[center][img]https://image.ibb.co/gw2u9w/nightwing_batman_vs_superman.jpg[/img]
[color=2557C2][b][h1]NIGHTWING:[/h1][/b][/color][b]
[color=gray][sup][h2]BIRDS OF A FEATHER[/h2][/sup][/color][/b][/center]
[COLOR=silver][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]Blüdhaven | January 2[sup]nd[/sup], 2018[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR]

Best thing about not being a cop anymore? Not having to follow jurisdiction boundaries. Some creep runs off from The Blüd? I follow him, stay tight on his heels until I catch him and turn him over to the local authorities. Doesn’t always paint us masks in the best light, but we do what we do to keep people safe and do what the police can’t to make sure that happens. That’s what brings me out on a cold night like tonight and plants my feet on the rooftop I’m on. That, and the siren going off at one of the hundreds of business in this city that think an alarm is gonna keep crooks from robbing them. In case you’re wondering: they don’t. If anything, alarms make the crooks better. It’s sort of like a symbiotic relationship between the two. The better the alarms get, the better the crooks get to beat the cops, and the better the crooks get the better the alarms get to alert the police faster to stop the crooks. I casually step off the rooftop and fire a grappling cable at the building across from me, swinging toward the blaring alarm.

---
“Come on, damnit! Hurry the hell up before the blues or Nightwing get here!”

“Calm your ass down! We got it, go!”

The door of the van slams shut as the two runners jump in with their bags laden with goods stolen from the jeweler. The alarm went on and on as the driver shifted into drive and rocketed down the alley and onto the main road beyond. The sound of the alarm came back as they ran a red light three blocks away.

“Damnit! The blues picked up our trail!”

“You just worry about driving and getting us the hell out of here!”

A squad car flew through the confused traffick at the light, in pursuit of the van full of criminals. The policemen called into the station to confirm they were in pursuit and had the suspects in their sights. A streetlight caught the metallic surface of a gun muzzle a brief second before a bullet sailed through the air and hit the hood of one of the squad cars, causing the driver to swerve slightly, but she managed to maintain control. Her partner was quick to lean out of the passenger window and return fire, aiming for the van’s tires. His shots hit high and missed their mark, but sent the criminal back into the van to seek cover for a moment before returning fire. The gunman’s bullets whizzed past the policemen and struck the hood, but the sudden firefight definitely slowed the policemen’s pursuit.

“I’m calling in back up. This is too much,” the driver shouted as her hand found the radio strapped to her shoulder. She pressed the button down to yell into the microphone when a lucky shot from the van hit the passenger-side tire and sent their squad car into a lightpole. The driver got clear of the wreckage and pulled her own piece in time to see the van crest a hill and vanish from her sights. She shoved the gun back in her holster and returned to the car to pull her partner free of the wreckage. He was out cold. She pressed the button down on her radio and requested medical aid at her position and gave the station the direction the robbers were headed in when she crashed.

“Good job, kid! Helluva first job, huh!?”

The older runner in a skimask thumped the younger on the back. He was still holding the pistol in the same position as when he fired it. The thump on his back caused him to lower it then drop it to the floor of the van. The two other men didn’t seem to notice and were rejoicing in losing the squad car.

“We’re almost out of city limits. Then we can lay low and split our earnings.”

As the van crossed over the bridge and out of city limits, one of its tires were hit and burst. The skidded off the road and spun around until it came to rest against a tree. The driver was the first out, rubbing his head and holding a pistol before him, looking around. As the back of the van opened, a shadow fell upon the driver from above.

---
I jump down from above, hitting the first crook with my knees and roll back to my feet. I kick his gun away from him as he rolls over and looks up into my face.

[color=2557C2]”How about making this easy on both of us and just staying down?”[/color]

My answer came in the form of one of the other crooks coming out of the van and aiming down his sights at me. Lucky I hear the door creak and dive forward out of instinct as the guy fires off a few shots. I let one of my sticks fly right before I hit the ground and roll. It hits home and knocks the pistol out of the thug’s hand. I’m on my feet and running him down before he can get his hand on his piece again. I sweep his legs and end it with a good taze from the end of my remaining escrima. The one I hit from above is back on his feet and fires off a shot before I can turn. The bullet whistles past my ear. Too close. I dive behind their van as he fires off more shots. I hear him approaching the van and slip under it to the other side as reaches the hood. That should confuse him.

“What the - ?”

Perfect. I love when they play their roles right. I toss down some smoke pellets at his feet and launch myself into the cloud, switching my mask’s visuals to thermal. I knock his gun from his hand with my escrima and then crack him in the bottom of the chin with it. The smoke around me clears to reveal another one in a skimask, holding a gun and shaking in his boots. He drops it with one look from me and throws his hands up.

---
The kid dropped the gun and threw his hands up to surrender. The guy with the sticks was standing over the other runner from the job. He looked at the gun and back at the criminal, then leapt at him.