"We'll be arriving soon," the pilot called back. He worked for the Hellfire Club, as did the other crew members aboard the ultra-fast, ultra-expensive, ultra-private jet.

"Good," answered Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Inner Circle. She looked back upon the others traveling with her. "I'm not quite sure what to expect. The Club would dictate they accept us as friends, but chances are, that won't exactly happen."

"I bet," was the answer. Chuck Barnes sighed. I still can't believe we're doing this. He was better known as Nightwing, leader of Young Justice. He and his team were passengers aboard Frost's jet. Willing passengers, no less. But all still troubled. We're riding a jet with one of our greatest enemies . . . to help her find another of our foes! It's insane.

We had just gotten back from our second encounter with the Imperial Forces of America, a group that had given Jolt and Wonder Girl their powers. We went up against Arnim Zola again, and barely got away from our fight with his 'Armageddon Man'. In the process, the Imperials destroyed over half of our mansion base . . . but gave a hint that Cassie . . . Wonder Girl . . . might be alive after all. Of course, I didn't get a chance to investigate that. Frost was waiting for us in a limo. She wanted our help.

"No way," Superboy said angrily. "We don't owe you anything."

"So quick to judge?" Frost asked. "Think of all that our former member Wyngarde did for the woman you love . . . "

"Kon, no!" Phoenix exclaimed, holding him back. "I don't need anyone to protect me. She's just trying to unnerve you."

"For someone who says she needs our help, she's certainly going about getting it the wrong way," Kon frowned.

"I merely meant that, without him, Ms. Danvers would never be at the power level she's now enjoying," Frost said.

"Cut to the chase," I frowned. "What do you want, Frost?"

"Our Black King, Sebastian Shaw, has disappeared," she explained. "I need to find him."

"Why?" Arrowette questioned. "With him gone, wouldn't that put you in charge?"

"Normally, yes," she frowned. "But I had not picked Shaw's mind clean of all the information he has. Codes and access to so much that made him worthy of his title."

"You're not helping your case," I continued. "You want us to help you find one of our greatest enemies, so you can steal information from his brain and replace him as head of the Hellfire Club? You're insane."

"Am I?" Frost asked. "Think of it another way. If you help me, and I become the head of the Hellfire Club . . . I can guarantee that we stay out of your way. It will be in my power to do that. It would create a comfy, cozy little non-aggression pact that would serve you greatly."

"What makes you think we couldn't handle anything you throw at us?" Superboy asked. "What makes you think we aren't planning to take you down?"

"Don't be foolish, child," she sighed. "But I suppose, as an additional enticement, I can offer you a list of information on every terrorist, mutant or otherwise, in the known world . . . information that could be very useful to you . . . the Avengers League . . . the government. Whomever you should choose to give it to. It would be a huge step towards stopping evil."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why? Why give us that?"

"Because . . . I don't care for them. Terrorists are so . . . cliche . . . they're filth we could all do without. And with all the information the Hellfire Club has on them, well . . . it's an offer you can't refuse."

"Why can't your Hellions assist you?" Linda asked.

"My Hellions are . . . unavailable," she frowned. Her tone of voice had changed there a lot. Something was weird. The mention of the Hellions definitely affected her.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"We're going to Montreal, another branch of the Hellfire Club . . . it's where he was last seen. We're going to investigate and find him."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Arrowette asked.

"You don't," was her reply.

And now, here we are, approaching another nest of probably hostile enemies. I must be crazy.

"Lowering landing gear," the pilot said.

"Here we go," Superboy said under his breath.

"You never did tell us why we're heading to this branch in specific," Arrowette said.

"This was his last known location," Frost answered. "He was supposed to leave from here to the San Francisco branch . . . and then, when I placed in a call to inquire, I noticed something . . . strange . . . "

"Strange?" Nightwing asked. "How so?"

"I'm not sure," she frowned. "But I got a feeling . . . I sensed something. I couldn't identify it."

"Great," Superboy frowned. "We're walking into a totally unknown situation."

