WebNovels

Chapter 16 - We Are Legion (DC/YJ X Worm) (Complete)

Title: We Are Legion (Worm/Young Justice SI)[COMPLETE]

Author: RagnarokAscendant

Universe: DC/Young Justice X Worm

Word Count: 160k

Status: Complete + with Sequel (Legatus)

Synopsis:

An SI tale, a fellow finds himself with a very interesting power set indeed... 

Rec Reading Site: SpaceBattles

First Chapter:

12:38 AM EDT, Monday, July 5th 2010

Cadmus

What had happened?

Last I remember...what the hell? Concrete? Some...monster? OHSHITFALLINGPAINAGH

I can't…

Who...am I?

Where am I?

I can't see, just...nothingness, all around. Black. I need to-

And suddenly I can. Thousands of angles, thousands of eyes, greater than the whole. Bugs, squirming and moving. I should be shocked, but...they're just bugs, right? RIght?

Shit. Where am I?

A flash of darkness, crumpled...concrete? grey-hard-dust-cold

Blood. Sticky-wet-warm-feed. Cooling flesh, an arm with a bracelet threaded with blue beads poking from a pile of rubble. My bracelet. My arm.

Am I dead?

No, I can still feel. I can...all these eyes. I'm...seeing through the bugs? The hell? So...is my body dead? Maybe? What do I...do, then?

Wait, do I have superpowers? Or am I just hallucinating? No. I can feel through...everything. Each of the bugs. I've never done that before, I have no way of faking that experience, right?

But still, my body-

Reform. Repurpose.

The body disintegrates, and I feel...something new. More bugs, scuttling to join my swarm, join me.

Rebuild.

Part of my swarm draws together, and- ohgodfuckwhat-

I blink, staring down at myself, at the bugs swarming around me. I can still feel them, but now...I'm me, my body…

Okay, how the hell did bugs turn into my clothes? I'm dressed normally, jeans and a t-shirt, but if…

Rebuilt

...if my body turned into bugs, and then back into my body...nope, fuck it, apparently I have superpowers now. Logic has driven itself off the cliff in an elaborate murder-suicide with the laws of physics and utilitarianism.

Okay. Think. I'm a freaky bug-human who can still feel thousands upon thousands of bugs within a huge radius. Now where the hell am I?

A green glow answers my question, and I look up.

Oh fuck me, it's the Justice League. Why-

Rubble shifts to my right, dislodging part of me, and a group of teenagers clamber out of the rubble, battered and tattered. Heh. That rhymes.

I might still be in shock.

Okay, that's definitely Robin, and I'm guessing the guy currently presenting the S-shield on his fucked-up pajamas is Superboy. Kid Flash and some black guy with bleach-blond hair and- I send a few gnats to check, and yep, those are gills, are farther back. Only their mentors (Aquaman is gill-dude's? That make him Aqualad?) are looking at them.

The rest are looking at me, and-

Away, evade.

I feel my me-body dissolve back into the rest of the swarm. It doesn't hurt, only tingles a little bit.

They're still looking, now shocked, a few of them.

The rest of me starts to buzz, and I force myself to be calm.

I feel something press into my mind, something alien and strange, and I push back. Nope. Whoever you are, mystery telepath, you can fuck right off. The presence doesn't go away, though, even as Batman- holy shit that's Batman, why am I not freaking out more about this- gives all of me a look. He doesn't look happy. Duh, it's Batman.

++Can you understand us?++

Wah. Batman in my head. Not good. Do not let the angry detective who beats criminals to a pulp with his bare hands into my brain.

++If you can, release control of your insects. You are endangering lives.++

Wait, what?

I look over the rest of me. Thousands of bugs. It's night, I think, but...people huddling in alleyways and sidewalks, terrified, I can see/sense/feel them. Cars trapped under a sea of chitin.

OhGodohGodohGodohGod-

Release.

There. Gone, go away, me.

I feel parts of me, the edges, the worst concentrations, skitter away, conceal themselves back in their nooks and crannies. Good. Not mine anymore, not me, but good. Not hurting anyone, yes.

