Nightvision Year One
Part 1-Dearly Beloved
Written by: Nightvision
Editted by: Power Guy

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to honor and remember Brenda Troy. A young woman whose life was cut short however her light continues to shine on us all.” Said Preacher O’Neil as Brendon Grayson and a few
others stood by Brenda’s graveside.

Brendon struggled to contain his anger. Just 3 days prior should have been one of the happiest days of his life. As the preacher continued to talk, Brendon remembered how right after he and Brenda graduated college, they were getting ready to train for the Olympics and even more important getting ready to spend their lives with each other. He flashed back to that fateful day that this all occurred. Right after the commencement
address and getting their degrees, Brenda and Brendon went to Wayne Manor to celebrate.

“So cousin. Probably think you are pretty smart holding that degree, but I can still beat you at anything.” Said Helena Wayne with a smile.

“Except for looks, and you don’t even stand a chance.” Laughed Brendon.

“OK you too. Let’s not get into a fight and see who can look more silly?” Said Selina Kyle as she put the finishing touches on the graduation cake.

“Besides Helena, Brendon and I have plans for tonight, so if you do happen to fight, don’t beat him up too much” said Brenda Troy.

“Oh thanks honey.” Brendon said with a big smile on his face.

.”Brendon, come other here a minute. Your dad and I have something to tell you.” Bruce said. Brendon noticed his dad and grandfather talking quite a bit since Brenda and he arrived. “Brendon, you made one big step today in your life graduating from college, and we can’t be prouder of you however don’t take marriage lightly.’ Bruce started to say to Brendon.

“Dad!!! You were supposed to say anything to anyone. I want to surprise Brenda tonight.” Brendon exclaimed as quiet as he could so Brenda didn’t her him.

“One thing you have not realized about your grandfather. He is a detective. He figures things out even if you don’t tell him” Dick said.

“Regardless, Brendon our lives aren’t like most people. Don’t fear life however don’t take it for granted either.” Bruce said.

“Like most people? You mean since we are connected to the Wayne Foundation.” Brendon asked.

“Yes and no Brendon. You are who you are. Live each day like it was your last. No regrets. Speaking of which, are you going to take me up on the offer for a job at WayneTech.” Dick said.

“Dad. I think it would be best for now if Brenda and I could get on our own feet without Wayne Foundation help. At some point, I plan to join however I want to do things on my own first.” Brendon explained.

“Who does that sound like Dick?” Bruce said with a wink.

“OK boys. Let’s eat.” Selina said to the 3 men.

As they ate outside, Brendon couldn’t stop looking at Brenda from across the table. He had the night planned out. Taking her to the movie then go to Robinson Park by the lake with the moon reflecting off the lake like the night they talked on Tamarrean and then propose to her. Brendon then thought how lucky he was to have all that he had and nothing could take that away. After they ate, Brendon helped Selina clean up.

“Thanks for helping me Brendon.” Selina said.

“It was no problem.” Brendon said

“Do me a favor Brendon. Whatever you do, don’t forget who you really are. It looks like you have a lot of great things ahead for you. Don’t lose faith on who you are and how you got this far. OK”. Selina said.

“Yes Selina. Thanks for the advice”. Brendon said.

Brendon went back outside and saw Helena and Brenda talking and laughing. “Having fun I see. Well I am going to go and train. Will I see you
tonight?” Brendon said.

“What train on how big of a pain you can be?” Helena joked.

“No. Getting tired of beating you the same ole ways so need to come up with some new ways.” Brendon joked.

“Can’t you say and enjoy the day. Do you really need to train today? I know I am probably wasting my breath for the person that can never take a break.” Brenda said as it appeared she wanted Brendon by her side today.

“Sorry. Soon we will be together more. I promise. I will see you tonight.” Brendon said, kissed Brenda and left for the gym.

As Brendon pulled away from the stately Wayne Manor, part of him felt like he shouldn’t leave. He couldn’t figure out why he had the feeling and pondered to turn back however he kept driving knowing that there would be time in the future. He had so much energy from the day’s events that he knew he had to burn some off in training and focus on his training as tonight would be one of the most special nights of his life. As he pulled into the gym, his trainer George Wolfman was outside taking a break and cooling off. “Of all the days that I figured you would take a day off, this would be one of them. You know if you train too hard, you are going get robotic and no one is going to know you.” Laughed his trainer.

“Well I don’t want to explode tonight. I have so much energy built up, I figured I needed practice to get better and enjoy the moment.” Brendon
said.

“Well, go on in. I will be there in a couple minutes. You are like your old man. You love the thrills and acrobatics.” George said.

