[August 8th 2010]
[Mount Justice, Happy Harbour, Rhode Island]
Oliver 'Ollie' Queen wasn't really looking forward to this introduction of young Artemis to The Team, or in meeting with Roy in a short time. The fact his young apprentice ...former apprentice...had gone to Batman first instead of himself...had hurt more than he'd care to admit. God he'd mismanaged that whole situation and bring in Artemis now as planned was just going to make everything worse now thanks to the unfortunate timing of the two events. Still he kept a faint smile on his face to show to the girl everything was going to work out better than she expected.
Girl was good at masking her emotions, but the faint aggressiveness and cock-sure faux-confidence that covered fear of rejection, or of failure, were something he knew very well sadly. Kid deserved a chance, and it sadly it seemed he and Batman had more faith in her than she had in herself as glow of the Zeta Tube disappeared and the computer rang out his name to inside of the cave. He resisted sighing in relief that Roy hadn't arrived yet, giving a nod of greeting to Batman and Red Tornado as they came into view alongside the young sidekicks of Batman and Aquaman talking a few metres away from them. The faint sounds of movement further back indicated that the other members of The Team were also coming in response to their arrival.
"Green Arrow, welcome. We are almost prepared for introductions to be made, though one of their number is delayed due to educational matters" Red Tornado greeted in the monotone mechanical voice of his. Oliver smiled and gave a nod of acceptance, mostly because he had arrived a little earlier than planned in part owing to Artemis's enthusiasm for becoming a hero. And he himself was all to glad to give the girl the chance to break from the cruel future her own father had seemingly planned for her and instead wanted nothing more than to be a hero. At least now she'd get the chance he figured as he answered, then glancing around at the old headquarters of the League. It was good to see it back and functioning again.
"Good to hear guys, seems we got here a bit ahead of schedule so my fault we don't have the whole Team here as yet. Want us to wait till everyone's here, or will we get started now?"
Batman seemed to consider a moment, though as usual it was hard to tell as the man's expression seemed locked into a permanent half-scowl. Man really needed to relax sometime Ollie thought before his black clad fellow hero nodded faintly "Best to begin now in case other matters arise and distract from the issue at hand..." the black cowled head nodded at the green clad girl beside Oliver "...unless Artemis you have any objections to this?"
"No, I'm eager to meet my new teammates Sir" she replied strongly in the affirmative, a little too much so in his own opinion. But given time she'd fit in with the others he hoped and might ease off on the braggadocio like he had learned himself from having a team to support him in battle.
In truth Batman's query was likely only to encourage the girl as the nearby Robin and Aqualad were coming over in curiosity, as was the approaching trio of Jonn's Niece, the unfortunate Superboy, and of course...the walking disaster zone. Evidently like his mentor was according to all the reports Batman had shown them on the man, and what Zatara had warned of. Another person to try turn from a darker fate along with Artemis; perhaps a task made easier by their association he hoped quietly placing a hand on her shoulder. It was best he make the introductions then as the various members bar Kid Flash who was still in school gathered around, glancing at him and then Artemis curiously. And perhaps unhappily in the case of Robin and Aqualad if he was reading their guarded expressions...Roy had such good friends there.
'Which could be a problem if I screw this up' he admitted to himself as spoke to the assembled group of sidekicks and took a friendly tone with them "Hi guys, I know Kid Flash isn't here yet, but since Batman and Red Tornado have called you here already I'd like to introduce you to your new teammate Artemis, my niece...and protégé now that Speedy has decided to go his own way as a hero. I hope you treat her kindly and work well together. With her skills and yours together you'll be an even stronger team than before"
Silence mostly greeted that statement for a few moments, Robin and Aqualad glancing at each other with body language indicating disapproval. Jonn's Niece giving a shy smile, seemingly about to speak, before glancing at the others about how to proceed. Superboy seemed a mixture of confused and uncaring as he folded his arms across his chest and waited for someone else to take the lead. The last one taking up the rear, Fortune, nodded in greeting but stayed silent. Likely for similar reasons to Superboy, over the 'citizenship' and 'cover identify' discussion that was going nowhere thanks to Superman's discomfort over everything. Combined with mess in Santa Prisca, mission issues, and then seemingly trying to help Superboy had all led to a somewhat strained relationship with the Justice League in the past fortnight with him. If the boy had just a bit more patience things could have been resolved with Superman in a few months and then they could have done something for Superboy rather than forcing the issue now and drumming up even more tension. Artemis seemed to pick up on the situation immediately sadly, a fractional straightening of the back as she almost posed with her bow held firmly in hand.
"Good to meet you all, I look forward to working together in the future. I just hope you all can keep up"
Ollie valiantly resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. The girl wasn't exactly the easiest in social situations as best he and Batman could tell thanks to her parents, or her Father primarily, and the reaction was much as he'd expected. Defensiveness likely coming off as arrogance judging from one or two frowns amongst the team, though at least green skinned M'gann laughed nervously as she replied while seeming to boink herself on the head with her hand.
"Hello Megan! Of course we need to say hello you Artemis! I'm M'gann! Nice to meet you Artemis, it'll be great to have another girl on the team! And this is Superboy, and Robin, and Aqualad, and that's John at the back..." the green skinned girl paused, bringing her fist to her chin in thought, before punching it into her hand "...oh and he's definitely Not a Supervillain either, even if he's not allowed to go on missions with us much because everyone thinks he is!"
