Happy Harbor, 5:37 PM.

November 11th, 2010.

He'd spent the flight to Happy Harbor thinking furiously about whether or not he was going straight into another trap—but it really didn't seem to be the case here. Conner was still on his side as well and unlikely to support any further attempts on his person now that it had been confirmed that he wasn't attempting to infiltrate them.

Destroying the fortress probably wasn't the best move he could have made, but it would never-the-less act as an unignorable warning to them. If they came after him again, he wasn't messing around anymore, and he had a level of force at his disposal to make it costly for them.

Aiden touched down next to where he could feel Black Canary's signature, and a few moments later, a metal gate retracted back into the mountain, revealing a driveway. He could feel several other signatures inside, and more appearing by the moment through what he assumed was the Zeta tubes.

"You were faster than we expected," Black Canary said simply. "Where's your friend?"

"Dropped her off," Aiden said vaguely.

Like hell he was getting in another one of those zeta beams and landing right in the middle of another trap—he'd learned his lesson there. He had a good idea of exactly who was inside—well, how many were inside at least.

He raised his Ki further than his now normal defensive level, just in case.

"There's a lot of people in there," Aiden said pointedly, nodding towards the mountain. "You sure you aren't going to attempt some crazy shit again?"

"What could I possibly say to convince you otherwise?" Black Canary sighed, turning and heading inside.

Aiden followed.

"So, what's the plan here exactly?" Aiden said seriously.

"We've recalled Robin and Kid Flash. They have orders to bring Speedy with them, but not the reason why." Black Canary said quietly, "They were together at the time we sent the call out, but they've been told to not tip him off."

"So you capture the clone when he gets here, then what?" Aiden prompted, "I think that ninja girl that attacked me might have been involved somehow—and the assassin guy with the dumb name."

Black Canary turned to scrutinize him for a moment.

"Deathstroke?" Black Canary guessed. "Ravager?"

"Who?" Aiden said, confused, before waving his hand vaguely, "No, he has a—what are those things with the ball on the end of the chain?"

"You're thinking of a flail." Black Canary frowned. "Sportsmaster."

"That's the one," Aiden nodded, clicking his fingers. "Sportsmaster and, uh—Cheshire—are involved somehow. All of them are working for Luthor or his cronies."

"Luthor is the one responsible for cloning him?" Black Canary said in understanding before shaking her head. "Cheshire is still in Belle Reve, and Sportsmaster hasn't shown himself in a while."

"Huh," Aiden said, frowning, trying to remember what else had been involved in that plotline. "I'm pretty sure someone cut the original guy's his arm off to clone him? That's about all I can remember about it."

Aiden glanced out of the corner of his eye at her expression as they approached the end of the tunnel. Black Canary looked like she wanted nothing more than to ask how he knew. He followed her out into a larger room and then through another hallway.

He sniffed the air as he stepped into the room, checking every single person's face for a mask—No gas, no masks.

"Bubbles," Diana said calmly, "I'd like to apologize to you for my part—"

"I want a one hand-handicap in our next spar," Aiden said immediately.

Diana rolled her eyes.

"I accept your condition," Diana said, amused. "I think we both know it won't make a difference."

"It will," Aiden said confidently.

"I have some questions for you," Diana continued, and Aiden nodded. "What was the purpose of this clone?"

Aiden opened his mouth to respond and then closed it—why had the guy tried to infiltrate them again? He closed his eyes, trying to remember, but he was drawing a blank—this was far past where he had switched to just watching the action and skipping the plot.

That's how he had remembered that Cheshire and Sportsman were involved in it.

"I don't know," Aiden admitted, "I don't think I ever saw anything to indicate what he was after—sorry."

Diana nodded with a focused look on her face, but whatever she had intended to ask him next was left unsaid.

"B01, Robin," The Zeta tube lit up, depositing the short boy in front of them.

He glanced around at the rest of his team and then to The Flash, Green Arrow, Wonderwoman.

"What happened?" Robin said, frowning, "Do we have another mission?"

"No," Batman said seriously, stepping past Robin to stand in front of the Zeta tubes. "Why are they taking so long?"

Robin turned around to watch with his mentor, standing just behind him.

"Speedy said he was just going to make a quick call. He had a date planned after this—seemed pretty mad about it," Robin said simply, shrugging. "KF is waiting with him."

Batman glanced down at him for a long moment before returning to watching the zeta tubes in silence.

"Robin?" Zatana said hesitatingly.

"Kid Flash isn't responding to comms," Batman said, frowning. "Somethings wrong here."

"On it!" Flash said seriously, vanishing as the same robotic voice called his identification number.

Almost a minute later, it spoke again.

"B03, Kid Flash. B06, Speedy." The voice said pleasantly, "04 Flash."

Aiden took in the appearance of the three before Robin casually stretched a hand up and pressed something against the back of Batman's neck—the man collapsed instantly, cape pooling over him and hiding him from sight.

