Mettle, Metal, Meddled - Chapter 32 - Searching (Patreon)

The interrogation continued for another hour, with Batman asking continuously more specific and detailed questions. By the end of the hour we had a pretty decent image of what the light wanted and who was probably a part of it, though there were a few members who had remained anonymous, including the leader. When Wonder Woman finally pulled the Lasso off of Sportsmaster he immediately passed out, the strain of consistently resisting the Lasso and the strain of the Lasso itself too much for him.

It was a shock to learn that there was such a coherent group of villains, all working together for a common goal that wasn't simply power or greed. And that was just the beginning. Sportsmaster also revealed that Cadmus was responsible for the cloning of Roy Harper, and that he was riddled with compulsions and code words that activated various states of helplessness. His primary command word was “Broken Arrow”, which was what Sportsmaster had used to pacify him, and would put him in hypnotized, highly suggestible state.

Martian Manhunter, visibly upset at what Cadmus had done to what was effectively a newborn, spent hours gently sifting through the clone's mind, stabilizing it along with wiping away the mental blocks, command words and hypnotic, subconscious orders. During that time Green Arrow hadn’t left his side, while Batman left with Sportsmaster, taking him somewhere where he wouldn't be able to spread what we had learned from him. He also wanted to talk to several League members, gather intel and several other tasks. He promised to return when he was done.

“He will wake up confused, but  likely feeling more clear headed than he has since Cadmus forced these memories on him,” The Martian explained. “He will now also remember the times he was put under using the command word. However I have left the time before, while he was in Cadmus, disconnected. Those memories would be harmful to him and I will not force him to suffer through them a second time without his permission.”

“Thank you J’onn,” Green Arrow said, returning his focus back to his protege.

“Could you check me for code word triggers and hidden memories as well?” Kyle asked the green Martian, stepping forward as everyone looked at him. “I’m a Cadmus clone as well…”

M’gann gasped, the rest of the team's eyes going wide at the implication that he might have compulsions as well. I stepped forward and put my hand on his shoulder in support. Superboy was quickly guided into a chair, leaning his head back before Martian Manhunter gently coaxed him to sleep. About two hours after going into his forced sleep, the psychic pulled back and let the Kryptonian clone sit up in his seat.

“I believe I was successful in removing the only code word compulsion Cadmus put in your mind.” J’onn explained. “The command ‘Red Sun’ would have knocked you into a frozen unaware state for a significant period of time. Cadmus also locked away several smaller memories. ”

“I… I remember them.” Superboy said as he leaned forward, cradling his head in his hands. “I remember meeting Lex Luthor… some experiments to determine my mental stability… I…”

After a moment of silence he stood, shaking his head. He turned to the rest of us, looking tired.

“I’m going home… I need time too…”

“Go, take as much time as you need,” Kaldur said,getting nods and words of agreement from the rest of us. “We will be here if you need anything.”

Superboy nodded and made his way to the Zeta-Tube, disappearing in a flash of light a moment later. The room was quiet for a long pause before Wonder Woman spoke up.

“I suggest you all get some rest as well,” She said simply. “This has been an unexpectedly emotional and informative day.”

Robin looked as if he was about to complain but Kaldur managed to catch his eye, the younger hero shifting to bite his tongue.

“We will rest, but we would like to be here when Batman returns to make plans,” The Atlantean responded. “Roy is our friend and we will be part of his recovery, both this one and the one still in Cadmus’s clutches.”

For a moment I wondered if the older heroine would deny Kaldurs request. After a short pause however she nodded.

“Very well.” She said simply, before returning her gaze back to Speedy, Black Canary and Green Arrow.

Silently we made our way back to the living area of the cave, stopping when Kaldur turned back to us. He made gesture to all of us before tapping his head, turning to M’gann with a meaningful look. She nodded and a moment later I could feel the connection of the other three heroes.

“Will Wonder Woman actually wake us?” I asked.

“She… wouldn’t lie, right?” M’gann responded, looking unsure. “I mean I can’t imagine she would do that.”

“Ordinarily I would say no,” Robin answered, frowning slightly. “But ‘For their own good’ is a powerful excuse for adults who think they know better. And she has always been against us being involved in any way.”

