A/N: Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Truthfully, I've been prepped to post this for ages now, but a huge distraction came up. This distraction is called "Graduation." Now, I've known it's been coming for some time now, but I misjudged how fast everything would go by. Basically, I've been working on things nonstop since the musical (which sold out 3 out of 4 nights). Thankfully, it's all over now. As of May 30, I am a high school graduate! Yay!
Also, new development since last we met, I've acquired a fabulous Beta Reader by the name of Sairey13. Sairey13 has been great, especially with all of my questions about what to do with a Beta Reader. Being the amazing person Sairey13 is, I've also overcome my intense case of writer's block due to some wonderful suggestions. Big round of applause and thanks so much!
Now that school is out, let me officially say, "I'M BACK!"
Except for the last week of June to the first week of July when I'll be at Disneyworld and Harry Potter World down in Florida. It's my graduation present.
I'm going to forego the review responses today simply because I want to get this thing posted ASAP. So, sorry, and I'll try to get back into the swing of things next time.
Chapter 11-Discord
"The solemn echo seems to cry\ 'Here let their discord with them die."—Sir Walter Scott
It was the eighth attack like this in the past three days. The League was growing concerned. Whenever this happened, a begrudging Batman was usually sent to sort out the matter. Unfortunately, in this particular case, everyone knew that Batman was the absolute worst vigilante to send…but they sent him anyway. They sent Batman to Blüdhaven.
They sent Batman to Blüdhaven because he was the closest.
They sent Batman to Blüdhaven to figure out what was going on with Nightwing. The young hero's methods darkened dramatically Tuesday night, and nobody could figure out why. Godfrey was blaming the League, saying that their influence was corrupting the kid. Some Leaguers were saying that he had always used dark methods; he'd just been hiding it. The Team felt that Nightwing was just going through a phase, like most teen heroes did. The Bat Clan, however, had other theories.
According to the group of highly skilled detectives, something had set Nightwing off. They believed that he'd already been corrupted before even debuting; he'd just been trying to avoid this corruption. He'd been trying to conceal his internal darkness from both the world, and himself. Recently, something must've happened causing the young man to snap.
In the end, this theory was the reason that Batman agreed to come to Blüdhaven. He knew what it felt like to constantly be fighting internal demons while simultaneously fighting the villains of the street. He'd been in Nightwing's position before, slowly stooping lower on the moral scale to accomplish his goal. The difference between the two was that when Batman was beginning to get too dark, he'd found some light. He'd found Jason Todd, the loveable and crass child of the Gotham streets, and Richard Grayson, the boy with a light that never seemed to die. For a time, Batman's life had been perfect. Then part of his light was smothered. When Jason died, and subsequently come back, Dick had been the one supporting him…when the boy had needed support himself. Batman probably would've murdered the Joker if not for Dick.
Then Dick had died. The evidence had been airtight, but there'd been no body. Obviously, this left a constant feeling of hope within the Dark Knight that would one day drive him insane. Without Jason or Dick around, Batman's plummet was inevitable, but then Timothy Drake happened. The boy wasn't his, but he sure was something. He was smart, observant, and a fast learner. Through their training sessions, Batman eventually grew to view the kid as another son, which was bad. Whenever he saw someone as a son, they perished. Unfortunately, this meant that Batman was colder towards Tim than he'd been to the others. Even through this coldness, however, the Dark Knight knew that Tim's presence as Robin was preventing him from doing anything rash, and for that, he was thankful.
Nightwing had no Robin to talk sense into him. The youth had no moral compass to keep him grounded. All he had were the remains of what once was his. Blüdhaven's hero was obviously weary from fighting his whole life, and now he was breaking.
It was Batman's job to save him. That was why the man found himself atop the Wayne Enterprises building in Blüdhaven, watching as Nightwing's silhouette slowly approached him.
"Can I help you?" the young man asked, arms crossed, voice filled with venom.
Completely undaunted, Batman stated, "Seventeen broken bones total between eight men."
Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "I thought there'd be more."
"One man is in a coma."
"He's the one who chose to jump out of the third story window."
"You were the one threatening him."
"Well, he had information that I needed. Don't you do the same thing? Last time I checked, you were the paragon for threatening interrogators everywhere."
"At least I don't enjoy it," Batman growled.
That seemed to shock Nightwing out of his aggressive state. His arms dropped to his sides, eyes wide in shock, as he took a step back. "I-I…I didn't enjoy hurting those men!" he exclaimed.
