Duke Thomas lost his parents when Joker unleashed a new version of Joker Venom onto a crowd. While most of the infected were rounded up to be cured, some disappeared, Duke's parents among them. The boy was determined to find them, no matter what it took, which landed him in trouble with both his foster parents and the law. Even when he was labeled a delinquent, though, he continued to search.
Meanwhile, a similar search came to its end.
Harper Row's hunting had eventually led to her crossing paths with Batman. Despite her fear, she refused to back down under his warnings until her brother Cullen was attacked by some of his classmates while she was away on one of her searches.
Bruce, having been keeping an eye on the woman, stepped in to ensure they got justice for the attack and, in the process, helped her get custody of Cullen so they could both be free of their abusive father. In the face of all these changes and with Batman's promise to find the other killer, Harper agreed to stand down.
However, Cass would find him first by taking a bullet for him after her father sent men to attack Harper and Cullen to draw her out.
Having expected a monster like Orphan, not this small child who stared up at her with the most apologetic eyes, Harper immediately forgave the girl and worked with Bruce and Batman to clear Cass's name and take the girl under her wing. It was hard as Cass didn't understand any language but body, but Harper and Cullen were willing to put in the work. In an effort to help, Bruce brought the Rows into the fold and promised any aid they could require.
Cullen was fascinated, but also happy to keep to the normal side of life. Bruce may have secretly wondered why the other children he found himself faced with couldn't be that level headed.
Harper, on the other hand, was more taken in, but also wary of getting too involved now that she had two people relying on her care. She went out sometimes in all black body armor with a full face mask and short hooded cloak, but she stayed out of sight enough that Black Bat remained an unknown myth.
A trip to Los Angeles had Tim declaring he was never going with Bruce on business trips ever again. The first two days had been nice enough, but then Bruce caught him pulling an all-nighter working on a case that he wasn't supposed to be working on and banned him from coffee.
Which was how a half-awake, phone focused Tim found himself nearly stepping out in front of traffic. Thankfully someone not dead on their feet spotted him in time and she pulled him back onto the sidewalk. He tried to laugh it off as just being too focused on his phone. That failed when he turned to walk away and almost immediately walked into a newspaper rack. The girl insisted on walking him to his hotel. When he pointed out he was going to pick up something from his father, she declared she'd walk him there and back.
When he returned back to Gotham with a new number in his phone, he refused to look her up. No, she was just some random civilian. He didn't care if Wonder Girl doesn't even wear a mask! Obviously that was her! A hoodie doesn't help hide anything, Cassie! You and Kon are terrible! How do you two even have secret identities? At least Superman had those stupid glasses!
No, she was an ordinary civilian.
Duke Thomas's search eventually ended when he teamed up with Batman to free his parents and the other missing Joker Venom victims from the Court of Owls, his photokinetic vision helping them navigate the labyrinthine tunnels. Unfortunately the Court's experiments paired with going so long without the antidote had left the victims catatonic. Even still, Duke was so grateful that he did what he could to help Batman with his cases in the future.
Bruce, giving in to the inevitable even if he was wary to have a meta vigilante in Gotham, brought Duke into the Colony. There was some debate over how he'd fit in until Duke made it known that he would prefer getting some actual training before he went into the field for real.
This doesn't stop Tim and Bette from glaring eachother down over who got to move on from Robin first.
Cass suggested settling it with a Mario Kart race.
Tim won.
One day Jinny "Hex" Woodson got fed up with all her friends discussing their Gotham friends - ones she was pretty sure none of them were even allowed to have since no one was even supposed to go to Gotham - so she packed a bag and headed out to find her own Gotham friend.
She decided the place was alright enough. It was actually kind of nice that no one questioned her for having a pair of pistols holstered on her hips. Someone even tried to mug her despite them.
It was hilarious.
She was having trouble finding her new Gotham friend, though. At least until a kid fell off a fire escape she'd been passing under and into her arms.
It was fate.
