Damita could feel the sweat traveling down her neck, like an ant crawling down her body, as she bolted for the next door. Opening it up, she found herself in a luscious field of green but the same terror as if something could catch up to her at any minute shook her core. She tried to fly but to no avail and those wasted seconds felt more like hours. She could feel it closing in on her but she didn't dare to turn back. The park scene turned into the city with ease and as she hit an alleyway with a dead end she pounded it. No super strength either... She whipped her head around and saw it... She woke with the fervor of a martyr, and her eyes jumped from left to right. She had something serious of a migraine and pulled the ivs out with her telekinesis. Her foot smacked the tiles and she groggily wiped her face before noticing Ditto. "I don't understand..."She said shaking her head. As she tried to remember what happened, a sharp pain shot through her head. The last thing that she recalled was a friendly chat with one of her teammates before retiring to bed. Why the hell was she here? And who could've done this much damage to her. Reaching for her red glasses, she noticed one lens completely cracked from the middle, downward. Frustration consumed her as she bunched up her covers in her hand. "What happened to me?"She mumbled, and then rubbed her temples. To the left she finally noticed Starbolt, critically injured. Quizzically, Damita flicked her eyes back to Ditto, crossed her arms and waited for a response. "You're awake? That didn't take you long..." the Ditto duplicate responded to Damita's sudden reaction, "You were both injured fighting the Top. It's no biggie though, one of my Ditto brothers was killed before the rest of the team showed up. Superman said you would heal quicker under the sun's rays, this new facility just happens to run on solar panels." Not as invulnerable as she once thought then but her body was beginning to feel more and more like the usual. "Sorry I was useless then." She felt pretty pathetic, and left a bit shakily towards her room. She needed some alone time and self reflection before she went all in with the battle simulator. She had to make sure this never happened again.

Beck stood in the Medical Bay, looking at Tori's chamber. He felt bad. He got out of the battle with a just a headache, but the poor girl got herself nailed by a car to save one of the villains from that reckless idiot. He felt like he could have done something, if he hadn't been busy with Girder at the time, and felt even worse for not having noticed immediately when it happened. There was nothing to do at this point, other than wait. He didn't know her particularly well, but she was his teammate, which meant at least something. Maybe he'd get her flowers or something when she was in a little better shape. Oh well. Meanwhile, his own throbbing headache wasn't getting better. He'd have to take something and lie down for a bit. Tossing his mask onto his bed, he sat down on the edge next to it, taking a minute to run his hands down his face to just breathe. He sat there for a few moments like that, just listening to the quiet of his room. He took his hands off his eyes, and stood up. Mistake. The room spun around him, and he fell back onto his bed. That wasn't good. He laid there on his back, trying to think back to the fight. Much of it was a blur, but he remembered getting knocked out briefly by Girder when he smashed their foreheads together. Shit. Shit! He stood back up slowly, and made his way back to the Medical Bay, hoping all the while that it wasn't what he thought it was. It was. A goddamned concussion. And a bad one, at that. Apparently it wouldn't cause him any permanent damage, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. Which meant he was about to have quite a lot of free time on his hands... One of the attendants would notify the right teammates. Right now, he just wanted to lie down again. He sighed as he started the walk back to his room.

Dana had her face pressed against the glass viewing of her Tamaranian friend's medical bay. She blew annoying blonde curls that had fallen over her eyes out of her face and winced when she thought again of the impact between Starbolt and the speeding vehicle. Tori was extremely courageous for doing such a thing though. Miss Mountain beamed, imagining herself being the kind of selfless hero that Starbolt was during that battle. She tapped on the glass and muttered softly to herself, "Get better, sis," referring to Tori as her sister because she looked up to the alien; but in a literal sense the two were obviously not siblings because the two were completely different species and had no blood relation. She tiptoed away from her unconscious teammate's medical bay. It was a completely unnecessary action because there was no way Tori would be able to hear her regardless of the noise she made, but it would seem she wasn't aware of the full restrictions of being unconscious. Dana made her way back to the rest of her team, and it seems Kendra had the same idea. She was approaching them just as MM was, except the look of urgency painted on Kendra's face definitely meant that she was here on different terms. So in an effort to avoid interrupting whatever important news Kendra had to relay to Ditto, she walked up silently to the trio of Question, Ditto, and Kendra in a silent fashion, without speaking a greeting to any of her teammates. So she came off as extremely awkward. Again.

Days later, Coast City...

Toby Garrison was always a good kid. Always kept to himself, made decent enough grades, never really bothered anyone. But this year in high school the 17 year old was picked on a little too much. Not by his classmates, rather an uptight teacher who openly mocked Toby's hairstyle and clothing. The young man never had a problem with any student really in his life, having grown up with most of them. However they all laughed along with the teacher. It began in Mr. Flemming's biology class, then it extended to the hallways mid semester, the cafeteria and the parking lot followed soon after the beginning of the second semester.

"He's going to pay..." Toby said with pure hate in his eyes and a blade in his hand, while blood soaked the inside of his long sleeved undershirt.

Later, at Young Justice HQ...

Alarms blared. What was left of the dwindling ranks of the team met in the Monitor Room. Ditto stood with the Question, Supergirl, Armory, Hellfire, Cassandra, Miss Mountain, Starbolt, and Frostbite. Ditto pulled up news feed from Coast City. Formerly the hometown of Green Lantern Hal Jordan [who's now retired], it seemed Reagan High School was under attack by an angry teenager who was wielding a Red Lantern power ring and spitting up a blood like substance that was more like acid and napalm. The newscaster struggled to keep a live feed but eventually the news shot back to the anchorman and woman on Channel 4 News.

"Kendra's dreams are coming true. The red ring she had visions about was this Red Lantern ring that somehow reactivated and landed on the finger of this kid in Coast City..." Ditto plainly stated.

"So what's the plan, boss?" Supergirl asked.

Kilian Darukk rolled his eyes, the new girl had no idea what the word meant on his home planet of Cargg and why the others on the team refrained from calling him as such.

"Reports are estimating at least three to four dozen injured or dead. We have to hit hard and fast, contain the enemy, and eliminate that ring. I wish Phil was still around to teleport the thing into limbo..." Ditto instructed and informed while mumbling the last bit about his former teammate who possessed the helmet of Fate.

The team headed towards the teleporter room and within minutes were front and center just outside of Reagan High with police barricades, worried and confused parents, and the media. The authorities recognized the team of young heroes were more than capable of handling the situation and gave them all the room they needed pushing back the barricade lines for civilian safety.

"What's that you said about my hair that one day in the library, Shawn? I bet my hair's the LAST thing on your mind now!" the teen screamed sporting Red Lantern colors on more civilian attire, while also vomiting the hot liquid energy of the red ring from his mouth all over the football player burning him away like lava.



Suddenly, the teen Red Lantern heard something coming up from behind him...

Somewhere in space...

"The United Planets are paying us to make sure that thing gets destroyed. Preferably before some would-be world conqueror actually becomes a world conqueror. Hob, set course for the Milky Way Galaxy..." instructs the leader of the band of cosmic misfits with a green energy glowing near the center of his chest.

~KL~

As soon as the disorientation of being teleported wore off, Supergirl steadied her focus on the building and huffed. There was no way this would be a repeat of the last mission, she'd done too much reflecting for that. She definitely didn't want Ditto to roll his eyes again -- she assumed the reason earlier was because she wasn't much help. Propelling herself to get a birds eye view, Supergirl looked on, revolted. The floor really was lava, and this guy seemed powerful.

Quickly, she flew towards the football field -- where the most immediate danger was being presented as athletes ran in every direction. One of them, in a maniac state, was actually running at a perpendicular angle close to the red liquid. Supergirl rushed towards him, and flew him to safety but not without the guy fighting her and trying to wriggle to his death. Back to the scene, her number one priority was to help rescue all the students and teachers she could. Moving at insane speeds and grabbing two people at a time was all she could do along with a few Ditto duplicates while her other teammates kept the red lava vomit guy busy.