"The video evidence proves differently," the Dark Knight said, "The security camera from one of your 'interrogations' on Tuesday showed you grinning as the man backed up through the window. You're lucky the League confiscated the tape before the public witnessed it."
"…I smiled when he fell?" Nightwing questioned in surprise, "No…I wouldn't…" the teen trailed off. After all, Batman didn't lie about things like that. Heaving a sigh, Nightwing admitted, "I wasn't myself on Tuesday."
"And the other days? You've been critically injuring criminals for the past three nights, Nightwing, not just Tuesday."
"Not every criminal," the younger vigilante defended, "I've only been particularly violent to certain ones."
"What's so special about them? Why only these select few?" Batman interrogated, finally getting down to the important facts.
"They," Nightwing began before pausing and glaring at the Dark Knight. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to figure this out before me! Listen here; this is my case to solve. Go back to Gotham and stay there. If you're the great detective everyone says you are, then you'll figure out the connection."
"This is personal for you," Batman inferred.
Nightwing scowled. "Congrats," he sarcastically commented, "You figured out the reason behind it all. You deserve a gold star! Really, you do."
"You're emotionally compromised right now, I cannot-"
"Like hell you can't! You do it all the time, rushing out into situations where your emotions affect you. Remember, after your first Bird died, with Two Face? You were filled to the brim with emotions! That's why you were being so stupid! God, Bats, I- he jumped in front of a bullet for you, and then you do that. You run into a trap, and then you-you replace him! You do such an-an irresponsible action for someone who died, just to replace him! It makes no sense! If you can do dumbass things like that, like hell you can order me not to."
Before Batman could properly react to Nightwing's rant, the younger man continued in a threatening whisper, "You stick to running your city, and I'll stick to running mine."
Then he took off, leaving the Dark Knight with more questions than answers.
Nonetheless, afterwards Batman refused to try to reason with the vigilante whenever Leaguers attempted to get him to go back. The boy had made his mind quite clear during their discussion; idle conversation was not going to change his ways. Other heroes within the community did head to Blüdhaven, but none of them could ever find the elusive young man. Eventually, they stopped trying. They all, excluding Batman, just believed he'd come around again with time.
One month after Batman's failed chat with Nightwing, the vigilante showed no signs of improving. In fact, he was getting down right vicious. Eight men were in a coma, he'd broken a total of one hundred and nine bones, and several people were found to be bleeding internally. Blüdhaven was officially afraid. Their protector was now their greatest worry.
What scared the League, however, was the dramatic decline in the crime rate. People were genuinely terrified of committing a crime due to Nightwing's actions. If word got out about how successful this method was, there'd probably be a movement for more violent means of apprehending criminals. To make matters worse, the young vigilante disappeared again. He became a specter in the night; neither cameras nor spectators could find him.
But the damage left in his wake proved that Nightwing was still there
So, when it happened, more people were around than normal due to their fear of doing something illegal. Kind Mrs. Porter, the old woman who lived next to the Honeywells, was home for fear of being unprotected in the Blüdhaven streets. Young Hanson Franco was watching television; he didn't want a broken arm just because of his petty thievery. John Law was hunched over his desk writing a novel.
Chester Honeywell was off on patrol as Nightwing.
9:00pm.
So, when it happened, the last Flying Grayson was on the other side of the city. He'd just knocked out the last of the drug dealers he was busting. That's when it happened. The vigilante was aiming his grappling hook at a nearby building when a thunderous roar sounded. Being the seasoned hero that he was, Nightwing recognized it as a bomb exploding. A very powerful one.
Wasting no time at all, he grappled onto the building he'd been aiming at in time to see a cloud of dust and smoke emanating from the other side of Blüdhaven. A flickering of orange in between the layers of smoke indicated that a fire was raging from where the bomb had been set off. Vaguely, Nightwing heard sirens blaring from the emergency personnel on the scene.
Deciding to check it out, the young man made his way towards where the chaos was unfolding. As he drew nearer, Nightwing's morbid curiosity began to turn into panic and dread. He recognized the path he was taking…He took this path every night on his way back home after patrol…
Halfway across a rooftop, Nightwing stopped dead in his tracks. Oh no.
"It couldn't be…He wouldn't," the vigilante muttered to himself, continuing on his path once more, now at a frantic rate.