“We will take shifts.” Kaldur said. “I will-”

“No, it's fine, I don't need to sleep.” M’gann said, before continuing. “Or at least I don't need to sleep very often. I can stay up for a couple of weeks before starting to really feel the effects.”

“Wait, really?” Robin asked. “That's incredible.”

“It has something to do with our mental abilities,” The Martian explained with a shrug. “The stronger the Martian is, the longer they can stay awake.”

“Then M’gann can stay awake here in the living area, and the rest of us can catch a few hours of sleep,” I agreed with a nod. “I have the feeling that we might need to convince everyone to let us go with them to Cadmus.”

The group split and headed off to the sleeping quarters, or mental link fading as they did. I stayed behind to give M’gann a hug, not expecting her to grip on and keep me from pulling away. When she eventually released me she looked up at me with deep emotion in her eyes.

“That was horrifying,” She admitted, her disgust roiling through our connection. “When Speedy was under the effects of the code word he felt like… like nothing. For a moment I thought he had died! His whole mind stopped, not a single thought, unconscious or conscious came through. What they did to him, and to Kyle…”

“It's terrible,” I agreed, unable to stop the echoes of my own experience with mind tampering from crossing the bond, getting another tight hug from M’gann. “Either the League will stop it, or we will. Whoever is responsible will not get away with this.”

After a moment of holding each other we eventually separated again, and M’gann gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Go get some sleep.” She said, giving me a gentle push back. “I know you don't really need it for a while but you still should, just in case.”

I nodded and hesitantly left her alone in the living room, walking back to my bedroom. Even as I was climbing into bed I kept my mental contact close, hoping my presence helped reassure her as I drifted off to sleep.

---------------------------

We managed to get about three hours of sleep before M’gann woke us up. Batman was in the middle of a brief discussion about what they had found out from the interrogation of Sportsmaster. Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Martian Manhunter were all still present, but they were now joined by Flash, Green lantern,  Superman, Red Tornado and Aquaman.

“The Light appears to be an organization that has come together around the belief that the Earth is stagnating,” He explained as we stopped behind the group of heroes. “Cadmus seems to be directly tied to them, though it is officially owned by Lex Luthor. According to Sportsmaster, Lex Luthor is one of the high up members of the organization and Guardian is completely under their control, despite the fact that he is no longer being influenced by G-gnomes.”

“What's the plan for investigating the facility?” Flash asked.

“We will approach this in two groups. The first group, the perimeter group, will consist of League Members on the surface. Their main concerns are keeping anyone from gaining access to the laboratory or from leaving,” Batman explained. “They will be coordinating with the local police force to set up a perimeter around the building and the surrounding neighborhood. If they managed to sneak an entire extra lab by us the first timer around then it is entirely possible we missed escape tunnels or hidden access points. I would like Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, Aquaman and the Flash on the surface, along with a few members of the New Titans… assuming they agree to work alongside us?”

I got several looks from my teammates, even as the heroes turned and followed Batman's gaze to find us standing behind them. I stepped forward with a simple nod, despite the fact that I was pretty sure Batman was only asking to give us a chance to confirm our independence, teeing up an opportunity to prove ourselves.

“Of course, we also have no issues with the League taking point with this,” I confirmed. “I would suggest Kid Flash, Aqualad and Miss Martian stay on the surface, while Robin, Superboy and myself join the interior team.”

“Any particular reason?” Batman asked.

“Miss Martian and I stay in constant telepathic communication, which will allow us to easily pass along information to the perimeter team, should normal communications fail,” I explained. “Further, Aqualad and Kid Flash work well with their mentors. Robin has experience with hacking which will most likely be useful, and has been inside the facility before. I can sense the formations of solid stone, including concrete, and Superboy can see in infrared and has incredibly sensitive hearing. He also has experience with the facility.”

“Very well. Superman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and myself will be the interior teams as well, breaking up into groups until we locate any anomalies. We will then regroup and investigate together,” Batman explained, continuing his briefing. “Given the apparent success of the Cadmus Program so far we cannot take this investigation lightly. We have no idea what kind of defenses we will face when we uncover this hidden space. Sportsmaster was not aware of what else it contained beyond more ‘genetic samples,’ so we must expect the worst.”

