𝒞𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓉 𝒜𝓋𝒾𝓈 ۵ 𝒟𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓎𝓈𝑜𝓃

i

Nightwing bit his lip, forcing his breathing to calm instead of the heavy pants and coughs that threatened to rattle his frame. His battered and bruised body screamed and ached with the power of a thousand suns. Instead of focusing on that he concentrated on William Cobb's light, almost inaudible footsteps. He resisted the urge to rip off the Talon suit that he currently donned and crept further away from the thumps, pressing himself against a big wooden crate.

       His grandfather's breathing neared him as he scuffled away, shuffling his feet as gently as he could with the type of boots he was wearing. 'Come on come on come on come on.' He mentally chanted, reaching up and gripping the vent he had left open and unscrewed. He held his breath, knowing that once he tried to pull himself up the metal would give him away.

       Bracing himself, he clutches the vent with both hands and winces at the screech that echoes through the room. Surely his grandfather heard it and he scrambles to get out of there. Unfortunately, with his growth spurt he can't go through as smoothly and easily as he once used to but it was quick enough to dodge the dagger that flew right where his head once was, cutting his cheek deep enough to bleed.

"You are not escaping alive Talon! You will bow at my feet or I will have your head!" Cobb yelled, the voice reverberating through the ventilation shafts Nightwing was crawling through, he went left. He pulled out a mask out of his pocket and slapped it on as swiftly as he could. "Please, please." The vigilante whimpered lowly, desperately scooting as fast as he could as to inform Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin, hell even Robin that this was the main Court of Owls base. All he needed was that shred of moonlight and it would all be over, even if he didn't make it.

All he wanted was to see the rooftops again.

Nightwing hears a screech closely behind and he looks over his shoulder to see a myriad of weapons sticking out from the bottom of the shaft. "Miss." He hears a woman cry out from underneath. Bangs echo from all over and he spots the beginning of a hand coming from the vent at the right so he pushes forward and right. Many twists and turns soon followed that decision and Nightwing struggled to recall the map he had memorized what seemed to be a lifetime ago.

His vision spun but he pushed, going left for what felt like the millionth time, bruises started to blossom and cuts appeared on his skin, tearing into his now shredded Talon uniform. Weapons of different kinds would pop of from nowhere and sometimes he had to lose some of the members of the cult.

Fear never appeared in his mind, instead, determination burned like a raging fire that consumed his being. His mind went into complete fight or flight mode, all he could think about was getting out. After what felt like hours he found an opening that angled up at a 45 degree angle. Nightwing clenched his teeth and soon followed the path, light filtered in from the vent cover at the very top.

He became quieter and quieter, his training finally kicking in as he pulls out a knife he had completely forgotten about and lodged it between the wall and the metal. He pulls and he feels the cover loosen considerably, unfortunately bending the blade considerably. Deeming it as good as he could get it, he places a foot on it and grabs onto the slits with his fingers, hissing as it cut into his fingers. Nightwing pries the air-vent open with pure strength and gently pushes it aside. He cringes as it clatters loudly to the floor but places his hands on the edge and jumps out, analyzing his surroundings before letting himself drop.

To be frank, he didn't expect to get this far.

Only the adrenaline keeps him going, stumbling past pillars and doors that made everything seem like a maze. The vigilante spots a window and doesn't hesitate to shatter it with his elbow, crying out as it dug into already open wounds. The glass pierced his body in a painful wave and he felt tears start to roll down his face. "Come on, I'm so close."