Batman/Nightwing:
Death of Innocence

Pt. 7

By: Shannyn Grayson Ivy

Nightwing fought within himself not to show his opponent fear, a hard thing to accomplish when everything thing inside him screamed for him to run. The confidence his adversary showed might have psyched a lesser man into submission. In Nightwing's case, it only made him want to rip Sabyr apart all the more.

Sabyr circled him once, then twice, taunting him. Nightwing thought back to that night he had saved Batman. Sabyr had shown respect and even a small amount of fear towards Batman. If he feared Batman, then he was about to have a real problem. Batman wasn't to be Sabyr's worst nightmare. Nightwing was.

Waiting patiently for his challenger to make his move, Nightwing stood confident in his own right. As Sabyr lunged for Nightwing, he easily evaded capture. A series of defensive moves only were made by Nightwing as he blocked every attempt to subdue him. Remembering that any pain he brought to his 'master' would be mystically transferred to him as well, Nightwing chose to wear his opponent down both physically and emotionally. When the time was right, Nightwing would make the move to kill Sabyr. A move that he realized would most likely cost him his own life as well. For Batman's sake and the safety of the city, he was willing to take that chance.

Finally tired of the 'game', Sabyr stood back and admired the young hero. "You are truly a prize indeed. No wonder Batman is so taken with you…" Sabyr baited.

At the mention of Batman, Nightwing lost his concentration which was exactly what Sabyr had hoped. Before Nightwing could regain his composure, Sabyr was on him forcing him easily to the cave's floor.

Nightwing's struggle seemed to excite Sabyr all the more as he bared his teeth to his prey.

"Remember the night I turned you Nightwing?" Sabyr taunted once more. "You were so frightened. As my darling Krisinda took your body I drank of your blood…" Sabyr whispered into Nightwing's ear. "Remember? The pain, the fear…" Sabyr licked Nightwing's face. "The excitement?"

"Go to hell!" Nightwing spat and continued his fruitless struggle.

"I am your master. I could slay you effortlessly…" Sabyr explained. "Still, you show much promise. I think instead I will finish your transformation. Then I alone will own your soul and break that headstrong will of yours."

"You can try…" Nightwing warned.

Sabyr laughed at the boldness of the young man he held down. Once completely turned he would prove to be a valuable ally. Nightwing tried hard not to look directly into Sabyr's glowing red eyes. Still, despite his attempt he found Sabyr's trance to be unbreakable.

As Sabyr leaned his body solidly against Nightwing's the vampire felt something he had not expected. A Bat handled wooden dagger, Alfred's idea, had ejected itself automatically from the added shoulder pads in Nightwing's suit when pressure was applied to his chest cavity. The object impaled the right side of Sabyr's upper arm, causing both he and Nightwing to cry out simultaneously. The trance now broken, Nightwing seized what might be his only opportunity to escape. A solid kick to the chest tossed Sabyr aside and a second wooden dagger quickly found its way into Sabyr's left shoulder. Sabyr roared out an animalistic growl at the sudden jab, and although Nightwing too experienced the pain he had expected it. That gave him the edge. An edge he used to get out and away from Sabyr's reach.

As Nightwing retreated into the safety of the night, Sabyr's minions looked to their master for permission to pursue him.

"No! Let him go." Sabyr hissed. "I will be the one to take him. And I'm going to enjoy it…" Sabyr vowed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Robin." Nightwing stated coolly. To Robin's young ears he didn't even sound like the same man he once called 'brother'.

"I need to know Batman's condition." Nightwing explained. Every attempt to mask his current pain from Robin was made. Robin's deafening silence confirmed Nightwing's worst fears.

"That bad?" Nightwing asked. For the first time he seemed to show concern. The thought of it flew all over Robin causing him to become enraged.

"What did you expect?! YOU did this to HIM! YOU!" Robin shouted. Although Nightwing could not see Robin over the comm.-link, he had an image of him pacing about around the cave. It was what Robin always did when he was really upset.

"Robin…I was… out of my head. You know I would never have hurt him otherwise…" Nightwing's voice, full now of the emotion he had hoped to hide, found its way into Robin's mind and heart. Yes, he did know Nightwing would never hurt Batman. None of this was Nightwing's fault; still Robin was at a loss to explain his anger.

"I…I…Know." Robin stuttered.

"I need to know if Bruce is injured, his right arm or his left shoulder?" Nightwing explained. He had to know if his injuries would extend to Batman as well.

"No. I'm here with him now. He's not injured. Why?" Robin asked confused.

Relieved Nightwing let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"I need you to hold on Robin. This will all be over soon." Nightwing promised.

"And if it's not, you want me to stake him with that phony Van Helsing movie prop you gave me?" Robin asked sarcastically.

"No. If it comes to that Timmy, I'll take care of it myself." Nightwing vowed.

"Are you out of your mind?! You're going to kill Batman?!" Robin screamed. All this was like a bad horror movie that he just couldn't seem to wake up from.

"Yes, to both questions, Nightwing out."

XXXXXXXXXX

Incessant banging on Oracle's door at one-thirty a.m. was her first clue that it was going to be a long night. Surveillance cameras told her the story. The teenage wiz kid was standing outside her apartment screaming at the top of his lungs to be let in. Alarmed by his unusual behavior, Oracle opened the door with a flip of a switch on the console adjacent her vast computer networking. A young dark haired boy of sixteen ran to her before she could even get the door closed again.

"Barbara!" Tim cried out. Grabbing her wheelchair he turned her almost a full 180 degrees around.

"Slow down, kid. Boogey bat after you?" Barbara replied curtly.

"This is no joke, Babs. Dick…he's…" Tim stammered while trying to catch his breath.

"Dick's what? Has something happened to him? More than the obvious, I mean?" Barbara asked alarmed.

"He's going to kill Batman!" Tim gushed out.

"Woah. Waitaminute, where did you get that idea?" Barbara asked. Always thinking in terms of data location and recovery, Barbara flipped a million case scenario's through her mind. There must be a reference for this madness somewhere…

"He told me! If all this goes wrong- which nothing has gone right so far- then he is going to kill Bruce." Tim explained. It sounded ludicrous and frightening at the same time.

"Well that's a little vain isn't it?" Barbara asked. "He can be a vampire but Batman has to take a stake?"

"NO! He asked me to…Oh God; I need to sit down…" Tim answered, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

"Tim! Look at me! Are you saying what I think you're saying?!" Barbara shouted.

"Uh huh." Tim answered, wishing he could untie the knots inside his stomach.

"When?" Barbara pressed.

"Dick said that Bruce couldn't go much longer without feeding and that he would need to feed again very soon. If he can't stop Sabyr then plan B comes into play. You don't understand Babs… I made a vow to always back Nightwing's play…" Tim rambled nervously.

"When?" Barbara demanded as she shook the boy.

"I…I…have to back Nightwing's play…" Tim gulped.

"Timmy…WHEN?" Barbara pleaded for an answer.

"If he can't take Sabyr, Babs we could lose them both…tonight."

XXXXXXXXXX To be continued…