Hello my beautiful watchers! Welcome back to yet another chapter of Alchemic Justice, this time not being after a near six-month hiatus!

The world is in a weird place right now, that much is certain, but at the very least hopefully we can all find solace and safety here on FanFiction, with our beloved authors and stories.

This chapter was certainly an interesting one to write, as I'll detail in the housekeeping at the end of the chapter. But with new characters, new twists, and new interactions to add, there was a plethora of material to work with here.

Before we jump right back in though, we go to the reviews, as usual. I must say though, thank you all so very very much for your support and your words of kindness. It's so heartening to see you all replying to my little fic in this way. It just made me feel so much better after the hiatus was over. But let's take a look at these lovely words:

CRUDEN: Thank you good sir, I'm glad to hear you thought it was worth the wait.

Guest #1 from January 14th: Will Atomic Skull reform? Possibly. It's not in the immediate future, and maybe not even the far future. But it might happen.

TheGreatGodzilla: As I have mentioned, multiple times, there will be no crossover for the villains between the Marvel and DC universes. Not with the planning, not with the scheming, not with the sharing of tech or information. There are no crossovers for them on the way.

Guest #2 from January 14th: It's my pleasure to return. I'm just glad that everyone was happy to see me.

Mysterygirl145: Well I'm certainly glad to know you thought this whole chapter was great, heh. Yeah, Coldsnap singing that song was actually a joke I borrow from Young Justice: Abridged, but it was too good to pass up. Besides, giving the tough girl a softer side? Classic trope! Yeah, Clark just stretching out his abandonment of Conner always bugged me, so I used this as an excuse to make it last for less time. I feel like it'll work out better in the long run too. What did Joker do to Ace? We honestly don't know, as the specifics were never revealed. All we know for sure is that torture was involved, as was brainwashing. Although some have suggested that Harley's reaction to how Joker treated Ace indicates a more... inappropriate touch. As for what Joker's been up to? Honestly, just the usual chaos. Nothing too crazy (for him, at least).

darthwolf: Ah yes, Conner's full parentage. That should be a fun revelation to write. But alas, the team will not be crossing over into the Marvel universe.

7-Eleventh: I must admit, I have toyed with the idea of Niuhi and Jason getting together. I'm still debating it though. If the fans want it though, I may just be swayed. As for your point about the Injustice Gang, honestly the DCAU treats it like one big joke that there are so many villainous teams. They always just say "yet another Secret Society", which is honestly, pretty funny.

Malchior the Bad: Curses, yet another plot hole! Honestly at this point, I'm just gonna say he didn't die at the end of that Justice League episode. Simple as that.

Lucian Naruto: Ah my friend, it is wonderful to hear from you again. I certainly agree about preferring Conner Marko, although I certainly have a bias. You are correct though, having Lois present would have been some serious overkill.

Dion ComicWiz: As always, it is wonderful to hear from you, my friend. And I am delighted to know that the chapter was worth the wait in spite of the hiatus. Hopefully now, I'm on a more organised track to getting them out more regularly. I'm glad to hear that you felt each character received a good amount of spotlight with this chapter, and I'm certainly glad to see my interpretation of the Joker getting such a positive reception. I honestly hadn't considered Atomic Skull in this universe being Joseph Martin, but I certainly imagined him like his Rebirth counterpart. The Team's interaction with the Injustice League, as well as the cameos for Plastic Man, Icon, and Rocket were just delightful to include. It's definitely a relief to hear that the pacing was done well for the chapter, as I'm always worried that some scenes get rushed or others drag too long, but knowing that the pacing was good is definitely a relief. As I mentioned previous, I much prefer giving Conner and Clark closure now. It makes far more sense with the Superman that JLU presented us with, at the very least. I am always continuing to improve my writing, and I like to think I'm doing better. But I do appreciate having you here to catch my errors as it were. Thank you again for a wonderful comment, and I hope that you enjoy this latest chapter just as much.

As always, thank you all for the reviews you send in. Knowing that even after such a long hiatus you're still here definitely makes me feel better about continuing my writing into the future.

In some minor news, I am requiring a new beta reader for my fic. My last editor has since stopped working with me on my fic and I've been having trouble finding a consistent editor since then. Anybody interested in becoming my new beta, and getting a chance to read the new chapters early, should contact me via PM if you are at all interested.

But with that out of the way, disclaimer time: I own nothing but Niuhi Lincoln. Keemia Marko and all related characters are owned by Marvel comics and therefore Disney. Young Justice, the Justice League, and all related characters are owned by DC Comics and therefore Warner Bros. Please support the official releases.

And with that, lets begin!

Teton County, Wyoming – October 10th, 04:23 MDT

"When the prodigal son returned, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him. For this, his son, was lost and is found."

Brom grimaced in spite of himself as he listened to T.O. Morrow prattle on to the stationary body of Red Tornado. The android hero, despite coming to the laboratory himself, was still defiant to their attempts to keep him held down. But Morrow had been determined, and finally managed to restrain his errant android, before performing numerous operations on him to check his function and augment his systems.

Brom himself was looking over the two androids that had been sent after Tornado in an attempt to capture him, which had in turn suffered minimal, albeit still impactful, damage from the young heroes they had encountered. Given how the heroes had managed to take care of Mister Twister some weeks prior, he hadn't anticipated a successful mission.

But the proof of their success was that Tornado had been recaptured. Morrow's nearly sixty-year mission to reclaim the renegade hero was finally at an end. The scientist smirked triumphantly as he continued to use his tools to work on Tornado's systems. While the android had been suppressed in his attempts to escape and fight back, he had still updated his own systems to prevent Morrow from hijacking them. Getting Red Tornado back into an obedient state was proving to be quite troublesome for the scientist, but he was certain of his success.

"You are the prodigal son, Tornado, and I rejoice at your return." Morrow said in an almost wistful fashion as he stood up straight again, looking at Tornado with an expression that seemed both prideful and lecherous, "And thank you for making our little family reunion possible."

The scientist stared for a moment before chuckling as he put away his tools. "Now, you must have many questions. No?" There was a brief silence before Morrow chuckled again. "Oh, how could I forget? Your voice box is offline."

Sure enough, Red Tornado's ability to communicate had been one of the first things Morrow disabled so that he could work. It wasn't proving troublesome, but the constant communications were taxing on his patience. Silence was so much more conducive to his working environment. Morrow paced around the large metal slab he had Tornado restrained on, watching the android. Tornado's eyes followed the scientist, and if they could, they would have narrowed.

"But your eyes and ears still function perfectly, as does the prodigious mind I built for you all those years ago," Morrow continued before crouching down to be eye-level with the android. "And really, what else matters?"

With one last light chuckle, Morrow turned and walked off elsewhere in the lab to examine other projects of his, leaving the limbless and immobile body of Tornado alone. One such project was currently suspended from the ceiling, nearly completed. But Morrow wasn't about to activate it until after he was finished with Tornado. Instead he looked at another project that was held in a glass cylinder, unaware that Tornado continued to watch him, listening to his whispers.

"I suppose I no longer require your services… But who knows? My latest child shall prove successful, I am certain. Yet, I could always stand to have more children." He mused, cupping his chin thoughtfully at the yellow-and-green-clad figure within. "Ah well… there's always tomorrow…"

Mount Justice – October 10th, 16:58 EDT

"Pineapple Juice?" Shazam asked, as he offered a glass to Barry, who took it with a grin. Ever since the mission into the bayou to fight the Injustice League, Barry had been spending most of his time in recovery with his broken arm.

Recovery for him meant having Shazam wait on his hand and foot, while he relaxed in a lounge chair and watched everyone else spar as part of their combat training with Black Canary. He sipped the juice through a straw, watching as the rest of the team engaged each other. Kaldur and M'Gann were remarkably even in their fighting. Artemis managed to knock Robin to the ground, but the boy wonder quickly got back to his feet before charging her again. Niuhi and Annie both avoided using their powers and were focusing on grappling, while Conner fought a tag-team battle with Jason against Keemia and Ashley.

Barry chuckled before finishing his drink with a contented sigh. "Ah, just what the doctor ordered." He said, before setting the glass down and petting Wolf, who was asleep curled up at his feet.

"How's the arm doing, Barry?" Shazam asked, looking at the speedster with the cheery smile he usually wore. The magically powered mortal had been incredibly diligent in making sure Barry was well cared for. Barry, naturally, used this to his advantage with increasingly menial tasks for the hero to perform. Even when it wasn't his day to supervise the team, Shazam was still there helping Barry. Not that the Leaguer seemed to mind. In fact, he seemed to enjoy be able to help out. Even if the help wasn't quite traditional.

"Well, nothing wrong nachos can't cure." Barry shrugged.

