The air was heavy as night fell on the city of Whittlin. Summer had shown the full force of it's humid potential and no one was more aware of this than the girl standing on the roof of Sunny Side Apartments. Her armor clung to her skin and was made heavier by the moisture in the air, ancient leather was not perhaps the best choice but because of its magical properties, it was the most effective choice for crime fighting. Patrol had been moving slowly but it was a Tuesday and most criminals had given up on even leaving their homes out of pure lethargy. Deciding that standing on a rooftop for longer than five minutes was pure cliché, she moved on to the next building, leisurely strolling from structure to structure, climbing when she had to. About a half-hour later, there was still no crime, which was very suspicious even for a night like this one. It was time to ask around. Dropping down to the street, she quickly moved to the house she was looking for.
The well-maintained gingerbread house loomed at the end of a block on a large hill. Entering from the front would be too obvious, so she took the back way. Inviting herself in, she meandered into the kitchen and checks the cow shaped cookie jar; it moos loudly as she reaches in for the shortbread sitting on top.
"Put down the shotgun Granny." Her voice rings calmly through the kitchen as she hears the safety reengage.
"Oh, it's just you kiddo." The voice that responds is aged and caked with sleep and smoking.
"It's awful quiet tonight, Gran." Grabbing the cookie jar and a gallon of milk she sits down at the kitchen table. "Won't you join me?"
"You're not an animal, get a goddamn glass." A knobbed finger points at a cupboard and the younger of the two gets up and grabs a mug.
"You're right, sorry, now stop deflecting."
"I ain't gotta take shit from a little punk like you."
"But you love me, Gran! Who else comes to visit their dear old Granny Grimm?" Granny looks over to her and laughs wickedly which eventually evolves into a hacking wheeze. Granny Grimm had once held complete control of the tri-city area that centered on Whittlin, at that time she had been known as Madame Grimm, able to bring monsters to life. One day, while the Madame had been changing, her secret was discovered. Those who worked for her didn't take kindly to her being a him. The Madame stepped down as the head of crime, but those loyal to her have kept her more in the loop on misdeeds in the area making her a font of knowledge.
"Stop calling me Granny. I'm not that old."
"You make me cookies, they're kept in a mooing jar. Anyways, I've been patrolling since seven, not a peep from anyone. What's the deal Gran?" Grimm smiled in the way that she had when she was years younger, a smile that could strike fear in the hardened hearts of convicts.
"I have half a mind to let the boogey man get you. I haven't heard nothing."
"Don't be like that. If you want to bargain, then what's your price?"
"Paint my house."
"I'll paint your fence."
"Paint two rooms in my house."
"One room."
"Done. There's another hero in town. One with more… weight." Grimm lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
"Who?"
"Batman." Grimm grinned as her eyes widened in shock. "What's the matter, Champ? Scared?"
"I'll see you tomorrow, have the paint ready by three."
It was the third time that night where Batman had only gone a few feet to thwart another crime. The city had been more infested with misdemeanors and felonies than almost any other he had been to.
"Pathetic." He murmured to himself. If this was the best that she could do, it would be better if she just quit.
"Pathetic? You're the one who came into the city that I'm supposed to be protecting and scooped up all the crime before I even had the time! Also, if I'm so pathetic why has there been a visible decline in crime since I started?" She had turned a corner to find him there, she knew that he knew she was coming, he was too smart not to and she wasn't trying to hide.
"So you're The Champion."
"Yea, I am. Why are you here raining on my parade?"
"You're not registered with the League, I came to investigate."
"I wasn't aware that I had to be registered." Champion left her arms loose at her side hanging directly near weapon. It was a simple weapon, just a spiked ball attached to a chain, but if she needed it, she wanted it to be near at hand. Picking a fight with Batman seemed like a terrible idea, but there were little other options considering his body language and demeanor. Batman's posture dramatically changed and Champion clenched her hand on the chain and took a deep breath.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. Look, I got a place that's secure and we can chat like normal civilized human beings. Look, I'll even let you have my weapon." Champion held out the wound chain to Batman. He looks thoughtfully at it and shook his head.
