Coco: Hey, guys, I know it's been a while. Like I kind of went MIA on all my stories. It's just the holidays aren't really for me. Work stresses me out and big family gatherings really wear me out, so I haven't felt much like writing. That and this was my first Thanksgiving and my first Christmas without someone special to me.
2020 has been a rough year with lots of ups and downs. I graduated from school with honors and two months early in February. Started a new job and things were looking up, but then the Corona Virus started and I was laid off from my new job and right back in my old one that only seems to get worse by the day. I've lost more people in my family this year than any years previous, and the one I'm missing the most is still weighing heavily down on me. So, I was just really down in the dumps and didn't feel like writing or doing anything really.
So, I'm sorry for the wait. I've gotten some writing done recently though and actually have two more separate story updates to post today, which I hope you'll enjoy. But enough of that depressing stuff. We're here to have fun and enjoy some reading together, right? So, let's get to it.
Trance stood tense in front of her older sister with a frown deepening on her face.
"Last I remember, you and father weren't even on speaking terms." Trance said. "Now you're running small time missions for him? What changed, sister?"
Trance didn't really have time for small talk, but she hoped stalling Nyssa would help. She was on another level than Hook and Black Spider. The others definitely wouldn't be able to handle Nyssa if she went after the target directly.
"When you've lived as long as we have, you learn not to hold grudges for too long and to forgive and forget." Nyssa said. "Besides, no matter how bad the disagreements, we have to remember we're family, isn't that right?"
Trance's brow quirked as she found Nyssa's words hard to believe. Nyssa and Ra's have always been on the opposite ends of anything and everything. Nyssa being the most rebellious of Ra's al Ghul's four living children. Even more so than Trance who took up the mantle as hero.
"Yes, we're family." Trance agreed. "No matter what, but even so that's never made you willingly do anything for our father. So, why are you really doing all this? What's in it for you?"
Despite being called out on her small lie, Nyssa only chuckled as she placed her hand on her hip.
"Let's say there's someone important in my life that I need to be safe at all costs." Nyssa said. "So, I made a deal with the Demon in exchange for their safety. And in doing so, I hope to bring them to the Light. As long as it's everything Father is promising it is."
Trance tilted her head wondering who would be that important to Nyssa that she'd ask their father of all people for help. Though before Trance could inquire as to who Nyssa was speaking of, Hook appeared and he was carrying Aqualad. Trance frowned since she had hoped he would be safe. However, it seemed as if she didn't hide him well enough.
"Got fish boy, Mistress Nyssa." Hook said with a smirk. "Want me to put him with the other two?"
Trance held back a sigh. It would seem all of the boys have been caught, which meant the League's target was right in the Shadows' clutches. This is why she hadn't wanted to bring so many extras in.
"Yes, take him to where Black Spider is holding the Boy Wonder and Kid Flash." Nyssa ordered. "Then have them terminate the target immediately. We can't be wasting time playing with these children."
She said this with a smirk. A smirk that only widened when she saw the slightest tension forming in her sister's shoulders.
"Right," Hook said. "And what do you want us to do with the kiddies once we're done with the CEO?"
"Leave them be." Nyssa replied. "They are not on our list. Therefore, killing them would gain us nothing. They could be useful in the future, after all."
Hook nodded then walked right by Trance who knew trying to go after him would do no good. Not with Nyssa in her way. Meaning if she wanted by, she'd have to take down her older sister first. Once Hook was gone, the two sisters turned towards each other once more. Nyssa drew her bow from her back along with an arrow, which she notched.
"So, tell me, Nataša al Ghul." Nyssa began while using Trance's birthname. "You still want to try and save that woman and be the hero? Or are you ready to call it quits? It's obvious that you've been bested. I'm sure Father will be disappointed to hear about your failure."
Trance's reply to her sister's inquiry was to slip into a sword stance with said weapon held out in front of her. Obviously, the younger woman was not yet ready to give up.
"As long as Selena Gonzalez breaths, the game is yet to be over." Trance said.
Nyssa grinned at her sister's words before in an instant she fired her arrow. Trance cut in down only to realize it had a small detonation within it that went off. A screen of smoke entered the air causing Trance to lose sight of Nyssa and everything else around her. Despite things falling even more out of her favor. Trance remained calm. She took a breath through her nose—ignoring the sting the smoke caused her nostrils as it was taken in—and closed her eyes.
She concentrated on her hearing and when she heard another arrow let loose, she ducked to the right. It whizzed right by her ear, but she couldn't dwell long on how close it had been as she heard another arrow being sent her way. She ducked left this time while also moving forward. She continued this bobbing and weaving forward until she began to hear her sister's breathing as light as it was. Realizing she was close, Trance slashed forward with her sword.
