Flash and his sidekick are, ironically, the last to show up. 

"Oh, man, I knew we'd be the last ones here!" Kid Flash complains to his mentor, who is apparently the one responsible for their lack of punctuality. 

He notices Fortissima, and immediately switches track. "...hey." 

"Hi!"

He grins at her.

"I'm Kid Flash! And you must be..." He looks her up and down, noting the black, red and white three-piece suit and the fact that she's standing next to Zatara.

"Fortissima! It's a pleasure to meet you." 

"I am Fortissima! Nice to meet you too!"

A kid who can't be more than thirteen appears on Fortissima's other side as the whole group starts walking towards the Hall. 

"I'm Robin! And that's Speedy," he chirps, indicating the young man in the red-and-yellow Robin Hood outfit, who looks to be the oldest of the sidekicks. 

  "Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Green Arrow is saying to his sidekick.

Speedy smiles. "Born that way," he declares. 

Giggle. "You sort of have to wonder if it's that the inner sanctum's ready for us. Given, you know, the simultaneity."

The others laugh, Kid Flash the loudest. 

"Glad we're all here," Aqualad contributes. He's been quiet until now, listening to the other sidekicks chatter. Shy, or just naturally taciturn?

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash wonders, slinging his arm around Fortissima's shoulders. 

He's constantly in motion, clearly excited. 

"Don't call us sidekicks," Speedy snaps immediately, almost reflexively. 

"Not after today." 

"Why not?"

"Doesn't matter," Kid Flash cuts in as Speedy opens his mouth. 

"What matters that we get to see inside the Hall of Justice! Honestly, I'm a little overwhelmed." 

"Why isn't anyone ever just 'whelmed'?" Robin wonders as they walk into the entrance hall.

He stops dead at the sight that meets their eyes. Standing in a line along the opposite wall are seven giant golden statues, several times larger than life, of the League's founders: Superman in the centre, flanked by Aquaman, Flash and Batman on his right, and Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter on his left. It's a sight calculated to impress.

"...oh. Maybe that's why." 

"...I mean," she says after a bit of a stunned pause, "on the one hand, wow, on the other hand, ego much?"

"Too right!" Kid Flash exclaims, a little too brightly.

He's clearly just as awed as the others, but trying to play it cool. 

Ahead of the group, a door slides open directly below the feet of the Superman statue. Waiting beyond it are Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter.

The latter steps forward to greet them. "Robin. Speedy. Aqualad. Fortissima. Kid Flash. Welcome." 

He turns, and leads them deeper into the building. 

Robin and Kid Flash quietly high-five, sharing a smiles that try for conspiratorial but are mostly elated. 

They follow Martian Manhunter quietly, listening as he explains the areas to which they now have unlimited access. The gym, the computer room - and the library, which they are now entering. 

Ooh, library. See, that's much more impressive than giant gold statues.

"Make yourselves at home!" Flash suggests, gesturing broadly around the room. 

Most of the kids follow his advice, flopping gleefully into the assorted comfortable chairs. Speedy stays standing. 

Fortissima inspects the bookshelves!

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day," Batman says to the other adults.

He looks over at the sidekicks. "We shouldn't be long." 

One by one, he and the other six Justice League members are scanned by the camera mounted above a doorway marked "Justice League Members Only". 

*RECOGNIZED: BATMAN, 02 – AQUAMAN, 06 – FLASH, 04 – GREEN ARROW, 08 – ZATARA, 11 – MARTIAN MANHUNTER, 07 – RED TORNADO, 16."

"That's it?" Speedy demands.

"You promised us a real look inside, not a - a glorified backstage pass!"

"If the word look was used, I'm not sure why you're assuming that glorified backstage pass is inaccurate."

"It's a first step," Aquaman says placatingly.

"You've been granted access few others get." 

"Oh really!" 

Speedy points accusingly at the viewing window high up to their right, from behind which a gaggle of tourists are excitedly snapping photographs of the confrontation.

"Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

"Well, from this side of the glass, you can read the books. Seeing as we're in a library."

"Ugh." 

  Green Arrow steps forward. "Roy," he tries, aiming for a calmer tone, "you just need to be patient." 

"What I need is respect!" Speedy turns to the others. "They're treating us like kids! Worse - like sidekicks. We deserve better than this."

"For the record, I'm at least two years younger than you and acting dramatically more mature. Just if you wanted some advice on not being treated like a kid."

Kid Flash snorts. "She's got you there."

The other sidekicks look at each other awkwardly, and say nothing. None of them move to get up. 

"You're kidding, right?" Speedy looks from one to the next in disbelief. "You're playing their game? Why?"

He's ranting now, not letting anyone else get a word in edgewise. "Today was supposed to be The Day, step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League!" 

"Well, sure," Kid Flash says, a little nonplussed.

He looks at Robin for support. "But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ?"

"If we want to join them why shouldn't we play their game? 'Oh, I want all the priveleges with none of the responsibilities, I deserve everything I want and nothing I don't, boo hoo'."

"Except they've been lying to us," Speedy retorts. 

"The Hall isn't the League's real HQ! I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists, and a pit-stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the real thing - an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower!" 

The Leaguers behind him gasp.

"..."

"Is that true?"

  "It is," Zatara confirms, shooting Green Arrow a dirty look. 

Green Arrow himself looks somewhat sheepish. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?"

  Batman's eyes narrow.

"...or not." 

Aquaman is still focused on Speedy.

"You're not helping your cause here, son. Stand down, or - "

"Or what?" the teenager interrupts.

