The Watchtower early morning
The watchtower was currently unoccupied, meaning that the regulars were on patrol or in their personal lives, the premises lacked any soul except for one, one person so strong-headed to be on the job so early even if there were the only one there
This person was the Dark Knight himself, he was currently in front of the Watchtower's main computer with several footage in front of him, footage of one person in particular, this person being Nate
"Recognized, Black Canary 11," The computer of the watchtower called out as the blond heroine appeared from the entrance of the watchtower
"You realize how early this is right?" Black Canary said rubbing her eyes as he approached the Dark Knight "This better be good Bruce," Black Canary said as Batman narrowed his eyes at her and then looked back at the footage
"Take a look," Batman said as Black Canary looked up in curiosity
"What am I looking at?" She asked as she saw footage of a common mugging, some criminals robbing a woman but then a blue smoke appeared in the middle of the scene as Nate quickly made work of the criminals and once he secured the criminals he helped the woman up and lead her to safety, Black Canary let out a whistle in appreciation "Clean work, the kid clearly knows what he's doing," Black Canary said
Batman grumbled and turned around "I've been researching Nate, the past week, want to learn what I found?" Batman asked and Black Canary gave him a shrug of the shoulders "That," Batman said nodding to the footage, and Black Canary's eyes winded
"You can't be serious," She said in shock, this information was too little for the usual dirt Batman found on anyone, there was practically nothing there besides a couple of CCTV footage "That's all you found?" She asked and Batman nodded his head
"No medical records, no birth certificate, nothing, the kid is a ghost but moves like that don't come out from just talent, someone taught him," Batman said and Black Canary took a step forward
"Not only that but the kid has years of experience on his belt, no hesitation, no second thoughts, he does it unconsciously," Black Canary said as she frowned in deep thought "Do you think he's dangerous?" Canary asked and Batman hummed
"He's unknown, something I don't have an answer to, and until I do, we should keep an eye on him," Batman said and Canary crossed her arms
"And that's where I come in then?" Canary asked as Batman looked at her "You want me to get close to him, use my therapy skills to create a bond or something?" She asked and Batman gave her a nod "Alright, I'll do it, but make no mistake, I will only tell you if he's dangerous or not, I will not divulge any personal info, clear?" Canary said and Batman narrowed his eyes at her
"Why not?" He asked annoyed and Canary glared at him in return
"You of all people should know that people deserve to keep their secrets as much as they please," Canary reminded him as Batman grumbled and looked forward again "For now we should give the kid the benefit of the doubt, he doesn't seem to have ill intentions," Canary said and saw Batman narrowing his eyes at the footage and she couldn't help but sigh in defeat
"Appearances can be deceiving," Batman reminded her and Canary could only shake her head exasperated
Mount Justice
"Pick a card, any card," Nate said with a smirk as he had a deck of cards in a flourish for the Martian girl to pick
Currently, he and M'gann alongside Superboy were hanging in the kitchen area of Mount Justice killing some time till the others arrived, and Nate had offered to show her a steer magic trick
He was currently wearing his Red X leather jacket with a tight training red wine shirt and a pair of black cargo pants, a simple streetwear outfit, but Nate had grown fond of the Jacket, so he decided to just pair anything with it, although he realizes while moving into the cave that he should go and buy himself some more clothes as his closet was currently a little empty
"This is stupid," Superboy grumbled as he was leaning on the couch sitting in between M'gann and Nate
"Ah come on Superboy, this could be fun," M'gann said smiling at him as Superboy huffed and crossed his arms while looking away "Any card?" She asked and Nate nodded with a small smile on his face
She picked a card and Nate closed the deck as he started shuffling the rest of the cards "Take a good look at your card, you can even show it to grumpy pants over there," Nate said as Superboy made a face at him as the blond teen looked away as M'gann showed Superboy her card
Superboy rolled his eyes and looked at the card as both teens made note that it was the seven of hearts Nate split the deck and put them forward "Once you're ready place your card in the middle of the deck but don't let me see it," Nate said as M'gann gave him an excited smile and place the card in the middle
"Now there is a rule on street magic, well in all magic usually," Nate said as he started doing a show of shuffling the cards "Is that the more you think you see, the less you are, hence the term now you see me," Nate said and M'gann's eyes grew big
"Now you don't," M'gann said and Nate gave her a huge smile
"Exactly, now please tell me what card was yours," Nate said and M'gann looked at him confused "It's okay is part of the show," Nate said cheekily and M'gann looked at him
"The seven of hearts," She said, and Nate's eyes grew big
"Oh wow, the seven of cards, I'll tell you a secret, that one is one of my favorites," Nate said as he lay the deck of cards upside down "My lucky number after all, well then," He said as he stretched the deck to the left revealing all the cards "Can you look for your card see if you can find it," Nate said as M'gann look down and started rummaging around the deck of cards
After a few moments of her looking for her card, Nate spoke up when he noticed that she wasn't finding it "Something wrong?" Nate asked in curiosity and M'gann looked up at him
"Um, it's not here," M'gann said in confusion and Nate leaned forward looked down, and hummed
"Ah I see what's the issue here," Nate said and then looked up with a smirk on his face and got M'gann confused "You're looking too close, you're not seeing the full picture," Nate said cheekily and then Superboy started coughing as if he had swallowed something and didn't come down, he kept coughing till he spit something out, that something being a folded card and M'gann leaned forward and looked at the folded card in expectation
"Take a look," Nate said and Superboy started opening the folded card slowly M'gann and Superboy's eyes got big when they saw the Seven of Hearts in the young clone's hands