Her blade clashed with the steel bow of Nyssa's as her older sister braced for the swing. Trance's eyes opened and while there was still smoke, she could see Nyssa enough to where she could fight her. And now that she found her target, Trance didn't slow as she shoved Nyssa back slightly so to give herself room to swing her blade again. Again, Nyssa blocked and soon the two sisters fell into a deadly dance as they began swapping blows. Trance would try with her sword to land a cutting blow on Nyssa, but Nyssa would counter by either dodging or blocking before releasing an arrow to try and tag Trance.
Trance would cut down the arrows while careful on which ones she touched as she didn't want another bomb exploding. They moved down a few levels during their fight with neither of them seeing to gain the upper hand. Though a loud noise distracted Trance long enough for Nyssa to hit her with a low charge arrow. Trance went flying backwards from the explosion and through a door. She managed to land on her feet and as she took in her surroundings, she saw the target still alive and the boys…losing to Black Spider and Hook.
"What are you fools doing?!" She and Nyssa, who entered the room as well and was displeased to see Selena still breathing, demanded in unison.
Everyone froze at the sound of the two women's voices before looking towards said angered women.
"Uh-oh, Mistress Nyssa is mad." Black Spider said as he scratched the back of his head. "And so is Trancey. Talk about double trouble."
Robin was shocked to see Nyssa at all as he looked to Trance wondering if she knew Nyssa was working with Ra's again.
"Why is she still alive?" Nyssa asked gesturing towards Selena who flinched away from the lady assassin. "I will not return a failure to Father just because you two idiots can't handle a few kids."
Kid Flash, who moved in front of Selena, gaped in surprise as he pointed at Nyssa.
"Wait, you're Nyssa al Ghul?!" He asked. "Like the Nyssa al Ghul?!"
He's heard stories about Ra's children. They were quite famous like their father and like Talia, Nyssa seemed to have a thing for the hero type and for men she can't have because from what Kid has heard she and Oliver Queen had a thing some time back. Of course, he heard all this from Barry. His uncle was quite the gossip.
"Kid Flash, focus." Aqualad called Kid's attention. "Now, grab the girl and go! Robin, Trance, and I will handle these three. We will meet one floor below."
"But—!" Kid Flash tried to protest.
"Go!" Robin cut off. "We'll meet you down there!"
Trance didn't give Kid another chance to argue as she practically shoved Selena into his arms.
"The mission is to save her." Trance said. "So do it."
Kid Flash stared at her for a moment before giving a nod as his face set in determination. He picked up and went to whisk Selena way. Nyssa tried to stop them with an arrow, but Trance cut in down as she stepped in Nyssa's path.
"I was playing along with you earlier, Trance." Nyssa said. "But my patience is starting to run a bit thin. If there's one thing I hate most in this world it's failing. Especially if it means having him look at me as if I'm some kind of disappointment!"
And just like that Nyssa let loose several arrows in rapid succession. However, before they could hit, Aqualad broke the floor underneath them, which sent him, Robin, and Trance down to the floor below. And just in time too as Kid Flash was just zooming through.
"I don't understand what's happening." Selena said as the teens formed a circle with each other. "Who are those people?"
The teens didn't answer her question or give her much of their attention as they didn't have the luxury of time.
"We need to find the quickest way out of the building." Robin said.
"They will not stop coming after Ms. Gonzalez and they will be looking for us outside, easier to pick us off!" Aqualad disagreed. "We need to go stealth if we want to turn the tables on them and end this."
Trance nodded in agreement while also pleasantly surprised with Aqualad's plan. It was something she would come up with herself. Besides, she knew more Shadows just had to be waiting for them outside. It was best to remain inside the building for now.
"What do you have in—Whoa!" Kid Flash exclaimed as Hook's metal hook came crashing through the ceiling above them.
Obvious the League was trying to follow them and quickly, which meant they had to move and fast.
"Disperse." Aqualad ordered. "Hide and wait for my signal!"
The teens did just that with Kid Flash taking Selena one way while Aqualad and Robin went another way. Trance melted back into the shadows of another room as her sister and the two Shadows fell down through the ceiling.
"Come out, you snot-nosed kids!" Hook shouted in clear anger.
"The minute you get outside we'll know where you are." Black Spider added. "You can hide in here but only for so long."
Trance, who watched Hook and Black Spider start to wreck the place looking for them, frowned knowing he meant the members of the League laying in wait just outside. Even if they did end things in here, they still had another line of defense waiting on them. They'd have to end this quickly to save their energy or else this all would be for not.
"Enough," Nyssa said getting the two men to stop their movements. "Tearing up the place isn't going to help us find them faster. Be quiet and listen. Two of them may be able to work in the shadows and in silence like us, but not the other two. They'll make a sound. Or perhaps our target will, but we won't hear them if you continue with your racket."