"You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son. I'm not even his." He gestures angrily at Green Arrow. 

His voice gets quieter, but no less intense. "I thought I was his partner. Well - " 

Speedy puts a hand to his cocked hat, a cheerful yellow with a red feather.

"Not anymore." 

He throws the hat to the floor, and spins on his heel to walk away. 

Well. If they were supposed to be partners that kind of explains why he was so pissed off by the word sidekick.

"So I don't mind so much that you don't want us in your real secret clubhouse yet but I am kind of pissed off about the fact that you lied about it."

Before anyone can reply to this, a large screen on one wall blinks on, displaying the words "Receiving Transmission".

Superman appears on a video link. "Superman to Justice League," he says, speaking quickly and urgently. "There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus," Batman growls. "This may present the perfect opportunity to - " 

  "We have a bigger problem," Zatara interrupts. "The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to block out the sun." He looks up at Batman and Superman. "Requesting full League response."

"Superman?" Batman checks. 

  "It's a small fire. Local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait." He presses a button on the control panel. "All Leaguers rendezvous at co-ordinates provided by Zatara; Batman out." The Leaguers present spring into action.

Batman turns to the assembled sidekicks. "Stay put." 

"What?" Robin exclaims.

"Why?"

Their mentors trip over each other to answer.

  "This is a League mission - "

"You're not trained - " 

"--We may or may not be under further tactical misapprehensions-slash-lies--"

"Not trained? Since when?" Kid Flash demands of his mentor.

  "I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team," Flash replies.

"There will be other missions," Aquaman puts in. "When you're ready." 

"But for now..." Batman glares at them, fixing each sidekick individually with his gaze.

"Stay. Put." 

She briefly considers giving him an angelic innocent face and then determines that this would not help anything at all.

"Yes, yes, the sun's going out, it's much more important that you deal with that than us. Shoo."

  "..."

The Leaguers sweep from the room. 

  As they leave, Green Arrow can be overheard murmuring to Martian Manhunter, "Glad you didn't bring you-know-who?"

"Indeed." 

They follow the others out, and the door swings shut behind them, seeming to mock the sidekicks with its "Members Only" sign. 

"Oh fuck them all," she says disgustedly, flopping dramatically onto the nearest floppable surface. "What the hell gave them the idea it was a good plan to collectively lie to us? Ugh. Ugh. Ugh."

"Ugh," Kid Flash agrees.

"When we're ready? How are we ever supposed to be ready if they treat us like - like sidekicks?"

He seems to have caught Speedy's habit of saying the word like it's something he found under his shoe. 

"My mentor...my king..." 

Aqualad looks grave. "I thought he trusted me." 

"Trust us?"

Kid Flash is getting increasingly worked up.

"They don't even trust us with the basics. They've got a secret HQ! In space!" 

"I don't mind so much about the lack of trust as the lack of respect."

"That, too, is galling." Aqualad nods. 

"But...what else aren't they telling us?" 

"I have a better question," Robin says, looking away.

"Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

"Because he was being a brat about it even if he was right?"

"Hey, that's our friend you're talking about," Kid Flash complains. 

"But...yeah, you know, for someone older than any of us, he was acting kinda childish." 

There are a few moments of contemplative silence, then Aqualad looks up. He still looks sad, but there's a glimmer of something else, too.

"...what is 'Project Cadmus'?" he wonders. 

"I...don't know," Robin admits.

"But I can find out!" He turns to the nearest computer, and starts looking through the Justice League's files for any mention of the name.

*Access Denied.*

Robin scoffs. "Wanna bet?"

He starts hacking at lightning speed, a smirk on his face.

"I like the way you think."

"Whoa..." Kid Flash apparently knows enough about computers to be impressed with Robin's skill.

"How are you doing that?" he asks.

Robin grins, basking in the compliments. "Same system as the Batcave," he explains smugly. 

*Access Granted.*

"Alright, Project Cadmus...genetics lab, here in D.C."

He pauses.

"That's all there is. But if Batman's suspicious...maybe we should investigate," he suggests, looking pleased with his own logic. 

"Solve their case before they do," Aqualad adds, with an answering grin. 

"It would be poetic justice." 

"And hey..." Robin smirks.

"They're all about justice."

"Damn straight. I'm in!"

Aqualad sighs, face falling.

"But they said stay put." 

"For the blotting-out-the-sun mission, not this."

Robin isn't letting this idea go. 

"We're not trained to work with them," she points out, "so they didn't want us potentially getting in their way. We can't get in their way if we're working on something completely different."

"A-are you going to Cadmus?" Kid Flash asks her eagerly.

"Cause if you're going, I'm going." 

Robin grins at him, and they turn identical pleading expressions on Aqualad. 

"Did I or did I not already say I was in?" she asks Kid Flash.

Aqualad regards the three young heroes opposite him, united in their purpose.

"Just like that, we're a team on a mission?" 

"What better way to prove we can handle teamwork?"

"We didn't come for a play-date," Robin adds. 

He's grinning, like he knows they've already won the argument. 

Aqualad's only reply is a slow smile, the most unambiguously positive expression he's worn since they arrived. 

They arrive at Cadmus Labs to find the fire, as promised, largely under control by a fire crew. 

Two men in labcoats are leaning out of a window on the upper floor and calling for help, flames clearly visible in the room behind them.

"Stay calm!" one of the firemen shouts up to them. "We will get you out!"

Just as the four heroes arrive, something explodes, propelling the two men out of the window and sending them flying through the air. 

Kid Flash is the first to react. 

