One Short Day

[cyclone]

Maxine still can't believe that this was happening. Few nights ago when her father came back with her grandmother she couldn't believe who entered with them at home: it was Red Tornado. The android, the member of the Justice League. She was really surprised and she was mute for first time. It seemed that Huey told his mother about Maxine's powers and she was able to contact Red Tornado and decided to have a meeting here, in her home. She wondered if Red Tornado still remembered her when she was kidnapped by T.O. Morrow, she hoped he still does. The red haired girl got more surprised when they asked her if she wanted to be the protegée of Red Tornado. She quickly said yes without thinking about it. Before she could sat down again, her father told her that there would be conditions and promises she had to fulfill, like keeping good grades at school, which wasn't a trouble for her, or listen to Red Tornado and what he says. In those moments she would have even agreed to change her name to Madam Morrible. The android looked really impassive and silent for all the night till he left and told her that he would come to pick her up next weekend. Maxine hugged her father and grandma thanking them for giving her the chance and run to her bedroom thinking in ideas for her costume and her codename.

Then Saturday arrived and Red Tornado fulfilled his promise. He arrived at her home and both started to flight towards the Hall of Justice, to Maxine's happiness. An awkward silence surrounded them as they were flying as the young red haired felt like if she started to talk, she could ruin the moment. Many people said that Red Tornado was only an emotionless robot, but Maxine knew that he had a heart and feelings. Once they landed to the Hall of Justice, well Maxine crashed in a pile of snow, she got up surprised to see that the exterior of the Hall was empty of the usual visitors and tourist. "Last time I was there it was in August"said amazed the young girl as they started to walk inside. No matter how many times she entered, she'll always be amazed by the statues of the founding members of the league, it was amazing. The walked towards a door below the statue and she then heard a robotic voice that said. "Red Tornado, 16"Then the door opened and the android indicated her to enter to the library. Maxine's eyes were open wide as she looked the tons of books. "Wait here, I'll be back soon"said the android as he walked towards a door next to a big computer. "Okay, I will be like a statue." said Maxine with a grin."Red...thanks for bringing me here and... for believe in me"said Maxine with a small smile before the android passed through the door and it closed. Maxine sat down in a armchair, decided to wait till Red Tornado came back. In her backpack she had a pen a notebook to ask for autographs of the members of the league, although right now she felt that it was a silly idea, she didn't worry about that.

[Zatanna]

Zatanna was told by Green arrow that someone was goin to call and to wait. Zatanna agreed to wait for the call. Soon she began to wonder what was up if it was a mission or what. Soon she began to wonder if something was wrong. The rest of the team wasn’t hear. Her hands went down to her black pants pocket and reached to for her phone. Looking at her cell she noticed nobody had tried to reach her. Meaning they were all busy and okay or busy and not okay.

As the monitor came on and Red Tornado came up and told her about how he needed her. Telling her where to go Zatanna smiled and nodded. Since he wanted her to go the Hall of Justice Zatanna had so many things going through her head not sure what was wrong. With a smile she figured it was cool to change to her uniform and would practice vanishing and showing up there.

Change into my uniform and take me to the hall of justice.
“Egnahc otni ym mrofinu dna ekat e mot eht llah fo ecitsuj.” With that a light wrapped around her and she had changed into her uniform and vanished from the place she stood.

She came into the library and smiled. As the smoke left she saw a red head girl and smiled. “Hi. I’m Zatanna Zatara.” Zatanna walked over to her and put her hand out. “Red Tornado sent me today to greet you and welcome you to the team. Well that is if you want to join us and what not.” Zatanna looked down and laughed. “Sorry I never greeted someone before.”

[cyclone]

Five minutes have passed already. Maxine wasn't bored, in fact she was the opposite of bored. She was inside the Hall of Justice, not as a visitor, but as a superhero. Inside her head she already has the design of her costume, having in mind that she had a very limited budget, but she didn't mind about that. She was worried that Red Tornado was taking a long time. Maybe he was arguing with the other members of the league. She just hoped that she didn't put the hero in troubles. She got up of the armchair, and walked towards the door. She promised Red Tornado that she wouldn't move, and she was going to fulfill that promise. But she could hear what was happening without moving of the library, thought Maxine with a wicked grin as she thought of using her powers to gather the sounds of the conversation.

