Chapter 5
A/N: hey everyone! Welcome back to the story! I'm glad to see all the interest! Anyways, I'm just the owner for the story idea, everything else ain't mine sadly.
Telepathy
Gotham, August 8, 19:50EDT
"You excited?" Canary inquired leading Mike through the maze of alleys.
"Kinda," Mike smiled nervously. "Still can't believe this is happening. I almost feel like I'm rushing into it."
Canary paused, looking at him, her brows furrowed in concern. "Are you sure you want to do this? You can back out. We are not here to pressure you into this."
"It's fine, I can do it," he replied. He wasn't going to let her training go to waste. "What are the others like?"
"Like you: teenagers."
"Ha ha."
"But still," she chuckled, stopping besides a decrepit phone booth, "you should fit in just fine."
"You don't think I'll freak them out?" he questioned, waving to the general area of his face.
"Only if you stand in the shadows like that."
Mike rolled his eyes, a playful smirk forming on his face. "So, what's with…that?" he waved to the outdated structure. "Is it like an elevator or something?"
"Or something," Canary smiled, opening the door. "Step inside."
Mike glanced at his mentor, looking between her and the booth. Why did this feel like a trap? Was it some sort of League initiation ritual? Hazing? Pressing his lips in a thin line, Mike stepped inside, crossing his arms. Hopefully this elevator wouldn't drop ten feet like the one at his old job did on his first day.
"Recognized: Remnant—B07."
"What the fu—"
-.-
Mt. Justice, 19:52EDT
"Recognized: Remnant—B07. Black Canary—13."
Mike stumbled forwards, his body tingling as he rematerialized in a location he didn't recognize. "Whoa."
There was a chuckle to his side. "Yeah, first time's always a little jarring," Canary smiled sympathetically. "But, welcome to Mt. Justice."
"Holy shit," he whispered eyes widening as he looked back at the tube and the arcing cave he now stood in. "Holy shit. Did we just teleport?"
Canary nodded, "That's a Zeta Tube, they're how we get between places so fast. We have ones in every city the League operates in or where we're most likely to be called."
Ok, so teleportation was real. That was awesome. Stepping forwards, he looked around with wide eyes, "Did you really hollow out an entire mountain?"
"Yep, it was the League's original headquarters before the Hall of Justice, now it serves as the Team's."
"This is so cool," he said, looking around the room before his gaze landed on the familiar form of the Dark Knight.
Batman gave him a small nod of acknowledgement, but the teen was more focused on the three other figures standing around him: Red Tornado, Green Arrow, and a girl in green with a bow he didn't recognize. The archer turned towards them, a lopsided grin appearing on his face, "Hey babe, is this the troublemaker I've been hearing so much about?"
Mike glanced to Canary, watching as she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about him. He has a terrible sense of humor."
"Hey! My humor is fantastic!" Green Arrow protested, "Right guys?" He turned to the rest of the heroes, clearly looking for support. Support he didn't get as none of them replied. "I hate all of you."
"So, Remnant," a voice said next to him, making him turn to see the blonde girl standing next to him, "haven't heard of you before. You new?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "You?"
"Same," she nodded. "I'm Artemis."
"Remnant—but you already knew that."
Artemis chuckled, "Have you met any of our new teammates before?"
Mike shook his head, "No, you?"
"I've seen them, but we never really talked."
"What are they like?"
"First impression? Chaotic."
"Awesome."
Their conversation ended as they heard approaching chatter emanating from one of the halls leading further into the cave. Turning their heads, the two newbies watched as the recognizable form of Robin and Aqualad strode in accompanied by a couple protégés they didn't recognize, but it wasn't hard to figure out who their mentors were. The conversation of the other teens came to a stop as they noticed them, and Mike bit the inside of his cheek, trying to gauge their reactions.
He didn't anticipate the redheaded Martian to fly at him and Artemis with a welcoming grin. "Hi! I'm Miss Martian! But you can call me M'gann! Are you guys joining the Team?"
"Uh, that was the plan," Mike replied.
"Welcome to the Team," Aqualad spoke next. "I'm Aqualad, leader of the Team. But my friends call me Kaldur."
Beside the Atlantean, Robin smirked, crossing his arms, "I don't think I need an introduction."
