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


Ambush

Cassius sighed as he and the others stepped out of the Cave's Zeta tube. It had been days since Christmas. Bruce had gotten the paperwork for the adoptions done the first day, but the three of them had stuck around to make a show of living there, though neither was enrolled in a school, Bruce using the excuse of having teachers come to the school to teach the three of them personally, Cassius using his shapeshifting to impersonate the supposed teachers, being careful not to say anything to the press. Ever. Finally, they'd been cleared to return to the Cave to spend the night and watch the Justice League officially induct several new members in the morning.

As they stepped into the briefing room, Cassius grinned as he saw Connor and Kaldur sparring, Red Arrow standing on the opposite side. As Superboy lost the match, Cassandra stepped into the ring, pointing at Red Arrow. Connor and Kaldur both left the ring and Red Arrow stepped into it.

"I have been waiting so long to watch this," Cassius grinned.

"I'm not going easy on you just because you're a little girl," Red Arrow warned.

"No," Cassandra said flatly, adopting her beginning stance.

Cassius started the match and Red Arrow lunged, throwing a kick, only for Cassandra to duck under it while also slamming a kick into his support leg's shin, sweeping it out from under him and dropping him to the ground. He pushed himself up instantly and stepped forward, throwing several punches before Cassandra suddenly stepped forward, slipping her right leg behind his, then back between them before punching, so that when he moved to shift his legs as he blocked her punch, he tripped, falling backward and allowing her to drop to one knee, holding a batarang to his throat. He narrowed his eyes and she moved the batarang so that he could roll away from her, then stood, putting it away. Then, she charged. He moved to punch, so she ducked and he threw a knee. Cassius grinned. Game, set, match. A moment later, Red Arrow crashed to the ground, bouncing and rolling away from Cassandra's favorite throw. As Red Arrow stood, he glared at Cassius.

"Of course you taught her that," Red Arrow said.

"Don't look at me," Cassius said. "I learned that throw from her using it on me. Don't be a sore loser. You lost fair and square. But that's okay, because now it's my turn."

Red Arrow narrowed his eyes and walked into the ring again as Cassandra stepped out of is and Cassius replaced her. Kaldur started the match and Red Arrow instantly charged, throwing a punch. Cassius leaned out of the way of the punch, drilling his own into Red Arrow's gut. Red Arrow caught his arm, however, turning to slam Cassius to the ground, only for Cassius to jump, wrapping Red Arrow across the front of his torso and face, flipping and slamming Red Arrow to the ground and yanking his right arm outward as he lifted his hips, putting pressure upward on Red Arrow's elbow. Red Arrow shouted in pain and slapped his hand on the ground, and Cassius released him, both standing. As soon as they were, however, Red Arrow mule-kicked, snapping Cassius's leg backward. Cassius shouted in pain just as Red Arrow crashed headlong into his gut, lifting him, then slamming him back down. Kaldur reached out to stop the match instantly.

"Leave it!" Cassius snapped, allowing Red Arrow to punch him across the face twice while his knee healed, then yanked his head to the side.

Red Arrow shouted in pain as his fist hit the floor instead of Cassius's face, then Cassius grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him down into a headbutt before yanking him to the side and spinning, catching Red Arrow's right arm again and quickly getting him in the same arm lock before Red Arrow could stop him. Once Red Arrow had tapped and both stood, Red Arrow glared at him.

"Do you even know any other techniques?" Red Arrow asked.

"Come and see," Cassius smirked.

Red Arrow charged, but Cassius lunged low, planting his hands on the ground just in time for Red Arrow's shins to hit his shoulders, then shoved off the ground, standing and throwing Red Arrow to the floor. Red Arrow flipped back to his feet and lunged, throwing a punch, only for Cassius to catch it and spin, using one of the throws Black Canary taught them to fling Red Arrow across the sparring ring. Red Arrow stood instantly and readied himself, just in time for Cassius to charge instead. Red Arrow moved to meet him and Cassius jumped, flipping backward and kicking Red Arrow's punch upward with one hand before the other caught Red Arrow under the chin, flipping him backward and dropping him onto the ground in a groaning heap.

"That enough techniques for you, or would you like to see a few more?" Cassius asked.

Red Arrow slowly began to stand, glaring at Cassius for a moment before turning away and slinking off to sulk. Cassius smirked and nodded approvingly.

"That was more fun than I thought it'd be," Cassius said.

"You should not antagonize him," Kaldur said.

"I didn't antagonize anyone," Cassius said. "He got mad that he lost to Cassandra just like I warned him he would, then he got mad I was winning and broke my knee."

Kaldur sighed. "I suppose so. Training is finished for tonight. The announcement is at nine o'clock tomorrow."

"We'll be up by then," Cassius promised.

Kaldur nodded and turned to Rose and Cassandra. "I understand congratulations are in order."

"Thank you," Rose smiled, Cassandra nodding.