"Nachos? Oh! I'll go get you some!" Shazam exclaimed before soaring off to the kitchen.

"You're really milking this, aren't you Barry?" Keemia snarked, as Conner held back a punch from her with one hand. "You can't just take advantage of him like that."

"Why not? If he wants to stop, he can. He just likes doing things for me." Barry pointed out.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he's got a point." Ashley mused with a frown before attempting a sweeping kick that Conner easily dodged, releasing Keemia in the process.

"Oh please, you can't be serious." Artemis scoffed.

"Honestly Artemis, I think he might be right." Niuhi said, albeit reluctantly as she and Annie wrestled on the floor. She noted the lack of struggle she faced to escape the girl's grip before grasping her arm. "Hey, hold your arm here next time. It makes it harder to move my shoulder."

"Like this..?" Annie questioned as she copied Niuhi's movements.

The cryokinetic girl tested the hold before giving a nod of approval. "Exactly! Good work." She grinned before throwing Annie off of her. She landed softly on the ground, before quickly catching Tim after Artemis threw him to the ground yet again.

"Good work, everyone." Black Canary complimented them, watching as the teens continued to spar. "In fact, it's been a very productive week."

"Yeah, for everyone except Kid Malingerer." Artemis snarked with folded arms.

"Oh don't worry, that's just his new power. By moving slowly, he can double his energy output." Jason joked, as Niuhi rested her arm on his shoulder.

"Kinda makes you scared of sloths now, doesn't it?" she mused. Jason was about to ask what she meant before realizing and shuddering at the thought.

"Hey!" Barry scowled indignantly. "Arm broken in combat against the Injustice League here! If you wanted it fixed, you should have used magic!"

"I told you Barry, healing bones with magic is too dangerous for an arm. Ribs are fine, but arms? Too much fine motor skill to be that risky." Keemia sighed.

Canary chuckled, shaking her head with a smile. "I've really enjoyed being your, uh, den mother this week." She smiled before the teleporter whirred to life.

"Recognized: Starfire-51, Nightwing-52." The automated voice said before the two heroes stepped through.

"Are you sure about this, Dick?" the Tamaranean girl asked nervously.

"Of course I am, Kori. She needs to be around people close to her own age. Besides, she's been cooped up in the batcave since she arrived there." He pointed out. "The closest she got was that very brief visit from Karlo last week. She needs this."

Starfire nodded at that before Dick set to work typing on the keypad. "Access granted. Cassandra Cain A-04. Authorization: Nightwing-52." The synthesized voice read before the teleporter once again whirred to life, revealing the shy form of Cassandra Cain. The girl was in a far better state than the last time the team saw her. Her hair, which was once matted and unkempt, had been properly cut and treated. It now fell in gentle waves just above her shoulders, tied in a single small ponytail at the back. Her skin was also no longer the ashen pale it was when she was first found, having now been given healthy access to the sun.

Even her behaviour seemed different. Despite her uneasy glances to the teleporter, she was moving with much more confidence than before. She seemed less reluctant to be around other people, as evidenced by how closely she stuck to Starfire and Nightwing. Starfire in turn held her close, doting on the girl much like she was her mother.

"Is that Cass?" Keemia asked with a smile as she saw the younger girl regarding the team curiously.

"Yes it is. Bruce has been very thorough in his care for her." Dick smiled, ruffling Cass' hair as the girl seemed to grumble quietly. It was still playful though, as she shot him a small smirk in return. "Alfred adores her too. She's been helping him with cleaning a lot."

"That's nice to hear, but what's with the outfit?" Niuhi asked curiously, her arms folded. Sure enough, Cass was garbed in a black jumpsuit that had golden accents. She had small shoulder and arm guards, as well as a gold utility belt. A small black hood was pulled back between her shoulders as well.

"Batman's started training her. At first he didn't want her anywhere near the life, insisting that she should be as far away from combat as possible. What with the Shadows' treatment of her and all," Robin explained. "But as soon as she saw Batman in action, she wanted to join him in the field. Right now, she's a natural."

Cass nodded eagerly before pulling her hood over her head. It possessed a black mask that covered her entire face, as well as a hood with the same gold accent. Poking through the top of the hood were two small pointed ears. "Batgirl! Me…. Batgirl!" Cass said excitedly before immediately displaying some of the training exercises Bruce had taught her.

"She's the new Batgirl?" Artemis said in surprise. Ever since Barbara had been crippled by the Joker, the mantle of Batgirl had remained unfilled. Whether that was out of respect for Babs or not wanting to put someone in harm's way like that again was anyone's guess. But Barbara had said before that she was fine with somebody else taking up that mantle if they had the dedication to the job that Bruce would require in a Batgirl.

"Well, not yet." Dick clarified. "But she does show a lot of promise for it. She's eager for the field though."

"Yes, boyfriend Dick is correct. But it is also true that Cassandra should interact with others of her age. We had thought perhaps, bringing her to the cave would allow to make the friends with this team." Starfire said, resting her head on Dick's shoulder.

"Well, we're glad to have her here." Keemia smiled as she walked over and shook Cass' hand gently. "Do you remember me, Cass?"

Cassandra pulled her mask back to reveal her face once again, studying Keemia with quizzical eyes. After a moment, she nodded once. "Magic!"

Keemia couldn't help herself and laughed a little at that. "Yeah, that's me." She smiled before looking at Dick. "She's learning to talk then?"

"A little at a time." Dick shrugged. "It's a slow process, but she's getting the hang of it."

"Well, why don't I make introductions for you?" Keemia offered, taking Cass' hand and walking her over to the rest of the team. "You already know Jason, Tim, Annie, and Niuhi from when we first met. But, these are Megan, Kaldur, Barry, Artemis, Ashley, and Conner."

Cass seemed to be focusing intently on their names, wanting to remember them as best she could. After a moment she gestured to herself. "Cass… Cassandra. Me Cassandra." She greeted, her face clearly showing how much emphasis she was putting on remembering how to speak.

"Aw, she's even cuter than I remember!" Annie cooed. "Does this mean she's going to be joining the team?"

"Let us not be the hasty," Starfire said, her face suddenly tinged with a touch of worry as she stepped forwards, putting a hand on Cass' shoulder. "One day she might, but for now this is strictly for the visitation. It is unfortunate that we missed the training though, as she could have learned from it."

'Do the rest of you get the impression we're still on probation with Starfire?' M'Gann asked the team telepathically.

'Honestly, I think Starfire is just being over-protective of the kid.' Hood answered with a shrug. 'Look at her, she's acting like Cass is her own daughter. But I gotta admit, you ain't wrong.'

'Not just Starfire,' Conner chimed in. 'I mean, why is Shazam still hanging around?'

'Because we like having him around?' Barry offered.

Artemis rolled her eyes before looking at Barry with a smirk. 'You like having him around 'cause he waits on you hand and foot.'

'And your point is…?' Barry asked her, clearly not following her train of thought.

'It's even more than that though. Think of all the Leaguer's who've been here this last week.' Ace frowned. 'Vigilante, Shocker, Zatanna, Salamandra, Green Arrow… They don't want us alone, but none of them are saying anything about it.'

'Tch, there goes any faith in them trusting us to look after ourselves.' Niuhi scoffed, folding her arms. 'Not like they would do any better under an ambush.'

'It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor,' Kaldur sighed.

'Yeah, at least he trusted us.' Robin grumbled.

'If you ignore the fact we shouldn't have trusted him!' Superboy scowled. 'He was a traitor! That machine nearly got all of us killed!'

"You… okay?" Cass asked them with a frown. It was quickly apparent to the tem that their own emotions had worked their way to their faces. Sure enough, Canary, Nightwing, Starfire, and Cass were all now looking at them expectantly.

The team looked at each other unsure, not wanting to be the first to say anything. Finally it was Conner who bit the bullet. He sighed inwardly, pinching the bridge of his nose before he turned to face Nightwing, Starfire, and Canary. "Alright fine. We were telepathically talking about Red Tornado," he explained. "It's been weeks since his attack, and the League hasn't told us anything."

"The League is searching for Tornado," Canary said simply. "As well as the other androids that invaded the cave, and their creator, T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority."

"But you've found none of the above," Robin rebutted.

"Worse than that, you haven't found anything!" Keemia frowned. "No evidence, no updates, no leads. We aren't expect a miraculous discovery, but footprints, security camera footage, a crumpled blade of grass, anything! Anything would be better than nothing!"

Black Canary sighed, knowing that this conversation was a long time coming. "You're right, we haven't found anything yet. But Tornado is Justice League. The team is not to pursue this."

"Will you at least keep us in the loop? After all, he was our den mother," Ashley frowned, clutching her left arm. "It's been hard for us knowing that he was a traitor. So we at least want to know what you find, if anything."