"Why? Forget your name?" Mike quipped without thinking. It was only once he remembered who he was talking to, that he felt like an idiot.
However, instead of being mad, the Boy Wonder snickered at his response. "Anyways, the big brooding guy right there is Superboy," the original protégé spoke. "So, do we get introductions? Or did you forget your names?"
Mike rolled his eyes, "I'm Mike, or Remnant on missions. This is Artemis."
"Hi. I go by Artemis either way."
"So how long have you been doing this?" Robin inquired.
"Oh, I started training with Canary about…a couple weeks ago," Mike winced, rubbing the back of his head, "Though I was only invited to join after your mentor caught me being stupid a few days ago."
"Same here."
This garnered a laugh from the smaller teen, "So you're the ones who irritated him? He came back to the Batcave muttering about reckless teens. I thought he was talking about us. Though, I will say we're not the easiest to deal with. Our missions rarely seem to go right."
"How?"
"Well…first mission we found SB and destroyed a building," Robin started, "The next mission we blew up a factory. Another—I wouldn't call it a mission, but we did fight a tornado villain that trashed part of town. Almost thought we killed him till we realized he was a robot. We did manage to stop a villain from stealing some plutonium. And a couple days ago we fought that android that the League had fought earlier after it was stolen from transport and we ended up trashing a Gotham school and blowing up the android's head."
Mike blinked, "So…basically no matter what we do, something is going to end up blowing up?"
"Basically."
"…I don't know if I should find this awesome or potentially frustrating."
"I like to think of it as a weird combo of both."
"I don't think it's been that bad," Miss Martian smiled sheepishly, only to get skeptical shrugs from the others.
"Of course," Aqualad interjected, "we are all still new to the aspect of teamwork with others other than our own mentors. It stands to reason that mistakes should occur. But that is why the Team exists, to help us learn how to function in a team. I'm sure before long, our missions should go much smoother."
"I hope so," Artemis chimed in. "I like living."
"Oh!" Miss Martian smacked her forehead, "Hello Megan! You guys haven't met Kid Flash yet…" she put her hands on her hips, "he should be here any minute…"
"Recognized: Kid Flash—B03."
"Speak of the devil."
"There he is now! I'm sure you guys will get along famously."
Turning to the Zeta-Tube, Mike put his hands on his hips, watching with wide eyes as the missing protégé arrived not in uniform, but in a swimsuit with two armloads of beach stuff. "The Wall-Man is here! Now let's get this party star—" eagerly stepping forwards, the speedster tripped on a flipflop, faceplanting to the ground as a beachball bounced past Batman, "—ted."
"So, Wall-Man, huh?" Artemis began, "Love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?"
A scowl crossed the more experienced apprentice's face as he got to his feet, making a show of wiping nonexistent dirt off himself, "Uh, who're these guys?"
"I'm Artemis, this is Remnant, we're your new teammates."
"Hi."
"Kid Flash. Never heard of you."
"They're our new protégés," Green Arrow interjected, motioning between himself and Canary.
"What happened to your old one?!"
"Recognized: Speedy—B06."
All heads turned to the Zeta Tube as a tall redhead in a red and black uniform with a domino mask strode in. "Well for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow."
"Real original name there," Mike muttered under his breath as he crossed his arms.
"Roy," Green Arrow started, looking surprised, "you look—"
"Replaceable."
"It's not like that. You told me you were going solo."
The other archer scoffed, "So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?"
"Yes, she can."
"Who are you?" Kid Flash demanded, looking at the blonde.
"Niece," both mentor and protégé answered.
Beside him, Robin snickered, "Another niece?"
"But she is not your replacement," Aqualad spoke. "We have always wanted you on the Team. And we have no quota on archers."
"And if we did, you know who we'd pick," the speedster added smugly.
"Whatever Baywatch, I'm here to stay."
Artemis wasn't kidding about the Team being chaotic. He hadn't even been here ten minutes and already there was a fight. What exactly did he sign up for again?
"You came to us for a reason," Aqualad said, stepping up to Red Arrow as the archer turned to leave.
"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette."
Mike perked up at that name. "The nano-robotics expert?"
