RECAP:
After the fall of
Blockbuster, Mayor Soames placed a new
official legislation into law called the Anti-Vigilante Displacement
act. Making metas and non-powered vigilantes fugitives of
justice
within the city limits of Blüdhaven. With the help
of
Special Agent Cisco Blaine, and the full power of the FBI; a new task
force was integrated into the Blüdhaven Police Department
known as
the Crime Prevention Squad. Meanwhile, Nightwing found
himself
betrayed by his information broker Oracle who agreed with Special Agent
Blaine's plans to save Blüdhaven. He also discovered
Blaine
had a sample of his DNA, which would allow him to uncover his identity,
so he fled in an effort to protect his identity and find a way to
protect Blüdhaven from the new menace that threatens it.
The ambulance drove away, and Nightwing sat on the curb for a moment.
He looked directly at the remains of the tenement building, which
burned down in less time than it took for the ambulance to
arrive. The fire department managed to stop the fire from
spreading, which didn't help the tenants any. Black Lightning
appeared as a bolt from the skies. He walked over to
Nightwing, and sat beside him.
“I heard what happened, and I was wondering if you're all
right?”
“No, I'll never be all right.”
He looked at Black Lightning then, a sad look on his face.
“These people, they are losing everything no matter what I
do.”
“You can't blame yourself for that,” said Black
Lightning. “Blüdhaven has been suffering
long before you came around.”
“I know, it's worse than Gotham because of the rate of
economic deterioration,” said Nightwing, as he looked back at
the ruins of the tenement building.
“Blüdhaven doesn't have Wayne Enterprises to keep it
from falling into the cesspool.”
“Don't give up, Nightwing.” Black
Lightning stood up after he said that. “He
wouldn't.”
“I know he wouldn't,” said Nightwing, he then
sighed. “Batman gave me a purpose; a life I otherwise
wouldn't have had, and to that end I owe him...
“But,” he continued. “I-I don't
know if I can do this...”
“You've led the Titans, you've been the Batman's partner, and
you've done a whole lotta good,” said Black
Lightning. “If you can't see that, then what's the
point of wearing that mask?”
Black Lightning and Nightwing heard sirens not too far away, and Black
Lightning looked at Nightwing. His eyes narrowed behind his
domino mask.
“Get yourself together, or get out. That's the only
advice I can give.”
After that, Black Lightning shot up into the sky to help out where
needed. Nightwing tightened his fists, then stood up, and
fired a grapnel, which drew him high into the night sky.
Blockbuster and his gang pulled into the city; the plumes of smoke
clouded the moon, and Blockbuster could feel his heart beating
faster. He motioned for the driver to stop, and got
out. Two crazed citizens ran toward him, and were mowed down
in a torrent of gunfire. Blockbuster laughed, and it was a
chilling laughter that made his men's blood run cold.
He looked to Tsung, and motioned for them to get to work.
Everyone took armaments out of the trailer, and began opening fire on
the people.
Flamebird was close by when she heard the distinct sound of
gunshots. She held a mugger in her hand, and let him slump to
the pavement, as she sprinted toward the source of the sound.
She found Blockbuster amusing himself as his men were murdering
indiscriminately, people and cops alike.
“STOP!”
she shouted.
Blockbuster turned to her, a wide and sinister grin on his
face. Two of the men in his company pointed their rifles at
her, and opened fire. She jumped out of the away of the
gunfire, barely avoiding getting clipped by a bullet.
She managed to duck behind a car, and kept behind it, as it provided
efficient protection.
In another junction of town, Captain Rohrbach waited for that sniper,
when Katana snuck up an alley behind the gunman who held the child
hostage. She came up behind him, and grabbed his wrist;
twisted it, and caused him to fire off a round. She drove the
heel of her hand into his jaw clamping it shut, and then rammed a stiff
elbow into his nose. The child managed to get free, and ran
toward Captain Rohrbach, as Katana disarmed the gunman and tossed him
on his back unconscious.
She cradled the child who wept. Katana walked up to her and
bent down.
“Is the child all right?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Captain Rohrbach as she picked the
child up. “I'm going to take her with me to get her
checked out.”
Katana nodded, and then ran off with Captain Rohrbach heading the other
direction where he squad car was.
Black Lightning landed on the roof over-looking Haven Plaza; nearby the
Mood Music was about to be overrun with crazed
rioters. Black Lightning snapped his fingers and bolts of
electrical current struck the ground in front of the Mood Music cafe,
and caused the rioters to back away. They looked up and saw
Black Lightning, and his eyes were sparking behind the lens of his
domino mask.
“I would go back to your homes if I were you,” he
said. “NOW!”
The rioters dispersed and Black Lightning turned to the owner who gave
a wave of thanks. Black Lightning gave a curt nod, then shot
toward the skies as a bolt of electrical current.
Nightwing landed beside the Nightbird and stocked up some fresh
supplies in the back seat. Someone rushed up behind, and he
pivoted while bringing his foot up. His foot just stopped
from striking Bridget's jaw.
“Bridget?”
“Rickie!”
she said, as she grabbed onto him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Our apartment building got over run, Rickie!” she
said with tears in her eyes. “They killed Jon, and
I barely got out of there with my life.”
Nightwing held her close, and then he noticed Katana coming down the
street, and Black Lightning landed nearby. He pulled away
from Bridget, but kept an arm around her.
“How's our progress?” he asked with a worried look
on his face.
“We're making a dent,” said Black Lightning.
