Raven's mind floats back into consciousness along with the feeling of being very sore and bruised all over. Then she pops open the one eye she can and recognizes the ceiling of the Watchtower's infirmary.
"Rae?" Nightwing asks a he leans into her field of vision. "Hey." He whispers.
"Hey." She replies quietly, her throat feels raw, like she had been screaming for hours . "Everyone's all right?"
"Wounded, but everyone is just fine." Nightwing replies.
"How long was I out?" She continues.
"Only about two hours." He replies as he holds her hand while he looks nervous.
"How bad it is?" She asks.
"It could be worse, your healing powers are still accelerating judging by what injuries you have left. What you have right now is just bruises, cracked ribs, a minor concussion, few minor fractures here and there, worst is the knock your right knee has taken and swelling on your right jaw. If we are lucky, we can go home in an hour or so." He replies.
"And if we aren't?" Raven asks thinking the phrasing was odd, but Richard just remains quiet and in doubt. "Richard?"
"Raven… what happened? At the end?" He asks. "One moment I am hugging you, the next Hawkgirl is putting a current through my chest." Now it's Raven's turn to remain quiet. "The others won't tell me what it was, but Fate and Zee seem upset about it, so is Zauriel and Etrigan."
Raven sighs. "Asmodel took a cheap shot at me, I didn't get my shields up in time and you took the worst of it."
"Well… I will count my blessings. And hope whatever it was that it doesn't expect me to return the favor." He replies though he could feel Raven wasn't telling him everything and nothing he could really use. "Do you know how long you've been gone from Gotham?"
"Couple of weeks I guess?" Raven shrugs. "Longer?" She notices the worry again.
"You've been gone nearly 3 months. Tim and I scoured the planet looking for you and Ra's. When we found you… we called in the cavalry."
"What did Ra's do?" Raven asks, her mind suddenly racing with thoughts of having been turned into some kind of time bomb or that she was somehow found intentionally.
"Talia has a son… with Bruce, called Damian. For some reason they wanted you out while trying to get Bruce to take Damian on as Robin." Nightwing explains while still remaining nervous, it wasn't what she could sense, because she could feel nothing from him, but it's in his expressions.
"What's wrong?" Raven asks, realizing there was something else.
"Bruce isn't responding."
"And you are still here?" Raven whispers, knowing there had to be something more.
"I am not sure the League will let you leave." He whispers back, making Raven follow the motion of his eyes, telling her the enchantments on the walls were active.
"Find Tim and Diana, I'll meet you at the manor." Raven whispers to him getting a nod, both of them knowing that if no one responds to the League from the Batcave, the teleporter in the cave would remain closed.
"Be careful." He whispers.
"Just be slow about the door."She smirks.
"I'll see you later." Nightwing says before squeezing her hand before getting up to kiss her forehead and leaves, walking slowly so Raven can see how the door lock works.
"Cya 'Wings." She mumbles as the door closes behind him.
She spends the next ten minutes looking at the door, working out the locking mechanism in her head and gauging the state of her own body, which feels worse than Nightwing claimed. Also she was planning on where to go once out, because she herself had helped ward a substantial part of the station against dimensional, temporal and unauthorized teleportation breaches, because the entire League was tired of intruders that thought they were clever like that. The only thing they couldn't stop, yet, was the New Gods Boomtube-technology. But worst of all, she could feel that her powers were mostly spent once more, which didn't surprise her that much, thought she wasn't looking forwards to running around on a bad leg and with a face that took a blow that leveled part of a mountain. But she would have to stall it a bit, she notes as she see's Peter Cross walk past the window and over to the door.
"Morning." Dr. Mid-Night greets as he steps through the door.
"Peter, good morning." Raven greets. "How's everyone doing?"
"Well, you are the only one that's lying down except for the Amazon." Pete replies as he checks a few charts. "I don't think you need me to tell how you are?"
"Bushed, hungry and drained."
"Beaten, bruised… doing a heck of a lot better now than when you settled with just Adam." He notes.
"That's a concern." Raven sighs getting a nod from him as he writes the notes down on his pad. "Pete, would the League be terribly upset if I wanted to recuperate back home?"
"Of course not." Peter replies without looking up. "Under normal circumstance." He continues as he updates his file on her with the data from the computers monitoring her.
"My head is fine now." Raven notes knowing that unless J'onn, Fate or one of the others had been unconscious they would have checked for abnormalities in her brainwaves and mental landscape.
