Now on Earth, at the Hall of Justice...
"RECOGNIZED: AQUALAD I, B-0-2; SUPERBOY I, B-0-4; MISS MARTIAN, B-0-5; KID FLASH I, B-0-3; ARTEMIS, B-0-7; WOLF, B-2-4; SPHERE, B-2-5; ROBIN I, B-0-1!"
Once they were all through the Zeta-Beam, they went through the metal doors that said, 'Authorized for Justice League and Young Justice Members Only'. The sign was meant for the citizens outside of the Hall of Justice Study Room or for new comers joining the Hero Job, which was also the League's Meeting Room, even though the Team had no idea to why the League have that sign up in the first place when they hardly allow any regular citizens into the Study and the heroes always allow new heroes to come up to the Watchtower.
Once they were all out of the Zeta-Beam, the Team found their mentors and some of the League Members sitting at a long table that seemed to stretch from the front of the bookshelf at the left-side of the wall to the other bookshelf on the right-side of the other wall. Superman was the first to see them out, since his spot at the end of the table and was the closest to where the Zeta-Beam and computer is at.
"It was about time you guys got here," he said. He then gestured the youth to sit at the empty seats of the table, which was either next to one of the League Members or at the other end of the table. "Please, take a seat." Instead of all going to their seats at the same time, Nightwing was the first to move towards the table. Kaldur was the next to move, walking behind the thirteen year-old. Conner moved behind him, with M'gann held within his left-arm and both Wolf and Sphere coming at both his and the Martian's sides. Wally and Artemis came last, with Wally having Artemis be held within his right-arm and Artemis having him in her left.
They went to the other end of the table, where there were more empty seats. To the left-side of the table sat Nightwing and Kaldur, with Wolf sitting in-between the oldest and youngest of the group and Sphere on the right-side of Nightwing's spot. While Conner, M'gann, Wally and Artemis sat at the other side of the table, since the couples wanted to stay together and not part, even if they would only be across from one another. None of them said word, and neither Wolf or Sphere made a sound.
The Justice League seemed a bit nervous and worried to why any of them aren't saying a word. As if knowing what to do, the Team nodded their heads and Nightwing was the first to make eye-contact to the adults.
"If you wish to know what happened, why don't you ask us already?" The League could only stare at them, in confusion and deeply concern. Nevertheless, Superman spoke.
"We thought you wanted to ask us on what has happened on Earth while you were gone," he replied. Though they weren't making eye-contact, the Team had their telepathic conversation.
[He hasn't changed a bit, since that seems to be all he could say.] Wally
[What do you expect from him, KF? He's been raised by the Kents to become an honest man, though he would at times have problems in lying or finding the right words to say.] Dick
"We don't need to ask to know what happened, because we already knew what happened while we were gone." The young-Speedster decided to play along, mixing the truth with the lie to see how they would react. "While we were gone, M'gann and Wing were able to gather information from Bio the moment we were able to get some upgrades for her."
"Really? Huh, no wonder she looked so different." Flash replied, placing his right-hand to his chin and thinking on the last time he saw the red-aircraft before she went into space with the team. Wally narrowed his eyes at his uncle.
[And, unfortunately, though not very surprised, my uncle is still the same child-like adult.] Wally
"But hey, if you know what was going on, I guess that means you already know of them." Flash continued, which means he was done thinking on the changes to the Bio-Ship. Conner slowly clenched his hands into fists on the table, as his nails slowly began to dig into the hard work and leave small white-lines on it.
"Them?" His question made some of the League Members confused. "We don't know who you're talking about, for we weren't able to get any information of Earth in the first three years of our departure until the Bio-Ship was upgraded and all we found out was the many battles the heroes had with the villains."
After gaining the information, most of the League glared at the older-Speedster and the rest looked completely nervous that he gave away information that they hoped the team would've known if they had been getting information from Earth all there years. The team looked completely calmed, but they were furious and clearly upset in the inside.
[I knew it! They replaced us! We, their protégés, who stayed by their side through every battle and gave our own lives to protect them! We went into space for them, so that they could stay alive and protect the Earth! And how do they thanked us for our loyalty? They replaced us with New-B's and act like we've never existed!] Wally
[I never thought that my king, whose been like a father to me when I was six, would replace me.] Kaldur
[Never thought Ollie would just move on to Archer Number Four, after all we've been through, along with Roy and Red Arrow.]Artemis
[No... He couldn't had replaced us... My Uncle wouldn't had replaced me!] M'gann
[I guess Clark never actually wanted to make me part of the family or accept me into his life, after all. I mean, who would want a clone in the family, when he's also the son of one of your worst enemies? I knew it was too good to be true...] Conner
[Should've known he would get himself a new Robin, since a Bat needs a bird at his side, no matter how skilled he is or how much he claims to not need a partner to come save him from danger. Batgirl may had helped him and fought at his side, but she isn't a bird and wasn't formally trained by the Dark Knight in the first place.] Dick
The youngest of the group gave them a quick glance through the Domino-mask lenses, which they quickly caught with their own secret glance.
[Guys, I know how much this got to hurt you, but we must be strong... After all, we're no longer their protégés, nor are we the Young Justice, anymore... We still have each other, for we've been our own family for more than seven and a half years and are still our own family.] Dick
Each gave short nods at the youngest, and they instantly kept their cool. The Justice League seemed worried that the team were too angry to say a word about having new members to the Young Justice to help them protect the world, while the original had go out to Rimbor with no help from their mentors. As if to prove them wrong, Nightwing decided to prove them wrong when they had the right to feel right and worried.
