*a scenario of Ashley's Dragon dad appearing in Batman's mindscape similarly like how Grandeeney appear to Igneel who was in the mindscape of Natsu post-Tower of Heaven arc*
Atlas Flame: "Because, Dragon Slayer Magic is the only power that can actually harm a Dragon and make them bleed. Anything you throw at a Dragon, be they physical, magical and otherwise, they do not pierce through our mighty scales. It would be a wasted effort."
Batman: "I see. But who created it? Why would they use it against your own kind?"
Atlas Flame: "Let me tell you a tale about Irene Belserion, who was the ruler of Dragnof and the Queen of Dragons. The First Dragon Slayer..."
yeah.... I am pretty sure the Justice League and most people of DC would be somewhat horrified at finding out the origins of Dragon Slaying Magic and the Dragon's Civil War. If for no other reason than these sentient weapons of mass destruction basically had no regard for the humans caught in the cross fire of their war, even if one side recruited humans to fight. Analogia is literally the worst parts of dragon kind turned against dragon kind itself and made everyone else's problem.
Igneel, Grandeeney, Metalicana, Weisslogia and Skiadrum would be horrified if they learn Ashley didn't have antibodies to prevent Dragonification compared to their adopted kids: Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Sting and Rogue.
Of course we see Elefseria seemingly okay with that as he didn't suffer the same problem Irene Belserion did after fully becoming a Dragon. Shame that Irene never talked with Elefseria and learn how did he adjust post-Dragonification in the 100 Years Quest manga.
I think part of it was because Atlas Flame figured that Ashely could adjust to it and being a Dragon is naturally better then not being a Dragon so why wouldn't he make it so his kid would become a Dragon.
Justice League would wonder if the Dragons of Earth Land are like the equivalent of What If the dinosaurs still remained the dominant species of the planet, and it took a civil war between them plus the rise of a monster far worse than them to be rendered near extinct with humanity filling in the vacuum.
Probably not, Atlas Flame wouldn't want to tell a very young child he raised and trained to know the horrors of the Dragon Civil War and the rise of Acnologia that made all remaining Dragons including himself and also the Five Dragon Gods go into hiding.
The idea of a race of Dragons who are so powerful it takes a specific kind of Slayer Magic made to slay them.
The Justice League would be in a pickle if they fought just one Dragon of Earth Land. Or even Selene the Moon Dragon God who can use the All-Dimensional Magic, Aqua Area which allows her to travel to any dimension wherever she wanted.
She is also the reason why Edolas targeted Earth Land because if they use Anima on Elentear where she stayed there, she can easily destroy Edolas even if they use Dorma Anim weapon.
Imagine if Selene takes a peek at YJ Earth in one of her casual dimension travels and notice the human daughter of Atlas Flame the Hellflame Dragon...
I think part of it was because Atlas Flame figured that Ashley could adjust to it and being a Dragon is naturally better then not being a Dragon so why wouldn't he make it so his kid would become a Dragon.
That could work and also Ashley would learn Transformation Magic to assume her former human appearance for convenience's sake and to talk to her friends without scaring them with her gigantic flaming skeleton Dragon form.
I can see John Constantine, Zatara and Jason Blood/Etrigan be intrigued and see how Dragon Slayer worked. And probably horrified when they discover the side effects of slowly mutating the user into becoming a Dragon due to overuse of Dragon Slayer Magic.
Batman "so why would a Dragon teach Dragon Slaying magic to a human?
Ashley "Imagine the most powerful of these incredibly powerful nigh immortal beings with absurd intellects developed the personality of the Joker"
Batman tries to maintain his stoic facade whilst internally having a panic attack "I see"
yeah.... I am pretty sure the Justice League and most people of DC would be somewhat horrified at finding out the origins of Dragon Slaying Magic and the Dragon's Civil War. If for no other reason than these sentient weapons of mass destruction basically had no regard for the humans caught in the cross fire of their war, even if one side recruited humans to fight. Analogia is literally the worst parts of dragon kind turned against dragon kind itself and made everyone else's problem.
To be fair, it was less that humans just got randomly caught up in the conflict, and more that a few dragons stopped and went "hey actually isn't it pretty fucked up of us to conquer and basically enslave these other sentient creatures?" and that's what eventually led into the war. Humans may not have been able to do much before the invention of Dragon Slayer Magic, but they were pretty pivotal to the whole reason the war was even happening in the first place.
