Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Thea is in her apartment, working on how to convince Talia how to let them help her remember pre-crisis. She had a cork board with multiple pins holding up different League of Assassins bases where Talia could be, and a bunch of suspicious assassinations articles laying around her on the table and couch. There are also 3 cans of redbull, an empty cup of coffee (that is at least a day old), and a half eaten sandwich. So far the only plans she has come up with are kidnapping, blackmail (not that she had any), and threats (that probably wouldn't work). Or she could just slip the ring on her and run for her life. That was probably her best bet, even though Thea doesn't actually have a way to get to Nanda Parbat. Maybe she can convince her brother to lend her something, like a jet to get there. So all Thea needs to do now is get a jet from her brother.

—

“I’m not giving you a jet, Queen Consolidated doesn’t have a reason to go there. Plus Batman would be suspicious, and I’m pretty sure he knows where Nanda Parbat is. What I would give you is a plane ticket.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, when do you want to leave then?”

“ Probably tomorrow? At maybe 8 a.m.?”

“Does that mean you’re getting a hotel there? It’s going to be late when you get there,”

“Nope, I can find somewhere else to stay, like Tatsu’s old cabin.”

“You know that’s pretty far from the airport right?” 

“Yeah, but I can make it there”

“I’ll give you the ticket when you leave for the airport.”

—

Thea had finally gotten there. And it was 10 P.M.. She should probably start heading to Tatsu’s old cabin. If she could find it.

—
It was 2 hours later, and now she was in Tatsu’s old cabin. She could see some dry blood on a cot in the corner, and arrow marks on the wall across from the door. There were also some slash marks, probably from Tatsu’s katana or league swords but they weren’t noticeable if you weren’t looking for them. It was kind of peaceful, but the kind that you know is right before something is going to happen.

—

It was morning. Which meant it was time to go to Nanda Parbat. And find Talia. And probably fight some assassins. It should only be an hour or so journey in a light layer of snow.

—

Thea was inside. Currently she is sneaking throughout the base to find a sort of room that looks like one that Talia would use, AKA the Lazarus pit room, the ‘Throne’ room, or wherever her bedroom is. She turned another corner and went into the ‘Throne’ room and found Talia sitting, meditating. Thea has two options, one,she could try to sneak up and slip the ring on her, or she could just get ready for a fight and put the ring on her while they are fighting. She has better chances with option one, and also she would rather not fight Talia. Thea had gotten about a meter away from Talia before she noticed and threw a dagger at her. Welp. There goes not fighting Talia. 

Talia immediately got up and ran at Thea to knee her in the face, but Thea blocked. Then, Talia tried to kick her in the head, but Thea ducked, Talia then hit her in the back of the knee causing her to go down on her knees. Talia tried to hit her arm, but Thea blocked, and Talia tried it again, but got blocked. Talia tried to roundhouse kick Thea, but she dodged by bending back then jumping up, and as she was getting up, Talia tried to kick her again, but missed her with her leg by a second, but managed to trap Thea in a headlock. Thea immediately grabbed the ring and Talia’s hand and shoved the ring onto her.

—

Talia was surprised by the girl, who had somehow made it all the way to the throne room without being found out by the guards, had slipped a ring on her. It looked to be an open band ring, with a big circle , with a smaller one inside to the left and a line connecting it to the edge of the bigger circle on one side, and a small circle with a smaller one inside it on the other. Then it glowed pink. And Talia was seeing memories. Of her training a young Oliver Queen (Isn’t he the green arrow?). Of her fighting him, his friends, and her sister (She has a sister?). Of her helping him escape a prison they were both trapped in (Is she friends with him or not? She keeps fighting him, then helping him). Of her finding a sword her father once possessed with Thea (How does she know that name?) and then fighting over it. Of her agreeing to recreate the league of assassins as the league of heroes instead with Thea, and pointing out how pissed her father would be if he found out that two women were wielding the sword. 

And then she was back in the throne room, with Thea in a headlock. She immediately let go of her. “Hey, you're not trying to kill me anymore right?” says Thea as they both get up.

“Not anymore. Sorry for trying” 

“It’s fine, you didn’t know who I was”

“Why did you come alone? I thought you had a boyfriend that could help you?”

“Roy? I don’t know where he is. Ollie just told me that there is a clone version of him here named Will, but the original, my boyfriend, has been missing for the past 7 or 8 years.” 

“I think he was being kept in a League of assassins base, I’m not sure which one though. I also know that the clone of him you mentioned broke him out, along with Cheshire, a former league assassin. I assume he is with his clone, probably in Star city.”

“So, are you coming?” Thea says as she starts to walk away.

“Why not.”

Chapter Text

Roy was in a hospital room. There was a big machine and an IV drip to his right. On his left there was a table with a glass and a jug of water, a phone to call help above the table and a brown chair. It had been a few hours since he first woke up and since then Ollie and another person had been going in and out of the room frequently.

—

“So let me get this straight. While I was on ice, you found another Roy Harper... the sidekicks formed their own team, aliens invaded the Earth... and Ollie grew that dopey goatee?” Said Roy.

