Young Justice Echo, Volume One
In the aftermath of the Reach Invasion's failure, new heroes have stepped up to join the combined forces of the Justice League and Young Justice. A new team, Echo, has been formed and immediately finds themselves facing a new enemy, and a new invasion.
I do not own The Justice League, Young Justice, or any and all characters associated with either the shows, comics, etc. All are property of DC Comics.
Young Justice Roster
ECHO Team
Number/Alias/Power(s)
1- Nathaniel Shepherd/All Star/Kinetic energy Manipulation
2- Victor Stone/Cyborg/Cybernetic Enhancements
3- Delilah Knight/Daemon/Metamorphosis, augmented strength, magic
4- Yet to be designated
5- Yet to be designated
TRAINING DATA
Nathaniel Shepherd
Age: 16
Place of Birth: Gotham City, America
Background Data: Minor criminal record, expunged. Was recruited into committing small crimes alongside his brother Robert when their Meta-Genes manifested around the same time. Nathan was convinced by Nightwing after helping to save lives during a robbery gone wrong to stop letting his brother order him to do wrong. Nathan fought and defeated his brother in a vicious battle, during which Nathan accidently caused the death of the criminal ring leader of their gang.
Afterwards, Nightwing allowed Nathan to apply to become a member of Young Justice in a few years on the condition that he undergo training. With help from Batman, Nightwing arranged for Nathan to receive training from martial artists, other heroes, and even provided a computer simulation program to test his ability to think under stress. After three years of training Nathan was finally given permission to form his own hero identity.
His father, who has hesitantly supported Nathan's decision, funded his son in his endeavour using money earned from their international company: All Star Sports Equipment. With the weapons provided and based off of sports equipment where able, Nathan took on the Alias of All-Star.
His most advanced piece of equipment is a Kinetic Energy Cell which allows Nathan to absorb energy from blows and store them in the cell for later use.
All-Star is slated to begin service as a member of Echo Team, pending designation as Team Leader if able to prove himself capable.
Delilah Knight
Age: 18
Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Background: No criminal record, but was caught using her powers for violence before being rehabilitated.
Delilah's father, James Knight, was an associate of Intergang and often was provided with advanced technology and magical secrets in return for his assistance. At one point he volunteered Delilah, who had an inactive Meta-Gene, for an experiment based off of the Reach's efforts to 'weaponize' the meta gene. The experiment also involved mutating the Meta-Gene to manipulate what powers it would provide. In this case a magical aura was applied to the meta gene during the process, resulting in Delilah gaining the following powers.
1- The ability to take on what she calls a 'demon form'
2- Enhanced strength
3- Magical lightning.
4- Flight.
5- Other magical abilities have manifested at random.
6- Natural magical pathways in her body.
After carelessly using her powers at one point when angered in public, Delilah was apprehended by Zatara, Captain Marvel and the Martian Manhunter. However the Manhunter read her mind and took pity on her, suggesting that in return for her cooperating they could make an exception for her actions, which had not cost any lives or caused any serious injury before they had stopped her.
Delilah testified against her father after several weeks of convincing from the Martian Manhunter and Ms Martian. James Knight and numerous Intergang Operatives were arrested, and dozens of arrests of accused informants and financial backers were made later. A hit was put out on Delilah, who was attacked while in public and accompanied by Young Justice Operatives Robin and Wonder Girl. They managed to fight off the assassins, and Delilah became convinced to give a career as a super hero a try.
She is now slated to join Echo Team, pending designation as Team Leader if able to prove herself capable.
Victor Stone
Age: 18
Bacgkround: No criminal record.
Victor is the son of STAR scientist Silas Stone, and a former Highschool Football player with multiple offers of scholarship from colleges all around the country. However after an explosion at STAR labs, Victor's body was heavily damaged. Silas quickly began operations on his son, using classified technologies including a new nanites serum that encourage cellular regeneration in the remaining active systems in Victor's body. Other augmentations have resulted in a good deal of Victor's body being replaced by cybernetics, and the most significant modification was the addition of a Mother Box being researched at STAR labs at the time of the explosion.
