"This is getting out of control."
"I agree. It's been getting worse and worse this last year. How many Supes have we had to wrangle in now? And all of them are kids." Clark Kent shook his head with disappointment. Diana shared a look with him as she pulled a teenager in a hoodie up to his feet with her trusty lasso. He was crying in fear of what was going to happen to him now. The lad had tried to rob a bank, desperate for money to pay off the local gangsters forcing his family to pay 'protection money'. Apparently they had been behind in payments, and they'd already shot his father. He'd also discovered his body could get so hot, everything he touched either melted or caught on fire. So the next logical step to fix his problem was donning a hoodie and rob a bank...
Which is why he was now tied up after having had his ass handed to him by the Justice league.
Batman growled with frustration, smacking the kid upside the head and giving him a damn good telling off for being so stupid. He should have told the police, not taken the matter into his inexperienced hands.
The boy was handed over to the police, despite Diana pleading that the Justice league should do something. The boy would now have a criminal record...maybe even go to prison...
But the police arrived, cuffed the boy, and took him. they couldn't exactly let the boy go, he'd knocked out 3 guards and tried to rob a bank.
So that's why the Justice league now sat around the large table in the main conference room at the watch tower. Batman and Superman were at the head of the table, as always. To Superman's left was Diana, then Hawkgirl, with the Martian Manhunter at the other end of the table. To Batman's right was the green lantern and Flash.
"We have all noticed how over the last year or so there has been a significant increase of young offenders with special abilities like ours turning to crime. It has distracted us from aiming our other efforts to more important tasks-"
"And these kids have most of the time turned to crime because they don't know what else to do!" Diana cut Batman off, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands down on the table. "Every time I have to beat down a child that has had no one to guide them or help them learn how to use their powers for good it breaks my heart! Once they commit a crime they are arrested and their lives are over! Why should they try to be good when they have been made into a criminal?!"
"Last month there was a girl who secreted poison from her skin. Her powers developed and then suddenly everyone she touched became ill or died. She had nowhere to turn, and Lex Luthor appeared. He took her 'under his wing', and strategically placed her in a large crowded area. He used her as a distracted whilst he stole weapons grade microchips from a military facility." Superman hissed through his teeth. It was rare for Clark to get angry like this. Using and abusing the innocent was one of the few things that really caused him to see red. "We went in guns blazing to put her under control and Lex got away with incredibly dangerous technology. She is now in solitary confinement."
"These kids are young, new to their powers, and they are either turning to crime, or being taken advantage of by real criminals." Batman interlocked his fingers, hiding his mouth from view as he leaned on the table with his elbows. His voice was dark and his eyes darker. "Joker now has a 'freak brigade'. All kids, all without anywhere else to turn."
"We need to stop them." Diana still stood, clearly too furious to sit. Hawkgirls' hand tentatively touched her arm, trying to calm her friend.
"What a terrible thing these villains are doing."
"No, it's not terrible." Batman lowered his hands, taking everyone's attention. "It's brilliant."
"Come again bats?" Flash dropped his chin into his hand, one elbow on the desk, the other hand scratching the back of his head.
"Why should the bad guys be the only ones to recruit a youth division?" Batman then turned to Superman, who appeared to be landing on the same idea he was.
"But we already have the teen titans. Robin heads that, and you relay with them through him."
"That is Robin's team, yes. And they are very productive. However, I am referring to an active recruitment of individuals with abilities to be trained, given discipline and a purpose, through the Justice league. They would be justice league recruits."
"Go on...?" Diana finally returned to her seat, seeing the dark crusader had a plan.
"Well, we have always been outnumbered by the enemy. Usually because the likes of Joker and Lex offer money or greed. However, we could offer training and a purpose. Those who would have turned to crime as it is their only option, wouldn't turn to crime anymore."
"The good ones would have somewhere to go...I like this." Superman folded his arms and nodded. "How shall we do it?"
"I've been going over some initial plans and I've come to the conclusion the best way is to announce our intentions publically, and then hold auditions. Anonymity wouldn't last for long after we recruited so many. And we need to get the information out there for them to come to us, so going public is the best way." Batman was all business, touching the screen on the desk in front of him as he spoke. He was either making furious notes, or accessing the relevant information to put this plan into action, Clark thought to himself.
