The New Batman Adventures 'Fan Fiction Love Story'
By Tayla Drago
Episode #93 - You Scratch my Back
On top of a water tower, Nightwing spies on a man making his rounds and is joined by Batman, Megan, and Batgirl who ask what's going on down below.
"Yo. What up, Nightwing?" Megan said and waves to her friend.
Oh boy, he still has some feelings for Megan like from two years ago. Looks like he and Barbara aren't dating anymore but they're still working together as friends and partners.
"Hey, Megan." he said to ask the two something. "What are you doing here?"
"Pre-dawn, the dockyards, where else would a person in a mask be?" Batgirl made a joke there.
Nightwing explains how they're gun smugglers from South America.
"Well, this is my thing. If I needed you guys, I would've called."
Batman sees from afar on what Nightwing was dealing with here.
"Some type of mafia?" he asked.
"Something like that of a black marketing to steal and sell for cash, and all the way from South America."
Megan looks up from her computer book on who the members are.
"Hmm..." Megan was having a bit a trouble while finding out more. "I'm having trouble on who these guys work for, I better keep on searching during the time. We still need to stop them." she said.
At that moment, a truck pulls up and a forklift rolls out of the back, which is Nightwing's cue to leap into action.
"If you'll excuse me..."
Nightwing raises his arms, revealing his glider wings, and leaps over the side.
"Don't look at us, Bruce." Megans tells her boyfriend.
"You're the one who raised him." Batgirl said to Batman.
As Nightwing rises from his crouched position and raises his arms, activating the glider wings attached to his costume. Nightwing leaps from the tower and swoops down into battle. Nightwing glides in to knock out two goons. Suddenly, another goon runs out from behind some crates and shoots at Nightwing. However, Nightwing is much too fast for the thug and hurls one Batarang to disarm him, then two more that pin the man to the crates. The forklift driver then tries to run Nightwing over. As Nightwing hops upon the front forks with ease, the thug immediately realizes that the lumbering piece of machinery is nowhere near a match for the agile hero; he pulls out a pistol and opens fire at point-blank range. With lightning-fast reflexes, Nightwing dodges the bullet, grabs hold of the fork, and swings around the side, knocking the man out of his seat and onto the ground. As the forklift races towards the dock and into the water, Nightwing jumps off in the nick of time. With a smile of satisfaction over a job well done, Nightwing dusts himself off, unaware of the danger behind him. Wow, he's good. One of the gangsters has recovered, picked up a piece of lumber, and is charging at Nightwing. Although Nightwing is distracted, the thug's attack fails as Batgirl swings into the fray and kicks the thug into the crates. And another was about to shoot at the two for Megan with her special gum to cover the gun and for her electrocutes the man with her stun watch.
"Ten points for me!"
"I give my kick a twelve there." Batgirl said.
Seems like Megan and Batgirl have fun playing games while stopping crime together as friends, for Nightwing was thankful to worry about their safeties a little.
"Hey, I saw him." said Nightwing.
"Didn't look like it."
And for him and Batgirl to play around...are they in love still? Only for Nightwing to also give his thanks to Megan.
"Ah, thanks for the save there...I guess..."
Nightwing isn't impressed and claims to have seen the thug coming and he could have handled it by himself. But deep down he was more worried for them than himself without admitting it, that's Nightwing ladies and gentlemen. While they are chatting, another goon comes up and Batgirl easily deals with him in the same manner, further aggravating Nightwing. Finally, a third thug gets up and runs for it, with Nightwing giving chase.
"Hey! He's getting away!" Megan shouted.
The thug runs right into Batman and stops the man in his tracks, but when Batman makes no move to apprehend him, the thug slowly starts to creep away and then bolts.
"He's all yours."
Funny Batman said that to Nightwing to continue the chase, and for Megan was like...
"Talk about team work here. Dick has changed a lot to become his own superhero." she said. "Still, at least he's still on our side."
As Nightwing continues the chase, someone else intervenes. Catwoman, observing what is going on, decides to enter the fray. Just as the thug is about to escape, he is thrown out, bound and gagged, from behind the crates. Catwoman shows herself, then blows a kiss and disappears into the night but with saying her goodbyes to Megan on her way out as she says hi to her dear friend/enemy of hers.