It was a change over the last two years Cross had pushed for; if a patient had been brought in by the League after a long period of capture, they would scanned both physically and mentally if there was any risks of brainwashing, other kinds of mental programming or general 'rigging' as it has become known when a person had been tampered with in some way. J'onn and Raven had their misgivings against doing it on a person who hadn't given their consent, but Cross had persuaded them with examples of what could happen. His example was the theoretical recovery of John Stewart from capture by Despero, John would be brought home unconscious, his vitals would be stable and strong, nothing out of the ordinary. Until the moment he woke up where a mental prompt left behind would make him expend all of his rings energy in a single blast that would atomize the station and scorch much of the Earth that would be exposed to it.
"It is, but you are radiating something unusual." Pete replies.
"Radiation?" Raven asks.
"We aren't sure what it is, but it appears harmless. Non-toxic to you and the rest of us, but we still aren't sure if its safe. With Ra's having been involved, unless you remember anything, it could be anything."
"But obviously not enough for you to wear a rad-suit." Raven notes that he is wearing his regular attire that leaves his jaw and cheeks exposed.
"It's only because of Zauriel claiming you smell different and Captain Atom feeling the radiation we know about it." Pete replies getting a sigh out of Raven. "We'd prefer if we could finish the tests." He says as she throws off the covers.
"And with something this insubstantial, I'd like to go home. I'll come back when I'm ready and when you have something that can accurately measure whatever it is." She says as she sits up with a groan.
"Raven, chances are that you won't be back for another month thanks to Batman." Peter objects while she gets out of bed.
"I will mention it to him when I see him." She replies before noticing that she was wearing a hospital gown. "I don't suppose I ever left a spare suit up here?"
Pete just sighs in resignation. "We only have the armor, and the rags that were left of the other outfit you were wearing."
"Wonderful." Raven sighs before she limps towards the door, halting at it to lean on the frame and look back at Peter knowing he was about to object again, but she only finds him looking at her in resignation. She realizes he as a doctor was very tired of the patients he has up here because they nearly always ignore his advices that really were for their well being. "I'll come back when I've seen to Batman." She says before she limps on.
"They let you walk?" Nightwing asks as Raven enters the main hall of the Watchtower, spotting Diana in the monitor womb while Tim and Nightwing were waiting in the shadows beneath it, probably all ready to rush to the teleporter.
"Apparently the only thing Mid-Night has is some weird radiation they can't identify." Raven replies, dressed in her armor but supporting her wounded right leg with a crutch Peter had left for her when she met him on the way back from the armory. "Good to go, almost."
"I'd say you've looked better." Tim notes at her state. "He's still not replying, not even on our channels."
"How bad is this Damian?" Raven asks knowing that something was definitely wrong if Batman didn't even respond in some way to the channels the Clan normally used.
"Trained by al Ghul and his League of Assassins since he could walk, it's been drilled into his head that he is meant to be Robin. Has already tried to kill Timothy twice, beheaded the Spook and is probably the rudest child I have ever met." Diana replies as she lands next to them. "If we have to go, we better do it before my mother learns you have awoken, she wants a word."
"Let's get moving then." Raven replies before they all make their way to the teleporter pads. Holt gives them a thumbs up before he activates the machine and sends them away.
Wayne Manor, Gotham:
"Too dark." Tim notes as the four lie in the bushes across the road from Wayne Manor, where only a few lights are lit on the outside. Because dark rooms were nearly considered an open invitation to burglars in Gotham Bruce Wayne usually had many lights on in his house, even if it never saw the garden variety intruders.
"Something is definitely not right." Dick replies as he keeps on studying the Manor through his tiny binoculars. "Anythi… sorry." He says to Raven, momentarily forgetting she had exhausted her powers.
Raven wonders briefly if she could whistle and hope Cerberus was near a window to hear her, but she dismisses it.
"We assume Damian has armed the lawn?" Diana asks, halfway joking because it sounded silly, but was halfway serious due to who lived here and that Bruce didn't tell her about such things.
"He would have figured out how to." Tim replies before an idea strikes him. "But none of it was meant for someone like you."
Diana smiles and gets up. "Allow me to walk to the door then." She says before walking across the road and jumps over the gate to land on the driveway on the other side and walks from there in a normal pace.
"Nothing is happening." Raven notes.
"Changed to sequential?" Dick speculates.
"Not like him, he'd have it fire it all if he had it rigged." Tim replies as he and Raven gets up as well and make for the gate. "Can you still toss me?" He asks as they make it over to the gate and a second later he is thrown over the gate.
"Just the leg." Raven replies before she grabs Nightwing and tosses him over as well before she jumps over, but lands with a hiss of pain. "Why did it have to be the right one?"
