Well, I guess you can tell by the fact that I updated again that I'm going to be attempting to continue this. I received such a great response on the author's note, and I was touched by the loyalty of some of you for coming back after so long, so I feel I owe it to you guys to at least try and continue.
One note that I forgot to mention last chapter/in the author's note is that as the story progresses, I'll be making more of a change, in that I'll primarily be focusing on Saph's point of view and will do Wally here and there, but not really that often.
I also want to add another note/reminder that while I'm following the basic plot of the show, it won't be 100% as such. The most obvious example I can think of right now is that I'm not following the canon timeline. On the actual show they always had the dates at the bottom when a new scene started, so technically I could follow that perfectly, but I choose not to, because...fanfiction :P
The third starting note before we get started, thank you for bearing with me, is in regards to Saph's codename. Saph's codename is actually already taken by another hero in the DC universe, but in my brief research she wasn't that big of a character, and definitely wasn't apart of Young Justice (that or their wikia is lying to me) but for clarity's sake, just in case, I'd like to add that any mention or knowledge of the actual character doesn't exist in this story. The particular character's powers are similar to Saph's as well, but that wasn't surprising considering that it's a water-related name. What can you do though? The comic universes are so large now that I'm sure it's kind of difficult to come up with powers and names that are both original and not lame.
Wow, this is a long intro, I apologize, but one LAST thing. I just want to say this chapter may be a bit lame or unexciting, but I feel like this is the last necessary chapter to lay down some foundation. Saph's joining and induction may seem a little fast and perhaps unbelievable to some, but I think that the majority of you don't want to spend three or four chapters on Saph proving himself as trustworthy, or there being background checks, or whatever, when the end result would be the same. Is that lazy writing? Probably, but I don't want to get uninspired by writing something dull and then abandon this again.
Anyway, this chapter is a brief overview of sorts of the two to three months following Saph's indentity reveal, and touches quickly on Saph's new relationships, his training (briefly) and his costume, because let's face, the kid can't be going out on missions in a camo jacket.
Saph POV
Following the first day of my new "extracurricular" to say that my life had changed would be a picture-perfect example of the word understatement. I wouldn't say that I hated the new, ginormous aspect of my life, I mean, I couldn't really hate it if I tried, but this was also new to me, and without a doubt, the biggest change that I had ever experienced in my entire life. I mean, how could I compare going from keeping my powers and true identity a secret from everyone, to openly using my powers in front of numerous other people, and oh yeah, suddenly being a part of the people who were tasked with keeping the world safe? I couldn't, to put it simply, and following the day where my secret was spilled and I was forcefully thrust into this role still gave my brain whiplash when I thought back to it and how fast it happened.
Following that day, Wally let me know how during the following week, Batman had gone to the rest of the Justice League with the news about their potential new…inductee I guess you could say, and after some apparent debate, I was unanimously cleared and accepted into the ranks. I was still wondering how in the hell I was accepted when these people had never even met me, but Wally had told me that Batman was rather persuasive and his word and views held a lot of stock with the rest of the league. I also had a feeling that because they knew for a fact, 100%, that I wouldn't be spilling the beans, thanks to Martian Manhunter, also put any doubters at ease.
To start building a cover with my parents I began thinking up possible ideas and excuses as to why I'd more than likely be gone more and more. I toyed with the idea of telling them I was dating someone, but knew that they'd probably want to meet the guy, and that wouldn't be happening unless I convinced Wally to lie with me, which…... let's just say that would have been a resounding no from him. In the end I decided to go with the lie that I was joining Keystone's Gay-Straight Alliance and would be getting heavily involved with that, and possibly going on retreats or field trips at times. At that news my parents had both been thrilled, especially when I furthered the lie by telling them that my involvement would better help my chances at getting into a good college.
