Summary: Takes place right after the previous chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
Dick was doing good. He was doing great. In the span of a single day, almost every major Blockbuster storage depot or weapons cache had been hit by the former Robin. All that was left was the big man himself. And according to radio chatter he had picked up, it looked like Desmond was on his way to Blüdhaven right now, returning from checking on his offshore locations upon learning of all the interference from the mysterious vigilante. He would be arriving tonight. Dick had shaken the hornet's nest hard. Finally, the pest was going to show himself. And I'll be ready.
Dick had gotten in contact with Jim Gordon back in Gotham and talked with him about his investigation. Gordon requested a meeting with Commissioner Ellen Yin, the head of the BPD and one of the only honest cops in the city. After a quick talk, Yin dropped all charges the crooked cops had placed on Grayson and had coordinated with Gordon to pinpoint the location of Blockbuster's penthouse in Blüdhaven. The strike team was preparing as they spoke, with backing from the GCPD. Dick planned to be in attendance, but not as Detective Grayson. Yin didn't trust him enough to put him on the field just yet, which was convenient for him. The vigilante would be able to do more good than Dick in this fight. Just as he was suiting up and preparing to depart, Dick got a text from Bruce.
Check the roof.
Grayson walked outside and smirked once he saw the Batpod that had been delivered by the departing aircraft. Wonder what Lucious cooked up this time. He opened the pod with a handprint scan, and he grinned like a kid on Christmas as he saw the black bodysuit inside. It was sleek yet armored at the same time, missing a cape but holding two escrima sticks in the back instead, and a blue 'v' ran from the arms of it all the way across the center of his chest. Okay, I could get used to this! Soooooo much more asterous than my old Robin suit, and I loved that thing! I think I'm a little...OVERwhelmed. God, Zee wouldn't let me hear the end of that. He quickly donned the black uniform before activating the wrist computer and pulling up schematics for it. If I'm about to roll in and take on a veritable army of goons, it'd help to see what all I have to work with. Damn, the old Fox went all out with this one. Wrist darts, sticky gloves and boots for traversal, quick-release bombs in the gloves, grapple launcher in the gloves for swinging..wow, look at these sticks! Electroshock capacitors, dart launchers, built-in grapples?! Okay, I'm impressed. Do I get birdarangs? Dick reached into his belt where birdarangs were usually stored, only to find v-shaped throwing projectiles, very similarly shaped to the blue 'v' on his chest. He pulled up the schematics on them and winced at the name. Wingdings? Why? Was there something wrong with the name 'birdarang'? That's just...no. Okay, they look just about the same as my old birdarangs, nothing too major here. This'll work. Dick patched into the police radio built into his belt and overheard that the op on Blockbuster was about to commence. Showtime. He used the grapples built into his gloves to swing from building to building, utilizing his incredible acrobatics and adhesive boots and gloves to assist in his movements. Wow, Lucious took inspiration from Spider-Man, I'm guessing? Well, I'm not complaining. This is way better than that clunky old cape!
Grayson followed the cops to Blockbuster's hideout. It was a veritable fortress, crooks everywhere. The cops got into a shootout with the thugs, and Dick analyzed their combat techniques before swooping in. He quickly took down two snipers on the upper levels with the wrist darts from his gloves before tossing a shock device to electrocute everyone on the second floor. That oughta help the cops out, bigtime. They can take it from here, I'm going after Desmond. He made his way through the fortress with extreme stealth. Can't risk them locking onto me and redirecting attention. I need some one-on-one time with brickhead.
Dick found his way to a server room, where several guards were frantically trying to delete digital evidence that could be employed against Blockbuster. He smirked before dropping down, taking out two of them before he even hit the ground. "Okay, boys. You can either drop your guns and surrender, or we can see just what my new toys here can do. I'm kinda partial towards option 2." The thugs prepared to fire on him, but Dick used the quick-release function on his gauntlets to drop a smoke bomb and vanish. Just like old times. He activated the familiar Detective vision in his mask before moving in to take down the crooks through the smoke. The thugs dropped fast, but the smoke cleared before Dick could finish the last one. He flipped towards the thug, delivering a kick to the top of his head before he could even move. Grayson smirked as he shoved an unconscious guard out of the way of the server before using his own hacking skills to break into every single file and download it all onto a flash drive. Heh. I've still got it. Better get this data loaded up. Even if Desmond sends more troops to delete this evidence, I'll have a backup stored away for Yin. Once Dick had the data loaded, he downloaded a map onto his wrist computer and made his way to Blockbuster's quarters.
Okay, map says this is the place. Better check in with Yin's group. Dick activated the police radio in his earpiece to overhear what Yin's status was. Alright, they're cleaning up downstairs. That's good. I should have brickhead gift-wrapped for them by the time they get up here. He used the air vents to get the drop on Blockbuster's elite bodyguards, quickly taking two of them down. He turned to face Desmond himself, surrounded by more of his guards. "Well, if it isn't the wannabe Batman. I must say, you've become quite a pain in my side recently. Why don't you pack it up and head back to Gotham, kid?"
"Too much competition there." Dick smirked as the goons surrounded him. He quickly drew his escrima sticks, activating the grapple feature in them to fire out a line from the tip of one stick, wrapping around one of the goon's arms before retracting to yank him towards Dick. He ducked before the goon could crash into him, letting him collide with another one. He then aimed his other stick at a goon, pressing a button to fire out a dart not unlike the ones from his wrist launcher, immediately knocking the thug out. The thugs started to swarm him, so Dick used his sticks to fight them head-on all at once. Combined with his speed, agility, and fighting prowess, the criminals didn't last long at all. He turned back to Blockbuster, smirking. "What's wrong? You look pretty distraught. I'm hoping that's not all you've brought. I was just starting to have fun."