“We try not to call ourselves sidekicks.” said a guy who kind of looks like him if you age him up by a few years and add intense trauma.

“You don't like the goatee?” said Oliver (He can recognize his shitty mentor)

“So missing the point” says the look alike

“You've both been talking around it all day. Now, I want answers. What happened to me? How can there be another Roy Harper? And what happened to my arm?” Roy says.

“Okay, okay. We wanted to wait until you were strong enough. But I guess the moment's here.”

“Moment's passed. Get to it.”

“What's the last thing you remember before we found you in Tibet?”

“I've been trying to piece that together. I remember investigating a LexCorp shell company... that we suspected of smuggling weapons to North Rhelasia. Some LexCorp goons got the drop on me. I remember feeling embarrassed. Then nothing.“

“That's right. They grabbed you. Thing is, Roy, that was eight years ago.” Says Ollie

“What?”

“Lex Luthor and the Light... this criminal organization he works with, abducted you. They amputated your arm.” Ollie says

“Why? To keep me from using my bow?”

“No. They needed an endless supply of your DNA... to perfect their human cloning process.” Well that’s kind of fucked up.

“So that's what you are. A clone.” He meant to say it pitifully, but it didn’t probably come across that way.
“Yeah. They grew me. Or rather, force-grew me. In a matter of months I looked your age. They programmed me with all your memories and skills and worse.” Says his clone. He really needs a name for him, it’s kind of weird to call him by his own name. Maybe Roy 2.0.

“Then they spoon-fed me clues to your location. I thought I was doing detective work, but in hindsight…” Ollie sighs “You'd been missing three months. I'd been going crazy. So when I found you... Him. ...I didn't question the good fortune. I had no idea it wasn't the real... The original you. No idea Luthor had stored you on ice all this time.”

“So what you're saying is you took my place. You've been living my life for eight years.” He says questioningly, though he’s realizing he’s probably coming across as an asshole.

“And he's been tirelessly searching for you for five of those years.” says Ollver (can that man just shut up)

“Huh. But not you, Ollie. You gave up on me.” he says.

“I don't wanna be the cause of more conflict between you two. I'd understand if you never wanted to lay eyes on me again.” says Roy 2.0

“I don't know.

“Seems to me the clone didn't do anything wrong. He didn't ask to be created. Plus, he found me. I can't blame him for this. But I can totally blame you!” Roy says, though he feels like he shouldn’t be so angry, like the Ollie he knew was better than this.

“Roy, I... We were partners! Friends!”

“How could you not know I had been replaced? How could you leave me in Luthor's hands for eight years? And how did I not see how useless you are? Get out. Get out!” He doesn’t want to see his mentor’s face. Not right now. Maybe later. When he figures out why he feels like he shouldn’t hate him.

“Look, uh, Roy, I need some time to process all this.” He says towards Roy 2.0.

“I understand.”

Finally, he’s alone. Now he can escape. Roy climbs out the window a minute after the other Roy and Ollie leave. He just needs to get out of there and make it towards one of Ollie’s stores of suits and weapons. He needs to fight something. He made it.

“So new Roy goes by Red Arrow. Wow, that's an original name.” He looks at the shelf with his old speedy suit. “Well, some things haven't changed.” he says, talking to himself. “Ollie's still a pack rat. Wonder if he kept this out of laziness, nostalgia or guilt.” Probably all three.

Shit. Roy 2.0 and Ollie found him. He needs to get out of here. Maybe the weird looking tunnel thing? It kinda looks like a teleporter, so there’s high hopes for that to work. Roy runs over to what looks to be a control panel for it. And he was right. It is a teleporter. Now he can go to metropolis and get revenge on Lex Luthor. As he steps over to what looks like where he should stand he hear’s Ollie say “Roy, Wait!”

In response, Roy says “Sorry, G.A. Can't let you stop me.” Roy then got teleported. It felt weird, like he just went on the world's worst rollercoaster. It felt calm, maybe a little too calm. He should start going towards Luthor's building. He had only gotten about 10 meters away from the teleporter when he felt someone grab him from behind and knock him out.

—

When Roy woke up he was in what seems to be an interrogation room. The walls were made of concrete with no dirt or anything, like it had never been used. There was a window for viewing window in the front of the room. He was sitting on a metal chair and handcuffed to a metal table in front of him with a chair on the other side of the table.

After 15 minutes of waiting someone finally came. It was a girl with hair going down to right after her shoulder and a scar under her right eye. She was wearing a leather jacket and had a sword strapped to her back. The girl was also holding a key and some ring. She was kind of cute.

She immediately went over to him and slipped the ring she was holding onto him. Roy tried to struggle, but it did nothing. A few moments after the ring was slipped on to him, he started to see his own memories of his life, but not here. On a different timeline. He remembers stealing things just to get by. And memories of being in a relationship with Thea. He’s remembering being speedy, a mirukuru soldier. He remembers faking his death, and coming back to help Thea. And them going to Lian Yu to deal with the upcoming crisis and how he lost his arm.

