August 8, 2010 - Happy Harbor, RI
Mt. Justice
19:03:26
Superboy’s eyebrows rose as he looked the newcomer up and down, combing his memories for who this new hero was supposed to be.
Answers were in short supply.
Archer, connected with Green Arrow, a couple of possibilities. The first Speedy, Roy Harper? But Apollo is blonde, not redheaded. The second Speedy, Mia Dearden? The costume is similar. But he looks biracial, Caucasian and Asian? So it could be Connor Hawke, Green Arrow II? Would GA try to pass off his son as his nephew? Unless Oliver Queen does have a nephew? He’s always an only child. Probably shouldn’t dig into that too obviously. But Rikki and Kaldura don’t know him. Is he just new?
It raised many questions that he couldn’t answer at the moment.
Looking at the others, he shrugged. They seemed to take his lack of knowledge as a sign to make their new teammate welcome. Aqualass stepped forward to shake Apollo’s hand, which he took.
“Welcome to the team, Apollo. I am Aqualass, this is Robin, Ms. Martian, and Superboy.” She said, indicating each in turn. Superboy noticed that each of the girls got a nod, but on his turn, Apollo smiled at him, looking a little relieved.
He… likes me? Why does he like me?
That confused him, though he wasn’t sure why, exactly.
He was more confused when Apollo approached him directly after Aqualass, walking past Robin and Ms. Martian, who looked a little taken aback. Superboy took the offered hand awkwardly, shaking gently. He tried plastering a smile to cover his discomfort.
“Nice… uh, to meet you.”
Apollo’s face turned a little frosty as they shook, and within, Superboy panicked.
Fuck, I’m being weird and awkward!
“I mean, its nice to have another guy on the team!” He covered, but as soon as he said it he started to doubt himself. Which only made his smile more plastic as he tried to project sincerity.
Apollo’s face slowly fell and he slowly released Superboy’s grip.
“Right, well. I look forward to working with… you all.” Apollo stated, stepping back towards Green Arrow. Superboy winced, worried he had offended the gilded archer. But as he walked away, it felt too awkward to try to make amends now.
I hope I didn’t just ruin that relationship…
“You will all have time to get better acquainted in the future, as you will be working together going forward. But we actually called this meeting for another reason. Apollo’s introduction was simply convenient timing.” Batwoman stated as she took charge of the meeting.
Superboy joined the rest of the team, including Apollo now, he supposed, as Wonder Woman stood behind him. They faced Batwoman as she began the briefing.
“Early this morning, the Guild was contacted by Trojan and informed that he had infiltrated Infinity Island and rescued a high value prisoner of the League of Assassins. He was reluctant to share the details of this prisoner with the Guild over standard communication channels, even encrypted ones. He requested assistance, and the Guild determined with the history some of you have with him and the nature of this prospective mission, the team would be best suited for it.”
I thought Trojan didn’t want anything to do with the Guild after that whole shebang? Maybe that means he’s cooled off, and wants to work with the team. Superboy thought to himself as he cast a glance back at Wonder Woman, whose mouth was drawn into a thin line at the mention of her former protege. Then he remembered what was missing from their line up and spoke up.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Kid Flash?”
Batwoman turned a baleful eye towards him, and let the silence hang for an uncomfortably long time. By the end, Superboy had begun to break into a cold sweat. Batwoman finally turned to look at the clock on the wall meaningfully, before turning back to Superboy.
“No.”
Superboy’s gaze found the floor.
Thanks for being late, Walli.
“I will yield the floor to Trojan, since it is his mission.” Batwoman continued, and as if summoned by a spell, the Zeta-Tube spun up and with a flash, Trojan appeared out of the light at the edge of space-time.
‘Recognized. Trojan, B-06.’
His costume was different from the last Superboy had seen him; more armor, and a short sword on his hip, a black helmet out of a Greek hoplite’s closet tucked under his arm. Trojan strode deliberately across the Hall without a word, taking Batwoman’s place as he uploaded something from his phone to the Cave computer. Instantly, screens hung in the air displaying pictures and biographical details of a bespectacled blonde woman.
Behind Superboy, Wonder Woman made no sound but he could see Trojan’s looking over his right shoulder. He felt the glacial temperature drop from the frosty glare Trojan shot over Superboy’s shoulder. Grimly, he tried to ignore it and not insert himself between his new mentor and her former mentee any further.
“Dr. Serling Roquette. A nano-robotics and claytronics expert, researcher at Royal University in Star City.” Trojan began without preamble, speaking in clipped tones with a scowl. More screens scrolled by, showing technical diagrams of insectile robots that looked oddly simple, before he realized they were massively blown up.