Victor is now gifted with superhuman strength, speed, endurance, durability, the ability to manually interface with computers using his own body, stabilized flight from a series of thrusters built into concealed compartments; he possesses an integrated weapon's system including a Sonic Cannon, missiles, electrical weaponry. In addition he also has a series of electronic sensors and his basic sight and hearing are greatly enhanced.
The Mother Box has also granted him the ability to manually create Boom Tubes, however at a great personal cost to his onboard power supply.
Victor assisted with a recent skirmish from Apokalips' Para Demon invasion force, and was considered for active duty on the Justice League; however he wished to first join Young Justice so that he could be more carefully introduced to the world of crime fighting.
He is now slated to begin service as a member of Echo Team, pending designation as Team Leader if he proves himself capable.
Xxx
YOUNG JUSTICE, SEASON THREE, ECHO
EPISODE ONE- Arrangement
Gotham City, Harbor Area
2:32 AM, April 3rd, 2017
The area around a large freighter was buzzing with activity despite the early hour. It was still dark, and the men were keeping quiet for the sake of not attracting attention. They knew that in Gotham you were in the greatest danger by night no matter what your numbers were, but luckily the Bat Clan was to be preoccupied with a series of robberies perpetrated by the Joker recently.
One man stood out among the dozens working to unload several crates. He was clad in a dark armored attire except for his mask, which was split down the middle. One side was black and had no hole in it for him to see through, while the other was orange and allowed the man to see with his only eye. A pair of katana rested on his back, and he was cradling an assault rifle in his arms.
"We're almost done here, Mr Wilson." Another man clad in dark body armor said as he approached Slade 'Deathstroke' Wilson, who stood on a crate overlooking the activity. "All units report no activity on the perimeter."
"Have them double check," Deathstroke didn't take his eye off of the men below. "In Gotham, every shadow is your enemy. I'm sure your master taught you that much."
The second of the men was a member of the League of Assassins, one of dozens dispatched here to assist Deathstroke. The confusing part was that they were all there to watch over an exchange with Intergang, which had made itself an enemy of The Light, the alliance of the world's most deadly super villains. Almost a year ago the former leader of Intergang, Bruno 'Ugly' Manheim and his Lieutenant Whisper D'aire were rendered catatonic by Sportsmaster on orders from The Light. This has made a rift between the two organizations, and only through the new council leading Intergang were relations beginning to mend.
Slade, The Light's current enforcer, had only recently escaped custody after being ambushed and captured by AquaLad, the current leader of Young Justice. It was a blow to his reputation that a 'junior hero' had beaten him, but a few high level assassinations had reminded the world that Slade Wilson hadn't lost his touch.
"...we're compromised," The veteran assassin gruffly stated, surprising the League Assassin next to him.
"What? But-" Deathstroke cut him off with one raised arm and turned around.
"I'll be back," Slade paused to give one last order. "...tell your men that they are authorized to use lethal force." He stepped off of the crate and jumped down casually to the ground below.
Xxx
On the far side of the loading area Slade had seen a single figure moving across the tops of the crates with his chemically enhanced vision. One would have mistaken it for the patrolling League Assassins, but even at the distance Slade had been standing at he had clearly seen that the form was too small and slender, and wore clothing just a shade too bright...
And that figure managed to drop down on one of the patrolling Intergang member, a quick strike to the back of the skull knocking the man down. The assailant examined the discarded rifle, the inside of his dark tinted goggles lighting up as he scanned it. "Log: Illegal weapon is Reach Tech, modified and reverse engineered into a rifle shape." He set the rifle down. "Log: Intergang activity confirmed. Reconnaissance completed, returning to base."
A familiar noise of a blade whizzing through the air enabled the intruder to turn and spin out of the way of the large shuriken which would have buried itself into the back of his unprotected head had he been any slower. He back flipped nimbly and crouched, facing the half dozen League Assassins who all dropped down in unison from nearby shadows, each wielding blades of their own. A seventh came into view from above, flinging two more shuriken at the dark haired intruder, who raised his right arm and tapped a button on the inside of his forearm. A metallic shield spread out from his arm and sent the shuriken pinging off.
"Log, " The masked youth said, breathing heavily as adrenaline flowed through him, fear and nervous anticipation motivating him to draw a weapon as the League Assassins charged for him. "League of Assassins are present. Recon compromised! Request backup!"
