Young Justice: Final Exam

Chapter 1

Gotham City

11:27:35 P.M. EST

The full moon illuminated the starry night sky of Gotham City, bathing the Gothic architecture in its all-encompassing lunar glare.

Its modernized outward appearance does little to conceal its corrupt criminal underbelly, with the threat of criminal activity permeating every street and dark alleyway. Besides the towering skyscrapers and factoring puffing out pillars of smoke, decades-old art deco-styled warehouses and cathedrals lined up the maze of streets and sidewalks that stretched for miles across the industrial terrain.

On one particular warehouse however, three male figures patrolled the rooftop of the building.

They were each dressed in tactical army gear, wearing infrared visors to spot any unusual activity in the vicinity while brandishing sleek automatic rifles. Bandoliers containing grenades and various melee weapons slung around their Kevlar vests.

Each man warily paced back and forth through his edge of the rooftop, routinely inspecting their weapon or checking the time while constantly staring up at the skies. In the middle of the trifecta of guards lay a single rectangular skylight, surrounded by various air conditioning units.

One of the armed thugs paced to the edge of his side of the rooftop, surveying the nighttime horizon for a moment with his infrared vision. Detecting no sign of vigilante inference from above, he rested the stock of the rifle against his shoulder before checking his magazine count.

Oblivious to him, a lone shadow suddenly darted behind him. The silhouette disappeared around one of the air conditioning units just as he turned around and began to retrace his steps.

A soft clinking sound quietly pierced the ground next to him, giving the wary guard pause for just a moment. Taking a knee next to the peculiar object now protruding from the concrete floor, he began examining it while remaining completely oblivious to a silhouetted male descending down on him from above.

Making it out to be an arrowhead with an erect grappling cable tied at its end, his eyes widened as the sudden realization hit him- both figuratively and literally.

"Oomph..." A split second later, the figure slammed into him knees first, the aerial momentum knocking him down and out with his rifle quickly spiraling out of his grip.

Crouching next to the unconscious man, the mysterious figure reached for his cylindrical-shaped container strapped to his back and produced a crimson-skinned arrow while snapping out his collapsible recurve bow.

Quickly knocking the arrow against the bow and pulling the string back to prime the slender projectile, he used his dominant eye to pinpoint his next target: another one of the still oblivious guards.

The guard closest to him yawned as he continued to scope out the surrounding vicinity, ignoring the whining sounds of late-night traffic unfolding on the streets below.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha..." The sound of adolescent laughter emitting from his right immediately pricked his ears, prompting him to snap backwards with his gun poised to fire in that direction.

Seeing no one there, he relaxed his stance slightly while still keeping his weapon trained on any sudden movements. Spotting the closest air conditioning unit, he began to approach it warily while neglecting to watch his periphery.

Just as he was about to circle around the machine, the arrow fired by the shrouded archer intercepted him mid-step. The arrowhead itself exploded as it released its contents, a pair of steel bolas that tore across the air before wrapping around his torso.

In his surprise, his body instinctively jerked forward causing him to drop his weapon as the bolas pinned his forearms to his waist.

When he glared up, he was greeted by a swift right hand that knocked his visor off while sending him reeling backwards. A noticeably smaller figure kicked off of the air conditioning unit and took to the air while the partially restrained guard could only wince in pain.

Landing on his unprotected back and quickly maneuvering his child-like frame around the adult male's torso, he captured the man's neck in a front facelock and swung his body clockwise using the forward momentum to his advantage.

While falling backwards, the smaller figure tightened his grip on the man before dropping him facefirst on the ground.

Feeling the man's heavyset frame quickly grow limp following the resounding thud of his forehead hitting the ground, the shadowed figure sprung up from the ground and reached into his utility belt as the sound of a gun being cocked alerted him to the next hostile.

About to hurl the shuriken-shaped projectile at the final guard who simultaneously had him in his sights, their impromptu standoff was halted when a red-and-yellow blur suddenly whizzed by him.

His index finger pressed down, but instead of a trigger his curled appendage found only empty air.

"What the...?" Staring down incredulously as his automatic weapon literally vanished in thin air, he was surprised yet again when the same blur flew by him again only with something different in mind.

"Uugghhh...." He staggered backwards as the blur rocked him with a lightning-quick right hand to his chin. Not even a nanosecond later, the blur reappeared behind him and struck him yet again with another fist to his jaw.

Arms hanging limp by his sides and knees threatening to buckle, he was finally knocked down and out by an emphatic right cross courtesy of the blurred speedster.

Standing over the barely stirring guard, he turned back towards the other two figures who met next to the skylight.

Racing towards his other two teammates at a pace that defied even Olympic-level paces, he rejoined the two as they gathered around the skylight. The blue hue that lit up the skylight quickly illuminated the trio, revealing their quite conspicuous costumes.

The tallest of the three was the archer, clad in crimson red garb reflective of his mentor Green Arrow. His bright yellow utility belt, feathered hat, quiver strap, gloves and boots contrasted sharply against his predominantly red tunic, with sleeves ending at his forearms and a domino mask that stretched across his face to conceal his identity. Nocking an arrow from his quiver against his recurve bow, the slits on his domino mask narrowed as they focused in on the scene unfolding beneath the glass panels.

To his right, the red headed speedster eagerly cracked his knuckles while stretching for the next challenge. Fitting his red-and-yellow aesthetic, his suit waist down consisted of lightly padded red pants with yellow track shoes while his torso was colored bright yellow stretching all the way to his red gloves. His protective mask, complete with twin lightning-shaped earpieces and a pair of crimson goggles, covered his face all the way up to his temple, leaving his unkempt auburn hair open to the elements. Finally, an emblem of a red lightning bolt enclosed in a white circle was emblazoned as the centerpiece of his suit, the same symbol as his mentor the Flash.

The smallest of the three was the caped and cackling vigilante, partner to the feared and almost mythical Dark Knight himself. His protective body armor consisted of a red vest with three rectangular fasteners that covered his torso and ended at his biceps. His cape, sleek black on the outer lining but shaded yellow on the inside, draped around his shoulders. A stylized black R surrounded by a black circle emblazoned on his chest. A golden utility belt fastened around his waist, with black leggings covering his legs and custom-designed athletic shoes on his feet. Bangs of unkempt and unruly raven black hair hung down from his hairline, barely missing his domino mask.

Locking eyes with each other, Speedy, Kid Flash, and Robin respectively, nodded in affirmation before entering the warehouse.