Then she started to smell smoke. "What?"asked surprised the red haired girl as she started to turn around to see where the smoke came from. Was someone attacking the Hall of Justice? Luckily, nobody was attacking, in front of her she saw a black haired girl, a little younger than her and was dressed in a magician uniform. Maxine smiled widely as she recognized Zatanna, the daughter of Zatara. Her inner fangirl exploded. "OHmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!!"said the red haired girl as she shook the hand of Zatanna with energy. "I can't believe that I'm meeting you! You are super awesome and I'm your fan, well maybe not your number one, but I'm a great fan. I saw one of your performances in New York and it was amazing. Sadly I didn't have a chance to get your autograph but now this is the perfect time. I hope you don't mind"said the red haired girl at a speed that would have made the Flash very proud. She run to her backpack and grabbed her pen and notebook and handed them to the magician. Yup, Maxine looked like she never greeted someone before in her life.

She then realized it and Maxine placed her hand in her left cheek "Oh gosh, silly me! I forgot to introduce myself, I'm so sorry. My name is Maxine, I still don't have a codename, its' really hard, you know, because some of them sound really dangerous as Huracan, or other are silly, like Zephyr or Red Huracan. If things are okay maybe I'll become Red Tornado's protegée or partner, well I could be called sidekick too, but I think that term is only for seven eight year old kids as my father was one at that age and... sorry motor-mouth"said quickly the red haired girl as she realized she was talking fast again. She then raised an eyebrow. "Team? You mean there is other team besides the League?"asked surprised. She never heard of the existence of that "Team" before. The only team she have heard was the Justice League.

[Zatanna]

Zatanna could hear the girl explode and just smiled at her. If she reacted this way she was worried about how she would react to the others and she knew two people would not like this at all. The only person who would like this was Kid Flash if Artemis don’t get mad first. As she started to talk Zatanna smiled “Thank you.” Zatanna said really she wasn’t sure how to react to this normally people only reacted about her father but never her. Nodding she grabbed the pen and signed the notebook. Zatanna handed them back. Zatanna was trying to figure out how to tell her about the team and how this may not fly to well.

“Well its nice to meet you Maxine. Oh and codenames don’t worry about that to much. I don’t have one. Its Zatanna through the whole thing. Sure bad guys call me Magician but its always to everyone Zatanna.” Shaking her head she smiled “Don’t worry about it your excited some people its hard to keep calm when excited.” When she was confused Zatanna shook her head. “Red Tornado didn’t explain nothing to you.” Zatanna was not to happy about this at all to explain all of this to her was going to take a while. Walking to one of the chairs she smiled. “Please take a seat.” Taking a deep breath it was time to teach this girl some other news.

Looking up at her she started to think. “The Young Justice is the team. It is made up of all the sidekicks that the Justice League or well what some like to be called protégées. It first started out with Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Miss Martian. Speedy who is known as Red Arrow refused to join only wanting to be a hero not part of the team he helps from time to time but you may not see him at all. Then they had gained a new member who is Superboy he is more well he has anger issues but ever since he started dating Miss Martian he seems to keep his cool more. Kid Flash he may like the attention that you might give him but Artemis may well not enjoy it either. They are a couple as well. Oh yeah then I joined this team followed by Rocket. Little by little we are getting more and more teammates some that live in Mount Justice with us. You will get your own room too. I stay there and go to school when I need to. Which all of us do attend school. It is our number one thing then the missions. Normally the league will not interrupt us if we are in class unless they really need us. Batman is the one that normally will give us missions. Which with him I suggest you don’t ask for him to sign that notebook. “ Zatanna began to think as well. “There are training sessions where we better our powers and fighting skills. It all depends on who is training us that day. Normally Black Canary teaches us hand to hand combat. So any questions?” Zatanna asked

[cyclone]

Maxine smiled relieved when she saw how Zatanna signed her notebook with an autograph. "Thanks"replied. She was unsure if the magician would yell at her or something for her babbling but she was super nice. She grabbed again the notebook and put it again in her backpack. "Luckily I still have time to think about the codename. And besides your name is really awesome, you don't really need a codename"said Maxine with a shy smile. She was a little more calmed but she was really exited. "Nope, Red Tornado didn't tell me anything about other team. I think he would start to tell me once the rest of the League thinks it's a good idea I'm his protegée, maybe that's why he brought me here"said the red haired girl a little worried. Red Tornado didn't come back yet.

