YJ:ABOMINATION Mission 3/Ivo Evolution

"She went to the Watchtower to check in with Batman," M'gann explained. 

"Oh yeah. Forgot about it. I almost didn't think they were serious." He dropped his backpack next to the wall before he walked towards the training platform, joining the rest of the team. 

"Neither did we," Zatanna said.

"It's one of the conditions for her living here. And after the foreign molecules thing, I doubt the League will just let it go." Conner helped Kaldur to his feet as he spoke.

"Although, I doubt she would skip it even if there hadn't been an incident." 

"I get it though." Wally sighed. "Letting her join the team was a risk considering her mental state alone, can't imagine the League was happy to see an old problem resurface."

"Even though she goes voluntarily, Cat doesn't really like the weekly analysis."

"How do you know?" Artemis turned to M'gann, raising an eyebrow.

"I wasn't reading her mind or anything! Not that I could, it's... weird. She told me."

"She told me that too," Conner said as he pulled his shirt on. 

"I haven't heard anything." Dick shrugged.

"Me either," Zatanna added.
"She didn't tell me squat." Raquel frowned.

"Or me," Wally added. "We've been talking about a lot of things lately but she doesn't usually bring up anything personal."

"Why does it seem like she's still hiding things?" Artemis shook her head. 

"It's likely she doesn't wish for us to worry about her," Kaldur suggested. "Even though we have spoken several times, I have still yet to find a moment to ask her about the scope of her powers."

"You should have seen yesterday's food debacle when she was asked what she liked. M'gann practically had to pry the information out of her." Conner huffed. "It's like she doesn't think she has a right to complain or something."
"She's naturally cautious but it's not because she doesn't trust us, it's like she doesn't trust herself around us." Dick paused thoughtfully. "I wonder why," 

"She might tell us if we ask," Zatanna suggested.
"How do we even know what we can ask? What if she blanks out again?" Artemis brought up a point that most of them were already considering. 
"Her reactions are all based on responses she's experienced post-catatonia. I don't think whatever that is, has to do with this." Wally explained, understanding where Zatanna was coming from.
"I mean, there are six months between when they found her and when she came to Mt. Justice, why don't we just ask about that time?" 

"If we don't, we can only guess at the answers." Dick shrugged. "I wonder how she's doing right now."

"If I could make one guess," Wally started. "She's probably spazzing out." 
"Yeah, I could see that," Raquel agreed. 

~YJ~

September 28th. 5:04 P.M. EST
Justice League Watchtower 

"All of your readings came back normal. Vitals are good; powers still hitting high marks." Batman said as he typed something on the holographic clipboard. "And no sign of foreign molecules."

"Are you sure?" Cat asked, fidgeting nervously on the observation table. The other two in the room were Captain Atom and the Atom, the two with relevant expertise for the situation. 

"This time, we're sure." Captain Atom gave her a reassuring smile. "The molecules have a unique signature," 
"And because of that signature, I've been able to develop a sensor." The Atom added, looking up from his screen.
Captain Atom ruffled her hair. "On the off chance they do show up again, we'll be ready."

"Thanks. I'm glad." She let out a sigh of relief. 

"Hey, kiddo!" The Flash bolted towards her and screeched to a halt.

"Barry!" Cat jumped off the examination table, hugging him. 
"Hope these guys aren't boring you to death." 

"Barry, when you have a kid; it'll be spoiled rotten." Green Lantern floated down next to him.

"John!"

"Hey, girl. How 'bout a hug?" She hugged him too, she let go after a moment. "So how's it going with your new team?"

"Good, I think." Cat dodged his curious gaze. "We're friends, or at least that's what M'gann says."

"That's good. You don't have to rush, take your time."

"That's rich coming from you, Barry." Superman landed next to them.

"Clark!" She hugged him, he hesitantly hugged her back. "It's been a while."

"Almost a month. I haven't seen you since you left. Are you… enjoying life at Mt. Justice?"

"Well, kinda… still having trouble with that thing."

"Trouble?" Martian Manhunter approached them.

