Chapter 10-A Much Needed Vacation
Two more days passed and it was around that time that Beast Boy, Starfire, and finally after bringing her much up to speed...Terra were told about Nightwing being in the med lab. As Raven predicted Beast Boy was nearly overloaded by this information and nearly had a heart attack and after some CPR from Terra he was back to normal. Starfire was more cheerful then when she discovered and adopted her pet worm Silkie to keep in the Tower. Raven had to use her powers to subdue Starfire and then tell the alien girl that he was at the moment currently unconscious. That and he wouldn't hear her no matter how much she would and could try to yell to him in order to wake up. "But I want to see Nightwing friend Raven. Pleeeeeeaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeeee!" said Starfire in a squeaky pleading sounding voice that made Raven want to rip Starfire's mouth off the alien girl or more mercifully her own ears to not hear her.
"Starfire I have a camera and data uplink to Nightwing's regeneration tank so you can see him here on my arm," said Cyborg as he showed Starfire the image of Nightwing in the tank like he said he was.
Starfire was overjoyed by this news, which in her excitement disconnected Cyborg's armbefore he could protest. Everyone thought it was a little weird as Starfire just sat on the couch watching the unconscious and shirtless Nightwing in the regeneration tank through the uplink. "Ooooookay well back to business," said Cyborg who had to make do with being one arm short of a full body.
"Yeah there is one more thing that has to be cleared up. Just so you know Terra it was Nightwing who freed you and it was Nightwing that you attacked in your moment of uncontrolled rage," said Raven making everyone, but Raven and Cyborg's jaw dropped.
"I WHAT?" yelled Terra in disbelief.
"YOU WHAT?" yelled an angry Starfire with the thought of 'her boy' being harmed by Terra was practically inexcusable.
"Calm down Starfire Terra didn't mean it. Right?" said Beast Boy trying to stop a slowly marching Starfire whose eyes were glowing directly towards Terra while Cyborg quickly got his arm and reattached it.
"I couldn't see who it was their because it was dark and his muffled voice sounded like Slade so I thought he was him," said Terra backing up as Starfire got closer despite Beast Boy's attempt to halt the alien girl's advance on the earth mover.
"Stop it all of you!" said a voice from behind all them and this time all of their jaws dropped as they saw an angry, shirtless, still slightly soaked in liquid, and red masked eyed Nightwing stood at the door accompanied by two Shadowkahn.
"NIGHTWING!" yelled Starfire and ran up to 'her boy' to hug him with all her strength, but was stopped by the two Shadowkahn grabbed her and restrained her from usingthe death hug she was about to produce to their master.
"Not now Starfire I have business to attend to," said Nightwing in a dark and demonic voice as he walked passed the alien girl, who was nothing short of stunned as she saw him walk by with a serious look on his face.
Nightwing paused slightly before he passed Raven and gave her a slight nod noticeably only to her. The Prince of Darkness walked up to Terra who was slightly terrified by his presence even with Beast Boy standing slightly in front of her like a shield. "Hey Rob...I mean Nightwing. Heheheh long time no see," said Terra nervously who Nightwing had noticed wasn't in the torn Slade outfit she wore before, but clothes similar to what she wore when she came to them wanting to be a Titan.
Nightwing gave a light smile and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder before finally speaking to her. "It has been long time Terra, but I'm afraid things are not as simple as they were before and after you were turned to stone," said Nightwing whose face became serious now making Terra worry again.
"What do you mean?" said Terra noticing his grip on her shoulder tightened slightly and she felt some of her energy leaving her body.
"Slade told me to find you and kill you and even though I don't want to if I don't he'll know I'm not the loyal apprentice he thinks I am," said Nightwing making everyone's eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets.
"Your not going to kill me are you?" said Terra who felt the feeling of energy leaving her body stop at that moment.
