Mount Justice — August 10, 2010, 18:47 EDT
The ambient lighting of the mission briefing room cast long shadows across the faces of the gathered heroes. Robin leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching as Batman manipulated the holographic display at the center of the room.
"Star City. Warehouse district. Tonight," Batman stated, his voice carrying the weight of command without raising its volume. Images of shipping containers and manifests materialized in the air.
"Intel suggests the League of Shadows is targeting a Waynetech weapons shipment scheduled to arrive at 2200 hours."
Robin narrowed his eyes behind his mask. "Waynetech? That's unusual. Bruce Wayne typically refuses military contracts."
"These aren't conventional weapons," Batman clarified. "Advanced non-lethal containment systems. Designed specifically for meta-human confrontations."
Kid Flash zipped to the front, vibrating with his characteristic impatience. "So basically, they're stealing stuff designed to stop people like us? Cool. Cool cool cool."
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Can you take anything seriously?"
"I am serious!" Wally protested. "Seriously concerned about tech that can take us down getting into assassin hands!"
Aqualad stepped forward, his calm presence immediately refocusing the team. "What is our objective?"
Batman's gloved fingers brought up a schematic of the warehouse. "Reconnaissance and prevention. Observe Shadow operatives, identify leadership, and stop the theft without engaging directly if possible."
'Where's Superboy?' Miss Martian asked, her mental voice laced with concern that carried to all of them through their psychic link.
"Superboy and Sentinel are responding to another Shadow operation in Metropolis," Batman said. "We have reason to believe these are coordinated strikes."
Robin felt his stomach tighten. For a stealth operation, splitting our heaviest hitters away feels like a tactical error. Batman doesn't make those kinds of mistakes. Unless...
"You're testing us," Robin said softly.
Batman's cowl didn't shift, but Robin knew his mentor well enough to catch the micro-expressions. "I'm deploying available assets according to mission parameters. This is an infiltration operation. No heavy combat expected or authorized."
That's not a denial, Robin thought.
Aqualad nodded decisively. "We will not disappoint you."
As the team filed out toward the hangar, Robin hung back, catching Batman's eye.
"Something feels off about this," he said quietly.
Batman's response was barely audible. "Trust your instincts."
Star City — August 10, 2010, 20:13 EDT
The warehouse loomed dark against the Star City skyline, illuminated intermittently by distant lightning from an approaching storm. Robin perched on the adjacent rooftop, counting security patrols through his binoculars.
'Perimeter count?' Aqualad's mental voice was clear through Miss Martian's psychic link.
'Four visible guards. Standard pattern. Nothing Shadow-like about them," Robin reported. "Either this intel was wrong or—'
'—or the Shadows are already inside,' Artemis finished.
'M'gann, can you sense anyone?' Kid Flash asked.
Miss Martian's presence in the link wavered slightly. 'It's... strange. I'm getting interference. Like static.'
Robin felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air. 'That's not good.'
'Move in. Formation Delta' Aqualad commanded. 'Robin, point.'
Robin fired his grapple, swinging silently to the warehouse roof. The access door's lock yielded in seconds to his decryption device. Too easy.
The team filtered in through the roof access, descending to the cavernous main floor. Shipping containers were stacked in methodical rows, creating a labyrinth of metal corridors.
'I don't like this,' Artemis thought, nocking an arrow. 'Too quiet.'
'Split and sweep. Kid Flash and Artemis, west quadrant. M'gann and I will take east. Robin, central command node'' Aqualad directed.
Robin moved silently toward the center of the warehouse where a small office structure overlooked the floor. If I were running a heist, that's where I'd set up.
He was halfway there when Miss Martian's psychic scream ripped through their minds.
'AAAGH! Something's—' Her presence vanished from the link.
"M'gann!" Aqualad's shout echoed through the warehouse.
The lights blazed on, momentarily blinding them all. When Robin's vision cleared, he saw why M'gann had screamed.
A device pulsed on the floor where she had been floating, emitting waves of energy that had forced her into physical form. She lay unconscious beside it.
Cheshire's distinctive mask appeared atop a shipping container, followed by her languid form. "Well, well. Right on schedule."
Black-clad Shadow operatives materialized from hiding places throughout the warehouse—at least twenty of them. Robin's mind raced through tactical scenarios, each more desperate than the last.
"You know what they say about curiosity," Cheshire purred, dropping to the floor with cat-like grace. "It kills more than just cats."
Kid Flash blurred into motion—only to crash into a nearly invisible wire strung across his path. He tumbled painfully across the concrete floor.
"Predictable," Cheshire sighed. "You always go for speed first, tactics second."
