Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, the Batfamily, the Justice League, the Titans, the Teen Titans or any mentioned/associated Hero...
For some time now, a thought was trapped in my mind, what would happen, if one were to cross DC Superheroes, with Paranormal Activity?
This, is your answer.
ENJOY... if you can.
~*Paranormal Bativity: If I Die Tonight *~
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Chapter 1: Can You Feel it?
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A universal shudder seemed to ripple through the god-forsaken streets of the dank, dark city… Even thieves, thugs and robbers paused in their meaningless meanderings to shiver as a deep sense of evil seemed to seep past, like a shadow on the sun…sucking the happiness from life for but a moment, and then it was swiftly forgotten as they turned back to their meaningless lives of crime and cruelty…
Even the regular citizens of Gotham felt it, the lingering touch of malice sliding sharp, cold fingers up their spines, the Shade hiding just out of sight, leaving those who sensed it with deep stirrings of unease and fear. In these dark moments, as day turned to night, they turned to look upwards to the tallest of buildings in hopes of seeing the silhouette of their salvation…
They needed him now, more than ever.
They needed… Batman.
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Bullets ricocheted from all directions, he swung his body with little effort out of the way, grinning like a maddened creature; sure, on the inside there was a small part of his mind that was screaming 'get serious!' –he liked to call that part, 'the Inner Batman'… (not that Bruce would think that was as funny as he did, but hey…even the Bat couldn't stop him from thinking it)...- but the rest was purely exhilarated to be doing something.
Ever since Bludhaven had been destroyed… well, even the lowest of low-lifes had pitched in to help re-build and crime had dropped to below nothing, so he'd had nothing to do for such a long time… not that that was a bad thing, of course. Still, a bored Nightwing, was a Stir-crazy Nightwing.
"Oh Bat-baby, a little attention this way please…?" called the familiar voice of the purple-clad prankster. He obligingly turned his head to the side and alighted on a nearby rooftop, wherein he noticed the Joker standing plain as day on the opposite building's roof, a huge rocket launcher ludicrously draped over one shoulder and a grinning missile stared out of the barrel's depths… not good.
Joker grinned even wider in that maniacal beam he always wore, "Just smile at the camera and wait for the flash…say "Dead Robin!" WHOO-HAHAHAHAHAAAAAHA!" The madman aimed it high, and beneath his mask Nightwing felt his eyes grow a tad wide…but outwardly he smirked.
"That depends… on your definition of 'flash'," he retorted…and disappeared.
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Joker blinked, "Bat-brat?" he queried the silent twilight world, looking about and seeing nothing…he felt a breeze stir his purple suit from behind and whirled about… There stood Nightwing, arms folded over his chest and grinning, "B-but how-?" he started, looking rather put out, but a red blur solidified behind the Bat-brat, materialising as the Flash.
Correction. The smug-looking Flash, who waved with the air of someone who'd just pulled a major prank on someone else.
"Like I said, depends on your definition of 'Flash'…" Nightwing grinned, and stepped forwards; Joker made to fire his rocket launcher…only to find it wasn't there anymore, though he still had the rough sensation of the handles on his gloved palms. Pieces lay scattered across the entirety of the roof, in enough spare parts that it would never again be whole without a Manual and a weapons expert; Nightwing grinned broadly, "Looks like its game over for you…"
Joker sighed dramatically, "Oh poop…" and went down like a ton of bricks as the vigilante hero punched him right in his painted, pouting face…
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Trussed up like a Christmas chicken and suspended from a streetlight several feet in the air by a strong tether cable, the Joker was left for the speedily-arriving-but-just-too-late-to-be-effectual-G.C.P.D.
"High Five for how awesome I am?" Flash asked, raising a red-clad hand in preparation; the dark-clad hero to his left turned around with an amused expression, the wind shifted across the rooftop and swept the raven mop of hair across his face. Behind the mask, Wally was very aware that there was an eyebrow quirked, but still, he did receive the longed-for high-five…so he was satisfied, even if the gesture was acted out with a small snort of laughter.
Nightwing frowned all of a sudden, body tensing in an almost imperceptible way…then relaxing; but his expression –to any of those with an insider's information on the non-Verbal BatCommunication Manual- remained troubled. "What?" he asked, resisting the urge to poke the other continuously until he received an answer or even just… some form of recognition; Wally was exceptionally aware that the other's focus was not on him entirely.
"What…?"
