Young Justice Season 5 - The Fifth Generation

Episode/Chapter 17 - Curses

"Hey, hey Thad!" Little five-year-old Bart Allen ran up to his friend, "check out my speed! Think I got faster?" 

"No." Thad muttered as he continued walking down the gravel trail, following close behind his and Bart's parents, "leave me alone." 

"Aw, come on, Buddy! We're going to be camping together for a weekend, so we gotta get along! Isn't that crash?!" 

"Ah..." Thad's gaze shifted up towards the sky, "I know! Let's play hide and seek! I'll count to one million while you go hide. The further you hide, the better. Okay?" 

"Okay! Only if you can find me!" Bart beamed, "alright, ready, set, go!" 

Thad rolled his eyes once the speedster took off. He didn't even bother to start counting, he only continued on with the adults. 

Bart didn't show up until about thirty minutes later while their families were cooking food and setting up tents. 

"Bart, you and Thad will share a tent." 

"For real?! So crash!" Bart leaped in the air, "Thad, we're going to have the time of our life!" 

"Oh, whoopee..." Thad sighed just before developing an idea, making him smirk excitedly to himself, "I actually have a really fun idea planned for tonight." 

"Really?! I can't wait!" 

Eventually, the evening came and it was almost midnight by the time Thad and Bart got into their tent. 

"So whattaya wanna do?!" Bart grinned, "I was thinking we could maybe play cards or build a fort, right?!" 

"Well, I had a different thing in mind." Thad chuckled, "We should tell stories." 

"Ooooh actually, that does sound like fun!" Bart nodded, "you go first!" 

"What? Me? Oh, I couldn't..." Thad shook his head, "but if you insist, I'll go ahead and tell you a true story..." 

"Ooh! That makes it better!" 

"Yeah, yeah. Listen closely." Thad cleared his throat, "have you ever heard of the Curse of the Fifth Generation?" 

"The Curse of... No, nope. Never heard of it." 

"For real?! Man, I thought you of all people would know." Thad continued, "it's a curse placed upon the fifth generation of a certain line." 

"What? What line, Thad?" 

"The Speed Force line." Thad grinned cynically. 

"Th-the Speed Force? W-wait, hang on, isn't that--" 

"Legend has it," Thad cut Bart off, "that when five generations of the Speed Force line are alive altogether, one of them will die. The one more prone to die? The fifth generation." 

"H-hold up." Bart counted on his fingers, "there's Great-grandpa Jay, Grandpa Barry, Uncle Wally, Dad, then... M-me?" 

"That's right." Thad grinned, "so careful where you time-travel, pal." 

Bart's brows furrowed together as he looked at his friend, seriously, "how did you know about that?" 

"Oh, I hear things." Thad crossed his arms, "so keep that in mind. Would hate it if you suddenly... Went missing." 

Bart gasped slightly but pursed his lips, staring at the ground. 

"Okay!" Thad grinned cheerfully, breaking the tension, "your turn!" 

__________________

- Present Day -

That night... How could I forget that night? I couldn't even tell a story after that. Now that I look back on it, that was definitely targetting. Impulse muttered to himself as he scanned the mission-briefing room. Standing before him was the team accompanied by Justice Leaguers Batman, Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman.