Nightwing: Sins of the Fathers

Sharp Dressed Man

When I had initially cut ties with Batman and decided to join the Titans, I still had regular access to the Batcave – it was only after the death of Jason and the end of my relationship with Barbara that the relationship truly broke down. It wasn't that Bruce ever told me I couldn't come back, that's just how it felt... Like I'd failed as Robin, and that's why Jason had to take on the role in the first place, and eventually ended up dead.

In that time I had made all my own repairs to the Nightwing suit, and since the shooting incident, it was looking a little worse for wear. The costume itself was made from specialised materials that were built to withstand various levels of wear and tear – but the more holes I made and stitched up, the more vulnerable I was.

It felt like Christmas when I returned home from class that Friday afternoon and went up to my loft. I'd had another day of being flat out ignored by Melissa, who'd seen me leave the previous class with Emily – fuelling her theory that I was some kind of sleaze-bag who had cheated on Emily with her. So naturally, I wasn't in a good mood.

Walking through the apartment door, I headed straight for the bookcase and scanned my thumb along the Robin Hood DVD. The bookshelf clunked, my new security system springing to life, and the secret door swung forward and revealed the staircase to the loft.

There was now another sliding metal door at the top of the stairs, which only opened once the bookcase door had shut behind me. The secondary door hissed open, behind it was my flashy new equipment – complete with a top of the range mini forensic lab, medical station, equipment storage, and high-tech batcomputer, still housed in the chimney breast. To my surprise there were now three glass chambers at the far end of the loft, the glass was blacked out so I couldn't see what was in them.

As I approached, I noticed a yellow post-it note on the glass: 'looked like you needed a new one, love Barb x.'

I flicked the switch on the metal panel which sat in the centre of the glass cylinders – lights came on to reveal three Nightwing suits.

The centre costume was almost identical to my original with a blue wing across the chest that reached right down the arms, it was a one-piece made up of a sturdy but flexible material that was tailored to my strengths in speed and acrobatics. It was durable enough to take certain damage from bullets and knives, the blue wing across the chest was heavily armoured, as were the shoulder pads and gauntlets. It was paired up with an improved version of my Domino Mask.

The suit to the left was a completely armoured suit that sported a large red Bat Symbol, it was very similar to the outfit that Bruce currently used, sans the cape and cowl – it contained a red hood made of fireproof material. This suit was obviously for more 'heavy duty' missions. This outfit was paired with a Domino Mask which could be hooked up to a respirator.

In the third case was my original Nightwing suit in all its glory, Barbara had installed a plaque above it which said 'The Original – do not use'.

I couldn't quite believe how terrific the new suit felt as I fell through the air at a hundred miles per hour, grappling at the last possible second into a super-fast swing. I wasn't even looking for any crime in particular to stop, and we had no new leads in the Vertigo case - to be honest, I just wanted to be out on the rooftops again.

While I hadn't yet tested it in combat, it felt as though I had much more flexibility and the lightweight armour allowed me to move much quicker and more silently. I decided to test my stealth abilities on the corrugated metal roofs of the warehouses down in the industrial part of town, they'd give a good indication of how quiet I was now able to be.

I spent most of the night bouncing from roof to roof and swinging from cranes, pushing the suit to its limits – it felt a lot like being back at the circus with my parents, taking risks and pushing boundaries.