Mount Justice- June 15th- 2:47 A.M.-
"Recognized: Nightshade, B10" The security system in the cave announced when Nightshade fell out of the boom tube. The loud crash forced Beast Boy, Miss Martian, Zatanna, Wolf, and Superboy out of their rooms and into the training room where Nightshade was just getting up from the ground.
"What is going on?" Miss Martian asked as she finished helping Nightshade up as Wolf greeted her with his usual growl.
"Nightwing, Cypher...Call the others," she said, panting while hiding behind Miss Martian and Superboy. Zatanna started calling the rest of the team, not really understanding what Nightshade was talking about, but she looked tired and her suit had been torn in several places. Anyway, Nightshade wouldn't joke about something important.
"Seriously, what's going on?" Zatanna asked. She used magic to change everyone's clothes into their uniforms, including Nightshade's tattered one. She gave her a brand new uniform just in time for the boom tube to announce Nightwing. He emerged from the portal with the android mounted on his back, and the moment he saw the team, he started attacking them. Nightwing charged at Miss Martian, but she redirected him towards the wall. Before he could hit the wall, he repositioned himself and using his feet he bounced off towards Superboy.
"I don't want to hurt you!" Superboy told him blocking his hits. Nightwing pulled out his escrima sticks and when Superboy gave him the opening, he electrocuted him. While Miss Martian and Superboy dealt with Nightwing, Nightshade, Zatanna and Beast Boy were trying to reach Cypher, but the cable that came out of his hand helped him remain at a safe distance. Nightshade moved forward, but was tackled by Nightwing, he kicked her into the wall and started hitting her. Nightshade was barely dodging and blocking, but most hits were getting through. Nightshade kicked him away from her and pulled out a knife, she was going to tick it in his leg, but Wolf interfered when he pushed Nightwing away.
"What are you doing?" Nightshade asked.
"You're talking to a dog," Nightfall's voice ran once again in her head. "Oh, watch out," she said right before Nightshade felt a shock wave running through her body until it knocked her down to her feet.
"What if we just cut it?" Beast Boy asked, looking back at Nightshade. She had told them all about while Superboy and Miss Martian got busy with Nightwing, so now they were trying to figure out a way to free him from its control.
"If you cut it, your friend will die after all his neural functions stop," the robotic voice came out from Nightwing's lips. "Right now his consciousness and mine are merged. We are one," he continued.
"How did you stop him the first time?" Zatanna turned around to help her up, but Nightshade's answer was interrupted by a call from the rest of the team.
"We can't get in," Batgirl's voice stopped everyone.
"The cave has been placed under emergency shut down. The system has been overridden by this body," Cypher continued talking through Nightwing.
"What's going on?" This time it was Aqualad whose voice resounded through the cave. Nightshade turned to Beast Boy and told him to inform them of the situation, but midway through the briefing, all communications were dropped. Cypher had used Nightwing to hack into the communicators. Nightshade turned around to see Superboy and Wolf trying to hold him back, but she was distracted by the flying metal piece coming her way. She lifted her gaze to see the long green cable that was coming out of Miss Martian's back.
"Well, that rules out telepathic communication," said Nightshade, taking out one of her knives, but Superboy stopped her.
"Don't hurt them," He said.
"No, actually do it. Earlier when Superboy tackled Nightwing, Cypher flinched at the same time," Zatanna told them. Nightshade pulled the knife back out and threw it at Miss Martian. She stopped the knife mid-air, and by the time she looked up at the team, Beat Boy had pinned Nightwing down and Nightshade was right in front of her, her fist inches away from Miss Martian's face. She reacted too late and Nightshade punched her against the wall. With the hit, Cypher also stumbled back but regained composure.
"Man they are going to be so mad after this," said Beast Boy hitting Nightwing in the chest.
Nightshade was thrown against the wall by a piece of metal, as the girl slid down the wall Miss Martian closed in. Nightshade got up and charged at her, but she blocked every hit until Nightshade managed to land a kick that pushed her back. Beast Boy cut in between them and, turning into a dinosaur, used his tail to hit Miss Martian into the lounge room.
