Nightwing – Arkham Knight
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO DC COMICS. BATMAN - ARKHAMVERSE BELONGS TO DC ENTERTAINMENT, WB ENTERTAINMENT AND ROCKSTEADY GAMES. BATMAN BELONGS TO DC COMICS, BOB KANE AND BILL FINGER. NIGHTWING AND STARFIRE BELONG TO DC COMICS, MARV WOLFMAN AND GEORGE PEREZ.
Chapter 1 - A Blast from the Past
Nine months ago, Joker was cremated. Commissioner Gordon pressed the button and burnt the evil bastard himself, and then…he waited like so many others. Gotham braced herself for the inevitable power struggle that was likely to come, but it never came. For 9 long months, crime actually fell. Deep down, Gordon knew war was coming. He just was waiting for someone to pull the trigger.
On October 31st, that war began. Jonathan Crane, AKA the Scarecrow, threatened to turn Gotham into a toxic wasteland, to envelop it in a cloud of his latest fear toxin strain, all just to prove a point. That point was, as Crane put it, to prove that there was no savior, no more hope, no more Batman. However, the Dark Knight also had an old ally in this war, someone whose life would be very much changed because of it.
Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, had long ago left to establish himself in Blüdhaven, a neighboring city on the Gotham River. It was better than Gotham, in that it never rained all the time, and was pleasant. In reality, however it had her own share of troubles. For the most part, Nightwing had to deal with criminal gangs, drug lords and organized crime families, which was child's play in his book. However if crime fighting was going easy, his personal life was not.
Ever since he was Robin, Dick had an on and off relationship with Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's daughter. She once was the heroine known as Batgirl, but the Joker shot her in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down, forcing her to be wheelchair bound and become the information broker known as Oracle. Dick's relationship with Barbara was not without ups and downs. When Dick moved to Blüdhaven, that was where the trouble began. Barbara had been seeing him less and less often. Dick wanted to find out why. One night in June, he found it. Tim Drake, the current Robin, had now been seeing Barbara for some time. When Dick found out about the fact that she chose Tim over himself, he was outraged. Immediately, Dick cut off all contact from Barbara and got rid of everything that was connected to her, except a diamond ring he was going to originally propose to her with.
As months passed, Dick started going on numerous dates with other women from Blüdhaven. Yet one of them, Lady Vic, nearly tried to kill him as Nightwing. So, Dick decided that dating would come to a halt for now. Now he had bigger problems on his plate. Oswald Cobblepot, AKA the Penguin, had been smuggling freezer trucks into Blüdhaven, packed to the brim with weapons to equip a small army with. Nightwing was intent on stopping it, and he knew the company's name, North Refrigeration, the company who ran the refrigeration trucks. For all of August and September, Nightwing had been tracking North Refrigeration's movements, and now, on Halloween, he was summoned back to Gotham by Batman. Bruce needed Intel on North Refrigeration, and Nightwing had exactly what he needed.
Together the two of them had taken down most of the weapons caches that Penguin stockpiled in Gotham…except the last one. In an attempt to stop Penguin once and for all, Dick had gone off to the final cache on his own, and now paid the price for it. He was captured and kidnapped by Penguin and his thugs. Now he was being held hostage in the basement of the Amertek Building in Otisburg. Tied to a chair, Nightwing grinned at the thugs who surrounded him. Dick had by now grown his hair out into a mullet again, as he did once in his tenure as Nightwing, so as to make himself look more intimidating, but it was obvious that didn't work given the situation he was in now.
"C'mon fellas," he told them, "That the best you got? I can keep this up all night!" Nightwing was known for his quips and puns that he often pulled as Robin. However now he used them to a lesser degree. That joke of his earned him a strike to the face with a small club. His long black hair went with the impact of his neck, but Nightwing once again braved it. "Seriously? That was your best hit?" He asked, "I mean, my grandma could hit harder than you when she was alive!" Now Dick was really pushing the thug in front of him.
"What the hell are you doing here anyway, bub?!" The thug asked, grinning as his colleagues surrounded him, "You ain't got no business in this city. Should've planned ahead better for this." The thug raised his baseball bat and grinned evilly, "Now say good night, bird freak!" As the bat lowered, Nightwing thought that his end would come. That he'd end up like Jason Todd, the only Robin who was ever killed.
'So this is it…the end…' He thought, closing his eyes and waiting for the hit to the skull. However before the final blow could ever be struck, a blinding green light burned the painting of Penguin on top of Batman that was placed behind Nightwing. It knocked back the thugs in front of their hostage and caused Nightwing to open his eyes again in surprise. Right in front of him was an orange skinned, red haired beauty in a purple monokini-like costume with thigh high boots, bracers and who was blessed with the body of a goddess, someone Dick hadn't imagined would come to save him in his wildest dreams. It was Starfire, Nightwing's old girlfriend and a founding member of the Teen Titans, and she was angry.
"Leave. Him. Alone!" She roared out at the thugs. Her eyes were glowing green with fury and vengeance, and her signature starbolts were on her hands and aimed at the thugs. She was very protective of Nightwing, as they had a history together since they were only both 15 years old.
Starfire was originally a princess from the planet Tamaran, and she was enslaved by a reptilian race of aliens called the Gordanians in exchange for peace. At the same time, Dick had finally gotten fed up with living in Batman's shadow and so decided to leave. He then met up with fellow sidekicks, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash, who were wanting to prove themselves as heroes as well, thus forming a team of their own. Making it to Jump City, on California's Pacific coast, they found Starfire, who had escaped her captors and crash-landed on Earth. After meeting up with three more heroic teens, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven, and with Robin having his first kiss stolen by Starfire, the seven heroes defeated the Gordanians and drove them away from Earth. Shortly thereafter they formed the Teen Titans.