Apparently the kid had been trying to take a picture of a bird (aka Tim was scouting for a stakeout) and the railing hadn't been quite as sturdy as he'd thought (it had only let him balance on it in a crouch for two hours before giving way). It was then that he noticed her guns.
"You're not going to shoot me, right?"
"Angel, you're so skinny, you can't even see your shadow. I don't need my guns to whup you."
"Angel?"
"Because you fell from heaven."
Tim was not amused. He was even less amused when she declared they were friends now. No, he doesn't get an opinion on the matter. Should have thought about that before throwing himself at unsuspecting women. She doesn't even swing that way, Angel.
Around the same time that it hit the Young Justice team that they were all friends with the same Gothamite, it also hit the Colony that Tim had somehow managed to befriend the entire team.
Except no, Tim affirmed that they befriended him. He had no input in this whatsoever, thank you very much. It was probably Kon's fault, really. He had probably set it all up. Tim was definitely going to give Kon the cold shoulder.
At least until his badgering got too annoying.
The worst part was that Stephanie stole his phone to get Cassie's number when she found out she and Tim had been flirting. She stated it was so Stephanie could defend his honor if she tried something, but he caught both her and Bette in a group chat with not only Cassie, but Kara Danvers aka Supergirl and Suzanne "Cissie" King-Jones aka Arrowette.
Apparently, they didn't get to be teased since the girls actively sought out their super friends.
When Talia al Ghul personally informed her that the Heir to the Demon was now living with his biological father Bruce Wayne so she would be wise to keep her distance from Gotham, sister or not, Cheshire knew she'd made the right call keeping her nose out of the Waynes' business.
It didn't occur to her that when Talia al Ghul had met Bruce Wayne over ten years earlier at a party and decided to spend the night with him, the woman believed he'd given up his training to settle down for a life of luxury and frivolities. Cheshire didn't know Ra's had only allowed Talia to keep the child that had been an accidental result because he'd seen Bruce's promise and believed, if raised properly, the child could become what he thought Bruce hadn't.
That Talia had only brought her son to his father because she had no other choice.
The Demon's Daughter fled to Gotham with Damian after her father was killed by Slade Wilson. She had hoped that between Bruce's former training and the shadowy Colony of Gotham, Damian would be safe until Wilson could be dealt with.
Damian did not get along with his siblings. He made an attempt to pick a fight with Tim that failed when Tim refused to fight a child. Cass tried to fight him in Tim's place, but Harper told her no. Damian tried to stab Dick when he hugged him and Dick disarmed him before he could without releasing the hug. He picked a fight with Jason and got his butt handed to him. Damian snuck out to prove himself, picked a fight with Nightwing, and got his butt kicked. Damian tried his hand with Tim again and the older boy, annoyed, agreed then used knockout gas on him the moment the fight began. Dick tried to talk with Damian and they ended up fighting. Damian, of course, got his butt kicked.
Stephanie was standing on the sidelines the entire time, encouraging everything.
Soon enough the Colony noticed Slade holed up near Gotham and launched an attack. Due to the danger, Bruce pulled in everyone, leaving the Robins and Alfred to keep an eye on Damian, Duke, Cullen, and Cass in the manor while Catwoman took guard outside. When Damian found out about the attack and tried to go after Slade, Tim sent him in the opposite direction then followed after him in the suit he'd been designing for post-Robin while the others took shelter in the cave.
Tim knocked Damian out and dragged him back to the cave where they locked him in a cell, to Bruce's annoyance. Damian woke up and realized his father was Batman when he overheard Bruce reveal that Talia was likely coming back for Damian now that Slade was taken down. He also heard the family's argument over it. None of them wanted him to go with her, but in the end they agreed that it was Damian's choice.
When she did come, Damian remembered what the others said about him having a choice and some things about family Dick had said when the two had had their private conversation. He decided to stay with them, citing that there were things his father could teach him that he couldn't learn while helping his mother rebuild the League.
She was obviously annoyed and disappointed, but didn't fight him on it.
