It's not really such a beautiful sight. Because, by the time the sun has risen, the noises of traffic are already well on their way to waking everyone up. The skyline becomes faintly illuminated by the rising sun, though. That's kinda neat.

Chuck Barnes walked slowly from his Motel 6 room towards the motel lobby. He was planning on checking out. Young Justice couldn't afford to stay stationary for very long.

Y'see, they're on the run. They've been declared reckless and dangerous. They're wanted. And so far, they've clashed with the DEO, Generation Next, the Super-Unit Police, giant Sentinels, Prime Sentinels, and the terrorist Point Men. They've finally caught a break.

So call Chuck paranoid. He has reason to be. As Robin, he's been trained by the World's Greatest Detective, Batman. And as Batman's 'sidekick', there's lots he knows. A lot that scares him. A lot that he doesn't like. From little things like not being able to trust his friends with his real identity, to not even being allowed to really exist outside of urban legend. Even out of costume and in his civvies, he has to wear sunglasses to hide his eyes.

Does he want to eventually replace Batman? No, not at all. Does he want to stay Robin forever? Heck no. How much longer will he do it? Depends . . . on how soon something makes him snap.

And so much has happened that's getting me to that point, he sighed. This whole outlaw thing isn't working for me. And everyone's at each other's throats. Me and Kon keep butting heads . . . Linda's upset over Kon, Cassie's interested . . . Cassie and Cissie fought last night . . . Sam's frustrated 'cause he's been having to take charge a lot . . . Jade's worried about everyone . . . and then Bart's oblivious to everything. And Hallie, well . . . I think she's trying to be oblivious. Kid's been through a lot lately. I hate to put her through more.

He walked into the lobby and went up to the "desk clerk". He handed him the money for the two rooms.

"Checkin' out?" the guy asked.

"Yup," Robin nodded.

"Make sure y'clean up first."

Robin nodded again, then turned and walked out. What we need is more hard proof. Evidence and whatnot. I know Shaw's involved. But I can't really prove it. Most of the files I had on the Hellfire Club I destroyed when I blew up our HQ.

What little info I have left on hardcopy is in my Robin suit. And it's nowhere near extensive enough to prove anything. But it does provide leads, and where to look . . . ways of connecting things. Like Shaw's involvement with Project: Wideawake . . . his string-pulling in the government. I could get it to Oracle, but . . .

. . . No. I haven't involved any of my old contacts since we went rogue. I can't afford to. This is YJ business. I'll make a copy or two of the info . . . maybe send a copy to Lois Lane at the Daily Planet. She's supposedly the top investigative reporter around. Hopefully she could do something with it.

He turned and headed back to his room. He was the first one up, he knew. He always was. He hoped he didn't wake anyone.

"Hey," Sam Guthrie called out.

"Morning," Robin replied.

Sam nodded back. As Cannonball, he could rocket into the air at incredible speeds while being protected by an indestructible blast field. He was a founding member of the New Mutants. When they disbanded, he joined YJ.

"I've got a question, Sam," Robin said.

"Shoot," Sam shrugged.

"When you first joined . . . I figured there'd be tensions over leadership. After having been the leader of the New Mutants for so long . . . "

"Ah figured there woulda been, too," Sam sighed. "But that's mostly 'cause Professor Xavier had assured me Ah wasn't t'blame for Garth's death."

"Tempest," Robin nodded.

"Yup. His death was the reason we disbanded. Killed in the line o' duty. Killed because Ah wasn't a good enough leader."

Robin shook his head. "Unfortunately, that's one of the drawbacks of leadership. We always assume blame."

"Xavier swore then that he'd never put our lives on the line again. Any of our kind. But Ah still wanted to be a hero . . . wanted t'prove that Ah could do it. Wanted t'make amends for Garth's death. So Ah joined YJ. Ah don't even know why Illyana did . . . "

"You've been a great addition," Robin said with a smile. "I don't think we would've come this far without you."

"Ah don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult, the way this situation is."

"Just take it as a compliment. That's how I meant it."

"Well," Sam said, "Ah figure Ah better take a shower. Who knows when we'll get another chance, right?"