That could work and also Ashley would learn Transformation Magic to assume her former human appearance for convenience's sake and to talk to her friends without scaring them with her gigantic flaming skeleton Dragon form.
Eh, to be fair, being a "gigantic flaming skeleton dragon" is something I see as being very specific to Atlas Flame himself, rather than to Hellflame Dragons in general (though he's also the only Hellflame Dragon we know of, and a sample size of one is... not super helpful in determining these kinds of things).
Indeed they are first draft, I intend to do more sidestories as Batman learns more about Ash and updates his file on her. Though they probably won't be part of the regular updates either.
The idea of a race of Dragons who are so powerful it takes a specific kind of Slayer Magic made to slay them.
The Justice League would be in a pickle if they fought just one Dragon of Earth Land. Or even Selene the Moon Dragon God who can use the All-Dimensional Magic, Aqua Area which allows her to travel to any dimension wherever she wanted.
She is also the reason why Edolas targeted Earth Land because if they use Anima on Elentear where she stayed there, she can easily destroy Edolas even if they use Dorma Anim weapon.
Imagine if Selene takes a peek at YJ Earth in one of her casual dimension travels and notice the human daughter of Atlas Flame the Hellflame Dragon...
Fairy Tail has some pretty absurd stuff that outclasses a lot of JY stuff, not all of it but a majority of it especially later levels Fairy Tail stuff.
That could work and also Ashley would learn Transformation Magic to assume her former human appearance for convenience's sake and to talk to her friends without scaring them with her gigantic flaming skeleton Dragon form.
I can see John Constantine, Zatara and Jason Blood/Etrigan be intrigued and see how Dragon Slayer worked. And probably horrified when they discover the side effects of slowly mutating the user into becoming a Dragon due to overuse of Dragon Slayer Magic.
To be fair, it was less that humans just got randomly caught up in the conflict, and more that a few dragons stopped and went "hey actually isn't it pretty fucked up of us to conquer and basically enslave these other sentient creatures?" and that's what eventually led into the war. Humans may not have been able to do much before the invention of Dragon Slayer Magic, but they were pretty pivotal to the whole reason the war was even happening in the first place.
Eh, to be fair, being a "gigantic flaming skeleton dragon" is something I see as being very specific to Atlas Flame himself, rather than to Hellflame Dragons in general (though he's also the only Hellflame Dragon we know of, and a sample size of one is... not super helpful in determining these kinds of things).
Indeed they are first draft, I intend to do more sidestories as Batman learns more about Ash and updates his file on her. Though they probably won't be part of the regular updates either.
Fairy Tail has some pretty absurd stuff that outclasses a lot of JY stuff, not all of it but a majority of it especially later levels Fairy Tail stuff.
They would be wondering how Earth Land's environment and resources managed to support such many Dragons being the dominant species without seemingly running out.
It's possible. Like Purgatory Dragon Slayer Magic (one of the eight Dragon Lacrimas - hearts of Dragons - used by God Serena) was way too similar with Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and didn't have any real differences at all.
They would be wondering how Earth Land's environment and resources managed to support such many Dragons being the dominant species without seemingly running out.
Most likely. There's also the fact Igneel and his fellow remaining Dragons conspired with Zeref and Anna Heartfilia that they will send their Dragon Slayer kids to the future via Eclipse Gate on July 7, X777. In that future, Ethernano is way more abundant and plentiful for the Dragons inhabiting within the bodies of their children to absorb and heal from their half-dead state caused by Acnologia.*
Then there's the Five Dragon Gods who managed to grow so powerful they allegedly became as strong as Acnologia while they're hiding at Guiltina. Or Selene might have been more powerful than her fellow male Dragon Gods as she was at Elentear, the Critical World of Magic where Magic Power is overabundant after going there.
*Weisslogia and Skiadrum should have been fully healed and whole during 7 years timeskip as Sting and Rogue were members of Sabertooth when it was the dominating #1 Guild at the time while Igneel, Grandeeney and Metalicana would get stunted of their healing because Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel were stuck in Fairy Sphere stasis with the Tenrou Team for 7 years, never aged or changing at all.
