this is like...the most self-indulgent thing i've ever written. and it probably sucks but i seriously couldn't get this oc out of my head so i decided to share my suckyness with you guys. sorry.
disclaimer: i don't own young justice or marvel but i really wish i did. talia is mine :)
NEW YORK CITY
July 4, 14:41 EDT
"JARVIS," Talia whined, kicking her feet out so that she propelled herself across the lab in her spinny chair. She slammed into the lab table on the other side of the room, making her coffee mug rock dangerously back and forth. She snatched it up before it could fall, draining the (now cold) coffee in one sip. She grimaced at the temperature and then continued to complain to her AI. "I'm bored."
"Might I suggest, miss," Talia's dutiful A.I. responded, with just a touch of his normal dry sarcasm that her father had been sure to program when he'd created JARVIS. "That you do some of your schoolwork?"
Talia tilted her head back, considering. JARVIS knew that Talia didn't need to do her homework or study to excel in her classes, although some of the college courses she was taking were more challenging than she'd originally expected. But her dad had said he'd look over her paper later.
"Hmm…nah," she decided with finality. Talia stood up, pacing the room impatiently, her dark eyes flicking over her half-finished projects around the lab. She ran her fingers over Dum-E, currently turned off. Pursing her lips, Talia surveyed the lab. "JARVIS," she finally decided. "Turn to the news."
Across the room, the TV flickered on to GBS news channel. The anchor on the screen was reporting a story in Washington DC, involving several proteges to members of the Justice League. Interested, Talia perked up, peering at the screen with heightened curiosity.
"…the proteges of Batman, the Flash, Green Arrow and Aquaman made an appearance together at the Hall of Justice this afternoon," the blonde reporter was saying. "This is the first time all four sidekicks have been in the same place at once, and some are buzzing that it means they are potentially being inducted into the League." Talia's mouth fell open.
"What?" she protested, jumping to her feet. She scowled at no one in particular. "That is so unfair. Dad won't let me do anything like that." Not that she'd be joining the League, anyways. But the Avengers? Maybe, eventually, if her dad ever stopped being irritatingly overprotective. JARVIS hummed from above Talia thoughtfully.
"If I may point out, miss, that the anchor just reaffirmed that those whisperings are nothing but rumors." Talia pouted, flopping back down on her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Still," she said, petulant. She stuck her lower lip out, glaring at the wall. In the background the news buzzed. Swinging around in her chair, Talia focused on the screen again.
"In a developing story," the anchor continued. "The Justice League is currently fighting of the sorcerer Wotan. Interestingly, three of the sidekicks of the Justice League members have been spotted at genetics lab Cadmus in Washington DC." Talia frowned, squinting at the screen. Someone had snapped a picture of one of them – it looked like Robin – swinging into a burning building from a grappling hook.
Talia sat back in her chair, pondering why three young superheroes would arrive to a burning building when it looked like the local fire department had it under control. There couldn't have been that many people in the building, Talia thought to herself. So why were they there?
"J?" she called, reaching for the remote and turning down the volume of the TV. "What is Cadmus?" She waited as JARVIS searched. When he finished searching, he began to recite the results to her while simultaneously displaying them on one of the holographic screens in front of her.
"Cadmus is a genetics lab in Washington DC," JARVIS reported. "There is little information about the research they conduct." Talia sat back in her chair, thumbing her chin thoughtfully. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"JARVIS," she said slowly, picking up her baseball cap in front of her. She fiddles with the fraying edge of the cap, a nervous habit of hers. She always had a baseball cap with her; she didn't feel safe - especially when she left the house - without one. "The myth about Cadmus – remind me of it, please."
"Of course, miss," JARVIS said agreeably. "Cadmus was the first king of Thebes, and one of the greatest Greek heroes. He founded Thebes by sowing dragon's teeth into the ground, from which grew a new race of soldiers who helped him build his city. He later served Ares, as the dragon sacrificed had been sacred to the god of war." Talia hummed. She wasn't sure what to make of that - it didn't really make sense to name a genetics lab after a Greek king.
