"Magic in the Stars"
By: FortressMaximus
Chapter 1 --
Author's Notes 1-Hello everyone! Yea, I know...'What's Fortress doing with another fanfic that he's not sure where it's going to go!?" and I WISH to heck I could tell you. To be totally honest I'm just going where my muse is taking me and we'll see where that ends up together!
To everyone awaiting 'Cave of Wonders' it's coming. I PROMISE. I just need some more time to get past a bad case of writers block on some major sections for the story to not suffer for major levels of suckage. There's enough bad fan fiction out in the world; I don't want to add to the amount.
Thank you...as always...for being there for me!!
FortressMaximus
PS-Please note the rating for future chapters may go up. I'll make sure to post warning where needed as chapters are added down the road!
--
"I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with this J'onn...".
The Martian nodded, understanding the hesitation in Diana's voice. "Believe me, when Superman asked me about this plan, I too was hesitant to involve any more outsiders into our daily operations..."
The pair paused in their conversation as two technicians moved passed them down the hallway, politely waving back as they kept going. It was only after they were several dozen feet away from anyone else did the Manhunter from Mars continue.
"...but it does make sense. Too much public trust was lost after the...incidents...with Cadmus and the 'Legion of Doom'. This way we might restore a great deal of faith in our motivations with a few days of honest scrutiny from a reliable media figure."
The corners of Diana's mouth curled up into a smile. "The Legion of Doom?" she repeated, the mirth in her tone blatantly obvious.
"Jakeem Thunder came up with the name one day for Luthor's little group and apparently word spread fast enough that it has since become the 'unofficial' name of that gathering of villains."
"A bit fanciful, but accurate nonetheless."
"Quite. But all that aside, having a well-known reporter stay with us for a week and report how we do things could go a long way to restoring some much needed faith from the general populace."
Making sure no one was around, Diana leaned in a little closer to her friend. "I don't like to assume anything, but having Super...Clark...do such a report might seem a little bit...biased...to those who might know his secret."
The tall Martian nodded in agreement. "That's what Superman said, so he asked me to pick a reporter from various media groups who seems to be the most open-minded journalist currently out of his peers...present company excluded of course.." J'onn said, nodding towards the floating figure of Superman outside as he heat-beam welded a panel back into place that a rather sudden and hard-hitting windstorm had torn loose the night before.
"So which paper does our reporter work for?"
"Actually, he doesn't work for..."
The pair paused at the door to the elevator, waiting for them to part. A moment later a soft 'hiss' filled the air as the door opened, Vigilante and Steel stepping out into the hallway..
"I appreciate it all to heck Steel, but my six-shooters have served me fine; don't reckon there's a reason to change what works!"
"But they're so outdated Vigilante! They won't work in a non-oxygen environment nor underwater! I could easily..."
"Woah partner! I think you're putting the coach before the horses there! I don't work all that well in a non-oxygen environment and if I'm underwater I'm gonna darn well have something more akin to fend off sharks than these babies!" he countered, twirling his twin Colts before slipping them into their respective holsters.
"Your loss..."
The two continued their debate with only a passing wave to the two 'original Leaguers' before they vanished around a corner towards the commissary. Stepping into the lift the door closed and J'onn tilted his head towards the ceiling. "Bridge..." he intoned slightly taking on a ever-so slight baritone-tinted accent.
Diana raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"For some reason, Wally does that every time we get into a turbolift. Says it's 'the way it should be done' and apparently I have contracted some horrible human disease that makes me copy him when I am not aware of it."
The Amazon didn't quite hold in all of her laughter as the stars sped by the dimensional-phased window that lined an entire wall of the elevator. After the laughter subsided the looked over. "He doesn't work for what..?" she asked, getting the conversation back on topic.
"A newspaper. We decided that if we were going to go with the best reporter, he should stick to the medium he is famous for, which in this case is radio. While print media is still very popular, the current amount of radio formats might help us reach a greater number of people who don't otherwise make or have the time to sit and read a newspaper."
"Makes sense; you wouldn't beseech Aphrodite to deliver a message when Hermes is the one who does the job the best."
J'onn nodded; the analogy made sense even if it was a bit...dated.
"So, when does our reporter arrive?"
"In about half an hour."
