Gotham City's Midnight Riders (BEGUN)

Nightwing shook his head. He had to shake the pain. His father was coming back, he knew it. It was evident. He had to get up. He stood, his knees shaking; he got back to one knee head down, his breath running dry. Two-Face came next to him with his hand extended to him. "Hey.. lets finish this." he said with a determined look on both sides of his face.

Karmy snapped her fingers and a portal appeared before the shadow reached Karmy. It passed through the portal and appeared in a large house in Kentucky behind a young boy who was drawing on a fancy Bamboo tablet. The shadow smapped the boy in the back of the head and began to constrict him tight. Karmy looked into the portal and shrugged. She closed the portal, trapping the shadow in place. Gripping her knife tight, she jumped at Black Hand again.

Ivy swerved and jumped, trying her best to avoid the dark hands. Every time it neared, she flared up so the light she shed scared it back a few feet. But it kept coming after her. "Can...somebody....do something...?!" she called, ducking as the claw swept over her head, missing by an inch.

As Casius Continued to fight off the Shadow hands, he recalled he still had his trump card- his Lantern ring he 'acquired.' He pulled it out, and a bright green wave of energy cut the arms to size. he also wiped away the ones approaching Ivy. "Now THIS I could get used to!" He said. However, Pride swiped it clean of fhis finger as he dashed by. When Pride put it on his hand, Casius realized what he was going to do...

"Much appreciated Luna!" Mercy said running off back into the fight, swiping kicking, shooting, punching, The Black Hand grew furious.

"Yeah, lets do this." Nightwing said running to The Black Hand, staff in hand. Two-Face had his handgun out firing shot after shot with accuracy at The Black Hand's head. Abba Father! Nightwing though as he grew more encouraged with Batman fighting. He thought this could be his last chance fighting side by side with Batman again. This could be it.

Blood poured from Casey's mouth as the tried to lift off the large pice of rubble trapping him. It was no use, he was trapped. "CASEY!" he turned his head and saw Karmy running towards him, falling to her knees next to him. “No no no no!” she pleaded when she saw the shape he was in. “Karmy..” he said. She got up and tried to move the crushing weight, pushing as hard as she could, despite her busted arm. “Karmy don’t..” She stepped back and began ramming into it with her shoulder. “I can do it Casey!” She would step back and run straight into it as hard as she could. “Karmy, its no use!” Casey screamed at her. Karmy kept at it though, starting to now punch at the massive piece of rubble. “No Casey I can save you!”

Casey reached over to Karmy ankle from the ground, grabbing it firmly, and sent a small shock through her. Karmys body fell limp and onto Casey’s chest where he pulled her into a hug and held her tight. “Its alright Karm…” he shushed her as she cried into his chest. “You have no idea how happy you’ve made me Karmy. I’m proud of what you’ve become.” Karmy lifted her head and looked at him in the eyes. Reaching over to his finger, he pulled off the fake lantern ring. “Here.” He said and he sent a green and blue electrical charge into the ring, and handed it to her. “Something for your special pocket.” Karmy gripped the ring in her hand, feeling the warmth from it, “I don’t want to lose you again Casey,” she sobbed. “I don’t want to say good-b-“ Casey shushed her before she could continue. “There are no good-byes, where ever we are, you’ll always be in my heart.” He kissed her on the head.

A large rumble filled Casey’s ears, he knew the end had come. He turned his head and saw Mercy standing by, looking ready to get out of there. “Go on Karmy,” he tried to push her off, but she wouldn’t let go. "No Casey, I can't leave you again!" she held on tight.

We only part to meet again.

Casius looked wide- eyed as the scene unfolded before him. With both Rings, Batman let the two different forms of energy flow between them- one of the few things that could kill a Black Lantern in one shot was this exact power. But it was also, well, less than safe, to be sure. "That Maniac- He's gonna bring down this whole building! Let's get out of here!" he barked as Batman Charged at the Hand. "No, wait, you fool!" The hand shouted in fear, swiping his sword at Batman. but it was too late- the blast hit The Black Hand dead in the face. As his body died off, the Violent Black aura gave off by such a powerful figure dying tore into the building, hacking at the structural integrity, casing the tower to begin to colapse. "Come on, Let's move!" Ghost shouted, making for the stairs with Sarah and Casius, the titans Trailing after them. Twoface, runing by Karmy, grabbed her by the arm. "Look kid, there's ntohing else we can do here. We gotta go!" he shouted, draging Karmy along. With a last look as the building began to fall apart, He blasted at the falling parts, keeping them off the gorup. "Go, I'll cover you as long as I can." He said, firing at the falling rubble. Karmy quickly embraced her brother. "Bye... brother." She whispered, as she tore away with Twoface...

