Winston Zeddemore sat in silence, his mind still trying to take in all that he had just witnessed. As his men stormed the building, they were greeted with the sight of death all around them. Speedy had rushed to Bumblebee's side as she moaned in pain. Meanwhile the sirens of the ambulances and the coroner echoed throughout the block. The captain sat in silence, not really sure whether or not what he had just seen really occurred. It just didn't seem possible that one man could have that kind of devastating impact on a group of thugs led by three dangerous supervillains, even if he was a Titan.
As the officers checked on the hostages, Speedy held Bee's hand in his own. The damage to her face had been extensive, and her left eye looked to be nonresponsive. Of all the people in the building who should have not been in there, who did not deserve this, she was the worst off.
Suddenly, without warning, two hands slid underneath the girl's prone form, and hoisted her into the air. Speedy followed her up, and found himself looking into the eyes of Nightwing. He had picked up Bumblebee as if she was a child.
"Hey, you all right there, Speedy?" Nightwing asked, checking the hero over for injuries.
"Think I might have shit my pants," the Titan said, his cheeks reddening. "Other than nearly getting' killed, I'm cool."
The hero smiled. "Okay then," he said. "Follow me."
Captain Zeddemore was brought back to reality as he saw Nightwing emerge from the wrecked building, Bumblebee in his arms. Despite the beating he had taken at the hands of Mammoth, the Titan looked like a million bucks.
"Goddamn," he said as he watched the hero hand Bee over to the paramedics. "If that ain't a hero, I don't know what is."
The cop watched in silence as the medic team loaded Bumblebee into the ambulance, Speedy holding her hand as he stepped inside with her. They had been through hell together, and he certainly wasn't about to leave her side now.
"Captain Z." Zeddemore turned to his left at the sound of his name being called. It was Lieutenant Roger Morrison, Z's second-in-command on the scene.
"Yes, Rog?" he asked.
"Sir, we have nine confirmed dead," the officer began, his sit-rep vital now more than ever. "Six are hired goons. The other three are the H.I.V.E. members."
"What about the hostages?" The captain said, honestly not too broken hearted over the loss of three dangerous villains.
"Well, one of the Titans East members got caught in the face by shrapnel," Morrison said, firmly. "She's on her way to Jump City ICU. With any luck, she'll keep her eye and her good looks. As for the others, one gentleman sprained his ankle, a pregnant lady's water broke, and some old guy lost a contact lens."
"That's it?" Zeddemore said, astonished. With the firefight that had occurred during Nightwing's 'infiltration' of the building, he honestly had expected some grimmer news.
"That's the way it looks, sir." Morrison said. Although the news had been good, a troubled look still covered the officer's face. "Captain, do you mind if I speak to you off the record?"
The captain crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll decide that after you tell me what's on your mind," he said, eyebrows raised.
The lieutenant sighed. "Sir, I know that you saw everything that occurred here today, just like all the other guys. What I mean is…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "I just - I would have never figured a member of the Teen Titans to just… explode like that, especially Nightwing. I mean, he took them all out like a trained merc, and he didn't even flinch."
"That he did," Zeddemore said, nodding in agreement. "So, why are you so worried about that being on the record?"
"Well, because…" Morrison knew he could lose his job for what he was about to say, but the hell with it – it needed to be said. "…Because I think he did the right thing. Those scumfucks, they would've had bail money wired by Brother Blood just waiting for them right at the station. They would have been back out before they even saw the inside of a cell. Back out doing shit like this, threatening innocents just for being there or being in the way. Permit me to say this, sir, but I'm damn glad Nightwing made sure the only place they'll be going today is the morgue."
The lieutenant fell silent. He knew that, as an officer of the law, he was required to leave such mindsets at home when he donned his uniform. However, the escalating violence in Jump City had made him wonder if incarceration of these villains actually did anything more that screw taxpayers out of their money. He knew that, by making the statements he had, he had just shown a high level of bias to his commanding officer, and he very well was treading on thin ice. Still, losing his career was better than keeping his mouth shut. Nightwing's actions had filled him with hope. Hope that vigilante heroes like him could save Jump City from eating itself alive.
