(Third Person POV)
-Gotham City Park July 4th, 2010-
Independence Day is a celebration and remembrance day for all who fought to create the United States. The Sun was shining, and families enjoyed a lovely day in the park, with some even cooking barbecues. But then a chill began to form in the air as snow started to fall in July.
Some who noticed this began to walk out of there in fear of something not yet revealed. Others simply thought it was a strange weather pattern passing over.
So, as most continued their festivities as they had been planning this for a while, the chill became more apparent as some began to shiver in the heat of summer, and then a large metallic thumping could be heard scaling a large rock, and a man in a black and blue suit and a glass dome over his head looked down on the people and with no words began firing his freeze ray.
Ice began to spread everywhere. He somewhat smiled ruefully as he said to himself, "I remember enjoying family time. It was always an enjoyable affair until it wasn't." The man then blasts a nearby family, freezing them solid, but before he can freeze a group of children, two flying shurikens hit the cannon, messing up his aim.
The frozen man then smiles as he says, "Ah yes, Batman." Before then, he turned around and found nothing but began to hear a burst of cackling laughter, and from behind him, he slammed his back off the rock, and the Boy Wonder Robin threw two more shurikens at the man's glass dome, cracking it.
Yet the frozen man simply scoffs as he says, "Boy Wonder, how underwhelming and insulting. Now, before I freeze you solid, I must ask where the Batman is?" Robin, seeming impatient, then says, "Anytime now." Freeze simply chuckles as he begins to stand up, but not before hearing a sound from behind him.
Batman then leaps off the rock that Mr. Freeze once stood on with his wings blotting out the Sun, and before Freeze can even react, Batman has already punched through the dome, and the Frozen Man falls. But before Robin could ask Batman what took him so long, Batman took Freeze's cannon and froze him with it to make sure the man did not die due to overheating.
Robin then looks at the stoic man as he says, "You were impatient." Robin then sighs as he says, "Sorry, but I can't help it. Today is the day." Batman then, with a silent look, simply begins to take Freeze into custody. But not before saying, "Keep your expectations low, Robin, and you will never be disappointed."
Robin nods along, then goes to help with the transport.
-Star City Bridge, July 4th 2010-
"Come on, what does it take to get some attention around here?!" A young man who looks to be made of ice says as he lands on the bridge, freezing the center of it. He then dodges an arrow that explodes on impact, knocking him backward, but still standing and seeing who fired it, he smiles and says, "Ah yes, the archers, now we are getting somewhere. But come on, where is Batsy and the man who wore his underwear on the outside?"
The two archers then fire more arrows into Jr, but only one lands, and the explosion, while disorienting, does not take him down. Jr. only smirked as he launched icicles at the two. The two archers quickly got on their feet and dodged as the red archer said impatiently, "This better not interfere with the ceremony later."
Seeing their lack of enthusiasm, Icicle Jr tries to launch more icicles toward the two, but before he can, the red archer simply dodges and fires a blunt force arrow right into Jr's jaw, knocking him out. But before Green Arrow can congratulate his protege, Speedy scoffs and says, "This is simply a roadblock. But can we go? Today is the day." Green Arrow nods, and they leave Jr to the police.
-Pearl Harbor Hawaii-
Ships line the docks, frozen by a woman blasting two men with various beams of pure Cold, and as she laughs as if having fun, Aqualad uses his hydrokinesis to form a wall of water to block some of the blasts as the other man Aquaman asks in a calm tone "You seem unexcited Kaldur'am? Is something on your mind?"
Aqualad, dodging another blast, says, "I am simply trying to focus on the task at hand, my king, and do feel free to join in." Aquaman chuckles as he blocks a blast with his trident, and Aqualad uses the lapse in focus on him to manipulate the water under Killer Frost to cause her to slip. As he jumps into the air, he slams down onto the woman, knocking her out.
Aquaman goes up and pats Aqualad on the back as Aqualad looks at Aquaman and says, "But yes, I am excited today. Today is the day after all." Aquaman then smiles, and they go to retrieve the unconscious Killer Frost. Aqualad then asks his king, "My king, you seem more jovial than usual. Has something happened?"
Aquaman then says, "All in good time, but we should get her to the proper authorities as we don't want to be late." Aqualad nods and ends the conversation, and he picks her up, somewhat taken aback at how cold she is.
-Central City Cold Jewelry Store-
Ah yes, Central City is one of the many cities of progress that is under siege by a variety of colorful characters, but one specifically Captain Cold, a man who often uses a freeze ray to stop the Flash Family in its tracks, but now it seems he is having trouble as both Flash and Kid Flash run circles around him.
"Really cold robbing ice from people, could you be more cliche?" Flash says as Cold tries and fails to blast the scarlet speedster, to which Kid Flash groans as he says, "We don't have time for this." He then breaks the circle and rushes Cold, who turns around to blast him but misses by an inch as Kid Flash slams a fist into Cold's face, ending the fight.
