Original (Roy Harper x OC)

Chapter Four - The Day

I watched from the top of the bridge in Star City, sitting with my legs hanging over the edge, looking down at the highway of traffic underneath. Speedy and Green Arrow were standing beside me, their arrows at the ready.

Down below traffic was interrupted when a villain jumped down and sprung a wall of ice up in front of the cars. It was Icicle Junior.

Speedy and Green Arrow both shoot at him, their arrows hitting the ice, one arrow landing in Junior's arm. Then they all exploded. He looked up at us as they loaded more arrows onto their bows.

"Finally! I was wondering what a guy had to do to get a little attention around here," he said, throwing ice spikes up at us.

"Junior's doing this for attention?" Speedy asks, shorting his arrows to stop some of the spikes headed for us.

I jumped up and ran down along the cable, the others following after me, avoiding the leftover spikes.

"I'm telling you now. This little distraction better not interfere"

"It shouldn't interfere if we're quick about it," I say, jumping down towards Junior.

Junior made an ice wall in front of him, but they used more exploding arrows to blow a hole in the wall. Then I fell through the hole, landing a kick on Junior's jaw, sending him sliding on the ground.

Green Arrow chuckled. "Kid had a glass jaw"

"Hilarious. Can we go?" Speedy asks. "Today's the day"

Washington DC, the Hall of Justice was our next destination. Almost everyone else was already there. Batman and Robin. Aquaman and Aqualad. The only ones we were waiting for was Flash and Kid Flash.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice," Green Arrow said to us.

"Headquarters of the Justice League," Aquaman added.

"Oh, man!" A voice whined from behind us. "I knew we'd be the last ones here"

We all turned around to see Flash standing proudly with his hands on his hips, like he normally did, and a bummed out Kid Flash beside him.

"How ironic," I say with a giggle.

In a split second Kid Flash was in front of me, a smile on his face. "Hi, Kid Flash"

"Hey, back off," Speedy told him, putting an arm in front of me.

I pushed Speedy's arm down and smiled at Kid Flash. "Mastera"

We all started heading inside, walking through the path of excited fans, all taking pictures of the heroes, talking about them.

"I see Flash and Flash Jr!"

"His name's Speedy. Duh," someone told them.

"No, Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick," someone else corrected.

"Well, that makes no sense"

"Ready to see the inner sanctum?" Green Arrow asks Speedy and I.

"Born that way," Speedy told him.

"I'm glad we're all here," Aqualad says.

"Have all 4 sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asks. "And Mastera, where have you been hiding this whole time?"

"Don't call us sidekicks, not after today," Speedy tells him.

"Sorry. First time at the hall. I'm a little overwhelmed"

"You're overwhelmed. Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone just whelmed?" Robin asks.

"Anyways, Mastera? You aren't a sidekick, are you?"

"No, not really, I don't think so anyway," I respond. "Green Arrow has been a mentor to me, but I don't always fight alongside him like Speedy"

We finally made it inside the hall, stopping at a door placed underneath the giant statues of the Justice League. Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado both stepped out.

"Robin, Speedy, Mastera, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome," Martian Manhunter said, then led us into the hallway. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course our library"

"Make yourselves at home," Flash told us, motioning to the library we were now standing in.

Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin all sat down in the three seats, but I stood beside Speedy as he watched the Justice League members a couple feet away from us, saying they were going to a meeting about the ice villains we all coincidentally fought this morning.

Speedy took a couple steps forward and I tried to stop him. "Roy, can you not be your hot headed self for one day?"

"That's it?!" Speedy asks, ignoring me, stopping them before they could walk through the door that opened after the computer scanned them all. "You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass"

"It's a first step," Aquaman tells him. "You've been granted access few others get"

"Oh, really?" Speedy asks, motioning up to the glass where a bunch of tourists were watching. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

"Roy, you just need to be patient," Green Arrow says.

"What I need is respect," Speedy turned towards us. "They're treating us like kids. Worse, like sidekicks! We deserve better than this"

The boys all looked at each other, not saying a word, and then back at Speedy. I looked down at the ground with a sigh.

"You're kidding, right?" Speedy asks. "You're playing their game? Why? Today was supposed to be the day, step one in becoming full fledged members of the league"

"Well, sure, but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ," Kid Flash says.

"Except the hall isn't the League's real HQ," everyone looked shocked at the new information. "I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching Zeta beam teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower"

All the Leaguers looked at Green Arrow. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception..." Batman glared at him. "Or not"

"You're not helping your cause here, son," Aquaman tells Speedy. "Stand down or-"

"Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son!" Speedy snaps, then he looks at Green Arrow. "I'm not even his. I thought I was his partner, but not anymore"

He took off his hat and threw it on the ground. My eyes widened, along with those of the other sidekicks. He marched towards us, headed for the door.

"Guess they're right about you 3," Speedy tells them. "You're not ready"

As Speedy burst out of the building, I looked around at all the others who were standing in shock at his reaction.

"I'm sorry. Thanks for the invite, but I have to decline"

I hurried out after Speedy, knowing I was probably going to regret declining, but I couldn't leave my best friend hanging.

And I hated to say, but he was right.