A long staff extended outwards, gripped in both of his hands as one end popped open to show three prongs that sparked with electricity. The Assassins struck as one perfect unit, and it was only through the youth's sheer speed and strength that he managed to counter or dodge their blows. He spun his staff, twisting his body and ducking. The metal pole actually intercepted several attacks, while the young masked intruder himself was forced to dodge the rest as the Assassins swarmed around him.
The prongs of his staff stuck into the shoulder of one assassin, going between the armor components he wore and piercing his clothing. The assassin went into spasms and collapsed as he received the equivalent of a full tazer shock. Before he could pull his staff back one of the assassins sliced through the middle of it...
And All-Star, now revealed by the light of a flare launched up from nearby, spun the two halves in each hand and struck the katana wielding assassin in the skull and multiple joints in the span of two seconds before spinning and kicking him away. The assassins were put off by how fast their prey was moving; usually they were superior in speed and strength, but this boy was clearly much faster.
He wore a dark grey suit laced with body armor, and was sleeveless; however gauntlets covered his arms up to the elbows, and black leather gloves fit over his strong hands. For a mask he wore two articles: a dark grey metallic mask that was like a gas mask, and a set of goggles with tinted lenses so dark that his eyes couldn't be seen. His dark hair was cut into a short crew cut, but that was the only physical feature they would get from him in this disguise.
Slade watched as the masked hero known as All Star, a relatively new member of the ever growing number of heroes walking the Earth began to take on the now five person team of Assassins. The boy was clearly trained, and was good...but he was uninitiated, new, green and most of all he wasn't able to dodge and block everything.
A cut on his bicep, a punch to the jaw; All Star was relying on his superior speed and armor to make up for his lack of experience against the professional warriors of the League. He fired a pair of lines from his right gauntlet which stuck into the chest of one of the men, piercing the armor over his chest and allowing All Star to taze him to the ground before another of the four remaining fighters moved in, his swords vectoring on the boy's throat.
All Star saw the attack coming and quickly twisted out of the way while wrapping the wires of his built in tazer around the man's left arm. He pulled them tight and forced the man's arm up and back while pressing himself back against the man's spine. He had the assassin's sword angle between him and the blade of another of his attackers, this one using a naginata. All Star kicked the naginata wielder in the gut, and he flew back with surprising force.
"Either super strength...or something else." Slade muttered as he watched All Star turn halfway and kick his captive in the small of his back, slamming him against a metal crate hard enough to dent it. "Guess I'd better find out."
All Star now had two enemies left, but one of them managed to get the drop on him and slammed his bo staff against the boy's back. All Star's spine arched a bit, and he fell to his knees; he barely brought up one arm while turning on his side in time to catch the bo staff's next blow, stopping it cold against his gauntlet. The hero twisted his upper body as his second opponent stabbed a long katana which required two hands to wield down where his head had been, he then kicked the bo staff wielder's legs out from beneath him and curled his body inwards, swinging his legs up and planting his palms flat on the ground.
Slade managed to jump down just as All Star kicked the sword wielder in the gut with both feet, but this time only made the man stumble back and bought the young hero a few moments to climb to his feet. Now the dark haired youth was on his feet, his own staff back in hand and taking up a defensive posture, seeing more League Assassins take up positions on the surrounding crates. One hand went to his belt, but a sudden gunshot split the silence of the night and sent All Star flying on his back, his body armor barely managing to save him.
Deathstroke lowered his handgun and looked to the assassins. "Do I have to do everything myself?" They took up stand by positions, weapons still at the ready but clearly leaving the now downed hero for the Enforcer of The Light to finish. "It appears so."
"NOT!" The shout was followed by a ear racking noise and several of the surrounding assassins being thrown clean off their feet. Deathstroke's single eye picked out the source in his peripheral vision, and the mercenary managed to throw himself aside and roll into a crevice between two crates just in time to dodge a second blast from the shooter.
All Star, one hand on his bruised stomach, turned over onto his front and began to climb to his feet. He saw his rescuer: a tall and well built African-American boy a few years older than him. His head was shaved clean, and he wore an all dark attire: cargo pants, military boots and a muscle shirt similar to what Superboy often wore-minus any logos of course. The boy's left eye was glowing bright red, and his right arm had opened up and unfolded into a cannon of sorts which was firing a concentrated sonic blast, knocking assassins through the air easily and allowing the newcomer to rush to All Star's aid.
