DC Infinity - The next step in the evolution of DC Comics Fanfiction

Issue #6

"Bird On a Wire"

No matter how old Dick Grayson became, he would always feel like the Boy Wonder. His wife constantly told him that he was a kid at heart and would probably never grow out of it, and that was just fine with him.

The rooftops of Gotham had been his playground as a child. Under the supervision of his mentor, the Batman, he had spent many nights vaulting across alleys, flipping over terraces, and sliding down fire escape railings. In France this act was called parkour and had become quite popular among today's youth. Now older, Nightwing still enjoyed a good night's exercise by way of the French inspired free style. It was more of an art than an actual discipline but Nightwing was mostly just having fun anyway. It was a nice way to unwind after a long night of tossing thugs up against walls.

Gripping the safety rail on the edge of a condemned building, Nightwing shot himself up and over the alley, landing in a tight roll on the adjacent roof. Immediately bounding up from the roll, he sprung up onto an air vent, keeping perfect balance as he navigated its thin platform. From there he dove into the next alley face first, somersaulting head over heels as he fell through the night air. Halfway down he kicked both of his feet out against the alley wall, dramatically changing his trajectory so he was now slanted and heading for the other wall. Somersaulting again and repeating the process, Nightwing gently touched down in the alley after pushing off of the second wall. He wasn't even breathing hard yet.

Nightwing crept up behind a dumpster, being careful to hug the wall and stay concealed in the shadows. Across the street was one of the seediest bars in all of South Gotham, a little place called El Campo. The bar was currently housing the One-Niners, a smalltime group of street hoodlums that had recently graduated to drug trafficking. From the rooftops, Nightwing had a bird's eye view of the front entrance but what he needed to see was only visible from street level. After his brisk workout in getting here, Nightwing decided now was the perfect time to get a good look at the gang leader.

"Which one are you, Pablo?" he whispered.

Nightwing had connected the dots between Penguin's new drug operation and the One-Niners, but he had yet to see their leader. Montoya had told him through her contacts that Pablo Z had taken control of the gang with help from Penguin, effectively putting the thug in Cobblepot's pocket. That meant that if Nightwing could put the squeeze on Pablo Z he might be able to gain access to all of Penguin's distribution routes.

From across the street in the alley Nightwing could see that the windows looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a decade, making it that much harder to spy on anyone inside. He didn't put much stock in the street gang's ability to take him down if he simply waltzed in there, but he didn't want to start a fight if he didn't have to.

Just show your face , Nightwing thought. That's all I'm asking.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his exposed neck stood up, alerting him of something. Nightwing didn't possess a sixth sense of any kind but he still knew he was no longer alone. Judging from the time of night and how unlikely it was that a friend would try to sneak up on him, it had to be someone he didn't want to have anything to do with.

It wasn't a windy night so Nightwing immediately picked up on the minute breeze at his back. There was barely anything there but after the intense training he had endured throughout his life he knew when there was a person standing behind him. There was a certain feeling he got whenever someone tried to sneak up on him like they were now. Whoever it was they were obviously being careful, as he hadn't heard them but instead felt their presence.

His first instinct was to back flip up as high as he could and try to land behind them, or possibly on top of them. He guessed they were probably fifteen feet behind him and with the fire escape dangling directly above him he would never be able to get airborne enough to cover the distance. That left his options severely limited. Nightwing was typically a high-flyer, Batman even going so far as to refer to his fighting style as "a trapeze kung fu."

He only had a few seconds to act before the person behind him decided to strike. Pressing a silent switch on his glove, a tiny chamber opened up at the wrist of his gauntlets, exposing a compartment filled to the brim with flashbang charges.

Pulling in a quick breath Nightwing dove to his right and rolled along his shoulders on the cold alley floor. Whipping his arm around, the charges flew out into the night, some exploding in midair, the rest pummeling the man behind him. He didn't get a good look at him but his silhouette was huge. The light bounced oddly off of the stalker's left hand, like it was being reflected somehow.

" ????????? ????!" the man screamed in surprise. He covered his face and reached out with his left hand, the shiny appendage erupting in gunfire. Muzzle flash lit up the alley walls just as the flashbangs had done; only these bursts of light were quickly followed by deadly bullets. Hot lead whizzed through the air randomly, the man still blinded by Nightwing's surprise attack.

