Chapter 29: Terrors

Mount Justice

September 14, 12:35 CDT

"Recognized – Kyle Rayner, B04."

Materializing in the Cave from the zeta beams, I quickly walk to the center of the Cave. There, I find M'gann, Sara, Kaldur and Superboy—Connor, still getting used to his new name—along with Black Canary, Green Lantern, Batman and Superman.

Robin called and told me that Batman called the four of them in for a mission debrief. He didn't tell me too much except it has to do with the attacks on this year's Fourth of July. The same one where five ice-powered villains around the world. He also told me the League wanted a word with me, didn't say why though. Hopefully this won't be like when the Guardians call in Hal to scold him like a child.

Sara turns her head to her right as I park my feet right next to her. "Kyle, what're you doing here? Batman didn't call you in for this mission."

"No, but Batman did ask that I be here. Unless you want me to wait outside…"

He looks towards me for a minute, though it feels like an hour. So this is what it feels like for criminals to be stared down by the Bat. "Alright then. Now, let's begin."

Batman has the monitor bring up the five ice-powered criminals that attacked on the Fourth of July. I recognize Icicle Sr. real fast from when I clocked him at Ferris Air. It also shows Mr. Freeze, who Robin and Batman deal with on a daily basis already, Captain Cold, one of the Flash's Rogues, Killer Frost, whom Kaldur had to fight as well, and Icicle Jr., son to Papa Icicle, whom Roy had the pleasure of shooting an arrow at his jaw.

Just looking at the two Icicles, Joar and Cameron Mahkent. You wouldn't be able to tell that they're father and son. If not for the fact that they're both walking, talking glaciers. Still, I can't imagine what Junior is like. From what I remember about Senior, he is a hardass, tough as nails, strategic even. But from what I've heard about his son, he's just crazy. Hopefully he doesn't get the chance to turn my friends into ice statues.

"This past Fourth of July, five ice villains staged simultaneous attacks. Mr. Freeze, Icicle Jr., Killer Frost, Captain Cold, and Icicle Sr. were all easily apprehended. Perhaps too easily. Cold, Frost and Icicle Sr. were immediately sent to Belle Reve Penitentiary, a federal prison designed to house supercriminals. The 17-year-old Icicle Jr. was sent to a juvenile facility. Mr. Freeze to his usual cell in Arkham Asylum. But Freeze petitioned the court to be declared legally sane, and Junior sued to be tried as an adult. As a result, both await transport to Belle Reve, which seems to have been the goal all along. I'm sending the three of you in to find out why."

"Who inside the prison will know their identities?" Kaldur asks Batman.

"No one. We can't be certain the prison staff isn't compromised."

I look over to see Sara, M'gann and Connor, all looking to one another for reassurance and dependence for each other. "So, who are we all going in as?" Sara asks Batman.

Batman has the monitor wiped clean and bring up two new faces—a boy and girl, white, blonde hair, blue eyes. They look like they should be in an Aryan gang. They definitely look to have the muscle to join a gang. Still, never seen either of them.

"Miss Martian and Superboy will go in as Tommy and Tuppence Terror—the Terror Twins. The League has a lead on the Twins in New Orleans. Before sending you into Belle Reve, we will retain the Terror Twins, making sure no one knows you'll be their imposters."

"And me?"

Black Canary walks towards the monitor, bringing up a photo of Sara. "We created a fake identity for you, White Canary." She called her by her codename… This is serious. "Along with a rapsheet of homicides and aggravated assaults on police enforcement. With your fighting abilities, no one will have any reason to believe you're not you."

Sara walks up to her new self. "Maybe make me a little less deranged. I'm going to Belle Reve, not Arkham Asylum."

"This is serious, Sara."

"I am taking this serious, Dinah. It won't be a problem for me to play a murderous hostile bitch."

Black Canary steps aside for Batman to continue. "White Canary, you will be sent into Belle Reve tomorrow. Find a way to get close to Killer Frost and learn what their plan is. Miss Martian and Superboy, you two will go in after her. Get some rest."

Batman and Superman make their way to the zeta tube. Connor looks to Superman, but only gets the cold shoulder from the Man of Steel. Doesn't look like it's getting any better between them. After that, Superman zeta beams out of the Cave.

