Chapter 19

S.T.A.R. Labs, Metropolis

When the four reached the labs, they were greeted by Professor Hamilton, a middle-aged man with blonde hair and beard. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and a white lab coat. He had been a friend to the Kryptonian cousins for years and had helped them with his scientific expertise on several occasions. He seemed nice enough, only pausing for a moment when he greeted Fourarms. After explaining what had been happening, Hamilton brought them to a room in the medical wing of the facility.

"This is where we treated you when you were in your coma." Said Hamilton, gesturing to an operating table, "You were on life-support the whole time; I promise, you weren't running around on violent missions."

"Well then, Professor Hamilton," asked a dubious Question, "maybe you can tell us why her memories led her here."

"I think I can explain that." Hamilton answered calmly. He turned to Supergirl. "You mentioned some sort of torture device."

"Yes." Confirmed Supergirl.

"With robotic arms, and a long probe in the center?"

"Cut to the chase," said Arrow, "You say you've seen something like it?"

"In fact, I have." Hamilton strode across the room.

Fourarms was a little surprised; they were actually getting somewhere! Hamilton pushed a button on a wall, opening a door. Supergirl gasped. There it was! It was smaller than it had been in her dream, but other than that, it was identical!

The robot moved forward as Hamilton explained. "It's not a torture device. It's a surgical robot. It has a Kryptonite-tipped lance; it was the only way to operate on you, Supergirl. That robot saved your life."

He glanced at The Question. "As for the rest of her dream; we humans are used to being vulnerable. But to Supergirl, surgery must have seemed terrible invasive." He tilted his head down to look Supergirl in the eye. "You were powerless to defend yourself; it's possible that your mind created a scenario of fighting back."

Supergirl looked down for a moment, before nodding. After thanking Hamilton for his time, they began to file out of the lab. Before he left, however, Fourarms turned back to the professor.

"Hey, Professor, can I give you a piece of advice?"

"What is it?" Hamilton was curious what an alien would say.

"The next time you make a surgical robot," said Fourarms, "try not to make it look like a torture device. You might have fewer traumatized superheroes that way."

Hamilton smiled. "I'll be sure to take that into consideration."

…

Outside of the labs, the heroes began talking amongst themselves.

"Well, I think that answered everything." Green Arrow looked satisfied.

"A little too well, don't you think?" asked Question.

"Does everything have a sinister motive in your world?" asked Fourarms.

"Yours too, you just don't know it." Responded Question.

"Uh, guys?" Supergirl pointed ahead, where three attack-helicopters were headed towards them. The lead gunship dropped a silver robot at them, where it tackled Supergirl to the ground. Before the others could help, twenty armed men began firing at them.

Green Arrow and Question took cover, while Fourarms slapped the Ultimatrix dial.

"RATH!" cried the humanoid tiger. He growled and leapt towards the nearest attacker; he grabbed the man by the throat and brought him up to his face. "Let me tell you something, soldier guy! Rath does not like it when people attack Rath's friends! It makes Rath angry! Uh, angrier! Whatever!" Then he delivered a headbutt to the man, knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow fired a shot that created a smokescreen; using it for cover, both he and Question took down several more of their assailants. When he had the opportunity, the archer fired an explosive arrow at the rotors of one of now-landed helicopters, disabling it. Rath grabbed the tail of another gunship and promptly ripped it off. The men who remained conscious gathered up their wounded and escaped on the last helicopter.

Supergirl was finishing up her fight, decapitating the robot with an uppercut. The horseshoe- shaped head embedded itself into a rock.

"What was that about?" demanded Green Arrow as he looked around at the damaged area.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Question as he walked away, "We're asking questions someone doesn't want answered."

"Oh, learn a new tune already!"

"I'm starting to think he's right." Supergirl looked down in worry. "That robot came after me; the rest of this was just a distraction." Then she looked around. "Hey, where's Ben?"

After a moment, the two found Rath, pummeling the remains of the helicopter he'd destroyed.

"Hey, kid!" Arrow shouted to get his attention, "I think you got it!"

Rath looked down at the wreckage. "So!? It needs to be taught a lesson!"

Green Arrow looked at Supergirl in confusion. "I'll handle it," she said, "Ben, I think it's time to turn into something a little less… violent, okay? We need to get moving."