"Oh boy." Nightwing said as he leapt straight up to grab onto the fire escape. He hauled himself up and out of harm's way, feeling the bullets just barely miss his head and torso. A shiny left hand coupled with a thick Russian accent meant his assailant could only be one man. "KGBeast. What are you doing here?"

"Where.ah, yes!" The Russian assassin shook his head to sweep the dots out of his vision, turning his attention to Nightwing's perch at the edge of the fire escape railing. "Little bird, I am here to wipe the walls down with your blood!"

The KGBeast raised his cybernetic appendage and fired off three more shots, not bothering to aim. Nightwing pushed off of the railing and fell straight at his enemy, pulling one of his patented escrima fighting sticks into his hand at the same time. Just as he was about to bash the end of it into the KGBeast's face, the assassin pivoted strangely, defying his massive bulk, and palmed the back of Nightwing's head at just the right moment. Adding to Nightwing's momentum, the KGBeast forced him face first into the hard ground.

"You forget I once defeated your mentor," the Beast stated over the barely conscious form of Nightwing. "You move differently than him but you are just as predictable. I would break you in half but I have orders to keep you alive for the time being."

"Whose.orders." Nightwing mumbled. He was feigning slightly to try and keep the KGBeast talking, but he wasn't faking too much. Slamming into the ground like that had hurt. A lot.

"Your Penguin's," he answered. Even though his face, like most of his body, was completely covered by a red and blue mask it still looked like he had a smug smile plastered on his face. "We leaked the information about the gang meeting in that wretched bar to get you in our sights. You Americans will never stop watering down your vodka."

"We.?"

" Da ," the Beast responded. "Now, should I break your ankles before--"

Nightwing didn't give him the chance to finish his sentence. Faking the drowsiness had helped him recover a little bit but his head was still reeling with pain. Summoning all of his speed, Nightwing shoved the heel of his reinforced boot into the KGBeast's groin, eliciting a yelp from the assassin. It was a dirty tactic but if there were more bad guys around like KGBeast had implied, Nightwing didn't have time to be polite. At the very least it wasn't a predictable move for a hero to make.

Nightwing nip-upped into a solid stance and drove his left elbow into the Beast's abdominal muscles, forcing the air out of his lungs. Snapping out his other escrima, Nightwing connected the tip of the weapon with the assassin's face with a loud crack! Nightwing couldn't help but feel like he was being a little too intense but he needed to take the Beast down quickly. He outweighed Nightwing considerably and was just as fast, if not faster. The simple fact that the assassin had once taken down the Batman was enough to worry Nightwing.

"Stay down," Nightwing commanded.

Instead of replying pleasantly, the KGBeast charged Nightwing from his already bent over position. A giant shoulder slammed into Nightwing, who wasn't expecting the attack since he had just kickstarted the Beast's recuperative abilities. Nightwing grunted as his spine connected with the dumpster he had been crouched behind. The green-painted steel twanged as he connected, every nerve ending in his back crying for help.

The KGBeast proceeded to swing his leg back to garner enough power to continue slamming his shoulder into Nightwing's torso, crushing him against the dumpster like a bull rushing the red cape. Strike after strike, the Beast kept ramming Nightwing into the dumpster. Darkness drifted into Nightwing's peripheral vision, this time for real.

Finally, the assault let up long enough for Nightwing to droop forward at which point the Beast cold-cocked him on the side of the head. Stars erupted into the darkness in his eyes and Nightwing fell forward, once again hitting the cold alley floor.

"Fighting dirty, da? " he asked rhetorically. "Maybe I break your shins along with your ankles."

Nightwing was in bad shape. He was fairly sure that the ribs Prometheus had broken were at least cracked again. He could feel a bruise forming on the side of his face, which was probably already turning a nice shade of blue.

"Maybe I forget that the Penguin ordered you to be brought in alive," the KGBeast continued. He bent over and easily picked Nightwing up in his one good hand, hoisting him off the ground. He held the former boy wonder up in the moonlight by his throat with his arm-gun pointed at his face.

"Forgetting.something." Nightwing muttered.

"What is that?" the Beast laughed in response.

