Chapter Seven: Night Shade
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The bowling alley was in an uproar as Shanice bowled yet another strike. Virgil and Richie were on the verge of tears as Frieda and Daisy hugged Shanice and cheered.
"What was that about beatings?" Daisy asked as she picked up her ball to bowl.
"This sucks, we should have asked Lux or Morgan to bowl with us." Richie frowned.
"And we would have said no, that's exploitation." Lux chimed as she sat down beside him.
Morgan was talking animatedly with Frieda but Lux knew her sister was really trying to find out more about Shanice. They had called Dr. Crane to let her know that the girl had been found. To say the scientist had been wildly ecstatic was an understatement. Apparently Shanice had cost a lot of money.
"Okay Shanice, if you make this strike you'll have a perfect score!" Frieda exclaimed, abandoning Morgan to cheer for Shanice.
The mentalist gestured for Lux to come to her and the pyro complied.
"I think this is enough proof for us to conclude that we've got our girl." Morgan sighed.
"Now the question is, how do we get to her? Crane wants her in the next 24 hours." Lux questioned.
"Well, thanks to me, I tore down her weak mental block and found out that she is the same person that She-Bang is." Morgan frowned. Lux could tell her sister was not at all happy about the assignment.
"It has to be done Morgan, there's no helping it. If you want, I'll take care of the whole thing." Lux assured her.
"I know Luxy, that doesn't it mean I have to like it though. And how do you plan on catching her?" Morgan inquired curiously.
Before Lux could answer, the bowling alley erupted into groans of defeat as Shanice missed her final strike, not getting a perfect score.
"Why'd she mess up?" Lux wondered, looking around for a possible cause.
She found her answer when she saw Shanice walking to two adults who looked less than happy. She assumed that they were Shanice's "parents."
"Come on, we need to go." Morgan whispered grabbing Lux's hand and they disappeared into the crowd.
--
James nearly had a heart attack when he saw his youngest daughter later that night. Lux looked up and smiled sheepishly at him as she sipped up her black long sleeved catsuit.
"Your hair!" He managed to gasp out.
"I had to dye it Daddy, the white hair is a dead giveaway." Lux explained. She unconsciously played with the strands of her temporarily black hair.
"And your eyes?" He went on.
"Also a dead-ringer, please try to understand. It's only for tonight anyway. Has Crane called?" Lux walked past him to where Morgan stood with a tiny Bluetooth.
"She's sending a team of agents, they should arrive by the time you have captured the target." James told her.
With the Bluetooth in her ear, Lux nodded to her sister and Morgan. Morgan put a hand on her shoulder.
"Be safe okay? And try not to give yourself away." The mentalist teased.
"I'll be back soon, don't worry." Lux said as she headed to the window James had opened for her.
Morgan watched as her sister descended to the ground and disappeared to into the shadows. It was times like these she understood why Lux was the one to undergo missions such as this one. She had enough control to keep from panicking when put into a dangerous situation. It was something Morgan still had to master but that didn't stop the mentalist from being extremely protective of the pyro. That would never change.
Miles away Lux stalked the alleyways of Dakota, her instincts expanded to find She-Bang who she knew was roaming the streets. An angry Virgil had given that away when he called to complain about how She-Bang had shown he and Gear up because she and Morgan had not been there. Lux had laughed, careful to not tell that the reason she couldn't be hero was because she was about to play villain for a few hours.
She spotted her target standing atop one of Dakota's hotels.
"Found her." She said, knowing Morgan could hear her in the Bluetooth.
"Good, I'll pinpoint your location and send the coordinates to Crane's team." Morgan responded.
Lux smirked as she smoothed a black mask over her face. As she scaled the building she was standing by she saw something she hadn't expected, Static had shown up.
"Shit." She hissed.
"What?" Morgan asked.
"Static's here." Lux told her.
"Dammit, just knock him out." Morgan sighed.
She didn't like that idea, Static was her friend. But it had to be done for the sake of a mission. Reaching the top of the building she pulled out two miniature bombs and sent them flying towards the two heroes. When they went off, Lux jumped from her position and landed in front of She-Bang.
"You're coming with me." She hissed as She-Bang charged at her.
She ducked as the female metahuman sent a roundhouse kick towards her torso. She swept her feet under She-Bang's, too fast for the girl to see, and knocked the hero off her feet. With Shanice down, Lux turned her attention to Static who was staring at her with a mixture of shock and anger in his eyes.
"Who are you?!" He demanded, sending a ball of electricity her way.
It was easily dodged as Lux's eyes began to glow and the ground beneath them began to shake. From it erupted something Lux hadn't seen in a while, black fire. As the street cracked open and the fire protruded from it Lux approached Static.
"The name's Night Shade." She smiled wickedly as she sent him flying backwards into a building.