Outside of my home life, following that particular day, life around school started to change as well. In the past, Wally and I had merely tolerated each other and had kind of almost avoided each other when we could or when we weren't in the mood to get on one another's nerves. Now however, I would almost make a point to interact with him more. On the first day back in school following the revelation between us, I had sat next to him in our English class, something that seemed to shock the hell out of him. "What are you doing?" He had asked.
"What does it look like," I had said, "I'm sitting next to you."
"Yeah, but um….why?" He said.
"Let's not pretend that things between us aren't going to be different now," I told him, "If we're going to be…teammates, then I think we should at least try and be friends."
"Uh-huh," Wally replied, a bit of disbelief present in his tone.
"Or at least tolerate each other more." I whispered.
Wally had seemed to understand that it would be important for us to get closer for each other's benefits, and following that day, we began to spend some time together in school. It had been weird, going from antagonizing Wally here and there to suddenly being civil with him, and even friendly on some occasions.
Outside of school, while I waited for my involvement with his team to begin, he'd keep me in the know about what was going on, and start filling me in on how some of the things worked in his….our world. In return I would keep him updated on school stuff and help keep him on track when he'd be running busy nights or days with his….responsibilities.
Dare I say it, but it had been kind of nice not having a tense relationship with Wally. The two of us were similar in a couple of ways and when neither of us were worried about anything super power related in school, it was almost fun to talk with him and joke around ever so slightly. I could tell, or I at least hoped, that Wally was enjoying my company as well. From what he had told me he was good friends with Robin and Aqualad, as well as the rest of the team, but he had told me it was nice to have someone around daily (who was his own age, because adults did not count) who he could be one hundred percent open with and not have to worry about.
I never told him, but it really took hold somewhere in my heart that he thought that way and trusted me enough to tell me that. I knew that it meant more to Wally than he may have even realized himself, and with that new piece of information on my mind, I almost vowed to try my best with this whole hero thing as to not disappoint him, or lose out on this newly growing friendship.
Even if I was being roped into the entire thing against my will that is.
It had been a bit more than two and a half weeks after my reveal and interrogation when I was invited back to what I learned was called Mount Justice, for my first day of training. Wally had lead me through a more secluded part of Central City and when he told me we'd be teleporting there I had been stunned. I think Wally had taken some satisfaction at the look on my face, probably happy to know more than me for once, but I hadn't cared, because, hello, who the hell gets to teleport like it's the simplest thing in the world? Apparently superheroes did, and that included me now I guess.
When I stepped out of the "Zeta-Beam" and heard some automated voice declaring me as an authorized guest, that's when it was hitting me that this entire new part of my life was real. If that wasn't enough to hit home in me, seeing Batman, Red Tornado and Black Canary seemingly waiting for us, definitely was.
I remember standing there, slightly in awe and unsure of what to do before Batman approached me and threw a neatly folded, cerulean colored garment at me. "What's this?" I had asked, while inspecting it.
"Your new suit," Batman had said, "Go get changed and then return. Wally will show you the way."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" I had asked, gesturing to the outfit I had been using for my less than heroic activities, up until that point.
"That's hardly combat ready," Batman had said, "It could shred and be destroyed easily. That suit you're holding now is made out of a complex and advanced material that will allow a wide range of movement and protection." I had glanced down at the garment one more time, squinting slightly at how positively blue it was, before following Wally so that I could get changed.
While at first I had been skeptical, once I had the actual suit on, I couldn't really complain much. As stated, the color was a beautiful cerulean and the main part of the suit went from my neck and covered everything down. The material was as soft as silk, and when I tried pulling on it, seemed to be as strong as steel armor would be. A thin layer of cerulean material covered my neck, much like a turtle neck sweater would, and extended down to my feet, covering them much like socks would. When I had unfolded the material I had also come across two gloves, and now that I was dressed, pulled them on.
