Chapter 34

Caitlin, Karen, and Harry looked over Sphere in one of the main labs. Caitlin just broke out into a smile of excitement, amused by the look on Karen's face as she analyzed the piece of alien technology from top to bottom. She resembled a kid in a candy store when looking over the device.

Of course, there were many questions they had to figure out about Sphere. One of them, Karen decided to speak right out off hand.

"Mmm," Karen commented. "It's a very advanced piece of alien technology. I just wish I could figure out exactly what makes it tick."

Karen had so many questions, with so little time, just thoughts entertaining her mind.

"You'll figure it out," Caitlin said. "If anyone is smart enough...you are."

Karen just responded with a nod. There was something extremely strange and mysterious about this object.

"She does seem to have a mind of her own," Harry responded. "And she's really not ready to give up any secrets."

Karen thought as much as well. She could see Sphere lighting up every time Harry had entered the room. Which to be fair was not a strange thing for any woman to do. Karen pressed her hand on the Sphere and waited for it to hum back to life one more time.

"Something extremely odd about it," Karen said.

She ran every single diagnostic test in the book, but there was no getting Sphere's secrets out of here.

"Well, I'm sure that she might hold secrets that she's not willing to give up just yet," Harry said.

Every now and then, Sphere admitted a beep or three in random succession. It was almost like she was trying to say something to them. Harry in particular did wish he knew what she was saying, but it appeared that there was no way to interpret it.

"There's some communication problems."

Harry laughed at Caitlin's assessment. Still, he leaned back, thinking about the last week which was. There had been no headway over the entire potential team mole thing. Sportsmaster might have been talking out of his ass or something, but the fact he did know a fair bit concerned Harry just a tiny bit.

The members of Harry's team, he trusted them all. Perhaps that was foolish, but Harry honestly did not think so. They were on the level and Harry liked to think over the past months he got to know them well enough to know precisely what they were thinking.

The members of the League on the other hand, Harry knew some of them well. Others were wildcards, and the entire Red Tornado thing still put a really big question mark on what was going on. It would be way too easy for the League to get compromised.

One would argue Batman would have figured out if there was something wrong. However, Batman was one of the best in the world at what he did, but he was far from perfect.

As for Harry, everything went along as smoothly as possible in his civilian life. School, as Harry had expected, did not seem to be too much of a problem. He made a few new friends, and most certainly, the teacher, Ms. Rushman, had taken an interest to him. Although, there was something to her that made Harry very cautious. Maybe his role in the team had made him a bit jumpy.

"Once we get past the communication barrier, maybe we can untap her secrets? Caitlin suggested.

"Not any alien language that I've ever encountered," Karen said.

"Maybe her communication processors are scrambled somehow?" Harry suggested.

That was a bit of a problem if they were. Karen did not want to work to further damage her processors if that was the case.

Megan popped her head into the lab, frowning as she looked in on them.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"Just trying to make some headway on Sphere," Harry told her. "It's been slow going."

"Mmm, I figured as much," Megan said.

"Maybe you can get something from her?" Karen suggested.

Megan stepped into the room and put a hand on Sphere, a flash of light emitted from it, but she shook her head.

"Maybe a piece of alien technology is just that," Megan said. "Just technology?"

"No, it's not that at all," Harry said. "I think she's trying to communicate with us. Or me in particular, it's just that...she hasn't figured out a way to do so."

Megan leaned against the wall, eyebrow raised. Harry frowned when staring at her and leaned closer towards her.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Harry asked.

She took Harry by the hand and smiled a warm smile.

"No, of course not, I'd never think that," Megan said. "But, you can't deny, there's something pretty weird going on here. Surely, you can agree on that much?"

Harry's jaw had been set, and he responded with a nod. Yes, something extremely weird going on here. Then again, there's been a lot.

"So, I know you finished your homework this week,' Megan said. "I did too….Anissa mentioned something about going for Tacos today so…."

Suddenly, their communicators both beeped at the same time. Tacos, it appeared, would have to wait, because there had been an urgent message from Batman himself.