Rob nodded.

"We're movin' on, right?"

"Right."

"Any ideas?"

"Maybe."

Sam nodded. "Ah'll keep prayin' that we find a way outta this."

"So . . . here's the plan," Robin started.

The tensions were thick, he could tell. Superboy was ignoring everyone. Cassie was staring at Superboy. Linda was ignoring Superboy. Bart was twiddling his thumbs at light speed. Hallie was watching him. Cissie was frowning at Cassie. Sam was paying attention. Jade was paying attention to Sam.

"I'm going to get some of the info I've got to Lois Lane and the Daily Planet," Robin started. "Hopefully, she can use that to provide some support for us. If it works, I was thinking of setting up an interview with her and Sam, maybe Cassie too. Get our story out there. We're still gonna lay low, but we're gonna try this. We're not gonna ignore crime . . . if we see it, we'll fight it. But we're definitely not gonna go looking for it. Sound good?"

"Whatever," Superboy shrugged. I've had it up to here with bird boy . . . all I need is another good excuse . . . and I'll crush him. I'll take charge of YJ . . . and then the real fun'll start.

"So, if you're all ready?" Robin asked. "Let's go."

The group walked down the streets of New York City, looking for a computer place they could use to make a copy.

Little did they know, however, that they were being watched. Up in the sky, the Avengers League Quinjet looked on.

"They're there," the Flash pointed out.

"Time to go," Batman said.

"How can you be so cool about this?" Wasp asked him. "Robin's your partner!"

"It'll be a good field test for him," Batman answered.

"You're frightening," she replied.

"All right," Captain America said, sliding his shield onto his left hand. "I wish we could to this somewhere less public . . . "

"The streets are virtually empty," Martian Manhunter said. "I can use my telepathy to suggest that passersby avoid this area."

Cap nodded. "Let's do this."

"Hear what?" Impulse questioned.

"That!" Arrowette pointed.

The Quinjet disengaged its cloak as the Avengers League poured out: Martian Manhunter, Captain America, Batman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Wasp, Flash, Quasar, and Hawkeye!

"Quick, costumes!" Robin called.

YJ acted with blinding speed to get into their uniforms.

The Avengers League stood on one side of the street, YJ on the other.

"None of us want this fight," Robin said quietly. "But we're more than ready for it. The choice is yours."

"Robin," Captain America replied, "believe me, we don't want this either. Please turn yourselves in."

"They're gonna attack," Superboy said quietly.

"Easy, Kon," Sam said.

"You don't understand," Kon replied, flicking on his energy shield. "They're gonna attack . . . but not if we hit them first!"

Robin yelled, "Kon, no!"

With that, Superboy leapt into the fray, smashing a fist into Wonder Woman.

"League, scatter!" Cap ordered. "They can't be trusted . . . we have to take them down!"

Both sides suddenly jumped to the attack.

"You'll find out pretty quick, Cap," Cannonball said, "That we're not just the Junior Avengers League!"

His rocket punch connected with Iron Man's armor, sending him back a ways.

"Woof!" Tony Stark yelled out under the armor.

Arrowette fired a pair of gas arrows at Hawkeye, who easily dodged.

"You call those trick arrows?" Hawkeye asked. "This is a trick arrow!"

He replied with a single arrow that exploded before her, both blinding her and capturing her in a net.

"This is foolish!" Quasar yelled, firing a blast of energy at Jade.

She easily countered with a green shield created by her own force of will. She flew into the air on wings of her own making, and replied with a giant mallet. "You bet it is!"

"I don't want to do this, Bart," Flash said, swinging a lighting fast punch at Impulse.

"So don't," Bart replied, ducking. "I won't mind." He became intangible and ran right through him. The Flash kept up to him.

"Our records say nothing of you, honey," the Wasp said, firing her sting at Jolt.

Jolt leapt and dodged. "Good. That means I'll be a nice little wild card!" She hit the wasp with a shock of her own.

Wonder Woman, recovered from Superboy's punch, stood before Wonder Girl.

"Oh, like this is fair," Wonder Girl frowned. "I'm not really even your counterpart anymore! I'm more like Wonder Man!"

