Mettle, Metal, Meddled - Chapter 23 - Questions (Patreon)

The room was quiet for a long moment before finally Green Arrow stepped forward.

“First, I love the color Skarn.” He said with a smile, Black Canary rolling her eyes behind him. “How would this team acquire funding?”

“For now we must continue depending on the Justice League for support.” I admitted. “There have been some… minor ideas floated around, like petitioning the UN for support, or taking advantage of my own geokinetic abilities to make money, but that is still in the planning stages.”

“Do you not think this would set a bad precedent?” Wonder Woman asked, partly focused on Batman. “Training meta-humans, even worse, children meta-humans like soldiers could give quite a few governments bad ideas.”

“With all due respect Ma’am the idea that mercenaries and government groups haven't already thought of this is slim to none. We already see something like this in groups like the League of Shadows, albeit with a much more grim outlook.” I answered, continuing immediately. “I believe the reason we haven't seen this before in more official places is more because of the general lack of metahuman individuals in general, as well as who are both willing to participate and strong enough to be any different from training a normal human. That said, I understand your concern, though I disagree that we should let the fear of how those with lesser morals will react dictate our own actions.

Wonder Woman looked a bit shocked at what I said, either from the point I made or the implication that I made after. Before she could respond Black Canary spoke up.

“What about the covert nature of the team?”

“That would depend on how you define covert.” Kaldur said. “The element of surprise and stealth tactics go hand in hand with how we envision this team functioning. That being said, we will not be completely hidden in the shadows. We have every intention of staying off the radar as much as realistically possible so that we have time to train and bond, but we will be stepping into the public eye eventually. Whether it is some of us as leaders or all together as a group remains to be seen.”

“What about your plans for expansion?” Green Lantern asked. “You mentioned wanting two or four new members? Why that many specifically and how will you find them?”

“Mostly because it will be easier to divide teams into groups that have the same general level of effectiveness, meaning that they will be interchangeable.” I answered. “And we have already submitted a list of potential candidates to Batman. It seemed prudent to at least get the League's approval of candidates until we have our own investigative resources to utilize. That said, we plan on observing the potential members, meeting those who have interacted with them, including the criminals they have fought before inviting them to join. We have discussed having membership levels, something like probationary and official, to let a member be a part of the group so that both sides can get a feel for it before making them official members.”

The Green Lantern nodded in what I was pretty sure was approval. A few moments passed before Aquaman stepped forward.

“Is this why you asked permission to live here more permanently?” He asked, focusing mostly on Kaldur.

“We believe that team building is an important aspect of this concept.” Kaldur answered. “We take this plan seriously, and part of that is bonding with our teammates.”

The questions continued for a while, mostly minor things about scheduling, which we were leaving open until we found our trainers, and missions, which we agreed would remain Batman’s responsibility for the foreseeable future. Eventually Wonder Woman spoke up again.

“I had my reservations about the team from day one, mostly due to the young age of its members.” She started, crossing her arms. “While increasing the intensity of your training is well and good, I still don’t believe we should be putting you in this position.”

“While I share your concern, Wonder Woman, I ultimately have to disagree.” I said, shaking my head. “We aren’t normal kids, not any more. You cannot expect us to sit back and watch the world metaphorically burn while doing nothing. You yourself are a member of a society dating back thousands of years. You lived through world war one and two. Surely you understand that the desire to do good, to help others does not exclusively dwell inside adults? By the definition of your ancestors and by your birth period, most of us would already be considered adults.”

Wonder Woman watched me for a moment, seemingly judging me with her eyes. Before she could retort, I continued.

“A hero from a different world once said ‘When you can do the things we can do, but you don't, when bad things happen they happen because of you.’” I said, recalling a scene from the MCU. “That might be paraphrasing a bit, and it maybe a bit foolish to hold yourself to such a standard,  but it boils down nicely to an even better quote. ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ And while we are young, we as a group refuse to shirk that responsibility.”

The room was quiet for a moment, save the muttering of a soft ‘so cool’ coming from the direction of Captain Marvel.

“I will not argue with your good intentions.” She eventually said. “But I will also not stop reminding everyone of what kind of road that they may pave.”

“....The League is set to meet again at the end of this week, six days from now.” Batman said, filling the long silence from Wonder Woman's final words. “During that meeting we will bring up what you have said here and discuss what kind of support the League will give.”

“I think it's a good idea!” Captain Marvel said, with an excitement that got a few looks. “They aren't really asking for much more than extra resources. More training is never a bad thing. And expecting them to wait patiently for who knows how long until the League calls them up is unrealistic. At least that's what I think.”

“Regardless of individual support, and what the League decides on a whole, you should be proud of this.” Aquaman said, looking away from Captain Marvel and back at us. “This was well thought out and well presented. You clearly have a strong idea of what you want to accomplish.”

We talked a bit more, discussing the plans in more detail, discussing what kind of people we are looking for in terms of training. I considered bringing up my desire to equip everyone with a freeze gun based on Captain Cold's weapon, but I decided to hold off. Instead the League members left one by one, leaving the team alone.

“Well… That went pretty well.” I said, smiling.

“Indeed, save for Wonder Woman, they seemed to be interested in the idea.” Kaldur added.

“According to Batman, Wonder Woman was strongly against the idea of the team in the first place,” Robin said, shrugging. “Reservations’ was a serious understatement.”

