I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters.
Usual Suspects
Cassius watched Superboy storm away in silence. They'd brought up the mole subject again, based on the fact that they'd been led into a trap, and Rocket had been, understandably, surprised. However, Connor had gotten mad, since he, Megan, and Artemis were the primary suspects, even more so than Cassius, and had begun to leave, only for Kaldur to say that Superboy's actions lately had begun to worry him, pointing out that Connor's fight with Mammoth nearly killed Artemis. However, Superboy had suddenly seemed in pain, holding a hand to his head, then said he had to take care of something and left.
"Did that seem suspicious to anyone else?" Robin asked.
Cassius stared at the ground in thought. He wanted to tell them, but that would just make things worse. Connor had to tell them himself.
"While we have time, does anyone have anything they would like to confess?" Kaldur asked. "Not about being a mole, as I doubt anyone in this room is a mole. Simply any secrets they wish to share."
"I'll go," Robin said, turning to them an pulling his mask off. "I'm sure you all guessed it as soon as Cassandra, Cassius, and Rose showed up at my family's ball, but...I figure it's about time I let you all know. Just don't tell Batman I spilled the beans."
"Who are you?" Rocket asked. "Is you taking your mask off supposed to mean something?"
"You don't watch the news much, or read magazines, do you?" Cassius asked.
"No, why?" Rocket asked.
"My real name is Dick Grayson, and these three are the newest members of the Wayne family," Robin said, gesturing to the other three.
"Oh, so you're rich!" Rocket said, then froze as he eyes widened. "Oh my God! So then, does that mean..."
"Yes, and hush," Cassius said. "Let's see, now. I think I have the next secret. Or, at least, I might as well let Rocket in on the secret. I was a hero before I got captured by the League of Shadows, lost my memory, and got trained as an assassin. As a hero, my moniker was Copycat."
Rocket gaped at him. "You're Copycat!?"
"Yes," Cassius said. "My powers got corrupted somehow and I became living goo. To the point I can do this." He reached up, separating his head from his neck, as he'd done to show Alfred.
Most of the others took a step back in surprise, except Megan, who looked fascinated, Kaldur, who simply raised an eyebrow, and Cassandra, who hugged him as soon as she noticed his mood take a sharp drop through his body language. He reattached his head and hugged her back.
"That's freaky," Rocket said. "Useful, though."
"Sometimes," Cassius said. "Makes it hard to believe I'm still human though."
Cassandra's arms tightened and he smiled, squeezing her back before she stepped back, taking his hand instead.
"And, are you two..." Rocket trailed off.
"No," Cassius said. "I took them from the League of Shadows, where their fathers were torturing them and beating them bloody, calling it training. Ever since then I've been...sort of like their caretaker, except that they end up protecting me almost more often than I protect them."
"They protect you?" Rocket asked. "From what?"
"Everyone has a weakness," Cassius said.
Rocket shrugged and nodded.
"I'll go next," Artemis said, then sighed heavily. "I should have said this before, but I was afraid you'd all kick me off the Team. I'm...I'm Sportsmaster's daughter, and Cheshire's sister. That's why I went after Cheshire alone. Not because I was trying to make the mission fail, but I knew that the League, and Red Arrow, doubted me because of my family. And then, my mother begged Batman and Green Arrow to let me on the team, which I only found out the same day Red Arrow joined, so...I felt like a charity case, and a spot-holder for Red Arrow. I thought...I thought if I could stop my family on my own, I'd prove I'm not just a stand-in for Red Arrow, and I'd prove I wasn't a traitor, but I messed up and just made the mission fail, instead." She stopped, swallowing hard, eyes starting to tear up, though she held it back. "I'm sorry."
"You were never a stand-in," Kaldur said.
"Or a charity case," Wally said. "Heck, you saved my life even before you were on the Team. As far as I'm concerned, you've been a part of this team ever since you saved me."
"Thanks," Artemis said, smiling gratefully and wiping her eyes.
"Hey, guys?" Robin said. "Connor just left on Superbike."
"We should follow him," Cassius said. "I don't think he's the mole, in fact, I don't even think there is one, yet, but we do need to follow Connor."
"Why?" Kaldur asked.
"Because Connor struggles with his anger, and for a Kryptonian, anger is addictive because it increases their power," Cassius said.
"Apparently enough to let Connor use his full power," Robin said.
"Yeah, I'm not fighting him when he's angry for a long time," Cassius said.
"Let's go," Kaldur said. "We can continue this discussion on the Bio-Ship."
They all nodded and headed to the hangar, taking the Bio-Ship and leaving, Robin tracking the Superbike. However, after a few minutes, Artemis had Megan stop as her phone began to ring.
"It's my father," Artemis said, answering. "What?" She looked around before her eyes widened and she looked to Megan and pointed to her head. "My father wants me to join him and my sister."
