DISCLAIMER: So, funny story... I was flying through space and I saw the ownership rights to Young Justice about to fall into a black hole, so I went over and dragged them away from the event horizon, saving the franchise from oblivion at the cost of spending what turns out to have been several months in a time-slowed environment that was only a couple of seconds for me but much longer outside. And then, as soon as we were free, the ownership rights flew away from me and went elsewhere, thus preventing me from owning Young Justice.
Chapter 5: ...On The Town
Gotham City
December 30, 18:42 EST
Arkham Inmate #43021 sat quietly in his cell. It was a genuine padded cell. Those were usually reserved for patients at a high risk of hurting themselves, but he'd caused enough trouble with improvised shivs that no sharp objects nor potentially sharpenable objects were allowed near him.
The inmate remained still and silent, the sheer amount of time since his last... excitement having completely drained his energy and motivation, leaving him incredibly lethargic.
There was a knock on the door.
The inmate frowned slightly but otherwise did not move. This was... atypical. Arkham staff generally didn't knock.
The door's observation slot slid open, revealing a man standing outside the door. He was tall and lanky, and his face was obscured by shadow. Not that it mattered. If there was anyone in Gotham who couldn't identify him by sight, they didn't live at Arkham.
Nevertheless, his presence was unusual. Certainly against the rules.
Curious.
"What do you want?" the inmate asked, his voice dull and dispassionate.
"I have a proposition for you, Victor" the man replied.
"And why would I care?"
"Because, Victor" the man replied, "it gives you an opportunity to do the one thing you actually want to do."
Victor was silent for a minute.
"Go ahead" he said, his voice sounding no less monotone.
"Well, here's the thing, Victor. It's about Batsy."
"What a surprise. You, obsessed with the Batman."
"This is serious, Victor. Not only is he still foiling all of our plans, but he's not even caring anymore! We're not a threat to him. We're hardly even a nuisance. He barely gives us the time of day and a throat jab before running off into space with the Justice League. Look at what I had to do to get his attention last time! Join Vertigo's little 'league,' wreck several cities and hold the whole world hostage and that's enough to get him to send sidekicks after us. SIDEKICKS!"
"My sympathies" said Victor, not sounding very sympathetic.
"He's forgotten his roots, Victor. He's forgotten all the people that made him who he is. And we need to fix that."
"What scheme do you have this time?" Victor asked. He didn't really care, but since he was going to be told anyways, he might as well get it over with.
"I've made a deal, Victor. With some very powerful people. They have given me an incredible opportunity. They have given US an incredible opportunity. We'll never get another shot quite like this, Victor. We need to exploit it to the fullest."
"Are these those 'Light' schemers that set you up with Vertigo? You know the reputation they've acquired throughout the underworld. They're good, but unless you bow down and kiss their ring, they'll crush you. Why don't you just stay out of their way and let them deal with the Justice League for us?"
"I know what they are like, Victor. I also know that if they eliminate the League there'll be nothing to keep them from being on top of the villain food chain. And that's unacceptable. Those killjoys have no class, no style. They're all business, no fun. The world deserves better villains than that. The world deserves us! The Arkhamites! The Rogues' Gallery! Gotham's Nightmares!"
"Aren't the Flash's enemies called the Rogues?" Victor asked, not really caring either way.
"Yeah, well, they barely count as villains in the first place. The point is, I have just acquired a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get Batsy back, teach the Light what real supervillainy looks like and give Gotham City the night of its life, and I want to share it with all of my dearest friends."
"Are you certain they will uphold their end of the deal?" Victor asked.
"Oh, they most certainly will not. But they'll pretend for long enough. By the time they stop, it'll be too late. Now, are you with me or not?"
Victor leaned back in his cell. To be honest, he didn't really care either way. The Justice League had never been a problem for him - just the Batman. These kinds of schemes, however, tended not to end well for those involved. Especially given who he was talking to.
"Look," said Victor's guest, clearly fed up with waiting. "Here's the deal. I'm not asking you to join me in my quest to ensure the world has the quality villains it deserves or to do anything you wouldn't do anyways. I'm just going to leave this door open, as well as every door between here and the gatehouse. What you do after that is entirely up to you."
Victor shrugged.
The cell door creaked open. The man turned to walk away, but stopped, as if he'd just remembered something.
