Chapter 2: Meetings
Gotham City- Wayne Manor, July 5th
Rattling down into the cave, an old wrought iron elevator comes to a stop with a heavy clunk. It's folding metal door is pushed open to reveal a slim, older man dressed in a fine three-piece suit. His black jacket, maroon vest, and a white long-sleeved shirt with a black tie were all in immaculate condition. His hair was just as well kept, with not a hair out of place, though he was beginning to bald in the front. What remained was beginning to slowly grey, all except his small, neatly trimmed mustache which remained its natural black.
The butler headed deeper into the cave, carrying himself with an easy poise across the rocky ground, all the while balancing a silver tray in one hand. Noises echoed throughout the cave as he walked. The distant roar of rushing water. From above, the chitter of bats as they settled in for the day, and as he got closer to the med-bay, he heard the sniffing of a blocked noise.
Pushing aside the plastic strips that covered the doorway, he entered. Inside, sitting on the edge of the gurney was a teenage boy. Bruce Wayne, bare from the waist up, pressing an ice pack to his side.
He was a handsome boy, with thick, black hair and bright blue eyes. Even hunched over like he was it was clear that he was tall for his age, as well as strong.
The older man set the tray down. "Allow me, Master Bruce." He said gently, speaking with crisp English accent, before moving the ice pack away to reveal an ugly purple bruise underneath.
"It's fine, Alfred." Bruce grumbled. The butler seemed to ignore him, studying the injury for a moment before moving the ice back.
"I concur with your diagnoses, Master Bruce." Picking the tray back up and setting it down next to the scowling teen. "The swelling has gone down, and you don't appear to have done any internal damage. No, my concern now is that cold you have coming on."
"It's fine, Alfred!" He repeated, more forcefully, though he was unable to stop himself from sniffling.
"Now, Sir, it would not do to let this fester. Batman can hardly strike fear into the criminals of Gotham if he is coughing and spluttering across the rooftops." Bruce kept scowling but didn't complain any further. "Luckily, I have just the remedy." Alfred lifted the dome from the tray to reveal a piping hot bowl of soup.
"Chicken soup? For breakfast?"
"Yes, Sir. A little unorthodox, I know, but there is nothing better for fighting a cold."
Bruce glanced at Alfred, the older man urging him with a nod. He relented, gulping down a spoonful. He sat quietly for a moment, his face softening. "Thanks, Al." He said quietly.
"You're welcome, Bruce."
The two sat in amicably silence as Bruce continued to eat while Alfred checked him over for any unseen injuries. Bruce was finishing off the last few spoonful's when Alfred spoke again.
"Nothing but few minor cuts and bruises." He announced. "The armor held up rather well all things considered. In any case, the only major affliction we need concern ourselves with is that cold of yours."
Bruce gestured to the near empty bowl. "I'm handling it. Besides, it's July."
"True, and now with Dr. Fries in custody you're unlikely to encounter any nasty chills. At least for a few months."
Bruce lay his spoon down in his empty bowl. "Has there been any more news about him?"
"Indeed, there has, Sir." The British butler remarked, picking up the folded newspaper that had also been on the tray and handed it to the teenage vigilante. "The Batman's exploits have once again made the morning edition. You even made it onto the first page, this time." He paused, sounding slightly disappointed. "However, it appears that others have been given the credit."
Bruce unfolded the paper.
TEEN HEROES FOIL MR FREEZE
The headline was emblazoned across the front page of the Gotham Gazette. Bruce reread the headline twice before looking to Alfred.
"Mister Freeze?"
"It appears acts domestic terrorism will cost you a doctorate or two."
He tossed the paper to the side and began pulling on a grey T-shirt, suppressing a wince as he went. All the while feeling Alfred's sad gaze upon him. "I'm not doing this for the credit, Alfred." He growled without looking.
"Of course not, Sir." Alfred replied. "But a little good publicity wouldn't hurt."
Bruce gave an irritated sigh. "The criminals fear of me is one of the best weapons we have. That doesn't work if I'm posing for picture for the Gotham Gazette."