Tommy and Tuppence Terror, five minutes fresh out of jail, could not stop causing trouble. Tuppence tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for her brother to get his rear in gear. He sure was taking his sweet time.

"Oh, Tommy, would you hurry it up, and get your ass in gear?" Tuppence said. "Before…."

She had been cut off by the unfortunate arrival of the Martian Manhunter. The Martian Manhunter grabbed Tommy around the side of the head and flung him down to the ground. Tommy did a cartwheel and tried to return back to fire.

"Alright, hands off of him, you here?" Tuppence drawled.

Up in the sky ,something distracted Tuppence. It was not a bird, it was not a plane, it was Superwoman. Tuppence threw her hands up in an attempt to defend herself. Superwoman came down onto her and knocked her down to the ground.

The Terror Twins made one last mad attempt to fight back. They had been outnumbered, with Superwoman and the Martian Manhunter taking them down.

"Oh, damn, we couldn't draw the Green Arrow or one of B-Leaguers?" Tuppence swore. "We just had to fight two people who could match us?"

Superwoman and Martian Manhunter stood over the top of the terror twins, who squirmed underneath their feet. The inhibitor collars slapped down onto them and forced their powers.

"So, whatcha going to do us?" Tommy asked. "You're going to ship us back to the big house, aren't you?"

"In due time."

Batman turned up, alongside of Miss Martian and Superman, a second had passed before Miss Martian shifted into a double of Tuppence Terror. She looked up almost transfixed in terror.

"What on God's Green Earth is going on here?" she asked.

"Pa was right," Tommy said. "Dem aliens are going to replace us, and it's right...it's right...it's…."

Harry disguised himself as Tommy with a few quick glamors.

"Keep this ability discreet," Harry told Batman.

"Yes," Batman said, knowing all about discretion. "And now your mission."

Harry and Megan gathered around to hear on the mission. Batman laid it down for them, as best as he could.

"You are to infiltrate Belle Reve as the Terror Twins," Batman said. "After Mister Freeze petitioned to be moved from Arkham Asylum to Belle Reve and Icicle Junior demanded to be tried as an adult, instead of a minor, we figured something is up. And they had been officially moved as of Thursday."

"So, all four of the ice criminals from the fourth in the same place?" Harry asked.

"Correct," Batman said. "Which poses a problem, and they are joined by Icicle Junior's father, inside."

Killer Frost, Captain Cold, icicle Junior, and Mister Freeze, four extremely dangerous criminals, and if they worked together for some kind of common purpose, there will be trouble, big trouble. If it was down to Harry and Megan, then so be it.

Harry and Megan, as the Terror Twins, stepped into the Belle Reve prison, being processed with the new inmates. They had been processed with the Inhibitor Collars, which are geared towards controlling the Terror Twins.

Several surly prisoners moved on in, by some guards who matched their demeanor. Harry and Megan locked eyes with each other, the collar not blocking the telepathic link they had at all times.

'Collar might not do much good on me even if they did know my powers,' Harry thought. 'Magic has a pretty bad habit of not playing with technology.'

'We're just going to have to play along until we make contact with them,' Megan thought. 'Looks like you have the most work to do, once we get seperated. I'm going to have to make contact with Killer Frost...while you have to make nice with the rest.'

'Lovely,' Harry thought.

'I know, but we have to integrate ourselves, and find out their plan,' Megan thought.

They had been moved into a crowd, where two figures looked down onto them. A large black woman peered down at them, as if they were fresh meat to be processed. A second man, a stout gentlemen with glasses also looked over at them.

"Alright, listen up!" the woman barked. "My name is Amanda Waller. I'm not your friend, but you don't want me as your enemy."

Funnily enough, Harry figured that just as much due to the harsh look on Waller's face.

"This prison is developed to hold the most dangerous criminals alive," Waller said. "Not even Superwoman could break out of it. We should know because we had her test it."

Everyone stood up straight. Not one prisoner made a peep, which was impressive. Waller held a remote control in her hand, and if Harry had to guess, it was connected to the collars they were wearing.

