I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Cold
Cassius remained silent as Batman handed out assignments. There were five flying fortresses generating an ice storm across all of North America. As the Watchtower wasn't weaponized and both Green Lanterns were off-world, the Team was going to be working alongside the Justice League to take them down. Wally was only barely keeping from bouncing in excitement. He'd always wanted to work alongside the Justice League.
"Superboy, use the Supercycle to rendezvous with the Batplane at Ice Fortress one," Batman ordered. "You'll drop off Robin and Aqualad, then continue on with Wolf to meet up with Black Canary and Red Tornado at Ice Fortress two."
"What's the Supercycle?" Cassius asked through the Team's telepathic link.
"Sphere can transform into a flying, three-wheeled bike," Connor said.
"A tricycle?" Cassius asked.
"Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna, take the Bio-Ship and rendezvous with Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter in Ice Fortress three. Void, you will fly yourself, Orphan, and Ravager to Ice Fortress five and rendezvous with Wonder Woman, Captain Atom, and the Hawks. Sending all coordinates now."
"Uh, Batman...I...think you...skipped..." Wally trailed off.
"Kid Flash," Batman said. "A young girl in Seattle is in desperate need of a heart transplant. With all conventional air traffic grounded by the storm, You'll need to pick up the donor heart in Boston and run it three thousand miles across the country."
Wally deflated rapidly, crestfallen. "Who is this girl?"
"Does it matter?" Batman asked.
"No, of course not," Wally said, deflating even more. "But...can't we Zeta-"
"Zeta tubes are offline," Robin reminded him. "Sorry."
"Right," Wally said. "Then...How could I say no?"
He didn't sound enthusiastic in any way, and Cassius felt bad, considering this mission was basically Wally's dream. However, Wally understood his job.
"Guess I won't be needing stealth," Wally said, turning his suit back to yellow. "Speedy delivery boy, at your service."
Batman gave them the order to deploy and they all headed outside, Megan taking off in the Bio-Ship with her group, Connor and his group in the Supercycle, which Cassius admitted was actually pretty cool-looking, and Cassius using his wings to fly while holding Cassandra and Rose against him, his goo wrapped around them to keep them warm while they flew.
After a couple of hours, the fortress finally came into view. The Justice League members were flying around avoiding blue laser blasts and smashing cannons, so when Cassius arrived, his wings flapped hard and exploded into a hail of goo spikes, raining down on the fortress and smashing the remaining guns as Cassius landed lightly on the fortress and released the girls before pulling his goo back to himself.
"You're late," Wonder Woman said.
"Do you know how far I just had to fly?" Cassius asked. "My wings are not fast."
"Head inside and prepare to blow the Fortress out of-" Hawkman was cut off by a fist exploding into his jaw and sending him bouncing off the ground.
As the attacker landed on the fortress, his eyes locked onto Cassius from inside of his white helmet with a faceless mask in the front shaped similarly to the Helmet of Fate, but smooth on top, nothing but a pair of eyeholes decorating it. He wore a suit of white, formfitting armor completely identical to Cassius's, a pair of wakizashi crossed on his back, and radiated a cold confidence that was setting off every warning bell and alarm Cassius had. He stood slowly, stare not wavering from Cassius for a second.
"Orphan, Ravager, go inside and find a way to blow this fortress to hell," Cassius said. "Hawks, please go with them as backup."
Both Hawks looked to Captain Atom, who nodded.
They both nodded and Cassius glanced at Cassandra, who looked at him worriedly.
"I'll be on this fortress until you come back out," Cassius promised. "I'm going nowhere without you."
Cassandra nodded and she and Rose turned, running inside, along with the Hawks.
"The Hawks are going to be at a severe disadvantage inside," Wonder Woman said.
"That's why I specified that they were backup," Cassius said. "But at least if they're inside, they'll be alive. He'd kill them if they tried to fight him."
"Who is he?" Captain Atom asked as the man in the mask drew his swords.
"I have no idea," Cassius said. "But I can tell at a glance that he's out of the Hawks' league. Probably out of mine too." His eyes flicked to the wakizashi blades as they caught the light. "Be careful with those swords. They're both depleted promethium allowed with Titanium."
"How do you know?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Because," Cassius said. "I forged them. Those swords were at Deathstroke's house before I blew it up. I recognize the symbol beside their tsuba."
Wonder Woman and Captain Atom both nodded, preparing themselves. Captain Atom's hands began to shine gold, but before any of them could charge, their enemy did. He shot forward so fast he kicked up a cloud of snow dust behind himself, clearing the distance in an instant and slashing at Cassius, only for him to catch the man's arm. Then, the man flipped, drilling a foot into Cassius's chest, hurling him backward into the wall of the raised central section of the fortress. As soon as the man landed, his eyes narrowed and he spun, stepping around Wonder Woman's fist before slashing, only for her to block his blade with her bracer. The resulting impact, however, cratered the fortress beneath their feet and hurled Wonder Woman into Captain Atom just in time to throw his blast off, making it streak into the air harmlessly as the two leaguers fell off the fortress. Cassius pushed himself up as the man turned back to him again.
