Spider-Man was both nervous and confused, he was pacing in front of what so far as he could tell was a dilapidated phone booth in one of Gotham's many dark alleyways. Waiting for Batman and Robin. However he was starting to feel a little unsure, of both this idea and more so, that he had the right location.
'This is weird, why would they want to meet me here? If it weren't Batman, I would think I was being set up to be jumped. Then again, that could still be true. I mean he is a man dressed like a Bat who likes to attack from the shadows.' Liam thought, keeping his guard up as he looked around carefully even though his Spider-Sense was silent.
Just as he was begging to wonder if maybe he needed to go look for the Dynamic Duo, they dropped down from the rooftops above and landed in front of him.
"Wow, jeez. Were you guys just waiting for me to think you weren't gonna show up?" Spider-Man asked. "Because that's a bit of a jerk move."
"Yeah, but we kinda had this other thing to deal with. Besides, you're a big boy, you can stay on your own for a few minutes." Robin poked.
"At this hour, wearing my colorful suit, in Gotham next to a dark alley? That kinda sounds like saying ``let the next hood pick a number and pass on by'." Spider-Man replied. "So, where is the rest of the team? Because if it is just the three of us, I don't think Batman meets the age requirement."
Robin snickered at the jab to his partner, but Batman only grunted in annoyance.
"We should get going. You can crack jokes when we are with the rest." Batman said, turning around towards the dark alley. "This way."
Spider-Man raised an eyebrow as Robin waved at him to follow. To say the Webslinger was confused would've been an understatement. He was expecting the Dynamic Duo to pick him up on one of their many fancy rides and introduce him to the rest of the team then and there. But here he was following them into a dark alley. Was this another test? Or maybe they were going to use one of Gotham's abandoned subway tunnels and trains to get wherever they were supposed to go. He sighed as he followed the man dressed as a bat and his little kid assistant.
Spider-Man refrained himself from saying anything as they made their way to the end of the alley. He kept his Spider Sense at the ready in case there was a surprise waiting for him from above.
"So, is this when Batman puts in the secret password and the wall opens up?" Spider-Man asked.
Batman didn't reply. He just pressed one of the bricks on the wall, opening one of the bricks to reveal a retina scanner. He moved his face forward to scan his ID, causing a computerized voice to speak.
Recognized. A-02. Batman.
The 'brick wall' opened up to reveal a hidden bunker filled with equipment and a strange platform. Stuff that Spider-Man had only seen in movies and somewhat what was in the Batcave.
Spider-Man stood wide eyed at the sight before him.
"You know I was kidding about the wall opening up, right?" Spider-Man pointed out, but Batman didn't reply.
Batman just walked into the bunker with Robin by his side, but all the while Spider-Man thought that Batman was smiling under his cowl.
Spider-Man jumped inside before the wall could close and leave him out.
"Wow, you are seriously stacked. No wonder you never run out of those bat shurikens of yours, Batman." Spider-Man said, looking around the bunker.
"Spider-Man, step on the platform. We aren't staying." Batman said, getting the attention of the wallcrawler.
"Yeah, dude. Come on." Robin added.
Spider-Man observed the platform, thinking he had seen it somewhere before. Ever since he got serious with science and school, he'd read and researched a lot of advancements in technology and science. The platform looked familiar, like something out of Star Trek or Doctor Who, but he stepped on it regardless.
"So, is this like a subway cart or…?" Spider-Man began as the machine behind him started whirling.
"Nope, it's a Zetabeam." Robin replied.
"Oh that's cool." Spider-Man said, before he remembered what those things did. "Wait a minute, don't those things-?!"
But Spider-Man didn't get to finish his sentence.
A blinding light engulfed all three of the heroes, making them disappear from the bunker.
-Happy Harbor. Mount Justice-
A bright light illuminated the cave as the other young heroes stood in the mission debriefing room in wait for their mentors and teammates.
Recognized. Batman. A-02. Robin. B-01. Spider-Man. B-08.
"-scramble your molecules to teleport you?!" Spider-Man finished before realizing that they were no longer in the bunker. "Where in the world are we?" He asked as Batman and Robin walked off the platform.
Spider-Man looked around, stepping out of the platform. The room he was in was a far more illuminated cave, filled with tech but much more minimalistic than the Batcave. If he had to take a guess, this was nowhere near Gotham. He had read about how Zeta Beams could take people to the other side of the planet in mere seconds, but that kind of tech was restricted to the rest of the public.
"Hey, Spidy! Stop looking around and come meet your new teammates." Robin called, getting Spider-Man's attention.
Spider-Man ran up to the rest of the group of young heroes. He recognized Aqualad, Aquaman's partner, amongst the group and two other young heroes he had no idea about.
Aqualad was a tall dark skinned young adult no older than Liam. He had blue eyes, shaved off head, and gills on his neck. He had eel tattoos on his arms. He wore a red sleeveless shirt with black rings around his arms, tight black pants that seemed to have fins at the back of the legs, a black belt with a golden A buckle, and a special backpack that contained a lot of water with two handles at the back he used to channel water with.
One of the two strangers was a tall Caucasian young man that also looked around his age. He had short black hair, blue eyes and a face that said, 'I don't like you.' He wore what Spider-Man guessed was his civilian outfit, which included a black t-shirt with a red Superman symbol on it, beige pants, a black belt and black boots. He was noticeably more muscular than the others and he kinda reminded Liam of Superman.