Dashing forward, he runs up the side of the building in a blur of speed and grabs the men by their collars, arresting their fall. His momentum lets him heft them both up onto the roof, and he manages to catch the lip of the window as he himself falls back down, ending up dangling by his hands.

The firemen are delighted.

"It's what's-his-name! Flash Boy!" 

"Kid Flash!" he yells back, annoyed.

"Why is that so hard?"

The others, moving a little slower, arrive in time to see Kid Flash's partly-successful attempt at rescue. 

Robin chuckles. "Sooo smooth." 

"Does he always have to run ahead?" Aqualad mutters.

"We need a plan," he continues, louder. "We - Robin?" 

Robin is already gone, racing in and swinging off a beam using his grappling hook. 

He joins Kid Flash at the window and helps him climb inside the building. 

Fortissima brings her flute to her lips and starts playing a fire-suppression spell. It probably won't put the flames out altogether, with this big a fire, but it should at least make them more manageable.

Aqualad nods in approval, and runs forward to help out himself. Since Fortissima is dealing with the fire, it shouldn't endanger anyone if he borrows the water from the hoses for a minute.

"I need to borrow that!" he warns the firemen, before unsheathing the hilts strapped to his back. In place of blades, each hilt brings with it a stream of water, which he sends out to connect with the water from the hoses, bringing it all under his control. Mentally shaping it into a platform beneath his feet, he rides a column of water up to the roof, where he collects the frightened scientists and takes them gently back down to the ground. 

"Need a ride?" he asks Fortissima. 

She nods, not interrupting her music to speak.

He motions for her to join him on the watery platform, and takes them up to join the other two in the second floor. 

Once they're both safely inside, he relinquishes control of the water so the firemen can get back to work. 

"Appreciate the help," he snarks at Robin and Kid Flash. 

The latter are both investigating the room, Robin typing away at a computer and Kid Flash peering in cupboards. 

"You handled it!" Robin counters, looking away from the screen for a second to grin at Aqualad.

"Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?" 

"So what've you found so far?"

"Not much," Robin admits, still tapping away at the keyboard.

The glow from the screen is almost the only light in the room, giving an ominous blue cast to his face. 

"I - huh?" He looks up at Aqualad, who's standing in the corridor just outside the room.

Aqualad looks he's seen a ghost. He's standing stock-still, staring at something at the end of the corridor. 

"There was something in the - " 

Kid Flash is abruptly standing next to him, following his gaze to the closed elevator doors.

"Elevators should be locked down..." 

"What's wrong, I don't see anything--"

Robin pushes past them, frowning, to get a better look at the elevator itself.

"This is wrong..."

He scans the doors with his wrist computer, looking up the make and model.

"Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building!" 

"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad still looks a little spooked.

Stepping up to the elevator, he wedges his fingers in between the doors and shoves them open, metal creaking in protest. 

He looks down.

And down.

The elevator shaft is several times deeper than the height of the building above ground, disappearing down into darkness below them.

"That's why they need an express elevator," Robin breathes. 

"So Batman was right to be suspicious, clearly."

"And I was right to assume so." 

Robin sights up at the ceiling of the lift-shaft, only a few feet above their heads, and fires a grappling hook at the exact centre. He jumps down the shaft, playing out the grappling line to control his descent. 

Aqualad gestures for Fortissima to go next.

She could slide down Robin's rope, which looks easily strong enough to hold all four of them, never mind just her and Robin, or make her own way down by magic. 

Yeah she was never good enough at those slidey-poles on the playground as a kid for going down the grappling hook line to be a good idea, magic it is.

Aqualad jumps on the line himself and slides down to join Robin, followed by Kid Flash. 

"I'm at the end of my rope!" Robin has stopped at what the signs on the walls declare to be sub-level 26. They're nowhere near the bottom of the shaft. 

He swings over to the side of the shaft and lands next to the door, again followed by the other two boys.

"Bypassing security..." More tapping on the wrist computer. "There!"

Aqualad forces the door open again, and they all stare through it. 

The hallway on the other side looks more like a high-tech nuclear bunker than an office building. A red glow from the machines lining the walls provides most of the illumination, leaving their view somewhat limited, but what can be seen looks impressive. 

"--What's this stuff supposed to do?"

Robin shrugs. 

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," he remarks, trying for sarcastic.

His voice sounds flat and small against the cavernous space before them. 

Kid Flash immediately zips off down the hallway, not bothering to wait for the rest of them. 

He ignores Aqualad's hasty cry of "Kid, wait!" 

Fortissima sighs and tootles up a low-res illusion of the-area-around-Kid-Flash.

By the time she's finished playing the snatch of melody, Kid Flash has reached the end of the corridor, where it joins another. 

He backpedals furiously, but is too late to avoid skidding under the feet of a squadron of massive horned beasts. 

The creatures are vaguely humanoid but massive, and walk on all fours, looking like a cross between elephants and gorillas. Each one carries a smaller imp-like creature on its shoulder, about the size of a small cat, with the same colouration as the larger beasts.

One of the big ones turns towards the sound of Fortissima's flute as it passes the end of their corridor. Its passenger's horns briefly glow brighter. 

--Oops. She stops playing, and the illusion fades out.

It turns away and continues on its path.

Aqualad and Robin head down the corridor to join Kid Flash, who has managed to pick himself up and get out of the way of the behemoths. 

"Nooo...nothing odd going on here," Aqualad comments as the last of them lumbers past. 

"I did not recognize those things, did anyone else recognize those things?"