"I told you I didn't need--" Nightwing stops to see Catwoman.
"A gift." Catwoman blows Nightwing a kiss then flips away and saying hi to Megan real quick. "Hi, Megan, let's hang out again later." she said to be leaving in the shadows next.
"Huh? Selina?!" Megan tries to find her friend/enemy to disappear just like that. "(Oh, great...with her around, who knows what she's planning.)"
Looks like Nightwing caught the other guy to turn in for the two were lost on what Catwoman was up to this time, for he was like 'you said it'.
"Mmmhpphummnmmphhumnhrm." the bad guy said with his mouth taped up.
"You said it."
Something like that...Megan was a bit worried for her and Bruce/Batman to be aware of two things now.
"Catwoman again." said Batman. "You know what that means, right Megan?"
"I sure do, Bruce, it's trouble."
The next night in Dick Grayson's home, Barbara has some concerns. She wonders why he didn't seize Catwoman, but he claims that she has turned over a new leaf and was only trying to help. I think she's jealous to see if he started to like Catwoman or Megan, then they use to be in love back then. Bummer...Dick divulges that there are rumors of a big smuggling shipment arriving very soon to Gotham. Without debating it further, Nightwing fires up his motorcycle and heads out for another night of patrol. And for Barbara to worry about her...friend-like partner of hers.
"Ah, man..."
Megan arrives to check on her friend.
"No luck asking him about Selina Kyle's helping out Dick? AKA Catwoman herself?" she asked.
"I got nothing for him. Sorry, Megan." said Barbara.
Megan sees an old photo of Dick and Barbara to be dating a while back for him to still have it.
"You still love him, right?" ask Megan. "You know that Bruce and as Batman and me are in love, right? I know you have a crush on him still."
No doubt about it.
"What of it? He's...kind of cute. But you two are meant to be. And yeah, maybe part of Dick and I still love each other. I don't know...Even to him, Dick still likes you a little."
"What?!" Megan forgot about that to get her upset. "That's unforgivable! For Dick to do something like that to like me more than to love you!!! Listen, Barbara, I don't love him back! Bruce loves me as I do with him a while lot more!"
"I get it, alright?" Barbara pats Megan on the shoulder. "Sorry. I just a lot going on is all. I hope he doesn't try doing anything...perverted to you again."
Megan goes into her car to follow Dick/Nightwing right away.
"Like heck he will. I can take care of myself. I'll see what he's up to." she takes off. "Tag along with you like."
"Good luck out there, and against your cat burglar friend."
Nightwing arrives at a position overlooking a penthouse suite, where a man with a hook for a hand is looking out into the city from his terrace. 'Enrique El Gancho', Catwoman says smoothly, startling Nightwing. She continues to say that this 'Ricky the Hook' was a Colombian enforcer. Nightwing resists her offered assistance, but she edges her way in anyway, insisting she has changed. She eventually gets Nightwing's approval. Then, without so much as a warning, she takes the lead, leaping down towards the terrace and leaving Nightwing scrambling to keep up. Megan follows them from inside of the place.
"(Should've known Selina would follow Nightwing...I better keep my eyes on them.)" she said to try moving in quietly.
They creep into the house and soon access shipping schedule documents on a computer. Just as Nightwing finishes copying the documents to disc, in comes the Hook with two goons; Catwoman has vanished, leaving Dick to believe he has been set up.
"What have we here? Batman Lite?" he said.
However, Catwoman has not abandoned him, and swoops down to knock out the two gunmen. Enrique is caught by surprise and Nightwing uses that to his advantage, punching him as hard as he can. That's not enough, though, as Ricky gets up again. It's Selina's turn to try, but that merely buys them a little time and they must flee. The gunmen pursue them, and the unlikely duo have no choice but to dive into a pool below. Thinking quickly, Nightwing flings a Batarang, seemingly getting them out of the tricky situation. Three more men come looking for them, but the pair's reflexes are faster than the gunners' trigger fingers, and they manage to escape. For Megan soon steps in to fight and shoots a few rounds which slows the bad guys down for them, and with good timing too.
