'Ello everyone! I am brand new to and writing in general, so please bear with me as this is my first story. I absolutely love Young Justice and hopefully there will be a season three~ and I hope you all enjoy. Please, don't forget to leave any type feedback/criticism, I know it'll really help!
𝒫𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝓊𝑒 – Virago
"I'll keep you safe.
Try hard to concentrate,
hold out your hand.
Can you feel the weight of it?
The whole world at your fingertips.
Don't be, don't be afraid.
Our mistakes they were bound to be made,
but I promise you I'll keep you safe."
DETROIT
NOVEMBER 10, 2000
19:43 EDT
Vixen was practically annoyed at this point. So what if a six-year-old stole the Devatma totem? She had no idea what she was doing. She was just a child. She had no idea what it was or what power it possessed.
From what the security cameras showed, the little girl, whose name Vixen learned to be Calypso, was in the museum with her family and saw a charming necklace on the floor and picked it up. She wasn't able to hear the audio but when Calypso had shown her father the piece of jewelry, he simply shrugged her off and made a gesture with his hand that probably meant 'put that back' but the little girl didn't listen.
Calypso stuck her tongue out at her father and wrapped the totem around her wrist, making it a bracelet instead.
"I am so sorry," her father, Jackson she remembered, said yet again after the last police car drove away. He glared at his daughter who was slumped down in a chair in the kitchen as her mother, Hyojin, lectured her. "I thought I told her to put it back."
The female hero dressed in orange and black resisted the urge to roll her eyes and attempted to remain as civil as possible. "Look, there's no harm done sir." She looked back at Calypso who was now crying, causing her to frown. "Hey… she hasn't done anything wrong sir. I think you're being too harsh-"
"Excuse me?" Jackson exclaimed, acting as if she just offended his whole entire family. "Since when do you know anything about parenting?"
Vixen raised up her hands in defense. "Woah, hey, I didn't mean-"
"Do you have any idea what it's like to raise a child?"
"No. But I do know that lecturing a five-"
"Six." Jackson corrected, crossing his arms. "It's her birthday today."
The hero's eyes widened in shock. "Her birthday? Sir, I understand that what she did was wrong but it's not like she stole millions of dollars or almost killed a town of people." He didn't respond and his eyes never softened. "You shouldn't treat your daughter like this. She is so young-"
"And that justifies what she did?" Hyojin entered the living room with the same glaring gaze as her husband. Vixen watched as Calypso ran upstairs, sobs still escaping her mouth.
She sighed and placed the Devatma totem in her pocket. "Your daughter will not be charged with allegations of stolen museum property and I am sorry for any inconvenience this has brought you."
Crash!
Vixen looked upstairs to where she heard the sudden noise. Hyojin rushed to the stairs and just before she was about to walk up them, a voice shouted, "Sorry guys! I dropped my cup!"
"Oh," the mother exhaled in relief at her oldest child's voice. "It's alright Athena. Just make sure to clean up the glass."
The hero's eyes widened once more. Why was it they were hard on the youngest daughter but not on their eldest? From what she saw, there was only a two year age difference; both were very young.
Her eyes scanned the walls and noticed pictures of the family. There was two children, Athena she assumed, and another boy who she guessed was Athena's twin. Both of them had trophies with their names on them. She read the caption on the picture frame.
Athena & Percy at 1st Award Ceremony!
All along the walls were pictures of the twins and their accomplishments but none of Calypso.
Vixen looked between Hyojin and Jackson with disgust and horror. How could someone treat their own daughter that way?
She understood there were bad children in the world but looking at young Calypso, she knew there was no bad in her. All she was innocence and playfulness and curiosity.
As her eyes scanned the room once more she noticed a trashcan with pieces of crumbled up paper next to it. She walked over to it and picked up one of the pieces, smoothing it out as she did.
It was a drawing of a family with Korean writing at the top. She had no clue what it said but there was a heart around it. In the corner was Calypso's name written in purple marker.
"Excuse me?" Jackson said, confused at why the hero was still in his home. "What are you doing?"
Vixen picked up another crumbled up paper and opened it up. This time, the drawing was also Calypso's and it was of dog and cat with a question mark above both. More Korean writing was down at the bottom and she guessed it meant something along the lines of asking for a pet. But, in response, her parents must've thrown it away.
Hyojin snatched the drawings out of Vixen's hands. "You have no right to be going through our things, even if it is trash."