"Oh, and Victor? I hear Sarah's doing wonderfully. I know you've been thinking about her. You should drop by. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."
The man disappeared with a chuckle.
Victor sat there for a moment, in the half-darkness of the cell. If he did what had just been suggested of him, he'd be nothing more than a pawn in an enormous global chess match he barely knew nor cared about.
On the other hand, he had been promising Sarah that he'd visit her once he got the chance...
Metropolis
December 30, 18:50 EST
"This is... unexpected" Kaldur said.
"I agree" Batman replied. "We did not expect anything of this nature to be found inside of the Cape Chidley base."
"And you believe that she is who she says she is?" Kaldur asked.
"Yes" said Superman. Batman frowned.
"I don't believe anything without proof" said the Dark Knight. "But so far everything has checked out."
"If that is the case," Kaldur said, frowning, "then what do you intend to do?"
Batman was silent for a moment. "Given the extent to which the League is currently stretched thin, particularly with the upcoming orientation, we are considering leaving her with the Team for the time being."
Kaldur was silent. He had suspected as much.
"I told you it would be too much right now" said Superman. "I'm not essential for orientation. I'll..."
"No" said Kaldur. "I believe you may be correct, Batman. The Team may be shaken, but we are not broken. We can handle the truth. In fact, if the others learned that you had withheld this information from them, they would be furious, and I would be in agreement with them. It is abundantly clear that Vandal Savage and his organization are a significant threat, not just to the League but to the world as well. The only way they can be countered is if the Team and the League can trust one another. Otherwise we will merely be doing our enemies' work for them."
"But what about Superboy?" Superman asked. "Won't this make him feel...?"
"Inadequate?" Kaldur replied. "Perhaps. Overshadowed? Possibly. Replaced? I think not. You gravely underestimate him if you believe that the mere presence of a full-blooded Kryptonian will destroy his self-esteem, and you gravely underestimate the rest of us if you think we would treat him in such a way. Superboy will be harmed far more if this is kept from him."
"Your faith in your teammates is admirable, Kaldur'ahm" said Wonder Woman. "I hope that they will, in fact, live up to your expectations."
"Then I suppose it's decided?" Superman asked, his tone suggesting that he wasn't quite sure if this was a good idea or not.
"Before we do," Batman said, "there is one more thing. It is possible, and perhaps even probable, that this girl is a traumatized refugee from a destroyed planet. It is also possible that she is something more sinister. After the events of the last few days, we cannot risk Vandal Savage further infiltrating the League or the Team. This... 'Supergirl' is not a member of the Team. She is a guest, at least for the time being. She is not to be exposed to anything that could jeopardize League security. In time, it is possible that she could fully join the Team and perhaps eventually the League, but for now, she will need to prove herself. I do not want any repetitions of Cape Chidley. Submit to me a report on your thoughts on her behavior every few days." He paused briefly. "And, of course, ensure that she is unaware of this."
"Fear not, Batman" said the Atlantean. "I will keep a close eye on her."
"Wow" said Zatanna, standing in the library of the Hall of Justice. "I miss ALL the fun stuff."
"Trust me," M'gann replied, "it wasn't that fun."
"So, Canary...?"
"She went off after Arrow" Conner said, having resumed his favorite activity of clicking through television channels.
"Well, I bet THAT'S going to be a fun conversation" Zatanna said.
"I'm sure it'll be fine" Rocket half-lied. "More importantly, how are you feeling, girl?"
"Okay" Zatanna lied. "I've been adjusting."
"Are you certain that you'll be alright without me?" Zatara asked.
"Yes, dad" replied Zatanna, sounding much more confident than she actually was. "Besides, the Team'll keep an eye on me."
"Very well" said Zatara. "I will be up on the Watchtower helping with the orientation, but if you need anything, at any time, you can call me and I'll be straight down."
"I know, dad" said his daughter.
"I love you, Zatanna" said the elder magician, kissing her on the forehead.
Zatanna smiled. "Love you too, dad."
Zatara turned and entered the zeta tube.
"Recognize: Zatara 11."
Wolf stood up and approached Zatanna, but stopped a few feet away.
"Hey, boy" said Zatanna walking towards it. Wolf backed away, first one step, then two.
