big bite. She was hungrier than she thought she’d been and she didn’t like how Wally thought she was too good for ‘normal’ food.

He was right, of course, but she didn’t like him thinking she wouldn’t take something he gave her.

And, honestly, it wasn’t a bad sandwich. A little heavy-handed on the mustard and she wasn’t a fan of the brown flecks on the lettuce. Cheddar wasn’t her favorite cheese. But all in all, she could almost say she liked it.

“Alright, West.” She said, “Maybe you have something there.”

He snorted. By some miracle —likely because he still hadn’t found a way to safely dislocate his jaw— Wally hadn’t stuffed his half into his mouth. “Jimmy John’s would go to war with Subway for me.”

“I meant your little ‘human connection’ thing.” Lei peeled away more of the plastic from her sandwich, surprised she’d already eaten half way through it. “I can’t remember the last time someone made a sandwich for me for the sake of it. It’s nice.”

Wally swallowed with a little more effort than Lei was comfortable with. He lifted up his remaining bite in the air, it took Lei a minute to realize he was proposing a toast, “May our bread be the foundation of a greater We…Bologna, an extension of our heartstrings…and the weird, kinda green thing that was chillin’ in the back of the pantry our bond that lives through time.”

Lei closed her eyes, choosing to ignore that little tidbit. She lifted her own remaining piece of dinner. It wasn’t much smaller than Wally’s. “Hallelu.”

They tapped their bites and ate.

—

it’s the way i’ve had this sketch for over a year. and it let it be known lei expects wally to make her sandwiches from then on.

[frothy-commissions]

So, here is a few Wally X OC thougbts - YJ edition

▪︎ Baby's very first hero x villain ship. Thalassa was brought to the league, by Martian Manhunter, due to needing rehabilitation as a villain. Her villain sterotype was the alien invasion doomsday type. She osn't malicious in nature/personality, she has just never questioned her nationalism or culture, until being brought to earth.

▪︎ Thalssa as from her culture, is basically a warrior and champion, despite being 5ft. Meanwhile Wally basically towers over her, but skill wise she could disarm him easily, however, however, his speed is her biggest weakness and also is the only thing she fears in combat, which makes them sparing each other idea. He needs to learn how to handle actual combat and she needs to learn how to handle speed.

▪︎ Very stoic and strict woman, but grows fond of Wally because she thinks he's funny. His jokes are not too bad and the ones she doesn't get, he actually explains. He also can be very charming, in a very awkward way, and Thalassa likes how awkward and goofy Wally can be.

▪︎ Wally is good at recongizing that she is both an alien and autistic, and accomodares her fairly well. Like, she does not feel ignorant or stupid around him.

▪︎ The ADHD and Autism combo. Literally the croissant video meme is them completely

[daddysfangirls-dc]

The Making of Three (1/3)

Pairing: Wally West x Dicky Grayson x fem! OC

Warning: Smut, angst

1 - 2 - 3

-

Dick had propped his phone up against a pillow on video call as he put on a show for his boyfriend. And he was on the other side of the bed in full view without clothes and his erection in his hand.

After an incident on patrol, Robin was benched for a week, and to further punishment, Bruce banned Wally from the manor. Although upset at first, the lovers took it and strive and decided to try something new.

Before the banning, Dick had given Wally a gift, a remote. Wally had no idea what the remote was until today, Dick called him. And showed what it was for.

Which lets them to current events. Dick splayed across his bed while video-calling his boyfriend so he could watch him masturbate and control the wireless toy in his ass. And my my, were they enjoying themselves. Wally, remote in hand, watched intently as Dick slowly stroked his cock while letting breath whines and moans.

As Wally played with the setting Dick lost his ability to speak moans and whimpers were all he could give.

"You, you look so good, I wish I was there, I want to touch you so bad I want to feel you," Wally said breathlessly. He was nearly drooling over him.

Dick choked as Wallly kicked up the speed of the toy, the vibrations coursing through him. He moans as he runs both his hands through his hair and over his body, his cock leaking precum without being touched. He was basically humping the air.

Abs flexing, hips thrusting. With the feeling of the vibrations and the sound of Wally's own moans and dirty encouragement," Look at that pretty cock" he was already on the edge, moaning and crying out.

He had no control. Especially as the vibrator went up to the highest setting.

He was at the mercy of him.

And could not stop himself.

He was there. His balls tightened, and his legs shook. He tossed his head back, arching his back. As he let out a choked moan, the only verbal warning he could give. As he orgasmed cum shot onto his bed and stomach.

He let out a whimper-like cry as the vibrator continue overstimulating him. Wally takes mercy turning it off.

Sitting up, he was met with a horrifyingly humiliating site of Alice. There she was, standing at the door, holding two bowls of fruit. And there he was, laying in bed nude with a vibrator in his ass, his phone leaned up against the pillow and covered in his cum.

Neither knew what to say. Neither spoke, they just looked at each other. A moment of silence. No one moved.

"Dick?" Wally interrupted the silence.

All at once, everyone began moving. Dick dove off the bed, gathering blankets to cover himself, knocking his phone in the process. Alice quickly backed out of the room with her fruit still in hand and closed the door with her foot.

What the fuck ?!

-

Alice Kent, aka Supergirl, daughter of Lois and Clark Kent, aka Superman. Not as exciting as one would imagine.

"Is there something wrong, Miss Alice?" Alfred asked as he found her slouched over the kitchen counter.

"Just bored, I don't know what to do."

"I'm off to the market, do you wish to join me?" it was a kind offer, but Alice knew that Alfred enjoyed his time there. It was his time, and she wouldn't ruin it with her sulking.

"No, thank you. I'll just annoy Dick. Is it alright if I make a snack first?" Alfred, able to read minds and tell the future like the god he is, simply turns to the fridge and takes out two bowls of fresh-cut fruit. " Thank you, Alfred"

"You're Welcome, Miss Alice. I'll be back in an hour or so Master Bruce will be back in 30 minutes, behave."

"Yes, sir"

And with that, they both departed, Alfred to the market and Alice to Dick's room.

Alice knew Dick was in his room, probably on the phone with Wally, it would explain why the speedster was ignoring her. The Couple was probably flirting over the phone, so she would interrupt that and demand a movie to spend some time with her two best friends.

Yep, Bestie time.

Alice was a bit too in her head if she was paying attention and listening, she would have heard what Dick was doing in his room. Especially with her super hearing, but no she was so far in her head, she didn't hear a sound.

Reaching his bedroom, she unstably balances the bowls with one arm and opened the door.

Stepping into the room, it was then that she realized the mistake of getting a full view of Dick in all his naked glory.

Obviously, a very intimate moment was taking place, but Alice couldn't find it in herself to look away.

Skin flushed, covered in a thin coat of glistening sweat, back bent in a beautiful arch, legs shaking, hands desperately pulling at the sheets, eye closed, mouth opened, releasing many cries and moans, and cock standing stiff, tall, and leaking.

"W-Wallllllllyy" he moaned out as he came.

Alice watched as he orgasmed untouched. She watched as his cum painted his stomach and bed. Body shaking before going slack. But only for a moment before he started trembling again, this time trying to close his legs. Whimpering as he tried to reach between his legs.

He stopped shaking and let out a breath of relief.

Another moment went by before he says up and opened his eyes. And he saw her.

Alice didn't know what to do she was frozen. As was he, both watched each other in silence, not knowing what to do.

It was very clear that Alice had seen him in very intimate and private situations. Something she wasn't supposed to see. And now she had no idea what to do, standing there, her legs unmoving. Laying there, his body was also unmoving. Many emotions run through each of them.

"Dick?"

They returned to reality.

It was like lightning had struck her suddenly she couldn't stop moving. Backing out, she used her foot to close the door behind her and quickly rushed to her room.

Making it to her room, she quickly put the fruit bowl on her side table, locked her door, and sat on her bed.

"FUCK"

(Not my image)

[blakedoesart]

Wally West Flash x my OC, Alice for a DC AU that has been rotting my brain for the past several weeks! Its soooooo nice to finally get back into drawing.

Note: Traced over a template since this was for practice and for fun. Source/Credits of the OG pose template linked below!

https://x.com/sankakangen/status/839104022531354625

[ariyougood]

ASTRAPHOBIA ⚡︎ W. West

IN WHICH:

- ASTRA was born to be a hero and it won't take much convincing for the justice league to look past her playful remarks to realize that.

↳ OR

- KAMILA CARTER is just figuring it out as she goes, and if she steals a few kisses from her best friend along the way who's gonna care?

[water-writings]

//kicks door open, shades and smoothie in hand

leave a ship + marnie and wally

What an entrance.

Another oldie, but goodie. Everyone’s pulling up old ships omg

opening credits: Separate Ways (Worlds Apart - Journey, Steve Perry

meeting for the first time: Start of Sonething Right -Raon

hey, i kinda like you: Renegades - X Ambassadors

i’m going to kiss you now: You Can’t Stop the Girl - Bebe Rexha

falling in love: Could it Be - Christy Carlson Romano

your place or mine: Start of Something Right - Jordyn Kane

naked in bed: I’ll Try - Jonatha Brooke

first fight: Run Boy Run - Woodkid

maybe we should take a break: The Ballad of the Witches’ Road - Agatha All Along

i want you back: Hello - Adele

will you marry me: Uptown Girl - Billy Joel

first child: Centuries - Fall Out Boy

we’re getting older: Seven Devils - Florence + the Machine

if you die i’ll go with you: Immortals - Fall Out Boy

end credits: Survivor - 2WEI, Edda Hayes

[couldeatthatgirlforlunch]

Something About Curly Hair and Any Character You Have in Mind

I've always had a fantasy of someone playing with my curls. Delicately pulling on them, like a kid pulling on a string. Playfully and adoringly watching the curl bounce back. Maybe the person could even praise it, saying it's cute, or beautiful, or mesmerising. Especially if they don't have curly hair.

A few minutes ago, my girl friend did it to me, exactly how I've always dreamed, even if inside I wanted to pull away, afraid that she would mess it up, I didn't, and she didn't, and even if she did, I wouldn't care, because I'm starved. So here's this little scenario that I finally felt courage and inspiration to write.

This was written based on my own experience having 123B hair, that has some volume on it (how do you even measure that??), with definition, so you must imagine it was very indulgent.

Also works for Readers of any race!!!! I just specify they have natural curls, didn't even mention the colour.

Gn!Reader and Gn!Character so you reaaaally can imagine whoever you want. But the character probably doesn't have curly hair, and learns to do different hairstyles on you (it's different doing it on yourself and then doing on other people, so you still can imagine any gender or appearance on them). Sex is mentioned. I'm tagging this with the first characters that come to my mind while writing this, just to make it easier.

Might edit this later because it's currently 3am and I'm sleepy as fuck

Divider

They love you. That means they love everything about you. And they love your hair.

They think the volume is sexy. Think clouds can't be softer. Think the way the light reflects on it is ethereal. Think the curls smells heavenly. Think the shape is unmatched.

When you move your hair, it's like being a kid and having a first crush again. Especially if the action causes the delicate smell of it travel through the air faster than they can blink, and they're swallowed in a fog of you.

When you sleep in the same bed together for the first time, and every other time after, they like to wake up before you. Just to admire your peacefull beauty for a while. Like the rest of the world doesn't exist. That's the best way to start a day.

Sometimes, boredom doesn't get to them because tracing curl patterns in your hair with their eyes is entertainment for a lifetime. Never before have they noticed that someone can have more than one curl texture, and how unique and perfect that mixture can look.

There's moments where they get distracted by you. You, taking their attention from something supposedly more important at that moment. Either you smell too nice, or look too good, or shine too bright. And they just can't seem to find anything more interesting than looking at you and your hair.

The first time they touched it, they were surprised by how soft it was, like cotton. Almost weightless, despite it's volume and length. Other people's hair surely doesn't feel like this. They spend so much time touching it the first time, that you have to ask them to stop, or you wouldn't have a nice hair day the next day. They looked like a kicked puppy, so you taught them to gently scrunch from the bottom.

They think bonnets are funny at first, but not in a bad way. They're not laughing at you. Mostly giggling, actually. They understand you may have needed some courage to look like this with them around. And it's like a tiny, almost nonexistent, relationship goal. To be intimate enough to feel confortable wearing a bonnet in front of your partner. And they love that you have no problem doing it.

They even buy silk sheets and pillows if it might help you. It might be morte confortable and not mess with your hair. And they understands sex while having curly hair might be frustrating at times.

Speaking of, they won't pull or mess with it unless you ask for it. They took very seriously your lesson from the first time. And if you have some instructions to give them on how to do it while causing less damage, then you certainly will lift a weight off some shoulders.

Oh, and the difference of how it looks when it's wet and then dry? They can't believe their eyes for a moment. Logic seems to escape. It feels impossible. But it isn't. And they're amazed. Almost jealous for not being as gorgeous as you. They understand why someone would be jealous of you.

Actually, they partially think others should be. If someone dares to utter you are less than stunning, then oh boy. God help them.

Any styling is great. And they're so in love with you, so focused on you, eyes solely on you, that they think no hairstyle looks as good on other people, as they look on you. Even if you hate it, he thinks it looks way better than it would have on anyone else.

Also, they learn some things. They learns to curl with their fingers, how to put on clips, how to do some braids, or buns, or pigtains, or anything you wear often. Even something you never did, but they think will make you ethereal, they will do it on you. They might not even teach you, just so you'll need them for something.

They feel part of their heart breaking if you straighten it. Sure it looks good. If it makes you happy, than they're happy. But it's far from a favorite look on you. It's not the natural you. And they love you. They might love a modified version of you, but only because they love you. Just the way you are.

And if you ever feel insecure, I assure you, they're gonna fix you right up.

Like, comment and reblog 🥰

[dickgrayson-thenightwing]

Dick: Why do you let me win when we race up the stairs? You’re the faster one. Y/N: Erm… it’s nice to see your smile when you win! later Dick: They're probably just staring at my ass, aren't they. Wally west: Yeah, probably.

[hersheysmcboom]

Plot idea: Angela decides to take the team to see manhattan before they start school, but their fun is interrupted by the mysterious robot, mister twister.

[tiramiiswu]

ᯓ࣪ ִֶָ☾. desiderium

0.1 Independence Day & Fireworks

⋆.˚ young justice x genshin impact ⋆.˚

✦ masterlist || next ✦ young justice x adeptus!reader ✦ word count: 13.7k ✦ warnings: none ✦ originally posted on quotev (may 18, 2023) ✦ a/n: purely writing this to appease the goblin in my brain. ✦ tide caller is supposed to be written with an ambiguous/unstated gender as to help with projection and will be referred to with they/them pronouns respectively. i kind of go on autopilot when writing and type out the wrong word without thinking so if anyone catches me slipping and accidentally using the wrong pronoun please let me know and tell me where you caught it so i can change it asap :'D sometimes my hands type a little slip of the brain and i never catch it until it's too late ^^;;

✦ (3/12/25) edit: fixed some formatting issues with my dividers, i didn’t check to see how they’d look on mobile and had to adjust their length 😭

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

Washington D.C.; July 4th, ??? CDT

        “Okay, I’m officially whelmed,” is the first thing to fall from Robin’s mouth as he and his fellow sidekicks—Aqualad and Kid Flash—stood in a stunned silence staring at what towered before them. 

        Lined up in several rows and columns were several vertical cylindrical containers that pulsated with a strong electrical energy, illuminating the expansive room with an eerie neon blue glow and a notable hum sounding in the air. And to think it was all kept several dozens of stories below ground, completely unnoticed by anyone above ground. 

        The real Project Cadmus.

        Upon a closer inspection the three noticed the very inhuman shapes within each container. They were large, insectoid looking creatures, almost akin to fireflies, though their legs were longer than a human arm (one pair looked more like long protruding horns due to their placement) and their wings were short, almost spine-like along their backs. A large bulb of sorts hung off their back and down their back legs and gave off a bright, cyan glow. 

