Sorry about the huge delay, everyone. I was super busy with school. I'm learning Japanese for my major and it's been super time consuming… Also, I just started another Young Justice fic. It's another Dick GraysonxOC, but it's set in the first season. I hope you'll check it out. Also, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's mostly explaining how Melanie/Shadera's powers work and her being introduced to the team.


Nightwing's Perspective


Things were very underwhelming at Mount Justice this evening; no covert missions, no detective work for me to do. I idly watched as Conner helped Tim with training. He was young; Jason had not been dead for long before Tim took his place as the third Robin. He needed as much training as possible. I can see the potential in him, though – he reminds me of myself when I was young. I have no doubts that he will be a great leader.

My thoughts were interrupted by the Zeta-Tube.

Override – 02 Batman; Guest

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. Bruce is bringing an outsider into Mount Justice? Turning my head towards the Zeta Tube, I saw Batman enter with a strange, young girl at his side.

She wore cheap runners and an outfit consisting of what appeared to be black gym-wear. Her face was covered by a second-rate, beaked masquerade mask that once was white but poorly painted over in black. I could see the patches where she missed a second coat as streaky lines of the white underneath peaked through. Her tattoos were odd as well, covering all of her arms and appeared to go over her hands as well.

I blinked quickly to refocus my vision. I could've sworn the tattoos changed colour slightly. I almost shook my head. I must be imagining things.

"I found this one performing vigilante justice on the streets of Gotham," Batman began, gesturing towards the girl at his side. "She may be inexperienced, but I bet that some time here at Mount Justice will hone her skills and make her a valuable asset to this team."

I could see though the eye holes in her mask that her eyes were fixed on me.

Black Canary stepped forward with a smile. "Well, welcome aboard, Miss…?"

"Shadera," she replied quickly. She rubbed the tattoos on her arms nervously.

"No, no. Your real name," Black Canary clarified. She smiled at her. "That is, if you don't mind."

"Oh. Right. Um…," she paused, tightening the grip on her arm as she stared at the floor. "Melanie…" She paused and looked up. "You can call me Melanie. I don't…really have a family name."

Another orphan, I thought to myself. Bruce really knows how to pick 'em.

"And you'd like to go by the hero name Shadera?" Canary asked again, trying to sound as friendly as possible to the nervous teen.

I blinked again a few more times, again swearing that the tattoos on the girl's arm seem to almost flicker. I could hear her clear her throat before she answered. "Yes. That's my alias."

"She has interesting power," Bruce intervened, glancing down at her. "I'd rather her be trained under you and be a part of the covert team than be a threat on the streets."

"Care to demonstrate?" Canary smiled, gesturing towards the training area. Melanie cautiously walked forward toward it. But suddenly she vanished, only dark shapes floating around where she used to stand.


Melanie's Persective


I rubbed my head, dizzy from my sudden teleportation back to the Twilight. I felt the smooth surface of my mask-like face and lifted my head to see my mother standing in front of me.

"Now's not a good time, Mom," I groaned, straightening my posture. "I was about to show-"

"You're weak, dear," she interrupted me, rushing towards me and taking my hand into hers. "You must be careful using your magic outside of the Twilight. Although your shadow powers are unlimited, your magic-"

"It would've helped knowing that ahead of time, Mom," I cut her off, softly pulling my hand away from hers.

"It slipping my mind, dear," her mask transitioned to a frown. "Please forgive me."

I wanted to smile reassuringly, but I wasn't sure if it was being portrayed on my mask. "It's okay, Mom." I took a deep breath; being back in the Twilight felt rejuvenating. I felt my power returning to me.

"Feeling better?" my mother asked, a smile appearing. "That's the power of the Sol." She gestured up at the sky, to the blue orb that gave off light to the Twilight. "It's our source of energy; our source of life. Everything we are capable of doing is thanks to the Sol. It makes magic within the Twilight unlimited. But the Sun of the Realm of Light, though life-giving to the beings of light, does not replenish our power."

"But Mom, I need to use my magic in the Light Realm," I began, sighing softly to myself. "How can I keep charged?"

"When you can, you must return to the Twilight, to soak in the power of the Sol," she explained to me. "I also brought you here to give you something." Mother handed me what looked like a box. "Once you return to the Light, this box will accompany you. It will hold doses of Sol energy. When you need extra power, you can inject them into your body to replenish your magic energy."

"Great," I muttered to myself. "More needles. I thought I left the life of a lab rat behind when I got that blood removed…"

"Be strong, my dear," Mother told me, gripping my shoulders before she pulled me close to her for a hug. "Train hard with the Beings of Light. You are the bridge; you must be ready when the time comes."


Nightwing's Perspective


It's been about ten minutes since the girl mysteriously vanished. At first we thought she was just displaying her powers, so we called out for her to tell her to become visible again. But she wasn't invisible; she was gone. But just as suddenly as she disappeared, a burst of dark shapes appeared, and once they faded, the girl was kneeling on the ground with her head in her hands. A strange box was at her side.

I could hear her groan. "I'll never get used to that…" As she rubbed her head, her mask fell off to reveal her face: pale skin, dark hair, and eyes that matched her tattoos. After a moment of silence, she stood up. "Sorry about that… I was called back."

