Green Lantern and Lois Lane are trademarks of DC Comics. Lex Luthor is also a character of DC Comics, along with all other characters mentioned as being dead in this story. DC Comics owns the rights to all of these characters and their background and characteristics.
Sorry for the delay in between chapters. Not only did it take me a little longer, but then as I was typing this my computer froze, and I had to start over again, so that sucked even more. Anyways, sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy.
Once again I got some ideas for this chapter from Seraph. He sent me some great ideas, and I combined them with some of my own, and am hoping that this chapter turned out good becuase of that situation. I hope you enjoy reading it, as a lot is revealed in this chapter not just about the new figure, but also about the past.
Enjoy.
Teenage Justice League
Chapter 7
Green Lantern and Lois Lane are trademarks of DC Comics. Lex Luthor is also a character of DC Comics, along with all other characters mentioned as being dead in this story. DC Comics owns the rights to all of these characters and their background and characteristics.
So what is going to happen this chapter, it's going to be a confusing chapter, with things going on about the origin of this new figure, and Adam dealing with the whole situation. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Teenage Justice League
Chapter 7
"Name?"
Cody was trying to follow the instructions, the guidelines, just like he did every time he questioned someone. But on the inside he wanted to leap over the table and attack the kid across from him. He had watched the tape, they all had, Green Lantern insisted that they watch is as a learning tool. Adam watched in silence beside him, trying not to show emotion. Green Lantern had said he did remarkably well for that type of situation, that's when he left the room.
Now his boyfriend was sitting across a table with the guy who ran his hand up his body. The one that Jessie said was going to rape him, and all he could think of doing was strangling him. The hatred in his body was more than he felt for even Lex, and he couldn't even explain that.
"Kendral."
"Kendral, what?" Cody asked, irritated of how he had answered.
"That's it, I don't have a last name." Kendral replied, he was trying not to be rude, but he was afraid that if he wasn't he would show Superboy that he had some weaknesses. He could feel the tension in the room, and he knew that Superboy was biting his tongue at every turn of the interview.
"How did Jessie find you?" Cody asked, jotting down Kendral's name on the paper in front of him.
"I don't know, she just sort of showed up one day and took out the guy that was hustling us around town. She offered us good stuff, clothes, food, a place to live, hell, all we had to do was a little robbery and fighting for her. We've been doing that all our lives." Kendral replied to the answer, questioning his own response as he gave it. He sounded like some stupid sucker.
"How do you know the other accomplishes?"
"Tasha and Lucas, the ones with the weapons, we've been living on the streets together for a long time. The other two, they're my brothers. We hid them at an abandoned warehouse and snuck them food while we worked the streets. Jessie could have helped them, at least with her they weren't freaks." Kendral answered, looking out the glass window, of which he knew some one was sitting and listening.
"You put your brothers in a situation like that. Didn't you think of what we could have done to them?" Cody asked without really thinking. It had just come to his head and he had to ask it.
"I couldn't let them sit there any more in that warehouse. At least they were with me again, and they didn't get hurt. None of us did. We didn't want you to get hurt either, or your boyfriend..."
"Don't say it." Cody's teeth were grinding as he spoke, he was doing everything in his power to contain himself from leaping across the table. But Kendral went on.
"I didn't want to hurt your boyfriend. I wasn't going to rape him, it was just, it was a pre-planned thing, Jessie told me what to do. Trust me, I'm not like that, I wouldn't do that to someone. You have to understand this, we aren't some evil masterminds, not like Lex or The Joker, we're just teenagers who were along for an easy ride. You guys were all Jessie's problem, and you know that. You can't get us on anything but robbery and assault. Jessie's going away for life, but the rest of us, we'll be on the streets in ten years, if not less for good behavior. And my brothers, they won't see a day in prison, they'll go into foster care." Kendral replied, he wasn't even sure if what he was saying was true, but he kept spouting it out as he went. He had seen enough tv shows to know that some things he was saying were right.
"You're right, you won't see much time, but when you get out, I'll still be here, watching you. And your brothers will have a good time in the circus with the rest of the freaks." Cody pushed in his chair and opened the door as Kendral stood in anger. "Don't even say it, I apologize for that, it wasn't the polite thing to say." He slammed the door shut, leaving Kendral alone in the small room, his anger building up.