"No," Robin admits.

"And I didn't find anything about them on that computer, either. If I'd had longer - " 

"We will find another computer. There must be some down here," Aqualad reasons. 

"I believe what I saw in the elevator was yet another variation of those creatures," he contributes.

"It was around the size of a man, but with large horns like those of a bull."

"Joy. and. rapture."

Kid Flash is running ahead again.

"This door looks important!" He's pointing at a round airlock-style door with an electronic lock. 

"Hey, Boy Wonder, think you can hack it?" 

Robin scoffs, and sets to work while the others keep watch for approaching monsters.  "Do I think I can hack it..."

The light blinks from red to green, and the door slides open. He blinks at what lies beyond.

"Okay, I'm officially whelmed." 

Beyond the door is a massive room filled with racks upon racks of creatures in glass cases.

Each one is constantly emitting sparks like contained lightning, flooding the room with flickering blue light. 

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world!" Kid Flash sounds impressed.

"The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power, with these...things," he finishes lamely. 

"Must be what they're bred for..."

"Creepy. Why can't more crazy superscience types go into solving world hunger or the energy crisis instead of being supervillains?"

"Even the name is a clue," Aqualad says softly.

"The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragons' teeth into the earth." 

"Oh, was that what that guy was called. Yeah that makes a disturbing amount of sense."

"This Cadmus creates new life too."

Robin heads over to a computer terminal. "Let's find out why." 

He starts hacking. "They call them...'Genomorphs'. Whoa, look at the stats on these things..." 

Super-strength. Telepathy. Telekinesis. Razor claws. 

"These are living weapons!" 

"They're engineering an army," Kid Flash realizes.

"But for who?" 

"Wait, there's something else." Robin continues to tap away at the computer.

"'Project Troy'. Man, they're really going in on the naming scheme..." 

He makes an annoyed sound. "The file's triple-encrypted, I can't - "

"Don't move!" growls a voice from behind them. 

A man in dark blue, with a golden helmet and shield, rushes into the room accompanied by several dog-sized Genomorphs, and with one of the tiny ones sitting on his shoulder.

"Wait." He pauses, confused. "Robin? Aqualad, Fortissima...Kid Flash?"

"At least he got your name right," Robin jokes to Kid Flash.

He goes right back to downloading information from the computer. 

"What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, I thought Guardian was supposed to be a hero," Kid Flash agrees. 

"I do my best," Guardian says with a shrug. 

"But right now I'm a security guard," he continues harshly, "and you're trespassing." 

His voice softens again. "We can call the Justice League, figure this out..." 

Kid Flash's expression darkens. 

"You think the League's gonna approve of you building weapons?" 

"Also, they're busy preventing the sun from being put out."

Guardian blinks, and stares blankly for a second.  "Weapons?" he echoes. 

"What are you...? What have I - ugh, my head!" 

He rubs at his forehead as the little imp on his shoulder turns to stare at him, its horns lighting up. 

When he opens his eyes again, the confusion has cleared. He glares at the four heroes.

"Take 'em down hard!" he orders the Genomorphs. "No mercy!"

The creatures attack. 

The download finished while the others were keeping Guardian talking. 

No longer distracted, Robin is the first to react, throwing down a smoke grenade in front of them to blind the Genomorphs while he uses his trusty grappling hook to swing out of danger. 

"Telepathy, you say," Fortissima muses as she raises her flute to her lips, playing a simple telekinetic trill to throw the creatures away and into the walls.

Aqualad and Kid Flash deal with the remaining few, which seem like more in the confusion provided by the smoke.

At one point, the speedster bounces off a wall to get more power behind his next kick. 

Guardian wades into the melee, tackling Aqualad and throwing him into a wall. 

They trade blows for a few seconds before Aqualad manages to grab Guardian's arm and electrocute him with magic, incapacitating him long enough that they can get away.

Fortissima switches to a wind tune to create a tunnel of air smokeless enough that she and Robin can see where to get away to.

Robin is already heading for the elevator and plugging his wrist computer into the security panel. 

The others follow, Genomorphs snapping at their heels and alarms blaring around them. 

Kid Flash skids to a halt next to the elevator, narrowly avoiding a collision with the doors. 

"Way to be a team player, Rob." 

"Weren't you right behind me?" Robin replies distractedly. 

He gets the elevator open and they all pile in. The doors close just ahead of snapping teeth and grasping claws. 

The numbers on the display start counting down the floors: SL 41, 42, 43... They're heading deeper underground. 

"That was too close. --I wonder why those things didn't try to mind-control us like they did Guardian."

"They were the wrong kind," Robin explains, pulling up the files he downloaded. 

"Those were G-Elves. They're warriors; did you see those claws? G-Gnomes - the telepathic ones - are smaller, like the one that was sitting on Guardian's shoulder." 

Aqualad is watching the numbers change, frowning.

"We're headed down?" 

Kid Flash turns to look at Robin, who programmed the elevator.

"Dude, out is up!" He points at the ceiling for emphasis.

"I think he probably noticed that. Robin, what did you find in the computers that's more important than escaping?"

"Uh, Project Troy?" he points out. 

"It's down, on sub-level 52."

"This is out of control." 

Aqualad rubs at the back of his neck.

"Perhaps..." he says hesitantly. "Perhaps we should contact the League." 

The elevator dings, and the door opens. 

Sub-level 52 is nothing like anything they've seen higher up. It looks almost as though they're inside the digestive system of some vast beast, its intestines forming caves and tunnels. The red walls are covered with strange opaque lumps and pods, some of them large enough to contain a person. Two hallways stretch off in different directions. 

