I walked into the cave, my ring not activated, and was greeted by the sound of Wally crying out in despair.

I walked into the main area, where there was a holographic game of ice hockey being played, where apparently Wally was losing badly to Robin. Even with super speed, the poor kid can't beat Batman's training.

I laughed as they both noticed me. "Apparently the 'fastest boy alive' can't beat a little bird." I smirked, Robin laughing cockily as Wally slightly pouted, going over to sit on the couch.

I turned to Robin. "Ready to play a real master?" Robins eyes glinted slightly, and we began playing.

We were about halfway through the game, and I was also losing. Badly. But I still kept going, laughing just as happily as Robin every time he scored. I wasn't that concerned with winning, to be honest.

It was four-zero when Superboy stormed through the zeta tubes, disregarding my screams of protest as he ran through the holographic air hockey board.

"Hey! I was about to come back!" I shouted at Superboy's distant figure.

Just then, Black Canary zeta'd into the room, shouting after Superboy. "Stick around," she called, "trainings about to start." She smirked, cracking her knuckles.

_____________________________________

"So, anyone wanna go?" I hadn't even activated my suit before Wally zoomed into the ring, suit on and towering over me.

He leaned in close to my face, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Sure you wanna take me on, Little Lantern?"

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Please. I don't even need my ring for this one." I went into a defensive stance, raising my arms.

"Alright that's enough trash talk, I'm supposed to be teaching you kids." Black Canary came into the ring, ushering us out.

I pouted, sad about not getting the opportunity to kick Wally's butt. But oh well, there's always next time.

"Now, Kid Flash, want to try and spar?" Black Canary said to him.

"Hey! You stole my win BC!" I protested. The audacity.
She rolled her eyes at me, laughing.

"Maybe after this, I can show you my moves." Wally bit his lip, looking Black Canary up and down.
"Focus on losing for a bit, Kid." I called, Wally just rolling his eyes.

It ended quickly, is all I could say.
"Hurts so good," Kid Flash whispered from his position on the floor.

Me and Robin were leaning on each other from how much we were laughing, while M'gann and Kaldur only smiled. Superboy, as always, was brooding silently in the corner.

"Now, as Blue already said, albeit a tad out of context, that superhero's can't always rely on their powers to protect themselves. You must always have a defense."

Superboy huffed, standing up from leaning against the wall, walking over to the ring.

"Please, with my power, I don't need a defense." Black Canary's eyes glinted with hidden humor.

"Wanna bet?" She gestured to the ring. Superboy jumped into the zone, the computer announcing his entrance.

They both positioned themselves to fight, before the computer commenced the brawl.
Superboy put up quite a fight, but his brute strength couldn't match BC's sheer skill and training. Eventually, she got under him and swept his legs out, the computerized voice announcing his failure.

"See? You have to train. It's the only way to improve what you already have." Black Canary's words bounced off the rage-filled Superboy as he stormed out of the room, to his bedroom where he slammed the door.

I followed him quickly, ignoring BC's sounds of protest, and knocked on his door lightly.

"Go away!" He roared from the other side. My hair almost flew out of my face, even from behind the door.
Are they sure he doesn't have a Canary Cry? Jeez. And I thought I was loud.

I sighed, before trying to coax him out.
"It's Alya. Can you please let me in?" It was quiet for about ten seconds, before I turned away.

I heard the door unlock, and I turned back, opening the door gingerly.
I peered inside, and wasn't surprised at what I saw.

The room was almost pitch black, the walls close to that color, and the only furniture in the room was a poster bed, with red sheets and a wooden dressing table.
Superboy stood in the corner, punching the wall. Obviously not with full force, or he would've put his fist clean through it. He was only making slight dents in it.

He stopped when he noticed I had walked in. He didn't do anything, just stood there, watching what I would do. His eyes looked like a caged animal, ferile
and wild.

I walked over and sat down in the adjacent corner to him, staring. He got the message, and sat down too, his back resting against the wall.

We didn't say anything for about ten minutes, just me staring at him calmly, and him looking anywhere but at me.

I looked down, and spoke.
"What did those walls do to you, huh?" I cracked a smile. He didn't smile, but his eyes lost the hostility in them, which I supposed was a good sign.

"Listen, Superboy, I don't know what happened to you before you walked through the zeta tubes, and I'm not gonna ask cause if you want to tell me you can, but I just want you to know that I will always be here to listen."

He looked away from me, staring at the dents in the wall that he made not even twenty minutes ago. I took that as a sign to keep going.

"I know what it's like to feel angry at the world, and to feel like there's nothing you can do to feel better. But I want you to know that getting mad and pushing everyone away won't help anything. Talking to someone is one of the best ways to get your anger out."

Finally, he locked eyes with me, staring at what seemed to be right into my soul.
"Well what if you feel like you can't talk right now? I need to get my anger out quick before I hit something else."

I smirked slightly.
"Oh I know just the place."

———————————————————————————

We walked through Coast City, Superboy looking around in wonder at all the tall buildings and colorful market stalls.

"Never been to Coast City, huh?" He nodded, still staring at everything he could.
We didn't look out of place at all, because his suit was basically his normal clothes, and I hadn't even activated my ring in training, so we just looked like a couple of civilians looking through the market.

"Where are we even going?" His gruff voice spoke impatiently.
"All in due time, my good friend. We're not that much further now."

I eventually stopped at a run-down looking building, with grey paint falling off the wall and a door that was halfway off the chain. I went straight in, despite Superboy's skeptical looks.
God, we gotta get that boy an actual name. 'Superboy' is such a mouthful.

We walked through the dimly-lit corridors, stepping over the broken glass and questionable stains. We eventually reached our destination, a room at the foot of the stairs, where a hooded man stepped out from the shadows.

"You shouldn't be here, kids. Go home." An angry voice spoke, dangerously. I smirked slightly, putting a hand on my hip, not scared in the slightest. Superboy, not so much.
He stood in front of me, pushing me slightly out of the way and puffing his chest out.

"Please Grant. I'm tougher than anyone in there. You know that better than anyone."

His head snapped up, his hood partly falling off his face.
"Alya? Is that you?" He pulled the hood fully off, revealing a man in his mid-thirties, with ash-blonde hair and dark eyes. A man I knew well.

"Hey Grant! Good that you remember me." I laughed, giving my old friend a hug, while Superboy looked on in bewilderment.

"How could I forget? You were a legend here! Still are! And you're like a daughter to me. I would never forget you, pipsqueak."

He walked into the room, and screamed incoherently at (presumably) the people inside the room, hearing groans and shouts of protest back, but Grant was having none of it. He can back out a minute later, grinning at us.

"Room's all yours, Alya. Good to have you back."
He disappeared into another room in the house, as I turned to Superboy, clapping my hands together.

"So ready to get that anger out?" There was a slight fling of excitement in my eyes, from not having been here for so long.

Superboy nodded dubiously, almost wary of what was going to be behind that door.
I turned back around and opened the door, feeling at home once more.

Hey guys! Sortry I've been gone so long, ugh school, homework, no social life and Tiktok have taken up my days and nights.
I'll try and post more chapters soon!
And I know that the dialogue isn't perfect most of the time, but I want to show that everything would have ended up different with the addition of a new member. You'll see this in clearer detail as the story goes on.

Byeeeeeeeee! Love you guys!!!!
-dark_phoenix789
(Tara :)).