Chapter: 5
It wasn't long before Damien found himself in front of the Bat-computer typing away as he typed in Tarry's name and her story in order to see if he could find a link between her description and any case that his father had recorded in his bat files. As the bat computer rapidly search through its data banks, Damien decided to upload her DNA in hopes of seeing if there was any evidence surrounding her DNA print if her story really was just a traumatic dream. He placed strains of her hair on a disc shooting out of the computer that he had collected when he hugged her. When the computer scanned the few strands of black hair almost immediately the DNA test and the case file that he was looking popped up, as he stared upon the screen he could hardly believe how fast the DNA recognition was as well as how fast it helped him to find the evidence he needed to convince his father of his actions to liberate Joker's daughter. I can't believe it takes my father hours to do this kind of stuff, Damien thought triumphantly as he clicked open both the DNA results and the case file just to be paralyze with shock for several moments as he focused on a certain name of a man that he used to hear about all the time from his father: Dick Grayson. Damien could barely comprehend how Tarry could be the missing child that his father had been looking for, for years, but worse yet was how could the Joker do such a thing to a person that was considered one his father's best robins and get away with it for so many years? Damien was broken out of his deep thoughts when he felt his communicator buzzing violently in his pocket with a red light indicating that the communicator that he had given Tarry was sending out a distressed signal. Without thinking he punched in the numbers needed to reach her communicator.
"Tarry what's the matter?"
"Hello Bird-brain! It's so wonderful that you and my daughter have been having so much fun together. Too bad I never approved of any play dates," a sinister voice answered him with a psychotic cackle. Damien's eyes widened with fear as he realized what it meant by hearing Joker on the other line. It meant that their game was over and it wasn't the mice that won this time.
"Where's Tarry," Damien demanded through gridded teeth as he could just picture what Joker was doing to her right now, which was probably way worse than the numerous lectures and grounding that normal girls got when their parents figure out that they been hanging out with a boy that they disapproved of.
"Well since she loved hanging around with you Bird-boy I thought we should as well, although she probably would have more fun if she wasn't hanging upside down."
"Joker I swear if you-"
"You'll do what? You aren't in a situation where you can be making threats. If you really want to know what's happening to your little girlfriend you know where to find us. Oh, Bonnie Doll it's Robipo say Bye-bye." After that all Robin could hear were wild muffled sounds that were coming from most likely from Tarry's taped mouth. As he listened to the line cut off an unimaginable rage built up in him with the knowledge that now that Joker has found out everything it changed his whole game plan, he couldn't just wait for his father to come back, every fleeting moment could spell the end of her and although he still had no clue why that felt so discomforting and nerve racking to him, he knew what he must do as he slipped on his Robin mask once again that night with his feet moving towards his Robin bike.
Seconds after Robin had zoomed out of the cave an electronic voice announced the arrival of Batman via zeta tube. Batman came back home to a sight that aroused his suspicion as he could have sworn he had turn off the Bat-computer before he left, and more importantly the fact that it was showing a case he hadn't opened in years on it didn't help him feel that he was returning to a normal situation in his house.
"Alfred," Bruce said into an inter-com in hopes that his old time friend, care giver, and butler could shed some light on what went down in the cave in his absences. He was satisfied when he heard footsteps from upstairs coming towards the secret Bat-cave entrance. While he was waiting on his butler Bruce decided to take a look on the surveillance cameras that were littered all over the cave.
"You called Sir?" Alfred stated to announce his arrival in the cave.
"Where's Damien?" Bruce asked as he watched the computer screen loading the security footage.
"Whatever do you mean Master Bruce? Of course he is in-"
"Bed?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow at his Butler as the computer brought up footage of Damien walking into the cave, put on his Robin costume, and zoom out of the cave on his bike. As Alfred watched the footage he had to gulp down a lump as he realized that he had made a mistake in trusting Damien. There was no way he needed to wear his uniform to talk to a girl he claimed he met in his civilian clothes, which meant if he was meeting this girl or not he could be in serious danger as well as the secret identities of both of his young wards.
"Listen Master Bruce, I have a confession to make," the butler began as he recounted the whole story to Bruce starting from a month ago when Damien came to him with news that he needed to keep a girl Damien was seeing a secret with tests and quizzes that would take the boy off missions so he could better hang out with a girl he claimed he met on a mission.
