Shadow Of The Son: Chapter One
It had been years since Bruce Wayne's death. Seven, to be specific. It had only been five since Dick Grayson had disappeared. And a little while after the second Batman had disappeared, the only person willing to take up the cowl left too.
Gotham was defenseless after this. All but one of the other Batfamily members had all left Gotham, or moved on from vigilantism - like Barbara Gordon, who was the new Commissioner - leaving it in the hands of the criminals, and Jason Todd, who wasn't much better. Without a Batman, everything seemed… lost. That's why he returned. With an army.
Sometime after Dick Grayson disappeared, Damian Wayne lost himself. He got more violent as a Robin without a Batman to hold him back, he saw himself unfit to wear the cowl, he felt responsible for Bruce and Dicks deaths. And it was true, wasn't it? If he hadn't distracted Bruce, The Jokers wouldn't have been able to kill him. If he hadn't been so damn angry, Dick wouldn't have left, admittedly Damian felt that connection was a bit flimsy - but he made the connection anyways. Damn what everyone else thinks.
So, Damian left. Not unprompted, though, he killed someone without meaning to. He killed James Gordon Jr. Not without good cause, of course, he had been captured by him, and when James unmasked him - and saw Damian Wayne underneath, everything clicked. James threatened to kill everyone, everyone, Damian had a semblance of care for. Damien eventually escaped, but after a week, he found Jr with a knife to Alfreds throat. He was too late. He lost his third parental figure that day, and Barbara Gordon lost a brother.
After what happened, he disappeared into the shadows. Getting a fake passport had been easy enough, finding a job in Europe, though, was easier. He quickly found himself back with the League of Shadows, his grandfather and mother welcoming his return… not with open arms, per say, but as close as the Al Ghuls got. He rediscovered himself there, he shed the guilt of their deaths and embraced his new role as the heir to the throne of the Demons Head, and the best assassin the League of Shadows had ever seen.
After a year, or two, his mother - the backstabber she was - killed her father, and the new Demons Head was born. Damian hadn't been as… tough as his grandfather, though, he did have his mother locked up for treason. He may not have liked Ra's, but he valued loyalty above all else. And his mother was anything but loyal. He spent the last three years of his time away from Gotham planning, waiting, working towards his goal of ridding it of crime - forever.
"Dammit," Tim Drake, the third Robin, muttered under his breath, glancing at the terminals in front of him. Drake, like most of the Batfamily who were still vigilantes, joined the Justice League. And now Drake led it. He turned, slightly smiling at his fiance - Bernard Dowd, and his ex, Stephanie Brown. Bernard lived up here in the Watchtower after one of the League's villains had targeted him.
"That bad, huh?" Stephanie asked, her arms crossed as she leaned to her side, taking a glance at the computer - reading something about an 'army marching on Gotham'. She frowned. It had been a year, at least, since she had been home. She mostly spent her time working, patrolling streets around Metropolis - where she lived with her best friend and fellow member of the Justice League Cassandra Cain.
"The League of Shadows is making their play. They're sending a whole army to Gotham, and all they have is Jason right now. We need to send-" Tim started to say, but he was cut off by a new voice.
"No."
The new voice was quiet, unlike Tims, and Stephs, but it carried. It was the voice of Cassandra Cain, AKA Orphan. "We go. Just us." She had a confident tone in her normally emotionless voice, "Gotham's ours." That would be the longest string of words they'd hear from her tonight.
"We can't handle an entire army, Cass," Tim said, turning back to the screen, listening to the reporter talk.
"The army marching through Gotham seems to be ignoring everything, they are marching towards Wayne Manor. If anyone is outside their house, please, get inside."
Tim sighed, of course it was tied to Bruce somehow, "okay, Cass, Steph, and I will go to Wayne Manor." Tim stated, pressing a button on the computer - activating the intercom, "Raven, Starfire, Flash, Supergirl, to the teleporter. Everyone else, go on standby."
Damian Wayne held his hand up, signaling to the people behind him to stop, he narrowed his eyes - staring down The Red Hood.
"Pipsqueaks back in Gotham I see," Jason said, a smile under his mask, "run back to grandpa and mom? You know, you might be my kid, I got with your mom on-" And with that, the fight started, Damian throwing a right-hook strong enough to contend with Bruce in his prime.
Jason's eyes widened, not expecting Damian to have attacked - or have that strong a punch. He stumbled back, glaring at the younger assassin, "you're no fun, I can't even taunt you a little, little brother?" He lifted his fists, getting into a fighting stance.
"You are no brother of mine. You are part of the problem, Todd," Damian growled out, lunging at Todd with a concealed blade. Jason, being trained and raised by both Bruce Wayne and Alfred, saw it and easily kept himself from being stabbed.
"Woah- you're a lot less fun than you used to be, at least let me talk about how it's your fault Bruce isn't here before you go for the kill." Damian snarled at Jason when he heard him talk about his father, but he took a deep breath, calming himself down.
"You're getting in my way, Todd. I have no time for this." He raised his hand and then balled it into a fist, and with that, the assassins accompanying Damian charged Todd, and the Demons Head started making his way to the manor once again.