Blockbuster charged at Grayson, who flipped over his incoming fist and landed behind him before turning around to strike him with his sticks. The blow did little to hurt him, as he shrugged it off and backhanded Dick through a wall. Ow. Dick got up and barely dodged a charge from the mob boss before using his sticks to launch two grapples, wrapping around both his arms and pulling him back. He gritted his teeth as he pulled with all his strength, but Blockbuster simply pulled forward, yanking Dick off his feet and straight into a heavy punch. Ow. Again. Dick spit out a bit of blood before rolling out of the way of a stomp and flipping back to his feet. He fired a dart from his stick, but it didn't even pierce Desmond's skin. Ah, crap. Blockbuster slapped him several feet away, and he crashed into another wall, dropping his sticks. He smirked as Grayson struggled to stand, coughing and groaning from his wounds. Dammit. Can't go for a head-on approach. The villain grinned widely as he walked over to him. "What's wrong? You look distraught."
"I t-try to stay traught. C-can't say the same for you." Dick tossed an explosive pellet at the crook. The blast hit him directly in the face and sent him a step or two back, but he quickly recovered. Could work, but I'd risk taking the whole building down with explosives. Dick flung an electrified wingding at him, which seemed to hurt him quite a bit more. Okay, that's something. He pulled out two shock discs, one in each hand as he leapt onto Blockbuster's shoulders and slammed his palms into his head. The discs electrocuted Desmond, who yelled out in pain before grabbing Dick and throwing him off his shoulders. Dick twisted his body in midair to land on his feet, grabbing his escrima sticks and readying himself. He activated the electroshock capacitor in the stick to coat it in electricity, keeping himself insulated through his gauntlets. Ooh, that's neat. Dick struck Blockbuster with the electrified escrima sticks, each blow doing far more damage than they did before. He was doing great against the villain until he caught one of his swings, flinging him back and smashing him into a wall. Dick groaned as he backed up, eventually hitting a glass window behind him. Damn, outta room. Head-on strategy DEFINITELY isn't getting results, buuuut...Dick holstered his sticks in his back before rapidly throwing wingdings at Blockbuster in an attempt to aggravate him. His plan eventually worked, and the villain rushed at Dick, sending both of them crashing through the glass. Dick punched him twice in midair, squirming free of his grip and kicking down heavily on him as he himself fired a grapple from his glove to save himself from the fall. Desmond crashed into the street below, groaning before passing out. Dick winced in pain as he observed his foe, using his mask's sensors to determine he was alive before grappling back up to the office. Yin and her cops burst in just as he made it up, and he smiled before vanishing into the shadows, but not before the Commissioner caught a glance at him.
Dick observed as Yin's troops cleaned up the mess, and he waited for her to be alone on a nearby rooftop before swinging over. He landed next to her and she smiled, not acknowledging his presence until she spoke. "Y'know, if I was interested in working with masked vigilantes, I'd move to Gotham, or Star."
"Heh, I guess. But I doubt the cops would have been able to take out Desmond without backup." Yin sighed before facing him.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks for that. Makes our job a whole lot easier." Dick tossed her a flash drive.
"Here. Just in case brickhead wiped his servers, I managed to get a copy of all the data. Should help put him away for a couple years, if not the rest of his life." Yin's smile widened as she looked at the drive.
"Thanks. This is just what we need." Both of them turned their attention to the streets, watching Desmond get dragged away in meta-dampening collars and cuffs. "Y'know, you did quite the job takin down his organization. We've been trying for years, and you did it in a few days. Not bad."
"Thanks."
"I'm still not sure on this whole...vigilante thing though. I've seen what Gotham has had to go through with Batman."
"Well, without Bats the city would have gone to hell by now. I'd say he's doing the best he can, and he's getting things done."
"Yeah, I may not always agree with what he does, but I can't argue with his results." The two watched in silence for a little while before Dick spoke.
"Hey, Commish? If it's all the same to you, I think I'm gonna stick around. Blüdhaven needs a Batman, and I might not be Batman, but I think I'm the next best thing."
"Next best? Kid, I'd say you've already got him beat. I know Batman wasn't here to stop Blockbuster, you were. And I have to say, I don't think I'll mind working with you more in the future. Just don't expect a fancy light with a logo on it or anything." Grayson chuckled.
"Yeah, I'd like that too. This city needs help, and the only way it's gonna get that help is if we work together." He turned to leave, and Yin addressed him once more.
"Hey, wait." Dick turned to face her. "You got a name? What can I call you?" He smirked at her as he prepared to grapple away.
"Call me Nightwing." Yin smiled as she watched Nightwing grapple away into the dark sky, looking down to see a communicator with a note on it.
You can reach me through the phone. Look forward to working with you, Yin. She felt her eyes widen as she read it. How did he...Nightwing, huh? Okay then. I don't think I'll have a problem with that.
Dick smiled as he swung in the night sky, admiring the city lights and bustling streets as he made his way back to the hotel he was calling home for one last night. He yelled out in excitement as he reached the peak of a swing before jumping off and carrying onto another one. It's not Gotham, and I'm not Robin, but I think I could get used to this. Yeah, I could definitely get used to this!
Next chapter is the 100th chapter of the book, which is a pretty big milestone in my eyes, and I have quite a few things to say about that, but I'll save it for the next chapter. It'll be the aftermath of this whole ministory, and after that I've got some fluff chapters that I recently thought of while brainstorming. They will likely take place back during the old days of the team, so it'll be a bit of a throwback, but after that it'll be right back to present time with Nightwing and his life. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.