Chapter Two. A Surprising Discovery

FIVE DAYS EARLIER

Amy sighed as she looked at night sky, sitting at the cliff side. It was a pretty night and the moon was shining like a beautiful diamond. She had a lot of things on her mind.

Ever since she had moved here to Gotham, Amy had dealt with a lot of things going on with the Defenders of the Earth and the Bat Family, the latter in which her father and their friends had become allies with recently. From her own mother trapping Batman's oldest son Nightwing in a nightmare to Rick being infected with the Brainiac virus to a startling ordeal with a mysterious magical amulet as well, Amy ended up questioning if she still had a place within the team.

"Amy?" a friendly voice called from behind, but she didn't answer.

Mandrake arrived at the cliff side and sat next to his daughter, "Amy, I saw you sneak out a minute ago. Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Amy hesitated to answer, "I...well, I don't know. I have just been thinking about everything that has been going on since I've been a part of the Defenders."

"It's been a big change for us as well," Mandrake stated, "we all had to move to Gotham after Ming destroyed our old base back in Central City. It's a bigger surprise that we got the allies we have with the Bat Family."

"It seems that I'm not sure if I still have a place with this team," Amy stated, "with these most recent events that happened, it made me question myself."

"Now, now, Amy," Mandrake gently placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "you shouldn't be thinking that at all. Besides, you saved Nightwing from dying when your mother trapped him in a nightmare that nearly killed him. Your new to the team, so it's going to take some time for you to fully know your place."

"I'm sure you're right," Amy smiled as she slowly stood back up.

"We are a team," Mandrake assured his daughter, "we watch out and care for one another. Also, you helped April, LJ, Orphan, Spoiler, Kshin and Oracle when Ming send that amulet to corrupt the rest of us."

"Yeah," Amy smiled, "I couldn't believe that amulet even corrupted Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin as well."

"I know you'll get the hang of things with this team," Mandrake continued, "in time you will. With all you've shown us so far, you're too good of a person not to."

"Thanks, Dad."

Mandrake and Amy shared a father – daughter hug.

"It's time for you to get some sleep. It'll help you feel better."

Amy smiled as she broke the hug, "Sounds like a plan."

With that, she followed her father back into the manor to get some sleep for the night.

-The-Magic-Within-

Rick, Jedda, LJ and April were spending a day out of the town with Dick, Barbara, Stephanie and Tim as they were taking the day out on the town.

"What did you think of the movie?" LJ asked.

"It was actually pretty good," Stephanie answered, "I'm not sure what Arthur Curry himself would think about the movie."

"You know him?" April asked.

"Bruce knows him," Tim answered, "Aquaman is a part of the Justice League."

"That's cool," Rick smiled in response.

Suddenly, a young woman with wavy sandy brown hair and blue eyes wearing a beige top, white pants and white shoes appeared before the three as she came from the trees nearby, "Pardon me. Can I have a moment of your time?"

"Sure," Rick answered, "What do you need?"

"We are giving away some samples of our sweet candy called X-Rays." the woman explained to the teens, "they are about a dollar per sample, and if you like them, my boss would be very happy to know that. His information is on the bags of your samples. All donations are going to my boss's cancer treatments and he would be very happy with you guys helping us."

"Well," Jedda answered, "Give us a minute to talk it over."

"Sure thing."

The group all looked at each other as they were slightly in weary of this mysterious young woman.

"I do not know about this." Jedda told her friends.

"Maybe it might be a trick." Barbara stated, "but for her boss to get the cancer treatment he needs, it kinda makes me feel good to help."

"I know how you feel." Stephanie replied.

"I only hope that this is not a scam." Dick stated.

"I agree on that too." April nodded.

The three were back facing with the young woman who was waiting patiently for their answer.

"Sure." Rick told the young woman, "We will be glad to help out. Just how much was it you said?"

"A dollar." the young woman smiled, "Over a few hundred people have given donations buying the X-Rays across this country and the benefits are helping my boss."

The group each paid a dollar and they each got a pound of the mysterious X-Rays that were inside a grayish black bag with a white piece of paper attached to it.

"Thank you." the young woman told them, "my boss will be very happy by your contributions."

Then, the young woman left with a smirk on her face that the group failed to acknowledge.

At the Texas Roadhouse, the group had their lunch.

"This is the first time that I have been in a roadhouse kind of place." Jedda told her friends, "and I gotta say, I am not impressed one bit."

"Neither am I." Tim added, "What was Bruce thinking by getting us money for this place?"

"I know." Rick replied, "Most of this food is either too salty or too spicy. What is their deal?"

"The only thing I got is their steak and cheese fries." Barbara stated, "And this meat is kind of dry while the cheese fries are not up to par. Give me a break!"

"Let's get out of here," Stephanie stated, "After we pay for this crap, we can go somewhere else."

"Works for me," April nodded.

After Dick paid for the meal at the steakhouse, the group headed over to Wendy's where they would end up getting a much better lunch as Rick was able paid for that one.

"Now, this is much better!" Rick exclaimed.

"I shall say so myself." Stephanie added, "Much better!"

As the three were eating their lunch, they decided to look into the X-Rays that they were given. The X-Rays looked like skull and bones type of candy that would see around Halloween time.

"Isn't it a bit early for Halloween?" LJ asked.

"Perhaps." April answered.

"You girls think that this candy is suspicious?" Rick asked.

"There is just something about these X-Rays that just do not seem right." Jedda answered.

"Well if it makes you feel better," Rick grabbed one of the so called candy, "I will try one of them out to see if there is something wrong with it or not."

He placed the piece of "candy" in his mouth, chewed it and swallowed it. He didn't have an immediate response before looking at his friends.

"See?" Rick told them, "It tastes like what candy should taste. Sweet. You guys are just being paranoid."

"I guess I'll try one too, you know to prove a point," Dick took a "candy" and ate it as well, "Wow, you were right."

Suddenly, the group were alarmed by a loud thump. They looked to see that a young woman was having a seizure.

"She needs an ambulance!" a boy near the seizing girl shouted.

An elderly lady who was nearby was already on it, "We need an ambulance here at Gotham City Wendy's. I have a girl here having a seizure."

"Has she taken any drugs?" Tim asked.

"The only thing I seen her take were those strange X-Ray candies," the boy answered, "that was being sold by a strange kooky woman asking for donations for her boss's cancer treatment."

Swiftly, April threw her sample of the X-Rays in the trash can as the others noticed.

"You got the right idea there." Jedda said before the others save for Dick went to throw away their sample of the X-Rays as well.