"We're glad that you were able to have new protégés to take our place, while we were gone." He then gave the Justice League one of his fake smiles, and his voice changed into his cheerful and accepting tone. "We knew that you would need a team to help you out, so we understood if you had to create a new Young Justice Team to fill in our spots. In fact, we actually can't wait to meet our new teammates." His words brought smiles of relief to the League and he was even able to fool Batman and J'onn, for the preteen was able to control his emotions and body language by will to fool common enemies or those he doesn't trust.
The team quickly hid their mad expression and acted like they would whenever they have a new member to the team, with Wally and M'gann to act the most cheerful and to gain most of the League's attention.
"Yeah, which means more brothers and sisters to torment or tease, besides our Little Bird over here!" The young-Speedster cried, nudging Nightwing's left-arm with his right, in a teasing moment. The young Vigilante simply gave him a fake glare. M'gann and Artemis giggled at their playfulness, even though they had to pretend to be laughing and see it like their usual tease.
"And I can't even wait to make Earth Forgúüná again," the female martian added.
"Forgúüná?" Flash asked, not knowing what language she was speaking in. Whatever she just said gotten Wally to rub his stomach in hunger and Artemis to chuckle at his expression.
"It means, 'Food' in Tárjürma's Language." The young-archer explained. Triton then stood from his spot, with Nightwing standing with him.
"I'm afraid we've been speaking in different languages while in space, since we had visit many new worlds in space, we're not use to speaking in our own language, even while we travel on Bio to the next planets." The Atlantean said.
"Even with Mistress Martian's ability to help us communicate with the aliens, we'd decided to try and learn their language and eventually started to understand them without having Mistress Martian's telepathic mind ability." Nightwing added, placing his left-hand on top of Wolf's head. "I figure you wish to know what happened while we were out in space, right?" Some of the League members nodded their heads to his question. The preteen let out a deep sigh. "Very well, but we shall answer what we will answer to and not what we wish to keep for ourselves."
"Fair enough." Superman agreed. Nightwing could tell that the Kryptonian was giving Conner glances with his own blue-eyes, eyes that held a mixture of worry, concern, relief and worry... But they also held fear, confusion and even misunderstanding. Superman seemed to have felt a couple of eyes staring at him, for he quickly shook his head and immediately put on his playful smile. "So, what happened?" Silence answered the full-Kryptonian, for the team were having their own conversation again.
[Besides him having superpowers, would somebody tell me how and why he's the leader of the Justice League?] Wally
[I can answer to that one, Walls. I hacked the Batcomputer when I was eight and a half and that was nearly around the time I met the Justice League as Robin, though I started crime fighting when I was eight. Anyway, I found a video that had the League declaring who should lead them and they'd decided on Batman to be that leader. However, he declined and told them to have Superman as their leader. Though Clark did made him second in command, this was back when Batman wasn't going to join, because of his 'working alone' thing and this was long before he met me, but that changed when Superman talked him into staying... So, basically, that's sort of the reason to why Clark's the leader.] Dick
[Well, that's stupid.] Wally
[Uh, guys? What should we say?] M'gann
[I'll answer the question.] Conner
[Alright, but remember to stay calm... Though, can you act like you haven't controlled your temper?] Dick
[Easy, since I've been trained to keep my anger down and had been taught to act.]
"We won," was all the Clone-Kryptonian said. He had his arms folded in front of his chest, with both of M'gann's hands holding his left-arm, and seemed to look annoyed by the question Superman had asked him. The League turned to each other in confusion.
"Well, we sort of seem to know that, since you're all back." Guy Gardner stated. "But we actually like to know about your space adventure in details." That time, Wally rolled his eyes and Conner let out a low growl.
"We went to Rimbor, had them plead you all not guilty and had Earth not one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy, attacked by kangaroo-like alien guards that had a secret army to invade Rimbor, won the war but nearly died, stayed on Rimbor for two months, left Rimbor, went to other planets, fought in battles, got wounded, trained on planets for next war, you get the idea. Long story short, we fought many battles, visit about fifteen different planets or so and finally came back to Earth. End of story." He then noticed the League giving him the awkward glances, which reminded him of the day Kaldur, Dick and Wally had rescued him from Cadmus. "What? You said you wanted details, and I gave you details."
"Well, we actually meant for you to tell us the whole story." Hal Jordan explained, though he was certain that the team knew what Guy meant. He then put on his best smile. "Come on, tell us mo-" Before he could continue, Conner suddenly stood from his seat and let his chair fall from the sudden movement. Some of the League jumped out of their seat from the clone's sudden movement, while the rest stayed in their seats but held concerned and worry glances, as they watch Wally and M'gann keep him in his spot and trying to calm him. Conner now reminds the adults when he was still new to the team: Wild, and going by animal instinct. And right now, he looks ready to attack and perhaps kill. Nightwing sent the League his glare, mostly giving Hal a serious glare.
"This is one of the reasons to why we prefer to not answer what we wish to keep personally," he said. "It took months for Conner to finally gain control over his anger, but that doesn't mean he won't snap or get angry again." Then both he and Wolf went around the table, and the young vigilante did something none of the League members ever saw before: Nightwing placed both hands on Conner's shoulders and then wrapped them around the clone's neck, having to get to the tip of his toes in order to give him the best hug he could give to Conner. "Ci'lú mąutrðnič, Dóŏrun-Gasêr. Jàqu'nóf xêl zê'axi vð mlu'n slð'úr." Hearing the voice of the youngest seemed to have gotten through Conner, and the clone began to take deep breath. Before one of the League could ask, Wally beat them to it.
"He's speaking in Merčútðngian, from the Planet: Merčútðng. That's the planet where Superboy was trained to control his anger. In translation, Wing is saying, 'It's alright, big brother. There's no need to get angry'." The moment he had finished explaining the language to the adults, Conner was finally calmed and was sitting in his seat quietly, with M'gann sitting beside him again and Nightwing patting him on the right-shoulder before he went back on the other side and Wolf sat on the other side of the clone, having his head laying on Conner's lap. While the Speedster seemed worry and concerned, he was actually happy and knew that it was all an act from the start.
