Chapter One
And so it begins
I run my hand through my sweat-soaked hair, soaked thanks to the hot sun. I had pulled off my vest top a long time ago, leaving me in a sports bra and leggings. The training 'mat' below is more like a thin of cloth that does nothing to protect me from the pain of getting slammed onto the ground, but not that it matters to me anymore. The mat was located in a small, closed off courtyard within palace walls and surrounded by the guards, so she could make sure I didn't escape.
She, the woman who kidnapped me from my home and made me into her puppet, as she liked to believe.
Queen Bee.
Of course, it wasn't her that took me from my home. Oh no, that was one of her loyal lackeys, but she gave the order. They took me from my home and brought me to Bialya, where they-
"Focus, tonto!"
A knife being slashed across my stomach grabs my attention, a cut that I barely flinch at. Pablo scowls down at me as he slashes at me again. This time however, I dodge the blow. I grab his arm and twist it, before pulling Pablo down and pressing his chest into the ground, still holding his arm.
He chuckled into the dirt. "You're good at this, pajarita." Pablo had been my…conditioner, so to speak. He had thrown a knife at me the first time we met. It only managed to graze my arm, thanks to my reflexes. If I hadn't dodged it, it would have lodged itself in my chest.
"I would be better if the sun wasn't so goddamn hot." I muttered before letting him up. He chuckled again and grins widely, showing his yellow-stained teeth.
"Unfortunately, pajarita, I cannot control the weather." He replied. He called pajarita, little bird, from the moment we met. It annoyed me at first but now I just went with it. I learned early on that getting on Pablo's bad side wasn't a good idea. The Spaniard had a cruel streak the terrified some of the toughest guards, and I was stuck with him.
"Wish you could." I muttered as we walked off the mats and into the shade. Pablo liked to train me in the hot sun. He said it 'helped build resistance' or some bullshit like that.
"Oh stop pouting. Should I start calling you pequeño instead?" Pablo replied, sending me a patronising smirk. I rolled my eyes and picked up my white shirt from the table, before pulling it on. "Be good, parajita. I will see you in the morning." Pablo added before giving me a two-fingered salute and gets escorted out by one of the soldiers. After training, Pablo goes back to his home, wherever that is. He's a secretive man.
Another soldier came to my side and he escorts me to my room. It's on one of the high floors of the palace. We walk in silence to my room, a small place with no windows, a mirror, sink, a bed and a closet, where I keep my clothes and weapons. I step in and the door is locked behind me. I can't help but roll my eyes. They think that this keeps me in my room.
Morons.
You see, the guards believe that I am 'obedient' enough to stay in my room. They still look the door, but they never realise I can picks locks. Queen Bee released me from Psimon's control a long time ago, believing that I was broken enough to obey without hesitation.
What a surprise she is in for.
I go over to the sink and turn on the taps, before soaking my face in cold water. The vicelike contraption grabbed my attention. The blue liquid floats beneath plastic clear covers, the liquid that gives me this power. It's been nearly three years.
Three long years.
My nightmares were no longer just blood and gunshots. They were swords slicing through flesh and needles piercing skin and burningburningburning makeitstopmakeitstopMAKEITSTOP. Nightmares that made me scream and cry for Scarlett to hug me and tell me that everything was okay.
A loud crack grabs my attention. I sigh when I realised that I had been griping the sink. The porcelain had cracked under my grip. The grey walls of my room were not helping me relax. I had to get out. I pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around the machine on my arm. Grabbing the pin and blue scarf, I picked the lock of my door and crept out.
With the security cameras facing away from my door and the chatter of the soldiers a distance away, I crept over to the window down the hallway. I throw open the window and, with a final check to see if I'm being watched, I leapt out of the window and I'm flying and its good.
However, as great as it would be to fly, I can't. The rooftop of the palace was coming close and I landed in a crouch. I slipped down through my usual path, into an alley near the palace. I wrap the scarf around the lower half of my face, shielding it from view. I couldn't have any of the soldiers recognise me and report back to Queen Bee.