"Those inhibitor collars you where, they not only negate your powers, but they will keep you in line if you try anything. One push of the button gives you a warning to knock it off. The second push of a button, it disables you. And then you take a trip to solitary, which trust me, is the single last place you want to be."

The inmates did not bother to say anything, not wishing to incur the wrath of the very dangerous Waller.

"I'm not your mother either. But this, Hugo Strange, he's your aunt, and he will be listening to all of your messed up problems."

"I'm the Head Psychiatrist at Belle Reve," Strange interjected. "And I hope to work with you on the reasons that you're here, and figure out what makes you you. And maybe someday ensure that you return to society. But first, we must understand what makes drives you. Understanding is the first step to correction."

"So, we'll be watching you!" Waller barked. "Women to the right, men to the left, let's go."

Megan and Harry separated, with Megan joining the crowd of female inmates. One of them was Killer Frost. This left Harry to join the males. Both sides sized up the new inmates, as if trying to figure out how they fit into the structure of the prison.

Harry figured there was something up, and he was going to have to just kick back and figure out what that was. Much like school, prisons did have their own cliques.

Fate favored Harry, when Icicle Junior, one of the four ice criminals from the Fourth of July bumped into him. Given, that he would be a lot easier to make contact with and a lot easier to fool than Cold or Freeze, Harry stepped back and allowed Junior to say.

"One of the Terror Twins,right?" Junior asked him.

"Yeah…"

"Hey, Junior, move it or lose it, punk."

One of the larger inmates shoved Junior down to the ground like he was nothing. Junior bounced up to his feet and the stocky inmate slapped him down once again.

"Hey, you can't do that," Harry said.

"And who's going to stop me?" he asked.

Harry punched him down to the ground, and caused a few inmates to stir, surprised that the man they thought was Tommy Terror punched out one of the larger inmates.

"Okay?" Harry asked.

He figured that he should downplay his intelligence as much as possible. Because Tommy Terror was not the brightest bulb in the box. More than several watts short really.

"Yeah, guess it's just harassing the newbie, do they know who my father is?" Junior asked.

Harry frowned, an unsettling case of Deja-Vu hitting him. He suppressed the shudder and returned to the mission.

"Your father."

"Yeah, Icicle Senior, he's the Big Dog in here," Junior said, puffing out his chest proudly. "Which makes me...which makes me practically royalty in here. So they better watch themselves."

Judging by the way he was acting, Junior had some issues thanks to his more infamous criminal father. A desire to prove himself, no matter how stupid he came off as when doing so. Oh, Harry filed that particular note away from later for future use.

Could be useful really.

"There he is, right there."

A large impressive gentlemen was holding court at a larger table, with Captain Cold and the recently admitted Mister Freeze sitting by him. Senior sat like an impressive nobleman, and looked down at the other prisoners, as if they were peasants who were currying his favor.

"Mr. Icicle, sir?"

A weedy looking gentleman stepped forward and Senior's eyes narrowed at him.

"I could not help but notice that you might need someone to help you fine tune your plan," he said.

"And what makes you think I have a plan, Nygma?" Senior harshly asked him.

Edward Nygma, the Riddler, twitched, but he remained calm and collected despite how intimidating Senior was.

"But, it is rather odd that your son and Victor here…."

"That's Mister Freeze," the icy criminal coldly said.

"Right, Mister Freeze, they were transported to the same prison that Captain Cold, Killer Frost, and yourself, was," Nygma said. "There's something big, and it would behoove you bring me into it."

"Well, Mr. Riddler, I have a riddle for you," Senior said. "What's on all fours and falls into line around his master?"

"A dog?" Riddler asked

"No, you!"

Senior punched Riddler in the stomach and dropped him down to the ground. The other inmates laughed and two of the guards swooped in to peel Riddler off of the ground. And yet they did not do a thing to reprimand Senior.

"You'll be sorry when your plan fails!" Nygma shouts.

"The idiot," Senior grumbled.

"Guess all of his brains didn't do him any good in here," Brick mocked.

Harry frowned when looking at him.

"So, are you going to talk to him?" Harry asked.