[Nice performance, you guys.] Wally
[What do you expect? Would you want to tell them about our travels and have them feeling sorry for us, like they always had when we would fail a mission?] Dick
[And don't even remind me of the Training Simulation, I'm still trying to get over it.] Conner
[Right. We're all still trying to get over it, and I don't know if Vúyitlač's method would be of help much longer.] Wally
The moment Nightwing was back at his chair, he then pulled out something from his glove, which reveals to be the same holographic glove computer that Batman had made for him when he had started the hero job. When the preteen held it in his hand, it looks to be a small black-spider to the Justice League.
Unlike the spiders on Earth, this spider has antennas on top of its head, which had white-stripes circling around the antennas. It also seemed to be a quick spider, since it seems to be a bit jumpy and would at times make quick jumps, as if it were getting shocked. Its dark-brown legs were all bent, making it in a crouching position and almost like it was ready to curl like Earth spiders would do before they die. If they looked closely, they could see dark-purple liquid slowly dripping from its fangs and onto Nightwing's glove, indicating that it was possibly poison. Hanging behind it, looks to be its silk that a spider uses to make its web, but that spider's silk was dark-red and it seems to be more thicker than Earth spiders' own silk. In other words, it appears to be a deadly spider to the adults and aren't sure if the youngest of the group should be holding the spider in his hand any longer.
"This contains information on what the Light's allied armies were trying to do," he explained. Before anybody could say a word, the spider in his hand curled its legs around itself and then reopened its legs as a dragonfly. Its body was black and its wings were silver, with white-sparkles that seemed like crystals or stardust to make its wings so shiny. "Also, this is what the people on Tárjürma use to gather information and send them to where it's needed." The small dragonfly flew its way towards the Justice League, with the white-sparkles falling from its wings, and then landed on Batman's left-arm. Once it reached its destination, the dragonfly then curled itself into a ball and then shifted itself into an actual flash-drive. After giving it a quick observation and examination, the Dark Knight stuck the flash-drive into his own computer glove and began to analyze what the small drive have within it. "After gathering some information from our neighboring and now allied planets, along with learning some language and hearing from others working with The Light, we've discovered that they're planning on creating a weapon that was to take them to an alternate universe of this world and bring our anti-selves here to start an alternate war."
The image on Batman's holographic computer glove showed a cannon-like gun, with some symbols on the side that he believes to be the language the aliens speak and write in. The gun didn't looks to have a handle, because it appeared to have its own sleeve where the arm is supposed to go into and the muzzle of the gun was half as big as a regular cannon's mouth would but still bigger than a gun's mouth would. When the image shows a hand going through the sleeve of the gun, it showed that the person using the gun could bend its arm. And to most of the adults, the cannon-gun looks to be a lot more like a silver-snake with its mouth open. The image of the screen also shows the gun firing a beam of light-pink and dark-purple colors from the mouth, and forming a black and white hole that was five feet away from the gun.
"They were only a couple of pieces away from completing the Ploutráeý voulės, which means 'Portal gun' in Tárjürma, and the missing pieces that they needed were from Earth." Nightwing continued on his explanation, as the Justice League stared at the image of the gun. The flash-drive connected to Batman's holographic computer glove pulled itself off and turned itself into the same dragonfly it became before it was turned into a flash-drive. Even with the odd insect gone, the image had been automatically saved onto the Dark Knight's computer glove. The dragonfly then flew back to Nightwing, and then turned itself back into the black-spider.
"Luckily, we were able to destroy their creation and their other creations they had planned to use in the alternate universe before they could even get the chance to contact 'The Light' back on Earth." Kaldur carried on for the youngest of the group, while the thirteen year-old gently put away the small creature into a small metal-black cube and then placed that cube into one of his pockets of his utility belts.
"Yeah, it took us a while and a hell of a fight, but we took care of them." Wally stated, sounding overconfident of their victory. As if to snap him out of his glory daydream, Artemis slapped him in the left-cheek.
"If you recall, Baywatch, you were one of the main reasons to why we couldn't land a sneak attack on them and end the war quicker, rather than having to be at war for three months, because you just had to trip over the alarm system right before Wing gave you the order to do your position." Some of the League snickered or chuckled at Artemis' reason, while the women simply giggled at young-Speedster's blushed cheeks.
"Yeah, well, I made a great distraction for you guys to get through and destroy their machines." Artemis and Nightwing rolled their eyes from underneath their Domino-masks, while Kaldur simply chuckled at his call back.
"And by distraction, you meant being the center of the attention and pretending to frolic through the park, while aliens try to shoot you with lasers." The thirteen year-old rephrased, as he leaned forward and high-five with Conner.
"Dude! Not cool!" Wally cried, acting like his usual fifteen year-old self, though he's really twenty-two and has remained in his sixteen year-old state.
"You got to admit, though, he did gave us time to blow up their lab and destroy many of their best weapons before they had the chance to find out he wasn't the only one within the lab." The clone stated, making the redhead feel better and making every one of their group happy and equal. "Even though he did screw up on not paying attention."
"Supes!" That time, the whole group of teens let out laughs at his expression, even Wolf and Sphere joined in the laugh and had gotten the Ginger to laugh with them when they couldn't stop themselves from laughing. more than half of the League Members smiled at the sight of their protégés acting like themselves when they were still on Earth, while the rest of the League seemed a bit upset or worried when they realized that the teens and preteen seem to never have the time to be themselves while out in space.
However, the laughter died as soon as M'gann and Nightwing noticed that the League were watching them and that's when they all immediately stopped the rest of the team by the Mind Link.