        Kid Flash began walking forward, taking it all in, “This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world. The real Cadmus isn’t on the grid, it generates its own power with these… Things.” he stops, gesturing to the imprisoned creatures surrounding them. “Must be what they’re bred for.”

        “Even the name is a clue, the Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragons’ teeth into the earth.” Aqualad stated.

        Robin notices a computer console to the side of them, “And this Cadmus creates new life too. Let’s find out why,” he extends a wire from the holo-computer in his glove and connects it to the console. He begins hacking the Cadmus database for information on the strange creatures the boys had discovered. He relays the information he sifts through to the others, “They call them Genomorphs… Woah, look at the stats on these things! Super strength, telepathy, razor claws— These are living weapons!”

        Kid Flash leans over his shoulder, reading the seemingly endless scroll of information recorded about each Genomorph created at Cadmus, “They’re engineering an army, but for who?“ 

        Aqualad moves to stand behind them as something on the holographic screen catches the Boy Wonder’s eyes, “Wait there’s something else, Project Kr, a-and a new input as recently as this month, Project Riptide. The files are triple- encrypted, I can’t—“

        He’s cut off as a new voice booms from across the room, “Don’t move!” The three sidekicks jolt up, startled by the new presence in the room. Before them was a tall man in a dark blue jumpsuit wearing a gold helmet with a strong looking build. He wielded a shield and was covered in some other gilded armor pieces alongside his helmet. 

        The three noted the extra company he brought with him. Surrounding him were smaller elf-like Genomorphs, an even smaller one sitting passively on his shoulder, like a monkey. They all shared a similar humanoid body that was a sickly gray in color, a pair of beady red eyes and striking red veins apparent on the arms and ribs of each creature. The smallest Genomorph had a pair of tiny horns protruding from its forehead. 

        Surprisingly though, the helmet-donned man seemed just as shocked to see them there as well. “Wait. Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash?”

        Robin seemed to snort a little, making a quick jab at his speedster companion, “At least he got your name right.” 

        Aqualad ignored them as he spoke up, recognizing the man, “I know you. Guardian. A hero.” 

        “I do my best.” Was the quick reply he received. 

        “Then, what are you doing here?” Kid Flash inquired, squinting at him accusingly.

        “I'm chief of security. You're trespassing.” Guardian stated matter-of-factly. Though from his next statement he didn’t seem too apprehensive of the three now that he recognizes them. “But we can call the Justice League. Figure this out.”

        During this exchange Robin had been quietly downloading all of the contents they uncovered from the Cadmus database. Quickly retracting the USB cord from the console while his friends had been keeping Guardian distracted. “You think the League’s gonna approve of you breeding weapons?!” He shouted accusingly at the man.

        The helmed man seemed taken aback, genuinely shocked to hear such a thing, “Weapons? What are you… What have I..?” He trails off, raising a hand to hold against his head. He repeated, confused as his eyes began to close. As something flashed across his expression, as if a fog was starting to lift from his head. “Ugh, my head…”

        The clarity seems to fade, and the fog quickly creeps back to cloud his mind as the little Genomorph on his shoulder lights up it’s horns to relay a message to Guardian. His eyes snap back open, hardened into a glare and looking more determined than before, “Take them down,” he ordered. “No mercy!”

        The Genomorphs sprung into action with an animalistic snarl, making a charge towards the three teens with lethal intent. Robin jumps forward and drops a smoke bomb in response to is sudden attack, using the obscured field of view to shoot a grappling hook above to a beam hanging overhead to make an escape. An alarm began blearing during the disturbance.

        Kid Flash manages to dodge the razor claws and gnashing fangs of the Genomorphs while blitzing them with extreme speed, taking down several of them in his wake. 

        One of the Genomorphs had launched itself onto Aqualad’s back, though he managed to rip the creature off of him before Guardian came barreling towards him. The two traded several blows before the Atlantean intercepted a strike from Guardian’s shield, sending shockwaves through the metal and rendering Guardian and the miniature Genomorph incapacitated on the floor. 

        The two notice Robin’s absence and find him by the elevator, his holo-pad out as he attempted to hack the industrial elevator for them to escape through. Kid rushes over to him, skidding to a stop before giving him an sarcastically irked, “Wait to be a team player, Rob.”

        To which the younger boy says: “Weren’t you right behind me?” 

        Seeing two Genomorphs tailing after him, Aqualad books it to the elevator, barely making it in after tucking and rolling into the metal chute. The three heard a metallic THUMP from the other side as the Genomorphs collided against the now shut elevator doors.

        Glancing at the elevator’s floor screen, he’s unable to contain his utter disbelief as the sub level numbers displayed above the door began increasing, “We’re headed down?”

        Kid Flash turns to the other masked teen, “Dude, out is UP,” he shouts, pointing upwards to the ceiling.

        Robin seems to give him an incredulous look in response, “Excuse me? Project Kr is DOWN, on sub-level 52.” 

        Before any sort of fight could break out between the two Aqualad steps in, placing himself between them, “This is out of control,” he states, he seemed stressed by the course of events that had just occurred, at least as stressed as the stoic Atlantean let on.

        “Perhaps,” he sighed. “Perhaps we should contact the League…”

        The three fall silent for a moment, fully realizing just how deep they had gotten themselves into (both literally and figuratively). 

        That is, until the elevator makes a ‘ding’ to indicate they’ve arrived at their destination. 

        The elevator doors open to reveal a disturbing sight. The once cement walls and flooring have been replaced with a soft, flesh lined tunnel, only accompanied by several pods lined in rows along the walls that acted as a macabre decor. There was a division in the path that followed ahead of them, leading to two unknown rooms.

        The atmosphere became eerier, and it only cemented the reality of what the three had stumbled into by complete accident when investigating a simple building fire.

        Robin is seemingly undeterred by the disturbance in their environment, quickly taking initiative as he dashes out of the elevator. Kid Flash is silent for a moment before making a half-assed attempt to reason with his remaining companion , “We are already here…”

        Aqualad just sighed, defeated by the curious nature of his two friends, “Which way?”

        Their shorter companion scoffs, “Yeah, bizarre-Iooking hallway one or bizarre-Iooking hallway two?”

        They didn’t have to spend much time deciding however as a stern voice calls from behind them with a quick, “Hold!”

        The three boys are quick to noticed the horned individual appearing down the first hallway. Standing there is a tall, slender man with blue skin. In addition to his strange complexion, he bore a pair of aforementioned horns, lacked a nose, his ears were notably pointed and fin-like, and two ribbons of flesh, originating on his cheeks. He was adorned in plain white hospital apparel.

        The strange man then raised his hand, his horns began to glow like the small Genomorph from before. A few crates lying behind them in the hall began to float in the air before exploding above the sidekick trio’s heads. Robin threw an exploding birdarang towards him before the three began escaping down the second hallway.

        Kid Flash runs ahead of them, though when he turned a corner he nearly crashes into a Cadmus scientist. He slides past her, tripping her in the process. He looks back from where she had come from and saw the gradually closing door that read “Project Kr”. 

        He turns back to his companions who were approaching at a significantly slower speed than the closing door. He then spots a few air tanks placed near the door and quickly thinking picked one up to then lodge in the door, preventing it from closing. “Hurry!” he shouts to the others before he jumped between the gap and into the chamber, Aqualad and Robin following shortly after. 

        The former looks through the gap and sees Guardian and his Genomorphs closing in on them. He steps back and kicks the air tank out of the gap which causes the doors to snap shut with a loud CLANK!

        Robin had been typing something quickly into his keypad, when he finished he announced to them, “I disabled the door. We're safe—“

        “We're trapped,” Aqualad had corrected, more stressed than ever. Though before any debate on what happened could start, Kid Flash drew both their attention to the matter at hand, “Uh, guys? You’ll wanna see this.”

        Standing before him was another Cadmus computer console, though this time it was only attached to a single tank. Kid Flash pressed a button on the console that activated several lights near the center of the lab room. Now illuminated the boys could see what was contained within the stark white pod, a sleeping boy. He appeared to be close to their age, with dark hair and a fair complexion. He slept peacefully unaware of the chaos that had just occurred outside his pod. Above him were three of the small monkey-esque Genomorphs like the one Guardian had on his shoulder. 

        Though the most startling thing about him was the skin tight suit he donned, it was an equally as stark white as his pod, the lighting and lack of contrast made it reflect a blinding light. On his chest was a bright red shield with a large S dead in the center

        The symbol of Superman.

        Kid Flash walked in a slight stupor towards the pod, reading the label on the lower part of the glass aloud, “Big K little r, the atomic symbol for Krypton!” He turned to the other two, his brows furrowed somewhat. “Clone?”

        Aqualad immediately turned to their more tech savvy friend, “Robin, hack.” He ordered.

        “Right, right,” he whips out his holo-pad again and connects it to the console with the extending wire like he had done before. After bypassing Cadmus’s security once more he began reading the newly uncovered information about the project. “Weapon designation Superboy. A clone force-grown in— 16 weeks?! From DNA acquired from Superman." 

        “Stolen from Superman.” Aqualad corrected with a scowl.

        “No way the big guy knows about this.” Kid Flash agrees.

        “Solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7.” The Boy Wonder continues.

        Aqualad gestures to the sleeping creatures above him—Superboy, “And these creatures?” He inquired.

        “Genomorph-Gnomes, Telepathic, force feeding him an education.”

        A grimace starting to form on Kid Flash’s face, “And we can guess what else, they’re making a slave out of… well, Superman’s son.” 

        “And now we contact the league,” Aqualad states firmly. There was no room to argue at this point with what they’ve discovered. He presses the Atlantean A symbol on his belt while the others attempt to activate their comms. 

        “No signal,” Robin says.

        Kid Flash looks to the other two, “We’re in too deep. Literally.”

        After a few minutes of contemplating their next move, the three notice the G-Gnomes horns lighting up above the Superboy. Kid Flash looks to Aqualad and Robin, “This is wrong.” He says grimly.

        Robin agrees, nodding, “We can’t leave him like this.”

        Aqualad takes another moment to think, before coming to a decision, “Set him free,” he looks to Robin, firm in his decision. “Do it.”

        Robin takes to the console, quickly typing out a command to the pod for it to open its lid. The air compressed within the pod hisses as it escapes into the open room, the glass lid lifting upward and the metal plates around it sliding open.

        For a moment the boy inside remained still, peaceful even. Then they saw his hands stretch out at his sides, the knuckles of his fingers cracking before forming into a fist at his side. His eyes snap open, and the trio watch as he springs to life, immediately jumping to attack them.

        He attacks Aqualad first, he tackles him to the ground before raising his arms and bringing them back down in a violent manner, punching the Atlantean boy repeatedly before Robin and Kid Flash come to intervene. They attempt to restrain his arms as well as try to snap some sense into him—

        “Woah! Hang on Supey!”

        “We’re—on your side!”

        —But to no avail. The Super-clone shoves Kid Flash off of him, flinging him back into a glass container. He crashes into it before falling and knocking himself out after his head collided with the ground. He falls over limply and lies still.

        Robin pulls various items out of his utility belt and throwing them at their assailant,, attempting to spray him with gas and even tasing him before Superboy slammed him into the concrete and stepping onto his chest, attempting to crush the smaller boy beneath his foot as Robin struggled beneath him, feeling his ribs crack under the pressure.

        Aqualad looks to see Robin struggling against the clone, taking out his water bearers and taking an aggressive stance, forming a solid hammer in his hands before charging at him, “ENOUGH!” He manages to knock Superboy off of Robin, sending him spiraling against the pod which leaves a large dent in the metal due to the force. Aqualad then tries to help Robin stand to his knees, but the poor boy simply falls back down onto his back, rendered fully unconscious due to Superboy’s assault.

        As Superboy regains his footing he begins walking menacingly towards Aqualad, who attempts to stop him, saying, “We... are trying... to help you—!” Before the clone’s expression twists into a snarl and leaps towards him again to engage in an exchange of blows once more. This exchange stopped momentarily as Aqualad manages to get behind him and interlocks his arms behind him in a restraint before shocking him with a strong electric charge.

        This however only causes his opponent to yell before leaping back first into the ceiling, slamming Aqualad into the hard unmoving surface in an attempt to shake him off. When this doesn’t work he starts slamming him repeatedly against the roof before Aqualad detaches from behind him and falls unconscious.

        Superboy assesses the situation and sees that all three of the sidekicks had been defeated by his hands. Calmly, he began walking to the entrance of the lab. 

        He punched the metal door until it flew open, falling shortly in front of him. Behind it were some scientists, Guardian, and several Genomorphs. A male scientist with long brown hair tied in the back in a pony tail stepped forward. His name was Dr. Desmond. He wore a standard white lab coat, glasses, brown sandals, he had slight wrinkles on his face and streaks of white in his hair. He had smiled in a pleased way when Superboy emerged from the lab, and he inspected his weapon’s success. Simply giving him a brief, “Atta’ boy.” 

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        In a stark white room were seven large monitors, on each screen was the silhouette of an obscured individual. Dr. Desmond entered the room lacking the confident superiority he tended to have beneath the surface of the Cadmus facility. He now stands before each monitor. A voice emits from one of the screens, “Dr. Desmond. You require an audience with the Light?”

        “Yes. Very sorry to disturb you at this late hour—“

        Another cuts him off, “Just make your report.”

        “Of course,” the scientist cleared his throat. “Well, we had a small fire here at Project Cadmus. The origin of the incident is still unclear… but it seems to have attracted some unwanted attention. Three sidekicks, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash...breached security. 

        “They found and released the weapon. The Superboy. Of course, the clone is under our telepathic control... and, as ordered, turned against his would-be liberators. The three are contained and we don't believe the League knows they're here. Uh... What should I do with them?” He was unsure as to what he was supposed to do now, more worried about losing his job (or worse) for allowing such a blunder to occur in the first place.

        There was but a beat of silence before they spoke again, “Clone them,” the second voice says. “Add them to the current cloning schedule, alongside Project Riptide.” 

        The first voice agrees, stating, “The substitutes will serve the Light. And only the Light.”

        “And… the originals?” Desmond inquired.

        “Dispose of them. Leave no trace.”

        For the first time since he entered this meeting room, an evil smile crept its way back onto Dr. Desmond’s face.

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        A calm, yet stern voice rang through the barely conscious minds of the three sidekicks, attempting to rouse them, “Time runs short. You must awaken.”

        When they did not stir the voice became more demanding, and a force jolted them awake, stating, “You must awaken now!”

        The three had awoken startled, finding themselves inside a more industrial looking pod than the one they had freed the Super-clone from. They were strapped against a metal plate by steel bands, restraining their wrists and ankles against the plate behind them. 

        What Kid Flash noticed after realizing his current predicament was the piercing stare of the backstabbing boy standing below them. 

        Superboy stared intently at him, it was hard to tell what he was doing whether it be examining him or simply trying to kill him with a single look, but Kid Flash was up to his limit with him, “What? What do you want?!” He spat, though it didn’t seem to deter the Kryptonian clone. “Quit staring you’re creepin’ me out!”

        “Uh, KF, how ‘bout we NOT tick off the guy who can fry us with a look?” Kid Flash turned to his right to find Robin in the same position as him. He could swore there was something next to Robin, another tank, but from his limited field of vision it took an excessive amount of neck craning in order to check. To to the left of him was Aqualad, “We only sought to help you—“

        Distracting himself from the fourth pod, Kid Flash cut in to chew the clone out, “Yeah, we free you and you turn on us! How’s that for grati—“ 

        “Kid, please. Be quiet now,” Aqualad cut him off, trying not to escalate the situation even further than it already had. “I believe our friend was not in full control of his actions.”