"Sorry Miss Martian," Nightshade said and quickly threw a knife at her and hit her arm. Cypher grabbed his arm in pain as Miss Martian let out a painful groan and turned her attention to Nightshade. With the knife still stuck in her arm, she used her powers to push her against the wall. Nightshade struggled as she felt her throat closing. Superboy tackled Miss Martian, forcing her to let go of Nightshade.
Zatanna cast a spell that kept Nightwing and Miss Martian from moving and kept them glued to the floor. "Why don't you fight us yourself?" Zatanna yelled stepping closer to Cypher.
"Why would I do that when I have them!" Cypher spoke through Miss Martian and gave the team a mental blast.
Miss Martian opened her eyes to an eerie scenery, it was a cemetery. Miss Martian made her way through the gravestones, not really sure where she was or what exactly was what she was looking for until she stumbled upon a mausoleum with the name 'Collins' written on the top part. She put a hand on the door, but before she could push it she heard footsteps coming from behind.
"It's not a pretty sight," Miss Martian turned around to see Nightshade, well at least she thought it was her at first, but she had dark red hair and since she wasn't wearing her mask, her red eyes were visible. The girl walked up to Miss Martian and stood next to her looking up at the family name, Miss Martian kept staring at her trying to figure out who she was, it was as if she knew her, but had forgotten everything. "Nightfall…..I'm Nightfall," she said, and after hearing the name, Miss Martian's memories came rushing back.
"Where am I? Why am I here?" asked Miss Martian watching Nightfall walk away, and just before she moved away from the mausoleum to follow Nightfall a loud thud was heard inside; as if someone was banging on the door.
"The mental blast Cypher used must have pushed you here," she answered looking at Miss Martian from the corner of her eye. Looking at her closely she looked slightly younger than Nightshade and her hair was up to her waist, not only that but she was dressed completely in black even her belt and gloves. Not the same as when she had seen her a couple of months ago. Nightfall stopped in front of the entrance to the cemetery and turned around to face Miss Martian, "I thought I told you before but you are not welcome here," she said and walked back inside, it was as if she couldn't leave.
Miss Martian turned to look at what was outside of the cemetery, it was a city that looked like a mix between Gotham, New York, and Metropolis. Nightshade's mind gave her an odd feeling, especially since the place she had gotten to was the cemetery. "What do I do now? How did you stop Cypher the first time," she asked looking at Nightfall.
"If you really have to know, we didn't. It was inactive when we stole it from Luthor. So you're really on your own for this one," she told her and walked deeper into the cemetery. Miss Martian followed her and they found themselves back at the mausoleum. The banging on the door continued, but all Nightfall did was stand in front of it, the door seemed like it was about to burst open and yet she didn't seem to care.
"I thought you said it wasn't a pretty sight," Miss Martian reminded her.
"It's not, but you need to wake up," she said and just when the door burst open Miss Martian found herself back in the real world. When she came to, Miss Martian pulled the cable from her back. It hurt so much she let out a loud, painful scream as it ripped away from her skin.
"Noo!" yelled Cypher through Nightwing and as he got distracted Beast Boy as a gorilla and Wolf tackled him to the ground. Superboy and Zatanna were still on the ground unconscious, along with Nightwing and Nightshade. Miss Martian got ready to pierce a hole through Cypher's chest, but the boom tube opened. The android unplugged himself from Nightwing and in a fluid motion, threw Beast Boy at Miss Martian and then threw himself into the portal.
Miss Martian lowered Beat Boy to the ground and rushed over to Nightwing, she checked his vitals and dug into his mind to see that everything was okay. After confirming it, all she could do was stay with the team until they all woke up. Miss Martian's eyes landed on Nightshade, she still couldn't understand how the dynamic between Nightshade and Nightfall worked and why would her subconscious lead her to her family grave, but more importantly, why did Nightfall feel different in there than she did when she was using Jade's body?
The first one to wake up was Zatanna, followed by Superboy. The two of them started working on how to open the cave back up. They were communicating with Kid Flash and Batgirl through telepathy and following their instructions. Once they were finally able to unlock the whole cave, the rest of the team rushed into the lounge room where Nightshade and Nightwing were still unconscious on the couch. They examined them, but they seemed to be fine, except for a few scratches and cuts on Nightwing's body.
