Melissa was now nineteen years old and she was about to become a big time super villain. She had tested out the extent of her powers and had almost mastered them with ease. Her red hair had orange and yellow streaks in it and she had made her suit out of yellow and orange spandex, complete with a hand drawn red star on the chest and orange thermal gloves. Of course she had planned ahead and special ordered her clothes to be flame retardant. That cost her an arm and a leg to make the deal, but then again it technically cost the city of Metropolis an arm and a leg. Form fitting, the spandex hugged her frame comfortably.
The jewelry store was packed, smiling wickedly she tossed the creepy trench coat aside and said "Everybody down!" as flames shot out of her hands to melt the glass. She pressed her palms against the displays and took the precious jewels, being careful not to damage them. She placed them in her flame retardant baggie and went about her business "Now everyone gimme all your valuables and cash! Do it now!"
Amidst the screaming, a small child cried to which the super powered robber gritted her teeth and slapped the child "Shut up or I'll GIVE you a reason to cry!" a flame ball formed in her fists and the child's mother came between them. "So are you willing to take your kid's punishment in his place?" the woman nodded and the fire powered robber raised her hand in an upturned position and the mother was set ablaze, eventually suffocating on the smell of her burning flesh.
"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" came a loud yell and then she was knocked to the ground. A teenage boy in a black t-shirt and a red "S" in a diamond stood above her, soon she was surrounded by a green Martian, Kid Flash, Aqua Lad, Robin and a Green Arrow knockoff.
The Martian girl said "Your actions stop now!" she flew over to her and read her mind "So you call yourself Mourning Star?"
Smirking, the fire powered girl said "That's right! Remember the name, Martian!" she set her body on fire and rushed the green girl. If there's one thing she picked up from common word of mouth gossip, it's that Martians are vulnerable to fire. But Aqua Lad was on top of things as he made the water fountains in the building burst with water.
"Seeing as how you are a fire power, let us see how you handle your elemental opposite!" a wave of water was about to come down just as Robin stopped him.
"Aqua Lad, no!" he halted his friend from filling the entire place with water "The hostages will drown!"
Gritting his teeth, Aqua Lad released the water while Kid Flash got to work with getting the hostages out of there. The last one was the little boy that witnessed his mother's horrible death, refusing to go without her. "Come on kid!" Wally West shouted "It'll be okay!" he threw a blanket over the kid's eyes to keep him from seeing his mother's charred remains.
Miss Martian tried mind control on Mourning Star, but she was too strong-willed for that. With an evil glare in her eyes she said "You wanna read MY mind, Martian?" she grabbed M'Gaan's arm and let her memories flow into the green Martian's mind, causing the other girl to be paralyzed in fear. Having the horrible memories be bought back up made Melissa cry out "MAY YOUR IMPOTENT GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL, FOR I MOST CERTAINLY WILL NOT!" then a blast of heat and flame filled the room, causing M'Gaan to faint and giving Mourning Star a distraction to escape.
Superboy rushed to her "M'GANN!" he picked her up, relieved to see that there was minimal damage to her. "You went intangible at the last second, didn't you?"
M'gann looked up with tears in her eyes and said "I had to...her memories were too much for me..." she buried her face in Superboy's chest and cried some more. He cradled her closely, a slight blush coming across their faces at the tender moment.
"What did you see?" he asked her, carrying her back to the Mountain and to her room.
"I can't describe it...it was horrible..." a chill ran down her spine and fear came across her face. "She witnessed something terrible...I can see why she strayed to crime..." the Martian was accustomed to cold weather, but she wasn't used to such atrocities as were in the girl's memories. She shivered and to her surprise, Conner Kent cuddled in the bed with her to warm her up. "Conner? What are you-?"
"You looked cold, so I thought I'd warm you up..." he bought her head under his chin and hugged her tight.
Meanwhile, Mourning Star escaped to the empty warehouse in the city. She wiped her eyes of tears and cursed "That green loser will pay for what she made me remember!" she opened her baggie and looked at her loot and smiled, the fact that she took a child's mother away from him not bothering her at all. She knew that the police would be coming for her, and she had planned on it. She wanted to go to Belle Reve and get to know some of the inmates there. She needed some patsies after all.
