In The Beginning (Part 1)

4 months after the battle of Chicago

Only now, the world finally seemed to be getting used to the fact that superheroes existed.

Yet even after what had happened in Chicago, this still seemed all too surreal.

For years, people had looked up to these heroes, hoping and dreaming that maybe, just maybe, they could be real.

But they knew that deep down, the likelihood of their heroes appearing was almost nonexistent.

That was, however, until Jacob Laverne became Impulse.

When Impulse first made his presence known, the world almost seemed to rejoice at the prospect of having a real life superhero defend the world.

Then along came six more.

Artemis, Wonder Girl, Nightwing, Robin, Aqualad and Superboy.

It almost seemed like a comic book fan's dream come true: a world populated by superheroes.

However, this came with a small catch: As the heroes appeared one by one, villains began to gradually appear.

Livewire, Deadshot, Firefly and Merlyn, to name but a few.

Some people soon began to fear that he world would end up being swamped in heroes in villains, turning the streets of their cities into a massive battlefield.

However, deep down, they all knew that the heroes would do whatever they could to prevent such an event from ever occurring.

Things became better when, a few days after the battle of Chicago, Impulse put out a message on his Twitter page

Villains beware: we're officially a team now. #YoungJustice

Attached to this was a group shot of the seven heroes in uniform.

Within a few hours, the message had since been retweeted several thousand times.

Admittedly, the team had expected a massive influx of supervillains not too long after this announcement.

But no. Not a single supervillain poked their heads above the water. All the team really had to deal with were the same criminals and thugs that they had been dealing with for a while. Even Maxwell Leighton, the man who was responsible for giving Wonder Girl, Aqualad and Superboy their powers, was nowhere to be seen.

In the time after this, the heroes continued to live as normal humans whilst balancing this with their time as superheroes. Impulse and Artemis had since continued their education at High School, romantically involved with each other as civilians and as superheroes.

Nightwing, the team leader and Artemis's brother, continued to keep McLure Motors running, all whilst managing the team's activities and alerting the other members to events that were occurring elsewhere, appearing every once in a while to help out himself.

Wonder Girl, Robin and Aqualad had since returned to Denver, Pittsburgh and Huntingdon Beach respectively, putting their powers and skills to good use by helping the populace.

At first, Superboy had a bit of difficulty, as he had literally nothing asides from his powers. However, once Nightwing had set him up with a fake ID, passport and a small pile of cash, Project Krypton had since acquired an apartment in New York, under the name of "Kyle Kent" (or Kai-El as Wonder Girl sometimes called him), along with a small job with a local newspaper.

However, whilst they continued to protect the world in the eyes of the public, behind the scenes, they were working on a little project of their own, out on a small island in the middle of Lake Michigan.

Unfortunately for them, the project had taken longer than anticipated. Since they wanted to keep their project a secret, they had decided against hiring any help, choosing to complete the project themselves. Things also weren't helped by the fact that none of them had a single day's worth of experience with construction, so they were all breaking new ground with this project.

However, after many man-hours of work, several design changes and two cave-ins (both caused by Impulse), the group had finally finished construction of their project, leaving Nightwing to complete the finishing touches.

Finally, three weeks later, their project was completed.

When it was ready, Nightwing sent out a message to the others.

"It's ready, guys. Come on over and take a look".

Once the message had been sent out, he then stood there, on the very island where the team had built their project, waiting to see who would turn up first.

Very soon, however, he heard the distant sound of splashing, rapidly getting closer to the island.

Looking in the direction of the noise, he spotted a small plume of water, with two figures inside.

The first was Impulse. In his arms, being carried bridal style, was Artemis.

In a split second, the speedster and his beloved were standing next to Nightwing.

"You're late" Nightwing said jokingly.

"Very funny, Robert" Impulse replied.

"Homework?"

"Yep".

"How much?"

"Quite a bit. I get the impression that our English teacher hates us."

"I think that might have something to do with me falling asleep in class whilst we were reading Of Mice and Men".

"Seriously? That's a great book!"

"For you, maybe. But I just found it boring. To be honest, Impulse, I'm surprised you didn't fall asleep as well. You'd probably already finished reading the book by the time the others finished the first sentence".

"Oh, I did. I just pretended to read the book normally whilst secretly sneaking peeks at the Watchmen book I had snuck in with me. She will never know".

Nightwing chuckled.

"Well, you'll probably be in for a real shock when the tests come around".

