SEPT 2002 - #43

Beware, the Revengers! by Paul Hahn

Over half the mansion resort was recently destroyed by the Imperial Forces of America. The team battled them, then came home. Then they went with Emma Frost, White Queen of the Hellfire Club, to Montreal, where they foiled a plot by Sebastian Shaw, and then once again returned home.

All members were very tired. They had gathered quite a bit of information, but hadn't had the time to go over it. And the mansion had suffered quite a bit of damage, but they hadn't had the time to even think about rebuilding it. So, they just decided to take at least one night . . . and sleep.

However, it wasn't going to be that easy. Everyone in the team suffered terrible nightmares. Personal demons that were haunting them. Of course, it had to be an isolated incident, they all assumed. Nightmares happen to everyone . . . right?

Superboy let out a long sigh as he pulled a fresh, clean, white T-shirt on after finishing his shower. He hated nightmares. Especially ones that hit so close to home.

I don't know why I don't just come clean . . . he thought to himself. They're my teammates, my friends . . . they'd support me. Heck, they'd probably help me track down Match so that I could get my powers back. But then do I tell them about Graviton? I wouldn't know where to start. He was so weird . . .

He sighed again.

And besides, he told me that, in order to get my powers back completely, I would have to . . . kill Match. I've never killed anyone. And as heroes, it's sorta understood that we don't kill. So if I even find the guy . . . what will I do?

He took a towel off the rack in the bathroom and wiped the glass mirror in front of him, clearing of condensation and getting a clear view of himself. His eyes went wide. He spun around quickly, just off the ground.

Nothing.

Impossible . . . I saw . . . I swear . . . I mean, it looked just like . . . it had to be . . .

"Cassie . . . ?"

Chuck Barnes let out a deep breath. "This is gonna be a lot of work."

"Rebuilding?" Cissie King Jones asked.

"Yup," he nodded. The two were standing over blueprint layouts of the mansion resort. They didn't own the place. They were borrowing it since it had been closed down due to financial problems. And now it was wrecked.

"Maybe we don't need to rebuild like it shows?" she asked. "Maybe customize it to fit our needs?"

"We can't," Chuck replied. "We don't own the place. This base was only supposed to be temporary, anyway. I mean, after our old base was blown up in Happy Harbor, and the Avengers League released us from house arrest, we needed a place to stay . . . so I got us here. Then the Massacre happened, and this place turned into a hospital and a morgue . . . after that, we took some time off to relax, rest and recover . . . and just as we were back on our feet, the Imperial Forces blows the place up."

"Speaking of the Imperial Forces," Cissie said, "did you think about what Zola said? That his creations can't die?"

"I can safely say that's been on my mind a lot," he nodded. "If it's true, that means Wonder Girl's still alive . . . somewhere."

"I think, today, we should head into the tunnels . . . go looking."

"I doubt it's as simple as that. Most of what was in the Morlock tunnels was incinerated by one of the Marauders. However, if Zola's referring to the fact that Cassie's body seemed to be almost entirely composed of ionic energy, well . . . energy can neither be created, nor destroyed . . . just transferred. She could be alive and well . . . but just . . . not quite together."

"Then it's plausible?" Cissie asked. "Cassie could be alive?!"

"Careful," Chuck frowned. "You don't want to get your hopes up. Keep in mind, Zola's a bad guy . . . he could just as easily be playing with our heads."

Cissie nodded. "Right."

"But just the same, I'm thinking maybe I should toss Red Tornado a line. He's got Avengers League connections, and they'd probably know more about this than me."

"Well, anyways," Cissie started, "Bart and Linda started to clear debris. Bart's movin' stuff away as fast as he can, while Linda's telekinetically lifting it away. It won't take long at all for the two of them to clear it all."

"Well, that's good. But I don't know about rebuilding . . . I'm weary about bringing in contractors . . . this resort is shut down, after all."

"I think we could do it ourselves," Cissie said. "Just get me a good night's sleep . . . "

"You have trouble sleeping?" Chuck asked.

"Nah," Cissie shrugged. "Just sayin'."

Chuck shrugged, then went back to looking over his work. Cissie flipped on the news.

"Uh oh," she said.

"What?" Chuck asked.

"Awhile back we . . . fought . . . this lame-o villain, called himself the Grand Master of Messiness . . . he just makes messes. And he's makin' one again, downtown. We should probably go whack him upside the head really fast."

"Need the team?"

"We can handle it fine . . . come on."

And as the two left the room, they both failed to hear a weak voice calling to them . . .

" . . . help . . . me . . . "

"Hey, Bart!" Jolt exclaimed.

"Huh?" he asked, stopping quickly from his work of removing debris.

"There's a bank robbery in progress, I saw it on the news," she said. "Wanna go take care of it real fast?"

Bart shrugged. "Okay."

He grabbed her and sped away.

Anita appeared in Superboy's room in a puff of smoke, in her Empress costume.

"Hey Kon," she started, "Rebel and I just caught some flame shooting guy on the news." She flipped on the television. "We're gonna go see what his problem is. Interested?"

"No thanks," Superboy said from the bathroom, where he had been looking around for awhile now. "Have fun."

