Things were quiet at Titans Tower, which was now the new "normal." It had been over a year since Starfire had left, and things hadn't been the same since then. Her bubbly and friendly attitude contributed a lot to the positive energy that the tower used to have, but her departure had affected Nightwing the most. He had since ditched the boy wonder persona for a new identity, one that he hoped would separate himself from Batman even further.

The Titans were watching the news, which was giving a report of suspicious activity in Gotham City involving the Batman. In recent months, Batman had allegedly been seen in a new costume beating a group of crooks to within an inch of their lives. It was also reported that he had let a couple more fall to their deaths. Nightwing knew deep down it was odd, but he didn't want to get involved. His days with Batman and Gotham City were long behind him.

"What do you think that's all about?" asked Beast Boy as the news went to commercial.

"Don't know, don't care," replied Nightwing dismissively. "The media likes to exaggerate rumors. They do it all the time."

"So, you think there's nothing to it at all?" asked Cyborg.

"I doubt it. I know Batman well enough to know he wouldn't do that stuff."

Suddenly, the alarm went off. Nightwing checked the computer to see who it was this time.

"Cinderblock again," he reported. "Titans, go!"

The Titans quickly jolted off the couch as they headed for downtown.


After Cinderblock was dealt with, Nightwing heard a loud meow from his right. He turned to see a black cat walking towards him. There was something familiar about the cat. Had he seen that cat before? He noticed there was a small piece of paper underneath its collar. He knelt down towards the cat, and pulled out the piece of paper from its collar. It wasn't the first time he had seen a cat like this, and he knew there was one person who could train a cat to send messages. It couldn't really be her cat, could it?

"Yo!" shouted Cyborg as they began walking back home. "You coming?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," answered Nightwing.

When Nightwing turned around, he saw that the cat was gone. As he walked down the street, he saw the text that was written on the paper.

Meet me on the rooftops when you have a chance. We need to talk.

Nightwing noticed there was a cat emblem under the text, and he knew this was her handwriting. But, why would she come all this way to talk to him? What was her motive here? He assumed that this was about Batman, but he wouldn't know until he could hear her out.


As night fell, Nightwing hopped from roof to roof searching for the messenger. It wasn't until he heard a soft meow that could give him a hint as to where she was. He was closing in on a rooftop water tower as the meow got louder. There was the cat sitting in front of him in front of the water tower.

"Took you long enough," said a familiar feminine voice.

Nightwing turned to his left and saw the cat burglar from Gotham City standing before him. She was wearing her spandex and goggles, but he could tell she wasn't in her usual playful and flirty mood. That's where he started to get suspicious.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Please don't tell me this is all a plan to make Batman jealous."

"I wish," she replied. "Haven't you seen the news lately? Haven't you heard about Batman going crazy?"

"That's news to you, Catwoman?" he asked. "What's so different about Batman that I need to know about?"

"Looks like you haven't been paying attention. Batman isn't Batman anymore. Someone else has been wearing the costume for the past few months."

That's when Nightwing started to get confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean someone else has been wearing the costume?"

Nightwing noticed the dark look on Catwoman's face. He couldn't tell if she was more angry or sad. It was almost like trying to understand what an actual cat was feeling.

"Someone broke Bruce's back, Nightwing," she answered. "He hasn't been able to walk."

Nightwing wanted to think that she was joking. He didn't want any reason to deal with Batman, but her expressions were enough to tell him that she wasn't joking.

"What?" he asked. "There's no way anyone could break Batman's back. He's Batman."

Catwoman shook her head.

"I've seen him. He's lucky he will walk again, unlike Oracle."

Nightwing's mind suddenly became flooded with questions. How could this have happened?

"How? Who did this?"

"Bane," she answered. "He's new. He came from Santa Prisca. He takes a special kind of drug that inflates his arms like a balloon."

Catwoman showed him a photo of this new threat. Nightwing had never seen a bigger or muscular man in all his life. Nightwing was only getting more questions just after that one answer.

"If Bruce isn't wearing the costume, then who is?"

