I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.


Worst Case

Cassius gasped and panted as he ran, stumbling now and then. Batman was a slave driver. He had to be. Ever since they had stopped Red Volcano, as the android they'd destroyed had apparently been called, Batman had been working the four of them to the bone. Dozens of miles of running per day, hours upon hours of strength training a day, hours of sparring a day, exclusively against Batman who never seemed to run out of energy, and hours upon hours of Cassandra learning to read and write with both Alfred and Cassius while Alfred also taught the girls what they would be learning in school. They were allowed exactly eight hours of sleep a night, and Batman had them all on a strict diet at scheduled times. They had zero free time. Ever. That had been their life for the last ten days, only Robin getting any freedom from it, and that only to go to school. But Rose, Cassandra, and Cassius were trapped with Batman all day every day, as he had been staying there to train them and using the computer to communicate with the League, and that only when necessary.

Finally, Cassius's heart jumped for joy when Batman called an end to their run early, about two in the afternoon on a Saturday, and ordered them to gather in their costumes at the computer. Everyone that needed to change did so, and Cassius shifted his clothes into his before they gathered at the computer.

"Something's come up," Batman said. "Head to the Cave and stand by."

They all agreed, no one questioning it since this would give them a break from his torture. A few minutes later, the Zeta tube fired up and they were free for a little while.


Cassius covered his mouth, eyes wide as they watched the Cave's screens. It was unreal. It couldn't be happening. The Justice League's biggest guns, minus Wonder Woman, had gone to space to react to an unidentified alien ship passing the moon sometime around four pm. The two Green Lanterns had ordered them to power down the ship, and instead it had blasted them with a laser that broke through their rings' barriers, then incinerated them. Then, Batman's space ship had deployed Superman, Martian Manhunter, Shazam, and Captain Atom, only for all four to be likewise vaporized. Batman had managed to take an escape pod before his ship was blasted, only for the massive alien ship to deploy a small army of fighters, each roughly as big as a large house and shaped sort of like a ball with a pair of arms on the bottom of the front and a scorpion tail, and one of them had flown up in front of Batman's much smaller escape pod and blasted him with a weapon identical to what the mothership had used, killing him as well.

"Tornado," Zatara said, appearing on another screen as the screen displaying the short slaughter, courtesy of a pair of cameras Batman had deployed before it, closed. "Did you-"

"Yes, Zatara," Tornado confirmed. "We saw. Celestial defenses have failed. Initiate all terrestrial measures."

"Affirmative," Zatara said, his screen winking out.

"I must join the League," Tornado said. "We will protect the planet at all costs, but should we fail, the responsibility falls to you."

"We stand ready," Kaldur said.

Tornado nodded and left. Kaldur stepped forward, beginning to monitor the news stations as the attacks began. As he did, Cassius turned to Cassandra and knelt, able to see the fear in her eyes.

"It's going to be okay," Cassius promised.

"I'll have to kill them, won't I?" Cassandra signed.

Cassius nodded. "If we have to fight them, yes. You'll have to kill them. They won't leave you a choice."

Cassandra nodded. "I'll do my best."

Cassius nodded, smiling. "I know you will. Both of you will. Rose, go ahead and swap your rubber bullets out for live ammo now."

Rose nodded and left for her room quickly. As she did, Cassandra stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Cassius, who hugged her back.

"Scare," Cassandra said.

"I know," Cassius said. "But it's going to be alright."

Cassandra nodded, pulling back and allowing Cassius to stand, looking back at the monitors. On one, Flash and Zatanna were blasted while trying to rescue a group of civilians from a burning building's roof. Wally clenched his fists but remained silent. A moment later, that news station switched to Taipei, where the League was reported to be doing better. Except, just as the feed started, both Hawkwoman and Hawkman were killed. Black Canary and Green Arrow both took out a group of ships, only to be blasted a moment later. Cassius clenched his fists as Artemis covered her mouth. The reporter listed off several other members, both among the space group and not, that were reported as either dead or missing, including Aquaman, which made Kaldur's fists clench.

On another feed, it wasn't just the Justice League fighting. Cassius, Cassandra, and Rose all looked that one as Red Torpedo and Red Inferno, both of whom had been accepted into the Justice league, were fighting alongside Lady Shiva, Deathstroke, Alpha, Black Spider, and a number of other League of Shadows big hitters. As they watched, Torpedo was blasted. Then Black Spider. Then, Alpha. Inferno went down shielding Lady Shiva, who shoved Deathstroke out of the way a moment later. More and more began to go down until it was only Deathstroke, completely surrounded. He sighed, lowering his empty Desert Eagles.

