Dark Mirror
John's mind is in a haze, he's become her plaything again. Samantha Vanaver, the woman he loathed and hated.
"Call my name, John, you want this as much as I do," her voice sounds just like…hers…but it's the drugs messing with his head, it's always the drugs messing with his head.
"I love you," the voice lies to him again. She never loved him, she never did.
John bolted awake and stared at his son as Dick looked over at him.
"We're almost to Markovia. You were gonna stop and refuel," Dick nodded at the instrument panel.
Slade set down the ship and Slade disembarked. "Stay with the ship, Dick."
Slade saw a crowd gathered around a girl. One of them pointed a gun at her head.
"Do it! Do it now!" people in the crowd shouted.
"Kill her! Kill the witch! She's a demon, kill her now!"
The man couldn't react to stop Slade from moving behind him and decapitating him. He was just too fast, and he'd made no indication of wanting to help her.
Slade pointed his sword at the angry crowd. "Leave or die, your choice!"
The crowd turned and fled. Slade knelt before the frightened teenager.
"Your name is Tara Markov; I heard you're a special girl. Is that true?" Slade asked.
He freed her from the ropes the angry townspeople had tied her up with.
"Come with us, child, we should leave," Slade told her.
Tara got up and followed him. Robin was waiting in the plane.
"Robin, get her some blankets and some food and water," Slade instructed.
Robin did as he was told. He brought Tara food, water and a blanket. She thanked him and ate the food hungrily. He left the room and joined his father.
"Why did you save her life? Is she my replacement?" Dick asked.
"She could be if she wants, but if you want to deal with all her issues she can go with you."
Slade fired up the engines, "Let's get out of here. We're going to Gotham City."
They landed in a private hanger in Gotham City. The three changed into civilian clothing and made their way into the city.
Slade booked two rooms at the Ambassador Hotel in Gotham City and Dick sighed.
"I didn't know you knew Gregorian Fallstaff," Dick said as his father walked beside him.
"You meet all sorts in my line of work. He's as corrupt as they come, Dick."
"Who isn't corrupt in Gotham City?" Dick asked, although he knew the answer.
"A few, it's impressive in its own way, but I'm merely here as a customer, our business is elsewhere—"
John stopped, hearing a voice on TV, it terrified him, and he felt as if his feet were welded to the floor.
"We are interviewing wealthy socialite Samantha Vanaver. You're donating more money to Titans Tower and the search for Robin the Teen Wonder, correct?" the reporter asked.
Robin stared in surprise as his father froze in place. He began visibly shaking.
"Make her stop! Make her stop!" he all but shouted. Robin noticed he seemed disoriented like he didn't know where he was. John was desperately trying to go somewhere.
He heard Slade's heavy breathing and recognized the signs of a panic attack, the man clutched at his chest. Robin immediately led him to his hotel room, using the hotel key to open the door.
Robin had seen this before, in Gotham City. He'd had to comfort rape victims before, but it was usually women or teenage girls. Female on male rape did happen, but he hadn't encountered a victim. It was hard for women to deal with it, and while men did process it differently, the reactions were similar for either gender.
"Dickie, don't go. Don't leave me here alone," John said, sounding utterly miserable.
"It's okay, dad. It's okay, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere," Dick Grayson pulled his father into a comforting embrace.
He didn't need moral lectures or a speech. What he needed was his family.
"She raped you didn't she?" Dick asked gently. "Her voice on the television triggered you."
"How did you know?" John asked.
"Unfortunately, I've had to comfort rape victims in Gotham City. I recognize rape trauma syndrome. When did this happen?" Dick waited for him to answer.
"A year after you were born," John replied.
"Why'd she do it?" Robin continued his questions.
"I met her a long time ago, we dated for a little while, but I broke it off with her. She felt entitled to have me, and she knew I would never cheat on your mother. She drugged me and had me taken to the Powers hotel," John glanced at him.
"Did you tell mom?" Dick looked at him.
"Yes, we went to the police, but the case got lost, conveniently for Samantha Vanaver," John replied bitterly.
"Gotham's cops are dirtier than a brothel's outhouse," Dick scowled. "Samantha Vanaver probably paid them off."
"That's funny coming from you," John smiled.
"I've had to put plenty of them in Blackgate Prison," Dick said.
