Young Justice: Linchpin

by Jacksaw

JUNE 20, 2016 Wally West, aka Kid Flash has died to save the world. FORTY YEARS INTO THE FUTURE, nothing has changed. Earth 16 is doomed. But it doesn't matter. It was just a linchpin. (Young Justice Season Three. Rated T for crippling, deaths, injuries, and Jason Todd. The kid hits people with a crowbar.)

2. Break

I have decided I do not give a damn whether you guys like this thing or not.

Just for the record, this is unbeta-d. Any mistakes are solely mine.

Just realized. Both Wonder Girl and Cassandra Cain are both Cassandras. So Wonder Girl will be referred to as Cassie.

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OC Profiles (For this chapter) (Characters that remain the same will be unlisted):

JASON TODD Blah blah blah.
Costume: Dons the his old costume, but keeps the yellow cloak.

HARLEY QUINN Real name: Dr Harleen Frances Quinzel (Really.) Right hand to the (late) Joker, Blonde, blue-eyed, in her twenties. Human.
Costume: A red and black jester's uniform.

CASSANDRA CAIN Blah blah blah
Costume: Batgirl's. Except the Bat symbol on her chest is yellow-rimmed on black instead.

JERICHO Blah blah blah.
Costume: Black, ninja costume.

ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO DC.

---

Harley Quinn, in civies, stumbles out of the bar, wobbles a few feet and then slumps against a wall. A lampost opposite casts a dim light across the scene. She fumbles with her handbag clasp, clearly drunk, and pulls out a black soot-covered ring. Before the camera can zooms, we see a black shape drop down next to her. Harley swings around to face her assilant. Jericho's face, shrouded by the shadows, but eyes as bright as ever, stares back at her.

HARLEY
What the―?

Jericho's eyes glows highlight green, whites of eyes turning black.

FADES OUT.

CUT TO:
Babara's POV.
Eyes blink open to CASSIE's concerned face. As Babs groans, Cassie leaps back.

CASSIE
She's awake.

Babs groans groggily, then the camera turns to reveal the entire Team, plus Cassandra and Jason, all in ciivies, standing at the end of her bed. She's hospitalized, and she can see the end of her blanket and her feet too.

ZOOM OUT to show Babs lying in a hospital bed, complete with the traditional table at the end.

BABARA
Whe― where am I? And who's that?
(points at Cassandra)

Dick sighs.

DICK
I'm sorry Babs. I should have been there for you. But I didn't see the guy in time-

He runs a fustrated hand through his hair.

BABARA
Wha―what do you mean? I remember Jason, and then the break-in and then nothing.
(turns to Dick)
What happened?

DICK
(repeats)
I'm sorry Babs. Alfred says you clear to go but―

BABARA
But what?

In answer to her question, Cassie nudges a wheelchair into veiw.

CASSIE
(whispers)
I'm sorry.

THEME SONG THING.

OPENS:
CENTRAL CITY POLICE STATION. 3: 30 PM
Harley Quinn knocks on the police station's front window. The policeman steps out and leads her to a van. SKIP TO: The vehicle pulls up in front of BELLE REVE. Harley steps out. A second guard waits for her and guides her through the prison. Ivy is on her floor alone. They are no order prisoners on death row in Belle Reve. Harley, guided by the guard, passes the empty cells without a second glance. She is led into one of the cells. Poison Ivy sits up on her bunk.

IVY
Harley.

Harley inclines her head, and sits down in front of her. She turns slightly to look over her shoulder. There is a moment of silence, as they wait fro the security guard to finally leave. Harley turns back to Ivy, her eyes clearly green instead of blue.

HARLEY
Ivy.

Ivy leaps to her feet, making the bunk clatter.

IVY
Who are you? What have you done with my friend?

Harley leans forward and pats her bunk.

HARLEY
Sit down, Ivy. I'm a friend.

She leans forward conspiratorially.

HARLEY (Cont'd)
And I, well Harley, has come to break you out.

