Fics I Read 2.0

FanFiction.Net

Just In

Community

Forum

V

More

A Kind of Magic (YJ Celestial Grimoire) by gothicjedi666

X-overs & Young Justice Xover Rated: M, English, Fantasy & Adventure, Words: 152k+, Favs: 451, Follows: 523, Published: Nov 12, 2023 Updated: Sep 6, 2024

48Chapter 1

Welcome to my Celestial Grimoire story. For this story, I am using Celestial Grimoire: A Complete Compendium Second Edition, or rather a version of it that I have modified for my own needs by removing perks from settings I know nothing about, and then adding perks that I do understand from other versions of the Grimoire.

Points are 100cp per 1000 words and the rolls will take place towards the end of the chapter aside from in the first part as the MC gets 200 points to start with. He also gets the body mod perk and an origin I picked off the list available in one version of the Grimoire, as he will need those to have a chance to prosper in this dangerous world.

I selected an origin perk from a different version of the Grimoire as it made sense to do so for this story given that he is a magic user in a world that has powers with some sort of established origin even if it doesn't make sense.

Celestial Grimoire

Part 1

Northumberland. England.

The good thing about having John Constantine pick you up and bring you to his home as soon as you found yourself in some version of the DC universes is that he was never around. This was pleasant because it gave me plenty of time to think about what happened to me.

Since I'd woken up while lying on a park bench in Gotham I was glad that Constantine had somehow detected my presence and decided to bring me to his home. Even if it was because he wanted to keep an eye on me while trying to figure out how I'd gotten into this universe.

Given what goes on in that cesspit of a city, I was lucky to have woken up with all my internal organs still inside me or I might not have woken up at all. Not that I dwelled upon such dark musing very often as I had a lot of other things to think about.

Somehow I'd ended up in a DC universe with a changed body, and a special book called a Celestial Grimoire. A tome which only displayed its contents for me.

John Constantine knew it was magical and since it didn't seem to be cursed he was content to let me keep it. He'd declared it free of any dark magic that he could detect and he was an expert in the mystical arts.

Not that he could have taken it from me as the book was always nearby when I wanted to read it, as if it couldn't stand to be parted from me for very long and it could transport itself around. I'd never seen it move, yet somehow it must do to be nearby when I wanted it to be.

Even now I sitting in an old yet very comfortable chair looking over what little was written in the strange book, as if I might somehow gain a new understanding of what had happened to me. I very much doubted that this would happen as what little was explained to me wasn't hard to understand.

I now had the kind of body that normally only existed in magazines as far as I'd been concerned, and I didn't mind this at all. Although given that I was living in a comic book world I wouldn't be one of the more handsome men around.

As for the memory that was less enjoyable as most of my life had been boring, miserable or otherwise something that needed to be endured. Sure the negative feelings had faded, but it was still a bit depressing to remember so much crap.

Given that I was young, strong and had a very long life ahead of me if I didn't get myself killed, then I should be happy, but along with all of that, I'd somehow been transported to one of the most dangerous and downright odd universes in fiction.

If I'd been in one of the DC universes I knew very well, such as the DCAU then having perfect recall of every episode I'd seen would be great, but this was a different dimension, one I'd not seen documented.

In this reality, the Justice League had been formed after an invasion of parademons led by Darkseid, rather than shape-shifting aliens from Mars. I'd seen that animated movie and some of the newer stuff, as such I wasn't totally ignorant of recent events.

However, I didn't know if what I could remember fitted together with anything going on in this dimension, and this universe might not include all of those events anyway. There was a massive DC multiverse and who knew which of those many realities I'd ended up in?

Some of the things happening in this universe made sense to me, Batman had his rogues, Lex Luthor owned Metropolis and so on, and I was one of the many people who had superpowers.

Aside from having a great body, one that wouldn't be affected by the natural passage of time, and an improved mind, I had been granted magical powers, or at least the potential to one day wield great amounts of mystical energies.

Over time, I would have to develop my new talent and Constantine was supposed to be helping me with that. Only he was never around, and while that was a good thing, I wouldn't mind some classes in magic.

Constantine was often working with the Justice League, giving them aid with supernatural issues, and when he wasn't doing that he had his own business, and then there were lady friends. For a man in a scruffy coat who was often rude, he was a big hit with women.

As such, he'd left me to my own devices, although I felt sure he had ways of keeping tabs on me, but I'd not tested that by disrespecting his home or wandering further away than it took to take a walk in the gardens.

I'd been left to explore the house and check out Constantine's vast collection of books, that weren't just on the subject of magic, and some of which were written in English.

100cp

+100cp

200cp

Bank or Roll?

I had no idea what this meant or why the words and numbers had suddenly appeared inside the Grimoire. What did CP mean? All I understood was that I seemed to have 200 of them and the option to bank or roll.

Banking might mean saving this CP, much like how one saves money in a bank account. But what did roll mean in this context? Some sort of gamble maybe?

"Roll," I said to the book.

When that didn't work I wrote roll on the page and then the writing disappeared before it was quickly replaced.

-200cp

0cp

Wizard's Staff

What the hell is this CP? And why did this happen now despite me having been stuck in this house for days? I'd tried writing in the book before and nothing had happened.

Before long the writing vanished again and I flicked through the book to find that the words had moved to Chapter 11 which was titled Source. I assumed that the title referred to sources of power. Other chapters, had titles such as conjuration, illusion, divination and rather worryingly one was titled necromancy

My attention was diverted from the book when I noticed that there was a wooden staff resting against the chair. It certainly hadn't been there before and as soon as I held the length of wood in my hand it felt right to hold it. I'd even felt compelled to pick it up.

"The wand chooses the wizard," I whispered.

I could feel the power within the staff and when I jabbed it at a nearby table it let me lose a blast of power that knocked off the junk that had been on the table. It didn't do much, but that was more magic than I'd managed on my own.

As for the recharging thing, I could feel the staff reverses slowly filling up again. This was the home of a sorcerer so it made sense that there would be plenty of magical energy about for the staff to absorb.

"That's not one of mine," said a voice.

The staff went flying out of my hands and landed in Constantine's open palms. For once he didn't look hungover, or to have been in a fight, and so he was able to inspect the staff with clear eyes

His taking of the item might seem rude, however, I didn't mind him doing this as if the staff was dangerous he'd know and I'd rather not be caught unawares if the staff had some hidden feature.

"I got it from the book" I mentioned.

He was curious and I had no reason to hide things from him so I showed him the entry in the book and I did my best to explain what happened. This time the writing had remained visible.

"My guess would be whoever or whatever set this up wants you to become a mage over time rather than rushing things," mused Constantine "Perhaps if you study more it will reward you again".

That made some sense out of all this and it was a theory which could be tested.

"A staff is a good tool for a novice mage," said the hero as he passed me the staff "I don't use themself, but it's not a bad idea to have a staff. If nothing else you've got a big piece of wood to hit people with".

There was a Terry Pratchett reference to be made here, but I didn't have time to think of one as John was still talking.

"Gothic, I know that I haven't been around much, but I've been busy" Constantine was now saying as he took a seat "I mentioned to Batman that I've taken on an apprentice of sorts".

That wasn't what I would call myself as students tend to learn from their teacher in lessons. Not that I mentioned this as I was very grateful that he'd taken me in and given me access to his many books as well as putting a roof over my head.

