Okay, this idea was inspired by the DC showcase cartoon "The Spectre" and the Batman: The Brave And The Bold episode "Chill In The Night". I also am a fan of the Spectre and J'onn, the Martian Manhunter.
I only own Shadowstrike andMoonflight. All other characters belong to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. Also, some spoilers for Justice League Origins.
A Ghost, An Alien, And Two Girls
Two figures moved quietly over the rooftop. One clad in all black, like a shadow with a specially made bow on its back filled with arrows, ready to strike an opponent. The other figure was clad in soft grey and had flaps under its arms for flying. Throwing knives circled the utility belt around its waist.
The first figure scaled the building with speed, but did so so quietly that they wouldn't have been detected. The second figure followed the first's lead as they then stopped and looked in from a skylight to see the four masked crooks in the museum, stealing the priceless royal gems that had been loaned to the museum from England. The figures saw the crook was Two-Face. The black figure gestured to the grey figure, who nodded and went one way while the black figure went another way.
Two-Face was about ready to gloat about taking the royal jewels when he suddenly saw a shadow take down all four of his hired help in a few seconds. He looked around confusedly when something hit the back of his head.
Batman arrived with J'onn, but they were surprised to see Two-Face and his men tied up already. "You took them down, Commissioner?" Asked Batman.
"No, they were like this when the unit arrived," said Commissioner Gordon. "This isn't your work?"
Batman's eyes narrowed and J'onn did a mental sweep of the room and sensed two other minds that were escaping at the moment and turned to see who it was. He saw two shadows moving fast on the room. "There are two on the roof," he said. "Female."
Batman nodded. "Let's get them," he said and they headed after the two figures.
The black-clad figure looked back and saw Batman and the Martian Manhunter pursuing them and were about to run when a pale figure suddenly appeared with a green cloak swishing around him. It was the Spectre.
"Spectre," said Batman. "Teaching others to be like you?"
"These two are not mine," said the Spectre, his voice deep and ominous. The two figures escaped right then and melded into the shadows. J'onn tried to sense them, but they were already gone.
"They are gone," he said. "Whoever they are."
Spectre smiled. "Simply two who fight for vengeance," he said.
"Why would they take it out on Two-Face?" asked Batman. "That doesn't add up."
The green cloaked ghost only smiled and disappeared, leaving the other two. J'onn and Batman looked at each other puzzledly and headed back to the Watchtower.
Two weeks later, Batman hadn't found out who the mysterious figures were, but the captured crime bosses claimed they were moving shadows or ghosts that moved too fast to be seen. He again questioned Spectre, but the mysterious ghost kept denying that the two weren't his students. Finally, he had enough and told the others to be on the lookout for the two figures when they patrolled.
A robbery was in progress at the mayor's house and J'onn headed over to the scene with Wonder Woman and Flash. But, like before, the criminals were already apprehended. They glanced around and Flash saw two figures head away. "I see them," he said and took off after them. Wonder Woman and J'onn went after him to help him.
The two figures noticed they were being followed and stopped a moment, looking at each other curiously and then moving on, but they couldn't shake the three and the black one felt the Martian do several mind sweeps, keeping them in his sights. Finally, the two stopped, realizing they'd never shake the persistent heroes unless they talked to them. Sitting on a rooftop, they waited until the three pursuing heroes joined them.
"Who are you?" asked Wonder Woman.
Neither the black clad person nor their partner answered, but the black clad one pointed to J'onn and tapped the side of their head where their ear was. Taking the hint, he began to gently read their thoughts.
"Renegades," the black clad figure thought and he picked up some of her emotions. There was anger and hurt and he nodded to show he was listening.
"We fight criminals like you," she said. "Why do you pursue us like we are criminals?"
"Why did you run then when we arrived?" He asked.
"Fair enough," she said. "We…are ashamed of how we appear. We are more than willing to be shadows and have you and the Justice League take the credit for taking down those criminals."
"Show yourselves," he now said aloud.
He mentally heard their cries of disbelief before the black clad girl shook her head in refusal. "You have no idea what you ask of us," she said. "We are like shadows and will stay that way."
"Oh, come on," said Flash coaxingly. "You two can't look any worse than Two-Face."