Nightwing smile as he finally removed his had and a shadow lined yellow orb appeared in his cupped right hand. "No, but it willseem like I did, which is why if you felt it, which I'm sure you did I'm using some of your energy to create a shadow clone. Don't worry you'll get your energy backby the end of the day without problems I just need to make it look like I killed you," said Nightwing as his two Shadowkahn appeared behind him and each put a hand on his shoulder and they vanished before anyone could say another thing.
"Whoa! That was cool!" said Terra who was shocked as Nightwing was there one moment and the next he was gone.
(South of Titans Tower)
Nightwing took the orb in his hand pictured an image of Terra on the ground dead and then threw the orb onto the ground making a small shadowy yellow 'poof'. When the smoke from 'poof' cleared it revealed the image he pictured in his head of Terra being bloody and dead as adoorknob. Nightwing picked up his communicator for contacting Slade and activated it to make contact with his so called 'master'. "This is Nightwing calling Slade do you hear me. I killed Terra. I repeat I killed Terra," said Nightwing waiting for a response from Slade and got one shortly.
"Good work Nightwing I'm pleased. Show me on the communicator Terra's corpse before I have you burn it down to ashes," said Slade calmly.
"Of course master. Here she is," said Nightwing showing the image of Slade on his communicator showing the illusion of the so called 'dead' Terra on the ground bleeding and not breathing at all.
"Indeed. You've done well Nightwing as a reward I'll let you stay in Jump City for a few days and take a load off. I'll contact you when I need you back here again, but for now consider it a nice little...vacation," said Slade with the hint of happiness in his voice.
"I thought you said villains don't take vacations?" said Nightwing with a raised eyebrow.
"There are always exceptions my boy and you doing this is clearly one of them. Besides Nightwing...you deserve it. Just stay hidden in the shadows (chuckles) and don't cause too much trouble. Slade out," said Slade in a gentle voice as he cut the transmission.
"A few days huh? Well I think I know how and who to spend them with," said Nightwing out loud to himself as he gave a smile as his Shadowkahn took him back to Titans Tower.
(Titans Tower)
Everything was peaceful and for once in what seemed to be a long time full of happiness that had long been lost to the Titans. That is until Nightwing appeared in the center of the room out of nowhere scaring everyone except Raven who felt it coming with her powers. He then informed them of the good news about Slade believing his lie and how the crazed mad man was letting him have a small...'vacation' as he put it. "Wonderful! I shall make 'pudding of happiness' once more as I cannot eat another bowl of 'pudding of sadness' anymore," said Starfire as she proceeded to the kitchen area of the room.
"I don't think any of us could eat another bowl of your pudding Starfire. Between the Brotherhood, Slade, Nightwing's Shadowkahn, and your pudding I'm surprised were even alive," said Beast Boy who got an angry glare from everyone except Starfire who was too happy to care what the green changeling said.
"You go make the pudding Starfire I have to go to the training room and do my work out like old times," said Nightwing as he left the room without another word to them.
After a brief while after Nightwing left Raven followed suit only she went to her room for several hours to meditate. However, Raven felt as if she needed to leave her room and check on Nightwing and his training and left the sanctity of her room. She made her way to the training room and saw Nightwing in a black training our fit this time with a shirt with the blood red demon symbol on the back. Raven immediately saw the symbol was the representation of the Shadow King. Also on the back of the training shirt were two words above the frightening symbol written in blood saying: "Demon Inc.". Raven saw that Nightwing was surrounded by two dozen Shadowkahn armed with swords, spears, and other weapons used by the shinobi or ninja. 'What's he doing just standing their? They look like they are out for blood. Is this what he considers training?' thought Raven worriedly as they all slowly closed in on their master.
Nightwing noticed Raven, but couldn't acknowledge her at the moment seeing as he was currently busy with his training session. "Ready...FIGHT!" commanded Nightwing and all the Shadowkahn around him attacked him three at a time.
