Drop Zone

Part 1

Disclaimer- Own nothing, only own Dawn, OC's and other plot changes.

Italics- telepathic communication

Dawn's POV

I was standing with the team in the main hanger room as Batman briefed us on our next mission. Bruce was facing the holographic computer screens; each filled with pictures and information on the island Santa Prisca.

I tried to pay attention to what Bruce was saying, but it was kind of difficult to stay focused with the loud crunching sound filling my ears. I turned my head and saw Wally smacking on a bag of potato chips. He stopped chewing when he felt my glare and looked up sheepishly "Sorry" he mouthed as he put the chips down.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Bruce as he continued to inform us about our first official mission.

"Santa Prisca. This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neosteroid. A strength enhancing drug sold under the street name Venom."

I watched the screens as a picture of the Santa Prisca factory popped up.

"Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in. This is a recon mission only, observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will. The plan requires two drop zones" a map with two blinking red dots popped up on the screen showing us where the two-drop zones were going to be.

"So who's in charge?" Robin asked trying to sound nonchalant. Batman turned away from the screens and faced the team. "Work that out between you" he answered before walking out of the room.

"Suit up everyone," I yelled as I flew to my room to put on my Shade uniform. Once everyone was suited up and ready to go we boarded the bioship and flew off towards Santa Prisca. For most of the trip we sat in silence, each of us mentally preparing for the mission ahead.

"I know Robin really wants to be leader, but I don't think he's ready to lead just yet. He's too young and this team is too new. It needs a leader who can help guide them but stay calm and rational despite the odds. As much as I want him to be Robin just isn't the right person for the job right now, maybe someday, but not now" I thought as I saw Santa Prisca forming in the distance.

"Drop zone A in 30" Megan said as we got closer to the first drop zone. Aqualad stood and his chair dissolved back into the floor. He pushed the symbol on his belt and switched his uniform to stealth mode. He turned to Megan and nodded "ready."

"Putting bioship in camouflage mode" she said as the bioship turned invisible.

Megan flew the bioship closer to the water and created a small hole in the floor just big enough for Aqualad to jump through and dive into the water. Megan closed the hole after Aqualad jumped out and we waited for him to give the all-clear signal.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop; move in," Aqualad said into the com's as Megan flew the bioship into the island. She hovered the bioship over the ground above our second drop zone.

"Drop zone B" she said removing her hands from the glowing orbs by her seat that steered the ship. Everyone stood up and just like Aqualad's our chairs dissolved back into the floor the minute we were no longer using them.

Megan lifted her hand and two hooks came out of the ceiling for Robin and KF. Wally pushed the lightening bolt logo on his chest changing his suit into stealth mode, a new feature we started using for our uniforms. It transformed from its original bright yellow and red into a dark black and grey. He turned to Megan and put his hands on his hips "how cool is this," he said trying to sound impressive.

Megan smiled at him "very impressive."

I watched as she closed her eyes and her clothes started to change from the feet up. She changed into a black body suit with a red X crossing her chest down to her hips were a thick red line wrapped around her hips like a belt. A blue hooded cape hung over her shoulders and fluttered down to slightly past her hips. KF stared at Megan as her uniform finished changing "Uh, that works too."

"Close your mouth and stop drooling KF or you'll catch flies" I smirked as he quickly snapped his mouth shut.

"Hey Supey, not to late to put on the new stealth tech" Wally said to Superboy who was wearing his usual outfit. A pair of dark and slightly baggy pants, a tight black shirt with the Superman logo on the chest, which showed off all of his muscles perfectly, and a pair of combat boots.

Superboy crossed his arms "no capes, no tights, no offense."

"It totally works for you" Megan said in a dreamy voice. Her eyes widened when she realized she'd said that aloud "in that you can totally do good work in those clothes" she said quickly giving Superboy an awkward thumbs up.

I smirked as I turned around to face the front of the bioship. "You've fallen for him hard my friend" I teased her through our personal mind link. She blushed and pulled down her hood turning herself invisible out of embarrassment. I laughed internally as KF and Robin used the hooks to silently lower themselves down to the ground while Megan and I floated down.

I looked up just in time to fly out-of-the-way as Superboy jumped out of the bioship. He landed roughly on the dirt creating a large crater in the ground and made a lot of noise.

