51

Chapter LI: Before The Dawn.

Last Time.

"Kaldur is on our side. Plus, I gave Steph one of my kunai if she's in trouble. You want a say in how this Team runs its missions. Then put on your suit and come out of retirement and stop yelling at me from the sidelines!" Naruto finished before walking away.

Atlantic Ocean March 24, 03:17 EDT.

Kaldur walked to his father's side in his sub as the captives in pods were rolled away.

"Come with me." Manta said taking Kaldur to a room where screens lit up, showing the Light on each screen.

"Greetings. Allow me to officially introduce Kaldur'ahm. My son. He has succeeded in every mission, and then some. Not only did he capture Blue Beetle as instructed. But he brought a bonus Meta as well as the destruction of Mount Justice."

"Indeed. We appreciate initiative vision. And strong family ties. Welcome to the Light, Kaldur. It is time for you to meet our partner." Ra's said as Kaldur stared at the screen.

Now.

Pacific Ocean March 30, 18:28 HAST.

"I know it's almost curfew, Mom. I'm on my way there," Jamie said on his phone as he skateboarded past Kord Industries.

BOOM!

An explosion came from the top floor, sending Jaime to the ground. "AH!" He screamed as his shirt was on fire before quickly taking it off. He looked up at the smoke before noticing something near him.

Looking down, he saw a blue scarab before picking it up. Suddenly, the legs moved scaring him as the scarab moved up to his back, and bit him. "AAHH!" He screamed as blue armour covered his body.

Jamie woke up panting from his dream. "Wha... What is all this?" He asked looking around, seeing a large room.

"Recall, Jaime Reyes. You allowed Aqualad to take us prisoner." The Scarab spoke to him after he looked around.

"(Groan) Right, right. Better... Armour up."

"Negative. Containment pod has neutralized all combat systems."

Suddenly, the female alien scientist walked in front of the pod, startling Jaime before a male alien came up behind.

He is a humanoid male adult alien with green skin. The sclera of his eyes are yellow, while his irises are a darker yellow, closer to orange. He is tall and thin, but muscular.

He's wearing a full body armor with segmented plates that has a black, blue and aqua-green color scheme. Over that, he's wearing a long black sleeveless coat with a tall white-collar. His pants are black and he has teal boots.

They spoke to each other with a clicking language before the Scarab spoke.

"Providing translation."

Jaime looked up as they spoke English before a schematic of the Scarab and his body came up on a monitor. "The Scarab's memory files are corrupted." The Scientist said pointing to the monitor before looking back to him. "Anything recoverable is in the last eight months, when it connected to this host body."

"In fact, I was just reviewing the-!" She stopped as the male raised his hand.

"Spare me the details. If the Scarab is off-mode, then do a reboot."

"I'd rather access the cause of the crash, Ambassador. To make certain it cannot happen again."

"No you don't, Scientist. Admit it."

They heard a deep voice and turn to see a someone walk out of the shadows from the other side of the room.

He's wearing armour like Blue Beetle's with the exceptions of its black color and bulkier appearance.

"You just enjoy playing with the meat." He said smiling at Jamie as the others looked to him.

"Well, there's that, too."

Later, the Ambassador was giving Kaldur a tour of his ship.

"Your ship is most impressive, Ambassador. As are your people."

"We call ourselves, the Reach. And these, are our labs. Most are dedicated to researching the human Meta-Gene." The Ambassador said as they turned a corner of the hall and went to a door.

"Meta-Gene?" Kaldur asked.

"A genetic marker indicating the potential of an individual human to survive catastrophic physical trauma by adapting new abilities." The Ambassador replied as they stepped into the room.

"In other words, the Meta-Gene allows humans to gain superhuman abilities." Kaldur said looking at the Scientist who was studying schematics.

"Kaldur'Ahm, this is the Scientist in charge of all Meta-Gene research."

"I understand you are responsible for providing us with several of our test subjects. Gratitude." The Scientist said as Kaldur nodded.

He walked past Nigel, Tye, Asami, and Shimmer before stopping by Lagoon boy's pod where he was being prodded with static claws.

The Reach explained that they're getting runaway teens to try to force the Meta-Gene for further studies.

"But why, La'gaan? He already has powers. He is Atlantian. Hardly an ordinary human."

"Ah, but his powers are based from training and sorcery."

She took them to the next room where Impulse was being tested on by being shocked. The Scientist explained they're testing to see if his Meta-Gene can be extracted and duplicated.

The Ambassador and Kaldur left after the Ambassador explained that Blue Beetle was no concern to the Light.

"He may be human. But he is also of the Reach." He explained as Kaldur said Black Bat was overlooking the next shipment of teens.

Star City March 30, 21:57 PDT.

Black Bat was ordering Manta's men to get the pods to the cage full of teens.