The last one was a girl with short red hair and freckles, but with green skin. She wore a white t-shirt with a large red X on it, a red belt with a golden circle buckle, short blue skirt, a blue cape, blue gloves and blue medium heel boots. She seemed to be the most friendly of the bunch and honestly made Liam feel more at ease.
"This isn't the whole team, but I figure we should start with the introductions. Guys, this is Spider-Man. The new kid on the block." Robin introduced, getting a slight glare from Spider-Man. "Spider-Man, this is Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian."
"Um, hi. Nice to meet you guys. Looking forward to working with you." Spider-Man said, giving out his hand.
"The pleasure is ours Spider-Man." Aqualad said, shaking Spider-Man's hand. "We've heard and read about your exploits and quick growth as a hero from Robin. I am impressed that despite not having a mentor like us, you've already defeated two well known criminals."
"Well to be honest I did get some help with Scorpia from Boy Wonder and Batman. But thanks, Aqualad." Spider-Man said, being thankful that they couldn't see his face. He was a bit surprised that they held him in such high regards.
"I saw you on TV the other night. You were swinging so high from those buildings and yet you still swept in and caught three bank robbers like they were right next to you." The green girl said, shaking Spider-Man's hand like a chipmunk on a sugar rush.
"Well, um, they were all together so it would've been awkward if I left one or two of them hanging." Spider-Man replied. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Oh, Hello Megan! I'm Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's niece. If you couldn't guess. But, please, call me M'Gann when we are not on missions." Miss Martian said, introducing herself before letting go of his hand.
Spider-Man was slightly shaken, both figuratively and literally. He didn't expect meeting an alien so quickly, let alone the niece of a member of the Justice League.
"Nice to meet you too Megan." Spider-Man replied.
"M'Gann. M apostrophe G, A, double N." Miss Martian spelled.
"Oh, sorry. M'Gann. Got it. You're the first alien I've met so far." Spider-Man said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"No worries. Oh, and this is Superboy." Miss Martian said, introducing the brooding last member of the group.
"Wait, Superboy? Are you Superman's kid or something?" Spider-Man asked, looking at Superboy.
"Got a problem with that?" Superboy snapped with slight anger.
Spider-Man's Spider Sense told him that it was probably not the best idea to piss off this guy.
"No, no, no, no. No problems here, just surprised you know? I don't know much about the greater Superhero community." He said hastily holding up his hands in a placating sort of way.
Superboy just grunted, leading Spider-Man to believe that he wasn't the most sociable. He would have to ask if there were any other trigger words with him or the rest of the team. He looked around to see if there was someone else hiding or just about to enter.
"So, you said that this wasn't the whole team? Someone didn't get hurt did they?" Spider-Man asked, really hoping that he hadn't just been pulled in as a temporary replacement.
"No. You don't need to worry. Our friend Kid Flash just had school today so he isn't here yet." Aqualad answered. "He should be here any minute."
"Ironic that the guy with super speed is always late." Robin jabbed, earning smiles and a chuckle from the others.
"Well, I'm not one to talk about being late. I've gotten a few calls about that in the past. So the team is just the six of us?" Spider-Man asked.
"No, there is one more member that will join you today." Batman said just as the Zetabeam lit up. "And they're here."
Recognized. Green Arrow. A-08. Artemis. B-07.
"Artemis?" Spider-Man asked out loud before turning to the team. "You guys ever heard about her, or him?"
"It's her, actually." A female voice said as Green Arrow stepped out of the Zeta Beam followed by a girl that none of them had ever seen before.
He had to admit she looked both competent and attractive. She stood at about an inch shorter than himself. She had long blond hair tied in a ponytail, brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin. Her face was covered by a green mask that only showed her mouth and her eyes. She had a midriff bearing costume with a green arrow head across her chest. The whole suit was in various shades of green, fingerless gloves that reached to her elbows and pants with black knee pads and combat boots in addition to a utility belt around her carried a modern compound bow in her right hand while she had a black quiver with green arrows on her back. Overall she looked like she meant business. In fact compared to all those around him Spider-Man was starting to feel somehow underdressed in his homemade costume.
"So, who's the bug man?" Artemis asked.
"It's Spider-Man, actually. Probably haven't heard of me, but trust me I'm fun once you get to know me." Spider-Man said, extending his hand at the arrived female archer.
"Hm, you're not selling yourself very well. But you seem competent." Artemis joked.
"Ouch, those arrows must be for show since your words really hit where it hurts." Spider-Man laughed. "But I'll let that pass since this is our first day on the team."
"Wow, he takes as good as he gets. Hard to imagine you tolerating that." Green Arrow whispered to Batman, who only grunted in rebuttal.
Artemis introduced herself with the rest of the team, which made Spider-Man feel like the spotlight wasn't solely on him. He would joke about it, but he was glad that he wasn't the only new kid in this class. He did start to wonder what they'd do today. Spider-Man would have to pull out all the stops to prove that he did earn his place on the team. And he'd also have to ask what the name of the team was before it got embarrassing.
"So, hey what's the team's name?" Spider-Man asked, getting the attention of the other young heroes.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"I mean, what's the team's name? Like you know what's our code name or official name like the Justice League? I mean, none of us are using our actual names to fight crime after all." He asked, taking note of the slight fidgeting that Artemis gave and looking to the more established team.
"Huh, you know we don't really have a name for the team. We just kind of go." M'Gann admitted after a pause.