"Indeed, Master Bruce," He picked up the newspaper and neatly folded again, laying back onto the serving tray. "And in any case, that was not my concern."
Bruce stared at him, his face set in its usually stern mask.
"Last night was your first encounter with other heroes, protégés to founding members of the Justice League, no less."
Bruce jumped down from the gurney. "What's your point?" He demanded.
"My point is that it could have been handled better." The teen gave an annoyed grunt and began to storm off. Alfred began to follow. "And you could make efforts to try to work with them in the future."
Bruce stopped dead in his tracks, he turned to face his butler. "Work with them? They almost helped Boyle get away!"
"They were unaware of the situation." The butler pleaded. "What would you have done had they not been there to take the Gothcorp files?"
Bruce hesitated. He stood, staring with a steely gaze at his guardian. "He wouldn't have gotten away with it." He strode back towards the older man. "I wouldn't have let him get away with it! Boyle would have faced justice!" The vigilante roared as he loomed closer to the butler.
Alfred stood stoically, the teen not quite reaching his shoulder.
Scowling, Bruce turned away and started noisily collecting the discarded piece of his armor from around the med bay. "I would have passed the evidence onto Gordon." He grumbled with his back facing the butler, his cowl clutched in his hands.
Alfred sighed. "We have nothing to suggest that Captain Gordon would be willing to work with a vigilante, nor that he would be able to mount any kind of meaningful action to a man with resources and standing as Feris Boyle."
"I would have sent it to the Gotham Gazette! Leaked it online!" Bruce barked. "He wouldn't have gotten away with it!" He slammed the cowl into the sleek metal of the medical cabinet, the protective gear striking the top of it with a mighty crash. The sound echoed off the walls and sent the bats into a frenzy.
Silence fell between them.
Seconds seemed to stretch on forever, until finally the boy spoke.
"He would never…" He trailed off into silence. Still not looking back. "I would never have stopped until…" He took a deep breath, stood up straight, and looked back over his shoulder. "I don't need their help, Alfred."
The old butler stood tall, his face a mask of proper etiquette. "Of course, Master Bruce." He said cordially.
Without another word, Bruce headed for the door.
"But neither do you need them as enemies."
The Watchtower; July 5th
In orbit around the Earth, the entirety of the Justice League, all fifteen members, had gathered in the Watchtower. The members sat in the station's conference room, seated along the outer edge of a massive U-shaped table. In the middle of the room, encircled by the table, was a holographic projection displaying the forms of Captain Cold, Killer Frost, and Icicle Jr.
At the head of the table Superman addressed the gathered heroes. "Now for one finally matter. Yesterday, prior to Wotan's attempt to blot out the Sun, three ice based villains attacked." Photos of the damage left by each of the three villains appeared next to their holograms. "All three were apprehended, however, later that day there was a fourth attack." Rather than a full body hologram, a newly taken mugshot of former doctor Victor Fries appeared amongst the other villains.
"Right, and we think that they're all connected?" Hal Jordan, Earths first Green Lantern, asked.
To Superman's left Wonder Woman pulled up her own holographic screen. "There doesn't seem to be any correlation between the crimes." Looking through the case files it seemed that Killer Frost and Icicle Jr had been enacting mindless destruction, Captain Cold had been attempting a jewelry heist when he had been apprehended, while Mr. Freeze had been trying to rescue his wife and take his revenge on Feris Boyle. "Their motives don't support the idea of cooperation either. Apart from their general power set and that they all acted on the same day, there doesn't appear to be anything tying them together."
"But it would have to have been one really crazy coincidence for them all to just decided to cause trouble on the same day!" Captain Marvel announced a little too loudly. The Amazon regarded him with a quizzical stare. Captain Marvel sheepishly settled back in his seat, only to notice the rest of the League staring at him too.
"I just meant that it was strange." The Captain squirmed under their gaze. "And the new guy showing up for the first time with the same powers is super weird." He trailed off, becoming intently focused on his own holo-screen, trying not to draw any more attention to himself.
