A/N: Welcome to the first chapter in a new story. Me, my coauthor Batmarcus, and our editor Ghost Fire 6 have been planning this for a long time, and the arrival of hte long awaited Young Justice: Outsiders provided the impetus for us to finally put it all together. OUr continuity is one where Marvel and DC have always been one, one where history is both similar and different to the show, in ways that are both easily visible and will be revealed later. We hope that you enjoy.
Francis Barton created by myself. Nolan Stark created by Batmarcus. Carter Alenko created by Ghost Fire 6.
Gotham City, July 4, 1200 EDT
It was a bright, unusually sunny day (by Gotham standards, anyway), and the people of Burton Park were going about their day and enjoying their Fourth of July. Grills were sizzling, kids were playing...and were promptly frozen by some sort of energy beam. The source of that beam? None other than Victor Fries, AKA Mister Freeze.
"Enjoying family time?" The scientist-turned-villain asked, cocking the large cold gun he carried.
"My family has other plans." Freeze fired the beam gun once again, aiming for a fleeing family...only for a small explosion to knock his gun a little to the right, causing the beam to impact and freeze the ground next to the family. Freeze looked in the direction the force had come from, seeing several small objects flying towards him. He swung his cold gun and swatted them out of the sky, but not before Freeze saw a larger object approaching out of his peripheral vision. He turned his domed head in time to see a red and black blur slam into him feet first, knocking him back and cracking his helmet.
The figure landed on the ground to reveal a young man with dark hair wearing a costume that consisted of red body armor that had a yellow R on the left side of his chest, a black cape with a yellow inside, black pants, black gloves, and a domino mask on his face. "There are better ways to help people cool off, you know." Jason Todd, the second young man to take up the name of Robin, quipped, and Freeze narrowed his eyes.
"Boy Wonder. I wondered when you were going to show up." The scientist dryly stated, and Robin smirked as he cracked his knuckles.
"What can I say, Freeze? I like to make an entrance." Robin taunted. "Now can we hurry this up? I've got somewhere to be!" Freeze just smirked, his cold gun beginning to charge up.
"Children these days, always in such a rush."
"Wasn't talking to you, Fishbowl." As soon as Robin said that, Freeze noticed that something had just blocked the sun behind him, and his eyes widened as he spun around, seeing none other than Batman himself descending towards him, the gloved fist smashing through his dome.
Manhattan. 1205 EDT
A man with a top half made of ice and a top half made of fire was storming down the street, shooting fire and ice at the buildings. "I warned you all what would happen! All you had to do was pay me and I'd leave you alone!" Equinox bellowed out, firing blasts of fire and ice at approaching police cars. "You pigs wanna get burned? Then get the hell out of my way!"
"Dude, I get Fourth of July traffic sucks, but there's no reason to get so hot and bothered about it!" A voice called out, and Equinox looked up to see a figure swinging towards him. He wore what could be best described as a jacket and pants onesie, with the jacket's main body was red and predominantly blue on the back. It had black sleeves, with attached sleeves gloves that were red at the fingers. At the center of his chest and back was a large, black, and angular spider symbol with a triangular abdomen that didn't have the pincers of the legs connected to the spider's body. His full head mask was completely red, with white eyes that seemed to narrow like a camera shutter.
Carter Alenko, or Scarlet Spider to the people of New York, fired a webline that pulled him down to Equinox, punching the villain in the jaw. He didn't immediately go down, instead firing a stream of fire at Scarlet Spider, which he backflipped away from, landed on a lamp post, and leapt back at him, landing another punch. "Piss off, bug boy!" Equinox growed out, sending a series of ice spikes at Scarlet Spider. He quickly webbed a manhole cover and pulled it towards him, blocking the spikes, before tossing it at the hot/cold metahuman, knocking him towards a car.
"Why you little-" Equinox started to growl out, before a small, beeping red ball hit the ground next to him. "What the-?" Before Equinox could ponder it any further, the ball exploded into webbing that covered Equinox and a small area, causing him to stick to the car. "The hell is this stuff?! Why can't I burn it?"
"Cause it's thermoreactive, dingus." A new voice said, and Equinox looked up to see a man in a skin tight red and blue costume with a large white spider on the chest crouching on a lamppost. "Y'know, cools down when it gets hot, heats up when cold? As in, 'ideal to hold you?'" Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man, explained, before he pointed to a spot right in front of Equinox. "But uh, you might have bigger things to worry about…" Equinox's eyes widened, and he looked just in time to see Scarlet Spider's fist slamming into his face, knocking him out.
"And just like that, you're out cold." Scarlet Spider quipped, and Spider-Man just sighed as he flipped off of the lamppost.
"I told you, you've gotta work on your banter. It's what trips them up!" He said as he finished webbing up Equinox.
"You didn't like the 'hot/cold' two parter?" Scarlet Spider asked, as Spider-Man finished the webbing up.
"I mean, it's fine if you're Superman or something, but my bad guys have come to expect a certain quality of quips." Spider-Man lectured, and Scarlet SPider sighed.
"Yeah yeah you're funny. Look, can we just get to the part where we leave a note or something? We gotta get going! Today's the day!"
Star City, 9:15 PDT
Cameron Mahkent Jr, AKA Icicle Jr, leapt into the middle of Weisinger Bridge, creating an ice ramp that caused several car to flip over. "Oh sweet, I got an SUV! Bonus points!" The teenaged supervillain cheered, only for several green and red arrows to impact his ice ramp and his ice-enforced shoulder, before detonating. When the smoke cleared, he looked up to see Green Arrow and Speedy on the bridge, aiming their arrows at him. "Finally! I was wondering how long it would take to get a little attention around here!" He created a shell of ice around his arms, and began throwing shards of ice at the two.
"Junior's doing all this for attention?!" Speedy asked, as they fired arrows at the spikes. However, they didn't get all of them, and were forced to dodge the spikes by running down the large cable of the suspension bridge. "This had better not make us late!" Speedy warned, as the archers began firing arrows at Junior. Junior threw another ice barrage at them but Speedy leapt over them, firing an arrow with a blunt head that hit Junior square in the face, knocking him out.
"Wow, kid's got a glass jaw. Guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree." Arrow remarked as Speedy landed next to him.
