It only occurs to Damian of how stupid of an idea it is to confront Ra's head on after he sees his grandfather on the hospital's rooftop. His old man directs all the shadows strictly, unaware of Damian's hiding place behind the stairwell that led up to the roof. Damian was currently peering over the edge of the wall he was pressed against in the cautious watch of the man who would prove to be his doom should he get what he wants.
The situation doesn't hit Damian until he's actually there. That's why he decides that he should just turn back and make an actual plan. Damian didn't have any doubts in his skills in improv, but it was still an incredibly foolish idea to go at this alone. That's why Damian starts to carefully sneak his way back downstairs until something catches his eye. Something important enough to him that it makes him freeze in his retreat.
"Yes, that is the one," he hears his grandfather say.
A shadow approaches him with a creature in hand. He holds the creature by the scruff of its neck, and Damian can no longer bring himself to leave.
Sunset.
He finds something swell up in his chest. 'She's alive!' he thinks joyously to himself, glad that his neglectful behavior had not brought about her death. Judging from her appearance, she was a bit older too! It's amazing how much an animal could grow through the short time they were away. Nevertheless, Damian finds his happiness to be short-lived as he considers why his grandfather might have Sunset in his possession, to begin with. Knowing his grandfather, he would have straight up killed anything he considered to be a pest. Why was she here? What purpose did Ra's have for her?
Damian didn't want to find out. He just wanted to scoop Sunset up in his arms and hide her away from his grandfather.
He would not let go of her. Never again.
The only thing that keeps him from leaving is Sunset, but then his reasons for staying multiplies.
He hears a snort.
It's the kind of noise that comes from an animal, and Damian slowly turns to face whatever creature was within his vicinity. His eyes slowly drift upward to where a beast of a creature, a youngling of its kind, flies pathetically with a tiny pair of bat wings. Its red fur reminded Damian of the guardians that Ra's had placed within his service to protect a few family relics.
Damian feels dread flow through his veins. Yes. They worked under Ra's.
"Don't," Damian tries, too slowly.
The bat creature screeches. The call it makes effectively alerts everyone to Damian's presence.
The shadows all swerve to check on the noise. The only reason Damian is not immediately caught is because he is still somewhat hidden by one of the walls surrounding the stairwell that led downward.
"Foolish beast!" Damian whispers harshly at the bat demon. He leaps at the youngling and catches it out of the air. He tugs it close to his chest with his hand firmly held over the red animal's mouth so that it would not try such a thing again. The bat demon doesn't struggle, too weak to fight against Damian's arm strength, and it looks up at Damian curiously. Damian sees the creature's innocent eyes and thought that those eyes were the reason he hadn't immediately thought to kill the living enemy siren. If he killed it, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Yet, instead, he brings it close to his chest not unlike the way he used to hold Sunset. Carefully.
"What are you standing around for! Check for the source!" His grandfather's loud voice demands. It leaves no question for the shadows that served underneath him. They heed their master's command and set out to do his word obediently.
Damian inwardly panics thinking that this is how he will be found. All of the shadows, steadily creeping toward him, will find him and reveal his location to his grandfather. Then he will be forced to face all of them, single-handedly, while dealing with his grandfather. The odds didn't look to be in his favor. He was a single person against more than enough shadows to give him a rough time. Add his grandfather on top of it all, and Damian knew he was thoroughly outmatched. How could he come here ? What was he thinking when he came here? This clearly wasn't worth the trouble!
The shadows cannot speak but Damian can feel it when they send out a warning signal out to all the others. Fearing that he may just have been caught, Damian looks around for any potential shadows in his view. He is confused when he sees none, but then he gains an understanding of what had happened when a voice appears, saying, "Alright, you caught me."
Cheshire walks out from the side of the stairwell, hands raised up in the air in mock surrender, and all of the shadows still at her arrival. They all look toward Ra's for their next set of instructions. Ra's, on the other hand, looks at Cheshire inquisitively.
Cheshire was giving Damian the perfect opportunity to leave.
But Sunset…
"Cheshire," Ra's greets unhappily. "Have you come to die?"
"Not really in my plan," Cheshire tells him.
"Then what is it you hope to gain?"
"Oh a little bit of this, a little bit of that," Cheshire reflects easily.
Ra's has no patience for the former assassin's games. He simply turns, his back now facing her in clear disregard. "You think me a fool? You are hiding something from me. I will find it." Ra's raises a hand into the air and makes a short snap. "Guardians! Search the roof!"