"I tried to tell some of our friends, but they just laughed it off and told me not to feel bad because it wasn't cheating, nobody took me seriously, so I just buried it. I didn't want to worry you or your mother," John sighed.
Dick looked at him, "That doesn't explain how strong you are, or why you're back from the dead or how you can fight."
"Come on, let's go, we need to get to Haly's Circus," John told him, rubbing his eyes and getting to his feet.
"Right now?" Dick asked, surprised.
"Yes, right now, it's late enough, it's closed and no one will see us. There's something I need to show you."
They made their way to Haly's Circus, the current stop was Atlanta, Georgia, Dick followed his father until they reached the big top, no one was awake.
He removed a plank from the center of the arena and pulled out a book. They left and returned to their hotel room.
Dick shut the door and locked it. "What is that book?"
"It's a book of names, the names of every Talon the Court of Owls has ever produced," John tossed him the book.
Dick looked through the book, he didn't recognize any of the names, until he got to the last page, there was his name, Richard Grayson, written there.
"Why is my name here?" Dick asked.
"Because they chose you, a long time ago, it was during our annual Gotham show, you probably remember it, we gave a special performance for Gotham's wealthiest families," John replied.
"Yes, I remember that show, I remember a woman told me she was looking forward to my career with interest, that I'd do great things for Gotham City," Dick recalled.
"That woman was Samatha Vanaver," John informed him.
"What? But I only met her a few weeks ago," Dick was surprised.
"She's been watching you all your life, it's what she told me," John sighed.
"Why didn't she just recruit me into the Court of Owls?" Dick glanced at the book.
"Because she decided that you don't have a choice," John looked at him, "Just like me."
"But she could have tricked me, won me over saying that I could be a hero, you know how much I admired Batman when I was little," Dick sighed.
"Yes, she could have done that, and you might have believed her too, I suppose she thinks this is easier," John began eating an apple.
"What does this have to do with our family?"
"Your Great-Grandfather is a Talon and he wants to continue the family tradition. William Cobb rose up from nothing and became famous in Gotham City, but when they took his lover Amelia Crowne away from him and married her off to her cousin he took up an offer Nathaniel Haly gave him and became one of their best Talons."
"I see, they chose me because I'm the best," Dick stared at him. "I don't care what they want for me or have planned, but why didn't you just tell me the truth?"
"Like you're going to listen to me the way I am now?" John laughed.
"I'm listening, aren't I?" Dick looked at him. "I don't approve of what you've turned into or what you do as your new "job."
"I know, I know, but everything I've done is for you."
John knelt down and looked at him, Dick felt like he was eight-years-old again.
"Family's the most important thing. Everything I am and everything I've done was all for you. To protect you, so you wouldn't become a monster. A monster like me."
"This doesn't change anything, I'm going to bring you in," Dick looked at him.
"Not now, not yet son, don't forget, I still have my probes," Slade looked at him darkly.
"I know, but I will stop you because I'm the only one who can," Dick said. 'What we had when I was a kid is not what we have now."
"Of course not, be patient, you'll get your chance to play the hero when I say so," Slade gave him a smile, a wicked smile that made Robin remember just who "Slade" was. The diabolical, cryptic mastermind that always had an agenda.
Dick's mind raced, what was his agenda now? Revealing the existence of the Court of Owls was part of his plan. Was he goading him to fight them so he could be rid of competition?
Robin stared, his father had said this was about "Deathstroke" protecting him from the Court, but there was something else, and it wasn't about just getting rid of a cabal. This was deeply personal.
"No matter what, I will bring you to justice," Dick told his father.
"So long as justice prevails, there are people like Samantha Vanaver—who manipulate the system to escape it. Deathstroke is the price society pays for justice," Slade told him.
He changed the subject.
"Now we're going back to Jump City, and there's one more thing I need you to grab," Slade handed him a piece of paper.
Robin left to carry out his orders, stealing a chemical from LexCorp. He entered and exited quickly, making sure to avoid being detected by the security system. He returned to his father.
"You have all the chemicals?" Slade asked.
"Yes, I do," Robin replied.
"Good, your apprenticeship is over, and now I'll keep my promise to you," John showed him the trigger on his arm that controlled the Nanoscopic probes. He tore the wiring apart, rendering the trigger useless.
