When Shane appeared alone near Gotham at dusk, Dick Grayson rode up to him on a motorcycle.
The moment they met, Dick started by poking fun at Shane's taste in clothes, but he did not linger on the subject for long. Strictly speaking, Shane had come on official business.
So Dick invited Shane onto his motorcycle instead.
Watching Dick pat the back seat of the bike at him, Shane rolled his eyes.
"You giving up on Blüdhaven? How come I see you in Gotham every single time?"
Blüdhaven had become Dick's main city of operations after he gave up the Robin identity and became Nightwing. It was said to have thrived on whaling in the last century before the market declined, forcing it to reinvent itself as a gambling city.
Relying purely on gambling, betting, and their related industries to drive the local economy, it was the sort of otherwise normal city that hid an especially large amount of filth beneath the surface.
"Ah, there's quite an explanation for that."
Dick withdrew his hand from the motorcycle.
"Last week, Aquaman and Black Adam fought Despero all the way across the country. Only one city got caught in the middle. Care to guess which one?"
Dick waved one hand horizontally through the air to mimic ocean waves, while his other hand made a flipping motion.
"Aquaman controlled tens of millions of tons of seawater to try to trap Despero. The waves crushed more than half of Blüdhaven's buildings. The city's being rebuilt now, and even the rats whose fur got soaked have been behaving themselves."
Shane narrowed his eyes at Dick, who had gone to such lengths to explain himself. Under Shane's skeptical gaze, Dick finally gave in.
He honestly confessed the real reason.
"Gotham's been pretty lively lately."
"Speak plainly."