"Lead the way."
It wasn't hard to find an abandoned building in Whittlin, the only difficult was trying to find out that wasn't likely to get shot up in the middle of the night. Champion chose a small former brothel. The smell was terrible, but it was the easiest and most convenient.
"I don't really have a hid out, I just scout out places that are secure and use them when I need them."
"Keeps you mobile, keeps them guessing." Batman said as he looked around.
"Yea, that's exactly why I do it." Champion said nervously as she glanced off to the side. "So… What brings you to Whittlin?" Batman leveled a dead glance her way.
"You. We received intel that there was somebody in Greek armor running around fighting crime. The League likes to keep track of anyone running around as a vigilante. You have caused a visible decrease in crime so someone had to come investigate."
"Wow, okay. So, now what happens? Do I just go on doing my own thing? Is it join up or else? Or what?" Champion's posture becomes visibly more tense as she contemplates the possibilities.
"For now, you're on our watch list. If we deem you to be advantageous to the League or it's subsidiaries, we'll let you know. If you're a threat..." Batman pauses ominously before he walks away stoically leaving Champion to ponder her situation. After she is assured that he is gone, she drops unceremoniously onto one of the few remaining pieces of furniture. Her head felt heavy in her hands as she let out a sigh.
"Is this what you wanted?" Her voice echoed in the empty room. The only response she receives is the sound of sirens a street away. Champion stands and stretches. "I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."
"You missed a spot." Grimm sat in a swimsuit beneath a tanning lamp in the large living room sipping a gigantic margarita while Champion painted. Her clothes were covered in burgundy paint and she was tired of the snide remarks Granny had been making the entire job completely annoying.
"Look you old bat, I haven't even gotten to the south wall yet! I know you get a kick out of humiliating me but seriously, this is extortion. This isn't a living room, it's nearly a ballroom! It has more square footage than my apartment!" Champion rubbed her hand across her face causing a large red smear to appear like war paint on her visage. Grimm couldn't help but giggle and promptly started hacking.
"Quitting might be a good plan, ya know." Champion leveled a serious face at Granny before turning back to continue working on the walls.
It wasn't until much later that she was finished and darkness had settled that she went on patrol. Most of the major villains from Granny Grimm's day had moved onto bigger and better cities. All that was left were those trying to prove themselves before moving onto the big leagues. Tonight, she encountered Bella Noche who used the powers of darkness to rob museums and galleries for their works of art. It was a hard fight, but Champion was used to fighting Bella and came prepared to deal with her antics. A very mellow-dramatic person, she had a tendency to have long winded speeches and it offered the perfect opportunity to take her down. After Champion had secured Bella Noche, she waited for the police to show up so that she could move onto whatever crime popped up next. She sat on the curb waiting. As soon as the police showed up, she was going to have to move quickly in order not to get caught. Her reputation was spreading, but that did not mean she garnered much acclaim from the local law enforcement who were not particularly fond of vigilantes. The sirens drew near and Champion started to make her exit. Dawn was coming and soon she would have to sleep. She meandered down Parks Street in a leisurely fashion as she contemplated the rapid flow of events in the past few days. As she turned a corner, she walked onto a platform.
