Chapter 45: Schooled iii

The scene shifts to Team B. The rest of the Team was also having trouble with the laughing robot monkeys attacking their truck. One part of the swarm of robots attacked the truck to get it open, while the other half went after the young heroes. The robots leapt at them in order to hold them off or stop them from following.

Aqualad took out his water-bearers and knocked some back with a water whip. Some of the robot monkeys attached themselves to Kid Flash and Miss Martian. While Miss Martian threw them off her motorcycle with her telekinesis, Kid Flash had ditched his motorcycle to follow the truck with his super-speed. He was faster without it anyway, and now that Ivo's robots were attacking the right truck, he didn't need to hide his powers anymore.

The robots attacked the truck, trying to cut through the haul of the roof with their optic lasers to get inside. To stop them, Miss Martian used her telekinesis on the robots on the roof, while Kid Flash knocked away the ones on the sides as he ran, and Aqualad knocked away the ones on the back of the truck with his water-bearer whip.

Miss Martian was attacked by even more robots, which clung to her; unable to get them off with only two arms, she used her shapeshifting to sprout more arms on her sides and even her head. With the power of the additional limbs, she quickly got rid of her attackers, then did the same to the robots on the front of the truck. However, her transformation spooked the already-frightened driver, causing him to scream.

Kid Flash managed to get himself on top of the truck and take down some of the robots clinging to it. When Miss Martian landed next to him, he saw her with extra arms and nearly had a panic attack at her new look. Their reactions were simultaneous.

"Ahhhh!" they both screamed in shock.

Suddenly, more robot monkeys came out of the hole in the roof of the truck, swarming the two heroes. While they were distracted, other robot monkeys burned a hole through the door of the truck and flew off with the crate containing the android's parts.

Aqualad, who had just finished off the robots he was fighting while trying to catch up to the truck, scowled; despite their best efforts, they had failed their half of the mission. He could only hope that Lunaris and his team were having better luck than them. Miss Martian came over to meet Aqualad, concern evident in her eyes.

"I definitely hope Lunaris and the rest are having better luck," she said.

Aqualad nodded grimly. "We need to regroup and inform the others. This is far from over."

Back at Robin's position, Superboy landed in the hull of the truck and was immediately attacked. "Chidori Katana!" Toneri muttered, as a katana of lightning formed in his hand, cleaving through the new incoming robotic monkeys. Two grinning robot monkeys popped a tire. Robin leaned over to tell the poor driver to get out as the car began to sway around. Toneri floated above the truck as it flipped and slid on its side to a complete stop, crushing his clone under it and dispersing it. Robin carried the unconscious driver out of the cornfield as Superboy pushed the car off him. The clone glared at the fleeing robots and leapt after them, pushing off the pavement with his super strength.

Toneri shook his head in disappointment, thinking, 'And there he goes again.'

"Superboy! Wait!" shouted Robin as he watched the clone disappear into the cornfields.

Toneri started to think, 'Hmm, I wonder how the others are doing,' before using his Byakugan to look into the distance and locate the other teams. 'So, they are in the same situation, huh?' He turned his Byakugan off when suddenly Robin looked at him.

"What now?" Robin asked, seeing Toneri still midair.

Before Toneri could respond, Kaldur hailed them on their communicators.

"Aqualad to Superboy, Lunaris, and Robin. We lost our cargo, did you—?"

"It's gone," sighed Robin, "And so is Superboy."

"Superboy, come in," said Aqualad, "Radio your position and wait for help."

"Don't want help!" growled the clone through the earpiece, "Don't need any!" There was a rush of static, and the line went dead.

"I think he ditched his com," said Robin.

"What now?" asked Kaldur.

"I can see him. I'll track him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Toneri said. He reactivated his Byakugan and saw Superboy leaping across in the distance.

"That gets us Superboy, but what do we do about the stolen parts?" asked Robin.

Robin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How did they know to attack us? If they attacked the decoys, we'd have heard of it by now."

Toneri floated down and picked up the mangled remains of one of the monkeys. "Examine this," he said, handing it to Robin. "Can you use this to track those things?"

Robin nodded and pulled a wire from his cuffs. He plugged it into the robot's exposed hard drive, and his wrist computer lit up. "They have a GPS!" he exclaimed. "That's how they tracked us! If they can track us, I can track them!" Images flashed on the screen. "It looks like both parts are converging on…Gotham City."

"Good," Toneri nodded, "I'm going after Superboy. Aqualad, send Kid Flash ahead to meet up with Robin. They'll track the parts while you and Miss Martian follow them and rendezvous there. With any luck, I'll be there waiting with Superboy. Understood?"

"Acknowledged, Lunaris."

Toneri moved up a bit before blasting off, forming velocity rings around himself due to his speed. Once he was a good distance away from Robin, he suddenly increased his speed and disappeared completely. After a few seconds, his form materialized beside Superboy.

METROPOLIS, August 3, 21:18 EDT

In a small corner diner, both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were ordering dessert for themselves, knowing they were going to talk about more than just the food.

"Something tells me this isn't about dessert," Clark admitted, looking at Bruce curiously.

Not wanting to beat around the bush, Bruce said rather bluntly, "The boy needs you."

Clark immediately looked affronted. "No! No, he needs you. Even Lunaris is better suited to help him. I've seen how he is with Superboy; he's like an elder brother to him. I-I'm just a constant reminder of what he's not."