"Oh, in a minute," Junior said.

Harry figured out that Senior had some guards in here that he subverted, which added another wrinkle. If he and Megan had been detected, there could be some problems.

Professor Ojo walked by, muttering about something. He was still sore after Harry and the rest of the Team stopped his plan.

"It is foolproof and likely there is no easy escape," Ojo said. "Even for a member of the League of Shadows, but to think that...to think that I would have to take orders from a thug like Senior...inconceivable."

Ojo's eyes shifted over towards Harry. For a second Ojo saw right through the Tommy disguise and was about ready to open his mouth.

A strong compulsion dazed him and Ojo ran headlong into Brick. Brick turned around and grabbed Ojo by the throat.

"Watch the threads, punk," Brick said.

A scuffle distracted them which allowed Harry to move a bit closer to the woman's side to see how "Tuppence" had been doing. Megan locked eyes with him, as Killer Frost appeared to be less than thrilled to engage her in any kind of conversation.

'Guards are a problem, be careful,' Harry warned her.

'Right,' she thought back to him.

Junior stepped into the picture, eying his old man.

"Come over here," Senior barked at him.

Junior was forced to stand, almost as if he had been one of the "peasants" who had been coming to get a favor from Senior.

"Alright, listen up," Senior told them. "Tonight, with all of the members of the League occupied, is when we make our move. Months of planning is about ready to come to a head."

Harry was extremely frustrated how much Senior did not relay about the plan off hand. That could be problematic. Especially when there were people within earshot, other than his son and his fellow ice criminals.

Outside in the bioship, Aquagirl frowned as Harry gave his report. Standing beside her, is Red Arrow.

'Whatever he's planning, he's planning tonight,' Harry projected to her.

"Whatever he's planning, he's planning tonight," Aquagirl informed Red Arrow.

"Oh, well we figured that much," she said. "And there are guards in there on the take. What about Waller? What about Strange?"

'I don't think Waller would work with them,' Harry thought. 'As for Strange, well Megan and I are having a therapy session with him so...we'll be able to hopefully get a bit more of a reading on how he plays int this.'

'Good luck,' Aquagirl said.

After a second, Mareena pinched her nose. The League had been pretty much out of the picture, and it was just too much of a coincidence that the criminals coordinated their attacks that well.

"He doesn't think Waller's in on it, Strange is a big question mark," Mareena said. "So, far, we're just waiting."

"Would feel a lot better if we had a clearer idea of what is going on in there," Thea said. "Because, if they do break out, we're going to have to deal with all of them."

"Are you up for it?" Mareena asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not looking forward to fighting every criminal in there," Thea replied grimly.

Hugo Strange peered down at Tommy and Tuppence Terror over his glasses, frowning. He took a brief look at their files, before the frown had been wiped off of his face.

"Well, the two of you seem very close," Strange said. "And if I had to hazard a guess, the two of you are extremely close, closer than most siblings."

"Well, yeah," Tuppence said. "We had each other. Pa was in and out of Prison and Ma, she ran out on us when we were young."

"Dag nabbit Tuppence, I keep telling you, Ma just went out for a pack of smokes," Tommy said. "She'll be back any day now!"

"She's been gone for twelve years, she ain't coming back," Tuppence fired back.

"Well, you can't give up hope!" Tommy yelled.

Strange made a couple of notes as he followed the antics of the twins.

"Would you have to say that you drew some strength on each other during some troubling times?" Strange asked.

"Oh yes, Tuppence has been there for me, in a way that no other woman could be," Tommy suggested.

"Oh, Tommy, I'm not sure this city doctor would understand how close we are," Tuppence said.

"Taboo relationships, establishing among siblings, can be common in broken families," Strange said. "When you have a home that deviates from society's norms, it's only natural, that you would have a relationship that would go off the beaten path."

"Are you trying to say that what we have is not real?" Tuppence cried.

"No, of course not, if you believe it's real, then it's real," Strange commented with a kind voice.

"Well, people seem to think that we are doing wrong, that we are doing wrong, committing the Incest," Tuppence said. "But, surely, if we love each other...then true love should...should win over everything, right?"

