Schooled
Manhattan New York. August 3rd 2010 7:38 am.
James had decided to come visit and see how Laura was doing after his first mission. She had read over what happened and was both proud of him for completing his very first mission with his teammates, and angry that he did something as stupid as getting himself blown up. "I should tell your parents. I'm sure they'd love to hear that." she said as they walked towards the Zeta tube. The League had gotten another one setup besides the one at the bridge, this one was in a alleyway beside a subway station entrance.
James rolled his eyes at his pseudo-sister, "Yeah, yeah…...you know I need to visit them soon. Last time I saw them was when I made a surprise visit at Sammy's hockey game." he pointed out, he regularly called and video chatted with his adoptive parents almost weekly, when it couldn't be done he would be sure to send a message in advance so they wouldn't worry. His little brother didn't talk as much with him, but when they did it was short and sweet.
Laura rolled her eyes as they passed a small cafe, the TV hanging on the wall outside got their attention, on the screen was a news copter of was the image of a school bus hanging off the side of a bridge. A red and blue blur of color flew past the scene and to the bridge. "So you like on the team? Because I know it was my idea and it was pretty last minute-" she started before James bumped her shoulder.
"I love it on the team, you know how long it's been since I got to hang out with other normal…..hang out with other people my own age?" he said, correcting himself and using a more precise description. He watched as on the television, Superboy appeared, saving a few cars by himself before trying to help with the School Bus, "Speaking of which there's one now." he said, gesturing to the screen as Superman flew up and hoisted the the bus up by himself. As he landed in front of Superboy, James's smirk faded. He and Superboy were pretty good friends, well as good as you can be with when all he does is brood. But he always smelled the anger on him when Superman was brought up.
James could tell that big blue was not exactly interacting well with Superboy, "So how has he been dealing with having a clone?" he asked before they both continued on their way.
Laura let out a huff, "He doesn't even acknowledge him. I mean I haven't brought it up but when someone mentions his name I can feel someone look over at me. Is being a clone a bad thing?" she asked, she saw herself as many things, a fighter, a hunter, a warrior, a killer, a weapon, and above all a hero. But a clone? She didn't see what was wrong with it, it was just part of who she was.
James shrugged, "Well you should talk to him about it. I mean to be fair, it is awkward to deal with. You're a clone of my dad. So does that mean your my aunt? I mean that's how I thought about it at first." he explained.
Laura thought back to Logan, he was just so…...accepting of her, so he had a clone, big whoop. He also had a adamantium skellington but he didn't beat around the bush on that. But he saw her as his daughter, plain and simple. He stuck by her like a father would even when she was difficult. But they got that way because they talked through it, just like she did with James. "Well we could always just lock them together in a room, see what happens." she suggested as they entered the alleyway where a old phone booth was. "You're coming for pasta night right?" she asked.
James elbowed her shoulder as he passed her, "Hell yeah. See you tonight." he said before stepping into the booth, a flash of yellow light teleporting him away from New York and all the way to the cave in Boston.
When the light faded away he walked into the Mission room. Finding Kid Flash zooming through a few monitors he had brought up, "Hey Wally?" he asked, walking over to see what he was doing."Uhhhhh…...what are you up to?" he asked, watching as his fingers blurred across a hardlight keypad.
"I'm looking through the computer to see how it ticks, figured if we're gonna be using this puppy might as well see how it works." he said, his eyes not leaving the three screens he had up. The words were going so fast on them that they gave James a headache trying to keep up with them, he figured that superspeed made speed reading into lightspeed reading, "Wait….what's this?" he asked before selecting a fire, making the screens disappear and a holographic table with no legs appear in midair.
"Is that….is that air hockey?" James asked, somewhat surprised to find that of all things in a former Justice League base.
Kid Flash and him looked at at the table before looking at one another, "Dude. You game?" Kid asked, zooming over to one side of the table.
James walked over to the other side and put his palm against the hologram, a puck appearing on the board, "You're on."
III
O
"Ok I call bullshit." James said, watching as Wally and Aqualad were taking their turn at the game. He, Robin and found the two playing and decided to start a tournament. Right now they were at the top brackets and Aqualad had just missed the puck, making Wally score, "How do we know he's not using superspeed to cheat?" he asked as Wally took a bite of a banana he had gotten from the kitchen.