Robin reached for his utility belt, but froze as a familiar snikt sounded behind his ear—the unmistakable whisper of a blade being drawn.
"Don't," a male voice warned. "Not unless you want a new breathing hole."
Artemis loosed three arrows in rapid succession toward Cheshire, who deflected two with her sai and caught the third. "Impressive. But not enough, little sister."
She snapped the arrow, which immediately released a cloud of dense smoke. Artemis used the cover to dive behind a container.
'Sister?' Robin thought, filing that unexpected information away.
Aqualad summoned his water bearers, forming twin blades. Four Shadows converged on him simultaneously. He held his own, but was clearly being driven back.
'They're isolating us', Robin realized. Targeting our weaknesses with precision.
A cry of pain announced that Artemis had been found. Robin saw her stumble into view, clutching her shoulder where a throwing star had struck.
Robin executed a backward flip, disarming his captor with a kick, but two more immediately took his place. Kid Flash had recovered and was trying to reach Miss Martian, but the Shadows kept herding him away with precisely timed obstacles.
Their coordination was flawless, their tactics ruthless. The Team was being systematically dismantled.
"Batman," Robin hissed into his comm. "We need backup. Ambush. Heavy Shadow presence." Static answered him.
"Communications jammed," Cheshire announced cheerfully. "No cavalry coming to save you tonight."
Robin gritted his teeth, facing three Shadow operatives closing in. We were set up. This whole mission was a trap.
The high-pitched whine of charging energy cut through the chaos.
A figure crashed through the skylight, raining glass onto the warehouse floor. In the split-second before impact, Robin caught the glint of metal and red body armor.
The newcomer landed in a three-point stance, his right arm—a sophisticated prosthetic glowing with blue energy—extended toward Cheshire. A targeted pulse knocked the sai from her grip.
Without pausing, he rolled forward, firing three precise shots that disabled the device pinning Miss Martian. In the same fluid movement, he launched a grapple line that wrapped around the legs of the Shadow operative threatening Artemis.
"What the—" Cheshire began, but had to dodge as another energy burst nearly clipped her mask.
The figure moved with military precision through the Shadows' ranks, each motion economical and lethal in its restraint. His fighting style was familiar—reminiscent of Green Arrow's technique, but rawer, angrier.
Two Shadows rushed him simultaneously. He dropped to one knee, his metal arm transforming into what looked like a miniature sonic cannon. The blast sent them flying into a stack of crates.
Robin recognized the technologies. "WayneTech arm components. Queen Industries power source. LexCorp weapons integration. That's... impossible."
As the newcomer dispatched the last Shadow between him and Artemis, she looked up at his face, visible now that he had turned their way. Her eyes widened in shock.
"Red Arrow?" she asked, clearly confused.
The young man's face hardened. He had Roy Harper's features, but leaner, with haunted eyes and a scar running from temple to jaw.
"Not him," he answered sharply. "Me."
With mechanical precision, he fired two more shots without looking, dropping Shadows who were attempting to flank Kid Flash.
"Who are you?" Aqualad demanded, regrouping with the others as the mysterious archer created a momentary reprieve.
The young man's expression was ice. "The original."
Cheshire had vanished during the commotion, along with several of her elite operatives. The remaining Shadows were regrouping for another assault.
"We have about thirty seconds before they come back with a new strategy," the Roy lookalike warned. "Get your teammate and move to the north exit."
Robin helped Miss Martian to her feet as she regained consciousness. "The comms are still jammed."
The stranger's mechanical arm shifted configuration again. "Not anymore." He fired a targeted EMP burst at a concealed device in the rafters. It sparked and died.
Robin immediately activated his emergency beacon. "Backup incoming."
"Just what we need," their unexpected saviour muttered, his voice bitter. "More heroes."
Star City — August 10, 2010, 20:40 EDT
The north exit doors burst open three minutes later. Batman entered first, batarang at the ready, followed by Green Arrow and Black Canary.
The warehouse had fallen eerily silent. The remaining Shadow operatives had retreated after the communications jammer was destroyed. The Team huddled in defensive formation around Miss Martian, who was still recovering.
Batman's eyes swept the scene, cataloging details with machine-like efficiency. When his gaze landed on the red-armored figure standing apart from the others, he froze.
Green Arrow pushed forward, lowering his bow slowly. "That can't be—" he muttered, shock evident in his voice.
The young man who looked like Roy Harper stared back, his expression a mixture of rage and pain. "Guess your clone didn't mention me."
Black Canary stepped forward, her posture betraying carefully controlled emotion. "Roy?"
