Before he could unleash it on her, multiple greyish-black rods impaled his right arm, and Toneri suddenly materialized in front of Twister, releasing a powerful wind blast that shoved him away. As Twister was about to hit the ground, Wally spun like a top, creating a tornado similar to the one used against Twister before, and hurled him to Superboy.
The Kryptonian then began punching the villain several times before ripping off the hand Toneri had damaged earlier and knocking him into the water. While Twister was sinking in the bay, Aqualad impaled his chest with a metal sign and then electrocuted him with his sorcery. The attack resulted in an explosion that sent Twister flying out of the water. M'gann used her telekinesis to lift Twister up and ripped off his arms and battery pack. Finally, while Twister was still being held in the air, Robin threw his explosive disks at him.
The final attack sent Twister crashing into the ground. He barely got back up on his knees before his chest opened, and a frail old man in a yellow jumpsuit fell out.
"F-Foul," the man whined as the teens surrounded him. "I c-call foul."
Toneri floated down, hovering a few inches above the ground. "So, do you still think they aren't worth giving you a challenge, Twister? For you are on your knees while they stand tall before you."
As the man looked up at Toneri, he tried to say something, but a chakra rod pierced his neck and out his throat.
"Toneri, no!" Kaldur called out, eyes wide at the brutality. Before anyone could react further, M'gann lifted a rock, and despite Aqualad's attempt to intervene, she dropped it on top of the body, smashing it.
"Toneri, are you insane?!" Wally yelled.
"I don't know how things are done back in your world, but here we don't execute our captives! And you, Miss Martian, why would you do that to an already dead man?!" Robin growled.
Toneri looked at Robin with a dark look, causing him to take a step back. Miss Martian stepped in and said, "You said you trusted me!" She pointed at the remains after the cloud of dust vanished, revealing the remnants of a robot. "That's why I couldn't read his mind. Toneri knew he was a machine all along."
Toneri added, "He didn't have any life signature."
"I guess that makes sense," Wally said, walking up to the robot's remains and picking up one of its eyes. "Cool, souvenir."
Superboy and Kaldur walked up to M'gann and Toneri. Kaldur rested his hand on the Martian's shoulder. "We should have more faith in you two." Superboy smiled at them, and they smiled back.
Toneri said, "I wouldn't say you all did perfectly well, but still, it wasn't all too bad. Hmm, let's see. According to your world's grading system, I'd say your performance gets a B."
"What, just a B?!" Wally exclaimed.
Toneri looked at him amusingly. "I was being generous. I'd have given a C+ if you all didn't listen to Miss Martian."
---
Unknown Location
Unknown to the team, they were being observed by the robot's only functioning eye. A man who looked exactly like the robot in the Mister Twister armor and another man with black and gray hair in a lab coat were watching.
"Now Brom, aren't you relieved I didn't let you wear the armor?" the man in the lab coat said.
"Extremely, Professor," Brom replied. "You're not upset that the armor has been defeated and captured?"
"No," the man known as T.O. Morrow replied. "I am convinced that our tracking program was operational and that the real Red Tornado was somewhere in the area. Besides, you know that science advances in fits and starts. Even failure can be instructive… and I say we learned quite a lot today."
---
After Mister Twister was defeated, the team brought the remains of the robot and the armor back to the cave. The remains were laid out on a table being analyzed by Red Tornado.
"This is very disturbing," Red Tornado said after examining the robot and the armor. "Apparently, whoever sent this has built the armor to my design and equipped it with a way to override my programming."
"It would seem whoever created it is familiar with your design and powers. Not just that, but they managed to improve upon the design," Toneri added.
"It was clearly created and sent to sabotage or destroy you," Kaldur said.
"Agreed," the android replied.
"Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked.
"No," Red Tornado said. "It was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you, nor is it your role to solve mine."
"But if you're in danger," M'gann said.
"Consider this matter closed," Red Tornado interrupted before walking down the hallway.
"Batman, Aquaman, and Flash would have jumped right in to fix things," Wally said, watching the android walk away.
"Guess if we're gonna have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need," Robin said sarcastically.
Toneri looked at Robin and shook his head before looking at Tornado. His eyes flashed blue for a moment as he thought, 'Although heartless, he seems to have developed a particle of a soul.'
"Dude!" Wally hissed. "Harsh!"
"And inaccurate," Red Tornado said, turning to face the teens. "I do have a heart. Carbon-steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing."
"Right, sorry," Robin said, a little embarrassed. "I'll try and be more accurate."
"And more respectful," Aqualad added.
"Speedy was so wrong," Wally said.
"Agreed. This team just might work out after all," Kaldur said as he and Robin followed Wally to the Zeta tubes. Superboy turned to M'gann before heading to his room.
"About before..." he said to the Martian, having trouble looking at her. "I'm sorry."
Hearing that made M'gann smile as she watched him head to his room. Afterwards, she headed to her room too, with a big smile on her face that wouldn't go away.
Toneri observed them and smiled while making his way to his room, thinking, 'They just might be able to work after all.'