Chapter 7

April 13th, 2017. 4:49 PM.

"What do you mean Gar is possessed?"

Tara's arms were wrapped around her knees as she hugged her legs to her chest, curled up against the wall in the emergency bunker underneath Titans Tower. Raven leaned up against the same wall a few feet away, her arms crossed with a grim look on her face. Jonathan knelt at Tara's side, a hand on her shoulder to comfort, while Damian stood by Raven, his arms crossed as well, with his brow furrowed in anger. He should have known to act sooner.

"Garfield's body is being inhabited by a lesser demon from one of Trigon's legions," Raven explained. "Trigon may be gone, but his servants still roam the universe…"

"'Going to and fro like a lion, seeking whom they may devour'…" Jonathan added. Raven looked at him curiously, to which he shrugged. "Dad and me used to read outta the Bible together before bed when I was a kid. He said it's what Grampa Jon useta do with him."

"Well, you're actually not wrong. That's pretty much what they do," the mage girl replied. "Without the voice of Trigon to command them, his army is pretty much scattered. They do what needs to be done in order to survive, feeding on any and all life forms in their vicinity."

"So what exactly made Logan go all big-bad-wolf on us?" Tara asked.

"Every possession affects the host body differently. Some bodies will simply experience enhanced strength, some will gain powers where there were none… I guess since the capacity to transform was already present in Garfield's DNA, this possession manifested itself as some form of lycanthropy."

"That's so crazy to me," Jon said, shaking his head. "I mean, really? Werewolves are an actual thing?"

"Jonathan, come on," Damian said, an eyebrow raised at his counterpart. "Your father is the last member of an advanced alien race, and Raven's father was the Devil. Of the four people in this room, three of us have superpowers. Wolf-men aren't that much of a stretch at this point."

"Well… when you put it like that…" Jonathan shrugged again as he helped Tara to her feet. As she stumbled, Damian noticed something peculiar on the back of her neck. He couldn't quite make out what it was, but he made a note to investigate further. Just then, a quick beep sounded from Damian's communicator. He checked the message quickly, giving a small nod as he read the words on the display.

"Starfire has contacted Nightwing, he should be here with backup soon. All we have to do is get back up there and restrain Gar before he has a chance to wake up and kill us all…" Damian trailed off for a second, then realized: someone wasn't there. Kori and Beast Boy were upstairs, and he had Raven, Jon, and Tara with him. But…

"Hold on a second… where is Reyes?"

Victor Stone walked into the diner, his hood up to keep his cybernetics concealed. He glanced around to each of the tables until his eyes locked on a teenage boy with a mohawk two booths down. He wore a hoodie like Vic, but with one small lump on the back; only the two of them knew what was hidden underneath. He was talking quietly into his cellphone in Spanish. Vic sat down across from him and waited for him to look up.

Jaime quickly took notice that his friend had arrived and said goodbye to his grandfather. He hung up just as the waitress came to take their order. "Uh, can I just get the hot chocolate in a to-go cup?" Jaime asked. The waitress smiled and wrote down the boy's order before turning to Victor.

"I'll take a coffee to go, black." Victor gave a half-smile to the middle-aged woman as she took his order. She walked away, and Vic turned to his young friend. "I got here as soon as I could. You mind telling me what's going on, Blue?"

"Yeah, man. Sorry about all this, I meant to come sooner, but stuff has been happenin' and all that…" Jaime looked back down at his phone for a moment, looking unnerved by the question he had on his kind. "It's… it's about Damian."

Victor let out a deep breath through his nose as the waitress returned with two paper cups, one marked "COCOA" and the other "COFFEE". He paid the woman, and the two walked out the door and headed down the street towards Vic's car.

"What exactly do you need to know about Damian?" Vic asked. "I mean, I'm not exactly the leading expert on Robins… but I know a little bit about–"

"Is he really Batman's kid?"

Vic stopped as soon as the question left Jaime's mouth. He let out a sigh. Of course that was his question… He clicked the unlock button on his car key, and a quick beep sounded from a little farther down the street. He and Jaime kept walking in that direction.

"Look, I dunno much about how all that happened…" Vic started to explain. "… but yeah. Damian is Batman's son."

"Ay Dios mio… that's crazy, man. I mean… I don't wanna up and ask Damian about it, but…" Jaime looked down at the ground as the reached Vic's car.

The Cyborg put a hand on Jaime's back. "I get it. You have a lotta questions. Tell ya what…" Vic opened the door for Jaime and walked around to the driver's side door. "Let me take you to the big guy. He might have some time to answer your questions."

The air cracked behind the Bat-Rocket as it tore across the open sky. In the cockpit, Dick Grayson kept a laser-focused eye on the horizon whilst Barbara Gordon made contact with Superman to bring extra muscle… just in case things went south.

"I hope those kids are alright…" Barbara said with a worried sigh. "Did Kori say anything else to you about what's going on?"

"No, she didn't," Dick replied, "but it'll be alright. Damian is with them. If anybody can handle Gar, it's my little brother."

"Speaking of Damian…" Barbara looked over her shoulder at Dick. "… I couldn't help noticing on our way to drop him off that he had a lot to say about that girl. Rachel, right?"

"I think it's Raven, actually," Dick said, "and I noticed that too. I'm proud of him for finding a new friend! He struggles with friend-making… unless it's with animals."

"Y'know, call me crazy," Batgirl went on, "but I think it might be something more than that."

Dick threw his eyebrows up in surprise at this statement. Slowly, his eyes still locked in front of him, a smile spread across his face. "Why, Barbara Gordon! Are you implying that my little brother has a girlfriend?"

Barbara smirked. "Oh, I dunno about that! But I do think he may just be experiencing a bit of an infatuation with this girl."

Nightwing smiled as he put his mask on, the Tower appearing in the distance. He and Batgirl readied their parachutes, and Dick took hold of the ejection lever. "Alright, be ready on three…"