Young Justice stood inside a harbor warehouse filled with golden treasures from ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, half the warehouse had been torn open and apart by a giant stone man calling himself the Living Monolith. The red jewel in the center of his white head piece gleamed in the sunlight as he glared down upon them.

A small army of men dressed in Egyptian garb surrounded them. Unfortunately, they weren't ordinary men. They were made out of sand. If one of them was torn apart, he would merely reform a few moments later.

The team had recently stumbled upon a whole sack of trouble. The biggest of which, of course, was the fact that they were on the run from the law. And because of that, two of their members, the Red Tornado and Magik, were captured. Egos and tempers were flaring. No one was really getting along too well. This wasn't going to help.

Kon-El; Superboy, or at least a reasonable facsimile, whose tactile telekinesis made him super strong, invulnerable, and capable of flight: "He's just stone . . . I'll bust him to pieces!"

Bart Allen; Impulse, the fastest teen alive: "All you ever wanna do is hit things . . . "

Cassie Sandsmark; Wonder Girl, whose ionic powers make her super strong, invulnerable, and capable of flight: "Do you have a better idea?"

Cissie King-Jones; Arrowette, master of the bow-and-arrow: "We could always run . . . "

Sam Guthrie; Cannonball, able to fly at incredible speeds while being protected by an invulnerable blast field: "Running is not an option."

Hallie Takahama; Jolt, whose body absorbed any ambient energy and gave her super-fast reflexes and armed her with a 'jolt' shock-punch: "We need a plan . . . "

Jennifer-Lynn Haden; Jade, who could create and maintain objects with her own force of will: "Maybe if we could get Linda to do her whole Phoenix thing again . . . "

Linda Danvers; Firebird, super-strong, invulnerable, telekinetic, capable of flight, and armed with fire-like wings of a psionic nature: "I told you, I don't know how that happened . . . I don't even remember it happening . . . I can't just do it again . . . "

Chuck Barnes; Robin, trained by the World's Greatest Detective, armed with a keen mind and incredible fighting skills: "Well, I'd say, at least for the moment . . . scatter!"

The team broke from their formation as one of the Monolith's giant stone fists came crashing down. All he did was smash up more of the warehouse.

"Take this fight outside, my Sandmen," the Monolith commanded. "It would be a pity to lose my treasure."

"Are we fighting a pirate here?" Wonder Girl asked as she flew by the Monolith, her body bursting with blue and red ionic energies.

"Arr," Impulse said, dodging a punch from a sandman.

Arrowette fired a pair of her flame arrows at a Sandman, hoping the heat would be able to turn him to glass. It wasn't hot enough.

"If he doesn't want to lose this treasure . . . " Superboy pondered, "Then maybe we should see to it that he does!"

Supes charged up into the air and then straight back down into the ground, smashing the floor of the warehouse, causing all the gold and items to fall into the water below.

"Oh jeez," Jolt said as she made a leap for it. "Superboy! You forgot that not all of us can fly here!"

Cannonball flew by and caught her, taking her outside the warehouse to more stable floor.

The Monolith yelled in anger. He pulled back a fist and punched, knocking Superboy miles out towards the Atlantic.

"Whoa," Jade said. "If he can do that to Superboy . . . "

"The Sandmen aren't the real threat here," Robin called. "I'm betting if we take down the Monolith, these guys'll follow!"

"We just need a way to take him down," Arrowette called back, her voice rising over the sounds of fighting.

"Hunh!" Wonder Girl let out a grunt as she slammed both of her fists down onto the Monolith's foot. It dented slightly and cracked a little, but there wasn't major damage. "Jeez . . . "

Jade created a green sword and began cutting a path across the Sandmen. "Any ideas, Boy Wonder?"

"That jewel on his headpiece," Robin pointed, ducking a Sandman's punch. "It could be nothing but a fancy costume, or it could be something more . . . someone grab it!"

"I'll distract him!" Sam yelled. He rocketed forward at top speed and smashed through the Monolith's chest. The large stone man yelled in pain, but slowly, his chest began to reform.

"That didn't last long enough," Robin frowned.

"Who needs him distracted?" Impulse asked. He sped up Monolith's leg and stole the jewel from atop his head with ease. It hadn't grown with the man's body, really, and was only about the size of Bart's palm.

"Noo!" the Living Monolith yelled. He slammed a fist into Bart, who threw the jewel away upon impact. Jolt caught it, but found another fist coming after her. She jumped, dodging, but barely.

"Over here!" Wonder Girl yelled from the air. Jolt threw it, Cassie caught it.

"Look!" Firebird yelled. "He's getting smaller!"

"Looks like you were right," Arrowette said to Robin.

"Yup," Rob said. He leapt out of the fray and over to the wood harbor. The Monolith glared at Wonder Girl and slammed her into the ground. She tossed the jewel out again, but the Monolith unleashed a blast of energy that floored and sunk everyone in the fight.

Everyone except Robin, who caught the jewel. He looked on, noticing that everything had fallen into the water. That's when the now human-sized Living Monolith popped back up, growling at him.

"That's my cue to run!"

Superboy sat in an uncomfortable stone chair, the same chair he had been spending most of his time recently. Since he got buried, of course.

Graviton sat opposite him, watching him closely.

"I've told you everything I know," Superboy frowned.

"You have not told me more about yourself," Graviton frowned. "Or this . . . Young Justice."

"There's not much to tell," Superboy shrugged. "My own past is mainly a mystery to me . . . and I don't really know the histories of my teammates . . . we just banded together and stayed that way."