Before anyone could speak, the Zeta tube speakers came on, 'Recognized, Superboy B04.' the machine said as the clone walked with a irritated look on his face, M'gann smiled warmly at him. "Hi Superboy, how was Metropolis?" she asked in a friendly tone. Superboy ignored her as he walked through the table, closing the program. A cough, made everyone look to see Black Canary and Martian Manhunter walking towards the team. "Black Canary, Uncle J'onn!" M'gann greeted her uncle with excitement as she walked over and gave him a hug.
As she and her uncle talked, Superboy turned to leave but was stopped by Black Canary. "Stick around. Class is in session." she said before waking to the middle of the floor, circle of light started at her feet before spreading out into the full circle on the floor. "I consider it a honor to be your teacher, i'll throw a lot at you, everything I've learned from my own mentors," he staeed as she slipped off her blue jacket with a wince, leaving her in her grey leggings, combat boots, and sleeve gloves with a bandage around her left bicep. "And my own bruises." she said before holding the wound.
"What happened?" M'gann asked with a little concern.
"...The Job." Black Canary replied simply. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict. Putting the Battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner." she said, looking around the group of young heroes. James was a little excited, Laura told him that Black Canary was one of the best combatants in the world. Laura didn't exactly train him in combat styles, mainly because most of the combat forms that Laura knew were very deadly and used strictly for killing others.
He raised his hand, "I'll try." he said, taking a step forward so that he was in front of Canary, "Um…..just a warning, all my bones are covered in metal." he said, last thing he wanted was to give the instructor a broken hand.
She smirked, "Thanks for the warning." she said before throwing a right hook at the tracker. He raised his forearm to block it, he retaliated by jabbing his fist out towards her, she rolled around, slamming her elbow on the back of his head, making him lean forward before she leaned forward and craned her foot back and kicked him in the face. She leaned back upright, stretching her arm out she brought it forward and clotheslined him, making him fall back onto the ground where a a circle appeared in the ground with the branch reaching out from the circle with the word 'failed' in red on the end. "Well...good block."she said, a slight hint of disappointment in her voice before reaching down and helping him up.
"Now, what happened?" She asked the others as James got back up on his feet, he noticed the slight disappointment in her tone, he knew he wasn't that much of a skilled fighter in hand to hand but…...he knew that Logan was one of the greatest fighters in the world, And he IS Wolverine's son, makes sense that his son would be good as well.
"He took a beating?" Wally asked, making the tracker glare at hi. "What? You kinda just let her hit you." he pointed out. Sometimes James hated Wally.
"Right," she said before looking at James, "You're tough, durable, and you heal from everything, but you're taken out of the fight when your healing." she explained, James thought about it, that was how his fights usually went, "So….how do I get better?" he asked. Black Canary smirked, "Experience, the more you fight the better you get, but you also let me dictate the terms of-"
"Please." Superboy interrupted, making Canary look over at him, james started backing away, How the pod never taught him to not talk back is astounding, "With my powers the battle is always on my terms, I'm a living weapon. And this is a waste of my time." he said.
Black Canary's face became determined, "Prove it." she challenged. Superboy looked at her before walking over, they both stared each other down before getting into a fighting stance. Superboy threw a left jab, Canary sidestepped it before grabbing the arm and throwing him over her shoulder onto the ground. James didn't know if he should wince in pain or be impressed. He got back up, now clearly angry, he charged at her, she vaulted over top him and landed in a crouch she swept her leg out and made him go down again.
James was starting to feel less bad that he got beaten so easily.
"That's it, I'm done." Superboy said as he got back up and was about to storm away.
Black Canary reached out and grabbed his shoulder, "Training is mandatory." she said simply with a bit of force behind her voice.
Before Superboy could respond, a screen came up as the alert sounded throughout the base. On the screen was none other than the Batman, 'Batman to cave. Five hours ago, a new menace Green Arrow and Black Canary.' he began as the image of the mentioned foe came up on the monitor, it looked humanoid, but was giant by normal standards, it had green pants, no shirt, orange hair, red eyes, and pointed ears. And it clearly was not human, 'The attacker then duplicated the powers and abilities of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which proved nearly disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant.'