"J'onn and-" After she hugged him, she noticed Wonder Woman standing behind her. "Dianna!"

"Come on." She held out her arms for a hug which Cat complied with. "How have you been, little one?"

"Pretty good, I guess. Bruce said I have a few more tests to do but we can hang out after, right?"

"When you're done, yes."

"Take a break. Be back in five." Batman nodded at her. She nodded back and bowed her head.

"See you later." She smiled, glancing around the room before vanishing. 

"Uncomfortable, Clark?" Batman joked.

"Just not completely used to the affection."

"She's a hugger." Green Lantern chuckled. "It's better than the way she was before."

"We may not be her real family but we're all she has. She knows of little beyond us." Wonder Woman sighed. "A little bit of affection is the least we can do for her,"

"The League is not what I would consider an apt learning environment," Manhunter added. "She may gain more experience at the cave, around others her own age." 

"What'd you expect?" Flash said. "I just hope they get along well." 

"We can only hope for the best. She's trying and that's what counts." Wonder Woman finished the conversation with her remark. Nothing further to be said. 

~YJ~

The zeta tube chirped, a whirring filling the room as figures appeared in the golden light. 
Recognize, Black Cat. B.1.3. Recognize, Batman.0.2. Recognize, Wisteria. 2.1.
Everyone stopped, their attention drawn to the new arrivals. 

"Heh, hi guys." Cat greeted them sheepishly as she walked towards the group. 

"Welcome back!" M'gann gave her a warm smile.

"How'd it go?" Wally asked.

"The examination part wasn't so fun but I got to hang out with Wonder Woman. I learned a bunch of new things- huh?" She looked around curiously. "Where's Superboy?" 

"Probably in the living room. He got his training done early." Dick explained. 

"I'll go get him. We have a mission." And with that, Cat vanished. She reappeared in the living to see Conner was sitting on the couch, watching TV. He looked up at her, shutting the TV off and giving her his full attention. "We have a mission so I thought I'd come get you. Wisteria's here too for some reason." 

"I know. Super hearing, remember?" He stood up, "So? How'd everything go?"

"Not very fun at first- hey, wait a minute. If you knew we had a mission then you heard what I said,"

"I figured you'd want to tell me yourself." he shrugged casually. 

"I... Yeah, I did." she took a deep breath as if to brace herself before she spoke. "It sucked at first but then I got to talk to Wonder Woman and I felt a lot better. According to Batman, Captain Atom and the Atom there's no trace of any of the foreign molecules left so that's a relief."

"What's that?" He pointed out the furry thing tied around her neck.

"Oh, this?" She untied it revealing it to be it the arms of a stuffed monkey that was hanging around her neck. "It's a monkey. I won it from a claw machine."

"It's…" he hesitated.

"What? You don't like monkeys?" She wiggled the plush, making its arms swing around wildly.

"Hate them."

She chuckled, pulling the plush close to her chest. "Then I'll keep him away from you, how 'bout that?" She composed herself again before continuing. "Let's go before Batman gets mad."

They walked back into the briefing room. "Now that you're all here," Batman turned to the screen as soon as they were in sight, bringing up a large image. "Look familiar?"

"Is that-" Zatanna started.

"Professor Ivo." Kaldur finished.

"Yes," Wisteria said. "I tracked him down but there's a problem." She brought up a video and paused it on a shadowy figure handing him something. "It may be just a hunch but a tech lab in Central City was robbed two weeks ago and this footage was taken in the background of a traffic camera two days ago. The security footage is a bit blurry but its close to my own account."

"What is it?" Dick asked curiously. "Ivo's new creation?" 
"But I thought he was totally obsessed with Amazo." Raquel countered his question.

"I don't know but it did this." She pulled down the shoulder of her kimono to reveal a huge gash. It was healing at a visibly rapid pace. "Normally, I would've healed by now but it wounded me deeply. If Superman hadn't intervened, it might have taken my arm off."

"Whoa, looks painful." Wally grimaced at the sight of the wound.

