I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Wayward Teacher
Cassius watched as Cassandra and Rose sparred. Rose couldn't keep up with Cassandra any better than any of the rest of the Team could, but something was different. Cassandra was hesitating. Cassius knew what caused the change. It was the Joker. Her inability to read his movements had made her doubt her ability to read others. After a few minutes of her being overly cautious and neither taking the other down, Cassius finally ended the match, both stopping as the light on the floor turned off. He sighed, walking over to them.
"Good work Rose," Cassius said. You're improving quickly."
Rose smiled proudly and Cassius turned to Cassandra, who hung her head, apparently expecting to get scolded. Cassius crouched down so that Cassandra was looking at him, seeing the patient, sympathetic smile on his face.
"Fighting Joker really hit you hard, huh?" he asked.
Cassandra nodded. "Couldn't...read."
"It's alright," Cassius said. "The Joker's insane. Like I said, he's unpredictable. It's understandable that even you wouldn't be able to read him. But could you read Rose when you were sparring?"
Cassandra nodded.
"Did she do what you thought she would every time?" Cassius asked.
Again, Cassandra nodded.
Cassius smiled, nodding as well. "Your abilities haven't changed or weakened any, Cass. You can still read people as well as ever. It's just the Joker who throws you off."
Cassandra frowned, tilting her head to the side. "Cass?"
Cassius blinked before realizing he'd never called her anything but her full name. He raised his hand to sign so that he knew she'd understand. "That's you. It's a nickname. A shorter version of your name. A nickname can also be a word that you call someone in place of a name to identify them, like if I always called you Kiddo, that would be your name."
"Kiddo?" Cassandra signed back.
"It's a term adults call children that they're close with," Cassius signed. "Usually their own child, or someone they care about like their own child."
Cassandra nodded.
"Do you want to try sparring me and see if you can still read me?" Cassius offered. "I won't use my goo. Promise."
Cassandra nodded.
He stood and glanced over to Rose, who nodded and started a sparring session. Cassius moved first, punching at Cassandra, who ducked to the outside. However, instead of countering, she retreated, getting distance from him. He moved to strike again, this time with a kick that he knew left him open for her to take him duck, but she shoved his foot into the kick more before again retreating.
"Cassandra, stop running away," Cassius said as he turned to her again. "You're stronger than this. Stop doubting yourself. Trust in your ability, or else you'll never be able to stop running away. If you allow fear of what might happen rule you, it'll be much, much harder to take back control in order to stop being afraid. Trust yourself, and trust your ability to read people. You can do this."
Cassandra hesitated before nodding and settling into her beginning stance again. Cassius noticed she was a bit calmer and prepared himself again. This time, when he moved to strike, she knocked his hand away and slammed a punch into his gut before spinning around him, hooking a foot between his before wrapping her right arm around his torso and twisted, the leg between his tripping him when he tried to turn, allowing her to slam him to the ground and send him bouncing away. He pushed himself up, grinning.
"Much better," Cassius said. "I suppose it's safe for me to get serious too, now."
Cassandra nodded, smiling, and charged. She jumped, kicking at him, and he blocked her kick, shoving her upward. She flipped backward, landing in a low crouch and swept at his legs, only for him to flip to his hands, slamming a kick into her chest and throwing her backward. She landed in a backward somersault, ending up on her feet, and retaking her martial arts stance. Cassius charged and threw a feint punch, Cassandra stepping into it and easily brushing it aside, then blocked the knee he threw. As soon as her arms met it, she flipped forward, pushing off his knee, then grabbed his head under the jaw, flipping back down behind him and yanking him backward.
As he began to fall backward, he'd have shouted in surprise if his jaw wasn't being held firmly closed. As he fell backward, he rolled up her back before her arms swung forward, hurling him away from her, Cassius flipping end over end backward once before slamming on his back. As soon as he did, the computer announced that Cassandra had won the match, Cassius lying motionless for a moment, trying to regain his breath. Cassandra walked over to him and smiled, offering him her hand.
"That was awesome!" Cassius grinned as he stood with her help. "Where'd you learn that?"
Cassandra shrugged, then signed, "I just thought of it."
"You're incredible," Cassius smiled before she hugged him.
"Thank...you," Cassandra said.
"You're welcome," Cassius smiled, holding her tightly for a moment.
"Cassius, Cassandra, Rose, come to the hangar," Kaldur's voice said in their minds suddenly. "We are going to find Red Tornado."
