To Kill Two Birds with One Stone

[The Monitor]

N I G H T W I N G

Serenity.

A nonexistent concept until today. Dick knew it would only last for only a few minutes, but that was enough. The last few days had taken a toll on his body and it was definitely showing. It had been one hell of a week and Dick was beginning to wonder how the Dark Knight handled this on a daily basis; not that he didn’t have his fair share of problems, but he always considered his line of work a lot easier than the Batman. Perhaps this was a sign that it was time to grow up and pull off his kid bottoms. He grimaced as he leaned forward, a bruise on his pelvic area had been persistent and it didn’t help that the last few days didn’t allow time for proper healing. He suspected that by this time it was fractured, hopefully not any worse.

Dressed up in his signature Nightwing costume, the red logo across his chest glowed under the light of the moon as he looked down onto the city. Bludhaven a city named with every pun induced completely intended. If you thought Gotham was the darkest city in the world, then Bludhaven was a damn close contender. Rape, murder, torture, kidnapping, drugs, everything it all happened here. Luckily for Bludhaven they had a hero they could call their own, someone to depend on to fix its ailments.

The night was beginning on a relatively quiet note, something Dick was graciously thankful for. It gave him a moment to rest, but more importantly to think about what had transpired in the last few days.

Early Tuesday evening, at around 7:04 pm a fire had broken out at the local community college. Dick immediately answered to the scene when he heard that there were still people trapped in the building. When he did finally make it past the smoke and fire he met with a group of thugs who he immediately crowned as the perpetrators of the fire. They were adorned with proper gear and fire masks much to Dick’s confusion and proceeded to attack him. The night ended with him bringing four out of six of them and almost dying from carbon dioxide poisoning.

Wednesday morning, without getting enough rest at Hospital had come under attack by some unknown terrorists. Much to Nightwing’s disdain they had set a bomb somewhere in the facility and he had to go through crazy masked guards and finally through a manufactured maze to finally find the bomb and put it out. Talk about close causes, he was about 1 minute away from detonation when he finally found it.

Thursday afternoon a bank was under a hostage situation and Dick had to literally drag himself out of bed to report to the scene in time to save over 21 hostages and go through about 9 thugs. He received some bullet scrapes and knife wounds from that fight, but all in all came out whole. Fortunately, he had used stealth to overcome his enemies, but strangely enough they still put up a good enough fight. Almost like they expected him there.

That same evening a group of criminals had taken the commissioner and his son hostage and holed themselves up in the police station. Many officers were gunned down before Nightwing could come in and prevent that sort of business from happening. This really messed up his game plan as mentally he had hit him a little harder than he wished it did. By Thursday evening he was always displaying signs of sloppiness in the way he moved and reacted. His movements were sluggish and he took a few hits that he should have easily been able to avoid. His fatigue and injury were catching up to him and he knew that – so did his assailants. They seemed to know just where to hit him to make it hurt the most, but through it all he was able to push through and safe the commissioner and his son before any real harm could befall them.

Friday night was a wonderful night spent at a criminal warehouse where Dick dealt with –what he thought – was a gang war. He ended up getting in between two of probably the most professional gangs he had ever encountered. These guys knew exactly what they were doing and were armed to their teeth with weaponry that baffled Dick. They definitely weren’t your typical run of the mill gangsters and Nightwing was definitely going to investigate into them. However before he could even think of where to start looking first when he finally cleared out the warehouse, the house place was blown up to bits and Nightwing had just barely scraped out of there alive.

Now it was Saturday and so far no wild calls in the night that beckoned him to come. He needed this time, needed it to think of what had happened in the four consecutive nights. The four nights that on every moment had him at the edge, had him hanging off a limb. He needed to make sense out of all of it. He thought if they were possibly all connected, but none of it seemed streamline. None of the ways or reasons that each attack was held connected in any way. The only thing that he thought was a good link was that every night when he went up each thug, they were a lot more skilled in hand to hand combat than he was used to.