That sent a chill down James's spine, someone with every superpower of anyone in the world? That sounded like something that could take over the world. 'In the end it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the andriod.'
"An android? Who made it professor TO Morrow?" Robin asked the screen.
'Good guess Robin. But Red Tornado doesn't think so.' Batman responded.
J'onn spoke up, "The design shows the work of Professor Ivo." he explained, James heard the name before, he was one of the League's earliest threats, making new opponents for the team to fight. But he was thought to have died….apparently not.
'To make certain this permanently neutralized, we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate Star Labs facilities, one in Boston and another in New York for analysis. Every precaution is being taken, we'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo, or anyone else, tries to recover the remains. You will split into two teams to safeguard the two real trucks.'
James raised a hand,"Batman, if there's a risk of the parts being reassembled, why not destroy a few components so the android can't be reassembled?" he asked, unless they needed every part of the machine, did they need to take the risk.
'That is what the original plan was, however while the parts are not functioning, they are still adapting to whatever we try to use on them,trying to destroy them has proven Labs has the facilites that can neautralize this adaptiblity and allow us to analiyze and destroy the remains.' Batman explained.
"So we're your delivery boys now?" Superboy asked before James elbowed him. Back Talking to Canary was one thing, but this is the goddamn Batman!
'You have something better to do?' Batman asked in return.
The boy of steel stayed silent as Aqualad received coordinates, as they walked away, James saw Canary give Superoy a pat on the shoulder. "When you're ready, I'll be here." she said reassuringly. As Superboy walked away, James couldn't help but wonder what happened to make him this pissed. Ok he's always pissed but now he's just being a dick to everyone. James thought as Canary came up to him next. "Um….sorry about Supey, I swear he's usually better…...not by much but still."
She smiled at him, "He'll be ok, it's actually you I was hoping to talk about." she said. James inwardly sighed, Here it comes. "When Laura told me that she train you that much in combat, I thought she was exaggerating." she said, making him look at her surprise. This was going a different direction than he was expecting.
He rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh….that's it? I'll be honest, I thought you were disappointed because…..well Logan was-" he started.
"Don't." Canary intrupted, "James, how many times have you fought someone with powers besides Laura?" she asked, James had to think about that, before he helped fight Mister Twister all he had fought were normal humans….In fact he couldn't take down Sportsmaster without being knocked out of the fight right away. "You may have been doing this for a while, but your one of the members of this team who don't have experience. You think Logan was good? I wiped the floor with hi first time we sparred." she said with a smirk. "Give it time." she said reassuringly.
James smiled at her words before nodding to go join the others. When he caught up to them in the elevator, a thought occured to him, "Hey. How exactly are we going to escort two trucks with only one bios ship?" he asked, the others looking at him strangely.
Robin grinned, "Wait you didn't hear? I thought Kid would tell you." he said, looking at the speedster.
"Tell me what?" James asked. As the doors slid opened, he looked in the hangar to see six new additions, "Oh…..those…..cool." he said when he saw the six custom motorcycles. One of them was a scooter model, four of them were sportsbikes, and the last one was a regular, more classic bike.
"We kinda called the others, sorry dude you got the last one." Kid Flash said as he zoomed out of the elevator.
James walked over to the Standard bike, it looked like a floor model of a Harley Davidson depot. It was black in color with a orange stripe going down the gas tank. Unlike the other bikes, this one didn't have anything blocking the engine and the gap between the front wheel and body of the bike. "I think I'm in love." he said as he picked up the helmet and jacket on the seat of the bike, the helmet was orange with a black rim around the visor that went off into points. The black motorcycle jacket has zipper pockets and a button collar, slipping it on, he felt something inside the pocket. He reached in and found a note.
'Be sure to wear the helmet! Your darling sister Laura.'
He smiled at the note before putting it in his pocket before loading his bike up into the ship with the rest of them.
III
O
Litchfield County, August 3rd 2010, 21:18 pm.
The site of the fight was closed off for miles, off the side of the highway was a huge crater where the Andriod had been finally been disassembled, six trucks were lined up with a few members of the Justice League oversaw the parts being loaded into two of the six trucks. James and the rest of the team had parked their bikes in a nearby clearing, waiting as they waited for the trucks to start up towards their destinations. "Alright, team one will be me, Kid, and Miss. Martian, we'll follow the truck heading for Boston. Team two will be Razor, Robin, and Superboy,you'll escort the other truck to New York. Any questions?" Aqualad asked as he started his bike up. No one asked anything.