Sara grabs my arm, shaking me out of my trance. "Nice of you to be here for us."

"Course. Moral support for your three's mission."

"Worried about us, are you?"

"Not at all. You can handle yourself pretty well. And you've got M'gann and Connor looking out for you, and vice versa. And if anything happens—"

"You won't do anything, Lantern Rayner", Hal says interrupting me. "We can't have any League presence anywhere near Bell Reve, as well as the Team's presence. If any of them suspect anything, they could call off their plan before we find out what it is."

"Lantern Jordan is right, Kyle", Kaldur now interjects. "As much as we want to help if something goes wrong, we cannot. We have to trust our teammates that they will handle the situation."

After hearing it from my leader and my mentor, I know that they're right. I would rush into the prison in an instant if something went wrong. But I can't. We must preserve the mission if they're going to stop these ice criminals from whatever they're up to. But if any of them tries anything on Sara, I'll break them into ice cubes.

"You guys have got this", I tell the three of them. "Just don't go to the bathroom without a shiv", I jokingly say.

"You got it, space cop."

"And besides, Kyle", Jordan says to me, "I have a mission for you as well."

"For me?"

"You, Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis. This mission comes from Oa. And because of that, you are going to lead this mission."

"You want me… to lead?"

"You think you're up for it, Rayner?"

Belle Reve Parish

September 16, 21:55 CDT

My second day at Belle Reve as a prisoner, gotta say not the worst place I've stayed at.

Belle Reve Penitentiary seems to be like any other prison, overcrowded with criminals who'll most likely never change, with correctional officers who take pleasure in seeing them writhe in pain courtesy of the shock collars. Which, by the way, are very tight on my neck. Makes me glad I won't need this for too much longer now.

So far, I've kept my cover intact. The prisoners, as well as the officers and warden, believe me to be Jacqueline 'Jack' Smythe, a cold steely bitch who's brutally attacked cops, even going so far as to stab one in the jugular, letting them bleed out. My first day in, this giant chick calling herself Devastation, she comes up to me and tells me I'm her prison bitch. Next thing she knows, she's on the floor, with me planting my foot on her face while I pull her arms so far, I could hear them start to crack. Who's the bitch now?

Didn't take me too long to get Killer Frost's attention after that. She asks me if I'm down for anything the prison won't allow. I tell her, 'I'm down for anything, Icetips.' She laughed at that last remark, didn't see that coming. Says that she's down for anything too. Hopefully I don't do anything to make her wanna freeze me over.

Right now, lockup is in call. All prisoners are put into their cells. All the men are stuffed into one half of the prison, the West Wing, and the women in the other half, the East Wing. I didn't get Frost as my cellmate, no I ended up getting Devastation. As soon as she saw it was me rooming with her, all she did was groan and curse under her breath. That's right. Say something.

Being stuck in this small sized cell, it's starting to make me a bit antsy. That and the fact I'm the only one still here. I just wish Connor and M'gann would—

Connor, Sara, can you both hear me?

M'gann? Thank god, I was wondering when you two would get here.

I thought the collars—

Custom designed to inhibit Tuppence Terror's super strength not my telepathy, but your strength is—

Not at Superman's level. I get it.

Where did that come from?

That's not what I was—

Whatever.

What was that all about?

Not sure you wanna know.

Fair enough. How was the ride in?

Silent and awkward. Freeze and Icicle Jr. were with us. Junior was… flirting with me.

Ewww! The creep, and in front of Connor. I'm surprised he didn't sucker punch him then and there.

Makes me wish I could've. How've you been since being here?

Good. Gotten myself acquainted with Killer Frost already.

Has she told you anything about a plan of somesort?

No, and I didn't wanna seem suspicious by asking anything yet. And I'm not her cellmate so I can't ask her there.

I know.

What do you mean you know?

She's in my cell.

Oh… Are you gonna be able to sleep?

I'll certainly try.

Don't worry, M'gann. I've got your back here. Us girls gotta stick together.

Thanks, Sara.

Coast City

September 17, 09:59 PDT

"What exactly are we waiting for, GL?", KF asks me.

I look to Wally, as we all wait in an alleyway in Coast for our GL informant to get here. Fast hopefully. "Our Lantern tag-along. Hal told me they would meet us here around this time.

