19 The Day is Saved… Kinda

Northwest Courtyard

The sun had long ago set on the city. A tense silence filled the air as the heroes and villains approached the agreed location, which was filled with shadow and minimal light. Both sides faced each other, apprehensive of the other breaking their verbal deal.

"We have your hero," the lead villain growled, holding a bound and gagged figure in front of him. "You hand over the doctor, and we'll release him unharmed."

The good doctor grimaced at the people in front of her.

Black Spider nudged a bound and gagged speedster forward.

KF hopped forward. 'What the hell, Rob? You can't be okay with this!'

"That's it. Just a quick trade, and we can all go our separate ways."

"Not gonna lie, I didn't expect you to agree with us as soon as you did," commented Ziggy.

"Goes to show that these 'sidekicks' break easily," snarked Hook.

Kid Flash struggled through his restraints to no avail, glaring at his so-called team. 'What the hell are you guys thinking?! Where the hell is Ark?!'

Aqualad grit his teeth. "We care for our own."

"Unlike some of us here," glowered Robin at Black Spider. He turned back to KF. "We know what we're doing."

The villains shrugged. "Survival of the fittest. Seems like Chesire isn't cut out for the business if she's gonna get caught that easily."

Robin growled. "Let's just get this over with!"

Black Spider crossed his arms. "Fine by me."

Slowly, Kid Flash hopped toward his friends as Doctor Selena Gonzales took slow steps to her would-be killers, her eyes down to the ground. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Kid. I won't have you dead because of me."

After hearing that, it was more and more laborious with each hop.

"That's it nice and easy," gestured Ziggy.

They were grabbed and moved to the back when they reached their respective destinations.

Aqualad quickly ripped the gag off of Kid Flash. "Are you okay?"

Kid Flash fumed at the Atlantean. "Am I okay?! Am I okay?! Do you have any idea what you've done?!" He looked at Robin. "You signed her death warrant!"

Robin looked away. "This was for you. We did what we had to do."

"Listen to your friend," called out Hook. "You were lucky we had nothing to gain by killing you."

The doctor took a step into the darkness and closed her eyes. "Please. Just make it quick…"

Black Spider raised his gauntlet to her head. A single gunshot echoed through the facility. Red liquid splattered into the shadows and spilled from the wound as the woman fell face-forward to the ground.

"No!" Kid Flash struggled to charge at the killers, but Robin and Aqualad held him back. They cried out in horror. Both of them grit their teeth away from the scene. "How could you! All of you!" Tears escaped from his mask.

Black Spider dusted his hands. "Well, that concludes our contract." The trio started walking away. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Minutes passed before Kid Flash stopped struggling. When Robin and Aqualad let him go, he hobbled to the doctor's body and fell to his knees. "Why?!... Why?!"

"Are they gone yet?" whispered the corpse.

"Holy shit!" Kid Flash's instincts kicked in, and he ran away from the possible zombie.

Both Aqualand and Robin let out deep breaths that they held in for a while. Tension finally released from their muscles.

The body of the fallen doctor began to bubble and squirm. Within moments, it formed into a pile of mud before reforming into a round blob with green eyes and a mouth.

Kid Flash stared at the familiar hourglass symbol. "Ark!"

The blob smiled. "Yup!"

KF fell to his knees, somewhat numb. "What the hell just happened!"

Ark smirked. "To put it simply, we faked the doctor's death."

KF stared at everyone. "Wait. So, Doctor Gonzales is alive."

"Alive and stinky. We had to hide her in a dumpster several blocks over," answered Robin.

"What the fuck!" Kid Flash started mock-punching the other teens. "You guys knew all along?!"

"Honestly, I wanted to sneak in and extract you, but Ark put up his suggestion."

"We had to sell it as if it was the real doctor, or else the ruse would be exposed."

Ark reverted to his human form. "For what it's worth, the Doctor offered to exchange. She couldn't handle knowing you gave your life for her. Still mad?"

Kid Flash lay on the ground and groaned. "No… Not anymore."

Robin nudged his friend back up. "Come on, let's check up on Cheshire."

With Kid Flash in tow, the four heroes returned to their bound capture. However, when they turned the corner, they found a pile of burt webbing.

Ark picked up a piece. "Looks like Cheshire found an alternative way out. They may be like steel cables at a certain thickness, but they are still webs at the end of the day."

Aqualad dug through the pile and found the remnants of a match. "She must have been relieved to remember having this."

Wally paled. "Is it possible she went to find the doctor?"

"Nah." Robin had pulled up his wrist computer, displaying an EKG reading. "I gave her a heart rate tracker to monitor if anyone else makes a surprise visit."

"Besides, I doubt she would waste time searching. She wouldn't have anywhere to start looking," argued Ark.

