Ever since the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons aired, Hawkgirl has been one of my favorite characters. So naturally, when Hawkwoman and Hawkman showed up in Young Justice I was ecstatic.

Only to be disappointed by their lack of participation.

I've had this story in the works for a long time and only very recently decided to make it a fully-fledged fic and post it. It is an OC fic if you can't tell, so if that really isn't your cup of tea, I won't blame you.

This story will also be episodic, with the entire episode comprising a single chapter. In between, there will be past interludes as well as side stories, as there's only so much you can cram into a single episode.

I hope you enjoy the first chapter!

Update: Has been edited for minor mistakes after several reviews have been posted. Thanks for the help, guys! : )

ST. ROCH
JULY 4th, 2010
12:00 EDT

"Move!" Hawkwoman barely gave warning before slamming her mace straight into the side of the Snowman's head, giving Hawkgirl only seconds to duck out of the path of the swing. Folding her wings in closer to her body, she momentarily disengaged from the conflict as her mother started to rain blows down onto the giant yeti.

Flaring her wings out to hover into the air, Hawkgirl quickly cast a glance backwards to make sure her father was still okay. The Snowman had backhanded him into a building when Hawkman had attempted to charge into the fray, and now he lay out of commission for the moment in a severely dented shipping container.

Hawkwoman continued to rain blows down onto the beast as she kept his attention solely on her. That left Hawkgirl free to act unhindered. Pressing a hidden button on her mace, the Nth metal spiked ball disengaged from the handle, revealing a long chain. Whirling the chain around a few times to build momentum, she sent it flying towards the Snowman's legs, letting the chain circle around. Yanking with all of her strength, she forced his knees together and immobilized him.

Hawkman finally made a reappearance with a guttural war cry as he flew straight towards the Snowman, slamming his gauntleted fists into Snowman's abdomen. A well timed yank from Hawkgirl and a final hit from Hawkwoman's mace sent the yeti sprawling backwards and unconscious onto the asphalt.

While the police arrived on the scene and loaded the limp yeti into the back of a secured transport, the Hawks had taken to the air, hovering just above the nearest building and keeping an eye on the proceedings.

"That was quick thinking, tripping him like that." Hawkman said as he put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "It made knocking him out a hell of a lot easier."

Hawkgirl smiled at the praise. "He deserved it after he managed to take you down so easily."

Chuckling at the backhanded response, Hawkwoman rushed the tip of her wings against her daughter's. Hawkman scowled at her when he saw his wife's amusement, but she merely smirked.

Scowling, Hawkman decided the best course of action would be to change the subject. "It looks like they have things well in hand here. We don't want to be late."

Hawkgirl's brow furrowed slightly. "Today's the day, but…"

"Everything's going to be fine, Skylar." Katar assured her immediately. "Besides, you already know that this entire thing is a complete farce. It doesn't actually mean anything."

Shayera swatted him on the arm, one of the few areas not covered in armor, frowning heavily.

"What?" Katar grumbled as he rubbed at his arm. "It's true."

"Try to be more supportive of our daughter." Shayera snapped. Tilting her head slightly to the side, she added. "Even if it is true."

H

WASHINGTON, D.C.
JULY 4TH, 2010
14:00 EDT

Despite literally being two of the fastest people on the planet, Flash and Kid Flash were the only two missing from the gathering in front of the Hall of Justice. Hawkgirl and her parents had arrived shortly after Green Arrow and Speedy, who had been the first. It wasn't long before Robin, Aqualad, and their respective mentors showed up.

If this had been a normal gathering, Robin, Hawkgirl, and Speedy would have immediately rush to the others' side and start comparing stories about the ice villains they'd all just fought. But not today. Today was different. Instead, they resolutely stayed by their mentors.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice" Green Arrow greeted, definitely playing up the theatricality of the moment.

"Headquarters of the Justice League" Aquaman added.