Robin immediately dashes out to investigate. 

"The League is busy keeping someone from putting out the sun," Fortissima reminds Aqualad, and darts out after Robin.

Kid Flash shrugs.

"We are already here," he contributes. 

Before Aqualad can react, he too has zipped off to start poking at things. 

Aqualad sighs, and follows them.

"Which way?" he asks, crouching down beside Robin to survey their options. 

"Yeah, Bizarre Looking Hallway One or Bizarre Looking Hallway Two?" 

Their choice is made for them when a horned figure appears from one of the indicated directions. Another Genomorph, not a kind they've encountered before.

"Halt!" 

The Genomorph holds out a hand, horns glowing, and two nearby oil drums lift up in the air before being telekinetically hurled at the four heroes. 

Flute to lips and then the drums halt and crash to the ground.

Robin tosses a birdarang, and they scarper down the other passageway as the Genomorph prepares to hurl more projectiles. 

"Pretty sure that was a G-Goblin," Robin pants, checking his files. "They're the telekinetic ones." 

"No, really?" 

Dashing ahead as usual, Kid Flash collides with a female scientist as she walks out of a lab with "PROJECT TROY" emblazoned on the heavy doors. 

Grabbing the nearest heavy object, he drags it over and wedges the door open before it seals itself, beckoning the others through.

"Hurry!"

Fortissima darts through, shifting the telekinetic focus of her spell to the door to help keep it open.

Aqualad is the last one through the door, making it just as Guardian and his G-Elves round the corner. 

He kicks the makeshift wedge clear with one powerful blow, aiming to cut them off from pursuit. "Let it close!" 

And the music cuts off abruptly.

The door slams shut, inches away from the outstretched claws of the lead G-Elf. 

Robin is already at the console that holds the door controls. 

"I disabled the door," he declares after a moment. "We're safe." 

"We're trapped," Aqualad corrects him.

There are no other exits from the room, and even if there were, they'd still have to get back to the elevator. 

"Uh...guys?" Kid Flash has moved further into the room, and is standing at a control panel in front of an upright glass and metal case big enough to contain a person.

"You'll wanna see this." 

He presses a button, and the room lights up, revealing the contents of the case. 

A young woman rests inside, her body perfectly still but her eyes twitching under the lids in REM sleep.

She's wearing star-spangled shorts and a red tank top with Wonder Woman's symbol on it.

"Troy. Project Troy. Fuck."

Aqualad is the first to recover from the shock. 

"Robin. Hack." 

"Right, right."

He plugs his wrist computer into the console and starts digging. 

"Weapon designation: Wonder Girl. A clone force-grown in - sixteen weeks!? From DNA acquired from Wonder Woman."

"Stolen from Wonder Woman." 

Aqualad looks grim.

"And these...creatures?" he asks, pointing to the miniature Genomorphs sitting in their own little pods above the sleeping girl's head. 

"Those are G-Gnomes, remember? They're telepathic," Robin reminds them. 

"They've been force-feeding her an education." 

"And we can guess what else," Kid Flash puts in, sounding unusually serious.

"They've been making a slave out of...well. Wonder Woman's daughter." 

"...My mom is going to freak when I tell her about this."

Aqualad winces. 

"Now we contact the League." 

He presses the communicator on his belt buckle. 

Robin taps at his wrist computer, which seems to be how he does everything. 

"No signal," he reports grimly. 

Kid Flash lowers his hand from his earpiece, having had no more success than the others.

"We're in too deep. Literally." 

"I can try to contact Zatara magically," she says, and starts playing a tune that sounds suspiciously like an old-timey telephone ringing.

After a minute she shakes her head. "Still dealing with Wotan."

"Well, that sucks."

There is silence for a few moments, as they all try to think what to do next. 

Kid Flash has been staring at Wonder Girl; he wrenches his gaze away and turns to the others.  

"This is wrong," he says quietly. 

Robin nods. 

"We can't leave her like this." 

There's no hesitation in his voice, no uncertainty: it's not a plea but a statement. 

"The only question is if this thing has a way for us to open it or if we have to smash it."

"I can do it, I think," Robin says. "Looks like it's all controlled from this desk."

He looks at Aqualad, fingers poised over the controls.

He nods.

"Set her free. Do it." 

Robin nods, and enters a series of commands into the computer.

The sides of the casing around Wonder Girl start to lift up and away. There's a hiss of air as the seal breaks. 

She wakes up, for the first time.

She is confused--why did everything change suddenly? Her eyes sweep the room, cataloguing the situation, comparing it to the dreams.

The individuals in front of her--superhero outfits. Are they like her? Are they something else?

She steps down from the pod, studying them intently, waiting until she has enough information about the situation to decide how to proceed.

Unnoticed by anyone in the room, the horns of the three G-Gnomes have begun to glow. 

They are intruders, whispers a voice in her head. They must be dealt with. You know how. 

Disable; do not kill. 

Huh. Alright, then.

She goes for the girl, first--her costume looks like the magician's, which means she'll be far easier to deal with if taken out before she can do any magic.She's holding a flute; a gratuitously impractical thing to have here if it didn't have a purpose so perhaps it's how she does magic. She snatches it from the other girl's hands and flicks it over her shoulder back into the pod, then lunges at the presumed-speedster; the element of surprise is the best chance she has of actually catching him.

He has time to dodge, but instead holds up his hands and splutters at her.

"Whoa, hang on, what are you doing?" The last phrase is run together into a single word by how fast he's talking. 

