Nightwing

“This can’t be happening,” Chief Redhorn whispered to himself. He and Inspector Mac Arnot were looking over the reports stacked on his desk. Thirteen homicides in the last fourteen hours and all of them first or second year patrolmen of the Bludhaven Police Department. “What in the name of God is going on here, Arnot?”

Mac had no answer as he stared back at Redhorn; in fact his face was filled with terror and shock. That was when Redhorn realized what was wrong with Arnot. He had been with the force for eight months - he was probably an intended target. There was only one thing for Redhorn to do as Chief of Police. “Mac, you need to step out of my damn office…now!”

The reports were coming in over the radio that Nightwing carried with him. Reports describing fellow police officers lying dead in their own homes. He watched the skyline of Bludhaven as he saw the first explosion that rocked his apartment building. He gritted his teeth as he thought of the other residents. Their precious mementos would be lost forever, but at least he was able to convince John Law and the others to accept the eight hockey tickets he had bought to get them out of harm’s way.

Someone was hunting down and killing all the junior classmen of the Bludhaven PD, but why? Nightwing opened a communication line to Oracle; he figured this called for a little help.

Roland Desmond leaned back in his limo and closed the window. It wouldn’t be right for him to catch a cold in this horrid weather that now gripped his city. And it was his city again. The pathetic policeman Tim Fencik traded the life of his mother for the identity of the costumed vigilante Nightwing. But he was on the verge of death, and it had taxed Desmond’s patience to the end to get a name out of Fencik. The best he could get was that Nightwing currently served on the police force as a new recruit, but with the resources he had, that was enough for Blockbuster.

Mr. Zsasz and Lady Vic had been brutally thorough in their extermination of the young officers. They now reported a total of fifteen dead and another two would mean the end of the freshman crop. He hoped that would end the threat of the vigilante, after all, he would hate to have to visit Mrs. Fencik again.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it my dear?” asked Zsasz as he cleaned his knife off in the newly fallen snow. The body of Morgan James, a police officer for exactly three weeks, lay sprawled in front of him.

Lady Vic was beginning to become disgusted with the man. He had enjoyed some of these killings a little too much, especially the women. To her this was a job and that was it, nothing personal, just business that she happened to be exceptionally good at. The thought of Blockbuster paying her to eliminate Mr. Zsasz after this operation was the only thing that kept her warm as they stood outside in the falling snow.

“Why so quiet, pet?” Zsasz asked again while licking his blade clean.

“I’m trying to contact Stallion and the rest of the hit squad and make certain they have finished all of their targets.”

“If they have then that means we’ve killed all but one policeman. I guess that calls for something of a celebration.” He moved closer to her and tried to stick his tongue in her ear. “Come here, pet.” It was an order more than a request; one that Lady Vic didn’t take kindly.

With one fluid motion, her left knee thrust up into his abdomen and caused the air to leave his body. She swung her right fist down, smashing it into his left cheek, causing such pain as to nearly cause him to go unconscious. “I am not your PET! Do you understand?!” she screamed as Zsasz picked himself off the ground, still smiling. “If you decide it is wise to touch me again in any sort of manner, I will cut your bleeding head off! Do you understand me? Now let’s go meet this last cop and be done with this job.”

Zsasz looked at her and his smile broadened. “Of course, my sweet.”

As Mac Arnot left his office, he kept his head on a swivel, looking this way and that as he walked to his car. He was worried that whoever was killing all the young officers on the force might not know that he was the new inspector, a position that meant he was usually Chief Redhorn’s go between with the local underworld kingpins. Currently Blockbuster ruled the gangs, but maybe something changed in the last day or so, and now the new guy was eliminating cops to make his point.

As Mac put his key in the ignition he stopped himself. Slowly he exited the vehicle and got down on his hands and knees to search the underbelly for any explosive devices. After reassuring himself, he stood and was nearly given a heart attack by the presence of Lady Vic, six members of Blockbuster’s personal hit squad and a menacing looking man with a wicked smile and a lot of cut marks on his neck.

“Inspector Arnot, Mr. Desmond would like a word with you in private,” said Lady Vic in her sweet British accent.

Mac was sweating bullets. “Fine, tell Mr. Desmond that I’ll be there in just…”

“Have you met our new associate?” she interrupted Mac. “His name is Mr. Zsasz.”

Mac nearly wet his pants at the sound of the name.

So you’ll be there inside of two hours?

“Absolutely.”

Thanks, Dinah. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. Oracle signing off.

