THE AFTERMATH CHRONICLES:

THE REIGN OF NIGHTSHADE

BOOK II

Chapter One: Arrival and Denial

DISCLAIMER: I claim NO OWNERSHIP over ANY characters shown in this story, except Nightshade and Neo! They're both mine!!

Jump City, 8:15 pm

A pair of green shoes stepped into the doors of a subway train. Neo, in his human form of course sat down in a seat. The train had only few passengers. A short jolt signaled the train began to move. Neo had not much to think about. In fact, only one thing. It's been four days since he leaved the Avatar World. He's been traveling ever since. He wasn't a master of chaos control, so he really couldn't control where he went, but the results were still satisfying enough for him to find places to eat and rest. He astounded himself of making it so far. Neo admitted before, he wasn't a master at the unique ways of how the power of Chaos works, but in his situation you don't need to be a master. The train came to sudden jolt, stopping at another station. Neo carried a duffle bag over his right shoulder, holding onto the strap with his hand. Neo walked down the stairs that led to the streets. Neo looked left and right, seeing so many people. The high rise buildings were also mesmerizing. Neo walked a few miles before reaching an apartment complex.

After getting his room number and key, he headed up the spiraling staircase until he found his room. Neo unlocked the door with his key. As soon as he opened it, a huge being crashed through the right wall of his room, and outside. Neo kept a straight face, "Another town with charm, great.'' he mumbled.

Crashing into the ground was the monstrous Cinderblock. He looked in the sky. Down came Beast Boy, turning into an elephant and landing on top of the rock monster. Cinderblock simply lifted Beast Boy up and tossed him into a building wall, resulting in a loud boom. A barrage of star bolts blasted against the villain's back. Starfire shot down and burrowed Cinderblock into the earth. Cinderblock grabbed her and smashed her into the ground, face first. He lifted his huge foot over her motionless body. In came Robin, smacking his battle stick right across Cinderblock's face, causing him to stumble backwards. Cyborg fired his sonic cannon. Cinderblock quickly grabbed a car and threw it in it's path, exploding it into a ball of fire. Terra lifted Cinderblock, due to him being all rock, and slammed him head first into the concrete.

"Good job Terra.'' Robin said, walking over to Cinderblock's corpse.

Neo stood in the hole of his apartment. "Wow. Who in the world are they?" he said surprisingly.

"Now, how are we going to get him out of there?" asked Beast Boy.

Neo raised an eyebrow, he heard something above him. On the roof, was Dr. Light. "Foolish Titans.'' he smirked.

Neo quickly changed into his hedgehog form, bursting up to the roof with a spin dash. "What's this?" exclaimed Dr. Light.

"There's a new hero in town!'' he exclaimed, charging down at him.

Dr. Light was punched across the face and tossed off the roof. The Titans jolted when Dr Light's mangled body slammed to the ground. Neo jumped down and landed in front of the young heroes.

"Hi there. The name's Neo.'' he greeted himself.

The Titans all stared at him in a unison of confusion. "What? Hello?" he waved his hand.

"Sonic my man! I can't believe you still ticking!'' Cyborg said with a grin.

"Oh, you gotta' be kidding me!'' Neo yelled in his mind.

"I'm not Sonic the Hedgehog! I told you my name is Neo!'' he exclaimed.

"But you look just like Sonic?" he replied.

"I barely even know my past! Please be cooperative!'' Neo snapped.

"Then could you please explain to us what are you doing here?" asked Starfire.

Neo put his hand to his face, grumbling. "I've been traveling, looking for answers. Mainly about this.'' Neo said, raising his hand which had the Transformator around it's wrist.

"Wait a minute, didn't that belong to Sonic?" said Beast Boy.

"I believe so. Why do you have it?" Robin added.

Neo lowered his head, feeling even more regrettable about leaving the Avatar World. "Some of my friends, who found me later gave me this device. Calling it the Transformator. I can switch between this form and,'' Neo explained, pressing the button, turning into his human form.

"See?" he said. The Titans looked in amazement.

"And since this is so convenient to have met you, do you mind if I stay with you guys?" he asked.

The Teen Titans were gracious enough to agree to Neo's request. After putting Cinderblock and Dr. Light back into protective custody, they all regrouped back at Titans Tower. Whoa! Nice place!'' Neo said, running around the main lobby.

"You handled yourself pretty well out there Neo.'' Robin noted.

"I knocked the dude off the building. It's not anything to brag about.'' Neo replied, opening their fridge.

"Kind of odd actually." Beast Boy said.

"Beast Boy, this has nothing to do with that guy from last night." Raven quickly added.

"What guy? What're you talking about?" Neo intended, closing the fridge.