"Hurry, Kaldur'Ahm does not tolerate delay." She said before glancing up, and smirked seeing Barbara, Tim, and a small Bumblebee on the top of the crates before looking back.

While she was keeping the men's attention away from the cage, one man near the containers was suddenly grabbed, and pulled in the shadows.

Crack!

The moon shown down, showing the Red Hood standing over the now dead man after breaking his neck. He looked up and saw Barbara and Tim jump into the cage.

"(Sigh) Damn. Now I've got to worry about the newbies catching sight of me."

He said before quickly putting on the costume, shadows going back as he took off his helmet and replaced it. He put his costume in a duffle bag before running to one of the subs and gong inside it.

Later, a camouflaged Bio-Ship followed after the sub.

"Good, they're taking us to Lagoon Boy and the others." Kage said as he stood behind Nightwing. Miss Martian controlled the Bio-ship as Grifter stood beside her, and in front of him is Wonder Girl.

"How can you be sure?" Wonder Girl asked looking over to him.

"Wishful thinking." Naruto said, realizing his slip up. "I found some intell while looking for Lagoon Boy."

Jaime.

Jaime woke up to see the Scientist, and the Beetle Warrior before hearing the Scarab.

"Translating."

"This, 'Human Beetle' is a disappointment." The Scientist said looking at a diagram of Jaime's body. "How can he be the Reach's advanced operative on Earth when the Scarab refuses to function on-mode?"

"Then reboot." The Black Beetle said, arms crossed.

"(Sigh) That seems to be necessary, it'll kill the host body, though." The Scientist said making Jaimie widen his eyes.

Outside, The Team.

The Team went to a large sub that looked like an insect.

(A/N: For a better picture, look at this episode.)

"So this is the Light's partner." Nightwing said before looking to Grifter. "Anything you can tell us?"

"Nothing, I didn't face any of those ships. Plus, anything else is too soon to tell."

"(Sigh) Well, it shares the same structure as the bombs on Malina Island and Mount Justice." Nightwing said as Wonder Girl looked at the ship.

"It looks a little like Blue's armour."

'So, it seems these aliens may have brought the Scarab down, then.' Naruto thought before speaking. "Miss M, you're up." Miss Martian stood, made gills along her neck, got rid of her cape, and shrunk to Beast Boy's size to compensate for the pressure before phasing through the floor.

A minute went by before she spoke through the link. "Alpha Squad, I'm heading into the ship. Are you aboard?"

"Affirmative." They heard Barbara before she continued. "We're in some kind of docking bay. We have a visual on the new aliens A.K.A. the Krolotean's competitors, A.K.A. the Light's new partner. And we've got other company, it's Aqualad. If he makes us..."

"He won't if he stays away from where they're taking you." Naruto said as he sat on the pilot's seat.

"I found Bart. No sign of La'gaan, or Jaime." Miss Martian spoke before Barbara spoke up.

"Lagoon Boy is with us. Along with, Shimmer?! And four civilians, and our group. But no Blue Beetle... OK, we're unsupervised now, but still no Blue Beetle, should we wait?"

"No, Alpha, make your move, or you'll need to be rescued as well. Same to you, Miss M." Naruto said as he went to the docking bay.

He stood up and flashed beside Barbara who had his kunai. "MOVE OUT!"

Inside, an alarm went off as one man attacked Black Bat before another shot one that was aiming at him. The first one removed his helmet, revealing Superboy as the last one moved to hide as he turned around.

"Docking bay is secured."

In the shadows, Red Hood put the clasps of his helmet back on before quietly moving towards a computer monitor. He typed on the keyboard before pulling a red Flash Drive out, and put it in the computer.

'DOWNLOADING'

He sighed as he sat down and waiting to download everything on the computer.

Outside, Miss Martian flew after Impulse, and saw Kaldur. "YOU!" She yelled, eyes glowing green.

"M'gann, don't!" Naruto yelled as he broke off to find her and Blue Beetle.

A few moments went by before Kaldur screamed and fell to his knees. Followed by her.

"Damn it, M'gann." Naruto muttered before Black Bat ran to Kaldur. Naruto picked Miss Martian up as she stared at Black Bat. And saw Spoiler take her place.

"M'gann... What did you do?"

"I thought he killed you. I was angry. I..." Black Bat dropped a smoke bomb before leaving.

"Come on, M'gann." Naruto said carrying her bridal style as she stared at the wall.

"There's a Black Beetle blocking us!"

Naruto heard Wonder Girl over his earpiece before hearing Grifter firing his guns. He looked down at Miss Martian who wasn't moving. He placed her down and she just stood there, staring off into space.

Smack!

She blinked as Naruto slapped her lightly to snap her out of her daze. "Wake up, M'gann! Our friends need us."

She shook her head before looking at him. "I'll explain everything later. I promise."

Naruto flashed inside, and saw the others down as Black Beetle turned to him.

