Chapter 21
A/N: hey everyone! Welcome back! Glad to see y'all're still eager for new chapters. Remember, I just own the story, FNAF and YJ are not mine.
/comms/
Telepathy/Flashbacks/whatever else
Mt. Justice, October 15, 21:33EDT
"Seen it. Seen it. Seen it. Don't want to see it. Seen it. Boring. Don't own any stocks. Already own a Slap Chop. Seen it. Seen it. Seen it."
"Dude!" Mike exclaimed, tossing his hands in the air as the speedster continued to flip through the channels. "Just pick something already!"
"Well, it's not my fault we get over six-hundred channels and absolutely none of them have anything on!"
"There's been loads of stuff on!" Artemis countered, "What about Jurassic Park? That was on!"
"Seen it."
"Who cares?! We've all seen it!"
"I haven't seen it," Conner remarked.
"You know, for the fasted kid alive, you're stupidly slow at picking channels," the archer continued.
"There's nothing on!"
"Oh, for the love of God," Mike lunged for the remote, "Just let someone else pick!"
"Perhaps we should do something else?" Kaldur suggested.
This garnered several raised brows. "We're not training."
"That was not what I meant," the Atlantean replied. "I was merely suggesting we could do another activity. One that will not result in argument. Such as when we went to the beach?"
"Kaldur," Wally said, releasing the remote scowling at Mike's victorious smirk, "I don't know if you know this, but water gets a bit too cold for us this time of year. And it's dark out."
"Oh! What about camping?" M'gann chimed in. "The temperature's nice and there's a half-moon tonight so we'll have plenty of light."
"That sounds fun."
"Yeah!" the speedster was quick to agree. "We can even build a fire and—"
"A fire?" the Martian paused.
"Yeah, you know, a rice roaring campfire," Wally started before he noticed the glares the others were giving him. "What?" He turned, looking at M'gann and Kaldur before paling, "Oh…I'm sorry, I forgot."
"It's fine," Kaldur reassured. "We should be fine as long as we keep some distance from the fire."
"Would we get to roast marshmallows?" M'gann chimed in, "I've never had marshmallows before."
"Oh," Artemis perked up, "we could get chocolate and graham crackers, make s'mores."
"Great! I'll go grab the stuff!" the speedster exclaimed.
-.-
22:35EDT
"This was a great idea," Robin said, holding his hotdog over the fire. "Certainly beats watching Wally try to find something for us to watch."
"There was nothing on!"
"Sure there wasn't," Mike drawled, taking a bite of his hotdog. "Just like there wasn't a missing socket wrench."
"For the last time, Mike, I did not take your wrench!"
"I'll believe that when I find evidence of someone else rifling through my shit!"
"He's got a point, KF," Robin shrugged.
"Dude! Whose side are you on?!"
"All of you, knock it off," Kaldur scolded, rolling his eyes.
"So," Conner spoke up, "this is what you mean by camping? Sleeping in these flimsy tarps and sit around a fire?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Wally shrugged. "So it you feel like heading home—"
"Ignore him," Mike huffed. "There's more to camping than just sleeping in a tent."
"Really? How?"
Mike paused, thinking for a moment, "It's more about…getting outside. Going hiking, fishing, hunting, you know, roughing it in nature, spending some time away from all the chaos back home," he answered with a fond smile. "Typically normal camping isn't done in the back yard though," he motioned to the Cave, "Not unless you're like, five."
"You know, camping isn't something we have on Mars," M'gann spoke up, sticking a marshmallow onto a stick, "The surface is basically unhabitable, so we have huge cities in the underground caverns beneath the surface. So, how does normal camping work?"
"Well," Mike started, folding his arms behind his head, "like I said, you're typically you're out there for more than one night and just roughing it. You know, no phones—except like an emergency satellite phone—no computers, basically away from all civilization. My dad used to take me all the time. We would pack enough stuff to last us a week or two and we'd just go exploring."