"Not at all, Rob. Good old photographic memory hasn't let me down yet. My grades will show you that".

Just then, the trio were greeted by more splashing, coming from right behind them.

Looking over, they spotted another plume of water rapidly making it's way towards them.

Whilst they couldn't make out much through the water, the one thing they could see was a familiar red diamond, with a matching red "S" inside it.

A young boy was clinging onto his back, dressed in a red and black uniform with a black domino mask and black cape.

Superboy was speeding straight towards them, carrying Robin with him.

The duo pulled up next to the others, with Robin clambering off Superboy's back.

"I tell you what, Nightwing. This had better be worth it. I was right in the middle of studying for a science test when I received your message". The boy wonder said to the team leader, straightening his uniform.

"Believe me, Robin. This will not disappoint. I can assure you of that".

He looked over at Superboy.

"So, you're Robin's personal taxi?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm just hoping that Impulse's dad and his team manage to sort out those zeta tubes".

"Yeah, about that" Impulse said to Kyle. "It appears that making a quantum spacehole is a lot harder than anticipated. A lot harder."

"Joys" Superboy replied, sarcastically. "Anyway, where are the others? I thought they would've turned up by-"

SPLOOSH!

Much to the team's surprise, Malcolm Haley AKA: Aqualad leapt out of the lake before landing next to the them.

"I haven't missed anything, have I?" He asked, barely even out of breath.

He looked around at his shocked teammates.

"It appears not"

"Did...you just swim all the way here?"

"Indeed I did. Unfortunately, I had to take a detour around Canada. But nevertheless, I am here now".

The others couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"Well, that's one way of getting around, I guess" Replied a voice.

A few seconds later, the team was finally all together as Rebecca Smaluders AKA: Wonder Girl touched down on the island.

Nightwing cleared his throat.

"Anyway. Thank you all for coming to this meetup. i know that this may have been a bit sudden, but trust me, this is not something you would want to miss. It's been a long time coming, but now, we're finally ready to-"

"Oh just get on with it, Nightwing".

Nightwing gave his sister a disgruntled look before continuing.

"Anyway, I'd best stop rambling. Now, before we can see the finished project, we need to clear security. I'd like you all to take a few steps forwards".

The team did so. Then, they waited.

"So is something supposed to happen now?"

"Yes. A thing should come out of the ground and scan each of us before opening the door. Perhaps we aren't close enough".

The team edged forwards slightly.

This time, however, something did happen.

They heard a faint whirring sound.

Then, just in front of them, a small hole opened in the ground. As they watched, a pole extended out of the hole with what appeared to be a camera on the end.

It raised itself up until it was roughly on the same level as Nightwing's eyes before scanning each and every one of them, a red light coming out of the lens and running over the heroes, confirming their identities as it went.

"Recognised: Nightwing (B-0-1)"

"Recognised: Artemis (B-0-2)"

"Recognised: Impulse (B-0-3)"

"Recognised: Wonder Girl (B-0-4)"

"Recognised: Robin (B-0-5)"

"Recognised: Aqualad (B-0-6)"

"Recognised: Superboy (B-0-7)"

Once the system had registered the presence of the seven heroes, the ground shuddered.

Then, a large door began to open out of the ground, revealing the very project the team had been working on.

As the team headed through the entrance, they found themselves in a large chamber, akin to something out of a spaceship, with the walls lined with metal. The chamber was complete with two corridors leading off further into the base and a massive computer at the opposite end.

There were also two corridors on either side of the room, leading off into different parts of the base.

"Ladies and gentlemen" Nightwing declared "Welcome to Justice Island"

The six looked around the chamber in amazement.

"Now this is crash" Declared Impulse, impressed by the final results. "How much did all this cost?"

"I won't say how much. But let's just say this all cost a lot. Anyway, yes, this is the mission briefing room. The corridor on your left will lead you to some specialised training facilities and showers, whilst the corridor on your right will lead you off to the kitchen, the infirmary and the rec room."

"Nice. I'm checking them out right now" Superboy said to the others before bolting off down the left corridor.

"WAIT, KYLE! WATCH OUT FOR THE-"

SPLOSH!

"-swimming pool"

About a second later, Superboy returned, now soaking wet and carrying an unimpressed look on his face.

Some of the others couldn't help but start snickering.

"I see your super-sight hasn't properly developed just yet" Nightwing remarked as he began to boot up the computer.

Kyle didn't reply.

"I thought so".