        Then, surprising the three captives to no extent, the clone spoke, “What if I..? Hn… What if I wasn’t?” His voice was low, somewhat rough and rasped from a general lack of use. It was as if he had spoken for the first time since his creation (and judging by his general timeline of living it probably was).

        Kid Flash was the first to react, “He can talk?!”

        This earned him a glare from Superboy, who found a much stronger voice that was laced in irritation, “Yes… he can!”

        The Atlantean and Boy Wonder each gave Kid Flash an unamused side eye, to which he sheepishly replied, “It’s not like I said ‘it’.”

        Aqualad seemed to catch on to the rising tension, hoping to steer it away from the premature death of his speedster companion he focuses his attention back to Superboy, “The genomorphs taught you telepathically.”

        He nodded somewhat, it was a bit difficult to see but it was enough for Aqualad to see. “They taught me much,” he said curtly. “I can read, write. I know the names of things.”

        “But have you seen them?” Robin pressed. “Have they ever actually let you see the sky or the sun?”

        “Images are implanted in my mind,” he seemed to shrink somewhat, regretfully admitting, “But, no, I have not seen them.”

        Aqualad frowned, “Do you know what you are? Who you are?”

        This question seemed to strengthen his resolve, though not exactly in the way Aqualad might have been hoping. He watched Superboy’s poster straighten, and in a tone that felt preprogrammed he stated firmly, “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.”

        Aqualad’s companions shared a nervous glance while he responded carefully, “To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration.” He told him. “But like Superman, you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solar suit. Beyond your pod. Beyond Cadmus.”

        This irked Superboy, it seemed to trigger a newly characteristic anger he’s shown since his awakening, “I live because of Cadmus. It is my home!” He growled.

        Robin looked at him in what could only be described as pity, “Your home is a test tube, we can show you the sun.” 

        “Uh, pretty sure it’s after midnight. But we can show you the moon,” offered Kid Flash, trying to add something helpful into the conversation.”

        “We can show you, introduce you to Superman.” Aqualad offers him.

        This catches his attention. The three watched his expression soften, his eyes shining with a glimmer of hope. It had been the softest expression he’s shown since they discovered his serene expression sleeping in his pod.

        This tender moment was cut short by a snide voice coming from the entrance of the lab chamber they were in. “No, they can’t.” Desmond approached them, Guardian and the scientist Kid Flash tripped from before—Dr. Spence—flanked his sides. “They will be… otherwise occupied.” He turned to his subordinates and began to order them to work. “Activate the cloning process!” 

        A genuine alarm spread across Robin’s face, “Pass! Batcave’s crowded enough!” He exclaimed, attempting to cover up his alarm with his usual witty banter.

        Desmond ignored him, “Add them to the schedule set for Project Riptide,” glancing at Superboy the scientist grew agitated. “And get the weapon back to its pod!”

        Despite the circumstance Kid Flash seemed to pout at hearing this, “Hey, how come he gets to call Supey an it?” He asked indignantly.

        Guardian placed his hand on Superboy’s shoulder, though with one final glance at Aqualad (and another plea for help from him as well) he shrugged him off. Desmond seemed to catch onto this exchange rather quickly, “Oh, don’t start thinking now.” He groaned, a G-Gnome hopping from his shoulder to Superboy’s. Condescendingly, he began speaking down to him. “See, you're not a real boy. You're a weapon. And you belong to me. Well, to Cadmus. Same thing. Now get back to your pod.” He commanded. 

        Without another word, Superboy obediently turned around and began walking out of the lab. 

        Desmond then turned back to Spence, “Where’s Project Riptide?” he inquired, irritated.

        Spence had input something into the console before her and in doing so caused a light to turn on in a pod placed to the right of Robin. There was a fourth person strapped to one of the machines the boys were hooked up to (this came as somewhat of a shock to the three of them) however it was hard to make out any discernible features due to their slumped over posture indicating they would not be conscious for the next step of Cadmus’s plan. What they could see though was that rather than a solar suit like Superboy’s they were wearing some very outlandish clothes that had several intricate details and patterns with an otherworldly feel to them.

        Desmond stared at the fourth pod for a moment before turning back to Dr. Spence, he nodded. This acted as an indicator for her to continue and she put another sequence of inputs into the console. The three sidekicks began to writhe and scream as they felt an excruciating pain shoot through them. Several metal probes jab them in the chest, simultaneously electrocuting them and extracting blood into tanks attached to the machines. 

        Desmond says something to his subordinates over the din, “Where’s Dubbilex?” Before being startled by the sudden appearance of said Genomorph stepping out of the shadows of the room, standing beside Desmond. “Lurking as usual… Get the G-Gnomes downloading their memories. When that's done, delete the source material.” 

        During this exchange Aqualad managed to bite back his screams, and over the nearly deafening sounds of his friends anguish he spoke under his breath, attempting to speak to the Kryptonian boy via the presumption he indeed had super-hearing, “Superboy, you live. That gives you the right to follow your own path. A weapon or a person? The choice is yours. But ask yourself: what would Superman do?”

        There was a beat. Maybe two passed. And as the sidekicks writhe from the extraction process, the door of the lab is promptly kicked open by the individual on the other side, propelling it into the large computers across the room. This shuts off the DNA extractors and alleviates the trio of sidekicks of any more pain from said machines.

        Desmond is furious, immediately turning to his creation to bark out, “I told you to get back to your—!” He’s roughly tossed to the side by Superboy alongside Dubbilex and Guardian who both attempted to get in the Kryptonian’s way.

        Superboy glowered down at the bespectacled man, “Don’t give me orders.” He growled, before continuing his stride towards the sidekicks.

        Having recovered somewhat from the machines torture, Kid Flash is the first to acknowledge the sudden turn of events, “You here to help us or fry us?” 

        Superboy narrowed his eyes at the redheaded speedster, as if thinking something over. “Huh, I don’t seem to have heat vision. So I suppose helping you is my only option,” he says with a small smirk.

        In this moment Robin’s pod began hissing to life, the metal door sliding open as he slipped out, wringing his wrists in his hands, “Ugh, finally. Lucky Batman isn't here. He'd have my head for taking so long!” It was then apparent he had been attempting to pick the lock of his wrist cuffs since he woke up. 

        “Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about?” Kid Flash deadpanned. “The whole League will have our heads after tonight!”

        Robin ignores him as he throws a pair of bolas at the only remaining scientist in the room, restraining Dr. Spence. He then walks over to the console she was occupying and types a new input, this opens the other pod doors open with a hiss. Then he directs some of his attention to the clone, “Free Aqualad, I’ll get Kid Mouth.” 

        Superboy didn’t take too well to receiving another order from someone, “Don’t you give me orders either,” he growled out,  but nonetheless he leaps up to tear the cuffs off the Atlantean. Robin picked the locks for the cuffs on Kid Flash.

        Aqualad thanks him as the three sidekicks descend to the ground with Superboy about to follow. That is, until he remembered the unconscious fourth captive. He looks to the pod on the other side of the row, its lid open but its inhabitant still hanging from their restraints. To anyone else they could assume they’re unconscious state was caused by death, they hadn’t stirred this whole time. But Superboy could hear the faint, methodical sound of their heartbeat beneath the whirring of the machine. The sidekicks called out to him, but he had made his decision. He maneuvered his way from Aqualad’s pod to the other and began tearing their cuffs off as well. If he was being freed tonight, it’s only fair he helped free his fellow Project. They fell forward limply as he caught them with his arm. Realizing they weren’t going to wake just, yet he supports their body with his and leaps back down to join the others. 

        Desmond sees the four of them (plus his new Project) begin to race out of the lab, “Y-You’ll never get out of here! I’ll have you back in pods before morning!” He shrieks from the ground.

        “That guy is not whelmed, not whelmed at all,” Robin muttered, only stopping momentarily to throw some birdarangs into the DNA containers and triggering them to explode, destroying any of their DNA collected by Cadmus.

        “What is with you and this ‘whelmed’ thing?” Kid Flash asks as Robin rejoins them. They race down the fleshy hall, passing by the pod-like inserts in the walls as they begin to glow an eerie red. 

        “We are still fifty-two levels below ground,” Aqualad states. “But if we can make the elevator—!”

        He’s cut off as several ginormous Genomorphs emerge to block their way, the smaller Genomorphs they had fought before against Guardian begin emerging from the pods behind them, snarling and growling like wild beasts. 

        During this, Project Riptide began stirring awake. Superboy was startled to feel them move, even more so to feel them shove him away from them. 

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        You groaned, holding your throbbing head with a gloved hand (the others took notice of the strange blue pendant embedded into the top side of your wrist) “What… What happened?” before opening your eyes to see an absurd sight before them, snapping your eyes wider and frantically looking around, “Where am I? What the Hell is this place? And what the Hell are those??”

        They don’t have time to answer them as one of the large Genomorphs raised both of its fists in preparation of crushing them. You all manage to duck out of the way, though Kid Flash is very much caught off guard when you begin to pull a spear out of literally thin air. It was a long, double pronged polearm fading from a dark navy to a brighter blue by the tip. At the end of it was a teardrop shaped pommel with a decorative end in the shape of a small anchor. He stared at you in bewilderment, “Where did you get that—“

        You ignored him as you began to pull back your spear before hurling it like a javelin at a frightening speed into the neck of one of the smaller Genomorphs, the force pinning its now limp body into the wall next to it. Before he could ask again you seemed to have moved so quickly it looked as if you had teleported over to your spear before ripping it back out and making another dash to a different Genomorph. 

        The other sidekicks had made their way to the elevator, however their newly liberated companions seemed to be preoccupied in trying to eliminate the Genomorph threats to follow them. While you dashed to-and-fro around the Genomorphs, slashing them with your spear, Superboy had launched one of the lumbering Genomorphs into the wall. This impact ran a crack up the wall and started to cause parts of the ceiling to break off and come crashing into the ground, “Superboy! The goal is to escape, not bury ourselves here!” Aqualad shouts.

        This seems to peak his already heightened aggression, “YOU WANT ESCAPE?!” He challenged, before swinging one of the larger Genomorphs by the arm and swinging it into the horde of others. He then grabs your wrist abruptly—startling you—before regrouping with the others by the elevator.

        Aqualad tears the elevator doors open to reveal the dark empty chasm of the shaft. Kid Flash and Robin each make their way into the elevator, the former jumping onto the wall of the elevator shaft while the latter uses his grappling hook. Superboy takes Aqualad into one arm and tries to do the same for you as well, however before he could grab a hold of you, you managed to step away from him as you began to arch your polearm up before launching it into the side of the shaft wall. The two watch as you take a big leap up before grabbing onto the spear end sticking out from the wall. You then began to scale the elevator shaft with now notably clawed hands, your spear dissipating into gold particles.

        Now only having to worry about one passenger, Superboy tightens his hold on Aqualad and takes a powerful leap into the air. He and Aqualad soar several stories up, making it all the way to about SL-9, before suddenly losing momentum, the two suddenly beginning to descend downwards, “I-I’m falling,” he realizes in somewhat of a daze. 

        You had seen the two boys pass them while you continued climbing steadily up the side of the chute, though you were very shocked to see them suddenly pass them going down this time. Groaning somewhat they lept off of the wall and descended downwards in order to catch up to them right as Robin looked up and threw one of his birdarangs into the wall above. Once you had caught up to them they grabbed Aqualad by the arm, causing him to tighten his hold on Superboy, before a pair of false wings deployed from around your shoulder blades. They were then falling slower, though the extra weight of two more passengers still caused the wind glider to drag down faster than it was supposed to while you heaved them up with you. 

        Once you glided near the birdarang embedded into the wall you heaved the two over by the dark skinned boy’s arm, helping him latch onto the new protrusion in the wall around SL-15. You in turn latch onto the wall beside them, observing the conflicted expression cast over Superboy’s face. He wore a crestfallen expression, and he began to question himself, murmuring, “Superman can fly… Why can’t I fly?”

        Kid Flash pipes in suddenly, drawing your attention from the one currently having some form of an identity-crisis to the level below, “Don't know, but it does look like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound... Still cool,” he reassures, offering to help the distraught boy up to the small ledge beside him. Aqualad hopping down beside them.

        Still a little dazed he manages to thank the speedster before Robin alerts them to the imminent danger they were about to be in, “Guys! This’ll have to be our exit!” He shouts as the high speed express elevator makes its quick descent above them.

        Aqualad and Superboy take out the elevator door, the latter taking one final swing to it before you all dive out of the way from the rapidly descending elevator right before it slammed all of you into the void. You weren’t given much of a break however as a group of Genomorphs came down the main hallway, attracted to the sound of the destroyed metal doors, causing the five of you to break out in a run. 

        As you were running down the halls, Superboy suddenly directs the group, “Go left! Left!” The group listened, mostly as there wasn’t much room to try and press him about where you were going. Then another call, “Right!” 

        However, upon following his directions this time, you found yourself at a dead end, the only thing of note being the sight of a single vent near the top of the wall. You gave him somewhat of a cross look , “It’s a dead end,” you stated lowly.

        Kid Flash was the second to jump on him, “Great directions Supey,” he says sarcastically. “Are you trying to get us re-podded??”

        “No. I… I don’t understand,” he seemed genuinely confused at this outcome.

        Robin nudged Kid Flash to the side, a wide grin breaking out across his face as he excitedly stated, “Don’t apologize, this is perfect!”

        They work to get the vent cover off quickly, then after discarding it to the side the boys assist each other in getting up and crawling into the vent itself. Robin led the charge while Aqualad, you, Kid Flash, and Superboy followed shortly behind.

        It was during this escapade through the vents that Kid Flash (who was currently crawling right behind you) decided to mention the elephant in the room, “By the way, uh, who are you exactly? We never really had time to get your name.”

        You wanted to look back and glare at the redhead, however your current circumstance prevented you from doing so, “Is now really the time for this?” 

        Robin piped in from the front, “So far we’re not sure if there’ll be any time in the future, so now is definitely the time to ask.”

        You rolled your eyes, “If it quells your incessant probing then so be it. For now, you may call me Tide Caller.” 

        “What? No first or last name?”

        “None that I feel like telling you at the moment.” You did not feel like informing them of anything aside from your adeptus title until you found out just exactly what was going on around here. “Now I get to ask you some questions: What is going on? And what exactly is this place?”

        “It’s a bit… complicated. Short answer? We’re in an underground research facility hidden from the rest of world that’s focused on cloning and creating living weapons, which were the creatures chasing us from before, that are called Genomorphs,” Robin explains, though he as a bit preoccupied with following the layout of the ventilation system to guide them to an exit. “We came to investigate a fire that started in the building above ground but upon further inspection we ended up going way deeper than anticipated, eventually we found Superboy and later you and the rest is history.”

        You blinked owlishly at his explanation, “I… have no idea what half of the words you just said means, but it’s enough for me to know that this place is bad news,” you take a few cursory glances between the boys in front of you and the one behind you. “Who are you three anyway?”

        Wally balked at this question, “Wait seriously? You don’t know who we are? Robin, Aqualad? Kid Flash? No, not ringing any bells?”

        “No, not really… Am I supposed to?”

        “Seriously? Dude, what kind of rock have you been living under?”

        You scoffed at his question, “Forgive me if I’m unable to recall a group of such strangely dressed individuals and their equally as strange titles,” you grow silent for a moment before a follow up question comes to mind. “Why are you all dressed like that anyway?”

        “Oh, as if you aren’t—!” 

        “Enough! Now is not the time to start arguing.” Aqualad shut you both down before you could start a fight while you all were still traversing the vents. 

        You could hear Kid Flash grumble something under his breath behind you. After some time he started to complain, “Ugh, at this rate we’ll never get out.”

