Nightwing: The Darkness

Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2004 by DC Comics Inc. and are used without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2004 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced without permission.

Nightwing turned to the man who had been his greatest hero but could offer nothing but a whimper as he watched Superman crumple under the weight of his own expectations. "The good one" had aptly described what the entire super-hero community had believed about him. From his very beginnings, when he had been a wide-eyed child fighting alongside the Dark Knight, everyone had assumed that he was the light that shined into the darkness of the Batman. Little did they realize that Batman had been the candle that dispersed the night away from the citizens of Gotham City and he had been somebody who simply tagged along for the ride.

"Superman…" he said weakly.

"Richard, how could you let Bruce take the blame?" Wonder Woman asked, not believing what she had heard. Inside her brain she knew it had been true; it was the only reasonable explanation. Despite her revulsion at the thought that Nightwing was the guilty party, her heart leapt knowing that her love and trust in Bruce was justified. "He is your father!"

Nightwing turned back to her quickly. "I know that, but there was nothing I could do. Bruce manipulated all of the evidence! He wanted me to carry on the mission, thinking it would be better than sitting inside a cell…"

"Or maybe he was so horrified by what he saw he simply could not face it," Superman said, his voice regaining some composure. "How could you? How could you throw away our ideals and then lie to us?"

The leader of the Justice League turned back towards his hero and tried to offer an explanation. "I couldn't prove anything…"

"You could have talked to us, Richard," Wonder Woman said. "You could have told us the truth."

"You've made a mockery of the League," Superman added, his voice now becoming angry.

"No!" Nightwing cried out, trying to come up with a way to make them see his view, but at the same time relishing in the fact that the truth was out. He was free now, able to run away from the voices. No longer did they have the secret of his crime to hang over his head. Now he could give up the identity, he could finally just accept whatever punishment was given to him.

But some other voice inside of him, the voice that had pushed him during the training the Batman had put him through, spoke up and told him that giving up would not be that easy. "I have served the League with the same honor and dedication that the Batman would have put forth," he told them.

"The Batman sacrificed his freedom for a son that could not respect the opportunities given to him," Superman said, standing fully erect. It was Nightwing's turn to step back. "I am ashamed to admit that I was so easily led to believe that Bruce Wayne could commit such a cowardly act, but that is nothing compared to the guilt you should feel, Dick!"

"Clark…"

"No, Diana, he needs to have someone tell him what is so wrong about what he has done!" Superman argued. He returned his attention to Nightwing and forced from his mind the image of a young Robin whom he had found so impressive at one time. "You were given an opportunity to make a difference in your world. A man who needed nobody extended a hand to you and presented you with a choice and you accepted his offer. But you failed to make the commitment to protect life, all life…"

"You've killed before, Clark," Nightwing pointed out quickly. It was true: Superman had indeed executed Kryptonian criminals in the past.

"Only after a fair trial under the laws of my people," Superman was even quicker to point out. "You gave the Joker nothing like that. You killed him because he made you mad…"

Despite the fact he was facing the most powerful man in the universe, at least in his mind, Nightwing found himself taking a step forward. "He killed the woman I loved. He cut her up like a vegetable."

Superman paused and closed his eyes. "Barbara's death was a tragedy…"

"It was more than that! My life ended in that moment! I wanted die so I could be with her! I want to die now!" Nightwing cried out, throwing the truth out for all to see. "She was my world, don't you see? The world should have ended with her death…"

Wonder Woman moved a little closer. "Richard, you don't need to die for this."

Superman opened his eyes. "But the truth needs to be revealed to the world. We will help you, Dick, but we are going to free Bruce as well. You committed a crime and I believe that you are sorrowful, but that is not enough."

"You have to resign from the League, Richard," Wonder Woman said in a calm voice. Bruce had been correct; his son had been torturing himself for years over what he had done, but she could not yet say that everything was right. He was still trying to say that what he had done was right and she wasn't so sure that he was wrong. In her homeland, she felt he would have been hailed as a hero for quickly handing out revenge for the death of someone he loved. "You have to let the truth out."

He turned one final time to look into her eyes and he discovered that when he looked at them without any thoughts of malice or deceit, they were very pretty eyes. In fact, she seemed to radiate before him, a golden anchor by which he would hitch the remainder of his life to. He didn't have to die to pay for his crimes and his eyes watered as he finally saw redemption within his grasp.

Then it all changed.