"Megan?" surprised Nightwing. "I guess...thank you?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. Let' just get out of here now!"
Looks like Enrique and his men lost the three to get away from them, until next time.
"They'll be back...and we'll be ready for them..." he gives his men an order. "Move out, boys, we're done here."
Bad way to have a hook for a hand there since he gets stuck a lot. Ha! Back in the alley, Nightwing and Catwoman agree that as a team, they did very well and should continue.
"Nice for you lending us a hand, Megan." said Catwoman. "My friend, how goes it?"
"What are you up to this time, Selina?" Megan demands to know. "Trying not to use Nightwing here, right? I know your game."
Smart girl to know Megan has some doubt against her friend.
"What? I'm still on your side...with reasons." she said. "Nightwing gets me."
"Well, he knows you're not bad, but a person to not know when to steal."
Nightwing just goes along to say this part to Megan next.
"I hope you're not jealous of me too much, Megan." he said.
Like Megan was to him, they were just friends.
"That's not it!"
"Still, we were brilliant as a team." said Selina/Catwoman.
Now everyone was changing the subject.
"Yeah, we do make a great team. I guess we can work together, partner. Wanna ride?" ask Nightwing.
But Catwoman swings on out of here.
"Maybe next time."
She takes off for Nightwing goes on his motorcycle instead.
"Yeah, next time..." he asks Megan if she wanted a lift. "Hey, Megan, do you wanna ride?"
Megan gets mad and kicks a trash barrel down in anger to walk off.
"No thank you...! I'll walk."
Nightwing did ask to be confused and then rides on out. Nearby in the darkness, however, Batman is listening to every word. Megan sees her boyfriend as she looked very upset to have Dick Grayson back hitting on her again and for Selina to be using men to get what she wants, for this bounty hunter knows that something wasn't right.
"I know how you feel, Megan." he hugs her. "I don't we have a little talk with Selina at her place. Would you like to join with me?"
"For you, Bruce, I'll go anywhere as Batman and a bodyguard when you're Bruce. Let's go." she said.
At Selina's apartment, she is on the couch, talking to her cats when she notices Batman in the room and Megan.
"Hi, Megan." she hands her some glass of water. "Thirsty?"
Megan just takes it with her back turned on her friend.
"I felt like drinking, thanks."
And for Batman to have a talk with Selina.
"Oh, and your boyfriend's here too. I thought I felt a chill." Selina points out at the window being open.
He warns her to stay away from Nightwing.
"I want you to stay away from Nightwing."
But Selina just laughs.
"Mother birds usually know when to let their robins leave the nest. He's a big Boy Wonder now." she said. "A Man Wonder, in fact. And Megan, you don't need to worry. Batman here is all yours, Nightwing is mine. So that's good, right?"
"But he's still hitting on me!!!" angered Megan.
For Megan to be like this and for Batman to warn Selina loud and clear.
"I don' trust you, Selina." he said.
"Of course you don't. That's why it never could have worked out between us. You love Megan more than me."
No kidding, he does. For Selina insists that the grown Boy Wonder can take care of himself and make his own decisions. And soon, Nightwing: appears at the input of the window).
"Is this a private party?" asked Nightwing.
Entering behind them is Nightwing, who is not amused to find his mentor getting involved in his affairs.
"Don't mind them, I allow them in."
"Nightwing, you don't know what you're getting yourself into." Megan warns him.
"Don't trust her." same with Batman.
But like Nightwing will listen to Batman...did they have a fight back then or something similar.
"I can take care of myself, thank you." he said. "And Megan, thank you for alerting me just in case, but at times I can handle things on my own. Your friend makes a good point."
"So if you two don't trust in me, then trust in him." said Selina.
Batman chooses to leave their combined displeasure, trusting Nightwing's instincts. And soon both the Dark Knight and Megan leave the apartment together.