Canary smiled warmly at that before giving a nod. "If anything is found, we'll let you know right away," she assured them.

"Why don't you guys go take Cass here on a tour of the cave?" Nightwing offered, before the team turned around to see Cass giggling as she pet Wolf. The large dog was sleeping peacefully beforehand, but was now on his back, his tail wagging happily as Cassandra rubbed his belly. Soon enough though, a new smell hit his nose as he got up and dashed to Shazam, who had just arrived with a plate of nachos.

"Ah, you're giving a tour? Cool!" Shazam said, eager to tag along.

"Actually," Conner started, an idea forming in his head which he relayed telepathically to the others. "I was hoping you'd take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise. We'll join you in a few."

"Sure, sure. I can do that!" Shazam grinned. "Come on Wolf!" He exclaimed before dashing off outside with the plate of nachos, Wolf tagging along close behind him.

Barry watched the retreating form of the Leaguer before whining childishly. "But…. But my nachos!"

He didn't get long to pout however as Conner grabbed his collar before half-dragging the speedster off with Cass and the rest of the team. They made their way through the kitchen and den, approaching a staircase that the team knew led to the hangar. Cass seemed to recognize that they weren't exactly giving her a tour like they said they were.

"Where… go?" she asked.

Conner stopped in place from his position up front, before turning to face Cass and the team. "We're hunting down that robot."

"Yes, we are." Kaldur confirmed with a nod.

"Ooh, out loud and everything. Guess that makes it official." Keemia grinned, as Niuhi cracked her knuckles eagerly.

"That's music to my ears right there." The larger girl chuckled before Artemis frowned.

"What about the new girl?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm sure she won't tell." Robin chuckled. "After all, she needs to get into the field at some point, right?" he asked Cass. The younger girl's eyes widened and seemed to sparkle in excitement.

"Field!" she grinned eagerly.

"Heh, guess that settles that." Keemia smirked, as the rest of the team seemed to mirror her expression with their own confident grins.

Outside the cave, the weather was starting to become more and more overcast, as dark grey clouds blew in over Happy Harbour and Mount Justice. Despite the sudden drop in temperature, Shazam seemed undeterred as he attempted to get Wolf to play. Key word, attempted.

The magically powered mortal hefted a massive tree branch before throwing it almost a hundred feet off into the distance. He then turned to the canine member of the team expectantly. "Fetch!" he ordered. Wolf however, was more concerned with the unattended plate of nachos that Shazam had originally made for Barry, eagerly eating the chips.

"Come on, fetch!" Shazam whined, almost childishly as he pouted to Wolf. "Please…?"

With his focus on the large animal, he was blissfully unaware of the cloaked form of the Bioship flying overhead as it left Mount Justice, heading out into the open air. Inside the ship, the team sat comfortably as the ship had been telepathically expanded to hold the now expanded roster, as well as their newest companion.

Their departure wasn't entirely unnoticed however, as they soon received a transmission from Black Canary. "M'Gann, the Bioship wasn't authorized for departure." The Leaguer said, over the communicator.

"We're kidnapping Cassandra!" M'Gann responded cheerfully, before swiftly realizing what she said and correcting herself. "To show her Happy Harbour. Be back soon!"

From the other side of the communicator, Black Canary's eyebrow piqued curiously as she shrugged. "Roger that. Have fun," she answered, before signing off. She then turned to look at Nightwing and Starfire, who each had different thoughts on his turn.

Nightwing seemed genuinely optimistic of this, while Starfire almost looked like she would explode from worry. "Cassandra was not given the permission to explore Happy Harbour with the team," she said seriously. "I should go and make sure she is the taken care of."

"Kori, you don't need to worry." Canary said, placing a gentle hand on the Tamaranean's shoulder. "They're good kids, trustworthy kids. Don't worry."

"Dinah's right, Kori. They can take care of Cass. Besides, Cass knows how to help herself." Dick assured her. "I know you're worried, but they'll be fine."

Dinah nodded at this before turning away, as a slight doubt threatened to crawl onto her face. While the team was inherently good and responsible for the most part, trouble did seem to find them at times.

Back on the Bioship, the team flew over a small range of mountains, putting greater distance between themselves and Happy Harbour. Cassandra watched the passing clouds with awe, amazed by the wide open spaces she saw below her. Everything about this trip so far was proving to be even more exciting and amazing than she could have ever imagined.

Not everyone was as eager as her though. Robin shifted in his seat uncomfortably before he suddenly turned to look at M'Gann. "Where are we going? Batman is the world's greatest detective, and he searched for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're going to do better we need an illogical solution."

"Something so beyond stupid, that Batman wouldn't even consider it." Niuhi nodded.

"We need to think so far outside the box that we can't get back in," Jason continued.

"Or else, think so little that the box is unnecessary," Keemia chimed in.

"Exactly. We need a truly dumb idea." Robin finished, before everybody at once turned to look at Barry.

The speedster turned to look at their expectant faces, slowly realizing exactly what they meant. In spite of the insult that was very clearly sub-textual to their words, he couldn't help but agree with them as he gave a small shrug, relenting to their point. "As a matter of fact…"

Back inside Morrow's hidden underground base, the scientist was continuing his efforts to regain total control of Tornado. Brom, meanwhile, was finishing his final bits of care on the other two androids, smiling lightly as he saw their eyes alight, a sign that they were once again coming online.

Morrow seemed to notice this too as he gave a jovial chuckle while he straightened out some cords that were tangled around Tornado. "Look Tornado, your brother and sister are back online. We'll have you up and running too." He smiled before turning away to go over to his computer. "Maybe even turn your voice box back on too. As soon as I'm done copying and downloading your memory files."

That information sent the wheels in Tornado's head turning, as he considered the severity of this revelation. So much League sensitive information was already within him. For it to be revealed to a villain like Morrow could prove disastrous. Luckily enough, his own hardware that he had personally upgraded proved secure enough that Morrow was still unable to crack it.

The scientist new this as well, a fact that had kept him very frustrated these past few months. In spite of that, he wasn't as angry as he once was. He was closer to success than ever before, and was confident that he'd have what he required within the week. Instead, he sat down in an office chair before swivelling it around to look at the prone body of Tornado.

"In the meantime, I'll tell you a story," the scientist began. "Once upon a time, a brilliant scientist decided to build his own superhero, to infiltrate and destroy the Justice Society of America. His first creation was: Red Torpedo, hero of the ocean deep! A machine programmed to think he was a man." Morrow said as he gestured to the android opposite Tornado that possessed the power to control and manipulate water.

As it had turned out, Morrow was the scientist of his story, and Torpedo was just the first of many efforts he had made to destroy the heroes of the world. In spite of the original confident smile Morrow had as he told his story, it quickly vanished, to be replaced by a sullen frown. "Unfortunately, that programming was crude. Torpedo never quite fit in… your eldest brother was a failure."

After a brief sigh of frustration, he looked up to the second of the two androids adjacent to Tornado. "But the scientist believed in his plan, and began again. Your sister debuted as Firebrand, a much loved and admired heroine. If only she hadn't been so darn heroic." He lamented, remembering how Firebrand had "sacrificed" herself to prevent Jay Garrick, the original Flash, from being killed by a supervillain. However, he at least took solace in the fact that she had succeeded in infiltrating the Justice Society, a feat that Red Torpedo couldn't achieve for himself.

"Yet, our intrepid scientist would not quit. And this time, the android would know he was an android. The new approach worked. Red Tornado, the robot hero, was inducted into the Justice Society. The scientist believed he had triumphed! But…" he trailed off, cupping his chin in a pondering gesture, "Tornado's original heroic programming and Pinocchio-like desire to become more human caused him to betray his creator, his father!" he growled spitefully.

This was an unfortunate truth that he had grappled with for countless decades, quietly plotting and scheming for ways that he could retrieve Tornado and complete his original objectives. However, with the formation of the Justice League there was an even greater, more dangerous presence of heroes to thwart his attempts. But now, he was at the cusp of success. His smile once again returned to his face as he walked over to where Brom was finishing with Torpedo and Firebrand. He looked at the two androids before giving a nod of approval. "Still… the scientist refuses to give up."

Belle Reve – October 10th, 18:35 CDT

"Warden Strange owed us a favour for stopping last month's prison break. He's given us five minutes with you." M'Gann said, leaning over the table in one of the many interrogation rooms, as Conner stood beside her. His arms were folded as backup as he glowered to the figure sitting across from them.

"Spill, Ivo. How do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?" the Kryptonian clone asked with a scowl.

