| Belle Reve - October 10
"The new warden gave us five minutes with you since we stopped a prison break here last month," M'gann said, leaning in front of Ivo, who sat in an orange Belle Reve jumpsuit.
The old warden, Hugo Strange, had been taken into custody after his ties to the Light were exposed.
"Spill, Ivo. How do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?" Conner asked.
The Team hadn't taken the Bio-Ship—too risky if the Justice League noticed. Instead, Rachel opened a portal straight into Belle Reve.
Zatanna had been fascinated by Rachel's magic. She'd never had friends her age with similar abilities and insisted they had to hang out more.
But Rachel had. Back in Azarath. And now they were gone.
Rachel carried a lot of baggage—secrets she kept buried so deep even the Team's attempts to reach her had trouble breaking through. She feared losing them too, whether to the truth or to her father.
Even the people she was closest to—Kori and Grandpa Kent—had no idea about her past or how dangerous she really was. Maybe it was better that way.
"And why would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo asked.
"Because you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil-android game," Wally said. "Who better to keep track of him—and where he is?"
"Ah, I see your point. Let me rephrase: why in the world would I tell you where Morrow is?" Ivo said.
Arsenal snapped. "Match, get him."
Match stepped forward, lifted Ivo out of his chair with one hand, and the scientist immediately panicked.
"Are you kids really going to put hands on me—like your friend Nova?" Ivo asked, trying to maintain a façade of calm as his legs dangled.
"Enough," Kori said. Match dropped him roughly into his chair. "Miss Martian."
M'gann's eyes glowed pale green as she reached into Ivo's mind.
"Oh please," Ivo sneered. "As if I've never dealt with a telepath before."
Zatanna stepped forward.
"Trulb tuo S'worrom eurt noitacol."
"Morrow's in a secret underground base in Yellowstone National Park, one hundred meters south of Old Faithful," Ivo blurted out—then blinked in shock. "Wait. What just happened?"
"Magic is so convenient," Robin said. "This is way easier than whatever Batman has to do to get intel."
"True. Team, block external communications. Canary, Zatara, and probably Batman will know about our visit any minute. Raven—can you open another portal?"
"Sure," Rachel said, opening another dark portal. The Team stepped through.
**
| Yellowstone National Park - October 10
"Ivo was right. Something's down there," Robin said, studying his holographic display.
"Confirmed," Roy added, glancing at the holographic screen projected from his cybernetic arm—which made half the Team stare. "What? It's new. LuthorCorp packed in some sweet upgrades—auto-hacking, network hijacking, the works. Joe really hooked me up."
"I'm supposed to be the tech guy…" Robin muttered under his breath.
Kori tapped her Nanode— the green gem on her suit's chest—and an armored suit formed around her. "Alright, Team. This is too dangerous for all of us. Red Tornado can pull the air out of an entire area. Red Inferno can burn some of you alive. And Red Torpedo can drown people who can't breathe underwater. Unless—"
The Team looked at Zatanna.
"What?" she asked.
"Any conjuring? Buffs? Something?" Artemis said.
"Magic can't do the impossible," Zatanna said. "I can't just teleport them into Tornado's cell or drop Morrow into a prison cell. Magic still obeys equivalent exchange. And I haven't fully learned enchantments from my dad yet."
"Oh," Artemis said, disappointed.
"Then it's just Raven, Match, and me against the androids," Kori said.
"Damn it," Conner muttered, punching a tree. He'd been itching for payback, but he knew he'd lost to them before.
Kori liked guiding the Team, helping them grow stronger. But some were still too weak, and hero work was dangerous. She refused to send them into something they couldn't survive.
"What about me?" Kid Flash asked.
"Your arm is broken. Stay with the Team and warn us of incoming danger," Kori said.
"My arm is broken, not my legs. I'm Kid Flash—they can't touch me."
"…Fine. Help by creating counter-tornadoes."
