Nightwing's Story

Batwoman

Used to death. Not something someone usually wanted to accept as a compliment, but there it was. Sadly, it was all too true in Gotham. Batwoman wipes breifly at the tears that threaten to fall, eliminating them against the black gauntlet of her costume. She lays the crimson-clad hand that she'd been recently holding gently onto Daredevil's chest when the others move to drape a scavenged flag over him, stepping back and gathering herself back into sad acceptance. Batman - Bruce - is, of course, stoic as ever. Cold, some might say, but Barbara knew he was just practical. The city was in dire straights, and right now was no time to dwell on the death of a man who wouldnt want them to do so.

Captain steps up to speak, assigning them all duties, and she approves. Arrow was a frequent ally, but he didnt have the intimate knowledge of Gotham and its chaotic network of warrens like she did. If necessary, her real identity could even approach and gather information from what police forces had survived the onslaught. Here, she felt another pang of concern for her father, who - in his way - would probably have put himself at the forefront of his defending officers, but it would all have to wait. Gotham was in ruins, and it would be a long time before anyone knew anything concrete about the multitudes of potentially dead and missing.

Right now, what Gotham needed was heroes, and in that vein she nods at the Captain and looks to Green Arrow.

"We'll need to focus on downtown. We cant stop -every- looter, but we can prevent them from targeting larger hauls like the banks and precinct armories."

The vigil around the dead and bleeding body of Daredevil had to give way to other important matters, though he would not leave their thoughts for many months to come they knew that there were things which needed to be done. Their comrade and fellow Superhero was a crucial component in their battle against the blood thirsty Symbiote's, he was the one that made their victory possible.

Setting off that experimental sonic device had vanquished the alien creatures, even though he too was sensitive to its deadly effects. So many of their masked brethren had either fallen or were taken over by the Symbiote warriors and had to be put down. Daredevil wouldn't want his compatriots to linger, he would have insisted that they begin the rebuilding immediately-His beloved city of Gotham.

"We'll need to focus on downtown." Batwoman had said to Green Arrow.

"Right!" Green Arrow responded enthusiastically.

"Like old times, me and you. Prowling the streets, keeping the peace. Bashing the baddies."

The two dashed off with the trademark enthusiasm of relative youth and sense of purpose.

"What's the the verdict Frenchie?" Moon Spell commented to his pilot with a semi-taunting tone.

"Well Marc, it seems that we have past through some kind intra-dimensional cosmic membrane which has apparently deposited us into another time frame. Perhaps it wa....." Frenchie had been interrupted by Moon Spell in mid-explanation.

"Jees Frenchie, speak English." Came the all too familiar vocal inflection known as Wade Jackal-A petty criminal, whom Moon Spell dispatched in a most unlawful manner some years back.

"Please Marc, you always compartmentalize your frustration, remain focused. This is not the time for flights of schizophrenic fantasy, you must learn to deal with frustrating moments such as this." Frenchie's words snapped Moon Spell back to reality.

"Our only option is to land the Mooncoptor." Frenchie continued.

The pilot had already begun the decent before finishing the sentence.

Frenchie selected the same exact spot where the Mooncoptor had sat on their world, prior to the dimensional displacement. To their horror Moon Spell and his pilot were introduced to a damaged and battered Gotham city. Marc was standing near the front of the cockpit, starring out of the shield of glass.

Captain America's orders of action was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a strange ship hovering above their position. Each of them took a defensive posture, not knowing what to expect from the odd looking flying vehicle-Its patented noise-free whisper capabilities had yet again bolstered Moon Spell's reputation as a silent and deadly stalker and crime fighter.

The hero's below the craft had prepared themselves, as they could not tell whether this bird was friend or foe. Luckily Moon Spell had decided against a slow and conspicuous touch down, thinking it better to make a quick decent, via the ladder. The instant the hero's had seen the falling ladder they were certain that the occupants of the craft were not Symbiote in nature or form.

Not wanting to wait for the ladder to become fully unfurled Moon Spell grabbed a hold and followed it down, with a slight swinging motion Moon Spell let loose the ladder and made a perfect 10 point landing. "Hello all!"

