Chapter 13

One More for the HIVE.

A new face sauntered down the halls of the H.I.V.E. academy. Students, both male and female, stopped cold in their daily routine to stare at the strange face. Then again, maybe it wasn't the face that they were staring at. The girl had a supermodel's figure, that she accentuated noticeably by letting her hips swing side to side as she traveled, but even that was not what held everyone's attention. A pair of enormous dragon-wings rose from her shoulders, and were wrapped around her petite body like a cape, and a thin, whip-like tail trailed out from under her skirt. Her swagger flipped the skirt from side to side, her tail lifting it, teasingly, with each step. Male students stared at the long legs and drifting skirt, female students stared in awe at the massive wings.

'Gawd people are easy to distract,' the girl thought to herself.

She walked into the main office, and straight into the headmasters office without so much as acknowledging the secretary.

"Why hello there," she purred, her sultry voice dripping in poison.

The headmaster let his gaze flow slowly up from the book in his hands, and over the firm, shapely body that stood in front of him. He stared for a moment, before recomposing himself. "And you are?" he hissed.

"Depends on who you think you are." she replied in her smooth voice.

"You know that there are students who have suffered fates far worse than death for walking in on me unannounced."

"Good think I'm not a student…yet."

Brother Blood looked up at the girl, who set herself upon the corner of his desk, her tail twitching playfully behind her. "And what makes you think that you would ever be accepted into a place like this."

Her tail slid across the top of his desk, clearing away a few papers, and dug out a folder from the mess. "I believe you already have my file," she purred, her tail flicking open the folder to show a picture of her face.

"So…you're Nightmare?"

She nodded, a temptress' smile on her face.

"I see…I shall have you shown to your quarters, and I do hope you enjoy your stay here."

Nightmare leaned forward, her tank top drooping dangerously. "I just hope you enjoy my presence," she whispered into his ear.

With that said, she pulled herself upright, slid to her feet, and walked towards the door. Her 'escort' stood outside the door waiting for her. The boy's jaw dropped significantly when he saw who he was to escort, and drooled as she hooked his shirt collar, dragging him along behind. "C'mon pet," she purred, "Why don't you show me to where I am to live."

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I stood in the middle of my morning meditation, balanced on one hand, high above the Titan's tower. The narrow antenna I perched on flexed in the wind, and I released my grip, falling back towards the tower. I hit feet first, and exploded into a flurry of blades, spinning, striking, dodging, blocking, and striking again. The wind whistled past my blades as I wove my deadly melody through the air. A click sounded off behind me, and I spun once more, ending with a single blade extended at full length at my side. I looked over to see a very nervous Raven standing beside and a bit behind me, my blade a mere few centimeters from her throat.

"Good…morning," she mumbled, pulled herself together and stepped around my outstretched blade. I didn't even twitch until she had already seated herself in her normal position.

Dropping my blades back to my side, I smiled gently over at where the dark sorceress sat. "Nice of you to join me this morning."

"Any reason you're up so early?"

I smiled, but shook my head. "Just a bit behind on my practice, and thought I'd get an early start today."

She rolled her eyes, and dropped into her meditation. Smiling, I stepped towards her, dropped into my own meditation, let my mind dance around her, soothing her, and pulled it back. The girl never so much as moved, but the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly. With a smile, I opened the rooftop door, and walked back into the tower.

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Nightmare stretched luxuriously. It had been a long time since she could sleep without being on the run, and she had enjoyed her new bed immensely. A knock on the door sounded, and she opened it to see Bumblebee standing there looking at her. She had met the girl the night before, and though she seemed like a bit to smart for her own good, she had been nice enough to sit and have dinner with her.

"Time for class," the dark skinned girl said with a smile.

Nightmare nodded, and followed her new "friend" to class, her wings stretched once, and her tail twitched uneasily. As confident of a face as she could put on, it still made her nervous every time she started up somewhere new. A few paces, though, and she had put her confidence back together, and once again had all the boys drooling over her as she walked past. Her tail twitched and swung to accentuate the sway of her hips, and she let her temptress' smile grace a few of the guys she walked past. Two of them, however, glanced her way, and then completely ignored her. One was a hulking brute, the other a dwarf of a child, but the lack of a glance from them ate at Nightmare like she didn't think was possible.

