Title: Villains of Tomorrow

Summary: AU. Batman was to busy to adopt Dick. Aquaman never found Kaldur. The Flash never met his nephew. Green Arrow didn't come in time to stop Artemis from going with her sister. Martian Manhunter didn't know his niece left Mars. Superman didn't start the search on Camdus. Because of what seemed like small mistakes, the villains raised their own protégés, and Young Injustice was born.

Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Welcome to my newest story, Villains of Tomorrow. While you've all seen AU's and centric's based on Dick Grayson/Robin done by me in the past, I thought I'd switch it up a bit with some good old fashion team-centric. But, like always, this isn't going to be a fluffy bonding story. In fact, this is an AU based on a universe where our main six are protégé's of villains. Working of the Light, to be exact. Prepare for some angst!

Anyway, here's everything you need to know about the team members. Including their villain names and mentors.

Kaldur'ahm - Riptide - Black Manta

Dick Grayson - Renegade - Deathstroke

Wally West - Mercury - Ra's al Ghul

Artemis - Tigress - Sports Master

Connor - Krypton - Lex Luthor

Megan - Green Mistress - Queen Bee

Different years will appear! These are not all going on at the same time. For example, Dick's story is from when he's eight, while Kaldur's is from when he's a year old. This is more of an introduction chapter, explaining how everything went down, and why the ended up not being with their mentors. Alright, let's go! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own YJ or any of its characters

Change the Past, Change the Outcome

Bruce Wayne tore his eyes from the circus that was quickly shrinking as his limo moved farther and farther away. He could still see the police lights, and faintly hear the sirens and people screaming. As soon as everything had happened, he had been whisked out by security and could only watch as Alfred drove up to him in the limo. As he got in, he couldn't help but look back to see a boy soaked in blood and crying hysterically while the police officers pulled him away from the tent for questioning. A part of him wanted to walk over to the boy, demand the police officer put him down as he was scaring him and talk to the boy himself, but he instead climbed into the vehicle with a heavy heart.

That boy was Richard Grayson, and his parents had just fallen to their deaths in front of his vary eyes. That heart-breaking scream the boy had released still echoed in his head, it reminded him of himself when he had seen that exact same thing. Shuttering slightly, he pushed those awful thoughts out of his mind and turned to face Alfred in the front seat.

"That poor boy, parents died right in front of him." Bruce commented, Alfred raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I suppose so, yes, Master Bruce." Alfred paused for a moment, looking slightly troubled. "I overheard some GCPD talking, he's not going to be allowed to stay at the circus. He also had no known living family members."

Bruce sighed, turning to look back out the window. "I bet he'll go to an orphanage, then. He'll find a good family." Alfred knew that meant the discussion was dropped, but he still felt a pit forming in his stomach. However, he chose to say nothing, and they spent the rest of the drive in silence. Later, the topic of adopting him was brought up by Alfred, but Bruce quickly rejected it. He was much to busy, with his day work and night work. Besides, he would find a nice home, much better than anything this mansion could have brought him. As weeks passed, the topic of

Richard Grayson left both of their minds.

Little did they know, it would soon come up in a very troubling way.

Dick shivered, pulling his thin blanket closer around himself.

It had been weeks since Dick had been thrown into the Juvenile Delinquent Center, and the cell had not gotten any warmer. He had a cell with an older boy, a guy named Sylvia who hit him every time he made the smallest of noises. As if to prove his point, Dick flinched as he brushed his eye. It was where Sylvia liked to hit him the most, and he had developed quite a nasty eye bag.

He lay awake, staring at the ceiling and lost in thought. Maybe, someone would rescue him someday. Maybe, just maybe, the world could take pity on the eight year old orphan and grant him with a new choice at life.

Pff, like that would ever happen.

Sighing as quietly as he could, he turned to face the wall. Some small splatters of blood littered the top bunk's walls, some was his, and some were other kids who were in here too. The only difference between him and them was the fact he didn't deserve to be in here, the only crime he'd ever committed was watching his parents die. Sylvia was probably involved with drugs or a theft or something, but he hadn't stolen anything in his life.

He went back to staring at the wall, lost in a trance of thoughts.

He broke the staring contest with the wall when he heard a slight commotion outside of his cell.

