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 6: Night Shenanigans
Anna raced around the corner, turning it into a controlled slide so she wouldn't fall forward and bust her face open on the unforgiving concrete. She clutched her skull bag closer to herself as she headed down the alleyway at a slower pace. It was dark outside, and the wind was unsettlingly cold. She'd located one of her small bags she'd had scattered out, and had slipped into a plain tight black shirt. She'd kept Artemis's dark pants, and tucked them carefully into her boots. Then she'd convinced Maki to let her buy this one dollar set of cat ears and a cat tail, which she'd clipped to the back of her pants. She had on another one of her thin black jackets with a hood. The skull bag, an elderly lady had given out to her, and jostled with her stash of candy she'd received tonight. She took another step and the wind picked up. So much for finding Mindfreak... He'd been watching them trick or treat. Captain Marvel, Maki and herself. She'd felt him and had chased after him without a word. Maki had followed swiftly, but somehow they'd all gotten separated. Anna pulled her jacket tighter around her and the wind simply dropped off. She could make out a figure before her, but if wasn't Mindfreak. No. It was a boy. He was gangly, as if he hadn't used in muscles for anything in a long time. He wore the color black as if it were going out of fashion and in his arms was a rather demonic looking cat.
"What's that Teekl? A visitor?" the boy spoke out, his voice carrying. It was annoying in the general sense of the term. The, all too pale, scrawny kid looked up at her. "What are you supposed to be?"
"...," she didn't reply and simply looked around, before deciding to ask," Have you seen a man come this way? He'd be taller than me and dressed in a-uhm...reddish orange metal like suit? Part human, part metal-ness?" The boy continued to stare at her. Well, younger teen but older than her? Maybe older teen? She couldn't really tell. The cat made a low growling sound, before turning the noise into something she'd consider a questioning sense of the voice.
"Yes Teekl, we're on our way now," he replied, as if the cat had asked some sort of question. Anna slipped her foot back into a fighting stance.
"Who are you?" She demanded, not liking him.
"Me? I'm Klarion...Lord of Chaos? Who are you suppose to be?" he asked, eyes narrowing. She could feel energy rippling from him, tainted by darkness. It made her want to shudder. The power increased, seeming to cloud the air and leech out towards her. She took a step back reflexively.
"You'd probably know me best as Castor," she replied.
"Hmph, what kind of stupid name is that?" he asked, shaking his head slightly.
"Lord of Chaos is even stupider. You can't Lord over Chaos, or else it wouldn't chaos. It would become organized, and no longer exist as chaos," Anna remarked sarcastically," duh." The boy flicked his hand and some sort of dark mass launched out and smacked her backwards, causing her to spill all her candy. She slowly got up, tossing the bag down.
"That's. IT. NO ONE MESSES WITH MY CANDY!" She shrieked at him, and he looked slightly alarmed as she threw her hands out in front of her. Nothing happened. "COME ON!" She flicked her hands again, and Klarion's jacket jerked slightly as if a gust of wind had unsettled it. The cat, Teekl, growled lowly.
"Hmph. You can't mess with me. I'm a lot more powerful than you. I work with dark magic," Klarion said, crossing his arm over his chest and leaning back slightly onto his hips.
"You wouldn't be able to-" She was angry now, and snapped her fingers, concentrating on sending a solid attack of energy. Klarion was knocked backwards onto his back and Teekl leapt away from him with a snarl. "AH. GET HER TEEKL!" He shouted, pointing at her. Suddenly the cat morphed, become much larger and demonic looking.
"EEEK!" She shrieked, dashing away as the cat-monster leapt at her. It missed and she rolled forward, turning swiftly and backing up. This put her at a disadvantage with Klarion at her back, who slowly rose to stand and dusted his outfit off.
"Ha ha, Teekl's going to make you pay for that," he snapped, sounding like a snobby boy now than ever.
