A/N: Holy shit. Nightwing and Miss Martian had a moment, the Runaways were actually okay, Roy finally found something useful to do (I love him, but sometimes he makes me upset), but there was NO REACTION FROM BART. I hope they focus on that next episode because seriously, his best friend just went on Mode. The very thing he came back to stop happened. Yupp. Just feels everywhere. This chapter is pretty short, so sorry. I would have updated waayyyyy sooner but my charger died for my laptop. Sorry again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
He clutched his side desperately, his palm the only thing keeping his indsides from pouring out. The entire left side of his face sizzled and blistered from the blast it had taken, and his black hair had been torn off with the layers of skin and armor. He was drenched in thick, dark crimson blood, but he was proud to say that not all of it was his. Though he did suffer from several heavy gashes and many broken bones, his attacker was in the same fateful state.
Heavy panting and terrified gasps for oxygen fell under the clashing of armor and whirs of weapons, and yet another wound was recieved by the already crippled Jaime. "Big Bad Blue"'s sharpened sword pierced through the Mexican's shoulder, crashing through bone and tearing the tendons. Jaime cried out, but used their close proximity to his advantage. He drove his fist into his future self's gut and transformed it into a plasma cannon, then watched the surprise and horror splash across his enemy's soul-less face as the beam shot directly through him. In response Jaime was tossed effortlessly to the side, falling onto a patch of black sand, as his opponent screeched.
The dazed Mexican teen hissed at the sand that snuck into his open gashes, and tried to rise to his elbows, but fell back into the sand. He rolled onto his back and attempted to use his back strength to get up, but once again he smashed into the ground. He groaned and sucked in a quick inhale, ignored his body screaming in protest, and jumped to his sore feet. Jaime turned on heel and pointed his plasma cannon at his future self, who was on his knees, clawing at the liquid gushing out from the huge hole in his stomach. Here, here he would end it. He would stop the Mode. He would stop himself.
He took long strides to the large creature on his knees and pointed his ready weapon to the thing's forehead, watching in twisted joy when it contracted in fear. "No, no..."
"Yes." His face lit up into a dark grin. "Yes."
Jaime pushed the tip of the cannon against his future self's forehead until the armor whined from the pressure, watched the plasma charge glow blindingly bright, and prepared to fire. A sudden pressure shot up into his temple, causing the teen to stagger back for a moment, his fingers darting to hold his head. It ceased as quickly as it came, so he shook his head to clear it and faced his attacker again. Instead of Big Bad Blue at the end of the cannon, it was a shaking, terrified little boy with ginger red hair and huge, watery green eyes. The boy, no more than twelve, was grabbing desperately at his stomach, trying to hold in the waterfalling blood slipping through his trembling fingers.
The boy coughed and stared up at Jaime through long, thick eyelashes and reached out a hand, as if calling for help. "Jaime..."
The shocked teen lowered his plasma cannon and stared hard at the image he was seeing. It couldn't be...Bart was with Miss Martian. Jaime was fighting future Blue Beetle. How did Bart get there? Where was the monster? Jaime glanced from the boy's face down to his beckoning hand, then back to his hurt face. "Jaime, help me..."
Then it hit him.
He was happy that Big Bad Blue had been scared of him, he was taking joy in beating him, he had been excited to kill him. Jaime had left Bart and M'gann alone in his crumbling mind because he was angry. He didn't have to chase down one of the Beetles. He didn't have to fight him. But he did because he wanted to. He went looking for the battle. Heroes didn't do that. Heroes didn't abondon their friends to get revenge. But than again, when had Jaime ever been a hero? He was selfish and rude and arrogant and such an asshole to his friends, he shouldn't be called a hero. Citizens didn't even know he existed. So why would he be classified as a hero? Why should he keep trying to be one? He never was, and never would be a hero. He was destined to be a confused boy in an alien suit.