"It was a 50/50 chance." Robin smirks before he and Nightwing hurry up the driveway to catch up with Diana just as she pushes open the front door.
"This… is creepy." Robin notes at the darkened hall inside the Manor, it is quiet inside save for the sound of the wind blowing through an open door or window somewhere. "Could he have been warned?" The place seemed deserted, not the darkness the three of them had often been in where they could feel the presence of someone else, this one was just empty.
"We can cover more ground if we split up." Diana notes, like the rest of them she knew how big the Manor is.
"Too risky, there's no telling what he could have done with this place." Nightwing replies as he can hear Raven sniffing the air. "What?"
"I'm not hearing anyone moving other than us, but I can't smell anything out of place either." She replies, actually the place smelled a bit more fresh thanks to whatever opening was left. "The most obvious place he'd be is in the cave."
"I can smell someone, upstairs… and something else." Diana notes as she also tries using her nose, which was actually far keener than a normal persons' thanks to Artemis the Hunters blessings.
"Alfred." Dick and Tim say in unison, both knowing that Alfred's own room was a panic room and that Bruce would have told him to go there if the Manor wasn't safe.
"Robin, if you would go let him know we are here. The rest of us will go to the cave, come down when Alfred's safe." Raven asks getting a nod from Tim before he cautiously heads towards the stairs and the others make their way to the grandfather clock where Nightwing sets the hands to 42 minutes past 7, the time Thomas and Martha Wayne were shot and unlocks the steel door behind it.
The three of them cautiously make their way down the stairs, weary of a potential ambush in the narrow corridor, which also helps Raven keep pace and silence while Nightwing has taken the lead. Diana, unused to the specific signs and noises halts them with a hand and makes a series of gestures that tells them she is smelling something strange in the air. The pair nod in understanding and Nightwing picks out his gas mask while Raven is suddenly reminded of which suit she isn't wearing and resorts to short breaths the rest of the way down.
"Bruce." Nightwing sighs as they exit the tunnel and find Gotham's Dark Knight slumping in his seat in front of the broken computer; the noise is enough to have him bolt upright in alarm, it is obvious that he is not well as he almost collapses into the machine in front of him. "Easy Bruce, it's us." He says as he and Diana guide him back into his seat, noting how drawn and unshaven he looks. "Almost wild." He notes as the looks into Bruces eyes.
"Bruce what happened here?" Diana asks as he pulls the cowl from his face, letting them see he looks like a man at the edge of his wits, deprived of sleep and proper food by the looks of it.
"Damian… he's out of control… went berserk three weeks ago." Bruce sighs trying to sound as he normally does but falls short of that mark as he tries to make his mind work again. "He is around here somewhere, I told Alfred to barricade his door."
"Something happened to Damian?" Nightwing asks, he didn't need to look at the frozen screen to know Bruce hadn't been working at it for some time, he only imagined he had because of the gas he realizes Diana had noticed traces of.
"He's… not normal." Bruce replies. "There's something wrong with him."
"Bruce, can you be more precise?" Raven asks, feeling as if she is missing out on a crucial piece of information regarding this affair, as if her voice makes Bruce realize she is actually there he quickly snaps his head towards her while his eyes try to focus on her as she is standing next to his seat.
"Raven?" He asks slightly in disbelief and relief as he wraps one arm around her as if to test she is really there. "You are here?" He asks himself as he pulls her a little closer before smiling slightly. "You can't imagine how glad I am to see you." He says before he passes out.
10 minutes later:
"It has been a nightmare since you were lost Miss Raven." Alfred says the four arrivals are crowding around him in the kitchen, after the house was declared Damian free, Bruce had been moved to his bedroom after redressing him. Alfred had needed some convincing to come out of his room, and Tim had been pretty surprised that he had been greeted by the barrel of a shotgun when Alfred finally opened the door. Now the shaking man is trying to hold his cup of tea steady. "As I understood it, you were taken away to allow Master Damian's presence here. Master Bruce was told that he is his son, with Talia al Ghul." He says the name with a sour tone, indicating his dislike of the woman. "At first Master Bruce did not trust him while everyone was searching for you and Damian was hostile towards everyone else. After two weeks of incarceration on the Leagues Watchtower, Master Bruce had him moved here. It became worse. After Master Richard arranged a secret meeting, one Master Bruce trailed. Master Damian attacked Master Timothy in the cave, knocking him out before disappearing into the city where he was seen beheading the Spook before confronting Master Timothy again, who was lucky to survive the drop."
"He threw me when Bruce arrived, unintentionally distracting me." Tim adds to Raven's benefit.