Zeddemore sighed. "You know, remarks like that on your record could be grounds for termination," he said, looking the officer in the eye.
"I am well aware of that, sir" Morrison said, contemplating how he would support his family when he got the axe for the words he had just spoken. This just made the next words that came from his captain's mouth all the stranger.
"As from a personal standpoint, I agree with you wholeheartedly," Z said, clapping a hand on the lieutenant's shoulder. "Those bastards deserved to die – and today, they did."
The younger officer just stared in awe at his commander. Never had he though his boss was tired of the old ways, of police and vigilantes playing nice with the villains, putting them away just long enough for them to come up with another devious scheme to terrorize the citizens of Jump City. But Nightwing had changed that. God only knew what tomorrow would bring.
As the Cy-Car rolled up the street, the sounds of sirens and voices yelling reached the ears of the Teen Titans.
"Well, looks like we're late for the party," Cyborg said, parking on the side of the road near the bank. "Again."
"Dude, we need to have a serious talk with NW when all this is over," Beast Boy said, sliding out of the car. "He's gonna get himself killed one day."
As the three heroes walked to the scene, they were greeted with a grisly sight: A row of white sheets lined up on the sidewalk outside of the building, blood spotting random areas on the fabric.
"If he hasn't already," Raven said, a tinge of fear in her voice.
As BB and Raven scanned the crowd, Cyborg made his way over to the assistant coroner. Fear gripped his chest as he walked by the nine bodies lying cold on the concrete, hoping to God that one of them wasn't covering a face he knew.
'Damn, Star was supposed to be here, too,' he thought to himself. 'If she's under one of those things…Shit, I don't know what'd I do…'
Assistant Coroner Michael Willis was rather stunned to see the large Titan making a beeline right for him. "M-M-Mr. Cyborg," he stuttered, overcome with excitement. "It's an h-honor to meet you."
Cyborg, on the other hand, wasn't exactly in the mood for writing autographs. "Skip it, Bunkie. How many casualties are there?" he asked, sternly.
"Well…none, sir," Willis said, nervously.
"I see," the Titan said, his eyes growing cold. "And I suppose we're just laying out white sheets on the sidewalk for the hell of it?"
"Look, there were nine dead, but my boss told me they're not considered casualties in our book," the assistant coroner said.
"Why not?" Cyborg said, angrily.
Willis frowned. "Because, as my boss puts it, they're not people the city gives a shit about," he said.
As the coroner resumed his duties, the Titan looked down at the sheets, wondering what the man had meant. 'People the city don't give a shit about?' he thought.
"Cy, look!" Beast Boy's voice brought the mechanical man back into focus. That's when he saw Nightwing. He was inside the bank, conversing with a few of the other officers. He let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that dumb son of a bitch is alive," he said, looking at the other Titans, "'cause now I'm gonna kill him."
As the Titans headed through the police tape to the front door, they were met by Flash.
"Wally, surprised to see you here," Cyborg said, clasping the hero's hand. "Long time, no see."
"Cyborg, I'm glad I caught you guys before you went in there," Flash said. The look on his face was somber, like he had just returned from a funeral. "Look, I don't want to tell you how you guys should be doing your jobs, but if I were you I'd rein your boy in quick."
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Raven said, her eyes flickering with energy.
Flash looked at the three heroes. He didn't feel too good about what he was about to say, but they needed to know, and now was better than never.
"Look, you guys just got on the scene, so you weren't here for the big finale," he began, watching their faces for any sign of comprehension. "You didn't get to see all hell break loose."
"I figured it would come down to that," Cyborg said, surveying the damage. "Strange, though. I would think that, because of such a large team of robbers plus three H.I.V.E. villains, there should have been more officers down from the shootout."
"You would think that," Flash said, a frown on his face. "Maybe that would have been the case…if the officers had stormed the building."