"No kidding. I wouldn't say it was necessarily skilled but it did catch me by surprise, which is rare."

"Based on the pattern so far, we've theorized the next possible target is going to be Star Labs Special Sciences Division at Star University. Try to avoid causing a commotion if necessary," Batman said. "And rely on Miss Martian's telepathy for communication."

"Is there any more information you can give us?" Artemis asked Wisteria.

"I can tell you, whatever attacked me moved like it was alive but Ivo has a history of using adaptive technology. I don't believe it was an android but I didn't get a good look at it either. If J'onn were there, he could have made sure."

"That's strange," Conner said.

"Yeah. Android or not, that's not Ivo's style," Raquel said.

"I'd say he wasn't one for accomplices either if we hadn't had first-hand experience ourselves that he was working with the Light," Kaldur added. 

"I'm so confused," Cat was staring intensely at the picture. 

"Oh, Ivo is a bad guy who builds androids-" M'gann started to explain but Cat shook her head. 

"Not that; I know who Ivo is. It's… I don't see its essence. I can see Ivo's but…"

"Wait, essence?" Wally asked.

"Yeah. Living essence... or I guess humans call it aura. Every living creature has an aura but… it doesn't." she froze, speaking quickly as she shook her head. "I'm not saying Wisteria is lying! I swear-!"

"It's okay. If you notice something, you should speak up." Wisteria said.

"Living things give off a... a feeling, a sensation; they leave an empathic signature even in pictures. Maybe I'm losing my touch." She narrowed her eyes, the intensity increasing.

"Don't worry about it! What if he's just concealing it?" It was Wally's obvious attempt to cheer her up but it seemed to work. 

"People can do that?" She turned to him, stunned by the idea.

"Probably. I mean you came from another dimension, I think. Who knows? Possibilities are endless."

"No scientific explanation from you, Wally?" Artemis gave him a smirk. "I'm shocked."

"Could you not do that when I'm cheering her up?" He whispered. "Besides it can be explained scientifically. I'd just hate to overwhelm our dear friend here with the details."

"Your main mission is to keep guard at the Zeus, Apollo and Poseidon wings of the University. They're part of Star labs as a whole but they're divided into three separate facilities." Batman explained as the blueprint of the university appeared on the holoscreen.

"With that said, if something does happen; I want you to deal with it as you see fit." 

"Why are you giving us this mission?" Conner asked Wisteria as she was starting to leave.
She gave him a thoughtful look before speaking. "Hmmmm... Maybe it's because I see similar qualities between your team and myself. Or maybe that last mission caught my interest and I wanted to see how you would do on this. Who knows? Ivo doesn't have any interest in mystic artifacts so I kind of lost interest on my own." She turned and started walking towards the zeta tubes. "Now if you'll excuse me; Charlotte has a dinner party to attend. Wouldn't want Gotham's White Knight to organize a search party."

~YJ~

M'gann stopped the bio-ship, cloaked in the night air. "The Zeus Wing of Star University's Labs. Black Cat, Superboy, Rocket, this is your stop." The hatch opened below them. "None of you will be wanting a line down, I take it." 

"I don't need one. Thanks though." Cat vanished as Conner and Raquel jumped out of the ship.

"That's what I thought." M'gann chuckled. 'Establishing telepathic link. Everyone in position?'

'All set at Apollo Wing.' Dick thought.

'Set here at Poseidon Wing too.' Wally thought too.

'Zeus too.' Cat added.

'Miss Martian will be running overwatch from the bioship and assisting if needed.' Kaldur explained. 

'Too bad Red Arrow isn't here. We are in Star City after all.' Wally almost seemed to mentally sigh. 

'Oh! You mean Green Arrow's old partner? I haven't met him yet. Which is strange considering he is still actually a member of the Justice League.' 

'I'm sure you know a lot of stuff happened: he quit being a sidekick because he thought it was demeaning, then joining the League and the clone thing.' Dick explained. 'He's been kind of distant lately.'

Kaldur looked over at Dick's forlorn expression. 'He works solo now, but he still visits the team from time to time.'