"Are you injured?" Asked Wonder Woman. "We can help you."
It was quiet for a moment. "Our injuries are beyond help. They will only heal when the criminal we are searching for is behind bars or buried in the ground," said the black clad girl. "Don't come after us again."
With that, both disappeared again and J'onn couldn't trace them. "They must be able to open and close off their minds on their own," he said.
"What did they mean their injuries were beyond help?" asked Batman.
"Emotional injuries," said Wonder Woman with realization. "Someone deeply hurt them and they're hunting him and won't rest until justice is delivered or until their prey is killed."
The three headed back to the Watchtower. "J'onn?" asked Batman.
J'onn nodded. "I'll search for them," he said.
Batman nodded. "I think Spectre should join you," he said. "These two act similar to him, which makes me think he's got something to do with this."
J'onn shook his head. "Spectre was telling the truth when he saw they weren't his," he said. "These two work for themselves."
"Still, we need to find out who they're after."
With a nod, J'onn flew off and found Spectre, or more correctly, Spectre appeared in front of him after a moment. "I heard," he said in that voice that could stop any criminal in their tracks. "Why not let these girls go and get their revenge on their prey?"
"Batman is worried they seek more than revenge," said J'onn. "It's possible they seek to make him suffer their fate and then see that he doesn't do the same to anyone else."
"They seek his death," said the Spectre knowingly. "And why wouldn't they? The trials they suffered nearly ended their lives too."
"How did they escape?" asked the Martian but realization dawned when he saw the green-caped ghost smile. "You helped them escape."
"Yes," the ghost said. "How do you think they knew where Two-Face was exactly?"
"You've been encouraging them this whole time to hunt these criminals?"
"Training them for when they face the monster that hurt them."
J'onn felt a little disturbed. "We need to find them," he said. "Vengeance isn't always the best."
"Yet you got your vengeance on the invaders that destroyed your home and your kind," Spectre countered. "The girls deserve to get revenge as you did."
"I did it to help Earth escape the fate of my own world," said the Martian. "It was not vengeance, but justice."
Spectre didn't continue the argument as they headed down to Earth, but his words kept ringing in J'onn's head, leaving the Martin troubled.
The figures moved onto the building and peered in, seeing Baby Face and his crooks in the candy store. The black figure motioned to her partner, who nodded and went in. The black figure followed.
The police arrived moments later and heard the scuffle, but when they went in, Baby Face and his men were tied up and no one else was in sight. J'onn and Spectre arrived in time to see the crooks being taken away and he did a mental sweep and saw the two heading out and followed. Spectre smiled at the scene below before following, feeling proud that the two were doing so well.
Both figures stopped at seeing the other two and waited for them. "You're following again," said the black figure.
"Who are you both?" said J'onn.
"You have no idea what you're asking of us," she said. "My sister and I are not normal."
He stepped towards her and saw her move back a bit. "What happened to you both?" he asked gently.
She stopped in surprise as did her sister and he gently placed his hands on the black clad girl's shoulders and reached up to the helmeted face mask she wore. She grabbed his wrists and he felt her fear. "I won't hurt you," he said to soothe her and removed her face mask, feeling her resist a little. Her long hair, which was a dark blonde-almost brown in color, fell over her face and he gently brushed it back to reveal a young face with blue eyes that held pain. "The face masks hide your face so you both appear emotionless."
"We have to be," she said and he heard the pain in her voice and he then saw her mind was open and she was remembering the torture she and her sister had been put through. She looked up at him, knowing he could see her thoughts. She then nodded. "Sister," she called to the grey-clad figure, who came out and took off her mask to reveal her dark hair and pain-filled green eyes. J'onn felt her pain even stronger than her sister's pain. "Moonflight suffered the most and I was forced to watch."
"Shadowstrike," said Moonflight. "Are you certain we can trust them?"
"Yes," said Shadowstrike. "Spectre has been helping us and I can sense J'onn wants to help us too."
J'onn nodded. "Who are you searching for?" he asked.
"He's called Wacker, Dr. Wacker," said Moonflight. "He gets sick kicks putting kids and young adults through his torture chambers and doing something with their DNA. As a result of his work, I have the ability to blind anyone using light, I can change my form, read minds, and can run fast."
