Nightwing: Rusted From the Rain #1: Formerly Known as Robotman

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Dick Grayson got out of the shower just in time to hear a knock at the door. Grabbing a towel, he wrapped it around his waist and ran to the front of his apartment. "I'm coming! Hold on!" he called. Without opening, he said, "Who is it?"

"That's a weird story," a male voice answers over the sound of rain.

Dick scowled a little, but unlocked the door anyway. Opening it, he saw a brown haired man holding an umbrella over his head with one hand, and an old toy dog in the other. This distracted him only momentarily before he realized the man was, "Uncle Chuck?"

"Oh. So you do recognize me then?" the man asked.

"Very funny!" Dick said, giving his uncle a hug. "It's great to see you! It's been forever! I mean, what? Since...well, way before mom and dad died! Where have y--"

Holding up a hand to stop Dick, he answers, "Um, you don't understand. May I come in?"

"Of course! Of course!" says Dick, standing aside. Pointing to a chair, he says, "Make yourself comfortable, but excuse me for a minute. Let me throw some clothes on." Moving quickly to the bedroom, Dick grabs a red shirt and throws it on. Grabbing a pair of jeans, he pulls them on as he says, "So what brings you into town, Uncle Chuck?"

From the next room, he hears, "Well, that's just it. I'm not Chuck Grayson."

Dick comes out holding one of his escrima sticks, "You want to explain that, mister?"

Not moving from the chair, the man says, "My name is Robert Crane. I--"

"Worked with my uncle," Dick interrupted. "I remember your name, but I had no idea you looked so much alike."

"Please, this is difficult enough to explain- let me finish," implored the man.

Looking equal parts confused and concerned, Dick took a seat on his couch, and said, "Alright."

"This might be very hard to believe," said Crane, "but this is Charles Grayson's body. The brain is mine though- that is, Robert Crane's."

Dick was shocked, but didn't show it. "Okay. Now I definitely need an explanation."

"In the 1940's, I was known as Robotman."

"Robotman?" asked Dick. "Of the Doom Patrol? I know him. His real name is Cliff Steele."

"No, he came later. I was with the All-Star Squadron. My brain was in a powerful robot body of my design, but the transfer process was invented by your Uncle Chuck. Without him, I would have died."

"Go on," Dick nodded. He reached to a side table, and picked up an Oracle-dedicated tablet. He began looking up Robert Crane to see if he could verify the information he was being given.

"I was eventually trapped in a collapsed mine for several years. When my robot body repaired itself, and I was finally able to escape, I located Chuck again, only to discover that he had died from a brain disease. His body had been frozen to keep anything else from degenerating, and it was with the help of The Chief from the Doom Patrol that I was able to have my brain transferred into your uncle's body- once again allowing me to be human. Something I'm very grateful for, but I thought it would be only right to let his next of kin know. Apparently, that's you."

Putting the tablet aside, Dick said, "You check out."

"Check out?" asked Crane. "Are you law enforcement, Mister Grayson?"

"Something like that," Dick smiled.

"I see," answered Crane. "At any rate, I basically came to let you know about this. It hadn't occurred to me to think of any family Charles might have before the operation. I know this is incredible, but I wanted to ask: is this okay?" He seemed very nervous to hear the answer to his question.

Dick looked at the floor for a moment, and sighed deeply. Looking up, he said, "Well, it's done now, isn't it? It's beyond weird, I'll give you that. To ask you to undo it at this point would be akin to asking you to commit suicide. And if I tried to force it- murder. So it's very strange, Doctor Crane, but congratulations on your new lease on life."

Crane seemed very relieved, and he sank a little deeper into the chair. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Grayson. That's quite a load off of my mind...no pun intended."

"Ha! Still funny though," chuckled Dick.

Rubbing his forehead for a moment, a new pain came over Crane's face as he said, "There's a little more though, I'm afraid."

Dick cocked his head sideways, but said nothing.

Holding the toy dog forward, and handing it over to Dick, he said, "This is Robbie. He used to help me fight crime when I was Robotman."

"I was wondering about this," Dick confessed.

"He also has the brain of your Uncle Chuck," added Crane.

Dick jumped, fumbling the robot dog from his grip, but managed to catch it before it hit the floor. "Ugh! What?! Why...? Wait. I thought you said he died of a brain disease?"

Crane's brow furrowed. "That's what I was told. Apparently, Charles had a lot to do with Steele's Robotman body too. When the degenerative disease began to claim his body, he and the Chief decided to separate his brain from his body before it could actually be harmed by the disease. So, they put it inside of Robbie, and froze the body, hoping to find a cure someday."

"Then why did they allow the transfer of your brain into the body?" asked Dick.

"Because the degenerative disease had progressed enough to make the risk too great that the body would reject the brain if implanted again. I wanted out of the robot body badly enough to risk it. Obviously, it took."

"What about Uncle Chuck though?"

Story, original characters and content are owned by Chris Bishop. Copyright Chris Bishop 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.

Thanks for stopping in! :^D

That's all for now! Thanks for reading. :^D

I really enjoyed writing this one bump.

Dude you gotta finish this. Is Chuck happy with the teansfer? Is Dick cool with having a robot dog uncle? Is he blutooth compatible?!

Tell me I must know!

@guardiandevil83: Did you read part 2? That's really all I ever planned to write of it. I just always wanted to make that Grayson connection so Dick could have the robot dog lol. Making the Crane connection just happened while I was writing it which is nice. I kind of like it where it leaves off- Nightwing has the robot dog which was the end goal for me, and he gets a family connection from back in his Flying Graysons days. I haven't really thought about it too much beyond that. I suppose it's possible Chuck would want out of the dog if he ever got the chance.

Why don't you continue it? :)

@cbishop: Nope! I'll get on it I honestly didn't know about part 2.

@guardiandevil83: There's a next issue link at the bottom of this OP if that helps. :)