"Where was the coolest place you camped?" Artemis inquired, blowing out her flaming marshmallow. "My family used to go along the Appalachian Trail."
Mike grimaced, "Yeah, Dad wanted to hike the entire thing, but I got the flu. But we did go to Yellowstone once or twice, Moab was fun, there were a few other national parks and forests—oh, but, I would say my favorite was when we went to Alaska for mountain climbing. The avalanches sucked ass, and I had to climb my way out of a crevasse, but other than that it was fun."
"Sounds like a lot of work."
"That's what makes it fun."
"You know what Mike, I think this is the first time I've ever heard you talk about your family," M'gann remarked, not noticing how her friend froze. "Your dad sounds nice."
Across the campfire, Robin watched the exchange with a scowl. Yeah, Mike painted a nice picture of his home life. He might've believed it had he not known the truth. Had he not seen those files, seen the evidence of the hell his friend had lived through, he wouldn't have thought twice about the story.
In fact, Dick would bet there was a lot Mike was leaving out about the trips. Based on the pictures and x-rays he glimpsed, Mr. Afton had no qualms about hurting Mike at home. Out there, in the middle of nowhere, with no way to contact authorities, there was nothing to stop him from unleashing his full wrath. Yeah, he would bet things had not been as nice as Mike was making it sound.
Still, even if Mr. Afton wasn't violent physically during the trips, Dick could still imagine how the man could've used them to torment his teammate.
Granting him a break from the abuse, promising that it wouldn't happen again and giving him a trip as a peace offering. For however long they were out, Afton would act like a normal father, getting Mike to drop his guard. Only to return home and start the cycle of violence all over again.
He wondered how many times it had happened until Mike had only looked forwards to the trip as a momentary reprieve to his suffering.
"Dude?" Wally spoke up, pulling the Boy Wonder out of his murderous thoughts. "You ok? You went quiet for a bit."
"Oh, uh, yeah. Fine."
The redhead raised a brow, clearly not believing him. However, Dick didn't care. He just needed to change the conversation before something could slip. Robin may've been infamous for prying into people's business, but there was no way he was going to reveal something as personal as this. "You know, that isn't the only stuff you do when camping," he chimed in, crossing his arms. "One popular tradition is to sit around the campfire and tell stories."
Thankfully, a certain Martian was eager to jump onto the idea, "Oh! I would love to hear your story Kaldur. Could you tell us how you became Aqualad?"
Well, his idea was scary stories, but this worked better.
"Oh," Kaldur said, looking to the others, seeing all the curious looks staring back at him, "I suppose I could do that. If you do not think it will be too boring."
"Not at all! I'd love to hear it."
"Well, I grew up in the city of Shayeris, a city in Atlantis. You see, surface dwellers think Atlanteans are all the same, but our kingdom has many cities, many people, and many cultures" he began to explain.
"So basically here but underwater."
Kaldur nodded, giving a light chuckle in amusement at the statement. "I suppose so. Anyways, when I was twelve, I completed my education and began my mandatory service in the Atlantean military, which is a standard for all at that age," he stated after seeing a few horrified looks crossing their faces. "After a while I was transferred to the prestigious Conservatory of Sorcery in the Atlantean Capitol of Poseidonis. Queen Mera is the headmistress of the conservatory and wife of King Orin, Aquaman. It was a difficult time for me."
"Why?"
"It was difficult, as it would be for anyone at the age of fourteen, I suppose, but it was also the time in my life where I met the friends that I know will be with me for a lifetime," he answered, before continuing on with his story. "Then came a horrible day when Poseidonis was attacked by Ocean Master. I can remember it vividly as it was the day Aquaman nearly met his end. They fought for what seemed like hours, and their clashes seemed to sha'ke the very city to its foundations. And then, Ocean Master gained the upper hand and nearly defeated Aquaman—actually, Aquaman was defeated," he corrected. "Garth, a fellow student and friend of mine, and I intervened on the King's behalf. It was the only thing we could think of doing. The danger didn't occur to us because the only thing that mattered at the time was that our King was in trouble. It may have been one of the most foolish things Garth and I had ever done, as we nearly met our own end."
