AN: Here it is! After a week of waiting here is the all out Batman Vs Nightwing battle. Which I probably won't do any justice because I'm not all that good at fight scenes. The sister story where we find out what happens to Robin is now up, under the title Red Wings, if you're interested.
Thanks for all the reviews so far, they are always appreciated.
Blue Bird
Chapter 4
Batman didn't waste any time in making the first move and within half a second another Batarang was soaring through the air, Nightwing avoided it easily but made no comment as he weighed his advantages; speed, agility and, possibly, stamina, against Batman's experience, strength and strategic thinking, in the unlikely event of him actually winning this bout, unlikely, not impossible, there was still the Team and Red Tornado to consider, still hanging back around the edges of the arena.
Nightwing shrugged and charged, making as if to punch Batman in the chest but dodging to one side at the last minute and somersaulting past the man's head, before lashing out backwards and delivering a strong kick to Batman's shoulder. Batman caught Nightwing's ankle in a vice-like grip and the latter smirked, bringing up his other leg to knock his ankle free before he brought up his wrists to fend off the blows that followed.
Sensing a gap, Nightwing leapt into the air and used Batman's shoulder as a launch pad to propel himself back towards the ceiling.
"This takes me back," he called down, sheathing his eskrimas, "Back when I was a trainee I'd pull that trick all the time, I thought it up when I was, like, seven,"
"What sort of people train a seven year old to fight like that?" Kid Flash asked,
"It wasn't for fighting, Speedy, it was their job," Nightwing replied, smirking at the look on Kid Flash's face at the deliberate error, Nightwing stayed balanced on his perch, several inches away from a stray Batarang, as he talked Nightwing slowly inched closer to it, "They were professional acrobats, they worked at a circus and everything,"
His fingers closed around the cold metal and wiggled it free, having done this he dived back for the floor, twisted midair and landed on his feet, knees bent slightly to break the fall,
"Round two?" he offered,
Batman didn't speak, but the slits in his cowl narrowed and, once again, Nightwing shrugged, "Suit yourself,"
He dived and delivered what would have been a bone breaking kick, had Batman not sensed the move coming and blocked, sending Nightwing crashing to the floor,
"Ow," the hero deadpanned, "That's going to hurt in the morning,"
"Stay down." Batman said,
For the third time that... whatever time it was, he hadn't been able to keep count, Nightwing shrugged, "No thanks,"
He sprung, with surprising speed for someone having just been floored by Batman, and delivered a punch, quickly followed through with a kick and flipped away, Batman hurled a line after him and Nightwing felt it lash around his ankles, flipping over he slashed at the cable with his borrowed Batarang and neatly fell to the floor. The useless line fell, slightly less neatly, seconds later.
"C'mon, Bats, I'm not an amateur, I have actually been to Gotham before, so I know Catwoman's favourite trick when I see it,"
Batman tossed aside the other half of the useless line and his frown, if it were possible, deepened, before he could say anything Nightwing raised an eyebrow,
"Judging by the stunned expression on Miss Martian's face I'd say you just told her to try and telepathically find out my ID, and probably where Robin is too," when there was no reply he continued, "Sorry, Bats, not going to happen, and seriously, what will it take for you people to get that I don't know where he is? Genuinely, I don't, I've told you, Miss M over there has read my mind twice, I suppose you could call Wonder Woman in, or Zatara, but it wouldn't do you any good, because I don't know, and I offered to help, but when I wake up here I'm treated like a criminal, quite frankly I'm hurt,"
"We aren't trying to be nice," Kid Flash said, "We're trying to get our teammate back,"
"And I'm sure my team is doing just the same," Nightwing said,
He charged and leapt into the air, twisting so it was his feet, rather than his head, that were going towards Batman, who blocked the quick volley of oncoming attacks and repaid Nightwing with a swift and powerful punch which sent him into the air again, Nightwing rolled his eyes and twisted over, four times in a row before landing again.
No sooner than his feet had touched the floor than Nightwing moved, dodging a punch, driving his elbow into Batman's middle and sweeping the dark knight's feet out from under him.
Batman hit the floor, but he was up again so quickly barely anyone registered the defeat other than Nightwing and Batman himself, who narrowed his eyes,
"Start talking,"
"With pleasure," Nightwing said, "But can I get some medical attention first?"
The barest nod from Batman sent Nightwing back towards the medbay, the team hurrying behind him in a stunned sort of silence until they reached the allotted room and Nightwing perched on a bed,
"What kind of medical treatments are you in need of?" Aqualad asked, a hard edge to his voice making it perfectly clear that he had not forgotten the fact that ten minutes ago they had been enemies,
"Just bandages and disinfectant, thanks," Nightwing replied, not missing the hostility but not commenting as the Atlantean fetched the required materials,
Nightwing twisted his belt buckle, a black disc, nearly invisible with the rest of his uniform, and it let out a shrill beep, his uniform lightened slightly and he began taking off his gloves, looking up to find the team staring at him, he shrugged,
"What? You think you're the only guys with stealth mode?"
"I do not see how you would need it," Aqualad commented, handing over the green box he was carrying,
"You need stealth for certain environments," Nightwing said, "The mode before was normal, city, colours, but I've got underwater, jungle, just plain invisible and the mode it's in now is so I can take it off,"
"So... You couldn't before?" Artemis asked,
"Nope," Nightwing finished pulling off his gloves and stood to remove his shirt, the sight of which nearly caused Artemis' eyes to pop out,
"Wow,"
Nightwing, who evidently got this a lot, ignored the comment and reached for the disinfectant, wincing slightly as he dabbed the stinging liquid on to several wide gashes and several more purple bruises, standing out, livid, against his tanned body, which was thinner than it had looked under several layers of Kevlar.
Nightwing reached for the bandages and raised his eyebrows at the team, "You just going to stand there all day? If you've got questions, ask away,"
"How come Batman decide to hear you out?" Kid Flash asked,
"To him, every fight is a test, and a chance to get to know the opponent, did you know he introduced himself to Superman by throwing him across fifth avenue in Metropolis?" he shook his head, "Anyway, clearly I somehow gained Batman's trust, or however close to trust he gets, and he decided to hear me out,"
"Why would he fight then hear you out?" Superboy asked,
"Not sure anyone's been able to understand that, ever," Nightwing said,
"And... your student? The one who attacked Superman?" Superboy asked,
"Oh, yeah, she's got a temper," Nightwing said, "Almost every person she's ever met she could have running away in terror within five minutes,"
"Except Superman," Artemis interjected,
"Hmm, yeah, I'm not sure how that turns out," Nightwing said, "But Superman was being obnoxiously stubborn, and she happened to have a chunk of kryptonite, I considered it a learning point in the values of heroism,"
He finished bandaging and replaced his shirt and gloves, he twisted his belt and the uniform returned to its original colouring, Nightwing stood,
"Let's go see what the big Bat wants."
AN: For those of you interested in how the time travel effects the timelines, there's a sort of explanation in the next chapter, both here and in Red Wings, until next week...
~SilverXDawn