Reagan High School seemed like a nice school. It was probably full of nice students, attending nice classes, being taught by nice teachers. I often found myself wondering what it would be like to be a part of something like that. Living alone on the streets of Gotham, I never really got the chance. It wasn't until Bruce Wayne took me in that I learned to read and write. But these kids had gotten the chance to learn early, to learn easily. They didn't have to kill four muggers in a fit of newfound power to get a shot at education. And now, here they were, lying on the ground, either dead, dying or unconscious. I hoped, for their sakes and their family's, that it was the latter.

The team and I sped through the school, searching for the guy with the Red Lantern ring. What kind of sicko would use it to slaughter a school?

"What's that you said about my hair that one day in the library, Shawn? I bet my hair's the LAST thing on your mind now!"

That kind of sicko. Yikes.

He turned to face us, eyes blazing with rage, mouth spewing out gaseous blood, and I gave him, and my team, no time to react. My first mistake. Black flame coated my tightly clenched fist, and I lunged at him, striking him hard across the cheek. This sent him reeling backwards, almost tripping over the body of the guy called Shawn. Not wanting to give him time to recover, I went in for another hit. My second mistake. I was too slow, and the teen spewed out red energy, burning away part of my suit. It should have been impossible. My suit could withstand extreme heat, almost as hot as the Sun... Just what was that red energy made of?

The Red Lantern punched me with surprising force, sending me flying over my teammates' heads. I landed about ten feet away as Ditto and the others began engaging with the psychopath. I began thinking about what Magnus would be doing in a situation like this. He certainly wouldn't be on the ground, out of the battle only seconds after it had begun. No, I had no doubt that my brother would have managed to weaken, if not subdue the blond teenager. But he wasn't there. And as the screen on my wrist began beeping profusely, I realised that I was no longer of use to the Young Justice program. I was a danger to it.

My radiation levels had suddenly spiked, out of nowhere. What had first been 0 μSv had risen to the lethal 2,000,000 μSv... If I stayed there any longer, everyone in the area would surely die from radiation poisoning. I had to get out of there.

With no time to explain, I rose into the air, faster than I'd ever risen before, narrowly missing Supergirl as she flew to save a football player from the blood-like lava.

Conflicting emotions battled to gain the upper hand. Anger, sadness, fear... resignation. Anger at the unfairness of it all. I had finally gotten what I wanted, who I wanted, only for them to be taken away by my powers. Sadness, because I knew that this sudden rise in radiation meant that I would have to distance myself from my friends, from civilisation. Fear, from not knowing what this would mean. And finally, resignation. The knowledge that removing myself from society was for the best helped me accept my predicament. By doing what I was about to do, I could save my friends. I could prevent the nightmare from ever happening. Jin wouldn't be scarred by my powers.

And so, as I flew away from the school, I decided on my destination. Only one other man had gone there before, the man whose city we now protect. I was headed to Lian Yu. Purgatory. The island of Oliver Queen.

As has become the norm in this headquarters my conversation is interrupted by the comings and goings of ill-mannered team mates. I am seriously beginning to consider the need to implement some kind of signage system which will indicate to my more socially stunted comrades when it is acceptable to come barging in with their inanity's. Perhaps I could take a leaf from the book of overly amorous college students and begin to tie socks around door handles when I wish to have a conversation that isn't disturbed by cretins.

This time I am willing to make an allowance though, seeing as the 'cretin' in question happens to be Miss Martins. We are just fresh from a field mission that seen her essentially save my life, after all.(Have no doubts though, though she beat me to a solution I would have eventually resolved my predicament, given time. . . And in a far less neolithic fashion.)

Cassandra say's we have trouble, and though I am inclined to trust her I doubt it is immediate. Her voice lacks the urgent undertones of one who feels they are facing a current peril, and despite the fact she is slightly flushed her breathing is under control. Deduction; Miss Martin's has just had a vision. A most useful talent, though if she ever manages to develop it further she may just put me out of business. One who can solve crimes before they are committed could become a serious rival to my abilities. Though on second thoughts I do not doubt that my brilliance would eventually overshadow her power. I'm just that good.

"Trouble, Cassandra? You've had a visi. . . " I peter out suddenly, my face no doubt going slack as I finally begin to piece the puzzle of Miss Martin's past together. I haven't assembled all the clues, no doubt there is several integral pieces just out of my grasp, but I have now discovered the track that I must traverse to solve her mystery.

I can feel a thrill of emotion rush though my body. Again I am reminded that I am an addict, and this is my fix, that it is only when I get a challenge such as this that I experience this feeling of unrivalled euphoria. I grin at Cassandra, though I'm sure it isn't a particularly pleasant smile from her viewpoint, more like a predator's smile than the expression of joy from a friend. I have a new Question to answer, one that is the key to unlocking the rest of her secrets.

Just where did she get her powers?

NOW

Death. I am seventeen and have had more than my fair share of experience with death. It comes with the territory of being the pre-eminent detective on the planet (Some would no doubt argue that the tomfool, wraith-like vigilante in Gotham city surpasses my skill. I will concede that perhaps is the case, but he has had three decades worth of experience on me. One day I will prove his superior, sooner rather than later. Anyway, back to my original point) My experience means I am much more jaded towards the sight of a corpse than the layman. Where others see a person who was once living I see no more than meat and evidence. So it comes as some surprise when I feel a twinge of horror when I witness the absolute devastation left in the wake of this 'Red Lantern'.

I feel my face scrunch in some indiscernible emotion. Perhaps guilt, for not getting here sooner, even with Kassandra’s warning . I am glad for the faceless mask that stops my team from seeing my features.

The team arrive on the football field (Why do American’s insist on calling this game football, when it seems they spend most of the time carrying the ball? Stubbornness is my guess.) just in time to see Mr Garrison melt one of his unfortunate team-mates. My earlier emotional state is now thankfully under control, my concern fully upon stopping the insane teen rather than his enflamed classmate. After all, its far too late for him.

But how best to stop a Red Lantern? The ability to do such a thing is far beyond my capabilities. It will take all our team working in tandem to stop the menace. Unfortunately our leader fails to give us any instruction. Unforgivable negligence on his part. Even worse is the fact that Ms Waller, our resident powerhouse and one of the few on the team with the abilites to go toe-to-toe with a lantern, thinks she better serves our mission by evacuating civilians!

Deduction; My team-mates are brain-dead buffoons, intent on getting everyone in the immediate area killed. Supergirl no doubt thinks it is her mission to save the innocents. Doesn’t she realise she would do that far more effectively by distracting the Lantern, and letting us handle to screaming masses. Hellfire at least realises the import of ending this quickly, but even with his power he is little match for Mr Garrison. Mr Harlan is quickly overpowered, but then strangely quit’s the field. From what I know of Hellfire he would never leave his team-mates to face a danger like this alone. Assumption; Hellfire’s retreat is due to currently indiscernible unrelated circumstances. This is falling a part quickly, and it seems to fall to me to fix things.

Again.

“Supergirl,” I bark as loudly as I can over the chaos. “Quit playing the fool and attack the Red Lantern. Only you are strong enough to withstand him! Armory, Starbolt and Miss Mountain, support Supergirl’s attack, avoid a frontal attack while subverting his position. Kassandra, use your power, get the civilians most at risk out of here, Ditto, put some clones at her disposal.”

I then turn to the Red Lantern. The team needs time to get into position. Perhaps they wont listen to me. God knows they all seem dead set on disagreeing with common sense, so it would hardly surprise me. All I know is if left to his own devices then the Red Lantern could cause even more indiscriminate destruction. Better to have him focused on one target.

“Hey, Toby! Your hair sucks! And your mother is fat! And I am reliably informed your father sexually pleasures other men for money! For pitifully small amounts of money!”

My wit could cut through steel.

She'd told Ditto of the danger, what'd she seen in her vision. Yet, even now, as they were teleported to Reagan High and into the chaos that awaited them there, Cassandra felt they were incredibly unprepared.