"JARVIS," she said, standing up. She jammed her baseball cap onto her head, her eyes fiery with determination. "Prep my suit. We're going to Cadmus." She hesitated, and then added. "Don't tell Dad."
WASHINGTON DC
July 4, 15:16 EDT
Talia piloted the suit smoothly through the air. Her father had only recently begun allowing her to even own a suit – it had been a birthday present when she turned fifteen – but flying came easily to her.
Landing on the roof of the building, Talia looked around. There were fire trucks and police cars still surrounding the area, but the fire itself seemed to be gone. Still, smoke rose through the air, which allowed Talia decent cover from her perch on the building roof.
The suit cracked open, allowing Talia to step out. She glanced back at the suit and reached into her pockets. Talia clipped her repulsor bracelets around her wrists – they weren't as powerful as the ones in the suit, but they would do if she was attacked. They also doubled as GPS so that she could call the suit to her if she needed to.
"J, sentry mode," she requested, sliding in an earpiece that would allow her to talk to the A.I. without the suit. She untucked her tattered cap from her pocket, putting it back on her head.
The suit closed back up, and its eyes lit up. The suit moved so it was standing with its hand out, ready to blast someone or something if it needed to. Talia took JARVIS's silence as sullenness at her refusal to let him call her father.
Of course, when had initially Tony had built JARVIS, he'd had him take orders obediently. Then he'd upgraded him with several failsafes and protocols and attitude. Several of these protocols were ones that Tony had aptly (and irritatingly) named the "Baby Monitor Protocol" and it insured that JARVIS report Talia's every slightly rebellious move to Tony.
And of course, when Talia had found out about that, she'd set to hacking JARVIS so she could get her own way, at least briefly. It usually took JARVIS about three to four hours to clean the virus she programmed in him (and he was aware of it the entire time, often getting mad at Talia because of it), and that was enough time for her to get into Cadmus without him telling her father.
Talia slid down the lip of the roof, swinging through one of the broken windows. She looked around curiously, grinning slightly to herself. She couldn't believe she was about to (hopefully) meet the other teenage superheroes!
Yeah, she was a geek (and a nerd). So what?
When Talia slipped into the office space on the second floor of Cadmus, it was darkened and abandoned. Tilting her head to the side, Talia touched one of the computers, turning it on. Nosing through the system of the computer, she could tell that someone had been doing the same thing as she recently. One of the sidekicks?
A noise made Talia turn her head. She leaned over the desk to look into the hallway to her right. There was nothing there, but a filing cabinet had been knocked over, seemingly of its own accord. Frowning, Talia walked down the hallway.
At the end of the corridor was an elevator with the doors pried open. Talia walked over to the machine, her footsteps echoing quietly in the empty hall. She looked down the elevator shaft, and her mouth fell open.
A single line of cord ran down the elevator shaft as far as the eye could see. Which was odd, considering it was only supposed to be a two-story building. Talia leaned out of the shaft nervously, wrapping a hand around the rope. She was seriously wishing for the flight repulsors right now. She considered, briefly, calling for the suit but ultimately decided against it. She wanted to maintain the element of surprise.
Taking a deep breath, Talia swung herself onto the rope and loosened her grip around the cord. She began to slide downwards.
Talia watched the numbers on the side of the elevator go by, while also keeping an eye out for how much line she had left. Seeing the end, she began to tighten her grip around the rope. She winced when, belatedly wishing she'd worn gloves.
Swinging back and forth on the line of rope, Talia leaped from the cord to the narrow landing of the elevator. The door was already shoved open, and she walked through it, casting her eyes around.
"Kid, wait!" a voice whisper-shouted. Talia started slightly, and then grinned. She jogged forward, looking for the source of the voice. She found it pretty quickly.
At the end of a huge hallway were three boys. One was wearing bright yellow, another had a long black cape, and the third was wearing a red shirt with an odd backpack. Beyond them was a massive line of creatures. They looked like a cross between a gorilla and an elephant and they were huge.
