Chapter 9
The next morning was the same as usual, Ace decided however to wake up the sleeping teens so they could get to work on their mission. When he peeked into Areina's room first, she was already up and getting ready to leave.
"Hey Ace, guess I beat you to it. How about we go scare the crud out of Terry?" Areina said as she turned around and pet the family dog.
Ace then let out a quiet bark, and the two headed to the guess bedroom. Areina quietly opened the door and saw her friend still sleeping. She motioned to Ace and even though the girl was not a telepath, the dog knew exactly what she had in mind. The German Shepard/Boxer then slowly stalked into the room, and got right by the bed before barking as loud as he could. This caused Terry to shoot up out of a nice sleep and looked for the sound. When he saw Ace he just frowned, but then he heard laughter coming from the door to his room.
"Very funny, Areina, I see he got you up too." Terry said as he turned to face his friend without leaving his sitting position from a moment ago.
"I was actually up before Ace came in; and I thought it might be good to have a laugh this morning." Areina said with laughter still in her voice.
"I'll be downstairs in a bit." Terry said, and with that Areina just smiled, called Ace to her, and they headed out to let Terry get up.
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On the other side of town, Drow was trying to figure out some way to get his revenge, but he didn't want to go after Batman directly again, he needed some bait. He had thought about looking through Bruce's past to see if there was anything he could use to get the old man. He found that Bruce had taken in several kids in the old days. Upon looking further into it, he found the perfect person, and he had to head to Blüdhaven.
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Skies over Dakota, Three Hours Later
They had taken the Batmobile to get to Dakota, but decided to land on the outskirts of the city so as not to draw too much attention. When they got out, Red Bird had suggested they go into town in their civilian IDs. They entered the city, and Areina had pulled out her phone after it beeped.
"Okay, Bruce sent me Gale Dent's address and it looks like it's on the other side of town." Areina said as she found the email on her phone.
"Great, we should have flown over there in the first place." Terry said, still rather tired and sore.
"Why don't we just take the subway?" Areina stated as she pointed toward the nearby subway stairs.
Terry couldn't help but face palm himself when he saw the stairs, so they headed that way. When they got to the station, Areina located the line map and found the right train, so all they had to do was wait.
"Hey, you must be new, because people in Dakota know that this is my turf." A voice said, and with that Areina and Terry turned around in the direction of the voice. A girl around 18 years old came out of the shadows and was walking close to them.
"We don't want any trouble; we're just here to catch the subway." Terry said, and suddenly as he started to walk forward, a fireball came his way. He looked at Areina, but all she did was softly shake her head.
"I'm telling you for the last time; get out of here before I burn you where you stand." The girl said, and with that, she activated a fireball.
"I think I'll take that challenge." Areina said as she walked toward the teen.
Terry reached out and grabbed her arm, but all she did was turn and give him a smile. When Areina got up to the girl, all she did was touch her chest, and suddenly the girl dropped, unconscious.
"What the heck just happened?" Terry stated with a surprised look on his face.
"I was able to lower her body temperature enough to make her pass out." Areina stated with a smirk.
"I didn't know you could do that." Terry remarked.
"It was worth a shot." Areina said; then turned her attention back to the train tracks, which just then was occupied by a train.
The two got on the train and it took off, heading for the station closest to 114 Hamlin Street. They arrived at their stop, and found that they were just two streets away. They started walking and soon found themselves at the address and went up to the door. Areina knocked on it and a voice was heard saying 'who is it'.
"My name is Areina Grayson; I came from Gotham to talk to you about your son, Carter." Areina said into the door, and three seconds later it was opened, revealing a woman in her late fifties with lightening purple hair and pale blue eyes.
"What's wrong with Carter?" She asked, some worry in her voice.
"Is it alright if we come in, Mrs. Dent; this is better discussed inside." Terry stated.
"Please, I'll get some refreshments." Gale said as she motioned for them to come in.
The two teens were escorted to the sitting room in the Dakota City brownstone. Their host then left to get some drinks. When she returned, she placed a pitcher of tea and three glasses of ice on the coffee table and started to pour the drinks.
"Why would two teens from Gotham come all this way to talk to me about my son?" Gale asked as she handed Terry and Areina their glasses.
