Nightwing meets with Oracle and says that there were difficulties. He explains that Mist, Livewire, and Shade attacked STAR Labs Detroit.
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Shade teleports the trio into STAR Labs via the shadows and Livewire shocks the scientist on duty unconscious. The device is larger than anticipated, but Shade manages to teleport it away through the shadows. The scientist wakes up and hits the alarm, and Shade collapses from the strain. A security guard arrives, draws his gun, and tells them to freeze. Cheshire drops down from the ceiling and knocks him out, but the guard recovers and opens fire, wounding her in the shoulder. Shade teleports himself and his teammates away.
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In Metropolis, Jeff and Helga lie in bed and Jeff wonders if he made the wrong decision quitting the League when he did. Helga tells him that he left for a reason and nothing has changed, and Jeff admits that it's all politics with the League and he's better off freelancing.
Young Justice summons Jeff to Happy Harbor and finds Dick, Artemis, and the Outsiders waiting for him. Dick says that they've located someone who has intel on the League of Shadows, but it's from Lian's mother Cheshire. Cheshire is wanted, making her dangerous.
At a hanger in Detroit, Doctor Moon removes the bullet from Cheshire's shoulder. She says that she doesn't trust anyone, including herself, and Shade radios to say that they have company. Outside, Geo Force unleashes a lava blast to stop the plane from lifting off. Livewire blasts Black Lightning as he approaches the plane. Nightwing fights Mist but can't touch her, and she can hit him by briefly turning solid. Halo and Forager take on Shade, who uses his shadow powers to teleport away Halo's blasts and Forager's physical attack so he rolls into Halo. Geo Force goes after Shade, who teleports him away through the shadows.
Nightwing sprays Mist with Freon gas, solidifying and immobilizing her. Black Lightning tackles Livewire and shorts out her brain, while Halo emits a bright white light that disperses Shade's shadow and knocks him down, forcing him to teleport away and bring Geo Force back.
Artemis sneaks onto the plane and knocks out Moon, and then asks Cheshire who is running the League and where they're at. Cheshire admits that she doesn't know, but gives the country that they're being run out of. She asks how Lian is, and Artemis tells her to go see her kid. Cheshire figures that Lian is better off without her because she'll always be Cheshire first. Shade arrives and teleports them both away, and Cheshire asks Artemis to hug Lian for her before she leaves. Artemis radios Nightwing and says that she has Moon and the League of Shadows intel.
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At the Batcave, Robin reports to Batman that he's been keeping tabs on Jervis Tetch, aka Mad Hatter, since his release from Arkham six months ago. He took along Spoiler, Arrowette, and Orphan, and they watch as Jervis heads to his night job. They notice that he's drinking a lot of water and examine a discarded bottle, discovering that there's particles of clay inside. Orphan goes off on her own and silently cuts "Jervis" in half, and he reforms into Clayface. The others arrive and Clayface attacks them. They figure that Jervis is controlling Clayface, and Spoiler says that they know where Jervis is. Clayface escapes into the sewers and Spoiler says that she tossed a liquid tracker onto Clayface and they can track him to Jervis.
At a warehouse at the docks, Mad Hatter injects a subject with nanites. He takes control of his subject, making him punch himself. Clayface arrives and says that he had to protect Mad Hatter, and Robin and the others break in. Mad Hatter escapes with his subject while Clayface attacks the heroes, and Robin has Arrowette and Orphan attack Clayface while Spoiler goes after Mad Hatter and he investigates the warehouse.
Mad Hatter triggers the self-destruct and leaves, and Spoiler follows him. They duck into a dead-end and disappear before Spoiler can catch up to them.
Robin is examining Mad Hatter's equipment when Clayface attacks him. Orphan cuts the villain to pieces, while Robin spots all of the C4 packets planted in the rafters. He gets everyone out except Clayface, who can't leave because of Mad Hatter's programming. The building explodes as the heroes get out, and Clayface is blown to bits... which slowly reform.
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Wonder Woman calls Aquaman and Miss Martian, who are in the Batcave, and Aquaman gives his report to her.
Several weeks ago in Star City, Brick and another meta prisoner are loaded onto a secure transport going to Belle Reve. Sportsmaster tosses an exploding javelin in front of the transport, knocking it off the road. The drivers reveal that they're Shazam and Flash out of costume. They quickly suit up and attack Sportsmaster, who uses a hockey put that emits ultrasonic waves to blast them back. Abra Kadabra appears and frees the prisoners, and Rocket attacks the evil magician and traps Brick in a solid-light bubble. When Abra recovers, Aquaman takes him down.
Sportsmaster escapes with the other prisoner, and Flash and Shazam go after them. The two villains enter a dead-end alley and disappear. The police arrive and take Brick and Abra into custody.
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Batman and Nightwing tell Wonder Woman that over the last few weeks, they've managed to cripple the meta-human traffickers. The various operations trace back to a security organization named Branchwater run by CEO Simon Stagg, Sportsmaster liberates existing metas, Mad Hatter injects them with mind-control nanites, and Cheshire runs missions using the controlled Metas. Robin found one of Mad Hatter's control devices and released Clayface, and Batman released Livewire and Mist. They're seeking another solution for Mist and Livewire, who are minors, and Miss Martian and Conner busted Stagg for receiving stolen property. The device that the villain team stole was salvaged from a Reach warship and the writing says "Meta-human Failsafe". They figure Stagg obtained the machine to protect himself against any hostile metas. Oracle forward the evidence they found to the authorities, putting him in prison for a long time. The Reach device is going back to STAR Labs in Detroit.
Nightwing worries about Shade, the prisoner that Sportsmaster liberated and Mad Hatter took control of.
Cheshire sends Shade to kill Stagg in his cell.
Wonder Woman says that they're coordinating six teams of heroes. Batman and Nightwing say that they're the anti-Light, but Wonder Woman isn't happy with keeping the other League members in the dark. The Caped Crusader says that they're providing their teammates with disavowability, and expects Diane to use her diplomatic status to avoid taking the stand if they're called on to testify. Wonder Woman asks if the others are willing to lie, and they don't answer her question.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 18, 2019