Black Spider and Hook both nodded obediently then listened carefully as Nyssa ordered. Trance's grip tightened on her sword. She prayed the others remained silent until it was time for them to make their own move. Though even as she was hoping that, a noise came from the space where Kid Flash was hiding. Trance tensed as she watched her sister's attention turn towards that room.
"There you are, prey." Nyssa said as she drew her bow and arrow. "I didn't want to hurt any of those little kiddies, but I'm done playing."
She went to let loose the arrow, but Trance threw a few disk bombs out into the room. They went off causing bright lights that distracted Nyssa and the Shadows. This gave Aqualad to make his own room as he stepped out and using the water from the bathroom below, he sent a torrent of water at Hook who went sailing right towards Trance. Trance, who sheathed her weapon, jumped over Hook and placed a sleep bomb on his shirt that went off. As the powder entered his nose, he fell to the ground and quickly fell unconscious. Black Spider went to help his teammates, but was distracted by Kid Flash who zoomed in.
"Hey, B.S." Kid called as he tossed shot bottles of some kind of energy drink. "It looks like you can use an energy shot!"
"This isn't going to stop me, kid." Black Spider said mockingly as his webs stopped the bottles from hitting him.
Though it seemed as if Kid wasn't planning on them too since he was only the distraction. Robin swooped in before Black Spider even knew what was going on and placed some kind of small explosive on the man's web shooter.
"Yeah, but I'm betting this does!" Robin said with a grin.
"No!" Black Spider exclaimed. "What are you doing! The pressure—!"
He didn't get to finish his sentence as the bomb went off, which caused the webbing to expand out rapidly and wrap around Black Spider who fell on top of Hook. The teens turned towards their last adversary Nyssa, who had also put away her weapons, to clap for the young heroes.
"Not bad, little heroes." She congratulated them. "You really turned things around for yourselves, didn't you? However, you just…fell short."
As the words left her mouth, she pushed open the door to reveal the room that Kid Flash had left Selena Gonzalez. However, said woman was missing and what was left behind was a small pool of blood.
"…checkmate…" Nyssa said with a smirk as Trance's blood ran cold. "Better luck next time."
She then threw down some smoke pellets that filled the room and made it impossible for the teens to see. They all coughed and hacked trying to peer through the smoke, but by the time it cleared enough for them to see again, Nyssa was gone. And so were Hook and Black Spider.
"How…how did she do that?!" Kid Flash asked as he looked to his friends. "She hadn't moved! We would have seen her."
"You're right she did not." Aqualad agreed.
"There had to be more Shadows!" Robin guessed. "How did we miss that?! Black Spider practically told us and everything that they weren't alone!"
As the boys discussed what just happened, Trance's hands curled tightly into fists to control her shaking.
'…I failed…' Trance thought in anger.
Nyssa let out a sigh while rolling her shoulders to make them pop as she made it to the rendezvous point for their team. Black Spider and Hook were being looked after by Cheshire as the last remaining member of the group looked to Nyssa.
He was a young man even if his snowy white hair would suggest otherwise. He was also tall and muscular in stature that Nyssa looked so small next to him. He was pale—almost white of skin—and his eyes were hidden behind dark glasses—making them impossible to see.
"I'm sure she wasn't happy." He said as he cleaned the blood off of his knife.
"Yes, our little sister hates failure just as much as us if not more." Nyssa agreed. "Too bad you didn't get to say your hellos to her, hmm, Dusan?"
Dusan al Ghul hummed in reply. He hasn't seen their little sister in person for quite some time. Like Nyssa, Dusan's relationship with Ra's was estranged. Though unlike Nyssa, Dusan had always tried to gain their father's approval. But due to his odd appearance, Ra's treated Dusan like the black sheep of the family. Only tolerating him at best in Dusan's eyes. Ra's would say different, of course.
"I'm sure there will be time for that later." Dusan said. "Father plans to have all of us back together soon for the Light's master plan, and little Nataša won't be left behind if he has his say in the matter."
Nyssa nodded knowing Dusan was right. Whatever Ra's and his companions in the Light had planned, Ra's saw it important enough to bring in all of his children. It wasn't like him, so Nyssa was curious as to what was going to happen. Of course, as long as she can protect the one, she holds dear, she'll stick around and do whatever Ra's wants. If Ra's and his scheming proves to be dangerous, well, Nyssa has left home and her father behind before.
"Let's get out of here." Nyssa said. "Our work here is done. No reason to stick around."
Natalie stood in between Wally and Dick as the three of them and Aqualad were now faced with their mentors back at Mount Justice. Miss Martian and Superboy were being kept away from them by Red Tornado and Black Canary as they weren't part of the mission Natalie and the boys had decided to assign themselves. A few other members of the League were present as well, and they weren't happy with the four teens either.
