Jess NightAngel

A Teen Titans Fan-Fiction

By: Eternal Heart

Pt. One

Slade's Secret

Way beyond the city limits, there was a deep cave that was implanted in the face of a cliff that over looked the sea. Above the cliffs there was a dark, forest, and below the cliffs a roaring black sea, not even shadows dared to live in this sinister place, but something far worse than that of the shade, did live there.

Slade was a towering figure clad in black shadows and metal armor, half his face was covered with a metal mask, and the other half was forever cast in darkness. Slade had dwelled in the cave for almost two months now, it had become a secret lair in Slade's eyes, and he only left if he needed materials for his experiments. Slade cast a look of miserable malevolence around the dank cave walls that had imprisoned him for many weeks.

Metal walls and wheels of all kinds were scattered throughout the many chambers of the cave, cases, computers, doors, rods, and switches were also present in the gloom. Robin, Slade thought with disgust, Robin, and the Teen Titans, they're the reason I'm stuck here, they're the cause of all my failures. Slade punched a few buttons on one of the computers and the screen flickered and came to life. Screens all around the cave began to show pictures and profiles of the Teen Titans, years of research were stored in these computers.

Slade looked around at the screens with growing anger, Terra, Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, they were all causes of his misery, but Robin… Robin was the number one cause. Countless times Slade had mastered many brilliant ideas to try and be rid of the Teen Titans. But somehow they always managed to defeat him, when Slade's last plan was uncovered and stopped; Slade had managed to escape with just slivers to spare, but that was the last thread, but of course, Slade didn't let his aggression and panic show.

Now, Slade realized, was the time to stop underestimating the Teen Titans, now was the time to undergo his most ingenious plan yet. Slade stood up and began to pace across the long cave-room, his boots tapped lightly on the metal floors creating a rhythmic echo. For years now I have been searching for a way to destroy the Teen Titans, Slade thought, and now I have finally found the answer.

Slade stopped pacing and walked purposefully over to an iron door that was almost hidden from view, pushing it open he walked inside. The room that it lead to was pitch-black, Slade absently flipped a big black switch and the room was immediately bathed in a wavy blue light. The room's ceiling stretched on forever and the walls were circular, in the center of the space was a white table that was tilted vertically.

On the table's smooth surface was a girl about sixteen years old, she had pale skin and long black hair that dangled down her back. She wore a black suit with a metal X crossing her chest, a silver belt cut across her midsection; it held an assortment of gadgets and weapons. Her arms were covered with black gloves and she wore black boots with silver plates on the bottoms.

An assortment of tubes and needles were stuck inside her skin from numerous locations, and a thick metal strap restrained her to the table, her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. Slade walked onto a platform that was made to extend over the table the girl was strapped to.

This is my secret weapon, Slade thought and pulled an iron lever that stuck out of the wall, the table that held the girl shuddered and then fell still. With a number of groans and creaks every needle and tube that had been implanted inside the girl was pulled out. This is what will help me destroy the Teen Titans, Slade savored the thought of when he would finally see Robin fall to the floor, and never rise again.

"Awaken," Slade ordered. The girl jerked, and then shifted about on the table, then she fell silent. "Rise," Slade said, the girls eyes slowly opened, they were bright green and rather big, the metal strap snapped off and the girl slowly stood and looked around as if in a daze, "Come to me," Slade demanded, the girl turned and looked at Slade, and then began to cross the room with long graceful steps.

"I created you," Slade said as the girl drew nearer, "in this very lab was where you were made, and I made you to help me." Slade paused and the girl confronted him, "To help me destroy the Teen Titans." He finished, a glimpse of evil pride flashed through his one eye. "You are the perfect fighting tool," Slade continued, "I have provided you with every fighting move I could think of, your name is NightAngel. You are my tool, my creation, my daughter." NightAngel stared Slade down, "I am ready," she said with absolute confidence, "I am ready to serve, and I am ready to destroy the Teen Titans."

A plan gone wrong

The city was dark and eerily quiet as Slade and NightAngel walked quickly down the back allies, Slade's plan was a simple one, after long hours of research he had found a building that was positioned on a fault line in the middle of the city. NightAngel seemed eager to fight, which pleased Slade greatly, but she would have to wait, Slade had learned after years of failed attempts to destroy the Teen Titans that if they were going to attack them, they were going to attack the heart, they would destroy the city.

Once Slade and NightAngel got to the building, they would get inside and place a bomb in its center. If all went according to plan then the bomb would set off a massive earthquake that would literally spilt the city in half, then the Titans would come running along to try and stop him, and that's when NightAngel would get her chance to fight. After the Teen Titans were destroyed, the destroyed city would be left unguarded, and that's when Slade would strike.

