Authors Notes:
Sup yall. Im trying a new style of upload…im uploading the whole thing at once. Some people may not like it, but its easier on me. Anywho…may I present Young Justice-Next Generation: Ascention into Heroes.
prologue
Dick Grayson. most people know him as that. but only a select bunch know him as Nightwing. I am one of those people.
I can still remember the first time I met him. it was the day that billionaire Bruce Wayne, his son Damian, and his adopted kids entered Gotham City Orphanage.
Bruce had gone to talk to the owner, leaving his kids to talk with the orphans. Cassandra was playing with a group of girls. Tim and Damian played with some boys. meanwhile, Dick walked around. at that point, the orphanage bully D.J began picking on me. he was about to punch me, when Dick stopped him. sitting with me, we talked until Bruce returned.
walking up to us, Bruce told Dick to pick the orphan hed adopt. looking at me, I knew I had a home.
that was four years ago. I now knew that Bruce was Batman, Damian was Robin, Tim was Red Robin, Cassandra was Batwoman, and Dick was Nightwing. I had also met Barbara Gordon, who was Batgirl.
when I saw her wheelchair for the first time, I couldn't help but ask what had happened. she told me that The Joker had shot her, paralyzing her from the waist down. but being in a wheelchair hadn't stopped her from helping the Bat Family. she dawned the name "Oracle", and was the person who did the research and background checks.
about a week ago, Dick and I were playing a card game. before he took his turn, he looked at me and spoke.
"look little brother, im about to give you something very special. Bruce and the others helped me make the decision." he pulled out a suitcase. opening it, he revealed the Nightwing costume, Wing-Dings, Escrima sticks, a grapple gun, other assorted gadgets, and a communicator. "im giving you the mantle of Nightwing. everyone thinks it's a good idea. I know you'll do well."
standing, I walked over to Dick. giving him a huge hug, I said "I'll make you proud."
that's how it all started. My name is Cutler Bailey, and this is my story.
chapter 1
Mount Justice
I've been Nightwing for a week, swinging into action with Batman, Batwoman, Robin, and Red Robin. it was the most thrill I had ever had in my life. for nineteen years, all id done, was get stuck in an orphanage.
we had just captured Scarecrow for the umpteenth time. returning to the Batcave, we were greeted by Cyborg, Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman, Flash, Superman, and a bunch of kids.
"Nightwing, id like to introduce you to some people." Dick said, walking over from the Batcomputer, "meet Supergirl, Kid Flash, Cyborg Jr., Rose, and Wonder Girl. our parents need to depart for a distant planet. therefore Batwoman, Robin, and Red Robin will be defending Gotham. you kids on the other hand, will be staying at Mount Justice. from there you will work as a team to protect other places in the world."
Nodding, I lead the team into the Night Flyer. we reached Mount Justice in no time. landing the Night Flyer with so many people inside was not easy. I nearly crashed twice.
exiting the Night Flyer, I got a call on my communicator. it was Dick. "Cutler, you need to promise me something. if you encounter either Red Hood, or Deathstroke, you must get away. get your entire team away from them. I have personal experience with them both. Cyborg can vouch for me when I say that Deathstroke is dangerous."
"I promise Dick." I said, entering Mount Justice.
chapter 2
Our First Mission
entering the control room, I saw Cyborg Jr. at the main console. "what's up Cyborg?" I asked, walking up beside him.
"just upgrading the security and firewalls." he said, the last thing we need is to get hacked." nodding, I turned to walk away, when he put his hand on my shoulder.
"Nightwing, we got trouble. a group calling themselves "The Prime Assassins" is attacking Ras al Ghuls castle." he said, pointing to the screen.
I originaly thought we'd all have to fit in the Night Flyer again, but then I remembered. "Cyborg, get everyone into the Great Hawk. we have assassins to deal with."
once I was onboard, we lifted of and flew to Moscow. we had arrived at Ras al Ghuls castle just in time. a group of hooded men stood at the main gate.
"let us pass!" I yelled. the hooded men shook their heads and pulled out swords. I had a strange suspicion that I knew what was going to happen.
pulling out my Escrima sticks, I yelled "spread out! they can't go after us all." we split up. I ran around them and hit them with my Escrima sticks, just before Supergirl froze them with her ice breath.
"Cyborg, lets get this door open." I said, "who knows what's happening to Ras and Talia." Cyborg Jr. rose his arm cannon, and blew the door open. we came to two hallways and a staircase.