"Maybe about the heist from that loser Enrique El Gancho, and yeah I looked up on who he is." Megan tells them two and shows it on her computer book. "Like you said, Nightwing, this man's an enforcer in his native Colombia, Enrique turned his attention to international smuggling. His enterprise was quite expansive in dealing with shipments that filled an ocean liner. Also, the focus of his smuggling was diverse and included guns as well as priceless artifacts from South America. From stealing and selling things for cash no matter what the coast is, I'm getting the bounty on his head. Now if you excuse us. Let's go, Batman."
"Yes."
Those two leave in a hurry. Getting down to business, Nightwing tells Selina that he's found something on the files he downloaded from the mobster's computer. Nightwing deduced that the big shipment he has been hearing about is going to come in later that night. As Selina makes an advance - ostentatiously about teaming up - Nightwing spots a mini-Bat-tracer on her whip. Below, they spot Batman, Megan, and Batgirl in the Batmobile waiting for them to move. Nightwing takes this to mean that they don't trust him after all. Maybe Megan a little...Catwoman places the tracer on her cat Isis, telling her to 'have a night on the town'. Megan sees something was up to follow the two on foot instead.
"What's up, Megan?" Batgirl asks her.
"Nothing. Just go follow them. I'll check on the location of Enrique's hide out." she takes off. "See you two there. Don't be late."
The feline runs off, with Batman and Batgirl chasing her instead and Megan following Nightwing and Catwoman, for them to set off to the dock. Do they know they're chasing after Isis the cat instead? At the docks, Nightwing and Catwoman slip quietly on board the ship. The duo wastes no time in reaching their target destination, a large storage area in the hull. With the aid of a crowbar, Nightwing cracks open a wood crate labeled 'FRUIT' only to find it really contains a priceless antique artifact. Unveiling a nearby large, covered object, he reveals yet another artifact, this time of monolithic proportions. He tells his partner about his discovery, but she couldn't care less: she's across the room smashing some smuggled votive statues on the floor. In shock, he dashes over to ask what's going on. Catwoman finally reveals the truth; she was after the Cat's Eye Emerald all along.
"Finally, I have the Cat's Eye."
Catwoman had secretly stashed it in the smuggled cargo, knowing it would eventually reach Gotham. With Nightwing's help, she was not only able to ascertain the precise time the ship would dock, but she also retrieved the gem with ease.
"You used me." Nightwing is not amused.
A scuffle between them ensues and the more experienced Cat traps the bird in a heavy net. She kicks him down to try whipping him.
"And I really liked you too." she said.
"Nice way of showing it."
Just then, Batgirl and Batman make their presence known. And thanks to Megan gets in on the show with the other two the way once they caught up, she lends Nightwing a hand.
"Wow, Selina, we can't leave you alone for one minute, huh?" Megan then says this to her friend. "Hey, Nightwing, ha! We were so right and you were wrong! I told you she would do this, and she did."
He laughs a little.
"Fine, you don't have to rub it in you know. But still, good timing."
Batman uses his Batarang skills to free Nightwing on the rest and leaps down himself, trapping Catwoman between the two Dark Knights.
"You all right?" ask the Dark Knight.
"Just heartbroken to hear Megan's warning the hard way." he said. "You two were right, she led us to the emerald just like you said."
Seems like Megan gave those two the heads up about it as well.
"I've been researching from my dear friend's misadventures of stealing to report in along with Enrique's most wanted."
Nightwing, feeling cocky, walks over to Batman with Megan and confirms that they were right all along: Catwoman led them directly to the emerald. Selina is shocked and livid that the Bat Family outconned the con artist. Nice one!
"You set me up!" she was shocked.
"I'm afraid so." said Nightwing.
Even as they argue, three pairs of armed men surround them, and then the Hook himself.
"Guys, there's no time to argue right now. Trouble." Megan tells them.
Enrique and his men surrounded the five.
"Well, now. Megan Tsuki, Psyche, the Bounty Hunter of Gotham and her friends. With Catwoman tagging along." he said. "Okay, boys, show them how we deal with pest control my way."
Batgirl quickly tosses three smoke bombs below, giving the two heroes and the thief a chance to get away. Under the cover of the smoke, Batgirl, Batman, Megan, and Nightwing make easy work of the goons, and all that's left are Catwoman and El Gancho.