A huge black building loomed into the sky in the distance, that was the building that Slade and NightAngel would bomb. To Slade, it seemed that his plan was perfect and had very few flaws; this was just a test to see what NightAngel could do. While Slade waited in ideally by, NightAngel would sneak into the building and plant the bomb, then she would make her escape and together they would watch the city fall apart.

About three blocks away from the building Slade stopped and handed NightAngel a round black orb, "You know what to do, I trust?" Slade asked, NightAngel nodded and sprang off into the night.

NightAngel slipped quietly by the brick houses that surrounded the black building, running stealthily across the street she flattened herself against the smooth wall of the building she was about to destroy. Quickly, NightAngel looked for a way inside, she spotted the fire escape and smiled at how easily her mission was. Like a cat, NightAngel leaped onto the fire escape and slipped up to the roof.

Once she was there, she quickly and quietly sprinted across the space to a vent that was sticking out of the roof. NightAngel yanked the top off the vent and slipped inside, she crept down the vent and was confronted with a rotation fan, and quickly she pulled out a stick and jammed it. After creeping along the tunnel for about one hundred more yards the vent opened up into a large room.

NightAngel swung down inside and landed silently in the center of the room, the walls were white and so was the floor, the ceiling wasn't visible because it was up so high. NightAngel heard voices coming from the far end of the room, spinning around she saw that there was a hallway that lead out of the room, and someone was coming down it. NightAngel stayed right where she was, a black figure all alone in the white room.

Two guards dressed in police officer uniforms rounded the corner, they both held guns, but that did not intimidate NightAngel. "Hey!" one of the guards shouted as he spotted NightAngel. Both the guards held their guns ready and advanced on her, "Your not suppose to be in here." One of the guards said and lowered his gun, NightAngel slowly reached into her belt behind her back and pulled out a glass sphere.

"Sorry to disturb you," she said quietly, "I'll just be going now." With one quick movement she threw the glass ball at them, it sailed across the room, hit the tile floor, and shattered into pieces. A sickly green mist came out of the splinters of the ball, completely engulfing the two guards, they both began to waver and then fell to the floor, paralyzed.

NightAngel slipped out of the big room and quickly descended down a flight of nearby stairs. She looked around the room she was in with satisfaction, walking to the center of it, she took out the black orb Slade had given her. That's when the alarm went off, red lights flashed in every corner of the room and a shrill buzzing sounded in the air. NightAngel swiftly place the ball in the palm of her hand and held it out in front of her, she pushed an assortment of notches in the orb and in no time the bomb was activated.

On the side of the sphere there were red numbers that read, 5:00, and then the countdown began. But NightAngel's victory was short lived, she placed the ball down on the ground and turned to leave, when she was about halfway to the door, it swung open, revealing one of the Teen Titans.

NightAngel froze, it was ordered by Slade that none of the Teen Titans were to see her face, she quickly slipped on a plain black mask and confronted the Teen Titan, "Hello, Beast Boy," she said in a singsong voice, Beast Boy stepped into the light, he didn't look very happy, and felt rather confused. "Who are you?" he asked and took a step toward NightAngel, she took a step back and glanced nervously down at the bomb, which now read, 4:30.

"My name is NightAngel," she said and fingered another glass ball in her hand, "I'm going to have to ask that you step aside." She ordered, "Or what?" Beast Boy challenged, "Or I will destroy you," she said casually, "oh wait," she smiled, "I'm suppose to do that anyway."

NightAngel threw the ball at Beast boy, he dodged aside nimbly and lunged at her, but she wasn't surprised to find that in mid-leap Beast Boy morphed into a tiger. She simply stepped aside and watched with amusement as Beast Boy swiped at empty air, one last look at the bomb…3:00. With no more time to play around, NightAngel swiftly sprinted to the door, but Beast Boy beat her there.

"I'm not letting you leave." He said firmly and blocked NightAngel's only exit, "Then you'll die with me," NightAngel snarled, Beast Boy gave her a confused look and then spotted the bomb, his eyes grew wide and he started toward it, as if he can stop it! NightAngel thought as she grabbed the door and threw it open. Beast Boy seemed to realize that he was letting the villain get away and turned back to stop NightAngel.

NightAngel was now through the door and began to shut it, Beast Boy grabbed the door and tried to pull it back open, agitated, NightAngel pulled at the door with all her might and it slammed shut with a resounding crack right on Beast Boy's hands. He shouted out in pain and retreated back, pulling himself together Beast Boy threw open the door and began to chase NightAngel. But she was long gone.

