Chapter Text
Barry was bored. Justice League meetings go for a while, but it goes for even longer when you’re a speedster. Currently, Batman was listing possible new recruits to join the league but most of the heroes they had found were not trained at all which would make things difficult.
“What about Shrike and The Red Hood?” asked Clark. This caused several people to start murmuring to the person next to them. Even barry perked up at this. Shrike and The Red Hood were a fearsome pair. No one knew where they came from, but you could tell where they had been. they left people strung up outside of police stations if they had done a crime or had run a dealing ring but if it was a supervillain who had done enough damage, the results weren’t pretty. When The Joker and Harley Quinn started doing damage in Blüdhaven, Harley ended up in a coma and the joker lost his left eye. They had been traveling around various cities in America. They cleaned up crime pretty well and saved many lives, so they seemed like likely candidates. Barry thought so but obviously Batman did not. He was silent. Everyone understood why when he brought up their files.
SHRIKE:
NAME: UNKNOWN
AGE: UNKNOWN
PLACE OF ORIGIN: UNKNOWN
ALLIES: THE RED HOOD
ABILITIES/POWERS: UNKNOWN
ETHNICITY: UNKNOWN
SKILL: HIGH
THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN
THE RED HOOD:
NAME: UNKNOWN
AGE: UNKNOWN
PLACE OF ORIGIN: UNKNOWN
ALLIES: SHRIKE
ABILITIES/POWERS: UNKNOWN
ETHNICITY: UNKNOWN
SKILL: HIGH
THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN
Batman knew nothing about them. The records they had at the tower had nothing on them. Then Diana spoke up.
“Batman this could be an opportunity to find out more information about them.” They all knew batman would love to know more about them since the current information they had was… lacking. “Do we know where they are currently?”
“That would be Metropolis” Clark said at the same as Hal said “Not Gotham. They avoid it like the plague”
Batman glared at Hal before turning his attention back to the rest of the league.
“We still know nothing about them. They could pose a larger risk than we know.”
Clark spoke up. “Then why don’t we find out how much of a risk they are. We will find them in metropolis and talk to them okay?”
“Very well” batman grumbled. He obviously still opposed this decision.
Diana, Clark, Batman, J’ohn, Oliver and Barry set out for metropolis to find the two heroes. They found them mid-fight with a low-risk villain. Barry thought they were kicking his arse. The heroes decided to watch the fight play out. Each hero noticed that the two fought like a unit. Together. Once the fight had played out the heroes looked to Shrike and The Red Hood. Shrike had a katana in each hand but was quite short. Even with the voice modulator the heroes could tell they were young. The Red Hood on the other hand was very tall with broad shoulders and a well-muscled body. He had guns and knives strapped to him with the most noticeable ones being on his thighs. Seeing as the fight was over Barry decided to speed over to them. It was a bad idea. Before he could mutter a word he had a katana at his throat and a gun aimed for his face.
“Woah, woah. I mean no harm! I’m the flash! Another hero!” Flash said though his voice rose to an uncomfortable pitch. “We’re just here to talk!”
“We? Who is we?” spat Shrike. Barry gestured to the heroes behind him, though batman had gone missing. Probably disappeared into the shadows.
“Greetings” Wonder woman said. “we are here to-”
“Tell Batman to get out of the shadows and come talk to use. I knew he isn’t one for socialising but gee” The Red Hood said. Batman froze where he stood in the shadows, many of the other heroes did too. ‘How did they see him? I couldn’t even see him’ many of them thought. Batman walked out from where he had been hiding.
“We have come to ask if you would like to join the justice league.” J’ohn said. obviously this wasn’t what the two boys had been expecting.
“Why would you want us?” The Red Hood asked.
“You seem skilled and look as though you would be a worthy ally” Diana replied.
The Red Hood gave it thought before turning to his partner in talking in a language none of them were familiar with. Batman thought it sounded familiar but couldn’t understand.
“If we say yes I assume we will have a trial. Correct?” Shrike asked.
Wonder Woman looked baffled but smiled. “You would assume correct Shrike”.
“We will but we have some terms we need to agree on” The Red Hood said. ‘The nerve’ was all anyone could think but still they agreed to hear the two out. “first up” he turned to batman. “Don’t try to find our identities. It will end badly. Second, where he goes, I go and where I go, he goes.”
Several heroes nodded in agreement. “I think we can make that work” said wonder woman.
“If you do not mind, and aren’t too busy, would you like to have a tour of the watchtower now and meet some other heroes?” Clark asked.
“Sure. There is a Zeta Tube entrance a block away and its much closer than the one you used to get here.” The Red Hood said. Everyone turned to superman.
“How do you know about the Zeta Tubes?” Asked Clark in bewilderment.
Shrike smiled and answered for them. “you don’t hide them very well. How do you think we travel between cities so quickly?”
The other heroes looked to each other in shock.
The red hood smiled and showed them the way to the zeta tubes