The Birth of Shadowdeath
Disclaimer- I don't own YJ, only own OC's and plot changes.
Italics- telepathic communication
David's POV
"So why am I the only own who can help us get mom back?" I asked as we walked through the halls.
After leaving the training room Shadow Strike and Danielle told me they had something they wanted to show me and as we walked I asked the question that's been on my mind for a while.
"In order to get Priscilla back Dawn has to willingly give her up. Priscilla can only be brought back if Dawn is forced to release and return her to the real world. Now that won't be easy since Dawn is easily one of the most powerful people in the world, but luckily for us I found a solution. About a year ago I uncovered another ancient power just as old as the crystal itself, but much more powerful. With this power we'll have the strength to restrain Dawn long enough to get her to free your mother" Shadow Strike explained as we stopped outside of a fully black painted door.
I raised an eyebrow at the comment and folded my arms across my chest "and what power would that be?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Shadow Strike suggested before swinging the door open with his right hand. He stepped back from the opening and guided his hand to point towards the door.
After a second of staring at the opening I walked through the door and saw a few major things. The first thing I noticed was a pedestal about as high as my chest with a glass case resting on it. Inside the case is a black crystal about the size of a banana floating in the air. The minute I set eyes on the crystal I felt its power pulling me closer like it wanted me to come to it. Not liking the urging feeling the crystal was making me feel I quickly looked away and focused on the second thing I noticed since it took up a majority of the room.
In the middle of the room is a large machine made out of steel and iron. A long rectangular control panel full of computers, switches, levers, and seats for about a dozen people was behind the machine pressed up as close as it could to the back wall. I believe the seats are for the people operating the strange machine.
In the middle of the machine is a large tube like thing that's wide enough to fit about two people inside and about as tall as two king sized beds vertically stacked on top of each other. Attached to the tube are a number of different parts that I couldn't even begin to describe nor did I want to.
I turned my attention away from the machine and back to the crystal when I continued to feel a strong pull in my chest drawing me to it. I walked up to the case and placed my hand on the glass feeling the power radiating from the small object like the heat coming from a small fire. For some reason it felt like the crystal was calling out to me urging me to touch it. I almost went through with the temptation and moved to lift the case, but the trance was broken by the sound of my father's voice.
"This is the dark crystal; the equal counterpart to the crystal within Dawn. I learned a long time ago that the only way to defeat power is with power, which is why the dark crystal is a valuable asset to us. This is where you come in. You're going to absorb its power and use it to free your mother" Shadow Strike declared and I continued to stare at the crystal as I thought about what he'd just said.
"You're obviously more qualified then I am for this sort of thing so why didn't you take the power instead and use it yourself. I'm a rookier and haven't been training for years like you have. Wouldn't it be wiser to trust this power with someone more experienced than me?" I asked thoughtfully.
"You actually think I placed you in all those self defense, karate, and fighting classes for nothing? Just because you didn't know doesn't mean you haven't been training. Ever since you were old enough to throw a punch I've been secretly training you to be a good fighter so you'd be ready when you learned the truth.
As for the question of why you, it's because like the crystal within Dawn the dark crystal only merges with certain people. Due to your mothers connection to the crystal you're in a unique position to attract the dark crystal's attention. Your connection draws the crystal to you making you the only one that can absorb its power" Shadow Strike explained and I still found it astonishing how he could remain calm and explain these things like he wasn't talking about ancient power and more like what to get at the grocery store.
"If I go through with this, you have to promise me something" I said as I forced myself to turn away from the dark crystal and face my father.
"You have to promise me that Dawn won't be harmed. I don't particularly like her at the moment because of our current predicament, but at the end of the day we're still friends and in honor of that friendship I don't want her harmed. I'll help you get her to release mom, but after that she walks free" I said firmly not leaving any room for argument.
I don't want Dawn to get hurt, I just want my mother back with as little difficulty as possible. Dawn might have my mother trapped inside her body, but she didn't really have a choice in the matter either. She was subjected to the will of the crystal just like my mother was so I couldn't blame her 100%.
"If she cooperates then I promise she won't be harmed" Shadow Strike promised and I nodded satisfied with his word.
"Then lets get this party started," I muttered and Danielle led me to the machine while Shadow Strike walked over to the control panel and started barking out orders to the various scientists and other personnel around the room. Everyone scrambled to his or her seats and the machine hummed to life as I stepped up to it and the scientists warmed it up. Roman was standing beside Shadow Strike issuing out orders alongside his friend.
A small panel in the tube slid up and I hesitated a few steps in front of it. I stared at the machine skeptically before finally mustering up the courage to step inside. The second I stepped inside the panel slid closed and I turned around to see Danielle giving me an encouraging nod. I saw the makings of a small smile behind her mask before she left to join my father.
A mechanical hand extended out of the machine as someone lifted the glass panel from over the dark crystal. When the glass case was removed the mechanical arm moved forward and carefully wrapped its fingerlike appendages around the crystal before pulling back towards the machine. I anxiously waited as the hand disappeared into the folds of the machine before reappearing at the top of my tube. The arm lowered itself into the tube through a small hole in the top until it was at my eye level and released the crystal. The crystal continued to float in the air once it was released and when it was no longer needed the robotic arm quickly folded back into the machine and the top of the tube closed off.
I ignored all of this as my eyes zeroed in on the crystal and I felt that familiar tugging, although now it was about a million times stronger. It's like the crystal sensed our close proximity and craved more.
"We're ready whenever you are David" I heard Shadow Strike say from behind the control panel, but I didn't turn my focus away from the crystal.
My eyes seemed to gloss over the longer I stared at it and as if I were in a trance I reached out to to grab the crystal. I stopped about a centimeter away from it as a faint whisper in my head told me not to touch it. I felt like a part of me knew I shouldn't grab the crystal even though a majority of my body told me to grasp it in my hands and never let go. In the end it was the side that wanted me to seize it that won the struggle and after a moments hesitation I grabbed the crystal from the air.
The second I grabbed it the crystal started to hum and glow brightly. The machine attached to the top of the tube whizzed as Shadow Strike gave the order to commence the plan. One of the scientists pushed the proper button and typed in the code to start up the machine.
The longer I held the crystal in my hand the more I could feel the energy pulsing through my body quickly overtaking my senses. The crystal accepted my body and began to merge with it. The merge was pain free until the tube I was in shined with light and a beam of energy shot out of the machines core hitting the top of my head as I started to merge with the crystal.
I screamed in pain as the beam caused the merge to go from effortlessly painless to extremely painful. The beam made me feel like the crystal's bond with my body was enhanced ten fold strengthening its control over me as well. The pain was unbearable and I collapsed to the floor as screams and shouts of pain escaped my throat. I tried to release the crystal and stop the pain, but my hand wasn't reacting to my command. It was like an invisible force was forcing my fingers to stay latched around the crystal despite the pain it's causing me.
Eventually, after the crystal glowed to maximum brightness, it shattered in my hands and the beam of energy stopped as the machine shut down. The crystal shards disappeared and dissolved when they hit the floor.
I sighed in relief as the pain stopped and I could breathe once again without sending waves of fire through my body. My body ached, but at the same time I felt…stronger then I've ever felt before. after a few minutes of recovering I groggily stood on my shaky legs and stumbled a few times before being able to properly stand on my own without the help of the tube's glass wall. The tube's panel door slid up and Danielle jogged over to help me stand, but when she touched my arm she hissed in pain and immediately withdrew her hand.
I gave her a confused look as she shook her trying to relieve of the pain.
"You're burning up," she grumbled under her breath quickly getting a lid on her emotions as she got over the pain in her hand.