"Holy shit," Talia breathed out loud. All three boys swung around at once, instinctively falling into defensive stances. Talia's eyes widened, and she raised her hands. "I'm a friendly!" she insisted.
"Who are you?" the dark-skinned boy asked cautiously, lowering his weapon. Talia was pretty sure that that was Aqualad, and the guy in yellow was Kid Flash, and the one with the cape was Robin. She wondered where Green Arrow's partner was.
"She's Talia Stark," Robin replied, looking a little amused for some reason. "As in, Tony Stark's daughter. As in, Iron Man's daughter."
Talia grinned, and did a little bow. She was slightly surprised that Robin knew who she was – her dad had kept her out of public eye, for the most part. But then again, Robin was protégé to the World's Greatest Detective.
"In the flesh," she quipped, smirking at the three boys confidently.
"You're Tony Stark's daughter?" Kid Flash said, sounding a mixture of surprised and amazed. Talia's shoulders tightened. She'd gotten that reaction way too many times.
"Yes," she snapped, narrowing her eyes at Kid Flash. He held up his hands, eyes wide at her aggressive reaction.
"Woah, sorry," he said. "It's just that I'm a huge fan."
"Oh," Talia said, her shoulders relaxing. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment of her intense reaction as she realized Kid Flash's comment hadn't been what she'd assumed. "Uh. Thanks?"
"What did you think I meant?" Kid Flash asked curiously. Talia shrugged.
What she'd been anticipating was for Kid Flash's next words to be something along the lines of: Wow, you look nothing like him. Which she'd heard so many times.
Talia's mother, who had passed away in a car accident six years ago, was Korean. Talia looked biracial, but she took after her mother slightly more in terms of appearance, and she hated the moment of hesitation she got when she told people who she was.
Not that she was ashamed of her Korean heritage, she wasn't in the least – she was downright proud of it. But she was also proud of being her father's daughter, and she hated it when people doubted that aspect of her identity.
"Never mind," she said out loud. "Sorry." She nodded her head to the creatures behind the three young heroes. "Um, any of you know what the hell is happening?"
"Not a clue," Kid Flash replied, glancing over his shoulder. He shook his head, and then turned back to her. "What are you doing here, anyways?" Talia shrugged, walking closer to look at the…creatures more closely.
"I was bored," she replied flippantly. She could see the three boys exchanging looks out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't care. They couldn't very well tell her to go home – or at least, if they did, there was no reason she had to listen.
The long line of creatures plodded past slowly, none of them paying the slightest attention to the group of teenagers next to them. Talia watched them pass, her eyes wide with wonder.
"We should keep moving," Aqualad said in a quiet, calm voice, breaking the few moments of silence. He led the four forwards, down the hallway the creatures had come from. Talia was relieved that they hadn't suggested she leave. She didn't particularly feel like being argumentative at that very moment.
"Which way?" Kid Flash asked, looking around. Aqualad glanced at the others, waiting for any of them to weigh in. When no one spoke, Talia pointed at a random door.
"Let's start there," she said confidently. She walked forwards, placing her hand on the security pad. She examined it critically. "Looks pretty secure," she said, grinning mischievously. "Which means it's hiding something good."
"Agreed," Robin replied. A holographic screen appeared above his glove, and he began to type away. Talia could see what he was doing – hacking his way into the security system.
He was good at it, too. Maybe even better than Talia was, not that she'd ever admit that out loud. The doors slid open with a quiet hiss, and Talia's lips parted in wonder as she stared inside.
"Okay, I am officially whelmed," Robin said, shaking his head in amazement. Talia nodded her head slowly, staring with wide eyes at the room before them.
The room was large. Stacked all the way up to the tall ceiling were glass tubes, each with a bug-like creature curled inside. Each creature was crackling with blue electricity. Talia's eyes followed the electricity creatures, and she realized they were acting as a generator.
"This is how the hide this massive underground facility from the world," Kid Flash realized, his voice full of awe. Talia nodded her head in agreement.
