BLÜDHAVEN BUS DEPOT: EARLY AFTERNOON

"Are you sure about this Master Richard?" The sharp English accent of Alfred Pennyworth asked with some concern.

Richard "Dick" Grayson stepped out of the seat he had occupied beside Alfred in the car they had taken the short car ride down from Gotham in. "I'm positive Alfred," he paused. "Bruce has too much on his plate as it is, and Tim's no where near ready for this."

"Yes I'm sure your correct Master Richard, but I must say I have an overriding urge to clean the car twice when I return to the manor."

Dick smiled. "I know Alfred. Don't worry," Dick pulled a thermos out of the bag he was carrying. "Besides I have a thermo full of your chicken soup. What could go wrong?" He stuffed the thermos back into his bag. "Tell Bruce I'll be in touch." And with that he shut the car door and with one last wave, walked away.

Alfred started the car back up and glanced at he back of Dick Grayson walking into the city. "I swear these boys will be the death of me."

Blüdhaven had once been whaling town. Soon after it was all said and done nobody decent lived in 'Haven. Point blank if it was too vile or dirty or too awful to end up in Gotham, it wound up in Blüdhaven.

Dick stopped to watch Alfred leave in the car. ~"Sorry old friend."~ He thought to himself as he continued to walk. ~"Some people have been hinting about something big happening in Blüdhaven, and twenty one men can't be lying."~

DC LEGENDS Presents...
ELSEWORLD'S FINEST #10

"Knight Errant"

Written by Keith Leighton

GOTHAM MORGE: 5 DAYS AGO

Nightwing looked around at the bodies surrounding him, ten in all. "This all of them?"

Off to his side a shadow came to life and spoke. "Gunt's got the rest on ice. It appears they ran out of room."

Nightwing looked towards the voice as it took the form of The Batman. "Cause of Death?"

Batman lifted the sheet covering one of the bodies. The neck was covered in bruises, and the head tilted a little more than a person's head, alive or dead, should tilt. "Broken necks."

Nightwing took a closer look. "Are all their tracheas crushed, all with the same post-mortem bruising I assume?"

Batman turned to face his former ward. "These men weren't just killed, they were broken." He covered the face of the body. "It appears that someone has targeted Angel Marin's gang." He turned and began to leave the exam room. "They all floated into the Estuary from the harbor south of Gotham."

Nightwing nodded knowingly. "Blüdhaven."


BLÜDHAVEN

Dick walked down the streets of Blüdhaven, not exactly sure where to start. ~Of course first priority is a place to stay.~ Dick stopped by the first newsstand he came across and picked up a copy of the Blüdhaven Bulletin. ~Time to search the want adds.~


AVALON HILL

The room was dark, too dark for the man who had been waiting for almost thirty minutes. He stood there patiently, his rumpled brown trench coat barely concealing the 37 revolver hidden beneath it. His white dress shirt was undone at the top and the tie hanging from the collar. His gray slacks almost as rumpled as the coat. Since it was sunrise, the light didn't affect this room well because it faced west, over the bay and overlooking Blüdhaven itself.

The shadows in the room spoke. "You have information for me?"

"Yes I do." the man replied, producing a micro recorder from his coat pocket. "I believe we have 'convinced' Mr. Marin to cough up some more information."

"Well then Inspector, let me hear It." the shadow shifted.

Without another word the man the shadow called the Inspector pressed the play button on the recorder.

*"---homas Ali. He runs the labs and the street trade in crack and meth. Ummmm let me see...."*

*" Mr. Marin we need your complete cooperation and your complete operation. Show Mr. Marin what we use for incentive."*

For a few moments the tape issued forth the sounds of gurgles and impacts then finally they stop.

*"Now then anything you left out?"*

*" -<>...I...<>...Ricky...Ricky <> Noone, he's the head of my enforcers, <> 'Lunchmeat' Deever is in charge of removals. Turk handles the unions.--"*

The Inspector stopped the tape. "There's more of course, I think a few more sessions and we will have his entire operation documented."

The shadow shifted again and spoke again. "Good." The Inspector could almost feel the shadow smile. "Good."


BLÜDHAVEN, MELVILLE DISTRICT

Dick Grayson looked at the building in front of him, and then back to the newspaper that had led him here. "This is the right address." He commented to himself. Folding the paper under his arms, and hefting his bag back over his shoulder, Dick entered the building.