"Agree," Kaldur said. "We can use it to capture everyone at once. Perhaps even the members of the organization Cassius told us and the Justice League about known as The Light."
Artemis nodded, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, sure you do, Dad." She sighed heavily. "But you're right. They still don't trust me. Fine. I'll do it. Where do you want to meet?"
She hung up and nodded just as Megan's phone began to ring as well. She frowned and answered, only for her eyes to widen. She covered her mouth in surprise.
"Who is it?" Kaldur asked.
"Queen Bee," Megan said. "She's been blackmailing me and wants me to go to Santa Prisca as well."
"I'll do it," Megan said, voice dripping with shame, then hung up after a moment.
"Blackmailing you how?" Kaldur asked.
"She knows my true Martian form," Megan said.
"Bald M'gann?" Robin asked. "Why would-"
"Bald M'gann isn't her true form," Cassius said. "I accidentally saw it when she restored my memories in Bialya. Sorry. I used my training against telepaths to spy on your own memories while you were restoring mine."
"It's okay," Megan said. "I felt you do it, but I also knew you wouldn't say anything. You were too busy suffering from being what you are to make me suffer from being what I am."
"So, what is your true form?" Robin asked.
Megan took a shuddering breath before transforming into her true form, that of a Martian with exposed muscles, tight, tough skin, two long, clawed fingers per hand and similar feet, webbing under her arms, and pointed teeth. The part that caused Megan shame, however, was the fact that her skin was white. White Martians had been discriminated against on Mars for thousands of years, which included Megan. Everyone who hadn't known stared at her in surprise.
"Growing up on Mars as a White Martian, I faced constant discrimination," Megan said. "I couldn't bear the thought of going through that with you all."
"Did we truly seem so shallow?" Kaldur asked.
"I couldn't bear to risk it," Megan said.
"You'll need to show Connor, too," Cassius said. "You need to be completely honest with him if you want to be able to stay with him."
Megan nodded, and a few minutes later, she set the Bio-Ship down, Artemis walking to the back, where their bikes were all being kept. She took hers and looked to the others.
"Please hurry," Artemis said.
"We'll be there," Cassius said. "Save a few for us, yeah?"
Artemis nodded, smirking, and left. As the Bio-Ship lifted into the air, Cassius glanced at Megan, who smiled knowingly and nodded.
"Sure," Megan smiled. "We have time."
She flew to the town where Cassius's family was buried before setting down, Cassius taking his old appearance and walking to the grave with the others, buying flowers on the way. It had been a while since he visited, as much as he hated to admit it. He introduced Rocket and explained who they were, as well as how they died, and prayed for a moment before they all headed back to the ship.
"Are you Christian?" Rocket asked. "Who were you praying to?"
"Sort of," Cassius said. "I haven't actually gone since I woke up as what I am now, but I remembered I used to pray, so I tried it. Once I got some of my memories back, I remembered who I prayed to specifically, but I still haven't been to a church, and I don't remember very much about the actual religion."
Rocket nodded and they all fell silent as they flew.
"When we reach Santa Prisca, we will deploy into the water around the edge in Stealth Mode, then make our way to you while you, Artemis, and likely Superboy distract and stall the Light," Kaldur said. "Void, I am expecting a powerhouse. Likely not Mammoth, after Superboy's fight against him, however. Maybe Blockbuster."
"I'll handle whoever it is," Cassius nodded. "Orphan, Ravager, you two be careful during this. If the Light is actually here, there might be Shadows as well. At a minimum, Sportsmaster will be here."
"We'll deal with Sportsmaster," Rose said. "Between Orphan's ability, and our teamwork, we'll be able to handle him."
"Right," Cassius nodded.
After a few more hours of flying, Santa Prisca finally came into view.
"Can everyone hear me?" Connor's voice asked suddenly.
"We hear you," Kaldur said.
"Good," Connor said. "I don't have much time. Megan, I have a sort of kill switch in my head that lets Lex Luthor shut my down by saying Red Sun. Can you disable it?"
"I'll try," Megan said, closing her eyes to focus, Cassius raising his hands and allowing the Bio-Ship to grow him controls so he could take over flying for her.
"While she does that, I'll try and explain briefly," Connor said. "I've been angry recently because of devices Lex Luthor made called Shields, which suppress the human DNA that was mixed with my Kryptonian DNA when I was cloned. In doing so, it gives me all of the Kryptonian powers I don't have normally. The Human donor was Lex Luthor, which is why I was hesitant to say anything. The problem with the Shields is that suppressing my human DNA makes me angry, and they're addictive. I'm going to try and get more Shields from Luthor, then I'll take everyone here down."
"The kill switch is deactivated," Megan reported.
"Good," Kaldur said. "Superboy, Artemis and Megan are being brought in as well. We're deploying into the water, then will join you to take everyone down. Who's the biggest threat there?"