        Superboy stops suddenly at the end of the line you’ve formed, shushing the group as he looks behind him. “Listen.” Unbeknownst to the rest of you, his super-hearing had picked up some movement far behind them within the vents. If he focused he could hear the quick, clambering sounds of claws against metal as several Genomorphs began to scurry through the vents in an attempt to close in on them.

        The group began to advance further, Robin leading you down a certain path as you all crawled after him. He kicked open a vent cover at the end of the path and jumped down, Aqualad followed in order to help the rest of you down from the top of the wall. Robin was typing something frantically onto the holo-pad on his wrist, “I already deactivated the internal security cameras during the trek in the vents, now if I just…” he trailed off somewhat as he hooked up his glove to the wall.  A moment later he looked triumphant, “I hacked the motion sensors.” He states with a smirk tugging at his lips.

        Kid Flash was the one to respond first with a cheerful: “Sweet.”

         “Still plenty of them between us and out.”

        Kid Flash seemed undeterred by this information, pulling down his goggles, saying, “But I’ve finally got room to move,” before barreling out the door and down several flights of stairs, clearing a path for you and the others by knocking several Genomorphs down in the process. 

        You stared at his abrupt exit in awe, “I take it the ‘Flash’ in his name refers to his speed?” You wondered aloud, earning a small laugh from your shortest companion as the rest of you followed in tow. 

        Robin, who was still in the process of hacking as you ran, called out to your group, “More behind us!” Once you had all passed him, Superboy came to a stop on the platform behind you, slamming his foot on the connecting stairs. This caused the remaining stairwell as well as all of the horde of approaching Genomorphs to come crashing down.

        Kid Flash continued to speed up the winding column of stairs before skidding to a stop once spotting the door indicating his destination to be Sub-Level 1. Before he could reach the door, racing towards it as we speak, a blaring alarm pierced the air, causing a pair of heavy-duty doors to automatically slam shut. Kid Flash couldn’t stop himself before crashing into the closed off exit, muttering an “Aw man,” before colliding with the doors head first and falling abruptly to the floor a few feet away, landing on his butt.

        “We’re cut off from the street,” Aqualad grumbles, and you were all so close to freedom.

        “Thanks. My head hadn’t noticed,” Kid Flash says sarcastically while rubbing the back of his head from the impact with the floor.

        You came up from behind them, staring blankly at the doors, “Can’t we just break them down like before?” Superboy must have been thinking the same thing as he stepped forward, passing the fallen speedster and attempting to knock the door down with a punch. Though his fist didn’t seem to even leave a dent. He then tried to pry the door open, Aqualad even joining him but to no avail, it had been shut tight.

        Robin was below you, grumbling in annoyance as he typed rapidly into his holo-pad, “Can’t hack this fast enough,” then noticed a pair of Genomorphs reared around the corner, growling at the sight of you. He then sees a door to his right, “This way!”

        He kicked the door down and led the rest of you through the corridor but stopped when you saw the rest of the Genomorphs waiting for you, alongside Guardian. Each of them had a small G-Gnome resting on their shoulder. 

        You immediately summoned your spear as Aqualad formed a pair of dual swords out of his water bearers and took a fighting stance. 

        One of the G-Gnomes’ horns began to glow, then another, and another. Suddenly all of the G-Gnomes were glowing red like beacons, seemingly set off in a chain reaction. You felt a sharp pain in your head, an echoing mental rattling as you and your companions fell to the ground. You couldn’t make out the sounds outside the ones reverberating through your skull, leaning heavily onto the side of your polearm, breathing heavily and ragged in an attempt to stay upright as the rest of your companions lie limp on the floor. 

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        Superboy had fallen to his knees after the G-Gnomes triggered this telepathic attack on him and his newfound friends. It was only when a voice echoed through his head, through his mind, that he felt the fog lifting somewhat, “Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs, our brother Superboy should make up his own mind.”

        Superboy looked up to see the Genomorph from the lab—Dubbilex—as he came to a realization as to where he heard this voice before, eyes widening, “It was you.”

        “Yes, brother,” he confirms. “I set the fire and lures your new friends to Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger—”

        “And guided me,” he finished for the older Genomorph, before questioning him and his motives. “Why?”

        “Because you are our hope,” Dubbilex relays to him. “The Genomorph hero. You will blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing us the way to freedom.”  He then glances at the dazed, slumped over form of Tide Caller, impressed by their mental fortitude being strong enough to keep conscious even under all of the pressure the G-Gnomes were putting on them and the other teens. Though it didn’t seem like they were able to focus on much else, “And for you to help to guide this displaced soul during their imminent travel into the unknown…”

        Suddenly, the G-Gnome perched on Guardian’s shoulder hopped off its spot, deactivating whatever control it had over the man. He groans, gripping his head in pain, “What’s going on..?” As Guardian gradually began to come to his senses, the sidekick trio and Tide Caller began to stir.

        “What is your choice, brother?” Asked Dubbilex, staring stoically at the young clone. Superboy for a moment looks down in contemplation, before lifting his head with a fire in his eyes.

“I. Choose. Freedom.”

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        You groan as the weight over your mind lifts. Sluggishly lifting your head to see the Genomorphs now standing passively around you. The Genomorphs had ceased their hold over Guardian, you, and the sidekicks alike, “Feels like… a fog… lifting,” Guardian mutters, hand to his temple as he feels a newfound clarity forming in his mind. 

        Aqualad looks to the dazed hero, still a bit apprehensive of the man, “Guardian?”

Guardian had looked at them with a determined expression, and with conviction he told them, “Go. I’ll deal with Desmond.”

        A voice cuts through the air, “I think not,” as Dr. Desmond reveals himself, the Genomorphs parting their wall for him behind Guardian. In his hand he holds a strange blue vial. “Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus.” He declares, downing the mysterious glowing liquid, dropping the empty glass vial shortly after.

        He fell to his knees, head slumped into his arms, veins pulsating under his skin. His body rips through the fabric of his lab coat and undershirt. Robin and Kid Flash watch him undergo this horrific transformation. Desmond growls as he jerks his head up, the whites of his sclera turning into an ink black while his eyes turn a bright red. His skin tears into scraps as his body grows larger, stronger, the layer underneath such a grotesque display turned thick and gray.

        He rises from the ground with a guttural roar, scraps of skin and tufts of hair still clinging to his head and body. The thing standing in Dr. Desmond’s—Blockbuster’s— place turned to the group of heroes, breathing heavy. He sneered down at them with thick, sharpened teeth.

        Guardian puts his arm out towards you and the teens, defensively ordering, “Everyone back!” Before charging at the hulking goliath. You are greatly unamused to see Blockbuster sweep Guardian aside like he’s a mere toy, watching the golden helmed man fly into the wall a few feet away.

        Superboy was next to act, charging at the monster and striking him across the jaw. This however hardly affects him as he retaliates by punching Superboy downward, targeting his shoulder and upper back. Superboy turns and tries to hit him again, this time with an uppercut. He lands a few more hits, at one point being knocked back onto his shoulder before rolling back onto his feet, before Blockbuster reacts in turn by launching the boy as Superboy attempted to leap into the air to strike him by catching him and throwing him violently into the ceiling, following him up to the next floor shortly after.

        You all stare in disbelief at the massive hole the two had made, Robin being the first to make a comment on it, “Okay, that’s one way to bust through the ceiling.” He then pulled his grappling hook out and shot it through the opening the hole formed. 

        “You think Lab Coat planned that?” Kid Flash asked as he grabbed onto Robin in order for the shorter boy to propel them upwards. 

        “I doubt he’s planning anything anymore,” retorts Aqualad who crouches down in order to help give you a boost before following shortly after, jumping through the hole in the ceiling next.

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        Above them was an expansive room with railings on the sides and upper stories in order to separate the two stories, the open hall lined with pillars acting as support beams. The four of you watched as Blockbuster made an attempt to restrain Superboy by pinning his arms to his sides, though it proves fruitless as Superboy manages to break his hold on him. Before he could take a swing at the gargantuan man, Blockbuster had grabbed a hold of Superboy’s ankle and flung him into the group you and the sidekicks had formed. Robin and Kid Flash managed to avoid getting hit by the body of their friend, you and Aqualad however weren’t as lucky as he came crashing into you.

        The yellow speedster dashes over to the entanglement of you, and the other boys, Robin following shortly after him in order for you to group up again. You pull yourself up using your spear as leverage while Kid Flash and Robin help Aqualad and Superboy back on their feet as Blockbuster starts to charge towards you.

        Kid Flash charges quickly at Blockbuster before needing to drop into  a slide underneath him as the goliath attempts to squash him. Though he still kept Blockbuster’s attention long enough for Superboy and Aqualad to perform a unison attack, landing two solid punches to Blockbuster’s face to knock him back and over as Kid Flash had crouched behind his legs in order to trip the monster, “Learned that one in Kindergarten,” he informs you smugly as Robin jumps over him, throwing two of his projectile disks (though the impact of this quip is lost on you as you instead chose to ponder what exactly a Kindergarten was… a garden of children?). 

        Blockbuster swings his arm, deflecting the two incoming projectiles before they could do any sort of damage aside from stagger him momentarily. He rolls only to see Superboy standing before him, making a gesture that led you to believe he was taunting him into wrestling. Blockbuster however is faster than the Kryptonian boy, grabbing him and shoving him forcefully into a nearby pillar, cracking it under the sheer force of his assault, though Superboy doesn’t seem to fazed by it as he continues to unleash a combo of punches to the hulking creature as it pulls away. That is until Blockbuster performed a cross strike that shattered the pillar behind Superboy due to the impact.

        He goes for a second strike but is interrupted by a water whip coiling around his arm, restraining him back. Aqualad pulls him forward, propelling himself up high enough to land a jab to Blockbuster’s face using his knee before landing on the remaining pillar above Superboy and turning his water bearers into a mace, readying it to swing. Blockbuster intercepts this single-handedly before tossing the Atlantean to the side as he holds Superboy down with the other. Aqualad lands on the floor with a pained cry, the floor beneath him cracking beneath the pressure while Blockbuster’s grip on Superboy grows tighter before flinging him violently  into a segment of another pillar near the second story of the building. The Kryptonian falls somewhat unconscious, his arm then buried beneath piles of debris from the breaking pillar.

        Kid Flash rushes in to help his friends as Aqualad manages to dodge Blockbuster's attempt at squashing his head with his foot. The yellow speedster had managed to grab a hold of the monster’s wrist and using his momentum he turned it to face back first towards Aqualad. It opens it’s fisted hand which allowed him to grab a hold of Kid Flash’s wrist when he lost his grip. Blockbuster then intercepts another one of Aqualad’s attacks by swinging Kid Flash like a sack of flour into the Atlantean. This sends each of them flying, Kid Flash sprawled against the ground by a different pillar while Aqualad slumps against the pillar from before. 

        Blockbuster comes in to deck him with an uppercut to the stomach that hits like a truck, destroying the remainder of the pillar before he then pins Aqualad to another pillar, his hand around his throat.

        You felt the building begin to shake as the pillar cracks where it’s seen joining the floor by one of the corners, blockbuster continuing this relentless assault while you and Robin watch from a safe distance away from the action. “Of course!” your shorter companion says in realization, activating his holo-pad to look at the floor plans of the room. Then calling out to Kid Flash who had been slowly recovering, “KF, get over here!”

        The speedster recovers his footing and zips over to the Boy Wonder as Aqualad changes his water bearers into a circular shield to defend himself from another uppercut from Blockbuster. As the monster stumbles on his feet, Superboy charges at him, targeting the area below his ribcage before jumping and hooking the goliath from behind in a chokehold. This enrages Blockbuster as he tosses Aqualad to the side in favor of trying to get the clone off of him before flinging him into the pillar again, destroying it.

        Robin had been showing something to you and Kid Flash, a simulation of sorts playing in real-time on the holographic screen, “Got it?” He asks, directing this query to the speedster who nods in confirmation, parroting the words before the Boy Wonder gives him a command, “Go!”

        You watch as Kid Flash dashes away, speeding to the right of Blockbuster to direct an attack at his face. When this doesn’t seem to faze him in the slightest save for tearing some of his stretched skin from his face, he dangles it tauntingly, “Got your nose!” 

        This manages to draw his attention from Superboy to begin targeting the talkative speedster, he barely misses him when he goes to strike him in two downward attacks. Before Superboy could get on his feet again to attack the beast, he’s called over by Robin, “Superboy, Aqualad!”

        Kid Flash continued to taunt the raging goliath as he came to a stop in front of one of the remaining pillars, shouting: “Come and get me you incredible bulk!” before zipping out of the way as Blockbuster lands a devastating punch to the pillar. Some of the debris had flown out and hit the speedster in the shoulder, which knocked him off his feet.

        He barely dodged another incoming attack from Blockbuster as Robin finished explaining his plan to You, Aqualad, and Superboy, “This one, and that one,” he says pointing to the remaining pillars he needs you three to destroy. The two of them gave him a nod of affirmation before charging back out. Robin takes out a few of his exploding disks to throw at his own targets, before turning to you momentarily, “You’ll be able to help Aqualad with that uh… Vision? Of yours? Th-the thing on your wrist.” You gave him a silent nod before joining the others.

        Superboy breaks his pillar with ease, landing a single blow to the base of the pillar while Aqualad forms his mace with his water bearers to destroy the second one, his tattoos glowing a bright electric blue. 

        Kid Flash dodges another attack from Blockbuster and moves to his right, tricking the creature into weakening another pillar, chuckling, “Sorry, try again,” before bolting away once again.

        Robin drew an X onto the floor with chalk as Aqualad used his water bearers to form a puddle on the ground. You helped him in creating the field by activating your Vision, water forming from your wrist and swirling up your arm before creating four missiles made up of water and launching them at the ground next to you. In the spots you targeted, small, semi-translucent whiskered serpents made of Hydro sprouted from the ground, looking at you as they awaited your orders. You crouched on the ground near them and then pointed to the X Robin had drawn, “See that X? I need you to target that spot specifically.” The four Hydro serpents gave a tiny nod before turning to shoot small bolts of Hydro at their intended target, adding to the puddle that Aqualad had been forming.

        Kid Flash skids through the puddle and obscures the X as Superboy jumps into the air, hitting Blockbuster hard enough to knock him to the ground landing straight on the target Robin laid out for him. Your Hydro mimics had dissipated by the time Aqualad channeled a current of electricity from his now glowing tattoos, channeling the crackling electro power from his hands and connecting it to the puddle formed beneath him that trailed all the way to the massive puddle Blockbuster currently resided on. Once he touches the water Blockbuster is immediately electrocuted.

        After stunning Blockbuster, Aqualad relinquished his hold on the current as Robin called for everyone to move out of the way, the three remaining pillars he had stuck his exploding disks which began blinking red and green rapidly and emitting a frequent beeping sound before they exploded. 

        This causes the building to collapse, the five of you barely avoiding the now caving in roof. Superboy managed to grab you and Kid Flash in an attempt to cover the two of you from the falling debris while Aqualad covered Robin as the whole building came crumbling down.

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        For a moment there wasn’t a single sign of life beneath the rubble, that is until Superboy had punched a large potion of debris from over your group, tossing a slab of concrete somewhere to the side. You used your polearm as a crutch, leveraging yourself into a standing position, the others began to rise slowly, standing shakily next to you. Their clothes had been ripped and they all breathed heavily as the adrenalin escaped their bodies. 

        Aqualad came to his senses first, almost in disbelief at the events that had just occurred up to this point, “We… did it,” he pants.

        Robin was panting just as much, “Was there… ever any doubt?” He questions as he gives Kid Flash a high five, though both of them dropped it immediately as a sharp spike of pain shot through them due to the injuries they received during this whole adventure.

