A Nobody

by Jebest4781

Living a new life in another reality, Naruto now must handle a lot of complications of him interacting with various heroes, villains and anti-heroes. How will things go with them interacting with a Nobody. NarutoXHarem Rated M for language, violence and lemons. NarutoXDC ComicsXKingdom Hearts Please leave reviews. On Hiatus.

51. Fear of Victory

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Naruto, Disney, Square Enix or Detective Comics. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Radio/TV

"Headset/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 51: Fear of Victory

Sitting inside of his dorm room, Dick Grayson was watching the highlights of yesterday's football game alongside his roommate, Brian Rogers. Said man is an african-american college senior who worked his butt off on both his school work and his collegiate career.

"...Look at Gotham State's Brian 'The Rock' Rogers!" Spoke the announcer from the local sports channel. "He's a one-man offense." Footage then showed Brian catching the football and making it towards the opponent's side of the field for a touchdown. "A repeat performance this weekend against that tough Tech team all but guarantees Rogers a big-buck pro contract."

The Grayson smiled, turned his attention towards his roommate and spoke. "Sounds like it's off to the pros for you, roommate."

Sitting at his end of the dorm room, Brian wore a half-lidded smile on his face. "Maybe, but he's right." Said the football player in a nervous tone. "The scouts will be watching me real close against Tech."

Brian was right. It was that time of the college gaming season where scouts and drafters start roaming campuses around the country to find possible add-ons to the NFL rosters. They pay close attention to their targets to see if the players are right for the picking or wait again next year on most individuals.

For Dick's roommate, the quarterback, this was possibly one of his last chances to get drafted through the college route by making one hell of a good impression. If Brian doesn't make it, then he'd have to try out for the Gotham Knights once graduating college. Said option is harder as more people sign up at that time to possibly gain a spot out of god knows how many potentials.

Dick shook his head and tossed his friend a football. "It's no sweat, Brian. You'll dazzle them for sure tomorrow."

Catching the ball, the football player rubbed his hands against it's leathery surface as he let out a nervous breath. "I hope so." Brian said as his half-lidded smile grew into a bigger one. "Making the pros means I can help out my folks. Maybe even put my sister through college."

Dick nodded when hearing his roommate's goal. It was a good one as it was noble with what he wanted to do exactly. When Brian got his college scholarship, he didn't want to waste it at all. That meant hardly any 'party-time' as his primary focus was towards his classes and team workouts. And when it was off-season for both school and football, Brian would send his family much of his paychecks to help pay the bills and his sister's college tuition.

The two roommates then put their attention back at their TV as the sports channel went back to it's announcer from a brief commercial. "Now it's time for Boseman's Bloopers. And boy, they were coming off the walls this week." Footage switched to a clip showing a boxer was chasing another around the ring. And across the running one's face was absolute fear. "Heavily favored middleweight champ, Rudy Lovell, set two new records: One for the shortest fight in history, the other for the 50-yard dash." Things then switched to a hockey game as a goalie was huddled up in the netting with his eyes were bawling out. "Goalie, Rick Gale, came up with a novel way to defend his goal. Rather unorthodox, wouldn't you say, Rick? But effective." And one final clip appeared as a tennis match was underway with one of the players suddenly freaking out and dodged an incoming tennis ball. "And here's top seed Chris Adams, making it look like she's in the wrong racket." The footage then went back to the announcer, who was scratching his head. "Seriously though, this was mighty puzzling behavior from some of our finest Gothamite athletes."

Turning off the TV, Dick rubbed his eyes and muttered out his thought on the situation. "I'll say."

Suddenly, the sounds of the door to their dorm room was being knocked. Dick and Brian looked at each other in curiosity at who was on the other side.

"Did you buy a pizza again?" Asked the Grayson.

Brian shook his head 'no' before he got up and walked towards the door. He peared through the peephole and saw a telegram man on the other side.

Opening it up, the college football player spoke towards the man. "Yes?"

"I've got a telegram for Brian Rogers." Said the telegram man as he waved a sealed envelope in his hand.

"That's me." Brian was handed the envelope before he fished out his wallet from his pocket before handing the telegram man a five dollar bill for a tip. "Here you go."

"Thank you and have a good evening, sir."

The telegram man walked away from the dorm room as Brian closed the door. The football player then looked at the envelope with a questionable look. And this was shared with his roommate.

Wanting to know the letter's contents, Brian unsealed the envelope and pulled it out. His eyes scanned the letter and spoke his thoughts. "This is weird."

"What ya mean?" Dick asked. "Let me see."

Brian compiled and handed his friend the letter before the Grayson read it.

Dear Brian,

Best of luck against Tech. And remember that only a fool knows no fear. I'm betting on it.
-A fan.

Dick looked up and Brian easily read his roommate's expression. "As I said, Dick: Weird."

"Yeah, weird."

-Morning, Gotham University-

Sitting at his desk, the Wayne ward rubbed his eyes a little as he tried to pay attention to his Criminology teacher among his fellow students. He'd usually he'd be fully awake for the lecture for one of his favorite classes. But as of late Dick wasn't all that attentive.

All things considered, Dick couldn't call these past days great. For you see, the Grayson has been rather tired for some time now and you can blame them on recent events.

The problem started when Yoru Sensei, Bruce's old martial arts teacher, called and asked his guardian for help. Kyodai Ken had returned by kidnapping Yoru's star student and adoptive granddaughter, Kairi, while demanding a very unique ransom demand. And if said demand isn't met in time then Kairi's life would be forfeit.

Now the demand dates back five centuries ago as Yoru Sensei's ancestor created a fighting style that made him unstoppable, yet The Way of the Fang was too dangerous to teach. Said ancestor hid the martial art's manual with a map to its whereabouts passed down from generation to generation, son to son, for an odd family tradition.

And since Yoru Sensei never had a son or a grandson, the secret will stay with him to his grave.

Dick was brought along to Japan since Bruce had a distinct feeling Kyodai was not going to be fair on his revenge on Bruce, who the old fighting school rival knew was also Batman. The feeling was proven true as Kyodai had hired mercenaries to make things difficult for the Dynamic Duo during the hostage/map exchange.

Luckily for them, Kairi was saved. Unfortunately, the map was taken.

It wasn't until the next day when Bruce came back with what remained of the martial art's scroll, which was tracked down at Mount Kakilki, as it fragmented into pieces. A piece was seemingly missing from the remains and Yoru Sensei guessed it was the most lethal move of The Way of the Fang: the death touch.

When they least expected it, Alfred was taken and Kyodai wanted Bruce to show up for a final showdown at Mount Kakilki. Dick was able to find Alfred while his guardian fought his old rival once last time as the mountain volcano erupted. In the end Kyodai had perished while Bruce tried to save him from the lava.

After the whole ordeal, the ensemble returned to Gotham while getting things back on track and catch up on things from Dick's school work to Bruce's time in the office. Everything was good and nothing seemed to have happened in Gotham in their time away as they believed Naruto took care of things in their stead.

Yet their time of peace was clearly thrown off for the Wayne household as the whiskered Uzumaki came to them and spoke some unfortunate news: during their time away; Selina, Pam and Harley were kidnapped the League of Assassins/Shadows.

Naruto explained that Ra's al Ghul, founder and leader of the organization, orchestrated their abductions all for Naruto's test in order to see if he was qualified in replacing the ancient assassin. The publisher did tell them what happened afterwards with the showdown at the Sahara and what Ra's planned when he turned down the offer.

Suffice to say, Bruce and Dick were floored on the details. Even freaking out on not just the world threatening situation, but Ra's knowing of their hero identities.

This got Bruce to go full Batman-mode as he interrogated Naruto everything he knew about Ra's and his organization. From there, the Wayne billionaire went into upgrading the Batcave's defenses… again… so nothing like the earlier situation won't happen for god knows how long.

Yet this wasn't enough as Bruce left town quite recently in order to pursue any leads on the League of Shadows/Assassins. And because of this, Dick has been running solo and filling in the workload while his mentor is away; even with Naruto's assistance.

Now to clear things up, Dick had little to no problem as he was fine with the past instances when this occurred. In fact, the Grayson occasionally forgot how much he enjoyed doing things solo. In Dick's honest opinion, college is great and all, but what he does as Robin feels much more important.

But there was a problem about this: like his guardian, Dick gets too drawn into the crime fighting life.

The college crime fighter had to be careful about this every now and again when Bruce left him to take care of things. This had to be treated carefully, especially in college. When he was in his first year, his grades dropped for a brief time due to being left to fend for himself in crime fighting. Dick thought he didn't think there was a point in going to college as he'd just focus being Robin full-time; even after graduating as he'd just go straight into it.

But there was a time that the Wayne butler had a similar choice around Dick's current age: whether to follow in his father's footsteps of being a butler or pursue a career in the theatre.

