Disclaimer: We do not own YJ. Not that rich or creative. We do own the two NEW characters we're throwing in – Anna Winter/Castor and Maki O'neil/Phoenix. Enjoy~

Summary: A new villain emerges, forcing young Anna take up the role of Castor and face her inner demons. Maki O'neil is still coming to terms with her father's death. Their journey takes them to Gotham where their lives become entwined with the legendary Batman and the new team known as Young Justice.

Chapter 2: An Amusing Start.

Anna was not impressed, not in the slightest. "You know," She commented drily as the rest of the group studied the iron rusted gates before them," I've never once been to an Amusement Park before...and I think I know why." She spoke quietly, but her surroundings seemed to take her words and warp them as they traveled around her. The area was densely packed with fog that smothered everything around them. To her right was Maki and to her left was Robin. Behind her were Artemis and Kid Flash. Kaldur was before them and just slightly to her right. Superboy and Miss. Martian were to her right and behind also. This was a pretty big group of kids to be here.
"It's a big place," Robin told her and she tried not to look freaked out by his mannerism of guessing just what was on her mind. He flashed a smirk as if knowing even that.
"We do not have to get up on the roller coasters do we?" Anna asked, glancing around her but focusing on Kaldur who glanced back at her.
"No...we are surveillance first and foremost," Aqualad replied, before turning to look at the gates. Anna wasn't too sure how they planned on getting into the park. Was someone going to vault over and open it for them? There was a huge lock and chain keeping it closed also. She wasn't too good at the hopping up over fences ordeal either. She idly twirled a strand of hair in her fingers and noticed that Artemis was whispering to Kid Flash about something...her choice in outfit. She glanced down at herself. Okay. So she had on a jacket, blouse and pants with tennis shoes, also her sunglasses. That was good enough right? What more did they need?

Maki glanced over at the girl then cleared her throat. The chatter behind them stopped almost immediately…then Kid Flash leaned into the space between the two new girls. "So babes…who wants to take a little trip down the tunnel of love with yours truly?"

The Japanese girl rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the stomach, without saying a word. As the boy in yellow doubled over with a defined 'Oof', Maki stepped forward and locked eyes with Aqualad. She judged the distance between herself and a few feet on the other side of the gate. Taking a deep breath, she broke into a run, jumped to catch the one bar of metal that stretched at the top of the gate. Shifting her weight, she swung herself over the bar and consequently over the top of the gate. She landed on the concrete smoothly and glanced to her sides. As in most theme parks there was a maintenance room nearby. She took off to her left, moving to the dilapidated building that had only one window – and even it was a mess of broken glass…probably broken recently from overzealous children throwing things.

She moved a few pieces of large, potentially dangerous, glass and moved her fingers slowly along the edges of the window frame till she brushed over a latch. Within seconds, she had the window unlocked, up, and had moved inside the room. She shivered…what little light that the moon had provided was now diminished in the old dusty building. She hated pure darkness…it made her feel completely helpless – a feeling she couldn't afford while on a mission. She gingerly picked up a glass shard that was as big as her forearm. Holding it outside the window, she waited for the fog to pass over the moon. Once the sphere was clearly visible, she angled the shard to reflect a stream of silver light over various areas of the room. Finally, the light landed on a rusty pair of bolt cutters.

Snatching them up, she dropped the glass and exited out of the window. By the five minute mark, she was back at the gate, holding the cutters out by her side. Mask covering her face, she smiled with her eyes. "Tickets, please?"

She applied all of her weight onto the bolt cutters as she severed the chains that kept the gate closed. Then, Maki stepped aside so that the team could join her inside the park. Wally piped up, good naturedly, "Seriously, babe, what took you so long?"

"And that's what I call a nice entrance," Artemis remarked, a new look of slight approval on her face for the ninja-girl. Anna was quiet and headed forward to enter the park.
"I think we're going to have to split up on this one," Robin suddenly said, as he pulled up some sort of projection of a map from his wrist. Anna stared at it intently. This was definitely a big park.
"I believe that would be a good suggestion," Kaldur agreed and looked at the rest," Groups of two. Miss. Martian - keep us in contact." The red-headed gave a slight jerk of her head in agreement and one of Anna's eyebrows rose.
Kid Flash leaned forward to whisper into Anna's ear. "We don't need the psychic link, babe, I can tell you that you're definitely on my mind right now." Anna tensed and was saved by Artemis grabbed Wally's ear painfully and pulling him forward.
"Dude, seriously lay off it. I don't think either of them is into you," Robin put in, gently touching Anna's arm. She didn't shrug it off or pull away so he took that as a good sign.

