Chapter 1: Aftermath

"Bruce Wayne." James Gordon sighed, "To the public eye Bruce Wayne was a cocky, womanizing man with a lot of money. To others he was a strong man with a mission, a mission to defend Gotham. His war on crime never ended and thanks to him, crime rates have dropped since the demise of the mutant gang. There are still small gangs of petty criminals, however, nobody had the balls to even step foot near a shadow until Batman's death. With the Batman gone, with Bruce Wayne gone, nobody knows how soon chaos will ensue. Anyway, the bottom line is Batman. He was a hero in my book, and to many others as well. I just hope that God saved a good place for him upstairs and that one day... I'll be able to see him again."

"So what are we gonna do with the car?" Carrie asked.

"I don't know." Oliver replied, "Bruce had the Batcave locked down tighter than a drum. We'll have to find a way in."

"Yeah, but how?" Carrie pondered.

"I think I know a guy." Oliver said with a smirk.

Both Robin and Oliver rushed the building tops of Gotham, making their way toward Bludhaven. They stopped at a corner of a building.

"So. Uh... Whatever happened to your arm?" Carrie asked.

"Well kid.", Oliver started, "I never really met eye to eye with that boy scout Superman. When the government said it was time for me to put up my hat and I said no, they sent their little errand boy Superman to talk some sense into me. I still refused. So when I tried to put up a fight, it didn't end so well for me."

Carrie looked where Oliver's left arm should have been.

"Wow.", Carrie whispered. Shocked from Oliver's story. "So why did Bruce need your help with Superman?"

"He needed somebody with a good eye, and also someone to shoot his special anti-kryptonian arrows for him." Oliver answered.

"Sooo, a one-armed archer who no one knew was still alive except Batman, was the obvious choice?" Carrie questioned.

"Hell yeah!", Oliver exclaimed, "I may be crippled and old, but I still have one hell of an eye!"

"Yeah, okay. So who's the guy we're lookin' for?" Carrie asked.

"You'll know him when you see him." Oliver responded.

They both turned their heads when they heard the sound of garbage cans crashing in the alley beneath them.

"Come on." Oliver whispered.

They silently ran toward a fire escape and down into the alley, now hearing cracking sounds and a man screaming.

"Please! No more... I'll tell you everything!" The man begged.

Both Robin and Oliver ran into the alley to see a man in a black uniform with blue bird on it standing over a battered man by a dumpster.

"Thank you." The figure said. With the man's arm in hand, "If you are lying to me, I'll break the other one too." He then snapped the man's arm at the elbow.

Carrie hid behind Oliver clenching his jumpsuit. The cries of the man sending chills down her spine.

"Ahhh... I see you've gotten a lot more serious with age, huh Robin." Oliver stated with a sneer.

"Heh. That's funny. How's the arm Oliver? Oh yeah, I forgot. By the way it's Nightwing! That's been my name for the last 20 years!" Nightwing announced, "Criminal's here fear my name. They've long since forgotten the name Green Arrow."

Oliver clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. Through his teeth he informed, "Bruce is dead. The manor is a pile of rubble and you did nothing to help him because you are a stubborn and selfish brat and you always have been. Come on Carrie, let's go. We don't need him."

"Wait!" Nightwing pleaded, "I'm sorry. I wish I could've been there for him, but you know I couldn't talk to him! Ever since what happened to Jason and to Tim! He wouldn't have let me help him. He's always been that way. I'm sorry he's gone, but there was nothing I could've done."

"You were the first Robin. Weren't you?" Carrie asked.

"Yes I was. You're the newest huh?" Nightwing replied.

"Yep. We need your help. We need to get into the Batcave. We are not sure, but soon something bad is going to happen, and we need to be ready to help." Carrie explained.

"Okay. When do we start?" Nightwing asked.

"Now." Oliver answered.

"This is Gotham City News reporting live and I am your anchor, Amanda Thompson. People of Gotham City celebrate and mourn the death of the Batman tonight as former Commissioner, James Gordon, who reportedly was involved in the Batman's affairs, is telling a speech on behalf of the death of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Many people are asking: 'What will happen to our city now?', 'How will crime react to this occurrence?', Or 'Will someone take Batman's place?'. In more current news, Superman has fled to space after his final encounter with the Batman probably due to losing his old friend. The president has yet to comment on Superman's actions or his affiliations with the Batman's death. In other news, Commissioner Yindel has not commented on the Batman's actions or his death. She did however say that Batman has opened her eyes to the broader sights of Gotham's underworld and the criminals who live in it. Now the weather report. Take it away Dave."

A guy in a leather Jacket smashed the screen of the TV.

"TV's got nothin good on Rob." The guy said.

"Yeah I'm in the mood for slice-n-dicen Don!" Rob said.

"I don't know Rob." Don said, a little worried.

"Don't be frettin' Don. The Bat was nasty, but now he's bit the dust. Ain't nobody can stop slicer dicers like us now!" Rob reassured Don.

"Yeah!" Exclaimed Don, "Let's do some slice-n-dicen!"

They both grabbed knives and their visors and ran out of the alleyway and into the moonlit streets of Gotham, ready to wreak havoc on the city.

Nightwing, Robin, and Oliver made their way up to the building tops and back toward the Batcave. When they finally reached the ruins of Wayne Manor, Nightwing looked out upon the place he used to call home.

"Are you okay?" Carrie asked.

"I... I'm fine." Nightwing stated. "Well. I know every inch of the Batcave and the Manor, but the manor's totaled so we'll have to go to another entrance. If I know Batman well enough, I know he would've covered his tracks extremely well. So there are 3 locations that house the other entrances to the Batcave. One is in the heart of Gotham city in Wayne tower, another is in the armory of the GCPD, and the last one is in the cemetery next to his parents graves."

A/N: This is a new story I'm working on about the people associated with Batman from the Dark Knight Returns comic and film and how his death affected them. I know I haven't been writing for a while. I guess I just needed something to revamp my interest. Thank you for being patient and don't forget to PM me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.