Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, but I do own Andie Kyle.

I stared in shock.

She lowered her claw, and before my eyes, began to morph. "I am… Artemis Crock; resilient archer."

"Wh… what?"

She changed again, her limbs becoming darker - body growing taller. "I am Kaldur'ahm; devoted leader."

I shook my head in disbelief.

Her body mutated; shorter, slimmer, paler. "I am Richard Grayson; beloved soul– "

"Stop it!" I yelled. "What… what's going on? What are you?!"

She morphed back into a little girl – a little me. "Your Safe has been unlocked, as a result, I stand before you. I am a part of your psyche you have hidden even from yourself. I know your darkest desires; your deepest secrets…"

I took a step back.

"In short, I am The Cats Essence."

I stopped breathing. "This…this is crazy…let me out!" I spun around in search of the evil genius. A variety of moving images spanned the room, they stretched in all directions with no foreseeable end. I ground my teeth; they were my memories. "Are we… are we in my head?"

His voice drifted through the air, he was nowhere to be seen. "Brain, actually. As you exist now, you are a mental manifestation of your consciousness, similarly to myself."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why are you doing this? What do you want with me?"

"Control, of course; you possess unbridled power that could benefit me nicely. All I need do, is control it."

"Control it?"

"Yes…"

The Cats Essence appeared in front of me. "I see you are afraid." She blinked, her eyelids stretched obscenely. "I fail to see why. Like every human, you possess the ability for great villainy; great power. I can help you access it… I can help you save your friends. In exchange, all I want…" Her eyes drilled into me. "…is control." She clutched onto my chin, pulling me down.

I struggled violently, attempting to pry her hands off.

"There is no need to struggle. I am simply fulfilling your childhood wish. After all, you coveted me. You wanted to become the controller of 'The Cats Essence'; a powerful being; the beloved daughter of Selina Kyle."

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I dropped to my knees. "I… I don't want your power." My lips trembled. "…I want no part of the destruction you breed."

She hissed. "You can't lie." She bent her head downwards, digging her claws into my cheeks. "You would have done anything for your dear Mothers approval," she whispered. "Even… become me."

I flinched backwards. She released her grip, and I gazed at the floor in a stupefied daze. Then, the sound of breaking glass echoed off the walls. Every image; every memory, was shattering one by one.

I felt her tiny hand on my shoulder. "Don't despair." She tilted my head up. "There is still time to make your Mother proud."

I blinked, slowly. "Mother…make Mother proud…" The sound of tinkling glass reached my ears. Each and every memory was mending; each and every memory had a missing piece.

The little girl grinned, her fangs dug deeper into her flesh. "Fulfil your Mothers deepest wish – become a weapon." She placed her tiny hands on each side of my face. "You want to thank your Mother for her gift."

I nodded. "Thank…Mother…"

"You want to share it with the world."

I nodded.

"... with your friends."

I nodded.

"... with Robin."

I nodded.

"Which means you must give me full control of your body and mind."

I nodded.

She smirked. Her eyes flashed green.

Wally POV:

"This is a most unfortunate circumstance."

I cracked my eyes open and blinked multiple times. An unconscious M'gaan lay in front of me; I grinned. I can live with this, uh, unfortunate circumstance.

"You awake Kid Dork?" I was yanked to an upright position. A pair of grey eyes stared at me.

I frowned. "Why did you bother asking, if you were going to pull me up?"

Artemis shrugged.

"Excellent," Kaldur said, turning to me. "You are awake."

I nodded, and looked around the cell. An unconscious Superboy was sprawled in the far corner.

I looked at Kaldur. "So what do we do- hey, where's Rob?"

Artemis hit the back of my head. "Use your eyes. He's over there." She pointed to a small seated figure. "He hasn't moved for a while now."

I frowned and shifted to sit beside him. "...dude, you really took some hits." I glanced at his face; his forehead was smeared with blood. "I think M'gaan has bandages in-"

"Can't you hear it?"

I blinked. "Huh? Hear what?"

He turned his back to the bars, and stared hard at the wall. "Andie."

I looked around the cell, she was nowhere to be seen. "Um, I can't even find her, let alone hear her."

Boots stomped across the cell, and when they halted, Artemis stood in front of me. She bent to a crouch and rolled her eyes. "I swear, you are so clueless."

I raised an eyebrow.

She sighed and pointed in the direction of the cell door. "She's out there."

I turned away from Robin, and glanced in that direction. Andie lay on the floor. She was quite a distance away from our cell. Psimon stood over her, but... there was nothing... "Am I missing something? Their just frozen-"

That's when I heard it.

It started off as a small squeak, a slight whimper, a low howl - and then a full blown screech.

I flinched.

Andie began to move; it was surreal. Her limbs remained frozen in place, but her head flung from side to side. It bashed repeatedly against the concrete ground. I noticed, with a sick sort of realisation, that dry blood already caked that spot. She'd done it before.

I turned away.

Artemis gave my hand a small squeeze. "She's been doing that, repeatedly, for the past fifteen minutes."

"Of course she has," Robin snapped, his back to the bars. "Psimons in her head - messing with her."

An atmosphere of misery shrouded our group; we fell silent. Perhaps, like me, they couldn't bring themselves to speak – at least, not with Andie's yells as a constant soundtrack. I clenched my eyes shut and grasped the bars, attempting to yank them free. Having failed, I sighed and slumped forward. "How the heck are we supposed to escape?! None of us have powers, Robin lost his utility belt, and half our team is unconscious!"

"Please keep calm," said Kaldur. "As we speak, I am attempting to formulate a plan."

I shook the bars in frustration. "Why don't we just call The League? They can bust us ou—"

"Forget it," Robin said. "We're out of range. You should know that," he snapped.

I rested my head on the bars, and stared out beyond the cell. "So…we just wait to die? Or wait for Psimon to perform his mind-voodoo on us?"

The cell fell silent; nobody had an answer.

I clutched tightly onto the bars; my knuckles stained white. A slight movement caught my attention and I focused. Andie. She twitched and a low keen escaped her lips.

I lowered my head. "Guys… I think it's happening again."

I heard footsteps and Robin appeared beside me. He narrowed his eyes. "No. This is different."

"I agree," said Kaldur. "It does not follow the same sequence as before."

I glanced at him. "There's a sequence?"

He simply nodded. I raised a sceptical eyebrow then turned back around. Beside me, Robin was tense. His fingers jerked, as though desperate to pull the door off its hinges. Andie's twitching increased in tempo, soon she was flailing around the floor. Her whole body spasmed. She froze, her mouth open in a silent scream.

I blinked, only for a second, but when I opened my eyes she had changed - into her Cat form. I frowned. "I think I get it now… Psimon controls you."

Oh well, no messy breakup. :p

Psimon has warped her memories, messed with her feelings, and freed the 'Cats Essence'... It can only go downhill from here. What will Robin think of this new 'development'?