LATE MAY 2002 - #35

Secrets, Secrets . . . by Paul Hahn

Same goes for Young Justice. Everyone on the team has a secret.

Take Superboy, for example. Nobody knows that the reason his powers are depleting is because of his clone, whose very existence is constantly draining them away. Nor does anyone know of his time with the man called Graviton, who granted him a temporary power boost.

There's Nightwing. He blames himself heavily for the deaths of Wonder Girl and Jade. That may not come as such a surprise, however. There's always the fact that he's terribly afraid of failing. And, of course, how he's been desperately searching for the man who killed his parents all those years ago . . . how he's never stopped . . . and won't . . . until . . .

How about Firebird? The Phoenix persona that keeps resurfacing. She says she knows nothing about it. But is that true? She's afraid. There's so much power in her body . . . she can hardly hope to contain it.

And Rebel? No one knows anything about her. How she became trained as such a skilled fighter. The truth would shock you . . .

Jolt. Hallie Takahama cries herself to sleep every night.

Impulse? You don't want to know . . .

But then there's Arrowette . . . and the Spoiler. The secrets they share are definitely connected. And when a secret boils to the surface . . . all hell can break loose.

"Come on now, focus! Focus!"

Chuck Barnes was yelling and directing them as best he could. He wasn't doing so good.

They had set up a small training area behind the mansion resort to focus their skills as a team. After all, they had suffered injuries . . . had lost some members . . . and gained some brand new ones. Constant training was necessary.

They had divided into two teams of three. On one side: Arrowette, Impulse and Rebel. On the other: Superboy, Jolt and the Spoiler. Nightwing was watching and directing. Firebird was off somewhere . . . she had skipped the practice.

It was a capture-the-flag-esque game they were playing, only the flag was a small cup of grape juice. It had exactly one and one-third cups of the liquid inside. The object was to not only capture the 'flag', but it get back without spilling any.

"I should just run and grab it!" Impulse said.

"You'll spill," Arrowette answered as she shot a rubber-tipped arrow at Superboy. She always used those arrows during team-practicing so as not to hurt anyone.

Superboy deflected the arrow with his photonic 'S' shield. "That the best you got, Cissie?"

"I can't tell if he's using my name or insulting me," Arrowette mumbled to herself as she dodged a punch from Superboy.

Rebel jumped up and kicked Superboy in the face, catching him off guard and knocking him back.

"Good, Rebel," Chuck said. "Nice follow up and aid to Arrowette."

"Nice kick, too," Superboy said.

Impulse was doing his best to fight Jolt, who was doing her best to stay out of his reach with her enhanced reflexes.

"I don't get it," Bart said. "I'm really, really fast . . . how come you're avoiding me?"

"I don't have your speed," Jolt said as she jumped, "but I know how you move. And with my reflexes, I can stay ahead of you just enough . . . and then tag you!"

A shock-punch knocked Impulse onto his butt.

Arrowette made a break for the 'flag', only to catch a jump-kick in the stomach from the Spoiler.

"Didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?" she asked.

Arrowette quickly replied with a kick at Spoiler's shin. Cissie then flipped up to her feet and planted another kick. However, the Spoiler caught this one and tried to flip her. Arrowette easily landed back on her feet. She pulled an arrow out, but before she could fire it, the Spoiler's bo-staff knocked it away.

Cissie lunged forward, using her bow against Spoiler's staff, going head-to head.

Their weapons clattered against each-other as the girls grunted and yelled in their fight. They seemed fairly evenly matched for some time.

"Got it," Jolt said triumphantly. She stood back at her base with the cup of grape juice in hand. "And I didn't spill it at all."

"Umph!" Spoiler yelled as Cissie kicked her and knocked her down.

Spoiler yelled as she got back up and tackled Cissie. Arrowette rolled with the tackle and kicked Spoiler off of her. Both stood back up and charged in again, using their weapons for another match.

"Um . . . girls?" Chuck called.

"Hey . . . it's over," Superboy frowned.

Cissie slammed her bow in high, holding it vertically. Spoiler's bow, held horizontally to block it, was successful. Then, with a push, Spoiler's staff knocked Cissie back a bit, and split into two dual blades, gleaming in the sunlight.

"Whoa!" Superboy said, flying in-between. "Time out! Game over! Stop!"

Both girls stopped in the tracks.

"S . . . Sorry," Spoiler said, breathing heavily.

" . . . Yeah," Arrowette frowned.

"That's enough for today," Nightwing said. "Hit the showers, everyone. Accept you, Cissie . . . come here."

Arrowette muttered to herself as she pulled off her mask. "What?"

"What's gotten into you lately?" Chuck asked. "Ever since the Spoiler joined the team . . . "

"I don't like her," she said, straight out. "I don't trust her, either. She's not telling us the truth about anything."

"How do you know?"

"Because, I was . . . " she started. "I mean . . . I just know. I'm getting this vibe from her . . . "

"You ever try just talking to her?"

"No."

"Well, maybe you should," Chuck shook his head. "Go take a shower . . . we'll talk later."

Arrowette frowned more and stomped away.

Kon and Chuck were walking down a hall towards the back deck.

"And Linda didn't say where she was going?" Chuck asked.

"Nope," Kon replied. "And it has me worried. Last time she disappeared, well . . . we had to fight the Hellfire Club to get her back."

"I doubt it's anything that serious," Chuck said as they stepped out onto the deck overlooking the large grounds behind the resort.

