Private Hospital, Metropolis, 8:07 AM.
November 17th, 2010.
Aiden wondered when he would be considered well enough to leave. He was honestly considering just ditching the place—especially before they tried to bill him with something outrageous. He felt well enough—his skin still felt tight in areas it probably shouldn’t.
Like the tail that had cut from his body, most of the damage that his larger form had suffered had followed him when he had returned to a normal size—it was smaller sure, but only relative to his body size.
Hundreds of thin double white lines, scarring, crossed most of his body and up to his neck, the points of which just peaked over his jawline—the results of the Kryptonian’s attempts to pacify him with their heat vision. The sheer quantity of the grooves had been slowing his healing down a great deal, but they had stopped actively hurting a while ago.
More than anything, he was just relieved they hadn’t marred his face except for the very tips of some of the lines that crawled over his jawline and chin.
He’d lost his phone at some point during the battle, so he was forced to watch the news to get any source of information from the outside world. The nurses and doctors had told him some things, but they didn’t know anything other than the surface level of what had happened.
The reports and numerous videos of him trying to breach the city left him feeling a bit nauseous. He could almost imagine what it would have been like sitting here, with the knowledge that he had wiped an entire city of people out—he was more than glad that they had managed to stop him.
He was even more pissed off that any of it had happened in the first place—with his choices being to stew over everything that had happened or watch the same video of him blasting Power Girl out of the sky, he had chosen the latter.
It would have been nice if he could simply dump all the responsibility on Red Arrow for ganking everyone with the mind control patches. That wasn’t the case, though; the guy had been under the same type of control or at least a similar one. The ones who had sent him to do it to begin with—they were the ones responsible for all of this.
Randal Savage, Klarion, and possibly Lex Luthor.
He didn’t have any proof on the last one, but he could vaguely remember his stupid bald silhouette in one of those evil zoom calls from the show. There had been others as well, and at least one of them had been a woman, which narrowed the identity of that one down to roughly half the population of the world.
The news report switched to some of the devastation that had been caused by Klarion’s spell. Pictures of childless families standing in cemeteries and crowds of protestors demanding that something be done in the wake of so much tragedy.
Aiden felt his Ki spike as a picture of the monster in question flashed across the screen. He forced it back down and changed the channel—he didn’t want to break anything in here.
He needed Information on Savage and Klarion—for one thing, he didn’t even know what the first guy looked like. He needed to know what each of them could do as well. Klarion was a magic fucker—he knew that much, at least, but Savage was a mystery.
Aiden glanced at the clock and almost groaned. Less than ten minutes had passed since he had last checked—he needed to get out of here, or he was going to go crazy.
“—the reunification of the two countries,” Cat Grant said pleasantly.
His attention was drawn to the screen once more as it showed a live broadcast coming out of Qurac.
“After the unification, I will, of course, be stepping down as president.” Rumaan Harjavti said solemnly, “So that our rightful monarch, Queen Bee, may rule.”
Aiden wondered why someone would be so willing to step down from such a powerful position years before his term ended and the next reelection began. The scene changed to show ‘Queen Bee’ on stage, and the tagline indicated that she was broadcasting her response from Bialya.
“I laud president Harjavti for reuniting our peoples, and I will gladly come to Qurac to become the sole leader of our nation.” Queen Bee said audibly pleased.
Aiden turned the monitor off, disinterested—he couldn’t tell exactly where Qurac or Bialya was on a map as geography had never been his strong suit, but it must have been pretty far away. He’d never heard of either.
Lucky for him, he didn’t need a master’s in geography to get the hell out of this hospital.
----------------------------------------
Conference Room, Watchtower, 7:07 PM.
November 25th, 2010.
Dinah watched as the doors to the conference room slid open, and the last of the Justice League stepped inside.
“Thank you for coming,” Batman said clearly, “Take your seats, we have much to discuss.”
Everyone began to move towards the many chairs around the long curved table before seating themselves with various degrees of decorum. Dinah listened as Flash’s foot made a rapid tap of impatience against the floor on the far end of the table, audible even from that range.
“Our agenda for today is simple, we will be proposing potential candidates to join us as members of the league.” Batman said seriously, “Suggest who you wish, but know that none are guaranteed entrance purely because they have been suggested. We will be casting anonymous votes to decide which of the final candidates are offered a place here with us.”
