I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Worst Week Ever
Cassius grit his teeth as electricity screamed over his body. Agony lanced through him constantly, every muscle in his body rigid, but he remained silent, eyes trained on the female scientist, who was watching him interestedly. She wore a red and white robe, had pale green skin that reminded him of Blue Beetle's armor, and had a solid, transparent face shield over the lower half of her face. She had been torturing Beast Boy and Impulse constantly for the last three days since their capture, and struggling to do the same to Cassius. However, thanks to Cassius having been subjected to the most unbearable agony Cain, Lady Shiva, and Deathstroke could think of, the electricity searing through his body now was little more than an unpleasant burning sensation, and even with his powers shut down, his body's physiology was still resistant to electricity.
"You are different than the others," the scientist said. "Aren't you in pain?"
"Lady, you do not know what pain is," Cassius said, raising his arms, which were supposed to be restrained at his sides, crossing his arms and smirking challengingly. "I was expecting to at least get a massage, not a tickling competition."
The scientist grinned sadistically, reaching over and slowly turning a dial. The electricity hitting him began to increase and he grit his teeth, tightening his grip on his biceps, maintaining his challenging smirk. Finally, her hand stopped as it hit the maximum setting. He had to force himself to breathe normally now, and his every cell felt like it was on fire, but he could resist still."
"Oh, you are going to be a favorite of mine," the scientist said. "Very well. If the electricity won't get results, we'll try something else."
She turned the dial back, ending electricity, only to hit two buttons and begin to turn it again. This time, Cassius felt his cells beginning to vibrate slowly as ultra-low-frequency soundwaves began to fill the pod. His gut dropped instantly as the soundwaves began to rise quickly, his cells beginning to vibrate more and more. A low vibrating tone began to register in his ears, climbing rapidly in pitch until it had climbed past a while to a deafening, continuous shriek. As it climbed, Cassius's cells vibrated faster and faster. Then, finally, his body began to tear itself apart. He tried to inhale and blood filled his wind pipe and throat, making him cough, then vomit blood, and the tone began to drop. Then, it began to pulsate at varying frequency and levels, dropping to an annoyingly high scream in his ears that gave him a migraine, then spiking to a deafening shriek that ripped his body apart a little at a time. After a few moments, the sound stopped before the pod opened and the scientist attached a cord from something small and round to his collar. And suddenly, he was healing. He couldn't utilize his goo, but he was healing. She unplugged the device and restrained his arms again before sealing the pod and returning to the controls, pressing a button. And then the sound resumed. Thanks to his healing being allowed, in between bouts of being ripped to shreds, his body struggled to heal him. It was losing, but only slowly. It would probably take days for him to die. During which time, he'd be in complete, unbearable agony that even the League of Shadows had never managed to achieve.
Cassius tried to scream, but all that came out was a wet gurgle and a spray of blood, bile, and saliva, and maybe a little bit of liquified tissue. The gurgle didn't even reach his own ears, the pulsating shriek inside the pod completely drowning it out as it ripped him apart on a cellular level. He didn't know how long he'd been there. It could have been days. It could have been minutes. It could have been years. He couldn't remember. He vaguely remembered the scientist coming and going, as well as a male with a blue hat and a blue and white robe, so he was pretty sure it was somewhere in the neighborhood of days. He wasn't sure how many though. Maybe only one. Maybe a dozen.
He hoped Cassandra and Rose were okay. He hoped they got out safely. He hoped they were alive. He wished he could see them. Show them he was alright. See that they were alright. He wished he could be alright to show them. He forced his eyes open as the scientist stepped up to the pod, only for his left eye to fall from his head. And still that ungodly shrieking continued.
Days. It had to have been days. It had been going on for so long. He was starting to loose bits of skin now. He'd lost both eyes, several teeth, his fingernails had just fallen out, his toenails had come loose and were floating somewhere in the blood and liquified flesh that was slightly deeper than his ankles in the bottom of the pod.
So long. He was pretty sure he'd lost his tongue several hours ago. He'd suddenly begun to gag and when his head fell forward, an especially large deluge of liquified Cassius had poured out of his mouth before he'd coughed up more. It was hard to tell when he couldn't see the blood soup he was standing in. And still the pod shrieked. Still, it worked his atoms apart one by one.
