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“Shadows Among Us” [color=gold]•[/color] Part 1
[b][sub]Blüdhaven, New Jersey[/sub][/b][/center]
[indent][color=6A6967]I don’t often make trips to Blüdhaven.

Of all of the cities in New Jersey in no doubt, the worst. Gotham has its fair share of problems but Blüdhaven? It’s got it beat.

Where the Gotham City Police Department had once been inundated with corruption from Carmine Falcone its contemporary in Blüdhaven had no such problems. To be infiltrated by the Gotham Crime Families meant you had a small amount of competency to be concerned about. Blüdhaven had no such luck. Their police department is too ineffective and short-staffed to even put a dent into the problems with drugs, gang violence, and moral decay. Can’t solve crime if your worst borough has been barely funded. They’re still using cars from the two decades ago. It’s like a broken mirror of the larger city across the bay.

I guess that’s why Dick picked it. Close. Familiar. The lessons learned from being Robin could be applied here and if he ever was in a bind, he wasn’t too far. Not that he’d ever ask for help. That’s probably why Barbara had to call me. To make it abundantly clear that I should talk to him. 

Which is exactly why I'm here.
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[color=dodgerblue]“Can’t say I expected you to check up on me. Are you sick?”[/color]

[color=silver]“No.”[/color] I utter, unamused by his joke.

My eyes analyze the former boy wonder. He’s walking with a limp, though he’s trying to hide it.

[color=silver]“Barbara sent me. Said to talk some sense into you.”[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]“When has that ever worked?”[/color]

[color=silver]“I think she’s hoping this will be the first time.”[/color] I remark, as I look over what changes he’s made since the last time I was in the safehouse Dick had repurposed as his current base of operations. Dim light. Blood stained armor underneath an old sheet. An old pair of crutches bunkered to the side. He’s doing a terrible job of hiding the extent of his injuries. Stubborn. I can relate.

[color=silver]“But I don’t expect you to listen. You’re not built like that. I do want to know who ambushed you. What you’ve figured out. Leads. You’re obviously not in any shape to pursue them yourself. Not on that leg.”[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]“I don’t need—”[/color] He pauses, letting out a defeated sigh as I shoot him a glare from underneath my cowl. [color=dodgerblue]“—god damn it. I hate it when you’re right.”[/color]

There’s a moment of silence as he composes his thoughts.

[color=dodgerblue]“I honestly have no idea who the guy is. Just that he’s a fan of ours. He's obviously got a lot of tech in his suit. Some of the security footage is on the USB on the desk.”[/color]

I’m not sure what concerns me more; the fact that Dick has no idea who he is or that he is following the motif of previous copycat criminals like Elliot Caldwell and Thomas Blake. To be this obscure in this new social media age has struck me as a strange situation. Without knowing of their motives there is so little we can deduce without playing a wait-and-see approach and given this foe had defeated Dick in hand-to-hand combat I don’t want to be reckless. I cannot abide by impulsive, half-calculated decisions anymore. Not after the way this year has gone. I’m responsible for such more than myself. So much more.

[color=silver]“So he's a new player in town.”[/color]

I grab the USB, placing it in my utility belt.

[color=dodgerblue]“Yeah. Couldn’t exactly ask for his name. He wasn’t much of a talker.”[/color]

[color=silver]“Noted. Sounds like I need to investigate, flush him out. Get some answers. Keep your comms open.”[/color] I utter as I turn around, moving for the exit. 

Chances are if I couldn’t find him based on the information I could gather he would do as others have done before him and seek me out. It was probably the intention of this unknown assailant in the first place. Despite having so much limited information on this new enemy, I know that the allure of baiting me out in the open is a favored past-time of these copycats. But is the intent to distract me from something more important? As I consider the thought I make note to contact Vicki and Julia. Put them on red alert. Just in case. Predicting the flow of criminal actions was becoming harder-and-harder as the world found itself constantly changing.

The only thing I know is I will always have to be ahead of the curve.

[color=dodgerblue]“Bruce?”[/color] Dick's voice calls out as I reach the elevator, I don't turn to face him. [color=dodgerblue]“Be careful.”[/color]

I smirk underneath my cowl as the doors behind me close.
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