And then he’s back in the interrogation room, with Thea still standing across the table. Roy immediately tries to lunge up to hug his girlfriend, but, in the process, forgets that he is still handcuffed to a table and falls on his ass “Oh shit, are good Roy?” says Thea.

“Yeah, but it would be nice to be uncuffed?” He says.

“Hey, you remember everything right?” Thea says as she uncuffs him.

“Yup, I remember, by the way, is the Oliver I met earlier know? Because he kind of seems like an asshole to me.”

“Yeah, but Laur-, Sorry, Dinah, told him he should probably act like this version of him’s past self, because if he changes so much so fast, people will be suspicious. Besides, we are going to meet up with everyone else that knows later today”

“Well, that’s going to be nice to know who knows. Also Laural’s alive? And goes by Dinah?”

“Yeah, she does, I guess that was a consequence of bringing her back.”

“Do you have a more comfortable place for us to sit? Because just standing in an interrogation room is kinda uncomfortable"

“Sure, we can sit in the living room. And I should probably warn you, but I am now friends with Talia Al Ghul,”

“The assassin? Like the one who trained Ollie a bit?”

“The very one,”

As they walked in Roy saw Talia reading a book on the couch. The living room looked cozy. It had a light tan fluffy rug and 2 blue couches facing each other with a glass coffee table between them. There was a dark wooden bookshelf in the corner and 2 windows, one directly across from the door, and on the wall to the left of the door. On the right of the door there was an opening to go to the kitchen.

“So I’m assuming you remember everything?” Talia said.

“Yup. When are we meeting with the people who know?” Roy said

“In about 3-4 hours, so we have time to talk about what is happening,” said Thea.

“Ok, then, let’s get talking”

Chapter Text

Roy was expecting Ollie, Barry, and maybe Supergirl to be there and some others, but he wasn’t expecting Lex fucking Luthor to be there. Other than Lex, there was Team Flash, the rest of Team Arrow, including earth-2 Laurel, Captain Lance, and Nyssa, all of the Legends, Supergirl’s Team (he refuses to call them ‘the superfriends’), Batwoman, Batwing, Deathstroke, and Ryan Choi. They were all sitting on couches put in a circle. Lex was sitting near Supergirl’s team and his sister.

“So, are we planning on fixing what each of us did here in the past?” said Batwoman glaring at Lex.

“Yes. My involvement with The Light is unfortunate. I wish to protect our world, just not that way. Roy, I have a cybernetic arm that Lex Corp is developing that I could probably pass off to you without suspicion.” Lex replied.

“We would need to set up a reason for how Roy gets it though, Will will be suspicious. If we just show up with it, he will wonder how we got it and investigate this meeting.” said Ollie.

“You could steal or ‘blackmail’ it from me” said Lex

“That could work, but, the past me is really resentful of people, so I feel like he would take a more violent approach, like a grenade launcher or something,” said Roy.

“You could just blow something up with a grenade launcher then be given it because you caused the damage” said Lex

“I think that would work. But past me is also kind of resentful of Ollie, so maybe when you ‘track me down’ I could talk coldly towards you or something?” Roy said to Ollie

“Yeah that would work. And about The LIght. Talia, Slade, and Lex are a part of The Light, and I’ve been thinking, we could use you guys as mole. They already trust you, which is perfect. The more moles the better” said Ollie

“I’m fine with being a mole for a bit, besides, Vandal’s annoying and I want him dead again.” said Talia

“Sounds like fun, I get to fuck with people” said Slade

“I don’t care much, but I would rather have The Light gone” said Lex

“Well then, if we have those topics dealt with, what else do we have to talk about?” said Nyssa.

—

Roy was waiting on the rooftop across from the Lex-corp building holding a grenade launcher. He was waiting until Lex gave him the signal to press the trigger. Roy felt a notification from his phone. He checked it and Lex had sent a thumbs up emoji. It was time to blow shit up.

—

When Roy got out of the parking garage from ‘threatening’ Luther he saw both Ollie and his clone, Will. Ollie was acting like he thought Roy had died again. After a few seconds, Will spotted him and pointed him out to Ollie.

Roy decided to immediately sass Ollie. “Hey, guys. What took you so long?”

“Roy, are you all right?” Roy couldn’t tell if that was a genuine question, or just something to keep the act up. Either way, his answer would be the same.

“I'm good. Well, better than I've been in eight years, anyway” Roy said.

“You didn't... kill Luthor?” said Ollie. He could tell that that question was to keep the act up. Oliver knows that Roy would never kill someone, especially after being given the mirukuru serum.

“No. Not tonight.”

“What’s in the case?” He knows that Oliver knows what's in the case.

“Satisfaction. It's not elegant. Won't fool anyone into thinking it's actual flesh and blood. But it's more powerful and versatile than the model Luthor gave his own bodyguard. And it'll literally make me a living weapon. No one's putting me on ice again, ever.” Roy knows that he’s being a bit over dramatic, but it’s fun.

“Speedy, you sure you're okay?” He’s pretty sure that that is a genuine question, because of how dramatic he’s being, but he can’t back down at this point, he’s already being pretty dramatic.

