Chapter 1

"Normal talk"

"Thought"

"Hologram & communicator"

Okay, here's the deal. I took over this story as I thought it had a lot of potential. While I am sad that the writer had to give it up, I will try to make the story as good as he did, but I will be adding some of my own elements so that the tale can truly become what it was meant to be.

And if you're afraid that I'm going to stop writing the Dark Side Fox…don't be. I will still be continuing that, but this will also come up every once in a while. Now, some things I would like to say about this story: the paring will remain unknown for now, and there will be some minor changes made to the origin, but not too much. I hope you enjoy it.

INDEPENDENCE DAY IN ITS FULLEST MEANING

Location:New York City, New York

December 12, 2002

The downpour of rain slapped noisily against the window of the small house. A young, blond haired boy of seven years frowned as he watched the rain fall. His hair slumped on his head and his sky blue eyes were half lidded. He was wearing an orange T-shirt with a red swirl on the front, and black cargo shorts. He tapped the glass, annoyed at the weather, having wanted to play, but it just wasn't to be with this rain.

"Boy, this sucks!" The young child pouted as he crossed his arms. He sighed and looked around his room, toys strewn all over the floor. "Aw, Kaa-chan told me to tidy up!" he moaned, not wanting to do the bane of childhood.

I'll do it later, he thought. He sat on his floor, his tiny hand rubbing his chin. What should I play with?

His hand floated over the toys littering his floor, and his hand grasped a toy sword, grinning. Swords were so cool. He gave it a few tentative swings, but winced in pain when he stepped on something. Looking at his foot, there was a construction block pressed into it. He plopped himself down and pulled it off. His blue eyes drifted off to the window once more. He watched the pitter patter of the falling rain.

It was so annoying! He wanted to go out and play! Puffing his cheeks out in annoyance, he crossed his arms. He sat still for a moment, before he hastily uncrossed his arms and stood up. He could never stay still for very long, something he could blame on his Uzumaki heritage.

He looked around his room for something to do, and his eyes lit up when he saw a story book that was lying, spine-up, in the middle of the room. He walked to it and looked at the cover. 'Lost…' he read in his mind, struggling to get the words right. He turned it over to read the words on the back of it that told him the story before reading the actual book.

"Obito... something… is a happy little boy with a loving family. One day, he goes on an ad…ad-ven-ture into the m… mou… ountains behind his home with his friends, Rin and Kakashi, but he quickl… ly gets lost! How will he find his way home?" Naruto snorted, throwing the book off somewhere else. That was so stupid.

Who would ever get lost?

Location: Secret Base in the Himalayas

Vandal Savage was a tall, muscular man with a medium-tanned skin tone and strong, rugged features, a man with broad shoulders and a square jaw. His face was marked by three pale scars in the formation of claws, his eyes were brown and his long black hair was pulled back. Savage wore a long lapel-less dark blue coat, fringed by a red stripe. He also donned black gloves and boots.

His eyes were calculating as he looked at the two League of Shadows assassins before him.

"So, you're saying that the Shadows haven't given up on obtaining the Yellow Flash's DNA for Project Cadmus?" he asked in his deep, gravelly voice, as he looked from the young girl of eleven, wearing a dark green battle-kimono with a Cheshire cat mask, to her father, a man wearing body armor and a hockey mask, who was known as one of the League of Shadows' top assassins.

"Yes, even though we failed to obtain the DNA of the Hero Yellow Flash, we have not given up," Sportsmaster said, his face calculating and furtive as he stared up at the leader of the Light.

"That's all well and nice, but he is the only one with the power we seek, and he is not an easy target to capture," Vandal countered, glaring at the two in front of him. Sportsmaster had been the one to fail that mission, even though he'd had the help of two squads of Shadows, and the Parasite.

"Yes, but what if he had a child?" Sportsmaster asked as he watched Vandal's face stay in the same neutral position. "The legacy of the Yellow Flash. His son, and soon enough, his daughter."

"What!?" Vandal exclaimed in shock and he leaned towards the two.

"Exactly as you heard. I have found out from a source that the Yellow Flash has a pregnant wife named Kushina Uzumaki, and a son named Naruto, even though he left them seven months ago; I'm guessing it was because he feared we might find out who his family is." Sportsmaster smirked behind his mask. "We can obtain Yellow Flash's DNA from the boy, and perhaps replicate his teleportation and energy powers that way; we can also use the kid in the experiments with that giant creature that came through the Boom tube experiments."

Vandal Savage leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading across his scarred face.

"Very well, I want you and Cheshire to obtain the boy and bring him back to Cadmus, so that we can begin the experimentation."

Location: Uzumaki Residence

"Naru-chan!"

Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze recognized his mother call his name all too well. The blonde groaned, he hated being called Naru-chan! He was seven years old! A big boy!

Well, he tried to convince himself that that he hated it, but the truth was that in his heart of hearts, he secretly loved it. He rushed down the stairs in a mad flurry, taking tem two or three at a time, and without noticing, barreled into a leg. Falling onto his rear, he looked up and saw his seven months pregnant mother, Kushina Uzumaki.

Kushina was an Irish-Japanese woman with a slender, but feminine build, fair skin, royal violet eyes and the fiery red hair that was the marking point of an Uzumaki, with strands that framed both sides of her face, and a black clip that parted her hair to the left, keeping it out of her eyes. She was wearing her usual outfit consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress. She was also wearing a blue wristband on her left wrist and lavender house sandals.

"What have I told you about running in the house, Naru-chan?" Kushina said with a sigh as she tried to scold the child, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it when she saw the indignant pout on his face. Naruto was just her adorable little weakness.

"K-Kaa-chan…!" Naruto stuttered.

"Well, you're here now. It's dinnertime! Dattebane!" the red haired woman exclaimed happily.

Before anything else could be said, Naruto sniffed the air for a second and his face lit up.