"You're superheroes," Frost said as the jet landed and shut off it's engines. "You should be used to this sort of activity."

A door opened and a ladder lowered. Two Hellfire guards walked down first to make sure it was safe. Standard procedure. Frost came second, with Young Justice behind.

They were soon met by two people, a man and woman, dressed similarly. They appeared to be brother and sister.

"Frost?" the man asked.

"Mr. and Ms. Beaubier, I assume?" Frost asked as she approached.

The two nodded in unison. "Your guests?" the girl asked.

"American super-humans," Frost shrugged. "Serving me." At the same time, Frost spoke into Young Justice's minds telepathically: {Relax . . . go along. He is Jean-Paul, she is Jeanne-Marie . . . they are brother and sister, both mutants . . . King and Queen of this particular branch.}

"To what do we owe this visit?" Jean-Paul asked.

"As I called in earlier, I am looking for Sebastian," the White Queen explained.

"As we told you earlier, he is not here," Jeanne-Marie frowned.

"I thought I would see for myself."

"You don't trust us?"

Nightwing cleared his throat, loudly, cutting through the tension. "I'm sure our hosts would be kind enough to show us to where we might use some restrooms? It was a long flight . . . "

Jean-Paul frowned. "Of course." He snapped a finger, causing a miniature spark of light to appear. A servant ran over. "Show our guests inside . . . "

"Yes sir."

Young Justice was sitting inside a small lobby by themselves.

"This room is no doubt being monitored," Nightwing frowned.

{I can conduct a meeting telepathically,} Linda spoke into everyone's minds. The next thing the team knew, they were sitting around the old table in their former briefing room, back in their first base at Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. It was a psychic projection, sending all the teammates into it.

"Whoa," Empress said.

"Since when are you this powerful?" Arrowette asked.

"Since I broke down my own barriers," Linda shrugged. "I've always had this power inside me . . . I've just never embraced it before. Now I am . . . and it's coming in handy, wouldn't you say?"

"This is secure?" Nightwing asked.

"I'll know if another telepath is trying to spy," Linda replied.

"What if someone walks into the lobby in Montreal?" Superboy asked. "We'll all be frozen and silent . . . "

"Then we'd best make this quick," Linda replied.

"Alright," Nightwing said, taking charge. "We know Frost is up to no good. But we have agreed to help her."

"You agreed to help her," Superboy cut in.

Rebel sat quietly, twiddling her thumbs, watching everything happen.

Nightwing frowned, then continued. "The tension between the twins and Frost was very visible. And I know they're hiding something. I'm gonna suggest that you all split up and do a little recon of the mansion and surrounding area. See if you can learn anything about the place, the people and Shaw."

"What are you gonna do?" Arrowette asked.

"I'm gonna go back to Frost," he explained. "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid or turn this whole thing against the team. We'll trade what we know, look into some things . . . talk to the Inner Circle here."

"Oh, sure, look into some things," Arrowette rolled her eyes. "Just spending time with the blond who walks around in lingerie and shoves her cleavage in your face."

Nightwing rolled his eyes. "Let's break people . . . the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get out of here. Let's go."

The telepathic scene faded away, leaving Young Justice back inside the Hellfire mansion at Montreal, right where they had left off. They all nodded to each other and one by one, left the room.

"Scanning anything?" Kon asked.

"No sign of Shaw," she said. "But most of this place has Psi-shielding throughout it. Makes sense for them to be protected from telepaths. But it means that we're gonna have to keep searching the old fashioned way."

"I still can't believe we're even helping Frost," Superboy frowned. "After all the Hellfire Club did to you . . . to us! And now we're helping them. You ask me, I think Chuck's slipping."

"I know how much you hate the Hellfire Club," Linda replied. "And honestly, I don't know why I don't hate them more. I know I hate Wyngarde and all, but I can't help thinking that if I hadn't gone through all that, I wouldn't be anywhere near the power levels I'm currently enjoying, y'know?"

"I guess you're just a glass-half-full kinda girl," Kon shrugged.

