Title: Sold My Soul
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice nor Young Justice Invasion. The belong to their awesome, but respective, owners.
Info About This Fic: It's a sort of AU where Kaldur was evil and the plan in Depths didn't work out too well for Artie. Please tell me if you want me to continue. This originally was meant to be a OneShot, but I kind of have a semiplot if you guys want more.
Rating: T- There's blood and Nightwing bashing, but not too bad.
Author's Note: I'm amazing no one else has thought of this yet. This is pretty much what happened in my head after I saw the whole "Wally?" "No." -Insert badass Kaldur stare- thing.
"We'll laugh about this someday." Nightwing's voice was low and thick. He stared at the picture, trying to absorb every single detail about the archer who had once been such an outsider to them. Dick stared enviously at the glowing image. Back then everything was easy. It was simple. There was no death. There was always someone there to protect them.
Yeah, well, we aren't kids anymore. Dick swallowed the rising sting in his throat and shut down the holographic image. There was suddenly a low, scuffling noise somewhere behind him as if someone was trying to push something heavy. It felt like he couldn't breathe as he waited the agonizingly long seconds for Wally to appear.
Wally, I don't want to do this. She was my friend too. The new leader of the team was desperately trying to come up with a soft way to break the terrible news about Artemis. Each new way was worse than the previous and made Dick furious at himself. It sounds like I'm making excuses. There is no excuse for what happened. It's all my fault that Artemis is dead. Finally coming up with a tolerable way to explain things, Nightwing waited for his ginger friend to appear. He half wished that Wally didn't show up, so he didn't have to say what he needed to.
Fifteen seconds passed from when Dick had heard the jarringly loud noise. Where is he? He expected his friend to be there instantly to see Artemis. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up slightly. Nightwing squinted at a barely moving shadow. Does he already know? Is that why he's hiding?
"Wally?" Nightwing whispered, trying to hold his shaking voice as steady as possible.
"No."
Ice seemed to course through the younger boy's veins. Kaldur stepped into the dull light, the flickering spotlight overhead casting ominous shadows across his dark face. Although the Atlantean's face showed little emotion, his eyes glowed with a satisfied light. A million emotions ran through Dick's body in that instant, but he could form none of them into words. The whites in his domino mask widened dramatically, and his mouth parted slowly in shock.
A small, humorless smirk pulled at the corner of Kaldur's mouth. "We meet again. It's a pity that Wally is not present. I haven't seen him in years." He glanced around the abandoned warehouse, light olive eyes taking in every possible nook and cranny. "I assume neither the Kryptonian nor the Martian is in attendance either?"
The firm slash that served as Nightwing's mouth provided the answer. He still couldn't speak yet. The main emotion that was flowing through his body at the moment was rage. The two stared at each other in silence. They were about the same height now, but that was about as far as the similarities went. While Nightwing was slim and fit in his tight costume, Kaldur's costume was bulky and accented his large muscles rather well. The blue bird on Nightwing's chest seemed to be the epitome of hope, and the glowing red on Kaldur's uniform was the embodiment of evil. Dick's face was pale at seeing his former teammate, but Kaldur's face was darker than usual due to his sinister expression and the shadows in the warehouse.
Finally Nightwing was able to choke something out. "What do you want, Kaldur?"
The Atlantean tilted his head to the right. "I've come to tie up," he paused, "some loose ends." Kaldur's hands strayed towards his twin water bearers. Suddenly he pulled them out and swung at his former friend with a grunt. Nightwing flipped backwards just in time to avoid being sliced by two swords. The memory of seeing them inside Artemis caused Dick to briefly lose concentration. He tried to throw a birdarang as the Atlantean, but it spun off target.
"You seem to be failing, old friend," Kaldur began, his tone almost that of a friendly conversation.
Crouched down in a fighting position, Nightwing glared at his opponent. He ignored the initial comment. "Why, Kaldur? Why did you kill Artemis?"
Instead of answering, Kaldur rushed at Nightwing, swords transforming into a large hammer en route. Instantly Dick's escrima sticks were out, and they flashed as they deflected Kaldur's weapon. The more agile one flipped over the former Aqualad, landing a solid kick on Kaldur's back. Unfortunately for Dick, Kaldur spun around fast enough to clip him with his water mallet. Nightwing's landing was awkward, but he jumped back up quickly, already back into the fighting position.