Kendra didn't know much about the various Lantern corps. However, upon having her vision a couple of days ago, she had taken time to research almost obsessively over the Red Lanterns, who's description somewhat reminded her of the Norse-time Berserkers of old. They had all the powers of the Green Lanterns and more, and fuelled their powers with rage and hate. Their blood, as Toby Garrison was now demonstrating with an unfortunate victim, was now as hot as lava, and the Red Lanterns had the power to regurgitate this blood.

Now, if only Wikipedia had given her some idea about how to stop one.

Only a few minutes had passed since they had engaged the target, and already things were going mad, with one of their team, Hellfire, turning tail and fleeing. Seeing one of the older, more experienced heroes on the team run away didn't fill Cassandra with much confidence and, for only a minute, she found herself momentarily overwhelmed with a feeling of fear. Just as she was about to turn to Ditto and ask if he had some plan of attack, orders came in... but they weren't from Ditto.

“Supergirl,” Question's shout sounded. “Quit playing the fool and attack the Red Lantern. Only you are strong enough to withstand him! Armory, Starbolt and Miss Mountain, support Supergirl’s attack, avoid a frontal attack while subverting his position. Cassandra, use your power, get the civilians most at risk out of here, Ditto, put some clones at her disposal.”

A small part of Kendra was shocked at his arrogance for assuming a position of authority. However, she had to agree that this seemed to be the best plan of attack. Snapping herself out of her doubt, ordered her spear into attack mode and made her way over to the panicking civilians. "Supergirl, listen to Question!" she called up to the girl. "I'll take care of the civilians! Your efforts are best served against the Lantern! Go!" Cassandrathen started trying to herd the crowds of students and teachers away from danger. "Go, go! Move!"

Supergirl did not even notice the departure of her teammate, during that time inside of the highschool clearing it out. Mid-air with a girl her age and a geeky looking fella' who was adjusting his glasses in shock, Supergirl could hear Question's bark pierce through the pandemonium. What an attitude on that boy. Without making any motion to acknowledge Question, Supergirl imagined giving Question a nice slap in the face that sent him halfway across the field since she wouldn't do that in real life. They were a team, for now... She placed the two students down gently as Kendra repeated his commands. She managed to hide a scowl, obviously she heard him and obviously she'd oblige. Obviously. "Save those civilians then." was all she said for Kendra but not entirely towards her. Any further casualties from not making the students her number one priority were renounced from Supergirls conscious.

After Questions lame attempt at egging the baddie on, Supergirl rebounded. Her arm pulled back with the wind licking her face, she landed a strong punch to the the red guys chest. He was sent barreling across the field and into the parking lot. Standing a little bit away from Question, she malevolently glared at him as if to say "Wish that was you". Unfortunately at the moment of impact there was an exchange of the red gas, which singed Supergirls arm. She winced in pain as she fought the reflex to grab it, but it was starting to heal with the sun beaming down on them. After the ten second exchange of looks, she flew off towards the parking lot to see if the battle was all wrapped up but instead was met with a beam of red energy.

Screaming and writhing in pain, Supergirl lost her concentration and went barrelling towards the ground.

Well, upon arrival it did not take long before it all descended into chaos quicker than a bugatti supercar getting from 0-60. This Lantern guy was out of control and killing but once again the team seemed not to be organised enough for this conflict. Tori was not really sure how to take down a lantern but knew it would have to be a team effort. Before she knew it one of the team had already flown of from the fight which certainly was not encouraging before Question of all people started barking orders. Really? Him of all people! Surely he cut off Ditto? She never knew but there were more pressing matters.

Tori gave a reassuring smile and nod to Miss Mountain while placing a hand on her shoulder. " I heard what you did in the medical bay, thank you." She started. " But right now we'll deal with this guy. We can do this if we work together as a team." She almost wanted to ignore Question but an attack from multiple angles could work. Within moments and looking quite amusing to her, Tori witnessed Supergirl belt the guy across the field to the car park, surely that would count for a home run? Some human sport or something. Tori decided to fly over to assist as quick as she could to keep a numbers game on the red lantern.

Following Supergirl, Starbolt saw in shock as her team mate was struck by some sort of red energy beam which made the Tamerean wince from her scream for a split second as she saw her barreling towards the ground, Without a second thought, Starbolt flew as quickly as she could to catch up and eventually catch her falling team mate before she could hit the ground. Once landed, Starbolt placed Supergirl down. " Are you okay?" She quickly asked before she got distracted by the lantern.

Standing up and turning to face the enemy, Starbolt had one angry expression on her face as the blue glow in her hands began, she was going to blast this guy into the next age for everything he had done. He was spouting out all kinds of threats at the two. " You think you can stop me! ha you're next goldie, You should of stayed out my way!" He was yelling away, Before he knew it Starbolt had unleashed a blue bolt of energy at him, the impact sent him flying into a parked car pretty much destroying it. " You talk too much " She retorted before heading back to Supergirl.

Outfit torn in most places, Supergirl managed to sit up. "I'm fine. Caught me off guard is all."She nodded at her teammate. "Thanks for catching me..." Unexpectedly, she flew up high, as if in the middle of the sun to absorb some rays and heal before starting up round two.

-Endy/Damo

Miss Mountain did a 180 spin to see who the owner was of the hand that was just placed on her shoulder, seeing Starbolt whose bright smile brought one to Dana's face as well. "I heard what you did in the medical bay, thank you." Tori told her. "But right now we'll deal with this guy. We can do this if we work together as a team." Before MM managed to blurt out a response, Tori bursted into the air to catch Supergirl in her descent. "Well, I guess that's my cue to do something," she muttered, trying to remember what orders Question had barked earlier. "Eh. I'll just do my own thing."

The left side of Dana's mouth curled into a broad smirk after she saw the Red Lantern blasted into a parked car by one of Tori's bolts of energy. With a decisive step into the ground, several large chunks of rock levitated in a sphere of power around her. She did a flip kick in the air to kind of demonstrate launching an invisible force forward, and the motion corresponded to the manipulation of the floating rocks, they performed a similar movement as they sped through the air at high speeds towards their target, who was just getting up from his latest impact with the car (Dana found it slightly ironic that this time Tori was the one smashing someone else into a car, not the one getting smashed by the car).

A large red shield formed from the ring on his fist, deflecting the earthly projectiles. As soon as they stopped coming the villain looked triumphant and was probably about to make a taunt before Dana kicked the ground in front in her, which than summoned a blunt earth pillar that rose from the ground with bolting speed and cracked him in the chin like a swift and powerful uppercut. The Red Lantern was stumbling backwards holding his jaw, so Dana hoped that maybe she'd broken his jaw, or he at least most likely bit his tongue really bad. She felt a little bit weird hoping that this guy experienced these painful annoyances.

Before she had time to sort out her slightly demented feelings she saw a flash of red coming her way which was no doubt some sort of retaliation that the foe had blasted at her, so she stomped on the ground and brought her hands in the air like she was lifting up a window. The motion erected a strong stone wall from the ground, and it turned out that it did nothing except maybe weaken the power of the impact because the attack still broke through her rock defense with ease and launched her back a few yards. She tumbled over and over again on the ground until she skidded to a stop. "Owwww," Dana groaned, rolling over to her stomach so she could use her arms to hoist herself up. They were almost useless, succumbing to a burning pain in her triceps the second she tried to raise herself up with them. "Dammit," she said under her breath, making a mental note to do more push-ups in her free time. She then resorted to using the earth to push herself to her feet by raising a little rock pedestal from the ground. Dana managed to stand, slowly but steadily, before looking back and seeing the Red Lantern through the giant whole he had blasted through her wall.

"I have got to get me one of those," she weakly marveled at the red lantern ring.

Between the Kryptonian clone and the duplicating Carggite the school was evacuated within minutes with speed and numbers on the young heroes' side. Aside from the press and police barricades most of the crowd had been dealt with save for one or two remaining individuals in the football field wetting themselves in fear. The consciousness of Ditto traveled between duplicates until he was coming out of an exit leading into the football field and bleachers. That was when the man boy without a face yelled orders at the team. Ditto was shocked to see the second most experienced member of the team [Hellfire] retreating but could sense one of his duplicates near the barricades listening to an EMS worker mentioning something about radiation.