With Static out of the way, Night Shade turned back to She-Bang just in time to stop the girl's latest attack. She-Bang shrieked in pain as Night Shade began to crush her fist.
"You're not supposed to be here, are you?" Night Shade asked.
"Wha? How do you know that?" She-Bang finally pulled away.
Night Shade just smiled as a knock out gas began to fill the female hero's lungs, lulling her to sleep.
"Good job Aeterna," One of the agents said as Night Shade shielded herself from the effects of the gas.
"No problem, now get out of here." She hissed and the agent quickly did what she was told.
While watching Shanice be taken away, Night Shade didn't notice Static behind her until he had slammed her into a wall, hand wrapped firmly around her neck.
"Where are they taking her?!" He questioned.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Night Shade leered.
Before he could answer she faded into shadow and disappeared. A few feet away, an agent stood with a cell phone.
"Mission was successful, Shanice has been captured. She will be put on a plane at dawn." He heard and his eyes widened. Shanice was in trouble.
--
Hours later Static, Gear, Nitrix, and Matrix were standing in Shanice's living room. Her mother had pulled out a picture to show them.
"She was created to be bio-weapon, the third one to exist." She explained.
"What happened to the other two?" Matrix asked, earning looks from her teammates.
"They were granted freedom. We sought the same for Shanice but those scientists…they refused. They told us they had more in mind for her." Shanice's father spat.
"We never understood why those two could be let go, one of them…was a monster." Nitrix tensed up, refusing the urge to hurt Shanice's parents.
"They only saw Shanice as a weapon, but to us, she was our baby. We couldn't let her stay and suffer like that." Her mother's voice became thick with remorse.
As the parents grieved, Matrix looked at Nitrix.
We made a mistake, Matrix told her sister.
We were doing our job. Do you want to go back?
No…but by keeping our freedom, we sacrificed someone else's. Nitrix closed her eyes, knowing her sister had a point.
"We'll get her back." The pyro assured them, "She'll be brought back to you."
"Thank you, you don't know how much this means to us." Shanice's mother smiled sadly.
"Let's go." Nitrix said turning and walking out.
The others followed after out as a truck pulled up in front of the house. Nitrix growled, they had said nothing about taking the girl's parents.
"Go, find her, I'll take of them." Static said, nodding to Nitrix.
"We'll need that truck though." Nitrix looked to Gear who nodded.
The men groaned as they clung to the truck, the police on their way to rescue them. Inside the truck Gear hacked into the computer to find out where Shanice is.
"The Dakota Airport, that's where she is," He told them.
He and Static watched as Nitrix exploded into the air. Matrix followed after her as they rushed to the airport. When they got there, the plane was taking off.
"We're not going to make it!" Gear yelled as he and Static finally caught up.
Nitrix and Matrix scoffed at him before they sped up, catching up to the plane. Gripping one the wings, Nitrix burned a hole inside the plan and she and Matrix climbed in. They nodded to Shanice who gasped at the sight of them.
"You okay?" Nitrix asked.
"Yea!" Shanice exclaimed as Matrix knocked out two of the guards approaching them.
Nitrix bent down and burned the cuffs of Shanice's wrists, freeing her. Shanice thanked her as they headed to the captain's bay and Nitrix sat down beside him.
"You've ten seconds," was all she had to say before the plane began to turn around.
Back on the ground Shanice ran and hugged her parents as the heroes watched. Static looked at Nitrix, which bothered the pyro.
"What?!" She demanded.
"What changed your mind? I thought you hated her." He inquired with a leery smirk on his face.
"I realized…she's just like me. That's all." Nitrix replied as Shanice walked over to them.
"Thank you guys, I owe you all my life." She said.
"At least now you'll be safe, right?" Matrix smiled.
"Yea, they're going to give us the best protection." Shanice replied before looking at Nitrix who was staring at her.
"Um…so bye." She said, backing away.
"You're not so bad…She-Bang." Nitrix smirked before steppig forward and offering Shanice her hand. Shanice grinned as she shook it.
"Thanks, maybe we can team up again sometime soon. I really want to get my hands on that girl, Night Shade." Nitrix frowned at the mention of her dark alter ego.
"Who knows, maybe we will." Static said as Shanice waved goodbye for the last time before getting into a car with her parents and being taken away.
"Night Shade?" Gear asked.
"The one who handed Shanice over to those guys, she puts the itch in bitch." Static answered.
"Crude Virgil, very crude and highly unnecessary." Nitrix commented before she took off.
"…She and Night Shade are two of a kind."
He had no idea.
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Done! I'm so excited! Now before you ask, Night Shade will have a few more appearances. She's basically the female equivalent to Red X from Teen Titans. Lux only moonlights as her when she needs to go undercover as a villain. I hope you guys like that idea. Anyways, I'm out.
Reviews please!