Rath grumbled for a moment. "Fine, whatever." He slapped the Ultimatrix dial on his chest, turning into Chromastone. "Sorry about that; I get a little crazy when I'm Rath."

"A little?" asked Green Arrow, "You were trying to teach a chunk of metal a lesson!"

Chromastone scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as they rejoined Question.

"Standard Z-8 Combat Trainer." Muttered Question as he looked over the remains of the robot. He brought the severed head to show them.

"Like the ones we use," said Arrow, "the League buys 'em in bulk."

"So?" Asked Supergirl, not knowing where this was going.

"So who do we buy them from?" asked Question.

"The Army, I think…" Supergirl's expression turned skeptical, "Oh, wait a minute…"

"Another fun fact," said Question, "The man who commissioned the Z-8 Project? He's the same man who put you in the hospital."

"General Hardcastle?" asked Supergirl, "He's retired now, isn't he?"

"Gone," said Question, "and hoping to be forgotten."

…

It didn't take long for them to reach Hardcastle's cabin in the woods; apparently, The Question knew its coordinates, so it was just a quick teleport from the Watchtower away. They walked up the porch, where Chromastone turned the knob; it was unlocked, which was usually a bad sign. The cabin was dark, the only light coming from a dimly-lit fireplace.

"Figured someone'd come for me someday," The heroes turned towards the voice as an aging man turned on a lamp next to him. He was aiming an unusual pistol at them; specifically, at Supergirl. "Only I thought they'd be from the other side. This weapon fires a projectile of Kryptonite pellets, suspended in a liquid-silicon core. Causes maximum scatter on impact; only gets one shot, but trust me, alien, it'll do the job."

Supergirl raised her hands in a placating gesture. "We're not here to hurt you; we just have some questions."

Hardcastle raised an eyebrow. "Sorry if I don't take your word for it; as I recall, your kind can be fickle." Chromastone had heard enough, and he knew just how to stop Supergirl from getting shot; he stepped in front of her, blocking the line of fire.

"Okay, now what, smart guy?" he said smugly, "Waste your one shot on a guy that isn't hurt by either bullets or Kryptonite, and all you've got are four annoyed superheroes."

For a moment, Hardcastle glanced down, as if considering his options. That moment was all Question needed to knock the pistol out of his hands.

"Come one, be a good host," said Green Arrow, "and tell us a story."

After a few minutes, everyone got comfortable as Supergirl explained the situation, with Chromastone keeping the Kryptonite-gun close by, in case Hardcastle tried anything.

"The Army shut me out after Superman invaded." The retired General poked at the fireplace as he spoke. "The feeling upstairs was that I failed when it counted most, so how could I lead again? I got the message and took early retirement."

He moved to a chair and sat down. "The problem is I know too much. One of these days they'll decide to shut me up."

"Who will?" asked Supergirl, "What do you know?"

Hardcastle looked her in the eye. "The military and big business have been in cahoots for decades. Top-secret stuff, experiments on metahumans, mutants and aliens; searching for new technologies, both for national security and profit. That Volcana woman?" he referred to one of the League's more notorious villains, "She was one of ours. Same as those freaks the Joker dressed up as playing cards when he attacked Las Vegas."

"Does any of this have to do with Supergirl?" asked Chromastone.

"It has to do with all of you." Hardcastle looked at them with narrowed eyes. "Your little club up in that spaceship? There's a file on every single one of you." He looked back at Supergirl. "But I don't know anything about these dreams of yours. If it is connected to these people, I've been kept out of the loop too long to know."

"And how do we find 'these people'?" asked Question.

"You don't," said Hardcastle in a warning tone, "they find you."

Hardcastle didn't have any more information, so the heroes left. Once they were outside the house, Chromastone put a hand on Supergirl's shoulder.

"Sorry, looks like we're out of leads."

"Not necessarily," said Question, "I just need some time to process this." He activated the communicator in his ear. "Martian, pick us up." The heroes disappeared in a flash of light.

A few minutes later, a shadow fell on Hardcastle's porch.

Inside the cabin, Hardcastle poured himself a glass of whiskey; he always needed a drink if he even so much as thought about the secrets he knew. He got a little irritated when he heard his door open again.