"Funny. Can we go? I am NOT being late today!"
San Francisco, 9:20 PDT
Golden Gate Park had been enjoying a relatively peaceful, if not packed, morning. That was until Donnie Gill AKA Blizzard came along and ruined it all. He began to blast at people and the responding police officers before creating a blizzard throughout the whole park with himself at the center of it all.
"What's the matter? Didn't pack your cold gear?" He asked blasting at the police only for a large piece of metal to block it.
"Okay there's a lot to unpack there, first was that supposed to be a quip? Or were you just asking a question?" A teenage, heavily filtered voice asked, as Blizzard looked up.
He found a teen in a predominately black armor, with red on the sides of his torso. It had gold accents along the suit and a gold faceplate. It also had more Red accents along the suit. In the center of his chest was a Hexagonal arc reactor that glowed bright white as did the eyes.
"Second, if that was a quip, it was a terrible one! I mean,, at least Spider-Man's quips are occasionally funny." Nolan Stark AKA Iron Knight said dodging the blasts of ice as he flew around Blizzard, blasting more ice away with repulsor beams.
"Finally do you just enjoy ruining peoples days? Like is it fun for you?" He asked unleashing a blast that took Blizzard off his feet hard. The man rolled to his feet and tried to blast him again.
"Aw Iron Man sent his brat! He too scared to face me himself?"
"Nah he just needed a second. Wish he would speed things up though!" Iron Knight sighed.
"Hey in my defense, you try targeting the circuits that amplify his powers!" Iron Man said flying in his red and gold armor with a triangular arc reactor in the chest and unleashing a few smaller targeted blasts, hitting Blizzard's costume. Blizzard was shocked as the snow in the air vanished.
"You bastard!" He said unleashing a blast at Iron Man who unleashed a shield that reflected the blast and froze Blizzard solid.
"Looks like we put him on ice." Iron Man said.
"I could have done it faster. Also seriously? Sometimes you're worse than Spider-Man. Now can we hurry up please! Today's the Day!"
Pearl Harbor, 06:02 HST
The historic sight was frozen solid. On one of the ships that remained three people were battling. Aquaman dressed in his classic Orange and Green suit avoided one of Killer Frost's blasts.
Jumping down a few levels he rean at her only to be frozen from the neck down. Before he could break free a dark skinned Atlantean leap over him flipping forward and continuing the charge.
Breaking free with a smile Aquaman spoke; "You can't tell me you aren't excited." He said casually as they both avoided more of Frosts attacks.
"Right now my king, I am more focused on the matter at hand." Aqualad said jumping into the air as Frost aimed a blast at him. He blocked the hit using his water-bearers causing them to freeze into a solid block of ice on his hands.
Landing on his feet in front of her he swung upwards with the block of ice smacking Killer Frost in the face, shattering the ice and knocking her out cold all at once. As he put his water-bearers away he looked to a still smiling Aquaman.
"Well?" The man asked, and Aqualad couldn't help it as he smiled as well.
"Yes, I am excited after all today's the day." Aqualad said.
Central City, 11:02 CDT
Captain Cold stood outside a jewellery store a bag full of diamonds in one hand his cold gun in the other. He was surrounded by two blurs, one red and the other yellow. The Flash and his sidekick Wally West AKA Kid Flash.
Cold tried to blast them each, but he might as well have tried punching them for all the good it was doing at the moment.
"Stealing ice? Really isn't that a bit cliche? Even for Captain Cold?" Flash asked.
"Come on! We don't have time for this!" Kid Flash said frustrated as he pulled down his goggles and charged in Cold turned and managed to fire off a blast at him which he narrowly avoided only a part of his right shoulder icing over as he snatched the gun away.
Cold growled, but before he could speak Flash ran in punching him in the face and knocking him out.
"Calm down Kid." Flash said cuffing Cold.
"Oh no! You'll chat it up with cops, bystanders with cold even! No! No way! Today's the day!" He said excited.
Boston, 12:22 EDT
A man in a sophisticated suit of white armor, with a large cannon in place of his right arm, spun around, firing a white beam from his weapon. "Hold still, dammit!" Mark Higgins, aka Tundra, bellowed out as his beam froze the wall of the museum as he tried hitting his targets. Those targets? Hawkeye, wearing his trademark purple costume, and a young man wearing a predominately black suit with a large downwards purple arrow on his chest, with smaller purple arrow designs along his arms and legs, and a face mask with red eyes that left his blonde hair out.
"We're going to be late!" Francis Barton, aka Trickshot, warmed as he fired an arrow at Tundra, who just blasted it out of the air.
"We're not going to be late!" Hawkeye and Trickshot continued firing explosive arrows, but Tundra's armor was built to withstand the explosive arrows.
"Quit yer yammerin' and hold still so I can kill you!" Tundra began firing in bursts, but Trickshot dodged the blast and fired an arrow, hitting an exposed tube that connected Tundra's gun to his armor. The coolant sprayed everywhere, blinding Tundra enough for Hawkeye to fire a disruptor arrow that connected, causing his armor to begin to short out. Taking advantage and without exchanging a word, the father/son team rushed the villain, delivering a series of blows that staggered the villain until they delivered a strike to his head, knocking him out.
"This idiot never learns." Hawkeye remarked, nudging the ice-villains head with his foot, only for Trickshot to grab him and start dragging him out of the museum. "Hey! Easy there, kid."
"C'mon, dad! I am not being late so you can show off the boomerang arrow again!" Trickshot said, as they exited the museum and approached Hawkeye's parked sky cycle.
"Hey, don't knock the boomerang arrow-"
"-til you've tried it. Yeah, I know. Now hurry up!"
Washington DC, 1400 EDT
"Aaaaand first!" Scarlet Spider remarked, as he and Spider-Man each landed on a nearby lamppost.
"More like second." A voice called, and the two Spiders looked to see Robin and Batman stepping out of the shadows. "Spider-Man. Scarlet Spider." Batman flatly stated with a nod, which, in Batman language, translated to a warm welcome.
"How...how long were you standing there?" Spider-Man asked as they jumped on the ground. "Seriously, were you just waiting for us to show up?" Scarlet Spider ignored his mentor and walked up to Robin.
"Bug Boy!"