This honestly surprised Dick when learning this little detail as he only learned the man was apart of the British secret service before working for the Wayne family. You see, Alfred had taken an interest in acting throughout most of his life. And although he knew even then it wasn't what he was meant to do, Alfred found it extremely difficult to leave behind. At one point he did quit the theatre life and oddly incorporated it into his life as a British agent for many of his past missions. And that too was difficult to leave behind as he traded one life for another.

The point Alfred gave Dick was perhaps he was meant to be himself or Robin. But you won't make the right decision if your unwilling to let go of the past.

The Grayson's thoughts were abruptly ended as he heard a gunshot in the classroom. His focus immediately went up front to see their teacher, Iruka Umino, hunching forward as if he was indeed shot.

'What-' Dick thought as his eyes caught onto man's appearance with a gun in his hand and took better note before said man ran out of the classroom. 'That sound…'

"Somebody do something!" A female cried out. Looking over a few seats away, Dick saw it was Barbara Gordon who spoke out before pointing to a random student. "You! Call 9-1-1!"

"That won't be necessary, Ms. Gordon." Called out their criminology teacher. Everyone looked to the front of the room and saw their teacher was perfectly fine. Iruka straightened himself out before walking in front of his desk. "The man you just saw was a paid actor, the gun was fake, and I am unharmed." Their teacher gave a small shrug. "An unconventional teaching method, I know, but what's a criminology class without a little crime?" Iruka joked with a smirk for his own little joke. "Let's continue, shall we?"

"An act? It's... part of the lesson?" Barbara asked in bewilderment as she slowly sat back down.

Leaning over a little, Dick spoke to his fellow classmate. "Nice moves, Officer Gordon." He smirked as he saw her eye twitch. "I expected you to start reading the guy his rights next."

The spectacled redhead turned her head and glared at the Wayne ward. "Oh Ha Ha Ha." She kept her eyes trained at him. "Get something straight, Grayson. You may not care about learning anything in this class, but I do." She suddenly heard Dick chuckle a little. "What's so funny?"

"We're waiting, Ms. Gordon." Barbara whipped her head towards the front as everyone was staring back at her with the teacher addressing her. "Perhaps you'd like the question repeated?"

Dick let out another chuckle, causing Barbara to briefly glare at him once more.

"I was asking each student to recall everything they could about my attacker." Mr. Umino said. "Did you happen to notice anything?"

"Uh yes, sir. And... sorry about talking." Their teacher briefly nodded before Barbara thought and gave her answer. "Um... He was around six foot one, between 200-215 pounds and between 20-25 years old. Caucasian with brown hair and he was left-handed... That's all I could make out."

Iruka curled his lips a little as he wrote something in his clipboard. "Impressive, considering that 'big white guy' was the second most detailed description there is, Miss Gordon." The criminologist looked up and saw Dick's smirk. "May I understand from your grin that you have something to add, Mr. Grayson?"

Dick nodded as he spoke. "Just that he was carrying a cap gun, not a real one."

Iruka smiled as he wrote something on his clipboard. "Very observant. Now can anybody else add to that description?" The teacher looked around. "Anyone?... No? Then as long as there are no objections from our two 'junior detectives', let's move on."

Barbara looked over and glared at Dick, who merely smirked at her reaction. "I'm going to get you for this." She muttered.

Some time has past before Iruka looked at the clock before calling out to his students. "And that's it for today, class. See you all next week and be sure to be ready for your finals coming up: both the test and your paper."

As the students gathered up their things, Barbara spoke to Dick. "Earlier on the questioning, how could you tell it was a cap gun?"

"It has a distinctive sound." He said, getting her to tilt her head which got him to explain. "You grow up in a circus, you learn to recognize it." She let out a sigh, making him quirk a brow. "Why are you sweating this much for the class anyways? You want to be a cop or something? Possibly the next Commissioner Gordon?"

Barbara glared at Dick as she slipped her arms through her backpack straps. "There something wrong with that? Is there?"

Dick quickly shook his head. "No! Of course not."

"And who do you want to be like? Bruce Wayne with how you keep going through other girls on campus?" She let out a huff. "You'll need some plastic surgery first and a lobotomy."

He sighed as he understood a little on the jab. Dick had recently called it quits with this last girl he was seeing due to things getting more cluttered in his life and he needed more time for his life. This was understanding on her part and things were fine for both parties. Yet this little tidbit has often been seen by his peers as something he possibly picked up from Bruce, due to him going through dates like pieces of candy or some better analogy.

Rubbing the back of his head, he spoke. "Look, sorry Barbara. I didn't mean that earlier bit."

Barbara rolled her eyes a little and accepted the apology before making her way towards the front. As the other students left the room, the spectacled redhead stayed behind with Dick hanging back as he was a little curious on what Barbara was doing.

Looking up from organizing his belongings, the criminology teacher addressed his student. "May I help you?"

"First off, Mr. Umino, I want to say that I've learned so much in your class. And to be able to discuss the issues at length with you. It's really great." Barbara said, getting him to nod on hearing the appreciation he got from her. "I just have one more question."

"Shoot."

"It's about the midterms."

Iruka rose a brow. "Okay… Why bring that up now instead of then?" He opened and looked through his grading book to see her score. "And I don't see why it's bad, Ms. Gordon. You're passing my class. Both then and now."

The commissioner's daughter fidgeted in her spot before explaining her reason. "You gave me an 'A' and Dick an 'A+'. I think I have a good grasp of the material as he does-"

"Not as good. Better." The criminologist teacher started putting things away as he continued speaking. "Your dedication to the class is apparent. Your research abilities, your analysis, are all of the extraordinarily high quality. I had to look up some of the references you cited."

"Then why?"

"It's your mindset." Her teacher answered. "You think like a decent human being because that's what you are, Ms. Gordon. But a great criminologist must be able to think like a criminal at times. But of course it can be a hard skill for anyone to grasp that's not a criminal, someone trained in this field, the police or crime novel writers."

Barbara looked a bit disheartened at this. "Are you saying that I couldn't be… a good police officer… or a writer?"

The spectacled redhead could somewhat understand this problem through a writer's standpoint. It was still one of those difficulties she still faces when going over her Binary Beast novel. Naruto does what he can to help her out on that particular detail, but she keeps hitting that roadblock quite often. Something she hasn't quite fully grasped yet.

The criminologist teacher sighed. "Please don't misunderstand this, Ms. Gordon. With your skills, you could develop such an ability over time. I'd ask that you consider, however, whether or not you really want to."

It was at this point that Dick decided to walk up to them and spoke his mind. "Think of it like this way, Babs. It's somewhat like stepping through the looking glass. Once you see the world through a criminal's eye, it's difficult to reacquire the proper perspective."

Iruka nodded as he pointed his thumb at the Grayson. "Couldn't have said it better myself." The teacher went back into putting things away as he talked some more. "For example, there are the MacGuffin pistols put up on display here on campus. Their owner, Angus MacGuffin, was a notorious outlaw that struck the nation in the 19th century. No one was able to find his loot, especially when officials looked high and low for its whereabouts."

Iruka grabbed his belongings and walked out of the classroom with the two students not far behind. "When I first wanted to apply to this college as a teacher, I wanted to make things unique to get me in. So I studied the case inside and out and I even had to break out of my normal thought patterns to help my case. And soon enough, I eventually came to a realization that Angus must've hid his cache whereabouts on his person at all times. Somewhere no one would even think to look."

"And where was it?" Barbara asked.

"The map for his cache was hidden inside of his revolver handles." Came the teacher's answer. "It was easily hard to miss as the series of scratches on the handles -which came from Angus dropping his guns quite often- covered the screw skids in order to open and close the handles frequently when MacGuffin wanted to change his cache location." They stepped outside as he finished his tale. "I soon presented my case and the board inspected the guns before they indeed found a map inside of the handles to help me get the position you see me in today."

"Was there some point to this?" Came her question.

"It's not much of a difficult one, Ms. Gordon: just think and see things from a criminal's perspective to get a better angle on things." Their teacher said as he sighed. "Sorry if it's not much, but I hope you understand that fact even once you're done with my class by semester's end." Barbara nodded in understanding as that detail will be hard to fully get through. "Now if you two will excuse me, I've got a lunch date with my fiance before we go see today's game."

With that, Iruka went off leaving Barbara and Dick by themselves.

It was honestly a little awkward now, in the Grayson's position, as he honestly didn't know what to do next. He looked at the redhead and spoke what seemed to come to mind. "Speaking of today's game…"

"Yeah?"

"You planning on going, Babs?" He asked, which responded with a quick 'no'. "Why not?"

"I've got this assignment I need to make up for in toxicology." She answered. "You know, poisons and their antidotes. It's all part of my degree."

"Can't you just do that later? We're up against State Tech today."

