"NIGHTWING JUNIOR"
—A Batman/Nightwing Short Story—

Based off the events established in the Nightwing #49 Comic Book (2018)

PART ONE:
"Nightwing Junior"

Mentally, he called himself Nightwing, but, of course, he was not the genuine article.

He was smaller than the original and not as muscular, he also didn't have the grace. But his representation was favourable to the man that he called a mentor. To him, Nightwing was not just a mentor, but he was a friend, and he would always be a member of the Batfamily, even if Dick Grayson didn't remember.

Damian Wayne took up the mantle of the man he liked the most: Nightwing. When he swung through the streets of Gotham, he got stares, people pointed, and said: Who is that little twerp dressed as Nightwing?

For weeks, Nightwing had disappeared. He was nowhere to be seen. But only the Batfamily knew the real reason. Dick Grayson had been shot in the head by a sniper and now the Nightwing that everyone knew was no more. There was talk within the Batfamily of taking Dick Grayson to Switzerland to soak into the Lazarus Pit, but to date, Dick Grayson or Ric-Gray, as he was calling himself, had disappeared. No one knew where he was, even though the collective family searched for him everywhere.

He obviously didn't want to be found, an instinctive personality trait that he learned from Batman when he was Nightwing, and once Robin. He knew how to hide in the shadows, he knew how to avoid detection, and if cornered like a dog, he would attack on instinct alone.

Damian didn't call himself Nightwing, per se, he knew that name was sacred to one person alone. He didn't have a name right now, he may have looked like his mentor, though short in statue — he was only 13 years old — but Damian Wayne knew he had to keep the memory of Nightwing alive.

Bruce Wayne, his father, aka Batman, didn't approve of Damian's idea of going out as Nightwing. He knew that everyone should work together in an attempt to bring Richard Grayson's memories back. And once, and if that happened, try and re-educate and help Dick get back to his over former self. That was the only way that things could get back to normal.

But Damian didn't see it that way, and for once, despite their differences, Tim Drake agreed with him. Tim agreed to come back to help Bruce, despite all the problems he was dealing on a personal level, including trying to avoid his future self from killing him.

Damian never did what his father wanted him to do, he knew he was obstinate, but he didn't care. So, as he swung across the Gotham landscape on a tether line, despite the looks of confusion and the stares, he was effectively Gotham City's newest tiniest hero, and as he did, he overheard someone, a kid, call him Nightwing Junior.

Damian dropped to the ground in front of a jewelry store, the bells rang. It was being robbed. Typical of criminals, he thought. When one superhero was down, they all seem to come out of the woodwork to cause trouble.

He entered the store and confronted the four robbers, the clerk was tied up with duct tape, and each robber had a semi-automatic rifle.

"Hey!" he announced himself. Each one turned, then stared, and looked confused.

"Well, well, well," one of them said. "What do we have here? Little Nightwing Junior?"

"Shut up!" Although he did like the name. "I'm going to stop you from robbing this store!"

"Oh yeah? You and what army, pipsqueak? You might be wearing the Nightwing costume, but you're no Nightwing, and you're no Batman. You're just some stupid kid in a Halloween costume thinking that he can be a hero. But boy, you just made a terrible mistake and a fatal one."

The four gunman cocked their guns and Damian leapt into action. He took out two of them in the blink of an eye, immediately disarmed the third, and despite his mentors no weapon policy, no guns, he shot at the fourth robber with one of his buddies rifles—a single shot—and disarmed him, carefully aiming for his gun hand. Later he thought, he would have to consider getting some escrima sticks for himself, or in fact, borrow Grayson's own.

When Damian got back to the Batcave, Bruce immediately scolded him. But, of course, Damian didn't care.

"Grayson's out of action," he said. "Someone has to take up his mantle until he returns. He took your place when you disappeared father. It's only fair that I respond in kind. I was there as his partner then and I'll be here for him now."

"It's too dangerous, Damian," Bruce retorted. "And the criminals of Gotham will soon learn that Nightwing has disappeared and they'll challenge you, thinking that you'll be a pushover."

—Tt— "I was your partner and I'm no pushover. With all the lessons I've learned from the League of Assassins, I could take out every single criminal in Gotham City on my own. Your one lesson: No killing would be axed. What I'm doing now is repaying the favour Grayson afforded you."

"You should be more respectful of the dead."

"Grayson is not dead! He's alive! He doesn't know who he is right now, but that will change soon. I know we have friends who are willing help. And what about the Lazarus Pit that brought me back to life? Also Todd? We batboys seem to be immune to death. Why not use that to restore his body and memory back to normal?"

"You know the reason why, Damian. Ra's al Ghul is dead, supposedly. He hasn't been seen in sometime. And the pool has disappeared. If I could find it, I would take Dick there. He has always been a son to me, he was my first, apart from you, and despite my feelings on the matter, we must look at this as a risk we all take as crime fighters."

