Overwatch returns

Training exercise

Mount Justice 2/2/2023 05:00

It had been almost 2 days since the Justice League got teleported to their unknown destination and the criminals were taking advantage of that. Places like Gotham and Star City became warzones overnight and metahumans were running rampant in Central City. Red Arrow, Artemis and Black Canary were put in charge of Star City, working closely together with John Diggle. In Gotham, Nightwing and Agent A did their best to counter the growing levels of supervillains and mobsters but they were vastly outnumbered. Kid Flash had Central City covered but he was mostly operating on his own, Dr. Wells at Star Labs was providing some support but ultimately Overwatch had to help most of the time when the major villains like Gorilla Grodd and Weather Wizard attacked.

At the moment Jake had his plate stacked a mile high, between trying to find out where the JL went, training the new recruits, and also keeping the world safe. He would be lucky to get more than 2 hours sleep each night between patrols. Alfred agreed that while the League were absent, Jake would officially be on a personal trip with Bruce Wayne to Europe. However, in reality, Overwatch would be out on the streets in either Gotham or Central fighting the villains that popped up.

"Alright everyone, wake up! The criminal and scum of the world aren't gonna wait around for you to finish sleeping, move it!" Jake called into the boy's room where Beast Boy, Robin and Lagoon Boy shared a bedroom. While they were still recruits, the newbies had to learn how to live with each other before they could learn how to fight with each other, meaning that one room for the boys and another for the girls. After furiously knocking on Wondergirl's door, Jake almost kicked down the obstruction before Cassie finally graced the hallway with her presence. "Well, look who finally decided to wake up. Thanks for making the time."

"You're welc..."

"Now move it! Get dressed and move out! Go, go, go!" Jake commanded before heading over to the briefing room, today was going to be fun. For the first time, the recruits would be going on a mock-up recon mission. They would be flying with the bio-ship to an island in the Caribbean that had been converted into a training island, affectionately named Sandy Shores.

Time skip

Sandy Shores 2/2/2023 07:00

Before recent events, Overwatch, Nightwing and Red Arrow set up various turrets, traps and challenges in preparation for the new training program that they were planning. Essentially this was the perfect training island to use as a mockup for some realistic training. There were three main options that could be used as objectives for various different missions. These included a warehouse, an extensive rope course in the jungle and an underground cave accessible by a small network of tunnels.

This time the objective was simple, the recruits would be dropped off in pairs with no comms or navigational data. They would then compete to see who could find the instructors on the ground first. The instructors would have to evade the teams within their own little regions, if they got tagged, then they give the pair either a black, blue, green or red flag. The first team with all four flags would win.

After dropping off Robin and Wondergirl, Jake steered the second pair above a lake where he dropped them off in the previously calm waters, much to Lagoon Boy and Beast Boy's annoyance. Once the ship cloaked again, Jake turned around to look at his other three instructors; Nightwing, Red Arrow and Miss Martian. Giving them their locations, the four agreed to where each would be dropped off. Megan would go in the caves, Roy would be on the ropes course and Dick would be chilling in the warehouse. In the meantime, Jake would be flying overhead in the bioship and observing the pairs to see where improvement was needed. Once a pair received all three flags, Overwatch would land at the beach where he had a special surprise for them.

It didn't take long for both pairs to find Miss Martian and convince her to give them their green flags. After a brief exchange of words in the spirit of friendly competition, the two pairs split up. Tim and Cassie had decided to go to the jungle ropes course and the other pair went in the direction of the warehouse. Despite getting slightly lost in the dense trees and shrubbery whilst dodging the assortment of traps and ditches, Tim and Cassie eventually found Roy eating an oats cookie in one of the trees.

However, the pair soon realised that they were one flag behind as Lagaan and Garfield ran up behind them and grabbed their final flag. Calling Roy to tell both pairs where he would be landing, Jake directed the bioship to the beach on the furthest end of the island. Touching down and cloaking the ship, Overwatch hastily set up his part of the training exercise. Placing some projector batarangs that could produce a realistic hologram of him, Overwatch grappled up a palm tree and waited for the first pair to arrive as a slight rain started coming down.

When Garfield and Lagaan finally reached the beach, the rainfall was so thick that they could hardly make out a figure standing on the beach. Rushing over to get their final flag, the two were sent rocketing backwards as a small explosive detonated in front of them. After getting back up, the pair of recruits looked to where Overwatch was only to stare into the rain.

"I think I see him! He's over there!" Lagoon Boy yelled over the growing storm whilst pointing to what he thought was Overwatch. However, Beast Boy also saw a figure but could put a finger on it. "What do you mean? He's clearly over there!"

"You go for the fake one, I'll handle the real Overwatch!" Lagaan replied hotly, marching to the one he saw ahead of him. It wasn't long before both young heroes got flung backwards by some carefully placed explosives and regrouped to figure out what their next move was going to be. In the meantime, Jake was having the time of his life up in his little hiding spot. By selecting which hologram projectors to activate and which explosives to detonate, he was able to easily manipulate the pair into thinking they'd never be able to get him. In reality, they had literally walked past the tree that Overwatch was waiting in and proceeded straight into the minefield of projector batarangs and explosive gel.

When Robin and Wondergirl showed up, they almost fell for the same trick, stopping just before reaching the sand. Noticing this, Jake quickly put the hologram show on an automated loop and dropped down from the tree, landing just behind the pair. With the heavy rainfall masking his touchdown, Overwatch almost managed to grab Cassie but Tim noticed him. Rapidly grabbing his bo-staff and striking Overwatch in the chest, Robin executed a quick set of manoeuvres and attacks before Jake got on the offensive and caught the staff as it was coming down. But before he could knock it out with his other hand, Wondergirl was on him and punched him into the tree behind him. 

"C'mon, is that all you got?" Jake teased, trying to get her to lose control. In the fashion of being painfully successful, Overwatch got a second punch from the Amazonian, flying through the tree and crashing into a large boulder about 50 metres away. "Now that's more like it."

Getting out of the large dent in the stone, Overwatch decided to go easy on the pair. Unsheathing his largest knife, Jake lunched at Tim but was quickly caught by Cassie and received an acrobatic kick to the side of the head, causing him to stumble to one knee. Finishing Jake off with a combined punch from both heroes, Overwatch fell backwards into the sand. Giving them the win, Jake handed over the final flag they required to board the bioship and get out of the unrelenting rain. Moments before telling them to get on the ship, Overwatch received an interesting message from Martian Manhunter.

"Overwatch, it appears another vigilante is patrolling in Gotham City tonight. GCPD reports say that they are well armed and is targeting the mob."

"Going after the mob solo usually ends in a street war and multiple casualties. Send a javelin to pick up the trainees, I'm taking the bioship to deal with this new vigilante." Running up the bioship ramp, Jake jumped in the pilot's seat and throttled the engines, leaving the rest of the team in the dust, quite literally. Plotting a course for Gotham City, Jake would reach the crime-infested city within 40 minutes.