"Firestorm"
Teen Titans/Batman: The Animated Series
By Amos Whirly
Chapter One: Before the Storm
The night was cold, dark, and moonless. The sky was blanketed by a thick layer of clouds. A stiff wind was breaking over the roofs of downtown Gotham City.
Nightwing perched on a flagpole protruding from the side of a building, the chilling wind ruffling his thick black hair.
Nothing.
There was nothing happening. All was quiet in Gotham for once.
It figures, he thought to himself. The one night I really need to blow off some steam, there's no one in sight.
Grunting angrily, he launched off the pole and climbed on to the roof. He jumped as he turned around and found himself face-to-chest with a black-clad figure.
He was tall and broad, and he wore a black cape and cowl.
Batman.
"Don't do that," Nightwing snapped, popping his shoulder joint. "You shouldn't sneak up on people."
Batman did not answer.
"But then," Nightwing muttered under his breath, "I guess that's what you do, isn't it?"
The tall, dark man moved to the ledge of the building on silent feet. He stared at the street below.
"Have you seen anything?" his dark, deep voice shook the still night air.
Nightwing hesitated for a moment before responding, "No. Nothing. You?"
"Not a whisper."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Something isn't right."
Nightwing moved to stand beside him, saying, "I know."
"It's too quiet."
"The quiet before a storm?"
"Yes," Batman smiled slightly.
An explosion suddenly tore into the sky, showering the city in blinding violet light. Batman and Nightwing moved together without a word, leaping off of the building in unison. Nightwing landed on his bike and took off at top speed.
Batman's shadow above him swung from building to building.
In a matter of moments, Nightwing pulled up next to the burning downtown building. Flames had already consumed it and were filling the cold night air with choking smoke. He could already see Batgirl and Robin pulling people to safety.
Batman landed beside him, and they ran to help in unspoken agreement.
Spreading his wings, Nightwing caught a draft of hot hair and soared upward. His feet hit the solid concrete of a ledge, and he slipped into the burning building. He locked his arms around the first body he found – a heavyset man. Lifting with all his strength, he dragged the man out of the window and sailed calmly to the ground. He sat the man down just as Batgirl landed beside him.
"Nightwing!" she gasped, her face sooty and red. "There's a woman on the top floor. None of us can reach—"
He was gone before she finished, sailing into the choking smoke that continuously billowed out of the burning structure. The smoke burned his eyes as he ascended higher and higher. Finally, he burst from the noxious cloud and landed on the roof.
A scream sounded below him, and he spotted a shadow moving in one of the windows. He took a deep breath and jumped off the roof, catching another wave of heat with his bright blue wings, and plunging through the window. Glass shattered around him as he landed on the carpet and rolled.
"Hello!" he shouted. "Is anyone in here?"
He heard a wail, and his sharp eyes landed on a figure draped in a bright blanket, doubled over in agony against an easy chair.
"Hey," he approached the figure, "it's okay."
His gloved hands lighted on the figure's shoulders.
Instantly, every muscle in his body tensed. The frame under his fingers was not the frame of a helpless old woman.
It was a man.
Confused for a moment, he stepped back.
He knew it was a mistake the moment his foot hit the carpet.
"Too bad," the kneeling figure began to cackle madly.
Nightwing stepped back again as the blanket came off, revealing dark green hair and a white face plastered with a sadistically foolish grin.
"Bye-bye, birdie!" the man screamed with laughter and kicked the easy chair.
Instantaneously, the chair exploded.
The force propelled him through the wall, knocking the wind out of him. He lost consciousness as he tumbled helplessly through the smoke and ash, plummeting toward the concrete below—
The air shook with the sound of the explosion.
"What was that?" Batgirl gasped, straining to see through the smoke.
"Something blew up," Robin spat at her as he scrambled up the fire escape on a nearby building.
"That's obvious, Robin," Batgirl rolled her eyes. "But it sounded like it came from up above. That's where Nightwing went."
"Wrong," Robin's voice was shaking as he suddenly began to point. "That's Nightwing!"
Batgirl gasped as she spotted a black-clad figure plunging through the smoke, cartwheeling toward the ground!
Nightwing gasped as consciousness rushed upon him in a wave of adrenaline! He shook his pounding head and tried to spread his wings.
No good.
The blast had ruined them.
As he fell, he spotted a flagpole approaching.
Bracing himself for the pain he knew would come, he grabbed the pole as he fell past it. He would have sworn both his shoulders popped out of joint as the pole brought him to a vicious halt. He held on with all his strength as the pole bucked against his weight.
He cried out suddenly, as he felt his hands burning. The fire had superheated the pole, and his hands were searing under its heat. Faced with no other option, he let himself fall.
He felt himself smash through the roof of a parked car, and in a moment he heard voices calling out to him. Black-gloved hands reached for him and pulled him out of the wreckage.
"Nightwing," a dark voice spoke to him. "Nightwing?"
He could hardly see through the haze of pain.
"Dick?" that dark voice insisted.
He opened his eyes and stared into Batman's hidden face.
"Yeah."
"Don't move."
"Yeah."
"Police are on their way," he heard Robin say.
"We need to get him back to the cave," Batman gathered his body close.
"The old woman—" Nightwing started.
"—was the Joker," Batman finished. "I nearly caught him as he ran to the roof. Someone picked him up, though."
"Great."
Nightwing let his head fall back and allowed the pain throbbing in his back and his legs to overwhelm him. Silence fell around him like a heavy blanket, and he slipped into blissful darkness.