While Batgirl was checking Nightshade, she opened her eyes startled and fell off the couch. Batgirl and Aqualad helped her up while she looked around the room. "Where is it? Where is Cypher?" she asked over and over again. A panicked expression covered her face.
"It left. It got away. Nightshade, calm down," Batgirl told her, whispering so that she would just sit back down on the couch.
"It couldn't have. If it did we are fucking screwed!" she said. Slumping down on the couch.
"What are you talking about?" Aqualad asked. Nightshade explained her theory of what the Light was planning, it made sense for the team and after piecing it all together, they agreed with her. "We need to alert the League," Aqualad moved away from the Lounge along with Rocket and Nightshade. While they talked with Batman, Nightwing started to wake up, he sat up slowly on the couch with Batgirl's help.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"What happened?" he asked looking around the room.
"You were under Cypher's control the longest. It ran away, Nightshade and Aqualad are letting The League know," Kid Flash told him, handing him a glass of water. Nightwing chugged it down and finished sitting up on the couch, his memories were hazy, but all he could come up with was being in Nightshade's deposit and then waking up on the couch. Although he could remember feeling a stong murder intent at some point, Cypher must have spilled that over into his consciousness.
Nightwing got up from the couch, he walked over to see Nightshade and Aqualad hanging up the call with The League. He walked over to Nightshade, they locked eyes for a second and it seemed as if Nightshade was going to say something but then Batgirl walked over to him.
"What are you doing? You shouldn't be up and walking so soon," she said and gently pulled him back. Nightwing looked back to see that Nightshade had been pulled aside by Zatanna and Artemis and had her back turned towards him.
Watch Tower - June 27th- 4:16 P.M.-
"We evaluated the circumstances that have been recently going on that can be traced back to The Light's plan," Batman opened up the meeting with the whole Justice League and the Team present. "The Green Lanterns have reported unusual activity coming from the Siniestro Corps, they seemed to have been recently involved in a deal with The Light. Additionally, they seem to be setting up strategic camps all around the globe," he continued. "They are getting ready, and they are getting ready for something big," he finished.
"Which is why we are not going to be left behind. A recruiting initiative has been put in place. We are adding as many heroes as possible to be ready for whatever they may have planned," Wonder Woman started explaining who the new members of the League and the team will be, three new Atlanteans will be coming on board along with two familiar faces.
The meeting lasted three hours, each team leader giving a detailed report of what was going on in each front. Once it was over, Nightshade rushed over to Lance and Skye who greeted her with open arms. While the trio caught up, the team welcomed Tula, Garth, and La'gaan.
"It has been a while, my friends," Aqualad was the first one to greet them. After everyone settled down, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman stood in the middle of the room, getting everyone's attention.
"We understand your feelings, but we are at the brink of war with The Light. We ask that you be alert all the time and to take care of yourselves. From today on, we'll be doing daily check-ins with every member. Meeting adjourned," Superman called and people started leaving the Watch Tower.
Nightshade's eyes looked for Nightwing, she found him walking away with Kid Flash. "Jade, we're heading home, you coming?" Lance asked.
"Go ahead, I have something I want to do first," she said, going after Nightwing and Kid Flash. "Hey! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Nightshade asked, looking at Nightwing. Kid Flash went ahead into the boom tube and the two of them moved to the hall. Ever since the Cypher incident, neither one of them had had the chance to talk, so it was understandable that things were a bit awkward.
"What is it?" he asked with a harsh tone. Seeing Nightshade and Lance together again had not been pleasing at all, and the way she had rushed towards him as soon as she could just made it worse.
"Okay, you seem irritated. I just wanted to check up on you. I've been worried - " she told him, genuine concern on her face.
"Are you worried that I'll tell the team? Or just that I'll tell Lance?" He asked, her face suddenly changed into a serious expression that followed her change in tone.
"No. I am worried about you, I don't care if you tell people. Why would you say that?" she asked.
"Didn't we agree that it never happened?" he asked her back.
"How about we have dinner and talk things over?" she asked, letting out a long sigh. Nightwing quietly agreed and the two of them left together.