"Dude, what are you saying?" Beast Boy asked, a look of confusion on his face. "That some other team just stepped in and ended this?"
Flash sighed. "More like one man," he said. He didn't name names, but he figured the other Titans could put two and two together.
"Wait a minute," Cyborg said, piecing the puzzle together. "Are you saying that Nightwing took these guys down?"
The hero nodded. The cat was out of the bag, but that still didn't answer all the questions.
"What about the bodies?" Raven said. "There's too many of them for the officers and the crowd to be acting all cheerful about it."
"Yeah, and that coroner over there told me that the bodies weren't casualties because the city don't give a shit about them," Cyborg said.
That was when it struck him. There was only one class of people those who lived in Jump City would care less if they were alive or dead: Villains.
Looking back at the bodies, the Titan felt a lump growing in his throat. "Wally, who was here?" he asked, somewhat afraid to know the answer.
"Well, Bumblebee and Speedy showed up, followed by Nightwing…" Flash began.
"From the H.I.V.E., Wally!" Cyborg said furiously, cutting off the hero. "Who was here from the H.I.V.E.?"
"It was…Gizmo, Mammoth, and…" Flash hesitated, not sure of what was about to happen.
"Who, Wally?!" The mechanical man yelled, trying to control his emotions. "WHO?!"
"…Jinx," the hero finished. "Jinx was here. She was the leader of the pack."
Without a word, Cyborg stormed back towards the white sheets. Grabbing the corner, he threw one back…and gagged in disgust. Gizmo's body lay still, a steel spike jammed deep into his eye socket. The next sheet flew back, revealing Mammoth with a puncture wound to the chest. That was two. The third sheet flew back…
"Oh, Lord." The words slowly escaped from Cy's mouth.
The Titan found himself looking down at the prone body of Jinx, her eyes still wide open in shock from the moment of her death. Blood had oozed from her mouth postmortem, but she just seemed so peaceful, and still just as beautiful. Cyborg closed his human eye in grief. Slowly, he brought his fingers down onto the girl's face, closing her eyes for the last time. No one deserved to die like that, not someone like her. She wasn't truly evil; she had just lost her way. Now, the only highway she would travel on this day would be the one heading to Heaven.
Standing back up, the Titan glared at Flash. It was clear he wanted answers, and he wanted them now.
"Who killed them?" he said, coldly.
The hero's stare was just as cold. "Who do you think?" he said. "The only ones who were shot were hit by Gizmo's weapons. Everyone else was finished off up-close and personal, and the only person in that building capable of tangoing with three H.I.V.E. villains and a group of thugs is your boy."
The anger faded from Cyborg's eyes, slowly being replaced by a look of confusion. That same look spread to the other Titans as well.
"You're telling me that NW murdered them?" Beast Boy asked the hero, his jaw dropping in shock.
Raven, on the other hand, just shook her head. "I don't believe you," she said, sternly. "He was more in control of his emotions than any of us ever were. Snapping like that in the middle of a battle's just not possible."
"Raven, I understand where you're coming from," Flash said, softly. "Look, I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it happen with my own eyes. I saw him snap Jinx's neck like a twig right after he launched a boomerang smack dab into her back." The hero paused, running his hand over his head. "Look, you guys do whatever you want, okay?" he said, sighing. "I just figured you oughta know."
As Flash headed back over to the captain's location, the three Titans sat in silence. Could it be true? Had Nightwing crossed that unforgivable line? Looking up at their teammate, they realized that there was only one way to find out.
Nightwing had finished signing the last autograph for Officer Menendez's family when he noticed Cyborg and the other make their way into the bank.
"Hey, look, before you guys get all butt hurt about me running in solo again, I just want to say that I saw an opportunity and I took it," he said, raising his hands in surrender as the three heroes approached him. One look at their faces told the Titan that something was up.
"Frankly, I could care less about that right now," Cyborg said, his eyes trained on Nightwing. He was watching every move the hero made. "We just had a nice talk with our old buddy Flash out there, and he told us something rather…unsettling. Would you care to elaborate?"
The Titan tensed up. He knew exactly what this was about, and he didn't like how his friends were looking at him. They were giving him the same look that they would give a criminal caught in the act. But he was no criminal. He had saved a fellow hero and rescued twenty people from the hands of madmen. Any other time, that would have been reason to celebrate.
"Look, you weren't here, and I sure as hell wasn't gonna wait for you to get the lead out of your ass so we could stand here and do a funny pose while I shout out, "Titans, Goo!" he said, pronouncing the last words like he was a three-year-old. "People's lives were at stake, and I did what I needed to do. Nothing more."
"The hell you did!" Cyborg said, taking up a handful of Nightwing's costume and pulling him face-to-face. "You killed people, man! You killed Jinx! She didn't deserve that shit!"
Despite the mechanical man's rage, Nightwing kept a rather cool demeanor. "Go ahead," he said, tauntingly. "Hit me. 'Cause the second you do, there's gonna be a whole police department coming down on your ass like a sledgehammer for assaulting the man who saved twenty-plus people today by subtracting a few bad numbers from the equation."
The Titan's callous remark left all the heroes profoundly disturbed. Even Raven could sense that her teammate was unsympathetic about the actions he had just taken. Whatever had happened in this building, it had left Nightwing a changed man…and not for the better, in their opinion.
Slowly, Cyborg loosened his grip on the hero's costume. Nightwing quickly pulled away, adjusting the outfit and smoothing out his hair. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, coldly. "I think I hear a slice of pizza calling my name."
"Nightwing!" The hero's name rang out inside the building. The eyes of the Titans followed the sound back towards the entrance – and saw as Starfire rushed to embrace Nightwing. "I am happy you are okay!"
"Hey, Star," the Titan grunted as the Tamaranean lifted him into the air in a bear hug. "What took you so long?"
The girl set Nightwing back down on his feet, her orange face blushing with a deep red hue. "I…had difficulty locating the street names," she said, sheepishly. "Despite the multitude of years I have lived in this city, I have never quite learned the geographical locations."
"Then how'd you know where to go during our days back in the tower?" the hero asked, perplexed.
"I…usually just followed you guys to the scene of the disturbance," Star said, her face growing even redder. "Anyway, I am glad you are all okay. When I saw the sheets lying out on the sidewalk…I feared the worst."
Nightwing smirked. "You didn't honestly think I was going to go down in a simple bank robbery with a couple of punk ass villains, did you?" he asked, amused.
"I suppose not," the girl said, quietly. "But, after what you say this morning, I…"
"Hey, Nightwing!" a voice called out from outside the building. Looking out, the heroes realized it had come from a young man in front of a big crowd that had gathered after the shooting had stopped. The man seemed frantic, but otherwise excited to see the costumed heroes. "You fucking rock, man! That was coolest shit I've ever seen in my life! You need to put more of those assholes in the ground, stat!" The crowd cheered loudly in agreement with the young man's comments.
Starfire slowly turned her head back, and looked deep into Nightwing's eyes. "Nightwing, what is it that the young man over there is yelling about?" she asked, confused. "Why does he suggest you bury people under the ground?"
"Not just any people, Star," Cyborg said, firmly. "Just the dead ones."
The Tamaranean's eyes grew wide. It was all falling into place: the white sheets, the cold nature of her teammates against Nightwing, the words spoken by the grungy unshaved man-child – it all added up to one thing…
"Nightwing…" she uttered in disbelief, "Did you…kill those people?"
The Titan's eyes narrowed behind his mask. He remained silent for the moment. How could any of them judge him? They hadn't been there to see the carnage, to hear Bee's screams, to see the tears rolling down the cheeks of those whose only mistake that day was to deposit a check in the wrong place at the wrong time and learn that they would pay for such a transgression with their lives. How the fuck could they know what should have been done? They didn't make those choices – he did. Now, he had only one thing to say to Starfire, one thing that summed up exactly how he felt about his actions.
