A plot bunny I got when reading some Batman comic books and watching Titans TV show. This will be in The Dar(h)k War saga but I plan to make it much shorter, unlike other stories.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or Batman comic books the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.

Hope you have fun

With regards

Bl4ckHunter

"What do we have here?" Commissioner Gordon asked as Detective Jim Corrigan showed him photos of people with faces melted somehow.

"Six people. Faces melted by hydrofluoric acid. Ring any bells?" Corrigan drawled.

"Hey." Montoya asked as she looked at the photos. "Why do these people look familiar?"

Suddenly, it hit Gordon like a truck.

"What's going on, Dad?" Barbara asked as she entered, seeing the pictures and immediately recognizing the people on the photos.

"Barbara, are you still in contact with Dick?" Gordon asked.

"What are those?" Dick asked as Barbara showed him the photos.

"This arrived this afternoon in an envelope to GCPD. Addressed to 'Nightwing'. Whoever sent it might know who you are, Dick." Barbara said as Dick looked at the photos with people with melted faces.

"I know them. I grew up with them." Dick said, dread filling him.

"They all used to work for Haly's Circus, when your parents were alive?" Henry asked and Dick nodded. "Wow. That's… I'm sorry, Dick, really. Where's Bruce?"

"Something happened in Tokyo that he needed to look into." Dick explained.

"Why does this look familiar?" Henry wondered as he saw the melted faces.

"Their faces were melted with hydrofluoric acid. Ring any bells?" Barbara asked.

"Calling card of the Maroni crime family." Henry realized. "They're all in prison now, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Dick nodded. "And Tony Zucco worked for Sal Maroni, when he killed my parents because Mr. Haly couldn't pay him the protection money."

"I can only imagine how hard this has to be for you." Barbara said.

Something then hit Dick. "What about Raya, is she-"

"As soon as we realized who were they targeting, Dad had her put into protective custody, don't worry." Barbara promised.

"What do we know about this guy?" Dick asked.

"The media calls him 'The Melting Man'. This acid, it melts the flesh off their bones." Henry said.

"My God…" Dick whispered, not believing someone would kill his childhood acquaintances so brutally.

"Who did this?" Barbara asked.

"Tony Zucco is in prison and there's no way he's getting out." Dick said.

"And there's one other guy I can think of, who would use this M.O., since this is very old-school but I am sure that he's dead." Henry added.

"Who?" Barbara asked.

"It doesn't matter. Like I said, he's dead. I'm sure of it." Henry assured.

"Look, whoever it is, we need to find out who else he might target, if he's going after former members of Haly's Circus." Barbara said.

A tall black man around 40 years old entered a nightclub, wearing a suit as he was being followed by a man, who had a plastic mask on his face and melted hand.

Dick, Barbara, Helena and Henry entered the nightclub, looking around before they found the tall black man as Dick approached him.

"Excuse me. How do I get to the VIP's lounge?" Dick asked.

"Password." The man said.

"Haly's Circus?" Dick tried and the man widened his eyes as he looked at Dick closely.

"Dickie? Little Dickie?" The man laughed, hugging Dick tightly. "Come here, boy, you grew up! I can't believe it's you! Is it-"

"Yeah!" Dick choked out. "Let me go, man, I can't-"

"Sorry." The man let Dick go as he laughed.

"Still got strong grip, huh, Clay?" Dick smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Clay smiled, not understanding.

"Clay, we need to talk." Dick said.

"Killed?" Clay paled as Dick explained the whole situation to him.

"And I'm worried you might be next on the list. My friend has put Raya into protective custody as soon as we realized what was going on." Dick said. "Tell me, have you seen anything… strange or suspicious lately? Has someone been following you?"

"No… I don't think they did." Clay shook his head.

"Are you still in touch with someone from the circus?" Dick asked. "I shut it down and put our tours on hold as soon as I realized someone was after our old crew."

"Well, for the first couple of years… I did talk with Abigail and Percy, until Percy passed away. You know, we all loved your parents, Dickie." Clay said. "Everyone parted their separate ways some time later. Except for Raya. She loved Mr. Haly like if he was her own father."

"Yeah." Dick nodded, his face getting grim.

"To be honest, since your parents' funeral, nothing's been same between us. And I guess I just couldn't find it in me to keep going without John and Mary." Clay said, looking sad. "Looking back, I should've kept in touch with everyone. With you, kids, especially."

"Yeah, same here. But ever since Haly gave the circus to me, I'm trying to make our family feel like family again." Dick said.

Suddenly, an explosion went off outside as windows in the club shattered.

"Clay, call 9-1-1!" Dick ordered.

"What the hell?" Barbara whispered as they rushed out to see a car explode.

"Who did that?" Helena wondered before Dick's phone went off as he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Dick." The voice said.

"Who is this?" Dick demanded.

"Come on, don't you recognize my voice?"

Dick's blood ran cold as he realized who it was. "That's impossible."

"What makes you think so?" The voice taunted.

"Because you're dead."

"You must be thinking of my brother."

"Where's Clay? I swear, if you-"

"You're in no position to make demands here, Grayson."

"What do you want?" Dick snarled.

"I came to collect the debt you owe my family. With interests." The voice hung up before they saw a photo on Dick's phone, with Clay being tied up and in the trunk of a car.

Dick seethed and glared in anger, someone was targeting his family.

"Who was that?" Barbara asked.

"Nicholas Zucco. One of Tony Zucco's sons. He wants revenge." Dick asked.

So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue?

Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.

With regards

Bl4ckHunter