"With how tempting it is; no can do, Dick." Barbara stated as she walked away with him following after her a little. "Mr. Siddiq -my one teacher- wanted me to do the make-up assignment today since I was not doing all that great on previous ones." Passing by several students, she continued talking. "Finals are coming up soon and he said I need to do this one or else my overall class grade won't change in preparation for finals. And the only available time he can take time to oversee my assignment is during the game today and I had to take the opportunity or else I'm screwed." Barbara let out a frustrated sigh while lifting her glasses to rub her eyes. "I definitely need it… since chemistry and I don't get along too well… And even after finishing that, I've got some stuff to work on right after."

Dick gave a brief nod in understanding before something funny crossed his mind. "Heh~ I can probably imagine it's quite attached to you... with the stuff spilled on your clothes." He said to make light of the situation.

The commissioner's daughter rolled her amethyst eyes on his joke. "Ha ha. Well at least I got to learn that if you mix bromine powder with denzenel, you get denzl bromide: a form of tear gas."

"...You learned that on accident, didn't you?" Her face said it all as Dick chuckled at her expense, yet let out a resounding 'OW!' when she punched his arm.

-Later, Gotham Stadium-

The sun was coming closer and closer to the horizon, causing it's blinding light to strike the faces of many stadium attendees. People were rowdy, like in any sports game, from either the hype or being a tad drunk from most patrons consuming a bit too much alcohol. Yet their focus was primarily aimed towards the football field below on what was currently taking place.

The score was 24 to 3 and things would've be good for the Gotham University football team… if they were the winning that is. And this was rather unexpected in quite the shocking way.

The whistle blew and a large groan could be heard by many watching the game both at the stadium and viewers at home.

"Yet another bad pass by Rogers." Spoke the announcer with an even tone in order to hide his displeasure of tonight's events. "Brian Rogers is having the worst day of his collegiate career."

Sitting in the stands; Dick was watching the game with varying levels of intrigue.

"Come on, Brian!" Dick cried out amongst the loud attendees. "Get it together!"

"What the hell is going on out there?" Muttered the man sitting next to him. "Kid seemed fine at the start of the game."

The Grayson sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "He was when I talked to him before the game. But now I have no idea what's going on."

"It might be because of the pressure."

Dick didn't know how to properly respond to that, so he didn't speak a word as his eyes went back onto the field.

In a small team huddle, Brian was sweating and panting every other second as his vision seemed a little blurry. The last one he thought it was just because of him giving off a lot of nervous sweats, yet wiping all that off didn't help in the slightest. And he tried to calm himself down, but nothing seems to be working at all with his heartbeat going faster and faster.

"All right. All right." Brian said to his team as his head shifted from side to side. "Let's try a run." He let out a few pants of air. "Off tackle…

"On third and 25, we need to pass!" One of his teammates spoke out.

Brian nodded in acceptance. "Yeah, yeah, okay, okay." He nervously spoke out. "Yeah, yeah, sure, pass."

"Are you okay, man?" Said another teammate. "You don't look so good."

'The Rock' merely shook his head. "N-N-No problem, really."

As the quarterback left, the others looked at each other with a lot of concern. Wasn't long before they fully broke the huddle and went into formation to start off the next play of the game. And after several moments, Brian called out 'hike'.

"The ball is snapped." Spoke the announcer as the Gotham U. quarterback ran back a few feet. "Rogers is going back..."

Just when Brian was about to throw the ball to one of his teammates, his vision seemed to have suddenly cleared up…

'No…' He thought as his heart rate suddenly spiked.

Only to see the incoming State Tech players swiftly change into grotesque monsters that came out from his very nightmares.

"No!" Brian cried in absolute horror. "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" The quarterback then dropped the ball and fell onto the ground in absolute agony while curing up for his protection.

The game came to a sudden stop with what was transpiring. Many whispers were spoken throughout the stands as the medical team rushed across the field to check on the Gotham U's quarterback.

Feeling worried for his roommate, Dick hoped over the guardrail and rushed over to see what was wrong. As he got closer, the Grayson heard Brian mumble things that he was barely able to pick up on.

"T-T-They were s-s-so big and sc-scary." Brian whispered out with tears running down his cheeks. "I-I couldn't…"

"It's gonna be alright, son." Spoke one of the medics. "We're gonna take you to the infirmary for observation and see what's up."

When the medics took the quarterback away, Dick looked on with absolute concern and confusion before he was confronted by security and escorted off the field.

-Evening, On the Streets-

"...It was unbelievable, Bruce." Said the masked Grayson as he called his guardian through the car's phone. "The guy totally freaked right there on the field."

Driving through the Gotham streets, Robin rode the batmobile for his nightly patrol; one of the few perks he got to do when Bruce left on his own. And unlike his mentor, Dick drove the Bat's car at safe, reasonable speeds.

"Your roommate, Brian 'The Rock' Rogers, he was under a lot of pressure." Bruce spoke from the other end. "You can never tell when things finally get to you."

"But I still consider it strange with how odd it went earlier."

"If you say so, Dick."

"So how's things going on your search?" Dick asked as he slowed the batmobile to stop in front of a red light.

"Not great, I'm afraid. The League of Shadows/Assassins are harder to track than I could realize. All I could figure is that they seem to be underground and hiding."

"Because Naruto took down their leader?"

"That's a possibility." Bruce replied with a small groan. "With an organization that large, there could've been contingencies placed if something like that could've happened. So any normal methods on how to reach them are temporarily halted. And since neither of us -Naruto included- know what the contingencies are and where they could be located, it would take a long time for any of their operatives to come into the light."

Robin merely sighed as the light turned green and propelled the batmobile forward. "Then I guess you're coming back to Gotham?"

"In a few days, Dick." Responded the Wayne. "Despite that I've run out time for my search, I still have several business meetings to attend to out of the country."

"Well make it back in one piece, Bruce. Getting really tired and I need a break."

"Isn't Naruto helping you out?"

Robin was about to respond when he saw something drop in front of the batmobile. He suddenly stopped the vehicle to a screeching halt before reclining the roof to see some suspicious activity.

"Dick? You there?"

"I'm gonna have to call you back later, Batman. Something came up." Said the masked Grayson as he ended the call and hopped out of the vehicle. He walked closer to what fell on the road and saw it was a pearl necklace. He rose a hidden brow before looking up once pulling out his binoculars and zoomed in. "Hello~ What do we have here?"

Up on high on a building's ledge lied a pair of thieves as they were smuggling jewelry from some room from said building.

"Time to get to work." Robin muttered as he pulled out his grappling gun and fired straight up. Once it was secure, the masked Grayson pressed the reclining button to shoot himself straight into the air. As he got higher and closer to his target, Robin saw the thieves spot him and made a break for it via ladder towards the roof.

At the halfway mark up the building, something strange happened to the 'Boy' Wonder as his vision started getting hazy with his heart rate suddenly spiking. Robin squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment and when he opened up his eyes… the cityscape suddenly switched to a circus tent.

'What?!' Thought the masked Grayson as he peered down and widened his eyes in fear. 'Oh God! NO!'

Robin squeezed his eyes tight and kept on tight on the grappling gun with all his might. His body then collided with the building, causing him to let go before falling and landing onto one of the gargoyles. Once he stopped moving, Robin latched onto the building's decorations in order to feel safe. Yet tears formed underneath his domino mask while the hero shook like a leaf.

'I-I-It c-can't be r-real.' Robin thought in absolute fear.

Up on the building's rooftop, the two thieves looked at the scene with mild-confusion before laughing at Robin's expense.

"Hey, boy blunder!" Yelled out one of the thieves. "What's the matter?! Bat got your tongue?!" Said thief then heard metal hitting against rock and looked over to see his partner digging a crowbar into a cement block with a connecting statue. "Whatcha doin man?"

"Taking care of the broken bird." The second thief grunted out. "C'mon and help me push!"

His partner compiled and helped out to complete this task. But before the statue could get free from it's placement and fall onto the downed hero, a cloth-like material forward -along with a grappling hook- and wrapped around both the thieves and statue to snag them in rather tight.

"What the?!/What's going on?!" The two thieves cried out.

"Now pull!" Yelled out a new arrival.

"Right!" Spoke a feminine voice.

Before the thieves realized it next, they were quickly pulled back onto the rooftop along with the statue to hold them in place. They looked towards the source and saw Vanitas and Batgirl walking towards them.

"Sorry boys, but you're not killing any birdies tonight." Batgirl spoke out with a smug smile. As she stopped a foot away from the downed men, the masked Gordon saw Vanitas walk towards the edge of the building and look down. "Something wrong?"

"Yes, Batgirl. Something is wrong." He said to her as he jumped onto the ledge. "You wait here and watch these two. I'm going down to see what's up." The helmeted hero saw her nod on the small order.

