Author Note

A while ago I was asked to do a Young Justice story. I did consider having Red-X join such that group, as his skills would be useful for a covert superhero team, I then talked the idea over with Takao-kun, who came up with some good ideas. However due to the problems I had adjusting things to make Young Justice work with my Red-X stories, I decided to scrap that and start over with a fresh Gothic.

This Gothic joins the team after spending a year being trained as an assassin by the Order of Dumas. They did a lot of brainwashing to him after he appeared miraculously as those fanatics thought he'd been sent to them to become the next Azrael. Only it didn't work out for them as Gothic's mental shields prevented the programming from taking hold. So this Gothic kept the skills, but remained himself, more or less.

Those of you who don't have a great knowledge of the DC comics may only know Azrael as the persona Doctor Strange gave to Theo Galavan, and that will give you some idea of what this Gothic will be capable of doing. But that Azrael was nothing compared to the real thing. To give an example one of the men who was Azrael was skilled enough to take over from Batman in the Knightfall comics.

Naturally more will be explained about this new Azrael in the story. I don't want to say too much now and spoil things.

One last thing, if you haven't seen Young Justice then this story will make little sense so only read if you're a fan.

DC Gothic – Young Justice

Part 1

The Hall of Justice

"Robin, Aqualad, Speedy, Gothic and Kid Flash welcome" The green-skinned shape shifter greeted "You now have access to our kitchen, gym, and library".

The Hall of Justice was an impressive place, but I knew it was only a cover. The real action was taking place up in orbit on board the Watchtower.

"Please make yourselves at home" the Man-hunter then said as he other older heroes started to have a private talk.

Upon finishing my year long training course with the Order of Dumar, I had been presented with many powerful items. One of those was the Mask of Azrael, which enhanced my senses, including my hearing. Thanks to the mask I was able to hear everything the Justice League members were now talking about.

"Quick debrief to discuss why four Ice villains attacked on the same day" Batman said to his peers before turning to us "We shouldn't be long".

I watched them walk over to a door that red 'Members Only' then I saw a small camera came out of the ceiling, which in turn scanned each hero.

"Recognized Batman 02, Aquaman 06, Flash 04, Green Arrow 08, Martian Manhunter 07, Red Tornado 16".

I figured they were heading up to the Watchtower and that the teleporter was in the back, were the public couldn't see.

"That's it?!" someone then shouted.

We all turned to look at Speedy, Green Arrows' sidekick, and he did not look like he was a happy camper.

"You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified Backstage pass" the archer complained.

Aquaman took a step forward before addressing the side-kicks and myself.

"This is the first step" said the King of the Sea "You've been granted access few others have".

Speedy gestured to the tourist who were looking at us through the windows. Their presence here did rather diminish Aquaman's words.

"Who cares what side of the glass we're on!" Speedy yelled.

Green Arrow walked over to him, and spoke up.

"Calm down Roy" he urged "You just need to be patient".

Speedy glared at him for a moment before replying.

"What I need is respect" he said before turning to where Robin, Kid Flash and I were relaxing "They're still treating us like kids, like side-kicks".

I'd never been anyone's sidekick nor was I child, and they were treating me exactly the same way so I didn't agree.

"Throwing a temper tantrum when things don't go your way is what makes you seem like a child" I told him "and you'll notice that while I was never a side-kick they don't treat me any differently than you".

Robin at least had listened to my words.

"Who are you?" he asked.

That was a simple question with a very complex answer.

"My name is Gothic" I told him, that being the name I'd chosen for myself when I'd not become Azrael as expected "I'm from another dimension. When I was transported here I was 'de-aged' a few years and I ended up in the care of the Order of Dumas, who thought I had been sent to them to become the next Azrael".

I'd thought that would involve me becoming an assassin who would once ready be armed and armoured with powerful artefacts before being sent out to kill all the super villains. That had been something I could get behind as in my view a lot of the crooks in this world did need a good stabbing, but that hadn't been the truth of things.

As for the the artefacts, I had those. Aside from the Mask, I wore a more modern day version of the Armour of Sorrows, which was something I could only describe as motorcycle fetish meets Assassins Creed. It was leather and metal, also there was enough power in it to protect me from things like bullets and knives while also granting me greater strength, speed and agility.

Aside from the armour I had two swords, the Sword of Salvation and the Swords of Sins, both of which seemed to be normal blade, right up until the will of those who wielded them decided otherwise. Then they transformed into magical weapons that were incapable of harming the innocent but to evil doers their power to effect the mind was horrific. Anyone struck by the swords underwent a neurological reaction, and became overwhelmed by the burden of their past tragedies. Most after recovering would start to reconsider their life choices.

The Sword of Sin could be ignited by the will of the wielder, setting the blade on the fire. The sword also has the ability to conjure in the mind its victims all of the sins for which they are guilty of or have not atoned for.

Like the Sword of Salvation, it was also capable of cleaving right through a target without leaving any physical mark meaning it didn't damage a person's body unless I wished it to. Most of the time it would the psychological effect that would disable an enemy.

If used on a target at the same time as the Sword of Salvation, it could bring up both the sins and guilt of a person, as well the reasons behind them in the mind of the target. Few people could withstand such a thing.

According to what the Monks of the Order of Dumar had told me only the most evil of people wouldn't reform their ways after that experience, because either they were pure of heart, and therefore couldn't be harmed by my swords or because they were so irredeemably evil that killing them became the best option.

"What they didn't tell me was that Azrael is a personality they impose on the man they chose to be their assassin" I then told the side-kicks "I was suppose to have become Azrael the Avenging Angel. It didn't work, so I took the name Gothic".