"The real Cadmus isn't on the grid," she said. "It generates its own electricity with these things…whatever they are." Talia placed her hand on the glass. "They must be bred for it." Aqualad nodded, his eyes grave.
"Even the name is a myth," the Atlantean remarked. "The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the Earth." Talia nodded, remembering JARVIS's earlier lesson.
"And this Cadmus creates new life too," Robin agreed. Talia hummed, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she headed over towards one of the computers.
"Myth Cadmus used his creations to forge his kingdom," Talia mused, running her hands over the keys of the computer. "I wonder what this Cadmus uses their new life for." Without further ado, Talia began to hack into the computer system, searching for more information about the creatures.
"Hey," Robin protested teasingly. "That's my thing." Talia shot the shorter boy a quick smirk.
"Not anymore," she responded mock-haughtily. Then, sobering up, she nodded to the computer beside her. "By all means help," she told Robin. "There's about fifty firewalls in place." Just as the words left her mouth, she found what she was looking for. "Ah-hah! Got it."
"Well?" Kid Flash asked impatiently, leaning over Talia's shoulders. Her dark eyes scanned the text, her mouth moving silently as she read to herself.
"They're called…genomorphs," she said, making a face at the name. "Weird." Robin leaned around Talia. He made a sound of surprise, jabbing his finger at a particular line of text on the screen.
"Look at the stats on these things!" he exclaimed. "Super-strength, telepathy, razor claws…" Talia shook her head in amazement as Robin listed the powers of the genomorphs. "These are living weapons!" Robin cried.
"They're engineering an army," Kid Flash said, his voice sober and grave. Talia frowned, biting her lip nervously.
"Who for?" she muttered, her fingers flying over the keys again. Under her breath, she whispered to the A.I. "J, please tell me you're getting this."
"Affirmative, miss," JARVIS replied. Talia smiled, but before she could delve into the mystery receiver of the army, another file caught her eye – mostly because of how secure it was. "Hello there," she murmured to herself.
"What is it?" Aqualad asked, speaking up for the first time. He'd been examining the glass tubes holding the genomorphs, but now he came back over to the other heroes. His eyes were serious.
"Project Kr," Talia replied, already trying to access the file. She grit her teeth in irritation. "It's triple encrypted! I need – "
"Don't move!" Someone shouted, cutting Talia off. Instead of heeding the order, she continued to hack away at the file, attempting to get it open. The three boys turned towards the threat, falling into battle positions.
"Wait," the man said, sounding surprised. "Aqualad? Robin? Kid Flash?" Robin snickered from next to Talia.
"At least he got your name right," he muttered to Kid Flash. The ginger shot Robin a dirty look, but Aqualad ignored Robin's taunt, instead stepping forward to get a better look at the other person in the room.
"I know you," Aqualad realized, sounding calm. "You are Guardian, a hero." Talia spared a glance at their opponent.
He was a man of tall build, with broad shoulders. He was wearing a gold helmet and was dressed in black and blue armor. On his shoulder sat a tiny monkey-like creature, and surrounding Guardian were genomorphs with giant claws.
"Yikes," Talia muttered under her breath, hacking faster. She wasn't exactly scared, but she also wasn't eager to get tangled up in a fight without her suit.
"I do my best," Guardian said in response to Aqualad's comment. Kid Flash scoffed loudly, stepping up next to the older boy.
"Then what are you doing here?" the speedster challenged. Guardian's eyes narrowed as he looked at the younger heroes in front of him.
"I'm chief of security," Guardian replied in a gruff manner. He crossed his arms defensively. "And you three – four," he corrected himself as he caught sight of Talia behind the boys. "Are trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out." Talia snorted.
"Yeah, no thanks," she muttered sarcastically, narrowing her eyes at the stubborn file she was still trying to open and download. "They'll just go tell my dad, and if he finds out about this? I can kiss the light of day good-bye for the next year or so."
"You think the League is really going to approve of you breeding weapons?" Kid Flash asked, glaring at Guardian. Guardian's pale eyes widened at the accusation, and he shook his head.