With the grappling scarves still connecting to him, Vanitas leapt down and descended down to Robin's position. The cloth length extended once the helmeted hero felt the hard tug before slowing his decent to his friend's position. When he got closer, Vanitas saw Robin was in a fetal position and shivered like no tomorrow.

'Whatever happened really spooked him.' Vanitas thought as he nudged Robin slightly. "Robin, it's me Vanitas." There wasn't much of a response, getting the masked Uzumaki to carefully pulled the costumed Grayson to face him. "All right, Dick. You've got to pull yourself together." He spoke low enough so Batgirl wouldn't hear Robin's identity, despite the distance.

"I...I don't know…" Robin muttered out as his eyes briefly looked down, causing him to stiffen up again.

"Don't worry, I'm getting you down to the ground." Vanitas said as a card platform appeared underneath them. "Safe and sound."

The masked Uzumaki formed a clone to take hold of the ethereal chains as he brought the 'Boy' Wonder to the streets below. Once they were at the batmobile, Robin tried to cool himself off with his heart rate trying to lower itself, yet his nerves were still getting to him.

"I don't know what happened to me, Vanitas." Admitted the masked Grayson. "I was scared to death. I couldn't even think and possibly breathe. It was so unreal."

"But how? You were okay in the previous times you were so high up."

Robin nodded. "You're telling me. But today… I don't know what the hell is going on."

"Could be the stress getting to you of doing the nightly patrols while Batman's not around to school finally getting to you." Stated the helmeted publisher, only getting a barely visible shrug from the shook up hero. Vanitas helped him up and got him into the batmobile. "I should probably drop you off at your dorm building so you can sleep it off."

"Might as well." The 'Boy' Wonder steadily said. "After what happened earlier today… I thought doing the patrol… would've cleared my head, but it didn't."

Vanitas perked a hidden brow at this. "What happened earlier?" He asked as he started up the batmobile and made their way to the university dorms.

During the early part of the drive, Robin recalled of what happened to his roommate, Brian, at the football game. How he acted before and during the event. Vanitas listened carefully to each detail, causing him to narrow his gaze.

'Sounds a lot like what's going on in the news lately with those athletes.' Thought the costumed publisher as he carefully navigated to their destination.

-Dick's Dorm Room, Gotham University-

"...I can understand that you wanted to bring me back in here personally for my own safety," said the still costumed Grayson as he sat on his bed, "but why are you still here?" Robin asked while Vanitas combed through the dorm room.

"Call it a gut feeling, but I find it too strange that you and your roommate would have panic attacks on the same day." Was the response. "Was there anything you two came into contact recently that would've caused this to occur?"

"Hell if I know. There's a lot of things in here we touch… so it's hard to tell."

The helmeted hero sighed a little as he shifted things through Brian's desk before something fell onto the ground. He bent down and saw it was a telegram card. Picking it up, Vanitas was about to put it back on the disk's surface when he saw something was amiss.

"Did you come into contact with this?"

Robin looked up and saw his friend wave something in his hand. Rising from the bed, the masked Grayson walked over to get a closer look and saw what it was exactly. "The screwy telegram? Yeah. Why?" Vanitas didn't say anything as he handed the telegram over. Once it came into Robin's grasp, the 'Boy' Wonder saw a light powder staining his gloves. "Hey, what's this?"

"Our lead."

-Batcave-

"What are you doing now?" Robin asked as approached his friend -who was using the batcomputer- while drinking some water. Whatever was causing him to be like this was making him rather parched while on the way over here.

"Using the microscopic spectrograph scanner to get a readout on the telegram." Vanitas answered as he typed more commands into the system. "I suspect the powder is absorbed through exposed skin to cause the reaction you and Brian had earlier."

"You sure about that?"

"Pretty sure."

After several moments, the batcomputer was able to get a proper readout of the powder's chemical makeup as several connections appeared on the screen.

"Seems the hunch was correct." Said the helmeted hero. "It appears that the compound is activated by adrenaline. So whenever you or Brian or any of the other athletes got agitated…"

Robin snapped his fingers. "The stuff kicks in, turning our excitement to fear." He then adopted a questioning look on his face. "But how long is this gonna last?"

"Who knows." The costumed Uzumaki rose from the chair and walked past Robin to head back to the batmobile. "But I'm afraid there's only one person who can answer that: the Scarecrow."

The masked Grayson then gained a worried look across his features. "But… isn't he locked up in Arkham?"

"Only one way to find out."

-Arkham Asylum-

Harley gave out a yawn as her blue eyes briefly glanced at the clock in her office. "Almost time to head on home." She muttered out.

These past days have been rather stressful for her, due to what happened in the events of The Demon's Quest, as she calls and refers to it. Work has been piling up with her typical workload and assignments she had to make up for when she was kidnapped. Things could've been easily taken care of if she told her superiors on her being taken, but that would've waved too many flags and questions in her general direction.

So instead of taking the easy way out, Harley took the harder path in order to protect herself and her loved ones.

'I hope things can get better for the lot of us.' She thought as she started to gather up some of her belongings. 'Selina still hasn't contacted us yet, both phone and the Dreaming.' The pale woman sighed. 'I know we've given her space, but I'm getting really worried for her.'

Harley exited her office and locked the door before making her way towards the restroom to freshen up a little as she continued her thoughts with a small smile. 'On the upside, at least puddin and Red's babies will turn out alright.'

It was quite odd for her and Pam when Naruto suddenly told them that the new arrivals will have none of the crazy insanity they learned with the Lazarus Waters' side effects. Neither knew if he was telling the truth or needed some psychologist sessions from the bubbly blonde.

But when Naruto showed them his memories, both Pam and Harley changed their tunes.

The Arkham doctor was quite intrigued when her boyfriend met Death herself and learned all those juicy bits of information throughout her holiday. Sure Harley did freak out on that reveal and feared for Naruto and Rachel's safety -as did Pam- but things were assured when Death meant them no harm. The whole viewing gave the changed blonde a new perspective on life and it made her rather tempted into writing a book about the concept.

One tidbit that seemed to stand out the most for Harley was the mentioning of Delirium. She had a small feeling the youngest member of the Endless was the same imaginary friend she had as a child. The asylum psychologist could be wrong, but a part of her knew it was true… somehow.

'If I ever got the chance to see her again…' Came the drawled out thought before she collided with someone, causing her to quickly snap out of her thinking process. "Oh, sorry about- PUD-MMPH!"

Vanitas quickly shushed her as he covered her mouth with his hand. "Seriously, Harley, why do you keep doing that?" He asked his blonde girlfriend.

The pale woman pried the hand away with a small grin was seen. "Because seeing you here always makes me happy to lighten my mood." She answered before looking behind her pudding and saw- "Hiya Roby!"

"...Hey Harley..." Robin muttered out.

Harley rose a brow and voiced a question. "What's got ya in the dumps?"

"We'll explain along the way to the holding cells in the men's wing." Vanitas said as they walked down the hallway. "Reason why we needed you for an employee access."

The asylum employee nodded as Robin and her lover explained the situation.

Over in the men's wing of the asylum, a nurse walked through the entrance to deliver some food for the evening. Some of the other inmates in said section were already fed, but there was only one last meal to deliver.

Coming up to the guard stationed for the wing -who seemed to almost fall asleep at this point- the nurse spoke up as she gestured to a covered plate of food. "This is for Jonathan Crane."

The guard quickly woke up at the mention of the inmate and turned his attention to the plate of food. "I got it!" He said as he snatched it from the roller. The guard opened it up to inspect the meal for anything out of the ordinary and he chuckled on it's contents. "Heh~ corn on the cob. A scarecrow's gotta love that."

The nurse rolled her eyes on the joke before exiting the area in order to get back to her station.

As the nurse walked through the doors, the guard peeked over one last time before he started digging into the meal in front of him.

"Now that is rather rude, Jenkins." A feminine voice called out, causing the guard to almost choke on the food. He swirled his head around and saw Dr. Quinzel narrowing her gaze at him with Vanitas and Robin standing behind her, who seemed to have appeared from out of nowhere. "You're eating a meal that's not meant for you."

Jenkins coughed to clear his throat before looking straight at the two vigilantes. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"We know." Vanitas said before moving his arm towards Harley. "But Dr. Quinzel here has authorization."

"And these two can come here as long as I'm with them." Harley said with a tilt of her head. "Now we need to see a particular patient here for a late night visit."

The asylum guard swallowed a small lump before asking the one question across his mind. "Who?"

"The Scarecrow." Vanitas answered as he walked towards the main holding cells. "After all, he's supposed to be here."

"W-What do you mean?" Jenkins stuttered out. "He's in his cell."

"I'd like to make sure of that."

The guard rushed forward and blocked the hero's path. "Take my word. I just saw him five minutes ago."

