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


Lobo

Cassius smirked at Dick as he racked his rifle silently. Cassius formed himself one from his goo. Just as he did, however, Rose and Cassandra both sent a message in a group chat between the three of them.

"Shoot me and we break up," Rose messaged.

"You're not very stealthy or quiet for a surprise attack," Cassandra messaged.

Cassius grinned and forwarded both messages to Dick, who grinned, shaking his head.

"It's for the newbies, not you," Cassius messaged back. "Did you warn them?"

"No," Cassandra messaged.

"Good," Cassius messaged. "Don't."

"I'll just be off to the side making out with my girlfriend," Rose messaged.

"Take pictures," Cassius messaged.

Dick raised and eyebrow, and Cassius smirked and nodded. Dick raised his own and both crawled up into position. Dick took the first shot, hitting the ground in a warning before both opened fire at them. Halo instantly moved to shield Brion, who the shot had hit beside, while Forager began to roll away from the shots and Otto tackled Rose and Cassandra to the ground behind a rock. Cassius could hear Rose laugh through his earpiece as Forager stopped behind Halo's shield as well.

"Ready?" Cassius asked.

"Ready," Dick nodded.

Just as Halo dropped her shield and took off, Forager beginning to roll again, Cassius sprinted to the side, keeping out of sight. Halo blasted the ground beside Dick, then reformed her shield as he fired up at her several times. Finally, Forager caught her as Cassius dropped into his new position, firing at Brion, who was in the middle of gathering stone. The shot slammed into Brion's chest, hurling him backward, and Cassius and Dick both stood.

"Okay, that's enough," Dick said, resting his gun on his shoulder as Cassius leapt down into the quarry, reclaiming all of the goo from his bullets, as well as his rifle.

"Are they insane!?" Dr. Jace shouted.

"Dick was using rubber bullets," Jeff said. "And Cassius can use his goo to make it lethal, or as weak as a BB-gun. Painful, but nonlethal if carefully aimed."

Brion groaned, sitting up and holding a hand to his chest.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Dr. Jace snapped, running to Brion. "Brion, are you alright?"

"Fine," Brion said. "I'm fine."

"Halo, Forager, you both get A grades for reflexive action, evaluation and adaptability," Dick said. "Plasmus, you get a B grade for the same, since you were quick enough to take cover and also brought two of your comrades with you, even though they were never targets, but then you remained there, so it dropped your grade a bit."

Otto nodded.

"Geo-Force, you get an F in all categories," Dick said.

"You need to work on gathering stone and lava while moving," Cassius said. "It takes too long to stand still. Even if you have to melt into the ground, that's better than standing in the open."

Brion glared at them. "I came here for training! Not...cheap shots!"

"It was a surprise attack," Cassius said. "An ambush. It happens. A lot."

"Alright," Connor said. "Let's dial this down a few degrees."

"Nah, it's okay," Dick said. "Let him say his piece."

"Well, thank you for the indulgence!" Brion said sarcastically.

Dick sighed. "Do you have a point to make, or not? Otherwise, let's get back to training."

"Training is all you care about, isn't it?" Brion asked, pointing at him. "You promised me Tara! We know she's on Santa Prisca, so what are we waiting for!?"

"You would die the moment you set one foot on Santa Prisca," Cassius said. "You would be dead now if they were real bullets, and if you think there wouldn't be any concealed snipers on the home of the League of Shadows, you are sorely mistaken. You are not ready to go after your sister yet. That's why we're training."

"You don't even think we should rescue her!" Brion snapped. "You think she's a threat!"

"And he's right," Rose said.

"We don't know she's there," Dick said before they could continue arguing. "And we don't want a repeat of the Infinity Island debacle, do we? Brion, you need to be patient."

Brion scoffed. "Everyone preaches patience! Fine! But perhaps you'd care to explain the point of that last exercise? A surprise attack proves nothing!"

