Fan Fiction ❯ From the Ashes ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Okay if you want to read the disclaimer I made it in the first chapter so just go back there and read it if you are really that desperate to read it than go back. I do however want to repeat that I do not want anybody to take my ideas and characters because I would probably break down and cry.

I want to thank all of the people who have given me reviews because now I know the story is at least something good. Anyway I have changed Robin's alterego name from Nighthawk to Nightwing because people told me that I had done it wrong. Thanks for that. Anyway here is the next chapter so please read and review.

From the Ashes

Chapter 2

The metal of the armrest on Slade's chair screeched under his powerful grip as his fingers tightened, and then finally gave way, crumpling into a twisted mass.

The soldier stopped in mid-sentence at the face of his visibly upset leader and stared at the twisted lump of metal. He swallowed nervously as he looked back up into Slade's masked face; Slade had a reputation for killing any of his officers that failed him.

"You were saying." Said Slade tossing the twisted piece of metal that had just been a whole armrest few seconds ago. The sound of metal hitting the floor reverberated loudly in the soldier's ears like the sound of a coffin landing in the grave.

"Yes, sir; you see…there was some trouble last night…and…and you see we lost a twelve soldiers and another six are going to require medical attention for a while." Sweat had broken out of the soldier's forehead as he watched his leader's hand clench and unclench.

"Nightwing." Slade simply stated.

"Yes, sir."

Slade nodded calmly before he drew the pistol at his side and opened three holes on the soldier's chest. The man hit the ground with a lifeless thump and two servants dressed in black came away from the walls and pulled the body away. Slade holstered his weapon and leaned back into his chair.

Slade's campaign had gone even better than he could have hoped in its first years but now it had hit a snag. The western world had finally managed to pull together and his armies had drawn to a screeching halt only a little to the west of Europe's border with Asia. With the war drawn into a stalemate, the many countries that he had quickly taken over had started to rebel against his rule and even in his very capital he was having problems. Mostly centered on this…Nightwing.

"Commander Triante." Slade called, irritated.

"Sir?" Responed a soldier stepping out of a small hidden recess in the wall. He was older with gray staining his black hair but his sharp black eyes glowed slightly and were still bright with calculating intelligence. He was dressed in the same black uniform as all of Slade's soldiers except with a golden sunburst pinned to his collar.

"I want you to take find out anything you can about this Nightwing. Real name, physical description, and some sort of video tape of his fighting." Slade turned and looked into the commander's eyes. "I want you to take care of this personally." He said coldly, dismissing the man.

"Yes, sir."

*****

Raven glanced around the street quickly before walking out of the rising sunlight and into the door of what looked like an old thrift shop. The store was filled with racks of dusty old clothes that were only a couple of steps above falling apart where they hung. Shoved against one of the walls were several old pieces of furniture that looked like they hadn't been used in decades.

She walked to the back of the store and an older man dressed in dirty clothes motioned her past. She opened the door behind the counter and walked into the gloom. Stairs disappeared into the ground, lit only by a few bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling that only seemed to make the shadows deeper.

The Teen Titan's had been using this place as a base of operations ever since Slade had destroyed the Titan Tower. The new base was less obvious than the one before though it wasn't nearly as nice. Their operations had also been less obvious than they had before, mostly working to help the people without their powers. It was just too dangerous to attack anything with the power readers that Slade had created.

Raven reached the bottom of the stairs and approached the heavy metal door located at the base.

"It's Raven." There was an answering beep before the door slid open and Raven walked through the door. The room beyond was much nicer than the store or the hallway had been; a large carpeted square room with comfortable looking couches and chairs and a regular TV was at the end of the room. Several doorways led from the room going into adjacent bedrooms.

Starfire was lounging on one of the long couches, running a comb through her fiery red hair. Raven's friend and fellow Teen Titan had also grown some over the years so she was now about half a head taller than Raven. She still had the same happy green eyes though she had let her red hair grow out even longer than it had been before. She was dressed in the same purple costume that she had worn since they had been friends, although it had to be made larger to accommodate her now fuller, shapelier figure.

Starfire heard Raven walk in and spun around, a smile working its way across her face as she saw her friend. The Tamaranian warrior jumped up and wrapped Raven in a crushing hug. Raven normally didn't care for physical contact, especially hugging, with anybody but the two young women had been grown very close over the years. Raven allowed herself a slight smile.

"Did any events happen on your patrol?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah." Raven sat her friend down and told her about what had happened when she had been on patrol.

Starfire stayed silent during the entire story though Raven could tell she was deep in thought.

"Why wouldn't he find us though? I'm sure that he could if he wanted to." Raven asked, a bit confused.

"No he would not." Starfire said, standing and turning away from Raven.

The dark haired woman blinked in surprise not only because of her friend's words, but Starfire's normally happy voice was close to depressing. Raven knew that Starfire felt more than friendship for Robin, but maybe it was even deeper than Raven had guessed.

"Raven I wish to go to bed. I will see you again when I awake." Starfire walked into her room and Raven let her friend alone.

The green-eyed warrior obviously needed time to work through the many emotions she had to be feeling. Following her friend's example Raven went into her room to meditate.

*****

A booted foot came down slowly, its toe of the boot coming down onto broken stone and dirt; weigh shifting gradually to allow from perfect balance and complete silence. His weight shifted again, bringing the other side of his body forward, and turning him in a slow circle.

Nightwing suddenly ended the slow pace as his right hand came out in a lightening fast jab that was merely a blur. He placed his weight onto his left foot and he lifted his right foot into a vicious spin kick. The young man continued his movements, each and every one in perfect balance as the minutes stretched on.

His came slowly back into a stop, only slightly winded from his exertions even though his light clothes were soaked in sweat. Nightwing grimaced in pain as his chest muscles cramped suddenly. The impact of the bullet last night had left a nasty purple bruise on his chest and the movements of his fighting hurt, however his pace was only slightly slower than his usual routine.

Nightwing pushed aside those thoughts and put only threw on his heavy cloak and some of his more vital equipment on before slipping up and out of his cave. Even through the sun was going down the sun was almost painful on Nightwing's eyes glanced around quickly before covering the tunnel entrance. It only took him a few moments to cross the water and join into the pedestrian traffic. His heavy cloak and deep cowl brought a few stares, but only a few; people not wanting to be seen were frequent enough.

The young warrior continued to thread his way trough the crowd of people into he arrived at the front of a bright, if dinghy bar called The Inferno. The outside was badly painted with pictures of flames in bright yellows, oranges, and reds and it was still a little early for clubs; but there was still a long line of people. A single glance and the bouncer at the entrance waved the young man into the club.

The inside of the club was a dirty place with a constant cloud of smoke hovering just above the people's heads. Most of the people in the club were at the tables or the bar nursing drinks but there were a few on the small dance floor. Nightwing only gave all of this a quick glance as his eyes focused on a single man sitting at a table alone. Wood screeched on the floor as Nightwing pulled a chair back and sat down at the table across from the man.

The man across from him was older by several years, with a liberal amount of gray spread throughout his hair. The clothes he wore were of a slightly better cut than anyone else in the club but he wore them like they were made out of the finest silk.

"Ahhhh, my young warrior friend. It is good to see that you are still in one piece, I would have expected your death by now." Said the man in a low voice, his blue eyes sparkling with humor.

"Yeah, well I guess we can't all get what we want, Guy." Said Nightwing leaning back in his chair. Black eyes continued to scan the crowd even as he talked; it did no good to let his guard down for even a moment. Guy was one of the best information brokers in the entire city and Nightwing knew that he was also one of the best protected. To kill him would be a great a loss to practically every organization in the city and they made sure to protect their assets. "You know what I am here for Guy so don't dick around with me. Times, places, and weaknesses."

"You know I don't speak business with a man unless I can see his eyes, you know this." Nightwing glared at the information broker but slid his heavy cowl back. "That is better. Now I have something for you that you will be most interested in, I am sure." Guy pulled a small disk out of his coat and slid it across the table. "It is somewhat larger than you usually wish for but I think that you will not mind."

Nightwing reached into his best and pulled out a small disk reader that was practically a floppy drive with a small flat screen. He slid the disk into the drive and the screen lit up. Pictures and words scrolled across the screen and he read the information quickly, his eyes widening slightly. On Nightwing's face that simple twitch was as big a show of surprise as if he had shouted.

"Is this true?"

"You know I don't put out anything that is not true. My word is my bond."

"Thanks, Guy." Nightwing slid the disk and the reader into his belt and withdrew a roll of cash. "The same rate as always." The young man didn't wait for a reply as he stood. Guy's hand grabbed his hand and stopped the young man. Nightwing turned and glared at Guy. He liked the older man and respected him but this course of action was going to get him quickly killed, and what was more Guy knew that. That was probably the only reason he didn't die. Guy got the message however and let go of his hand.

"Something is strange about this thing." Said Guy. "I trust the source enough to give it to you but something tells me this could easily be turned into a ambush."

"Are you worried?"

"Only about losing one of my best sources of money I have had in many years. Plus if you get captured I do not want anything to be traced back to me."

Nightwing nodded once and gave the information broker a small smile before moving back out onto the streets and moving back towards his cave. He had a lot to do.

*****

Starfire sighed as her eyes traveled slowly over the city landscape from her perch on the top of a building. The building she was on was the tallest one for quie some distance, giving her a great view of everything that was happening in practically every direction. Her thoughts however, were not on the view but on the news that Raven her brought her only that morning. The red haired woman had spent some time in her room, like she had told Raven, but after two hours of tossing and turning she had come here.

The sun was starting to set now and she still hadn't managed to work through her confusing thoughts and feelings. Robin had left many years ago, throwing Starfire into confusion that time, and now she had just been getting over that Robin had resurfaced again. Starfire sighed again and buried her face into her hands.

Heavy vehicles moving brought her out of her thoughts. She moved closer to the edge of the building and looked down. A small convoy consisting of two armored hummers and an even larger armored transport was moving slowly down the streets. There was a gunner poking out of the top of each of the vehicles, arming the 50 caliber machine guns perched on the roof.