"After that Master Richard and Master Timothy left the Manor to continue their search, two months ago." Alfred continues slightly grateful that Tim had provided the pause allowing him a mouthful tea. "At first things seemed to go well, as long as Master Damian had his will. But he believed that his father followed the way of his mother and Master Bruce was forced to constantly monitor him while in the field when it became evident he leaned towards the more permanent solution of fighting crime. Master Bruce and his son would argue and yell at each other, I can't recall ever seeing him this angry for so long, as a result Master Damian was often given chores he found beneath him, like scrubbing the floor of the Manor and refused to do them, and Master Bruce could not force him to. Master Damian snapped a month ago, he ceased to attempt at pleasantries and started insulting Master Bruce as well. Of course Master Bruce couldn't have it and refused to take his son anywhere. Three weeks ago it culminated in Master Bruce having to tranquilize him and bring him back here after Master Damian headed out, regardless of orders. When he woke up he disowned Master Bruce as his father and swore he would get even for the perceived insult. Master Bruce believed it to be idle threats and waited till the child had calmed down, I must warn you, after he was released he brewed his own version of Dr. Cranes poison in secret and released it into the Manor before he escaped into the city, returning a few times since to release a new batch. Master Bruce and I were inoculated after the first batch, but the formula was changed each time. Master Wayne ordered me to seal myself in since I refused to leave him while he braved the gas in an attempt to find his wayward son."
"But the gas got to him, eventually?" Nightwing says.
"It did, he thought I was Dr. Crane a few days ago when I tried to bring him something to eat." Alfred admits.
"Well air seems pretty clean now." Raven says. "None of us are getting the symptoms and Diana is the only one who can smell it was even here."
"Means Master Damian will be returning soon." Alfred sighs. "With the four of you back, I pray this will be the last time."
"It will. You just take it easy Alfred." Tim says after getting a nod from the others.
Although it takes them over six hours to do, they do manage to do a complete sweep of the house and cave for hidden microphones, finding a few gas dispensers as well. After being informed about Cerberus' behavior towards Damian, Raven is quick to go visit her dog, relieved that her sanctum had been kept safe. Which turns out odd, because apparently Cerberus couldn't see her, at all. It starts with it just staring at the door which she opens, but it then turns to barking and confusion when Raven addresses him and ends in whining when she makes physical contact with him. But he is happy when she picks him up, somehow recognizing her even thought he can't see or smell her, apparently.
After making sure that at least their living quarters are free of foreign objects, the five hold council in Raven's room to agree upon a course of action. Assuming Damian would be aware of their arrival, they agree he would be extra careful if he chose to try again. Which Alfred was certain that he would, now that Tim was back in the house.
In the end they decide they needed to forgo sleep and set a watch, though Richard was worried about Raven in her current condition. Tim would be keeping an eye on the attic and the first floor of the house, though they didn't expect an entry there due to the height of the building, the distance to the trees and because Cerberus would be out on the lawn. Diana would be watching the Batcave, due to the hazards it contained if Damian had tampered with them. Nightwing and Raven would be on the ground floor, where she wouldn't have to deal with any stairs, though her walking was aided considerably by a special support brace from the cave. All of them would be carrying recalibrated communicators and would give word if anything was amiss and report in every quarter of an hour. And finally, Raven opted to forgo her armor and instead don her Batgirl attire.
"It's 01:45, Nightwing in." Nightwing says as he consults the watch built into the writs of his suit.
"Wonder Woman, all clear." Diana replies firmly, if he had to guess, she was standing in plain sight, most likely by the stairs and waiting while not having budged an inch in the three hours they'd been on patrol. He knew she would do this because Raven had mentioned she would whenever possible face a threat head on and because she had mentioned Amazon commanders sometimes left squads of sisters standing in the burning midday sun for long periods of time to encourage hardiness and as a form of punishment. Diana was an exception, as a commander herself, but she had endured it while she was younger and sometimes just joined in to boost her sisters spirits.
"Robin, attic is clear." Nightwing knows Tim has been up and down his area at least a half a dozen times, it's one of the things he both admires and worries in him. Actually he was pretty sure Raven, Cyborg and all of the others would say that he was exactly like Richard was at the same age, always striving to be better, to be more thorough, better prepared and ready for anything. Only right now Richard is sure its him he is trying to outdo, to prove he was ready to be next in line while Bruce is down. Also he had the hunch he was being like this now because he knew how unlikely it would be for Damian to enter the Manor in his area.