Barbara Gordon leaned back in her chair for a few minutes and let out a heavy sigh. The man she loved was in some major trouble and with no apparent help inside of Bludhaven, and he had called her for help. Nothing would have pleased her more than to rush to his side herself, but circumstances being what they were Black Canary made a fine replacement. Now there was only one more person that Dick wanted her to call. Hello, Roy? Dick needs a favor.

Stallion and his hit team rolled up outside of Roland Desmond’s home. They watched as another black SUV pulled up next to them and Lady Vic exited with Inspector Mac Arnot in tow. Mr. Zsasz was behind them cleaning his ever-present blade. Stallion noticed there were a few more marks on Zsasz than before, and he felt himself shiver ever so slightly.

Mac was pushed in through the front door and into the living room. “I don’t think this is really necessary, Lady Vic,” he protested. “I’m sure Redhorn and I can find out who is killing off cops left and right and when we do we’ll run their ass through with a fork! Besides, I’m sure Mr. Desmond doesn’t want to talk about any of this with me.”

Blockbuster entered the living room and the shadow he cast made Mac Arnot feel quite small. “On the contrary, Inspector. Not only am I interested in the ongoing assassination of every young officer on the Bludhaven Police Force, but I am its driving force.” He sat in one of his oversized lounge chairs and placed his hands under his massive chin. “Now, I want you to tell me everything you know about your graduating class.”

Mac shifted nervously. “Why?”

“Because at this time there is nothing left of your graduating class except yourself. Of those fourteen dead people I have reason to believe that one of them was the vigilante known as Nightwing. And I will either figure out which one he was or I will eliminate the entire student body.” Blockbuster’s eyes flared and Mac started to realize that he meant he would kill him.

“How would I know which one was Nightwing?” asked Mac.

“He would have kept to himself, had a lot of unexplained absences, been adequate in every field of study, yet unremarkable in any as to keep a low profile. Do you remember anyone who met those qualifications?”

Mac strained his memory for an answer; he talked to so few of the students. They had mostly been idiots hoping to get twenty years on the force and get a nice pension. Then he remembered one student that had gone missing during the trouble Gotham City had endured in the summer, the same student who was good at everything, but always just out of the top tier of the class. The same guy who Arnot recommended the force hire, Dick Grayson!

Black Canary met Nightwing on top of the Miller Pharmaceuticals building in downtown Bludhaven. “So, we meet again.” She said in a playful tone.

“Thanks for coming Canary, but this is no time for jokes.” Dick quickly brought her up to speed on what was happening, beginning with the last time she had visited Bludhaven to the current cop killing going on in the city. “So, you understand what I need you to do then?”

“If you are sure that’s how you want to handle it, I understand why you are doing this, but if it were my secret identity that was close to being…”

“It’s not. It’s mine but it leads back to too many others for me to not do everything I can to keep it a secret and you know it!” As he snapped at her, Nightwing lowered his head, “I’m sorry, Dinah, if it were just my secret to keep I wouldn’t hesitate to reveal it to save those policemen. I can do the next best thing.”

Nightwing and Black Canary left the building rooftop and headed for the outskirts of the city, to the mansion of Roland Desmond.

Mr. Zsasz sat on the carpet wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts as the others milled around the room waiting word from Desmond on who their next target would be that evening. Zsasz watched the other occupants closely.

Mac Arnot fidgeted in the huge chair in which he currently was told to stay. He had just finished his thirtieth attempt to try and explain to Blockbuster that it was impossible for him to be Nightwing. He had been in and out of trouble with the law since he was a kid. He even married some hotshot mob boss’ daughter and he was close to the Chicago families till he ran into more trouble and was forced to leave. Strings were pulled and he was brought in as Redhorn’s new “Inspector”, which meant he was a mob go between. Zsasz estimated that he could kill him within one full minute.

Stallion leaned against the hallway door while eating a roast beef sandwich, drinking a beer and watching the hockey game. He tried to look at ease and confidant all at once, but Zsasz knew he was insecure around him. He was afraid of the blade. Zsasz guessed he would be able to slice his throat in less than five minutes.

Then there was the stunning Lady Vic. Zsasz admitted to himself that he rarely had any kind of feelings for anyone or anything other than the rush he received from the kill, but something about the young British woman stirred him. Any man would find her attractive. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she filled out her red and white blouse quite nicely. Zsasz was more concerned about her abilities in combat, she handled a sword with expert precision and thought she also seemed fond of her family’s Webley-Fosberry .45.5 revolver.

