The group of heroes stared at the naked Kid in silence. Finally, Batman turned to Robin.
"Robin," he called out. "Status report."
Robin stepped forward. "We responded to the structural fire at Cadmus. While clearing the building, we discovered a multi-level underground facility. They are building bio-engineered weapons—Genomorphs."
Robin gestured to Superboy, who kept staring at Superman. "Name's Superboy, a clone grown from Superman's DNA. Before we could free him, a scientist ingested an unidentified mutagenic serum, triggering a massive physical upgrade. We engaged him. And mid-combat..." He tilted his head towards Gogeta. "...he came."
"Superman's DNA?" Batman frowned slightly. "I knew Cadmus was suspicious, but I didn't expect it to be this big."
"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt your monologue or anything, but oh..." Gogeta pointed at himself. "...I'm naked here."
Batman's expression broke for a second but returned just as fast.
"Get our... friend here some clothes," he said, then turned to the creature inside the crater. "And as for him, take him... prepare a containment unit. He's going to Belle Reve." Batman turned and stared at Superboy, then at Superman.
Getting the cue, Superman sighed and approached his clone.
"You three..." Batman finally turned to the three teens. "Not only did you fail to obey orders, you also endangered your lives—"
"But we completed the mission safely, didn't we?!" Kid Flash said, interrupting Batman's words.
Flash shrugged. "Honestly, Bats, they did do a great job."
Batman turned and stared at him, causing him to look away awkwardly.
"We're not kids anymore, Batman!" Robin said as he stepped forward.
"I have to agree with Robin and Kid Flash. We might have gone against orders, but in the end, we emerged victorious," Aqualad said as he also stepped forward.
"Aqualad, stand down!" Aquaman said sternly, but Aqualad shook his head.
"I'm sorry, my king, but I shall not," Aqualad said sternly.
"Speedy was right! You do see us as kids!" Kid Flash said, walking and standing beside his friends.
"You disobeyed a direct order," Batman's gaze swept through the three teens. "Victory does not erase insubordination. You don't want to be treated like kids? Then stop behaving like one. Being a true hero doesn't mean looking for validation or rushing into a fire to prove a point..."
He paused. "But you did do good work and proved something today. The Justice League needs an operational team that can work below the radar..."
As Batman kept lecturing the teens, Gogeta approached Superman, who was through with his conversation with Superboy.
"Battle me," Gogeta said immediately as he approached Superman.
Among every superhero present, Superman's Ki was the highest—a perfect opponent for him.
Superman blinked, stunned, then he recovered, his lips curling up in his signature warm smile. "I'm sorry, son, but I still have things to do," he said, patted Gogeta's shoulder, and flew away.
"Tsk, coward," Gogeta sneered.
"Hey! Gogeta, are you coming?!" Kid Flash called out, and Gogeta turned back to see the kids being led by Batman out of Cadmus.
"Coming! Coming!" he shouted and ran after the group.
***
Unknown to the Justice League, in a secret room, screens showing blurry white figures were stuck to the walls. At the center of the room was a screen showing a video of Guardian, Dubbilex, and a woman in a white coat.
"Is it okay to let Guardian lead Cadmus without control?" one of the figures asked.
"It's okay; we've used a more... subtle way to control him," another white figure responded. "Instead, I'm more concerned about the Justice League's sidekicks and Project Obsidian."
"Forget the sidekicks; kids can always be kids. But Project Obsidian... was his blood finally extracted?" a third white figure asked, yet no one replied.
Project Obsidian, like a meteorite, had crashed on the territory of one of the Light, yet he sustained no injuries. Intrigued by his defense, the Light had taken him to a lab to see if they could clone him, yet nothing that they used could pierce his skin.
After months of trying, the Light had given up and decided to use Genomorphs to rewrite his brain after giving him numerous doses of Sedatives—that was yesterday. In just one day, without a doubt, the rewriting was a failure.
"It doesn't matter," a fourth Light figure said. "He cannot escape from the Light. We shall acquire him once more..."