A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to a new chapter of 'The Arrival' now this isn't just any chapter oh no, you see this is a epilogue/prologue for another story that I am about to start work on and it's going to be the end to my little 'Slender' trilogy.
Now the reason for this is because, well I didn't like the way I ended the story, I was in a rush to get it done before Halloween and trust me when you rush something it probably won't come out like how you would hope it would.
Anyway I'm pulling a triple here since I just got done with a new chapter to my other story 'The Cafe' and working on this chapter and my new story, so hopefully it'll all turn out good and before Halloween.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything what so ever in this story, all of the the characters all belong to their respective owners.
(Bludhaven 10:32 PM, Nine months later)
"Man it feels good to be out and about like this." Nightwing said through his com-link as he continued to jump from rooftop to rooftop.
"I bet does." Batgirl said to him from her end of the com-link.
"After everything I've been through it's just great to be able to go out again without having look over my shoulders all the time, or having to sleep with the lights on." Nightwing told her as he perched himself on top of a stone gargoyle.
"Congratulations you now know how the criminals in Gotham feel every night." Batgirl said teasingly to the former boy wonder.
"Very funny Babs." He told her sarcastically.
"Seriously though Dick, I'm glad that you're feeling the aster again after everything that you've been through." She said sincerely to him.
"Thanks Babs, well I'll talk to you later then, it won't be long until Bruce calls to check up on me again." Nightwing told her as she let out a small chuckle from her end.
"Can you blame him? Remember how it was once your wounds started to heal and you were able to move around again?" Batgirl asked him playfully.
"How could I forget, he wanted me to stay in the med bay for an extra week just to be on the safe side." Nightwing replied back.
"Anyway, I'm going to hit the shower and call it a night, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Batgirl said as she turned off her com-link.
Once Nightwing was done talking with Batgirl he continued to run along the rooftops just simply enjoying the night air, after spending the last year and nine months being hunted by Slender Man. Then he spent some time being cooped up in the med bay at the watchtower after nearly escaping a mine explosion from his last encounter with Slender Man; as for the nightmares he was having for two months, they ended when left Oakside Park.
"Nightwing, come in Nightwing." A gruff and deep voice called out from the com-link.
"Batman I was wondering when you would call." Nightwing said jokingly as he pictured the scowl on Batman's face.
(Gotham City 10:55 PM)
"I called to see how you were doing." Batman told him as he and Robin patrol the city in the batmobile.
"I'm fine Bruce, everything is okay over here on my end." Nightwing told him for what felt like the millionth time.
"Dick keep in mind that we never found The Slender Man in that mine explosion, and we searched the entire area for him but only came up with the body of a young woman that you identified as Kate and the bodies of her two friends." Batman stated to him.
"Yeah I know, he could be anywhere and even though it's been nine months since I last ran into hi-" Nightwing suddenly froze up when he found himself in a familiar alleyway.
It was one year ago when he was abducted by Slender Man in this very same place, back when he was chasing down that perp and then found himself in those god-awful woods searching for those eight pages, ground zero for all of the hell that he experienced.
"Nightwing is everything alright?" Batman asked him which brought Nightwing out of his little trance.
"Yeah I'm fine, I just had a little flashback from that night." He explained the dark knight as he put some distance between himself and that alley.
"Dick if you still feel the need to talk to someone about this my door is always open." Batman informed his former protégé in a caring tone.
"I know Bruce, but really everything is fine, look I'll talk to you later and be sure to give Tim and Alfred my regards. Nightwing out." He said before hanging up on Batman.
It wasn't just Batman who was worried about him, both the team and the league were concerned about me. They knew he would be able to recover Physically but they were more concerned for his emotional state though, after all that he experienced they could tell he was still keeping a few things hidden from them.
"I guess I'll patrol for another hour and then call it a night." Nightwing said to himself as he leapt onto the next building.
Unbeknownst to him he was being watched by a strange figure from deep within the shadows, it stood there in silence as it watched as the former boy wonder swinging from rooftop to rooftop before slipping back into the shadows.
(Watchtower 4:16 PM Three Weeks Later)
"So you guys' still haven't heard anything about their disappearance?" Nightwing asked Aqualad who merely shook his head in response.
"I am afraid not, Batman's, Robin's, and Batgirl's whereabouts are still unknown to us." Aqualad told him as they continued on down the watchtower's hallway.
Three weeks had passed since the disappearance of Bruce, Tim, and Babs; at first it wasn't that big of a concern since everyone knew that they could take care of themselves and they would've returned in a matter of days. Then after a while that's when people started to get worried because they knew that at least one of them would've tried to make contact with either Nightwing or the League.
To make matters worse once word got out that Batman was MIA the crime rate started to increase in Gotham. Nightwing knew he had to step in to keep things under control there, but luckily he had some help from the team so he wouldn't get overwhelmed by it all. When he wasn't stopping crime in the city he was busy chasing leads on where his loved ones could be located, the only thing that Nightwing and everyone else knew is that he was the last person they talked too before they vanished.
Whenever he tried to reach them by radio all he would get was static and when he check the trackers on their utility belts all he would get was a blank screen. It was like that whoever had them was taking extreme measures to make sure they would never be found.
"I just don't get it; how could all of them just vanish without a trace? Unless..." Nightwing said as a dark thought started to enter into his head, but before he could go any further with it he heard a beeping noise coming from his holocomputer so he pressed the button and Alfred suddenly appeared on screen.
"Master Richard I just received a strange envelope not to long ago, it doesn't say whose it from nor does it have a return address either, but it does have your name written on it." Alfred stated to the former boy wonder who had a confused look on his face.
"Open it up and see what it says, chances are it might give us a lead on their whereabouts." Nightwing instructed the faithful who simply nodded his head and opened the envelope.
When he pulled out the piece of paper that was inside of it Alfred had a look of terror plastered onto his face. There was a part of him that didn't want to show it to Nightwing for fear of what it might do to the young boy, but he knew how much Nightwing wanted to find his loved ones.
"Master Richard I shall send you a copy of what just arrived, but please I advise you to think rationally on what your next choice will be." Alfred stated as he sent Nightwing a copy of what just arrived.
It didn't take long for the message to appear on Nightwing's holocomputer and when he and Aqualad took their first glance at it Nightwings blood started to run cold. It wasn't a written message but more of picture, and on it was four figures all standing in front of a house that seemed to be located in some woods.
We are home
"Nightwing, are you alright?" Aqualad asked his friend as he sensed just how upsetting this whole thing was for him.
Nightwing knows what has happened to them now and where they are located at as well, he knew who was behind this disappearing act and he knew of the dangers that await him, but none of that matters now because he knew what had to be done.
"Dick is that who I think it is?" Aqualad asked while Nightwing didn't even take his eyes off of the picture before finally looking at him and answered with a serious look on his face.
"Yeah, Slender Man."
A/N: Well there you go guys, now I hope that you liked this chapter a lot better than the last one, now this will lead up to a new one-shot where this time Dick will venture into the Slender Man's Mansion in order to save Bruce, Babs, and Tim from Slender Man's clutches. So wish him luck guys to because to be honest he's going to need it.
Well read and review and I will see all of you later.