“Preservation”
Chapter Nine
Cheetah was trying to check out his ass, Nightwing just
knew. He tried to ignore it as he crossed his arms over his chest and reminded
himself for the tenth time that he was wearing his trench coat. It really
didn’t help, especially when she was joined by Phobia.
Oh, great. Phobia was making him feel self-conscious. At
least she didn’t make him feel easy and “convince” him take it off…
Okay, he seriously needed to stop hanging around with the
Injustice League On Steroids. Now he needed a cold shower.
“Be careful with those,” he advised Black Adam when the
man brought the first of the missiles to the launching site. Behind him, Conner
Kent, Superboy, carried another. Nightwing watched him go with an aching in his
chest. The boy caught his eyes for a moment and returned a short nod. There was
only one reason why Superboy had stopped balking Ra’s’s control, but Black Adam
wasn’t as easily swayed. He turned the missile upon Nightwing.
“You believe you
have the right to dictate—why?”
Nightwing didn’t even flinch. “Look, I’m just trying not
to have the fireworks begin until the Fourth of July, all right? Sorry. Didn’t
realize I was talking to a man with surgeon’s hands.”
“And you believe the boy has them?”
“Maybe I was talking to the boy. Ever think of that?”
Black Adam grounded out a grunt and continued moving,
allowing Nightwing to drop his shoulders for a second and blow out a held sigh.
That was close.
“You should try not to make him or anyone else here angry,
Richard,” a soft voice offered. “There are many who wish you nothing but harm,
and it is only my father’s influence that stops them from doing so.”
Sparing himself a glance at Dr. Light in the corner—He better not be
checking out my ass, too—Nightwing shook
his head. “I understand my part in this little charade, Talia, but why the kid?
He has no place in this.”
Talia cast an
arm about the carved-out mountain toward the missiles being loaded. “What do
you think? Once my father sets off the missiles and the nuclear war is fought,
the world will be inhabitable.”
A dirty taste
rolled over Nightwing’s tongue. “Except for people with dense molecular
structures, like Kryptonians.”
“Very good,
brother.”
“And your father
will use Superboy to find out how to stabilize his body—like he tried to do
with mine. But first, he needed to make sure his theory would work.” Nightwing
shook his head. “Why not just use Superman? He’s stronger than the kid.”
“Superman is too
precarious. We cannot risk his pertinacity.”
“But you may not
need to. If all this works out as you and Father hope, these missiles will
never fly, and you and I will have met at the circus long before this.”
“You use ‘if’
too flippantly, Richard.” She grazed his chest with her fingertips. “Though I
am doing this for Bruce, he has a way of interfering at the wrong time.”
Nightwing stared
down at her hand. “Right time,” he corrected.
“That is a
matter of opinion.” Talia ran a tender hair through his hair before turning
toward the stairs. “The answer you want will not be the answer you will
discover. You even know that to be the truth. If he could rewind time, he
would, Richard, and he would leave you within a moment’s time. Between the kin
of his blood and the kin of his emotions, you would lose. Do not force him to
make that decision.
“Make it for
him.”
Nightwing simply
stood there for the longest time, Phobia’s influence no longer a concern. He
knew now his struggle was so much more than his will to survive. It was also
for Jason and Conner…and Bruce.
Damn.
*^*^*
The jig was up.
The moment of shock wore off on the gunmen, and
Dick snatched his mask from the men, pulling it over his head.
<Look, I don’t know
about you guys, but I have work to do here. So, if you want to help me, fine.
If you want to go have a chocolate mocha latte, that’s great, too.
Whatever.>
Looking back, he wasn’t
sure what did it. He worked hard to get the American accent out of his
Cantonese. He worked even harder on using the right words for “chocolate mocha
latte.” Maybe it was just that Asians didn’t love Starbucks like Americans.
Anyway, the lead man
turned and brought his gun forward to fire. Dick, however, was already moving,
having seen the jerking of the man’s leg, and kicked out, knocking the gun’s
barrel away from him and Conner. The shots buried themselves in the ceiling,
and with a switch of weight, Dick threw his leg up, freeing the man of the gun.
A pistol-whip later, the man collapsed to the ground, granting the other four
men an obstructed view of Dick and Conner. Not his best move, for sure. With
the tip of his boot, Dick managed to kick up the gun, snatch it, and fire away
at the mainframe of the lab. Crackling sparks snapped into the air, and within
seconds, a flame flickered to life.
The distraction gave
Dick the necessary time to grab Conner by the arm and the waist and haul him to
his feet.
“No, wait…” Conner
protested, reaching toward the fire.
Dick looked back and
forth between the fire and the sickly boy. Kryptonians were batteries. They received
their powers from a yellow sun. Well, they were near the surface for a reason,
weren’t they? Ra’s didn’t want the kid to die before his usefulness was used
up.
Now, if only he had an
explosive.
Damn no Bat thingies.
Using the mainframe as a
vault, Dick flipped over the console and brought a foot down upon two of the
ninja’s heads. Whirling, he backhanded one while kicking the fourth in the
groin. He searched them quickly, finding the necessary equipment plus a dagger,
which could be useful later.
The tearing and shrieking
of metal unnerved Dick as he turned to see the doors to the lab torn open, and
monstrous hounds growled and snorted his way.
He cursed under his
breath. Great. The Secret Six and the Society.
He threw the explosive
against the cell with all his strength and muttered a prayer as an explosion
ripped through the room.
*^*^*
“How are you doing?”
“I will never need your assistance,” snorted
Damian.
“That’s not what I
asked.” Focused on the lock, Robin used his handheld to override the voice and
hand activation, while Damian took care of the ninjas trained in his
grandfather’s League of Assassins. Even though Dick said to trust Damian and
let him fight while Tim did the cerebral work, the sentiment failed to inspire
trust. In the past four months since Dick left, Tim didn’t get one good night’s
sleep, afraid the kid would try to kill him again. At least Alfred put Damian
on the other side of Dick’s room.
A grunt sounded from
behind him, and Robin rolled his eyes. Couldn’t the kid at least hold his own
against ten men?
A slice of a blade came
too close for comfort, and Robin swiveled on the floor. As he moved to punch
upward, Damian latched onto the man’s back, pulled backwards, and flipped the
ninja over his head. He narrowed his onyx eyes at Robin.
“I said I had it.”
The conviction in his
voice instilled trust, something Robin sorely missed with his older brother
gone, and he turned to give his full attention to the lock. Within seconds, the
new settings included his voice, and he spoke, “Open door” before pulling off
his glove and putting down his hand. The scan was quick and granted them access
inside the monitor womb.
Surprisingly enough, the
monitor womb was empty except for the console, and Robin immediately swiveled
in the chair toward the computers.
“Damian, keep watch out
for more—”
“Agh!”
Robin looked in the
reflection of the glass before him, seeing Damian’s lifeless body tossed like a
ragdoll to the side and a large Batman-copycat saunter into the room.
Catman.
“Here, little birdie.
Here. Tweet for me—one last time.”
*^*^*
Jason hated assassin
uniforms. He thought he had left that part of his life behind. When he’d come
here to take Dick’s place, he thought he was doing good. Contrary to the
popular belief, he wanted to be good. He was
good, Dick told him.
He wasn’t a killer by
choice. The Pit had driven him to that, and by taking the side of good this
time, he was proving that.
He could do this. Dick trusted him to do this. He
had to do this, and though Dick said
he wouldn’t have any problems as Jason Todd, he really should ask the person
who yelled, “Infidel.” He seemed to know who Jason was right away.
Suppressing the shutter
wanting to emerge, Jason crouched by one of the stalagmites of the cave.
Directly in front of him, the missiles burned with the exhaust of preparation.
By the side of each missile was a control panel, which currently was being
tampered with by the engineers. Jason waited until the man finished his
last-minute changes in the programming and lifted the covering back onto the
missile. Then, he blended into the shadows as much as he could before making a
mad-dash for the weapon. With a dagger, he twisted off the screws and looked at
the panel. He slammed a sticky, round device against the controls and replaced
the panel.