"Uh..." Her voice gave away the amount of momentary shock as she realized that no longer was she on 8th Avenue. She immediately drew her weapon and began swinging it above her head as she took quick stock of where her enemies were and began an assault. Her chain swung furiously as she slung it at the one who was hovering, the figure narrowly avoided and the chain persisted in it's arc creating a barrier between Champion and her foes. As she artfully swung the heavy ball and chain, she began reciting words in Ancient Greek. An attacker came perilously close and she delivered a swift kick into their gut sending them flying towards whatever lay beyond the battle meanwhile her chain never stopped spinning. Another attacker was rushing to greet her and a swift flick of her wrist sent them to another side. A projectile hit her, hard. She doubled over and knew that she was done for, in desperation she began furiously whispering again. This time, she had success and massive amounts of smoke appeared around her opponents and she, as quickly and quietly as possible, sneaked out of the room and started running down corridor after corridor searching desperately for a safe place to hide until she could figure out where she was and what she was going to do about it. After a couple of minutes, an alarm started ringing throughout the halls and she made a risky choice and opened a random door. It opened with a soft swishing sound and she found that it was full of boxes and random pieces of technology. Quickly she hid as best as possible and steadied her breathing and strained her ears waiting for someone to find her. Not long after, she was discovered.
"I will take you all on! I did not defeat eight thousand others in order to be stopped now!" She immediately charged her assailant and cocked back a fist which was barely caught by her opponent but that was exactly what Champion wanted, she threw a swift round kick to their gut with her same leg which caused them to let go and fall to the ground. An ax kick and they were out, at least for now. With her rage coursing through her veins, she roared in fury.
"Keres! Stop!" The voice rang out just as she was about to deliver another blow to the next one on the chopping block. She let the chain slacken that was around their neck and they dropped to the ground. She searched through the faces and found Batman standing near the back.
"What? Why are you here? What's going on?" She looks around and recognizes other heroes and realizes with horror that she has spent the last few moments kicking the crap out of Captain Atom. "Oh... Sorry!" She says with a grimace.
"It is unacceptable that you would attack League members." Superman's stern voice rang clearly from the rounded table she stood in front of. Keres looked down at the ground and perused her sandals, the familiar vectors and angles of the straps that ran up her calves lent comfort in the face of such harsh criticisms.
"Superman, we did teleport her here without a single word of warning. Anyone who had been in crime fighting and wasn't invincible would probably do the same, I know I would." Wonder Woman offered in a sympathetic tone. Keres played with a small piece of paper that had landed on the floor, pushing it from one foot to the other.
"It's about control and assessing the situation, Diana. She failed to properly evaluate her surroundings. What if it had been civilians? Captain Atom has a bruised rib and is still unconscious." Batman's level voice made Champ's eyes look up briefly, Wonder Woman flashed a quick, comforting smile before turning back to look at the other assembled founding members.
"If this had been a villain's lair, we wouldn't be so critical. She reacted the same way any of us would have if we were suddenly in the Legion's head headquarters. I understand that she made an error in not recognizing that she wasn't surrounded by foes, but these kinds of mistakes happen, especially in the beginning. It's trial and error and I don't think we should fault her for that." Keres had returned to the piece of paper by the time Green Lantern had spoken, it was much easier to just examine the scrap than her own failings.
"Did you see how easily she kept most of us at bay? She was wicked with that chain and tell me you didn't see how easily she took down Captain Marvel? It was pretty sweet." Flash quipped between deep slurps of his slushy. She couldn't help by smile in the face of such a compliment, she quickly killed her happy expression when she saw the way that Superman glared at the Flash.
"I feel that this changes nothing. We had intended to invite her as a probationary member of the League. Her record, with the exception of this incident, shows that she uses her abilities with responsibility and given that she did not go overboard with any of those that she attacked lends to her credibility. She has suffered enough embarrassment that I feel no extra punishment is needed. I believe we all remember mistakes we made in the beginning and those have been the most teaching." Martian Manhunter offered in a quiet voice. Keres looked into those fathomless eyes and nodded. The rest of the members offered assent except Batman who remained silent which Champion thought was probably as close to agreement that Batman ever got.
"J'onn is right. Champion, we would like to offer you a probationary membership to the Justice League. Should you accept, your probation includes a year of service in which ever way the League should need you and guidance from senior members of the League. There will me quarterly reviews and if by the end of the year, you have satisfied the League, then you will be offered a permanent membership. Do you accept?" Superman rose and walked to Keres towering over her smaller frame. She looked into those piecing blue eyes and nodded saying "I do, thank you for the honor." The rest of the founding members rose and congratulated her on her new position before leaving the conference room with the exception of Batman who remained seated. Keres raised an eyebrow and he gestured to one of the seats around the table. With caution, Champ sat down not quite across from the older man.