John Grayson walked over and took out the connector that controlled the Nanoscopic probes and handed it to Robin. "Use this for your friends. You may go."
"Dad, what're the chemicals for?" Robin asked, staring at him.
"Nothing bad if that's what you're worried about. Take care of yourself out there, Champ," John ruffled his son's hair.
"Dad, come with me, you don't have to live like this. Everyone deserves a second chance," Robin extended his hand.
"I've done far too much for a second chance son; I'm too far gone for that. My only form of atonement is my death and I can't die yet," John knelt before his son.
"You go home and back to your friends, John Grayson is a dead man and only Slade exists," John told him.
"Now you're lying to yourself, you don't mean a word of that. You're the one who said Slade was just a performance, but I will go home. You can leave this life behind and you know I'll be waiting for you," Robin said sadly.
"Terra, go with him, he'll be good for you, I promise," John told her.
"Oh, okay," Terra followed him out of the building.
"See you down the road, Dick," John smiled.
"See you down the road, dad," Dick replied.
Robin changed out of his apprentice uniform and donned his normal uniform. He reactivated his locator signal and left the building.
Robin left him alone and John watched him leave. He waited for a few moments.
"Alex, have Doctor Leviticus prepare the formula. I want to see her as soon as she's awake," Slade told him.
"Of course, Slade," Alex Peabody replied.
It took several hours but Doctor Leviticus had told him that her formula was finally ready to be administered. She'd spent the last month testing it and making sure it was perfect.
The doctor injected Mary with the Electrum and John saw her eyes flicker open.
"John," Mary looked at him, somewhat confused, but coherent.
John pulled her to her feet, leading her out into the large open room.
Her voice is steady and similar to how she sounded when she was alive, but it was slightly different.
"How long has it been? A month? A year? A millennium? Far too long for my taste anyway," John told her, he felt so relieved.
He pulled her close and kissed her sweetly.
"Welcome back," John smiled, for the first time in years.
Mary embraced him, pulling him into a hug and resting her head on his chest for several minutes.
John pulled her away and tilted her chin to meet his gaze, but only for a few seconds, he couldn't control himself anymore.
He slammed his mouth into hers again, grinding his clothed hips against hers. John ran his fingers through her hair. He picked her up and carried her toward his bed, discarding her clothing.
He pushed her onto the bed. John stared at her, she looked at him concerned.
"I missed you so much," he breathed heavily in her ear.
"Same, is something wrong?" Mary asked.
John looked at her, distressed.
"I can't give you children, and I'm sorry," John said, brushing her cheek with his fingers.
"Loving you is the least of my sins, John," Mary murmured in his ear. "I'm a thief, remember?"
"Yes, a thief and an assassin have a hero for a son, too many contradictions, we've both crossed lines and every awful thing I've done, all for nothing! I gave them eight years of my life only to find out that Dick was protected, safe, because of Bruce Wayne, a vapid billionaire who took pity on our son."
Mary pulled him close and she kissed him. Mary began pulling off his shirt.
They lay together in bed enjoying each other and the love they shared, this was all he needed, for now.
John felt his thoughts leave his head when she straddled his waist, undoing his belt.
"John I…" Mary whispered. "I need this. I need you."
John smiled broadly, "I love you, Mary."
Several minutes later, Mary nudged him before he drifted off to an exhausted sleep. "Get in bed so at least you'll be comfortable."
"You always look out for me, it's why I adore you," John murmured.
"I know," Mary replied, a hint of smugness in her tone.
"Now get some rest, I have some business to take care of," Mary told him.
"Oh really, I noticed you've gotten into my computer, what are you planning?" he asked, amused.
Mary got dressed and walked out, leaving him behind. "There's only one criminal in the Grayson family, and that's me. I'm clearing your name so you have an incentive to start over. Don't let your wife's loving kindness go to waste."
"Why do you bother staying with me? Look at how far I've fallen, in more ways than one," John gestured to himself.
Mary returned his gaze, "J.R.R. Tolkien once said, "There cannot be any 'story' without a fall - all stories are ultimately about the fall - at least not for human minds as we know them and have them." I loved you because you gave me a second chance a long time ago. You deserve one too."
John watched his wife leave. He'd rest a bit before he took care of some business. It was time to run some interference, this would be fun.