The Com-Link around Moon Spell's wrist sounded out before anyone had a chance to introduce themselves.

"Marc! Isn't that Mr. Wayne? ...No its impossible, how would he have gotten here. Well Moon, looks like we have gone far."

Moon Spell clenched the Com with his other hand. "Oh, that's just my pet Frog."

The other hero's looked at one another, thinking that this stranger was out of his mind, which at certain times, he indeed was.

((OOC:I'll just start by responding to Moon Spell))

Stark looked upwards towards the mysterious aerial vehicle of the likes in which he had never seen. Although it intrigued him, he was ready to blow it out of the sky if it turned out to be hostile, regardless of how quiet and exotic it looked in comparison to most other aircraft he had seen.

However, he felt no malicious intent from the costumed man dropping down via ladder from the vehicle and casually greeted them all. He exchanged confused glances with the rest of the human heroes as the man mentioned his 'pet frog'. Obviously, there was something a bit 'off' about him, Stark felt was not noticed by only him.

Glancing at the other heroes, who probably weren't in the mood for shenanigans due to the tradgic death of a friend and hero, Daredevil, Tony decided he'd be the one to first introduce himself to the strange man before them.

"Who are you?"

This question was marked with a tone not usually heard by the playboy in armor. He wasn't in much of a mood due to the previous stated circumstances, and he wanted to know if this man was even sane or not before he went to activate his newer system as instructed.

Looking around Moon Spell got the sense that the assembled hero's were probably not in the best of spirits.

"What the hell happened here?" Moon Spell said as he looked at the crumbled city around him-Seeing the body of another masked hero laying to his right.

"Oh, excuse me." Moon Spell studied the hero's standing around him and determined that this had to be some other world, one which seemed very familiar to him, but different somehow. He certainly had never come across any of these individuals during his nightly wanderings around Gotham, besides how could all of this damage be accomplished in a matter of moments, his transference into the other realm lasted but a few seconds.

An introduction would most likley be a welcomed thing at this crucial moment. He had made it a point to keep his movements controlled as to not give off any bad vibes. There was a definite similarity between the Batman he knew and the dark knight standing before him at this moment, still, they didn't know him from Kent.

He seemed friendly enough in his white uniform, though no one could see his face or even his eyes, something which the average citizen deemed an important reassurance when it came to violent masked crusaders that stalked the streets of their cities at night.

"Moon Spell is the name. I don't know how I came to be here, exactly. Last thing I remember was fighting this rather strange........Well, Thing."

Raising his arm and positioning the Com-link in front of his face Moon Spell called for his Mooncopter to make its landing.

"So, what happened here."

Moon Spell stood and listened to Batman's offering, he also looked into the Bat's mind and expressions, and just like the hero familiar to him from his own reality, this Batman also had a pretty sizable problem with trust, some might say bordering on obsession. Frankly, Moon Spell didn't care much for moral crusaders, those who think they know whats best for everyone.

Batman's contingency plans were nothing more then an ego trip growing to epic proportions, in many ways this Bat-Man could be seen as an sufficient villain in his own right, if the situation was conducive.

"Who does he think he is?" Moon Spell thought in his mind as he nodded his approval of joining the rebuilding effort and the reestablishing of order to the half destroyed city.

He found Batman quite amusing at times, here you have a man pretending he knows what its really like to judge and condemn. A man who had no idea of the true heart of man, but Moon Spell knew.

Marc Secret knew its face, he had seen it-In war.

Moon Spell had a significant hatred for many of these so-called Superheros, who to him were nothing more then Playboys with delusions of grandeur and too much time on their hands. The only one Moon Spell had a modicum of respect for was Captain America, at least he knew the true horrors of warfare, as he did.

All this he kept within his mind as he followed this latest Batman into his former residence, of which the entire west wing was in complete and utter ruins.

"Batman! Just thought you'd be interested to know that your not the first 'Bat' Ive come across, in case you didn't know, there are apparently other versions of our noble selves......Somewhere, out there. Yeah I know, I wouldn't have believed it myself, but the fact remains, your here and my Batman is back there where I originate. At least I think I originate from there..............but the way things are now, who's to say."

