I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Strange Dreams
Conner shifted his weight impatiently eager to see the show start. He wanted to see exactly what Gotham had managed to get permission to shoot into the sky this year and didn't really care that Nightwing and Zatanna were busy making out a few feet away or that Megan and Lagaan were doing the same. For the first time, he couldn't care less that Megan was dating Lagaan. Right now, the only person on his mind was Cassie who was laying her head on his chest and staring up at the sky. He wasn't uncomfortable. Quite the opposite. He was more comfortable than he could remember being for a long time and wanted to sty right there. At the same time, he was getting restless waiting for the fireworks.
It was the fourth of July and the six of them had spent the majority of the day at the fair. They had ridden roller coasters for the most part. Just because he was bullet proof didn't keep roller coasters from being fun. After the rides they had watched a stuntman riding a motorcycle around inside of a cramped metal sphere. When he was done, they had gone back to the fair and gotten something to eat then had gone to a large open field beside the city to watch the display.
"It should start soon," Cassie whispered seeming to sense his impatience.
"You said that two hours ago," Conner whispered back.
"I know a way to pass the time," Cassie whispered back as his face turned slightly more pink.
She had been teasing him recently by flirting. They both knew she was just joking around and he would always joke back but it never failed to make either of their faces red.
"I know a better one," Conner whispered back, ghosting his hand up her side and making her clamp her arms to her sides in case he was planning on tickling her.
He had, in fact, been going to do it, but even though she knew, she still blushed as their shared and newly discovered perverted sense of humor kicked in about what the movement might have also been.
"That might be fun for you," Cassie whispered rolling on top of him, "but I know one that could be fun for both of us."
Just then, the first firework went into the sky and exploded forming the word "FORT" quickly followed by two more that formed "OF JULY".
Cassie rolled over to watch but just then the Western horizon lit up and made it nearly as bright as six at night during the summer. They all looked and saw a wall of flame traveling over the ground toward them. They instantly jumped up and Conner whistled. A moment later, Sphere arrived and transformed into Superbike and they all climbed in. It took off instantly away from the fire and within a minute they saw that the fire was going to catch them soon.
"Will we be safe over the ocean?" Cassie asked.
"No idea," Conner said. "Better chance than nothing."
Superbike flew higher and higher as it raced toward the ocean and when they got there, they all stared in shock. They could see fire all the way around themselves placing them near the center. They might be able to go over the top if they rushed or they could take their chances in the water. Conner looked down and saw the only problem with the water was that it had turned into boiling lava. The water seemed to have been the first thing to get messed up by whatever it was.
"What do we do?" Zatanna asked.
"Up and over!" Conner shouted and Superbike sped straight upward flames shooting out the tailpipe.
They accelerated upward at a starling pace but the smaller the space inside the ring of fire became, the faster the flames closed in. Finally, Megan grabbed Lagaan and flew upward even faster and Zatanna used a spell to create a circular platform for herself and Richard that did the same. Cassie flew after them but Conner stayed in Superbike, being unable to actually fly himself.
The flames were probably ten miles high or more and all six put oxygen masks on as they flew higher. Just as Miss Martian, and Zatanna cleared with their passengers, Cassie realized that Conner wouldn't make it. She flew back down toward him just as he leapt off of Superbike's end and flew toward her. Just as his hand was about to reach hers, bright light flared in his eyes blinding him and suddenly he was laying in his bed held down by Rocket's force field ensuring he was going nowhere.
"I'm good," Conner said.
"You sure?" Rocket asked.
"He's okay," Cassie said placing a hand on Rocket's arm. "Let him up."
Rocket released the force field and Conner sat up looking around to see that the original team along with Cassie and Lagaan were present and looked worried. Cassie looked less worried about herself than about him.
"What happened?" Conner asked.
"You were having a nightmare," Nightwing said. "You flipped out shouting something about demons then got violent trying to get away and we restrained you."
"I said what?" Conner asked.
"Demons," Nightwing said.
"To be more specific," Cassie said. "You were saying something about the demon's flames and not, and I quote, 'reaching her'."
Conner looked confused for a moment then leaned back against the wall. He remembered his dream and knew what he had meant but he was confused about the specifics.
"Nightwing," Conner said. "Does Gotham have the technology to have fireworks create perfect letters?"
"No," Richard said. "Why?"
"Then I need to use the computer," Conner said leaving the room to got the the main computer.
"What's this about?" Nightwing asked while Conner typed in 'Fort of July' and had the computer search the entire world-wide web for anything besides the fourth of July.
"I saw this in my dream when fireworks spelled them out when they blew up," Conner said staring at the monitor. "I want to know why."
"Fireworks?" Conner asked. "Any chance it was actually the fourth of July?"
"No," Conner said. "I may only be a few years old but I know how to read."
Suddenly the computer showed one successful result. It was a little known website made by some guy in his mother's basement, probably.
Conner clicked the link and was taken to a website with a plain black background, white words, and a picture of several stone carvings of soldiers commanding others mid-battle while also tearing the enemies apart with a sword. Conner scanned the words and when he had finished, his mouth was hangin open. There were only a few paragraphs but the general idea was easy to simplify.
"Anyone want to fill us in?" Cassie asked who couldn't see the screen.
"July was an ancient Greek general renown for his ability to always win, which he did, and his savageness and skill both on the battlefield and off," Conner said. "Sounds Kryptonian. He was a meticulous and ingenious battle strategist and a fierce and unstoppable warrior. He wielded a sword and his fists. He was banished from Athens and joined Sparta quickly becoming a general again. Then he lead them against the Persians in several different battles including the Battle of Thermopylae. After Greece fell, he disappeared and was assumed dead. Then he reappeared as a Roman commander and once again was an unstoppable force leading nearly every important battle.
"Apparently, he ended his reign by turning on all of Rome with all of his most faithful and loyal soldiers. He battled the entire Roman Empire and nearly won but they apparently sealed him away. His last words were supposedly, 'I will return on the anniversary, be it in one year or a million. I will return and claim the planet that is rightfully mine.' Then he was gone and the Fort of July was razed to the ground to hide the seal. He returned one last time under Nero's reign and burned Rome. Then he was resealed and hasn't been out since.
"The seal has weakened though. The World Wars were because of his influence. If his seal breaks again, it's over."
"And you think it's going to break on the fourth of July?" Miss Martian asked. "Why then?"
"Because of this," Conner said zooming in on a sentence. "The date and times were exactly the same for both sealings and it was on July fourth at exactly nine thirty at night. He will return just after the fireworks start. It also says that he was sealed in Hell and as a result has been gaining demonic power The seal is on Earth but technically it just traps him in Hell. He could reappear from anywhere I expect."
"When did you become an expert?" Richard asked.
Read and review. I was working on this story as a digimon/adventure time cross over but no one was reading it so I adapted it for this.