"RAMEN!" he screamed happily, rushing away to wash up in order to feed his addiction. A massive grin threatened to split his face. His mother's homemade Ramen always made up for any bad weather or mood.

Kushina smiled at her firstborn as he ran to the table, noticing for the ump-teenth time how he looked like his ramen loving father… She shook her head to get rid of the thought of her unfaithful husband, who had up and disappeared over seven and a half months ago after she'd caught him cheating on her with her best friend, Mikoto Uchiha, and his company's intern, an eighteen year old intern named Kurenai Yuhi.

After dinner, Naruto sat on his bed, staring up at the rare starlit sky that he would usually watch with his mother… or his father, before the bastard had left him and his mom by themselves.

He hated the man named Minato Namikaze for that, even going so far as dropping his father's name and taking up his mother's maiden name, Uzumaki. He even knew why the man left them. Naruto had been the one to walk into his parents' room and caught the older male humping away at the nude, moaning body of his company's intern, and he remembered how his mother had exploded when she'd come to see why Naruto was frozen in the doorway.

He got up from his bed and walked over to his door to go see if his mother wanted to join him stargazing.

Just as he was about to touch the doorknob, a hand chopped down hard on the back of his neck, and Naruto fell into the blissful darkness of unconsciousness as his body hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Location: Cadmus, Director's Office

Dr. Mark Desmond paced back and forth in one of the upper levels of the Cadmus main Laboratories, which had compounds all over the world. He had worked for the company for ten odd years to serve a greater purpose, to serve the Light. That allowed him all of the research material that he needed to make weapons for the Light, ranging from normal Genomorphs to clones of Superman that would be used to take down the Kryptonian, should he stop being a hero.

Desmond sighed contentedly as he looked down at the file that he had in his hands. He didn't really care whether it was a baby, toddler, adult or crippled old person, he'd experiment on it for the sake of his all-consuming science.

PROJECT: ARMORED TITAN

Data log entry no.1, date: December 14, 2002

The higher ups in the Light have finally decided to do something useful about our 'heroes' always saving the day. Thankfully, due to the nation's finest, we have enough money to build an army, but the Light wants less expenses to prevent our activities being traced by our enemies, so of course we come to what is best and much more economical for them: the one man army.

Sportsmaster and his daughter have brought in the child of the Hero Yellow Flash, enabling us to take the hero's DNA from the boy and then place him in the experimental project for that abomination that fell through the "boom tube" a year ago.

So, who would the unfortunate soul that I'd get to experiment on be, but the child of one of our 'heroes' the League of Shadows found, after the hero managed to evade them? The boy is some seven year old, a Irish-Japanese kid who will be arriving shortly after I finish writing this log. The Shadows have informed me that they have already prepped the child for the Experiment, though I doubt Ra's Al Ghul knows about this, given his feelings on the matter of experimentation on children. Well, at least it will save me the trouble of going through a personal examination, though now that I've thought about it, it is more fun doing so personally.

Data log entry no.2, date: December 21, 2002

Subject is surprisingly very strong, both physically and emotionally, significantly above a statistically average seven year old. It seems as if he's developed his own meta-human genes from his father, yet they have developed differently. It would appear that he has developed a healing factor, and while it is not at the level of like someone like Doomsday or Slade Wilson (aka Death stroke, the Terminator) it shows promise and could provide a gateway into discovering a way to allow the humans to heal even wounds that would normally kill them.

And even if we fail to produce the desired results, it might be fun to experiment on someone who will be able to take all these painful experiments without long intervals for rest and recuperation.

Still, I am reluctant to work on his "programming", so to speak, as the mind is a fragile thing, and tampering with it could lead to the subject going haywire and becoming nothing more than a mindless animal. A weapon is only as good as the uses it has. While a tool of destruction can be useful, they lack the needed mind capacity to do the more delicate maters that missions inevitably require.

Data log entry no.3, date: December 28, 2002

Subject's name is Naruto Uzumaki aka Sentinel, and so far he's himself shown to be quite useful, though in the need of some polishing. He knows basic hand to hand combat, most likely taught to him by his mother, from the records we pilfered from his school and doctors, but he lacks discipline, like so many children his age. However, while any of his peers, even with his level of combat ability, would certainly parish in some of the scenarios we have run him through, our Subject has demonstrated a remarkable knack at avoiding death. He constantly compensates with his resourcefulness and unpredictable, if not downright crazy, yet genius tactics that he seems to pull out of nowhere. It seems that he has a strong life force that his mother's family has been known for over the centuries.

We have the Genomorphs regularly increasing his overall knowledge of the fighting styles that we think will fit him the best. We believe that, with the help of our experiments and drugs, we have been able to awaken his battlefield awareness, allowing him to be aware of everything that is going on around him. The Subject is able to sense attacks even when he is unable to see or hear them. However, problems arise when a opponent is either too fast or too strong for the Subject to react to, and then his defenses are shattered, leaving him wide open.

We shall continue to test his abilities and preparing for the second phase of the experiments. We have great hopes that he can be turned into an even better weapon for the Light.

Data log entry no.4, date: January 31, 2003

It has been quite a long time since my last log entry.

It seems that I have gotten sidetracked by my other projects. Recently, the Subject was ordered to kill some Genomorphs, but instead of complying with the order, he just defeated them and started to leave. This angered the heads of the Mental Augmentation Branch of Cadmus, as they had thought that it was impossible to resist their treatments.

I, however, knew what had happened. In a previous experiment, I had tried to increase his mental capacity, which worked to some degree, but the problem occrued when we brought in some new G-Gnomes to replace the old ones, as they were getting too attached to the Subject.

As we removed the old ones and put in their replacements, we noticed something: the new ones could not penetrate his mind. It seems that he had developed some sort of mental shield which could not be broken by simple G-Gnomes we had at hand, and since the mental department also uses G-Gnomes as part of their standard practice, they could do nothing to break through the mental shield, and thus no mental programming could take place.