Hawkgirl felt a pressure on her shoulder and looked up at her father, who tilted his head in such a manner that she knew he was rolling his eyes. She managed to stifle an outright laugh at his antics, but a small smile still tinged her lips. Anyone looking from the outside would merely assume that she was smiling from excitement and some kind of nonverbal praise from her father.

Hawkgirl's feathers were suddenly ruffled from a gust of wind that swept over the party. "Aw man!" A familiar voice whined, sounding thoroughly put out. Turning her head, she could see that the missing speedsters had finally showed up. "I knew we'd be the last ones." Kid Flash crossed his arms in a huff.

"Now that we're all here…" Batman interrupted, bringing the attention back to the matter at hand. "Let's go."

Hawkgirl didn't catch the exact exchange between Kid Flash and Robin as they finally spoke to one another, only seeing them both high-five, as she was more focused on the sudden rise of noise and frequency of camera flashes that followed the arrival of the last hero and sidekick. They were in front of the actual building itself, cut off from the citizens by a few flimsy velvet ropes.

Her unease grew as they headed towards the Hall of Justice, paparazzi and the media surrounding it from nearly all sides. Cameras flashed right and left, and she did her best to keep her spine straight and an indifferent expression on her face as she walked in step in front of both of her parents.

"Is that Batman?!"

"I see Flash! And Flash Jr!"

"His name's Speedy, duh"

"No, Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick!"

"Well that makes no sense!"

"Look, the whole Hawk family's here!"

"I'm glad we're all here." Aqualad said warmly. Even though he'd only met the other teens a scant few times before, he still considered them friends and was glad they were here with him on this momentous occasion.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash wondered aloud as they headed towards the doors, immediately earning himself a scathing retort from Speedy.

"Don't call us sidekicks. Not after today."

"Sorry" Kid Flash immediately apologized, sounding genuinely sheepish. "It's my first time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed."

Robin sighed. "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone just ever whelmed?" His eyes widened in surprise as they emerged into the entrance hall, the massive statues of the founding members of the League staring down at them. "Oh. Maybe that's why."

Soon, they were joined by both Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter, the latter of whom stepped forward to address them. "Robin, Speedy, Hawkgirl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, welcome." He turned, leading them further into the 'inner sanctum' of the Hall of Justice. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library."

Hawkgirl took a moment to take in the sight of the room Martian Manhunter had just led them into, every wall lined with bookcases filled from end to end. Dominating the end of the room was a massive screen and console, with a few chairs and a table scattered in front of it.

"Make yourselves at home." Flash gestured widely with his arms. Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad all immediately settled down onto the chairs in front of them as their mentors moved to gather.

Hawkgirl remained standing, deeming the time it would take to find a comfortable position with her wings unworthy. She managed to snag her mother's arm before she joined the other members of the League, letting her father continue on.

"The others don't know, do they?" She asked quietly in fluent Thanagarian, quickly glancing towards her friends.

"No" Hawkwoman replied immediately.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?"

She minutely shook her head in reply, before heading over to stand at her husband's side just in time for the computer to start scanning them for admittance.

"That's it?!" Speedy suddenly exploded just as the doors slid open and the League members were about to enter. His indignant cry effectively trapped them where they stood. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass."

Aquaman was the first member of the League to step forward and attempt to reason with the angry archer. "It's a first step." He said gently. "You've been given access to what few others get."

That didn't diffuse the situation in the slightest, and Roy gestured towards the civilians watching them through the window. "Oh really? Who cares what side of the glass we're on?"

At Aquaman's failure, Green Arrow took the initiative in calming down his protégé. "Roy, you just need to be patient."

"What I need is respect." Turning towards the others, it was clear he was looking for allies in his friends. "They're treating us like kids. Worse, like sidekicks." He spat out the word like it was a curse. "We deserve better than this."

Everyone remained silent. Hawkgirl tilted her head slightly to the side and looked back at both of her parents, attempting to silently reassure them that she held no ill will towards them on the matter.