Quietly getting off the bed with an expert landing, he crouched over to the bars, leaning as far into them as he possibly could. He caught glimpses of a shadow moving, and it was moving towards his cell.

He gasped, backing up as the figure stood right in front of him. He recognized this figure from a television he once watched when the circus traveled to Happy Harbor. Though he couldn't remember the name (he wasn't fluent in English at that time), the man was undoubtedly him.

The black-and-orange armor, the swords, the gun.. Was he here to kill him?

Dick shivered as the man's glare hardened from behind the mask. "Richard Grayson?" He asked, and Dick nodded cautiously. "Come on, I'm busting you out." He told him, and suddenly the bars slid open. With a gaping mouth, he reluctantly followed.

He cringed as he stepped over the bloodied body, the man was barely breathing. He recognized him as Thomas. Sure, this guard wasn't the nicest, but he didn't deserve to die! With another shuddering breath, he followed the man at a quicker pace. His footsteps were silent, a habit he had developed from being in the air for so long. Dick took a deep breath, gathering the courage to ask a question. "Who are you? Why do you want me?"

The man stopped as they reached the door to the courtyard, he turned to face Dick with an icy stare. "My name is Deathstroke, and I've chosen to train you, to train you to becoming my apprentice."

Dick's eyes widened, his mother would never allow this. But, his mother wasn't here. And this was the new chance he had been asking, praying for. Even if this would put him on the wrong path, it may give him the chance to avenge his parent's death. "I want to join you, but I must ask you of something." Deathstroke raised an unseen eyebrow, telling him to continue. "You'll let me avenge my parents death by killing the man who caused it, Tony Zucco."

Even though Dick couldn't technically see it, the smile was very much there. They began walking again, soon disappearing into the darkness.

Aquaman glared at his subjects, who flinched under the harshness.

He was planning on visiting the cave that held the beautiful jewels today, a nice long swim was exactly what he needed. Unfortunately, this news must be taken care of immediately.

Apparently, Black Manta recently had a son.

"Who would ever even have a kid with that lunatic?!" Aquaman raged to himself, tightening his hold on his trident. The messenger squealed in response, obviously afraid of the power that the trident held. He took in a deep breath, calming himself with slight difficulty.

Aquaman growled, ordering his guards to go send out a troop to look for Black Manta and his filthy son. Sending a bitter glare to the messenger, he obeyed and half swam half ran out of the throne room, leaving Aquaman to slam his fist down onto the throne.

Taking in a deep breath, he decided that he probably should go out for that swim. It would be best, he needed a clear mind to come up with a plan. Twirling the trident in his hands, he swam out the open window and headed directly towards the cave of gems.

When he arrived, he found it a bit weird to see some of them broken. But, for the most part, let it be.

He took in a deep breath, placing the trident on his lap and took deep breaths to calm his mind in peace.

Black Mantis growled, swimming over to the cave of gems to fetch the child.

His child, Kaldur'ahm as he decided to name him, would become his future heir and his protégé.

With a swift look around, he checked for the patrolling guards and picked up the bundle of blankets that was sitting in the far corner of the cave. Grabbing Kaldur'ahm, he quickly made his way out of the cave (not without a small explosion), and quietly swam back to his headquarters that was hidden under the dirt.

He grinned at his child, telling one of the maids to deliver him to his room. Training would begin when he turned four, and not a moment later.

Wally had recently heard about Iris, the aunt he had never met because of his father's hatred for her, getting married to a guy named Barry.

Iris knew he existed, of course, the baby shower picture that had been on the mantle before it was thrown at the wall and shattered showed a picture of her standing sort of awkwardly next to his father, Rudolph. However, neither family spoke to or about each other, so it was highly unlikely Barry would know about him unless he showed up to the West's house for some reason. With a small sigh, he looked over his notes.

His greatest hero, the Flash, had gotten his powers in an experiment. That's what he told someone when he was taking Captain Cold to jail, so he knew it must have been true. With a small smile, he remembered another answered question about how it was actually lightning that had triggered the chemicals into making him have super speed.

Of course, Wally knew this experiment was dangerous. He knew that one wrong move, one slip up, and he could die. But he didn't care, he didn't want to live in this world without something to live for. Currently, all he had was a bad English grade, school bullies, and yelling parents. If this experiment worked, it would give him a reason to live. To fight crime like the Flash, to be a hero!