"There's a Wonder Man?" Wonder Woman asked. "Great Hera, will my name ever always be borrowed so casually?"

"Probably," Wonder Girl replied. She hit Wonder Woman with her hardest punch. It didn't do anything. "Uh-oh . . . "

Iron Man and Cannonball continued their aerial battle. Iron Man would keep firing repulser blasts, but they'd do nothing against Sam. Come on, Armor . . . find his weak spot!

Superboy tried his best to land a punch on Cap, but the red, white and blue shield blocked them.

"You know you're the one who started this fight, son?" Cap asked.

"You were about to," Superboy replied.

"For someone who's supposed to idolize me, it didn't take much to get you to fight me."

"Maybe I've found a better hero to worship!"

Cap swung a punch against Superboy's jaw, knocking him back.

Cap replied, "Don't try to hurt my feelings now."

The Martian Manhunter easily withstood Firebird's telekinetic assault. "I sense such a power in you . . . "

"I get that a lot," Linda said. She flashed her wings larger than before. "I recall you being afraid of fire . . . does this do it for you?"

Robin was on the offensive from the start. His partner was Batman. And he knew, the only reason he was still on the offensive, was because Batman was letting him.

"It's some mess you're in, Robin," Batman said, easily blocking the hand-to-hand combat.

"Tell me about it," he replied. "You guys didn't have to attack us in such a public area. Bystanders are going to get hurt."

"Then I guess we'd better wrap things up."

Batman kicked Robin hard, sending him into the air. The Boy Wonder turned his flying body into a flip and landed gracefully.

"Congratulations," Batman said. "If I had tried that kick on anyone else, they'd probably be unconscious."

"Great," Robin replied, refusing to show his pain.

Before they could continue fighting, a streak of red and blue tore between the two. They both stopped and turned to see it.

"Raaaa!" the streak yelled. It rammed right into Superboy.

"Some new member?" Robin asked.

"Beats me," Batman replied.

"Some detective," Robin answered.

When the streak cleared, everyone stopped fighting to find . . . two Superboys?!?

"What the?" Sam asked.

"I found you, you, you . . . clone!" one of the Superboy's yelled.

"Me?" the other replied. "A clone? You're a clone!"

"There's two Superboys?" Iron Man asked.

"There's one Superboy!" one of the Kon-El's replied. "This one's an impostor!"

"Well," Robin pondered. "That would answer a lot of question . . . why Superboy hadn't seemed himself lately . . . "

"No!" one of the Superboys yelled, tackling the other. The two rolled on the ground in a fight.

"Which one is the real Superboy?" Arrowette asked, having freed herself of the net.

"There was . . . an impostor?" Wonder Girl asked. "Boy do I feel bad . . . "

"Firebird, separate them," Robin ordered. Using her telekinesis, she did as told.

"I shall scan their minds," Martian Manhunter said. "The one on the right is a clone."

"Yes . . . so I am a clone," he replied. "But I'm more than a match for the real Superboy! I had to hold back my powers . . . but I'm stronger than he ever will be!"

The clone broke free of Linda's grip. He fired heat beams from his eyes, knocking the Manhunter back. He used his telekinesis to throw the real Superboy into Captain America.

"Superboy's been goading us into so many confrontations," Robin said. "He's been manipulating us . . . "

"I can't believe you guys didn't notice," the real Superboy frowned.

"Now that I've been discovered, I no longer see any reason to fight on," the clone said. "From now on, my name is Match . . . because I'm more than a Match for the real Superboy! Have fun, YJ . . . in jail!"

With that, Match flew off at incredible speed.

"No!" Superboy yelled. "We need to catch him!" 'Cause if I don't, he'll keep stealing my powers until I've got nothing!

"I'll go after him!" Impulse exclaimed.

"No you won't," Flash replied.

"Despite that revelation," Captain America said. "We still have our orders. Young Justice . . . "

"Holy crap!" Iron Man exclaimed.

"Holy crap?" Jolt asked.

"No, look there, in the sky!" Arrowette yelled, her keen vision seeing what Iron Man's sensors told him. "Sentinels!"