I stood before the mirror now so I could get a good look at my full appearance. The area around my wrist and bottom part of my forearm was how far the gloves extended upward, each glove having two white bands, with a larger, black band in the middle. Around the bottom of the neck of the suit, there was more white and black as a piece of the suit was decorated by a white, inverted triangle, with a smaller black one within it, giving that part of the suit a look that reminded me of how a v-neck would regularly look. On the left shoulder part of the suit I also noticed a black water drop adorning the suit, most likely designed there as a call and reference to my powers.
Fluffing up my hair a bit before leaving, I then turned and exited the changing room to find Wally waiting for me. He was already in his own outfit, the red and yellow of his suit contrasting very starkly against the blue of mine. I was surprised though and barely caught the two boots he tossed to me once he noticed I had stepped out. "Woooow," he said with a whistle, "Looking good Saph."
I tried not to blush as I pulled on the cerulean boots, with the matching white and black bands of the gloves, noticing that they fit both perfectly and comfortably. "Thanks…I guess," I said, standing upright with my boots snugly on, "Although I don't know how serious I'll be taken in this."
"You look fine," he said, his genuine smile and encouraging words kind of taking me a bit back, "Besides, people won't be questioning anything about you once they see what you can do."
"If you say so," I said, following him, trying not to think too much about his positive and affirming attitude.
When we returned to the main hub of the base, the three members of the Justice League were still waiting for us, and this time Batman had been holding something new for me before tossing it at me once I was close enough.
I looked down at my hands to take in the onyx-like belt before I moved it around my waist and attached it to the suit. "I get the feeling this isn't any regular belt," I said, looking back at him once it was finally on.
"You're right, it's not." he said, "It's made from a highly durable and lightweight metal and has been designed to hold a considerable of water so that you can always have some ready for combat, despite whatever location and terrain you may be in."
My eyebrows rose at that information as I stared down at the belt. "So how do I access and store the water?"
"With this," Red Tornado said, getting my attention. I stared at his hand to find him holding some sort of eye visor. It was a single lens in a curved design that had two circular dial attachments at the end of each side.
"How does it work?" I asked as Red Tornado handed the device to Batman.
"If you turn the left dial," Batman said, turning the circular knob until a click was heard, "It opens the belt."
His words were true as I noticed part of the belt open on top. I tested it out with my powers and was able to draw out a fair amount of water and swirl it around in the air before I deposited it back in the belt's opening. Batman turned the device back to its original position and the belt closed with a quick click.
"The other side," Batman said as he began turning the dial on the right side, "Changes the shading of your suit."
I looked down at my chest as first, all of the cerulean on the suit shifted into a dark, midnight black with the sound of the first click, and then a pristine, heavenly white with another click. "Neat," I said as my suit was returned to its original blue, "Why that shape for the device though? It seems a bit odd, and not something I can see going on my wrist."
"It's not for your wrist," Batman said, approaching me, "It's for your eyes."
"My eyes?" I asked as he stopped in front of me.
"And your ears," he said as he handed the eye visor to me. "Your eyes are very distinct, and can be used to identify you, and your ear…..decorations stand out as well. You'll wear this visor when on missions to help conceal your identity."
I took the visor from Batman and held it gingerly in my hand. I then slowly began to put it on over my eyes much like how I'd put sunglasses on, and gasped as I felt the two circular dials clip gently onto my ears, covering them completely. What surprised me though was that I was still able to hear perfectly, which made me assume there must have been some built in aids or technology to assist me.
After I adjusted the eye visor slightly so that it fit perfectly, being held up by the bridge of my nose and the grip on my ears, I looked around at Wally and the three members of the Justice League, noting how my vision still seemed like normal, with only a slight blue tint to it. "So….how do I look?" I asked
"You totally look like a robot dude," Wally said, "It's like one giant lens of blue that we can't see past."
"The lens and color will disguise your eyes as well as the glow for when you activate and use that particular part of your powers. The blue will change to match the color of your suit if you change it, and when in the stealth mode, there's a button on the side that you can push to active an infrared mode." Batman said, finishing his explanation.