As for his physical abilities, progress continues. We have been able to make him stronger than before, and he now possesses the strength and endurance of a fully grown human – however, I believe he has yet to reach his peak, and am confident that we can continue to make great strides in this area. We have also been able to improve his healing factor, and he is now able to heal wounds that would not be fatal in a couple of minutes – however, more complicated self-repair would still take considerable time, and require assistance from a medical staff.

In his tests, he was able to defeat a squad of 30 G-Elves, sustaining only minor injuries that were take care of by his healing factor. Still, it appears that my superiors are not satisfied with my results, as they feel that leaving the weapon to have the ability to choose what it does in certain scenarios would make more likely to rebel; however, I see it in a different light.

While the weapon would be useful with no conscience, it would also be a hamper on any missions that would need for the weapon to make his own choices without explicit instruction from HQ, and given the nature of the work the Subject will likely be given, he must be able to operate autonomously even if he loses his connection with his superiors. Without the ability to operate alone, he would be a huge risk, for not only we could lose the weapon, but by requiring a permanent connection, we would also be making it possible to trace the Subject back to the Light.

Data log entry no.289, date: October 17, 2009:

Subject has now spent several years here in Cadmus. He has exhibited tremendous will-power as he continues to keep up his moral code in the face of our specialists, who continue to try and break him out of these habits.

While others believe differently, I know that he will be a perfect soldier for the Light. We have been able to increase his abilities to the level that we need to proceed with the original purpose of this project. With his healing factor strong enough to re-grow lost limbs if given enough time, we estimate that he has a high likelihood of surviving the planned procedures. Starting tomorrow, we shall begin grafting the DNA of the creature we recovered, but the risk accrues, as we will have to momentarily block his healing factor so that it does not simply purge the body of invasive DNA, rendering the entire exercise pointless.

We need this experiment to succeed, as we were only able to save some DNA from the creature, as it dissolved in mere minutes after we had collected it. The sample was kept under ice to prevent it from decomposing, thus preventing us from creating more samples. If this does not work, we will either scrap the project or move on to different testing possibilities, but I believe it will be the former of the two.

Data log entry no.293, date: November 7, 2009:

The experiment has succeeded, despite it having some flaws. The Subject is able to create its own unique form; he is able to form a body that is 15 meters (49ft2in) tall, with hardened plates covering the entirety of his skin, except for the muscles in his cheeks that become exposed when he opens his jaw, as well as the muscle tissue behind his knees, elbows and feet. He also seems to have a small opening between the armored plates in the area of his neck, just large enough for a human to get through. While fighting, despite his seemingly heavy weight, he displays a high degree of agility and is capable of building up considerable momentum. Once he begins moving, there are very few thing that can stop him, thus making it very hard for our G-Troll Genomorphs to subdue him when he went on a rampage in the arena and labs, destroying a lot of very expensive equipment.

We were ultimately forced to deploy subjects Match and Project Kr to subdue him, however, even they experienced difficulty in bringing the Subject down, as they were being constantly swatted aside by the Titan's huge arms. It appeared that nothing short of powerhouses such as Superman, Doomsday, Martian Manhunter or Wonder Woman would be able to break through the plating that covered his body.

Finally, Match and Kr were able to draw him into a prepared room, where we were able to gas the chamber and knock out the entire group.

Another interesting thing that we discovered is that, once reverted back to his original form, the plates are able stay on his body, and he can continue to use them as protection. The plates are able to recede back into his body, thus allowing him the appearance of a normal human. His healing factor has also gained another boost, but not in the way I have now come to expect. The new improvements are only measurable when he goes full Titan. Then, he heals all wounds he previously sustained, on one occasion even casually repairing a pierced heart.

Data log entry no.305, date: January 30, 2010:

While I was observing Project Titan as he returned towards his chambers and his pod, I noticed that he has made a companion of one of the G-Elves who had a been grown from a new strand of DNA that was experimental; In the attempt to make them stronger and smarter than the previous models, they were supposed to have minor telepathic abilities so that they could relay information faster, but the sadly the DNA was corrupted, so the experiments all died in the first couple of weeks, and the project was scraped.

We must always be willing to learn from our mistakes, and as my father used to say, rather annoyingly often, you can't make an omelet without cracking some eggs. The problem was that one of the batch survived, and when Dr. Malmsteen tried to dump him, the G-Elf jumped out and escaped into the air vents, and has evaded capture ever since.

Finding Genomorphs has never proved a difficulty before, as they all use telepathy to communicate with each other, but this one is different. Being grown from a new strain of DNA, his telepathy is apparently on a different frequency from the others, and they were unable to find him…until now.

The G-Elf must have found Project Titan, and they must have bonded or something similar. For now, I will leave them be, as there is no harm from this - it may even bode well in the future, as it may be used against Project Titan, should he prove uncooperative.

This will be my final log entry for a while, as we shall be putting Project Titan in cryogenic stasis, allowing me to focus on project Kr so that it may be used better for the Light.

.

Location: Hall of Justice, Washington D. C., July 4th, 2010

The Hall of Justice was an incredible sight for the sidekicks walking towards the building with their respective mentors. Even the entrance was amazing, with the massive statues of the Justice League standing above the door to the inner rooms, and the three boys couldn't help but feel nervous at the sight of the door that would change their lives.

It wasn't every day that new members joined the League, making this a very public event. Reporters from dozens of news networks crowded the hall, surrounding the young heroes and veterans. Taking photos or even shouting their names to get their attention.

But they stood there, in silence, waiting for the last heroes to appear. Looking at the entrance in hidden awe, thinking about their future.

Suddenly, two people using super speed stepped behind the small group, and the candidates turned around to notice them. In front of them were a man and a teen, the two of them with different costumes, each with a lightning bolt on his chests.