CUT TO:
The Team, minus Dick and plus Jason, streams through the hospital door, number 23 clearly written on the bronze sign.

JAIME
So, I guess Babs is quitting our team?

CASSIE
She isn't quitting. Just―
(searches a moment for the right word)
Retiring.

Tim puts an arm around her shoulder. They round a corner.

BART
Yeah. LIke Wally did.

Jaime and Tim both elbow him simultaneously.

M'GANN
(forces cheerfulness)
On a happier note, Jason's back.

There's a ripple of agreement.

LA'GANN
Yeah. Happiness is overflowing.

JASON
(slaps a hand across his shoulders)
Don't worry, Puffer-fish! Things will work out. When has anything stopped a Bat?

LA'GANN
(slides out of his grasp)
Thanks a lot, chum.

Cassandra speaks up from behind them, having just caught up with them.

CASSANDRA
I think Babs will be okay. It's only her legs.

The Bats within earshot scowl at that.

CASSANDRA (Cont'd)
What?

GAR
(clears his throat)
Nothing. So you and Jason are definitely joining the Team?

CASSANDRA
I guess.

Bart zooms across to her.

THE TEAM
Bart!

Bart ignores them.

BART
And you're going to be Batgirl?

CASSANDRA
Yeah. I guess.

BART
And Jason is going to be Red Hood? And you're going make kissy faces at his pictures?

Blink, blink.

CASSANDRA
What?

Jaime elbows Bart again, almost knocking the speedster off his feet.

JAIME
Dude! What happened to 'No spoilers'?

JASON
(Grins)
Aww, Cass. You do care.

CASSANDRA
(spins around on Bart)
I swear, I will hurt you. I will personally toss your soul into Hell.

Virgil stifles a laugh. Kaldur sighs.

KALDUR
Let us drop this conversation before Cassandra physically wounds Bart.

Jaime winces and pounds the side of his head.

JAIME
(to Scarab/himself)
No, she's not really going to toss his soul in Hell. And I don't need to blast her with the plasma cannon.

JASON
He's talking to the bug thing, right?

CASSIE
(sighs)
Yeah, the bug thing. Look, let's get home before Bart reveals to everyone―

Tim tenses and presses a hand to his comm.

TIM
(shakes his head)
Sorry Cass. It's Belle Reve.

KALDUR
(calmly)
Where is Nightwing?

GARFIELD
Still with Babs.

JASON
C'mon. We can handle a simple jailbreak.

LA'GANN
This is Belle Reve.

JASON
Your point was?

LA'GANN
Nothing, chum.

KALDUR
Jason is right. We can handle this without Nightwing. Where is nearest zeta-tube?

CUT TO:
BELLE REVE 2:12 PM
In the cafeteria, guards patrol. There is a commotion in Ivy's cell. The guard drops his taser-thing, and yells. There's a quick crackle from his comm.

JUMPS TO: The guard outside her cells jumps as a loud crack is heard, followed by a muffled oof!He creeps slowly forward to peek into the cell. We follow him.

Ivy stands over Harley's crumpled body with a cold expression.

GUARD
(yells)
What are you doing?

Ivy just looks at him blankly. The guard shifts his gun to one hand, and then fumbles with the electronic key. He pushes open the door, and scrambles to scoop up Harley.

GUARD (Cont'd)
What happened?

Ivy smiles and waves. The guard looks at her quizzically. Then a blur of black sweeps down from the top bunk and lands behind him. A black-gloved arm and hand flashes behind his head, and he crumples, Harley rolling out of his arms. Jericho kneels down and begins to prop them both up.

IVY
Leave it. The guards won't hurt her. She's a civilian. Let's get going before-

An alarm begins to sound across the prison, ringing obnoxious and loud.

IVY (Cont'd)
That happens. Come on!

