THIS IS PERSONAL | yj next gen

Ⅲ

17:14
12 JULY, 2041
MOUNT JUSTICE RUINS aka 'CRATER OF JUSTICE'

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"...You have got to be kidding." To everyone's general surprise, the outburst had come from Lena, who rarely lost her temper. The calm part of her character was almost definitely her father's, however sometimes her bold mother would suddenly make an appearance in her demeanour.

"Sorry, little missy, what?" Constantine asked, genuinely befuddled over the blatant opposition. He would have thought saving their time-stream was motivation enough for them to get moving.

"Don't call me little missy," she snapped back like a cobra spitting venom, levitating off the ground in her adamancy. Alex quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and brought her back to earth before she could scoff at their situation and leave without them. He leaned slightly forwards in fake confidentiality.

"What she means, John- wait, can I call you John?" He narrowed his eyes with a smirk, returning patronisation for patronisation. "I'm going to call you John."

"Falcon," Nightwing warned, but made no move to stop him for his cheek. He couldn't hide the twitch of his lips or the amusement. Alex raised a 'stop complaining' eyebrow, then focused the naturally intimidating emerald eyes he was graced with at birth on Constantine.

"What Wonder Girl means, John, is that going back in time could affect the future in a number of different, possibly catastrophic, ways. And that it's a stupid idea."

"I second that," Apollo interjected, raising a hand sarcastically with an 'are you crazy?' expression. The others followed suit, all whispering and glancing at each other in amazement that the adults could be so goddamn idiotic. Young Irey was especially perturbed by the idea, as it had been drilled into her mind by her father since she got her potent speedster powers that time travel was highly dangerous.

"And anyway, how did it even get to the past?" J'onn inquired. "I thought time travel was impossible if you weren't a speedster." He narrowed his eyes at Irey doubtfully, as if imagining her carrying them on her back and dragging them all back a few decades.

"Not with some forms of magic," answered Zatanna as the only true magician present. "Doctor Fate will be here soon, because I can't send you all back on my own. It'll take the three of us," she continued, in reference to Zac as well. After that whole group, in their wonder at the insanity of the mission, began asking questions at the same time, speaking increasingly louder to be heard over each other.

"What if we don't want to go to the freaking past? Can't Constantine clean up his own mess?"

"Why can't you do it? You're all better than us anyway."

"What happens here if we screw up?"

"What will it be like? Thirty years is a long time ago."

"What are-"

"X'hal, ENOUGH!" The whole team went silent as one, turning to Mar'i, who was three feet up in the air. Her expression was one of exasperation as she hovered, waiting a few seconds before slowly lowering to the sand. "We just need to treat this like a regular covert mission, okay?" she said responsibly, her leadership obvious as everyone was listening and nodding.

"Then again, we have a long history of covert never staying covert," someone mumbled. Choosing to ignore this, Mar'i faced Nightwing.

"Is there anything that can help us while we're there? A location would be nice."

"We'll get round to that. While we wait for Doctor Fate, now would be a good time to get some advice from your families." The team gratefully split off to the array of superheroes, who all looked a little solemn. Even Kaldur, who had been forced out of his role of Aqualad due to trust issues many years prior, was there to support his daughter. Everyone understood the severity of this mission, because the consequences could literally be life changing.

"Just be careful," the Flash said to Apollo, real concern and anxiety written all over his face. "As a speedster, I know firsthand how dangerous changing the past can be. Don't reveal your identity to anyone, not even us, though you shouldn't meet anyone you know."

"And look after your sister, Ollie," Green Arrow added, glancing at her daughter who had her arms wrapped around her dad. He was in the process of slipping the pair extra snacks just in case when they were called to convene again.

"Bye!" Irey waved and sped to join the forming group. Apollo followed her after a side-hug from his mom and small parting smile, ending up among the taller people at the back. On his left, Zac still looked stormy and brooding, something really odd to see on his usually joking face, and on his right, Peter was shifting from foot to foot nervously. He was the newest team member and this was maybe his third or fourth mission, so Apollo understood where his worry was coming from. At the front Doctor Fate stood before them in his usual blue and yellow attire, having arrived only moments earlier with Zatanna next to him, a sad expression in her eyes as she looked at the magician. Out of the blue, Apollo remembered that Doctor Fate possessed the body of Zatanna's father, also Zac's grandfather.

"It is important that you bring back the full artefact," he warned very clearly before moving onto anything else. "If you bring back only part of it, it can still send ripples throughout time and space and cause catastrophe." Mar'i acknowledged him as team leader, indicating he continue, which he did. "For this time reversal spell to work, there must be three powerful magicians, two of whom must stay behind to pull you back and one to go with you to act as a connection to this timeline. That is why Zatanna and I will stay here to pull you back after forty-eight hours exactly and Zatara goes with you." Everyone in the group nodded in understanding, now suddenly serious with the weight of this possibly reality threatening mission, even Irey who was rarely somber.

Zatanna stepped forwards a little and started to issue instructions for the spell. "You all need to join hands in a circle and repeat our words in rhythm. It will focus the energy between you and reflect to create a sort of infinite mirror effect, which is what we need for this type of magic. You've got to do the same thing on the return trip, or we won't be able to bring you back. Now, hands," she commanded. The team obeyed, all their questions already having been answered concerning their mode of transport. J'onn was rather relieved they wouldn't have to hold onto Irey while she super-sped them into the past. His stomach probably couldn't have taken it. It took a few seconds until they'd formed a wonky circle, then almost immediately Zatanna and Doctor Fate began chanting, "Ekat meht kcab ytriht sraey!"

Their eyes started glowing white and a chilling breeze materialised around the team's ankles. Zac was the first to pick up the words to the spell naturally, his eyes also glowing as he forced all his power into the mix, followed by Lena and Alex, Peter, Hallie and so on until a raging wind of colours encircled them on all sides. The girls' hair was whipping around their faces violently, and the sounds and colours impossibly got louder and louder and louder until—