Nightwing: Heartache

Part 53: X-Pit

March 13, 9:52pm
Gretchen Goode Residence

While Willa was at The Great Khan premiere with Granny, Dick and Jefferson snuck into her house to see if she had stolen Apokoliptian tech.

With Oracle's high tech contacts, Nightwing watched the live feed of Gretchen Goode make an appearance across town.

"This is Cat Grant reporting live for GBS from the Babylonian Theater in Hollywood where Goode World Studios is holding the world premiere of its latest blockbuster, The Great Khan. With me now is the name behind the studio, Gretchen Goode herself," Cat Grant gestured to the elderly woman who entered the frame.

Oracle confirmed the feed was live, confirming Gretchen Goode's house was empty. Perfect for a little breaking and entering, with probable cause of course. Nightwing was still a law abiding illegal vigilante.

"Oh, call me Granny dear. Everybody does," Granny's high pitched voice said.

Dick caught a glimpse of Will in the background of the video, just passing through, before he cut the feed. Willa was the one who originally tipped them off that tonight would be perfect to do some recon due to the premiere. Nightwing could have figured it out himself, but it helped to have someone on the inside. It helped to have help again. As much as Dick had fought against it, having a team again was nice.

"I'm still not sure what a simple recon of Granny's house will tell us," Jefferson said from beside Nightwing.

Nightwing smirked. "I said recon. I never said simple." He pulled out Motherbox.

Both heroes heard the loud ping from the living machine.

"I asked Motherbox to ping if she sensed any Apokoliptan tech inside," Nightwing held up the box, "and she just pinged."

He turned to stalk towards the house but Black Lightning caught his shoulder. "Hey, you're not suggesting an illegal search here," his voice had that parent tone of disappointment.

"That ping was probable cause," he fired back. Nightwing walked away before Jefferson could keep arguing.

They knelt by the front bushes just long enough for Barbara to dismantle Granny's wireless security system. This was too easy.

"This is too easy," Barbara said through the tech.

"This is too easy," Jefferson said as Nightwing unlocked Granny's front door.

"I know." But Nightwing walked inside.

They walked into the living room. It was eerily normal. Clean. Jefferson skimmed over some shelves while Dick walked the length of the room for any inconsistencies. If Bruce taught him one thing, it was that places this pristine were most likely staged to look normal. Just find an inconsistency.

"I don't see anything," Jefferson said.

Nightwing's eyes locked on a small black box on a side table, a box too small for the decor to be even. A box that looked not quite from Earth. But just as he went towards it, a loud clang resounded through the room. Faster than Nightwing could ask Motherbox to boom tube them out of there, one opened under their feet and sent them plummeting.

The only way Dick could tell he stopped falling was because the pain started.

Instant, all consuming, paralyzing pain, like being stabbed by a thousand knives and having his blood turned to lava. He yelled through gritted teeth, but he couldn't move. Not his arms, or his legs, or even turn his head. The most he could do was squeeze his eyes closed.

He screamed again.

And again.

Again.

The pain surrounded him, clawing into his eyes and ears, burrowing itself deep in his soul, tearing him apart from the inside.

He screamed.

He couldn't think... he was slipping...