She grabs Jericho by his arm and pulls him out of the cell. The guards are there, waiting with guns, and one with the remote control for the collars. He presses the button. Immediately a current of electricity passes through the collar, and Ivy stiffens, grimacing. She tries to tug it off. Jericho slaps his forehead in a Oh, shit! I forgot! fashion, pulls a simple USB out of his pocket. He plugs it into the collar, and the current immediately dies. Ivy raises her fists, and ivy begin spreading along the walls. Flowers crack open the pillars and poke out. A tree branch smashes through the wall, shoving a guard off the railed side.

IVY
(grins)
Now you're talking!

She raises her arms high above her head, and grass explodes from the floor, curling around the ankles of the guards and upwards. They try to tear at the, but more replace them.

IVY
(wags her fingers at them, riding a giant branch)
Now that was naughty. Don't you dare hurt my babies!

Jericho rolls his eyes. At the end of the corridor, a patrol of guard arrive, guns already firing. Jericho grabs the one of Ivy's rising tree branches and scrambles on top. Running along its length, he leaps over to the next branch, which had been flinging horizontally towards the guards. The guards drop their guns and scramble for cover, running this way and that. One of the slower guards has the misfortune to catch Jericho's eye, and the meta's eyes glow. Let's name him Crawley. Crawley turns slightly rigid; not enough for the others to notice, even if they weren't too busy ducking and running. Jericho just… disappears. Just gone.

Crawley relaxes slightly.

The tree branch has arced all the way across the room, and it smashes into the wall, spraying them with splinters and bits of brick, filling the air with dust. When it clears, there's a huge hole in the wall, and Jericho is nowhere to be seen.

CRAWLEY
He's gone.

GUARD IN THE LEAD
Well, he must be somewhere. Crawley, keep looking. The rest of us go look for him.

The others nod, and they all (except Crawley) troop out of the room. Crawley blinks, and Jericho walks out of him, looking exactly like the way a person behind him coming out would. Except he started out semi-transparent and ended up solid, almost reverse of what happened to Wally. Crawley collapses, and Jericho props him, laying him flat on his back before slipping away.

CUT TO:
Poison Ivy cackles as she thrusts her arm forward, towards the barrel of the gun pointing at her. In the background, we see her plants murdering security guards. We stare into the gun, going inside as we see Ivy's magic make plants sprout inside, jamming the mechanics. There's the click of the trigger is pressed downwards. From inside we see the hammer slamming away uselessly as the plants cushion the impact. This is the full extent of what Ivy's powers could do. Wow.

JUMP BACK OUT:
The guards stares in dismay as he squeezes the trigger again and again, to nothing except a dull thump echoing softly. Ivy looms over him, a thick strand of ivy curling at her feet like a contented cat.

IVY
Oops.

Ivy lashes her hand forward, and her fist connects with the man's cheekbone. The ivy darts forward, lifting the man ino the air, wrapping itself around the man rapidly, until there is only a small window for the face. Poison Ivy holds out a hand and beckons. The tip of the ivy races towards her, pulling the cocoon tighter around the man. He screams and struggles, but the plant is wrapped way too tight for him to do anything. The window slowly squeezes shut, and the man's screams are muffled, until the vine becomes too tight and they die out. Ivy watches with no more than cruel pleasure on her face.

Camera retreats a little, letting us see the full scene of battle. Ivy's plants have spread all over, each murdering guards in their own way. Jericho stands a bit behind her, face shocked and slightly scared for a moment, before he hardens his face and walks forward to tap Ivy on the shoulder. She spins around, the vine squeezing the man temporarily pausing. He waves his hands in a clear we really should go now expression. Ivy nods. The vine drops to the ground, the man still wrapped. She grabs Jericho by his arm again, and together they race for the door.

The door explodes, ripped apart in a plasma beam. Jericho jumps on Poison Ivy, tackling her to the floor. Jaime, in Beetle Amour, peers his head in.

JAIME
Uh, did anyone get hurt?

Bart zips straight into a random vine, untangling the security guard from its grip. The rest of the Team follows his lead, helping rescue the guards. Poison Ivy jumps to her feet, hissing.