"Chuck's actions may seem a bit wrong to us, but I think he's trying to make the best of the situation. Shaw is an evil man, and if we can set it up that he's out of the picture, then that will be better for us. And then Frost has agreed to leave us alone on top of it. That means that the Hellfire Club, who had been our greatest enemies of late, will be out of our picture."

"Seems kinda lax in his duties to protect people," Kon frowned. "It's like we're signing a non-aggression pact . . . meaning that the Hellfire Club won't target us, but they will be targeting someone else . . . and we'll have to ignore them."

"I doubt it'll come to that," Linda shrugged. "Come on . . . let's try the basement."

"Stupid Chuck finding excuses to hang around Ms. Cleavage," Arrowette muttered angrily. "Do you think he's attracted to her? Is that why he accepted this mission? Maybe I need to get cleavage . . . "

Empress laughed. "Cissie, you've got to relax some. He knows Frost is evil. Everyone does . . . even me an' Rebel here. We read the file you guys have on her. Hellfire equals bad, we all got it. He's probably just using that fancy brain of his to put together some kind of trap for her and Shaw."

"That better be it," Arrowette frowned. "Hey . . . where'd Rebel go?"

"She went up those stairs," Empress pointed. "Maybe she's on to something?"

"Could be . . . let's go."

"Well, I just thought it would be nice to do things the old fashioned way," Hallie smiled.

"But does it have to be so slow?"

"It gives us a chance to talk, Bart," Hallie replied. "I mean, after being kidnapped by the Imperial Forces again, I could use the chance to do some talking."

"Oh . . . okay," Bart said.

"I'm just worried," she shrugged. "Arnim Zola made all these powerful creations . . . and Wonder Girl is one of them. And he said his creations can't die . . . but does that mean that Cassie's--"

"Hold on," Bart said. "I've gotta do a fast search, or I'm gonna go crazy!"

"But, Bart--" Hallie started, then sighed. He was gone in a flash.

Impulse went from where he was to the upper levels, then down, and finally out around the mansion. He came to a screeching halt suddenly as he found a group of four standing outside in front of him.

A woman in a green suit with red hair spoke. "My name's Vindicator. This is Alpha Flight. We're here to take you down, Hellfire!"

Nightwing and the White Queen stood in the library, discussing. Emma Frost had drafted the young heroes to assist her in locating Sebastian Shaw, was well as removing him from any and all positions of power. In exchange, she promised that the Hellfire Club would never again get in Young Justice's way or cause them any trouble. Nightwing reluctantly accepted.

"There's a lot you're not telling us, isn't there?" he asked.

"There's a lot you haven't told me," Frost replied.

"Oh?"

"Your names . . . identities . . . full extents of your powers . . . your past . . . "

"That's private," Nightwing frowned.

"And so I've respected it," Frost shrugged. "Respect my privacy."

"I'm not asking for any details of your childhood, I'm asking about this . . . mission," Chuck Barnes continued frowning. "You brought us here to find Shaw. We're looking. But there are clear tensions between you and the twins who rule this branch of the club, Northstar and Aurora. What's the deal?"

"There's no 'deal', as you call it," she shrugged again. "They're just mutants in a position of power, like me. It just so happens that I've got more power . . . and they're jealous. They probably know that Shaw and I are the last remains of the New York branch's Inner Circle. If they can take me out, then they could probably assume control of the NYC branch."

"So this is all about power?"

"My dear child, everything is about power," Frost grinned. "Everything. You just need to look more closely."

Chuck sighed. "I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. And with as little trouble as possible, too. The last thing we need is another big fight."

Frost grinned. "I believe we may be too late for that . . . "

"Whoops . . . " Impulse said, looking at the four figures standing in front of him.

"I'm Vindicator . . . behind me is Sasquatch, Puck, Murmur and Snowbird, more members of Alpha Flight. I suggest you surrender now and do things the easy way."

"Surrender?" Bart asked. "What'd I . . . ?"

Sasquatch used his super strength to knock the young Bart Allen back into the wall of the mansion.

