Chapter 57

Nina Dowd took a deep breath. Harry, Lena, Gwen, Caitlin, Diana, and Sam all stood by, very carefully monitoring the situation, where they would run Nina through the final round of tests.

"If the process works, you should be able to shift through forms at will," Lena said. "With all of the steps that we've taken, the worst thing that could happen is it does not work."

"Are you ready to go?" Diana asked. "We really appreciate you doing this, but if it's something you're uncomfortable with doing…."

"No," Nina replied. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

Caitlin and Karen locked eyes, all determined to make this work.

"Okay, here we go," Caitlin said.

Lena responded with a nod. This had been the first of many projects which Lena hoped to finally reach its final destination over the next few weeks. The crystal locked into place and the runes had been properly charged. Mera, Sindella, and Harry crafted them to perfection, and while Lena found herself woefully out of her depth with magic, she would trust some of the experts.

"And now," Lena said.

She activated the device. The beam of light shot through the runes, and through the magnifying crystal before hitting Nina. Nina's skin cells reverted back to what they were before the curse had been enacted. She shuddered and shifted before turning back into her normal self.

Deep breathing followed as Nina looked herself in the mirror. Very disappointed with how unremarkable she looked, very disappointed indeed.

"You should be able to turn back at will," Karen said. "Just imagine your other form."

Nina closed her eyes and once again her body shifted. The busty cat girl form she knew and loved shifted back. A deep breath followed and Nina's big grin only got bigger when she blinked at it.

"And just for testing purposes turn back to normal," Karen said.

Nina turned back to her normal form, just long enough to run scans. She had grown comfortable in the new form, because it did make her stand out. Although, she supposed having a more human form would make her less conspicuous in several different ways, so there was that, she guessed.

"It's time," Harry said. "Are you ready?"

Diana moved over and opened up the rune to open the gate.

"It's time," Diana said.

Two of the Amazon Guards Diana met both nodded and disappeared. The form of Barbara Ann Minerva, better known as Cheetah, had been escorted out of the gate. Diana motioned for the device and Minerva's eyebrow cocked up.

"It's as I promised," Diana said. "I would fix what went wrong."

"We'll see," Minerva said. "Get on with it."

She had been cold and very crisp with her words towards Diana. Harry and Karen put a hand on either of Diana's shoulders with Barbara Minerva being led closer towards the machine. Deeply breathing when she settled down on either side of said machine.

"Recalibrating the machine," Gwen said. "Let's do this."

They needed a stronger blast because while Nina had enjoyed the gifts her form had given, Minerva had not, and had grown rather resentful for reasons of her own. Diana hoped, preyed, this would be the olive branch which would mend the friendship they once had.

Cheetah sat perched and the beam of light connecting to her rippled through the woman's body. She shifted, with only a moderate amount of pain. She turned back into a gorgeous redhead woman, and the frown on her face turned into a smile.

"Well, you did it," Minerva said smiling. "Of course, providing this holds and I don't revert back into my Cheetah form."

"We'll make sure to do everything, run every test to make sure you don't," Caitlin said. "Unless you…."

"Never," Minerva said. "It twisted my mind, in addition to my body. I never want to be down that road ever again."

Diana really hoped they could both be on the road to redemption. There was a small probability Minerva could revert, so naturally, Diana adopted an extremely pessimistic approach on the matter.

Ruby, decked in the Blue Beetle armor, dodged a group of thugs who all made an attempt to cause her arm. She stopped short of blasting an old woman, and the trigger happy scarab needed to be reminded of certain things.

"Okay, I would appreciate if you don't take out the old lady...or the blind man...or the dog, this time," Ruby said. "Because, that's going to be a mess if we do it for real."

"Redirecting our attacks is inefficient and takes up more time," the scarab said. "Collateral damage is unfortunate, but necessary, and if it's them or us, then you must understand, Ruby Arias, that survival is key."

"I don't feel like blowing up innocent people is ever necessary," Ruby argued.

"Fine, we'll do it your way," the scarab said.

Ruby dodged the gun fire from the soldiers on the ground. She put up the armor and deflected the shots. Avoiding hitting any civilians, Ruby nailed them down with a couple of shots.

A rumbling from behind Ruby caught her off guard. To be honest, she had never gone this far in the simulation. A large tank made its way towards Ruby. Quickly, Ruby yanked two civilians out of the way and jumped behind a bus. The tank just knocked the bus over.

"The fuel line is on the left side," the scarab said. "You should hit it, and it will take out the rest of the mercenaries as well."

"And also some innocent people as well," Ruby said.

"You are rather persistent and stubborn," the scarab said.