"Alfred do you have any idea of the dangers that Damien could get himself into! I mean for all we know he could be really sneaking out to crime fight on his own or-"
Bruce was cut off by the screen that showed his son hours later re-entering the cave only to start typing what Bruce was guessing he saw on the computer when he came in. Going into detective mode he took the footage off fast forward and cranked up the volume, while he put up the last couple of actions that the computer did in the last couple of hours. Both men turned their attention to the footage when they saw Damien pick up his communicator:
"Tarry what's the matter?"
"Hello Bird-brain! It's so wonderful that you and my daughter have been having so much fun together. Too bad I never approved of any play dates."
"Where's Tarry!"
"Well since she loved hanging around with you Bird-boy I thought we should as well, although she probably would have more fun if she wasn't hanging upside down."
"Joker I swear if you-"
"You'll do what? You aren't in a situation where you can be making threats. If you really want to know what's happening to your little girlfriend you know where to find us. Oh, Bonnie Doll it's Robipo say Bye-bye."
Hearing this conversation, quickly skimming the data his son had found, and looking at the DNA test that Damien had done made Bruce put all the pieces together as he realized that Dick Grayson's long lost baby was that girl he encountered a month ago sporting a clown suit and chucking knives. Bruce didn't waste a second as he slipped on his mask again only to hop into the Bat-mobile to save his son and the daughter of his first foster child from the obvious trap Joker was setting up for the two teens.
It didn't take long for Robin to get back to the old abandoned circus ground; however, this was the first time he had to stick to the shadows instead of just strolling in as he would normally do when he came to visit this place. He managed to sneak into his normal entrance way into Joker's psychotic home, and what he saw shocked him as he looked upon a trail of blood. This didn't only shock him because he knew whose blood it was, but because he could see it was some trap that the Joker was trying to set up for him with the knowledge that he would follow the blood trail. Even though he could see the trap he still found himself following the trail in the hopes that Joker's trap at least guides him to Tarry, then he would have to think of a plan to save both of them. The blood trail took him out of Tarry's room and down a flight of old falling apart stairs that caused Damien to sighed as he realized that there was no way he could be stealthy going down the stairs the old fashion way, he thought as he used his grappling hook to carry him up to the pipes hanging close to the ceiling. From there he hid in the shadows in order to scope out the place instead of blindly barging down there.
What he barely fazed him as he was beginning to expect the unexpected with the Joker, as he saw a large damp dim lighted room that was so moldy and rotten that the color of mold painted not only the walls but also the floor. Off to the side Damien saw what he could guess were his tools to torment Tarry, which consisted of many whips, belts, and crowbars, tasers all that were covered in blood, and finally a huge dunk tank that wasn't used to dunk people in for amusement or charity, but to drown Joker's victims in. Even though all that he saw was disturbing but nothing compared to seeing Tarry tied up by a metal chain with duct tape over her mouth and to top it all off the classic pit of deadly chemicals underneath her. Robin couldn't help but sighing at the Joker's stupidity as he scanned the room in search of the soon to be dead clown. From what the Boy Wonder could see the coast was clear, which meant that he could easily swoop in and out with Tarry before the sick clown can say 'jail time.' The costume cladded boy effortlessly landed with a few flips from his bird's eye view hiding spot until he was a meter away from Tarry and the pit of doom she was dangling a good two feet above.
When both teens came eye to eye, Robin expected to see joy and relief in Tarry's bright green eyes at the prospect that he had kept his promise to return and rescue her from this hell-hole, but he was faced with a petrified look in her eyes as she desperately tried to shake her head in order to get her amusing bird out of there, for she knew neither of them could face what her father had in store for them. Before Robin could processes Tarry's signals to run away Joker's trademark laughter filled the air, causing Robin to curse under his breath especially when he felt a chain that had shot out of the ceiling to wrap around him to leave him hanging in the same position next to Tarry. Great move Damien, underestimate the psychotic murdering clown; won't father be proud, Damien thought to himself as he and Tarry shared a look of terror.
"So nice of you to hang around Boy Blunder," Joker greeted as he stepped out of the shadows of the room with delight at seeing the two teens hanging for their lives at his mercy.
"Let Tarry go it's me you want," Robin demanded as he tried to move his arms towards his utility belt in hopes of being able to grab something useful that would help him out of this mess, but all his efforts were futile as he felt the chain wrap tighter around him with every move.
"I wouldn't struggle too much, the chains are programmed to sense signs of a struggle and too squeeze the life out of the person until they stop or die, you know the whole whichever comes first deal. Anyway my little Love-Bird you are very misguided on what I want. What I wanted was a loyal sidekick to follow all my demands, but no I got this ungrateful brat who would rather go to festivals and watch movies with the enemy. But now that I see I can't achieve what I want I'm going to make sure neither can Batman!"