"Sasquatch!" Vindicator exclaimed. "I told you we wouldn't attack unless provoked!"

"Sorry," Sasquatch said. "You know how my mind gets when I'm in my beast form . . . "

"And besides," Puck grinned, "if he's here, he's gotta be evil, eh?"

"What's goin' on here?" Superboy asked as he and Phoenix flew down to Impulse. Jolt was running to catch up behind them, with Nightwing and the White Queen coming from the side.

"Hellfire Club, you're going down," Snowbird said. "We've gotten the orders, we've got some evidence . . . and we're taking you all down."

"But we're not the Hellfire Club," Phoenix said.

"And you hurt my bud!" Superboy said.

"Kon, no!" Nightwing tried to stop it, but was too late.

Superboy charged fist first into Sasquatch, giving the beast a blow he hadn't felt in a long time, almost knocking him off his feet.

The battle was quickly joined. Snowbird formed into a bear and charged at Jolt, while Vindicator called upon a blast of magma to rise from the ground in an attempt to hurt Phoenix.

Puck charged at the White Queen. She grinned and concentrated for a brief moment. The next second, her skin was covered by diamond.

"Nice trick ya got there, blondie," Puck said.

"You bet it is," Frost replied. She then punched Puck and sent him flying.

Murmer approached Nightwing cautiously. He had his bo-staff ready.

"I don't like the idea of attacking an unarmed girl," he replied.

"I am 'ardly unarmed," she replied with a smile and a wink. Chuck couldn't help but think that she was drop-dead gorgeous. It made him hesitate for a moment, allowing her to leap at him. She grabbed hold of his arm and touched the bare skin of his face briefly. Then, she said, "Sleep."

"Sleep . . . ?" Nightwing managed to get out before he fell to the ground, asleep.

"Sleep," Murmer grinned, proud of herself.

"Whoa!" Puck exclaimed as he got another hit. "Snowbird, trade partners!"

The shape-shifter, in the form of a bear charged at the White Queen, smashing her into the mansion wall. In her diamond form, she wasn't hurt, but she was winded.

Puck, meanwhile, moved on to Jolt. Hallie began leaping about, dodging the short man's physical attacks. He was leaping about as well.

"Huh," Puck said. "We're a little evenly matched with our speed and agility, eh?"

"That we are," Jolt said. "Good thing I've got something more!"

One shock-punch was all it took to drop the Canadian man.

Meanwhile, Sasquatch and Superboy continued to trade blows, neither one really getting anywhere.

"I can probably keep this up all day," Sasquatch said.

"Me too, ugly," Superboy replied.

"Ugly? 'Ow cruel," Murmer said from behind. She grabbed hold of Superboy's arm and said, "Sleep."

"Sleep?" Superboy asked. He blinked, shaking his arm from her grasp.

"It . . . it deed not work?" she asked.

"I'm guessing your powers work on physical contact," Kon said. "I'm protected by my tactile telekinesis field. Speaking of which . . . "

Kon rammed both his fists into the ground, causing a telekinetic shockwave that rocked both Murmer and Sasquatch to the ground.

"You're honestly trying to beat Phoenix with heat?" Linda asked, using telekinesis to block Vindicator's attacks. "How foolish."

Linda fired a blast of her own telekinetic flame, smashing Vindicator from her flight into the ground with ease. She then looked over to Snowbird and, telekinetically, flung her cross the fight scene right into Sasquatch. She then landed.

"Everyone okay?" she asked.

"Except Nightwing," Jolt replied.

"He's fine," Frost replied, her diamond sheath disappearing. "Just asleep."

"Murmer," Superboy nodded. He walked over to Chuck and shook him. "Hey, boy wonder, up an' at 'em!"

"Whu?" Nightwing asked. "I'm awake, I'm awake . . . whoa. Lemme guess? Persuasional powers based on skin-to-skin touch?"

"Wow," Kon said, "you really were trained by the World's--"

"Knock it off already," Chuck sighed as he stood. "This shouldn't have been a fight. How's Bart?"