Raven only emits a click and a whistle signaling that there was nothing to report. For some reason, it actually frightened Richard to see her now, but only because of how effortlessly she glided between persona's as if Raven was just a suit she changed to be someone else. Only hours ago, he had been terrified of her because of the monster that had emerged from within and savaged the League. Then she was as vulnerable as anyone when he watched over her in the Watchtower Infirmary and now, bruised and not at all in a great shape, she was pretending to be a 100% and prepared to engage someone Nightwing had recognized as being extremely dangerous. And for once, he wanted to know why she was pushing herself now? Was it because Bruce's condition had set something off within her? Was it like Tim and because she was trying to prove she was an equal member of the team even if no one had ever doubted either? Amazon-induced pride and determination? Or was it just her own stubborn will and desire to protect that was pushing her onwards? Whatever it was, Richard needed to know and find a way to dismantle it, if needed, before she set herself on a path that could end up killing her. But that was for a later date, right now they needed to focus on Damian.
Ravens P.O.V.
"Head is still hurting, not as much as my leg, but at least I can now walk without a crutch. I don't know how Bruce, Dick and Tim can manage this sort of thing." Raven thinks as she carefully makes her way through the game room, where Bruce has two pool tables, a dart board and a few other past time activities that were leftovers from how his father entertained his friends. "Right now I know Diana is standing sentry in the Cave with the lights out, she expects it will surprise this Damian, but I am not sure if he can plan so far to bring night vision goggles and flash grenades. Tim is busy going over even the smallest crevice he can find, methodically working his way through the mansion. It's been a long time since I've seen him like this, Damian must really have gotten under his skin." She thinks as she walks into the third living room and has to rest for a moment against the fireplace. "Damn leg." She thinks in irritation. "And Richard will be casual but alert while he patrols and worrying about me." She sighs before moving on into the central hallway. "Should have listened to Peter, this isn't good." She notes at the pain in her leg. "Too late now, I chose to go before I knew if I could be of any use. Richard is probably wondering why, worried I'm just being as stubborn as Bruce, I am not." She thinks as she peeks into one of the studies finding nothing. "Nothing like they can all be. I don't get how it comes to them so easily, the will to continue… while I am struggling to live up to this mantle he gave me. They have so much less than what I have, I am stronger, faster, more durable and I have senses they don't even have names for… I cannot allow myself to do anything less than they, especially now when our family is under attack, from within." She thinks before remembering she missed a room and heads back to check it out. "I don't know what the others see when they look at me; a monster, a soldier, a hero, villain, demon? I don't know, but regardless I want to strive towards something acceptable… I can't allow myself to do anything less, I just can't. And this Damian, he is threatening these people, these people who have offered their homes and hearts to me… and I just can't sit by and let that happen, I won't, no one threatens my family." She thinks grimly as she walks on.
"This is Wonder Woman, something is different down here." Diana reports in at 3:50 in the night, her voice no more than a whisper.
"We will be there shortly." Nightwing replies quietly, trusting that her warrior's senses were telling the truth. Nightwing wasn't quite sure how to gauge her report at this stage, not even Bruce could do that, if it was her suit that did it or not he didn't know, but Bruce had noted that Diana didn't report in strange noises in cases like this, he had guessed it was sifts in the air she could feel, even when the area was as large as the Batcave. Richard however was confident that Damian wouldn't get past her, almost regardless of whatever tricks he had, and this faith stemmed in no small way from Bruce's analysis of her.
"Diana is as strong as Superman and as fast, she is the ultimate warrior of a race of ageless warriors who were peerless when they were young. She has no Kryptonite and with no Kents in her teachings, if she chose to, she is by far the most dangerous of the League's founders." That is what Bruce had told Richard when he had asked about the relatively new Justice League and what the others could do.
"But she doesn't?" He had asked.
"She holds most of her strength back, even in battle, if she doesn't believe it is warranted. I also suspect she is still trying to figure out how things work outside of Themyscira and is trying not to make any mistakes that would reflect poorly on her and her people." Bruce replied, this had been a few weeks after the reported Eckthultu-incident where Diana had been beaten by Aquaman, something Bruce thought was more by her own choice than a display of physical superiority. And after the blow she had delivered to Carnage in the Himalayas, Richard believed him, he had been standing at considerable distance from Carnage and Diana's blow was something he had felt shake the ground.
He is joined by Batgirl and Robin when he enters the main living room where the grandfather clock is located and the group hurries down the stairs to the dark cave.
"What are you doing here?" Diana asks in surprise at the arrivals before they realize it.
"Spread out!" Nightwing orders and the group scatters, even if they can neither see or hear anything. "Damian! Come out! This doesn't have to get any worse!" He shouts from his cover of crates of tools and supplies they would need when they would begin rebuilding the cave proper.