Slade slept for a few hours and then got dressed in his uniform and made his way to an ordinary-looking section of Jump City. He got a false entrance open, on the outside; it looked like a wall with a dumpster. On the inside was a Batcave.
He entered a nearby sewer and found a rather innocuous gate. He opened it and walked in quietly. It appeared that he was alone, he knew he wasn't.
"I'm not surprised you have a Cave away from home. You couldn't resist checking in on him, could you? Why didn't you come out, Batman? I was expecting you to charge in like the knight in Kevlar armor everyone says you are...Bruce."
"If we're going on first-name basis, then I might as well call you by your real name, John," Batman told him.
"If I were my old self I'd be a bit more hospitable because of my culture but I'm not the old me anymore. It's funny, a long time ago, I thought you were good. You may be good Bruce, but you're in my way. I have to say…all this branding down here…the silly cars…the "Bat" fetish. You're really not well…" John gestured to him.
"My turn. You're homeless, your wife is dead. Your son hates you. The Court of Owls gave you special powers that make you for all intents and purposes, immortal. You have a chance to start over and you've burned that!"
John laughed, "Just what am I supposed to do? Run away to the circus? I can't start over, the Court of Owls is everywhere, not just Gotham City. They have infested everything, and I know one way to make them disappear is to kill them!"
Slade cried out in pain as Batman slashed through his armor with his sword.
"Murderer. Liar. Somebody should have put a stop to you long ago," Batman's words were harsh, but he wasn't wrong.
Slade crawled away from Batman, regaining his bearings. "Yes, someone should have. That's the real problem isn't it—?"
Slade raised his energy staff and blocked a sweeping blow from Batman's sword.
Slade watched Batman leap over an energy blast. Batman fired a grappling hook, launching it at the top of his Batplane, pulling himself up.
"You escaped something awful. You were forced to do unforgivable things. You managed to escape. You have a second chance at life, not everyone gets that. You could be a hero, John—if you weren't such an ass," Batman said.
John laughed, "Very true, but I'm not like you, you won't kill me because your morality is holding you back. We feed the same demon. The killer that lives in you lives in me."
John looked at him.
"My son is you—doomed to struggle with that Chinese jigsaw puzzle you do—justice versus vengeance," Slade said.
"On a good day, I can have both," Batman said.
"If only we could all do that, it's not simple Batman. It never was," John told him.
"I get you, Batman. I recognize the Rubik's cube you struggle with—the part of you that would rather be me," John taunted him.
"You're a poor fit for righteousness, Batman. "You're stalked by your addiction…by the need day and night. Just like me. Only I'm not lying to myself."
John stretched out his hands. "You're scared he actually will go off-book. That he'll think of his obligations to me. You're scared that he actually enjoyed stealing for me. You're just scared that you'll lose the son you never had!"
Batman attacked him as he shouted in anger and rage.
"SHUT UP!" Batman shouted, knocking John's energy staff from his hand.
"Envy you?" Batman screamed in rage. "Envy you?!"
Slade felt Batman's fist smash into his masked face. "You deranged lunatic!"
"Sneaking in here…then flaunting how you did it…showing off—you want my approval so bad, it's pathetic!" Batman taunted as John hit him in the face.
"You kill because you've got a giant hole where your humanity should be. And you're too scared or lazy to fill it," Batman said.
Slade saw the Dark Knight straddle his hips and began punching him in the face.
"I have no need of your approval. What would a rich man know of my ordinary life and how I've suffered? That's not true at all, I fill my life with purpose, I kill few to save many. I kill to save my son from something you didn't even know about. I'm not crazy. I'm a sane person doing very horrible things. As for my humanity, it lives and breathes and made a trip to Bell Reeve Prison. From what Alex says, my criminal record is about to be wiped clean, so there's nothing you or my son can do about it!"
Slade felt the rock slam into his face.
"I don't fear you, John. I pity you. Only your narcissism gives you the "moral" high ground."
Slade felt Batman hit him again. His training from the Court of Owls meant he didn't feel the pain of the blows. "I pity your children. Your wife. Anyone who's ever loved you. We're not here because of my obsession—but because of yours! YOU CAME TO ME!"
Slade watched as Batman reached out and grabbed the clasps of John's mask. He tore it off his face.
"The only reason I didn't end you is—is—" Batman stammered.
