Chapter One
A man masked by his cowl and cape frowned in concentration as he looked through his binoculars. The sombre gloom of the night transformed Gotham City into a never-ending maze of shade and darkness: exactly the stimulus criminals needed to commit crime and chaos in the neighbourhood. Luckily Gotham has it's devoted protectors, however the weight of keeping the city safe still rested mostly on two hero's shoulders. Yes, the one and only Batman and Nightwing.
The man we know as Nightwing sighed in desperation; he was making no progress with his tracking."Come on Two-face, I know you're out there somewhere." He whispered to himself. Nightwing's face creased into an even deeper frown when he caught sight of a fleeting shadow. Instantly he reached for his tracking device, prepared at any moment to pounce on to his opponent. He jumped from his perch on the roof of a tall house.
Like lightening without the thunder Nightwing ran silently along the pavement, his eyes darting frequently from place to place; searching for his hated foe he arrived at a dead end, realizing that for once he himself, the Nightwing, had got lost in the twisting black alleyways. He was not on his territory any more – Nightwing had approached the East end of Gotham City.
Soon he would be confronted by Cat-woman with, if his luck was as amazing as it was tonight, Poison Ivy or Harley Quinn. Maybe all of them.
Nightwing was too busy calculating his options and possibilities, that he did not hear the soft foot falls of a small army filled with stalking villains. Just as he was about to leap back onto the roof tops, a deep voice growled,"Going somewhere, Nightwing?"
Nightwing turned around slowly, then gasped mockingly as he was greeted with the click of about twenty guns being cocked.
"Quick decision, oh winged one. Surrender, or die." The main leader of the gang spoke again.
The man tilted his head so it was facing what little remaining moonlight there was, revealing he was the hideous face of Two-face.
Nightwing got down on two knees, and held his hands in the air. In a few seconds he would have them pinned to the floor anyway. Two-face stepped closer, gripping a silver dagger, buying the vulnerability act.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There was no choice after all! My coin has decided your fate. Wonder what Batman will say when he finds out you lost to someone like me.." Two-face cackled, pure evil dripping in his voice.
Nightwing grinned.
"'Shame he lost to such a dumb-ass lunatic?'
"WHAT?!" Just when the hero was about to launch an attack, he heard a strange sizzling noise. Smoke rushed into his lungs, and soon he was on the floor along with the villains. He felt a pair of arms grasp and swoop him in to the sky (to some place out of the East End, he hoped). In what felt like mid-flight, he caught the scent of summer roses in the air.
"What the hell Bats? You decide to wear perfume on night outs all of a sudden?"
"I am not Batman." an unfamiliar voice said, as they both landed on a random roof top.
He squinted his eyes, adjusting to the dim light. Nightwing struggled to make out the outline of the person who was apparently not his adopted father after all.
"Okay who are you?" He said, stalling so he could examine the clearly feminine figure that was his acquaintance's physique. Tall, clothed in a full bodysuit that blended in with the night.
"You do not need to know."
Suddenly he felt dizzy, and somewhere a switch turned off Nightwing's mind. Flashing lights blinked on and off, blotches of colour blurred his vision. He felt well and truly sick.
Outside his pool of swirling colours, Nightwing heard a distant chuckle.
"You're smaller in person, Richard Grayson."
And then everything went black.
Sometime in the near future...
"Dick?" The sound of a concerned Bruce Wayne's voice woke up Nightwing from his deep, disorientating slumber.
"Are you all right? You're never up this late." Bruce asked, a vaguely puzzled expression on his face. Dick scratched his head, straining to remember what had happened. In response he got a sharp pain shooting up his body. He whimpered.
"Yeah, but I think my ego's slightly damaged. It all took place so fast."
Dick described what had happened to Bruce, the details slowly becoming clearer as the story progressed via his explanation.
"..And then you woke me." He finished, waiting for Bruce's reaction. Bruce appeared unsurprisingly calm, though in his sky blue eyes there was a look that Dick could not quite register.
"Looks like we might have a potential new hero. Did you see the person's face?" Bruce asked.
"Kind of. It was hard to see clearly. And, really, hero? She nearly choked me to death with a smoke bomb." Dick answered. Bruce frowned.
"So, another mystery; another day. Another clue; another way." A glint shone in Bruce's eyes, a thing he always got when talking about solving another mystery.
'World's greatest detective alert.' Dick thought to himself, rolling his eyes.
"You'll find out who it was?" Dick said out loud. Bruce nodded his head.
"With your help, though. Let us discuss this further over breakfast – please have a shower beforehand, you stink from all that crime fighting." He winked, making Dick laugh.
Bruce walked away from Dick's bedroom, having got up from his position on Dick's bed.
Now that Dick was alone, he strolled over to his en-suite bathroom, grabbing a towel from the cupboard. Five minutes later, Dick stepped out from the shower and dried himself. He went through to his bedroom to get some clothes, however suddenly froze by the doorway.
On Dick's flat screen television, there was a news report playing. He was sure that was not on before. Dick stepped forward, a rose scent flooding his senses. As he stood, glued to the television screen, the news lady said..
"There have been reports of a mysterious hero down in the East End of Gotham City. Scientists have identified that she is female. Nobody knows who she is, or why she does what she is doing ('Isn't it obvious?' Dick thought.), but it looks like we might have another hero of Gotham adding to our collection." The woman disappeared off the screen and she was replaced by a recording from a CCTV camera. It showed a dark figure hooded by shade, saving an old lady from an abusing gang of teenagers. This was followed by a clip, showing the shadowed hero 'rescuing' Nightwing. The news woman said in the background;
"This new hero has even been caught saving Nightwing during one of his nearly fatal flaws, proving our heroine has conquered the level of skill of Batman's former side-kick."
"Damn it." Dick muttered. 'How did they manage to catch me on tape?' He thought.
Deciding to talk to Bats about it, Dick slipped on a pair of casual black jeans, with a matching polo t-shirt and trainers. He quickly combed his hair, shaved and made his way down to the dining room.
When he reached the large, bright room, Dick chose a seat next to Bruce opposite from Alfred.
"The winged one awakens." Alfred chuckled as Dick sat down, who rolled his eyes. At the same time he reached for a slice of buttered toast and ate in massive bites as he realized how ravenous he was.
"Slow down, young master. There's no need to rush: it is the weekend after all. What reason do you have to hurry?" Alfred's English accent was strong in his voice.
"Things to do, subjects to study, mysteries to solve, people to meet." Dick replied.
"You are a lot like your father, do you know that?" Alfred mumbled softly, as he carried their plates through to the kitchen. Dick turned to face his father, Bruce.
"Have you received any clues on our mysterious hero?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly.
"Do not mock me!" Bruce roared. Dick shivered because previously he had heard Bruce shout much louder. He knew his father was only playing as Bruce's face broke into a wide grin.
"Got you. And yes, I have had a few calls and it looks like we might already have a head start to this case."
"I am truly whelmed. Did you see the news?" Dick asked.
"No." Bruce responded, looking shocked at his own lack of knowledge.
"Well, they managed to catch me and her on tape and are now saying she saved my life which she did not, obviously, do." Dick said. Bruce nodded.
"Ah. Obviously." The two laughed fondly, Bruce punching Dick's shoulder playfully.
"Now, eat up. We've got a Justice League meeting in thirty minutes." Nightwing slumped his shoulders as he thought of the long speeches to come.