The costumed Uzumaki merely phased right through the man and kept walking forward. "Then you won't mind if I pay him a visit."

"B-But you can't do that! It's against the rules! You just can't!"

"Why so defensive, Jenkins?" Harley asked as she tapped her foot against the ground. "You go on ahead, Vanitas, I'm sure Robin can keep me company while I question him on his conduct."

Vanitas nodded and looked over to Robin, who seemed a little relieved on Harley's offer as he rubbed his arms. And without another word, the helmeted hero phased through the locked door as he briefly heard his blonde lover start reprimanding and questioning Jenkins.

There were a good number of inmates locked up in the men's wing of Arkham with a number of familiar faces. Harvey 'Two Face' Dent was flipping his scratched up coin in his quarters. Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, was making macrame characters from the Alice in Wonderland franchise. Professor Pyg and Mr. Toad were kept in separate cells as they respectively prepared themselves for bed. Matt 'Clayface' Hagen was watching one of his old movies before glaring at the hero. And Waylon Jones, the Killer Croc, was brushing and flossing his razor sharp teeth.

Upon reaching the frontal glass cell of Jonathan Crane, Vanitas saw the former college professor was rocking back and forth in a rocking chair..

"Professor Crane?" Vanitas spoke as he reached closer to the inmate. "I'd like to talk to you-" The hero stopped as his gaze landed on a little motor hidden on the floor. It was connected to the rocking chair and it didn't take long to figure out what was going on.

'I'll need to inform Harley that Crane escaped.' He thought as he bent down and turned off the motor connecting to the dummy decoy.

-Gotham Square Theatre-

'...This guy is sure taking his time.' Thought a musclebound-looking thug as he was tailing a particular man. And the man he was following went by the name 'Lucky'... obviously a cocky nickname or a not very creative alias.

Now the reason why the thug was following 'Lucky' was on the orders of his boss, Leon the Bookie. 'Lucky' has been winning the bets so steadily over the past several weeks and when the mysterious man collected his recent winnings of twenty-eight thousand dollars, Leon had enough. The thug was tasked to follow 'Lucky' and beat the information out of him on his 'lucky' streak while getting the recent winnings back.

So far in this tailing act, the lacky has been following 'Lucky' for half an hour by car to get across town before coming to a stop at a random block. From there, the mysterious man ended up walking the rest of the way to his destination.

And 'Lucky's' little hideaway ended up being the Gotham Square Theatre. The location is closed down for the season as no shows are scheduled to take place for quite some time. To a lot of criminals, said location can be considered a great place to temporarily crash at if you can break in and clean out in a timely manner.

Coming across the corner of the building, the bookie's lacky saw 'Lucky' come across one of the side entrances and unlocked the door with a key, no doubt procured from a spare inside one of the building's offices. Just when the target got inside, the thug quickly ran in just before the deadbolt door locked itself up upon closing.

Leon's lacky saw his target walk down the wide hallway and came across another door to unlock it. Feeling tired now on this little chase, the thug sped up his walk to finally confront 'Lucky' and to get some answers.

When getting inside the new room, the thug saw he was in some sort of animal pen. The man figured it was where many creatures are kept for specific events and performances here. The lacky looked around and wondered where his target went off to when he felt a small tap on his shoulder.

Quickly turning around, the thug saw the man smiling underneath his large hat.

"Lost?" 'Lucky' questioned in a mock tone. "You have that bewildered look, but your sort always does."

The thug didn't like 'Lucky's' tone, causing him to harshly grab the man's coat, hoisted him up and slammed him against the nearest, stable wall. "I ain't lost. I'm looking for you."

"And why's that?"

"I wanna knows how come you always win, Mr. Lucky."

"Oh that~ It's quite simple, actually." Lucky said with a smirk. "I fixed the games."

The thug quickly rose a brow when hearing this. "How the hells did you do that?! One or two, I can figure, but you can't fix all those sports! Nobody can!"

'Lucky' rolled his eyes at this. "Oh, ye of little brain, allow me to illustrate." One of his hands reached into his coat pocket and fumbled around a little before pulling out a sealed envelope. Lucky then presented it to the thug. "Here. You can read, can't you?"

The thug narrowed his eyes before letting go, letting 'Lucky' to tumble onto the ground and into a dark part of the room. The bookie's lacky harshly grabbed the envelope and opened it up. A plumb of dust came out and impacted his face, causing him to cough a little before reading the evelop's contents.

Yet there was only one word printed on the paper: Boo!

"Hey, is this some kind of joke?!" Growled out the thug as he crumpled the paper and tossed it away.

"It's no joke, I assure you." 'Lucky' spoke out as he got back onto his feet. "You wanted to know how I fixed an athletic contest, right?" The thug looked back and saw 'Lucky' toss his hat away before pulling something out from the inside of his coat. Just when he slipped it over his head, the thug reached forward and grabbed 'Lucky's' coat. "It's the fear of victory." The mysterious man lifted up his arm and a plumb of vapor shot into the thug's face, causing him to cough once more. "And the agony of The SCareCRow!"

The thug opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings as everything became dark and warped beyond his imagination. In the center of it all, the lacky's heart rate quickly skyrocketed when seeing the horrific, nightmarish being before him.

With his fear controlling him, the thug stumbled back and fell onto the ground before crawling away from the Scarecrow. "N-No! NO! GET AWAY!" The former university professor ignored the man's pleas while stalking forward. "GE-GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Now lEt's SEe hoW thINgs turned OUT when I cOmBineD bOTh my GAs and poWDEred variants of my FeAR ToXIn." The Doctor of Fear said as he grabbed ahold of the bookie's thug. "So teLL me, ANd bE hONest: how do yOU FEEL?!"

If one were inside of the building, they would've heard the loud wails echoing throughout it's halls with a sinister laugh not long after.

-Next Day, GCPD-

Staring from the outside of the infirmary, Vanitas and Gordon watched on as a thug was a whimpering mess as his skin was drastically pale, had bloodshot eyes and was in a cold sweat.

"He's gonna get me…" Muttered the thug, who was sitting on the bed while hugging the blankets like a lifeline. "He's gonna get me… He's gonna get me…"

"That's how we found him." Spoke the Commissioner as the pair walked away from the infirmary. "Scared as a rat at a cat convention." He sighed. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Then you haven't been watching the sports channel lately." Said the helmeted vigilante.

James blinked in confusion. "Sports?" His eyes widened behind his spectacles. "You mean those athletes? But what's that got to do with-"

"You can piece things together, Commissioner." They walked further into the hallway to get to the main part of the precinct. "That man back there works for Leon the bookie. And word has it, he's been losing a lot of money as of late."

"You're telling me that walking pile of straw scares the stuffing out of sports stars? And then bets against their teams?"

"Pretty much." Responded the hero once entering the lobby. "A perfect way to scare up some quick cash for his sick schemes and experiments. And what better opportunity than with many sports events happening right now." He sighed before asking what was on his mind. "Did you get any more information as to how Crane escaped?"

Gordon scratched his chin with a sigh. "Yeah, we did. After Dr. Quinzel called us on his escape, she asked us to question the one guard. Turns out that after going through his financials, Jenkins was paid by Crane after his escape of a good twenty grand to keep people away from his cell so he wouldn't be noticed."

"Any reason why Jenkins accepted the offer?"

"Gambling, obviously."

Vanitas nodded before the pair nearly ran into the Commissioner's daughter. "Morning, Barbara."

Said spectacled redhead gave a brief wave to Vanitas and her father. "Sorry if I can't chat, but I need to head to work now."

"Any reason why you showed up here, sweetie?" Her father asked.

"Yeah, you forgot to eat breakfast and grab your lunch before heading over here. Got you breakfast on the way over and both of your meals are in your office."

James let out a choppy laugh in remembrance. The call this morning was rather sudden, causing him to rush over here without getting a bite to eat and snagging one of Barbara's home cooked lunches for him.

"Well thanks for that, Barbara."

Barbara gave her father a small peck on his cheek and looked at Vanitas -her mentor- one last time before rushing out of the precinct.

Now normally the spectacled redhead would take her car to work today -and come here to drop off her dad's meals mentioned seconds ago- but by the time she went to startup her car, Barbara noticed she was out of gas. The Commissioner's daughter forgot to fill up her gas tank yesterday so she's SOL (shit outta luck) for the time being until she can get a small container filled up to help solve that small problem.

So today, Barbara needed to take the bus to the city library. And as she traveled to the nearest bus stop -which was a few blocks away for the library bus stop- the spectacled Gordon thought about things lately on her now busy life.

Ever since the day her father was given the public apology on his false accusations, Barbara Gordon's life got even more crazy.

The redhead admits her new schedule was rather hectic and complicated now than before. Juggling these now in her life and it would be a miracle -in her opinion- if she can handle and manage them with no problems. But that will only happen later on once getting used to them.

