Alphas and Mortals (Book 2 in the Alphas Trilogy)

Chapter 1: Nightwing

t was nighttime, around 11pm, in the East End of Gotham City, and for a very criminalized side of Gotham, it was too quiet. The main criminals, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Joker and maybe a few ones they refused to mention somehow had gotten captured and thrown into Arkham Asylum. I couldn't believe how easy that had seemed. It almost felt like it had been a setup. Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman, had seen them firsthand get arrested but for some reason, wouldn't express the details. Either something traumatizing had occurred or Gordon had forced him to keep his mouth shut about the arrests. I didn't want to dwell too much on it, just because I was bored and alone on patrol. I was definitely sure Batman had grown more paranoid ever since the criminals' arrest. The metal twin fighting sticks rattled as I miscalculated my next leap and slammed into the side of the building, whacking a metal lamp-pole. I gritted my teeth against the pain and flung myself up onto the roof. The Hex was stunning at night, as it lit up dimly to provide light to the people going home from clubs or from hanging out with friends or to those criminals who struck at night. Thanks to Lyra, the Hex had been specifically altered to turn a beautiful lavender at night, stay transparent during the day, and red for when too much magic was used or a powerful god or goddess entity entered. Tonight, I was appreciating the beautiful lavender glow, turning even my clothes indigo. I decided that it couldn't hurt to sit down for a few minutes, as nothing was going to happen anyway tonight. I've been doing this for the past week, and still nothing has happened, so I had every reason to be bored. I laid out on the rooftop, and like a cat, basked in the lavender glow. I know this sounds really feminine, but you gotta admit, it feels good to just relax at some point. I now felt tired, so my eyes slowly drifted shut, when I felt something shudder the ground and the lavender glow just beyond my eyelids that I couldn't see, suddenly brightened and caused me to sit up, startled and slightly blinded when I opened my eyes. The Hex was the brightest red I've ever seen in a very long time.

"What the hell?" I muttered to myself and I stood up. After a glance around, I saw that there was nobody in sight. But the Hex shouldn't be this bright red. It should've been lavender. Then, as quickly as I could turn, the Hex began to flash, between red and black. Lyra had never expressed to anyone why it would turn black, but something told I better move fast, or something would attack me. Intuition, or sheer instinct, told me to leap off the roof, slide down the pole and run. I didn't listen. I stood there, watching the Hex flash, then settle into a lavender color again, but there was a long splinter down the Hex. Now I was stressed, because a splinter in the Hex was a very bad thing.

"Shit, shit, shit," I swore and did another quick sweep around the roof, glancing around the sky at different angles. Then I felt a very strong shudder in the roof and I whirled back. Someone was standing on the edge, watching me. The person was draped in a long black hooded cloak, but there was hitch in the back, like there were wings on the person.

"Hey! Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"You don't know me, as we've never met. I'm Hana."

The voice was very raspy but sounded young as well.

"I'm Nightwing. Why are you here? What's your purpose of being in Gotham? You've triggered the Hex pretty badly."

Hana shifted her weight then stepped forward, away from the edge.

"I do not need to express what I'm doing here to you, Nightwing," she replied stiffly.

"Yes, you do. The Bats are responsible for keeping this city safe."

The cloak shifted in a very weird way on her back as she reacted to his words.

"This city has seen better days before your Batman came along and tried to protect it. He got himself in trouble with the Nightwalkers at 18, and that's what tripped this city's fall into action. It was only a matter of time before people found out about him and decided to propose a challenge. The Joker heard that little Bruce Wayne had no parents, a trust fund and a attraction to trouble. If he hadn't messed with the Nightwalkers, Gotham could've had a chance to recover."