Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any characters related to the show. Young Justice is owned by DC Comics parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. Most of this chapter is based on the 'Person of Interest' TV series episode Pretenders. 'Person of Interest' is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Chapter 9
3/17/2011 8pm
Conner and Bruce continued their sparing lesson inside the Batcave's Red Sunroom. On the sidelines, Wolf and Sphere were observing while Dick was helping Alfred with the dishes in the manor. As the two spared, Bruce thought about how much Conner had learned over the past 72 days. Conner was like a sponge, willing to absorb everything the two threw at him. Conner's ability to control both his Kryptonian and TK powers more thoroughly than expected amazed everyone in the manor. He assumed he would need more time to control everything, but he got the hang of it by the end of January. Their session ended with Dick entering the room.
"That's enough for today." Bruce said.
"Buts, it's not even 9 o'clock!" Conner whined.
"I thought you would be excited for your first night out patrolling with us?" Bruce said as he stood there wiping the sweat off his face.
"Wait? Does this mean?"
"Yes, you can join us tonight."
Conner was excited he could finally join Bruce and Dick on patrol. Before he could get his thoughts ahead of him, he was interrupted by Bruce.
"But first, follow me."
Conner followed Bruce into a cavern using his TK senses. He could sense him grabbing... a candle and a match? Bruce grabbed a match, struck it, and lit the candle up.
From the outside, Dick and Alfred saw what was happening as soon as Bruce lit the candle. Dick was in the same position four years ago. They can see Conner's shadow him raising his right hand. Not that Dick is not excited or anything. He is concerned for Conner. He wonders if he's pushing himself too much for all of this. Dick's thoughts were soon interrupted with Bruce and Conner's arrival. All three of them went to the wardrobe for Conner's suit. What appeared in front of Conner was a simple black two pieces armored suit with some red accent lines, red stripe lines on the upper chest that extend down to the abdomen, combat boots that have red soles, and a black utility belt.
"Per your request, no capes. However, the suit will be snug because of the armor and because it's lead-lined, but it is very flexible since you've learned some of Dick's fighting techniques. The suit also includes a domino mask and holo gloves, tools like Dick's, and a face mask to conceal your identity." Bruce said.
Conner was in awe of the suit and wasted no time putting it on. While he can complain about how sung the suit was, it was flexible and very moveable, almost like a second skin. He could never imagine himself in a suit like this. He always preferred his black t-shirts, cargo pants, and combat boots. They were more freeing and comfortable and didn't constrict Conner like when Dick, Kaldur, and Wally first found him in a solar suit. Conner then grabbed two collapsible swords and a mini crossbow and holstered them to his new uniform. While also getting a collapsible bo staff for his utility belt. He turns around to see Dick and Alfred.
"You look good, Conner." Dick commented.
"Thanks."
"Ready for tonight?" Bruce asked as he exited the wardrobe with his suit on.
"I am."
"Let's get going." Dick said as he quickly appeared in his own suit.
Usually, Batman and Robin would either get into the Batmobile and head off into Gotham, or Batman takes the Batmobile, and Robin takes his motorcycle. However, tonight would be different. Since it was Conner's first night out on patrol, everyone got into the Batmobile. Their task tonight was to give Conner a quick tour (since maps can only do so much) of everything in Gotham and stop an arms shipment to Black Mask(Roman Sionis).
"What's so special about this arms shipment?" Conner wondered as he reviewed everything related to the said shipment.
"This specific arms shipment is under more secrecy than other shipments going into Gotham." Bruce responded.
"The ammo and guns are being sent in together and in a limited quantity." Dick added.
All 3 bats arrived at the warehouse where the shipment was supposed to be, hoping to find the man of the hour. Instead, they were treated to 24 henchmen and six SUVs.
"How was the test?" One of the henchmen asked.
"Sucessful. Beyond our wildest dreams."
"A crate of 20 just arrived tonight. 200 to follow."
"Loose ends?"
"All wrapped up."
"Good. Have the men standing-"
In an instant, Batarangs flew, disarming 9 men, and the bats made themselves known and kicked a couple of guys.
"It's Batman. Get him."