As he sped through his city, Nightwing mentally berated himself for not acknowledging that something like this would happen. He knew that Blockbuster was after him. Hell, the man had sent Tarantula to kill one of his friends to prove it. He should've known that the criminal would have a grand finale up his sleeve. He should've known, and he should've been prepared.
Why was he so stupid? He never would've been this dumb with Deathstroke. No! Batman. He never would've been this dumb with Batman. He didn't care what the mercenary thought of him. He shouldn't care…and yet, for some reason, disappointing Deathstroke made Nightwing more afraid than disappointing Batman. Since when did this happen?
Shaking his confusion out of his mind, Nightwing focused all of his efforts on getting to his apartment building…Or what was probably left of it. Just as this occurred to the vigilante, he arrived to his destination. It was a tall building near his apartment, safely away from prying eyes, yet in the perfect spot to see everything.
And everything seemed awful.
Flames flickered throughout the half collapsed building. Firemen were doing what they could to save the residents, but the conditions were borderline too treacherous for them. Survivors would occasionally come barreling out, coughing their lungs out, or a fireman would emerge carrying a half alive civilian.
Zooming in with his mask, Nightwing almost gagged. The severed flesh of the man who lived beneath him, a Hanson Franco, was easily distinguishable amongst the wreckage. The man's entire room was scorched, yet easily visible due to one of the walls being blown out. John Law's apartment was completely caved in, as was Mrs. Porter's. The entire scene stunned the vigilante. He'd been living with these people for years, and sure, they all had their faults, but many of them were his friends.
This was his fault.
"When put in a situation that ends negatively for you, do not let the enemy win," Deathstroke instructed as he circled around the man who'd refused to pay him. Dick stood quietly in a corner, knowing that if he did anything to stop the proceedings, his master would take it out on another civilian like he'd done last time.
"Do not ignore it, do not get depressed. Get angry, let that anger fuel you," the mercenary continued.
In his corner, Dick steeled himself for what was inevitably going to come next.
"And when the time is right," Deathstroke smoothly pulled out a knife and slit the man's throat, "you get your revenge." Kicking the body of the man who'd tried to pull a fast one on him, the murderer stated wickedly, "and then some."
Despite how inhumane, Deathstroke was right. As he watched the fire slowly dwindle in intensity, the discovery of survivors slowing, Nightwing steeled himself once more for the inevitable.
Sure, he knew that Blockbuster was the architect, but he also knew that somebody had to hire an architect in order to get something. That was the kind of man Blockbuster was; he'd take orders, but choose his own way to achieve the end product. The monster probably hadn't come up with the idea to ruin Dick's life, but he had come up with the methods to do so. That was something that Nightwing would not let slide.
Continuing to stare at the remains of his home, Nightwing balled his hands into fists, fury emanating from him. Screw the man behind the curtain! The souls lost in this disaster didn't deserve to wait for a thorough investigation! With firm resolve, Nightwing acknowledged what had to be done.
He wasn't naïve anymore. He wasn't the weakling he'd been as Robin. He wasn't going to let this disaster go unpunished.
After Mira, Nightwing's focus had been on hurting Blockbuster, but now… Now he had a bigger goal in mind. It was time for him to end this mindless bloodshed, and only one more life had to be lost in order to do so.
If that life had to be Blockbuster's, then so be it.
If that life had to be taken by Nightwing, then so be it. He wasn't Robin anymore, heck; he was barely a hero anymore.
He was stronger.
And he was going to personally see to it that Blockbuster died.
10:00pm.
"Recognized: Robin B01."
The heads of both Wally and Tim, the only people currently at Mount Justice, shot up from their homework. Casting the other a confused look, both boys instantly dashed out of the mountain's library. Obviously, they were headed to the Zeta-Tubes. After all, the computer just stated that the deceased Boy Wonder wasn't so deceased, and there was no tricking the Zeta-Tube's scanners.
Arriving at their destination, the two young heroes stopped short, their hearts pounding in their chests. Sure, both of them had at one point held a brief suspicion, but clearly it was impossible.
Then again, the fact that Nightwing stood before them, typing frantically at the holo-computer, proved their discarded suspicions to be correct. This, however, just raised more questions. First and foremost being how he was still alive.
From his perspective, Wally noticed Nightwing's eyes narrow dangerously from behind his mask. It was a look that he never expected to see on his once best friend. Of course, now the speedster didn't know whether he was in shock because his buddy was alive, or if it was because of the killer intent that was radiating off of the younger male. Wally shuddered internally at the thought of the once upstanding paragon that was the original Boy Wonder losing his moral footing.
