Chapter Text
- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5yvpEPLxWEsV7gOtf5UGAD?si=0ce27c16b7904bdf
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Dick wasn’t in a good place as of recently. It didn’t help that he was convinced he didn’t need any help in managing all of his issues because he was convinced, he didn’t have any. He wasn’t having issues with keeping up with night patrols as Nightwing, or the constant stretch of being a detective in Bludhaven, or trying to keep the already fragile family of his from collapsing into a big pile of chaos, and he most certainly didn’t need any help with dealing with the emotional strain that Bruce kept throwing at him.
But all of that is irrelevant anyways. Dick brought himself out of his thoughts as he continued swinging through the foggy thick air of Gotham. He didn’t find himself here much since he lived in Bludhaven, but it never failed to bring in a sense of familiarity to him.
That was when a familiar alert beeping filled his hearing and he quickly turned on his comms. “Yello my fellow peoples.” Nightwing chirped as he heard the familiar bickering that followed joining into the channel. “Nightwing, good you hopped on. We have a massive surge of a magical reading coming from the town hall, it seems like a huge building has completely replaced it. You can see it from the flashing lights, get there as fast as you can.” O replied in her usual exasperated tone.
Nightwing wasted no time turning himself in the direction of the music and began to swing to that very area. “Anything else we know?” He asked.
“None at the moment, ETA?”
“A minute, make that 30 seconds, I’m about to land on the stage.”
As Nightwing finished his sentence he landed in the middle of the stage. Everything was pitch black and he figured he might as well start making his way around and trying to figure out what was happening.
“Uh guys? Where’s everyone at?” He asked in a quiet tone as to not make too much noise.
“Me and Hood are sneaking in the back, B and the demon are currently making their way closer to you-”
Red Robin’s voice got cut off as he let out a little gasp. “Oh, I fucked up.” RR whispered.
“The fuck did you do replacement?” Hood had growled out.
“I tripped a wire.”
And with that the whole stadium lit up with bright colors and the quiet music became louder. That’s when Nightwing turned around and came face to face with at most a million confused faces.
“Uh guy-?” Nightwing got cut off by the now bickering duo which consisted of Red Hood and Red Robin.
“You are such a dumbass replacement-” “Name calling? Really pill head?” “At least I didn’t trip and fucking wire, you dumbass-!”
Nightwing let out an annoyed sigh as he whispered into his comms.
“Guys! We have a problem. You started up all the lights, and apparently all of Gotham is in the stadium, staring at me. What do we do?!”
He was met with silence which caused him to face palm.
“You could always talk to them dude,” A strange voice spoke. Nightwing looked to his left and saw a man wearing a purple suit with a hat hiding his face.
“And who are you?”
“I;m the Music Meister, and you are Nightwing. I gotta say, it’s an honor to meet you tonight.”
Nightwing took a minute to take in that information. “I don’t think I share the same settlement. Mind telling me what you are deciding to do with all of this stuff and the whole city of Gotham?”
The Meister let out a small laugh before moving to the side to pull out a blue microphone, a blue sound pack, and a microphone stand to start setting it up in front of the bird themed hero.
“It’s simple really, I’m fixing everyone's problems, by everyone's I mean yours.”
“My problems- I don’t have any-”
“Don’t try that with me buddy, it isn’t going to work. You see I have this funny power of always knowing people's problems let them be little or small. You are going to stand here, talk or joke or do whatever but you are going to figure out how to solve those problems, or they all die.” Meister moved a hand to gesture to all of the people in front of him before turning on the microphone and facing the crowd.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Might I ask you for a round of applause to please welcome Nightwing to our stage!”
That’s when a sound deadening clapping fell over them all before disappearing just how fast it came.
“Now, he has agreed to give us all a little show, how wonderful is that! Now, let me give the stage to our favorite hero, Nightwing!”
And with that the Meister handed him the microphone and walked off the stage.
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Batman and Robin finally got into position in the side lines as they watched over what was happening. He had tried getting Nightwing's attention, but he had noticed it had been swapped out for another com attached to a sound pack.
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“Heya Gotham!” Nightwing said with a cheerful smile lighting up his face and he ended up letting out a laugh at the loud greeting he got back.
“It seems we both got a surprise tonight, didn’t we?” He got some loud cheering in return which caused his smile to grow wider.
“It seems we are going to be here for a while so why don’t I give you guys something to entertain yourselves with while we are stuck here, does that sound good with you all?”
He got another cheer in return. Nightwing turned his face away from the microphone and whispered into the comms. “Red, I need track 297 from the file on my server named super-secret stash up and ready.”
“Why do you need that up?” Red Robin questioned but started pulling up the track.
“The guy who put us all under a spell is named the Music Meister, he told me he isn’t going to let anyone out of here alive unless I do something that convinces him that everything is back to normal.”