"Everyone opened fire, attempting to kill the bats. Batman, Robin, and Conner dodged the bullets while engaging anyone up close.
"Boss, he's got another one!" One of the henchmen said, noticing Conner.
"Doesn't matter. Distract him."
While the ongoing gunbattle continued, one of the henchmen quietly slipped to one of the SUVs, grabbed and loaded a massive gun, and started firing it at bats. The giant bullets shredded the nearby wooden crates and metal barrels like paper. While engaging one of the henchmen with delicacy. Conner quickly noticed that this wasn't an ordinary gun. Before he could make any more assumptions. The henchmen kept firing, shredding metal barrels and wooden crates with one shot. Conner quickly noticed that the gun was aimed in Robin's direction, and seeing its destructive potential, it could be a disaster.
"Robin!" Conner yelled.
Before Robin could react to Conner's words, the henchmen pulled the trigger, and the bullet left the barrel. In an instant, the bullet would hit Robin killing him instantly. However, that didn't happen. In a moment, Conner thought nothing more than trying to move Robin. He could try to fly towards him and shield him; however, he was too slow, and he only learned how to float no more, no less. But he didn't have to because, in an instant, Robin suddenly was pushed away from the incoming bullet by a mysterious force and was sent flying towards three men, knocking them out. The shot, thankfully missing Robin, destroyed more metal barrels. Conner performed a roundhouse kick on his henchmen, who went flying into the henchmen with the massive gun that nearly killed Robin. As the two men collided, the weapon fired into the ceiling. The henchmen quickly pushed the person that collided with him and readied himself. He was, however, met with a Batarang thrown by Conner that disarmed him and a punch to the face knocking him out. Batman finished his henchmen, and everyone was incapacitated. Using his infrared vision, seeing no more threats, he helped Robin. Who was on the ground after a massive push of 3 men to a brick wall?
"Are you all right?" Conner asked, offering a hand.
"Warn a guy next time when you do that." Dick responded nonchalantly.
"Sorry about that. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing."
"It's alright."
The two boys stopped their conversation and began removing and cuffing all the henchmen. By the time everyone was handcuffed, Gotham PD had arrived. Gotham's finest were doing one of three things: escorting the henchmen to transport vans, guarding the parameter, or gossiping about Batman taking in another 'sidekick' while Batman was speaking with Detective Renee Montoya and Robin supervising the henchmen's transport to the transport vans. While the word sidekick mildly annoyed any team member, Conner was focused on something else: the gun that nearly killed Robin. In the back of the SUV, Conner found a box of HE (High Explosive) rounds. The weapon itself was a LexCorp XM718. A next-generation prototype anti-material sniper rifle. Everyone's armor can take a hit, but the second round would kill them instantly. To make matters worse, a cell phone with a self-deleting message appeared, and its content could have been better. Batman and Robin finished their respective task and met Conner near one of the SUVs.
"One of the SUVs has a box of HE rounds, and they used a LexCorp XM718." Conner said.
"Next-Gen Prototype." Dick responded.
"Yep."
"One of these guys received a self-deleting text message. The message said 20 crates of these guns are now missing."
"The 20 crates that arrived tonight?"
"Most likely."
"One of them said 200 crates to follow." Robin added.
Seeing the destructive potential, all three knew they needed to find those guns fast. It doesn't matter if Black Mask had them. If anyone got their hands on one, the balance of power in the underworld would change, resulting in civilians being killed. All three raced back to the Batmobile and drove off into the night. In the Batmobile, Conner used his holo-glove to begin his search.
"Didn't Lexcorp shelve the XM718 after their failed defense contracts?" Conner asked.
"It would be easy for someone to get the specifications to build them. The problem is finding the correct type of ammunition." Dick said.
"Those bullets can shred our armor, but?"
"Yes, you can engage because of your invulnerability, but be careful and make sure not to show your full powers." Bruce said dreadfully.
"Did a search of all POI who possess a class B CDL(Commerical Drivers license), nothing pops up." Dick quickly pointed out.
"Try laid-off or unemployed civilians. With a load this size, outsourcing would reduce the risk in case one of their normal guys snitches."