"Bird boy!" They greeted each other, exchanging a fist bump and a shoulder clap. "So, how long were you standing there?" Scarlet Spider asked his best friend.
"About ten minutes. You know how he is. Always gotta be dramatic." Robin answered, and they heard the familiar hum of jet boots as Iron Man and Iron Knight landed next to them.
"Told you we should've left earlier. But no, you just had to clean your armor." Iron Knight lecutred his father.
"Billionaire philanthropist 101: always look good." Iron Man justified, before turning to the other two mentors. "Gentleman."
"I'm sure Tony just had to dye his beard. Can't let anyone see those grey hairs." The voice of Green Arrow said as he and Speedy arrived.
"Please, Arrow. If anything, he'll just bring out a fancy new suit of armor to distract us and compare himself to 'fine wine'." Aquaman added in as he and Aqualad arrived on the scene.
"Oh come on!" Trickshot's voice cried out, and they all looked up to see Hawkeye and Trickshot descending down on the skycycle. "I told you we should've taken the Zeta Tube!"
"Geez, sorry if I wanted to take the scenic route. Spend some time with my son on the big day." Hawkeye responded, as he set down on the ground. "Sheesh, kids today…"
"Hey guys. What's up, Speedy?" Trickshot greeted, fist bumping his fellow archer as he joined the other sidekicks. "So, been a while since we've all been together. All we need now is-"
"Oh come on!" A familiar voice called out, and they all looked to see Flash and Kid Flash arriving. "I knew it! Fastest people alive, and we're still somehow the last ones here!"
"Calm down, Kid. We made it, didn't we?" Flash reassured as they walked up to others. The heroes all stood behind their sidekicks, as they all looked at the structure ahead of them.
"Today is the day." Batman said. "Welcome...to the Hall of Justice."
"Headquarters of the Justice League." Aquaman added as they all began to make their way in and people began to snap picture they could hear comments from all sides.
"Is that Batman? I've never seen him in broad daylight?"
"Look it's Iron Man and Iron Knight, wonder how much those suits run them?"
"Didn't Scarlet Spider use to have a hoodie or something?"
"Oh! It's Flash and Speedy!"
"No, Speedy is Hawkeye's Sidekick."
"No, that's Trickshot. Speedy's with Green Arrow."
"Really? Then that name makes no sense."
Roy let out a slight sigh but still seemed happy even as Iron Knight spoke up; "See, I told you that you should have picked a better name than Speedy."
"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Green Arrow asked.
"Born that way!" Speedy said confidently.
"You know it just occurred to me, have all the sidekicks ever all been in the same place at the same time?" Robin asked, but Roy just looked at him.
"Don't call us sidekicks! Not anymore not after today." Speedy said, looking more determined than they'd ever seen him.
"Alright, sheesh calm down, drama king." Trickshot said casually.
They entered the hall and all had to pause at the sight of nine gigantic bronze status of the Justice Leagues founders: Superman, Iron Man, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel (back when she still went by Miss Marvel), Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Thor.
"Wow! That's just a little overwhelming." Kid Flash remarked.
"And just the slightest bit of an ego trip on my dads part, I bet." Iron Knight added
"Just think, someday soon, it'll be our statues up there." Trickshot remarked, as they approached a door that said 'League Members only', and the scanners activated.
"Recognize: Batman, 02; Iron Man; 03; Flash, 08; Aquaman, 10; Green Arrow, 11; Hawkeye, 13; Spider-Man, 23; Trickshot, B-02; Iron Knight, B-03; Speedy, B-04; Aqualad, B-05; Kid Flash, B-06; Robin, B-07; Scarlet Spider, B-08." The Computer announced, and the door opened. They stepped through it, being greeted with the sight of Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel, her arms folded behind her back.
"Robin, Scarlet Spider, Iron Knight, Speedy, Aqualad, Trickshot, Kid Flash. You're all here because you've proved you've got what it takes." She explained, and Martian Manhunter retrieved a tray full of cards. "As full reserve members, you will have access to our gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course, our library. Trust me, Hawkwoman runs one hell of a book club." The half-Kree captain explained, and the sidekicks all grinned as they took the cards.
"Hell yeah!" Scarlet Spider remarked, and they all plopped down on chairs. Meanwhile, while Captain Marvel was giving her tour, Batman was meeting with the mentors.
"Mister Freeze, Captain Cold, Tundra, Equinox, Blizzard, Killer Frost, and Icicle Jr. All ice based villains launching attacks within twenty minutes of each other. All of them arrested with relatively little resistance." Batman explained.
"What're you thinking, Bats?" Hawkeye asked, the others all listening intently. They'd all worked with Batman enough times to know when he had a hunch.
"One is a bad joke. Two is happenstance. Three is a coincidence. But seven? There's something bigger at play here." Batman stated, and Iron Man nodded.
"I agree. Once Gill gets to the Vault, you and me should-"
"That's it?" Speedy's voice cut through the air like a knife. "After all we've done, all we've been through, and you give us some crappy plastic card and make us 'reserve' members? You mean where you jump the jokes like Living Lightning?" He angrily asked.
"Easy there, Speedy. Not everyone gets this far." Hawkeye said, and Roy gestured to the reporters and tourists snapping pictures from the observation room. "Uhhh…"
"Roy, you need to calm down." Green Arrow pleaded, stepping forward.
"What I need is some damn respect!" Speedy shot back, and turned to his fellow sidekicks. "They're treating us like kids! Worse, like...sidekicks!"
"Uh, yeah?" Scarlet Spider piped up. "I mean...I'm still trying to learn the ropes. Aren't sidekicks supposed to have a whole Luke/Yoda thing going on?"
"You're seriously playing their game? Why?! Today was supposed to be THE day! The day we started to become full fledged members of the League!"
"Well, yeah. Isn't step one a tour of the HQ?" Kid Flash asked, and Speedy scoffed.
"Please. While the Hall used to be their headquarters, it's just a glorified tourist trap now, a pitstop to catch Zeta Beams! No, I want a tour of the REAL headquarters!"
"Dude, what are you talking about?" Robin asked, and the mentor's eyes widened as Roy sneered.
"I'm talking about the League's real headquarters! An orbiting space station called the Watchtower" Speedy shouted, and the sidekick's eyes widened as the mentor's all turned to glare at Green Arrow.
