"Young Justice fought the DEO task force and escaped capture. That is, except for team member Magik and team mentor Red Tornado. They have, however, apparently been released since their help during the recent crisis we've faced.* Magik, being a mutant, was released to the Muir Island Genetic Research and Rehabilitation center.** The Tornado will be dispatched to the Avengers League's watch.

*(YJ Annual #2, during the Return of the Gods cross-over)
**(For more on Magik, keep an eye out for X-Force #1, coming in January! - Paul)

"As for the others? They apparently went into hiding, though soon clashed with New York City's Super-Unit Police. They managed to escape, only to cause even more damage to the city during a battle with the terrorist organization the Point Men.* The Point Men, it appears, lost that fight, and both teams went into hiding again.

*(Last issue, YJ tussled with the Point Men. And, of course you all read YJ: Moonstar, right? - Paul

"Where are they now? Officials are looking high and low to find these renegade heroes. If you see or know of anything that may be of use, please call the Justice Watch emergency hotline number now on your screen. We'll keep you posted as news develops. Back to you, Jim."

"Thank you, Gayle," the news anchor continued. "In another news, museum officials are still baffled to the disappearance of the Pharaoh's sarcophagus that was recently shipped to the city . . . "

There are hundreds of docks and harbors in the island city. Most are in use, but there are portions that are pretty well abandoned. And that is where we find our heroes . . .

Jennifer-Lynn Haden; Jade, able to create and maintain anything by her own force of will: "This bites."

Cissie King-Jones; Arrowette, whose marksmanship is paralleled by few, surpassed by even fewer: "Wonderful observation."

Sam Guthrie; Cannonball, mutant with the ability to rocket into the air like his namesake while being protected by an invulnerable blast field: "It's not that bad . . . "

Hallie Takahama; Jolt, whose reflexes have been hyped dramatically, and who packs an electric whollup into her punches: "He's right . . . I've lived in worse places . . . "

Kon-El; Superboy, whose tactile telekinesis allows him flight, super strength and invulnerability: "You just spent your last few months in a prison cell. Your opinion doesn't count."

Linda Danvers; Firebird, super strong, invulnerable, telekinetic, flyer, and more and more, she's showing large, fiery, bird-like wings that attack with a psionic nature: "Don't be mean to her, Kon . . . "

Bart Allen; Impulse, able to move at incredible speeds: "Yeah. Besides, this could be fun . . . it's like camping!"

Cassie Sandsmark; Wonder Girl, whose ionic powers allow her flight, invulnerability and super strength: "Except for the fact that we're on the run from the law . . . "

Chuck Barnes; Robin, trained by the World's Greatest Detective, he's got a keen mind and incredible fighting prowess: "We'll find a way out of this mess."

"Better hope so," Superboy frowned.

"Hey, you got us into this mess!" Cissie yelled.

"Hey now," Linda frowned.

"Not again, guys," Sam sighed. "We can't keep arguing amongst ourselves. We gotta stick together."

"He's right," Jade nodded.

"Of course we expect you to say that," Superboy said. "You're his girlfriend . . . you'll go along with whatever he says."

"Hey now," Hallie frowned. "I'm not his girlfriend, but I agree with Sam. Everyone probably does. Arguing won't get us anywhere. Now we've gotta bury the hatchet and come up with a plan to get us out of this mess."

Bury the hatchet? Superboy thought, grinning. By the time I'm through with these guys, they'll all want to kill each other! And what's best, is should the 'other' me ever return . . . they'll all hate him as well!*

*(That's right . . . 'other me'! You did read YJ #18, right? - Paul, who has one-two-many one-shots!
And if you haven't read YJ #18, why are you reading this? - Chip, who has to edit one-two-many one-shots! ;))

"Okay," Cassie nodded. "Anyone got a plan?"

"I'm working on it," Robin replied.

"Come up with anything so far?" Jade asked.

Robin shook his head. "There's no way that battle in the castle would have gotten us that much attention. There are other forces at work here . . . I feel like someone's pulling everyone else's strings, like someone's trying to get us out of their way."

"Or maybe it's Revenge?" Sam asked.

Robin nodded. "Shaw."

"You think the Hellfire Club is involved?" Linda asked.

"Definitely," Robin nodded again. "We beat them like no one else ever has . . . and now they're angry. I'm betting Shaw's pulling out all the stops just to see us put down."

"It's all because of me," Linda shook her head.

"No, it isn't," Sam said. "He hated the New Mutants, and that's me an' 'Yana . . . but he's prolly bruised because we beat him and his group up. If Wyngarde were still around, then Ah'd bet it was 'cause o' you . . . but right now, you're just one part of the big picture."

"Speaking of Linda," Jade asked, "shouldn't we try and see what that whole 'Phoenix' thing was about*?"