Cassandra and Rose clenched their fists tightly, waiting to be told to break free. Cassius's tracer's tracking systems had been blocked even before they'd left Mount Justice, apparently unable to get through whatever pod he was in, but the vital signs monitor function had remained online. As such, it had been a very long week of waiting, watching as Cassius's vitals remained resolutely in critical condition born of ceaseless torture, then slowly began to fail, even while still being in critical condition. They were out of time. They'd finally managed to hitch a ride with a group of teens being taken by Manta Troopers, along with Barbara and Tim, who had Bumblebee inside his jacket, and were in a submerged ship that seemed to be where all of the abducted teens were being brought. Megan was inside, invisible, and was searching for the others, holding a telepathic link with the four of them, plus Nightwing and Wonder Girl. Even Cassandra was linked for this mission, though she was being careful not to project.
"I found Gar and Bart," Megan reported. "They're unconscious, but alive. No sign of Jaime, Cassius, or La'gaan."
"We've got eyes on Lagoon Boy, and...Shimmer?" Barbara responded. "Uh, plus four civilians and all the teens we came with."
"What about Cassius?" Rose asked from her own pod. "Where is he!?"
"Stay calm, Rose," Nightwing said. "We'll find him."
"OH MY GOD! ! !" Megan all but shrieked into their minds suddenly, a wave of nausea briefly transferring across to them.
"What happened?" Nightwing asked.
"I found Cassius!" Megan said urgently. "It's horrible! They're using soundwaves to torture him and it's tearing him apart! Literally!"
"We're unsupervised now!" Barbara said. "But Blue's still unaccounted for, and-"
"We're going now!" Rose said. "It'll probably trigger an alarm, but Cassius needs to be rescued now!"
"Go, now!" Nightwing said. "You, too, Miss M. Get our boys!"
"I can't take Cassius!" Megan said. "His condition's too severe. If I open the pod, I could kill him!"
"Then rescue the other two and shut that sound off!" Nightwing ordered.
"We're free!" Rose said, just as she and Cassandra both finished picking the locks on their hands, freeing themselves the rest of the way from the pods in seconds.
As expected, an alarm began to scream instantly. At the same time, Megan shouted in surprise.
"What?" Nightwing asked.
"The alarm!" Megan shouted. "It's adding to the soundwaves in his pod! And I don't know how to shut them off!"
"We're coming!" Rose said.
"Shit!" Megan swore suddenly. "Manta Troopers and aliens! A lot of them!"
"Can you get Cassius's pod?" Nightwing asked.
"Not without it being blasted and turned into a fireball," Megan said.
"Then get Beast Boy and Impulse out!" Nightwing said.
"Docking bay secured," Connor said. "I can go after Cassius."
"We're going!" Rose said, she and Cassandra sprinting for the door.
"Wait!" Tim shouted. "You need back up!"
"Robin, watch out!" Batgirl shouted, shoving him backward, making a laser blast miss him, only for it to hit Cassandra in the back instead, blasting her wakizashi off.
She didn't even slow down and neither did Rose. Before anyone could go after them, a blonde that had been transported with them ran after them, grabbing Cassandra's sword on the way past it.
"Wait, come back!" Batgirl shouted.
"No time!" Tim said. "Come on!"
He charged the alien troops swarming into the room and Barbara groaned, running to help him. As they did, the blonde caught up with Rose and Cassandra, who were being swarmed by both sets of enemy troops, just in time to slam the sword into the back of an alien's head, dropping him. Several turned to her, but it was enough of a distraction for Rose and Cassandra to slaughter the rest of the aliens, Cassandra with her sharp, collapsible sword and Rose with one sword and her live ammo pistol. As soon as the last of the troops were dead, they continued to run for the lab where Cassius was being held. The blonde followed, for lack of a better idea, and followed the trail of carnage and corpses the two girls were leaving. As they reached the door to the lab, Cassandra's blade shattered partway through a Manta Trooper. She flipped over him instantly, grabbing a pair of blade sections and hurled them, one embedding itself into a Manta Trooper at the control panel in the center of the room, and the other in an alien aiming at Cassius's pod with a blaster rifle.
"We've reached the lab!" Rose reported. "I'm going to shut down the sound!"
"Hurry!" Nightwing said.
As Rose reached the controls, she saw a dial with a gauge around it lit up partway and twisted it down. Almost instantly, the muffled, gurgling scream coming from Cassius's pod tapered off. Cassandra looked in and shrieked in fear and grief, beginning to sob even as she pulled at the pod, accomplishing nothing.
"We have to open it!" the blonde that had come with them said. "Whatever his condition, if we're going to get him out of here, we need to open it!"
