A/N
Over 400 views so far this month, which is damn good considering I've only just came back a few weeks ago. All I have to say for you guys is a massive thank you. You've made me feel welcomed back with your support of this so far, and may the good times continue!
Episode VIX: Don't Know What You Are Talking About, Part II
Pondering the many 'ins' and 'outs' of being a superhero happens on a daily basis inside of the Watchtowers mess hall, and today is no exception. Wonder Woman has plenty to consider and some warm food and good company have always been an Amazonian way to make the mental processes a bit more relaxed. On Themyscira, these meetings happen when conflict or internal strife is imminent, designed to bring out the best in them and help the commanders loosen their minds. For the Justice League, such meetings usually occur between one or two members as small, personal conversations.
As personal as a hall filled with superheroes can be, but Wonder Woman enjoys the background chatter. It brings extra life into the otherwise large and hollow Watchtower.
Deciding Green Arrow can provide her company today - a decision rarely made lightly for the Princess - she mulls over the innermost thoughts in her mind as the archer spews his usual nonsense, food dribbling down his immaculately trimmed goatee.
"The best arrow is usually the one which is lean, yet flexible. Speedy argues differently, but he's a kid who will disagree with me on whether the Earth is flat or round. I've been doing this far long than he has, but that doesn't stop the kid from blaming his poor design choices on me."
Preferably, the chatter in the background will wash over Green Arrow's incessant rambling, but that's not what Wonder Woman invited him to this conversation for. He provides the unorthodox thinking they need for this little group they have assembled.
"Oliver," Wonder Woman begins, phrasing her next sentence as carefully as her manners allow, "you and Kid Flash are fairly similar in your thinking. Do you know where he would lead them?"
"Firstly, me and the baby speedster don't think alike. Secondly, you seriously believe he's leading them?" Green Arrow responds, wiping his facial hair in one singular motion. Twirling his moustache comically, he adds on, "Robin's the one we should be discussing. Then again, he's smart enough to impress Batman on occasion so should be difficult to predict."
"I understand that Robin will undoubtedly become their leader with Aqualad gone, however, Kid Flash is prone to recklessness, and if anyone will slip up, maybe it's best to focus on the more attainable goal of finding the young speedster and therefore, the team."
Despite Green Arrow's more blunt answer, Wonder Woman understands how difficult it would be to uncover Robin's plans. The greatest chance they have of finding the team is to watch it's weakest link and wait for him to make a critical error. It will happen eventually, judging by Wally West's innate ability to cause trouble and mistakes wherever he runs.
"Ah.. that makes things a bit easier, but still.. hard," Green Arrow agrees, rarely seating himself slightly forward and placing his hands folded underneath his chin. Seriousness hasn't been a hallmark of Green Arrow's career, but the man knows when it's time to buckle down.
Mulling over a few more niggling details in her plan, she brings forth one of the more pressing issues she had encountered with the team's movements.
"How did they go to Atlantis? To Themyscira? The team has been known to be resourceful, but to this extent."
"You think they had help?" Green Arrow gasps, obviously surprised by the possibility.
"Hal has raised suspicions Batman knows more than he is letting on," the Princess nods. She certainly would not put it past the Dark Knight to be so secretive, and experience has proven the Batman is generally involved when things intentionally go awry. "He was the one who suggested the idea of Young Justice. Maybe, he's simply taking it to a whole other extreme?"
"Take the kids more black-ops than they were?" Oliver asks, not entirely convinced. "Batman is crazy, but he wouldn't do something so insane."
"He's insane enough to have Leaguers spying on us," Wonder Woman whispers, leaning forwards towards the archer slightly. "To your left. Try not to make it obvious."
Pretending to itch his ear, he sneaks a quick glance in the direction Wonder Woman had specified. Of course, the Princess had noticed some time ago Captain Atom and Hawkman were suspiciously observing them from across the hall. Those two never speak to each other apart from official business, and certainly never enjoy a nice meal and conversation much like herself and Green Arrow.
Hawkman's hearing is certainly precise enough to hear them speaking from the distance they have between them, so it's more than likely means the placement was also intentional.
Overall, decent espionage. They made the fatal mistake of underestimating the Amazonian Princess and her intelligence, which was likely emphasised by Batman. They made the effort to place a few other members in-between the two conversations, but it's not enough to fool the woman.
Thankfully, the distance is great enough Hawkman would've trouble hearing them should they time their conversation to when the outside noise becomes loudest and speak quietly enough. She took the first chance she got to warn Green Arrow, but now it's a matter of fooling the two eavesdroppers into believing they haven't been exposed.
Interestingly, Wonder Woman is intrigued as to how Batman managed to twist the arms of the stubborn Thanagarian and the other, more recent inductee into the Justice League. Then again, Bruce Wayne has a way with words which can deceive those unaware of his tactics, whether the person is female or not.
