Chapter Text
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If you had asked Captain Marvel that morning what he thought he'd be doing today, the last thing he would have told you was fending off blasts of magical energy from robotic machines hell-bent on chasing him down. Seriously, it felt like these things were targeting him! One minute he'd be taking them out with Flash by his side, and the next he's rocketing upward to avoid bright green 'Cap seeking' blasts.
It seemed like the rest of the League members that were there were beginning to take notice as well, with some of the others sending confused and worried glances his way. Captain Marvel dove out of the way of another green burst of energy before electrocuting one of the robots-- which usually would take something like this down, but these things seemed near impervious to his lightning. It was beginning to look more and more like Cap was gonna have to play decoy, since Superman, Batman, and Flash were having no trouble taking these things out their way.
The most he could do was really stun these things for a few moments before they started chasing him again, sometimes even faster than before!
That might have been because whenever Cap got even remotely close to one of these things they locked onto him, so he currently had a whole horde of the metallic things chasing after him. Captain Marvel glanced back, thrusting his hand out and putting up a magical barrier. The robots crashed right through it with ease, making the demigod roll his eyes.
He glanced down at the sound of crunching metal, finding Wonder Woman slashing through the bots with ease. Zatanna stood at the Amazonian's back, consistently firing off spells and magical blasts at the annoyances.
"Am I seriously the only one having trouble here?!" he yelled, rolling out of the way of another magical blast. "Cause it feels like I am, and I'm pretty sure that's cheating!" he called out, eyes widening when a robot got the drop on him and appeared in front. The Captain yelped and rocketed upward, a wall of robots on his tail.
"A little help here?!" he yelled against the wind beating on his face, glancing down to find Green Lantern, Superman, and Wonder Woman giving chase to the robots and slowly cutting them down.
Marvel turned, divebombing down and swerving between blasts. It seriously felt like these things were made specifically with him in mind, and it was getting on his nerves. He hated feeling like he couldn't do anything to help out. The man gritted his teeth and narrowly dodged a particularly large blast, the magical heat enough to make him wince.
"Why are they coming after me?!" he said, putting a hand to the comm in his ear. Maybe someone had some sort of an idea as to what was happening here.
"Maybe it's because you're the only one giving off a strong magical signature. If these things are combining magic with science, there's no telling what they're powered by. Maybe they're just chasing down the biggest battery in the area?" Flash responded, tackling a robot and rapidly punching its shell in.
Marvel rolled out of the way of another blast. "Then why are they shooting at me?! And why haven't they gone after Zatanna!?" he asked, glancing back and sending a wave of lightning through the horde. It made the robots pause for only a moment before they were right on his tail again, which was seriously getting annoying by this point.
"Who knows, man- but I'm hooked up to one of the destroyed ones right now, gonna check to see if they're being remotely powered- if they are, I can solve our little problem real quick," Cyborg said through the comm. Marvel sighed, glancing back again to check on the wall of metal still chasing him.
"Marvel look out!"
The voice rang in the demigod's ears but reached him too late. Cap glanced forward last second, only to fly straight into a massive ball of green energy. He cried out in pain as he was enveloped, the light brightening and expanding. He struggled to move, struggled to breathe-- frozen in the air before his eyes snapped open and the energy suddenly dissipated. Marvel gasped for air before falling out of the sky like a rock.
He hurdled downward towards the streets below, his vision hazy and body weak. It was a wonder he hadn't transformed back, but he was thankful for the small miracle since there was no way he could explain his 12-year-old body to the League when the entire world felt like it was tipped off its axis.
The demigod was quickly approaching the ground and was about to hit, his white cape fluttering against the wind that roared in his ears when he was suddenly enveloped in a pair of arms. Cap barely registered the change, his head spinning as he glanced up at the blurry figure that saved him from crashing into the asphalt below.
His cape had somehow gotten wrapped around him, keeping the Big Red Cheese's arms pinned at his side, but he barely noticed. He barely noticed anything- there was a faint cacophony of voices trying to get his attention, but they were too head to focus on, too far away--
He ended up blacking out.
- - -
Superman glanced down at the red-clad hero in his arms as he passed out, something the Kryptonian had yet to see, and if he was honest with himself, didn't think he would see. He touched down on the asphalt and glanced up at Diana and Hal who were busy taking out the rest of the robots overhead while Flash and Zatanna attempted to clean things up a bit.
Batman and Cyborg came running over, the latter looking monumentally worried over the man in his arms. "We gotta get him back to the Watchtower," he said after a moment, making eye contact with both Batman and Superman.
Clark nodded in agreement, casting one more look down at the paling demigod in his arms. It was unnerving to see the Captain so weak, so still-- he swallowed thickly and set off in the direction of the closest Zeta tube, Cyborg right on his heels.
Superman, Batman, and Cyborg reached the Watchtower after a few moments, rushing the demigod to the infirmary. Cap was laid down on a cot, his white cape being untangled from his form. Superman took a step back, standing beside Batman as Cyborg looked over the raven and scanned him.
Cyborg's brow furrowed as he scanned Marvel, shaking his head slightly. "Well- his vitals are normal, but his brain waves are doing something really funky. The hell...?" he said, softly, reaching out and placing a hand against the demigod's forehead. He suddenly freezes as the feeling of a thousand volts courses through him, making his joints lock up and his machinery flicker. His eye- the one that is more cyborg than Victor, flickers with light before projecting something onto the wall.
"Hello?!" Cap's voice echoed, an image of the hero in a pitch-black space appearing like a hologram on the wall. "Where am I?!" he called out defensively, looking around the dark space. "Is- Is anybody there-" he said, slight fear slipping into his voice. It felt wrong, hearing that from the ever-cheerful Captain, and made Bruce's skin crawl. It was a tone that didn't belong.