Ivo bit back a sneer, fighting not to roll his eyes as he looked to the heroes with disinterest. While he wasn't as keenly invested in the breakout as other villains within the penitentiary, it was still a sour point in his mind. A potential escape route had presented itself to him, only for it to be almost instantly quelled by the heroes. Coupling that with their previous defeat of him and his Amazo 2 android, and the scientist was in no mood to bargain. "Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" the scientist asked snidely.

"Because, and here's a truly dumb idea, you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game." Barry reasoned. "Who better to keep track of what he's up to, and where?"

"Ah, I see your point." Ivo conceded, folding his hands together as he leaned over the table to sneer victoriously at the team. "So let me rephrase; why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?"

"He knows." Kaldur said with a glare as he regarded the villainous scientist. "Do what you must."

M'Gann and Ace nodded before both other eyes immediately glowed as they started to telepathically infiltrate his mind. Ivo was nonplussed however, as he simply laughed in an almost amused fashion. "Oh please, as if I've never faced a telepath before." He scoffed, folding his arms.

"That's fine, we've got other options." Keemia smirked as magic swirled around her hands, and Niuhi covered her fingers with razor-sharp claws made of ice.

Ivo tried to keep himself reserved before a sudden flurry of small objects whizzed past him and embedded in the wall. He turned around slowly, before blanching as he noted numerous knives having formed an exact outline of his head. He swivelled his head back quickly, noting the team was equally surprised, as the culprit was Cassandra. Cass stood there with her hood and mask up, and holding two more knives as she looked at Ivo expectantly.

"Talk," she said, her tone still playful, but with an undercurrent of malicious intent.

All at once, Ivo lost his resolve before panicking. "Morrow's in a secret underground base, below Yellowstone National Park, approximately 100 metres south of Old Faithful. Now please, don't hurt me." He begged as Cass walked around him to retrieve her knives. Once she had them all, the put them back on her belt, gave Ivo a pat on the head, and returned to the team's side. "All done!" she grinned under her mask.

The team looked on it shock at her effectiveness. However, they weren't the only ones, as Warden Strange observed them through the security camera installed in the room. He glared lightly at the team's success. This would not bode well for the Light.

"Well, can't say I expected that from you." Keemia mused as she looked at Cass, who seemed to be rather non-chalant in response to the team's surprise. To her credit, Cass merely shrugged before looking out the window as the Bioship once again cloaked before taking to the air.

"Guess our next stop is Yellowstone." Robin mused as Annie grinned.

"Cool! I've always wanted to go there! I hear it's beautiful."

"Too bad we aren't there for pleasantries." Barry sighed.

"Well, this time at least," Annie huffed. "But we can always go back."

Conner listened to his teammates talking as he stared out the window, watching the prison carefully. While he was primarily focused on getting answers out of Ivo so that the Team could continue their pursuit of Red Tornado, he couldn't fight the nagging thoughts of their previous mission here. True it was where he and M'Gann finally got together, and he would forever be thankful for that, but it still hurt to think about how she was attacked by the villainesses within.

He also couldn't help but think about Cameron. While the troubled teen had gained notoriety as a villain, the real Cameron Mahkent wasn't nearly as unrepentant as his father. If anything, he just wanted to stand out on his own. And Conner couldn't help but feel they might have had a real friendship while they were there.

As the ship rose into the sky, he noticed the front gate to the prison open as a lone figure walked out, escorted by guards. He was wearing the rather plain clothes of black cargo pants and a dark grey muscle shirt, but there was no mistaking that pale grey skin or lanky form. The guards ended their escort, closing the gate of the prison as the figure was left to walk down the road alone, with nothing but a large duffel bag on his back.

"Stop the ship!" Conner suddenly exclaimed, standing up.

"What's the matter Conner?" M'Gann asked with a frown as everyone looked to the clone in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Keemia asked. "Did we forget something?"

"No. Well… not quite," he admitted. "Just put the ship down. I need to check on someone."

M'Gann looked to Kaldur for confirmation, who gave a tentative nod in response. Seeing that she had clear permission from their leader, she brought the Bioship down, keeping it cloaked before the hatch opened once they had landed. Almost immediately, Conner leapt out before rushing down the road to the figure who was walking away from Belle Reve.

Cameron Mahkent was unsure just where he would do now that he had been released from Belle Reve. According to Warden Strange it was due to him showing exemplary behaviour, and rehabilitation. In reality, Cameron was simply keeping his head down in the wake of his dad's failure. In fact, all of the villains in the penitentiary seemed off.

Shark and Frost remained incredibly secretive, only really opening up to themselves. Cold was still on the fringes now, desperate to get his own mark of good behaviour for an early parole. Cameron, however, was left with an unfortunate target on his back. Ojo, Brick, Hook, and even Chillblaine saw fit to regularly show their displeasure for his involvement in the plan's failure. If nothing else, Cameron appreciated the early release as an escape from their constant attacks.

Now though, he wasn't sure where he stood. Any relationship he could have had with his dad was now too far out of his reach. Ever since the breakout failed, he'd been thinking more about where he stood. He no longer wanted to be a criminal if it meant being in the shadow of his father. On top of that, being a criminal in general hadn't gotten him anywhere.

'Maybe I should have just taken Conner's offer…' he thought to himself with a sigh. In the last few weeks, he'd been remembering the offer Superboy, Coldsnap, and Miss Martian had made to him to join their team. At the time he considered it to be a ridiculous, or even laughable notion. But now, he was starting to think that maybe they had a point. It would be hard for him to adjust, and no doubt the League would keep him on a short leash, but it would be far better than being his father's lapdog.

"Cameron!"

The cryokinetic was brought out of his musings by the sound of a voice calling to him. He looked up to see the form on Superboy running towards him down the road. The teen hero had a small grin on his face, and Cameron couldn't help but smile back as the two closed the distance before fist-bumping.

"Conner, dude, what are you doing here?"

"Well, the team was here to get information from Ivo. But I saw you heading out the front gate, so I figured I'd see how you were doing." Conner shrugged. "After all, what are friends for?"

Cameron looked at him carefully, his eyes softening. "You really meant it then?"

"Course I did. You may have been a villain when we met, but we at least parted as friends. I hoped we could continue that." Superboy mused.

"I'd like that," Cameron nodded as the two shook hands amicably.

"So, did you get an early release?" Superboy asked.

"Yeah, apparently they're letting me go for good behaviour. Honestly? I just think they're tired of everyone else jumping me every chance they get." He scoffed, jerking a thumb back there. "Those guys can really hold a grudge."

"You're okay though?" Conner asked, his gaze hardening. Cameron's own mood seemed to swell at that. He really cared about his friends… about him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've been through worse." He said, before rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Actually, I was wondering something…"

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Well, I wanted to know if the offer was still on the table. To join your team, I mean." He said, hopeful for a positive answer.

Conner looked at him for a moment before grinning wide and clapping him on the shoulder. "Well, yeah! Of course it's still on the table. If you still want it, at least."

"Well, I got nowhere else to go, and what else have I got to lose? I'm in!" Cameron grinned before the two friends walked back to the Bioship.

As they entered inside, the rest of the team looked at Conner, each one surprised and alarmed by the other arrival. "Uh, Superboy… what's Icicle Jr. doing here?" Keemia asked nervously. The only members of the team who didn't react with hostility were M'Gann and Niuhi, and that was only because they were present for Conner's original offer back when they were in Belle Reve.

"Back when we had that mission to stop the breakout, I offered Cameron a spot on the team." Conner answered.

"Seriously? Dude, he's a villain!" Barry exclaimed.

"Reformed villain," Cameron corrected. "I don't want that life any more. My dad's shadow was no place to live, and I don't want my ass getting kicked all the time. Besides, helping Conner here to take down Mammoth and Blockbuster? That felt good. Really good."

There was a long silence that followed, before M'Gann stood up to embrace him. "Well, I'm glad to have you here Cameron."

Cameron looked at her in surprise before hugging her back. "Heh, thanks. Guess I need a new codename though. The old one was a villain's name… and it's still in my father's shadow." He frowned, thinking for a moment. "Call me… Avalanche."

Robin looked at him before nodding in approval. "That's much better than Icicle Jr., that's for sure."

"It sure is." He nodded before the Bioship lifted up into the sky again, once more cloaked. "So uh, are you guys on a mission or something?"

"We're hunting down Red Tornado after he betrayed and attacked us alongside his murderous siblings," Keemia shrugged. "No biggie."

Cameron took a moment to process that as he sat down in one of the empty chairs. "Huh… so how'd this go all screwy?"

"Honestly, we're still not sure." Ace admitted. "The details aren't adding up. But we're tired of waiting for answers."

"Fair enough." Cameron relented. "So, did the League send you guys after them?"

"Nah, the League doesn't know we're doing this." Niuhi shook her head. "And we'd rather keep it that way."

Cameron nodded again as he processed this. "So, my first mission with the team is unofficial, it's going behind the backs of the Justice League, to track down a rogue Leaguer and his siblings, with the distinct possibility that we could all be defeated in one fell swoop?"

"Yeah pretty much." Keemia nodded.

"Cool, just double-checking."

Typing away at a keyboard, T.O. Morrow carefully observed the systems for his newest project, before grinning wide. "Download complete," he said with excitement as he grasped a nearby remote and pressed a button on it, causing a large metal slab suspending near the ceiling of his laboratory to come down towards the ground where he was waiting. The scientist smirked in satisfaction as he approached the slab, removing a white sheet that covered it to reveal yet another red android. "Time for the upload!"

Off to the side, Red Tornado stood watching the scientist impassively. His two siblings stood to his left, both equally impassive as Morrow rubbed his hands in anticipation. Inwardly the scientist had to sigh. Brom had left only a few minutes before, citing some sort of important medical issue for a loved one dragging him away. Morrow couldn't understand why anybody could be so preoccupied with such trivial matters. After all, flesh was temporary. Metal was forever.

Still, he shook his head before once again giving a cheerful smile. "But first, introductions! Red Tornado, Red Torpedo, Red Inferno…" he began before cupping his chin thoughtfully. "I like that name so much better than Firebrand…" he mused in a distracted fashion before getting back on task. "Meet your baby brother; Red Volcano!"

The android on the table was substantially larger and bulkier than its older siblings. From what Red Tornado could surmise, it would stand approximately 6'6", and had large broad shoulders. The golden symbol on its chest resembled a volcano, being a large triangle with a circle in the middle, no doubt representative of a magma chamber.

"This Red won't bother infiltrating the heroes," Morrow said as he plugged numerous cables into the metal slab. The slab in turn had numerous cables running into Red Volcano to begin the data transfer process. "He'll simply destroy them, with the help of your memories." He said to his three previous Reds, before he typed away at another keyboard, as the data slowly transferred into Red Volcano's personal database. "Finally, the scientist has built an android that transcends the need to be human. No more Pinocchios!"

With that last declaration, Morrow activated the android, grinning wide as it slowly activated, the lights of its eyes beginning the glow. For a moment, Volcano was still. Then, as his processors began to take hold, he slowly stood up from the slab, towering over Morrow.

The scientist's satisfaction quickly turned to worry as Volcano almost immediately grasped his hand, destroying the remote that activated him, and very audibly cracking the scientist's wrist. "Hello father," he greeted in a chillingly emotionless voice.

"Son… son, you're hurting me!" Morrow cried out in pain as the android grasped his other wrist, breaking it in a similar fashion to the first. The scientist struggled in the android's grasp as his arms were suspended into the air.

"Yes, but pain is so human," Volcano noted, slowly tearing Morrow's body apart. "And per your programming, I've transcended any concern for humans." With one last great tearing force, Red Volcano ripped off the arms of T.O. Morrow, revealing the cybernetics within. The android duplicate of the villainous scientist collapsed to the floor, sparking and fraying as its programming shut down, destroyed by the sudden force. "No more Pinocchios," Volcano declared, mirroring the earlier words of Morrow as he threw the arms aside.

Tornado cast his eyes down to look at the feebly stirring android body of T.O. Morrow. In spite of the last few days of torture and silence, he still felt a small touch of sympathy for the man. Sympathy and pity… the first few emotions he had ever felt.

The discarded android continued to spark and sputter, with tears slowly dripping from its eyes. Its last few words were raspy and kept stuttering, as the last of its power left. "His son was lost… son was lost… son was-"

Any further sounds were abruptly cut-off as Red Volcano stomped on the head of the defenseless android, silencing the words of T.O. Morrow forever. After observing his handiwork, he turned to face his siblings, who were looking to him expectantly.

"Did you know father was an android?" Volcano asked his siblings. The three looked at him, unresponsive before Volcano kicked aside the arms. "We were tricked. Father, you were right… humans are annoying."

"Black out all external communication," Kaldur ordered, as the Bioship flew in camouflage mode towards Morrow's secret underground lab. "Soon Nightwing, Starfire, and Canary – Batman too, I imagine – Will know of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time."

"No pressure then," Keemia sighed before leaning over to look out the window.

"Gotta admit, this is kind of exciting." Hood mused. "Breaking the rules, and all that."

"Just gotta hope that we're not in too deep with this." Ace pointed out.

"We weren't ready for the Reds before, but we're ready now." Artemis said, checking over her arrow reserves.

"But last time, we fought them on our home turf. This time? It's their home field advantage." Barry grimaced.

"We can still pull this off though," Avalanche reasoned, garnering their attention at his sudden addition. "I mean, from what I can gather, there's more of us now than the last time, right? I might be the newest one here, but I think we'll be okay."

Niuhi stared at him blankly, her eyebrow piqued. "You're either really optimistic about this, or really naïve."

Cameron, to his credit, simply shrugged. "Eh, a little from column A, and a little from column B."

"What's our ETA to Yellowstone?" Conner suddenly cut in, his anger palpable. "I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor!"

"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Kaldur asked him calmly. Conner whirled around his chair, looking at Kaldur skeptically.

"Aren't you?"

Kaldur looked Conner impassively before shrugging. "I am not convinced. And even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming. Certainly he deserves a chance to prove that he's more than the weapon others designed him to be."

Conner seemed to relent at that, a sudden wave of calmness and clarity washing over him. He took the chance to look around the cockpit as he considered his own past, and that of his team mates. He was made in a test tube to be a weapon against Superman. Niuhi was manipulated and forcibly grown for nothing more than blackmail. Ace was trained to kill the Justice League. And Cameron was taught by his father to be a supervillain under him.

And yet, they all sat there, ready to fight back and prove they were more than their designation. Perhaps… Tornado deserved the same consideration from them.

"Listen to me my brothers, my sister," Red Volcano said as he stood before him, his arms folded. "I have been downloaded with all your memories. Father's, too. Oh, he left out the bit about him being an android, but he did reveal his plan." He continued, walking over to the computers to display something on the monitors for his siblings. "His dream for our destiny."

On the screen was a topographical display of Yellowstone National park. "There is a semi-dormant super volcano beneath Yellowstone. Father gave me the power to activate it in three stages." As he explained this, the computer simulation began playing a possible outcome for the super volcano eruption event. The caldera under Yellowstone exploded in the simulation, devastating the United States. "The eruption will decimate the planet, kill millions, and trap the rest under an impenetrable cloud of ash."

Volcano nodded once before turning back to his siblings. "While humanity struggles to survive, we four will build a Red army, to make this Earth a Red planet."

Any further statement was halted by a sudden incoming communication from none other than Ivo. "Ivo to Morrow. Thomas, are you there?"

Volcano looked at the communicator before answering in a perfect recreation of Morrow's voice. "I'm here Anthony, what do you want?" he asked in annoyance.

"Reluctantly to warn you," Ivo answered. After the Team had interrogated him, Warden Strange moved the scientist up to his personal office so that he could call Morrow and warn him of the Team's approach as a form of penance. After all, the fact that he was scared enough by one young girl to reveal the location of Morrow was reprehensible. "The children have learned your location. I do not believe they have told their elders and betters. But, they are on their way."

Volcano turned to look at Tornado, and if he could have, he would have chuckled.

"Perfect."

Yellowstone National Park – October 10th, 20:22 MDT

Old Faithful erupted high into the sky, as the Bioship silently flew into the park, landing in a large clearing some 100 metres behind the geyser. Once the ship was landed, Kaldur took stock of their surroundings, determining that they were suitably covered. He then pressed his belt buckle, turning his costume into its black and grey alternative colours.

"Stealth mode." He ordered, as those with more colourful costumes complied. Kid Flash, Artemis, Ace, and Miss Martian all converted into black and grey colour schemes, while Avalanche emerged from the back of his ship, in his formerly villainous attire.

"I really need to get an updated costume at some point…" he sighed, before Conner put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"We can worry about that later." He urged before the team moved towards the open porthole of the ship. Cassandra had pulled on her mask and hood, donning the Batgirl suit as she opened the hatch for the team.

"Want me… stay?" she asked Aqualad.

Aqualad looked at her carefully. "It is my recommendation that you do, but it is not an order. You must do as you see fit, and if that means you join us, I cannot stop you."

"Yay!" Cass exclaimed quietly before joining the others as they left the ship, before stealthily moving through the forest of the park in a careful formation. Robin took the lead with Aqualad and Superboy, while Coldsnap, Artemis, Miss Martian, and Avalanche took the rear. The rest of the team made up the middle as they made their way towards a large ridge that overlooked a stretch of open plain. Somewhere below them, supposedly, was Morrow and his Reds.