"Whoever this guy is, he better get here soon. I'm anxious to get going."

"Slow down there, before you start running off into the sunrise", Artemis jokes.

"Look, I know we all wanna get started. Just remember that when we do, we work together like before and we do our jobs right, this'll be done sooner rather than later."

"Right", Artemis says agreeingly.

"Yes sir", Wally jokingly says.

I look over to Robin, leaning against the alley wall furthest from us. Ever since we were assigned this mission, he's been acting not himself. Dare I say it, he's not feeling the aster. It's official, this is a thing now.

"Robin, you good?"

He looks to me. "Sure am, Rayner. Just ready to get going." Okay then…

"I'll check in again." I raise my ring to my face. "This is Kyle Rayner of Sector 2814. Requesting ETA on…"

"Yours truly", a familiar voice says from behind me. I turn around to see my best friend from the Corps, who technically isn't a Corpsmen.

"Jen!" I give her a big 'ole hug as she touches ground. "Hal told me I'd be working with a GL I've had experience with before. He never told me it'd be you."

"That figures", Jen says. "He probably thought it'd be fun for you to be surprised seeing an old friend like me. Working together again like old times."

"Yeah, no joke." As I begin to reminisce, I remember that I have three more comrades/friends behind me that are probably feeling like third, fourth and fifth wheels.

I step back away from the middle, no longer obscuring everyone's view from each other. "Where are my manners? Jen, these are my teammates. Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis." They all nod and wave to my old warbuddy. "Guys, meet Jennifer."

"But you can call me Jade." Her eyes glow green as she announces her name.

"Never met a Green Lantern who was actually all green", Artemis. "Fashion statement?"

Jen chuckles at Artemis' remark. "Actually, I'm technically not a Lantern. My father was. Alan Scott."

"Alan Scott? As in the Green Lantern of the Justice Society of America?" Robin says, finally speaking more.

"The very one. I don't have a ring like Kyle, but I can create constructs just like him. Thanks to this." She shows her palm to the others, revealing a star-shaped birthmark. The same star she wears on her uniform. "It's called Starheart. It's what gave my father his powers, along with his ring, and I inherited those powers from him."

"So, you're a GL that isn't weighed down by a ring or a battery", Robin says, me knowing that's a jab towards me. "What's that like?"

"I wouldn't mind the jewelry, but yeah I don't have to charge myself after a battle. Though I still feel drained afterwards like everyone does after a fight."

"Okay, as much as I'd love for you guys to get to know each other more", I interrupt, "do you have a lead on the Black Circle?"

"Yes. Last I saw them in Sector 3983. They'd been lugging around large shipments. Of what, I have no clue. But before they hyperjumped from the sector, I set a tracking construct onto their ship. Next couple of days, the tracker showed that they were in your sector. More specifically, in Earth's orbit."

"From what Rayner and Jordan told us, the Black Circle is an intergalactic crime syndicate." Robin says. "Why come to Earth, and who would know about them on Earth?"

"I'm not too sure. The Black Circle deals mostly in the outskirts of Guardian Space, even further out. For whatever reason they're here, it can't be good."

"The Black Circle sells and smuggles advanced weapons, dangerous drugs, even trafficking slaves across the galaxy" Jen tells us. "They're most likely here to broker a deal between them and a buyer. The Guardians are hoping that with them on Earth, we can find them, stop whatever deal they're making and apprehend all members. Maybe even their leader."

"And no one knows his identity. If he happens to be on Earth for this one and we can capture him, that'd be a big win for the Corps."

"So, Jade", Artemis says, "your tracker. Do you know where the Black Circle are on Earth now?"

"Let's find out." Jade raises her right-hand face level with all of us. In a matter of seconds, she creates a construct of the entire planet. About the size of a globe you'd see on a teacher's desk. The global map revolves until it stops at North America. A green blinking dot appears on the west side of the continent. "Zoom in." The map zooms inwards on California. "There. It won't give me a city or a specific location."

"You won't have to", I tell her. "I know where they are."

Belle Reve Parish

September 17, 12:05 CDT

Day 3 in Belle Reve, with Miss Martian and Superboy finally joining me in prison life, we can finally gather intel on the ice villains as a team. All us prisoners are let out into the indoor field, where we can lift weights, talk smack, or do nothing.