Brendon went inside and while waiting for George, he went thru his head about what he wanted to do for the few hours he was there. Each time he thought about what he wanted to do, he couldn’t help but picture Brenda’s face and tried to imagine that night. “You know I found this bright robin feather outside, and I think I could knock you over with it right now, “George said as he messed up Brendon’s hair. “Take a break today and focus on your life. This can wait.”

“Thanks, but I don’t want to get rusty or make a mistake. Besides I am already here, might as well do something.” Brendon said as he grabbed a couple of dumbbells.

Brendon went thru the things he loved to do the most that day. He started by starting on the floor doing some tumbling, moved to the rings, then did some weights, and finally went over to the pool for a cool down and get some aerobic breathing in. It was very quiet in the gym with hardly anyone there. When he got in the pool, he sent a female got in the pool at the same time he did. Once he swam a few laps, he decided to swim some sprints. When he set up for his first sprint, he noticed the female was out of the pool and sitting there. He tried to focus on the sprints, however when he turned for the final part of his sprints, he realized she was really watching him close even following him alongside the pool. As he touched the wall, he looked over, and she was no where to be seen. “I am locking up soon, so I am kicking you out. Besides Brenda is probably waiting for you.” George said as he handed Brendon a towel as he was getting out of the pool.

“Yes she is, “Brendon said with a big smile, “George did you notice a woman leaving the pool area when you came in?”

“No. Actually you and I are the only ones here. Everyone else has lives and left, “George said with a wink.

“OK I got the hint. What time is it by the way?” Brendon said as he wiped his face.

“6:55. Why?” George asked.

“Shoot!!! I am supposed to meet Brenda at 7 for dinner and a movie.” Brendon said as he rushed to dry off and get clothes on.

As Brendon got outside, he realized he wasn’t going too far. His car was blocked in by the car in front of him. “GEORGE! Is this your car?” Brendon yelled at George as he locked the doors.”

“No it was so nice today, I walked in. See you later.” George said.

Brendon realized the car in front of him was running and someone was inside. He went over to knock on the window and seen the windows were heavily tinted however he could make out a woman’s image in the sit.” Excuse me. Can you move your car? I am late for a date” Brendon said as he knocked. As Brendon looked down at his watch and the time changed to 7:00, the car sped off knocking Brendon to the ground. “NICE!!!! Great!
I am already late and they had to do that!”

Brendon moved as quickly as he could to get to there meeting spot by the movie theater. He knew he had to apologize to Brenda for the day and especially for being late. He hoped this wouldn’t ruin tonight. After he parked, he raced around the corner and by the light they usually meet at, a group of people were standing and he noticed the police was there. He scoured the crowd to see Brenda who was nowhere to be seen. He decided to move closer then he realized something was going on by the light they usually met at. Brendon cut thru the crowd only to see Brenda dead on the ground with a flower beside her. He tried to lunge to the ground to be beside her only to be stopped by a policeman. “Sir, you need to step back. This is a crime scene.” Officer O’Hara said “Montoya can you please take this gentleman away from the scene.”

As officer Montoya took Brendon away, Brendon couldn’t help from crying. “Officer, what happened? That gal on the ground was my fiancée’.”

“We are still investigating however we are thinking it was a random act of violence. There was very little witness, and no one recalled what happened. It appears she was waiting for someone, and someone attacked her, and she didn’t get away. She was already dead when we got there. Sorry.”


“Brendon. Brendon.” Someone was saying when she felt a tug on his suit. “Son, the service is done. We can take you home.” It was his mother Barbara Gordon. Brendon realized that he must have been remembering what happened during the service and lost track of time.

“WHY MOM! WHY!” Brendon said as he pounded the ground.

“Not now, Brendon. Let’s take you to our house and you can talk” Dick said

“Thanks Dad, but no. I want some time along here.” Brendon said as he pulled the engagement ring from his pocket.

“OK, please call us later when you get home.” Barbara said. “We love you.”

“Thanks Mom, love you too.” Dick rolled Barbara away.

Brendon looked at the sky “Why God! Why did you take her away? We were happy. We were meant to be together.” Brendon put his face into his hands and wept.

“If life gives you lemonade, make lemonade” Helena said as she walked up and put a hand on her cousin’s shoulder.

“Thanks Helena, but I really don’t think lemonade. I keep thinking about one of my classes in college. They talked about the great heroes around here especially in Gotham, yet no one was here to save Brenda. Her death should be avenged, and if these so-called heroes aren’t going to be there, maybe I am the one for the job.” Brendon exclaimed.