Raven watched in awe as Nightwing moved at deadly speed knocking down Shadowkahn after Shadowkahn with punches, kicks, and massive slams into the ground. 'Whoa! He was really holding back on us before if he fights Shadowkahn like that in training with all the Shadowkahn moving even faster then they did with us,' thought Raven who then saw Nightwing throw the last Shadowkahn into the air then the former Boy Wonder jumped into the air, grabbed the Shadowkahn in mid-air, and slammed the shadow warrior into the ground in a huge spin that nearly made Raven dizzy.
In the end it was Nightwing 24, Shadowkahn 0 as Nightwing was the last of the warriors standing until he waved a hand and all of the defeated bodies became pools of shadows. Then they came up around him being remade back into the Shadowkahn they were before as if nothing had happened to them at all. Nightwing waved them all away with just a simple thought and they bowed before vanishing from their master's site. "Hey Rae! I hope you like that little performance I just gave," said Nightwing making Raven blush as well as become shocked that Nightwing even noticed her with all the training he had just done.
"I would have spoken up, but I thought if I did you would have gotten distracted from your training, which from the looks of it is going rather well," said Raven calmly.
"Yeah I've been doing this entire time for the past few hours and they keep getting better and better," said Nightwing with a smile as he got his bottled water and drank a small amount.
"Wait you've been training them?" said Raven disbelievingly to Nightwing who raised an eyebrow curiously.
"There is a reason why they are so strong Rae and it's because of training sessions like these that do so. This was the first time we've done this for so long on the earthly plain when most of the time I would be in meditation and we would train in thedark world of the shadow plains," said Nightwing making Raven's eyes go slightly wider.
"So how strong would an army of Shadowkahn be if they were to launch an assault on the city?" said Raven in the form of a hypothetical question.
"Very strong. What you saw me train were the weaker batch of Shadowkahn while the more...elite are all set for fighting," said Nightwing calmly as he removed his shirt with his back now to Raven revealing to her his birthmark.
"Would you still command Shadowkahn without the birthmark if it were in some way removed from your skin?" said Raven asking another hypothetical question out of her curiosity trying not to blush at his athletic and warrior like physic.
"Of course Rae. I have my ancestor's blood running through my veins now regardless of my birthmark and even IF it were possible to have it removed my shadow blood wouldn't leave me. Just as I know you wouldn't," said Nightwing flashing his smile at her when he turned to face her seeing her blush a nice shade of tomato red.
At that moment shadows covered Nightwing body and Raven found herself standing near a Nightwing that was ready for battle. His uniform she noticed hadsome key differences as well noticeable changes made to it. The abs region below the bird symbol on his chest was dark silver with a slight shine to it like it was armor. She also noticed he had long steel spikes coming out of the regions of his arms and his lower area of his legs were of slightly different design. They were black and armor plated around the lower leg to the top part of the foot, but smooth looking like ice. They were footwear made for ninjas or a shinobi who was going for a nice little stealth walk into enemy territory. "Doing a little upgrade?" said Raven who was rather liking the newer version of Nightwing more then the other one as he looked very intimidating to say the least.
A Shadowkahn appeared and knelt before Nightwing presenting the dark colored armor plated headwear that integrated with his mask. Attached to the armored mask was a very long, very dark, and very shadowy looking silk ribbon on it that always seemed to be floating somehow. "Now for the final piece of this outfit to make this new more perfected form...complete," said Nightwing as another Shadowkahn appeared by the side of the first one and presented a large wooden rectangle box that Nightwing opened revealing a well crafted sheathe and designed with an equally crafted and designed sword.
"I've never seen a sword like that before," said Raven as she walked slightly closer to Nightwing and saw the blade more closely while all of her emotions seeing hat she was seeing were going nuts over it.
"This is known as the Shadow Sword or The Sword of Shadow's, which ever you prefer to call it. This perfect sword was crafted as well as made by my ancestor and can only be used by someone with his blood or mine. Its one of those rare things when a sword can only be wielded by a specific someone with a certain type of blood that no one else seems to possess. It was designed like that so no one could use the sword against him or his own family and thus I am the only one who can wield it," said Nightwing as he put the sheathe on his back before showing Raven the mark of the Shadow King on base of the steel of the mighty blade.
