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Chapter LXI: Complications.

Last Time.

"Arsenal! No!" Bumblebee yelled as Arsenal, terrified at the thought of being captured again, opens the entry hatch.

"I will not be taken again!"

Sphere is sucked into space before Blue Beetle is able to close the hatch. He takes advantage of the chaos to blast Robin, Bumblebee and Wolf with his sonic cannon.

"Why?" Superboy asked out of breath to the little oxygen.

"Don't waste the oxygen, Hermano (Brother). There's very little left in here."

Arsenal uses a re-breather to help with the thin atmosphere and moves to escape. Beetle tries to staple him, but Superboy takes the hit, allowing Arsenal to get away. Blue Beetle knocks Superboy out, then ensures the crystal key is still in his possession.

Observing through Blue Beetle's eyes, the Reach smile at what is now in their possession

Now.

Atlantic Ocean May 27, 01:00 EDT.

"Black Manta to Deathstroke." Black Manta said as Deathstroke came up on a monitor. "Awaiting progress report."

"Progress… is slow. Miss Martian has partially restored your son's psyche. But he remains far from whole."

"OK, keep the sub at a safe distance. Beyond the range of Miss Martian's psychic powers." Manta said before turning the screen off and picked his helmet up from his desk.

In Kaldur's room, Miss Martian was giving a still comatose Kaldur a drink of water before giving it to Black Bat.

"He's still not himself." Black Bat said to the camera before glancing to the mirror on the wall. 'But then, who is?'

"So what's our next move?" Miss Martian asked through the link as she felt Kaldur's forehead.

"With that inhibitor collar disabling your shape-shifting and telekinetic abilities, not sure." Black Bat replied.

"Guess we're lucky Deathstroke hasn't pressed a button to block my psychic ability, too."

"Or pressed another one to blow your head up with the explosives built into the collar."

"That hardly matters. We know Manta plans to kill me as soon as I cured his son." Miss Martian said glancing to Kaldur.

"Which is why he must not learn I'm already cured until we devise some way to save M'gann's life." Kaldur said revealing he's cured and is playing possum.

"Yeah. But the question is: How long can we continue to stall?" Black Bat asked before Black Manta with his helmet on bursts through the door.

"My patience has run out, Martian. You have 24 hours, finish curing my son, or die." He said before leaving.

"Guess that answer's your question. I'm doomed either way."

The Warworld May 27, 06:04 UTC.

Kage appeared in the War World with Nightwing through one of Dr. Fate's portals.

"What the hell happened to the rest my Te-OOF!"

Naruto was then tackled by both of his daughters who plowed through him.

"WHERE THE HELL IS OUR BOYFRIEND?!" Fury yelled as Naruto slowly got up with two fist prints on his vest.

"It's all my fault." Blue said only to reel back from the two twin glares he got.

"Dude, hurry up because you may not live to explain." Naruto explained walking up behind his daughters.

"I live with them, I know what they're capable of."

Blue Beetle explains that they were assembled at the docking bay, with Mongul as their hogtied captive. When suddenly, a Boom Tube opened under their feet, and everyone else was whisked off to parts unknown. And he escaped only because he immediately flew on instinct.

Nightwing brought his arm up as a holo-screen came up. "I am reading traces of Boom Tube activity."

"We think Mongul opened one as a means to escape, taking the Team as captives." Captain Atom said.

"And Impulse has the key!" Blue said getting Naruto to speak up.

"(Sigh) OK, until we get the Team and the key back. We've got Captain Marvel, Starfire, and Rocket guarding the key chamber with the Justice League moving to guard it in shifts. Blue, go on home and rest." Naruto explained before Blue Beetle yelled out.

"But I-!"

"There's nothing else you can do now. Go and rest."

Doctor Fate opens a portal, and both Beetles step through it.

"This better be worth it, Dad." Troia said crossing her arms under her bust.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Fury asked putting her hands on her hip.

"That Blue was the one who attacked them because he's-!" Troia stopped as Fury wrapped her hands around her fathers neck, squeezed, and started shaking him.