The two young men paused to evaluate their opponents. Dick took the time to repeat his question. "Why did you kill Artemis?" Kaldur's stolid face gave no indication that he heard him. "She was our friend, Kaldur. She had saved your life before. This was her first mission in years. You should have gone after me instead." Dick's voice held too much emotion. Kaldur gave him a look that seemed to say 'What do you think I'm doing now?'
"I'm simply trying to reunite the 'old gang.'" Those informal words sounded odd coming from Kaldur's mouth. "As I said, it is a pity you came alone. I could kill two birds with one stone." Kaldur's face remained impassive apart from a slight flicker in one of the corners of his mouth.
The white slits in Nightwing's masked narrowed dangerously. "You've caused enough damage already." Had Dick not been trained by the Batman for so many years, he knew his voice would have cracked at that moment. It already was hard enough to remain as expressionless as his opponent. His hands floated by his Birdarangs, fingers twitching slightly. He wouldn't miss again.
"I've caused enough damage?" His face hardened and the older man stiffened. "Have you forgotten, Robin, that you were the leader? You were the one who pulled Artemis from her civilian life and sent her to her death. Let's not forget about your successor, either." Kaldur's words had a visible effect on Nightwing. The younger man's expression seemed to crumple, and his fighting stance deteriorated greatly. He was now slouched slightly in painful shock. Kaldur took the opportunity to strike. His water weapon whistled through the air as the blunt object collided with Dick's side. Although it was a light enough blow not to cause extreme damage, coupled with the verbal assault, this attack sent the boy spiraling into a stack of crates. Nightwing bounced roughly against the crates, fell to the floor, and shakily climbed back to his feet.
"And what about Tula?" Kaldur watched with a twisted sense of satisfaction as Nightwing's face screwed up in pain even more. Tula had been the first casualty under Dick's leadership. The mission had been simple; it was more a "field test" to see how well Dick would have coped as leader. But he failed as leader, and Kaldur left the team for good.
"It was a mission, Kaldur. Aquagirl knew the risks!" Nightwing repeated, more so to convince himself than Kaldur.
The former Aqualad snarled and charged at Dick. The younger boy's grief and conflicted emotions slowed his reaction time, and he was unable to block a fierce kick from Kaldur. Nightwing stumbled backwards, slipping a birdarang into his hands. He threw it, the projectile whistling through the air. It hit Kaldur in the shoulder, but the Atlantean acted as if nothing had happened. He swung his leg and caught Dick by surprise again. Nightwing let out a quick cry as his legs were swept out from under him, and he landed on his right wrist with a crackling noise.
Not good, he grimaced, rotating his dominate hand. He rolled over just in time to avoid getting a hole in his stomach from Kaldur's heavy boot. He jumped back to his feet, but not nearly as quick as the previous times. He was too late in refocusing as a sharp hook from Kaldur sent him spinning back towards the vacant crates. Dick's forehead collided with a wooden box forcefully enough to shatter the dry rotted wood. He blinked away stars, scowling as something wet trickled down his face.
Kaldur paced slowly behind the younger boy, waiting patiently for his foe to recover enough to resume fighting. A catlike smile flickered briefly across his face. So this is the protégée of the great Batman. I remembered him to be a better fighter as Robin. Or perhaps it is I who is improving.
"You wouldn't let me come on that mission. You told me before that you didn't believe I could keep my emotions unclouded. You didn't trust me to do my job. You. Didn't. Trust. Me." Kaldur snarled, taking a step towards Nightwing with each word. He swung at Nightwing, but the boy had recovered enough to block it. Kaldur lunged towards the younger man again, and yet again missed due to Dick's impressive agility.
"I was worried you would be overprotective of her and forsake the team. You know what happened with Conner. I couldn't risk it!" Dick decided to try to go on the offensive now. He jumped back and attempted to throw a birdarang with his non dominant hand. It hit Kaldur's ebony armor with a clang and spun off unseen in the gloomy warehouse.
The Atlantean almost looked hurt. "That was what you thought of my loyalty? You thought I would betray my friends?"
"It isn't far from what I see now." Dick's smile held no warmth as he kicked unsuccessfully at Kaldur's head.
Kaldur stepped back from the fight. "You don't know what it's like!"