I walk alongside Killer Frost, as she gives me a nod to follow her. I look to my right and see Tuppence/M'gann behind us a bit. Frost and I walk over to Devastation and Shimmer, who I saw had a run-in with the Team on Santa Prisca. Half-mohawk chick used to be Kobra's right hand; after what happened on Santa Prisca, he ditched her, leaving her to be sent here. Thankfully, she never saw me there.

I look over to the men's side of the field and I see a lot more recognizable faces. Daniel Brickwell, or Brick, from Oliver's days of shooting him down, and Professor Ojo, from the League of Shadows. I never had too much contact with Ojo in the past so he shouldn't know me. Though with that helmet he sees through, I don't know how he can see.

I scan through the prisoners long enough to find Connor, who looks striking similar to Tommy Terror. And that's without having to shapeshift. He's walking through the field with Icicle Jr. by his side. I look to the right to see they're walking in the direction of what looks like a prison gang with muscle. On the benches sit Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, and Icicle Sr. at the center. I know all about Freeze and Cold from archives from the Cave and stories from Robin and Kid Flash. Kyle told me about Icicle Sr. before I came here. Apparently, he got himself in a fight with Mahkent on July 4th. From what he's told me, he's the one I might have to watch out for the most.

Icicle's 'muscle' is in the form of two behemoths. One of them being Blockbuster, the former head of Cadmus who turned himself into now a less intelligent bulldozer. I gotta admit, when I saw that scientist turn into the monster he is now, that freaked me out. And that doesn't happen a lot. The other one, who looks like he should be in a haunted house, is Mammoth. I remember him from Santa Prisca too. Apparently, him and Shimmer are siblings. Guess we know who got the looks in the family. Mammoth.

I lean my back against the glass wall, not raising any suspicion while still keeping my eye on Connor. I look over to him and Junior, who suddenly gets attacked by Ojo. No honor among criminals I guess.

Connor pulls Ojo off of Icicle, punching him in the helmet and onto the floor. Next thing I see, Connor's being surrounded by Brick and other prisoners. Looks like he's about to have his first prison fight.

I look to my left and see Tuppence/M'gann watching too. Knowing M'gann, she's more worried about Connor than she is about the mission right about now. Hey, you okay?

I'm not the one who's being ganged up on.

True.

Brick puts Connor in a hold, keeping him restrained for Ojo to take a swing at him. Before he ddoes though, he pauses, even pointing at him. Thankfully, that gives Connor enough time to throw Brick at Ojo, knocking them both to the floor.

M'gann, didn't Connor fight Ojo when the Shadows try to assassinate Dr. Roquette?

Oh god… If he recognizes him…

He won't. Keep Ojo from recognizing him.

M'gann/Tuppence nods in my direction, takes a moment to herself, and assuming from that expression, telepathically messes with Ojo's head. Done.

Brick still goes after Connor, until he doesn't. He looks over to Icicle Sr., he seems to be calling the shots in Belle Reve, and among all five of the ices. They all gather together in a hurdle. If anything, Connor can use his earing to—

My mind goes blank for a moment. My breath starts to shorten. I feel like I'm seeing a ghost. It can't be…

The man I see before me. He's aged but at the same time, he hasn't changed a bit. Leaning against the back wall, with nothing but a book in his hands. Wearing a prisoner's uniform. A black man, built like an animal, almost 6 feet, brown eyes almost like the amber found in a jungle. With a lowcut hair, and four orange markings on his face, two on his opposite ends of his forehead, and the other two opposite on his jawline.

"Ben…?"

Author's Note: It's been awhile since I've added a note from me for you guys. And I just want to say thank you for everyone's patience who still read this story and for new followers who enjoy reading this new interpretation of our favorite heroes. I want to let you know that with the summer here, I have a bit more free time to write more so hopefully you'll be getting more of the story. Like I've mentioned before, I will be bringing more GL lore into Young Justice and this is my first attempt at diverging the Team with two missions, the main story's and a GL mission. Hopefully it will come out as good as I hope it does. If any of you have any story ideas, suggestions, complaints or remarks for me, you're more than welcome to leave comments or private message me. Again, thank you for your admiration and look out for Young Justice: Outsiders next month!