"YOU KNEW AND YOU DIDN'T STOP HIM FROM LEAVING?!"

"(Choking)!" Naruto was choking before Troia continued.

"Blue is undercover, sis!" Troia yelled as Fury ignored her twin and continued to berated her father.

The others only looked on with sweat drops.

El Paso May 27, 00:06 MDT.

Blue Beetle and Green Beetle step out from Doctor Fate's portal into the front of Jaime's home. They look at each other, and Green Beetle nods. Without another word, Blue Beetle changes back into Jaime, while Green Beetle leaves.

Atlantic Ocean May 27, 02:20 EDT.

In the Atlantic, unknown to both subs, Cluemaster, Sportsmaster and Cheshire infiltrate the Manta-Sub.

Inside, they took off their scuba gear after knocking a guard out, revealing they're in their outfits.

"I want to make one thing clear: I'm only working with you two to avenge Stephanie." Jade said as Lawrence snorted.

"Yeah, because you two were so close."

"Just handle Aqualad and leave Manta to us. I need to preserve my rep." Arthur said as they all put on their masks.

"And that's all you care about?" Cheshire asked.

"Just because you fell for a hero and left the life doesn't mean you left who you really are." Cluemaster said as they walked to the next hallway sabotaging the cameras to play on a loop and knocked men out.

Cheshire pulled a large screen to find where Kaldur and Black Manta's rooms are before going into a vent as her father and Cluemaster each pulled out a large knife, and hid against a wall as a group of men walked past the hall on the end.

Inside Kaldur's room, Miss Martian, Black Bat, and Kaldur decide to put their plan to save Miss Martian into action.

"Deathstroke, been on duty for 12 hours straight. I need a break. Stretch my legs and get some coffee."

"Understood."

She walks out to see a guard at the door. "Take over. I'll be back in five."

Black Bat walks off towards the control room, planning to deactivate Miss Martian's control collar from there.

Back in Kaldur's room, Cheshire abruptly drops into the room from a ventilation shaft, quickly taking down the Manta Trooper who was subbing for Black Bat.

"This is for Stephanie!" She threw her sai at Kaldur's head but Miss Martian knocks it away using her chair.

"NO!"

"You protect the man who killed your friend?!" Cheshire asked pulling out a collapsible sword. "Maybe we were-!" Cheshire stopped seeing a camera in the mirror as not to give out information on Naruto's family.

"Cheshire stop! You don't understand-!" Miss Martian try's to telepathically communicate the situation to Cheshire, but Deathstroke turns off her powers. "No! Not now!"

"What?! What don't I understand?!"

Suddenly, an alarm goes off having troopers race to Kaldur's room.

The heightened state of emergency allows Sportsmaster and Cluemaster to sneak through the halls undetected.

In another hallway, Black Bat notices the distress. "M'gann? M'gann, what's going on?!" She asked through the link, only to get no reply.

She heads to the control center, where she dismisses the remaining troopers. She searches for the collar controls.

As soon as Deathstroke raises the alarm, Black Manta races towards his son's room as well, but is waylaid by Sportsmaster and Cluemaster. Manta is completely outclassed, and Sportsmaster knocks him out cold.

Before they can kill Black Manta four Manta Troopers arrive. They open fire and attempt to drag Black Manta to safety, but Sportsmaster quickly takes them out with a flash bang discus.

Cluemaster ran to Manta who got up but dodged a blast from Manta's eyes.

Back in Kaldur's room, Cheshire confronts Miss Martian about her support for Aqualad.

"Looks like someone already got to Aqualad. Which I'll go on a wild guess was you. Which makes you defending him even more inexplicable. But I'm not here for the giggles." She said raising her sword as she stood beside Kaldur's bed.

And was interrupted by the arrival of Manta Troopers. Cheshire manages to keep them out by destroying the door's controls with her sword.

Miss Martian ran to Cheshire and attacked before Cheshire grabbed her and kicked her to the other side of the room.

"Inhibitor collar, so no more Martian powers."