"Yeah, it ain't like we're a bunch of queers, or diddling a sheep, or Democrat!" Tommy snapped hotly. "I just love my sister, and I treat her right….and she treats me right."

Strange was buying this performance hook, line, and sinker, but Harry could not afford to look too smug.

"Well, the two of you have found something with each other," Strange said.

"You won't be babbling that to anyone else, would you, Doctor?" Tuppence asked.

"Everything that is said in this room, stays in this room," Strange said.

"Ah, thanks sugah, bless your heart," Tuppence said with a big old grin.

"Yeah, you are a brilliant man, about as smart as Dubbaya, was," Tommy said. "Wish he was still President, because this great nation was sure something when he was in charge."

"Indeed," Strange casually commented. "Of course, there are other...aspects of your personality that I find intriguing…."

"Well, Doctor, what do you think we are?" Tuppence asked. "Go ahead, and spell it out for us, we ain't a bunch of rubes!"

"Tommy appears to have some kind of identity crisis, and Tuppence...she has image issues...which she is struggling with her identity…."

"Image issues?" Tuppence cried. "Is that a fancy way of saying that I'm fat?"

"Oh, of course not," Strange said.

"Because, sure I like the fudge, that's some good eating," Tuppence said. "And Muskrat stew, man I can lick that off of a hog's anus, I tell you what."

"I'm not here to judge," Strange said. "If more people loved themselves, surely the world would be a better place."

"You're alright, doc, you're alright," Tommy said. "Seriously, you should try some of that Muskrat stew. Pa could make a mean Muskrat stew...really could put the hair on your chest, oooooh-weeee! I tell you what boy, that's good eating, and I say that, under the eyes of the good Lord above, amen."

Strange just smiled and checked his watch.

'Do you think that we might be overdoing it a tad?' Megan asked.

'No,' Harry thought.

The prisoners all returned, with Harry walking in past Junior who raised his eyebrow.

"So, how did things go with the Doctor?" Junior asked.

"Man, I tell you what, I know why he's called Strange," "Tommy" said with a smile. "Bit off, bless his heart."

"He's a quack," Junior scoffed. "Can you believe he said that I was highly Narcissistic and everything that I was because I had insecurities and wanted to get my father's attention."

"No, get out of here!"

"I know, I can't believe it...oh look…."

The prisoners received new attire, as guards passed them out. Junior nudged Harry lightly, and broke him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, put it on, put it on," Junior said. "Don't need to change, it slides over the top of the old prison issued, easily."

"What's it for?" Harry asked.

Junior just shrugged a second later, and Harry slipped on the new guard.

"Oh, and Tommy, could you do me a favor?" Junior asked.

"Oh, of course, buddy, whatcha need?" Harry asked.

He would be so glad when this was over, so he did not have to spend another second in Junior's presence. Harry thought he might want to try out for the Happy Harbor High School drama club, given his performance today of pretending to like someone he wanted to punch on sheer principle.

"Would you put in a good word for your sister?" he asked Harry.

"Pardon?" Harry asked

"Well, she's hot, but you wouldn't notice that, because you're brother and sister, but she's a real Smokeshow," Junior said. "And I like my women with a little meat on the bones, if you know what I'm saying."

"Are you calling my sister, fat?" Harry asked.

"No, no, no," Junior said backtracking. "She's nice, thick, not skinny, and...well...I think that she would be fun to cuddle up with on a cold night."

Harry thought that throwing up in his mouth would kind of blow his cover. "Tommy's" face fixed into befuddlement, to hide the agitation Harry had been seeing.

"Sis is seeing a really big guy, currently in prison," he told the ice criminal. "Break you in half."

"I can take him, whoever he is," Junior said. "I wouldn't see him coming….one...two….just like...that."

Junior did two mock karate thrusts and almost felt. With a sigh, Harry pulled him up to a standing position, and Junior's legs knocked together.

"You've got some moxy," Harry said. "Bless your heart."

Junior was not sure what "bless your heart" meant, but it had to mean something good, right?