"I dunno," Kon frowned. "After our fight with Mister Freeze, she seemed a little different . . . "

"She said she hurt her wings during the fight. Maybe that had something to do with it?"

"I dunno. To be honest, Chuck, she's not the same woman she used to be. I mean, she's still Linda . . . I still love her . . . but things aren't the same. Ever since Mastermind first got his paws on her . . . I mean, yeah, we got her back and everything . . . but she's a little different. And I don't know what to do."

"Well, you said you still love her, right?" Chuck asked. "That's what's important."

"I know, I know," Kon-said. "It's just that--Hey . . . what is that?"

"Eh?" Chuck asked, turning his gaze up and out. He saw it, too. A giant bird of fire flying right towards the resort. "Get everyone else! We have a situation!"

"No, wait," Kon said. "I think . . . it's Linda . . . "

"Linda?" Chuck asked, looking up again.

The bird slowed and then hovered a bit in the sky, over a large patch of grass. It began to lower as the two approached. They then noticed the figure in it's center.

"Firebird?" Chuck asked.

"Not exactly," Linda's voice replied. The bird of fire decreased in size, its energies entering Linda's body before disappearing.

"You've . . . changed your costume," Kon said.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Like it?" It was a skin-tight body suit. The main color was a dark red. The legs and arms were gold. Around her waist was tied a large gold sash that waved freely in the air. On her chest was a gold symbol, a bird, much similar to the one that would show itself around her body.

"It's . . . different," Kon said.

"Well, I'm a little different," she shrugged.

"I called you Firebird," Chuck said, "and you replied 'Not exactly'. What does that mean?"

"Oh, I just changed my code-name," she shrugged. "I was flying over the Pacific and I just kinda decided--"

"Flying over the Pacific?" Kon asked.

"Yeah, it was really neat. But I decided to change my code-name to Phoenix."

"Phoenix . . . ?" Chuck asked.

"Stop looking at me like I'm going to kill you," Linda grinned. "It's just a little change . . . relax!"

"But . . . "

"Anyways, I'm a little tired from all that flying," she continued. "I'm thinking of taking a shower, grabbing a lemonade. Kon, you can join me if you want . . . for both. But you better hurry, 'cause I'm not gonna wait too long . . . "

And with that, Linda's Phoenix-Flame appeared again, much smaller, and she flew towards the resort.

Chuck and Kon just gave each other strange looks.

"I'll . . . umm . . . talk to her," Kon said.

"In the shower?"

"Uh . . . if you insist!" Kon said. He then flew out after her.

Chuck shook his head. "What is going on with my team?"

As he started to head back in, he suddenly noticed Arrowette being flung through the air. The Spoiler leapt out after her.

"Crap," he shook his head, "not again . . . "

Arrowette and the Spoiler were going at it, a full blown fight. Cissie was even using non-rubber-tipped arrows. Real ones, and tricks.

"Alright, both of you, stop it right now!" Chuck said, leaping inbetween.

"She started it!" the Spoiler yelled.

"Oh, I so did not," Arrowette replied.

"But of you, be quiet," Chuck continued. "I don't care who started it. But something isn't right here . . . and let's get to the bottom of it. Cissie?"

"I'm tired of her lying to us," she replied.

"What am I lying about?" the Spoiler asked.

"Everything!" Cissie exclaimed. "You're not the Spoiler! I . . . I am."

"What?" the Spoiler asked.

"When we were all grounded after the Hellfire thing, I still wanted to help people," Cissie explained in a sad voice. "So I took up the identity of the Spoiler . . . I didn't mean to keep using it . . . but Rob--Chuck and I, were started partnering up . . . hanging out . . . maybe on the brink of something. And, I know it was wrong . . . but, well . . . I was really falling for him. And, I can't believe I'm saying this . . . " She sighed. "But then, all of a sudden, in the tunnels, she appeared . . . as the Spoiler. Pretending to be the same person who was fighting alongside Robin before. But you're just a fake . . . "

"And you?" Chuck asked the Spoiler, keeping a cool head.

Spoiler sighed. She pulled off her mask. "My name's Anita Fite. I . . . I have powers. And I really wanted to be a super-hero. I wanted to join Young Justice. I watched on the news stuff about Spoiler . . . and then, she suddenly disappeared for some time. So I took up the identity . . . got wrapped up in her world. And she didn't seem to be coming back . . . "

"What are your powers?" Chuck asked.

"I'm very agile . . . athletic. I'm trained in the use of my staff . . . which can also be pulled apart as two blades. And . . . I can teleport . . . in a puff of smoke."

"Those powers and you chose to be the Spoiler?" Cissie asked.

"I just . . . " Anita frowned.

"Well, I have a secret to confess as well," Chuck said. "I knew."

"You . . . knew?" they both asked in unison.

"I knew from the second you and I met as Robin and the Spoiler that the Spoiler was Arrowette in disguise. And I knew, as soon as you entered the tunnels, Anita, that you were someone completely new."

"You . . . did?" they both said again.

"Yeah . . . I was trained by the World's Greatest Detective, after all."

"And . . . you kept it to yourself?" Cissie asked.

"Yup," Chuck shrugged.

"The whole time?" Anita asked.

Chuck nodded.

The two girls exchanged a glance.

"Truce?" Cissie asked.

"Truce," Anita replied.

"Good," Cissie continued. "Now let's get him!"

"Whoa!" Chuck exclaimed as the two tackled him. "Hey! Hey . . . stop! Jeez!"

"Teach you to play us like that!"

"Men!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry . . . !"