Hellow everyone! Welcome to chapter 8 of 'Young Justice Dark'

Reviews:

tobi-is-an-artist-too:

Oh yeah, and we get to see some more of Abigail's backstory, expanding on one of the flashback's we saw in chapter 7.

One of said mysteries will be solved...though many more will be uncovered ! XD

I appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too :)

Vumanchu:

Here you go

Outcast001:

Yeah, and given what we learn in this chapter, Abigail has even more reason to be mad.

The League has much to learn when it comes to dealing with Abigail XD

It's jammed up there pretty good XD I hope you enjoy this chapter

The Renegade Kingslayer:

His ass was thoroughly handed to him by Abigail XD

That they were, though more about Abigail's past and her allies will be revealed as the story goes on ( that includes Elisa )

I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)


(Last time on Young Justice Dark)

It had been several hours since she'd left Mount Justice, and now Abigail was seated in a pub with a large mug full of cold beer in front of her. She had returned briefly to her flat and cleaned herself up before venturing out once more.

She wasn't concerned for Daniel, knowing that his bodies cursed form would regenerate the injuries she had left him with.

His pride however, that would not be so easily fixed.

Abigail have a small snort of amusement at the thought as she took a small gulp from the glass, enjoying the cool feeling of the liquid travelling down her throat before picking up the cigar she had placed in the ashtray on the table and taking a long puff.

However her relaxed mood didn't last as she saw three figures suddenly come into view across the bar.

Zatara, J'onn, and Batman were standing there, not gaining much attention from the few patrons spread out across the establishment despite the fact they stood out so clearly.

Giving a drawn out sigh as she saw them approach.

"...Oh bollocks" she said to herself before downing the rest of her beer.


Abigail now walked along the street, the three League members walking alongside her as they made their way back to her flat.

"If you want me to apologize, that's not going to happen" she said flatly.

"You injured Daniel, if it wasn't for his cursed forms regenerative abilities, there's not telling if he would have survived" Batman said starring at her with a frown as they walked.

Abigail wasn't affected at all by his tone or the look he was sending her underneath his mask.

"Abigail-" Giovanni began, only for Abigail to cut him off.

"Look I don't care if you want to lecture me or not, I don't want him on the team. You know the kind of mess that he's caused uncle, and the dangers of that book, I shouldn't have to explain it to you. Especially not after what happened the last time" she said as the group approached her apartment, though as soon as she said that, Batman came to a halt, causing the other two League members to do the same, though Giovanni had a more troubled expression on his face as he did.

"What is she talking about?" Batman said turning to Giovanni inquisitively.

Abigail turned around, her gaze switching between Batman and Zatara, a look of realization coming to her face as she narrowed her eyes.

"You...You didn't tell them, did you..." she said slowly, stating more than questioning as Giovanni gave a soft sigh.

"I had hoped it could have been avoided." he said simply, not meeting her gaze.

Abigail let out a slight sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose for a few moments before moving her hand back down to her side.

"Let's go inside. It seems we have some things to discuss after all" Abigail said before turning once more and walking ahead.


The group entered Abigail's flat, walking through the door before it closed behind them. Abigail didn't stop her stride as she continued through and past the kitchen and into the lounge room area, as she did a loud gasp was heard.

Coraline, who was seated on the couch with a variety of text books and school work spread about, was now looking at their guests with wide eyes and mouth agape.

"Y-You're..." she began pointing at Batman only for Abigail to speak up.

"Focus on your homework; I'm going to talk to our guests in private." Abigail said before walking to the right and towards the hall, motioning for the others to follow.

"But it's Batman! And The Martian Manhunter and-" Coraline began to protest.

"And you still have homework, guests or no guests, so I expect a chunk of it to be done before I come back to check on you." Abigail called back over her shoulder as she walked along the hall, passing her room and continuing past the bathroom and Coraline's room.

She continued on until reaching the end of the hall and turned left, walking along further until reaching a seemingly dead end, she turned around and motioned to Batman and J'onn.