"I know, but the kid was so excited! I didn't see the harm!" He explained, but Batman just folded his arms, causing him to gulp.
"Not cool, man." Spider-Man stated.
"Thank god those windows are soundproof…" Flash muttered, as Aquaman stepped forward.
"You are not helping your cause here, son." The King of Atlantis warned. "Stand down, or-"
"Or what? You'll send me to my room? I'm not your son! I'm not even his!" He shouted, glaring at Green Arrow. "I thought I was his partner, but I guess not."
"Roy, I-"
"Shove it, Oliver. I'm done being jerked around." Roy stated, removing his cap and storming to the entrance, throwing it on the ground. "If you won't take me seriously, I'll prove it on my own. As for the rest of you, well maybe they're right you aren't ready."
"Says the eighteen year old man throwing a hissy fit and storming out like an angry child!" Trickshot shouted after him Roy stopped spinning on his heel and coming back so he was right in the other archers face.
"What was that?" He challenged.
"Did you go deaf in the last few seconds? I said you say we aren't ready, but you're storming off like a kid who just got told he can't play with his toys! You want them to take you seriously, and this is how you react when you don't get your way!?"
"They talked us up, made us think that they thought we were ready! Instead, they're treating us like a bunch of kids!"
"I get that you aren't happy, the rest of us aren't exactly thrilled either, but you don't see us, pissing and moaning about it! You're older than the rest of us, and yet you seem to be the only one who doesn't realize sometimes, things don't go the way you expected them to! If you can't deal with that then maybe you need a new line of work!" Trickshot said not backing down an inch.
Roy growled in frustration and anger, and for a moment Hawkeye was ready to move convinced the older boy was going to throw a punch, but instead he backed off shaking his head.
"You just don't get it." He growled before storming off again.
As they all watched him leave the alarm went off and Superman appeared on the large screen; "Superman to Justice League there's been an explosion at project CADMUS it's on fire."
"Hmm, I've had a few suspicions about Cadmus, this might be the perfect opportunity to…" Batman began before another screen came to life and Doctor Strange appeared;
"Strange to Justice League. Wotan is using a page of the Darkhold to create a crack in the Limbo dimension, letting in demons. Requesting full League response before this gets too out of hand!"
"Superman?" Batman questioned.
"It's a small fire, local authorities have it under control." Superman said.
"Then it looks like Cadmus will have to wait another day." Iron Man sighed as Batman nodded pressing a button on the consol.
"All Leaguers rendezvous at Doctor Strange's cordance. Batman out." He said as the sidekicks all approached from behind ready to go.
"Stay put." Batman said simply.
"Excuse me?" Jason asked seeming almost offended.
"This is a League mission you all aren't trained to…" Flash began.
"Since when?" Kid Flash demanded.
"He means you aren't trained to be a part of this team." Spider-Man interjected. "Look, I get it, I really do. But I've been doing this since I was your age, and I lost track of the amount of times I got messed up because I wasn't ready. We're just trying to make sure that you don't get too ahead of yourselves."
"You guys are going to have plenty of chances to prove yourselves in the future.." Iron Man added.
"However, for now as I said stay put." Batman finished with a tone of finality in his voice.
"Sorry, but we have to go and deal with this, we can talk later." Hawkeye muttered to Trickshot before he and the others all headed out through the Zeta Tubes, Scarlet Spider just barely caught Green Arrow mutter.
"Aren't you glad you didn't bring you know who?" to Martian Manhunter.
"Indeed." He muttered back. Before he could ask, they vanished through the Zeta Tubes, leaving a room full of brooding sidekicks.
"...y'know, Roy's got a bit of a point." Iron Knight said. "I mean, how are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like sidekicks?" He asked his face plate coming up to show a teen with dark red hair, lite skin and blue eyes
"My mentor, my King…I thought he trusted me." Aqualad lamented.
"They didn't even trust us with the basics! They've got a secret headquarters floating in space, that none of us knew anything about!" Kid Flash piped up.
"They filled our heads with...with all these big hopes and dreams. And they were going to just leave us like this, for who knows how long." Robin said.
"What else aren't they telling us…" Scarlet Spider muttered, and Trickshot looked at the computer terminal.
"Yeah...hey, what was it that Supes mentioned? Something about a fire?"
"Cadmus. It's a...lab, I think. I've seen Batman researching it a few times in the cave. I dunno what it is, though." Robin answered, and Trickshot went over to the console.
"Nolan, can you like...hack this, or something?" Trickshot asked, and Knight approached the console.
"The Justice League database is one of the most secure networks on the planet. It's got cybersecurity that makes the Pentagon look like a library computer. The firewalls are practically impossible to crack." He said as he began typing on the computer. "I can't quite hack it, but…"
"Welcome, Captain Rogers." The computer announced.
"I know the right passwords. It's 'password1' in case you were wondering."
"I'm just amazed he knows how to put in a password at all." Trickshot said, as he began accessing Batman's investigation files, pulling up Project Cadmus's files as the others came close.
"A genetics research firm, located here in DC. Not much more here than that…" Kid Flash read.
"But if Batman's suspicious, it's gotta be for a good reason." Robin finished. "Fire broke out less than half an hour ago. Fire crews are already responding, but they could need some help."
"Seems pretty simple to me. Solve the League's case before they do, prove ourselves, and we're chilling in space with Captain America by tomorrow." Scarlet Spider suggested, and they all turned to Kaldur.
"Well?" Kid Flash asked.
"Either all of us do this, or we don't do it at all." Trickshot said, and Kaldur seemed to think on it.
"I will not lie, my friends. Part of me is wondering if our teachers do have a point. Perhaps we are truly not yet ready…" But then he looked up with determination. "But the part does not see any other option. We must prove ourselves to be ready. If not for them, then for us. Let's move."
Project CADMUS Labs, 1420 EDT
Sure enough, the fire was mostly under control, the firefighters doing their best to keep it under control when Kid Flash showed up. "How bad is it?" He asked.
"We've got most of the scientists out, but we can't get to the top floor!" The firefighter responded.
"Leave that to us!" Iron Knight instructed as he flew over them, circling the building and scanning it. "I've got...one, two...five scientists left on the top floor."