Seeing that no one else was going to step forward, Roy's scowl deepened. "You're kidding, right? You're playing their game? Why?! Today was supposed to be the day! Step one to becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

Kid Flash shrugged. "Well, sure. But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy snapped suddenly. By the wide eyed looks on Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash's faces they hadn't known. "Bet they never told you that it was just a false front for tourists and a pit stop to catching Zeta-beam tubes to the real thing! An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Hawkgirl was honestly surprised that at least Robin hadn't known, considering he seemed to know everything. Of course, she herself only knew of the base's existence because she was the only one of her friends who had left the Earth's atmosphere.

Green Arrow immediately became the subject of scrutiny, and he visibly wilted under the attention. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?"

Batman's legendary glare was the only response needed.

"Or not." Green Arrow winced, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Once again, Aquaman stepped forward in an attempt to calm down Speedy. "You are not helping your cause here, son. Stand down."

Usually, the calm and collected King of Atlantis was an excellent voice of reason, but in this situation, there was no getting through to Speedy. "Or you'll what? Send me to my room? I'm not your son!" Speedy shouted. "I'm not even his." Sending a scathing glare his mentor's way, he kept talking. "I thought I was his partner. But not anymore." He tore off his yellow hat and threw it on the ground, storming out of the room. Speedy only paused long enough to address his fellow teens. "Guess they're right about you four, you're not ready."

Those that were sitting rose back to their feet as Speedy disappeared from sight completely, but before anyone could say anything, a harsh beeping filled the room. The massive screen suspended on the wall blinked to life, revealing Superman's image. "Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

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

The Dark Knight was interrupted as yet another Leaguer sent out a distress signal, this one the resident magician. "Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the sun. Requesting full League response."

"Superman?" Batman asked.

"It's a small fire. The local authorities have it under control." Superman assured.

"Then Cadmus can wait." Pressing a key, Batman broadcasted his own message. "All Leaguers rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out." Both Superman and Zatara cut off their link, letting the screen go dark as Batman turned to the sidekicks. "Stay put."

"What, why?" Robin immediately spoke up.

"This is a League mission." Aquaman answered easily.

"You're not trained-" Flash began, only for Wally to abruptly cut him off.

"Since when?!" The young speedster insisted, looking visibly agitated.

Flash put his hands up in a placating gesture, obviously trying to avoid another confrontation like the one that had just resulted in Speedy's leaving. "I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team."

"There will be other missions when you're ready." Aquaman added.

"But for now…" Batman took over. "Stay put."

Hawkwoman and Hawkman were the last two Leaguers to leave the room. "We will return soon." Hawkwoman assured as she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

Hawkman let one of his massive wings brush his daughter's. "Stay out of trouble, Ski'Lira."

She nodded, giving them a small smile before they both left to join the rest of their teammates. Now, she was alone with the other sidekicks. It was only a few moments before the lingering tension in the room came to a head.

"When we're ready?!" Kid Flash shouted, seemingly a step away from tearing at his hair from anger. "How are we supposed to ever be ready when they treat us like sidekicks?"

There was a hurt look in Aqualad's pale green eyes. "My mentor… my king… I thought he trusted me."

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret HQ in space!"

"What else aren't they telling us?"

Letting out a small huff, Hawkgirl's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. At the moment, she was torn. She both wanted to let them get all of this… vitriol out of their systems while they were out of earshot of their mentors, but she also wanted to shout some sense into them.

Even though she'd been living on this planet for seven years now, Earthlings still found new ways to befuddle her.

"I have a better question." Robin said. "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

A brief, uncomfortable silence settled over the group before Aqualad finally broke it. "What is Project Cadmus?"

"Don't know" Robin admitted, before he suddenly smirked. "But I can find out." Making a beeline for the console, his gloved fingers immediately started to manipulate the keyboard. The others in the room, even a still silent Hawkgirl, all moved closer to the computer.