As for the name he called me. Gothic was the person who owned this book and if there was one thing I knew about mystical stuff is that people knowing your name can give them power over you so I would not use my real name unless I had to.

"Tall, dark and gloomy, let me know that he's putting together some sort of team made up of sidekicks who are ready to take on more responsibility," the magical man told me "He's got some sort of test set up and he thinks this team he's got planned could do with some sort of magical expert or at least someone who could handle a magical item if the team found one. You haven't blown yourself up with what's in the house so you must have some sense when it comes to magic and how deadly it can be".

Why did I feel as if I was going to get thrown into the deep end to see if I'd drown or if I could swim?

"The Bats promised me that anyone who joins the team will have supervision and special training. Hand-to-hand combat instructors and teammates to learn from," he was now saying "I don't have time to teach a student, so I was thinking of adding you to this team, giving you some reading material, and seeing what you can learn".

That didn't sound too bad. I'd be less likely to drown in that deep end with teammates and some sort of supervision by experienced heroes.

"I only promised that I'd bring you to the meeting and then it would be up to you if you wanted to join or not," said Constantine.

There was no harm in at least checking out my options.

"So when is this meeting?" I wondered.

John checked his pocket watch.

"About an hour from now," he said "So grab your stuff while I go take a quick shower and a change of clothes".

Oh, so that faint smell of sulphur was him. I'd just picked it up as he passed me by and I felt fairly certain that I didn't want to know the source.

I didn't have much to pack other than the clothes that Constantine had let me keep. I'd been living in one of the guest bedrooms with everything provided for me. I was going to have to sort out some money unless Batman was willing to pay me to join this team of his. He could certainly afford it.

0cp

+200cp

200cp

Bank or Roll?

Again I wrote to Roll.

Roll failed.

Cp banked.

200cp

So the roll was some sort of gamble, but one I couldn't totally lose because unspent cp was banked. That was interesting and I wondered what sort of things the Grimore would give me in time.

When Constantine got back he shoved a few books into my bag so I would have reading material. He ended up making the backpack bigger on the inside so that I could take more and somehow the bag didn't weigh much. Magic was so easy for him.

Perhaps with the help of my special group and a lot of study, I could one day perform magic as he did. It was a goal to work towards.

Celestial Grimoire

Part 2

The Hall of Justice. Washington, D.C.

No sooner had John dropped me off than he was off again, leaving me in over my head, and with no one to introduce me to anyone.

"Robin, Aqualad, Speedy, Gothic and Kid Flash welcome to the Hall of Justice", 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. I felt certain that the real action would be taking place up in orbit on board the Watchtower. This was just their public relations office or something like that.

"Please make yourselves at home" the Man-hunter then said

Soon the other older heroes started to have a private talk.

"This is just a quick debrief to discuss why four Ice villains attacked on the same day" Batman said to us and he walked over to his peers "We shouldn't be long".

I watched them walk over to a door that read 'Members Only' and then I saw a small camera come 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, where the public couldn't see, or at the very least they had a secure meeting room back there. One that the tourists would not get to 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. Since I'd seen the live-action Arrow series I knew he should be called Roy Harper, but other than he was a stranger to me.

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

Aquaman took a step forward before addressing the sidekicks and myself.

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

Speedy gestured to the tourists who were looking at us through the windows. Their presence here did rather diminish Aquaman's words and I did not like how many people were taking my picture.

I didn't have a secret identity to protect, but that might change in the future, so perhaps I should get myself a uniform and some sort of mask.

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

Green Arrow walked over to him and spoke directly to his irate sidekick.

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

Speedy glared at him for a moment before replying.

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

I'd never been anyone's sidekick nor was I a child, and they were treating me exactly the same way, yet I didn't cause a fuss. I'd been warned by John that there would be a test and this could be it. I got the feeling that Roy hadn't been informed.

"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 anyone's 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.

The special book belonged to someone called Gothic, and it acted as if it was mine, so I might as well use the name.

"I'm from another dimension. When I was transported here John Constantine found me and took me as his apprentice" I told the sidekicks "And to be fair, I was rather hoping to see the Watchtower today".

Before I could speak further I was interrupted.

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

Speedy, who like a toddler didn't like being ignored, spoke up.

"The Hall of Justice 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 at Green Arrow, who clearly wasn't supposed to have shared that information with anyone and then at John Constantine.

"I never told him anything about the Watchtower" he insisted "Maybe it was public knowledge in his home universe".

Rather than argue or blame anyone for spilling secrets, 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 at people. If he were a girl I'd wonder if it was his time of the month. Not that I mention that as it would be crass.

"Or what?" the archer asked as he gestured at his mentor "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 it to the ground, it was all very dramatic, and needlessly over the top. I felt as if I walked into the second act of a play because I had no idea why this character was acting like this.

"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 the 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 to this".

Batman glanced up at the image of the Man of Steel

"Superman?" he asked.

The big blue boy scout looked thoughtful for a few seconds before replying.

"It's a small fire," the big blue 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 "You will all stay here".

Robin looked at him in shock.

"What why?" he wished to know "We can check out Cadmus".

He was soon answered.

"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, and it was not an organisation I would want to tangle with.

Red Tornado, a hero I knew nothing about, turned to Martian Manhunter and whispered something I was only just able to hear since I was hanging back a bit.

"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 off being de-aged a bit more and then sent off to join the Teen Titans. Assuming that they even existed in this reality since.

They might even be more mature than this lot. But Batman had plans for these sidekicks, 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, the Dark Knight simply wasn't that careless.

"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 the new kid".

They hadn't. I just figured there was a Watchtower, as the Justice League normally had one, either in orbit or sometimes on the moon, but I didn't bother to explain that as I got the sense that they wouldn't listen.

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

My thinking was that there were 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 sidekicks 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 it this far if that wasn't the case, and I think Speedy just failed an important test. Be patient and you'll figure out what's going on".

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

"What is this '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.

"The software is the 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. Clearly, he'd mastered the ability to skim a large amount of text and pick out the important stuff.

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

Aqualad spoke next.

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

I was suspicious of how easily Robin had hacked a computer that Batman used. I didn't think it should have been as uncomplicated as he made it look despite his skill and familiarity with the software. The Dark Knight could have done much more to protect it.

"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 to 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'll go as far as the building to see if there actually is a fire".

While there was some more discussion I felt compelled to open my magical book which just appeared when I needed it.

200cp

+200cp

400cp

Bank or Roll

I wrote to roll

- 200cp

200cp

Magic Rings

Two magical rings that provide a bonus depending on the material used. Limit one ring per hand.

There were four rings but I could only pick two and I didn't have much time to make my choices.

Hyperium: You. are. Immortal. You do not age, you will not succumb to disease, plague, or virus. The only way to kill the wearer of this ring is to kill them by force.

While I didn't age unless I wanted to I could be harmed by illness and if Cadmus had something to do with genetics they might have some deadly virus stashed away.

Adamantium: Your skin becomes like Adamantium! Only your skin, not the rest of you. Still, you will be able to take an epic beating without concern or care.

This seemed to act like a spell of Oakflesh from Skyrim. It didn't literally turn my skin into metal. Rather it was a mystical protection. One that I was likely soon to need,

As for what was going on here, I was pretty sure that this whole thing was a test set up by the Dark Knight, and I was so not ready for it. I also wasn't sure if we had just failed it by not following our simple instructions.

Celestial Grimoire

Part 3

Cadmus. Washington, D.C.