Bruce looked at his longtime friend with a stern gaze. "Sorry, Clark," he said softly, "But you're dead wrong, and Toneri sees this as well." Getting a raised eyebrow from the man in front of him, he quickly continued. "Look, I know he troubles you, but he's here. You have to get over the how and the why. Trust me on this, this boy needs his father."

At the last word, Clark couldn't take it any longer and immediately stood up and said, "I am not his father."

Bruce couldn't help but be disappointed at his friend as he walked out of the diner. He had hoped Clark would see that.

Back to Superboy

Superboy was shocked due to how Toneri suddenly appeared beside him.

"Hey!" shouted the clone, "I said I don't need help!"

Toneri looked at the clone with a hard look. "Lower your tone when you speak to me. I will not tolerate you if you keep up this behavior. Besides, you rush in without strategy, blinded by your impatience and anger."

"And that makes me weak?!" demanded Superboy, this time in a much more moderate volume as he hit the ground and launched off again.

"It's a glaring weakness, one that can be exploited because you think being a clone of Superman makes you invulnerable," Toneri said impassively. "It makes you vulnerable and easily exploited. Calm down and think with that brain of yours before just jumping in blindly." Toneri then saw, a few hundred yards ahead of them, the monkey robots duck into a moving train car on tracks that circled a mountain. With a few more leaps, Toneri and Superboy landed with a grunt on the car. "Hmm, I see a little man and the monkeys inside."

"Don't pretend you know me, Lunaris," hissed Superboy.

"You are literally an open book to me, Superboy. Yes, I do know you, and I know there's a mind behind all that anger," Toneri said.

Superboy grunted before moving to a section of the train. He ripped a hole in the roof and dropped into the dark car, making space for Toneri right behind him. The monkeys giggled, and their green lights shone in the dark, illuminating a small, ginger-haired middle-aged man.

"Oh, hello," he said with a small smile.

"You?" said Superboy, arching an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're Ivo? You're the one they're all scared of?"

Toneri looked at him unimpressed. "So, you are Ivo? I can't say I am impressed, but your work, on the other hand, is impressive."

"You're one to talk," said Ivo dryly. "Why do you look so pale, boy? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a doll brought to life. And since when does the big blue boy have a brat?"

"He doesn't," grunted Superboy.

"If you say so," shrugged Ivo. "Have you met my Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators?" The monkeys, or MONQIs, behind him leapt forwards with giggles. Superboy brushed them off like bugs, and Toneri folded his arms as any MONQI that came close to him just stopped and dropped to the ground with a grey rod impaling them. His attention moved to the figure in the shadows, thinking, 'Ohh.' Ivo sighed as the head of one of the robots fell at his feet.

"And after all the trouble I went through to find an acronym for monkey." As Superboy crushed the last MONQI, there was a slight whirling sound behind him.

"Access: Captain Atom," said a metallic voice behind the hero. Twin beams of nuclear energy struck Superboy square in the back as Toneri dodged to the side, sidestepping the beam, throwing Superboy across the train car.

Toneri asked, "Do you need help?"

Superboy growled, "Stay out of this!"

Toneri sighed, thinking, 'Guessed as much. Maybe when he's beaten up a bit, he'll listen.'

Ivo stepped forwards as Superboy stood back up. "Since my magnificent MONQIs don't float your boat, maybe my amazing Amazo will." Out of the shadows of the car stepped a giant figure with green-striped pants and glowing red eyes. The parts they had been protecting had been reassembled.

'An astounding puppet,' Toneri thought.

"Take your best shot," Superboy cut in, interrupting Toneri's thoughts. He had to resist the urge to slap his forehead in frustration and slowly shook his head.

Ivo laughed. "Please! My android has the strength of Superman. What chance do you have?" Superboy gritted his teeth and charged forwards, his fist swinging. The android blocked the flurry of attacks he sent and responded with a backhand that sent Superboy into the roof of the car.

"Sorry, did that strike a nerve?" Ivo chuckled, before turning his attention back to his android. "Amazo, strike a few more."

Amazo reached back and punched Superboy in the face, driving him back to the end of the train car. *'Well, that's got to have hurt a bit,'* Toneri thought.

Ivo glanced at Toneri. "Aren't you going to help your teammate?"

Without looking at him, Toneri replied, "No," which shocked Ivo, but he quickly smirked at how easy this seemed.

"Access: Black Canary."

The android's lower jaw split apart and unleashed a sonic scream. Superboy, due to his super-hearing, was knocked back to the end of the train car, writhing in pain.

"No wonder Daddy keeps you hidden away," said Ivo. "You're not really doing justice to the 'S' shield, are you?" Superboy, enraged, charged again.

'He's still not listening,'Toneri thought as he observed.

"Access: Martian Manhunter."

Amazo went intangible, and Superboy's fist went through its body before the android punched him so hard that he flew through the train car. Toneri, arms crossed, flew through the hole they came in, watching as Superboy crashed into another train car.

"Access: Superman," Amazo said, punching Superboy into the distance.

"Well done, Amazo," Ivo said, enjoying the spectacle. "Now be sure to finish them off. Priority Alpha."

As Amazo flew after Superboy, Ivo looked at Toneri, only to find that he wasn't there—he had disappeared.