Zatanna then told her to sit down and Maxine sat back in the armchair. She then listened to the explication of the Young Justice team. She understand nearly everything, well she got a little lost when she explained the relationships of the different members. Maxine liked what she heard about this team. "I understand, well I'm still a little lost with the who dates whom thing, but I wont ask you again, don't worry. And well I wont push my luck by asking Batman for an autograph"chuckled Maxine. Zatanna was really nice and awesome and unlike nearly everybody she met she was really patient with her. She wanted to ask her a lot of questions, some were really silly, others could be a little personal, but she decided not to push the magician's patience."It will be great working with all of you, and I'll try to control myself. It's good that they respect our academic timetables, and for the training that's cool, I still need and to learn more about my powers. For example, unlike Red Tornado, I can use the wind currents to carry the sound waves. Watch this"she got up from her armchair and the wind started to move the hairs of both girls. Then the room was filled with the voices of the people outside and the cars with so much clarity that it seemed like they were outside. Maxine was a little proud of this ability. She quickly stopped it and sat back. "So what do you think? It could be a little helpful, right?"said the red haired girl with a small proud smile.

Maxine then looked again at the door near the computer, and she was a little worried. "You know before you arrived, I was thinking in use my powers to check if things were okay for Red, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea at all"said with sincerity Maxine. She didn't want to betray Red's confidence.

[Zatanna]

Zatanna nodded “No problem.” She said with a smile. Watching her place her stuff back in her back Zatanna really wondered what was going on. “I wonder why he didn’t mention nothing. I guess maybe he figured he would later. He is always around Mount Justice anyway. Normally he’s the one to keep an eye on us unless its training day or he has a mission. But why bring you here is the real question why not at mount Justice. “

Smiling Zatanna nodded her head. “Oh you will see.” Smiling Zatanna watched her as she started to use her powers. Being able to hear what was goin outside made her smile. “That is cool. We could use that to trick the bad guys or make them think they have gone crazy. A little I think that would be way helpful.” Zatanna said “With some magic and your powers it will be cool to take down the bad guys.”

Zatanna shook her head fast. “Never help unless they ask for it trust me. Red is fine he normally is fine only once did he get into real danger but we took care of that. If anything was to go wrong I Would have gotten a call by now.” Zatanna said with a big smile. “Trust me hes fine.”

[cyclone]

"Yes maybe you are right. Maybe he would tell me later about the Team after this."said Maxine a little insecure. She smiled a little when Zatanna told her that Red Tornado usually hangs around the Mount Justice with the team. "That's really good to hear. And I wonder why he brought me here too"replied the red haired girl.

Maxine smiled happily when Zatanna said that her powers were cool and started to speak about how she could use her powers. "Thanks a lot. And your ideas are awesome. Yes, if we team up we'll be able to beat all the bad guys in the coolest way, that's for sure"said the red haired girl. "Yes you are right, thanks for the advice Zatanna. And what do you mean he got into real danger once?"asked worried the red haired after the magician advised her not to use her powers to spy Red Tornado and the rest of the League. Zatanna made a valid point after all.

Then the door opened again and Red Tornado entered again. "Hello Zatanna"Red Tornado greeted the magician girl with his usual tone of voice. "Maxine, come with me a moment. Zatanna, you can come to if you want"said the android to both girls. Maxine got up first and followed Red Tornado. They arrived to a room that seemed like a lab. Inside it there was one person: the Atom. "Maxine let me introduce you one of the newest members of the Justice League. You may have heard of him. He'll put you through some tests to check you."explained Red Tornado. Maxine was a little nervous by the idea that she was really silent. "Don't worry Maxine, they are basics test. Everything will be okay"said the Atom with a reassuring smile as he shook the hand of the red haired girl. "O-Okay... it's a pleasure"said Maxine as she sat in a couch. The Atom used a syringe to extract a sample of Maxine's blood. Maxine winced a little, but didn't complained.

