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"By Force of Arms": Billy Pettit and his group of ex-police officers broke into Oracle's Watchtower and Huntress is helping them. Nightwing and [[Barbara Gordon (New Earth)|Bar

Quote1 The rules have changed, lover. In fact, they've been erased. Quote2
Helena Bertinelli

Nightwing (Volume 2) #39 is an issue of the series Nightwing (Volume 2) with a cover date of January, 2000. It was published on November 24, 1999.

Synopsis for "By Force of Arms"

Billy Pettit and his group of ex-police officers broke into Oracle's Watchtower and Huntress is helping them. Nightwing and Barbara Gordon are completely surrounded and Huntress taunts Nightwing by calling him lover, because of their previous relation. Barbara says three key words that activates a blinding light in the room that stuns all of the intruders. Nightwing takes a couple of guys down and then he takes down Huntress before taking Barbara with him to the safe room in the Watchtower.

Huntress is mad at Pettit for using extreme violence against Nightwing and Oracle and threatens him to stop the senseless violence. Pettit convinces her that he will change but that sometimes, extreme actions are required.

Meanwhile, in the safe room, Barbara is preparing all the traps installed in the Watchtower but she notices that Nightwing is too quiet. She looks for him and realizes that he is burning up with a fever. Nightwing mutters that it is nothing and when Barbara doesn't get the meaning, Nightwing explains that what happened between him and Huntress was nothing, just a mistake from the past and that he is over it now. Barbara is aware of that and then she triggers the traps in the building to gives them enough time to reach the elevator and get out of the tower.

Meanwhile in Bludhaven, Blockbuster continued to look for a heart to replace his own damaged organ. Thus, he made a deal with Grimm in order to find Gorilla City.

Back in Gotham, the traps in the tower gases, electrifies, creates a high pitch noise and shoots many of Pettit's people. The former police officer decides that he had enough and starts shooting at random in the tower. Huntress tries to stop him but Pettit goes berserk and is completely out of his mind. The attacks turns the power of the building off, leaving Nightwing and Barbara trapped in the elevator. They climb out and start talking about what just happened before they were interrupted. Barbara and Dick agreed that they both had strong feelings for each other but before they can decide what is their next step, Huntress opens the elevator door and jumps to where the couple is. She is running away from Pettit's massacre and she uses her knife to cut the elevator's lines off. The elevator drops but it is secured with emergency brakes. They reach the lower floor and get out of the broken elevator. A couple of Pettit's men try to stop them, but Barbara says another three key words and they fall in a water sink after the trap door on which they are standing is activated.

When they reach the garage, Huntress tells them that they might have time to get away and before leaving she kisses Nightwing by force in front of Barbara. Nightwing is shocked and can't stop her. Barbara is a bit mad but without delay, they get inside a truck and drive away from the watchtower. Barbara asks Nightwing what is he going to do next and he tells her that first he is talking to Batman and then, he will return to Bludhaven.

Appearing in "By Force of Arms"

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Notes

Trivia

  • In this issue, Nightwing explains Barbara that his affair with Huntress was a thing from the past, a mistake and that he truly loves Barbara. However, in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #94; Nightwing returns to Huntress and kisses her in New Year's Eve. This is assumed to be an editorial mistake.
  • This issue also marks the beginning of the downfall of William Pettit.
  • Oracle's Clock Tower is heavy damaged in this issue and Oracle seemingly has to relocate because the area was now under Pettit's control. However, in later issues of the crossover, the towers appear undamaged and Barbara still uses it as a base.


See Also


Links and References

Batman No Man's Land 1
No Man's Land Crossover
DC Bullet 2024

This issue is a part of the Batman: No Man's Land crossover that swept through all Batman Family Titles during 1999. Gotham City was declared by the President to be no longer a part of the United States after the combined disasters of Contagion, Legacy and Cataclysm.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "No Man's Land" crossover category.

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