OCT 2002 - #44

Revengers, Assemble! by Paul Hahn

All at the same time, the members of the super-hero team Young Justice were involved in a number of different battles against five different foes.

Chuck Barnes, a.k.a. Nightwing, and Cissie King-Jones, a.k.a. Arrowette, were battling the Grand Master of Messiness. Kon-El, or Superboy, was mixing it up with the Ice Master. Bart Allen, a.k.a. Impulse, and Hallie Takahama, or Jolt, were taking on Tora. Anita Fite, a.k.a. Empress, and the mystery girl Rebel, were dealing with Pyro. And Linda Danvers, also known as the Phoenix, was engaging Angar the Screamer.

All five villains were engaged separately by the different teammates, one at a time. No one knew that others were involved in battles. They were all unaware of the plot that was before them . . .

"The Revengers?" Nightwing asked, his bo-staff extended and at the ready. "Pardon?"

"Some detective," the Grand Master grinned. He, Chuck and Cissie stood in Central Park. "I battled Arrowette and other female members of Young Justice, and was defeated. Pyro was part of the Mutant Liberation Front that you stopped during the takeover of one of the towers of the World Trade Center. You also thwarted Angar's attempt at taking over Springfield, Illinois. The Ice Master was defeated by Robin and the Spoiler during the whole black-out business. And Tora was stopped by Nightwing, Arrowette and the Empress. The five of us were banded together by a man calling himself Rembrandt. He sought to give us a chance to stop you once and for all! To symbolize our goals, we were named . . . the Revengers!"

[[The battles took place in YJ 32, YJ 9-11, YJ: Screams of Angar, YJ: Manhunter Madness and YJ 36, respectively - Paul]]

"This is pointless," Arrowette frowned. "We've stopped each one of you before with ease. You think by dividing us into smaller numbers, you'll actually win? Ice Master and Tora were defeated by two or three people with ease. Pyro didn't meet the full team, and even you went down with ease. The only one who gave us a decent fight was Angar, and since we have fought him once, we know his tricks, and he'll be an easy fight this time."

"Wrong!" The Master said. "Phoenix has never encountered Angar, but she does now. Just as Impulse and Jolt don't know Tora . . . nor do Rebel and Empress know Pyro, or Superboy know Ice Master. Nightwing doesn't know me. You, Arrowette, were the only one who battled us all!"

"How did you know that?" Nightwing asked calmly.

"Know what?"

"That Arrowette fought all of them?" he continued. "Arrowette was in costume when she fought Angar . . . and though she didn't directly fight Pyro, she was there during the MLF battle . . . and yes, for Tora, too. But against the Ice Master, she was in the identity of the Spoiler. And against you, she was in her civilian identity."

"Yeah!" Arrowette exclaimed. "See, he is a good detective."

"Ah," the Master nodded. "All information was provided by Rembrandt, our mysterious benefactor."

"Mysterious benefactor, again," Arrowette frowned. "No one talks like that."

"The Grand Master of Messiness does!" the villain exclaimed. "And now will feel my full wrath!"

"Hold on a second," Nightwing said. "What do you hope to gain here? I mean, just revenge? Someone organized all this so that you could just attack us? What kind of sense does that make?"

"It makes perfect sense!" he exclaimed. A sudden ringing came from his belt. "Oop, hold on . . . call!" He grabbed a cell phone off his belt buckle and lifted it to his ear. "Hello?"

Arrowette and Nightwing looked at each other briefly. She made a 'cuckoo' motion. He shrugged.

"Oh . . . right, right," the Master continued his conversation on the phone. "Makes sense . . . okay! You tell the others? Okay . . . later!"

He hung up the phone.

"It appears this will have to wait for another day," he frowned. "Change of plans! See ya later!"

The Grand Master of Messiness summoned a quick wind, and flew off into the air.

"What is going on?" Nightwing asked.

"Beats me," Arrowette said.

"I'll put out a call to the others . . . we'll meet back at base, see if we can figure out what's going on."

The team reassembled after a few minutes.

"I was fighting this ice guy, and then he just . . . took off," Superboy frowned. "Then I got Chuck's call . . . "

"Bart and I were chasing Tora when we got called," Jolt said.

"Tora?" Empress asked.

"Okay, everyone," Nightwing started, "I think it's time we put the pieces together. Apparently, five of our former foes have gathered together to strike at us, calling themselves the Revengers. They've got someone else pulling the strings for them, whom was referred to as Rembrandt. That mean anything to anyone?"

There was a general answer of 'no'.

"Okay," Nightwing sighed. "Let's go over the villains quickly, so that when next we encounter them it'll be a quick fight. Ice Master?"

"Heat," Phoenix shrugged. "Melt him away. Tora?"

"Just power," Superboy shrugged. "She's a normal human. Some strong telekinetics from afar would take her out. Pyro?"

"Cut off his flame throwers," Empress said. "Without fire to control, he's powerless. The Grand Master of Messiness?"

"He's a push-over," Arrowette said. "Speed would deal with him easiest. Just have Impulse strike him faster than he can see, and no problems. Angar?"

"He's the only one who could be a problem," Nightwing said. "But if we can plug our ears, his powers shouldn't affect us. After that, he's just a normal guy in decent shape. Superboy or Phoenix could overwhelm him easily."

Kon nodded.

"Now that that's settled," Chuck continued, "why don't we all just monitor the news? They're going to strike again soon . . . I say rest up, keep and eye out. I'll look into this Rembrandt fellow."