Cody walked past the guards and smiled, nodding his head as he exited the jail. He took flight immediately, heading towards the space station.
Back on the station Adam was busying talking to Green Lantern.
"He was towering, he seemed to possess the whole room with his being. And all I saw was silver and muscle. Everything about his appearance was silver from the waist down, but he wasn't clothed from the waist up, he was just, muscle with wings. And they were white, shockingly white, not a trace of dirt on them. He was scary, but something about him was comforting him, he wasn't there to hurt me." Adam finished, hoping that Green Lantern would drop it at that.
"Did he have a weapon?"
"Yeah, this long blade, a sword, it had a golden hilt, and these strange gold designs on the blade. They shimmered in the dark of that building. He wielded it like he was an expert at it." Adam replied, knowing that the questions weren't coming to an end yet.
"What about the way he handled Jessie and Kendral?"
"I don't know what happened between him and Kendral. They fought outside of my view, but all I heard were a lot of grunts, like a struggle for the upper hand, and then he came back into the room by himself. The last thing I remember about Kendral was running by him afterwards, he was concious but tied tight to one of the support beams."
"And Jessie?"
"He wasn't rough with her, he just grabbed her and tied her to the support beam."
"Can you read his mind?" Green Lantern saved that question for last, knowing it made upset Adam.
"I don't know, I barely saw him, I can hardly describe, I don't know if I'd be able to find his wave lengths. I don't know if I want to know what is going on with him, he seemed like such a dark person, like he has so many things to hide." Adam replied, shaking his head from side to side.
"Please Adam, we need to know who this person is. Try." Green Lantern insisted, but he was compassionate with his appeal.
"okay, I'll try." Adam agreed and shut his eyes. He focused on the appearance, trying to find something to tie wavelengths together to get him inside this guys head. He found that it was easier than he would have thought. He was soon inside a head filled with images of flying people, wings of different colors on the backs of gorgeous and muscular people.
He could see them darting between each other heading towards buildings and land, all of them quick and impatient. The images faded and he saw a lone figure, young, a child with the same ominious wings flying in the dark, almost the pitch dark.
"He was young when he came to Earth, he came alone." Adam started and went back to searching through his mind.
The next thing he saw was a funeral, Green Lantern was there, and so was the boy, but he wasn't really there. The boy was watching, watching from a tree in the distant, a good deal off, his eyes were keen and he could see it all from his perch. Adam could even make out the image of Lois crying, and some of the other spectators, including the old commissioner. Then the boy took off, flew from his tree top into the sky.
Scenes faded in and out of Adam's head of a child in many different church basements. A trenchcoat covered his upperbody, but the bulge of those wings was apparent and discomforting. The scenes faded quickly, and Adam got the message that they were fading quickly because they were not long periods of time, like this boy was shuffled about alot.
And it settled on one church, a small, quaint church in the smallest of towns. A basement made beautiful by the white glow of those wings. A teenage boy standing there, a priest next to his side, smiling as they spoke of beautiful things and religion. The name Angel floated in and out of the conversation, it was the only thing that Adam could pick up on. And it made him believe that they called this teen Angel.
But that too faded, and the name Virtue blinked violently in and out of his concious. Scenes of crime flew into his head, and then scenes of this Virtue capturing thieves, and robbers, and any other criminal that came through his head was stopped by Virtue. The final image, as though it had come from the darkest point of this man's mind was a picture, a picture of beauty with a family. A man with black wings, and a woman with white wings, both of them holding a child in their hands. One was Hawkgirl, Adam could tell just from the shocking resemblence between the picture and the images he had seen of her as an adult. And the other one, although it was an infant, the wings were too white, the eyes too striking, it was Virtue.
Adam rubbed his eyes, opened them and stared at Green Lantern. Their was so much to say, so much to express, but this new revelation, that Virtue and Hawkgirl were perhaps brother and sister would carry a heavy blow to Green Lantern. But he knew that he had to tell him.
"He moved from home to home, church to church. He had to wear a large trenchcoat to cover his wings, but they all found out, he couldn't hide such a beautiful secret from people that wanted to love him. It's a shame, becuase they didn't love him after that. They just moved him on, almost all of them. But he found a home, a small church that accepted him for an angel, they even called him that, Angel. He learned religion, he even seemed to have made a strong friendship with the priest there. But that ended too, I didn't get a read on how, but it ended. He moved on to fighting crime, his mind is filled with every image of crime fighting that he has done."