"…You…Heh…you didn't even feel that," John gloated as his mask came off. He had stabbed Batman in the gut with his knife. Ironically, as long as the knife stayed in his body, he wouldn't bleed out.
They both passed out simultaneously, hitting the ground.
Well the rumor's not confirmed that he can't die, but I don't intend to kill him, he needed to vent on me, after all, I did drag Dick with me all around the globe and I made him commit crimes. Perhaps this is my backward form of self-flagellation," Slade thought as he passed out.
At least he'd had some fun, and he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do: Stall Batman so Mary could go through with her deal with Amanda Waller without anyone knowing about it. She told him of her intentions to clear his criminal record by taking his place in Taskforce X, as crazy as it was, Waller would probably accept, after all, unbeknownst to most people, Mary was a criminal.
She would have a week to train with him before she left on a mission. It would have to be enough for her to survive and come back to him.
Plus, he actually needed Batman's help with something and this was his very elaborate way of roping him into it.
Plasmus had escaped detention again, he was rampaging though Jump City, looking for anything he could drink, mainly dangerous chemicals.
The slime-covered metahuman shattered trucks and drank the chemicals inside them as the Titans unleashed a barrage of Starbolts, sonic blasts and dark energy at him.
"Put down the tanker you great glob of goo!" Robin shouted, throwing a bird-a-rang at the metahuman.
The other Titans stared in surprise, but quickly followed his lead like had never left.
Beast Boy watched as Robin froze Plasmus with a freeze disc, he shattered it, transforming into a ram, but Plasmus just reformed himself.
"You want to give this guy the Sonic Boom?" Robin asked.
"I've got the Sonic if you've got the Boom," Cyborg nodded.
"Just wait a second," Robin ordered.
"Huh?" Cyborg was confused.
"Hey ugly!" Terra called to Plasmus. "Over here!"
Plasmus ran towards her.
Terra let out a cry as she concentrated, moving the concrete to encase the villain so he was immobile.
"Now!" Robin shouted. He and Cyborg executed their special attack together, causing Plasmus to explode and pass out, reverting to being Otto Von Furth once more.
"Say, who is she?" Beast Boy asked, excited.
"Someone I…picked up on my unexpected travels you might say," Robin explained. "I'll tell you more when we get home."
"My name's Terra, and I just got into town," Terra admitted. "Teen Titans! Rock on! It's cool to meet you guys. I'm Terra, and you're...Cyborg, Raven, Starfire...and...Beast Boy."
Beast Boy freaked out and became very excited, "Boy Beast!...uh, I mean, Bass Boot...No!"
Terra laughed, "Dude, he's hilarious!"
Beast Boy smiled, "Hilarious? Me?"
Starfire approached her with curiosity, "Curiosity abounds. Please. Where do you come from; how did you get here; what is your favorite color; do you wish to be my friend?"
"Earth, flew, red, and...sure," Terra replied.
"She doesn't have a home so I was thinking she'd stay with us, just for a little while," Robin said. The others were surprised, but pleased.
Raven frowned, "Are you sure about this?"
"I have my reasons, Raven, I'll explain them later," Robin said.
A news crew spotted the Titans and headed over to them. The reporter put a microphone in his face.
The press gathered around him, "Where have you been for the past three months, Robin?"
"I had some unexpected undercover work; it was something I had to do in order to protect the Titans and this city."
"There are rumors you were seen in Russia and in Rhapastan with Slade, is that true?" the reporter asked.
"It was unexpected undercover work, not something I wanted to do, but something I had to do. I shall explain at a later date," Robin said curtly.
He turned and left.
The Titans followed him.
"You owe use a big explanation," Cyborg told him.
"Yes, and the explanation is set next to the T-Car," Robin told him.
"We've all been worried sick about you, but Starfire's been extra worried," Raven noted.
"It'd better be a great explanation considering how you just show up with some other superpowered girl in tow," Beast Boy added. "Not that I don't like her, but really dude, what's going on? You just up and vanished and we had to deal with that Crouton Detonator business."
"Kronoton Detonator, and we never figured out why it was a fake, you owe us an explanation for why you just up and vanished, turning off your locator signal," Cyborg added.
"I'll explain it all later, I…" Robin spotted Rachel. He called to her.