[Alright, I think we shouldn't overdo ourselves like that.] Dick
[Besides, we need answering for our questions and we mustn't act like we'll accept whatever they tell us that quickly.] M'gann
Nightwing then turned to the League.
"Anyway, we were able to stop their plan from bringing our alternate-selves to this dimension and cause a great war to come upon us and had their memories erased on what they did once we won our last war in space."
"To be honest, though, I thought our last war would take longer than our other battles and more than three months." Wally spoke. "I know we would be gone for a while, but I thought it would take a year or two to stop the last war before we would reach Earth."
"That doesn't matter on how long you fought in wars, or how long you would be gone." Superman told the team, standing from his spot and slowly walking towards the team. "What truly matters is that you're all back, and our family is finally whole."
[Except for a couple of problems in your words and theory, Uncle Clark: You had us stuck as we were seven years ago, had newprotégés to take our places while we were gone and we're still mad that you made us as replacements for your trail at Rimbor.]Wally
[Even so, we cannot and will not betray them. After all, they are still our family, even when we are our own family and only had each other during our travel.] Kaldur
[Yeah, you're right. Besides, we sort of went to space for those we cared and so the Earth won't have to live in fear anymore.] Wally
[Even so, we mustn't let our guard down and not fall for anything that they'll do in order to know of our past.] Dick
[Damn straight, for they'll most likely reject us and possibly send us back into space the moment they found out on how we took care of all our foes we fought in our battles and wars.] Conner
[Not to mention, on what we can now do after the attack on Rimbor left us to almost die.] Artemis
"We're so glad to be back, and that our family is still in one piece." Nightwing replied, getting out of his seat again and having the rest of the team getting out of their spots after he stood. "What else? It seems that you were able to increase our 'hero family' while we were gone, along with keeping Young Justice alive and watching your backs." He then turned to his team, who also nodded their heads and had on their usual happy smiles, all except for Wolf and Sphere, who had their calm expressions that indicated that they were fine or alright. "It seems that the world has been kept safe without our help and it seems to us that the team are doing a fine job without any assistance from us."
"Well, they didn't actually help us with missions right off the bat." Flash stated, feeling odd from the way the young Vigilante was saying. "In fact, the new recruits had to do extensive training three weeks and then had to do some team-bonding time for another three weeks. While that was happening, the older recruits had to do much more hard work to pull a lot of weight around with you guys gone and they had a hard time to decide who should be leader."
"And who has been leading the team, before the new recruits were training and when they were ready to go on missions?" Aqualad asked, with the volume of his voice actually raised and sounding a bit suspicious.
"That would be Tempest, who is your old-friend from Atlantis, Garth." Martian Manhunter answered in his calm voice. Wally smirked at the information.
"It seems that the Atlanteans are perfect leaders, until an apprentice from the Bats is ready to takes their place from being temporary leaders."
"Walls, remember that little talk we had on Tárjürma when you insulted the leader's son from the way he looked?" The smirk was immediately erased on the Speedster's face, and his face went pale.
"Yeah, I remember." He said in a mourning tone. "I didn't mean it in a teasing way, it's just that-"
"I know, I just wanted to be sure that you were kidding or I would've given you that same lesson and lecture Rîn-Jeká gave you from sneaking food during training and before dinner." Wally then gave a nervous laugh to his remember, then he placed his right-hand over to the left-side of his ribs and gently rubbed against the suit.
"Yeah, and I'll never fully recovered or ever forget his lessons or underestimate the appearance of others unless I had done full observation and analysis on the person or another living thing." Kaldur and Conner chuckled at his suggestion on what to do, while Nightwing simply shook his head.
"If you do that, we'll be having another me and you'll soon be a bird. And hey, you'll most likely end up being the Bat's new yet old protégé." Hearing those words, Wally actually jumped out of his seat and slowly backed away, with both hands held up in front of him and shaking.
"Nu uh! No way, dude!" He cried, making the team laugh again. And watching the event happening, the whole League had actually joined in the laugh. "Count me out! I know how you Bats think and we already know how you guys trained, like that time we had to go with the same training method a couple of times whenever Aunt Dinah couldn't come and train us herself! I rather be Billy or Ollie's partner, than be the Bat's new apprentice!" While the League and the old-team laughed, the team went back to their own personal conversation.
[You think our little show is working?] KF
[For the time being, yes.] Dick
[However, it still won't be enough for them to forget their question about our time in space.] Artemis
[So, what do we do?] Conner
[If I may make a suggestion: We should probably head to our old-homes and rest for a few days, unless we're being called for emergencies by our allied planets or doing old-time patrol. That way, we can study and see what our mentors and family had been while we were gone, along with learning of the new Young Justice and protégés they're training with.] Kaldur
As the laughing slowly died down, the team turned to Nightwing, who had folded his arms and eyes from underneath the Domino-mask closed, appearing to be thinking about the Atlantean's suggestion until he turned his gaze back to his team with his eyes open and nodded his head.
[Alright. It would be best if we do that, since Bio will need some time to rest and have some repairs done from traveling through space without much rest. Even if we were to stay at Mount Justice, our old-mentors will most likely drag or even force us to comeback to what we used to know as 'home'.]
The rest of the team, along with Wolf and Sphere, nodded their heads in an agreement.
[However, we must be careful when we fight or train at our homes, whether it be in private or public. We mustn't reveal too much information to what had happened to us or what truly changed us a lot.] Dick
[Hey, if they do find out, we can always vanish and hide ourselves somewhere on Earth or we can leave and head to one of our allied planets.] Wally
[We may, but you know that we can't abandon our home if it were in trouble, even if it were to get away from those who had hurt us.] Kaldur
[And once again, either you or Wing had to be right.] Wally
[We'll discuss about that decision another time, you guys. For now, lets get this over with and have both our hunches and questions answered.] Dick
Once the League had finished their laugh, they noticed that the team had grown quiet again and Batman, shockingly, had decided to break the silence and answer some questions that had been bothering him.