Kaldur smiled and nodded and walked away, Cassius and the others heading to bed as well.


Cassius watched as Superman gave his speech. Cassius agreed with most of the new members. The only one he disagreed with was Red Arrow. He wasn't ready. He was too angry, and too against working with anyone. However, the choice had been made, and there was nothing he could do about it. He could say plenty, but the League didn't care. They were the ones who got to vote on it. And, unsurprisingly, they had not voted in favor of allowing him to join, though it apparently wasn't a unanimous decision. Apparently Black Canary had voted in favor, and Wonder Woman and Captain Atom had both done the same, and had made the argument that he'd fought roughly on level with them against the man at Ice Fortress five, even when he was facing all three together and throwing both of the full-fledged League members around like it was easy. However, in the end, he'd been rejected, which he was happy about. He'd much rather be on the Team with Cassandra and Rose than be on the League without them. He honestly didn't really care about being on the League at all, if he was honest.

He looked around the Hall of Justice room they were in at the others. He was seated off to the side with Cassandra in his lap and Rose beside them, metal shutter blocking off the window press could see through in order to keep any press who snuck in to get a picture of the sidekicks from recognizing them from their pictures as the new members of the Wayne family that were still all over the internet and every magazine. The others were all in civilian clothes, Robin using sunglasses to hide his identity, as always. There was also a new member on the team. Rocket. She had a belt that controlled pure energy to grant her the ability to fly by surrounding herself in a violet-colored aura, create energy bubbles that got harder as kinetic force was applied to them, and enhanced her strength, though he wasn't sure by how much.

"You know, I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place," Rocket said. "I should be outside celebrating with him, not hidden away in here."

"Welcome to our world," Kaldur smiled, then turned back to the TV.

"Well, I suppose there's an upside, too," Rocket said, staring at Kaldur.

Cassius looked back at the screen as Green Arrow gave Red Arrow his membership card, something that was largely ceremonial, given the computers scanned DNA and faces, rather than cards, and was a stupid idea, in Cassius's opinion.

"Way to go Roy!" Wally cheered, raising a fist.

"At last, he has his wish," Kaldur said.

"First of us to make it," Robin smirked. "No one'll call him a sidekick anymore."

"I will," Cassius volunteered. "Someone's gotta keep his ego in check."

"Wait!" Rocket said. "Since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration."

"Well, see, six months ago, it-" He was interrupted by a shrill beeping. He raised his watch and tapped it a mini version of his gauntlet's screen appearing over it.

"Six months ago, they had no trust, respect, and were supposed to be proud that they went from not being let into the Hall of Justice, to being allowed to wait in this room while the adults had their meetings, essentially just moving to the other side of the glass," Cassius said, gesturing at the sealed windows. "Right now, we have them closed, obviously, because I'm a little camera shy. Former assassin extraordinaire, and all that."

"A former what now?" Rocket asked.

"He is Void," Kaldur said. "A former member of the League of Shadows, and one of their most dangerous assassins."

"And one of the best at my job, even if I wasn't as great a fighter as they wanted me to believe, based on my last...meeting, with them."

Cassandra's arms tightened around him, and he sighed, giving her a light squeeze.

"Now see, that's crazy," Rocket said. "You trust him?"

"He has proven himself time and again," Kaldur said.

"Yeah, he's on our side, no question," Wally said.

"We gotta go!" Robin said.

"Thank God," Cassius said as Cassandra let him up. "Press conferences are boring!"

They all headed to the Zeta tube and headed to the Cave to grab their gear and change, then took the Bio-Ship out to go on their mission. As they flew, Robin filled them in. Cheshire had been seen carrying a metal briefcase with a round screen on the front. Robin pulled up a close-up of Cheshire's face, without the mask, and Artemis agreed that it was her, then also identified the case as the one she'd seen on the mission she'd tried to handle alone. However, when Rocket asked about it, Wally made it a point to stress that the fact that they couldn't get it was Artemis's fault.

"Approaching Cheshire's jet," Megan announced, only for them all to stare at the wreckage the jet had been left at following an obvious crash, Artemis having to look away. "Looks like there were no survivors."

"Don't be so sure," Cassius said. "Cheshire's not exactly easy to bring down, right?"

"That's true," Artemis said.

"Looks like she got brought down pretty effectively this time," Wally said.

"Wally," Robin said flatly.

"We will go down and inspect the wreckage," Kaldur said.

They all nodded and headed to the back of the ship, all but Cassius using lines to lower themselves to the ground, Cassius using a goo strand, dropping much faster than the others, just in case it was a trap, as they'd all agreed he was the hardest to kill. Once they were on the ground, they moved to the wreckage and began to search through it.

"How come Homeland Security and the NTSB aren't all over this?" Wally finally asked.

