Dick's POV
I'm frozen stiff, my lungs feel heavy as the atmosphere of the room shifts, all I can do is stare at Damian as he kneels on the ground. I can't bring my mouth to say anything. I'm really struggling to process what just happened, but deep down I know, that's not Damian kneeling on the ground, it's that thing, and it's inside of him. This is exactly what it wanted, and I couldn't protect him from it. But I can't give up, we saved Nagata from this, I can find a way to save Damian, I have to. Come on, think! I need to switch off my emotions for a second, do what Bruce would do, and focus on the facts. The spirit has Damian, which is what it said it wanted, but now that it has him... what does it want next?
"So you say you speak for the Court of Owls? That you are the Court even. What does that mean? What do you want?" I ask, finally finding the strength to say something.
"I'm going to make up for my failures to the Court," says that deep disembodied voice, as Damian stays still on the ground. I start to creep closer, trying my best to control my shaking legs.
"So you're not the Court, you're some failed lackey of theirs-"
"The Court will welcome me with open arms, once I have repaid for my mistakes," it responds as I inch closer, sweat dripping down my forehead.
"Why do you need my brother for that?" I grind out of my teeth, really wish I could cut off my emotions like Bruce right now.
"The Waynes were responsible, and so they shall be the ones to pay the price."
"How?" I ask, as I'm almost close enough to grab him now.
There's a deep chuckle.
"The look on Bruce's face when his own son strangles the life out of him, that will be the best part-"
"I won't let you!" I yell, lunging at Damian's body, but as I'm mid air, he stands up, spinning before I can react. He uses the hilt of his sword to hit me on the back of the head. I drop to the floor beside him, clutching an escrima stick in one hand and the back of my head with the other.
"It will be like a wave of euphoria, I can almost feel it now!" he shouts as he swings the sword downwards towards me. Sparks fly off our weapons as I barely manage to rebound the blow with my escrima stick. Spotting an opening, I'm able to sweep his legs and stand up in one twisting motion. I immediately try to kick the sword out of his hand, but he sees the attack coming and slashes at my leg, landing a slice across my shin. I growl as I manage to limp away from another swing of his sword before he stands up.
"Thank you for providing me with not only the boy's body, but even a chance to practice using it. What a kind big brother you are," he taunts as he walks towards me.
"I haven't helped you with anything, and don't get cocky!" I scream as I try to whack his hand with my escrima stick, but he's able to step back and block the attack with his sword.
"Oh but you have, don't you see? This is all your fault. I've been watching you, every time you had a chance to protect him you failed. You knew how dangerous coming down here was, and yet you let him go. And then, you let me separate you!" he swings the sword towards my face. I duck out of the way and attempt to uppercut him, but he dodges to the side. He goes in for another slash and I block it, sparks fly once again as this time instead of allowing the sword to rebound, he pushes into the collision. Both our hands shake as our weapons struggle against each other. I know I'm stronger than him, I can feel it, it's not like with Nagata, Damian's body is clearly weaker. I think I'm going to be able to disarm him, but then a smile creeps across his face as I hear a cracking noise. That's when I realize, it's my escrima stick! It's not going to hold up against his sword for much longer, soon enough it will slice through towards-
"GAH!" I yell as my escrima stick splits in half, allowing the sword to fly through towards me. I immediately leap backwards, my face narrowly avoiding the blade as it cuts through a few threads of my hair. But he leaves an opening as his momentum swings the sword downwards, I rush back in and punch him directly on the nose. I hear the sword drop to the floor as he falls and slides backwards. I quickly pick it up and stand over him before he can get off the ground, raising the sword above me as I do.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You punched him," he chuckles as he places his hand over his now bleeding nose, "you punched your little brother in the face."
"Leave his body. NOW!" I growl as fiercely as I can.
"First you fail to protect him, and then you punch him in the face. That's cold, but I know you're not going to slice him in half," he says with a grin as I grind my teeth, my hands shaking with rage as they grip the sword above my head, "Go on, do it. I dare you."
"I said, LEAVE!" I yell, spit flying out of my mouth as my jaw trembles.
