Starling Wing - Arrow & Rising Robin Crossover Fanfic

Chapter XVI: Déjà Vu

Richard slowly began to regain consciousness. First, his eyesight came back, as his eyelids fluttered open at a slow & steady rate. Then he heard a dripping sound that echoed in the dark room. Richard's eyes adjusted to the dark lighting in the room, & he started to pick out notable observations. Pipes ran across the ground. There was a small crack of light shining towards him, probably the door. There was a table to the right, but it was upside down.

The room was upside down.

Richard scoffed to himself. There's no reason why pipes would run across the ground of any industrial building. Richard was being hung from his legs. Richard sighed. It wasn't the first time he had been hung like that.

Suddenly, a man stepped out from behind Richard, entering his line of vision. The man, appearing at an odd angle for Richard, raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "He's awake," the man said softly.

The man stepped away from Richard. Richard let his arms dangle, waiting for the man responsible to enter the room. After a few moments, the door opened. Tobias Church walked in, upside down, followed by four police officers & three thugs of his own. Tobias smiled at Richard, his grin distorting because of his orientation. "Well, would you look at that? I caught me a vigilante, boys."

Richard bit his lip, figuring out his escape plan. He went over his options in his head as Tobias continued to gloat. "You seemed to forget that I have my resources, Nightwing. I had this city's police in my pocket. Nothing has changed since Blüdhaven. I still have my people."

"And I will drive each & every single one of you out," Richard spat back.

Tobias smiled. He turned to a cop next to him. "Isn't he a lot less intimidating without his mask?" Suddenly, Richard's face grew warm & his heart skipped a beat. Tobias let out a low bellow of a laugh. He held up Richard's eye mask. "Yeah, I went ahead & unwrapped this little...anticlimactic surprise. I thought you'd be someone fierce & remarkable. Richard Grayson of Wayne Tech, though, is not a man I have much interest in." Tobias threw the mask to the ground. "Besides, I already told you. I've moved on to bigger things, like the Green Arrow. So you can drop your tough guy act because you're not going to do anything to me. I'm not on your turf."

Richard let out a roar as he swung a fist at Tobias' face. Tobas dodged the punch & whipped his right fist around, backhanding Richard's face. The brass knuckle definitely left a cut on Richard's skin. Richard spat out the blood, reconsidering his options.

Tobias smirked softly. He crossed his big, burly arms over his chest. "I really hope you ARE one of his men, though. After seeing you gang up on me with Mr. Arrow, I figured you'd be the perfect piece of bait to lure him to me."

Suddenly, Richard's solemn face was enlightened, & a cheeky grin grew over his face. "Oh, man, that's fantastic."

Tobias arched an eyebrow. "What?"

Richard nodded softly. "You just gave me an escape route."

Tobias shook his head. "No, no, you misunderstoo-"

Richard cut off the crime lord. "Listen, big guy. This isn't my first rodeo. This isn't the first time I've been hogtied to the roof like this. In fact, this happened to me when I was 16 years old. Believe me, I've seen crazy things."

Tobias glanced at one of the thugs to his side, who shrugged. Tobias turned back to Richard. "I'm sure you have."

"Oh, yeah. Witches, dragons, demons. I've seen aliens & robots, a boy who could turn into animals & a clone with super strength & laser vision. Aside from that, I've seen the darkest & twisted corners of madmen. And worst of all, I've seen the inner workings of one of the most terrifying men in the Eastern seaboard."