"So did you die?" Robin interrupted a teasing smile forming on his face before he yelped as a small stick hit him in the back of his head.
"No," Kaldur deadpanned, rolling his eyes. "However, Garth and I quickly realized that we had no hope of defeating him whatsoever. But the time we spent engaged in battle against Ocean Master was enough for our king to recover. And that was all he needed as Aquaman triumphed over Ocean Master, driving him away from the city and saving us all!"
"So how does this lead to you becoming Aqualad?" Conner questioned.
"Aquaman's a being of two worlds. On the surface, he fights for justice for all beings; under the sea, he's a leader to many. Both roles carry the weights to responsibilities, overwhelming responsibilities only the best of men can carry for so long. But even Aquaman can't do it forever. Realizing that on the surface that both Batman and Green Arrow had taken on apprentices that could one day take over their respective mantles, King Orin had been contemplating the same idea," he started again, intending on giving them the answer on how the rest of the story related to his status as Aquaman's protégé. "With this in mind, he approached both Garth and I with the possibility of becoming his proteges. I must admit, the prospect intrigued me immediately as I had never been to the surface world and I am the to admit that I'm a bit of an adventurer. Many is the day in class that I'd dream of visiting distant oceans and one day, even the surface world. Both Garth and I seriously considered the King's offer. My friend ultimately chose to continue his studies at the Conservatory. For me, however, the chance to visit the surface word was a dream come true. So, at the age of fourteen, I became Aqualad. I miss my friends Garth and Tula, but the chance to do work with my mentor and king was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I like to think the work I'm doing makes a difference. The rest of the story you know. Aquaman brought me to the surface world, and here I am with all of you."
"Wow, so you wanted to be Aqualad?" M'gann asked.
"Yes, the chance came and I could think of no other path."
"Cool."
Across the fire, there was a scoff as Wally leaned forwards in his seat. "Well, if you think he," the speedster motioned to their leader, "wanted to be Aqualad so badly, let me tell you how I got started."
"Oh God," Artemis groaned.
Ignoring her, Wally began talking, "You see, it literally goes back a couple of generations, each generation of Flash started with a bang! Jay Garrick was in a freak lab accident; boom there it is! During the forties and fifties he was everywhere! The fastest man alive! Jay Garrick was the world's first Flash! Then one day this guy come along, a huge fan of the Flash. Wanting to know all about Jay Garrick—back then secret IDs weren't really a thing—he contacts Jay and they spend hours talking about his adventures and the accident that turned him into the Flash. This guy goes so far as to re-create the accident that created the original! However, while Jay's was an accident, this one was set up in a lab, he wanted it to happen! Result? Still a big ass explosion, but lo and behold he becomes Speedy McSpeed-Speed himself! Now he's the Flash—well, not the original Flash, but the new Flash, the one we all know—and this time he's even faster than Flash—the old one—it gave him ever more speed! So check this! great minds think alike cause like Flash was a fan of the first Flash I was a fan of Flash—the second one not the first one. Though I did become a fan of Jay too after I got to know him, anyways, long story short, one day I was in my uncle's house and stumbled across his notebooks and got the shock of my life! That was the day I found out my uncle was the Flash! Once the shock wore off, I kept reading. He was keeping a journal of all the experiences and experiments, most importantly the one that turned him into the Flash—the second one not the first one."
"We get it already!"
"When I found that, I kept hinting to my uncle that he could maybe use a partner. I tried to convince him; I mean, by this time Bats already had Rob and Green Arrow had Speedy. This was a no brainer!" he grinned. "I've gotta admit, Flash was a bit resistant at first…"
"Does this sound confusing to anyone else?" Conner muttered.
"Just let me finish!" Wally scolded tossing a half-hearted glare. "So, having seen the journal, I tried to re-create the experiment with my own chemistry set. And what do you know, I was able to do it!"
"It actually worked?" Kaldur asked looking surprised.