Her old, typical schedule started out of normal stuff at home before heading straight to classes. After that, Barbara would run some errands before going straight to work; but on most days it's typically the same but no classes in general. Once done, she would work on her homework before having time to relax with her eventual dinner with dad or by herself. After that, it's straight to bed before repeating her little cycle all over again.

...That was all before her life changed with Naruto coming into her life as things arrived at her metaphorical doorstep soon after. From working more and more on her one novel, the gymnastic lessons from his friend, Harley, to her becoming the protege of Vanitas as she took on the mantle Batgirl on some evenings.

The helmeted hero didn't really take her out on any real crime fighting ordeals just yet as he wanted to show her the ropes on the basics. Barbara was understanding on that fact as when she briefly fought Scarecrow back on Halloween, she only lasted a little bit before her butt was harshly kicked. Not to mention of the time when her father was falsely accused, due to him being framed by Mason and Two Face.

So far in her training as a future vigilante, she was learning how to fight in hand-to-hand combat and how to properly use throwing weapons. Things were honestly frustrating for her on said lessons, but she wouldn't give up that easily as she kept at it for the few hours she spends with Vanitas. Barbara even practiced those lessons while on her own like mentally going over fighting skills while at work.

Her lessons recently changed as Vanitas got her to start learning how to properly use the grappling gun.

There were moments that Barbara couldn't really handle it on the sudden rush when being reeled through the air before reaching the hook at some random buildings. The redhead was limited on the skill as she couldn't utilize the grappling gun full capabilities. From flinging herself into the air and gliding across the skies for instance. Batman and Robin can do such a skill, due to what their capes were made out of and constructed. But for her, there's no way she can do that with her cape being small and not fashioned like what the Dynamic Duo had on their persons.

Speaking of, Barbara had asked her new mentor if he had told them of her being Batgirl. He reassured her that he's keeping her secret safe from them. Vanitas does know their secret identities as well, but he isn't going to be telling her that. If she wants to come forward and tell them her identity, then Barbara can do so when she felt ready. And she was glad on that fact.

As Barbara was crossing the street to get to her designated bus, a truck was blocking her view if any vehicles were coming her way. The spectacled redhead was only able to hear the sounds of a motorcycle engine as it suddenly got louder. Swirling her head to the side, she saw a motorcyclist was too close to her, causing Barbara to briefly yell before said cyclist quickly turn their handle and press onto the breaks to the side in hopes of not hitting the redhead.

Yet this was not the case as Barbara was knocked to the ground and tumbled around a little.

The motorcyclist quickly parked their vehicle and rushed over to the redhead's side. "HOLY SHIT!" Spoke out the cyclist in a feminine voice underneath her helmet. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"

"It's… alright, I think." Barbara groaned out as she rubbed her head. "I should've looked better for any incoming…" The Commissioner's daughter drawled out in her speech when she saw the cyclist pull off her helmet to reveal her features.

The woman appeared to be around Barbara's height and age. Her golden blonde hair was mostly tied into a back bun with a red bandana holding it in place. There were small side braids -one on each side of her head, leading up to the bun while the rest of her hair was wildly sprawled out to help frame her smooth face. Her eyes were like sharply bright emeralds that showed a fierceness in them when Barbara peered into them.

The blonde's attire consisted of a crimson leather jacket that opened up slightly to show off a white t-shirt underneath with what appeared to be some necklace barely tucked underneath said shirt. Her pants appeared to be loose with it ripped up around several places along the length. To finish off the attire, the blonde wore black combat boots.

Now don't get her wrong, Barbara is indeed attracted to men as she has growing feelings for Naruto with how handsome he is and has the right qualities for her in hopes of pursuing him… if he wasn't in a relationship. But seeing this girl's face seemed to light up her cheeks slightly on how attractive she appears to be.

This caused Barbara to cough into her hand to possibly defuse the feeling as she figured it was just because of the small adrenaline rush coursing through her system.

"Are you okay?" Spoke the blonde out of complete concern as she carefully helped get Barbara onto her feet. "Did I hurt you?" She clicked her teeth and smacked herself on the head. "Of course I hurt you! GAH! I'm such an idiot for not paying more attention to the road!"

"No, it's okay." Barbara said as she adjusted herself on her feet, but winced slightly when feeling her leg was sore from a bit ago. "I'm fine. I get hurt more often as I get tossed around during my lessons."

The blonde blinked her emerald eyes with a raised brow. "You fight?" She asked, getting Barbara to briefly nod. The motorcyclist inspected the spectacled redhead's body for not just to see for any injuries, but to see on her capabilities. "You sure don't look like a fighter."

"I've started some weeks ago. And my instructor-"

"Say no more." Interrupted the blonde. "I get the idea." She then walked over to her bike and moved it to the side of the road so other vehicles can start going through the intersection. "Ugh~ I'm so embarrassed on this. It never happened before."

Barbara tried to wave her off on the incident. "No, it's alright. Really."

"Oh hey, let me make this up to you." The blonde held out her hand to help form the greeting. "But first, my name's Morgan."

The redhead looked at the hand before grasping it and shook the appendage. "Barbara."

"So where were ya going anyways?"

"Work."

"Where at?"

"The public library."

"Huh. Well ain't that something." The blonde shrugged out. "Ya start learning more about this city when exploring."

"...I have a feeling you're new here?"

Mordred gave a nod. "Yup~ Just moved here some weeks ago with my mom."

"Where at?"

"Just barely outside of the city limits… I think." Answered the blonde as she scratched her head. "It's debatable on the border placement."

"Like where?"

Morgan scratched her golden locks a little to think on the answer. "Eh~ All I know is that the last owner was arrested for stealing money from the Gotham Mint."

Barbara widened her eyes slightly in recognition of the location. "You mean Montague Kane?"

The golden blonde smirked and snapped her fingers. "Yeah, that's it." She let out a boisterous laugh. "Heh~ My mom ended up with a sweet deal on the place once the authorities seized all of that guy's assets, leaving the estate bare."

The Commissioner's daughter nodded before asking the motorcyclist a question. "Any reason why on moving here?"

Morgan gave a shrug. "Mom and I have been traveling around for quite some time and she decided to settle down for the time being before starting back up again."

A sweatdrop formed on the side of Barbara's head. "Wouldn't it be better to move into an apartment?"

"Mom has a shitload of stuff and doesn't trust storage places all that often." Was the response. "Besides, the one barely outside of Gotham isn't the only home we have so I'm used to moving around quite often."

The spectacled redhead merely rose a brow. 'I think… her mom must be rather loaded if that was brought up.' She thought before her eyes caught onto a particular numbered bus as it left the stop nearby. "CRAP!"

"What?"

"My bus!" Barbara groaned out. "Now I'm gonna be late for work…"

The motorcyclist sucked in her teeth a little before a lightbulb formed above her head.

"Hey, Barbara."

"...Yeah…"

"About owing ya one for hitting ya…" Morgan drawled out with a cat-like smirk. "Need a ride?"

"...W-What?"

"I was asking if ya needed a ride to work. I'm offering."

Barbara contemplated on the suggestion, but she didn't want to get in trouble by her manager. He was rather strict when it came to scheduling and she wouldn't want to get marked, despite her good attendance record.

So with a hesitant nod, the Commissioner's daughter accepted.

Morgan formed a wide smile as she grasped Barbara's hand and brought her to her motorcycle, which upon a better exception by the redhead was a Bimota Tesi 1D with it's red and white color scheme. After sitting on her motorcycle, Barbara was soon handed the blonde's helmet to be put on.

"Shouldn't you be wearing this?"

"I would, but I believe you'll need it more than me." Came the response as Morgan restarted her motorcycle's engine. "Afterall, I tend to go rather fast!" After revving up the bike, the emerald eyed blonde widened her smirk. "So ya better hang on!"

Without any warning, Morgan quickly sped her bike through the streets with Barbara quickly holding onto the blonde's frame while weaving through the streets. A thrilled scream permeating the air with a hearty cackle following soon after.

-Later, Batcave-

"Okay, Dick." Muttered the Grayson as he took careful steps across a narrow cliff while in his Robin attire. "One foot… over the other… Nice and steady… And don't… look down…"

You might be wondering why Dick is going this over a deep chasm inside of the illustrious Batcave. To simply put it, he's trying to overcome his fear of heights.

It's a good idea to face one's fear to better yourself, but it's easier to do things at a baby step approach. For example, tying a rope between two trees and balance yourself to walk from one end to the other and progress from there to help conquer one's fear of heights.

But at the current time, Dick is doing the approach in the wrong way… with him going straight into the situation at the present time.