One down, three to go.
He moved along the
missile and headed toward the second one when a black boot heel hit into his
chest, knocking the wind out of him and tossing him effortlessly against the
ground. The force reminded him too much of Batman’s, but the face and body were
nothing of Bruce’s.
The girl with the
cut-off black and silver top smirked down at him—or so he thought, for he could
only see her eyes under her brown hair, since her mouth was covered by a black
mask.
“You wouldn’t be looking
to be sabotaging these here missiles, would you?” she baited and cocked her
head to the side. “Scandalous.”
*^*^*
The second explosion rocked the floor underneath
the Justice League’s feet, and even Batman would have lost his footing if not
for a hand by Wonder Woman, who flew just above him.
“Superman, what do you
see?” he ordered.
Superman shook his head.
“I can’t see anything. The walls are lead-lined.”
Batman growled. Thanks, Dick.
Flash sped ahead but came to an abrupt stop when the
rock corridor gave way to a large cavern, its ceiling maxing out at the peak of
the mountain. Before the JLA rose four missiles, ready for lift-off it
appeared, by the steam permeating the air by the thrusters.
“Can you disarm them?”
Black Canary asked.
“Depending on their
countdown sequence.” Batman whirled to Green Lantern. “Could your ring hold
their radiation if need be?”
Green Lantern exhaled
loudly. “It’ll be close. Razor-edge close.”
“Perhaps we should
simply send them into space,” Wonder Woman offered. “That way, they would
safely away from any innocents.”
“Unless they’re rigged
to blow and you contaminate the atmosphere,” Black Lightning interrupted. “I
could try to short-circuit them, but that has its risks, too.”
A loud grunt stole Batman’s attention, and between two of the missiles soared a familiar black-haired boy dressed in assassin garb. He seemingly took control of his fall, flipped over his head, and landed on his feet. Slits in his costume, short and jagged, revealed the weapon of his opponent—Laminas Pesar.
Scandal
Savage walked out of the small area, a smirk twisted upon her face. What she
said was lost to the thrusters, and Jason cringed and lunged forward.
To fight in such close
range, he’d need a weapon, and at the last moment, he pulled one. Rotating out
of a flip, he bore a batarang and parried her attacks. Where she kicked, he
blocked. Where she punched, he returned.
Batman knew the outcome
of the fight, but they didn’t have time to let it resolve alone. “Superman—?”
“Absolutely.”
As the Man of Steel flew toward the fight, a crackle of lightning lit the area, and a black figure pressed his golden boots into Superman’s back, smashing the JLA member into the rock floor several feet. Black Adam narrowed his eyes at the League, while members of the Secret Society of Super Villains fell from the cracks of the cave—Zoom, Ragdoll Jr., Abra Kadabra, Count Vertigo, Doctor Light, the Fearsome Five, Sinestro, Onomatopoeia, the Brotherhood of Evil, and so many others.
There was no way they would survive this fight with the sides stacked as such, but that was the plan, wasn’t it?
“Since when did you all unionize?” Red Arrow deadpanned, notching four arrows and letting them fly toward Ragdoll. The villain jumped to avoid the first, but the second, third, and fourth hit their targets—his shoulder and both knees.
“If you ask me, this is why Nightwing wanted us here,” Flash grumbled as he zipped after the yellow and purple flash of color. “He wanted us to do all his dirty work.”
Batman threw a batarang to knock Count Vertigo unconscious and thrust his fist back to hit the person behind him. She accepted the blow with her forearm. “Hello, Beloved. I am sorry it must end this way.”
Batman glared at her, for the first time his anger more prevalent than his affection for her. “Why, Talia? At least tell me that.”
“It has always been for you, Bruce, even if you refuse to see it.” She lunged forward with a clean dagger, and he caught her wrist before it satiated its hunger for blood. “Did you really think I would hand Damian to you for two years without any compensation?”
“You took Dick.”
“He came willingly. In the end, his loyalty to you was easy to exploit.” Her lips curved into a dangerous and saucy smirk. “All of your children are easily manipulated. Richard gave himself to my father for nothing more than empty promises, believing them to be fulfilled. Jason wanted to prove himself to you and his older brother and gave his body as payment. And young Timothy, well, he was simply destructing on his own with the mere presence of our son, wasn’t he?”
“You believed after what you’ve done to my sons, I would be with you?” he demanded, his voice stony, as was his countenance.
Talia
laughed deviously. “Oh, Beloved. You almost came yourself when you tried to
kill Richard, but no, I did not believe it that easy. On the contrary, but you
will come. After all, when Earth is nothing more than an
*^*^*
The expanding force tossed Dick into the hard wall and subsequently through the wall with the second one. The ringing in his ears gave way to nothing but silence as he felt cut off from the world around him. He pushed his mangled and beaten body onto all fours. His mouth tasted suspiciously of a familiar metallic substance, and his face tingled with the onslaught of pain. He shook his head to clear the fuzziness before his eyes, and he attempted to secure his feet underneath him, only for the floor to crumble away.
Freefall—and here he used to like skydiving, got a thrill from the weightlessness and the adrenaline pumping through the feeling of excitement in his stomach. But as the columned room of the Lazarus Pit, along with the green liquid came into sight underneath him, Dick gasped.
A hand grasped his forearm tightly, and his descent slowed. Looking up, he sighed at the soot-covered Conner, who smiled weakly down at him.
“Hey, I thought you were supposed to save me,” Nightwing read off the boy’s lips.
Nightwing shook his head. “Let’s call it even.”
A flash of light caught his attention, and Conner’s head whipped around to see the green bug-looking villain emerging from the smoke and heat of the fire. He zoomed toward Conner, only granting the teenaged superhero enough time to toss Nightwing to the edge of the pit. Nightwing somersaulted backwards and landed on the platform before taking the dagger in his hand. As Parademon launched himself at Conner, Nightwing threw his dagger with all his might, slashing through the New God’s armor and into his flesh. Conner moved slightly to the side and then knotted his fists to slam them onto the back of the man’s head, knocking him into the green liquid.
Nightwing jumped back to avoid the splash. When the demon finally floated to the surface, the human pulled him to the shore and checked a pulse. Superboy hit him on the shoulder and asked, “People go insane when they take the drink. If they’re already insane, do they become sane?”
Nightwing shrugged and ran toward the exit. “Let’s not find out, Flamebird.”
Superboy furled an eyebrow. “Flamebird?”
*^*^*
“Catman. Seriously. You think you were the son of Batman and Catwoman?” Robin quipped as he jumped back onto the console. “Because I know both of them, and you are so not.”
Catman stalked forward, his muscles giving no indication, his strength and height intimidation enough. “Cats traditionally eat birds. Who am I to change the food chain?”
Robin waited until the man lunged and flipped over him to kick backwards. His foot met with a forearm before a glimmer of sharpened metal caught his eyes. Snapping his head back, Robin felt the swishes of wind as the catarangs flew over his head and barely missed his neck. Robin bit back a grunt of pain when his body slammed like a boulder to the ground. As a boot came down, he rolled out of the way, only for a hand to grab his cape. A violent tug brought him back against Catman’s chest, and two strong hands wrapped around his torso, pinioning his arms against his sides.
“Your wings are clipped,” Catman hissed into Robin’s ear, fueling a shuttering through the boy’s body. With a hit across the back of his head, Robin crumpled to the ground, disoriented and suddenly nauseous. Concussion no doubt. Robin sniffed the sickening sweet air and felt the trickling upon his neck. Catman’s razor-sharp gauntlet slashed through his cape’s Kevlar protection to slice his skin.
As Robin tried to reason through the haze, one hand snatched his hair and jerked his head back. His eyes lay upon Catman’s malicious leer as the man swiped his catarang. Robin hardly had the time seize the man’s wrist and keep the razor-edge from his throat.
“Tweet, little birdie.”
“Dude…” Robin rasped. “…are you sick?”
He maneuvered his right arm over Catman’s left as the man used all his strength to push toward Robin’s neck, and with one quick flick, a loud crack resounded in the silent room.