"Could you two please close your eyes" she asked plainly, not bothering to ask Giovanni to do so.

"Why?" Batman replied in a matching tone.

Abigail rolled her eyes at the question before speaking. "Because I don't want you to see what I'm about to do. I'm sure you'd have precautions in place for people regarding your Batcave, I'd like the same courtesy please" she said before folding her arms.

Batman and J'onn shared a look before both of them turned back towards Abigail and closed their eyes.

(Batman's POV)

Batman closed his eyes and as soon as he did he felt a sudden shift, like his body had been moved suddenly.

"Ok, you can open them now" Abigail said casually, Batman did so and instantly noted their surroundings had changed, they were no longer in the hall, but a large room.

The room had a wide circular area with stone flooring that they were currently standing on, beyond that it stretched out even further.

Various tables and desks were littered around with papers and items of different shapes and sizes, Batman could see several pedestals with objects littered about, as well as large shelves lining the walls full of books that stretched to the ceiling, which itself seemed to be several stories high.

There were several corridors that seemed to lead off into separate directions, as well as passage ways and an above mezzanine level which looked down upon them, staircases and steps were also strewn about the room, enabling access to the higher levels.

The roof looked to be made of glass, though it was currently blackened and tinted, showing no clue to their location.

Batman turned to see Abigail step onto a spiral staircase situated on the edge of the stone circle that he was still standing within, and the staircase suddenly became animated, unwinding from its normal spiral and stretching out towards a seemingly random book shelf far to their left and higher up, Abigail walked along it calmly and deposited a book back into a missing space, before the staircase wound back to its position it had previously been in, and she walked down to join them.

"Welcome to my Sanctum Sanctorum, a nice little place If I do say so myself" Abigail said proudly.

"Little?" Batman said dryly, looking at how the already large room branched off in various directions. The room they were currently in could be confused for a library in and of itself.

"Oh come on, like Mount Justice is small, pfft" Abigail scoffed as she motioned for the group to follow as she moved over to a large round table with several chairs around it.

(Batman's POV End)

"Take a seat, I believe there's some things that need to come to light, concerning my previous experience with the City of Brass, and the book Daniel came in contact with" Abigail said, before glancing at Zatara.

"Or should I say, our experience. Isn't that right, Uncle" she said, causing Batman and J'onn to once again glance over at him.

"She's right" Zatara said with a sigh. "I hadn't planned on speaking of it, unless it was absolutely necessary. I may have had a lapse in judgement."

"No..." Abigail said, her eyes moving the floor momentarily. "You know it's not something I like bringing up either, I understand you not telling them. Though it would have come up eventually anyway, given that idiot's actions" she said frowning, referring to Daniel.

"What do you mean?" J'onn said speaking up, looking at the two with interest. "The two of you have dealt with the book before?"

"In a manner of speaking" Abigail said as she sat back in one of the chairs situated around the table. "It was many...many years ago; I was five years old at the time. A group had risen up, a bunch of low level upstarts magicians, hoping to use the book and the evil sealed in the city of brass, they may have not been much to worry about, had it not been for their leader. He was a figure cloaked in black robes and a mask which looked like a skull, he unified them and lead them to city."

"Despite the fact that the city only reveals itself once every century, that only pertains to regular people. Using sorcery and Magic there are ways of accessing the city outside of that window of opportunity, though it is not easy, and requires a lot of effort. The cloaked figure, who called himself Silas, was using the group for his own ends." Abigail explained as the two league members listened.

Zatara spoke up next, continuing where she left off.

"I had run into this group more than once, as did John, Abigail's father. John however learnt of what they were truly after, as well as the dangers that this 'Silas' represented if he got his hands on the Necronomicon. So a group of us, consisting of myself and John, along with his allies, Papa Midnite and Richie Simpson, Jason Blood, and Abigail's mother set out to stop them, we arrived at the city first, though after we did, we found Silas and his group arrived close behind, and had known of our plans." Zatara said as his expression steeled. "And unfortunately for us, they had a contingency plan to get the book"

"Contingency plan?" J'onn asked, listening intently to the two.

