Nightwing #24--Bitter Blend

Dick tossed the newspaper to the desk and leaned back in his chair. Another one? Over the past two weeks, severe cases of arsenic poisoning had been popping up sporadically across the globe. London, Tokyo, Chicago, France… New York. In fact, this marked the eighty-third case of arsenic poisoning in New York, alone—two of them his classmates.

He had been painstakingly collecting what information he could on the victims, but it was a time-consuming task—there were thousands of sick in hundreds of places with no single interconnecting thread to tie them all together. No obvious one at least.

His grumbling stomach diverted his attention. He checked his watch. If he ate a quick breakfast at the small restaurant down the road, he might make it to work on time. Grabbing his jacket, he locked the door and ran down to his ‘cycle.

After a five-minute breakfast he hopped on his motorcycle and headed to work. The sausage was dry, the pancakes were stale, and the iced tea was lukewarm but it would do.

He’d barely worked half the day when he began to feel dizzy and nauseous. He focused on the papers in front of him and tried to concentrate. That was when his situation seemed all too familiar.

People were dying of arsenic poisoning and no one could find a connection between the victims. They resided in different parts of the world, lived different lifestyles—they appeared to have nothing remotely in common.

In less than an hour he had to give up working. He told Tiffany he was leaving, and drove home.

It was a miracle he made it that far.

Back home, Dick parked his bike in the apartment garage and hurried into his building, clutching his stomach, gritting his teeth against the pain. Forcing himself up the stairs to his door, he unlocked it and pushed it open. He stood in the doorway for a moment, dizzy, before he walked in and flipped the light on.

Moments later...

Dick retched. He stood over the toilet a moment longer before straightening up, still holding his stomach.

Please… not me too…

He had just enough time to bend over the toilet again before he heaved once more.

Darn it!

Kyle peeked in the doorway to where Dick was leaning against the wall tiredly, the remains of his breakfast in the toilet. After a moment he broke the silence.

“Sausage?” he observed.

Dick turned his head to look at him, his lips pressed together in a tight line. “Get. Out.”

I am soooooo gonna kill Donna. Dick thought.

“Hey, sorry, I just needed to use the... I guess you do too, ’ey?” Kyle commented.

“Dick? Are you okay?” Kory asked from behind Kyle.

No. Dick wasn’t okay. He had the same symptoms that thousands of other people had around the world.

…Before they landed six feet under.

Dick didn’t want to worry anyone, though. Ever since he’d gotten sick, he’d been comparing it to what other people had.

It had to be arsenic poisoning.

Dick didn’t want to worry anyone, though. Ever since he’d gotten sick, he’d been comparing it to what other people had.

“Kory,” he gasped, his throat raw.

“Yes?” Kory asked, in all seriousness.

“Grab a small plastic bag.”

She hastened to comply. A moment later she returned, and offered the bag to Dick.

“What’re you doing?” Kyle asked as Dick pulled a couple of dark hairs from his head.

Dick didn’t have the energy or inclination to reply; he simply dropped the hair into the bag. Handing the bag back to Kory, he said, “Have these analyzed.

He retched, leaning over the toilet.

Kory looked as serious as Dick had ever seen her. “You think that you were poisoned or something?”

It was a moment before Dick could reply. “Maybe... yeah. Have the lab check for arsenic, foxglove, rhododendron, azalea, maybe elephant ear, just have them test it. But have them check for arsenic, first.”

“I shall,” Kory said, turning immediately to leave.

“You,” Dick said to Kyle. “Tell Donna and the guys that I’m sorry, but I’m not in any condition for a party.”

Dick threw up again, clutching his stomach in pain.

“Sure,” Kyle said. He appeared again a moment later. He waited till Dick had straightened up and looked at him. “They wanted to come see you, but… I told them that no, they didn’t.”

Dick glanced in the mirror. He did look awful, but he didn’t care.

“Should I be carrying you to the hospital?” Kyle asked, his tone light, though he looked concerned.

“No,” Dick muttered, thinking out loud. “They’d treat me the same way they’re treating other patients with my symptoms…”

“You think you deserve special treatment?” Kyle interrupted, smirking.

“… With charcoal tablets,” Dick continued. He stumbled to the medicine cabinet, searching for his own supply.

Kyle watched over Dick’s shoulder. “That one?” He pointed.

Dick didn’t have time to reply before Kyle's hand was in front of him, knocking a bottle of aspirin into the sink as it reached for the tablets. Dick grabbed the box before Kyle could, dumping five of the pills into his hand.

Hope I can hold this down, Dick though as he took the tablets.

“Now what?” Kyle demanded.

“Now we wait,” Dick said, sinking slowly to the floor. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cabinet. If he was right, the charcoal tablets should at least help.

Fifteen minutes later he opened his eyes.

“Give me five more,” he said, looking up at Kyle.

Kyle dumped some out of the box and handed them to Dick, who downed them.

Dick leaned back and closed his eyes again, so pale that Kyle wondered if he really would have to carry him to the hospital.