"Weapons?" he asked, sounding surprised. "What do you – what have I?" The genomorph perched on Guardian's shoulder turned its head, its small horns glowing bright red. Guardian's hand rose to his head as he touched his temples, groaning as if he was in pain. "My head," he whispered, closing his eyes and grimacing in pain. When he opened his eyes again, his expression was blank. "Take them down hard!" he shouted at the genomorphs. "No mercy!"
"Shit!" Talia swore. Then she grinned, realizing she'd cracked the file. "Yes!"
The snarl of a genomorph surprised Talia, and she spun around, yelping in surprise. She had not realized how close they'd gotten. Sliding her fingers over her bracelets, the repulsors appeared over her hands. It took them about half a second to form completely over her hands.
Talia flipped backwards, blasting a genomorph that got a little too close for comfort with a sonic blast. As it flew backwards, Talia realized with a jolt of surprise that smoke was covering the entire room.
Out of the corner of her eye, Talia saw Guardian throw Aqualad back. The boy hit his back against the metal machine behind him and groaned, lying still. Talia frowned, aiming two successive blasts at Guardian as he pressed forward towards Aqualad.
The blasts were enough to stun Guardian, and gave Talia enough time to run to Aqualad's side. She knelt beside him, helping him.
"You alright?" she asked, concerned. He nodded, accepting her hand as she pulled him to his feet.
"Thank you," he said quietly, pressing a hand to his chest as she pulled him to her feet. Talia nodded, smiling at the other teen. Aqualad's expression suddenly changed, and he wrapped his arm around Talia's bicep. "Behind you!" he shouted.
He grabbed Talia's arm, pulling her to the side and reached out with his other hand. His palm slammed into the body of the genomorph and Talia watched with surprise as electricity crackled from his hand into the creature's chest. It fell to the ground with a thump.
"Wow, thanks," Talia said in surprise. She also felt slightly chagrinned, realizing that she probably should have been keeping an eye on her six. Oops. Aqualad nodded at her.
"We should go," he told her. Talia nodded, turning around and running out the door of the long room. She could see Kid Flash moving in a blur ahead of her, and she could hear Aqualad's footsteps just behind her.
"Where's Robin?" she shouted, glancing around for the other boy. She knew he was the most experienced, but she still felt a stab of concern when she realized he wasn't in sight.
"He is ahead of us," Aqualad replied, sounding resigned for some reason. Maybe he was used to the other two boys running ahead of him.
Sure enough, as Talia and the Atlantean rounded the corner, the two could see Robin at the end of the hallway. He was typing on his holocomputer. Kid Flash was standing next to the boy, berating him for not waiting.
Behind her, Talia could hear the growls of the genomorphs. Aqualad pressed a hand to her back when she stopped, stopping her from turning around to fight. Talia grit her teeth, focusing on running faster. It was hard when the genomorphs were practically breathing down her neck.
Talia reached the now-open elevator first, and Aqualad flipped in right after her, the doors sliding shut just in time. Talia stared at the buttons in front of her. Like anything she did, she acted off impulse, slamming her finger down on the button for sub-level fifty-two.
"We are headed down?" Aqualad asked, sounding surprised and a little irritated.
"Dude!" Kid Flash shouted, grabbing her am. "Out is up!" Talia glared at the speedster, wrenching her arm from his grip.
"Project Kr is down," she replied, jutting her chin out. "Sub-level fifty-two." Aqualad sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"This is out of control," he muttered. He paused, and then added quietly. "Perhaps…perhaps we should contact the League." There was a moment of tense silence as the three boys traded looks. Before another one of them could speak, the elevator doors slid open. Talia shrugged, stepping out of the lift.
"Look," she said, turning to face the boys. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You can do whatever you want. I'm staying."
With that, she turned around, heading into the bizarre looking hallway the elevator had let them off on. She was pretending not to be fazed by how it looked, although she was a little bit put off by her off surroundings. She knew with out looking that the others would follow – there was no way they'd come this far without seeing their impromptu mission out.
