Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Sidekicks

Kid Flash POV:

Talk about getting more than we bargained for! We entered Cadmus hoping to stop a fire, but when we came out, we did so with a Kryptonian in tow. Well, a half-Kryptonian, but still!

The new guy was… angry. Sure, I got it, his situation was fucked up. Being a clone mentally conditioned to fight Superman, then waking up and being told: ‘Nah! Scratch that! How about being one of the good guys instead?’. Must be more than a little jarring.

Fortunately, his conditioning wasn’t complete. After knocking us about for a few minutes, Troia managed to pin him and calm him down. She convinced him it was better to fight with Superman rather than against him. To be fair, if I had Troia straddling me like that, I’d agree to anything. God, I was jealous!

The League must have been impressed at how we handled it, because they agreed to let us act more independently. Robin, Speedy and I had talked about trying to convince them to let us team up and take missions without our mentors. We brought it up after the Cadmus incident and they agreed. They did say the other protégés would join the team as well, but that was fine with me.

Aqualad was solid. Good in a fight, and good company, if a little serious. Troia was… well, she was Troia. Gorgeous and strong. I’d pay to have her on the team. The Martian Manhunter had recently returned from Mars and brought his niece with him, and she would be part of the team. Shapeshifting, telepathy, telekinesis, and she was a girl. As long as she kept out of my head, I had no complaints.

The half-Kryptonian — Superboy, as he was called now — wasn’t exactly anyone’s protégé, but he was on the team as well. I had personally experienced what he was like in a fight, so I couldn’t complain. ‘Hope he gets a grip on that anger soon, though.’ Had it been a month earlier, I would’ve figured he’d get picked up by Superman, but that spot was already taken by the last member of the team.

Arcana was a weird case. She had shown up about a month ago and started patrolling with Superman. According to the Flash, she claimed to have some kind of meta-knowledge and knew the secret identities of everyone in the League. I called bullshit on that, but I’d get the chance to test her out soon enough. She had the same schtick as Abra Kadabra, waving her hands around and casting ‘magic’. More bullshit. She also had some kind of mutation or skin-graft, making her look like a demon. Despite the weird look, she was still hot, so I’d go easy on her.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or she, in this case.

I dashed from the kitchen to the zeta-hub, sandwich still in hand, to greet the new arrivals.

“Hey, Supes!” I said, greeting the senior League member first before turning to the new girl. “Arcana, right?” She took my offered hand. “The Flash tells me you already know all of us, yeah? Care to prove it?”

She raised an amused eyebrow and said, “Kid Flash. Pleasure. You can just call me Eve when we’re off-duty.”

“Right, Eve. So, what’s mine? You should know, right?” I pressed.

“I’ll take that as explicit permission.” She glanced at Superman who gave her a small nod. Then she asked randomly, “Are you from the future?”

Slightly taken aback I could only answer, “Uh… no?”

“Alright. Wally West, then,” She said confidently. “Just had to be sure.”

“There’s a Kid Flash from the future? Wait—” I suddenly realized. “You’re from the future! That’s how you know our names and have that physics bending nano-tech! Same with the bio-mods!”

She looked stunned for a second before she mumbled, “Right, he was a bit of an idiot.” Then louder, “No, another world, actually. And my magic is actual magic, far as I or the Zataras can tell.” I opened my mouth to call bullshit, but she raised a hand to stop me before continuing, “I don’t care what you believe or what you call it. Magic, energy manipulation, nano-tech. Whatever. But I’ll warn you right now. Do not call me a liar. I don’t know how I got here, I don’t know why I look like this, and I don’t know how I got these powers. You’re free to doubt me, but if you do, keep it to yourself. Are we clear?”

I snapped my mouth shut. She may be full of shit, but damn that rant was hot. I may have discovered a new kink.

“Crystal,” I said simply, but before I could steer the conversation in a direction she wouldn’t be tempted to bite my head off, I heard a chuckle from the door.

“I like you already, new girl,” Robin said as he walked calmly towards her and extended a hand in greeting. “Haven’t seen anyone handle Wally that smoothly before.”

“Eve. Nice to meet you,” She said as she took his hand. “The moon doesn’t go away during the day. People can believe what they want, but I’m not gonna deal with their shit.”

