The morning sun started to shine over Jump City. Most of the city was still fast asleep, but the seagulls and super beings of the town were all wide awake. The Teen Titans and Terra being some of them.
The group of heroes decided to test Terra's skills as well as their own with a new training exercise. Cyborg and Robin designed the obstacle course to test all of the titans various fighting abilities. Cyborg was going to be the first one to officially test the course out. Robin and Raven were at the control panel taking over what was to happen in the course.
The metal man successfully completed the course with low difficulty. "Yes! Get them, dude!" "Go friend Cyborg!" Beast Boy and Starfire cheered for their friend while Terra watched in awe. Cyborg stared down at the timer on his right arm as he smirked at the flashing 2:17.
"Booyah! New course record! Haha!!!" Cyborg cheered. "Well, yeah. You're the first one to do the course." Raven said with a bored tone.
"Not bad, Cy." A voice said from behind the group. The teens turned around to see Nightshade sitting on the ledge that was right behind them. Her legs slightly swinging back and forth as she stared down at the group. They knew her well enough to know she was smirking under her mask.
"Uh...who's that?" Terra whispered to Starfire and Beast Boy. "Ugh, that's Nightshade. Don't get mixed up with her. She's bad news." Beast Boy said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm going to take that as a compliment, Beast." Night said as she placed her head on her hand that had been resting against her leg.
"What brings you to this side of town, Night?" Robin asked. He couldn't help the slight smile growing on his cheeks as he looked at his friend. "Eh, I was in the area. Decided to kill two birds with one stone. Check up on my least favorite and favorite hero's. Take off a few items on my to do list for the day. However, I didn't know you'd be playing with some new hero meat this early in the morning." Night said as she smirked down at Terra before sending her a wink. Something about Night's presence made Terra become slightly fearful of the girl.
"Mind if I crush that record of yours while I'm here, Cyborg?" Night asked turning her attention towards the metal man. Her smirk only growing as she jumped down from where she was.
The group watched as Night made her way towards the starting place. "Crush my record? In your dreams, Nightlight." Cyborg said with a cocky smirk. "What? You don't think I can?" Night asked as she started to stretch her limbs getting ready to go. "I know you can't beat it." Cyborg said while Robin facepalmed.
"Guys, is this really the time-" Robin tried to interfere only to get interrupted. "Oh yeah? Why not bet on it if you're so sure." Night said with a cocky grin under her mask and a raised brow. "Cyborg, don't-" Robin tried once more. "What's the matter, Cy? Afraid to lose to me?" Night teased making an annoyed vein pop out of Cyborg's forehead.
"Oh, you're on, Nightshade. If you can't beat my record, you have to buy pizza for all of us for a week." Cyborg said as he crossed his arms over his chest. Nightshade simply continued to stretch as she listened to Cyborg's terms. "Alright. When I win, you owe me a favor." Night said with a smirk making Cyborg raise a brow.
Terra leaned over towards Beast Boy cupping her hand around his ear. "What does she mean by that?" She asked the green hero. "Rumor has it, owing her a favor is the worst thing you could possibly ever do." Beast Boy whispered back to the girl.
"You mean, if you win." Cyborg tried to correct the girl. "Oh, that's real cute, Cyborg. When I say win, I mean win." Night's tone got darker and even more confident than it already was as she held her hand out for Cyborg to shake. Her tone made Beast Boy, Starfire, and even Terra gulp in fear. Raven let out an annoyed sigh while Robin face palmed at the situation Cyborg could be getting himself into.
"You've got yourself a deal, Nightshade." Cyborg said as he placed his hand in hers. "You sure you wanna do this, Cyborg?" Robin asked with a raised brow towards his friend. "Too late, wonder boy. He already shook on it." Night said before grabbing her chain linked scythe from her pockets. "Ready whenever you are." She said as she got into a fighting stance.
Robin started the count down for when the course would begin and Cyborg got ready to start the timer. "You're really going to do this, huh?" Robin said with a slight smirk making Night send one back. "Oh, sweetheart...you say that like I'll lose. Why don't you bump it up a few notches? Just to give me a good challenge." Night's teasing tone and nickname making a light dust of pink appear on Robin's cheeks.
With that, Night took off determined to win this bet against the Titan. Robin let out a soft sigh as he hit a few button on the panel. He made sure to up the difficulty like she'd asked. She moved faster than what most of the titans had ever seen as she dodged the large metal fists that came up from the ground. The group was also surprised at how much faster the weapons were moving compared to when Cyborg did the course. The girl was running on spite alone as she thought about having to spend that much money on the group.