"What about Feris Boyle?" Hal asked. Captain Marvel quietly sighed in relief as the League turned their attention away from him. "He had Freeze working on all kinds of cryogenic tec. If he was working on it before he brought Freeze onboard, then maybe that's how this is all connected."
Black Canary shook her head. "There's nothing to suggest that any of the other villains had connections to GothCorp, let alone Boyle."
"And I don't see how causing chaos on a bridge in Star is going to hurt GothCorp." Green Arrow added.
Hal looked across to the other side of the table, speaking directly to the Flash.
"Did Kid Flash, or Aqualad," He briefly acknowledged the Atlantean king. "Find anything else on Boyle, other than the files they handed over?"
"No, they didn't." He explained, a little uncertainly. "There wasn't time to say anything earlier but Kid Flash and Aqualad weren't the ones to catch Boyle, or Freeze."
That caught everyone's attention.
The speedster shared a look with Aquaman and the two began to explain what had happened as best they could from what their sidekicks had told them. The teens arriving on the scene, the freed hostages, tracking down Freeze and the brief fight that had followed. The story came to an end with what the League already knew, Aquaman, Flash and John Stewart all arriving at GothCorp.
"So, there's a new hero working in Gotham? That's good, right?" Captain Marvel asked. Gotham City was in desperate need of help. It wasn't as if the League was forbidden from entering the city, but they had the whole world to protect, plus their own cities. They couldn't be everywhere.
"If they are, indeed, a hero." Aquaman said in a severe tone.
Captain Marvel looked confused. "But they stopped Mr. Freeze and caught Feris Boyle."
The Atlantean shook his head. "That does not mean that they had noble intentions. We know now that GothCorp was involved in numerous criminal operations. It's possible that this was another party looking to get rid of Feris Boyle and GothCorp or was working on behalf of those who did."
"Do we have any information on the new guy?" Green Arrow asked.
"Or woman." Black Canary added, tossing a teasing smile his way.
A handful of the assembled Leaguers began scrolling through their own holographic display, searching for information. After a few moments a chorus of negatives answered Green Arrows question.
"I disagree." Red Tornado interjected. "While there are no confirmed reports of any active superhero's there have been a number of incidents that indicate otherwise."
A collection of police reports, newspaper articles and webpages appeared. Mostly being about attacks on criminals and sightings of an unknown creature. "They all share similarities to Aqualad's and Kid Flash's descriptions of the encounter."
The rest of the League was less than convinced. Scrutinizing the collection didn't provide much compelling evidence. The police reports where sparse in detail and none of the articles could be considered hard-hitting journalism. Most were barely two paragraphs long, coming from deep in the back pages or some conspiracy site. A few of the better ones managed to boast pictures of something they claimed was either a vampire, a demon or in some cases a pterodactyl.
"Nothing rock solid." Green Arrow observed.
"But worth consideration." Red Tornado replied.
Superman spoke up again. "We'll keep monitoring the situation in Gotham. Now if we can get back on topic."
The meeting ended soon after. With no further evidence of any conspiracy between the ice villain the League members had come to the decision that it had just been coincidence. The various heroes began to trickle out of the meeting room, most heading for the Zeta-Tubes to get back to Earth. Aquaman and Flash were among those heading back to Earth when the Martian Manhunter approached them.
"Aquaman, Flash. May I speak with you both for a moment?" Only the three of them remained in the conference room. "It is about your sidekicks."
Mount Justice, July 8th
Kaldur looked up from the newspaper. "No one else has come forward?"
It had been four days since their failed mission in Gotham. Both Aqualad and Kid Flash had been sent home by their mentors following stern chastising's from both Flash and Aquaman. Kid Flash had gone back to Central City while Aqualad returned to the Atlantean city-state of Shayeris. Being forced to return home had meant Aqualad was cut off from much of the news from the surface world.
Meaning he was surprised to discover that they were being given sole credit for the rescue at GothCorp and the exposing of Feris Boyle's many crimes.