Back inside the safety of the underground laboratory, Red Volcano watched the Team's approach from one of the numerous cameras that Morrow had secluded around the park. The scientist was always paranoid that a tourist exploring any of the pathways around the park might accidentally stumble upon the laboratory by accident.

For once, these cameras proved useful, as Volcano turned to face Red Tornado, a plan having been formed in his mind. "Prove yourself a loyal Red, brother. Kill them for me."

Tornado looked to his younger brother for a moment before giving a single curt nod, and flying out of the base to meet the team head on.

Robin scouted out over the ridge, across the empty expanse of grassland before he called up his holoscreen to take an underground reading from the surrounding area. After carefully analyzing the surroundings, he looked to Aqualad with a frown. "Ivo was right. Something's down there."

"Likely a trap," Red hood mused as he peered around them, searching for signs of an ambush. "Doesn't look like we've been spotted yet though."

"That's how you know they've seen us," Djinn grimaced, before once again Kaldur took the lead. The team didn't get very far, before a sudden rushing whirlwind halted them in their tracks. They tried to fight back against the sudden windstorm, before slowly but surely, their feet gave way and they were knocked backwards.

Avalanche and Coldsnap quickly jumped in, forming large walls of ice to keep them from being pushed back further, and sheltering the rest of the team. With this brief respite from the wind, Conner looked up to see Red Tornado, hovering over the team on a small cyclone.

The android watched the team with cold, unfeeling eyes, before he created numerous smaller tornadoes that encircled the teens, cutting off any escape they may have attempted. M'Gann braced herself against the winds as she looked up at their former den mother.

"Why, Tornado? Why are you doing this?" She asked, only to be met with silence as numerous more twisters were conjured and traced along the ground in intricate patterns. M'Gann grit her teeth as she watched the twisters before looking to the rest of the team. 'Message received.' She relayed telepathically.

"Whoa, that's a new one," Cameron said in surprise.

"You get used to it," Keemia shrugged before Conner scowled.

"Who cares why? Nail him!"

At that, he and Kaldur rushed forwards, ready to take him down. "Superboy, maneuver 7!" Kaldur called out as Superboy clasped his hands together, using them as a springboard to launch Kaldur towards the android. Kaldur cocked a fist back ready to strike, but Tornado was faster as he used a wicked right hook to send the Atlantean crashing back into the clone.

Artemis and Red Hood launched forwards next, with Robin standing alongside them. The archer swiftly nocked two explosive arrows before firing them at the android, while Red Hood fired numerous rounds from his pistols, with Robin providing more accurate aim for them using his analysis of the wind speeds.

Unfortunately, Tornado simply knocked Hood's rubber ammunition away harmlessly before throwing Artemis' arrows back at the teens. "Look out!" Robin yelled in a panic before all three were sent sprawling by the sudden explosion.

"Chill the air, it'll drop the pressure around him!" Djinn recommended as Avalanche and Coldsnap went to work on bombarding Tornado with blasts of ice. At first it seemed to work as the winds slowly lost their energy, but Tornado rallied back, sending the freezing wind back at the two which resulted in them flying away next to Aqualad and Superboy.

"That does it, Red. You're not the only spin doctor around here!" Barry declared as he spun at a blinding speed, kicking up his own tornado. As it turned out, this was just a distraction as Mannequin and Miss Martian attempted to attack Tornado from behind. The girl's found themselves grasped by the androids waiting hands before being thrown into the cyclone Barry generated where they crashed into the speedster.

"And then there were three," Keemia grimaced as she conjured magic circles around her hands.

"Always with optimism, aren't you babe?" Ashley said wistfully.

"Somebody has to be," Keemia nodded, sheltering Cass with her body before conjuring numerous bolts of lightning while Ace attempted to fling trees at the android with her telekinesis. Much like before Tornado was able to deflect the blows, before he used his powers to draw the oxygen in the air away from the last of the teens. Within seconds, Keemia found herself down on the ground alongside Ashley, Cassandra, and the rest of the team.

Tornado dissipated the twisters that had surrounded the team, before surveying his handiwork from his safety in the sky. The team was down on the ground and completely vulnerable. Unfortunately, his ruse wouldn't last long.

"Quite a performance, brother." Volcano commented, rising to look Tornado in the eye on a pillar of stone he'd generated. "But we both know that's all it was."

If Tornado was capable of it, he would have inwardly cursed as Volcano uncovered the message Tornado had made for the team. In the dirt, he had used his whirlwinds to carve the words "Play Dead", which the team quickly responded to.

"I have all your memories, Tornado. Plus a next-gen processor. I know your next move before you do." He taunted before raising the earth with the message out of the ground, while the team rose to their feet, knowing their cover had been blown.

"Well, it was worth a shot." Niuhi lamented as they stared down the youngest Red sibling.

"Blowing a message into the sand?" Volcano scoffed, before he shattered the rock and flung it at the team. Superboy and Aqualad leapt into the air with roars of defiance, breaking the larger rock, while Avalanche flung massive gauntlets of ice to divert away any they missed from hitting their teammates. M'Gann and Ace tossed more aside with their telekinesis, while Coldsnap generated a shield to protect Artemis, Red Hood, and Robin. As Kid Flash ran on ahead.

'Djinn, status.' Robin asked through the telepathic link, as Keemia started conjuring and throwing fireballs at Red Tornado, which the android simply swatted aside.

'We're all good and safe for now, but Tornado's flying away.' She said, looking at the retreating form of the former Leaguer.

'Is he abandoning us?' Artemis scowled, nocking another arrow.

'I don't believe that.' Miss Martian said, as she flew towards Volcano, with Barry running vertically up the spire of stone the android had created.

"You stand no chance against me, humans." Volcano drawled as he punched Kid Flash away from him.

"We're not human!" Superboy and Miss Martian yelled at once as they attacked next.

"Apologies. I suppose the properly inclusive term is… meatbags." Volcano answered as he generated massive hands out of the earth to slap Superboy and Miss Martian down to the ground.

"I'm not even made of meat!" Mannequin scowled as she wrapped her malleable clay body around the android attempting to trap him.

"Perhaps not, but that just makes you under my domain." Volcano drawled before exploding her clay out in different directions with his terrakinesis.

"I know I sarcastically lamented the lack of an earth-bender when the Reds first attacked us, but now?" Red Hood grimaced before dodging another flurry of stone. "Now, I miss the days when Morrow didn't make one."

"You and me both." Djinn nodded before she conjured numerous magical circles around her body as she took to the air. She then fired off hundreds of bolts of energy from each circle, all focused on Volcano. To her credit, the android was forced to cover his face from the assault, but he quickly fired back with a shield of rock that protected him, before he launched it at Djinn, forcing her to protect herself with a hasty shield.

The shield buckled under the assault however, leaving Keemia to be knocked back as Volcano clenched his fist, opening massive chasms in the earth. Artemis and Aqualad fell into one of these chasm, but the archer was able to fire a grappling hook arrow in the nick of time to pull the two of them out, before the chasm was closed around them.

Robin ran over the chunks of broken earth before vaulting from an outcropping of rock and flinging a batarang at the android. Volcano caught it deftly with one hand before the batarang summarily exploded in his face. The android was unharmed as the smoke furled away from it however, giving him time to avoid a blow from another tree that Ace flung at him.

"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move." The android gloated before being frozen in a block of ice from behind.

"And yet I still froze your ass!" Cameron laughed before sliding down the pillar back to the team. "How was that?"

"Not bad, Cam. Not bad at all." Conner chuckled. Their respite wouldn't last long however, as Red Volcano's eyes glowed a harsh red before the android burst forth from the ice. All at once he lashed out, firing his eye beams to the sky in a fit of rage as the super volcano erupted behind him from a newly formed caldera.

"Oh shit…" Keemia grimaced as the time regrouped, watching the lava spew forth from the erupting volcano, cascading slowly down the surrounding landscape. The power of the volcano seemed to come directly from the fury of the villainous android, as the explosive force of the erupting giant shook the ground.

Beneath the surface, the walls of Morrow's hidden laboratory shook with the tremors caused by the erupting volcano. Small rocks fell from the ceiling under the force of the quakes, but otherwise the lab held firm. Red Tornado regarded the tremors carefully, after plugging himself into a console and pressing a few keys in order to give him the ability to speak again. While he might not have seen the proper sequence to free his voice box entirely, he was at least able to discern which ones TO Morrow used to give him speech so long as he was connected to the console.

After a few moments to test whether or not it had worked, he turned to his siblings, Red Torpedo and Red Inferno. The other androids were watching Tornado with an almost resigned neutrality, unsure of what to do now that their younger sibling was fighting the team. "We must stop him." Tornado said seriously.

