Young Justice: The Mimic Contingency (A Young Justice Fanfic)

Talking Robots and Canaries

MOUNT JUSTICE - MAY 25th

7:07PM

Desmond walked carefully behind Batman through the mountain's cavernous halls, an icy tension setting in his bones. His head flicked back and forth, spying the teens that flanked him in each direction. l the Team followed Batman like they already knew what he was up to, which didn't help the insecurity Desmond was feeling.

"Uh, look Batman..." he said nervously. "I'm not sure if being all mysterious is something you do on a normal basis, but could you please tell me where we're going?"

Batman ignored him. Seriously, what was his problem?!

They finally arrived in a large room that looked exactly like the others, except with a large machine hanging down from the roof that hummed with energy. There was also the addition of large, pipe-like doorways on each side that looked like doors.

"Just like the room before it...and the room before that..." Desmond thought. Clearly the Young Justice had something against variety...

"First," Batman suddenly said. "An explanation..."

Desmond rolled his eyes. Great...Another explanation...

He looked upwards and suddenly, several large holographic images appeared above Desmond's head, startling him.

"Whoa!!" he exclaimed, jumping out of the way.

Unfazed by Desmond's reaction, Batman reached into his belt and pulled out a small, white rod. He twisted the end of it before handing it to Desmond.
"Hold this." Batman told him.
With an confused face, Desmond took the device, not knowing what to do with it. He turned it over in his hands until a silhouette appeared on one of the screens. The silhouette was a pale blue except for the various colours that floated along the screen, shades of red, green and yellow. The colours dimmed and brightened as they moved about, like droplets of paint in water.
"Do you see those colours, Desmond?" Batman asked.

Desmond nodded.

"Those are biological energy patterns; a representation of the powers you absorbed from Superboy, Miss Martian and Kid Flash."
Desmond scratched the side of his head. "Okay, so that ties in with the whole power-copying thing..."

Batman nodded.

"Correct, which also confirms that when Parasite attacked you, he left a part of his abilities with you by mistake..."

He inclined his head towards Robin, who pressed another image on the screen.
"Here's where it gets interesting..." Zatanna whispered.
Robin pulled his hand away, revealing three more silhouettes on the screen. He zooms in on the image and soon shows three, familiar shaped silhouettes apart from Desmond.

Kid Flash looked at the shapes quizzically. "Is...that us?"
"Yes." Batman answered. "These are energy readings from Superboy, Miss Martian and yourself."
He touched another hologram, which caused a reaction within the silhouettes. Their shapes remained the same, but the colours within them began to swirl erratically, like they were exposed to something they shouldn't have been.
"These readings were taken after Superboy, Miss Martian and Kid Flash were exposed to their specific weaknesses..."
Kid Flash mouth dropped with worry as he held his hands over his chest, like a girl who had been peeped on.
"You put us around our weaknesses?! Not cool, man!"
Batman ignored the boy's remark and looked at Robin, who slid his finger across the air and created another screen.
"After we brought you to Mount Justice," the Boy Wonder continued. "We did some tests on you."
"Tests?" Desmond asked, suddenly feeling insecure.
"You had used Heat Vision and Super Strength," Batman said. "So we exposed you to Kryptonite, just to see if your body would have the same reaction as Superman's..."
A three-dimensional projection of Desmond's silhouette appeared in the air.
"These were the results."
Desmond took a hesitant step towards the projection, watching the swirling colours very carefully. He looked to the screen that showed his current power level, then to the Kryptonite-exposed levels and then back to the massive 3D projection.
"There isn't any difference..." Desmond realised. "The power levels are the same..?"
Batman nodded in response to Desmond's deduction, but with an uneasy gaze.
"Because the weaknesses don't affect you..."
Every jaw among the Team dropped, especially Superboy, who took a step forward.
"Wait!" he cut in. "So this guy can copy our powers, but our weaknesses don't affect him?!"
He looked back at Desmond.
"That's not fair!"

"It appears so..." Batman replied.

"But there are some 'trade-offs', as you would call them." a metallic voice suddenly said.

Desmond let out a small scream, jumping up in the air like a panicked cartoon character as a figure behind him revealed itself. The figure was tall and muscular, but every inch of it's body was covered in a gleaming red armour and a blue, tall-collared cape. Desmond assumed it was a man, but the black slits in place of a mouth and eyes suggested something else:

"A r-robot?!"
The robot (?) looked down, examining Desmond with it's blank, black eyes.
"With all due respect," it said. "But I prefer the term 'android'."
"What's the difference?!" Desmond exclaimed. "You're a walking, talking metal...thing!"
Batman looked at Desmond with a cold gaze.
"That 'metal thing' is Red Tornado." he corrected sternly. "He is a member of the Justice League, like me."
Tornado inclined his head towards Desmond, which only put the boy further on edge.
"I am also the supervisor of all the Young Justice members. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Desmond Snyder."

Desmond was at a loss for words. "Uh, yeah...Likewise..."

"As I was saying," Tornado continued. "There are several 'trade-offs' with your ability. One such example is that the abilities you copy can only be utilised for several minutes before dispersing."

There was a small humming from his eyes.

"Running a biometric scan on you now reveals that the abilities you copied from Superboy have dispersed by ninety-eight point three percent. The remaining point seven percent should be completely dispersed within the next few seconds."
While Tornado looked towards Batman, Desmond was suddenly reminded of why he was brought here.
"So who is this person you wanted me to meet?"

Batman swatted away the holograms and looked at Desmond sternly.

"Your training instructor."
At the sound of 'training', Desmond's eyes lit up.
Training?! Like extreme sports?! Parkour?! An '80's training montage?! With this kind of mental imagery, Desmond was quick to face Batman with fiery, energised eyes.

"So what's my instructor going to teach me?"

Batman's eyes narrowed. "Your instructor will teach you the basics..."

Desmond's excitement swelled up...

"...Of hand-to-hand combat."

Desmond leapt up, punching the air without realising what Batman had said.
"Yea-Wait, WHAT?!"

His reaction made Zatanna giggle, which the girl did a poor job at hiding.

"Prepare yourself, Desmond." Batman warned. "It might be a little bit more intense than school gym classes."

Desmond's smile turned into a frown, just as a beeping went off on Batman's utility belt.

"Here she is now..." he said.

Desmond looked at the Dark Knight with confusion. "She?"

Suddenly, one of the pipe-like doorways burst into a brilliant, golden light, the whole roof whirring with energy as a silhouette stepped through a portal.

"Recognised," a digital voice hummed. "Black Canary."