Fan Fiction ❯ Nightwing: A Dark Beginning ❯ Four months later ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter Summary: Spans some basic story setup for the four months that Robin/Rich has been gone. New realizations will be found, new suits made, and new heroes born.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, so leave me alone!

Chapter 4

Bumble Bee decided to stop by the Tower to see how things were going. It had been a month since Robin had left. The crimes perpetrated by Slades former lackies were getting more and more intense and the Titans were having trouble handling them. The one thought on all their minds, was if Robin had truly taken over and was now running the organization. Cyborg was doing his best to keep the team going, but there just weren't any leads to try and find Robin. It was like he'd completely disappeared. Even Batman couldn't help out, not that he seemed too worried about it which really ticked Cyborg and Raven off. But Bumble Bee wasn't here to talk about that. She'd brought over some pizzas for the team, at least the part she was willing to be in the same room with.
"Hey everybody," she said. "Brought some pizza, thought you guys could use something to eat."
Cyborg looked up from the computer screen, "That sounds like a great idea, Bee. Thanks." He went over and took the boxes while giving her a chaste kiss.
Across the room Raven was reading a book while Terra was watching TV. Both their stomachs growled at the thought of the food and the ran over to the table.
"Bee, you're the greatest," Terra said diving for a slice.
"Definitely," Raven agreed.
While they sat around enjoying the food and chatting, the doors slid open to reveal Beast Boy and Starfire holding hands. The four Titans at the table simply arranged themselves with their backs to the hated couple and continued on as they weren't there. Beast Boy and Starfire just looked down at the floor then went to the kitchen and got some food before leaving without speaking a word. Once they'd left, Bumble Bee couldn't help but bring it up.
"Still haven't kicked them out huh?"
"As much as we'd like to," Terra began," we still need them on the team."
"We have an agreement to work together outside the Tower, but inside we don't want anything to do with them," Cyborg stated.
"Personally I'd love to turn them inside out but Cy doesn't want to have to clean up the mess," Raven grumbled.
"Any new leads on Robin?" Bumble Bee asked.
"No, Bee, and it's not something we like to talk about if you don't mind," Cyborg said while looking at the ground.
Silence surrounded them as they finished the pizza then decided they needed a walk so they left.

Across town in the old abandoned warehouse nicknamed The Pit, Rich and Jax were hard at work training. The training room wasn't painted. Raw, rusted metal covered all the walls just like the rest of the building. The jet black and stainless steel equipment in the room was the only other coloring. The rooms were brightly lit with fluorescent lights giving it an unnatural brightness to the dark room. They had already finished their strength training and were now doing work on combat skills. They were currently sparring with each other. Their skill had improved over the last month and their added strength proved to be quite useful as well. They went round and round the combat mat and had been going all out for a few hours now, when it was decided to call it quits for the day. They then each went to their rooms and showered to come back and get to work. In his room, Rich sat on his bed looking at the wall of newspaper clippings. His room had the same walls as all the others, without a single window to let any light in. His single bare lightbulb in the center of the room the only source of dim light shining on his black furniture. He looked at the clippings, all about the team since he'd left. The articles weren't quite as detailed as the reports Jax gave him, but it was more the pictures he was interested in anyways. It showed the team without any smiles, and the definite division amongst the ranks. Cyborg stood at the front, with Raven and Terra on either side. While the unholy couple stood a bit off to one side. One headline had been blown up and was the theme for the whole wall; 'Where is Robin?' That always made Rich smirk, cause he knew he was dead and gone. Rich then went and picked up his plans for the secret weapons he'd developed to render each of the Titans momentarily powerless if they ever had to go against each other. 'Afterall,' Rich thought, 'superpowers aren't exactly fair against a couple of normal guys like us.' His eyes then caught a picture of Raven with her hood down and the wind blowing. 'Oh the things I could do to her if she didn't have her powers. But that will have to wait for now. Better head downstairs.' Once back downstairs in the main room Jax began his debriefing.
"So as it looks, the original plan of working together on the battle field but not giving a shit for each other back at the Tower is starting to slip." Jax said. "It's definitely split up into Cy, Ter, and Rae fighting together and the other two separate from them."
Rich smirked. "Exactly as I expected. They can't keep the team together when there is no trust or loyalty. So tell me about the last battle, it was with Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth right?"
"Yeah, and boy was it a good one. Cy took on Mammoth, Ter and Rae took Jinx, and the couple from Hell took on Gizmo. Cy and Mammoth have always been pretty evenly matched, so it was a giant shoving match pretty much. Cy finally got the upper hand thanks to a Sonic blast at just the right moment. Ter and Rae were having a bit of trouble with Jinx. She kept jinxing every damn thing she could get her hands on and the girls were doing all the could to dodge. Finally, Rae decided she'd use her powers to block the debris leaving Ter free to attack. A couple of boulders knocked her out cold. Then, the three just kinda stared at the other two, who were having major trouble with Gizmo. They then looked like they were about to go join the fight, but the alien bitch managed to disturb Gizmo long enough for the green asshole to hit him in some animal form or another. I never really pay attention to what idiotic form he's taken really. And that covers that. So, how's the new suits coming?"
"Good, great in fact. I'm still ironing out some power trouble in your suit, but I should have it fixed in another month or two. Then I just have to get the other components to finish it up. Mine is a bit further off, but most of the tech I need is already arrived. The synovium I need is still two months off, so that will be the main hold up. Then I have to refine it for my suit and stabilize it for yours. Don't worry, I still have enough to keep your current suit going until the other one is ready. Other than that, we're right on schedule. I'd say in another three months, we'll make our debut. Before I get too far into them, is there anything you'd like to see done with it for looks?"
"I'd like to keep it basically the same if you could."
"Not a problem, still gonna be Red X then?"
"You know it. So, what name are you gonna use instead?"
"I'm thinking of changing to Nightwing. What do you think?"
"It sounds rather menacing and dark. It'll go along good with your longer hair and permanent scowl. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner!"
"Alright, that's enough of that. Let's get some dinner and then it's time for you to patrol."
"I prefer the term stalking." Jax smirked. They both laughed and headed to the kitchen.

