FOUR BOYS: The Path We Seek
Chapter 8: Mount Justice
"The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude."
*BANG!*
The batarang cut threw the air as it flew, and even though it was thrown in a last desperate attempt it connected with the Joker s hand just in time the shot went off, redirecting the aim. The shot still managed to graze R's arm but it was not a fatal wound as it would have been.
R cringed at the slash but seemed otherwise okay, he glared at the clown with a look that could definitely rival the Dark Knight´s stare, Ivy and Count Vertigo tried using the opportunity and launched at the boy, but where stopped as the looming black figure of the Batman landed in between them aiming a glare of his own, one of pure anger and promised pain.
R looked at Batman's back in surprise and curiosity, 'Had the Dark Knight, his sworn enemy, just protected him?'.
He looked back at the now unconscious figure of the Joker, he had swiftly taken care of him and now the clown laid in the ground unmoving. The villain should be grateful, he had not used any lethal movements and had managed to avoid killing him.
R grabbed onto his arm, the burning pain making him remember of everything else, he turned to look at the hero again.
"You're here." He stated, though a bit of disbelief could be heard in his voice.
The Bat jumped out of the way of a vine lash and looked over his shoulder at the boy. "You manage to stop the plants... Good job." He called and went back at the fight, missing the shiny wide eyes and slight blush that formed in the boys expression.
'Had he just been praised?'
...
'I'm running out of fuel.' L thought as he felt himself slowing down a bit, but even though he felt extremely tired he had to keep running, Atomic Skull was know trying to shock him and Black Atom kept trying to stop him. He knew very well it was practicaly impossible for them to catch him with his speed, but now that he was slowing down he was getting a bit worried.
One of the blasts did come too close to his liking, making him trip and fall hard to the ground. He closed his eyes waiting for the next blow but nothing came. He heard a cry and opened his eyes, Black Canary had manage to hold back both villians as a flash stopped in front of him.
L looked at the Scarlet speedster, he had a knowing look on his eyes and an extended hand offering...
"An energy bar?" L asked a bit in disbelief looking at the small rectangular package.
"Take it, they're modified to give 200% more energy than normal food. You should always carry something just in case." Flash said, "You'll learn some tricks as you go along L. Trust me."
L stared for a bit suspicious at the whole ordeal, then slowly took the bar. Flash grinned and went to help Canary. He frowned looking at both heroes fighting the Injustice League.
'Were they sane? Who in their right mind would save their enemy.'
The speedster focused on the sorrounding battles, his eyes widening.
'Ren!' he thought as he looked at his best friend, blood flowing down his arm as he laid against a dead vine though he looked calm in his exterior L could tell by the slight tensed jaw and the hold on his injured arm, that R was troubled. He went to his side to keep an eye out and protect him just in case.
...
Water would not be able to hold much longer, he knew that. Sweat traveled down his face as he held his arms in front trying to stop Wotan's blast. 'I can not give up' he thought with difficulty closing his eyes. He heard a sound to his side and opened his eyes again looking sideways at the figure that had landed.
It was Aquaman "Allow me to assist you, young one." He said as he took the blast with one hand and nodded to the air. Water looked in awe at the imposing proud figure of the king of the seas. Up in the air Zatara appeared, he chanted a spell and threw Wotan to the ground hard. Water felt his energy drain and fell to his knees panting. He had much more to learn about mystical arts and he knew it. A part of him thought that the heroes would be good mentors, but that was not his place to be in. Unfortunately.
...
'I HATE MONKEYS' Superboy thought throwing angry punches to the gorilla who kept somehow blocking or doging away from them. It was frustrating indeed. He threw another hard punch missing again as the gorrilla swerve around grinning. Somehow the beast was thrown upward, 'What happened?' S thought surprised and looked to the front, it was Superman he was looking at the flying primate in satisfaction, both kryptonians then shared a minute of silence looking to each other.
Superman showed a slight discomfort, S frowned and turned away headed to his teammates.
He heard Superman call. "Blind strength is nothing without control, but you did a good job keeping him busy." the hero then launched to the sky. The clone grumbled and continued walking as if he hadn't heard anything, Superman was somebody who he had always wanted to meet, but now... he wasn't sure of it. In fact, he was ready to take the place of the hero. To fulfill his mission and become a better Superman.
"Renegade!?" Superboy said slightly surprised as he got to the place where his teammates were and watched his leader who seemed a bit paler than usual aside from the injury thanks to a certain clown.
"You okay dude?" L tried again a bit worried, he was a bit upset he hadn´t been keeping an eye on the youngest, he could have maybe disable the clown before he shot.