"Of course it does Gypsy, you are trespassing on private property." Damian replies through their communicators.
"What is that?" Robin asks Batgirl as they share the cover of the Batcomputer, referring to a far off whine of something followed by a bump.
"Sounds like a machine… didn't Bruce have a mech suit somewhere?" She asks remembering something about a robot, but she can't remember if she just saw plans for one somewhere.
"Never seen it." Tim replies as Diana looks around herself in the darkness hoping to spot something moving.
"Come out of hiding boy!" She calls firmly. "You cannot hope to defeat us with mere words!"
"I don't intend to either, I intend to use the means which father left for me." Damian replies as the bumps become louder before finally stopping. There is a loud whine before the wall next to the wardrobe cave comes crashing down, blinding them all with the light coming from the other side.
Diana blocks the discharge of energy she can't see, out of reflex, but is still carried over the edge of the cave. The others use the time to switch off the night vision in their masks, replacing it with a filter that works like sunglasses. They have to scramble out of cover as Damian fires at them again, smashing both the computer and the crates with the electrical discharges from the huge robot suit's palms. To Richard it reminds him of one of LexCorps Battlesuits, twice the height of a man, barrel-chested but otherwise humanoid. It's clearly modified as it has hands, painted black and has a bat-emblem on its chest that's working as a projector that's blinding them.
Robin throws three explosive pellets at the machine as it strides into the cave, but they explode against it without doing any damage. "Father designed this to battle the alien, I am certain it is more than adequate to get rid of pests like you." He says before two rocket pods pop out of the shoulders and fire's one from each.
Neither reach their targets as Diana flies up from the depths and catches both before hurling them back at the robot that takes no damage at all as they see a thin glowing aura around it. Diana doesn't hesitate before she hurls herself at the suit and crashes into it, but only manages to stagger it as if it weighed more than it appeared. Damian brings down the right arm on Diana's back, slamming her into the ground before putting one foot on her. "Oh and in case you didn't know, I had to solve Father's tiny problem with the gravity engine."
Both Tim and Raven's minds race with thoughts at the mention, they both knew Bruce had once been experimenting with creating an engine or powersource that was powered by the Earth's gravity field, helped along by the works of the Atom, Mr. Terrific, Cyborg, Steel and the notes from Hawkgirl on the subject who had mentioned Thanagar had access to such engines. That it was mounted in a suit like this meant the engine was currently artificially increasing the machine's mass, giving it the hitting power of someone swinging a mountain and the weight of one. The trick behind this machine was that it needed to be able to be turned on without sinking into the ground, Tim and Raven guess Damian or Bruce had solved it by somehow nullifying the effect as long as the machine had contact with the Earth in some way, while Diana obviously was feeling the full weight on her back.
"So then, let's see how long you last." He announces before he fires two more rockets along with a blast of electricity from each palm. The rockets fly wide, one hitting the back wall of the cave, the other bouncing off the Batmobile before exploding and blowing the bikes off the platform. The blasts are dodged as they strike the ground where Nightwing and Batgirl had been standing.
The three scatter as more blasts come their way, all of them running to get close to the machine as Diana pushes her palms into the rock under her, but barely lifts herself. The trio of heroes strike from different angles, Nightwing jumps onto the robots arm before making the leap to its shoulders before spraying the visor serving as the machine's eyes with explosive gel, though he didn't think Bruce actually designed it to see through it, before jumping off. Robin gives the chest emblem a similar treatment in hopes it would at least dim it. And Batgirl follows suit and gives the knee of the left leg pinning Diana a healthy dose as well before they all group up behind the suit.
"The Bat-family stands together, no matter the odds." Nightwing says before they all detonate their charges.
"Family?" Damian asks in the smoke that covers their escape as the suit pivots on its hip. "How dare you speak of family?! The family is Batman, and his son! Not rejects like you!" Dick knew it would get under Damian's skin to mention the family. "I am his son by blood! And you people ruined him!" He barks as he turns again and showers the area in front of them in electric blasts and rockets. Robin and Batgirl leap over the ledge where the chemical lab used to be to avoid the fire, while Nightwing leaps down onto the medical platform under the parking platform.
"You speak of family." Diana growls under him. "Yet, you attack this one, terrorize the man you claim to be your father, demanding everything to be as you say it should be." She says as he looks down and sees her dig the last of the rock away under her, causing him to topple over and letting her get back on her feet before leaping onto the suit's chest. "Have you understood nothing about what it means to be Batman and Robin?!" She snaps before the ground shakes with the blow she lands on the suit's chest that leaves an imprint of her knuckles in the metal under the shield.