"I'm okay," Impulse replied.

"Good," Nightwing nodded. "Alpha Flight are Canada's heroes. They were here to bring down the Hellfire Club . . . and we stopped them. Kind of a, well . . . real dumb move there."

"Why didn't someone tell me?" Superboy asked.

"Because, as usual, you decided to punch first, ask questions later," Chuck sighed.

"I didn't see you doin' much good, sleeping away," Kon replied. "Letting some little hussy get the drop on you . . . "

"Both of you, stop," Linda said. "Your arguing, as usual, won't help anything."

"She's right," Frost replied. "And has anyone noticed that three of your own aren't here?"

"I called them telepathically when Kon and I came here," Linda said. "I assumed they received the message and were on their way."

"The mansion is heavily psi-shielded," Frost shrugged. "It's possible they just didn't hear."

"Or it's possible something's up," Nightwing frowned. "Especially since none of the Hellfire staff here seemed to notice there was a fight going on."

"Plan?" Jolt asked.

"I'll stay here and wait for Alpha Flight to regain consciousness," Nightwing said. "Frost, you stay, too. The rest of you, go find the others and keep in touch."

"Why do I stay?" Frost asked.

"Because I don't trust you."

"What the heck is this?" Arrowette asked.

"Beats me," Empress said.

Rebel continued to lead the way. She had led them up a short staircase, then down a longer one into some strange basement. They then found themselves walking through a long, narrow corridor. It was fairly dark, and the walls had strange, ancient artifacts hanging on them.

"Rebel certainly seems to think she's on to something," Arrowette said.

"I wish we could communicate with her," Empress frowned. "She seems able to understand us fairly well, but can't communicate herself. But she sure can fight . . . "

They continued along the path for a few minutes. It seemed as though the corridor went on forever.

"We've been going lower," Empress said. "There's been a slight decline on all these hallways . . . we're going underground. But it sure is taking a long way to get wherever we're going."

"I hope we get there soon."

"I think we're there . . . " Empress said as the trio turned another corner. The corridor opened into a very large room. The space before them was wide open, lit only by a few torches along the walls. About twenty yards ahead was a spread of white stone stairs that spread the width of the room. They led up a few feet to two large, wooden doors that sprawled at least ten feet high.

"What the heck is this place?" Arrowette asked.

"No idea," Empress frowned. "But I say we knock and see what's what."

"Just . . . knock?" Arrowette asked.

They both turned to see Rebel standing at the door. She knocked three times, somewhat loudly. After a moment, the doors creaked open. The inside room seemed fairly large, and well lit. The three peered inside.

"You?!"

Superboy, Firebird, Jolt and Impulse burst back into the Hellfire mansion through the main entrance.

"Let's find our teammates," Superboy said.

"Stop right there," a voice called.

The four stopped quickly, looking up to Northstar and Aurora, standing on the second floor balcony which overlooked the main lobby.

"Why?" Superboy asked.

"You can go no farther," Northstar said. "We won't permit it."

"Why not?" Jolt asked. "Just earlier you called us your guests!"

"We used the term loosely," Aurora replied.

"Your teammates have gone where they should not have," Northstar continued. "And though we appreciate your assistance in defeating Alpha Flight . . . if you proceed any further, we shall have to hurt you."

"You and what army?" Kon asked.

The twins grinned. "This one."

The lobby filled with Hellfire troopers armed with guns, all aimed at the four members of Young Justice.

"I see," Kon replied.

"Make it easy on all of us, Young Justice," Northstar said. "Surrender. And you won't be harmed."

"And our friends?" Linda asked.

"They, well . . . " Aurora started. "They're out of our hands, I'm afraid."

"This is foolish," Frost said. "We should all be in there, finding Shaw and finishing this mission. I don't trust Northstar and Aurora, and the sooner we're gone, the better. I doubt these Canadian Super-Heroes will come to any harm . . . and if they do, who cares? There are plenty of super heroes."

"Is the loss of life that meaningless to you?" Chuck asked. "Have you never lost anyone near to you before?"

