Nightwing – Son of the Demon's Head -Wanted; Dead or Alive – Part Two
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Chapter 10: Survivor Island Reboot?
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The screens showed the entire island and where these, unfortunate few would be headed, right into dusk.
Dick felt his master hold him at his hip, pulling him closer onto the ottoman that overlooked the very stakes these mongrels had been made to believe were for them to overcome.
He was a roman military soldier of the highest rank, a Caesar as Dick tried to comply to have them man's hands off of the many buttons and switches in front of him. Slade nipped at the man's ear while he mewled from his cock being rubbed beneath the cloth of a simple loin style. Slade wanted to win, and he intended to.
"You know…. even if you pretend to hold me dear…. It's just going to prolong your sentence as my pet through that old curse…you're giving it reason to take you… as I desire to…and once they all fall and Batman may as well be the last…" He grinned into the shivering hero's ear.
"You'll kill him for me. Won't you, Dick?"
Because Rose could come here. To be his kid, to belong to them like, before…things…. that Bruce stole…
The curse warped Dick's realities of right and wrong. If Rose was here, he could protect her. Love her as he had when she'd never belonged to Slade.
He didn't teach her. Dick did as John, as a person she still wanted to trust…
And Slade would be the one to back off.
Bruce…was he so upset about Dami? He looked more worried about his city than the kid. Typical.
Dick grabbed the man's armor and dug into it as a kid to its parent after a nightmare. Slade smoothed back his pet's hair with a peck on the scalp, tenderly he crooned to the man as he never had in so long. Dick melted into a puddle, fading off.
He hated it, because it kept him from running off to join them. He'd had enough of being in pain. He wanted to rest, so Slade allowed it as the survival round heated up, and he pressed a button to bring about further obstacles.
To make this time, more interesting than the beginning.
Somewhat, furrier as Bb lifted his head, as if knowing what to expect of this trial before the heroes could bat a lash.
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The groups made it to a clearing that looked devoid of trees. A bad place to be, but it was open enough to do some detective work for the Bat at least.
Dick had looked brainwashed. Yet, it couldn't be the drug. If it were, then why had Jason been able to become immune to its properties in only a few days – let along weeks?
"Something isn't right." Raven panted and looked over her shoulder at the path where brush meant dirt road.
BB sneered as he bounded on four legs to the top of a slope up in their path, rocks falling as he readied to morph. "What's going on?? I'm going ahead. You freaks can lose out for all I care."
"Gar!" Jay shot at the brainwashed hero. "We might b –
A loud ROAR erupted as the heroes gasped and threw their heads towards the rustling brush.
" There!" Kori pointed, and wished she hadn't all of a sudden.
"Lions…and tigers…."
"No bears? Come on!"
Gar scoffed at Cy's freaked - out stance and went on ahead as an eagle. Jason went after to stop the brainwashed brat, while the others…
Were in a bad place to begin with.
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Lions and tigers. Ra's didn't mind animal warfare an occasion, so Slade had taken the liberty of getting to know his army personally. He knew military methods, yet Crane stated that they were trained to follow an Al Ghul. Slade had made sure that Talia's staff and she herself spoke the ways of the beast to this "Man of Rage."
He rather liked being a lion tamer, yet it wasn't that.
Ra's was incredibly astute and gifted in a manner of ways that baffled Slade. Batman had the gift too, so Dick ended up spilling those beans during a torturous coupling in bed one evening. It was easy when you force fed your prisoner the reason TO spill, especially when Slade was doing all of that feeding down the man's throat. He was pleased that the curse still stuck, despite it being weaker, while the Stockholm helped an even greater deal.
The beasts; they too had nothing to hide from their new caretaker, as did Slade's adorable pet.
Tim for one however, was…starting to bug him, just as Jason and Damian had left, he'd see to it that Timmy never squawked out of turn. Just a soldier to him, nothing more.
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Tim was beside Kilowatt who'd been fastened to a device with a similar collar as he friends. This however, was different since it drained electricity from his body, sapping it with dark anti – matter instead of a simple surge in reverse.
Slade liked that Crane was still in one piece. He didn't need a team of geniuses to know that this plan, would go well up until a point.
Just until the Bat came for him personally.
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Starfire's bolts were wasp stings thanks to their collars. Batman's only weapons allowed were one grappler and a sing batarang. He didn't even have shark repellent!
Raven had to use her toned-down abilities to move rocks, yet it drained a considerable portion of her energy just in doing that.
Cy had a down graded canon and no tech other than his fists of fury. Slade was less than decent towards Todd, who had only his legs to carry him as punishment for being so obstinate during supper.