"Access Denied" A mechanical voice announced.

The denial seemed to do nothing more than amuse Robin, as his doubled his efforts breaking into the system. "Heh, wanna bet?"

"Whoa, how are you doing that?" Kid Flash's green eyes were wide.

"Same system as the Batcave" There was a definite note of amusement and smugness in the young Bat's voice.

Mere moments later, the mechanical voice once more spoke. "Access Granted"

It only took a few moments for Robin to locate the relevant information and start scanning. "Alright, Project Cadmus, genetics lab here in DC… That's all there is, but if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate." Robin suggested, an unnerving grin on his face.

"Solve their case before they do" That thought seemed to strike a chord in the Atlantean. "It would be poetic justice."

"Hey, they're all about justice."

"But they said to stay put." Aqualad reminded, shoulders slumping slightly.

It was at that moment that Skylar finally decided to speak up. "If I remember correctly, Batman restricted us from taking on Wotan, not stopping a local fire."

Kid Flash looked between his friends. "Wait, are you going to Cadmus? 'Cause if you're going, I'm going."

Aqualad cocked a brow. "So, just like that? A team on a mission?"

"We didn't come for a play date." Robin's grin widened, if that was possible.

H

As soon as Robin had given them the exact location of Cadmus, Kid Flash picked up Robin bridal style and sped off into the streets of DC, leaving Hawkgirl and Aqualad alone. Seeing the issue, Hawkgirl took pity on the Atlantean.

"Want a ride?" She asked, offering him her hands from her place hovering next to him.

"I do not wish to be a burden." Shaking his head, he immediately denied the offer. "Atlanteans have a higher density than humans."

"And I'm a Thanagarian." She corrected, sounding a bit irate about it. "If I can carry an unconscious Hawkman in full battle armor, I can carry you." Before he could protest further, she took the initiative and dropped down to grab him by the wrists. Just as he let out a startled noise, she took off straight up into the air without warning.

The flight was short and their location was easily marked by the steadily growing plume of black smoke. Hawkgirl dropped Aqualad down next to Kid Flash and Robin before moving back towards the building. Using her mace, she smashed out windows and started to ferry trapped scientists down safely to the ground. Kid Flash rescued a couple of scientists before vanishing inside the still burning building, Robin following closely behind.

At the only one capable of actually stopping the fire, Aqualad manipulated as much water as he could to quench the flames. Seeing that he had everything well in hand, Skylar too disappeared into the depths of the building, finding Robin and Kid Flash easily.

"Appreciate the help." Aqualad deadpanned as he finally joined the others. Robin was already deep into hacking into one of the computers, while the other two were perusing through a couple of file cabinets.

"You handled it. Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?" The Boy Wonder reminded without looking up from the screen. Leaving his comrades to their information gathering, the Atlantean decided to investigate further into the office. Just as he looked around the corner, he saw an unusual silhouette in the elevator, only visible for a few moments before the doors closed.

"There was something in the…" Aqualad said, Kid Flash at his side in an instant.

"Elevators should be locked down." The speedster pointed out.

Seconds later, the two missing birds had joined them. "This is wrong." Robin muttered as he activated the holoscreen on his glove and started to hack into the system once again. "Thought so. This is a high speed express elevator. It doesn't belong on a two story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad muttered before striding forwards. Forcing his fingers into the crack of the elevator, he tore the doors apart, revealing a seemingly endless hole.

"And that's why they need an express elevator."

Using his grappling hook, Robin attached himself to the supports at the top of the elevator shaft and dropped down into the abyss. Aqualad gave him a few moments before jumping forwards and grasping the rope, riding it down.

"Ladies first?" Wally gestured towards the rope, smirking at Hawkgirl.

The Thanagarian narrowed her eyes at him underneath her helmet. Without saying a word, she dove headfirst into the hole, falling far faster than he could. Mere seconds before she reached the others, she snapped her wings out, slowing her descent and hovering patiently while Robin hacked open the door. Wally was trying to hide his impressed look with nonchalance.