"Is that strength and speed?" Cassius asked. "Or is it something else?"
"That's hurtful," the man said, his voice deep, smooth, and completely even, betraying his firm belief that he couldn't lose the fight, which might be true, from what he'd displayed so far. "The least you could do is remember the one person you ever feared, Copycat."
Cassius stared at him in silence for a moment before focusing, allowing his memories from his past life to flow as he focused. His body shifted entirely into goo in order to boost his speed and strength as much as possible. Then, goo began to gather in his hands, slowly growing from his palms and forming into a pair of Wakizashi of his own. When the man exploded forward again, his blade met Cassius's before Cassius slashed with his free blade, the man blocking it. When A third arm erupted from Cassius's chest and drilled a punch into the man's chest, he staggered backward a whopping three steps before stopping himself.
"Yeah," Cassius grumbled. "This is going to take a while."
He launched himself forward, his foot crumpling the metal plate he'd been on with the force, and he slashed the metal under the masked man's feet denting before he snapped a roundhouse up into Cassius's head, then slashed. Cassius deflected the slash, stopping himself, and suddenly they began to strike rapidly, their blades clashing rapidly. Finally, Cassius leapt away just before Captain Atom's beam blasted the man, only for him to have stepped out of the way at the last second, avoiding it. Wonder Woman hurled her lasso at the man, but he smirked, catching it and spinning, swinging Wonder Woman around by it, She flipped, flying backward at the same time as planting her feet on the fortress, but the moment she did, the man lifted his own feet, the lasso, which had stretched as he swung it, shortened back to its normal length rapidly, sending him hurtling at her. As he moved to punch her, however, Captain Atom's fist crashed into the side of his head.
He bounced twice before driving his remaining sword into the ground, skidding to a stop. Then, as his feet hit the ground, he grinned, exploding forward yet again. Wonder Woman drew her own sword in time to block his, only for him to streak past her toward the one he'd left behind. He reached for it, only for Cassius to suddenly erupt from the sword's shadow, where he'd hidden himself, his palm exploding into the man's face before he smashed the man's head into the ground. Then, he punted him at Wonder Woman and Captain Atom. Both drilled a fist into his face as he flew toward them and he hurtled toward Cassius again just as Cassius's left side suddenly sprouted a dozen more arms, all of them curling their hands into fists. Then, just as the man reached him, his fists exploded into the man's chest sending him exploding into the raised wall of the fortress, crumpling it into a crater few panels falling off the wall. The man remained there for a moment before stepped forward and beginning to laugh, even as blood dripped from the bottom of his helmet in the front.
"Look at you," he laughed. "A shell of your former self. When did your punches get so soft?"
"You should check your helmet before you talk about me being weak," Cassius said.
The man laughed again. "You think bleeding as lightly as this is significant? After all we've put each other through, every single time we fight, you think something as simple as a rib in my lung is anything?"
Just then, there was a loud crack, the three heroes present all cringing loudly as the man let out a long, content sigh.
"There, you see?" he asked. "Good as new. You, on the other hand, will not recover so quickly."
"Maybe you should actually land a hit on me before your talk about whether or not I'll recover quickly," Cassius said, narrowing his eyes and preparing himself as he reformed his goo wakizashi.
"Oh, I was waiting for you to get serious," the man said. "Or is that really all you're capable of?"
Cassius swallowed hard. For reasons he couldn't understand, he was terrified. And then, he was in pain. In less time than it took for him to even register that the man had moved, he'd hurled a wakizashi, straight as an arrow, into Cassius's throat. Cassius's eyes widened in surprise as the man exploded forward, reaching for it, only to flip, kicking off the blunt side of Wonder Woman's blade as she slashed downward at his arm. As he flipped, his second wakizashi drove itself through Cassius's pelvis and agony flooded through him. He tried to shriek in agony, releasing nothing but a choking sound, and collapsed, Captain Atom ripping both swords out of his body just as soon as he hit the ground. Captain Atom hurled both blades backward off the fortress and Cassius's wounds sealed, only for him to be left shaking and weak from the pain. He struggled to stand, barely making it to his feet before the man swung Wonder Woman around by the arm after catching a punch, slamming her into Cassius and sending both bouncing across the fortress as he dodged around Captain Atom's punches.
"Really, now," the man grinned wickedly. "I would have through a pair of the Justice League's power houses could do more." He jumped, kicking Captain Atom away from himself as Cassius managed to stand again. "You know, I genuinely respect what you're doing for those two little girls."
Cassius's eyes widened.
"After I kill you, I'll make sure the League of Shadows can't steal them back," the man said, though his eyes shone no kindness and told Cassius exactly how he'd go about it.