"What did I do to you?" She demanded, backing up slowly away from the advancing cat.
"You insulted me," He replied snidely.
"And if I said I was sorry?" She asked and he shook his head.
"I'm still going to make Teekl eat you," he replied with a slight sneer on his face. She waited until the cat sprung again before dropping straight to the ground. The cat-monster missed her but slammed into Klarion who grunted as he hit the ground. The cat changed back into its normal shape and size, letting out a mournful sounding meow. "yeah yeah...we're leaving." The boy flicked his hand, seeming to make some kind of portal open up into the air. "Next time we met, you won't be walking away from this." He said, opening his arms so Teekl could jump up into them.
"Maybe next time you won't run away before the battles up," She snapped at him angrily. His eyes narrowed.
"I'm not running away. Time is of the essence...You'd better enjoy this night while you can...whilst the adults are still around to pass out their goodies to greedy little snot-nosed brats like yourself," Klarion told her before flicking his hand at her. Another dark whitering mass hit her and she was tossed a few good feet back into a brick-wall. By the time she'd gotten up, the witch-boy was gone. She growled, stooping down to begin the tedious task of picking up all of her candy...and to think the night had been going so well before this.
-x-
"Castor!" Maki's face was flustered and she grit her teeth in annoyance. Anna had taken off like a cannon ball after a flash of orange and red that had disappeared around the corner of an ally way not twenty minutes ago. Maki had been keeping up with her friend's insane candy search for most of the night but this was a new stretch, even for the multi-color haired girl.
"…please excuse me for a second, Captain," Maki moved away from the amazingly buff, cape-clad superhero and ducked into a back street and behind a dumpster. It wasn't the most classy place to get changed, but she didn't have room to complain. Anna was powerful but she had a VERY bad habit of getting in to more and more trouble.
The ninja adjusted her mask and looked up at Captain Marvel as she steped into the streetlight. "She looked distressed when she took off. It is probably nothing to worry about, however we need to find Castor."
"Right! I know just what to do!" Captain's mouth stretched into a grin, happy to help in the hurried situation, and he pushed his candy bag's handles up his arm like a purse then swooping Maki up bridal style. "Hang on tight!"
"IE! I do not like to –" Her uncharacteristic shrieks of protest were cut off as the dark haired hero shot into the sky and flew above the city, eyes scanning the streets and alleys below with a happy smile on his face. Maki turned slightly green. She was not born with wings, nor did she have the power of flight…anywhere higher than ten feet was TOO high.
"That's better!" The cheerful tenor voice chirped, happily. "Now…we're looking for black, pink, and purple! Keep your eyes peeled!" This was MUCH more fun than going to a stupid party with the team! He flew forward at a slow but steady speed, eyes tracing the rooftops and sidewalks.
"What do you-"
He looked down at his passenger, who's eyes were squeezed shut. She had her hands on his shoulders and were busy grasping them as tight as she could, and was busy grasping them as tight as she could, breathing deeply and trying to meditate away the knowledge that she was flying a good forty feet in the air. If she fell, how much damage would the impact do? A LOT. Not good. Captain Marvel's eyes widened and he landed on a rooftop, setting her gently onto the concrete, hands on her arms to steady her.
"Are you ok? I'm sorry…I didn't know. Please don't be mad…"
"Ie…no…I am not mad." Her breathing was still deep and paced as she fought her racing heart. "I will be fine now…that my feet are on something solid. Daijoubu ka."
She felt her body readjusting to its normal, calm state and she opened her eyes again. She fixed the almond orbs on her partner and smiled softly. "Please…let us be off. I am fine on roof tops…as long as I am on a solid structure. If you would not mind searching from the sky?"
Captain grinned, relieved that she was fine and not going to tell him off for his stupidity. "Yeah! I'll let you know if I find her!"