"Perhaps by giving a statement to all the big newspapers?" Clark added; he could certainly get the message published in the Daily Planet.
"Indeed. I suggest that we are all present for the auditions, and have a strict criteria for what we are looking for. The last thing we want is to be infiltrated by the enemy."
"And proof of ability." Flash added. "I bet a lot of nutjobs will turn up, so we should get them to prove what they can do."
"That will be part of the criteria. The Hall of Justice was built in mind to eventually take on many Justice league members, and would be ideal as a training academy. It would allow us to keep a close eye on our recruits."
"I like this." Superman nodded again and beamed to the table. "I'm assuming that we will all take on recruits and mentor them?"
"Yes. I predict that we can still be mostly efficient at our jobs and our personal lives, and take on approximately...7 recruits each. Once they are trained up, we can take on another 7 recruits and the previous students can eventually take on recruits too, and so on and so forth."
"I'm in." Diana nodded, smiling beautifully at them all. "It will be an honour to pass on my teachings and morals to the future heroes of tomorrow."
"...I suppose I'm in as well, then." Hawkgirl nodded, although didn't look all that pleased at having to run after a bunch of teenagers...
"Alright. I'm in too." Hal nodded, raising a fist and his ring glowing it's brilliant emerald hue. "I'll work them hard and show them that the strength of will is greater than the temptation of evil. And of course, to do it with style!"
"I am so in! Getting to boss kids around?! Are you kidding me?! I'm there." Flash grinned to himself from ear to ear, making batman shake his head. It didn't help when the young and feisty JL bachelors speed and green might bumped fists with glee. "Well, I'm not going to be the baby of the group anymore. I wonder if I can get them matching t-shits that say mini-flashes...or Flash's crew! Oo oo, the Flashers!"
"No."
"Ah but-"
"No." Batman pointed at him threateningly. "They will have their own uniforms, and on them will be the initials JLR. Justice League Recruit. Nothing else."
"Ooowwww spoil sport." Flash snorted, but still smiled. This was certainly going to be fun!
"I am unsure what I could teach a human." J'onn cocked his head to one side, his face as stoic as ever.
"You have telepathic abilities. And flight. And strength. And you can phase through walls." Flash counted off his gloved fingers. "Tones of stuff you could teach them."
"I see. Then I shall also be a mentor."
"So that's all of us then?" Superman looked to Batman, who signed, and nodded. Although this was the dark knight's idea, he was clearly not looking forward to a group of untrained, undisciplined teenagers blowing up his batcave. Nightwing took years and he still acted like an idiot on occasion. Red Robin was excellent, and even he was a handful...
"I have written the statement. I just need you all to approve it, and then clear your calendars for the next month. I do not anticipate it taking any more than that length of time to secure 49 recruits. If not, we shall keep going."
"Alright!" Flash jumped to his feet in a blur, and gave Batman the heads up. "Page me when and where and I'll bring the fun. This is going to be great."
"This is so boring. I have never been so bored in my life. Oooooohhhhhh." Flash looked like he was about to go to sleep.
They had waited for the hype of the JL announcement to settle before holding the auditions in the major cities around the US to begin with. As this was going to require recruits to move to the halls of justice for their training, they thought to stay within the country to start with.
The first set of auditions for the JLR had started at 9am this morning. Flash had brought a tray of strong coffee for everyone and wore a big grin. They all sat at a long table in a hall they rented out; Gotham being the first place they were holding the auditions.
It was now 1pm, and every single person who had auditioned was either a nutter, had an extensive criminal record, belonged to the joker, just wanted their autographs, or failed the questions section.
"Shut up Flash." Diana hissed, clearly also annoyed at the turn out.
"Hay bats." Flash turned to his other side, and dared to poke the dark crusader. "This is your home turf, right? Why is everyone a waste of space? It thought there would be someone decent here? Having been your prowling grounds?"