“Speedy died eight years ago. But I kinda like the sound of Arsenal.” He liked the old name he had for himself, also, speedy is Thea’s name.

Chapter Text

After the whole show of blowing up Luthor, Roy had decided to come with Thea to help Talia. They had decided to go back to Nanda Parbat to make a plan about Talia being in The Light. The plane ride there went pretty smoothly, but when they went inside Nanda Parbat the guards near the front almost attacked Roy and her. She understood why though, for all they know Roy was trying to kill Talia or something.

They were staying there for one night, then, they were going to make Tatsu’s cabin inaccessible so no one could hide in it.

—

Thea was sitting outside of Tatsu’s cabin. She, Talia and Roy decided to stay a week or so at the cabin, the way they decided to block the way to it would take a while. It was peaceful, but after a while someone came out of the forest and started walking towards her. He had a gray hockey mask with blond hair and he was wearing armor. She didn’t know why he was here.

So, if she doesn’t know why he’s there, then why not ask him. “Why are you here?” she asked.

“I’m Sportsmaster and I’m here to recruit you to The Light” Thea didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn't a straightforward answer.

“Why?” She had no idea why The Light would want to recruit her. Maybe they saw her with Talia? But even then, they would just ask Talia, instead of recruiting her separately.

“You’re the Dark Archer's daughter, and we think you would make a great asset.”

“Do I have to answer immediately, or do I have a day to think about it?”

“I’ll give you an hour, I’ll be waiting here.”

“Ok…” She was wondering whether or not the guy would just stand there for an hour outside in the snow. She went inside to discuss with Roy and Talia.

As soon as she got into the cabin she told Talia and Roy about Sportsmaster.

“I think you should accept, like Ollie said, the more moles the better. And sometime soon they are probably going to try to get me back to go on mission with them.” said Roy

“I also think you should accept, but be cautious, they won’t trust you at all in the beginning.” said Talia.

“So… should I go out there and say yes now? Or should I just wait until the hours almost up?” she said

“You should get back out there as soon as you can, the longer you take the more they think you are unwilling to join The Light.”

—

After she told Sportsmaster her answer, he told her to come with him. She got led into a plane and was given a tablet already on a call with the members of The Light. She recognized Slade, Lex, and Talia, and a few others as people she probably has met before, but doesn’t remember. Like Queen Bee, she has the same name as that one person who released bees into Queen consolidated, but she looks completely different. Or Vandal Savage, she has never seen the man herself, but from Ollie and Sara’s description of him, he looks the same, but he seems a bit more collected then how Ollie and Sara met him.

She was introduced to all of them, then got told to meet Black Manta at a dock in Boston, she would board his submarine there and be on the ship. There was going to be the main crew, Black Manta, Black Manta’s son, and someone he had picked out to be his second in command. Thea was pretty sure that Black Manta’s son was a spy, saying that he was Aqualad just a year or 2 ago.

—

Roy knew they would call him sooner or later to have him on a mission. Nightwing called and told him this mission would be in Smallville on a Lex corp farm. They probably ask Lex why he thought it would be a good idea to work with The Reach. It was one of the many places helping produce the Reach drink. He’s excited to get into the middle of the action.

Chapter Text

Thea was at the docks, waiting for her contact to lead her into the submarine. She was dressed like her father, with little to no difference, other than it being smaller to fit her body. After a few minutes of waiting a woman with black hair and a suit with an orange mask and upper torso, and the rest of the suit black walked out of the submarine and walked over.

“I’m your contact, I go by Tigress. Follow me.”

Thea decided to keep up the mysterious vibes and not say anything and just follow.

—

After a few minutes of walking, they reached a room.
Tigress opened the door “This is Kaldur’ahm, he’s Black Manta’s kid.”
Inside was a comatose Kaldur, with Miss Martian sitting on a chair next to him wearing a meta dampening collar.

“You’ll be here watching my back as me and Miss Martian go inside his head to fix him,” said Tigress.

After a few hours Tigress and Miss Martian both left Kaldur’s mind.

Tigress turned to her and said “It’s getting late, you should go to bed, I’ll lead you to your room,”

—

The next day they all went back to Kaldur’s room. Almost immediately Tigress and Miss Martian went back into Kaldur’s mind. But, something looked different from yesterday, they looked less focused. There’s no point in waiting, so, why not ask now?

“Something's different today, you seem less focused,” Said Thea. She knew that they wouldn’t say anything if they were inside his head, because yesterday she tried to talk to them while they were in there and they had no reaction. Also she would know if they were on her side, or The Lights. Or someone else completely.

“We are just as focused as yesterday,” said Miss Martian

“Your moles, aren't you?” Thea said

“If you rat us out I will throw you off the side of this submarine.” said Tigress

“Don’t worry, I don’t really give a fuck, I’m also a mole” said Thea

“What? I thought you were the Dark Archer’s daughter, why would you work with heroes?”

“I’m also Green Arrow’s sister, and I can help with whatever you are planning,”

“Ok, we were trying to figure out a way to get Miss Martian out of here in a way that is not a body bag.”

