Chap. 13

The Docks

The water lapped up on the pier, as they stood there in the shadows. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be humming softly. Finally, Nightstalker asked, "Sense anything?" "No." Raven answered, opening her eyes. "I can't find any trace of Slade." "Hmm.. he must be cloaked somehow." Said the man-bat thoughtfully. "No offense, but how would he know how to do that?" "Slade knows a lot of things, it wouldn't surprise me. You need to give him more credit." "Say what?" asked Raven in disbelief. Nightstalker simply shrugged and said, "Look, none of the others have had any luck so far, and a cloak seems in the realm of possibilities. Its deductive reasoning. Besides, the worst thing we can do here is underestimate Slade. The first thing I ever learned as a warrior was to never underestimate my enemies, because then I was sure to lose." Raven rolled her eyes, and said, "Oh yeah, thanks O master of battle. You know that doesn't mean we have a better chance of finding him." "Maybe, maybe not. At least I'm not giving up." "No, instead you're gonna have me up and down this dock until we end up out of time and without any hope of getting out!" Raven spat angrily.

There was silence for a moment. Then Nightstalker said, "You don't like me very much, do you?" "Whatever made you think that?" asked Raven sarcastically. "Look kid, if we're gonna do this, we need to work together. So whatever you've got a problem with, just say it so we can move on, ok?" Raven glared at him, and said, "Okay, you wanna know what my problem is? The fact that you derive your powers from shadow! How am I supposed to trust someone who commands darkness? Besides that, you learned my friends' secrets and then acted like it was ok." The armored figure stood there absorbing Raven's words. Then he said, "Yeah, but I had a reason for that. And yes my powers do come from evil, but you forget, without evil, there is no good. And if that bothers you, I'm sorry, but let's not forget, your father is the eighth crown prince of Hell, and I don't let that bother me anymore."

Raven 's mouth dropped open at those last words. Nightstalker simply replied, "Oh yes, I know all about Trigon. I know how he's linked to you, and I know why you're so damn emotionless all the time. After all, can't have you lose control and release him into this world, now can we?" "But... I don't understand." said Raven, still in disbelief. "I never told anyone about my father, and the only other ones who knew where on Azarath..." Seemingly grinning under his helmet, the armored one replied, "Ah, but that's not the only place. Where I come from Raven, you are lore. Where I come from, there are books written about you and your father that are centuries long." "You mean.. you come form Azarath too?" "No. Officially, I'm from Hoboken. But, for a while I lived in a place that had almost as much knowledge as Azarath." "Where?" asked Raven. But he only shook his head. "Come on now. I thought they taught you things there. Think. Immortal animal-human hybrid, controls an earthly power, wears armor and carries a sword, has knowledge of countless arcane things.. What am I Raven?"

"What do you mean?" the empath asked. "Does the idea of a Tower mean anything to you at all?" Raven's brow furrowed, as she tired to think of anything that could answer this. A Tower, that apparently had books about her father... there was such a place. But no, the only beings to ever come from there had been... "Oh my God," she whispered, as the pieces fit together in her mind. "you're an Elemental!" "To be specific, the Elemental of Shadow." he replied. "The earthly representative of all the dark that is essential to illuminating the light." "But.., that can't be." said Raven. "According to the tomes, you're supposed to be with the other Elementals till the end of time." "True." He replied. "But spending 500 years with the same group of people can be such a drag. So we decided to split for about 20 years." "Then that story you told us did really happen." She realized. "But what did you mean that my... lineage didn't bother you anymore." "Well to be honest, my first reaction to this alliance was to secretly kill you, and make it seem like Slade did it." he answered, as he brandished his sword, and took another look at her.

Noting the look in her eyes, Nightstalker then sheathed his sword and continued. "However, Bart and the others convinced me that it wasn't a good idea, even after I told them about you. Oh not everything, just that you were linked to a demon and if you lost control, he would come and destroy humanity." "That still doesn't explain why you don't want me dead." Raven replied. "I decided to watch you and see what I thought. You have a good deal of control, and besides that, I've grown to like you as a person. You're calm, collected, funny even though you don't think you are, and it's nice to know there's someone else who understands the night in the way I do." "So what do you plan to do?" "Nothing for now. But Rae, you should know this. Even though I will do everything I can to help you keep control, if the day comes when he finally breaks through... I will take you out." he said grimly. "My job is to keep the balance of light and dark till Judgment Day, and I will do it." Raven looked at him then, a grim look n her own face. Then, she gave a slight smile. "Well, will you still talk to me about this till then?" "Always." he answered, smiling himself. The Elemental extended his hand, and the two of them shook on it.

Suddenly, there was a crash from the warehouse next to them. "What was that?" said Nightstalker, as he held his sword high. "Let's go find out." said Raven, pulling her hood up. The two dark warriors moved to the building, and with a thought, Raven undid the lock. The doors swung open to reveal... nothing at all. "Must've been a rat." muttered Nightstalker. "Maybe not." replied Raven. She pointed to a hole in the floor, where there seemed to be a tunnel leading below the waters. "Hmm, this could mean something." She replied, as the two of them slowly crept into it.