Nightwing: Heartache

Part 62: The Dark Knight

April 10, 11:15pm
Gotham City Shipyard

90% of the cargo warehouses at the Gotham shipyard were filled with harmless merchandise. Everyday items the average person needed. But this particular one had crates full of illegal weapons.

Black Mask and his crew of cronies unboxed one of the crates to inspect their new toys, Black Mask pulling out a new state of the art, military grade gun.

"New guy thinks he can move in. I'm gonna show those punks who's top dog around here." He made sure not to get any stray pieces of packing straw on his expensive white suit. It totally clashed with the grim reaper black mask he wore over his face.

Batman dropped down before Black Mask could test out his new weapon. He disappeared into the shadows as the five hired muscles started firing their guns. Batman darted back, tackling one man, then another. Their aim grew more frantic, frustrated as they kept missing their target.

Batman swung back in, kicking one guy's feet out from under him and disarming him, using a nearby car to hop over and take cover against Black Mask's fire.

While Black Mask fired a grenade in the wrong direction, Batman kicked his only remaining guy into a car, knocking him out.

"Damn it," Mask muttered before Batman appeared behind him, kicking the gun out of his hands and then Black Mask against a cargo crate. The man groaned, "I bet 50 grand you were dead this time."

Batman rolled out of the way just as the second wave of Mask cronies started firing from the surrounding piles of crates. Twenty men in total. Batman fired a grappling line, swinging up into the shadows and jumping between crates, higher and higher, using the cover of darkness to take down one man after another while dodging bullets.

A small explosion from down below caught his attention, and he heard Black Mask scream. When Batman turned to look, he saw pieces of Mask's gun splayed about, blown up, and Robin drop down in front of him.

"Robin?!" Mask raged, "somebody kill this freaking kid!"

Batman only watched long enough to see Robin evade the onslaught of gunfire aimed at him.

A truck loaded with illegal arms started pulling away, making a beeline for the bay doors. They couldn't let the truck leave the shipyard. Robin seemed to understand that too, because he started making his way onto the truck while under fire from a heavy machine gun.

Batman punched his guy in the face, and then the guy next him, ducking under one man's arm and disarming his hand gun, pulling his arm painfully tight behind him. Batman used his elbow to knock out a man who tried to get him a headlock and headbutted a third oncoming.

A man tried to sneak up on him with a crow bar but Red Hood dropped down and flipped the overweight man over his shoulder and off the crates. "Fucking hate crowbars," he mumbled.

Batman spotted Robin running parallel to the truck. Batman motioned for Red Hood to follow him and took off running after the truck.

"Aw, I don't get to hear the voice?" Red Hood called after him. Batman ignored him. Once he was in line, he jumped, landing on the roof of the truck. He flipped the length of it as the heavy machine gun fired at the roof until he could swing inside, kicking the man arming the gun in the face.

He heard a thud from the side of the truck as Robin must have made the jump as well, now making his way to the driver. Batman knew they must be close to the warehouse doors, and he for sure didn't hear any door open, which meant they were careening straight towards a metal wall at increasing speed.

An explosion rocked the warehouse, no doubt Red Hood's handy work once he found the grenade launchers. The truck emerged from the cloud of smoke, speeding down the rows of large cargo crates. He had to end this. There was one more man in the back of the truck with Batman and the driver, which Robin was handling. The last hired muscle charged him. Bats easily dodged, but right as he went to return a blow, the truck lurched, throwing them both to the side.