"I need to get to the bottom of that..." he thought to himself as he created at least half a dozen more duplicates, one of which attempted to follow his retreating teammate who thankfully didn't fly at superspeeds.

Supergirl knocked the Red Lantern into the parking lot. Then after being attacked Starbolt came in with a save and an assault of her own. With the bigger guns of the team taking the fight to the Lantern, rookies including Armory and the Question weren't doing much more than playing catch-up at this point. Miss Mountain then attacked the Lantern before taking part of a blast from the Lantern's ring through an earth/rock shield.

"Question!" a duplicate shouted as he caught up to the young hero en route to the parking lot on foot, "We need to contain this kid long enough to knock him out. I'm afraid the only way to disarm him also kills him in the process. It's not that I didn't have a plan, I just don't know how to tell this team of kids we may have to kill somebod... LOOK OUT!" the duplicate shouted pushing the kid in the suit and tie out of the way and taking a direct blast of red napalm like blood vomit from the enraged Red Lantern's mouth.

The faceless hero looked on as the duplicate burned. The body that the prime Ditto was in blacked out, and in response several duplicates attacked the Lantern with large chunks of debris taking him out of the air once more. A few moments later a blue glimmer shot from the eye of the prime Carggite and he was back on his feet.

"WE HAVE TO GET THE RING OFF OF HIS FINGER! IF WE DON'T END HIM THIS WHOLE CITY WILL BURN..." the prime Ditto shouted.

Two duplicates then threw an already trashed car at the Lantern.

~KL~

Mr Garrison doesn't seem to take undue insult from my cutting slights. Perhaps he really isn't as defensive of his hair, mother and father as he, and his red ring, would have us believe. More likely it is related to the fact that Supergirl has - quite wisely - decided to follow my instructions and taking the fight to the rage-fuelled youth. A Kryptonian fist to the face is no doubt a much more pressing issue than my inspired taunting.

I follow the battle at a safe distance, not so far that I can't see what is happening but not so close that I run a risk of being caught in the crossfire. Like Nelson at Waterloo really, commanding the battlefield from a distance. Only Toby Garrison is certainly not my Napoleon.

Miss Waller manages to strike our foe into the carpark, but it doesn't seem to keep him down. Starbolt and Miss Mountain each hit the Red Lantern, though the fiend clambers back to his feet each time to repay them in kind. I feel my frustration growing as I watch the battle. I told those cretins to support each other while avoiding a frontal attack, and instead they each take a turn in attacking the Red Lantern directly. Why does no one ever listen to me!? It's enough to drive a man to distraction, but at least they actually attacked when I ordered it. Armoury hasn't even done that much.

I am about to reissue orders to my unruly troops when a Ditto clone approaches me. I hide my distaste for the clone quite admirably, though I have to admit my mask does most of the work for me.

"Question! We need to contain this kid long enough to knock him out. I'm afraid the only way to disarm him also kills him in the process. It's not that I didn't have a plan, I just don't know how to tell this team of kids we may have to kill somebod... LOOK OUT!" Before I can respond the Ditto throws me from the path of an oncoming burst of red energy. Deduction; I have not picked a safe enough spot to observe the battle. Must rectify at nearest opportunity.

I shift postion's before considering what the Ditto clone has just told me. The only way to stop the lantern is to kill him, and Ditto knew this all along? And didn't tell the rest of the team? The negligence on his part is astounding! Not only did he withhold valuable tactical information from us - information which could have seen me concoct a more cohesive plan - but he has also shown complete disregard for the morals of his team. Did these 'kids', as he called them, not deserve to know the likely outcome of this fight? Did they not deserve to know that they would likely end a man's life today? I am becoming more disenchanted with Ditto's leadership by the second.

And why tell me? That, at least, is an answer easy in the coming. The Cargitte imagines me cold-hearted and logical. Of course he would assume that I would have few misgivings about killing a person if it meant saving another's life. After all, is that not what this will all boil down to. Simple arithmetic. Many lives out weighing one.

The worst part is I'm not certain that Ditto is wrong about me.

"Supergirl, Starbolt! Drive Toby towards the ground. Miss Mountain, prepare to open a small crevice in the earth. Once Toby is back on terrafirma close the crevice around his ankle, keep him from taking off again. Ditto, stand ready to physically subdue him. Leave the ring to me."

Am I ready to condemn a man to death? Yes. Yes I am. That may sound callous, and that's because it is. The oppressive truth is that there is very little in the way of alternatives. Other than letting one of my teammates commit the deed, there is nothing else to be done. I refuse to let one of them shoulder the burden. Their emotions would cloud the issue, if not now then further down the line. Taking a life is not an endeavor that children should embark upon, even children such as those in Young Justice.

Perhaps if Ditto had taken Kassandra's warnings more seriously, or if he had shared his information with me earlier, perhaps then I could have come up with a clever substitute plan. Real life is seldom as clean and clear cut as that though. People let you down, and tragedies ensue. Yes, I am sure I can kill Toby Garrison.

If it saves the city.

"Supergirl, Starbolt! Drive Toby towards the ground. Miss Mountain, prepare to open a small crevice in the earth. Once Toby is back on terrafirma close the crevice around his ankle, keep him from taking off again. Ditto, stand ready to physically subdue him. Leave the ring to me." screamed the man without a face.

"The duplicate that jumped in the line of fire to protect the Question must have told him what must be done. Sometimes I wonder if the duplicates are all developing their own individual personalities. It's merely an afterthought as I put my attention back on the field. Charles Ditko is still a child like the rest of them, if I read his file right he's not even legal age to vote. He doesn't need to be the hero, bear the burden. The team itself is in disarray, we've never faced something like this before... even with me being the most experienced and a founder I can't recall a time where we've dealt with Lantern tech before. Q's plan to contain the Red Lantern is sound and it would seem the group has come to the same conclusion...." the original Kilian thought while still providing support for the rest of the team.

After her body was completely healed up, Supergirl heard no-face shout more orders. "Leave the ring to you? Gonna quip him into handing it over?"She mumbled but rigidly nodded. "Making the girls do all the work huh?"She yelled. Hands thrown upwards, she reduced her elevation and made her way near Starbolt. SG grinned at the orange skinned vixen. "Ready when you are, hun." A fierce expression took over her face as she eyed her target.

I had not taken long for thing's to move on and despite that the plan was not to attack head on, Starbolt felt she had no choice because she needed to come to the aid of her team mate. Supergirl had since took off to catch some rays to heal herself, while the Tamaranian was still on the ground. She was amazed as the Lantern climbed back out of the crushed car, having never faced a Lantern before. Now was not the time to fear and stick to the plan.

And that plan came from Question, his tactics were sound and despite being new, Starbolt knew this would be their best chance to try and contain this guy and get that ring of him as the orders where given out. Apparently they had to drive Toby to the ground, despite he was still standing on said ground. Starbolt assumed that herself and Supergirl would have to combine their efforts to keep him grounded. She elevated into the air, something she was thankful for was her flight ring to do so.

Starbolt smiled at the responses from Supergirl as they came to each other level assessing the Lantern. 'Make the girls do all the work huh' she mused to herself in her own thoughts. Her grin got more sly when Supergirl claimed she was ready. Eyeing the target Starbolt spoke up to her flying partner. " I suggest we keep him grounded by circling around across from one another getting him into a cross fire, We can use our height advantage and agility, It should keep him distracted enough to not know which target to attack"

"Come on, come on!" Cassandra shouted at the various civilians, gesturing wildly with her hands for them to move away from the battle, away from the chaos. Every so often, she would glance over her shoulder to check the status of her teammates. They seemed to be coping, at least as well as they could given the circumstances. At one point, her eyes turned towards the Question and one of the Ditto duplicates, allowing her to witness as the duplicate pushed Question out of the way of another one of the Red Lantern's blood attacks, saving the faceless hero but ending up getting himself burnt and destroyed. Upon witnessing this, she felt a momentary stab of panic, forgetting, if only for a second, that Ditto had plenty of 'selves' to spare.

Still, it was mildly disconcerting, watching one of Ditto's clones die like that. Even more disconcerting was that Ditto could feel the pain his clones felt the moment they 'bit the dust', as it were. The idea of having to experience the pain of death over and over again...

She didn't even want to think about it.

Just as she was about to turn back to the civilians, she suddenly felt lightheaded before a flash of pain ran through her mind and she suddenly became momentarily blind. The feeling had been so overwhelming, it had taken her a moment to realize it was a vision, just like those she felt when she herself was in immediate danger. Except... it felt different. She couldn't describe how or why, but she didn't feel like she was in danger, she didn't feel that urgency, that fight-or-flight instinct that normally accompanied her 'danger sense'.

When her sight returned, she found she was looking at Ditto again, or at very least one of his clones. Then, all of a sudden, she saw multiple Dittos, all standing around before suddenly, with another rush of pain in Kendra's temples, each of the Dittos started.. to melt. Melt in the way she had seen a candle melt, a slow and painful dissolving of one's form. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, watching these fluxing humanoid forms liquefied until they no longer resembled anything remotely human, but it felt like hours. Then, when only one Ditto was left, he fell face down to the ground, crumpling, folding.

Then everything went black for a second, and when the darkness cleared, Kendra found she was back on the football field. She blinked a couple of times, allowing her sight to readjust.

Question barked some more orders, which luckily this time Miss Mountain managed to pay attention to. Her job was simple, she just had to lock the villain’s lower legs and ankles within the earth’s confine to prevent his escape. That wasn't too hard, actually it was pretty easy. The catch was just that she was essentially immobilizing this kid in preparation for his impending death. That was a little bit harrowing. A little…

The red-ringed villain currently had his sights on the two YJ members with the ability of flight. Dana guessed this was her time to get close in case things didn't go as planned. She lowered herself in a position that would extend more power through her core and started punching the ground in quick, repetitive jabs. These motions weren't normal punches, however; her earth-manipulating powers granted her the ability to make way through the ground like it was nothing, burrowing like a gopher. She made it so there was standing room underground and thrust her hands forward in a blasting motion, pushing the ground and earth in front of her forward. She kept doing this until she was in striking distance of Toby and then burst out of the ground not too far away from the Red Lantern. She waited for Supergirl and Starbolt to pin him to the ground so she could go to work.

The two of them were off to the races, circling the the villain escaping his gaseous red liquid through the amount of speed and wind they were producing. The pair of them giggling caused their foe to become angry and unnerved as he got ready to start up the beams. The pair would throw a light punch (for Supergirl anyway) here and there to knock his concentration as they awaited MM's attempt at making his legs immobile. SG had to admit, there was a certain amount of satisfaction in annoying the guy, the two of them like flies to him. Catching a glimpse of Starbolt's eye, SG nodded as they both upped the speed causing him to be swept by a small sized whirlwind. Quickly, SG stopped circling and flew upwards ahead of the red lantern and punched him back down towards the earth with Starbolt ready to pin him to the ground.

The time was now. Ditko's plan was being set in motion and when Miss Mountain, Starbolt, and Supergirl had the enemy planted on the ground at least a dozen Ditto duplicates dog piled the teen.The consciousness of the original Carggite moved through the bodies until it reached the one closest to the teen's right hand. He'd be damned if Ditko... the Question... was going to bear the burden in what was to be this teen's imminent death. The ring burned bright, and before the prime consciousness of Kilian could move away to another duplicate away from the battle the Lantern exploded with red energy. Several Ditto's simply burned away in the blast shielding his teammates. The original still made an attempt to move his mind into that of another duplicate but it still didn't matter. A handful of Dittos died and faded away after being partly burned to death, the original... blacked out from the mental strain. The telepathic link the duplicates shared was gone. The team was caught in the explosion and while most remained unharmed, at least one or two felt great pain. Who knew when the duplicating man from Cargg would awaken.

~YJ~

At first the darkness was all consuming, pressing down from every direction, and upon every sense. Slowly, oh so slowly, feeling began to return. And with it pain. His flesh seemed to writhe, bones grinding against each other like restless tectonic plates. With a groan the teen known as the Question pushed himself to a sitting position. A quick inspection of his person told him that nothing seemed to be broken, so there was that small favour to be thankful for, though he was covered in cuts, grazes and burns, his hat no where to be seen and his overcoat little more than a smoldering ruin. He clambered groggily to his feet, a battered prize-fighter stepping onto the canvas after the thirteenth starting bell. His coat was cast from his body, leaving him in shirt, waistcoat and tie, as his quick eyes considered the field before him.

It wasn't good.

Ditto was down, that much was an easy deduction. The original was slumped in unconsciousness, while several duplicates milled around in an almost drunken confusion. Their telepathic link is gone, Question realized with a start. The rest of the team seemed discombobulated by Garrison's attack, though none seemed as damaged as Ditto or Question himself. Those two had been closest to the epicenter of the Red Lantern's blow, both racing to remove his ring, and they had paid for their impetuousness.

The Lantern in question surveyed his handiwork with a satisfied grin, his countenance frog-like in it's smugness. His back was to the Question.

"Young Justice, heh. What a joke!" Garrison said to himself, punctuating his statement with a mocking chuckle. He took a step forward, the way he held himself and the set of his hips telling Question that he meant to take to the skies, perhaps to make good his escape while the team were on the back foot. The masked detective refused to let that happen. He broke into a mad run, ignoring the protestations of his battered body.

"Team, strike now!" He commanded, his voice raw and hoarse. "Do not let him escape!" The Red Lantern turned towards the source of the commotion, a ghost of confusion on his face. He had no doubt figured he had crushed all resistance. Question took the opportunity to catch him on the chin with a wild hay-maker, all his rage, frustration and pain concentrated upon this one strike, praying that he could end the conflict with this singular crazed blow.

Garrison staggered backwards with a pained *ooof*, white ivory flashing in the noon day sun as a tooth came flying from his mouth. Fall, Question willed, just bloody fall!

It wasn't enough.

The rage Lantern reared forwards, a crazed look in his eye. The masked detective reeled backwards, trying to give ground while firing another straight jab towards Toby's face, the Lantern catching his fist with an almost contemptuous ease. Question struggled vainly in the vice like grip, desperate to free his trapped fist. He was still trying when Garrison slammed his head into Questions masked nose. A choked gurgle sounded through the material as a red stain welled up from the inside. Toby repeated the maneuver twice more before letting Question drop to the ground.

"What was that you said about my dad?" Garrison snarled, stomping Question's form again and again, grinding him into the blood-mingled dirt.

As Cassandra had been on the sidelines with the civilians, still caught in a shocked trance after her vision, the explosion didn't cause much damage to her, though it did knock her off her feet and cause her to land face down on the ground. It took her a moment to recollect herself, lying on the floor as she waited for her momentarily stunned senses to return. She then pushed herself back to her feet and scanned her surroundings.

Ditto was down, it seemed, all but seven of his bodies reduced to ashes. Kendra inwardly cursed herself for not acting on her vision immediately but she didn't wallow in her self-pity for long. Her eyes were drawn to the Red Lantern, who was standing menacingly over the Question, the latter who was lying on the ground, a red stain forming on his mask.

Grabbing her spear, which had flown out of her hand in the explosion, Kendra gave a shout. "Hey!" she called at Toby. "Hey, ugly!" As Toby started to turn his head towards her, Kendra threw her spear, aiming it at Toby's shoulder. It struck, its point burying in the Lantern's shoulder, causing him to give a cry of pain and rage. Kendra took this opportunity to charge towards him, aiming to essentially rugby tackle him to the ground. Not the best plan, she knew that, but with her other teammates probably still recovering from the blast, it was up to her to keep up the fight.

However, Kendra wasn't quick enough to reach Toby before he recovered and he angrily kicked out at her, slamming his foot into her stomach. Cassandra gave a choked cry as she was winded, temporarily stunned as she tried to get the air back into her lungs. Toby slammed his fist into the blonde girl's face and she fell backwards to the ground.