At the question, the redhead grimaced, "Well…not really at first. It kinda landed me in the hospital."
"Of course, it did," Artemis muttered.
"But, a couple of weeks later I was off and running!" he smiled. "I couldn't wait to show my uncle! When he saw I had powers how could he not want me as his partner?!"
Mike smirked playfully, "I can give a few reasons."
Wally continued to ignore his comrade's commentary, "You guys should've seen his face when I showed him! This time he jumped at the chance to have a partner. Flash couldn't wait to show the world! He was beyond ecstatic and couldn't contain his excitement. It was the greatest day in the history of the world! Why do you ask?"
"For the record we didn't."
"That's that day the world got Kid Flash! You are welcome."
"We're all thrilled you're so speed capable," Robin said rolling his eyes behind his glasses.
"What's the matter? Jealous?"
"Of you? Yeah right."
"Robin, how'd you get started?" M'gann asked taking a bite of a smore.
"HA!" Wally laughed. "Are you kidding? Bats won't even let him tell us his real name! Supey could probably give a better origin story!"
Dick went quiet, giving his friend a glare worthy of his mentor. Wally knew his origin. He knew how hard it was for him. Even if Bruce let him talk about their identities and that stuff, there was no way in hell he'd just casually talk about what motivated him to start as Robin.
"You already told me his, you rescued him from Cadmus right?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Yes," Kaldur confirmed. "Chronologically, Superboy is only eight months old."
Silence fell over the others at the realization, their eyes wide as they looked to the Kryptonian. "And," M'gann spoke up, "you have no memory of things before being rescued?"
"I have some memories, from the g-gnome," he answered after a moment, "It would teach me about the world outside while I was in the containment pod."
"So…you can remember things?" M'gann said, tilting her head, "When you were in the containment pod they would feed you information and you could remember it, right?"
Conner shrugged, "I guess so."
"Well," the Martian continued, "if you remember what they taught you, you must've been thinking about the things they told you. What did you think about it?"
"When I was in the pod, I was fed information. I really didn't start thinking for myself until I got out."
"What kind of things do you think about now?"
Superboy startled at the question. "Uh…school, I guess?"
"Boring!" Kid Flash called. "C'mon man, there's gotta be something! Video games, a crush, something worthwhile."
"Knock it off Baywatch!" Artemis scolded, punching the speedster's arm. "Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it. We all have our secrets."
"Well, what about you Artemis? How did you start out as a hero?"
The blonde glared at the redhead. "Like I said, Green Arrow's my uncle. I've always been a good archer, and after watching a few of the fights with the League I couldn't help but notice how his bow looked just like Uncle Ollie's. I put to and two together, confronted him, asked him to train me, and I started this summer. I would've been working with Red Arrow too had he not left. There's not much to it."
It was a very concise response. Dick wondered how much GA and Bats had her practice that story to make sure she got it right. Probably a lot knowing his mentor. Still, whatever her real origins, Artemis had her reasons for joining the opposite team as the rest of her family. They would only be a problem if those reasons involved betraying them.
Before Wally could continue to pester the archer, Miss M smacked her forehead, "Hello Megan! I didn't tell you all my story. So, as I said earlier, on Mars everyone lives underground because the surface is uninhabitable. Our family lives are very intertwined and we primarily communicate telepathically. This helps large Martian families maintain a sense of community and stay close."
"Large? How many people are in your family?"
"Well, Martian families are usually quite large when compared to Earth. I have twelve sisters, seventeen brothers, and over three hundred cousins," she answered, not noticing the startled choking of her companions around her. Mostly because she was distracted by KF suddenly appearing in her personal space with a frighteningly large grin.
"Three hundred?"
"…Yes?"
"Are they all hot girls like you?"
"Dude!"
"Wow. You are a class act."
"Dudes! It's three hundred hot babes. That's a planet I want to visit!"
"Oh, that's it." Beside Dick, Mike got up and grabbed the speedster by his collar, dragging him away. "Stop thinking with your second brain dumbass," he pushed Wally back into his seat.
