Chapter 11: A Charm
Samantha sat at the warehouse with absolutely nothing to do. Lagoon Boy had been transported to a hospital to be treated for his leg. Nightwing had gone along to see him and get a story- he had even taken Connor with him. She wasn't allowed to go, however. Too many people would recognize her. That's right. She was supposed to be "missing" still. She sighed. Usually Connor or M'gann kept her company if Nightwing wasn't around, but for once, everyone was gone. She sighed heavily and hoped that M'gann was alright. According to Lagoon Boy as they had taken him from the scene, she had been kidnapped by the villains named Deathstroke and Tigress. They didn't stand a chance.
The girl was beginning to feel caged. She couldn't go out in fear of discovery, and everyone was on some type of mission at the moment. When she headed for her bed to sleep and kill some time until Nightwing got back, the Zeta-Tube activated. "Recognized, Zatanna: A03." Samantha looked over to see a tall girl with flowing black hair and beautiful blue eyes exit the tube. "Zatanna!" Samantha said and greeted her as if she had met her before. Secretly, Zatanna was her favorite Justice League member- but she would never tell Impulse that.
The sorceress smiled at her. "Hello Samantha. It's very nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much," Zatanna said softly and shook her hand. "I must say- your final test was very impressive." Samantha's stomach lurched. "The Justice League watched it too?" "Yes. We're very interested in your development." Samantha beamed. "Thank you. What brings you here today, Zatanna?"
"I thought you'd never ask," she said and gestured towards the couch. "Have a seat." Zatanna sat down and Samantha followed suit. "So, Nightwing tells me you've been feeling a little- caged in. I hope you understand this is for your own protection. If the Reach is searching for you, we must not expose your identity." Sam looked down. "I understand your intentions are to keep me safe," she said sullenly and looked down. What Zatanna said next made her snap her head up in interest. "However, I have a solution."
Zatanna reached into her pocked and pulled out a necklace. It was made of a black ribbon that had a connector at the ends. The centerpiece, however, was a brilliant red stone that dangled below as a pendant. "Zatanna! It's beautiful…but what is it?"
"This is a glamour charm, Samantha. When you wear this charm, your identity will be masked to all except certain people. I've already charmed it to exclude yourself, only when you're in a mirror, and the rest of the team from seeing the illusion." Samantha touched the red jewel gingerly. "Will this mean I'll be able to go out now?" Zatanna smiled. "Yes. Nightwing even said something about an undercover mission he wanted to take you out on. With this, you'll finally be able to." Zatanna reached up and tied the necklace around Samantha's neck. "It looks very beautiful on you." Sam smiled in return, yet gasped when she looked down at the flowing locks of hair it appeared that she had. The charm had turned her hair from her natural slight red brown into a brilliant orange red. "Woah! This is unreal," Samantha said as she felt one of the locks. It looked real, felt real- but when she glanced into a nearby mirror, it appeared that nothing had changed.
"You'll be safe now, Samantha," Zatanna said before stopping herself. "What am I doing, calling you Samantha. Last I heard, your name was Cardinal?" Zatanna smiled when she saw the look of pure joy on Sam's face. "I'm not used to it yet, the name I mean. But thank you for the charm. I've been dying to go out-"
"Recognized, Nightwing: B01."
There was a flash of light at the side of the room and Nightwing entered. "Looks like you two are getting along well," he said after seeing the look on Cardinal and Zatanna's face. Cardinal's fingers smoothed over the stone as it hung coolly against her chest.
Nightwing began to speak. "I've just had word with Blue Beetle. He's on a mission to recover a group of teens who are in a very similar situation as you, Cardinal; abducted teens who have developed abnormal abilities." Cardinal sighed. "So you want me to go along with him?" Nightwing shook his head. "No, I have another mission in mind. Just you and me." At this, Zatanna took her leave. Before she entered the Zeta-Tube, she turned, gave Nightwing a wink, and said, "You two don't get into too much trouble." Samantha blushed a deep red.
Once she was gone, Nightwing pulled up a large holographic screen, showing the face of Lex Luthor. "In case you don't recognize him, this is Lex Luthor- CEO of Luthor Corp. He also doesn't have the best track record when it comes to being good." At this, the holo-screen changed to show a giant mansion. "He's holding a gala tomorrow night at one of his many homes. Among the people on the guest list are Ra's Al Ghoul and Queen Bee. Something is definitely going on there- and we're going to find out. With your glamour charm, The Light, who are currently in search of you as well, won't even notice you."
Cardinal shook her head. "You expect us to just wander in and see what he's talking about?" Nightwing raised a hand. "Hey, I was getting to that. Be patient," he said through a smile. "I've managed to get ahold of the guest list, and I've even been intercepting letters from guests who cannot attend. Luckily, I got a match. A girl around your age named Rose Wilson is unable to attend, and I had Zatanna model her appearance into your glamour charm. Fortunately, she isn't well known and you wearing her appearance elsewhere won't cause any trouble." Cardinal nodded. "And what about you?" The look on Nightwing's face said it all. "Well, I haven't exactly gotten to that yet. She wasn't planning on coming with a partner. Maybe you can convince them to let me in too. If not, I could always sneak in."
"Excuse me? Why not just sneak in and avoid the conflict?" Cardinal asked quickly. "Charisma is another skill you need when doing undercover missions. We'll see how it goes; besides, we need an up close look at Luthor, and there isn't any air ducts in the room we could hide out in. I'm sure Luthor did that for a reason." Nightwing replied. "Fine. Just to let you know, I almost failed my college speech course…"
The pair decided to order Chinese delivery for dinner. After they had settled down and began to eat, Cardinal began asking about how La'gann's visit went. "What exactly, happened?" she asked quietly. Nightwing put his chopsticks down. "M'gann was abducted by a villain lord named Black Manta- and I think I know why. His son, Kaldur, used to be on our side. He used to lead our team…but he turned on us. On our last encounter with him, M'gann…she released a lot of anger at him. His mind was broken- shattered- beyond the point of normal therapeutic repair. It is to my understanding that Manta wants her to repair him." He took another bite.
"And we're just sitting her eating Chinese food and planning on going to a party? This doesn't sound right, Nightwing. Shouldn't we be planning a team to rescue her? What if they kill her?" A tinge of venom was in her voice; enough to make Nightwing look up. "Things are more complicated than you can see right now, Sam. You'll find out in time. She'll be alright." He looked down again as he began to think. "With Artemis there…I hope she'll be alright…" It had been internally bugging him that Deathstroke was alongside Artemis with her kidnapping. Manta was not making things easy.
"What if she doesn't, Nightwing? What if something goes wrong?" There was a feeling in her stomach that made her not want to eat anymore. It felt like he was hiding something. He let out a heavy sigh. "What I'm about to tell you could get me in a lot of trouble, but I trust you to keep it to yourself. We have a double agent in the field, and M'gann will be fine. That's all you need to know." With that, Nightwing stood up. "Zatanna said she left something for you on your bed- you'd better check it out before tomorrow. Make sure it fits." He left the area as Samantha wondered… "Fits?"
Curious, the teen stood up and made her way over to her bed where she found a long enclosed clothes sleeve- where one would store a dress. Her heart raced as she unzipped the sleeve to reveal a beautiful ruby red dress that appeared to go to her knees- and was strapless. It was a very sexy dress, and Samantha shivered at the fact that she wasn't used to wearing flirty dresses like this. Pinned to the dress was a handwritten note.
"Knock those boys down. You have the charm to do it. –Z"