However he must've liked it because he stood up proudly and smirked "knew I didn't need a line."

"And yet creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the covert," Robin whisper yelled as he picked himself off the ground. He'd fallen on the ground unceremoniously when he dove out-of-the-way to avoid getting crushed by SB. Megan spoke into her com and informed Aqualad on our progress since he hadn't met up with us yet, "Aqualad, drop B is go."

Aqualad's voice was heard in everyone's COM's "head to the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP."

"Roger that" Robin said as we ran into the jungle towards the factory. We walked through the jungle for a while when Superboy suddenly came to a screeching halt "did you hear that?" he asked.

I stopped and listened but didn't hear anything, even with my trained senses, but then again I didn't have super hearing like he did.

"Uh, no, wait is this a super hearing thing?" Wally asked.

"You do have great ears," Megan said dreamily.

I resisted the urge to face palm right then and there only because that would've made the situation even more awkward for her.

"We seriously need to work on your flirting skills," I told her through our mind link. It was then that I sensed Robin doing his disappearing act.

"No Robin not now" I tried to tell him before he left but he was already gone. I sighed and coursed a hand through my hair "and this is why he's not ready to be leader" I thought to myself as Wally turned around asking Robin a question before noticing he'd disappeared.

"Man I hate it when he does that" Wally complained. Aqualad's COM link turned on as he spoke to the group "Superboy, Kid, switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked."

KF switched settings on his goggles making them turn into an infrared scanner as we hid behind a log. "We got a squad of armed bozos incoming," Wally informed us looking through his goggles.

"Two squads" Superboy corrected using his infrared eyes "but they'll meet each other before they find us." Suddenly we heard the sound of gunshots coming from the two squads.

"No super hearing required now," I muttered.

"Swing wide, steer clear" Aqualad said through the COM's.

"Yeah, yeah as I soon as I find Rob" KF said running off before we could stop him.

"I swear one day those two are going to get themselves and us killed because of their stupid impulsiveness," I grumbled as the three of us quietly followed KF. We'd almost caught up with him when he tripped on some wet dirt and fell down a small hill landing in front of the two squads who were shooting at each other.

"Way to go KF you were able to single-handedly blow our cover and put yourself in a dangerous situation where you're going to get shot up all in just one move." I said into my com sarcastically so he would hear it "this just might be a new record for you."

When the two squads got over their initial shock they raised their guns and started shooting at KF. KF quickly got up and used his speed to dodge bullets and run behind a tree.

Superboy jumped out of the jungle and punched Bane, but Bane quickly recovered. He threw Superboy away from him and pinned him to the ground. Superboy struggled to escape his grip but was eventually able to grab a piece of his shirt before throwing him into a tree. I flew out of the woods and started fighting some of the men in red robes.

I lifted their guns out of their hands and threw them away so they couldn't shoot me. I lifted a boulder from the ground and placed it in front of me. I slid my hand over the top of the boulder using my earth powers to slice a piece off the top of the boulder in the form of a disk like frisbee throwing them at the men who were running at me. I continued to swipe my hands over the boulder knocking men down one by one hitting them with my rock disks. I saw Robin jump out of the trees and started fighting a group of robed men that were going towards KF. "What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert? Why didn't you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?" he yelled at the group knocking out the last of the goons.

KF ran up to a man who was sneaking towards Robin and kicked him in the chest knocking the wind out of him.

"That's what you were doing? Way to fill us in. We're not mind readers you know," he yelled back at Robin.

Megan flew over and threw a man into a tree as KF looked at her "Er, I'm not anyways."

"Well Shade should have known my plan, we do it all the time during patrol," Robin said as he flipped over a man and used a batarang to knock the gun out of his hands.

"I had a feeling that was what you were doing and I was going to tell the group when SOMEONE" I pointed accusingly at KF "decided to run off before I could tell the team and blew our cover." I threw one last rock disk before I used up the last of the boulder. I lifted the guns from the rest of the men's hands and threw them to the side out of their reach. I used my telekinesis to throw one of the goons into a tree knocking him out instantly.

I continued to fight the rest of the men when I noticed that I'd ventured too far from the rest of team. The goons were forcing me to move out of the team's sight during the fight.