Abigail was the one who answered his question, her eyes closed as she did.

"They had me..." she said, her voice almost a whisper as she did.

"They had kidnapped me." Abigail continued all attention now on her as she spoke. "My mother had left me in the care of friends of hers, and my godmother. However unbeknownst to us, Silas had been tracking them, and after they had left, he came for me...I barely was able to hide my baby sister before he got his hands on me, and took me from that place" Abigail said slowly, before looking up at the two League Members.

"When they confronted my dad and the others in the city of brass, he held me captive, threatening to kill me if my mother didn't do as he said."

(Flashback)

Five year old Abigail was currently frozen in mid-air, her body being held up by black tendrils of energy that restrained her arms and legs, as well as surrounded her body in sharp spikes pointed at her vital organs, two particularly large spikes pressed against her throat as she let out a whimper.

Silas had a hand outstretched, the tendrils coming from the insides of his black cloak, as the six followers stood behind him, all wearing similar cloaks that hid their identities.

They stood on a stone balcony, looking down below at their adversaries.

"Did you really think I would come all this way, without bringing a little incentive?" Silas said, his voice coming out a darker gravely tone from behind the skull like mask that adorned his head.

John took a step forward, seething with anger as he did. "I swear if you hurt her I'll-" he began, only for Silas to speak up.

"Oh I won't hurt her...I'll kill her" he threatened, causing one of the spikes near her neck to extend slightly, pricking into Abigail's skin and making her let out a cry, causing John to halt right in his tracks.

"I'll drain her of every last drop of blood she has, and then leave her deflated carcass for the vultures to feast upon if you do not do what I want!" he growled out, before looking down at Abigail's mother.

She was dressed in a long white sleeveless dress that flowed down her body, and her long blonde hair hung freely, she was currently clutching the necronomicon to her chest and starring up at Abigail with widened eyes.

"I won't ask you again!" Silas growled out, before raising his hand once more in Abigail's direction.

"NO! Wait!" Abigail's mother screamed out, causing him to stop and turn to her, she slumped down, before bringing the book out in front of her body outstretched.

"I'll do it..." she said looking up at him with tear filled eyes."Just...don't hurt her" she pleaded before looking down at the book.

"Sindella think about this" Papa Midnite began, only for Sindella to reply.

"No! If he had your daughter, if he had Luna with him you wouldn't be saying that!" she said before closing her eyes and beginning a soft chant, opening them once more to reveal glowing white orbs as the book shook slightly before floating up several inches above her palms.

"Yes..." Silas whispered as he watched from above.

The book suddenly burst open, the pages flicking through fast as loud growls and horrific sounds began to fill the area.

John and Zatara looked to see dark shadowy figures began to crawl out of the ground, seemingly rising up from it, as well as monstrous creatures materialising from the walls.

Sindella, still chanting, saw a large flash of dark energy shoot up from the pages and into the sky, a large mass began to take shape, before the book dropped down to the ground, the process still going forward.

"Hehehehe yes!" Silas cheered before thrusting his hand outward and sending Abigail flying through the air, causing her to crash down below on a mound of sand. "I don't need her any more" he said evenly, before turning back to his followers. "And I don't need any of you either"

Before the six could realise what he meant, they were all impaled upon black tendrils of energy, each stabbing into their hearts, their blood began to flow and travel down the tendrils at a fast rate, seemingly absorbing directly into Silas, who let out a pleasured moan as the followers gasped and choked for breath before they each fell to the ground.

Meanwhile Sindella had turned towards Abigail and was rushing towards her, John and the others had begun to fight off the hoard of creatures and shadow figures that were still rising up and attacking them, all the while the mass in the sky began to take shape, a bipedal creature the size of a large building began to lower down to the ground, it's features were not yet fully defined, though it's growl filled the area like a horrific siren.