"Only two people pop up. Able Warner and John Oswald. Both are recently deceased."
James Gordon was a man of patience. At least, that was before the latest rumor he heard. It surprised Gordon that Batman got a sidekick four years ago to fight crime. He was adamantly against the whole concept. Kids should not be fighting in any of these conflicts. But he had enough respect for Batman. Enough that he filed his concerns away for now. But when word got to him, it made him concerned. Gordon could only hope whoever he employed wasn't so young. When the commissioner opened the door to his office, he expected to see Batman, Robin, and a mysterious third party. He didn't expect the 'mysterious third party' to be nearly as tall as the dark knight confirming the rumors.
"So, what should I call you?" Commissioner Gordon asked.
"A concerned third party." Conner responded.
"Nice to meet you, concerned third party." The commissioner said with sarcasm.
"What can you tell me about the Able Warner and John Oswald cases?" Batman quickly asked, cutting to the chase.
As the two adults were talking. Robin and Conner retrieved the evidence boxes related to Able Warner and John Oswald and began looking through everything.
After a couple of minutes of sorting, Robin took a look at the cell phone of John Oswald and asked Conner.
"Did Oswald have a cell phone and a plan?" Conner asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because this phone has no sim card."
Robin began accessing the cell phone for any information after Conner reorganized and placed everything back into his box.
"Oswald could be our guy. Self-deleting text messages were still cached in the phone's memory." Robin said.
"What do they say?"
"He was supposed to pick up 20 crates from the Miller Harbor 3 nights ago. However, it looks like he didn't know they were guns."
Robin plays one of the voicemails that he left for his supposed employer.
"Banks it, John. What the hell am I carrying? One of the boxes says HE rounds. Call me."
"So a crate of 20 anti-material guns that were recently created are on the streets of Gotham, and they're missing because a man went soft?" Conner said, dumbfounded.
"Looks like it."
"Why didn't he turn them into the police?"
"He could be charged and didn't want to risk it."
"Check his phone's GPS data."
Robin did and compared it to traffic cams on the route. Oswald drove from Miller Harbor to Port Adams; the traffic cameras captured it all.
"So if that's Oswald, where would he go?" Conner asked, looking at Robin's holo map.
"Oswald disappeared in a camera blindspot only to reappear a few minutes later, getting into a taxi 2 blocks away."
"So where in that 2 block area would you hide a truck full of guns?"
While Robin and Conner were narrowing down the area. The Commissioner and the Dark Knight discussed Sionis and the 'elephant in the room'.
"HE Rounds for anti-material weapons?" Gordon asked.
"We believe the plans for the weapons were leaked or stolen, but it's too early to find out. Can you dispose of every gun properly?" Batman asked.
"GPD can do that."
The two men looked at each other. Gordon then looked at the 'sidekicks' and then back at Batman.
"I respect you and everything, but taking in another one makes me concerned." Gordon said.
"Concerned?" Batman asked.
"I'm concerned that people in their age group are fighting this battle so early in their life."
"His situation is different."
"I hope the little guys don't get caught up in all this."
"His goals are to ensure that doesn't happen to anyone."
"I can respect that, but at what cost?"
"He's not your average teenager commissioner."
"I can see that. We are grateful for your help, but at what price?"
"He's already paid the price long ago. This is him repaying a favor to everyone."
Their conversation ended when Robin had narrowed down the truck's location containing the weapons. The Bats got into the Batmobile and drove to Miller Harbor to search for the guns. Rather than divide and conquer or waste any time, Conner decided to try something else. Conner took a kneeling position and had both of his hands touching the ground.
"Uh, SB, what are you doing?" Robin asked.
"Trying to find our missing truck."
"You won't be able to find anything if you're just kneeling on the ground."
"All of my senses are based on touch. So if I can touch something, I can scan it."
"SB, that sounds really creepy."
"Shush…"
After a minute of scanning, Conner found the truck and guided the Bats to it. The three bats raced to the area and found the truck; unfortunately, so did Sionis and his men.
"Guns check out, sir." A henchman said.
"What about the other 200?" Sionis asked.
"They'll arrive in two weeks. They're assembling them now and doing QC."