Soon, Aqua Lad came and drowned her out while Kid Flash put a special collar on her that inhibited her powers. "You have taken the life of a young mother" the Atlantian teen said to her "Life in Belle Reve will be a fitting sentence for such a horrible criminal such as you" he and Wally escorted her to a waiting transport to Belle Reve, where Killer Frost and Captain Cold were in the back too.
Frost mocked her "Haven't seen you around here before, girlie! So what powers do YOU have to get you locked up?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mourning Star mocked back, a coy smile on her face. It wouldn't serve her purpose to have people know her powers now, or the element of surprise would be compromised.
"Oh, we have a smart mouth on our hands!" Frost cackled like a witch, then shot her a glare "Don't give me attitude like that! Or you'll regret the day you were born!"
"I already do" Mourning Star said simply and that shut up Killer Frost real quick. Amanda Waller was no push over-for a normal person that is. Dr. Hugo Strange was just that Strange...she couldn't put her finger on it. He would be one to watch out for.
She and Frost were escorted to their cells (thankfully they were separated)and given prison orange for clothes. It wouldn't be long until Icicle Junior and Mr. Freeze would arriave at Belle Reve along with Tommy and Tuppance Terror. Upon sighting the blond Southern girl she chuckled and said "Hey, Tuppie~" in a flirty tone. She was perplexed when the Southern Belle looked away in painful memory.
"It couldn't be...can it?" she said to herself, the guards let the inmates into the yard for co-ed exercise when she spotted Cameron, or Icicle Junior. The son of the prison coppo. He seemed to be easily led, the teenager having a daddy complex. She approached him while he and Tommy Terror were lifting weights "Hey there, Cutie~"
The cocky ice villain sat up and said "Hey there, yourself Hot Stuff~ What's your name~?"
"You can call me Mourning Star. Everybody else does around here" she sat down next to him and started lifting with the boys.
"So what are ya in for?" said the ice powered boy.
"Arson, robbery and murder" the fire powered girl said ever so sweetly "You?"
"Causing a scene on the bridge with Green Arrow and Speedy" he passed her a towel so she can dry herself off from the sweat.
She smiled at him "Nice" she wiped herself off, fearful that her fire powers would be revealed.
"You're pretty cute yourself, Star...would you mind if I asked you to be my girl?"
"So forward, but what the hey. So am I" she planted a small kiss on his lips, getting some of the boy's freezing temperature on her lips.
"Hey, you're a great kisser!" Cameron said "I can feel the heat from your lips still!"
"Guess that means that I'm great in other areas too~" the guards corraled them into their respective groups and had them go back to their cells. A few days later, Cameron informed her of their break-out plan.
"You wanna come with us~" his hands traveled to places they've never been before, but she playfully rejected his advances.
"And join the Injustice League with you?" her hand traveled to a place where it had never been, to which the young adult male twitched with anticipation.
"Y-yeah babe! We can be partners in crime!" he pulled her into a deep passionate kiss, complete with heavy tongue usage.
"Mmmm" she nibbled on his lower lip and broke the kiss "So when do the collars shut off?"
"Tonight, babe" he kissed her neck, feeling the slight temperature rise "Our thermal oranges came today" it was time for them to part, but only temporarily.
Frost had the female guard cornered, the ice-mace in her hand ready to strike when the guard pleaded "Please! I have a family!"
"Keep screamin', it only makes it better for me" Mourning Star was about to enjoy the bloodshed, but Tuppance did something with her mind and the ice-mace shattered. Frost looked at her and said "Well, well, well-looks like Tuppie has some hidden talents" and the Terror Twin was promptly iced. Burning off her collar, Mourning Star melted one of the walls and found Edward Nigma running away.
"You're the Riddler, right? You're gonna help me escape from here with you" she said, setting the nearest objects on fire.
The frightened Nigma complied, finding the way out easy for him. "What do I get in return?" he asked her once they were out.
"That's an easy riddle even YOU could figure out, Nigma..." she caressed his cheek and said "You get to live..." a flash of flame later and she was out.
After the disappointment of the biggest breakout in history, Icicle Junior had decided to wait for his girlfriend to bust him out. He waited, and waited and waited, but she never showed up. It was then he realized that he was just a patsy to her.