"Rachel, is that you?" Robin asked, noticing the teenager as she stood in front of the pizza parlor.
"Hey, nice to see you again, you guy's getting some pizza?" Rachel asked.
"We'll take some home, would you like to join us?" Robin asked.
"Oh uh, really, sure, why not?" Rachel smiled.
"I'll call my mom, let her know where I am," Rachel called her mother. "I'm gonna hang out with the Teen Titans. I don't know when I'll be home."
Samantha Vanaver smiled on the other end of the line, "Well look at you, making friends already. Since I know where you are, you'll be fine. Go have fun with the Titans."
Robin ordered the pizzas and they all got into the car and headed to Titans Tower.
They arrived at the Tower and reheated the pizza. Robin led Rachel to the screen.
"I was wondering if you'd be willing to let me run a test on your DNA," Robin
"A DNA test, what for?" Rachel asked.
"There's something we both want to know, and I think you know what I'm talking about, don't you Rachel," Robin said quietly.
"Yeah, I know, but I'd like it confirmed too," Rachel looked at him.
Robin swabbed her mouth and handed the swab to Cyborg.
"Can you run the test?" Robin asked.
It'd be easier for me to just run her biometrics and compare them to yours," Cyborg added.
"Do both, I want to be sure," Robin nodded.
"Fine," Cyborg ran the scan, "That doesn't make sense, well, at least there's the other test." Cyborg frowned.
Fortunately, the Titans had state-of-the-art equipment and could receive DNA results quickly.
Rachel looked at the results in stunned silence, "That…that doesn't make any sense, dad talks about your mom all the time. And my mom…"
Robin gawked at the screen. "Cyborg, you're sure this is the results of the DNA test?"
"I'm sure Robin, but that doesn't make any sense, you said that Rachel was born a year after you were. Rachel's D.N.A. matches your Dad's but—"
"Why does it match with my Mom's?!" Robin asked, slamming his fists on the table. "What's going on?!"
"I hate to interrupt you two, but why is this machine for nanoscopic probes here, is this what Slade shot us with?" Cyborg asked.
"Yes," Robin replied.
"How'd you manage to get it from Slade?" Raven asked.
"I didn't steal it from him, he gave it to me," Robin admitted.
Starfire looked confused, "But why would Slade do something like that?"
"Because Slade is my…our father," Robin admitted.
The other Titans could only react with one word: "WHAT?!"
Earth -22
Mary Grayson smiled and waved to the crowd that filled the big top at Haly's Circus. It is her birthday and she's enjoyed it, spending the day with her family. It had been an eventful day with Batman showing up to rescue them from Tony Zucco. A pity she'd never gotten to thank him for saving them.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Fearless Flying Graysons!" Stan Rutledge announced to the crowd. John raises her hand as they hold hands and wave to the crowd, displaying the showmanship that makes the Graysons famous.
They remove the robes that reveal their new costumes; John grabbed the trapeze bar and swinging out, performs a triple Aerial summersault. Normally, she'd go next, but she's in a good mood and she wants to indulge her son, and she gestures to him, he removes the yellow robe, revealing his costume, the one she's made for him and he swings out and performs the quadruple Aerial somersault perfectly as he's been trained. John catches Dick easily and the crowd roars.
Mary also heard Dick's theme song, "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" playing.
Then she heard it, the most horrifying sound she'd ever heard. The sound of metal scraping metal, she looks up and realized the nuts that should hold the trapeze together are missing.
"Mom!" Dick called as he reached for her, but he's too far away and she can't catch him.
She saw the horror in John's eyes as he fell.
"No!" Mary screamed, the agony in her voice is too much. She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands, the tears and the sobs tear her apart.
The funeral was sparse with only friends from the circus as mourners. She had to pay the funeral expenses herself.
She sat alone, staring sadly at her now empty trailer.
"J.R.R. Tolkien once said, "There cannot be any 'story' without a fall - all stories are ultimately about the fall - at least not for human minds as we know them and have them."
"You miss them, don't you," C.C. "Pop" Haly said to her in a gentle and understanding voice.
"It doesn't matter Pop, I couldn't protect them, not in a place like Gotham," Mary stared at him sadly.
"You know…it doesn't have to be that way," Pop told her kindly.
"What if I told you…I had a way for you to change this city? Forever. What if I told you…I had a way for you to matter?" Pop gave her a sympathetic look.
