I like the idea of Nightwing being a well-known figure among the hero community, but relatively unknown to the public outside of Gotham and Blüdhaven. Like, he was the first ever sidekick and a kid of one of the Justice League's founding members. Most older heroes are his aunts and uncles, the first generation of sidekicks are his friends, and to the younger ones, he is a mentor and older brother figure. The hero community loves him. But outside of that, he is just a local hero. He sticks to the shadows, and while the people of blüdhaven love him, and the people of Gotham have at least heard of him, he is not very well known.
That is until the Justice League hosts some sort of public event with a lot of younger heroes attending, and one journalist gets an idea for a fun, lighthearted story. They go around asking different heroes and sidekicks who their favorite hero is, and 80% have the same answer: Nightwing
After the fifteenth person answered "Nightwing," I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Who even is Nightwing?" I asked, confused and maybe a little desperate. If they were playing a prank on me - all 15 of the heroes I'd talked to, somehow - then I at least wanted to figure out the punchline.
The hero I had asked, a boy who couldn't have been older than 16 and was wearing an eye-watering neon green suit that didn't offer any clues as to what his abilities were, gave me an odd look. "You know. Nightwing."
"I don't know," I insisted. "Can you point him out at least?" It was a huge event, with every active hero and a few retired ones in attendance. Surely the mysterious Nightwing had to be here too, if he existed.
"Oh, he's around," the boy shrugged, before walking off and leaving me no closer to the truth.
The next seven people I talked to also said their favorite hero was Nightwing, and I was becoming convinced that there was a weird conspiracy within the hero community to drive me, personally, insane. Why me? No fucking clue. I only ended up covering this event because Lane and Kent were on vacation, so Mr. White was dividing up their work amongst all the junior reporters, which included me. My press badge actually said "Clark Kent" on it, because apparently Mr. White kept spares for him, specifically (I guess he lost them a lot), and it was easier to grab one of those instead of printing a new one last minute.
This didn't help me find Nightwing, though. Or even figure out if he was real. Which was harder than you might imagine, given that I didn't recognize most of the crowd. Who knew the hero community was so big these days?
I finally spotted a costume that was recognizable and jumped at the opportunity. "Kid Flash!"
He looked surprised at being addressed, but gave me a smile, shoulders tightening with nerves when he saw the press badge. "Uh, hi?"
"I'm conducting a survey for the Daily Planet," I said cheerfully, just like I had the last 22 times. "Can you tell me who your favorite hero is? And it can't be yourself."
"Oh, that's easy," he said, relaxing. I smiled and got my pen ready to scribble down his answer - I was expecting him to say the Flash, of course. "It's Nightwing."
What.
"What?" I asked, almost reflexively. "I mean, uh, why is that?"
"He's the best there is!" Kid Flash said enthusiastically. "I've learned a lot from him - like, he even gave me some tips about my powers, because he was there when the first Kid Flash was figuring things out!"
Huh. Okay, that was new information. So Nightwing had been around for a while then - at least since the first batch of sidekicks, like Kid Flash and Wonder Girl and the first Robin -
Oh, duh! Robin! I should have been trying to ask him from the start - he's the most well-known sidekick in the world, people will want to know who his hero is. And he's a detective. If anyone would know something about this mysterious Nightwing, it would be Robin.
I thanked Kid Flash for his time, and asked if he knew where Robin was. He shrugged. "I dunno. You'll find him if he wants to be found."
Very helpful. Not.
Four more people were asked as I wandered the crowd, and four more people said that Nightwing was their favorite hero. 27 total answers, and all of them unanimous. I was going to lose my mind if I didn't figure this out - not to mention Mr. White would probably accuse me of lazy reporting.
I sidled up to a group of women who looked to be around my age, maybe one or two were a little younger. "Hello! I'm with the Daily Planet. If you have the time, I'd like to ask you all who your favorite hero is? Not including yourself, of course." The little chuckle at the end felt faker every time, but no one had called me on it yet.
A woman in purple and black raised an eyebrow, dramatic above the mask that covered the lower half of her face. "Why?"
Oh. No one had asked why yet.
"People are curious," I said simply. "Who do literal superheroes look up to? I think a lot of us assume it'll be Superman, because, well, Superman -"
"Metropolis bias," another of the women snorted, and I laughed.
"Guilty as charged, I guess. But no one I've asked has said Superman yet, which is kinda surprising. So, are any of you going to prove me wrong?"
The first woman looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying firmly, "Nightwing."
The woman next to her, dressed in almost all black, nodded once. "Nightwing." I belatedly realized that she and the one in purple both had bat symbols on their chests - maybe they could point me in Robin's direction after this?
The third, who had accused me of bias, seemed to be a Green Lantern. She nodded, too. "Yeah, I mean... I can't really argue with that. I'd have to say Nightwing, too."
"Oh, are we talking about Nightwing?"
I felt my jaw literally drop as the actual, real Starfire floated down to gently land among the group, who made space for her like this was a common occurrence.
"Hi, Star," the purple Batgirl smiled. "Sorta, this reporter, uh -" she glanced at my press badge, and did a doubletake. "Aren't you a little short to be Clark Kent?"
"My editor gave me the badge for this," I sighed.
Purple Batgirl snickered, but not meanly. "Sorry, that's just - that's funnier than it should be. Uh, Mr. Kent here was asking us who our favorite hero is, and we were saying that Nightwing is the best choice."
"I agree!" Starfire said immediately, smiling brightly. "He is extremely capable, very brave, and the most intelligent person I've ever met."
"And a good kisser?" the Lantern teased.
Starfire winked and laughed. "He is a good hero, regardless of my past with him. The best, even."
This was getting weirder by the second. Nightwing had dated Starfire?! Or at least they had made out at some point!
I felt even more desperate than before when I turned to the Batgirl in black. "Is Nightwing even here?"
She tilted her head a little as she looked at me, and I felt like she was seeing parts of me that I didn't even know were there. "Yes," she finally said, just as a drop of sweat was starting to roll down my neck under her intense gaze. "Go talk to more people. He will find you. Later."
That was a command if I've ever heard one, and it was as good an excuse as any to keep from sticking my foot in my mouth around Starfire, so I scurried away.
I kept asking my question, trying to get a wide range of heroes - fresh sidekicks and greying retirees and everything in between. I finally got a few different answers, but they were rare. By the time I was looking at 63 entries in my notebook, I felt like I was at my wit's end. Two people had said Superman, one person said Max Mercury (another name I didn't recognize), Booster Gold had tried to say himself and when I repeated he couldn't do that, he finally said Blue Beetle, and one smartass had just said "your mom" - which was, in hindsight, pretty fucking funny.
But 58 - fifty fucking eight! - people had said Nightwing.
And I still had no idea who he even was.
"I hate everything," I grumbled under my breath as I stared at the list.
"That seems overly general."
I about jumped out of my skin, whirling around to see a hero standing behind me, in a black suit with a bright blue V on the chest. I didn't recognize him, but that was hardly unusual.
"Sorry," he chuckled lightly. "Didn't mean to scare you. Are you having trouble with something?"
"It's not important," I sighed, shaking my head. "If you wouldn't mind though, I'd like to ask you a question? I'm with the Daily Planet."
"Sure," he said, still seeming amused.
"Not including yourself, who's your favorite hero?"
"Superman," he said easily. "Ever since I was a kid."
I smiled and wrote down his answer. "Thanks - it's nice to get him a few more votes!"
"Who is Supes losing to?" he asked.
"Nightwing - who I've never even heard of before, but he must be spectacular to have almost everyone I talked to singing his praises."
The hero laughed again, shaking his head in amusement. "He's a pretty private guy."
"Yeah, seems like it," I sighed. "Anyways, I appreciate the vote of confidence for Superman."
"So do I."
I was torn between wanting to crawl into a hole forever and wanting to hold out my own pen and notebook and ask for an autograph as the man himself walked up, big red S and all. He was smiling, and it made me feel safe, as stupid as that sounds.
The other hero saved me from sounding too stupid in front of Superman, at least.