"Is something the matter?" Zatanna asked, reaching out to pet Wolf. The canine recoiled, but then held fast, seemingly against its better instincts. Zatanna rubbed it behind the ears.
"See boy?" Zatanna said, smiling. "Nothing to worry abo-"
A tiny bolt of electricity arced between her fingers. Wolf yelped and retreated, growling.
"What's wrong, Wolf?" asked Wally.
"What did you do to Wolf?" Conner shouted at the same time.
"Nothing, nothing!" insisted Zatanna, putting up her hands. "It was just a bit of static electricity. I'm fine! As is Wolf."
Conner frowned, but went back to watching the changing of channels. The others also seemed to be aware that this was rather unlikely, but went back to their conversations.
Zatanna clenched her fist in anger. At the rate her magics kept overloading, she was going to run out of excuses pretty fast.
Maybe she should have mentioned it to Canary.
"Zatanna?" Black Canary asked.
Zatanna blinked, startled.
"Yes?" she asked.
"You've been staring at your hand for the last two minutes" Canary said.
"O-oh" Zatanna stuttered. "Sorry. I must have gotten distracted."
"This isn't the first time I've noticed you staring at yourself" Canary said. "Is something the matter?"
It was a stupid question, and they both knew it. OF COURSE something was the matter.
"You know, it's kind of funny" Zatanna said, looking at her hand again. "We get used to a certain way things work. Our brain tells our hand to do something, and it does it. And why shouldn't it? After all, it's ours. It's a part of us."
She clenched her hand into a fist.
"And then one day something happens and suddenly it's not your hand anymore. It's someone else's. You can look at it, you can tell it to do whatever you want, but it's not going to listen. You are trapped. Paralyzed. Speechless."
Zatanna's shoulders drooped.
"Helpless. Completely and utterly helpless."
"The fear of being helpless is one of the most primal fears we have" Canary said. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm not ashamed" Zatanna replied. "But that doesn't mean I'm not still scared."
She held up her right hand, her ring and middle finger extended. Each one crackled slightly with energy - one red, and one yellow. As her fingers moved slightly together, the energies began to arc. When they finally touched, there was a white flash and a small crack, like microscopic thunder.
"Everyone's been talking like this whole possession thing's over. It's not. Tala's still in here. So is Nabu. They are inside of ME. For the moment they seem dormant, but I have no idea how long that will last. If and when they do wake up again, they'll both try to take control. Yeah, they hate each other more than they hate me, and so they'll probably step on each other's toes, but that doesn't make the idea any less terrifying."
"I know that it seems-"
"I could lose control again at any moment! ANY! SECOND! And I don't know if I'll get any warning. Any second now, I could be in a mental struggle for my life, the lives of my friends and maybe even the entire world. I can't relax, can't let myself get too distracted, heck, I'm barely managing to get any sleep, which now that I think about it is probably just making my chances of winning a willpower fight even lower."
Canary frowned. "If insomnia's becoming a problem, I can prescribe you some pills for that. I'd need your father's approval of course, not the least of which is because I have no idea what effect they would have on your system as it now stands."
"Thanks" Zatanna muttered, looking at the ground. "We'll see."
"Zatanna," Canary said, leaning forwards enough to put her hand on the girl's knee, "I am going to be completely honest with you. There is absolutely nothing in my training or experience that really compares to what you are currently dealing with. With the idea of another person... inside your mind."
"That's the thing" Zatanna said. "They aren't even people. Not how we understand them. They aren't human. They aren't even Martian, Kryptonian, Thanagarian... any of the alien species we're used to. Astral Lords are very... different. They're ageless, they're used to things of a different plane of existence, and they only really care about one thing: spreading Order or spreading Chaos."
"All I can tell you, Zatanna, is that you have been incredibly brave throughout this whole ordeal. Most adults would be hard-pressed to deal with this situation, and you've handled it as well as anyone could. The Team is alive because of your actions. Your father is alive and free because of your actions. I am alive because of your actions."
Canary paused.
"So, I just want to say, thank you, from all of us. We believe in you. And we'll do everything in our power to help you get through this. Okay?"
Zatanna smiled. Not much, but a little bit.
"Thank you" she said.
Zatanna stood up and started to leave, only to notice a pale blue figure out of the corner of her eye.