"Captain Marvel, can you hear us?" He said, taking a step closer to Victor. The Captain made no move to show that he did, continuing to look around with a foreign sense of dread and mistrust in his eyes. "Marvel, come in!" Bruce said, placing a hand on his comm in an attempt to contact him that way.
Still, the man didn't seem to hear him, lost in this void that Bruce could only assume was inside his head.
"Who- What the Hell are you?" Cap said suddenly, stepping back as he stared up at a ghostly green flickering image. It was difficult to make out just who it was supposed to be, and Batman gritted his teeth at the sight of it alone."What's going on-" Captain Marvel said, taking another step back. It was something completely out of character for the man- Bruce had never seen him run from a fight, and yet this thing scared the demigod enough into backing up.
"W-what do you mean? NO! No, they can't be--" Marvel choked out after a moment. The red aura, whatever it was, must be speaking to him. "No- no no no this can't be happening No--"
Victor yanked his hand back as if Cap was on fire, gasping suddenly and staring in shock at the man. The image flickered and died, taking Captain Marvel with it. Superman went to move, only for Victor to hold out a hand against it. "Something's wrong- something is very, very wrong," he said, running a hand over his face. Cyborg stared up at the men, still breathing heavily. "Did you see that?" he asked, glancing back at Marvel before meeting their eyes once more.
The pair nodded slowly.
"Call everyone up here, now. We have to find a way to get Cap out of wherever the hell he is trapped." Victor said, standing up suddenly. He stumbled, his head spinning as he reached out to stabilize himself on the wall.
"Cyborg you need to lie down-" Superman started to say, reaching out for the younger man again.
Victor just glared at him before glancing back at Cap. "I'm fine. Cap's the one that's gonna be eaten alive by his own nightmares if we don't figure out a damn way to get him out!" he said angrily, the red light that served as one of his eyes glowing brightly.
"I will not lose my friend, guys. Not like this ."
- - -
The trio had the rest of the League up in the Watchtower in minutes.
Everyone was gathered in the meeting room, Victor keeping an eye on Captain Marvel through security cameras while they attempted to figure out a way to pull him from his own head.
"What's going on?" Flash said as everyone settled down, glancing between Batman, Superman, and Victor. "Seriously, you guys sounded panicked- you never sound panicked." There was a round of agreements from the table, to which Batman sighed.
"Where's Captain Marvel?" Hal asked, glancing around the room. "He went down pretty hard- is he alright?"
Victor set his jaw in response. "That's why we called this. Cyborg managed to figure out that Captain Marvel is-" Batman glanced at Victor. "-stuck in some kind of nightmare. He's trapped in his own head."
Zatanna furrowed her brow, her gaze turning calculating. "That doesn't make sense- why would he be stuck in his own head?" she asked, staring at Cyborg.
"Regardless of why we have to figure out a way to wake him up, otherwise the man's gonna be trapped in an endless cycle of nightmares," Victor said. He was finding it hard to keep a cool head when the guy he'd come to think of as family, the guy who was actually just a 12-year-old kid, could be stuck in an endless loop of horrors. He felt helpless, and the longer they waited, the more suffering Billy would have to go through--
"I might be able to help..."
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once. There was a sudden chill in the room, and the hairs on the heroes' arms stood on end. Victor could see his breath as he glanced around for the source, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. The room full of heroes immediately went on the defensive, tensing up and ready for a fight.
A small figure appeared over the top of one of the large monitors, sitting in a full lotus dressed in a sharp black suit as he stroked the large fluffy cat in his lap. The boy smirked, his sharp teeth glinting in the light as his dark red eyes looked over the adults of the room.
"Klarion..." Zatanna said with a glare, pulling out her wand. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send you flying," she said.
"Maybe because I have information that could help your big red cheese, Zatanna." Klarion spat back, giving her just as hard a glare as he continued to pet Teekl. The witch boy rolled his eyes at Zatanna's suspicious look, the sorceress never lowering her wand.
"What do you know about what's wrong with Cap?" Victor asked, his eyes narrowed at the demonic figure. Klarion wasn't someone to be trifled with-- as a lord of Chaos he tended to do as he pleased, and hardly anyone could keep up with his convoluted plans. If Klarion was offering his help, there must be something he got out of it.
"So you're the living motherboard, huh? I expected more," Klarion said offhandedly, giving Cyborg a dismissive look.
"Why would you want to help Captain Marvel?" Superman asked, his own eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Klarion glanced at the Kryptonian before going back to petting his familiar. "I owe your little lightning boy a favor. Leave it at that. Plus if Sivanna got his way I'd be out a sparring partner." he said, glaring at the Man of Steel.
"How could you possibly owe Marvel a favor?" Green Lantern asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Better yet, why has nobody shot this little bastard yet?!"
Klarion glared the man down, sneering at him before turning his attention back towards Victor. "Sivanna thinks he's so cool, tapping into something that he has no idea how to control," he said with a roll of his dark red eyes. "He's not. He's a pompous fool who thinks he can get the upper hand on me."
"Just tell us how you're gonna fix Cap," Victor said tersely.
"Oh, I can't fix Captain Goody Two Shoes." the black-haired boy said, smirking at the tension he saw flicker across the group of heroes. "No no no no no. I said I had a way of helping you people fix him."
"And that is?" Batman said gruffly.
"You're just gonna have to go in after him," he said with a smirk, snapping and making everyone in the room disappear.
"Ooh, the big seat," Klarion said, taking a seat at the end of the table and clicking on the large monitor attached to the wall. "I'm curious to see how this plays out, aren't you Teekl~?" he asked the familiar in his lap, getting a low meow in return.
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