Catman screamed, but he attacked, dropping Robin’s hair and backhanding the boy. Even as the world spun under his feet, Robin pushed up and connected the heel of his palm into Catman’s jaw, stunning the man enough to break away. As he reached the computer, he typed a few choice buttons.
“Oracle, come in! I have to outsource a job to you!”
Before her green avatar popped up on the screen, one strong hand clutched his shoulder to the point of pain, and a swipe of a catarang sliced through his tunic, slicking it with crimson.
“Boy Wonder, you okay?”
“Peachy!” Robin snapped while elbowing Catman in the face. It seemed to make the man, who flipped him around and bent him over the console, only angrier. “I need you to patch into a line I connected up here. Change some launch codes. Ah!”
Catman’s devious smirk only worsened as he reached up to trail his catarang along Robin’s jawline. “You are not the prized possession Luthor and Ra’s made you sound. A child simply playing dress-up.” In one swift motion, he freed Tim’s mask from his face and smirked. “I was going to offer you claws instead of wings after the world realigns, but I think I’ll just cook you instead.”
“Realigns?” Robin murmured.
“Robin, do you need assistance?” Oracle shouted.
“Tweet for me…” Catman cajoled, enjoying the boy’s shivering. “Tweet for me one last time…”
When Robin’s punch missed Catman’s face, the man flipped over his ‘rang and buried it Robin’s shoulder. He twisted it once.
And Robin screamed.
*^*^*
“After all, when Earth is nothing more than
an
A whip snapped around Talia’s hand and tugged her way from Batman. “Me,” Catwoman affirmed, kicking out. “He’s taken, Kitten, so run along and play with someone else’s superhero.”
Batman hardly glanced in Catwoman’s direction. “What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t honestly think your birdies would join the party, and I wouldn’t crash it?”
“Ah, the Detective’s escort—for the moment. You do not have him like I do.”
Catwoman flipped over Talia’s extended leg and smirked. “Just because you’re his baby-momma doesn’t mean you have him, babe. Now—” She blocked Talia’s advance and tugged hard on the whip, jerking Talia backwards onto the floor. “—hands off my man!”
“Selina, stop!” Batman shouted before grabbing Talia by the cloak and lifting her to her feet. “Where is he, Talia?”
“Where is whom, Beloved?” she sneered.
“Don’t play games.”
“Oh, but by now, you must know that is all I play.” Talia smiled gently and cupped the side of his face. “I told you before. You would have to make a choice between your biological family and your adopted one. Richard knew your answer and decided for you.” She brought his face closer to hers to whisper. “He is fulfilling his destiny.”
“His destiny?” Batman echoed.
“Yes. He was supposed to die in the Crisis, but he somehow survived. That will be changed now.”
Batman narrowed his eyes, and of what he once felt for Talia years ago, nothing remained. He tossed her easily to Selina and turned his back. “You are truly your father’s daughter.”
He charged forward without waiting for a reply. As he entered the battle, he launched a few batarangs at choice receivers. One cracked the case of The Brain, which took him and Mallah out of the fight. A second knocked out Shimmer, who had been working on drowning Red Arrow in his own oxygen. The former Titan immediately flipped between Mammoth and Jinx, causing the latter to throw one of her mystical bolts. Batman’s lips hitched in a half-grin at the sight of the once heroin addict. He had truly grown up and knew his opponents. Mammoth had an unusually high tolerance to attacks, but Jinx’s bolts weren’t usual ammunition. A simple punch to Jinx knocked her out.
The rest handled their fights well. Geo-Force outmaneuvered Count Vertigo, while Wonder Woman tackled Cheetah. Flash had already driven Zoom into a tag-team with Black Lightning, who shocked the rogue speedster before he could absorb the kinetic energy, and both split to attack Abra Kadabra and Gemini. Black Canary opened her vocal cords to Onomatopoeia, drowning the man in her “noise,” and Green Lantern, of course, battled Sinestro. Why the Yellow Lantern would ever join the Secret Society of Super Villains, Batman still didn’t know.
Now, standing before Dr. Light with “Speedy” next to him, Batman narrowed his eyes. The man laughed deviously as he whirled bright rays about his hands.
“You’re like me, Batman. Both of us have lost our minds. Only difference — I’ve gotten mine back.” He only glanced at Red Arrow before Batman saw his meaning. “But for now, your death would not mean as much as his!”
One beam of light shot toward Red Arrow—the son of one of the men who altered his mind—but Red Arrow was on the Justice League for a reason. He ducked and still managed to fire off a shot. While Dr. Light burned the arrow, his attention turned to Dark Knight just long enough for Batman to smash the villain’s jaw.
“Where’s Nightwing or Renegade or whatever the hell he’s going by these days?” Red Arrow questioned as he shot out toward Psimon. “He usually lives for these situations!”
“Disobeying again,” Batman replied and in a fluid motion, leapt over the remaining battles toward the missiles. There, Jason, who somehow found a second dagger, and Scandal Savage continued their deadly dance.
Jason parried her attack with a gleeful grin, something Batman hadn’t remembered seeing on the boy’s face since before…
“Come on, honey. If you really wanted a scandal, you and I would tango more often.”
She scoffed and dove forward to scrape up his body. “You aren’t my type.”
“Type? Please, I can be anyone’s type.”
“Yeah, but you have something my lovers don’t but maybe not for long,” she snickered and lunged for a certain part of his body.
“Hey!” he yelped and jumped back, just in time for Batman to land on Scandal’s back and force the girl to the ground. One punch and she stopped struggling.
Panting, Jason wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth on his sleeve. “Y’know, I did have her.”
“I’m saving us time,” Batman informed curtly. “What did Nightwing tell you to do?”
Though his shoulders still heaved with his breath, Jason managed to smile. “Already done. Granted, not as cleanly as he wanted, but done. Just waiting for Robin to do his job from space.”
Good. “Where’s the throne room?”
Jason pointed one of his daggers over his shoulder. “That way. Why?”
“We need to save Nightwing from himself.”
By the time “Nightwing” flew over the Dark Knight’s lips, Jason had already turned and headed toward the corridor.
*^*^*
Nightwing came to stop before the throne room, where the JLA had originally teleported into Ra’s lair, and waited until Superboy descended to the ground and joined him on the side of the corridor. The place appeared empty, but Nightwing knew better. Ra’s wouldn’t have left him alone in this sacred a temple. He would want to watch the performance.
Well, Nightwing didn’t want to disappoint. Hardening his resolve, he entered the room and dipped inside his torn and bloodied uniform. What he extracted stole the breath from Superboy’s lungs; he even heard the gasp through his dulled hearing.
“Dick—is-is that what I think it is?”
A long, light blue crystal shone in the low candlelight of the room, showering its brilliance upon the walls, upon Superboy’s face, upon Nightwing’s.
It was the same color as Dick’s eyes.
Nightwing ducked his head as he climbed the stairs. “I want to apologize to you.” His voice lowered to a murmur. “I…I was supposed to die in your place during the Crisis.”
Superboy’s head shot up. “What!”
“Yeah. I’m an anomaly to this time, like Donna, like Kyle, except…except I should have died. You just took my place.”
“That’s crazy!” Superboy exclaimed, flying about Dick to hover before him and stop his ascension. “What was supposed to happen, happened. That’s it.”
“It’s not it, Conner.” He pushed the boy to the side to come to stand in the very middle of the cavern. “Do you know where we are?”
“Uh…Some
place in
“No,
outside the Fortress of Solitude, where the
“Dude, what are you even talking about?”
“I’m like the Universal Orb Donna carries. Since I am an anomaly and one of the few people who fell through the cracks, my soul is now infinite.”
“And just what the hell does that mean?” Superboy scoffed.
Nightwing bowed his head and gripped the crystal in his quivering hands until it drew blood. Closing his eyes, he muttered, “It means, I can grant my father his greatest wish.”
He thrust the crystal inward.
“NO!”
*^*^*
“Robin! Come in!”
