Future Champions

(Earth-DB)

In the meeting room of the Justice League of Avengers, an eclectic group of heroes meet to discuss recent events. This meeting includes the JL-A founders Batman, Steve Rodgers, Wonder Woman, and a recently resurrected Superman. Joining them is the Japanese pro hero All Might and Titans Flash, Nightwing, and Spider-Man.

Above the table they see reports of the latest news. Young hero Invincible, son of former hero Omni-Man, was attacked by the Government run Squadron Supreme. It seemed to start out civil until the young man turned to leave and was blasted by Homelander. The reporters failed to follow the fight for long, eventually being saved by a recently debuted Spider-Man. The video paused.

"What was he doing there, Parker." Batman growls out. "The fight took place a time zone away from New York."

"Uhm, saving people?" The web-head replies. "I thought that was self-evident, Bruce."

Wonder Woman cuts off the building argument. "Did your protégé notify you before leaving for Chicago Spider-Man?"

"Sure, he did. Field trip, said it was a lovely city."

Batmans glares at the quipping hero. "Take this seriously Parker. Your partner put himself and others in danger."
"They were already in danger." Spidey counters. "Half the continent was because of Norman and Lex. Miles was in the wrong place sure, but he was there. He and the rest of the Champions took responsibility for what the League let happen. Not their fault the rest of us messed up."

"It wasn't just him though, Pete." Flash stepped in. "Bart and Cassie were halfway across the country when the Squadron showed up. Who knows how Ms. Marvel and Robin got there so quickly."

"He knows." Nightwing said, motioning towards Batman. "Robin was on spring break with his parents. Ms. Marvel was on the same field trip as Miles. No mystery to be found."

"No one cares how they got there." All Might cuts in. "What matters is that they charged into a situation without care for the consequences."
Now it was Nightwing who chuckled. "No, what you care about is them calling us out. Deservedly so might I add."

"Dick..." Superman warns. "Let's all calm down here a second."
"No can-do Clark." The former Robin apologized. "I understand you just woke up, but you have to understand that everything went sideways when you died."
Steve sighs. "He's right Clark. Heroes have been at each other's throats even ignoring Lex and his stormtroopers."

"None of that was our fault." Batman asserts.

"Wasn't it?" Diana asks. "We asked for heroes and got monsters in response. We let Omni-Man infiltrate our ranks years ago. Toshinori, you came half-way across the world and put Japan and the US at each other's throats."
All Might flinches. "Diana, don't you think that's overstating things? Sure, there's been some friction-"
"I'd argue she's understating." Spider-Man interrupts. "Take it from someone who's been put through libel since day one. The Hero commission has been putting down everything we've done since you moved. Heck, Endeavor publicly called out the FF and the Ghost*, and they saved the world multiple times while we were too busy arguing with each other."

"And let's not forget when Hal stopped a meteor from hitting Tokyo only to be surrounded by every hero in the city." Nightwing added. "They tried to arrest a Green Lantern. Do you understand what could have happened if they'd succeeded?"
All Might gulps, feeling the heat of the young heroes' gazes. "I doubt-"

"Jordan isn't the issue at hand." Batman cuts off.

"Issue?" Flash asks, electricity sparking in his eyes as he glares at Batman. "Don't you dare call Hal an issue." His glare only sparks more as Batman returns it.

"Wally." Wonder Woman gets his attention. "We're getting distracted."
"I don't think we are." Flash grits out. "You want to talk about us being divided? Hals the perfect example! His best friend dies? Give him some space. His home gets destroyed while he's off world? Throw him to the wolves. What I don't get is how any of you are surprised he-he..."
"Wally." Dick interrupts, hand darting to his distraught friend's shoulder.
The table sits quiet as the speedster simmers, eyes closed. "Right, main point. Champions. Talk."
Steve sighs. "I don't think there's anything left for us to discuss. They did what we were afraid to do."

"You can't be serious Captain." All Might gasps. "They're children! They could've gotten hurt."

"But they didn't All Might, did they?" Nightwing remarks, pulling up profiles on the heroes in question. "We're not talking about UA students here. Wonder Girl? She's an amazon trained demigoddess. Impulse? Speed force savant according to Max. Ms. Marvel? An inhuman that makes Reed Richards look downright brittle."
"None of that means they're ready for what's out there." Wally counters. "Bart isn't-"
"Jay seemed to think so." Steve interrupts, freezing the speedster in his tracks. "Max too. Both said he's a good, if impulsive, kid."
Spider-Man tilts his head. "I wonder where I've heard that before, huh Wally."
Flash weekly glares at his friend. "I was never that-"
"Yeah you were Wally, yeah you were." Dick shakes his head.

The conversation again at a standstill, Spidey sighs, pulling off his mask.

"Listen. I know, agree or disagree with them, we're all afraid here. You know what though? As someone whose stood where they have, I'd bet you every penny I've got that whatever fears we have don't hold a candle to what the Champions are going through. Afraid they'll get hurt? Definitely. Afraid what people will say or think of them? Yeah, been there. Afraid they'll mess up and hurt someone? Every day of my life."
All Might went to speak but felt Clark nudge him in warning.