And there was his proof. "It doesn't matter… I just thought I-…it's nothing. Wanna go back to the 'Cave?" he smiled, knowing that Wally would never refuse…he thought the cave was totally awesome but there was still one little quirk that had his heart racing and palms sweating… "Uh, I'm all for it but what about, you know, Bats? I want to live…and not in a wheelchair, or a full-body cast…" He was prepared for a burst of sharp laughter, swiftly followed by an assurance that such a thing would never happen…what he wasn't prepared for was, well, the look of serious contemplation that adorned the other's face. "Don't worry, he has to go through me first, and as much as we fight…he's never actually hurt me significantly… and I'm sure he doesn't hate you enough to kill me… just, don't make the 'Bathrobe-man' joke again. Or even I will not be too great a sacrifice if it means removing you from the cosmic equation…"
Wally's jaw fell open, emitting a strange squeak… but the other was gone with a lingering, "Race you!" dying on the wind…
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Resisting the urge to giggle in that high, creepy way of his youth, Richard fired off the next grapple and felt it tense as it sunk into a solid point on the adjacent building; it pulled taut on his shoulder, and his body swung with the momentum, arcing up through the night to silhouette the moon. His own version of flying…and the moment stretched into eternity…
As the last grapple line released and he turned in a fluid moment to fire off another mid-air, the world changed, and something went horribly wrong… The evil sensation scraped down his spine, like claws… he shuddered almost imperceptibly and then let out a startled gasp as his forward momentum was halted by something that seized his ankle. Whatever it was held fast and swung him bodily in the other direction… his lower back burned inexplicably, like fire.
Nightwing had a momentary vision of an imposing looking skyscraper coming closer, his shadow reflected in the mirror-like windows…and then all was shattered glass and darkness…
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The first and only indication he had that something was wrong… was the way Dick let out a soft gasp, and then appeared to throw himself backwards in mid-air, arcing out towards the opposite building over the street…
Wally let out a horrified expletive, changing his speed and course to angle towards the shower of falling glass, debris and vigilante… why wasn't he saving himself? He angled across the street and straight up the side of the building, dodging frozen citizens, motionless cars and small shards of glass and metal as they inched past in an almost halted momentum. Heart pounding frantically, Flash hit the edge of a shattered window, pushed down harshly and ignored the bite of pain as glass slashed through his costume and grazed the soft flesh of his leg; he launched into the air and twisted, feeling time rush forwards like a punch…
There was no jerk or fight to the other hero when his arm grabbed about his dark, spandex-clad waist; nor did Wally hear Nightwing say anything, which he was sure to do considering how much he hated being 'rescued' by one of the others, an annoying Bat-trait…but the Titans had usually found a way around it… Although right now, he'd give anything for a pun, quip or even an infuriated comment about not being treated like a girl. Nothing.
A moment of complete and utter free-fall where he panicked, not having thought this far ahead, then logic smacked him upside the head…he vibrated slightly, creating friction and threw himself through the air towards the building. Contact.
Traction. Wally sped straight up the wall of the skyscraper again, a red blur in a world of motion and uncertainty; Dick surprisingly slack in his grasp, paler than before and worryingly clammy…he had to get help…and he had to get it soon. And then, he noticed the hot, slick blood, pooling in his hands… And suddenly, he couldn't run fast enough…
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"What happened?" growled the deep, grating voice of Batman, though he wore the mask of Bruce Wayne… the hero had his cowl half-off, cape swishing dramatically as he turned, flinging a datapad across the room in surprise.
Flash had just burst into the BatCave carrying a seemingly unconscious Nightwing; the speedster was half-frantic as he placed Dick on a nearby medi-bed, lights on the screens flickering to life and reading an erratic heartbeat. Again, he repeated his question, "What happened, Wally?"
He added the younger hero's name in an attempt to snap him out of this strange trance he was in, "I- I don't know, we took down the Joker on a roof somewhere and then, we- well, there was kind of more to it than that, and I was awesome but- wait, off topic, sorry. Don't hurt me! Something was on that roof, something bad and…I don't know, but it… Dick noticed and then, when we were coming back here something attacked him. He was using the grapples and at the height of his swing, I think something grabbed him… whatever it was threw him into a skyscraper across the way, I didn't see anything there though. He was like this when I caught him…" Wally replied, body vibrating from lack of anything else to do.
Batman frowned. Something was wrong here, there was blood on the speedster's costume…dark stains marred the gloves and his heart –though many in the Justice League would swear to whatever Gods they believed in that he didn't have one- skipped a beat, near stopping dead in fear; but he sucked it up and let the Batman half of his mind take over. His gloved hand slid under Nightwing's back, feeling the harsh tears down his son's back, like…like something had deliberately run razor-sharp claws through the flesh; and…wait, was that-…?