I fell behind as we walked, and by the time we reached the Mission Room, both Kaldur and Superboy had overtaken me.
It… wasn't exactly intentional on my part. At least, not at first. It was just… Well…
Okay, fine, I was nervous.
It wasn't like I hadn't met any of them before, but… That had been different. At the Tower of Fate, my concern had been helping out Kent at first, and then… Avenging him. It made it easier to focus on what I was doing, rather than who I was doing it with.
And sure, I'd talked to some of the other kid heroes since then. But those had been… smaller situations. More controlled, I guess. This would be the first time I was gonna be around to actually talk to all of them, instead of just one or two at a time.
It was stupid. I shouldn't be feeling like this, not with just talking. I was a goddamn Dragon Slayer! I was a badass!
… But then, this wasn't exactly a type of situation I was used to. I could fight off some asshole trying to rob the people who already struggled, and I could apparently hold my own against even villains – or at least, some villains. But thinking about it, I'd… never really been in a situation with a bunch of other kids close to my own age. I'd always been either significantly younger or older than most other people I've known throughout my life. Weird.
Plus, these weren't normal kids, not any more than I was. These were heroes, at least three of whom have been doing this whole thing for years now, while I was just starting out. I guess… I was nervous about making a good first impression. Or, uh, second or third impression for most of them, I guess.
These thoughts carried me all the way to the Mission Room, where everyone was gathering. Looking up, I could see that Batman had returned, and was standing by Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter, overlooking the rest of the group. Kaldur and Superboy were both walking up to join Wally, Artemis, and Miss Martian, all three of whom were decked out in full hero gear. Wally's Kid Flash costume was the most recognizable, all yellow and red, though I swear it looked slightly more armored than the few glimpses of it I'd seen publicly broadcast over places like the Times Square jumbo screens. Miss Martian has a white shirt with red lines crossing over her torso, and a blue skirt (wonder just how practical it was) and cape. Artemis was masked and dressed in green, with an exposed midriff, carrying a… bow. Huh.
There was one other person there I hadn't met before, though I'd briefly seen him at the funeral for Kent Nelson. Easily the youngest person there (unless someone here was way younger than they looked), a dark-haired, barely-teenaged boy dressed in a red, lightly-armored suit underneath a black cape with a yellow interior. An "R" was emblazoned on one side of his chest, over his heart, and his eyes were hidden beneath a domino mask. Robin, the Boy Wonder.
Robin was actually the first of the Team to notice me, though all three of the older heroes had glanced at me just a few moments before him. His eyebrow raised, his oddly expressive mask highlighting the movement. Wally noticed me a second later, and his face split into a grin as I approached.
Unfortunately, he was the only one who seemed happy to see me. The older heroes kept neutral expressions, at least, but Artemis narrowed her eyes when she saw me, and as for Miss Martian…
Well, I'd never really encountered a situation where someone seeing me caused them to flinch away from me reflexively, but I doubted it was a good sign. Thankfully, it was only a very slight reaction, and Martian Manhunter laid a hand on her shoulder afterwards, a calming gesture. I wonder if he'd talked to her about me earlier?
I stopped a little ways away from the group as Superboy and Kaldur joined the rest of them. Batman nodded at me, then turned to face everyone else.
"Team." The younger heroes straightened out and looked at him as he spoke. "I didn't have you all gather today for a mission. Instead, I wanted to formally introduce you," he gestured towards me, "to Ash. Your new teammate."
As one, the entire Team turned to look at me as I shuffled awkwardly in place. Five of the gazes had no surprise in them at this point, even as one of those was clearly quite nervous about the whole deal, and another seemed a little suspicious behind that domino mask. The last gaze, on the other hand, was taken aback.
"Really? Her?" Artemis all but demanded, glancing away from me to look at Batman. The older hero simply met her glare evenly, and after a moment, Artemis looked away, rubbing at her arm.
… That was definitely some kind of byplay, but I had no idea what the context behind it was.
A yellow blur raced up, resolving itself into Wally once he stopped in front of me. "Hey, you joined! Awesome!"
"Y-yeah, I guess it is." I chuckled a little, rubbing at the back of my head. "I hope you guys don't mind, I promise I'll do my best to help you all out."