"Was that all you found?" Green Lantern interrupted, much to the annoyance of Adam. "Sorry"
"It's alright,it wasn't all I found. When he was seven, when he came here, he was looking for someone. He was looking for Hawkgirl, he came in time for her funeral, He saw her casket, he saw you, he saw Lois, he seemingly saw everything about it. He read about it too, he is well known about the Justice League, at least, the old one, as for us, he just knows of us, not about us." Adam took a break to breathe, he was absentmindedly forgetting to take the time to do that in between words. "Anyways, he is Hawkgirl's brother, he came to find her for some reason, he found us."
"No, he's not, she never talked about her family. He's a liar." Green Lantern shook his head in anger, Adam just sat silently. "Go, I have to think about this alone."
Adam shook his head and walked out the door, he ran directly into Cody and stumbled backwards. His boyfriend laughed pulled him back to a steady position.
"In a hurry?"
"No, I was just, well I was just going back to my room. I was having a talk with Green Lantern, about the guy that saved me. It was strange, but I can't really talk about it, I think I'll wait and see if Green Lantern says anything to the rest of you. But in the mean time, what do you say we head down to Earth? I'm in the mood for a walk." Adam smiled.
"Well, I would say yes to that, but I have to take over for Pyro on the controls. But I'd be happy to take you down."
"No, that's okay, I'll take one of the shuttles down. I'll see you in a little bit." Adam leaned up and kissed Cody on the cheek as he made his way towards the space pods. He figured a trip back to the area that he had been captured would do him good. Green Lantern and Lois had both always told them that they should get over things quickly, because haunting reminders from the past weren't a good thing.
Adam landed the pod in the same field they had landed it on arrival for the battle. It was a little different though, him stepping out by himself, and it seemed like so much more was important about it. Of course, the fact that he could point out the spot where some of his friends had been knocked out at, and the spot where he had been taken from. So that was all of importance for him to remember.
As he walked across the field he picked up strong readings of Virtue, they were flooding into his head, images of the battle and he could vividly see now that Virtue had been watching the whole thing, almost like he had followed them to the battlefield to keep watch.
He wondered how none of them had picked up on the extra person in the area. Because in his head he could easily tell that Virtue was flying from tree to tree watching them, and as they moved closer to the buildings he was watching them from their rooftops. The winged man was secretive, but he could have been less obvious. But on the other hand, he had hidden his presence from them all up until the end of the battle, so it wasn't like he hadn't done a good enough job.
Adam walked around a tree and almost hit the floor for the second time in less than twenty minutes. Although this time the body bumping into him wasn't as familiar as he would have wished it to be. The arms that grabbed him and steadied him were just as strong as the familiar ones. Looking up he knew it was going to be Virtue staring down at him, he didn't need to even see the truth.
"I figured you would come back." Virtue spoke, his voice softer and more soothing than it was the day before. Adam tried to smile at him, hoping that Virtue wasn't going to be upset for some reason due to the bump in.
"Um, yeah, I was just, well..." Adam didn't know what to say, he couldn't really explain to this guy that he didn't know that he was down their trying to face the fact that he had almost been raped after being taken hostage. But for some reason he didn't think that he had to either. Virtue smiled down at him as he thought for words, and at that point he just stopped searching for the words to finish his sentence.
"Well, what do you say we sit down and talk? I know their's a lot you probably want to know, and to be honest, I want to know alot about you and your friends." Virtue sat down and Adam did so without thinking. "I guess you should start, you're questions will be less of a hassle than mine will."
"Okay" Adam began, trying to think. "Are you really Hawkgirl's brother?"
"Yes, I am the brother of Hawkgirl, but I am aware that she is deceased. I know that it is probably a shock to your leader, his relationship with my sister is well known to me." Virtue replied, a solemn look crossing over his face.
"How did you know he even knew?"