Dick's smile grew slightly strained. "To lose someone you 'love' or to be a traitor?"
Rage flared briefly in Kaldur's light olive eyes. The magic that supported his water bearers disappeared and the water splashed to the ground. He returned his twin weapons back to their home on his back and raised his fists for hand to hand combat. Dick smirked and charged at the Atlantean.
After the two exchanged a few harsh blows, Kaldur swept the younger man's feet under him again. Although he was prepared this time, he was not expecting Kaldur to use his own weight to knock the boy down as well. Nightwing hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of him. Kaldur dug a sharp knee into the young man's chest, causing the human to gasp loudly. After a few moments of being stuck, Kaldur's knee was replaced by an open palmed hand. Nightwing's eyes widened behind his domino mask. Little blue sparks danced down Kaldur's arm before flowing into Nightwing. The human grounded his teeth together to stop the pained scream that had bubbled in his throat as volts of electricity coursed through his veins. It seemed like an eternity that Dick was trapped in this burning hell when the pressure was suddenly released. The young man's breath came out in hitching gasps, and he couldn't quite feel his extremities, but he was still alive.
Almost as if he were in a dream, Nightwing felt strong fingers wrap around his neck and hoist him into the air. Something told him that his trembling fingers had scratched weakly at Kaldur's iron grip, but he couldn't tell for sure. The darkness that had been bordering his vision after the electrocution was now starting to suffocate him.
Kaldur pulled his hostage closer to him to inspect his face. There was barely any white in the human's domino mask, and Kaldur could tell he was losing him. He loosened his grip slightly, but it did little to revive his foe. With a subtle look of contempt and triumph on his face, Kaldur swung his ragdoll prisoner in the air so that he collided roughly into the decaying crates with a weak cry. Although it resulted in multiple cuts and scrapes for Dick, the human looked more aware. One of the young man's deep blue eyes blinked unfocusedly at Kaldur.
The Atlantean froze and glanced quickly at the most recent debris. Hanging precariously from a large, splintered piece of wood was half of Nightwing's trademark domino mask. Kaldur looked back at Dick and suppressed a shudder. Of the original team members, he had been the last to see the human's vibrant eyes. They still seemed to have the same effect as they did the first time Kaldur saw them. Suddenly Kaldur started to feel a bubble of regret in his heart. Dick had always been the little brother of the team, despite his constant denials. Hurting their former baby bird seemed blasphemous now to Kaldur.
Pity is for the weak, he countered. To convince himself that he truly meant this, the Atlantean's grip tightened around the pale neck.
He suddenly became aware of Dick trying to talk. Crimson bubbled slightly out of the corner of his mouth. His words came out mostly as gibberish and gurgles, but Kaldur got the gist. Nightwing was either trying to threaten him or cause Kaldur to lose some confidence.
The catlike smile returned. "I don't think your 'back up' is coming." Dick's rapidly dulling eye suddenly focused sharply on Kaldur. Hopefully Wally didn't get too "tripped up" on the tripwires. Kaldur lifted the younger man closer to his face. "Say hello to Artemis and Wally for me," the Atlantean whispered under his breath, eyes lighting up with an ominous glow. Dick's own eyes widened dramatically.
No… That can't be possible. Even though the boy tried to deny the fact that his best friend was dead, he felt a deep numbness seep through his veins. It had to be true, else why wouldn't Wally have appeared to help him? Nightwing's already still form slumped considerably. He already looked dead.
With an overwhelming sense of disgust, although he couldn't tell who is was directed towards, Kaldur threw the boy back at the shattered crates. No emotion flickered across his face when Nightwing was impaled through the side by one of the smaller, rotten planks, and he didn't seem to care when the human slipped of the sharp object with a gasp and a whimper and fell to his hands and knees. Kaldur felt nothing as a trembling Nightwing looked slowly at him, eyes fluttering shut, and collapsed on the cold warehouse floor.
Kaldur stared down at his fallen opponent. The past events seemed so surreal, and he could barely believe that Nightwing was beaten and bloody at his feet. He had almost been prepared to die to the former Robin. Although Dick was only a human, Kaldur had a feeling that he would be the most difficult to defeat. And yet the battle itself had seemed relatively easy. Nightwing went down as if he had no fight left in hm.