"We do not mind in the least," Kaldur piped up, striding forward and offering his hand, which I shook. "Welcome to the Team."
I smiled a little at that, before glancing up at the others. Superboy gave me a respectful nod when he met my eyes, while Artemis and Robin were both a little more reserved… Not necessarily judgemental (I hoped), but not exactly enthused either.
Miss Martian, on the other hand, refused to meet my eyes, though she did at least give me a polite smile when I glanced at her, even as her eyes darted away. Martian Manhunter placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she still didn't fully relax.
I frowned, even as Batman began going into the specifics of the "probationary period" I'd be joining the Team under. I wanted to work with these people, and while I obviously didn't expect everyone to be as accepting as Wally had been, the way the Martian girl seemed terrified just being around me…
There had to be something I could do about that.
* * * * *
Unfortunately, I didn't really have a chance to do anything about it yet.
As soon as Batman had adjourned the meeting, Miss Martian had… not quite fled, but only just not, down the Mountain's hallways, apparently back to the room she was staying in. Superboy had looked concerned, almost like he was considering following her, but ultimately he headed back towards the lounge. Probably back to watching static or something.
I probably could have gone after Miss Martian myself, but, well… Given just how little she seemed to want to be around me, it was probably not the best idea to go invading her personal space just yet. We were both gonna be living here, so hopefully I'd get a chance to talk to her later on. We were bound to eventually run into each other, at any rate. Maybe a better opportunity would offer itself.
Besides, Batman had pulled me aside just after the meeting ended to talk to me. Apparently, the League wanted to get me checked out by a doctor, to make sure I was healthy and junk. Which… was probably a good idea, given that I could still count the individual ribs through my skin when my shirt was off, if only just. I just hoped they wouldn't be poking and prodding me too much. And that it wasn't in a hospital, I hated the smell of hospitals.
After that, I eventually made my way down to the kitchen again, and yep, I could hear the static from the TV right next door, where Superboy was. I wasn't sure why the guy liked static so much, but whatever, it wasn't like I was one to judge for something like that.
Now, let's see what else there is to eat, I mused as I started rummaging through the cupboards and the fridge.
Hmm… Okay, there was some lunch meat, a bit of mayo… Ooh, there was some bread over here too. Mmm, a couple of veggies, some more condiments… And a knife to spread it all with…
It wasn't long before I had a decent little sandwich created. I licked my lips, picking it up in one hand, loosely holding the used knife in the other. I should probably wash it off, but first, to eat. I raised it up to take a bite–
"Hey, that looks good!"
– and immediately yelped and spun around, the knife snapping up into a reverse grip as I pulled the food to my chest, not willing to let another squatter steal it from me when I worked so hard just to find something to eat for once–
No, wait. That was a black cape, a red bodysuit. That was Robin. I was in the Mountain, and pointing a butter knife at Robin the Boy Wonder like I was about to shank him over a sandwich. He was raising his hands in mock surrender, a shit-eating grin on his face. With an effort, I released a breath and pulled myself up from the crouch I'd unconsciously slipped into.
"Jeez, don't scare me like that, you dick," I huffed out, taking a bite of my sandwich to calm myself down. At least I hadn't thrown the knife this time.
Robin just chuckled. "What, I can't come say hi to the new girl?"
"Not if you're gonna sneak up on me."
He raised an eyebrow at me talking with my mouth full. "Well, I can see why KF likes you, at least."
I scowled, moving myself over to the sink and turning it on to rinse the knife off. I swallowed as I did so, and once my back was to him, I flared my nostrils as I scented the room. It wasn't really that easy to sneak up on me, not with my sense of smell, unless you were downwind or covered by an overpowering scent. And while the sandwich did small good, it was hardly overpowering.
But I'd noticed something, the last couple of times I'd been around Batman, something that had been… throwing me off. And given that Robin managed to sneak up on me… I'd bet if I scented the room, I could confirm…
… Yeah. Robin didn't have a scent.
Or at least, whatever scent he did have was… muffled, somehow. Like a sound just on the edge of your hearing, that you know is there but that you can't make out, no matter how hard you strain. Batman had been the same way.
It… threw me off more than I liked to admit. I wasn't sure how it was for normal people, but… Having a person with no scent felt like… like seeing someone as only a silhouette, even when the room is brightly lit. It was knowing there should be something there, but it wasn't, a final step missing from a staircase.