"I knew it! We are the last to arrive!" the boy, wearing a red and yellow costume complained, pouting.

Then, they continued to walk to the Hall of Justice once again.

The sidekicks walked alongside their mentors. Speedy was an archer, like Green Arrow, and both of them was dressed in different colors. The boy had his costume completely red, with a yellow belt, a yellow hat and yellow pixie gloves and boots. The man next to him, Green Arrow, wore green colors and had a hood covering his blonde hair. He had a short blonde beard and a domino mask, like Speedy and Robin.

Aqualad was the most serious in the group, after Batman and Aquaman. He had dark skin and blonde hair cut into a buzz cut, and was dressed in a red sleeveless skintight Atlantean tunic, as well as blue pants. His arms were covered with black tattoos from his magic training in Atlantis, and he had nothing covering his bare feet. Aquaman, however, had short blond hair and a beard, and wore a scaled orange shirt with green pants.

Kid Flash seemed to be an energetic boy; he had wavy red hair and blue eyes along with red goggles placed on his forehead, used to protect his eyes while running. His outfit however, covered some part of his face, and was yellow on the upper side, with the Flash's symbol and red pants, and with more yellow in the form of his boots. His gloves were the same red as his pants.

"Have the four of the sidekicks ever been together at the same time?" Kid asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Don't call us sidekicks, not anymore," Speedy snapped sharply, catching the speedster off guard.

Kid Flash chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm really overwhelmed about…"

"Mr. Freeze was underwhelmed and you are overwhelmed. Why isn't anyone just whelmed?" Robin asked in annoyance as they stepped through the doors. He looked up in awe at the statues of the founders of the Justice League, towering imposingly above them. "I can see now…"

As they didn't stop, the people continued to scream their names and ask for autographs. But the heroes ignored all of the civilians. A grey door opened in front of them, and one hero stood there, waiting for them.

The man, who had green skin and red eyes, wearing a blue cape with a red diagonal cross across his chest, spoke as they came closer. "Robin, Aqualad, Speedy, Kid Flash," he stopped suddenly, looking at them with pride. "Welcome to the Hall of Justice."

"Well, make yourselves at home, kids," Flash said after the League members showed their sidekicks around the rooms, ending with the Library, as the sidekicks all sat down on the chairs in the library, except for Speedy, who opted to stand instead. Instead, he turned towards the retreating back of their mentors.

"And where are you going?" asked Speedy.

"Quick debriefing and discussion of the coincidence that four ice villains all attacked on the same day," said Batman. "It won't take long." Heading over to another door, a something came from the roof of the doorway, shining a light over each of the League members. As the light flashed over each member, a computerized voice spoke their respective names.

"Recognized," the voice said. "Batman: 02, Flash: 04, Aquaman: 06, Martian Man hunter: 07, Green Arrow: 08, Red Tornado: 16. As it finished, a door marked 'Justice League Members Only' slid open.

"That's it?" Speedy asked the question in a form of protest. "You promised us a real look inside!" the archer snapped. "Not some glorified back-stage pass!"

"It's the first step," said Aquaman, trying to reassure him. "You've been granted access few others get."

Speedy however wasn't buying what the King of the Seas was selling. "Oh really?" he asked in a sarcastic tone, indicating a viewing platform above, separated from the library room by thick glass. "Who cares what side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy," Green Arrow said as he moved forward to console his sidekick. "You just need to be patient."

"What I need…" Speedy snarled, "is respect." Turning around, he looked at the other 'partners' as he called them. "They're treating us like kids," continued Speedy. "Worse… like sidekicks. We deserve better than this," he said as he tried to rile up the three other heroes to his cause, looked at the other sidekicks and partner for any agreement to his words, and found nothing but silence.

"You're kidding, right?" Speedy asked as the awkward silence stretched on. "You're playing their game? Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be THE day. Step ONE in becoming full-fledged members of the League!"

"Well… sure," Kid Flash said, uncertainty in his voice. "But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ."

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ," countered Speedy, causing all but the Red Tornado and the Martian Manhunter to widen their eyes. "I bet they didn't tell you that the hall is just a front for tourists… and a pit stop for catching Zeta Beam teleporter tubes to their real HQ, an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Batman turned and glared at Green Arrow, who looked a bit embarrassed, much like a child with their hand caught in the off-limits cookie jar. "I know, I know," The emerald archer said as he raised his hands in the assuring motion. "But I thought we could maybe make an exception?" It was said more like a question than a statement.

Batman merely glared harder.

"Or not," said Green Arrow, his face falling ever so slightly.

"You are not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman said as he stepped forward to defuse the situation. "Stand down, or-"

"Or what?" asked Speedy in an annoyed tone, cutting him off. "You'll send me to my room? And I'm NOT your son. I'm not even his!" He snapped, turning towards Green Arrow with an accusing finger, making the older Archer flinch. "I thought I was his partner but… not anymore." He then threw his hat on the floor, at the feet of the Justice League members, collecting the shock of everyone there. He turned and began to exit the room, but shot a glance at the other four sidekicks.

"I guess they're right about you all," he snarled as parting words. "You're not ready." With that, he was out of the room.

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring, and all of a sudden, several computer screens lit up. On one was one of the founding members of the League, Superman.

"Superman to Justice League," The Kryptonian said. "There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus," Batman as he walked to the computer. "This may present the perfect opportunity to-" Batman was cut off by another alert, and another League member.

"Zatara to the Justice League!" The magician said as he appeared on screen. "The sorcerer Wotan is using the amulet of Aten to block out the sun. Requesting full League response." Batman looked to the Man of steel.

"Superman?" he asked.

"It's a small fire," she said. "Local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait," Batman said. He pressed a button before announcing. "All Leaguer's rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates, Batman out." With that, he and the other Adult League Members began to walk away.