When batman gave the signal to the trucks to go, the Team waited until one of the semi trucks passed by before riding out of the clearing and riding after their respective trucks, the plan was for the three trucks heading for each city to break off onto different routes as they started on their journeys to their respective cities. Police would escort the decoy trucks while the real ones would be guarded by the team.
Ahead of James, Robin, and Superboy's tucks was a turnoff from the main road, two of the trucks broke off and went down the side road while the three heroes followed the one that remained in front of them. A few seconds after the trucks broke off, Robin spoke, "If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster? See instead of things going wrong, everything goes right." he explained.
James glanced over at Robin questionably, "What? I mean I guess but how did you….nevermind." he said, shaking his head as he went back to focusing on the road. He really liked the bike, it handled amazingly , especially since it had to support his weight. While he was very fit for someone his age, his bones were made of metal, while he wasn't as heavy as Logan he still had some more weight behind him. As Superboy pulled a wheelie and pulled ahead of them, James looked over at Robin, "Not feeling the aster? Wait what would you call it if things go better than normal?" he asked.
Robin thought about it, "Huh…...that's a good question…..maybe coaster? Like instead of dissing someone you compliment them?" he suggested.
James raised his hand from the the break, "Ehhhhh….hey why did we give Kid Flash a bike if he can just run at the speed of sound?" he asked. Before Robin could respond, the sound of mechanical laughing made them look back to see a large group of what could only described as robotic flying monkeys. "Ok either I'm seeing flying robot monkeys, or we just rode into a twisted version of the Wizard of Oz." he said, the black metal monkeys had green eyes with miniature jet engines on their backs.
'This is Aqualad, Superboy, Robin, Razor our truck is under attack!' Aqualad's radio said to their helmets.
"Let me guess. Flying robot monkeys. A lot of them." he said into the helmet. He looked over to his teammates to see Robin's bike transform, the rear tire disconnected from the bike as the front wheel folded back so that the motorcycle was a motorized unicycle. The rear wheel split apart, the axle spinning like helicopter blades as it flew up into the air into a drone mode. "Oh hell yeah I love this job!" James said excitedly as he found a button below the speed dial. He looked up in time to see Superboy jump off his bike and onto the roof of the truck.
He swerved to avoid it as Robin ditched his bike, shooting a grapple to the back of the truck where the robotic simons were trying to cut into the back door. Robin knocked kicked one of them of. James pressed the button on the bike, the sides of the gas tank raised up from the sides of his bike, there were a pair of laser blasters on each side like on the drone from Robin's bike that fired at the bots around Robin. "Nice shooting!" Robin called out as a group of the monkeys flew at Superboy while he was blinded by one of them blasting his eyes.
The robots lifted him up into the air before dropping him from a great hight, leaving the two others no choice but to go on without him. As he watched Superboy get farther away, two of the monkeys that carried him off flew after James. Straightening his arms, his claws popped out from between his knuckles, pulling on the break, he slid back towards the monkeys, as he got close he extended his arms out, slicing them to bits as he went past them. Grabbing the handlebars he turned on the acceleration and zoomed past the remains as Robin got on top of the swerving truck.
As he began to catch up to the truck, Superboy leapt overhead onto the truck and began swatting the monkeys away like flies. Unfortunately the truck's driving was getting bat. James caught up to the truck from behind, Robin went to the driver and helped him bail just as the whole truck began to tip, James hit the brakes, causing the back tire to lift up off the ground slightly before James put some of his weight back to get the wheel back down. James stopped beside Robin as the truck started rolling over itself with Superboy still clinging to the roof of the truck.
The transport landed on it's roof, sliding across the pavement with sparks flying. The back door blew open a second after it stopped, the robots flew out the back while carrying the container with the andriod parts inside it. "Aw hell, Razor to Aqualad the hostels have our package, don't tell me-" he began.
'Ours as well.' the radio replied, making James grit his teeth.
"Look I'll try and track them, not sure if I can keep up with them though." he said, about to turn his bike into the cornfield after them.
'Negative! Do not engage, if they assemble the android and it absorbs your healing factor-' Aqualad began.