"There, go" Robin announced as the doors opened, revealing an extensive hallway nearly two stories tall. "Welcome to Project Cadmus."

Before anyone could stop him, Kid Flash sped ahead in an attempt to scout the area. However, said attempt was quickly cut short as his path was abruptly cut off by colossal quadrupeds unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He was so focused on the sight before him, he barely registered as his friends caught up to him and were similarly frozen.

Out of the group, Aqualad and Hawkgirl were the only ones nonplussed by the sight, the former because he had grown up with the creatures that evolved in the deepest parts of the ocean and the latter having personal experience with alien species that put these things to shame.

"No, nothing odd going on here." Aqualad deadpanned.

H

Following the path of the twisting halls, the group of teens had managed to find what appeared to be some kind of power generator. Lining the walls from floor to ceiling were glass tubes, each bearing an insectoid creature that was generating electricity, all of the energy funneled through conduits into a contraption at the end of the room.

"Okay, I'm officially whelmed." Robin admitted.

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world." There was almost a reverence in Kid Flash's tone as he examined one of the tubes. "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid. It generates its own power with these… things. Must be what they're bred for…"

"Even the name is a clue." Aqualad offered. "The Cadmus of myth made a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"Your Earth mythology is strange." Hawkgirl muttered to herself, shaking her head slightly.

That earned her an incredulous look from Wally. "Uh, I'm pretty sure you once told me Thanagarians used to sacrifice people to a giant octopus."

"That is not a myth."

Robin decided to take control of the situation before Hawkgirl could break the speedster's brain any more than she already had over the years. "This Cadmus creates new life too…" Activating his glove again, he hacked into the nearest console. "Let's find out why…" An image of one of the creatures they had seen earlier popped up. "They call them genomorphs… Whoa! Look at the stats on these things! Super strength, telepathy, razor claws… These are living weapons."

Eyes widening, Kid Flash spoke as he realized what was going on. "They're engineering an army… But for who?"

"Wait, there's something else." Brow furrowing, Robin started to dig deeper into the files. "Project Kr… The file's triple encrypted, I can't-"

"Don't move!"

Hawkgirl's mace was instantly hand and her wings flare out behind her in a battle stance as the newcomer stormed into the room, accompanied by one of the small genomporphs on his shoulder and a pack of wolf-like creatures surrounding him. To her surprise, the golden-helmeted man paused, eyes widening in recognition. "Wait, Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? Hawkgirl?"

Not looking up from his computer nor ceasing his hacking, Robin muttered a, "At least he got your name right" to Kid Flash.

"I know you." Aqualad relaxed from his own battle stance. "Guardian, a hero."

"I do my best." Guardian admitted, still wary.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kid Flash asked.

"I'm chief of security. You're trespassing, but we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League is going to approve you breeding weapons?"

That seemed to throw the older hero for a loop. "Weapons? What are you?" His face started to contort and his eyes close, one of his hands drifting up to his temple. "What have I…? Ugh, my head." In a single instant, his entire countenance changed, his face and eyes going terrifyingly blank. "Take 'em down hard! No mercy!"

At his command, the pack of genomorphs surged forward towards the teens. Robin immediately dropped a smoke bomb, obscuring their efforts as the pack reached them. Robin disappeared into the ceiling via grapple gun, leaving the remaining three to fight off the pack themselves. Hawkgirl had a pleased grin on her face as she started batting away creatures with her mace. She couldn't see how the others were faring through the smoke, but from the lack of frantic screaming she was sure they were fine.

After they'd managed to fight off the initial attack, they retreated back into the hallway where Robin had disappeared. Or rather, Kid Flash and Aqualad had retreated and Hawkgirl had reluctantly followed. It was a pity, she'd really wanted to take on Guardian.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash shouted as they caught up to the Boy Wonder, who was already working on getting the elevator open.

