Fanfiction Collection + EPub Links

DCU-Young Justice FF

Plot: Fire. It cleans and purifies the soul, and Mom didn't raise a dirty boy. Self Insert.

Pairing: Indeterminate (Hinting towards OCxArtemis)

NOTE: Its a in-progress novel, so you have to keep in mind that there is some uncertainty regarding the continuation of the novel, last updated March 1st so be careful.... (though keep in mind that this author seems to be seemingly active and has a p*atreo*n so there is some degree of guarantee)

The following is a fanbased work of fiction. Young Justice is property of DC Comics, Warner Brothers and Greg Weissman – please support the official release.

"We're here," Batman announced as he pulled his famous Batmobile to a stop.

The destination was a small, suburban home just outside of Blüdhaven, 9023 Ricter St. It was a two-story house with a two-car garage that had a green van sitting on the driveway. The house was painted a light tan with hedges on the side of the walk up to the front door needing a slight trim.

"Oh. It's…quaint," Green Arrow, the passenger, said, finishing the Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hands. "So get in, make ourselves personable, make the offer to the parents then to the kid. Anything else I should know?"

"Just a reminder that this visit is not about the incident," Batman replied neutrally. "It was ruled justified in court and we need to make it clear that we respect that."

"Right, we aren't here because he blew a member of Arkham's revolving door club to smithereens," Green Arrow dryly quipped. "We're here to offer him a spot in the junior club."

"I believe he could be of use to the team," Batman replied. "He has the powers and the inclination to use them. With proper training, we could avoid repeats of the incident in the future."

"No arguments there," Green Arrow nodded. "Anything else?"

"No," Batman shook his head and the two men excited the car.

On the other side of the street, a little boy ran inside his house. "Mom! Mom! Look, it's the Batmobile! And it's got Ba-"

That was all they heard before his rapidly quieting voice was suddenly cut off by the home's doorbell as Green Arrow pressed the buŧŧon.

After a few moments, the door opened, revealing a middle-aged mother with dark brown hair and crow's feet around her eyes; eyes that suddenly widened when she saw who had arrived at her door. "Oh. Oh! Hello…"

"Mrs. Winter?" Green Arrow opened with an extended hand and a friendly smile.

"Yes, hi," She replied, taking the hand and gingerly shaking it.

"I'm Green Arrow, this is Batman," Green Arrow said with a gesture to him and the other Superhero, introducing themselves as a matter of politeness. "We were wondering if we could talk to you and your husband?"

"Who is it, honey?" Behind Mrs. Winter came who was presumably Mr. Winter. He was a balding, middle aged man with prematurely greying hair. Mr. Winter's eyes narrowed sharply. "Oh. Are you two the real deal?"

"Yes we are," Green Arrow replied confidently.

Mr. Winter sniffed. "Prove it."

Batman let lose a batarang past both of their heads and it promptly came back to his waiting hand without so much as touching a thing in the house. "Does that satisfy you?"

"Yeah I guess so," Mr. Winter nodded. "Come on in. You're here to talk about Michael, right?"

"That's right," Green Arrow replied. "If you don't mind."

They were ushered into the front room with a couch against the wall, a coffee table in front of it and two chairs to the sides. On the wall was a large family photo of the two parents and a young boy with carefully groomed set of dark brown hair and sharp looking hazel eyes. Batman noted that the smile was a very high quality fake, seeming to reach his eyes but didn't the way a genuine smile did.

"I don't see what there is to talk about," Mr. Winter replied, taking a seat beside his wife and gesturing for the other two to do the same. "It was ruled justified."

"We had an offer that we wanted to make you," Green Arrow replied. "About your son."

"By the way, can I get you two anything?" Mrs. Winter asked with a glance at the two. "Water, Milk, Juice?"

"I just had some coffee," Green Arrow replied. "But thank you."

"I would like some water," Batman responded in light of that, sounding just as carefully neutral as always. "Please."

"Oh, sure," Mrs. Winter said, nodding and standing up.

The conversation fell silent as she disappeared into the kitchen. The sound a cupboard opening, a glass being withdrawn and then filled with water. Then she stopped and called out. "Would you like ice?"

Batman shook his head.

"He says no," Green Arrow called back. Then he pointed to Batman with his thumb. "He doesn't really get loud."

"I can hear that," Mr. Winter replied with weary eyes.

She returned with the glass and handed it to Batman, who thanked her as she sat down.

"So, an offer," Mr. Winter continued.

"What kind of offer?" Mrs. Winter asked.

"The sidekicks, Kid Flash, Robin and Aqualad have gotten together in kind of a…study club," Green Arrow began. "We thought that your son might like to spend time with kids like him."

"Oh," Mrs. Winter said. "You mean, like a superhero study club."