Red hood cut him off in a strained but calm tone of voice. “So, he’s going to kill everyone unless you play his fucking game.”
“Basically.” And with that Nightwing turned back to the microphone.
“So, Gotham, let me level with you, okay? Tonight, is going to be a long night so you gotta bear with me, I gotta get my stuff ready, okay? Gimme a sec.”
He turned away from the mic again. “Red, when you hear me say keep on walking, I want you to start playing the track okay?”
He didn’t wait for the response but turned back to the crowd. “So, we are in a stadium. I feel like telling a story, but I also feel like having some fun. Sounds like a blast, right? Right! Now, a little story time before I kick this show off!”
Nightwing paused as he attached the microphone to the stand so he could be able to use his hands more easily.
“So, have you guys seen this new artist going around? He's crazy famous, I think he goes by the name Skyfinder?” He got whoops in agreement which made him bark out a laugh.
“I thought that was his name! Well, I’ve listened to a few of his songs and aren’t they amazing? I mean the story that they tell, I can’t believe that someone was able to portray such a message through simple words and notes. Anyways, I think my favorite one is the one about how he feels like he needs to keep on walking .”
He heard a bunch of screaming from the crowd which only started to get louder as they heard the starting music start.
“Now, I think a few of you already figured this out but I guess you are going to figure it out a lot quicker if I just skip to the point so I guess I will stop stalling.” Nightwing joked before moving closer to the music and let out a breath before taking in lungs full of the air and letting it out to let his nerves leave him.
“Used to run down this road, with my heart on fire. Now I’m sitting right here by the side, like a bird on the wire.”
There was silence in the stadium as they all watched in shock as they realized that their beloved Nightwing was the same person as the heart broken artist that they had been learning about for months.
“Holy shit dude, he’s Skyfinder.” Nightwing heard Red Robin whisper into the comms in shock but he brushed it off so he could continue without getting distracted.
“See my dreams passing by, and I realize, the day that I quit is the day I expire!”
There had been times in Nightwing's life where he had wished he had never said yes to Bruce when he offered to help Dick take down Tony Zucco, but what was done was done and there was no going back on it. He had thought about retiring but by now he knew that he was too invested in the vigilante gig to give it up now.
“Woah-oh-oh, I gotta keep moving on, gotta keep moving on, oh-oh.”
Dick had tried to quit and move on, but it ended as it always did. A long lecture from Bruce, a few punches thrown, and he was back on patrol that same night starting the process all over again. So, he chose the logical choice, he kept moving on with his life accepting his fate.
“Oh-oh-oh, I’m shaking the dirt from my bones- All I gotta do is WALK ! I’m fighting and I’m bleeding, I don’t give up, I WALK !”
No matter how many times he got beaten down bloody in a fight it never stopped him from standing up and going at the bad guys again. He was known for never giving up and he wasn’t going to stop now, so he went through his mantra and continued to move forward, he continued to walk.
“My hope, my love, my reason, they guide me as I WALK !”
In all actuality his family was the reason why he was still here. He probably would have been dead without them all ready. Between having to stick around to protect them from harm, he found he also had to protect them from themselves.
No matter how much he hated their fighting, he wouldn’t give it up for all the money in the world.
“Like Hannibal over the mountains, I gotta keep moving, I won’t stop. Keep on walking, watch out, here I’m coming. Walk.. Walk.. Walk.. Walk.. ”
The crowd was now cheering him on as he continued his story, some were clapping along, some were singing along, but he noticed they were all listening and hearing him. And he never knew how good it felt to be heard until that moment.
“Ain’t no knocking me over, I keep bouncing back. Now I’m done with the noise in my head. Yeah, I follow my track.”
No matter how hard people tried, they had never seemed to get rid of him. No matter how much they insulted him when angry he kept coming back, no matter how much they yelled at him, told him they hated him, or outright abused him, he kept coming back despite the words echoing in his head informing him that it was a bad decision and that it was doing more harm than good.
"A battle for gold and a dream in my soul."
Dick was no stranger to sitting there and wishing that it would all be over but he knew that it was foolish to wish for such things, but that didn't stop him from hoping.
"In times when I fail, I shake off the pain and, Woah-oh-oh, I gotta keep moving on, I gotta keep moving on, oh-oh,"
And he kept going.
"Ooh I'm shaking the dirt from my bones, All I gotta do is walk." "I'm fighting and I'm bleeding, I don't give up, I walk. My hope, my love, my reason, They guide me as I walk." "Like Hannibal over the mountains I gotta keep moving, I won't stop. Keep on walking, watch out, here I'm coming"
And that's when the music stopped and they were met with thousands of cheering and clapping to fill the silence.