"How long did it took you all to get back here?" The team turned to Nightwing, who simply shrugged his shoulder to Kaldur, indicating that he wants him to answer the question this time, which the Atlantean did.
"Though our last war took us three months, it took us a year and nine months in order for us to get back. We had to make many stops to help repair some damages the Bio-Ship has taken from the battles and wars we had, along with having some distress calls from our allied planets or from strangers about their planets being under attacked."
"Honestly? It took you guys that long to comeback, because of some aliens asking for help?" Flash was the one who spoke up, and he seemed rather mad and very not pleased on what Kaldur had told them. "You should've just pass the cries of their help and just continued on heading back to Earth." Hearing his words angered the team, their eyes narrowed at the older-Speedster. Wally decided to speak, placing both his arms folded on top of each other and leaning forward on the table.
"If we did that, then how can we be known as 'heroes' if he just abandon a cry for help?" He then held up his right-hand, with his thumb and pointed-fingers held out and a small gap in-between the fingers. "Those who had asked for help were this close on losing their home and everything they known, if we hadn't gone and saved them." Though that was a perfectly good reason to why they went to help and knowing that they were only doing their job, it wasn't acceptable to Flash, which got him to stand out of his spot and have the chair to nearly fall from its spot.
"But what about us?!" He yelled, startling some of the members in the room from his outburst. Wally simply raised an eyebrow at his question.
[What about you guys? Don't see a problem about us wanting to help other planets in their need of help. Not to mention, wanting to stay as far away from you all after what you did to us, rather than heading back to Earth and be treated like sidekicks again.] Wally
"We knew you would be fine and possibly be busy taking care of the Earth, which also meant you guys could afford to wait a bit longer. Besides, you didn't actually gave us a time limit to when we had to return to Earth."
"Furthermore, we felt like we would need some more allies in case we would need some help from another invasion." M'gann added, trying to be sure that her voice could offer some sort of reassuring and calming to the atmosphere around them.
"She is right," her uncle replied. "Though we may have many more heroes of Earth joining the Justice League and new heroes appearing on Earth that would help us protect the world, we need all the help we can get from other neighboring planets if we cannot find a solution to a problem that is not from Earth." Still not satisfied that the team had chosen to stay away from them instead of returning home sooner than they came, Flash accepted to the Martian's words and knew that what the team had decided on was the right choice and pulled his seat back to sit back down.
"Are you guys going to leave us if there was another cry for help from the neighboring planets or the allies you all made?" He asked, bowing his head over his folded-arms on the table and his eyes closed. Nightwing chose to spoke.
"I'm afraid so, Flash." He answered honestly and truthfully, knowing that his words had hit the Justice League's heart-chords. "However, because we had upgraded Bio-Ship and our weapons, we have something that will help us get to one our allied planets and return to Earth." He then held up his glove and showed the adults a red-button that was on the right-side of a white-button. "This button acts like a teleporter, a lot like the Zeta-Beams, only this doesn't require any coordinates. Instead, it sends us to where it 'think' where we need to be, even if we had just got on the planet. And if we were on a planet we've already been through, it will instantly teleport us to where we would want or need to be without having to push the button."
"So, does that mean you can teleport there while on another planet or without the Bio-Ship?" Superman asked, earning a shook by the young Vigilante.
"Nope," he answered. "In order for us to get to the planet or get off the planet and be on one of our allied ones, we need to be on or be in range with Bio. If we needed to be on a planet that we've already been on while on another planet, she would instantly access to the coordinates she had installed inside her Memory File and instantly Hyper-Jump towards that planet. If it were a new planet, however, she would have to scan it first and find the perfect destination to land and teleport to that area. Thanks to the Hunglăriőnş on the planet: Ţüx'őmblă, we were able to install a teleportation device within Bio and Sphere, along with creating a collar for Wolf if he were to go on a solo mission." Conner then turned to the white-animal and gently pulled him up close, as he glided his finger through Wolf's thick white-fur and showed them a black-collar wrapped around his neck and hidden underneath the mass layer of fur. "The people there are very knowledgeable and are far more skilled than any of our greatest scientists on Earth, even more skilled than you guys, even."
"We've also found out that they helped create the Zeta-Beams with Sardath and the rest of the Rannian from Rann, along with them being an allied planet with Rann." Kaldur added, which brought a couple of surprised faces on the League's faces.
"No kidding?" Superman replied, thinking on how they could've had communications with the Team if they'd known that the Team would be with one of Rann's allied planets, along with how they could've asked Ţüx'őmblă for some communicators to try and contact the Bio-Ship for the four years instead of having to go through sevens years without having any connection whatsoever. Knowing that they could forget about the past and enjoy the future to erase the seven years absence, Superman was ready to tell the Team that they're welcomed back with open arms and can't wait to fight side-by-side with them again. However, just before he could get one word out of his voice...
"Hî-Îlfėž! Őgítséš, szükėgåk îlfėž!" A new voice was heard in the room, that had a high-pitched tone and sounded in a mixture of a squawking parrot with a squealing dolphin together. Hearing the cry of the voice, the Team stood from their spots and turned to Nightwing, who held up his left-arm close to his face and pressed the white-button.
"Őgítséš, šéi. Ą̊kaṧ nőţîėk?" With his finger still on the button, the Justice League heard nothing but muffling sounds that were coming from the Team's ears, which had some sort of communicators that looks to be like those headphones that wrap itself around the ear of the human. Nightwing then nodded his head. "Ą̊kemís kélyåjė." He then turned to the team, who know what was going on, and with a nod of his head, they all ran towards the Zeta-Beam they came in. Some of the League turned in their seats, while others remained still or stood out of their chairs.