"Eight thousand?" Batman's voice offers the only hint at how incredulous he believed her boast to be.
"Did your research not tell you? Or do you not have a lot of friends on the other side?"
"Other side of what?"
"Death." She said softly.
Batman leveled a stare and even though his expression remained schooled she could feel his shock.
"No. My sources said nothing relating to that. Why don't you explain?" He folded his hands in front of him and leaned forward.
"I have been in and out of existence for roughly three thousand years. It's hard to say because we didn't keep time in those days and calenders have changed and so have the stars." Batman nodded for her to continue.
"I was born on a small island off the coast of what is now Turkey. It was a peaceful existence, as most are in youth. My family and I raised sheep while my father was the town's blacksmith. I had no brothers, only sisters, so it was important that I marry to increase the strength of my family and so when I was... I'm going to estimate fifteen, I was married to my father's apprentice, Abrax. He was only a few years older than me and he was a strapping boy who all the girls in the village fancied. It wasn't long though until he was called to war.
It was, what is considered by historians to be, the Dark Age of Ancient Greece. What that really meant was there were feudal lords who you worked for in order to have some semblance of tranquility. It also meant that war was inevitable since one lord would find a way to be insulted by another and therefore take their lands. Abrax was more than happy to join up. I don't know what it is with boys wanting to play warrior, but I was a woman and that meant my pleas fell on deaf ears. So, he went off to battle with my father's hand crafted armor and a sword he forged himself. He also left with my shield. To protect his honor my father told him that the shield was a family treasure. It was, but only because I'd made it. There wasn't a finer one in the village.
Abrax had only been gone a short time when the... pirates is what I guess you would call them. They were marauding for the lord that our lord was fighting. I wish I could remember their names, but it's almost like trying to recollect who was the representative to your state's house of representatives when you were five. We had a specific word for these people, the ones who raided in times of war whether by land or sea, but English likes to use many words for one concept."
Batman cleared his throat and Keres realized that she had drifted off topic.
"Sorry." She gave a sheepish smile. "Anyways, the pirates came and I took my mother and sisters to the sheep pens to hide them. I saw the men gathering to make a stand and so I grabbed a glaive and a shield from my father's shop. I found hiding places for most of the women and children and went to stand in ranks with the men. By the time I arrived the men had been decimated. I fought desperately alongside them, but I eventually fell, luckily I was given a proper burial and ended up in Hades and just in time for a tournament.
This tournament was held by the gods for what I assume was their own entertainment. It was like march madness except instead of basketball, we were given temporary bodies and we fought to the "death". The prize was a second chance at life with memories intact. I jumped at the opportunity to see my family again. Time passes differently between here and there so I don't know how long it took for the tournament to be completed, but I won.
When I stood on the podium to collect my prize, I was informed that because of the time difference, I wouldn't be able to go back to my family as it would "disrupt the time line". I was furious. My second chance at life with my family was snatched away from me. I'm not happy to say that in my fury I burned the Elysian fields and may have let out some of the worse things from Tartarus. The gods realized that keeping me dead was not working out in their favor. Hecate in particular to pity on me and my plight and offered me an opportunity, serve as her champion on Earth in the current time period and that would serve as my punishment for my "mischief" as Hecate put it.
So, I've been on Earth for about four years serving Hecate as Champion. Basically it's all a public relations stunt to try and make her seem less evil since she is the goddess of night, witches, and crossroads. I mean, I'm not just for Hecate, it's her two other aspects as well which means that every time I do something wrong, I get yelled at three times. I feel like I live a much more adventurous Office Space sometimes. Granny also likes to rub it in my face when she's right which gets really annoying since she is such a braggart. She never lets it go! One time I tie a knot wrong and suddenly it's all she'll talk about! It's awful!" Batman clears his throat again and this time Keres clams up, embarrassed that she was just ranting about her life to a well known super hero who probably had better things to do.