"Very well, Kid Flash...you are Artemis will pair off on this one. Check out the game section. Robin and Anna, you two can tackle the funhouse. Miss. Martian, Superboy-you two will look into the kiddie ride sections and possibly the remainder of the roller coasters," Kaldur said and turned towards Maki," That will leave you with me if you do not object. Alright?" Artemis crossed her arms over chest and scowled, but didn't argue. Anna glanced at Maki to see if it was okay or not for this arrangement.

"You are our leader for this mission," She nodded at Aqualad with soft eyes. "I am fine with this arrangement. Anna?"

Her almond eyes glanced at her sunglasses-clad partner. Her eyes seemed to ask the question 'Is this ok with you, Anna-chan?' She knew how much will power it would take for the younger girl to accept another partner. It was several missions in before Anna stopped attacking her while on the same case. A year in before Anna called Maki a 'friend'. Trust was not an easy thing for the black and purple haired girl.

"Indeed," Aqualad said with a slight incline of his head. Artemis and Kid Flash walked off into the park with Superboy and Miss. Martian before they disappeared into the fog of the amusement park. Anna took a deep breath and nodded to Maki, to indicate she was fine. Kaldur waited, watching over them to make sure the arrangements were fine between everyone. Robin tapped his wrist, turning off the schematics screen. He waited, noticing Anna seemed extremely tense.
"Come on...the sooner we investigate this disturbance, the sooner we can leave," Robin told her seriously. She nodded curtly and followed him into the amusement park. Kaldur glanced at Maki.

"Coming?" He questioned, turning to go.

Maki closed her eyes for a brief moment then reopened them to look at Aqualad. "Hai."

The teens filed into the large room where Red Tornado and The Batman stood, overlooking large holographic screens. Maki took her place by Anna who was still avoiding her gaze. She needed a few moments to calm down. When all eight kids stood in front of the two Leaguers, Batman nodded to the screen behind him, which played various short video footages.

"These are clips from the security footage at the nearby theme park. Gotham authorities have been getting disturbance reports. You are to investigate the surrounding area then report back to Red Tornado when you have confirmed the cause of the disturbance."

Anna shuffled along, dragging her toes of her scuffed soft-suede leather boots with her and listening to it echo throughout their surroundings. They were a dark brown color and her dark blue-jeans were rolled and tucked into them as the boots reached half-shin length. Her dark purple blouse was hidden in her thick black jacket, the hood's fur-trim ruffled in the air at a sudden gust of chilly wind. Her hair swept around her, getting tangled up in her face and she was forced to raise up a hand to manage it.
"You should really consider a ponytail," Robin's voice cut in quietly. He had kept beside her at the same pace despite her attempts at speeding her stride to leave him behind. Bad choice on her part. He just seemed slightly amused by it all, and she knew he was fine with chatter or silence.
"My hair's fine," She mumbled, not very clearly. She reached up to fidget with her sunglasses, simply because she could. Most would wonder how she could even see at night wearing shades like these, but she was relying on the feedback she was getting from reading energy signatures around her. Sometimes that didn't work too well.
"You know, Artemis might have a spare one? Or even your friend Maki," Robin continued, in a pleasant tone as if they were having a normal conversation instead of the forced one. That's what it felt like to her anyways. "So... Castor... How'd you pick that name?" She gritted her teeth, but kept her face composure from changing. She was tense though, and her arms were crossed over her chest tightly. She turned her head slightly to glance over at him, and then stopped as they were instead in front of the 'Funhouse'. There was a comical picture of a clown and the entrance of which was the clown's mouth. Really weird actually.
"Does that scream 'fun-time' or what?" She asked sarcastically, glancing again at the guy beside her. 'Wonder if he even knows what a fun-time is,'she thought darkly in her head, unaware of the fact that M'gann had already linked the team telepathically and that she'd just projected the message to the entire team. This was going good so far. Robin's mouth twitched as if he found something funny, then he swept his arm out to show the entrance of the 'fun-house'.
"Ladies first?" He questioned.
"Oh sure," she replied, arms firmly over her chest. 'Like hell I'll be going in first. Creepy dark tunnel. No way' she told herself with a slight shudder, arms still tightly around herself.
"Fine, I'll go first... Keep right behind me, okay?" he asked, pointing it out in an attempt to keep her with him though. She nodded and followed him into the dark tunnel, staying not more than a step or two after him.