The phrase "You can't judge a book by its cover" held no meaning here. From the outside the three-story building looked like it had been through a small war. From the inside it looked like it had been through hell and back. The railing on the stairs needed to be repaired, and the holes in the wall could be easily patched. Dick only smiled at these. "Always wanted to be closer to the warfront."

An Irish voice with a female taint to it echoed from a nearby room. "What was that Boyo?"

Dick smiled even bigger; Irish accents drove him, to pardon the pun, batty. "Sorry I was just talking to myself Miss....?"

"Clancy, Or Super' will do for now." Dick could her the sound of tools being changed and a slight Irish curse. "You here to see the room?"

Dick shook himself out of his mesmerism. "Yes, yes I am."

A grease covered arm shot out of the door and pointed to the stairs. "Third floor, door's open."

Dick smiled again as the arm disappeared into back into the room, he turned and walked up the stairs. ~"Looks like I've got more than one mystery to solve here in Blüdhaven."~

Reaching the third floor Dick immediately found the room he was looking for. Not only was the door open, but it had also been knocked off its hinges. It was a loft style apartment with a small separator denoting a kitchen area. The place looked like it had seen the better side of a tornado and then an earthquake. Dick looked around. "Skylight, large closet, and room for a weight set. I think this will do."

Returning downstairs Dick figured Clancy to be a psychic.

"So what do you think of the room?"

Dick again found himself talking to a half open door. "I'll take it."

"Shurin you be returning tomorrow morning with two months rent, and it's yours."


A LOCKED ROOM: LOCATION UNKNOWN

The camera mounted on the ceiling turned once more to face the lone occupant of the room. *"Have you finished your assignment?"*

The man in the room looked as if he hadn't eaten or shaved in about a week. Where once there had been a strong confident man, there now sat a man whose will had been shattered. Angel Marin had run Blüdhaven for a decade, and now as he wrote the last of his notes down he could feel the energy leave his body. "Yeah I think."

*"THINK. Mr. Marin."* The speaker in the camera blared at him. *" you were not confined here to THINK. you were confined her to detail every facet of your organization."*

Marin looked at the camera. "Yeah well then I guess you got everything." Suddenly his mind snapped, he stood defiant, yelling into the camera. "For God's sake can't you give a man some FOOD?" He turned and began to pound upon the door that he had never seen open. "Can't a man get some sort compassion in this place?"

"Compassion Mr. Marin?" the voice came from behind the door as it slid open. Marin for the first time looked into the face of his captor and fear began to etch across his face. "Did you grant compassion to the families of the addicts you sold bad batches to?"

Before Angel Marin could answer, his jailer's hands sped towards his face. And darkness claimed Angel Marin.

LATER

Angel Marin woke with pain in his neck. He remembered the hands coming towards him. He was confined. Now he was in a smaller space than before. "Where the hell am I?" He asked out loud into the darkness, and heard his voice echo off of metal. Fear and Panic began to set in as the limits of his cell became apparent to him.

And Angel Marin learned the hard way that just like in space, when you're in a fifty-gallon drum at the bottom of Blüdhaven Harbor, "no one can hear you scream."


WINGING IT

Greetings. Keith Leighton here. Welcome to the Nightwing Letter Column. What I plan to do is post any E-mail responses I get to each Issue in the next available issue.

[Editor's Note: Keith's Letter Page will be following him to his soon to be released, Nightwing ongoing series!   -   Tim Hartin]

`Now I know a lot of you are thinking, "Ok this Guy's just changing some of the timing of the original series". Well yes and no. You see I've never been a major fan of Roland Desmond, so you will not see Blockbuster in this series, unless someone is visiting his grave. The "Shadow" will remain a shadow for as long as I can hold the suspense.
Expect to see some faces you've not seen in the Regular Series (After all isn't Fan Fic your own and in my case MY own idea of how the story should go?). And I can tell you this expect to see a face from Dicks past that will Test Nightwing to his limits.

Send all comments to

aexusiai@bellsouth.net


NEXT ISSUE:

Nightwing hits the streets to accomplish two things, One Find out who's trying to take over 'Haven's crime cartel, and Two Get his utilities turned on. Somehow one is easier than the other.

ELSEWORLDS FINEST #11


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