"Wow, not an hour into being introduced to the rest of the team and you already point out that we just go by an unoriginal name. Harsh man." Robin joked.
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that! I just didn't want to wait and then ask in the middle of… whatever we are supposed to do today." Spider-Man pointed out in his defense.
Just then the Zeta Beam turned once more.
Recognized. Kid Flash. B-03.
Spider-Man and the other young heroes turned to see something that he never thought he'd see.
There stood a young man with short red hair and light skin with sunglasses and sunscreen on his nose. The named Kid Flash was not wearing his iconic hero costume, but instead he was wearing a pair of red swimming trunks, yellow sandals and was carrying a cooler, a beach umbrella, a pair of fishing rods, towels, sunscreen, a stereo and a giant beach ball.
"The Wallman is here, now let's get this party star.…" He began running in before tripping over one of his sandals and falling on his front directly in front of the group, "ted." He finished awkwardly.
Spider-man caught the beach ball just as it was about to bounce past Batman.
"Wow, beach day? Now I think I'm overdressed." Spider-Man said, getting a snort from Artemis.
"Wallman, huh? Gotta say, love the uniform, what exactly are your powers?" She asked in a sarcastically teasing way, which didn't seem to go over well with the red head.
"Uh, who are these two?" He asked.
"Artemis, and Spider-Man, we're your new teammates." She said with a confident tone.
"Kid Flash, never heard of either of you."
"Ouch, that kinda hurts. Then again the others seemed to know me so maybe you weren't paying attention." Spider-Man shrugged, spinning the beach ball on the tip of his finger.
"He's the spider guy I told you guys about." Robin added.
"The guy that beat Firefly and that scorpion lady?" Kid Flash asked. "Wow, I kinda expected you to wear a more heroic uniform."
"This from the guy wearing sandals and red trunks. I think I'm doing alright." Spider-Man said, tossing the beach ball back at Kid Flash.
He caught it before turning to the blonde eyebrow raised so Green Arrow stepped in, "She's my new protege."
"New protege? But what about Speedy, your old protege?" Kid Flash asked, almost pissed at the development.
As if to answer for him the Zeta Tube lit up again;
Recognize Speedy. B06.
This time out stepped someone clearly older than the rest of them. With short red hair, and light skin dressed in a red and black suit with a Red Arrow head pointing down on his chest, a larger than usual quiver of red arrows on his back. Over one shoulder was a red and black bow and his eyes were covered by a black Domino mask.
"Well for one, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow." The man declared in a tone that sounded almost as grumpy as Batman's.
"Roy, you're looking…" Green Arrow began before his old protege cut him off.
"Replaceable." He said with a growl, glaring at Artemis.
"Sheesh, who peed in his coffee?" Spider-Man whispered.
"It's not like that, you told me that you were going solo." Green Arrow said carefully.
"So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?" Red Arrow asked in a condescending tone, which caused Artemis to step into his face.
"Yes, she can." She said simply.
Red Arrow's eyes then landed on Spider-Man.
"Aren't you Spider-Man? A little far from Gotham, aren't you?" Red Arrow asked.
"Well, I heard that this was where all the cool kids of the superhero community hung out. So I figured I would give them a chance." Spider-Man said, walking up to Red Arrow, not wanting to be seen as someone who could be pushed around.
"I see they've conned you into joining this team. Shame, I was kind of impressed by what you were managing on your own." Red Arrow said.
"And I was under the impression that more veteran heroes were supposed to act like adults, and not jealous children." Spider-Man said, standing his ground.
"At least you've got a bark. Hopefully it'll match your bite. I came here because I need help on a case I'm working on." Red Arrow said, turning to them all, "Any of you ever heard of Doctor Sterling Roquette?" He asked.
Robin and Spider-Man's ears both picked up at that name.
"Isn't she a or rather THE expert on nano-robotics?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yeah, and she's been missing for two weeks from her post at Star City." Robin said, using his wrist computer to project an image of a woman with long blonde hair dressed in a lab coat and holding an award up proudly.
"Kidnapped, actually. She was taken by a group known as The League of Shadows. They had her working on a special project for them, a form of nano-cloud." Red Arrow explained. "I rescued her the other day, but not before she finished the cloud. With it, whoever uses it can eat through and steal the data of every big supercomputer and memory bank of the world, destroying everything on its path, flesh, blood and bone included."
Spider-Man was impressed. He knew that nano-bots were very versatile, but to do so much just to cover their tracks was really something else.
"With this The Shadows could have access to basically anything they could want. Weapons, Strategic Defense, cutting edge science and technologies." Red Arrow listened off.
"In other words everything you could ever need for extortion, manipulation, blackmail, power broking, yeah that sounds like the shadows." Artemis sighed, and Spider-Man noted a slightly pained tone to her voice.
"Like you would know anything about them." Kid Flash said, receiving only a smirk from her.
"Who are you!?" He demanded, making Spider-Man snort a little.
"Where is Dr. Roquette now?" Batman asked.
"Working on a virus to render the fog inert." Red Arrow added.
"If the shadows know that she can do that though, they'd target her." Robin muttered.
"Exactly, which is why she's off the grid right now. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab here." Red Arrow said.
"You left a woman, being targeted by world famous assassins, alone in a High School?" Spider-Man asked seriously, beginning to wonder if Red Arrow had his head on straight.
"That's the safest she can be. The only way to track her is if she goes online, which she won't do until she has the virus ready." Red Arrow explained.