I guess the transformation and extra-added energy from the machine made me warm to the touch for a while.
Shadow Strike walked out from behind the panel and made his way over to us. I didn't notice until it was too late, but as he was going around the panel he grabbed a small knife from his belt and when he had a clear shot he hurled the knife at my face. Without even thinking about it I immediately reacted on instinct.
I lifted my right hand and caught the knife just a few inches away from my face. What surprised me more than the fact that I actually managed to catch it was the fact that my hand was engulfed in a dark ball of energy when I caught it, and when I touched the knife it disintegrated into thin air leaving behind a small amount of residual ash particles.
What I also didn't notice was that when I used my powers for the first time my eyes darkened and the crystal seemed to gain control over my body without permission. What I didn't know at the time was that the crystal was slowly starting to gain control and corrupt me into a darker version of myself, because that's what the crystal does. What Shadow Strike failed to mention before was that the crystal's known for its ability to corrupt its host and transform them into an angrier, deadlier, more dangerous version of themselves. This crystal would make me the perfect weapon and soldier for my father to manipulate and utilize for his own twisted ways.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" I growled at my father as my anger suddenly flared up without me wanting it to. Of course I'm livid that he just threw a knife at my face, but at the same time I don't understand why I suddenly have the urge to snap his neck for the act.
I've never had the urge to hurt another human being until now and the thought scared me slightly. I quickly squashed the thought before my body could actually react to it.
Shadow Strike saw the way my eyes glossed over in darkness and he smiled a sinister grin as he looked down at my still glowing hand.
"Well it seems that the transformation was a success," he stated casually like he hadn't just tried to kill me a second ago.
"Yeah about that, what the heck was that energy beam for? I didn't need it to absorb the crystal's power and you could've warned me that it was going to feel like I was thrown into an erupting volcano" I hissed failing to suppress my highly pissed off attitude.
"David you need to calm down" Danielle ordered as she stepped out and stood beside my father. Her stance was relaxed and friendly, but her tone was the complete opposite.
Hearing her voice I reined in my anger and the darkness over my eyes slipped away.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me" I apologized while lifting a hand up to my head. I rubbed my temples as I suddenly got a splitting headache.
"Don't fight it" something dark and sinister whispered in the back of head so softly that I almost didn't hear it, but I shook my head silencing the voice and wrote it off as my mind playing tricks on me.
I sighed as the headache went away and I turned back to the two adults in front of me.
"The machine was used to enhance the connection between you and the crystal" Shadow Strike explained as he stepped forward and started circling me while evaluating me with his eyes.
"You would've bonded with the crystal either way, but the machine enhanced the bond making you more powerful then you would've been if you merged without it. You now have the powers of the crystal but multiplied times ten giving you access to powers you wouldn't have been able to tap into before."
"Well you could've at least warned me it was going to hurt like hell," I grumbled while sending him a nasty glare.
A chuckle in the corner of the room caused my eyes to divert from the covered eyes of my father and onto the person who laughed which was Roman.
"Then you probably wouldn't have accepted kid. It was better you didn't know" he claimed and I shrugged my shoulders.
"I guess you have a point," I muttered to myself before a thought occurred to me.
"You know I get that I have these…powers" I said as I stared at my hands like they were suddenly foreign objects "but how am I suppose to go up against trained fighters? I know a little self defense and combat techniques, but I'm no where near good enough to go head to head with a protégé of Batman who has years of experience on me."
"Son you're more prepared then you think. All of your fighting lessons were taught by trained undercover members of the BlackKnights who were ordered to make sure you were ready for this moment. Plus as an added bonus the crystals powers also enhanced your abilities, senses, instincts, and gave you extra combat knowledge" Shadow Strike revealed causing me to once again raise an eyebrow.
"But you're still going to need training. You might be good, but you're not that good" Roman said quickly crushing any joy I felt while simultaneously bringing my ego back down to normal levels.
"Which is exactly why you're going to immediately start training with Roman and Shadow" Shadow Strike announced and I tilted my head to the side as I mentally went through the list of people I met today trying to remember if I met someone named Shadow, but I don't remember us ever meeting.
"Uh whose Shadow?" I asked.
Roman clasped a hand on my shoulder and I resisted the urge to snap his fingers before flipping him over my shoulder.
"She's a bit of a handful, but you'll like her. Come on I'll show you how to get back to the training room where she's waiting for us and then we'll start whipping you into tip top shape" Roman insisted as he started to guide me back towards the door we came in.
I allowed him to guide me down the halls leaving my father and Danielle behind. When I was out of sight and earshot Danielle turned to her longtime leader.
"I wasn't the only one who noticed the darkness clouding his eyes when he used his powers right?" she asked as she stared at Shadow Strike trying to decipher his reaction by reading his body language.
"I saw it Red Blade" Shadow Strike assured her and Danielle raised an eyebrow.
"The powers going to consume him. The longer he's merged with the crystal the more he's going to be controlled by the darkness" Danielle warned her boss and she could tell he grinned behind his mask.
For the first time in forever she felt a hint of doubt about the morality of Shadow Strike's plan.
"Perfect" Shadow Strike smirked already forming a plan on how he was going to twist his son's perception into doing exactly what he said without question.
For the next week and a half I trained day and night with Roman, Shadow, and Danielle upon occasion.
When I first met Shadow she had her pets with her as usual and when I got close to them the two panthers by her side started to growl at me menacingly.
I snarled back at them without thinking about it and Shadow noticed that I wasn't afraid of her pets despite the fact that they were basically as big as me. She also picked up on the hesitant vibes she was getting from her companions. They could sense the power coursing through my veins and the darkness hidden inside it, and its because of this that they didn't trust me.
When Roman introduced us I sensed that she wasn't much of a talker or a people person around strangers because she barely said a word to me. After introducing me to her four companions she walked off to set the room up for our training session.
"Don't worry, she's always like that. Once she gets to know you she won't always look at you like she wants to slice your throat" Roman whispered in my ear before slapping my back playfully and following Shadow to prepare for training.
The reason Shadow's training me along with Roman instead of just Roman is because not only do i need someone to teach me how to fight I but also need someone to help me use my powers. Since Shadow is the highest trained superhuman in the BlackKnights and the most trusted by my father she was ordered back to headquarters for the time being to help me learn to control my newly found powers.
Over the next few days I went through the hardest physical and psychological training I've ever experienced in my entire life. I thought hard 5 hour football practice was strenuous, but that's child's play compared to this.
In the beginning Shadow and Roman started off by testing my powers and learning what I could do so they could use that to help me learn. From the various tests they performed we discovered that I have a multitude of powers.
One of my main powers is control over the shadows. I can control the shadows and darkness around me to become solid and form objects. Since I can make weapons with my powers I don't need to carry weapons with me. I can also fuse my power into objects that are already formed by touching them. If I touch a weapon and choose to fuse it with my powers it gets covered in a dark hue and becomes more powerful and stronger then it normally would.
I can form almost any type of handheld weapon I can think of, but the main weapons I tend to stick with are two small knives and a pair of longer blades that go down to my knees.
I can also create balls of black energy from my hands. They can either disintegrate things on contact or act like solid weapons and bulldoze through things.
My second major power is what I like to call shadow travel. I can turn into a shadow and travel through the shadows before popping up in another shadow anywhere I want as long as I know where I want to go. I have to have an idea of what the place looks like in order to get there so I couldn't just think of some random place, like the Justice League's headquarters for instance, and pop up there without knowing something about it. This ability allows me to get into small spaces without difficulty or travel from place to place quickly. As a bonus it also allows me to enter a place I call the shadow zone. I can put anything in the shadow zone except for people and hide it there for as long as I want. It's like a large bottomless backpack that only I can access. All I have to do in order to access it is throw my hand out and will the portal to the shadow zone to open up, and when it does open I can pull out anything I've ever placed inside by thinking about the object until it appears in my hand.
