Welcome to Happy Harbour Part 2: Rumble in the Harbour

The joyride has turned into a nightmare. I'm holding on for dear life as the ship is tumbled up and down, side to side through this damn vortex. M'gann is able to get the ship under control and pilot out of the twister. She levels the ship a good distance away from the twister. We get out and watch the twister tear through the power plant as people scream and run for their lives. I feel the Rider come forth but I reel him back in...for now. "Robin! Are tornadoes common in New England! Robin?" Kaldur shouts as we look around for the youngest teammate. Only to hear a cackle of laughter. "He was just here a minute ago." M'gann says as I run past her. "Get used to it. Come on! Let's go!" I say as I run into the power plant.

We enter as Superboy leaps towards the downed Robin. "Whose your new friend?" He asks as we look at the large red and blue robot looking villain. "Don't know but he packs a terrible punch." He says as the robot starts talking. "My apologies. You may call me Mr Twister." He says as he sends two separate vortexes at Superboy who charges forward. The vortexes stop his momentum as Mr Twister changes the tornado around Superboy which spins him and sends him flying into the wall. The rest of us look between each other as my eyes glow. Wally takes out his goggles and places them over his eyes. I feel the Rider come forth, this guy plays rough...let's level the playing field.

P.O.V Change: Ghost Rider

I burn through Matt's skin as I'm revealed to everyone present. I feel the Martian's shock and slight fear as I glare at the machine. "Fire will not be enough to stop me." The machine shoes cockily as I grin. "Let's find out." I pull out my chains and light them with Hellfire as Kid Flash charges the machine with a flying kick. The machine simply raises his arms and catches the speedster and flings him outside the building. I charge him and swing my chains, hoping to cut through the metal limbs. The machine blasts the chains away with a gust of wind as he blasts a vortex at me. I brace against the wind, but it proves too strong and sends me flying towards Superboy who stands back up. My weight along with the blast of the vortex sends us crashing through the wall.

I stare at the clone who glares at me. "What are you looking at?" I growl at him as the both of us hear the commotion coming from the plant. "Let's break this tin can." Superboy says as I smile evilly. We get up and charge back in the plant. I look at Superboy who nods his head. I run ahead and wrap my chains around his body, twisting my own, I fling him with full force. The momentum crashes into the machine who is too slow to create a wind barrier. Superboy crashes into him with a punch which sends both of them through the wall and to the outside. I grin at the success, we used the same move against the doctor at Cadmus and look what happens to him. I see the damage to the plant and too the remaining teammates as I run past them. I see Mr Twister thrashing both Superboy and Kid Flash about like they are toys.

"Hey! Junkpile!" I shout as the machine turns and sends Kid Flash into me. I duck around and glance to see that the Martian had caught him with her telekinesis. I twist back towards Me Twister and fire a barrage of Hellfire from my mouth. The force of the heat is too intense for the machine as it dives away from the fire. I pull back and swing my chains at the machine as it hovers itself above, avoiding my chains. "I would have thought that you all would have learned your limitations by now." The machine says arrogantly as I growl in rage. "What do you want?!" Aqualad screams in fury at the machine. "Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero...the fire skull has proved to be very annoying and potentially a threat but even he is beneath me." He says as I scowl in fury. "Beneath you?! I will tear you apart! You worthless piece of scrap metal!" I fling my chains towards him. He blasts a wind blast but I command the chains to weave around the wind and wrap around his legs. "What?" The machine says in surprise as I pull him down to the ground. I charge forward with my chains lit. "Ghost Rider! Wait!" Aqualad calls out but I ignore him. This piece of scrap has insulted me for the last time, I will make him regret it. I Bob and weave out of the air blasts. He sends a vortex of air but like all conflicts...I learn. I twirl my chains around to create a vortex of my own...only this one is with fire rather than air. My vortex burns through his own as I twist around and send my chain vortex to him. He is blasted by the hellfire and sent skating across the ground, creating a deep trench in the Earth. I stand and wait until the dust clears. The rest of the team met up with me as a blast of air sends us back a few feet. Everyone is knocked on their asses but myself and Superboy keep to our feet. The machine hovers above us as a black burn mark is on his chest. A few wires are showing. "You'll pay for that, insolent wretch!" He screams as he sends a full blast of his tornadoes. We dodge out of the way. "Miss Martian. Read his mind. Find out what he was thinking." Aqualad commands her. "But I thought that I can't do that." She says as I growl and pull her up, my face coming very close to hers. She is sweating from the intense heat. I tone it down a little because of her Martian weakness to fire. "Get your head in the game, girl. It's fine to read guilty minds, and he has hurt a lot of people. Now get it done!" I shout at her as she nods fearfully and focuses on the machine.