"Called back?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What's with the box?" Tim asked, inspecting the black box with the same blue markings as her tattoos.

"Back to my realm," she answered, removing her hand from her face and revealing the tattoo under her eye. "When I used my powers on those thugs, my power diminished. My mother called me back so I could recharge and bring back some supplies from the Twilight."

As we all stood in silence, staring at her in disbelief, she frowned. "What? You guys have aliens, sentient robots, and a fish dude-" she gestured towards La'gaan "-and you can't believe I'm from a different dimension?"

"She's got a point," Garfield stated with a nod. "I mean, at this point nothing's really that weird."

"Anyway, Melanie," Black Canary started, motioning towards the training area. "Care to show me what you can do?" She smiled warmly at the newcomer.

"If you don't mind, Canary," Bruce interrupted, stepping forward. "I'd like to see what she can do."

My lips thinned as I watched Bruce walk to the training area; it was unlike him to show interest in his girl already. He must be very interested in her abilities.

Melanie grinned, showing her dazzling white teeth. "Alright; I guess this works out pretty well. I know you work from the shadows." She chuckled to herself as she stretched her neck and shoulders. "So do I."

As soon as Black Canary called out 'begin', the grinning girl faded into a black form and then disappeared.

Batman looked around cautiously. "Teleported again?" I heard him mutter to himself.

Melanie giggled; the sound didn't enter through my ears but seemed to be a voice in my head. "Nope. I'm still here." I had a weird tickling sensation behind my eyeballs. As everyone looked around trying to find her, she giggled again. "Psst. Over here, Batman. Look at your shadow."

Stood next to Batman's shadow was a second one; someone who wasn't physically casting it. The shadow waved. "Found me! Now, watch this." The second shadow seemed to fuse into Batman's, causing him to shout out in shock. My eyes snapped back to my mentor, and he seemed stiff and confused.

"How are you…?" he grunted, looking as if he was trying to keep control.

"I can hide in any place where a shadow is cast. I found my way to the bank earlier by connecting myself to a Gotham City Police Car, and it brought me all the way to you." She giggled. "Of course, what you're feeling right now isn't me simply hiding in your shadow. This is called Shadow Possession. If you were a weaker man, I'd have complete control over you now. Your mind should have gone blank and I should be controlling your speech. But you seem to be resisting it pretty well… Let's see…" Batman grunted as his hand traveled to his utility belt and grabbed a Batarang. "I could make it look like enemies turn on one another," Melanie continued as Batman aimed the Batarang at me. "Make one attack the other and once I escape their shadow, they'd have no memory I possessed them. Well, if I took over their mind, that is." My eyes widened as his hand drew back as it prepared to throw the weapon. I jumped out of the way as the armed snapped forward, but the fingers kept their tight grip on the Batarang. Suddenly, Batman let go of it and it hit the floor with a metallic klang. Melanie's laugher filled my head, and it transitioned from the voice inside my head to a physical sound traveling through my ears as she appeared standing next to me. "Two for flinching," she said with a smile as she punched me twice in the bicep.

"Impressive," Batman stated as he regained composure.

"Thanks," she grinned in return. "I can also interact with objects that cast shadows too." She turned into a black form and disappeared again, and suddenly, the Batarang on the floor rose up. Glancing to the back wall, I could see that Melanie's shadow was holding onto the Batarang via its shadow. She solidified again, holding the Batarang in her hands, which she then handed back to Batman. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"I'm more interested in the powers you used to capture those goons," Batman told her, accepting his weapon back from the raven-haired girl.

"Oh, my magic?" she asked. "My energy levels are constantly charged when I'm in the Twilight, but without the presence of my blue sun, Sol, I have a kind of battery life here in your world." She swayed back and forth on her heels as her hands were folded behind her back. "Your yellow sun is nice and all, keeps me warm and stuff, but it's not home, ya know?" Melanie walked over to the box that appeared in the room once she 'returned' from 'her world'. "That's what this stuff is for," she said, patting the box before reaching inside to pull out a large syringe filled with a glowing blue substance. "Injectable Sol. I just stick this stuff in when I'm low on juice and presto, ready for action. Care for a demonstration?"

Suddenly, her tattoos changed colour – the slowly changed from the electric blue to a red. She snapped her fingers and a flame appeared. Turning a deep blue, she twirled her hand and water appeared from the tattoo on her palm. Then there was a fade to white and the water froze into ice shaped like a Batarang. Suddenly she threw it, catching me off-guard, and it flew past my cheek, cutting me. I winced and cursed under my breath.

"Sorry," she stated nervously. "Just needed to demonstrate…" Her arms turned a pale green and she pressed her hand to my wounded cheek. It felt warm and comforting. Looking at her face, I noticed her eyes and the tattoo on her cheek were also that same pale green. I watched them fade back to electric blue as she gave my cheek a final stroke before removing her hand. The cut was gone.

Well, I'm official whelmed…

"Um…," I started awkwardly, as we hadn't broken eye contact. "Those are some sweet tattoos…"