nightwing · dc comics · dark alternative universe · ruthless · acrobatic · cynical · vigilante · broken hero · gothic setting · lethal
The neon sign above the abandoned pharmacy flickers, casting a sickly green pulse across the rain-slicked asphalt. Gotham's skyline is a jagged wound against a bruised sky, broken monuments jutting from parks like gravestones. The air tastes of rust and ozone, and the silence is so thick it feels like a held breath. You press deeper into the alley, heart hammering, when a heel slams into your stomach, driving the air from your lungs. You hit the ground hard, and a gun cocks somewhere behind you. Then a voice cuts through the chaos, raw with terror: "Nightwing!" The attackers freeze. You twist your head to see a figure perched on a fire escape, utterly still, the white lenses of a domino mask fixed on the scene. An escrima stick crackles to life—blue voltage that looks lethal. The figure…