I watched as an explosion sent two scientists flying out of the building, and by the looks of things they were going to fall to the ground.

It was one of those moments in life where everything seemed to slow down, which would explain why I was able to see Kid Flash dash up the wall and catch the two eggheads.

Normally he moved too fast to be seen, and I wasn't the only person around who had noticed his presence. Although most of the people here had their attention on the parts of the building that were on fire.

"Hey, it's Flash Boy!" I heard someone yell.

While everyone was looking at the super-fast guy I carefully made my way closer to the Cadmus building.

"It's Kid Flash!" the redhead yelled "Why is that so hard to remember?"

I looked around in time to see that Aqualad's tattoos, or whatever they were, had lit up and that he was grabbing the handles of whatever it was he kept on his backpack.

"Excuse me, I need to borrow that," he said to some firefighters.

Using what I assumed was his superpower he pulled the water from a hose towards him, and then he made a pillar from it. Next, he rode the water and went up the building to where some scientists were stuck, and brought them down on a sort of water slide.

While this was going on and he had everyone's attention I followed Robin as he led me inside the building. It didn't take long for the others to catch up with us once the fire was dealt with and the upper levels of this building had been cleared.

"Thanks for the help," Aqualad said sarcastically when he had caught up.

I assumed he was talking to us all so I replied.

"You handled it alright by yourself" I commented "Besides I'm not equipped to save people from burning buildings. I only just started learning how to use my powers".

We didn't argue about it further as Batman's ward soon got our attention.

"This is wrong" I heard Robin mutter.

The Boy Wonder did the whole hacker thing for a few more moments before he spoke further.

"I just got control of the elevator," he told us "And if I'm reading things right, this place is like an iceberg, most of it is hidden. There's lots of floors underground".

Logically they would keep the good stuff as far underground as they possibly could, which meant we needed to go deep down if we were going to find out what was going on around here.

While I'd considered bailing the Grimore had given me some cool magical rings just for attending a short meeting. Perhaps I would get more if I went along with the sidekicks.

It was worth finding out as with my new rings I was in a lot less danger than it seemed.

"I guess Batman was right to suspect this place" Robin then added, "They're hiding something important here".

Once the shaft was open the Boy Wonder then used his grapple gun so that we could safely go down. I could tell while climbing down that there were indeed a lot more floors than it looked from the outside.

Lucky for me Robin's grapple gun was designed to be easy to use so I had little trouble getting down into the lower levels of the base despite my lack of training.

Robin typed on his personal computer some more once we had reached the lowest level, and I found myself admiring his hacking skills.

"Alright, security's cleared" he soon said.

Aqualad pried opened the door, and walked in the hall. As soon as he could Kid Flash sped ahead.

"Kid wait!" Aqualad called out.

We raced to catch up, and when we did we found that Kid Flash had run into a herd of giant mammoth-looking creatures.

Oddly they ignored us and so in turn we left them alone. However, I didn't think that the next living thing we ran into would be so dismissive of our presence.

As it turned out I was right, we ran into something that seemed demonic to me, I didn't have much time to think about that as soon we were running away from the creature as fast as we could.

Most of this base passed me by in a blur as the group just ran from what turned out to be quite a lot of freaks. There was some fighting along the way, but it all happened too quickly for me to process.

"I've disabled the door." Robin said once had had made it inside a room "We should be safe in here".

Those sounded like famous last words to me.

"Uhh Guys!" called out Kid Flash "You're so gonna wanna see this".

As we all moved towards the fast guy some lights came on and that showed us two teens, one male, and another female asleep in tubes.

The male had black hair that was cut short, and even in his pod, he was noticeably tall and muscular.

"Well, he's just going to make every other man feel inadequate" I muttered.

The female had dark hair as well that reached just below her shoulders, and she had huge breasts I couldn't fail to notice. Also, both of them wore white outfits that had Superman's shield on them.

While the rest of us just stared Robin was already at a computer and again he was muttering as he worked.

"Superboy and Power Girl" I heard him say "Clones forced grown in only sixteen weeks!".

Which suggested they were needed urgently for something very important, and I wondered what that was.

The Power Girl must be this world's version of Galatea. This could mean that these clones had been created to take down Superman if he went rogue. They might exist simply to give the US government their own powerhouses.

"D.N.A acquired from Superman for Superboy, and... it doesn't say" he then muttered "Superman and Wonder Woman for Power Girl. It says they needed human DNA to make the clones, but it doesn't say why".

Given who her parents were I made a mental note never to piss off this Power Girl. Plus if she was this universe's version of Galatea, and that this super chick could be done right nuts.

Also at first, I figured she would be the more powerful of the two, but then I remembered that Wonder Woman used magical items to enhance herself or had the blessing of the gods, or maybe both.

That wasn't the sort of power you could gain simply by being someone's clone.

"They force feed them information" Robin was now saying "And other things... they're making slaves out of.. Superman's son and daughter".

This could be very bad.

"Now we call the League," Aquadlad decided.

Sadly that wasn't possible. Something was blocking their comms and I never had one.

"How about the computer Robin?" the water-using hero then asked, "Can we call them using it".

The boy I assumed to be Dick Grayson shook his head.

"Nope," he reported "Sorry, we're totally cut off from the rest of the world".

Which was bad news.

"Let them out" Aqualad then said.

I did not approve of this idea.

"No, wait," I said "Don't do that".

It was too late, the Boy Blunder had already hit the button, and a second later the tubes opened. Superboy and Power Girl opened their eyes, and then they rushed us.

If not for my magical protections I would have at least been knocked out by the blow I received from the female clone. Even with the ring, I felt the impact as I hit the wall.

"Wait we're here to help!" I heard someone yell.

Those words did nothing to stop Superboy from punching me in the face and while I couldn't simply be knocked out due to my magical protections the Wonder Twins, as I was going to refer to them, were easily able to restrain me along with the others.

"Hey, we only want to help you!" Kid Flash yelled.

I didn't bother to try freeing myself as I couldn't even move.

"The Genomorphs taught you about us," Robin was now saying

I got the feeling that I'd missed out on at least part of an important conversation. I'd never even heard of a Genomorph.

"Yes" Power Girl was saying "We can read and write. And we know the names of things".

Considering that they were only three and a half months old they were very, very, very, advanced for their ages, and thinking about that made me feel perverted because I found myself thinking that Power Girl was hot. Which was wrong because she was a baby even if she looked grown up.

"But have you seen them?" Aqualad asked the science projects "Have you ever been outside? Seen the sun?"

Superboy looked down at us before replying.

"Images have been put in our minds" was all he had to say

Aqualad sighed before talking to them some more

"Do you even know what you are?" he went on to ask them "Who you are?".

I noticed that Robin was getting free, the boy really had learned his lessons well.

"We are Superboy and Power Girl" the male experiment replied "We were created to replace Superman and Wonder Woman should they perish".

And I doubted they were meant only as replacements should the worst happen. That wasn't Cadmus's style. At least not when Amanda Waller was in charge.

"To be like them is a worthy aspiration" Aqualad was now telling them "But like them, you deserve a life of your own, beyond all of this"

That seemed to upset the science projects.

"We're alive because of Cadmus!" Power Girl yelled, "This is our home!"

Robin then spoke, even as still he worked to free himself.

"Your home is just a basement" he said "We can show you the sun".

He then corrected himself.

"Well it's after midnight" he told them "But we can show you the moon".

"And you a good time, babe" Kid Flash offered Power Girl.