"We are already here." Talia heard Kid Flash say as Robin caught up to her, just as determined. Aqualad sighed, following the other three teenagers somewhat reluctantly. Talia crouched down at a junction of the hallways, frowning at the scene around her.
The corridors were identical to the one they'd just come from – strange lighting, dark pink walls made out of some material that was not metal or wood of any kind.
"Which way?" Aqualad asked as he caught up to the other three teenagers, also kneeling down for cover. Talia shrugged, deciding it was time to let someone else chose the course of action.
"Yeah," Robin snorted. "Bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?"
"Hold!" a voice shouted. Talia looked up, her eyes wide. There was a tall humanoid figure standing at the entrance to one of the hallways. Despite having a human build, the creature had the features of a genomorph. Its horns flowed red and the genomorph stretched a hand out, throwing three barrels towards the teenagers with telekinesis.
The barrels exploded over their heads, and Talia felt the heat of flames wash over her body, way too close for comfort. Robin popped his head up, throwing two of his explosive "birdarangs" at the genomorph for cover as the four teenagers raced down the other hallway.
Kid Flash was quickly out of Talia's sight, moving in a blur down the hallway. Talia kept pace with Robin and Aqualad as they wound through the twisting corridor. By some stroke of dumb luck – or rather, the law of probability working on their side – they had managed to pick the corridor that Project Kr was located in.
Talia, Robin, and Aqualad rounded one last corner to see several things – one, a female scientist sprawled across the ground. Two, Kid Flash hauling a large cinder block over to a closing door – a door labeled Project Kr.
"Hurry!" the speedster shouted, ducking through the door. He had managed to wedge the cinder block in between the door. It was holding open for the moment, but who knew how long it would last. Robin and Talia bounded through the door.
"Disable it!" Robin shouted, pointing at the door. Talia nodded, immediately running over to the controls. Robin pulled up his holocomputer again, working in tandem with Talia as the two overrode the door controls to lock it shut.
Aqualad jumped through the tiny door space and kicked the cinder block away. The door slammed shut immediately, and he turned to look at the other teenagers.
"We disabled the door," Robin announced, looking up from his computer. There was a small, relieved smile on his face. "We're safe."
"We're trapped," Aqualad corrected, frowning at the younger boy. Talia pursed her lips, feeling a little bit guilty. It was, after all, her fault that they were down here.
Well, kind of. They had chosen to follow her.
"Uh, guys?" Kid Flash called, his voice sounding strained. "You should come see this." He hit a button on the control pad, and it lit up the back of the room. Talia turned around, and her mouth dropped open.
She stepped closer, hoping for a better look. The angle didn't change what she'd seen – there was a smaller, younger version of Superman sleeping in a pod above the four teenagers.
He was dressed in a bright white jumpsuit, with the red Super S emblem emblazoned across his chest. His eyes were closed, as though he was sleeping. Above his head where three of the little genomorphs, the ones that Talia gathered had the power of telepathy and mind control.
"Big K, little r," Kid Flash breathed in realization. He stepped up to the pod, tracing the letters splashed across the front of the glass. "The atomic symbol for krypton!"
"So, since I'm guessing Cadmus hasn't kidnapped Superman's non-existent teenage son," Talia stated sarcastically, stepping closer to the pod for a better look. "This is a clone?" Aqualad swung around, looking at Robin with wide eyes.
"Robin," he ordered, his voice sounding detached and surprised. "Hack."
"Right, right," Robin agreed, also sounding stupefied. He shook his head as if to clear it, and then stepped up to the computer. He pulled a flash drive connected to a wire out of his glove, attaching it to the mainframe of the control panel. Robin's device automatically bypassed security and began to download information. Talia read the information over his shoulder, speaking out loud.
"Weapon designation: Superboy," she announced. "He's a clone that's been force-grown in…" Talia's eyes went wide. "Whoa. Sixteen weeks?" She said, astounded. She looked back up at Superboy. She was kinda freaked out, but she was also kind of in awe of the science behind his creation.
Callous? Maybe. But that was just Talia.