"There was. They're called Nightwing and Robin." Batman was also pissed off. The amount of Super powered villains that crawled out of the wood work to kick his ass on a regular basis, and not one wanting to be a good guy turned up? Really?
"Well, at least we're only here for another hour, right?"
"E-excuse me."
All the un-amused, tired, caffeine deprived, psychotically pissed off Justice League power house members turned and narrowed their eyes down at the new comer.
"Name?" Batman sounded as bored as Flash.
"V-Vivian Harper. S-sir."
She was 5'7, had long ginger hair, a block fringe covering her forehead, and her brown eyes from the way she looked down at the floor. She was dressed in a pair of tatty white trainers, baggy brown jeans and a green woolly jumper that was so big on her tiny frame, it hung off one shoulder.
She looked like a timid little mouse. So incredibly scared, she kept telling herself this was a mistake. Vivian Harper was a loser. She had always been a loser. "Sorry, I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry. I'll just-"
"Age." Batman raised a brow at her, not yet seeing anything special. But he didn't want her to run off out of fear if she did turn out to be the real deal. "Cover the door." He whispered to Flash, who appeared in front of the door quicker than you could blink. "I said Age?"
"17." Her lips trembled, now looking at Flash standing in the door way, preventing her quick escape.
"Are you currently in education?"
"No sir."
"Are you currently living with anyone over the age of consent?"
"No sir. I should really leave-"
"Are you living on the street?"
Everyone was shocked by that question. It wasn't one of the questions on the prepared tick list. "I only ask as you are under age, not living with an adult, and your clothes look far too big for you. You also look like you haven't eaten a decent meal in a long time." her skin was pale, and she had deep bags around her eyes. said brown orbs snapped over to Batman, for a moment, before looking down to her feet, and nodding.
"Have you ever committed a crime?"
"...yes sir."
"What kind of crime have you committed?"
"Th-theft, sir. Only food, or money, but only for food." She closed her eyes and held herself, feeling hunger pains stabbing at her ribs. "I should leave. S-sorry." She whimpered and ran for the door.
"Hold on there little lady."
"Please move." Flash held his hands up to appear as non-threatening as possible, but didn't move out the way.
"Hay, stealing to eat isn't as bad as all that. Let us help you-"
"No. No one helps me. Move aside." Vivian held her fists at her sides, and started to stare intently at the speedster.
"Just hold on a-"
"Move aside. Now."
One foot moved.
Then another.
The remaining members of the Justice league rose to their feet as Flash, the most wilful stubborn man in the room, slowly side stepped out of the way of the door, never breaking eye contact with red head. "Stay there."
"...yes..." Vivian, anticipating being knocked down by one of the others any second now, bolted for the door.
She got three steps outside, before a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, and lifted her waif of a body off the floor.
"No! Put me down!" She screamed, turning her face to stare into the cold orange eyes of the Martian Manhunter. She faltered for a moment, unsure of herself in the face of such a strange man, but glared at him all the same. Her need to survive and escape greater than her fear. She focused on him and thought as forcefully as she could. "Put me down right now!"
"No, I shall not Vivian Harper." "Aaaaaah!" Vivian screamed, struggling with all her might as J'onn walked backwards with her back into the hall. Her whole head seemed to vibrate as his voice wordlessly boomed there, freaking her the hell out.
"This one is a telepath. Her mind is quite weak. She has so far told us no lies however. She is 17 and 6 and a half months of age, has been an orphan since her parents turned her out at the age of 9. Her abilities scared them greatly, it seems. They also abused narcotics on a regular basis." Vivian froze in place, registering a soft vibrating sensation in the core of her mind. He was reading her entire life from her mind, and he wasn't even looking at her. "Strange, how human parents can turn out their offspring so easily. In any case she has been living on the streets and using her telepathy to convince people to hand over money and food, as she stated previously. She is also very hungry and has not consumed water for 2 days, food for 3 and a half days."
"A telepath. Will you take her?" Batman was furiously filling in the profile page on her and looked to the Manhunter.
"Indeed. I shall now take her for some sustenance."
"Take my card." Batman lifted a JL funds card (funded by Wayne industries) and threw it over at J'onn's direction. It hovered before the Martian and followed them out of the room.