Cyborg slowly opened his human eye. 'Guess my robotic one ain't working.' When his sight adjusted he realized he was in his room with a lot of medical equipment too. Then he noticed Bumble Bee with his back to him. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Oh God, Cy you're awake!" Bumble Bee ran over to look at her boyfriend. "You were practically dismantled in that last fight. Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload combined into that big ugly thing and were just hammering on you. The others couldn't get near you to help. The Slade ninjabots were too much for them and then even the bots started in on you."
"How bad is it, Bee?"
"You don't have any arms or legs, your eye was smashed, your chest and back are cut up pretty bad, and you're plugged directly into your charging station to keep you alive. We can't repair you, only you know your tech. We could only keep the human part alive and wait for you to wake up. I'll get the others and we'll help you get yourself back together." With that she ran out of the room.
Cyborg then saw his reflection in a mirror and was horrified. 'They ripped me limb from limb. I can see my bare wires and torn metal components. The sparks and hydraulic fluids are everywhere. I can't believe I survived all that.' As he was staring, he remembered what one of the Sladebots had said to him and his eye went wide and he gasped. The gasp caused him to grimace in pain and start coughing. Bumble Bee came in with Terra and Raven who rushed over to make sure he was alright.
"Cy, you okay bro?" Terra asked.
"Just tell us what to do and we'll get you back together. We'll stay with you until it's all done." Raven said.
"Guys, thanks so much. So who saved me?"
"That's the weird thing, the bots just suddenly turned on the triple-threat and after it destroyed them all, we were able to get to you and help out. No clue what happened." Terra said with a puzzled look on her face.
"Do you think Robin is jealous of Cy for taking over so that's why they only attacked him?" Bumble Bee asked.
"Robin isn't running Slade's organization." They all stared at Cyborg when he stated this. "One of the bots, just before I passed out, he said that Master Blood was so dissapointed in my leadership and combat skills. Then the next thing I remember is waking up here."
"Wait, so you're saying that Brother Blood is in charge of the organization, not Robin?" Raven almost shouted at the destroyed Cyborg.
"I think so. It all makes sense. Robin would toy with us more, Blood just wants us gone. He especially wants me gone so that's why they ganged up on me."
"Okay, then that still leaves us with one question." Raven stated with a hint of worry in her voice. "Where is Robin?"
Outside the window, a figure hovered while cloaked watching the whole scene. 'Good, he's gonna be okay. Better report back to Rich.' He then descended to the ground and got on his motorcycle to head back to The Pit.
"Nightwing, this is Red X, come in."
"This is Nightwing, go ahead X. What's the situation?"
"Cy is awake and remembers the Blood comment. They've figured it out. They're gonna start putting him together now. It's a good thing you were able to send the signal through our link to scramble those bots. Oh, one more thing. I think Raven likes you. She seems a little worried about you, Rich."
"Raven doesn't like anyone. She probably just wonders if I'm alive like all the others. It's been three months after all. By the way, I need you to swing by S.T.A.R. Labs and pick up the synovium. It's there and ready for pickup to use in the final phase. Just go to the back door, after removing your suit of course, and tell them you're there to pick up the order for Jackson Masters."
"Alright, I'm on my way there now. Are the suits finished up?"
"Yeah. Soon as you get me the synovium it'll take a week and then we'll be ready to test them out."
"Awesome man. Can't wait. Red X, out."