Toby pulled the spear from his shoulder, snarling in pain as he did so. It had buried itself deep, but the wound didn't phase him nearly as much as Cassandra had hoped it would. Toby stood over Cassandra, glaring down at her fiercely before bringing up the spear, aiming to skewer the super-heroine through the stomach with her own weapon. Weakly, Kendra attempted to roll herself out of the way, and while she was able to avoid being stabbed in the gut, the spear instead struck her arm, digging so deep into the flesh above her elbow that it actually went completely through her arm and into the ground, meaning she was now literally pinned down. Wincing and gritting her teeth in pain, Kendra tried to move her arm. This turned out to be a terrible idea, as it only served to worsen her wound and she bit down on her tongue to stop herself from crying out.

After pinning him and allowing the Ditto's to do their thing, Supergirl moved back and hovered near the scene. The next thing she knew was an explosion that sent her spiraling towards the earth half in confusion and half because she didn't have the mental capacity to focus for flight. Picking herself up she could hear Kendra's taunting. Trying to reap all the benefits of Kendra's distraction, Supergirl raced to move her fallen teammates further back on her side of the field. In the time allotted, she grabbed Q and a couple dittos (unsure of which was the prime) before turning her head towards Kendra.

Now pinned down, Supergirl had no idea how to help her -- whether pulling it out or leaving it in was the best situation. She certainly had no medical training in her three years on this earth and her power-set didn't include super-healing. "Kendra! Hang in there!" she yelled. Gliding through the air, she met Red Lantern as he moved towards her comrade and began a barrage of punches with no holding back. "Heh, you hit like a girl" he snarled before hitting her with another beam of red light that sent her back. Unlike the other times, he didn't turn this off and she was pushed back. She tried her best to push forward through it but found her energy quickly becoming drained and next her legs involuntarily falling to her knees.

How are we supposed to fight this monster...

There was an explosion in the distance. Uh-oh. He was present during the mission debriefing, but still hadn't felt quite well enough to go. He'd decided since then that they needed him there. Back to the explosion, again, not good. That only confirmed that things were not going well. When he arrived on the scene, he was greeted by a less-than-favorable situation. Ditto and Question were unconscious, Cassandra had a spear outright pinning her to the ground, and Supergirl was struggling to fight again the Lantern's beam. He sloped downward to reach his top speed.

"Hey!"

A wall of ice rose in front of the Lantern's beam, shielding Supergirl, as the voice called out.

"You can sit down later," Frostbite quipped as he sped by. He swept her up onto his ice platform and out of the way just as the ice wall broke. "Wow, that was close. You okay?" The Lantern, not seeming to appreciate the rescue, started throwing short red blasts at the pair. Frostbite swerved to dodge them, almost losing Supergirl's hand on the turn. "Supergirl," he started, "I'm gonna have to let you off here soon." He looked down to Cassandra. Defend her for now, okay? At least until everyone else comes to. And... I wouldn't pull that spear out." It struck him immediately after that he just gave somebody orders. He glanced around the field. Was anybody left his senior? Whatever. That could wait.

"Okay, ready?" The path they were skating on started to split into two, the new path sloping towards the ground. He almost suddenly slid Supergirl down it, back into a safe position on the ground. "Sorry!" he yelled down. "I'll distract him for a bit!" He shot a few icicles towards the Lantern to recapture his attention before speeding on ahead and circling him. "Hey, Blondie! Red isn't really your color, pal!.."

Miss Mountain regained consciousness, the Red Lantern's repulsive counter-attack left her feeling groggy and weak. Her vision was blurry, so she used her remaining muscle to turn to her back and prop herself up on her elbows. There was definitely action going on, she could tell that much. She tasted something warm and distasteful in her mouth; it was blood. She wasn't sure if it was just from some teeth that she got mashed in or maybe it was from her nose and it had dripped to her mouth. She spat out in disgust of the taste, and sure enough some chipped pieces of her teeth along with a large amount of blood spewed from between her lips.

She cursed under her breath, rage replaced all other thoughts in her brain and the bruises swelled with pain and the cuts burned in the filthy air that encompassed her. Toby Garrison did this. Some stupid loser from this stupid high school thinks that he can mess with me? Dana White? Miss fucking Mountain? she thought, blind anger taking over her instincts and reasoning. The ground started shaking beneath her and she stood to her feet with ease, all her pain and soreness subsiding as the natural and mental steroids of absolute hatred made them seem like nothing but annoyances. Her chest rose and fell at an alarming rate, breathing heavily as she felt the earth around her... trying to draw all the power she could from her surroundings.

Rocky humanoid hands burst from the ground, wrapping around the airborne Lantern's ankles and pulling him to the ground. Miss Mountain had pulled him straight from his fight with Supergirl and Cassandra, wanting to inflict pain on him by herself. Toby fought and struggled against the bonds on his legs, keeping him from taking off. Dana put together a massive boulder and rolled it in his direction, where she hoped it would crush him. Dana wasn't herself, she was attempting to kill him in a completely painful and evil way. This rage clouded her feeling of good, and right now she was just focused on making him pay. What she was making him pay for she didn't even really think about.

Toby yelled in rage as it neared close, managing to break the earthly bonds with his ring's blasts and dodge the rolling boulder right before it flattened him. She smashed the ground with her fists and starting violently launching chunks of rock at him in the air. He flew away from them with cocky ease. The earth was dangerously quaking around her, the area was unsafe. Tears swelled in her eyes, she continued to fling earth at him. She didn't even know what she was angry for, she just had this urge to maim Toby Garrison. Perhaps she had been keeping this evil inside her for a long time, but one thing was for sure. Someone or something definitely had to calm her down before she destroyed the environment.

The Red Lantern responded to Frostbites taunts by spewing his bile in a large swathe, the burning substance covering everything in Beck's immediate area, some even getting on the cryokinetic's clothes. If he didn't remove it quickly then he would be badly hurt. Toby tried to continue his attack, but was impeded by Miss Mountain.

Miss Mountain was mad, but Garrison was madder. With a roar that sounded like it tore his throat bloody he charged towards the heroine, smashing clods of earth out of his way with furious and contemptuous strikes. As he neared her he pulled back his fist, striking her before she could get up any defenses. She fell hard, the quaking that had signaled her loss of control ending on a tremulous note. He began to kick her in the side, venting his frustrations upon her prone form.

Someway off Question came back to with a start, choking and spluttering. With a sluggishness that spoke of head trauma he realized the fabric of his mask had welled up with his own blood, making it difficult to breathe. He tore the mask off, wincing at the pain incurred. Things were definitely broken now, of that much he was sure. On top of that his thoughts were all a jumble, disconnected and hazy. That terrified him, more than anything else Garrison had done so far. Ditko's steel trap mind was his greatest weapon. Without it he was. . . useless.

His eyes, slower now than they had ever been before, scanned the battlefield. He gasped when they alighted upon Cassandra, the prophet speared upon her own weapon. He began to stumble to her aid when he realized that Miss Moutain was in even more dire straights, being accosted by the Red Lantern. He had forgotten about him. Somehow.

At this stage Question was really at a loss at what to do about him. The Lantern's raw power seemed to be too much for anything the team tried. Brilliant strategy, cunning misdirection, brute strength; none of it worked! All he knew was that he had to stop Garrison from pounding on Dana. Though attacking the lantern directly hadn't worked earlier, and he really didn't think he could survive another beating.

"Oh God!" He choked, Toby looking up in vague annoyance that turned to pure hatred when he realized that one of his foes were still standing. Charles was struggling to believe it himself at this stage. Still, he had committed to distracting Garrison from Quinn now, he might as well throw all that he had into the performance. He began to gesture into the distance behind Toby's back. "Green Lantern, thank God you're here to save us!"

This was what he was reduced to. The old 'Whats that behind you?' trick. Unbelievably it worked, as Garrison turned around and squinted into the distance. Ditko began to ready himself for the inevitable beating that would follow, surprised when it never came. He looked up to see that there really was something behind Garrison, but it wasn't a Green Lantern.