'Whoa, I can't believe being called a sidekick is a bad thing. I mean- they speak so highly of you.'

'They do?' Wally asked.

'Yeah. I've never felt like a sidekick so maybe I just don't know too much about it. I helped other heroes with things from time to time but nothing official.'

'Any experience is good but I guess you haven't really had any long-term team-ups until now so I get why you might feel that way.' Dick thought.

'Well-'

An explosion went off at Poseidon's gate. 'That went off in the inner gate!' Artemis thought.

'But how did they make it past the outer gate without setting any alarms off?' Wally asked.

'I don't know.' Zatanna added.

'Make sure who or whatever it is doesn't get into the building.' Kaldur ordered.

'Got it.' Wally pulled his goggles over his eyes and Artemis pulled an arrow from her quiver. Her eyes narrowed and shifted from side to side. After a moment of looking around, she heard the shifting of leaves despite there being no breeze. They nodded at each other and he took a few steps back. She released an arrow, striking a tree branch with explosive force. Something seemingly mechanical fell from the branches; it adjusted its head and looked at Wally who was standing several feet from it.

'What is that?' Zatanna asked as its body shimmered and began melting into the background.
Wally's goggles switched to infrared, highlighting the figure. 'Not a person. It's cloaking itself.' Suddenly it lunged at him, knocking him backward.
With a chant from Zatanna, the dirt blew into the air, giving the figure a visible shape. It landed on its feet only to be instantly pelted by explosive arrows. It's cloaking damaged as its image flickered back to life; giving the three a clear view of it.

'Guys, I don't think Ivo is behind this.' Artemis thought.

'Why?' Robin asked.

'Because what I assume is Surge's newly upgraded Alphabot is standing right in front of us!' Wally thought.

'Does Surge have robotic monkeys?' Cat asked.

'No, but Ivo does.' Dick answered. 

'Well, we've got about four dozen of them.'

Cat vanished as the monkeys leaped at her. She reappeared behind them, grabbing a few by their tails and flinging them into a wall. They busted on impact. Raquel blasted them off the walls before the could scale it. Conner smashed monkey after monkey as they jumped all over him, pulling on his clothes.
"Okay," her obsidian claws appeared and she shredded the monkeys that flew at her. Their circuits frazzled as they fell to the ground.  "Now I see why you hate monkeys."

He threw one and it shattered against the wall. "We can't let them get inside."

Raquel paused thoughtfully. "Maybe we can."

'Guys, we've got an idea.' Cat thought.

'Well does it include Ivo and his adaptable android?' Dick asked.

'No-wait, what?'

Dick backflipped out of the way of the android as it charged, 'Yeah, Amazo is back.'
He nailed it with another explosive disk that only managed to deter its attention as it focused on the sky. It released a sonic wave, obviously mimicking Black Canary, that blasted bioship out of the air. 

'Guys, we need you!' she thought as she blasted the android.

'Sorry, kinda busy.' Wally dodged what they now considered to be the newest version of the Alpha, sliding under its claws as they protruded.
Artemis released another arrow. It dodged, only to be nailed by a flurry of speedy blows by Wally before he grabbed its arm and slammed it into the wall. Before it could catch its balance, Artemis pelted him with a barrage of arrows. It rolled across the ground to avoid her line of fire before rising to its feet again; joints crackling and replacing themselves before it attempted to bolt. It was cut off by a ring of fire blocking its path when it turned to Zatanna, the source. 

"Running low," Artemis growled. "Why won't you go down?!"
She stopped shooting and Wally roundhouse kicked Alpha in the face, knocking it to the ground. "It's self-repairing but there's gotta be a limit!" 

"Yeah, don't think we're that lucky," She pointed as Alpha readjusted its body again and was back to standing. 
With a chant from Zatanna, the tree roots lunged out of the ground, trying to snag it as it ran away. "Well, that was weird."

"I'll follow it." Wally didn't wait for a reply as he disappeared after it. 

'Okay, Miss Martian. Zatanna and I are on our way.' Artemis ran in the opposite direction. 

