Chapter 2-

Revenge looked around again. Buildings were clear, areas around where the guests were arriving was clear, woods were-wait! Something moved and Revenge zoomed in on it. He couldn't see a thing.

Revenge switched on infrared and saw what he was looking for. A human moving in the woods. Revenge switched back to regular and saw the front of a rocket launcher sticking out of the bushes.

'Always a rocket launcher.' he thought as he fired his grappling gun across the gap between the banquet building and the building he was on. Revenge swooped down and tackled the guest as a rocket whizzed by.

"Sorry, Mr. President." Revenge a dit as he got off the man who turned out to be none other than the President of the United States.

Revenge ducked behind the limousine and pulled out his gun. He took off the grappling attachment and replaced it with a dagger launcher. He shot three off in the direction where the assassin was. They exploded, tossing her into the clearing.

"Freeze! Drop the Gun!" Secret Service agents yelled.

Which the assassin certainly did not. Whoever it was fired another rocket, terribly off target, and ran away. Revenge followed.

"Who was that?" a guy asked.

"Mini-Batman?" another suggested.


Revenge ran into town and down an alleyway. 

"Revenge to Team." he said, glad the comm was working. "Pursuing assassin on-" Revenge quickly read the sign. "Crystal street. Require back up!"

Revenge ran around a corner and into an open, empty street. The assassin was nowhere to be found. Revenge walked cautiously down the street. He pulled out his gun.

Out of nowhere, something hit him and pinned him to the wall, causing him to drop his gun. Revenge looked down to see ice spikes had caught his suit and nailed him to the wall.

Out of the shadows on the other side of the rue walked what could only be the assassin.

She was about fifteen, sixteen and definitely had super-powers. Her spiky hair was an icy blue and her skin was pale. She had on faded skinny jeans and snow boots. A white tank haut, retour au début was hidden under her baby blue fourrure jacket. She had a fit and curvy form. She walked over to him.

"Hello there," she said.

"You are?" Revenge asked.

The girl twirled around as if she were montrer a group of Friends her new clothes.

"Call me Crystal," she said, winking at him. "Ice Crystal."

"Let me guess, your not going to let me down ou come quietly."

"Got it."

"Then what do toi want?"

"To get to know you."

"I highly doubt that."

She placed her hand beside his head and he felt a rush of cool air.

"Get to the point." he said.

"Oh, I am." she said. "I need toi to do something for me."

"I don't do favors for anyone, especially super-villains." he looked her over. "Junior super-villains."

The girl frowned. Revenge could tell something wasn't going according to her plan.

"And I don't like junior super Heroes who don't play par my rules." she a dit coldly, getting in his face.

"Then toi don't like super heroes." Revenge replied bitterly.

"No, no. toi quite misunderstand. Most of the time, people are glad to help me. Anything for a beautiful girl such as myself."

Revenge snorted.

"You though, toi aren't as easy as the others. I enjoy a challenge."

"So what're toi going to do? Try to charm me all night? It's not going to work."

"I know," Ice said. "But I can at least find out who toi are."

She reached over and unzipped his mask from his suit and slowly began to pull it off. The neck, the mouth, the nose-

"HOLD IT!" A voice yelled. The two looked down the rue to see Courage standing triumphantly.

"Your girlfriend." Ice said, amused. "I'll have to get to know her better."

"Look out!" Revenge yelled. "She has ice powers!"

Ice Crystal shot ice spikes down the rue at Courage. Courage wasn't caught par surprise like Revenge and expertly dodged them all. She threw a few surprises of her own down the street. Her infamous houx leaves. They detonated, tossing Ice back.

"Later though." Ice said, yanking the rest of Revenge's mask off and dropping it at his feet. She ran into the darkness.

houx ran up.

"Holly! My mask!" Revenge said.

"But she's getting-"

"My mask, before the others see my identity!" Revenge said.

houx picked up the mask and pulled it over Revenge's head. She pulled the ice spikes out of Revenge's suit and he dropped to the ground.

"Thanks." he said, zipping his mask to his suit.

"No problem," houx said. "Now what?"

"We've got a problem."

"What sort of problem? Minus the fact she's getting away."

Revenge glared into the darkness before turning to Holly.

"She knows who I am."

******************************************************

"Killer Frost." Aqualad said.

"No, she's still locked up in Belle Reeve." Megan said.

"Plus, Ice Crystal looked younger." Revenge said, emphasizing the Assassin's name.

"If we had a photo ou an image, I could run facial recognition..." Robin said.

"But we do." Revenge said. "Anybody got an extra pair of sunglasses?" 

"Here," Robin said, tossing him his extra pair. Revenge turned around and came back a moment later. He unhooked something on the glasses and plugged it up to Robin's laptop.

"Whoah," Wally said. "I have got to get some of those."

Robin played back the footage. "There!" he said, stopping the image. He highlighted the girl's face and clicked a few buttons. "Im running facial recognition. It may take a night, but-" the computer dinged. "Wow, that was fast."

The Boy Wonder clicked a few keys and some data scrolled across the screen.

"Okay, Ice Crystal. Sixteen, minimal ice powers, not related to Killer Frost in any known way. Assassin, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. Nothing else." Robin said.

"Superpowers?" Kaldur asked.

"One known: Ice"

"I'll give toi another one," Revenge said, taking his sunglasses back. "Charm. She can Charm others into doing stuff for her. She tried it on me, but it didn't work."