"Wait a sec, where are you guys going?" Wonder Woman asked, as the Team stood in front of the scanner and walk into the Zeta-Tube. Wally, who was in the back, turned to the League.
"Emergency call, from the Planet: Ṿadákṧutéî." He replied, as he closed his eyes and allowed the computer to scan him. As he stepped onto the Zeta-Tube, he gave them his happy go-lucky smile. "We'll be right back, it won't take long." And with that said, the two doors closed before the blinding-light sent the redhead to the Watchtower with the right of the Team after scanning him.
The moment the Team had vanished through those doors, did the League felt like they were leaving them again, just as they left seven years ago. However, with Wally's word that they were going to come back, did it brought some comfort to the adults and so, just to be sure that they do return, they all waited in their seats and discuss about what they should do now that the Team are back into their lives.
Three Hours Later...
"What's taking them so wrong? They should've been back at least an hour or two ago." Flash declared, glancing at the clock every three to seven seconds that passed, which showed it was '5:38 PM'.
"We should've gone with them, they could be in trouble and may need our help." Wonder Woman replied, feeling her maternal instincts kicking in from the thought of the Team in danger and possibly being held hostage or being tortured, especially to the Batman's first Robin, since he was the first to accept her as his first mother-figure.
"Don't worry, they're probably fine and are coming back any minute now." Hal suggested, trying to keep everyone's hope and mood up, even though he was having the same thoughts as the rest of them.
"Yeah, we're fine and we're back." A voice from behind replied, startling the Justice League from their trains of thoughts and having some of them actually jump out of their seats. They turned their direction to the door that leads to the Zeta-Beam and saw the Team entering the Meeting Room once again, with only some of them having a few tears in their suits and some actual cuts visible through some of the tearing. The rest of the young heroes had no injury whatsoever, and all of them don't seem to be exhausted or tired in the least.
"Forgive us for leaving with very little explanation of our departure." Kaldur said, as he pulled up a seat for Nightwing before sitting in his spot, with the rest of the team sitting in their previous spots before they left. "Just as Speed has mentioned, one of our allied planets, Ṿadákṧutéî, has been attacked without warning and they needed our help in order to find the enemies and take down their weapons before they went after their leader, Gröltinás." Those who stood out of their seats went back down into their chairs, letting out sigh of relief that they all came back with little injuries.
"We are relieved that you've all returned to us safely and with no serious wounds that are life threatening." J'onn said, smiling at the human and meta-humans who all became like his own nieces and nephews, with the exception of M'gann for being his actual niece.
[At least your uncle doesn't lie to us, M'gann, especially when something bad is going to happen.] Wally
M'gann gave the Ginger a sympathy look, sensing and feeling his hatred and betray towards his own uncle, even though they're not blood related like she and J'onn.
[I'm sorry, Wally.] M'gann
[No, it's fine. As long as nobody else is being lied to or betrayed from their relatives, then I'm alright with it.] Wally
"If you guys could clear us in, though, what was that kind of language and what do they mean?" Flash asked, who seems to be trying to learn what Nightwing and the aliens were saying. To his question, Wally actually smirked.
"If you want to know about the languages from the other planets, you'll have to ask Nightwing about that." He then jerked his right-thumb towards the young Vigilante. "Though we may know their languages as well, we're still learning in speaking in them. Nightwing, however, he's the translator of the group and understands them much clearer than we do."
[Geez, thanks for telling them, Wally.] Dick
[It's the truth, bro.] Wally
Letting out a sigh, the preteen answered the elder-Speedster's question.
"Hî-Îlfėž! Őgítséš, szükėgåk îlfėž, means 'Help us! Team, we need your help!'.Őgítséš, šéi. Ą̊kaṧ nőţîėk? means 'We're here, what's the problem?'. Ą̊kemís kélyåjė means, 'we're on our way'."
[Nice cover up for the true meaning for "Őgítséš", bro.] Wally
[Thanks, it'll be best that they don't know our name we now go as. Hearing the true name of our name will have them suspicious and since none of them understand other alien languages, they'll never know.] Dick
"Whoa. To me, it's sounds like somebody just mixed the words up and speaking it in some sort of gibberish." Flash commented, who seems to be trying to hold onto the language into his brain and try to pronounce it like Nightwing has spoke it in. J'onn turned his attention towards his niece, who had her head laid on Conner's left-shoulder and her right-arm wrapped around the clone's left-arm.
"M'gann, did you not use your powers to have you and your team understand all the aliens' languages and have the aliens understand you?" Having to hear her name be called and hearing the question, M'gann lifted her head from Conner's shoulder and turned her amber-brown eyes towards her uncle.
"I did, Uncle J'onn." She answered, with a kind smile on her face. "However, it was Nightwing's idea that we should learn their languages and have our allies learn ours. And so, after some discussion, we taught our allies the language we speak in on Earth and they teach us their language they use on their planets. Soon, when we could both understand each other, I didn't have to use my Telekinesis powers anymore."
"And a good thing, too." Conner added, gently tightening his left-hand onto M'gann's right. "She was getting exhausted from having to use her powers all the time, that she grows more tired than she normally does and would have trouble keeping herself awake when either training or on the battlefield."
"But I'm fine and have gotten better with the use of my powers, Uncle J'onn." M'gann replied quickly, knowing that her uncle would be worried whenever he hears about her having trouble about her powers and had either passed out or collapsed from overusing her powers. "I don't have that certain problem anymore, thanks to one of our allied planets who gave me one of her special herbs three years ago." J'onn nodded his head in approval from the information.