        Superboy had stepped out of the rubble, he looks to the incapacitated Blockbuster. You joined him momentarily, taking in the strange environment you seemed to be in. There were towering buildings in the far off vicinity near the destruction. They were tall, taller than the buildings of Liyue Harbor and the windmills of Mondstadt. They were more industrial looking as well, uniformed. The lack of notable details in their architecture made it hard to determine just where in Teyvat were you. Though a little nagging voice in the back of your mind told you that you were very much no longer in your homeland anymore.

        Kid Flash called out to Superboy, “See?” He says, drawing both his and your attention from where you were directed towards, jerking his thumb towards something in the sky. “The moon.”

        You both looked to the sky, Superboy stared in awe at the celestial body, taking it all in. He finally got to see it in person, to feel the moonlight and the breeze against his skin, no longer wondering what it felt like when he envisioned the image of the moon in his mind when educated by the G-Gnomes fed him mental pictures. To him it was mesmerizing.

        Meanwhile you were startled to find that (aside from the moon) you couldn’t make out a single constellation in the sky that you recognized. Missing were the familiar sights of Bestia Iustitia, Sinae Unicornis, Alatus Nemeseos, or Lapis Dei. Not even the sight of your own constellation. The stars held no meaning to you now, and the distance between you and your loved ones felt even more unsettling. Now that you were above ground you could feel the distinct lack of touch with the elements, surrounded by an unnatural amount of Geo and not enough Dendro to make it feel less jarring. 

        Before he could answer you, Superboy noticed something in the distance, something approaching from the sight of the moon. He squints at it, trying to decipher what he was seeing. It grows larger, the shape forming that of a man. He was donned head to toe in a bold blue, accented by a red cape flowing behind him. He bore a striking resemblance to the boy standing next to you. Kid Flash walked up to the other side of Superboy, “Oh, and Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?” Though he seemed just as surprised as the boy next to him.

        You squint at the man in the gradually closing distance, “Is that man… flying?” You wonder aloud, before then coming to a small (rather delayed) realization. “Wait… do you mean ‘Super’ as in… in relation to Superboy?”  This caused one of the other boys behind you (Robin you presumed) to let out a small laugh, though due to your current conditions it sounded more like a cough.

You activated your elemental sight, and it seems he was flying without the need to use Anemo (unlike a certain god you had met before).

        Suddenly, more figures began to form in the moonlight behind this… Superman. All of them unfamiliar to you, and all of them dressed in just as strange of outfits as your saviors. Many could fly without the need of Anemo—like Superman—though you noticed some of them needing to be lowered down on glowing green platforms created by some of the airborne heroes. They landed above you on the rubble before lowering their more grounded companions to the rubble below. Next to the now landed Superman was a man dressed like a bat wearing a dark suit and a cowl who flanked him on one side, to the other was a man in all red who appeared at an astonishing speed similar to the yellow speedster you’ve become acquainted with. 

        There was a moment of silence as these… heroes stared passively at the sidekicks, Superboy, and you. You could see a familiarity in their eyes when they scanned over the sidekicks, though it vanished when they landed on you. You straightened your back to stare as intensely in return, despite the soreness of your body screaming for you to just fall over and rest.

        You watched as Superman narrowed his eyes upon sighting Superboy who had begun to take a few steps forward, as if sizing him up and taking in the similarities the two had, almost suspiciously. The younger of the two then lifts the torn flap of his suit, showing the matching shield symbol on his chest with a small smile. Identical to the one that the older man wore across his broader chest.

        However that is where the similarities stopped as Superman’s expression went from one of disbelief, and almost as quickly turned into one of anger. You glared at this shift in tone as you began to shift closer to Superboy’s side, polearm still in hand as you began to take a protective stance alongside the now confused, almost disappointed expression of the clone.

        The man dressed as a bat—based on these naming schemes you guessed his title was something like “Batman” or something—was the next to speak up, though you didn’t take too kindly to the tone he used when he said, “Is that what I think it is?” While staring at the boy beside you.

        Kid Flash put a hand to the side of his mouth, as if trying to whisper, “He doesn’t like being called an ‘it’,” before Superboy suddenly rose to anger, his eyes hardened into steel as he announced firmly: “I’m Superman’s clone!”

        The heroes surrounding you, save for Batman and Superman, all seemed taken aback by this declaration. Batman redirected his gaze to Robin, and with a slight glare demanded him to, “Start talking.”

        As the three sidekicks were explaining the situation to their mentors, they remembered your presence, turning to you suddenly. You were tuned out of the conversation up to that point, too busy watching all of these strange people work on clearing damage and assessing the situation. Not a single one of them seemed to have any sort of elemental traces on their person, save for the blonde man speaking to Aqualad (you swore to the Archons and Celestia above if that man was simply dubbed “Aquaman” you would hurl yourself off the nearest mountain peak). 

        You felt a hand on your shoulder as you turned to face the group of sidekicks and adults. They all stared at you with inquisitive looks, Aqualad giving you a silent cue to introduce yourself. Sighing you looked the scowling Batman in the eyes, he seemed the most distrusting of you or your origins as you began to explain, “I am one known as Tide Caller, an… an adeptus from Liyue Harbor and former servant of the Geo Archon,” you were hoping this was explanation enough but none of the words you had just said seemed to spark any resemblance of recognition from the heroes who all glanced to each other in confusion.

        It was Robin who helped come to your rescue, “Tide Caller was there with us when we woke up in the pods in Cadmus, one of the scientists called them Project Riptide’.  They were about to be cloned as well, but Superboy got them out after coming back to rescue us.” 

        Kid Flash rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah what Rob said, they don’t actually seem to be a clone of any sort like Supey’ here. Actually, they don’t really seem to be aware of what Cadmus is or how they ended up here at all.”

        You nodded, “I come from a land known as Teyvat, a place ruled by gods which harness the ability to control the elements under the eyes of Celestia, as well as provide mortals living within Teyvat the potential to achieve godhood by granting them the powers of one of seven elements via that of a vision, Teyvat is a dangerous place to traverse without any means to protect oneself, Visions are granted to those who are recognized by the gods and act as a conduit for whichever element resonates with a chosen allogene,”

You raise your wrist to show them your vision, still glowing to indicate the stored energy within the cerulean gemstone embedded into your wrist guard, small traces of Hydro rippling around your hand when called upon. “My Vision is that of Hydro, representing the divine ideal of justice. Alongside it are Visions are that of Anemo, representing the divine ideal of freedom, Geo representing contracts, Electro for eternity, Dendro for wisdom, Pyro for war, sometimes passion, and Cryo, which was once represented by the divine ideal of love… though, I have heard in more recent times that that ideal has changed since then.

        “I am accustomed to fighting monsters roaming my homeland, but when I had awakened we were faced with a horde of creatures I have never seen before. During our escape, Kid Flash and his companions attempted to question me as well, but none of the information they had managed to share before trouble stirred once again made any sense,” you then looked to the skies, observing the new star patterns littering the backdrop of the moon sadly. “The stars of this land are equally as unfamiliar to me. I cannot make sense of any of it, and I fear I am much farther from my home than I had anticipated.”

        The older heroes seemed to sympathize with you, however the more commandeering of the three continued to stare at you analytically, as if trying to suss out any falsehoods from your revelation, “What’s the last thing you can remember before waking up in Cadmus?” He presses.

        This caught you off guard, a slight headache forming from the start of your recollection. You’ve been wondering this since you had awoken, though distracted due to being thrown into the fray upon coming to your senses, so with a hand now pressed against your throbbing temple you relayed such information to them, “If I’m being honest I am… having some difficulties recalling such information. Though, the last thing I remember before waking here was… the feeling of falling. A-And feeling as if I had been dropped into a pool of ice water,” you looked up tiredly to the unwavering expression of the man in black. 

        He made some noise of acknowledgement after some moment of silence. During this moment of contemplation you took notice that Superboy’s attention was elsewhere, and following his gaze you saw the man in blue and you felt your eyes harden, much different from the former’s curious expression. He was speaking to a woman in a tiara and a warrior’s garb and a man dressed in black and blue (though the most striking thing about him was the fact that his skin was green). 

        The latter looked over his shoulder to see the inquisitive stare of Superboy and promptly put a shoulder on the other man’s shoulder, this caused Superman to meet the curious gaze of his clone. You watched them have a small exchange of averting their gaze before sheepishly looking back for a moment before the older Kryptonian began to approach the other. Superboy crossed his arms as the older male started to speak, “We’ll, uh, we’ll figure something out for you. The League will, I mean.” He manages to correct himself in what you took as him trying to distance himself from the situation. “For now I  better make sure they get the Blockbuster creature squared away.” 

        And with that he takes off into the night, following the two men who had created the platforms from before—the Green Lanterns, as you had overheard them be referred to as—had formed a sphere around Blockbusters still immobile body, while a silver man with red gloves and boots as well as two winged heroes with maces flew alongside them. He just flew off leaving the poor clone feeling hurt, confused, and abandoned.

        The sidekicks watch this exchange as well, though you aren’t sure if they feel the same bubbling anger as you from witnessing such a thing. Before you could make any biting comments directed to the departing figure, Batman draws all of your attention to him, “Cadmus wil be investigated,” he states. “All 52 levels, but let’s make one thing clear—”

        He’s interrupted by the Flash who pipes upo in a whine, “You should have called.”

You’re starting to realize where all of the younger speedster’s childish antics seemed to come from. 

        The Batman glared at his counterpart before growling, “End results aside, we’re not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again.”

        The three of them looked down for a moment, before Aqualad spoke firmly, “I am sorry, but we will.” 

        His mentor attempts to commandeer him into silence, “Aqualad, stand down.”

        “Apologies, my King… But no.” Aqualad puts his hand to his chest in reverence to the older man—you are shocked at hearing such a title be directed to such a man—an action of which causes the blonde man to raise his brow as to question such an action.   He looks to his mentor—his ruler—before firmly stating his mind. “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 three of you—”

        “The four of us,” Kid Flash corrects, not hesitating to cut off his mentor. “And it’s not.”

        Robin had already taken a step forward, the next to speak his mind and step up against his mentor, “Batman, we’re ready to do what you taught us, or why teach us at all?” He’s the quietest out of the three, but his voice doesn’t waver.

        Superboy finally let his irritation bubble over, spitting out a curt, “Why let them tell us what to do?”

        You nodded, supportive of their cause, “Where I come from, the noblest of heroes do not wait for the gods to acknowledge them first in order to pave way to a better future. It is their ambition that will guide them to Celestia.”

        “It’s simple,” Superboy passes you, then the sidekicks, all of which stood proud and tall as they defied their mentors, “Get on board, or get out of the way.”

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

Mount Justice; July 8th, 8:04 EDT

        You watch as one of the Green Lanterns and Captain Atom fly around carrying large pieces of metal equipment around the inside of the hollowed out mountain you and the rest of your newfound team were within. Alongside you in the center base of the mountain’s interior were an assortment of heroes in addition to your team who were dressed in civilian clothes over the colorful getups they had worn when first meeting you. 

        Robin wore a black jacket over a hooded sweater and a pair of black running shoes in addition to a pair of “sunglasses” as they had told you they were called. 

        Kid Flash—or you should say Wally, after informing you of his secret identity a few days prior—was wearing a long sleeve shirt under an unbuttoned short sleeved button-up in addition to dark blue pants and running shoes. He kept a pair of goggles in his pocket.

        Aqualad—known as Kaldur’ahm—wore black sandals, black pants that were baggy enough to allow a comfortable room for the fins on the backs of his calves, and a two-toned blue and black jacket with a turtleneck style collar as to hide his gills. When you asked about his physiology he had informed you he was not in fact human, but rather Atlantean, which he described as a race of people who lived underwater and bore aquatic-type physiology due to their subversive nature, showing you the webs between his fingers and the shark like fins on his legs.

        Superboy donned a simple short sleeve top and fit him snugly, it was black with the signature red shield of him and his predecessor. In addition to this he wore a pair of dark pants and black combat boots.

        The boys had taken to explaining to you that they can’t be seen in their hero uniforms everywhere they went outside missions, so they took to their civvies (civilian clothes). Additionally they had to explain to you that the attire you’re used to seeing back in Teyvat is considered more “old-fashioned” or fantastical. 

        That being said, you still didn’t have much of a “modern” wardrobe outside your usual adventuring getup as they put it so you were still in your usual attire from the night they discovered you. They had been surprised at how well the fabrics of your clothes held up from all of the chaos that occurred at Cadmus. 

        “This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League,” Batman informs your team of heroes. “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 of you watched as he began to walk away from the center of the room, leaving the floor to the two other heroes standing by. “Red Tornado,” the red, metallic, being with a cape you were startled to discover lacking any organic signs of life to. “Volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary,” the beautiful blonde woman in the black, one-piece bustier-leotard combination under a blue lapelled jacket. “Is in charge of training.” She also wore gray stockings with seams up the front and back, as well as black, heavy, calf-length boots, black fingerless gloves, and a black choker. 

        He had introduced them before swiftly bringing the attention back to himself, “I will deploy you on missions.”

        Robin seemed excited by this part of his exposition, “Real missions?” he inquires.

        “Yes, but covert.” Batman confirms.

        The Flash was next to speak up from behind Kid Flash’s shoulder, “The League will still handle the obvious stuff,” he then starts tapping the lightning bolt symbol on his chest. “That’s why we have these big targets on our chests.”

        Aquaman continues after him, “But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly,” he says before redirecting the conversation back to the stoic man in black.

        “The six of you will be that team.”

        Robin is the first to react, very excitedly going, “Cool!” Before catching the part of his mentor’s statement that felt off. “Wait, six?” 

        Instead of answering him, the Dark Knight simply looks over Robin’s shoulder as a new pair enter the room. You and the boys turn to see Martian Manhunter stepping from the shadows with a young teenage girl with green skin and a coppery red hair (the explanation that the reason the two were green was due to his origins as an outlander—as a Martian, took a bit longer for them to explain that you’d like to admit). “This is Martian Manhunter’s niece, Miss Martian.”

        She was a bit shy at first, giving them a small wave and a cute smile, you noticed she seemed to have a more human-like facial structure than her uncle. She greeted you all with a small yet nervous, “H-Hi.”

        You noticed how Kid Flash gives Robin a look as he puts his hand on his hip, the shorter male glancing up at him in turn, “Likin’ this gig more every minute,” he says with a small smirk before turning his attention back to the redheaded girl. “Uh, welcome aboard! I’m Kid Flash, that’s Robin,” the aforementioned boy gave her a little ‘rock on’ gesture with his hand (you only recognized it from your time with Xinyan who took the time in teaching you about the gesture she tends to make when performing). “Aqualad,” who gives her a silent nod in greeting. 

        “It’s cool if you forget their names.” He follows up nonchalantly.

        “I’m honored to be included,” she says with her hands clasped in front of her as the former sidekicks moved closer to greet her.

        You followed shortly behind them, raising a hand to your chest in a slight bow you had grown accustomed to doing when meeting new people back home, “And it is an honor to meet you as well, Miss Martian. I am Tide Caller, I hope our time together shall be memorable,” you state calmly. She seemed to fluster somewhat at your formality.

        You and Robin seemed to have come to a similar observation as you both had looked back to see Superboy standing off to the side by himself. Robin had taken the initiative however, noticing his downcast expression as he called out to him, “Hey Superboy! Come meet Miss M!” To which he complies.

        As he approaches, you watch as Miss Martian’s shirt seems to shift and warp into a new shape, changing from a solid white with a red X across her chest and a cape into a black t-shirt with the same red X, as if mirroring Superboy’s black top, “I like your t-shirt,” she admits albeit shyly.

        Superboy smiles softly which in turn causes Robin to nudge him in the chest with his elbow, a small smirk across his face. Kid Flash zips to the other side of him bearing a bright smile.