'Good.' M'gann responded as she exited the bioship.
She psychically tore a tree from the ground and threw it at Amazo; it caught the tree and redirected it towards Dick.

He cartwheeled to the side, avoiding the splintered wood as it came flying towards him. "Has anyone noticed something new about this guy?"

"He doesn't pause to switch abilities," Kaldur said. M'gann threw another tree which went straight through him; Martian Manhunter's ability. It solidified before it sent another sonic screech at her, knocking her through the gate.

Ivo sat perched on the fence, observing the action with an amused expression. "This is more entertaining than I thought it'd be; you've already noticed Amazo's upgrade. I learned from my mistake with your Superboy and made the necessary modifications." As the words left Ivo's mouth, two arrows jammed exploded into Amazo's face. It was still standing, ready to charge forward when it suddenly noticed that its feet were frozen to the ground. "What?!"  Explosive arrows struck him one after another. It deflected them with a tornado, Red Tornado's power. Not even a second later, Kaldur knocked him to the ground using a mace. "That's enough, Amazo. We got what we came for. Escape, priority alpha." It jumped at Ivo's command, grabbing him and taking off using Flash's speed. 
"That was weird." Artemis walked up.

"No kidding. Thanks for the save." Dick smiled as she helped him up; the Boy Wonder having been knocked back by the gust of the small tornado.

"But… We just got here." Zatanna frowned, brows creasing in confusion.

"That could only mean-!"

"Red Arrow!" Wally came to a halt next to Dick, sharing the same giddy expression.

"What about this?" M'gann knelt next to the ground where Amazo had been frozen, Dick doing the same as he picked up a fragment.

"This… is an ice fragment." he eyed it.

"The only people with ice powers are baddies except for Ice and she was still in Norway last I heard." Wally leaned in closer, squinting at the shard.

"Really?" M'gann asked. 

"Aren't all of the ice villains still locked up though?"

"Yeah. Ever since Dr. Hugo Strange was discovered to be working for the light and giving some of the villains "early parole," Batman has been keeping an eye on Belle Revve." Dick brought up the holoscreen on his gauntlet. "We would know if anything suspicious had happened."

"But who did this?" Artemis asked.

"Whoever it is, they have to be one of the good guys if they're with Red Arrow." Wally smiled.

"Or Green Arrow," Conner said as he and Raquel walked up.

"Impossible. Unless Freeze or someone switched sides, there are no other heroes in the League with ice abilities." Dick pointed out. "Here, I found an article from the Star City Gazette about an ice hero and it's recent." He zoomed in on the picture and pointed out a red blur that looked as if it were holding a bow.

"That's gotta be Red Arrow," Raquel observed.

"But who's this blue blur?" He tried to magnify it to no avail as it became more blurry. "Can't fix it. It's gotta be a cloaking device. Whoever his new partner is, they have some incredible tech."

Kaldur looked to Conner. "Cat?"

"Chasing Ivo's monkeys." He said plainly before a grin appeared on his face. "All according to plan."

~YJ~

The robotic monkey handed a small computer chip to Ivo. "Good MONQI. Hard to believe a bunch of university students came up with something like this but... I've learned to be surprised by young ones. Just as I am now." He turned his head to see Cat drop out of the shadows, unsurprised by her appearance.

"Wow, you can't make good programming so you steal it. I'm whelmed." 

"That's the second time I've heard that out of someone's mouth. Either you're a friend of that Superboy or you youngsters are butchering the English language again."

"The first one. You can call me the Black Cat."

"Well then, "Black Cat," much like your friend you charge in without thinking. Seems to be common with teenagers nowadays."

"You think I came here without a plan?" She laughed. "Would you like to know a secret?"

"I don't see why not."

"I'm just the distraction." In that instant, Wally knocked Ivo over. "Great timing, KF."

"Couldn't let you have all the fun,"
Next, Conner came flying towards Amazo, knocking him over with a punch. The android grabbed ahold of his ankles and tossed him into the air. though he never hit the ground.

