Nightwing

Blockbuster’s SUV tore through the drive at Dick Grayson with its headlights blinding his vision. Blockbuster’s face was contorted into an evil look of both pleasure and disgust. He was determined to destroy the arrogant young police officer, the man he thought until moments ago was his nemesis known as Nightwing.

Dick Grayson held his hand to his face to block the lights of the vehicle and as the SUV barreled down on him he leapt to the side at the very last instant. As his shoulder slammed into the Bludhaven Police cruiser he scrambled back to his feet and jumped inside of it to give chase.

This ends tonight, Desmond. You don’t own this city any more.

Officer Dick Grayson slammed on the gas and started his pursuit into the night.

“I think it’s best if you decide to give yourself up now, Lady Vic.” Black Canary shielded herself behind the wall next to the study as gunfire blasted its way out the doorway. “You know I can take you down. Elaine, lets not waste any more time on this little fight than we have to, shall we?”

The gunfire finally ceased and Canary was ready to vault in the room and unleash her Canary Cry when Lady Vic’s Bundi dagger slammed through the wall next to her head. “The blazes you can!” screamed Lady Vic. She slashed down with a second blade as she came through the doorway. Canary had pushed the right buttons. Lady Vic wasn’t looking to escape the fiasco the evening had turned into - she was out for blood.

“Really, my boy, I expected much better from you,” Mr. Zsasz slammed his knee into Roy Harper’s midsection for the third time as he held him by his hair to make sure he wouldn’t go down. Zsasz had no way of knowing it was not Nightwing he was currently facing, Roy’s build was similar enough to that of Dick Grayson’s that after a quick hair dye and the costume change he was a near duplicate of Nightwing, but that was in appearance only.

While Nightwing had made his crime-fighting career off of hand to hand combat training with Batman, Oliver Queen, The Green Arrow, mentored Roy and with that difference in training came the difference in fighting techniques. Nightwing was a master of combat and tactics; Arsenal was a marksman, able to use nearly anything as a projectile weapon. To keep the ruse and Dick Grayson’s identity a secret Roy had to fight as Nightwing, not as Arsenal, and right now that was costing him.

“I know we have never officially met, but after facing your infamous mentor in Gotham I have to say that I thought a real challenge lay before me.” Zsasz continued his mocking tone, elbowing Roy in the mouth and then he bent his head down to lick the blood coming from his busted lip. “You know, I always thought you would taste better than this.” He slammed Roy’s head into the mud and stood upright to look at his handiwork. The rain was pouring from the sky covering them in the heavy wet soil as they stepped. “I hope the others in your little flock prove to be more of a challenge,” he said as he produced a small hunting knife from his boot.

Roy sucked the pain in and reached for the small stone nearest to his hand. He spun in the mud and tossed the rock with his eyes closed, he didn’t need them to hit this target; he was Arsenal. The rock struck Zsasz in the mouth and chipped his right eyetooth causing him to take a step back. “Let’s try this again,” Roy said as he stood and held one of Nightwing’s throwing darts in his hand.

Zsasz licked his damaged tooth with his tongue; he estimated it would take less than two minutes to kill this man.

Dick Grayson’s squad car raced in and out of traffic as he chased Blockbuster’s SUV through downtown Bludhaven. The trip from Desmond’s mansion to the business district normally took over twenty minutes; they made it inside of five. The jaded citizens of Bludhaven barely moved their vehicles out of the way for the siren of the police car as Dick mentally noted the reckless endangerment charges he would want added to Desmond’s list of criminal activities. He wanted him to go down hard.

As Desmond made his way back onto the on ramp of IH38 Dick got his opening in traffic and floored his gas pedal to close the gap between him and the SUV. Blockbuster saw him closing in and pulled his steering wheel hard to the right, trying to run the policeman off the road. Their cars smashed into one another with such ferocity that metal fenders ripped away and glass on both vehicles shattered and trailed behind them.