"On it." Scarlet Spider stated, climbing up to the top floor. He grabbed one scientist under his arm, and the other grabbed onto his neck. As he swung down, Kid Flash ran up the side of the building and grabbed one, careful to maintain velocity so he didn't become a smear on the payment. Trickshot fired a trick arrow that exploded into a trampoline, allowing the others to jump down as Robin disconnected the firehose, allowing Aqualad to use his water bearers to direct the water onto the top floor.
"Fire suppressed. I'm not reading anyone else, but the smoke could be messing with my sensors." Iron Knight called down. "You guys make sure everyone's ok. I'll do a sweep of the floor, make sure we didn't miss anyone." Aqualad nodded at him, as the teenage supergenius flew into the burned top floor. After doing a quick scan of the room to make sure the structural integrity would hold, he set down, and looked around the room.
"Anyone here?" He called out over his armor's speakers, as he began to look around these works. "These scorch marks...is that accelerant?" Knight muttered to himself, but before he could run a scan, he heard the elevator ding. He looked to see the elevator's door shutting, only getting a glimpse of something that seemed...more than human.
"Uh oh…"
Aqualad and the others were on the ground, making sure the firefighters and paramedics had everything under control, when Iron Knight called down from the window. "Guys, get up here! Pretty sure I found...well I found a something." He said sounding confused.
"Sure that's not cryptic at all." Robin sighed shooting his grapple up to the window and grabbing Kid Flash San Scarlet Spider shot a web line, Trickshot used a grapple arrow, and Aqualad borrowed the water from before to give himself a boost.
When they arrived they found Iron Knight Scanning the elevator. Computers around him were shuffling through files of their own accord.
"So where's this something?" Jason asked.
"About twenty or so floors down." Iron Knight said, and the others all exchanged a glance.
"Uh, you getting enough air in there, Stark? The building's only two floors." Wally said.
"No, it just looks like it's only two floors. This model is a high speed express elevator, something you don't need for a two story building. Meaning…" he paused, allowing Aqualad and Scarlet Spider to pull the doors open and revealing a long wide tunnel; "There's way more floors than we think." Trickshot sighed, looking down.
"Y'know, am I the only one who expected to find the doomsday weapon just lying in plain sight?" He asked.
"Since when is it ever that simple?" Robin asked, and he shrugged.
"I know, but it'd be nice."
"Just how far does that thing go down for?" Scarlet Spider asked.
"No idea. Can't find anything about it on the computers, though." Knight answered. "Makes sense. If...whoever is using this place as a front, it stands to reason that they'd want to keep any info relating to what they're really up to off of the computers."
"So what are we waiting for?" Kid Flash asked. "We came here to investigate, so let's investigate."
"Read my mind." Robin said, pulling out his grappling gun as Trickshot readied his grappling arrows. They fired them at the ceiling, and began to descend. Scarlet Spider began to descend on a webline, Iron Knight used his bootjets to descend, and Aqualad and Kid Flash grabbed the grapple wires, sliding down. And so descended, going down five, ten, over twenty floors, until Trickshot and Robin's grapple lines ran out at level 26.
"End of the line." Trickshot remarked, and looked down at the seemingly bottomless chasm below them. "Just how far does this thing go?"
"Scans are showing about 26 more." Iron Knight said. "I dunno about you guys, but I am getting way too many horror movie vibes to suggest splitting up."
"Agreed. For now, until we can more of an understanding of what is going on, we stay together." Aqualad suggested, and Iron Knight nodded as he began to hack into the door. After a minute, the door's opened, revealing a hallway. "Gentlemen, welcome to Project Cadmus.
"Whoa…" Scarlet Spider gasped out.
"How could someone make something like this without the League noticing?" Trickshot asked.
"Someone with a lot of resources." Iron Knight stated, looking around. "These walls...I'm picking up traces of organic matter. It's some sort of biotech."
"This is crazy…" Robin remarked, as Kid Flash put on his goggles.
"Give me a few so I can scope I'll be back." He said, and ran off despite Kaldur's pleas. He didn't get far, though, as he rounded the corner and was greeted with the sight of some sort of large, mutated elephant stomping towards him. "Holy-" Before one of them could crush him, a webline snagged his back, and pulled him back to the dumbstruck others.
"What-"
"The-"
"-hell?!" Trickshot, Aqualad, and Robin all asked in unison, as their jaws dropped at the sight of the mutate elephants.
"Nope, nothing strange going on here…" Iron Knight muttered out, none of them noticing as small, grey, gremlin like creature looked at them, it's horns glowing red.
Elsewhere in the facility, an older man wearing glasses with a brown ponytail was experimenting on some unknown substance only marked 'Blockbuster.' He was examining its effect on some cells.
"Doctor Desmond?" When a voice drew his attention. It belonged to a man wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with a golden helmet, golden shoulder pads, and golden wrist pads. Doctor Desmond sighed, looking away from his microscope.
"Tell me Guardian, what part of 'no interruptions' did you not understand?" Desmond lectured.
"Figured it was important. One of the G-Gnomes on sublevel-26 reports six intruders." Jim Harper, AKA Guardian, reported, and Desmond sighed.
"Did I miss a perimeter breach alert?" He asked, hid voice dripping with irritation.
"Well, no, but-"
"Then the G-Gnome was mistaken. Whatever might occur upstairs, the real Cadmus is the most secure facility in DC."
"My job to keep it that way." Guardian responded, and Desmond sighed.
"Fine, take a squad and investigate. Just don't disturb me again unless you have something." He instructed, and Guardian nodded.
"Might I recommend that Guardian leave his G-Gnome behind?" A new voice suggested, and they both looked to see a man who could only be described as a demonic goat entering the room. "There could be danger, and the Gnomes are still quite fragile."
"Doc's got a point. Little guy would only get in my way." Guardian protested.
"No. The benefits of instant telepathic communications far outweigh any other concern." Desmond stated, as the horns of the Gnome on his desk began to glow, before Guardian's Gnome began to glow as well.
"I need my G-Gnome with me at all times…" He robotically recited, before leaving the room as Desmond went back to work.
Meanwhile, the sidekicks were making their way through the facility, with Knight hacking a door. "And there...we...go." He said as the door opened, and their jaws dropped as they were greeted with the sight of a room full of some sort of mutated insects in jars, all of them seeming to generate electricity.