"It's a group formed for the purpose of letting our junior members train, socialize and learn together," Batman explained formally. "We believe that with some proper training, your son could avoid incidents, such as the one that has brought us here today, in the future."

"Would he be obligated to join the Justice League?" Mrs. Winter asked with a frown.

"No, no," Green Arrow shook his head. "He can leave at any time if he wants. This is just to give him a handle on his powers if he needs it and give him more options so if that incident down the street happens again you're not tied up in messy court hearings."

"Would he be doing anything dangerous?" Mr. Winter asked with a frown of his own.

"The group sometimes undertakes missions," Batman answered. "Light recon, low risk, covert missions specifically chosen to prevent the groups activities from becoming known to any Supervillains. The risks are carefully evaluated before the group is sent on them and he would be on a team with several highly experienced members. Your son would be more than safe."

"I see," Mrs. Winter replied, pursing her lips and resting her hands in her ŀȧp. "Are you making us this offer because you see our son as a potential danger? Be honest with us."

"No," Green Arrow replied. "What he did was justified by the courts and he is in complete control of his powers."

"Wouldn't the fact that he's been in the news recently be a problem with the groups anonymity?" Mr. Winter asked, his eyes still narrowing. "The fact that he's a metahuman is plastered all over the internet."

"Not if he adopts a costumed identity and is never really seen changing," Green Arrow replied with a shrug. "Fire metas are fairly common as far as metas go, so it's not like he's the only possible candidate and the group's activities are covert anyhow. Does that answer your question?"

"It does," Mrs. Winter nodded.

Mr. Winter didn't say anything.

"Honey, I think this might be a good thing for him," Mrs. Winter said, starting to smile for the first time since the two arrived.

Mr. Winter again, didn't answer immediately. A few moments later, right as Green Arrow was about to say something and break the ice, he said, "Could you gentlemen please excuse us for just a moment?"

"Sure, that's fine," Green Arrow explained with a nod.

"Take all the time you need," Batman offered.

Eventually, the two came back. "Alright. We accept. He should be in his room doing who knows what, just on one condition."

"What's that condition?" Green Arrow asked, leaning forward and clasping his hands together.

"He's allowed to tell us if he has to do anything dangerous," Mr. Winter explained.

"Certain parts may have to be kept confidential," Batman replied. "But I don't see anything wrong with him giving you a generalized account. Would that be sufficient?"

"Yeah, that'd be fine," Mr. Winter nodded. "We don't need to know everything just…a general picture would be nice."

"Okay good," Green Arrow nodded happily. "So where is your son now?"

"I think he's upstairs," Mrs. Winter replied. "Do you want me to go get him?"

"No, no," Green arrow shook his head. "It can wait for a minute. Why don't you tell us about him first?"

"Well," Mrs. Winter took in a breath. "He's very mȧturė for his age."

"Always did things when we asked him too," Mr. Winter replied. "Always. Sometimes he did things without us asking first. Great work ethic. Never made any friends though."

"Lot's of trouble making friends," Mrs. Winter agreed, nodding his head. "Not because the other kids didn't try, but because, well…he looked at them as inferior. Like they were dumb. I mean, he never said anything to them but he just…"

"Just thought they were in the way," Mr. Winter finished. "I can't count how many times he asked to skip a grade."

"He that good at school?" Green Arrow asked.

"Heavens, yes!" Mrs. Winter said with astonishment. "He threw himself at anything, trying to learn everything. The first year they started teaching computer science he checked out every book he could find in the school library on programming. Said he was trying to make an AI."

"Did he ever succeed?" Batman asked curiously.

"I don't think so," Mr. Winter answered with a shrug. "He likes to brag about his accomplishments and we never heard anything about it afterwards."

Batman leaned back slightly with a small frown on his face.

"Do you know when he became a metahuman?" Green Arrow asked.

"No," Mr. Winter shook his head. "I didn't even know about it until after he blew up that maniac."

That matched the case file that Batman had read. "Did he ever tell you how it happened."

"No," Mr. Winter said again. "When I asked him, he just said 'magic' and I left it at that. If he doesn't want to tell me, that's fine."

"Are you sure it's not actually magic?" Green Arrow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Look, I know that Zatara guy on the League claim's he's got magic," Mr. Winter replied, leaning forward. "But honestly, I think he's just a reality warping meta with a neurological condition that prevents him from doing anything without speaking backwards."

"What neuro condition would that be?" Batman asked, keeping the amused smirk off his face, but just bȧrėly.

"I dunno," Mr. Winter shrugged. "Some kind of Tourette's syndrome, I guess."

Green Arrow bȧrėly stopped himself from laughing at the thought of Zatara having Tourette's. Instead, he simply asked. "Do you think he'd be okay with being with the sidekicks or no?"

"I don't know," Mrs. Winter replied, shrugging her shoulders. "He's kind of a mystery to me."