"Kara, Wally, you two are on evacuation duty - get the civilians out. Raven, Kori, you three focus on the army - if you find Jason, get him to help - without him killing anyone. Steph, Cass, you two are with me. We're going to Wayne Manor and getting to the bottom of this."
As Tim said this, the sets of teleporters in the Watchtower went off - sending the members of the League all over Gotham, with Tim, Steph, and Cass, they would appear in the Batcave, nodding to each other as they started to spread out, searching the cave - and mansion as a whole.
With Kara and Wally.
The two fastest members of the League would appear on the outskirts of Gotham City, glancing at each other with smiles, "I bet I can get more civilians out than you," Wally said, looking up at the floating Kryptonian, who smiled back at him.
"You're on, West," Kara stated, flying off quickly, with Wally running behind her, yelling about her cheating.
With Kori and Raven.
The three former members of the Teen Titans appeared in the middle of Gotham City, Starfire smiled as she started throwing green blasts of energy at the assassins from the League of Shadows, enjoying herself. "This is so much fun, friend Raven!"
Raven, on the other hand, had stuck to the shadows, her long magical tendrils slamming into assassins, careful to not cause any lasting damage. She didn't feel the same joy that Starfire did, she kept herself quiet, and hid any emotion she felt - bottling it up. Any emotion she felt would just feed Trigon, and give him more ways to manipulate her. So she limited her own emotions. "Yeah, whatever you say, Star."
Damian quickly arrived at the mansion, using his immense knowledge of Gotham City to get there as fast as he could. Once inside, he started noticing things, like places on the floor without dust, and items that were… out of place. Someone was here. He scowled, quickly finding a way to gain entrance to the Batcave.
Once in the cave, Damian took to the shadows. He was wearing a simple fully black suit, and a black belt with assorted items - like throwing knives, and smoke bombs, he had worn a suit like this ever since he rejoined the League of Shadows, it made things easier. Simpler. Of course, he still had his tanto sheathed at his side; he had traded out his blade for one of these when he joined the League.
When he found a group that consisted of his former friends - if you could call them that - and his brother, he growled, why were they here? To ruin everything. Like they always did. He stayed in the shadows, getting behind them, listening to them before he striked.
"I'll search the manor, Steph - come with me, and Cass," Tim then gestured to Cassandra, "are you fine with handling the batcave?" He had a calm tone. Damian always thought Tim was a little more psychotic than he let on, he felt this way ever since the incident with his hit list. And this only made him believe that more, how could someone be so calm when an army is marching on your city?
He decided to strike while they were apart. Steph and TIm? He could beat them with his eyes closed, and his hands tied to his legs. But Cassandra was a problem, she had beaten him before, of course he had grown since then - but so did she. And she had gone through the same exact training he had. So, when Steph and Tim entered the mansion, he jumped out of his hiding spot - his tanto drawn, ready to find its place in Orphans back.
Cassandra heard the tanto unsheath seconds before it would have hit her back, she jumped to her side, readying her fists as she narrowed her eyes, glaring at the person in front of her - she didn't recognise them, "who is your boss?" She asked, already prepared to dodge another attack, wanting to stay ten steps ahead of her opponent.
"Tt." Damian muttered, standing a full seven inches taller than her - being 6'0 compared to her height of 5'5. He dropped the tanto, moving one foot behind him, readying his fists, starting to circle the hero, "I'll give you one chance to leave. I am here for one thing."
Cass' eyes widened, he sounded just like Bruce… only younger. Then it clicked. The League of Shadows? Someone that sounds just like Bruce? It was Damian. Or some clone of him. "Damian…?" She asked, following his movements with her eyes, ready for anything.
"I am the Demons Head now, Cain," he stated, disdain in his voice as his eyes searched her for any weakness to exploit, seeing her falter slightly when he spoke, he stifled a smirk. "You all left Gotham, only Todd tried to help. Now I'm back, to take the cowl and rid this city of crime. This city needs a Batman."
She agreed that the city needed a Batman, but she hated what he implied. She knew what he meant by rid the city of crime - killing the criminals. "Not how we do things," she stated, glaring at Damian under her mask. When he left, he was… not a sweet kid, he was almost evil, but she understood him. She knew how hard it was to break free from the training they had gone through their entire lives, how hard it was to stop killing. But now, she felt like he was the antithesis of everything she believed in. Where she had succeeded in leaving that life, he fell back into it, he became what her father had meant for her to be. It was like looking in a twisted mirror.
"It's how I do things. It's the only way to fix this city." She should be on his side. At least, that's what he thought. She was just like him, trained from birth to protect - or eventually usurp - the Demons Head. But she broke free of that. He also felt that he needed to prove himself to her, he felt a need to prove he was better than her, too. She was what his father wanted him to be. He sometimes felt like his father preferred her to him, he felt like that about all the Batfamily, though. Talia had turned that into a deep resentment for them when he had returned, they weren't deserving of his fathers praise - and he would prove it. "I don't want to kill you, but I will. Let me take Gotham, Cain."