Someone sighed, young Fortune it seemed as Ollie saw Artemis tense a moment at the Martian girl's words. Great, just what the girl needed to hear with her own family history as the boy replied seemingly rubbing at the back of his neck "Thank you Megan, thank you very much for that...heh...Artemis right? Nice to meet you, John Fortune at your service"
"Yeah...hello, I'm Superboy, welcome I guess" the bulkier boy with the S on his chest muttered back with his bored seemingly disinterested pose. Robin frowned, glanced at Batman, then at Ollie and Artemis.
"I thought we were all called here for a mission? And that we were involving John after..."
"RECOGNISED. KID FLASH. B-03" the computer sang out that in voice that would have been so much better...sexier, more friendly, if he'd been allowed his way. Dinah and her 'Ollie don't you dare' allying with Scowly faced Batman against him. Then another, younger, more excitable voice rang out as it followed by a crashing of things off the floor as Ollie turned around to see...
"The WALL-MAN is HERE! Now lets get this party starte...unghhhhh" he managed to turn and watch Flash's protégé, clad in swimming trunks and carrying a significant amount of beach gear, stumble and fall forward into the ground with a thud. A beach ball bounced off the floor, nearly hit Batman, then bounced off the ground past them as they all turned to look at the idiot on the ground. Oliver Queen manfully, and wisely, resisted the urge to mock the amusing stupidity going on before his eyes. Sadly his new protégé did not appear to have the same level restraint as he, as she placed hands on hips and smirked.
"Wall-man huh? Love the uniform! What exactly are your powers?"
"Comic relief looks like...hey Wally supposed to be on a mission not a holiday dude!" Fortune muttered looking at the spluttering Kid Flash, then back at Artemis "...anyway, don't be ogling him you. You're not even on the team yet ya'know? Also aren't we supposed to be talkin' about a mission as Robin said? It's not like I'm usually on those since...well..." he huffed "...I'm not usually on those now let's say"
Ollie couldn't help but smile as the flustered looking Kid Flash pushed himself back up and gave an exaggerated motion at Artemis, just as his new protégé whirled with a look of anger at Fortune and pointed at Flash's protégé "Who the hell his she? / I was NOT ogling him!"
He sighed and glanced towards Kid Flash, as Artemis glared at the Wizard from the Tea, oh this was going just splendidly he mused resisting the urge to glare at Batman and Red Tornado for staying silent and leaving this to him alone "Um...she's Artemis, my new protégé"
The unhappy reply was what he should have expected "What about your last one?"
The computer decided to chime in at that moment as the light of the Zeta Tube glowed "RECOGNISED. SPEEDY B-06"
'OH NO, couldn't you wait five bloody minutes till we sorted this mess out Roy!' Ollie groaned internally as Roy stepped into view looking far mor militant and unhappy than the last time he'd seen him, scowling at the Zeta Tube.
"Well, for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow" Roy growled stepping forward, glaring at Ollie, even moreso when he caught sight of Artemis turning to looking at him with bow in hand. Ollie brought his hand up in a conciliatory motion, God he had to fix this mess before the relationship with his partner was irreparable.
"Roy, you look..."
The faintest hint of a sneer, or concealed anger and hurt betrayal in his tone that cut like a knife as it reached Oliver's ears "Replaceable"
'No not that Roy, never that' his mind told him as his mouth worked tried to fix this somehow "It's not like that, you told me you were going solo!"
No, no that hadn't been the ideal thing to say it seemed. Even his own mind told him that as he heard them, let alone without the glare Roy was giving him and then Artemis in return. If people took sides now on the Team between Roy and Artemis then the poor girl would suffer for another one of his bad choices. Robin and Aqualad were standing beside an irate looking Kid Flash and looking towards Roy for support, if he could just...
"Red Arrow? Really?" the troublesome wizard, possible helper to a dictator now, and causer of many, many, recent headaches muttered loudly "I'm sorry but is Artemis here going to become Blue Arrow or Purple Arrow or whatever and we'll eventually have All the Colours of the Rainbow Arrows?"
'Wut?' echoed through Ollie's mind as he, Roy, and the others glanced at the boy, who then became somewhat flustered "What? It's a legit question?"
The Martain clapped her hands together happily "Oh, you should be Pink Arrow! That'd be so cute!"
Artemis gave her a horrified look, while the dark clad wizard motioned at her "Noooo...not that...look she's even got the whole camo thing...sorta...figured out, unlike the rest of ye lot! I am not having you corrupt her into wearing bright colours like some of you do and most particularly, Robin, The Boy Target over there does!"
An offended voiced echoed out "For the dozenth time there is nothing wrong with what I wear! And you, you dress like skull masked supervillain shouldn't be..."
Batman glanced at Robin. Was that...a hint of amusement in his scowl? "This is a valid point, one I brought up with you before if I recall. Now I believe Red Arrow here has something of a mission to discuss with you as a Team"
Relief flowed through Ollie's body as everyone appeared to calm down and Roy strode forward to the screens with information to brief them on. Batman had already been briefed on the matter...the sidekick stealing jerk...and the League could quietly do all the heavy lifting while the sidekicks could operate as the last line of defence. It would also be a decent controlled test of what to do with Fortune since his government were okay with a bodyguard mission as a live training exercise, and also allow Artemis to bond with others under controlled circumstances as well...
--
Note; Yes I'm reusing a bit of dialogue, but in terms of what occurred in this episode not much should diverge from Infinity Island, or Wally attending school to Speedy's arrival and relationship with Green Arrow. Sean is being 'tested' here basically. Now Canon is breaking down but certain things, like The Fog are unrelated to the SI's blundering so they'll reassert temporarily from time to time. Just don't expect them to match canon perfectly for much longer.