"Stay put," Batman said as he looked at the younger heroes as he walked past.

"What, why?" asked Robin, who was obviously disappointed.

"This is a League mission,« said Aquaman, before Flash took over for the Atlantean King. "You're not trained-"

"Since when?" asked Kid Flash, cutting Flash off in his speech.

"I meant you're not trained to be a part of this team," Flash finished as he pointed at Aquaman, Batman and himself.

"There will be other missions," said Aquaman. "When you're ready."

"For now," Batman said, ignoring the sidekick's words and gaze, "stay put, and wait for us to return." With that, the League continued through the Zeta teleporter.

"Glad you didn't bring You-Know-Who?" Green Arrow asked Martian Manhunter quietly as the archer waited his turn behind the others.

"Indeed…" was the Martian hero's simple reply, before they both stepped into the teleporter.

"When we're ready," Kid Flash muttered as he stared, almost broken, at the door the Justice League members had left through. "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like, like sidekicks?" he asked, his voice rising in anger at not being in the same category as his uncle and idol.

Aqualad looked down during this time, a depressed aura settling over the dark skinned Atlantean. "My mentor," he said in a saddened tone. "My King. I thought he trusted me."

"Trust?" Kid Flash snapped as he swung around to face his water breathing friend. "They don't even trust us with the truth about their headquarters. They've got a secret HQ… IN SPACE!"

"I've a better question, why didn't we leave with Speedy?" Robin asked. It was pretty obvious that Batman and the others didn't have any trust in them to be full members of the League. But there was something that they could do.

"What's Project Cadmus?" asked Aqualad and looked at Robin and Kid Flash, searching for an answer and also trying to get rid of the tension in the room.

Robin was drawing a blank, but he had a way to check it. "I don't know. But…" he said, walking to the computer. Reaching the glowing keyboard, he tried to search in the League's database. The computer blared angrily as it denied him access.

Robin chuckled softly. "Oh, really now?" He smiled and hacked the computer, punching keys in rapid succession on the keyboard.

"Dude, how are you doing that?" Kid Flash asked in a surprised tone.

"It's the same system as the Batcave," the thirteen year old hero explained, and the people behind him nodded, the idea making sense. "And… there."

The screen went green and all the information that Batman had collected on Project Cadmus scrolled all over the screen. "Cadmus… Genetic engineering on the outskirts of Washington," Robin said, looking back to Kid Flash and Aqualad. "That's all there is, but if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate."

"Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic justice," spoke Aqualad.

"Hey. They're all about justice," Kid Flash proposed, a smile growing on his face at the idea of how he could pay back his mentor.

"But they said stay put," continued Aqualad as he gave a disappointed sigh.

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this," countered Robin with a smirk on his face.

"Wait. Are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going," said Kid Flash as he put both hands on Robin's shoulders.

"Just like that, we're a team on a mission?" said a smiling Aqualad.

Location: Cadmus Sub Level 52

Time past: three hours.

The small team of sidekicks, consisting of Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash, had broken into the Cadmus building, intent on proving to their mentors that they were worthy of being called heroes. Yet, they had quickly found themselves in a situation well out of their control, deep in the bowels of Cadmus, a place that should never have existed. And to make matters worse, they were surrounded by creatures that should have never been thought into existence. They were named Genomorphs, as Robin found out when he hacked the information banks.

Escaping from the creatures, the small team had found themselves in a hidden room, where they found a black haired clone of a younger Superman, standing in a tall pod marked Project Kr.

The sidekicks came to a unanimous decision to free the clone of Superman, resulting in Robin bringing forth his holographic keyboard to hack into the black haired teen's containment pod. As the clone of Superman, appropriately named Superboy, was about to be released by the young heroes, the horns of the three genomorphs that sat above his head glowed a menacing blood red, as if they were communicating with the Superman clone.

The clone's eyes opened wide and immediately narrowed, he then destroyed the glass of his prison and charged the sidekicks, who quickly moved out of the way. Kid Flash started to dodge the clone's attacks while shouting, "Hey, we're trying to help you, damn it!"

But it was all in vain, as the Superman clone used this opportunity to attack the young speedster and took him down hard. Kid Flash tried to get up, but was interrupted by a fist to the face. As Kid Flash was taken out of the fight, Robin used this to his advantage, jumping into the air and throwing some explosive batarangs at Superboy, but it did little more than push him back a couple of feet.

The smokescreen provided the young boy wonder with a chance to jump onto the shoulders of the clone, simultaneously retrieving something from his utility belt. However, before he could reach for whatever he was trying get, he was seized by his cape and then slammed into the ground by project Kr.

The air left Robin's lungs, and before he could regain his senses, he a foot smashed to the side of his head, knocking him unconscious. The only one left standing was Aqualad, who used his Atlantian strength to put Superboy into a chokehold while speaking, "Calm yourself, we are trying to help you, we are not the enemy."

The clone ignored him. Instead, he jumped and smashed Aqualad into the ceiling, dislodging the Atlantean's grip. Aqualad then plummeted to the hard ground, where he lay, struggling to get up, while Superboy walked towards the closed doors that separated this room from the rest of Cadmus.

As Superboy pried the doors open, he saw the smiling face of Dr. Desmond, who was proud that his creation was able to stop the sidekicks of some of the greatest protectors of the Earth.

Project Kr walked towards his destination, given to him via his G-Gnome by an egotistical Desmond. At that very moment, the sidekicks that had been captured by him, and the other experiment, were being cloned for the purpose of replacement and infiltration.

The black haired clone halted as he heard the voice of the sidekick of Aquaman pleading for his help. As he turned around to look at the direction from where he'd come, the G-Gnome on his shoulder again tried to control him, but it was in vain, as he resisted and threw the little thing off his shoulder, splattering it against a wall.