Before Sindella could reach Abigail however, the giant creature that had been summoned from the book suddenly landed in-between them, it's huge form stretching up into the air before it's head peered down towards her, it's arm swiping down and grabbing the blonde woman in its grip, squeezing her tightly.

Sindella let out a pained scream as her body was compressed within the fist, her eyes shot open however when suddenly she was impaled.

The giant creature's palm became covered in spikes that struck through her body like a pincushion, before its palm opened and dropped her from the height, sending her flying down and crashing into the sand near Abigail, her body sporting bloody wounds from the chest down.

The largest was a bleeding hole straight through her stomach.

During all the chaos going on around them, Silas began to descend down to the lower level, his eyes focused on the book.

(Flashback End)

Abigail's eyes were now teary, though none had fallen yet, the same could be said for Zatara who hadn't spoken at all during Abigail's recount.

"The shadow figures and monsters kept attacking, my dad and the others held them off and defeated a lot of them, but more seemed to keep coming. The magic that had held them prisoner in the city of brass had begun to weaken. The giant creature however had come from the book, and it wouldn't be contained inside the city for long, it had to be resealed back into the book itself." Abigail explained, her eyes staring down at the table as she spoke.

"So did you father and the others seal it back inside the book?" J'onn asked softly, seeing the pain that had repeatedly crossed over both her and Zatara's faces during the recount of the ordeal.

"No...Mum did" Abigail said after a moment, tears finally falling down her cheeks as she did.

"I had just begun to regain consciousness, and the giant creature turned its sights towards me, rather than my dad or the others, I seemed like the easiest first choice I guess. And it was about to snatch me up, when suddenly..."

(Flashback)

Abigail's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the giant creature as it loomed above her.

It gave another siren like shriek before raising its left hand in the air, preparing to bring it down on the young girl.

"NO!"

A voice echoed through the area, and for a moment all the fighting seemed to stop and the giant creature seemed frozen in place as Abigail looked over in the direction of the voice.

Sindella now stood once more, her bloodied form having stained the white dress she was wearing, the various wounds on her body now seemed much worse.

However her form was glowing white, the air around her rippled and blew back as she looked at the giant with white lit eyes.

"YOU WILL NOT HARM HER!"

John, Zatara and the others all froze as well, watching the sight before Sindella thrust her left hand out towards the book, causing it to fly through the air and to her.

Silas, seeing this growled out in anger and was about to send an attack towards Sindella, only to be thrown back through the air and through a stone wall below the balcony he had come down from.

Sindella turned towards John and the others, chanting once more as the book opened as it did before, the shadow beings and monsters all let out strangled cries as she did.

"Back into your prison where you belong!" Sindella growled out as the figures began to fade back into the ground, clawing in vain as they disappeared, the monsters as well were dragged back down, some were sucked back into the walls and took the appearance of the walls fresco images once more.

Even the beings that had been seemingly defeated returned back into the ground where they had come from, before Sindella turned her attention to the giant creature that had attacked her.

The book floated up above her and the pages faced the creature before it began to howl out, it's body began to be pulled back towards the book as its solid form began to shift back into a black mist.

Abigail watched on silently as the creature's form was sucked back inside the book like smoke in a vacuum, before the area was filled with a bright white light, causing everyone present to shield their eyes.

After several moments, the light faded, and Sindella had the book in her hands once more, shutting it with effort and chanted once more before the book floated up out of her hands and shot off into the air, flying across the ground before seemingly disappearing through it much like the monsters and shadow beings had.

And then silence.

Silence filled the area as those present seemed to still be processing what they had seen.

Sindella meanwhile was still standing, albeit shakily, her legs seemingly rooted in place as she swayed, before she looked down at her hands, blood was pouring down from her arms, as well as the fist sized hole in her chest and other wounds, before she let out a cough, blood spewing from her mouth before her body lurched over and fell to the ground.

