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 3: Not Your Strong Point
Kid Flash, Artemis, Miss Martian and Superboy all looked to the top of the roller coaster – where a petite woman stood, holding a mallet twice her size. Lights kicked on around them and carnival music blared out of the loud speakers. In the glow of the overhead lights, the woman's red, black, and white domino jumpsuit stood out against the white painted wood of the coaster. A grin lit her face.
"HARLEY!" Kid Flash glared up at the female clown. "She's never usually far from "Robin. I've got eyes on Harley Quinn with Artemis, Miss. Martian and Superboy. What about you? Any sign of Joker yet?" he demanded over the psychic link. "Kaldur, You?" Joker."
Robin's voice reached their minds, "About that…"
"Why are there so many voices in my head? I usually have to just worry about one—oh darn. That clowns talking again," Anna's voice cut in quickly, then there was silence from the two.
Artemis yelled out loud as well as through the link, "Robin! Castor!"
"OH don't worry about, Puddin'! He can't wait to play with that little bird again!" Harley's nasally voice rang out. "So you get to play with me!"
"Alright guys, here's the plan-," Wally started but was cut off and shoved out of the way by Artemis.
"OH SHUT UP!" She snarled, bringing her bow up to point towards the villainess. She let fly an arrow, quickly followed by a second one. Neither made their mark as Harley giggled and somersaulted harmlessly out of their paths.
"Nu-unh unh," she called out, wagging a finger at them," Bows and Arrows isn't the name of this game." She stuck her tongue out, pulling one of her eye lids down, "NYAH! This one's called "Catch the clown", Get it? Tee-hee-hee." She raced off, giggling manically.
Superboy snarled and jumped up several levels of the roller coaster, attempting to make a grab at the hysterical harlequin. Superboy raced along the tracks jumping from beam to beam as Miss Martian wove in and out of the criss-crossing slates of wood that held the coaster together. Picking up gravel and stones from the ground beneath them, she used her telekinesis to launch them like bullets at Harley. Using one of the railings to flip herself over like a gymnast, Harley landed on the ground but not before one of Miss. Martian's projectiles grazed her cheek. The woman snarled, feeling a tiny cut open up on her skin.
"HOW DARE YOU!" She shrieked, gripping her mallet angrily as Kid Flash streaked towards her. She swung it around with an angry force, catching the young superhero in the stomach and sending him flying backwards where he met Artemis on her way towards the pair. The duo carried backwards with enough force to crash into the already damaged support beam. It groaned and creaked ominously and Harley stared up at it with slightly widened eyes as she realized what had just occurred. "Uh-oh. Hope my puddin' didn't need that for anything important….Bye bye brats!" She sang out with a cheery little wave as with a final creak, the entire structure crumbled upon the four heroes. She giggled, skipping off happily but still irritated about the slight blemish to her cheek.
****(Maki/Kaldur)****
The series of events happened all at once. First the laugher that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere…then the red alert that Harley and Joker were on the loose. Maki reached behind her and unlatched her katana, pulling it out at an angle so that the oil could spark against the flint that was kept at the opening of the sheath.
Flames licked against the metal of her sword and illuminated a small area around Maki. Reflecting from the light of her fire were several pairs of shining red eyes…a feral sounding growl came from the creatures before they broke into a grin and starting cackling in an almost human-esque manner.
Aqualad placed a hand on the pink, metal wall – sending electricity through it to the control room. Cheesy love music played over the radio as the bright pink and red boats began moving through the water. All around them were hearts, angels, and other frilly things…as well as two white and grey hyenas and three clown-clad goons were stationed at both the entrance and exit of the room.
Aqualad reached over his shoulders to grip the handles of his water-bearers. Quickly charging them, he drew water from the small river that split the room. Swirling his water whips around him, he lashed out in attack at the goon closest to him. Maki jumped out of the way of an incoming sledgehammer; the place she had just stood became nothing but broken wood and a gaping hole.
'I can see this will do me no good…' As quickly as she could, she doused her flame by dipping it in the small water then slashed upwards to cut at the minion attacking her. As Maki handled the goons around her, with a mix between her swordsmanship and martial arts, Aqualad faced the hyenas.