Wally shook his head. "Nothing. It's so weird." He spoke through a mouthful of potato chips. Both boys where sitting near the caves kitchen in their civilian clothes.
"Perhaps that is why they called us back." Both boys had expected to be suspended from their heroic activities for some time. Waiting only four days did not seem long enough.
Before they could speculate any further the cave's Zeta-Tube came to life.
Recognize:
Aquaman; 0-5
Flash; 0-3
The two teenagers stood as their mentors approached but didn't move to meet them. Flash spoke first. "Look, we know that neither of you were happy with anything that happened on Independence Day. Especially, after what happened with Freeze."
"We recognize that we made a mistake in how we reacted." Aquaman continued. The teenagers perked up at the king's words. "We don't want you to think that you where being punished for trying to help people."
"So, we're not in trouble anymore?" Wally asked.
"No, you're not." Flash assured his nephew with a small smile.
Wally smiled back as Kaldur stepped forward. "Then may I ask why we are here?"
Recognize:
Martian Manhunter; 0-6
Miss Martian; B-0-4
The four heroes turned to see Martian Manhunter stepping out of the Zeta-Tube with a green-skinned, red-haired teenage girl. "I would like for you all to meet my niece."
She gave them all a little wave and a shy smile "Hi."
Wally zoomed past the others, coming to a stop in front of the Martian girl. "Hey, I'm Wally. Kid Flash." He said proudly, pointing at himself with his thumb. "That's Kaldur." The Atlantean gave a small nod but said nothing. "It's cool if you forget his name."
The Martian girl took a half-step back. "I'm M'gann. It's pleasure to meet you both."
"M'gann will be working with her uncle from now and living here at the mountain." Aquaman explained. "We thought it would be a good to introduce you all to each other."
Wally and M'gann kept smiling, the red-haired boy staying close to the Martian girl, but Kaldur began to frown thoughtfully.
"Is there nothing else you wanted from us?" Kaldur asked his king. "Questions about what happened in Gotham?"
Aquaman held up his hands in a sign of placation. "No, we are putting all that behind us." He placed a comforting hand on his student's shoulder. "The League is not concerned about what happened."
"I have some matters I must attend too, and I had hoped that you would both be able to spend some time with M'gann today." Martian Manhunter added.
Kaldur's frown deepened. "I see." He turned away from his mentor, brushing his hand away.
"Kaldur'ahm?"
Wally had finally managed to pull his attention away from the pretty girl as was now realizing what was going on. "So that's really it? We're just here to meet M'gann?" He asked his own uncle. "Not that this isn't great," He quickly assured M'gann, shooting her a flirtatious smile. "But there's all this stuff going on in Gotham, related to our mission. Shouldn't we be involved?"
"Wally, I've already told you, whatever is happening in Gotham, the League will handle it."
"While we all wait here for a playdate, right?" Wally questioned sarcastically. Kaldur said nothing but seemed in agreement with his friend. M'gann tried her best to shrink into the background, upset and humiliated that her mere introduction had started an argument between the heroes and their sidekicks.
Sensing his niece's distress, Martian Manhunter stepped forward to try and calm the situation. "I am sorry, I was the one that asked your mentors to bring you here. I did not mean to cause any offense." Neither teen paid him any attention.
"Kaldur, this is not a punishment." Aquaman assured his student.
"I know that you believe that." Kaldur replied.
"I don't understand." Aquaman briefly looked to Flash for help, only to find the speedster just as lost as he was.
Kaldur turned to face his king, standing tall and meeting his king's eyes. "I realize that we do not have your ire but neither do we have your respect."
Aquaman's eyes widened in surprise. Both Flash, Martian Manhunter and even Miss Martian where just as shocked by Kaldur's words.
"I agree that our mission was not a success, but it was not a failure, either. We did not defeat Fries or Boyle but that was not due to any fault of ours. It was because someone else had acted first." Kaldur continued. "That day, we acted. We did what we were trained to do, what you trained us to do. Yet in spite of that training, in spite of both of us having fought at your sides, we are still treated like children! We are ready for more than this!"