She places her hand on her head as she tries to read him. Superboy and Kid Flash are keeping the machine busy as they throw rocks and run circles around the machine. "Nothing. I'm getting nothing." The Martian says as she comes out of it. "Hello Megan! Mr Twister is Red Tornado in disguise!" She says as she points him out. I look up at the machine. Makes sense. Power to create vortexes of air. Machine and sent us here. But he is very violent, Red Tornado wouldn't go through all this trouble just to 'test us'. To create this mass chaos and cause so much damage. Kid Flash and Superboy come back to us as the Martian revealed the so called villain. I sense Robin's, Kid Flash and Aqualad's rage. "Speedy was right. We're a joke." Kid Flash says as I didn't catch the first part of his and the others rant. "Damnit." Aqualad says in anger as he turns to Twister. "We know who you are and what you want!" Robin says as he points to the machine. "Consider it ended." Twister says as he generates two vortexes which shoot straight up and form a massive storm cloud. "An impressive show. But we will not indulge you. We will not engage!" Aqualad shouts as the machine generates lightning from his fist. Now I know that Red Tornado can't do that. We made a mistake. "Uh, can Red Tornado do that?" Kid Flash says uncertainly as I extend my chains. "You think I'm Tornado. Ironic." Twister says as he sends a full lightning barrage at Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash. I whip my chains forward and wrap around them I pull them in before they are incinerated by the lightning, but the blast sends us all flying, including the Martian. Superboy pulls off his ruined jacket and leaps at Twister who responds with a full blast of lightning. The blast sends Superboy into the fucking dirt, digging a trench all the way back to me I look up with fury at the descending machine. This fight got harder...I'm liking this more and more.

I prepare for a fight but I sense the Martian coming too. I feel a soul coming as something hovers in front of me. I notice that Twister is looking around like he's looking for something. "Fine, then. I won't deny that you children have power. Your flaming teammate is more than enough for all of you to challenge me. But even still, you cannot hope to win. So play your hide and seek game, I'll have none of it. My objectives are more important than entertaining you brats. Confront me again, I will show you no mercy." Twister proclaims as he hovers away from us. "What happened?" Wally asks as I wrap my chains back around my arms. "I put the bio ship between us." The Martian says as Superboy punches a rock. "And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado." He says angrily as he stands over her. I come between him and push him back from his approach. "Let's not point fingers. She jumped to conclusions, yes. But we all did. Don't blame. Fix." I say to him as he backs away from me. "None of this was on purpose. She didn't mean for it to happen, Superboy." Aqualad also puts in. "It was a rookie mistake." Robin puts his two cents in as well. "You are pretty inexperienced. Hit the showers." Kid Flash says as he points to the now revealed bio ship. "Just stay out of the way." Superboy says to her as he leaps ahead after Twister. Kid Flash follows with his speed. Robin trails behind. I turn back to the Martian who is drowning in self disappointment. "I just wanted to be part of the team." She says as Aqualad walks forward. "To be honest. Not sure we really have a team." He says as he follows after the others. I turn back to her who is now staring at me. "Are you going to judge me too?" She says as I shake my head. "You made a mistake. This is not your end M'gann M'orzz." I say as she perks up. "I sense a strength of character within you. Virtue. Sheer will. I believe that you are destined to do great things. I might not be the one that you want to hear that from but...you are a part of this team. I judged you too harshly earlier. You are brave, kind and I'll be happy to have you as my teammate." I say to her as she wipes a tear away. "Thank you." She says as I nod. I pull two fingers to my mouth as I whistle. After a while, I hear the telltale sign of a motorcycle roar. My Hell-bike rocks up as I mount it. "You coming?" I ask her, gesturing to the open seat. "I don't do well with heat. Plus I got my own ride." She says as she pats the ship. I smile and start the engine. "Let's ride." I rev the engine and ride in the direction where the others went. After some time, I hear a loud roar, looking up...I see the bio ship above me. I smile as we begin racing across Happy Harbours fields.