"I suppose this is my punishment for how I treated you, isn't it, Rose?" Deathstroke asked aloud, just before all of the ships blasted him.

Rose, having just returned from loading live ammo into her guns and stocking up on spare mags, broke down instantly. Cassius pulled her into a hug, Cassandra joining them a moment later to help comfort her. On another screen, Wonder Woman was blasted by the Mother Ship as it arrived and Tornado flew out of its way as it crashed down on Smallville, Superman's home town, completely crushing it and everyone in it. Tornado began to fly around and launch tornado after tornado at the fighters suddenly flooding from the mother ship.

"Red Tornado to Cave," Tornado said as all of the other screens closed. "I fear I am all that remains of the League."

"RT-" Robin went silent as Tornado was blasted.

"We are Earth's heroes now," Kaldur said after a moment of silence.

"So what are we waiting for?" Connor asked. "A theme song?"

"A strategy," Kaldur said. "Earth's weapons are ineffective. And it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed."

"Nukes might work," Cassius said, just as a screen came on, showing a nuclear explosion over a Russian city, only for the alien ships to fly out of the mushroom cloud a moment later.

"No dice," Robin said. "Russia tried it."

"It did nothing?" Cassius breathed, shaking his head. "This is insane."

"Exactly why we need a plan," Kaldur said.

"Checking satellite imagery," Robin said, pulling up a holographic globe with red spots to show the aliens. "Here's where the aliens are now."

Most of the spots were massive, like an image of a hurricane on a map. However, one spot was only a small dot.

"This one get lost?" Connor asked, pointing to it.

Robin zoomed in on it. "It's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"

"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?" Connor asked.

"It's power source must have attracted the aliens' attention," Robin said. "At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate."

"That, or that's what they were after, and they're either wiping out the planet just for shits and giggles, or to hide their true purpose for being here," Cassius suggested.

"Must be some fortress," Connor said, turning to walk away.

"Connor," Megan said sympathetically, catching his arm.

"No, it's okay," Connor said. "I guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know, uh, ya know...now."

"We will target this lone ship," Kaldur said.

"Yeah, break it down, build more!" Wally said. "Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!"

Artemis elbowed him hard.

"Ow!" Wally said.

"Martian and Kryptonian in the house," Artemis reminded him.

Both were staring at Wally blankly.

Wally laughed nervously. "Not that all aliens are automatically ugly."

"There's a better idea than breaking it down," Cassius said, saving Wally from embarrassing himself further.

"And that is?" Connor asked.

"We steal it," Cassius said. "Take it back to the mother ship in order to get inside without having to fight our way through their entire fleet. If we destroy the mothership, the res will likely be in chaos. They may even retreat."

"Agreed," Kaldur said. "Infiltrating using the ship is the best plan, assuming that we can capture the ship without them alerting the mothership to our theft."

"That's a pretty big if, considering we have no way of knowing what they're capable of," Wally said.

"We also don't know what they actually look like," Cassius pointed out. "For all we've seen, the small ships might actually be drones."

"We will deal with that problem as it arises," Kaldur said. "For now, we will operate under the assumption that we mean to steal the ship and infiltrate the Mothership with it."

The others all nodded and they all headed toward the hangar. However, as they left the Cave, Cassius spoke up.

"Kaldur, would you mind if we made a stop before we go after the ship?" Cassius asked. "I'll make it quick."

Kaldur glanced at him. "You want to see them one more time?"

"I just want to say goodbye," Cassius said. "Just in case."

"Very well," Kaldur nodded. "As long as you keep it brief. M'gann, do you know where to go?"

Megan nodded, turning the Bio-Ship.

"We don't have time to stop and visit with friends!" Robin said.

"Yeah!" Wally snapped. "We have to save the world!"

"They're not my friends," Cassius said. "They're my wife and children."

Everyone but Kaldur and Megan stared at him in shock.

"You're married!?" Robin gaped.

"How did we not know about this!?" Wally asked.

"How did you keep them safe from the Shadows?" Artemis asked.

"You'll see," Cassius said.

After a few minutes of Cassius remaining silent and refusing to answer any questions, Megan landed the cloaked Bio-Ship outside of town and they all walked outside, Cassius shifting into his former appearance. Everyone that hadn't seen it yet stared at him again.

"You look...really familiar," Robin said.

"This is what I looked like before the Shadows, but that was before your time," Cassius said, skipping the flower shop and instead walking directly to the grave, everyone staring at it in silence, understanding dawning on those that hadn't been before. "Hey guys. I might not be back here again. I have to go to work, so I can't stay long, but this is a big job, so...I might be seeing you guys again soon." He closed his eyes, praying to God, something he'd always thought was stupid, for the Team's safety during the mission, and for Cassandra and Rose to make it through safely.