"Come here." He commanded at Wally, "Hold him up while I check his back…" Unsure but grateful for being able to do something, Wally moved forwards and carefully sat Nightwing up, gasping as the bloody mess was brought to light… It looked as if six immense talons had been simultaneously raked down on an angle across the spine… but, right in the center of the lower back there was… Could it be?
A bite.
But not like any they had ever seen before, it was completely alien. "Are you sure you didn't see what attacked him? Whatever it was may have been alien in origin, this bite was not something that could have been made by any creature on Earth… perhaps it has the ability to cloak itself." He started to speak to himself at the exact same time Nightwing jerked awake with a hiss and a rather vicious swipe to the side, that would have connected with Wally's head if Batman hadn't caught the fist. "Richard, calm down. You're in the Cave, something attacked you; can you remember anything about the attack?"
"I- what? No… no… wait, I remember something on the rooftop, but it wasn't physical. I couldn't touch it, hear it or see anything but I felt it…and then when I was using the grapples, I felt it again. Something… touched me, but I didn't feel anything like…" his fingers reached back to gingerly touch the wounds, sitting up fully and swinging his legs off the edge of the bed. "Like this. How did I miss this? All I remember is something grabbed me, I couldn't shake it off, then my…what the heck is-? Is that a bite?"
Batman looked both concerned and rather amused, "Actually, we believe that you may be correct…it looks as if it could be a bite, though the origin may be alien to Earth… SIT DOWN!" he commanded sharply as Nightwing slid off the bed to stand, gingerly on the floor. Batman noticed. "Considering the damage it did without your knowledge to your back, I think it's safe to assume there will be at least minor bruising to the contact site where it initially grabbed you. Go and shower, then we'll deal with your injuries. And you," he turned to glare at Wally, "go with him… or he'll sneak off to confront it on his own."
And with that, Batman stalked away, probably to go get Alfred.
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Over the loud hissing noise of the showers, he could hear the smirk in Wally's voice, "Admit it, you're just pissed because he guessed right. You would totally sneak out and take on the whatever-it-is, right?" and sighed. Not that he would ever admit to it, but sometimes he really hated that Bruce seemed to know what he would do before even he did…
"On the plus side," continued the red-head, reaching over from his stall to snatch away the green bottle of shampoo on Dick's shelf, "I totally love the whole 'Shower in the BatCave' thing, …was going to run back to Central for a quick wash-up and come back later, but this works way better!" Wally turned green eyes on him, the smirk as wide as physically possible.
"And yet I can already see you making this into a long, highly-embellished epic that somehow involves you, the 'Cave showers and an over-exaggerated battle between you and Batman for the soap…" Dick blanched for a moment, "On second thought… forget the soap battle, I don't need to be scarred for life and neither does anybody else."
"You're forgetting something," the redhead informed in a sing-song tone, instantly putting Nightwing into wary mode –well, as wary as one naked, injured superhero could be when faced with a grinning, redheaded demon speedster (who was also of the nakedness) only a foot away with nothing but a chest-high wall separating them. He bit the bullet, "Such as…?" he asked, already recoiling in anticipation. Wally…did not disappoint.
"You failed to mention the dashing Damsel in Distress I rescued? They're tall, dark-haired and excessively attractive when pissed, …like right now. Oh come on, it was a joke, you know it, can't two guys joke about in the showers? Heck, I know Kori and Donna used to pretty much have conferences at shower time back in the Tower… Of course, they also had that crazy-weird female ESP thing going on, I could never work out what they were thinking sometimes…then BAM! Two-pronged attack over who left the toilet seat up…" the other paused thoughtfully, eyeing his expression as Dick reached out to snatch at the towel just out of reach…and the fluffiness was instantly to hand; the other not seeming to have moved at all.
The redhead's eyes widened, "Dude, we should get those looked at now… I- hang on, turn around!" Dick snorted and put on a high, affected voice, "Ooh Wally, didn't know you had a kinky thing for poor defenceless people in the showers…" for which he received a light, playful smack on the shoulder. "Be serious dude, if I wanted that you'd be pinned against the-… I mean, uh, look just turn around. I wanna see if my eyes are playing tricks on me…" Wally said with a heavy tone.
Sighing, Richard turned around and fixed the towel more tightly, low about his hips. The skin down his back was hot, sore and tight; and the dull throbbing ache they were giving off, was offset by the needling pain from his lower back... Like cold fire. He heard Wally gasp, and instinctually knew it was probably pretty bad… It was quite a few moments before Wally spoke again, "Let's…just go get that seen to."
He was right, it must be bad.
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TBC...
I shall post the next chapter either next week, or after I recieve 10 Reviews, knowing which one is more likely...
Until Next Week!
~*SailorSilvanesti/Phoenix Fire*~