"I did what needed to be done." There was no emotion in his voice. No remorse for the lives that had been ended by his hands. Those who would threaten the lives of the innocent didn't deserve equal treatment. Not anymore.
Slowly, he stepped around Starfire, heading for the exit. A second later, Star was face-to-face with him again, her hands upon his chest. "Nightwing…Robin…" she said, unsure of what she could say to get his attention. It worked, though, as the hero stopped, and locked eyes with her again. "You cannot do this," she began, trying to reach inside his mind, trying to make him see the horror he had caused on that very day. "As protectors of this city, we are obliged never to step down to the level of those we fight. We show restraint, and control, and we do this because we are better than they are. You told me this yourself…you told us all the day the Teen Titans were officially born. Please, if you start down this path now, you will never come back."
Nightwing stared in silence at the young girl. Star wondered if her words had gotten through his thick skull. She soon found herself staring down an accusing finger pointed right at her eyes.
"Don't you tell me what path I should be walking down," he said, angrily. "You know nothing of what I saw, so your words are meaningless."
"Oh my Gosh," Starfire choked out, her hand over her mouth. It had not been the harsh words on Nightwing's tongue that had frozen her, but the crimson-covered glove that was now in her face. "Nightwing, your hand is covered in blood!"
The Titan's eyes rolled over from the Tamaranean's eyes to his blood-smeared right hand, the same hand he had installed his assassin's blade. The blood must have leaked out when he had slammed it into Mammoth's chest, coating his hand with that uncomfortably warm and sticky residue. However, as he turned his hand over, he felt more irritated that repulsed. 'Bastard made a mess out of my uniform,' he thought. Well, there was a way to fix this.
Starfire let out a gasp as Nightwing ran his hand over the front of her mission wear, wiping the blood from his hand in an X pattern that ran from her shoulders down past her belly button. The feeling of the viscous fluid being smeared onto her body sent a wave of nausea running throughout her digestive system – quite a feat for someone in possession of seven stomachs.
"Now it's not," the hero said to his stunned lover, matter-of-factly. As the girl nearly gagged from what had occurred, Nightwing made his way around her again and headed out the exit.
"Aww, for Christsakes!" Cyborg bellowed out, rushing to Starfire's side. That had been completely uncalled for. Tears slowly fell from the Tamaranean's eyes as she tried to understand what had happened to the man she loved.
"Here, take this," Beast Boy said, taking off his shirt. Bare-chested, he handed the shirt to the girl. "Rae, help her out. We'll make a wall."
As the Titans stood tall, Starfire stripped off her blood-stained top. Her exposed chest was hidden behind her friends as Raven used it to wipe off the remaining blood from her body.
With the other heroes preoccupied, Nightwing stepped back out into the afternoon sun, squinting as he did so. God may damn him, he surmised, a smirk on his face, but he had never felt so good in his life. It was almost like he had been set free, free from the creed he had been forced to take all those years ago in a damp, mildew-covered cave in the hills of Gotham City. With that weight off his shoulders, he felt like a brand new man.
"Hey, Nightwing!" Turning back, he saw Winston Zeddemore standing next to the building, his arms over his chest. All the officers who had arrived on the scene now had their attention focused squarely on the young hero.
The captain's face broken into a smile. "This is for you, from all the men and women of the Jump City Police Department," he said.
It started out slowly. Just one loud snapping sound. Then, it grew louder, the force becoming overwhelming. This was something quite unexpected.
Nightwing allowed himself a small smile as he stood before the thunderous applause of the Jump City PD. The men and women who protected this city from evil understood what he had done, and knew why it had to be done. They also knew that he could be the only man who could do what had to be done.
As the Titan bowed his head, he was pleased that, unlike his former colleagues, the people of this fair city weren't nearly as stupid as they looked.
"So, they never even prosecuted you for those deaths?" Isabelle said, leaning forward from her chair.