"Oh my god! How did you do that!?" M'gann asked in shock looking at Nate in amazement as Nate twirled his fingers and moved his hands around
"Magic, mon amie," He said cheekily and Superboy snorted as he looked at the card in amazement "You can keep it, as a memory token," Nate said and Superboy huffed but put the card in his pocket
"That was incredible, how did you learn to do that?" M'gann asked in excitement as Nate looked at her still with a smile on his face but then that smile went away as he frowned in deep thought and looked down
"Um, I can't remember," Nate said confused Superboy gave him a concerned look and M'gann hit her head playfully
"Hello, Megan!" She said to the confusion of the two boys "I also sometimes forget a lot of stuff, so I guess we have that in common," M'gann said and Nate raised an eyebrow a little confused by M'gann's attitude but otherwise amused by it
"Yeah, I guess so," Nate said giving her a small smile and then Superboy cleared his throat gaining the attention
"What do you think about the others' plan?" Superboy asked and Nate leaned back on his couch
"About asking Tornado for a mission?" Nate asked in curiosity as Superboy nodded and Nate hummed as he started throwing a card up and down "I don't think is gonna work," Nate said as the other two looked at him in confusion
"What do you mean by that?" M'gann asked in curiosity as Nate aught the card and looked at it, it being the jack of hearts
"Tornado is just our caretaker, Batman is the one who delivers the missions," Nate said as he let out a sigh "I just don't see Tornado as the type of guy to deviate out of that agreement, and even if he did, it's not like he can pull a mission out of his sleeve," Nate said and then he frowned in confusion "Though I don't know if the guy actually has sleeves," Nate wondered out loud as Superboy hummed in deep thought
"So you're saying we shouldn't ask Tornado for a mission?" Superboy asked and Nate looked at him
"No, not that, we should definitely try, there is no harm in doing so after all," Nate said and then looked at both "I'm just saying we shouldn't be disappointed if things don't go our way," Nate said with a shrug and Superboy looked to his right in deep thought
"Well, even if we're not going to missions I'm very eager about this opportunity," M'gann said as Nate looked at her in curiosity "I mean I got to come here, to Earth, and these living arrangements are pretty nice, a huge difference compared to back home," She said as Nate leaned forward
"How so? I've always been curious about how live on Mars is," Nate asked in genuine curiosity which lifted the spirits of the Martian girl, as she was eager to talk about her home world
"Well, it's kind of similar to how we're living right now," M'gann said as Nate raised an eyebrow in confusion she noticed it so she clarified what she meant "We all lived underground, Mars is hot, and a dry planet so not much can survive in the surface, so my people went underground and created various cities there, and that's been my whole life there," She explained and Nate gave her a smile
"Sounds kind of cool, so do you have countries like us? Or is it all connected?" Nate asked in curiosity as M'gann frowned in deep thought
"Well we call them colonies, and it's kind of complicated," M'gann said as Nate tilted his head waiting for her to explain "We have a king and queen, a monarchy I think is called, the closer you live to them, the more connected civilization you have, but there are separate colonies, especially with the whole white skin Martians and the judgment they receive," She explained and took a moment before continuing
"Green Martians have a, what's the word? Hate? Towards white Martians, is a real problem back home, I was lucky to be born green but those with different skin have it rougher than the others," She explained and Nate let out a tired sigh
"I see," Nate said and then looked up "Then it seems Earth and Mars are not very different, racism is a big issue here too, is kind of stupid if you ask me," Nate said with a shrug and Superboy leaned forward
"How so?" He asked and Nate looked at him pursing his lips trying to find the right words
"Well, it's a big country, and every person is different from one another, so why should we judge those differences instead of embracing them?" Nate said with a shrug and Megan nodded with a smile
"I know what you mean, even if white Martians are different, they're still Martians," She said and Nate gave her a nod with a small smile then when he saw that Superboy was thinking deeply so he decided to change the topic
"How about Sups? Do you like living here yet?" Nate asked in curiosity and Superboy looked up in confusion
"Um, it's nice?" He said not really sure of himself "The cave setting is familiar to Cadmus, but it's nice sleeping in a bed instead of a pod," Superboy said and Nate snorted
"Yeah I know what you mean, I've been sleeping on a friend's couch for two years now, it's nice to have my own bed," Nate said as both teens looked at him in confusion slash curiosity "I landed in Gotham after a bad experience and I got nowhere to live, so that's that," Nate explained and Superboy nodded in understanding
"Still this kind of overkill don't you think? I mean it's huge, I got lost a few times in the first days," Superboy said and Nate chuckled
"Oh I'm glad I wasn't the only one," Nate said leaning back "No matter where I turned to, I always ended up in the garage, thank god Tornado is here, without him I would've been stuck there for days," Nate said in amusement as the other teens chuckled at his predicament
Then they stopped as they heard an announcement from the main computer "Recognized Aqualad B-04," They heard and Nate was the first one out of his chair
"Well, here goes nothing," Nate said putting the cards on his jacket and stretching his arms a bit, then he walked away leading the other teens towards the main area of the cave
There they found Aqualad already on the main computer tracking Red Tornado's movements "Mornin'," Nate said as he approached Aqualad and looked at the computer "How are you?" He asked as Miss M and Superboy looked at the computer and remained quiet
Aqualad raised an eyebrow in confusion but just saw Nate's smile and chuckled lightly "I'm fine, a little tired," Aqualad said and Nate raised an eyebrow
"Rough night?" Nate asked in curiosity as both Superboy and Miss M looked at them also feeling curious, Aqualad let out a sigh and looked at Nate
"You could say so, we didn't convince Roy to join us," Aqualad said as Nate crossed his arms and tilted his head "He called us Junior Justice League," Aqualad said and Nate hummed