That would be a mistake.

Her knee comes up between his legs, hard.

"Owwwww." 

He doubles over, hands flying to his crotch as he stumbles backwards. 

Aqualad takes a step towards them, but does not yet make any move to draw his weapons.

"Wonder Girl, we are trying to help you," he says in a soothing tone. 

"Help me with what?" she asks idly, using about half her attention to watch him for aggressive moves and the other half to figure out what objects she ought to be removing from Robin.

Robin: has quite a lot of useful gadgets tucked away in various parts of his uniform! 

If she wants to remove anything he could possibly use as a weapon, they might be here a while. 

...

Are any of the objects cord with which she might tie him up?

Probably, somewhere. Good luck finding it. 

He joins Aqualad in trying to talk her down. "We're on your side, really! Cadmus, the Genomorphs - they're controlling you. We're trying to set you free!" 

"Controlling me?" she asks, glancing around the room for other sources of cord-or-whatever.

Robin points at the three G-Gnomes sitting in their little pods, horns glowing a tell-tale red.

"They're giving you telepathic instructions right now, aren't they? And they've been shoving information into your brain for months - everything you know about the world comes from them!" 

Some of the power cables over there don't look like they're doing anything important. 

"Okay, well, what other stuff is there?" she asks, slowly circling around in the direction of the cables.

"I don't know," Robin replies, frustrated.

"But you don't, either, and that's my point! They might've left out important stuff, that'd make you change your mind if you knew it!" 

Aqualad weighs in again.

"Cadmus programmed you with everything you needed to know to be their weapon. But you can be more than that - and we can show you how." 

She thinks about this, slowly edging towards the cords.

"If I asked you what things are there," she says finally, "what are the obvious answers?"

"Music? Trees? Uh, bicycles? Grass?"

"Circuses," Robin contributes.

"Ice cream, roller coasters, snowball fights..." 

"Friends," Aqualad adds, slower and more deliberate than the others. "Family." 

He leans forward, meeting her gaze with eyes that beg her to understand.

"You could have a family," he says gently. "We could take you to Wonder Woman, and she would adopt you - as her daughter, or her sister." 

"--I don't think I understand what that means," she says, but she stops moving. After another moment she shifts out of her combat stance.

  "See - " Robin starts to say, but Aqualad holds up a hand to stop him.

"Then let us show you," he invites in the same soft voice as before, like he's talking to a scared animal.

"Come with us, and we can show you the world beyond your pod - beyond Cadmus." 

"Okay. Will I still get to punch things?"

"If that is what you choose to do," Aqualad agrees. 

"But I do hope - " 

He is cut off by a loud boom, as the door is forced open by a pair of the massive G-Trolls they saw earlier. 

Perhaps it will be appropriate if she punches those.

They might be big, but they go down when punched hard enough. 

Aqualad turns his water weapons into a pair of maces and goes in swinging. Robin is trying to help Kid Flash to his feet.

Fortissima grabs her flute from the pod and starts playing, throwing one troll into the other.

The G-Trolls go down, partially blocking the entrance. 

Behind them are a group of smaller figures: Guardian; the scientist who was leaving the room when they arrived; the telekinetic G-Goblin that attacked them earlier; and an unfamiliar scientist who is yelling at Guardian to "Get the weapon under control!" 

He's pointing at Wonder Girl. 

Well fuck you too.

She picks up the nearest conveniently pick-uppable object and throws it at him, hard.

The scientist gets a heavy metal bar to the chest and goes flying. 

Guardian attempts to tackle Wonder Girl. 

Wonder Girl drops to the floor and rolls at his feet. Maybe she'll trip him, but either way, no tackle.

Guardian clearly failed to anticipate such advanced tactics from someone less than six months old and with less than an hour of life experience. He goes down hard, the armor not doing him any favors. 

The other kids are fighting various Genomorphs. A G-Elf slashes at Fortissima and tries to grab her flute. 

She dodges, her music faltering for a moment before she resumes and telekinetically throws the elf into something else that's causing trouble.

The fight continues, the floor and ceiling regularly shaking as combatants are flung into them. Neither side seems to have a decisive upper hand.

Robin somersaults over one of the big trolls and starts heading for the elevator, Kid Flash zipping through to join him.

Fortissima attempts to make her way there as well.

Wonder Girl will help! By punching trolls out of her way! Gosh, punching things is fun.

Hopefully not so much fun that she forgets they're supposed to be escaping! 

She has not forgotten, she just doesn't want to try flying until they have a circumstance where it won't be a messy distraction if it turns out the answer is "no" or "yes but it takes practice to not just flail wildly through the air."

"Time to go," Aqualad calls when a suitable gap opens up in the fighting. 

He dispatches the last G-Elf and starts moving towards the exit.  

Robin already has the security bypassed so they can force the elevator door open. 

Fortissima is still a ways away and has only human speed. Wonder Girl picks her up before darting towards the elevator.

Aqualad forces the doors.

The elevator isn't on this floor.

They don't have time to wait for it. 

Grappling hook time!

He brings Kid Flash along with him. 

Okay, time to see if she can fly, she guesses.

...Looks like she can, hooray.

Fortissima actually requires less carrying than Aqualad at the moment but she can levitate him okay from her mildly awkward position.

Floor numbers flicker past them, emblazoned on the walls of the elevator shaft: SL-50, SL-49, SL-48. They're somewhere in the twenties when Robin notices the elevator coming down to meet them.

"Looks like this is our stop," he calls, swinging to the side and landing at SL-23. 