A gout of flame shot up around the first vehicle tearing through armor and throwing wreckage high into the sky. Windows shattered as the concussive wave expanded outwards and upwards from the explosion. The wave struck Starfire and knocked her to the ground. She was up just as quickly and saw the last of the debris hit the ground. Soldiers were all ready pouring from the two remaining vehicles but they didn't seem to know what to shoot at.

Starfire could make a guess. Her green eyes were all ready scanning the rooftops until she saw a figure dressed in a dark cloak on the opposite building. "Robin."

*****

Nightwing grinned slightly at the success of his mine and jumped onto the edge of the roof. He reached underneath his cloak and pressed the button on top of a small box that was attached there. Three brief explosions from the box knocked the young man a step backwards and three small missiles shot down at the third vehicle, turning the surrounding soldiers into torches.

Nightwing jumped from the roof and landed in the midst of the confusion. The few soldiers still on their feet turned firing; the bullets hitting the street around him and sending chips of cement against his heavy cloak. Bird-a-rangs shot out of his hands, cutting into the soldier's necks, and sending them to the ground in a spray of blood. Smoke pellets followed after the bird-a-rangs and a thick white cloud of smoke rose into the air, obscuring him from view.

Under the cover of the smoke Nightwing set to work unlocking the back door of the last remaining vehicle. As the doors flew open a white boot shot forward at his face. Nightwing crossed his arms in front of him to catch the blow, but it still forced him back a step.

His gloved hands twisted and grabbed onto the ankle of the person, turning with the momentum of the kick he brought the leg up over his shoulder and heaved. The attacker went flying over his head and into the smoke.

Nightwing followed after his attacker, pulling out explosive disks as he ran. A white glow cut through the smoke and he threw himself to the side as a white beam of energy cut through the air where he had just been, blowing the last vehicle over onto it's side. Nightwing threw the explosive disks but they only exploded against an energy shield.

The road cracked around the young man as chains of energy shot into the air and wrap around him, binding his arms to his sides. He didn't even bother to try and struggle against the chains; he knew that he couldn't break free.

The owner of the chains walked towards Nightwing as the smoke curled up around a pair of long and beautiful legs. Long blond hair framed the woman's beautiful face and fell down over an almost sheer white dress that hugged her sinuous curves. Twin blue eyes, like chips of ice stared at him, and as beautiful as they were, her eyes could easily scare a man away.

Her body started to glow, cutting through the smoke, and revealing the destruction. All of the vehicles were destroyed and still smoking and only a few soldiers were still on their feet and in any type of condition to fight.

"I'm going to kill this sun of a bitch." One of the soldiers said, walking past the woman and cocking his machine gun.

She raised one hand and it started to glow with a brilliant white light. A beam of light disintegrated the top of the man's body and the remaining legs stood up for a few seconds before toppling to the ground.

"No one touches him." The woman said. Her voice was quiet but it cut like a knife.

The soldiers grumbled but the pair of legs missing the rest of the body seemed to stop any of them from saying anything directly. The soldiers started to move away from the destruction, taking their wounded comrades away.

"Nightwing, it is good to see you again." The woman said, turning back to him her voice was deep and sexy now. She ran a finger down the side of his face and Nightwing had to resist the urge to shiver. "And still quite handsome I see."

"And you're still a beautiful bitch, Quanta."

She laughed. "I missed you, you know. We used to be good together, a real unstoppable team."

She started to pace around him; passing through the chains of light as if they were as insubstantial as the light they were made from as she ran her eyes up and down his body. "Maybe we should work together again. You can come and work for Slade with me, though this time I'll have to be on top." She wrapped her arms around him from behind and pressed her body up against his as she placed her chin on his shoulder, and blowing seductively against his ear. This time he couldn't help but shiver.

"So your Slade's bitch now. I thought you would never work for somebody." Nightwing said, not being able to hide the disgust in his voice and not even caring to.

"Well, you know, he offered me something I just couldn't refuse." she said, running her finger down the side of his neck.

"Oh?" He questioned when she paused.

"You."

"Hell no." There was an explosion in front of the two, but instead of the white of Quanta's flash, it was bright green.

Starfire landed on the ground in front of them with one fist held towards them and her hand glowing green with her charging starbolt.

"Let go of him." Starfire said, her voice as hard as steel.

Quanta smiled over Nightwing's shoulder at the other woman. "Why don't you just scurry away little girl."

The red haired woman fired her starbolt over Nightwing's shoulder but the blas only splashed against another shield. Quanta laughed. Starfire fired multiple times over Nightwing's shoulder again but these had no more effect than the first.

"It seems that we have been interrupted; so, we'll continue this later." She nibbled on Nightwing's ear before she snapped her fingers and disappeared into a flash of white. The chains disappeared into tiny motes of light and Nightwing was released.

Starfire strode over to Nightwing and kissed him hard. It wasn't a loving thing by any means, but hard and punishing. She pulled away and a sharp punch caught Nightwing across the temple knocking him down. Black dots swam in front of his eyes and the last thing he saw before he sank into unconsciousness was Starfire grabbing the hood of his cloak.

End Note: Well there is the second chapter. Again if everybody could please read and review my story I will only make me better.