"Is that also what you think?" Nate asked in curiosity Aqualad looked down "Because I think he does have a point," Nate said and Aqualad looked up "I mean we are under the watch of the League, we're just a different branch that's all," Nate said and Aqualad frowned in frustration
"But that doesn't mean it is a bad thing," Nate said as Aqualad looked up his eyes growing big in surprise "If you got a reason and an opportunity to do good, who cares where it came from, right?" Nate said with a small smile on his face and Aqualad snorted and smiled at the blond teen
"Right," Aqualad said and then the computer's announcement rang out loud again
"Recognized Robin B-01, Kid Flash B-03," The computer announced as a yellow light appeared from the cave's main tunnel, and from there the youngest members of the team appeared
"Did you ask him?" Robin asked excitedly wasting no time to get to the matter at hand a sentiment that the young speedster also carried
"What did he say?" Kid Flash followed with the same type of question and Nate found amusement in their eagerness
"Good morning," Nate said a little cheekily as the younger teens smiled at him sheepishly and Aqualad looked back at the hologram
"He's arriving now," He said calmly as always as both Kid Flash and Robin smirked in excitement
The speedster punched Robin's chest playfully with a huge smile and then spoke up "Then what are we waiting for?" He said rhetorically as he rushed to where the League hero would be arriving
Robin quickly rushed behind Kid Flash and Aqualad let out an exasperated sigh and walked behind the young teens with a calm and slow walk leaving the newest members behind
Superboy looked back as M'gann smiled at him and put her hands on her hips and then the clone looked at Nate who put a hand up and twirled his fingers a bit with a smirk on his face and Superboy frowned
"No, not again," Superboy said walking away and Nate chuckled while turning his head at M'gann
"After you," Nate said as M'gann gave him a small smile and started levitating and flying behind Superboy
Nate let out a breath, amused by the whole situation then turned his head to the holo map and saw the position of Tornado, and his face formed a wicked smirk, as a plan to scare Kid Flash started forming on his head
So with the plan in his head, he disappeared from the area, meanwhile Kid Flash led the group to the ramp as it was slowly descending and the young heroes were waiting with excitement there
"He arrived yet?" Nate asked in curiosity appearing next to the speedster who screamed out in surprise and slight fear
"Come on man! Why do you feel the need to keep doing that!?" KF asked trying to catch his breath and Nate gave him a small chuckle
"Because it's fun," He said, and then the group saw the League's hero arriving in front of them and landing gracefully with a red tornado under his feet "Good morning sir, how was your morning travels?" Nate asked cordially and Red Tornado looked at him
"Good morning as well, and it was a clear open sky today, thanks for asking," Red Tornado said and Nate gave him a smile and a nod as a response "Now is there a reason you've all intercepted me here?" Red Tornado asked in curiosity as Aqualad took a step forward
"We'd hoped you had a mission for us," Aqualad said as Nate crossed his arms in expectation
"Mission assignment is Batman's responsibility," Red Tornado said as a matter of fact but that didn't sit right with the youngest of them all
"But it has been over a week and nothing-," Robin said but was interrupted by the hero in front of him midway through
"You'll be tested soon enough," Red Tornado stated firmly "In the meantime, simply enjoy each other's company," Red Tornado said and Aqualad frowned
"This team is not a social club," Aqualad said a little annoyed but then Nate put a hand in front of him stopping the Atlantean from saying something he would regret
"I'm sorry for the hostility sir, but you cannot fault us for feeling a bit, well, restless," Nate said as Red Tornado looked at him for a few seconds
"I understand, but I've come to the understanding that socializing is the key to a well-formed team," Red Tornado said as if he were giving a piece of information "Perhaps you should keep busy by familiarizing the cave," Red Tornado said as he flew by the teens as the six of them watch him fly away
"Keep busy," Kid Flash whispered annoyed with Robin who crossed his arms in frustration
"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin said a little angry surprising Nate and the clone as it was the first time watching him get angry
"Oh, I can find out," M'gann said closing her eyes and putting her fingertips on her forehead everyone grew quiet waiting to see what she was doing, but then after a few moments she let out a breath, and stopped touching her forehead
"I'm sorry, I forgot he's a machine, inorganic," M'gann said as the group looked at her confused "I cannot read his mind," She explained and the group nodded in understanding
"It's okay, thanks for trying," Nate said and then he turned his head to the rest of the group, especially the proteges "And you, cut him some slack," Nate said as Robin and KF looked at him in confusion "He also has his orders, do you expect him to go against the league's orders?" Nate asked and Robing spoke up
"But," He said but Nate interrupted him mid-way
"Patience is a virtue, meine freunde," Nate said as Robin looked down "You of all people know Batman the most, do you really think he would leave us to dry like that?" Nate asked and Robin let out a sigh
Then Nate clasped his hands together "Now then, I think is best if we listen to Tornado's advice and tour the place," Nate said as M'gann smiled excitedly
"Well, Me, Nate, and Superboy live here, we can offer a tour of the place," She said as she and the blond teen looked at Superboy who frowned and looked away
"Don't look at me," Superboy said or rather grumbled out as Nate hit his shoulder and glared at him a little
"We won't," Kid Flash said cheekily and approached the Martian girl "A private tour sounds so much better," Kid Flash said flirtatiously emphasizing the word so, and the boy Wonder rolled his eyes behind him
"She never said private," Robin said and then Nate cleared his throat gaining the attention of everyone
"Team building exercise, we all go," Nate said as everyone looked around and Aqualad nodded
"Sounds good, Miss M lead the way," Aqualad said as M'gann nodded in excitement took the floor, and started leading the team back into the cave
"So this is the front entrance," M'gann said and Nate hung back with Aqualad as he listened to everything M'gann was saying