"I got you, Superboy." M'gann appeared out of camouflage mode as she lowered him to the ground gently.

"Thanks." He looked to Cat next. "You could have waited for us."

"Sorry, didn't want him to give Amazo that chip; whatever it is." 

"You mean this chip?" Wally held it up. Zatanna and Kaldur ran into view, stopping next to Wally. 

Ivo's range of expressions went from surprised to angry within seconds. "Amazo-!"
He was interrupted by explosions as a barrage of explosions slammed into Amazo from Artemis, Raquel and Dick.

Artemis stated as she turned to Cat with a smile, "I figured it would help." 
The smoke cleared to reveal Amazo had moved but was still standing. "Apparently not," Raquel added, frowning at the result. 

"This time its all of us." Kaldur nodded at them. 'Stick to the plan.' 

"Amazo, retrieve the chip! Priority alpha!" Amazo switched directions at Ivo's high pitched order.
It released a sonic wave and the group dispersed. It zoomed up to Wally who cartwheeled to the avoid several quick punches swinging his way. 

"Rob!" He tossed the chip to Dick who made a turn on his heel and ran. Amazo immediately turned after him.
'It's after the chip. It couldn't care less about who has it.' He thought as rolled out of the way of a heat vision blast and tossed it to Zatanna.

'Us getting hurt in the process is just a bonus!' Artemis shot freezing arrows at the android's joints, it easily broke free. 
'This thing can take a hit.' Zatanna thought as she threw the chip to Kaldur. She used the moment it was distracted to unleash a chant that allowed her to throw a fireball at Amazo. 
'I've seen the files on this thing! It can copy any powers it sees and it's already got the powers of the entire League.' Raquel thought as she put up a barrier to shield her and Kaldur as Amazo pounded on it with a dose of super strength. 'If I'm right, its what he doesn't know that will hurt him.' 

Kaldur passed the chip to M'gann. 'What'd you have in mind?'

'He doesn't know about my powers.' Cat snickered, 'But he's about to learn them. M'gann, toss it here!' She tossed it to Cat as Amazo changed directions.

"Hey! You giant piece of scrap metal!" 

Ivo raised an eyebrow curiously, frowning in discomfort. "What's that little acrobat up to?" 

"I bet I've got some tricks you've never seen before." Amazo lunged at her only to have her escape its grasp as she vanished. She reappeared on top of a crate, legs crossed as she held her hands up. "Ta-da!" 

Ivo's expression dropped, stunned by the action. "What was that? I wasn't aware you had any powers."

"You'd be surprised." The mischevious expression she wore had his full attention, "I'm very good at magic tricks. Superboy, if you'd check your back pocket."

Superboy reached into his pocket, revealing the computer chip as he removed his hand. "When did that get in there?" Amazo blitzed towards him but before it reached him, Conner threw the chip into the air. Cat jumped overhead, grabbing it and vanishing again. 

"I'm getting sick of this little game," Ivo stated as Cat reappeared. "Hand over the computer chip and I won't have Amazo tear you limb from limb." 

"Sorry, don't have it." She shrugged, vanishing again.  Ivo visibly flinched at the sound of Cat's voice behind him as she reappeared. "It could be anywhere in the world by now."

He jumped away from her, too close for his comfort. A knowing smile spread across his face. "You heroes are more predictable than you think. I don't think you'd take it far from the lab it was created in. In fact, Amazo can copy your ability and check all of Star Labs facilities until he finds it." 

"I'd like to see it try." She teleported a short distance from Amazo. "I've heard so much about how the big, bad Amazo can copy any power it sees; I want to see it for myself." 

After a moment, Amazo made a beeping noise before a synthetic voice filled the air. 'Analysis complete. Accessing, Black Cat.' The android vanished in a haze, which was somewhat different than how Cat teleported.

"Wow! I'm impressed... well, a little." Amazo reappeared, in a worse condition than when it vanished. Sparks were already flying from it before it suddenly exploded. "It's kind of a short-lived success, isn't it?"

"What did you do to my Amazo?!"

