Gotham Nights.

In the beginning, The Batman said "..."

The night was dark, and it was raining in Gotham. Really when is it not? The city lights painted a gentle gold tint on the sky above the city. in the veil of the rain, two figures manoeuvre across slick roof tops. Silent in their movements, but powerful. Bounding from building to building. One moving stoically, one almost dancing from point A to Point B. Powerful flips here and there, all in a streamline motion. He knew these rooftops. He's been playing on them for as long as he could remember.

As the duo neared their destination, the large man spoke in a stern, gravelly voice. "We're here for clues. Take them out quickly, search for anything that could narrow our search for Sionis." The Batman spoke clearly, and to the point. He's never been one to beat around the bush. The younger of the two chuckled dryly, "It's been the same job for the last 8 years, Bruce. What, You think i'm gettin' rusty?" The Knight didn't respond, Instead getting into position looming above a skylight over looking a small party of Roman Sionis' men. As the two prepared to dispatch the group, the power suddenly went out, cutting it with a gadget. Switching to night vision through their respective cowls, the two watched as the goons jumped in panic, one of them frantically searching for the nearest light switch. With their opportunity at hand, the pair crashed through the thick glass of the skylight and took them out one by one.

Nightwing snuck behind two guards, tapping the joint of the first thugs knee with his club and putting the other club against his throat when he knelt down, muffling his fear with his free hand. In a moment the guard was incapacitated.
moving onto the next, the other goon was grabbed around the neck and thrown behind himself, stopping when his body hit the ground, trying to peel the sturdy arms of his attacker from around his mouth and nose. in another instant, the second man was put to sleep.

As this went on, The Batman was on the other side of the room, much less discreet in his approach. He threw an overhand punch at the back of the first thug's head, immediately rendering him unconscious, slamming the next thug's head into the wall of the loft.

As they dispatched their first pair of thugs, the dynamic duo cleared across the room in a flash, descending upon the last two unsuspecting criminals, Nightwing throwing a straight kick into the man sitting's head, The Batman throwing another haymaker into the other thugs nose, putting them under rather bluntly.

Just before relaxing, the door acrossed the room flung open. Springing into action, Nightwing threw a club at the last moment, striking the criminal in the forehead, leaving him dazed, The Batman dashed at the man, throwing his palm upwards through his chin, the man's feet lifting up off the ground before ending up where his head used to be, his head hitting the ground before the rest of him could.

After clearing the room, the two checked and tightened their equipment before beginning their search for intel. Dick Grayson began scanning bookshelves and desks looking for any files or e-mails, scouring through the contents of any computers or envelopes he laid his eyes on.
In another section of the room Bruce Wayne stood tall, analysing the thugs uniforms. they all matched up with The Black Mask's signature appearance, Clean, Dark, Dangerous. Atleast they had the right people, hopefully it's the right place.

Roman Sionis was a regular criminal prior to his accident. High maintenance, Sneaky, Conniving. Cautious. He was a lunatic with a flair for Masks and Decoration. Not much changed, yet somehow he managed to become even more deranged after a job of his went tail-up, resulting in his mask being permanently grafted to his head. Earning him the nickname, the Black Mask. His contempt for Batman only rose, assuming he was the cause of the accident.

After a short while of searching, Batman plucked the sim card from one of the thug's phones and inserted it into a slot in his cowl. Now having access to any call or text records, The Batman plotted a course for the indicated safe house. Sionis would be there, he gets too sure of himself at times, and thats when he's caught. "I let you find it first." quipped the younger vigilante.

_ _ _

Later, in a room lit only by the moonlight and the underglow from the city, a Lone, Gangly man sits at a desk. Hands building a bridge for his chin to rest on. Behind him, two pairs of eyes glowed in the shadows. he leaned back, sighing at his current state of brooding, Before having his head slammed forward into the desk he was sitting at. Shocked, the man sprang backwards into his chair, clutching his face where his nose would be. Suddenly the man and his chair were sent flying back into the wall, stopping only when his chair couldn't go any further into the darkness. The Batman swung his open palm into the mans mouth, grabbing his cheeks, pressing his head up against an old painting. "Speak, Sionis. I know who you're hiding from, tell me where he is or else i'll dislocate your jaw."
The disfigured man, now known to be Roman Sionis, started clawing at the fabric of the Knights suit in a frightened panic. Lifting him up out of his seat, The Batman sent sionis scrambling through the air onto the floor. Stepping on his back, nailing him to the ground, The Batman spoke again. "Talk. Before i stop being so polite."
"If i talk, he'll ruin me."
Sionis responded Sporadic yet cool. "I knew you were comin', just take care of the bastard and be on your way!" Sionis, always one step ahead. Applying slow pressure, The Batman increased his weight against the man's spine. Mask then frantically began sputtering and pointing to a flower vase on the desk behind them. Nightwing seeing his cue, lifted the vase up, noticing a hole cut into the desktop, inside being a small flash drive. handing it off to Batman, He then replaced the chip in his visor with the drive, storing the previous one in his belt. It then pulled up a GPS diagram showing the coordinates for what he could only assume was The Joker's current base of operations.

_ _ _

Arriving, the two were welcomed by, well, Not a thing. "This is weird, this is the only place it could be, but it seems... off. He usually has some sort of schtick, some crazy, loud gimmick." The young vigilante voiced his concerns plainly. The Batman grumbled in response. As the two exited the Batmobile, they continued onward cautiously.

Entering the compound, the familiar sight of Circus motifs and clowns everwhere were almost blinding. The large building vibrated dangerously with a loud, distorted bass. If you focused hard enough you could almost lie and say it sounded like Circus music.
The two continued forward, walking until finding where the music was quietest. But in the absence of the "music" was an ominous, deep breathing. following the reverberating thumping of somebody's heart beating in their chest. the sound bounced off the walls, accompanied by an infrequent water dripping somewhere in the room. Cracking a baton and throwing it into the darkness the jokers uncanny, smiling face flashed out of the room, with almost inhuman speed. Yet just beyond the blue spark of the club was something- someone. "There." said the hero. In the distance, Nightwing could see a young man. no older than himself. His feet twitching against the cold, damp tile. Jason Todd. Nightwing began running towards the young protégé, The Batman took off after The Joker, continuing their old song and dance. Reaching the sidekick, Nightwing didn't have the time to fully realize nor react to one; Somebody was charging him, Two, a detonator was activated somewhere in the building, and Three... the ground was caving in below the three of them left in the room.

Plunging into darkness, falling into a wet recess of the building, the muted music played on in the background. Waking up soon after the explosion, Dick woke up to find not only Jason beneath him, but a small woman with her hair in twintails, covered head to toe in a red and black harlequinn jumpsuit.

___________

i've been leaving and revisiting this first chapter a lot, i'm not entirely sure where i want this story to go in terms of a story, but it'll be a Harleydick central romance.