Cass frowned, lunging at him, knocking him to the ground and catching him by surprise, she quickly moved to hit a nerve cluster in his neck - wanting to immobilize him for the time being. But it didn't work. He blocked her attack, and instead hit her in the gut with his free hand, rolling over - now on top of the former Batgirl, raising a fist, "last chance. This needs to happen, Cain,"
She glanced down at his belt, quickly she lurched upright - her forehead slamming into his as she pulled one of the throwing knives from the belt, slamming it into his thigh, "no." She growled, throwing him off of her, quickly she stood, readying herself for him to continue fighting when she saw him stand, the blade still in his leg.
"Tt, you're stubborn." He glanced behind him, ah, perfect, what he wanted, the suit in a glass cage. He pulled the knife from his leg, groaning slightly as he pulled it out, "think about my offer. You know where Nanda Parbat is." He threw the knife behind him in one fluid, swift motion. The glass shattering behind him. He turned, stepping towards the costume, grabbing it, suddenly he felt something connect to his back, knocking him to the ground.
"Don't touch it." She growled, kicking his side when he fell for good measure, sending a message to Tim and Stephanie to come back to the Batcave, she turned to take a glance at the elevator they left in - when she turned back, Damian and the suit were gone. She wish he hadn't inherited that trait from Bruce.
The elevator beeped as it landed back in the Batcave, Steph and Tim leaving it, they saw Cassandra Cain examining a tanto with great care - they also saw a few drops of blood around the Batcave, and the Batsuit missing. "Cass…? What happened?" Steph asked, walking towards the women.
"Fight. Damian." She said, looking for any markings on the tanto at all - but finding none. Her next move was to look at the blood.
"Damian? Where?" She asked, looking around half excitedly, she was one of the few- okay, the only Batfamily member that didn't fully blame Damian for Bruce and Dicks deaths. He was only a kid at the time, and he didn't understand everything.
"Gone. Took suit. He led the attack." Cass said, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Dammit, I should have known it was him, the League, the connection to Bruce… crap…" He blamed himself for this, partially at least, he could have stopped this. If he had only been more prepared. This would have never happened to Bruce. "Did he say anything? Or did he just take the suit and leave?"
"Wanted me to join him. Stupid." She muttered, she'd never go back to that life. She would never let what her father wanted for her happen. "Never happening."
When she finished speaking, Tim pressed a button - teleporting the three to the Hall of Justice.
For some reason, the army of assassins - other than the unconcious ones - left. Which came as a huge relief for the two heroes fighting them, they were exhausted. Raven quickly formed a portal back to the Hall of Justice, and the friends left.
"Ha ha, I win. So much for fastest man alive," Kara said with a lighthearted chuckle, glancing down at Wally, she had beaten him out by three civilans.
"You cheated. I should have won," Wally said sarcastically, but he had a smile on his face as she picked him up, "I could have ran to the Hall, you know? Not that I'm complaining."
"Oh just shut up, I felt like being nice," she flew towards metropolis, holding her boyfriend closer than before.
Damian had left Gotham as quickly as he arrived, it took a few hours but he arrived at Nanda Parbat, frowning as he entered his home, he immediately took to sowing together the suit, fixing any damage that may have been done to it. And making it better suited to his body.
"I didn't expect you'd actually pull it off," a voice from behind him said, stepping into the light, the orange and black helmet of Deathstroke shining in the light. Damian already knew he was here, he did hire him as a bodyguard after all.
"Tt, Slade," Damian greeted. He didn't trust the man in the least, but he respected him, at least he respected him more than he did the other options for a bodyguard he was given. Were it his choice, he wouldn't have one, but his advisor told him it was more of a show of power than anything. "You should have faith in me."
"So, you're the Bat now? A Bat I won't have to kill, it's almost unsettling." Slade sat down in a chair, taking his helmet off to reveal his short grey hair and beard, a black eyepatch covering his right eye. "Long as you keep the cash rolling, that is."
Damian sighed slightly, "be useful and bring me Lady Shiva," he waved Slade Wilson off, focusing on his work. Despite the respect he held for him, he didn't like talking with Slade, it was unsettling that one man could spend so much time talking about killing Batman. Slade muttered something under his breath, but did as he was told, leaving to find the mother of Cassandra Cain.
Authors Note - Hi-a, I'm going to be trying to do this and A Spiders Fall at the same time - one chapter for each should be published around the same time (after I publish chapter three of A Spiders Fall, I'll post chapter two of this.) If I can't do both stories at the same time, I'll put this one on hold until A Spiders Fall is finished. ANYWAYS. Onto stuff about this story specifically. I got the inspiration for this from Batman #666, also known as Batman in Bethlehem, though it wont follow that very faithfully. There are some stories that I won't be considering canon in this fic, one of them being Gotham War, if you don't like that, well… Its my fic, you don't have to read it. Any constructive criticism is very welcome, I do this for fun but any advice that can help my writing is appreciated. If you have any questions about the story, leave a review, I'll be happy to answer it! And, if you celebrate it, happy Thanksgiving!