Young Justice

Happy Harbor, Rhode Island was not unlike most other small fishing/port cities along The East Coast. Quaint, quiet, and unassuming. However, behind its idyllic seaside aesthetic hid a secret purpose. While not the most obvious location for a superhero team’s base there was a certain genius to it. Most people don’t even know the town even existed let alone predict its housing of a place where superbeings might rest and organize. A useful veil of mundanity.

Jonah stood on a cool rocky beach nestled at the foot of a tall hill. Or maybe it was a short mountain? He didn’t know the difference. This was the location Robin selected as their meeting spot. Jonah wasn’t sure what he had in store for him. A friendly meeting? A recruitment pitch? A test?

“Porter! Glad you could make it.” Robin appeared behind the thinking man. Despite wearing bright red, the young hero had managed to sneak up behind him without creating a single sound. It was freaky.

“Glad to be here.” Jonah shook Robin’s hand “Quite the place you’ve got here. Do we have to hike to get to the front door or something.”

Robin laughed as Jonah looked up at the steep elevation above them. He confidently walked towards a stone cliff facing the beach. Within two meters of the wall a camera popped out and ‘scanned’ the hero with a blue light. The cliff chimed and a slab of rock rumbled upwards revealing a secret entrance. Jonah followed quickly behind, afraid that the door might close before he could get into the secret interior.

Inside the mountain was an elaborate underground base which at one time must have been a bustling center of activity. All the designs within were sleek but underused. A lot of empty rooms storing nothing but dust.

“At one point all this was a key Justice League base of operations. Long before the Watchtower overlooked the Earth JL activity was managed with regional locations like this. Or at least in friendly nations.” Robin explained as he steered Jonah through the halls.

“Must have been expensive.”

“You’d be surprised how much money you can save when your construction crew includes superpowered individuals.” Robin stopped at one of the many identical white, metal doors “Oh and our tax-free status.”

“What like a church?”

Instead of answering his question Robin opened the door with a wide swing. The room that he had brought Jonah to seemed to be a common area for the base. The large space had a living room, a dining area, a kitchen, and plenty of floor space. Spread throughout were numerous young heroes partaking in various activities ranging from video games to baking.

“Would everybody please give a warm welcome to Porter. I am giving him a tour of the facilities and an insight into our team.” Robin announced to varying reactions.

The Team consisted of the following members:

• Robin: Crime fighting detective, de facto leader, Batman’s sidekick, Friendly and open to Porter.

• Bunker: Hispanic male, purple costume, can summon/control bricks, friendly personality, got really close to Porter while introducing himself.

• Wonder Girl: Blonde tomboy sidekick of Wonder Woman. Porter remembers meeting her once or twice before. She seemed to like him at the time but now she was giving him extra attention. Or maybe he really was that funny.

• Spoiler: Street level crime fighter with a purple color scheme. Seemed to stick close to Robin. Thick Gotham accent, rough around the edges. Reminded Porter of himself at that age.

• Artemis: Blonde archer with tan skin and mixed heritage. Wasn’t particularly interested in Porter or his appearance. Green costume with plenty of midriff showing.

• Super Boy: Like superman but smaller, younger, leather jacket, and shades. Porter thought that he was trying too hard to kick the boy scout act while still being a good man.

• Kid Flash: Speedster, formerly Impulse. Seemed to legitimately forgive and forget the cafeteria incident. Attempted to participate in three conversations simultaneously.

• Miss Martian: Martain with telepathy and shape shifting powers. Offered Porter freshly baked cookies (which were delicious). Cute but one of the biggest threats to Porter. He would keep his eyes on her.

• Blue Beetle: A Tejanos with an alien power suit fused to his back. The newest member of The Team. Serious, and well mannered.

All the members of The Team were around college aged: 18-21. It was clear even under the masks that Jonah was older than everyone else. But they were adults, so it didn’t make too much of a difference beyond superficial generational variances.

“I appreciate the hospitality that you all have given me so far, despite being a stranger.” Jonah was speaking to a group of heroes. Robin, Wonder Girl, and Miss Martain.

“You are always welcome here. We like the company” Wonder Girl said with an unnecessary touch on his shoulder.

“The very nature of hero work is to put trust in people without knowing much about them. Our hope is that The Team can exemplify this ideal. We understand that heroes, young ones especially, come to us with plenty of baggage and expectations. So, we try to focus and trust the individual as they come to us.”

“For many of us, this is the only place we can call home.” Miss Martian timidly added.

“That’s very admirable. I wish there was something like this when I was your age.” Or on my earth Jonah continued in his head.

“It still can be” Wonder Girl said, “Or if you just need some company from somebody who gets it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jonah flashed Wonder Girl a smile, understanding the flirtatious feelers she was throwing into the conversation. “Other than your mission statement, what do you guys do?”

“Well, we are both a public facing and secret organization.” Robin explained “Officially we are a subgroup under the Justice League. But in reality, we are also contracted by them to complete missions that are too dirty or small picture for the big-time leaguers. Some of our members are covert only.”

“Interesting.” Jonah thought about the implications of his statement. About the need for a covert team. “Do you guys have a name?”

“Not formally. We still haven’t decided. The press calls us ‘Young Justice’ or ‘Justice League Junior’. Others confuse us with the Titans. Right now, we just call ourselves ‘The Team’.”

During the conversation Jonah liberally used his pheromone powers on the female heroes. He also kept close track of who had what powers and how they could be a boon or a bane to his mission. He was laying the groundwork for future expansion of his ‘social circle’ but also guaranteeing a good first impression. By the time he was done even Robin was giving him a funny look when he spoke.

Robin was in the middle of explaining the virtues of Big Belly Burger when he was interrupted by an alarm sounding all around the room.

“What was that?” Jonah asked as the heroes around him sprang into action.

Robin quickly read his phone before announcing to the whole room “Hostage situation in Albany, looks like Intergang. Let’s head out team!” he turned to Jonah “Sorry Porter, looks like we have to cut the tour short.”

“I can stay and finish the tour.” Wonder Girl suggested.

“You sure?” Robin asked.

“Yeah. Besides you probably won’t need me if you have the rest of the team. If things get bad Porter can just take me there instantly. Right Porter?”

“Of course.” Jonah accepted, hoping that she wanted to get him alone for reasons beyond a tour.

Jonah watched as every other team member filtered out of the base through various methods later regrouping in the Empire State’s Capital.

“So.” Wonder Girl sat awkwardly on the kitchen countertop “Where should we begin?”