The fate of the Phoenix! JANUARY 2003 #50

The End by Paul Hahn Inspired and Influenced by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin

The drama's next act is about to begin. Before it is ended, these young heroes will be put to the ultimate test. If they are found wanting, the entire universe may well pay the price . . .

"What happened?" Nightwing asked. "Where are we?"

"Let me put it this way, Boy Wonder," Superboy frowned, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

"Cute Kon, real cute," Arrowette frowned, "but . . . who are these people? What do they want with us?"

"We're surrounded by armed and armored warriors, Cissie," Empress said, "so I doubt anything good."

"I don't understand," Impulse said. "We were on Sky Island . . . "

"And now we're on the deck of some . . . alien ship?" Wonder Girl asked. "I know I just got back, but were things always this weird?"

"Young Justice!" a voiced boomed. "Heed the words of Erik the Red, chosen spokesmen of the Council! You stand in the presence of delegates from every known race in the galaxy. Your fate is in their hands."

The team looked around, getting their bearings. They were in a huge room, an auditorium of some kind, filled with all kinds of aliens watching them. Erik the Red was a man dressed in red armor, his face covered by a mask with horns.

"What's this all about?" Nightwing asked, speaking up. "Why have you kidnapped us?"

"For one simple reason, Earthling," Erik the Red continued. "To ensure their safety - to ensure the safety of the entire universe . . . Phoenix must be destroyed!"

"Phoenix?" Linda asked. "Me? Why?"

"You have been judged," Erik explained on behalf of the alien council. "It has been determined that no human can possibly contain the power of Phoenix. We saw her corrupted once, with the power nearly going out of control . . . and that was when she was resisting it! Now, she has chosen to embrace the power . . . and the Council has decided that she must die. There is no alternative. Surrender her, or suffer the consequences."

"No," Superboy said. "You're speaking of maybes and might haves! You talk about a time when someone else was controlling her! But that's all in the past! Her powers are under control. She's no threat to you, or the universe. Leave her be."

"What happened once may happen again," Erik frowned. "So long as Phoenix exists - in any form, at any power level - she is a deadly threat to all that lives. The risk is too great."

"No," Superboy said. "There's got to be a way! We'll fight each and every one of you if we have to! We won't just . . . give her up!"

"Are you saying there's nothing we can do to save her?" Nightwing asked. "There must be something . . . some way to prove . . . to force you, if necessary . . . "

"There is . . . a way," Erik frowned. "Arin'nn Haelar. A duel of honor for the life of your Linda Danvers."

"Arin'nn Haelar, then," Superboy said. "Young Justice versus whatever you've got for the life of Linda Danvers!"

Erik the Red frowned. " . . . Very well. But this is a battle wherein no punches will be pulled. And the loser must keep his word."

"We're no liars," Kon said. "We'll fight, and we'll win."

Kon didn't have the right to issue that challenge in all our names without consulting us . . . Arrowette thought. But it did buy us time to consider our alternatives . . . whether we want to fight for her or not.

"We won't let one of our own be condemned without a fair trial . . . or any trial at all!" Arrowette exclaimed. "We'll stand behind her."

"Your courage and loyalty do you credit, heroes," Erik continued. "You will have a day to rest, to recover your strength, and to prepare. The duel begins at dawn."

It's only been a few short years that I've had these powers. And once I finally embrace them . . . I'm sentenced to die? Jason Wyngarde did manage to use me . . . twist me to his will and against those that I loved. He made me evil . . . what if it were to happen again? What if what the Council says is right? What should happen if I can't control my powers? I feel the Phoenix Force inside me. When I sleep, I know of its dreams. It is power beyond comprehension . . . it is a creature of absolute beauty . . . but also one of infinite hunger. I am a child of darkness and light . . .

God . . . merciful God, help me. Give me strength.

For all Cissie's bravado, I can't shake the feeling this may be the battle where our luck runs out. I mean, we've fought big fights before . . . just hours ago we battled Graviton! But that was barely a victory, and only with a lot of help. These guys are an army of aliens . . . aliens! We've never encountered anything like this before . . .

But then again, miracles seem to be our stock in trade lately. Especially with Wonder Girl just coming back from the dead! Who knows? We might pull off an upset yet. Emphasis on might.

At least Bart seems okay. But then again . . . Bart always seems okay. I wonder . . . does anything get through to him?

In a couple of hours I'm going into battle against who knows what. It can't be too bad, though, right? After all . . . I've died once. What more can be done to me?