NightAngel ran down a long hallway and rounded a sharp corner, only to be confronted by Raven, not stopping, NightAngel pushed past the stunned Raven and darted down the hallway and out a door. She was relived to find that the door lead outside, but still NightAngel didn't stop, she kept on running.

Raven considered chasing after NightAngel but decided no to in the end, she continued down the hallway, trying to find one of the other Teen Titans. Suddenly Beast Boy rounded a corner and crashed right into Raven, they both stumbled and fell to the ground in a pile. Beast Boy picked himself up, "There's a bomb!" he yelled and helped Raven to her feet, "A bomb?" Raven asked suddenly alert, "In this room," Beast Boy explained and pointed to the door that NightAngel had smashed his hands in.

Raven pushed open the door and immediately saw the black orb in the center of the room, the clock read 0:03! Raven instantly clocked the orb with her power, and then it exploded…

NightAngel felt the ground tremble underneath her as she ran away from the building, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride. Suddenly she was overcome with a powerful temptation to see the bomb do its work, NightAngel stopped running and turned around to watch the building fall. But it never did, instead a huge crack appeared by her feet, alarmed, she jumped away from it. But another crack opened up behind her, soon the cement all around her was a spider web of cracks.

The ground shook and then began to collapse, first the outside parts of the cracked zone began to disappear as the cement pieces were swallowed up with blackness. Realization struck NightAngel like a thunderbolt, this wasn't a fault, it was an underground canyon! And Slade's bomb had opened it right up, unfortunately NightAngel was caught right in the middle of the collapsing street. She looked up for any sign of help, when she saw none her heart began pounding, and then she saw Slade.

He was standing on the roof of a building just beyond where the underground canyon had been opened, his face was blank and showed no sign of emotion, the cement around NightAngel's feet began to give away, "Slade!" NightAngel yelled, "Help me!" she stuck out her hand as if to reach across the newly formed gap and be pulled to safety. But Slade just stood there and watched as the ground NightAngel was standing on finally gave away.

NightAngel screamed out as she tumbled into the underground canyon her bomb had opened, she reached out her hand once more to try and find support, but it closed around empty air. Cold dread creped in to her heart as the blackness that was the underground canyon swallowed her up, she was freefalling, gaining speed, going faster and faster into the cold earth. A rock that had been jutting out of the canyon wall struck NightAngel across the arm, she held her arm close to her chest and screwed her eyes shut, a searing pain engulfed her, then everything went black.

Disturbing Discovery

Beast Boy looked at his smashed and swollen fingers with distain, Raven had fixed them as much as she could but the rest would have to heal by itself. Robin walked into the room and saw Beast Boy's gloomy look, "It will heal," he said enthusiastically, "just give it time." Beast Boy looked at Robin with a comic look of pain, "That's easy for you to say." He pouted. Robin shook his head and smiled.

All the Teen Titans had escaped from the bomb without harm, but if Raven hadn't muffled the explosion the entire city would have been destroyed, "Are you sure you don't know who was the one that set off the bomb?" Robin asked for the hundredth time, "I told you, man!" Beast Boy exclaimed, "She kept her face hidden with a mask, but I could still tell that she was someone completely new."

"Yeah? Well, we have looked over the entire city and there is no one to be found that matches the description you gave us." Robin said, partly to himself, and stared out the window with confusion, "That's not true," Beast Boy said slowly, "you still haven't checked down the gorge that the bomb opened." Robin was about to protest when he stopped and thought for a while, "That's true…" he said thoughtfully, after a few more seconds Robin said, "Beast Boy, stay here and guard the Tower, we have some searching to do."

Cyborg's blue light bathed the rock walls in a shimmering turquoise coat, Robin and the other Teen Titans had just reached the bottom of the underground canyon and had begun the search for the mysterious girl that had caused all the damage, "I do not see anything." Starfire said and threw a huge boulder out of the Titan's path, "This is the only place we haven't looked," Robin said, "she has to be down here somewhere."

The Titans pressed on, going deeper and deeper into the underground canyon. Raven tilted her head toward the sky to see if she could glimpse the slightest glimmer of blue, she stumbled and was surprised to find that her foot landed in water, "Watch out," she warned, "it's wet." Cyborg's light turned in her direction, it cast Raven's face in a eerie blue light and it also lit up her surroundings, what the Titans saw took their breath away.