Dick was trained under some of the best in the world and regular street thug could in no way match his skill. But these guys, these guys all of them gave him a problem in their fights. They were trained fighters there was no doubt about that. You didn’t get good by just watching videos all day and practicing on each other. These guys were very serious; but who would hire a string of well-trained fighters? Dick knew professionals like this were not cheap and if this was all connected they had to be hired by someone wealthy enough – or at the very least – had at their disposal the trained martial artists.

He searched through his head trying to put a name and face together. Who did he know had the means to put together a team of trained fighters?

“Ra’s.”


The named escaped from his lips with a slow hiss as he narrowed his eyes and looked out into the city. There was no one else with the means, the man power and the motivations to orchestrate these kinds of attacks. Ra’s and his league of assassains were capable of being in many places at any time and that’s exactly what they managed to do this entire week. But for what cause? What did Ra’s want from Nightwing – more importantly what would be his next move? This entire week was random, sporadic. Dick couldn’t piece it together, none of it made sense. What did Ra’s want and if he wanted to find Ra’s where would he start?

His eyes began to scan the city, where could Ra’s be hiding? Where?

An explosion in the distance immediately caught his attention and he leaned forward ready to take off. Suddenly, he grimaced and hissed in pain as his knee almost buckled on him. Definitely not the best condition to take on the demon’s head, but he had to stop him. There was no one else. Pushing himself off the rooftop, Dick’s innate gymnastic skills kicked in as he spiraled in the air. In one swoop he elegantly twirled and released a line. The grapple extended out through the air and latched onto an open girder from a construction site. When Dick confirmed the line was safe, he let physics do its thing and he swooped through the air, gracefully landed onto another rooftop several feet away from his original location.

He looked up and saw smoke billowing and rising over the horizon. He would have move faster.

“Alright Ra’s, I’m coming for you.”

[Bane]

The week was going off without a hitch. Everything was falling into place. In order to keep Batman thinking Bane was serious about his threats against Gotham, he'd actually have to seriously threaten Gotham. But, that was too generic and predictable. No, Bane would have to directly attack Gotham later. Right now, he needed to indirectly attack and directly attack Batman. Or more precisely, the name it held. This Batman Incorporated was bothersome like the League. More so than the League in alot of ways. They weren't superhuman but, they were the nerve center. Super powered beings relied on such, inborn gifts. Humans however, build their gifts through training. And even the most trained and informed human can eliminate a superior being. Lex Luthor proved this in his attacks against the Kryptonian. So a group of the most intelligent, trained heroes meant one thing: trouble.

"The device is set to explode."

"Good. Prepare for the breakout once he's 'defeated' you. Your orders then are to pillage and burn the city for a half an hour before hand delivering the message to Nightwing, after roughing him up of course."

"Understood. When this is done, me and you are going to have a rematch."

With the short exchange, Bane nodded towards the old mix of enemy and rival before him. He needed a man intelligent enough to run the field operations without Bane having to make his appearance known.

"One question....are you really sure about using....him? He can't be controlled."

"He's being used for that purpose. We'll put him in a situation where his scope is limited to the area. He'll only kill those in that region. Execute the orders Kyle."

With that, Kyle Abbott simply looked at Bane with confirmation. They maneuvered into place while Bane waited with his temporary ally. Kyle Abbott had the capacity to execute the attack according to plan. Now, it would be simple. Nightwing would arrive, stop the "saboteurs" who were trying to blow their way underground into a shelter of sort. When Nightwing would "capture" them and proceed home, Kyle would break out the previous assassins to raid the city for thirty minutes and then, informing Nightwing then of where he must go to make this end.

[The Monitor]

N I G H T W I N G

He moved soundlessly through the night from rooftop to rooftop, grappling from ledge to ledge and moving as fast as his feet would carry him. As he neared the site of the explosion the heat from the flames radiated onto his skin and on his inhalation the deep smell of sulfur tore up his nostrils. He paused, now only about two buildings away and surveyed the site. 17,400 square foot warehouse, based on how the roof had collapsed, the culprits had placed several blasting agents on primary structures to make the entire place cave in on itself. If anyone was trapped they were probably going to die by either the fire or the Carbon Dioxide poisoning. They were probably also trapped within the fortress. Whoever planned this had every intention of making sure everyone went down with the building.