"Currently, the main powerhouse is Blockbuster," Connor said.
"Right," Cassius nodded. "I'll handle him."
"Understood," Connor said. "Artemis is here. I'm going silent."
Megan took over flying again and stopped them over the water finally, everyone's chairs melting away and a cable growing from the ceiling for them. They all deployed silently, everyone who had a Stealth Mode activating it, then once they were in the water and the ship had retracted its cables and sealed the holes in the bottom, it resumed its flight to the meeting. Cassius took off at a sprint as soon as they were on shore, speeding through the trees and reaching the clearing where the meeting was just in time to see Blockbuster break free of the green polyurethane foam he was trapped in and launch himself at Connor. Then, Cassius's fist exploded into the side of his jaw, sending him bouncing away as Cassius's body compressed into the same goo form he'd used to fight the guy at Ice Fortress five, his current most powerful form, as compressing his goo made him faster and stronger, though he wasn't actually sure how. Then, he dove forward as Bane's and his cartel opened fire at him. Then, the rest of the team arrived, tearing into the cartel as Cassandra and Rose made a bee-line for Cheshire and Sportsmaster, both of whom were heading for Artemis.
Cassius ducked under Blockbuster's fist and slammed his own into Blockbuster's jaw again, rocking him backward a step before leaping into an aerial windmill kick, throwing him away. Then, as he landed, Bane's fist crashed into his face, then the other. Several more Venom-enhanced punches slammed into his head before Cassius ducked under one, standing and drilling his own fist into Bane's gut, lifting Bane into the air and stepping around him as he vomited before spinning and windmill kicking him into Blockbuster's face, bouncing him off the massive mutant. Blockbuster roared and charged, only for Cassius's arm to flash across the distance and crash into Blockbuster's face, hurling him backward to Connor, who slammed a punch into his side, hurling him across the clearing. He flipped, driving his hands and feet into the ground and roared in rage, just in time for Kaldur to slam a water mallet into his face, knocking him backward. Cassius glanced around, seeing Cassandra and Rose were no longer fighting Sportsmaster, instead helping with the small army of Cartel thugs, Wally having taken over helping Artemis instead. He looked the other way just as a small army of Robins charged Bane, who dispersed most of the illusions just before the real Robin ripped the hose from the back of his head, then sent a taser cable into the back of his head instead and electrocuted him.
"He's coming," Connor warned, stepping up beside Cassius as Blockbuster charged.
"Don't worry," Cassius smirked. "He won't reach us."
A moment later, half a dozen bolos wrapped around Blockbuster's legs and torso, binding him in place before electricity screamed over his body, making him roar in pain as he collapsed, skidding to a stop in front of them.
"Thanks Ravager," Cassius smiled, waving to Rose, who waved back before returning to beating down Bane's cartel with Cassandra.
Cassius turned back to Blockbuster as he began to struggle to break free, only for Cassius and Connor to both drill a fist into his face, knocking him out. He turned to the cartel, but the girls were just finishing tying up the last of them. And when he turned to Cheshire and Sportsmaster, Cheshire was gone, and Wally was speeding around and around Sportsmaster. Then, he shot out of the way just before Artemis slammed a kick into Sportsmaster's face, sending his mask flying and dropping him before dropping a polyurethane arrow on him and walking away as the foam restrained him, leaving only he head uncovered. Wally walked over with the mask and Artemis smiled knowingly.
"Souvenir," Artemis said, both of them smirking.
"That went well," Cassius said, looking around, then sighing. "But Luthor and Queen Bee escaped."
"Sorry," Rocket said. "I tried to catch their chopper, but they had rockets."
"It is fine," Kaldur said. "We have identified them as being a part of the Light, so the League can watch them now. It also proves that Cassius was likely correct about the other members' identities."
"And now we know that there wasn't actually a mole," Cassius said. "They were just trying to create three."
"And they failed," Robin said.
The others all nodded and Megan walked over to Connor, giving him a worried, ashamed look, only for him to pull her into a hug.
"I already knew," Connor said. "I've known since our minds melded in Bialya."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Megan asked.
"I figured you'd tell me when you were ready," Connor said.
"It is always like this!" Rocket grinned, looking around as Cassius and a clone, both back in their normal forms, carried over Blockbuster and Bane, Megan quickly gathering the rest of the cartel thugs and Sportsmaster with her telekinesis.
"Told you," Zatanna said.
"Disaster averted," Robin smirked. "Feeling the aster."
"Agreed," Kaldur said. "This has been a good day."
"Let's go drop these all off at prison and get back to the Cave," Cassius said. "I'm sure the League's probably wondering where we disappeared to this time."
The others all nodded and they all boarded the Bio-Ship, taking off instantly as Rocket excitedly asked the others for stories about the missions they'd done, both before and after the Team.
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