[b]Stars and Scars, Chapter 4[/b]

[b]Coast City, 2022[/b]

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 [i]am[/i] 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....

[b]Moments later...[/b]

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. 

[b]Back in space...[/b]

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

[b]Star City, two days later[/b]

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