"In other news, there was an accident in R and D again," Green Arrow diverts the conversation to something more casual. "Something to do with a space ship and a miniaturised nuclear engine. Was about to go boom when the Elongated Man did something odd with two finger and a toe. Don't ask me what, as I zoned out on that part."
"Never a boring day in the Justice League," Diana smirks, keeping his attention split between making the conversation seem natural and watching for any signs the two intruders have noticed. "How is Star City these days? Must be hard protecting the city with two sidekicks down."
"I'll manage Princess, besides I'd like to talk about Themyscira," Oliver returns the smirk with one of his own. Something nags at the back of Diana's mind, telling her the archer is about to take this terrible situation and make it worse. "Are all of them on there as pretty as you?"
For someone who believes himself to Aphrodite in a man's form, his question wasn't as confident as his usual self. Actually, it seemed more serious and meaningful than he normally does. Wonder Woman is confused to the point she doesn't actually know whether the archer is hitting on her or not.
"Too bad you will never find out," she answers. Feigning as though he was in pain from her words, he gives her a cheeky wink.
"It's alright - I can just look at you and imagine," he returns, winking again a little more plainly than beforehand. "If this is the Princess, what's the Queen like?"
After his question, he winks yet again. It takes the Amazon a moment to realise what he is doing, and comes to the conclusion he's a lot smarter than he lets on. Public displays of love and affection generally unnerve people, especially when those who are listening are doing so using super hearing; makes it seem as though it's a bigger invasion of privacy than normal. Might as well go full-in on their plan.
"You know how to talk to women, Arrow, I will give you that," she responds, forcing herself to giggle. She's sure bile travels up her throat, but she forces that down too.
"It's my superpower," Queen confidently nods, leaning back into his chair and placing his feet onto the table, hands folding behind his head.
Raising up to the bait, Wonder Woman makes sure to respond as loudly and romantically as she can without making it too obvious. "At least we know it works on Amazons."
Trying not to wince at the reactions of those around her, she notices Starman watching them with a shocked expression, almost choking on his meal. The hero attention turns to his plate before he shakes his head incredulously and moves away, giving the two the intended effect they desired. Hawkman and Captain Atom look as disturbed as Starman, but remain steadfast to their task.
"Not good enough, Diana, we need to go to a place you've never been before," Green Arrow whispers, locking his eyes with Diana's and slowly returning to his forward position, taking Diana by the hands and holding them in his own. "I've been waiting to say this for a long time.. I just don't know how to say it."
"Honesty is a good trait in a man," she smiles, but then almost throttles the archer as he bites his lip to stop himself from laughing. The archer is definitely enjoying this moment much more than he should be, however it's keeping up appearances she's more worried about. "Tell me," she commands, giving him a slight kick in the shin.
His grunt comes out a bit louder than anticipated and everyone who wasn't already transfixed on the situation now turns their attention to the hastily-erected couple.
"Diana.. Princess of Themyscira.. I gotta say.."
Opening her mouth to wish he would carry on with their façade a little bit faster, the archer springs forwards and locks lips with the Amazon, eyes flittering to the other members in the room. Doing the same - and attempting to keep herself composed and calm - she observes the behaviours of those around them.
Some Leaguers drop their food on the floor, blank expressions on their faces. Others pretty much run out of the hall as though this was pre-school and they had just committed the cardinal sin, and Hawkman and Captain Atom look both disturbed and astounded at the same time.
Wonder Woman doubts this was in the mission briefing Batman gave them, as it certainly wasn't in hers.
Then, she spots Guy Gardener in the background, clearly amused and entertained by the spectacle. Breaking away from the archer, she resists the urge to wipe the smile from Oliver's face by launching him into space and fakes a smile of her own.
"I'm the man!" Green Arrow leaps up from his chair, fist pumping the air. Although the other heroes respond with silence, the quiet sound of clapping comes from the corner where Guy Gardener was residing. "I kissed Wonder Woman! Who!? Wonder - the freaking - Woman!"
As though Martian Manhunter had possessed their minds, the superheroes in attendance collectively zombie their way out of the mess hall, both Hawkman and Captain Atom joining them in their ashamed escape.
Green Arrow's jubilant screaming is cut short as Wonder Woman grabs the archer by his emerald outfit and smashes him into the wall.
"One day, you will pay for this Oliver Queen, make sure to remember that."
"Come on Diana, I'd say we worked our angle and got the intended result. As a plus, I got some smoochy-time with the great Wonder Woman."
"If you are enjoying your life right now, remember to keep your mouth shut," Wonder Woman threatens, tightening her grip in order to help the archer get the simplicity of the situation.
"Sure. Let's just get out of here."
This is going to be difficult to explain when this is over with, the Amazon sighs to herself, wondering just how much Green Arrow is going to cherish this moment for the rest of his mortal life.