He already knew the place but she was excited to help her new friends so he let her carry on with the tour, he was thinking about the missions though, while he was not on board with the impatience of the proteges, he could understand them, he wonder how long could Batman keep them in the sidelines
He was so lost in his mind that he didn't realize when they got to the garage, that was the only brought back to earth when he heard KF speaking
"This cave was hollowed and reinforced by Superman and the Green Lantern back in the day," KF said giving a tab of the league's information and Superboy looked at the group in confusion
"Then why abandon it for the hall of justice?" Superboy asked in curiosity and Aqualad frowned trying to find the words
"The cave's secret location was… compromised," Aqualad said and Superboy huffed
"So they traded in for a tourist trap?" Superboy asked referencing how the Hall of Justice is open to the public "Yeah, that makes sense," He said and Nate hummed
"Well, having your heroes in arms reach can do a lot to boost people's morale, so I guess that was the idea," Nate said as everyone looked at him in confusion "Makes them relatable I guess," He said and the group nodded in understanding
"Even so," M'gann said putting a finger up "If the bad guys know of the cave, then we must always be alert," She said and then Robin grabbed her hand
"The bad guys don't know that we know they know," Robin said as he put his other hand on top of Miss M's and gave her a small smile "So they'd never think of looking here," He said and then KF stepped up taking Robin's hand away from hers
"He means we're hiding in plain sight," KF said and Robin glared at him as M'gann's eyes grew big
"Oh that makes more sense," She said scratching her head, and then Superboy started sniffing around gaining the attention of everyone
"I smell smoke," He said and M'gann gasped in shock as she started levitating
"My cookies!" She shouted as she flew straight to the kitchen followed closely by the group of proteges
Superboy and Nate were about to walk forward to but then the blond punched Superboy's shoulder lightly gaining the attention of the clone "Supersmell?" He asked and the clone sighed but nodded nonetheless "That's so cool dude," Nate said with a huge smile on his face Superboy huffed and walked forward but the blond teen could see the beginnings of a small smile on Superboy's face
They got to the kitchen to see M'gann taking out a tray from the oven with burnt pieces of cookies "I was trying Grammy Jone's recipe from episode 17 of-," She said and then saw everyone and got a little embarrassed "Nevermind," She said holding her left elbow
"I bet they'd tasted great," Robin said trying to cheer her up, and then heard someone munching on the cookies "He doesn't seem to mind," Robin said as KF was happily eating the burnt cookies
"Um, I have a serious metabolism," KF said sheepishly as the group chuckled in amusement
"I'll… make more?" M'gann said not sure how to take KF's comments and Aqualad gave her a smile
"It was sweet of you to make any," Aqualad said and M'gann gave him a small smile
"Thanks, Aqualad," She said and Aqualad gave her a sympathetic smile
"We're off duty, call me Kaldu'ann," He said putting a hand on his chest "Actually my friends call me Kaldur," He said and Nate saw what he was trying to do and decided to join in
"Well you can call me Nate, even if I don't have a codename, I should probably find one soon," Nate said as he trailed off "Anyway, short from Nathaniel, no surname though," Nate said and KF looked at him confused
"Why?" He asked as Nate pondered the question a bit and frowned in deep thought
"I can't remember it," Nate whispered and the group looked at him in concern so then KF decided to track the conversation back to the personal names
"Well, my name is Wally," The speedster said leaning on the counter and smirking at Miss M "See I trust you with my secret ID already, unlike Mr. Dark glasses over there," Wally said making fun of Robin who put his hands on his hips and glared back at Wally "Batman's forbidden Boy Wonder here from telling anyone his real name," Wally said and Robin huffed annoyed at the speedster's attitude
"Well, mine's no secret," M'gann admitted proudly "It's M'gann M'orzz, but you can call me Megan, it's an Earth name, and I'm on Earth now," She said really excited about the fact
Superboy who was currently taking no part in the conversation, stopped leaning from the counter and turned to leave and that action was caught by Miss M "Don't worry Superboy," She called out telepathically, as the young clone looked back shocked and angry "We will found you one soon," She said and the young clone who lost it completely
"Get out of my head!" He shouted confusing the rest of the boys as they looked at her with confusion in their eyes
"What's wrong?" She asked telepathically to all of them as all the boys minus Nate held their heads in pain and discomfort "I don't understand, everyone talks telepathically on Mars," she said as the boys held their heads a bit more
Nate saw their discomfort in confusion, he heard her alright, but he didn't feel any discomfort from it, on the contrary, he felt nice, it felt like a breeze on his mind, it felt comforting, nostalgic even, and then he started feeling a tear forming on his right eye and he blinked it away wondering why he started to get all emotional. But then he saw his teammate's discomfort and decided to do something about it
"Megan, please stop," Nate said calmly as Megan released the mental link and looked at Nate in confusion "Humans are not used to mental communication like Martians are, some may consider it a breach of privacy, and for others a bad memory," Nate said looking at Superboy in concern and Megan looked down in shame
"I'm sorry," Megan said, and then Nate noticed her distraught so he decided to cheer her up too
"Don't be," Nate said or rather thought as only Miss M heard him "You didn't know, it's a different culture, well different world in this case, just take a step at a time, kay'?" Nate said and Megan smiled at him and nodded "If you ever feel the need to talk like this I'm here, I actually don't mind it," Nate said and Megan nodded in thanks as the boys got rid of their discomfort
"Just stay out of it," Superboy growled out his eyes full of anger and Nate narrowed his eyes at him
"Hey!" Nate said gaining the attention of the clone "Not cool dude, she meant you no harm," he said as Superboy huffed and walked to the adjacent room and took a seat on the couch
The group fell into an uncomfortable silence which Megan broke as she slapped her forehead playfully "Hello Megan! I know what we can do," She said as she flew away, the group minus Superboy started following Megan