Whirling around, she saw Greta Hayes standing in the window, waving.
Black Canary turned to face whatever Zatanna was looking at, but saw nothing.
"Is something the matter, Zatanna?"
Zatanna took several seconds to respond.
"Uh... no. Everything's fine."
"Zatanna, is there something else you would like to talk about?"
Zatanna thought for a second. Like Black Canary really needed murdered-by-her-own-brother ghost girl on top of the entirety of the Team's actual problems. On the other hand, who better to help a murdered-by-her-own-brother ghost girl than a superhero therapist?
"I, uh... It's a secret." She blushed. Perhaps another time.
"You know you don't have to keep secrets from me" Canary said.
"I know" Zatanna replied.
She walked out of the room, completely silent.
"Two targets on the left" Robin shouted.
"Easy" Artemis replied, notching and firing a pair of arrows without slowing down. The two muggers were so startled by the sudden net pinning them to the alley wall that they didn't even begin to struggle until the heroes' motorcycles were several blocks away and their intended victim had begun calling the police.
"That's our fourth takedown tonight, and it's not even midnight yet" Robin said. "Guess thugs don't take New Year's off, do they?"
"I can live with that" Artemis replied. "I need some guys to hit, anyways."
"Because of Tigress?" Robin asked.
Artemis didn't reply, instead checking her quiver and swinging her motorcycle into another one of Gotham's narrow side streets.
"Wanna talk about it?" asked Robin.
"No" Artemis replied. "Possible robbery on the left"
"I see it" Robin responded. "Wanna buzz 'em?"
Artemis grunted and drove straight towards the men.
"Look out!" one of them shouted as they bolted, dropping their crowbars and fleeing the ATM. As Artemis swerved between them, she stuck out her bow, clubbing two of the three men. A bolas from Robin caught the last one as the two heroes sped off into the night.
Robin sighed. Getting Artemis to open up was proving more difficult than he'd hoped.
"If it makes you feel any better, Roy was wrong about what he said."
"No kidding, Sherlock" Artemis replied. She thought for a second. "But it is nice to hear you of all people say that."
"What do you mean?" Robin asked, slightly confused.
"Well, you are a bit... callous sometimes" Artemis said.
"Callous?" said Robin, half confused, half offended. "I'm not callous."
"You kind of are."
"Name one time."
"That time when we ran into each other at the Gotham City zeta tube and you made me improvise that ridiculous spelling bee excuse when you knew that I live here the entire time."
"I wasn't supposed to know your hometown! What did you want me to do, not act like I was suspicious? That would have tipped you off."
Artemis frowned. "You could have just dropped it after my first excuse. You didn't have to keep digging."
Robin started to respond, but the archer cut him off.
"Though, in your defense, you are a thirteen-year-old boy, and all boys that age are horrible people by default, so it's not exactly your fault."
Robin was going to challenge that claim, but then he thought about his typical classmate at school.
"Fair enough" he said with a smile.
They rode on in silence for a little bit.
"But more than that," Artemis said, not even sure if she was talking to him or herself, "it's nice to see that you have emotions too."
"What do you mean?" Robin asked.
"In combat, on missions, you're always Mr. Cool. You always have a plan, a gadget and a giggle, no matter how tough things look. Injustice League plant creature? No problem. Wake up in the middle of Bialya with no memory of how you got there? Spend the day wiping out goons. Fire-spewing robots ambush us at home and nearly drown us repeatedly? You're tough, clever and traught, while I end up in a ventilation shaft, curled up in a wet ball of panic."
"You also got out of the wet ball of panic, took a masterful arrow shot and saved all of our lives" Robin pointed out.
"Yes," Artemis admitted. "But you didn't end up in the ball in the first place. And I... I guess I... respect that."
Robin chuckled that annoying little chuckle of his.
"Are you saying you look up to me?"
"No, shorty" snapped Artemis in the instinctively abrasive manner she adopted whenever she was suppressing emotions.
She smiled a bit.
"But, I mean, you were the first."
"The first?"
"The first sidekick. The first teen hero. The one who showed the world that butt-kicking and spandex weren't adults-only."
She looked down slightly. "I suppose one could say that you were as much an inspiration for me as Green Arrow was."