*(Linda went into a trance and called herself Phoenix just before launching a major telepathic assault on the Point Men. Afterwards, however, she had no recollection of it happening. - Me again)

"We don't have the time or the resources," Robin replied. "Hopefully I'll be able to slip away sometime today and investigate our HQ . . . see if it's still usable."

And he's gonna try and contact the Spoiler . . . Cissie thought. Which means somehow I'm going to have to sneak out after him and change into that costume. God, this triple-identity thing is getting out of hand . . .

"It'll also be good if one of us could find out what happened to Illyana or Reddy," Cassie said. "We didn't want anything to happen to them . . . "

"But Superboy decked the Red Tornado," Jade frowned.

Bart shook his head. "I can't take all this arguing . . . I'm gonna go look around, see if there's anyone maybe watching us . . . "

Impulse sped off. The others looked at where he was recently standing in shock.

"You know it's bad when Bart's taking initiative," Cissie said.

"You guys should probably try and get more sleep," Robin said. "All this has happened so fast . . . we've barely had any chance to catch our breath."

"You should, too," Cissie frowned. "Boy Wonder or not, you're still human. In fact, moreso than the rest of us."

Robin nodded. "I'll find the time."

"Hey guys!" Impulse had returned.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I found something!" Bart grinned. "You better come see!"

The team had just snuck in through the door to the large warehouse on the harbor. It was truly amazing. Gold was everywhere. The entire warehouse had been turned into an Egyptian treasure room.

"This is amazing . . . !" Hallie's eyes were wide.

"It looks authentic," Robin said, shocked as everyone else.

"We may've just busted some major crime ring," Sam spoke.

"No, not a crime ring," Robin said. "This is all Egyptian. Ancient, even. No crime ring would do this kinda business and keep it all here . . . "

"Kind of like something you'd expect from a super-villain or something," Jade nodded.

"The last thing we need right now is another super-villain," Cissie frowned. "Maybe we should just tip off the Avengers League and keep on hiding until Robin can come up with a plan."

"We can't do that," Cassie replied. "We're heroes, even if we are misunderstood at the moment. We've just gotta prove to everyone that we are heroes."

"And besides," Impulse said, "I don't think those guys are gonna just let us go."

"Huh?" Superboy asked as he and the rest of the team turned.

Eight men stood at the entrance to the warehouse, dressed in ancient Egyptian garb and carrying spears, swords, and scythes.

"You have entered the chamber of the Living Pharaoh," one man spoke. "You shall never leave again."

"We'll see about that!" Superboy yelled. He charged forward.

"Not again," Robin said, smacking his head.

Superboy punched the head man as hard as he could, a blow that would kill a mortal man. This man, however, burst into sand.

"What?" Kon asked.

"First off, you hit him with enough force to kill him!" Cissie yelled, pulling an arrow. "Secondly, you got lucky they're not normal people . . . I think they're made of sand!"

A pair of arrows impacted another Sandman, hurting him, but not defeating him.

"If they're made of sand, then they'll be easy to take down!" Wonder Girl said, following Superboy's lead.

The sand on the ground began to reform into another two Sandmen.

"Uh-oh," Sam frowned. "Looks like they won't be goin' that easy . . . "

"If they are sand," Robin plotted, "then intense heat would be the best way to stop them! Linda, Sam, that's your department. Or, if we can smash some of them to sand, Jade can capture them, try and keep them from reforming."

"Whatever," Jolt said, shocking a sandman with her jolt-punch.

"I wonder who their boss is," Sam said, rocketing into and tackling one. "Don't seem to recall ever hearin' about any sandmen. The Sandman, yeah . . . but no insane followers or anything."

Linda concentrated and used her telekinesis to grab four of them. She then mentally pulled their bodies apart, and scattered their sand out of the warehouse and spread across the Atlantic.

"That'll work," Jade said, using a giant green mallet to pound on one.

"I'm betting their boss is some kinda Egyptian guy," Impulse said, whipping up a fury of punches against one.

"Great observation there," Superboy rolled his eyes. "I hope he hurries up and shows his face so we can throw it into the dirt."

"The man you seek is here."

The team turned in their assault to see another man standing by the entrance. He wore short, baggy black pants and a white tunic. Atop his head was an interesting headpiece, centered with a small red jewel.

"And you are?" Robin asked.

"I am the Living Monolith," he said. And as he spoke, the team's eyes continued to grow wide, for he began to grow, his body turning to stone. He soon burst through the roof of the two-story warehouse, causing half of it to fall apart. He exposed the team to the open air. "And I am here to make the world pay!"

His voice rumbled, and as he spoke, dozens of more sandmen burst up from the ground. Some from the ocean waters, some from the battle scene. All were armed, and all were surrounding the team.

"What's that line from Jaws?" Jolt asked.

Cissie swallowed hard. "We're gonna need a bigger boat."