The redhead's stupor was interrupted by the sudden dimming of the room. This, Wally noted, was due to the fact that Nightwing had closed the holo-computer. Watching his friend turn to face him, Wally was surprised to see the younger's face remain completely impassive, as though he didn't care that he'd been found out.
"Birdo. Speedy," Nightwing greeted without an ounce of emotion as he strode past them. "Sorry for the confusion. It appears my name wasn't in the Zeta-Tube anymore, so I had to alter the settings on one already created. It was faster than creating a new profile, and as soon as I leave, I'll reset everything."
"Recognized: Robin B01."
And then he was gone.
Wally sighed in relief. He'd almost believed that Nightwing was Dick! Thankfully, the younger vigilante had cleared that mess up before things got out of hand. Glancing at Robin, the speedster could tell that the boy was still processing what'd just happened. Then again, the Bats usually took longer to process things, having to take every little detail into account. That's what made them such good detectives.
"Wally," Tim said, drawing the young man's attention, "I think I can bring up the information that Nightwing just accessed."
"Well, bring it up," Wally stated, to which Tim nodded.
The two heroes headed over to the computer, Wally watching as Tim began his search. As he looked over the teenager's shoulder, Wally paled. Windows kept popping open, revealing a gruesome scene in Blüdhaven. A gruesome scene that occurred around an hour ago. A gruesome scene that was still going on.
Someone had blown up a populated apartment building. So far, there were fifteen reported deaths, many injuries, and a good number of people missing. One such person being Chester Honeywell. Wally remembered meeting the guy at the baseball game Barbara had dragged him to. He didn't seem like a bad guy…
"Oh my God," Tim exclaimed, as though the pieces to a puzzle were finally connecting in his mind. For his part, Wally didn't understand what the young Bat had discovered.
"Care to share?" he asked, still observing the images of the disastrous fallout of the bombing.
Tim looked at Wally in exasperation. "Don't you see it?"
"I see a destroyed building, a lot of civilian deaths, and Barbara's friend missing."
"Of course that's all you see," the teen mumbled.
"Hey!"
"Just listen. I don't know about you, but I've been looking into Nightwing for some time now. Ever since the kryptonite mission we had a while back."
"The one you botched because of a lookout?" Wally asked, causing Tim to glare at him.
"Yeah, that one, except the lookout was Nightwing. Now it makes sense though. When I sparred with him, for a moment, he used advanced acrobatics! Their profiles match up too! Oh my God," Tim chuckled slightly as he spoke, "It's so obvious now!"
Wally just looked at the boy in confusion. "Clearly, it isn't obvious. What am I not seeing here?"
Unfortunately for Wally, Tim's mind was a mile away, processing what his discovery implied. It all made sense now! Of course the Outlaws would be pals with him. He was young, but experienced. His personality was a perfect fit for the group of antiheroes! Of course they'd hit it off! So when they, most likely, asked for his help, obviously he'd say yes. They were his "in" into the vigilante world. That's why he always seemed to know what he was doing.
'He'd had help,' Tim thought, 'the Outlaws helped him root himself in Blüdhaven. But…Why would they do that? Red Hood already owned the town due to his drug business. Surely assisting a vigilante would weaken his hold. Unless he was using Nightwing to take down the competition...Maybe, if I look into Nightwing's cases…'
"Yoo-hoo, Earth to Robby," Wally's voice dragged the bird from his thoughts, "Care to explain what you know, but I apparently don't?"
"Oh, uh, it's nothing," Robin said, deciding not to tell the curious speedster the true extent of what he'd just discovered. For some reason, the Boy Wonder's gut was ordering him not to tell Wally that he discovered Nightwing's civilian ID.
"It's just, I'm pretty sure he's out for revenge." the Bird improvised, "Yeah, that's it! He's out for revenge. That's why he came here practically emitting his murderous intent. His own apartment probably just got destroyed, so he went to the next best place with a high tech computer system."
"How do you know his apartment was in the building that was blown up?"
"No reason," Tim stated, typing something into the holo-computer.
"That's not really an answer..."
Tim ignored the speedster.
"Whatever…So, we should hunt down Nightwing…You know, before he hunts down someone for revenge."
Tim nodded in agreement. "What do you think I'm doing?" he asked, typing in something else, "Apparently, Nightwing was tracking someone down…It appears it was Blockbuster." Suddenly Tim's face lost every ounce of color it'd held.