"So let's go, me and you go protect her. Like the old days." Green Arrow said, hoping to patch things up with his former protege.
"The old days, don't you want to take your new protege?" Red Arrow asked, and Spider-Man bit the inside of his mouth to avoid saying anything he would probably regret.
Before Green Arrow could say anything, Batman stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No. You brought this to the team, it's their mission." Green Arrow sighed, knowing that overprotecting Artemis would make a bigger mess out of his already crumbling relationship with Red Arrow. "Which means it's hers too."
"Then my job's done." Red Arrow said, walking away from the group before giving Spider-Man one last look. "I hope you wise up, Spider-Man. This isn't the big leagues that they make it sound like."
Spider-Man looked around, noticing that Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad really wanted their old friend to join the team. If he was going to be part of this team, he'd have to stick up for them.
"Thanks for the advice, Speedy." Spider-Man said, much to the annoyance of Red Arrow.
Recognized. Speedy.
"That's Red Arrow. Update B-06." Red Arrow said before he disappeared in the light of the Zeta Beam.
"Well that guy was a ray of sunshine." Spider-Man pointed out.
"Get suited up, and go guard Dr. Rocket." Batman said, giving out the instructions to the team.
"Yes, Batman, sir." Spider-Man said in a mocking military salute, earning strange looks from the other heroes. "What?"
"This is going to be a long night." Kid Flash sighed as went off to put his suit on.
"I'll go to prep Bio-ship." Miss Martian said, flying off to the hangar.
"Bio-what now?" Spider-Man muttered.
-Happy Harbor, Harbor High School-
After the whole team had suited up, Spider-Man and the team flew on Miss Martian's bioship to the high school where Red Arrow had dumped Dr. Rocket. The webslinger had second thoughts about getting inside a living ship. It made him feel like Pinochio but he just sat down hoping that it wouldn't try to digest him. The flight was short but that was great for Spider-Man. Once they landed on the roof of the high school, he was the first one out.
"Well, that was the most uncomfortable flight I've ever been on." Spider-Man said.
"That's because you kept fidgeting, dude." Robin said.
"It was kinda funny seeing the spider guy get creeped out." Kid Flash commented. "I thought that if you swing around Gotham on thin weblines you'd be better accustomed to a flight on a ship."
"Well, the last vehicle I got on wasn't alive." Spider-Man countered.
"Enough, we are now on a mission. First we must secure the perimeter and find Dr. Rocket." Aqualad instructed.
"Spider-Man, you're with Superboy and Miss Martian. Robin, Kid Flash and Artemis, you're with me, we're going to look for the doctor. Once you've got the perimeter secured and we've found her I'll contact Miss Martian to set up the psychic link. Now, move out."
"Wait a psychic link?" Spider-Man muttered to himself as he leaped into the air and landed on the wall of the school slowly making his way around the building looking in each direction.
"Yeah, don't worry you'll see what we mean." Robin called over to him before disappearing into the building as Miss Martian flew to his right and Superboy leapt up to his left to the top of the building.
After a few moments of looking he felt a soft push in his mind and then, 'Connection established.' M'Gann's voice rang through his head forcing him to stop for a moment and adjust.
'So, this is a mental link huh? Weird. This will take some getting used to.' Spider-Man thought.
'Oh good so I'm not the only one a little off put by this.' Artemis' voice said.
'You get used to it.' Robin shrugged.
'Well, it's very distracting coding a distributed algorithm virus on a computer with less ram than an average wrist watch is hard enough, now I get to hear teens think in my skull the whole time?' A woman's voice said.
'Um, super hero teens trying to keep you safe from any deadly assassins sent your way.' Spider-Man countered.
'Are you this ungrateful with everyone that tries to save you?' Kid Flash added.
'Ah, yes pot, kettle have you met?' Artemis asked, smirking over to Kid Flash, who glared at her.
'Hey, I don't want or need any attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the team!'
'That is so not on me!' Artemis countered jumping up from her seat with a glare at the speedster.
'Yeah, besides that Arrow guy didn't exactly seem thrilled at the whole team thing. Also we should really think of a name for this team.' Spider-Man added as he kept his eyes on the empty school.
'Who's side are you on?' Kid Flash asked.
'Fate of the world here!' Dr. Roquette snapped.
'Sorry.' Spider-Man said.
'Why don't I just go patrol the perimeter with the others?' Artemis said, walking to the door and heading out.
'Good idea.' Aqualad agreed as the door closed.
Once she was gone, Robin turned frowning to Kid Flash, 'You know, you might want to be nicer to her. It was her arrow that saved you from Amazo.'
'No, that was Speedy's-I mean Red Arrow.' Kid Flash snapped. "Besides, I don't want to give her the satisfaction.'
'You know she can hear you, right?' Artemis asked, knowing that he would get angry about it.
"Dang it!" Kid Flash snapped out loud.
'I couldn't get the Justice League.' Roquette sighed through the link.
'Not this time, but we will keep you safe.' Robin thought.
'Yes, but the virus won't be of much use if we cannot find the weapon. Can you track it?' Aqualad asked.
'My utility fog isn't a weapon, it's science! Brilliant science!' She said, sounding defensive.
'Of course it is, but it's also extremely dangerous and any science in the wrong hands can be a weapon no matter what the creator intended.' Spider-Man thought from where he was perched outside the window. Roquette seemed to pause for a moment before nodding in slight defeat.