"let's split up." I said, "Supergirl, you and Cyborg go down the right hallway. Kid Flash, you and Wonder Girl go down the left. Rose and I will take the stairs. we meet back here later. Understood?"
everyone nodded and went their separate ways. little did I know, that The Prime Assassins were the last people I wanted to see.
chapter 3
Retreat
making our way up the stairs, Rose and I came to a dark corridor. Rose lit the way with her lantern ring as we walked down the corridor.
we reached the throne room. Ras and Talia were nowhere to be found. as we walked in farther, we heard a laugh from behind us. then a voice spoke.
"I knew this attack would drag Nightwing and his little team out to save the day."
turning, we saw Red Hood and Deathstroke. I contacted Cyborg Jr. "change of plans. get everyone to the Great Hawk. NOW!"
a moment later, Cyborg Jr.s voice responded. "understood. well meet you there." once he said that, I raced for the window, and jumped. Rose followed suit.
we landed on the emergency hatch of the Great Hawk. Cyborg Jr. opened it and let us in. once inside, I collapsed in a chair.
"what happened Nightwing?" Rose said, confronting me. she looked just like the others, angry. she stared at me, waiting for my answer.
"we can't fight Red Hood and Deathstroke." I answered, after a long period of time, "they are dangerous. and Dick told me not to fight them. he said to get you all away from them. that's how dangerous they are."
"now I understand." Rose said, "you were looking out for us. just like a true leader. which is why we are making you our leader."
"then back to Mount Justice." I said, "we need a plan.
chapter 4
Breached
"so, The Prime Assassins are Red Hood and Deathstroke." Rose said, looking at the main console, "and from what we can tell, they could form a team at any time."
"Incoming Message."
"on screen." I said, walking over. the message was from Red Hood.
"Sup Nightwing."
"what do you want, Red Hood?"
"I can see Dick warned you about Deathstroke and I."
"how did you...?"
"I know that you aren't the original Nightwing. he would've fought me."
"how did you know who Nightwing was?"
"that's for me to know, and you to find out."
"what do you...?"
"turn around, Nightwing."
turning, I saw Deathstroke, sword in hand. somehow he had breached Mount Justices security.
"you shut down security, didn't you Red Hood?"
"guilty as charged, shrimp."
"why you..."
"Deathstroke, get out of there. we have what we need."
not even a minute later, Deathstroke and his team left. turning towards Cyborg Jr., I said "Cyborg, perform a full diagnostic. I want to know exactly what they took." I then turned to Kid Flash and continued. "Kid Flash, check every room for clues. I want answers and I want them NOW!"
chapter 5
Cliffhanger
"what do you mean they took our defence codes." I yelled, "with those they can remotely shut us down. no amount of firewall can protect us from that."
"incoming news feed."
"on screen." I said. the news report was from the Grand Canyon."
"we go live, to where The Joker is planning to bomb the Grand Canyon. can anyone stop him."
"let's move people!" I yelled, running through the hangar door. we all piled into the Great Hawk. as a safety precaution, I started up the Night Flyer, just in case.
we flew to the Grand Canyon. once there we saw no news crew, no Joker, not even a bomb. when we reached the edge, all I heard was a familiar laugh, then a voice.
"wow shrimp. you really will believe everything. I can't believe you actually thought The Joker was going to blow the place sky high."
from behind a boulder came Deathstroke. but it wasnt his voice I heard.
not even a moment later, a hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me over the edge. it was then that I saw Red Hood. he began to speak.
"old Bruce should've made a better choice. letting Dick choose the orphan was a risky move. one that won't be repeated."
he then dropped me, letting me fall down the canyon. all I could hear was Rose yelling "Nightwing!" as she and the others were taken away.
chapter 6
The Truth
I pulled out my grapple gun and fired it. the hook latched onto the cliff top. as it pulled me up, I thought to myself. "how did Red Hood know Dick picked for Bruce to adopt me?" "what didn't Dick tell me?"
during my climb, I contacted Oracle. "Oracle, I need all info the Batcomputer has on Red Hood sent to the Night Flyer. and dont try to scramble it, cause I'll just unscramble it."
