10% Luck
Kid Flash stood five miles outside of the city, staring at the bomb in his trembling hands. The timer was blinking 0:00, but it had yet to go off. He rolled it around in his hands, trying to find a reason for it to have malfunctioned, but there was no external evidence of it having been tampered with. And as quickly as their enemies had cleared out of the warehouse it had obviously been meant to explode. He ran to a lake a few miles further into the forest and threw the bomb into the water before turning and speeding back toward the warehouse where his friends would undoubtedly be freaking out. He found them there in varying states of shock, all of them staring at him as if they had never expected to see him again. "Wha… what happened?" Artemis demanded, her voice shaky. "I don't know," Kid Flash replied. "The timer ran out but the thing didn't go off." Robin stalked over to him, and KF half expected the shorter boy to tackle him with a sissy hug. Instead, Robin slugged him across the jaw. "What were you thinking, you idiot? If that bomb had exploded you would have been dead." Shrugging off the real reasons behind his brash decision, KF responded, "Dude, I'm like the luckiest guy in the history of ever. I knew it wasn't gonna go off." Robin hit him again.
20% Skill
Robin and Superboy faced off in the training area, both narrowing their eyes at their opponent. They were an extremely interesting match – Robin's strength rested in his agility and reflexes and Superboy relied on his brute strength. They faced their own weaknesses when they fought each other, and that was exactly what had them training tirelessly on a Saturday morning while the rest of their teammates were enjoying a leisurely day on the beach. They fought hard for hours, until sweat poured off both their bodies and their chests heaved with exertion. Yet they still fought on, driven by the knowledge that the skills they built while facing each other could decide the outcome of a life-or-death battle in the future.
15% Concentrated Power of Will
M'gann stared hard at steel beam, fingertips pressing into her temples, eyes narrowed, and a drop of blood beginning to leak from her nose. The veins in her face and neck stood out as she concentrated harder than she ever had in her life. She grunted aloud from the strain and watched in satisfaction as the beam began to tremble before slowly lifting into the air. "That's the way, Megan, you got this!" Artemis said from beside her. M'gann turned slowly, the beam following her movements away from the pile of debris. As soon as it was clear she dropped her hands and released her mental hold on the heavy object. It fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dirt as it impacted with a heavy thump. She panted, slipping to her knees and wiping the blood from her chin. Artemis' hands were on her shoulders, rubbing gently, and the other girl was murmuring encouragingly into her ear. "That was perfect, Megan, you're doing great! Just a little bit more and we'll have our boys out of there. You've got this!" M'gann struggled back to her feet, narrowing her eyes at a large chunk of concrete and beginning the process again.
5% Pleasure
"Dude, they're playing the whole X-Men trilogy tonight! Score!" Kid Flash yelled through Mount Justice. "I'll make the popcorn and you get the sodas," Robin called back from the kitchen. "On it!" Kid Flash replied, zipping out the door in a gust of wind.
Conner and M'gann sat side-by-side on the beach, watching the colorful sunset and enjoying one of the few peaceful moments they'd had in weeks. M'gann leaned shyly on Conner's shoulder, sighing in contentment. After only a moment's hesitation the boy responded by placing his arm around her waist. The two stayed outside long into the night, talking and enjoying each other's company.
Everyone was excited for a long weekend on the beach, free of missions and training and, for three of them, free of school. They all gathered their chairs, beach balls, towels, sunscreen, and snacks and headed out of the mountain for some much-needed relaxation. On his way out the door, Aqualad took his communicator out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table. A small smile graced his lips as he left for a day free from the pressures of protecting the innocents of the world.
50% Pain
The gun went off before any of them had even realized it was there. Three bullets bounced off of Superboy's chest, not strong enough to pierce his skin but strong enough to bruise his ribs and cause him to stumble backwards. Another caught Aqualad in the shoulder, piercing through his thick skin and knocking him onto his back. A fifth bullet slammed into Kid Flash's knee as the speedster rushed the man with the gun and sent him crashing out of control into the wall behind the gunman. KF stayed down, screaming in agony and clutching at his mangled leg. In seconds a batarang had knocked the gun out of the man's hand and an exploding arrow had rendered him unconscious, but the damage had been done.