Robin chuckled again. “True that. I am curious though… I give you permission to use my name, if you know it. Just this once.”

Eve smirked and asked another random question. “Has there been any Robin before you?”

“...No. I’m the only Robin.” Rob looked taken aback. Which didn’t happen often. It was nice to see I wasn’t the only one being taken for a ride by the new girl.

“Dick Greyson, then,” She said confidently. After a pause she added, “You should tell Batman to keep an eye on the Batmobile. Specifically the wheels.”

“...I will,” He responded hesitantly after a moment. God, it was fun to see Rob this confused. She may be full of shit, but I was starting to fall in love.

Just then, the room suddenly got very crowded. Aqualad and Speedy walked through the door, with Superboy skulking behind. At the same time, Batman arrived, along with Martian Manhunter and his n— ‘Oh my God she is gorgeous!’

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

----------------------------------------

Troia POV:

I walked out of the zeta-tube and into a veritable crowd. The whole team was crammed into the zeta-hub, including the two new girls. Arcana and Miss Martian, Diana had said. Along with Superman, Batman and Martian Manhunter.

Miss Martian was, obviously, a Martian. Green skin, but otherwise human features. I knew Martians didn’t look like humans in their true forms, but did their true form even matter when they were natural shapechangers?

Arcana was an odd one. Her purple skin and black horns gave her a distinctly demonic appearance. Diana had assured me that she was in fact human though, and that was enough for me. I looked forward to learning more of her origins; If she was willing to share.

I admit, the prospect of joining the team did not sound appealing until I learned about the two girls that would also be joining. Wally’s incessant flirting could drive me insane on a good day, and Speedy encouraging him did not help. Robin was fine, and Aqualad was ever the gentleman, but the amount of testosterone was suffocating.

Before my thoughts could meander any further, Batman spoke up.

“Now that everyone is here,” Everyone instinctively went quiet and even lined up in a military rest. That man sure knew how to demand respect. “Many of you have expressed a desire for more autonomy and responsibility. This team will serve as both a training ground and a testing ground. League members will regularly visit to train you in various aspects of hero work. You will also receive missions where you need to put your training into practice. Training schedules will be posted in the common area. That is all. Dismissed.”

Then he walked over to the nearest zeta-tube and disappeared. Stunned silence remained. The first to speak after Batman’s abrupt exit was Arcana.

“Intense fellow, isn’t he?”

Her words were followed by some chuckles by everyone. If her intention had been to break the tension, it had worked. I decided to seize the initiative she had given and spoke up.

“That he is. Although, in my experience, he is usually not quite that abrupt.” Then I turned to Robin in an effort to include more of the group in the conversation. “Robin, you have more experience with Batman than anyone else. Do you know the reason for his behavior?”

“Honestly,” The Boy Wonder said, “Even I have no idea what goes through his mind half the time.”

“Maybe it’s a test?” Miss Martian chimed. A purple blush graced her green cheeks when everyone turned their attention to her. “I— I mean—”

“Nah!” Wally interrupted her. “He probably had stuff to do. He's Batman, you know? Probably figured we can handle the rest by ourselves.”

“And that isn’t a test?” Arcana interjected, and all eyes fell on her. Unlike Miss Martian, she did not seem to have any problems with the attention and simply continued, “I mean, what is the ‘rest’ that we can ‘handle’? Do we start introductions? Pick a room? Make lunch? Sing Kumbaya?” She shrugged. “You all wanted more responsibility, right? Figuring out what the mysterious ‘rest’ is should be a cake walk, no?”

“Um…” Wally was uncharacteristically speechless and didn’t seem to know what ‘the rest’ was either. I noted that our mentors’ faces all had amused smiles, like they all were in on the same joke. Superman’s smile even held no small amount of pride.

“For my part,” She continued, “The ‘rest’ is lunch. And I’m taking the girls with me.” Her form seemed to shimmer for a moment before her skin turned pale, her eyes turned blue, her hair turned blonde and her horns disappeared. Then she grabbed mine and Miss Martian’s wrists and dragged us towards a zeta-tube.