The shadows make no move because Ra's did not call upon them. He called upon the red-furred guardians that rise up from the perimeter of the hospital to scan the rooftops. Damian knew he would not be able to escape their aerial gaze, so he can't bother to hide anymore. Not when one of the heavy, large, creatures sees him and swoops down to attack him. It yowls and Damian quickly summons his shadow sword on the borrowed energy he uses from Cheshire. He didn't know how long he'd have, but he'd make the most of his time-limit for the energy he had swirling around in his body. It was a foreign entity that his body was now relying on ever since his pact had been snapped. Damian thinks that he'd fall back into a vegetable like state should the energy wear off by itself.
Ah, but was it not Cheshire who told him he had about an hour or two?
Hm. He can work with that.
Damian keeps the tiny bat demon under one arm as he the older version sweeps down with a giant claw. Damian ducks underneath the poor attack and runs underneath the beast's belly for the few seconds that it hovers over where he once was. He grabs hold of his shadow sword, pitying the poor beast for being under the rule of his grandfather, and then runs the sword along the underbelly of the guardian with no mercy. The guardian would have kept trying to attack him if he did not injure it, mortally or not. Damian could not have that. Its mobility in the air would have made it very hard for him to escape.
But since he was now revealed to all, Damian's eyes dart to Sunset.
Her eyes connect with his and she mewls.
Yeah. He definitely couldn't leave anymore.
The shadow that holds Sunset is no longer looking for Damian. No. Instead, it pawns off Sunset to Ra's Al Ghul and his grandfather smirks smugly.
So that's what it was. He wanted to use her as a hostage.
But how did he even find out that Sunset was his kitten?
"Damian," he laughs, coldly. "I knew you would come to me."
' Then why send shadows to attack the manor?' Damian thinks bitterly.
"You should have run while you had the chance, Damian!" Cheshire says.
"Your attachment to the pathetic life forms of this planet has always been your weakness. I am eager to exploit it."
"You resort to underhanded tricks," Damian growls out.
Ra's eyes the bat demon that Damian holds under his arm. "I will do what I must."
Damian looks down at the bat demon that catches Ra's attention and realizes he must put it down sooner or later. He had no doubt he would have to go through some complicated maneuvers to catch his grandfather off guard. He'd have to use all he knew to disarm him of his little, orange, companion.
Damian crouches to plop the bat demon on the ground.
The bat demon only looks back up at him in questioning.
"Might I depend on you to watch my back?" Damian directs his question to Cheshire.
She sighs but nods, regardless of how she felt. "I can handle that. My powers will only distract them though. Won't do much."
"I know," he says.
"This is your final chance, Damian. Come to me willingly. We can put an end to this old charade and begin on the path to a bright future," Ra's rudely interjects.
Damian grits his teeth in silent rejection. Once Ra's realizes that he will not get an answer out of his grandson, he holds Sunset up in the air with a hand around her tiny neck. Damian finds a shiver run down his spine at the sight.
"A bright future!?" Damian barks in a mocking laugh. "Is that what you call it?"
He stalls.
It hadn't escaped Damian's sight when he sees a shadow rise from the ground, right behind his grandfather.
It smiles at him from over his grandfather's shoulder.
It was the strange shadow that had bothered him in his room, helped give him the key to escape his cell, and had the weirdest facial expression he'd ever seen on a shadow. He didn't know what it was and he didn't know what it would do. He had the smallest of feelings that it might do something to his grandfather. He was willing to wait to see what it would do because Damian currently couldn't do anything without provoking his grandfather into killing his kitten friend.
"You would be known for your service. You would become a legend. Your story heard throughout all ages!" Ra's tries to tempt him.
Damian narrows his eyes. "I think not."
Ra's own eyes darken and Damian knows that he readies himself to end the kitten's life. Damian can't help himself. He stretches out a hand, yelling, "Don't!"
The shadow that had been lingering behind his grandfather wraps two, wispy, arms around his figure.
Ra's eyes widen in shock. He is forced to drop Sunset to flip the shadow over him so that he is no longer within the dark servant's grip. Damian hears him ask, "Sensei?"
Sensei? Who was that?
Cheshire yells, "Do not dally!"
Her words spring Damian into action. He charges, his legs pumping as he reaches out for Sunset. The kitten that had been dropped is sprawled on the ground, not knowing what to do for it was not an intelligent animal. Damian's hand barely touches the edge of her fur, but Ra's kicks his wrist away in prevention.
"I did not raise a fool!" Ra's claims.
He prepares for a fight.
Damian glowers. If it is a fight his grandfather wants, it is a fight he will get.