"And the ammo?"
"We secured a stockpile."
"By tomorrow Gotham will be ours. Where's our guys from-"
Before Black Mask could finish, Batman and company engaged by throwing Batarangs to disarm some of the men. Knowing how powerful these weapons are, they needed to be destroyed tonight.
"It's Batman. Get him." A henchman yelled.
Sionis and his men opened fire at the Bats. Trying their hardest to kill them when one of the men stated the obvious.
"He's got another one!?" Another henchman yelled.
"Distract them." Sionis ordered
As Sionis's men engaged with the bats, Conner grabbed his collapsable sword and used it to slice the gun barrels of the closest to him, then incapacitated them.
Sionis and some of his men quickly entered the box truck, grabbed their new 'toys', and opened fire on the bats. Being the closest, Conner knocked out his last guy and threw a smoke bomb to disorientate Sionis and his men and disarm them. It worked. Conner grabbed his sword and sliced the XM's barrel rendering the rifle useless and knocking out everyone. He looked around, used his TK senses, and knew all the bad guys were down.
Now came the worst part of any patrol. Cuffing the henchmen and waiting for GPD. Conner was cuffing everyone and bringing them to a staging area for GPD to pick up. At the same time, Robin went ahead and cloned everyone's phone so that they could keep tabs on the gang and track the remaining 200 crates of weapons that'll be coming in. After cuffing everyone and inventorying everything in the truck, GPD finally arrived with multiple transport vans for Sionis and his men. The Bat's job was done for now. The night continued with a patrol. They stopped a couple of petty crimes here and there. By midnight Gotham was all quiet. It was 2am, and everything was quiet again, so they opted to end patrol and headed back to the cave. Upon their return to the cave, the dark knight did something rarely ever done: commended someone.
"Good work tonight."
"Really?"
"Yes, the textbook is finished."
"What about the guns?"
"We'll investigate them together tomorrow."
"Are you mad that I used my powers earlier tonight?"
"No. You kept a low profile while using them. You can keep on using them discreetly. The Red Sunroom was established so that you can train on how to fight without your Kryptonian powers so that you can't be defenseless in any situation. Superman can be taken down with a green rock or sun lamps adjusted to a specific frequency. Even in a vulnerable state, he should be able to defend himself to an extent, but he can't. I don't want you to be defenseless ever. I want you to be able to protect yourself should the situation arrive."
"I understand. What about my telekinetic powers?"
"I'll ask Martian Manhunter if he and M'gann can assist you in training. But you've grasped your telekinetic powers to an extent."
"Robin and I've practiced using them."
"This includes practicing your concentration since they're based on the mind?"
"Yes."
"Would you like me to ask Martian Manhunter and M'gann for help training you to use your powers?"
"No, not right now."
"Understood."
"Do you have something I use to use to test my flight skills?"
"I may have something, but you may want to try those skills with the team tomorrow."
"What about the guns?"
"We can investigate them tomorrow before you head off with the team." "You've been isolating yourself for too long."
Bruce said that knowing Conner was still a teenager and needed to interact with more people near his age versus being stuck in the cave forever.
"Okay."
Conner went to see a sphere, who beeped with excitement when seeing him. Conner and Dick headed upstairs to bed for some sleep while Bruce went and filed some information into the Batcomputer.
"Good Night."
"Good night Conner."
After a quick shower and ruffling Wolf's hair Conner went to bed excited at everything that happened over the past couple of hours. As he went to bed, though, sleep wasn't on his mind. It was the light and how the arms shipment to Gotham was only the beginning of Phase 2.
Author's Note: To be honest with everyone, I couldn't figure out how to write Conner's first mission. I think the first mission has to be something memorable. I was watching Person of Interest on HBO Max and found the episode, Pretenders. I realized the premise of the episode could be a great way to start Conner's career as Batman's second protege and stuck to it; regarding the suit, it's partially based on suits worn by characters in Tron. A great example is 'Robins (TRON crossover)' by JustDreamer22 on DeviantArt. There's nothing wrong with cargo pants, combat boots, and a t-shirt, but for Conner's new life, he will need something more just to blend in and be practical.