"I . . . " Frost started, then she paused. She wasn't ready to accept that her students . . . her Hellions . . . were dead. That the Marauders had killed them. She thought, maybe . . . there was a chance . . . that they were still alive."

"No, of course not," Chuck frowned. "You've probably led a rich and pampered life your entire existence and have never had to deal with sadness."

"Oh, and like your life has been so sad?" Frost asked.

" . . . " Chuck paused. "Wonder Girl and Jade are dead. They died on my team, under my command. My parents? They were murdered by a loony named Flag Smasher. I witnessed the dead bodies of hundreds of Morlocks. I've seen heroes and villains alike die in the course of these stupid bouts. I've been plucked out of a normal teenager's existence and given more responsibilities than most people ever have in their entire lifetimes combined. Don't try to compare."

Frost merely frowned and turned away, crossing her arms.

Chuck sighed.

About fifty yards away, unbeknownst to the two, a figure watched closely. He was hidden easily by dense forest, and had a clear view of the mansion. He watched the two figures, and slowly lifted up his gun to bare.

He closed his left eye and looked through the targeting scope on his rifle. It locked on to the White Queen with ease. A single shot through her skull from behind would take care of it all.

His finger tensed on the trigger. He took a breath . . . and fired.

Chuck Barnes heard the shot. He responded instinctively, without thinking. His bo-staff enlarged and he swung, apparently at nothing. The bullet was knocked away at an incredible speed.

The White Queen spun around, looking wide-eyed at Nightwing. With another split second, Chuck tackled Frost and knocked them both to the ground. Five more shots were fired, and then silence.

"What in the world . . . ?" Emma Frost asked.

"Stay here!" Nightwing yelled. He stood quickly and began to sprint towards the direction of the shots, leaving a dazed and confused White Queen behind.

In a matter of seconds he had crossed the short field ahead of him and entered the thick, dense forest that surrounded the mansion. Most of Canada was still a wilderness. It would be hard to find anyone in those woods.

Chuck didn't slow down. He moved quickly, ducking under low branches and side-stepping trees, hopping over bushes and fallen trunks. He was focusing his every sense, as he had been trained to do by Batman. His ears were straining to pick up any way-word sounds, his eyes alert for any movement.

Whoever it was, he was aiming for Frost alone, that much I could gather. Probably thought that it would be an easy target from this far out. I probably surprised the crap out of him. I surprised the crap out of Frost. Heck, I even surprised the crap outta myself!

He continued moving forward, his pace slowing slightly.

If this guy is a professional, he could be anywhere. Heck, he might even be gone. I didn't hear any kind of transportation, though. He could be hiding somewhere, waiting for me. Maybe even waiting for me to chase after him, so no one could protect Emma. That's unlikely, though. But I could be walking right into a trap . . .

Without warning, a man dropped from a tree branch above and tackled Nightwing to the ground. Chuck tensed and managed to kick both feet together into the man's shins, causing him to roll off slightly.

Nightwing rolled free and quickly got to his feet. His opponent was wearing a full suit of orange armor. Nightwing quickly enlarged his bo-staff again, but a kick from the masked man knocked it aside.

Chuck replied with a kick to the man's head, and a second to his chest, knocking him into a tree. The man then grabbed his gun from a holster on his right side. Nightwing grabbed a batarang off his belt and flung it right into the front of the gun, smashing the nozzle. Chuck then punched the man in the face.

The man replied with a blast of intense energy fired from his fists, sending Nightwing flying back and landing hard on the ground.

Chuck coughed. "Who are you?"

"The name's Maverick," the man replied as he pulled out a second gun. "My target was Frost. You shouldn't've interfered, American."

"Sorry," Nightwing said. He had reached a hand into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a trio of smoke bombs. He released them quickly, and smoke instantly filled the area.

Nightwing leapt to his feet and gave another hard punch to the man's face. A kick disarmed him. He kicked Maverick a second time against a tree and used a batarang with a rope to quickly tie the man to it. The smoke began to fade.