She was currently stretched out across the couch drinking a sparkling water. As he watched her, he could see her eyes reflect the water and they sparkled. His tongue reflexively came out of his mouth and he noticed he was drooling on himself. A little embarrassed, he wiped his chin and walked over towards her. He estimated he could kill her in roughly less than ten minutes.

He’s dead. Blockbuster had just eliminated every member of the Bludhaven Police force that had served for less than a year, except for Mac Arnot. Either Nightwing was really Arnot or he was dead, and Blockbuster was fairly certain that Arnot was much too involved in underworld dealings to be working with the Bat. The thought that this Richard Grayson had been Nightwing intrigued him though. He had grown up in Gotham City, and his guardian was Bruce Wayne, a man whose wealth and power were firmly entrenched in Gotham. It started to make sense that this rich young playboy decided to fight crime on his own and enlisted his youthful ward to help in his battles. It started to make sense that if Dick Grayson was Nightwing then Bruce Wayne was Bat..

Suddenly, a commotion downstairs drew his attention from the Nightwing problem. He walked down the stairs and saw Mr. Zsasz involved in a fight with Lady Vic. Stallion and Mac Arnot watched as the two combatants parried each other move for move. “Cease this inappropriate display at once!” shouted Blockbuster. He hated to raise his voice but in difficult situations one must do what one must.

Lady Vic immediately used a kick to distance herself away from Mr. Zsasz and then lowered her bungi dagger. “Mr. Desmond, if this operation is indeed over, then please allow me the pleasure of eliminating this piece of filth from your home!” Blockbuster noted Elaine’s torn blouse and the furious expression on her face; whatever Zsasz had done, it had infuriated Lady Vic to no end.
“Enough! Elaine, this operation is a team effort. I will not have you making threats against your teammates.” Lady Vic had a disgusted look on her face but she remembered her place and looked to the floor to hide her insubordination.

Mr. Zsasz’ smile was cut short as well. “Mr. Zsasz, this is my home and these are my guests, and I would expect that you would treat them with the same type of respect that you give to me.”

“But I am, Mr. Desmond,” he smiled again, his eyes flashing. “I’d try to take you too if you looked like her.”

Desmond grew more frustrated by the moment with Mr. Zsasz. He was about to allow Lady Vic the honor of disposing of him once and for all when the limp body of one of his house guards smashed the window overlooking the front lawn in. “What is this?”

In through the window came Black Canary. She surveyed the room and let loose with a sonic canary cry. The room’s inhabitants screamed in pain and grabbed their ears.

Stallion fell out to the hallway and made his way to the front door, trying to get out of range of the sonic scream. As he opened the door, a blue and black glove met him. As Stallion fell to the floor, he looked up and saw Nightwing standing over him. “Mr. Desmond!” he screamed.

The room seemed to turn as one as Nightwing made his entrance. “Impossible!” screamed Desmond. “You’re supposed to be dead!”

At that precise second, the back hallway to Desmond’s house became swollen with Bludhaven SWAT members and patrol officers. One officer stepped forward, his gun out and to the side. “Mr. Roland Desmond, you are under arrest for the murder of thirteen men and women.”

As the young officer approached him Blockbuster read his badge and said his name out loud: “Grayson?” Dick Grayson smiled.

Across the room Nightwing smiled

Dick Grayson ordered Desmond to assume the position when Lady Vic exploded into action. Her bundi dagger flew across the room and struck a policeman in the chest. Her revolver came from her side and exploded in the face of another man.

As this happened Mr. Zsasz also was on the attack, wading into the policemen with his knife flashing. Blockbuster’s hit squad soon joined the fray and the Bludhaven Police found themselves in a shootout.

Black Canary raced after Lady Vic as she headed for the upstairs rooms. Mr. Zsasz raced towards Nightwing and the two clashed and tumbled outside and rolled towards the cliff’s edge.

Dick Grayson was shot at and forced to retreat back to the kitchen with some other officers for cover. Capt. Duncan was shouting out orders for his men to hold their fire and seek cover, he wanted his losses kept to a minimum. Dick watched the battle rage and saw Desmond slip out the front door; he was probably headed for the SUV in front. Dick raced out the back and caught a glimpse of Nightwing and Mr. Zsasz tangling with each other. Good luck, Roy.

As he raced for the front, the headlights of the SUV came alive and Dick saw an enraged Blockbuster behind the wheel. The SUV came racing at him full speed with no time for Dick to get out of the way!

To Be Continued...

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