The specialized binoculars he held over his eyes made a blip as it dedicated movement. Dick immediately switched his gaze and watched as the assumed perpetrators of the fire ran out from his right. Odd, setting up blasting agents didn’t mean they had to be in the vicinity, but maybe they had come back for something. Drugs, money, weapons. No time to think it over, he had to move into action.

Leaping from the rooftop, his grapple shot out onto a nearby bill board and he swung into the night, his body coming into full visibility under the moonlight for a brief second and then finally he landing on another rooftop. One more to go. He leaped once more and fixating his point, he swung through the air, both his legs extended forward with a slight bend at the knee for some give. three… two… one he thought as he neared his target and then *WHAM* the soles of his boots landed on the back of one of the running man. He cried out, and immediately his partners turned back to see Nightwing landing off the ground, and releasing bolas to latch onto two of the men’s feet. Five bad guys, alright, should be easy. He thought to himself as he pulled from his waist a small metal object. Pressing a button, the group watched as it extended out into a six foot long metal staff.

“Alright, which one of you started the fire?”

Dick said with a moderately menacing grin. He leaped forward, twirling his staff in hand and faking a swing the right, but then effectively smashing it into a face on his left. The right broke out and through a series of jabs, crosses, some kicks here and there, spinning back fists, and a few attempts at some ground work, Dick finally finished the last man standing with a clean hook to the chin that knocked him out cold.

He pulled from his utility belt zip ties to begin setting up the group for police apprehension but a helicopter that zoomed overhead caught his attention and for a moment he was at an odds end. Clearly that meant trouble, you didn’t just whip out the chopper for anything. On top of that he still needed to investigate the criminal warehouse, see what exactly had been going on in there. That would have be left for the police he supposed. Letting out an exasperated sigh he quickly zip tied all five men together, hands and feet, leaving them in an odd starfish like formation.

Releasing his grapple he shot up to the top of a crane to receive a bird’s eyes view, or the best he could and immediately the eyes behind the mask opened wide in shock. Bludhaven, or whatever was left of it was aflame, her buildings burning, smoke rising higher toward the moon and if he listened hard enough the terrified screams of the innocent as well as the gunshots of those who caused harm.

“What the hell Ra’s.”

Dick muttered assessing his most logical route to follow and finally jumping off the crane and into the darkness. He would reach the slum firsts, help the innocent people who were there. Then it was the main square to stop that whole place from burning down, a library was the next stop and then the hospital. Dick tried to interrogate those he could get his hands on, but whenever he did, they would bite on fake teeth in their mouths, not killing them but knocking them out momentarily. Whatever Ra’s had planned, think thought, he would have to go through hell and back to rectify it. Unless of course, this was already hell. He moved swiftly through the hospital, pausing for a moment to lean against an air vent as he pressed his hand lightly on his pelvic bone. A moment to breathe, a moment to rest was all he needed. Who was he kidding? He needed more than that, but the night was so alive and his duty as more necessary than ever. A scream broke him out of his daze and he shook his head and felt blood slide down his cheek. That would have to be addressed later, breaking into a run he started off with a limp but with much gusto, pushed the pain aside and made way for the hospital.

[Bane]

Chaos ensued. The message would be clearly sent and a smirk passed over his lips. The first rule of warfare after all was to undermine the assets of your enemy. and Nightwing, was an asset to Batman, even if not directly, his presence in a place that wasn't Gotham further spread out Batman's reach. A reach that would soon be a struggled grasping at straws. Bane then turned towards Kyle next to him as time had passed.

"Go. Rough him up and then, deliver the message, I'll be waiting. Is He ready?"

"Yes, though I'm not sure how you don't think he won't go berserk."

"His mission is to guard the file and eliminate those that come near it, while we secure him in the room. Simple mission means less time for him to think, or get angry. Proceed through."

And with that, Kyle nodded and vanished as he maneuvered throughout the city to locate Nightwing, as he did he injected a serum into his arm, revitalizing his notorious ability to alter form as he shortly turned into a wolf, sniffing the air before shortly finding Nightwing's scent. He hopped across buildings before finding Nightwing moving towards the hospital. In a moment, he leaped off the building, lunging with lethal fangs towards Nightwing's arm. Meanwhile, Bane simply moved through the buildings, going towards the docks area. To a very specific building he had crafted with equipment to make the final part of the mission all fall into place. He simply stood there waiting.