"And claytronics expert," Robin remarked with a grin, typing on a holographic keyboard hoving over his glove. Soon enough there were several holograms displaying information hanging around the room.
"Ok, that's cool," Mike muttered.
"She vanished from her job at Royal University in Star City two weeks ago."
"Abducted two weeks ago," Red Arrow corrected. "By the League of Shadows."
"Whoa. You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?"
"Hardcore," Kid Flash grinned, fist-bumping the Boy Wonder.
The Shadows? Who were the Shadows? Glancing around the room, Mike bit the inside of his cheek as he saw everyone else seemed to know what was going on. Everyone except him. Though, Artemis was new, maybe she was in the same boat.
"I already rescued her."
The others seemed to deflate. "Oh."
"Only one problem," the archer continued, "the Shadows already coerced her into making a weapon." A new screen appeared, showing a few images and schematics for nanobots. "Doc calls it the Fog. Comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators, capable of disintegrating anything in their path: concrete, steel, flesh, bone. But it's true purpose isn't mere destruction, it's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system, and deliver the stolen intel right to the Shadows. Providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech."
"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking," Artemis groaned. "Yeah, sounds like the Shadows."
"Like you know anything about the Shadows," Kid Flash scoffed.
Artemis, in turn just flashed a smug smirk in his direction.
"Who are you?!"
Mike sighed silently. Guess he was the only one who didn't know what was going on. Oh well, he could figure it out on his own.
"Roquette's already working on a virus to render the fog inert."
Robin's eyes widened, "But if the shadows know she can do that…"
"They'll target her," Red Arrow nodded. "Right now she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."
"I don't think I'd call that 'off grid' pal," Mike commented.
"Who are you?" Kid Flash jumped, seeming to remember he was there.
"I'm Remnant. We just met a minute ago."
"You left her alone?!" Green Arrow exclaimed, staring at his former apprentice.
"She's safe for now."
"Then let's keep her that way. You and I, just like old times."
The new solo hero crinkled his nose, "You and I? Don't you wanna take your new protégé?"
If the older archer was going to say something, he was cut off by Batman placing a hand on his shoulder. As if having a silent conversation, the hero sighed in defeat, "You brought this to the Team. It's their mission, which means it's hers now too."
Red Arrow scoffed, "Then my job's done." The former protégé's footsteps echoed in the silent cavern as he strode towards the teleporter.
"Recognized: Speed—"
"That's Red Arrow, B-06. Update."
Welp, that was beyond awkward.
-.-
Happy Harbor, 21:59EDT
Mike leaned against a wall, crossing his arms as he stood in the front of the nearby town's high school. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from the Team, but it certainly wasn't…whatever that was back in the Cave. Surely even young heroes had to be more mature than that.
Sighing, he looked out into the nearby bushes. He didn't hear anything so far. And the only thing he'd seen had been an absurdly fat raccoon.
"Everyone online?"
Mike almost jumped out of his skin, looking around. He could have swore…
"Ugh," Artemis's voice groaned, "this is so weird."
He just heard Artemis talk. She was inside. And he knew his hearing hadn't improved that much.
"And distracting," a new voice muttered. "Coding a distributive algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less ram than a wristwatch is hard enough. But now I have to hear teen think in my skull?!"
Holy shit, first teleportation, now telepathy. Mike didn't know if he wanted to find this disturbing or awesome.
"Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?" Kid Flash scoffed.
"Pot, kettle. Have you met?"
"Hey, hey, I don't need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the Team!"
"That is so not on me!"
"Fate of the world at stake!" Dr. Roquette reminded.
Oh God, if this was how it normally was, Mike could very well try to take his chances with a murderous animatronic again. "Kill me now."
"Hey, she started it."
"How about I go patrol the perimeter with Superboy, Miss Martian, and Remnant?" Artemis offered.
"Good idea."
Oh, thank God it was over.
"You might want to cut her some slack," Robin spoke up after a moment. "It was her arrow that saved your butt from Amazo."
"What? No. That was Speedy—er, Red Arrow's arrow, right?"
"Not so much."
Kid Flash scoffed, "Well, still not giving her that satisfaction."
"You know I can still hear you?"
"I couldn't get the Justice League."