"Then he won't be disassembled, shit…...ok I'll track only and not engage." he said.
'Acknowledged. Keep us updated. Aqualad out.' Kaldur said. Just as the tracker was about to take off after the monkeys, Superboy crashed into the cornfield before jumping after the monkeys.
James sighed, And now that I have THAT to deal with. He thought as he started up the bike and drove into the cornfield after Superboy and the robot monkeys. "If I can say one thing about this job, there's never a dull moment." he muttered as the corn stalks hit against his helmet. When he reached a large hole in the ground, pulling his helmet off, he took a whiff of the air, he could smell a mixture of burnt fuel and oil underneath Superboy's scent. As he put his helmet back on he revved his bike's engine before taking off after the two
III
O
The monkeys headed south, towards Gotham City, more accurately along the railroad tracks on the outskirts of the city. He did stop once in awhile to make sure he was on the right trail. While he was tracking machines, they left their own kinds of trail that not everyone could see, their jets left fumes that lingered for a while, and the box was heavy enough so that they had to fly low, a few treetops were clipped. And even then he could just follow the huge signs that Superboy had left in his wake.
He said he didn't need pr want any help, attitude aside going after this android alone was just plain stupid on his end. James was going to make sure he survived this just to hit him later.
Riding along the train tracks on the road, he saw the rear car of the train ahead, the scent was strong, the robots were nearby. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Superboy sent flying from the car towards the city. "Razor to team, I found superboy-" he began before he saw another form fly from the train, "-and the android, who is assembled. I really suggest backup….now!" he said as he turned off the road and headed towards the direction that Superboy went.
Riding into the city, James sped through the streets, turning around a corner he came upon Gotham Academy. "Well I'm here….now what?" he asked, he couldn't risk going inside and joining in the fight. But he hated the idea of waiting on the sidelines, "Razor to team, Superboy is engaged with Amazo at Gotham Academy, standing by." he radioed to the others.
'Gotham Academy!? That's-...nevermind, me and Kid Flash are en-route. Do not engage.' Robin radioed in, correcting himself before he slipped up.
"Well what am I supposed to do? I don't want to sit on my hands!" James complained.
'Ivo has to be around there somewhere, see if you can't find him.' Robin said.
James shrugged, finding Ivo would be a good bonus, last thing they need is Ivo just doing this over again. Taking a whiff of the air, he parked his bike in front of the school and sniffed the air, there was a nearby scent, other than Superboy and the Android, what was strange was that there was a trace of Robin here as well. But one of the newer scents led around the building. Following it, he ran along the perimeter until he heard the fight inside the gym.
It was also where the other scent was coming from, he didn't to risk being spotted, beside the windows leading into the gym was a large tree. Scaling up the tree, he climbed up the branches until he reached one that stopped before the window, walking out onto the branch, James peered inside to see that as usual, chaos had broken out. Amazo was battling Robin, Wally, and Superboy, and he was handling them like rag dolls.
In the stands was a short man in a sweater vest and dress shirt and bowtie with a par of the robot monkeys at his side. A new scent caught his attention, close, really close, the sound of shifting bark behind him, and the sound of metal sliding out a sheathe confirmed it, someone was trying to sneak up on him. He shot his foot out behind him, he hit something solid, they blocked. Turning around, he found himself being stared down by an archer.
She was around her age, she held a green bow with a sharp arrow pointing right at him, she had blonde hair, dark grey eyes, and a slender yet athletic build with olive skin tone. She had on a green colored costume that reminded him og Green Arrow, she had a sleeveless top that showed her midriff with a mask that extended from her hairline to her cheekbones, fingerless gloves, pants with kneepads, and combat boots with a quiver on her back, on her chest was what looked like a arrow symbol. "Um…..hi?" he greeted, not really phased that she had a arrow pointed at his chest.
"Hi, so why did I just see a guy in a black shirt go flying into a school?" she asked, her draw not loosening. James honestly wasn't sure how to respond, a better question was if he should respond, they were not technically on a secret mission. But at the same time he wanted to avoid another talking to from Batman.
"Um…..what are you doing here?" he questioned in response.
"I asked you first!" she shot back.
"I plead the fifth." James replied. He really wished Miss. Martian was around so he could ask the others what to do.