"With a short burst of electricity, one can snip the wings off a bird. Come, let's see if that is true, little birdy."

Bane said to himself and the air around him, anticipating the arrival of Nightwing, waiting for the show to start. Surprises a plenty were meant to come forth from us all.

[The Monitor]

N I G H T W I N G

After things had been settled at the hospital, Dick was ready to move onto his next point. Once again any attempts at interrogation ended in failure. He was basically chasing a mouse that didn’t exist. Or at least that is what he felt like. Batman would have figured something out by now Dick thought as he pursed his lips. He was in an alleyway now, looking through the advanced computer screen equipped in his eye mask. There was a trail he was following alright, but what did it all mean.

He wished Oracle was available, but her and the birds were taking care of some huge drug cartel, or least that’s the last her heard. Batman had been whisked away by the league, Tim was at the other end of the world, and Damian he didn’t even know what that kid was doing. Although, he wouldn’t have minded a young formerly trained under the league of assassins on his side.

He grit his teeth, enough thinking of the what ifs As he pushed off the wall, his knee almost buckled and he sighed. This was seriously taking a toll on him and he was unsure of whether or not to go on. Don’t be ridiculous Dick, there’s no such thing as taking breaks mustering the strength he forged on when suddenly, call it instinct he saw it coming.

Reaching out for his forearm, teeth bared, Dick looked in horror as an anthromorphic wolf lunged at him from the rooftops. He immediately flipped backwards, landing a bit awkwardly as he sized up his new opponent. This was, unlike Ra’s. He thought to himself as he looked up the wolfman up and down. This was very unlike Ra’s. As the wolf creature lunged at him again, Dick’s brow furrowed and at the last possible moment he tossed down a smoke bomb, causing the wolf’s open mouth to take a sharp inhale. Dick flipped over him and as he landed behind the creature, spun around to deliver an elbow to the back of the beast’s head. It landed cleanly and the man fell to the ground, coughing sporadically as his lungs cleared themselves.

Dick took the moment to lunge at his opponent, but too late the creature had recovered and was running into the darkness of the alleyway. Dick pursued him, and he squinted to get better visibility. Then he saw, a glint of the canines and the beast was on him, fists aiming straight for his face – then when it was dissatisfied it tore at his chest with its claws.

He took a few hits and what should have been an easy fight Dick realized was becoming more and more difficult what with his fatigue and weakened body beginning to give out on him. He growled as he grabbed the wolf man’s arm and quickly twisted his wrist. A cry out in pain and Dick quickly flipped over, switching the positions and mounting the creature. In a blind fury, he sent his fists into the beasts face and when he was at the edge of life, Dick picked him up by what was left of his collar and slammed him against the wall.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN BLUDHAVEN!?”

Dick grit his teeth as he pressed his knuckles into the creature’s neck.

“TELL ME NOW!”

The wolf creature gasped for air and through huffs mustered – “the..- the docks… go to the… docks.”

Roaring, Dick sent his fist straight into the man’s face and he crumpled to the ground. Bursting into the air and running across rooftops he made way for his final location for the night. He would end this madness tonight - at the docks.

[Bane]

Bane was waiting patiently for his moment to begin the show. His surveillance and hired assassins keeping a close watch around for movements as well as terrorizing this poor excuse of a city. So easy to infiltrate and turn into a state of chaos. The rampage was set, the brutality was vivid. No need to half ass a job. Bane was here to send a message to the Batfamily: They weren't safe. After all, war meant eliminating high value targets. And they were all valuable. Bane would deliver his message to each member of this new Batman Incorporated. As he was thinking, he heard a light sound behind him.

"He's been confirmed coming this way."

As Bane heard this he simply pondered. If he got here this quick it meant it was Kyle that got roughed up. How amusing, it looks like Bane picked a nerve, accessed the dark side of the former Batling. It showed that both mentally and physically he was worn and beaten. And if he wasn't fresh, a fight with Bane would be lethal. Provided, this message would be very clear to Batman.