"A virus won't be of much use if we cannot find the weapon," Aqualad spoke, trying to get the mission back on task. "Can you track it?"
"My utility fog is not a weapon, it's science, brilliant science."
"Hate to break it to you, but you had the chance to design this fog for espionage alone and you made it to where somehow, contact with it disintegrates anything in its path making sure that whoever has the fog becomes the only person with the downloaded intel," Mike spoke up. "Sure it's brilliant science, but it's science that was ultimately designed to be a weapon. So, can you track it or not?"
"Of course I can track it. But to do that I'd have to go online. Might as well post up a billboard with this address and assassinate me written in neon."
Ok, yeah, that was fair.
"We will protect you," Kaldur reassured the doctor.
The other ends of the link were, thankfully quiet for a minute before the woman spoke up again, "Tracking fog now."
-.-
22:33EDT
So far, everything seemed quiet as Mike walked the perimeter. Turning a corner, he spotted Superboy coming from the other side. Superman's protégé appeared to be startled by his appearance for a moment, but he gave him a quiet nod as they passed by each other.
Of course, the was when Mike heard a faint rustle in the bushes. Pausing his patrol, he looked around, noticing the more experienced sidekick had stopped as well. Without a word, Superboy leapt up onto the roof, his footfalls crossing the building to the other side quickly.
Sighing, he stopped his walk, trying to see if he could see anything in the brush. If someone was going to break in, it'd be on the more vulnerable perimeter. Not where there were multiple guards. Fences weren't that hard to get over if you knew what you were doing.
That was at least how he and his ex-friends had done it when they were being stupid. Huffing to himself, Mike shook his head. Hard to believe he'd once been so irresponsible. No wonder his dad left him.
Shoving the thought aside, he turning his attention back on task. Getting distracted wouldn't do them any favors.
Of course, someone might've needed to mention that to his teammates.
"Hmm, that boy."
Even though she wasn't talking about him, Mike felt himself flush slightly. That had clearly been a private thought.
"He can hear you," Miss Martian reminded pointedly. "We can all hear you."
Mike slowly exhaled in relief. Hopefully that would help Artemis compartmentalize her thoughts. Things were awkward as they were. Mike had been hoping that this Team thing would be fun, but so far, all it had been was, well, rather confrontational. He'd been expecting to fight bad guys, not his own teammates.
"Oh, I know."
Or maybe he'd spoken too soon. "Guys, focus now. Argue later."
Aqualad appeared to be on the same page, "Miss Martian, Dr. Roquette has located the fog. Reconfigure the bioship so Robin and Superboy can pursue."
"Ready."
Looking up, Mike watched as the alien ship flew away with two of his comrades. Lucky bastards.
Taking a deep breath, Mike closed his eyes and exhaled. Hopefully, now, there would be less distractions. The sooner they finished this mission, the sooner they could all go home and not have to deal with each other until next time.
"You embarrassed Superboy!" Miss Martian scolded, breaking the relatively nice silence that had settled in the link.
"Didn't hear him say that."
"Must you challenge everyone?"
"Where I come from, that's how you survive."
Survive. It was an interesting word choice. To most, it would seem like a strange choice of words, but to him it was something that explained Artemis's attitude. Mike knew that mentality all too well. That had been his life since…sometime after his mother passed. Weakness wasn't tolerated in the Afton household. It had always been survival of the fittest.
Artemis was probably just as used to relying on herself as he had been. This team thing was just as new to her as it was to him. No wonder the whole confrontation with Red Arrow and Kid Flash had ruffled her feathers. Had he been put on the spot like that, Mike would've done anything to hide his weaknesses. It was a simple fact of life: the sooner you make sure people know you won't be messed with, the sooner those who pushed people around left you alone. She had just been doing that. Showing them that despite their cutting remarks she wouldn't be dissuaded.
Mike wondered when his turn would be. Soon enough, they would grow bored of Artemis and turn their attention onto him. Hopefully he'd be able to keep his cool during that time. Sometimes being too combative would just attract more attention. It certainly got on his father's nerves.
But still, this was not helping their mission. "Guys. Focus."
Hopefully that reminder was enough to get the pair back on task. The last thing they needed was a bad guy getting in while their guard was down.