"What? I told you everything I…" he turned to see a familiar, yet unfamiliar person standing there. "Supergirl?"

The woman standing in his doorway wore a white, long-sleeved one-piece outfit with a gold belt that showed off her legs. She had white boots and gloves, and her blonde hair was cut short. She looked like Supergirl in her twenties.

"Yes," she answered, "and no. My friends call me Galatea. Are you a friend, General?"

Hardcastle had been a soldier for most of his life; he knew a threat when he heard one. He rushed for his Kryptonite gun, but Galatea blasted it with her heat-vision, scorching Hardcastle's hand in the process. With a shout of pain, he fell into a chair.

Galatea approached him slowly, then leaned forward. "Guess that's a no."

Watchtower

For the next few hours after visiting Hardcastle, the four heroes spent their time in Question's room. After a little while, Supergirl fell asleep at Question's desk, Green Arrow and Ben spoke quietly to each other, and Question just muttered to himself as he paced.

Supergirl awoke with a start, terror on her face. She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into Ben's eyes.

"It's okay," he assured her, "you fell asleep."

"Excuse me if I bore you." Question commented dryly.

"Hey, lay off!" growled Green Arrow.

"Hardcastle's gone." The others looked at Supergirl, shocked, who shrugged. "I-I just know."

Ben squeezed her shoulder, trying to be supportive. In response, Supergirl put her hand on his; both smiled at each other.

The moment was ruined, however, when the communicator on the desk turned on. "Question?" came the voice of the Martian.

"Go ahead." Answered Question.

"Look at your monitor; I'm patching through a live feed."

All four of the heroes looked at the screen next to the communicator; it showed a news report from the Eagle Network, with a picture of a middle-aged, balding man.

"A scientist named Gilbert Halstrom has been reported missing," continued J'onn, "He's from a biotech company called Nuvo-Gen. It's the man from Kara's dream."

"He really exists." Whispered Supergirl. "Or, he did, anyway." Her hand tightened around Ben's.

"And only one network had the story," said Question.

"Now that's the first lead in this whole business that I can wrap my head around." Green arrow stood up straight. "We go to Nuvo-Gen, we find out who this guy is."

"No." Argued Question, "First we find the source of the report."

"What for?" asked Arrow.

"Don't you know who owns the Eagle Network?" Question walked over and tapped his board of connections. "The real puppetmasters."

Green Arrow sighed. "Look, why don't we split up; Kara, Ben and I will go to Nuvo-Gen, and you can go wherever you want." As he moved to leave, he glanced at Ben and Supergirl. A sly smile came over his face. "You two can let go now."

Ben looked down while Supergirl looked up; Ben's hand was still on her shoulder, while Supergirl's hand was still gripping his. Blushing furiously, they let go and rushed out the door, with Ben turning into Diamondhead.

"Ah, young love." Green Arrow laughed as he walked out the door.

…

Inside a steak-house stood Lasser, a reporter for the Eagle Network, started walking out, when he was stopped by an old man he knew, named Jerry.

"Hey, Lasser!" Jerry said, "I saw that bit on Eagle today; now that's reporting!"

"Thanks," said Lasser in a condescending tone, "you get home safe."

He made to leave, but Jerry grabbed his arm. "The thing is, that Nuvo-Gen is a real hush-hush kind of joint, and Halstrom didn't have no family to file a Missing Person's report; between you and me, how'd you hear about this story?"

"Good old-fashioned legwork, Jerry; you should try it sometime." With that, Lasser left.

He went outside and stepped into a taxi. "Commodore Hotel." The taxi drove off, but it didn't get very far, only a couple of blocks before turning into an alley.

"Something wrong?" asked Lasser.

"Gotta write up my fare report." The driver started scribbling on a notepad. "What do think of that corporate, prepackaged pop that kids like these days?"

"Hate it." Said Lasser with a laugh.

"Uh-huh." The driver turned on the radio at maximum volume, going to a corporate, prepackaged pop song, as yellow smoke emerged from his jacket.

"Hey," said Lasser as he grabbed the driver's shoulder, "I just said…" he froze as the man's outfit turned blue and his face disappeared. He screamed at the sight of The Question.