I keep to the less populated areas, where there are less people and fewer soldiers. While keeping my head down and drawing no attention to myself, a muffled scream from a short distance away grabs my attention. I break into a sprint and find the source of the scream, in another alley between two abandoned houses. A teenage girl was being pulled into the alley by a man holding a knife to her throat and covered her mouth with his hand. Fury shot through me at the sight.
"[Shut it, you little bitch.]" He snarls at her in Bialyan, pressing the knife further into her throat. The sight of her tears makes my fury overflow. I creep up behind the man and get close to his ear.
"[There are a few things that I truly despise.]" I told him. "[One of those things are men like you.]" He whirls around and attempts to swipe at me with his knife. I smirked before grabbing his wrist and squeezing.
A loud crack echoes through the alley, followed by the man's wail. I've broken his wrist. "[I-I'm s-sorry! P-p-please don't k-k-kill me!]" He begged, after falling on his knees. My eyes narrow and I bend down so I'm at his eye level.
"[I won't.]" I grab his hand and twist his finger. He cries out again. "[I will let you go, but if you do something like this again, I will find you and I will do far worse. Now go.]" I release his hand and he scrambled to his feet. I narrow my eyes at him and he runs off, cradling his broken wrist.
I turn around and see that the girl is now curled up in the corner, watching me with a terrified expression. I pull the scarf down and give her a reassuring smile. There's a schoolbag on the ground, the books spilling out. "[Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name? Is this bag yours?]"
"[A'idah. Yes, i-it's mine]" She told me in a quiet voice.I picked up the dark blue bag, that was adorned with different badges relating to various different bands.
"[My name's Lila. Did that man hurt you A'idah?]" I asked. She shook her head and I sighed in relief. "[Now A'idah, there are five things you should do if someone grabs you from behind. The first is to scream and make as much noise as you can, so someone can hear. If that doesn't work, slam your elbow into his chest, step on his toes, hit his nose with your elbow and hit his crotch as hard as you can because it takes a while for a man to recover from this. That should give you enough time to get away.]"
"[Chest, toes, nose, crotch.]" A'idah repeated. "[T-thank you for helping me.]" She gave me a shaky smile. "[I live a short distance away from here but would you mind walking with me till there?]" She asked.
I smiled at her. "[Of course not. I will have to linger a short distance away though.]" I told her. I grabbed her hand and helped the girl to her feet before handing her back the bag. She walked to the street before looking over her shoulder to me. I nod and give her another reassuring smile. She started to walk and I followed, pulling the scarf back over my face.
I followed the girl through the streets before she stopped at a small house. She walked to the front door and looked over at me. I nodded at her and she smiled back before entering the house. The smile made me feel better. Even if Queen Bee has pulled me out of my old life, that didn't mean I couldn't help people.
When I saw that A'idah has made it back into her home, I turn away. It was time to get back to the palace.
…
I climbed back in through the window. The corridor was clear, thankfully. I unlocked the door of my room and went in.
"Enjoy your walk?" Sam greeted me, from my bed which he was lying on.
"Get your dirty boots off my bed." I replied.
"Hello to you too Lila." Sam rolled his eyes. Samuel Evans, another one of Queen Bee's 'projects'. He wasn't a super soldier; he was part of a different project called 'Invisibility Cloak'. He also was a rare case. There was something weird with his genes or pheromones or something odd like that, because he couldn't be controlled by Queen Bee. This meant that he had to be under Psimon's control most of the time.
He was one of the only people I could trust here, as he wanted to escape too. He had told me that men had come to his house six years ago, killing his parents and taking him away. He hoped to God that they never found his sister Skye, who wasn't in the house that night.
"Hi Sammy." I replied, giving him a wide, toothy grin.
"How many times have I told you not to call that?" He asked, as he swung around so that he was now just sitting on my bed.
"Once or twice." I grinned even wider. He scoffed and threw my pillow at me. I laughed and dodged it. Sam hated it when people called him Sammy, he always insisted on people calling him Sam, Samuel or nothing at all.
"Get dressed you numpty, Queen Bee wants to see us." My smile promptly fell and Sam sighed, running a hand through his short brown hair.
"Why does she want to see us?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I'll leave you to it though." I nodded and with that, Sam got off the bed and left the room. I turned to closet and pulled out my uniform. I pulled off my white vest and started to change.
