[Book 2] Chapter 07: Today is the Day! (Part 2)

[Clock - 08:04 | 08:04 AM]

[Calendar - 08/06/2010]

[Location - Mount Justice, Happy Harbor, Rhode Island]

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3rd Person POV

Together, the four boys excitedly stood side by side as they looked into the masked eyes of the one and only Batman. His masked eyes narrowed (somehow?) as he said: "This cave-" Looking around, you'd be able to see this enormous cavern that they were all inside. Above them, the enormous tube-like opening that was one of the entrances and exits for the Bat-plane was used by Green Lantern to bring them down where a few members of the Justice League were gathered here. Batman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Aquaman, Shazam, The Flash, and Hawkman. "-was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League." He turned to walk to the side, a look of determination overtaking his masked eyes (somehow) as he said: "We're calling it into service again, since you four are determined to say together... and fight the good fight." He turned to look at them- Wally, Jason, Superboy, and Kaldur. Wally subconsciously straightened his back as he stared into Batman's mask' eyes: "You'll do it in League terms... Red Tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor, and Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions?" Jason narrowed his eyes as he stared at Bruce- Well, only he and other tusted members of the Justice League knew the secret identity of Batman, and he sure as hell would never tell anyone about his adoptive father's real pass time of wearing a bat suit to beat up criminals. "Like, real dangerous missions?" He was kinda excited to go on missions, specially because of the sense of awesomeness that would come from them. He has been Robin for only 2 years, and the previous one was awesome too. He's got a lot to live up to, and if he wants to be the best Robin ever, he's gotta work hard. "I hope they're cool missions..."

"Yes... covert missions." You could practically heard the exasperated sigh in Batman's voice. He was used to Jason's anticts, but he still can't fully grasp why the boy seems to think the life of a superhero is fun and games... he hasn't been in true danger, and Batman thought that maybe that was good, but he is also afraid of the consequences of protecting the boy so much might be... Is this one going to be a failure on his part as well? After he discovered that his healing over his parents death was fake, he couldn't help but wonder if everything else was also fake. He ended up ruining his relationship with Dick because of that, and the one who tried "healing" his trauma has apologized so many times that Bruce felt a little bit bad for him. Atlas had explained to him in great detail his thought process when he used a spell to get into his mind, and Bruce understood that it was more of a reaction to his own anxiety of being put under pressure by his presence than a planned and calculated action... And to remedy the situation and right some wrongs, he tried healing his trauma, but that backfired. He still hasn't fully forgiven him, but he has seen his side of the story, and he felt both angry that his mind shields were so weak he couldn't protect himself, but he was also kinda proud that his mere presence scared a magician shitless.

"The League will still handle the obviois stuff-" The Flash patted the lightning symbol on his chest, a smirk growing on his lips as he continued: "-there's a reason we have these big targets on our chest, you know?" That was one of the reasons, being easily recognizable. The other reasons were more psychological in nature- it scared the shit out of minor villains or street level bad guys when they see the symbols of the Justice League around. Barry had to stop to think for a second... maybe that's why he hasn't had to deal with minor crimes for so long?

"But Cadmus proved the bad guys are getting smarter." Arthur said- Aquaman was, admittedly, very proud of his protégé! The boy was fucking awesome and he was proud of him. "Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." He turned to smile at Batman, who kept his stoic mask on- it became kind of a game for the members of the Justice League to try and get Batman to break his mask of stoicism, but nobody has mamaged to do that before.

"The six of you-"

'The what now?' Was what Jason, Wally, Superboy, Kaldur, and even Aquaman thought- he didn't know there were going to be six? He thought it was going to be five!

"-will be that team." Batman finished his sentence just as the fifth member of the team slowly walked towards them. Beside her was her uncle, the one and only Martian Manhunter.

"Cool..." Jason's brain caught up to him, striking his mind with the baseball bat of realization, as he asked: "Wait- Six?" That was when Batman simply pointed back- everyone turned to look and saw this beautiful green skinned red haired gir walk towards them. She was beside her uncle, Martian Manhunter.

"This is Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Aquaman added.

Awkwardly, she raised her hand and smiled: "Hi!"

"...liking this gig more every minute." Wally winked towards Jason- they have been friends for a long time, and they know each other very well. Wally grinned as he said: "Welcome aboard~! I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin-" he pointed to Jason, who simply waved his hand at her with a smile: "-Aqualad-" Kaldur gave her a stoic nod: "-Superboy-" the clone of steel didn't even look at her at all: "-it's cool if you forget their names." He winked and-

"I'm honored to be included."

-she completely ignored his flirting. They all got closer to her, wanting to properly greet and get to know her. Jason turned to look at Superboy and narrowed his eyes, asking: "You gonna meet Miss. M?" The clone simply stared back at him for a few moments before he got closer too. The moment he was before her, her clothes seemed to shrink and enlarge for a moment before they turned completely black and her cape was gone.