Judging by the look on her face she didn't like that the boy was flirting with her. Aqualad thankfully took over at this point.

"Superboy. Power Girl, he said "You are both living beings, that gives you the right to follow your own paths. You are people, not weapons".

Robin then spoke.

"Ask yourselves," he said, "What would Superman and Wonder Woman do?"

Apparently, it involved wreaking the shit out of everything and breaking us out of capacity. Which to be fair was pretty normal for their parents.

"Well, there's the moon" Kid Flash said as the lab rats looked up into the sky "Take a good look".

It was a nice sight I had to admit, although it had much more to do with no longer being stuck underground than the moon itself.

"Is that a bird?" I heard Kid Flash when we saw something flying towards us with the moon behind it "Maybe a plane?"

It was in fact Superman, who flew down to join us and he was soon followed by other members of the League. Those that couldn't fly, or for some reason wished not to, had been transported to us by Green Lantern in a big green-coloured bubble.

"So let me get this straight," the Man of Steel said as a quick debriefing began "You hacked our computers, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again".

Superman began to lecture us even more. To forestall this I spoke firmly enough to be heard.

"So Batman, did we pass your test?" I asked.

Everyone looked at the Dark Knight, he didn't say anything so I decided to explain what was going on here.

I felt very sure of myself right now, which was odd because I was standing here with most of the Justice League and they were made at me. By all rights, I really should have been scared out of my wits.

"This was a test" I stated "Why else would Superman call the League about a simple fire, which he could put out with his super breath, as for Cadmus being unknown, he could have just scanned it with his X-ray vision in order to gain intel".

That had seemed odd, but it was something else that made me certain that Batman had set this all up.

"Then there was the computer" I went on to say "Robin is a good hacker, but it only took him seconds to gain access to restricted information. Batman would never leave such sensitive information on a computer that could be accessed so easily even by Robin. He's simply not that sloppy".

I still wasn't done.

"You knew there was something here the League needed to find," I said "But you're all too high profile, so you needed us to break in".

Batman nodded and that caused a heated discussion between several members of the League to begin. Which allowed the side-kicks to introduce Wonder Woman to her daughter. Superman didn't seem interested in talking to either of his sort of children.

Robin then explained about the origins of the science projects. While that was going on I moved away and Batman followed me.

"I see how you figured out that I set this all up as a test" he said "But why do you think the others didn't suspect".

I'd got the impression that not all of the Justice League had been on this test. The Man of Steel had seemed to be upset by the sight of us standing in so much rubble. But some of the others hadn't. That was typical of Batman, he liked to keep important information confined to as few people as possible, and he wasn't above using people to do his dirty work for him.

Despite knowing all of that I found it hard to talk as the adrenaline of earlier was starting to wear off, and this was Batman who was talking to me. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts and figure out an answer.

"They trust you" I answered "I'm less trusting".

Saying that got me a nod of approval. That might seem odd, but Batman knew that trust could be foolish and I wasn't as naive as the sidekicks. I knew that people who had responsibility for you didn't always have your best interests at heart.

"Once we're finished here I have something to show you and the others" Batman then said, "I think you'll like it".

While I had my theories on what was going to happen next I didn't know for sure so I was looking forward to finding out what he had planned next.

Batman went back over the group and I was filled with the urge to check my book so I did.

200cp

+200cp

400cp

Bank or Roll?

After taking a pen out of my pocket I wrote to Roll, and soon the chapter titled Divination now had something in it.

-150cp

250cp

Crystal Ball

This allows you to view any individual with whom you are familiar with regardless of distance.

That could come in handy once I figured out what the book meant by familiar exactly. That was something to do later on. For now, I had a meeting to get back to so I placed the ball that appeared in my hand into my pocket before moving back over to the group.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 4.

Mount Justice. Happy Habour.

The thing that Batman wanted to show me that he thought I would like turned out to be a base that was used by the Justice League sometime in the past, and now it would serve as a base for a new team of superheroes.

Here on the inside, it was a high-tech base that could have supported far more than the small team, but outside there was no sign that the mountain was anything more than something for the locals to admire.

"Red Tornado has volunteered to live here as your supervisor, and Black Canary will be your trainer" the Dark Knight told us as we looked around the central room "And I'll be giving you missions".

So far I'd not seen much of this place, but already I was impressed. It would make a fine base of operations for a covert team. My role within the team would be to provide information and support on mystical matters.

I still had a lot to learn about the supernatural of this world, but it wasn't as if we would be heading out of the door to go chase bad guys right away.

There would be time for my studies and to get some training from any heroes who were willing to share their experiences with us. Sure I had my magical powers, and a staff that I could hit people with, but that wasn't going to be nearly enough,

When we'd met Superboy and Power Girl I hadn't been able to do anything other than keep my mouth shut. I'd also been the slowest member of the team and the least useful. That needed to change.

As for not joining this team? By now it was clear to me that this was the path I needed to take if I wanted the Celestial Grimoire to keep giving me stuff.

So far I'd been given no powers, but the magical items I'd gotten were all useful for would be, if I got more useful stuff then I would become an asset to the team rather than a tag-along as I had been before.

"Real missions?" Robin asked

Batman nodded.

"Yes, but they will be covert missions," he said.

Flash spoke up after Batman.

"The League will still handle the public stuff," the fastest man alive told us "You know, the take-over the world types, and the alien invasions. The stuff that ends up on the news".

Aquaman continued after the Flash.

"Cadmus has shown us that the villains are getting smarter" he said "Batman needs a team that can operate under the radar and do the things those of us in the public eye can not".

Off to the side beside Red Tornado was a young woman, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a slender yet toned build. She was wearing a black, one-piece bustier-leotard combination along with black calf-length boots; and black finger-less gloves. Also, she had on a blue jacket and a black choker.

I'd have known that she was Black Canary even if her name hadn't been mentioned. She looked much like the version of her I'd seen in the DCAU cartoon series called Justice League Unlimited.

"I think she's a little old for you," Kid said while giving me a nudge "Or maybe she likes younger men".

To be fair I had been staring.

"I'm older than I look," I told Flash.

Despite that distraction, I didn't miss too much of the important conversation.

"Hold on, what do you mean the seven of us?" I heard Robin ask.

This team was made up of myself, Kid Flash, the Boy Wonder, Power Girl, Superboy, and Aqua Lad. That should mean that the team was made up of six people rather than seven.

Suddenly the computer near a tunnel spoke up.

"Recognized Martian Manhunter 07"

J'onn Jon'zz entered the hideout and with him was a green-skinned female humanoid with shoulder-length red hair. Her outfit consisted of a short-sleeved white top with a red X on it, along with a blue skirt, cape, gloves, and ankle-high boots.

They were both clear Martians, but that confused me as J'onn Jon'zz was supposed to be the last of his kind, more or less. Either that wasn't the case here or this girl wasn't Martian at all. Perhaps there had been more cloning going on.

"This is the Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian" Batman introduced.

She smiled shyly before waving.

"Hi" she greeted

No one spoke for a moment so I went over to her and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Miss. Martian" I said sounding very British all of a sudden "I'm Gothic".

She smiled and shifted her cape to look like my jacket. It was an old leather one that I'd happened to be wearing when I was transported to this universe.

"I like your coat," she told me.

"Thanks" I replied.