And now, only Starfire and Raven's groups remained, as Bb dragged Jay out towards the first outpost.
Outing them without a second glance back.
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Batman took up a large rock and chucked it at the tiger's skull, not knowing how closely the lion was to protecting one of its own kin. The largest roared and reared onto its back legs, arms out as it bear hugged the bat, setting for its teeth to do the rest.
Starfire still had her strength and punished it to fall onto its flank, growling and a two more big cats rose to defend their sibling of the house of Al Ghoul.
"They will not relent! What must we do?"
"Climb!" Bruce nudged his chin once he saw the trees, and so they did. Raven levitated Cyborg, while Starfire partly aided Batman to gather them up to the highest bow of that forsaken palm.
The cats roared out and clawed, butting the bark as ….
"How long? We won't make it till sunset..." Raven turned to the bat as he though.
"I have to risk it."
"No!" Stafire said. "These beasts only hold to one master. I should –
"I'll do it, too." Cy told the Tamaranean princess with a nod to Bruce.
"They can't peel back my armor; you can't get too hurt. Rob needs us but you might be able to snap him outta this."
"I have one spell. It will give us a start to run, but we can't turn back once Cyborg is …"
"I can do it, Rae." Vic told his teammate with a possible " Booyah" to come. "Trust me. I'll see you guys in a while. They don't have powers. I got this."
"We shall save our friend Garfield, dear friend Cyborg." Kori put a hand to his face, blessedly full of life. Warm and not cold as death.
"That too, we shall all promise, if you do not..."
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"Sucks to be you, huh?"
Dami was met with quite a sight once he'd returned to the manor in chains. His first thought was to collapse and gasp for help as the actors did in dramas his butler used to watch.
So, he did and Cass was the first to get Alfred out to fetch the young master.
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Eyes fluttering open, he smelled something horribly sweet from hiss days of being locked up elsewhere.
"You're up!" To his pure blessed thoughts, there was an old face he'd not expected would rise from her sick bed.
"Barbara…." He rasped as the door opened from the other side of the room with an undeniable creak.
"Ah, you've awoken, Master Damian!" Alfred set down what looked to be tea, a few pieces of toast and jam and some pill bottle for –
"Ah! I made it??"
"You're in shock, take it slow." Babs directed with a hand to his night shirt. "You'll wind yourself or worse."
Dami sat up, panting. "Where is Rose?"
"She's…with Cass." Barbie looked to Alfred as the man made sure to check the boy's forehead. "Cool, no fever."
"I was taken into Slade's army as his lap dog. And so was –
"What has become of the bat family?" Alfred's jaw tightened as Damian tried to compose his thoughts with a huff. "Father and Todd, Grayson and Drake….Well, Todd is with father, yet Slade has deliberately made everyone else into either his devoted servant or….a sacrifice.. He made father participate in something." Gulped the boy. Brow back to being twisted in knots like his father. "Richard was…awarded the role as Wilson's whipped dog. He's punishing him, for taking away Rose, and he's coming here. No…wait…" Dami clutched his skull, a pulse making him want to vomit. "Un…. owls……involved…." He responded to his wide – eyed allies.
"Here….and ready to take us down…."
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"The Court is working WITH him??"
Babs threw her hands over her face and gasped allowed. "We have to contact my father, now! And their given free…"
Dami nodded.
"Holy apocalyptical…." The read head groaned. "Dami, I need you to stay in –
"You can't fight back." Dami stopped the adult's admonishing.
"Neither can you without Slade trying to nab you AND his kid!" She protested, both points very clear.
"We're in a war like the last time, but that's not all. Alfred? Get the entire manor on lockdown. Cass and I will get answers if we have to scour the city for a single Talon."
"You won't win!" Dami almost pleaded as he gabbed her arm, begging for the red headed idiot to not try what everyone else had already failed to.
"We can't fight them. They're rats thriving beneath this city that will beat us in numbers. Duke is useless and the titans…I can't let you leave –
He bit his lip, shouting as her eyes shut to those words she'd never wanted to hear.
The boy truly knew, and care he did. To the grave.
"I won't let my city be crushed by the same psycho that's tried to hurt my family!"
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"The cave won't hold him."
"Doesn't he have enough to fret over, Miss Gordon??" Al tried to plead, and yet it was a losing battle.
Damian Wayne and Rose Grayson were cooped up in the bat cave. Together.
She stayed in one corner with her history books, while in another, Dami polished a weapon from his father's practice stock.
Most however, weren't all made of wood.
Take the bolas for instance; he could push her down and get as mad as he'd been when Bruce had still been here.