"Robin!" Zatana said, horrified, "There's something on his neck!"

The entire room descended into chaos—Aiden felt Flash circle the room, tagging Wonderwoman, Green Arrow, and Aqualad as he went past. All three dropped to the ground, and Aiden surged his Ki outward in a wave of force as the almost invisible man reached him, sending him sliding backward.

A single arrow was deflected away by the force into the air, flipping end over end and landing next to the water, a small glowing object at its tip, and Dinah ducked behind him, moving away from the archer—Aiden pushed off the ground and burst onto the side of the room near the water, watching them all warily. Barely seconds had passed, and he was still trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

Why were they attacking their allies—Kid Flash and Robin were already engaging the younger squad. Speedy notched another arrow and took aim at Black Canary again but didn't fire.

Flash finally stopped his assault, dancing backward after Power Girl almost managed to grab him, he slid to a stop several meters away from Batman's body, watching them—Batman stood up slowly, holding his head, apparently surviving whatever Robin had gotten him with, but made no move to join the battle. Diana was already climbing to her feet as well, and only a few moments passed before Aqualad and Green Arrow was up.

"They all have the same thing on their neck as Robin!" Zatana called out, "They aren't in control of their bodies!"

Miss Martian turned and looked at her teammates for a moment.

"Time to go," Black Canary said seriously.

"Belay that order," Batman spoke firmly. "Stand down."

Superboy gritted his teeth before glancing over at Artemis and nodded. Aiden hadn't taken his eyes off the others, waiting for the inevitable attack.

"Don't move," Power Girl snapped, staring at Aqualad, who'd taken a step forward. "I'll bring this entire place down on your heads—try me."

The group started stepping backward slowly until they were seemingly standing on top of the water.

"Bubbles," Superboy said urgently.

"I'll catch up—I really need to shine a light on the situation," Aiden said clearly, holding his hands up in front of his face. "Solar Flare!"

Flash stumbled into a heap on the ground, clawing at his eyes, already most of the way across the room in a fraction of a second. Batman watched them go, seemingly unaffected by the light attack but made no move to stop them. The rest were in various states of blindness, and Aiden followed the Bioship up into the sky as it broke away from the mountain.

Tracking the bioship itself wouldn't have been difficult, but it actually had a Ki-signature of its own, but it was easy enough to follow the grouping of signatures seemingly flying through the air, entirely invisible.

He touched down onto the top of it and sat down cross-legged—A few minutes later, a hatch opened up, and he dropped down into the ship. Black Canary, Superboy, Powergirl, Zatana, Artemis, and Miss Martian watched him enter.

"What the hell happened back there?" Aiden demanded. "Who's controlling them?"

"It was most likely Speedy," Black Canary said seriously, "At some point, he must have discovered our plan and used those devices to take control of Robin and Kid Flash."

"This wasn't how the Speedy clone was being controlled, I thought it was mental conditioning like what they tried to do to Superboy." Aiden frowned, holding up the arrow with the glowing device on the tip. "I honestly haven't heard of these mind control things at all."

"What are you suggesting?" Black Canary said in question. "That it wasn't Luthor who's behind this, because the methods were different?"

"Hell no," Aiden said immediately, "It was most likely him, or at least someone working with him. He had to have help—unless he can use magic?"

"Can Lex Luthor use magic?" Power Girl said warily, "I certainly hope not—I mean, I don't think he can. It's never come up before."

"We have a bigger problem right now than who is responsible," Artemis interjected testily, "They've managed to brainwash half the justice league. What do we do about that?"

"The answer to solving the situation might be in capturing whoever did this and forcing them to undo it," Miss Martian said hesitantly. "We should try and contact the rest of the league—"

"I've been trying to do that since we got clear of the mountain," Black Canary said clearly, "I'm completely locked out of the system. We have to assume they've already captured the others and taken control of the Watchtower."

"Do…" Superboy said quietly, "Do you think they've already captured Superman?"

"Without warning, It's very unlikely that any of them managed to evade being tagged by Flash," Black Canary said seriously, "Even Wonder Woman was caught."

The Flash was basically an unbeatable opponent when equipped with a one-hit capture device that seemingly ignored durability, and that was before you considered that he had the benefit of surprise. The idea that Superman might also be their enemy wasn't a pleasant one.

"Can you fight Superman if it came down to it?" Aiden asked, turning to face Power Girl.

"I'm still not as strong or as fast, but the gap is closing slowly." Power Girl admitted, "I can hold him off for a while, but I don't think I could beat him."

"We don't need to beat him," Black Canary interjected again, "We just need to remove the control device—we're going to need two things."

"Two?" Aiden said, frowning.

"We need to split them up, set up traps, lure them in and capture them," Black Canary said, making sure she had all of their attention. "If we try and fight them head-on, we will be overwhelmed."

"What can we use as bait?" Artemis questioned. "Ourselves?"

"They were trying to capture us," Miss Martian said, nodding, "It could work."

"What's the second thing?" Aiden prompted.