"What the hell man?"
"He has a point Baywatch."
"But—"
"Shut up Wally!"
Tossing a few more scalding glares at the redhead, Artemis looked to M'gann. "Sorry, you were saying?"
The other girl tossed them a grateful look, "Well, half my cousins are males, but yeah, most Martians look a lot alike…most are green, like myself and Uncle J'ohn, but there are also Red Martians, Yellow Martians, and White Martians. However, some on my planet do not see White Martians as equal."
"Good to see that racism is a universal concept," someone remarked sarcastically.
"My parents were both Green and I was raised in what you would call a…liberal household. My family—I—had no issues with White Martians. Others were…not as tolerant. And their treatment of White Martians was especially horrible."
"So how did you come to Earth?" Kaldur inquired, putting another marshmallow on his stick.
"Ok, so out of all of my family members, I was always close to Uncle J'ohn. We had a great relationship. We would watch his exploits on Earth with the rest of the League. He grew to be a true beacon of hope and stood for what society could achieve. He became the most famous Martian in our history. Upon his return to Mars, it was declared a day of planetwide celebration. When he came back though, it was not just for the adulation of our people, but he also had a specific purpose in mind. Having learned about all of you—Robin, Aqualad, KF, and Speedy—he decided it was time to introduce a younger Martian hero to Earth. So, he declared he'd hold a competition to find the next Martian champion that'd be returning with him to join the heroes of Earth! Like over half the Martian population, I decided to enter the contest. However, I was coming to Earth. The competition was fierce and dangerous, as well as exciting and consumed and touched the lives of every Martian on the planet. At first, my uncle didn't seem to want me to enter the competition. I thought it was just cause he knew that our adventures could be life-threatening and dangerous. But I didn't let that stop me! From everything I'd heard of Earth till that point, I knew I had to go there! I was determined to win! And I did it! I won the competition!" She jumped from her seat, floating in the air with her arms thrown up, causing several members of the raptor pack to release startled cries. "My heart soared! I was coming to Earth! This was the most exciting day of my life! And now I'm here will all of you! Part of the Team! I love it!"
"And we're glad to have you here M'gann," Kaldur smiled.
"You could say that again!" Wally agreed.
"So, what about you Mike? Why did you join the team?"
The smile on his face slowly vanished. Mike looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes which glowed through the dark locks eerily. Dick could see his knuckles turning white. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to."
"But why?"
"Because it's personal!" he snapped. With an annoyed growl, he got up, almost knocking his chair over. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." The campfire was silent as their teammate stomped away, ducking into the tent he was reluctantly sharing with Dick and Wally.
Stretching out, Robin got to his feet, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think I've had one s'more too many. I'm gonna hit the hay."
Artemis nodded, moving to head to the tent she and M'gann were sharing, "Besides, I don't think Canary will be happy if we're late for whatever training exercise she has planned tomorrow."
"True."
"Oh yeah."
"This has been such a wonderful evening," M'gann smiled, "but I am excited to sleep in a tent."
"Oh! I'm right behind—" Wally started before a hand grabbed his arm.
Robin raised a brow as the speedster met his gaze, "You do remember you're sharing a tent with Mike and I right?"
"You sure you don't just want to sleep inside? Mike seems pretty…temperamental right now."
Anyone would be temperamental after being asked to talk about their worst trauma like it was just a normal campfire story. So, Dick didn't blame Mike for snapping. If anything, he was irritated at KF for trying to pry when he was asked to stop. Wally was a great friend, but he seriously needed to learn to take a hint. "Nah, it's only one night, we'll live."
The speedster didn't seem particularly happy, but he didn't argue. "Hey, you think next time we should go real camping?" Wally suggested as they climbed into the tent. "Like at a real camping place instead of just in our own backyard?"
"You don't strike me as the outdoorsy type," Dick muttered.
"It was just an idea."
They didn't talk anymore as they climbed into their sleeping bags.