Grayson smiled, showing his brilliantly white teeth. "You kidding?" he said with a laugh. "I was a hero to all the people who picked up a badge and gun everyday and had to deal with trash like that. Hell, even the ones who thought us Titans were making their jobs more difficult and robbing them of hours were cheering me on. Do you know, I have never received so much as a single parking ticket in the last twenty-two years?"
"Are you serious?" the secretary said, her jaw dropping in astonishment.
"Sure am," Dick said, leaning back in his chair. "Needless to say, the Titans and I went our separate ways. Starfire eventually made it back to our apartment, but I was long gone by then. I had things to do, and a city to save."
"Right," Isabelle said, realizing where this conversation was heading. "The Jump City First National Bank incident happened just a few weeks before 'The Crusade'."
Grayson smiled. "You know your history, Ms. Winters," he said, appreciatively.
"Could…could you tell me what spurred you on into 'The Crusade'?" the woman asked.
The CEO was quiet for a moment, and Isabelle thought she might have overstayed her welcome. But Grayson simply leaned forward, his head up on his hands once again.
"Pain," he said, slowly. "Pain that was caused by all these…shitkickers who thought the world owed them something. They would run drugs, and guns, flooding the streets with enough ammunition to bring on World War III. Kids dying in the street, getting caught up in the crossfire. Every two-bit villain who though his shit didn't stink was rolling into town to try and take it over. Pretty soon, Jump City had become the center of a power struggle between rival villains. Meanwhile, the residents of this city were trapped inside their homes, forced to watch as the world they knew sunk deeper and deeper into the quicksand."
"I can't imagine what that would have been like," Isabelle said, shocked to her core. "I mean, I grew up in Gotham, and they used to tell me things were bad there, but all I ever heard coming out of Jump city were horror stories."
"It was all one big horror story," Dick said, his eyes growing cold. "The people of this city cried out for a hero, someone who could deliver them from the darkness. In their hour of need, they turned to me. That's when 'The Crusade' began."
'The Crusade'. The one term that had been associated with Dick Grayson for the past ten years. The one thing that he would be forever known for in the annals of Titan City's history. Some would remember just the numbers, like sports fans who memorized the stats of their favorite teams and players. Those numbers would always come up when 'The Crusade' was the topic of discussion – whether by the loud-mouth idiots on Larry King Live or by a couple of old barbers in a shop downtown. Twelve years. 170 dead. 34 known supervillains. One man responsible for it all. That was the Crusade in semantics.
But it was the social impact of this one-man vigilante hunt that became the topic for many people - political, official, and civilian. The members of the Teen Titans and their extended family disowned Nightwing from their brotherhood. In fact, about a dozen of them had staged a protest five years back. Many of them were young superheroes, Argent and Pantha included as well as the Flash. In defiance of Nightwing's brutal methods, they disrobed themselves, exposed not only their bodies, but their identities to the world. They would have rather retired from being heroes than to be associated with him. The protest had no impact, though, and Nightwing continued to bring peace to Jump City using whatever methods he needed. Furthermore, the people of Jump City didn't once condemn his actions…they celebrated it. No one was concerned with the well-being of scum who terrorized the city. They had grown tired of wasting their tax money on stronger prisons and rehabilitation methods that ultimately amounted to bullshit. Now, Nightwing had made sure the only taxpayer money spent was on the fuel they used when they incinerated the bodies en masse.
Grayson smiled as he spoke of his most memorable kills. Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo had only been the beginning. His next had been Control Freak. He was just walking out of a convenience store, a fistful of money in both hands, when he had spotted Nightwing in the streets. He had said, "Hey, what's up, man?" To be honest, the look on his face after Nightwing had punched three holes in his chest with a .44 mag had been priceless. He never even saw it coming. The same could be said of Kid Wykkyd, who joined his cronies after a bank robbery. They had been in a van, hightailing it from the scene when the headlights caught the silhouette of Nightwing standing in the middle of the street. Wykkyd had suggested they simply run him down, just for the fun of it. The fun had run out as he watched Nightwing set a RPG-7 on his shoulder, and launched a rocket-propelled grenade right into the hood of their vehicle. The explosion cart wheeled the van up and over the Titan's head, coming to rest a block and a half down the road before erupting into flames. If Kid Wykkyd had lived long enough, he had certainly got a taste of what was waiting for him on the other side.
