The Railway tunnel beneath Park Avenue, running from the top of Manhattan Island down the East side to Grand Central Station.

The 20th Century from Chicago is two hours late, as usual. But Tommy couldn't care less as she folded herself flat and slipped out of the baggage car. All that mattered to her was that she was alive . . . and home.

Her clothes were torn, and her skin and hair glistened with bright rainbow colors. Her feet pattered quietly as she moved along at a quick pace. I thought I'd never see these old tunnels again. They've never looked so beautiful! I changed trains so many times . . . it took ages to get cross-country . . . there's no way those creeps could have followed me.

She turned down a side tunnel, and began walking down a long staircase into the Morlock tunnels. She exclaimed with relief, "I'm safe!"

She was not safe. A blast of light energy smashed into her from behind, knocking her down the steps. "Surprise, sweetheart," a woman's voice said. The blast continued, growing stronger, pouring tons of energy out against poor Tommy. She screamed.

"You figure we're chumps, girl?" a man's voice asked.

"No no please," Tommy pleaded weakly. "No don't know no no . . . "

"You should have died in Chicago," the man's voice continued. Tommy could barely make out the figures of a group of people standing above her. "You only prolonged your worthless life, leading us back to the place we had planned to go anyway."

She saw as the man picked up a rifle. She closed her eyes. Her mind was whirling from the pain, and her tears were pouring down her cheek.

"No hard feelings," the man said. "Nothing personal. It's our job. We're pros. The best. Marauders!" He cocked his gun and aimed it at her. "Don't feel sad, youngster. 'Cause where you're going . . . you'll soon have lots of company."

The roar of the gunshot echoed throughout the tunnels, filling the quiet place with more noise than it had heard in years. Seconds later, the echo died away, and the tunnels were once again left silent. Dead silent.

End Prologue.

EARLY JAN 2002 - #27

Part I: Strangers in the Alley by Paul Hahn with excerpts from the original Mutant Massacre by Chris Claremont

Young Justice had been through a whole lot lately. Basically, they're in a new base and on their own with a fresh start.

[For all the little details, you can read all the back issues!]

"Man do I love this place," Superboy said as he relaxed in a lazy boy and drank slowly from a cup of hot chocolate. "Chuck, you are a genius . . . way to ring in the new year, man."

"Thanks," Chuck Barnes replied. He still found it strange being called his first name by his teammates. Not as strange as it was for his teammates to call it to him!

"Bart loves it, too," Kon-El continued.

"He should. We've got Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Cube, Sega, Sega Genesis, 32X, Sega CD, Dreamcast, Playstation, Playstation 2, X-Box, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance . . . am I forgetting anything?"

"Atari."

"Right . . . got that one, too. And thank god . . . if we didn't have those, these past two weeks of inaction would've driven us insane."

"Us?"

"Yeah . . . imagine dealing with a Bart who doesn't have access to video games."

"Whoa."

"Exactly."

The two exchanged a grin and a small laugh. It was much like a new beginning for the two of them. They had never been friends, really. Teammates, yes. And they respected each others talents and abilities. But during their time on the run from the law, and when Superboy was secretly replaced by an evil clone, something happened. In the times that followed, both when they were under house arrest by the Avengers League and then out on their own, they started to really talk for the first time.

What made it possible was the fact that Chuck had broken all ties with Batman, and his veil of silence could be lifted. It also helped that Kon's time away with a lack of powers made him begin to appreciate life a bit more. The two found they had a lot more in common than either new, and from their mutual respect, a friendship began to form.

Ask Chuck, and he'd still say that Superboy was too hot-headed.

Ask Kon, and he'd say that even Nightwing was still too anal and controlling.

They were just used to it, and they realized that they needed each other to keep the other in check.

"Hey, anybody seen Bart?" Hallie Takahama, the energetic Jolt asked as she walked into the room.

"Haven't seen him recently," Chuck said.

"He's your dog, Charlie Barnes," Superboy laughed.

"Good grief," Chuck shook his head. "He's probably playing video games somewhere."

"Okay, thanks!" Hallie said, turning and exiting.

"Charlie Barnes?"

"Hey, you said 'good grief', didn't you?"

"Hooboy . . . "

"So what do you think it means exactly?" Linda Danvers, a. k. a. Firebird, asked. She sat in what had recently been converted into a med-lab with Cassie Sandsmark, a. k. a. Wonder Girl, Cissie King-Jones, or Arrowette, and Jennifer-Lynn Haden, otherwise known as Jade. "When I sort of lose consciousness and something else takes over . . . when I become this . . . 'Phoenix'?"

"You're asking us?" Cassie asked. "I was hoping you could tell us."

"Yeah, Linda," Jenn spoke softly to her best friend. "I mean, it's kinda freakin' me out that you don't seem to remember doing anything like that."

"It scares me, too," Linda frowned. "And since the whole Hellfire incident, I've been noticing some decreases in power . . . my strength, invulnerability . . . they're both not as up as they used to be. Even my flight's getting to be a strain, to the point where I need the wings to do it when before I didn't. But at the same time, my telekinetics are getting stronger, and, if what you say is true, I'm developing other psionic abilities as well."

