After a stealthy ambush Slade manages to beat the brakes off Batman and Robin. They're in a bad way until Nightwing shows up in a batmobile. Requiring hospitalization he whisks them away to Leslie Thompkins. Following the trail of bodies he finds the terminator threatening to release dangerous toxins to Gotham's waterways, chemicals he explains that when ingested would induce bouts of extreme bloodlust in regular people, in some cases cannibalism, morphing Gotham into a nightmarish sh1tshow if executed. Deathstroke claims he was hired by Ra's Al Ghul whose motivations lie in eradicating the accursed city responsible for producing some of the worst human beings ever to walk the planet.
With so much on the line Dick pulls out all the stops to put Slade down for good after a lengthy back and forth tussle. Halting for a moment he remembers Robin's broken little body. In a fit of rage Dick gouges his nemeses remaining eye out WITH HIS TEETH like a man possessed, his costume drenched in blood by now. The moment was surreal, but the fight had simply taken so much out of him. Grayson disarms the bioengineered weapons. He tells Slade his days as a contract killer are over meanwhile putting a call out to some highly sanctioned intelligence agencies(Checkmate/Spyral) offering to lock the man up for good in a maximum metahuman security prison.
Realizing he'll never get to witness Nightwing, his most formidable adversary's death due to losing his sight the hitman feels a profound sense of loss at never completing his goal. The final vision of Nightwing giving into the exposed chemical compounds leaking from a defective bomb, pushing the hero past a pain threshold of stab wounds, bullet holes and bruises burn into his memory. Unlocking the absolute savage within the young man kept tame until provoked on that dreaded night. It will haunt him for the rest of his life as he replays the imagery inside a cold, dark cell surrounded by four unforgiving walls.
Nightwing calls Barbara Gordon from atop the highest Gargoyle in Gotham(the same one Bruce leapt from in Knightfall), overlooking the grisly scene below. He can see the entire city from up here and it's glimmering radiantly. He pledges his love for her, finally, and tells her to look after his little brothers while he's gone. Afterwards he contacts tiger and asks for one last favor over the phone. He tosses his domino mask in a smokey chute and manages to crawl out of his costume into his under garments, leaving the suit to burn in a vat of fiery chemicals nearby. He lies down to rest, the adrenaline having been completely spent at this juncture.
Commissioner Gordon arrives by helicopter a few hours later and discovers the chemical weapons. As they turn the spotlight over Gordon notices the silhouette of a person teetering near the corner of a building top. He tells the pilot to disembark so he can investigate further. He approaches the body alone and is petrified by the gory scene and whom is encountered. Jim walks a few steps back and goes to reach for his walkie for help when he notices a burnt up piece of cloth fly past him in a gust of wind, a blue bird sigil sported on the front. He turns back and looks at Dick.
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