She was about halfway to where Bumblebee had told her that class was when she was roughly shoved into the wall. She looked up, a fury lighting her eyes, and stared straight into the eyes of a very muscular young man.

"And just what was that for?" she hissed.

"Well, let me see," the boy 'pretended' to ponder the question for a moment, bringing laughter from the crowd that had already gathered.

Nightmare's blood boiled.

"Oh! I know," he looked down at her with a wicked smile, "You're new, and I'm a senior class member here. You may have seduced the headmaster into letting you in here, but now you have to prove to me that you're worth it."

Nightmare pulled herself to her feet, swaying sensuously.

"Ya know, that might have worked on the headmaster, but I've seen your type before." the aggressor laughed, and turned to face the crowd. "She thinks she can beat me by swaggering her hips, and showing off her chest!"

The crowd roared, and he turned just in time to catch a lightning fast foot right in the side of his face. Blood flew from his mouth, splattering on the floor, and Nightmare stood, her temptress smile gracing the crowd, where he had stood only a moment before.

"You bitch." he growled, and pulled himself back to his feet. He lunged towards her, murder in his eyes.

Gracefully stepping aside, the crowd watched as Nightmare's tail snapped around his ankle like a whip, pulling his feet from under him. He hit the ground with a thump, and growled again. Rolling to his back, he slammed his fists into the ground with such force that it brought him back to a standing position. A growl escaped his mouth, and his entire skin seemed to change into a solid sheet of metal.

"And so we bring out what truly makes us powerful now, do we?" Nightmare purred.

"You've made a fool outta me enough already," the steel-clad boy spat. "You're gonna pay for that, NOW!"

Nightmare smiled back at the boy, and watched as he charged her, his steel legs pounding the ground, and closing the gap at an alarming rate. Everyone in the building gasped as she stood her ground, and slowly raised her arm.

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I gripped my head, and fell from the couch that I sat on, grabbing the attention of the rest of the Titans that sat around me. I knelt on the floor, my head throbbing. A trickle of blood flowed from my nose, matching a stream that flowed from both of my ears, staining my shirt. A silent scream escaped my lips, but I had no voice in which to put power behind it.

"Ryk!" Beast Boy had leapt from his chair, and was at my side in a heartbeat.

I moaned, gripped my head even tighter, fell to my side, and shook from where I lay, curled in the fetal position on the ground.

"RYK!"

My blood stained the floor, and I drifted into an unnatural darkness.

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Nightmare smirked, and unleashed her power. The steel-boy's pace slowed, and his eyes seemed to grow heavy. With barely two steps left before he reached the petite girl, he dropped at her feet, sleeping soundly.

The students stared at the new girl, and slowly an applause rose from the background. This was the way that a new student was accepted into the H.I.V.E., and she had just proved herself to them. Several of the more 'senior' students, stepped up, shook her hand, and led her the rest of her way to class.

Nightmare sat down about three rows back, and was surprised when the teacher walked straight up to her.

"Well, Nightmare," the wrinkled old woman crooned, "I hear that you have already met Steele, and I must say, congratulations on being accepted into the student body."

Another round of applause made its way from around the class, this one started by the teacher herself.

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I sat up on the ground, my ears still ringing from the assault that had just been laid on my head, but otherwise, no worse for the wear. Starfire was kneeling next to me, a damp rag in her hand. She reached out, and dabbed my forehead gently, wiping away an excess sweat that had built up there. I looked at her, and saw the concern in her eyes.

"How…how long was I out?" I asked her.

"About fifty seven Glorkthags," she answered. "or about twenty earth minutes."

I shook my head. What had just happened to me? It was some kind of feedback off of my telepathy, but I had never had anything like that happen to me before. Why now, and what caused it?

"I…thank you Star," I said, resting a firm hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what happened there."

"You scared us, Ryk. We didn't know how long you were going to be out. Everyone else is down in the medical ward, setting it up for you to stay there for a while."

Shaking my head, I responded. "There's no need for that, I'm fine now. I just don't know what came over me there." I looked down at my blood-stained shirt, and smirked. "Guess it's my turn to do laundry this time."