"I was just wondering how they managed to hide something like this." Kid Flash stated. "They generate their own power, which lets them stay off the grid."
"Whole place must be devoted to growing these things." Trickshot stated
"It even ties in to the name. In the Greek myths, Cadmus created life by sowing the earth with dragon's teeth." Aqualad remarked.
"Must have been some messed up dragon…" Scarlet Spider joked, tapping one of the jars.
"And just think, this is all on one floor. Makes you wonder what's in the rest of this place." Robin asked, as Knight went to a nearby console. He was silent for a moment, before the screen sprung to life.
"Alright, let's get some answers." He said, sorting through data. "Says here these things are called 'Genomorphs.' Catchy name."
"Whoa, am I reading this right?" Kid Flash asked, reading over his shoulder."Telepathy, superstrength, telepathy, razor claws, bioelectricity...these things are living weapons!"
"And nothing needs weapons quite like an army does." Robin grimly stated.
"The question is...an army for who? And for what purpose?" Aqualad asked, a question that seemed to drop the temperature in the room, until Iron Knight found something.
"Oh, now this is interesting." He stated. "I've got two files here, one labelled 'Project KR' and one marked 'Project XI.'"
"Any idea what those are?" Trickshot asked.
"Nope. They're triple encrypted. And, in my experience, harmless things are typically not encrypted." Knight explained. "Rob, you get it?"
"Got it." Robin sayed, a holographic display of the floor map appearing on his gauntlet, with two red dots. "Let's see, XI's here on this floor, but KR's a few levels down. If we split up, we can-"
"FREEZE!" Guardian's voice said, cutting him off mid-sentence as he entered the room, fanked by several humanoid creatures that rese. "Stop right there, and-wait, Trickshot? Robin? What are you all doing here?"
"Could ask the same of you, Guardian." Kid Flash asked.
"I'm the head of security, therefore I belong here. Unless I missed some employment paperwork, you six are all trespassing." The security chief accused. "Now, why don't you come with me, and we'll call the League. Get this all sorted out."
"Oh sure, and you can explain to them how you're growing weapons down here." Trickshot stated, and Guardian looked confused.
"Weapons? What are you…?" The horns of the G-Gnome on Guardian's shoulder began to glow, and his face scrunched up in pain.
"My head…" He groaned out, but after about a second, he looked at them, full of anger. "Take them down!" He ordered, and the G-Elves flanking him charged at them. Robin threw down a smoke bomb, and that's when the fun started.
Iron Knight immediately began firing his repulsors, hitting two of them, but another snuck up behind him. It would've jumped on his back, had it not been for Scarlet Spider firing a web line and using it to swing the G-Elf into another one. Trickshot fired his arrows while Robin threw his shurikens, while Kid Flash was doging slashes from an Elf. Aqualad had created water maces and was smashing elves as they charged at him, only to be slammed into by Guardian. He quickly recovered, dodging and countering a series of punches from Guardian, before Kid Flash slammed into him at high speed, knocking the older man back.
"There's too many of them!" The teenage speedster called out.
"No really hadn't noticed." The armored teen said sarcastically as a two compartments opened wide and dispensed flashbangs as Robin threw down smoke grenades.
"Come on let's get out of here!" Robin called out as they all scattered for the nearest door. Managing to get through they shut it.
"Okay, we need to…" Iron knight started after welding the door shut, but he stopped when he turned and saw they were surrounded by more Genomorphs.
"It's never just easy is it?" Scarlet Spider asked as they began to battle through them again.
"No, what would be the fun in that?" Trickshot asked.
As they fought the group was beginning to seperate, and this wasn't helped by the sudden unwelcome appearance of what they could only call…
"A Genomorph Basilisk!? Seriously!? Who could possibly want that!?" Kid FLash shouted as they all ran for it with the beast chasing them. As they ran or in Iron Knights case flew down the halls doing all they could to slow their pursuers.
There was a split in the hallway, Aqualad, Iron Knight, and Kid Flash went right, going back the way they had originally came, while Scarlet Spider, Robin, and Trickshot went left. Neither team was thrilled by this, but they really had no other options.
The Genomorphs were right on Team Aqualad's heels as they ran into the elevator, the door shutting just in time for them to hear the creatures scratching on the door. "Holy crap…" Kid Flash panted out.
"Is everyone alright?" Aqualad asked.
"Nothing that can't be buffed out." Iron Knight remarked.
"Kid?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just...y'know. Still trying to process all this." The speedster stated, and that's when he noticed the floor counter on the elevator. "Wait, why are we going down?"
"Because Project KR is on sublevel 52." Iron Knight answered. "We came here to investigate, and so I'm taking us to where there's something to investigate. Robin's more than likely doing the same, taking his group to whatever Project XI is."
"This is out of control. Perhaps..." Aqualad lamented, pacing the elevator. "Perhaps we should contact the League?"
"So that whoever's running this can just pack up and run away before we get here?" Iron Knight remarked, but before the other two could respond,they arrived on Sublevel 52 and the doors opened, revealing a hallway covered in some sort of red substance.
"I uh...I don't think they can just pack this up." Kid Flash stated, looking around.
"These walls...it's some kind of biotech." Stark stated, scanning the material lining the hallway, before turning back to Kaldur and Wally. "Well, we're already here…" Aqualad just sighed.
"Very well. Be on your guard." The Atlantean instructed, and they began moving down the hallway. Eventually, they came to a fork in the hallway, with two tunnels that seemed to stretch on.
"Man, what is it with this place and split hallway…?" Iron Knight remarked, while Kid put his hands on his hips.
"Let's see, creepy hallway number one, or creepy hallway jumber two…I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting some good vibes from number two."
"We could always flip a coin?" Aqualad suggested, and Iron Knight folded his arms.
"As long as we don't split up again. The horror movie vibes here are just-"
"Hold!" A new voice called out, and they looked to see a humanoid genomorph approaching them from one of the hallways. His horns glowed red as he began levitating several nearby canisters, throwing them at the three teens.
"Looks like number one!" Kid Flash called out, and Iron Man fired his repulsors at the creature. It blocked them with a canister, but it was sufficient enough to allow them to escape down the other hallway. The Genomorph watched them flee, almost seeming to smile… before the elevator doors opened, revealing Guardian and a squad of G-Elves.