"Good. Send one of your men to ambush him when he reaches the door. Consider it a welcoming party. No need for a silent entrance for him, after all."

And with that, the assassin jumped up and returned to his established position. All in the same, Bane would simply play this out as he planned it. And the results would be devastating to the micro-Bat. Bane chuckled to himself as he waited for a few minutes, before hearing sounds outside the entrance to the building as he smirked.

"Welcome, Nightwing. I hope you've enjoyed the....fireworks."

[The Monitor]

N I G H T W I N G

His mode of entry, as promised by the members of protégés who were trained under the Dark Knight were not orthodox. His surveillances informed him of the heavily guarded building where he assumed Ra’s would be holed up in. He was no doubt waiting for him, probably going to deliver some dramatic monologue and give to Dick an ultimatum. He would not buy it, he would not let his city fall – not to the likes of the Demon Head and his League of Assassins.

To make his target location obvious a clear mistake and utilizing the building’s vents and maintenance shafts to his advantage, he crawled his way in silence, dropping smoke bombs or creating diversions with explosive adhesives to overcome his enemies.

Finally the maintenance room of the building was the last room he had not ventured into yet and through the air vent shafts he narrowed his eyes to study two guards on watch. He considered either taking them down face to face or using more stealthy means. The latter seemed like the logical choice, given his current physical state as well as maintaining the element of surprise. Taking out a small projectile like weapon he aimed and fired with precision a bullet. It was slender, about 3 inches long with a glass end that had liquid that shifted slightly as the bullet made contact with the wall. The two guards looked to the projectile expectantly and suddenly, the glass burst and a gas released. Shooting straight up their nostrils, they inhaled some sort of knock out gas and immediately, they dropped to the floor.

Onward to the next room, Dick quickly shot through the shaft and silently slipped into the darkness of the maintenance room. He slid behind a few boxes and using his enhanced visor surveyed the room, one life form – that had to be Ra’s. No doubt he had his assassins holes up somewhere, ready to strike when they were in danger. How to approach the situation?

It would be stupid to begin an assault of sabotage with Ra’s. Dick would have to throw him off, exchange some banter and then cut the snake’s head off when it least expected it. He would maintain his hidden position and not expose himself, not yet at least.

“It’s over Ra’s. You’re madness stops here and now.”

Dick growled in the darkness, the heaviness in his voice reverberating through the cold air. He quickly moved his position, ensuring that the demon head would not follow the trail of his voice and nab him out of the shadows.

[Bane]

Sounds and lack of sounds. Everything lead to something and in the end, Bane would simply play the hand that he had kept the entire time. The situation would be easy to conclude with. After all, he stacked the deck. Bane knew that in due time, Nightwing would realize one simple thing: He couldn't win. Not with what he set up. Not with what was being planned and what would occur. Not with what he set up. There was nothing the little birdy could do. Bane simply smirked as he heard the callout towards him. He thought this was Ra's? Not the worst guess to make. However, it wasn't the right one. Bane chuckled as he heard this. Boy, was the birdy be in for a surprise.

"I'm afraid The Demon's Head is currently....indisposed."

Bane said, implying that he was not only Ra's but that Ra's was beaten by him. Why not add some shock value to the matter to get the birdy riled up. Bane simply smirked as he observed what would transpire and what would come. With that thought in mind, Bane jumped upwards, landing on a heightened platform above. Simply put, he would stand there until the birdy hit the ground. He'd wait to show how high he was above him, a symbolic moment. Bane knew a couple things, one of them was he inspired fear in varying amounts against varying types. A man of brutal ability and talent. Rumor had it some Robin's thought of him in fearful ways, but he never paid mind to which ones those were. He knew that his influence in this situation would mean one thing: Ra's was intelligent, but craved things of grandeur and held much more restraint than Bane. Experience and influence had it's advantages. In a battle head to head however, if one was given a choice, they'd probably choose Ra's over Bane as an opponent. And even in peak condition, few had the ability to be a challenge for Bane as he furrowed his brow slightly.

"The longer you wait, the longer Bludhaven burns. Or is that you're intent? If you want this to end, let's cut out the dramatics and covert operations. Unless of course, you fear the end of your life will result in such a confrontation?"

