So, I realized I forgot an important point that I added in the Owlman chapter that he refers to as a "trump card." To just tell you here would ruin this chapter a teensy bit sooo.
Jason had not expected the puddles of blood on the Cave's floor. He had seen Damian run from the Watch Tower like a bat out of hell (pun intended) and followed Red Robin out of curiosity. He said the first thing that came to mind when he materialized from the Zeta.
"The fuck happened in here?" Damian let a -tt- that Jason read as 'I am aware of the actions perpetrated here; but I won't tell you so investigate it yourself since you were trained by my father.' Jason rolled his eyes, which were still hidden behind his mask. The Cave was obviously compromised, so codenames it was till Bruce deemed it safe. "Red Robin, will you tell me anything and where's…shit." Damian let out another -tt- as it dawned on Jason. He may have deserved that one a tiny bit.
Dick was gone. That explains Damian's non-answer at least. Jason walked over to the bloodstains to investigate. Most of them looked like normal bloodstains, so it was the attackers, not Dick's. Jason felt a slight relief at that. Dick's blood seemed almost black because of all the electrum and other Talon Serum shit floating around in the plasma. There wasn't that much blood on the ground when he looked past the fact that there was blood in the BatCave. The fight hadn't lasted long, it seemed, or it had been more of a psychologically driven altercation. Jason frowned. Tim broke through Jason's contemplation.
"Well, Hood, Owlman knows where the Cave is, probably because he is an alternate Batman and his base is in the same location, invaded to steal information from the Bat Computer, and did so. He has also kidnapped Nightwing for an unknown reason." Jason rose from his crouch to join him at the console. Tim had pulled a map of Gotham up which had a blinking Owl symbol for Owlman's location. Jason snorted in amusement at that. "Nightwing was apparently able to place a tracker on the man that I labeled, but his own has been deactivated, most likely a directed EMP. Owlman stole a Corvette to travel down the highway towards Metropolis or Star City."
"Can I watch the security footage or was that destroyed in the security breach?"
"I was able to restore it up to when Owlman disables the cams and Robin is reviewing them again, so yes. I'll inform Batman of the situation as you do," as Tim finished, he walked from his brothers for a quieter spot near the cars. Jason strolled over to the youngest bat to watch over his shoulder.
He watched as Owlman snapped his brother's neck and recoiled mentally at the sound. Damian himself flinched slightly. The kid was obviously trying to ignore his own feelings on the matter like Bruce did. Damian restarted the video for Jason's benefit. They watched in silence till Jason noticed something.
"Hey, Robin. Nightwing's reaction to his last name…that's more than conditioning and association. Could Owlman be a meta with mental power ability," Jason asked as they watched the footage. Jason had seen his older brother react to his last name before. It always led to him running away and sequestering himself in his room and a nest or hiding in the rafters, shivering. He had never frozen like that before. Damian tilted his head slightly, a bit like Dick did, and Jason was glad his helmet hid his amused smile.
"It is possible, but he seemed proud of the fact that he is human, just like Batman is. It is more likely that it is a type of hypnosis. I have read of such a technique called Mental Domination in the League's library. It stated that the hypnosis only worked on weakened opponents, however, and it had a low success rate. You also have to have prolonged eye contact with the target.," Damian answered haughtily. Jason remembered that book. It had gone into disturbing detail about the potential uses of the ability. Jason's eyes widened.
Jason rewound the footage to when Dick had suddenly frozen as Owlman stared at him. Damian sucked in a quiet breath as he came to the same conclusion. "That could be the technique ensnaring Nightwing, as he was compromised as soon as he ascertained who his enemy truly was. His enemy is also from a differing earth, so they could have perfected the technique, especially if he is more intelligent than an average human! Hood, you are not as stupid as I assumed you were." Damian crowed as he dashed over to Tim to share their findings as Jason finished the video again.
"High praise, Robin," Jason teased. A -tt- was his answer. "I think we need to move out in the Batwing. Ask Bats for the all clear, Double R. He can meet us there." Jason heard a long-suffering sigh from Tim before his brother relayed their findings.
"Let's hunt down and hurt a bad birdy."