"Weren't you right behind me?" He asked, just as the doors slid open and they all flew inside, narrowly escaping the horde of genomorphs pursuing them.

Setting her jaw, Hawkgirl drew her wings as close to her back as she could as they were sealed inside the enclosed space. Robin was the only one to spare her a glance, but seeing that she seemed fine for the moment, he looked away.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad asked, eyes glued to the numbers continually increasing on the display.

"Dude, out is up!" Kid Flash's arms flailed slightly.

"Excuse me? Project Kr?" Robin reminded, scowling slightly. "It's down on sublevel fifty two."

This seemed to be the moment where Aqualad had finally reached his rope. "This is getting out of control. Perhaps… Perhaps we should contact the League."

As they all took a moment to mull over the idea in silence, a short dinging noise filled the space as the metal box stopped on floor fifty two. The doors slid open and their minds were made up for them as they headed out into the hallway. Hawkgirl was the last one out, wary from the unnatural scents filling her nose. The moment she was free, she let her wings stretch out to their full length… and immediately retracted them as they hit the squishy walls. She made a face and was glad that she was at the back of the group so they didn't see her short plight.

"We are already here." Kid Flash pointed out as they started forward.

Aqualad gave a resigned sigh before setting his shoulders and following. "Which way?" The Atlantean asked once they came to a fork in the abnormal looking hallway.

Robin smirked. "Yeah. Bizarre-looking hallway one or bizarre-looking hallway two?"

Any decision they could have made was interrupted by the appearance of yet another genomorph. "Halt!" It shouted, as it started manipulating the equipment around them with telekinesis, throwing heavy machinery in their direction. Throwing a batarang at it to distract it, he led the charge out of the immediate area. Kid Flash surged forward, plowing accidentally into a Cadmus scientist and sending her sprawling to the ground. Not paying any mind to her, he grabbed a metal tank and quickly lugged it towards the rapidly closing metal door, jamming it open. "Hurry!"

The moment they were all inside, Aqualad kicked out the metal tank and the door automatically sealed itself.

"I disabled the door." Robin announced. "We're safe."

"We're trapped." Aqualad corrected as he moved away from the door, Hawkgirl at his side.

"Uh… guys?" It was the most uncertain and unsteady that Kid Flash had ever sounded in the years that Hawkgirl had known him, his mere tone setting her on edge. "You'll wanna see this." He pressed a button on an isolated console, turning on the lights, revealing the crown jewel of Cadmus.

A near exact clone of Superman.

"Whoa" Robin summed up their mutual feeling pretty perfectly with a single word.

H

The present speedster was the first one to approach the glass coffin, pressing his fingers briefly to the symbol engraved on it. "Big K little R" Kid Flash muttered to himself. "The atomic symbol for Krypton."

"Robin, hack." Aqualad snapped.

"Right, right." He immediately set to work, and in moments he had access to the relevant files. "Weapon designation: Superboy. A clone force grown in… sixteen weeks?! From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman" Aqualad clarified vindictively.

"No way the big guy knows about this." Shaking his head slightly, Kid Flash was obviously having difficulty processing this turn of events.

"His solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four seven." Robin continued to read off of the files, Hawkgirl looking over his shoulder and scanning them just as quickly as he was.

"And these… creatures?" Aqualad asked.

"Genomorph gnomes. Telepathic. They're force feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else." Kid Flash added. "They're making a slave out of … well, Superman's son."

Once again, Aqualad's collected demeanor was starting to crack slightly. "Now we contact the League." He insisted.

"No signal" Robin pointed out, a regretful grimace on his face.

"We're in too deep. Literally" Kid Flash's tone was solemn, despite his small attempt at humor. "This is wrong."

"We can't leave him like this…"

"Set him free. Do it" Aqualad agreed. Hawkgirl nodded in affirmation, though she did tighten her grip on her mace. She had a bad feeling about this entire situation, and it wasn't just because they were uncomfortably deep underground. With a few taps of the keyboard, Robin was able to open the pod, and it cracked open with a pneumatic hiss.

