Disclaimer: I own nothing of Batman or the DC Universe.

Author's Note: Takes place in the DCnU and also AU itself. Bruce Wayne is Batman (of course), Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is back as Nightwing, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, and Tim Drake as Red Robin.

Knight-Hood

It is always darkest before dawn.

I'm not sure who said that. Whoever they were, they had the right idea of a place like Gotham City. During the day, it's like an ordinary city. Come nightfall though, is a different story.

An underworld exists beneath the beauty of Gotham, and if you are foolish enough to scratch the surface, you could get sucked away into the abyss.

At night, the gods and devils of Gotham emerge in a struggle for power and control over the city and its souls. That's where the angels come in.

No, not angels.

Knights.

The nocturnal kind who wait and the shadows, watch, then like a lion to its prey, we pounce.

Perched atop the eagle's head, I stand ready to move, my shadowed eyes watching my assigned section of my new city in anticipation. I have barely moved for the past ten minutes that I have been here. Any onlooker who may be high enough to see me would probably mistake me for a statue by my suit.

Patience is part of the strategy.

Sure enough, my patience has paid off as my helmet's sensors go off. The crime and location appears on the inside of my visor in bold red: a break-in at the docks. Second time in two weeks.

I'm only a few minutes away…a few minutes which I can turn into seconds.

Time to go to work.

My suit gives me the boost I need to leap high in the air and towards the next building. I time it right and roll just as soon as I touch the roof's surface and dash on with my enhanced speed, another gift of my suit.

I take another leap as soon as I each the edge of the rooftop, and then another after bouncing off the concrete wall of another building. No need to waste a grabbling cable.

Even before thirty seconds into a minute, I'm at the docks, landing above the highest cargo container. Not too far are the reasons I am here.

Four muscle heads, each of them armed, with one standing on guard while the other three are loading in some heavy crates in a haul truck. No sign of a security guard or any hostages.

You'd think with who was prowling the city at night, the bad guys would have learned by now.

Going stealth, I flip down to the concrete and make my way through the shadows. I could just probably jump in front of those thugs, and then bullets would fly and bounce off the armor of my suit, and I could go all out on them. The thing is, when you play rough, bad things can happen. I know that first hand.

I need to play this safe.

I manage my way through the cargo labyrinth and find myself staring at the back of the guard, the barrel of his handgun scratching away at his temple. Have to wait. I don't want to scare this guy to the point where blows his own brains out, scumbag or not.

Just as soon as he lowers the gun, I shorten the distance between us and pull him into the shadows. He lets out a yelp, and that's all I allow him to do as I put him to sleep with a chokehold.

"Roode?"

They already notice the disappearance of their friend. Must've heard him yelp. I gently lay Mr. Roode to the ground, and also make sure to unload his gun and toss it away.

"The hell happened to Roode?"

"Don't tell me the Batman's already here!"

Batman? No, not tonight.

I leap up on top of a cargo container just as soon as two of Roode's accomplices turn the corner, guns out and ready. Roode's third friend, a guy with a Hulk Hogan-sized mustache...lets call him Mustache…remains by the truck.

At least he was, until I came leaping down. Mustache caught sight of me too late before he went flying after a kick to his chest. His gun went flying as the back of his head met the ground.

A batarang is already ejected from my gauntlet and into my hand just as the other guys, Skinhead and Scarface as I have nicknamed them, hurry back from Roode's resting place. I swing my hand back fast, releasing it the batarang, and heard the familiar clash and groans as both their guns were knocked out of their hands. The batarang, unfortunately, never returned to me. I've got plenty more, anyways.

"What the…That ain't Batman!" Skinhead declares.

"That's Knight-Hood. He's the new guy," Scarface explained.

"Still ain't the bat."

"No, I'm not the bat," I confirm through my voice changer.

Skinhead comes at me first,. I meet him with a spinning roundhouse kick to the side of his head before he can lay a hand on me. He's out cold before he touches the ground.

"But I'm just as scary."

I face Scarface who looks at me wide-eyed, looking like he's ready to wet his self.

Scarface turns and makes a run for it. I could catch up to him, but…

Scarface suddenly falls forward like he's just been tripped, when in fact a batarang had connected with the back of his head.

Not my batarang.

My helmet's sensors back up another heat signature. It lands down just a few feet away from me with the flap of a cape. Too small to be Batman, yet too tall to be the assassin brat…I mean, Robin.

"Security alarm got my attention. Thought you could use a hand."

"The guard?" I asked.

"He's fine. He was just coming to when I got here."

Tim Drake…Red Robin stands up tall and smiles at me. He pauses just as he's about to say something else.

"Um, Nightwing?"

I sigh. I don't blame him though for the mistaken identity. After all, my suit is similar to the Nightwing suit that Chris Kent had worn when all those Kryptonians had suddenly shown up over Metropolis, except my mask was different, inspired a bit from the cowl of a bat with the exception that mine covered my entire face, and where there was not blue steel, was a black form-fitting suit with gloves and boots.

"Knight-Hood," I corrected.

"Oh. Right. Call me Red Robin…"

"I know. The Big B's told me about you."

"The Big B? Huh. I've gotta remember that."

"You didn't hear it from me. Don't suppose you could tie these guys up for me, could you?"

"I said I was here to lend a hand, didn't I?" Red Robin smirked and was already tying up the bandits, starting with Scarface. Meanwhile, I headed into the back of the cargo truck to find what was so valuable enough to sneak away at night. Then I suddenly remembered…

"There's another on the side…"

"Already got him, thanks."

Gripping the edge, I tore off the crate's lid with my suit's enhanced strength, ripping the nails out straight. I was expecting at least some advanced weaponry, maybe some priceless artifacts.

Fluffy toy bunnies was definitely not on my list. Unless…Taking up a toy bunny, I could already feel by squeezing that it was different from what a toy bunny should feel like. Ripping open its back, I could see why.

"Find anything?" Red asked as he came up beside me.

"Plenty," I replied, holding up the small bag of white powder.

"Cocaine. Their hiding drugs in toys again. That's an old trick."

"Which is why they wouldn't think to use it today," I added. Red Robin was always observing the outside of the crate.

"Property of KayCee Toys," Red Robin read off the crate. I couldn't help but hear the smirk in his voice. "Well, looks like we just solved one of the boss's side missions."

He knew about this. Of course he would know. He's Batman.

Even though I did not ask, Red Robin decided to explain what he meant in side mission.

"KayCee Toys was going bankrupt a couple of weeks ago, then out of nowhere their stocks were growing."

"Mob deals?"

"Looks like it. KayCee Toys stays in business…"

"…And the mob does their own business." I concluded.

"Good theory."

That was not Red Robin's voice. It was too deep and dark to be a teenager's voice.

Both Red Robin and I turned to the opened back of the truck. At the edge stood a figure whose very stance drew all attention, rather it was the admiration for the people whom he had saved, or fear from the monsters he fought against.

"You want to hear if it's the right one?" Batman asked.

TO BE CONTINUED…