Whenever night falls on Asiatica, the citizens have a peculiar habit of hanging up their Ghost Lanterns. They say it wards off evil, keeps demons at bay, and allows them safe passage to the world of dreams.

However...that dark spring evening, the evil was here to stay, the demons were savage, and dreams faded to nightmares.

Jing kept her eyes low, her body slouched, and her form fuzzy.

She preferred the shadows, especially in times like this.

The lanterns stayed dark that night, stuffed in the back of dark closets. Jing hadn't gone to battle with the other Shue Nu, or Blood Women; she had stayed home to protect her sister. And she supposed it hadn't been a horrible decision after all.

She was small, slim, and sharp: the three S's that made a good ninja, a good Shue Nu. She was a fighter, a survivor. Her hair was short and black, eyes so dark that her pupils faded into her irises. Her waist was prim, her legs muscular, and her arms short. She almost missed the requirements to be a Shue Nu. But the Councilmen had thought it over, and decided she could grow yet.

She had set a new record; only fourteen, and one of the greatest warriors to ever fight darkness.

But now...

Now, she was struggling to survive.

"Hey! Hey, you."

She straightened, clenched her fists, and glared at the Cyclonian speaker.

"Yes?"

"What're you doing, this close to our camp?" He moved closer, hand on his weapon.

"I'm on my way home." Which was true...in a way.

"Well, take another road. Civilians aren't allowed here."

"Sorry, sir. Just...trying to get back to mama and my sister."

"Then GET," he barked. "Go, go, go."

Jing ran, sprinting into the darkness, dark eyes searching the landscape for any sign of a familiar face. Perhaps another Shue Nu, or a Sky Knight. But the Sky Knights had retreated, to who knows where, and the remaining Shue Nu had been rounded up and caged. Jing brushed her hair aside and crouched behind a wall, watching the Cyclonians move.

She was alone now.

She'd have to make this work...by herself.

"Dad?" Spark leaned against the wall and watched as her father looked over his new skimmer. He glanced up.

"Yes?"

"I...have something to tell you."

"What is it, hon?"

"You remember when they took me?"

"Yeah, I remember. What happened? You never told us much." He gripped her by the shoulders. "You have nightmares?"

"No, no, nothing like that. It's just...You see the terra? Burning?" He watched as tears began to well up. "It's...all my fault."

"Now how's that?" he said, trying to smile. "Spark, what's...what's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry, I led them here, I cracked, I cracked, I'm so...so..." She leaned against him, tears flying out of her eyes, her fists balled up against her chest...as if she was ashamed of leaning into him.

"Hey, hey. What happened?"

And slowly, painstakingly, she told him everything she remembered. "...and then there was a crystal. I can't remember anymore...I can't remember. I can't remember. I'm sorry, I told them."

"It's not your fault. Honey, it's NOT YOUR FAULT." He shook her.

"People are dying down there. People are dying...I could've prevented it." She pulled away. "Oh my God. I'm as good as a murderer." She ran out of the hanger bay, sobbing. And he could only watch her leave.

The night grew old. Ying found Aerrow in the helm.

"Hey. Sky Knight. We should get going."

"Right...Assemble your men. We'll meet you in the hanger bay with a plan."

Twenty minutes later, the hanger bay was once again cluttered with people. Piper pulled out her charts of the terra, spreading them out on the tiny work table.

"Okay. Here's my plan. Ying, you know the terra better than us. You'll take the ground force, if you don't mind."

"Of course not, little lady."

She glared at him. "I'm not little, and I'm not a lady, so you better stop calling me that unless you want my crystal staff up your butt hole."

"Er...Alright then."

"Now, we'll go from the air. Attack their camp. Stay away from the town, though. Ying, you and your men get to work freeing the prisoners. Fight only if absolutely necessary. Go in there, stay covert, we'll back you up as soon as you give us the signal."

"And what is the signal, li...er, I mean, ma'am?"

"This." She slapped a crystal into his hand. "Fire it from your sword. The light is infrared; we'll be able to see it with special glasses, but they won't. Now, turn off your engines and glide with the wind. Land on the mountains, make your way down. No moon, so try not to trip and...break something. Got it?"

This time, Ying merely nodded, for fear of saying something else to anger the...woman.

He and his men took off without a word, only a whisper of tires and a hiss of dead engines.

Aerrow watched, staring out the window, but his mind seemed to repel all information.

Spark had been questioned, and she had given up their location.

Why was he angry?

Why, why, why?

It wasn't her fault. He knew it wasn't. So why was he bitter? Was his anger towards Nightwing, or was it towards...his daughter?

He hated that possibility...

He pressed the goggles to his eyes and tried to forget.

"See anything yet?"

Finn stepped over, rubbing his eyes. Aerrow shrugged. "Nope."

"Hey, let me have a look."

Aerrow handed the goggles over. Finn put them on and looked out the window. "Nah. Nothing." He handed them back. "Have fun, man."

The night was silent. He waited, and waited, and waited...

Jing watched as the Cyclonians bedded down for the night...save one. He stood outside his tent, eyes on the sky.

The leader.

She raced across the field, her gait quick and rushed. She ran towards the mountains.

She looked up.

Black dots moving across the sky.

She smiled.

The Taoists had returned.