Emerging from the murky scum-skinned water, came a hideous creature beyond Moon Spell's experience. He had come from a dimension in which such aberrations of nature simply did not exist. His only run-in with such a figure was just prior to his arrival, a being who's destruction culminated in Moon Spell's Mooncoptor flashing forward into this new dimension.

He could tell from a quick glance that this creature was very strong, though its expressions also gave off the look of a dim and slow witted being, one which was far more animalistic then what its anthropoid form would suggest. Moon Spell wanted to assure his new found partners that he was no slouch when it came to battling foes, though he would do it his way.

The first blow was delivered by the scaly creature, though completely as a result of Moon Spell's inactivity at that precise moment. He was known for his willingness to suffer the first strike at the hands of an enemy, although no one has ever been able to figure out the logic behind such a tactic. The beasts body smashed into Moon Spell and sent him flying into a near by free-standing wall which had been partially destroyed during the Symbiote war. The two of them now wrestled about on the ground, kicking up the dust and debris which would obscure the fight.

In the haze and chaos of the struggle Moon Spell managed to deliver several powerful blows which enabled him to gain the upper hand on Killer Croc. Once back on his feet Moon Spell put his latest hand weapon to the test-His so called BlastKnuckles. Much like brass knuckles the weapon is slipped over the fingers and used to punch an enemy while delivering a powerful electric burst.

Killer Croc had also gotten up from the ground and was ready to continue the fight. Crouching on all fours like a savage frog Killer Croc leaped toward Moon Spell, but his enemy was too fast for him; no longer willing to take another punch Moon Spell dove out of the way. Vast amounts of dust and debris filled the air once again as Moon Spell executed a maneuver which would place him back on his feet, Croc had also landed squarely on his.

Moon Spell intentionally stood with his back to Croc as he awaited his enemies next move. It didn't take long for Croc to seize the opportunity and strike, the green scaled creature lunged toward the white clad hero, but before Croc could tackled him Moon Spell had turned and successfully counteracted the attack. Killer Croc's speed was impressive, he had gone from a crouching position to a full run with arms and claws stretched out, in a matter of a few seconds.

Moon Spell immediately recognized the perfect opening for a counteraction, choosing Croc's exposed midsection Moon Spell incapacitated Croc with a single blow to the ribcage. The electric burst of 90,000 volts compounded the powerful punch and sent Killer Croc to his knees, the electricity continued to shock him as he struggled to fight off its effects.

Moon Spell now stood over his opponent and watched as Killer Croc fell to the ground and finally into unconsciousness.

Stark wasted no time in his flight to the Batcave. If anyone could find out who decided to put a halt in the system, it'd be none other than the Batman. Normally, Stark preferred not to talk to the man, as their personalities conflicted horribly. Batman didn't take jokes and sarcasm as well as Tony had hoped, which was odd due ot his long running against the Joker. In any event, Tony wasn't completely in the mood for jests either until he had his system up and running without any complications.

A rather brutish thought entered Stark's mind as he neared the Batcave. He imagined a well-deserved beating to the troublemaker themself by none other than Iron Man. A bit odd, but maybe that was just the stress becoming visible in his mind. In any case, it'd be better for whoever caused Stark this trouble to stay out of his grasp, which was exactly what he or she was doing to Tony's dismay.
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The scene Tony Stark arrived to was... interesting. Not only Joker but Killer Croc and Two-Face laid defeated on the cold, dirt ground of the once-great Batcave. The walls had suffered serious damage, and the place was anything but clean as far as Iron Man could see. After he gave the first glance around, he payed no more attention to the defeated villains nor even the two other concious persons in the room and directly addressed the detective himself. His facemask lowered so he could better speak to the Batman as he stepped forward and made sure his presence was known to everyone.

"If you're done playing with these clowns, I'm in need of your detective skills, Batman," he said calmly and realized he had a least taken back some of his character. Maybe it was the sight of defeated foes on the ground, who knows?