"Intruder alert, intruder alert," the computerized voice of the JLA security system called out. The red siren lights that were mounted in every room and passageway activated.

Reflexes and training kicked in. "I'll head to the monitor room," Superman said. He looked back at Nightwing, but said nothing. He had been with the League for many years and had not betrayed them in battle. "This isn't resolved," he said in a warning tone. All of them knew it wasn't, but the current situation prevented them from furthering anything else on the matter.

As Superman moved away at super-speed, Wonder Woman put a hand on Nightwing's shoulder. "Under the circumstances, you understand that I'm taking command," she said.

He mumbled something and she assumed it was an acknowledgement. She did not relish the idea of sending a suicidal man into possible battle, but she really had no choice. She was technically on monitor duty now and there were no other members present in the headquarters. She had to rely on him. "We can help you, Richard," she said, not sure if he believed it.

She exited the room, running down the passageway to the security terminal at the junction that would give her a more updated explanation of what was going on. Nightwing stood there, suddenly feeling hot and sweaty. He unclasped his shirt and tore it off, feeling as if he were peeling off a dirty skin, but he felt no cleaner with his bare chest heaving in the air-conditioned room.

His emotions were running on high and he knew it; everything from panic to paranoia to perverse pleasure was coursing through his system. He was free he kept telling himself but at the same time he realized that wasn't really true. Now he had to endure the scorn of former friends and allies; his heroes would look upon him as a failure, no longer the "good one". Nobody would care that he could have never proved his guilt, nobody would want to hear how the entire ordeal had been tearing him apart for years, how he had been rejected by God for doing the right thing.

It had been the right thing, hadn't it?

Wasn't even the price of sending the Batman to jail worth having a world free of the Joker?

He screamed and his fist landed hard enough against the bulkhead to dent the stainless steel in. He felt nothing; the padding of his costume and the pain-killing aspects of rage kept him from experiencing anything unpleasant. He hit the wall again and again. "I was right! I was right!" he said over and over, raising his voice so that it could be heard over the warning klaxon.

"Nightwing?" a familiar voice asked. Nightwing turned to regard Impulse. The fastest member of the League would have responded to the intruder alert immediately. "You okay?" he asked.

Nightwing fought for control. He wanted to tell Bart everything, but too much truth had been let out today and nothing good was going to come of it. Instead he moved over to his tossed shirt and grabbed it. "Diana is running the team now," he said slowly. The speedster started to speak, but Nightwing cut him off. "She's in charge, Bart; Do what she says.'

He nodded slowly, understanding that something huge was going on. He couldn't guess what it was, but then he didn't have the time. In the blink of an eye, he was gone, racing through the passageways trying to find Wonder Woman.

"I guess I should leave," he said. The Intruder Alert was serious, but he did not feel heroic, did not feel he belonged in halls meant to house heroes. "I was right," he told himself again.

There was a scream, a blood-curdling howl of pain and Impulse burst into the room. He was vibrating at an accelerated rate, trying to shake something off of him. Nightwing saw it was some sort of black ooze. "Obsidian," he whispered as he moved to help the younger hero.

Impulse refused to stop, explaining that if he allowed his molecular structure to stabilize, the dark matter would kill him. "Go help, Diana," he pleaded. "I can keep this up for awhile," he said.

Nightwing started to protest. Wonder Woman would not want or need his help he was sure, and Superman would not appreciate it either. Though he had been in the hero business for over three decades, he felt like an outsider. "Please, Dick," Impulse said again.

Nightwing nodded; he could not let anything happen to Diana. No more of his friends were going to die. He ran out of the room and called to the computer. "Locate member Wonder Woman," he ordered.

"Wonder Woman is in the cafeteria."

The former leader of the Justice League came to a quick halt and turned down a corridor that led to the rear of the kitchen. "Where is former member Superman?" he asked as he approached the door.

"Superman is no longer in the headquarters."

"Where is he? Trace his signal device!"

There was a pause. "Superman cannot be found."

"Last known location?"

"Cafeteria."

"Oh, God, no," Nightwing said as he realized that Superman had been pulled into the nether dimension that gave Obsidian his powers. It was a realm based on the laws of magic, one of the few forces in the galaxy that could harm and even kill Superman. He could not allow the world to be denied its greatest champion.

With a battle cry, Nightwing kicked open the door to the kitchen and scanned the area quickly. It was relatively quiet but a few fires were burning in the serving line. He darted through the food preparation area and halted at the swinging doors that led to main eating area.