In fact it looked like a . . .

"Spaceship. . ?" as improbable as that seemed.

Yup, definite head trauma.

STARS & SCARS - CHAPTER 3

Back in Star City...

Michael pushed another brach out of his way and was finally able to get a clear view of the headquarters being used by the members of Young Justice. He had chosen a rather roundabout route to reach the headquarters in case of any perimeter defenses, but he knew there wouldn't be anything that he couldn't get past. Since he was facing the rear of the building, took one last look around just to be safe, and then began making his way around the building.

The building was huge, looming over many of the trees around and blocking out the sun if you were to stand in the right place. This will be a pretty nice place to call home for now. He thought to himself, standing just outside of the building's shadow causing the sun to make it look as if it went on forever. "Now, where's that blasted door?" He asked aloud as he came around the corner to see the large double doors in the center of the wall facing the route he had decided not to take. "Of course, that's where'd it be." He muttered sarcastically to himself, adjusting the strap of his duffel bag across his shoulder to reach inside and feeling just a bit foolish for deciding to take the route he had.

I suppose since everyone is out I'll let myself in. He pulled out a tablet and found a keypad near the door, using a cable he connected the two and entered an old override code he knew as a hail mary attempt. Silently praying that it would work he watched as numbers flashed on both the tablet and keypad before they stopped, the tablet flashing 'Override Accepted' in green. Well that went better than I could have expected. He thought as a smile spread across his face as the doors slid open with a hiss of air being released. "Well, let's take a look around the new place. Maybe find the kitchen and a tv to keep me company."

He stepped through the doors and they hissed shut behind him, blocking him from the smells of the outdoors and hitting him with that new car smell. He was standing in a lounge of sorts. Chairs and tables littered the room, but he figured that there were several rooms like this all throughout the building. No kitchen yet. He thought as he continued on through the building, making his way through hallways and up and down stairs finding the war room, a monitor room, study and a few other lounges. Several rooms that seemed to already be taken by the members of the Young Justice program and a teleporter bay. He finally found what he had been searching for on his second run through of the second floor. "Yes!" He exclaimed as he came across the large kitchen, immediately making himself at home and fixing a sandwich before leaving once again to find a tv.

--Entering Space Sector 2814--

The Jumper was just coming around the moon, bringing the planet Earth into view as Ar'asom stepped into the cockpit. He didn't know much of what was going on, he knew only what Sentinel had told them. They had been hired by the United Planets to track down and contain a Red Lantern's ring. He knew little else beside that, but was hoping for at least a good fight as Hob continued the ship's descent into the Earth's atmosphere.

Exhausted spewed and sputtered from the ship's impulse engines as Hob expertly descended towards the ground. Scanning the city around them, Hob could scarcely believe the results as he shook his head and laid it into his hands.

<"What backwater planet have we landed on now? These primitives still use wood in most of their constructions."> Pivoting in his pilot's seat, he pointed towards Rane as he continued to speak. <"Ol'Bloodthirsty here could probably slice through most of the planet's structures."> The ship suddenly growned as the cobalt craft set down on the ground. Looking outside the windows Hob suddenly groaned as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

<"They still use the combustion engine!"> He snarled as he hopped out of his seat, walking past the others as his head barely past their waists. <"I give up on this planet! We may as well let the red ring raze it. We'd be doing the rest of the galaxy a favour.>"

Rane startled awake at the ships landing, head coming up sharply as he snorted in confusion, Sword of the Skyfather jolting in his loving grasp. He blinked several times, trying to get the sleep out of his reptilian eyes. He gazed out of the ships windows in confusion, certain they were still in space when he'd fallen asleep.

"Where are we. . . ?" He croaked, free hand grabbing at a water container next to him.

Earth Rane. The Legion have come here looking for the Red Ring. Must I remind you of everything. I'm your Sword, not your secretary.

"I see no reason you can't be both." Rane responded amicably. Hob was screaming again, though that was nothing new.

The little monkey doesn't even need a ring to vent his rage

"I keep telling you Sword, thats small creature syndrome." Rane rocked out of his chair, a fluid grace to his movements as he stretched his stiff limbs, Sword still grasped as lightly as he tried to work the kinks out of his lower back. That Sword was never far from his hand.

"So who is it I shall be killing today?" He asked cheerily, an unnerving smile-mockery being made by his lizard mouth. Alexander Mason was never done for telling him that the Legion didn't kill, and Rane so delighted in proving him wrong.

The Jumper shuddered slightly as the ship landed, rousing Rane from his slumber, and allowing the other members of Legion a small glimpse of the fight going on outside. However, after just a quick glimpse Ar'asom decided that 'warzone' was a more appropriate description of the scene outside the ship.

What used to be a school had been reduced to battered buildings, crushed cars, deep gouges and cracks in the earth itself. Add that nearly everything around had been set on fire from the Red Lantern and smoke had begun to fill the air added a haze to the scene. There was already a group of people attempting to fight the Red Lantern, but their efforts were in vain.

Many of them lay around the patch of grass they had landed on (He later learning that it was called a football field) while what few had rose to continue the resistance and only been stomped mercilessly back into the ground. The Red Lantern would've killed one, if not all of them, if the arrival of the ship had left him a little confused.

While taking in the scene he had toned out most of what else had been going on around him, until Rane's question pulled him back. "You may have to actually kill that thing, because I doubt a simple beating will be enough to make him stop." Ar'asom answered as he took in the sight of the Red Lantern. Small cuts and the beginnings of several bruises could be seen on his skin under the torn clothing, a deep cut in his shoulder covered his arm and side in blood, and if it wasn't for the confused look plastered on his face he would look rather intimidating. Ar'asom turned to look at Sentinel. "What's the plan here?"

"We already have a plan," Replied Rane, that lizard almost-grin growing wider and wider, gold eyes shining feverish bright. "I'mma gonna kill him!"

The sound of metal plates sliding together could be heard from behind the other Legion members as Hob stepped out of the dimmly lit corridor, standing level with the rest of the crew as he piloted his mecha suit. Lifting a large gatling gun, Hob scoffed at Rane's comment as he moved towards the door.

"<If your sword can reach him faster than I can get off a full round then you'll kill him. Otherwise I'll be the one bringing down the hairless ape with the planet destroying jewelry.>"

Shoving his way through his teammates, the Krolotean began to open fire indiscriminately on the scene before him.

Alexander wasn't even ready when the ship landed, the 16% of a plan he had managed to come up with was still just a thought. Hob was already in his battle suit and Rane's sword had already been unsheathed at the hatch when Sentinel ran through the corridor without even grabbing his jacket. For reasons unknown, Freeflow took an emergency exit and approached some shady onlookers away from the battle.

"I don't know who those kids are outside but it doesn't look like they're fairing to well against the Lantern...." Sentinel proclaimed, "Hit him hard and hit him fast. The sooner we get that ring back to the United Planets embassy on Braal the sooner we get paid!" he shouted, as Hob had already began firing his gun.

Alexander jumped from the hatch and before hitting the ground generated his giant construct.

"Hey Red, didn't your mother tell you it's nap time?" Alexander quipped smacking the Lantern out of the air and blasting him with a chest beam while still in the giant construct.

"Who in the hell are YOU supposed to be?!?" Garrison screamed picking himself up off the ground.

"Great plan." Ar'asom said as Hob pushed his way through to the open hatch and begin firing the large gatling gun. His aim was all over the place as bullets bounced off the ground sending up clods of dirt and pinging off of any metal they happen to hit before his aim finally began to get on target and head towards the Red Lantern causing him to take to the sky followed by the trail of bullets before the magazine emptied. Luckily, Sentinel was ready in his giant construct and struck the Red Lantern out of the air crashing him back into the ground.