“How many are we bringing in?” Flash spoke easily.
“That remains to be seen. It could be that none of the candidates are chosen, or that all are,” Batman said simply. “Each of you must use your voting power to help decide. Does anyone have any concerns?”
Martian Manhunter spoke up after a moment, and Dinah turned to face his position at the middle of the bend in the table.
“While I am not against increasing our numbers, I do think it is prudent to note that another expansion to the league could energize our enemies to action,” Martian Manhunter said evenly, “More organizations with natures similar to that of the Injustice League could form in response.”
“Point noted,” Superman said breezily.
Dinah noted the urgency at which Superman used to dismiss the point—his impatience gave her the distinct impression that he already had a candidate in mind already and her guess was proven correct a moment later.
“We all have the option to vote no if we wish,” Superman said quickly before turning to face the rest of the room. “So, with that, I nominate Power Girl and Icon for league membership.”
A hologram flickered into existence in front of his monitor, showcasing the two nominees in question.
Green arrow spoke up, and the lethargic air the man had taken on after the very public argument he had with Red Arrow, whose displeasure about his discovered nature as a clone and the whereabouts of the real Roy Harper remained solidly in place.
“It’s obvious enough why you chose Power Girl—but why Icon?” Green Arrow muttered, “Do you suspect he is a Kryptonian like you once assumed Captain Marvel to be?”
“You thought I was Kryptonian?” Captain Marvel said, surprised, “Cool!”
While she had always considered Captain Marvel to be rather boyish in personality, Dinah couldn’t help but wince at his clear immaturity, so obvious it was now that they had discovered his real age that she couldn’t believe she had missed it.
Diana and Superman likewise shared a significant look that said they were thinking much the same, but neither addressed the remark. Diana reached over and placed her hand on Superman’s wrist in support for his choice.
“Power Girl is clearly ready, and Icon interests me also,” Diana smiled before her voice grew more pointed. “As does his protégé, Rocket—Athena knows the league could use more female members.”
Hawkwoman voiced her support immediately, and Dinah smirked at the uncomfortable looks most of the men had taken on at the rather challenging remark.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Agreed,” Dinah said, amused.
There were no disagreements about the candidates, so they moved on.
“I would like to nominate The Atom,” Red Tornado said calmly.
There was a rumble of general agreement, but Captain Marvel spoke up frowning.
“How useful could he be at that size?” Captain Marvel said hesitantly.
“It’s the size that makes him useful,” Batman said evenly.
Dinah glanced over at him for a moment with a raised eyebrow.
“Absolutely, I’ve heard he uses it well,” Flash said, smirking, “Although we could always use more raw power—the Earth does have a third green lantern, you know, Guy Gardner—”
“No.” Came the immediate response from both present lanterns.
Flash tried to bring up a counter-argument but was once again shut down by the two men.
“Fine!” Flash said, exasperated, moving to his next candidate. “Then how about Blue Devil? He helped Captain Atom and me in Taipei against those giant plants.”
Dinah wondered at what had initially been a rather orderly process was now quickly becoming quite rowdy.
“He was of considerable help,” Captain Atom said in agreement before falling silent once more.
“Green Arrow, did you have a nominee you wished to suggest?” Diana said, concerned at the man’s continued disengagement.
He sighed and sat up a bit.
“I was originally going to suggest Red Arrow,” Green Arrow said evenly, meeting everyone’s gaze to gauge what their responses would have been.
“He is free of the controls that once shackled his mind,” Martian Manhunter said deeply, in support of the nominee. “We have already determined that he was not at fault. There should be nothing preventing his nomination at present.”
“There’s no point in nominating him—because I already asked him,” Green Arrow sighed, “His desire to join us in the first place wasn’t his, and now he’s set himself the impossible task of finding the original Roy Harper—he’s not interested.”
Dinah remembered the argument clearly, and she couldn’t exactly blame Red Arrow for what his goals were, but his presence would be missed—he was far more capable than most.
“Red Arrow has other problems, the most prominent of which is his attitude,” Aquaman said gently, “He refused to join the younger team in the first place—what type of message would we be sending to the others who have followed our direction if we were to allow him entry but not consider theirs?”