Heroes never won. The previous Blue Beetle proved it. Yeah, he did save the Earth, but where was he now? Oh, right. He was dead. Because Heroes. Never. Won. At least, not fully. There was always a consequence, a downside, a sacrifice to be made. Hell, Jaime knew that most of the members of Team that he had become friends with would die too soon, just like Jason. Every hero knew that they had a chance of dying when they went into the hero gig, so why did they still do it? For justice? Now that he thought about it, there was no justice in it at all. If somebody did something the League didn't like, they took them out. They didn't even care to look at it from the 'bad guy's point of view. Like the whole situation with the Runaways, they were scared, angry teens that were being used. But what was rest of the League didn't want them running around, so they asked Jaime to do their dirty work and lock them up again. He was glad that they ran from him, because now he wasn't a pawn for the League.
And where was the rest of the League anyways? On another planet getting charged with terrorizing an entire galactic system because they were stupid and weak and let a mad man get control of them. Were those really people he would feel safe with protecting his planet, trust them enough to keep his Earth safe, with guarding his life? No. They were the real threats. Not the villians, not the aliens. It was the damned Justice League that was tearing their world apart. Was Jaime really going to let them get away with that?
No, no he wouldn't.
Jaime was starting to get angry again, because now he understood. The League was using him as a pawn, just another soldier to fight a war that didn't need to be fought. He was a puppet at the hands of idiots. Power hungry idiots. Maybe the Reach was right in wanting to take control of the Earth. Maybe they would be better at controlling the chaos than the League was, or the League thought they were controlling. Maybe, just maybe the Reach wasn't so bad after all. And maybe, they would let Jaime help them.
No! He thought suddenly. No, think of Bart! You know what happens when the Reach takes control of the Earth, you know what they, what you will do to him! You've seen the scars! It's a bad idea! Don't do it!
No, he didn't know Bart in that future. He would never hurt the boy now that he knew him. If he sided with the Reach and presented the speedster as his mate, surely they would keep him safe. So, that was his plan. He would switch to the better side of the war and take Bart with him, and together they could make the world safer, make a brighter future for the Earth with the help of the Reach. The Reach was good.
Jaime smiled sickly at the boy on his knees infront of him, and raised the plasma cannon to his forehead once again. Though this boy resembled his mate, Jaime could sense Bart's presence in a different part of his mind, along with the Martian. He watched in fascination as the bright glow of his cannon charging illuminated they terrified boy's face. A strong hand fell onto his shoulder, and for a moment, Jaime glanced back at it's owner. Black Beetle stared appprovingly at him, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Do it, Brother."
Jaime nodded firmly and turned back to face the crying boy with determination. He squinted down condescendingly at the weak meat infront of him, contemplating if he should really pull the trigger on him. He couldn't stay with the League. They were lying dictators, and he refused to play a part in their game. He would go to the Reach instead. They wanted him more anyways. And he would finally have a mentor. Black Beetle would teach him how to control his suit, wouldn't he? Of course he would. Bart would be by his side too, cheering him on as he made the world a better place. Jaime wanted this. He wanted to be in his rightful place as a real hero. He wanted to be treated as a champion, praised and not ignored. He wanted Bart to be permenantly his. He wanted his family to be in a better world. The Reach could give him that. Jaime wanted the Reach. The teen watched his plasma cannon reach it's maximum charge and nodded once again, mostly in assurance to himself, and pressed it further against the wailing boy's skin.
The sound of the shot firing would forever burn in his mind.
A/N: It's been done! Jaime is officially corrupted by the Reach and has changed sides! He is on Mode! If you thought shit was hitting the fan before, now it's stuck to it and being thrown in all directions. No one is safe from my shit-fan, guys. NO ONE. Next chapter should be updated soon, since I have nothing to do tomorrow. Please, please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! Tell me how you feel about what happened! Tell me what you think will happen next! So, please leave a review and make my day, becauseI need a lot of motivation to post the next chapter. It's crazy. Thanks for reading!