Fic [DCU]: Unintended Legacies - Next gen ensemble, PG
Title: Uninteded Legacies
Fandom: DCU next gen
Rating: PG
Word Count 855
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: It's a good thing Damian never set out to make friends and form a team. Otherwise, it might never have happened.
A/N: Done for modestroad's comment_fic prompt: "DCU, any/any, So it starts."
So it starts. It starts with two boys running around the sewers of Gotham. It starts when one of the boys, the redhead in bandaids and torn flannel, tells the other boy that it might be fun to see who else wants to do what they do. The other boy sniffs defiantly and cringes internally. He is barely ready to call this one "friend" he doesn't know if he is ready to put up with any others (if any others are willing to put up with him.)
*
But then she shows up. With her bright red pigtails and her even brighter red and white costume. She says silly things that make Colin laugh and Damian scoff, and the fact that she zips around so fast frustrates one to no end and amuses the other even more. Damian wishes he could pull those pigtails. Just once. She seems to know this. But she sticks around anyway. Damian is certain she does it to torment him.
*
The alien is different. According to Drake, he is not like the clone. He is truly Kryptonian, but like the original Impulse, he has been speed-grown and jettisoned back to childhood in a bewildering whirl of generation, degeneration, suspended animation, changed time-flow, and other experiences. His admiration of Drake puts Damian on edge. Damian doesn't like how he can't seem to phase him. Iris comments that it is probably because he was once an adult, and views Damian's tendency to threaten people as a sign of insecurity. Iris occasionally says pseudo-intellectual garbage like that. (She cut her pigtails off a year ago. This annoys Damian even more because he still wants to pull them, and now they aren't there.)
Still, when Abuse's power goes out of control, and he destroys about half a city block, it's the phantom zoner that stops him from destroying the rest of it. The only one strong enough. And when Collin wakes, he is so relieved that the alien was there to stop him... that Damian has no choice but to agree that he can stay.
*
"He's my brother. What's more, he's my twin. If I can stay, he can stay."
"I never said you could stay, Impulse. You presumptuously--"
"C'mon, Damian. Irey is right and it wouldn't hurt to... hey, is that a Green Lantern Combat Zone IV shirt?"
"Yeah. Love that game."
"Cool! We need some new players. Collin's gonna be thrilled."
"Ttt."
"Damian, he stays. Jai, welcome to our humble headquarters."
"Thanks, Chris."
*
They hang out. They fight crime. It's not like they really need a name. Or a mission statement. Grayson once jokingly referred to them as "Damian's Tiny Titans." But that ended when Damian put blood in his coffee in retaliation. Pennyworth was displeased, but still made cookies for the group.
But everything changes... becomes official when they find themselves fighting a collection of occult interlopers near a place called Happy Harbor. The cult members are using the blood of criminals to resurrect dead children. In theory, Damian supports the idea, but too many innocents have been caught in the crossfire. Intervention is critical. They stop the murders, but not before the resurrection ritual takes place.
Among the resurrected children, stands a girl with shoulder-length black hair and a certain awareness to her that all the other children lack. While the others are wondering about listlessly, confused about their return to the living, she walks directly to the pile of slain corpses--the sacrificed criminals--and gets down on her knees. She pulls at a hand with painted nails and a jade cuff. She pushes the other bodies off the woman and stares. If Damian recalls his files correctly (he always does) the thief's name is Cheshire, and she was one of the few willing victims that the cult acquired.
The girl, apparently, doesn't give a damn if the woman was willing or not. She grabs a pistol off one of the fallen cult scum and checks to make sure it's loaded. She turns to him, and identifies him as leader (she's observant like that, it would seem).
"Let's get the rest of them," she says.
Damian nods.
The West twins are already on the move. Kent is in the air, doing recon. Colin handles the civilians. Damian and the girl focus on just making the killers hurt.
When it's all over, news anchors and cameras crowd around them, questioning them, congratulating them, and criticizing them. Damian wants to snarl at the lot, but Iris and Kent are looking at him like they expect it, so he holds his tongue.
It's the girl that steps forward, as the inquisition intensifies. For she is savvy where he is insulting.
The questions are atrocious. Asking if they are the aren't rather small to be fighting such big bad men, if they have any plans to pay for the damage, if they are the new superhero team of New York. Or worse, if they are the new Teen Titans.
Her answer is eloquent and perfect.