With his free hand he pulled All Star to his feet. "Kal got your SOS and sent me to help. What part of recon did you not get?" The older boy demanded as he supported All Star's frame with one arm and continued to fend off the League Assassins with his sonic cannon arm.
"I didn't advertise myself! They caught me!" All Star replied, slowly getting his breath and strength back. "I got what we needed Cyborg, get us out of here!"
"I'm working on it!" Cyborg said, muttering something under his breath. "Come on charge up already..." He blasted aside two more assassins, but didn't spot a third coming his way from the side.
"Look out!" All Star broke away from Cyborg and flung another of his discus at the assassin. The weapon knocked his weapon aside and gave Cyborg the extra second needed to turn and deliver a devastating kick to the would be attacker's ribs. Then the larger teenager turned and fired past Nathan to cover him.
Slade darted out from cover, keeping low and drawing both of his katana. He shifted to the left or right to avoid Cyborg's sonic blasts, closing in on the two intruders who were managing to fight off the League Assassins left and right, covering for one another perfectly.
However All Star saw him coming and got one foot under his discarded staff, flicking the weapon up into his waiting palm. At first Slade thought that the boy intended to taze him, but instead All Star threw it at Slade while he was still thirty feet away. The mercenary easily dodged it, but as soon as it hit the ground a few feet behind him it suddenly exploded. It was small and contained however, so it only stumbled the masked mercenary and caused him to roll.
"Look out!" All Star said as Slade, having dropped his katana during his tumble, grabbed his assault rifle from off of his back and fired at them. Cyborg positioned himself between Slade and All Star, the bullets ripping through his shirt and back only to bounce off of something beneath them both. Slade was still coming at them, not even slowing down as he emptied his rifle into Cyborg's back.
Slade abandoned his rifle and leaped into the air. His feet slammed down on Cyborg's head and shoulder, yet the younger man barely budged when any other man would have been knocked clean off his feet and out cold. Instead Cyborg swung around with a furious swing, his cannon turning into a new mechanism which unleashed a blade of energy from his forearm. Slade back flipped out of its reach, feeling the stinging heat of the tip as it grazed his chin when he landed and leaned back to avoid a second swing.
Cyborg's arm returned to its cannon form, and he attempted to blast Slade at point blank range. The one eyed mercenary rolled out of the way and snatched up his assault rifle as he moved in close again. Cyborg fired a second shot, but Slade ducked under his arm snapped the butt of hsi rifle up into the hero's jaw. Cyborg's head snapped upwards a bit, but he quickly recovered and
"Wish granted!" Cyborg's arm reshaped itself into a different device, still generally in the shape of a gun, and fired it...creating a portal of twisting shapes made of light: a boom tube! "Come on!"
All Star, managed to rush through the boom tube while keeping his head down, Slade's bullets whizzing by him as he dropped and rolled before vanishing. Cyborg saw nearly a dozen armed men, members of Intergang armed with energy based weaponry closing in from different directions and quickly opened a compartment in his bicep while Slade rose to his feet and popped a fresh magazine into his weapon.
Cyborg pulled out a canister and pressed a button on the top before dropping it. He then dove through the boom tube and let it close behind him as the flash-bang grenade went off, disorienting the soldiers.
Deathstroke lowered the arm he had brought up to cover his eyes and sighed, setting his rifle back in its original position before going to retrieve his swords.
"They got away!" The Intergang squad leader growled as he got up, rubbing his eyes. "We're compromised. Get the stuff loaded back onto the ship, we're out of here!"
He found Deathstroke holding one katana to his throat a moment later, not even looking down at the hired thug as the cold metal nicked open the flesh of his lower jaw a bit. "Keep unloading what you can, then you can keep the rest." His single blue eye glared down at the squad leader when he opened his mouth to protest. "Need I remind you what my predecessor did to your last boss when he angered The Light?"
"N...no sir." The man backed down, and felt Deathstroke remove the katana from his throat. He grabbed his radio with a shaking hand and spoke into it. "Men...unload what's already being moved, keep the rest on board."