As Dick slammed the side of his car again into Desmond he saw the exit for the Gillespie pier up ahead. Desmond had a warehouse at the docks, and if he remembered correctly several boats were in place at the area for him to try and make an escape. Without any sort of help from the rest of the department Dick knew if Desmond made it to any ship he would be long gone before he could give chase. He had to stop him at any cost. Dick slammed his squad car into the SUV again and held the steering wheel with all his strength. The two machines groaned in protest to being held against each other at such speeds, but Dick wouldn’t let go of the wheel.

Desmond screamed in frustration, as he too would not let his vehicle be deterred. Both men looked across at each other and as their eyes locked both cars slammed into the column of the David St. overpass. The fireball that was the SUV bounced down the hill as Dick Grayson’s squad car flipped three times, slamming itself on the roof every time. Inside the car Dick tried to tuck himself in to avoid being injured but his head continued to slam against the roof on every flip.

“Come on, Elaine, let’s just pretend that you gave your best shot at it and I took your measure and in the end I punched your lights out. That way we can watch Zsasz get his ass handed to him by Nightwing and you can ride downtown with your new boyfriend in the squad car next to you.” Black Canary blocked Lady Vic’s thrust kick and landed a hard palm thrust into her chin. “You know, I can do this all night long.”

Lady Vic breathed out blood as she pulled her mask off her face. “Prove it, bitch.”

Arsenal watched as the Bludhaven Police gave chase as Blockbuster’s men tried to fan out in to the small wooded area enclosing the mansion. He turned his attention back to Mr. Zsasz who was pulling himself up from the ground. “Sorry, Zsasz, looks like all that’s left of your group is a little mop up work.” Arsenal ran at Zsasz and smacked him in the head again with his left fist. Zsasz took the shot and rolled to his left. The blade in his hand dashed in and out of Arsenal’s right side causing blood to squirt out at a frightening rate.

“Don’t think you’ve been winning, boy,” said Zsasz. “I simply wanted a better location for your execution.” Zsasz threw his arms wide out as he looked past Arsenal to the cliff overlooking the harbor and the city’s night lights. With the wind billowing the clothes about him, Zsasz smiled and danced with his knife as he weaved in and out, all the while slashing and stabbing Arsenal.

Blood sprayed out from a dozen wounds as Arsenal tried to keep Zsasz at bay. “Smile all you want you maniac…I’ve…I’ve just been waiting for the right time …to take your ass out.”

Zsasz smiled again and let the music in his head lead his final assault against the young hero.

As Roland Desmond’s car burned he kicked off the driver’s side door. He pulled the flaming remnants of his suit off and threw them to the ground in disgust. This meaningless police officer had done much to insult him tonight, but ruining the suit of a man his size was definitely something that could not go unpunished. He stalked back up the hill to the overturned police car. Several people had stopped their vehicles to see if they could aid the man inside, all but one of them ran when they saw Blockbuster approaching.

“Hey man, are you okay?” asked the young man who dreamed of one day being an accountant and marrying his high school sweetheart. Five seconds later that dream died as Blockbuster wrenched the young man’s head completely around.

Blockbuster reached into the car and grabbed Dick Grayson by the shirt and dragged him from the car. “I have never felt such joy at the destruction of an enemy as I do right now.” Blockbuster held Dick high in the air by his throat. Dick had trouble focusing on what was going on, his head felt like it was covered in cotton, all noise was dulled.

“I am glad you are not Nightwing, that way when I do the same thing to him I will once again feel this mad rush of pleasure.” Blockbuster put his other hand around Dick’s head and began to twist slowly.

“C’mon, girl, what’s the matter?” Lady Vic held Canary by the back of her hair and planted her face into the side of the wall. “I thought you could last all night?” Again Canary’s face slammed into the wall. “I thought you said you would have me in cuffs by now.” As her face was smashed a third time Canary’s nose and mouth began bleeding.

Lady Vic bent down and picked up her fallen Bundi dagger. “I think it’s time for you to fly away little bird, fly into that bright light up ahead.” Lady Vic pulled Canary’s head back by the hair exposing her throat for the kill shot.