He lifted up and hovered fifteen feet above her, looking down at the ninja eagerly. She nodded to him and fixed her gaze across from her at the various roof tops. She took two steps back and ran forward at full speed. Leaping across the eight foot distance from ledge to ledge. She made sure to take a quick, analytical glance down into the alleys.
Ten minutes into the mindless activity and she heard a call from her right. She saw the Captain dive in between a convenience store and a brownstone school building. Maki adjusted her jump to land on the flat surface of the fire escape. She jumped the remaining ten feet to the ground and rolled as soon as she hit the pavement, bracing herself to slow the impact and recover into a vertical position.
She looked up into the shocked face of Captain Marvel. She sounded confused. "I could have sworn I saw her…she ran back here!"
Maki's eyes narrowed and she placed a hand lightly on the hilt of her sword, cautiously.
"Looks like you two got a little turned around…your spell-castor friend is…back there." A deep voice echoed around them, his laughter to the pun bouncing off of the walls. Stepping out of the shadows was a man covered in red and gold plated armor.
A foreboding shiver shot down Maki's back. Deadly…this man was not a trick-or-treater. She tensed and de-clipped the hilt of her sword, hand gripping firmly on the handle. She was regarding him, silently. Captain on the other hand…
"WHO ARE YOU? And what do you mean she's not here? I saw her!" He clenched a fist and glared at the stranger. The man merely chuckled in response.
"Calm down…little boy," Captain Marvel's eyebrow twitched and he murmured under his breath.
"Little?"
"You and the ninja should go home…if you know what's good for you. The jinx-finger is exactly where she needs to be." He sneered at Maki. "Don't worry, mommy. She'll be home before her bedtime."
"Who are you?"
He narrowed his eyes and grinned ferociously at her. "I am your nightmares personified…Ma-chan."
Maki froze, eyes wide, and her hand let go of the handle of her blade. The sword, no longer strapped on, fell out of the sheath and clattered onto the concrete. She hadn't been called 'Ma-chan' since…
The man laughed again, head tossing back as he gauffed. "You two should see your faces!"
He sobered, still wearing a smirk. "You've been pre-occupied long enough…till next time – kids." The armor clad man backed into the shadows, disappearing as quick as he appeared. The October wind blew hard and played with Captain's cape and Maki's long ponytail. She shivered as the cold air kissed the bare skin of her arms.
After a moment of silence, Captain turned and picked the katana up off the ground, handing it to the stoic ninja. "Phoenix…are you ok? You're kind of…frozen."
She blinked, shaking her head, and took the sword from the large man. She aligned the tip of the blade with the opening in the sheath, sliding it up into its case and securing the straps around the hilt. "I am alright."
That man…he knew too much. He knew about Anna…he knew about Maki's father. So much of this night didn't add up. "Phoenix? Captain?"
The duo turned to see a familiar girl in the opening of the alley. Anna tilted her head to the side, shifted her candy bag, and gazed at them through her shades. She adjusted her hair to cover a large scrape that was on her cheek. "Everything ok? You're all suited up Mak…Phoenix."
"…we will talk when we get back to the cave." Maki turned her eyes to Captain Marvel. "Do you need any more candy, or are we done for tonight?"
He was oddly quiet and seemed to be in deep concentration. "Huh? Oh yeah…yeah. I'll just be going home then. Do you need me to walk you two to the zeta tube?"
"Phone booth, yes?"
He nodded his head and Maki smiled, gratefully up at him. "We can make it there on our own. Be careful…and brush your teeth after eating all of that candy."
"Yes, Ma'am," Captain said, automatically…before turning red under his zombie face paint.
"What…are you his mother, now?" Anna chuckled, knowing she would bring this up again at a later date. Maki sighed, mind still trying to grasp the mysterious man. She gave a small smile and moved to walk beside her younger friend. "Come…let us get some rest. Good night, Captain."
"Night!" He flew off without another word, mulling over everything. He knew that Maki was just being helpful…no way she knew he was a kid. That man, though? He said it twice…Little boy…kids. The League should probably know about this new guy on the block.