Ruby dove high into the air and crashed down onto the tank and rattled it. The tank sent an electrified shock. The scarab protected her from most of it. However, Ruby had been sent head over heels, flipping over and landing on the ground right before the tank almost ran over her.

At the very last second, Ruby avoided being crushed by the incoming tank. Breathing heavily, she knocked it back and sent it flipping over to crash down onto the ground.

Ruby, wiping a bead of sweat off her face, settled down with a couple of deep breaths. She arched her neck back and avoided the tank shooting rounds at her. The street underneath her blue up.

Ruby appeared in the middle of a blank room. Kara, Megan, and Harry watching her, along with her mother, Lena, and Gwen in the next room.

"So, how did I do?" Ruby asked.

"Better than the last time, still need some work on your reaction time," Harry said.

"So, not quite ready to join the Team yet?" Ruby asked.

Harry put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're getting there, keep training, and you'll be there, someday," Harry said. "As you and the scarab get more comfortable and work together in harmony, the sky's the limit."

"Time for a break," Sam said. "How about that pizza?"

"Great!" Ruby cheered.

The scarab retracted, and those who did not know any better would think it would be a tattoo placed firmly on the back of the Teenage Girl's neck.

"So, really getting better?" Kara asked.

"Yeah," Megan said. "She'll be ready soon, maybe not as soon as Cassie would be. Although Diana and Donna are overseeing her training."

Outside of Titans Tower, Harry had been greeted very warmly by Starfire who swept him up into a crushing hug, her heaving bosom pushing up against his chest before she pulled back with a big smile on her face.

"It's good to see you made the trip," Starfire said. "Did everything go well?"

"Didn't run into any giant robots on the way, did you?" Holly Granger, better known as Hawk of the duo of Hawk and Dove.

"No," Harry said. "Why, did the Titans fight giant robots lately?"

"Well, yeah, recently," Holly said. "But, then again, we deal with some much weird stuff, you wouldn't believe it."

"I don't know, there might be something in the water," Raven said as she swooped into the room. "It's nice to see you."

Raven leaned in and planted a brief kiss on Harry before she pulled away. Holly's sister, Dawn, arrived next to them all and gave Harry a smile.

"So, I heard about the rumors that the League's recruiting soon?" Dawn asked. "And you….might actually join this time?"

"It's more than rumors."

Rebecca Grayson appeared at the door. Starfire, Raven, Hawk, and Dove should have been used to Rebecca's sudden appearances, but her arrival caught them off guard.

"I've been visiting some friends in Gotham," Rebecca said. "And Black Canary talked to me, about potentially...us working together with the League more closely together."

"Black Canary, and not Batman?" Starfire asked in surprise.

"For some reason, she thought I might be more prone to listen, if it came from her and not him," Rebecca said.

"I bet she wasn't wrong," Raven said.

Rebecca responded with a chuckle. No, Black Canary had been on the mark with the assessment Rebecca would be more likely to listen to a League Pitch.

"And I said that maybe I would, and maybe I won't, but….I don't really think it's a good idea," Rebecca said. "She tried to sweeten the deal by inviting the five of us to join the League."

"Oh, that would be chill!" Starfire said in her usual excited voice, bouncing up and down and giving them all a nice sight of her bouncing breasts. "I mean, with Power Girl and Wonder Woman and Black Canary...and well all of the rest."

"We could do some good by working with the League," Dawn admitted.

"We also do plenty of good without the League," Holly countered. "When have they acknowledged anything we do? Never. You know what's happening. The League's losing steam, and they are all about public image now, more than actually saving the world."

"That's a pretty cynical view to take, sis," Dawn said.

"No, it's the truth," Holly persisted. "They are bending at the knee to the United Nations, to appease them. They've turned the Hall of Justice into a tourist trap. Some of them do PSAs, and sappy, preachy, ones at that, because they want look good. And they're only recruiting us, because let's face it, the League as it is, isn't appealing to the Youth Movement."

"Well, you do have a point," Raven said. "Why now?"

"I didn't confirm either way for the record," Rebecca said. "I think we should put this matter to a vote...all in favor."

Kory and Dawn raised their hands.

"And all against," Rebecca said.

Holly and Raven both raised their hands.

"Looks like we're deadlocked," Dawn said.

"No, our fearless leader has to make the choice," Holly said. "What do you say?"

"I don't know," Rebecca said.

"Have you decided to join the League or not, Harry?" Kory asked.

The five Titans turned their attention to Harry to await his answer. And Harry had made up his mind and decided to reveal it exclusively to the Titans before he did to the Justice League.

Harry waited for Jade and Thea to arrive. The two of them had been laying low for a little bit, but had been invited to stay with Harry.

