"I suggest we double the work of WayneTech's bioengineering and decrease the amount of nuclear power used in the labs," I suggested, leaning back with my feet on the meeting table, balancing a pencil on the bridge of my nose.
Bruce gave me a look, not daring to glare at me here. He always disliked it when I decided to tag along to Wayne Incorporated, especially when he's told me to stay quiet during the meetings. I never was, though.
"While that could bring in increased sales for bioengineering projects, nuclear power supplies more accessible energy. How could we decrease that and still create an alternative to support our research?" Lucius Fox questioned critically, yet not unkindly.
I shrugged, careful not to disturb the pencil. "Hey, I'm the thirteen-year-old. You guys are the professionals. You tell me," I replied pointedly towards the men in suits around the oval table.
Lucius smiled, but the rest of the workers scowled towards me. Apparently I was incredibly annoying. Especially in office buildings.
"We'll take it into consideration, Kairi," Lucius promised me. "But, for now we will maintain normal procedures and make changes according to plan. Until next meeting," he nodded his goodbye.
All the men stood up and left the room. Bruce stood as well and I joined him. We traveled down the hall, both of us receiving several greetings from the office workers, and entered his own office, which was at the top floor.
It was relatively small, considering this was one of the side branches of WayneTech, located in Metropolis. Bruce sat at his desk while I found a spot on the edge of it, lifting my binoculars to watch the city and munching on a Twizzler.
"What did I tell you about interrupting out meetings?" Bruce scowled at me.
I scrunched up my face as if in thought. "Well, once you just said 'Don't interrupt.' Next you claimed 'It's a matter for adults, not you.' Oh! And my favorite, 'Quit being a pest'!" I smirked cheekily.
Sliding off the desk, I walked over to the ceiling-to-floor windows covering the wall. I pulled my binoculars to my face and skimmed the city. Though not nearly as busy as Gotham, Metropolis was known for having some tough times. Best to be on the look-out.
In all honesty, I was getting bored and I nearly turned away, when suddenly the suspensions for the bridge snapped, sending several cars, trucks, and a school bus careening into the side of the bridge and coming close to falling.
"Bruce!" I yelled, loudly and slightly spastic.
He turned immediately, recognizing my 'serious trouble' voice, and came to the window. Narrowing his eyes, he turned back to the desk and flipped up the head of the bust, revealing a red emergency button. Once he pressed it, a special drawer containing a spare Batman suit slid out.
My attention went back outside as a dash of blue and red flew towards the bridge. "Supes got it," I assured Bruce, even though I figured he had already noticed.
We watched as Superman supported the weight of the bridge, using his laser sight to weld it back together. The bridge was compromised once more as Superboy landed on top of it. Working kinda-sorta-not-really together, the Supers (?) managed to keep everyone safe.
I clicked the side button of my binoculars and activated the lip reading computer. I couldn't get everything, but from what I could tell, they were arguing and then Superboy was asking for help with his powers and, like always, Superman was avoiding the clone. The Man of Steel pressed a finger to his ear, indicating a call from the League. Odd, Bruce hadn't gotten one. Or had he?
The big blue boy scout turned and flew off, leaving Superboy staring after him.
Bruce activated his com link.
I didn't hear what was going on, but I could easily tell he was talking to Superman.
"We need to talk," was the only snippet I heard.
Casting one last glance at the bridge, I followed after Bruce. We had work to do, and it wasn't WayneTech work. It was League work.
****YOUNG JUSTICE****
The bleeping noises signaled another point as the holographic air hockey puck fell into Aqualad's goal.
"Hah! Told ya!" Robin smirked.
"Darn it," I muttered, handing him five bucks. "Remind me to never make bets with you," I pointed my finger at him.
"Were you two really betting on us?" Kid Flash grinned.
I shrugged. "You can take the birds out of Gotham, but you can't take Gotham out of the birds."
"Recognized: Superboy, B04."
Said Superboy stormed in, looking pissed.
"Hey, Superboy," M'gann waved as the clone strode through the air hockey projection. "How was Metropolis?"
There was a clearing of a throat to our side and we turned to see Black Canary and Martian Manhunter entering the Cave.
"Whose ready for training?" the heroine asked us.
Finally, some actual training with the new team!