"Cybernetics.connected directly to your nervous system." Nightwing grasped the arm-gun and slammed his palm onto the front of his utility belt, activating his suit's electroshock feature. Electricity crackled all around them, once again illuminating the dim alley walls. The KGBeast convulsed rapidly as foam began to build up under his mask, threatening to choke him. After a few seconds, Nightwing slapped his belt again and the Beast dropped him, falling to the ground motionless.

Thank God for insulation , he thought.

Even though his suit had protected him his hand still felt like it was on fire. The energy had arced back slightly where he was gripping the Beast's cybernetic arm to complete the circuit and it hurt badly. Not nearly as bad as his ribcage, but it was enough to distract him.

Nightwing turned back to street and faced the bar across it. He wasn't sure if he should call for help or storm the place and see whom he could beat some answers out of.

Plink! Plink!

"What the--?"

Nightwing jumped back as two more chunks of asphalt exploded around his feet, driving him back into the alley. The sounds were barely there, but he could hear them. Just before small bits of the sidewalk bust into the air a distinctive sound reached his ears. It was the unmistakable noise of a silencer on a high-power rifle.

Perfect, he thought as he leapt back into the alley and hugged the wall, a sniper. Just what I need right now. Judging from the angle he must be on top of the bar. Maybe if I can get low enough I can see who.oh, crap.

The sniper was resting on top of El Campo, not even trying to hide his presence. With one foot on top of the roof edge and a smoking rifle in his hands, the legendary marksman Deadshot stood silently. The red and silver of his costume shone brilliantly in the open sky and his solitary targeting eye gently scanned the alley, waiting for Nightwing to step out again.

"I would love to put one in between your domino-masked eyes," Deadshot hollered down, "but as I'm sure the Russian told you we're being paid to bring you in alive. You just sit tight in that pigeon hole while my other associate comes over to collect you."

More of them? I wonder what all these guys are going to think when they find out Penguin is bankrupt.

The door to El Campo swung open and a thin, wiry man walked into the street. He was pale, even in the moonlight, and it looked like he had stepped out of a vampire movie. He looked more like the victim instead of the nosferatu, surprisingly.

"Wait right there, mate," the man said, a slight Australian accent poking through. "I'll be over just as soon as I change my skin. This one's a might itchy, ya know? Hehehe."

He was wearing a brown trenchcoat that flapped softly in the wind until he dropped it to the ground, completely exposing his naked body. He was older, possibly around forty years of age. Nightwing had never seen the man before. He didn't recognize him from the various dossiers in both the GCPD and the Batman's files. Whoever he was, he was new and seriously creepy.

The man continued to laugh, softly at first but it soon became a roaring howl that pierced the night. "Hehehe-HAHAHAHA!" he continued to laugh as his eyes grew larger and the veins in his neck began to stand out. Then, like a bad horror movie, the man began to change.

His body contorted strangely as his muscles began to bulge inside of his skin, apparently trying to rip themselves free of his fragile frame. The process, whatever it was, looked incredibly painful but the man continued to laugh maniacally. Nightwing was stuck there, forced to watch since Deadshot had cornered him in the alley.

The man finally hiccuped in his laughter as the first piece of his skin tore away to reveal a patch of brown fur. Lacerations quickly formed in other places but no blood flowed out. In a matter of moments, his entire body was covered in the brown animal fur and his entire face had been replaced by what looked like a vicious demon. Sharp teeth and claws twinkled as drool began to fall out of the monster's mouth, the laughing still raging on. It was a truly horrific moment to behold.

From his perch Deadshot merely watched nonchalantly, as if this was nothing new to him. He kept the tip of his rifle pointed at the alleyway, ready to pepper the ground once more if Nightwing dared to make a run for it.

Where does Penguin find these guys? Nightwing thought. I've never even heard of a guy like.wait a minute.grotesque lycanthropic transformation, a piercing and uncontrollable laughter, and a full moon out tonight. I cannot believe it. This is not happening to me.

"You're a Hyena," Nightwing said.

"Hehe.you got that right, mate.hehehe-HAHA!" The man stalked forward toward Nightwing, the laughter overtaking him once again. His eyes were gelled over with a crazed intent and Nightwing was sure only his blood would sate the creature.

Nightwing couldn't believe it had taken him so long to recognize a victim of the Hyena curse. There were two Hyenas on record although one of them had recently been killed by Deadshot, adding irony to the current situation. Unlike a typical werewolf, the Hyena was capable of speech and higher thinking. Whoever was damned with the Hyena curse was both condemned to a queer life and blessed with insane strength, reflexes, and stamina.