Cassius's body stopped trembling and he grit his teeth, focusing. His goo began to compress, becoming more streamline and lean. Finally it stopped, and when the man shot forward, Cassius caught his punch. The floor under him crumpled, but Cassius went nowhere. The man's eyes narrowed and crinkled at the corners in a smirk as Cassius glared at him, murder dripping from his own eyes.
"That's more like it," the man grinned, flipping and kicking downward at Cassius, only for Cassius's other hand to catch his leg before Cassius spun, sending him exploding into the wall off to the side.
"You know, I almost forgot," Cassius said, his fingers sharpening inside and out as he formed a second set, both complete with blade-like fingers. "I'm not a fucking hero!"
The man exploded forward and punched at Cassius, but he brushed the punch aside, slashing the man across the abdomen, his claws shredding the man's armor as easily as his flesh. The man spun, swinging a windmill kick, and Cassius moved to remove it. Before he could, the man's same-side hand caught Cassius's wrist before the kick hit, allowing the man to swing Cassius around and hurl him at the wall. Cassius landed on it, grabbing several panels before leaping off the wall into a sprint, hurling the panels at odd intervals, all within a second. The man deflected the first one with a backhanded swing, but his swipe for the second was too early, allowing it to bounce off his face, knocking his third swipe off course. Then, the fourth panel crashed into the third just short of the man and the first spun, slamming into hi under the chin, knocking his helmet loose and up a few inches just before the last panel crashed into his manhood, cracking the armor plate protecting it.
The man staggered backward, reaching up to fix his helmet, only for both of Cassius's right fists to crash into his head, sending him sailing off of the fortress. Then, a moment later, he flipped back up over the edge, his helmet fixed, and swung a hand downward, a cloud of ice spikes the size of spears flying up from the frigid air and ice particles the fortress was spewing. They cloud was about ten feet wide and forming continuously, forming an constant stream of ice spikes, even as the man landed on the fortress. Cassius formed a dozen arms, each with a basic, double-edged, goo shortsword, and began to slash rapidly, deflecting about seventy percent of the spikes. Fortunately, before more than a dozen could impale him, Captain Atom was blocking them with a beam as Wonder Woman drilled a fist into the side of the man's face, sending him bouncing away.
Cassius reformed beside the spikes that had hit him, and sighed, ripping one out of the ground. "Who the fuck is this guy?"
"I have no idea," Captain Atom said. "He needs to be dealt with immediately, though."
"Permanently," Cassius growled. "You can punish me for killing him later."
He stepped forward, hurling the goo spear at the man, only for him to lean out of the way, smirking. Then, an explosion ripped the top of the Fortress between them apart, a massive fireball roaring out of it before settling down to a ten-foot-wide inferno reaching three feet high out of the hole, but the man was gone. Cassius looked around for him but saw nothing. The fortress began to fall, listing heavily toward the side Cassius and the two Justice League members were on, threatening to make them fall off. Cassius reverted to his newest appearance with goo attaching him to the metal as Wonder Woman and Captain Atom both flew off the fortress, the Hawks joining them after a moment, then stopped.
"They haven't come back out yet," Captain Atom said.
"That's why Void is waiting," Wonder Woman said.
"Isn't he at least going to go after them?" Captain Atom asked.
"No," Wonder Woman said. "He has too much faith in them."
Just then, Cassandra and Rose appeared in the doorway on the right side of the raised section from where Cassius stood and looked around, then down at him. He spread his arms and both leapt down at him. He leapt off of the fortress to catch them, and the moment he had, he flipped goo attaching them to his sides as a pair of wings formed behind him, beating hard and stopping their fall before he flew back up toward Wonder Woman and Captain Atom.
"You shouldn't have waited on the fortress," Rose said. "You could have been caught in an explosion."
"I told you I'd be waiting on the fortress for you," Cassius said.
He looked back and stopped, seeing the man he'd been fighting standing on the highest side of the Fortress, watching them. Then, he turned, leaping into the blast of frigid air still spewing from the vent behind him.
"Who was that?" Rose asked.
"I don't know," Cassius said. "But he's strong. He fought the three of us and was able to keep us largely on the defensive. And he knew me in my past life."
"Bad," Cassandra said.
"Yeah," Cassius said. "It's really bad. But there's nothing we can do about him now. We'd need Superman and Flash at a minimum."
Cassandra nodded and rested her head against his chest, squeezing him gently.
"I'm alright," Cassius assured her. "You two did well. Who was behind it?"
"We don't know," Hawkman said as they reached the Leaguers. "We never met anyone. The fortress was automated."
Cassius shook his head. "Impressive, if nothing else. We're heading back to the Cave."
Wonder Woman nodded. "We'll inform the League about that man. Be careful. Obviously, he's targeting you."
Cassius nodded and branched off, remaining silent as he flew, searching his old life's memories for anything about the man, yet he could find nothing. Finally, he sighed silently, returning his attention to the present.
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