My uniform was plain black trousers; those clung to my legs but were stretchy enough so that I could move. Black boots that ended bellow my knee. A long sleeved black shirt, with a gold band across my chest, which separated my chest plate from the rest of the uniform. Black gloves, with black gauntlets and a hood were attached to the shirt. A belt rested on my hips, with my knives and weapons. I attached the katana to my back and picked up the mask. The mask was completely white, apart from the gold edging around the eye holes, edges and raised lips.
I took one quick look at myself in the mirror. I had changed in the three years I had been here. My hair had grown longer, like Queen Bee liked it. She had told me 'Who wouldn't trust the girl with the long curls and pretty blue eyes?'. The dark circles under my eyes had become more pronounced and I had lost the childlike roundness on my face. I sighed and placed the mask on my face. Hurry it up Lila, she'll get pissed if you don't move.
Somebody knocked the door. "[Nightfall! Queen Bee wants to see you!]" A voice barked in Bialyan. That was my codename, Nightfall. I quickly stuffed a back USB pen, I had hidden in my closet, and stuffed it in my belt. I opened the door and was greeted by two Bialyan soldiers. We walked in silence to Queen Bee's office. She rarely used the throne room to give Sam and I our assignments.
The office was large and had wide windows, which overlooked the palace courtyard. There was a painting on the wall, identical to the stained glass window outside.
Sam was already in the room when I arrived. We nodded at each other as I joined his side. Queen Bee entered the room and we knelt before her. "One of my former advisors, Philip Beaulieu, has betrayed me and is planning to go to the U.N in three days' time. He is residing in Gotham at the moment." My eyes widened behind my mask. "You two will be taking care of him before then."
"Yes my Queen." Sam and I replied in identical monotone voices.
"Good. The jet is in the hanger. You will be leaving in five minutes." She replied. With that, the soldiers escorted us out of the room and into the large hanger, hidden behind the rock wall. Sam took a seat at the front to fly the jet while I searched through it to make sure there were no bugs.
I found three, which I crushed under my boot, before making my way back up to the front where Sam was. "Clear?" He asked.
"Clear." I replied.
"You have the USB?" He asked. I nodded, a smirk coming across my face. On the USB were things that Queen Bee wanted to keep hidden. The child trafficking rings, the weapon smuggling, the cruelty of the soldiers. There was also the possibility of a shipping of unknown products, something that I knew very little about.
In Gotham, I was intending to give it to Robin. Well, Nightwing now actually. This was my plan. This is why I didn't try to escape. I was going to expose Queen Bee and her secrets, bring her down from the inside. Sam, who despised Queen Bee as much as I did, was helping me with this plan.
"I have to ask," Sam's voice took me from my thoughts, "Why do this? Why stay and expose her secrets instead of escaping?" We were now flying over the sea to Metropolis. In the files Queen Bee had given us, it had detailed her plan. We were to land in Metropolis and accompany Lex Luthor to the party where Beaulieu was throwing in his penthouse apartment. There, we would kill him.
"I've been hunted all my life, Sam. By Queen Bee and CADMUS but not anymore. I want to turn the tables, make them be the hunted this time, by the team and the League. Queen Bee needs to be stopped and I can't do that by escaping. I have to expose her." I explained. Sam nodded, satisfied with the answer. We settle into a comfortable silence, before I get up
"I need to record a message for Nightwing. Back in a few." I told him. He nodded and I went into one of the back rooms of the jet. After checking for bugs and finding that it was clear, I sit at the table and switch on the microphone in my gauntlet.
"Nightwing, its Lila….."
…
GUESS WHO'S BAAAAAAAAAACK!
Hello to you all, and welcome to the sequel of Shade, I Will Rise Up! So yeah, Lila's now a super soldier assassin person. Also, this is starts on December 27th 2015, four days before the beginning of Season Two. There's also Sam, who will be helping. Sam's a sweetie. So yeah, if you enjoyed then please review and I hoped you guys like the first chapter! Sorry if it's a bit boring but there is plenty more to come, trust me! Also not sure if should could keep this at T rating or maybe bumb it up to M? What would you guys think of a rating increase if it meant like more violence and Kaldur/Lila smut?