"Are you any good?" said Raven curiously.
"Good at what?" Nightwing asked mischievously making Raven blush as she realized she was asking a very open question that could be interpreted as something else entirely.
"I meant sword play Nightwing. Are you good at using a sword in a fight?" said Raven as she noticed that both she and Nightwing's faces were considerably closer.
"I'm good at many different things Raven. During my mediations Shadogun taught me everything he knew about swords, and how to use them. He's the best when it comes to the deadly art of swordsmanship," said Nightwing who moved in slightly closer and then proceed to kiss Raven smack on the lips and Raven helped complete it.
During that time of the two kissing multiple things exploded all around as all of Raven's emotions were all going absolutely crazy. They congratulated Raven for finally kissing Nightwing without being surprised this time and actually enjoying it without having any complications for once. Well almost. "Um sorry to interrupt your tonsil hockey game, but the Justice League called and they want to talk to you Nightwing since we...uh kinda told them you were here," said Cyborg who walked in on their little kissing moment.
Raven blushed at that moment and more things around them exploded even more and Nightwing laughed at Raven's embarrassment before kissing her forehead. "Sure Cyborg I'll be right their I have to talk to them anyway," said Nightwing as he spun the long, thick, and dark colored blade in his hands into the sheathe on his back before walking with Raven's hand consumed in his.
"Wait! We can't let them know. The others might..." said Raven worriedly, but couldn't finish her sentence and Nightwing knew the emotion Timid Raven was behind her fear of revealing such a relationship to the others.
"They won't do anything Raven because if they do I'll protect you even if I have to summon a shadow world's worth of Shadowkahn to do so," said Nightwing seriously yet in a very soothing and comforting voice that made Raven feel more confident about such things.
Raven nodded and they walked to the main room hand in hand with Nightwing's shadow like ribbon swirling in the air as they walked in. On the screen was Batman who was like the others surprised to see the two together holding hands like a couple and it was then that something in the back of the dark knights mind clicked a vital piece of the puzzle that was why Nightwing had temporarily joined Slade earlier together. "Hey Batman how are the wounds I delivered to you? I hope I didn't hurt you too badly that it comes back to get you at old age," said Nightwing who had a smile on his face as if all was well.
Batman frowned slightly at the comment and Nightwing's newer look that made him look like a assassin then a hero as the other founding members came into view. They were now seeing what Batman was seeing and the same went for the Titans. "We have to talk Nightwing. Were going to strike the Brotherhood of Evil's HQ in a few days and we need you to take out its defenses from the inside," said Batman seriously.
Nightwing sighed as he then looked at Raven who had a sad look on her face knowing that expanding and announcing their new relationship would have to wait. As usual for them business came first before anything else and relationships came a close second. "What do you want me to do?" said Nightwing seriously as he walked up to the console below the computer screen and crossed his arms.
"Come to the Watchtower and will tell you in person. Even our communications can be picked up and we would rather not risk it," said Superman from behind Batman making Nightwing somewhat nervous inside to go to the lions den of superheroes on the planet.
"You sure you want me up their in the Watchtower? I don't think your fellow comrades would be happy to see me considering me and my shadow warriors kick all their asses the last timethey all met," said Nightwing who got a silent frown from Batman for the tone, and his choice in words.
"They know the stakes now just get up here before we beam you up here by force," said Batman suddenly and cut the transmission.
"Well it looks like I'm going up," said Nightwing who was now smiling to the others as a massive amount of shadows consumed him and he was gone.
"Good luck," whispered Raven who was slightly afraid for Nightwing and of what some of the more magical sensing superheroes wouldn't get any ideas and attack him while he was there.
(A/N: Next chapter: Nightwing visits the Watchtoer and the welcome their is lss then friendly. Plus Shadogun gets to speak to the League. That's right Shadogun makes his presence felt. Review!)