"The real one," he answered coldly. "Not the replacement you've been training."
Batman moved with deliberate calm, placing himself where he could see both the young man and any potential threat vectors. "Explain."
Robin watched the interplay with growing understanding. It can't be. But it's the only explanation that fits.
"I don't owe you explanations," the young man snarled. Then, gesturing at the Team with his mechanical arm: "They were walking into a massacre. Shadow operatives, twenty-plus. Cheshire was running point."
"How did you know about this operation?" Batman asked.
A bitter smile twisted the young man's features. "Because I've been tracking the Shadows since their Friends cut off my arm."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Green Arrow took a halting step forward. "Roy, what happened to your arm?"
"That concern you are showing is not for ME!" came the frigid reply. "While you were training my replacement, I was hooked to machines in a Cadmus sub-basement."
Artemis gasped. Kid Flash looked between Green Arrow and the young man, confusion plain on his face.
"But Red Arrow is—" Kid Flash began.
"A clone," the original Roy Harper cut in. "Programmed to infiltrate the Justice League. To be everything I was, minus the inconvenient questions."
Batman's expression hadn't changed, but Robin recognized the subtle shift in his posture—the acknowledgment of a grave miscalculation.
"How long?" Black Canary asked softly.
"Three years," Roy answered, the cold precision of his voice cracking slightly. "Three years while you replaced me with a copy. Did any of you even notice the differences? Or was he just better than the original?"
Green Arrow's face had drained of color. "Roy, I never would have—if I had known—"
As he stood there, a memory flooded back unbidden—a crisp autumn day in Star City, few years ago...
"Higher elbow," Oliver instructed, adjusting Roy's form as the younger archer took aim at a target 300 yards distant. "Remember what I taught you about compensating for wind drift."
Roy nodded, making the minor correction before releasing the arrow. It struck dead center.
"Nice shot," Oliver grinned, clapping his protégé on the shoulder.
"That makes twenty bulls-eyes in a row," Roy said, his voice betraying a hint of pride beneath the serious exterior. "New record."
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "And?"
Roy rolled his eyes but couldn't suppress a smile. "And your training isn't completely useless after all."
"That's my sidekick," Oliver laughed. "Tomorrow, we'll try it blindfolded."
Roy groaned. "You're joking."
"Maybe," Oliver winked. "But I'll always push you to be better, kid. That's a promise."
The memory shattered as the present Roy's accusation cut through the air.
"You should have known!" Roy's shout echoed through the warehouse. "You were supposed to be my mentor! My partner!"
The mechanical arm whirred as his emotions surged, power cells glowing brighter. "I lost my arm. I lost years. And I lost whatever faith I had in heroes."
He fixed Green Arrow with a hollow stare. "Remember that winter training session in North Cascades? When the blizzard hit and we had to take shelter in that ranger cabin?"
Oliver's posture stiffened, recognition flickering across his features.
"You told me about how your father's company-built weapons that killed the very people they were supposed to protect," Roy continued, his voice a mixture of venom and pain. "How you became Green Arrow to make amends for his sins. How some legacies have to be broken before they can be rebuilt."
The archer's expression crumpled slightly. "I asked you if I was just your sidekick or if I was your legacy. You said, 'Neither. You're my son, Roy.'"
Oliver took an unsteady step forward. "I meant that. I still do."
"Then why didn't you find me?" Roy's voice broke on the last word.
Robin stepped forward cautiously. "How did you escape?"
Roy's breathing steadied as he regained control. "I had help. From someone who cared enough to look."
The soft whoosh of air announced another arrival. Match—now known publicly as Sentinel—descended through the shattered skylight, carrying Superboy. Both showed signs of recent combat, though Match's injuries were already healing while his suit was repairing visibly.
Superboy nodded grimly to the Team as Match set him down. "Metropolis situation contained. Heavy Intergang presence, Shadow coordination."
Match's eyes immediately found Roy. He nodded once, a gesture of respect.
"You knew," Aqualad stated simply. It wasn't a question.
"He was there when I woke up," Match confirmed, addressing the gathered heroes. "He and Nexus helped me stabilize when I was still... volatile."
Batman's focus sharpened. "You knew of Red Arrow's clone status?"
Match met the Dark Knight's gaze without flinching. "It wasn't my place to expose him. Not until Roy was ready."
Roy's laugh held sarcasm. "We collect strays. The forgotten. The replaced."
"You've been operating independently," Batman stated.
"We've been surviving," Roy corrected sharply. "Dismantling Cadmus operations. Destroying their research. Making sure what happened to us doesn't happen to anyone else."