"Okay," she shrugged, and disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"Cassie?" he asked. "No, that's the news . . . "

He walked over and looked at the TV.

"Hey, she said flame guy . . . that's a picture of some ice guy causing trouble," Kon frowned. "Two separate attacks, maybe? Guess I'll take care of this one . . . "

"Done and done," Linda said, quite pleased with herself. In a matter of moments, she used her greatly increased telekinesis to clear away all the remaining debris. "Now to see if there's any work to be done . . . huh. Strange. A quick telepathic scan shows that everyone's left. A mission, maybe?"

Linda Danvers concentrated, looking for any kind of trouble. She found it. "Some guy's causing people to go insane over in Manhattan? Guess I'll meet the team there!"

Here, there was once a castle that the evil genius Doctor Victor von Doom had used as a base of operations. However, other duties led him to abandon it for some time. The Imperial Forces of America moved in then, and turned it into a lab for their twisted scientist, Arnim Zola, the Bio-Fanatic.

But then, in a battle with Young Justice, the Imperial Forces blew it up.*

*(issues #16-17)

Far below the castle, however, was a sort of . . . prison, you might say. Superboy spent some time there after the castle blew, mostly to recover. But it was there that he met someone else . . .

Graviton.

Little is known about the man. But he seems to control gravity to some extent. He would sit in his large prison room in a chair he forced out of rock and think. He had done a lot of thinking over the years. And then . . .

He grinned. "M'Reel?"

A strange figure in a red hood approached. "You called, oh First One?"

"Yes . . . I did," he grinned. "I have made up my mind. Prepare for our departure."

"Departure, sir?"

"Yes," he continued his grinning. "I've decided that I've been waiting too long. It's time for me to seek revenge upon the world . . . "

Impulse and Jolt arrived in seconds, phasing through the entrance.

"Who're you?" Impulse asked the woman standing in the center of the room.

"My name is Tora," she replied, brandishing her bullwhip. "You are members of Young Justice?"

"Yeah," Jolt said. "And you picked the wrong day to rob a bank!"

"Sure, sure," Tora said. "Fancy lines. You gonna back it up?"

She moved quicker than expected, dropping a trio of smoke bombs that quickly filled the room.

"I got it," Bart said. He ran around in a circle quickly, creating a vortex that gathered the smoke to a small point in the room.

"She's gone!" Jolt exclaimed.

"She can't run from me!" Bart exclaimed. "I'm fast!"

Jolt grinned. "Let's go!"

"Hey!" Empress exclaimed. "Knock it off!"

"Young Justice," the man grinned. "My name's Pyro . . . an' I've got some unfinished business with you!"

"Whatever you want, mon," Empress said, drawing her staff.

"Hee hee hee!" he giggled as he skidded around on an ice-slide.

"Stop it," Superboy said as he floated down.

"Stop it?" the Ice Master asked. "That was your big line? Don't they send you super-heroes away to super hero school to learn those big, fancy, super hero sayings?"

"What loony bin did you break out of?" Kon asked.

Ice Master suddenly fired two large columns of ice at Kon, knocking him against a wall. "Hee hee hee . . . "

At the center of it all stood one man, dressed like a hippy, laughing.

"What's your deal?" she asked as she lowered herself to the ground.

"Damn, baby," the man said. "You are hot! How'd you like to come back an' hang with Angar the Screamer?"

"Your name is Angar?" she asked. "That's a dumb name."

"Angar the Screamer is a name that instills fear into the hearts of men!" he exclaimed. "I can make anyone go insane, seeing things that aren't there. I can do the same to you."

"I'm a telepath," Phoenix said. "Your powers aren't gonna work on me."

Angar grinned. "That's what they all say . . . "

"Why is it always Central Park?" Nightwing asked. "I mean, it's nice and all . . . but I'd like some variety."

"We were just in Canada," Arrowette replied.

"I'm talking like, a battle at the Statue of Liberty, or a fight over the Brooklyn Bridge . . . something special."

"Be careful what you wish for," Arrowette frowned.

"I know, I know . . . is that him up ahead?"

"Yeah," she replied. "He sorta kicks up the wind like he's doing now, and just . . . makes a mess of things. He draws garbage to an area."

"I bet he's the arch-enemy of garbage men everywhere."

"Hey!" Arrowette yelled. "Stupid and ugly! What are you doing?"

"Do you mock me, woman?" the Grand Master asked.

"No, I just flat out insulted you," she replied.

"What's your goal here?" Nightwing asked.

"If you must know, it's just part of a plan," he replied.

"To . . . cause mass pollution?" Arrowette asked.

"No," the Master replied. "I'm just another part of the assault on Young Justice."

"Assault on Young Justice?" Nightwing questioned.

"Yes," he answered. "I, the Grand Master of Messiness, along with Angar the Screamer, Pyro, Tora, and the Ice Master, are launching a multi-pronged battle against you, just as our mysterious benefactor plotted!"

"Mysterious benefactor?" Arrowette asked. "Multi-pronged battle?"

"Together, we five form a new team of terror!" he continued. "We are the Revengers! And your days are numbered!"