Batman Beyond #9

“From there, I ran to the main auction-house and found who I needed,” Dick said, taking a pause.

“Did you get anything out of him?” Terry asked impatiently.

Dick smiled. “Kid, when you’ve been in this game as long as I have, you rarely walk away empty-handed. The guy sang like a canary.”

“Canary?” Terry asked in confusion. “What the hell’s a canary?”

“A bird that’s been extinct for the better half of your life, Terry,” Bruce answered. He turned back to Dick. “What did he tell you?”

“As much as he knew, which isn’t saying a lot. He never asked too many questions when a new lot came in. He just stored it until auction, sold it and took his cut. Still, he did have one thing: an address where he was told to leave the payment.”

“And you followed it, of course,” Bruce said.

“Yes. I was out of options and I had to find out what the hell was going on. The place was across town, so it took me a while to get there…”



Nightwing surveyed the building. It was two stories tall, with all the windows boarded up. The nearest buildings to it stood several blocks away, which meant it was less likely someone would see him sneaking in.

He crept towards the side of the building, sticking closely to the shadows. Just because he hadn’t noticed anyone nearby didn’t mean he should get sloppy. He stopped just inches away from the wall and looked up.

There was no way he was reaching the roof without a boost.

Wait, he thought, didn’t Bruce design this thing for flight? He looked down at his boots, contemplating. Problem is: what if the jets are faulty like the stealth-system? Could wind up losing a foot if it screws up … Ah, hell. What’s life without a little risk?

The muscles in his legs tensed as he activated the jets, propelling him upward. He cut them off, caught the edge of the roof, and flipped up onto it.

Looks like I lucked out on that one.

He crept across the roof, looking for a way inside, and found a doorway. This was an old building; the door still had a knob. He tried it, and the door opened, the moonlight spilling through the opening, revealing a stairway leading down. Something about this didn’t feel right; why would any ‘legitimate’ underworld businessman keep a place like this to complete a transaction? It didn’t make sense. But then, half the businessmen in Bludhaven now were certifiable anyway. He started down the steps.

At the bottom of the stairway, he stepped into a long hallway, completely dark save for a lone light at the other end coming from underneath a door.

He stuck close to the wall, creeping silently towards the light, checking behind him as he went to make sure no one snuck up on him in the dark.

All was quiet on the other side as he reached the door. The only noise was the soft hum coming from the lights. Carefully, quietly, he opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

The room was filled with beakers and test-tubes of various shapes and sizes, containing chemicals of different colors and consistencies. They were scattered about, some on the counters where they belonged, others littering the floor; some had even been knocked over leaving stains on the carpet that would never come out.

What the hell’s going on here? This doesn’t make any sense. It’s almost like a drugs lab.

Then, he noticed something he hadn’t at first: a smell coming from somewhere in the room; it was very familiar.

He stepped across the room and picked up a beaker of bluish-green liquid and sniffed it. His eyes widened. “No!” he whispered hoarsely. He set the beaker back down and began inspecting the others. One of the bottles was marked “Magnesium”, another, “Venom”. He returned them to their place on the counter.

“There’s more going on here than I thought,” he said aloud.

“Hey, who’s in there?” A voice called from outside the door.

Dammit, Nightwing thought, there’s no excuse for me being that sloppy! Well, guess I’ll just have to fight my way outta here.

He activated stealth-mode; it might not keep him hidden for long, but hopefully it would last long enough to give him a one-up on his enemies.

The door burst open, and two men, heavily armed, rushed in. They were covered from head to toe in high-tech armor, sporting heavy rifles, ready to fire. “Who’s in here?” one of them said, scanning the room.

Okay, with that kind of armor, there’s no way I can beat them head-on. Gotta think of something…

“Well, looks like there’s no one here,” the other guard said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Not so fast,” the first one replied. “You know what the master said: if there’s even a chance that we’ve been compromised, we blow this place to high hell.”

“Alright, let’s get it over with.”

The first guard pulled a small grenade from his belt. “This should be enough to take care of things if we set it off in here with the chemicals.” He armed it and tossed it on the floor. “Now let’s break for it before this thing goes off.”

They rushed back out of the room.

Nightwing tried to move toward the door, but for some reason, he was frozen in place.

Dammit! The suit’s on the fritz again! This thing’s gonna get me killed! He forced his muscles, trying to move. C’mon, you bastard, move!

Stealth-mode deactivated and his arms dropped to his sides. He started for the door.

Don’t have much time before—

The grenade erupted, splashing him with scalding chemicals and sending him flying down the hall.

He got to his feet, his head fuzzy, his skin burning in agony. Luckily, the explosion had sent him right to the foot of the stairway. He grabbed the railing and scrambled up the stairs as fast as his body could carry him. His muscles screamed, threatening to give out at any moment.

Don’t you dare quit, dammit! he told himself. Don’t you dare quit!