Robin bit back another painful shriek, found the energy to raise his legs, and thrust them into Catman’s stomach. As the man fell backwards, Robin flung a batarang at the imitator’s shoulders and knees. The villain flipped up to avoid both and pitched his own two. Tim caught one with a slap of his hands—a trick his older brother taught him—and returned it too fast for Catman to duck. The razor’s edge sliced through Catman’s shoulder, knocking him off balance, and Robin followed with a kick to the jawline. The villain flew backwards onto the JLA table, thumping onto the very middle of the insignia.
Less than a moment later, Damian sprung up from the side and straddled the man. “You shall pay for striking the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul.”
Robin lunged forward. “Damian, no!”
The boy slammed his fist across the man’s face—nerve strike—and glanced over his shoulder at Robin. “Father told me not to kill, and I told you I would handle it.”
Robin glared at the knife sticking out of his shoulder and shook his head. That was handling it? Then what wasn’t handling it? Maybe he didn’t want to know.
“Robin, are you there? Answer me!” Oracle’s desperate voice carried through the speakers, and Robin hurried back to the monitor. The knife would have to wait until later. If he pulled it out now, the blood would flow freely and might even cause him to lose consciousness.
“Yeah, Oracle…barely,” he added under his breath and swiveled in the chair. “Did you change the launch locations?”
“Yes, but I can’t teleport them from here. Teleportation only works from the JLA computers as per Batman’s implementations. You’ll have to do it.”
Grunting through the shaking, Robin hoped the numbness of his right arm would hold the pain at bay long enough for him to finish.
*^*^*
Superman’s head jerked up at the sudden, familiar shriek, and he gave Black Adam one last punch to bury the man in the wall, not unlike how Adam had first attacked him. Without a second thought, he zoomed past the missiles and down the corridor toward the throne room.
*^*^*
Black Canary watched Superman go before she whirled. “R.A., G.L., Flash, follow Superman! Wonder Woman, Geo-Force, Black Lightning, your first priorities are the missiles! Go!”
If Superman left, most likely either Superboy or Nightwing was in trouble, and she sent accordingly. She watched as Catwoman dashed after a fleeing Talia before glancing back at the missiles. The League had fought this situation before back when the first missile was taken. The yellow paint still would stop Green Lantern’s ring. Superman disappeared. Wonder Woman now dealt with Black Adam, and banging the missiles with Hawkgirl’s mace would have the same effect as Black Canary unleashing her cry—devastating results. Geo-Force might be able to bury the nuclear weapons, but how much damage would that do to the Earth? With Batman missing and Black Lightning unable to short circuit them, Black Canary let out a growling sigh.
Nightwing better have one hell of a plan.
*^*^*
The shout unnerved Batman long enough for him to realize who screamed, and though he’d already been running full-out, he pushed himself harder. He passed Jason, who struggled to keep up even in peak condition, but as he came to the opening of the throne room, he skidded to a stop. Conner hunched over a fallen body upon the platform, his shoulders trembling, his head shaking in denial, and Batman’s momentary shock wore off at the blue glow radiating over the boy’s body.
“Oh my God…” Jason gasped, once he caught up.
Batman snatched Jason’s shirt, pulling the boy to him. “What did he do?”
Jason’s eyes shook, and he never looked away from the gruesome sight. “He…He opened his soul…”
Unhinging panic overwhelmed his bewilderment, and Batman thrust the boy back onto his own feet before flying up the stairs to the platform, where he stopped. Where his trembling eyes pored over his son’s body, lifeless and void of the energy that made Dick who he was. Where his breath fled as the blue crystal cut through Dick’s chest and released a light, the same one glowing in the boy’s eyes. Where his heart failed at the sight of the boy’s eyes—so brilliant and beautiful but empty.
Where fear saturated his face and buckled his knees.
“I tried to stop him…I didn’t know this…I thought—” Conner rambled, but his words were lost to Batman’s hand, which tentatively reached out to cup his son’s cheek—his son’s face. This was his son again.
Dick…what the hell have you done?
“He has finally atoned for the sin he committed.”
Batman closed his eyes and bowed his head. “What did you do to him? How the hell did you convince him to do this?”
“I only played upon the insecurity a son has about the love his father holds from him.” Ra’s al Ghul stepped out from the shadows to stand behind Batman. “He knew that you would give anything if you could turn back the hands of time and save your parents. Now that his soul had the power, how could he deny you your greatest want, Detective?”
Batman’s eyes never wavered from his son. “His soul?”
“Yes. He was supposed to die in the Crisis instead of Conner Kent. My daughter Talia worked with Alexander Luthor, Jr., the one, if you remember, who almost took your son’s life during the Crisis. He told her your ward was going to die, but something happened—some unknown contingency—and your boy lived. The incident left his soul changed forever, or perhaps it was always this way. No matter, he is like the others, destined for something greater, and this is it. By slicing open his soul, he can give you what you’ve always wanted—the ability to save your parents. All you have to do is touch the crystal, and he will do the rest.”
Batman’s eyes blazed. “You convinced him to do this, so ‘Batman’ would never exist. That way, you change the world to how you believe it should be without my interference.”
“Yes,” Ra’s admitted with a nod, “there is a certain degree of advantage for me with this boy’s sacrifice, but then again, you, too, benefit. Imagine just for a moment, Detective. Imagine happiness.”
Happiness?
Throughout the years, the thought never entered Batman’s mind, the possibility of being… glad. The mission counted, and everyone else—at times—had become distractions or allies, adversaries or assets. There had been a purpose to everyone—Alfred, who mended his wounds and attempted to do the same with his soul; the Justice League, who lent support in Gotham and helped to take his mission onto a larger scale; Lucius Fox, who kept him financially solvent and helped to keep Gotham the same; Dick, Tim, and previously Jason, along with Cassandra and Barbara, provided strength in numbers.
But they—and Alfred—provided something much more to his life. Selina wouldn’t even have been a part if he simply saw people as assets, and he would have kicked Dick out of the cave long before he fired the boy.
But happiness?
Could he ever imagine that?
Did he have to?
Footsteps clapped against the rock floor of the cavern; capes wisped in the wind of the flyers. Only a few seconds remained before they were bombarded.
“Maybe Bruce will sacrifice Dick, but I won’t let you!”
If there was something both Jason and Dick shared, it was their emotions, which they released without pretense. Batman whirled to put up a hand, to save the boy from himself—like he’d been able to save Dick from the Joker—but this time, he was too late. A low growling, seething with violent tendencies, followed the slicing of the air by a knife. Ra’s had to turn and slap it in between his hands. “Thousands better have tried and failed, boy. Why don’t you—”
“Why don’t you finally just die!” Like Batman had done with Deathstorke, Jason leapt and punched the edge of the dagger. It sunk with a thud into Ra’s’s chest cavity, drawing a “Guk!”
By the time Ra’s thumped against the floor, he was dead.
Batman’s first thought was to the Pits, but even if they saved the man, the damage had been done. Whatever sanity and future Dick had savaged for his little brother was gone as Jason’s panicked breathes puffed from his open mouth. He’d killed without the madness of the Pits. He’d been granted a second chance, and in a fit of rage—for his savior—he’d become that which he wanted to fight again.
His hands fisted in his disheveled hair, and he sunk to his knees.
Batman wanted to console him and tell him everything would be okay—Ra’s would live again—but first, he needed to deal with a more pressing matter.
“Dick!” Flash.
“Bastard!” Red Arrow.
A flash of green paled in comparison to the blue from Dick’s chest, as Green Lantern held back the younger members of the Justice League, Dick’s closest friends.
A soft breeze scraped against Batman’s cheek as Superman’s hand upon his shoulder felt more like an intrusion than a comfort, and Superman placed a second on Superboy’s, drawing the trembling and shocked boy against his chest. His own son, brought back to life, his own son, who shouldn’t have been taken from him to begin with.
His son, whom now Batman was losing.
“Tell me how to reverse this,” Batman demanded, even as the soft arms of his love, Catwoman, wrapped about his neck and held him close. “Tell me what I can do.”