"Don't lecture me about my family woman!" Damian snaps before he swats her off him, sending her flying across the cave. "You know nothing of it! You're not even part of it!" He continues as he rises and begins firing blasts and rockets at her, what she doesn't avoid she throws back at him, in hopes the shield was weakened by the blow while she slowly gets so close he can't hit her with anything but his fists. And he brings one down on top of her, making her cross her bracelets while being forced down on one knee as she is pushed into the rock beneath her. "It must torment you like nothing else, knowing that you will never be worthy of this symbol." He hisses at her before his left hand transforms into a cannon like shape before firing it at her head. Diana's focus is shattered in the face of the sonic cannon being fired at full strength into her right ear and she is swiftly crushed into the ground by the arm over her.
"As far as I can see, neither will you." Robin growls as he leaps up from below, carrying one of Batman's many trophies; the Freeze gun. The first shot encases the right elbow of the suit in ice, the second encases the head, the third takes the left foot.
"Drake!" Damian hisses as he aims his left arm at Robin, oblivious to the shadow standing at his right.
"HA!" Batgirl shouts as she strikes the block of ice, using the technique the True Master taught her, channeling her spirit into a blow that shatters the ice and the elbow underneath. Raven can feel she broke several knuckles in her own hand with that blow as the pain shoots up her arm, but in return the right arm of the reeling suit is now left dangling at the end of a few wires.
"Witch!" Damian snaps as he expertly turns with his own fall and fires a shot at Batgirl before falling over, she only manages to get her cape up in front of her before she is blasted back into the wall before she falls over and lies still next to Diana.
"Raven?!" Tim shouts in alarm before he fires several shots at the suit as it gets up. "Stay down!"
"Never!" Damian hisses before he fires another shot at Robin. "Stand still and die!" He shouts in irritation as Tim drops the freeze gun in favor to leap and dodge out of the way, he manages the first three, but the fourth sends him off balance and he lands on his left arm before he is flying through the air thanks to a shot that fell short of reaching him. He blacks out momentarily and wakes up to see Damain looming over him with a raised foot. "You are nothing but a stain on that costume." Damian rumbles, before he can lower the foot he takes three electric blue blasts in the back that makes smoke rise from the armor, letting Tim scramble out of the way and over the side of the cliff. Damian turns around to see Nightwing recharging a strange rifle that's connected to a backpack by two thin cables.
"Bruce built this to take down Luthor's suits, along with anything like them." Nightwing hisses before he fires a beam of lightning at the suit, getting the scream of a computer in his ear. He knew the suit would be EMP proof to a degree, but so was Luthors and Steels, but he also knew Bruce built this rifle to be able to overcome it. But the problem with the rifle quickly appears and the lightning is shut off and he can smell burning plastic telling him it had overheated and too soon. Even if the suit falls over, it is still trying to get up.
"…kzzz…You will die for that Gypsy!" Damian growls and aims the palm at him, but the power just flickers on and off and refuses to fire. "*TT*" He sighs at it.
"DAMIAN!" The bellow from the stairs make Damian, Nightwing and Wonder Woman look up, finding the haggard and angry-looking Bruce Wayne leaning on the cave wall for support, dressed only in the pants they had left on him. "Stand down this instant!" he suit lowers its head and rises to its feet as Bruce limps over to stand in front of it looking like the disapproving father that he is. "Atlas." Bruce growls and the suit slumps it's shoulders as it shuts down at the command.
"What did you do?!" Damian demands from within.
"You didn't think I'd leave something like this standing without a way to stop it?!" Bruce asks. "It is over Damian. It's bad enough you attack me and Alfred, but this?!" He shouts and waves an arm at others. "This is unacceptable! I accepted you came here in a hope you could be rehabilitated, turned away from Ra's methods, but you will not be helped! And as long as you remain that way… You can never be Robin… or a member of this family." Bruce hisses as he tries to keep his own tears back, for all the evils Damian had committed, no matter how rude he was, Damian was still his son, something he never thought he would have.
"*TT* Wish I could say that hurt more than it does you stupid old man." Damian hisses from inside the suit. "You are weak because of them, they are nothing to you and me… and did you really think I didn't know about the shutdown command? Hercules!" Damian snaps and the suit powers up again. A panel opens in the lower left arm and a small cannon opens and he fires the projectile at Nightwing, but he is gone before it hits, as is Bruce, Raven and Tim. Leaving the suit to watch the gas cloud spread across the cave before it spots Wonder Woman standing alone in the new cave opening. "Go on, take a deep breath woman and face all the horrors you mind can dream up."
