Young Justice: The Mimic Contingency (A Young Justice Fanfic)

Tranquilizer's, Illusions and Trickery

ARKHAM BAY - August 15th

5:14PM

Desmond sat in the Cave's swivel chair groaning to himself. He had never been this bored in his whole life.
Since he got to this smaller scale Bat Cave, he was told to hide and study Batman's plan back to front until the words were engraved into his skull. He was not allowed out because he 'would attract attention' and couldn't phone anyone at all.
He was almost a prisoner in a cave barely a mile from Arkham Asylum. The irony was almost cruel...
But the heavy silence was torn apart when footsteps sounded from the edge of the catwalk. It was Bruce, but he looked different.
His batsuit was replaced by a white, prison worker's uniform, which was emblazoned with the double 'A' of Arkham Asylum, but Desmond could see the outline of his utility belt under his shirt. Since he lacked his cowl, he took it upon himself to paint his face several tones darker and add some scars and blemishes to hide his face. But the one detail that Desmond noticed the most was the white, paper bag in Bruce's hand.
Food. And God, was he starving.
Desmond dropped the folder and leapt over the railing and went to Bruce, who held the bag in front of him, the smell of herbs and heavily sauced meat welling from it.
"A meat dish this time..." Bruce told him as he snatched the bag.
"I still can't believe that they have world-class level chefs in Arkham making food for nutjobs..."
Bruce ignored him and continued along the metal catwalk.
"Please tell me I'm getting out of here soon..." Desmond said as he scarfed down a sauce drenched meatball. "If I have to look out at that murky bay or eat stolen meatballs again, I'm going to be the one in the insane asylum!"
"Well if that's the case," Bruce replied. "Then you shouldn't have any ready for the plan's first stage..."
Desmond nearly dropped his meatball.
"What?" he exclaimed. "You're starting the plan now?!"
Bruce nodded just as the picture of one Justice League member appeared. Desmond recognised that green skin and red eyes anywhere...
"Martian Manhunter is the fist target?" Desmond asked. He put down the box of meatballs on a desk next to him and walked over with an interested look on his face.
"It's better that we deal with J'onn first, since he is a telepath." Bruce added. "If he wasn't taken care of, he could find out what we are doing and if he was enraged by the next few stages of the plan, he could become a formidable threat."
Desmond put his greasy fingertips into his pockets and looked at the screen carefully.
"I told you to make you own plans to this, Desmond. How will you approach this situation with Manhunter?"
Desmond looked away and mentally went over the Contingency Plans. Martian Manhunter's profile said that he had a weakness to fire, something that would be easy to exploit. But Desmond knew that the weakness wasn't the problem, it was the deliverance of the weakness. He had to make it public, or use it in a way that the Young Justice would know what had happened and even more so, Desmond had to make sure that the Team knew that it was him who did it, not to mention Savage.
The problem was that Martian Manhunter would be able to read Desmond's mind and catch onto the plan immediately...
"Trick question." Desmond smiled.
A ghost of a smile appeared on Bruce's face.
"Manhunter would catch onto what I was doing very quickly," Desmond explained. "It would be nearly impossible to perform a sneak attack on him."
Bruce nodded.
"But if I can explain my situation to him, then he could help us out. His ability to create illusions and psychological suggestions would be invaluable."
"Very good." Bruce said. "But you also forgot one thing."
"Of course I did..." Desmond grumbled to himself.
"M'gann." Bruce stated. "When we fake Manhunter's death, she will be the one most affected. Since she is the heart and soul of the Team, her sadness will-"
"Will drag the rest of the Team into believing that I've gone rogue."
He looked at Bruce.
"Kid Flash and Superboy have a massive weak spot in their hearts for Megan," Desmond added. "If she becomes upset, it will enrage them and bait them into fighting me. Kid Flash's anger will sway Artemis and Robin into fighting, not to mention the fact that Zatanna is in a relationship with Robin, which will lure her in too. Kaldur is the most rational of the group, so he wouldn't normally fight, but after enough attacks on the League, he will come around too..."
"Very good." Bruce repeated.
With that, Desmond walked over to the table and collected his utility belt and gadgets and headed for the door.
"Desmond." Bruce called out.
Desmond turned around.
"Do not forget," Bruce advised. "You need to make the attack brutal. You might not want to, but your friends need the incentive and enough evidence to believe you've turned on them.
Bruce was right, Desmond didn't want to hurt them. They were his best friends in the entire world and he making them suffer would make himself suffer too. But it would have to be done to ensure the plan's success.
"Understood." Desmond said as he flew out of the cave entrance.

MOUNT JUSTICE - Present Day