The cafeteria had been designed with large team gatherings in mind. It was supposed to hold over a hundred people and there had been enough seating put in to accommodate such a number. Every single booth and table had been knocked over or torn out, used as weapons by the combatants. Wonder Woman was down, a strong indicator that Obsidian had become more powerful in his years of absence.

Because his powers were magical in nature, there was no way to gauge them. Foes like that were particularly dangerous. Obsidian was standing over the fallen Amazon, black tendrils of nether-matter dripping from his hands.

He seemed taller than Nightwing remembered, but he radiated the same evil. He turned to the hero as Nightwing entered the room. Inside his cloak only his teeth and eyes were visible. "Ah, the murderous leader of the Justice League," Obsidian said. "Now that your teammates are taken out of the picture, you and I can have a nice talk."

"I don't have anything to say to you," Nightwing told him, not bothering to try and figure out how he knew about Nightwing's past crime. When you lived in shadows, you tended to see all of the darkness he supposed. "Get away from her."

Obsidian looked down at Wonder Woman. "She is quite beautiful…for a woman," he announced. "But she isn't the reason I'm here."

"Let me guess, you want to reapply for membership in the League?" Nightwing asked.

"Oh, no, Richie Rich," Obsidian said, waggling a finger at the hero. "I came to make you an offer. You see, I'm lonely…my crusade has cost me my father, my sister and all of my former friends…"

"Maybe if you didn't try to kill everyone you meet…"

"I haven't tried to kill you yet," the villain was quick to point out. "You should hear me out."

"You killed one of my best friends," Nightwing told him, his anger and ire apparent. "You murdered children."

"I suppose that you are now going to give me a lecture about how some lives are worth more than others, that it was okay for you to murder the Joker, but because I wanted to kill a few super-powered brats, I'm some sort of bad person," Obsidian replied and Nightwing had to force his jaw shut.

"You're insane…"

Obsidian threw his head back and laughed with pure joy. It was an awful sound and Nightwing suddenly found himself wondering if that was what hell sounded like. "You call me crazy? You killed the Joker in cold blood…"

"You don't even know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I know more than what you think," Obsidian whispered. "I've been there, Dick. I've seen the other side and I can tell you that what you did was right. The Joker was a plague on this planet, just like so many others." He stepped away from the prone form of Wonder Woman and slowly approached Nightwing. The hero did not bother to turn and run; Obsidian could teleport anywhere instantly. There was no running away from him. "You know what I know, that sometimes extreme measures have to be taken to ensure that the world is a good place."

"No," Nightwing said, shaking his head. "I killed a man who was bent on destroying everything that was good in this world, everything that was right. You want the same thing, Todd. You dress it up to make it sound like a crusade, but it's the same old insanity" Nightwing spread his arms out. "Look at all of this destruction," he said and then he pointed to Wonder Woman. "Don't tell me you think that somehow she is the root of all evil. It's all in your head, Todd."

"Just like the voices that tell you to jump, or to pull the trigger?" Nightwing felt a shudder run down his spine. "Oh, I know those thoughts as well, Dick. For years they tormented me because of the things I had done. But you can compromise with the devil, Dick; you don't have to kill yourself."

"What? Become a mass murderer like you? Become drunk on perversion and evil?"

"Join the dark side, Dick," Obsidian said, referencing a line from an old science fiction movie. "You don't have to die."

It was Nightwing's turn to start laughing. "Why does everyone try to tell me I don't need to die? Has anyone considered that maybe I just want to leave all of this behind; that I don't think that this life is worth living anymore? Are you offering my life, Todd? Is that it?" He took a step towards Obsidian. "How about it, Todd? My life for Superman's?"

The white eyes of Obsidian briefly flashed green, a sign of the power behind his abilities. Nightwing felt no fear though, but strangely he did not hear the voices either. Finally standing on the brink of death, they had deserted him. But that was okay; as long as Superman lived then it would be okay.

"I don't make deals, Nightwing. I offered you the chance to join me and to make something of the life you've ruined." Obsidian spread out his cape and a wave of cold washed over Nightwing. It was so cold it actually burned and he screamed in pain as he felt himself tumbling down. He lost all sense of time as he continued a fall and he believed he was tumbling towards some fiery pit. At any moment he expected to feel flames burning his costume and skin.

Then he stopped falling.

The light burned.

That was the only thing he could think of, the only thing he could concentrate on. The light was so intense that it blasted through his shut eyelids and seemed to bore into his brain. He wanted to turn away from it, but it was everywhere. It was so intense that he was positive that he could reach out and touch it, grab the light and pull it close or push it away. "Turn off the light," he said weakly.