-x-
Anna was silent the entire way back to the zeta-tube. It didn't even bother her when she headed into the bright light. She was still holding onto her bag of candy as she shuffled into the base, almost getting hit by the tall, broad-shouldered teen from earlier. He scowled at them darkly, paying them almost no heed before veering course to go around Anna. Anna turned and stuck her tongue out in a childish manner behind his back, a move she would never be bold enough to accomplish to his face. She turned around before he even got past Maki who was next through the zeta-tubes.
As soon as the white light faded, Maki's eyes focused on the closest thing…the black and red clad archer whom she and Anna had bumped into earlier in the night. She tilted her head to the side and smiled kindly at him. His return facial reaction was a slight frown but he stopped before her. His arms crossed over his chest, the muscles in his arms bulging. She could feel her eyes drawn to the buff limbs and Maki forced herself to clear her mind…it was rude to stare. She could discuss his…fitness…with Anna later. And perhaps the other girls? "I am sorry…We introduced ourselves before but did not get your name."
She tilted her head up to look at him in the friendliest manner she possibly could. He raised an eyebrow, frown still in place and gruffly said, "Red Arrow. And if you don't mind, I'm leaving." He edged around the quiet Japanese girl who shivered as his arm brushed her shoulder. She didn't bother turning to watch him leave…she fixed her eyes across the room on Anna, face slightly starting to burn.
"Sore wa umaku ikanakatta…"she murmured under her breath. That did not go well…
Anna spotted Robin in his hero get-up and one of her eyebrows shot up questioningly. Kaldur was not far from him and this confused her even more. "You two didn't go to the party?" She asked as she crossed over to them. Robin was perched on the back of the couch with such poise that Anna wondered if he was defying gravity. Kaldur had his arms crossed over his chest and seemed to be deep in thought.
"Nah…Oh? Get anything good?" Robin asked, leaning over towards her to peer into her skull bag. Again Anna found herself questioning if the laws of psychics simply did not apply to the slender built boy. She found her eyes tracing the curve of his arm as he picked through the top of her stash, watching the muscles flex slightly with hidden power. She shook her head slightly, pulling herself out of the daze she had entered. She blamed Klarion and his lack of masculinity. That had to be the only reason she was even noticing it in Robin right now. "Kit-kats, now those are good."
"HEY! Don't take my candy," Anna protested, and turned slightly red as both males looked at her. She hadn't said a word as Robin went through her stash. She grumbled under her breath, "Fine, but just this once." Robin chuckled slightly, opening the candy and breaking off a piece before popping it into his mouth. She couldn't tell if he actually enjoyed it or was just amused that he was messing with her. At least Wally wasn't her.
"So, you're suppose to be a cat?" Robin questioned, flicking one of the ears on her head. Cat. That reminded her of Klarion and she felt herself scowl. Maki's hand on her shoulder accompanied by a slight squeeze stopped any bitter retort. That reminded Anna of their sudden stop from candy grabbing.
"We need to talk," the ninja-girl said quietly. Robin studied her with an impassive expression and Anna realized it was directed at Kaldur. The leader. Well, if Robin was already here she supposed Maki was going to have to say whatever was on her mind. Anna's eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses. She hadn't even run into Mindfreak, just some stupid teenager who called himself the Lord of Chaos. Maybe Maki's night was more impressive, then again….maybe stupid witch-boy had a sister or something. A friend? Better than that dumb cat with a name that sounded like food. Teekl. That sounded like some sort of pastry you had with tea or something…or maybe a hard candy. Either way, that boy needed to get his cat declawed for the sake of humanity.
-x-
"Report."
Captain Marvel stood up and all eyes of the Justice League members focused on him. He cleared his throat and gave a short wave to his audience, "Uh…hi!"