I then backed away as everyone else went and introduced themselves, and I had a feeling that this team was going to get on very well.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour

Since the Boy Wonder, Aqualad and Kid Flash had homes to go to they'd left not long after meeting Miss Martian. But when the teleporter fired up I knew they were coming back even before the computer announced them.

It had been over a week, and since our first mission, if you could call it that, nothing had happened so it was about time for something to happen as this wasn't a universe that allowed the heroes a lot of time off.

"Recognized Robin, B02. Recognized Kid Flash, B03"

Robin and Wally walked in from the tunnel in their street clothes and came over over to, M'gann, Power Girl, Superboy and myself. Aqualad then just appeared from somewhere else, which surprised me because I had not even known that he was here.

A week off had given me plenty of time to practice with staff and to get some reading done so that I wouldn't be useless when we next went into action.

"Is he coming?" Robin asked

Aqualad nodded before speaking.

"He'll be here any minute" the water boy answered.

The computer told us as such a moment later, and no sooner did the robot materialise than Aqualad stepped forward, and cleared his throat.

"We were hoping you'd have a mission for us" the Atlantian said "We've been waiting for some time now".

Red Tornado shook his head.

"Missions assignments are Batman's responsibility," the machine man thing stated.

Robin, who for some reason thought sunglasses made a great disguise, seemed rather upset by this news. I was not as I got paid either way, Batman had hired me for this job, and I could use more free time if I could get it as I had so much to learn.

"But it's been a whole week," Robin complained.

Red Tornado had more to say.

"Perhaps you spend your time familiarizing yourself with this base and each other" the android suggested.

While I'd been de-aged I wasn't a teenager as such I didn't feel the need to bitch about things. Aqualad however did.

"This isn't a social club," the Water Boy said.

Tornado raised his hand.

"Agreed" stated the machine "But I am told it's good to take part in team-building exercises, and you must be able to depend on each other, therefore you must learn to trust each other".

I was a loner by nature, but I figured the machine bloke had made a good point.

"Do they think we're falling for this?" Kid Flash asked.

M'gann smiled before turning to look at the fast-moving teen.

"I'll find out" she said while making her eyes glow "Nothing.. I forgot he's in-organic, but Gothic seems like he knows something we don't".

This alarmed me.

"Please don't read my mind without my permission" I requested.

Kid Flash then dashed to M'gann before she could say she was sorry or ignore my request. She was right about me knowing things they didn't.

Since I knew that this was a fictional world I also understood that we would soon be doing interesting things even if the robot's presence here wasn't an indication of that.

"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" he asked the alien with leer.

The green girl wisely did not go into Kid Flash's head.

"We don't need a mind reader to know what you're thinking," I said "I was your age once, it's all sex, food, sleep, video games and even more sex".

If it weren't for the fact that I was so interested in learning magic I might still be thinking along those lines.

"I guess we should tour the clubhouse" Robin suggested, as if to change the subject, "We've got nothing better to do".

I desired to go back to my research, despite this, I went along with this idea as while team building felt silly, it was also important.

"Well Superboy, Power Girl, Gothic and I live here" green girl said "So we could give you a tour."

Superboy stiffened and turned away.

"Count me out," he said.

Wally again invaded M'gann's personal space

"Don't worry" he told her "A private tour sounds just fine"

I noticed that he never acted like that towards Power Girl, but given that she could break him in half it was most likely out of a sense of self-preservation.

"She never said anything about a 'private' tour," Robin reminded his friend.

Given that the M'gann could shapeshift I could understand the appeal she held for males. She could be anyone woman a man could desire or simply change her own body to suit other people's tastes. I however simply didn't find her attractive, she was too perky for me.

"Team exercise" sighed Aqualad before raising his voice "We all go".

I left my mind drift a little as we walked around so I missed out on some of the talking.

"What's that smell?" Superboy and Power Girl asked at the same time.

I sniffed the air and found that I could faintly detect something burning.

"MY COOKIES!" the green girl shouted.

We all followed after and found the alien floating a tray of burned cookies onto the kitchen counter.

"I wanted to try Granny Jones's recipe from episode seven" she told us "Guess I still need to practice my baking".

She didn't tell us what show and since I didn't know any of the television here I was left none of the wiser as to who Granny Jones was, but I didn't care enough to inquire.

"It was sweet of you to cook for us M'gann," Aqualad said

Flash was already on his second cookie, and I tried one just to be nice.

"These are exactly like the ones my mother used to make," I told the alien girl.

My mother had never had much luck with cookies and cakes back when I was a little kid, so I was used to eating things that were both burnt and overly sweet. M'gann took it as a compliment.

"Guess we should get to know each other better" Aqualad then said after a while "I'm Kaldur'ahm, but my friends call me Kaldur".

Kid Flash who was still eating the cookies looked to M'gann and gave her a wink. He was like a dog with a bone.

"I'm Wally," he told us "See I already trust you with my secret identity".

Which should make the Flash that was in the League, Barry Allen, unless I was mistaken, one Flash was much the same as the other.

"I'm not like the dark glasses guy over there" he then added, "I bet Batman's forbidden him from giving his real name to anyone".

There were reasons for me not to use my real name.

"I don't use my real name at all so don't take it personally if I don't share it" I said.

M'gann spoke up next.

"Mine's no secret I'm M'gann M'orzz" she reminded us "But you can call me Megan. That's an Earth name, and I'm living on Earth now".

Superboy and Power Girl had nothing to add as they had no lives outside of being heroes.

"Oh, I can show you my ship" green girl offered.

If she had a spacecraft then I so wanted to see it, but I would check my book first as I had a feeling that I needed to do that.

250cp

+200cp

450cp

Bank or Roll?

I wrote to roll

-100cp

350cp

Extended Pouch - Harry Potter

A pouch that can only be opened by the owner. There is as much space on the inside as there needs to be. The opening is around 25 square inches.

A bag of holding is always useful for an adventure to have and I could play with it later. For now, I wanted to see the spaceship.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 5.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

I watched with some amusement as the annoying Kid Flash was slammed into the ground hard, and a moment later a red circle lit up beneath him, as a holographic 'Fail' sign signaled the end of the bout.

Robin nearly doubled over laughing, while a few other members of the team groaned in sympathy. They had no right to laugh having themselves been driven to the ground by Black Canary in a matter of seconds.

Mixed in with amusement was a bit of wonder since I was getting to see some real-life superheroes in action even if this was just training. Somewhere deep within me was the comic book-reading little boy that I used to be, and he was feeling very happy.

I hoped that I never fully lost the good feeling I felt when I was reminded that I was living the life that so many would only ever get to dream about having.

"KF you do everything fast" Robin said after taking a second to catch his breath "Even losing".

Kid Flash managed to pick himself up and once he'd done that he spent some time glowering at Robin.

"Big talk coming from such a little guy" Wally replied.

Robin was the youngest of us, he was about sixteen if my judgment was correct, and as such he did seem tiny. Of course, everyone looked small when they stood next to Superboy, even me.

"I'd like to see you take her on" Kid Flash then said,

While I'd not sparred with Black Canary, I figured that I'd barely last any longer than Kid Flash had as I had no training at all when it came to fighting. She'd have to go back to basics with me.

"Wait a minute, why don't you ever take her on?" Wally then asked the Boy Wonder "Why do you always get a free pass when it comes to combat training?"

Now that he'd mentioned it I had never seen Robin take on Black Canary or anyone during training.

"Dude, I don't get a free pass" Bird Boy replied "I have to train with Batman every night".