As Nightwing pressed the enter key, the screen lit up.

"Welcome, Nightwing" A voice said to him.

"You added a voice to it?"

"Yeah. I'm trying to give this whole thing a proper Young Justice feel to it whilst creating something fairly unique."

"Oh? Well then, what can it do?"

"Quite a lot, I think you'll find. It has the best internet access known to man, it can scan stuff, it can decrypt stuff, it has access to most TV channels across the globe, it can-"

Breeep! Breeep!

The sound of ringing filled the chamber.

"Transmission incoming" the computer system announced to the team, as a small window opened on the computer screen, with the phrase flashing within it.

"Transmission?" Wonder Girl asked, confused. "Who on Earth knows how to get a hold of us?"

"Oh yeah, it can do that as well" Nightwing replied. "Anyway, let's find out. Computer, answer transmission".

The computer obliged, closing the text window and bringing up another. This time, however, the window brought up a video display, with a familiar face on the other end of the transmission.

Commissioner Frank Drummond Of the Chicago Police Department.

"Finally" he said, sighing with relief. "I've been trying to get this damn communicator to work for about half an hour to no avail"

"Ah. Hello there, commissioner" Nightwing said to him, standing front and centre before the huge screen.

"Nightwing, why is the commissioner on our transmission wavelength?" Asked Aqualad.

"I took the liberty of giving him a communicator to allow him to contact us quickly in the event of an emergency within Chicago" he replied before returning to face the monitor. "Anyway, commissioner, is something up?"

"More or less" he replied. "My unit just responded to an alert from the Reserve bank. However, we got there just a fraction too late to apprehend the suspect. As far as we can tell, the suspect has left four dead and several wounded. But that's not the main problem here"

"Then what is?"

"Well, it's what the scene of the crime looked like when we got here. It's a bit hard for me to explain right now, so I think it would be best if you guys came up here and saw for yourselves"

"I'll be there in a flash" Impulse said to the commissioner. "You coming, Artemis?"

"Eh. Might as well" she replied.

"Same here" added Superboy.

"Piggyback!" Gleefully called out Robin, climbing onto Superboy's back and earning himself a disapproving look from the boy of tomorrow.

The boy wonder instantly regretted this decision, as Kyle was still damp.

"Alright. I'll see you there" the commissioner finished

Click!

The transmission ended.

With that, Impulse scooped up Artemis before bolting out of the base in the blink of an eye, closely followed by Superboy and Robin.


Commissioner Drummond had only just become to fully accept the strange events that had occurred in his city over the last few weeks.

Heck, in the previous few months, he had found himself working alongside two highly skilled vigilantes and a kid who could run faster than sound.

But despite all that, what Frank was in the presence of both intrigued and frightened him.

When he had first arrived at the crime scene, he had expected it to be the typical aftermath of a bank robbery: an empty vault, a big hole in a wall as a result of being hit by an armoured car, witnesses that needed to be taken care of and so on.

However, whilst some of this was indeed present at this crime scene, everything else about it blew his mind.

He had expected to enter a bank.

But he entered a freezer.

Everywhere he looked, on the ceiling and the walls, he could only find thick layers of ice.

Some of the deposit boxes had been frozen solid and promptly smashed, allowing whoever had attacked to get to the cash easier.

But what really disturbed him about the whole situation were the four dead bodies he and his men had found. All of them were completely frozen in their own immobile, icy prison.

As the forensic team rushed about collecting evidence and thawing the bodies out, Frank seriously wondered what was happening to his city.

However, as he did, he was greeted by a sudden gust of wind as Impulse, Artemis, Superboy and Robin arrived on the scene.

"Alrighty then, we're here. What's the-HOLY BALLS, BATMAN!" Yelled out Robin. "WHO TURNED DOWN THE THERMOSTAT?!"

"Jeez, it's like stepping into a polar bear habitat".

The four were soon approached by the commissioner.

"Told you you'd best see it for yourselves" He said to them.

"Damn right. What the hell happened here?"

"I already said that whoever attacked here has left four people dead" he replied, pointing to the ice.. "However, it also appears that the suspect has made away with some of the money in the deposit boxes."

"How much?"

"We don't know yet. My question to you is who could've done this. Clearly it wasn't just some regular guy".

"Obviously. As to who could've done this, there are several names to consider. Mister Freeze, Captain Cold, Killer Frost, Icicle, the list goes on. Although, why Victor Fries would break into a bank is beyond me".