"Do not lie to me, boy," Graviton showed his anger. "I have treated you kindly while you've been imprisoned here . . . and only I can get you out of this place. It is a prison which neither of our powers would help us escape from . . . it is magical. But so long as you tell me what I want to know, you shall be free."

Yeah, but then what? Kon-El pondered. This guy controls gravity . . . that'd make him pretty powerful. If he decides to use this information against other heroes? Then I'll be responsible. Of course, he says he can escape any time. My safest option is to cooperate . . . then, when he lets me out, I could maybe warn others about him . . . we could prepare to deal with him . . . or something. I dunno . . . I'll tell Robin and he'll come up with a plan. I just miss Linda . . . and I hope the rest of 'em are okay . . .

Roberto DaCosta sat quietly in his room. He was paranoid and nervous . . . but with good reason. Martinique Wyngarde told him that Shaw knew . . . Sebastian Shaw knew that he was a plant.

Bobby shook his head. Professor Xavier planted him inside the Hellfire Club just after the disbanding of the New Mutants. It seemed like Xavier had a plan for everyone.

Sam was sent to keep being a hero in Young Justice. Magik was sent with him, because Xavier knew the darkness within her. He hoped that Sam could keep her straight. Bobby had ties to the Hellfire Club through his father, and was sent to infiltrate them. Dani was sent to follow Feral, in order to easier infiltrate the Point Men and take them down. He knew Feral was losing it . . . and he let her go. He just made sure Moonstar would take her down.

Magma and Thunderbird . . . they drifted to the Hellfire Club and the Hellions on their own . . . what was their reason? And Tempest . . . well, he was dead.

Or is he? Bobby pondered. Garth's death was what caused Xavier to disband the team . . . but then he launched all these other little plots. Did Garth fake his death in order for Xavier to pull off these schemes? Now we'll never know, since he's dead. My only hope is to escape to Muir Island, his secondary base. With any luck, someone there knows of my mission . . .

There came a knocking at the door. Bobby tensed. He pushed back the urge to flame on, and slowly approached. "Yes?" he asked.

"It's James," the answer came.

Bobby hesitantly opened the door, and it was indeed James Proudstar. "Umm . . . come on in."

"I have disturbing news," James frowned. "Tarot said . . . she said that her cards told her that we're all going to die soon. The Hellions . . . we're going to be massacred . . . "

"How sure is she?" Bobby asked.

"Very sure," James frowned.

"Why come to me?"

"Because . . . well, I don't know. You were one of Xavier's. I guess I trust you a little more than I trust any of Frost's flunkies."

He seems genuine. What if Tarot's right? Then I should get out of here. But I can't just leave Jimmy . . . should I tell him? Can I?

The Monolith was in hot pursuit.

Okay . . . think, Robin, think! He's chasing you across the harbor and the pier . . . he wants the jewel in your possession . . . and it appears as though this somehow gives him his powers . . . the ability to grow to enormous heights and become made of stone.

"Raaa!" the Monolith yelled, firing a blast of energy which Robin dodged.

But apparently not all of his powers, such as his energy blasts and his stunning vocabulary . . . okay . . . what would Batman do? Well, he'd turn and fight . . . and be really vicious and scary and somehow win. I don't want to do that. Heck, I don't want to be Batman . . . can't think about that now! More pressing matters are at hand . . .

Robin then noticed that the Monolith had been herding him. He was fast approaching the end of a docking strip. The only escape was into the murky water.

Not as dumb as he looks, this one . . . alright . . . time for plan 'B'.

Robin came to an abrupt stop at the end of the pier. He held the jewel high in the air in his right hand. "Stop!"

The Monolith responded quickly, halting several steps in front of the Boy Wonder.

"You want this back?" Robin asked. "Well, take one more step . . . and I'll drop it in the water!"

"Bah!" his foe bellowed. "Then I'll merely kill you and retrieve it from the water!"

"Hmm . . . good point," Robin grinned. "Then maybe I should just smash it?"

"You wouldn't dare . . . "

"Why not? It means nothing to me."

"I promise you a quick, painless death if you hand it over to me . . . "

"Wow, what an offer," Robin grinned. "You're a swell guy."

The Monolith watched, his muscles tensed. He was poised to intervene.

"Oh well," Robin shrugged. He quickly brought the jewel between his hands and squeezed. The Monolith roared and leapt forward. The jewel smashed in Robin's hands. He quickly fell towards his back and caught the leaping Monolith on his legs. He rolled, sending the Egyptian villain into the water behind him. Continuing his roll, Robin stood on his feet at the edge of the pier. He looked down into the water . . . no sign of the Living Monolith. He brushed his hands free of the red crumbs left over by the jewel. "Well, that was easy."

The rest of the team came up to the pier. They were all still dripping wet. Except Superboy, who had just flown back.

"Hey gang," Robin grinned. "Have a nice swim?"

"Robin," Jade frowned, "a sense of humor does not suit you."

"We should dump you in there!" Wonder Girl exclaimed.

"You could," Robin answered. "But I was still planning on visiting our HQ, remember?"

Sam nodded. "Right."

"So, I'll alert the authorities to this," Robin said. "Anonymously, of course. You guys find a harbor warehouse somewhere away from the fight scene . . . and rest. I'm gonna go do a little recon . . . "

"Sure you don't need any help?" Firebird asked.

"I'll get some outside help," Robin said. "Don't want to bring too many YJ members . . . especially if we're being expected, right?"

Outside help . . . Cissie pondered. The Spoiler. I'll have to slip out and follow him . . .

"Be careful, okay?" Sam said. "Ah don't plan on becomin' team leader permanently."

"No worries," Robin grinned. "I'll wait for nightfall and play it safe. See you all in the morning."