Cassandra pressed several buttons on the front of the pod, only for several harsh, warbling tones to shout at her. Finally, she shouted in rage, snatching a round object just long enough for two hands off of the dead alien at her feet, the top end of it bearing a thin opening across the middle and being angled outward slightly. She slammed the bottom end of the object into the controls for the pod, but it didn't damage it. It did, however, make Cassandra's thumb slip upward and press a small pressure switch on the side of the object at the top, a jagged, curved blade made of liquid metal forming instantly. Cassandra didn't even take a moment to question it before slashing the controls and pressing the switch again, the blade retracting into the hilt in under a second before Cassandra cast the handle aside, beginning to pull at the center of the pod. The blonde grabbed the handle, pocketing it before joining Cassandra and helping her pull the pod open. After a moment of trying to force only the pieces with the controls open, the rest suddenly opened once they'd gotten theirs open and revealed Cassius in his entirety, the blood, bile, and liquified tissue filling the bottom few inches of the pod flooding out. The blonde turned as soon as she saw the inside of the pond, vomiting. A second later, Rose skidded to a stop beside them, eyes wide, and stared into the pod.
"Orphan, Ravager!" Nightwing said. "Do you have Cassius!?"
"It's..."
Sirens. A pulsating shriek. Pain. An all-consuming agony radiating from head to spine to body in an unbearable flood. Every cell burning. Every scream sending blood flying past red-stained teeth. Every gasp of breath feeling like liquid fire.
This was his existence. He didn't know how long. He couldn't remember. He just knew it was. The pain was infinite, and indescribable. Unending. Whatever he had been before, the pain wiped away. All he was, all he knew, was agony. Pain. Suffering. He wanted it to end. Somehow. Some way. He wanted it to end. And yet, it dragged on.
He tried to judge by the beating of his heart, but he lost track, and he lost time. He couldn't remember when he had started. He couldn't remember how many there had been. Too many.
But he should know. He should. But know what? What was he trying to remember? What was he doing? All he could remember was the pain. All he knew was pain. All he was. His very existence was consumed by pain. An all-consuming agony radiating from head to spine to body in an unbearable flood. Every cell burning. Every scream sending blood flying past red-stained teeth. Every gasp of breath feeling like liquid fire.
He wanted it to stop. Needed it to stop. And suddenly, it did. Everything just stopped. There was no pain, there was no light, no sound, no pain. He was in complete and utter nothingness. It wasn't so bad after the pain, and yet, something about it didn't feel right. Something was nagging at the back of his mind. He wanted to let it in, but every time he tried, the feeling faded. He growled in frustration. Annoying little mind itch. Fine. Let it stay. He'd just enjoy his void. He frowned. The feeling swelled in response to the word. He tried to focus on it, but it again faded. He sighed. Whatever. It probably wasn't important. He just wanted to be able to enjoy not being in pain for the first time in his existence. He could try to remember who he was later.
He let himself drift, feeling himself being drawn further and further into the void. Into the nothingness. The absence of feeling, or sound. However, slowly, something began to draw him back. He frowned. He didn't want to go back. Back was where the pain was. It had to be. That was all he had known. There had been nothing else. He couldn't go back. But then, all at once, the pain found him. Agony, searing hot and jagged and merciless as an angle grinder ripped into his brain, and yet, he couldn't even scream through the void.
Cassandra's hand tightened around Cassius's as his freshly regrown eyes slowly began to open. He stared blankly up at the ceiling in silence for several long moments before his eyes began to roll, slowly sweeping around the room. His gaze returned to her once he'd finished his inspection of the sterile white room, this time remaining fixed on her face for several long seconds, Cassandra not even daring to breathe.
"Cass...an...dra," Cassius rasped, voice barely audible.
"Cassius!" Cassandra sobbed, throwing her arms around him and sobbing hard.
"I'm...sor...ry," he rasped. "I...scared...you."
Cassandra couldn't respond, simply holding him tighter, and after a moment, the door opened and Rose walked in, smiling as her eye watered.
"Rose," Cassius rasped, struggling to hold a hand up.
She all but ran over, going to his other side before wrapping her arms around him as well.
"We thought we'd lost you!" Rose sobbed.
"What...happ...ened?" he asked.
Rose sat up and sniffed, forcing herself under control so she could talk, Cassius taking her hand in place of holding her.
"You were with the aliens, the Reach, for a week," Rose said. "Do you remember what they did?"
Cassius nodded.
Rose nodded. "By the time we found you, half of your body was missing skin, you'd lost more than half of your teeth, both eyes, all of your fingernails and tow nails, and most of your scalp. There was blood and...liquified flesh filling the bottom of the pod."