"Aqualad, stand down." Aquaman commanded firmly, attempting to control his apprentice. "Neither of you have shown us that you a ready."
"How are we supposed to prove ourselves if you want lets us!" Wally interjected.
"This isn't helping your case." The King replied sternly.
For a moment there was quiet. A tension rested between the two teenage boys and their mentors, until finally Kaldur spoke.
"My King." He said solemnly before heading deeper into the cave. With one last look at his uncle, Wally followed his friend leaving the three Justice Leaguers and Miss Martian behind.
Both Aquaman and Flash looked as if they wanted to follow but decided not to, instead heading back to the Zeta-Tube.
It was a while later that Miss Martian found Aqualad. After the argument she had been nervous about talking to either of the boys, not knowing if they were mad at her as well. Her uncle gave as much reassurance as he could before he too had to leave. Still, M'gann had avoided them both. Instead, she decided to hide out in her soon-to-be bedroom at the mountain.
The room was nearly empty and eventually a mixture of boredom and anxiety drove her out. She could hear someone in the kitchen. She started walking towards the noise when she spotted someone in the library, working at one of the computers.
It was Aqualad.
She was about to keep heading to the kitchen. He seemed busy and she didn't want to disturb him, especially when she wasn't sure if they were mad at her. Wally had been the friendliest of the two of them.
Something must have caught his attention, Kaldur turned to see her standing in the doorway. "Oh, hello." He stood up from his chair and began walking across the room towards her.
M'gann stood frozen in the doorway, returning the greeting with a weak "Hi."
Kaldur looked apologetically at her. "I am sorry about my earlier outburst."
"Oh! No, it's fine." She replied quickly but not very convincingly.
Kaldur smiled gently at her. "I do not wish you to think that you are in anyway the reason for my… displeasure. If I have done so, I am truly sorry." He said softly.
M'gann fidgeted under his gaze. "I was already pretty nervous about meeting everyone. Didn't really go very well." She looked up at the genuine look of regret on the Atlantean boy's face. "But at least it's good to know it wasn't my fault." She smiled softly at him. "And, I suppose it could have gone worse."
"Still, it was a poor first impression." He stuck out his hand. "Kaldur'ahm."
M'gann took it, happily. "M'gann M'orzz."
A moment later Wally rushed into the room with two bags of chips under his arm. "I thought I heard you two." He came to a stop, putting himself between M'gann and Kaldur, leaning closer to the green-skinned girl.
Kaldur glanced down at the food in his arms. "Exploring the kitchen?"
"I was giving you your space after saying all that stuff. If I'd known, I would have been here spending time with M'gann." He gave the girl a wink.
"I only just got here." M'gann explained. "I bumped into Kaldur while he was working."
Wally raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Working on what?"
Kaldur started walking back to the computer, the two other teens following him as explained. "Despite what the Justice League has decided, I believe there is more going on in Gotham City."
"Gotham!" M'gann repeated excitedly. "That's where you defeated that ice villain and saved those hostages, right?" She asked, looking expectantly at Wally.
"Uh, yeah." He answered, becoming suddenly interested in each sparsely filled bookshelf they passed. "Kind of."
"Kind of?" She asked Kaldur.
"We were not the ones who stopped Fries." Kaldur answered honestly.
"Not that we couldn't have handled it!" Wally blurted out quickly.
"I believe I did mention this during the argument."
"Oh." The girl said bashfully. "Well, it was a… uncomfortable situation. I was trying not to listen."
"Again, apologize."
"Yeah, totally unfair to M'gann." Wally added. "So, you want to figure out who the shadow guy was?" The speedster asked Kaldur as they arrived at the computer. M'gann watched them both, slightly confused by the reference.
"Yes." He said simply. "The information is sparce, but I believe I have something. At the very least, I have found their most common title." He gestured to the screen, showing an article from a small-time local paper in Gotham.
Who is the Batman?
Next chapter done! Hope you're like the story so far. Let me know what you think, if anything needs improving and if everybody seems in character. Leave a review or use private messaging.
Thanks for reading.