I took down the last goon and looked around making sure they were all defeated before returning my hands to my sides. I was about to take a step forward and meet up with the rest of the team when I heard a soft click from behind me. I froze and slowly turned around to see a robed man pointing a gun at me. I couldn't make any sudden moves because I knew he'd shoot me if I did. I was trying to think of an escape plan when a shiny throwing star flew out of the jungle and knocked the gun out of the man's hands.

Before anyone could move a figure in a black suit ran out of the jungle and punched the man in the face before he could defend himself. The figure grabbed the unconscious man and dragged him over to the tree where his throwing star was imbedded and leaned the man against it. He pulled the throwing star from the trunk and held it in his hand.

I got into a fighting stance as he turned his head to look at me. After a second or two he slowly turned his body to face me while silently twirling the throwing star in his hand. He stood there motionless except for the constant twirling of his star, so I used this time to study him.

He looked like the ninja Snakeyes from my second favorite movie of all time G.I Joe. He had on a black mask that covered his entire face with a black visor covering the area where his eyes should be. They were designed so he could see out clearly, but no one could see in. His suit consisted of tight black pants and a long-sleeved muscle shirt that contained extra padding for protection against bullets and swords.

A holster for two small throwing knives was strapped around each of his thighs, positioned perfectly so he could quickly and easily reach them if he needed to. He wore black boots on his feet that were light so he could move quickly, but I could tell that if he kicked with the right amount of power, precision, and speed they could cause some serous damage.

I could tell that he was tall and muscular from the way his shirt clung to every one of his muscles. And even though his posture was somewhat relaxed at the moment I knew he could easily switch into attack mode at a moments notice. He looked big and powerful but his figure didn't look like an adult; he didn't look to be older than 16 or 17. As I evaluated him my eyes kept drawing back to one specific aspect about him, the two long katana swords holstered on this back. The hilts of the swords were black with a small white star on the end.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He ignored me and continued to twirl the throwing star in his hand like I wasn't there.

"What do you want?" I growled irritated by his silent treatment.

He stopped twirling his star and put it in an almost invisible pouch on his hip. He leaned against a tree and folded his arms.

"The names Black Blade. Who are you?" he asked me.

"Shade" I told him curtly.

If I had any doubts about his age before they were just thrown out the window. His voice was deep and commanding but it also had a soft undertone hidden deep within it that only a kid possessed. Maybe it was because he wasn't completely in fight mode so his voice wasn't as hard and tense as it usually would be.

I relaxed only slightly but kept my hands up not wanting to let my guard down completely.

"You know you basically just copied a character from G.I Joe BlackBlade, could you not think of anything original?"

"How do you know they didn't just copy me?" he said in a way that made me assume he was grinning. "You can relax you know, I'm not going to attack you. You're not a part of my mission therefore I see no reason in attacking" he said.

I didn't relax "What do you want?" I asked him again.

"I want nothing you have or can give me. I was on my own mission when I just so happened to come across your little battle."

"Why did you help me?" I asked letting my hands fall back to my sides but still watched him like a hawk.

"My, my, my just so full of questions aren't you" he pushed himself off the tree and walked towards me.

I lifted my hands again "don't take another step" I commanded, he'd already covered half the distance. He stopped walking and bent down picking up a small piece of metal that was slightly hidden in the dirt. Once he'd picked it up I could tell it was a small flash drive. The robed man must've dropped it when BlackBlade knocked him out.

"Like I said before I'm not here for you, I have my own mission to fulfill, plus you're not worth my time," he chuckled as he stood to full height again.

"I could easily take you down without breaking a sweat," I growled preparing for a fight.

"I highly doubt that. You may be skilled, but you're not that skilled," he said arrogantly.

This struck a nerve and I charged at him. He instantly switched from relaxed mode into fighting mode, his entire body tensed up and he positioned his feet farther apart so he was balanced and centered.

He easily dodged my attacks and caught my foot right before it kicked him in the face. He held my foot in the air as he leaned down. I struggled in his grip, but he held firm.

"Trust me when I say you do not want to make me angry" he hissed in my face, the visor of his mask only inches from mine "I will say this once and only once so listen closely. Leave now, before things get ugly, don't start things you can't finish" he pushed my foot away and stood back up straight as I regained my footing.