"Mm fine" R said, 'He was partially worried more of the fact his healing abilities had not kicked in. Perhaps he was still dealing with that stupid punishment´s repercussions.'
The League against The Injustice League, it was mostly over and the villains had lost.
"Dude this is a mess." L said eating the energy bar as he reclined in the vine. ¨Mmm, this is actually pretty good." He muttered his mouth full earning a annoyed glare from the others.
"Renegade I believe this is the best time to retrieve. We have completed our main purpose here." Water reasoned and tried to stand up his legs shaking in effort.
The youngest turned to them after accessing all odds. He sighed as he had come to the best and most logical choice at the moment, "We are standing against 7 powerhouses of the Justice League. We have no jet, no energy, no way out. The Kobra Venom sample is already in possession of the League, we can´t leave it at that."
The others looked surprised at their leader's decision, L nearly choked, "Wait are you saying. W-we?"
"-Yes, we stay." R said in a firm tone, he looked really tired and annoyed as he tapped on his wrist computer. "We need to destroy the samples at all cost." S growled but did not objected, Water looked at the floor and L sighed heavily. They watched the fight until the seven villians were unconscious and tied up being lifted in a green cage thanks to Green Lantern.
Batman, Aquaman, Flash and Superman looked at the four battered boys sitting against the dead vine. Batman nodded to Green Lantern as he produced another cage and trapped the boys in it.
"Hey!" L screamed, as W and S glared at the heroes. R's expression remained as neutral as always, but his eyes showed a tint of uncertainity.
"You are still a threat, you will be coming with us for now." Black Canary explained them.
L turned to R and whispered harshly "We could have tried to run when we had the chan- did she just say threat?"
"Huh? How is that any different." S said still glaring at the heroes.
As they began ascending R started assessing the situation: Lightning was not at full capacity, Superboy seemed tired also, Water couldn't even stand, he had been injured by a close shot, not to mention they were surrounded by the Leagues most powerful members.
"Contingency 22" R muttered. Superboy shot him a look, 'Contingency 22?' Then he looked at the others who seemed as if they didn't hear anything 'Was it just meant for him? But if he could hear it, Superman could as well' A glance to he man of steel confirmed it. R didn't acknowledge any of the kryptonians. 'Was he aware of what he said? Of course he did, but did it even mean?'
Flash neared the boys and crouched down at the other side of the cage. "How are you feeling?" He asked eyeing the slightly bleeding injury.
"Peachy" came the short response. The hero nodded, he turned to the atlantean who nodded as well.
Flash sighed, this could end very good or very bad.
...Happy Harbor, Mount Justice...
Arriving at the mountain in Happy Harbor, Green lantern took off with the still unconscious villians, leaving the others at the grotto. The four boys stared in awe at the looming statures of past and present heroes.
"Soo now….." Flash rapidly to shackle the young fighters. "This. Ah its for cautionary methods." He finished as he pressed a red botton and the devices made a sound.
'Inhibitor shackles?' R looked at the devices in surprise.
"What's this for? I can vibrate…" L said easily trying to vibrated himself out of them but found his powers gone."...Oh". W and S tried breaking them apart but their powers were also gone.
"This are special controlled shackles designed to prevent the wearers from accessing their superhuman abilities, and also… apply electric shocks powerful enough to render a person unconscious. I advice you to behave and follow orders." Batman said in serious tone, escorting the boys to a zeta tube entrance, along with the other Leaguers.
"Woah Batman seems pissed." L whispered to the others. They stared at the back of the Dark Knight, he indeed seemed angry. R frowned.
Superman-01
Aquaman-06
Zatara- 11
Authorized guest-A01
Authorized guest-A02
Authorized guest-A03
Authorized guest-A04
Batman- 02
Black Canary- 13
Flash- 04
The computer voice announced as they all entered the mountain. Flash was the first one in breaking the silence, flashing in front of the boy and saying proudly "Welcome to Mount Justice".
Everybody noticed the awed looks in the four, as if they were kids looking at a Christmas tree for the first time. Flash coughed catching their attention and grinned, "Sooo, what do you think?"
"Lets head to the med bay, you need to get those wounds treated." Black Canary said and guided the boys, as L passed in front of Flash he muttered "Nice." The older speedster smiled as he followed Black Canary, and the boys.
R winced a bit as Black Canary started to disinfect the wound and wrapping it.
"It was close." She said looking at the boy's eyes and smiled softly, the sweet smile and the look, as a mother caring for her son, made R's heart to clench painfully, he looked away.
Black Canary gave then a pity look although the kid didn't notice, she then headed to treat the others who were in better condition but still needed to recover their energy.