"What?" Wally asked in concern, not noticing Tim's mistake. "Did something happen? What is it?"
"He's going to Gotham."
Nightwing was going to Gotham.
'No,' Tim corrected mentally, 'Chester Honeywell is going to Gotham.'
"…Then we better inform Batman."
12:00am.
Nightwing flew across the rooftops at speeds that would've been impossible for him three years ago. Now, however, it was a piece of cake, and highly useful for his scouring of the city. Honestly, Blockbuster was huge, so why was he so difficult to find?
Taking a quick breather on top of the police department, right next to the bat-signal, the young vigilante was finally aware of his dark shadows. Or rather, dark shadow and red traffic light.
"Batman. Tweety Bird," Nightwing greeted, glaring at the two heroes.
"What are you doing here?" Batman asked viciously.
"Still angry about our last conversation?"
"Answer the question."
Nightwing sent a dark glare at the man before him. "What does it look like I'm doing? Clearly, I'm shopping for a new summer home."
"Revenge won't solve anything, Nightwing," the Dark Knight said, apparently ignoring the youth's sarcasm.
"It may not solve anything," the younger vigilante agreed, "But, it'll save something. Revenge will save the lives of everyone that monster would kill in the future otherwise."
Batman took a moment to process this new information before stating, "You plan on killing him."
"But of course." Nightwing grinned wickedly, causing Tim to shudder. "But not quickly…no. I'll make sure to extend his suffering for as long as possible, so he knows how I feel, and how the relatives of everyone he's killed feel. Luckily for me, nobody will feel anything with his passing. He has no one, so he won't be missed."
"Is that really what you want?" Robin asked, "Do you really think that killing is okay?"
Somehow, Nightwing knew that the boy's question held much more weight than it had previously, all that time ago, back in Blüdhaven. But, wherein their previous conversation Nightwing had been unsure, now his mind was made. So, without a moment's hesitation he answered, "Yes."
Robin's shoulders dropped, and a look of extreme disappointment crossed his young features, not that Nightwing cared. The kid was just that, a kid. He was the twerp who'd replaced him. He was the brat who'd stolen his name.
Batman's reaction, on the other hand, completely surprised him. Nightwing had been expecting anger, not the look of pity his old mentor was shooting him. Batman didn't do pity! Hell, he didn't even want the Bat's pity.
"If you're done with the questions, I'll be off." He had to get away from that…that look. Never had he seen such an expression on Bruce's face.
"I can't let you do that," Batman stated before Nightwing could leave, "Come with us."
It wasn't an offer. It was an order.
But, Nightwing never was one for following orders. Unfortunately for him, however, he couldn't even attempt to leave before he felt a prick in his arm. Looking down, the teen noticed a needle had been administered by the new Boy Wonder whilst he'd been distracted. Nightwing didn't know whether to be angry or impressed by the duplicity.
"You drugged me!" the vigilante exclaimed, unable to hide his shock, completely aware that his eyes were beginning to droop.
Robin looked at him apologetically. "Sorry, but it's for your own good," the kid said as Nightwing slowly collapsed, only to be caught by Batman.
Before he lost consciousness, Blüdhaven's protector felt himself being carried. With a feeling of dread, he finally understood what was happening.
Batman was taking him to the Batcave.
A/N: All done. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but that's probably because I just want it perfect to prep you all for next chapter. One part of the next chapter is probably the most proud I've ever felt after writing something.
Sorry for the long delay, but time flies. Also, thank you to those of you who are still reading this. I feel horrible about ruining my update schedule :(
To make up for it, my next chapter will be the longest one yet!
Ahem.
THERE WILL NOT BE A RAPE SCENE! I am tying in some things from the comics and that's it. If it seems similar now, don't worry. Everything is under control.
Thank you for reading!
AUTHOR'S QUESTION/CHALLENGE: Recently, I've started some bad habits. These bad habits are called YouTube and Online Streaming. Basically, I've spent my only writing time watching things online instead of being productive. So, what YouTube channels or TV shows distract you for hours on end? Do these things halt all of your creative efforts like they do mine?
COMING UP IN NIGHTWING: ALLEGIANCES: Alfred gives Nightwing a sandwich, the Joker crashes yet another of Bruce Wayne's parties, and Tarantula unknowingly interferes with Deathstroke's master plan.