"I too can run fast, but have telekinesis and can manipulate objects to become weapons or weaponless," said Shadowstrike.
"Your powers sound similar to my own and your sister's powers sound similar to the Martian," said Spectre, a note of surprise in his voice.
"Yes," said Shadowstrike. "We need to stop Dr. Wacker. Too many innocent lives have been destroyed because of him."
"Then, we will help you," said J'onn.
They were soon at Dr. Wacker's lab and had the scientist cornered. Shadowstrike stepped forward. "You will never do what you did to us again," she said.
"The guilty must pay," said Moonflight.
They raised their hands to bring the final blow when Shadowstrike felt Spectre grab her arms. "A man who hasn't killed anyone else cannot die," he said.
"Why not?" she demanded. "All that he put us through and the others, he should die!"
Moonflight agreed, but J'onn grabbed her arms. "Do you want to be known as the one who signed his death warrant?" he asked her and looked into her mind, seeing she was conflicted. Shadowstrike was also conflicted and both girls lowered their arms, but then turned to the doctor.
"We're not like you," said Shadowstrike. "But we can make certain you'll never do this kind of work again."
Dr. Wacker screamed as Moonflight telepathically searched his mind and destroyed memory pockets that she found in his mind, ones that contained the information to his experiments and Shadowstrike maneuvered the cart of supplies to rush at the doctor and crash a short distance away and made the surgical tools pin down his clothes to keep him from moving before Moonflight finished her task. "He won't remember any of it," she said. "He'll try, but he won't."
Shadowstrike looked at her sister. "Then our work is done," she said and they left with J'onn and Spectre. She then looked at the green-caped ghost. "Spectre, why did you stop me?" she asked.
He looked at her. "It was the truth," he said simply. "Besides, I'm the only avenging ghost around."
"And you don't like to share that title," she said to him.
"No," he said but then suddenly grabbed her and looked at her. "But my life? Yes."
She gazed at him. "You've known, haven't you?" she asked. "You knew my feelings."
"Yes," he said. "And…I have the same."
It was odd seeing the Spectre a little unsure, but Shadowstrike saw that as a good quality, that while being a ghost, he was still human, in a way. She kissed him on the cheek and he gently grabbed her face with his green-gloved hands and kissed her on the mouth, keeping her there in his arms for a long time.
Moonflight saw Shadowstrike and Spectre weren't following and smiled, feeling J'onn glance back at her and she sent him some loving thoughts that made him freeze in his tracks and she laughed. "I saw," she said. "I saw when you first saw me. You fell in love."
"Yes," he said.
"I didn't think a guy could look at me and fall in love," she said. "They only wanted me to show they could have a girl. But you, it's genuine."
"As it should be," said J'onn, his deep voice making her feel different inside, in a good way. "Moonflight, you chose to do the right thing, even if it was perhaps a bit harsh."
"Because you stopped me doing something that would make me look bad and nothing would have been able to change it," she said and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."
He kissed her on the cheek as well. "You're welcome," he said.
She lightly scoffed with a smile. "Just give me a real kiss already," she said and kissed him on the mouth and he returned it with passion.
Three years later…
The Justice League headed for the Watchtower after dealing with another alien threat and went to get some rest. J'onn got out some Oreos and headed for his quarters, going in and locking the door.
"I hope you're going to share those with us," said a familiar voice and J'onn chuckled as he headed over to his wife, Moonflight, who was sitting on the couch, her stomach very round as she was eight months pregnant with twins.
"Of course," he said, kissing her as they ate the Oreos together, cuddling together as love filled them both.
Spectre made it to his quarters and found his wife, Shadowstrike, leaning against the couch and breathing deeply. He came up behind her and she turned to him, holding her rounded stomach. "Your kid isn't letting me do anything," she griped, but he could see she was smiling a little. "Just like you."
He smiled and gently rubbed Shadowstrike's stomach, feeling his child kicking her. "You don't let me do much of anything either, love," he teased her, which earned him a playful punch to the shoulder as he grabbed her gently and kissed her. She kissed him back lovingly as they settled down to sleep with her sound asleep in her husband's protective embrace, love playing a soft melody that sent them to dreamland.
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GoldGuardian2418