As Batman and Zatara entered the med bay they saw Black Canary and Flash were almost done checking on S, W and L. Batman then directed his view to Renegade who sat in a bed, his arm had been bandage but afar from looking to his teammates or the leaguers he was looking up-front to the wall his eyes going form side to side as if seeking something.
Till now, they had been awfully cooperative and quiet. Realization hit the Bat.
"Zatara" He called.
"Peels to og" the magician chanted as he directed the spell to the young ones. Before they knew what happened each fell to the ground sound asleep.
"Um B how will knocking them off help build trust between them and us!?" Flash asked bewildered.
"Renegade has been assessing, every hall, every camera, every posible way out since they enterred the mountain. I wouldn't be surprise if he is mostly done mapping the layout of the cave." Batman stated.
"They are all dangerous, we should be aware that they have been trained, and them being young will not fool us." Zatara spoke.
"All of them are dangerous in different ways yes." Black Canary sighed "from what I've seen they also have many uncertainties, which leads them to make mistakes. If it weren't for those uncertainties, I believe they would be... deadly, unstoppable."
The Leaguers now began understanding the true extent of the powers of the mysterious boys and how they could not be taken lightly just for their age or appearance.
Chapter 9 continue...
..."FOUR BOYS" STORY DATA...
THE LIGHT: a council made up of six self-proclaimed enlightened members. Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, Queen Bee, Klarion, Ra's Al Ghoul, The Brain. They worked with CADMUS in order to create the perfect weapons resulted from genetic engineering, biochemical engineering, robotics, nano-robotics, and techno-sorcery, created for the sole purpose of defeating the League. They are called "masters" by R, L, W, and S. They chose R as the leader. Their true purpose is still unclear…
RENEGADE: known better as R, a thirteen year old boy, slight, lean, well-toned build with short black hair and dark blue eyes.. He was kidnapped by CADMUS and experimented on by scientists known as Crew R, the head scientist Luke Evans did see him as a son, and entrusted him with a secret and a mission he now carries alone without anyone else knowing, though Water suspects something is going on. He has demonstrated, deadly fighting skills combining martial arts and gymnastics, high IQ, master hacking abilities, stronger than an average human but not considered meta, stealth factor, healing factor and ability with any type of weapon, the origins of some factors are unclear. He hates being seen as weak, believes in true justice, cares for his friends and see everybody that truly cares for him as family. Though he may be cold sometimes he likes to joke around and be as any normal kid. His destined goal is defeating the Dark Knight of Gotham.
WATER: referred as W, he has light blond hair, deep brown skin, pale green eyes, and a lean build. As any training atlantean he possesses black, eel-like tattoos that run across his back and along his arms that glow a bright blue when using his powers. Water was offered to CADMUS. after developing the substance from Atlantis, combined it with Kobra venom and created the atlantean traits enhancing formula or ATEF. He is a skilled fighter, knows hidrokinesis, electrokinesis, posses Atlantean evolution, and is particularly skilled with his water bearers. He seems to be the calming wind in the team, and keeps an eye in every member worrying for them as a big brother, he doesn't like the idea of R facing everything alone and thus keeps an eye on him specially. He may sometimes have a twisted sense of justice because of past experiences. His destined goal is defeating the king of the seas and taking control of Atlantis.
LIGHTNING: L for short, he has spiky red hair, freckles and green eyes, slightly muscular build also. He was kidnapped by CADMUS at a young age. In addition to super speed Crew L went ahead upgrading Flash's formula and giving him the power to multiply himself, although it does not last for too long it comes in handy many times. He has fast metabolism and can heal in seconds. Lighting loves video games, eating, running, and spending time with his teammates. He sees R as his best friend and calls him very often like that. He is practically the one who cheers the others and lightens the mood. He is sometimes impulsive earning some trouble for him or his teammates but is quick to admit he messed up. Though he has no problem in killing he prefers fun missions with action but not too much implications. His goal is defeating The Scarlet Speedster.
SUPERBOY: called S , the hybrid clone of Superman created by CADMUS from scratch, along the way it is known that Lex Luthor took part as a DNA donor for it do be complete. He posses most of Superman's powers. He thinks he is better than the others at fighting, he is defiant and does not like being told what to do or being dismissed, but silently respects Renegade and thus accept him as a leader. Out of battle he is very distant but still cares for his teammates. He likes to prove himself to everybody, turning down any kind of help from his teammates, but plays along in strategic plans R formulates in battle. He likes static, and fighting. He was programmed to both take down the man of steel and take over the role of Superman.
ATEF: Substance from Atlantean sorcery provided by David Kane combined with Kobra venom, it is totally permanent and allows the user to have control. Water's traits origin.