"I like your t-shirt." She smiled bashfully- Wally got a shot right in the heart, seeing she blatantly flirt with Superboy. And to make it worse? He smiled! He fucking smiled- oh gods, he's cute too, fuck. In a flash (heh) Wally had his hand on Superboy's shoulder while Jason was wiggling his eyebrows so aggressively that it was impossible not to notice.

It took Kaldur a few moments to notice something that was bothering him. He turned and looked at Aquaman and asked: "...wait- My King, who's the sixth person-" Before he could finish his question, however, there was a sudden flush of magical energy. Kaldur has been taught and trained in the Atlantian Conservatory of Sorcery in Poseidonis, so he was attuned to the world of magic and its secrets. However, when the magic gathered into a single point at a speed that his mind could not match, he watched as a hole in space was masterfully stretched open and a perfectly stable and clean portal appeared before them. On the other side, he saw a table full of people eating and talking to each other, some he barely had vague memories of, and people he had never even seen in his entire life. Before the portal was a man wearing what he could only describe as rather chique clothes, and his skirt was... well, kinda revealing? It felt weird to see someone of the surface wear a skirt so well like that when all his knowledge of the surface world pointed out the fact that only women wore skirts. The hat was also large and something he never saw someone wear, but it looked stylish.

"Oh, is this a bad time?" The condescending tone of voice was not cool though, but thankfully it wasn't aimed at them personally... But instead, the people behind them. There was a flash of lightning before a boy was standing beside the man, the same size as him, but clearly younger: "So, do any of you cut your bad guys in half?" Stepping through the portal nonchalantly, there was the sound of a blade or something metallic clicking on the ground, and that was when the more observant ones of the bunch (Kaldur and Jason) noticed that this guy's feet were literal knives! The teen beside him took a step through the portal too, and before it closed, the man seemed to remember something before he aimed his hand towards the portal and this blur flew through it before the portal closed behind them. There was a... blob? A floating blob with tentacles, spikes, and two long tube-like eyes, floating beside them: "Almost forgot your Flumph, kid."

"Oh fuck shit fuck shit fuck, right-"

Batman, Black Canary, Red Tornado (he tried), Aquaman, Hawkman, and even Martian Manhunter lifted one eye brow at the clear display of... language.

The boy seemed to awkwardly come to realize what he said, wryly smiling as he lifted one hand in greeting: "Uh, hi? I'm Adam. Well, I go by Electric Light." He was tall for his age, about 5'7 (he's still growing, okay!?) with electric blue eyes and black hair with a shock of white that went all the way from the roots to the tips. He had a nasty scary scar on his neck that went down and disappeared below his shirt, and he had... nothing on him? "Pleasure to meet you." He politely smiled but both Jason and Kaldur could tell he was nervous about being here. He fiddled with the ring on his finger that like his Water bearers, Kaldur could tell it had magic inside... It felt immense, but small at the same time, meaning the enchantment on the thing is pretty powerful!

"So..." The older man twisted his wrist and a book appeared in his hands, he began to flip the pages as he said: "Batman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Fish Dick-" Wait, did he hear that right? "-I mean, Aquaman, Hawkman... even though you look more like an eagle, Shazam... Hey, Shazam, Waylon is itching for another match- You up for it? The last one was entertaining for the entirety of Beastialis."

"Uhhh... Well, maybe later?" Why did Shazam sound nervous...? Was he scared of whoever this Waylon guy is- Wait, Waylon? Where has Jason heard that name before? Well, it's a common name, so he must've heard it somewhere.

"Empress Atlas." Batman greeted the man, making the rest of the League that did not know about the man's position and the young ones pause. Empress? "It is... good to see you today, you have come at the right time." Batman was trying to be polite and civil it seems, mostly because he knows about the rivalry and aggressive dislike between King Arthur and Empress Atlas, mostly because of the Atlantian Civil War thing. "I see your... student... is prepared to join the team?"

"Oh, I sure hope so, Batsy~" With a grin, the Empress was suddenly right beside Batman- the majority of the young teens were surprised by the sheer speed of the guy. One moment he was right where he appeared when he teleported, and on the other, he was right before Batman: "It's good to see you. How have you been?" He sounded genuinely concerned- but eveyone knows Batman is stubborn as fuck, so he jusy kept eye contact for a few moments before Empress Atlas sighed and appeared beside Adam, aka Electric Light. "Well, good to see you're your... usual self? Regardless of that, I'll be entrusting my beautiful and talented student to join your mini Justice League group... If he dies, I will come hunt you down." With a glare that seemed to increase the weight of gravity, the Empress sighed heavily kissing Adam's forehead and saying: "Be careful. Take care of your Flumph, don't let anyone take him... Good luck kiddo, contact me if anything goes wrong, and if I don't receive a Flumph text from you every week at maximum, I will assume you died and will come bearing the weight of Beastialis on these fuckers." Adam nodded as he smiled. With a last look, the Empress ponted his finger forward and another hole in space appeared- the same breakfast table appeared, but this time there was a... food fight? There certainly was food flying everywhere! "...I sweat to Sobek..." With a groan, Atlas stepped forward and the portal closed behind, leaving a lone Adam.

"Uhm... Hi?"