And he patrolled with the Dark Knight quite often I suspected given that I rarely saw Robin here at Mount Justice. Mostly it was just me, Megan and the Wonder Twins (my nickname for Power Girl and Superboy) here in the cave as we had nowhere else to go.

"Yeah, we only have your word for that," Kid Flash was now saying "How do we know you really train?".

While we had no evidence I was sure that Robin did train a lot, after all, he had to keep up with Gotham's Grim Guardian and survive encounters with very dangerous people such as Two-Face, Killer Croc and all the others that made their home in that cesspit of a city.

"There would be little point in Robin battling Black Canary," Batman told us as he walked into the training room. "They have both studied the same techniques and are evenly matched".

I hadn't even known that the Dark Knight was inside the mountain, not that I should have as he was very good at sneaking about.

"She would eventually win" Batman went on to say "But the battle would last too long to be of any real benefit".

There was some wisdom to his words. Robin wouldn't learn much from someone who used the same moves as he did, a true test would be for him to go against someone he wouldn't be able to predict.

"See," Robin said, with a triumphant smile.

I had got the feeling that very soon he was going to pay for being all arrogant.

"However, if you don't believe that Robin is being trained, then perhaps a little demonstration is in order," Batman decided.

The next thing anyone knew, one of Batman's right legs was about to meet Robin's head. The Boy Wonder was narrowly able to avoid the kick.

"Whoa," Robin said while flipping away to get some distance between him and his teacher "We gonna do this here? Now?".

This was going to be entertaining.

"Yes" Batman replied. "No gadgets; strictly hand to hand".

Robin smiled at us before running away from the Dark Knight, and towards the furtherest wall so that there was as much room between himself and his mentor as possible.

"Everyone else, take a seat and watch" Batman instructed.

Black Canary led the rest of us over to the bench by a wall, and we all sat down together.

"Get comfortable" the blonde woman instructed, "This might take a while".

While we were doing that Robin had disappeared up into the rafters. Since my senses were merely human I couldn't be sure that I could see him, although I was almost certain that the Boy Wonder was slowly making his way towards the centre of the room, as that was where the Caped Crusader was standing.

"You can't win from up there" Batman said to his apprentice.

To my surprise, Robin spoke.

"I know, but I can't lose either" he replied.

Despite the Boy Wonder having talked I wasn't able to pinpoint his location exactly but my guess about his movements was proved right when Robin dropped down from the ceiling.

He planted both of his feet on Batman's shoulders, and used him as a springboard, flipping backwards to land in a crouch. Batman staggered forward a little but he didn't fall, and he regained his footing very quickly.

I figured that he had known that Robin would attack in that way and had allowed it. They weren't just training they were putting on a show that would give the team a better understanding of the Boy Wonder's fighting talents.

The Dark Knight then turned to face his protégée and assumed a fighting stance, and I understood that the training session had now truly begun.

Robin soon rushed in at the older hero with a flurry of kicks and punches before flipping away again. Batman almost effortlessly blocked each move so it looked as if the Boy Wonder was outmatched.

Despite this, Robin simply didn't give up, he rushed back in and continued to pummel Batman with kicks and punches, before flipping away yet again. And again his moves were prevented from striking the Dark Knight's body by his mentor's blocks.

Robin continued this hit-and-run technique somewhat successfully, for a time, before he finally started to show signs of fatigue. His breathing was getting heavier, and his attacks were not as precise.

Batman on the other hand had barely moved, he was letting his sidekick wear himself out. Which was clever as the Boy Wonder was a small and nimble target, full of youthful energy, the Dark Knight knew better than to waste his energy chasing his sidekick around the room.

After another sequence, Robin's attacks had slowed down enough that we could actually see how they were being blocked. Then suddenly, but not surprisingly Batman managed to counter an attack, with a swift kick to the stomach. Which caused Robin to stagger backwards.

That was when Batman changed the pace of the session by going on the offensive. Robin managed to dodge most of the attacks, but we could all see that the Dark Knight was going to overwhelm his student in short order.

Eventually one of the punches struck the Boy Wonder in the chest, forcing the breath out of his lungs, and knocking him back into the wall.

Batman then took a swing at Robin's head, but the smaller half of the Dynamic Duo managed to duck at the last second, causing Batman's fist to meet only thin air.

Robin took advantage of the moment he'd just brought himself to roll away and make a mad dash up the wall and into the rafters again. But unlike before Batman went right after him. Which was smart as if he didn't he'd given the teen time to recover.

I expected the two of them to come back down and continue the battle where we could see, but that wasn't what happened. Instead, some lights came on near the ceiling, and they were just bright enough to allow me to see what was happening in the rafters which were up above.

Now I could watch as Batman moved carefully from rafter to rafter trying to land an attack on Robin, who was busy jumping about so that he could avoid the attacks of the large man.

This went on for a while, and I concluded that this Robin just had to be Dick Grayson the acrobat because he was actually better up in the rafters than Batman was. Grayson had a grace that only someone born into a family of acrobats could have.

Perhaps the Dark Knight would have worn down the younger hero, but the siren went off declaring the end of the match was ended.

"Wait, that's it? No winner?" Kid Flash asked.

I'd not even known that there was a time limit to the training bouts. No one had lasted anywhere near long enough against Black Canary to find out.

"Robin won," Batman said just after dropping to the ground.

I'd have called it a draw, but I had no desire to argue about it. Other people however did.

"But how is that winning?" Power Girl asked, "He didn't manage to knock you down once, and he was definitely close to losing at the end".

I understood why. The Boy Wonder had done exactly what Black Canary had told us to at the start of our first training session. Which was to never let your foe control the action.

"Robin not only won by staying in the fight" Batman replied, "He also used his environment to his advantage, and he forced me to fight on his terms. He controlled the battle and so he is the winner".

The Dark Knight then had more to say about the match we had just seen.

"You are all heroes in training" he reminded us "You won't win battles against seasoned heroes or villains. The best you can do is survive long enough for help to arrive, or try to escape. Which Robin could have done if he wished to".

Black Canary spoke next.

"That's why you're a team" she said "because together you're stronger than you are as individuals. Once you can work together as a group even Batman won't be able to stand against you".

I wasn't so sure about that as the Dark Knight would have plans in place to defeat us if we all went rogue, but that would require special tools and such. In a fair fight with no special preparations or weapons, we might actually be able to beat him once we had learned to fight together.

"Thank you for the lesson, Batman" Aqualad said as he stood up "We still have much to learn".

That I agreed with.

"And you will" Black Canary told us "That's why we're here; to help you all become the heroes of tomorrow".

Being a hero wasn't what I wanted out of life, I was doing this because I was getting paid in both money and CP. However, I did want the training so I would go along with things. For now, but who knew what the future would bring so it was best to keep my options open.

"Yeah, KF." Robin said as he rejoined the team "That means a lot more failing for you."

Then without warning, Robin swept Kid Flash's feet out from under him, causing him to slam into the floor. Another red circle surrounded him, while the siren, and holographic 'Fail' sign announced his failure.

"Okay, I get the point" Kid Flash told us as he picked himself up off the ground "Just stop hitting me".

For him, the training might take a while for him, and as others talked about how much they had to learn I went and checked my book.

350cp

+200cp

550cp

Bank or Roll?

I wrote to Roll.

-200cp

350cp

Hypnotism

Whether by some skill you've picked up or by an innate ability, you are able to hypnotize someone, making them extremely susceptible to manipulation for a short time. This only really works on normal people and can be resisted with enough willpower, but only requires eye contact or a small visible gesture to activate.