"That isn't good." Artemis said. "Considering the majority of the Team is male, and one male in particular flirts with every girl he sees."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do-"

"Shut up!" Revenge said. The two were quiet immediately. Revenge had replaced his usual sunglasses. "What're we going to do?" he asked Aqualad.

Aqualad thought for a moment. "Most of us will keep watch over the banquet. I doubt Ice Crystal will try anything for a while, now that she has failed once. While she plans her suivant attack, toi and Courage will find her and stop her."

"Why us?" houx asked.

"Because toi as a female are impervious to her charm and seduction, as is Revenge." Aqualad replied.

"True enough." houx said.

"One other complication." Revenge said.

"Yes?"

"She knows my secret identity."

Silence hung heavily as everyone let that sink in.

"We don't even know your secret identity." Artemis said.

"No one does except me." houx said.

"This complicates things." Aqualad a dit after a moment.

"I can work, especially since I've got someone to watch my back now." Revenge said.

"Let us rest and recuperate, then discuss it tomorrow over breakfast. I will send the name of the restraunt to you." Aqualad said.

******************************************************

Sam and houx left early the suivant morning and headed out into the brisk morning. Sam had loaned her his jacket, but she was still chilly.

"Aren't toi cold?" she asked as they rounded a corner.

"Not much." Sam replied.

"Not much? It's ten degrees!"

"So?"

"Too tough for the rain, too tough for the cold." houx said. "Or are toi determined to catch pneumonia?"

Sam broke into a grin. "Too tough.". He said.

houx grinned.

They stopped in front of a store and ducked inside.

"What're we doing in here?" houx asked.

"Finding toi a jacket." Sam said.

houx found a green veste she liked and Sam purchased it. She slipped it on, handing him back his.

"You know what its missing?" Sam asked, putting his sunglasses and hat on.

"What?" houx asked.

"Those purple lightning bolts of yours." Sam replied.

houx looked down at her jacket. "You know what? You're right."

"We can get those later, right now, we're going to be late for breakfast." Sam said.

They walked into the McDonald's Aqualad had donné them the address to. It wasn't hard to find the Team.

When Sam and houx walked over, Aqualad, Superboy, and Robin were deep in conversation, Artemis was doodling on her napkin, and Wally was busy trying to explain a fast nourriture restaurant to Megan. 

"So it's called a fast nourriture restaurant because toi have to eat the nourriture fast?" Megan asked, a questioning look on her face.

"No, no. It's called fast nourriture because they get the nourriture to toi fast." Wally said.

"So toi get the nourriture quick and have to eat it fast?"

"No, no. See-"

"Oh, shut up Wally." Artemis said. "It's called a fast nourriture restaurant because toi don't spend a lot of time waiting ou eating your food."

"Oh," Megan said. "That makes a lot plus sense."

Wally put his head on the table, sulky.

"Holly, um-" Aqualad stumbled, unsure of what to call Sam.

"Just don't call me anything." Sam said, sitting down.

"We will discuss what we are doing before we eat, that way everyone understands and listens." Aqualad said, pointing the last word at Wally, who was busy doing something.

"Alright. Standing on rooftops won't help much. And since houx and Revenge will be elsewhere, we aren't left with many people." Aqualad said. "Artemis, Wally, Robin, and Megan will take one side of the building each and watch it. Superboy and I will mingle with the crowd to protect the arrivals."

Everyone nodded. "Revenge, Holly. toi two know what to do."

The duo nodded.

"Then let's do it!" Wally said.

******************************************************

"This is boring." Wally said. 

"Oh, stop complaining, Baywatch. We've been here thirty minutes." Artemis said.

"Yeah, but nothing is happening." Wally said.

"Exactly, we don't want anything to happen." Artemis said.

"Ugh!" Wally said, speeding around on his side of the building.

"I agree," Aqualad said. "It is not exciting, but necessary. Continue your watch."

******************************************************

houx finished attaching the purple bolts to her veste and slipped it on.

"Now that," she said, looking at herself in the mirror. "Looks nice."

She slid on her mask and added a few things to her utility belt. She reached for Revenge's utility belt, but he hollered from the bathroom "Don't!"

houx groaned and sat down on the bed. Sam walked out, mask off, and grabbed his utility belt.

"You sure are getting plus comfortable without your mask on." houx noted.

Sam didn't respond.

"Sam? Sam!"

Sam looked at her. "Yes?" he asked.

houx rolled her eyes. "I a dit you're getting plus comfortable without your mask on, aren't you?"

"No, toi just see me without it more." Sam said. 

"Now that makes no sense." houx said.

"Not supposed to." Revenge said, pulling his mask on and zipping it up. "Let's go."

******************************************************

"This presents a complication." Courage said, looking down at the five story drop from the haut, retour au début of the hotel.

"And that is...?" Revenge asked.

"I don't have a grappling gun."

Revenge thought. "Well we only have one grappling gun between us, and mine won't carry two."

"It did it fine at my apartment." houx said.

"That was going down, not swinging across ou going up." Revenge said. "One of us is going to have to go down to the streets."

houx looked at him, then at her own clothes. "I'm guessing I'll blend in more."

"Without your mask and some different pants." Revenge said.

"And why can't toi return to the hotel and change?" houx said, feeling him smirking

"Because my outfits plus complicated, and Ice Crystal knows my ID."

"Knew toi where going to say that!"