The crystal also gave me the ability to fly, minor super strength, and heightened my senses so they're better than the average human. My senses and strength aren't as good as Superman's, but they're very close.
Those are the powers I gained from the regular crystal absorption, but due to the added energy of the machine I also got a few upgrades.
One such upgrade is the ability to shoot red beams out of my eyes like lasers.
My instincts and combat skills were also improved transforming me into an A class fighter overnight; however like Roman said even though my skills improved immensely I still needed some proper training in order to become worthy of the BlackKnight status. If I'm going to be the son of the Knights glorious leader I'm gonna have to hold my own in a fight and become just as good as the four main leaders.
After he knew what I could do Roman started training me on how to fight with and without my powers. I came out of training everyday with a million bruises, cuts, aches, and sprains, but by the end of everyday I could sense my improvement. I learned things pretty quickly since my brain seemed to pick up on things quicker then it used to.
While Roman taught me how to fight, use weapons, and operate almost every single piece of technology in the base in the morning Shadow would take over in the evening for a totally different type of training.
She taught me how to use my powers and control them on command. Under her tutelage my powers grew stronger and I learned to fight while using my powers to my advantage. She taught me how to create objects with my mind and how to properly throw them with precision and power. She didn't know much about shadow travel, but together we learned how to control where and when I popped back into the real world. Using the shadow zone was also something new and unfamiliar to her that over time after numerous amount of fails we finally learned how to properly use.
As the days passed Shadow seemed to warm up to me; or as much as her cold and emotionless personality would allow her to. Her pets seemed to lose their hostility as well, but not their protectiveness. They're still extremely protective of her whenever I'm around, but now they don't growl at me or seem like they want to eat me every time we see each other.
I'll never admit it to anyone, but the male panther Erebus is definitely my favorite.
As my training became more rigorous and I started to use my power more often the crystal's influence over me started to grow. Of course I didn't realize this, but everyone else around me did. The only person who knew that this would eventually cause me to be extremely sensitive to suggestion and persuasion as long as it allowed me to use my powers was Shadow Strike himself, and he was determined to make sure it stayed that way.
After about two weeks of grueling training I arrived at the training room in sweats and a t shirt ready for another hard day of work, and was surprised when Roman and Shadow told me we weren't training today.
"Well you could've told me we had the day off before I dragged myself out of bed and flew all the way here" I deadpanned before leaning against the wall with my arms folded across my chest.
"We didn't say you came here for nothing David, we just said you weren't training today," Roman corrected and I tilted my head waiting for him to explain further.
"You've come far in the short amount of time you've had to prepare and you've been deemed ready to take the next step. If you're going to officially join us you're going to have to look the part" Shadow commented and after realizing what she meant the ends of my lips twitched in a small smirk.
"You mean the uniforms ready" I said enthusiastically and they nodded a yes.
Roman nodded with a solderish grin on his face while Shadow kept her face blank and emotionless as she remained seated on Erebus' back. Calathor her African crowned eagle and Xypher, her snake, were no where to be found leaving Erubus and Nyx the only animals in the room.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" I said as I lifted off the ground "lets go."
Over the past few days I've learned the entire layout of the base. That's why when they said my suit was ready I instantly knew where the suit was going to be and led the way to it.
In the back of the weapon's vault is a large locker room of sorts. Each field of study or practice in the BlackKnights organization has their own personal locker room close to where they work. This locker room is reserved for field agents and trainers only since its close to the weapons vault and training room. Shadow Strike doesn't have a locker since he has an office.
The locker room's common area is on the right when you first walk in. It's separated into two sections, one for boys and one for girls. Inside each section are rows of showers and bathrooms along with a room for each individual person. Everyone gets their own small room to hold their spare uniforms and extra weapons. Each room is different and personalized to meet each person's specific needs along with a few generic things that every room has.
A wall with a glass container for uniforms hidden inside it where everyone keeps their backup or regular uniforms when they're not being used is built into every container can only be accessed through a special passcode put in on the key panel in the wall.
All rooms also have a small section of their left wall cut out for a small bookshelf filled with deep rows like the ones in the weapons room. This shelf is intended to hold people's personal weapons for easy access if they have any. Other than those two things what people have in their room is up to them as long as it's approved by Roman for the boys and either Red Blade or Shadow for the has small rooms except for a few high-ranking agents and the leaders, but they're big enough to move around in.
The leaders and high ranked agents rooms, on the other hand, are much bigger and are more extravagant. They have the same suit container and weapon shelf like everyone else, but their rooms are about three times the size as everyone else's. From the few I've seen most of them have couch's or some other type of small furniture inside to rest on when they want to.
Another difference is that unlike the common area their rooms aren't separated by gender. Instead they're lined up in a row close to the front of the locker room. Danielle, Shadow, and Roman's rooms are side by side along with mine which was recently added, but the three other large rooms for the other high ranking members is separated from ours by leaving a space about as big as two rooms before the rest of the room's started up again. This separates the leaders from everyone else, even the big field agents.
The only other people with large rooms are Lady Smoke, Ghost, and a man named BlackBlade who I haven't met yet. I've heard a lot about him from Roman during training and whispers about him from some of the other new recruits, but I've never actually seen him before. Apparently he's the best agent in the place and practically a semi legend to these people.I've heard he's almost as good as the leaders so I'm eager to finally meet the legendary man and see what all the hype is about.
Anyways I floated over to my room and quickly placed my hand on the camouflaged scanner outside of the door. The scanner recognized my hand and the door unlocked a second later. The only other people who have access to my room are dad, Danielle, Roman, Shadow, and Dr. Janice. When the door unlocked I quickly slipped in and the two behind me followed suit.
So far my room's pretty plain with only a long black couch pushed back into the middle of the right wall and no weapons occupying my shelf. Since I didn't use weapons other than the ones I create I decided to use the shelf for another purpose. Instead of being stacked high with weapons my shelf is stacked high with food. The rows are filled with various protein bars, fruits that don't need to be refrigerated, and a handful of other quick snacks. There's also a large fridge next to the shelf stocked with waters, Gatorades, fruits, sandwiches, salads, and other foods that I like to eat.
When I walked in I was surprised to see Danielle sitting on my couch in her Red Blade uniform, but with the mask down revealing her entire face. She crossed her legs when we walked in and I greeted her with a curt nod before making my way to the back wall.
I quickly typed in the code so my wall open up and revealed my glass container, which had been empty until today. When the code was put in correctly a piece of the wall slide up and the glass container slid out of the wall revealing the new suit.
I quickly lifted my right hand and created a black wall across the room separating me from the others so I could change into my uniform without them seeing. Once I had the uniform on I made the wall disappear and turned around for everyone to see.
My uniform's a fully black two-piece suit consisting of a pair of tight black pants and a tight long-sleeved black shirt. Over the shirt is a form-fitting jacket made out of material that doesn't make a sound when I move unlike most jackets. The belt wrapped around my waist is used to hold the two long whips I found in my case as well. The whips are sleek black with pole like handles that have grips on them so I can clutch them in my hands without them feeling like they're going to slip. The whips themselves go down to a few inches above the floor and their material's thick but light. I could lash them out in a second without much difficulty.
Covering my feet area pair of fully black mid calf combat boots. My eyes are covered by a domino mask, but instead of the usual white and black mask my mask is fully black. The fact that its all back doesn't hinder my vision and from my side of the mask it doesn't seem like anythings covering my eyes. Now I don't know if that's because I can see better in the dark now because of my abilities or if the mask is made of some special material that allows the outside to be dark while not affecting the person looking through it.
