Chapter 28 The Real Little Red Tim: Nightwing MVP

"The Bat-Family and Nightwing in this world are not trustworthy, and the Justice League needs to be wary as well." Jason briefly recounted the afternoon's events on the way. The players and Dick had just left when the Justice League superheroes arrived at the safe house. The enemy was very strong; he could materialize anything with energy. Jason had read his report; he was Green Lantern Hal. If Hal hadn't received news of the Justice League's arrival and left midway, they wouldn't have escaped so easily.

All of Red Hood's safe houses were blacklisted, and Crime Alley was excluded because it was Jason's most familiar area. Jason and Dick led the player away from the crowded homeless area and settled near Adams Dock. Thanks to the player's powerful special ability, they cleared out all the vampires in the vicinity. They had no pursuers behind them, but no reinforcements either, so they chose to rest temporarily in abandoned shipping containers.

“We need medical supplies. Bruce is bleeding continuously.” Dick dared not move the player’s body any further. The player was losing blood continuously after running out of energy, and the wounds on his body were bursting open due to the strenuous activity, oozing thick blood.

This is a dock, a place rife with illegal medical resource trading, which is why Jason specifically chose to rest here. "I'll go find it, you stay here," he said hastily, disappearing into the night.

At the same time, the Bat Family—

After the vampires who were besieging the players were wiped out, the Sun Searchlight, due to its bulky size, was not taken away by Jason and Dick. Its bright light bathed the sky in illumination.

A red figure darted quickly through the city and arrived at this area.

"Red Robin calling Batcave, has arrived at the target location, no enemies found here."

"Roger that, Red Robin. Nightwing is on his way and will be there soon."

Tim, the true Red Robin, sheathed his grappling hook and approached the sun searchlight. His gaze swept over the surroundings, his brow furrowing slightly: a large-scale battle had taken place here, and one side had decisively wiped out the other in an instant. He carefully avoided the thick layer of dust on the ground; the area was almost entirely covered in the ashes left behind by the vampires who had died. "That was incredibly powerful. Was it some kind of area-of-effect weapon?" Tim pondered, collecting some of the ashes and placing them in an evidence bag.

The warm light from the solar searchlight, while painful for humans, is not fatal to vampires. It's not a necessary weapon; the other side clearly has the power to instantly kill all vampires, yet they deliberately placed such a conspicuous object, more like a signal light, as if trying to convey some message.

The gaze shifts to the Joker playing card under the spotlight, a card symbolizing chaos with a large cross drawn in blood, as if warning those who come after.

Tim raised the sunlight to grab the cards, then paused: he thought he touched the bat symbol on the base of the sunlight. Because he was wearing gloves, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination. He lifted the base to check—

"boom--"

Firelight and smoke obscured his vision. Tim was pulled back by someone, but someone behind him caught him and shielded him from the debris from the explosion.

"Be careful, are you alright?" Nightwing asked with concern as he carefully helped Tim up.

"I'm fine..." Only the searchlight in front of Tim was blown to pieces, and the playing cards were reduced to ashes. He looked towards the source of the shelling, where a figure with a shell launcher hurriedly left.

“I’ll go. You’re not alone, Tim.” Nightwing gently patted Tim’s shoulder, turned and fired his grappling hook, then leaped into the air with a light, graceful motion.

Tim carefully examined the area where the explosion had occurred. All the evidence had been reduced to fragments or ashes, and the blood that hadn't yet been collected from the playing cards had also vaporized and disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

A while later, Nightwing rushed back, frowned and shook his head at Tim, his expression serious: "He set himself on fire."

That night at the Batcave, Batman, after convening a meeting with the Justice League, saw a note left by Andrew, along with a vial of Lex Luthor's blood.

The following day at noon, Batman summoned all members of the Bat-Family and explained the message left by Andrew: the peaceful Blood Queen Mary had died, a new queen had been born, and vampires would soon attack humanity. He then tested the Bat-Family members using sunlight, holy water, and a cross, and all of them passed.

Suspicious about the searchlight, whose symbol was unknown, Tim investigated the vampire who had destroyed it and all the evidence a few days earlier. He found no clues or inconsistencies; it seemed like a simple attack. However, the absence of inconsistencies was the biggest flaw, so he turned his attention to investigating the whereabouts of the Bat Family members.

Barbara was attacked by vampires but was saved by Nightwing. Before dying, the vampire said, "I was told to stay away from the Bat Family."

When Jason and Cassand team up, they unexpectedly discover a Joker card with its eyes painted red. The identity of the Vampire King points to the Joker, and the Suicide Squad sets out to track down the Joker's trail.

All the clues and evidence pointed to the Joker, but subtle signs hinted at something amiss, and an unsettling premonition emerged from the details. Tim's intuition warned him. Thinking of the sun searchlight with the bat symbol and the Joker card with the cross, he decided to conceal this lead and investigate alone.

...

Bruce (the player) develops a high fever at night, and Jason and Dick decide to take him to a different place to stay. They walk through the sewers of the old town and arrive at a nearby shady clinic. Dick sneaks around to investigate and discovers that vampires are lying in ambush all around. Knowing that Red Hood is seriously injured, Gotham's hospitals and clinics have become key areas of surveillance for vampires, and the two are unable to seek help from the doctor and have to leave.