His feet echoing on the metallic surface of the corridor, he marched towards the labs.

Massive booms were heard from outside the cloning room, and Desmond and those present not currently trapped in pods, turned in curiosity before the seven ton door slammed off its hinges and flew into the wall on the other side of the room, embedding itself ten feet deep.

Much to the surprise of Desmond, it was project Kr, who started to walk towards them. Guardian, wearing his golden helmet, and Dubbilex, a tall G-Gnome, tried to stop him, only to find that Project Kr was…unstoppable.

Guardian attacked with a basic tackle, using his shield as a battering ram. It made no difference, and he was just slapped aside by a much stronger Superboy. Guardian crashed into some of the pods that housed still developing Genomorphs, destroying them in the process.

Dubbliex, seeing this, tried a different strategy. Keeping his distance, he threw barrels at Superboy using his telekinetic powers, but it was a losing battle, as project Kr. just smashed any projectile that came his way. The clone reached Dubbliex and threw him away. The G-Gnome flew through the destroyed doors and crashed into a wall at the far end, thus knocking him out.

Superboy then continued to walk towards the sidekicks and was about to reach them when his path was intercepted by Desmond, who started to shout at him.

"I thought I ordered you to get back in your-" Desmond was interrupted as Kr smacked him away and out of the room.

"Don't give me orders," Superboy snarled angrily.

"Sooo… are you here to help us, or fry us?" Kid Flash asked Kr as his head leaned forwards in his confined state. Kr's eyes narrowed for a moment before they went back to their original size.

"Huh. I don't seem to have heat vision, so I guess my only option is to help you," Kr said as he glared slightly at the redhead.

Before anyone else spoke or moved, Robin dropped out on his own accord, having picked the locks confining him for the last ten minutes. "Ugh! Man, I'm lucky Batman isn't here! He'd have my head for taking so long picking those locks!" Robin complained loudly as he readied himself to hack the systems.

Kid Flash swiveled his head towards his comrade, eyes flaming in righteous anger as Superboy worked on freeing Aqualad.

"Seriously!? That's what you're worried about…? The whole League will have our heads after tonight!" Kid Flash shouted before he fell down from his restraints, face planting on the ground beneath him for good measure; much to the pleasure of everyone in the room. They started running towards the lifts in hopes of escaping.

When they got there they discovered a shocking truth - Superboy could not fly, but he could still leap tall buildings, as Kid flash pointed out. They continued their journey and they eventually made it to the first floor below ground.

There, they met Guardian and Dubbilex again, backed by a couple of G-trolls and G-elves. The genomorphs were about to attack, when they were stopped by Dubbliex, who raised his hand.

"Wait, I believe that our brother Superboy has the right to choose if he wishes freedom," said the long-horned genomorph.

"What are you talking-" Guardian tried to say, but was interrupted by a psychic attack from Dubbliex that knocked out both him and the three sidekicks.

"Now, what is your choice, brother?" asked Dubbliex mentally.

Superboy looked down in thought, then after a while, he looked back with narrowed eyes as he spoke. "I want freedom."

"Very well," said Dubbliex as he then awoke the other heroes, as well as Guardian, but removed the mind control that had been placed on the man.

Just as they were about to make their escape, Desmond appeared once again, an army at his back. Guardian, who was now back on the heroes side, said that he would take care of Desmond.

"I don't think so," the brown haired, egotistical scientist spoke up from behind the crowd of Genomorphs.

The entire group, plus the now reawakened superheroes, turned as he produced a vial of slightly glowing blue liquid. "Project Blockbuster will give me more than enough power to restore order to Cadmus and put all of you rejects back in your pods," he announced before downing the blue liquid. He quickly grasped his body and grunted in pain as he literally burst out of his skin, undergoing the immediate transformation from man into an abomination.

"Stand back!" Guardian shouted as he rushed the monster, with shield held at the ready to strike the beast that was formerly known as Dr. Mark Desmond, only to be slammed into a wall, unconscious, as he was struck by a massive blue fist.

Superboy launched forwards, slamming his fist into the beast's face. Blockbuster, however, acted as if he had not even noticed the blow, and knocked the Super Clone to the ground.

The other sidekicks watched as the two battled, yet could clearly see that Superboy would not be able to stop this beast alone. They quickly started to help the clone but seemed to do little more then piss off Blockbuster even more. As they continued to do battle, they never saw a certain G-elf watching them.

It then quickly started to scramble through the air vents, deeper into Cadmus.

Location: Cadmus Sub Level 53

We find the special G-elf in front of a pod with a symbol of a shield with two wings crossing each other on it. The pod had ice covering the glass in a thick layer of frost, preventing anyone from seeing what was held inside.

The G-elf jumped onto a control pad just to the left of the pod, his tiny hands a blur over the buttons. The pod started to slowly unfreeze, the icy armor clicking and then sloughing off in large chunks, and once it was done, you could see that inside, there was a boy about 15 years of age.

The boy had short, spiky blond hair with three whisker-like marks on his face. He had a very well built body that was bulging with muscles (A/N: think Super boy, but a bit more muscle) that was covered by a black version of the Super boy suit, except that instead of an S, he had a smaller version of the symbol that was on the pod on his left pectoral muscle, right above his heart.

The pod slid open, and he fell to his hands and knees, as he appeared to be just waking up. Once he was fully awake, he stood up in the pool of half-melted ice that covered the floor, and waited for the shakiness to pass. Then, he opened his eyes and looked around.

He smiled as he spotted the G-elf. "Hey there, how have you been, my friend?"

In response, the G-elf's horns glowed red as he relayed all that had happened to the blond.

"Hmm, I see. Dear old Desmond has finally finished his little pet project he would constantly brag about while I was still his experiment," he said while releasing a sigh. "No, it wasn't enough that he had to do his tests on me, he had to go on long, repetitive monologues about how great he was. I swear, that man's ego is too big for his head, I'm surprised that his head doesn't just explode from having to contain all that self-importance."