Dinah found herself rather impressed with his nontrivial level of empathy.
“No.” Superman burst out in heated protest, “Were not inducting children into the league. Red Arrow is already an adult, but the rest of the team is too young—and before you say it, Power Girl turned eighteen two months ago.”
Captain Marvel looked rather nervous at several of them tossed pointed looks his way. Martian Manhunter looked to speak up on the topic before Doctor Fate beat him to the punch, as he spoke up for the first time.
His reverberating voice echoed in the room.
“That seems myopic. I have been one with Kid Flash and Aqualad,” Doctor Fate said simply, “Both are ready to join this team, to deny this would be foolish.”
“I can’t help but notice you didn’t mention Zatanna,” Diana said pointedly, “Would you give her your recommendation? Surely she would be as capable as either.”
“Absolutely not,” Doctor Fate snapped, glaring at her.
“That sounded almost protective, doctor,” Diana said evenly, “At least we know Zatara is still in that helmet somewhere.”
Captain Marvel stood up suddenly.
“Why are you even pretending to be a member? You forced Zatara into giving you his body in exchange for you letting his daughter go free,” Captain Marvel said, frowning heavily, “That doesn’t sound like the actions of a good guy—and it’s really not cool.”
“Should we condone such actions in our midst?” Red Tornado said in support, tapping at his own keyboard.
Dinah couldn’t help but admire both of their complete dismissal of Doctor Fate’s forceful gaze and watched as Red Tornado, apparently completely at ease, brought Doctor Fate’s profile up for the group to consider.
“Zatara desires that I remain in the league in his place,” Doctor Fate spoke in his own defense.
“Oh please,” Green arrow groaned. “You’ve got a magical gun to his head, are we supposed to just take your word for it?”
“It is truth.” Doctor Fate denied sternly, “Zatara’s trust in Nabu is… measured. He desires the league to maintain a close watch over my actions.”
“His continued existence as a body snatcher brings up some ethical concerns is all I’m saying,” Green Arrow muttered before dropping the issue.
“Plasticman,” Batman said thoughtfully.
Captain Marvel started laughing and attempted to muffle himself.
“I don’t know,” Flash cautioned, “The guy has a pretty substantial criminal record.”
Dinah was surprised at the suggestion as well, but they had just finished discussing what was essentially a crime being actively perpetrated by one of their members. She waited a moment to see if anyone would address that fact and when no one did, she opened her mouth—
Captain Marvel’s laughter got the best of him, and he waved them off when they all turned to him.
“Sorry, he just cracks me up.” Captain Marvel said apologetically.
He quickly noticed the silence and the weight of everyone’s gaze.
“Perhaps it’s time we speak about the other elephant in the room,” Flash sighed, “Should Captain Marvel stay a member, now that we know he’s really only ten years old?”
Dinah felt the tension spike again as a second member was threatened with dismissal. All this in a single session, she couldn’t help but sigh.
“While he may be young, he has at his disposal a level of power equal to that of our strongest members,” Red Tornado said seriously, “He is also in possession of both an adult body and the Wisdom of Solomon.”
“Wisdom is not equal to maturity, my friend,” Aquaman said gently.
Dinah couldn’t help but notice how strained Captain Marvel looked as everyone spoke about him and his continued position on the team.
“Billy,” Dinah said gently, using his name to soften the comment further. “Perhaps it would be best if you were to take a small break while we have this out?”
Captain Marvel looked like he wasn’t sure if he should be happy for the help of alarmed at the idea of leaving the room while they made the decision.
“No,” Batman said gravely, “We are all equal here, and he is entitled to participate until or unless he is voted out.”
“We didn’t kick the body snatcher out,” Green Arrow shrugged.
Dinah sighed, unwilling to explain why the two situations so greatly differed. Wonder Woman weighed in on the issue.
“Captain Marvel’s age is not the only issue,” Wonder Woman said sternly, watching him with narrow eyes. “The fact that he was comfortable with lying to us for an extended time is also a concern.”
“I didn’t lie, not exactly,” Captain Marvel defended heatedly, “You all have secrets that you aren’t sharing—why am I the only one who gets in trouble over it?”