'I suppose that's true, and yes I can track easily even, but that would require going online which is a two way street as they could track me. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and Assassinate Me written in neon.'
Aqualad placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to glance up at him, 'We will protect you.' He said and whether she believed him or not Roquette nodded, hitting one final key.
'Tracking fog now.' She acknowledged as a map of the globe sprang onto the computer.
-Philadelphia Pennsylvania-
Inside a large red van two men were driving the large canister that contained Dr. Roquette's nanomachines. One of the men had a large helmet with a singular cyclops red eye holding a computer. He heard a beeping coming from the laptop near his hand and glancing down saw a tracking program running.
"Roquette has finally surfaced to track us, but that is a two way street, acquiring her location…now." He said as the location appeared on his computer.
-Happy Harbor High-
Spider-Man was getting used to having other voices in his head rather than his own. He tried not to think too much about it as they would hear anything he thought. As amusing as it was to hear Artemis and Kid Flash argue like a married couple, he needed to keep his focus on anything that might come to kill the doctor. His heightened senses heard some rustling, but it turned out to be a squirrel.
Smiling a little as he watched the animal take a fallen acorn and sprint back into the bushes. He stretched before shooting a webline from each wrist and slingshots himself over the building landing in a crouch on the fence beside Miss Martian and Artemis as they were looking around.
'You guys got anything?' Spider-Man asked.
'Not yet, but the night is still young.' Artemis replied. 'Still can't get used to others talking in my head.'
'I get ya. Gotta admit this mission is quiet. I kinda like it.' Spider-Man mused.
'If you want to keep it quiet then get back to patrolling.' Superboy said, snapping Spider-Man out of his musings.
Spider-Man and Artemis turned to Superboy. While Spider-Man blew a raspberry under his mask, Artemis had something else in mind as she looked over the young Kryptonian.
'Mm, yummy.' Artemis thought, causing Spider-Man, Miss Martian, and Superboy to turn towards her.
'You know he can hear you, we can all hear you right?' Miss Martian snapped making Spider-Man raise an eyebrow beneath his mask as he looked between the Martian and the Krytonian.
'Oh, I know. Doesn't change what I said or make it wrong.' Artemis said smiling.
Spider-Man just shrugged, figuring that at present, he had bigger concerns than who liked who on this team. Before Miss Martian could respond, which she looked ready to Aqualads voice cut across them.
'Miss Martian we have a location on the fog. Reconfigure the bioship so that Superboy, Robin and Spider-Man can pursue it.' He ordered as Miss Martian held out her hand and summoned the ship down as the door opened up.
'Ready.' She relayed.
'Great. Back into the belly of the beast.' Spider-Man grunted in his mind before jumping into Bio-Ship.
'Hey, be nice to her. She has feelings too.' Miss Martian snapped.
'Sorry. Just don't ever tell me the story of Pinocchio ever again.' Spider-Man said before Robin took off piloting it.
"Fasten your seatbelts gents, we're taking off!" Robin said, driving the ship.
Spider-Man almost jumped when the belts wrapped around him. He felt a lot like Pinocchio while he was inside the belly of the whale. He couldn't wait for them to find the Fog and put an end to this. They could stop the Shadows before they could hurt anyone with it or with whatever information they steal. He kept his eyes on the sky, hoping to be ready to jump out and get in on the action.
"So, where is the fog anyways?" He asked.
"Pennsylvania." Robin said as they shot off into the night.
As they flew through the air, Spider-Man wondered how the rest of the team was doing. From the interactions that he had with them he got a good sense of who they each were. Aqualad was obviously the leader, being the most mature while Kid Flash, while with good intentions, wasn't the most flexible with other heroes. Miss Martian was a people pleaser, with a bit of a jealousy streak that hopefully wouldn't cause issues with Superboy away. Superboy on the other hand was still a bit of a blank. He didn't talk much and whatever he did say sounded like a threat or an angry comment. Spider-Man could tell that it had something to do with Superboy's relationship with the Man of Steel. Any direct questions would end with him facing an angry Kryptonian, so the webslinger would have to walk on eggshells.
"So, how's training with the other heroes?" Spider-Man asked.
"It's fine I suppose. I mean they have a lot to teach, but it does feel like they kind of look down on us at times." Robin admitted.
"At times, it seems like every other mission they can't decide if they even trust us." Superboy growled.
"Yeah, my 'mentor' kinda doesn't hold back either. He is always there to ground me. Although I can't go all out on him. Don't want to break the old man." Spider-Man said. "But why do you think they don't trust you? I mean, I don't see Batman or Green Arrow here keeping us on the straight and narrow."
"You've barely been here, spend some more time with us you'll see what I mean. Though you probably won't see Superman." Superboy said and he sounded angry and a bit sad.
"Oh, well maybe he has the most faith in us as all compared to the others. So much so that he doesn't need to be around. Or maybe, he just wants you to be your own person, and doesn't want to influence that." Spider-Man shrugged and instead of glaring, Superboy actually seemed to stop and think about that.
"Hm, not bad, Spidey. Looks like Superboy actually likes you. It took me and the others getting the snot beaten out of us to get him to even look at us." Robin laughed.
"I know, I'm a ball of sunshine." Spider-Man said, leaning on the chair as they flew.
As the group flew through the sky, they were able to see the night lights of the city where they were going. They flew directly to where the Fog was going to attack, but they were too late. They saw the Pennsylvania branch of S.T.A.R. Labs completely destroyed, it's last few walls crumbling to the ground.
