Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Crossover: Legion of Superheroes and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (cartoon-verse)
Summary: The Legionnaires embark on a special mission through time to stop Joker’s plot in the episode ‘Wild Cards’. Timber Wolf forms a bond with Ace, understanding the pain and betrayal of a childhood robbed and replaced by experimentation. Hurt/Comfort, Romance, and a touch of Humor.
Rated: T
Characters: Timber Wolf, Ace of Clubs, Phantom Girl
Author’s Note: I recently came across a picture of Ace of the Royal Flush Gang and wanted to learn more about her. After watching the Justice League episode Wild Cards and the epilogue of Justice League Unlimited, I was intrigued by her story and thought it would be interesting to play around with an idea that popped into my head. I never got into the Justice League series, and that is unfortunate because Joker was brilliantly hilarious in that episode. In this fic, Timber Wolf replaces the role of Batman to prevent Joker’s historic devastation and provide some comfort to the young, misunderstood telepath.
…..
It was a bright Sunday morning in New Metropolis, and things were relatively peaceful throughout the 31st-century city. With the Fatal Five locked away in Takron-Galtos, the Legion of Superheroes experienced a surprisingly quiet weekend at Star Pavilion. That is, until Brainiac-5 notified them all via intercom to attend an important meeting that morning in the conference room. The Legionnaires were to learn that their mission today wasn’t against an enemy of the present, but a villain from the past.
The team gathered from every corner of Star Pavilion and filed in to the conference room. Timber Wolf sat in his usual spot: second row, fourth from the right. The feral teen thought it was funny how as primary school kids they complained of assigned seating arrangements, and yet as near adults with the privilege to sit wherever they wanted, they seemed to gravitate toward the same spot every day. Maybe people naturally chose to sit in the same general area, and what they had actually wanted as children was the freedom to decide where they wanted that “spot” to be. Timber Wolf for instance preferred this seat because it gave him the best overall view of the presentation, and wasn’t too close to the speaker but not too far away for him to be tempted to zone out (although he still did on occasion, playing little paper games with Star Boy or whoever was sitting by him). Superman usually sat at the far end by the window to gaze out at this fantastic, futuristic world he was still getting used to. Chameleon Boy liked to sit up near the back corner because it was closest to the exit. Today, however, a certain black-haired girl ventured from her usual spot.
“Hey,” Phantom Girl said, smiling at Timber Wolf as she sat down next to him.
“Hey,” Timber Wolf said, returning her greeting with a single nod. They awkwardly looked toward the front of the room. As more people filed in, Timber Wolf took a chance and side-glanced at Phantom Girl. He saw that she was also trying to discreetly look at him. He rolled his eyes and grinned, and Phantom Girl covered her blush and giggled, both caught in the act.
“Ehem, let’s get started shall we?” Brainiac-5 said, glaring at Phantom Girl, who promptly quieted down but still smiled as if holding back laughter. Timber Wolf smirked and looked forward as Brainy began the briefing.
It was not beyond Timber Wolf’s attention that he and Phantom Girl had been growing closer over the past few weeks – casually sitting together during mealtimes, or flying next to each other on their way to missions. Acquaintanceship turned into friendship, and then slowly transformed into something more, as shoulder pats became hugs and cursory greetings became lengthy, heartfelt conversations.
But it was too soon for Timber Wolf to make anything of it yet. Phantom Girl was the daughter of the President and he… well, he was born on a mining planet and was turned into a human-canine hybrid of some sort by the freakish experiments of his own father. Not only was Timber Wolf not ready to open up to someone, but he also didn’t want to possibly mistake Phantom Girl’s amity for attraction. That could lead to a very awkward scenario. Besides, he enjoyed her company and didn’t want to sabotage their friendship, even though at times she had the tendency to act like a princess. He used to consider that annoying, but by now he found that endearing.
Timber Wolf forced himself to focus on the presentation before his thoughts could run on and on like a sentence that has never seen a comma. Brainiac-5 activated the large cybernetic screen, and they all watched as the video displayed the monumental and historic tragedy orchestrated by one of the deadliest supervillains of all time: The Joker.
The sinister clown had planted bombs throughout what was once known as The Las Vegas Strip. Although the Justice League had defused most of the explosives, the Green Lantern and the Flash lost their lives in the process, according to history. Then Joker had driven millions of people insane using the hypnotic mind powers of a strange girl named Ace of Clubs, whose facial expression was locked in wide-eyed anger, her black lips pressed in a stern, flat line, her body as lifeless as the doll she tightly clutched in her arms.
Timber Wolf raised an eyebrow at the odd-looking girl onscreen with her unsettling, unwavering gaze. Joker explained his evil plan as he casually moved Ace about in her chair. The girl listlessly swayed with the motions as if she were a zombie. Lightning Lad, who was sitting to Timber Wolf’s right, snickered and snorted at the girl’s unusual behavior.
The Joker described Ace’s tragic backstory and perception-bending powers to the audience of the time.
“And the best part?!” Joker’s chilling voice exclaimed in the ancient recording. “I’m immune to all this because I’m already crazy.”
Lightning Lad whistled, acknowledging the threat that had been the Joker. “As terrible as our villains are today, I am so glad I wasn’t around when this guy was alive.” Lightning Lad leaned back and called over to Superman, “Sorry Supes, that’ll be your mess to deal with in a few decades from your perspective.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” Clark grumbled from across the room, where Dream Girl, Bouncing Boy, and the newly reunited Triplicate Girl sat.
“Actually, that’s precisely why I called you all here this morning,” Brainy announced. “I propose a way that we can all help the situation right now, by going back in time and stopping this from ever happening.”