Nate stopped midway and looked at Superboy with a raised eyebrow "Come on grumpy pants," Nate said as Superboy looked up and grumbled "Is that or I teleport you there," Nate said as Superboy groaned but stood up nonetheless
"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" Superboy said sarcastically as Nate patted his back playfully
"Don't worry, you'll love me in no time," Nate said as both teens started walking forward but stopped as they saw Megan turning back and her eyes winded when she saw Superboy
"Something wrong Megan?" Nate asked in concern, she blushed and tried to avoid Superboy's stare feeling a little ashamed
"No nothing, glad you're coming Superboy," She said flying away, and Superboy tuned to look at Nate who was looking at him with a smirk on his face
"Shut up," Superboy groaned out as Nate chuckled a bit and followed Superboy closely
Megan led the group down to the hangar as a big red with black huge stripes cocoon was waiting in front of them and then Megan spoke up proudly "This is my Martian Bioship," Megan said as the group approached the cocoon and Wally wasn't impressed
"Cute," Wally offered "Not very aerodynamic but cute nonetheless," He commented as he looked up to an amused Megan
"It's at rest silly, I'll wake her," She said as put her hand forward the cocoon started morphing into a ship and then Megan spun the ship 180º degrees leaving the hangar door in front of the group "Well, are you coming?" Megan asked as the boys were shocked and hesitated for a bit except Nate, no he had completely frozen over
He wasn't even there, he suddenly saw another person, an older man with reddish brown hair and red bright eyes that shined bright thanks to the black sclera behind them, this man wore a purple outfit and on top he had a big brown trench coat and he was givin' Nate a big smile "Come on kiddo, let Remy take you on a ride on the X-wing, just don't tell your folks, d'accord?" The man said rhetorically as walked forward into a black-looking jet
"Nate," The blond heard Superboy calling him out and brought him right back to Earth "You comin'?" Superboy asked and Nate shook his head trying to get rid of his daydream
"Yeah, sorry," Nate said as he walked forward and into the ship and noticed Superboy's concerned eyes "I'm okay don't worry about it," Nate said as they caught up with the rest and entered the cockpit of the ship
"Strap in for launch," Megan said as Nate found a seat near the left window, in front of Robin and next to Superboy, the straps automatically moved and wrapped him to the seat
He made himself comfortable as Megan took a seat in the pilot's chair and spoke up "Red Tornado, please open the bay doors," She said as Nate leaned forward and saw the doors opening and then two pillars rose up next to the Martian girl, and Nate figured those were the controls of the ship
So Megan smiled at the group and the ship took off with incredible speeds and flew near the water of Happy Harbor but then slowed down and moved 90ºs up as the ship started cursing through the open skies
"Incredible!" Robin called out impressed by the ship and Miss Martian's piloting skills.
"She sure is," Wally said looking straight at Megan as everyone knew he wasn't talking about the ship "I-I mean the ship, which like all ships, is a she," Wally said nervous and Robin chuckled at his predicament and leaned towards the Martian
"Fast with his feet, not so much with his mouth," Robin said and Wally grumbled and glared at the raven head teen
While all of this was going Nate was lost in his mind, he wondered where that image, that memory came from, he felt trapped, useless even, and kind of frustrated, why did he remember all the things those scientists made him, and all the things he did but not his family, his history, hell he didn't remember his last name, and this was getting on his nerves, how is he suppose to find himself if he doesn't know who he is
He let out a sigh and tried to ponder on those things but then he looked out the window and his eyes narrowed and saw something up ahead "Um guys," Nate said gaining the attention of the rest of the group "Are tornados common in Happy Harbor?" Nate asked in curiosity
"Not really, why?" Robin asked and Nate pointed to the left for all to see as their eyes winded when they saw a massive Tornado coming towards them
"Well at least we found the cause of the alarm," Superboy said as Nate realized he had missed a bunch of important things while being lost in his mind
Megan managed to maneuver around the tornado and kept the ship steady when it hit them, the team grabbed their seats as Megan managed to pull out of the tornado and land perfectly safe
The team quickly got out of the ship with Nate standing in the middle of the group and then they all heard a chuckling in the area Nate turned to the left to see that Robin wasn't there anymore
"H-he was just here," Megan said as Nate narrowed his eyes and then the windows of the factory blew up
"Kid, take a lap, make sure all the workers are okay," Nate said and Wally looked at him in confusion but then nodded as he started running around the facility "Now let's see why New England is suddenly a state of tornados," Nate said teleporting to the facility and saw Robin being sent away and crashing into a pillar
Nate teleported to where Robin was and teleported back to the ground in an instant preventing the Boy Wonder from hitting the floor "You're okay?" Nate asked in concern and Robin groaned as Nate helped him up
"Who's your new friend?" Superboy asked arriving next to both teens as Robin looked up
"I didn't catch his name," Robin said with a groan as Nate and Superboy glared at the robot in front of them "But he plays kind of rough," Robin said and the Robot looked at the teens
The villain let the tornados go and reveal itself "My apologies," The red exo-robot said, air pulsating from its wrist that was connected to some blue wires that ran along his arms "You may address me as Mr. Twister," He said but then put a tornado up blocking Nate's exploding card
"Sorry, I hate villains that lack originality," Nate said as Mr. Twister growled Superboy took advantage of the distraction and rushed forward as the villain put a pair of tornados in between himself and the clone
Superboy managed to resist at first but then Mr. Twister put another Tornado in front of Superboy caught him in it and sent him flying into the wall behind him
Nate took advantage of the small win of Mr. Twister teleported behind the villain and moved his hand forward preparing to light up the exo-armor but then the villain hit Nate in the stomach and created a huge tornado from there and sent Nate flying very fast into the woods