It wasn't easy. Damian still fought with all his brothers as well as Stephanie, though Duke did his best to keep out of it. The youngest Wayne tried to challenge Tim and Bette for his place as Robin, but Dick and Bruce were able to get him to agree to training instead with the reminder that he was lacking the theatrical and teamwork skills that the Colony utilized and were mandatory as Robin.
Bruce didn't mention that he wanted more reassurance the boy wouldn't step over the line before ever letting him near the field.
Damian was not impressed when he discovered his father's relationship with Selina Kyle and made it well known.
She thought it was adorable.
Damian would never admit that the kitten she gifted him was what calmed him. He simply didn't see the point in wasting any energy on outwardly disliking the woman when his father clearly wouldn't be changing his mind.
When Duke took Tim's place as Robin, he made sure to keep his own contributions to the role quiet. Robin was a legacy while his meta abilities were not. Tim was not quite so subtle in his new role.
No one was sure where the name Corvid came from since the new bird didn't speak in words, only trills. He wore an armored suit that was blue on the chest and arms and black on his sides with white detailing. His legs, hands, and feet were all black as well except for the blue splashes on the outside of his thighs. A white belt draped over his hips while black bandoliers crossed over his chest, a silver and black bird logo covering the cross. The bandoliers connected to his cowl, which was open at the top unlike the Bats' which allowed his feather-like hair to fall down around his face. It was shoulder length and faded from black at the roots to blue at the tips, much like the wings that formed from his feathered cape.
They said he was a fallen star stolen away by the Colony. He soared soundlessly through the air on wings that never flapped, leaving behind a trail of blue light. He was more migratory than the others. Sometimes he flew above Batman and Robin, sometimes Batwoman and Red Hood, and sometimes Batgirl and Nightwing. A criminal could only hope they got the warning of seeing one of the others first or he'd have them in his talons hundreds of feet in the air before they even realized he was there.
Time passed. Damian grew closer to the rest of the Colony under Dick's instruction.
Jason and Kate bonded with him over their more aggressive styles (to Bruce's consternation) while helping him learn ways to calm his temper.
Despite their rough start and continuing antagonism, Damian grew to respect Tim's quick mind as he tutored him in strategy and the Colony's language.
He also developed a respect that had nothing to do with fear - not at all - for Barbara after she repaid an insult he gave her by sharing with the entire family a video of him fawning over some stray kittens in the park. He never discovered how she got the footage as he had made sure there were no cameras in the vicinity before acting in such an undignified fashion. (It was Dick. He pouted for weeks when he realized the cute video he took of his adorable baby brother was used for such purposes.)
A similar kind of respect grew for Harper as he quickly learned to be noticeable when approaching her. She had far too much experience with bats and birds sneaking around and far too little concern over jabbing them with a stun gun in revenge, whether they meant to scare her or not.
He was not afraid to admit he was scared of Cass once he realized who she was, though. He knew her skills and knew she could take him down in seconds if it came to it.
He was skeptical of both Stephanie and Bette, who he believed to be vapid, but Stephanie's pranks were amusing when they weren't directed at him and Bette introduced him to social media revolving around animal rights (and cute animal pictures).
Although he was rather dull, Cullen was by far the best person to be with while working on his newfound appreciation for drawing and painting, especially if the older boy was doing his own artwork for the webcomics he and Duke collaborated on.
While not being the most mentally or physically skilled, Duke was the most patient of the lot and could be trusted to keep his mouth shut so he was the one Damian went to when he needed assistance with homework (a rare occurrence, but the American schooling system was so different from his League tutors, to the point that sometimes they even seemed to contradict one another) or wanted to practice his Trillic.
Though he would never admit it out loud, Dick was Damian's favorite of the lot. While he didn't have Duke's patience, he was just as considerate and confidential. When something happened, Dick was always willing to hear him out and talk him through it until he understood. Or at least was on the path to understanding. Dick did not share Jason's anger, his father's suspicion, Tim's caution, or Duke's anxiety. He had only sympathy. Damian knew his mother would consider Dick weak, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
After a year in Gotham came and went, Dick went to Duke and Bette. The three talked, eventually bringing in Harper as an idea began to blossom.