"Alright," Chuck said, "answers. Now. Who are you? Who do you work for? What do you want?"

Maverick shook his head. "All you need to know is that I'm here to take down the Hellfire Club leaders before Shaw completes his ultimate plans here. There's almost no time left, and all the deaths afterwards are gonna be on your hands, now."

"What do you mean, Shaw's ultimate plans?" Nightwing asked. "My team came here to find Shaw . . . Frost said he was missing."

"Missing?" Maverick asked. "No. He's been here the whole time, plotting with those twins. They've created a Super Sentinel . . . some sort of massive, mutant-hunting robot. But only it doesn't hunt mutants . . . it hunts humans. If it gets released, well . . . I'm not sure anything can stop it."

Superboy, Phoenix, Jolt, and Impulse were in the middle of a fight with a small army of Hellfire guards, as Northstar and Aurora watched.

"This fight would be over in two seconds," Superboy said, punching another one, "if we only had room to maneuver. As it is, all I can do is swing my arms and hope to connect!"

"At least the room's too crowded for them to start shooting at us," Jolt said in reply, shock-punching another guard.

Impulse's arms were going at Super-speed, battering the guards with ease.

"Enough of this," Phoenix said. She slowly took to the air, hovering above the guards with her telekinesis. "Northstar. Aurora. End this. You have no hope of defeating me."

Northstar grinned. "We don't have to defeat you, really. All we have to do is keep you occupied a little while longer."

"And believe me," Aurora said, "we've got the guards to do that."

With a snap of her fingers, more guards flooded the room with ease. Several joined the twins on the balcony and began firing their weapons at Phoenix, whose telekinetic shields absorbed the impacts.

Suddenly, the wall that made up the entrance was smashed down. Sasquatch stood in the entrance. He looked angry.

Behind him stood Puck, Snowbird, Murmur, Vindicator and the White Queen.

"Give it up, twins," Frost said, her diamond skin covering her body. "You won't win this fight."

"We will yet," Northstar said. He took Aurora's hand, and the two began to float. Then, they both nodded in unison, and a blinding white light flashed forward from them, completely blinding every hero in the room. The Hellfire Guards' masks protected them from the affects. Northstar grinned. "See."

"You?!" Arrowette exclaimed as she entered the large room. Empress and Rebel stood right behind her.

"Yes . . . me."

Sebastian Shaw stood inside the middle of the room, watching the three heroes with interest in his eyes.

"We came here to find you," Empress said.

"Well, you've found me," Shaw replied. "Now, you should leave."

"Frost said you'd gone missing," Arrowette continued. "She thought Northstar and Aurora had kidnapped you or something."

"I'm afraid it's quite the opposite," Shaw said. "I've been here, working with the twins the whole time. Frost probably came out of fear that we would destroy her."

"But . . . why?" Empress asked. "What's going on?"

Shaw sighed. "You see, my Inner Circle fell apart. Contessa and Klarion fled to do their own thing. Firebird freed herself from Wyngarde's control, who was then made to go insane. Sunspot was revealed to be a traitor, and Tessa soon after that. Frost was all that was left . . . and she only managed to have the Hellions, my mutant army, slaughtered by a group of mutants called the Marauders."

"The Hellions are . . . dead?" Arrowette asked.

"Ah . . . she didn't tell you," Shaw grinned. "Excellent. She's probably still in denial. But anyways . . . my Inner Circle proved useless. I decided to take a new approach or two to this whole conquest thing. My first instinct was biological warfare. I had chief scientists in the Tokyo branch working to create a new, deadly virus . . . as well as it's cure. A cure that only I would possess. It seemed to be quite the genius plan . . . but started to take too long. So, I figured, since I still had access to all that Sentinel stuff, I would build an all new, all powerful Super Sentinel that could wipe out millions of normal humans and pave the way for a mutant take-over."

"You're insane," Empress said.

"Not really," Shaw shrugged. "I'm just getting tired of waiting."

"Well, we're gonna take you down!" Arrowette asked.