“There is nothing to do,” Talia whispered equally as soft. She knelt next to him, her face untouched by Catwoman’s claws. “It is irreversible. He knew that when he made the choice.”
“The choice you manipulated him to take.” His teeth grounded his voice out like sandpaper against wood. “Why would you do this? You must have known I would never love you if you took my sons away.”
“I knew when you kidnapped me to get at my father years ago that I could not have you. You had found another.” She averted her guilty eyes. “A fresh start for both of us was my only answer.”
“But if I were simply ‘Bruce Wayne,’ I would not be a worthy heir for Ra’s or a worthy suitor for you.”
“I—I was willing to take that chance for happiness.”
Batman’s thumb rubbed back and forth against his son’s cheek, and he scowled away. “No. I won’t accept that. There must be—”
“Do not let his sacrifice be in vain, Beloved,” Talia pleaded. “At least honor my brother that much.”
“He’s not your brother. If you truly regarded him as such, you wouldn’t have offered him the deal. You wouldn’t have manipulated your father to use him for his own selfish wants. You wouldn’t have given him the—”
The crystal. That was what started this surge. He had to get it out.
“Conner, can you remove the crystal from Dick’s chest without touching it?” Batman asked.
The boy turned from Superman’s suit and nodded. “I—I think so…” He flatted his hand, but the crystal began to twist out, a macabre shriek burst from Dick’s mouth. Without a second thought, Batman clasped the crystal to wrench it from his son’s chest; a flash of blue light blinded him.
Silence.
When the light faded from behind his eyes, Batman opened them, and his breath fled from his body. Before him stood Dick, not as Nightwing but as Robin. The boy looked like he had the first day Bruce laid eyes on him on the circus platform. Hardly four-feet-eight inches, he wore his Flying Grayson’s green uniform with the huge red “G” across his chest. Flowing off his shoulders was Batman’s cape, which dragged behind the boy like a bride’s train. His little mouth perked up in a sad smile, and though he shed no tears, his ethereal eyes glistened up at Batman like the innocent boy he once was and in some ways, still was.
“Hi,” the boy squeaked like it had before he reached puberty. “You finally came.”
“Yes…for you.”
Dick simply shook his head like he was a kid who knew better than his parent and looked to the left. Batman followed his gaze, realizing for the first time they stood upon a brick building’s rooftop, one that either had survived the earthquake or…
Batman walked to the edge of the roof and peered over the edge, his heart tightening as he realized the ally. He swiveled to glare at Dick, but the boy had already turned away.
“Do it, Bruce. Finish the mission once and for all.”
“This—This can’t be…” Batman’s voice gave out as he saw the man he knew from his nightmares enter the alley and hide behind the dumpster. It just couldn’t be…Dick had brought himself here.
“It is. My soul’s an anachronism, and it allows me to travel through time as long as I use its power. I outlived my life’s allotted period, and it’s time I made reparations.”
“You’ve made enough reparations,” Batman argued, his eyes never wavering from the alley. “Your entire life you’ve given compensation.”
“Yeah, for a crime I never knew I committed,” Dick whispered and ducked his head, “…until now. I cheated death. Who would have thought?”
Batman tore himself from the horrific sight below to look at the boy he raised, who flipped onto the opposite edge of the roof and spread out his arms to balance himself on the very edge. “Dick, why are you doing this?”
Dick paused and flipped. He landed effortlessly almost in the same position. “You know what my mission in life was? Originally, when we started our partnership?”
“To be the light to my darkness.” Batman could never forget the phrase, especially after it had been so woefully proven true after Jason’s death.
Dick nodded with an uh-huh. “But I realized, there is no light for you, is there? I can try and try and try, but no matter what, I can never give you what you really need. You’ll never find peace. Even now, you just survive from day to day. You don’t really live, Bruce.”
“That’s not your concern.”
“Maybe not, but you’re my dad.” The boy faltered, his foot slipping from the edge of the brick, but he quickly jumped and flipped onto a handstand. “I love you, and I’ll never be enough. Never will Tim or Jason or Damian. Heck, even Catwoman will never be able to fill that void.”
“Will I ever fill the void of your parents’ death?”
Dick paused. “No, but you’re not replacing them, just like Tim can’t replace Jason. You love the person who came after, and you’ll always love the person who left, too.”
“Then why are you trying to fill mine?” Batman demanded and crossed his arms.
Springing upward, Dick fell into a crouch on the very edge of the roof, his back still turned to his father. “I’m not…per se. I just know the truth, Bruce. I’ve known it since I was a kid, and maybe that’s why we’ve always had this problem. You would give me up for them. You’d give up everything for them, and while I love my parents and miss them with all my heart, I’ve come to peace with their deaths. But your parents—you’ve lived in that one moment the rest of your life, and you always will. I can’t compete with that. As much I try to and as much I want to prove my worth to you, I know I’ll never be good enough.” He wiped his face with the back of his hand. “You… You don’t want me. You’ve never really wanted me. I’m nothing more than a means to an end, a person to take over in your stead when you can’t do this anymore. I’m not your son but your successor.
“And I know this is selfish, okay? I know that this isn’t a competition between your parents and me, and it never should be, but…do you know what it feels like knowing that your father would give you up? That his love isn’t unconditional? You’re only as good as your worth, and your worth will never equal that of someone else? I finally understood from where Jason’s coming, and—and it scares me, Bruce. For a few moments awhile ago, I actually wanted to join his side because I knew—I just knew that I would never have to prove myself to him. He…He looks at me how I look at you, and I wanted that. I wanted someone who wants me and would never ever let go, but you would. You will.
“And the funny part? I want you to. You won’t be this distant shell so many people think you are. There won’t be a mission. There won’t be a Batman. You will finally be able to live. You’ll finally find that peace you’ve sought but could never attain. You’ll finally be happy, and I’ll have made that happen. I’ll have finally given you what you wanted, and—I’ll be enough for you.”
Standing, Dick backflipped, the cape creating an “O” in mid-air before the boy landed, and his legs gave out. He crumbled to the ground, a faint blue aura surrounding his body. Despondent, the boy’s dirtied hands curled into tiny fists, and he battled with his shoulders to stop their shaking.
Batman glanced down at the alley as the door opened, and the overzealous whoop of a boy playing Zorro echoed off the cold walls. He freed his face of the cowl as the unforgiving tears trickled down his cheeks. There was no choice. There never was one. Bruce learned that horribly warm fact years ago, and what he demanded from his parents at their gravestones he understood—why they stepped in front of him.
Why couldn’t he have died? Why couldn’t they have allowed him to go with them? They wanted better for him; they wanted to protect him because to them, he was more precious than a string of pearls or all the money in the world.
He was more precious than their lives, like his child’s would be more precious than his. It was the natural order, why parents should always precede their children in death. They continuously gave their lives for their progeny, to protect them endlessly, even against the unknown. It was the price of love.
They would understand, Bruce told himself as he turned his back on the alley.
They would know why because they had done it for him, Bruce knew as he came to the sobbing boy.
They had given their lives to protect him, Bruce remembered as he bent down and startled the boy by wrapping one arm about the small torso and the other about the tiny waist.
He would give their lives to protect his son, their grandson, because he was what was most important, Bruce knew, drawing the boy into his arms and holding him close.
Dick was Bruce’s son, just like Bruce was theirs.
The hiccupping boy clutched onto Bruce like he had all those years ago at the circus, and the father dropped his head onto the boy’s silken mop as the bullets and screams maimed both of their consciences.
They would understand because in his arms was his peace.
*^*^*
In a flash of blue, the bloodcurdling screams once more resounded, but they were different from his mother’s or father’s. They were his son’s as Batman pulled the crystal from Dick’s chest. The boy arched his back to move with the crystal until Batman held the entire weight in his hand, Dick’s blood dripping off of its point.
With a flop, the boy fell flat against the floor, and the eyes that had been empty pulsated with life again, tears coursing his flushed cheeks.
“Y—You…for me…?” he croaked.