"I hope to find the one who gave you the potion, and thank her in person." M'gann giggled at his words.
"Don't worry, Uncle J'onn, I'll be able to help you with that once we're at home." She then caught herself from what she just said and then lowered her gaze towards the table. "I-I mean, once I come over and visit your home."
[Alright, now I want to apologize that you don't really live with your uncle, M'gann.] Wally
[Like you said before, Wally, it's alright.] M'gann
J'onn, who senses his niece's pain, stood out of his spot and calmly made his way towards her. He then placed his right-hand on M'gann's left-shoulder, giving her a comforting smile.
"You were right the first time, M'gann." He stated, using his left-hand to gently take her left and pull her out of her spot but having her still hold onto Conner's hand with her right. "My home, is your home, too." M'gann gasped in shock from his words, feeling a couple of her emotions rushing throughout her entire being. She then gave him one of her biggest smiles and then, releasing both J'onn and Conner's hand, wrapped her arms around her uncle and buried her face against his lower-chest, since she's smaller and shorter than her uncle and her head could only reached the lower-level of his chest for he has gotten much taller than the last time she seen him. J'onn, who had dreamed of the day he would see his niece and feel her presence again, wrapped both of his arms around her small-frame and held her in the safety of his hold.
The team, especially Conner and Wally, and along with Wolf and Sphere(though I don't think it's possible), smiled at the sight of both martians embracing each other, both seeming to be happy to be reunited after seven years of being separated. Despite any of them with their family or having a Kodak moment with their own mentors, along with their grudges keeping them from even standing beside their mentors or to even show their true emotions, they were glad that one or even few of them are going to get the praise and love they deserve after many years of being in wars and battles.
Noticing their glances to the two martians, Superman stood out of his seat, with the rest of the League also getting out of their seats.
"I, for one, believe that we all had enough excitement for one day, especially when we were waiting for the day you would all come back from space." With M'gann still in his hold and with her arms still wrapped around his waist, J'onn lifted his gaze from his niece to the Team.
"While you were gone to, what I believe you call, Ṿadákṧutéî, we were discussing and were hoping for you all to stay with your mentors and get used to living back on Earth, before you all begin your roles as Young Justice Members again." With his words circling through their minds, the teens and preteen, along with M'gann with her gaze towards the other and with both Wolf and Sphere standing on both sides of Nightwing, turned their gaze to one another.
[Yeah, right. They want to hold us because of our replacements. They're going to warn them about our arrival.]Wally
[Even so, we must stick to the plan. And, our decision.] Dick
[He is right, brother. We must learn of what we missed on Earth and what has changed our home-planet, which includes studying our replacements and what else our mentors and family had been up to since our departure.] Kaldur
[I agree with Wally and don't like the plan, but I'm still in, as long as we still have each other and we'll still see each other.] Conner
[Don't worry, Conner. Even if we don't see each other, we'll still be connected to our Telepathic Link and we still have our own communicators. Besides, we'll have our private conversation at night if we don't see each other.] M'gann
[I'll admit, this is going to feel so awkward to be back on Earth and to be around other people that aren't my siblings for so long. I actually feel anti-social... If only we can all stay together to get used to Earth.] Artemis
[I know it may seem odd or weird, but lets all remember to stay calm and think of this as if it were one of our allied or a new planet. We'll study their behavior and with a few interaction with our folks and with our past friends, we'll probably be who we once were before we left.] Dick
[Right... Say, when you mean for us to stay calm, don't you mean to stay whelmed?] Wally
[Walls, you know that I quit saying those words five years ago.] Dick
[Yeah, we know, but we miss the way you would mix the English Language that would cheer us up when things were to go wrong.]Wally
[I know, Wally, but it was about time for me to grow out of it. Besides, I'm not the only one who gave up a part of my childhood or habit during the seven years, right?] Dick
[Yeah, you're right, though I hate to admit it.] Wally
[Anyway, back to the matter at hands. We'll stick to our decision and see what we come up with. Tonight, we'll contact each other.]Dick
[Uh, dude? Won't you be busy on patrol tonight, since your mentor is 'the Night' and the both of you would be up all night stopping the bad guys?] Wally
[I used to work for him, Walls. That doesn't mean that I'll be working for him again. But anyway, I'll contact you the moment I'm free if I go on patrol. For now, we have to suck it up and go with our mentors.] Dick
[Roger that] Wally
[On it] Artemis
[Very well] Kaldur
[Fine] Conner
[Okay] M'gann
Once they had their conversation done, which may had taken them a few minutes but(to the League) were able to finish their decision within a few seconds, they all nodded their heads in a unison.
"As long as it isn't an inconvenience to you all, we would be honored to be with our mentors again and to be reunited with our families." Kaldur replied, which gotten most of the League to smile in satisfaction from the words of the Atlantean. With the deal and the decision being made, Superman clapped both of his hands together.
"Great, then it's settled." He happily declared. He then turned to Conner, who had his head lowered a bit and stared down at the table. "Well, it seems that we'll be having a lot of catching up to do, again... And hey, you get to see my folks down at Smallville, finally!" He then made his way towards his clone, who he had declared to be his son many years ago, and placed a hand on Conner's right-shoulder. "You ready to come back to Metropolis, Conner? Or do you prefer to be called, 'Kon-El'?" The Clone-Kryptonian simply shrugged, not turning his gaze to stare up at his father.
"Either name is fine by me," he replied. Once he had answered the question, did he looked up at Superman. "Can Wolf and Sphere come with us, too?" Getting a quick glanced at the large-animal and the metal-ball, with the white-animal simply staring up at the two Kryptonians from the other side of the table and being petted by Nightwing, while Sphere made a couple of beeping sounds with Kaldur giving her some attention. The Full-Kryptonian sees no reason to say no, though he worries about having Sphere to come live with them.
