The Strength Of Hercules
It had started out as a good morning. The sun wasn't shining, the birds weren't singing and almost every member of Young Justice was sound asleep except for Robin of course who was wide awake (despite the fact that they had fallen asleep a mere two hours earlier) and reading the financial page. All of that blissful ignorance disappeared, however, when all of the alarms in the cave started going off. Robin jumped then threw down the newspaper and ran for the main room. M'gann accidentally let out a loud mental shriek that almost knocked everybody unconscious again, Wally woke up cursing his parents for setting the alarm clock on a Saturday, Artemis shot three arrows into the door in her sleep and Aqualad felt the vibrations deep in his water chamber while poor Conner got the worst end of the deal due to his super hearing and collapsed on the floor in abject agony before joining the others in their mad rush to the main room.
They all skidded to a halt, however, when they entered to find only Captain Marvel standing in the middle of their 'training area', arms crossed as he glared at them. "All right!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, causing Superboy to wince again. "Who's ready for combat practice?"
Vaguely Robin remembered Batman saying something about Captain Marvel volunteering to train them. At the time he had thought it was a joke, especially when Cap had said that he would be there at five am sharp. Apparently it wasn't.
Wally yawned. "If that's all you're here for then I'm going back to sleep," he turned around and headed back to his room. But before he could reach the door Captain Marvel was suddenly in his way. Wally blinked; he hadn't even seen Cap move! For a big guy he sure was fast.
"You're not going anywhere," Captain Marvel said and, grabbing Wally by the back of his flash t-shirt, dragged him kicking and screaming to the middle of the room before dropping to the floor in a heap. "I volunteered to teach to guys how to fight and that's what I intend to do."
Robin snorted and raised an eyebrow. "And just what do you think you can teach us that Batman hasn't already?" his voice was slightly condescending and very grating on Conner's nerves at this early hour.
"How about…this?" Captain Marvel suddenly moved forward and slugged Robin in the shoulder. The Boy Wonder flew backwards and hit the wall. For a minute he just laid there, stunned before slowly standing up.
"Impressive," Conner noted. "But can you beat this?" he lowered his hand and ran straight at the Captain who merely moved aside, allowing Conner to hit the wall full force.
"Conner!" M'gann yelled worriedly and hurriedly flew to her boyfriend's side.
"He'll be fine," Captain Marvel said then turned to Artemis and Kaldur, the only ones who hadn't challenged him yet. "What about you guys? Think you can take me on?"
"I know I can," Artemis said with a smirk as she readied her bow and took aim.
"Can't we even get dressed first?" Kaldur asked in confusion as his sleepy brain still tried to make sense of everything.
"Nope," Artemis answered as she let loose an arrow.
The projectile hit home, namely Captain Marvel's chest before it exploded. Artemis's triumphant grin faded when she saw Captain Marvel still hovering in the air, his arms crossed and an amused look on his face. "Is that the best you got?" he asked teasingly.
Sleep or no sleep Kaldur decided that now would probably be a good time to step in and activated his water bearers, their ends curling around Captain Marvel's arms as he desperately tried to pull the older man towards him only to find himself getting dragged instead. "I would suggest a new strategy!" Kaldur yelled at Robin who was just now coming out of his self-imposed daze.
"Agreed!" Robin yelled back. "Kid Flash, you with us?"
"Do I have to be?" Wally whined as he hit the floor again in a desperate attempt to avoid more of Artemis's arrows.
"Tell you guys what," Captain Marvel said from his spot near the ceiling. "If you guys take me on right now and win then we'll cancel combat practice. But," he added before they could start cheering, "If I win we have to continue practice for another five hours. Agreed?"
"Let's punch his lights out," Conner snarled as he smashed his fists together.
"Not literally…right?" M'gann asked as her clothes turned into her uniform.
"Whatever gets us out of combat practice," Wally said before zooming to his room then coming back, now wearing his costume.
"And out of our pjs," Artemis muttered, looking disdainfully at her Batman pajamas, a gag gift from Wally which she had only worn so she didn't have to hear him cry.
"Ahem," Captain Marvel cleared his throat and they all looked up at him. "Ready to take me on?"
"Born ready," Conner retorted.
"Or in your case 'cloned ready'," Wally said before zipping out of Conner's way.
Artemis grabbed both boys by the scruff of their necks and glared at them. "Beat Captain Marvel. Go back to sleep. Redeem reputation. Or I shoot arrows. Understood?"
"Understood," Wally said weakly.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and Wally," Captain Marvel said, spreading his arms wide. "Let the combat begin!"
Ten minutes later Robin found himself rethinking their current strategy which was mainly distracting the Captain long enough for Conner to get in a good shot. Captain Marvel had foreseen every single one of their moves and counteracted them. He ducked Robin's birdarangs and Artemis's arrows, Kid Flash bounced off his chest, M'gann had tried using her telepathy but Captain Marvel's mental shields made it impossible for her penetrate them. He shook off Kaldur's water-whips and matched Conner's punches with ones of his own. After a grueling hour of this the team was forced to surrender.
"You win," Robin said as he collapsed on the floor.
Wally, who had already fallen down, merely gave him a thumbs-up. M'gann floated down to the ground and landed next to Conner who was still unconscious from Cap's last punch. Artemis held up a single white flag and Kaldur replaced his water-whips into the holsters on his back. "We surrender," the team leader said solemnly.