Cassandra pulled back instantly and she and Rose ran toward their rooms to get their hero costumes. As they did, Cassius turned and walked toward the Hangar.
"I'm on my way," Cassius said. "Cassandra and Rose are getting their gear, then they'll be there. Are we kidnapping our soon-to-be teammate?"
"Sure are," Robin replied.
Earlier, while the others had all been training, Zatara had arrived to replace Black Canary as their babysitter for the week, and had brought his daughter, Zatanna, who Robin had instantly begun trying to flirt with. He was only slightly better than Wally, but she responded well to his attempts, so Cassius had a feeling it wouldn't be long until they were a couple. And despite Zatara claiming she was just visiting, none of them doubted the inevitability of her joining the team. The others had gone to "give her a tour of the cave," at Zatara's suggestion, once they'd admitted to having been having a psychic conversation about Zatara still not trusting them and about Shazam having been at the Cave with them for the last week because he didn't trust them either, though Shazam had spent that week waiting on Wally, who was milking having a broken arm after the fight with the Injustice League. They'd told Zatara and Black Canary that they wanted to do something about Red Tornado, but they'd been shot down. So, now they were taking matters into their own hands.
Cassius followed the others back onto the Bio-Ship. They'd needed a stupid idea about how to find T.O. Morrow, who they suspected had taken Red Tornado. So, naturally, they turned to Wally, who suggested going to Professor Ivo, who was apparently in Belle Reve. A couple hours later, Megan had failed to get the information with her telepathy, only for Zatanna to use a spell to force Ivo to tell them the exact location of T.O. Morrow's base in Yellowstone National Park, including how to find the entrance. Now, they were on their way there.
"Block out all external communication," Kaldur said as they flew. "Soon, Canary and Zatara, Batman too, I imagine, will know of our...visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time."
"Look," Robin said, turning to Zatanna and letting out a short, nervous half-laugh. "I'm trying to be all...nonchalant here..."
"Why? Be as chalant as you like," Zatanna flirted.
Cassius rolled his eyes. Another one. Robin on his own was bad enough, and now she was playing toward his habit to flirt. He glanced at Robin as Robin grinned widely.
"I think we're all just trying to get a handle on your powers," Artemis said, stopping them from flirting further and forgetting about the purpose of the initial attempt at conversation. "Could you...teleport us to Tornado, or Morrow to a cell, or force his bots to surrender?"
"Or create peace on Earth for all time?" Zatanna said, then snorted. "Zatara couldn't even do all that, and I'm nowhere near on my dad's level. I need to know a spell cold, or else have time to prep it. Plus, all magic requires energy, which usually has to come from within. I just can't make the impossible happen at will."
"What's our ETA to Yellowstone?" Connor snapped. "I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor!"
"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Kaldur asked.
"Aren't you!?" Connor asked.
"I'm not," Cassius said. "He was most likely hacked."
"I am inclined to agree," Kaldur said. "And even so, that makes him but the victim of his creator's programming. Certainly he deserves the chance to prove that he is more than the weapon others designed him to be."
Connor turned back to the front, taking a deep breath and calming himself. Cassius glanced at Rose and Cassandra, both of whom, not having actually known Tornado for long, looked mostly indifferent on the issue.
"Cassius, have you regained use of your goo?" Kaldur asked.
"Some," Cassius said. "However, it's not just that I lost use of it. I lost goo. When I burn, the goo that's burned is gone, so my body heals by more goo replacing it while I slowly regenerate what goo was destroyed. Right now, I'm probably about one third my normal strength using my goo. Given who we'll have to fight, I expect to loose more goo doing this."
"Do not worry about the one that controls fire," Kaldur said. "You focus on Red Tornado and the other. You should be able to deal with both of them well, so long as you are not weakened by fire first, correct?"
"Should," Cassius said. "We'll have to wait and see, though."
Kaldur nodded. "Miss Martian and I will help you. Robin, Kid, Artemis, and Superboy can handle the other."
"Right," Robin nodded.
"Got it," Kid Wally agreed.
"Rose, I want you to help them," Cassius said. "Cassandra, you'll be with us."
Both girls nodded.
"What about me?" Zatanna asked.
"You can go with me-us," Robin caught himself.
"Smooth," Cassius smirked.
"Shut it!" Robin said.
Zatanna smirked, nodding. "Alright. With you it is."