"We're not teens and we're not Titans. We're young. And we're just us."
f.i.n.
[ *]
Fandom: DCU next gen
Rating: PG
Word Count 855
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: It's a good thing Damian never set out to make friends and form a team. Otherwise, it might never have happened.
A/N: Done for modestroad's comment_fic prompt: "DCU, any/any, So it starts."
So it starts. It starts with two boys running around the sewers of Gotham. It starts when one of the boys, the redhead in bandaids and torn flannel, tells the other boy that it might be fun to see who else wants to do what they do. The other boy sniffs defiantly and cringes internally. He is barely ready to call this one "friend" he doesn't know if he is ready to put up with any others (if any others are willing to put up with him.)
*
But then she shows up. With her bright red pigtails and her even brighter red and white costume. She says silly things that make Colin laugh and Damian scoff, and the fact that she zips around so fast frustrates one to no end and amuses the other even more. Damian wishes he could pull those pigtails. Just once. She seems to know this. But she sticks around anyway. Damian is certain she does it to torment him.
*
The alien is different. According to Drake, he is not like the clone. He is truly Kryptonian, but like the original Impulse, he has been speed-grown and jettisoned back to childhood in a bewildering whirl of generation, degeneration, suspended animation, changed time-flow, and other experiences. His admiration of Drake puts Damian on edge. Damian doesn't like how he can't seem to phase him. Iris comments that it is probably because he was once an adult, and views Damian's tendency to threaten people as a sign of insecurity. Iris occasionally says pseudo-intellectual garbage like that. (She cut her pigtails off a year ago. This annoys Damian even more because he still wants to pull them, and now they aren't there.)
Still, when Abuse's power goes out of control, and he destroys about half a city block, it's the phantom zoner that stops him from destroying the rest of it. The only one strong enough. And when Collin wakes, he is so relieved that the alien was there to stop him... that Damian has no choice but to agree that he can stay.
*
"He's my brother. What's more, he's my twin. If I can stay, he can stay."
"I never said you could stay, Impulse. You presumptuously--"
"C'mon, Damian. Irey is right and it wouldn't hurt to... hey, is that a Green Lantern Combat Zone IV shirt?"
"Yeah. Love that game."
"Cool! We need some new players. Collin's gonna be thrilled."
"Ttt."
"Damian, he stays. Jai, welcome to our humble headquarters."
"Thanks, Chris."
*
They hang out. They fight crime. It's not like they really need a name. Or a mission statement. Grayson once jokingly referred to them as "Damian's Tiny Titans." But that ended when Damian put blood in his coffee in retaliation. Pennyworth was displeased, but still made cookies for the group.
But everything changes... becomes official when they find themselves fighting a collection of occult interlopers near a place called Happy Harbor. The cult members are using the blood of criminals to resurrect dead children. In theory, Damian supports the idea, but too many innocents have been caught in the crossfire. Intervention is critical. They stop the murders, but not before the resurrection ritual takes place.
Among the resurrected children, stands a girl with shoulder-length black hair and a certain awareness to her that all the other children lack. While the others are wondering about listlessly, confused about their return to the living, she walks directly to the pile of slain corpses--the sacrificed criminals--and gets down on her knees. She pulls at a hand with painted nails and a jade cuff. She pushes the other bodies off the woman and stares. If Damian recalls his files correctly (he always does) the thief's name is Cheshire, and she was one of the few willing victims that the cult acquired.
The girl, apparently, doesn't give a damn if the woman was willing or not. She grabs a pistol off one of the fallen cult scum and checks to make sure it's loaded. She turns to him, and identifies him as leader (she's observant like that, it would seem).
"Let's get the rest of them," she says.
Damian nods.
The West twins are already on the move. Kent is in the air, doing recon. Colin handles the civilians. Damian and the girl focus on just making the killers hurt.
When it's all over, news anchors and cameras crowd around them, questioning them, congratulating them, and criticizing them. Damian wants to snarl at the lot, but Iris and Kent are looking at him like they expect it, so he holds his tongue.
It's the girl that steps forward, as the inquisition intensifies. For she is savvy where he is insulting.
The questions are atrocious. Asking if they are the aren't rather small to be fighting such big bad men, if they have any plans to pay for the damage, if they are the new superhero team of New York. Or worse, if they are the new Teen Titans.
Her answer is eloquent and perfect.
"We're not teens and we're not Titans. We're young. And we're just us."
f.i.n.
[ *]