"Smart man," Deathstroke turned and walked away from the scene of the fight, pulling out his own communicator. "Deathstroke, reporting in."
"Status?" The voice was distorted so that the speaker could not be accurately identified-Slade had been impersonated once before without anybody realizing it, they would not take such risks again with security protocol.
"The transfer site was compromised. It was some new members of the Justice League's Young Justice division." Slade explained. "All Star and Cyborg."
"We have their files, and will transfer all available combat data to you for future encounters. Status of the operation?"
"I'm having them unload whatever they have already begun to move. Everything else will have to go back until we have a new safe spot to make the drop off."
"Acceptable. We will monitor for League activity until then and warn you in advance."
"There's something else of concern. Cyborg opened a boom tube," Slade let it sink in for a moment before continuing. "Has the League acquired New God technology?"
"With the loss of our infiltration units in Star Labs and the League, it is possible that we have not witnessed everything these new recruits have to offer." Slade's handler admitted. "Continue with your mission Deathstroke, then report back. We will be dispatching a new operative to acquire what we need to re-assess the League as a threat."
"Affirmative," Slade said before his handler disconnected.
He looked up to the stars, knowing that right now the Justice League Watch Tower was floating overhead, containing dozens of trained and seasoned heroes. "You're becoming more trouble than you're worth."
Xxx
Justice League Watch Tower
3:15 am
"Though compromised, you followed protocol and alerted us immediately." Kaldur, otherwise known as AquaLad said as he addressed both All Star and Cyborg in the Ops Center-the former was lacking his torso's body armor now. "I cannot blame you for what happened tonight, Nathan. We did not forsee the involvement of the League of Shadows. Our intel suggested that this would solely be an Intergang affair. The presence of Deathstroke is even more concerning."
"Yeah, I thought the guy was supposed to be held in some prison on the far side of the planet." Cyborg, AKA: Victor Stone said with his arms crossed, both looking perfectly normal now. His shirt however was shredded at the back, and his skin beneath had been torn away by Slade's gunfire, showing a metal plating beneath it.
"He had escaped only recently, and with assistance from the outside. As for which operative the Light had sent to do this, I am unaware." AquaLad looked to the numerous holographic screens surrounding the three of them. "There is no security footage, signs of a fight or break in, or even forensic evidence to be found besides Deathstroke's."
"So the Light has their Enforcer back," All Star, AKA: Nathaniel 'Nathan' Shepherd said. "You've beaten him before."
AquadLad looked down as if ashamed. "Only by taking him by surprise when he thought of me as an ally, and even then I required Tigress' help to neutralize him fast enough. He is by far one of the most dangerous men on Earth and indeed other worlds that you could face. I am glad that you were not badly hurt from this encounter."
"Believe me, nobody is more glad than I am." Nathan smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He had taken off his mask after returning to the Watch Tower with Cyborg, revealing the youthful and clean shaven face of a teenager with green eyes. "Thanks for sending Victor to get me. Another thirty seconds and I'd have been dead meat."
"Anytime man," Victor smiled, and lightly punched Nathan on the shoulder. "Just try not to get your butt in another mess. I won't always be up here using the gym every time you run into a master assassin out there."
Kaldur felt a light smile cross his face at the sight of Young Justice's two newest members managing to recover from such a fight with the League of Assassins. Cyborg was almost a natural at what he did, perhaps because his cybernetics helped to suppress his fear and offered him tactical data, but Kaldur knew that even if Victor had approached them as a normal human he would have been able to join up. "You've both performed well despite the setback of Intergang being aware of our surveillance. As such, I think that it is time for us to stop hiding the surprise from you."
Both young heroes exchanged confused glances, and then looked at AquaLad. The screens around them fell, revealing the other leading members of Young Justice.
M'gann (Ms Martian), the niece of the Martian Manhunter and one of the original five members of the team. She had allowed her hair to grow out a bit again in the last year, and was standing with a tall, well built and dark haired young man with blue eyes wearing the emblem of Superman on a dark muscle shirt. Superboy, otherwise known as Connor, had been holding M'gann's hand until realizing that the 'newbies' were now able to see them and quickly adopted a more serious pose, crossing his arms. M'gann mimicked her boyfriend, folding her hands in front of her and giving the duo a smile.