I didn't like it.
Once I'd finished rinsing the knife off, throwing it into the sink and turning the water off, I took another bite of my sandwich and turned back around. Robin was still there, but he'd moved, and was sitting on one of the counters, that same shit-eating grin still on his face as he looked expectantly at me. I swallowed quickly.
"Do you want something?" I bit out at him.
Robin shrugged. "Just curious about you."
A beat of silence, then I quirked an eyebrow of my own. "... Are ya gonna ask me anything, then?" I asked, unable to keep a note of annoyance out of my voice.
"Mmm… Maybe later," he said.
I sighed, my un-sandwich-occupied hand coming up to rub the bridge of my nose. "So, you're just here to, what, annoy me or something?"
His grin slid into a smirk. "Guess you're not feeling the aster, then."
… What?
"Whelp, it's been fun to meet you," Robin continued, dropping off the counter. "But Bats is expecting me back in Gotham. Guess I'll see you around, Ash. Stay whelmed!" And with that, he turned and walked off, leaving me staring after him.
Aster? Whelmed? What the hell was he talking about? Those weren't words, were they? Not in English. Unless they were, like, words no one used anymore, from ye olden days, or the kinds of stuff only old stuffy professors in fancy universities used.
… Or he wanted to see if that's what I thought they were. I… Most of the big words I knew, I learned about in books I read, but I admit I didn't always know things like pronunciations or exact meanings, not the same way someone who actually had an education would.
… Had… had that little shit been making fun of me?!
I snarled, barely keeping myself from smooshing the rest of my sandwich by balling up my fist, and stalked out of the kitchen. Superboy gave me a confused glance as I passed him by, but I ignored him, heading back down to the hallway where all the rooms were.
I needed to pick one out anyways. And… I didn't really wanna talk to anyone else right now.
Great first day on the Team.
Ash makes some impressions, and some impressions get made on her. Robin is definitely trying to troll her here, but alas, he probably didn't mean to push those buttons in particular. But still, surely our emotional, traumatized Dragon Slayer can talk herself through it with maturity and grace to see he didn't really mean to! ... Right?
Welp. Deliberately sneaking up and startling people, annoying them, making a bunch of in-jokes that the newbie can't possibly know, then running off. Robin's a little shit.
"Really? Her?" Artemis all but demanded, glancing away from me to look at Batman. The older hero simply met her glare evenly, and after a moment, Artemis looked away, rubbing at her arm.
Besides, Batman had pulled me aside just after the meeting ended to talk to me. Apparently, the League wanted to get me checked out by a doctor, to make sure I was healthy and junk. Which… was probably a good idea, given that I could still count the individual ribs through my skin when my shirt was off, if only just. I just hoped they wouldn't be poking and prodding me too much. And that it wasn't in a hospital, I hated the smell of hospitals.
It… threw me off more than I liked to admit. I wasn't sure how it was for normal people, but… Having a person with no scent felt like… like seeing someone as only a silhouette, even when the room is brightly lit. It was knowing there should be something there, but it wasn't, a final step missing from a staircase.
She's really tired and stressed given all she's gone through in recent times and pretty much only Kaldur and Wally are the people she's on decent terms with. But she's gotta keep her eye on the ball she's here for training, protection, and the ability to get Fate a host. Making friends is a nice bonus and a good thing but not mandatory.
To be fair, YJ Robin can be introspective. He was pretty quick to admit that Kaldur was better suited to be a leader once he got over himself in Santa Prisca, and after the failed training simulator, he probably had the most solid grasp of his own psyche out of the entire Team, or at least the most solid that admitted his shit to Canary afterwards.
It's just that, well... He's a snarky little shit the rest of the time.
Black Canary looked up as I exited the Zeta Tube, Batman following from right behind me. She turned away from her little… hologram… computer thingy as we walked up. "I was wondering where you ran off to," she said. "Superboy told me Batman had taken you somewhere."
I nodded, scratching at the bandage on my forearm, one decorated with… some kinds of cartoon characters? I assumed? I'd never really watched much TV, save for those kinds of news broadcasts that got put up on the giant Times Square screens or playing in the shops where anyone off the street could see them. "Yeah, doctor's," I said shortly.