"This all feels a bit weird," I said as I continued looking around, "Couldn't I just use a mask?"
"No," Batman said simply, "If you want to keep your identity and powers a secret, then it's either the eye visor or a helmet that would cover your entire head. A regular mask wouldn't be able to hide your eyes as adequately as the visor, and unless you feel like ridding yourself of your ear…"
"Gauges," I said, helping him.
"Then this is your best option." Batman finished.
"Are we sure the helmet idea isn't the best option?" Wally suddenly asked, "I mean, his hair is kind of noticeably identifiable."
"Has anyone identified any of the team by means of their hair?" Batman turned asking him.
"No…." Wally said, "But Saph's-"
"As far as I'm concerned, some of you wear masks that don't even cover your faces adequately enough," Batman said.
I couldn't help but agree with him there as Wally's mask only covered his forehead and a thin portion of skin under his eyes if he wasn't wearing his goggles. Not to mention Artemis' mask wasn't much better and she had that giant mane of blonde hair out and exposed as well. Finally, Aqualad and Superboy didn't even wear anything to conceal their identities, which made me think that they must not go out into public much if they didn't even try to conceal themselves.
"Besides, starting in the future the team will be shifting to more stealth missions. We'll be slowly taking you out of the public eye so you can conduct more stealth and undercover missions for the League." Batman said, before turning back to me.
"Now that we have all the aspects regarding keeping your identity a secret, and having you dressed suitably for combat," Batman said, "The only thing left to take care of before you begin your training is your codename. Have you given it any thought?"
"I have," I said as I removed the eye visor, recalling how I had been instructed a while back to begin thinking of a codename, "I was thinking Cascade."
Batman simply gave a nod before turning and starting to walk away with Red Tornado, "We'll input you into the official system. You'll be designated as B08: Cascade, and when you leave tonight, will be recognized as such by the Zeta-Beam teleportation. Welcome to the team Cascade."
"Uh….thank you," I said, as he left, leaving me alone with just Wally and Black Canary.
"Soooo," Black Canary suddenly said, now speaking for the first time and drawing my attention to her. "Now that that's out of the way, why don't you help me break Cascade in Wally?"
The predatory like grin she had her face sent a shiver down my spine, and when Wally got the hint and joined her side and offered me an equally chilling grin, I knew I was most likely in for a world of hurt. I took in a quick breath and quickly reattached my eye visor before my first ever training session began.
As it turned out, in training, being able to defend myself wasn't the source of my problems, as my upbringing and rigorous time spent in multiple martial arts classes had taught me more than well enough. Black Canary had even told me personally after my first training session with the entire team that she was satisfied with my performance and would work with me to hone my skills and incorporate my powers with my physical fighting even more.
No, the struggle that came with training came in two alternate forms. The first was the stress of being in a dangerous and life threatening situation. I had never used my powers this much in such a short amount of time, let alone in combat scenarios and simulations, and I had never been a part of a team either. As a result, the main focus of a lot of my training had just been learning how to take orders and apply myself to them and the situation at hand quickly enough to avoid failure or disaster. Black Canary, and on the odd occasion, Batman, had both reminded me that this was real, that this wasn't just for fun or pretend, and that I'd be going into the field soon enough, and because of that reality, I had to always have my act together.
The second problem was just fitting in with said team. It was awkward, I mean, what could I have expected? One moment I had been virtually unknown to the rest of the team, add in a few encounters, and then suddenly I'm on their team? M'gann had been the first to truly warm to me, and I think that was simply because it was in her nature and personality to do so. After getting to know one another a bit more she had gone out of her way to tell me more about how Wally, Robin and Aqualad had a strong friendship that predated the team as they had all been sidekicks to members of the Justice League before joining and forming this team. Next, despite Superboy's disposition, I could tell that he felt connected to the three of them as well, after M'gann told me the details surrounding his induction into the team. I mean, there definitely had to be a connection there, seeing as technically, Superboy had known the other three his entire conscious life.