"Cassius already said it," Dick said. "Surprise attacks happen. So in your case, it proves you need to train for surprise atta-"

Rose crashed into Dick and Cassius and Cassandra into Connor and Halo, tackling them away less than a second before something exploded into the ground. A wall of debris chased them, but Cassius's goo deflected all of the debris large enough to hurt any of them. Cassius stood, stepping out in front of the others as the dust thinned, revealing Lobo.

"Lobo," Cassius growled. "Shit! Otto, Halo, Forager, Brion, all of you stay back. He's way outside of your league."

"I'm calling Wally," Artemis said instantly, grabbing her phone as Cassandra and Rose stepped up to either side of Cassius, extending their liquid metal swords, Cassius preparing himself to fight bare-handed.

Lobo pressed a button on his belt.

"Translating Interlac," the belt reported.

"The Main Man's contract is to kill this bug!" Lobo said, pointing at Forager. "The rest of you can go!"

"Not gonna happen!" Connor snarled.

"Fine," Lobo grinned, cracking his knuckles. "You had your chance."

He chuckled, then charged, only for Cassius to launch himself forward, ducking under Lobo's fist and drilling his fist up into Lobo's chin from below, rocking him back several steps before Connor slammed a fist into his chest, hurling him. Superbike began to shoot at Lobo, only for Lobo to whistle, a pointy purple ship shaped like an arrowhead to fly down, firing at Superbike, which fled.

"Halo!" Dick shouted as Lobo backhanded Connor and sending him flying, then backhanded an arrow from Artemis, the explosion doing nothing to him. "Fly Forager out of here!"

"Of course!" halo said, grabbing Forager and taking off.

Artemis leapt at Lobo, slamming a quarterstaff into him, only for him to backhand her. She screamed in pain, likely bearing broken ribs now, but Wally caught her before she could hit the ground. Dick began to attack Lobo with his own eskrima sticks, but as Cassius reached them, Lobo grabbed Dick by the arm and slammed him into Cassius, hurling both into Connor.

"There's no running from the Main Man!" Lobo said, drawing the harpoon gun he kept on his back, which could also serve as a sword if he wanted.

He fired and Rose fired several bullets, only for them to bounce off harmlessly before the harpoon impaled Halo through the back. She screamed, dropping Forager before swinging Halo over himself and slamming her down in front of Cassandra, forcing her to leap backward. The harpoon ripped free and returned to Lobo and he grimaced.

"I hate cleaning this thing," Lobo said.

"You won't have to when you're dead!" Cassius shouted, expanding his right arm and slamming it into Lobo's entire head, launching him into a boulder, which shattered.

Lobo stood, hurling a boulder at them and Cassius batted it aside.

"Thirty two!" Cassius shouted.

Rose and Cassandra sped past him instantly, readying their blades, and Lobo raised his own. Then, they both reaching him, slashing quickly, only for their blades to spark off of his again and again. Finally, he spun, Rose tackling Cassandra aside just as Lobo stabbed at her, firing the harpoon for added effect. The harpoon stabbed through Cassius's gut and Lobo laughed, retracting it. Except, as he did, Cassius leapt forward, streaking across the distance in a blur and slamming a fist into Lobo's face, launching him backward, only for Connor to use a full-speed shoulder check from Wally in conjunction with a jump of his own to launch himself at Lobo from behind, punching him and sending him flying at Cassius again. Cassius formed a dozen more right arms and slammed all of them into Lobo's chest and throat, blood spraying out of his mouth as he bounced across the ground.

"Face it, Lobo," Cassius said. "You're not going to be able to complete this contract."

Lobo pushed himself up, grinning wickedly. "The Main Main can regenerate new skin and organs. You can't regenerate new heads when the Main Man chops them off you!"

Just then, Halo swung a hand and sent out an arc of yellow energy, the recoil throwing her backward onto the ground again. Her aim was off, and it passed over Lobo's head, but he had moved to shield himself with it, and it sliced off a finger, which fell to the ground.