Robin grinned, nodding, and a few minutes later, they reached Yellowstone and all stood, anyone who had a Stealth Mode in their suit activating it. Even Artemis, who had a dark green suit already, had Stealth Tech to turn it black and the lighter green arrow to a light grey. Cassius formed his clothes into his suit, and Cassandra and Rose both pulled their masks on. Zatanna used a spell to change her white pants and purple, spaghetti strap, tank top into a black suit jacket and pants, a yellow vest, a white blouse, and a pair of white gloves, and they all left the Bio-Ship. As they ran, they remained silent, Robin using his gauntlet's holographic screen to scan for Morrow's base.
"Ivo was right," Robin said. "Something's down there."
Just then, a massive, extremely powerful wind kicked up. Cassius attached himself to the ground with his goo as the others were all blown back a short ways. They all looked up, seeing Red Tornado hovering above them. Just as they saw him, he formed a dozen massive, scarlet tornados around them in a semicircle opposite him, trapping them. Cassius formed goo around his forearms and hands, having to also shift his suit from around his forearms into goo. He sighed. He hated having nothing to work with.
"Why, Tornado!?" Megan shouted over the wind. "Why are you doing this!?"
Tornado formed more and more tornados, though Cassius noticed something. They were writing something. He took a moment to read them before his eyes widened slightly.
"Message received?" Megan asked telepathically.
"Got it," Cassius replied, just as Connor nodded subtly.
"Who care's why!?" Connor shouted. "Let's nail him!"
He charged and Kaldur followed.
"Superboy, maneuver seven!" Kaldur shouted.
Connor spun, clasping his hands.
"No, wait!" Cassius shouted, just as Connor hurled Kaldur at Tornado.
Tornado shot forward instantly, drilling a punch into Kaldur's face and launching him back into Connor. Cassius encased his legs in goo as well and launched himself into the air at Tornado, catching Tornado's punch and flipping, only for Tornado to spin, the cyclone he was hovering atop growing to encase them entirely, obscuring them from any cameras around them, which Cassius suspected several of.
"Erase your message," Cassius warned him before letting go and allowing himself to be sent crashing back into the ground in front of Rose and Cassandra, who both knelt beside him to check on him as he turned his goo back into his suit.
"I'm okay," Cassius said, just as Tornado raised his arms.
Instantly, the tornados around them all began to rage around, completely obliterating the message they'd written earlier, while also forcing everyone to run and dodge around them, keeping them from attacking. Artemis fired a pair of explosive arrows, only for a tornado to catch them and send them right back. She and Robin, who had gotten beside her, both leapt away from the explosion, but were hurled into Zatanna and Rose. Wally began to spin, forming a massive black cyclone of his own, just in time for it to clash with one of Tornado's, both halting. Just then, Tornado spun, catching Megan as she punched at him, hurling her into Wally's tornado, Wally being hit directly by her before Tornado's vortex hurled both into Kaldur and Connor as they were beginning to stand. Cassius and Cassandra both charged, only for Red Tornado to swipe a hand, forming a new tornado directly below them, beginning to hurl them from one tornado to the next for a few minutes before sending them crashing to the ground, Cassandra held protectively in Cassius's arms and Cassius using goo on his back to absorb the impact while allowing it to look real. Zatanna stood, beginning to struggle to chant a spell, likely a shielding spell, only for Red Tornado to fly down and grab her by the throat, choking her for a moment before hurling her back to the others. Once he had, he allowed the extra cyclones to fade, hovering there and watching them all for a moment before a new robot rose behind him on a pillar of stone. This one's metal plating was a darker red, and he had glowing red lines around them. A hollow yellow triangle adorned his chest with a yellow dot in the center, and a smaller yellow triangle adorned his forehead.
"Quite a performance, Tornado, but we both know that's all it was," the new robot said. "I have all your memories, Tornado, plus a next-gen processor. I know all your moves before you do." Suddenly, he spread his arms and a massive chunk of the ground behind his pillar broke free, then flew over him at them all. "Blowing a message into the sand?"
Cassius slipped out from under Cassandra instantly and encased his entire body in goo, launching himself up into the boulder and punching it, shattering it before sending out a strand of goo for all of the larger chunks, then shouting in effort, hurling the stones back at the new threat. He huffed, swiping a hand, and a barrage of stones exploded from the ground before him, smashing against the ones Cassius had hurled. Cassius flipped, sending his right arm out at the robot, only for him to lean out of the way of the strike, swiping an arm and sending a boulder crashing into Cassius's gut.