****** (Wally/Artemis) ******
"Oh man... The vendor's are all out," Wally said, sounding depressed as the pair stopped beside an abandoned pretzel stand. "I'm hungry..." Artemis rolled her eyes.
"You've got a serious problem, you know that?" She snapped, scanning the area around them for any signs of the disturbance. Nothing yet. She had one hand on her hip, and turned back to study Kid Flash.
"What? I've got a high-metabolism," He muttered almost defensively," I wonder about those two new girls... Maybe I should've called dibs... Hey... Do you think Kaldur is into that Maki girl?" He tilted his head as if seriously contemplating it.
"Who cares?" Artemis grunted out, and turned as a shadow moving caught her attention. Something was dashing away from them.
"I saw it too!" Wally snapped, and the two took off running at a pretty normal speed after the elusive shadow shape, uncertain of what or who they were really chasing.

****** (Maki/Aqua Lad) ******

Maki tensed when she heard Anna's voice clearly in her mind. 'Wonder if he even knows what a 'fun-time' is… Like hell I'll be going in first. Creepy dark tunnel. No way…'

Maki turned to Aqualad. "I believe this," she pointed to her head, "is what Martian-san meant when you told her to link us up? She is…psychic?"

The dark skinned boy inclined his head. "Yes, she is. It is how we communicate when we are on stealth missions. It is quite useful."

How peculiar…She would have to temper her thoughts; though it probably wouldn't be an issue…It was not as if she thought in English - she was Japanese first and foremost. Concentrating on not thinking aloud, she stated, "Are we not on a stealth mission now? Should we resort to utilizing this...," She thought for a second on her wording, "…link?"

"We should be fine for now…as long as we keep our voices low." They neared the area of the park that contained the water rides…the closet being Wally's favorite – the Tunnel of Love. Because both Maki and Kaldur were level headed people, they didn't give it much of a thought as they walked along the edge of the attraction. There was a ledge about two feet wide on either side of the entrance…an employee walkway to make fixing the inside of the ride easier.

Aqualad stepped carefully over a large slate of rotten wood and held his hand out for Maki to steady her own steps. Inclining her head at the polite action, Maki accepted his hand and took a small hop over the board. Steadying her balance, the ninja followed Aqualad into the dark entrance of the tunnel. As soon as the shadows melded around them, Maki involuntarily reached out in front of her to place a hand on Aqualad's back.

The boy stopped and glanced over his shoulder…and Maki herself seemed shocked at her movement. "Ah…gomen."

Kaldur paused then his eyes softened. "It is alright. Let us move on."

****** (Miss Martian/Superboy) ******

"Conner…stop it! We're in the middle of a mission!" M'gann's face was hot and she felt the blush all the way up to her ears. Not long into their surveillance, Conner grew bored with the monotonous scenery. So he switched to something a little more entertaining. Now, wedged between the control panel and a major beam of the roller coaster, Miss Martian placed a hand on the red "S" in the center of Superboy's chest.

Superboy let out a huff of breath. All he wanted was just a little time alone with his girlfriend. They were forever interrupted at the cave and school…and Wally…well he just couldn't take a hint. M'gann smiled at him. 'Later…ok? I promise.'

'…yeah.'

The Martian suppressed a chuckle at her boyfriend's pout…he was so adorable when he got angry! Superboy took her hand and pulled her out from their nook and into the open pathway between attractions. Just as M'gann began to levitate happily, Conner's head snapped to the side…however it wasn't in enough time to keep Kid Flash from crashing into the clone. As the boys tumbled back into the large roller coaster, Miss Martian stared in surprise as Artemis ran up to the three, bow out and arrow knocked.