The teen heroes all watched with bated breath and unblinking eyes as Superboy's hand abruptly twitched and clenched into a tight fist. A second later, his eyes snapped open revealing a brilliant blue that matched the Man of Steel's perfectly.

The moment of peace was abruptly shattered as the clone let out a feral growl and tackled Aqualad. Kid Flash and Robin immediately ran over and grabbed his arms, while he still straddled Aqualad's chest.

"Whoa, hang on Supey" Kid Flash said through gritted teeth, desperately trying to pull him off.

"We're on your side." Robin added.

The speedster was thrown backwards with a flail of the clone's arm, smashing straight into a thick glass tube. Fighting to stay conscious, Kid Flash flopped limply onto the ground, not noticing as Hawkgirl dropped at his side and checked on his vitals. Robin had managed to leverage out of Superboy's grasp and slammed a canister of tear gas into the clone's face, forcing him off of the Atlantean.

Aqualad snapped out a foot, slamming it into Superboy's chest and sending him flying backwards into his metal and glass prison. The impact had been so rough, that there was a perfect dent of Superboy's body on the metal slab. Having deemed Kid Flash alright for the moment, Hawkgirl turned her attention back to the fight.

Robin had dug out a taser from his belt and had shot the twin prongs at the clone. Before they could reach his skin, Superboy grabbed the wires out of the air and used them to pull Robin forward, knocking him off balance and slamming the young hero onto his back. Rearing back a foot, he slammed it down onto Robin's chest hard enough that he could feel his ribs crack.

And Hawkgirl could hear it.

"HA!"

An Nth metal mace, glowing with white energy slammed into Superboy's chest with the full strength of an enraged Thanagarian behind it. Hawkgirl landed blow after blow, forcing him back further and further away from the Boy Wonder.

With the berserk clone temporarily distracted, Aqualad took the time to check on Robin. The Boy Wonder was already unconscious by the time the Atlantean reached him and there was nothing else he could do. Standing up, Aqualad formed two massive maces out of water, not to dissimilar from Hawkgirl's own, before joining his friend's side.

"We're trying to help you." Aqualad insisted as the two faced off against him.

Hawkgirl for one was thoroughly unnerved seeing a face she was so familiar with (de-aged as it may be) staring at her without a single spark of recognition and such malice. All of a sudden, Superboy was charging at them, but this time they were ready for his advance. Despite never having fought together before, Aqualad and Hawkgirl did a decent job tag-teaming the super clone, darting in and out and trading off offensive and defensive positions.

Aqualad managed to slide behind Superboy as Hawkgirl distracted him from the front, locking his arms in a full nelson and sending waves of bio-electricity through his body. Hawkgirl was forced back so as not to receive a nasty shock herself, thus Superboy was able to manage to get the upper hand as he jumped straight up, slamming Aqualad into the ceiling. After two hits, the Atlantean was dislodged and unconscious, leaving Hawkgirl to fend for herself.

"This is the first decent fight I've had in ages." She grinned, readjusting her grip on her mace and flaring her wings a little.

Logically, she knew that she had no chance of winning this fight. Superboy had managed to take out her three fellow sidekicks in an embarrassingly short span of time, one of whom was Robin (who she admittedly, had never won a fight against him herself). But she was going to savor the feeling of a decent battle before she was inevitably taken out.

Hawkgirl had no idea how long she fought the clone, as he managed to disorient her with a few blows to the head pretty early on in the fight. Once he managed to separate her from her mace, she was done for, and soon, she joined her fellows in unconsciousness.

So, what'd you think? Comments and concerns are always welcome, as I like to know far ahead of time if I've unintentionally dug myself into a plot hole or messed up some kind of detail.

I should have the second chapter up within the next week, as I already have it about halfway finished.

Hope you have a nice day!