"You don't mean-"
"Yes I do, if I can't have an obedient sidekick neither can Batsy," the Joker replied as he walked slowly towards a lever on a wall behind them that both teens were guessing was meant to control the chains that stood between life and death for them.
"You're not going to get away with this."
"If only I had a coin for every time I heard that line, but don't fret Robin after all I'm giving both of you a Romeo and Juliet death," the Joker cackled as he brought the lever down causing both teens to start to move slowly towards their deaths. As Damien came closer and closer to the hot steaming pit filled with clear liquid he knew was acid he couldn't help but feel regret and rage at the fact that he had saved many people in his five years of crime fighting yet he had failed to save the person he truly cared about. She wasn't just some random girl he had met a month ago, she meant so much more to him now. She was his friend, not because they both shared an interest in violence or because they both have the same feelings when it came to disobeying the authority figures that have raised them; but because they both understood each others' feelings on a special level that no one will ever be able to comprehend.
"I'm sorry," Robin whispered as he held Tarry's gaze while they both hung several centimeters above the pool of chemicals that would end everything they ever knew but most importantly a relationship that neither teens ever wanted to let go of. A small smile appeared on the boy's face as he saw no regret in the tear filled eyes of the little clown girl he met a month, but a happiness that told him she would have made the same decisions again if fate had given her another chance. They were two outcasts the daughter of a deranged lunatic and the son of an assassin; both children have had their childhoods striped away. I guess in the end dying together made sense to both of them no matter what the cause was.
"Goodbye Tarry," Robin whispered only to have Tarry mumble one in return seconds before they plummeted down into a burning hot death until a baterang hit the lever up that Joker was standing next to causing both the teens to stop falling and the Joker to stop cackling at the demise of his daughter and his arch-enemies partner. Before any of them could fully comprehend what was going on the dark caped crusader swooped in and cut the chains that where binding both his son and his forester son's daughter and saved them from burning alive in a vat of what he could see was a very concentrated solution of hydrochloric acid.
For the first time in Damien's life he has never been so happy to have his father bail him out, even though he knew that this event was not going to go unpunished, but at that moment he was just happy at the prospect that maybe he could carry on his relationship with Tarry without having to go behind his father's back to spend time with her.
"You really think that you can defeat me twice today Batman, well you're wrong," Joker announced as he hit a red button that was right beside the lever he had used to send the teens to their dooms. Which caused the lighting in the room to change to red and a warning alarm went off as the room the begun to fill to the brim with Joker themed henchmen and the Joker's pet hyenas.
Seeing this caused Batman to quickly untie the kids, "Okay here's the plan Robin you handle the goons on the left, and I'll get the-"
"What about me? I want to be able to help as well," Tarry demanded causing both Batman and Robin to share a look that got Batman to sigh as he knew his son was right there probably wasn't away to get her to back down especially if she inherited her father's personality.
"Are you sure you can handle this?"
"Positive as long as you can give me something to fight with."
"How about a baterang?" Batman inquired as he held the bat shaped weapon out towards her.
"Is it sharp?"
"I once drove one right through a bad guy's skull," Damien replied with a smirk as he saw the young girl's face light up at the prospect of the sharp and pointy object that she grabbed from Batman's hand. For some reason Bruce didn't know how to feel about Dick's daughter's reaction to an object that nearly killed said bad guy that Damien had told her. He had to push all that to the back of his head as all three of them plunged into battle under his lead.
The Joker begun to make a getaway once he saw his henchmen losing terribly to the bat squad that only made rage boil through with the knowledge that the only reason they were winning to such an extent was because his daughter had betrayed him and everything he had taught her to stand for since she was nothing but a few hours old.
"Batman, Robin the Joker's getting away!" Tarry announced after stabbing two henchmen in the stomach before she saw her father heading up the stairs to exist his hideout like the coward he was. Batman seeing this threw an exploding baterang at the supports hanging from the ceiling that were carrying the pipes that covered the ceiling. To Joker's dismay this caused a large amount of pipes to fall in between him and his only exist out of his failing plan.