IVY
(shrieks)
Do not hurt my babies!

She thrusts her hands high into the air, and we see the solitary line of vines spread up the back wall, warping it out of shape. IN QUICK CUTS:

Pillars crack wide open, plants curling in and out of the cleft, forcing it open wide like a fox-trap.

Roof starts crumbling as the ivy pulls in between the bricks, pulling them all out of place.

Grass force their way up in the hard concrete of the cells, and plants wrench the metal bars open like they're putty. The villains cheer and pour out.

The Team immediately meets them in battle, each working on one or more villain(s). The alarm sounds again even louder, even more annoyingly than before. Reinforcements (human, not the League) arrive, streaming in from the broken doors.

CUT TO:
Bart is surrounded by villains, each one of their faces ugly and leering. He starts zipping around them, forming the same wind-funnel he used to save Barry, but this one takes relatively more time. The villains are swept into the air, swirling around like in a blender.

FOCUS ON:
Bart's POV. His face is screwed in concentration as he runs circle after circle. OUt of the corner of our― well, his eye, we see each villain being swung closer to him in order. That isn't a big matter until during his turn, ICICLE JR. leans forward to his ear.

ICICLE JR.
(whispers)
We can bring him back.

Bart's eyes widen, and he slows down almost imperceptibly. Keyword: almost. He shakes his head clear and speeds up again. SHIMMER's tattooed head dips down close to his ear.

SHIMMER
We know you are looking for him.

The villains continue to spin each one taking their turn to talk.

COUNT VERTIGO
Wally West.

DEVASTATION
You don't have to search anymore.

HOOK
We have the key.

TAMMY TERROR
We can return what you have lost.

The wind funnel dies.

BART
(stutters)
H―how?

KILLER FROST goes rigid for a small second, and then she relaxes, eyes green.

KILLER FROST
(grins)
We have our ways.

ABRA KADABRA
Meet us in Africa, at the Scarab Temple.

BLACK ADAM
Alone.

BART
(nods blankly)
Yeah, okay.
(shakes his head clear)
I mean, yeah, sure. I'm just going to kick your butts now.

He starts up the wind funnel again, and this time the villains remain silent.

CUT TO:
BELLE REVE 4:16
Nightwing turns to watch the prison van as the guards load all the former Belle Reve prisoners inside. Black Adam is shoved roughly inside, along with Tammy Terror. He turns to Tim.

NIGHTWING
Is everybody accounted for?

Tim squints at his list. He flips through the numerous pages.

TIM
Mostly.

NIGHTWING
Mostly?

TIM
Poison Ivy is gone.

Nightwing's face is somewhere between horrified and surprised.

NIGHTWING
Has anyone seen her?

TIM
Nope. Last time was when she busted everyone out. She's gone. The police are looking for her though.

NIGHTWING
Her collar. What do you think happened?

TIM
(shrugs)
The witnesses say the ninja kid with her shoved a USB in her collar, and it malfunctioned. Maybe a virus or an override code?

NIGHTWING
Obvious Luthor involvement. Those collars are hard to hack!

TIM
You sound like you speaking from experience.

NIGHTWING
(smiles)
Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not.
(grows serious again)
Luthor mean Light-involvemnt. Why do you think they need her?

TIM
No idea. Maybe a trade deal with lumberjacks?

NIGHTWING
Tim, it's not funny.

TIM
I was serious.

CUT TO:
Bart peers carefully around the edge of the cave. Soldiers in Bialyan uniform stand guard.

BART
(clears his throats)
I'm here!

The soldier looks at him, and then looks away like he isn't there. Bart walks cautiously forward, then, getting no reaction at all, zips straight past them. He gets down to the Scarab Temple. He spins around in a slow circle, looking for them.

BART
I'm here! What do you want?

Vandal's cold laugh echoes a bit in the vast chamber.

VANDAL
The question is, my dear Bart, what you want.