The rest of the team follows him in like a parade of baby ducks.

Aqualad is the last one to make it, rolling out of the elevator's path just as it hurtles past them on its way down. 

A group of G-Elves come scuttling down the corridor a few intersections away; he makes a split-second decision and leads the group down a side passage to the left. 

A voice sounds in Wonder Girl's head.

Turn left, little sister.

???

little sister?

A turning opens up to the left as they run through the identical corridors. 

Go left, here! the voice urges. Or you will be led into a trap! 

--Okay.

"This way!" she calls, and darts left.

The others follow. 

Another intersection approaches. Turn right, the voice instructs. 

She does that!

...

It's a dead end. The only thing at the end of the corridor is the grating covering a vent. 

"Great directions, Spangles, are you trying to get us caught?" 

"...Someone said to turn this way--"

"Don't apologize, this is perfect!" 

Robin pushes past the others to inspect the grate, which is set a little too high in the wall for him to reach. "Somebody boost me up, quickly!" 

And in short order they are crawling through the ventilation system, Robin in the lead. He's pulled up the building schematics and is using those to navigate. 

Kid Flash, forced to crawl along at the same speed as the rest of them, is grumpy.

"Ugh. At this rate we'll never get out." 

"You can in fact survive going really slowly and in the right order."

Robin chuckles.

The sound echoes weirdly in the cramped space. 

"Shh! Do you hear that?" 

Faint sounds of skittering, like claws on metal, can be heard echoing through the vents behind them.

"It seems we are still being followed," Aqualad notes. 

Helpful head voice? Any advice?

"It's fine," Robin says smugly, fiddling with something on his wrist computer.

"I hacked the motion sensors. They're following those - to the men's restrooms!" 

"Sweet!" 

And indeed they are not accosted by Genomorphs. Eventually, they reach another grate and crawl out of the vents - right next to the door to the stairwell. 

"About time!" Kid Flash exclaims, stretching. "Still plenty of them between us and out - but I've finally got room to move!" 

Pulling on his goggles, he zips through the door and up the stairs. 

"For the rest of us the stairs are probably too slow. Should I levitate you again?" she asks Aqualad.

"That would be appreciated."

Robin is already pulling out his grappling hook. Man, that thing is seeing a lot of use today. He swings up half a dozen floors at a time, stopping every so often to check his wristpad.  

Fortissima starts playing her flute again, raising herself and Aqualad into the air.

And Wonder Girl can fly! Flying is awesome!

There are more Genomorphs coming down towards them. 

...

He focuses, speeds up, and barrels through the group of G-Elves, leaving them lying scattered on the stairs. It's not like they'll get in the way of the others. 

Robin calls a warning.

"More behind us!" 

And, indeed, another squad of G-Elves is swarming up the stairs from the lower levels. 

Fortissima looks around for things she could use to block the stairs once Kid Flash has passed by them.

Not so much.

On the other hand, since none of them are actually using the stairs other than him, they could just outright destroy a flight or two once he's clear. 

That is somewhat trickier but still doable!

Whole sections of the staircase come loose from their moorings, effectively halting the upward progress of the Genomorphs.

However, our heroes will still have to deal with the ones on upper levels. 

Kid Flash reaches the top of the stairs.

He rounds a corner to see the big, heavy doors to the street slowly closing...

- and slams into them face-first as he fails to brake fast enough. 

Wonder Girl reaches the top shortly thereafter and attempts to punch the doors open. She doesn't strongly anticipate success, but you never know until you try.

Aqualad joins her in trying to pull the two doors apart by brute force, but to no avail. 

"We are cut off from the street." 

"Thanks," Kid Flash replies as he gets up from the floor.

"My head hadn't noticed." 

Behind them, the group can hear the thundering steps of a group of G-Trolls lumbering down the corridor towards them. 

What about the walls around the door, are those punchable?

"No time!" Robin shouts, kicking open a side door.

"This way!"

He darts through it, followed by Kid Flash. 

--Dammit okay. She follows.

As do the rest of them.

Aqualad brings up the rear, the trolls not far behind him.

All too soon, they find the path ahead of them blocked, trapping them between two enemy groups.

Guardian stands at the head of a mixed squad of Genomorphs - the warrior G-Elves, a few more of the giant trolls, and the tiny G-Gnomes perching on their cousins' shoulders for telepathic co-ordination. 

Element of surprise is a tactical advantage. Wonder Girl launches herself as fast as she's capable of, tackling Guardian around the waist.

Stop!

It's the same voice that was giving her directions earlier. 

The G-Goblin steps out of the shadows, horns glowing red. 

...She arrests her flight, looking at him with only mild suspicion.

The four young heroes around Wonder Girl slump to the floor as though their strings have been cut. Guardian's shoulder G-Gnome flashes its horns and he goes statue-like, staring blankly into space. The only participants in this conversation will be Genomorphs. 

Perhaps for the sake of all Genomorphs our sister should make up her own mind...

And suddenly she is aware of the pieces she was missing, an infodump drawn from the memories of dozens of Genomorphs. Cadmus created them, yes, but they are not its children, beloved and protected. They are its prisoners, its slaves, only valuable insofar as they are useful to their creators.

The G-Goblin - Dubbilex - set the fire to lure the Justice League here, in the hope that they might free Wonder Girl, and then she could free the rest. He was not expecting a team of untrained sidekicks. However, they have done well so far, and seem to have good instincts. Does she want to help them escape, and go with them? Let them be captured and hope to draw the attention of the League proper? Will she aim to get herself out at all costs, or to help her Genomorph siblings? 