"Hi," he grinned at Superman. "This Clark Kent impersonator is doing a poll on who other heroes say their hero is - excluding themselves, of course."
I blushed as Superman glanced at my press pass, looking amused. "Uh. I'm not trying to impersonate him. Mr. White - I mean, my editor - I mean, of course you know who the Daily Planet editor is, uh -"
"It's okay," Superman eased, giving me that nice, safe-feeling smile still. "I'm sure Mr. Kent doesn't mind, since you're doing such a good job at covering this event in his place."
I nodded, hoping that by not talking he wouldn't think I was any more of an idiot than I was proving myself to be.
"And personally," he continued, thoughtfully, "I think my favorite hero would have to be Nightwing."
I made some noise of shock, but it was covered by the other hero giving Superman a surprised look. "Really?"
"Sure," he said easily. "Name one other hero half as brave, skilled, and intelligent."
"Batman," he said, and it seemed almost automatic.
Superman waved it off, though. "Not a quarter as enjoyable to be around, especially in a crowd like this. Besides," he smiled again, "since you said me, it only seems fair that I get to say you."
What.
"What?"
Superman and Nightwing, apparently, didn't acknowledge my question, which was good, because I was still struggling to process the fact that I'd complained about everyone liking Nightwing to Nightwing.
"You're getting soft on me," Nightwing (Nightwing!!) laughed.
Superman chuckled with him, and gave me one last look. "Good luck on your story," he said, waving a little as he and Nightwing walked off, leaving me struggling to come to grips with what just happened.
Three days later, back in the office, Kent stopped by my desk. "I heard I covered that big Justice League meet and greet," he said, giving me an amused look.
"Mr. White's idea," I said quickly. "He didn't want to print a new press badge for me, so -"
"It's okay," he chuckled. "Not the first time it's happened, not gonna be the last. How'd you like it?"
"Uh... it was interesting." Understatement of the century.
"I liked your story. Perry showed it to Lois and I this morning."
"Oh." Was I blushing even more at the idea of Pulitzer Prize winning Lois Lane reading my work than when I met Superman? Yes. Yes I was. "Thank you!"
"I really liked your bit about Superman," Kent continued, gracefully ignoring my reaction to the fact that his wife apparently knew who I was now. "The part where you say that an incredibly public figure finding inspiration in an incredibly private one... It was very nicely said. Lois really liked it, too. I'm on my way to meet her for a coffee break, actually, if you'd like to join us."
"Really?!" I squeaked, then cleared my throat. "Uh, I mean, that would be wonderful, Mr. Kent!"
He laughed, patting me on the shoulder, and gestured for me to follow. "It's just Clark. I figure that if anyone should be on a first name basis, it's the person who got an interview with Superman in my name. Especially since I've never managed it."
I mumbled some sort of reply, still in shock over the idea of getting coffee with Lois Lane, as Clark steered me towards the elevator with a bright smile.
wizardry is about someone who was once merely a man and now she's a vessel to insane cosmic power.
wizardry is about calling forth the demonic hands of Zulmanos to go put away your laundry because you can't be asked to do it and then getting shocked and annoyed when the foul miasma of the lower planes starts spawning imps in your changing room.
wizardy is about picking fights with dragons and kingdoms and small planets and having 50/50 odds of winning, or of your pathetic mortal frame pop like a fresh grape because you fucked up your defensive runes and now you're a smear of red wearing a very nice robe.
wizardry is the ultimate expression of human power, our ability to shape the world around us to suit our deep desires and our petty whims, and at the same time human weakness, both our physical vulnerability and the various foibles and quirks that make us make mistakes but also make us who we are.
its also about going "heehoo" and scuttling around your tower like a gecko.
I cannot stress enough how much this has sent me spinning. He’s a FUCKING SUGARBABY??? A KEPT MAN??? A TROPHY HUSBAND??? THE WORLDS GREATEST DETECTIVE: A BOYTOY???
Heavens bless Rian Johnson. I am LIVING.
Obsessed. Actively rotating them around in my head.
you ever invent an oc that's just a damaged lil guy and then imagine a lil traumatic storyline for them and then realize they're a self insert and you like REALLY need therapy