"I am opposed to harming animals, however…" He trailed off as he fought off the two wild beasts. Not even a few moments later…as all five of their opponents lay unconscious…a huge rumbling shook the ground. Maki stumbled backwards, bumping into Aqualad's chest.
"What is that? An earthquake?" She called over her shoulder.
"I doubt it…I can hear metal crushing together. We must get outside, quickly!"
'Kid Flash…Artemis...Superboy? Miss Martian! Robin? Can anybody hear me?"
****(Robin/Anna)****
"…Just what kind of freak are you?" Anna snapped, not delighted about getting confetti in her hair. It would take time to get it all back out of there and she'd have to get Maki's assistance. Wet paper…was a drag.
"It's the Joker," Robin snapped, voice seeming to drift from nowhere before she spotted him leaping up at the Joker. Amazingly enough the Joker seemed to have seen it come and dropkicked the boy backwards.
"Idiot-," Anna started but was cut off when he crashed into her and the two were sent flying slightly backwards to crash into the ground. "Ow…Get OFF me." She snapped, shoving at him.
"Jeez, you could've helped," he told her, getting up and offering her a hand up. She glared at him before grabbing his hand and pulling herself up.
"Thought you could handle that yourself," she told him sarcastically. There was a loud bang of a gun and something whizzed through the air before hitting the two and she felt herself pulled closer to Robin as something tied around their torsos. The force knocked them over again, and Anna kept her face turned away from him so as not to bump his. "GREAT…really great." Applause rang out from—probably the idiot dressed like a clown—before the guy walked towards them, tucking the gun back into his pocket.
"Oh look what I found…a strung up little bird…and his little bird-friend," the man said with an almost evil grin as he contemplated the two. "Haven't seen you around before…but meh. Life goes on." He was rambling to himself - that much Anna decided on instantly.
A voice cut into her head again, rather eerily sounding like Wally's from earlier, "Robin. I've got eyes on Harley Quinn with Artemis, Miss. Martian and Superboy. What about you? Any sign of Joker yet?" he demanded almost rudely. "Kaldur, You?"
"About that…"a voice sounding much like Robin's put in.
"Why are there so many voices in my head? I usually have to just worry about one—oh darn. That clowns talking again," Anna thought furiously, trying to keep an eye on the crazy man pacing before them. He'd stopped suddenly as if he had an idea and bent towards them. Anna tuned out the sudden outcry of her and Robin's names in her head, so she could pay attention to him.
"Well well…Time to say your final good byes—OH!" he exclaimed, slapping at his head," I almost forgot…how rude of me…you two can share your final smooch-e-do as well…But don't let my presence bother you." He said, pivoting around so his back was to them.
"I seriously don't LIKE this guy," Anna snapped, turning slightly to glance at Robin," What's the back up plan?"
"I'm still figuring that one out," Robin hissed at her quietly," Give me a second."
"I don't THINK we have a second to spare," She snapped at him, keeping her voice to a low whisper. She stopped when she noticed that the guy had turned around, so she decided to buy herself some time. "Excuse me…But isn't it polite to offer one's name to your captives before killing them?" He seemed slightly taken aback by that. He placed a hand on his chest.
"What? You don't KNOW me?" he demanded, seeming offended. He glanced at Robin. "You should dump this one, she's not too intelligent."
"What?" Anna snapped quickly," I mean COME on, you're the guy DRESSED like a freaking clown—" The guy bent down swiftly, bringing his face closer to theirs, eyes trained on Anna.
"Why yes, but you're the one currently tied up…It's never a good idea to try to irk the one who TIED you up to begin with," he snarled at her. "The name is Joker—"
"How freaking original," She told him and he paused, cut off by that comeback. She turned her attention back to Robin," Did you name him? He gave you a pet-name…He's yours to deal with." She proceeded to ignore Joker now, concentrating on the flow of energies. Then the ground trembled slightly, not from her, but from a new source. "I bet Batman named him," she grumbled under her breath and Joker grabbed her shirt, hefting her and Robin both up slightly.
"So you know Batsy eh? But not me?" He snapped at her.