After a while, I hear the destruction that Twister is causing. As well as the innocents who are caught in the crossfire. I growl and add more to my acceleration. I reach where the Twister is still overpowering the others. I see Superboy being thrown into Aqualad as a boat falls towards them. I rider forward and swing my chain, catching the boat before flinging it back towards Twister who is unprepared for the collision. I jump off the bike as I ready my chains. I feel pressure on my mind. "Listen to me." I feel M'gann speak into my mind. "Don't force her out." I hear Matthew speak to me as I just was about to. I ponder as to why she seemed it ok to barge her way in. 'All of you.' She continues as I hear Superboy grunt and push some debris off himself. "What did we tell you?" He angrily demands of her. "I know. And I know I messed up. But now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please trust me." She says pleadingly. I focus my thoughts on her signature and everyone else's. "What's your plan?" I ask as I sense her amusement.

After hearing a very thought out and detailed plan. I move into position beside Superboy. I hear something coming and see Red Tornado land in front of us. "Hit the showers, boys. I thought that you could have handled this. Clearly you cannot." He says as Robin speaks up. "But we have a plan now." He says but Red Tornado waves him off. "The subject is not up for debate. We leave the field, leaving the two aero powered machines to fight it out. "I was beginning to think that you would never show." Twister says arrogantly. "I'm here now." Tornado says as he forms a vortex and sends it towards Twister. I move to catch a better angle. Just in case if Tornado needs assistance. Twister catches Tornado's vortex and send it back to him. Tornado simply raises his arm and breaks the vortex into nothing. "We are evenly matched, Twister." Tornado says as he brings up large rocks and blasts them at Twister. "No, were not." He says as he slams his fist into the ground and a large blast of air shoots up and breaks the rocks. Twister charges a lightning bolt and blasts it towards Red Tornado. Tornado evades the blasts but is caught when a boat near him explodes, sending him flying. Twister approaches the downed android. "Remain still, android. The reprogramming won't take long." He says as he sends cords into Tornado who suddenly moves and catches the cords. Tornado's head changes into M'gann as I smile. Finally. "Longer than you think." She mocks as I charge forward as I call my bike. I jump on and fling a chain at Twisters feet and drag him along the ground. Turning the bike, I pull Twister around and fling him towards Kid Flash who is spinning like one of the vortexes. The spin adds to the momentum which sends the machine into Superboy who grips an arm and bashes the side of Twister's body. Superboy sends one last punch into Twister's torso which sends flying into the water. A few seconds after, an explosion happens under water as Twister is sent flying back up and out of the water. I throw my chains and pull him down with authority. M'gann telekinetically lifts him and pulls his arms apart before dropping him. Robin slides under and throws his birdarangs at the falling machine. The rangs explodes as Twister lands with a thud into the ground. He kneels up onto his knees as we gather in front of him. The machine opens up as a man falls out.

"Foul. I call foul." He says as I take the time to read his soul...strange. He doesn't have one...he's not a real human. M'gann lifts a nearby rock and hovers it over the strange man. "M'gann! No!" Aqualad shouts as she crushes the man. "Don't know how things work on Mars. But on Earth, we don't kill out captives!" Robin shouts at her as I walk over to the rock. "You said you trust me." I hear her say as I lift the rock off the fake man. Everyone gathers as the fake man is revealed to be a machine. "That's why, I couldn't read his mind." She says as Kid Flash kneels down and picks up the robotic one. "Cool. Souvenir." He says as I glare at him. "You're an idiot." I turn my attention back to everyone else. "We should have had more faith in you." Aqualad says as he places a hand on her shoulder. She smiles thankfully. "Yeah, you rocked this mission. Get it? Rocked?" Kid Flash says as I pull him close to me. "Enough...with the jokes." I say threateningly as he nods his head really fast. "Forgetting what he said. We're all really glad that you're on the team." Robin says to her as she smiles. "Heh. Thanks. Me too." She says as I feel Matthew stirring. I give him back control.

