A/N: So sorry for the long wait on this chapter, but hopefully the quality will make up for the wait. And the final chapter shouldn't be nearly as long of a wait. As always, let me know what you think.

Chapter 29 Set the Evil Side Free

Damian resisted the urge to laugh, of course she knew. Oh, this was going to be too much fun. "So did you figure that out all by yourself or did daddy help you?"

He circled her like a vulture just waiting for its prey to die, but Helena wasn't the type to be intimidated by such antics. "I have no intention of riding on the coat tails of my predecessors," she looked him up and down with purpose, "unlike some. Seriously, minus the crazy hair, you're a spitting image of the old man."

The briefest of scowls passed by his face before he smiled again and he spoke "I killed the old man; I defeated the greatest of Batman's enemies."

Helena wanted to smirk. "Insert the obvious Joker argument here."

Damian ignored her. "Next, I defeated that Batwoman bitch. I was supposed to deliver the final blow, but that meddling mad man so crudely did the job for me. He'll receive his just reward when I take my true place."

Helena decided against asking the obvious and merely raised an eyebrow in question.

Again, he ignored her. "Then there was the matter of you, little sister. I found out about you by chance and accident. My mother was obsessed with her competition for Batman's affections and your whore of a mother was on the top of that list. Grandfather never knew the cause of the depression that lead to her taking her life, but I knew. Through her surveillance efforts I learned of Batman's daughter, my half-sister; unlike her, I could've cared less about the means under which we were created, from a test tube or more natural ways makes no difference. What did need to be done, however, was that you needed to reach your full potential. So I killed Chet and June Troy, two weaklings who died easily, accomplishing the tragedy that would spur you to become what I needed you to be. So that now when I kill you, it will be undisputed that I am the true heir of Batman. I will take my place as Batman's son and true heir. It is my destiny."

"So you're going to become the next Batman by killing people. That's your grand plan?" Helena realized how well Damian did that villain speech revealing his master plan for a man wanting to be a hero, knowing it was a matter of what he'd been raised to be. "You kind of missed Batman 101 there, brother, Batman doesn't kill."

"A mistake that will be fixed with the next generation."

Helena thought about how much better off the world would be without people like Damian in it. "You may be right about that."

Barbara wanted to talk to Bruce directly, but it would take precious minutes to get to Wayne Manor. So instead she demanded Tim take her to the satellite cave to contact him. When she gained no response (despite learning from the data feed that Helena had been spotted on the scene of the destruction by Commissioner Grant) she began to worry. She worried so much, in fact, that those minutes to face Bruce in person began to look necessary. Tim volunteered to take her without her asking, quipping, "Being a big CEO has its advantages, they're less likely to care about a few broken traffic laws." Against Tim's advice, Barbara called Dick on the way.

He met them outside of the manor and the descended to the cave together. They spotted Bruce before looking at what was on the screen he was studying so intensely. Barbara stepped up first, "Bruce, we need to talk about Helena."

Bruce nodded at the screen. Barbara gasped at the image of Huntress dueling with someone who was supposed be dead. Bruce answered, "I know."

Damian studied his opponent. She'd taken after her mother more than their father, and Damian felt this to be to his advantage. He remembered how she used her body to manipulate weak-minded men, much like her whore of a mother. He doubted even in her developed stage, she'd put up much of a fight. Oh well, the real challenges would come in time. He smiled and invited her to fight, like a gentleman, "Shall we, sister?"

She glared like a common person would. He attacked and she avoided his blows by stepping out of his range. He persisted and she did as well, never attacking, blocking, or even putting any real energy in avoiding him. It began to frustrate him. "Fight me, coward."

She scoffed as she studied him. "I'm not a man. Attacking my ego isn't the way to get me to lose my head in a fight."

Damian paused for a moment. She was being patient, letting him tire himself. He nearly laughed to himself. That wasn't going to last, he wouldn't allow it. "Yes, of course." He brought out a blade, "Perhaps removing your pretty little head will head."

She had to drop and roll away to duck his blow that time. His second attempt was dodged as well. But before he attempted a third she kicked the blade from his hand and rose to crouching fighting stance. Finally, a real fight "Let us begin."