"Wait, that's..." Robin trailed off, staring first at the names on the grave, then at Cassius, eyes widening slowly. "Oh my God! No way! You're HIM!?"

"Who?" Cassius asked, standing and turning to him.

"That's...that's your wife?" Robin asked. "You're sure of that?"

"Yes," Cassius nodded. "Why?"

"Holy shit!" Wally gaped. "There's no way! I mean, he died decades ago! There's no way!"

"Dude, how old is Void?" Robin asked. "Think about it! He disappeared two years before his wife and kids were murdered. Cassius woke up and became Void two years before he did his first job. After he'd woken up he realized he could modify his body into anyone he chose, but as a result of losing his memory, he had no idea who he was originally! It all makes sense!"

"Who the fuck are you talking about?" Cassius snapped.

"Your true identity," Kaldur said. "Your past life. You were a hero."

"Yeah, no shit," Cassius said, rolling his eyes. "I told you that, remember?"

"No, Void, he means you were the hero!" Robin said. "Even Batman looked up to you."

"Gesundheit," Cassius said.

"I mean it!" Robin said.

"Dude!" Wally said. "You were Copycat!"

Artemis and Megan both gasped, eyes widening.

"Who the fuck is Copycat?" Cassius asked.

"One of the best heroes a few decades ago," Robin said. "You were a thorn in the league of Shadows' side for years! You used to fight groups of their heavy hitters and win! And your superpower was Body Modification. You could turn your body into literally anything. Even a different species' body."

Cassius frowned, before his eyes widened slowly. "You mean...like a Kryptonian's?"

"Exactly," Robin said. "You could turn yourself into a Kryptonian and gain all of their powers and weaknesses. Or you could become a Martian and gain all of their powers and weaknesses. Or you could make parts of your body metal, or diamond, or water."

"Or goo," Cassius breathed.

"Bingo," Robin said.

"You lost me," Wally said.

"Really?" Robin asked. "Think about it! His body's able to become literally anything, so maybe, once the League of Assassins finally captured him, they put him in some type of black goo that was supposed to somehow enhance, copy, or maybe steal his powers. But the goo was harmful, so in order to not be harmed, he turned his body into that goo! It can't harm itself, right?"

"But then something went wrong," Cassius continued. "For whatever reason, my power malfunctioned, or got corrupted, and now it's combined with the goo, creating the power I have now."

"And more than that," Robin said. "I think there's a reason you have more than one body's worth of goo. When you became living goo, the goo they put you in became a part of you! You absorbed it!"

"But, wait, if he was so awesome, how did the League even beat him in the first place?" Artemis asked.

"Because they cheated," Cassius said, a dream he'd had a few weeks ago, then had forgotten returning. "When Lady Shiva and Cain were sent to kill me, they used a type of colorless, odorless poisonous gas that they'd already been inoculated against to weaken me. By the time we actually fought, I was already dying. After the fight, Cain left me for dead and Lady Shiva volunteered to get rid of my body, except, she gave me the antidote instead, then took me to the island."

"You remember?" Robin asked.

"I...had a dream about it," Cassius said. "I forgot about the dream."

"So, you really were this awesome hero?" Artemis asked.

"I don't know," Cassius said. "Maybe?"

"You were," Robin said. "You were one of the best. Superman actually adopted your philosophy on the job. Your core belief was that no price is to high to do the right thing."

"What, so he'd be the person to sacrifice one town to save the world?" Wally asked.

"No, I'd just save both," Cassius said, then blinked, recoiling like he'd been slapped. "What the fuck just came out of my mouth?"

"He lives," Robin said. "Copycat's still inside of you."

"I think I just threw up a little bit," Cassius said, then sucked in a pained breath, falling to his knees and clutching at his head as agony seared through it, images flooding his mind.

Memories. Fights. Time spent with his family. It was all there. He felt his eyes burn as tears began to fall, but he took a deep breath, shoving the memories down. He couldn't. He couldn't do this now. He couldn't deal with this.

"Cassius, are you okay?" Rose asked worriedly.

"Say something!" Megan said.

"I...I can't..." he shook his head. "I can't deal with this right now. We have a mission to complete."

"He is right," Kaldur said. "We have delayed too long as it is. We must go. Now."

They all nodded and ran back to the Bio-Ship, strapping in before Megan took off, Cassius returning to his normal appearance, including his suit and mask, then closed his eyes, struggling to continue holding the memories at bay.


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