Before he knew it, he was staring over the edge of the roof with no way down. He lifted his head slowly and felt pain jolt through his neck. The bay loomed just a few hundred yards away … if he could just make it there…


Before he knew it, he felt the cold bay water engulfing him as he broke the surface, gasping for air. He didn’t recall how he’d gotten there, but it didn’t matter; now he had a chance. He had to make it to Jenna’s place.

Swimming took every bit of strength he could muster. Luckily, the waters were fairly calm tonight; otherwise he knew he wouldn’t have made it.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the water, but dawn was just beginning to break, painting the tip of the clouds in the distance. Finally, he found what he was looking for: the old abandoned wharf where he’d built one of his safe-houses. He hadn’t been to it in years.

Crawling out of the water was agonizing. He hadn’t realized just how much pain he was in until he left the bay’s cool embrace. Every tendon felt like it was on fire, the pain threatening to consume him, to make him black out.

Can’t black out. I’m dead if I do. Keep moving … Just … keep … moving…

He crawled underneath the stairs leading up to the warehousing area and felt around the wall for the old switch. It took him a minute with his hands shaking uncontrollably, but he found it, causing a piece of the wall to slide to the right, admitting him to the safe-house. The door closed behind him as the lights flickered on.

No way am I reaching Jenna’s place in my condition … Gotta … call her…

His steps were shaky as he stumbled across the room. This was one of the smaller safe-houses, but right now it felt like he was trekking across the Sahara without water.

He reached the computer and typed in a code sequence.

VOICE RECOGNITION ACTIVATED, a synthetic voice stated.

“Computer,” he said weakly, “call Jenna Kyle.”

CALLING…

Please answer, Jenna, he thought.

“Hello?” Jenna’s voice was a welcome relief.

“Jenna…”

“Dad? Is that you? What number are you calling me fro-”

“No time to explain,” he cut in. “Get to … safe-house 13. You… remember where that is?”

“Oh my God, Dad, what happened?”

“Explain … when you get… here. And bring a … really big first aid kit…”

Everything went black.


When he opened his eyes, he was lying facedown on a desk. His arms and legs were tied down with something. Where was he? What was going on?

He felt a sharp pain dig into his back

“Agh!” he tried to get up, but the straps were tight and he was too weak to put up a decent struggle.

“Don’t you move a muscle!” Jenna said sternly. “One wrong jerk and I could end up crippling you. Do that again and I use a sedative, no matter how much you hate them.”

Suddenly, it all came together. He’d been in an explosion trying to gather information on a thief. That’s what he got for trying to do Bruce a favor.

“Sorry I made you come all the way down here, Jen,” he said with a wince as he felt another jolt of pain in his back. “Just didn’t know who else to call… It’s been so long since…”

“Since you’ve been a human pin-cushion?” she said sarcastically.

“Pretty much.”

She sighed. “Forget it, Dad. What kind of daughter would I be if I let my father bleed to death just because he decided to be a complete moron.”

“Had to… AGH! ...help Bruce.” He heard something clink as the pain eased. “Mind telling me what’s going on back there?”

“Pulling shrapnel out of your back. And let me tell you, there’s plenty of it back here. Luckily, all of the pieces look reachable, but your back might look like a jigsaw puzzle when I’m done.”

“Lovely,” he said with a wince. “Jen, I’m sorry.”

“I already said it’s fine.”

“No, not about this. Just realized I haven’t exactly been the best father to you over the years.”

“You did your best.”

“My best wasn’t good enough. You deserved better. Your mom was always better with kids than I was.”

“Dad, I won’t lie to you. As a kid I hated the fact that you put your duty before me, but, as I got older, I realized that you were fighting to make the world a safer place for me. Not for me solely, but I was a part of it. I never doubted once that you loved me, Dad. So, stop beating yourself up over it and forgive yourself; I did a long time ago.”

He chuckled. “Did we just have a father-daughter bonding moment?”

“If not then we came dangerously close. Now, brace yourself, I have to go deeper for this one.”

“RAGH! Yeesh, you weren’t kidding. Good God, that hurt.”

“Aw, I’m sorry! And here I thought I was operating on a superhero, not a crybaby.”

“Now you sound like your mother. How’s Selena doing anyway?”

“Living it up, jumping from one tropical paradise to another.” She paused for a moment. “Dad, Mom never would tell me this but why didn’t the two of you ever get married?”

“Because we realized we didn’t really love each other. The only reason we even lived together those few years was so you’d have a stable home to grow up in. We may not have loved each other, but she sure as hell loved you like crazy. Don’t know why your mother wouldn’t tell you that.”

“Oh, she did. I just wanted to see if your stories matched. And, they do.”

“Thought I raised you to be honest.”

“You did, but Mom was a little more lenient.” She smiled.

“At least you got my sense of humor.”