"Red Tornado's getting away!" Zatanna said through their telepathic link as Cassius crashed to the ground.
"Is he abandoning us?" Artemis asked.
"I don't believe that!" Megan said.
"He's probably going to deal with whatever plan Morrow has," Cassius said as Wally shot up the pillar.
"You stand no chance against me, humans," the new robot said, punching Wally and hurling him away.
"We're not human!" Megan and Connor both shouted as they charged.
"He knows every move Red Tornado ever saw us use, or taught us," Cassius said.
"Apologies," the robot said, raising his arms and sending a pair of stone pillars erupting out of the ground at an angle just in time for them to crash together around the pair. "I suppose the properly inclusive term is..." he paused as Connor and Megan began to fall, "meat bags."
"Cassandra, Rose, and I will handle him next," Cassius said. "Robin, Artemis, Zatanna, distract him, and block his sight if you can."
"Give us a challenge at least," Robin said, pulling out several explosive disks and smoke bombs.
"Yeah, what's with this 'if you can' crap?" Artemis smirked, nocking several explosive arrows.
"Are you looking down on us because we aren't trained assassins?" Zatanna asked.
"Well, we are allowed to fight to kill this time," Cassius said. "Go."
Robin hurled half of his disks as Artemis fired her arrows. Then, as she nocked more, Zatanna began to chant. As expected, the robot formed a rock wall in front of himself to block the attack, and when the explosion went off, it filled the air with a massive cloud of smoke and dust. Cassius, Cassandra, and Rose were off instantly, the second wave of explosive disks, arrows, and Zatanna's spell, a massive fireball, blasting a second wall of stone and further obscuring the robot's sight. Then, Zatanna used a second to encase the robot's eyes in a stone blindfold.
"Tornado never knew my moves," Zatanna said.
"And I bet you've got some good ones," Robin grinned, Zatanna raising an eyebrow at him. "Whoa. Sorry. That may have come off a little too Wally."
"I don't mind," Zatanna flirted.
"Get a room," Cassius said, sprinting up the stone pillar behind the robot silently using his goo.
Just then, the robot leaned back, a pair of red beams of energy blasting through the blindfold, shattering it, and a volcano in the distance behind him erupted, sending lava exploding hundreds of feet into the air, surrounded by a cloud of volcanic ash that was lit up bridge orange by the lava. Then, Cassandra hurled several of her batarangs, stabbing them into the robot from behind, all of them exploding. He staggered forward only one step before Cassius leapt into the air behind him, his arms below mid-bicep being transformed into a pair of extended whips ending in a massive morning star the size of his torso and each spike the length of his forearm. The morning star whipped down into the robot's back, the top of the tower exploding in the impact and the spikes impaling him several times over. Then, as Cassius retracted his goo to around his hands and forearms, he flipped, his left hand deflecting a stone down into the robot, the impact launching it to the ground off to the side. A moment later, Rose's swords crashed into his back, sending him staggering forward into Kaldur and Connor's fists. He crashed into the base of his pillar, then dove out of the way of Cassius's fist, allowing him to explode into the ground.
As the robot stood, Zatanna sent another fireball spell exploding into the robot, sending him crashing along the ground toward where the lava was approaching. The robot flipped, feet skidding along the ground to a stop just before Cassandra reached him, crouched low. As she'd planned, the robot threw a knee at her and she blocked it and flipped, pushing off of it as she had Cassius's knee earlier. Then, just as she grabbed his jaw, Cassius, now in goo form and wrapped around her torso, spread down her arms to her hands, multiplying her strength in time for her to flip, using the added strength to execute the same throw she'd beaten Cassius with, sending the robot crashing down into the lava, which engulfed him instantly.
"Nice!" Robin cheered as Cassius reformed beside Cassandra, grabbing her and leaping away from the lava before he could burn.
Just as he did, the robot began to slowly rise on another pillar of stone, only for the water-controlling robot to arrive, sending several blasts of water exploding down on him, blasting him back into the lava. He climbed up onto the side of the pillar, only for Red Tornado to explode through it, dropping him in again. Then, as he stood, waist-deep in lava, the female robot that controlled fire began to hurl fireballs into him, blasting him over and over. She charged, but the robot caught her hands.
"Sister, brothers, stop!" he shouted, only for the cater-controlling one to crash into him as well, the pair dragging him down into the lava.