"There's . . . there's fourteen of them," Jade said. "How on earth . . . "

"Are these your doing?" Robin asked.

"No," Cap replied in protest. "But they're headed right for us."

"Shaw," Sam frowned. "It's Sebastian Shaw's doing. He's had it in for us ever since we fought him . . . a fight which, by the way, we did to free one of our teammates, Linda!"

"We'll talk later, hot shot," Hawkeye said, pulling a pair of shock arrows. "For now, let's carve those tin cans to bits!"

As the Sentinels began to land around them, one called out, "Halt! All mutants and super-beings in this vicinity are to be eliminated."

"Super-beings?" Batman asked. "They're supposed to only target mutants."

"Like Sam said," Robin frowned. "They're Shaw's doing. And he wants us dead."

"We'll sort it all out later," Captain America said. "Right now, those things need to be stopped. "Bury the hatchet for the moment . . . both teams, take them down!"

The eighteen super-heroes swung into action with everything they had.

Martian Manhunter tore into one. Firebird used her flame wings and telekinesis to help. Captain America's shield sliced through one's hand. Superboy pummeled one, using up his pent-up aggression.

Batman and Robin used their batarangs to cripple the robot's weapon systems. Iron Man fired repulser rays as Cannonball rammed into them.

Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl used their brute strength to pummel one together. Jolt and Wasp used their size and speed to avoid being hit, while using their own stings and shocks against them.

Flash and Impulse moved with great speed to attempt to disassemble one robot. Jade and Quasar cut loose with their powers on another. Hawkeye and Arrowette stood side by side, hitting the robot with various trick arrows.

"Not bad, doll," Hawkeye said to her.

"Not so bad yourself," she replied.

"Hey hey," Spider-Man said as he swung in on a web-line. "Captain America! It's an honor, sir!"

"The pleasure's all mine," Cap replied, blocking a laser blast with his shield.

"I was just in the neighborhood and saw these huge monstrosities and decided to check it out," Spider-Man continued. "Need a hand?"

"Sure," Cap answered.

"Okay," Spider-Man replied. He fired streams of his webbing at the Sentinel's head. "Here's web in your eye!"

"This is insane," Iron Man said. "We can't keep fighting them and actually win . . . they're adapting to our attacks!"

"I hadn't noticed," Wonder Woman said as she kept pounding away.

"Any ideas?" Robin asked.

"I could use an interface between my armor and a Sentinel's systems," Iron Man said. "Introduce a virus into it's system . . . maybe it'll transmit the virus to the others?"

"Worth a try!" Captain America said. "Everyone, cover Iron Man!"

"Done and done," Superboy said, punching a Sentinel in the head.

Iron Man landed on a Sentinel's back by it's head. He began working quickly.

Robin and Batman kept up their attack.

"I have to say, I'm disappointed," Batman said.

"Disappointed?" Robin asked.

"You didn't realize the truth behind Superboy," Batman frowned.

"We were a little busy dodging attacks from everyone and their mother!" Robin replied angrily. "And right now isn't the time for this discussion! Just fight!"

Batman stopped as Robin continued. He looked at the man who was to be his replacement. That attitude wouldn't do. Robin had spent too much time on his own lately. Things would have to change . . .

"Got it!" Iron Man yelled. "I've transmitted a virus . . . with any luck, this should do it!"

"Cross your fingers," Wonder Girl said.

The Sentinel Iron Man was on suddenly died. It's systems shut down and it collapsed, smashing into the ground. One by one, the following Sentinels did the same. A pile of fourteen giant robots left a city block ravaged.

"That was crazy," Spider-Man said.

"Thanks for your help, web-head," Hawkeye said.

"Yeah, yeah," Spidey replied, firing a web line. "I'm gettin' outta here . . . no way is the Planet gonna blame me for this one!"

Both sides had taken a beating, both in their first fight, then against the Sentinels.

"Glad that's over," Jolt said.

"We still have our orders," the Manhunter frowned.

"Your move, guys," Hawkeye said.

"Robin?" Superboy asked quietly. "What do we do?"

He hesitated. Then . . . he raised his arms, putting his hands up.

Robin swallowed nervously. "We surrender."