"Dude, Batman intimidates me. Yeah. I make a point of knowing important people," she snapped at him. She could feel through the energies that Robin was working on getting himself free, but from her position, she'd still be stuck with the insane clown. She couldn't get her energy focused to do anything though, and didn't get to as Joker threw them back down to the ground.
"Pathetic…ABSOLUTELY pathetic…You don't KNOW me…My reputation as a villain in Gotham…I've worked SO hard on it…But YOU-," He shook an angry fist at the two," I'd have expected better from someone acquainted with the Bat…" He glared at the two.
"You got confetti in my hair," Anna said matter-of-factly," I don't care what your name is." He snarled, lunging towards them.
A black-clad figure flew over Anna and Robin's head, boot catching Joker squarely in the jaw and making him stumble back several feet. The fighter landed gracefully and fell into a crouch, sweeping her leg around to catch behind the Joker's ankles, causing him to crash to the glow-in-the-dark graffiti'd concrete.
"MAKI!" Anna had to grin at the sudden take down. "About time."
Suddenly the ropes loosened around her arms and Robin stood up, closing up the razors of his bird-a-rang and sliding it into his utility belt. He gave Maki a grin, "Good job! Where's Kaldur?"
"Outside…there were a few more of this clown's men to take care of. He should be inside soon." She glanced back at the groaning Joker then reached down to help Anna up. She eyed the wet slices of paper that littered her black mane. "It seems we'll have to work on this later…"
"PUDDIN'! GUESS WHAT I DID!" a female voice squealed out energetically as a petite figure somersaulted into the room from one of the main entrances. She skidded to a halt though, upon seeing them standing and her puddin' on the ground. She gasped. "PUDDIN'!" She dashed towards him to help him up," Oh no, what happened? I'll get them for you." She snapped, glaring at them.
"Please tell me her name isn't something ridiculous either," Anna muttered and gave Robin a look.
"It's Harley Quinn," he put in and she resisted the urge to facepalm," Joker named her."
"Figures…," Anna muttered and glanced at Maki," And now what? You wanna let me handle the freak?"
"I did take out the other one…" Maki gestured towards the man in the purple suit. Kaldur ran in from the door at the far wall. It seemed like the goons had taken him no time at all. "Good timing."
"I believe Miss Martian is injured…our link is down and I cannot get in touch with the others." He informed them, staring with a calculated gaze ahead of him at the clown couple. He called out, "Surrender now…The Justice League is aware of our location and will be arriving shortly. It will be easier for in the long run."
"NEVAH'! First you hurt my beautiful face…then my Puddin' Face!" Her red lips turned from a pout to a snarl. All of a sudden it seemed like the anger dissipated from her. She turned and propped Joker to sit up against the wall with a loving smile. "Now you just sit tight right here, Puddin' and I'll take care of this!"
She whirled back around to face them, again pissed off. "Which one of you did this?" She pointed down at the foot print that was smudged in the make-up on Joker's left cheek.
"That would be me," Anna snapped, making a decision," Want some more? Come and get it." She taunted, feeling angry. Partially due to the fact that she hadn't really done anything and it seemed like everyone was protecting her. The crazed female snarled, dashing forward at them and Anna moved to intercept, dodging Harley's attempt to punch her in the face. She pivoted on her right leg and swung up her left in a round house kick taught to her by Maki, quickly catching the clowned female in her midriff and sending her flying backwards. Harley turned it into a somersault when she hit the ground though and glared.
"Cheater," she snarled at her, pulling down an eye-lid and sticking her tongue out," Nyah—" She was cut off as she made a sudden gagging noise and grabbed at her throat as air was cut off from an unseen force. Anna smirked, and with a flick of her hand sent the clown crashing into the wall near her darling puddin' as she liked to refer to him. "One down…none to go."
Robin and Kaldur looked on with a mixture of emotions playing on the duo's face…surprise, annoyance, admiration… The Atlantean reached to put a hand on Anna's shoulder, "Good job—"
Maki grabbed his wrist before it made contact with Anna. She shook her head, " You probably do not want to do that."
"Yeah or it'll be lights out…," Robin murmured quietly under his breath so as the other three couldn't hear him.
Kaldur nodded in understanding," In any case, you did very well for your first mission. Ours, for a team, was nowhere near as successful."
