Chapter 21: It Can't Be
I'm doing a sequel. May not be as exciting as this but who knows.
Nightwing opens the white lens of his mask to see Ki standing above him. He wants to punch him, but his hands are restrained as well as his feet. Then he notices that he's in a probe filled with a strange clear liquid. The lid of the probe slowly opens and the liquid disappears.
"How dare you," Ki hisses as Nightwing's restraints release.
"How dare I what?"
Ki grabs him by the collar of what looks like a hospital gown. "Ruin everything! You and Shadow."
Nightwing's eyes widen when he hears Shadow's name.
"Where is she?" he said with a cold voice.
Ki turns his head and Nightwing sees the other probes, 11 of them to be exact. The lids open and everybody wakes up.
"What's going on?" asked Mac as he tries to escape his bonds.
"Where are we?" asked Saill.
"Saill!" Everybody yelled.
"What?"
"You're supposed to be dead," said Kale. "You, Gil, and Sky."
"Plus Jen and Scar," added Nightwing.
"I remember my death, then darkness," said Gil.
"What's going on?" Shadow asked.
Nightwing sighs in relief that she's alright.
"Players, this is the Death Games. Since the day you board this ship, you were all put in these pods."
"Where you made us a world of the Death Games," Nightwing said.
"Correct, we also control what occurs in the Death Games."
"Like death," said Kindle.
"Yes and emotions."
"What do you mean you control our emotions?" growled Shadow.
A smile grew on his face, "The feelings you and Nightwing shared for each other aren't real."
"What?!" Nightwing and Shadow growled.
"Your feelings, or what you call love, aren't real. We made you two believe it was real."
"It can't be," Shadow gasped in fear.
"It's not true," said Nightwing.
"The truth hurts," said Ki.
"How come we died in the 'games' and we're alive here?" asked Gil.
"How do you think we have all these people like us?"
"You turn them into one of you," Jen said.
"Yes, the losers of the Death Games have their identities erased."
"Including their appearance," hissed Nightwing. In his head the Riddler is a saint compared to Ki.
"Yes, and one day we will take over the entire galaxy. So everybody will be just like us."
"What's that?" growled Buzz.
"Death Walkers."
Shadow gasped in fear, "No, it can't be."
"What?" asked Nightwing, seeing the fear in her masked eyes.
"The Death Walkers just don't change who you are, they eat our souls."
"What?" everybody yells and gasps.
"Shadow is correct, it's a slow process but it's worth the wait."
"You monster!" yelled Nightwing.
"How could you?" gasps Zals.
"We need to eat," said Ki as his grin grew larger. "Now lights out."
Nightwing feels a sharp sting in his arm, he couldn't help but fall into the darkness.
Watchtower
"What the hell happened!" yelled Red Hood.
"Nightwing was just fighting there, now he's gone," said Robin in a shaky voice.
"I hope he's ok," said Miss Martian on the verge of tears.
"He's strong," said Superboy as he holds her and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
"Conner is right," said Superman. "We all know Nightwing, he's a smart kid."
"Yeah and he's a Bat," said Kid Flash.
Then M'gann ran out of the room.
"Is she ok?" asked Artemis.
"Yeah, she just has morning sickness," said Superboy. Everybody's eyes widen except for Batman and Red Hood. "What?"
"She's pregnant?" asked Zatanna.
"Yeah."
"How long have you know this my friend?" asked Aqualad.
"A few weeks."
"Thanks for telling us," said Blue Beetle.
"We didn't want to say anything with Nightwing being in the Death Games."
"He has a point," said Wonder Girl.
"Well congrats dude," said Kid Flash.
M'gann comes back and Superboy carries her to the couch.
"I wish Nightwing was here," she said in her sweet voice.
"We all do," said Batman.
"Yeah, and his new girlfriend," said Red Arrow. "I got to hand it to him, she's a hottie."
Death Games
Nightwing opens his eyes and he's sitting in a dark closet. He quickly gets up and tries to get out but comes up with nothing. He put his hands through his hair. Nightwing couldn't stop thinking about what Ki said.
'It can't be true. Ki can't control our emotions. I mean we hug and kiss, I can still feel her lips touching mine. Ki is wrong. But what if Shadow thinks it's the truth? What if she never love me? No, it can't be. I know she loves me. I could see it in her eyes. Her sweet, innocent, violet eyes.'
Than the room begins to move, that's when Nightwing knew he was in an elevator. But where's this leading him? The elevator opens to reveal an area, he steps out and stands in the center.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! One of our last players! Nightwing!"
Nightwing sees the Death Walkers clapping… then he sees the others. They're wearing black robes, but they're handcuffed together. He only counts 10, but there should be 11.
"Shadow!"
He looks at the other side and sees Shadow enter. Their masked eyes meet; he couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"Nightwing, Shadow. The last players, you are here to fight. The last one standing is the winner of the Death Games. Weapons are welcome. Also, this is a fight to the death."
They flinch at the last words and stare at each other with wide eyes. Shadow takes out her knife and Nightwing takes out his eskrima sticks. They both got into a fighting stance and continued to stare.
'Why did it have to be him?' Shadow thought and a tear fell down her cheek. 'I can't fight him! I can't kill him!'
'Why did it have to end up like this? I can't hurt her. Killing is out of the question. Why Shadow? Why did it have to be us?'
"Begin!"
They both thought what they desperately wanted to say out loud, "I love you."