"Just because you're a member of the Justice League, doesn't give you special clearance to-"
The hero interrupted Jackson, "I can't believe you assholes! You threw away your own daughter's drawings and you don't even seem to appreciate her! What kind of parents are you?" she spat.
"You are stepping over the line-"
"No, I am a hero." Vixen stated firmly. "I don't just fight criminals and save the world, I save people too and your daughter clearly needs to be saved from you two. Do you even love her?"
Hyojin yelled in annoyance. "Yah! Do you have any idea what it's like to raise a child who clearly shows no academic excellence? Or even excellence in sports? Calypso is, and will not be, successful."
"She's SIX!" the female hero said angrily. She understood that the family was Korean and had no clue about their customs or culture but she knew that whatever standards they held, it was unfair. Especially for a young child.
"So what?" Jackson replied. "That's how we were raised and how we have raised our children. Look how well Athena and Percy turned out." He referred to the countless pictures of the twins on the walls. "We raised them the same way we've raised Calypso and she's turned out to be an average, art loving disappointment."
Vixen punched a hole in the wall. "She's your child!" she screamed, glaring daggers at the parents. "I should report you for child neglect."
The two exchanged looks with each other, silent. Jackson stepped forward and gestured to the door. "Get out of our home. Now."
Hyojin went to her husband's side and shoke her head at Vixen. "You've over stayed your welcome, Vixen."
The hero removed her hand from the wall and stood tall. She slipped one of the drawings into her pocket, the couple not noticing, and left the house, the door slamming behind her.
As she walked off the property, she touched the totem around her neck and felt the power and speed of the Peregrine falcon wash over her. She flew up into the sky and looked over her shoulder to the Korean home.
This is wrong, she thought to herself.
She flew into her apartment and grabbed the nearest telephone book, using her new speed and senses to scan through it. She found a child service's company and left an anonymous call about someone being under some form of child neglect and abuse at the home where she just was and she hoped Calypso would be taken away from that horrible family and be put where she would be loved and appreciated.
Over the next week, she kept an eye on the family, waiting for child services to arrive at the home. Once they finally did, she watched in triumph as Calypso was carried away from her family and placed into a car with her belongings.
She could care less at what happened to the parents but from the amount of cries and protests that left their mouths, she knew they were in deep shit.
Vixen found out that Calypso was placed into an adoption agency and she kept a close eye on her for a few more weeks.
Then, after much deep thought and conversations with her own family, she finally convinced herself to adopt Calypso.
DETROIT
NOVEMBER 10, 2004
14:04 EDT
"What's this?" Calypso questioned, pointing to the small box wrapped in black and white polka dot wrapping paper.
Mari closed the door after the last guest left the apartment. "Open it." She responded, taking a sip of her water.
The young girl enthusiastically ripped opened the present and her eyes widened. Inside was the same bracelet she stole on her sixth birthday. A confused look spread across her face. "How did you-" she looked behind her and noticed that Mari was now dressed in an orange and black uniform.
Caly gasped. "Y-you're Vixen? No way! That's so cool!" she looked back at the totem. It was the symbol of a bear. "And… you want me to be your sidekick?"
"Protégé." Her guardian corrected. "I feel bad for leaving you alone at home a lot and I want to be a part of your life as much as possible. I am not, and will never be, like your actual parents."
Calypso frowned, glancing down at the ground as she remembered her old family. She only kept in contact with her siblings, considering they never did anything wrong to her. They tried inviting her over to the home but she always rejected their request. She never wanted to go back there.
Vixen rushed over to her and hugged her tightly, stroking her hair. "You're my daughter now," she continued. "And my protégé if you want to be. It won't be easy. I'll have to teach you how to use the totem and control the powers and-"
As she continued talking, Calypso pulled away from her and picked up the totem. She wrapped it around her wrist and turned around. "I'm ready Mari. This is going to be the best mother-daughter bonding I've ever had."
THREE YEARS LATER
Calypso pressed play on the stereo before tightening the totem around her wrist. She approached the middle of the room and picked up a bō-staff. Mari taught her to change between a weapon and her powers, just in case if something ever happened to the totem.
"While listening to this song take it easy."
Mari sat back with one of the owners of the gym who had a room specially made for fast paced training. He pressed a button and a dozen mannequins popped up from the floor, each of them having targets on their bodies. Five of them were broader and thicker than the others and they moved, meaning they'd be more difficult to take down but she had faith in her daughter.