"Black Canary, Uncle J'onn!" Miss Martian jogged up and hugged her uncle.
Made me wonder, does she have to announce every person that happens to approach her?
As the Martians had a brief exchange, Superboy turned to storm off.
"Stick around. Class is in session," Black Canary ordered him. She walked onto the middle of the training circle. "I consider it an honor to be training you all. I will throw a lot at you, things from my own mentors, and my own experiences," she winced slightly as she shrugged out of her coat. Her arm above her glove was wrapped. I narrowed my eyes, wonder what she had gotten into…
"What happened?" M'gann asked, concern in her voice.
"The job," Black Canary replied curtly. "Now," she settled into her serious mode. "Combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. Always act, never react. I'll need a sparring partner."
"Right here!" Kid Flash raised his hand, mouth half full with banana.
I inwardly chuckled. This was going to be good.
The speedster stepped onto the training platform and tossed his banana peel into a nearby trashcan. "After this, I'll show you my moves," he told Canary flirtatiously.
The adult immediately attacked with a quick punch, which KF managed to block, and a leg sweep, which he wasn't able to block. He fell to the floor and a square popped up on it, showing his status as fail. That was hilarious.
"Good block," Canary congratulated him. "But did anyone see what he did wrong?"
"Oh, oh! He hit on teacher and got served!" Robin instantly called out.
I burst out laughing, mostly because it was true.
"Dude," the red-head whined.
Catching my breath from laughing, I seriously answered the question. "He allowed you to control the fight."
"Correct. Kid Flash allowed me to dictate the terms-"
"Oh, please," Superboy scoffed. "With my powers I always control the battle. I'm a living weapon, and this is a waste of my time."
"Yeah, cause that totally explains Blockbuster, Bane, and Mammoth," I rolled my eyes sarcastically.
Robin snorted slightly and Superboy shot me a glare.
"Then prove it," Canary challenged, completely ignoring my comment.
Wait, now this was going to be good!
Superboy stepped up and Kid Flash stepped back to join the rest of us. The two in the circle settled themselves into fighting stances. He went with a punch, but was quickly thrown to the ground by Canary.
Robin and I started laughing, pointing at Superboy who was on the ground. Aqualad elbowed me and I bumped into Robin, the both of us covering our mouths to stifle our laughs. I leaned against Robin's shoulder as Superboy stood back up only to get knocked down again.
"That's it, I'm done," an enraged clone muttered.
"Training is mandatory," Canary informed.
It was about to get a lot more awkward by the time Batman appeared onto the Cave's holographic computer.
"Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying then duplicating the powers of its opponents. Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more powers with each new combatant. In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to take down and dismantle the android," Batman informed us all.
"An android. Who made it? T.O. Morrow?" Robin suggested.
"Good guess, Robin. But Tornado doesn't think so," Batman replied.
The android from the footage seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. Where had I seen it before? With Batman? Or with the League?
"The technology closely resembles-"
"Professor Ivo!" I interrupted Martian Manhunter, snapping as everything jumbled into my head clicked together.
Batman nodded to confirm my beliefs.
"Ivo? But Ivo's dead," Aqualad stated.
"In case no one's noticed, villains may die, but they never stay dead," I mumbled, mostly to myself.
"We all thought he was dead, or hoped," Canary claimed.
"To make sure this threat is thoroughly dealt with, we are sending two trucks with parts of the android to two separate Star Labs in Boston and New York to be examined immediately. Any and all precautions are being taken. There are four empty trucks also being moved to confuse Ivo, or anyone, trying to reassemble the android. You will split into two undercover teams to safeguard the real trucks," our 'Commander' continued.
"Yes!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "Road-trip!" he sing-songed.
"So now we're taking out your trash," Superboy complained.
I was about to retort to that comment, when Bats beat me to it. "You had something better to do?" he replied coldly. Crap, Bats is going to be giving Robin and me a run for our money in witty insults soon…
"Coordinates received. On our way," Aqualad informed as all of us raced off to the bio-ship.
****YOUNG JUSTICE****
Hope you guys all liked this chapter!
IMPORTANT! Okay, all I'm going to say is to check out Kony 2012 if you haven't so already. I have become a new supporter of the organization and I suggest you guys do too!
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laska (Slovak for Love!),
~AvenJackel