Nano-machines. And she teaches in Star City? He mused, glancing toward Green Arrow and Apollo.
“Dr. Roquette went missing two weeks ago, kidnapped by the League of Assassins. I rescued her last night. But that leaves just one problem.” Trojan said as he uploaded more files to the Cave’s display. New screens appeared, showing vicious, insectile nano-robots alongside a high tech cylinder, with a large circular red light in the middle. “The League had already coerced her into creating a weapon. Dr. Roquette calls it ‘the Fog.’”
Footage began playing, showing the cylinder emitting a dark cloud from the midsection that coalesced together into a dense cloud and then spiraled through the air and across a room to descend onto a series of computers set up in what was clearly a testing range. The Fog flowed into every crevice of the computer, then the casing and desk it was on began dissolving into a fine powder. Superboy’s hackles rose at the thought of what a million nanomachines could disassemble if they wanted to. They were each the size of a molecule.
“Compromised of millions of tiny robots. Nanotech infiltrators capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Disassembling whatever it is on a molecular level. Concrete, steel… flesh, bone.” Trojan continued darkly, and Superboy shuddered at the thought.
Am I invulnerable to being disassembled? I hope so…
More images appeared from Trojan’s files, a university research building turned into a pile of rubble. Large portions of it looked like they had melted away without leaving any remains behind, just a dark dust lying in drifts around the place.
“But its true purpose isn’t merely destruction. Its theft. The infiltrators are able to infest any computer physically and eat the data right out of electromagnetic storage. Then they feed the stolen intel to the League. Providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech.”
“Perfect for extortion, manipulation, and power broking.” Apollo interrupted, ticking off all the other ways the Assassins might use the Fog beyond merely stealing technical data. “Yeah, sounds like the League.” He finished with a sigh.
Superboy raised an eyebrow as he digested that tidbit.
He sounds like he’s already familiar with the League of Assassins. Does that mean he’s Connor Hawke? His mother, Shado, was an Assassin.
Trojan regarded Apollo for a moment, his expression contemplative, before he returned to his briefing.
“Roquette’s working on a virus to render the Fog inert. Right now, she’s off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school’s computer lab.” Trojan explained, bringing up a map of a three story school building that Superboy was sure he had passed by on his outings into Happy Harbor.
“But if the League of Assassins knows she can do that-” Robin began.
“They’ll target her.” Trojan cut her off grimly.
“You left her alone?” Wonder Woman objected, stepping forward. Superboy saw Trojan’s eyes narrow and his expression grow thunderous.
“She’s safe enough for now.” He replied tersely.
“Then let’s you and I keep her that way.” Wonder Woman offered in a conciliatory tone.
Superboy quickly saw that was not a well received olive branch, as Trojan’s scowl deepened and he raised his voice.
“You and I? Don’t you want to take your new protege?” Trojan replied, casting a contemptuous nod toward Superboy.
Well, guess we’re not gonna be buddies after all, he thought with a wince.
Wonder Woman’s expression hardened slightly, but she didn’t rise to the bait. In a calm voice, she answered Trojan’s loaded question.
“You brought this mission to the Guild, and since it is ideally suited to a covert team, we have tasked the team with it. So it is his mission now, too.” She said with an elegant wave to Superboy and the others.
Superboy’s heart raced at the responsibility and trust being placed in them, focusing on the picture of Dr. Roquette. He nodded, a sober expression on his face.
Trojan’s eyes narrowed slightly before he scoffed.
“Then my job is done.” He spat, and strode with purpose towards the Zeta-Tubes without another word. The team turned to watch him go, Robin and Aqualass’ expressions hurt and concerned. Trojan paid them no mind.
‘Recognized. Trojan, B-06.’
And then he was gone.
‘Recognized. Kid Quick, B-03.’
The opposite tube spun up a moment later, depositing Walli in her swimsuit and loaded with beach paraphernalia.
“Never fear, the fastest girl alive is he-” she began before freezing at the sight of everyone staring at her. For a long beat, she stared back, then glanced towards the clock on the display and everyone in costume, before hurried checking her own phone. Which caused a scramble as she flailed trying to keep hold of everything in her arms, without success. After her consultation, Walli looked back up at them all.
“I’m late, aren’t I?” She asked with a sickly sweet smile.
“Yes. You are.” Apollo answered her through gritted teeth.
I think I can hear his bow creaking. Superboy thought as he glanced towards the archer’s grip on his weapon. Walli’s eyes went to Apollo and her eyebrows shot up in surprise, while she grinned widely in a way that gave Superboy a bad feeling.
“Oh! Who’s the babe?” She asked, looking Apollo up and down in an obvious manner.
“Babe!?”