"Looks good" Danielle complimented from the couch and I looked down at my uniform critically before thinking it wasn't quite finished yet.
"It's missing something," I whispered lowly before an idea came to mind.
I engulfed my hands in energy before forcing that energy to spread to the rest of my body. When my hands created balls of energy they came out looking like a dark, shadowy fire. The ends flickered and swirled around like the ball was a living roaring fire contained in the palm of my hand. Even though it resembled a fire the energy ball wasn't actually warm to the touch. The ball was actually extremely cold.
When the energy spread it outlined my body making it look like a small black fire was surrounding me. As the energy radiated around me I could feel my suit reacting to it. The suit started to glow and instead of the original fully black material red decals started to form on my shirt and pants. I don't know how I knew this, but when the symbols appeared I immediately knew they were symbols of power. The symbols were dark red and blended in well with the suit still giving it that dark and mysterious look, making it easy for me to blend in with the shadows while also giving it some extra flare and wow factor to it make it unique.
The energy not only changed my shirt and pants, but also changed my jacket as well. The material stayed the same, but unlike before the outside became a blend of dark red and black. Most of the jacket remained black but the sleeves now had small strips of red around them and the last two inches or so which were also dark red.
I nodded in satisfaction as the energy flickered away, but my uniform stayed permanently changed. Since my whips were attached to my hips when my suit changed they were also affected by the energy. They didn't change in size, but a few red symbols of power appeared on the handles. They glowed with energy and I could feel the connection they created with my powers. I don't know how I knew but I could sense them absorbing the energy transforming them into much more than jus regular whips.
Because they fused with my power they could grow as long as I wanted them before returning back to normal size. The extra power also added to their strength so they can break through concrete, buildings, bone, and other large things that ordinary whips couldn't. My whips became more lethal to my opponents as well because depending on how I wanted them to feel when the whips made contact with skin I could either make them extremely cold or hot to the touch.
My eyes flashed black again when the energy surrounded me, before quickly turning back to normal.
"Now it's perfect" I grinned before Roman walked over and circled me like a lion while evaluating the suit with his eyes. He poked and prodded the material with his hands testing it out before deeming it sufficient.
After everyone was satisfied with the suit we left the locker room and returned to the training room. For the first time since I walked through the door a week and a half ago I finally felt like an honorary member of the team. All the other times I came in for training I always felt out of place due to my attire, but now that I have a uniform like everyone else I feel a lot better.
"Now you just need a codename," Danielle reminded me and I paused having realized I haven't thought of a name before a familiar voice interrupted my train of thought
"He already has a codename," Shadow Strike cut in as he walked into the room with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Well would you mind telling the rest of us what it is then?" I asked impatiently and Shadow Strike gave me a look that I couldn't decipher before answering.
"Your new designation is Shadowdeath," he announced and I thought about the name before repeating it in my mind.
"Shadowdeath" I whispered softly trying the name on my tongue to get a feel for it. My eyes flashed black once again and stayed that way as I grinned.
"Shadowdeath, I like it!"
"Good" Shadow Strike said before folding his arms across his chest "because I have a mission for you."
Dawn's POV
"How much longer are we going to have to sit here" KF whined in my head for about the millionth time.
I resisted the urge to bang my head against the edge of the crate I was crouching on after hearing Wally ask the same annoying question once again.
"KF I swear if you ask that question one more time I'm going to pummel you into the ground" I growled in his head and he paused for a second before groaning in irritation.
"But we've been waiting for the past hour and there's still no activity. I'm ready for some action already," he grumbled and I could feel his anxiousness through the link.
"Hey Baywatch you ever heard of the word patience, maybe you should look it up and try it out for once" Artemis suggested, irritation highly evident in her voice.
"I know what patience is Arty and I've been patient, but after an hour of sitting on a cold storage crate doing nothing my patience is starting to run out" Wally snapped at the girl and Aqualad quickly cut in before the two could attack each other.
"Enough you two, this is not the time for your little squabbles. Focus" he snapped harshly causing everyone to bring their attention back to the matter at hand.
Wally and Artemis wisely stopped their bickering and the link fell into silence as everyone focused on the mission once again.
"Thank God" I whispered to myself thankful for the blissful silence before returning my eyes back to the ground.
Earlier this evening Batman sent the team on a mission to stop a large drug trade between two major drug cartels going down at the Gotham city docs. For the past couple of weeks a large drug ring has been selling a very deadly drug on the streets of not only Gotham, but a few other major cities as well. The faulty drug has already been the cause of about a hundred or so deaths and Batman, Robin, and I have been working non stop to figure out who was selling the drug and where it was coming from. A few days ago the drug's influence spread to my school and a small group of about 5 kids in my grade ended up going to the hospital when they took some after school for fun. Thankfully they didn't die, but they're still in the hospital recovering. Bruce was invested in finding this drug before, but when he realized the influence had spread to his two proteges schools he didn't leave his computer or stop following every lead possible for a full day and a half until he finally found some relevant information. He wasn't about to have his two kids impacted by this deadly drug, not on his watch. He managed to figure out where the drugs were coming from and discovered there was a major drop off tonight going down at the docs with all the major players participating.
Since the drop was going down on the outskirts of Gotham Bruce would've done it himself or with Robin and I during patrol, but a last minute League mission came up and he couldn't make it back in time. Instead he contacted the team and ordered us to investigate for him. He wanted us to gather as much information as possible, but when the main bosses arrived to take everyone down and stop the trade from happening. If this bust was thwarted the drugs would stop circling the streets since its chain of command would be broken and their supply of drugs destroyed.
However before he sent us out Bruce warned everyone that they better not do anything crazy in his city 'cause he'd know about it. He didn't allow people into his city very often and he only allowed it this time because the bust was time sensitive and he knew Robin and I were there to keep everyone in check.
The team arrived at the docs about an hour ago and because Robin and I knew Gotham the best Aqualad let us lead the way to the docs. We didn't take the bioship with us and instead zeta tubed to Gotham City before hopping from one rooftop to the next with Robin and I leading the way. When we finally reached the docs about ten minutes after teleporting into Gotham Aqualad asked Robin and I for input on the plan since we were the experts on Gotham's layout and criminals. Between the three of us we came up with a battle strategy before Aqualad issued out the orders. We split into two different teams and both teams were told to wait on the top of some tall crates directly next to the docs. The crates were perfect hiding spots because even though they're couldn't see us if we stayed low due to where the crates were positioned we could still see them clearly.
Since there are eight people on the team we were split into groups of 4. Group one was Robin, Zatanna, Wally, and I while group two was Megan, Kaldur, Conner, and Artemis.
When we arrived at the docs and canvased the situation there was a large group of men, about 18 or so, with machine guns standing guard by a large truck full of what I assume were the drugs. A man dressed in a fancy black suit with a dark blue tie was sitting on a large box next to the truck with a small handgun resting in his lap, and from not only his appearance but from the file Batman gave us I knew he was one of the leaders. For the next hour or so the team sat in silence waiting for the other boss and his men to make an appearance, but in that time I could tell Wally and a few of the others were starting to get impatient. They weren't used to long stake outs like Robin and I. To them this was an excruciatingly long time to wait for someone, but for us this was child's play compared to the 6 hour or longer stake outs we've been on with Batman during patrol.
"A group of cars are approaching" Superboy informed the team as he heard them with his super hearing.