"Nothing. Dimensional physics are a little more complex than your android could handle is all. It's not all zeta beams and golden lights when you need precision enough not to punch a hole into the fabric of space."
"You were so confident that there was nothing your Amazing Amazo couldn't copy that your ego made you overlook something so important. And you called us predictable." Wally shook his head, chuckling at the idea.
"How...?"

"You're the genius. You figure it out." Cat's attention moved from Ivo to the destroyed android. 'Amazo might be amazing but I doubt it understands enough to know that without some kind of protection, the pressure between dimensions can crush just about anything.'

'Hello M'gann! That makes so much sense!'
'There's a reason the zeta tubes are affixed to specific locations.' Raquel added. 'I knew there had to be something unique about Cat that Amazo just couldn't copy.'

Wally noticed Ivo attempting to slink away. "Where do you think you're going?" In the blink of an eye, the speedster was blocking his path. "What do you think we should do with him, Supey?"

"I would say he deserves a major beat down but the League wants him in one piece."

"Robin, will you do the honors?" Kaldur asked.
Dick pulled out a pair of high tech handcuffs. "Let's see him get out of these,"

"Oh, I don't think I'll have to worry about that." A crack of electricity struck the ground, forcing everyone to scatter in its wake. "You honestly think I didn't come prepared once I knew you, children, would be around?" Suddenly, everyone was zapped by a jolt of electricity surging across the floor. A swarm of Ivo's monkeys flew past, grabbing him and blasting their way out of the warehouse window. 

"Since when do those things shoot that powerful of a blast?" Zatanna grimaced as she sat up. 

"They don't." Dick struggled to his feet.

"Cat, Kid, go after him." Kaldur ordered.

"Right!" They spoke in unison, each disappearing from sight in their own way. 

"I'm sorry, Batman. It was my-!" Cat began her apology but was immediately interrupted by Kaldur.

"It was my fault," Kaldur began. "Once Kid Flash lost sight of Surge's Alphabot, I should have considered it might make a reappearance." 

"But I-!" she began to object.

"And I can take some of the blame," Wally added. "I detoured to catch up with Cat instead of following Alpha's trail."

"I should have put a barrier around Ivo to contain him." Raquel groaned. "Not that it would have helped with whoever was zapping people." 

"You don't always have to take the heat for everything," Conner interjected. "It's stupid to apologize for something that isn't your fault."

"Sorr-mmph!" Zatanna covered her mouth.
"Stop it." 

"There you go again. I mean- hello M'gann! Ivo's been working with the Light, he has a whole group of villains that might come to his aid."

"I'll admit, I had low expectations about catching him to begin with," Wisteria said. "He's avoided the League for years and now that he's loose again, he might be even harder to locate. I was hoping some new minds might have a better shot at it but it seems he's a slippery little weasel to everyone especially now that the Light is giving him new resources."

"We are impressed, however, by how you handled the situation. You displayed that you can handle multiple battle scenarios with your team not only divided but outnumbered and you made excellent use of Amazo's adaptive abilities." Batman smiled slightly. "Well done."

"I must ask, how did you know Amazo would malfunction like that?" Wisteria asked. "From what I heard, you knew very little about Cat's abilities,"

"Rocket thought of it," Dick started. 

"Back when we fought Chesire, Cat made a comment about how her body is a dimensional gateway," Wally said. 

"The League uses zeta tubes so when we met Cat, I started studying up on how they work," Raquel added. "Even if Amazo could somehow harness zeta beams, I doubted Ivo had the foresight to install the proper systems to use them." 
"He'd need a conduit that could not just channel zeta beams but generate enough of them to travel from one point in space to another." Wally agreed. 

"It was only a matter of time before Amazo attempted to copy Cat's power," Kaldur explained. "Baiting the android into copying her powers may have been risky but in the end, it prevented us from stuck in a drawn-out fight with Amazo. In all honesty, without Cat, Amazo would have likely escaped along with Ivo."

"Me?" She hadn't expected to hear the praise. 

