"The Great Misdirection Conception" part 1 of 3

Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Oracle, and the Huntress and all prominent characters ™ and © DC Comics 1999

Gotham City Tuesday February 2, 1999. Winter’s cold grip has placed Gotham’s nightlife in a deep freeze. The streets are barren except for the 6 inches of snow and the poor souls that have nowhere to go. They are the homeless and destitute. Their lives are measured more in failures and missed opportunities than in years. Each has his own story to tell. "I lost all my money on them dare horses." "I messed around on my wife and she took it all." "The drugs! It was the drugs!" Yes, a million stories, but none as tragic as poor Mike Lucas. Mike was a family man that worked selflessly to make the perfect life for his wife, Julie, and their two kids, Rook and Arique. He quickly climbed the corporate ladder and was made a vice president in charge of his own department within 4 short years, the fastest rise in company history. Everything was peaches and cream. Then, like lightning, things changed. The company he worked for was bought out. He was a victim of the company "stream lining". He had trouble finding work that paid the same he had become accustomed to . He started drinking. His wife had an affair and left him, taking the kids. The bank foreclosed on his house and took his car. Where he did find work he was fired for coming in late…or not coming in at all. Within six months of his promotion, Mike found himself alone on the streets. That is where he is now trying desperately to stay warm. He generally keeps to himself, afraid that the clothes that he has on his back, will make him prey. That thinking usually works but tonight…tonight he is the prey.

Mike (sleeping): ZZZZZZ

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Mike (sleeping): ZZZZZZ

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Mike (sleeping): ZZ….(waking up) Who’s…there?

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Voice: Oh, you will be perfect.

Mike (rubbing his eyes, looking up toward the voice): What do you want?

Voice: Nothing really. Just to send a message…

As Mike looks up he sees a figure standing in the shadows and he seems to be flipping a coin. As the coin flies through the air, Mike can’t help but watch its flight as it descends toward the snowy alley floor. The coin continues until it’s decent is stopped by the snow. Mike glances over and it is like no other coin he has ever seen. The coin has landed heads up and the head has an "X" carved in it. Almost immediately, Mike knows who the attacker is standing in the shadows.

Mike: No! Two-Face! Please don’t kill me!

Mike can see a gun being pulled out from the shadows and aimed at his head.

Mike: No!

Mike’s body slumps to the soft wet ground with two bullet holes in his head. The figure gives a slight chuckle. Grabs a nearby stick and dips it in Mike’s blood.

Voice: …We’re back!

Earlier that day on the outskirts of Gotham at Wayne Manor. Tim Drake, AKA the Boy Wonder Robin, is trying to use his great powers of deduction to try and find out where Billionaire Bruce Wayne, AKA The Dark Knight Batman, is off to in such a hurry.

Tim: You are going where?

Bruce (buttoning up his shirt and tucking it in his pants): I told you already, one of my pharmaceutical holdings in California thinks they’ve discovered a way to curb mans tendency toward violence.

Tim: You know they have earthquakes in California! Why not stay here in Gotham where it’s safe.

Bruce (tying his tie): Look Tim, I’ll only be gone for 3 days.

Tim: You know what, you’ll be gone and Arkham will probably explode and the Joker, Two-Face, Killer Croc and all the others will escape and…

Bruce: You seem tense. I’ve already taken steps to insure that Gotham will be protected in my brief absents. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to leave the city. Everything will be fine.

Tim: I guess I’d better get some sleep now cause I’ll be awake for the rest of the night.

Dick Grayson (walking into the room): You make that sound like a bad thing?

Bruce and Tim both look and see the man named Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, walking in with a duffel bag and a smile.

Tim: Dick!

Bruce: Glad to see you got my message.

Dick: Bludhaven may be corrupt, dirty, and nasty, but our phones work real well.

Alfred (coming into the room): Master Bruce, all your bags are packed and the car is waiting.

Bruce (turning and leaving the room): Thank you Alfred.

Dick (punching Tim on the shoulder): So I guess it’s just you and me?

Tim: (rubbing his shoulder) Ow! Yea.

Dick: I tell you what…last one down to the cave has to wash the other one’s tights for a week.

Tim: You’re on!

As the two quickly race through the door and pass Alfred, he thinks back to a time when Dick was little more than Tim’s age and how his presence always seemed to light up a room.

Later that night, in the alley that Mike was killed in. Nightwing and Robin are poised on a nearby roof, checking out the crime scene.

Robin: See anything interesting?

Nightwing: Yea. The outfit that Detective Montoya has on is really flattering.

Robin: Bruce goes away and I’m stuck with "Hormone Man".

Nightwing: You’re what 15? You should be knee deep in hormones!

Robin: I am…just not while I’m on patrol. So what else do you see down there?

Nightwing: Well it seems that the message that we intercepted over the police scanner was correct. It looks like Two-Face is back.

Robin: How can you tell from up here?