—

About a week later they finally came up with a plan. That morning Black Manta came by the room they were all in and told Miss Martian she had 24 hours to heal Kaldur or else she would die. Which means they have 24 hours to do the plan.

A few hours after Black Manta came in, Tigress told Deathstroke that she needed to get coffee and stretch her legs. (Why was Slade there anyways? Anyways, now they have 5 moles! Not that Miss Maritan, Tigress, and Kaldur know about that though) As she Tigress was leaving she said to a guard outside, “Take over, I'll be back in five.”
After a minute or 2, a woman with a white Cheshire mask, who obviously was Cheshire, showed up. Miss Martian immediately started to defend Kaldur from Cheshire.

As they were fighting Cheshire said “Looks like someone already got to Aqualad. In fact, it looks like that someone was you. Which makes you defending him even more inexplicable and me killing him a lot less amusing. But then again, I'm not here for the giggles.” and continued to fight Miss Martian. After a bit Cheshire realized that she didn’t have her martian powers. The fight continued on for a bit more before Kaldur announced “OK, now we can talk. Cheshire, stop. All is not what it seems.”

“So it would appear, "Mr. Fake some mental condition". That's fine. Killing you will be so much more satisfying now.” responded Cheshire.

“Wait. You seek my death because of your sister. But Artemis is alive. In fact, she is aboard this vessel”

Internally, Thea was kind of excited to see where this family drama would go. Though she kind of felt bad for her, since she knows what it feels like to be told a dead friend (Roy) or family (Ollie) was actually alive.

“Artemis is alive? You didn't really think I'd buy that, did you?” Well, with it being a few weeks at this point, and no proof other than someone who is probably lying, she wouldn’t believe it either.

“You betrayed your friends, murdered my sister. Perhaps when I cut you open, I'll find you truly are heartless.” Cheshire said.

“M'gann, the collar's deactivated. You should have all your powers back.” as Kaldur said that Cheshire leapt at Miss Martian, whose name was apparently M’gann, to attack. “M'gann? M'gann!”

They continued to fight, with Tigress joining in a few moments later.

After a bit more fighting Kaldur yelled “Tigress! To my side!”

“Yes, boss!”

—

Eventually the fight ended with Thea fighting Sportsmaster, who must have just been fired, and M’gann escaping. She was glad she got away successfully. Just a bit longer on the sub. At least she had allies now. (Well, she already had Slade, but he was pretending to be Evil™, so he wasn’t really an option)

—

The Lexcorp farm mission went… Interestingly, they didn’t exactly fail, they got the information, but they also didn’t have to explode it either. It was fun to blow it up though. Hopefully he wouldn’t be on to many missions with them, from what he hears this tends to happen a lot. Roy thinks he is more of a covert guy. (Even though the public still has no idea who actually blew the thing up though.)

Chapter Text

About 3 weeks after the Chaos on the sub, they were all invited to The Summit. It was going to be a meeting between The Reach and The Light. Most members of The Light were going to be there, including Nora Darhk, who Thea didn’t even know was part of The Light until Ray told them. At least they have another mole. They had a plan, but it was slightly put off by the other set of moles planning to have M’gann pretend to be Slade and the others being extra league assassins, but they decided the other assassins would just pretend like they are not there and, and Slade would come in when they need help.

They all walked into the cave together after ‘Slade’ gave the signal that it was ok to enter. On the other side of the cave the Reach entered at the same time.

“Ambassador,” said Savage. She thought the Legends killed him. Maybe they did, just not quite yet.

“Savage,” said the Reach’s Ambassador.

“As head of security for the Reach, I must insist no masks be worn at the summit” Said Black Beetle as walked forwards and pointed towards the various members with masks including herself.

“Simply because you insist is no guarantee.” said Black Manta

“Manta, if you wouldn't mind. After all, we are among friends.” Said Talia

Manta took off his helmet and so did Kaldur, Artemis, Slade, and her. She faintly heard Artemis say “We are so in over our heads,” and Kaldur shushed her.

“Satified?” Talia said towards Black Beetle.

Black Beetle made a begrudging grunt and stepped back.

“Excellent. Then with these formalities out of the way…” said the Ambassador.

“...Let us begin.” finished Savage.

“And the rest of the Light? Won't they be joining us?” Asked the Ambassador.

“Our more public members are occupied, conducting damage control to mitigate your recent defeats.” said Talia

“And in any case, we are sufficient,” said Savage.

“Fine. I know you called this summit, but the Reach has come with grievances against the Light. Please explain how the young Earth champions were allowed access to the Bialyan scarab temple under your control?” said the Ambassador.

“If I may respond…” said Kaldur

“No, you may not. Manta, keep your whelp meat silent.” replied Black Beetle

“Beetle, your insolence grows progressively less... Charming.” said Black Manta

“My friends, I think we can all agree that in recent days, no one has done more, sacrificed more, for both the Light and the Reach than Kaldur'ahm. That is why he was entrusted with security for this summit. And why he's entitled to a voice here.” Said Savage, who in Thea’s opinion was being way nicer than usual.