Bane asked in a menacing tone, implying what he already figured Nightwing knew: fighting Bane head on in his condition would be a very risky move. Bane made it however to be his ONLY move.

[The Monitor]

N I G H T W I N G

"I'm afraid The Demon's Head is currently....indisposed."

The voice hung in the air for a few moments as he recognized it and let it twist and twirl in his head. This was the same Bane that a few weeks ago Batman had left under a pile of rubble in Gotham. What was he doing in Bludhaven and what was he doing behind all this madness. Outside of that, did he actually mean what he said about Ra’s. Had this criminal mastermind disposed of him? He grit his teeth as he moved across the floor, circling Bane and looking for a prime spot to attack from. First move, try to remove the venom source then at least they would be on somewhat equal standing. But Bane had planned, he had clearly planned all this out. This was not some random encounter, the last fews days were not sporadic attacks from your everyday criminals. This was a scheme set up by Bane. This was a sabotage. This was an ambush. From here on Dick would have to play his cards right.

Bane continued to speak, a high quality of calmness reverberated throughout his voice. He thought he was in control, he thought that he knew he had Dick bested. But he shouldn’t start counting his winnings now, not as long as Dick still had some fight in him. A plan was formulating in his head. He would have to use his surroundings as well as his abilities to best the hulk.

The ultimatum was set, Bane baited Dick into forced combat to end the madness. One could never truly trust a criminal and his promises – no such thing existed for them. Dick grit his teeth, the safety of the people WERE still on the line, and he couldn’t let his suspicions continue to be the cause of their suffering. Now was the time to act.

He moved swiftly, unleashing three wing-dings from his gauntlets allowing them to charge through the air and break three light fixtures. He moved quickly once again, allowing the flickering darkness to cover him as he activated night vision on his mask. Climbing over a box he silently leaped atop it and in the darkness aimed another wing-ding straight for the venom pipes that inserted into Bane’s neck. If he could sever the connection to Bane’s venom supply then he could hold up a fight. To follow up his assault, Dick quickly moved through the darkness using his height to an advantage and leaped from Bane’s left prepared to break and solid kick among the titan’s head.

[Bane]

A flicker and within a moment, the lights were out. He supposed they were all the same, never willing to fight directly. It couldn't be helped as Bane jumped down, focusing on the lack of sound around him. And then, the faint sounds of movement. No matter how silently one moved, you couldn't ever be completely silent. It wasn't something one was able to completely hone in on. Bane did pick up on the slightest sounds. A creaking of a pipe. A whoosh of wind. The simple things could make the biggest difference. Movement from above meant many things and then, the sound of a projectile hitting the area where he was standing before. Bane knew it would be like this. All Bats were the same. He cracked his neck as he honed in on the area around him.

"When will you learn that I'm not going to be taken down by simple covert attacks. If The Bat couldn't pull it off at his peak condition, what makes you think you can while your wings are broken?"

Bane said as then, a kicked landed straight on the left side of his head, moving him slightly to the side. A well placed and hard kick to be sure. But, it wasn't the hard kicks that ended fights. All fights were won in close combat. And more importantly, all fights were one by planning the advantage. The plan was in motion after all.

"That's one. But remember what I said about Covert Operations."

Bane said simply as he took the hit. Within a moment, he cracked his neck to the other side as he reached into his pocket. Within that amount of time, he pulled out a small remote and pressed a button. From the wall, a T.V. soon turned on, displaying an aerial view of Bludhaven burn.

"I'm not The Joker you know. My word has power. When I say I'll do something, I'll do it. Or perhaps I should up the terror and order them to take the women and turn them into their slaves? If you don't want this to happen, light some flares and come face to face with me."

Bane said plainly with malice in his voice. He turned towards the scene playing on the television. Billows of smoke, random women and children screaming and running, men attempting to fight them off in vain. Flames set around the town like a ring of Hell. Bane simply shook his as he then went towards it one step and simply waited to see what would happen. His posture not defensive or offensive. Acting as if he was in control. As if Nightwing could attack him in anyway he wished and he wouldn't be a threat. To Bane however, especially in his current condition, he wasn't.