And true enough about a minute after his warning a group of black cars did in fact drive up and park on the opposite side of the docs. There were about 4 cars in the group and out of those cars about 25 men came out carrying large machine guns of their own. One of the men opened up the passenger door for the car in the front and another cleanly clothed man stepped. He had on a nice suit like the other boss and clutched in his hand was a large brief case that just screamed illegal drug moneybag.
I narrowed my eyes as the man straightened his jacket before walking forward flanked by his 25-armed guns. The drug dealer on the other side stood from his crate and gave his men a hand signal and two men standing by the truck undid the lock and lifted the back revealing the large boxes full of drugs inside.
"Everyone get ready to attack. Remember to keep this contained, and above all those two men do not get away nor does that truck" Aqualad ordered and everyone gave some type of verbal agreement through the link.
I prepared myself to jump off of the crate when Aqualad gave the order and the rest of my team shifted as well. Artemis reached back and pulled out an arrow from her quiver before stringing it in her bow while Robin pulled out two batarangs from his belt as we all waited for Aqualad to give the order.
"NOW!" Aqualad ordered and everyone immediately moved to action.
We all jumped off the crates and the two teams surrounded the large group of criminals. My group came up behind the newest arrivals while Aqualad's team dropped down behind the men who've been at the doc since we got here, successfully trapping them all on both sides.
The second we touched the ground we attacked not wanting to give the men much time to prepare themselves. Robin released his signature cackle as he threw his batarangs at the closest thug knocking the gun out of his hand before springing forward to subdue him.
"It's the bat brats!" one of the bosses yelled before the men on our side pointed their guns at us. The men on Aqualad's side were aiming at Aqualad's team succeeding in splitting the two groups attentions like we planned. This cut their forces in half and weakened their chance of winning.
"Kill them and their friends!" The leader barked and the men quickly moved to follow their bosses' orders.
I flew forward and dodged the bullets aimed for my chest as the men gripped their triggers releasing a shower of bullets. I tore the gun out of one man's hands and he quickly went down as I delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his head knocking him out.
I noticed the rest of the team engaging the enemy as well out of the corner of my eye, but I continued to keep my main focus on the men around me. After taking down the first goon three more moved in to take his place. I lifted a piece of the docs rock floor into the air shielding myself from the shower of bullets they sent my way before thrusting my other hand forward and ripping the guns out of their hands with my telekinesis. The minute the guns were no longer a problem I let the rock drop to the floor and ran towards the men.
The three converged on me simultaneously thinking their numbers would give them an advantage, but I expected that.
One swung at me with his beefy hands and I dodged the attack before kneeing him in the stomach causing him to haunch over gasping for breath while I moved on to deal with his two friends. One pulled out a switchblade from his pocket and swung for my neck, but I leaned back like I was playing a game of limbo allowing the knife to harmlessly swing over my face. Once the knife passed I popped back up and kicked the man in the knee causing him to fall to the floor with a scream while his friend attacked me.
I dropped down low and spun tripped him up with my foot before pouncing on him and delivering a hard punch to the face knocking him out. As his head lolled to the side I turned back to his buddy who was struggling to stand since I dislocated his knee, and before he could block my fist I sprang forward and punched him in the face knocking him out just like his buddy.
I was about to turn around when I felt strong arms wrap around my arms and torso as the man I'd kicked in the gut earlier finally recovered and sprung up behind me. He lifted me off the ground and that was ultimately a big mistake on his part. When he lifted me off the ground I brought my legs up and shifted my momentum backwards twisting out of his grip as he fell back while I did a roll and landed on my feet. I quickly stepped forward and kicked him in the head knocking his lights out before moving on to the next group of thugs.
I ran towards one that was charging for me and just before I reached him I slid under his legs before flipping over onto my stomach and using my wind powers to trip him up. He stumbled and started falling to the floor, and as he fell Robin swung over on his grappling hook and kicked him in the head knocking a few of the man's teeth out as he collapsed.
Robin swung in next to me and I grinned at him before we attacked the rest of the men around us. While I was dealing with the man from earlier Wally went around and collected all the guns before tossing them into the harbor so being hit by a stray bullet was no longer an issue.
Robin and I worked as a team to take down 6 more men before the sound of fighting finally stopped. I looked up to see that all of the men were unconscious and unarmed. The truck full of drugs was still here along with the two bosses and the briefcase full of money. Even though there were a lot of men to take down they were relatively easy to defeat and I gave Robin a high five as we celebrated another successful mission.
"Well that was totally awesome" Wally grinned as he ran over and wrapped an arm around both of our shoulders. I rolled my eyes but allowed him to keep his arm around my shoulder.
"Was that enough action for you?" I asked and Wally pretended to think about it for a minute before answering "yep, totally worth the wait."
I laughed and gently tossed his arm off my shoulder before helping the team cuff all the unconscious men.
"Now all there's left to do is call the police to pick these guys up, radio Bats and tell him the mission was a success, then head back to base and chill. Maybe we can stop by Aunt Sue's house while we're here" Robin said and I was about to agree when I felt something strange. It's like my body suddenly went on high alert, but not from my hero instincts but rather what I've come to call my crystal instincts. I got a feeling that we aren't alone and something else is out, something extremely bad.
I turned and looked around the doc searching for anyone hiding in the shadows. I didn't see anything but my eyes went wide as I felt something coming towards us.
"Robin look out!" I yelled causing said boy to duck on instinct just in time to dodge some type of dark energy orb. The hair on the back of my neck bristled as I felt a strong powerful force in the area.
The team suddenly went back into fighting stances and faced the spot where the orb came from. My hands clenched into fists as I heard a creepy laugh originating from the darkness and the sound of someone clapping. A boy who seemed to be around Wally's age stepped out of the shadows while clapping his hands. He had on a black two piece uniform with red decals of strange symbols on his pants and shirt. His shirt was slightly covered by his red and black unzipped jacket and covering his eyes was a fully black domino mask. A pair of menacing black whips hung from his belt and the amused grin plastered on his face caused a prickle to run down my spine.
"Impressive. I have to admit I've heard a lot about your talents, but seeing them in person is a totally different story" the mysterious guy fake gushed and I narrowed my eyes at him.
As he talked I noticed the swarm of men and women stepping out of the shadows until we were completely surrounded on all sides. The team quickly stood back-to-back forming a small circle so we could see all angles and not get caught by surprise.
My eyes widened even more behind my mask when I saw their familiar uniforms. My brain reverted back to that night all those years ago when men in red and black bodysuits stormed my house and killed my family.
"BlackKnights" I whispered aloud and Robin must've heard me because he tensed up when the words left my mouth.
Most of the goons had on the generic red and black suits, but some had their own uniforms designed specifically for themselves. I guess depending on what you did and your ranking determined it you could have your our own suit or not.
"That's a lot of men" Artemis stated through the link as she strung an arrow in her bow.
"By my count there's about 50" Robin added as he mentally counted how many men there were, not including the boy in front of us.
"Who are you?" Aqualad asked the boy since he was on my left while Robin was on my right.
"Oh how rude of me I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Shadowdeath and Shadow Strike sends his greetings Shade. He wished he could've come in person, but he had other matters to attend to," Shadowdeath teased with a wicked smirk.
"So he sent his lap dog to do his dirty work for him" I taunted back causing the small grin on his face to quickly slip away.
A girl a lot older than us appeared on Shadowdeath's left and although I've never seen her in person before I knew who she was from the information Jake gave us earlier this week after his "recruitment" into the BlackKnights.
The woman is one of the BlackKnights' leaders, a.k.a. Red Blade.
"Don't taunt them Shadowdeath. We have work to do and I'd like to get it over with as soon as possible" Red Blade said while twirling one of her many red knives in her perfectly manicured hand.