"Didn't someone just run by here?" The blonde glanced around her in confusion. "Where did they go?"

The coaster moved slightly and groaned as Superboy and Kid Flash removed themselves from the good sized dent in the support beam. Wally cradled his arm and groaned at the chink in the plaster of his cast. "Mom's gonna kill me…"

A peal of laughter echoed around them and all four teens tensed in alert. The laugh was most certainly feminine…

****** (Anna/Robin) ******

"I hate fun houses," Anna grumbled under her breath, arms crossed tightly over her chest as she shuffled forward just behind Robin. The dark-haired boy seemed to have a way of just melting into their surroundings, probably a skill honed from years of being in the Batman's shadow. "How is that anyways?" She suddenly questioned aloud, and Robin cast her a perplexed expression. She made a sudden face and he chuckled quietly.

"M'gann is the mind reader around here," he reminded her softly, but seemed amused none the less. It was probably due to her poor attempt at a conversation. She stuck out her bottom lip in a bit of a pout and continued walking in silence. Robin ventured to continue her train of thought," How's what anyways?" He rephrased for her.

"…being in Batman's shadow," she murmured quietly," I mean…he's the spotlight right. You're his sidekick or something aren't you?" A slight head tilt was her only response. He was waiting for her to finish, so she hurried on. She fidgeted with her jacket sleeves now, just to keep her hands busy. "Well…isn't it weird? Like…isn't he…intimidating?" Robin's mouth twitched into that ghost of a smile.

"Sure. But only if you don't know him," he replied before turning to keep walking. Silence surrounded them, and then suddenly laughter reached them. Maniacal and deep laughter. As if someone had seen something entirely too funny but something only a sick humored person would get. Anna hesitated and Robin glanced back at her. "What's wrong? It's a fun-house...it's got clowns in it." She glanced around nervously though, uncertainty fighting at her. 'I wish Maki was here to advise me on how to handle this…she always says to go with your gut-feeling…and mine's telling me something really weird is going on.' She thought, her thoughts trickling into the mind-speech that she still didn't realize was up and running for them. Robin seemed to study her intently.

"What?" She snapped," Something on my face or is this another stupid comment about my hair?" She stomped forward, pushing past him to exit the hall of mirrors and into a rather large and dark room. She could barely see in front of her own nose, it was that dark. Just as suddenly as that thought occurred to her, flood lights began to flash on. One by one. In the center of the room was a rather large pillar of some sort and all the lights pointed to the center where a silhouette was seen. Tall, and almost bony in shape. The sudden change from light to dark made it almost impossible to tell who the figure was. A sudden bang startled her and she stepped back as confetti rained down upon her and a large banner unveiled before her.

"Welcome to the fun-house~!" a male voice rang out, with an edge of insanity as the figure threw their arms out to either side of them as if giving a show. The figure threw back their head and let loose more maniacal laughter. The same they had heard earlier throughout the tunnel.

****** (Maki/Aqua Lad) ******

The mesh metallic walkway of the tunnel widened and turned into solid wood. As Maki's eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she weaved in between shadowy hearts and cherubs hanging from the ceiling. "…nani?"

Aqualad smiled. "I believe this is the main show room. I have never been to a running amusement park, much less have been on a ride like this, so it is only an assumption."

"I believe you are correct…In Japan…the girls at my school would talk about being on similar rides with the boy that they liked. A rite of passage, maybe?"

"So you have never been on one either?"

"I did not date so I was never given a reason to."

Again, Anna's thought interrupted. 'I wish Maki was here to advise me on how to handle this…she always says to go with your gut-feeling…and mine's telling me something really weird is going on.'

Maki and Kaldur turned to each other with a confused glance. To the others it might have seemed like just another one of Anna's musings…but the tone of the thought made Maki tense. What was happening? Suddenly the atmosphere of the tunnel grew thicker and goose bumps ran up and down the ninja's arms.

'Do you feel that?' Aqualad sent the thought to Maki, who nodded – eyes narrowed.

'Hai.'

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

A/N:

Maki: Dare da? (Who's that pokemon?)

Anna: *facepalm* Sorry. I think it's the "Tunnel of Love" getting to her head. That was my line. Anyways. Hope this chapter installment was pretty tasteful. Next should be a real joke.