"Of course they can, as long as they behaves and Wolf doesn't do his business in the apartment." As if making a promise to the Man of Steel, Wolf gave out a couple of barks that nearly sounded like the start of thunder rumbling but also sounds exactly like a fierce cry of a lion. Flash jumped from the wolf's bark and would've knocked the table over if John Stewart and Guy Gardner hadn't caught him in time from falling backward onto the table. Superman simply chuckled. "Seems that you all have surprises popping up without warning." Nightwing and Wally chuckled at his words, with Conner smirking and Kaldur letting out a sigh.
"That's not all, Clark, we're just full of surprises." The young Vigilante replied, with a proud tone in his voice.
[And when you mean we're full of surprises, you literally mean that.] Wally
[Yes, I do.] Dick
"However, Conner, I'm afraid Sphere will have to go back to Mount Justice once you're back into working with the Team." Sphere made a couple of rumbling sounds that seems to reflect her disappointment, but she didn't seem to make the sound of a roaring car that tells when she's angry.
"Fine, we understand." Conner said, who also sounded disappointed and Wolf also let loose a low growl that tell he didn't like the news of one of his pack mates not being able to live with him and Conner at Metropolis.
"I'm sorry, Conner, I really am. We just can't have people getting suspicious on hearing her calls she gives out or to see a moving object through the window, even if she were to stay quiet or stay within the shadows."
"I know, I know."
[I knew it'll be too good to be true.] Conner
[Hey, it's not like he's saying to get rid of her, Supes. She'll be back at Young Justice the moment we're back into crime-fighting, where you can always go and see her, even stay a few nights at the mountain.] Wally
[True, but I still don't feel comfortable about not having her, or any of you, guys around or beside me.] Conner
"When will we see each other again?" Conner asked Superman, watching some of the mentors making their way towards their protégés and the rest staying in their spots where they stand.
"We are going to see each other again, right?" Wally asked, standing out of his seat and placing both hands on Artemis' shoulders. "I mean, we are going to see each other, in our civilians... Aren't we?" Superman and Flash turned their gaze towards Batman, who stood a few inches away from his first protégé, who remained in his chair, and was thinking to what Conner and Wally had asked of them.
Bruce had a feeling that Dick would tell or show his friends his identity one of these days, long before the Young Justice team has been made, which was around the time the four first protégés of the League had bonded and became fast friends. Heck, Bruce told the Justice League his secret identity when they all joined together to save J'onn and stop their first alien invasion, the moment they became a team. Four years during the time Dick left, the Dark Knight was finally convinced that the new team of Young Justice are given the right to know of his other children and Batgirl's secret identity.
"We just don't feel comfortable if we're not together for very long, since we had to keep on separating when we're in battle or when one or few of us had been captured." M'gann explained. "Not having to hear each other voices in an hour or two will have us panicking and may cause us to not be aware of our surroundings."
"Trust us, you won't believe on what happened to some of the enemies on the other planets when they tried to attack us while in our panicking state." Artemis warned.
Hearing the tone of their voices and sensing their emotions, both Batman and J'onn sensed no lies to what they say and are telling the truth. The Dark Knight let out a deep sigh.
"Alright," he said. "If you can, give us at least two days to figure something else and find a perfect place to have you all meet. Once you're introduced to your new teammates and to the new members of the Justice League, along with getting used to living on Earth again, will you be allow to tell them your identity and be given the privilege to see one another." Again, the team turned to each other and after staring to each other eyes for at least seventeen seconds, did they nodded their heads in a unison, like they did to J'onn's words.
"Very well. If you wish, we shall give you an extra day if you ran out of time and hadn't made a decision." Kaldur offered, as he and Nightwing, and the rest of the team, stood out of their seats.
"If we ran out of the time and haven't decided, then we'll take the extra day and let the rest of you know if we need it." Batman suggested, placing a hand on Nightwing's right-shoulder and feeling his worry and relief disappearing from the mere physical contact with his little bird.
"Then, it's decided." Superman declared. "You all will be staying with your mentors and when it is decided or when we know the right moment has come, we shall allow you back on the Young Justice team. For now, remain with your family and learn to become Earthlings again, while you fight along side with your mentors to protect your cities. Until then, we shall see you all very soon."
With that being said and after setting different coordinates to their home cities, while J'onn and M'gann were sent to the Watchtower to get the Bio-Ship and find a perfect place for her to be at until they were allowed back to Mount Justice, the Team left the Hall of Justice with their mentors, with Artemis being accompanied by Wonder Woman to Star City and Kaldur going to Atlantis on his own. Though they may be heading home, tonight they'll be both viewed and examined by their family members, while tomorrow shall be the beginning of their greatest challenge.
TBC
For those wondering about the age thing for the Bat-Siblings, even though they haven't came up yet but will soon be on in the later chapters, this is what the order will be in: Terry, Cassandra, Damian, Stephanie, Jason and then Tim, with Dick being the last and the youngest.
If you're wondering why I'm having Terry as the eldest and not Cassandra like in other author's stories on Fanfiction, I'll tell you why: In the comics, Bruce met Cassandra when he was still a young-man and when he was still Batman, while he met Terry as sort-of old man and was actually retiring from being the Dark Knight. So, to me, Terry should be the eldest of the Bat-Siblings and Cassandra should be the second eldest. Also, I'll be having Jason older than Tim, because I don't really see Jason younger than Tim psychically, even if I did switch their age. Also, in Batman: The Animated Series, they didn't put Jason in to become the second Robin and had Tim in as the Second Robin... Though, they did say something about combining the two for the animated series or something like that.
Also, all alien language and words will be made up and mixed of other languages. So, just stick with the translation from the team.
R&R