I still had more to say.

"Once the brainwashing failed the Order decided to kill me, but they came under attack by the League of Shadows" I then added "In all the confusion I got away and soon after that I met Batman".

Actually I'd gone to Wayne Manor and had asked for Batman rather than Bruce Wayne, and then I'd explained who I was, and what had happened to me. Naturally the Dark Knight had decided to keep me close to the League because of the things I knew.

"And I was hoping to see the Watchtower"... I then started to say.

Before I could speak further I was interrupted.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'the Watchtower'?" Kid Flash asked the older heroes.

Speedy, who now tired of being ignored, spoke up.

"The Hall isn't their H.Q" he informed those not in the know "They have a secret H.Q. A giant orbital satellite".

Batman directed his glare to Green Arrow while Aquaman tried to calm things down.

"You're not helping your cause here son" the monarch of the seas said "Stand down".

Speedy did some more glaring.

"Or what?" the archer asked "You going to send me to my room? I'm not your son.. I'm not even his".

Speedy then grabbed his hat and threw to the ground, it was all very dramatic.

"I thought I was his partner" he then said in a much softer voice "Not anymore"

Speedy then moved to leave, but before he got to the door he turned to face the other side-kicks.

"They were right about you three" he told Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad "You're not ready".

With that the archer was gone, and I was not sorry to see him go.

"Has he always been such a drama queen?" I asked.

Before Green Arrow could say anything, the alarm on the computer beside the members only door went off. Suddenly, a man popped up on-screen. Only he was no ordinary man.

"Superman to the League" the Man of Tomorrow said over the screen "A fire has broken out at Project Cadmus"

Batman responded to the call.

"I've had my suspicions of Cadmus for some time now" the Dark Knight stated.

Suddenly a small screen came up with another man, and I had no idea who he was, he looked like a stage magician.

"Zatara to the League" the unknown man said "Wotan is planning to blot out the sun. I request that the entire League respond".

Batman glanced up at the image of the Man of Steel

"Superman?" he asked.

The big blue boyscout looked thoughtful for a seconds before replying.

"It's a small fire" the boy scout said "the local firefighters can take care of it"

Batman nodded before turning to the other older heroes

"Alright we'll handle Wotan" he said to his peers before turning to address the side-kicks and myself "Stay here".

Robin looked at him in shock.

"What why?" he wished to know.

He was given an answer.

"I still don't know much about Cadmus" Gotham's Grim Guardian explained "My informant couldn't get anything concrete, and until I know more I'm not sending anyone near their base".

That was in my view very wise, as I knew a lot about Cadmus, or at least some versions of it.

Red Tornado turned to Martian Manhunter and whispered something. I was able to hear it.

"Glad you didn't bring you know who?" the machine asked.

The Martian Manhunter nodded.

"Indeed" he said.

With that the members of the League walked out, and I was left wondering if I would have been better of being de-aged a bit more and sent off to join the Teen Titans. But Batman had plans for these side-kicks, of that I was sure, and for reasons of his own he wanted me with them.

"I thought they trusted us" Aqualad said sourly.

Right now I was wondering why Batman hadn't turned the computer off when he'd left. It had to be part of his master plan, whatever that was.

"Trust?" said Kid Flash with a snort "They don't trust us with the basics. Come on they have a secret H.Q. in space and we weren't told. I mean they told leather boy over there!".

Actually they hadn't. I just figured there was a Watchtower, as the Justice League normally had one.

"What else aren't they telling us?" Robin wondered.

My thinking was that there was a few things that they weren't telling us.

"I've got a better question" Kid Flash then said "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

This query I decided to answer.

"Because hopefully you're more mature than he is" I said.

The side-kicks then all looked at me, and so I felt compelled to say more.

"You all have the potential to be great heroes" I told them "You wouldn't have made this far if that wasn't the case, and I think Speedy just failed an important test. Be patient you'll figure out what's going on".

The side-kicks then spent a moment thinking about what I had just said.

"What is 'Project Cadmus'?" Aqualad then inquired.

Robin shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know" replied the Boy Wonder "But I can find out"

After walking up to the computer, Robin quickly typed something in.

"Access Denied" the computer stated.

Robin smirked and then he started to do what I could only call expert hacking.

"Dude.. How are you doing this?" asked Kid Flash.

Robin continued to type before answering.

"Same as the computer in the cave" he told us.

"Access Granted"

A picture of a building came up as did some information, which Robin read through very quickly.

"Project Cadmus.. A genetics Lab. Here in D.C... If Batman's suspicious.. That's more than enough reason to check it out" Bird Boy muttered.

Aqualad spoke next.

"Solve their mystery before they do" he said "It would be poetic justice".

I suspicious of how easily Robin had hacked a computer that Batman used. I didn't think it should have been as easy as he made it look.

"But they did tell us to stay put" Aqualad then added.

Robin gave his fellow side-kick a smirk.

"No they told us to stay out of the sun mission" reminded the Boy Wonder "Not from this".

That was odd, someone was blocking out the sun. I'd have thought that such a situation would require everyone's help. Also to me it seemed odd that Superman had called the League about a fire when he could have just flown there and put the fire out in less time than it would take for him to call Batman and discuss it.

"You're serious?" Kid Flash wanted to know "If you're going, I'm going".

Once Aqualad agreed they all turned to me.

"Fine" was all I said.

I was pretty sure that this whole thing was a test set up by the Dark Knight, and if nothing else it would be good to get some practical experience.