"Robin to Aqualad, we found the shadows next target, it's S.T.A.R Labs and it's completely destroyed."
"Robin, was anyone in there?!" Spider-Man asked, getting dejavu from the sight of the destroyed building going rigid as the ship seeming to sense his discomfort, vibrated his seat a little to try and calm .
"No, the building was empty. But the next target may not be so lucky." Robin replied.
"Understood, we were just attacked by an assassin from the Shadows by the codename of Cheshire. We are moving Dr. Roquette to another location for her safety."
"We need to figure out what we do now. They already have all the information that STAR Labs had, and that's a lot of cutting edge science in the hands of the enemy." Spider-Man said, actually patting the armrest of his seat.
"He's right, Doctor Roquette can track the fog then we can move her to a safer location. You three will have to get to the fog, before it can do too much damage." Aqualad acknowledged earning an affirmative from each boy as they stared at the remains of the facility below them.
Spider-Man, Robin and Superboy waited patiently as Dr. Roquette searched for the Fog once more. The tension of where the next target could be and how far they were was as thick as frozen butter. Spider-Man was getting twitchy and ready for action, feeling ticklish on his fingers.
"Alright, ship I'm fine and I don't hate you, just took some getting used to." Spider-Man said aloud as the vibration in his chair stopped and he actually smiled.
"That's actually kind of sweet," Robin said with a small smile, which faded as soon as the screen in front of him pinged showing the fog's location. "We got it, and it's heading towards Gotham!"
Robin kicked the Bio-ship into overdrive as they headed back to Gotham City.
"Where do you think the Shadows will strike?" Superboy asked.
"Hard to say. They could go for Powers, Stagg, or Wayne Enterprises. Those three are valid options." Spider-Man replied.
"The trick would be in finding out what the Shadows want, but like Spidey said any of those companies could be…" Robin trailed off his eyes going wide as something occurred to him.
'The Shadows know who Bruce is, Ra's would want more of an advantage over him, meaning if I were a betting boy wonder…'
"They're going after a Wayne Tech facility! They have the most advanced science, and in theory if they could get information from the facility the right software could be used to hack the…" Robin began, but then hesitated.
"The what?" Superboy asked.
"Nothing, the bigger problem is Wayne Tech runs a twenty four hour working schedule. That place is going to be packed with personale. I think the C.E.O is going to be in the building tonight." Robin explained.
"Then we better get there, fast!" Spider-Man said. "Punch it, Robin!'
And Robin did just that. The Bio-ship sped through the air at top speeds, cutting through clouds and the night sky. The three heroes were talking about strategy and what to do when they arrived. Robin suggested calling on ahead with the possibility of a threat and evacuate the building. Superboy wanted to go guns blazing on the bad guys as soon as they saw them. Spider-Man wasn't sure how to proceed, he wanted to stop the Fog but attacking them directly could cause problems like releasing the Fog and cause damage. Their best bet might be to stop them before they could release the weapon.
"If we can't get to them, and take them down fast, maybe Doctor Roquette can upload the virus before they even have the chance to unleash it." Spider-Man said hopefully.
"We can't be sure she will be able to fully upload it before they can unleash it." Robin pointed out. "But if we spot them and take them down before they unleash it, we can take the Fog to somewhere they won't be able to get it."
"Either way, I just want to punch something." Superboy said.
"Just don't punch me while you're at it." Spider-Man added.
"Shouldn't have to unless you're secretly on their side?" Superboy said sarcastically.
Spider-Man laughed awkwardly, not knowing if this was Superboy's attempt at humor or if he was serious based on his tone.
The group entered Gotham airspace and made a quick beeline to the Wayne Tech Facility building. They looked down just as Bruce Wayne himself stepped out of his car. But they also noticed that a red van had parked at the parking lot across the street of the building. The door opened up to reveal the agent of the Shadows and the canister where The Fog laid in wait to infiltrate its target.
"Something tells me that there isn't soup in that large canister." Spider-Man said.
"That's where the Fog is!" Robin said. "We need to get down there!"
"Finally. Then let's go with my plan." Superboy said as the Bio-ship opened a hole on the floor.
"What was your attack plan again?" Spider-Man asked.
"Simple. Attack." Superboy replied before dropping down from the alien ship.
"Not much of a plan, but sure." Spider-Man said, jumping down after the boy of steel. Unfortunately as Sensi looked up Spider-Man's Spider-Sense went off.
"Look out!" He called out shooting a webline and wrenching himself to the side just as Professor Ojo fired a blast that caught Superboy in the chest and would have sent him flying into Spider-Man had he not dodged.
Spider-Man landed on the ground in crouch, in time to jump and flip backward out of the way of another blast of energy burnt through the ground.
"I thought assassins were supposed to be silent but deadly." Spider-Man said, landing on the edge of the car park just as Ojo opened the canister and released the fog which swarmed out past a surprised looking Bruce Wayne and into Wayne Tech.
"No! The virus is uploading! We need to hold the fog off!" Robin said, jumping from the ship and using a grapple line to swing to the entrance, he exchanged a look with Bruce Wayne before running inside.
"Go help, Robin. I'll deal with the cyclops." Superboy said standing and cracking his neck. Not seeing a reason to argue, Spider-Man jumped down and swung in just behind Robin.
"Hey! You two can't be here!" The Security guard called out pulling out a walkie, "Unauthorized Entry!" He called into it as a large set of bars came down to cut off the two heroes.