On their retreat, Jason realized they were being pursued by the Bat-Family. He spent a long time circling around them, trying to shake off their pursuers. Unfortunately, this was Bat-Family territory, and Jason, carrying the player on his back, was stopped by Harley. In this world, Harley is a member of the Suicide Squad, and thus also a member of the Bat-Family.

"Look what I found, two lone little birds." Harley tilted her head, noticing Red Robin on Jason's back. "Oh no, there are three!"

"Hey everyone, I'm Harley Quinn, nice to meet you all." Harley flashed a bright smile, blocking the only way out.

“You take B…” Dick paused for a moment and said, “Brother goes first.”

Dick still has some quick wit; he changed Bruce to brother and didn't forget to cover up their respective identities.

He kept his mission in mind, and when faced with a situation where indecision was the better part of it, he resorted to knife to knife, engaging Harley in a fierce and protracted battle. The fight escalated, but neither of them intended to kill the other.

"Oh ho, that's really unfriendly. I meant no harm. Can we calm down and talk this over?" Harley took a half step back to avoid Dick's blade.

"I will never trust you again." Jason carried the player, who was burning up and in extremely poor condition, and made his way away first.

Dick blocked Harley's path, his body spinning as a cold glint flashed, aimed straight at Harley's face. In the instant that Harley's vision was blocked by his blade, he lightly touched the wall with his foot, using the momentum to leap into the air and disappear into the night.

Harley was about to give chase when she received a call from Nightwing inquiring about her whereabouts. She rolled her eyes and ended the call, citing that she was investigating the Joker's whereabouts. When she looked up again, Dick was nowhere to be seen, and the conversation ended abruptly.

Jason found a remote, abandoned church and used the medical resources he had acquired to give the player an IV drip.

Dick nimbly descended from the church's skylight, landing as if carried by an invisible wind. Since merging with the blue lark, he found himself much more agile and nimble, even able to leap to the third floor without using any tools. Thanks to this, he had recently become elusive, showing signs of developing into a cockroach assassin—a welcome improvement in Dick's disguise as Damian.

——

Hal, the Green Lantern, has been incredibly busy these past few days. As a vampire, he's been entrusted with a crucial mission by the Vampire King. He just finished defeating Red Hood, and then the Justice League arrived to expose vampires. Having nearly had his home raided, he rushed back to deal with Andrew, the vampire who tipped off the superheroes, and then hunted down Zan, the twin brother of the Twins, who had come to join the fray. Hal also has to attend meetings convened by Batman non-stop.

Even after the meeting, Hal's tasks remain busy and demanding. To prevent the superheroes from turning the tide and returning to the past, Hal has no choice but to painfully eliminate his best friend, the Flash. However, Wonder Woman discovers the weakness afterward, and the Green Lantern, now with an epic power-up, is unfazed. He then turns on Wonder Woman, adding another member to the main force of the vampire army.

Hal has been switching back and forth between his dual identities as a fake superhero and a loyal subordinate of the Ghost King. He's been working non-stop like a spinning top these past few days, but now he finally has some free time to deal with the Red Hood group that escaped earlier.

The stained glass windows of the abandoned church cut through the last rays of sunlight. As night fell, darkness engulfed the Gothic building, but the simple cross on the roof stood firm in the salty sea breeze.

“It really is here. Master was right after all…” The stained glass in the window shattered, and Green Lantern appeared inside the dilapidated church.

“This time, you can’t escape.” Hal reached out from the shadows, and green light spread like tentacles, enveloping the entire church.

Dick moved like a light bird through the tentacles that had materialized from the green light. Jason drew his twin pistols from his waist, aimed, and fired. However, the difference in strength was too great. As a veteran first-line hero, Green Lantern had experienced too many cosmic-level wars and battles with people. After the reversal of their positions, the former hero became a sharp sword aimed at the other side. Jason and Dick were simply powerless to resist.

Jason was the first to be entangled and unable to move, while Dick nimbly dodged and maneuvered for a long time. He dodged countless times but saw no hope of turning the tide, while Hal only needed to catch him once to declare victory; it was merely a matter of time. Without the intervention of a divine intervention, Dick ultimately suffered a regrettable defeat.

Tentacles made of pure green light wrapped around and bound Jason and Dick, while another large hand, formed by branches, slammed down on the weak, pale, and unconscious figure lying on the wooden chair.

At that moment, the air froze—

Jason's nerves were on edge, and his breathing hit a chord. "No!"

Dick leaped up abruptly, breaking free from the green light only to be quickly pulled back to his original position. "Boo..."

-----------------------

Author's Note:

Nightwing: Trust me, the rocket launcher was going to take out Tim. Luckily, I saved him. Afterwards, I rushed to chase after the criminal who had fled, but he just self-destructed.

Tim: 6.

Player: This rocket launcher is a stroke of genius!

Jason: No, you're not going to kill them?

Dick (Damian disguise): TT.

Batman of this world: I am watching you here.

Nightwing: And making a phone call to check on my teammates' safety is in line with my persona, right?