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Nightmare sat at the center of her table, eating her lunch. This time, instead of having Bumblebee sitting with her, and a few awkward glances, the table was packed, and she actually felt a part of the community she had gotten herself into. Talking, laughing, jeering and other various manners of communication echoed about the hall.

"So Nightmare," the little dwarf of a boy that had ignored her earlier was actually attempting to talk to her now.

Turning on her most seductive smile, she turned, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "Yes?"

A giggle escaped from the boy's mouth before he got it under control. "So when's your first spar?" he said, with a sly look on his face.

"Oh, I don't know," she purred, "I really am still trying to figure out the agenda around here."

The boy smirked. "Well, don't be surprised when I hand your ass to you this afternoon."

Nightmare's eyes widened. "This afternoon?"

"Yeah, four bells after lunch and you are mine. Don't think that you can just put me to sleep like you did Steele, either, I've already planned on that one."

Four bells after lunch…Nightmare quickly did the math in her head. They rang the bell every half an hour, so that must mean that she had two hours till her first official sparring match against this pipsqueak. Easy enough, he was hardly anything of any stature, and she knew her mind could easily overpower his, putting the boy to sleep, no matter what he said he had planned on beforehand.

The boy reached over, snagged the wrapped desert off of her tray, turned and marched off. "Irritating little midget," she spat under her breath.

The clock ticked slowly by, dragging out the hours until her sparring match. The clock seemed to laugh at her as she seethed from her seat in class. She was dying to teach a lesson to her little tormentor, and time seemed to know it. When the time finally came, she was shown down to a locker room where her combat outfit had already been set up for her, as she had requested. A pair of tight, silver pants, and silver spandex shirt were hung neatly in her locker. She pulled on her outfit, and admired the way she looked in the mirror. A line of black ran down the outside of her legs, and a black pair of intricate tribal patterns ran down the sleeves of a skin tight shirt that ended well above her midriff. Reaching behind her, she zipped up the custom made back of her suit to accommodate her wings. Her red wings wrapped themselves around her like a cape, her tail twitched ever so slightly, and she turned and headed out towards the door to the gym.

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I spun my body in a flurry, my blades dancing around me as I worked my way across the field beside the tower. Something wasn't right, though.

"What's wrong?"

I jabbed and parried the air a few more times in a blinding succession before I stopped, and looked at whoever this was that was interfering on my morning routine. My eyebrow raised slightly as I looked at the boy wonder, who's arms were crossed, his eyemask narrow.

"Don't look at me like that, you know what I mean. Your form is sloppy, and your movements waver in hesitation. That's not like you, and you know it. There's something on your mind isn't there."

I resumed my practice with a fury, a glint of red in the corner of my eye, my teeth grit. Through my efforts, however, my talent seemed to fade even farther, until I had tripped over my own feet, and was stumbling across the grass. Robin stood, patiently watching as I fell apart.

"Ryk…" he started, then thought better of it. With a flick of his wrist, his signature staff extended, and he spun it gracefully into fighting pose. "Spar with me."

With a throaty growl, I turned my unbridled anger towards the agile superhero, and fell towards him in a blaze of blades. Robin, as good as he was, could do nothing more than defend himself against my relentless attacks, but he seemed quite at ease as he did so. My movements became sloppy once more, and the boy took his chance. His defense turned into an awe inspiring blur of steel and cape fury. I blocked desperately, but for some reason could not seem to keep my attention on the fight. A shot broke through my defense, catching me hard in the stomach. I doubled over, only to see the his backswing coming up in a heavy uppercut at my face. I did nothing to protect myself, instead choosing to accept the pain.

……I shouldn't have……

WHAM

I did a complete flip backwards, and landed face down on the ground, blood trickling from my nose. I lay there in agony, but refused to let a sound escape my lips. Robin spun his staff once more, and collapsed it back, replacing it in his utility belt.

"You're off duty for the day." he snapped, and turned sharply back towards the Tower. "And I suggest you find out what's wrong with you, and fix it."

The boy wonder marched his way back into the tower, leaving me to bleed on my own there in the grass.

"Dude," Cyborg caught Robin as he walked in, "don't you think that was a little harsh?"

"I did what needed to be done, Cy."

"Duuude, you almost broke his nose."