“Of course. He may speak.” said the Ambassador

“Thank you, Ambassador. We acknowledge your concerns over the actions of my former team. But you must acknowledge that the Light could not have known the significance of the temple, or that ancient Earth magic could overcome Reach technology to free Blue Beetle and Green Beetle from your thrall. If the Reach had been more forthcoming about how long ago their scarab was sent to infiltrate Earth with a beetle warrior, the Light have made the connection to the temple, and certainly would have provided better security for it.” said Kaldur

“I told you, I wanted to study how Blue Beetle scarab had crashed prior to putting it back on mode. If you had followed my advice, we would have known about the temple, and…Ohh. Apologies. I spoke out of turn.” said the Reach’s scientist.

“No, my dear. You were quite correct to call your master's tactics into question. The Light has provided everything the Reach required, and you aliens have let it all slip away.” said Black Manta.

“I don't believe this is a productive direction for our discussion.” said the Ambassador.

“No? Your public approval ratings are at a record low. As our sales of the Reach drink, which you had hoped would enslave the populace.” said Talia. Why again did the Reach think it was a good idea to try to enslave people using a drink?

“You allowed the young heroes you kidnapped to be rescued by the very teenagers whose meta-genes you enhanced…” said Savage

“After allowing their escape as well.” said Black Manta.

“Worst of all, Blue Beetle and Green Beetle have slipped from your grasp and fallen into the hands of the enemy, the Justice League.” said Kaldur.

“Rest assured, both Beetles will soon return to the fold. In fact, Black Beetle has been summoned to Earth from his post guarding access to the Key Chamber on the Warworld…” said the Ambassador

“To kill blue and green.” said Black Beetle.

“So that their scarabs may be reset and installed upon new host bodies that will forever be slaves to the Reach.” said the Scientist.

“So do not question us on that score or any other. Remember, the Earth is now the property of the Reach. And per our original agreement, the Light is merely our favored agents amongst the humans.”

“Show the proper respect, or suffer the consequences,” said Black Beetle.

“No agreement exists that makes a sl*ve of Black Manta.” Said Black Manta, walking towards the middle of the cavern.

“No agreement exists that guarantees the life of Black Manta.” said Black Beetle as he walked forward to Black Manta.

“Manta guarantees that himself,” said Black Manta. It was a bit weird seeing him refer to himself in third person.

“It seems we have a stand-off,” said Talia.

“No, we don't.” said Black Beetle as he yeeted Black Manta across the cavern.

Right after he said that Artemiss and Slade started to attack Black Beetle. A little bit after they started, the Reach’s army started to shoot at them. They hit Artemis’s sword, making her stagger back into Talia.

“Apologies, Great One.” said Artemis, talking to Talia.

“Not necessary, child. You have my…” Thea noticed Talia pause for a moment and glanced at the choker Artemis was wearing. “Thanks. And please do not call me Great One, that was something only my father went by,”

Artemis shot some trick arrows at some of the Reach’s minions, trapping them. Slade was going one on one with Black Beetle, but after a moment got knocked back and Black Manta started to fight Black Beetle. Kaldur jumped between the two saying “Enough! We are allies, not enemies. Any conflict between us only benefits our true opponents… The Justice League and their sidekicks.”

“Kaldur'ahm is quite correct,” said Savage.

“Agreed. We must not allow petty disagreements to drive a wedge between us. Gratitude, Kaldur'ahm.” the Ambassador said, doing a slight bow towards Kaldur. “Stand down, warrior.”

“Abassador!” exclaimed Black Beetle.

“Stand down,” said the Ambassador once again.

Black Beetle growled then moved to release some of the Reach’s army that Artemis trapped. Kaldur and Black Manta looked at each other and agreed to stand down.

“Should we not be concerned that Superman, Batman, the Lanterns, and the rest will soon return to Earth and once again sway public opinion to their side?” asked Kaldur.

“Superman and those accused with him will never leave Rimbor. The attack we forced them to make on that world, plus a few well placed bribes, has guaranteed their convictions.” said Savage.

“And the Green Lanterns are forbidden by Guardian treaty from returning to Earth now that we've convinced U.N. Secretary Tseng to welcome us here. As for public opinion, I wouldn't be concerned. Though the tide has turned to a certain degree, it will be a simple matter to build on the foundation of half-truths we have already used to discredit the League in order to… Discredit them... Again.” As the Ambassador was speaking Talia walked over to Artemis, starting their plan. Well, not Artemis and Kaldur’s, but her Slade, Talia, Lex, and Nora's plan. Talia walked up to her and reached up to pull off the choker. Artemis almost immediately turned into her original form.

“Artemis.” Savage said

“I don't understand. I thought Artemis was dead.” said the Ambassador.

“So did we all, but it seems Tigress is Artemis,” said Savage.

“This is a glamour charm, created I'd wager by Zatanna or Doctor Fate to hide Artemis' true identity,” said Talia.

“But Kaldur'ahm killed Artemis. If she lives, and in disguise as his lieutenant, then that means…” said the Ambassador.

“That means Aqualad duped them all, including his own father,” said Black Beetle, doing an evil cackle.

“Kill them both” said the Ambassador.

Black Beetle Walked over creating 2 big swords, one on each arm.