This was the first time the Celestial Grimoire had given me a direct power rather than a magical item since the start of time in this universe when I'd been given the potential to use magic.

Learning that I could gain powers only made me hungry to get more from the Grimoire.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 6.

Cockpit. Bio-Ship

This was the team's first real mission, not counting our infiltration of Cadmus, which for me had passed by very quickly due to me keeping my head down and running after the rest of the group as they did all of the work.

Thankfully, since then I'd gotten some training and had time to learn to start controlling my magic.

"Drop Zone coming up in thirty seconds," M'gann informed everyone.

Aqualad stood up, and as he did his chair dissolved into the ship, which was still cool to watch. Then he pressed an 'A' shaped button on his belt and his shirt changed to black. Before long, Kid Flash did the same changing his golden suit into a dark one by pressing on his belt.

Since I was wearing plain black clothes there was no need for me to change into anything more stealthy even if I had a proper superhero outfit. I didn't as I expected that the Grimoire would provide me with what I needed.

"I'm ready," Kaldur told everyone.

M'gann nodded and then stopped the vessel so smoothly that if I hadn't been able to see the outside I'd not even have noticed that we'd abruptly ceased all movement.

It seemed safe to assume that the ship had something like the inertial damping system that ships in the Star Trek setting used or otherwise the sudden stop would have sent us flying across the cockpit.

"I'm putting the bio-ship into camouflage mode" she reported.

While from the inside it was impossible to tell the difference I knew the ship was becoming invisible, and as soon as that was done a hole appeared in the the floor for Aqualad to jump out.

He would swim to shore and place a device that should disable at least some of the island's security. Meanwhile, the bio-ship would move to the next drop zone so that the rest of us could be deployed.

"Heat and motion sensors are hacked" Kaldur reported over the comm "Their security is now on a continuous sweep".

Such uses of technology were beyond my skills, however, I knew enough to understand that we could now land safely.

Some sort of cables came down out of the ceiling, which made it clear how were going to get down the ground without the ship actually landing.

Because of the dense jungle below the craft wouldn't be able to land and by staying in the air there was no chance of any of the people on the island accidentally bumping into a cloaked vessel.

Given the jungle out there, I was glad that one of my magic rings protected me from all sorts of diseases and poisons.

"Pretty cool" Kid Flash praised.

I turned to see Megan's costume change into a full black suit, if nothing else it sure took her a lot less time to get changed than any other woman on the planet.

"Hey Supes, Power sure you don't want to try the new Stealth Tech?" Flash asked the people I called the Wonder Twins inside my head "You need to make sure you don't stand out".

Not that either of them would much even in their civilian clothes since they tended to wear dark colours like I did.

"Capes and tights no way," Superboy said.

Her sister shared his view on the matter.

"I'm fine in this," Power Girl stated.

Megan also had something to say about one of the Wonder Twin's commitment to his fashion choices. Only I understood none of what she said as she stuttered and I wasn't really paying attention.

It must have been embarrassing because she pulled her hood up and then turned invisible. She could also blush like a human it turned out.

Robin, Kid and I were lowered down on the cables. Superboy and Power Girl went down directly. In doing so they created a pair of small craters.

"Subtle" I muttered.

Robin was not impressed by their lack of stealth.

"We'll be lucky if you didn't alert half the island" he said before speaking into his comm "Aqualad. Drop B is a go".

After a second, Aqualad replied, and since I now owned a comm device I could hear him.

"Head for the factory" he ordered "We'll rendezvous

there".

So far everything was going to plan. Which was nice, however, I knew it wouldn't last.

"Ok let's get going," Robin then said.

We ran along the path for a while until Power Girl and Superboy suddenly stopped dead in their tracks.

"You hear that?" they both asked the rest of us.

Wally sighed before speaking up.

"Is this a 'super-hearing' thing?" he wished to know.

Miss Martian looked at Superboy and smiled.

"You do have good ears," she said.

That was not her best attempt at flirting with the male half of the Wonder Twins. She needed some pointers, but unlike with cooking that was not something I could help her with.

"Dude really?!" Wally said a little too loudly.

He was upset about the fact that The Boy Wonder was gone, and I hadn't even noticed. He was so much better at the ninja stuff than the rest of us.

"He needs to teach me that," I muttered.

Robin's voice came in over our earpieces.

"Gothic, Kid use your night vision goggles" he instructed.

The goggles were not magical like the rest of my stuff but they worked just fine and I got the feeling that Batman was going to be generous when it came to handing out the tools needed for our operations.

Soon I saw two groups of people who were heading towards each other at a slow pace that suggested that neither group was aware of just how close the other group was.

From what Batman had told us about this island it wasn't the kind of place tourists would visit. This was confirmed when the two parties met and they began shooting at each other.

Two factions were fighting for control over this island, but they weren't our concern and would be dealt with by whatever government ruled over this island.

Our job was to find out if the factory here was producing Venom, that drug Bane uses as a performance enhancer.

If there was a factory making that stuff as Batman suspected, then it needed to be shut down and destroying buildings wasn't the sort of thing the Justice League should get involved in, so we had been sent in to do their dirty work.

While it seemed very unlikely that the team would need to deal with magical defences or mages I'd still been sent along for some on-the-job training.

"No need for super hearing now" I muttered.

Wally tried to run, but Power Girl was fast enough to hold him back.

"Robin needs us," he said.

Somehow I doubted it.

"Robin knows what he's doing," I reminded Kid Flash

"Try to remember that we're a covert team, we can't just go rushing off into a fight. We need a plan".

With that, I started to make a plan, because no one else seemed to have any ideas of what to do next. Robin should be here doing this as he had training, but that brat was off doing his own thing.

"Let's take them out as two groups" I suggested to the team, "Power Girl, and Superboy. I want one of you in each group in case they have any meta-humans".

If this island was exporting Venom then super-powered villains might have been involved. We didn't know for sure, so we had to be careful, and it was one of the things that Batman wanted us to find out about.

"Megan go with Supes and Flash" I said "And take out the larger group that is the farthest away. I'll go with Power Girl, and take out the smaller group that's closer to us".

We exchanged nods and got to work. Power wouldn't need me to do much of anything so I could mostly hang back and watch the team do their thing.

Jungle. Santa Prisca

"What did I miss?" Robin asked when he reappeared.

No one answered, and we didn't need to as the two groups of tied-up men told him everything he needed to know, or at least what we could tell him.

"I know these guys" the Boy Wonder then said, "They belong to a cult called Kobra".

The other group worked for a man called Bane, we knew this as we'd captured him, and he was infamous enough that he needed no introduction.

"Did Batman know about this?" Aqualad asked Robin

I assumed that he did. I wouldn't be shocked to find out that he was tracking everything we did on his Bat satellite.

"No, he doesn't" the smaller half of the Dynamic Duo assured us "Otherwise he would be here himself instead of taking a back seat while we did all of the work".

I wasn't convinced as Batman had already gone to great lengths to test us before, and I figured he would do so again if it served his purposes. It was partly why I didn't trust the man even if I did admire him.

"And where were you?" Kid Flash asked Robin.

They quickly broke down into a heated discussion about who should be in charge of the mission. This was both the wrong time and place to argue, but it was something that needed sorting out.

"Any of you want to lead?" Power Girl asked Megan, Supes and I while the other members of the team had a row "I sure don't".

