CH. 2: HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT
The Titans, like the Justice League, enjoyed some 'extra judicial' privileges so they could perform their missions. However, there were some conditions. They had to 'register' with the local law enforcement to keep the authorities apprised of their base of operations and roster. This registration wasn't so much to catalogue their identity or monitor their movement. In fact, it ensured that any 'stray' DNA or other evidence that might identify them was automatically slated for immediate destruction. It also prevented the locals from being surprised when a 'new guy' started operating in their jurisdiction.
Usually, the whole process was just a simple video chat with the local commissioner, chief of police or the mayor to inform them of the new member. This time, it was the mayor and police chief who were informed; the commissioner was still on sick leave. Surprisingly, the two of them were a little apprehensive about the 'new' Robin. They had heard he was headstrong and a bit of a hazard to public property.
But, Starfire was able to reassure them that he wouldn't be going anywhere without supervision. That seemed to go without saying since most of the Titans were on the younger side, with the exception of herself and Nightwing, whenever he was around. She was also able to alleviate their concerns regarding some of the 'rumors' of his training. "Anyone who has the recommendation of Batman would hardly qualify as a threat to civilians," she explained to them.
"She has a point, Mr. Mayor," Commissioner Carla Royce agreed. "I can't recall a single time when Commissioner Gordon, in Gotham, doubted the sincerity or judgment of the Batman."
"Very well," MayorAryn Kilgore replied. "Have our crime lab enter Robin's DNA data into the system and have it marked for immediate destruction. Then, let's make sure the state authorities get the same info."
"Governor Hawkins is leaning anti-vigilante in his policies," the chief responded.
"Regardless, he's bound by both federal and state law. That's how things are supposed to work in a republic; rule of law."
"Very well, Mr. Mayor," the chief then addressed Starfire. "Take care of your new charge, Ms. Starfire. And…good luck." And with that, the call quickly ended and Kori got to work getting Robin's biometric data uploaded into the Tower's data banks.
Meanwhile, after a brief meditation period on the roof, to internalize the information and emotions she got from the new arrival, Raven headed back down to the hologram room. Kori had dismissed them for a short break before they'd resume their training. The three of them were going to run scenarios while the leader took care of some administrative work regarding Robin.
But, when she arrived, the new kid was already hard at a personal training regimen, battling wave after wave of holographic ninjas. For a few minutes, she watched as he dodged, parried and counter-attacked each enemy. She was impressed by his swordsmanship and stamina. She also found it curious that his style of fighting seemed familiar; but she couldn't remember where she saw it. So, she resigned herself to leaning against the entrance to wait things out.
A few minutes later, Kori came down to check on their progress only to find the three of them standing outside the ring watching Damian 'hog' the simulator. Damian sliced one hologram in half before pivoting and cutting a recovering opponent, length wise, down the middle. The simulator reset with five more enemies, arrayed in a circle around him. 'He has it set to random?' Raven noted with mild curiosity. The previous scenario had given him eight opponents arrayed directly in front of him. 'Brave.'
"He hasn't stopped for an hour-and-a-half," Jaime commented off-handedly, almost not believing it himself. 'Talk about commitment.' Two ninjas had already been killed.
"Damian," Kori spoke up as Robin blocked more sword strikes. The computer spawned another opponent as a 'surprise' combatant. "It's time to let others have their turn."
"I'm not," he grunted as he flipped over the 'surprise' ninja before inverting his sword and stabbing behind him, striking the enemy in the kidneys, "finished!" He then swung the blade around and cut through the mid-section of another ninja. He turned to face the remaining two when they suddenly dissolved right in front of him.
Looking to the control console he already knew why. Someone, in this case, the Blue Beetle, had turned off the simulator. "Gee," the Hispanic Titan shrugged sarcastically. "How'd that happen?" Damian wasn't a fan of pranks. Or of people who interrupted his training. And others would do well not to do either. It invites…retaliation. "Ah!" Jaime shouted as Scarab shot down the shuriken Damian snap threw at him. Garfield and Kira were shocked as well. Not Raven. She saw that Robin held back and threw an inert shuriken. He wasn't about to actually hurt Jaime. "What the hell!?" But, that didn't mean the Blue Beetle liked it.