"Wayne Tech override Archie Four!" Robin called out and to Spider-Man's surprise the gate began to rise as they both slid beneath the gate, Spider-Man noticed a man ahead looking around then his eyes widened as he saw the fog approaching him.
Spider-Man shot himself forward towards him tackling the man to the ground and shielding the man with his body, and a quickly constructed web dome around the man's lower body. Spider-Man could feel the fog eating away at his costume, he could even feel as his phone fell from his jacket and was eaten through before it could hit the ground. It felt like a thousand tiny teeth were eating away at him.
Then all at once it was over and panting he stood and the remains of his jacket and other clothes fell to the ground, holding his pants and mask up with he used his webs to hold them in place before offering a hand up, trying to ignore the fact he was bleeding from several small wounds across his body.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yes, thank you, but are you okay?" The man asked, concerned.
"Fine, I've been through worse, I need to go help my friend you should get out of here and help get anyone else out that you can alright?" Spider-Man asked and receiving a nod he ran off after Robin.
-Outside Wayne Tech-
Superboy stood glaring at Ojo as he jumped forward. Ojo fired another blast at him aiming to hit him in the chest again, only for Superboy to punch the beam, sending it back.
'What I wouldn't give for Wonder Woman's Bracelets right now.' Superboy thought, feeling the sting of the blast.
Superboy continued doing so, resisting the powerful. He continued punching, cutting the distance between them. The villain was afraid of what might happen if the young and angry Kryptonian got close to him. The ground cracked with each step Superboy took until he was face to face with Professor Ojo. Ojo tried to run but Superboy grabbed hold of the man's arm.
He tried firing one more blast at him, but Superboy grabbed him by the face causing the helmet to explode knocking the man backward and out of Superboy's hands, he bounced off the van and fell to the ground.
"That would have been so much easier if I had heat vision." Superboy muttered.
-Inside Wayne Tech-
Spider-Man caught up with Robin as the infiltrating nanobots got closer to their target. Thinking quickly, the webslinger fired blasts of web past them. The web shots turned into a large web wall between the nanobot infiltrators and their target. However, the infiltrators were slowly eating through his webs.
"That won't hold them long." Spider-Man said. "Anything from the guys?"
"Not yet the virus is downloading, if it can just finish before they get through."
"Well they're eating through each computer and downloading information inside. If you had one that was hooked to the mainframe maybe you could download the virus into it and trick them into downloading it from both ends?" Spider-Man offered.
"Dude! You're a genius!" Robin said, pulling a cable from his gauntlet and running over to the cafeteria's computer.
"Please be hooked to the mainframe, please be hooked up to the mainframe." Robin muttered while he brought up his holographic tablet and smirked.
'Thank you Bruce for being paranoid enough to hook even the cashier's computers to the mainframe.' Robin thought, downloading the virus to the other side as the bots started to download it as well as having it fed to them via Roquette.
They started to become red, and then the fog went completely red and the bots all fell to the ground inert, a few of them even exploding.
"Yes! The infiltrators have been Exfultrated!" Robin declared showing the completed download.
"What? Dude, don't make up words. Just say that they've been infiltrated." Spider-Man said.
"Hey, when you win you can make your own words." Robin smirked. "By the way, your fly is down."
Spider-Man looked down to see that his jacket and undershirt were gone, his pants were closer to a loincloth at this point and his mask had a few scratches. If anyone had seen him now would assume he had gotten his suit from the dumpster behind the building. He sighed as he gestured towards the exit.
"Let's go. Hopefully the others are good on their end." Spider-Man said. "Oh crap! The assassins! We need to get there!" He said, pulling Robin behind him, swinging out of the building. When they managed to get a hold of the others, they got a little bit of relief.
"We are alright, a few bruises and scratches, but the doctor is safe. Only Cheshire managed to slip away." Aqualad said, sounding a bit tired.
"It's good to know you're alright, we'll go pick you guys up and head back to the cave." Robin said as he directed the Bio-ship to their location.
The alien spaceship flew through the air out of Gotham and back to Happy Harbor where the rest of the team were. Once they arrived the other part of the team had taken Doctor Roquette to the proper authorities and back to her home. However, the moment the Bio-ship landed the rest of the team started laughing, well Kid Flash started laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Kid Flash laughed, pointing to Spider-Man's utterly destroyed suit.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Kid. Let's see you face off against killer nanobots and come out with more than this." Spider-Man said as the ship took off once more.
"Don't let him bother you. He's just jealous that the new guy has more muscles than him." Artemis said, making Kid Flash stop his mocking. "Besides, you look good topless."
Spider-Man was glad his mask was still in mostly one piece as he knew his face was a bright red right now.
"Do you just hit on everyone?" Kid Flash demanded.
"Ah, just the cute ones don't be jealous." She smirked as they boarded the ship.
"Seriously, does anyone have some spare pants and a shirt?" Spider-Man asked. "I don't want to go back to Gotham looking like modern Tarzan."
As soon as they arrived back at Mount Justice, Superboy handed Spider-Man a pair of pants and a spare Superman T-shirt. Not his preferred pieces of clothing but he wasn't going to say no to a new pair of pants after being wearing a loincloth during the night. He was a little bummed, he didn't exactly have money for a new costume and a new phone.
"So, how was your first mission with the team?" Robin asked.