This sprung everyone else into action as they all ran towards her, Zatara reaching her first and bringing her body into his lap.

"N-No! No No" he gasped out, cradling her in his arms. "S-Sindella!" he cried out, tears welling in his eyes.

She looked up at him lovingly, raising a hand to caress his face before her hand fell limp upon the ground as Giovanni's tears fell upon her lifeless form, the blood from her wounds seeping through into his clothes as he held onto her still.

"...Mummy..." Abigail's voice called out softly, having finally processed what was happening, her body moved as she ran over towards them.

Falling down at her side, Abigail's wide eyes began to brim with tears at the sight of her mother's bloody form, and the lack of movement.

"Mummy!" she exclaimed, her voice heightening in pitch as she reached out and shook the older woman's limp form tearfully.

"Wake up! Please wake up!" she screamed out as the adults all looked on at the heartbreaking sight.

(Flashback End)

Batman, J'onn and Zatara were all silent as Abigail sat there, her eyes trained on the table as she brought a hand up to wipe the moisture from them onto her sleeve.

Glancing at Zatara, Batman noted the same expression on his face before Abigail cleared her throat.

"Mum managed to seal the creatures back into the city, as well as return the summoned one back into the book, preventing Silas from using it's dark powers. However coupled with the severity of her wounds, the strain was too much..." Abigail said quietly before she looked up at Batman and J'onn.

"She died keeping that book from falling into the wrong hands, and to keep it's evil contained, and now thanks to that boy, it's a threat once more. His actions have-" she began only to stop as a buzzing came from her pocket, causing her to pause before standing up from the chair, and reaching into her pants pocket, pulling out her phone a moment later and checking it.

"Excuse me, I have to take this" she said before walking away from the table and towards the spiral staircase, walking up it as she answered the call.

"Hello Olivia" she began before disappearing from earshot onto the upper level.

J'onn turned to Zatara who stood up from the table and let out a sigh.

"Maybe, given what we have learned, it would be best if Daniel was not on the team. I cannot see things working well between them" J'onn said crossing his arms as he contemplated what to do.

"No..No, I don't think keeping him off the team will make any difference. Abigail is no doubt already planning to look into incident independently outside of League business, whether she likes it or not, Daniel is connected to it directly, and she would most likely have to deal with him, even if it is just as a means of tracking it down." Giovanni said before letting out a sigh and rubbing his eyes with his right hand.

"Let me talk to her some more. I may be able to convince her still to allow Daniel to join the team, or at the very least consider it." Giovanni said as J'onn nodded slowly.

Batman meanwhile had ventured off away from the table, finding interest in a long desk which had various papers and charts spread about, as well as a large board hanging above it with scribbled notes and long sections of text.

Looking at them with curiosity, from what he could decipher some of the text and writings seemed to be some form of magical algorithm and process, while looking across the board he could see maps and charts arranged out, though they matched none he was familiar with.

Glancing down at the desk he saw an open book which had a picture framed beside it, the picture was not large but one that would be placed on someone work desk or on a shelf at home.

Reaching down he picked it up and his eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the two figures in the picture.

One of the figures was Abigail, who was dressed in light tan coloured robes and a dark red tunic, with dark brown boots; she also had a cloak tucked under her right arm.

Two the left of her was a young girl, who Batman guessed to be around eleven years old. She had chalk white coloured skin, which clashed with the dark hair atop her head that went down to her jaw in length, and light blue eyes. The girl was dressed in brown pants and a sleeveless shirt with a belt around her midsection; she also wore matching brown bracer's around her forearms.

Abigail's left arm was on the girls shoulder, and both of them were smiling in the direction of the camera.

Both of them seemed happy.

Before Batman could further inspect the picture it was suddenly pulled from his hand and flew over across the room into Abigail's outstretched right hand, the other hand holding her phone as she disconnected the call after saying goodbye to the person on the other end.