I growled as Shadowdeath sighed in submission and shrugged nonchalantly before pulling the whips from his belt causing them to hum to life when he touched them.
Ever since he arrived Shadowdeath's been sending me so many bad vibes, and not the usual vibes I get when I'm about to fight a bad guy. It's more like my whole being is repelled by the boy, and I suddenly felt the urge to make sure he disappeared from the face of the earth. I've never felt so many bad vibes from a person before; not even the Joker sends this many red flags and trust me when I say that's hard to beat.
At the same time however something about the boy seemed vaguely…familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but its like I know him from somewhere. I felt a sense of confliction inside as my body told me to take him down hard while a small part of my brain's telling me that I don't want to hurt the boy for some reason.
The part that suggested I not fight the boy quickly flew from my mind when Shadowdeath ordered his men to attack before saying "but leave Shade to me. She's mine," he growled before flicking his whips in my direction.
Hearing their leaders orders the BlackKnight's swarmed the team jumping down from buildings or running forward from the floor depending on where they were standing beforehand. I noticed Red Blade ran for Robin like a women on a mission before being forced to return my attention back to my opponent.
I dodged the whip as it slashed for my arm, but was surprised when the whip grew longer as it sprang forward and broke through parts of the floor when it touched the ground. When the first whip missed its target Shadowdeath quickly brought up the other one and I slid under it on my knees before standing once again and running for the boy.
I moved to kick him in the side, but he brought up his arm to block my attack before trying to elbow me in the gut. I moved out his reach then tried to punch him in the chin, but he drought up his whip to block the attack and when my fist made contact I yelped in pain at the unsuspected affect.
I pulled my arm back and clutched it close to my chest as I flew out of Shadowdeath's reach. The feeling spread throughout my whole arm until it felt like it'd been hit by liquid nitrogen. It hurt like hell, and the energy surrounding the whip felt so…wrong.
It was like the mere touch of it caused me more pain then anything I've ever felt before, and when you've received a few hits from a Lord of chaos that's saying something.
"Quite a nasty shock of cold isn't it" Shadowdeath stated as I shook my arm to regain feeling.
He sheathed his whips and they shrunk back to normal size when he removed his hands from the handles. He then engulfed his hands in an almost living and flickering mass of black energy that just radiated evilness.
"Two can play at that game," I hissed before tapping into my crystal power.
Ever since the Klarion split the world into two dimensions mission Batman kept his promise to Priscilla and we've been training with my crystal powers everyday for hours. We've made some great progress and I've learned to tap into parts of it on command instead of it taking control when I got emotional. I haven't learned to use all of the crystal's power on command yet, but I can use some of it.
My hands glowed bright blue and I hurled a ball of energy at Shadowdeath. He spread his hands and created a thick black shield protecting him from the attack. I hurled ball after ball and every time he either blocked or dodged them.
He then lifted off the ground and flew after me while throwing energy balls of his own.
"Oh of course he can fly too, just great" I complained to myself as I started to fly away while dodging his attacks. After a while I flipped onto my back so I could throw energy balls at him as well.
After a long game of cat and mouse he stopped flying forward and brought his hands side by side before thrusting them out with all of his strength creating a large beam of black energy. His eyes started to glow black behind his mask shining through the dark material as the beam aimed for me. My body reacted on instinct and I didn't fight it when I went into crystal mode, it wasn't full crystal mode but very close. My eyes and body started to glow when I threw out my hands and created my own large beam of blue energy.
The two beams met in the middle creating a large seismic wave of wind knocking some of the people on the ground to the floor. I gritted my teeth as the two beams fought to overpower the other. Shadowdeath and I pushed against each other causing the beams to move back and forth as one of us would gain some ground before quickly being pushed back.
The wind around us started to stir as everything around us reacted to our energy battle. Things started to float in the air and not because of my telekinetic abilities, but because of the clash of raw energies.
The others on the floor looked up at us in surprise for a half a second before being forced to return to their own fights on the ground. The team was holding their own, but from using up a large portion of energy on the earlier fight and having to put more effort into going against the extremely skilled fighters of the BlackKnights it was starting to become a long and tiring battle. It didn't help that the wind was howling like a hurricane and moving things around due to my fight in the air or the fact that the elements around us were going crazy as they reacted to the energy battle.
Shadowdeath and I pushed against each other for so long and so hard that the beams built up so much energy around the spot where they clashed causing an explosion in the middle before either of us could overpower the other. The explosion was massive and sent out a ripple of residual energy knocking us both to the ground.
The others yelped as the energy hit them as well throwing up rocks, crates, and parts of the water in the docs when the energy hit.
I hit the ground hard and groaned when my body made contact creating a large crater in the ground. Shadowdeath did the same, but when we finally crawled out of our craters we glared at each other still in crystal mode. We flew at each other again and with our hands still glowing with energy exchanged a flurry of punches, kicks, and jabs.
"You're a fake you know that Shade! You pretend to be a hero and save people to make up for your past wrong doings, but I know your true colors. You're just as evil as the criminals you claim to protect the world from" Shadowdeath growled as he managed to slip past my defenses and get in a good punch to my left ribs. I hissed before delivering an equally painful knee to the gut.
He grunted in pain but didn't go down like I wanted him to. He quickly regained his breath and recommenced his attack a second later.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" I snarled as I dodged one of his kicks and flipped out of the path of his fist as it aimed for my cheek.
As we fought I noticed we were in crystal mode, but in the back of my mind I knew we weren't in full crystal mode. We both managed to tap into our powers, but not fully. I knew if we went full mode right now we'd probably destroy the whole city in our fight and we both seemed to know that.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" he howled before hurling an energy ball at me which I swatted away causing it to smash into the side of a building and break off a piece of the roof. Bricks and cement rained down and a few of Shadowdeath's men had to scramble out of the way to avoid getting hit.
"You might be able to fool everyone else, but I know you. I know that you just love to rip families apart and cause pain wherever you go" he accused and the accusation pissed me off even more then I already was.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I screamed as I ran forward and we smashed our hands together wrapping our fingers around each other. I firmly planted my feet on the ground and the rocks underneath my feet reacted to my command by swallowing up my feet so I wouldn't move. Shadowdeath followed my lead and commanded the shadows to become solid and wrap around his feet latching him to the ground as well.
Sweat dripped down both of our foreheads and our breathing was becoming ragged with exhaustion, but neither of us was willing to give up.
His skin felt like ice on mine and when we touched my skin crawled in repulsion, but it couldn't be avoided. The attachment was causing me slight pain and it seems like it was the same for him because his mouth twitched in discomfort when our hands collided. It's like our bodies were naturally apposed to each other and desperately wanted us to get as far away from the other as possible. On the other hand it also felt like we wanted to completely wipe out the others existence like we've been mortal enemies forever and not just for the past 15 minutes.
Shadowdeath leaned forward and whispered to me as the muscles in my arms strained against him.
"You know I thought we were close friends. I trusted you and at one point I probably even liked you more than a friend, but you were just playing me the whole time. Getting inside my head and twisting me around your little finger like a pawn" he hissed and again I have no idea what he's talking about.
"I think you've got the wrong girl because I've never met you before in my life! I don't know who you are and I definitely don't rip families apart, that talent belongs to your ass of a leader Shadow Strike" I snarled and his eyes blazed with anger before his hands clenched around mine so hard I thought he was going to break bone.
"LIAR!" he howled in fury and before I could react the shadows around his feet disappeared and he lunged forward wrapping his hand around my neck. I was so surprised by the attack that the rocks around my feet keeping me in place released and I fell back onto the ground with a groan.