"Cheshire's ID was a League alert," Robin said, holding the destroyed remains of the jet's black box. "Authorities didn't pick it up, and her jet didn't follow its flight plan. It flew under the radar. Literally. But the Watchtower auto-tracked the jet and recorded the crash."

"Then why isn't the League here?" Rocket asked.

"Because our boy wonder has some mighty hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first," Zatanna smiled as Robin puffed his chest out, grinning proudly.

"And because Cheshire and that case represent our unfinished business," Kaldur added.

Behind him, Connor hurled a broken-off wing he'd been holding. "Where are the bodies?"

"Here's one," Cheshire said from above them on the left suddenly, everyone spinning toward her, seeing her in full costume already. "And it...is...stunning."

"I'd say passable at best," Cassius said.

"How rude," Cheshire said.

"I am flora, not fauna," a voice said from the other side of the ravine they were in, everyone turning. "I am foliage, not trees."

Above them, there were five or six men in white clothes armed with advanced weapons tech that were apparently from the planet Apokolyps, Mammoth, which is what the mutated guy from Santa Prisca had been come to be named, and the Riddler, were all standing at various spots along the cliff face and the top of it.

"What am I?" Riddler finished.

"A corpse, if I have to listen to one more shitty riddle," Cassius growled.

Riddle smirked and snapped his fingers, large antennas with twisted sections at the middle then a head-sized ball on top began to rise from the snow, each about the height of the average adult male. The balls all lit up green suddenly and a massive domed barrier formed around them, though Cassius suspected it continued underground into a sphere. He smirked. They'd just doomed themselves. They had no escape.

"Come on," Riddler smirked. "You can get this. I am shrubbery, not grass! What am I? I..."

"Am bush," Robin growled.

"You are trying to ambush the wrong people," Cassius chuckled. "You all just made the biggest mistake of your lives. You sealed yourself in with a deadly assassin."

"Oh, but they don't have to worry about me," Cheshire said.

"Wasn't talking about you, ugly," Cassius said, forming himself goo arms and claws. "Just say the word." "I can handle the Apokolyptan weapons below and around Riddler for about a minute without help. Probably break most of them."

"Superboy, Mammoth is yours," Aqualad said. "Go."

Everyone charged instantly. As soon as they did, Zatanna used a quick spell to cause a snow storm inside the barrier, and everyone tore into the grunts rapidly. Cassius actually had to laugh as he did. There were a lot of them, but with everyone blinded by the storm, he didn't need to worry about fighting all of the weapons at once.

"Superboy, the pylons!" Kaldur instructed.

"Working on it!" Superboy replied.

Cassius grabbed a grunt and spun, slamming him into a red disk heading for him, smashing the disk before sending the grunt bouncing away as Cassandra dropped the one who'd fired the disk. Then, Cassius turned, swiping his arms and sending goo spikes exploding into the pylons before retracting them. Just as the goo finished returning, three grunts armed with spears that fired lasers stepped out of the whiteout, aiming at him, only for him to drop into a puddle of goo, the lasers flashing over him into one who had just fired three disks, which began to electrocute the three of them instead. Cassius stood and formed a third arm, stretching all three forward and smashing his fists down through the disks and into the grunts' heads, knocking them all out. Then, he spun as Cassandra and Rose both screamed, both having been caught by a disk. He shot forward, smashing both disks before spinning, arms extending and whipping around, slamming into the two grunts and sending them flying before he retracted his arms, helping the two to their feet.

"SB you're...you're flying!" Robin suddenly said.

Cassius looked up instantly, just in time to see Connor hurl Mammoth up into the barrier, which zapped and reflected him down into the ground. Connor chased him instantly, streaking after him as he skidded down the side of a slope, back toward the battle. He fired his heat vision at him, missing for a moment and trailing a path along the slope before finally catching up to him, Mammoth shouting in pain. However, when the dust cleared, he had him pinned to the wall while he drilled punches into him so fast the impacts sounded like a machine gun, the cliff face Mammoth was against breaking up more and more. Finally, as Connor roared in rage, the cliff shattered, beginning to crumble.

Cassius turned away from it as several grunts began to fire at him, Cassandra, and Rose, forcing them to dodge around the blasts and charge, all three taking them down, only for three more to move to blast them, only for Wally to drop all three. Cassius glanced back at the cliff just in time to see Cheshire tackle Artemis out of the way of the debris. Cassius moved to check on Artemis, and catch Cheshire, only for a small cloud of snow to blow past and leave Artemis alone as it cleared. A moment later, the snow began to fade and Cassius looked around, seeing they had defeated and restrained everyone besides Cheshire, and as an added bonus, Artemis pulled the case out of the snow. Cassius sighed. At least they had that going for them.

He turned to the others and Kaldur nodded to him. He turned, firing a goo spike into all of the remaining pylons, disabling the barrier and retracting his goo before they headed back to the Bio-Ship, then to the Cave to get chewed out, again.


Leave a review.