"You want me leave so you can try and take care of him again? Because you've done such a great job so far, how long do you think it would be until you can punch him in the face again? Although, I understand why you'd want to, he can be a complete nuisance," he says as he slowly reaches into Damian's utility belt, pulling out a batarang.
"Put that down," I warn as he lifts it to his face, "PUT IT DOWN!"
"Stop me then! You have his sword right there, go on. Harm the poor little boy you care for so much and put an end to this, or maybe I'll do it for you."
I don't know what to do, I can't breathe. It feels like my heart is beating faster and faster as he continues to bring the batarang closer to his face. My whole body is shaking now, I can't hurt Damian, but I don't know how to convince this thing to leave, and if I don't soon then-
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he chuckles again as he starts to slowly slice down the side of Damian's face. Blood immediately pouring out of the wound, "I can't feel a thing," he says, "I wonder how Damian feels right now- AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screams, wait, that's Damian's voice! His face contorts in pain, as tears stream from his eyes.
"DAMIAN?" I yell.
But the screaming stops suddenly as his face goes back to that grin, "Remember, Damian's not heeeeeere," he says in that low disembodied voice again.
"Yes he is," I reply.
"No, he's not. He's gone."
"But he's right there, I just heard him," I pause to grin myself, "you made a mistake showing me that. You thought it would scare me, right? Make me a part of your revenge. But all you've done is show me exactly how to get rid of you, and I can do it without even harming Damian."
"DAMIAN'S NOT HERE!" he yells as he lunges forward to stab me with the batarang, but I swiftly drop the sword and grab his wrist, holding him there.
"I told you not to get cocky," I warn as he tries desperately to free himself from my grip, "I wonder, can you do your little tricks now that you're inside of him? Or are you just stuck with the abilities of a ten year old boy?"
He growls as he tries to kick me in the stomach, but I take the kick, unmoving as I stare into his eyes, and that's when I see the panic. The same panic Damian must have felt when this thing invaded his body.
"Damian, I know you can hear me," I say, "you're safe now, trust me. You just have to come out."
"I told you. DAMIAN. IS. GONE!"
"He's in there fighting, isn't he? Is that why you're so weak? You may have been able to hold Nagata back, but fighting my little brother? That's a problem for you, because Damian's the strongest person I know. You better focus, because if anyone can beat you, it's him. All he has to do is command you to leave. Right now. Do it. Leave! LEEAAAAVE!" I yell directly into his face.
He starts to twitch, not even trying to escape my grip anymore. Before tilting his head up towards the ceiling as he screams in his low voice, but it starts to get higher and higher, until it finally breaks into Damian's. Screaming not of pain or fear, but of strength and determination as the lights of the cave flicker. He stops and drops his head as he starts to let out some deep breaths, before looking back to my face. I see his eyes starting to tear up again and instantly embrace him, my little brother, free of that evil thing.
"It's okay," I start to rub his back as he sobs into my chest, "you're safe now. But you've got one more thing to do, then this can all be over."
"I don't want to," he cries.
"I know it's hard, but I'm so proud of you, Damian. You can do this," I whisper into his ear, "if you can kick that thing out of your body, then this should be a piece of cake. All you have to do, is tell it one more time, to leave and never come back. Do you think you can do that?"
I feel his head nod against my chest. I place both my hands on his shoulders and gently turn him around, he looks up at me.
"Remember," I say, "you're not alone. We'll do this together. Are you ready?"
He rubs the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and squares his shoulder before we both take a deep breath, stomping our feet as we yell with all our might.
"LEAVE SPIRIT AND NEVER COME BAAAAAAAACK!"
There's a deep roar in return as we see a flicker of light in the cave, but as it slowly drifts further and further away the roar gets quieter and quieter, until it seems to leave the cave completely.
We stand there for a second, panting as a wave of relief washes over us. We did it...
"WE DID IT, DAMI!" I yell as I lift him into a hug, "Well done, you were so strong!" he clings to me as I start to swing us around.
"Grayson, slow down! Grayson!" he shouts. I do as he says and gently let him down, placing his feet back on the floor. I look him in the eye and can't help but give him a huge smile.
