The Speed of Sight

Part 7

The Quinjet circled a large castle-like building several times before finding a place to land. The police commissioner and two heros were waiting for them when they landed. The villains were put in cuffs and led out of the jet.
Tony stepped out and greeted the others, saying, "Batman, Flash, Commissioner Gordon, these are my friends." He turned slightly toward the rest of the group, who had just gotten off the plane. He gestured to each as he continued, "Captain America, Agent Coulson, Strobe, and The Howler."
Commissioner Gordon nodded and said, "It's a pleasure meeting you all. Thank you again, Ironman, for bring back our escapees."
Flash looked at them and said, "It's nice to see you again Ironman, and nice to meet the rest of you."
Batman looked up, nodded and said, "This is Arkham Asylum. It's where these villains will be staying for quite some time. Has Strobe had time to recover? It's rough in there."
Hal was about to interject when Alli said, "Thank you, but I think I can manage."
Batman shrugged his shoulders, "Then follow me." He grabbed the Joker's handcuffs and began to lead him inside. The others followed. Alli stayed in between Hal and her father when they entered the prison. They could hear fights going on in the courtyard, along with gossiping voices as they walked through the halls toward the 3 vacant cells. Villains gave them long, harsh stares as they walked by, and some began to talk about them amongst themselves. Once they put the villains in their cells, Commissioner Gordon thanked them and showed them out.
"The other members of the Justice League and I would like to help you figure out your past." Flash said as he turned to Alli. "They are waiting for us at the Watchtower, if you want to come."
She looked up at her father expectantly, and when he nodded she said, "That would be wonderful! Can the others come as well?"
"Yes, they can. Can you take your jet into space?" Flash responded.
"Yep, she's been fully equiped for space travel." Tony said confidently.
"Alright then." Flash said, "Let's go!" They boarded the Quinjet and took off. Flash attempted to make small talk as they climbed higher and higher, making their way to space. "Soo..." Flash said awkwardly, motioning to Hal and Alli. "What powers do you guys have?"
"Howler has regenerating abilities, metal claws, and the ability to turn himself to metal, vibranium to be specific; and I have super speed." Alli responded.
"Well, I guess Superman will get kind of jealous if we start calling you "The Man of Steel!" Flash said with a laugh. When no one else laughed, he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Well, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one in the world with super speed!" He said to Alli.
Alli smiled and sighed, "Yeah, it is. We had another person who was fast like us, Quicksilver, but unfortunately he was killed."
"I'm so sorry for your loss. I bet it was an honorable death though."
There was a long pause, then Batman said, "We're here." They all looked out the window to see a large space station ahead of them.
They flew into the hanger and were greeted by the other members of the Justice League, whom Flash introduced, "This is the Justice League: Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. Justice League, these are our friends from Marvel: you already know Ironman, but let me introduce you to Captain America, his daughter, Strobe, Agent Coulson, and The Howler." They all exchanged hellos and handshakes, then got down to business.
"So," Wonder Woman started, "What all do you remember? We will need more information in order to crack this case. But, Batman should be able to figure it out pretty easily." she finished jokingly. They all laughed, except for Batman.
Alli told them every detail of what she remembered, then Tony told them the confession that Harley Quinn had given them.
When they had finished, Flash said to Alli, "So your parents were scientists who died in the explosion at the hospital? But I thought Captain America was your father?"
Steve shook his head and said, "I took her in when she was an infant. I never knew where she came from. She was left on our doorstep."
Flash continued, "I see. Well, I do vaguely remember hearing something strange that night, like the sound of hurried footsteps. I had dismissed it, thinking it was a figment of my imagination, but then the portal turned on. When we got there, whoever it was... was gone." He turned to Batman to see what he thought.
"Well, obviously, that Hannah person was trying to save you. I would suggest we cross reference your parents' names with the name Hannah, and see what we can find."
As they walked through the Watchtower Hal and Alli noticed several large doors with symbols above them. Hal got curious and asked, "Where do those lead?"
Green Lantern answered, "Those doorways have portals in them that allow us to  quickly travel to different places, planets and dimensions." Alli took a long look at one of the doors. Above it was a red sign with a single, white "M" on it.
"Do you recognize that door?" Hal asked.
"Yes, I think I do. I think I remember going through it when I was little." They turned a corner and came to the main control room.
Batman entered the names into the computer and said, "While we're at it, we should see what else we can discover about Doctors Aaron and Kelly Slate."
Martian Manhunter sat down at another computer console and looked up their names. "It appears that they were genetic scientists, just as Harley Quinn stated." He began. "Neither of them had any known powers, so how did Strobe get her powers?"
"I suggest that we take a blood sample." Batman interjected. "Follow me." He led the way to the laboratory. There were a lot of computers and glassed in areas, along with typical lab equipment. They had Alli sit on an exam table and a robotic doctor took a blood sample.
The DNA results come up rather quickly. "Her speed seems to be a mutated gene like yours, Flash. But it appears to have been mutated while she was still young, possibly while in utero." Batman reported. "It must have had something to do with the experiments her parents were working on."
They went back to the control room to look at the results of the cross referencing. "It says here that Hannah Jenson was your parents' lab assistant." said Batman. "She was last seen heading towards the hospital. The police have her listed as missing. Your parents, they assumed, were killed by the explosion. But I did find another married couple who are genetic scientists whose names are Brad and Rebecca Fritz. They live outside the city. I wonder if they knew your parents. Maybe they were colleagues? Do you want to give it a shot?"
Alli always knew that she was adopted, but since Steve didn't know anything about her biological parents, she had stopped thinking about them long ago. But knowing they were scientists who were trying to help make the world safe from villains was exciting! She would love to know more about their work. Maybe it would shed some light on how she came to have these superpowers. But knowing they were murdered by Harley Quinn just made her sad and angry. Her parents were taken from her by that woman! Will hearing about them be too painful? Did she really want to walk down this road?
"Sweetheart?" Steve said. "Are you okay?"
Startled, Alli realized with embarrassment that they were waiting for her answer. "Um... yes... yes, let's see if we can find this couple. I would like to know more about where I came from."

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