"Alright, I think we're ready to talk to him," Green Arrow said.

"You want me to go get him or did you want to try to talk to him in his room?" Mrs. Winter asked, standing up.

"We can try talking to him in his room," Green Arrow answered, also standing up, followed by Batman.

The stairs up were just around the corner, going up into a hallway. Mrs. Winter stopped at the second door on the left and knocked. "Michael? Son, are you there?"

"Yes, what can I do for you?" The door opened a crack.

"You've got some people that'd like to talk to you," Mrs. Winter feigning cheerfulness to hide the caution.

"Figures. I saw the car out front," Was the reply. The door opened wider as Michael stepped out. Batman recognized the boy in the picture downstairs, only grown into a young teenager whose face looked like it hadn't curled into a genuine smile in years. "Can we move this to the front room, please?"

"Alright," Mr. Winter shrugged.

The procession moved back down to the front room, with Batman and Green Arrow taking their seats on the couch and the parents sitting in the chairs. Michael grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and set it off to the side, opposite of his parents. "So, are we here discuss how I blew Mr. Zsasz to cinders, or something else?"

"No, but that is why we're here," Batman responded. "The Junior League members have put together a small team and the League itself has decided that, in light of recent events, you might be of benefit to the group."

"You've already proven you've got the power and incentive the protect others," Green Arrow continued. "We think you've got a lot of potential as a Leaguer and even if you don't stay on, some training would help you avoid the uh…legal mess that you and your family just got done dealing with."

"So, the brat's got a team, huh?" Michael replied with a raised eyebrow, trying to fight the sarcastic sneer making its way across his face.

"Michael!" Mrs. Winter said, aghast.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call them brats," Green Arrow argued with an amused tone in his voice at the same time. "But essentially, yeah."

"How old's the team?" Michael asked immediately, leaning forward and holding his hands together between his knees. "Was it created before or after they went into Cadmus on the Fourth of July?"

"You frequent the Justice League forums?" Batman asked carefully.

"I do," Michael answered without blinking. "There was a giant thread, speculating that there was a team in the making. It's still arguing about it but judging from the upvotes and top comments, it was just a temporary thing the sidekicks went out and did while the ȧduŀts were taking care of business elsewhere and everything would be back to normal before long. But since you're here, talking to me about a team, that either means that the majority of people are wrong or the upvotes were being manipulated."

"I don't think the site's all that vulnerable to botting," Green Arrow said, stroking his goatee with his gloved hand. "The team almost wasn't, so it's not unreasonable to ȧssume it didn't happen."

"I seriously doubt the League would allow the creation of a secret team without suppressing information about its formation," Michael explained with a raised eyebrow. "Regardless, you came to me with an offer to get on a super team, and I accept, ȧssuming my brat comment didn't burn the offer."

"Just like that?" Mr. Winter asked, sounding bewildered.

"Just like that," Michael nodded. "First extra-curricular activity that I'm actually interested in."

"Well, that's good," Mrs. Winter said, wearing a relieved smile. "I'm glad you've found something you'd like to do."

"It's a pleasant surprise," Michael replied, not returning the smile. "So, before I get escorted to whatever secret base you've got them secreted too, I imagine there's something you need to know? A form I have to fill out?"

"We'll take care of that ourselves," Batman replied. "There are just a few questions we need you to answer."

"Ask away," Michael invited.

"Are you a metahuman or a magic user?" Green Arrow asked. "And how did you get your powers?"

"Magic User," Michael replied, ignoring his father rolling his eyes. "Looked on the internet for rituals, alchemy, stuff. The grand majority of it's garbage but I found a few good ones. As for how I got my fire powers, I created a fire elemental without a spirit to animate it and bound it to my soul. My body has changed to accommodate playing host but nothing major. That's the long and short of it."

"Alright, I get you," Green Arrow nodded, satisfied. "You make anything else?"

"I was working on a project in my room," Michael explained with a shrug. "Nothing I feel like sharing, however."

"Do you plan on binding any more soulless elementals to you?" Batman asked.

"Not at this time," Michael explained. "I'm still making sure there's no negative effects."

"So, have you put any thought into being a Leaguer?" Green Arrow asked. "A code name, costume, that sort of thing?"

"Don't have a name or costume in mind, no," Michael shook his head. "I can come up with something."

"We can take care of your first costume if you need," Green Arrow offered. "But we do need a name."

"Alright, uh…" Michael started, looking up in thought. "How about Firestorm?"

"That's pretty good," Green Arrow nodded in appreciation. "But it's taken."

"Captain Falcon?" Michael offered with a small smirk.

"Uh…word of advice, I wouldn't take an animal name unless your power or image has got something to do with animals," Green Arrow offered, leaning into his chair like an old man giving sage advice to an eager youngster. "Otherwise, it just makes it look like you didn't put any effort into putting your identity together."