"I don't know if the news made it here to Dakota, but I'm the girl from Gotham that was kidnapped a couple of months ago." Areina said, hoping the news had made it to Gale's city.
"I did hear about that, I thought your name sounded familiar, I'm so sorry to hear about that, but I still don't understand." Gale said.
"What Areina is trying to say is that while she was being held captive, she learned that her captor was Two-Face's grandson, and after talking to the police a few days later, we learned that Harvey only had one grandson, and that was Carter." Terry said, hoping he could help Gale to understand what Areina was trying to say.
Gale Dent looked disappointed, but not surprised. "I guess he took those old stories his father told to heart, but I never thought he go as far as that. Miss Grayson, I'm so sorry that this happened to you."
"There was one other thing, Carter seemed to have a meta ability, he could create a darkness from out of nowhere. It was unusual, and we thought you'd have an answer to that." Areina said, hoping this would get her to willingly mention that she use to possess that power.
"Oh dear, I was hoping that this wouldn't happen; you see, when the Big Bang hit Dakota about forty years ago, I was one of the hundreds of Bang Babies. I could create something called Dark Matter, and no matter what, no light could get in, and it was impossible to see through." Gale said, seeming ashamed of the information.
"I understood that there was a vaccine made within about two years, it should have neutralized any powers." Terry stated, thinking back to his studies.
"It was, and I was cured, but I guess the gas left the change in my DNA, and when I had Carter, it transferred to him. Miss Grayson, I am so sorry for what happened, I just wish Carter would call me, but since he got that job in Gotham, he's been so busy working for the D.A." Gale said, on the verge of tears.
"Thank you for your concern, but I just thought we should talk to you, and let you know what was happening with him." Areina said, hoping to ease the mother's worry.
"I'm glad you came to talk to me. If you don't mind, I think I need to talk to Taylor about this." Gale said, and getting the hint, Terry and Areina got up to leave, but not before thanking Gale for taking the time to listen.
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Blüdhaven, Four Hours Later
Drow had arrived in Blüdhaven hours earlier, just getting a feel for the city before going after his prize. Once he felt he was secure in the knowledge he gained, he headed for 324 Wester Ave to locate his target. It didn't take long for him to arrive; then he headed into the apartment building and went looking for 8D.
"How can a former ward to Bruce Wayne want to live here?" Drow said to himself as he took in his surroundings before getting to the eighth floor, and realizing it was the top one. He located the apartment and kicked in the door.
There were no lights on, and the place was empty. Upon looking around, the villain was curious as to why the person he was after would live in a large loft when he was the only person living there. Drow turned on the light and was shocked by what he saw; training equipment, weapons, and others similar items. As he was starting to piece everything together, the Gotham villain heard a noise, and hid behind a wall of dark matter to hide himself.
Suddenly, a hidden door opened in the ceiling of the room, and a figure dropped down. With the lights still on, the figure was revealed to be Nightwing, Blüdhaven's protector. Nightwing reached up to remove his mask, and Drow saw something shocking. The grandson to Two-Face discovered that his target, Dick Grayson, was in fact Nightwing.
"So, now I know where young Areina learned some of her martial arts. Another thing is that if you were the original Robin, then your guardian was Batman." Drow's voice said through the darkness.
Dick turned around shocked that someone was able to discover his secret, but knew that he had to take out this intruder. Before the acrobat could react, a dark shadow disappeared revealing the intruder.
"Dent, so you wanted to try and use me against Batman, well it won't work." Dick said as he got into a fighting stance.
"I think it will, as your niece and her friend have learn, you can't escape from Drow." The villain said as he went to attack.
"If you forgot, Areina did escape you, but then again, villains never do learn from their mistakes." Dick said as he blocked a kick.
"Well now that I know their secrets, I will be able to attack behind the scenes." Drow remarked, and with that, he let his dark matter loose, which surrounded the hero, and it stayed there for a good ten minutes.
When the dark matter dissipated, Dick was laying on the floor unconscious. Drow walked over and looked at his victim, and smiled before dragging him out of the room.
Drow has figured out Bruce, Terry, and Areina's secrets; but now he also has Nightwing in his clutches, what will happen next, well you just have to wait and see.