"From DNA acquired from Superman," Robin finished as Talia continued to stare at Superboy suspended in his pod above them. She managed to wrench her gaze from the clone to rejoin the conversation.
"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad corrected, his voice stony. Kid Flash nodded in agreement, his green eyes dark.
"No way the big guy knows about this," Kid Flash murmured. Robin nodded absent-mindedly, still reading the information Cadmus provided about Superboy.
"Solar suit he's wearing allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation twenty-four/seven," Robin announced. Talia pointed to the little monkey-like creatures above Superboy's head.
"Those creatures," she asked. "They control him?" Robin's eyes scanned the next few lines of text and then he nodded, confirming Talia's hypothesis. He looked back up at the others, his forehead creased.
"Genomorph gnomes," he told the other three teenagers. "They're telepathic – force-feeding him an education." Kid Flash shook his head. His green eyes were dark with horror as he spoke.
"And we can guess what else," he said quietly. Kid Flash shook his head. "They're making a slave out of – well, Superman's son." Aqualad nodded his head once, his eyes growing stony. He looked at Robin and Kid Flash, and spoke sternly.
"Now we contact the League," he insisted. His tone of voice was assertive, leaving no room for argument or protests. Neither Kid Flash or Robin argued – clearly, the two boys knew where to draw the line. That was a quality that Talia admittedly lacked.
Aqualad pressed the A insignia on his belt, and Kid Flash raised a hand to his ear to touch his comm. Apparently there was no response, as both boys looked up in dismay right after attempting communication.
Robin frowned, swiping away at his holocomputer. He shook his head.
"No signal," he murmured. Talia's eyes widened, and she raised a hand to tap on her earpiece, realizing JARVIS hadn't spoken in the last few minutes. She received nothing but the sound of static in her ear.
"JARVIS?" she asked, nervously. "Hey, J?" There was still no response, and Talia turned slightly away from the boys, pressing harder on her earpiece. "You bein' pouty and giving me the cold shoulder, or are you really not there?" Talia asked. Again, only static answered her. "Dammit," Talia muttered, tugging her earpiece out in disgust.
"Who were you talking to?" Robin asked, curiously. Talia waved the earpiece around as she spoke.
"No one. That's the problem. I was trying to reach my A.I.," she replied, her eyes flicking nervously to the ceiling, where JARVIS was controlling her suit miles above. "But there's no answer. Which means we are way underground." She bit her lip, looking at the boys. "We are literally in too deep."
There was a moment of charged silence as the teenagers exchanged looks. None of them knew quite what to do. But they all were in silent agreement of one thing.
"This is wrong," Kid Flash voiced that option. He looked back at Superboy, and Aqualad nodded in agreement. The eldest hero hesitated for a moment, but then turned to Robin, his eyes firm with determination.
"Set him free," Aqualad ordered the younger boy. Robin nodded. He looked down at his holocomputer, but Talia was a step ahead of him, already pressing the buttons and activating the controls on the board in front of her.
"Sorry to steal your thunder," she said, tossing Robin a grin over her shoulder. She hit one final button at the pod hissed, cracking open. At first, there was no reaction from the boy inside the pod. Then he began to move.
Eyes still closed, Superboy reached a hand out. He stretched his wrist, circling it around carefully before clenching a fist and cracking his knuckles. Talia winced. She was betting that that wasn't a good sign.
The genomorphs above Superboy's had their horns glowing, their beady eyes trained on the clone below them. In response, Superboy's eyes flew open. He stared out at the four teenagers below him, at first not moving.
Then he leapt forward, tackling Aqualad to the ground. The Atlantean grunted in surprise and pain as his back collided with the hard floor.
Talia's eyes flew open. She hadn't necessarily been expecting a totally friendly reaction, but she certainly hadn't been expecting that.
Talia and the other two boys ran forward. Kid Flash and Talia grabbed one of Superboy's arms each, wrenching them backwards to the best of their ability in order to stop the clone from punching Aqualad again. Robin latched onto Superboy's head, holding him in a half nelson.