Lobo snarled angrily. "Gonna frag that keezy fem till she's dust!"

"Vlash, Lobo!" Cassius growled, using Interlac on a whim.

Lobo grinned. "You speak Interlac."

"I speak a lot of languages," Cassius said.

"You want the Main Man to shut up?" Lobo grinned. "Try to make him!"

Cassius began to swell, growing to more than double his normal size, rivalling Lobo, then shot forward. Lobo grinned and moved to meet him, only for Wally to flash past with Artemis's quarterstaff, knocking his rear leg out from under him. Then, before Lobo could regain his balance, Cassius's left fist slammed into the side of his jaw, rocking him sideways. Cassius slammed his right fist into Lobo's nose, knocking him back several steps before Cassius grabbed him by the sides of his head, yanking him down into a knee that sent him staggering backward. Then, Cassius's body shrunk back down to normal as his right arm expanded even more before exploding into Lobo, launching him into the side of the quarry, which collapsed on him instantly. However, a moment later, he exploded out of the rubble, exploding to the ground hard enough for the shockwave to hurl everyone. He began to stop toward Cassius, who had shielded Cassandra and Rose from the debris again, only for Brion to begin spraying Lobo with a constant flow of lava as Plasmus hurled glob after glob of plasma into him from the other side. Finally, Lobo roared, kicking a rock into Brion's gut, then spun, leaping at Plasmus and punching him, knocking him out and hurling him. Then, Lobo turned on Halo, who had shielded Dr. Jace from the debris.

Before he could charge Halo, Forager crashed into his back. However, Lobo spun instantly, slamming his fists down on Forager, cracking his skull instantly. Cassius launched himself at Lobo, only for Lobo's bike to spear Cassius on its nose, dragging him away. The others tried to stop Lobo as Cassius ripped himself free and dropped to the ground, but it was too late. Lobo hurled Connor into the others, then leapt over Cassandra and Rose, allowing their blades to clash where he'd been, then exploded down on Forager, crushing him.

"No!" Brion shouted.

Lobo grinned and tried to whistle, only to remember he didn't have his pinky. "Just get down here!"

Lobo's bike beeped like Sphere did and flew down, Lobo climbing on.

"Don't feel bad," Lobo grinned. "You bassages did better than most." He looked to Cassius. "And you did the best here. It's been a while since someone went toe-to-toe with the Main Man so well." Then, he took off.

Everyone walked over to Forager, Cassandra crying, but Cassius raised an eyebrow, lifting a piece of shell.

"Clever little bug," Cassius smiled. "It's empty."

"What?" Dick asked, also kneeling down.

"Is Lobo gone?" Forager asked, stepping out from behind a pile of shattered stone, his light pink flesh still slimy from shedding his shell.

"You're alive!" Brion said.

"You're pink!" Halo said, Rose giggling.

"Forager shed his exoshell to fool Lobo," Forager said.

"Cassius is right," Connor smiled. "You're a clever little bug."

"Thank you," Forager said. "But Forager thinks Forager now understands what friends meant by not liking to be naked."

Halo moved to hug him, only to pull back. "Sorry. I can't. You're too...goojy."

"I don't care how goojy you are!" Brion said, hugging Forager, then pulled back covered in pink slime. "But you are, indeed, quite goojy."

"Uh, yeah, welcome to the fake your own death club," Artemis said. "It's membership is very exclusive, and I'm the president."

Forager shook the hand she offered. "Forager thanks Artemis Crock. Forager thanks all his friends for risking limb and life to save Forager. The humans here are truly drones in Forager's hive."

"Feelings mutual, kid," Connor said.

"We always take care of our own," Dick said.

"Come on," Cassius said. "I think we've had about enough training for one day."

Everyone agreed and they all headed home to rest and take the rest of the day off.


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