CHAPTER 106

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[David Lance POV]

The days drifted by without there being any major occurrences. Beyond Raven and her talk with Batman a few days ago, nothing else had happened, at least nothing worth mentioning or thinking about it.

Of course, this remark of uneventfulness was exclusively from my side, as things from the perspective of my team members were not in such luck of mundanity. This was especially true for Superboy.

Without missions to keep him occupied, his mind had started to wander to a dark corner, at least when it came to Superman and his non-existent relationship with him. It didn't help that Superman was all but avoiding the poor kid like a plague or something perhaps worse, giving Superboy more than a few conflicted feelings.

To make matters worse, a few days ago, Superboy and Superman had a little encounter in Metropolis, so to speak, where he tried to connect with Superman by aiding his city, only to be rejected like a piece of trash.

This encounter took a heavy toll on Superboy, who, after this, was now lashing out more at everyone, behaving in a totally irrational manner more than not. This toll became all the more apparent to everyone when my sister came to train us, resulting in Superboy all but ignoring her.

So, in view of this, I decided to talk with him or try to, at the very least.

~Superboy,~ I signed to him, ~Can we talk for a moment?~

He turned to look at me with an expression that could only be described as 'irritated', but regardless he followed me to a more private spot, which in my book was a win, all things considered.

"What do you want?" Superboy asked impatiently, his arms crossed.

I took a deep breath before answering him, ~I wanted to talk to you about what happened with Superman and also what's been happening lately with you.~

Superboy's eyes narrowed at my words. "What about it? There's nothing to talk about."

I frowned at his words, ~Superboy, I know that you're upset about what happened, but you need to understand that Superman is not perfect and that is not your fault that he doesn't want to talk with you.~

"I don't need your pity," Superboy spat out, his eyes flashing in anger.

~I'm not pitying you,~ I replied, taking a deep breath once again. ~I know you want to connect with him, and in time, you will. But right now, you have to understand that he feels violated, and in a very human way, your presence reminds him of that.~

Superboy was silent for a few moments, his eyes displaying anger, sadness, and a few other emotions I couldn't quite understand before he finally spoke, "I just don't get why he hates me so much."

I shook my head, ~It's not that he hates you. He's just struggling to deal with the idea of having a clone.~

"But I didn't do anything wrong," Superboy said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't ask to be created; I just was. He can't blame me for that."

I nodded. ~I know that, and you know that, but it doesn't change how he feels. Just give him some time to process to understand that you are not to blame for whatever he feels.~

Superboy was quiet for a few moments before he finally nodded his head in understanding, albeit reluctantly. "I just wanted to know more about myself, about my powers. I just thought that if I showed him I wasn't bad that he would help me understand what I am, or maybe help me understand my limits if the first one was too much."

Even without Raven's power, I could feel the pain in his words to the point I kind of wanted to punch Superman, even though I understood him.

I placed a hand on Superboy's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze in a comforting manner. ~I know. Just remember, Superman is not like the media portrays him to be. He's just as flawed as you, and me, and any other person around. He feels fear, love, hate, and more. And right now, he's afraid, but he doesn't understand why, which is why he avoids you."

"Do you really think he will get over this?" Superboy asked, his voice filled with hope.

I smiled at him. ~I do.~

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After my talk with Superboy, Batman contacted the team to tell us we had a mission. The mission was that we had to escort two STAR Lab vans during their journey as they moved Amazo to a different location.

I could already tell from the get-go this was going to end badly for us, one way or another. Honestly, at times I really didn't like Batman; I had told him that android was best if it was destroyed, but did he listen, no.

Mission at hand, we moved out of the base, making our way to the Litchfield County, where the STARS Lab vans were waiting for us to start their journey; from there, we started our mission by shadowing the vans from different angles, making sure to cover every possible angle in order to better react to any attacks.

-Team, keep your heads up. I'm 80% sure we will have some... troubles along the way,- I said through the telepathic Miss Martian had set, making sure everyone was on the same page.

-That's a very negative way of thinking,- Miss Martian replied, her tone showing a bit of concern for what she considered to be a pessimistic outlook. -But I'll make sure to be alert, just in case your hunch is correct.-

-We fought Amazo before, and it was not an easy task,- Raven replied, her voice as emotionless as ever. -In this case, being pessimistic is the same as being realistic.-

-I agree,- Aqualad said, joining in the conversation. -It is better to be safe. No precaution is ever unnecessary when facing the enemy.-

-You fought Amazo before. So how did you guys beat him?- Robin asked, making me smile. A month ago, he couldn't even look at me in the eyes; now, he was even asking questions.

-Amazo prioritizes defense over offense, leaving him vulnerable between power switches. He also takes a few seconds between switches, leaving him wide open for attacks,- I replied, recalling the strategy we used to defeat Amazo the first time.

As we continued to talk about Amazo and our encounter with the android a few months ago, something moved around us behind the cover of a cornfield.

-Team, we have company, so get ready,- I warned the team as I pressed the pedal on my bike to reach the van in order to get on top of it. As I did this, a swarm of monkey drones appeared from out of the cornfield, flying toward the vans.

Already on top of the van by this point, I quickly moved to intercept them as they tried to push me off the van.

-Raven, Miss Martian, use your telekinetic abilities to destroy as many drones as you can from afar,- I said, doing my best to hold on as the drones attacked me. -Superboy, Kid Flash, and Aqualad, defend the other van. Robin, you are with me.-

-I hate monkeys- Superboy replied in a low growl as he moved to intercept the drones on the other van.

With the team moving, I changed my focus to the drones, breaking them with ease with a hit or two. However, the moment I broke one drone, two more would appear, taking its place, making this fight a seemingly endless cycle.

If things continued this way, there was no doubt that I would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers the drones had over us.

-There are too many of them!- Robin cried as he jumped into the van, kicking a few drones off my plate.

-I know,- I replied, punching through a drone as I kicked another one into the van, destroying it, only for one of the drones to laser me in the face, doing no damage, but blinding me for a few seconds, giving a few of the drones enough time to push me off the van.

-I'm tired of this,- Raven muttered, catching me before I could collide with the ground before putting me back on the van.

-I agree,- I replied, seeing as the drones were using their lasers to make a hole in the side of the van to access Amazo. Without wasting time, I darted toward the drones, destroying them one by one in a matter of seconds before hurling some explosive knives at a few that were flying toward the van.

This last act, on my part, seemed to have had some effect because the drones started to fly away.

-They are leaving,- Aqualad said in surprise, watching as the drones flew away.

-It's not over yet,- I said, feeling something was off.

As if proving my point, the drones changed their trajectory and started to fly ahead of us, stopping right in front of the vans before darting forward at full speed, exploding in the tires of the van upon collision before any of us could react. This, in turn, made the vans lose control and fly into the air before crashing down into the cornfields at high speed.

Before that happened, however, I jumped off the van, landing on the road, where I rolled on the street, before coming to a full stop. -Raven, Miss Martian, stop them! Kid Flash, the drivers!-

The drones had played us with that move, forcing us off the vans. Be that as it may, it was still not too late to stop Amazo from coming back online, and I would be damned if I let that happen; the last thing I wanted, ever, was to fight that robotic menace again.