Shadowdeath was quick to straddle my waist and the orb around his right hand disappeared before quickly being replaced by a small black knife he formed out of a nearby shadow.
The knock to the ground and the left hand wrapped around my neck with the the black energy surrounding it caused me to go out of crystal mode. I felt my energy drain as the boost of power slipped away, but thankfully Shadowdeath seemed to go out of crystal mode as well seeing as he had the advantage and he knew it.
I tried to squirm out of his hold, but he flicked his wrist and I felt something wrap around my wrists, upper arms, and feet keeping me pinned to the floor. I flicked my eyes down at my hands and saw that he'd commanded the shadows to wrap around my body like solid clamps preventing me from fighting him off.
It didn't stop me from struggling, but I couldn't do much to get him off of me.
He leaned down and the hand wrapped around my neck continued to stay there but was no longer surrounded by black energy as he brought his hand with the knife down with him.
"SHADE!" I heard someone yell and I turned to my left to see the team struggling to get to me, but the BlackKnights were doing well in keeping them back. No matter how hard they fought they weren't making progress fast enough.
Shadowdeath roughly grabbed my chin with his knife hand causing the blade to graze my check and I stopped moving so it wouldn't get sliced open.
He squeezed down on my chin and turned me away from the team and back onto his face.
"You know it's rude not to look at someone when they're talking to you" he whispered and I sneered at him.
I could already feel the bruises forming around my chin from his grip and I gave him the fiercest glare I've ever made as he moved closer. The hand around my neck tightened making it harder for me to breathe as he glided the knife down my cheek tauntingly, but not enough to actually pierce skin.
"You're powerful I'll give you that, but not powerful enough. Your crystal power is nothing compared to mine," he claimed as he hovered over me.
He was so close his nose almost touched mine. Like when I was back at Cadmus I felt a shiver run down my spine as I felt his breathe hit my face. I tried to hide the surprise I felt when he said there was another crystal, but I guess I didn't hide it well enough because he chuckled lightly.
"Oh Dawn don't tell me you thought you were the only one? Not as special as you thought huh" he said and again I was surprised he knew my name.
"And yes I know your name Dawn; known for a while actually. Like I said we were friends once" he explained probably knowing I was surprised to hear he knew my name as well.
"Who are you?" I asked staring him straight in the mask trying to see if I could see into it, but unfortunately I couldn't.
He laughed again causing my skin to prickle as I again felt that nagging feeling that we knew each other.
"I know I made my voice sound a little different with the help of my associates, but I'm still surprised you haven't figured it out yet" he teased before leaning down until his lips were right next to my ear.
"You'd think you'd remember the person you gave an inspirational speech to. You give a friend a draw dropping speech to win the championship and then you forget who they are? Shame on you Dawn" he whispered in my ear and I suddenly felt like ice as everything clicked.
No wonder I felt conflicted when we first met and why he seemed so familiar, it's because he is familiar. It all made sense now. Why I felt the urge not to attack him, why he felt familiar when we met, why he knows my name, and why he kept saying we were once friends. Although until now I thought we still were friends.
"David" I uttered just barely above a whisper not wanting to believe it, but the grin that spread across his face when I said the name proved my suspicion correct.
He raised his right hand and the knife disappeared into thin air as he took his mask off and winked at me.
It's official, I hadn't made a mistake, the person I'd fought, the person who tried to kill me, the person who currently had me pinned to the floor with a hand to my throat was in fact my friend David Cage.
"Surprise" he fake cheered as I gapped at him in complete and utter shock.
"David…what happened to you?" I asked struggling to get the words out as my mind tried to come to grips with the fact that David was now probably my most powerful enemy.
"I learned the truth and was given a purpose. You ripped my family apart, and I'm going to make sure you live to regret it. You're going to return my mother whether you like it or not, but fortunately for you I wasn't ordered to take you in just yet. This was merely a test and a warning, and I'm sad to say I'm underwhelmed. You put up a good fight, but I still managed to beat you, and that was me going easy. Just know that the next time we meet I won't go easy on you" he warned before suddenly getting serious again and placing his mask back on his face. His once kind amber brown eyes were now cold and murderous.
Before he placed the mask back on however I immediately noticed the layer of darkness behind his eyes and I knew something was wrong with him. This wasn't David. Yes it's his body, his eyes, and his voice, but this person definitely wasn't David. It's like the power has somehow corrupted him, mind controlling him to some extent.
Shadow Strike probably merged him with the dark crystal's powers and twisted his mind into thinking I'm the bad guy to make him turn against me. He's using David and the boy doesn't even know it.
"David this isn't you, you're a good person not evil like them" I started to reason with him before he grabbed my throat once again and squeezed down hard causing me to choke and gasp for breath. He scoffed and his grip loosened slightly as he started speaking again allowing me to breath.
"Well a lots changed in the past few days so you might as well get used to it. I've been enlightened and I'm not some clueless kid you can mess with anymore. This is the new me and from now on you can call me Shadowdeath. Only my friends can call me by my real name and I'm sorry to say but we're not friends, far from it actually. I don't want to hurt you Dawn, but if you get in the way of what I want I won't hesitate to end you" he threatened and for a second I actually believed him.
As time passed I could see less and less of the kind and compassionate David I knew and more of the cold and murderous Shadowdeath he was being turned into.
He leaned back down and his lips hovered about an inch above mine as he whispered "The next time we meet I won't be as cordial, but since we did use to be friends and I used to like you I'll spare your life this time and leave you with a parting gift" he whispered before he crashed his lips to mine.
I gasped not expecting the kiss and I swear I heard a fierce growl to my left. Without breaking the kiss David lifted his hand and a shadow lifted off of the ground and caught the two objects that were hurling for his face. He then broke the kiss and grinned to himself as we both turned to see he'd stop two batarangs before he caught the eye of a seething Robin.
Apparently the BlackKnights were starting to pull back at the suggestion of Red Blade since she knew the fight was almost over, and Robin managed to get an opportunity to make an attack.
His lips were pulled back into a fierce scowl and his face was completely red with fury. He hurled another batarang at David and before the batarang could hit him David opened up a portal and the batarang disappeared into it before he lowered his hand and the portal closed.
KF managed to slip passed the men as well and he along with Robin were blazing towards us.
David turned back to me and smirked confidently not at all phased by the two pissed off heroes storming towards him.
"Well it seems the bird's a little protective of you Shade. Maybe we'll get a chance to continue this another time when your friends aren't being as distracting" he whispered before suddenly turning into a shadow and disappearing just before Wally tried to punch him in the face. The bonds around me disappeared and I stood from the floor before seeing David reappear in another shadow on the other side of the docs directly next to Red Blade.
"It's been a pleasure meeting you all, but I think its about time we departed" David said and Red Blade nodded before sheathing her blades and grabbing David's shoulder.
"See you soon Shade, I'll be looking forward to our next meeting" David smirked before lifting his hand and the pair dissolved into the shadows teleporting away. The rest of the BlackKnights stepped into the shadows as well and they were all suddenly sucked in as David shadow traveled them all back to base.
I stared at the spot where David disappeared and couldn't help the tear that traveled down my cheek. I jumped and backed away with my hands up and ready to fight when someone came up behind me and wrapped their hands around my shoulder.
Robin held up his hands and saw the startled look on my face before soothing me with his words.
"Hey wow Dawn calm down its just me, Rob" he soothed and I lowered my hands before regaining my composure and glancing around him to see the team. They hadn't been necessarily defeated but they didn't exactly win either. Many of them had small cuts and bruises along their bodies and pieces of their suits ripped but all in all everyone was alive and no one was seriously injured.