"Not bad." Batman said to him.
"Yeah, for a guy your age." Nightwing points out the Hook and tells Batman and Megan. "He's all yours." and he pursue the fleeing Catwoman.
And all that Batman would say was this to his partner...
"Thanks."
"Give her a good one for me, Nightwing!" said Megan. "Come on, Batman, we can take on Enrique himself."
Batman, Megan, and the Hook face off. Enrique swings his hook, ripping through Batman's costume and drawing blood.
"Gotcha!"
"Batman!" Megan shields her boyfriend to get the hook to sink into her hand of flesh that leaves a hole right through it. "Ah!!!"
"Megan!" Batman stops the bleeding with his cape to tie up the wound on Megan's hand. "Keep this on you."
Grimacing in pain, Batman holds his wound for Megan and still wanted to help him out next; Enrique seizes the moment and lunges at Batman, who ducks his swipe and grabs the Hook. And Megan uses her boots with magnets on them to kicks the man in the chest to go down, a double impact there! With all his strength Batman lifts him up, tossing him across the room into a crate. Batman is on top of Enrique in a moment and they exchange punches, leaving Batman on the floor. To grabbing hold of Megan as he tries to strangle her, and she was having trouble getting out of his strong grip...
"Any last words before I put you two in you places?" Enrique mocks them. "The great Batman has met his match and his girlfriend, no?"
Just as Enrique thinks he has the advantage, the Dark Knight grabs a nearby fire extinguisher and uses it to block Enrique's swinging hook.
"No."
The canister is punctured, and the contents of the device burst out, spraying the Hook in the eyes and face with Megan's pepper spraying from her watch to use on Enrique.
"Eat this, Enrique!" Megan fights back.
Enrique stumbles backward, disoriented, groping for something to prop himself up on. But his hook finds disaster as it tangles in a chain that triggers the release of a giant crate atop him for Megan uses her ESP powers to push back at the villain hard. He tries to sit up, but it is more than he can handle, and he keels over and passes out. Handcuffed and caught to be turned in for the money.
"You okay?" Batman checks on Megan to notice something odd. "Megan."
"What?" she sees that her hand healed up with no more hole on it. "Huh? The ripped hole on me...!"
It looked like her powers healed her in seconds, and from Megan's touch, she too healed Batman's wound next.
"Our wounds our all healed. Your powers, they are getting better little at a time, Megan. This is strange..."
No kidding. For Megan worries even more.
"Should we worry?" she asks. "Because I'm starting to like last time." he hugs Megan to be happy that she was fine.
"It'll be okay. I'm here for you." Batman said. "I'll always will be."
With one villain caught, they have one more to see arrested on Nightwing's doing to stop Catwoman next.
"(Thanks, Bruce.)" she then almost forgotten about something. "Oh, crap! Dick is still after Selina!"
On deck, Nightwing catches Catwoman trying to escape in a motorboat.
"Adiós."
She takes off, but Nightwing sprints to the end of the ship, then leaps into the air. Using his costume's gliding capabilities, he manages to keep pace. Catwoman tries to use a flare gun to take him out, but he dodges the first strike and dive-bombs her as she prepares to fire another shot. Catwoman fires the second flare as Nightwing lands, causing her to shoot her own boat, catching the fuel tank on fire. As they speed toward the massive propeller of an ocean liner, the two struggles until the last moment, when Nightwing grabs her and jumps into the water. Nightwing manages to stay afloat on a piece of flotsam as he holds onto an unconscious Catwoman. Batgirl arrives with the Batboat to pick them up.
"You all right?" she asks.
Nightwing gratefully smiles and tells Batgirl he's always happy to have some help.
"You know me. Always happy to have a little help."
Good to know, and with Catwoman and Enrique arrested for Nightwing to be happy having true friends like Batman, Megan, and Batgirl by aiding them it was all good. For both Batman and Megan to see that Dick/Nightwing has done very well today, they knew he would need some help and he did. And for Selina/Catwoman, when will she ever learn?
"Like I said, I'm glad Dick's on our side still as a new superhero." said Megan.
"I taught him everything he knows after all." and Batman.