Many of the members rolled their eyes, wearing an attitude of irritation. Billy knew what they thought of him. Kid. Little Brat. Not up to League standards. It wasn't the first time he had briefed on a mission…or reported a new baddie. Why was he so terrible at public speaking? He was Captain Marvel. Sure Billy Batson could afford to have stage fright…but not a super hero!
Noticing he was lost in his own thoughts, Black Canary cleared her throat. "Captain…?"
He blinked, his mind returning to the watch tower and his stick-in-the-mud coworkers. "Yeah…so we…that is to say I…well the new girls, Phoenix and Castor were there and this guy I had never seen before showed up!" His words were rushed and he face palmed after his long winded sentence. "Uh…let me start over."
The Green Lantern, Hal Jorden, and Hawkman groaned as Captain Marvel composed himself. After a few breaths, he looked Batman in the eye and said, " There's a new threat that has shown up in Fawcett City. And I don't think he's taking up permanent residence. He might cover Gothem…Metropolis…even Star City. It was my first time seeing him…but he was definitely a new face."
-x-
The woods were silent, not even the normal sound of the night played around them. Mindfreak seemed to appear like a ghost out of the darkness behind the small figure of Klarion, who was petting the top of his cat's head. Mindfreak hated cats, personally. Sometimes he envisioned himself punting the feline over a cliff. The cat looked at him and hissed as if sensing his thoughts. Go figure. Klarion didn't look back as the slight breeze ruffled the front of his coat.
"So, what do you think? Raw talent, no?" Mindfreak asked quietly, starting the conversation now rather than waiting for Klarion to finally come to his senses. The boy would take three days if he got his way, and stand there brooding in the dark. It bothered Mindfreak, he was use to action first—think later. Sure, he seemed to talk a lot but he wasn't thinking his actions through. His thoughts drifted to the younger girl with whom he was referring to. The one with the raven hair and purple highlights. It was dyed, and she looked nothing like the beautiful color she'd been born with. But she had her mother's figure, and her father's demeanor.
"Hunh...? What are you babbling about?" Klarion growled out, seeming annoyed and Mindfreak took in his rather ragged appearance. He'd obviously been in a tough scrabble with someone. It would seem the young Castor had some fight in her after all, but he doubted Klarion's ability to really test her. She'd need some training…but right now she wasn't ready. Something would have to break her, and he knew he'd have to wait for it. Patience. All good things come to those who wait.
"Looks like you had a rough night…run into anyone I know?" Mindfreak asked, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a sinister smirk. His voice was soft, and sinister. Teekl hissed quietly, before settling into his master's arms.
"Some annoying girl," Klarion snapped, sounding annoyed with his face squinting up.
"Really…and what did you think of her?" Mindfreak pressed on, crossing his arms over his chest. The armor plates glistened, seeming to be an actual part of him.
"….She has some talent," Klarion murmured, seeming to be slightly appreciative of what he saw," BUT no control at all…she needs training…and instruction in the black magics that I use. She'd most likely end up a potent ally…" He turned to look at Mindfreak," Why do you ask though? She's not even on our side."
"…yet," Mindfreak replied in a ghost-like whisper, leaving Klarion with a rather confused look on his face. Mindfreak stepped back into the darkness of the woods.
"Hmph," Klarion muttered, turning back around to stare out into the night. He'd been honest about the girl. She had potential…and she was pretty. He smirked.
"Merow," Teekl growled, glaring up at him in slight annoyance with feelings akin to jealousy.
"Quiet Teekl," he snapped, petting the cat's head as he considered the strange raven-haired beauty with an aura that mirrored his own.
Author Note:
Maki: Please do not eat all of that candy in one night…
Anna: Hey! It'll go bad if I don't! *sneers* Don't worry…I'll brush my teeth.
Maki: He reminds me of you…it is not a joke. *rolls eyes*
Anna: HEY! *jumps up* Can I get a chapter all to myself next time?
Maki: Wait and see. Patience.