“Trust me Brendon. Vengeance is not the answer. Think before you act. Probably these heroes you studied had lots of training. If you act recklessly, you are just going to hurt yourself or get killed.” Helena said trying to calm Brendon down.

“Well I am going to go. Thanks for the talk however it isn’t going to bring her back.” Brendon said as he ran off. Helena pulled her cell phone out. “Hello. We need to keep an eye out. He wants vengeance.”

As Brendon headed for home, Brenda was all he kept thinking about. He went thru the scenarios. “What if I stayed at Wayne Manor with her?” “What if I left the gym earlier?” What if we planned to go somewhere else?” Each time it ended with the same result “It wasn’t meant to be”. Brendon looked at people walking along and swore some of them were Brenda. He even stopped and got out of his car once only to realize it wasn’t her. It seemed like forever to reach his loft. He headed upstairs barely able to climb each step as he was drained from Brenda’s death. He dropped his bag by the door and crashed on his couch and wept with Brenda’s memories dancing thru his mind.

“WHY GOD!!! Why her? Why now? She had so much going for her. We were happy together. We loved each other. WHY!” Screamed Brendon dropping to his knees.

“I thought I had everything I wanted, and now with Brenda gone, I have nothing. What point is there to continue?” Brendon said as his eyes burned from the tears. “That way we would truly be together forever.” Then Brendon closed his eyes and instantly pictured his mom, dad, Grandpa Bruce, Grandma Selina, and in the forefront Helena.

“WHY” Brendon screamed again and with his last energy used to scream, his head and torso hit the floor. Just then, a book fell from his bookshelf. “Who’s there? What was that?” Brendon asked. He staggered up to see what it was, and there he found the book on the floor. “How did that get here?”

He picked the opened book up and put his finger where it opened to see the cover. “History of the heroes from World War II thru the end of the 20th Century and beyond by Clark Kent and Lois Lane”. He remembered he had a class in college in history and they studied the great super-heroes and regular heroes during these times. When he opened to the page that it opened to when it fell, it was regarding Gotham City and the history of Batman and the famous Batman Family including Oracle, Robin, Huntress, Nightwing and others. “Where were they when I needed them? Brenda would be alive if these heroes cared.” Brendon said. Then he thought what Helena said about Vengeance was not the answer. “If you want a job done, you have to do it yourself.” Brendon proclaimed. Brendon decided he needed his rest to get energy build up for the next step in his life.

Brendon woke up the next morning and felt like a train hit him. He knew though there would be tough times ahead especially in the memory of Brenda. Brendon started a list of what he wanted and sketched looks he wanted to use. He knew Waynetech would have good equipment however with him not on the staff, it would be difficult to get and especially may draw attention from his father if he started looking into that. Brendon’s plan was something quick and easy for now then slowly work on a more efficient and needed costume. He had a “utility belt” from an older Halloween costume that still fit, some replica Batarangs that he could use and copy, a Kevlar bulletproof vest that he had to get to go overseas for competitions and training, a Zorro mask to conceal his identity, so all he wanted was some kind of grappling hood device so he could escape from the rooftops. He hoped that a military surplus store or sports store would have some thing he could use for this. He remembered a Nightwing look from his history book and remembered a sweater he received for Christmas that could temporarily fit over the vest for “the look”. He knew his plan was a bit reckless, but he wanted to find Brenda’s killer and bring them to justice NOW. He went to a surplus store in Gotham and found a Wayne Tech designed grapple hook that fired a grappling hook and could support his weight. He was ready to roll for his 1st night to find information on the killer.



He waited for night to fall. Then he put on his gear and got on the roof from his loft to patrol. First thing was the roof jumps. “This should be easy. Just like gymnastics.” Brendon said with a bit of hesitation in his voice. He started to run, got a good jump however the wind was blowing again him and he had to catch the next roof edge or fall. “Can’t make that mistake again, or that will be the end of me, and I would not find who killed Brenda.” He got the hang of the roof jumps, and perched on a roof top near where Brenda was killed. He pulled a pair of infrared binoculars from his belt to look below. He seen a masked figured with a knife holding someone with a knife. “A robbery. Need to get down to get a closer look.” He saw a fire escape that went down the building. He knew he had to be very quiet not to be caught by the evildoer below. He quietly climbed down to a point he could see with his own eyes. “That victim that the robber is holding looks like Retro.” Brendon said with a puzzled voice.