"It's an underground lake!" Cyborg exclaimed and stepped up on a tall rock to get a better view, Starfire floated up beside him, "Look at how smooth it is!" she said excitedly. Robin looked over the lake with wonder, the surface was glossy smooth and looked like a sheet of metal, he could have mistaken it for ground. Something near the middle of the lake caught his eye, there was a slight lump on the surface, disturbing the glassy lake.

"What's that?" Robin asked and pointed, the other Titans looked to what he was pointing at, they all fell silent, "Maybe it's a rock," Raven suggested, "from when the ground above crumbled." Robin stepped carefully into the water, the lake only reached his ankles so he waded out farther, the water stayed at ankle level. He continued walking out farther, in front of him the water grew dark, Robin took no notice and stepped into the black water. Instantly water engulfed every inch of his body, he kicked out frantically and tried to reach for the surface. But it was as if an invisible force was weighting him down, no matter how hard he kicked and pumped his arms he continued to sink.

Suddenly a hand broke the surface above him and grabbed Robin's arm, he was hauled out of the lake with inhuman strength, Robin looked up at his rescuer and found himself staring into Starfire's face, "Thank you," he said and rung out his cape, "I shall see what it is," Starfire volunteered and flew over the surface of the lake. As Starfire closed in on the object she was surprise to find that it held the shape of a human, yet did not move at all. She halted beside the thing and touched it hesitantly with her hand, the thing rolled over in the water and Starfire jerked her hand back quickly.

The thing was a girl, her face was flushed and practically white, her skin was cold to the touch and her black hair spider-webbed all over the water around her head. Starfire toyed with a couple of thoughts and then grabbed the girl's arm and lifted her out of the lake, sure enough; the girl matched Beast Boy's description. Alarmed, Starfire flew back to the edge of the lake with the girl in tow.

She laid her down on the ground in front of Robin and backed away, Robin looked her over. There was a long gash in her left arm that stood out against her white skin, the girl didn't appear to be breathing. Robin checked for a pulse, "Is she alive?" Raven asked from behind him. Robin shook his head and then paused, he felt a pulse! It was dim, and weak, but sure enough, it was there, "She's alive!" he announced, the Titans shuffled forward, "What do we do with her?" Cyborg asked.

Robin looked at the face of the girl, "We help her," he said after a slight pause, "What!" Cyborg exclaimed, "Robin! This is NightAngel! The one who tried to blow up the city!" Robin lifted NightAngel into his arms and began to walk away from the others, "Villain or not," he said as the others hurried to catch up with him, "I'm not going to let her die."

Back at the tower, Raven leaned over NightAngel and wrapped a gauze bandage over the gash in her arm, then she walked out of the room and into another where the other Titans were waiting, "I've done all I can do," she declared and sat down, "the rest is up to her." Beast Boy cast a dark look in the direction of the room that NightAngel was in, "I can't believe we're trying to help her," he said grudgingly and rubbed his injured hand.

"Let's not worry about it tonight," Cyborg said, he stood up, stretched and yawned, "I'm going to bed." The other Titans nodded in agreement and they all staggered off to their rooms.

Back in NightAngel's room, the girl thrashed on her bed and grimaced. She was back on the streets, watching the cement crumble beneath her, she looked up and once again saw Slade. Before she could cry out the canyon sucked her into its depths, falling, falling, blackness surrounded her on all sides. Then a voice filled her head, it was Slade, "I don't except failure!" he said. Night Angel screamed and then it all ended.

Raven rushed down the hallways in the dark, she had heard NightAngel call out, since her room was closest to hers, thinking something had gone wrong she hurried to find out what had happened. NightAngel was still on the bed, Raven breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to her, NightAngel was crying.

She was still asleep, but her face was wet with tears and her body shook with sobs, and she was murmuring. Raven leaned closer to hear what she was saying, it sounded broken and unfinished, "…no, Slade, help!" Raven pulled back in surprise, NightAngel was one of Slade's creatures! Raven stared down at NightAngel with sympathy, whether NightAngel had been working with Slade willingly or not, Raven could not help but feel sorry for her. Slade was evil, and did evil things to all that crossed him.

NightAngel stirred, bringing Raven out of her thoughts, then NightAngel did something that Raven did not expect, she opened her eyes. "Where am I?" NightAngel groaned and launched into a fit of coughs, after the coughs had subsided Raven introduced herself, "I am Raven, you are in the Teen Titans Tower," Raven paused, "Who are you?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

NightAngel gave her a blank stare, "I can't tell you that," she said quietly, "Why?" Raven asked, already running a number of excuses that NightAngel might use through her head, NightAngel blinked, "Because I can't remember."