Nightwing (Volume 3) #2 is an issue of the series Nightwing (Volume 3) with a cover date of December, 2011. It was published on October 19, 2011.
Synopsis for "Haly's Wish"
As the rain pours down in Gotham City, Nightwing is under attack by a bladed assassin. Nightwing grips his attacker by the wrist, sending a high voltage shock through his body. The shock only stuns his opponent briefly, and as they spar, he demands to know the assassin's name, suddenly remembering that the target for assassination is Dick Grayson, and not Nightwing. Apparently, Dick Grayson is being reported as Gotham's fiercest killer. In response, the assassin fires a rocket onto a populated street, and endangers a car full of people. Nightwing decides to save the people inside at the risk of losing his quarry.
After getting home, Dick barely has time to get out of his costume before a knock comes at the door from his old friend from the circus, Raya Vestri. She demands to be taken to Atlantic City that night. Unable to resist a beautiful girl in distress, Dick agrees.
Unexpectedly, Dick accompanies Raya on a private jet that he 'borrowed' from Bruce Wayne. He asks her what all the urgency is about, and she reveals that it was actually a ploy by Mr. Haly to have Dick come see him. She explains that it has to be tonight and in person because Mr. Haly is dying.
Upon arriving in Atlantic City, Dick heads to the Haly "family" warehouse, which is where the unused circus equipment is kept. Inside, he discovers a decrepit Mr. Haly, attached to an oxygen tank. He is dying of cancer, and he needs to give Dick something before it takes him completely. Dick is surprised to find that Mr. Haly has named him as the heir to Haly's Circus. He explains that he had always intended to give the circus to the Grayson family, but the death of Dick's parents set things awry. Reluctantly, Dick takes the deed and returns to the jet.
On the way home, Raya expresses some worry that the years have changed them both, but it becomes apparent that their attraction to each other is strong. They embrace, and make love there while the jet remains airborne.
Still on the jet, Dick wakes up beside Raya, and receives a call that has been routed up there. It is the voice of the assassin, who admits that on the advice of Nightwing, he feels compelled to give his prey a name to think about: Saiko. He reveals that he knows that Dick and Nightwing are one and the same, having extracted the information from Mr. Haly. He wants Dick to watch him kill the old man, unless Nightwing can stop him.
As Nightwing, Dick returns to the warehouse, only to face Saiko's explosive rockets. The old warehouse is fragile, and the explosions threaten its integrity. Kicking Saiko in the face, Dick makes a run for finding Mr. Haly. Unfortunately Haly has already been injured significantly, though he is conscious enough to apologize for letting Dick's identity slip.
Saiko catches up to him, and grabbing Nightwing by the neck, he expresses disbelief that he is really the fiercest killer in Gotham. Angrily, Nightwing uses his Batrope to pull the roof down on Saiko, and grabbing Mr. Haly up, he escapes the building as it goes up in flames.
On a hillside safely out of the fire's range, Haly admits that all this trouble is because there is an important secret about Haly's Circus that even Dick doesn't know. Cryptically, he states that there are "answers in the heart" before dying in Dick's arms.
Appearing in "Haly's Wish"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- C.C. Haly (Dies)
- Raya Vestri
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Paragon (Cameo)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- WayneCorp Jet
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in Nightwing: Traps and Trapezes and Batman Giant #2.
- The new assassin that debuted in the previous issue is formally introduced under the name of Saiko.