Batman cupped the boy’s cheek. “I wasn’t lying when I said you mean the world to me.” With that, he threw the crystal against the floor to prevent anything like this from ever happening again and preventing any other from tempting his son once more.
However, as soon as the crystal shattered into a thousand pieces, the blood upon it began to bond the glass shards once more, and it hovered a few inches off the floor.
FLASH!
*^*^*
Dick stared at the crystal in
his immaculate hands, and instead of thrusting it into his chest, he flung to
against the floor, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Standing, he turned to
Superboy, whose eyes appeared to have grown to large grapefruits. From shock or
uncertainty, Dick didn’t know.
“Go with Plan Kick the Demon in the Balls. Now.”
Superboy blinked, glancing down at the shards of
rock upon the ground before shaking his head unsurely. “Uh…did I just miss
something? Didn’t you just—weren’t you just—”
A whizzing of an arrow sounded like an old memory
of his Teen Titan days, and Nightwing snatched on instinct, catching the quill
before it tore through his shoulder. He didn’t need to look to know who
attacked him, and he pushed Superboy by the shoulder.
“Go! Now! Call Tim when you’re done!”
“But—!”
Dick backflipped to avoid another arrow and
uncoiled just by Talia’s chair next to her father’s throne, unsheathing the
blade she left there and slicing through another arrow. He saw out the corner
of his eye Superboy hesitate before finally taking flight and shooting toward
the ceiling. Pieces of stone rocketed to the ground when he finally broke
through, but he exited far enough away that Dick didn’t worry about being hit.
With a flip over the throne, he flung out a single batarang, which stripped the shooter of his compression bow. Ra’s al Ghul barely grunted and hardly shook his hand as he drew his sword. Dick landed on the small ledge overlooking the throne platform and narrowed his eyes.
“Now, we finish this.”
Ra’s lifted his sword in front of his face. “You cannot defeat me, boy. I have lived more than four hundred years. You are a mere infant.”
Dick raised
his sword identically. “I’ve survived insane serial killers who dress up in
Halloween costumes, alien invasions, cult torturers, fanatical zealots, an
earthquake, two plagues, a nuclear disaster, and two crises of infinite proportions. An old fogy with a God-complex
doesn’t scare me.” He smirked viciously. “I’m from
*^*^*
Blood squirted out from Robin’s wound, and he cringed to continue typing. Each new letter was like a needle puncturing his shoulder over and over again. He’d never been truly tortured before—well, maybe on Apokolips, but nothing like Nightwing went through with Brother Blood or even Two-Face. Damn, it hurt.
“I already heard from Jason,” Robin reported to Oracle, glancing up in the glass to make sure Damian watched over Catman adequately. “Dick said I’d be hearing from his other operative.”
“His other operative? Who could that possibly be?”
The comm. crackled to life. “Yo, Tim, you there?”
Robin, Tim Drake, started, the wind sucking itself from his lungs. The thickness of the lump his throat felt like it was made of glass when he tried to swallow it. His heavy tongue hardly choked out the word.
“C—Conner?”
“Hey, back in the cloned-flesh. I did what Dick wanted. Wanna beam me up? Russian soldiers seriously don’t like people messing with their rockets.”
*^*^*
Sean sighed and bonked his head back against the cell’s wall. The capes were going to forgot about him. He just knew it.
Another explosion rocked the base, smacking him against the wall. A crackling of electricity shot off from his gun’s barrel, and he jumped at the ejection of a taser blast. The bottom of the cell sizzled, and the cell’s wall rose from around him.
Huh. Oh-kay.
A loud groaning pulled Sean’s eyes to the large, fidgeting egg in the corner, and he once more employed the help of his taser gun to stop the doctor from resuming his duties.
Smirking, Sean took off into the corridor.
*^*^*
Batman blinked and looked at Dr. Light across from him, who glanced at him with a bewildered expression.
“Again, you attempt to take my mind from me,” Dr. Light seethed and arched his fingers to concentrate on his power in one potent ball in his hand. “Perhaps it is time I showed you the light.”
Batman threw a batarang, but the attempt was muted as the metal melted on contact and Dr. Light tossed down his ball. The temporary blast made Batman look away, and he jumped in front of Red Arrow, believing the attack to be imminent. It never came. Instead, the rocks sizzled where Arthur Light had stood, and Red Arrow shook his head to clear the fog Batman felt, too.
Light would have to wait for the moment. His first priority was his son. He was just holding Nightwing, the boy’s soul exposed from his chest cavity. How the hell did he come back in time a few seconds?
Superman hovered over head, along with Wonder Woman and Green Lantern.
“Did someone just hit the rewind button?” the green warrior asked.
Wonder Woman’s eyes flicked over to Jason, who dropped the daggers even as Scandal Savage lunged toward him, and Superman followed her gaze to simply blow a gust of wind. As Scandal dove to take off the boy’s head, her body suddenly flew off course and slammed into the side of the missile. Groaning, she slid down the metal until she hit the dirt and lay motionless.
Jason shook his head as he looked down at his hands before fisting them in his hair. “I—I killed someone…and I didn’t even flinch. I…”
Red Arrow shrugged. “Hey, it was the bastard who manipulated Dick. I would have done it myself if someone wouldn’t have held me back.” He glared rather angrily at Green Lantern.
“Now’s not the time for this,” Batman admonished and dashed to Jason’s side, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Pull it together. If we’re all here, then Ra’s probably isn’t dead, either.”
Jason tore away from Batman’s grip as if the man’s hand was acid. “But—!”
Batman felt the immediate guilt of seeing the emotional reaction from Jason and reveling in it. His son again cared about human life. Ra’s and Talia couldn’t have done this with Jason’s soul.
Dick had.
“Listen to me.” He clamped his hands upon Jason’s shoulders. “Ra’s is alive. That’s all that matters. The rest we’ll work out later.”
“Why don’t we work it out now?”
Batman glared over his shoulder at the recovered Society members and narrowed his eyes at Cheetah. No one kept him from his son. No one.
Footsteps beat against the rock floor, and Batman risked a glimpse at Jason, who sped off toward the throne room. Batman pivoted to follow when the rockets’ engines burst to life.
*^*^*
Dick needed him, Jason thought as his feet propelled him forward. He’d almost lost his older brother to his stupidity the first time; he certainly wasn’t going to lose him again.
Then again, he’d done almost the exact same thing for Dick less than four hours ago…
Not time to think about that or about Ra’s. He needed to focus, put it behind him—or was that a Bruce thought?
Oh, what the hell did it matter? Bruce’s voice in his head kept him alive in these situations. He needed to get used to it.
As he reached the main cavern, a rumbling shook the very foundations of the cave—the rockets…or was it…? A second later, an explosion ripped through the archway, and it began to crumble to the ground. Jason never stopped running and lunged underneath their path.
*^*^*
“You were selfish.”
“Just because your son gave his body to you doesn’t mean that I’m selfish if I want to keep mine.” Dick parried the sword and attacked with his own cut, almost taking Ra’s’s hand. “And he made his choice.”
Ra’s’s swipe would have taken off Dick’s head if the boy hadn’t flipped in a corkscrew and immediately brought up his sword to affront. “You never gave him the choice.”
“Wrong. You’d be surprised by all that went on when you were dead,” Dick smirked and took a step back.
Ra’s slashed forward, desperation and uncertainty entering his moves. “No! No, he wouldn’t have chosen—”
“His sons?” Dick grated. “Take a look at the world, Ra’s. Not everyone sees their kids as nothing more than pawns. Some actually love them.”
Diving forward, Ra’s wouldn’t have come close to Dick if not for the sudden rumbling of the ground, and the abrupt movement caught Dick in mid-swipe. Ra’s’s sword nicked him in the shoulder, and he dove out of the way of the deadly blow, jumping into mid-air, but a blast from the wall knocked him off course, sending him flying into the throne and tumbling off the side of the platform.
He bit the side of his lip to keep conscious and winced through the stabbing pain in his left arm and in his side. A couple ribs he could fight through. He’d done it the first time he took on Ra’s.