"You can do it, Dick." He said as his vision switched the dark cavernous surrounding into the circus tent once more. "D-Do-Don't look…" Dick shut his eyes and kept moving forward until he was halfway through the narrow path. "I'm not afraid! I'm not-" His foot suddenly missed it's mark, causing him to slip a little. Dick tried to regain his balance, yet he fell over the side. "NO!"

Dick's arm was suddenly snagged as he was forced to look into the abyss below. But the darkness wasn't what he was seeing at all for something else took its place. Though this sight ended as he was yanked upward and came face to face with Naruto, who had an extremely worried look across his features.

"Dick! What the hell were you doing?!" He spoke out. "If I wasn't here, you would've died!"

The college student flinched while his body shivered. "I… I was trying to… to…"

Naruto sighed and escorted Dick to the larger part of the cavern. "You know that I'm here for ya, Dick. Alfred and Harley as well." Naruto said in a soft tone to help calm the shaken Grayson. "But if you don't at least talk about your problem, then this might not go away that easily."

Dick eventually leaned against a cavern wall before sliding down in order to sit on the cold surface. "When I was just a kid, I learned how to walk on a high wire like it was nothing." His voice seemed to lose it's feel, as if it's owner was becoming hollow. "But now I can't stand on a step stool or a ladder without freaking the hell out." With his head down, it wasn't hard for Naruto to tell what could've been seen across the younger man's face. "I'm… no good to you or Bruce anymore."

Naruto sat down on the floor and looked at Dick with a serious expression. "And who says you're no longer good, Dick? I mean, the fear toxin in ya is bound to wear off." The Grayson didn't look up, but the Uzumaki didn't stop there. "If you no longer want to be out on the field, you can still be helpful behind the scenes in a supportive role. Like being at the batcomputer and feeding Bruce information on building layouts or anything else of that nature." Once more, Dick didn't respond back. "And even if you don't want to do that, you still have your whole life ahead of you once you graduate from college next year. A career, finding your future wife and having a family of your own. We're all there for you, Dick, and nothing will truly change that."

"...Thanks." Spoke the college student for the first time in several minutes. The startled teen rubbed his arms as he let out a sigh. "But… But it's not just the heights, Naruto."

"...What'cha mean?"

"It's… a memory. A really bad memory." Dick moved his head up, getting the publisher to see tears running down his cheeks. "Like Bruce, I had a really bad memory."

Things clicked inside the Uzumaki's head on what the Grayson was referring to: his parent's death.

The Wayne ward let out a shaky breath before speaking his mind. "When I was in Haley's Circus, doing all of those acrobat and trapeze acts were the absolute time of my life. I loved doing it along with my parents as it was practically everything to me." He swallowed a lump in his throat and sniffed a little to somewhat clear his nose, even though it'll return not far along. "But when my parents died… in such a way… I could never be so high up without seeing their faces staring up at me as they fell."

Dick felt a hand placed on his shoulder and realized that Naruto must've moved from his spot in front of him to help him out on this moment. The Grayson nodded on the appreciated gesture as a result.

After some moments to recollect himself, Dick spoke again. "For a while, I've had nightmares to that night over and over again. And when Bruce started training me to become his partner, it took some time to get over my fear of heights." He flexed his hands and felt they were clammy for several reasons. "But it wasn't just that… as I wanted to honor their memory." Dick looked down to his costume and traced his hand on some of it's details. "Bruce didn't choose the color scheme and the style for my Robin outfit, Naruto, it was my parents."

Naruto blinked in surprise when learning this particular detail.

Seeing this expression, the Grayson explained. "On our last show together, they made me wear these colors and gave me the Robin name… well it was actually my mom who did all that in order to draw all the attention towards me… She and Dad were already wearing the new outfit at that time and hoped to cheer me on me doing my big solo act… I was about to perform to the audience with my new costume, but was never really given the chance.

As time passed on, I decided to adopt my Robin role my parents gave me as my hero persona. I wanted to honor their memory by going out there and serving justice. And everytime I flew in the air, I imagined my parents were right beside me as we continued our performances. But… But now, my old fear reared its ugly head and I don't know if I'll ever properly recover."

Once that was said, Dick went back into a relative silence in order for Naruto to process it all. It was quite the sad bit of information on how the Grayson got his hero name with the tragedy behind it. And in Naruto's honest opinion, it seemed better than how Bruce got his Batman name… unless there was more to said name that he just didn't know about.

After thinking things through, Naruto spoke up. "You know, Dick, for years I wore orange as I enjoyed the color very much. I never really knew the reason why but I just felt connected to it." This got Dick to briefly look at his friend and wondered why he suddenly went into that. "If anyone said it was stupid, I proclaimed that it was the color of the gods." Naruto chuckled at the memories on how he got back at said people with his pranks. "As I was a bit younger than you, I eventually learned the reason why I felt drawn to the color in the first place: like you, it was because of my parents. I never knew of them when I grew up until at one point and certain circumstances. I did learn of their nicknames and their relation with said names in detail. With my mother having her vibrant red hair to match her scary personality with my father being known for being fast and all people could see was his yellow hair." The publisher formed a somber smile. "I eventually came to the conclusion that their colors appropriately mixed well with each other to make the color my subconscious wanted me to wear quite often."

He looked back at Dick with his somber smile turning into a normal one. "Dick, the point is that we all have our ways to cope with the past. Bruce merely broods around and acts upon a promise he made as a child. I merely do what's best in my life by making others happy in my line or work as I knew my parents possibly wanted me to move on. And with you, you're honoring your folks by wearing the Flying Grayson design and you've done so time and time again." Naruto let out a small sigh as he looked up towards the cavernous ceiling. "It might just be me, but…"

"But what?"

"But I think, at some point, you should retire from the Robin name." The Grayson looked at Naruto like he was crazy, but his friend held up his hand before explaining his reason. "First off, Dick, you don't have to do that now. It's way too soon to make that decision so quickly. And second, sure the name is a big part of your life and nothing can change that. But do you even want to still be called Robin several years from now? You can change and become something else, something more than what you are today." The publisher nudged his young friend in the shoulder. "But in the meantime, you've got to fight it, Dick. Regain control." Naruto said as he pulled Dick up onto his feet. "Now come on."

Dick blinked in confusion when he was getting dragged along. "W-Where are we going?"

"I thought we'd catch a game tonight." Came the vague response. "What? You thought I'd let you stay here and brood the entire time? I can only handle one brooding person at a time and I'd be damned if his broodiness spreaded onto you." Naruto let out a small smirk when he saw Dick brighten up a little. "Last time I checked, the Gotham Knights are favored 4-1, thanks to their quarterback, Mitch Nole."

"You think he's gonna get a telegram?"

"I'd say it's a good bet."

Dick hanged back a little as he rubbed his arm. "I… don't know. I'll only get in the way."

"Oh don't be like that." Naruto said as his Vanitas attire formed around him. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

-Evening, Gotham Stadium-

The lines were crowded as people tried to get in to attend the upcoming game. From what many could tell, it was going to be a very jam packed event.

At a good distance away, Robin hid in the bushes while peering through his binoculars to find any suspicious activity to indicate Scarecrow's arrival.

'Okay, Robin.' Thought the masked Grayson. 'Get it together. Everything will be fine.'

The 'Boy' Wonder had volunteered to help keep a lookout for Crane if he were to arrive while his companion searched inside. And so far, there have been no signs of the former college professor in these past few hours. Even with the help of Vanitas' summons to help widen the search radius, nothing was reportedly found.

Robin was about to move around the perimeter when he saw something briefly enter his vision, despite how large the crowd was. With his binoculars still in place, he turned to the source and saw a mysterious looking man walking to the employee entrance. The man didn't look like an employee as he kept his facial features hidden.

Trusting his gut instinct, Robin left his post and went after the mysterious man.

It took some effort to hopefully get close to the suspect, all due to how large the crowd was, but Robin was able to get inside with little to no problem. He kept himself away at a safe distance to the mysterious man wouldn't spot him. After ducking and slinking away at several moments, Robin saw the man enter a locker room.

And not just any locker room, but one assigned to the Gotham Knights for tonight's game.

Staying hidden in a dark covering of a hallway, Robin waited for the mysterious man to exit the locker room. He would've just gone in there right away and confront the person he was tailing. But this would possibly cause him more harm than good. Asides from that, he learned more from that as Bruce's training reminded him to be patient before acting.

After a minute, Robin saw the locker room door open up with the mysterious man stepping out. It was at this moment the 'Boy' Wonder got a good view of the man's face, causing him to widen his eyes before narrowing them upon realizing he just found Jonathan Crane.

As the former professor walked down the hallway, Robin quickly entered the locker room and started searching for anything amiss.

'All right, Scarecrow. What's your game plan this time?' Thought the masked Grayson. 'Why'd you come here instead of sending out a telegram like what you did on your previous victims?'