As the titans Dispersed, nigthwing Gave one final look at pride, disitegrating, as he had used the last of his energy in the atack that had killed the hand. "Batman..." He said, unsure of what exactly TO say. Batman simply turned to Nightwing. He gave a crooked grin. "I'm proud... Nighting." He said to his old student, before he too turned into dust and vanished. Nightwing, his mind now complacent after seeing Batman go out wiht a smile in victory, raced to cath up with the others, a content grin on his face.

How the building held up as long as it did, nobody ever knew. Once everyone was outside safe and sound, the building colapsed almost isntantly. Zero sighed in releif as he stood next to Ivy and Luna. It was over- the hell they had been in was finally over. As the building exploded, he turned to the others, and Casius rested an arm on him. "So, i finaly meet my son, eh?" He asked. Ghost elbowed him. "Hey, we came this far with our dignity intact, don't get all sappy NOW!" he protested in jest. Zero nodded- when in Sarah's mind earlier, he found out about his dad also. It seemd they had a lot of cathcing up to do- he had all those years worth of memories to refill. Meanwhile, Sarah Turned to Karmy, who seemd to still be releing over the loss of her brother. She felt bad for her- untill recently, she too had thoght her brother was dead. She wanted to do something nice for her- maybe that vacation they needed so bad had a seat for one more person...

It was over. It was finally over. The weary team looked upon the battlefield and realized what had happened. Even though it has only been seven days, these were the seven days that shook the world. It shook everyone, and the aftershock began to settle in every hero’s spines. It was over. This had been the longest seven days anyone had experienced. They looked upon the dead corpse of the Black Hand, Karmy turned to Mercy, Mercy to Luna, Luna to Ivy, Ivy to Casius. Casius to Ghost, Ghost to Artanis, Artanis to Aurora, Aurora to Beast Boy, Beast Boy to Raven, Raven to Starfire, Starfire to Cyborg, Cyborg to Zero, Zero to Nightwing, and Nightwing to Two-Face. It was because of this group that they were able to overcome this great ordeal that they were finally stopping to relax, but for a second all was quiet. The moon had set and the morning sun began to rise. Karmy thought to herself that it looked like a red rubber ball; the worst is over now, and it’s going to be all right. Then Nightwing turned around suddenly. “Batman!” He turned in the rubble trying to search for him. Casius came over him. “No Nightwing. He’s dead for sure, there’s no way he could have survived. I’m sorry kid.” He said resting his hand over his shoulder. “I want to see his dead body, until then I refuse to believe it. He’s the Batman! The goddamn Batman for Christ’s sake!” Mercy stood up, “You heard the man! Lets find him! Riders, move out!” Cyborg nodded, “Yeah Titans, comb the area! Lets rock ‘n’ roll baby!” he said clapping his hands. Looking around for what seemed like hours Karmy finally came to a hand sticking out of the rubble of The Wayne Enterprise building. “Hey Guys! I think I found him!” Everyone converged on her position and started to dig.

Eventually they were able to surface the body of Bruce Wayne. Nightwing fell to his knees, shaking his head. “Aww sh*t Bruce… sh*t..” He said lamenting the horrible truth. He was his father after all. Way back when, he began to feel the guilt at all the times he has ever been rebellious to him. He wanted to say sorry, sorry for everything. Batman as Pride hadn’t been himself, he tried to talk to Pride when he was still conscious, but there was no avail. They were able to save Mercy and Zero; but not his very own father. Nightwing felt crushed by the emotional weight that seemed to have leaped onto him all of a sudden. “Hey man, everyone has their time…” Cyborg said encouragingly. “Yeah. I know Cyborg... but the last time I saw him it was pre-Teen Titans. I never made the effort to keep in contact with him. Ever.” Everyone began to feel Nightwing’s pain, he had never talked about Batman before, and all of a sudden it started to come out. “Damn Crazy Quilt... Damn the Joker. I could have dodged his shot. My shoulder... my damn shoulder…” He was referring to when The Joker had shot him in the shoulder and that caused Batman to come to the conclusion that he shouldn’t be Robin anymore. He wanted to fire him because he was afraid of his own wellbeing. And he had run away. He started his own independence. He started the Teen Titans. He looked at them. “Do you have any regrets? With us?” Starfire asked him. Nightwing looked down, took a second and looked around him. These were all of his closest friends, without Batman firing him as Robin, and with him being there in the first place to raise him; he would have never met them. “No I don’t regret it Starfire, just sometimes; I wish I could have been a better son.”

