Episode 9: Darkest
Takes place on March 23 - 24
Even after the capture of Lagoon Boy and the murder of Artemis, the Light still do not trust Kaldur's devotion to his father and new allegiance, and to finally prove his devotion must capture Blue Beetle. Willing to do anything to cement his position, Kaldur agrees, creating a team composed of himself, the Terror Twins, Icicle Jr and his new-right hand partner, Tigress.
Impulse, who felt like hanging out with his new BFF Jaime, secret identities be damned, shows up at Blue Beetle's door unannounced. The two of them go to show off their stuff in the desert when they're attacked by Kaldur's team. Although they're outnumbered five-to-two, and the fight is close, the two of them manage to escape, even stealing Kaldur's tracking device. However, upon reaching Mount Justice, Nightwing doesn't congratulate them on their new "souvenir" but chews them out for bringing an unknown alien tech into the cave.
Meanwhile, Mal attempts to spend some quality time with his girlfriend Karen, feeling they never interact outside their super-hero identities. However, she's still too engrossed with her work with Dr. Palmer, so he gives up, disheartened.
It turns out that Nightwing was right about the unknown tech. It was actually a Trojan which completely shut down all of the cave's security systems. Kaldur's team infiltrates the cave, managing to knock-out and disable Superboy, Wolf, Impulse, Beast Boy, and Nightwing. Although Blue Beetle withstands their attacks, Kaldur presents a bomb- which, should he be attacked, will instantly blow up the cave. Fearing for his friends' lives, Jaime surrenders. Only wanting meta-humans, they leave Super-boy and Nightwing behind, keeping the others captive.
At least for a while. The scarab is none-too happy about Jaime's peace-loving ways, and is finally fed up with it. The scarab takes control of Jaime's body and attacks Kaldur; however, it turns out that Aqualad was bluffing, for Mt. Justice remains untouched. Kaldur escapes with the captives, but no one dies.
Except that the rest of his allies doubt his sincerity, thinking his bluff yet another sign that he holds a softness for his previous team. He knows what he has to do, and signals to Tigress (who is, of course, actually Artemis) to blow up the cave. It erupts in a massive explosion, shocking everyone.
Mal spots the explosion, and quickly arrives to find Mount Justice completely obliterated. Thankfully, Nightwing, Superboy and Wolf, though unconscious, were saved by Sphere and are floating out in the harbor. Mal arrives just in time to wake Superboy up and carry Nightwing's body back to shore while the cycle shuts down to repair herself.
Later, an infuriated Wally storms into the Justice Hall library, asking what happened. Nightwing explains it was necessary, as a secret slipped flash-drive from Kaldur details. He's been given information to track Lagoon Boy, and by extension, all the other hostages. The attack was necessary to secure his place in the Light, and he took precautions to ensure everybody escaped alive. And if the Cave was destroyed...well, it was just a place.
Wally remains unconvinced, saying there were far too many risks, and people came very close to dying. He's terrified for Artemis, and wonders if Aqualad is actually a triple agent, playing Nightwing.
Whether the risks were justified or not, the plan seems to have worked. Kaldur'ahm is accepted by the Light, who introduce him to their associate; the episode ends before it's revealed to the audience.
Notes:
- We see Beast Boy watching "Hello, Megan!", presumably to help him remember his mother.
- Sphere greets Kaldur when he enters the Cave, and does not attack, showing she still trusts him. It's also possible that the reason that Wolf did not stir at Artemis's presence was that he trusts her scent.