Arsenal backpedaled in the dark as Zsasz’ knife slashed in and out, the man was moving so fast and recklessly that Roy couldn’t see where the next attack would come from, keeping Zsasz at arm’s length was about all he could muster. As Arsenal backed up more, he felt the mud under his feet give away, he glanced over his shoulder and saw he was near the edge of the cliff that Blockbuster’s mansion rested upon, one wrong step and a knife wielding maniac was the least of his worries.

Arsenal pulled another throwing dart from the gauntlets on Nightwing’s costume and threw it at Zsasz’ left shoulder. As Zsasz reeled from the pain of the dart’s impact Roy threw himself at Zsasz’ abdomen knocking the wind out of him and both men began to wrestle for control of the knife on the ground. Roy was certain he was moments away from victory until he heard Zsasz’ giggle of delight.

“Oh, what fun! Good-bye, little hero. Good bye.” Zsasz mad voice was filled with pleasure as he sunk the knife into Roy’s neck. Blood began spurting out immediately as Arsenal’s scream filled the night as he felt his life leak away. Zsasz stood over Roy; a bolt of lightning behind him showed the intensity that the storm had reached. Zsasz ran his blade across his stomach, making another sick notch for another victim’s life.

Roy’s eyes felt heavy. He kicked at Zsasz with all his strength, knocking the madman to the mud. As one they stood slowly, Zsasz smiling and Roy trying to keep the blood from leaving his neck by placing his hand over the wound. “I’m impressed,” Zsasz said. “You lasted a full minute longer than I expected.”

Zsasz charged and Roy let loose with a barrage of punches. First a right hook which knocked loose two teeth, than a left upper cut that had Zsasz seeing bright lights as his eyes closed. A kick landed in the solar plexus and a knee smacked into his head. Through it all, Zsasz held on to his knife.

Zsasz made a funny noise as Roy’s boot smashed into his face and knocked him near the cliff’s edge. He pulled his last throwing dart out and readied himself to take a final shot to take down his crazed foe when the loss of blood finally made Roy’s step falter ever so slightly. Zsasz saw the opportunity and threw his knife at Roy’s head. Arsenal ducked to the left and caught the knife in his right hand and threw his throwing dart at Zsasz with his left. As Zsasz reeled backwards and tried to dodge the dart, his footing gave way in the mud and Zsasz fell over the cliff.

Lady Vic’s blade came down at Canary’s throat, but at the last second Dinah unleashed her Canary Cry at full force. The sonic blast ripped through the small fighting area, shattering the blade because of the closeness of its range.

Lady Vic tried to scream in pain, but her noise was drowned out. Her ears and nose started to bleed as her eardrums ruptured. By the time her unconscious body hit the floor she was already deaf.

Black Canary fought to catch her breath as she looked at Lady Vic’s prone form. Two policemen rushed in through the doorway with their guns drawn. “Better late than never, boys,” she said and nodded her head at them. She staggered up to her feet and headed out the front door past the members of Blockbuster’s hit squad who were being put into patrol cars. She spied the Nightwing-dressed Arsenal walking towards her in the moonlight. “Hey!” she yelled out to him.

“Are you all right?” he asked as they met half way.

“Nothing a hot bath won’t fix,” she looked around the area quickly. “Where’s Zsasz?”

Roy shook his head.

Dick Grayson tried to gasp for air as he felt his head and neck being destroyed. He reached for his mace on his belt and fumbled with it for what felt like an eternity until he sprayed Blockbuster’s eyes, causing the behemoth to free him. Dick scrambled around looking for anything to help him in his fight; unfortunately for him there was nothing around but trash and debris from his wreck.

“I tire of this game, boy,” screamed Desmond. “You have no chance against me. I will break you!” Blockbuster lunged forward, smashing his fist into the concrete as Dick jumped to the left. They were making their way off the highway now and near the run down warehouse area near the docks. That was when Dick found what he needed.