She didn’t have super strength so I could have easily resisted, but following along seemed far more interesting.

----------------------------------------

Miss Martian POV:

I blinked the sunlight out of my eyes after the now human-looking girl dragged me through the zeta-tube.

“Miss Martian, you can turn more human-looking too, right?” She asked, pulling me out of my daze.

“What? Oh! Right!” I focused and turned my skin into a typical human pink.

“Also, my name is Eve. Do you mind if I use your real names as well?”

“Wonder Woman mentioned that you already had knowledge of our names,” Troia said. “If you know it, I will allow you to use it. I do not mind Miss Martian knowing it as well. Although, I would ask that you do not spread it outside of the team.”

“Oh! Y— Yes! That’s fine!” I stuttered. ‘Stupid! Stupid! Now isn’t the time to stutter!’ At least the cute boy with dark hair hadn’t heard me. “I’m M’gann. But, uh, you can call me Megan when we’re pretending to be human.”

“Great! Donna, Megan, I’m Eve,” She beamed. “It’s great to meet you! I hope we all can become good friends quickly so we don't have to deal with that awkward phase where we pretend to be cooler than we are, and just move straight to the phase where we realize that we are all dorks and can hang out in our underwear together.”

I was truly confused now. This was unlike any interaction I had been prepared for. Troia— No, Donna seemed to take it in stride though, and let out a hearty laugh.

“Hah! You are unlike other girls I have met before, Eve.” So it wasn’t just me, then. “I shall honor your wish, and look forward to spending time in underwear with you.”

Well, sleepovers were a thing human girls did, right? I didn’t think girls were usually so boisterous about it, though.

I was still somewhat dumbfounded as Eve led us out of the alley and down a sunlit street. As we walked, she told us about how she had come to this world. I was surprised to learn that she had actually been human, and even more so when she said she was from a version of earth that was very different from this one. It made me start to feel a sort of kinship. We were sort of in the same situation.

When Donna asked how her ‘meta-knowledge’ worked she explained that people from this world — specifically superheroes — showed up in comic books where she was from. She explained that she already knew some things about both of us because we had also shown up in those books. Wait. Did she know that I…

“Speaking of,” She suddenly said. “Megan, Martians need telepathic connections, right?”

“Ah! Yes!” I said, forcing my growing worries away. If she knew she wouldn’t be treating me so nicely. “But you don’t have to worry! I know humans don’t like having anyone in their mind, so I’m staying out!”

“That’s not really what I meant,” She said with a frown. “You can connect to me if you want. I trust you not to go poking around for any secrets.”

I froze. Did she really mean it?

“Are you sure?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yeah,” She answered simply. “My understanding is that lack of telepathic contact can be really bad for a Martian’s mental health. I don’t want my friend going nuts. Besides,” She added with a grin and poked her temple. “It’s kinda lonely up here, I wouldn’t mind the company.”

I was dumbstruck. Every other human I had met had seemed almost scared at the idea of a telepathic connection, and here she was offering it freely. Even wanting it. Before I could gather my thoughts enough to say anything, Donna spoke up.

“Is this true? You require a connection to stay healthy?” She was also wearing a worried frown.

“No!” I protested quickly. But then I admitted, “Well, yes. Martians don’t deal well with not having any telepathic connections for extended periods of time…”

“Then I wish for you to connect with me as well,” She proclaimed. “I do not mind the presence of a trusted friend in my mind.”

“A— Are you sure?” I stuttered out, feeling tears welling up in these stupid, stupid human eyes. “It’s really not—”

But Eve interrupted me by grabbing my head and pressing her forehead somewhat strongly against mine. “C’mon now! Get in there!” I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Hihi! That’s… not really how it works. Here…” Then I opened my mind and touched it to hers, and I could feel her. A connection like this wouldn’t show me her thoughts unless she actively pushed them towards me. Like she was doing. I could feel her pushing love and reassurance towards me, and I could almost hear the words “C’mon! Just be my friend, stupid!”. Then she suddenly relaxed and I could feel a slow pulse of happiness flowing across our connection.

“Me as well,” Donna said and stepped forward, placing her forehead to mine.

“As I said, that’s really not… oh, whatever…”