Working his feet underneath him, Dick saw the blown-out wall. The explosion had taken part of the floor as well, revealing the burning Pit. Apparently the fire he and Superboy began spread and now encompassed the entire lower level of the cavern.
“We should be working together, Richard, not against one another,” Ra’s pressed as he jumped down and treaded across the platform. “You and I—we both cheated death. You should be my ally.”
“Sorry,” Dick grunted as he maneuvered into a crouching position, “I kinda like my soul clean.”
“Then why did you agree to join me?”
Dick snorted, pushing up. “Did you really think I would allow you to murder six billion people? Please. Once I heard your plan, I knew you would follow it through. At least if I stole those nukes for you, I’d know where they are and stop you.”
A shadow befell upon him, and as he grasped his sword in his opposite hand—Thank God Bruce made him learn how to use both hands—he barely raised his blade in time to parry.
“You believe you can defeat me? You and your petulant façade of familial ties do not the true extent of the Demon!”
Dick used his hand as a plant and kicked upward, connecting with Ra’s and granting himself a few seconds of breathing room. “You ever wonder why in the last seven hundred years not one person could hand you your ass, and now, Bruce has done it how many times? Maybe Fate just decided it didn’t like your plan of attack.”
“Perhaps she wished to test me.”
“Perhaps you just messed with the wrong person.”
“Perhaps I trusted my foolish daughter when she said she could deliver me the Earth and claim the Detective as my heir.”
“That’s what you keep forgetting, isn’t it? You chose the perfect man to be your heir because he’s the only one good enough to defeat you. And guess what?” Dick clashed his blade with Ra’s, and with a thrust upward to the cross-guard, he tossed the sword into the air. He caught the weapon a second later and crossed both his and Ra’s’s against the Demon’s neck. “Bruce has really good taste.”
“Perhaps, but you will not succeed.”
*^*^*
“You really are fools, aren’t you?” Batman said to Black Adam, gaining the awakening Scandal Savage’s attention. “Do you really believe Ra’s cares what will happen to you once those missiles launch?”
Scandal scowled as she pushed to her feet and managed not to sway too badly. “We will be on your satellite, watching the fireworks below.”
“Really? Think so?” Red Arrow smirked with a wink toward Batman. “Look around. See Ra’s anywhere?”
The Society froze before engaging the Justice League, and Black Adam turned toward Talia. “Where is your father?”
The Daughter of the Demon eyed the mystical being, but her eyes gradually fell upon the Dark Knight’s. “You win this round, Beloved.”
She hit her wrist and, in a flash of blue sparkles, disappeared from the cavern.
“That about sums it up, don’t you think?” Black Canary charged.
As the missiles’ engines became to power up, Superman flew forward, Black Adam a second behind him. As Superman punched a hole into the rocket and tore through to the core, Black Adam dug his hand inside before his eyes rounded. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern dug into a second rocket, while Mammoth and Jinx tore open the third. The final rocket, Sinestro and Count Vertigo took.
As Superman reached, his eyes went wide, and he spun to Batman.
“It’s empty.”
*^*^*
Another set of rumbles shook the cavern, and a sinister smirk twisted onto Ra’s’s face. “I believe that is the sound of my preordained victory, child.”
Dick moved
his ear against his shoulder to press his comm. unit. “Hey, Boy Wonder. You got
good news for me?” Less than a second later, the smuggest grin Dick could
muster curled onto his lips. “Well, Ra’s, it looks like you’re shooting blanks.
I had Red Robin plant teleporters on those missiles, and Little S place
teleporters on empty ones. The Current Robin just switched the nukes out for
the others. As for their trajectory, they’re now heading toward the
Ra’s grinned deviously. “Perhaps,
but you still will not live to see another year.
“—did this—” He motioned toward his face. “—to get rid of your failsafe before using the JLA teleporter. He’s somewhere you’ll never find him, and when we have more time, he’ll take out the rest of the Kryptonian DNA.”
“Well, at least you will not leave here alive.”
Dick felt the compression of air behind him, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop her. No one, not even Bruce, could beat Lady Shiva, Ra’s al Ghul’s most deadly assassin. As she descended upon him, her leg prepped to break his face, a batarang rope wrapped around her ankle, and a swift tug jarred her off course. She slammed to the ground just before the doorway, where a rock wall had formed, and before even she could recover, Jason delivered a crushing blow to her chin, knocking her unconscious.
“Now we’re even.”
Dick pivoted just in time for a piece of the shattered blue crystal to shred his clothing but thankfully miss his flesh. “If your asinine mentor will not know what is best for him, then I will make sure neither he nor you will ever interfere with my plans again.”
Planting his foot in Ra’s stomach, Dick forced the older man back. “You can’t just use that like a can opener!”
Ra’s flipped to his feet and lunged forward. “There will be retribution.”
Dick grunted through his clenched teeth. “Bring it, bitch!”
As Ra’s swiped, Dick leapt up, but as he moved to knee Ra’s in the face, a blast of white hot energy shot through Ra’s stomach.
Jason raced to Dick’s side, his head shaking at the dead man at their feet. “What the—?”
Dick’s eyes widened in shock. His heart stopped as the man materialized from what seemed like a pure white orb of light. Dr. Light took on the complete roster of the Titans, and they almost didn’t win. Now, the man stood just beyond Ra’s’s inert body, a smirk brightening his creepy malevolent features, trapped inside with just him and Jason.
They might have had a chance if they hadn’t knocked out Lady Shiva and if she, for some reason, would’ve wanted to help them.
Yeah, right. No matter what, they were going to die, probably after hours of torture.
Jason took a step back before his muscles rippled in his shoulders, and he gritted his teeth. “You think you can take us?”
Dr. Light gave the boy a sinister grin. “What did Nightwing just say? Ah, yes. ‘Bring it, Be-ACH.’”
A crackle of lightning flew about Light, and with a simple wave of his hand, he absorbed the power before glancing over his shoulder.
Sean held the taser gun, his mouth a large “O.” “OhmyGod.”
Light chortled. “You’re kidding, right?” He froze for a moment before looking back and forth between Dick and Sean. “Wow. I didn’t know the Bat had twins.” With a simple wave of his hand, Sean crashed against the wall over a hundred feet away, a large crack resounding through the cavern. “I’ll take care of you, then go after bro there.”
“He’s not our brother,” Jason snorted and pitched forward.
“Jase, no!” Dick lunged to grab his younger brother’s arm, but Dr. Light already swiped his hand. Jason jumped upward to avoid the shot and flipped backwards with each blast of white heat burning toward him.
Dick’s heart fluttered in his chest, while a queasy, sinking feeling sat in his stomach. He rolled upon the ground and came upward to swipe his sword toward Light’s abdomen, but the man simply twitched his way. Dick dropped to the floor and aimed Light’s legs, but not before Light opened his hand—but not toward Dick.
“AHHH!”
The macabre shriek cut through the air, jerking Dick’s head up.
“JASON!”
Light’s ray blasted through Jason’s shoulder as the younger brother lunged for the villain, and its momentum forced Jason onto the ground, writhing in agony.
“Your turn,” Light baited.
Dick never actually saw the flash, only felt his body flung backwards before pain wracked his neck and back. When he slammed to all fours, he felt the hot liquid dripping onto his collarbone.
Bleeding…at least he was still bleeding.
He blinked against the fuzziness of his vision—Why couldn’t he have been wearing a mask?—and made out the glowing form striding toward the helpless boy. When Light finally stopped, he placed his foot upon Jason’s shoulder and pushed down hard, freeing another bloodcurdling shrill echoing off the cavern walls.
Dick slowly rose to his feet and whispered into his earpiece. “Robin, call Batman… need…”
“You were one of us, weren’t you? The Red Hood, I hear. You’re like me, aren’t you? They lobotomized you, too, to keep you in line.”
Jason shuttered and arched his back to ease the pain, but nothing seemed to give him any less.
Dick’s hand scraped along the ground until it brushed against his sword’s hilt, and he crept toward his enemy.