She let the arrow fly, grazing his helmet, before he could act she had another ready, "Warning shot, next one goes in your visor." she warned, just as the sound of mechanical clanking as heard by him.
Behind the girl was a group of the robotic monkeys, ""Monkeys." he said, making her look at him strangely before she heard the robot's approach her from behind, there was easily over two dozen of the robots. She shot her arrow at one of them, knocking them out of the air as James popped his claws and sliced through a trio of them in a single swipe of his arm. He jabbed his other hand into one of them before tossing it off into another of the enemies. The mystery girl fired a trio of arrows at the flying targets.
One of them dropped from above and covered her eyes and it's tail wrapped around her neck and started to strangle her, that was until Razor's laws shot through it's head, letting her breathe. Ok motorcycle head is not a bad guy. Good. she thought as she watched one of the monkeys blasted him in the chest with a laser from it's eyes. She reached down to her hip and pulled out a automatic crossbow and fired an arrow at the one who wounded him. Before she could check on his wound, he swiped his arms back and sliced through five of the opponents, Ok so motorhead has claws, razor sharp knives of death. Who shrugs off lasers…...I am really glad I did not shoot him with a arrow. She thought as she pegged five of the simons with her crossbow before she was rushed by four of them and sent her against the window, making her drop the crossbow.
James saw what happened and pulled his helmet off and threw it at one of the monkeys holding her, the others turned to look at him. "Well come on then!" he challenged as the monkeys left the girl and charged at him. He backed away, "Battle on my terms." he muttered as he stabbed his fist forward into a pair before slashing upwards with his others. He needed them to focus on him, the girl was good, but she was clearly a ranged fighter, "Now! Shoot!" he called out.
What? Wait...oh! She thought before pulling out a trick arrow as the swarm of robots piled on him She fired, the arrow flew through the air and exploded when it hit the pile. As James finished up with the other monkeys, she looked inside to see Kid Flash be grabbed by Amazo, taking a moment to register the scene in front of her before drawing her bow and firing a broadhead at the robot. The andriod phase shifted to let the arrow pass through him, but also release Kid Flash.
James sliced horizontally through the last robot,he took a breath as he looked around, there were no more hostels. When he saw the girl looking into the building, he jumped over to the ledge to join her. They both watched as the android became tangible as Superboy jammed his fist through his face, James and the girl winced as the head exploded and Superboy was sent back.
As the others surrounded the downed robot, he looked over at the girl, "You're with them? Your a team?" she asked, James looked away, not exactly willing to answer, "And I SO want on!"
"Wait what?" he asked, surprised by the sudden demand. Can he do that? He's pretty sure he can't do that. "I mean I did just help you take out killer robot monkeys…...with lasers." she pointed out. James rubbed the back of his neck, he really was put in a awkward position. His silence gave her a minute to think , she sighed, "Nevermind. Thanks for the help, and sorry for threatening to put a arrow in you." she apologized. Before James could say anything, she shot a arrow with a grappling hook on it, it hit the ledge of a building before it retracted, carrying her up to the side of a building.
James sighed, he didn't mean to dissuade her like that, in fact if he was being honest she seemed more than capable. Looking down at the ground, he saw where she dropped her crossbow, hopping down to the ground, he picked it up and sniffed it, her scent was all over it. 'Aqualad to Razor, what's your position?' Aqualad asked in his ear.
James pressed his finger against the radio, "I'm right outside….I may have a scent on Ivo. I'll investigate, I'll call if I find anything." he said before running around the school to get his bike.
III
O
The girl's scent had led him to a brownstone in the southern part of Gotham, parking further down the street, he looked at the building that carried her sent. Walking into the alleyway behind the row of buildings he walked to the one that the archer lived. Finding a fire escape on the back of the building that led up to the rooftop. Jumping up onto the ladder, he climbed up to the top floor where all he could smell was the archer. Must be her place. He thought as he peered inside the window, only to see no one inside. The sound of a tightening drawstring made him turn to see he once again pointing an arrow at his face. "...do you greet people this way?" he asked.
She grit her teeth, "How did you find me?" she asked angrily, she had done her damnedest to make sure she couldn't be traced back here, she took a different route home every night. She always looked over her shoulder, and somehow this guy still found her.