Nightwing stepped further back into the alley, quickly trying to take hold of his surroundings. The KGBeast was a tough cookie but the Hyena was superhuman. He would need a lot more than a gimmick costume to knock out the monster.

The laughter, almost impossibly, became louder when the Hyena stepped through the mouth of the alley. The creature almost looked frantic with the possibility of tasting Nightwing's flesh. He wondered just how in control the man inside really was.

Without warning, the Hyena jumped the distance between them and slashed at Nightwing. The razor sharp claws barely missed the hero as he ducked, instead catching the mortar in between the bricks of the wall. Amazingly, the claws dug deep enough into the crumbling mortar to actually hold the creature there for a split second, which was all Nightwing needed to make his move.

Without mercy, Nightwing stabbed two of his edged wingdings into the side of the Hyena, wedging them in the side of the creature. The Hyena didn't yell in pain as he pulled his nails out of the wall. He just laughed. Even the Joker would have been taken aback at the monster's laughter. It was bloodcurdling and childlike at the same time.

The Hyena lashed out at Nightwing again, this time catching his right shoulder. His insulated costume served to cease the claws from reaching his skin but a good junk of the Kevlar had been ripped out.

"Heh.Did I get ya? Did I get ya? Hehehe." the Hyena mocked. Nightwing pivoted back just in time to avoid another swipe of the Hyena's claws but never saw the creature's foot coming. The talons on the animal's right foot cut across Nightwing's midsection, streaking across his costume and leaving three ominous trails in the micro-fiber weaving.

I'm going to run out of costume before this fight is over , Nightwing mulled to himself while avoiding another punishing slash of nail and fur.

Nightwing was forced further back into the alley, closer to the dead end waiting behind him. The Hyena was relentless in his attacks, slashing both high and low and laughing all the while. Nightwing had already taken quite a beating from the KGBeast and he wasn't sure how much longer he could avoid the creature's claws.

"Penguin said to bring you in alive hehehe," the man beneath the monster said. "You'll live without your arms and legs HAHAHA!"

Nightwing summoned the rest of his strength and pushed off of the ground, easily able to gain enough height to hop over the monster. Instead of pouncing over the Hyena, however, he used the explosive force of his jump to drive his right knee into the Hyena's jaw, snapping it shut for the first time. The Muay Thai inspired maneuver, called a Kao Dode, succeeded in catching the creature off-guard and Nightwing lashed out with his own relentless attacks. Both escrima sticks in hand, Nightwing whapped the Hyena in the face again and again, refusing to let up until the creature fell. A stray tooth fell out of his mouth, causing the Hyena to finally stop giggling during the assault.

The Hyena finally stepped back out of Nightwing's reach and then just as quickly pushed forward again in an attempt to catch the hero off balance. The Hyena snapped its mouth open and closed several times, trying to snag Nightwing's head in its impressive array of sharp teeth.

Nightwing fell into a squat and shoved an escrima into the side of the creature, aiming for the wingdings still lodged here. The white fighting stick hit its mark, forcing the small metal throwing instrument further into the Hyena's side. The creature yelped like a canine before feebly lashing out one final time and wobbling over to the wall to slide to the ground.

"Bloody 'ell hehe." the Australian man complained. "I'm losing blood, I am. That ain't supposed to 'appen."

The Hyena whimpered between soft giggles as the hairy features began to fade away into pale human flesh. Nightwing rubbed his ribs to try and ease the pain as the creature changed back into the unknown man that had walked out of El Campo. He looked like the complete opposite of the creature Nightwing had just fought: timid, weak, scrawny.

"Do you yield?" he asked the Australian.

"Piss off!"

The darkness that had threatened to overwhelm Nightwing earlier now completely engulfed the Australian as the hero balled up his fist and took out his frustration from the night on the man's face.

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The distinct sound of a dog yelping in pain echoed out of the alley and into Deadshot's ears. The sounds of the brawl suddenly stopped and Deadshot now had to assume that his makeshift partner was defeated.

"Amateur," Deadshot mumbled. He adjusted the scope on his faceplate and zoomed into the alley slightly, switching on the infrared feature. He needed something done right so he would have to do it himself.

