Chapter 97: 97

Words : 810 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

| Washington D.C. - August 19 Vanessa Kapatelis was a promising young dancer and singer with a bright future—until a fateful day when she was caught in the chaos of a bank robbery orchestrated by the disaster-manipulating villain, Major Disaster. Wonder Woman intervened, saving the day, but not before a collapsing building left Vanessa paralyzed from the waist down. Her dreams ended in an instant. Diana stayed by her side as she was airlifted to the hospital, and continued visiting her during recovery. She told her stories of Olympus, inspired her, comforted her. Vanessa began to idolize her—and eventually fell in love with her. She channeled her grief into art, often drawing herself as a hero named Silver Swan, inspired by the famous ballet routine Swan Lake. Then came hope. Doctors proposed an experimental procedure: nanites that could be directed by her brain to rebuild her body from the inside out. The doctors said that the AI models they'd tested to do so had caused unfortunate mistakes, but Vanessa's neural control made her a perfect candidate. With support from her mother and Diana, she worked tirelessly—and eventually walked again. But things changed. Diana's visits stopped. Her mother insisted Diana had responsibilities to the world, but Vanessa couldn't help feeling abandoned. Then, tragedy struck again—her mother died in a car crash. The trauma shattered her focus, causing her to lose control of the nanites. She was back in the wheelchair. Alone. Her grief festered into resentment. One day, she turned on the news and saw Diana comforting a family with a new protégé by her side—Starfire. It mirrored the way she'd once been treated. That's when Vanessa snapped. The nanites affected her mind, causing a psychotic split. One half remained Vanessa, but the other—volatile, obsessive, and vengeful—was the Silver Swan. No longer a symbol of hope, but a weapon of pain. She reshaped the nanites into razor-sharp wings, claws, and developed a deadly sonic scream. Before launching her vengeance, Swan butchered the hospital staff and erased all digital records of her procedure—hacking global databases through a drop of her own blood. Only one other subject had survived the nanite experiment: a boy named Joseph Bell. Though he seemed to be unaffected by the nanites. Interesting. Swan planned to visit the families she saw on TV, destroy them slowly, and wait. Wait for Diana or Starfire to show up—so she could finally make them suffer. ** | Mount Justice - August 19 Kori, Artemis, and M'gann sat together, watching Kaldur and a shirtless Superboy spar in the training room. "Kaldur's nice," Artemis said to M'gann, nudging her. "Handsome, commanding... you should totally ask him out." "He's like a big brother," M'gann replied, smiling. "But you know who would make a cute couple? You and Wally." She nodded toward the redhead leaning against the wall, casually eating a burrito in his civvies. "You're so full of passion, and he's so full of... uh—" M'gann trailed off. "It," Artemis finished. The three girls burst into laughter. "Let's not roast our teammates too hard—no matter how true it is," Kori added, chuckling. "Speaking of relationships," Artemis said slyly, "you're dating Joseph, right?" "Yeah," Kori answered with a small smile. "How's it going?" M'gann asked. "It's going well. He's sweet." "Recognized: Nova. B-08," the system announced as Joseph stepped into the room. "Speak of the devil," Artemis smirked. Joseph floated over, hugging Kori and nodding to the others. "Hey, guys." "You feel... different," M'gann said, squinting slightly. "I can barely feel your presence." "Yeah, I've just been training my mind." "Ooh, I can help if you want," M'gann offered. "My uncle's still teaching me but I've picked up a few tricks." "Appreciate it. I'll take you up on your offer then." Joseph said. So far he was only able to read surface thoughts by actively absorbing psychic energy which could be dangerous for the people around him. Some insight would be helpful. "Fail: Aqualad," the system intoned after Superboy flipped Kaldur onto the mat. "Black Canary taught me that," Superboy said proudly. Just then, a hatch in the ceiling opened and Red Tornado descended from his chamber. Kid Flash zipped to the android, stopping in front of him with a grin. Joseph noticed he was definitely faster than before. "Got a mission for us?" "Missions are assigned by Batman," Red Tornado replied. "Yeah, well Batman's off doing the Dynamic Duo thing with Robin in Gotham. But you're headed somewhere. Hot date? Secret op?" "If there's something, we're ready to help," Kaldur added, standing up. Red Tornado projected a hologram of an elderly man in a suit, leaning on a cane. "This is Kent Nelson. A friend..."

Chapter 97: 97

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