As Brainiac-5 said this, Ace’s large eyes began glowing yellow. Lightning Lad cringed.
“Aww man, I wonder if she can hypnotize people through time as well. I’m getting a headache just from looking at those weird, swirly eyes.”
“Enough Lightning Lad,” Phantom Girl admonished, leaning forward in her chair to look at him past Timber Wolf. “You’re just trying to get attention. You can’t stand a moment when the spotlight isn’t on you.”
“Quiet you two,” Brainy scolded.
Lightning Lad just chuckled and gestured over to Phantom Girl. “No no, the creepy girl’s descendant is right. I just love being the talk of the town.”
“…What did you call me?” Phantom Girl crossed her arms and looked at Lightning Lad. Timber Wolf was starting to feel uncomfortable as invisible lightning bolts sparked between the two Legionnaires sitting on either side of him.
“Ah come aaaahhn,” Lightning Lad jeered. “Even you gotta admit you look like that psycho.”
“Excuse me?” Phantom Girl gripped the edge of the table. “I look nothing like her.”
Lightning Lad shrugged. “You know, the whole black and white get-up, the scary-lookin’ gothic makeup, especially back in our early days when you used to wear those goofy pigtails.”
Some Legionnaires in the back started snickering.
Phantom Girl stood up, her cheeks reddening. “Take that back, Garth!”
“Pfft, you know, the angrier you get the more you look like her–”
Phantom Girl moved like she was about to hit Garth, and that’s when Timber Wolf came in.
“Woah, everyone cool it, alright?” Timber Wolf said to both of his teammates, but mostly looked at Lightning Lad. He, too, saw that there was a bit of a resemblance, but if Phantom Girl was uncomfortable with that then he would defend her.
“Leave her alone, Lightning Lad,” Timber Wolf said. “There’s nothing ‘scary’ about Phantom Girl, she looks beautifu–”
A screaming silence fell upon the entire conference room, and a wave of shocking embarrassment swept through Timber Wolf. Did he really just admit to the entire Legion what he thought about Phantom Girl? Timber Wolf shut his eyes and put a hand on his forehead, wishing the ground would just swallow him.
Saturn Girl, who was sitting in the front row with Cosmic Boy and Shrinking Violet, stood up after a moment. “Lightning Lad, focus! What Brainy’s saying is really important!”
All eyes shifted away from Timber Wolf and looked at Saturn Girl, whom Timber Wolf mentally thanked for getting attention off him. Saturn Girl gave him a quick and unnoticeable sympathetic smile before continuing.
“I know what kind of technique Ace is using. It’s actually very elementary to us 31st century telepaths. I’d be able to shield our minds from getting hypnotized if we choose to go on this mission.”
Cosmic Boy was highly skeptical and pointed at Brainiac-5. “Should we really be changing the past like that? Have you predicted the ramifications of saving those people and altering the course of history?”
“I think that we should extend the Legion jurisdiction to include not only the whole galaxy, but the whole of time,” Brainiac-5 declared, earning mixed expressions from his teammates.
“Look, Joker wasn’t really immune to Ace’s mind control, as he claimed in the broadcast,” Brainy continued. “He used a halo headband device hidden in his jacket as a safeguard if Ace ever went rogue. If we show Ace that the Joker couldn’t be trusted, we could rewrite history and prevent that tragedy from ever happening.”
Brainy paused and looked at Superman. “The Joker will be one of your greatest archenemies. We can save the Justice League and prevent Joker from hypnotizing people.”
Brainy then addressed the entire conference. “Ace mysteriously disappeared for weeks after the event. She built her own Royal Flush Gang and caused disorder throughout the city. This nightmare didn’t end until she died from a ruptured aneurysm a few days later, but her mind blast killed everyone within a 4-mile radius.”
Cosmic Boy shook his head. “This is a bad idea–”
“I’m in,” Superman interrupted, standing up. All eyes were now on the Kryptonian.
“This may be the distant past for you guys, but this is my future and that was my country. If I have a chance to prevent that from happening, it would be an injustice not to try. I mean, that’s the whole reason why Kell-El joined us, right?” Clark gestured over to Superman X, who was sitting next to Star Boy and Colossal Boy.
“What about Ace? How do you plan to stop her from sending out that deadly mind wave when she dies?” asked Triplicate Girl.
“The 21st century lacked the technology needed to contain her mind blast, but chambers are available today that can safely enclose her powers. We can bring her to our time to die safely and then return her body back to her own time,” Brainy explained.
After working out the details, the majority decided to proceed with the mission. Cosmic Boy agreed only conditionally, ordering the team not to change or reveal certain things. Brainy selected Superman, Superman X, Triplicate Girl, Saturn Girl, and Timber Wolf, to accompany him on the mission. The conference dismissed and the mission team went to the room with the time warp machine. Before Timber Wolf walked through the time gates, he felt a tug on his wrist and saw Phantom Girl behind him. She must have followed invisibly.
“You really think I’m beautiful?” she asked, her large grey eyes looking up at him.
Timber Wolf stared at her small white-gloved hands wrapped around his wrist. A blush would have been visible on his cheeks if not concealed by fur.
He yanked his arm away and fumbled with his words. “Tch, what of it? It was a slip of the tongue, alright? I –”
The feral teen was left stunned when Phantom Girl planted a kiss on his cheek. He didn’t have time to think or react before Phantom Girl turned him around and pushed him through the time gates.
“Go kick some Joker butt!” he heard her say, before he traveled over a thousand years into the past.