The shadows around him bristle about lively. Cheshire steps in to assist him, sending waves of energy to prevent the shadows from defending their master. Damian himself uses the shadow sword he holds within one hand to cut through the air at his grandfather's person.
"You did not raise me! My mother did!"
His grandfather steps to the side.
"You would not exist if I were not here!" His grandfather claims, pulling out the sword that had been hanging at his side. Damian was not surprised. His grandfather never went anywhere without his sword.
Damian's sword clashes against his grandfather's in an instant. His grandfather's strength causes Damian to jump back, fearing that he would be overwhelmed quickly, but Damian can't afford to stop there. He wouldn't allow his grandfather to go on the attack, otherwise, Damian would have much trouble staying on the defensive. That is why Damian jumps back on his grandfather eagerly, swinging at his midriff, only to have each of his swings deflected easily.
Damian tries not to think how his grandfather's deflections seem to be of no concern on Ra's part.
His grandfather turns the tides in one move. He spins his sword around, twisting his body alongside his weapon, and sends Damian spiraling back after a flimsy attempt at blocking the move.
"You could not hope to compare to me," his grandfather says, "I would have you down on your knees in an instant. Can you not see how my strength is greater than yours?"
Damian regains his balance and holds up his sword once more.
"Words that mean nothing to me," Damian snarls.
He charges forward, swinging lowly. Ra's counters it, quickly adjusting himself to block off Damian's high-kick aiming for Ra's' neck.
"You battle a master!" Ra's tells him, slashing down his weapon heavily upon his grandson. Damian avoids it only by rolling to the side. "How do you hope to even out such odds!?"
A shattering howl interrupts Ra's' prideful words.
All the shadows that Cheshire had been keeping off of Damian begin to wobble, similar to the day that Damian had escaped through the portal. Had his brother not also, at that time, used such a howl?
A gunshot sounds through the air right after the unexpected howl. Ra's ducks as the bullet barely misses the top of his head.
Damian doesn't try to think much about how his brothers had apparently come to his aid. His eyes search desperately for Sunset who was no longer in the spot she had originally been sitting in. He eyes roam the rooftop until they narrow onto the tiny bat demon, who now held Sunset within his hold.
It looks at him in determination.
Did it think it could protect Sunset?
The idea was ridiculous.
"I do not have time to deal with the fools who come to your aid," Ra's flicks a hand in the air. It was not a snap so Damian thought he could safely assume that his grandfather was not trying to summon one of the guardians again, even if many of them were still available. (Damian, after all, had only incapacitated one )
" My baby… where is my baby…"
Damian almost groans.
Lady Shiva. Of course. The very woman his father and mother struggled against just had to be here.
"Cassandra!" A voice calls out, Tim's.
"On it," her stoic voice replies.
Damian hadn't even been aware of Cassandra's arrival until Tim had pointed it out. Had the whole family come for him?
Damian does not dare to glance over his shoulder to see all those who were there behind him. Ra's would take any lack of attention as an opportunity to attack.
"Looks like the Damian protection brigade has arrived!" Cheshire teases.
How Cheshire can keep up such good humor even in such a heavy time was unknown to all those who were on the rooftop with her.
Damian is vaguely aware of how Lady Shiva climbs up on to the rooftop from the edge of the building. He also sees Cassandra's form dart out to attack the martial artist in which Lady Shiva counters easily. The woman only falters when she sees Cassandra's face, stuttering, "My… my baby? "
Cass responds, apathetically, "It is time for you to sleep, mother."
The two exchange blows. Cass is unforgiving though her mother is reluctant to return her daughter's passion in their battle.
Damian's eyes quickly dart back to his grandfather.
"No one said you had to do this alone."
Damian doesn't need to look to his side to know who speaks to him.
"I was not thinking straight," Damian replies honestly.
A grunt. That is his father's way of speaking, much like Damian's own.
"Ah, Bruce," Ra's acknowledges. "The only one worth mentioning among all those here. It pleases me to see you again. It seems you've brought along a few interesting people as well."
Ra's looks over at Tim and Jason.
"They're off limits. All of my sons are."
"We shall see," Ra's regards, indifferent to Bruce's statement. "How long do you think they can keep up with my shadows?"
Bruce glances over his shoulder to where he sees Tim chanting out a long spell. Tim's brothers protect them as they ward off what shadows they can. It is mostly Cheshire doing all the work while Grayson lets out ear-crushing barks.
"Long enough," Bruce claims.
The three stand still. The world around them seems to pause as they all wait for one to make the first move.
None of them move, for the longest moment in Damian's life.
Then the opposite happens. Then they all move at the same time. Son and father against grandfather.
Their battle begins.