James slowly reached back and pulled out her crossbow, "I tracked you with this…..your scent's kinda covered in it." he explained as he held it out to her. She looked at him with obvious disbelief.
"What are you part bloodhound?" she asked.
"Kind of…...Look, I don't know who you are." he started, "I mean literally, you must be new. But same for under the mask. But you helped me back there, helped save my friend's life too…..so way I see it, you're a good guy...erm, girl." he corrected, not wanting to come across as a threat.
She kept the bow taught for a few seconds, he wasn't worried, even if she shot him he honestly would chalk it up to being scared. She let out a sigh and lowered the bow before reaching out and taking the crossbow. "Look, thanks and all but if your doing this because I said I want in-"
"Well full disclosure I'm not exactly sure I can do that." he said, making her slightly smirk. "But I mean, if you want-"
"No." she interrupted. "I mean…..it's complicated." she said with a frustrating sigh.
The tracker nodded, "Ok….I'm James by the way." he introduced, she looked at him shocked. He did not just tell me his real name did he? "If you change your mind…...well I actually live in New York so I can't exactly meet you somewhere." he muttered.
"Ok stop." she said, raising her hands, "Did you seriously just tell me your name and where you live?"
"Yeah and how many James do you think live in the big apple?"
"...ok yeah fair point." she said.
"Look, if you do change her mind, let me know somehow. Maybe spell it out in arrows or something?" he suggested as he started down the fire escape.
Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, don't be a idiot, "Artemis." I swear to god tonight is just my dumbest night ever.
"Oh like the goddess! I was thinking it was like Arrowet or something…...well, see ya." James said before dropping back down to the street and ran back to his bike. Artemis couldn't help but let out a breath of relief, he thought it was just her code name…...well it was but still. This was better than she thought.
III
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Mount Justice August 4th 2010 1:16 am.
After the team debriefed with batman, James saw the look that Green Arrow and Batman shared when the others thought that Speedy was the one who shot the arrow. So that left him with a choice, tell them what happened, or let them find out on their own. The answer was very obvious given how things went last time. "-so I found her place, gave her back her crossbow, talked a little and then tried to track down Ivo like I told them but he must have used his robots to get away because there was no scent outside the school." he finished telling the two after the others had gone.
Batmare simply looked at him, "Ivo would have still gotten away if you were there. But you kept a secret from the rest of the team. Why?" he asked.
James looked between Arrow and Batman, "When she saw the others, she said she wanted in. Before I could say anything, she dismissed it…..i wanted to know why." he explained.
Batman was silent a moment before swiping his hand out, making a holographic keyboard appear, typing a few commands in, a few images came up on screen, each of them showing crime scenes where it was apparent that Artemis had struck, "I've been tracking her progress in Gotham, while she hasn't done anything to warrant intervention, her coming across the team in action changes things." he explained before looking at James, "Her wishing to join however, shows more about her character."
James looked up at the screen, "So what are you gonna do? I mean even if it wasn't speedy, having a archer wouldn't be too bad, besides Robin, none of us have anything for ranged combat." he pointed out.
Batman seemed to mull it over before speaking. "Meet me and Green Arrow in Gotham in three days."
Gotham City August 7 2010 22:35 pm.
When the door to Artemis's home opened, James, Green Arrow and Batman were met by a Vietnamese woman in a wheelchair. James expected a number of reactions, but when she simply moved aside and let them in, he did not exactly know how to react. "Would you like something to drink? Eat?" she asked as she led the three into the living room.
"No." Batman said simply.
The woman sighed, "Fine then. Obviously you're not here for me…...what has Jade done? She asked, when James saw that neither Green Arrow or Batman didn't speak, neither did he. Slowly, she realized what that meant, "Oh god….Artemis."
James saw the look of pain on her face, of devastation, he couldn't bare it, "Um….whatever you think it is, she actually helped me." he said, this got him a look from Batman. He looked at the dark knight and did something he never thought he could do. He glared back, the poor woman was in a wheelchair and letting her assume the worst was something he did?
The woman looked at James shocked before looking at Batman, "For the past week. Artemis has been stopping crime around Gotham City unsupervised. Three days ago she came across James and his team, she helped them. And showed interest in joining." he explained.