Robin hit a few buttons on the control panel, and large devices started to shoot at Night. The teen dodged the attacks and even used the blade of her weapon to deflect them elsewhere making sure to not damage their equipment. The group seemed astonished by how fast Night has been running through the course so far as Robin hit different buttons.
Large metal gates rose from the ground as the metal door slammed up and down. Night ran under the first one and slid under the second one. As she approached the third, she swung her weapon gaining momentum before throwing part of it towards the top of the gate. The blade was able to easily catch the top of the gate. As the contraption slammed down, she used her chain to swing over it and through the gap. The momentum she'd gained previously made her able to launch herself even farther saving herself more time. Starfire started to cheer for her friends quick thinking.
Robin's face held a proud and even impressed smile as he watched Night run easily through the course. The hero knew just how calculated every move Night was making truly was. He couldn't help but admire her. His thoughts were first of how smart and talented she was before moving to thoughts that made his heart skip a beat. He quickly shook his head to clear his thoughts before hitting more buttons on the panel.
Weapons hidden in some of the rocks made themselves known as they fired exploding disks towards Night. The teen smirked under her mask as she swung her weapon around herself, slicing the devices in the process. She managed to destroy about two thirds of them while dodging the rest before crossing the finish line and Cyborg stopped the timer.
Starfire's excited cheers were heard while Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Terra stared at the girl amazed. Robin on the other hand, still held a proud smile that was mixed with a little bit of something else. "Way to go, Night!" Robin called out as Nightshade gave an exaggerated bow as she let out a giggle.
"So, Cyborg, what's the verdict?" Night asked with a smirk as she put her weapon back into her pouch. Dark purple, peach, yellow, and small red roses grew slightly in her cheeks. Thankfully, the clumps of roses were too big to free themselves from her cheeks as they stayed completely hidden.
"1:53?! But-How could?! Dude! What the hell?!" Cyborg yelled in disbelief as he glanced between Night and the timer he'd set. All of the titans looked extremely surprised by the time, even Robin. His surprise quickly changed to impressed.
"What can I say? I play to win." Night said as she let out a soft laugh before placing her arms behind her head. The cocky smirk under her mask being big enough to shine through her mask. "I'll let you know when I want to cash that favor in, Cy." Night said as she walked over to where Robin and Raven were at the control panel.
"Mind if I take over this side, Raven?" Night asked with a kind smile under her mask. The teen simply rolled her eyes as she moved away from the panel to stand down with her friends.
"Okay, Terra, ready to show us what you can do?" Robin asked their new hero friend as he leaned against the control panel. The group watched as Terra nervously walked over towards the starting line.
"I just hope you're ready to see it." Terra said while she rubbed her arm anxiously. "Terra was it? I saw how you fought the other day. You're a great fighter with incredible powers. Trust me...you've got this." While Night's kind words didn't really surprise the group, Terra was definitely surprised, but it only seemed to make her a bit more anxious. Thankfully, Beast Boy took over to help his new crush out.
While Beast Boy was reassuring Terra, Nightshade moved a bit closer to Robin. The hero raised a brow slightly at her actions before noticing her hand go into her left shoulder. He watched her carefully as she pulled out a flashdrive. She hid it inside her right hand before moving it towards his that was on the control panel. Robin discretely took the device from her and placed it in his pocket for later.
"Everything I know is on there. There are also a few theories to some events that happened a few months ago. Thought you might find them intriguing." Night said barely above a whisper making sure only Robin could hear her. Her eyes never moving from right in front of her.
"Hey...be careful with her." Night said glancing over at the hero. "I'm always careful." Robin said turning his head to her fully revealing a mixture of a cocky smirk and a real smile. What he didn't expect was Night to turn to him fully.
"I'm serious, Robin." Night's hard gaze made Robin gulp slightly. It has been a long time since he's seen that look in her eyes. "None of you understand what you might be getting yourselves into. She's powerful." Night said before letting out a soft sigh as she turned her gaze back to Beast Boy and Terra. "Someone we know also has eyes on her."
That statement made the hero's eyes widen. "Do you mean-" "Yeah...just...promise me you'll be careful...and...that you'll keep me updated."
Robin quickly noticed a single leaf growing through her skin that shriveled up as she continued to worry about the group. A compassionate smile went up his cheeks as he plucked away the small leaf. He didn't want her accidentally revealing herself, after all. Night's eyes immediately moving to his before glancing down at the small dead leaf in his hand.
"I promise." Those two words made (Y/n) feel extremely relieved, but her bad feeling was still flowing through her root system. "I'm guessing we'll discuss payment at a later time?" Robin asked only to receive a slight nod. Night decided to try and brush it off as best she could before turning back to the others and leaning against the control panel. Terra was ready to do the course.