"Aside from the killer nanobots and being almost naked in front of everyone? I gotta say I'm gonna like hanging out with you guys." Spider-Man said, still wearing his mask and his loaned clothes.
"Well assuming Batman let's me stay on anyway." He added, as The Zeta Tube flared to life again.
"Recognized Batman. A-02."
The dark Knight stepped through a briefcase in his hand, looking every bit as grim as usual as the team all stood in front of him.
"The mission was a success then?"
"Yes. We were able to protect Dr. Roquette and were able to stop and disable the Fog before the Shadows could steal any information from Wayne Tech." Aqualad explained.
"And the Shadow assassins. It would seem that after the Fog was destroyed they no longer saw a reason to eliminate her. They managed to escape before we could stop them."
"But we got a souvenir." Kid Flash added, holding up Cheshire's mask.
"Dude, that's one creepy cat mask." Spider-Man said.
Batman then turned to Spider-Man and then back to Aqualad and Robin. Spider-Man couldn't help but feel nervous at what would happen next.
"How did Spider-Man fare in this mission?" Batman asked.
"From his time with most of his time with the team he behaved very professionally and made good decisions." Aqualad said.
"He was smart enough to figure out a way to get down to the Infiltrators on time, and had good reflexes to help people in need. I say he stays." Robin said.
Batman nodded in understanding before turning to Spider-Man, "Well, do you want to stay on the team?" Batman asked.
"Yeah, I mean I may not be around for every mission, but I wouldn't mind being on the team if I'm welcome, and I could use some more friends." He admitted.
Spider-Man could almost see the shadow of a smile on Batman's face as he looked at him.
"Very well. Spider-Man as of this day you are now a member of the Justice League's Special Black Ops team." Batman said, handing Spider-Man the briefcase.
"Wait does this position come with some sort of desk job I wasn't told about, because not gonna lie I might quit if that's the case." Spider-Man said, taking the case in confusion.
"I also want to resign if there's a lot of paperwork." Artemis agreed.
Batman didn't reply or answer their questions. He merely turned around and walked back to the Zeta tube like he had just finished with whatever he needed to do.
Spider-Man shrugged at the Caped Crusader's actions. He looked at the briefcase, secretly hoping that it was full of cash or at least a new cell phone. He opened the case and was surprised at what was inside. It was definitely not a cell phone, though there was one of those too.
"Wow, guess you're lucky your old costume got eaten right?" Robin asked as he looked at the contents of the briefcase.
"I mean, I guess so. Think I might try it tomorrow though. I'm tired and starving at this point, I need to go home." He admitted with a slight yawn.
"Sure, take it easy. I'm pretty sure he got the sizes right." Robin said.
"Alright, well skipping over for now how he knew my sizes Take care guys. I'll see you next time." Spider-Man said, waving goodbye to his new team, he turned to Robin who had just finished finalizing his Zeta Tube status from temporary to permanent.
"See you at school Dick." He whispered to the boy wonder who spun to look at him so fast, it might've been on par with Kid Flash.
"I…how did you?" He muttered.
"You had an override password in Wayne Tech, nothing you or Batman use can possibly be cheap. So through elimination, I sort of guessed who you were." Spider-Man said. "And just so we're all on the same page." He added, pulling up his mask, showing his face. "My name is Liam."
"Huh, I knew it. He is cute." Artemis said as Liam walked into the Zeta tube.
"Recognized: Spider-Man B-08."
In a flash of light, Spider-Man was gone.
-Gotham City-
Liam emerged from an alleyway and took in a deep breath enjoying the warm air. He took a moment to stop open up the case and grab the new Wayne Tech phone from inside, calling Jack just to be sure he knew he was safe, he headed down the street. Arriving at last at a small Diner named Kirby's that he knew made the best burgers in Gotham.
"Man, I haven't eaten anything." Liam muttered as his stomach growled. Happy that at least his wallet hadn't been eaten, he sat down at a booth, ordered a burger and began to people watch as he programmed numbers into his phone. At first there was no one who stood out too much at least by Gotham standards.
Then to his surprise a young woman sat down across from him. She had tanned skin, long auburn hair, and her green eyes seemed to glint with interest. He noticed that while curvy she also had a fair bit of muscle to her, he was trying figure in his sleep and hunger addled brain if he had seen her before and if so where. She felt familiar.
"Um, hi." Liam said, trying to be friendly.
"Hey. You're looking well. Almost didn't recognize you, also never thought you'd be such a Superman fan."
"Sorry, have we met before?" Liam asked.
"Oh yeah, we've met before. Kinda hurt you already forgot me araña." She said.
Liam briefly stiffened up. His head recalled the last person that ever called him that. And he could already picture her with her mask. Pantha was sitting right across from him and she looked even hotter without the mask.
"So, what's good here?" She asked.
"Just about anything. So what should I call you?" Liam asked.
"How about my name? Since we already know who we each are. Rosabelle Mendez." Rosabelle said, extending her hand.
"Dupin. Liam Dupin." Liam introduced himself, shaking her hand in an attempt to both sound cooler and look like he hadn't been checking her out.
"What are you James Bond now?" She chuckled ordering a burger for herself.
"I mean with the night I just had, I could be." He shrugged and they both burst out laughing as they began to talk.
A/N: So ends chapter 6 we hope you all enjoyed it. I know we didn't show the Cheshire side of things, but nothing really changed there so showing it felt unnecessary. Anyways see you all next chapter and have a wonderful morning, afternoon, or evening where ever you happen to be.