A week later, the new battle suits were completed and it was time to suit up and test them out. They were now armored suits. The chest guards held snug to them and showed off the chiseled muscles they'd worked hard to create. The boots were connected through joints to shin guards, up to knee pads and even thigh protectors. Utility belts acted as an anchor point for the torso and leg armors, as well as the arm guards as well. The gaunlets, which stretched all the way to the elbow with gadgets were the key to fighting. Red X had the X across his chest plate like before and across the right eye of his lightly armored skull mask. He also decided to keep the cape. Nightwing ditched the cape and had a firebird symbol in electric blue upon his chest. The same color could be found in accents on the rest of the suit. He also now donned a V-shaped mask similar to the old one he wore. They decided it was time to test the weapons out and find some problems with the suits.
"Okay, same weapons as before, X. This time a bit more powerful. Also, you're now able to fly, not just hover. It's not as fast as Superman, but it's still got some speed to it. Also, you can now use the suit unlimited, no replacing synovium. An extra incentive is that the X's on your palms can fire a beam of synovium energy, again that won't deplete the reserve. Your belt is empty, I thought I'd let you stock that with whatever you want. Any questions?"
"Yeah, I have two. One: what does your suit do? Two: what are you putting in your belt?"
"Well, the underside of my arm guards shoot a small object into my hand which then expands into my new birdarangs. (A/N: picture the Batman Beyond type) I have the same beam as you do along with the cloaking and flying capability. I have some different weapons built in than you, but those are a secret for our friends. My belt has freeze disks, my pole staff, and just some other useful tools. I don't want to spoil too much of the surprise. Alright, now let's head to the gym and see what we've got."
2 hours later, the suits had been pushed to the limits and both young men stumbled back to the lab.
"Okay, so we know we need a better controller for flight and the palm blasters. And my cloaking mechanism is sticking. Anything else?" asked Jax as he tossed his mask on the table.
Rich removed his mask and shook his head letting his shoulder-blade length hair fly around his head. "I can't believe I missed those defects. It'll take me a few weeks to get them fixed. But we'll still meet our deadline. Go ahead and get some patroling in, you need to get some new intel from our underground connections and I'll get started on the suits."
"Alright, I'll bring the new one down when I switch them out. Don't stay up too late, Rich."
"Good luck, Jax."

Three weeks later, exactly four months since the death of Robin, two black clad figure stood on top of The Pit. It was time for Nightwing and Red X to make their debut in the crime fighting world. All the hard work, all the set backs, all the late nights, and all the intel they'd gathered over that time had been put to good use and they new the time and place of everything going down in the city to the minute.
Nightwing smirked. "This is gonna be good. Ready X?"
"Ready Nightwing." Red X replied in his robotic voice.
"Alright then, let's do this."
The two then jumped into the air and flew off, cloaking themselves as they approached the city. Tonight would be a night the Titans wouldn't soon forget.




Jacketslacker: So what did everyone think? In the next chapter the city get introduced to the new heroes and the Titans new competition. More detailed battles and a glance into the dark mind of Rich/Nightwing will be included. So please read and review. I'm looking to see what people want to see more of, what people don't want to see more of, and just general input. I got 1 review and hopefully I can use what was suggested. Don't worry, the Lemon I promised will show up in probably the next chapter. So see everyone there.