"Don't see how you can stand up to anyone, when you can't even talk straight to your Pa," "Tommy" said.

And now he had been perfectly twisted the knife in, Harry just broke into a knowing smile.

"What do you mean?" Junior demanded.

"Can't do anything without your father's permission, can you?" he asked.

"That's not true….I can make the decisions...the hard decisions…."

"And this just in, the Martian Manhunter is engaging the Headmaster in battle."

Off in the distance, Senior turned to Captain Cold, who nodded in confirmation. They had no need to say anything because Harry knew that was all of them as well. The game was afoot.

Mister Freeze stepped forward to confront Icicle Senior.

"You should not talk to me like that," Freeze said. "I'm not your lackey. I could have broken out of here, if you're not holding me back."

"You couldn't do anything without me," Senior said. "And let's not forget your wife...how has she been lately? Still...frigid?"

"You leave Nora out of this."

Freeze slammed into Senior. The two of them had a fistfight, and Freeze got the worst of it. Despite his powers, he still had brain over brawn and was well outmatched. Senior stepped back, wiping the dust off of his shirt.

"Guards, Mister Freeze assaulted me, I was merely defending myself."

"You can't hide behind the system for too long, Icicle," Freeze said.

One of the guards pressed a button and dropped Freeze down to his knee, shocking him. Another pressed a button which exposed Freeze to temperatures far warmer than those which he needed to survive. Only ten seconds but it was more than enough to do the trick.

Senior watched as Freeze had been taken up to the Warden's office. He turned to Captain Cold and also his son, who they needed to pull off the plan.

"Damn it, how are we supposed to get a hold of Frost when the women's side has been returned to their cells?" Senior asked.

"I couldn't help overhearing?"

Icicle Senior stared down one of the Terror twins, Tony, or whatever his name was? Senior thought that a pair of low-rent local thugs like the Terrors were beneath his notice.

"When one eavesdrops, they normally can't," Senior said. "What do you want?"

"To help," the Terror twin said.

"And what can you do to help us?" Captain Cold asked.

"Yeah, you're useless with that collar on," Senior said. "All brawn, no brains…least you have more going for you than my boy over there."

"Maybe I shouldn't help you, then," Junior said.

"Oh, you will be helping me," Senior said.

"Well, if you want my help, then hear him out," Junior argued. His father stared him down and Junior amended his statement meekly. "Please."

"I've got something with my sister, being twins and all, a telepathic link," Tommy told him.

"I read your files son, and you don't have any telepathy," Senior told him.

"Well, we keep it on the quiet, don't want them to shut it down as well," Tommy said. "It lets me stay close to my sweet Tuppence...so she doesn't get...she's all without me...and I'm without her...we are really two halves of the same person...I don't know if…."

"Alright, I don't care if you get freaky with your own sister or not," Senior said with a dismissive wave.

"Dad, it's nothing like that!" Junior yelled mortified at his father's statement.

Incest, icky, disgusting, Junior wished his father would not be such a pervert.

"Quiet, son," Senior said. "But, you might be smarter than you look."

"Ah, thanks, that's sure mighty fine of you to compliment me like that," Tommy said.

Senior just smiled. Boy's elevator did not go all the way to the top floor, but could be useful in a pinch, especially if he did have twin telepathy.

"Alright, enough gushing, get ahold of her, and tell her to tell Killer Frost that the Snowman's in position, and to wait for further signal," Senior said. "We're getting out tonight."

Waller stared down Mister Freeze.

"I don't know what you hoped to accomplish," Waller said.

"Freedom."

Freeze activated a modified version of his cold gun, hidden in the new prison garb that he been specially ordered. He froze the guard and the remote control that Waller used on the collars. Waller slammed her fist on a button underneath the desk.

"Lockdown," Waller said.

"If you don't call it off, I will ensure that you stay frozen for a thousand years," Freeze said.

He froze Waller's right leg to the ground to demonstrate. Despite the obvious discomfort, Waller stared down Freeze, as solid as a wall.

"Which you'll still be trapped in Belle Reve," Waller savagely said.

"We'll see."