"It would be better if we could collect some evidence of our own. Were there any eyewitnesses on the scene?"

"Yes. A lot. They're currently being treated by paramedics for any injuries".

"I'll go help clear away some of this ice" Superboy said to the others, dashing off to help the forensic team.

The three remaining heroes and the commissioner eventually reached the witnesses. They were in a thawed out section of the atrium, along with the paramedics.

"Those guys look a bit shaken"

"Do you blame them?"

"No. Hell, I would be as well if I were them".

"Alright. We'd better get this over with. Let's just be careful with them".

Robin cleared his throat.

"Alright you lot, listen up" he said to them. "Now, I know you guys have probably just been through a lot and sorry we couldn't get here sooner. We were just notified to this. But anyway, if we have any hope in catching the one behind this, we're going to need your co-operation. Can you please tell us anything about the suspect that we can use to identify him?"

There was silence amongst the witnesses for a moment as they remembered what they had seen before one of the suspects, a middle-aged woman, eventually spoke up.

"Well..." she began, still visibly shaken. "...it was a man".

"That rules out Killer Frost" Artemis said to herself.

"How old was he?"

"Young. He seemed like a young adult".

"Maybe Icicle Jr?"

"How did he do all this? Did he freeze things by touching them?"

"No, he used guns instead".

"Okay, maybe not Icicle Jr. Maybe Freeze".

"It can't be, though. she said "guns". Plural. Whoever did this used at least two guns".

It was at that point that the three realized just who they may have been going up against.

"Erm, did this guy also happen to be wearing a blue and white coat?"

"Yes. He had a hood as well".

Robin turned to the others.

"Impulse?"

"On it"

Impulse then blitzed out of the building.

"Where's he going?" Asked the commissioner.

"He's going to get something that could help us identify out suspect" replied Robin

A few seconds later, Impulse returned, carrying with him one of the many comic books in his vast collection.

"Did the culprit happen to look like this?" He asked, opening up the comic book and showing it to the witnesses, revealing an image of a grizzled man, dressed in a blue and white jacket with a massive, furry white hood. This attire was complete with a yellow belt, light blue goggles and two pistol-like weapons.

Captain Cold

They nodded.

"Y-Yeah, that's what he looked like, alright. Although, the guy I saw wasn't as old as this one". One of them said.

"Okay. Thanks for the help".

Impulse then zipped back to his friends.

"Right, we know what we're looking for, now"

"Captain Cold?"

"Yep. Pre-Flashpoint version, by the looks of it. A younger version, but Cold either way".

"Who's Captain Cold?" Asked the Commissioner.

Impulse held up his comic, showing the commissioner the picture of the rogue.

"This guy"

"Captain Cold is an adversary of The Flash" explained Robin. "Also known as Leonard Snart in the comics, he has mainly been known for the use of freeze guns, allowing him to freeze anything at absolute zero".

"-273 degrees celsius"

"Correct. Thanks Supes. Of course, the New 52 version of Cold had Cryokinesis and didn't use ice guns, but the description given matches that of the original Cold".

"I highly doubt someone like this has the technology or the know-how to reach that sort of temperature, but I've seen and heard stranger things".

"Alright. I need you to get a copy of that picture down to the precinct. The profilers will then be able to create a likeness based on that and the extra description given."

"I'll be back in a flash"

Impulse instantly bolted off to find a photocopier.

"In a flash, huh? Does he say that often".

"No, and hopefully he won't, either"

Just then, one of the forensic team came running up to the group.

"Find something?"

"Yes sir" The forensic officer replied. "We found a letter hidden in one of the deposit boxes".

"Any fingerprints on it?"

"No. Nothing".

"What's inside it?"

"Just this".

The officer showed the group the contents of the letter: A small A7-sized sheet of paper.

On it was written a series of numbers.

22-5-14-7-5-1-14-3-5-23-9-12-12-2-5-13-9-14-5-9-13-16-21-12-19-5

"Some kind of code?"

"Must be. Would be an enormous coincidence of they weren't".

"Alright. Get us a copy of this. We'll try to decode this back at base. In the meantime, we need you to stay on alert. Let us know if our...friend...resurfaces."


"Recognised: Artemis (B-0-2)"

"Recognised: Impulse (B-0-3)"

"Recognised: Robin (B-0-5)"

"Recognised: Superboy (B-0-7)"

The four heroes soon returned to Justice Island, having managed to retrieve a copy of the note that had previously been in the letter, along with a profile of the supposed perpetrator.