"We didn't really get a good look at him.'' Robin added, walking over to the main computer, pressing a few keys.

A digital screen appeared. "He was creepy. Spoke slow, made some very interesting threats,'' Robin explained. Robin put a picture on the screen, what was on it shocked Neo the most. It was a blurry vision of a cloaked figure; Nightshade.

Neo turned away from the horrifying image. "He's here…he's here.'' Neo muttered.

"You know him?" Robin looked over his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, yeah.'' Neo answered, putting a hand to his forehead. He sat down on the sofa.

"This guy…you don't know what he's like. His name is Nightshade the Cloakmaster.'' Neo told them.

"And? What's his deal with you?" asked Beast Boy.

"He wants this.'' Neo answered simply, showing them the Transformator again.

"It's hard to get a good reason out of him. All he does is speak in that raspy voice of his and makes cruel threats. And from what I've heard, this guy isn't normal.'' Neo continued.

The red alert suddenly sounded. "Trouble! Let's go Titans!'' Robin said, running out of the room.

"Neo, you too!'' Robin added, before leaving the room. Neo lifted his head and smirked. He quickly changed into his hedgehog form, running out the door.

Nightshade was standing on a roof, looking down at the high road, similar to a freeway, but instead in specific parts of the city. "I know he's here. I feel the energy…burning.'' he muttered. Without warning, a blue streak of lightning came directly from behind Nightshade. Nightshade quickly turned around, stopping the bolt in his bare hands. His eyes quickly flashed hot white, then returned to normal. He evaporated the energy. Standing before him was the electrical villain known as Overload. Nigthshade's fists clenched, forming blue electricity around them. He shot a much larger streak of lightning. The powerful energy surge reduced Overload into his little cartridge, draining him dry.

"Impressive.'' said a voice.

Nightshade saw a masked villain walk out of the shadows. His name was Slade. "What…do you want?" Nightshade asked.

"Merely for your cooperation.'' Slade replied.

"I ally myself with no one…no one!'' Nightshade raised his voice.

Nightshade showered streaks of lightening at Slade, slamming him against the building wall. Slade stood back up, not even the least bit hurt. "Wouldn't you like to know about your past?" he asked.

Nightshade stopped in his tracks, turning around. "I heard of this Neo character. He has the answers you want, all on his wrist.'' Slade continued.

"What…are you getting at?" Nightshade said in a dark tone.

"Like I said before…your cooperation.'' he said, tightening his eyes.

The Titans broke down the door to a large warehouse, charging inside. Standing before them was an army of Slade's robots. In front of them all was Slade of course.

"How kind of you to join me. Tell me Titans, are you afraid?" he asked in a cynical tone.

The lights in the warehouse immediately shut off. Cyborg activated his light, turning it from left to right. His light passed by a figure, he quickly turned back to it, nothing was there. A pair of blank white eyes appeared above them. Nightshade reached down and grabbed Cyborg by his shoulders, throwing him up through the roof. Starfire shot star bolts up at him. Nightshade swung from one rafter to the next, landing in the darkness yet again. Cyborg came down from the roof, his sonic cannon ready. The lights came back on, Slade and his army of robots were gone. Only Nightshade stood before them. "The device…now!'' Nightshade said, holding his hand out.

"You were right Neo. The dude is creepy.'' Beast Boy said, leaning over to him.

"This isn't right. The way he acted before, he never let anyone tell him what to do. Slade must've lied to him somehow.'' Neo told the others silently.

A dark energy ball shot towards them, blowing the heroes away. Nightshade shot two blue streaks of electricity, one shocking Cyborg, and the other hitting Beast Boy and throwing him through a high window. Robin threw a series of explosive discs, throwing Nightshade far and into a forklift, knocking it over. Neo leaped up, formed into a ball and pillowed right into Nightshade's gut. Nightshade kicked him off. Neo flew into the air, grabbing hold of one of the rafters above. Nightshade quickly shot up a bolt of lightning. Neo swung off the rafter, diving down foot first towards Nightshade. The villain grabbed his foot and tossed him into a bunch of crates. Raven lifted the forklift behind Nightshade and dropped it down on him with extreme force that it caused the forklift to explode. Nightshade blasted the wreckage off him, stepping out of the fire. He glared at Raven. His eyes flashed white quickly. Starfire quickly pelted Nightshade with a huge amount of star bolts. Nothing but a smoldering cloud of smoke wandered around Nightshade. A quick flash was seen from inside the smoke. Nightshade swung his hands, clearing the smoke in an instance. Nightshade held his hands up, his hands glowed green. A huge ball of star bolt energy formed above his head. The titans looked in utter horror and disbelief.

"My turn.'' he mumbled.