Nate came crashing hard into the ground and rolled around till several trees stopped his movement once he stopped he groaned and held his stomach in pain
He sat up and then winced in pain as he looked down and saw a big cut on his right leg and then bit the pain down
He tried to stand up but the pain in his leg made it almost impossible but he stood up fine, he took a step forward and winced and almost fell over but managed to regain his balance, then he heard a crash in front of him and saw Kid Flash coming towards him with huge speed, he narrowed his eyes and teleported grabbing Kid Flash midway and prevent him from crashing
"You're okay?" Nate asked as he winced a little because he landed on his leg as Kid Flash looked up
"Yeah, thanks a lot man," KF said and then noticed the blood on Nate's right leg "Oh crap, are you alright dude?" Wally asked in shock and Nate looked down
"Right, I'll be okay," Nate said and then put a hand on Wally's shoulder "Try to see if you can disconnect the wires, we take them out, and we get rid of his power," Mate said and Wally nodded in understanding "Go on I'll catch up to you," Nate said as the speedster gave him a nod and rushed away back to the facility
Nate took a deep breath in and figured out how he could help on one good leg but then noticed that the sting on his leg starting to disappear and looked down and saw the cut slowly closing up
Nate raised an eyebrow in confusion as he shook his leg around and tilted his head a little "That's new," Nate thought in confusion as he jumped trying to feel how his leg was but to him felt like the cut never happened
He stopped thinking about it when he heard a huge noise of a tornado behind him, he knew he had to come back and help them
He teleported back to the facility area and saw the three proteges standing in front of the villain with their guard down as the villain started creating some thunder around him Nate quickly sent a barrage of cards distracting the villain as he sent lighting towards where Nate was but found no one there
Mr. Twister looked back and saw that the heroes had disappeared and looked around in confusion "Fine, then, I won't deny that you children have power," Mr. Twister said and then he kind of narrowed his artificial eyes "But playing hide and seek with you will not help me achieve my objective," Mr. Twister said and then looked behind him "So stay concealed, if you confront me again I will show no mercy," He said making emphasis on his threat by sending some small lighting around himself
He went flying away as the young heroes revealed themselves Megan moved the camouflaged bioship away revealing the group standing behind it
"What happened?" Wally asked in confusion not knowing how the villain hadn't seen them
"I put the Bioship in front of us," Megan stated and Nate thought that was a good quick thinking but apparently not all of them shared the same feeling
"And that's supposed to make it all okay!?" Superboy asked in anger as Megan looked shocked and took a step back "You tricked us into thinking that was Red Tornado!" Superboy said and Nate looked around confused
"Wait what happened?" Nate asked and Aqualad whispered a short synopsis of what just happened and then took a step forward
"She didn't on purpose," Kaldur stated calmly but that wasn't what this group needed right and it showed by the Boy Wonder's comments
"It-it was a rookie mistake," Robin commented as Megan looked at him but he avoided her look "We shouldn't have listened," Robin said as Megan's eyes winded in shock
But the icing on the cake was Wally's next words, "You are pretty inexperienced," Wally said catching her attention as Nate crossed his arms behind her as he started getting annoyed "Hit the showers. We'll take it from here," Wally said and Nate frowned in annoyance and spoke up before Superboy could berate Megan some more
"Enough!" Nate simply gained the attention of everyone there as he glared at each of the boys one by one and took his time to speak again "Who do you think you are huh? You have no right to berate her," Nate said and Superboy stepped up preparing to speak again but Nate glared at him
"I'm not done," Nate said simply and firmly as Superboy tched and remained quiet and then looked at the Martian girl "Megan, you assumed that was Red Tornado because you couldn't read his mind right?" Nate asked and Megan nodded and the blond teen let out a sigh "Even if that was Red, he was endangering civilians, when it comes to that, it doesn't matter who it is, take them down first and ask questions later okay?" Nate said and Megan nodded in understanding
Then he looked at the rest of the boys and let out a sigh "She's pretty inexperienced you say, really? You're calling her a rookie?" Nate asked rhetorically and then narrowed his eyes at them "New flash people, we all are," Nate said as the young heroes looked at Nate in confusion "How many missions have you done solo? Without the guidance or help of your mentors?" Nate asked rhetorically and the proteges looked down not having an answer for Nate
"And this may sound harsh, but just a few weeks ago you were living in a pod," Nate said as Superboy narrowed his eyes at Nate "So you of all people should know what is like to be out of your depth, and instead of being sympathetic to her, you choose to berate her?" Nate asked rhetorically as Superboy looked away "Frankly it's quite disappointing Superboy," Nate said as Superboy tightened his fists and looked down in frustration as Nate returned to look at the others
"You all wanted to do this, to join this team, to step out of the shadow of your mentors and be something other than just sidekicks, well, that also comes with the responsibility of making tough and quick choices," Nate said as he looked straight at the proteges
"You've earned this opportunity by yourselves, you prove to the league that you got what it takes, to stand in your own right and be something more, but you have to see it through," Nate said and then stopped crossing his arms "Don't berate another person just because they made a mistake, or because you're angry at not being taken serious," Nate said as the proteges' eyes winded in shock "We're a team, and whether we like it or not, we're going to be risking our lives a lot going forward, and the only people you could trust are the ones standing here, so no more berating anyone for making a mistake," Nate said as everyone looked at each other around and gave themselves a nod "Are we clear?" Nate asked and everyone gave him a nod in understanding