"Are we certain Tornado betrayed us?" Aqualad asked.
"Are you?" Superboy snapped.
"I'm not convinced," Kaldur admitted. "Even if he did, perhaps he is simply a victim of his programming. He deserves a chance to prove he's more than his design."
Superboy paused at that, thinking of Project Kr.
Kori wasn't convinced. She'd fought Tornado and the other two to a standstill. If he had switched sides willingly, he should've defected—or at least left a message.
Still, he'd get a chance. After she broke his limbs of course.
"Fine. Robin, how far to the base?"
Before he could answer, Match turned his head sharply. Conner and Kori followed. Four red androids were approaching—fast.
"Looks like they're coming to us," M'gann said.
"Change of plans. Fall back," Kori said. "They're faster and probably stronger."
The Earth suddenly split open beneath them, a massive chasm forming as two red tornadoes—one of water, one of fire—roared toward them.
The Team was suspended mid-air with no leverage as the tornadoes closed in.
Kori unleashed a massive Starbolt beam from her hands at the water tornado. Match froze the fire tornado with frost breath. Rachel and M'gann held the Team in the air telekinetically—everyone except Wally, who reacted fast enough to land on solid ground.
Two colossal arms of earth erupted upward, ready to crush them. Kori smashed one; Match obliterated the other.
With her armor, every punch carried the force of an earthquake, amplified by her solar-charged strength. The earth-arm crumbled under the power of her strike similar to Match, the Kryptonian clone.
Then—silence. Four red androids floated in the air, held aloft by Red Tornado's cyclones.
[Raven, teleport everyone back.] Kori ordered.
[But we can still help—don't treat us like sidekicks—] Robin began, but the air suddenly vanished around them as more tornadoes formed.
Rachel enveloped everyone in black magic and teleported them several miles away.
They collapsed, gasping for air.
[Never mind… you guys got it. I'm not feeling the aster anymore.] Robin wheezed.
[We all have specialties, Robin. Handling elementals that can reshape miles of terrain faster than you can blink isn't yours. We'll get answers from Red Tornado together.] Kori said.
[Raven—you don't like fighting. Stay with the Team and teleport them if they're in danger.]
Rachel nodded in gratitude. As an empath, combat meant drowning in everyone's fear, rage, and pain—so she preferred support roles.
The geokinetic android hurled massive stone projectiles at their new location.
Rachel teleported the Team away again, leaving Kori and Match to dodge mid-air as Wally evaded them on ground.
The leader landed atop a rising pillar of earth.
"With Red Tornado's memories and my superior processing, I should have already defeated you. But with more variables—and more of you possessing stronger abilities—it's… irritating. Morrow was right. Humans are annoying. That's why, with my volcano, I, Red Volcano, will—"
"We're not all human," Kori said, cutting him off mid-monologue. "And we'll stop you."
She glanced at Match and Wally. All three launched forward at hypersonic speed.
The androids reacted instantly. Red Inferno, Red Tornado, and Red Torpedo combined their powers, unleashing a storm of fire and water tornadoes that tore through the battlefield. Red Volcano, snapping out of his interruption, hurled massive chunks of earth and then fired searing red thermal beams from his eyes—triggering the volcano behind him to erupt, spewing magma and smoke into the air.
The beams streaked toward Kori. She countered with green Starbolt energy from her eyes, the colliding forces producing bright light as her armor absorbed the brunt of the elemental barrage, keeping her stable in the air.
Kid Flash blurred through the shattered terrain, appearing under the three airborne androids. Spinning rapidly, he generated a cyclone strong enough to drag them downward. Match plowed through fire and wind, heading straight for Red Inferno.
Red Inferno broke formation, using her flames to rocket upward and lure Match away, while Red Torpedo summoned a towering column of water beneath Wally—launching him skyward.
Kori saw Wally's danger and was about to disengage from the beam struggle when a massive earthen maw erupted from the ground to swallow her.
Time to ramp things up.