The G-elf's horns glowed a second time, and Naruto just lazily waved him off. "Yes, yes, I know! I'm going, I'm going – sheesh, don't get your horns in a bunch, I'll help the little heroes," he said as he got a small smile on his face.

He then started to slowly jog while the G-Elf followed closely behind. Picking up speed, he went into a full-on sprit to the door and once he was close enough, he jumped straight at it.

On the other side, a handful of G-trolls patrolled their designated corridor, and had not the slightest inkling that anything was up when they were all sent flying, the door crashing into them and picking them up like a blow from an oversized tennis racket.

As the ones that hadn't been knocked turned towards the direction of the gaping doorway, they could see the blond, but he was now in his Titan form, and had smoke curling away from his body, as if his skin was some volcanic region in Iceland. His Jaw opened, and steaming hot air came rushing out of it. He then looked at the trolls and narrowed his eyes to murderous slits.

He was just about to charge when the G-elf jumped on his shoulder and its horns glowed red. The Titan looked at him and then gave a small nod before he looked towards the ceiling and jumped straight through it.

He continued bursting through the floors like a reverse bunker-buster bomb he reached the level where the sidekicks were currently battling Blockbuster.

Location: Cadmus Sub Level 1

The heroes were having a tough time against the beast, as it appeared that it did not feel pain. Blockbuster would just continue to take the punishment that they dished out as if it was nothing, and seemed to have an endless supply of stamina. However, while the monster seemed to not have even been winded, the same could not be said for the heroes, who were quickly starting to run out of steam. With each passing minute, it was looking more and more like a hopeless battle.

Kid Flash, who was running on fumes, looked at the creature and spoke while panting.

"What does it take to stop this guy? Do we need to drop a building on him or something?" he asked.

"I don't kno-…Kid, you're a genius!" said Robin in a defeated tone, however, the idea Kid flash proposed was brilliant, and he could not believe that he would ever use the words Kid Flash and genius in the same sentence. He looked at Aqualad and Superboy and shouted. "SUPER BOY, AQUALAD! Get him up to the ground floor and then make him take out as many pillars as you can!"

The two boys nodded, and were just about to charge Blockbuster again when the floor beneath him started to shake, and as he looked down, he saw a giant arm come crashing through the floor and grab Blockbuster. The hand was followed by an arm, then a head, and then by the rest of the body. The sidekicks were shocked when they realized the size of the creature. But their attention was diverted from the huge form to a smaller one. It was a G-elf, and it had small horns on the front of its head which where glowing.

"Tell me your plan, and I shall relay it to my friend, who shall help you in this endeavor."

The young heroes were shocked! That thing was helping them! But none the less, they told their plant to the creature, who gave a nod and ran towards the Titan, then skillfully clambered up his body to his shoulder, where they could see the Titan look at them and nod. He then threw Blockbuster through the ceiling and jumped after him, the young heroes following closely behind.

As they got to the ground floor, they saw the giant Titan throwing Blockbuster around into the pillars, destroying them. However, it did little to stop the former scientist, as he continued to get back up. When Naruto saw this, he changed his tactic to just pummeling the monster into the ground, delivering punch after massive punch, creating a small crater, and once Naruto saw that Blockbuster was still getting up, he started to stomp on him as he waited for the heroes to finish their plan.

He then heard Robin shout.

"Hey, big guy, we're ready!" As he said this, he activated the explosive bat-rang, thus destroying the last two support pillars, making the building collapse in on itself. When Naruto saw the ceiling coming down, he quickly ran to the heroes and covered them with his giant body, protecting them from the falling ruble.

Once the dust settled, the rubble started to move, and Naruto, in his Titan form, erupted from the ruins with a giant roar. The sidekicks below him also rose as they watched the full moon and their new giant companion. Kid flash smiled and got the attention of the Superman clone.

"Look the moon," he said as they all smiled at what they had accomplished. Their sight of the moon was interrupted by multiple figures emerging the sky and blocking small parts of the moon. They quickly recognized their silhouettes. The Justice League had arrived.

"And Superman! Man, do we keep our promises or what?" Kid Flash said before he went silent as he saw that behind the Man of Steel wasn't just a few members of the Justice League, it was the entirety of the Justice League.

Superboy walked forward as they landed, Superman and Batman's eyes narrowing dangerously.

As the black haired clone lifted the front of his torn shirt, proudly showing his S-symbol to the older Kryptonian, the older look alike's eyes widened, and a hopeful look spread across his clone's features. Then, they hardened along, with his look.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked in a hard tone as Kid Flash came to stand next to the clone.

"He doesn't like to be called an it!" The redhead called from behind his hand, as if the weapons wouldn't hear him.

"I am Superman's clone!" Superboy spoke proudly. Shock and awe spread throughout the Justice League.

Behind his mask, Batman's eyes narrowed in a fashion similar to Superman's, causing them to be nothing but white slits. However before the sidekicks could explain their actions, they turned around hearing a roar, as they saw the members of the JLA surrounding their big companion, who preparing for a fight.

"Wait, he's on our side! He helped us defeat the monster that's lying under the rubble!" shouted Robin. This made the other members of the League pause as they turned to look at the boy wonder, then back at the giant.

They were about question it when they saw the beast release a giantic amount of steam that covered its whole body, and once it disappeared, they saw that in its place was a teenager with blond hair and whisker marks, wearing a similar attire to the Superman clone.

He gave them a small wave and smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm sorry I didn't transform back before, but I got distracted by seeing the moon after so long…I used to stare into the sky before I was captured." He would have continued to talk if weren't for the G-elf jumping onto his shoulder. "Oh, right, and this is my friend," he finished, obtaining a shocked look from both the heroes and sidekicks

"Wait, you can TALK!?" shouted Kid Flash in his ignorant ways. However, Naruto ignored or didn't notice it, as he choose instead answer the question.