"Good, now, let's enter the bioship and brainstorm on how to stop this guy," Nate said and started walking to the Bioship "Because that bastard threw me around like I was common street trash, so now it's personal," Nate said gaining a couple of snorts from the teens as he led them inside the bioship with a new found purpose
Mr. Twister was currently in the process of terrorizing the townsfolk of Happy Harbor by creating a bunch of Tornados around the bay area and started destroying several buildings around him while also sending boats at the running civilians
"Certainly this will get the required attention," Mr. Twister said out loud as he looked around as if he were waiting for someone in particular
"Am I right to assume that it was my attention you wanted all along?" A metallic voice called out from above as Mr. Twister looked up to see Red Tornado dropping down with several tornadoes around him that were protecting the civilians
"Finally," Mr. Twister said taking a few steps forward and facing the league hero head "I was beginning to believe you'd never show up," He said as he moved his arms around preparing to attack
"I'm here now," Tornado said as he sent a barrage of tornados at Mr. Twister who counterattacked by sending a pair of his own as both tornado users flew around sending each other similar attacks
They attacked each other with similar techniques for a while neither of them gaining the upper hand and then Tornado guarded himself up as he dispersed a tornado and looked up "We are evenly matched, Twister," Tornado said standing up and putting his hands back creating a tornado behind him and sending it to the villain
"No, Tornado, we are not," Mr. Twister said and emphasized his point by punching air into the ground absorbing Tornado's attack, then he sent a lightning bolt to the league's hero as Tornado did his best to avoid the hit, but then the lightning struck a boat in front of Tornado and exploded sending the red hero down as static bolts came out of him
Mr. Twister flew towards the fallen hero as some red wires started coming out from his left wrist "Remain still, android," Mr. Twister said as the wires moved forward and connected to the side of Tornado's head "The reprogramming won't take long," Mr. Twister said but then Tornado's hand moved forward and grabbed the wires as the hero's head morphed into Megan's head
"Longer than you might think," She said proudly and the villain tried to let go but Megan held him tight
"No," Twister gasped out and tried to move away but Megan quickly moved her hand forward and with her telekinesis sent the villain flying away into a small tornado behind her, and it turned out that the tornado was Wally spinning around fast creating a vortex of air
The villain tried to balance himself in mid-air but then a puff of blue smoke surrounded him as Nate appeared on the villain's back the blond teen quickly grabbed onto the blue tubes of the villain and they promptly started glowing bright pink
Nate teleported away and Twister heard a snapping of fingers and suddenly he felt his tubes exploding on him and the impact sent him flying away straight into Superboy who caught him very easily
Then the young clone caught the villain in mid-air and started sending a barrage of punches to the villain's exo-suit armor creating holes in it once he saw that Twister had stopped fighting he threw a big punch and sent him flying away into the ocean
Where Kaldur was waiting for him with a big anchor on his hands and hit the villain on its left arm lit up the weapon with electricity and managed to send the villain flying away having cut his left arm from the suit
Megan caught the villain in mid-air as he flew out of the sea and held him there as she ripped out his other arm with her telekinesis, Robin took out two bomb devices and sent them to the villain's legs short-circuiting the suit as Megan dropped the villain who fell to his knees in defeat
The group stood victorious in front of the villain as Aqualad jumped out of the sea and Nate teleported himself in the middle of the group as the teens had their eyes narrowed on the villain, then the big exo-suit opened up and a middle-aged man with a green mechanics outfit fell to the ground from inside the suit tired and defeated
"Foul, I-I call foul," The middle age man said and Megan took a step forward with her eyes narrowed in anger as she levitated a big rock on top of the man and then dropped it down crushing the man in an instant to the shock of the group minus Nate, who looked at Megan in curiosity
Then the Boy Wonder got incredibly mad and took a step forward "Hey I don't know how things are done on Mars, but here on Earth, we don't execute our captives!" He berated her emphasizing the word execute and then Nate cleared his throat once more
"Hey, have a little faith in her, mon amie," Nate said as Megan smiled at him as she lifted the rock
"This is why I couldn't read his mind," She said as below the rock wasn't a human but an android broken to pieces while the other teens looked there in curiosity
"Cool. Souvenir," Wally moving forward and grabbing one of the eyes of the android
"Nice thinking," Nate said as he lifted his palm in front of the Martian girl "Good work coming up with the plan to distract him," Nate said and Megan looked at the palm in confusion but then realized what Nate wanted so he gave him a quick high five
"Solid work all around team," Nate said as he teleported in front of everyone in the team and got a high five from everyone then teleported himself in front of Superboy and lifted his palm up
The young clone narrowed his eyes and grumbled as Nate moved his hand forward and the young clone looked away and grumbled making the blond in front of him roll his eyes "Come on, is rude to leave someone hanging, you know?" Nate said and Superboy grumbled again and gave Nate a high five but the young blond underestimated the clone's force or maybe the Krypotian overdid it on purpose either way, that
Nate gave him a small smile and the clone looked away toward Megan giving Nate a chance to rub his hand and shake it around in pain as he tried to bite the gasp that threatened to leave him down as he held his palm down "Good work," The clone said to the Martian as Megan gave him a shy smile and looked down a bit embarrased
Aqualad looked at the scene in front of him and couldn't help but smile at it, he didn't care what Roy had said about them, this was good and he couldn't be convinced otherwise
Sometime later
Nate was currently asleep in his room, it was a tiring day and Nate had decided to turn it in earlier than usual, but he wasn't sleeping well, no he kept trashing and moving around the bed as if something was plaguing him and couldn't let him sleep
He moved so much that he fell off the bed at some point and crashed into the floor.
