(Aden Strong)

I turned up the volume and bopped my head as the bass made the room shake. I powdered my hands and stretched my whole body. The training room in Mount Justice was huge, most definitely to allow enough space for every league member to work out at the same time. Not that such a thing would happen.

Infact I doubt most of them had even used it. Somehow I couldn't see Red Tornado or Captain Atom pushing weight and asking each other, "Do you even lift bro?"

Jokes aside, some of the weights went up to 5000 tons. It was crazy that even the racks supported a few dumbbells like that. Then again, this world had some crazy stuff. Away from the Superhero business, the normal everyday appliances that I had seen were futuristic back in my world.

After 5 minutes of stretching I looked at the obstacle course ahead of me. Turns out that the team had a budget set aside for us by the league. I used the excuse of training the team to react faster to danger, for Red Tornado to agree to construct the obstacle course.

That same afternoon, yesterday, Green Lantern, had come by and voila, a compact 10 challenge obstacle course. The course was filled with some of the hardest obstacles ever cleared. I was dressed in a black vest and a pair of gym pants. The first challenge was the rolling log.

I jumped a little in place to loosen my muscles, timed myself and then began.

(2 hours later)

I looked myself over in the mirror and nodded, the visor part of my mask came down, hiding my features. I didn't look like me, which duh, I guess was the point. Batman had advised me to lose the Taper Fade and after a lot of back and forth, he finally gave up though I could feel his disapproval everytime we spoke.

My relationship with both him and Red Tornado had also gone into a comfortable place. The android didn't speak much but he was always helpful. Batman's attitude was cool, if you were an antisocial guy like me.

And today…today I would meet the rest of my future team. I just hoped that things would go well. I left my room and found Red Tornado already waiting for me in the hall.

"Follow me."

He said and I nodded.

We used a Zeta tube and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a massive room. The Hall of Justice. Specifically, the library, judging from all the bookshelves on the sides. Martian Manhunter was the only one around, along with several reporters watching us from behind a glass panel, located in another room.

Flashes of camera hit us and I gulped in nervousness at the step I was about to make. Today was the day. My introduction to the life of capes. Both heroes and villains.

"Maelstrom. Welcome to the Hall of Justice."

Martian Manhunter told me while smiling softly.

I returned the smile.

"Thank you. It's good to be here… actually where are the rest?"

I asked.

"They're just arriving. Excuse me." Manhunter said and left. A brief silence settled upon me and Tornado. Something I had gotten used to by now. To calm down my nerves, I took the chance to review my progress over the past 2 days.

Air Mastery Level (Expert)

Locked

Locked

My air mastery had gone up to Expert. It might seem fast but I had really tried my best to bridge the gap between the sidekicks and I. They had me beat in experience and knowledge so I had to learn faster. In the mean time, I would let the my strength carry me over. Fortunately, I already knew some of the villains we would face and I had even tried to create counters to some of them.

The wide doors to the library opened and in entered 8 new individuals. Aquaman and Aqualad, Flash and Kid Flash, Green Arrow and Speedy and lastly Batman and the boy wonder, Robin.

Robin did a spit take as his eyes landed on me. I waved a hand awkwardly.

"Hi?"

"You have got to be kidding me. You?"

Robin swerved his head to stare at his mentor.

"You never said anything about…"

He waved his hand at me. The others studied me and Kid Flash whooshed over.

"Who's the new guy?"

He studied me from a few sides before running back to the rest of the group.

"I like his costume."

"Team meet Maelstrom, Red Tornado's protege."

I stepped forward, calming my wildly beating heart. I wanted to fanboy so much right now but as my Dad always told me, first impressions are very important.

"Hello everybody. As Batman said, I'm Maelstrom. Happy to meet you. I hope we all get along and become friends."

Robin entered into a staring match with Batman before sighing and conceding. He stepped up and offered a hand.

"Nice to meet you. Officially. Just know I'll get you back for that blow."

I smiled at the olive branch. Not the least bit intimidated by his promise. I grasped his hand and shook it.

"Hey man, I'm Kid Flash. Great to meet you, so what are your powers exactly?"

Kid flash asked.

"Aero-kinesis."

I answered but by the slight narrowing of Robin's eyes, I knew I would soon face some questions from him.

Wow. The kid was just as intense as Batman when he glared.

"Cool. Can you make tornados like Red Tornado?"

Kid Flash went on. I smirked.

" You'll soon find out."

"My name is Aqualad. Nice to meet you."

Aqualad was a calm individual but from the sincerity in his eyes, I could tell he was the one to welcome me completely without any reservations.

I turned my attention to the last side-kick in the room. Speedy didn't spare me a glance as he approached the league members who had separated themselves to discuss about something.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day. We won't be long."

Batman announced.

The light to access the Zeta tube ran over him and the other mentors.

I watched Speedy's back as my jaw clenched at the silent dismissal.

"That's…ah Speedy. He's like that with strangers. Don't worry he'll come around soon."

Robin told me but by the look on my face he could see I didn't believe him in the slightest. He shrugged.

"What is this?"

Speedy's voice cut through harshly.

The older members of the league turned to stare at him. Green Arrow made to talk,

"Speedy…"

Speedy's face scrunched up in anger.

"No. No more excuses. You promised us a real look inside. Not a glorified backstage pass."

"You need to be patient. It will happen on it's own time."

Green Arrow opened his mouth and made things worse.

"What I need is for someone to take me seriously."

Speedy rebutted turning to the others.

"This is never going to end. They're always going to treat us like sidekicks not equals."

"Let us try to calm down and talk this out Speedy. I'm sure we can reach…"

Speedy laughed Aqualad's words.

"I bet you don't even know that this is not the real headquarters. The real HQ is located in space."

Batman looked at Green Arrow in disapproval.

"I thought we could make an exception."

The glare didn't end. Infact it grew in intensity. "Apparently not."

I didn't know what to think but from the little I had seen, I could tell that Speedy had a few issues to work through. I didn't remember the whole Young justice plot but there was something about him…

"If you can't treat me like a partner then I'm done."

He finished his rant by throwing his hat on the floor and walking off.

With that the whole room filled up with tension. I really didn't feel like being in the room and this was the perfect time to talk to J'onn. I walked over close to them.

"Can I talk to you for a second J'onn?"

Batman nodded to him. I had already told the Dark Knight what I wanted to ask J'onn, and he'd given his approval.

We went off to a private office attached to the library, leaving behind the sidekicks who looked lost in thought.

"What did you need, Maelstrom?"

I wrung my wrists, suddenly unsure of myself.

"Look. You know my situation. And I'm worried that another telepath, one aligned with the 'lets take over the world' thing, might just as easily read my mind as you can."

J'onn nodded his head and hummed.

"You want to know if there is a way you can shield your mind from telepaths."

"Exactly."

He was silent for only a few seconds.

"Very well. I know of a few exercises we can do to strengthen your mind. Fortunately, I am also teaching M'gann so it will be easy to include you to the already set schedule."

"Cool. Cool. When will we start?"

"Soon."

I resisted to grumble mostly because I was asking for his help. Soon wasn't really an answer and I felt uncomfortable knowing that Psimon, a supervillain telepath, was in my future.

J'onn's earpiece beeped and he turned to me.

"League emergency. Take care Maelstrom."

He phased through the walls and was gone. I sighed and left the room.

"… project Cadmus?"

Aqualad's voice rang out as I came within earshot.

"Let's find out."

Robin perked up and started typing on a computer.

"What's up guys?"

I asked but none of them answered me, too engrossed on the screen.

"Access Denied."

Robin scoffed.

"Wanna bet?"

I came up close to them and marveled at his hacking skills.

"Wow. You're good."

I told him.

"Thanks but this is easy. Same system as the bat cave."

"Access granted."

"Project Cadmus. It's a lab here on DC. But if Batman's suspicious of it…maybe we should check it out."

Robin reasoned.

Aqualad's face lit up.

"Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic Justice."

"Wait. Sorry guys but if I'm getting you right, you wanna go to DC and investigate a lab that The Batman, emphasis on 'The' is suspicious of, all the while directly going against their order to stay put?"

They looked at each other and turned to me.

"Yes."

The word came out in unison.

"Why? You're gonna tell on us new guy?"

Kid Flash asked me mockingly. I didn't really mind, having understood his personality.

A smile worked it's way onto my face.

"Not at all. Infact, count me in."