And so, Wally set down his list and looked it over again. While lightning, strangely enough, was the safest option, his father would scream at him to get down from the roof before he could ever try that. So, he tried a much less safe, but still-could-work, solution. Another chemical that would burn the chemicals into working, much like lightning.

He paced around the room in thought before peaking out the door, finding it empty and knew it was going to be for a while with the shouting coming from downstairs. He locked the door and quickly grabbed the stolen chemicals from his closet, being very careful not to spill any on himself just yet. He grabbed a gag and tied so it covered his mouth. It would be a horrible thing if his parents heard him screaming and ran up to see what's wrong. With a sigh, he put some clothes on the floor and moved anything breakable away from where it was going to happen.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the four chemicals in one hand, and the "lightning" in the other. If the chemical worked, it wasn't going to send him into a comma. Most likely.

'Now is not the time for turning back.' Wally thought to himself. With one more deep breath, he poured the chemicals onto the top of his head. He held in a scream, the chemicals were burning his skin in the most painful way possible. Somehow through the pain, he managed to pour the last chemical onto himself. He collapsed to the floor, opening his eyes to see chemical burns littering his arms. If that was what his arms looked like, he couldn't imagine his face right now.

He started to gasp for breath, something made slightly difficult with the cloth. He closed his eyes, 'this is the end.. I'm going to die..'

Then, the pain stopped.

Wally opened his eyes, he didn't feel the pain anymore. But, he also didn't feel any different. He didn't feel ADHD, or fast, or anything. The experiment had been for nothing.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, he slowly and carefully headed to the door. Pressing his ear against it, he heard yelling coming from his parents, and also heard the back door slam shut. They were outside, that couldn't have been any better timing. Slipping out his bedroom door, he ran quietly to the bathroom to examine his most likely burned face. Opening the door, he was shocked to see himself staring at him.

No burns, no scars, no nothing. His skin had completely been untouched.

He looked down at his arms, which he remembered had been burned. They as well were unburned, he was completely healed! Was it some sort of after-effect from the chemicals? Was it his imagination that his arms were burned? Was it, could it, have been that he had super-healing?

There was only one way to test it.

He quietly walked down the steps, listening for his parents. They were still outside, they wouldn't notice him slipping through the front door. With a grin, he walked out and started to jog, gradually getting faster. Soon, he was running at full speed, but felt he could go faster. Pushing himself, he blinked and found himself standing at a road sign.

A Gotham road sign.

He just ran from Central City to Gotham! He was a speedster!

With a big grin, he focused and ran to the park. Nobody was there, of course, but it still felt amazing. Laying down in the soft grass, he laughed. This was the best day of his life. Sitting up, he realized another man was standing there.

"Sorry, are you the curfew guy? Because, I swear, I was just heading home!"

The man took a step closer, and he definitely was not a police officer. Or that of any kind. "My name is Ra's al Ghul, but it looks like you already know that, Wallace."

Wally scurried up, but slipped as he tried to get up to fast. "I don't have any money! Please, don't kill me!"

Ra's raised an eyebrow, "you haven't done anything wrong. Why would I try to kill you?" He looked slightly amused, and Wally was just confused.

"You're a bad guy, you kill people!" He accused, "you don't need a reason!"

Ra's raised his eyebrow again, this time leaning in closer. Though his face didn't show anger like Wally had expected, he showed concern and slight sadness. "I believe you are confused, my boy. I don't kill people without a reason, I kill them because they did something wrong."

Wally didn't look the slightest bit convinced, so Ra's continued. "You see, what I do is stop the men who do bad thing. The men who make children orphans, then men who lie and threaten people just because they can."

Wally frowned, "that's what the justice system is for, we don't need people like you."

Ra's al Ghul sighed again. "You live in a town where the bad guys don't kill. The hurt and steal, but they don't kill. What about a city like Gotham? Ever heard of the Joker?" He asked, Wally's paled face gave him an answer. "The Joker goes out and kills people, leaves orphaned children. He doesn't have a reason, he's just evil and sick. He kills because he thinks it's a game." Wally noticed the bitterness in his voice, and a small part of him agreed with what Ra's said. "Batman puts him in Arkham. He stays for a few months, but then he breaks out again and does the same thing over again."