Rebel leapt at Shaw and began attacking him with an incredible fury. Shaw was unable to block any of her moves, and all her hits connected with incredible accuracy. Shaw fell to the floor, but was laughing.

"I see you forgot to inform your new teammates about me," he grinned. "I'm an energy absorber-rechanneler. You just made me that much stronger."

Shaw punched Rebel and sent her flying across the room. He lunged forward at Empress, grabbing her neck. She teleported behind him in a puff of smoke and kicked him.

"No," Arrowette said. "Don't touch him! We need to hit him with something he can't absorb . . . like one of my flame arrows!"

"If only you had the chance," Shaw said as he sprinted at and kicked Arrowette, knocking her down. "Next?"

"Everyone remain calm," Phoenix said. "I've locked on to your thought patterns. Hold still."

Everyone felt a big rush, like a hard wind blowing past them.

"I've telekinetically forced out every single Hellfire guard," she said. "I'm using my telepathy to see . . . and everyone's gone, even the twins."

"How long is this blindness gonna last?" Puck asked.

"Maybe another thirty seconds," Phoenix said. "So just give it a moment, and then we can continue."

Everyone's eyes slowly readjusted and returned to normal.

"Hey gang," Nightwing said as he walked in with Maverick. "Everything okay?"

"No," Superboy said. "The twins disappeared, and we still don't know where Arrowette and the others are."

"They're probably all in the same place," Maverick said. "Underground, with Shaw."

"With Shaw?" Frost asked.

"He's built some sort of super-sentinel," Nightwing explained. "We've got to stop it."

"Who's the new guy?" Jolt asked.

"His name is Maverick," Vindicator frowned. "He's a mercenary, wanted by governments all over the world."

"I'm a mutant freedom fighter," Maverick frowned. "But we can sort out the details later. Right now, Shaw's gotta be stopped."

"Underground, you say?" Phoenix asked.

"Yup . . . about maybe a hundred fifty feet?" Maverick replied.

"Okay," Phoenix nodded. Her bird of fire appeared around her body. She gripped all the people present telekinetically, lifting them into the air.

"Uh . . . Linda?" Nightwing asked.

With a concentrated blast of energy coming from her body, the ground beneath them was torn open and a whole was dug straight down. In a matter of moments, the basement was uncovered. She began to lower them all down.

"Whoa," Snowbird gasped.

"You can do that?" Superboy asked in surprise.

"I'm finding there's very little I can't do," Phoenix replied. "Our teammates are down there . . . as well as our foes. Be ready."

In a matter of moments, Young Justice, Alpha Flight, Maverick and the White Queen stood on the basement floor, at one end of the room. At the other stood Northstar, Aurora and Shaw.

"About time you guys showed up," Arrowette said as she, Rebel and Empress joined the group.

"Give it up," Nightwing demanded. "It's over, Shaw."

"I'm afraid not," Shaw replied. "It's only just begun."

"No," the White Queen grinned. "It's over."

Shaw and the twins suddenly dropped to their knees, shaking in pain.

The heroes all turned to see Frost smiling wickedly. In a few more moments, the trio of enemies laid down, unconscious.

"What the hell was that?" Superboy asked angrily.

"I disabled them telepathically," Frost replied.

"As well as picked their brains for every little useful bit of information you could find, I'll bet," Nightwing frowned.

"We had a deal, boy," Frost said. "You've kept up your end, I'll keep up mine. You'll never have to deal with interference from the Hellfire Club ever again. As for you, Alpha Flight, here. Bring in those three mutants, and consider the Hellfire Club taken down. And I know that this little Maverick just wants to see the robot destroyed. Very well . . . after we leave, you're free to set charges throughout the basement and make sure all this is destroyed. Is everyone satisfied?"

"I don't like it," Arrowette frowned.

"You'll get over it, child," Frost grinned. "You'll get over it."

And inside her mind flashed every piece of information Shaw, Northstar or Aurora ever had. In her mind flashed everything that was stored in the computers at the facility. She knew everything. Her mission was a complete success. She kept on grinning.