Retro was a helper in the computer lab. Brenda and Brendon saw him frequently in during their college computer classes. No one really knew much about him. He didn’t appear to have any friends. Retro was just a nickname he said, and he never gave his real name to anyone. Brendon remembered he was a computer geek however he wasn’t the best to defend himself. “I need to help him. Maybe that robber knows about the night of Brenda’s death as he may be near and seen or heard something.”

Brendon pulled out one of the replica batarangs. He had seen videos of how they were thrown however he decided to throw it like a discus. Just as the knife was raised, “Here goes nothing” Brendon said and threw the batarang like a discus. The batarang wobbled in the air however it was enough to jar the knife in the robber’s hand to get Retro to get free. Brendon decided to jump down from where he was. As he jumped, he enjoyed the air of the freefall and figured the landing would be as easy as his gymnastic training. However when he landed, his foot hit a pothole and he twisted his ankle.

“WHAT! Who dares interrupt me?” Shouted the robber. Brendon recognized the look and motive from the news. It was the new Night Slayer. He had been stalking people in dark alleys and robbing them.



“Run!” Brendon yelled at Retro. He couldn’t say Retro as it may expose who he was. Retro grabbed his bag and left. “Now Slayer. Let’s talk” Brendon was ready to fight.

Night Slayer lunged at him with the knife narrowly missing Brendon as he rolled. “What?” Brendon said to himself quietly. “That batarang was right here by Retro’s bag.” Brendon looked down the alley and Retro was gone. Brendon wondered how that could be as Retro was not that athletic and he wasn’t running that long. “THINK! You got the Night Slayer with a knife. Gotta get my head in the game.” Brendon told himself. He got up to his feet and when Night Slayer lunged again, Brendon got off a roundhouse kick to Slayer’s ribs bringing him to his knees. Brendon was able to get the knife from his hand and tossed it away. “Now let’s talk. What do you know?” Brendon said as he got interrupted by a laser blast. “What?”

“You interrupted me while I was updating my programs. Now you must pay.” Said the figure walking down the alley. “My name is Aedos. Remember that”



“Well you made a wrong turn. The costume party is down the street 2 blocks. Can’t miss it. You should win the discolored Darth Vadar look.” Brendon said.

“Let me tell you who I am. I am Aedos the son of Prometheus. My father was disrespected for years by the Justice League, Batman, Catwoman, and others. I vow to make them all pay. Villains included for the badge of dishonor they gave my father. I have far exceeded anything my father dreamed of to honor him. You disrupted my updates to my programs with my database of every hero and villain, their strengths, weakness, trends, etc. Now you will pay.”

“Guess I am not on your database yet. For shame.” Brendon said

“You are worthy to clean up the cat droppings in this alley let alone be on my database. I will show you.” Aedos said.

“Even fun. You both have some cool toys. I want them. Give them to me.” Night Slayer said.

“See more disrespect. You will pay the ultimate price as you tried to steal my database.” Aedos said as he twisted his gauntlet on his right wrist and revealed a CD-rom. “This disc has all about you and some other disrespectful villains on it. Watch what I can do with it” Aedos took the disc and placed it in his chest place.

“Enough talk. You just picked yourself to be first” Night Slayer said. Night Slayer went for Aedos. With an attitude, Aedos signed, lowered his saber and waited. Right before the knife would puncture Aedos, Aedos grabbed Night Slayer’s wrist and flipped him over his shoulder. “See. Knowledge is power.”

Brendon grabbed another batarang out of his belt. “Ah ah ah. I remember you are still going to pay too, but this time different than Night Slayer” Aedos said with a smile to his face. He reached into his cape and pulled out the missing batarang. “Look familiar” Aedos laughed.

Just then the police sirens were going and Night Slayer was staggering up. “See what is the old adage. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.” Aedos said. He threw the batarang as hard as he could. Brendon tried to dodge it but realized it wasn’t he who Aedos was aiming for. Just then the batarang punctured Night Slayer’s chest and plunged into his heart instantly killing him. “As for you!” Aedos said as he blasted the light saber at Brendon. “A little paralyzing blast to tide you over until the police arrive, and with that little evidence in your hand, you will be all set.” Aedos said. He pulled a key out and opened a door to what appeared to be a Ghost Zone and vanished as the police arrived.

“FREEZE!” The officers yelled as they ran down the alley. Brendon wanted to run, but Aedos’s blast made moving impossible. “You are under arrest for the murder of the Night Slayer.”

“But sir, he can’t move. How could he have killed him?” Said the young female cadet.

“That is why you are the cadet and I am in charge. No more questions. Read him his rights. He will be going to where all the masked criminals go. Arkham Asylum.” Said the senior officer.

TO BE CONTINUED