"More Meat?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow before cracking his neck. He dashed to Black Beetle and they clashed fists. A shockwave came off of the attack before Naruto dodged a swipe from a bladed hand. Naruto sighed before yellow chakra came over him as he went into his Kyuubi Chakra Modo (Nine Tails Chakra Mode).

"Get the doors open! I'll handle this guy!" Naruto said before speeding around the room, hitting Black Beetle at random intervals.

Miss Martian phased through the door just as Naruto grabbed Black Beetle and flew up to the roof. And cracked it having water come down as the doors suddenly open. Naruto put Black Beetle in a headlock as he looked to see Blue Beetle, hands on the wall, and lines over it.

"MOVE!" Naruto yelled before dodging a swipe from Shimmer. She kicked the wall, having it glow orange, and more water came in.

"Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)!" Naruto hit Black Beetle away before looking back. "Close the door!" Blue did that, leaving both him, and Black Beetle inside before flashing outside and into the Bio-Ship. And missed a small sub move nearby as Red Hood looked out of the window.

He went out of his cloak before walking up to Nightwing.

"M'gann attacked Kaldur. She knows." He whispered as Nightwing glanced to Miss Martian who was looking out of the window.

The Watchtower March 31, 06:40 EDT.

Kage stood beside Captain Atom as they looked at Nightwing who was on a holo-screen at Mount Justice. "By now they'll have moved their ship. Plus, there's still the Beetle connection to figure out. But you can tell the world they're here. Their secret invasion's not secret anymore."

"That would be an understatement."

The two looked back to see Aquaman walking to them before bringing up a holo-keyboard and brought up a news program at the U.N.

"Repeating today's top story" Cat Grant's voice came over the video. "A small group of Extraterrestrials known as the Reach, have arrived at the United Nation's headquarters in New York City. For more on this, we now go live to G.B.S.'s own G. Gordon Godfrey."

The screen turned to G. Gordon Godfrey as other reporters looked as the Ambassador shook hands with Tseng. "Thanks Cat, and yes folks. It seems that Earth's finally met some aliens that know how to get it right."

"The Reach comes to you as friends." The Ambassador said. "We come with open arms. Extending our hands, our 'Reach' if you will, to help."

"Well, thumbs up to the Reach." Godfrey said to the camera. "Oh, I know what you're all thinking. 'Ol' G. Gordon's gone soft on the spacemen'. But don't you see? This is exactly how aliens should come to Earth. Knocking on our front door. Not sneaking in the back, like some Leaguers we know."

Naruto turned the screen off. "Well. Godfrey's with the Light. He has to be to be in favor for the Reach."

"And they make themselves public before we can warn the public." Nightwing said as Captain Atom looked down in thought.

"Could be worse, at least we know where they are." Aquaman Said as Nightwing nodded.

"That's right. We know what we're up against."

Mariana Trench March 31. 22:42 ChST.

Unbeknownst to all, dozens of Reach spacecraft have gathered deep at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Washington D.C.; Fury's Hideout 07:01 EDT.

Fury looked at the data Red Hood got before hearing Nyssa speak up.

"What's our next move? I mean, the odds of taking down the Light and their new partner's armada are-!"

She was interrupted by Fury. "The Reach and the Light will never see each other as equals. They trust each other as much as the Light trusts me. I figure the Light has a trump card in store to remove their 'Partners'. The only questions are what and when?"

Red Hood then speaks up to give his thoughts. "When the trump card is played, we'll be the ones to turn it against them."

"What's our next move?" Nyssa asked making Fury shrug.

"Now? We wait." She said causing all of them to turn their gazes back to the monitor.

Hall Of Justice, March 31, 08:45 EDT.

Jaime, looked to Grifter after seeing the report that's bee playing all day on multiple news stations.

"That's why you've been hostile towards me since you and the others came to this time." Grifter only looked at him with a mild scoff.

"Bart gave you the sugar-coated version of your future self. You and the scarab have done far worse than aid in enslaving humanity." Grifter replied looking at the screen. Jaime gives him a inquiring look, but couldn't shake off a slight feeling of dread.

"Do you and the Scarab ever wonder why the old man refuses to stay with his past self in his home, even after the destruction of Mount Justice? Or why he brought Allen and I to the past instead of Donna, M'gann, or any of his children or wives?"

Jaime looks confused at first, but soon develops a look of horror and disbelief. Grifter moves off the wall and stands beside him.

"If the old man didn't keep insisting on it, I'd have gutted you like a fish and slowly torched the parasite attached to you, just to make sure it was able to feel at least one thing before it died. I'd have done all that the second we got out of that pod. However, the old man has a plan to save you both, as well as the future, so I'm going along with it."

Grifter pauses as he looks at Jaime's still form. "But if that plan doesn't pan out, then I'll be the one to end you both." He finished before walking away, leaving both Jaime and the Scarab to their thoughts.

To Be Continued.