Suddenly, a low rumble shakes the ground beneath their feet. Thick plumes of smoke begin to billow from the lower floors. The building's structure groans under the intense heat and pressure.

Kid Flash started backing away. "We forgot about Ziggy's bombs..."

"Yup!" Robin shot a grapple to an adjacent building. "Run! Run! Run!"

"Get the Doctor!" yelled Kaldur.

A green flash and a blue blur ran ahead of them to a secluded dumpster.

With a deafening roar, the building's supports give way, and the entire structure begins to collapse. Glass shatters, steel bends, and concrete cracks as the once proud skyscraper crumbles into a chaotic heap of rubble—chunks of debris rain down onto the streets below. Dust and smoke fill the air.

Star Labs, Reception Room

July 10, 06:45 CDT

The mood is tense yet relieved after a successful mission. Flash shook his head in amusement. "That is the most reckless plan I've heard."

Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad sat around, their expressions a mix of exhaustion and nervousness. "But it worked."

Flash crossed his arms. "For what it's worth, great work out there, everyone. Plan A failed, and you were put through some tough odds. Your priority was to save Doctor, and you did just that."

Robin chuckled. "Yeah, but it wasn't easy. We were expecting two, maybe three assassins, but four came. It was no joke."

Barry glared at his nephew again. "Still can't believe you fell for the human glue trap."

The redhead threw his hands up in exasperation. "He was a demolitions expert. How was I supposed to know he went to improv classes."

"Fair. But still, you should have known how to get out of those after seeing all the times I had to deal with them."

Wally still couldn't phase through objects yet. "I'm working on it!"

"We'll also be working on your hostage negotiation skills."

Ark chimed in. "If I ever get an afternoon with you guys, we can talk training and stuff."

Barry nodded. "Thank you. Perhaps a different perspective will help."

"It's still fucked up that you made me think we got the doctor shot dead," grumbled Wally.

"We had to make it look convincing," argued Robin. "You already know about the acting training Bats gives. This is just me using it in action."

"It is unfortunate that we had to resort to faking Doctor Gonzales' death to throw off the assassins. It was a risky move, but it still had the least risk thanks to Ark volunteering." Aqualad rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't have the same experience. I was trying my best to hide my rather novice expressions."

Robin sweatdropped. "The lab building was destroyed, but at least we're all alive."

Barr rolled his eyes. Maybe he should start taking improv classes with James as a civilian. It might give him hints on possible relapse. "On another note, I'm surprised you were willing to play out the fake death. Last year, I proposed the same idea to Martian Manhunter before Batman shot it down. Come on. The man is bulletproof. he would have been fine."

Robin raised a brow. "Batman has used that tactic before."

"In fairness, the one taking the killing blow is proposing the idea in the first place," answered Aqualad.

Ark waved a hand in the air. "Sometimes, a hero's gotta trick a villain in the long term."

Robin raised a brow. "How many times have you faked someone's death?"

Ark sighed. "More than I would like there to be. Thankfully, they're all under witness protection."

"Which I'll be accepting gladly," interrupted Doctor Gonzales. "Considering my building is gone, it's possible that not even the backup servers survived." She shuddered. "I don't want to imagine more assassins in my home, trying to find my records."

Flash walked over and patted her gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry. The League is officially on the case. We'll send people to secure your belongings and start processing your new residence." He turned back to the teens. "In the meantime, you guys should head home. You're lucky today isn't a school day."

Ark said goodbye to the heroes and Doctor Gonzales as the teens chuckled. 'Now, what am I gonna tell Harley to explain why I was gone all night?'

#

Omnitrix DNA Entry:

Name: Slopshifter

Species: Lenopan

Home World: Unknown

Powers and Abilities:

Lenopans can take on different shapes and features, such as skin and hair. Current records describe Lenopans as some of the galaxy's toughest, nastiest, meanest beings. Lenopans can stretch, morph, and shapeshift their bodies in any way, shape, or form at will. By changing their color and texture, they can mimic flesh and fabric. Lenopans can detach their body parts and stick them back on, reattaching them. If they are disembodied, their pieces will instinctively come together again and reconstitute them. Lenopans can shapeshift their body parts and sometimes themselves into other objects, including melee weapons. Using their sludge, they can look like another shape made of purple sludge while they can still move in liquid form. Lenopans can shapeshift into non-existent or imaginary species, complete with unique abilities. Lenopans' liquid bodies can be gelatinous, akin to a large muscle mass, which allows tangibility and the ability to be mobile. Lenopans can generate slime and shoot masses of it like adhesive projectiles. A Lenopan's normal slimy form is dense and adhesive enough to trap other creatures in themselves. This form also gives them the capability to go underground infinitely.