As the adulations were being poured upon the two, Robin was the only one who noticed the Joker moving to shakily stand. His eyes were bloodshot with rage and he pulled a remote with only a single giant red button out of his pocket. "You meddling brats!"
"WATCH OUT!" Robin yelled a warning to his other team mates as he pulled his bird-a-rang back out of his belt and tossed it with skill at the remote in Joker's hands. The clown grunted in surprise and irritation as the silver box hit the floor and slid several feet over to where Harley lay sprawled face down on the ground.
She looked up with a grin, her make-up smudged, "I GOT IT!" Reaching her arm up to the remote, she mashed her finger down on the button. The floor of the fun house shook ominously and the floor swung down from under their feet, landing the heroes in an enormous vat of sticky pudding.
"It's a gift from Puddin'! Get it? Puddin'!" She yelled at them gleefully, "Didn't I do such a swell job Puddin'? Hunh?" His glare silenced her though, and she realized she'd made the mistake of taking over his operation again and trying to deliver a clever little pun herself. "I'm sorry Puddin', I learned from the bestest best though didn't I?" She asked, red lips pulling down into a pout with wide eyes. His face broke out into a grin, and he opened his arms for her. She squealed, tackling him in a hug.
"Of course you did Harls," he said with a little laugh and glanced down at the four heroes covered in goopy stuff," Well, I hate to just leave before getting dessert…but the main course filled me up. You four enjoy though." He said with a cheery little wave.
"OH MY GAWD! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" Anna screamed in rage," FIRST CONFETTI! THEN PUDDING? THIS NEVER HAPPENED WHEN I WAS SOLO!" She threw her fists down in anger, only to be awarded by a wet plopping noise and her hands being sucked down into the pudding. "RWAGH!" She screeched, struggling to get out. The stuff seemed too sticky though and she glanced over at Maki, her lower lip trembling. "Maki…Make it better."
"I am sorry Anna…the only way to not get stuck is to remain calm…" Maki's eyes softened at her best friend's plight. She wished she could help more…internally, she herself was pissed off at their awkward situation…she was half stuck to Aqualad and only a hand's with away from Anna. Robin was stuck lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, half frustrated and half entertained.
"Guys!"A female's rough voice called out to them from above. A blonde and green head poked over the edge of their pudding filled chasm. "YUCK! What is that stuff?"
"IT'S PUDDING!" Kid Flash launched off the edge forming a cannonball and splashed down into the mess, causing a splatter of pudding to fly everywhere. He slowly floated to the top and when his mouth was finally free he growled. "What is this? Why can't I move? Hey…tasty!"
"WALLY!" Artemis stood over them, covered in the sticky goop. Her eyes burned in rage.
"Where are Miss Martian and Superboy?" Kaldur called up to her, trying to ignore the chaos that was taking place around them. Maki was right – no use in getting upset at this point… He would just have to float there till help could come. Conner's voice carried down to them.
"We're here…though M'gann's still out of it…that clown girl demolished a roller coaster on us." His voice was full of agitation and he clutched M'gann to his chest.
"We will wait then…" Kaldur closed his eyes. This would seem a lot longer than it should be…especially with Kid and Castor splashing around.
"…," Anna took a deep breath and released it slowly in an attempt to calm herself down. The only reason she was really agitated is because she was developing a headache from taking down Harley Quinn with so much force. She was also tired from it and didn't feel like dealing with Wally's childish behavior. When he splashed her with more pudding, she couldn't stay calm any longer. "SERIOUSLY? How freaking OLD are you anyways? TWO and a HALF or something?" She snapped at him. The pudding was coating her face slightly as well as her sunglasses but she could read his energy signature enough to know his location.
"What? Can't a guy have fun in a tub full of pudding…with a babe as beautiful as yourself?" he asked, breaking into a charming smile. She went rigid and her eyes narrowed.
A/N:
Anna: This was a wonderful chapter—Note the sarcasm guys. Took down a clown with a killer kick though. That's a plus.
Maki: Yes…your practice most certainly paid off in the long run. Omedetou!
Anna: Anyways… Review please? And hope you enjoy the next chapter as much as this one.