To tame a Demon

by Backfisch85

After a fight with Trigon, Dick is pulled through a portal into hell and finds himself badly injured in a completely hostile world. Left to his own devices and surrounded by all kinds of monsters, Dick has only one option. Survive as long as possible until rescue approaches. But at this point no one knew what consequences this would have.

32. Chapter 31: An eye for an eye

Chapter 31: An eye for an eye

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Warning! Torture, violence.

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Suddenly, a flat hand smashed through the boy's face, taking all the wind out of his sails.

Drake had hit him? Drake had fucking hit him and he hadn't seen it coming at all. He had never done it out of nowhere like that before, which made Damian look up appropriately caught off guard.

The teen took off his helmet to convey the displeasure even more clearly in his next words.

Under narrowed eyes, Tim quietly growled menacingly:

"Who do you think you are?"

Damian was still caught in his surprise when, after a brief pause, Tim now continued louder:

"Who do you think you are, Damian? Running off with Dick like that, without even having any idea of what you're actually doing and without even considering talking to Bruce for Dick´s sake?!

How can you be such a reckless selfish stubborn person!"

Damian was about to object when Tim unexpectedly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up by it:

"I've always held back from giving you a serious spanking until now, but you definitely crossed the threshold tonight! You think you're so important that your word is the only thing that counts and on my behalf tell yourself that, but this isn't about you, it's about Dick! He's the one who desperately needs help! And since you don't give a crap about his welfare and me, I don't give a crap about what you want from now on either. I am sooo tired of putting up with your constant posturing and being respectful to you when all you give back is your shitty Napoleon complex!"

A brief moment of silence fell between them, in which they both glared angrily at each other, before Tim let go of Damian and continued:

"If you want to go off on your own, please do so! But Dick will no longer be a part of that. Now either stay here and buck around like the annoying brat you are or get on the bike and help saving Dick!"

With that, the taller man silently walked back to his bike and sat on it, waiting.

Damian looked at him angrily. Drake could kiss his ass on the personal side!

But he also had the good weapons...

"Drake you..."

"Stifle your unnecessary comment! Sit behind me, or stay here. I don't have the time to deal with you. I'm fed up with this kindergarten!"

It made Damian growl, but also raced his synapses at the same moment. He would have so loved to just give Drake his middle finger in his stupid face if the current situation didn't demand the opposite of him.

Swallowing his pride, he finally sat down behind Drake in silence, with an expression that not even bad weather could compete with.

Tim then handed him his helmet:

"Here. I only have one, so you take it."

"Tt- You'd better take that one yoursel-"

"Put it on, or get off!"

The boy just grumbled and did as he was told, while the wingjet flew over their heads, eliciting an annoyed hiss from Damian.

It was all down the drain.

"We're going to work together as a team with Bruce now, and if you so much as try to run off with Dick again, Bruce and Dick will be the least of your problems. Do you understand me?"

Damian grumbled again but didn't answer, which made Tim more insistent now:

"Do you understand me, I asked?!"

Reluctantly, he merely nodded in confirmation. True, Tim was not 100% satisfied with it, but what did one expect from this brat.

With the engine already roaring to life, Drake added more to himself:

"When this is all over, you'll be lucky if I´ll exchange a single word with you ever again."

The motorcycle roared loudly as they followed the blue flashes in the sky.

Meanwhile, Dick was again wrestled to the ground by the two demons. Jack's black snares pinned his limbs abdomen lengthwise to the damp park earth from below, while James applied pressure from above with his massive gold. The snares kept his airway closed because of the ice and the gold grounded his lightning so he couldn't escape again using those skills.

"Now cut him up already before he gets away from us again!" rumbled Jack as he concentrated on keeping Dick fixed. James then tried to break through Dick's hard feather armor with a sharp giant gold blade, but unlike the first time, he didn't succeed:

"That bastard is tenacious. He can harden his feathers."

James lashed out with his hand. White crystal formed around it and sharp diamond claws expanded the previously red fingers.

"Now that little trick I can do too..."

With that, James rammed his hard daggers into Dick's back, slowly piercing the dense feather armor with all his strength. Richard hissed and growled muffled under the black restraints as the claws gradually dug into his flesh, right between his wings.

Once through the dense feathers, there was no resistance for the sharp diamond blades, so James could easily begin to slice the muscle tissue beneath to slowly and agonizingly dismember Dick.

Richard fought back with everything he had, but he was no match for their combined strength without his skills. His muffled screech quickly faded into the empty park as James dragged his diamond claws inch by inch down his back.

Fortunately, however, help was not far behind.

The two demons were interrupted in their actions as a hail of bullets rained down on them, causing James to pull his claws out of Dick's back and hold his arms out in front of him protectively.

Normal pistol bullets wouldn't have even itched them, but these were the heavy guns of the wing jet, which had just appeared over some park trees.

"Grrr... I knew he'd show up here," James growled, and Jack joined in:

"It would have been too good just to have to worry about despair. Just shoot him out of the sky and let's get on with it."

James didn't hesitate and let his bloodstained claws dart toward the wing jet. The sharp diamonds detached from his fingers and flew like projectiles towards one of the engines. Without Batman being able to stop it in any way, they effortlessly ripped open the armored metal and sent the vehicle into a spin. The jet's wings dug into the damp earth like knives, tearing deep long furrows in the park. The flying vehicle came to a halt, but that didn't stop the bat from continuing.

The dented tailgate was blown open and accompanied by loud engine noises Batman jumped out on his motorcycle. In addition, several black drones detached from the damaged jet, various flying, as well as two that were driving on the ground. Together with Batman, they began circling the demons and continuing to fire at them, which visibly angered James. While these projectiles were far weaker than the jet's, it did not change the fact that they continued to annoy both demons, like pesky fleas. It made James growl:

"That annoying bastard doesn't seem to know when to butt out."