P.O.V Change: Matthew Spectre

The Rider gives up control as I sink to my knees. "Matt! You ok?" Robin says as he rushes over to me. I wave him off as I get my breathing back. "Yeah. I'm alright." I get back to my feet as I look at everyone. "Good job, guys. Job well done." I say as I collapse to the ground, panting up a storm. "Boy, he took a lot out of me. I just hear everyone laugh and chuckle. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.

Later that night:

We all gather around the zeta hanger as the parts of the android that controlled Twister are laid out on a table. Red Tornado is present as we give the report. "It was clearly designed to sabotage or destroy you." Kaldur states to Tornado as I put my thoughts in. "Twister said something about reprogramming. So maybe it was something about turning you either against us or the League and I'm betting my bike that it's more than likely to be about the League." I say. "Agreed." Tornado says as M'gann enters the conversation. "Is that why you wouldn't help us?" She asks as Tornado turns to her. "No, this was your battle. I do not believe it is my role to solve your problems for you. Not should you solve mine for me." He says as I cross my arms. "But if you're in danger-." M'gann starts as I finish. "We would want to help you." I say but Tornado waves us off. "Consider this matter closed." He says as he walks off. "Batman, Aquaman, Flash. They would have jumped right in to fix things." Wally says as Robin follows up. "Well since we're gonna have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need." He says as I walk over and slap him upside the head. "Oww! What was that for?" He asks as I point to Tornado. "Inaccurate. I have a heart. Carbon steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing." He says as he turns back to Robin who laughs awkwardly. "Sorry. I'll drive to be more accurate." He says as Kaldur walks over. "And more respectful." He says as I nod in agreement.

"Speedy was so wrong." "This team thing." "Might just work." Wally, Robin and Kaldur say respectfully as they head to the common area. I notice that Superboy is hesitant before turning back to M'gann. "Sorry." He says as she smiles and goes to follow him. "You coming, Matt?" She says to before I wave her off. I'm going to take a drive, find some place to rent or something. I'll catch you later." I say as I enter the Charger and head out the front door.

Local Bar:

The Rider took a lot of my energy. I need to rest up but these feelings of injury are bothering me. While there's nothing wrong, it still affects me, the pain is still present like the injury is real. Drinking helps since it numbs the pain but also can't get me drunk. Seems the Rider just burns the effects out of my system. I go to ask for another one when I feel a familiar soul sit beside me. I narrow my eyes in irritation. "You either have a death wish or you couldn't find another place to drink." I say as I turn my head and see the familiar grey eyes, slender build and olive skin. "Honey, don't be mad. We all deserve a break every now and again." She says as I scoff. "The only break you get is when I break your neck." I say as she pouts. "You wouldn't do that to little old me, would you?" He teases, I just roll my eyes before ordering two beers. I pass some to her as she thanks me. "What do you want, Jade?" I ask, finally getting to the point. "Not only to see what has become of you, which is slightly disappointing but also." She says as she takes a deep breath. "I need your help." She says as I grin to her. "With what?" I say, intrigued as to why an answer would want MY help? "My mother gets out in about a week and I believe that she'll go straight and hope that Artemis will too. Knowing my sister like I do, she will strike out on her own. Which I'm sure will get either the League or your attention." She says as I sit there. "I want you to protect her." She says as I take a swig. I sigh as I feel the desperation steaming off of her. While she is a master of hiding it, she can't hide her doubts about her life choices and what she really wants out of said life...family is the number one thing. Huh...like Artemis. "If I can find her. I will." I say as she sighs in relief. "This doesn't make us friends, you know that?" I say as she just smiles seductively. "Oh, don't worry. This is the start of a strictly...professional relationship." She says as she leans in and pecks me on the cheek. Suddenly she grips the scruff of my neck and slams my head into the bar. "Fucking goddamn it!" I scream as I shake my head out of the pain. I get up and see the bar owner pointing to the door. I run out and find that she's gone. I rub my head as I feel the Rider laugh. "Shut up." I tell him as he settles but still chuckles. This is not how I wanted to spend my night.