Dinah tilted her head in consideration of the point; it was certainly a valid observation. Wonder Woman didn’t seem nearly as convinced, however.
“A lie of omission is still a lie,” Wonder Woman frowned. “You kept an important secret—”
Captain Marvel spoke up again, leaning forward onto the table.
“Every single one of us lies all the time!” Captain Marvel said, outraged. “You guys drugged that monkey guy after pretending to be his friend—it wasn’t even that long ago, don’t act like I’m the only one!”
Wonder Woman sat back at the outburst, looking like she was also reconsidering her stance.
“I was aware of his age when he joined,” Batman said seriously.
“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Wonder Woman said pointedly, “Since you indoctrinated Robin into crime-fighting at the ripe old age of nine.”
Batman didn’t even twitch as he held her gaze.
“If age is the most important factor in this debate,” Red Tornado said curiously, “Perhaps it is prudent to point out that Superboy is less than a year old, and yet we have all participated in his training.”
“Is eighteen the cut-off point then?” Dinah said thoughtfully, “Do we have to wait seventeen years before Superboy is eligible?”
Superman looked distinctly put off at the topic.
“That’s clearly a very different situation,” Wonder Woman said calmly. “We shouldn’t be putting children into this kind of situation at all.”
“Didn’t you try and score a point on the body snatcher by bringing up Zatanna joining?” Green Arrow said sullenly.
It was obvious he didn’t care much for the argument, simply taking some of his sorry mood out on the rest of them. Wonder Woman looked bolstered at the point, if anything, ready to continue the verbal engagement before Martian Manhunter spoke up again.
“I do not believe age should be the mitigating factor,” Martian Manhunter said thoughtfully, “What of Miss Martian? Despite her appearance, she was born forty-eight earth years ago. At eighteen, she would not have been ready for this kind of undertaking, but she is more than mature enough at present.”
There was a lull in the conversation, and Dinah took it as her opportunity to offer her own suggestion.
“I would like to nominate Bubbles,” Dinah said firmly into the silence.
There were a few surprised looks and several frowns at the choice.
“You’re joking,” Flash said, alarmed. “Didn’t he just turn into a giant ape and put Diana in the hospital?”
“I was under Savage’s control at that moment,” Wonder Woman said easily. “Likewise, most of us here were in the same situation—attacking others against our will.”
“Yeah, but he tried to flatten Metropolis afterward,” Green Arrow said, frowning.
“Who’s to say what we would have done while under Savage’s control if he hadn’t put himself in that position to help us?” Superman said hesitantly. “Besides, he can’t turn into that thing anymore, can he? He needed his tail to do it.”
“Yeah, I kind of cut it off when I switched,” Captain Marvel said nervously. “Hope he’s not too mad at me when he wakes up.”
“Given how much he disliked having a tail, I think he is much more likely to thank you.” Batman said simply, “It’s worth noting that overall he did play a pivotal role in freeing us from Savage’s control.”
“He was also running around protecting that snowman guy while he robbed all those stores,” Flash said, frowning.
“I believe we have already addressed the criminal actions of at least one of our existing members and have established a precedent on the matter,” Red Tornado said evenly, gesturing to Doctor Fate. “I would second the nomination; I recall that he organized a team to defend Boston from the plant attack orchestrated by the Injustice League—we were spread far too thin at the time and wouldn’t have been able to render timely aid.”
“He also helped destroy the Ice Fortresses,” Diana said clearly. “I’ll endorse his nomination as well.”
“Okay, okay,” Flash said eventually, holding his hands up. “He’s a good of a candidate as any other—would he even join, though? I thought he hated us.”
“We have made many mistakes in regards to Bubbles, but there are several reasons that he might want to assist us more openly now,” Batman said evenly, “Information on criminal elements and the resources to find them are the most prominent.”
Captain Marvel’s lips tilted up as Batman said the other man’s ludicrous hero name.
“You’re talking about the missing hero girl—Enkidu?” Green Arrow said thoughtfully, looking interested for the first time. “Seems that an awful lot of people have been going missing these last couple of years, doesn’t it?”
“Something we can discuss later,” Batman said simply. “Well, are there any other nominations?”