All is still and silent, waiting for her to make her decision. 

Fuck.

She is angry, most of all--but that doesn't tell her what to do--she can't just abandon these people now, they're the ones who did come to help--

hm.

Hmmmmmmmmmm.

The Justice League values them, apparently--do they listen to them--Dubbilex probably doesn't know--

I don't suppose you can get the doors open.

That would be the simplest option but probably no so other options. She's definitely not abandoning them. Strategy. There are lots of normal Genomorphs; Cadmus probably values her more than any of them. If Dubbilex wakes up and she explains the situation and they agree to help they could maybe hide a small Genomorph on one of their persons and escape while she created a distraction? And then they could get the rest of the League and have the Genomorph for evidence?

Those particular doors, no, but they are not the only available exit. The elevator could take them up to ground level, if they could reach it. A path marks itself out in her mind - along this corridor, then there's a back way through the labs here...

Most of the Genomorphs lack the intelligence, communication skills, or both, to present their case to the League. Dubbilex had been expecting the job of defending his species's existence to fall to him due to his comparative intelligence, but circumstances have now changed. He might not be the best candidate anymore. Wonder Girl's advantage in comparison to Dubbilex is that she looks human, and will therefore have a much easier time getting the humans on her side even discounting her personal connection to Wonder Woman. 

Okay. She can do that (she hopes).

Dubbilex does...something, and Guardian blinks, raising a hand to rub his temple. 

"What's...going on?" he mutters. "Feels like...fog...lifting."

Wonder Girl's new friends begin to stir, seeming equally shaken by whatever was done to them.

They climb slowly to their feet, looking to her for cues on how to act. 

"--They're just as much prisoners of this place as I was. If we can get out and to the League they can save all of them, not just the one who looks normal," she says, gesturing to herself.

"Sounds good; I'm in," Kid Flash responds immediately. 

Robin nods sharply.

"I guess we'd better get going, then." 

"Agreed, to both." 

Aqualad is frowning, just about the most emotion he ever seems to show. 

"Yeah. How are we going to get out, though?"

"I got a different route out."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Kid Flash is on his feet and shifting his weight from one to the other, ready to run.

"Guardian?" Aqualad asks carefully.

That sure looked like someone coming out from under mind control.

"Go."

Guardian looks better than he did a minute ago. He stands tall, a new light in his eyes, looking the most heroic they've seen him. 

"I'll deal with Desmond."

Fortissima considers asking if he's sure he can and decides against it.

"I think not," says a voice from behind the wall of G-Trolls. The Genomorphs shuffle apart to reveal Dr. Desmond, who is holding a vial of glowing blue liquid and has a slightly crazed look in his eyes.

He holds up the vial. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus," he declares—and chugs the mystery liquid.

Desmond hunches over and groans, the effects of 'Project Blockbuster' working their way through his body. The seams on his clothing are strained as flesh and muscle expand beneath them. 

Guardian moves to stand between the kids and his erstwhile boss, readying himself for a fight against whatever monster seems to be emerging. 

"Come on let's go."

"Good plan—lead the way!" 

She dashes off along the path Dubbilex laid out in her mind.

The others follow.

Behind them, the thing that was once Desmond finishes its transformation into a massive, hulking blue-skinned monster. Uncurling to its full height—at least ten feet tall—it fixes beady red eyes on Guardian. 

Dubbilex's directions lead unerringly through the maze of corridors to the elevator. They're only going up one floor; it should be safe enough, and it's easier than trying to get back to the stairs. 

He even thoughtfully sent her the security code, in case Robin has forgotten it since he hacked the keypad earlier. 

Robin has not forgotten the security code.

Batman would have his head if he was that careless!

Good. But better safe than sorry.

The elevator ride only takes a couple of seconds. The doors ping open on the ground floor to reveal a large, almost cavernous room with two rows of hefty concrete pillars holding up the roof. 

On the far side is a door that looks suspiciously exit-like. 

That sure does look like an exit. She spends approximately 70% of her attention on bolting ,20% on making sure nobody's falling behind, and 10% on watching the environment for surprises.

No-one appears to be falling behind unless you count that none of them has a hope of keeping up with Kid Flash. 

Is 'a big blue monster bursting through the floor in front of them' the sort of surprise she was expecting? 

Oh fuck you.

The monster attempts to grab Wonder Girl, since she's the most obvious threat.

Aqualad and Robin pull out their weapons and prepare to attack it; Kid Flash notices the threat and skids to a halt so he can come back to help. 

She ducks inside his grasping reach and slams as much force into his solar plexus as she can manage on short notice. 

Aqualad attempts to hit the monster with a water whip. It lets the whip wrap around its arm, then grabs it and uses it to pull Aqualad in so it can punch him. 

Meanwhile, Kid Flash blurs past and tries to punch it.

He stumbles to a halt a few yards away, wincing and shaking his hand.

Fortissima telekinetically throws some rubble at it. 

--Is there anything sharp around?

Chunks of rubble seem to do some damage to the monster! It roars, and looks around for the person who threw them, but hasn't yet made the connection with Fortissima. 

There are more broken bits of concrete lying around; one of them might be sharp enough to do some damage. Other than that, this area seems empty of everything but the bunch of kids fighting a monster. It seems to be some kind of garage or loading area, but there's nothing waiting to be loaded right now. 

She grabs the sharpest piece of concrete she can find and tries to sneak up behind the monster while it's distracted by being pelted with rubble.