Young Justice Season 4 - The Red X Factor

Episode/Chapter 22 - Cornered

"How could this happen..." Batman muttered as Red X stood before him and the team.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry. I really should've told someone." Red X said, "But you would've just held me back." 

"From doing what?! Killing yourself?! Because there's a reason for that!" Nightwing added, "if you want to do something as risky and dangerous as this, you need to have strong back-up in case something goes wrong. Who knew?"

"I did." Robin raised his hand, and Nightwing just stared at him. 

"I found out." Batgirl said. 

"And I'm sure Destiny Bertinelli knows now, too." Red X shrugged.

"You and I have some serious discussing to do." Batman peered at Red X, Nightwing nodding in agreement. 

"Uh, Nightwing?" 

They turned to see Oracle checking the cave computer. 

"Something just doesn't seem right here." 

"What's the matter?" Nightwing asked as he walked up to her. He turned back to Red X and mouthed that they were going to have to talk later. 

"There are sighting of Red X everywhere." Oracle started typing in codes.

"Did you refresh the satellite?" 

"Yeah, this chart is as of thirty seconds ago..." Oracle turned to look at him as tiny red dots started appearing everywhere on the holo-map before them. 

"Then what do we do?! Who is it?!" Superboy asked. 

"Only one way to find out." Nightwing said, "we'd better go out and look for him."  

"Then pinpoint his location. We'll take it from there." Miss Martian told Oracle.

"Only one problem..." Oracle muttered as she started typing rapidly, "something's overriding the system!" 

She tried to type codes in faster, but she eventually lost control, and a different screen showed up. 

"Hey there, Team! Listen up, and listen up well." the blurry blue figure on the screen said. 

"Track it." Nightwing whispered. 

"Done." Oracle replied. 

"You have a traitor in your midst. But lucky for you, I and my fellow colleague here are kind of to take that traitor off your hands." the voice chuckled. 

Nightwing looked at Red X, glared at him, then turned back to the screen, "We're not handing Red X over." 

"Oh, but he's not even the last of them!" another voice laughed, and a blurry yellow figure showed up next to the blue figure, "you see, we've got another friend over here that you may recognize. Take a gander." The figures then turned the camera to the corner and the image cleared. In the corner leaning against the wall was a different Red X, waving one of his red boomerangs in greeting. 

"What the--" 

"So here's our proposition." The yellow figure said, "we want the speedster." 

"Kid Flash?" Nightwing turned to his best friend. 

"I'm not a traitor!" Kid Flash shouted at the screen.

"Oh no, the youngest. We want the youngest." the blue figure corrected, and they all turned to Impulse. 

"Wh-what?! M-me?!" Impulse gasped, his voice a little high. 

"First M'gann, now Bart?" Wonder Girl slapped her forehead. 

"Now cooperate, or things are just going to have to get ugly." the blue figure said, "and trust us when we say we have friends in high places." The two figures laughed, and the team could practically hear the smiles on their faces as the screen vanished, and everything was back to normal. 

"Why are they after you now?" Blue Beetle asked Impulse. 

"I don't know... I'm not a traitor! I swear!" 

"From here on out, we're going to have to keep a close eye on you." Nightwing said. 

"So what now? Do we turn him in to those freaks?" Artemis asked. 

"We cannot result to that." Aqualad shook his head, "we must track down their location and fight." 

"Already done. Central City. There's your location." Oracle announced. 

"Okay. Batman, we can  handle things from here." Nightwing turned to Batman, who nodded. 

"I know." 

He turned to the Zeta Tubes, turned to glare at Red X, then left. 

"I'll take Wonder Girl, Blue Beetle, Superboy, Miss M, and Beast Boy. The rest, stay here and accompany Oracle in researching about this duplicate Red X." 

"Why can't we go?!" Speedy asked.

"Just... Stay put." Nightwing ordered as the rest headed to the Bioship. 

"Not even me?!" Impulse asked. 

"Sorry, Bart. But with this possible threat hanging over your head, I don't think we can afford to risk your life. We'll figure out who these two goons are first, then you can come in and help." Nightwing put his hand on Impulse's shoulder, then turned and followed the rest of the squad. 

"It's okay, Dude. Look on the bright side..." 

"What bright side?" Impulse turned to Kid Flash. 

"...Just stay positive, Kid." Kid Flash smirked as he ruffled Impulse's hair, then walked off. 

"Poor Impulse..." Night Owl whispered to Jet as Impulse ran off. 

"Yeah..." Jet watched where Impulse once stood, then he felt a headache come up suddenly. 

"Jet? Jet?! Are you okay?!" Night Owl turned to Jet as he clutched his head. 

"Yeah... Yeah..." Jet shook his head, until he started hearing a ringing sound. He squeezed his eyes shut and started panting. 

"Oracle!" Night Owl called as she held Jet steady. 

"No... No I'm fi--" but Jet was cut off when it all stopped all of a sudden, and a voice echoed in his head. 

Hey Jet... Remember me? 

Ah, Voice. It's you again... Jet thought. 

"Are you--" 

"Wait..." Jet held out his hand, making Oracle and Night Owl stop in their tracks. Jet closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips to his forehead. 

What do you want? 

Just revenge on the Light. I know their plans. The voice said. 

How do you know that? Who are you? I can't trust you if I don't know who you are.

Because I know you. And you just have to trust me. I can't tell you anything else about me. The voice said. 

Then what can I know about you? I can't help you if you don't---

I'm an ordinary villain who's just trying to get revenge on the Light after their refusal to re-admit me back into the Light. Jet gasped when he heard the voice explain itself, and he finally recognized who it was, You all may know me as Klarion, the Lord of Chaos, and I'm coming to you kiddies for your help, in exchange for my help. I know their plans. I may not know the mysterious two figures, but I know what the Light is about to do. I'll help you if you help me. 

Jet stared at the floor, then turned to Oracle and Night Owl, who were anxiously waiting. 

"The voice... The voice I heard who was helping us our first covert op... It was Klarion. And he wants to help us." 

- To be continued! -