The alien presence is back. Voice in my head is even flatter than Batman's. ++What is your name?++

My name? It's-

It's-

It's-

Why can't I remember my name? I-

I can feel the swarm, circling, agitated, and I force it to quiet as the Leaguers tense.

++It is alright. Remain calm. Could you reform your body?++

Can I do that? I can do that. Yes.

Rebuild.

Same body, same clothes, same five senses, better sight but so limited...no. It's just me. The swarm sees everything else.

Oh, there's the alien. Martian Manhunter, obviously. Was kinda hard to distinguish him when I was the swarm. Lots of green.

And there's Batman again, and now the teenagers are giving me odd looks.

I let out a breath, pushing down the urge to run.

I just need to talk, right? Couldn't be all that hard.

12:59 AM EDT, Monday, July 5th 2010

So! Minutes after the League- and why the entire flipping Justice League decided to stop by, I still don't know- cordoned off the area, I found myself sitting on the back of an ambulance. Well, my human-body anyway, the rest of me was still being bored, scuttling about semi-randomly. Some of the bugs were eating each other. Meh.

Oh, someone draped a shock blanket around me. Wonderful.

I realize I'm not wearing my glasses, but my vision's fine. My one fucked-up eye has apparently been unfucked. So, yay? Benefits. Pectus excavatum is gone too. Huh. Guess that's a good thing, if I've got powers. This seems to be the DC comics verse, so...yeah, either heroism or supervillainy, and considering the League is a thing my life expectancy as the latter would be pretty short. Would probably be a disadvantage if I died from getting punched in the chest like an extra in a bad Wuxia movie.

And there's Batman, looking me over. Can't really tell what he's thinking, probably the point of the mask. A few flies try to hitch a ride on his cowl and are immediately fried by electricity. I stop any others from trying.

Distance.

The Caped Crusader nods to himself before approaching me, and I resist the urge to flinch. This one obviously has more in common with Bale than Adam West, and it's pretty intimidating up close and in the dark.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asks flatly.

I rack my brains. Nothing important. Finals coming up, some studying, going to sleep...wait. "Have no idea. Went to bed, then…" I motion to the collapsed building. Still no idea what that was. "Woke up, there was...some kind of monster, and the ceiling was coming down. On me, apparently."

I'm a lot calmer than I should be, the human part of me at least, but the swarm is starting to coalesce. A will of effort, and it goes back to avoiding the workers and remaining League members.

"I can't remember anything else. Just some of my past, going to sleep, and then…boom, here you go, you almost die and get the ability to be a bug-man."

I'm babbling. I take a deep breath, check my pockets. Wallet and keys are still there. No phone, no USB, still have my pen, though. I pull out the wallet, flip through it. No ID, nothing that had my name on it, only about thirty bucks cash. I fiddle with the little flap that used to hold my driver's license as I stare at it. "And apparently I have no ID," I say morosely. "You got any ideas, bat-guy? Because I'm pretty sure I can't hold down a job with no documents or proof of anything, and I really don't want to spend my life getting beat up by whatever superhero team you lot represent."

I can practically hear the raised eyebrow.

"Look, I have no idea who you people are, or who I am, really. I used to...I think I used to read a lot of superhero comics, wherever I came from, and one thing there is that you can do just about anything with memories. Heck, I could be a clone, or an experiment, or just mentally programmed to go on a rampage whenever someone says the word spinach. I don't know. I can't even remember my own name. So...fuck, I don't know."

"The League will make arrangements. In the meantime...STAR Labs has an open offer."

"And spend my time there being cut open? No thanks."

He actually looks offended. Shit did I just piss off Batman?

"They typically offer paid work for superpowered individuals. Trying to figure out the ways powers function. Most superhumans…"

"Are either insane, criminals, insane criminals, or busy punching the other three categories in the face." Bugs-me starts buzzing again. It's loud.

Batman just nods. "Exactly. And it's non-invasive. Using your powers under controlled conditions."

I sigh.

"Not like I've got any choice."

More Chapters