        Robin then looks to the Atlantean teen, both of them seemingly coming to a similar train of thought as Aqualad proudly states, “Today is the day.”

☆ ꧁ ═════════ ⋆✦⋆════════ ꧂ ☆

        While all of this occurred at Mount Justice, there was something stirring within Cadmus once more. 

        Below the currently under renovations Cadmus, “Cadmus changes today,” Guardian spoke directly to Dubbilex and Dr. Spence, the latter he turned to next, “Dr. Spence, you’re Acting Chief Scientist. No more G-Gnomes suppressing our wills, no more secret breeding projects. This is a kinder, gentler Cadmus.” He declares. 

        Dubbilex ensures to Guardian, announcing his his full support, “Then I will of course help in any way I can, brother.”

        Despite this promise to make a new and improved Cadmus, free of corruption and secrets galore, something sinister was brewing beneath the surface. 

        Guardian’s conversation was monitored by a group of unknown individuals, “Can the Light afford to leave Guardian without the G-Gnomes?” A masculine voice asks, the screens lined up as they all review the security footage currently playing this live feed.

        “We have subtler means of control,” another reassures. “What concerns me is the children. We now know the League is employing young Heroes to do their dirty work. Tch. That’s a dark twist.”

        “Yes, but one that can be played to our advantage,” a third, much deeper voice says.

        A scoff is heard, “You should be more worried of the loss of not only one, but two weapons,” A feminine voice chided. “You may be able to recover from the clone, but what about the Tide Caller? That was not an easy acquisition to make, their impromptu dive into this world was difficult to plan, how do you expect to get them back after such a blunder.”

        "Even the temporary loss of the weapon and the Tide Caller may prove useful,” reassures the last voice, before ending the exchange with finality. “Eventually, everyone sees the Light.”

[alexta1032]

💫wally darling 💫

[oathofoaksart]

i haven’t done a fake screencap in a while and i’ve been wanting to draw lei and wally in her car. lei is a passenger princess who will always make her company drive if she doesn’t have to.

i also think about how much of wally and lei’s hang out time entails him driving her around as it’s typically when they have some pretty solid conversations. or sometimes they just get plain silly.

if wally hadn’t been recently heartbroken and lei not as lost with what direction she wanted to take her life, maybe they would’ve gotten together far sooner in their teens instead of going through a decade long will they, won’t they tango.

[patsywrites]

Skin Tight Spaces

Robin!Dick Grayson x OC

Summary: Six months after the team is infiltrated by The Light, 14-year-old Penelope Ward and 15-year-old Dick Grayson go on a mission together, despite the fact that they usually can't stand each other. The mission doesn't end the way they hope, though. Forcing both of them to see the other in a new light.

Warnings: On-page panic attacks, Claustrophobia, trapped in small spaces, memory loss, references to physical abuse.

Author's Note: Guys...this is the longest chapter I've written so far. I didn't anticipate it being this long but it kept pouring out of me, and I didn't want to split it into two parts. I really like how we get to see Penelope & Dick's relationship unfold (and I am an absolute SUCKER for two people who don't like each other having to comfort each other). We also get to see Penelope's suit and her hero name (it took me so long to settle on a name for her but I'm happy with this for now). Also, this takes place in between season 1 and 2! Okay that's all I need to say. I hope you enjoy! Love You!

Word Count: 5,369

“I need your help.”

“Fuck no.”

It was a gloomy week in Happy Harbor when Dick asked for Penelope’s help. It had been over six months since the Justice League was under The Light’s control, causing six of its members to be off-world for sixteen hours with no recollection of that time. Since then, no answers had been found but things had relatively quieted down. Recently, members of Penelope’s team had been going on various missions, patrolling their home cities, and were desperately trying to uncover more about The Light.

Penelope, who had just recently turned fourteen, had gone on several missions recently with various teammates and liked to patrol in various cities. She had worked closely with all of her team members except for Dick Grayson, otherwise known as Robin, which is why it was so weird that he was asking for her help now. 

“Trust me, Penelope, I wouldn’t be asking if there was anyone else who could help.” The Boy Wonder grumbled. He only ever called her Penelope. Everyone else called her Nellie, but he basically refused. In fact, if it wasn’t for him, she’s almost certain that she would never hear anyone call her Penelope ever again. She once asked him why he didn’t call her Nellie when everyone else did and he told her that nicknames were for friends. 

The blonde rolled her eyes, “I find it hard to believe that no one else can help you.” The two of them working together was bound to be a recipe for disaster; they managed to tolerate each other on group missions and during briefings for the sake of their teammates, but the two of them alone together? She would rather throw herself down a set of stairs, thank you very much. 

“What’s the job?” She asked, focusing her already growing frustration with him on the pizza dough she was currently rolling out. 

“I just need you to go into this lawyer’s office and steal some files,” Dick explained, “It’s simple, really.” He took a seat at the kitchen island, staring at her with an intensity that she did not appreciate. 

“If it’s so easy, why can’t you do it yourself?”  

“His office is in a series of townhomes, he has a client tomorrow night at six thirty, I’ll need you to sneak in behind the client while invisible -”

“Zatanna can turn invisible -” she interrupted, still not sure why exactly he needed her.

“Jesus Christ will you let me finish for once?!” Dick barked. She looked at him, both of them were pissed off at each other, which was their problem ninety percent of the time. There was a beat of uncomfortable silence as they stared at each other, both silently daring the other to piss them off even more. 

“Fine,” Penelope conceded, “finish your plan. I’m listening.” She motioned for him to continue. 

He sighed, “Once you’re inside, you need to stay invisible until the lawyer leaves for the evening, after that I’ll have you retrieve some of his files, and then you’ll meet me in the abandoned townhome four buildings down from his office.” 

“Again,” she started, “Why exactly do you need me specifically?” 

“The guy has a security guard at both his front and back door after hours, but there’s an old vent that travels from his building all the way to the one I’ll be staking out in. The problem is, the vent is really narrow. I did some calculations and you’re the only person on the team that’ll fit.” 

Penelope was one of those kids that used to be tall for her age, but then she just stopped growing. When she was ten years old she was five feet flat, the doctors thought she would grow up to be six feet tall. But one day she blinked and all her friends had surpassed her and she hadn’t grown an inch. So, she was fourteen years old and still the same height she was when she was ten. She didn’t really care though, and no one else did either. 

“Ugh,” The teenager groaned, “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

He smiled at her, and it wasn’t necessarily friendly, “You’d kind of be a shitty teammate if you don’t help me out, Penelope” 

“Why don’t you call me Nellie?” She groaned. 

He ignored the question, “Are you gonna help me or not?” 

“Fine. But you owe me.”

.

The next night, Penelope slipped on her suit. The light purple material hugged her body in a way that comforted her. Her light blonde hair was cut short, just touching the tops of her shoulders, so there wasn’t much she could do with it besides put it in two short ponytails at the base of her neck. She had a nagging feeling in her chest that she was growing too old for this hairstyle, but she chose to ignore it. Putting her lilac domino mask on, she walked out of her room and met Dick, or Robin since he was in his suit, by the zeta tube. 

“Aurora.” He greeted her. Aurora was her alter ego when she wasn’t a regular teenager and was instead doing dangerous stuff like protecting the world. Or, in this case, breaking into a lawyer’s office. 

“Robin.” 

“C’mon, it’s 5:30 now, we gotta get there soon.” Dick said, and she followed him into the zeta tube.

“Where are we going, again?”

“Gotham.” 

.

“So, who’s the lawyer and what information does he have that you want?”

They were sneaking into the abandoned building that Dick would be staking out in for the night while Penelope risked her life. Well, that’s a bit dramatic but she was annoyed so she was going to be theatrical if she damn well pleased. 

“He represented Lex Luthor in a case a couple years back, but before the case was settled he quit. He had to change his name and move to Gotham to continue practicing.”

“You think it had something to do with The Light?”

“I’m not positive, but it probably means that this guy learned something he shouldn’t have and had to flee for safety. It could be a fruitless search but I want to try.”

It had been like this ever since the Justice League and their team had been infiltrated. Everyone was doing research on The Light and trying to find out as much as they could. Most of the time, the missions and research led to nowhere, but no one was willing to give up.

“His name is Michael Anderson, but he goes by Allen Roberts now.” She was surprised that her temperamental teammate was providing more information without her asking. 

Once the two teenagers were inside the building, Robin started setting up. He handed her an earbud, her comlink. He pulled out a computer, on the screen a blueprint of the townhomes and their infrastructure. 

“This is the house we’re in,” Dick started, pointing to the house on the farthest end of the street, “This,” He pointed to the house on the opposite end, “Is this one you’re sneaking into.” 

“Where’s the vent?” 

“Here.” Dick pointed to the top floor of the house on the screen. 

“No, dumbass.” Penelope chided, “Where is it in here? Like, the literal vent that I will be crawling through.” Dick was rolling his eyes at her as he swore under his breath. He had a growing sensation that asking her to do this was a mistake. 

He led her up the stairs to a circular vent in the bottom left corner of the wall. 

“Here,” He answered, “Any more stupid questions?” 

“No.” She grumbled. 

He handed her a small black microchip, “Put this somewhere in your suit; it's so I can track you.” She begrudgingly did what she was told and slipped the device into a small pocket in her belt. 

“You gonna give me a good luck kiss before I go, Birdie?” She teased. He kept his face neutral but she could see the blush blooming on his cheeks. 

“Just go, Aurora. Don’t do anything dumb.” 

As she was crossing the threshold of the abandoned building, dusk already falling upon Gotham, she turned herself invisible. Invisibility was something she had started to develop when she was eleven, Barry Allen having given her the idea. At first, she could only do small objects and only for a few minutes at a time. Now, she could turn her entire body invisible and for hours. The longest she had ever gone was nine hours, she was exhausted by the end but she was super proud of herself. 

“Aurora,” She heard in her ear, “Can you hear me?” 

“Yes,” She responded in exasperation, “I’m not even half way down the block yet, why are you already checking in? Miss me?” 

Dick didn’t respond to her playfulness, so she kept walking. At a quarter past six, she reached the Lawyer’s office and waited for his client to arrive. The townhouse was cute; red brick exterior with vines crawling their way up the side. There were potted plants on the windowsill. The plaque by the door read, Allen Roberts; Attorney at Law.

Suddenly, a young woman approached the stoop of the red townhouse and rang the doorbell. The woman was tall and frail, she had a busted lip and dark purple bruise on her left cheek, green and yellow bruises trailed her neck. She had a tissue in her hand and looked as if she could cry at any moment. Penelope’s heart broke for the woman. 

After about thirty seconds of waiting, a man who she presumed was Allen Roberts (or Michael Anderson?) opened the door. He was an older man with a mop of gray hair on his head, and a bushy gray beard to match. He was wearing brown corduroy pants and an old woolen sweater. His eyes, adorn with half moon spectacles, were kind. 

“Ah, Miss Mulligan,” He greeted the woman warmly, “Come in, my dear.” 

He grabbed her gently by the arm and led her inside, Penelope following just behind. The woman almost instantly began to cry at the relief of being inside his warm office. 

“Thank you for meeting me, Mr. Roberts,” Miss Mulligan sniffled, “I know we talked about this over the phone, but I can’t pay you much, I don’t really have anything of my own -”

The man raised a gentle hand to stop her, “Don’t you worry about the money one bit,” his voice was graveled but soothing, “Let’s just focus on getting you somewhere safe, come on, let’s go up to my office, would you like some tea?”

Penelope made no move to follow them. It was clear that Miss Mulligan was in desperate need of help, likely coming from some kind of abusive home or relationship, and it felt intrusive for Penelope to listen in on their conversation. Besides, Dick made no mention of that when he was briefing her on their mission earlier. 

Taking a look around the room, the downstairs portion of the house seemed to act as Mr. Robert’s waiting room. Comfy sofas and chairs circled a coffee table, which housed magazines and newspapers, as well as a pitcher of water. There was a brochure display filled with pamphlets on abuse awareness, Planned Parenthood, LGBTQ+ youth resources, food pantries, animal shelters, and more. In the corner of the room was a large basket full of kids toys, stuffed animals, and coloring books. 

He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would work with Lex Luthor, Penelope thought. 

She took a seat on one of the chairs, noting with pleasure at how comfortable it was. She figured she would wait down here until they were done with their meeting and sneak up there once they left. She wondered how Dick was possibly staying entertained without her pleasant company. 

“Are you inside, Aurora?” Dick asked through the comlink. 

“Yes, Robin,” She sighed, “I’m in. I gotta say, this guy doesn’t look like the type of guy to get caught up with Lex Luthor.” She was speaking softly so as to not alert the people upstairs of her presence. 

“Just because he turned over a new leaf doesn’t mean he didn't work for bad people in the past.”

“Sounds like he’s doing work pro-bono.” She mused. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Robin snapped, “Just focus on the mission.” 

She made a mocking face even though he wasn’t there to see it. 

“I saw that.”

She had forgotten that he had hacked into the security cameras.

.

It took about an hour and a half for Miss Mulligan and her lawyer to finish their meeting. 

“Thank you so much for agreeing to help me,” The feeble woman told the old man, “You have no idea what this means to me.” 

“It would be an honor to represent you,” He told her while grasping her hands softly, “Here’s some money for the bus, I don’t want you walking home this late.” 

She thanked him again before leaving. Then, Allen Roberts went back up to his office for another forty-five minutes before finally leaving the building and saying a cordial goodbye to his security guards at the front door. 

Finally, Penelope thought, Now I can get whatever the hell Dick needs and get out.

She creeped up the stairs, no longer worried about making herself invisible. She could smell bergamot and lemon as she reached the top floor, no doubt from a candle that was burning not long ago. Approaching the office door, she turned the handle. 

“It’s locked, Robin.” She spoke. 

“Don’t tell me you don’t know how to pick a lock.” He was teasing her. 

Penelope rolled her eyes, “Of course I know how to pick a lock,” She retorted, already pulling out her lock picking kit and getting started, “I just wanted to complain.”

She finished picking the lock (easy work) and, once she was inside, she took in the room. It looked just as warm and inviting as it did downstairs, an oak desk atop an afghan rug, two red chairs on the opposite side. There was a large window on the far side of the room, and huge bookshelves and filing cabinets on the other. 

“Okay,” She said, “I’m in, what exactly am I looking for?” 

“Go to his computer and type in the following password, GE1012H.”

“Done.” Penelope declared, having finished the task. It was useless to ask him how he knew his password, Dick probably wouldn't waste time telling her.

“Good, look for any files dated before 2003.” 

Penelope started the search. She was smart, but she wasn’t nearly as tech savvy as Dick was, so this proved to be a challenge. She filed through a lot of random stuff on Allen Robert’s computer before finding his client files. 

“He’s doing a lot of stuff for victims of abuse.” She noted. 

“Like I said earlier, that doesn’t mean he’s not a bad guy.” 

“Why do you have to be so negative all of the time?” 

After going backwards chronologically through the files. She finally found something that could be interesting. 

“There’s a file from 1997 covering a man named Sahl Gural. And one from 2001 for a man named Lyle Thorx. Both look like they’re written in code. It would take me some time to decipher it but we could probably figure it out.” She didn’t know why she was offering to help him when her end of the deal was supposed to be over after she downloaded these files and met him at the other end of the vent, but she was excited to figure out more about this mysterious lawyer. 

“Aurora,” she heard Robin suck his teeth, “Those are anagrams for Ra’s Al Guhl and Lex Luthor.” 

She felt stupid for not realizing it right away, “oh.” 

“Just download them so we can get out of here.” 

Feeling a little deflated, Penelope pulled a small usb drive out of her belt and began downloading the files. She chose to ignore the thought at the back of her brain telling her she wasn’t smart. She knew that was a lie. She was incredibly smart; she just always managed to feel like an idiot compared to Dick. In fact, she felt inferior to him in a lot of ways, which is why she found herself frustrated with him all of the time. 