However, Wonder Girl's a bit out of shape. I've spent the last several months realizing that I wasn't dead, and then trying to figure out how to pull myself together. I don't know the extent of my powers . . . or how strong I am. I used to have super strength . . . now? I have no idea. And that worries me.

Rebel and I have been with this unit the shortest time. We know Linda the least. Are we so ready to lay down our lives for her? Well . . . Rebel seems content to. But there's really no way to know for sure, since she can't talk. But she keeps training, readying for the fight.

At least this place is kinda nice. An okay place to spend the night. But I'd probably go batty if I had to live on some lifeless, alien vessel. Of course, by this time tomorrow, I may not have to worry about living anywhere. I don't believe I'm afraid to die. I know I'm young, and would like to live longer . . . but it will happen to me one day. It happens to everyone, whether they want it or not. So there's no reason to waste time worrying about it.

As for this fight, well . . . we've got people with super strength, speed and all sorts of other tricks up their sleeve . . . like mine, teleportation. Still . . . I have a bad feeling about this. The concerns of the Council were valid. However . . . if push comes to shove . . . I will stand by my teammate. My . . . friend.

It's been a long time since I lost my temper like that. But I'm not about to back down . . . even if I have to stand alone. The law separates humanity from its ancestors. And, like it or not, the law protects everyone - good, evil, victim, criminal. It has to, or it, and civilizations, aren't worth beans. If Linda Danvers was Satan incarnate, I'd still grant her the full benefit of the law! After all, we only have Erik saying what might or could happen. If they want Linda's life, they should prove that she is evil . . . and they can't do that, since she hasn't done anything!

Linda and I may not have always gotten along, but we've been teammates for a long time . . . and I do consider her a friend. This is a fight where I'm willing to back her up, all the way, one hundred percent.

Here's where things get really complicated, huh? Nothing has ever been simple with Young Justice. Not even a game of baseball. Sometimes I wonder if we're even having an affect on the world.

Especially now, when we come face to face with a league of alien beings, all of whom have decided the fate of one of my teammates and are willing to just . . . take her life on a whim. Okay . . . it's a lot more than a whim. I saw her manipulated by Wyngarde . . . and she had no problems wiping the floor with us. Now that she's become the Phoenix, with all that power . . . if she became evil again, would anything be able to stop her?

But no . . . I won't think like that. We've all done things in our pasts that we're not proud of. What matters now is the future. Linda's part of my team. I've let people down before . . . I can't . . . I won't . . . let it happen again.

Today's duel is not a duel to the death . . . but in trying to save Linda, one of us . . . or all of us . . . might die. And I can't help thinking, what if Erik's right? Suppose we win today, and then Linda goes insane? She could become some sort of . . . of . . . Dark Phoenix . . . with the whole universe at her mercy, and it will have been our fault. I've been wrestling with this problem--this fear--all night . . . I still don't have an answer. Maybe there isn't one.

Damn it, it isn't fair! After all we've been through . . . after all the good Linda's done - to have it end like this! But I can't help but think, if my position was switched with Erik's . . . would I be acting any differently? I'd like to think yes. If vengeance is demanded, let God mete it out. Me - I'd rather err on the side of Mercy.

No matter what the cost.

"Linda," he answered, mustering a smile.

"Kon, am I worth it?" she asked. "What if . . . what if . . . "

"You're not evil," Kon said. "Linda, whatever happens, know that I love you. And I'll stand by you."

"But Kon . . . you gave up your powers . . . you--"

"I'll fight with everything I have, Linda. Everything I have."

"I just want to tell you that I'm fighting for Linda," Kon said, addressing the group. "I won't ask any of you to join me. I don't have the right. And I won't think any less of you if you decide not to."

"Kon, we, uh, talked this out amongst ourselves before you got here," Wonder Girl said. "We're all agreed. We're with you and Linda, to the end."

"Thanks, Cass . . . all of you. It means a lot."

Erik the Red entered the room. "Young Justice and a Council Battle Group will fight until one team or the other is defeated. If Young Justice wins, those who survive will be set free. If the Council's force wins . . . Phoenix - Linda Danvers . . . is ours, to do with as we will. Will you abide by these terms, Earthlings?"

"We will," Nightwing said. "You have our word on that."

A second later, the team was teleported away.

"Young Justice faces hopeless odds," Erik the Red spoke. "But they are exceptional beings. Suppose . . . they win?"

"They will not," a voice replied. "You have my word on that."

"Nine of us against . . . what?" Arrowette asked.

"You can bet the odds'll be stacked against us," Nightwing frowned.