"High risk is a factor in our lives, father, but this doesn't have to be the end for Grayson. He may be acting more like Todd right now— he's gambling; he's drinking; he's acting like an ass; like a common thug—but throughout it all, he's still helping people on the street. He still has that core instinct to help people. It's still there ingrained. We just have to draw it out. Grayson is still alive!"

"Dick may be alive in body, Damian, but the soul that once inhabited his body has left the person we knew. The bullet took him away from us. I'm looking at all possible ways to help him, I'm even looking towards Barry Allen to use the Speed Force to alter events. But you know why that is a risk of its own, and in changing history, many facets would also change."

"I don't care, father, I want Grayson back. In the meantime, I will fill his mantle as best I can, even if they do call me Nightwing Junior—that's a suitable moniker for now, and it's respectful. I want him back!"

Bruce turned his back. "Do what you want, Damian. But don't call on me for help. If you want to do this, your on your own."

Damian sneered. "Fine, father. Just like Grayson was alone. I choose to be alone, too. I won't be a replacement for him, but I will step in temporarily. Everything is being weighed, I've put the word out. The Titans, The Justice League, and all our friends; they're all seeing what can be done. I'm sure there's a way to bring Grayson back. He was the man I called a mentor, and the man who will always be a better father than you. You're nothing but a coward!"

"Get out, Damian!" Bruce turned back, his face filled with anger. "I refuse to have this conversation. You're hereby banned from the Batcave until further notice until you listen to reason and logic. You're putting yourself in danger and I will not be a part of it."

—Tt— "Very well, father, I know where Grayson stashed his weapons. They're in Bludhaven, so I'll go there, and I'll speak to Barbara Gordon, as well. You can call on Tim to handle anything in Gotham City. I'll go and help Bludhaven and find Grayson."
"Do you want. Now get out!"

Damien collected what he needed in a bag, all his essentials, took a motorcycle, and rode out to Bludhaven. Here, he stopped at Barbara Gordon's apartment. He knocked on the door and explained how things were going be. He was now calling himself Nightwing Junior.

She had reservations about it and told him it was dangerous, but Damian didn't care, but she didn't stop him, and she appreciated his help when it came to Dick. She felt alone, she didn't know how to help Dick and without Bruce; Bruce seemed distant, especially with all the problems he had been going through with the Serine Kyle affair, how she left him at the altar.

Damian knew Kyle was bitch anyhow.

Overtime, Damian established a reputation within Bludhaven as Nightwing Junior.

At one point, he even came face-to-face with Dick Grayson, now with his head shaved, his wavy jet black hair gone, and he could see the bullet wounds that scarred the sides of his skull. The bullet had coursed through his skull from end-to-end. Oddly enough, it had not killed him, and three weeks later, Grayson was on his feat. It was a miracle, or was it something else?

"Hey kid, who you supposed to be?" Dick had asked him when they'd meant on the stress, he remembered.

"Just a crime fighter, sir," Damian had responded kindly.

"It's dangerous out here, you should be in school. Take off that silly Halloween costume, it makes you look ridiculous."

Damian new Dick was only saying that to look out for his safety, thinking that he was just a kid. If he only knew the truth, he'd know that Damian could defend himself against any enemy.

"I appreciate the sentiments, sir, I'll take it to heart. But this city needs a hero."

"You remind me of someone I once knew, the colours of your tights remind me of…Wait a minute! Are you trying to dress up as that vigilante crime fighter Nightwing? Who are you? Tell me who you are, so I can call your parents. Do you know Barbara Gordon?"

An unexplained anger seemed to envelope Dick Grayson and it was not like him. Dick Grayson took hold of Damian's tights by the collar and lifted them up into the air. "Tell me who you are kid," he demanded. "If you know Barbara Gordon, then I want answers."

"I have no idea who you were referring to, sir," Damian said calmly, lying, then flicked Dick's hands away, and landed back to the ground. Then he jumped two steps back to avoid any more grabs. "Thank you for your concern, citizen, but you should get some help for those anger issues. Perhaps a good therapist is in order? And, as they say, laughter is the best medicine. Watch some TV."

"I don't watch TV kid, I don't find anything funny anymore."

"That's too bad," he said dejected. "You remind me of a person I once knew, a person who liked to laugh and joke around. Who made silly jokes. I never appreciated it at the time, I always thought it was lame, but I wish he was still around."

"He sounds like a lame-ass, get yourself a friend to play with, and get off the streets."

"I'll consider it."

Normally something like that sort, a confrontational response, would make Damian mad, but he felt more sad than anything right now. This was not the Grayson he once knew.

He then shot a tether line from his gun and leapt into the air, and on to the top of a building.

He remembered at the time, looking down at the street from his perch, and Grayson looking up at him, believing, Grayson was completely different person, and Damian felt story for him. Everything Grayson had gone through over the years—helped so many—and this was his reward?

But one day, he would get his mentor back, Damian knew.

In the meantime, he would be Nightwing. He would be the justice Bludhaven needed. He was Robin, no more.

He was Nightwing Junior.

To be continued…