With my friendship with M'gann came my….mini-friendship of sorts with Artemis. She obviously wasn't even a fraction as out-going as the martian girl, but she had come to welcome me if nothing more than just slightly. She told me how it had been for her when she joined the team and how some of the boys, Wally in particular, had given her the cold shoulder, so she knew how it felt to be the new kid on the block. Even nearly three months after truly meeting her, I was still apologizing here and there to her for injuring her during our first encounter. She accepted my apologies, saying that "it happens" and I suspected she was willing to forgive me as she and M'gann both sort of saw me as another girl on the team due to my sexuality.
I tried not to think of it the wrong way, since most of my friends back at Keystone were girls, and they treated me as one of them, and here, since I acted differently than the other four boys, and the fact that I openly talked and joked about how cute boys were, especially that Red Arrow, I wasn't surprised that the three of us sort of formed our own little trio of sorts at times. I think that it also helped that I wasn't vying for control or to make sure my opinion was the one that was heard or followed like some of the other boys. Nope, I kept my ass in line and trained diligently with the team.
Aqualad was interesting in the sense that as time passed, he didn't really regard me positively or negatively, instead, simply looking at me and viewing me as one of the members of the team that he lead. I was fine with that and knew that he was just taking his position as leader, seriously, and would wait until I was on the field to form his solid opinions on me.
Robin was a bit like Artemis in the sense that he was warming up to me, but just slightly. He was excited and interested in having another member of the team be versed in various martial arts, when he heard me go over the styles I had studied and been a student of. However, like the others, he was still a bit wary and awkward around me given how I was just thrust onto the team without much of a say of his own. He was slowly breaking out of it though and I think that was probably partly due to the fact that he was the youngest, and eager to make new friends who he could be open and comfortable around. Wally had told me that Robin wasn't allowed to tell even him what his real name was and constantly had to disguise himself with at least sunglasses in the presence of team members. Wally told me that people in his life outside of being Robin had zero clue about who he really was, more so than any of us did, and therefore, apparently, appreciated the members of the team a lot since he wasn't constantly hiding every part of himself around us.
I also thought that maybe Robin was quicker to open up to me as opposed to Aqualad or Superboy given how he had heard my story and situation back when Batman had interrogated me, and maybe related to me in the sense of the pressure placed on both of us to conceal our secrets.
Speaking of Superboy though, if there was one person on the team, nowhere near excited to have me there, it was him. I could tell that he viewed me as an outsider and felt that I was someone he couldn't trust. During our training sessions, if it was one on one combat, he would always be incredibly aggressive towards me, and I would always be on the defensive, dodging his attacks, or merely diverting him with blasts of water and ice. If it was a mission simulation of sorts, he would always be quick to yell at me over the mind link whenever I made even the smallest of mistakes, and would be quick to let me know that I would be putting everyone in danger if I couldn't get it together before I was out there, by their sides, doing the real thing.
Depending on the day, at least one person would tell him to lay off me, which I appreciated greatly, and saw as evidence of my slow but growing acceptance onto the team.
Before I knew it, over two months had passed training with the team and it was during one particular training session that I got the news that I had both been excited for and dreading.
It was the weekend when I got the news, in the middle of an early afternoon combat training session with Black Canary overseeing us for the day. I was currently in the ring of sorts facing off against Superboy, whose eyes were simmering with an inhuman fury. Truth be told, I was starting to love facing off against him, as the numerous days of long and exhausting sessions had taught me how to face off against the boy and not get pounded into dust.
Superboy was like a brass and brazen bull, who instead of learning from the past, focused on the current fight and nothing else, never caring to learn or take away anything from his opponent. He would strike with quick and powerful movements and blows, but so long as I dodged them, like I had been doing this entire session thus far, I'd be fine.
