(Aden's P.O.V)

"Why did you take the serum?"

Batman's question cut right into the matter. I couldn't afford to lie to him, so I went with the simple answer.

"For power. To clarify, the situation was…bad from the beginning."

"Which is why you should have stayed put."

Batman interjected.

"I'm sorry but have you met them? Plus the whole situation with Speedy left them in a position where they wanted to prove themselves to you. It was either join them and try to help out or stay back and lose out on the camaraderie."

We were a little further away from the team, Batman had pressed a button on his data pad and I picked up on a static field enveloping our position.

"Explain."

He told me, clearly referencing on why I took the blockbuster formula.

"It's very simple. I didn't see another way we could win. We were trapped in enemy territory, an enemy who had easily taken us out earlier . After eavesdropping on Desmond and learning what the serum could do, I took it in hopes that it would be enough to grant us victory. I avoided the negative effects due to my other power."

"Adaptable Physiology."

He stated and I nodded.

I ran a hand through my hair,

" I won't lie to you, Batman. I was selfish and I endangered my life but my intentions were not evil. All I really wanted to do from the start was to get the others and leave. But things just got more and more complicated along the way until finally, I found myself in that position." I clenched my jaw, " I don't regret my choice."

I finished, waiting for his verdict. If he wanted me to leave the team then I was okay with that. I had a plan in place on how I could do this Superhero gig by myself.

"Don't do it again. Next time things might not work out as well as they did." He told me and I breathed out a sigh of relief. "You will also go for a check-up at Star Labs, to make sure that the formula doesn't have any unforeseen effects."

I agreed seeing no harm in that.

"We're done here."

I turned at the dismissal and walked away.

"And Maelstrom, good job."

A smile appeared on my face as I walked away, a little straighter.

( A Day Later)

Star Labs was amazing. The technology was otherworldly. I saw a man floating in the air assisted by 4 metallic bands attached to the wrists and the ankles. When I asked the intern leading me to the room where I would get my check up about it, he simply said, " Nth Metal" and left it at that.

The check up took a few hours and after I was done I left for the cave. Stepping out of the Zeta Tube, I belated myself after seeing Superboy and realizing we hadn't done any of his shopping. Superboy had always worn the same type of clothes in Young Justice but now that I was here, hell to the eff no. Where I come from, style is as much a part of you as anything else. My swag senses were tingling.

I talked to Red Tornado and then M'gann, Superboy and I spent the rest of the afternoon, shopping in town. Happy Harbor was a quaint little place and the food was great. We lazed around and came back to the base, happier and Superboy clothier? Is that a word?

(Three Days later)

The medical check up at Star Labs was an eyeopener. The scans showed that my muscle density had increased by over 1000%. The tensile strength of my skin was enough to block small caliber bullets.

There hadn't been any physical exertion exercises but I wasn't worried because the gym in Mount Justice was more than sufficient to test that. I looked over at Superboy and found him benching 100 tons easily.

My eyebrows rose up as I left him to do his reps and approached the treadmill. I started slow with a jog, then upped the speed as I listened to old-school hip hop assault my ears. My heart started pumping faster as I regulated my breathing, moving even faster. At my top speed I looked down and noted I was pushing 50 miles per hour. Not quite speedster level but still faster than any human should be.

Things got crazy when I used air-bending to augment my speed. My feet slapped the treadmill as a gale appeared behind me and made my body lighter while also reducing the air resistance. My speed instantly jumped to 60 mph. The air got more violent and to reflect that so did my speed, 70 mph…80 mph…90mph…100mph.

That was the limit for the current me. I strained to keep up that speed while thinking of ways I could increase it. A lot of things factor into Superspeed. The main thing though, is a high perception to react to moving at that speed, I had no idea how to tackle that. There was also the problem of maneuverability. My speed pushed me forward but it didn't account for quick turns or corners. Not yet.

The way to get better would be to constantly push my air bending training. I could already feel I was halfway to the next level which was Master.

I lost control and was thrown off the treadmill. I hit the ground and tumbled to the sound of Superboy chuckling. I got up and dusted myself. These few days had helped me build a good relationship with him and M'gann and as a consequence of Superman being more understanding, Superboy was much more mellow.

"Laugh all you want but I bet you can't beat that speed."

I told him in a challenging tone.

"Oh it's on."

He told me and removed his shirt. I think I heard a squeal from somewhere by the door.

"You know, you could simply come in M'gann. I doubt Superboy would mind."

I didn't need to be a telepath to know she had ran away.

Superboy smirked and started to run upping his speed more and more to the point he was nothing but a blur.

"Fuck."

I said softly when he proudly stepped back and showed me his top speed. The boy of steel was fast. 200 mph. The problem was that apart from the first episode there were less instances where he showed that speed.

But maybe that was because it took sometime to accelerate? Kid Flash could go from 0 to a 100 in the blink of an eye. So superboy probably chose to focus on what he was good at. Punching really hard.

He hopped out of the treadmill and smiled pointing at the weights.

"Here's my own challenge."

I shrugged and approached the weights. Long story short, he beat me in that too. We found out that I could comfortably lift 60 tons. My limit was 70 tons though and that was after huffing and puffing.

I was a little disappointed in myself. I hated losing so I decided to at least secure one win. Plus I also needed a subject…I mean a partner to practice chi-blocking on. I smiled in secret as Superboy and I faced each other on the sparring mat.

"So here are the rules. First one out of bounds loses. No dirty fighting, hitting below the belts or blowing holes in each other's body."

Superboy grunted and my shirt came off as well. I had a rocking bod now, all the more reason to show it. I saw M'gann, our referee, blush even deeper at the testosterone on display. Superboy and I stood facing each other. His hands came up in a standardized guard. His form was firm and stable, feet set apart and his front leaning forward.

I kept a loose stance on my part.

"Ready, Begin!"

At M'gann's word, I sprang forward, cart wheeling to add momentum and increase chi flow according to the chi blocking forms I had intergrated with. The best part about the forms was that they shared many similarities with air-bending.

Adding air-bending to the forms brought about a sort of flavour to chi-blocking. They worked together almost seamlessly to give me crazy flexibility and reaction time.

I transitioned from the cart wheel to a twist in the air, coming down upon Superboy with a mock of a punch, the joint of my index finger protruding slightly from the rest of the fingers. This was to target the chi points better.

Superboy swiped his fist at me but I grabbed his hand, twisted my body, flowing like water to his back. My hand lashed out to his armpit and he sucked in a breath as the arm went slack. Undeterred, Superboy threw a back hand while turning his body to keep me in his vision. You cant hit what you can't see after all.

Except if you were me, I ducked the hand without looking and swept his legs from under him. My hand shot out multiple times before he could touch the ground and when he did, his body lay there motionless.

"Wh…what was that?"

He asked bewildered. I sat cross legged while M'gann flew forward in worry.

"That, my friend is chi-blocking."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Yeah don't worry about him. It's going to wear out in just a short while." M'gann looked relieved at my words. I turned to address Superboy. "I guess I can count this as my win?"

He grunted, a little annoyed, making me laugh. We then left for the kitchen after M'gann told us about the cookies she had made. They were actually good. Especially given that they weren't burnt like the ones in the prime timeline.

A day later, the others came to hang out in Mount Justice. Superboy was not around however. Surprisingly Superman had asked Superboy to accompany him for a patrol around Metropolis. I was really happy for him. No doubt it was a tactic for the older man to get a reading on his clone but although their relationship hadn't started out smooth, I had hope that it would go well.

Miss M and I decided to give them a tour of the base and it's facilities. Of course things got interesting when Robin and Kid Flash decided to try and beat my record on the obstacle course.