She frowned slightly before placing the picture inside her coat, before speaking. "You know the saying about curiosity and cats, or in this case I guess it would be 'bats'" Abigail said before placing her phone back in her pocket.

"I'm sorry to cut our little meeting short, but I am a bit tired after the long day" Abigail said as she walked back over to the three League members. "If you could close your eyes again please" Abigail said to Batman and J'onn, who once again glanced at one another before doing so.

When they opened there eyes there were once again in Abigail's flat, before she proceeded to walk them back out to the front door.

They heard the shower going in the bathroom as they walked past, and Abigail knew it was Coraline after seeing her no longer in the lounge room, glancing down at the homework sheets and books to see that the blue haired girl had done a fair bit of her work, before escorting the League members to the front door.

Batman and J'onn nodded to Giovanni before they exited through the door. Giovanni however remained inside, Abigail waited by the open door with her back to him.

"Abigail, look I know everything that's happened with Daniel-"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore today, I already had to bring up Mum's death, I just want to unwind and not think about that idiotic kid for a while" she said speaking up, as if already having seen the conversation coming.

Giovanni was silent after that, not speaking for several moments before he replied. "Are you really not going to help him"

Abigail didn't answer him, merely stood there near the open door.

This prompted Zatara to speak up once more. "If your mother was here, what do you think she would do"

"Don't!" Abigail said spinning around and starring at him with narrowed eyes, her tone hardening.

Zatara spoke again however, unaffected by her tone. "You know what she would do." he said before continuing. "What about Arella? Hmm, what would she do if she were here? What would they both do Abigail?"

Abigail starred back at him, clenching her fists together as her eyes narrowed even further, it looked like she was ready to lash out at him, before her posture slumped down, her hands unclenched as she let out a breath, the strength seemingly gone from her form and being overtaken with exhaustion and fatigue.

"...They would help him..." Abigail said quietly, before bringing a hand up to rub her eyes, letting out a groan before looking at Giovanni once more, her expression was tired.

"Look, I'm not going to say yes. Not right now, just...just give me some time, I need to think, clear my head. Then I'll make a decision, but for the time being my stance isn't changing, he's not on the team."

Giovanni looked at her for a few seconds before nodding. "I cannot force you to change your mind, that is your choice alone. I just wanted you to think this over, give it time and let your mind clear."

Zatara then walked over and wrapped his arms around Abigail, giving her a hug that she returned.

After a few moments they separated and Abigail cleared her throat before speaking.

"Look, I'll come by tomorrow to check out some of the other files on recruits, I may have a few potential recruits of my own to look into" Abigail said evenly, causing Giovanni to nod before walking through the door.


America, Gotham

Several hours had passed and Batman was now seated in front of a large monitor in the batcave, though his attention was not on it. He leaned back in the chair he was seated in and clasped his hands together, thinking back to something that had caught his attention the moment he laid eyes on it.

The picture he had picked up earlier, with Abigail and the young girl in it, there was something off about it.

The Abigail in the picture looked older.

He was sure it was her, they looked identical in appearance, the only difference being the Abigail in the picture, he estimated to be in her thirties.

The picture Abigail looked to be a grown woman, not the younger one he had met.

His eyes narrowed as he thought it over, it's possible she had used a disguise of some kind, or magic to make herself look older.

But if that was so, why and for what purpose?

And who was the young girl who was in the picture with her?

These were among several questions that the day's events had raised in his mind about Abigail, and he felt it was only the tip of the iceberg.


There you go, chapter 8! I enjoyed writing this one, as well as a longer chapter for you all.

I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you'd like, feel free to leave a review down below.

Some more of Abigail's past has been revealed, though there are still many questions that are unanswered.

What happened to 'Silas'?

Who was the girl in the photo with Abigail?

Will Abigail relent and let Daniel on the team?

And who is Abigail's 'baby sister' that was mentioned?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the reviews, and to find out the answer to all those questions, you'll have to stick around for more :D

See you guys next chapter !