“Though,” said Katana, “there has been
plenty of bloodshed...”
Nightwing lowered his head, and then looked at Bridget. Then
turned to Katana who came closer.
“Katana, I want you to get Bridget here to safety.”
“Who is she?” asked Katana.
“My girlfriend,” said Nightwing.
“I see...”
Katana opened the driver's side door of the Nightbird, and Nightwing
led Bridget over to the passenger side. She looked into
Nightwing's eyes, which were masked by the starlight lens of his domino
mask.
“Why can't I stay with you?” she asked.
“It's not safe here, for you, or any other
innocent.”
“But...”
“No, buts; just please go.”
“All right,” she said, and got inside.
Nightwing watched as the Nightbird pulled away, and then he walked up
to Black Lightning,
“Where's Flamebird?” he asked.
“I have no idea to be honest.”
An explosion caught their attention, and both of them headed toward the
source of it.
A
βlackglove was laid
upon an oak table, and a βlackgloved
hand reached out and grabbed it. A pair of eyes concealed by
shadows looked at the figure who had tossed the glove onto the
table. It was special agent Cisco Blaine.
“Was sending this some kind of sick joke?”
“No, I just wanted to get your attention.”
The figure handed the βlackglove
to some one else who sat beside him. That person put it on.
“Your plans to undermine what Dick Grayson is doing has
failed; he destroyed all of the evidence I gathered, and he managed to
halt any connections I could use to link the Batman with Bruce
Wayne.”
“Did you really think it would be so easy?” he
asked. His voice was rough like leather, and when he spoke it
seemed like there was a slight slur in his speech.
“The Batman is smarter than a dumb Fed like you.”
“Then why bother trying to help me make a
connection?”
“Because, I wanted to see how far I could push
Grayson.”
“Why?” asked Blaine with an annoyed look on his
face. “Grayson is immaterial.”
“No, Grayson is everything.”
The figure put his βlackgloved
hand on the table, and opened his palm. In it was a micro
disc.
“This will absolve you from being tarnished in
Blüdhaven's destruction...”
“How?”
“Just trust me,” he said with a smile that Blaine
only saw when the lights of a passing car outside gave the room a brief
illumination.
“F-fine...”
Agent Blaine turned his back to the figure and the companion who sat
next to him, and left.
Nightwing came right out of the alley and onto the middle of Newman
Avenue where Newman Park was, to his left were some small shops where
he saw Flamebird dodging fire from some thugs; thugs who were hanging
around Blockbuster. Nightwing clenched his fists, and ran
toward them; he pulled a small device from his belt and tossed
it. Two wings sprouted from the device's sides and it flew
straight toward Blockbuster and his men emitting a hypersonic sound.
“Arrrgh!”
Unable to concentrate, the men stopped firing upon Flamebird, and she
was able to move in. Black Lightning landed on the street a
few feet away, and shocked some of Blockbuster's men unconscious while
Flamebird and Nightwing went in close and beat the others into
submission with deft martial artistry. When the last of his
goons fell, Blockbuster caught the device in mid-air and crushed it.
“It WILL
not end
like this!”
Nightwing took off his gauntlets; his knuckles amply bruised. Flamebird
looked at him, wondering what he was doing when he handed her his
gauntlets.
“Stay out of this, Flamebird.”
“Wh-what?” she said with a look of shock on her
face. “Why?”
“Just do as I ask.”
He came toward Blockbuster and Blockbuster took off his coat, vest, and
shirt.
“So, you decided not to have a woman fight your
battles...”
Nightwing saw the smile and Blockbuster's face, and a smile formed on
his own.
“At least I don't live with my mama.”
Blockbuster's face turned red, and he clenched his fists tightly enough
that his knuckles cracked.
“You're going to pay!”
“Bring it...”
To all of those who were present Nightwing and Blockbuster came at each
other like bare knuckle street brawlers fighting over their
turf. Each blow that connected was backed by all of the build
up of animosity both men held for one another. Flamebird
watched, and she wanted to turn away, but she believed if she did; then
Nightwing would think less of her. And his approval and love
still meant something to her despite how much her heart
ached. So, she watched, as the two enemies beat on each other
with no regards of decency, no rules; just pure violence.
Nightwing could feel his ribs break after a stiff punch from
Blockbuster followed by a kick that nearly made his whole body lock
up. Blockbuster felt the very breath in his body leave him
after a chop to the throat, and couldn't move the fingers of his right
hand.
The injuries piled up, for both men; a broken collarbone, a fractured
wrist, and numerous bruises began to show. After the
relentless pounding on one another, both men were tired, and
collapsed. Nightwing had very little strength left, as did
Blockbuster.
Flamebird started toward them, but Black Lightning appeared beside her
in a flash of lightning. He put a hand on her shoulder.
They both watched as Nightwing got up, as did Blockbuster.
“What now?” said Blockbuster, as he could barely
keep his eyes open due the swelling. “I can't beat
you, so I can't kill you.”
“Give up...”
“Never!”
A shot rang out, and blood poured from Blockbuster's right breast; he
looked at Nightwing and then fell over.
Nightwing looked at the red head who held one of the sub-machine guns
that Blockbuster's men had had. She had a startled look on
her face, and then dropped the sub-machine gun.
It clacked on the pavement, and suddenly the future of
Blüdhaven was less certain than it had been.
To
be Continued...
Next Issue: Road
To Recovery Part 3: What future is in store for Blüdhaven?
NEVERMORE:
Hard roads only need to be stepped on softly.