"Dubbilex, which way did they go?" Guardian asked, and Dubbilex pointed the direction the sidekicks had fled in.
"That way! Towards Project KR!"
Sure enough, in front of a large door marked "Kr", an African American woman in a lab coat was coming out of the door, when Kid Flash zoomed around the corner. "Heysorryscuseme!" He said at superspeed, zooming past her so fast it knocked her down as he ran into the room as it started to close. "Guys, come on!" He called out Before the scientist could process it, Aqualad and Iron Knight came around the corner as well, blowing past her into the Kr room just as it shut. Aqualad spun around just as it closed. "Knight!"
"On it!" Knight replied, already hacking the door so that it locked, and then disabling the controls. "There. We should be safe now."
"You mean trapped." Aqualad corrected. "They cannot get to us, but we cannot get out."
"If you want to look at it as glass half empty, yeah. I choose to see it as we're not being ripped apart by genetically altered hellmonsters." Knight replied. "KF, you got any ideas on how to-" He started to ask as they turned to Kid Flash, but they saw he was staring at something, slack jawed. "Kid? You ok?" The red haired speedster said nothing, only pointing. The other two looked to what he was pointing out, and Aqualad's jaw dropped as Iron Knight's faceplate lifted, just to be sure he was really seeing what he was seeing…
Suspended in a pog, surrounded by three G-Gnomes in tubes, sat what appeared to be a teenage boy around 26, with black hair and fair skin wearing a white full bodysuit with a large red S in a red pentagon. What struck them, however, is just who it resembled…
"Is that...Superman?" Kid Flash asked, full of shock.
"It...it can't be. He looks no older than us…" Aqualad muttered out.
"Big K, little r...that's the atomic symbol for Krypton." Kid Flash muttered out in disbelief. "Is...is he a clone, or…?"
"Knight, can you-?"
"Already hacking it." Nolan finished for Kaldur, having plugged his armor into one of the computer terminals. "Alright, I got something." He said, his faceplate shutting as it began displaying information. "Someone get Wally a prize. This is a clone, grown from Superman's genetic material."
"Who is capable of doing something like this?" Aqualad asked, as Iron Knight continued to sort through the data.
"Doesn't say. All it says is that he was force grown in...damn, sixteen weeks." Knight recited.
"The scientists here nicknamed it...him…'Superboy.' See that jumpsuit? It's not just a fashion statement. It's constantly absorbing solar radiation, and those little creatures...the G-Gnomes...they're constantly feeding him information via telepathy. But why was he created in the first place…?"
"Is it not obvious?" Aqualad asked. "He was created to be a weapon. One no doubt built to be used against Superman and the League."
"Whoa…" That was all Kid Flash could think to say. "We...we can't just leave him here."
"Agreed. Just gotta get in here a little more, and-" Before Iron Knight, could finish, the pod began to open.
"Whoa, that was fast!" Kid Flash cheered, but Knight wasn't so ecstatic.
"That...that wasn't me. I don't know how it-" Before he could finish, the horns of the G-Gnomes in the pod began to glow, and Superboy's eyes snapped open. "Whoa!"
"Easy, friend. We are not here to hurt you." Aqualad calmly stated. "I am Aqualad. This is Iron Knight, and Kid Flash. We are here to-" Before Kaldur could finish, Superboy sneered, and charged them.
Back on sublevel 26, as the others went back into the elevator, Team Robin had gone down the other direction, and the G-Basilisk went after them. "God, I hate snakes!" Trickshot yelled out, firing an explosive arrow at the serpent that exploded harmlessly against its hide. It charged at them, as Scarlet Spider leapt on top of it, firing weblines on either side of its mouth.
"Alright, big fella, why don't we just OH GOD!" Before he could finish his joke, the snake started bucking wildly, trying to get the teenage arachnid off of him. "Guys! Little help please!"
"Hide's too thick for explosives!" Trickshot called out, as Robin looked at the arrow quiver on his back.
"Got anything for the cold blooded in there?" Robin asked, and Trickshot nodded as he pressed a combination of buttons on his bow, and his quiver began shifting through trick arrowheads. Without another word, he retrieved an arrow with a glowing blue tip, nocking it and letting it loose at the Basilisk. It impacted and a small layer of ice formed, and the sudden cold caused the giant lizard to slow down, allowing Robin to throw a few exploding shuriken into it's open mouth. Once they exploded, the Basilisk collapsed, and Scarlet Spider tumbled off.
"What kind nightmare factory is this place?" He groaned out, as Trickshot and Robin helped him up.
"Hey, beats a boring old 4th of July barbecue, doesn't it?" Robin remarked, and Trickshot looked up to see genomorphs heading towards them.
"Oh for the love of...less talking, more running!" He said, firing more arrows as they began to run again. Robin pulled up his holomap, quickly reading it as they ran.
"Project XI's just around this corner! Come on!" He instructed, and they quickly ran around the corner, and Scarlet Spider spotted a door marked 'XI.'
"There it is!" Scarlet Spider said, preparing to punch down the door, when Robin held up his hand.
"Not as good as Knight or Nightwing, but I can do the basics." Robin said, beginning to hack in as Trickshot took guard, keeping his bow pointed at the hallway.
"Can't you like, execute a virus or bypass something?" Scarlet Spider asked.
"I-that's not how hacking works! Just watch the door!" The Boy Wonder instructed, and the door opened not even a minute later. "Alright, get in!" And so they did, the door shutting just as the genomorphs rounded the corner.
"Lock it lock it lock it!" Trickshot called out, and Robin hacked the door to lock. "God, I hate this place…"
"Uh, I think you're about to hate it even more…" Scarlet Spider muttered out, pointing to something, the other two's eyes widened as they processed it.
What they were looking at was a girl, probably around their age, suspended in liquid within a large glass tube marked 'X-23'. She had dark black hair, closed eyes, and was wearing a tight silver bodysuit with tubes sticking out if it, and Carter noticed an even smaller version of the monsters from before in a small glass dome just above the tank. "What the fuck is this…" Scarlet Spider mumbled.
"Is it just me, or does she somehow look…familiar." Trickshot said.