"He normally would have pummeled me before I would have landed that. I left myself wide open on purpose, but he just stood there and took it. I don't know what's in to him today, but something had to snap him out of it. That boy takes pain like no one else, and if that's what works…well, that's what I'll use."

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I lay where I had been dropped, face down in the dirt, the taste of blood seeping into my mouth. What was wrong with me? I had SEEN the opening he had left in that last attack, I could have come back, beat him, destroyed him…killed him.

I stopped cold.

Killed him? Why was I even thinking that? What was wrong with me?

One thing still bothered me about what had just happened. I had seen the opening that he had left, but I had not felt it. I could always feel my opponents moves before they happened, but this fight was like fighting a ghost. I couldn't feel him…I couldn't…what the hell was wrong with me?

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Nightmare stood on the edge of the arena they called a gym. The student body had been assembled so that they could witness the first training battle of their new student, as was ritual. Snickers passed around the room, as the veteran students awaited the newbie's welcoming beating. It happened the same way every time, an overconfident new member would strut into the arena, blast around and show off their so called powers, and promptly be stomped by the other "new person" they were pitted against. Everyone knew that this first fight was to break the students in, and that the most talented students were put in as a seemingly nervous opponent. These fights were usually stopped at being just short of fatal, and often did their place to teach the new students their place in life.

Gizmo walked into the arena opposite of where Nightmare sat, and by the amount of cheers that he received, the girl figured he wasn't just some newbie they had pitted her against. She rolled her head from side to side, cracked her knuckles and stepped tentatively out on to the arena. A chorus of boos and cat calls hissed from the stands at her appearance, save one person. The Headmaster seemed very focused on the pattern that was emblazoned on each of her sleeves.

The rest of the crowd, however, could care less about the black pattern. They roared and chanted the name of Nightmare's opponent. Smirking ever so slightly, she stepped to the edge of the arena. The rules had been relatively simple, last one standing wins, no deathblow, and if the opponent tapped out, he must be granted his wish. Slowly, her wings spread from behind her, stretching to their full length. The 'ref' stepped to the middle of the arena.

"Ok you two, let's have a good fair…"his words were cut short as he dove out of the way as a barrage of missiles flew towards him.

Gizmo was laughing maniacally as he unleashed his salvo, the student body went wild. Even the ref cracked a smile. He was no stranger to the way that the students here worked, and who was he to get in the way of their antics.

Nightmare's eyes went wide as she stared at the incoming barraged of missiles, and at the last possible minute, finally spread her wings, and launched herself away from the imminent explosion. The crowd was not disappointed. The blossoming fireball from the convergence of Gizmo's salvo caught up quickly with the winged girl, and rag-dolled her body across the arena. Instead of crashing to the ground, however, her wings spread, steadied her flight, and with a powerful flap of her wings, she brought the explosive momentum around and aimed herself straight at the very much surprised little boy. His rocket pack fired, in a vain attempt to move him from the incoming missile of a girl's body, but he was to slow.

Thwap!

Nightmare plowed shoulder first into the pint sized villain's shoulder, barreling both herself and him across the room. The wall came at them quickly, and they both crashed into the reinforced glass. Nightmare smiled seductively into Gizmo's face before releasing him, and flapping silently back to halfway through the field.

Gizmo rocketed away from the wall, spitting explicit language and sprouting numerous laser cannons. His arsenal cut loose with wild abandon, and caught Nightmare off guard in it's ferocity. She instinctively wrapped her powerful wings around her body, using the heavy leather to protect herself from the superheated bursts. Problem was, she was now being upheld by Gizmo's constant barrage, and as soon as the long stream of bolts stopped, there was nothing holding her aloft anymore.

C-C-Crash!

The winged girl crashed to the ground, bouncing through a stack of weapons that had been set up for their use.

Ching

Nightmare's eyes bugged out as a razor sharp hand-axe stuck into the ground not two inches from her face

Ching

A second axe landed exactly opposite her head. A drop of sweat ran down her face, but was quickly replaced by a wicked smile. Rising quickly to her feet, she picked up the pair of axes, and spun them expertly in her hands, and took up a fighting position

Brother Blood half stood from his chair, staring at this development. "So it is true," he muttered, "light shines from the darkness, yet the light has gone out."