"We're too young for this intergalactic crap," Anita sighed.

"Having second thoughts?" Wonder Girl asked.

"No," Anita replied. "Just saying."

"I can see a party landing a little way east of us," Arrowette said, her eyes keener than anyone else's. "Do we make a stand?"

"When we're ready, and on our terms," Nightwing said. "We'll start with hit and run tactics, to throw the enemy off balance and whittle down their forces. For now, we'll split up. We're surrounded with alien ruins . . . let's use 'em to our best advantage. Arrowette, Wonder Girl, and Jolt with me, we'll head north. Superboy, Phoenix, Rebel, Impulse, and Empress, head west. Don't die, people."

"Nope," Linda said. "They must be using some type of psi-screening. And I don't want to push too hard, or else I might give away our location."

"I wish we knew what we were up against," Kon frowned.

"Look out!" Impulse exclaimed.

The group scattered as a pair of energy blasts nearly hit them. A large robot stood before them.

"We have met the enemy," Empress said, "and he is big!"

"Take him!" Superboy yelled.

Empress teleported behind the robot, pulling her staff apart and exposing the twin blades. However, before she could strike, another, smaller, more human-sized robot jumped out and grabbed her.

"There's two of them!" she exclaimed.

Phoenix slammed the big one into the far wall with a focused blast of telekinesis, damaging most of it's circuits.

"That's why I couldn't detect anyone," Phoenix frowned. "They're using robots!"

Rebel did a jump kick that knocked the smaller robot off of Empress. However, another large robot was quickly approaching behind the group.

"This isn't good," Superboy said, activating his photonic 'S' shield. "Not good at all . . . "

Arrowette fired off an electro-shock arrow at another one as it approached, causing minor damage.

"We're out of our league!" she exclaimed.

"With that attitude, of course," Jolt said, shock-punching one of the smaller 'bots.

We're holding our own . . . Nightwing thought, but that's about it. Our powers, for the most part, are equal . . . but we don't know the full extent of these guys' abilities. I've got no real powers . . . this battle will come down to how many robots they send after us!

"We've been separated!" Empress exclaimed to her silent partner. "These robots are everywhere . . . what hope do we have?"

Rebel shrugged. She leapt out from their cover and took the fight to one of the big robots. She connect a punch to the robot's chest that broke her hand.

"Cassandra!" Empress exclaimed. She teleported out and slashed into the Robot, cutting him up. However, the small robot leapt out and tackled her again. Before she could teleport, it used their physical connection to electrocute her and take her out of the battle.

By this point, another robot had shot down Rebel.

"I'm out of batarangs," Nightwing replied. "We've just gotta deal!"

"Wonder Girl's our best hope for success," Jolt said. "She's been takin' a licking, but she keeps on ticking."

"The same cannot be said for you," a robot answered, coming up behind them. Two laser blasts took out the girls, while the smaller robot leapt at Nightwing, tackling him to the ground.

"Your strength is fleeting," the smaller robot said. "You have no hope."

Nightwing, using the last of his strength, flung the small robot off of him. But he was unable to move as the large robot picked him up and smashed him into the ground.

Wonder Girl suddenly found herself alone in the fight. Four more robots emerged, making it seven against one.

"I may go down . . . " she frowned, "but I'll take as many of you with me as I can!"

And the fight began, though ultimately, it's victors walked away.

"So much for Chuck's brilliant strategy," Kon frowned. "We have to lose these guys!"

"In here! This alcove should hide us," she said, pulling him in.

"How? It's too shallow to do us any good. We'll be spotted in an instant."

"Not after I've used my telekinesis to cover the entrance with a wall of lunar dust!" she exclaimed. "Huh . . . Lunar. I just realized, we're not on some strange, distant land . . . we're on the moon."

"Why are there ruins on the moon?"

"Beats me. But that's a mystery for another day," she said. If there is another day.

"There they go, none the wiser," Kon said, watching a pair of robots fly past.

"We've got breathing space, Kon . . . but, sooner or later, we'll have to come out."

"I know. There's so much I want to say to you . . . so much that I feel. I . . . don't have the words."

"Where I'm concerned, it's the thoughts that count. And yours - like you - are beautiful. You're a special man, Kon-El."

"No more special than the woman I love," he replied. He charged up his shield again. The two grasped hands. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Then . . . let's go!"

The two leapt out, finding themselves instantly under attack. And as they made their last stand, they found themselves remembering the day they first met - so long ago, so far away, or so it seemed. They remembered all that had happened since then . . . good times and bad. And dreams of what might have been.