[[As seen in YJ 19 against the Point Men - Paul]]

"We might need to call Red Tornado or get in contact with the Avengers League," Cissie frowned. "We're not equipped to really study this stuff. Even with all the data files we have . . . "

[[Data files that Bart and Hallie stole from the AL in YJ 26 - Me again]]

"We can't go crawling back," Cassie said. "After all that just happened, everything Rob--Chuck did to get us out on our own and independent? No way. Whatever it is, we'll get to the bottom of it. We did with my powers, didn't we? Well, for the most part . . . "

"Hey, anyone seen Bart?" Hallie asked, popping her head in the doorway.

"I haven't seen him all afternoon," Cissie said.

"Check with the guys," Jenn said.

"I did," Hallie frowned. "I can't find him. Ah well, he'll turn up sometime . . . "

"Does she really have a crush on Bart?" Cassie asked after she thought Hallie was far enough away.

"Looks like it," Jenn said.

"I think it's cute," Linda grinned. "Little Bart needs a girl to keep an eye on him."

Bart Allen, otherwise known as Impulse, was running around at incredible speeds. He was looking around constantly for something, anything to do. In short: He was bored.

He already played through and beat every video game they had, and he didn't have any money to buy or rent new ones. So he went out looking for people to help.

Just my luck . . . he thought. Spider-Man gets all the excitement in this city! Might as well head home . . . heeeey! Maybe Rob--Chuck got me a new game!!

Bart turned back towards his new home and continued running. To anyone looking, he was just a blur. Since the Flash was pretty famous, a sight like that wasn't something out of the ordinary. Just slightly misplaced in New York.

The Hellfire Club's home base is an illustrious mansion in New York. Currently, it is under the care of Emma Frost, otherwise known as the White Queen of the club's secret Inner Circle. She is also the head of a team of mutants-in-training called the Hellions.

"Gather 'round, children," she said, addressing the Hellions. "I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourselves after your last failure."

[[She's referring to the Hellions one-shot - Guess who]]

"We've picked up what seems to be Cerebro's energy signature," she explained. "I say seems, because it's slightly different . . . altered. I can only assume this robot has been performing its own advancements to itself. But it's in tunnels underneath the city, tunnels which haven't been used in decades. We're going to mount an expedition . . . we'll go into those tunnels, and bring that robot back where it belongs."

End Interlude

I need to find my clone . . . Graviton said that if I don't find the clone, I can't get my powers back. As it is, my tactile telekinesis is pretty weak. If not for Graviton giving me that power boost, I don't know what I'd be doing now. I'm going to have to rely on my shield a bit more, at least.

Man, I still can't believe I gave that loony so much information on super heroes. I just know it's gonna come back to bite me. Maybe I should've told Captain America? Nah . . . but maybe I should at least tell Chuck. He should know about a potential threat like that.

Superboy's eyes, beneath his sunglasses, caught a red streak kicking up a trail of dust approaching their base. He landed quickly, just in time to be run right into by Impulse.

"Umph!" Kon said as he was knocked to his butt.

"Whoa!" Bart exclaimed, being knocked back as well. "Superboy!"

"Watch where you're going, Imp."

"You jumped right out in front of me!"

"Yeah, well . . . work on stopping," Superboy said, standing. He was caught off guard . . . he didn't expect to actually feel that collision through his telekinesis . . . but he did. "Anyway, where've you been? Hallie's been lookin' all over for you."

"She has?" Bart asked. "Does she have a new video game for me? Where is it?"

"Relax, Bart," Supes frowned. "I don't think she has a new video game. She just has a crush on . . . you?"

"Whoa!" Bart exclaimed as the ground beneath the two literally burst upward. Both were knocked back, and watched as a large, half ape, half horse-like being burst from the broken ground. It's purple fur was a contrast from the green grass.

Before the creature could even finish breaking free from the ground, it exclaimed, "Aid us! Young Justice--Beg, implore do I--For salvation! Strangers in the Alley! They kill! Morlocks . . . die!"

The large figure's last words faded, as he collapsed onto the ground.

"What in the world . . . ?" Bart asked.

"Come on, Imp, and fast," Superboy said. "Alert the others, I'll carry him back to the base . . . looks like there's gonna be trouble . . . "

"Multiple blade and gunshot wounds, massive internal trauma, pulverized bone," Nightwing concluded his findings. "It's a miracle he reached us. An even bigger miracle he knew where we were."

"Desperation breeds miracles," Jolt frowned.

"In his dying memory, I saw a cadre of super-beings," Linda said, concentrating. "I'm not sure how I'm able to pick this up, but . . . they were massacring every living thing in the Morlock tunnels."

"We involved, Chuck?" Superboy asked.

"Of course," Nightwing nodded. "We don't have any means of travel, so fliers, take those who can't."

Nightwing led the group to the front door, all suited up and ready to go. As he opened it, he was caught by surprise, seeing a young woman standing there. She had long, black hair and brown eyes. She stood tall and confident, even in the face of a group of super-heroes. "Uh, can we help you?" Nightwing asked.

She replied with three words. "Morlocks . . . help . . . now."