With Black Bat, she was still looking for the collar controls before hearing Deathstroke.

"Deathstroke to Black Bat. The assassin Cheshire has locked herself inside Kaldur'ahm's cabin. The Martian's attempting to save him. She knows that if her patient dies, we'll have no more use for her."

"On my way." She said looking around.

Back in Kaldur's room, Miss Martian takes a laser blaster of the fallen trooper, and in a struggle with Cheshire, shoots out Deathstroke's camera.

"OK, now we can-!" She starts to communicate the situation, but Cheshire knocks her out before she can explain anything.

"Cheshire stop!" Kaldur said dropping the brain-damaged act, and gets up on boxers while grabbing her sai. "Stephanie is alive and on this sub."

Cheshire does not believe him, and puts him in a choke hold. "You really didn't think I'd fall for that, did you?" She asked as Miss Martian's collar turns off.

Outside, Black Bat runs through the corridors and tries to contact M'gann, but she doesn't answer. She stumbles across Sportsmaster, Cluemaster and Black Manta fighting.

"Black Bat to my side!" Black Manta espies Black Bat and orders her to take his place, while he rushes to his son's room. Black Bat engages her father as Sportsmaster attacked more troopers.

At Kaldur's door, Manta Troopers have fixed an explosive charge to the door as Black Manta walked to them.

BOOM!

But Manta is so impatient he blows it out before his men are clear. He finds his son lodged under the door, but Cheshire charges him before he can check up on him. She keeps him down with an electrocuting disc.

She moves in on Aqualad to kill him with her sai when Miss Martian regains consciousness.

'ENOUGH!'

With all powers restored, she connects the minds of herself, Kaldur, Cheshire, Cluemaster, and Sportsmaster into a mindscape of Stephanie's old apartment.

"How dare you take this from my memories!"

"No Jade, it's mine." Black Bat said as Miss Martian took the masks off and put Kaldur in his old costume and put Stephanie in her civilian clothes.

Miss Martian showed scenes that shows Kaldur'ahm is an agent of the Team and Black Bat is Stephanie. She reveals that Aqualad only pretended to kill Spoiler, and showed Kage giving Stephanie her choker and they're infiltrating the Light and the Reach together with Stephanie, now Black Bat, on a deep-cover mission.

Jade feels the mental presence of her stepsister and drops her grudge against Aqualad.

"This is just another Martian illusion!" Arthur said before Stephanie sighs.

"Miss Martian release us. I'll convince dad myself." Stephanie said as the world went white.

Released from the mindscape, Spoiler rolls out of the way of Cluemaster's knife, and disarms him by jumping in the air and grabbed her father in an arm bar.

"I taught you that move!" Cluemaster said as Sportsmaster looked on after knocking the last Trooper out.

"Uh, duh dad!" Black Bat said picking her father up by the hand.

"So you and Aqualad are playing Manta and the Light for chumps? I can get behind that!"

"Good, because I need a favor." She said asking for them to destroy the control room to use as the excuse for Miss Martian's collar to turn off.

Back in Kaldur's room, Miss Martian telekinetically slams Cheshire and Black Manta against the wall.

"Well Cheshire, I don't usually condone the behavior of assassins. But, given the way Manta has treated me the last few weeks." Miss Martian said bringing Cheshire's sword up.

"The enemy of your enemy is your friend." Cheshire said getting Miss Martian to nod.

"Exactly!" She then releases Cheshire. "Make your escape. I'll deal with Black Manta." Cheshire nodded as she grabbed her sword and retreats from the room.

Miss Martian moves to threaten Black Manta. Aqualad drops his human vegetable act, and slams Miss Martian away from his father. She escapes from the room by phasing out, and Black Manta is ecstatic that his son has returned to him.

Black Bat and Cluemaster keep up the charade of a fight in front of the Manta Troopers. When all are defeated, the two former muscle for the Light runs off to the control room, and destroys it with an explosive discus.

Back at the airlock bay, Sportsmaster, Cluemaster, and Cheshire make preparations to leave.

"Leaving so soon?"