"You let Green Arrow fool you?" snaps at Hawkman and Captain Atom with an accusatory tone. They didn't expect the Dark Knight to be pleased they let the two out of their sight, but the Batman is positively about to burst with irritation. "They know we are onto them."
"Cut them some slack," Jon Stewart sighs, giving the two a gesture with his head to move out of Batman's wrath. "Not everyone is as sneaky as you.. especially those two. Should've sent Canary to watch them slippery two."
"I needed her for another task, and unlike them, she succeeded," Batman rejects the idea this is a lapse of judgement on his part, to the Lantern's unsurprised thoughts.
Bringing the young hero Shazam into the room, Black Canary gestures for him to sit on a chair carefully and precisely placed in front of the Batman. Interrogations have always been easy for Batman, and with Billy Batson in front of him, his job of intimidation has become even easier.
"Sit down," Batman commands, and the boy practically uses his superspeed to obey, nervousness plastered onto his face. "Talk."
"Don't know what you mean Batman," Shazam responds, clearly flustered and attempting to avoid with all his might the piercing gaze of Batman. Convicted criminals have broken under his eyes, and Shazam certainly has a much better heart than those criminals, making this all too easy for Batman. "If I did know what you mean.. I still wouldn't tell you.. yeah, I won't tell you."
"You've already told me everything, Billy," Batman states, keeping his eyes glued to Shazam's. Confusion ripples across the face of Earth's Mightiest Mortal, as he struggles to understand how he slipped up. Although he hasn't, keeping Shazam confused and nervous is the best way of extracting the information Batman needs, and nothing makes Billy Batson more nervous than his fear of gaining the unwanted attention of Batman.
"We know about the little escapades your group has been on," John Stewart explains, showing his power ring to the hero. "Whilst Batman here has been deciding how to deal with you, I've checked the Green Lantern archives.. you want to know the result?"
"Kyle Rayner's ring has been re-activated.. by Kyle himself," Batman answers for the hero, eyes narrowing as he watches the hero squirm slightly.
"That's good news, right?" Shazam nervously smiles, to which John casually nods.
"In some terms yes.. in some.. no," the Lantern responds, making sure to emphasise his deliberation. "Shazam, people don't just come back alive and millions of light years away from where they died. Something is going on here.. and how can you be sure the Kyle you saw was the one we knew?"
"What Green Lantern is trying to say is simple: forces are at play which are beyond our acknowledgment, and we need to know which side are you on. Are you with the League? Or against it?"
"I'm on everyone's side guys, since when have I not been?" Shazam returns, some of the young optimism slowly returning to his voice, "You're right, we went and found Kyle, and you know what, there are some strange things going on with him, but don't for a second believe Kyle is not Kyle. Coming back to life isn't that strange - an old man kidnapped me from a subway and every time I say a single word, I can transform into a superhero."
"Are you saying Magic could be at play?" Black Canary interrupts from the background, to which Shazam smirks.
"No. If it was magic, I'd know."
"Whatever it happened to Kyle, we cannot take the chance his return was benevolent," Batman says, "We must take him into League custody and assess whether there has been any long-term side effects of his death upon his personality."
"With some luck," Hawkman grunts, clearly thinking of the time the lantern began to paint his wings whilst he was sleeping. Something about making him an angel and a dare, but the Thanagarian didn't find the joke amusing and almost took the lanterns hand off when he discovered him.
"Leave us.. take Shazam with you," Batman orders the group, motioning for John Stewart to stay behind.
Waiting whilst they filter out of the room, Batman makes certain no-one is eavesdropping by activating the sound dampeners in the room through his forearm's computer. Taking a few extra seconds to check the cameras, he temporarily disables them too, leaving both himself and the Green Lantern to their conversation.
"They know as well," John begins, and Batman nods, unsurprised. "Makes things a bit more complicated."
"No," Batman responds, brushing of John's concerns, "it makes things easier. Whilst they are distracted by Kyle's re-emergence, we need to help the team once and for all. The Light needs to be stopped, and thanks to the team, we now have a means of finding them. Somehow, they have a knack for stumbling onto trouble they shouldn't have."
"Their methods are chaotic and undisciplined - the Light don't expect heroes to behave like this."
"That's what made them a great team in the first place," Batman nods, "they do what we cannot."
"They won't have to do it alone for long with some detective work," Stewart says, nodding in agreement with Batman. "Eventually, we will find both the team and the Light."
"And finish this," Batman finishes off John's thoughts for him.
"Got to say, this all seems a bit too coincidental. First, the Light reappear out of nowhere, the team goes off the grid.. and now Kyle returns from the dead? This is strange, even by our standards."
"Strange?" Batman shakes his head, "this is what normal used to be for the League."
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Thanks for reading folks, hope you all have a nice week and await the new arrival of an episode on Saturday!