Robin knew something was wrong as soon as his back was slammed into the brick wall. The mutant released his ankle and Robin slid to the ground, wincing as his legs twisted beneath him. His head pounded and the sound of his teammates calling his name seemed to be reaching him from a great distance. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and his vision darkened dangerously. He tried to struggle to his feet but the movement caused him to black out completely. The last thing he was aware of was someone grabbing his shoulders and screaming his name entirely too loudly.
Superboy had almost managed to overpower his opponent when he felt as if all of his strength had suddenly been sucked out of him. His knees buckled and his super hearing faded until he could barely even hear himself breathing. His enemy struck him across the face with a baseball bat and he fell to the ground, panting and unable even to push himself up. He looked around in confusion before crying out as the bat was brought down on his side, cracking ribs. His eyes finally found what he was looking for; a truck had pulled into the alley, undoubtedly carrying a load of Kryptonite. He swore, trying in vain to regain his feet as the man lifted the bat for another strike. The weapon came down on his head and Superboy knew no more.
M'gann froze as a deafening sound filled her mind, reverberating through her psychic connection with the world around her. She immediately clapped her hands over her ears, trying to dampen the noise, but it had no effect. She staggered and fell to her knees, clenching her eyes shut and stifling a scream of her own. She distantly heard her teammates calling her name over their telepathic connection before it was severed completely, her mind overwhelmed by the terrible sound. She crumpled into herself, trying desperately to escape the unbearable pain in her skull. As she slipped from consciousness, her last coherent thought was: There's only one person who could do this….
Aqualad leaned against the side of the tank, struggling to breathe in the hot, dry air. His skin had become dehydrated long ago and he could feel his strength draining from his body as the temperature steadily rose. His head ached mercilessly and his lungs screamed for cool, moist air and Kaldur knew he wouldn't last much longer. He tried to stand upright but stumbled forward and fell heavily onto his stomach, moaning as the impact jarred his throbbing head. He rolled onto his back, gasping for air and pleading with all that was good in the world to spare him from this carefully constructed hell. Suddenly he heard the rushing of water and his heart gave a joyful leap inside his chest. He used every last bit of strength he had left to climb to his knees, searching for the source of the sound. It was only moments later that he realized the tank he was in was being slowly surrounded by water even as the tank itself grew hotter and dryer. He crumbled, realizing that his captor was merely teasing him, and began to scream as loud as his aching lungs would allow.
Artemis screamed as her own arrow was stabbed violently through her hand and struggled as hard as she could against the hands holding her down. "We'll teach you to go against your father's orders," one of the men hissed in her ear as he trailed a knife down the side of her face, drawing blood. She kicked out blindly and caught the man between the legs; she allowed herself a small smirk of triumph as the man groaned and crumpled to the ground. As soon as he recovered enough to stand he grabbed her leg and another arrow, pressing the tip into her knee cap. "You'll pay for that, bitch," he muttered, lifting the arrow threateningly. Artemis looked to the side at her discarded communicator, relieved to see that the tracking signal was still blinking. She prayed that her team would get there in time even as the weapon was brought down on her knee.
Kid Flash lay unmoving in the floor of the cage, his breathing slow and his eyes drooping closed. He had given up fighting against his captors a day ago and they had thoroughly enjoyed beating the crap out of his unresisting body. They had denied him any food for the last six days, and KF knew that, at best, he had a day left. His stomach had stopped feeling as though it were digesting itself two days ago but the excruciating pain in his arms and legs spoke of the danger of the speedster going so long without food. His heartbeat and respiration were slowing down and his supercharged muscles were no longer getting the nutrients or oxygen they needed to function. He knew it wouldn't take long for asphyxiation to set in and for his brain and heart to shut down. This danger had been one of the first things the Flash had taught him after the "accident" that gave him his powers. He knew what would happen if his friends didn't reach him in time, and after six days of this torture even his unfailing optimism was running out. He closed his eyes as darkness overcame him.
And 100% Reason to Remember the Name "Young Justice"
This was inspired by a youtube video (Remember the Name by bearyspecial1996 - check it out!). The song is Remember the Name by Fort Minor.