Vivian had long since stopped struggling in his grasp. He walked with her little body in his arms, feet dangling as he walked out of the county building and into the nearest diner. He sat her down at the counter and sat next to her.
It was so bizarre Vivian questioned if she had finally gone inside.
"You have not gone inside. You simply didn't expect this scenario to unfold as it has. You will adjust." Vivian fisted her hair at either side of her head, as if trying to block out a loud noise. "Is this better?" his voice was much softer in her head, the vibrations more like the level of an electric toothbrush, than a booming sonic drill.
"Yes thank you."
"Do not use your words. I am giving you access to my mind. Do so."
"...i'm afraid to..." He turned in his seat to look at her directly, making her flinch. He was so tall, so big a presence in her mind all the time. his physical presence was also overbearing as well. How would she cope?
She dropped her eyes from his scorching orange ones to look at his feet. His boots were action ready and deep blue, as were the large shorts he wore. They were attached to a thick red belt with a golden buckle. She couldn't make out the markings on it. He had a pair of thick red straps over his muscular chest, in the shape of an X, which seemed to attach to a large blue cape. The collar of it stood up for a few inches before curving backwards, making his neck look longer.
He was definitely an alien.
She had heard of the Justice League and the Martian Manhunter, but to see him it was obvious he wasn't human. His skin was green, for a start. He had a very strong brow, and he was inhumanly muscular. He had an 8 pack, strong flat pecks and biceps that were quite possibly larger than her head. His eyes captivated her however. Whether it was her need for eye contact to control someone, or the deep black rings that surrounded temperamental orange orbs, she didn't know. But she was soon staring into their depths again.
"Now you have sized me up, are you content that you are not in danger Vivian Harper?"
"...I..." She croaked in her throat, and immediately looked to her fidgeting hands on her knees. "Sorry."
"Have you wronged me Vivian Harper?"
"I looked at you." She gulped, feeling a curious buzzing in her head. No sooner did she wish it would stop, did the feeling of his presence in her mind disappear completely. It caused her to look up at him again.
"As a fellow telepath I assumed you would be comfortable with communicating internally. I was incorrect. We shall communicate verbally in this initial stage. You have not wronged me Vivian Harper. Assessing those around you and analysing the situation before proceeding, are very wise abilities indeed. I am the Martian Manhunter. You may call me this, or you may call me J'onn, if you so wish."
"Then erm, please call me Vivian." How bowed his head regally, and then looked over to a waitress, who had watched the exchange and looked like she was contemplating running a mile.
"I wish to order Vivian some food." He then looked to her, and so did the freaked out waitress.
"...i'll take whatever I can. Food is food."
"...we have a special on at the moment...order a burger and fries and pancakes or waffles, we throw in a free coffee."
"That sounds expen-"
"That sounds to be very high in calories. She shall have one of those." He then produced the credit card, which the waitress snapped off him, ran to the till and ran the order through. She then cautiously returned the card, and poured them both a coffee, muttering that the martian's was on the house.
"...thanks, but I don't have anything to pay you back with?" Vivian tucked her hair behind her ears, and looked at the stoic man with curious brown eyes.
"As my pupil you are in my care. You do not have to repay me with any sort of currency. Your welfare is my concern now."
"...pupil?" Vivian blinked madly, before leaning forward with a cautious smile. "You mean I'm not in trouble?"
"No."
"And I'm going to be a justice league recruit?" She hushed, not wanting anyone to overhear.
"Indeed. Once you have been given nourishment, I shall take you to your new accommodation in the halls of justice. You will no longer be required to steal food to survive, it will be provided. I expect you to sleep and gather your strength for my training. I have no intention on being a gentle teacher. Your powers do have the potential to be dangerous, despite your intentions, if you do not have the correct level of competence to control them." He then took a sip of his coffee, looking so strange.
"Martians like coffee?" Vivian's eyes bugged out wide, and she slapped her hand over her mouth. "S-sorry! I just-"
"Martians like many things. We simply are not as vocal about it as humans."
This stoic cryptic alien was her new mentor. What has she gotten herself in to?