Taking care of Grayson and Wilson's precious little angel.
He felt absolutely idiotic for having any pity towards the root of his family's troubles, as her eyes never gazed upon anyone's but Alf's and Cass's or Barbara's.
He was nobody without Grayson and the clan. Just a kid waiting for daddy to come crawling back.
There had to be…
He blinked.
"What?" His eyes lowered as her own flicked as a cat's. Somewhat less than one puss to the other, he didn't flinch.
"You're brooding. Bruce said –
"He did it too, or did you not know MY father like you wanted to, princess…?"
"I…guess, not really." She clutched her arms to her chest, trying to comfort herself. They were without family, both shared a similar pain to the others'.
Dami sat up in the bat computer's one seat. Rose was only a few feet from him . His hands in wrappings and head still hurting from the tome's pretty tricks Slade had let the thing play on his soul.
On his family. His mother had believed him, she knew he was still not Slade's puppet all along. How he'd wished his father had the gall to decide the same, yet Bruce would be silent for Wilson. It was the only way to keep Dami out of that situation.
But…
"We're here together now, so I wanted to…apologize."
Rose looked at the kid as she raised her blue eyes to him again. Unashamed, yet still her pride never was lacking.
To the point?
No.
She was a pre teen like him, not her father's trophy. Not a killer. Not Grayson's…
She wiped away a stray tear and chuckled, hiding her worries as she shut those crystalline orbs an sniffed. "You and I both have family we want to protect."
Dami's resolve was done.
How she had the same feelings for him, he'd never know.
But.
He had wanted to know her absolute decision. What Grayson was, had been when she'd left Cambodia to be with him. A guarded and prized possession of a mad hunter like Deathstroke.
"What is he to you, Grayson." Dami's words tumbled, lips tingling to have it. That one confession that only she could give.
"He…" She thought back to a time when he was awkward. They sat up and just enjoyed living side by side, she eventually pushed him away but…
He never left her, he never –
"I…..think love, is the answer." Her tears made her face wet again, to the point that she allowed her emotions to overflow. Dami didn't want to think it was about only family. The fact she'd seen Richard post abuse, post rape….and had lived with the one responsible for harming her real caregiver for years…
He'd not harmed her. He'd only had his eyes on Grayson, to be what he was.
Owned. As she'd never realized they were until later. The kid was so desensitized to these actions that Dick's pains had always been hulled up in the closet where she'd never find his scars. Slade had tried to make her…
Hurt him, or…
Dami didn't understand that sort of "love." That thing that made you want to kill or be killed. He knew of devotion, and praise and also adoration. He knew what love felt like if it wasn't too close to touch. Bruce had been used to erase her deceived devotion to Nightwing. As if she were running…
Respect was double edged.
Like good and malevolent action.
And, yet…
Rose and… him??
"You, loved him." Dami noted the tears on her cheeks, the look of fear in Rose's young eyes.
The lack of disgust in his…
But why?
"Grayson. He can't love anyone –
It's not true!" Rose shouted and got up from her many papers and books from school. The next day, she'd certainly have no one to study with. "He took me from that world, guided me…it wasn't my father who did that. It was my teacher….he lied to keep me safe. I said he was my husband like a big baby back then…..but it was true!" She wept. "I don't want to see him hurt because of me!...but….Damian….it hurts…I …-
She fell to her knees, head in hands while rocking her pitiful self to the beat of her own heart. He slipped out of his seat and remembered what he'd told Rose. That she couldn't give in, or she'd be weak. She had to be stronger.
Dami frowned and crossed his arms, admonishing the child as if he had the right to speak.
"You have to stop, now. Before –
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A clashing clatter of glass and wall sounded about the cave, frightening the girl as Dami fell over top to protect her while he still could.
They both panted, on the floor, staring up.
"What –
~ Dami? We need you to get to the bat mobile, go as far a –
"Gordon??? Answer me! What's going on!" Dami threw himself over to the computer….
Owls, Talons.
Trying to rip apart the manor.
They were both in terrible danger if the got caught again.
"Rose, listen to me." Dami sighed and turned to grip the girl by her shaking shoulders. "Follow me if you want to see Grayson again. I promise. I won't tell them about your crush."
"Ah…..are…"
Another crash and she was in his arms with a high scream, him pushing her off, frustrated by the sight of such a cliché moment.
"Get off! We have to move, the cave is under attack and we are low on reinforcements at the moment."
She nodded and took his hand into hers. "Where." She shook as she asked the pre teen boy. "Where should we go?"
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Next chapter is insanely twisted so yes – Rose may have a meltdown. Stay tuned and read on!