Canary blinked at me, then turned to Batman. "I thought you only brought up the possibility a couple of days ago."
"The sooner we get it done, the better." With that short explanation, he turned and strode off into the Mountain, cape billowing behind him.
Canary frowned after him. "That was a different kind of grumpy than usual…" She glanced back over at me. "Did anything… unusual happen while you two were there?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure what would be unusual. I've never really been to the doctor's before today."
"Hmm." Canary motioned for me to follow her, and we started walking. "Well, why don't you just tell me what happened? Or, at least what you're comfortable with."
"Sure." I hummed in thought for a moment. "Well, first, we ended up going to a… I think it was called STAR Labs? Batman said they're normally a research, uh, institute, but they do have a few medical doctors on staff too, and I guess they knew I was… Well, not normal going in. If not exactly how I wasn't normal."
"Makes sense to me, though, how did you know they weren't aware of your exact powers?"
"Well…"
* * *
"... Well, according to this, you're dead."
I glanced up from where I was sitting in confusion. The doctor who was performing my checkup, one Dr. Rodriguez, was frowning down at the digital thermometer she had been using on me just a moment ago. "That, or this thing's malfunctioning," she muttered, then glanced up at me. "Unless you normally have a temperature of over 40 degrees Celsius?"
"... I don't know, but that doesn't sound that surprising," I responded with a shrug.
"Oh?" The doctor raised an eyebrow, framing the glasses she wore. "Why is that?"
"Because I can do this." And, without thinking, I raised my arm up and set it on fire.
* * *
I chuckled sheepishly. "Damn near gave her a heart attack. I did apologize afterwards, though."
Black Canary glanced away from me, and I swore I could hear her start to snicker before cutting herself off. After a moment, she looked back at me. "Yes, that wasn't very nice of you. We probably shouldn't be making a habit of scaring off the doctors who are willing to treat us."
"Yeah… That woman definitely deserves a raise after putting up with me all day."
"... Don't tell me it got worse after that."
"So, about that…"
* * * Crunch.
I gagged and turned my head, spitting out the half of the wooden "depressor" I'd accidentally bit down on. Coughing, I looked back at Dr. Rodriguez, who was standing there holding the other half and giving me a deadpan stare.
"Heheh… Sorry…" I said with a shaky grin. "Probably shouldn't have tried to actually answer you there, huh?"
The doc just sighed, and I heard her mutter "Lord grant me strength" under her breath.
* * *
Thwack.
The man, one "Nurse Smith", cursed and dropped the little hammer thing he'd hit my knee with, grabbing at that hand with the other with a wince.
"Oh, Jesus, sorry!" I gasped out, scrambling off the little table-bed-thing I'd been sitting on. "I'm so, so sorry, are you okay?"
He hissed in a breath through his teeth, but nodded. "Just a little bruised, I think."
Doc huffed from where she was standing nearby. "This is why I told you not to get in front of her when you tested her reflexes."
To be fair, he hadn't done it at first. But after the first few attempts failed to get me to react at all, I think he got a bit impatient. And also in the way.
* * *
Snap.
I looked down at the syringe. That was supposed to be the first of several shots that Batman insisted I get, spaced out over a few visits, to make sure I was all immunized and junk. I didn't think it was exactly necessary, since even living on the streets, I couldn't remember ever getting sick a day in my life, but he'd said it was better to be safe than sorry.
And now the needle had snapped clean in half when Doc had tried to push it through my skin into my vein.
She just… looked defeated at that. "Yeah. This might as well happen."
* * *
"Apparently, they actually do have stronger needles, meant to be used on people like me, she just… forgot to grab those ones at first," I finished with a shrug.
Canary just shook her head. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why Batman didn't inform them of your powers beforehand."
"You did say it usually takes more than a couple of days to make that kind of appointment, right? Maybe they were rushed in or something?"
"Probably." She sighed as we rounded another corner, approaching a room I hadn't been to yet. It looked almost like a lounge of some kind, but closed off instead of open like most of the other rooms in the Mountain, with windows set in the walls allowing me to see it. It looked like there was some kind of artificial waterfall on one of the walls inside, and plenty of plants as well.
