Gotham Knight (TWO)

The Mystery

Richard "Dick" Grayson, Nightwing

"Barbara, link me to Alfred." Barbara typed something on her computer.

"Master Grayson?" Alfred asked. "I'm here. Bring up the recorded audio and then tell me what was going on before." Alfred clicked something and played the audio through my earpiece. Bruce shuffled and stopped. An explosion boomed through my ears and Bruce slammed into a rooftop. "Batman, The Court of the Owls has sentenced you to The Labyrinth." the audio finished as Bruce tried to murmur something. Alfred sounded like he was holding back tears. "No connection after that point."

I looked at the building that Bruce presumably was tackled onto. I choked up a little, and anger in me started rising. "WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME!" I screamed, throwing one of my escrima sticks across the rooftop. I punched a faulty generator and fell to the ground. "First Jason, now Bruce," Alfred sighed. "he's gone, Alfred. Dead." I wiped tears from my eyes. 

Barbara chimed in with a mad, but confident voice. "How about both of you knock it off. We're acting like he's good as dead! Do you know who we're talking about? Bruce Wayne. The goddamned Batman. He's out there somewhere. He needs all of us to work together and find him already!" Barbara sounded agitated.

"In Master Grayson's defense, it has been eight days since-" "Just cut it out, Alfred."

I spun around to go pick up my escrima stick. Standing in my way was a shadowy-looking figure, holding a sword and my stick. I pulled out my second stick from my back. "Who the hell are you?" I called out. 

"My name is Azrael. And I've been sent by The Order of Saint Dumas." he stood, his eyes staring. "How long have you been here?" 

"The whole time. I know who you are, Nightwing." he paused. 

"Batman. He's been captured by a shadowy figure on this building. It's you, isn't it?"

He didn't nod or shake his head, just stood vigilantly staring at me. He raised his sword to point it at me. "The prophecy." he muttered. I took two steps forward, bringing my stick to fighting position. "You have one chance. You're going to tell me where the hell Batman is, or I take you down." he didn't say anything at first, but then repeated: "The prophecy."

I started sprinting like a bull at him, sending all my weight at him. He jumped left and hit my back with the hilt of his sword. "I don't want to start a battle, Sir Nightwing." I smirked as he spoke. "Well, I do."

My arm swung forward, hitting him in the shoulder. My left fist went into his stomach, but he didn't seem fazed. He brought his sword hilt back up and hit me in the face, smashing my escrima stick into my chest as he did.

I fell on my back, but quickly rolled back up. This guy meant business. I ran to the left, jumping off the generator and punching Azrael in the face. He stumbled back a little, but threw his sword into the air. I looked up at it, a stupid mistake. As I stared at the sword, he swung to his side and kicked my throat. The sword came back down and he grabbed it by the hilt, ready to stab me.

I fell to the ground, grasping my trachea. Blood poured out of my mouth as it got harder to breathe. Something on his boot, my throat has been severely injured. He came back and swung his fist at me. I kicked it away and sat up against the rooftop wall.

"Enough. It's over. What do you want?" I asked. He stared down at me. "The prophecy." he said.

"What prophecy?"

"Many moons ago, I met your trainer. The Batman. I read to him The Order's prophecy about Gotham. It's . . . it's going down." he maintained a monotone voice the whole time.

"What's going down?" I asked. 

"This city. In flames. The reckoning has begun."

"The reckoning?" 

"Ignorance. It starts with ignorance. Next, denial. Discovery. Downfall. False Threats. The cleansing . . ." he paused. "death." 

"What?" I asked.

"Those are the order of events. The order of events in the downfall of Gotham." he stopped.

"How? How does the city go down?"

"Ignorance starts it. The Hidden Evil works in strange ways. The Knight doesn't believe The Hidden Evil exists. Denial. Discovery. Downfall."

"Who's The Hidden Evil?" Azrael looked at me as I spoke. "I mustn't speak of the later steps of The Reckoning. I can only tell you the steps that are in effect."

"Why?"

"Future-seeing is a dangerous thing, Mister Grayson."

"How do-?"

"Discovery. The Knight finds out the truth behind The Hidden Evil."

"Where are you getting this information?" I chimed in.

Azrael paused before he spoke his next word. "Downfall is next. It's only a matter of time."

I started panting. "WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THIS INFORMATION!" I barked.

"This, Nightwing, has been," he stopped abruptly and looked up at me. "The story of Gotham."