"But I learned a long time ago that power comes with responsibility. And when you don't act on that responsibility you never forgive yourself. I think that's what the Champions have in common."

"And that should make risking their lives be, okay?" Wally asks dejectedly.

"Should it?" Dick asks in return. "Probably not. But nobody could have stopped us from storming off back when Raven gathered the Titans. And we can't stop the Champions now that they've got it in their heads that they can't leave saving the world to the adults that mucked it up."
"It is not their responsibility though." All Might disagreed. "Heroes-"
"Mess up as much as anyone." Superman interrupts. "Toshinori, when we first met, you told me you wanted to be a pillar for the world. The hero everyone could rely on and know everything would be alright. I agreed with you back then. I can't anymore."

The table looked at him, shocked at the admission.

"A year ago, I died. The identity of Superman died. That hit people hard enough that they didn't know who to believe in. My death shook the worlds faith in heroes. The champions are doing good work restoring what I took away. I wouldn't take that away from them even if I could."

"They're not all trained." Batman counters. "Impulse and Ms. Marvel are inexperienced. Invincible is still recovering from the coma his father put him in. We hardly have any information on Atom Eve in general, let alone her powers.

"I wasn't trained either." Peter put in. "A lot of us weren't. Not like these two. But I was lucky that I had people like Reed and Sue, Luke and Daredevil, and a lot of other people supporting me back then. We can't stop these kids, no more than the FF could stop me from swinging around New York. But we can make sure they survive doing it."

"Support you want us to give them?" Diana asks for confirmation.

"Recognize them to start." Dick suggests. "They did good work. Start simple and build a respect."

"They were sloppy." Batman countered. "They succeeded this time, but next time? I'm not so sure."

"They have good heads on their shoulders." Steve says ignoring the billionaire, fumbling with the screen as he did so. It changed to show the Champions staring down the Squadron. "It took Robin hardly a minute to split them up as needed. Wonder Girl lead those who kept the Squadron busy and Ms. Marvel lead evac. They regrouped once civilians were safe." He turns back to the table, stance on the matter clear. "What support can we give them?"

"A place to meet? Surely between Wayne tech and SI we can drum up something." Superman suggests.

Spider-Man shakes his head. "Think smaller Clark, they don't need a tower of their own. Nothing fancy, let kids be kids."

"I may know just the place." Wonder Woman thinks aloud. "Friday, could you bring up what Tony and I discussed?" In the middle of the table a holographic image of a small mansion appears. "This is a manor built by Howard Stark shortly after the war. I lived there for several years before I moved to Europe. All it needs is a zeta tube and it would work as a base of operations, without any of the Towers technological overabundance."

"Does it have space for training their abilities?" All Might asks; resigned to the direction this was heading. "UA and Xaviers school both have rather robust facilities."
"Reed, Vic, and I have some ideas." Pete mentions. "We know a thing or four about testing unfamiliar powers with not a lot of space."

"And I imagine the Titans want to take the lead in any supervision required?" Batman confirms knowingly, eliciting nods from the acrobats and an uncomfortable frown from the speedster.

"We have a wide range of volunteers." Dick confirms. "Dina already joined in planning a rotation, and we got the strangest call from certain tea loving mouse."
All Might scoffs, shaking his head. "Of course, Nedzu would want to be involved. Who's he sending over?"

"Present Mike from U.A, and he recommended the last Ingenium." Spidey responds. "Honestly it'll be good to see Tensei again, I haven't had the chance to visit in years."

Superman taps the table for attention. "How do we handle the media attention? Lois or I could do an article, but I don't think that can cover everything. Especially with our planned restructuring for the league."

"That should be the easy part, at least as far as the Champions are concerned." Steve comments. "I may not know all that much about social media, but even I know Ms. Marvel has built up a following."

Spidey nods, "That's putting it mildly. Donna and I can handle the public statements from the Titans end. You guys just worry about your half of things."

Flash focuses on the captain. "Granted, you'll be a little busy if what I heard from Jay is true."

Steve smiles. "You could say that. Jay and Ma* can handle themselves in the press just fine though. The JSA will be back in action before you know it."

And so, the conversation went; Earths heroes prepare for a dawning new age. Whatever the future held.

A story focusing on the aftermath of several story adaptations. I really just wanted to focus a little more on how the superhero community works when you consider not only Marvel and DC, but also Invincible, the Boys, MHA, and more.

I may be having a bit too much fun making throw away line's references. I think the most obscure references in this are the Ghost, (From a Doctor Who Christmas Special,) And Ma Hunkle the first Red Tornado.

On the plus side, certain people will be far less comfortable with registration when Lex Luthor is the one pushing for it, so no Civil War!

I haven't watched more than the first two seasons of MHA, and haven't read any WW comics, so those were who I'm most worried about writing in this one.

Of note, Wally, when he first became Flash, was ironically a pretty bad mentor to Bart. He eventually grew into the role to some degree, but Jay and Max tended to keep an eye on Impulse more often than not. So I'm basing his current character on that, not how he acts in current issues.

Thank you for reading, and I hope everyone has a wonderful day.