The door of the elevator opened up, with Jade, Thea, and a thirteen year old girl who looked like a miniature version of Jade, with Harry's green eyes. She smiled, and rushed over, throwing her arms around Harry and giving him a big hug in greeting.

"Hello, Daddy!" she said.

Harry smiled as the teenager pulled her way around her.

"You've grown since the last time I've seen you, Lian," Harry said.

"Of course, I have," Lian said. "Mom said that I would until I'm about fourteen or fifteen, and then I'll slow down, and I won't be that...until a few more months."

"By the next school year," Jade said. "If Caitlin's calculations are correct, and...well she's the expert, so I will defer to her...but legally, to the world, you're my younger sister."

"I know, Mom" Lian said with a smile.

All of the Paperwork had been ready for her to head off to Gotham Private Academy next autumn, where she would be officially able to pass off as a fifteen year old girl. She had slowed down, until she would be aging at a normal pace by that point.

"Go up to the lab, and we'll be with you in a minute," Jade said. "And don't stop at the candy machine!"

Lian just grinned, gave her father one last hug, and a kiss on the cheek before running off.

"So, how did this happen?" Thea asked.

"Well, Thea, when a man and woman have certain urges….." Jade began.

"I know how it happened, but...how did you….how did you have a child?" Thea asked with a slight roll of her eyes. "No, wait, I know how...why did you...I thought that you were focusing on your schooling and you...well I never would expected you to be mother material."

Neither did Jade to be honest.

"Well, it started when I discussing some things with Lena and Caitlin, about how my children would age," Harry said. "And they suspected that they would have an accelerated aging process, and Lena mentioned it would be a lot easier to chart those things if we had an actual child to do so with."

"And I just happened to be in ear shot and offered...to assist with the experiment," Jade said. "Harry's ability to turn his potency on and off at will...it truly works because the first time he did so, I was with child. I won't bore with the details, but despite her accelerated aging, Lian's very happy and adjusted, and also smart...almost too smart for her own good. But, that's her super enhanced brain power at work."

"So, do all children of clones get hyper accelerated aging or just because Harry's part Kryptonian?" Thea asked.

"Why, interested?" Jade asked.

"No, just curious," Thea said.

"We don't know, but we suspect the accelerated aging is hard-coded in the genetics, until we reach our teenage years, and our children will be the same," Harry said. "But...let's wait to see how Lian does when she starts aging normally before we even consider anything like that."

Thea thought it was fair enough. She was nowhere near ready to have children, while trying to figure out who she was and what her place in life was.

"How's your sister?" Harry asked.

"She's making...some progress," Thea said. "Still a bit messed up from what happened, and after what she been through, who could blame her? And I've done what I can as the Green Arrow, although...it just feels wrong underneath that mantle."

"You've done well," Jade said.

Thea nodded, true enough.

"The League's asked me to rejoin because that worked out wonderfully the first time," Thea said. "And have you actually decided?"

"I'll tell you about it later," Harry said. "Over coffee."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Thea said.

"So, how about we see how our daughter's doing?" Harry asked.

"She's taken after her aunt," Jade said. "Very adept with a bow."

Good to hear, and Harry suspected Ruby, Lian, and Cassie would be amongst the next generation of heroes and the future of the Team as it continued to be involved.

Lena just smiled. Her granddaughter, as weird as it was to say, and being a thirty-one year old grandmother, of a twenty-one year old son and a thirteen year old granddaughter, made for a very strange family tree. And that was on top of the entire Luthor family history being straight out of a George R.R. Martin wet dream.

"Your cells are healthy, and...you are absorbing small trace amounts of yellow solar radiation, making you immune to most diseases," Lena said.

"So, does that mean I can get super powers?" Lian asked excitedly. "Like be able to run faster than a speeding bullet, be more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?"

Thea could barely hide her amusement, and Jade just tried to look disapproving. A brief smile crept on the edge of her face.

"Everything is possible, but we'll keep monitoring your progress," Lena said. "You are extremely healthy, but the next few months will be crucial as you shift through a more normal aging process."

"So, I'm done here, right?" Lian asked.

"Yeah, you're done," Harry said. "Why don't you head downstairs? Cassie and Ruby are in the visitor's room. There's pizza and X-Box down there."

"Cool," Lian said. "Bye, Dad, Mom, Aunt Thea, Granny Lena."

Lena just feigned disapproval and Lian just grinned. It had been a little inside joke. Lian rushed off to join the other two girls downstairs.

"Shoo our daughter out of the room, tempt her with pizza and X-Box," Jade said. "Very shrewd."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "Very."

Lena filed the latest test results. Thea, Jade, and Harry already had made their way up to the luxury suite and Lena felt it had been prudent to join them.