Grabbing the cold gun from the unconscious man, Flash simply says with a smile, "Calm down, kid, it's hard to be late when we can break the sound barrier at will." Kid Flash, believing otherwise, walks up to him and says, "Not today, Flash. If we stay here, you'll make conversation with the cops, the civilians, even Captain Cold, and he's unconscious. Not today. Today is the day."
Flash then raises his hands in defeat before rapidly tying the man to a pole with a note that reads, "Found an Eskimo out of his igloo. Please return to this address." The address is the Central City Jail, but that's unimportant.
-Hall Of Justice, Washington D.C.-
A hall stood in the midst of various monuments, with the Washington Monument in clear view of the large meeting hall and the Lincoln Memorial a mere couple minutes' walk from the entrance. But on this day, we focus on the Hall of Justice and all of the sidekicks and their mentors standing outside, taking in the view.
Batman then places a hand on Robin's shoulder and says, "Today is the day." Green Arrow then says, "Welcome to the Hall Of Justice." Aquaman then finishes by saying, "Headquarters of the Justice League."
Before any of them could take a step forward, they heard the sound of whistling wind and rapid footsteps, and as they looked behind them, they saw the two speedsters arrive, with Wally West or Kid Flash saying, "I knew we would be last." Although before he could elaborate, Flash then adds, "Hey, don't look at me. You're the one that wanted to stop for hot dogs on the way here."
After that, all of the sidekicks, which include Aquaman, Kid Flash, Robin, and Speedy, along with their mentors Batman, Aquaman, The Flash, and Green Arrow, begin their walk across a large number of paparazzi to head into the Hall. The various interviewers, cameramen, and women ask various questions amongst themselves, but most of them range from trying to identify whose sidekick is who, specifically if Speedy was the Flash's sidekick or Green Arrows' sidekick.
Aqualad, tuning out the questions, says to the others, "It is comforting to have all of you here today." Kid Fals h then says: Yeah, since when have all of us sidekicks been in the same place-"
"Don't call us sidekicks, not anymore." Speedy says with a rather aggressive tone, to which the young speedster relents and says, "All right, all right, I'm sorry. I just feel a bit overwhelmed."
Robin then decides to butcher the English language further and says in a whisper, "You're overwhelmed. Mr. Freeze was underwhelmed. Why is no one simply whelmed?" Then, noticing the large statues of the founding members of the league says in awe, "Okay, I am definitely overwhelmed."
All of them then head inside and are met by Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter. They are taken into the inner sanctum, which looks similar to a library, with a large computer console at the side of the room. Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin then take seats on the chairs in the room, but Speedy then asks, infuriated, "This is it? I thought we were heading to the real base, not some glorified backstage pass?"
Green Arrow then says, "Roy, be patient. The tour is just starting-" But he is then cut off by Roy saying, "I deserve respect and, as such, should be shown the real thing, and it's not like we're alone here." He then gestures upwards to the tourists, taking pictures of them from above. "What does it matter which side of the glass we are on?"
Turning around, he says to the other young heroes, "Don't you all see it? They're treating us like kids, not like sidekicks of all things? We deserve better." He says, getting more and more incensed.
Kid Flash then opts in by saying, "I thought this was a part of the process we all did." The others then nod as Speedy, seeming somewhat shocked, says, "You all don't know, do you? The fact that this isn't even their true base but simply a stop before heading to their real base and orbiting satellite called The Watchtower."
Batman, seeming less than happy, at least more than usual, frowns at Green Arrow as the man begins to mumble how he thought they could make an exception for Speedy, but under the Bat Glare, his words find no answer. Aquaman then tries to stop the boy by saying, "You are not helping your case here, son. We have decided to take the step as the first towards full League membership like your Mentor says. You must be patient. Stand down."
Speedy, throwing his hat to the ground, says, "I am not your son, and I am not to be treated as such. I thought I was his partner, but now I see I didn't mean that way. I'm done here." He then leaves, but not before berating the others by saying, "They're right, you know. None of you are ready."
Before the silence can get even more deafening, the console in the room lights up as Superman appears and says, "There is a fire at Project Cadmus. Are any of you able to respond?" Before Batman could respond, Zatara came over the screen and said in an urgent tone, "Attention all League members Wotan is currently using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the Sun. Please respond!"
Superman then adds by saying, "It's a small fire, so local authorities can handle it, but I do apologize, Batman, as I heard you were investigating cabinets." Batman, unfazed, says, "Another matter for another time we need to focus on dealing with Wotan." As all of the sidekicks get off their chairs and prepare to leave, Aquaman raises his hand and says I apologize, but this mission is too dangerous for the three of you and is meant for League members only."
Aqualad seems to be hit the hardest as Robin asks, "Why can't we come with you? This is what we train for." Batman then says with a tone of finality, "Stay here. We will continue where we left off when we get back. Don't leave the Hall." Before any of them could respond, all three of them had already left.
The three then return to their seats, seeming downtrodden as Aqualad says, "I thought my king trusted me. I guess I was wrong." Kid Flash, seeming angered, says, "That's what you're mad about? I'm more frustrated by the fact that they hit an orbital satellite from all of us. What more could they be hiding?!"