"Francis, I think you'd remember meeting someone like this." Carter said, though now that he looked closely at her , he noticed that she did in fact look familiar, though he couldn't place from where. "So..who is she?"
"I think I have an answer to that." Robin said, while Scarlet Spider and Trickshot had been staring at this strange girl, Jason had hacked a nearby computer and begun reading a file marked 'X-23.'"Found this while you two were busy gawking. A lot of it is redacted, but the parts I can read say that this is a clone of Wolverine!"
"Wolverine? I don't think so. For starters, she is not NEARLY as hairy as he is. Second, this is clearly a girl. Aren't clones supposed to be exactly identical?" Trickshot said, and Robin sighed.
" The rest of the files are all locked. If only Knight were here. His armor could crack everything on here easily." Robin sighed "We need to find a way to get her out."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Trickshot asked seriously.
"Well, we can't just leave her here! She deserves better than that." Robin said defiantly.
"Good point okay let's see if we can figure this out." He said as the three of them went to work.
Moments Earlier Sub-Level 45
Doctor Desmond stood in a security room scanning the monitors as at last he found what he was looking for. The sidekicks were on two seperate levels. Three still remained on Sub-Level 40 in Weapon XI's chamber.
Three more had made their way deeper into CADMUS on Sub-level 52 in Project Kr's chamber. All of them were staring at each of their respective projects and appeared to be trying to free them.
"Of all the times for Kimura to be offsite..." Desmond muttered, thinking through his options. For years, Cadmus had operated in secret just under the nose of the Justice League, but now, under his watch, a small group of sidekicks had managed to discover and infiltrate them. Fortunately, all outside communications were blocked, so Desmond didn't have to worry about the Justice League. However, it was only a matter of time before the board of directors learned of what had happened, and he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of what would happen.
And that's when he recalled an old saying, one he'd never been too fond of before: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. He smirked, before communicating through the Genomorphs;
"Guardian, report to outside Project Kr. Dubblex, report to outside Weapon XI's chamber. Our little clones are going to handle the problem for us." He said before giving orders to each of them to wake up and incapacitate the sidekicks.
Weapon XI, Chamber
As the three sidekicks tried to find a way to free the girl, her vitals suddenly started to rise to waking levels, and Scarlet Spider got a familiar buzzing sensation in his head. Before he could warn the others her eyes snapped open within the pod, as the horns on the creatures above her glowed red.
As the three sidekicks inside tried to figure out a way to free the girl, the horns of the creature above her glowed, and her eyes snapped open. Two claws burst out of her hands on each side, and she stabbed them through the glass, breaking it. "Look's like someone's not a morning person." Scarlet Spider said as he prepared to fight, but Trickshot held up a hand to stop him. The girl continued to poke holes in the glass, until it finally broke
"We need to try and show her that we're here to help." Trickshot said, and turned to the girl and Robin spoke;
"Don't panic, we're here to help you." He said calmly, and the girl looked at him with her dazzling green eyes. He thought he had gotten through to her, when she charged at the three of them. He just barely managed to dodge her claws, and Scarlet Spider leap over him and pounced on her, punching her in the face and sending her flying back into the wall.
"Hey, Wolverita, calm down! We just said we're here to help you!" Scarlet Spider said, and she glared at him, jumping forward with a yell. Trickshot fired two arrows at her, but she quickly slashed those out of the air. He drew out his batons and charged her right while Scarlet Spider took her left, and Robin rushed her front.
Project Kr
The other three were doing, well really about as well as one could hope to against an angry young Superman which was they were not dead, but also they couldn't claim to be winning. Kid Flash tried to rush him and managed to land a few hits before Superboy caught his arm and hurled him against the wall.
The back of his head slammed into it and he was out cold. Iron Knight shot a high powered taser into Superboys stunned, him but not for long. The teen of steel yanked him forward slamming his fist into Iron knight knocking him away seizing his foot and slamming him into the ground. He tried firing his bootjet, but the clone just squeezed harder, crushing the jet
Barely conscious Iron Knight fired a repulsor blast up and into Superboys face. Aqualad lunged forward slamming his water-bearers into Superboy's chest knocking him backward this time. Knight took this chance to unleash several more blasts at Superboy.
"Please, we do not wish conflict!" Aqualad said as they were both ready to attack. Superboy ignored them and leap in again.
They managed to keep him back, but not for long. He jumped forward grabbing Knight before spinning him around and throwing him into Aqualads face. They were both knocked out cold, as Iron Knights armor went through it's protocol and locked down at his loss of consciousness.
The door to Project Kr opened and Guardian walked in looking at the downed sidekicks; "Good work project Kr. Help me get them contained." He said.
Weapon XI
The girl was far more skilled than any of them had been expecting. She wasted no movement. Everything was done with the purpose of winning the fight, which she was. She dodged an attack from Trickshots batons, catching one between her claws as ashe grabbed Scarlet Spiders web he had shot at her. Wrenching him forward with surprising strength she slammed the two boys heads together knocking them both out cold.
"Well, that was not how I was expecting this to go." Robin sighed flipping away from her. As he landed she aimed a kick at him. He managed to dodge but felt a stinging pain in his chest. Looking down he saw a large cut on his chest and a claw sticking out of her foot.
"Because of course you have foot claws." He sighed as she began to overwhelm him, slashing and kicking with the grace of a trained dancer.
"Come on! We were trying to help you!" He said as she slipped beneath his guard and grabbed him by the tunic. She pulled him towards her and despite himself Jason couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, not that this revelation lasted long as she stopped him a few feet from her.
"H..Help yourself." SHe growled before knocking him out with a vicious headbutt.
Letting him drop to the ground she walked to the door and opened it bowing to Dubblex as he entered with Desmond.
"That's our girl." Desmond said proudly. "Take these three and meet Guardian on sublevel 52. We'll decide what to do with them there." X-23 nodded, tossing Robin over her shoulder, while dragging Trickshot and Scarlet Spider towards the elevator, to whatever fate awaited them.
A/N: And so concludes the first chapter in our exciting story. Yes, our Robin is Jason Todd. Yes, our OC's histories will be revealed in due time. No, this isn't the Peter Parker from the game, we just really like the suit. Until next time, true believers.
Excelsior.