"Hang on, Supey!" Kid Flash grunted, straining to keep Superboy contained.
"We're on your side!" Talia and Robin chorused at the same time, struggling to keep their grip on the boy with super-strength. Superboy paid them no heed, instead making a fist and throwing Kid Flash backwards. Talia winced as she watched the speedster fly across the room before crashing into a glass tube. Kid Flash hit the floor, his eyes falling shut as he slipped into unconsciousness.
"JARVIS?" Talia shoved the earpiece back in her ear as Superboy wrenched his arm free from her grip, making her stumble backwards. There was still nothing but static from the earpiece, but Talia still spoke in a hopeful tone. "If you could send the suit, that would be great."
Aqualad managed to kick Superboy across the room, but the clone was on his feet in a second. Robin swung around, shooting a Taser at Superboy. The electric weapon hit the Kryptonian straight in the chest, but Superboy didn't even flinch. He grabbed a handful of the wires and used it as leverage to pull Robin towards him. He then swung Robin around and let go, throwing the boy into Talia.
Robin hit the girl with full-force and both went sprawling to the ground. Superboy leapt after the two heroes, planting a foot on Robin's chest and pressing down. Robin gasped, his breath being squashed out of him. Talia grunted in pain, rolling over. She gasped when she saw what Superboy was doing.
Pushing herself up for leverage and better aim, Talia raised one of the repulsers. She fired three blasts at Superboy, one after the other. The repulsor blasts didn't have a huge effect on Superboy, but he did stumble off of Robin. The teenage boy coughed as his flow of oxygen was restored, but he didn't move.
"JARVIS!" Talia shouted, knowing it was useless. She backed up, trying to put distance between her and the clone. She continued to fire at Superboy as he abandoned his quest of squishing Robin in favor of going after Talia. The blows were strong enough to make him stagger, but not enough to deter him. He reached Talia, shoving her arms down with a hard punch. He then reached out, wrapping a hand around her throat and beginning to squeeze.
Talia coughed, her eyes bugging out as Superboy continued to apply pressure to her throat. Her supply of oxygen was being cut off, and her head was growing rapidly fuzzy.
"JARV…IS…" she squeaked one more time, her hands wrapped around Superboy's wrist as she fruitlessly tried to push him off of her. "Please…" Suddenly, Superboy's body was thrown off of hers. Talia slumped to the ground, coughing uselessly.
The last thing she saw before everything faded to black was Aqualad's face leaning over hers, his pale eyes bright with concern.
important(?) notes!
so this takes place in a universe where dc and marvel characters live in the same universe. basically the justice league are the bigwigs of the heroing world, and the avengers are like a side group that fights crime as well (think like the JSA or something, but not associated with the league). the avengers have their own villains (eg, HYDRA) while the league has their villains (eg, villains of the members of the league. soooo yeah.
also this is kinda canon to the mcu, but the time is shifted as the avengers have already formed and it is 2010. and also this is like the fanon avengers team where they all love each other and captain america isn't a grade a dick (love him but i'm mad at him rn aka ever since civil war)
1. i really don't want talia to be a sue, and i'm trying very hard not to make her one. please help me with that. if i'm getting too sue-y please roast me in a review (um, nicely though, if possible? XD)
2. uh...idk how crossovers work? is this a crossover if it only takes place in young justice and there are just marvel characters floating around? please let me know. for know, it will go in just young justice, but please correct me if i'm wrong.
3. i'm undecided on talia's pairing, or even if i will do one (i probably will, but idk). it definitely will not be kid flash or robin, bc i ship spitfire too hard and i don't trust myself to write a good robin/oc story lol. i'm leaning towards not superboy either bc supermartian is tough to get around (even tho i don't rly ship it that hard) so probably either my bois kaldur or roy. i'm leaning towards kaldur cuz he needs some love (i've never read a kaldur/oc fit b4) but let me know what you guys think.
anyways, please leave a review and let me know what you think! if you liked it let me know, if you hated it, tell me why nicely. i love to hear feedback whether it's constructive criticism or compliments. so please, leave a review!