Robin smiled. "Does this mean I get to add every heroic thing you've ever done to my personal 'good things I have done' list?"
If they weren't both on speeding motorcycles at the time, Artemis would have smacked him.
"But just because I was the first doesn't mean I had to be the first" Robin said. "If we've proven anything over the past few months, it's that there is a lot of untapped crime-fighting power in today's youth. Aqualad could have done it. Or Zatanna. Or Conner."
He thought for a second.
"Okay, probably not him. But the point still stands."
"As for avoiding the ball of panic..." Robin thought about it for a second. "I guess the key is probably experience more than anything else. I had four years of experience prior to the attack on the Cave. You had a couple of months of lower-intensity stuff at best. Any remotely normal person would have reacted like you did."
"Are you saying you aren't normal?" Artemis asked.
"Not remotely" Robin replied. "None of us are 'normal,' Team or Justice League. No normal or sane person would do what we do, day after day, night after night, constantly putting our lives on the line for ungrateful strangers we'll never even talk to. We're freaks, losers, aliens, weirdos and one or two people whom the world has hurt so badly that we feel the burning need to go out there and try, however futile it may seem, to keep it from hurting anyone else. So that no one ends up like either of us ever again."
He paused, and Artemis might have thought she saw a slight tear in the corner of his eye, had they not been speeding on motorcycles, his mask and motorcycle helmet covering most of his eyes and that idea in general just being utterly ridiculous.
The radio crackled. The Batcomputer program that had been monitoring the GCPD radios had discovered something it deemed of interest to their patrol.
"Roger, confirmed 5-81. SuDTraD signal indicates Inmate #43021, Victor Zsasz is no longer on Arkham Island. I repeat, Victor Zsasz has escaped from Arkham Asylum."
Robin and Artemis looked at each other.
"Duty calls" said Robin.
Little did Artemis and Robin realize that those three guys were just withdrawing some cash from their bank accounts before returning to their all-night crowbar convention.
Jeez, I am bad at these one-month runs. But now I have to since, it seems, the real thing may be coming back. Yep, Young Justice lives!
*ducks under desk as cheering shatters nearby glass*
So, with that big news out there, I feel I have no choice but to get out there and get this done.
So, it's time for Operation One-Month-Run 3.0. Third time's the charm, right?
Right?
To try and improve this third-time-charminess, I am attempting to use this story as my first ever actually-in-November NaNoWriMo. As you can see, I'm not off to a GREAT start, but these run-up chapters take forever. And, I mean, you don't really care if I do 50,000 words in a month. You care if I put any new chapters up. At least I hope you do.
I'm not trying to ship these two, I swear. The conversations just end up like this entirely on their own.
Can I just say that it's my personal belief as the one-and-only author that Zatanna is actually the Team member to suffer the most traumatic experience in the first story? I mean, no one else had a particularly good time, but geez. Hey, at least this time around she gets to have some screentime of actually her, and not just her possessed body. Progress!
Review Response Time:
BVC: There was literally an episode ("Alpha Male," two if you count "Drop-Zone") about how badly the Season 1 Team needs Kaldur as their center. I think by Season 2 they were much better off (Nightwing had really grown into his role and Superboy was a LOT more functional, not to mention they'd all grown to trust each other more thanks to "Usual Suspects") and so could survive his loss.
Yes, Canary is worried about keeping the Team off duty, not Batman. It is my belief that the sentence I used was grammatically accurate, but I have reworded it to make its meaning more apparent. Thank you for your concern.
Get back together? Don't be ridiculous! None of them are going to live THAT long!
Also, this was a review on the original fic, not this one, but presumably it'll get read at some point:
FadeWrites: That's very interesting about comics Rocket. I can see, given her backstory, how she might act like that. For my Rocket, though, I, having never actually read a comic with Rocket in it, had to base her entirely off of her appearance in the episodes "Usual Suspects" and "Auld Acquaintance." From that I got the impression of a cheerful, energetic, decently competent but still not terribly experienced hero. ("Is it always like this?") Given that she's on her first op with the Team and everything immediately goes to hell down to her getting depowered and then her getting thrown in the middle of the mole stuff having been told none of it beforehand (and not knowing half of the villains), acting uber-confident would be rather strange. That said, her belt's working again, so let's see if that'll change things up now...