The next day, Pop brought her to a strange place where a bunch of finely dressed rich people are waiting for her. They all wear strange white masks and greet her with politeness.
An older man named Sebastian Clark looks at her through his mask. "Mary, what do you know of owls?"
"They eat rats," she replied.
"Ha, they do, don't they?" Sebastian asked.
"Well, Mary, let me tell you something…Gotham City has always been infested with rats. Not the rodent, mind you…I'm talking about people. Evil people. The kind of men and women that are out there to destroy everything we love in this world. You've seen evil people like that, haven't you, Mary?"
Mary shut her eyes in agony, "Yes."
"Our organization hunts down the evil people of this world and…heh…eats them as you so eloquently put it, eats them. We can keep this city clean. We keep it safe. Keep it great."
"We hear you're a talented woman with a unique set of skills, will you help us?" Sebastian Clark puts his hands on her shoulders.
"Yes," she replied.
The training was brutal and it required perfection, but she gave them that, and so much more.
After her training was complete she dispatched her predecessor, Alton Carver with brutal efficiency. She relished seeing the blood on the knife and the power and control she wielded as a Talon for the Court of Owls.
John Wycliffe was very pleased, they'd found a good one! "You have passed your first trial of the Labyrinth! Now you face the second. You won't be released until you're ready to replace the man you've killed."
He continued his explanation. "You will starve. You will go mad…and in doing so you will prove your loyalty to us. You have impressed us so far, Mrs. Grayson. Don't stop just yet. Your late husband's grandfather, William Cobb is most pleased you've embraced what your family was meant to be."
She wandered the Labyrinth for months until she lost what little sanity she had left, and she felt…so much better.
She drank the Electrum laced water and realized that this had been her fate all along, that this is what she was supposed to do, and it felt…liberating.
She stood before her new Masters, the Court of Owls.
The Grandmaster spoke, "In a city divided, we are the middle. From the shadows, we keep order."
"We are the gray of Gotham. Will you embrace us and all we seek to accomplish?" John Wycliffe asked.
"I will," Mary promised.
"Then let us begin," another member told her.
Her missions gave her the thrill she had missed as a circus performer and a new purpose that made her feel alive again for the first time in so long. She relished hunting down Tony Zucco.
Tony Zucco is running, running away from the Talon that relentlessly pursued him.
She threw the throwing knives, embedding them in his chest, mobster fell to his knees. Mary removed her mask so he could see her face.
Tony Zucco screamed in terror, and went silent as she slit his throat with the throwing knife, letting his blood whet the knife.
She should have felt satisfied, but she wasn't, she wanted to keep on killing, to purge Gotham City of the scum that had destroyed her family.
She served the Court for years, living a solitary private life off the life insurance John's death had provided her. The Court invested the money, granting her a source of immense wealth.
It was then that she'd emerged from seclusion, playing the role of wealthy philanthropist and socialite, earning the praise of the general public for "overcoming the tragedy of losing her family".
Revealing her connection to the Crowne family through her marriage to the late John Grayson catapulted her to the prestige of being one of Gotham's First Families. It was her power and influence that caused the Court of Owls to appoint her to the position of Grandmaster.
Mary Grayson stood among the members of the Court of Owls, the Grandmaster.
They performed the ceremony and he arrived. The thing that stood before her should terrify her. But she was unafraid. She is a Flying Grayson and they are fearless after all.
"I have seen the Bat-God and I pledge myself to aiding in your arrival to the multiverse. I only ask that you give me back my family."
"I will give you what you have lost, if you do as I command."
"In the end... All roads lead back... To Darkness," Mary bowed before the monstrous thing.
"You shall rule beside me after I have conquered this universe, and I shall reward you with what you truly desire: your family. You who dwell in the Dark Multiverse will step into the light, into the world you deserve to live in." The world you live in is destined to die, but I can save you and give you what you truly want."
The Bat-God spoke to her, "In this world, I shall give you a new name, a new life. There you are no longer Mary Grayson, you are Samantha Vanaver. Go and find the House of Bats and prepare the portal for my arrival."
"I shall carry out the will of the Bat-God, Barbatos," Samantha Vanaver vowed to the Bat-God she had sold her soul to in order to be reunited with her family.