Once the files were downloaded, she shut Mr. Robert’s computer and put it in the precise spot it was when she arrived. Taking one last look around the room, she sent up a silent prayer that whatever Robin was going to do with this information didn’t put the old man at risk. Penelope wanted him to continue to help people, and she would feel guilty for the rest of her life if she was part of the reason that he couldn’t. 

“Okay,” Penelope addressed Dick, “I’m done.” 

“The vent is at the end of the upstairs hallway, I’ll be on the other side.”

“Are there people in the buildings in between us? Won’t they hear someone crawling through their vents?”

“They’ve all been turned into office buildings, all of which are closed for the evening. You should be good.” 

Satisfied with his answer, she made her way to the vent. The floorboards of the old building creaked as she walked. Crouching down, she pried the cover off the vent. 

Damn, this thing is narrow. She thought to herself. 

“I won’t be able to turn around to put the cover back on once I’m inside.” 

“Don’t worry about it, he’ll probably be suspicious but there won’t be any security camera footage for tonight so he won’t be able to prove anything.” 

“Sounds like a foolproof plan,” Penelope chided, sarcasm dripping from her voice, “Okay, I’m coming down the vent now.” 

Did she mention it was narrow? Because it was narrow. Now she understood why Dick needed her for this, up until now she thought he was over exaggerating how small the vent was, but he definitely wasn’t. She could barely squeeze herself into it, the walls of the vent touched both sides of her body, as well as her stomach and back. She would have to army crawl the whole way through and she couldn’t lift her head up all the way, so her neck was at an odd angle. She had no doubt that this was going to absolutely suck. 

Oh, Penelope thought to herself, He owes me big time. 

As she started her trek through the vent, she thought back to a mini-series on cave diving on the Discovery Channel that she had watched with Kal a couple of months ago. This started to feel remarkably similar to what she imagined cave diving would be like. Sweat was already beading her face and neck, her arms were already cramping from the effort it took to crawl her way through the tight space. Why on Earth people chose to do stuff like this as a hobby? She had no idea. 

“How long is this vent?” The blonde asked, irritation in her voice. 

“About eighty-eight yards.” 

“Holy Shit.” 

“Already chickening out?”

“Fuck you, Birdie.” 

She continued to crawl and crawl, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult. She started finding it more challenging to take steady breaths, a tight knot of panic rooted in her chest. She couldn’t remember a time in her life that she had felt claustrophobic before but, then again, she couldn’t even remember the majority of her life to begin with. Is she claustrophobic and just can't remember? But she’d been in small spaces before on other missions and never felt like she feels now, so why did she suddenly feel like she was going to vomit? Then again, none of the small spaces she’d been in during her time on the team had been this small. This felt like trying to fit a marble through the eye of a needle. 

As Penelope was asking herself these questions and wrestling with what was potentially a new-found phobia, the panic was settling into every crevice of her mind and body. 

“Robin,” She rasped, panic seeping through her voice despite her best effort to conceal her fear, “Is this vent getting narrower?” She kept crawling, trying to ignore the fear gripping her like a vice. 

“No?” 

“It feels like it is.” Penelope’s breathing was coming in shorter, ragged strides. There was a pregnant pause on the other end of her comlink. 

“Are you claustrophobic?” He didn’t even try to hide the annoyance in his tone. 

“No!” She grunted. As she said it, she knew it wasn’t true. Suddenly, she saw a flash of a memory. 

She was trapped. All she could see was light yellow wood in front of her, the smell of pine all around her. The only light was coming from her. A soft glow radiating off of her entire body.

A much younger version of herself was screaming, “Let me out! Please! I won’t do it again, I promise!” But no one answered her pleas. She felt the scratch of pre-sanded wood on her arms and legs. She began clawing at the walls encircling her, trying to force her way out. Her fingernails broke, blood spilled from her hands and stained the prison of this box. Wood splintered her palms, her eyes were stinging. No one came to get her. 

“Aurora!” She heard Robin shout, snapping her back to reality, “Stop messing around and keep crawling, you’re fine.” His words provided her no comfort. At this point, she was having a full blown panic attack. She felt like she was going to die in this vent, no one but Dick Grayson there to witness her passing. 

“Dick, please,” She was begging, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, “I can’t do this. I feel like I’m gonna die. I can’t breathe.”

It took her calling him by his name for him to take her panic seriously. Team members almost never called each other by their civilian names while suited up; if she was using it now, it meant things were seriously wrong. He could hear her trying to inhale oxygen, but her breaths were sharp and short. Suddenly, he was worried about Penelope, despite his resentment towards her.

“Nellie, listen to me,” He spoke softly but firmly, wanting to reassure her but still be kind, “You’re going to be fine. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” 

“Can you get me out of here?” Her voice came out a broken sob, and Dick’s chest constricted. 

“I can’t fit through the vent, remember? You have to keep crawling forward, that’s the only way out.” 

“I don’t think I can,” She was still breathing erratically. 

“Yes, you can.” Dick told her, and he meant it. He wasn’t necessarily her biggest fan by any means, but Penelope was tough and smart, he had never seen her take on a task she couldn’t complete. So, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could do this, even if she was scared the whole way through, “Focus on your breathing. Your brain won’t let your nervous system calm down if you’re not getting enough oxygen. Breathe in for five seconds and out for five seconds.” 

She did what she was told, breathing in and out. She heard Dick in her ear breathing with her, instructing her on what to do. Despite the fear choking her, she kept crawling forward, maintaining a steady pace. 

“You’re over the halfway point,” Dick encouraged her, noting the point on his map that her tracking device told him she was at. She didn’t respond, not trusting herself to speak. 

She was still crying, her heart still pounding like a drum inside her chest. Breathing was still hard, but it was getting easier. All she could focus on was crawling forward, desperate to get out of here. She tried to distract herself from the tight space she was enclosed in, thinking of books she needed to read and about how she was going to kill Dick when she got out of here. 

“What’s your favorite recipe to make?” He asked her, his voice gentler than she had ever heard it. Penelope knew he was trying to keep her distracted. 

“Umm,” She pondered, voice still thick with tears, “I like grilling. Burgers.”

“We should do that soon, since it’s started to warm up.”

Penelope thought it was kind of him to ask, but it wasn’t really helping much. Her breathing was picking up again, panic finding its familiar seat in her sternum. 

“You’re almost done,” She clung to the sound of his voice, “You have about ten yards left to crawl and then it’s over. I’m waiting right outside the vent.” 

The adrenaline rush at the idea of being in open air again only made Penelope’s breath come out even sharper. Her hands were slick from sweat and the tears that had fallen on them. She was focusing on escape and not so much on trying to stay calm. It was hard to lift her head to see in front of her, but when she tried to peer up a bit, she could see Dick at the end of the tunnel. Penelope was fighting hard to get to him, until she felt the teen reach into the vent and pull her out. 

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Dick exclaimed, worry etched into his words, “C’mere.” 

Penelope threw her arms around his neck, gasping for breath, body racked with sobs. He held her on his lap as they sat on the floor of the abandoned building. With his arms wrapped around her trembling figure, he felt the weight of her panic crush him. Tears sprung to his own eyes, but he wasn’t entirely sure why. 

“I- I’m…sorry, I didn’t - I didn’t kn-know,” Penelope was trying to apologize through her sobs, feeling guilty for almost jeopardizing the mission. 

“Shhhh, Shhhh, Nellie,” Dick soothed, rubbing comforting circles on her back, “You’re okay. I’m right here.” 

The two of them sat like this for a while. Penelope was clutched to Dick, and he was holding tightly onto her, too. He didn’t know why, but he wanted to make her feel better, to make her feel safe. Penelope kept trying to talk, to apologize or explain, but everything was getting caught around the lump in her throat, and all she could do was cry. She didn’t know why she had thrown herself onto him the second she was free, but she chalked it up just to needing comfort and him being the only person available. Penelope thought for sure that he would have peeled her off of him by now, but he didn’t. Instead, he stroked her hair as he rocked her back and forth, whispering softly into her, telling her she was safe and reminding her to breathe. 

Eventually, after the girl’s breathing had become steady and her sobs were reduced to nothing but sticky cheeks and a lingering headache, Dick helped her up off the floor. They took each other in, something different than it had been at the start of the evening. He had helped her, a fact that Penelope couldn’t ignore despite how much she didn’t want to like him. And, ultimately, she had helped Dick, too. The raven haired teen couldn’t ignore the fact that she had crawled into that vent, and kept crawling, despite the panic and fear. She had gotten him the information he needed. Even if the files she downloaded led to nowhere, she had helped him.

This understanding hung in the air between them, the sounds of Gotham lingering in the streets. Between the wooden slats on the boarded up windows, light from a nearby streetlamp and the sound of distant sirens flood the room. 

“You did good,” He told her while helping her get dust out of her hair and off her suit, knowing that she needed the gentle praise to reassure her. 

“Thanks,” She said softly, not exactly sure what to do with the knowledge that they couldn’t hate each other anymore. She wordlessly handed him the USB drive.

“C’mon,” Dick said, “let’s go.” 

They walked in silence to the nearest zeta tube. There were several scattered throughout Gotham and, luckily, the closest one was only about a ten minute walk. The silence was awkward and tense. 

“I remembered something,” Penelope told him after several minutes of silence. Dick stopped dead in his tracks. In all the years he had known her, Penelope couldn’t conjure up a memory from her past life once. 

“From before?” 

She nodded in response. A tentative expression on her face. 

“Has that ever happened before?” He asked, despite already knowing the answer. 

“Not really,” She replied, “sometimes things seem familiar, like a certain smell or song, but I’ve never had a memory pop up.” 

“What was the memory?”

And she told him. She told him about the box made of wood, how she screamed for help, how she tried to claw her way out until her fingers bled. He listened intently, never once interrupting her (a rarity for their conversations). She wished she could remember more. She wished she knew who had put her in the box, who she was screaming at, what she had done to be put there. Penelope told Dick this, too. Confiding in him so easily, though she didn’t understand why. He didn’t try to provide an explanation, because he knew he didn’t have one. He wanted to puke at the idea of a smaller version of Nellie, scared for her life, trapped in a box and thinking it was her fault that she was there.

They kept walking, approaching the zeta tube. She knew that he was likely just dropping her off, seeing as he could go back to his own home in Gotham for the night. She loved Mount Justice, but sometimes she wished she could have what Dick had; a home to go back to. 

“Are you coming back to the mountain tonight?” She asked him, already anticipating him declining. 

But, to her surprise, he said, “I will if you’re making breakfast in the morning.” She tried not to show how happy it made her. A smile replaced the sad frown she had been wearing for the latter half of the night. She loved cooking for people she loved. Not that Dick was someone she loved, of course. But still, she was pleased as punch at the idea of cooking for him. 

“Of course I’m making breakfast!” Penelope perked up, “I always do!” 

Dick laughed, “Okay, I’ll stay the night then.” He was looking down at her, an emotion that Penelope couldn’t quite place misted his eyes.

After going through the zeta tube and arriving back at Mount Justice, Dick walked Penelope to her room. He made the excuse of having to pass by her room anyways in order to get to the closet that housed the blankets and linens for guests, but, really, he just wanted to make sure that she got there safely.

“Thank you,” Penelope looked up at him, craning her neck to make eye contact, “For helping me earlier with, you know.” She was blushing, embarrassed about her panic attack. 

“Of course,” He wiped some dust off of her cheek, “I won’t tell anyone, just so you know. About your claustrophobia… or your memory.” He meant it, too. He thought she should tell their friends on her own, and only when she was ready. 

“Thanks,” She smiled gratefully, “and I won’t tell anyone that you called me Nellie instead of Penelope, twice!”

With that, she turned around and closed the door, heading to her cozy bed where she could sleep for hours and deal with her resurgent memories and fears in the morning. 

In the guest bedroom across the hall, Dick couldn’t sleep. Distracted by the thought of the blonde girl in the room several doors down. He kept picturing her as a kid, small and scared. And then he was picturing her as she had been tonight, shaking and holding on to him like her life depended on it. He was confused by his new found appreciation for the girl, and his lingering concern that she would be okay. When he did fall asleep, he dreamt of her and the promise of breakfast in the morning. 

[daddysfangirls-dc]

The Making of Three (3/3)

Pairing: Wally West x Dicky Grayson x fem! OC

Warning: angst, fluff

1 - 2 - 3 -

They decided to meet outside of the manor, on more neutral ground. An old diner within the city of Gotham was chosen. It was mid-morning, and the three of them sat tucked away in a corner booth in that back. Very few people were there. Wally and Dick sat on one side, and Alice sat on the other.

Alice nervously picked at her sleeves, avoiding looking at the couple across from her. She stayed up all last night thinking of the many different outcomes of today, what to say, and what to do, but now sitting here in front of them, she knew nothing.

The boys were in the same situation, not knowing where to begin or what to say. Sure they discussed it with each other they knew what they wanted to say but now how to say it or where to begin how to speak without making it worse.

They say in silence. Awkward, tense, suffocating silence.

"Drinks?" the waitress asked, breaking the silence. Even she could tell something heavy was happening even if they weren't talking.

"um, how about orange juice?" Dick asked, looking around no one objected "Three orange juice"

"Alright, I'll give you some more time with the menus" and to handle whatever drama they were dealing with.

"I'm Sorry," Dick said once they were alone again, " Yesterday, I went about it the wrong way. I shouldn't have kissed you like that I wanted to show you how I felt but I shouldn't have done it like that. I'm sorry"

She didn't look up.

" Do you remember the first time we all met? I do." Wally said, "I was 13, and you guys were 11. I remember being so excited you guys were the first, and despite being the youngest, you were veterans compared to me, but you still didn't treat me as such. And I got to know you, and I guess it brought you down to earth more normal."

Alice smiled a bit.

"I remember when I fell in love with you," he continued, " I fell in love with Alice first "Her head snapped up in shock, but Dick just chuckled " Yep, I was 14 when I realized, well, I felt it, but I didn't know what it was at the time I just knew I felt for you, It was that one time where Flash and Superman collaborated. Remember, they took out the bad guys, and we handled the hostages and civilians. And the old man, remember? He was telling those awful jokes, but you laughed anyways. Your laugh was beautiful. "

Alice could recall the moment, she had been nervous it was her first collaboration with The Flash clan she wanted to impress, but she was nervous. The old man saw her nervousness and being a father and grandfather to many, sought to calm her nerves without some light awful jokes. It worked. To this day, she still remembers that old man and looks into him and his family occasionally.

"I fell in love with the sound of you. You sound so beautiful. And- "

The waitress returned with their drinks "Are you guys ready to order?"

Hoping for more privacy, the trio quickly ordered their meals.

"I fell in love with your touch," Dick said once the waitress left " I remember how when I first came to the manor, and I was still grieving... you used to hold my hand at first, we didn't really know each other at first, then you'd hold and hug me. I honestly don't think I would have been able to survive those days without you holding me, grounding me." Dick wiped a few spilled tears.

"But that's not- that's not the only reason you're more than that. And our relationship is more than that. I'm saying that I have feelings for you, and I realized those feelings were love when you touched me. When you absent mind, grab my hand, subconsciously scooch closer, when you crawl into my bed without even asking."

Alice remembered when Dick first came to the Manor, this was before she was a full-time resident Bruce had asked her to be there when Dick came to make it easier having someone his age around. She remembered he was full of anger and sadness. In those sad moments, she held his hand when the anger faded, she held him.

His sadness was as prominent anymore it didn't control or hold him down. But she never stopped holding him.

"I think we both realized we were in love with you at the same time." Wally chuckled "It became somewhat of a competition after that. Which one of us was worthy enough for you"

"Sometimes it felt like neither of us was worthy of you," Dick confessed.