Ra's looked him over, and Wally thought he saw slight sympathy in his eyes. "I don't like killing, but it is needed. Those men out there, who kill for their own gain, need to be stopped. While the Justice League is doing their best, they do it the wrong way. If you truly want to end the war of peace versus chaos, then I'm giving you an offer. Join me."

Wally froze, he was actually offering him this? To join him? He believed in the Flash, what he is doing was right. Right?

He was so confused, everything Ra's said made sense. Maybe this way, he could actually use his power for good. Use it to end the war of chaos and peace. Looking back up at Ra's al Ghul, he nodded. The older man smiled, motioning him to follow. A gust of wind, and they were both gone, disappeared into the night.

Artemis held the teddy bear close to her chest, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Jade, where are you going?" She asked, and Jade crouched down to meet her eyes.

"I can't stay here, I don't feel like I belong. I'm going to take our father up in joining him." She pushed the hairs out of Artemis' eyes, her own gleaming with unshed tears. "Take care of mom for me, okay?"

Jade grabbed her bag off the bed, glancing at the poster with one last sigh. Artemis looked at her shoes before looking at Jade once again. "I'm coming with you."

Jade paused mid-stride, turning to face her sister. Her emerald-green eyes were burning with determination and confidence, she truly wanted to go with her. She couldn't let Artemis go with her, Jade didn't belong, but that didn't mean Artemis didn't either. "No, Artemis. I'm going alone."

Artemis crossed her arms defiantly. "If you don't let me come with you, I'll sneak out on my own." Her smile disappeared, turning into a serious frown. "I can't lose you, Jade. You're my sister and my best friend, we may never see each other again if you go without me."

Jade smiled, throwing her bag to the bed. Rummaging through the closet, she grabbed an identical bag to the one she was carrying, but in orange. "Quickly get dressed and pack anything necessary, father will be expecting us in a little less than an hour, so hurry up."

Artemis grinned, grabbing some clothes and changing in the corner of the room. Jade's smile dropped, what did she just do? Her sister was much too young to be a criminal, she couldn't possibly-

Her sister was suddenly on her, arms wrapping around her waist. "Thank you for letting me come too, I don't think I could have properly lived without you."

Jade let a single tear fall, "me either, sis, me either."

Artemis grabbed her bag, the only thing she really kept was her teddy bear that sat with its head poking out. Jade nodded, motioning her to follow. As they snuck out the window and ran towards the warehouse where their father waited patiently, Jade knew she hadn't made a mistake. Because now, she could watch over her little sister better than she could've from a distance.

M'gann let out a small gasp, sitting up with shock.

She looked around curiously, she was in her bio-ship. Why was she in her bio-ship? More importantly, why did her head hurt so bad?

Her memories were fuzzy, but the bio-ship must know something. Looking over the controls, she tapped on a button that showed her most recent video. Clicking play, she sat back and watched.

"This is it, M'gann, this is it. You will finally travel away from Mars. All that waiting is over, Uncle J'ohn is leaving after his visit to earth. I couldn't get his permission to go with him, sadly, but following him should be good enough. Time for the show!"

The video ended, and M'gann stared dumbfounded at herself. Was she on Earth? Glancing up at the time the video was made, it was roughly four months since her trip to.. Earth.

Four months?!

Desperately checking the bio-ship's inner clock, it indeed said April 8th. Last time she had checked, it was January 1st. How did she not remember the past four months? Was she in a coma or something? Glancing out the window, she saw nothing but yellow sand, meaning she definitely wasn't on Mars. And, from what she could tell, the ship was in camouflage mode.

Biting her lip, she mentally asked the bio-ship to let her out.

M'gann used here telekinesis to move the sand out of the way as she went to the surface. They were so far under the sand, it was a wonder to her of how much sand could collect in just four months. Putting the question to the back of her mind to answer later, she reached the surface. Isn't this what humans called a desert? It looked like one, especially with the cactus nearby.

Wandering around, she spotted men. Maybe they could help her! Smiling brightly, she flew over to them. "Uh, hello! Can you guys help me?"

The three men spun around, yelling to each other in a language she didn't know. Next thing she knew, the shot something and a rope caught ahold of her wrist. She yelped, struggling against the bonds. A second later, her feet were tied together and she fell face-first into the Earth, and her hands were roughly forced behind her back. A second later, a puff of air filled her nose, and the world faded into darkness.