“I’d spare you, but…nah.” Light lifted his hand, which glowed a venomous white. “If it’s any consolation, you won’t be first!”
Light whirled at the last minute and shot a ray of light, hitting Dick at practically point-blank range. The excruciating pain crippled Dick as his nerves blazed and his tissue blasted outward on his left side. His knees suddenly gave out underneath him and against his will. His mouth, too, opened without his consent.
The taste rolling over his tongue was too familiar as was the blood flooding his mouth dribbled down his chin. Internal bleeding…
Light snickered and raked a hand through Dick’s silken locks as he sauntered about the fallen boy. “You were the worst, you know that? You were their protégé, all of theirs. Sure, you’re the Bat’s son, but you were practically raised by the entire Justice League.” He ran his derisively tender hand down Dick’s back and stopped at the curve of his back, and though Dick shunned away, Light persisted to arch over Dick’s hunched back to whisper into the younger man’s ear, “To destroy them, all I need is to destroy you.”
Blood gushed in torrents from his side, and he futilely attempted to push onto his feet to escape, but Light simply put his hand in the middle of Dick’s back and forced him back onto his knees.
“Oh, don’t run away from the fun. When will I get an opportunity like this again?” He bent down in front of Dick and lifted the boy’s crimson chin with a single finger, smirking into his victim’s trembling eyes. “And I am going to enjoy this.”
Dick screwed shut his eyes as a fine quivering manifested in his maimed body.
Her
hands on him…stripping him of his suit…
“Get
off…No…”
“Don’t
worry. I know what you need…”
“Enjoy this!”
A boa staff crashed down upon Light’s helmet, but the minor glowing radiating about his body was a force field. He simply pivoted on the ground and flicked a finger. The light smacked directly into Robin’s chin and sent him slamming backwards upon the ground. When he slid to the stop, he failed to move.
Dick’s eyes shot wide. He told Tim not to come, told him to get Bruce and the League—hell, anyone else…not the kids…
“TIM!” Damian shouted before pitching forward, his foot preceding his flying body. “You bastard!”
“You gnat.” A simple blast of white light dropped Damian to the ground, and his raven hair covered his dirtied face.
…anyone but the kids…
Light slapped Dick across the face twice. “Don’t worry, Nightwing—or would you prefer ‘Richard’? They will see the light soon enough.”
His maniacal chortle freed itself from Light’s chest as he stood and treaded across the cavern, his boots clipping against the cold floor. Silence reigned, even though fire crackled from below and rocks still tumbled upon the entrance. That didn’t matter. The only things in the world were Dick, Light, and his brothers.
Light paused for only a moment. “I planned just to kill you, Richard, but perhaps I should break you first by burning them—alive. Then, we’ll get on with our fun.”
Dick clenched his bloodied teeth together as he glanced toward Jason, unconscious upon the ground and seeping crimson under his shoulder. Damian laid not too far away, his arms contorted about his body, and Tim laid face-up, as if seeing what was coming and was frozen in the fear.
Focus on the pain. Keep conscious.
Light put his boot heel into Tim’s chest. “Oh, too bad he’s not awake to cry and beg like a little girl.”
As Light dropped his white glow about his body to form an orb in his hand, Dick snatched the batarang from his suit and shot it toward Light, snaring the man in the shoulder. As he left out a grunt and whirled toward Dick, the eldest brother bit down on his lip to divert his pain—oh, it wasn’t working—in an attempt to stay conscious and rose to his feet.
The pain will keep you conscious,
Bruce’s voice flitted through his mind as lightheadedness threatened to take
his fight. Then his own voice took over. Focus
on me, you over-glorified nightlight.
To his credit, it worked. Light rose to his feet as well, an appraising grin upon his face.
“Oh, you are worthy of your reputation. A disciple of the Bat indeed. Don’t worry. That is just the beginning of your suffering.” Light dove forward with a punch across Dick’s face, and despite his slowed relaxes and the pain, he managed to block it with his forearm. Light, however, delivered a backhand to his cheek and a kick into his stomach.
As Dick crumbled against the wall of the cavern, Light fisted his hand in Dick’s shirt and thrust the boy against the hard rock, allowing the edges to impale through his back. He leaned forward to hiss. “Just think. The Joker gained immortality by killing the imposter Robin. What do believe I’ll get for killing Nightwing—the first Robin, the leader of the Titans, the godson of the League, the eldest son of the Bat!” He chortled. “I’ll be a god!”
Dick’s eyes flittered over to Jason, Tim, and Damian. There was no one to save him, no one to see him die, no one to see him plead if he wanted.
He was alone.
Light leered deviously. “What do you think? Should I suck the electrical impulses from your body, physically sucking the life from you?”
His lithe hand drifted down Nightwing’s chest, as Nightwing closed his eyes and survived the only way he knew how—retreating into his mind.
Superman’s words fluttered through his head. When you’re in the League, you’re never alone.
He never needed a League to know he wasn’t alone—
Dick snatched Light’s wrist after it untied his pants’ waistband and twisted it hard, breaking the bone.
A horrific cringe contorted Light’s malevolent features, yet he retained his spiteful sneer. “And just what do you think you’re doing? You can’t defeat me!”
“That’s…huff…your problem…I don’t need to. I just…huff…have to hold out…long enough…huff…”
“Long enough?” Light scoffed. “Long enough for what?”
—because he always had a catcher.
The rocks blasted inward, and through the dust emerged the Justice League, Batman in the front.
Nightwing smirked. “That!” With his remaining strength, he drew back his fist and let it fly, connecting with breaking strength against Light’s cheekbone. As the man fell backwards, his hold upon Nightwing’s shirt faded, and Dick crumpled to his knees without the “help” to keep erect. A curse shot through his tense lips, and his hands clutched the side of his abdomen over his wound. A shaking hand clamped on his shoulder, while a second black glove pressed upon his wound over his own.
“…the…*huff* kids…?”
“They’re going to be fine,” Batman replied, but Dick persisted until he raised his head. Black Lightning and Hawkgirl currently hunched over Robin, who sat up and rubbed his forehead before glancing over at Damian and making sure the kid was okay—the burden of being an older brother, even if your little brother is a demon. At Damian’s side was Geo-Force and Wonder Woman, the latter who fawned over the newly discovered warrior son of the Bat, and if Dick wasn’t in such pain, he would have smiled. Jason, thankfully, was being looked over by Green Lantern and Black Canary, the former who used his ring to stem the bleeding, the latter who used her voice to awaken the injured fighter from his healing comfort.
No one paid Sean or Ra’s any attention.
His sight became impeded by a large blue and red being, or so he thought since the pain of his father’s hand over his own snapped his head down and stole a hiss from his lips.
“Superman, take off your cape and rip it into strips. Flash, circumnavigate this place. Find me some antiseptic, and if you can’t, get alcohol. Arrow, lay my cape on the ground.”
Batman. Bruce. Dad.
“Can…*huff* c—can I pass out…now?”
As his back slowly reclined, tearing his eyes and clenching his teeth, Batman came into view. He shook his head once, though the fear in his eyes marred Dick’s soul. He was cutting it close. “Not yet.”
“...yes.”
“Don’t fight with me,” Batman ordered callously before his voice lightened. “When this is all over, you and I will have words about the stunt you pulled today.”
Dick somehow managed to smile through the cringe. “Which one?”
Batman narrowed his eyes and lifted his hand to place a second strip of Superman’s cape down on his wound and press down. Flash returned with a bottle of some substance Dick was sure he didn’t want on his wound, and he knew his was right when his body shrieked and bucked at the application.
He turned his face to the side as Superman held him down by the legs and Red Arrow by the arms. When the fire finally died down enough for Dick to meet Bruce’s eyes again, his father’s hands cupped Dick’s cheeks, his fingers gently clasping the back of his son’s neck, his thumbs massaging back and forth upon the boy’s cheeks.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
Dick grinned and fought to cover his father’s hand with his own. Yes, this time, it was.
To Be Concluded…