I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Newbie
Cassius groaned, dropping onto his bed again. Three days. It had been three days and he still felt like shit. It was official. He was never pissing off Black Canary. The others were all out enjoying the beach, except for Kid Flash, who was at school. Cassius wished he could go to the beach too, but moving more than to go to the kitchen or the bathroom was almost enough to make him pass out, and his room had its own bathroom. Just then, his door opened, Megan walking in wearing a blue button-up shirt and white shorts. She knelt beside him, feeling his forehead and giving him a concerned look.
"No change?" she asked.
"It's getting better," Cassius said. "I'll be back to normal inside a week."
She nodded just as Batman's voice called them all to the briefing room. He groaned, only for her to lift him with her telekinesis so he wouldn't have to walk. She floated him to the briefing room where Aqualad had a fold-up chair waiting and set him in it, Cassius sighing and ignoring Batman's glare.
"Well, at least we know we can stop you if you turn on us," Batman said flatly. "Your team is getting a new member. Artemis."
Cassius looked up, following everyone else's gaze to a girl about the others' age with a tight, Green Arrow-style costume with her toned midriff exposed, no sleeves, a masked hood over her upper face, her blonde hair sticking out of a hole in the back of it in a ponytail that reached just past her butt, and a compound bow. Her eyes locked with his and she smirked.
"Somebody get worked over in a sparring session?" Artemis smirked, sounding arrogant and cocky.
"No," Cassius said. "An enemy we fought during a mission had an ability I neglected to compensate for."
"So you got sloppy," Artemis translated. "Guess you're the incompetent one, then."
"Actually, he's one of our best," Robin said.
"Recognize Kid Flash, B-Zero-Three," the Zeta Tube's feminine announcement voice said.
"He's the incompetent one," Cassius said, just as Kid Flash appeared, holding a cooler, beach ball, umbrella, stereo, surf board, and folding chair, dressed in a pair of yellow swimming trunks and sunglasses with a towel around his neck and sunscreen on his nose.
"The wall man is here!" Kid Flash cheered over his stereo's music. "Now, let's get this party star-" he ran forward, only to trip over the umbrella's pole, crashing to the ground and sending his beach ball bouncing past Batman, everyone staring at him. "-ted?"
"Wall Man, huh?" Artemis smirked. "I love the uniform. What, exactly, are your powers?"
"I like her," Cassius smirked. "She's a bitch."
Artemis glared at him.
"Uh, who's this?" Kid Flash asked, walking over.
"Artemis, your new teammate," Artemis introduced herself, tone patronizing.
"Kid Flash, never heard of you," Kid Flash countered in a matching tone.
"Um, she's my new protégé," Green Arrow said, stepping forward and setting a hand on her shoulder.
"What happened to your old one?" Kid Flash asked.
"Recognize Speedy, B-Zero-Six," the Zeta tube announced, everyone turning to look as the tube's light faded and he walked over to them.
"Well for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore," he growled. "Call me Red Arrow."
"How original," Cassius said sarcastically. "That's definitely not derivative at all."
"I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Void," Red Arrow said. "Every hero in the world knows how much you love loud noises, now."
Cassius grimaced.
"Uh, Roy," Green Arrow said. "You look..."
"Replaceable," Red Arrow growled.
"It's not like that," Green Arrow said. "You told me you were going solo."
"So why waste time finding a sub?" Red Arrow scoffed. "Can she even use that bow?"
"Yes, she can," Artemis said, getting in Red Arrow's face, despite him being a full foot taller than her.
"Who are you!?" Kid Flash asked again.
She and Green Arrow both turned their heads just enough to be speaking to him as they both said she was Green Arrow's niece, then turned their heads back to Red Arrow.
"Another niece?" Robin grinned.
"But she is not your replacement," Aqualad said. "We have always wanted you on the team, and we have no quota on archers."
"And if we did, you know who we'd pick," Kid Flash said.
"I vote the mildly attractive one who didn't threaten to kill me," Cassius said. "We need more chicks to level out the testosterone anyway."
"Excuse me!?" Artemis snapped.
"He's joking," Megan said. "Right Cassius? Say you're joking."
Cassius grunted noncommittally.
"Whatever," Artemis said, then smirked at Kid Flash. "Like it or not, Baywatch, I'm here to stay."
"You came to us for a reason," Aqualad said, looking to Red Arrow.
"Yeah, a reason named Dr. Serling Roquette," Red Arrow said.
"Nanorobotics genius and clay-tronics expert at Royal University in Star City!" Robin said after a moment of thinking, pulling up several screens. "Vanished two weeks ago!"
"Abducted two weeks ago," Red Arrow corrected. "By the League of Shadows. Void's old friends."
"Oh fuck," Cassius groaned.
"Whoa!" Robin said. "You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?"
"Please say no," Cassius groaned as Wally fist-bumped Robin while whispering "Hardcore!"
"I already rescued her," Red Arrow said, walking to the computer.
"Oh thank God," Cassius sighed.
"Only one problem," Red Arrow said.
"Fuck," Cassius groaned.
"Would you stop that!?" Batman snapped. "Go on."
"The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it, The Fog. Comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators. Capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete. Steel. Flesh. Bone. But its true purpose isn't mere destruction. It's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen intel to the Shadows, providing them access to weapons, strategic defenses, cutting-edge science and tech!"
"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power brokering," Artemis listed. "Yeah. Sounds like the Shadows."
"You forgot Assassinating," Cassius said. "Nanobots that dissolve targets would be invaluable. And damn-near impossible to fight."
"Like you know anything about the shadows, Artemis," Wally scoffed.
She smirked at him in silence.
"Who are you!?" Wally demanded.
"Roquette's working on a virus to render the Fog inert," Red Arrow continued.
"But if the Shadows know she can do that-" Robin began.
"They'll target her," Red Arrow finished. "Right now she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."
"You left her alone?" Green Arrow asked.
"She's safe enough for now," Red Arrow said.
"No, she's not," Cassius said. "The Shadows don't loose track of someone that easily."
"They do when they're busy hiding from an explosion," Red Arrow said.
"Yeah, definitely not talking about the grunts," Cassius said. "The important ones don't loose track of valuable assets that easily."
"If you want us to protect her, then let's, you and I, protect her," Green Arrow invited.
"You and I?" Red Arrow asked. "Don't you want to take your new protégé?"
Batman set a hand on Green Arrow's shoulder and Green Arrow nodded.
"You brought this to the team," Green Arrow said. "It's their mission. Which means it's hers now too."
Red Arrow scoffed. "Then my job's done."
"Recognized Speedy-" the Zeta Tube began.
"That's Red Arrow, B-Zero-Six," he corrected the machine. "Update."
Then, the Zeta Tube activated and he was gone. Kid Flash glared at Artemis and she turned away from him.
"Void, for obvious reasons, you're not going on this mission," Batman said. "Red Tornado will be here to keep an eye on you."
Cassius nodded. "Okay. Then I'm going to try to make it back to bed."
"We'll be heading out now," Aqualad said.
"Hope you feel better," Megan smiled supportively.
Cassius groaned as he stood, then limped away, right hand pressed tight to his abdomen, for what little good it did him. Finally, he made it back to his room and collapsed onto the bed, groaning and closing his eyes, only for his door to open and Red Tornado to step into the room and sit down on a chair.
"Can't you keep an eye on me with a camera?" Cassius asked.
"No," Red Tornado said. "I need to be where I can react if you do anything...not allowed."
Cassius groaned, rolling away from him. "Whatever. I'm in too much pain to care about the League's trust issues."
He closed his eyes, and within seconds, he was asleep.
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