After avoiding his blows for the first seven minutes, I had turned the left dial of my eye visor to open my belt and release some water for my use. I had been quick to control and wrap the water around my right arm and lash out against Superboy with it like a whip, striking him in the face twice, much to his anger. He had just charged at me when I changed the water into a square block of ice around my entire fist. When he made a swing at my head, I ducked downward and then slammed the ice covered punch right up into his gut, causing him to stumble back.
I then stood at full height and delivered a rounded kick to his head which caused him to fall flat onto his back from the force of it. I knew from experience that none of my attacks were able to truly hurt him, but wasn't discouraged as I also knew that enemies I'd be facing wouldn't be clones of Superman.
"Very good Cascade," Black Canary said as she stepped forward, ending our session, "I think you finally might be ready for the real deal."
"Real deal?" I asked, "Like actual missions?"
"That's right," she said, which caused M'gann to break into a wide smile and Artemis to give me a thumbs up, "I think it's time to officially welcome you to the team."
I could only give a small smile as everyone but Superboy walked over to congratulate me, M'gann giving me a hug while the others shook my hand. "Welcome," Aqualad said, "I know you will be a great asset."
"Thank you," I said smiling at him.
The mini celebration ended abruptly however as Batman suddenly appeared on a screen before all of us. "You can all celebrate later," he said, "Right now, I have a mission for all of you, which now includes Cascade."
I couldn't help but smile internally, pleased that I had succeeded in joining the team in all capacities, but focused as to not miss any details. "As some of you may know, last night the Wayne Foundation in Gotham City was attacked by some sort of mutated assailant, now known as Clayface."
I couldn't help but cringe in disgust as a picture of the monster was displayed on screen, and noticed that some of my team members, most notably Wally, let out their own sounds of disgust at the site of the creature. "Robin and I were unable to apprehend him and he escaped into the sewer system. I want the seven of you to come to Gotham and track him." Batman said.
I couldn't help but shiver in disgust at the thought of having to enter a city sewer system and only hoped that I wouldn't have to enter it. "What is the objective of this mission?" Aqualad asked, quickly taking his lead.
"I want you to find and track the creature, but do not engage him. I'm still figuring out a solution and method of containing him, so I repeat, do not engage the creature, simply locate and track it." Batman said.
"Understood," Aqualad said with a nod before the screen went blank. "Alright, you heard him, let's get going."
And just like that, I was beginning my first mission
Well there you have it, Saph is on his way.
I had originally planned for the first mission with Saph to be in this chapter as well, but the length was getting away from me so I decided to end it here and have the first mission be the next chapter. The good news though is that I had already started writing it when I made the decision to stop, so next chapter is already in progress :)
I know this may seem a bit fast, but like I said, do any of you really want to spend at least a month or so going through a bunch of boring filler?
Anyway, for any of you who are curious about Saph's costume, I pretty much based it off the Blue Alien Ranger's outfit. Obviously there are some differences such as the belt and the fact that Saph doesn't wear a helmet, but otherwise, if you want to see what I had in mind, just google "Blue Alien Ranger" and check out the images. His stealth mode and winter mode's are based off the black and white rangers respectively (just minus the skirt on the white one) and I know I'm probably breaking some taboos by having Saph's costume being based off of power rangers, but hey, there are no rules to fanfiction, right?
As for the eye visor Saph wears, once again, just google image search "eye visor" to get an idea. The closest thing that resembles what I had in my head is actually the piece Cyclops of the X-Men wears over his own eyes, and god, if Power Rangers outfit inspiration wasn't bad enough, I'm going to Marvel now as well :P Saph is just the eclectic mix now, isn't he.
Anyway, sorry for the lame chapter, but let me know in a review if you noticed any errors, what you thought about the progression, Saph's suit, and/or the upcoming first mission for Saph. Reviews are like crack to me and motivate me to update quicker, so I hope to hear from you guys soon.