They had carried his body to his grave, where he had belonged to begin with. His body was next to his parent’s grave. The Riders and the Titans looked solemnly upon his grave. They all had to eulogies to Bruce, especially Nightwing and Ivy, who were more personally close to him. He was a protector. He was the Batman; and it was all over now. They returned to the T-Sub that was next to Casius’s apartment. Casius looked at his apartment and for a stiff second and was glad that it was in better shape than the Wayne Enterprise building, even though it had holes in every corner and the roof was missing. Nightwing told everyone to sit down, and they did. On the floor, on the couch, on the tables, and the counters, everyone found a seat. “We’re going to rebuild this city, bring it back to how it was. We’re taking back Gotham.” He said punching his fist into his hand. Two-Face spoke up, “I don’t think I belong here Nightwing. It was good that you let me help you take down the hand, but lets face it. I’m an outcast of this city.” Karmy laughed because he said ‘face’, she was a sucker for puns. “No Two-Face, redemption is always in your grasp.” Mercy said speaking up. “You don’t know what I’ve done.” He rebutted, “On the contrary, I do, Harvey Dent. You’re a murderer, but so was I.” He looked down, “This city need a symbol.” He muttered, “And what a symbol you are.” Nightwing started up, “A side of beauty, and a side of sin. When you think of it, that’s what this city has always been about. The crooks of the alleys and the wacko scientists who have been trying to take over Gotham for the longest time, but there has always been a hero to stop them. Whether it’s Batman, or the hero in us. I believe we need a CEO for Wayne Enterprise anyways.” He finished. Two-Face looked up from his seat in disbelief. Nightwing nodded, Cyborg Smiled, Starfire came up to Nightwing from behind and hugged him, Raven and Luna crossed their arms unintentionally but in approval, Ivy had a broader smile than Cyborg himself, and everyone was ready to help out. “Lets bring this city back.” Two-Face said rising to his feet.



Several weeks have passed by and the citizens of Gotham began to fill the streets again. Slowly, but surely. The heroes all chipped in their all to help bring life to the city once again. It was a good city. It had its faults, and it had its reasons to purchase retail land. Then another two months later the city had been restored to its full-fledged condition; the Warden had been fired from his position and all the money that had been donated to the city to help rebuild it. It’s as if nothing had ever happened, yet everyone knew who the real heroes were. In fact, one day Dick Grayson bumped into Barbra Gordon one fine spring day in the park. Beast Boy and Aurora seemed to be getting along with Beast Boy a lot recently, they had spent more time with each other than anyone has in the past several months; Casius had been enjoying the euphoric company of his daughter, the company of his good friend Ghost, who volunteered to go with them as a bodyguard (even though they are all more than capable of fending for themselves) and Karmy, who requested to join them, traveling around the world, visiting new sites that they had never been able to do so as something none of them really had in a long time. A family. Granted, Sarah still had a cybernetic body that resembled Cyborg himself, but Casius couldn’t have been happier. He had earned more money to circle the globe twice with his family, all except Matthew, who I will get to in a bit. Karmy hadn’t had a cup of coffee ever since she jumped on the bandwagon, for the sake of keeping sanity with Casius. She realized that being with him was a privilege and concluded it was best to never piss him off. Ever. Greht ended up staying in the underworld, in forever happiness, slaying dozens upon dozens of squirrels. Of course it ended up that the Underworld Greht was in was actually “Squirrel Hell”. And speaking of the underworld, Charmer, Ben, and anyone who was apart of SYNG and its plots burned in the fires and depths of hell, the followers of the Black Hand had also been sent to hell with no questions asked. Starfire was called to her home planet Tamaran to serve her planet as a lead, leaving everyone behind. Maybe she will return one day. The same fate was to Artanis as he descended into the heavens, after giving his good-byes. Raven and Cyborg were trying their best to keep the Titans together, but more and more it seemed they were drifting apart because of Starfire’s sudden departure, and Dick and Beast Boy’s new engagements with their new “friends.” Though they all did meet (accept for Starfire) twice a week to discuss future plans. Cyborg made plans to meet, and everything technical while Raven prepared what to talk about, and there was always something to talk about in heroism and the well-being of the city . Ivy and Zero were inseparable. They stuck close together and with the help of Luna, they developed a warm friendship with each other; they ended up stopping several small crimes, and busted some organized crime joints that were starting to form as a dynamic fighting trio. Without them these crimes could have grown larger and larger until it was unstoppable, it was a good thing that they were able to pluck them from their roots; they were referred to as "Gotham City's Midnight Riders". They also reside in Gotham City and with the Titans. Poison Ivy was able to escape, leaving without a trace, yet built a certain spite for the Fighting Trio that will only grow over time. Two-Face; with the permission of Dick Grayson, and the help of Alice Mau, had turned over a new leaf, finding redemption of his sins and was able to manage Wayne Enterprise as the CEO. His business thrived and flourished beautifully. The manufacturing of chemicals, biotechnology, foods, steel, yards, aerospace and other items have thrived as it always has. Alice (who got a part time job as a motivational speaker but then quit after six months,) had been living in the Wayne mansion that has also been fully restored, recovered, and rejuvenated with the Titans, and Aurora, who all had barely spent any time in the mansion. Alice read books on the methodology of crime fighting that Bruce Wayne himself had wrote for his own personal notes. She had read classics that had not been destroyed. Alice had basically picked up everything on her spare time and read whatever could be read. She was interested in a lot of things Bruce had been interested in, and if only she had the chance to know him could she have had a good friendship with him. Poetry, Novels, Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Historical accounts around the globe (Mostly in the USA), sociology, somatology, even some Theological books had been crammed in his massive bookshelves. Then again, some of them could have been Alfred’s but she could have never known, and speaking of Alfred, they were able to hire a new butler. His name was Wintergreen. She thought she was getting lazier and lazier every day that went by, because all she would do was read from morning till night; eating very scarcely. Wintergreen would fix her breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, though Alice would only eat once or twice. She found nearly every book she picked up impossible to put back down. Eventually she had finished every book in Wayne’s collection, reading three-four 300-page books in a day. Three years has passed since she started, and it has been three years since they have all been together. When she had finished every book she could find, she began talking to Dick, the more they talked, and the more she learned. That’s when they noticed that the crime rate started to peak again. They had to make the decision soon.