"That is the difference between being a true warrior and a cowardly member of the League of Assassins." Diana growls as she walks slowly into the cave. "We are trained to face our fears, all of them, no matter how scared we are of them. You fear them, don't you?" She asks. "You fear you will remain in their shadows, that you can never be as good as them, so you lash out and think you've proven yourself better by killing them?"
"This… this isn't possible!" Damian stammers from within the suit as he can see Diana's eyes tearing up, she was truly afraid, but she wasn't letting it distract her and he could see the murder in her eyes.
"Had you succeeded, you would only prove how you would never be the equal of any of them." Diana says as she stops in front of him.
"Rah!" Damian snaps as he lunges at her with his one good arm, but with the engine damaged, he doesn't have the power he had previously. And the clumsy blow is avoided by a step back before she plants her foot on the arm, trapping him as he stands bent over.
"Robin and Nightwing you just wanted gone. Raven you wanted gone entirely, why?!" Diana demands as she grabs the head of the suit and begins squeezing, bending the metal in her palms. "What is it about you that demanded your uncle enslaving her?!"
"Enslaving?" Damian asks in confusion as he tries to shake Diana off. "She was supposed to be eliminated!"
"You didn't kill her." Diana notes before throwing the suit to the ground. "And you were the one that shot her!"
"Father wouldn't be very appreciative early on if I had." Damian replies before Diana buries her fist in his left shoulder, destroying the joints and hydraulics needed to move the arm. "But Father also built a small something to get rid of her. Uncle was certain she wouldn't return from this place!"
"What place?" Diana demands as she hauls the suit back on it's feet.
"I hope he chokes the life from you when you find out. Ragnarok!" The suit instantly begins humming and heats up in Diana's hands as it's engine engages its self destruct sequence. Diana knows it will explode in a second or two and she only has one choice, the chest plate was too thick and she wasn't sure she could get Damian out before it blew so she hurls it so hard it flies like a bullet back into the cave it came from before smashing through the back wall and sends it flying across Gotham Bay where it explodes in a blast that would have leveled Wayne Manor and the grounds it stood on.
Diana staggers out of the cave and into the living room, the gas was starting to get to her, now that she didn't have something to focus on. Alfred, wearing a gas mask, is quick to guide her into a chair before he gives her a counter-serum.
"Damian… was he?" Robin asks as Bruce just sits massaging Raven's good hand as she lies on the couch.
"Bruce… I-I am sorry…" Diana stammers as the unpleasant battle rages through her system.
"I built that thing, long ago." Bruce cuts her off without looking up. "I originally intended to use it for crowd control, I later converted it for combat in case Superman ever turned on us. I abandoned it when I realized what I was doing; I was building the ultimate weapon, something no one would be able to stop if it ever was to fall into the wrong hands. So I buried it in the cave and sealed it off, I never spoke of it because I feared you would pass it on… and in doing so, I left you unprepared for it." He sighs. "Damian isn't stupid, he knew that even with the suit, he wouldn't be able to win, but he had to take the chance… he wanted you all gone so badly I feared he would burn down your rooms if he got the chance. And he knew it could be remote controlled."
"So it was only a transmitter that was inside of it." Nightwing notes.
"To fool Diana, so she wouldn't strike the chest as hard as she could, shield or not, I never managed to strengthen it to the degree that the pilot could survive the pressure needed to bend the shield." Bruce sighs. "Why didn't she disable it?" He asks the others as he motions at Raven.
"Her powers are drained." Nightwing sighs as he moves over and pulls off her mask, letting Bruce see her battered face. "When we found her, Ra's or Talia had brainwashed her into leaving Carnage in charge. She fought us while they escaped. It got worse after Hawkgirl hit her in the head."
"Carnage was set loose." Bruce mutters.
"You need to see the infirmary." Nightwing says. "And so does she."
"Umm, sir, while I know the importance of tracing steps in this matter. Perhaps it best be postponed till we are sure she pulls through?" Alfred adds, having seen the injury on Raven's side and back.
"I know she will, she's a fighter." Bruce mutters as he gets up. "Alright. Alfred, would you mind…"
"He's coming with us." Diana groans as she leans forwards in her seat. "He's not staying here now."
"Really Miss Prince I…" Alfred replies.
"Care for her, as much as we do, you are coming along." Diana replies firmly as she gets out of her seat to meet Bruce's eyes before he nods in agreement.
"I'll go get Cerb, he should come too." Tim says before he gets up and walks towards the door.
Coming Next: What is Raven carrying around? Will she finally get some time to heal? Will Ra's get away clean? And what about those other parties? Stay tuned for more :)