“No! You will not kill my son!” said Black Manta.

“He's right.” said M’gann, who was currently pretending to be Slade. She fired a shot into both Kaldur and Artemis. Black Manta kneeled by his son’s ‘dead’ body. It was unlikely that they were actually dead, saying it was M’gann firing the shots. “The Light takes care of its own.”

“Kaldur,” said Black Manta

“It's too late, father. I have already... Won” said Kaldur as he stretched his arm out, with a device in his hand. A hologram of Kaldur appeared from the device and started to speak, “If you are watching this, then your summit is truly over. The Light and the Reach deserve each other. Both sides play at being partners. But the Reach believes the Light to be their naive tools of conquest, when in fact the Light has manipulated the Reach from day one.”

“Shut this off,” said Savage.

“How?” asked M’gann/Slade.

“It was the Light that brought Earth to the Reach's attention by sending the Justice League to Rimbor. The Light set their trap, and the Reach snapped at the bait, fulfilling the Light's desire to thrust our world into the galactic spotlight. Part of their perverse survival of the fittest scheme for the planet, which they believe will transform the Earth and the Light into the eventual rulers of the Milky Way. Though the Light made a deal to help the Reach take Earth, they have also sabotaged the Reach's efforts. They kept the advanced meta-genes out of the Reach's hands. They added a neutralizing agent to the Reach's drink so Earth's population would not become servile. They turned public opinion against the Reach, and they intentionally allowed the Team access to the scarab temple to cleanse Blue and Green Beetle. So, you see, any agenda either side imagined they shared was nothing but a carefully crafted illusion. I trust I have shattered that illusion, as well as whatever remains of this sorry alliance. Good night.” said the hologram of Kaldur. It disappeared right after the message was finished.

“Kaldur. Kaldur, what have you done?” said Black Manta towards his son.

“He has in death done more to damage my plans than any living creature has wrought in 50,000 years. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so…” said Savage. He was probably wrong, if we were counting pre-crisis. She’s pretty sure The Legends killed him, but he’s been ‘dead’ before.

“Aah! You Earthlings are a pestilence and a plague! You dare sabotage us?! Dare betray us?! Have you forgotten who controls the Warworld? The Light is fortunate we do not carve up your planet as we speak!” said the Ambassador as he walked closer to the middle of the cave.

“That would indeed impress, as I have the Warworld's Crystal Key.” said Savage as he also walked to the middle of the cave.

“That is all I needed to know,” said Kaldur.

“Kaldur, you're…” Black Manta said.

“Alive. Yes.” said Kaldur.

“If you would...?” Artemis said towards Talia while raising a hand to be helped up. Talia took her hand and pulled her up. Artemis looked a bit surprised, like she didn’t actually expect her to help her up.

“Impossible. Deathstroke killed you both.” said Savage.

“Just for a little while. After all, I wouldn't want to do any permanent damage… To my best friends. Not when a little misdirection and Hollywood special effects will do instead.” said M’gann while shifting out of Slade and holding a sword towards Savage’s neck.

“For we value our true friends, and unlike you, we are not short on them.” said Kaldur, as many different heroes came out of the tunnels.

“Hey there, Vandy. You miss me?” said Wally. It wasn’t the same Wally from pre-crisis. When they all met up they figured out the Wally they knew, from before the Crisis was on the Waverider, so now, they have 2 Wally’s. One with red hair and doesn’t know anything pre-crisis, and another, who is now going by Ace, and only knows pre-crisis.

“Well played. Well planned. But the Light always has contingencies.” said Savage, as The Brain closed the tunnels and opened the roof of the cave. A bunch of League assassins jumped down into the cave, along with Slade.

“I've had my fill of your interference. Do not expect to survive. kill them all. Superboy may present a problem, but we'll deal with him when the other children lie bleeding on the ground.” said Savage.

“Still you refer to us as children. No wonder our successes mount. You consistently underestimate us.” said Kaldur.

One of the assassins uncovered their mask to reveal himself as Blue Beetle. He immediately fired a sonic beam at some of the Reach’s army. Some more the Assassins revealed themselves to be heroes and started fighting. Talia took out her sword and to fight some of the Reach’s army. Wally created a distraction around some of the League assassins by triggering their smoke bombs. Batgirl used the smoke to attack, not noticing they were not fighting back for a second, before she exclaimed, “The League is trying to help us! I think…?”

Slade was also fighting some more of the Reach’s men, and Lex was shooting at some with some sort of pulse gun. Thea was fighting some too, using her sword.

Savage, Kaldur, and M’gann were still in a stand off.
“It is true. The Light has always underestimated these young heroes. But no more. It is time.” said Savage, as he released Klarion, who made a giant fire snake, to capture M’gann. Nora fired a beam of dark magic at Klarion as he was trying to get away.

“Aww, you think a tiny bit of dark magic is going to hurt me? I’m a chaos lord.” Klarion said in the same tone you would use to talk to a toddler, as he and Savage walked through the portal.

“Cowardly meat!” yelled Black Beetle.

“No! Vandal has the right idea. This battle is pointless. Do not resist. The heroes have no jurisdiction here.” said the Brain.