"That's good," Captain Marvel said. "And now it's time for combat practice!"
"You were serious?" Wally whined, finding just enough strength to lift his head and protest.
"Of course." Captain Marvel did indeed look serious.
M'gann briefly considered using her telepathy to change his mind before remembering that it didn't work on him. She scowled and gave it a try anyway. To her eternal surprise, she was allowed access but only to one memory.
"So who wants to go the school Halloween party with me?" she asked.
"Me!" Wally cried excitedly from the couch.
"Lame," Artemis snorted.
"Speak for yourself," Robin retorted.
"I have never been to a…Halloween party before," Kaldur said carefully. "What is required of me?"
"Not much," Wally waved his hand airily. "Just put on a scary costume."
"Costume? You mean like Superman's cape?" Conner asked in confusion.
"Sort of," Wally replied. "Just put on a pair of red long johns, a white cape and yellow sash and sew on a lightning bolt and you can go as Captain Marvel over here."
"Hey!" Captain Marvel yelped indignantly from his spot near the ceiling. "They're not long johns. It's spandex. At least I think it is. I never really had a chance to ask."
"You don't even know what you're wearing?" Robin raised an eyebrow.
"He can wear whatever he wants," M'gann quickly intervened, sensing a fight brewing between the two heroes.
M'gann gasped in shock. The Halloween party. She had completely forgotten all about that. She had invited all of them to the party; including Captain Marvel. A fact she had forgotten all about by the time the night in question came. So he was still a little mad about that. Completely understandable. Deciding to talk to him telepathically and not risk embarrassing him she floated over to him and said, "Captain?"
Startled Captain Marvel looked at her and frowned. "Stay out of my head," he warned.
"I'm sorry about the party," she apologized. "I just didn't think you would really want to go with us because you're an adult and all."
"It's okay," he smiled at her. "I suppose I am a little old to be getting upset about stuff like that. It's just; you guys are so fun to hang out with that I guess I just started thinking of myself as a member of the team," his cheeks were completely red now as he stared at the ground.
M'gann smiled at him. "And we think of you as a member too. You're always welcome to hang out with us but I guess we just assumed that you had your own stuff planned. I never thought about how rude it was."
Captain Marvel shrugged and gave her a wide grin. "It's fine," he reiterated. "I don't really have much of a life beyond you guys and the Justice League so I forget that you guys actually do have lives."
"As I said; you're always welcome to hang out with us. And you can definitely come to our Christmas party."
"Will Santa be there?" he asked eagerly.
M'gann laughed and nodded. She suspected it would probably just be her Uncle J'onn or Superman in disguise but Santa would definitely make an appearance.
"You're forgiven," he said out loud, "but we still have to have training!"
A chorus of loud groans met his announcement and Wally decided that it was officially time to faint.
Six Hours Later
Superman and Batman entered the cave, talking about nothing in particular when they both skidded to a halt and stared in horror at the room and its occupants. Robin sat in a chair wearing a neck brace and his left wrist was wrapped up. Artemis's left leg was in a cast and propped up on several pillows while Kaldur tenderly held an icepack to the back of his swollen head and dipped his right ankle in a bucket of hot water. Conner and M'gann took up one couch, the clone's shirt lying in tattered pieces on the floor and his chest wrapped in thick bandages while several objects floated in the air around the Martian who was missing the middle part of her costume and gingerly rested her head on Conner's shoulder, her own held tightly to her chest with bandages. But it was Wally who took the cake, his trademark red hair the only visible part of his body underneath the full body cast he wore even as he lounged on the other couch next to Artemis.
"What happened to you guys?" Batman finally asked, rushing forward to check out Robin's injuries.
"Who attacked you?" Superman added.
Conner tried to sit up but fell back with a groan, settling for glaring at his genetic donor. "Batman's brilliant idea to have the League train us backfired."
"And so did M'gann's Halloween party," Wally added, his words muffled underneath the thick gauze.
"Huh?" Batman looked confused.
"I think what Mr. Brainiac here is trying to say is that we learned we definitely aren't ready to take on Captain Marvel anytime soon," Artemis sounded slightly exasperated.
"But the Joker definitely sounds like a piece of cake," Robin hastily put in.
"I do believe the Joker would be easier to defeat than Captain Marvel," Kaldur said slowly. "I also have no desire to face Black Adam if he even has a fraction of Captain Marvel's powers."
"I don't think Captain Marvel has all of Black Adam's powers," M'gann said.
The entire Young Justice team shuddered then.
Superman and Batman exchanged uneasy glances then slowly backed up. "You'll be fine," Batman said. "Superman, don't we need to go and talk to Captain Marvel about that Poison Ivy sighting in Fawcett City?"
"We sure do," Superman said blithely then the two older superheroes made their escape.
"If I wasn't so tired I'd shoot an arrow in their butts," Artemis grumbled and slunk down further in her seat.
"You did invite him to the Christmas party, right?" Robin clarified.
"Yep, I sure did," M'gann said proudly. "Remind me to ask Uncle J'onn to make an appearance as Santa."
"Anything to keep the good Captain happy," Wally sighed.
A/N: Hope you guys liked! I really wanted to do a fic of Captain Marvel taking on the team and winning! If anybody wants to do a pic of this chapter (Captain Marvel vs. the entire team OR the team in casts) please free to do so! Please read and review!
A/N/N: Will be posting more fics for all his awesome powers! Follow me!