This was the last straw as Joker's face contorted to the point he seriously looked terrifying with his face filled with a wild derange fury clouded with his insanity as he pulled out a gun from a pocket inside his purple coat. An uncontrollable laughter burst out of him as he aimed his gun towards Damien as he was in the middle of taking down four of Joker's henchmen. Neither Robin or the Batman could stop the Joker from pulling the trigger as they were both preoccupied with too many of Joker's henchmen to process how to stop the threat of Joker shooting at them. Tarry could feel her heart plummet to the pits of her stomach when she saw the Joker seconds away from killing Robin. She had no idea why her father insisted on including Robin in her punishment, it was her who went behind his back and started seeing the enemy, so it should be her that dies, she thought as made a dash towards Damien. She was seconds away before the blaring sound of the gun echoed through the air causing everyone to stop dead in their tracks. A lurching yell of pain soon after the shot filled the air along with a sickening thump of a body crashing to the ground.
The very sight of seeing one of the people he cared for most, twitching in agony as she clutched her chest where the bullet had punctured it. The world seemed to slow down for seconds as Damien processed the sight before him, the only person he ever felt he truly cared about outside his family was lying on the ground with a river of blood flowing onto the floor around her. The Joker had gone too far this time, was all that went through the teenage boy's head as he felt fury exploding through him that seemed to speed up time as he paved a way through Joker's henchmen like a mad man in order to make the man who was tickled pink that he had murdered a child he had always referred as his daughter.
"Poor Bird-boy, it looks like your Juliet bit the dust before you, but don't worry you'll soon join her," The Joker cackled as he pointed his gun towards Robin and started to rapidly firing at him in hopes of at least one shot caused damage, but to his misfortune none hit their intended target as the boy swiftly dodged each bullet as he climbed the stairs heading towards the clown dressed man with an aura that Bruce had saw around the boy when his mother dropped him off in Bruce's care. This wasn't good, Batman thought as he hurried up and took down the last of Joker's goons before springing towards his son in order to stop him from destroying five years of progress he had shown by learning to dispatch the villains rather than killing them.
"You're going to pay for what you've done once and for all!" Robin yelled as he slammed a punch across the Joker's face, causing the laughter in the air to stop and was replaced with excoriating sounds of skin slamming against skin.
"Ha-ha…ha-ha…what're you…going…to do? Kill me?" The Joker choked out as excoriating pain sunk into him from the brutal beating he had just received, but despite the pain and the blood that were exploding out of him he still managed to smile through the swelling on his face, unable to break his code of always smiling till the end.
This statement brought a murderous smirk to Damien's face as he took out his sword, grabbed Joker's reddening purple suit, and before the Joker knew it Damien's had placed his sword roughly against Joker's neck causing a few drops of blood to fall from it. "Thanks for the suggestion," Damien stated as he drew back his sword in order to make a swift kill by slicing through his throat. He was inches away from doing the whole of Gotham a favor by silencing the Joker's trademark cackling laughter that haunt the very souls of the Gothamites, when Bruce grabbed hold of the arm that Damien was using to deal a blow that could end the suffering of the people of Gotham for the rest of their lives. Bruce inwardly took a step back when his son whipped around baring a look of pure hatred, regret, and sorrow. Bruce couldn't believe that his son could truly care about someone else other than him that would make Damien express such emotions visibly on his face, because like him the boy has never been to good at expressing feelings that could be taken as a weakness. Although he knew that they couldn't cross the line and kill Joker, but no matter what for the sake of his son and the sake of Dick's daughter if she pulls through he was going to make the Joker pay one way or the other.
"Let go of me, Batman!" Robin yelled as he struggled against his father's strength only to no avail.
"We don't have time to go on an avenging crusade; Tarrin doesn't have much time left." It surprised the young billionaire how his words struck home to Damien causing the young boy to loosen from his father's grip only to find the teen running towards his first real friend instead of finishing what he started with the Joker.
"I…knew…you wouldn't…have…the guts…to kill your good…old pal…the-" the Joker was cut off by Bruce hitting a pressure point on Joker's neck that instantly knocked him out cold.
"Why did you take that bullet for me?" Damien demanded as his face contorted with sorrow; however, no tears fell he was too far gone with self-hatred and an agonizing sorrow for him to shed tears.
"Robin ever…since you…came into my…room a month ago…you have…helped create…a world where I was…free…now it's mine turn…to return the favor," Tarry managed to choke out. By this time she was starting to fade in and out of consciousness in Damien's arms as he frantically worked to keep her with him, but all his effort was futile as she drifted into a cold dark oblivion in Damien's arms. Robin put his head against her chest in order to check her pulse, only to turn around slowly to give his father a look that answered the dark knight's unspoken question before he picked up Tarry gently in his arms as the dynamic duo left the scene of the crime as sirens from police cars filled the air from outside.