"I can't believe you four did this again." Flash said as he shook his head. "Didn't you learn from the first time?"
Wally hung his head unable to meet his Uncle's disappointed gaze. The young speedster was already pretty beat up about how things ended with their mission, so he really didn't have any quick retort or any kind of reply really for his mentor.
"Really, Natalie, you should have known better." Wraith added. "All of you should have. Dealing with the League of Shadows isn't something to be taken lightly."
"Or to do on your own." Batman backed her up. "You and Robin should know that better than anyone."
Dick and Natalie exchanged a glance. They dropped the ball on this one. Dick thought they could handle it. Thought it'd be a good team exercise. He should have listened to Natalie when told him to take things more seriously. Of course, the blame wasn't all his, Natalie shouldn't have let her personal investment in the mission blind her. She should have brought hers and Dick's findings to her mother and Batman. She was foolish to think she could handle things just because of her connection to the League.
"You are right," Natalie said. "Because of our misjudgment and our underestimating of our enemy, we failed. Not only did Selena Gonzalez lose her life, but we risked seriously injuring ourselves."
The boys hung their heads even more. The guilt of failing Selena laying heavy on their shoulders. It was silent for a moment before Batman spoke up.
"The mission did end in failure, however, you all did your best to save Ms. Gonzalez." Batman said. "You also brought new information to light. Like, Nyssa al Ghul being amongst the Shadows again."
The teens looked up towards the Dark Knight who seemed to lose some of his stern expression. Though it was hard to tell with the cowl over his head.
"Yes, even if one of us had been there, I don't think any of us would have been prepared for Nyssa al Ghul's involvement." Wraith agreed. "None of us expected to see her anytime soon if ever after certain circumstances."
She looked towards Green Arrow as she said this, and the blonde archer frowned looking off to the side.
"It's common knowledge that she and Ra's do not get along." Aquaman commented. "What could have brought her back to her father?"
Natalie wondered if she should mention this person that Nyssa had told her about. A person some important to her that she would work for their father…In the end, Natalie kept her mouth shut. Bringing out that kind of information in front of her fellow protégés might bring out questions she doesn't want to answer. Like, why Nyssa would share that kind of information with Trance? Though there was something she thought she might mention.
"She mentioned a light." Natalie said gaining everyone's attention. "That Ra's al Ghul promised to lead her to the light."
It was a partial lie, but also a partial truth that might prove to be useful enough information.
"Light?" Martian Manhunter repeated.
Batman narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as this new bit of information. At the same time, Wally gave a gasp as if remembering something.
"Hey, didn't that Dr. Desmond, or whatever his name was, mention a light too?" Wally asked. "Like, that the light had—uh—plans or something."
He couldn't remember exactly what for, but he did remember Desmond mentioning a light or something. Some members of the Justice League, who were gathered, exchanged curious glances.
"Could it be a coincidence?" Green Arrow asked.
"Doubtful." Wraith replied. "The Batman doesn't believe in such things anyway, so I am certain he will be looking into this light thoroughly."
She looked to Batman as she spoke with the dark crusader already looking to be in thought.
"Besides, if this light is so important that Nyssa al Ghul would return to the League of Shadows, ignoring it would be foolish." Wraith added. "Now, I believe this little meeting is over. You four may be dismissed, but know that this Cadmus investigation is out of your hands now."
Natalie and the boys looked up at the blonde heroine in surprise, but before any of them could protest, Batman's unrelenting voice cut in.
"This isn't up for discussion." Batman said firmly. "All matters involving Cadmus are now the Justice League's business, not yours. Once you prove that you can work as a team and that you can follow orders, things might be up for debate later. No sooner. Now, dismissed."
With Batman having the final say, the teens trudged away. Once they were out of earshot, Dick and Natalie exchanged a glance.
"We won't fail next time." Dick said.
Natalie nodded in agreement before looking to Aqualad and Wally who nodded as well. They failed this time, and a woman lost her life. They wouldn't make mistakes like that again.
Coco: If it wasn't already obvious, I plan to involve more of the al Ghul family. You Talia and Ra's a lot in the movies, cartoons, tv shows, etc, but most a lot of the other al Ghul siblings or other immediate family. Damian Wayne being one of those exceptions. I probably won't be involving Damian any time soon. Which means I won't be adding in like his cousins or his younger sister. I mean, Damian was only kind of shown in the latest season of YJ and as an infant, so I'll just be sticking mostly with Ra's and his children as they'll be a big part of Trance's life and her transformation over the years to come.
And since you don't see Nyssa and Dusan all that much what I use to design their characters and their backgrounds are either going to be my own kind of creation or things I've pulled from here and there in other media they've been in. Like Nyssa having a relationship with Green Arrow, which I got from the TV show Arrow.
But anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. Hopefully the next one won't be such a long wait for you.