The woman looked shocked, then morphed to one of joy, "She….she did?" she asked before tears of joy started leaking from her eyes. "Please, please let her join, I-I-I'll do anything-"
James raised his hands, "It's fine ma'am. We're here because we need you to sign the permission slip." Batman and Green Arrow raised their eyes at him. "What? How is this not like that?" he asked. It was a rule that order to join the Team, members needed permission from a legal guardian in order to join, mentors count as well but since Artemis didn't have one, her mother had to do.
"Well basically yeah that is what we're here to do." Green Arrow explained, "She'll be my student, she's shown a talent with a bow. As well as my color scheme." he explained.
Before the mother could respond, James heard footsteps on the rooftop, "She's on the roof." he said automatically. "And now she's in her room." he said when he heard the window in her room slide open.
Artemis! Can you come in here?" Pula called out to her daughter.
A few seconds later the bedroom door opened, showing an unmasked Artemis in a bathrobe covering her costume, "Mom what do...you…..Batman...Green Arrow...YOU!" she yelled as she pointed at James.
"Don't look at me! He ordered me to come here!" he said, pointing to Batman.
The look of betrayal on her face was clear, "You came here to stop me? Well you can forget_"
"No." Batman ansered simply, making her be qiet, "The Justice League has formed a covert team of young heroes." he explained as the blonde folded her arms over her chest. "We'd like you to join the team.'
"If you expect an apology for saying tattletails ass then-" she began before she actuallt registered what Batman said, "Wait. What?" she asked, clearly surpised and taken off guard by the offer.
James smiled, "We'' you saved Kid Flash's but with a arrow. And we don't have an archer. And you said wiu'd like to join so…" he trailed off, letting Green arrow explain that they just needed to make sure it was ok with her mother, to which she gave her permission gladly. Artemis looked over at her mother sadly, "One condition: you don't tell the others who I am...who my family is." she said.
Her mother was saddned by that, but she understood and remained quiet.
"Um…..we have a clone of Superman on our team, a Martian, a Speedster, an Atlantean, and me on the team. Trust me you will not be judged." James said confidently. The blonde glared at him slightly, not exactly sure he'd understand. James simply raised his fist, SHINKT!
When the mother and daughter shaw his blades, they were both shocked speech;es. As they retracted back into his forearm, e smiled, "I get it, trust me…..but if you don't want to tell them….whatever you aren't? I get it." he said reassuringly.
III
O
After batman and Arrow left, James waited on the roof of the brownstone, when the archer climbed up over the ledge, he spoke first. "Look I'm sorry I told them, but your try keeping something from Batman." he said in his own defense.
She leaned against the ledge, "No, I get it…...so you won't tell the others?' she asked, wanting to make sure he was going to keep his word.
"I'm pretty sure i can't tell them something I don't know….but when you are ready? Tell me first? Because now I'm curious and it's gonna be hard not looking it up." he said, making her smile a tad. "Look. I get what it's like to be judged because of family. Hell the way you and your mom looked at me proved that." he said.
"Sorry. I kinda thought they were knives or something." she explained, thinking back to when they fought together.
James shrugged, "I get it alot. I'm used to it. But…..family doesn't define you….trust me." he said. "But seriously? You use your real name as your code name?"
"This coming from the guy who gave me his real name first night we met?" she replied with a cocked eyebrow.
"Least I don't go around in tights."
"Doesn't that make you the odd man out?" she asked cockily with a smile.
James smirked, he was gonna have fun with her on the team, he could tell. "Find out Tomorrow. I'll drop by and show you the Zeta Tube location." he explained as he walked towards the fire escape besides Artemis.
"What's a zeta tube?" she asked.
"Ever see Star Trek? It's basically the teleporter." he explained as he began climbing down the fire escape.
Artemis watched him climb down until he was about to go down to the next floor, "James…..thanks. For vouching for me." she said gratefully.
James smirked at her, "It's what friends do….before you get any ideas, superboy is not even a month old yet. Cradle Robber." he said, making the blonde's cheeks flush red.
"What?!"
"Just some free advice!" James called out before dropping to the ground and running. She rolled her eyes at her new teammate. And then she smiled at the word. She was so in.
AN: Im tired so I'm just going to post this. Your welcome.
ALSO SEASON 3 IS A GO PEOPLE! THANK THE FANS FOR THIS ONE!