After searching every spot he could think of, Robin was about to leave before his eyes spotted something off in one of the player's cubbies. Taking a closer look, the 'Boy' Wonder saw some discoloration on the edges and holes of the football helmet. Looking at the jersey number, Robin realized this was Mitch Nole's uniform and he already knew what Crane did exactly.

Without any other thought, Robin took the helmet and left the locker room in order to dispose of it in order to hamper the Scarecrow's plans.

Sometime after the game's start, things appeared to be doing very well. The crowds were cheering for their respective teams and none of the players had any problems… well except for the occasional scrapes, falls and arguments one would see in a typical sports game.

"...Mitch Nole is ripping the Colonials apart!" Spoke out the game announcer. "Four hundred yards passing, and the game's not over yet."

-Insert Batman Arkham Knight: Murder of Crows-

High above the roaring attendees, Jonathan Crane -currently wearing his signature mask- was seething as he watched the game unfold before him.

"What the bloody hell is taking so damn long?!" He growled out as he paced back and forth in his hiding spot. "The rest of my powder in that helmet should've been enough to panic a pachyderm!" The Scarecrow then saw the next play taking place as Mitch Nole was able to successfully deliver the football to his teammate to get a touchdown. "He should be prostrating himself and crying for mercy!"

"Change of luck, Scarecrow?"

Swirling around in his spot, Crane saw the helmeted vigilante of Gotham stepping out of the shadows.

The former college professor gritted his teeth as he glared at Vanitas. He never interacted with the man before, only that of the Batman and of his protege. But he saw him several times when he was at Arkham and on the news. So him showing up here would hamper his plans.

But all the Scarecrow could do at the present moment was growl at the hero before him.

"You're aware that gambling is illegal in Gotham?" Spoke the black/white themed vigilante as he stalked towards the professor of fear.

"I need the money, Vanitas." Said the Scarecrow as he stepped back from the hero. "You know the cost of chemicals and experiments these days."

"And yet you kept doing this act over and over again with all of those players shown in the news as of late."

With Vanitas coming closer and closer, Crane reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a triggering device. "Don't step any closer, Vanitas! If you do then I'll set off gas canisters -filled with my Fear Toxin- I had placed throughout the stadium and hidden from sight. And with the amount I have stationed will practically put every pathetic person into a stampede of half-crazed beasts crushing and clawing each other!"

At a level or two below them, Robin saw this all occurring through his binoculars. Quickly pulling them down, his worries grew as his mind went through the motions on what will happen. The 'Boy' Wonder thought for a brief moment the trigger in Crane's grasp was for a bomb, but he quickly dismissed that as the man's MO is always through the methods of spreading his fear.

Robin didn't know how many containers of Crane's Fear Toxin there are and where they're placed. The only course of action he could think of is for Vanitas to find and deal with him. Yet this would leave Crane alone and the opportunity to flee…

'Not… If I have anything to say… about that.' Robin looked down from his high placement above the crowds and shuddered as his vision quickly switched to the Haley's Circus tent. The masked Grayson shut his eyes and slapped his cheeks to somewhat help clear his vision. "Come on, Robin. Get a grip!" Opening his optics, Robin turned to the nearby ladder and made his way up. "It's now or never."

"Now, what guarantee do I have you won't follow me?"

"You have my word, Scarecrow." Vanitas responded as he held up his hands and back away slightly. "Just don't press that button."

Crane merely hummed and narrowed his eyes underneath his mask. "Actually, Vanitas, I'd prefer a little insurance that you'll be otherwise occupied."

With that said, the Scarecrow quickly tossed device off to the side.

"NO!" Cried out the hero as he dived towards it.

He missed it by a hair as the trigger landed on a suspending scaffold and tumbled across the way. When landing on it's metallic surface, Vanitas ended up causing the trigger to shake and skid closer to it's edge. As the hero reached forward to stop it from falling, Crane jumped from the rafter above and landed on to the lower one to cause the suspending area to shake. And even when the Professor of Fear leapt on Vanitas and started assaulting him, it was too much for the sought after item, causing it to fall over the edge and to the roaring crowds below.

"It's a fumble!" Spoke the announcer at the recent action in the game. "This could mean disaster for Gotham!"

Seeing this happen from the ladder, Robin had to swallow hard in order to hold off of his fear, even for a temporary moment. Pulling out his grappling gun and with quick aim, he fired before the hook snagged on the suspension above. And as the device fell, Robin let go of the ladder and swung towards it.

While this occured, Robin's vision started to change to that of that tragic night of his life. He prayed for all his might in order to reach for his parents. The masked Grayson was never more determined in his entire life to finally beat his fear once and for all.

Drawing closer and closer, the Bat's protege reached forward as his hand got closer to his parents. They soon smiled before the haunting memory faded away to bring Robin to the present for him to see his ever present target.

And by some self-miracle, Robin caught the trigger by the skin of his teeth.

"And would you look at that! What a recovery!"

Landing on the rafter above Scarecrow and Vanitas, Robin let out a nervous breath as the crowds below cheered for the teams. Looking down, the masked Grayson's felt relieved as he conquered his old, buried fear.

Seeing this, Vanitas smiled underneath his glass domed helmet. "Good work, Robin." He said with a hidden smile before he punched Crane's lights out, causing him to lay unconscious on the scaffold surface. "Looks like you've got a handle on your problem."

"Yeah." Breathed out the 'Boy' Wonder with a shaky smile. "I'm getting there."

-Morning, Wayne Manor-

Sitting by the kitchen counter, Dick was eating breakfast as he watched the news alongside Alfred.

"...Jonathan Crane, otherwise well known as the Scarecrow, was arrested last night for his actions of sabotaging many of the recent sports games involving the following athletes: Rudy Lovell, Rick Gale, Christeen Adams and Brian Rodgers." Spoke Summer Gleeson as she read off the report. "Because of this, the games said athletes had recently participated are going to be re-evaluated. So it's too soon to tell on what might exactly happen as an end result."

"At least that's being taken under consideration." Said the Wayne butler as he sipped his morning tea.

"You're telling me." Dick yawned out.

After getting back here once delivering Crane to the authorities, Dick had to perform several tests on himself to be sure the fear toxin was out of his system. And sure enough, it was as the last of it was burned out. Of course the little drawback for the time being was being overly exhausted so his body can properly recuperate.

And even though Crane's toxin was gone, the psychological scar Dick had was somewhat present.

It would take some time for it to either fade away or get buried once more like all those years ago. But the Grayson was suggested into seeing Harley sometime soon to help take care of this problem. And sure he never really went into therapy in the past, due to him and Bruce wanting to protect themselves and their identities. But since Harley knew of their double life, she can be trusted to deal with any and all problems concerning their mental health.

And Dick will finally take up on this opportunity now more than ever.

"...For some good news, the Gotham Knights took under consideration into bringing in Brian Rogers for their first-round draft picks." Said the news anchor. "And many of you at home are wondering why and how so. Well~ the drafting board forgave the college quarterback on his previous game earlier this week due to recent findings of him being drugged by the Professor of Fear. So for now, Brian Rodgers will be put into a probationary period to see if the Knights will fully take him on or not."

Alfred looked over and saw the Wayne ward smile upon hearing this. The Pennyworth knew of his relationship with the college quarterback and was happy things turned out well for the better.

"It appears that your friend is back on track again."

Dick can only keep his smile as he soon took a bite out of some toast. Once swallowing, he spoke up in a cheerful tone. "Yeah, I can't wait to congratulate him."

"You can always send a telegram."

The Grayson gave Alfred a deadpanned look on the bad joke before giving out a dry laugh. "Very funny, Al."

-End Chapter-

AN:

Sorry for the late update here guys, things in my personal life ate up a lot of my time. For one, by the time of this chapter's release, my temporary job gig came to an end. Leading up to this in the past few weeks, I've been searching for a permanent job. But so many jobs kept asking for certain years of experience on specific details and unfortunately, I didn't have that criteria.

For example, I applied for some secretary positions and I would've done well in the new environment. But they turned me down and won't give me the chance.

Luckily for me, there might be something that'll come my way when I go to this job agency place after this weekend. Couldn't apply there sooner because they were open during the hours I was at my temp job. And there's another job opportunity that I'll get word from them sometime next week since I was told they were severely understaffed.

Now with my story, I've been getting a good number of reviews pertaining to the last chapter and they all pertain on why I brought it up.

You see, there will be events in my story that will be affected by the last chapter. Naruto needed to know more of the perspective of certain issues and him gaining something that'll truly help him out soon enough. And I felt that I needed to bring out said chapter as it was necessary on a typical scale of things.

As for this chapter, I wanted to focus a bit more on Dick and Barbara… moreso on the former.

I can understand if many of you don't like this entry at all, but at this point I don't really care. I wanted to do this one to do development on Dick's character. There aren't all that many to begin with on this show and I want to use as much as I can.

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R