Nightwing: The 2 bullets in the head. Tonight is the 2^nd of February which is the 2^nd month of the year…and the fact that he scribbled "We’re back. Two-Face" in the victims blood on the alley wall.

Robin: Some detective you are.

Nightwing: Hey learned from the best. Now hush a minute I’m trying to read lips.

Down below Detectives Bullock and Montoya are investigating the scene.

Montoya: Henry Bullock would you put down the doughnut for a second and help me out here?

Bullock (shoving the last half of a jelly filled doughnut into his mouth): MMRFGH!!

Montoya: One of these days a giant doughnut is going to chase you down and kill you.

Bullock: As long as it’s not the glazed kind. I can’t stand glazed. What help do you need anyway? It’s clear Two-face did the crime. We’ll go back to HQ and tell the commish and he’ll make his journey to the roof…flip the switch. The bat’ll come find the bad guy and take him to Arkham. Meanwhile, we’ll still be doing the paper work from the crime scene.

Montoya: You can stop now and help me gather these shell casings.

Bullock: Those look like .22’s. Yea all fingers point to Two-Face.

Meanwhile, in a nearby alley, a shadowy figure looks on as the cops continue to process the crime scene.

Shadowy figure (to self): Perfect…simply prefect. Now for step 2. HAHAHA!

Later that night high above the streets of Gotham the urban vigilante named The Huntress is in pursuit of a fleeing perp.

Perp (running away): Ugh! Huff Huff!

Huntress: You won’t get away from me! I saw you mug that old lady.

Perp: (looking back over his shoulder) Yea you might…huff…have seen…huff…but you’ll never…huff…catch…offff!

The Huntress stops as the perp stops running and falls to the ground.

Huntress: What are you doing here?

Nightwing: Nothing just in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop in.

Huntress: I see and you brought the little one with you. Batman must be out of town.

Robin: Hey!

Nightwing: Helena that’s just not nice. Do you usually bad mouth kids?

Huntress: Look I didn’t need your help I had the guy dead to rights.

Nightwing: Speaking of which…where did he go.

Several yards away.

Perp (to self): Let those two talk and forget about..offf!

Voice: Where are you off to in such a hurry?

Perp: You!?! What do you want with me?

Voice: To send a message…

The perp looks up as the figure attached to the voice grabs his throat and with his other hand forces his mouth open. He then takes a piece of paper and shoves it down the perp’s throat.

Perp: HMMPPH!

Then the figure picks up the perp and walks to the edge of the ledge of the building.

Perp: NNNNMMMHH!

Voice (standing at the edge with the perp over his head): Let Gotham know that Croc has returned!

With that the massive ex-wrestler throws the per off the top of the 8 story building toward the ground.

Across the alley a top an adjacent building.

Huntress: I can’t believe this! I had the guy and you pop out of nowhere, like usual, and poof the guy is gone. Let me tell you…

Robin: What was that?

Nightwing: It sounded like the end of a long journey off the top of a roof.

The 3 heroes quickly scramble toward the origin of the sound and look down and see the perp that the Huntress was chasing face down in a thin layer of red snow. They quickly look up across the way and see a massive figure looking down at the dead perp and laughing.

Nightwing: Hey you! Stay right there!

The figure hears the shout and takes off into the shadows.

Nightwing: Robin call the hospital and have an ambulance come out. I’m going after that guy!

Huntress: Me too.

Robin: Hormones…who needs them?

As the two heroes jump to the other roof and begin to search the shadows.

Nightwing: (to self) That figure almost looked like Killer Croc, the ex-wrestler with a skin condition that caused his skin to mimic that of a reptiles. I wonder what he’s doing out of Arkham? This is really what we need. Batman goes out of town and boom Two-Face and Croc show up in the same right.

Huntress: (to self) One of these days I’ll get to you Nightwing. We had a "relationship" a little while back and even thought I care for you deeper than you know I can’t let you take over my life. I’ve got to prove myself to the Bat and if we became…more involved, then I wouldn’t know if the Bat excepted me for me or because I was your girlfriend and that would never…do?

Huntress looks down and see a shadow, that was created by one of the few lights, lurking around a nearby corner. She leaps around the corner and…

She hits a figure and the two roll around in the snow. When they stop see looks down and sees Nightwing laying under her.

Nightwing: You know you could have just asked for a roll in the snow, but I do like a woman that doesn’t ask and just takes.

Huntress: You wish!

Nightwing: Your point is?

The Huntress gets off of Nightwing and the two look around.

Nightwing: It looks like Croc got away. Come on let’s go see if the ambulance is here yet.

As the two leave, a familiar figure looks from around the corner….

Figure: This is great! I should have thought of this earlier! HAHAHA!

Next Issue!!! Who is the figure that is seems to be everywhere? What will the team of Nightwing, Robin, and The Huntress react when they learn of even more murders?

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