Batman continued to talk about what we should be looking for, what we might find and anything worth knowing that Sportsmaster had revealed. Eventually he broke the interior team up into groups, with Batman, Superboy and myself in one group, Superman, Green Arrow and Black Canary in the second and Green Lantern, Robin and Martian Manhunter in the third.

When the presentation was over Batman passed out the Justice League’s Standard communicators to the New Titans, and explained the proper protocol for us. After that I made a call to Superboy, who came through the Zeta-Tube about a half hour later. Not long after that we were standing around the Cadmus laboratory, with police arriving and cordoning off the area. Batman talked with the officer in charge and the perimeter team spread out, some of them flying while the others stayed on the ground.

“Stay safe,” M’gann mentally said as I entered the facility.

“I will,” I assured her. “I’m going to be focusing on what's going on on my end though. Just send a pulse if you're worried, okay?”

Miss Martian immediately pulsed a feeling of worry, but followed it up with acceptance and impatient waiting. I pulsed backa wave of affection before focusing on Batman as Superboy and I followed behind him, studying the walls of the facility.

“What was the original investigation like?” I asked as we stepped into the express elevator, the other teams having gone in before us, headed for the lower floors

“We started from what we thought was the final floor before making our way up, scanning and searching as we did,” Batman explained. “The League spent considerable time and resources examining the structure of the building. Until Sportsmaster I had been confident that we had investigated it fully.”

We spent an hour investigating the facility. Teams two and three were lower than us, exploring deeper floors, including the one that Superboy had been grown in. I could tell that Kyle was tense about being back in Cadmus, and seemed to be glad to not be investigating floor fifty two.

We were on our way from the thirty six floor to the thirty fifth floor when I turned to Batman.

“What about the higher floors?” I asked as the elevator doors closed, the metal box beginning to ascend.

“The facility Sportsmaster described is too large to be on the upper floors, and a facility for storing genetic samples would be located much closer to the genetic labs.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t trust Sportsmaster’s judgment?” Superboy suggested. “He didn't seem that bright.”

Batman turned to Kyle for a long moment before reaching out and touching the elevator override, the elevator stopping it at the next floor up. He tapped another button, the tenth floor, and the elevator began to rise again, not stopping until we were at the new destination. The doors opened and Batman stepped out, taking an immediate left.

“Something on your mind?” I asked as I stepped out after him, following behind his flowing cape.

“When investigating the facility I stumbled upon a storage room, one that was filled with basic supplies,” Batman explained, leading Superboy and I deeper into the tenth floor, eventually stopping in front of a door, one noticeably larger than the others in the hallway. “Its slightly different design stood out, but I wasn’t looking for a secret room at this level, my scans at the surface would have picked anything this shallow up.”

As Batman talked he entered the room, visually scanning it for a moment before continuing to talk, pulling out some sort of hand held device, panning it around before continuing.

“When Sportsmaster mentioned a genetic sample storage I made an assumption he knew what he was talking about,” He admitted, a hint of annoyance just barely detectable in his deep voice. “But you wouldn't store an entire person in a room for samples. That requires something much more, and wouldn’t require close proximity to the labs.”

Batman kept scanning and I stepped into the room as well. It was bigger than a storage closet, about a dozen feet wide and about the same deep. The shelves were lined along the side, stacked with cleaning supplies and other standard stuff. But there was nothing on the floor.

I closed my eyes and stomped, pushing my energy into the floor and letting my sense for the stone around me expand. It was nothing compared to Toph's incredible tremor sense, but I could see the stone and concrete around us. Immediately I could see it.

“There, along the back wall,” I said, pointing to the back right corner.

Batman looked at me and followed my finger, turning and aiming his gadget along the wall. After a few seconds he stepped closer. He began feeling around, hsi hands tracing along the wall until eventually a small panel pushed in, sliding away automatically to reveal a panel of some kind. Batman pulled out another device, hooking up some sort of small tablet to the panel with a singular cable. The display on the panel shifted, changing as Batman tapped on his device.

Finally, after about a minute of him working on the panel the wall next to it slid back and opened, revealing a large, utilitarian elevator. Batman raised his hand to his ear, activating his comms unit.

“Batman to the interior team. We’ve located a hidden elevator on the tenth floor. Rendezvous on the tenth floor for a briefing on our entrance plan.”