The group watched in surprise as Terra completed the course. But she'd also managed to destroy it entirely. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all cheered happily for the girl.
"What's her score, Cy?" Night asked genuinely curious about what time Terra got. "1:56!" Cyborg cheered happily. "We almost had three new course records." Raven said in her usual bored tone. "I must've softened it up for them." Cyborg said with a shrug making Night laugh before something caught her eye.
Night spotted Terra hugging Beast Boy and she couldn't help but feel happy for Beast. Night immediately nudged Robin's arm and nodding her head over towards the two. Robin couldn't help but roll his eyes before giving Night a snarky grin.
"I never took you as such a romantic, Night. Is that new?" Robin teased making pink and red roses bloom on Nights cheeks. She quickly turned her head so Terra wouldn't see the flowers. "Is you being an idiot new? Oh, wait...no it's not." Night said in a sarcastic tone as an attempt to keep attention away from the flowers growing under her mask.
Robin jumped down to meet up with his team and Night followed after him. "It was a little rough around the edges, but you've got some real talent there." Robin complimented Terra. "You think?!" The girl asked in excitement making Night speak up. "You literally destroyed the entire course in under 2 minutes. That takes a lot of strength and talent." Night said sending the girl a soft smile while placing her hands on her hips.
"With a little more training, you could-" Robin was cut off by his Titan communicator going off. It was quickly followed by the other Titan's devices to go off. Night couldn't help glancing at Robin's communicator. The hero noticed and showed the device to her. Their hands brushing as Night took the communicator from him.
"Okay, why is everybody blinking?" Terra asked confused while Night handed Robin back his communicator with a soft laugh. "Aw, I remember asking that the first time I hung out with you guys." Night said as she thought about the time the group left her in the park. The group of teens all moved inside the tower to get a better idea of what they were dealing with.
"Slade...he's back." Robin said as he glared at the screen. "Slade?" Terra asked Beast Boy. "Bad guy, way bad." He briefly explained and Night nodded. "Mhm, this guy is worse than me. Not to mention, he's obsessed with the Titans, and Robin is obsessed with him." "I'm not obsessed with him." Robin shot back as he sent a glare to Night making her roll her eyes. "Oh, yeah, you're totally not obsessed. My bad, bird brain." Night said before crossing her arms over her chest bored.
"Will you make yourself useful while you're here and give us an idea of where he is?" Robin asked Night. His eyes never leaving the screen in front of him. The teen rolled her eyes again before walking towards the computer and typing away before a large red circle appeared on a map.
"Based on the lack of heat signatures, his previous hits, and his recent activity, my guess is he's lurking somewhere in this general area." Night said pulling up some video footage of large amounts of familiar robots that were in the area she showed. "Thank you, Night. With this information we should be able to track him down faster and catch him before he does any more damage." Robin said as Night backed away from the computer to let the boys continue their search for their nemesis.
"Wait...what does she do?" Terra asked Beast Boy pointing at Nightshade. "Me? I'm the one people go to when they need information. Name any hero, villain, anti hero, or just your basic nobody, I have information on them. I'm the only one that does this around here." Night said as she watched Cyborg and Robin work.
"So...are you a hero? Or a villain?" Terra asked genuinely confused about the girls work. "I'm neutral and practically untouchable from both sides. Both sides need my help from time to time, and I'm glad to offer information, opinions, and ideas. The only times I'll lean more to one side or the other is if I'm doing someone a favor or I strongly disagree with what someone is doing. One of those people I disagree with is Slade. Heroes and villains tend to follow an unspoken code of operations. Slade doesn't feel like he has to. Not to mention he's a gross middle aged man that is obsessed with a group of teens. Pretty disgusting if you ask me. Slade also doesn't believe any of us are on the same level he is. Whether it's brains, strength, or cunningness, he believes everyone is inferior to him. That mindset just doesn't sit well with me." Night said as she glanced over at the girl. Before Terra could ask more questions, Robin spoke up.
"Got a fix on his location. Titans, move out!" Robin said making Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven run out to Slade's location. "You coming with us, Night?" Robin asked and the girl shook her head no.
"As much as I don't like Slade, teaming up with you would be bad for business. Besides, I have a new personal vendetta against the creep and I'd prefer to handle it on my own." Night said ominously making Robin nod in understanding. With that Robin and Beast Boy started to leave. The only ones left were Night and Terra.
"What's your excuse?" Night asked Terra making the girl look at her surprised. "Huh? What do you-" "Hey! You coming or what?!" Beast Boy called to Terra with a bright smile. The girl quickly ran to catch up with Beast Boy and Night couldn't help but smile at the two as they left the building.