"I heard your tech was fast," Damian smirked. "I wanted to see how fast."
'And now he knows,' Raven said to herself. 'He's sizing us up. Getting a baseline for our abilities.' She knew he had to be careful, though. Jaime could still be easily provoked as well.
"Don't mess with us, little man," the provoked teen marched forward. Case in point. Seeing a potential challenge, Damian raised his sword as Kori flew forward to forestall any confrontation.
"Alright," she said gently pushing the two away. "I can see we're all getting off on the," she paused for a second before turning to Damian, "wrong foot." Jaime took a step back and took a breath to calm down. Damian simply glared at her. "Damian," she said folding her arms behind her back, "this is a team effort. We have to be willing to accommodate others."
"Nightwing said you were a princess," he said in an almost mocking tone before sheathing his ninjato. "Exiled, no doubt."
"Technically, it was a coup," she clarified in an annoyed tone. "And like it or not I am the leader of this group."
"As I see it, you're an alien with nowhere else to go." 'Just like everyone else here.' As far as he could tell, this was where the Justice League sent the ones who didn't 'fit in' with their grandstanding 'team'. Damian didn't like the idea of being an outcast. Raven recognized his train of thought and tried to intervene.
"Everyone needs a home, Damian," the quietest member of the group said stepping forward. Her arms were still crossed. "You included."
She had recognized the source of his agitation with the comments he was making. Specifically, in his choice of words: 'exile', 'nowhere else to go', etc. He thought they were all banished here, just like he was. Damian knew this, too. But he didn't like being called out on it. "Thank you for chiming in, witch girl," he retorted. Kori stepped forward to cut off anymore confrontation between the teens.
"We are only here to help you realize your potential," she said, trying to sound encouraging. He wasn't feeling encouraged. More like scolded for no reason.
"You've been here long enough," he shot back, lowering his arms as he prepared to walk away, "when do you think you'll realize yours?" He tried to march away, not wanting to stick around and get into an argument.
He may be being hostile, but that didn't mean he wanted to start a fight. Raven sensed his reluctance to do so. Unfortunately, she was the only one who could. Jaime, always the over-protective brother-type, made the innocent mistake of placing his hand on Damian to stop him. "Dude!" He snapped at him. "You need to show some respect!" Now, had he simply said that, Damian probably would've just ignored him. But, placing his hand on him…that pushed him over.
Damian used a hapkido technique taught to him by Nightwing. He placed his left hand on Jaime's wrist for control. Then he twisted his body in the direction Jaime was pushing, using the older boy's energy against him. This allowed Damian to apply leverage to the teen's upper arm, exposing him for the knee strike that stunned him. Damian followed up with a sidekick that sent Blue Beetle to the edge of the ring.
"Oh, no," Raven muttered as she realized that, despite neither of them wanting to start a fight, that's exactly what happened.
Jaime rose back to his feet, going into battle mode with his armatures morphing into arm-blades. Damian drew his sword and engaged before Kori could stop him. Damian used a classic strategy of feeling out his opponent with probing attacks, gauging reaction time and reflex patterns. After a couple blocked strikes the blades became entangled. "Who's fighting me?" Damian asked as Jaime struggled against him. "You or the bug?"
"You better hope it's…me," he grunted. 'He's stronger than he looks!' He realized as he pushed Damian away. The two then resumed trading blows. Even though he was holding back he was still surprised by Robin's skill, speed and agility.
Beetle went for a double downward swipe but Robin easily blocked it. The Scarab got in on the fight and lashed out with two of its legs, forcing Robin to backflip away. Almost on reflex he then threw a pair of concussion shuriken at Beetle which detonated and sent him flying into the wall. Thinking he had a full assessment of Jaime and the 'bug', and feeling a little over confident, Damian marched up to his stunned opponent. "That's the difference between you and me," he said, gloating. "You wear a weapon…I am a weapon." Before Raven could muse on his choice of words the Scarab reacted.
Jaime's eyes glowed red and he snapped in Robin's direction as an energy blast burst from his chest piece. Damian caught the blast almost dead on at near point-blank-range and was thrown back to the center of the ring, his head smoldering like a piece of charcoal. Beetle was hot on his heels, arm cannon charging, ready to finish the enemy target when he was cut off by one of Starfire's energy bolts.