Or didn't?
Nate woke up because of the fall to find himself no longer in his room but in some place entirely, this place was like a dark room or a dark empty space, that would be a better way to describe this place
The empty space was surrounded by a small glowing white mist and Nate who was currently on his knees moved his hand along the mist it felt cold and like a sort of liquid, Nate frowned in confusion as he managed to stand up with the mist reaching his ankles
"Hello?" He called out but only his echo responded to him as he kept looking around "Is anyone here!?" He shouted trying once more but again he got nothing but his echo as a response
He started walking forward and wandering around trying to find, something, out of this place but no matter where he walked or how low he did he found nothing
Then after a long time, and almost on the brink of giving up, he heard a noise, a sound coming from above him, so he looked up and saw something crashing towards him at incredible speeds
He jumped back to dodge the projectile just in time and looked up to see a black and white medium-sized closed door standing in front of him, Nate stood up and looked at the door in confusion but then some other projectiles started falling at him with the same speed as the one before
Suddenly he was surrounded by other six doors of the same size as the one before but with different colors, at the left of the black and white door a cyan door had fallen and a red wine door had fallen on the right of the first door
Next to the cyan-colored door, there was a deep brown with yellow highlights door there, that was slightly opened and next to that one a fully opened pink-colored door was standing there
On the other side next to the red wine-colored door, there was a gray door fully closed but the next one, a dark purple colored was standing there fully open just like the pink one
Nate was starring at the purple door in confusion but then he winced as he suddenly heard a voice in his head, he held his pain as a man with a German accent on his voice
"Tis' is the question isn't it kid? What are we meant to do here? What are we born? Why are we different?" Nate heard the man say as he bit his pain down "I do not know the answer, but I do know this, who cares? We're here, might as well, das Leben leben," The man said as Nate shook the pain away but then looked straight at the pink open door and winced again as he heard a different voice, this time one with an American accent
"The secret to life is to pretend you have control over it, long enough to even manage to fool yourself," The man said as Nate held his forehead in pain and bent down "Then when you fool yourself enough, then you'll have real control, mon amie," The man said as Nate shook his head once more and faced the browned door but then another male voice, this time Canadian invaded his system once more
"Get up pup, if you stay down too long the longer life and whatever is up against you will have their way with you," Nate heard as he bit a scream down fighting his pain "You have to always get up and try again, no matter what happens, always try again," The man said as Nate again shook his head this time with enough force to turn around as his body faced the grey door
"You got to be quicker than that kiddo," he heard a female voice call him out as he almost fell to his knees in held his head in pain "If you slow down for just a second life will catch up to you, you always have to keep moving, always be one step in front of life, that way you'll never be hurt," She said as Nate turned to the front and faced the three remaining doors
"Son," Nate heard a deep male voice call out and then fell completely to his knees the pain being almost too much to the point he let out a gasp of pain "I am so proud of you, I see greatness ahead of you, whatever you decided to do you have to know that I will always have your back," Nate heard and then he couldn't hold it anymore so he let out a scream of pain
"Make it stop, please make it stop!" Nate said as he held his head and bowed down as the pain was getting the best of him
Then the pain went away as if a wave of relief washed over him and he felt a sweet embrace surrounding him "My sweet lucky child," Nate heard a soft female voice whisper in his ears and looked up to the cyan door in confusion "Don't worry about anything, mom's got right here, safe, everything will be fine," She said as Nate started tearing up profusely
"I will always be with you watching over you, my sweet little lucky child, I love you so much," Nate heard as he sniffed the tears away and looked at the door in sadness and longingness
"Mom," Nate whispered longingly as he looked down to the floor in despair "What the hell is going on?" Nate whispered in confusion and then the ground started shaking and Nate looked in confusion
"The truth will set you free, Nate." He heard a familiar voice echoing in the place as everything started to fall apart the doors disappeared from the place
"Wait, what is this place, what is going on!?" Nate asked around in despair and stood up "Are you listening!? What the hell is happening!?" Nate shouted to the emptiness and then looked down in frustration and with his tightened "What the hell is wrong with me?" He whispered to himself trying hard to find the answer but then he felt the ground below him disappear and felt himself fall into the abyss with nothing to hold on
Then suddenly Nate woke up with a gasp and found himself back in his bed filled with cold sweat all over his body and looked down out of breath and stared at his hands as he opened and closed them several times trying to get his breath under control
"What is going on?"
End of Chapter 2