Even though his angle wouldn't allow a clear view of the entire alley, there were two heat signatures showing through the brick walls. While more sophisticated than most special ops equipment his helmet's infrared feature only showed the stronger heat sources, which helped to identify his targets and cut down on background heat. One average-sized blotch was moving slightly, hovering over the second and third large heat sources. The first had to be Nightwing as he was still moving. The second and third bulky figures must have been the Hyena the Beast.

Deadshot took aim, released the safeguard on his rifle, and fired through the brick wall. The first blotch fell over beside the second and stayed there. He was sure he had only shot the man's kneecap, which meant he didn't have to worry about arguing with Penguin about the price of a dead hero. He switched back to normal vision and leaned his rifle against the roof edge. All he had to do now was drop down to the street and collect his prize.

"Mighty big gun you have there," Nightwing commented from behind him. "Compensating for something?"

Deadshot whirled around, his wrist-mounted cannon firing. Nightwing expected the attack and had already rolled to the side, three wingdings already sailing through the air. All three cut into Deadshot's arm, two of them amazingly knocking off the cannon in the process while the third sliced his red suit and opened up a gash.

"Take it easy, Lawton," Nightwing said, steadying himself for anything. "It's been a long night and there's no need to make this difficult."

"Penguin said you were tricky," Deadshot replied, raising his arms to show he was giving up. "Mind telling me whose knee I just blew out back there?"

"Nobody's."

"Pardon me?"

"I'll explain after the police get here. Turn around and get down on your knees, slowly."

Deadshot stood completely still which startled Nightwing. The sniper was one of the most deadly men in the world and if Nightwing wasn't in control of the situation then Deadshot certainly was. A brief moment passed silently between them before Nightwing decided to step forward and take down Deadshot by force.

"I wouldn't do that if I were - click! - you. Nevermind."

Nightwing mentally swore at himself for being so careless. He was exhausted from his fights with the KGBeast and the Hyena. He looked down at his feet to verify what he had just stepped on.

"It's called a Bouncing Betty," Deadshot explained as he picked up his rifle and wrist cannon. "Once you relieve the pressure on it, it jumps up three feet and detonates. Now, this specific Bouncing Betty landmine has been packed tight with C4 instead of the usual powdered charges. You move and this entire building will go up in a big ball of fire." Deadshot hopped up onto the edge of the roof and tilted his head to one side. "I don't know what you pulled in that alley to save yourself from me but I won't forget it."

"You're not going to try and take me down now? Won't Penguin be upset with his little soldier?"

"Penguin can keep his money on the basis that I'm actually entertained tonight. Besides, there's no way for me to knock you out without detonating the mine. I may long for the dark side of the moon but I'm not suicidal. I'll be back someday for a rematch.that is, if you and Betty can find a way of getting along without me."

Deadshot casually stepped back off of the ledge and fell through the open air. Nightwing wasn't surprised to hear a motorcycle speed off a moment later. Deadshot was the kind of person that always had an escape plan. Now, he just had to figure out a way to save himself.

"You still there, Oracle?" he whispered into his comlink.

{{ Yep. Did you grab Deadshot? }} the strong voice of his wife said through the electronic signal.

"Nope. He set me up on a date instead."

"Forget it. He didn't realize that you had hacked into his faceplate optics via the satellite link he's got going. I'm sure he'll figure out that you made him see whatever you wanted when he had the infrared turned on, but right now I need a little help."

"Sure did."

{{ All that good hacking and you can't even gloat, }} she sighed. {{ Oh, well. What do you need help with now? }}

"I need you to call Montoya and have her get the police to pick up the KGBeast and a new Hyena in the alley across from El Campo. Make sure they know who they're dealing with; these guys are killers."

"Yeah," Nightwing said, the exhaustion forcing its way into his voice. "I need you to walk me through disarming my date."

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Writer's Nest

Nightwing should always have lots of action so I hope I've delivered accordingly. Make no mistake about it; Deadshot will be popping up again soon.

I really like the direction the recent Batman books have been going at the real DC. One thing I really hated, however, was the fact that the KGBeast was recently killed off. He was such a cool character! Oh, well.at least he can live on in this fanfic series.

Up next, Nightwing gets in touch with his alter-ego.

-D. Golightly

10/4/06

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