"Enough!" She shouted at him. This brought Jaime back to his senses and he was able to get Scarab under control. He deactivated his battle mode as she raced to Damian's side. He wasn't moving.
"I tried to stop it," Jaime said as Kori rolled Damian over. "Dios mio…" Robin looked worse than he thought he would've. "Is he dead?" The left side of his face looked like one solid blister. Total third degree burn throughout the affected area. He didn't even want to think about the damage that was beneath his skin. The heat from the blast could've easily fried internal organs including the brain. That would almost certainly be fatal. It was why heat stroke could be a serious injury, the brain literally starts to cook. And Robin had just had his head exposed to a plasma-based blast furnace.
"He's still alive," Kori said softly. "Barely." 'And not for long…'
"This is gonna be an awkward call to Batman," Garfield commented almost getting a retaliatory retort from Jaime. He was feeling ashamed at not being able to control his 'partner' and keep it from lashing out. Scarab just didn't like being called a 'weapon'.
"Everyone get back," Raven said as she stepped forward. He may not have been the most-polite of guests, but that didn't mean Damian deserved to die or suffer for his youthful rebelliousness. Kori gently lay Robin's head back as the 'witch girl' knelt behind him. He was groaning and barely breathing. "By the powers of Azarath," Raven began her spell, gently placing her hands just a hair on either side of his face, "I beseech you…Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
And with that, her spell began to wash over Damian's wounds, both external and internal. As it did so, her emphatic powers began to mingle with his brain waves. His emotional state was more agitated than she had thought and so some of his thoughts and memories began to flow into her. She hadn't anticipated this and was unable to block them all.
She saw him, a few years younger, standing in a mountain fortress with an older man. Both were wearing nearly identical black armor. 'Grandfather…' The title stood out along as she recognized the face from the database. 'Ra's al-Ghul!' At the memory, she detected conflicting emotions: anger, reverence, longing, love and blinding hatred. As if the man had some kind of emotional hold over Damian, keeping him from being able to move past the memory of the deceased warrior.
She saw the fortress on fire. Then she saw him, in ninja garb, battling Nightwing in some downtown area. The burns on his face began to recede, but not the flow of memories. Next, she saw him on a rooftop, now dressed as Robin, sensing a feeling of purpose as he followed Batman along the roofs. She also felt a bond between him and the Dark Knight that went beyond mere 'partnership'. Next, she saw an 'older Damian', she knew it was him. But, he was an adult. And he was holding a pair of forty-five caliber pistols. Was this how he saw himself? No. She sensed an overwhelming sensation of fear at the image. He was afraid of the 'older Damian'. Why?
Finally, overwhelmed by the flood of emotions coming from the boy, and sensing that her spell had accomplished its task, Raven's eyes flared and her energy drained. Kori caught her as she fell to her side. "We need to get her back to her room," the older woman said. She'd need rest, but first she needed to make sure she didn't suffer any lingering psychic damage. "Garfield?" The Beast Boy shifted into a gorilla and gently picked her up just as Robin was regaining consciousness.
He was disoriented, and confused. Last thing he remembered was a bright light and searing hot pain. Then, he had felt someone in his mind. And he also felt that person's mind. He didn't recall much else besides a dark figure with glowing eyes. "Wha…what happened?" He asked as he rolled over and looked up at the group as a big green gorilla carried an unconscious Raven away.
"Raven healed you," Starfire said matter-of-factly. "We have to tend to her." She then followed Garfield, as did Beetle. Beetle paused and shot him a defeated look.
"Sorry," he said evenly before continuing after the others. They just left Damian on the floor.
As the doors closed behind them, Bruce Wayne's son sat up and ran a hand over his face. His skin was unmarked but it still felt weird. Like he had been injected with Novocain and it was now wearing off. But, having half his face melted off and then 'grown back' seconds later wasn't the part that had him freaked. It was what he 'saw' while he was briefly comatose. Whatever that man, thing, creature, whatever it was, he could recall only one thing. A feeling of utter dread.
That being was evil. And Raven was scared of it.