They stepped into the Batcave; old memories filled both of their heads, that of different standards. Alice thought of when Karmy had teleported, where she had first seen Alfred’s dead body. When Ben, Casius and Ghost had hotwired the Batmobile and boomed off. Dick had so many memories. Memories of when he was but a young boy, excited as a sidekick. He remembered when Batman had called him “The Boy Wonder” for the first time. He remembered being so giddy. They looked through the dark and dank cave as the lights automatically came to life. They were in utter awe. He was Dick Grayson, out of costume and looking upon the suits that Bruce had manufactured carefully. “So you plan on taking this whole damn place in for our operations?” Alice asked. “Hah! No,” Dick said, “this place is a war room, a lab and an arsenal room, but without it’s warrior.” Alice was a bit disappointed. “So what do you plan on doing with it?” She asked. “Abandon it completely… leave it the way Bruce found it. An empty cave.” At this point Dick was deep in euphoria and thoughts of distance past filled his head, this wasn’t good for him. This wasn’t good for fighting crime. He couldn’t be having these thoughts when fighting crime. “Where are we going to move this stuff?” Alice asked so intrigued with all the high-tech equipment that she now knew how to use in and out because of all the instruction manuals she read. “We can ship it to a close by warehouse incase we need to use any of it. But we’re going to need these.” Dick said stepping slowly to the suits. “So this is it? The Mantel is being passed down?” Alice asked Dick as he looked down in desperation. “I… I don’t feel worthy.” He said softly. Alice put a hand over his shoulder. “This city needs a symbol to look up to; Barbra and I can help you as much as we can.” She assured him. Looking at the lightweight Batman suit, he clenched his fists, now determined more than ever. “So... this is it.” He whispered. “Welcome back, Batman.”





Soon he will act. Soon, he will leave this cold perch above the city, fall through the November night—and, in an explosion of glass, burst through the room bellow—and swiftly, efficiently, smash the greedy dreams of one who prey upon the helpless…

He has done this before. How often? A thousand times? A thousand lonely vigils. A thousand tense moments, a thousand refusals to believe that he might err, might judge badly for just an instant—might slip—fall. For a moment, he quietly savored a new emotion. For a moment, he was happy. At first he was human, and then less, and then more. It had manifested inside him for these years. It was destined. He stands, tenses, relaxes. The time has come. He breathes deeply, filling himself with the night—steps forward—and falls. As he fell before. As he will fall for the rest of his life.