Blockbuster struggled to keep his composure as he searched the shadows for the troublesome police officer. Suddenly there was a crinkling noise behind him and Desmond threw everything he had into a swing behind him. Instead of hitting his target, Blockbuster instead found the world go black as night as something wrapped itself around his face and head. He took in another breath in the moment of confusion, suddenly he began to panic as he realized the policeman had wrapped his head in some sort of plastic, tight plastic, cutting him off from any oxygen, and he had already exhaled all his air in his lungs.

Dick clung onto Blockbuster’s back, all the while keeping the bag on to his head as tight as he could. The giant’s lungs expanded a good four times as he clawed at the man on his back. He landed an elbow into Dick’s rib, possibly breaking one or more ribs, but he was getting weaker.

Blockbuster dropped to one knee…then to both knees…his breathing intensified, but no oxygen was getting to his brain. He was finding it harder to think, he always prided himself on his…what was it again…his mind! He couldn’t think…except he wanted to kill Nightwing…and the Grayson cop…they were like the same person…Graycop and Nightson…

As Blockbuster continued to move around he felt the ground underneath him leave and the cold water hit his body. They were sinking in the Bay as Dick held onto the bag, keeping Blockbuster now between a state of asphyxiation and drowning.

As Blockbuster made strange noises under the plastic, Dick kicked at his midsection, causing him to release more air and keeping him unable to take a breath, barely able to move.

Finally Blockbuster went limp in the water.

I can end this now, thought Dick. You can never hurt anyone again like you hurt Tim Fencik. No one can die because of you. A murderer like you deserves it…but then I would be just like you…and I’m not…I’m like Tim…I’m a good guy.

Eight hours later…

“So, the district attorney says he has enough info on Roland Desmond to put him away for awhile,” Nightwing said to Arsenal and Black Canary as they all stood atop the Kendall Building in Bludhaven. “That is, if he comes out of his current state. Seems that his brain was damaged by the lack of oxygen and water intake during our fight. Because of its size he was able to continue fighting and thinking longer than a normal person, but that just made it worse on his condition. It could be permanent, considering the doctors have never treated anyone with his unique physiology.”

Arsenal put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Hey man, take it easy, you did what you had to do in the fight. I’ve killed people before in self-defense and I know you. You’ll go home and let this thing eat away at you like it does Bats, and man, that’s not the way it should happen. If there was any peaceful way to take down Blockbuster it was your plan. He escalated the fight, and he’s the killer here.”

Black Canary gave Nightwing a hug, “You didn’t know what the outcome was going to be, Nightwing. You were doing your best to stop a killer and criminal mastermind. I know that you will never take a life, but in our business accidents can be bad, but believe me, it would be worse for everyone if you weren’t around doing the good that you do every night of your life.”

“And, hey,” added Arsenal. “Look on the bright side. You captured Blockbuster, his hit squad, and Black Canary took down Lady Vic. That’s a lot of bad guys off the streets tonight because of your planning. And I know we couldn’t find Mr. Zsasz, but believe me; there is no way he could have survived that fall off the cliff. It was a good night for the good guys.”

Dick smiled at the both of them. “You’re both right. Bludhaven’s going to have a different look around here from now on, thank you both. If either of you need my help just ask. I’ll always be there to help you out.”

Nightwing watched as Arsenal and Black Canary took off in their borrowed jet, he sighed to himself and opened a channel on his radio. Babs? Are you online this early in the morning?

Of course, Former Boy Wonder. I wouldn’t leave without hearing from you one last time.

We did it, Babs. Blockbuster and his squad are gone. Bludhaven still has its share of monsters in the dark, but the worst of them all is finally behind bars. I finally took him down Babs, I took him down for Tim…

I know, Dick. I know.

Epilogue

His hand clawed its way out of the water and dug deep into the dirt. He continued to pull himself from the murky water. He was exhausted but still stood tall and looked at the morning sun coming up over Bludhaven. He had been bested, not by Nightwing, but by cruel fate itself. He would prepare more, he would kill more, and he would make this his new home and new hunting ground.

Mr. Zsasz would not rest until Nightwing was dead. Bludhaven had a new monster, and all of the good ones had better beware.

The End...

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