Nap time? Really? He silently wished that their leader had used a slightly better pun, but there was no real way to fix it now. "Rane," Ar'asom looked over at his reptilian companion and his sword. "I've got an idea that may save him. Unfortunate as you may think that to be." He looked back at the Red Lantern as he screamed at them. "Just get ready to cut the kids hand off when I have him pinned." He took a few steps forward towards the door. "And just be sure not to cut me." He added as an afterthought before breaking into a sprint, rushing past a foot of Sentinel's giant construct and Hob attempting to reload the gatling gun to fire off another barrage gaining the Red Lantern's attention.

As Ar'asom reached the Red Lantern he jumped off the ground and planted his feet near the Red Lantern's hips as he grabbed a hold of his shoulders. The hold gave him plenty of leverage to let him rear back his head and deliver a headbutt to his nose, breaking it and causing blood to flow down his face, as well as forcing the Red Lantern to lose his balance and cause his hands up out of instinct to tend to his nose. As his hands came up Ar'asom grabbed his wrist and leaned back as far as he could, landing with his back on the ground he pushed back and up with his legs, lifting the Red Lantern in the air. Letting one of his legs slip to the Red Lantern's side Ar'asom was able to spin him in the air as he came crashing back down to the ground and allowing Ar'asom to perform a perfect helicopter armbar. With a good hold on the Red Lantern he pulled on his wrist until he heard a pop followed by the pained cry of the Red Lantern as he dislocated his elbow. "RANE! NOW!"

"Maybe if you could actually hit anything with that pop-gun of your's tha' would'be a possibility." Rane chuckled as Hob crossed to the hatch and began to spray everything in the immediate area. He might be a hell of a pilot, but that little Krolotean might just be the worst shot in the galaxy. Either that or he hated earth so much that he'd just declared war on it.

The second is a distinct possibility

Rane remained on the ship while the others left to do battle. He hated ganging up on a single opponent, not out of any notions of honour, but merely because he begrudged sharing a kill. That, and if an ally stood to close to him while he was swinging the Sword then they were liable to loose a limb.

Would suit them right.

Regardless, he would rather stay were he was and let the rest of the Legion handle it. If the need arose for him to intervene and put an end to the Lantern - which it more than likely will. We are the powerhouse of the Legion, after all - then he would. Until then, well the monkey and Alexander could handle it for once. 'Bout time that pair made themselves actually useful.

It was then that Ar'asom spoke up, mentioning he had a plan that may save the Lantern.

Save him? Why, in the name of the Skyfather, would he wish to do that? Demanded the Sword.

"Ar'asom is an oddly compassionate creature. He must feel it's his moral duty." Responded Rane, a quizzical arch of his brows as he followed the Bull out of the jumper.

And you Rane? You are a former cleric of Crithalea? Do you not feel a spiritual responsibility towards the Red Lantern, as much a victim of circumstance here as any of the cadavers he has caused?

"Shit no, I wanna cut things with a sword!"

Good. Good. . .

By the time Canmorian and Sword had finished their discussion Ar'asom had managed to wrestle the Red Lantern to the ground, screaming at Rane to strike. The lizard-man was somewhat annoyed at this turn of events, being considered little more than a glorified tool. He didn't need the Bull to restrain his foes for him, he was perfectly capable of killing his enemies without the help. With a petulant sway to his tail he stomped over to the fight, his pace slow and unhurried. Let the fools struggle, maybe next time they wouldn't be as quick to take his feelings for granted.

This is demeaning.

"I know Sword." Rane replied, before turning to his comrades. "I want it on record that I could have killed the Lantern without you all dogpiling him." And with that the Sword of the Skyfather fell, severing the Lantern's hand from his arm.

Hob paused as he watched Rane slice through the child's arm. The hand falling to the ground as the ring sat there glittering in the Earth's pale solar illumination. It was almost as though the shimmering ruby coloured ring was calling out to him as Hob started walking towards it, one hand loosely holding his gatling gun while the other began to stretch towards the ring.

Ar'asom waited for the last possible second before releasing his hold on the Red Lantern and rolling to the side as the Sword of the Skyfather cleaved the Red Lantern's hand from his arm and cutting in the ground where Ar'asom had just been before. I could've done without the prima donna act from him, but I expected as much. He thought to himself as he looked from where the sword and hand laid to Rane and back again as the ring begin to glow. A dull red at first, quickly gaining intensity as the ring began to lift off the ground bringing the hand of the former owner with it.

This does not bode well. Ar'asom continued to watch as the ring and hand continued to lift into the sky, slowly becoming a red blip in the sky before speeding off and disappearing. His attention was brought back to the ground when a dull thud nearby revealed the former owner's hand had fallen back to Earth.

Stars and Scars, Chapter 4

Coast City, 2022

The young man who had just lost his hand laid in pain. Aside from the lost limb his heart and the blood in his veins burned him alive from the inside, as the only way out of the Red Lanterns was death. Only the light of a Blue Lantern's ring could have saved the boy, and blue rings were just as scarce as red these days. Most of the Young Justice team had taken a beating. Only three Dittos survived the onslaught, not including the two that took the prime away from the battle. One of the survivors approached Sentinel and his team as they began to take off in the Jumper in pursuit of the red ring. Thankfully they were stalled as the one called Freeflow was busy aquiring terran drugs while the others took care of business.

"Who are you people supposed to be?" asked the bruised and beaten duplicate.

"We're the Legion, kid..." Sentinel began turning to shout at his friend, "Sim, I WILL leave you here if you keep us from finishing the job... I'm sorry who were you again, I'd ask if you were from Cargg if not for there being more than three of you..."

"I am from Cargg..." the duplicate began saying before Sentinel cut him off.

"That girl over there, she Kryptonian? Can she toss moons and stuff under the light of a yellow sun?" Sentinel inquired...

"I don't understand your questions, are you profiling us?" the duplicate asked in response.

"That girl there could put us in the big leagues. You know what the United Planets would pay us with that kind of muscle in our corner?" Alexander Mason continued....

Moments later...

After several glaring pairs of eyes the conscious members of Young Justice watched as Sentinel talked Damita into joining his Legion. After Freeflow was rangled in with a giant grin on his face the Jumper took off into the stars. The Coast City authorities approached the young heroes outside of the high school and treated some of the team's minor injuries before the team left for Star City. A Ditto duplicate arrived in a sky cruiser crafted by a member of the original team back in 2020. A young man in a dark hood was with him in the cruiser, and they took the team back to HQ.

Back in space...

"Waitaminute?!? You mean you CAN'T toss moons or juggle mountains?" Sentinel asked in surprise and shock at the Supergirl.

Star City, two days later

Hellfire had returned to the team with the Ditto duplicate who followed him as well. Shock had managed to return as well and watched the drama unfold as to who should lead the team. The new guy, Black Hood, claimed to be related to Green Arrow and carried a bow of his own. A Ditto duplicate spoke for the prime who laid in a coma like state in the infirmary. Question made valid arguments and made everyone look as stupid as possible. Nobody even took much notice at the new members among them, including Guardian Angel. It was then that everything changed. Superman now sporting a red and black suit with a gold S entered the building along with what appeared to be a robotic Batman android, and the Flash who appeared to be a little younger even for a man composed of solid lightning. Nobody but the imp from the 5th dimension Mr. Mxyzptlk knew what had happened to the core members of the Justice League.

"Well look who decided to crash the party." Michael muttered under his breath knowing full well Superman could hear. "Superman to the rescue!" He added sarcastically.

"If I can have your attention..." Superman began, silencing the room almost instantly, "..the League has taken the current state of the Young Justice Program under consideration and will be placing a reserve Leaguer on your roster to act as leader and team liaison."

The young heroes looked around the room at each other and couldn't believe what was going on. Who could it possibly be, that blue clad Captain Marvel replacement? The Atom's successor making headlines recently? Superman stepped aside and a muscular masked hero came forward.

"Young Justice... meet the Shield." Superman continued, getting to the point.

"You guys can call me Taylor at HQ..." the new face said removing his mask and stuffing it into a backpack, "Can somebody tell me where my room is?"

"Third floor, seventh door on the right." Michael answered. "It's got the best view of tree I've ever seen!"

~KL~/Aro