Starfire and Robin developed a crush on each other but didn't know how to express it until after one mission in space. For a few years they were a happy couple, even when Dick put on the costume of Nightwing after quitting the role of Robin. However that relationship would suffer due to her marriage of state. Dick didn't know it however, but Starfire had her problems once he left for Earth.
She hated her husband, a general in Tamaran's armies, who was arrogant and boastful. He prided himself in combat, but was a pain in her butt. Every night, Starfire cried to herself, begging for Nightwing's forgiveness. Starfire's evil older sister, Blackfire soon came to rule Tamaran, and branded Starfire a traitor, annulling her marriage and banishing her. However that would be the last time Starfire saw her home again. Much like Earth had Superman, the planet Tamaran also had a protector. This brave warrior named Phy'zon used a weapon called the Sun-Eater on the planet, which was plagued by the weight of Blackfire's evil. The planet Tamaran was demolished, wiped from existence. Only Starfire managed to survive the destruction of Tamaran. Now she claimed Earth as her true home. She longed nothing more than to be with Nightwing, to start again. Here, tonight she had that chance.
Penguin's thugs were terrified. They thought Starfire was a monster or alien intent on killing them, and of course, they did the only sensible thing to do: they fled in panic. Some managed to escape via the elevator, but most of them weren't, and they were beaten to a bloody pulp at Starfire's hands. However, she knew better than to just kill them in cold blood. In the early days of the Teen Titans, she was reprimanded by both Robin and Wonder Girl for trying to kill the enemy, and that she had to hold back. Now she was putting it to good use and merely knocked out the thugs.
On that day, they learned not to cross with Nightwing again. Dick was speechless as he managed to loosen the knots that kept him bound to the chair, freeing himself. He thought that Batman would come save him, but he surely didn't think he'd see Starfire again, nor that she would save his life.
"Starfire…" he muttered in complete and utter surprise. It was very awkward for him, considering how their relationship had ended in that she was forced to marry someone she didn't love. However he wasn't seeing anyone anymore and neither was she still married. Starfire only turned around, with a cold emotionless look on her face, as if she was pissed about Nightwing leaving her. However that was replaced with a huge smile as she ran towards her old boyfriend.
"Robin!" She exclaimed happily, her breasts jiggling with each step she took. Starfire then held Nightwing tightly in her arms, pulling him into one of her bone-crushing hugs, giggling happily like there was no tomorrow. Of course, Nightwing was in serious pain given how strong Starfire was. Yet the Tamaranean Princess was so happy that her one true love was alive and well. "Oh thank X'hal! I am so glad that you are unharmed!" Starfire was now just so happy, she didn't realize she was crushing Nightwing.
"K-Kori…it's good to see you again…" Nightwing uttered out while trying to get air, "But it'd be a lot easier…if I can breathe!" Starfire instantly realized she was crushing Nightwing and eased up her embrace, allowing the former Robin to breathe. "Star, thanks for the save…" He said, smiling as he hugged her back, "I didn't expect to see you. What're you doing here in Gotham?"
"I have come because of you," Starfire explained, looking up into her love interest's eyes, "When I had heard that the Scarecrow had intended to envelop all of the city of Gotham within his toxin of fears, I was worried that I would lose you. I have missed you terribly, I could not cease to think of you during the day, nor could I sleep at night without the shedding of tears all the while begging that you would forgive me." Starfire's face showed concern and sadness as well as relief. Her words were indeed true, she came to Gotham only because of Dick, she still cared for him a lot. It touched Nightwing's heart to know that after all that happened, she still cared for him, maybe even still loved him. Memories of such happy times they spent as Teen Titans came rushing back into his head, and then it came back to the ring he originally planned for Barbara. But instead, he now wanted Starfire back in his life.
"Starfire…I'm touched," he said, smiling as he kissed her on the cheek, "Really, I am. Back when you got married on Tamaran, I thought that was it. That I'd never see you again. I was such a jerk for having left you. I just hope you'll forgive me for leaving you like that." Dick now felt it was his fault for not saying no, to prevent Starfire from marrying that general, but he had no choice.
"It is quite alright, Robin," she said, placing her hand on his cheek, "However, I will not get in the way of your relationship with Oracle. You are both in love now, but I hope that we may still be friends." Starfire had returned to Earth at the time Dick was still dating Barbara, so she wasn't aware of what recently happened between the two. However that was about to change, as the smirk on Nightwing's face proved otherwise.
"I'm not dating Barbara anymore," said Nightwing, revealing the truth. At this, Starfire's eyes went wide as she heard Nightwing speak, "Our relationship went downhill once I moved to Blüdhaven, she stopped coming less and less, until finally she forgot all about me and moved on with Tim Drake, the new Robin. But seeing you here coming to save me, it just makes me so happy." This was like a sign of hope for Nightwing, maybe it wasn't meant to be with Barbara, maybe that he could try again with Starfire, to give their relationship another shot. "Maybe what I'm trying to say is that…I'd like to get back together with you. Kori…I love you more than life itself." Nightwing then kissed Starfire deeply and passionately on the lips.
With that one kiss, Starfire's dreams of getting together with Nightwing would finally come true, she'd get her happily ever after, even if she had to suffer through so much to get it in the end. As she returned the kiss, tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as she ran her hands through her boyfriend's mullet.
"Robin…I love you too!" She sobbed happily before crying into his shoulder. Starfire couldn't believe her luck. The man she loved, her Robin, was back in her life!