"Time enough to put some finishing touches on our Headquarters then.."
The door opened to reveal Flash zooming around, cleaning and tidying up at breakneck speeds.
"Wow. This must be important if Flash is volunteering to help clean."
"Do not write too much into it Diana. While Wally is a kind soul and a great hero, he wasn't too thrilled to clean until I offered to take his night monitor duty on Saturday."
"Looks like you drew the short end of the straw J'onn..".
"Not really. My wife is coming up to visit and Saturday night has the least amount of people here so she and I can spend some quality time together without-Diana, why are you smiling like that?"
"Oh, that? Nothing J'onn...nothing at all...".
The Martian shook his head and sighed..."Humans...".
"Everybody ready?"
Superman glanced over at the assembled heroes, having filled in those on-duty about what was going to happen over the next few days.
"So everyone just be yourselves. We want to give an honest, upfront impression about what the League is about and not support what the hate-mongers would try to make the world believe."
Stargirl blew her breath out through her teeth.
"Something wrong Star?" Superman asked, eyes locking onto the blond teen.
"Oh...uhm...' Courtney paused, not having expected Superman to hear her (for which she would later mentally kick herself for not realizing how STUPID that was to think in the first place) "...it's just that for all we did since that mess with Cadmus it doesn't seem fair to put us under another microscope just because some people have 'bad feelings' even after all we've done."
Before he could reply, the elevator dinged and the door parted and Green Arrow walked into the room alone. "It's okay folks, he's in the lobby showing off his clearance papers and should be up in a moment. Uhm..Supes, not wanting to second-guess a guy who can bench-press the moon, but are you SURE about this?"
"GA, we've been through this before..."
The Emerald Archer held up his hands. "Woah Big Guy; I was in full agreement with the plan remember? I was talking about were you sure this was the right...person... for the job?"
The Last Son of Krypton blinked, not sure what Ollie was talking about. "J'onn said he would get the best reporter, but.."...he trailed off and glanced over at his alien friend. "Just WHO did you get? I didn't get a chance to ask yesterday before I left for Oa with Green Lantern to drop Sinestro off to the Guardians."
Before the Martian could reply, the twin doors parted once more and a young boy about thirteen...MAYBE fifteen if you stretched it...walked into the main conference room. Dressed in a simple red T-shirt with yellow trim at the neck and sleeves and blue dockers, the youth walked with a confidence that belied a man years older. Not really arrogance, but more like a comfortable sense of self and a dedication to the job he was hired to do.
Still, you could hear the jaws drop one by one.
"Wow...' whispered Stargirl as her eyes fell upon the boy. Unaware Fire and Ice had heard her somewhat dreamy exclamation and now sported knowing looks between them, the blue and red clad heroine fixed her gaze onto him like a hawk does a fish.
The youth walked up to J'onn and extended his hand. "William Batson, WHIZ radio; it's great to meet you Sir!" exclaimed the teen with genuine excitement.
Shaking the offered hand, the Martian offered an small but honest smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Batson. I hope you find your time with us informative as well as of interest to your listeners."
Superman could only stare at the boy in front of him. Years of shock and surprise at alien invasions, time-traveling madmen and brawl-ready bounty hunters had given the Man of Steel a reflex of immediately hiding his shock behind a facade that would ALMOST make Batman proud. However, on the inside, the Kryptonian felt a sense of unease that he hadn't in quite a while.
This boy...this young man...wasn't just a fellow colleague in the news field, but also one of the single most powerful foes outside of Darkside he had ever faced in battle.
He knew the secret the teen had hidden from everyone else in the League until it was discovered in that fight not all that long ago.
He knew...that this boy...was Captain Marvel.
To Be Continued...
-
Author's Notes 2-
I know the DC Wiki (and a quick thanks to the guys and gals there!!) lists Billy's age at 10, but for the purposes of the story (and to be honest my own personal feelings on how old Billy 'seemed' to be in 'Clash' despite him being portrayed in elementary school) I think he's closer to Star's age just because in most of his various tv/comic/etc appearances he's always seemed more mature than his age would suggest.
I wish I could say I knew where this was going, but I guess we'll find out together. Thanks for reading and please consider leaving a review!!
Fortress Maximus October 16, 2008