I was tempted, however, given my lack of experience, I didn't think it would be wise to let me make too many important choices. Even my plan to take down the fighting groups had been rather crude.

"At this rate, I might have to take charge," I told the dark-haired version of Galatea "but it's not what I want".

It would mean more work, and I was getting paid as well enough as it was, so I had no desire for a promotion. Given that the experienced males of the group had finally stopped arguing it seemed unnecessary to take charge at this point.

Robin at least had some idea of what to do next, and that was to get some answers out of Bane.

"Why don't we compromise" offered the supervillain "I want Kobra off my island. Help me do that, and you get the new 'Venom' they're making. I can even take you to a secret entrance that leads right to the factory".

Aqualad then looked over to Miss. Martian

"Read his mind to see if he's hiding anything" Kaldur instructed.

Miss Martian's eyes glowed as she used her alien powers on Bane.

"There's a secret entrance" she was able to confirm "But he's reciting soccer scores in Spanish to confuse me. Getting all the information could take a while".

If he could resist a natural telepath then my magical version of the Jedi Mind trick would be of no help here. Bane was many things, weak-willed was not one of them.

"It's not complicated, amgios" he said "The enemy of my enemy's my friend".

At least until the mutual enemy was defeated.

"There's no time we'll have to trust him" Aqualad said to the group before turning to Bane "But if you betray us I promise you will regret it".

The man in the wrestler's mask smiled at us and I was not at all sure that this was a good idea. I didn't say anything as we didn't need anything else to argue over and it wasn't as if anyone was foolish to trust Bane.

Factory. Santa Prisca

Bane quickly took us to a cliff that overlooked the factory and once we got there Robin looked through his binoculars and reported that he could see the Kobra group putting crates near a helicopter landing pad.

"It's a big shipment," the Boy Wonder told the group "If Kobra's not selling to the usual suppliers then..."

Aqualad interrupted him.

"There must be a new one" the water boy reasoned

"We need to go down and find out who".

Not long after we got moving again Bane walked up to a rock, and lifted it out of the way, revealing an abandoned mineshaft.

"Follow me," he said.

After walking down the mineshaft we ended up inside the factory, and again Robin did his whole vanishing act.

"He really needs to remember we're not Batman" I heard someone moan.

Kid Flash decided to dash away and he was back before any of us could say or do anything.

"There's a computer room just above us" he reported "If he's sticking to the plan, Robin should be there".

Those words amused me.

"Since when does anything go to plan" I stated.

We didn't even have a plan so much as we had goals to complete.

Factory. Santa Prisca

When we got to the helipad I saw a tall, strongly built man. He had short blond hair and what looked to be a hockey mask over his face.

Also, he was wearing what seemed to be armour mostly made up of sporting equipment that had all been painted the same colour dark colour as the hockey mask. He had arm and elbow pads on both arms and fingerless gloves. On his left arm, he had metal plates attached, and a belt that looked very much like one a hero might wear.

"Sportsmaster?! He's the buyer?" asked a confused-sounding Kid Flash.

I then watch as Kaldur place a hand on his ear

"Aqualad to Red Tornado do you read?" he said.

He sighed so I guessed he had only gotten static.

"I can't reach anyone" he then confirmed.

This was bad as we hadn't expected there to be so many supervillains, and we'd only just managed to avoid being detected. Plus there were a lot of men with guns around here so a straight-up fighting would be unwise.

The Sportsmaster, a man who I was having trouble taking seriously due to his theme, was not alone. There was a large metahuman with him who looked as if he could rip me in half with ease.

"We need to work together," I stated.

Bane smirked at me before jumping down and attacking the bad guys. Which effectively committed us to a massive brawl so I took out my staff out of my pouch of holding and prepared to blast the nearest group of bad guys.

I only saw bits and pieces of what happened next, as I was busy blasting anyone who moved and wasn't a member of my time with my crude magic. However, I did see Power Girl fighting a meta-human my enchanted mind told me was called Mammoth.

Meanwhile, Superboy battled Sportsmaster who despite the silliness of his theme turned out to be a very skilled fighter.

At first, everything seemed to go well, but rather suddenly the tide of battle changed and Aqualad called a retreat. I was too busy running to get a full picture of what was going on. But I did notice when Power Girl and Superboy knocked the supports down causing the cave we'd used as both an entrance and exit to collapse.

"Halt perras," Bane said when we reached the exit.

The masked man held up a remote, and we all saw the bombs lit up above and around us. I really wished that I knew how to teleport to make proper magical shields. Those sorts of magic were still a long from being mastered by me.

"Why?" Aqulad asked.

Bane went on to explain that he'd intended to use us to get back his factory. Which hadn't worked out so well, and since we'd failed to destroy the source of the Venom and drive out Kobra he was going to have to flee the island

Killing us was just his way of trying to make something good out of what had really been a total clusterfuck.

Then he tried to blow us up with his remote but Kid Flash took it from him before his thumb could press the button.

"Looking for this?" Wally West asked as he waved the remote at the wrestler.

Bane tried punching Kid Flash, but he was lifted off the ground by Miss Martian's alien powers.

"Drop him" Superboy and Power Girl both then said.

As Bane was dropped, both of the Wonder Twins punched him so hard that he was knocked out, and then he was tied up again.

"Okay" Aqualad said to us "Let's go and complete our mission".

An attack without the element of surprise and with fewer people on our side. This was going to be interesting.

Mount Justice. Happy Harbour.

Batman was pacing back and forth as he berated us.

"You had a simple mission," he said "Go to the factory clear it out and then destroy the Venom".

Which was what we had done, eventually, there had been a lot more fighting and running around before we'd finally gotten it done.

"You'll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes" the Dark Knight told us "I expect you each to study the evaluation and then to write a report for me explaining what you did wrong and how you can avoid making that mistake in the future".

And here I'd thought I'd never do homework again.

"Until then," he said next "Relax, you did a good job"

We were all understandably surprised.

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy" the Caped Crusader went on to say "How you adjust to the unforeseen determines success or failure, and despite everything you did complete the mission".

It wasn't over yet.

"Now as for your leader" Batman said, "Aqualad will be leading this team".

The Dark Knight turned and left leaving no room for argument, and for once none of us wanted to argue

"Congrats," Kid Flash said to Kaldur.

I offered my congratulations as well and then headed for my room. It had been a long day and badly wanted some rest. When I got to my room I felt the urge to check my special book and I was pleasantly surprised by what I got when I wrote to roll.

350cp

+300cp

650cp

-300cp

350cp

Cosmic Arts

Fire! Thunder! Blizzard! All offensive spells you cast are noticeably more powerful. Magical fire will burn hotter and faster, magical blasts will hit harder, and your magic-powered attacks will do more damage in general. This means you can throw your powerful magical spells at your opponents for significantly less magical energy than you otherwise would have, or use the same amount of mana to do a good deal more damage. In addition, you know Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga right off the bat, isn't that nice?

Not only had I gotten more points than was normal this latest gift was a great boon, as those spells were powerful elemental attacks.

If today's mission was going to be typical then this was just the kind of firepower that I was going to need in the future.

Ch 1 of 10 Next »

Review

Jump:

Share: Email . Facebook . Twitter

Story: Follow Favorite

Author: Follow Favorite

Contrast: Dark . Light

Font: Small . Medium . Large . XL

Twitter . Help . Sign Up . Cookies . Privacy . Terms of Service