Tim spoke the obvious thought, "Damian's dead, he's been dead for years."

Bruce watched as his two biological offspring circled each other. "Apparently he's taken a dip in his grandfather's Lazarus pits and come out as crazy as the old man. Or he's a clone. Either way, I may watch my only real child die."

Barbara picked up on the sentiment behind his words, though she thought it a tad unfair to Dick. "You think Helena will die?"

Bruce's eyes never faltered from the screen. "Yes."

Dick caught Barbara's eyes and she saw he wasn't holding a grudge on the only child comment. He stepped closer and watched beside his adoptive father. "She may win. She has good genes and has had good training. She may win."

Tim stepped as well, "And if not, she'll be replaced."

That got Bruce's attention. He saw the intent beyond Tim's eyes, and glared at the mere thought of it. "No."

Tim bristled. "I'm no longer a child, Bruce. I'm not subject to your command."

Bruce watched his daughter take a hit across her mouth, watched blood trail from her mother's lips. "No, you're not a child. You're an adult who must face the consequences of his decisions. You nearly died against Damian as an evenly aged teenager, now with him appearing to be thirty at most and in peak physical condition and you nearly forty and out of practice. You'd be killed almost instantly."

Tim wanted to protest, but Dick interrupted him, "Think of your wife and children, Tim."

Tim walked away, but only a short way, yelling his frustration. "I do, that's all I think about. I wasn't supposed to turn out this way, and be so normal. Minivans and soccer practice weren't supposed to be in my future. This wasn't what I wanted."

Bruce watched Helena take another hit. "Life never gives you what you want." On screen, Helena broke away from Daemon and re-established her own attack. "Get out, Tim, you don't belong here anymore."

Tim felt the air leave his lungs at Bruce's dismissal. Dick saw the look and walked to the stairs with his arm around the man he considered his little brother, "Tim, Bruce is right. This isn't your world anymore."

Tim looked up from his feet. "But it is yours still?"

Dick gave something of a sigh. "Not really." He looked over to the screen that Barbara and Bruce were watching together, "For better or worse, the future is on that screen."

Helena found herself on the floor once again and waited for Damian to approach. She thought he would've learned his lesson after the first time when she threw dirt in his face, announcing she had no qualms about fighting dirty. But the man didn't learn from past mistakes. She let it be his downfall, gripping her hidden knife as he began to speak again, she suspected just to hear his own voice once again, "When I take my rightful place in this world, the world and father will follow and bow in absolute adoration of me."

Helena couldn't keep the smart-ass remark to herself, "So that's what this is all about? You're pissed because I'm the favorite."

She knew or at least could guess his response, but he was close enough now that she didn't have to listen. As he opened his mouth she plunged her knife into his left knee as she kicked it from the opposite direction, effectively crippling him. So that the only sound the escaped his mouth was a scream of pain as he dropped to the ground and she rose.

She looked down on him." You want to be so much like Dad, thought I'd give you the same limp."

He glared at her and spit out, "You'll never kill me; you're too weak."

She bent at the knees into a crouch so she met him at an even eye-level. "No, I won't kill you because I'm better then you. I'm more like him." She stood again and took a step away from him.

Only to turn suddenly and land a well placed kick across his face and he fell to the ground. "That was for the Troys." She kicked his torsos after that, feeling the ribs crack beneath her boot. "And that was for Batwoman." She felt satisfied, but not quite the amount she expected from exacting her vengeance.

Her eye caught the lens of a camera in a corner and she stared at it, for some reason imagining her father watching from it.

She then noticed a second thing; explosive charges had been placed throughout the building. She made her way to the door as the Commissioner walked through it, "What happened?"

"Nothing, out."

He looked confused. "What?"

She was getting frustrated. "No questions just go."

He stood firm. "I'm a detective. I want answers."

She looked him firmly in the eyes as she answered. "The building is set to blow."

"Don't you know how to disable it?"

"Yes, but my DNA is all over this place. It's an easy way to remove it."

"What about him?" He nodded at what she assumed was Damian still writhing in pain.

Her lip curled in scorn. "There's no rule that I have to save him. Let the bastard save himself."