"I know your powers, all of you have them, and I imagined that you would be no different. I've been watching all of you, when I noticed that you rarely went on missions and spent most of your time with Cody or Lois following them I figured out that your powers must have been more mental than physical. After a short time I figured out that your power was mind reading, and it was proven to me when I watched you with Jessie, I could tell that you were doing it then." Virtue smiled at Adam, who was confused that anyone could tell he was using his powers. He didn't think he did anything to show them off. "I know that doesn't answer you question, but I imagined that if you could read minds that Green Lantern would want you reading mine, as mysterious as I was yesterday. And I know from watching him that he wouldn't believe what you told him, if I'm correct in assuming that you told him I was Hawkgirl's brother."
"Well, yes, that is what I told him, it's just really confusing. I mean, sure, we have our enemies, and they know stuff about us, but you're like, just some guy following us around. I mean, we never even knew you were out there until yesterday, and now I don't even think the others are convinced you really existed, besides Jasmine and Cody. The only reason they are convinced is because Jasmine saw you fly by, and Cody believes whatever I say. As for Green Lantern, he thinks you aren't Hawkgirl's brother, but I don't know who he does think you are." Adam replied.
"Green Lantern is only upset becuase he would feel betrayed if Hawkgirl did not tell him everything. Trust me, minds can play tricks on people, but they can not force you to believe such a rich history. And if you were to sit here and probe into my mind you would find that my history with my sister is quite rich and lengthy." Virtue smiled to himself, seemingly remember some childhood event from the past. Adam smiled over at him, wondering how he had ever been afraid of him to being with.
"Well, what about you, why haven't you ever come to meet us? Or at least tried to let us know you were here?" Adam asked.
"It wasn't my time yet, I was only here to find my sister, not join your ranks for justice. I have watched and bided my time, it was only yesterday that I knew you were in need of me, now I will sit and wait like before, until I am needed again." Virtue replied.
"You could stay with us though, we could always use new help, after all, we're all still learning, Jessie was the biggest thing we've ever been put up against, and you saw how that went. You could help us out a lot." Adam was almost begging at this point, to which Virtue just waved his hand and silenced him.
"Let's not talk about me and my situation, instead I want to learn about the deaths of the former Justice League, if you know the stories, I would like to hear them." Virtue spoke and waited for Adam to answer, it took him a second to think of where to start, whose story to start with, they were all so long and sad. Finally he chose a spot.
"Well you know about your sister's death...right?" Virtue shook his head and Adam continued. "Well she was the last to die, I mean, besides Green Lantern and Lois who are both still alive. But before that the rest of them, Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman, Flash, and Robin all died. Not to mention the other heroes, the original Nightwing and Batgirl. It wasn't like it just happened, I mean it was all a progressive thing, just mistakes in battles. But it took a toll on them each time. I guess it all started with Superman, Lex took claim for that. It was kryptonite, not that it could have been anything else, but it was just the right weapon of choice that time. Lex didn't even show remorse for doing it, not with Lois there or anything, and he knew that he was going to be leaving Cody fatherless. But I've learned that Lex is like that." Adam stopped for a second. He thought more about the events he had learned, the files had told so much, but he didn't want to repeat it all, he didn't even know how long he was going to be able to hold Virtue's attention.
"Go on." He snapped back to the present as Virtue urged him on.
"Well the Dynamic Duo and Batgirl died around the same time. The Joker caught Robin, and he was still a late teenager, he was too young, but that didn't stop him, it never does. Joker tortured him, but Robin wouldn't reveal their identities. No one knows what happened whether the Joker pushed him to far or whether he just couldn't take the secret anymore, but he killed himself, Batman and Batgirl found him in the warehouse that Joker left him in about two weeks later, he was still in a pool of blood. Batman went in search of the Joker while the rest of the League mourned, they told him to wait, he wasn't like that. Of course, Batgirl and Nightwing had to find him in a similar situation, his mask off and his face doubled up with a killer smile. Batgirl seemed to have lost it just like Batman, she found the joker and radio'd back to the station, Lois said they thought they had finally caught him, but it seems that Harley shot her from behind right after she ended the transmission. Nightwing hung up his cloak after that, he said they were all too human to be doing what they were doing. He taught the new Nightwing everything he knows, but not even he knows where he is now."
"It might be for the better, some dark secrets can't be overcome. The Joker was a sinister villian, one that I am not sure even that dark group of heroes could have vanquished for good. What about the other's, Flash and Wonderwoman...how did they meet their ends?" Virtue asked, once again pushing Adam to move on from the horrible memories in his head.