They all nodded and dispersed.

Eventually night came . . . and the team shrugged and went to bed. They could wait for the Revengers.

Unfortunately, sleep was not to be the sweet reward they all expected. Another night was filled with nightmares, making sleep difficult. Uncomfortable at best, impossible at worst, the team was all suffering. None of them thought to say anything to each other, however. The nightmares were their own inner demons coming out. None would admit to such things.

But it was definitely starting to take a toll on the young heroes . . .

"It is . . . a desert," M'Reel said as he stood next to Graviton, who floated slightly off the ground.

"Yes, it is," Graviton replied.

"Why have we come here, oh first one?"

"Almost the entirety of the Australian populace is on the continent's coast. Most of the outback is un-colonized. It's an easy place to obtain a large mass of land."

"Obtain . . . ?" M'Reel asked. "But . . . this land . . . appears to be worthless."

"Hardly," Graviton replied. "There is water all throughout this land . . . you just need to dig deep enough. And believe me . . . we'll be digging plenty deep."

"I do not understand . . . "

Graviton smiled. "I've told you many times, my boy . . . many times. Vision is key."

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He raised an arm. The ground began to shake all around them. In a matter of moments, approximately forty-eight square miles of desert ground began to rise out of the Australian continent.

"Oh my . . . " M'Reel said.

Graviton grinned as his work continued. "I have my vision, my loyal servant. And it begins now . . . as I create for us a new home . . . as I begin to build . . . Sky Island!"

"Everybody, up an' at 'em," Nightwing said as the team gathered in the kitchen, late morning.

"What?" Superboy asked, obviously tired. "Find anything out?"

"About Rembrandt?" he asked back. "No. But the Ice Master's attacking again, causing havoc in Manhattan. Suit up, and we'll go get him."

"What about his buddies?" Anita asked.

"They're not in sight," Nightwing answered, "but I'd be willing to bet they're nearby."

"Alright," Jolt said. "We'll be ready to go in no time!"

The Super Cycle closed in on the Ice Master's location. The area around him was cold, as he was randomly encasing things in ice and giggling to himself.

"That guy's a loon," Superboy said.

"I know," Arrowette replied. "Let's make this fast and . . . whoa!"

Suddenly, the cycle shook due to intense wind. Streams of garbage and waste whirled around them.

"We're under attack!" Jolt exclaimed.

"No kidding," Superboy said. He grabbed Arrowette and flew away from the cycle. Phoenix grabbed Rebel and Jolt with her telekinesis. Empress teleported herself, Impulse and Nightwing to the ground. The cycle went on auto-pilot and landed safely, although a bit harshly.

The Grand Master of Messiness grinned as Young Justice formed on the ground. He called out, "Revengers . . . Assemble!"

Tora, Pyro and Angar all formed on him, with Ice Master quickly following.

"There will be no surrender, Young Justice," the Grand Master said. "You will suffer!"

"Let's do this already, okay?" Superboy said.

"Your wish," The Master said. "Angar!"

At that command, Angar the Screamer opened his mouth and screamed. "Your worst fears are now . . . manifest!"

"We've all got ear-plugs, stupid," Jolt said.

Angar frowned. "Oh."

Tora lashed out with her bullwhip, grabbing Jolt by the arm and throwing her into a nearby building. Pyro created a giant fire dragon that lunged for Arrowette, who leapt aside. The Ice Master hurled ice-spears at Empress and Rebel. Anita teleported away, as Rebel dodged. The Grand Master called upon a wave of trash to attack the young heroes.

"Wow," Empress said as she teleported next to Pyro. She pulled out her staff and pulled it into its two halves, which had sharp blades. She sliced off one of the access points to his flame thrower. She teleported to the other and did the same. "I didn't think a group of super-villains this lame has ever existed before."

"You may have cut me off from creating more fire," Pyro said, "but I won't need to create more! Not with this dragon to do my bidding!"

"You claim to know fire?" Phoenix asked, taking to the air. "You know nothing."

Her firebird burst out from around her and let out a telepathic scream. It enveloped the fire dragon, dispersing the flame and incorporating some of it into itself. Then the bird went back to normal, hovering about Linda's body.

"Ulp," Pyro said.

Empress punched him in the face, and he dropped.

Rebel leapt at Tora, and the two began to fight.

"You're fast," Tora said.

Rebel replied with a quick nerve pinch to Tora's arm, and a second to her neck. She dropped as well.

Angar opened his mouth to attempt a louder scream. Arrowette fired a gas arrow straight into his mouth. He fell to the floor, choking on sleeping gas.

Nightwing dodged some random garbage and Superboy knocked both fists into the Ice Master.

"You're not so strong," the Ice Master said.

"Strength isn't everything," Superboy said, "when you've got friends."

Kon knocked him back into Jolt, who gave the villain a pair of electro-shock punches, knocking him out.

"Ice is still water, and water and electricity don't mix," she grinned.

Impulse sped around the Grand Master of Messiness at a fast pace, giving quick punches here and there, but mainly keeping him disoriented and dizzy. When he finally broke off his attack, Nightwing was ready with his bo-staff. One strong blow to the head was all it took.

"Well . . . that was easy," Impulse said.

"Yeah," Superboy grinned. "So much for the Revengers!"

"Except for that Rembrandt guy," Arrowette frowned.

"I wonder who he is," Anita said.

"Yeah . . . " Nightwing pondered. "Me too . . . "