"But, yeah, besides that, it went okay. I'm apparently underweight, big surprise, but they said I'd probably be able to recover pretty quickly if I follow a meal plan or whatever, so… Yeah." I followed Canary into the room, the doors opening and closing without us having to touch anything. "Also, Batman says he's working on getting me all that, like official document shit that I apparently need. So that's fun."
"I'm glad to hear that." Canary took a seat by one wall, and after a moment, I took a seat opposite from her. "... Ash, there was something I wanted to offer you."
"Yeah, I figured you were leading me here for a reason," I said, gesturing with my head at the room around us. "This place is kind of out of the way from the rest of the Mountain."
Canary took in a breath. "I don't suppose that Batman has mentioned anything about a psychological assessment to you?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, he mentioned something about that when he came to get me this morning. I'm… not sure how good I feel about letting some random shrink poke at my emotions, though…"
"Well, what if that 'random shrink' was me?"
I blinked, cocking my head. "You?"
She nodded. "I may not look it, but I do have some training in the field of psychology. It is a little unorthodox, I admit, but if you'd prefer to confide in someone you know at least a little over someone you've never met… Well, we've only had a few interactions so far, but it's better than nothing."
Canary gestured at the room as well. "The walls of this room are soundproofed, to the point even Superman can't hear what goes on in here – they checked with him when it was built – and as you noted, it's a bit out of the way compared to the rest of the Mountain, so it will give us a bit of privacy. Or we could have the sessions somewhere else, if you'd prefer."
I studied her for a moment, then bit my lip and looked away. "I'm… not sure…" I hedged.
Canary just nodded, thankfully not seeming upset. "Keep in mind, this is just an offer. You don't have to take me up on it at all if you don't want to. I just wanted to offer it to you while we both had a moment."
… I'll admit, the offer did sound… not terrible. I still wasn't sure if I was ready to spill my guts or anything, but… Well, if I had to do it to someone, I'd prefer it to be someone I trusted. And if I was gonna be working with this Team, with the Justice League, however indirectly, I should probably trust them. But still…
"... I don't think I'm ready," I said, sounding out the words slowly, "but… I'll think about it. Is that okay?"
Canary gave me a reassuring smile. "That's perfectly okay, Ash."
* * * * *
A couple hours later, I found myself sort of meandering out of my room and towards the lounge proper.
I wasn't that surprised to see Superboy on the couch again, watching the static as normal. What I was surprised to see was Miss Martian as well, clambering around in the kitchen. The smell of various foodstuffs told me she was probably cooking something, though I doubted she'd been at it for long.
It had been a couple of days since my introduction to the Team, and I'd barely seen her at all in that time, despite knowing we both lived in the Mountain. I wasn't sure if she was deliberately avoiding me, or if we just hadn't happened to cross paths, though I had my suspicions.
The girl wasn't in her hero uniform like the last time I saw her, but was wearing a sort of… light reddish skirt and jacket combo over a white blouse, with a darker hairband in her, well, hair. It was an interesting color choice in how in contrasted with her freckled green skin.
(... She might have been wearing the same thing back at the Tower of Fate, now that I think about it, but I'd had other things on my mind back then.)
She put down the bowl she'd been mixing things in and turned around to grab another box, and that's when she finally noticed I was there. She let out a small start of surprise, and a little "eep" under her breath, but after a moment she seemed to rally and floated up off the floor and started heading towards me.
… And honestly, it was pretty cool seeing someone just fly like that. I hadn't really had time to appreciate it with Martian Manhunter or Superman back during the Amazo debacle, but it was a very different type of flying than I had been used to seeing from Atlas. No wings propelling her, no muscles shifting and contraction, just pure gravity-defying nonsense.
Miss Martian came to a halt several feet away from me, touching down on the ground and shuffling her feet. "Um… Hi there, Ash," she said, nervousness evident in her tone. And in her scent, though it seemed a little… off, for some reason. Not like Superboy's (I still wasn't sure what was up with his), but there was a hint of… artificial-ity to it, I guess?
"Hey, Miss Martian," I said, trying not to sound too awkward in my response. My attempts apparently fell flat, as the silence stretched between us for several seconds. Superboy even looked up from the screen, his gaze flicking between the two of us.