[Zatanna]

“Well my father took me to Mount Justice and black Canary was there and well my dad told me to show me the around. Which ended up with me on my first little save mission.” Zatanna loved it that was her first favorite mission since it was her first and she would never forget it. Trying to think she shook her head “Maybe because this is where the team became a team. I don’t’ know really.” Zatanna moved the hair out of her eye and just kept thinking.

Nodding she began to think again. “Can you make the noises louder? Because if you can with me making somewhat clones of everyone and they make so much noise it could be annoying and it might work really well.” Zatanna liked the idea of having her on the team. But tshe was not the leader so she could not just have plans already it was up to Aqualad for what they do. “Do not worry that was the past I should have not said anything about it. He is fine now and that is all that matters.” Zatanna laughed “Please don’t mention it they will kill me.”

“Hello Red Tornado.” As he talked to Maxine she nodded to what he said. Following the two of them she stayed in the background and wondered why she was being put on some tests. Zatanna watched as Atom put a syringe and just kept watching. She did not dare to talk as this was going on. Zatanna looked at Red Tornado and began to wonder. Never had she do anything at all and the fact that Maxine had to do something made Zatanna wonder what was going on.

[cyclone]

Maxine listened fascinated to Zatanna when she told her about her first mission with the Team. "That sounds really cool. I would like to hear about more details"Maxine loved the stories, especially the ones about the superheroes. She was used to listen the ones of her grandma in her old days and even if she hear them a lot of times, she would never got tired of them. "Well, I guess once I have more experience I could make them louder. For the moment I can bring them and send them, luckily that didn't exhaust me. The first thing I want to learn is about landing, when I fly I always ended hitting the ground, and there will be the moment that I wont have snow to soften the fall"said Maxine with a chuckle. "Yes, I guess you are right. Maybe I should ask him later. If him was the one that attacked Red. Maybe he'll tell me. In some way we have a "family bond" you know? It's a little hard and weird to tell"said Maxine. When she said him it could be hinted a small tone of hardness in her voice. She meant T.O. Morrow, the one that created Red Tornado, and in some weird way created her too.

Maxine smiled weakly to Zatanna, thanking her for coming with them too. "You are doing fine Maxine"said the Atom as a computer started to analyze the blood sample. Meanwhile Red Tornado walked towards Zatanna who looked unsure of what was going on. Maxine wasn't paying attention to them as she was talking to the Atom, as it seemed that she was more calmed. "It seemed that you have talked with Maxine." started to say Red Tornado, although in that moment a tiny hint of happiness could be detected . "You must be wondering why we are putting Maxine trough these tests. Maybe she didn't tell you that when she was six Morrow kidnapped her and experimented on her. We think that the results of the experiments are the origin of her powers. When I decided to take her as my protegée, I contacted to the Justice League and tell them about my decision. We still don't know the connections that Morrow could have with Vandal Savage and Luthor. So many of the members insisted on checking the nanobots in her blood to be sure that they wont use Maxine as a spy or as a weapon to hurt us. I hope you understand that the Justice League can't let that what happened with Red Arrow repeats again"explained Red Tornado to the young magician.

[Zatanna]

“Yeah sure I will tell you more once you are able to come back with me.” Nodding her head Zatanna smiled. “Yeah of course more practice. We all need that and it would be totally awesome to practice with you actually.” Zatanna has yet really trained with anyone just yet. She can’t wait to start training and being a new person was there too it would be great. “Just when it comes to the League when something happens to them we tend not to worry it only gets us not worried about things when we should be worried about our missions and other things. Yeah family bond I used to know about that.”

Zatanna listened to Red Tornado and nodded. “You think it will be good idea to let her stay with the Young justice though? I mean if something like that happened with Red Arrow.” Zatanna knew that League didn’t know they were still helping him trying to find the really Roy. “I guess it would be easier to watch her if she is part of the team. I do though suggest to tell the rest of them. We don’t need to start freaking out over this either.” Zatanna watched the girl and felt bad for her a little. “Does she know about this?” Zatanna looked over at Red Tornado and watched the computers.