The trio turned to see Deathstroke. Sportsmaster attacks him, both assassins fight evenly, with Cheshire jumping to her father's defense when Deathstroke has him in a stun-lock.

Cluemaster was about to jump in when Black Bat tackles Cheshire. The sparring duos are interrupted by an arriving Miss Martian, who slams both Deathstroke and Black Bat to the wall.

"Leave, now!" Miss Martian said getting the trio to leave where they came in.

After the assassins evacuate, Miss Martian floats towards Deathstroke, only for him to drop explosive pellets on the ground, blasting Miss Martian away and breaking her telekinetic hold on Black Bat and himself.

"M'gann, get out of here!" As Deathstroke rushes towards her, Black Bat mentally orders her to escape.

"Right, and sorry."

"For what?" Black Bat asked before Miss Martian throws Deathstroke towards her.

Assuming her mermaid form, the Martian phases out of the sub. She catches a glimpse of Sportsmaster, Cluemaster, and Cheshire, all in diving suits, swimming away, then she swims away herself.

Gotham City; Naruto's Penthouse May 28, 02:34 EDT.

Kage walked through the door to see Jade holding their daughter, wearing a black baseball hat, jacket left open to show a midriff baring shirt, cargo pants that stopped at the knees with white tennis shoes.

"Hey you're back..." Naruto trailed off as she handed Lian to Paula and glared at him. "What, uh… What's wrong?"

"Oh, I was just having a chat with a friend. You know her right? About 5'6, blonde hair, dresses like a bat with a helmet."

"Oh shit, you know!" Naruto yelled as she pulled her sword out.

SLAM!

Naruto slammed the door shut, pulled a circular device from his quiver, and put it on the door. The top fired to the door in front of his that was was starting to open and connected the two with ninja wire.

"Hey!" One of Talia's guard yelled as Jade opened her door an inch, closing the other door as a result.

"Sorry Rebekah! But my living outweighs your wanting to come out!" Naruto yelled as each woman tried to open their door and closed the other doing so.

Naruto sighed in relief before seeing Jade's sword come out of the door.

"Damn!" He yelled turning to run to the end of the hall where a widow was.

"Get back here and take your punishment like a man!" Jade yelled cutting the device off her door and ran out in the hall.

"Never!" Naruto threw several kunai that broke the window before jumping out as Jade's sai's hit the wall.

Naruto stopped on the building opposite of his and grinned. "Ha! Can't get me here!"

He panted before seeing Jade twist in the window to grab the top fire escape and flip over it.

"Damn her very fit, very flexible body!" Naruto yelled to the night sky. "And damn her for making me say what no man should ever say about their wife's tight body!" He yelled before letting out a girlish scream as Jade caught up to him.

"Don't suppose I could tempt you into having sex on the roof?!"

"What do you think?!"

"Yes?!" Naruto ducked under a swipe from her sword. "Maybe?" He dodged another swipe.

Caribbean Sea May 28, 17:00 EDT.

"It is the best of news." Black Manta joyously said as he presents his son before Vandal Savage and the Ambassador who were on screens.

"My son is whole again. Seeing me in mortal danger was the final catalyst his recovery required. I truly feel blessed."

"Congratulations. In fact, it's been a good day for us all." The Ambassador congratulates him.

Blüdhaven May 28, 20:04 EDT.

Nightwing, and Naruto E. sat in the warehouse, and watched a pre-recorded TV broadcast concerning the Reach ambassador.

"As the Reach's Ambassador to the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank this great hero. A hero who almost single handed saved Earth from the Warworld. He saved your lives, he saved our lives. Ladies and gentlemen. I give you, Blue Beetle!"

The Ambassador moved to allow Blue Beetle to take the stage.

"Thank you. Thank you all. But it is I who should express gratitude to you, Ambassador." Blue said before he unmasked himself. "For giving an average, normal human being like me the power of the Reach. The power to save the world!"

"Man. If his plans to become a detective don't work out, Jaime could try his hand at acting." Naruto said before walking away as Nightwing turned the TV off.

To Be Continued.