"I never start anything I can't finish, I always finish a fight," I hissed back running towards him again.

He quickly reached behind his back and pulled out his two swords placing them in front of him as he crouched slightly ready to pounce at a moments notice.

I lifted a boulder from the ground and threw it at him. He flipped over it and in the air used his sword to cleanly cut the rock in half without showing any difficulty. He landed on his feet and took off running.

He gracefully slashed his swords at me with speed that would make even Barry jealous. I flipped out his swords path dodging his attacks. He advanced swiping at me again, but this time he got close enough to kick me in the chest causing me to fly through the air. I managed to flip myself in the air so when I touched the earth again I skidded to a stop facing him.

"I'm amazed your blades didn't break or bend after cutting through a slab of rock that big like it was butter," I said to him slightly surprised at how strong his swords were.

"Arashikage steal doesn't break" he joked smirking behind his mask as he used Storm Shadow's line from G.I. Joe.

I rolled my eyes "Oh so you got jokes now."

"Who said I never had them."

"Shade" I heard Robin yell as he and the rest of the team came out of the trees behind me. They looked up at BlackBlade and quickly got into fighting positions.

BlackBlade laughed as he expertly twirled his blades in his hands. He stood up straight and held his swords out in front of him, pointing them at me.

"Are we done here Shade, because I have things to do? I'll admit it's been fun, I haven't had this much fun on a mission in a very long time, but alas I have a schedule to keep." He sheathed his swords back on his back.

"Who are you?" Aqualad asked.

"Like I told your friend here my name's BlackBlade and my fight isn't with you. I have more pressing matters to attend to so I don't plan on attacking you unless you attack me first, but rest assured if you do choose to attack it will end very badly…for you."

I signaled for the team not to engage and they stepped out of their fighting stances. I turned back to BlackBlade and placed my hands on my hips.

"You know you don't seem like a total bad guy to me so out of pure curiosity what's so important about that drive in your hand?" I asked trying to get some answers.

His mask moved slightly around his mouth area so I knew he was smiling "sadly for you Shade, that information is classified."

"You know I'll find out eventually," I said as he started to walk towards the jungle.

He laughed and looked over his shoulder "No you won't" he said confidently before slipping into the jungle and disappeared.

"Ok, can someone please explain who the big creepy ninja was," Wally asked.

"He saved my life," I told the group quietly.

"He saved me from one of the goons that managed to slip past me because he wanted a flash drive the man had on him. I wasn't planning on attacking him but he was just was so arrogant and cocky that he got under my skin. I don't know who he is, but I'm going to find out," I said looking at the trees were he disappeared.

I turned back to the group "We should get back to our original mission, we've wasted enough time already. I'm guessing you defeated all the goons in the field."

"They're all unconscious waiting to be tied up, we were going to do it earlier but then we noticed you'd disappeared and started to look for you" Robin explained as we walked over to the unconscious men and securely tied them to a tree with some rope Robin brought in his belt.

BlackBlade's POV

I ran swiftly through the jungle, flash drive in hand, thinking about the girl I'd just met.

"She looked so familiar, she looks kind of like…no I can't think about her it's to painful and I need to focus" I thought as I continued to run.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused on the mission at hand. I have to hand this flash drive over to the Light so they can continue with their plans, this is the only way I can earn their trust so I can get closer to him.

I growled at the very thought of the man I despised with all my being. "I swear one day I'm going to find you and then I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully," I hissed as I hopped into the one passenger airplane I arrived in. I started it up and flew off the island.

I looked at the flash drive in my hand and clenched my fist. Even though I tried very hard to distract myself my mind kept wondering back to the girl and why she looked so familiar.

"She looked so much like her…she even looked around the right age" I whispered. "Could it really be her, after all these years could it really be."

I don't know if that was her or not, but you can bet that I'm going to do everything and anything it takes to find out. I put the plane on autopilot and fell asleep so I'd be well rested and ready for anything when I faced The Light tomorrow.

And BlackBlade is finally introduced; I've been waiting to get him into the story. I absolutely love this character because he's the most fun to write. He's one of my favorite OC's in this story.

I decided to split Drop Zone into 2 parts instead of having one majorly long chapter. That way I could go into more detail on BlackBlade while still covering everything from the initial mission. Please review and tell me what you think of BlackBlade.