Upon returning, they found the other three at the computer, searching through the archives.

"Ah, welcome back" Nightwing said to them, turning to greet them. "What did the commissioner need to see you for?"

"We have a new supervillain to deal with. This world's version of Captain Cold appears to have surfaced."

This caught their attention.

"Cold?"

"Yes. The description given matches that of the comic version".

"Pre-Flashpoint or New 52?"

"Pre-Flashpoint, but that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that we take this guy down before he can cause any more damage. Nightwing, does the computer have a scanner?"

"It does indeed".

"Good. We have some evidence to scan for you guys".

As Nightwing pressed a button on the computer, a small scanning tray revealed itself from the main console, allowing Robin to place the evidence on it before it slid shut.

"Computer, scan please".

"Scanning..."

As a blue light shone out of the gap in the scanner, the numbers appeared on the screen in the order they been shown in.

22-5-14-7-5-1-14-3-5-23-9-12-12-2-5-13-9-14-5-9-13-16-21-12-19-5

Once the numbers had appeared, the profile of their supposed suspect appeared next to it.

"I suppose that's him, right?"

"Pretty much, yes".

"He even had the ice guns?"

"According to one witness, yes".

"So we know what he looks like then. But what about those numbers?"

"We've been trying to figure that out since we got them".

"Obviously they're some kind of code".

"Yes, but a code for what?"

The seven pondered this.

However, a few moments later, Nightwing had a brainwave.

"Computer, bring up the alphabetical equivalents of these numbers". He said to the computer, selecting the numbers displayed on-screen.

"Calculating..."

One by one, the numbers on the screen changed into letters equivalent to their location in the alphabet.

Admittedly, the team weren't expecting much, other than a few cryptic clues and perhaps some kind of threat, like most supervillains.

But whilst they did indeed get a threat of sorts, it was to who the threat was directed at that shocked the team.

"Calculation completed"

The seven looked up in shock at the decoded message on the screen.

V-E-N-G-E-A-N-C-E-W-I-L-L-B-E-M-I-N-E-I-M-P-U-L-S-E

At this point, it felt as if a deathly chill had descended over the team. The room was now so silent, they could have heard a pin drop.

The truth of what they were dealing with finally became evident to them. Not only was there a real life Captain Cold hiding somewhere in Chicago, but he carried a personal vendetta against Impulse.

That part wasn't much of a surprise, but the fact that this was the first time that Cold had struck was.

At last, Robin broke the silence.

"So..." he began tentatively. "What do you make of that, Jacob?"

Silence.

"Jacob?"

As the others looked over, the speedster was still was still staring up at the screen, his face as white as a ghost. Just why did Cold want revenge on him? They had never met in person.

As far as he could tell, anyway.

After a short while, Impulse was finally able to speak.

"Well..." he began. "...That's...erm...Not good"


"Good evening, this is Denise Williams reporting. Chicago authorities are currently on the lookout for an armed robber, accused of stealing several thousand dollars from the Reserve Bank of Chicago, killing four in the process. When the police arrived at the scene of the crime, mere moments after the criminal left, they found the entire main atrium of the bank frozen with ice, with the suspect making away with-"

A hand came into the picture, holding out a sheet of paper for the news anchor.

"Excuse me. I've just been handed this bulletin".

She took it and began to read it out.

"According to reports, a large bat-like creature has been sighted on Chicago's west side. so far, it is said to have attacked four muggers and two serial thieves, leaving all six seriously injured..."

She stopped for a moment to think about what she was describing before realizing something.

"You don't suppose..."


A/N: A quick explanation about this series for newer readers

What is Young Justice Re-Imagined?:

Young Justice Re-Imagined (as the name suggests) is a re-imagining of the Young Justice TV series, specifically in an "Earth-Prime" style, in which the heroes and villains are nothing more than comic, TV and movie characters, until things start to change...

What will be different from the TV show?:

Asides from the setting and several character names, not much else (so far, anyway). Two other major differences will be 1) the expanded team roster and 2) the fact that these heroes are the first heroes in this universe.

Will the Justice League be appearing?:

Yes. Eventually.

What about the team from the TV show?:

*devious smile* You'll have to wait and see.

How long will this thing be going on for?:

Currently, I've planned for this series to last for 5 seasons (13 episodes each, excluding specials).

Can I borrow a cup of sugar?:

NO!