"Eh, the suggestion was tongue in cheek anyway," Michael replied with a shrug.

"Inside joke?" Green Arrow asked with a small smile.

"Something like that, yeah," Michael muttered to himself before ȧssuming a thinking pose. "Of course, that blows my more serious 'Firebat' suggestion out of the water. Unfortunate."

"That name wasn't available anyway," Batman explained passively.

"Why no-oh, right. Don't want people making ȧssumptions," Michael shrugged. "Makes sense. On that line of thinking puts the kibosh on Supernova too. A shame, he's my favorite Leaguer. No offense."

"None taken," Green Arrow waved it off with his fingers. "He's a good guy."

"El Diablo?" Michael asked, starting to grin again. "Pasty, white-faced nerd by day, Spicy Latino Lover by night? I can even do an accent."

"No," Mr. Winter shook his head. "No, no, no. This is serious, son."

"The Human Torch," Michael suggested, his grin instantly fading without a trace.

Green Arrow waffled his hand. "Eh, I think you could do better."

"Inferno?" Michael offered with a raised eyebrow. "Eh, never mind. I'm not Italian. Er…wait, am I Italian?"

"German," Mr. Winter answered. "Our family is German."

"Oh. Well, I don't feel like using Feuer or Hölle either," Michael continued to muse. "Conflagerator just sounds wierd. Pyro? Eh, too short. Well, it sounds like it's short for something. Pyroclasm. Pyroclasm? That's not taken, is it?"

Green Arrow looked at Batman and both shook their heads. "Pyroclasm is fine. Good name."

"Alright," Michael clapped his hands together. "Pyroclasm. When do I put on the mask?"

"We'll come by again in a few days," Batman replied. "We'll bring with you your costume as well as pick you up for orientation into the Team. You'll receive instructions on how to transit to the team's training facility which you will be expected to report to daily."

"Alright, makes sense," Michael nodded.

Green Arrow nodded. "It's been good meeting you all. Michael, I look forward to having you on the team. Now, we've got a meeting with the League we need to get too so we will see you all later."

"It's been nice having you," Mrs. Winter said, standing up.

"Drive safe," Mr. Winter said, following suit and shaking his guest's hands. "Michael, if you'll get the door?"

"You got it," Michael said, moving to the front door and opening it.

"Thank you," Batman replied.

The two heroes left and saw that a group of neighborhood children had gathered around the bat mobile to gape in awe. Batman unlocked the doors, causing the car to beep and the kids to instantly scatter. Batman got into the driver seat, Green Arrow the passenger.

"So, did you want to take care of the costume or shall I?" Green Arrow asked.

"Are you volunteering?" Batman asked neutrally.

Green Arrow took a second to think over the question while Batman started the engine. "Yeah, I think I am. Fireproof, armored plating, utility belt. What do you think, Balaclava, Domino mask?"

"Either can work," Batman replied. "I find it interesting that the smiles in the family pictures were all high-quality fakes."

"He doesn't seem to be a happy kid," Green Arrow replied. "Definitely book-smart, though. He knew that Inferno was Italian for Hell. Not many people I meet do."

"It's not something that's entered popular culture," Batman nodded.

"Yeah, it's become just another word for a giant blaze," Green Arrow shrugged. "Anyway, did you catch how his parents are afraid of him?"

"I did," Batman nodded. "Very smart, deliberately giving himself dangerous powers, I imagine his parents simply don't know how to deal with him. They did the right thing in keeping him at the appropriate grade level. We'll need to inform Dinah that he's accepted our offer."

"Which is a good thing," Green Arrow sighed. "Honestly I was afraid of what would happen if he refused. Not to say that he'd be gunning for super villainy or anything, but we might've had to beat off 'recruiters' with a stick."

Batman didn't say anything, still thinking.

"You think he succeeded at creating that AI his dad was talking about?" Green Arrow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That was my question as well," Batman answered. "I don't know. If he did, it might explain how he was able to comb through the nonsense that permeates the internet to find the real thing. If he didn't, he may have just gotten lucky but…I don't think it was luck."

"Would it turn into a problem if he did?" Green Arrow asked.

"It might," Batman responded.

"I wonder if the team's going to be happy with two new members," Green Arrow thought aloud.

"They'll adapt."

"At least Artemis isn't going to be the only new kid on the block," Green Arrow replied with a smile. "That might help everyone if they're still sore that Speedy's not on the team."

"He's going by Red Arrow now," Batman informed his passenger without taking his eyes off the road.

"Oh. Original," Green Arrow grinned. "…I already knew that Bats."

Batman simply grunted in response.

Green Arrow fell quiet too. It didn't last. "You know, I should call Dinah."

Chapter End