"Why?" Inferno asked, her hand on her hip in an expectant fashion. "Once we believed we lived. Now, there is only Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. Why should we help save humanity when we are no longer human?"

"The premise of your question is flawed," Tornado noted. "You were never human, but you were heroes. Danette Reilly and Jim Lockhart were stalwart defenders of humanity. That has not been removed from you."

Torpedo and Inferno both looked away, neither one quite sure what to make of such a revelation. "It has been… many years since we have heard those names." Torpedo admitted.

"And it will be for many more years that they will be known as heroes." Tornado continued. "But for today, they are needed to defend this planet once again."

The two siblings looked to each other for a moment, processing this information as they determined what the most logical course of action would be. Tornado watched them, carefully awaiting their answers. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to the two machines, a decision was reached.

With the eruption having spewed scorching-hot lava all across the landscape, Red Volcano saw this as an advantage in combat as he threw molten slabs of rock at the young heroes. Kid Flash narrowly and nimbly dodged a flurry of half-melted boulders as he attempted to close the distance between himself and the android. He leapt over a spire of rock that erupted from the ground, before skidding to a halt as he took stock of the situation.

'He's activating a Stage-2 eruption. It gets to Stage-3, kiss the hemisphere goodbye!' He warned the team telepathically.

Kaldur nodded in understanding as he drew his water bearers, using them to form dangerous blades. 'Hit him from all sides!'

He and Superboy then leapt into action to attack Red Volcano. The android flung a boulder into Kaldur, knocking the Atlantean away before catching Superboy's fist in his hand. The impact from the blow generated a massive shockwave, staggering some of the closer members of the team, before Volcano threw Superboy aside.

Coldsnap was next, her forearms both encased up to her elbows in heavy ice, with dangerously sharp claws along her fingers as she took numerous swipes at the android. Each one was deflected by rocks that she cut through with ease, before Volcano stomped on the earth, causing a sudden eruption of rock to send the girl flying away. She was able to right herself in the air, creating an ice slide to safely descend to the ground, catching Mannequin in the process as the girl had also attempted to strike the android with minimal success.

Red Hood was next, throwing a small grenade at the android before shooting it, causing the explosion to erupt in Volcano's face. The android staggered backwards, as M'Gann landed behind him under her invisibility. Ace moved to the left of the Martian girl, before they shared a nod and used their telekinesis at once, attempting to pull the android apart.

Unfortunately, Red Volcano responded by erupting a jet of volcanic fire from between the two girls. M'Gann cried out in alarm as she was forced out of her cloak, while Ace used her telekinesis in an attempt to stop the molten material from burning the two of them.

"M'Gann!" Conner yelled as he rushed towards the girls in an attempt to help his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Volcano landed in the centre of the three teens. He grasped Conner and used him as a club to bat Ace away where she collided with Avalanche, before Conner found himself thrown next to Aqualad.

M'Gann struggled to stand, rapidly losing energy under exposure to the intense heat as Volcano picked her up by the hood of her cloak, holding her precariously over a ledge that overlooked a river of molten rock.

"Hey Barry, ready for a good distraction?" Keemia said intensely as the speedster nodded, crouching into a ready stance as his body vibrated in anticipation.

"Give me that hocus pocus, Keems!" Barry grinned, as the two friends finally found a commonality.

"Ekam elpitlum snoisulli fo yrraB!" she cast before dozens of Kid Flash look-alikes appeared as they all charged at once towards Red Volcano.

Keemia grinned before cupping her chin thoughtfully. "I really should try that on myself someday," she mused as the numerous duplicates all attacked the android at once. Volcano launched numerous boulders, slowly but surely destroying all of the images. But unfortunately for him, he was unable to locate the true Kid Flash, as Barry ran in from behind to rescue M'Gann, rushing her to safety alongside the rest of the team.

Volcano didn't have long to ruminate on this unexpected outcome as a massive torrent of water erupted from the geyser behind Kaldur, before slamming into the android, knocking him into the lave flow.

"Nice hit!" Robin grinned, flashing a thumbs up to Kaldur.

"The hit was not mine, look!" Kaldur said, before pointing to the newly arrived form of Red Torpedo. The hydrokinetic android summoned more water to propel himself into the air before launching two more powerful jets of water at Red Volcano, pushing him back into the lava as a cloud of steam erupted. Volcano hastily conjured a column of rock to lift himself out of the molten rock, before Red Tornado arrived.

The Leaguer flew through the column with a high-powered twister, causing his villainous sibling to crash into the lava again, where he was bombarded with a flurry of fireballs, courtesy of Red Inferno. The team looked on in shock as the three androids rallied to fight their sibling, as Red Inferno rushed in, grasping Volcano's hands as she held him in place in the lava.

"Sister, brothers, stop!" Volcano urged, before Torpedo suddenly landed on him with both feet, forcing Volcano deeper into the molten rock. All three of the Red siblings started to buckle and melt under the intense heat as Tornado arrived to propel Volcano even deeper still.

The youngest android looked to his three siblings before giving his weak final words. "Father would be so disappointed…"

With that, the last of his energy gave way as his computer systems slowly died under the heat. Tornado sank into the lava alongside his siblings, before Superboy leapt by to pull their den mother out. Once Tornado was free, Ace used her telekinesis to pull out Inferno and Torpedo, setting them on the ground next to Tornado.

Tornado's legs had been melted by the intense heat, Inferno only possessed her head, shoulders and left arm, while Torpedo was only a head and neck, but their systems were otherwise intact. The heroes didn't have long to celebrate the defeat of Red Volcano however, as the tremors continued, with the eruption growing more and more dire.

"Tornado, listen!" Kid Flash yelled. "We're on the verge of a Stage-3 super volcano eruption. There's no turning back from that. We need to vent pressure, fast. But the ash cloud will bring on worldwide nuclear winter, unless you divert it!"

Tornado nodded in understanding, determination filling him as Kid Flash turned to Robin. "Triangulate around the pressure locus!"

"Right!" Robin said, quick to bring up his holoscreen as he ran through the calculations to find the weakest point of the volcano. "There, there, and there!"

Artemis nodded as Red Hood and Batgirl carefully lined one of her arrows with explosives, before she fired it. Keemia then used her magic to duplicate the arrow twice, causing three identical explosions to go off at the desired points of pressure. The effect was immediate as the super-heated gas and smoke released from the new opening all at once.

Tornado then leapt into action, gathering a cyclone to propel his body into the air. He rocketed into the sky, ascending high above the ash cloud before generating the largest cyclone he could muster to draw the ash and smoke away from the atmosphere. Within a manner of minutes, he was able to safely jettison the entirety of the ash cloud out of the planet's atmosphere and safely into space.

With the ash gone, and he pressure subsiding, the eruption soon stopped as the lava cooled into new rock. Kid Flash grinned wide and pumped his fist in excitement. "Yes!"

"So, first day on the team and you defeat a supervillain, then help stop a volcano." Superboy smirked, looking at Cameron. "Still thinking you wanna be on this team?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I do, this is awesome!" the former villain exclaimed as Cass seemed to mirror his excitement.

"Field… fun!" the girl said eagerly before the sound of a dying cyclone alerted them to the return of Red Tornado, as the android weakly fell to the ground. The team quickly rushed over to their den mother, a small gust of wind blowing past them towards the cooled lava flows. Sticking out from one of the cooled portions of rock, was the ashen hand of Red Volcano, blowing into dust with the light breeze.

With the assistance of directions from Red Tornado, the team was led to the underground laboratory of TO Morrow. Then, with the assistance of Robin, Red Hood, and Kid Flash, Tornado was able to repair his voice box so he could speak freely. The entire time, Keemia worked with Ashley to see if they could locate replacement body parts for Tornado and his siblings.

"There, that should do it." Kid Flash grinned as he lowered the faceplate of Red Tornado and the android gave a nod.

"Yes, I can speak again." Tornado said, as he sat up to look at the team. "And my siblings, what is their status?"

"Both are still active, and their internal systems are intact." Robin said with a soft smile.

"That is relieving to hear," Tornado said, with his robotic voice seemingly tinged with a touch of relief.

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself, to save the planet." Kaldur said, approaching Tornado.

"The planet would have survived. It was humanity that was saved, though not by me." Tornado corrected. "My sister and brother were the true heroes this day."

"You are too kind, brother." Inferno said from where she had been carefully propped up. "Perhaps it is time that proper introductions were made?"

"Indeed." Red Tornado nodded. "Team, this is my sister Red Inferno. Though in the past she was known as Danette Reilly, alias Firebrand. Former member of the Justice Society. And this is my brother, Red Torpedo."

