First off I'd like to welcome everyone to the second arc. Oath: Masks of lies and deception (The story name may actually be changed to this until this arc is completed.) Second off I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support and that means you random reader. Now before we begin I'd like for some of you to bow your heads and have a moment of silence. For what you ask? For all the fanfiction writers who died before they could finish their stories. The reason I ask this is because I read a special story that was absolutely stunning and around chapter five I read a tragic notice that the author had died and his brother was letting everyone know. It touched my heart it really did so I only have one last thing to say before we begin. Don't take life for granted; live each day like it's your last and finally live with no regrets. Now let's begin.

Richard stared at his hand and growled as he made a fist. He turned around and stared at the androids behind him.

"Computer, training level 9, sixteen enemies." Richard stated as he heard beeping.

"Team or solo exercise, Nightwing?" The computer asked him.

"Solo, aim to take advantage of all available openings." Richard stated getting into a fighting stance.

"Level 9. Enemies: Sixteen. Recommend group for the current exercise." The computer responded.

"Override code: birds use their wings to fly in the night." Richard replied waiting for the androids to come to life.

"Override accepted. Have a good exercise, Nightwing." The computer stated as the androids came to life and rushed at him.

Richard then began a very serious training session with only one thing in his mind; making his fighting style flawless. Richard dodged a fist from an android and kicked it in the head. It had been two months since Roy and Wally had started reconnecting with their mentors. They had started training with them again and Richard was actually happy for them. For everyday that they spent training with their former mentors, Wally and Roy would drag Richard to a fair or carnival or something of that sort. The only thing that had irritated him was the fact that his brothers were becoming better fighters while he was stuck behind.

In order to try and keep up with them he had been dedicating all his free time to training either his mind or body. Richard barely dodged a jab to the head only to receive a kick to abdomen. After about five minutes Richard was thoroughly exhausted but still held his ground. He had only managed to take down three robots but in that process he had received several bruises along his body.

"End current exercise and provide statistics from last five training sessions, Artm." Richard commanded as the androids fell dull.

"Results will be sent to main computer, is this correct?" The voice asked as Richard sighed.

"No send them to my personal wrist computer as usual, Artm." Richard said as he felt his wrist computer vibrate.

"You have acquired several bruises should I alert Red Arrow and Warp?" Artm asked as Richard shook his head.

"No, just open the med bay for me." Richard stated turning on his wrist computer. He looked at the results Artm had just sent him and smiled just slightly. Over the course of a month and a week he had managed to increase both his duration with the androids and how many he could take down. The first two weeks he could only last two minutes and didn't take any down. Two weeks after that he had slowly improved.

"Med bay is ready for use." Artm stated causing Richard to walk over to the small room they called the med bay. He took off his shirt and examined the bruises. He had a few on his arms and a big one on his chest. He carefully wrapped them just as the emergency buzzer went off. His eyes immediately went wide as he hurried up with the bandages. Once he was done he changed into his spare Nightwing uniform he kept in the med bay and dashed over to the computer.

"Artm give me a status report, ASAP!" Nightwing commanded completely serious. Though he didn't let it show very often, he was really happy he had created Artm. Artm stood for Automatic robotic technical mind but Artm for short. It was an A.I designed to help Oath in every way possible from training exercises to medical diagnoses.

"One criminal has broken into Star Labs and stolen a few highly lethal chemicals. Would you like me to call Warp and Red Arrow for assistance?" Artm answered and asked.

"No its just one criminal I can handle him." Nightwing said cracking his knuckles. "Prepare Wing cycle capture mode." Nightwing commanded turning away as Artm prepared his motorcycle. When he got to the garage his Wing cycle was already revved and ready to go. Nightwing hopped on and raced out to apprehend the criminal.

He slightly winced as he drove. He was glad that both Warp and RA were gone for the night, not only so he could go out on patrol in his current condition but because he got the training in. Roy had nearly killed him when he had caught him after his second training session and forbade him from doing it again. It was kind of hard for Roy to stop him seeing as how both Roy and Wally were gone on the same night every week. As he drove he remembered exactly what had happened.

Flash back:

Richard dodged one android and was kicked by another into the wall.

"Artm current assessment." Richard stated slowly getting back up.

"You are doing five percent better than last time and have lasted twenty seconds short of your previous session. Do you wish to continue?" Artm asked as Richard sighed. He knew Roy was coming home tonight while Wally stayed at his parents for the night. He knew Roy would kill him if he caught him doing this but against his instincts he smirked.