“Yes, I’ve been told my bedside manner is wonderful.”

“Thank God you wanted to be a doctor, or I’d be screwed right now.”

“God has a sense of humor, I guess. Your daughter tells you she wants to be a doctor, you make sure she gets into the finest medical school available, and years later she’s digging shrapnel out of your sorry ass.”

“It got in my ass too?”

“A little. Your legs too.”

“Damn.”

“You said it.”

“And I think I’ll say it again … Damn! By the way, I think you can untie my arms and legs now.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, I forgot.”

The next several hours seemed to fly by as they talked. He explained to her the reason for his injuries and she just rolled her eyes. They were closer than they’d been in years.

When she finished administering his stitches, he sat up on the makeshift operating table with a wince.

“My ass hurts.”

“It should. You had four holes in it.”

“At least it wasn’t five. Guess I’m just too old for this.”

“That’s another thing I should tell you…”

“What?”

“There’s no easy way to say it. Here, look into this mirror.”

He took it from her hand and looked into it, only to find someone staring back at him that he hadn’t seen in years. He traced the lines of his face with his fingers, disbelieving. The only white in his hair now rested at his temples and he looked to be a man in his mid-thirties.

“What the hell kind of mirror is this?”

“You said you were hit with chemicals during the explosion, maybe they had something to do with this?”

He set the mirror down. “I have to get to Gotham. Bruce can help me figure this out.” He stood up, grabbed the prototype batsuit off the back of a chair and slipped it back on. “Dick Grayson may be M.I.A. for a while, Jen. I’ll need you to look after things for me while I’m gone. If you get lost on anything, call one of the Foxes, they’ll be glad to help.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I am not a businesswoman.”

“Which is why I’m telling you about the Fox family. They’re all good friends of mine. Just tell them I had an emergency to attend to and left you in charge, they’ll guide you through everything.”

“Don’t you have someone else who can do it? I have commitments at the hospital to keep.”

“And I understand that, but it’s a bit easier for you to find someone you trust to cover for you than it is for me. Yes, I could get James or Ronald Fox to cover for me, but I need someone who knows my secret at the top of the chain, in case I need something. Please, Jen, do this for me.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay, I guess I can do it.”

“Good.” He smiled and gave her a peck on the forehead. “I’ll give you access to all the files you’ll need before I leave tonight. By the way, what time is it?”

“Three in the afternoon.”

“Damn, I was out of it for a while then. Well, let’s get started.”



“And then I grabbed my old sky-cycle and came here,” Dick finished. “So, Bruce, did the results of that sample you took from me come back while I was jabbering?”

“Not yet. But it shouldn’t be much longer.”

“Dammit. I thought this computer was supposed to be fast.”

“It is, but you have a convoluted mess of chemicals in your bloodstream. The computer needs time to sort through them all.” He turned his attention towards Terry. “In the meantime, you’re headed for Bludhaven.”

“To examine the explosion, I assume?”

“You assume correctly, for once.”

“Whoa there, slick,” Dick interrupted. “No offense, but Bludhaven isn’t like Gotham. The rules work differently there, and you’re more likely to get yourself killed.”

“I can handle myself just fine,” Terry retorted. “I’m still, like, half your age.”

“Yeah, and half as smart to boot. Listen, kid, it’s not about who’s younger or stronger. That city’s like Gotham’s ugly older brother. You know how in Gotham, on every other street corner, there’s someone waiting to shove a knife through your ribs? Well, in the ‘Haven, that guy’s waiting on every street corner.”

“Terry will be fine. He’s only going to scan the site of the explosion, see if there are any clues. Then he turns around and comes back.”

“I guess you’re right,” Dick relented. “Just be careful, kid. Watch your back at all times, and someone strange approaches you, I don’t care if it’s an old lady, you hit first and ask questions later, understood?”

“Aye, aye, Captain hard-ass,” Terry quipped.

“I’m uploading the coordinates into the car’s navigation system, it should get you there within an hour, Terry,” Bruce said. “Radio in when you get there.”

“You got it.”



I’m here. About to start looking. Doubt I’ll find anything though, the place is a mess. Terry’s voice came over the comm. loud and clear.

“Good,” Bruce replied. “Keep us posted.”

Suddenly, an alarm blared, echoing throughout the cave.

“What the hell is that?” Dick yelled, covering his ears.

Bruce hit a series of buttons and the alarms fell silent. “An alarm,” he replied with a smirk.

“Since when the hell did you get a sense of humor?”

“Damn!”

“What? What is it?”

“I had Terry set up an alarm in his home as a precaution, in case anyone ever found out who he was … It’s just been tripped.”

“How was it tripped?”

“Anyone who steps into that building carrying any weapon other than a G.C.P.D. model will set off the alarm.”

I heard that, Bruce. I’m on my way back now.