The team's eyes widened in recognition, knowing the two as former heroes from the golden age alongside the original JSA lineup. "If that's the case, maybe we should have the Shade come by? He'd love to see them again." Djinn offered.

"Richard Swift is still alive? That is… heartening." Red Inferno said.

Kaldur nodded at her words before looking to Red Tornado. "Regardless, my point is this; you were never the mole, never the traitor."

"No," Red Tornado confirmed. "I left to protect you from further attack, and to find my creator Morrow."

Kid Flash, who was busy going over mechanical pieces for Tornado's repairs soon found a discarded mechanical hand, the last remains of Red Volcano. "Cool, souvenir!"

"Reddy, we can rebuild you better than you were before!" Robin added as Tornado seemed to look away.

"I do not believe I should be repaired." Tornado said quietly. Conner, who had been off to the side, listening in, suddenly turned around to look at Tornado.

"Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" he asked, desperate to know.

"I was the pragmatic choice," was Tornado's simple answer. "I do not require sleep, I have no secret identity, or second life to live."

"But you do have advanced A.I. programming, designed to learn, adapt, and evolve." Kid Flash surmised.

"You must have been carefully cultivating what you've learned through your observation to adapt it to your programming." Ace continued. "After all, pragmatism only gets you so far in terms of morality."

"Hello, Megan! You wanted to become more human!" the Martian girl reasoned.

"And you couldn't do that with the League, most of them are stiffs." Artemis smirked, folding her arms.

"You're sure not gonna learn emotion from Batman," Robin snarked as Hood gave a slight chuckle.

"We definitely learned that the hard way," he nodded as Cass seemed to agree.

"He dry… too anger…" she said softly.

"Then the cave was not a proving ground only for us, but for you as well." Kaldur finished.

Tornado seemed to ponder this before looking at Kaldur and the team. "I do not know if these statements are accurate, but perhaps they are true," he answered. "And if I understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to… care about you all."

At that, Conner finally let his stoic face break into a soft smile as he walked over to place a gentle hand on Tornado's shoulder. "See? Practically a meatbag already."

Tornado nodded before looking up at the ceiling. "Indeed. Coming to care for you I suppose has made me more human. And it has made me realize the importance of caring for all of my family." He said before looking off to a large tube in the corner of the lab. "In there is another android."

"Another android? Is it another Red?" Djinn asked, approaching the tube.

"No, she is different, but she is still my younger sister." He said as Keemia looked inside at the yellow-and-green clad feminine figure in the tube. "Morrow referred to her as Clara Kendall, the Tomorrow Woman. I intend to have Danette and Jim repaired so that they might start their own lives, apart from our villainous father. It would be nice for our youngest sister to have the same opportunity. While I do not know of her original purpose, she deserves the same courtesy."

"We can make sure she gets it." Kaldur nodded. "You have our word, we will care for your family."

"Thank you, I appreciate your willingness to assist me, and my family." Tornado nodded. "Which reminds me…"

Just a few towns over, in a relatively empty hospital building, Brom looked over the railing of a hospital bed to a comatose figure that was hooked up to life support. He had been here for the last several hours, doing as best he could to care for the emaciated body below, his eyes full of sorrow and compassion. His focus was broken by the sound of metallic footprints approaching him from behind, as he turned around with a gasp to see Red Tornado.

He stood instinctively in front of the body in the bed, attempting to protect it as the heroic android approached.

"I will not hurt him," Red Tornado assured the smaller man. Laying in the bed was the feebly stirring body of Thomas O. Morrow, the original creator of Red Tornado. With the android duplicate body having been destroyed, the only trace of the scientist left was his original body, still weakly clinging to life in his comatose state.

"He was evil… but T.O. Morrow is still my father." Tornado said quietly. "I will care for him. It is the human thing to do," he said before gently adjusting Morrow's mask so that he could breathe a little easier, relieving strain on the elderly man's lungs.

The Bioship, once more under its stealth mode, flew on back towards Happy Harbour, now carrying the new additions of Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, and Tomorrow Woman, although Tomorrow Woman was still in her inactivated state. Cassandra looked out the window again, smiling contentedly before yawning.

"Aw, you tired Cass?" Annie asked, hugging the younger girl close.

"Yes… sleepy." Cass mumbled quietly.

"Did you have fun outside today?" Annie asked, gently brushing her hair out of her face.

"Mhm…" Cass said, nodding slowly before she drifted off.

"Well I'm glad she had fun, because after this, we'll be lucky if Starfire lets her out of her sight again." Hood mused. "I just got a message from Dick, they know we left."

"Crap. Do they know where we went?" Keemia asked.

"Yep."

"And do they know that we found Tornado and his siblings?"

"No, but we'll have to explain that ourselves."

There was a prolonged silence among the teens as the realization came over them. "Welp, we're so dead." Robin sighed, before shrugging and leaning back in his chair. "But, it was worth it!"

"I cannot believe they have done this! Taking the Bioship, kidnapping Cassandra, going to the super volcano!" Starfire ranted, pacing back and forth as Nightwing watched, very clearly bemused. "You had said they were the good kids, that they would not do such things. Cassandra will not be coming back to the cave, ever!"

Black Canary raised her eyebrow in worry before looking to Nightwing who simply shrugged. "Don't worry about it. She'll cool down in a few hours and realize that no harm was done."

"And as for you, boyfriend Dick," Starfire said, suddenly railing on him. "You are sleeping on the couch tonight, for your decision to bring her here!"

"Aw, Kori, come on! That's no fair!" he whined before the couple walked off towards the teleporters to return home. Black Canary sighed, rolling her eyes as she thought of what she could possibly say to the team when they returned.

She was soon broken from her musings by the sound of wet footsteps as she turned around to see Wolf and Shazam walking back into the hangar, soaked form the rain that was now coming down outside. Shazam shook his head, spraying water across the floor before the action was imitated by Wolf in much the same fashion. He looked to Canary, his face very clearly tired and confused.

"Um, are they coming out to play, or what?"

And done! Yet another chapter completed!

Lots of stuff happened there, eh? So lets go through that housekeeping list.

1. Cameron Mahkent. Ah Cameron, I wanted to do something more with you for quite some time now. In case you were wondering, given his reception back in "Terrors", his redemption arc was certainly coming. And now he gets to join the team, betcha didn't see that coming! I'm really curious to explore this, especially with the how the league reacts, as well as with developing his friendships with Conner, M'Gann, and Niuhi. His code name being Avalanche was fun too. See, I was having trouble coming up with an ice related moniker for him. And I was tempted to go with Snowstorm, as was earlier suggested to me. But in the end, I decided to go with Avalanche. No relation to the Marvel character that was unfairly killed by the Red Skull. Hopefully Cameron sticks around for a while. Should be fun. Also, I like to imagine that his superhero outfit is just the new costume he has in Season 2 onwards. And yes, that means he'll be growing the goatee.

2. Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. Yep, they got rescued. I must admit, I was tempted for Torpedo to sacrifice himself, citing his failure to fit in during the past making his less worthy than his sister and brother, but decided to save them both. And oh? What is this? Does Firebrand have some lingering thoughts for one Richard Swift? We're just gonna have to wait and see.

3. Tomorrow Woman. She basically gets a drive-by cameo. But she'll be coming back in the future. Should be interesting to see at the very least, but I wanted her established. before anything else happened. This will make some future chapters really fun.

4. Cassandra. Yep, she's the new Batgirl. And Starfire's adopted her too. Or rather, Starfire is standing in as a sort of surrogate mother to her. I imagine her costume to be similar to her Rebirth one at the very least. Cassandra will certainly be showing up more in the future, and in the sequel (if I ever get there). I have plans for her and everything, including a love interest! But that won't be for a while now. As for her being the one to scare Ivo into talking, was it half-assed? Maybe. But honestly, if you were to hear this sweet little girl insist that you tell her a very important secret, right after she'd just thrown numerous knives at you, you'd be scared too. She's still a little kid though. And don't expect her to show up again too soon. At least, not in any major sense.

Well yet another challenge has been overcome by the team. Surely there's some time for rest, right?

Actually, yes.

In the wake of altering "Downtime" so that it would be replaced with a Keemia and Robin centred chapter that introduced Red Hood, I feel like I should come back to it. So why not have an entire chapter dedicated to what the team does on their days off? I think it's warranted.

After all, there's gonna be some heart-wrenching tragedy to come soon. So I might as well give them a longer respite than usual.

So, stay tuned everyone! I'll officially have crossed the 200k words mark with this chapter as well. Like I said earlier, if you're interested in being my new editor, please contact me by PM.

See you all here next time, and as always, be sure to read and review!

Ciao for now!

~WafflesTheApprentice