“It's hard to disagree with her.” I said, getting several looks. “Guys, we are young. I feel the same way you do about being held back but don’t pretend that it isn't a problem. But that doesn't mean what I said was wrong either.”

“It is true, we are young.” Kaldur agreed after a pause. “It is something that we should keep in mind.”

“Ironically, acknowledging that is probably a sign of maturity.” Robin added, looking down at his hands.

“It is.” I agreed with a nod. “But then again, this is a long term plan. I think all of us will be more mature and older by the time we transition from an off the books team into something more visible.”

The group nodded along, Robin smirking his usual smile.

“Probably have to keep Wally off of the books a bit longer.” He joked, getting a noise of complaint from Wally. When the group settled back down Wally spoke up.

“Well I think that it's late and time for dinner.” Wally said. “We should celebrate. Pizza in space?”

The rest of the group quickly agreed, M’gann shifting into a civilian outfit while I went back to my room and changed, meeting the group at the hangar. Robin had called in the order while I was gone, so we killed some time before making our way into town. After picking up our food Bioship took off into space, quickly pulling away from the town.

“What do you think about maybe going to the moon?” I asked as we left the Earth's atmosphere.

Robin, who was close enough to overhear the question, immediately doubled down on the idea. Seeing no reason not to, M’gann guided the ship to the moon, the interplanetary vessel reaching it in a few minutes.

“She could have gotten us there faster.” M’gann explained as she pulled her hands away from the glowing orbs that served as her connection to Bioship. “But it's generally considered a bad idea to go that fast inside of a planet's gravity well.”

As Bioship locked into an orbit around the moon, she shifted into her viewing form, the clear space around the nose expanding into a bubble that let us clearly see the moon's surface. The interior morphed into a large table and we sat down to eat, discussing the presentation as we did.

“You know, we have a plan for how the leadership should work, but we haven't discussed who the leaders would be.” Robin pointed out.

I couldn't help but wince. This was something I hadn't been looking forward to and was a situation that needed to be handled delicately.

“It’s pretty obvious who the Field Leader should be.” Wally said through a mouthful of pizza, puffing his chest out. “We just need to pick who the base leader should be.”

“Well I think the base leader is pretty obvious as well.” Robin said, gesturing to me. “Warren has been the one to start all of this, and he seems to already have a firm grasp on what this team needs.”

I opened my mouth to comment, but Kaldur cut me off.

“All in favor of making Warren our Base Leader, say aye.”

A unanimous series of ‘Ayes’ echoed in the space ship, followed by everyone clapping. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

“Alright, I don’t mind holding that title. But I’de like to add that the voting process for these positions should be won by at least a three fourths majority. There is no point voting someone in who only half the group, or less, actually wanted them to lead.”

“That is a fair point.” Kaldur agreed with a nod. “I believe at some point we should write an official charter for the group, so that the rules and regulations for our membership and leadership are easily shared.”

“We can sit down and work everything together then print out a few copies.” I suggested, before a thought occurred to me. “It might be nice to get them properly mounted somewhere visible, maybe in our main meeting room or the central space.”

The conversation continued, talking about what kind of things should be on the team charter. I let out a soft sigh of relief as the subject changed.

“You know we are going to have to talk about it at some point.” M’gann pointed out after  feeling my relief.

“I know, but hopefully it will be after we can talk in smaller groups first. I really don't want to have that argument here.”

“Who do you want to lead the group?” She asked as she grabbed another slice of pizza.

“I have no idea, which is part of the problem.” I responded with a mental shrug. “It's a toss up between Robin and Kaldur for me, and it would be that way even if Wally didn't keep on… well you know.”

M’gann blushed and nodded, both through our connection and physically. We both got back into the conversation, enjoying the company of our teammates and celebrating our first big step into our new team.

It was around ten at night when we all returned, the three more experienced heroes left for their homes. Kaldur and Robin both planned to move in over the next few days, while Wally was waiting on his parents' permission as they thought about it.

Either way, soon after they left Kyle wished M’gann and I goodnight before heading to bed, leaving the two of us alone in the living room, sitting together on the couch. I started clicking through the channels, finally settling on a movie that had just started. Not that either of us were paying much attention to the TV, not when we were sitting so close together.

“So…” I said after a few minutes, letting it trail off, looking down at M’gann as she lifted her head off of my shoulder.

When I realized that my words were failing me I settled on sharing my feelings of nervousness, excitement and growing affection with her. She looked up at me with a big smile, though she was blushing heavily, sending back the same feelings.

“Yeah…” She answered back, nervously giggling after a moment.

I chuckled as well before coughing nervously.

“This is happening fast, and… well we should do it right… right?” I said, pausing to think for a moment. “Here on earth this is where I would ask you on a date of some kind.”

“I-It's kind of the same on Mars.” She said, before continuing. “Though this would have been a bit fast by Martian standards.”

“Well depending on who you ask this is a little fast for Earth standards too.” I admitted. “But if we take it slow and steady there is no reason to worry. We could go out, maybe tomorrow, just explore Happy Harbor a bit.”

“Kaldur was pretty sure he was moving in tomorrow…” M’gann pointed out. “But… maybe if he is done before it gets too late?”

“Sure, that works for me.” I agree with a smile. “Tomorrow afternoon, or if Kaldur needs help, the day after.”

M’gann nodded happily, leaning her head back onto my shoulder. I reached up and around, putting my arm around her before focusing back on the TV. We sat together for an hour or so more before I excused myself to get some sleep, M’gann agreeing that it was about time to head to bed.