However, just as Tornado moved to help them, both leapt back out of the lava, the male using water to cool their bodies before they could melt.
"What happened?" Tornado asked.
"The hole in his body allowed the lava to melt his internal components," the female said. "Only his plating was able to withstand it for a prolonged period."
Just then, the ground lurched and the volcano began to rumble loudly.
"Tornado, listen!" Wally said, turning to the three robots. "We're on the verge of a stage three super-volcano eruption! There's no turning back from that! We need to vent pressure fast! The ash cloud will brink on a world-wide nuclear winter unless you divert it!"
Tornado nodded.
"Triangulate around the pressure locus!" Wally said to Robin.
"Right!" Robin nodded, quickly using his gauntlet to mark three spots.
Artemis fired an arrow instantly, which split into three rockets, blasting all three points. Instantly, an explosion of gas and volcanic ash burst out of it, billowing into the sky as Tornado shot up into the cloud, forming a massive tornado which began to suck up the ash, venting it into space. As he did, the water-controlling robot began to cool the lava with water, quickly calming the volcano.
"Yes!" Wally cheered as Red Tornado landed off to the side with the other two.
The three androids led them to Morrow's hideout where Robin turned on Tornado's voice box again.
"There," Robin said. "That should do it."
"Yes," Tornado said. "I can speak again.
"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet," Kaldur said.
"The planet would have survived," Tornado said. "It is Humanity that was saved. Though not by me. It is thanks to my sister and brother, as well as all of you, that were the true heroes this day."
"Don't look at us," Robin said. "The holes in his torso were made by Cassius, and Cassandra's the one who used a badass move to throw him into the lava."
"And then your family forced him back in long enough for him to be stopped," Kaldur said.
"You could have stopped him without us," the male android said. "We do not deserve the credit for this victory. We merely stole it from you."
"Not true," Cassius said. "We didn't have any way of keeping him in that lava without someone sacrificing themselves. You two stopped that from happening, making you two the heroes. What are your names, anyway?"
"I am Red Torpedo," the male said.
"I am Red Inferno," the female said. "Also, I apologize for nearly killing you."
"As do I," Torpedo said.
"My point was not that you were the hero, today," Kaldur said. "My point is this. You were never the mole. Never a traitor."
"No," Tornado agreed. "I left to protect you from further attack, and to find my creator, Morrow."
"Cool!" Wally said suddenly, picking up a spare hand for the android they'd destroyed from a table off to the side. "Souvenir."
"Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" Connor asked.
"I was the pragmatic choice," Tornado said. "I do not require sleep, I have no secret identity or second life to live."
"But you do have advanced AI programming designed to learn, adapt, evolve!" Wally said, uncurling one of the hand's fingers with each of the last three words.
"Hello Megan!" Megan said, thumping her forehead before smiling. "You wanted to become more human."
"And you couldn't do that with the League," Artemis said, then snorted. "They're stiffs."
"You're sure not going to learn emotion from Batman," Robin said. "Trust me."
"Ain't that the fucking truth," Cassius grumbled. "I do not want to go back after this."
"Then the cave was not a proving ground only for us," Kaldur said. "But for you as well."
"I do not know if these statements are accurate, but perhaps they are true," Tornado said. "And if I understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to...care about you all."
"See?" Connor asked, not a hint of emotion on his face. "Practically a meat bag already."
"Which reminds me," Tornado said. "I must go and see my father. I know where he is, now. I wish to speak with him."
"Alright," Kaldur nodded. "We will head back to the Cave."
"We have a massive ass chewing to receive," Cassius said, the others all grimacing. "What about you two?"
Torpedo and Inferno looked at each other, then back at him.
"We will go with our brother," Inferno said. "Then...we will see."
Cassius nodded and everyone walked outside. Megan called the Bio-Ship over and everyone who was going to the Cave got on before Megan took off, setting a course for the Cave.
"So, good kidnapping?" Robin asked Zatanna.
"Actually, yeah," Zatanna smiled. "Best ever."
"First of many, I hope," Robin said.
"If my dad doesn't ground me for life," Zatanna said.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Cassius said.
Zatanna nodded and everyone fell silent as they flew. Then, once they were back, Zatara and Black Canary chewed them out, then Batman called to chew them out, then ordered those under his charge back to the Batcave to be chewed out further, then punished. Cassius sighed, waving farewell to the rest of the Team before the four of them took the Zeta tube back to the Batcave.
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