The third was another dark haired boy, albeit lacking color in his skin a bit. He wore a black and red outfit with a cape, and had a domino mask covering his eyes. This was Robin II, who had risen to replace Nightwing when the previous disciple of Batman had chosen to go solo for a while.
The fourth and final spectator was a blonde woman clad in a brown and orange armored outfit. She had numerous weapons on her person, and wore a mask over her upper face. She was Tigress, formerly known as Artemis and the sixth member of the original team.
Nathan looked around, startled and even a little intimidated by their presence. A powerful Martian psychic, a half Kryptonian who could break him in two, the apprentice of Batman and the daughter of one most deadly mercenaries in the world alongside the one he had just faced...the first Robin would have claimed to been 'whelmed'.
"We've decided to expand Young Justice's ranks." AquaLad explained. "And to start, we are forming a new team, which you two shall be a part of."
Nathan grinned. "Me and Vic are on a team together? Nice!"
"We decided that you two work together best based off of how you did in training, and during that last mission." Superboy said. "You worked together under stress and managed to fend off numerous trained enemies. That's the kind of team work needed for this unit."
"We'll be providing you with several new team mates to compliment your talents and abilities." Tim said. "Tigress is tracking down the last few, but we did manage to bring one in today."
Ms Martian briefly closed her eyes, sending a telepathic message, and then a young woman stepped into the Ops Center from the shadow of the nearby Zeta Tubes.
"All Star, Cyborg, meet your new team mate: Daemon." AquaLad said. "Daemon, welcome to the Watch Tower."
Daemon was the same height as Nathan, and had long dark hair and violet eyes. She was wearing a simple light blue t shirt over a long sleeved white shirt, and blue jeans with white sneakers. All in all she looked like any ordinary girl, but when she got close enough Nathan saw a light in her eyes, like a little star of red in her pupils...
"Nice to meet you," Victor introduced himself first, holding out a hand. "Call me Victor."
Daemon looked at his hand, and then up at him before hesitantly shaking his hand. "Delilah." She sounded apprehensive of her two new team mates. "Delilah Knight."
"Nathan," Nathan said as he shook her hand next. "Why the code name 'Daemon'?"
Delilah blinked, a surprised look on her face. "You mean they really didn't tell you?"
"We kept our promise to you Delilah," AquaLad assured her. "It is for you to tell them, not us. But I encourage you not to keep secrets among your team. After all, you will be working together for quite some time."
Delilah nodded. "Alright, guess it won't do a whole lot to try and hide it from you so..." She closed her eyes and exhaled, taking a step back. When she opened her eyes they were glowing bright red, and she became consumed in a red light that lasted a single moment. When it faded, a whole new person stood where Delilah had been...
She had the same general facial and body structure, but it had been given new additions. For one her skin was deeply tanned, and her eyes were red as rubies. Her body was encased in black and wine red armor with chainmail skirts, and a set of metallic wings remained folded to her back. She crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow at how both boys were gawking at her new form. "See?" She asked, revealing sharpened canines. "Daemon. The armor's optional, but I thought it'd look better than jeans and a shirt."
She held up one hand, conjuring several red sparks of energy. "So far I can only do the basics with it though, but Zatanna and Dr Fate have been researching my condition ever since I arrived." As she spoke she reverted to her human form. "According to Dr Fate, the magical mutations done to my body are carrying templates of spells and enchantments from their source. So basically the armor and the wings are random, and I'm probably going to become a full potential sorceress like Zatanna when my magic is done manifesting."
"Wow..." Nathan only had one thought on his mind: dem hips! That daemon form gave Delilah the body of a fully developed woman, and the armor sure highlighted a few curves without showing off skin...no, bad Nathan! She's your team mate-
"Uh..." Delilah held up a handkerchief and wiped some drool from Nathan's chin. "This would be one of the primary reasons why I hope that when I fully develop my magical pathways I won't turn into a demon girl every time I cast a spell. It can be kind of...distracting to team members, if you're an example to go by."
Nathan blushed. "Duh-sorry! Sorry! I swear I was just caught off guard is all!"
Victor snickered. "Oooh, Nathan's in trouble."