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Linda Danvers and a man named Kon-El. They were young. They were in love. They were heroes. This day, they proved that, beyond all shadow of a doubt.

A robot's energy blast finally managed to connect with the powerless Kon-El, taking him down.

"No!" Phoenix screamed. Her fire bird burst forth around her, and she began to lift into the air. With the blink of an eye, she destroyed all the robots around her. A blast of energy fired upwards, knocking about the alien ship.

"Grab hand-holds everyone!" someone shouted. "The artificial gravity's gone!"

"Damage control!" another officer yelled. "Report! How badly are we hit?"

"Captain," Erik the Red called. "Alert the Grand Fleet in Wako Sector! Plan Omega! If we fail in our mission . . . burn this world, this system, this entire stellar cluster! Do whatever is necessary to ensure that Phoenix is destroyed!"

"Linda . . . ?" Kon asked, struggling back to consciousness. He noticed other members of the team slowly making their way to Linda. Her power was amazing.

"I . . . I understand," she said quietly, powering down and lowering as the team continued to gather. "Two beings . . . Linda Danvers and Phoenix . . . separate . . . unique . . . bound together. A symbiote; neither can exist without the other. Phoenix provides my life-force, while I provide a living focus for its infinite power. So long as I live, the Phoenix will manifest itself through me. The Phoenix is a cosmic power. It can't be contained, nor controlled, especially by a human vessel. The council's fears . . . they were justified!"

"What?" Kon asked.

"I don't think I can control this power . . . I can't hope to contain it. But . . . I . . . I refuse to just give up! Death is not the answer! I don't know what the answer is . . . but I have an idea. I have a hope. And I'm going to take it."

"What are you talking about?" Kon asked.

"So long as I stay on Earth . . . with Young Justice . . . there will always be conflict . . . temptation! A threat to everyone! I . . . I need to return to the cosmos. Return to where the Phoenix Force originated. I need to learn about it . . . in solitude . . . it's my only hope . . . if I can learn to contain the Phoenix . . . I have to try!"

"You're . . . leaving?"

"I have to," she replied. "I've got to flee the galaxy . . . and these aliens will leave you alone. I love you, Kon. A part of me will always be with you."

"Kinda, no. Don't! No!"

It was a useless effort. The Phoenix Force had fully manifested itself. Linda Danvers left the moon, heading out into the reaches of space.

The team suddenly found themselves aboard some type of alien space shuttle, heading towards earth.

"What . . . what just happened?" Nightwing asked.

"Linda . . . left. To save us all."

"I don't know about that," Arrowette said. "Look!"

Back by the moon, a huge alien ship had appeared. It three shots of intense energy. One was after the Phoenix. One destroyed the battleground on the moon. The other was heading for the shuttle.

"Oh no," Nightwing said.

"We can't out run that," Jolt said. "We're . . . we're gonna die?"

"No," Wonder Girl said. "My body can absorb energy. If I extend my power around the shuttle - "

"You'll be overwhelmed," Arrowette frowned. "You'll die."

"I died once," Wonder Girl frowned. "I'm not eager to do it again. But let's face it . . . what other choice do we have? That energy blast is gonna hit us any second . . . "

"The core of the space shuttle has a protective room, shielded from radiation," Empress said. "We should be safe in there, Cassie."

"But someone has to pilot this thing," Cassie frowned. "I'm not expert . . . but the controls aren't that difficult. I'll be able to get us down there, while protecting myself and you guys as best I can."

"That's not an option," Nightwing said. "I lost you once . . . I'm not losing you again. I won't have any other deaths on my watch!"

"Then you better get yourself into that shielded room real soon . . . the blast's about to hit us."

"She's right," Arrowette frowned. "She's our only hope. We have to . . . "

"I . . . " Nightwing started.

"Just go," Wonder Girl said. "Go now, while you still can."

And so, moments later, the rest of Young Justice was sealed away. Wonder Girl leaked her energy all over the ship, trying her best to protect it from the massive radiation wave heading towards them.

"Okay . . . here we go," Cassie said. "Velocity up . . . trajectory seems . . . fine . . . I'm shielding the ship and myself as best I can and . . . Lord, I'm scared. I don't want to die . . . umph!"

The shuttle began to shake violently as the radiation burst hit, and overtook it.

"Strain . . . so much . . . too much . . . can't take . . . much more . . . oh no. My screen's . . . starting to give way! The radiation . . . it's starting to get through! Hold on, Wondy . . . hold . . . on!!!"