The Circuit

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Dick's POV

It had been two years. Two damn years.

I looked over the rail of the boat I stood on. The ocean stared back at me with cold blue eyes similar to my own. The light in my eyes had long since gone out and it had yet to return. I turned back to gaze upon my prison one last time. 

The island of the League of Shadows.

They had been training me along with Deathstroke and The Court of Owls to be the perfect pawn. A seemingly minor and meaningless piece of plastic to be moved by the game master to be merely a means to an end.

The first step in their plan was to break me. Have me beg for mercy. Then, they would train me. Glue the shattered pieces of my mind back together the way they saw fit. Finally, they would release me. They would ship me back home so I could tear the league apart from the inside out.

However, they never could seem to get past step one.

Although, I will admit that when the Justice League gave up on me and declared me dead I almost allowed myself to break. It was as if I were a tower of blocks about to fall over, unstable and seemingly defying gravity. I wanted them to keep searching for me but that would be selfish. They deserved to move on rather that be weighed down by the guilt of knowing I was alone and suffering.

In truth I couldn't say if the boy they lost two years ago was still alive anyway. 

I desperately tried to divert my attention to something else, but I have come to the realization that ignoring the past would get me nowhere. So with that thought, my mind wandered back to the Shadows, Court, and mercenary. What if they do this to someone else? What if they kidnap one of my friends? I would never be able to forgive myself if something like that were to happen.

But what if I can prevent that? What if I could take down my enemies before they could hurt my friends, or rather, my family.

I know I can't defeat them on my own. I'm not an idiot, nor am I an amateur. I will need help. Preferably a covert team. I can't risk asking my old team. They mean a lot to me, but covert doesn't seem to be a word in their vocabulary. And if I'm doing this to protect them and the League, revealing myself would defeat the purpose.

There has to be someone. Someone or a group of people off the League's radar willing to devote themselves to the cause. I stared out into the water to see the remains of another ship. Someone had failed to escape the island, unlike... That's it! 

The deserters! Those who have escaped my enemies. There has to be rogues, enemies of my enemies, heroes in hiding, and even those who want to become heroes or have yet to discover the power they may hold.

Although, I can't get ahead of myself. I can't ask others to have blind faith in me when I don't have a plan of my own. I need an H.Q. and some secret bases around the world to counter those of my villians, but for that I need money.

I can't exactly ask my billionaire friends for money, but I am still an experienced hacker who designed the systems that protect their money. So let's consider this my payment. I know stealing isn't right but it's not like Ollie and Bruce can't afford it.

This leads my to my next question. Where do I put my home base? Maybe I should take a page out of the Shadow's book. An island would be perfect.

I remember researching Tetepare island for a school project. It's the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific. All I have to do to keep it hidden would be to do some hacking and classify it as a quarantined area so no tourists show up. 

Once I create a settlement I can start recruiting others. I will need help to build up the H.Q., but I can't have any civilian construction workers here. I'll need to find people I can trust quickly, but I can't reveal myself to anyone... Yet. I'm going to have to think of some way to get people to trust me if I want this to work, and that's easier said than done.

Hopefully, before long I will have the most covert operation on the planet. I know it seems like a lot, but hey I'm ambitious.

I can't exactly go by Robin anymore, though. I need a new persona. Dick Grayson was a circus boy, and Robin was a sidekick, but Nightwing will be a leader.

The leader of a secret organization of highly trained operatives working to disassemble the villian world from the shadows. A circuit of heroes to be the world's saving grace shall the time ever arise.

I looked up at the sky. For the first time in a long time my eyes reflected the electric blue on the horizon. Energy flooding through me and a new determination taking me over. Once again I had my drive, a purpose, and a cause to serve. My mission was clear.

And I am so feeling the aster.