Delilah chuckled lightly at the shenanigans of the two boys. "Oh...I can tell that I'm going to like working with you two already." From the amused or approving looks on the faces of the leading Young Justice members surrounding them, it was clear that they agreed. Watching these three interact reminded them of their own days of joining the team...
"Welcome to Young Justice, Echo Team." AquaLad said. "...And Nathan, work on controlling you hormones around Delilah."
"Aw come on I won't let myself get distracted like that again!" Nathan complained. "It was just once people!"
The group shared a brief laugh at Nathan's expense. Once the hilarity of Nathan's predicament wore out though, AquaLad's smile faded just as quickly. "Do not be mistaken though, Echo Team. You all know the strains of fighting crime already; both that of your personal life and emotional and psychological health. The Watch Tower has always been a sanctuary to heroes, it has also become a place of healing for those deeply affected by battle, trauma and loss." Tigress closed her eyes beneath her mask, forcing back tears at this.
"I cannot promise that your careers as heroes of Earth will be smooth...it rarely ever is." AquaLad continued, setting a hand on Nathan's shoulder and another on Delilah's. "But as a team, you three and your allies may also find a family in one another as we did; and trust me when I say that such a bond is what allowed us to press on through years of hardship and danger. What is more, you will have the guidance and unconditional support of the rest of Young Justice and the Justice League."
He offered them a comforting smile. "You are not alone...never forget that."
Nathan nodded, feeling a rush of nervous anticipation from AquaLad's speech. He was going to be part of a real team of heroes! As a child he'd always looked up to the Justice League, but in the past few years he had been shown the grim reality of crime fighting. It was never all fun and games...and he was afraid that at some point he or one of his new friends would be hurt or would do something terrible, whether by intent or accident.
It frightened him...but one glance at Victor and Delilah made him veer away from the fear of what might come and focus on what was now. They were three of Earth's newest heroes, defenders against threats from alien invasions and apocalyptic disasters to the average bank robbers or hired killers.
They were Echo Team.
Xxx
Elsewhere on the Watch Tower, the Light's hastily made decision to acquire data on the newest members of Young Justice was already moving ahead of schedule.
Ever since Vandal Savage and Klarion the Witchboy's infiltration and takeover of the Justice League over a half decade ago the security had been increased tremendously. However for all of their precautions against conventional infiltration-and even the wards provided by Dr Fate and Zatanna to stop magical based intrusion the Justice League had never been prepared for The Light's newest operative.
She was standing in the center of the Data Core Chamber, a circular room lined with veins of green light all vectoring in on a ring of controls near the center. It also possessed several pods lining the walls, each containing a different humanoid shell that belonged to the Justice League member known as Red Tornado. For the most part they appeared as Caucasian males who were bald with blue eyes and an athletic physical build.
The woman was wearing a hooded cloak which hid everything about her beyond her lower face and eyes. However she was accessing the computer right now, using a pass word acquired directly from Red Tornado's memory banks and revealing that her arms were encased in a black material ending in fingerless gloves-she didn't have to worry about fingerprints.
"I'm in," She said, her slender fingers dancing across a keyboard while, next to her, the automaton Red Tornado himself was standing with his shoulders slumped, his systems inactive. "Accessing Young Justice roster."
When she found upwards of twenty five profiles, she scanned through the ones labelled with names she was unfamiliar with such as All Star or Daemon. "They've wisely not included weaknesses in the profiles, or identities...just basic information on their powers, personality and training regimes. Some of these heroes haven't been acquired yet though."
"That will do. Acquire data on the new members and ones who have yet to be acquired. Then return to us after you have completed your task." Unlike with Slade, the anonymous member of The Light was not speaking through a radio, but directly into this woman's mind.
The young woman slid a disc into the computer. "Downloading."
But by this point Red Tornado had twitched ever so slightly. The woman turned to him and threw aside the folds of the cloak draped around her shoulders and took up a combat ready stance.
Red Tornado's head snapped up and looked at her, causing her to immediately react as black energy boiled out from her palms.
"Azarath metrion ZINTHOS!"
Xxx
End of Episode One
Now...I'm not too proud of this as a first chapter. It was really just to rush out introducing the characters. Consider this to be a pilot episode, the next chapter will focus more on the characters introduced and how they begin to develop as a team.