M'gann groaned, swaying slightly as she sat up. What happened? What was going on?

She noticed her hands and legs were tied to a chair. Was she kidnapped? She remembered it being referenced on Hello, Megan!, but she was still sort of unclear on the actual meaning.

Her head felt to groggy to untie herself right now, and she wasn't sure she'd have the strength to do anything anyway. M'gann faintly noticed a door opening, and blinked to clear her vision, only to see a man and a woman trailing inside.

The woman was beautiful, dark skin matched her dark hair. She wore jewels that had to be made of gold and diamonds, was she rich? She was about to ask what was going on, when her eyes trailed to the man, and her mouth snapped shut. He looked.. scary, for a lack of a better word. A cloak covered the majority of his head, but his pale skin and what she could see of his dangerous eyes frightened her. The woman, obviously noticing the exchange, smirked.

"Psimon, do stop frightening the poor girl. I'm here to ask questions, not make her wet herself."

Psimon obediently looked away, much to M'gann's pleasure, and went to stand in the corner of the room. A moving chair made her turn her attention back to the woman, who was looking her up and down. "What are you, my girl?"

M'gann froze, the tone was icy and harsh. "I-I'm a martian, Miss." She stuttered when she gained the courage, the woman's eyes widened, filled with mysterious intentions.

"A martian, is that right?" She asked, a hint of darkness in her voice, but she tapped her chin innocently. "You wouldn't happen to know Martian Manhunter, would you?"

M'gann's face lit up, that's what Uncle J'ohn called himself on Earth! "I do, that's my uncle! Do you know where I could find him?"

The woman, once again, looked oddly amused. "I'm afraid you won't be seeing your uncle anytime soon, sweetheart." She said, M'gann's smile dropped.

"W-what? Why?"

The woman's smirk turned into a wicked smile, motioning Psimon over. The woman grabbed

M'gann's face, harshly forcing her to look straight into the eyes of Psimon. He pulled down his hood, and she found herself unable to look away. "Because now, you serve Queen Bee."

'Psimon says, forget'

Superboy's eyes opened, someone was opening the pod.

There was a bald man in a suit, staring at him with a calculating look. "Are you Superboy?"

Superboy nodded, looking at the man suspiciously. He turned around, talking to someone he couldn't see with the pod blocking his vision. Tuning his ears, he heard the entire conversation.

"We're not sure if it's ready to be released yet, Luthor." Said a woman, "it may still be unstable."

The man, Luthor, let out a small chuckle. "I think we are more than ready to let him out." A moment of silence, then, "what? Superboy is a living boy as far as I'm concerned, he should be addressed as a person."

There was a small sigh, which made Superboy slightly angry. This 'Luthor' guy is right, he wasn't just some animal! He glared fiercely at where the woman was standing, but was surprised when no heat vision came out.

His eyes flickered back to Luthor, who was staring at him again. "Sorry about that, Superboy, we couldn't give you full kryptonian DNA in fear of your safety." He paused, a large smile spread across his face. "So, you are half human. But, look at the bright side, it means you can have an official father."

Superboy's eyes widened. Father? He knew what the term meant, but he'd never been associated with one before. "I have a father?"

Luthor's eyes widened for a split second, but the look went as quickly as it had come. "Glad to see your vocal cords are working. And, yes, you do have a father. In fact, you are looking right at him."

It took Superboy a minute to process what he said, and when he did, the shock hit him like a punch to the gut. "Y-you're my father?" He stuttered, bringing his hand to his head. This was confusing, he was told Superman was his supposed "father".

"Yes, I am." He answered. A frown spread across his face, "come on out of the tube, Superboy, you're coming home with me."

As confused as he was, he greatly stepped out of the tube. Following Luthor through the endless tunnels, he felt the warm sun on his face as he climbed, somewhat reluctantly, into the limo. Smiling slightly, he watched as the buildings passed.

Luthor was also smiling, but for a completely different reason. Someday, bringing Superboy home will mean the end to Superman. He just knew it.

So, how was the warm-up chapter? Did you enjoy?

I know, Kaldur's sucked. I'm sorry, guys, I just couldn't come up with anything for him. So, please, ignore my horrible writing with Kaldur and enjoy the rest of them! :D

Poor M'gann, she didn't even get the option. Stupid Psimon, stupid Queen Bee.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading! See you next time!