Robin had a sword. They said he got it from his shadow.
The only thing not pitch black on the Black Bat was the thin golden outline of the Bat's symbol on their chest. Their face was featureless, not even possessing eyes like Batgirl. They never made a sound. If you saw Robin, then his shadow was behind you.
There was no time to run.
On the other hand, those who believed themselves safe during the day proved to be foolish.
Bright spirits had come to Gotham.
They wore metal armor and carried their wings on their chests. They came and went in flashes of light bright enough to stun.
Bluebird was their guide and donned armor of blue. Her voice echoed with the voices of lost souls and lightning danced across her form.
Lark was their prophet and donned armor of gold. He could see the past, present, and future and fought with the strength of ages past.
Hawkfire was their messenger and donned armor of red. She spoke with the voices of everyone she passed and her armor blazed with the heat of the sun.
Though they walked the day and seemed to be creatures of light, it was nothing but a trick. They were will-o'-wisps, false lights. They were birds.
The Colony had invaded the day.
With the three working together, Bette offered to turn Duke and Harper. The two accepted. Afterwards Harper sought out Cullen and Cass to offer them the same. She wasn't surprised with Cass's easy agreement, though Cullen's was a little more shocking as he'd never shown any interest in the Colony's nightlife. Quite the opposite, in fact. He simply shrugged and told her vampirism had nothing to do with the nightlife. It was just how their family worked.
He and Cass were greatly amused, but unsurprised when Harper, Bette, and Duke forgot to mention the latest turnings. They decided to keep their own mouths shut to see how long it would last, though he did confide in Alfred. Not that it was necessary as the man seemed to put it together himself the moment he saw Cullen.
It took three months for Bruce, Tim, and Barbara to figure it out for themselves, then an additional two for the rest to find out when Duke casually mentioned it during a family meeting.
Damian blamed Tim when he found himself stuck in a room with Superman's spawn Jonathan Kent while said superhero in disguise interviewed Damian's father for the newspaper.
Clearly, Tim's horrible curse had somehow rubbed off on Damian and the older boy would pay dearly once he returned home by way of Damian renaming all of Tim's non-case related computer folders and creating a maze of invisible thread around his room.
At least the half-alien had good taste in video games. And his voice was nice enough that his incessant chatter was more like a soothing white noise than a nuisance. And Superman clearly would have trained Jon in discretion, even if not to Damian's family's standards.
For the record, the only reason Damian accepted Jon's number was so that Dick would be so pleased Damian had finally acquired a friend that he wouldn't allow the others to tease him over something that was clearly Tim's fault to begin with. And when that plot fell through, he simply forgot to delete Jon's number because he was busy expanding his revenge to include Jason and Stephanie.
Harper, as Black Bat, wore Cass's Orphan suit from Young Justice. I wanted something a little more lowkey from what she normally wears since she's not really supposed to be spotted.
Tim's suit got the most reworking because I like and dislike elements from all his Red Robin suits. The end result is one with the body armor from his Young Justice (TV) Robin suit, but with the New 52 wings paired with the bandoliers, logo, and cowl from the original Red Robin suit. Except I left the cowl open on top like the ones Kid Flash and Impulse use. From there you replace the red with blue and the yellow with white. I honestly wish I was better at drawing so that I could give a visual of what I'm going for here.
Cass's Black Bat suit is her Batgirl one, just with her belt black instead.
Haper, Bette, and Duke wear Signal's armor as Bluebird, Hawkfire, and Lark, just in blue, red, and gold instead of yellow. The bat logo is also replaced with their individualized bird logos.
Vampires' animal forms:
- Duke: Cape wild dog
- Harper: Maned wolf
- Cullen: Crab-eating fox
- Cass: Northern bat