"The light of truth cannot be extinguished. Always it will burn," a voice called out.

"Oh, God, what now?" Nightwing said as he pushed himself up off of whatever he was laying on. Slowly he opened his eyes, fearing that the intensity of the radiance would burn out his retinas, but he was happily surprised to find that there was no pain. It was bright, yet he could still see.

"An intervention," the voice replied, answering his question. "Advocates have raised a cry and the Presence has heard. On your knees."

"No," Nightwing said, moving into a defensive stance. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he was not about to simply surrender to a disembodied voice. "On your knees!" the voice repeated.

"And I said no."

"Arrogance! Such arrogance!"

"Unworthy primate…" a rough voice cried out.

"Now, Michael," a more serene voice said. "He is confused and angry…"

"I do not care, he is unworthy of this honor!"

"On your knees!" the first voice ordered again, but Nightwing refused to comply.

"Make me," he said, daring them to show themselves.

A blow to the back of his legs sent him crashing down onto his knees. Stunned, he looked up to behold the face of Zauriel. "When commanded, you will obey."

"Am I dead?" Nightwing asked.

"No," the second voice said. "Though you should be."

"You must forgive, Michael, he has…issues with the fallen," the third voice tried to explain. "It is not often that someone like you gets a chance like this…"

"He doesn't deserve it! He is a murderer, an adulterer, and a liar! He had broken more commandments that I care to count. Ten laws given to man, yet they choose to obey none!" Michael's tone was provoking. "They take too much for granted!"

"We must listen to the advocates!"

"What is this?" Nightwing asked out loud, hoping someone would answer him. Without warning, another body dropped next to him. He immediately recognized the dark form of Obsidian.

"The light! Turn it off! Turn it off!" the villain cried.

Nightwing smiled at his pain.

"Arrogance! See how the plight of another amuses him! He claims to be an angel when he is really a minion of the pits!"

"The advocates!"

Zauriel stepped in front of the two prisoners. "Honored brethren, we must stop this infighting. The Presence has ordained that the advocates would speak to try and allow the truth to be known, to redeem the soul of Richard Grayson."

"My soul?" Nightwing murmured. He then looked at Obsidian. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" the villain responded quickly, even as he tried to sink back into his cloak. "I was going to drop you into deep space!"

"Let the first advocate step forward," Zauriel called out. "Let them come forward into the light of truth and speak the same."

Obsidian started to get up, but the angel kicked back, catching him in the chin. "Do not move unless told," he commanded.

Nightwing kept smiling despite the obvious way it infuriated the hidden Michael. "Where am I?" he asked. "Why am I here?"

Out of the light stepped a figure, female by the way she walked and the way her curves stood out. Nightwing gasped; he knew that silhouette. "Baby…"

Into view stepped Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl and last victim of the Joker. "Dick, oh my poor sweetheart, I'm so sorry I left you."

He started to get up but Zauriel put a hand out. Nightwing took the hand and attempted to put the angel into a hold that should have forced him to his knees. Zauriel turned quickly and countered the hold, but Nightwing was prepared and cart wheeled in place to kick the angel in the face. Zauriel grabbed the hero's leg with his free hand and put an immediate end to the struggle. With a shove, Nightwing fell. "I want to see her," Nightwing told him. "Babs! Babs!"

"He loves her," the calm voice declared. "Can you not see how it brightens the soul? His passion knows no bounds."

"If he loved her so much he would not have defiled her memory!" Michael snapped.

"Babs!"

"Dick, you have to confess…you have to unburden yourself," she pleaded. Her eyes were filled with tears. "You know what you did was wrong."

"No!" he told her, still struggling to get past Zauriel. "He killed you! He killed you and took my life with you. He wasn't worth anything."

"Arrogance! How dare he try to judge who may live and who may die!"

"Michael…"

"No, Gabriel, I will be heard. The advocate pleads for his soul and yet he refuses to acknowledge that what he did was wrong!"

"Babs!"

Zauriel finally gave Nightwing a hard shove that sent him back on his butt. The hero jumped back up, but Barbara was gone. "The next advocate, step forward," Zauriel ordered.

Nightwing called out to Barbara again, but it was no use; she was gone. In her place came another figure and when it came out into the light, Nightwing stood frozen in place. "How?" he asked the figure and several moments passed before there was an answer.