[cyclone]

Maxine was chatting happily with the Atom, now completely relaxed after the tests. He was really friendly and he was really smart. It was good to have a conversation with him about the subatomic particles, a subject that Maxine was interested to learn about as all the things and knowledge in life. She was really curious about this stuff. She didn't realize that Red Tornado and Zatanna were speaking about her and these tests.

"I think that the Team can help a lot Maxine in many ways. If something is wrong I'll do my best to help her and make sure she'll be on the team"answered Red Tornado to Zatanna's question. "It's up to you to tell the rest of the team about this Zatanna"said Red Tornado when she suggested about telling the rest of the Young Justice team about this. He took a while to answer to Zatanna last question, if she knew something about the real reasons of these tests. "I think it's the best that Maxine doesn't know anything about the real reasons. She has passed through a lot after Morrow and this could affect her gravely. I've observed an usual human protocol for a long time: sometimes you have to lie to the people you care to protect them"said Red Tornado.

After this Maxine came back to them with a happy smile in her face. "Hi guys! I'm back. Atom is really nice he even signed in my notebook although he was a little nervous by the idea but in the end he did it. And next time he saw me, he is gonna give some books written by a scientist called Ray Palmer. I can't wait to read them! So how are you?"started to say the red haired girl with a big grin and showing the sign of the Atom in her notebook. Meanwhile the Atom started to analyze Maxine's blood sample in the computer and after a few minutes gave a signal to Red Tornado to come. The android excused himself and leave both girls as he approached the computer.

[Zatanna]

“I think so too Red Tornado. Maxine will be with people that would love to have her around. “ Her eyes went wide. “Red Tornado not to lose any respect but you should be the one to tell them. They will not like the idea that she could turn bad. If you tell them they will be more accepting of her. If I told them they might not accept her.” Zatanna said Hell Zatanna didn’t like giving bad news to nobody at all. Nodding her head she smiled. “I will say nothing to her about what you told me I promise that.”

Turning her head Zatanna smiled. “Hey.” Laughing at the notebook thing she nodded. “That is great to hear.” Hearing how she was getting books Zatanna nodded. “That sounds like fun books.” Zatanna began to think and smiled. “Speaking of books I need to get some here soon from my house. Need my dad’s books to start studying more.”

[cyclone]

"Yes!! And despite the Atom can get really small, his sign took up nearly two pages!"joked Maxine with a giggle."And yes the books really sound interesting. It's the perfect chance to read a bout the compression of matter and the theories about the white dwarf star matter, also called the degenerate dwarf"said Maxine with a nod. It was always interesting and funny learning new things. "And if you need help carrying the books, count with me"offered the red haired girl. "I have still a question about the cave: can we bring pets to the cave? My father is always working late and I wouldn't like to leave my monkey Frankie alone all day at home"asked the Maxine. Frankie was like her only friend since last year, and she would feel bad leaving him alone at home, when he always was there for her all the time.

Meanwhile Red Tornado finally arrived to where the Atom was working. "Did you have the results already?"asked the android. "Yes. This is amazing, the technology of the nanobots looked like the one on Earth, but it's really advanced. It's really complicated to decipher the nanobots, but they looked like they have some kind of Hive mind. The good thing is that they have strong defenses against hacking, so I doubt that Savage or his allies would use Maxine against us. She is clean. We can give the good news to the League and the team"said the scientist. "But this is really advanced, even for Morrow. The question is how did he got his hands on this. And you said that all the documents and data about Maxine and her powers that Morrow could have were deleted by the Morrow android?"asked to the android. "Yes, but I have the suspicion that the android got an apprentice before Brom Stikk when Maxine was kidnapped. Maybe he or she has a copy. The problem is that there is not any info about the identity of this apprentice."answered the android. "So...now it's up to find this apprentice, if he or she is still alive before Savage and his allies found him, right?"asked the Atom, although this time the android didn't answer, and looked at Maxine and Zatanna before they left the lab.