"... I, uh, should probably apologize," Miss Martian said, rubbing one of her arms with the other. "I… I've been kind of avoiding you, and I…"
I shook my head. "Uh, no, you don't have to apologize, really." I really wanted to ask her what the deal had been, but I also didn't wanna scare her off again when she was the one that approached me first. "I, er… I hope we can do… good work together?" Shit, I was bad at this, wasn't I?
"Y-yeah, I hope so." Oh good, so is she. I don't feel as bad about it anymore.
Another beat of silence stretched between us. Superboy apparently got bored of watching us around that point, because he stood up, turned off the TV, and walked away. Both of us watched him go for a moment. Then, I coughed and brought us back to ourselves.
"So, uh… Miss Martian, huh?" I said, desperately trying to change the subject. "I guess that means you have all of Manhunter's powers too? Like, the shapeshifting and telekinesis and, uh…"
"And the telepathy, yeah." She blinked, then lightly smacked herself on the forehead. "Hello, Megan! That's actually a really important part of how the Team works, I usually end up linking us all up telepathically so we can talk to each other!"
"Really? Damn, that sounds pretty useful. What's it like?"
"Do you want me to show you?"
I nodded, and a moment later, I felt a… pressure on my mind. It kind of reminded me of when Kent used his astral projection to talk to me, though not exactly the same. More like… it was coming from a different direction? So to speak?
I sort of… let the pressure into my mind, and after a moment, I heard Miss Martian's voice – though "heard" wasn't quite the right word. <See? It's usually a lot easier this way since we don't have to worry about radio jamming or anything.>
<Huh, this is pretty cool,> I sent back, nodding appreciatively. <And we can just all chatter like this?>
<Pretty much, yeah.>
<Neat.>
I felt a bit of pride coming off her from that. Guess emotions were broadcast as well as thoughts, though I could feel there was a bit of a separation between what I sent and what I was keeping to myself. Though… Now I was curious…
I sort of… mentally pulled back from the connection. The exact way it felt was… kind of like pulling your foot out of a mud puddle it got stuck in, except instead of your foot, it was your brain. And instead of mud, it was… another brain. So not really anything at all like that, actually, but it was the best analogy I had for the feeling. After a moment of "pulling", I felt the mental connection close, and I was fully back in my own head. Guess I could stop "talking" if I ever needed to.
Except… now Miss Martian was giving me a confused look. "Um… Ash? What did you do?" She asked.
I frowned. "Sorry, I just wanted to see if I could leave if I wanted to. Was that rude?"
"I… No, but…" Oh, god, I was smelling her nervousness again. "I don't… None of the others can do that, not that easily…"
I stared at her for a moment, confused. What? The others couldn't just… leave like that? That couldn't be right, that was way too easy for me, and I know I didn't have telepathy.
Miss Martian seemed to… shrink in on herself, and I suddenly caught the scent of… confused fear coming off her. Shit. I did it again, didn't I?
"I'm sorry, I should… I should go." She was in the middle of cooking something, I didn't want her to just abandon it because I kept fucking up and scaring her. So, with those words, I turned back around and left, so she didn't feel like she had to.
I briefly passed Superboy in the hallway, ignoring his strange look. No, I didn't really want to talk about what just happened to him. I just made a beeline straight for my new room.
As soon as I entered the still-barren room, I locked the door behind me, then flopped down on my bed. And wasn't that a weird experience, having my own bed. Even in the midst of my little mental crisis, I couldn't help but take a moment to marvel at that fact. Once I was done with that, though, I grabbed my pillow and pressed my face into it, muffling my frustrated scream.
Why the hell did I keep fucking this up? Was I an idiot, or just bad at this?
I probably didn't need to make friends here. I was just here to get stronger, so I could find my friends, and be in a position to protect them in a way I couldn't before. I didn't have to actually get along with any of these people beyond just being able to work with them.
But…
But they were the first people even close to my age who knew what it was like, on some level. And I didn't just wanna… throw that away.
I rolled over onto my back, staring up at the stone ceiling. "What do I do..?"
One step forward...
Yeah, Ash is having to adjust to quite a lot here. It's not smooth sailing, but progress is being made. The only question is how long that progress will take.
Also, I will say this arc is probably only gonna last, oh, another couple of chapters? At most? And then we'll be getting back in the action.