Kaldur's light eyes inspected every single scrape and wound on the young man at his feet. A small pool of blood had dripped from the small hole in the boy's side and mingled with the dirt and dust on the filthy warehouse floor, giving it a maroon hue. Cuts and gashes littered the human's face and body, and there were multiple rips in his once slick uniform. A few bruises had already started to form, including one particularly nasty one on his forehead and small finger indentations around his neck. The Atlantean continued to absorb every detail he could about the fallen hero. The battle now over, Dick's face was surprisingly calm. If it weren't for all of the injuries on his face, Kaldur could have believed his former teammate was merely resting.
After his evaluation of damage, Kaldur had to decide what to do with the limp form. He crossed his arms and stared at Nightwing. He had fully intended to kill Nightwing, and then leave without any hint of who and done it and why. But Father would be pleased to possess the leader of my former team. Nightwing is, Kaldur paused, searching for an adequate description, the most valuable of the "sidekicks." His disappearance, as well as Artemis' death, would greatly shake up the team. Kaldur knew he had to decide quickly, for an unwanted visitor could possibly arrive any moment.
Kaldur stepped towards Nightwing and scooped up the thin, limp body. It felt odd holding the broken bird again. He always seemed way too small. He glanced at the bloody pool and the shredded fragment of Nightwing's mask that still clung to the splinters. These items would be an obvious clue in deciphering what happened and who went down.
You wouldn't have to be "the World's Greatest Detective" to figure it out.
Casting one last baleful glare at the now destroyed warehouse, Kaldur took his prize and left.
Wally West, former Kid Flash, was late to his own meeting. He sped as fast as he could to the Blüdhaven warehouse, eager to share his news. When he finally got there, obvious traps for a speedster such as tripwires were set up everywhere. Wally skidded to a stop right before a razor thin wire split his belly button. He assumed they were to prevent high speed vehicles from driving through. He didn't stop to investigate; he didn't get the chance to see that they were freshly set.
Man, and I wanted to hurry. Instead of speeding to the right warehouse, Wally casually walked and tried to enjoy the slow pace. Besides, I doubt Dick'll want to see me yet. And I got the best news for him.
It took Wally a bit longer to get in than he expected. Inhumanly large barriers had been shoved in front of all the entrances and exits that Wally was supposed to use. This caused the ginger to slow down for a moment. Are they there to keep people out…or in? After finding some spider infested cellar route, Wally was finally able to reach the main warehouse where he was supposed to meet his best friend. Before entering, he glanced at the watch on his wrist. He was thirty minutes too late.
"You won't believe what I had to…" Wally's loud voice trailed off as he entered the gloomy and abandoned warehouse. He shivered as he walked slowly towards the section that was destroyed the worst. Blood splatters covered the floor as well as bits and pieces of debris.
It looks like a crime scene. Wally's bright eyes scanned the room worriedly. But who's the victim? The speedster nearly slipped on a puddle of water that was in the center of the battlefield. His stomach prickled nervously, but he didn't know why.
Suddenly his gaze landed on the pool of blood and the tattered remain of Nightwing's mask. Ice sped through his veins, and it hurt to breathe.
"No…no…no…" he whispered hurriedly. He spun around and peered at a nearby shadow. Raising his cupped hands to his mouth, Wally called loudly for Nightwing. He waited in an agonizing silence for what seemed like forever to the speedster. He darted back and forth across the suddenly constricting warehouse, searching every shadow and hole for his friend. It was after the third time that he almost slipped on the water puddle when everything made sense. Wally stopped mid sprint so abruptly that his clothes and nose still vibrated slightly.
No…
In a flash he was kneeling beside the crimson pool and the piece of the mask. With shaking fingers, Wally gently dabbed at the puddle. He was fairly certain that all of the red liquid around him came from one source. And based off of the water puddle in the middle of the floor, Wally knew who the culprit and, ultimately, the winner was. He wiped the blood off of his fingers and onto his jeans,
Wally reached out and freed the mask piece from its trap on the splinted. He held it gently at first, and then crushed it tightly in his fist.
Kaldur.
I hope they aren't out of character. The problem with these guys is that they've changed, Kaldur especially, since YJS1. Please, please, please let me know if you guys want me to continue. I'm honestly fine with leaving it this way xD Thanks for reading!