“Don’t be stupid, Terry, you’re too far away, you’d never make it in time.”

That’s my family! Someone has to get them out of there!

“And someone will, kid,” Dick replied coolly. “Bruce, you got a way I can get there, like, yesterday?”

“You’re still not fully healed from that explosion.”

“Whatever those chemicals were, they seemed to help me heal up a bit faster. I’m still not at my peak, but we don’t exactly have any options here. Gotham P.D. won’t get there in time.

Bruce sighed. “You’ll have to take the old shuttle system we set up years ago. The nearest exit should be a little over a block away from Terry’s house.”

“Show me a map, quick!”

A map pulled up on the screen and he studied it intently for a few seconds. “Alight, got it. Now, I’m gonna need to borrow my old suit, Bruce. The prototype’s still too finicky.”

“Do it!”

“Still keep a set of my old escrima sticks around here?” he asked, crossing the room and pulling the suit off the mannequin.

“They’ll be in the armory. It’s on the way to the shuttle.”

“Just like the old days.” He jerked the suit on as fast as he could and bolted for the armory, after grabbing an old ear-piece from Bruce to keep in touch. The escrima sticks still felt like an extension of his arms.

He hopped in the shuttle and gave Bruce the go-ahead to send it off. The force of the takeoff shoved him flat against the seat. His heart was racing.

Can’t believe I’m doing this…




“Leave her alone!” Matt screamed as his mother was knocked to the ground by a powerful backhand. He rushed at them but was quickly knocked down himself.

He cried out in pain as a shuriken pierced his right palm, pinning his hand to the ground. Tears streamed down his face.

“You bastards keep your hands off my son!” his mother screamed, launching herself towards them. She didn’t feel the dagger pierce her abdomen until her assailant twisted it. She fell backwards, landing just in front of Matt. She moved her mouth, trying to force the words to come out, to no avail.

“Mom!” Matt screamed, his eyes soaked with tears.

Their attackers had come without warning, breaking down the door and forcing their way in. They were dressed strangely, almost like ninjas, but with robotic parts covering various parts of their bodies.

I’m gonna die! Matt thought. They’re gonna kill us! He closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come.



What the hell? Cybernetic ninjas? Day just keeps getting better… Dick thought as he peered around the threshold of Terry’s front door. The actual door lay a few feet inside, bent to high hell.

Don’t have time to formulate much of a strategy here, these guys are playing for keeps.

Before he knew it, he was flying through the air, bouncing his escrima sticks off the heads of two of the ninjas. He didn’t even remember pulling the sticks from his back. He thought he might have heard himself say “Get the hell away from them!” during the fight, but he couldn’t remember. He was moving purely on instinct, blocking sword-strokes and tearing katanas from cybernetic hands, using them to deflect bo and hira-shuriken.

One of the bo-shuriken grazed his leg. He barely noticed the wound. He scooped it up off the floor and threw it back, placing it squarely in the ninja’s right shoulder, sending sparks flying from the cybernetic arm.

In what seemed a few seconds, the fight was over, and Nightwing stood over the unmoving forms of seven ninjas.

He pressed a finger to his ear. “Get an ambulance here, now! And some cops to arrest these thugs.”

Already on their way. E.T.A. three minutes.

“They’d better hurry! She’s bleeding!” He ripped a shirt off one of the ninjas and tied it around her wound. He looked at the kid, whose eyes were wide with amazement. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Matt.”

“Well, Matt,” he said, carefully gripping the tip of the hira-shuriken embedded in Matt’s hand, “I’m gonna need you to be a tough guy for me, alright?”

Matt nodded and squeezed his eyes shut.

Nightwing eased it out of Matt’s hand, garnering a loud grunt from the kid. He threw it aside. He ripped another piece of clothing off one of the fallen and wrapped Matt’s hand in it.

He heard sirens outside now. Good.

“Alright, Matt, now, I need you to tell the police everything they need to know, alright? Can you do that for me?”

Matt nodded.

“You’re a very brave guy, you know that?” he said, ruffling Matt’s hair.

He ducked out of sight just before the police poured into the room.



“Good job out there,” Bruce said as Dick approached, peeling off his mask. “Mrs. McGinnis’s status is critical, but according to the rescue team, she’s not too far gone. She should pull through.”

“I’d like a little more than a ‘should’,” Dick said, sitting down on the cold cave floor. He rested his arms across his knees and propped his chin on his forearms. “But, y’know what’s crazy about it, Bruce?”

“What’s that?”

“Tonight felt … right. Granted, my movements tonight were a little stiff, but it still felt natural, like I never left.”

“Are you saying you’re thinking of picking up where you left off?”

“I dunno … Maybe. Part of it depends on whether or not this change is permanent.”

“That reminds me, the results of the test are in.”

Dick took a deep breath, waiting for the words he knew he didn’t want to hear.

To Be Continued…



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