“Meaning every piece of meat on the Light is a coward.” said Black Beetle, as Superboy tried to attack him, but just got thrown off.

Black Beetle tried to attack Talia, but Thea and Slade started to attack him, preventing him from attacking. Kaldur and his father were fighting in the lake, with Kladur using his waterbearers and Black Manta using his suits eye beams.

The fire snake was still there, attacking M’gann, and Nora was trying to take it down but so far had no success, until Lagoon boy came in and helped. Together they managed to take down the snake.

In another part of the cave, Monsieur Mallah and Beast Boy were fighting, and Wally and Bart were taking down the Brain. Kaldur finally took down his father.

Blue Beetle flew around the cave and trapped the Ambassador and his scientist to the wall. “Warrior!” the Ambassador yelled at Black Beetle as he was fighting Wondergirl.

Black Beetle went over to the Ambassador and started talking to him, but not freeing him yet. Thea was too far away so she couldn’t hear what they were saying. He freed the scientist, grabbed her then they both flew away, with M’gann and Blue Beetle trying to follow but Black Beetle fired a shot at them.

After that, in the cave, it was over. Everyone had already been taken down, revealed to be a good guy (-ish, she doesn't even know what to consider Lex), or had escaped.

She walked over to Kaldur, who looked sad.

“I had hoped to end this tonight, but Savage escaped, with Klarion, as did Black Beetle and the Reach's head scientist. Queen Bee never showed,” said Kaldur,

“Are you kidding me? Kaldur, you won!” said Nightwing.

“Won? Dude, you triumphed!” said Wally.

“You've crippled the Reach and literally broken the Light in half, though half of the main members did help us fight, which was a little weird. And since we holographically recorded the entire deal, we'll be able to use the bad guys' own words against them to clear the Justice League.” said Artemis. “Huh! What was that?”

As Beast Boy hugged her from behind he said “I'm still just so glad you're alive! And that Aqualad's not a traitor! No more faking anyone's death for at least a year, OK?” Beast Boy said as he pointed at Nightwing.

“Yeah, seconded.” said Wally.

“Agreed,” said Kaldur.

“Kaldur, this has been a good night. Maybe the best we've had since the 3 of us first took off for Cadmus 5-plus years ago.” said Nightwing.

“Come on. Enjoy the moment, my friend. You've earned it.” said Wally.

—-

“Every single Magnetic Field Disrupter must be disabled before they chrysalis to guarantee Earth's safety. Each MFD is protected by multiple beetle tech drones, and each drone is the equivalent of a beetle warrior. Blue Beetle has located 20 MFD's around the world. There's 40 of us assembled here, so you'll be in squads of two.” said Captain Atom.

“You will all be issued multiple Reach tech eggs containing my anti-Reach virus software. While one hero runs interference with the drones, the other only has to physically touch his or her egg against an MFD to disable it.” said Lex.

“All right, I have your assignments. We'll distribute these eggs and go.” said Captain Atom.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the fate of the world is in your hands.” Lex said dramatically.

Lex went off of the stage and pulled her and Ollie to the side. “If you mess up or are too late, there is one thing you could do. You could get a speedster to siphon its power.” said Lex.

“So you're saying that we should call any speedsters we know?” said Ollie.

“Yes.”

—

Barry had seen a lot of things in his life. But this one was pretty new. An alien invasion using sports drinks. Definitely a different approach from others. But, he couldn’t deny the MFD’s were a smart thing to use.

“Flash to Watchtower. The magnetic field disruptor... It's already gone chrysalis. And I'm not sure if the egg…” he said to Luthor and the Watchtower.

“The egg is useless now. You're too late.” Luthor said.

“What now?” he asked.

“Now you run.” said Luthor.

“Hey, I'm no quitter. There's gotta be…”

“I didn't say "run away". I said "run". Together, you and Impulse should be able to negate the chrysalis by running counter to its energy flow.”

“Is it really that simple?” He asked.

“I wouldn't call it"simple ". You'll be attempting to siphon its power with your own speed trails. It'll take a massive amount of kinetic energy .And no matter what, don't slow down until the chrysalis is completely neutralized." said Ray, which means the Legends were already here and Ace could help.

He and Bart ran at it and started to run.

“I think it just might be working.” Bart said.

“It's definitely slowing, but not stopping. Even at our top speed, I'm not certain the two of us can generate enough kinetic energy.” He said.

“Then how about the 3 of us? I may not be as fast as you two, but I can add my fair share of kinetic energy.” said Wally, as he joined them.

“I think you mean the 5 of us,” said Jesse as she and Ace joined them in running.

“Who are you two?” asked Wally

“That’s Jesse and that’s Ace,” Barry said at the same time Ace said, “I’m you but I’ve done more illegal shit.”

“What?” asked Wally.

“I’ll explain later,” said Ace.

After a minute or two more of running, they succeeded in shutting it down. They met up with the Team, who came there in a ship.

“Wally! You're alright! Thank god,” said Dick, kissing Wally on the lips. Dick glanced over at Jesse and Ace. “Who are you guys?”