The rest of the team ran over when the BlackKnights disappeared and I could tell they all had worried expressions on their faces.
"He wouldn't… he couldn't…he's a good person…he wouldn't do this…especially not to me" I stuttered trying and failing to hold back the tears that desperately wanted to fall.
"Shade what are you talking about" Robin asked gently as he saw the tears rolling down my checks.
I guess the team was so wrapped up in their own fights that they failed to notice David's big reveal.
I turned to the team and they all stared at me with concern as tears trailed down my face and I revealed the truth to them in a dejected voice.
"Shadowdeath, the person you all want to kill at the moment is David Cage."
Jake's POV
I walked through the halls of the BlackKnight base having memorized the entire layout days ago. As of last night I officially finished initiation training and was now an honorary member of the BlackKnights.
I was training in the training room early this morning practicing my blade techniques when Roman walked in and said he had to speak to me.
I stopped slashing my swords and sheathed my blades as the bulky man made his way over to me.
He told me that Shadow Strike wanted to speak to me at around 11 o clock tonight. I asked him if he knew what it was about and he told me that I'd find out tonight.
That is why I'm currently walking through the familiar halls heading towards the training room. After my morning training I left and went back home before returning to to base around 10:30.
I walked into the training room at exactly 11:00 and was surprised to see a large group of people waiting for me.
Standing in the middle of the training circle was Shadow Strike, Red Blade, Shadow, Roman, and a young man dressed in a black and red uniform that I've never met before. His face was fully uncovered since his fully black domino mask was hanging from his front pants pocket. Out of everything on the boy my eyes were instantly drawn to the two thick whips hanging from his belt. I quickly evaluated the boy with my eyes before turning my attention back to Shadow Strike.
I silently walked up to the group and per usual had a star twirling in my hand as Shadow Strike greeted me knowing I wasn't going to be the first to speak.
"Welcome BlackBlade I applaud you for your punctuality. I have to admit I'm impressed by your performance these past few days and I'm sure you know that that's extremely hard to do. I was so impressed in fact that I wanted to personally offer you a high position in my ranks" Shadow Strike said and internally I screamed for joy while forcing my body to remain still and composed.
"Allow me to introduce you to our newest member Shadowdeath" Shadow Strike added as he pointed to the young boy standing next to him.
"So this is the legendary BlackBlade I've heard so much about," the boy said and I couldn't help but feel like I've seen him from somewhere.
I tilted my head slightly letting him know I was looking at him and nodded in greeting.
"Shadowdeath meet your temporary partner BlackBlade" Shadow Strike suddenly said and the surprise from the statement almost caused me stumble back in shock but I forced myself not to.
"What?!" Shadowdeath yelled not expecting that to come out of Shadow Strike's mouth. I wanted to react the same way he did and voice my vivid protest, but that wouldn't go with my calm and composed image.
"I don't do partner's, especially not with inexperienced kids. I'm a fighter not a babysitter" I stated flatly and the boy turned to me offended before grabbing the handles of his whips
"What did you just say?" he hissed and his eyes flashed black as his anger rose. I stopped twirling my star as I lifted a hand to my sword gripping the handle threateningly but didn't pull it out. Seeing that this could turn into a fight I slipped my throwing star back in my pouch freeing up both of my hands.
"Trust me kid you don't want to do that," I warned and the boy growled before pulling out one whip causing me to take out my swords at the same time.
"Enough you two!" Shadow Strike ordered and the boy hesitated hearing the man's command.
I waited until the boy sheathed his weapon before letting my swords hang by my side. I didn't put them back on my back like before because the boy was too much of a hot head for that.
"Now I've made my decision and you'll both just have to live with it. You'll go on individual missions of course, but upon occasion I'll need you two to go out together and work as a team. You're both two of the best fighters and powerful people I have, thus making you two the most logical match for each other" Shadow Strike reasoned and I internally sighed knowing I wasn't going to get out of this.
"Now I'll be stuck babysitting a guy with crazy powers and anger issues, sounds like fun" I sarcastically thought to myself.
"Fine, but can he even keep up with me" Shadowdeath asked giving me a skeptical glace and Roman chuckled.
"Kid in a hand to hand fight BlackBlade would no doubt kick your ass even with your training and extra senses. I bet he'd still give you a run for your money even with all your powers" Roman surprisingly defended me and the boy stared back at me like he was sizing me up.
"I doubt that" he muttered under his breath, but I heard him loud and clear.
"Don't push your luck kid" I whispered to him in a cold and chilling voice causing him to glance at me wearily.
"Well we'll leave you two to get to know each other" Shadow Strike said before everyone left the room leaving Shadowdeath and I alone.
We stared at each other for a few tense moments before he sighed and extended his hand to me. The darkness around his eyes slipped away and he seemed to return to normal, or as normal as he could get.
I looked down at his hand then back at his face before deciding to get it out of the way. I might as well make the best of my situation so I rolled my eyes behind my mask and sheathed my swords on my back before grabbing the boys hand and shook it.
"The names David" Shadowdeath said as he gave me a small smirk and it was in that moment that I finally recognized why he seemed so familiar.
The name stroke a cord in my memory and I flashed back to a few weeks ago when I was with Dawn in Gotham for one of our late night reunion catch up sessions. She was telling me about her school Gotham Academy and showing me pictures of some of her friends so I'd know who she was talking about, and that's where I knew this guy from.
David was on the football team at Dawn's school and one of her good friends. Finally realizing this a wave of anger flooded through me because I knew this would affect Dawn in a negative way. If and when she finds out that one of her best friends has joined forces with her worst enemy it's going to break her heart.
I didn't particularly like him before but now I have another thing to add to my growing list of why this boy gets on my last nerve. You do something to hurt my sister and you instantly shoot up to the top of my hate list. I narrowed my eyes at the kid, but thankfully he didn't see it because of my mask.
"I'll be your partner, I'll have your back, I'll help you in the field, and I'll even fight beside you, but I'm not telling you my name. That's a secret only my friends know and unfortunately for you we're not friends," I stated evenly and David shrugged before going stone cold once again.
"Whatever, as long as you don't get in my way we'll get along fine?" he decided before walking towards the exit. I glared daggers at his back as he left not liking the kid one bit.
When he left the room I growled under my breath and clenched my fists showing a small amount of anger since no one was around to witness it.
I thought back to Priscilla's words and couldn't help but think she was right.
No matter what happens or what people do always be careful whom you trust. The people who seem to be your enemy might just turn out to be your greatest ally and your closest friends might just turn out to be your greatest enemies.
Dawn's enemy for a while, me, turned out to be her long lost brother, and now one of her closest friends turned out to be her biggest enemy.
"It's the people closest to use that end up hurting us the most" I thought before pulling a star out of my pouch to give my hands something to do.
"You can't trust anyone in this business" I whispered to myself as I walked out of the room and thought that things just got a lot more complicated then I originally thought.
O…M…G! So much stuff just happened in the last two chapters.
It broke my heart to do it, but it needed to be done. David has officially joined his father and the BlackKnights. He's merged with the dark crystal and has become just as powerful as Dawn. He has a multitude of powers because in order for him to be her big enemy he has to be able to keep up with her.
And yes Priscilla is in fact David's mom, but there's a lot more to the story then Shadow Strike is letting on so keep reading to find out what that is. Did that surprise you or did you see it coming?
BlackBlade is officially in the BlackKnights and partnered up with David for the foreseeable future.
More about David's, Shadow Strike, and Priscilla's background along with the connection between the dark crystal and the light crystal will be explained in future chapters. Next chapter will be getting back to the original Young Justice story line and the team.
Please R&R, reviews and comments are appreciated.