"Don't dance or make noise at all. Please don't march or scream and please refrain from any erratic behavior."
Caly cracked her knuckles and neck, twirling the staff around in her hands before touching the totem. Her dark brown eyes glowed a bright orange and she felt the speed and ferocity of a cheetah consume her.
"Never mind, go crazy."
She sprung into the air and kicked off the dummy's head before allowing her foot to rest on the face of another dummy. In seconds, she flipped off, swinging her staff around in a circle, knocking down four more.
As she landed gracefully on her feet, she jabbed her elbow into a mannequin's head and before it popped off, she used her speed to lock her ankles around another one and broke off its head.
She put her weapon behind her and touched the totem again, feeling the strength and power of the grizzly bear flow through her veins.
One by one, they began charging at her and with a battle cry, she ran forward and threw punches into the dummy's stomach before being pushed off by another one.
The dark haired girl moved out of the way, swiping one of them off of their "feet" with ease. She jumped back on her feet. Suddenly, "arms" appeared from the mannequin, and shot towards her.
Her eyes widened and she jumped back in time before she was caught. She looked up at Mari in shock. "What was that?"
The young woman shrugged with a chuckle. "Something new that Luke wanted to test out." Luke smiled proudly. "It helps make the training more realistic."
The arms started moving back and forth and then up and down. Caly guessed Luke was trying to make the dummy seem like it was "fighting" her.
She smiled and raised up her hands into a fighting stance. As soon as one of its arms swung down, she blocked it with her arm and tried hitting the dummy's other arm but it was very sturdy and solid.
Calypso continued that process, occasionally ducking and hitting and blocking from both arms, hoping that whatever battery was powering the mannequins would get tired but it wasn't slowing down yet.
Suddenly she was backed against the wall and the dummies weren't powering down anytime soon. She bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet, quickly devising a plan in her mind.
Right as it reached her, she touched the totem, feeling the speed and strength of the lion surge through her. She flipped over it and just as she turned around, the song ended and she heard the familiar ringtone of her phone.
The girl gasped. "Zoe-"
Apparently the mannequins were intelligent because one of them twirled around and its hands knocked her down.
Mari and Luke exchanged looks before he turned off the dummies. She crossed her arms, shaking her head in disappointment and from her spot in the gym, Calypso could tell.
She took off the totem, feeling the animal instinct of the lion leave her. Her guardian approached her and she couldn't read anything else from her except disappointment.
"Mar…" she sighed, "I'm-"
Her mentor picked her up into a hug and swung her around, causing her to laugh. "I'm not mad at you Caly." She placed her daughter safely on the ground. "You did great and I'm not going to get mad at you because of one screw-up and besides, it's your birthday." The dark haired girl smiled in delight. "Although some pointers, you don't need to flip around so much like an acrobat. You have the ability to have strength and ferocity."
Mari touched her own totem, feeling the force and brutality of the African Elephant engulf her. She approached the once power mannequin and ripped off it's top with ease and threw it across the room, taking out another one in the process.
Calypso's mouth opened in shock. She's so cool, she thought, glad that Mari was her mentor as well as her guardian.
She understood that she could be strong and powerful but she enjoyed being light and off her feet while delivering intense hits to the enemy.
Her mentor walked back over to her, tossing the young girl her phone. "And I know you're not this easily distracted but when you're training, leave your phone in the car."
The dark haired girl blushed in embarrassment. "Heh... right, sorry Mari."
Mari brought her into a headlock and ruffled her hair, causing her to groan. "C'mon, go shower and change. I'm pretty sure Zoe and her mom are outside."
"We're going to the mall aren't we?" Caly asked with a smirk, raising her eyebrow.
Her guardian narrowed her eyes. She didn't tell her daughter what she was planning for her birthday and she made Caly's best friend, Zoe, swear to secrecy that she wouldn't say anything. But Caly always did this. She would magically always find out what they were doing on special occasions, what her Christmas presents were without even picking up the boxes, and what food she brought back home for dinner without even looking at the logo on the bag.
"What?" her daughter raised up her arms in innocence, a smirk creeping onto her face.
"Shut up."
"But I didn't-"
"Do you want to go buy your birthday presents or not?"
"Ooooh~ so there's multiple?"
"Shut up Calypso."
"Yes ma'am."