"Dick didn't want you to know." she said, "but I'll send it, just because youre family."
reaching the top, I noticed that the Great Hawk was gone. Red Hood and Deathstroke must have taken it. I pushed a button on my glove, and the Night Flyer flew in front of me.
jumping in, I noticed that on the computer screen was a file on Red Hood. by my seat was a batarang. looking at the navi computer, I noticed that the Night Flyer had been to Gotham before coming to my location.
reading over the file, I learned that Red Hood was actually Jason Todd, adopted son of Bruce Wayne, and also the second Robin. he was believed to be dead, until a few years ago, when Batman confronted him. the file also mentioned the Lazarus Pits, having been what brought Jason back to life.
looking at the batarang, I knew what I had to do. I pulled out a voice changer and set it to Batmans voice. it was time for Batman to return from a distant planet.
I plugged in the coordinates that the Great Hawk was giving me, and took off. this was gonna be sweet.
chapter 7
Ambush
the coordinates led me to the long abandoned Titan Tower. I had heard a lot about it from Dick. sneaking in would be simple, because Dick told me of every entrance and exit to the Tower.
I entered through an air duct in the roof, avoiding any and all fan blades as I went. I arrived in the rafters of the main room. my team was tied on the couch. Supergirl was tied with Kryptonite laced rope.
"so, who's going to tell me where Batman and the rest of the Justice League is?" Red Hood asked, flipping a knife. as I watched, Deathstroke sat in a chair, sharpening his sword. I pulled out the voice changer and batarang. this was my shot. I threw the batarang at Red Hood.
it stabbed into the floor in front of him. "so close." I thought, as I instinctly said "why don't you try right here, Jason."
"so you found out who I was." Red Hood said, removing his helmet, revealing the middle aged face of Jason Todd. he was still wearing his Robin mask, "took you long enough, shrimp."
putting my voice changer away, I jumped down from the rafters. my team got all excited, Rose especially. "how did you know?" I asked, pulling out my Escrima sticks.
"Old Daddy-O wouldn't have missed." Jason said, drawing his knife. we walked around the room, waiting for the other to move.
"one thing is clear." I said, connecting the Escrima sticks into a staff, "I won't miss this time." I shoved the staff's electrical end into his chest.
spinning around, I threw a smoke pellet at Deathstroke. using the delay time, I untied my team. "everyone on the Night Flyer." I whispered, "we have to leave the Great Hawk for now. they can trace it easily."
once on board, Rose hugged me. inside, I knew she was happy. I was too. but, I also felt anger. we flew for Mount Justice. we were heading home.
chapter 8
Ascension
once we arrived, we were confronted by our families. Dick looked unpleased. he walked up to me, and said "I strictly told you not to engage Red Hood. he's dangerous."
"if I hadn't confronted Jason, my entire team would be gone." I said, raising my voice, "if you had told me what I was up against, I could have prepared myself, and my team. but by being kept in the dark, they nearly paid the price. I don't know about you, Dick, but letting your team take the fall is not what a leader does. he prepares his team for whatever theyre up against. by obeying you, id have no team to lead, and id have the entire Justice League after me. if abandoning your team is what a leader does, then Nightwing doesn't deserve to lead."
Dick took a step back, shocked at what I said. I turned to leave Mount Justice, when Dick said "youre right Cutler. how can you be a leader without a team to lead. by leaving you in the dark, I endangered you and your team. I just didn't want you to know about Jason, and what he became. I wanted to protect you. by standing up to him, keeping your team safe, and saying what you just did, proves that Nightwing is destined to lead Young Justice."
"we've even brought you new teammates." Batman said, gesturing to a trio of kids. "Meet Artemis, daughter of the original Kid Flash and original Artemis, Miss Martian, daughter of Superboy and the original Miss Martian, and Lioness, daughter of Beast Boy and Raven."
we gave our hellos, then Dick said "Young Justice is yours to lead, Nightwing. what are you gonna do first?" I didnt even think about it.
"alright heroes, let's move." I said, "our new airship won't design and build itself." Dick had heard me.
"you lost my Great Hawk!" he yelled, chasing me into the mountain, "come here ya little runt! I'll kill ya!"
Epilogue
in case your all wondering, Dick didnt kill me.
our new airship, the Star Wolf, is fully operational, filled with state of the art controls, weapons, and defences, thanks to Cyborg Jr. and his superb tech skills. he even changed the defence codes.
we've all gone to a first name basis. listed below are all our names:
Nightwing-Cutler
Green Lantern-Rose
Supergirl-Kara
Kid Flash-Wally
Cyborg Jr.-Victor
Wonder Girl-Megan
Lioness-Lyra
Artemis-Diana
Miss Martian-Maxiine
we had become great friends. and as friends, we made a better team. and as their leader, id see them all the way to victory.
"It's Hero Time!"