"You probably have better things to do then listen to me rant."
"Is there any way to verify this?" His level voice only increased her anxiety.
"Uhhh, yeah, maybe? I could call Hecate, but if you don't believe it's her then I don't know what to do. There's not a record of these things and it's not like my first body can be dug up."
"How long would it take to call Hecate?"
"Seconds? Her response times are... different. Gods don't tell time well. I think it's because their lives are measured the same way. I mean they're not mortal-" Keres was interrupted by the doors sliding open and Wonder Woman entering.
"Diana." Batman turned to look as she entered the room.
"If your story is true Champion, then any god should be able to verify it." Wonder Woman said as she sat down. "Hermes!" Like a flash, the god alighted into the conference room.
"Why hello, Diana. Did you finally decide that the mortal couldn't... Ah, nevermind." Hermes looked between Wonder Woman and Batman. "What can I do for you my gorgeous princess of the Amazons?"
"Who is this?" Wonder Woman gestured towards Keres and Hermes shrugged and turned to see who was there.
"She's Keres."
"And what did she do?"
"Why do I have to tell you? It's her life, or death, as the case may be, she should be well versed in it."
"Hermes..." Diana's tone left no room to argue. Hermes sighed.
"She's an Ancient Greek who after her death entered and won a contest and when she felt the prize was not fitting, burned the Elysian fields and released Cronus, Typhon, and Sisyphus. As punishment she must serve on Earth as a guardian." Hermes sauntered over to Wonder Woman and leaned against the table. "Now, Diana, I was thinking we could have dinner on Olympus. You, me, some ambrosia, I play delightful music, the Muses sing back up..." He ran his fingers down her hair and batted his eyelashes.
"Don't you have better things to be doing now?" Her voice was stern and her eyes steely.
"Maybe next time. I can't hold out forever, you know." With that he flitted out of the conference room.
Keres' mind couldn't stop spinning, she had been introduced to more people in the last few hours than she had in her life, this one or the last!She sat down at the mess hall with Flash and held her head between her hands trying to massage the tension away.
"It's like being in high school all over again, right?" Flash said as he took a large bite of lasagna and chewed.
"I never attended high school. They beamed me here with a GED and an emancipation so I've been fighting crime in Whittlin ever since." She said as she lowered her head to the table, it's cool metal offering comfort again her cheek.
"That's a quintessential experience for a modern human! Even Supes went to high school!" His outburst caused chunks of the Italian dish to fly over the table even while he persisted in shoving food in his mouth.
"What was the point? They gave me all the information that I would need so I could start immediately. High school at this point would be a waste of time and from what 'pop culture'" She makes hyper exaggerated air quotes "has taught me, it sounds like an awful experience. I'm glad I missed it."
"What about social skills? You could be perpetually stuck with lacking social skills because you didn't learn all the things you were meant to during puberty."
"I've gone threw it once, I'd prefer not to do it twice." At that, Flash guffawed and quickly finished his meal.
They both stood up so that Flash could clear his dishes and Flash meandered through the mess letting silence fall between them. Keres stared in wonder at the technical marvel that was the Watchtower and couldn't believe it.
"It's oddly fitting." She said, shaking her head.
"What is?" Flash raised an eyebrow as Keres paused to look out of one of the many windows that lined the exterior corridors.
"In my day, the gods threw heroes up amongst the stars for their deeds on Earth. Here is an entire league of them, who did it themselves. It's amazing." She tentatively reached a hand out to touch the cold plexiglass. "There are people here who can touch the stars themselves, but do we grasp too far?" She turned to look at Flash, her expression thoughtful and found his face set in grim lines.
"I wonder that myself sometimes..."