"Well, in my Titan form, I can't, but in my normal form, and my mini Titan form, I'm able to, yes."

This made them wonder what was he talking about, but they decided put those questions aside for later. Batman, the genius detective, was already going to state of mind that straddled the border between being prepared and paranoia. He decide to deal with it later and instead focus on the sidekicks and the clone.

"Start talking."

After Robin and Aqualad's long explanation, Blockbuster was hauled away by the Hawks and Green Lanterns. As Superman talked with Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman, he glanced over his shoulder. Noticing Superboy's piercing stare, the Man of Steel walked to him.

"We'll, uh… figure something out for you… the League will, I mean!" he added quickly. "Till then… I need to… make sure they get that… Blockbuster creature locked away!"

With that, he turned from his clone, before flying up into the sky once again. Superboy watched his biological parent fly away, before Batman's monotonous voice broke his thoughts.

"Cadmus will be thoroughly investigated. All fifty-two levels." He spoke as he walked towards the three young heroes and the two Cadmus experiments. "Let's make one thing clear-"

"-You should have called!" The Flash interrupted as he zipped over in front of the intimidating martial artist, almost as if he was disappointed on missing out on a good fight, making Naruto and Kid Flash chuckle a bit.

"End results aside, we are not happy," Batman continued, a bit ticked that the red spandex wearer had interrupted him during his lecture. "You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered your and other's lives. You will not be doing this again!"

Aqualad stepped forwards, looking at his comrades meaningfully. "I am sorry Batman. But we will," The Atlantean said in a determined voice

"Aqualad, stand down!" Aquaman ordered as he too came to stand at the side of his black clad teammate.

"Apologies, my king," the dark skinned teen replied, placing his hand over his heart and closing his eyes with a bowed head in respect for his leader and mentor, "but I must disobey. We all did good work here tonight. The work all of you trained us to do. Together. All on our own, we forged something powerful. Something important." Flash stepped forward as the Atlantean finished his speech that shocked the orange-wearing King.

"If this is about your treatment at the hall!?" He exclaimed. "The three of you-"

"The five of us," Kid Flash interrupted.

"And we're ready to put to use what you all taught us to do!" Robin said as he looked up at Batman, as he walked forwards. "If not, why did you even teach us at all?"

"Why let them decide? It's simple. Get on board, or get out of the way." Superboy spoke with a defiant look spread across his features. The three Leaguers looked to each other in a silent debate, before Batman nodded.

Location: Mount Justice July 8, 2010

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League when we first began," Batman said to the five teenagers surrounding him in civilian clothes. "We're calling it into service again. Since you five are intent on staying together, to fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms…Red Tornado has volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black Canary is in charge of training, and in case you need counseling."

The blonde woman, wearing a leotard and a blue jacket, glanced over the small group, allowing her eyes to linger on her fellow blond Naruto.

He wore a skintight black T-shirt with the same shield and wings design on his left peck, mostly matching Superboy, who wore a black shirt with the red S-shield on it. Worn over the shirt was a light brown leather jacket with the same insignia as his shirt, only larger and on his back. He also wore a baggy black pants that were taped at the ankles by medical tape, which also covered his feet, which were otherwise left bare. On the question of why he didn't wear any shoes, he simply stated that he felt that he didn't need them, and he had a better grip on the floor without them. Besides, he would make too much noise if he wore shoes.

"I'll be in charge of deploying you on missions," Batman continued speaking, bringing the blonde crimefighting martial artist out of her thoughts.

"Real missions?" Robin asked, completely suspicious of his mentor most likely sending their new team to and fro on errands.

"Yes, but covert." Batman said, placing stress on the word covert as he sent a slight glare in Kid Flash's direction.

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff," Flash said as he came up behind his unmasked sidekick with a smile on his face after talking to Black Canary. "There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests," he continued, pointing to the lightning bolt drawn across his chest.

"Cadmus has proven that criminals are getting smarter," Aquaman spoke. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the down low and out of sight."

"The six of you will be that team," Batman continued as if the two heroes hadn't spoken.

"Cool!" Robin spoke with his signature impish laugh before assessing the last words spoken by his mentor. "Wait, six? Aren't there only five of us?" He asked as he indicated behind him with his head to the ones that had been in Cadmus, just as Martian Manhunter appeared, with a young girl with green skin, freckles and red hair wearing a female version of the older Martian's uniform at his side.

"This is Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian," Batman announced as he motioned them to come over.

"Hi!" The young Martian said with a cheerful, if not naive wave. Kid Flash smirked perversely as he placed a hand on his hip, looking at Robin. "I'm liking this gig more and more every minute! Eh- Welcome aboard! I'm Kid Flash! That's Robin and Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names."

The green-skinned girl clasped her hands together.

"I'm honored to be included in the team," she spoke, as the four original sidekicks made their way over to her. Glancing over his shoulder, Robin noticed the two experiments off to the side.

"Hey Superboy, Naruto, come meet the new girl!" he shouted before Superboy and Naruto walked over in front of her.

The girl blushed when she caught sight of Kr, and her clothes changed to match the colors of Superboy's shirt, her cape disappearing. "I like your shirt," she said with an even bigger blush, which got a small chuckle form Robin, while Naruto, Superboy and Kid Flash remained oblivious of the meaning.

Kid Flash laughed as he grabbed both former weapons around their necks, pulling them down to his height, and Robin leaned against Naruto as they continued to make small talk. "Today is the day," Aqualad said with a happy smile as he observed his new team.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Okay, done! I know it seems similar, or perhaps even the same as the original, but I hope you'll still give it a chance. So now, another thing I need from you guys is a name for the G-elf, as I really don't know what to call him, since I'm not that good with names for pets.

R&R