"Both fell to Lex, just like Superman. He took out Flash when he was sleeping. Green Lantern, Lois, Hawkgirl and Wonderwoman blamed themselves, and each other. None of them were sure it happened, but some how Lex got into the compound without making a noise, none of them heard the doors opening and closing behind him, or the arrival of a shuttle or pod. The only noise they heard was the shot that killed Flash, and by the time they got into his room to find out what had happened, it was too late, he was dead, and Lex was gone. But at the time they didn't even know that it was him who had kill Flash. He didn't admit it until his court case, he didn't admit any murders until his court case." Adam stopped and cringed with anger. "I'm not a hate filled person, but I'll be honest with you, I wish he would have died for it all. But by the time they caught him it was too late, because the death penalty had been abolished. Talk about bad luck, or in his case good luck." Adam tried to make a joke, but he couldn't laugh at it. He found himself becoming emotionally upset at all the tales he was trying to recall.
"I'm sorry to urge you on Adam, and I feel for you, I can tell that these stories are not easy to bring back to the present. But please, tell me about Wonderwoman, I want to know of how she met her end as well." Virtue smiled thoughtfully at Adam, and he moved on.
"Lex did that too, well not Lex himself, but one of his men. Lex was trying to escape from the police and the remainder of the Justice League when one of his men through a grenade or bomb, one of the two back at them. It hit a building and the building crushed Wonderwoman. The chase ended there and so did Wonderwoman's life. Green Lantern and John insisted that they leave her untouched, let the tomb that she was buried in be an honor to her life and service to the world. They managed to find her lasso though, Hawkgirl and Lois insisted that they send it back to her island, for her family and ancestors to remember her by. And after that it just sort of fell apart. John went out into space, he took the old pod and headed out, saying that some where else would need him more. Lex was the only real criminal left, the others were dead, even the Joker at that point. But Green Lantern and Lois both agree that John left becuase he couldn't remain and watch the end that he knew was at hand. He couldn't go home to Mars, but Earth was no longer his home. If he had stayed maybe he would have been able to save Hawkgirl. Maybe things could have changed."
"Trust me Adam, I watched my sister die, I watched her fall from the sky, and I watched Green Lantern try to save her. But no one could have saved her, it was not John's fault, nor was it Green Lantern's. And perhaps you should convey that message to him, because I feel as though he should know that I do not hold him responsible, although I can see it in his eyes that he holds himself in that position already." Virtue stood up and Adam followed suit.
"What about you, are you just going to disappear again?" Adam asked, hoping that it wasn't the truth. But deep down he knew the answer was going to be yes.
"Not without some more words. But you must promise me this, that besides telling Green Lantern the message I just gave you, that you will also keep my next message a secret to yourself. Not forever, because when you uncover what it means, and when you know that it is entirely true you will want to tell the world. But until then I ask that you keep it a secret, because if you mislead someone it could hurt them deeply."
"I swear." Adam replied.
"Good, I wish only to say that in life, paths cross frequently, as will ours in the future, and the mine with the rest of your friends. But that is to say, that even paths from the past will cross with those of the present. And in life, sometimes heroes choose to no longer live the life that they chose, sometimes other callings are more important then even the lives of all they must defend. The original Nightwing and John were not the only members of the League to disappear in life, and although you think all your former members, the predecessors to you all to be dead, you may wish to look harder, and find that more than just Green Lantern grace their Earth with their life."
Adam wanted to ask Virtue what he meant, but before he could the mysterious man was gone. Leaving him with a hundred questions running through his head. As he walked back to the space pod he thought about a lot of things, like how he was going to tell Green Lantern that Virtue didn't think it was his fault for Hawkgirl's death. He didn't even know what that meant, Green Lantern never really liked to talk about it. And then their was the task of figuring out this secret, he wished to know it now more than anything else he could think of. Plus he had never kept a secret from Cody, which he knew would prove to be the hardest task of all that were not present on his mind.
He sighed and started the pod, at least he could relax with Cody when he got back. He was in the mood for some of that.
So quite a bit happened in this story, but it was more just a relaying of history. So now you know what happened to all the old heroes, at least in this story. Of course, one of the old heroes is still alive according to Virtue, could this be a lie, some type of trick or is Virtue telling the truth? How will Adam find out who it is that Virtue speaks of? Find out next time.
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Thanks for reading.