"Yeah, you." Wally laughed. "Which if it weren't for you, the League wouldn't have what's left of Amazo in their possession again. What I'm wondering is why Surge's Alphabot attacked a lab at the same time as Ivo."

"Are we sure it was even Surge's Alphabot?" M'gann asked.
"Definitely Surge. I got a good look at the android when it was trying to maim us. His signature is wildly different from Ivo's and Marrow's and it was decked out in way more tech than his other bots." Wally explained. "I don't think it was a coincidence that it showed up." 

"Batman doesn't believe in coincidence and neither do I."  
"Agreed," Batman responded to Dick's comment. 

"What? You think Surge is working for the Light?" Conner suggested. "Do they really need both Ivo and Surge?"

"But Poseidon is the biotech wing. What would they even want from it?" 

"Plus there's no way Surge would miss out on a chance to hit on Cat." Wally joked and Artemis rolled her eyes in response.

The smile vanished off of her face as she had a realization. "Wait a minute, was the computer chip the only thing that was stolen?"

"Amazo and Ivo ran off before they could take anything else," M'gann answered.

"Superboy, Rocket and I smashed all but two of his monkeys so I could track them back to him but..." Cat was beginning to catch on. 

"There was at least a dozen of them that swooped in to rescue Ivo," Zatanna added. "They would have at least triggered the rest of the alarms."

"Unless they stole from the lab where the alarms were already set off! Gah! I'm so stupid!" Dick growled in rage. "Amazo was the distraction! We need to take an inventory of the labs."

"Hello, M'gann! We were so busy fighting Amazo we didn't notice."

"It couldn't have been helped at the time," Batman interrupted. "The threat that Amazo presented tops that of a burglary,"

"Because tracking down thieves is my specialty." Wisteria chuckled. "And I will see if we can dig up anything more on Surge. If he is working for the Light, it'd be good to get a read on what he is capable of." 
"For now, dismissed." 

~YJ~

"Thank you, Alpha. Glad to see my hard work is paying off."

"I ran into those young heroes once again. Analysis of their responses suggests that they have noticed your signature in my upgraded systems."

"Tcht! So, they recognized you anyways, huh? Wish I would have gone then. Seeing the Black Cat in action is... a thing of beauty. Wouldn't mind a chance to play with her again."

"I didn't need your toy to come get me." Ivo gave Surge a dissatisfied look as he adjusted his folded up sleeves.

"Really?" The young genius leaned his chin on his hand as he slid back in the chair. "From what I hear, you were on the fence before Alpha stepped in to save you." The smirk remained on his face. "Besides, I couldn't let them catch the only family I have left."

Ivo chuckled and patted Surge on the head. "What a selfish grandson you are, Charlie. It's a wonder Luthor and Savage put up with that immature attitude of yours."

"Hey, at least call me by my villain name in front of my guest." He motioned to the shadowy figure standing behind him as she took a step forward.

"Oh, what a cute name, Charlie~" 

"Yeah, yeah. You know mine but I've yet to learn your real name, Miss...?" He looked at her as she set a gloved hand on the back of his chair.

"Let's not get hasty, we've just started this partnership. For now, let's stick with calling me Red Fox."

"Okay then. And you're sure that your boss can expend you-?" 

"It was his idea." she chuckled. "I'm sure he has his reasons,"

"These young heroes are just carbon copies of the League and yet they've managed to beat my Amazo twice." 

"They don't act at all like their seniors, that's for certain. Even Superboy as a clone has a wildly different way of thinking."

"And now we have a wildcard amongst them to deal with," Red Fox added. 

"Powers like that are memorable enough. What I wouldn't do to have a chance to study her," 

"She does sound quite interesting," 

"Don't even think about it." Surge's expression changed to a sharp, sideways glare at his new partner. 

"Oh, boo~" 

"Orders are orders. The Light seems to be interested in her at the moment so until they tell us to move, we don't." he sighed. "I guess we'll have to see how this plays out then,"

"Mhmm." She sat on the arm of his chair, curling a finger through his hair.

He smiled. "We'll soon get our turn in the Light."