Cassius grimaced.
"Cassandra and I had to defend us from Manta Troops and Reach soldiers the entire way out, so Stephanie Brown, one of the teens we were with when we snuck onto the ship where they were holding you, carried you out for us," Rose continued. "We might not have been able to save you without her."
"Sorry!" Cassandra said suddenly. "Sorry!"
"Cassy," Cassius smiled, letting go of Rose's hand for a moment so he could hold Cassandra tightly and comfort her. "I'm...not mad. You...saved me."
"It's not because we couldn't save you sooner, or because we needed help," Rose said. "She's apologizing because...both of us...we killed anyone who got in our way. A couple dozen Manta Troops and a few dozen Reach soldiers. We killed them all."
Cassius stared at her for a moment before squeezing Cassandra tighter.
"Sorry!" Cassandra sobbed.
"It's...alright," Cassius assured her. "I'm...not mad. You did...what you...had to. You...saved me."
Cassandra continued to sob, so Cassius looked to Rose.
"On the way out, we met a big alien wearing the same armor as Jaime has, but black," Rose said. "Turns out Jaime's armor and scarab are Reach tech. Before we could warn the public about the Reach, the Reach announced themselves to the public under the guise of arriving peacefully, so now we can't touch them. They told the public about the Team, the Watchtower, and also disabled a barrier that an intergalactic gladiator put around the Hall of Justice when he attacked Captain Marvel, Connor, Megan, Zatanna, Bumblebee, and Mal. Then they took the gladiator to restrain him, and the Justice League had no way to stop it."
"They...made us...look...bad," Cassius summarized.
"Yes," Rose nodded.
"How...long..."
"About a week," Rose said. "You've been in critical condition and only barely healing for about a week."
He nodded, squeezing Cassandra, who had finally managed to calm down a bit, before holding his other arm out for Rose, who climbed onto the bet with the other two in order to hold Cassius as well. Cassius closed his eyes, focusing to try and get his body to heal faster, at least enough to talk normally. After a few minutes, Dick waked in in civilian clothes and sat beside the bed.
"How're you feeling?" Dick asked.
"Great," Cassius said, finally able to speak again, but exhausted from controlling his goo now. "You should really consider giving the Reach Resort a try. Round the clock massages. Tons of special attention. It's just great."
Dick shook his head, smirking. "Well, you being a smartass is a good sign. At least we know you'll be alright."
Cassius smiled. "Do you know about..."
"About their method for reaching you?" Dick asked. "Yeah. They told us as soon as we were on the Bio-Ship. Batman won't be happy when he gets back, but I don't blame them, especially after seeing your condition. If they'd taken the time to spare anyone, they might not have made it to you in time. The remaining members of the League all agreed that they shouldn't be punished, given the circumstances."
Cassius nodded. "Good."
"I'm not sure if they told you, but Black Canary's been talking to everyone who was taken, both to figure out if they need counseling and how to help, and also to figure out what they wanted," Dick said. "Now that you're awake, she can come see you whenever you're ready."
"For counseling, yes please," Cassius said. "But I can tell you what they wanted. They wanted to study the Meta-Gene that some humans carry. It's a genetic marker that allows anyone with it to develop superpowers under extreme levels of stress or trauma. They want to copy and weaponize it. It's the same reason the League of Shadows experimented on me and ended up turning me into Void."
"Really?" Dick frowned, then blinked. "You remember more?"
"I remember everything," Cassius said. "Probably the only good thing to come out of this whole mess. I remember my entire past now. including Nemesis's secret and what the Reach wants, since it was under their orders that the Light, through the League of Shadows, experimented on me."
Dick nodded. "Should I get the League?"
"Just Canary for now," Cassius said. "It's long past time for me to finally tell them who I used to be, but I'd rather tell only Canary, then have her pass it along, rather than deal with everyone's reactions at once. I'm too tired for that."
Dick nodded. "I'll be back with her in a few minutes."
Cassius nodded and Dick left. Cassius looked down at the girls in his arms, his eyes softening and his mouth curling into a frown. They were both okay, though her could see bandages around Cassandra's lower torso where her shirt had pulled up a bit and wrapping over Rose's right shoulder, just barely peeking out from under her shirt's collar. He tightened his hold on them. He was so happy they were alive, but even though he knew it wasn't his fault, some part of him told him over and over that it was his fault they'd been hurt. He let out a slow sigh, pushing the thoughts away and closing his eyes, allowing his exhaustion to claim him. Canary could wake him up when she got there, or she would be willing to wait for him to wake up.
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