As the years passed, the names and faces became a blur. Mad Mod: shot down exiting a museum with a priceless artifact. Gorilla Modd: Sent down an elevator shaft just for shit and giggles. See-more, Private H.I.V.E., and Billy Numerous: Three bullets, three seconds, one .50 caliber sniper rifle, one hell of a mess. One night, Blackfire came calling, looking for her little sister and hell-bent on revenge. One ballistic knife shot later, she was looking at the ceiling and hell-bound for eternity. Adonis had gone when a bomb placed behind the full-length mirror in his apartment had detonated, showering him with pieces of mirrored glass. His vanity, like Narcissus, had ultimately proven fatal. As for the Brain…well, that had been a funny story. Grayson and Isabelle had a good laugh as he recalled pulling him from his device, plopping him into a blender and hitting the 'puree' button. "The world's smartest villain had just become the world's most nutritious smoothie!" Dick has said.
Even the next generation of villains was spared no mercy by the avenging Nightwing. He remembered when Captain Zeddemore, just a few weeks from retirement and six years past the bank incident had called him up to settle another hostage situation. This time, a couple of young villains had taken a busload of passengers and lined them up on their knees in front of the vehicle. The demand was simple: Free passage out of the city, or the people die. Nightwing had stepped out, donning a bulletproof vest and acting as a liaison between the police and the kidnappers. His solution had been just as simple: With his hands in the air, a pneumatic launcher tossed two Heckler and Koch sub-machine guns into his hands, and he mowed down the villains with a scythe sweeping motion. Total dead: twelve. Hostages lost: zero.
"You got a mean streak, boy," Zeddemore had said to him, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm damn glad I got to work with you one more time. Keep up the good work."
He had. He even got himself a little bit of personal revenge. With some help from local authorities and governmental spy satellites, he had hunted down an old friend who had something that belonged to him. Directing Isabelle's eyes over to a case in the corner of his office, he showed off the infamous suit he had designed when he took the identity of Red-X. As for the identity of the man who had taken it, Grayson had never learned his name. It was all good, though. The tombstone marking his body didn't have a name on it, either.
The final act in 'The Crusade' concerned the fall of the H.I.V.E. – not just figuratively, but literally as well. The building was bombed from all sides as villains past and present held the line. Nightwing was hoping for some assistance from the big boys of that the Justice League, but he wasn't getting any responses. Looks like they weren't too happy with his choice, either. Fuck 'em, he had thought. The United States Armed Forces were doing a fine job.
As blood spilt on that final battleground, and the school collapsed on top of the remaining survivors, Nightwing's twelve-year battle against evil had finally come to a dramatic conclusion. The people of Jump City had taken to the streets, free from the darkness that had enveloped them for so long. The word sprang out all over the town: "Free at last, free at last, God Almighty we are free at last!"
Dick Grayson sat back, a contented smile on his face. Twelve years of his life had been spent saving the city from itself. It had been twelve years well spent.
"So, with the Crusade over, what was there left to do?" Isabelle asked.
"Rebuild," the man said, sighing. "I realized that, as Nightwing, I could do no more for the city. So, I did the next best thing: I stood up in front of the people in this city, and I removed my mask. I told them my name. And that night, I made a solemn promise never to let fear grip the heart of this city again."
The young secretary held a hand to her chest. "Bless you, Mr. Grayson," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "You truly are a saint."
Dick looked up at the ceiling, his eyes in a far-away place in time and space once again. "I guess that depends on whom you're talking to…" he said, quietly, as time took him back once again…