"Sorry, I'm just so glad it's all over," I say before taking a deep breath, "I love you, Dami."
I can see his lip start to quiver before he dives back into me for another hug, "I... I love you too, Grayson."
My jaw drops, did he just... that's the first time he's ever said that to me. I embrace him as tears stream down my face. I try to take the moment in, but very soon my adrenaline seems to run out, as I start to feel some intense pain in my shin and remember the wound that thing gave me.
I pull Damian's head away from my chest, "how about we go get Alfred to patch us up," I suggest as I inspect the cut on his face, "and we should really tell him all about what just happened."
Damian nods and tries to wipes some of the blood off his face, but I stop him and do it carefully myself. As I stand up and start to limp towards the stairs, he notices and helps me take some pressure off my leg. Usually it's against all our rules to go up to the manor in our costumes, let alone with injuries, but we can make an except this one time. We find Alfred together and explain what happened as he cleans and stitches up our wounds, before we get changed out of our costumes.
"It sounds to me like you were both very brave," he says, "and I'm glad that things worked out with only minor injuries. And mostly I'm very proud of you both for pulling off such a feat. But I must insist, that you never, ever, do something like that without informing me again. I could not live with myself if either of you had gotten seriously hurt when I could have helped, if you had only told me what was happening. Is that clear?"
"Crystal," I reply, "won't happen again, Alfred."
"Sorry, Pennyworth," Damian adds.
"Apology accepted. Now I'm sure you're both exhausted," he say as Damian yawns, "so I'd suggest some rest."
"I think that's a good idea, come on, Dami. Thanks for everything, Alfred."
As we get to my room, it becomes clear that Damian wants to take up my earlier offer of sleeping in my bed, as he walks straight in and immediately collapses onto it. I laugh and pick him up so I can move the covers and place him onto it properly. As I climb in myself, he shifts closer to me. I place my arm over him and pull him into my chest, before letting out a deep sigh as I take in the comfort of my nice fluffy bed.
"I bet you're glad I came to babysit you now, huh Dami?" I whisper.
But there's no reply, as I see Damian is already fast asleep. That looks like a good idea, so I close my eyes.
"Next time I promise nothing like this will happen, we'll just build a pillow fort or something, that would be nice..."
Damian's POV
I open my eyes a crack as I feel the bed move, I see Grayson approaching Pennyworth in the doorway.
"Sorry to bother you, Master Dick," Pennyworth says, "but I assumed you would want to explain the situation to Mr Nagata yourself."
"No, you're right. With everything that happened, I completely forgot that I told him to come back. I'll just try to make it back before Damian wakes up," Grayson replies as they both leave.
I look out the window to see a clear sky, before sitting up and stretching. I feel the stitches on my face and decide to check them in the mirror. As I look at my face, something doesn't feel quite right. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel uneasy for some reason. I think about what mother said, about having a piece of what's beyond death inside of me. I wonder about grandfather, she said he keeps the spirits and uses them, well that spirit was inside of me, is a piece of it still in there? So I decide to test, by seeing if I can laugh, just like it did.
"Haha- ahem, Ahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
I stop breathing for a second... that was it, that was the laugh. How did I... did I control that or... am I possessed still? No, this is different. I shake my head. I'm in control right? Of course I am. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, before looking back into the mirror.
"Spirits do not control me, I command them," I say to myself, "there is merely a piece of this one left, and it is mine do with as I please. I am Damian Wayne, Son of Batman, and-"
"Damiiaaaan? Was that you? Are you awake?" I hear Grayson yell from the hallway.
"I am Damian Wayne, and I am not alone, perhaps now I'll never be alone. But most importantly, I will always be protected."
And that my friends is the end. Thank you all soooo much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following, and just everything. I'm so glad and grateful that this story got such a good reaction, I hope you enjoyed the ending and the whole wild ride. Damian can really own the name demon brat now XD. I'm just glad I got it done in time for Halloween as intended. So with this, I wish you all a Happy Halloween, and see you with the next story, whatever that may be ;D