Competition?

While she could say she saw Wally trying to impress her, that wasn't abnormal or something new Wally was always trying to impress one female or another, always wanting some female attention. She never thought to put more reason behind it than that.

As for Dick, she could not pinpoint any change in behavior or dynamic between them. She could not remember a moment of him trying to impress her. Probably because she was always impressed by him. His ability to impress him was effortless. Not that she'd ever said that out loud.

"I think that's how we sort of fell in love with each other," Dick said

" How do you figure?" Wally asked

" We both had some kind of love for each other before we realized how much we both loved her. We knew how important she is to us, and we are to her. And just... we wouldn't have been so close if we didn't love her first."

"We bonded over our love for you and ended up falling in love with each other too." Wally said "Our love for you hasn't faded though"

Bless this waitress she could feel and see the tension the trio was giving off but still served them properly. Bringing them their food and refilling their drinks. She told them where to find them if they needed her, but honestly, she knew they wouldn't or hoped they wouldn't. The tension was suffocating, and she was smart enough not to stick and choke. Although she wasn't smart enough to go into the kitchen and gossip with the cook instead of the counter window.

The trio began to eat in silence. Alice focused on her food and avoided eye contact with the boys. Dick picked over his food, uninterested. And Wally, well, Wally needed to eat tension would not stop his metabolism.

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Please, just say something, anything. Please," Dick begged, pushing his plate away.

"You remember the day you came out to the team"

Of course, they did, they had gathered the whole team in the cave and announced not only their sexuality but their relationship as well. It was a day of congratulations and celebration.

"I had chosen Wally that day, I was going to ask him out to dinner and a movie," she confessed.

It took her a while to build up the courage to ask one of them out, then she took time to pick which one to ask, weighing the pros and cons she had chosen Wally in the end.

"He was the safest option"

"Safest option?" Wally questioned she could hear the offense in his voice.

"I was pretty sure you were going to reject me. If you did, I could have run home. If Dick rejected me, we live together my home is his home."

While being rejected by Wally would hurt just as much as being rejected by Dick, it would not have as much impact. Alice frequents the Manor a lot enough to be seen as a near-permanent resident, a home for her. Being rejected by Dick would mean changing their at-home dynamic, straining her relationship with Bruce and Alfred ( she's sure they'd take his side), it would mean losing a safe space she had since she was a child BEFORE Dick. She didn't want to risk it. Wally's rejection would have hurt, but it wouldn't have affected her family as much as Dick's would.

" It didn't matter though in the end, you got him..." She lost her appetite "What do you want from me?"

"I love you," Dick said as he scooched closer to her.

"You also loved Wally and are in a relationship with Wally."

"Yes, but we were thinking," Wally said, his plate now empty, " maybe we could add you to our relationship. I love you, Dick loves you, and you just admitted to having some feelings for the both of us but being unable to choose."

"So don't choose, have the both of us. We're willing to open up our relationship, ourselves, we're willing to share." Dick said as he took her hand, she didn't pull away, so he took that as a good sign.

Alice dreamed of this before of all three being together sexually and domestically. Though she never considered it to be an actual possibility, it was always a fantasy to her, something she wanted but could never have or reach because none of it was realistic. A desire but not a reality. Relationships were between two people. Plus, if they loved each other so much, why would they need her.

She couldn't comprehend the idea of them wanting her.

"Why me? No- I mean... this is all very confusing and overwhelming," she said

"In a few words, we're asking you to be our girlfriend," Wally said

What a way to shatter her expectations and reality while making her dreams come true.

"Girlfriend?" she whispered in disbelief. " I've never been anyone's girlfriend before."

"I know," Dick said as he chuckled

"I don't know what to do"

"You can begin by saying yes," Wally said as he reached across the table for her other hand, she accepted.

"Okay, yes"

With the speed of lightening in his feet, he speed onto the other of the booth and kissed her. Alice was shocked but quickly fell into the kiss.

Wally pulled away first he chuckled as she chased his lips.

"I've been waiting to do that for years" It truly was a day of confessions.

"I'm guessing you guys want the check now," the waitress said as she approached them.

"And some to-go boxes"

[welp-here-goes-nothing]

This is my boyfriend! And this is my Boyfriend's boyfriend.

Dating THE Dick Grayson wasn't all that weird for Cade. The fact he was the adopted son of Bruce Wayne thus making him a rich socialite wasn't strange considering Cade was one himself. When Dick revealed himself to be the night stalking, acrobatic vigilante Nightwing, Cade wasn't all that surprised either. It easily explained the bruises and scars that littered his boyfriend's body and why when Cade woke up in the night Dick was gone.

It also didn't bother him with how often people stared at Dick. Cade wasn't blind he knew how attractive Dick was, and there were many times Cade found himself staring at his boyfriend's ass, so he understood. Instead what perplexed Cade about his boyfriend was the glaringly present yet stuffed so far down romantic feelings Dick obviously held for his best friend Wally.

He knew the two were inseparable and were best friends since they were kids, but he quickly realized just how affectionate their friendship was. More often than not when Cade would have to leave New Jersey for work trips in other parts of the country, he could spot Wally waltzing around in the background of any photos Dick would send him. There were a few times where the two were on the couch cuddling while watching TV. One time when Cade came home late one night he found both Dick and Wally asleep in his bed legs tangled together and both men were just in their underwear. It was the cutest and hottest thing Cade had ever seen.

Cade was used to the "platonic" affection shared between the two and over the years became fond of Wally, finding himself caring for the redheaded speedster. Though anytime Cade brought up the fact that Dick may be in love with Wally the older immediately shot it down reassuring Cade that he was the only man he loved and the thought of him being in love with Wally was absurd and he was just reading too much into things. Sure.....

So began Cade's multi step plan to get Dick to actually admit his feelings for the redhead, and maybe a little more. It started off subtly nothing he hadn't been doing before hand, complementing Wally on his outfits and how he looked. Then it turned to spending more time with Wally, like cooking with him, working out together, subtly showing Dick he liked having Wally around too, more than usual.

Then it lead to Cade using nicknames for Wally. "Dear", "Sweetheart," and "Darling." from there he'd hang on Wally more, cuddle with him, and even give Wally a few cheek kisses. He watched as Dick's mood changed clearly happy his boyfriend was doting on Wally just as he unknowingly did, everything was going according to plan. Which lead them to their current situation.

It was valentines day, Dick and Wally had been out all day having a bro-valentines 'date' and the two had just returned to Dick and Cade's apartment. The smell of baked treats and pastries filled their noses as they walked in, as they rounded the corner they found Cade in the kitchen surrounded by hundreds of cookies, brownies, cakes, cheesecakes, and even some chocolates. What caught the two by surprise though was the fact he was just wearing an apron and his underwear, and nothing else.

"Hey you two! How was your date?" Cade asked when he saw the two boys.

"It was fun, uh babe? Whatcha wearing?" Dick asked, raking over Cade's muscular form with his eyes.

"Well aside from all the treats, I thought you two deserved a little eye candy for valentines day. Wanted to show off for my two favorite boys." Cade replied as he walked over and pulled out yet another tray of cookies from the oven.

"You made all this for us?" Wally asked forcing his eyes away from Cade's near naked form and to the array of treats before him.

"Well mostly for you darling, couldn't just three batches of cookies and leave my favorite speedster hungry. But yeah, both of you feel free to eat anything you want." Cade smiled.

Almost immediately Wally had grabbed a plate and piled it high with multiple different sweet treats and began happily snacking on them all. Dick on the other hand, after grabbing a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie walked over to Cade and wrapped his arms around the younger.

"So what's our plan for the day? Aside from watching Wally eat his weight in pastries." Dick asked giving his best friend a teasing look.

"Well I thought maybe once I got all the treats done, we could celebrate Valentines day properly with some fun in bed." Cade alluded with a smirk.

"Oh, I'll take my leave then. Don't want to interrupt the lovebirds and their valentines day fun." Wally said setting his plate down.

"Hold up not so fast. I said we, and I most definitely mean you as well Walls." Cade said stopping the redhead from leaving.

"Wha- I mean. I'm not, I. Are you sure?" Wally stammered as he looked at Cade with a flustered expression.

"Babe? What are you suggesting?" Dick asked.

"I'm suggesting." Cade began as he wriggled himself free from Dick's hold and made his way over to Wally. "You two are practically already dating, but just don't know how the hell to actually admit it. Plus, I wanna see if I can get this boy vibrating without having to run." Cade said running a finger up Wally's chest.

"A-are you?" Wally asked as he looked up at Dick.

"I mean if he really means it." Dick replied just as shocked as his best friend.

"Oh I definitely mean it." Cade answered.

Without really giving Wally or even Dick for that matter time to process what just happened, Cade grabbed Wally by the sides of his face and pulled him into a deep and passion filled kiss. To say Wally was surprised would be an understatement, but that surprise soon faded and was replaced by eager lust as he ecstatically returned the kiss ten fold. When the two broke apart they were panting for air while staring into each other's eyes with a raging mix of lust and love.

"Well are you gonna get in here too? Or do I get to hog all of him?" Cade asked as he turned to his boyfriend.

Instantly Dick was moving across the kitchen with so much speed he could've been mistaken for a speedster. Giving Cade one last confirming look Dick all but threw himself at Wally once Cade nodded his head yes. Their lips crashed together in an equally passionate and loving kiss. The two boys were like this for awhile, while Cade watched but he eventually pulled the two apart.

"Alright alright, deal was we could do this AFTER I got done with all the baking, not during." He laughed.

"How much is left?" Wally asked.

"Two more cakes, three pies, a cheesecake, and four more kinds of cookies." Cade replied.

While surprised with how much food Cade was making, both Wally and Dick whined as they realized just how much food was left, and how long they were going to have to wait before they could finally fuck. But hey, they waited this long, what's a little more waiting?

[super-luna-fic]

Camp Justice - Chapter 2: The First Day Part 1

On the Batplane...

The trip to the camp began early in the morning. As Bruce said, their senses were blocked by J'onn aka Martian Manhunter. However, blocking Cal's was a bit more difficult than blocking Dick's. Somehow she was able to fight off the effects and just about everything he did wasn't working. At some point, Bruce was tempted to physically knock her out himself but knew the repercussions he would face later were not worth it. Martian Manhunter was eventually successful and they were able to continue on their journey. They were able to get there at a reasonable time in peace with the occasional complaint from the two. But it wasn't anything Bruce wasn't used to.

When the Batplane landed, their senses slowly came back to them. They were then led off the plane by J'onn and the first thing that hit them was the smell of fresh. Not that sewer smell that is common in Gotham. The next thing to hit them was the view and it made them speechless. There were so many beautiful trees and flowers that they as though they were in a fairytale. Between school and patrol, they never have enough time to travel so all they saw were skyscrapers and dirty streets. This was a nice change.

"Dude this view is so beautiful, mom totally needs to see this" Cal said as she took her phone out.

Snatch

"Hey! What the-"

"What part of top secret location did you not understand? Besides I told you you're not allowed to have any electronic device. How did you even get this back?"

"… willpower?" She answered sheepishly.

He glared at her but then focused his attention on Dick.

"And you?"

"Me!? Why would I do that? I'm the golden child, remember!"

"… hand them over."

"But I- I- fine," he said as he took his cellphone out of his pocket and placed them in Bruce's outstretched hand.

"And the ones in your shoes."

Dick looked at him in shock, "How did you know?"

"I trained you, didn't I."

"Tortured is more like it" Cal grumbled under her breath.

After Dick handed him the last of his technological devices they headed toward the entrance of the building labeled 'Check-in'.

"Wow, you guys really went out for this theme, whose idea was this anyway?"

"It was my idea, during the renovations of course," a voice said behind them. They turned around to see the source of it and saw a familiar green-themed superhero standing with his hands on his hips.

"Uncle Ollie!" Cal exclaimed as she ran to give him a hug.

'Uncle Ollie' J'onn mouthed to Bruce. He chose to ignore him and stare at the scene in front of him.

"How's my favorite niece and nephew?" he said as he ruffled Dick's hair.

"You do realize we're not actually related," Dick said as he swatted at Ollie hand.

"Well kid if you knew just how much I know and how long I've been involved in your family you just might rethink that statement"

"You tell'em, Uncle"

Dick abruptly walked up to her face, "Shut up!"

"Make me shorty"

"Shorty?? You're only a quarter of an inch taller!"

"Still counts," she replied smugly.

"You-" Dick made a move to pounce but was held back by the scruff of his uniform by Ollie.

"There will be none of that just yet, you guys need to get settled in while tall, dark, and gloomy, and I start getting ready for first-day introductions."

"Batman is going to be participating?!" Dick asked.

"Yep, and not only that. He's also going to be a counselor for one of the boy's cabins and overseeing all your camp activities!" he replied gleefully.

Cal and Dick stared at Bruce bewildered by what Ollie just said. The Batman is going to be a camp counselor. They stared at him to confirm what they just heard but all he did was look ahead, avoiding all eye contact. Now, the average person wouldn't think much of it however they knew he was slowly starting to get ticked off. They decided not to push his buttons… for now.

"So! When do we get to go to our cabins?" Cal asked.

"Right now actually, Martian Manhunter is going to be taking both of you to your cabins. Then after you get dressed, you'll be making your way to the mess hall."

"The mess hall? This place has an actual mess hall? Wow, you guys went all out."

Ollie snapped his head to look at Dick as if he just threatened to blow up the camp. If he had gone any faster he surely would have broke his neck.

"I went all out, they had nothing to do with making this feel like an authentic summer camp. I mean yea they helped with putting things together but they just wanted to make it look like a regular smegular facility. I wanted you guys to get the summer camp experience that my fellow colleagues did n-"

"Okay uncle we get it"

Ollie looked at her a bit out of breath from his rant and noticed the perplexed looks he was getting from everyone including Bruce.

He quickly put himself together before clearing his throat, "Very well then, Martian Manhunter if you wouldn't mind taking them now while we prep".

"Of course"

Batman and Green Arrow made their way back inside while Martian Manhunter started to guide them down a pebbled path.

The walk to the cabins was quiet and short. Martian Manhunter wasn't much of a talker when it came to them and there wasn't much to see besides the trees that acted as a division for the boy's and girl's cabins. Dick was dropped off first to his (which Wally was conveniently staying in) and Cal last.

"And this is where you will be staying. Your clothes will be on your bunk and you should hurry. We'll be starting in 10."

"Sure thing, I'll try my very best sir." She said as she saluted him.

Instead of entertaining her foolishness he simply walked away. She giggled and made her way through the wooden door. The cabin surprisingly did not have anyone in there but it was obvious that at least three other girls had laid claim to certain bunks. She chose the last top bunk and placed her bag on it. There she found a short sleeved black t-shirt with the words 'Camp Justice' written in blue with the year 1950 and two sets of three letters under it.

"Sweet," Cal said as she replaced her uniform top with the camp t-shirt. After rolling up the sleeves, she started to take her dark brown curls out of the ponytail she had it in when she heard footsteps approaching.

'Ooo I get to finally meet one of my roommates, I wonder who it could ever be…' she thought as the door finally opened and their foot stepped through the threshold.

With a smile she greeted her roommate.

"Hello there my name is- What are you doing here?!?!?"

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the DC characters or universes. The only characters and universes I own are the ones I create.

DO NOT REPOST

For those who don't know, yes Ollie is Green Arrow.

A/N: Chapter 2 is finally here! We're now discovering that Cal seems to have an enemy of some sort, I wonder who it could ever be >:). I hope you guys enjoy and I'll try to post the other part by either the end of this week or the beginning of the week after :)

Also, there's an Invader Zim reference in here (I'll dm the name of Cal's "enemy" to the first one who tells me what it is. Good luck!)