"Continue until I go a minute over my previous time then stop and prepare med bay." Richard stated as Artm acknowledged the command.

Just as Richard was about to round house kick an android a voice stopped him.

"Artm, emergency override code: An arrow covered with the red juice of life flies straight and true!" The voice called out as the androids all simultaneously deactivated.

"Crap." Richard muttered landing on the ground.

"Nice use of vocabulary." The voice stated as Richard turned to see Roy standing there with a worried look on his face.

"I'm screwed aren't I?" Richard asked as Roy looked to debate this in his head.

"Maybe you are, maybe you aren't." Roy riddled. "Artm, what was the level and number of opponents in Nightwings last training session?" Roy commanded crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah, I'm screwed." Richard muttered under his breath.

"Training level 9. Number of opponents sixteen." Artm responded as Roy sighed.

"Alright Richard, what's with the crazy training?" Roy asked as Richard looked at the ground and mumbled something. "Come on, let's sit on the couch then you can repeat what you just said only without the mumbling." Roy said walking over to the couch and taking a seat. Richard followed and did the same and sat across from Roy.

"Alright let's talk." Roy stated with a small smile. And so they did talk and surprisingly, Roy didn't kill Richard like he thought he would. Instead he only nodded and acknowledged the reason and only grounded him for a day from Oath business.

Flash back end.

Nightwing zoned back in once he saw the criminal on a roof top and shot his grappling hook and muttered something under his breath about not being able to try out his Wing cycles new capture mode. When he landed on the roof top the shadows concealed the figure just enough so Nightwing couldn't see his face. That didn't stop Nightwing from charging at the criminal even with his bruises. He attacked the criminal who simply dodged all of his attacks. "Damn it, hold still." Nightwing growled throwing a punch at the mysterious criminal.

The criminal simply side stepped him and kicked him to the side.

"Not bad." The criminal spoke softly as if evaluating Nightwing.

"You're pretty good yourself but let's see how you do against Electro-gloves!" Nightwing called out his hands now full of electricity. He rushed at the villain who continued to dodge effortlessly.

"Such unrefined talent." The criminal stated with a smirk. "Tell me boy, who's your mentor?" The villain asked as Nightwing kept his distance.

"Don't have one." Nightwing growled out as a flash of lightning went by and showed Nightwing the villain just for a few seconds.

He had an orange mask and wore what seemed to be a black jump suit strapped with silver armor and a gray utility belt around his chest.

"What a shame." The man stated as Nightwing searched his mind for the man's appearance until he finally recognized him. Nightwing, now knowing who he was up against, pondered if he should call RA or Warp for some back up. He decided against it because even a loss would make help him make progress.

Nightwing ran forwards and attempted to round house kick the villain who only ducked under it. When Nightwing landed he attempted to back hand the villain who simply grabbed his fist and pulled him close.

"That's such a shame. Unrefined talent such as yours could turn into something beautiful with the proper training." The villain began as another flash of lightning revealed the man's face.

"Without a mentor to help me improve I can only keep pushing my limits to get better. Batman taught me a lot and I hate to admit this is the only way I can get better without a mentor." Richard admitted to Roy.

"Become my apprentice and I will refine your talent until it is like one of most beautiful gems." The villain continued. "Join me Nightwing, allow me to become your mentor!" Slade finished with one more flash of lightning lighting up his mask. Nightwing could only stare at Slade as it began to rain.

Damn, 1500 words excluding my notes nice. Well people, here is a preview for this arc. The arc my fans and chosen and I wanted to do the most.

Oath: Mask of lies and deception- When Nightwing is offered a position under one of the greatest villains on the planet as an apprentice the remaining members of Oath are put between a rock and a hard place. Will their bond survive with a villain pulling from one side and a group of heroes pulling the other. Or will Oath finally crumble? Well you have to find out.

Also I was wondering if I should just make the different arcs different stories that way if people wanna read a certain arc they can or if they want to skip one they can. Well you guys decide. Oh yeah, almost forgot I'm thinking of adding a new member to Oath and here are the candidates.

Static Shock- Virgil Hawkins
Aqualad- Kaldur'ahm
Superboy- Connor Kent
Artemis- Artemis Croock
Miss Martian- M'gann
Blue Beetle- Jaime Reyes
Any other teenager hero that's in YJ you can think of?

I personally like the Blue Beetle or Static shock ideas so well thanks for reading another chapter of Oath and the first chapter in the Mask of lies and deceptions arc.