"More muscle," Black Canary said seriously, staring right at him.

"This is a terrible idea," Aiden said seriously. "Last time I saw her, she was doing her best to rip me apart."

"We've been watching her for weeks," Black Canary said over the radio. "Her disposition has changed a remarkable amount from what it was. Batman theorized that the control chip you found at the scene was the cause of her hyper aggression. It's been steadily worn away."

"I prefer facts over theories," Aiden said evenly before glancing over to his teammate for this 'mission.' "If I die, I'm going to haunt you forever."

"I won't let it come to that," Power Girl sighed, "Have some confidence in me, will you?"

Aiden could feel the tiny Ki-signature in the building, already moving to the stairwell at a steady pace. Aiden could only assume that she had noticed them, either by hearing or sight. He raised his Ki to just under its maximum, ruffling his hair and clothing.

The roof access opened, and she stepped out onto the roof.

"I'm surprised you actually came after me, last time you ran away with your tail between your legs," Divine smirked, cracking her neck. "You even brought my dear sister!"

Power Girl seemed a bit affected by seeing a girl that looked and sounded identical to her, black hair being the exception. Aiden found his annoyance bubbling up almost immediately, adrenaline rising in challenge to the comment.

Fucking tail.

"Most of the Justice League has been captured and brainwashed by aliens," Aiden said vaguely, dropping down onto the roof in front of her. "Divine, I've come to bargain."

"Why did you come here?" Divine said bemused. "Did I hit you too hard last time?"

Aiden wasn't going to take that one lying down.

"Hit me too hard?" Aiden tilted his head in confusion, "Your attacks were so weak I think they were actually healing me."

Divine's eyes flashed red for a second before returning to their normal color.

"Huh?" Divine said darkly, "Want to say that again?"

"Enough!" Power Girl said, touching down between them. "Look, uh, you. They have Superman under their control, and we have no idea what their goals are—they might move on to enslave the entire world next. We need your help to free them."

Divine narrowed her eyes at her blonde mirror.

"I don't see how that's my problem," Divine said stubbornly. "I just want to be left alone."

"You're part of this world, too," Aiden said evenly, pushing his annoyance down. "I didn't think you would be so quick to jump back into being controlled by someone again—which is exactly what is going to happen once they've finished brainwashing all the heroes. A Kryptonian is too much of a threat to them to just leave running around."

Divine looked pretty pissed off at the argument, but she didn't refute it either.

"I help you free the big guy, then what?" Divine said pointedly, "You and your hero buddies turn on me?"

"No!" Power Girl said firmly, "You'll be free to go—if we catch you doing anything illegal after that, well, no promises there."

"Once in a lifetime chance to beat up Superman legally," Aiden prodded, "You really going to let that one pass you by?"

Power Girl gave him an annoyed look, but he ignored her entirely, taking in the torn expression on Divine's face.

"I'll pay you ten thousand for the job," Aiden said evenly. "Take it or leave it."

Happy Harbor, 6:17 PM.

November 12th, 2010.

"You know the plan," Black Canary said seriously, "Once they see Power Girl is with you, they'll be forced to send Superman."

"What if they send someone else?" Divine said, smirking.

"It's possible but unlikely." Black Canary said, "If they send more than three members, you should retreat immediately; we can always try again elsewhere."

"Got it," Aiden said easily, "What do we do if it's Flash?"

"Get into the air," Black Canary said simply.

"We are approaching the drop zone." Miss Martian said clearly, "Get ready."

"You better not break my bow," Artemis threatened, crossing her arms.

Divine, now wearing the archer's costume, flipped her hood up to cover her hair and scoffed before moving to stand next to the drop team. Aiden, Conner, Divine, and Karen stood by the open hole in the floor of the ship waiting.

"My teammate is waiting with the others," Aiden said, checking his phone again. "No idea if they are finished yet. Don't underestimate him, stupid helmet or not."

"We won't," Black Canary said in acknowledgment. "Don't die until we get back."

The four of them dropped through the hole, and the city grew closer as they fell down towards it. Power Girl took the lead, heading towards the massive building across the city, and none of them slowed down, crashing into the roof of the building with a crack.

"He's not inside," Power Girl said moments later. "Not that we expected him to be."

"It would be pretty stupid of him to actually stay somewhere we could find him," Divine said dryly. "That's if he has anything to do with this in the first place."

Conner grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wow, try not to talk my ear off—" Divine taunted before snapping her head to the side.

Both Power Girl and Superboy copied the movement a second later, turning to stare up in the sky. Aiden felt the signatures bloom above him; he turned to follow their gaze and spotted three black dots hovering above them in the darkening sky.

"Well, shit," Aiden said evenly.

Superman floated silently in the air, watching them while Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman flanked him on either side. None of the others were moving either, seemingly frozen in indecision.

"Power Girl, Superboy, you two are on Superman duty. Artemis, take Captain Marvel down." Aiden snapped, "Go!"