"Jean-Paul Valley," she answered. "He used to be an assassin of the Sacred Order of Saint Dumas. Bruce wanted to find a way to keep Batman going, even if he couldn't walk. He eventually met Valley when Valley wanted to get out of the killing business, and Bruce chose him to be Batman until he could walk again."

"And?" pressed Nightwing.

"The brainwashing programming the assassins put into Valley's mind started to take control again, and it's only gotten worse. All the stories on the news are true."

Nightwing was starting to get nervous. Why would Batman allow this to happen?

"Why hasn't Bruce done anything?" he asked.

"He can't," answered Catwoman. "He's powerless against Valley. He took control of the Batcave."

"Where is he now?"

"That's what I don't know. I haven't seen him in weeks. He hasn't been answering my calls. He might not even be in Gotham anymore."

"Haven't you tried calling Alfred?" asked Nightwing.

Catwoman paused before she said anything else. She knew he wouldn't like what he was about to hear.

"Nightwing," she began. "Alfred quit."

Those were the last words Nightwing ever expected to hear about Alfred. Alfred had always been there for Batman in the worst of times. The thought of Alfred ever leaving Bruce was pure insanity. That was like saying Alfred would abandon Nightwing. Alfred was like the grandfather Nightwing never had. If the situation led to Alfred quitting, then it really was worse than he thought.

"What?" he asked. "That can't be right. Why would he? Bruce needs him, especially if he can't walk."

"The first thing Bruce wants to do when can walk again is put the suit back on," explained Catwoman. "Alfred couldn't handle Bruce risking his life as long as Bane still exists. It was already too much for him to see Bruce with a broken back."

"Not even Oracle knows where he is?"

"No. He made sure no one could find him. He doesn't want anyone to worry about him, even if we already are."

As much as Nightwing didn't want to believe it, it was clear that with the real Batman nowhere to be found, and a lunatic wearing his suit, crime in Gotham could be worse than ever, but he knew Catwoman didn't care about that as much as she did for Batman.

"So that's why you came here, huh? To see if I could help Bruce?" he asked.

"You're the only one left I thought could knock some sense into him," she replied. "He hasn't been the same since you left. He might be more honest with you than he is with me, if we find him that is."

This was the hard part. He didn't want to go back to Gotham, but did he have a choice? Sure he had a team to lead, but they had enough honorary members to fill in for him. Cyborg would be able to lead the team just fine, too.

"I know you got a new life here, but the situation in Gotham's only going to get worse so long as Valley keeps wearing the suit," said Catwoman. "And I'm sure you don't want to see any innocent lives lost because of him."

That was the biggest thing for him. He was more concerned for the people of Gotham at the moment, even if Bruce really was in bad shape. He still had some unresolved issues between him and his adoptive father, but he was going to have to put them aside for now. Gotham needed him, and if helping Gotham meant helping Batman, then that would have to do.


The Titans were gathered in the living room. Nightwing was speaking to them from the monitor. He was already on his way to Gotham City.

"So, how long will you be gone?" asked Raven.

"Until this whole situation in Gotham is taken care of," answered Nightwing. "I've got to find the real Batman, and I got to get the imposter out of the picture, and I don't know how long that's going to take."

"So it's really that bad?" asked Beast Boy. "The great and powerful Batman is missing?"

"Apparently so," replied Nightwing. "Will you be able to handle the team while I'm gone, Cyborg?"

"No problem!" exclaimed Cyborg. "Even if we need some backup, we can always call in someone like Kid Flash or Wonder Girl. This team is in good hands."

"Good, because it may be a while before I come back. You guys better get used to life without me."

"We'll be fine, Nightwing," assured Raven. "We can take care of ourselves."

"Okay. Nightwing out."

With that, the Titans monitor faded to black. The Titans understood why Nightwing would go away for a while, but they had already experienced something similar with Starfire. Getting used to life without one Titan was one thing, but life without two was even harder. Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy looked at each other. They thought about what else could change in the near-future. They feared that the team would only continue to shrink, and the only thing they could do was to wait out time. It was like time was finally catching up to them, and it wasn't fun to say the least.