“How long has it been?” Dick murmured.

“Uh… four, five minutes.”

Dick was silent a moment, then looked up at Kyle, confused.

“What’re you doing here?” He asked strangely.

Kyle crouched down so he could see the other man face-to-face. Against Dick’s muttered protests he easily slung him over his shoulder. Obviously, whatever plan Dick had made had failed. Kyle made it to the living room before the phone rang. The answering machine picked it up as Kyle opened the door, and Kory’s voice came on.

“Hey, it’s me. Looks like you were right—S.T.A.R. Labs confirmed that you have arsenic poisoning—”

Kyle dumped Dick on the couch and picked up the phone, and exchanged a few quick words with Kory. He updated her on Dick’s condition, then hung up and looked at Dick thoughtfully.

Picking Dick up again, he went out the door and down the stairs. Once on the street, he hailed a taxi.

When Kyle got back to the hospital, he found Dick trying to convince the doctor and nurses to discharge him.

“Aw, he’s fine,” Kyle said.

“He really should be kept here overnight—” The doctor interrupted.

Kyle waved at him dismissively. “Please, the guy’s clearly fine...” He leaned a little closer to the doctor. “I’ll keep an eye on him and drag him back here if he gets sick again. ‘Sides, considering how he’s behaving, consider it a favor that I take him off your hands.”

The doctor removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Fine. But if you show the slightest symptom,” he said, turning to Dick, “come back here immediately.”

“You got it,” Dick said. Smiling, he walked casually out the door and bolted for the rooftop as soon as he left the two men behind.

Moments earlier, stories below...

Jeez, that Dick guy sure lived up to his namesake, Kyle Rayner thought to himself as he walked up the street to his cramped studio apartment. I knew I shoulda stayed home tonight. And what was Donna thinking leaving me with that stiff?
That was when he got that familiar feeling in his gut. Aw no! Not again, not now, I just want to get home and get to sleep. But the feeling would not go away. It never did. Instead, it grew spreading through his body until it threatened to break through the skin on his toes and fingertips.

He ran into what he hoped was an abandoned alleyway and got ready for the light show. His hands started to glow and his eyes turned white. From his chest black matter exploded, which enveloped his body and covered him from head to toe before it tamed to a body suit.

Then of course came the beam of light. He tried to prevent its turning into the searchlight it had become the few times before but as uncontrollable as ever, the light burst from his chest, shot into the air, and turned the tight space between the buildings as bright as day.

He had changed, and not only appearance-wise. He was filled with unnatural confidence. His creativity which previously had been like a leaky facet was now completely uninhibited. He soared into the sky. He was braver. He was stonger. He was a hero. He was Ion.

That was when he saw a prowler hopping along the rooftops, dressed in black. A criminal, no doubt. His fists glowed and zoomed towards the shadow as it continued to flip and twirl across the night sky stopping only momentarily at a time to look around before jumping again.

Ignoring his natural instinct to do the sensible thing and call the cops, Kyle followed the man running recklessly away from him. That was when he saw him slip and fall. Kyle manifested a net underneath him catching who or whatever it was before it splattered onto the streets below.

“Hey there, need a lift?” Kyle asked pulling the net closer to him and putting handcuffs on the masked man wearing blue and black tights.

Behind him, Kyle watched and shook his head.

I shoulda just let him fall, Kyle thought to himself half regretfully.

Almost out of eyeshot now, he could just see Dick narrowly miss falling again. Kyle smiled. Obviously, the media had made a bigger deal out of Nightwing than what he really was. This guy could barely clear a 6-foot gap!

Nightwing peered into the darkness, searching for any guards. So far, he and Kyle had done great at disabling and avoiding any alarms.

Behind him, Kyle said, “all clear.” He wiped off his hands and a small gang of green robotic soldiers disappeared.

Dick shushed him, then said, “We’ll split up. If you come across anything or anybody that looks suspicious, call me, you got it?”

“Are you sure it’s this company?” Kyle asked as loudly as before.

“Yes. This is the kind that I drank, and the same kind that at least a few others did.”

Kyle gave him a mock salute, then walked away from Dick, studying his surroundings.

Nightwing went the opposite way, looking around more carefully. Wandering through the warehouse, he found crates full of boxes of Eastern Leaves tea. Rapid calculations told him that there had to be several thousand boxes in the visible crates alone.

He pulled out a few boxes of tea and ripped open the bags. He shone a small flashlight to illuminate them. He shook some, but no telltale white powder came out.

Nightwing looked through several more boxes, coming up empty-handed each time. Checking the date on the crates, he found that they had been delivered earlier that day.

Struck with inspiration, he hurried to find Ion. He peeked around several crates, before…

“Hey, Nightwing!”

Dick winced. That maniac!

Well, if anyone was there, they knew they had company. “Yes?” Dick said, his voice chilly as it echoed in the warehouse.

“C’mere a sec.”

Dick followed his voice, but stopped short when he found him.

“Does this count as suspicious?” Kyle asked him.

Dick paused, then said, “Oh, yeah…”