Green Arrow took another step toward him. "Roy, please. Come back with us. Whatever's happened, we can—"
"Fix it?" Roy's voice was pure venom. "Like you fixed me? By getting a newer model?"
Black Canary moved between them. "That's enough. Both of you." She turned to Roy, her expression firm but compassionate. "No one replaced you. No one could. And we didn't know"
Roy's expression flickered with something complex—perhaps the first crack in his armor of rage.
Kid Flash zoomed to Match's side. "Okay, seriously though—who is this Nexus guy? Last time you didn't tell us about him but know we deserve to know; Because it sounds like he's been playing both sides."
"He doesn't play sides," Match answered evenly. "He plays the long game."
Artemis clutched her injured shoulder. "That's not cryptic at all."
Robin pulled up his wrist computer, fingers flying across the holographic interface. "I've seen that name in Batman's restricted files. Nexus. Real name: Raj Bansal."
Batman's cowl shifted slightly—the closest thing to surprise he typically showed.
"He fell through some kind of portal in Metropolis." Robin continued, scrolling through data. "Superman found him. No history in any system except a college ID in his wallet. No fingerprint or DNA matches anywhere."
"He appeared two weeks before you freed Superboy from Cadmus," Batman added. "Which is why his status there went unnoticed during our investigation."
"He warned Superman about Cadmus cloning operations being more extensive than we realized," Batman continued, his voice measured. "I've been quietly investigating his claims for weeks. There were... irregularities in the records we found."
"And he's been active ever since," Roy said. "Quietly. Building a network of former Cadmus 'projects' while you've been chasing shadows."
"The League of Assassins," Aqualad clarified.
"Tonight wasn't about stealing weapons," Roy said, his tone shifting to tactical precision. "It was a field test. They wanted to see how your team would perform against coordinated Shadow tactics."
Batman's silence was confirmation enough.
"They're escalating," Roy continued. "Testing for weaknesses. Studying response patterns."
"For what purpose?" Aqualad asked.
"That's the million-dollar question," Roy answered.
Green Arrow stepped forward again. "Roy... come back with us. Join the Team. Whatever's happening, we can face it together."
For a moment, something vulnerable flickered across Roy's face—a glimpse of the young sidekick he had once been. Then the shutters came down again.
"I'm not your partner," he said coldly. "I'm not your sidekick. I'm the guy Cadmus couldn't break."
He tapped something on his mechanical arm, and the warehouse lights flickered. When they stabilized, he was already at the exit.
"I go by Arsenal now," he called back. "And I'll deal with the Shadows my way."
At the door, he paused, looking directly at Green Arrow. "You trained a lie. Now deal with the truth."
The door closed behind him with quiet finality.
Match nodded to the Team, particularly to Superboy, before rising into the air. "He'll be alright," he said simply, then followed Arsenal's exit path.
In the silence that followed, Miss Martian's psychic voice reached them all, heavy with emotion.
'I felt his pain. All of it. He's been carrying it so long he doesn't know how to put it down.'
The Team turned to her, seeing tears streaming down her green face.
'Three years of darkness,' she continued, her mental voice trembling. 'Cold metal tables. The constant hum of machines. The burning when they took his arm. The hope that faded a little more each day when no one came.'
She looked up at Green Arrow, her eyes reflecting an empathy so profound it was almost unbearable. 'He doesn't hate you because you didn't find him. He hates you because he still loves you, and that love is the most painful thing he carries.'
Green Arrow stood motionless, staring at the door where Roy had vanished. Black Canary placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Ollie," she said softly. "It's really him."
Batman stepped closer to Green Arrow, surprising everyone by placing a hand on the archer's other shoulder—a rare gesture of solidarity.
"This isn't on you, Oliver," Batman said quietly, his voice shedding its usual coldness. "We were all deceived. The clone's programming was perfect—designed to fool even the closest scrutiny. None of us saw it."
Batman turned to the Team, his expression grave. "Mission debriefs at the Cave. Full report." He paused, then added something almost unprecedented: "You performed admirably under extreme circumstances."
As they filed out toward the Bioship, Robin lingered, watching Batman confer quietly with Green Arrow and Black Canary.
The original Roy Harper is alive, he thought. Clone infiltrators. Secret Cadmus projects. A mysterious inter-dimensional visitor building a network of escaped experiments.
He caught Batman's eye across the warehouse. His mentor gave him the barest of nods—permission to pursue these questions.
There's a bigger picture here, Robin realized. And Arsenal just handed us a piece of the puzzle we didn't even know we were missing.
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[A/N: Word Count-3300]
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