Robin then asks himself, "Superman says Batman was investigating Cadmus. Why?" Aqualad then interjects by saying, "What exactly is Project Cadmus?" Robin then, with a smirk on his face, says, "Well then, let's find out." Robin then heads over to the computer console and enters various codes to hack into it using his Bat computer profile to bypass the security.
Reading off the information, they see that Cadmus seems mostly legit, but Robin says, "Well, if the League wants to save the sun, I say we investigate the place." Kid Flash nods, to which Aqualad asks, "So that is it? We are now a team?" Robin shrugs as Kid Flash smiles and says, "Don't be such a downer, Aqualad. What could go wrong?"
Nodding all three, then heading to downtown D.C. to check out the fire at Project Cadmus.
("Superboy" POV)
Today is the day.
How do I know this? I can hear all three of them movin' about the facility with the sound of Robin's line launcher echoing through the elevator shaft. To be honest, the hardest part was distinguishing the various sounds with my super hearing, as most noises would be blocked out by the sound of the G trolls stomping all over the place.
But retracting my cyber Shroud from Cadmus's systems, I took a small USB drive with all of their files and placed it in my pocket space. All of this location's data is within this USB drive, along with data on Match and Roy, who are both further below me.
The hardest part of the day was having to deal with Dr Desmond, as he would sometimes come into the room, stare at me, and fiddle with the computer for a couple of seconds before leaving. I could see what he was doing with the cyber Shroud as he was going over my vitals and various brain activity, but I'd already hacked the system to show that I was still in an unconscious state.
But the funniest part about the doctor was that I was able to read his mind with my telepathy, and all I felt from him was utter and complete Envy.
Envy of the light for their power and knowledge.
Envy for metahumans for their abilities.
Envy for the heroes being able to have such power yet using it for good.
Make no mistake: The doctor was by no means a good man, as he was simply a cliche scientist who did not care for morals or ethics in his experiments. Superboy was born to be a weapon, and that is it. The fact that he even developed a consciousness at all was a miracle. It may have been due to the Kryptonian DNA that Superboy's consciousness was able to form due to the increase in mental capacity and bodily strength.
His assistant was kinder but was stuck in this den of vipers, but it mattered not as I had everything I could need, from the Blockbuster Formula to the trigger phrases for various clones. So now all I need to do is wait until those three get here.
In regards to Roy, thanks to my three-piece suit and Cyber Shroud, I could section off parts of the Shroud to other places, and so I had my Shroud capture him.
I disabled the talent sharing in order for him not to start healing out of nowhere, as since he was a base human with no regeneration, growing back in his arm would be alarming, and with his vitals being constantly monitored, the split-second change would cause an alarm to go off.
So now, when I return to this facility, I can simply teleport Roy from his tube into my pocket dimension. But there was one problem. Well, it was not a problem exactly, but a complication. Based on my grail knowledge, Galatea should not exist in this universe. She seems to be a replacement for Match. I was able to get Dubbliex to smuggle her out for later.
(Think of capturing people like binding people with the Essence of The Binder to a lesser degree.)
I could have also captured her, but in the back of my mind, I was worried about the effects of my various defenses and talents on her, and I wanted to do it in a more suitable environment. Although I feel like whoever designed her outfit was definitely a horny bastard with the whole boob window and all. But I cannot lie. It looks amazing.
I hear a commotion outside and keep my eyes closed, and as the three enter the room, they notice me, and so the story begins.
Mentioned Perks :
Three Piece Suit: Your Shroud may now be split and sectioned off, so you functionally have multiple Shrouds. You could give a target an article of clothing to wear while still retaining the power of your personal Shroud. If your Shroud is elemental, you may separate one portion of it without worrying about it dissolving. This can only be created from yourself or extant manifestations of your Shroud.
These always retain the standard company protections on devices and may be recalled at any time. You may control these pieces separated from yourself but must be directly aware of them in some manner, such as a line of sight or more exotic senses. You do not receive the tactile feedback from separated pieces as you do with your primary Shroud.
Pocket Space: You now possess a timeless extradimensional inventory space. This inventory may be accessed via an app on your smart device, Apportation, or certain Heritage perks. Transferring an item into the inventory via the app requires it to contact you before transport. An item pulled from the inventory via the app will be deposited into your hand or within one meter of your position.
Elemental Loom: Your Shroud has been upgraded into a gaseous aura, and its manifestations no longer need to be obvious and intense. A Volcanic Shroud no longer needs to create flames but instead be a temperature change; the Primal Shroud can create and manipulate bacteria and viruses, the Cyber Shroud can affect purely digital code, etc.
You gain an additional sense related to the element(s) of your Shroud within your aura, though reading and understanding it will take practice. The Cyber Shroud may let you access wifi and Bluetooth devices, or you can feel spatial distortion with the Void. You may infuse yourself with your element, increasing your strength, speed, and durability significantly.
While the rules for contiguous manifestation are still in effect, the Shroud does not need to have the same intensity across the entirety of it. As long as you are able to understand how your element can be expressed in non-obvious ways in the air around you, such as changing a room's humidity or brightness or creating slight spatial distortions, you will be able to manifest intense examples of your element in apparent midair around you.