But Jack just shrugged his four shoulders:

"If you attack one bat, you'll have to deal with the whole swarm. The guy's a big shot in the Justice League. What did you expect? I would have been pretty disappointed in this carnival club if they got killed that quickly, let alone quit. That's why I wasn't up for them getting involved in the first place."

"Just make sure he doesn't interfere again."

With that, James again jammed his claws into Dick's wounds, picking up where he had left off before.

Bruce could see his first desperately trying to wriggle free in excruciating pain. His trembling limbs testified to the strength with which he tried to fight against the black restraints, and as his head turned toward the bat, Bruce could see his desperate eyes. They radiated pure agony.

And drove the horror into Batman's heart.

He took more drastic measures.

Following a new order, blades strongly reminiscent of a Batarang in terms of shape, slid out of the two moving drones. They headed straight for the two demons, followed by Batman, and Jack was already getting ready to take them out. The first drone was stopped by the Demon's pitch, which shot out of the ground like a giant dagger. He was about to take care of the second one as well, when suddenly something clattered between his feet.

Astonished, he looked down and saw a small blinking ball. Not even a second later, it enveloped everything around it in a huge sea of flames, startling the demons. Blinded by the dense fire, Jack could no longer maintain their defenses, and so the extended blade of the last moving drone struck him full force between his bony ribs. While the skin was too hard to even inflict damage, it was enough to tear him off of Dick. Almost simultaneously, Batman's massive motorcycle rammed into the unprepared James, knocking him off Richard as well. He didn't linger, but immediately drove on to gain safety distance when he spotted not far from him two of his trouble-children on a red motorcycle.

Bruce joined them as the black pitch weakened under the heat, finally giving Dick a chance to fight his bonds.

As they rode side by side, Bruce asked curtly, addressing Tim mainly:

"Was that your explosion?"

Batman couldn't see Damian's face behind the motorcycle helmet and he was sure his son was just gnashing his teeth in annoyance behind Red Robin. But Bruce was already glad that his youngest had even decided to finally work together for Dick's sake. There was definitely no room for their discrepancies at the moment!

Fortunately, Tim saw it the same way and so he answered tersely:

"Yes. According to Damian, the weakness of this black substance is fire. The other is sensitive to electricity because most of his body is covered in gold. We should take advantage of these weaknesses."

"Understood. I want you to keep a safe enough distance from these demons and only attack from afar. These are not normal opponents and we know too little about them to be able to assess them sufficiently. The priority for now is to keep them away from Dick. You take the one with the animal skull. I'll take care of the golden one. And no risks!"

Tim nodded in acknowledgement and their paths parted again.

Meanwhile, the last of the snares snapped under Dick's power. With the momentarily distracted demons still breathing down his neck, Richard did his first wing beat and pushed himself up off the ground. But he didn't get far. His wings moved far too erratically to generate enough lift, and so his intended flight ended once again with his face in the grassy ground.

Many of the muscles between his wings had been severed by James and did not allow him to fly away.

But Dick had a decisive advantage over his adversaries. Over 100 years of combat experience in hell against a wide variety of creatures and survival strategies learned accordingly.

He pressed his feathers tightly over the deep wound and changed their structure. Thousands of microscopic rakes wedged themselves into the individual fibers of his muscles, pulling together what belonged together. A painful procedure, but necessary because his self-healing ability was simply too slow.

Jack got back up first and saw their main meal about to make a run for it. The flames were still dancing against his body and Batman's drones were shooting incessantly, but that didn't stop him from once again letting his snares burst out under Dick's feet. They were just grabbing his calves when the two Robins again peppered the demon with fire. Another incendiary bomb attached itself to the pitch and set it ablaze, instantly melting it.

James had also picked himself up by now and was still trying to hit their intended target with his diamond projectiles. However, Dick fought them off with his tail.

They could only watch as Richard finally made it into the air and disappeared with camouflaged feathers into the night sky.

"Grrr...you let him get away!" growled James at Jack, but last one seemed relatively unimpressed. Bored, he let his bony neck vertebrae crack as he replied:

"Like you're not just as much to blame. Don't always blame everything on me. Besides, I don't even know what's wrong with you. His little brat is still here after all. Don't you think he'll come out if we torture the dwarf a little? And even if he doesn't, at least we had a little fun."

James was still visibly irritated, but he could only agree with this plan:

"Then let's skin this brat until he chokes on his own screams!"

"Ze Ze Ze...That you always have to get so impatient right away. Where's your sense of a bit of chasing around and faking false hopes? It's a bit boring to peel layer after layer off his bones right away. But if you insist, that's fine with me. I'll just annoy them a bit and then blow their lights out. The little one still has a lesson to learn from me. There's just one question left...

How do you want your meat? Medium or rosé?"

"Stop fooling around and get to work! Who knows how long this Constantin can keep our brothers busy."

"Now a please and you'd almost think you were being nice to me for once, party-pooper. Just distract them while I surprise the two brats from underground and then worry about making bat goulash out of this Batman."

With that, Jack, using his Black Pitch as a drill, dug into the soft park floor and was gone from everyone's view, as was Dick.

"Hrrrr..., This oozing pile of bones has nothing to say to me at all. I'll make it three crosses when I don't have to work with this idiot again."

Growled James and looked over the park area plowed by the fight. Far away, both motorcycles circled back and forth. The demon let his fingers crack, making the crystal around them ring like bright bells. He didn't even look up as the last moving drone was hit by his shooting diamonds with a wave of his arm and exploded. The robot's large blade flew through the air in a high arc, right at the demon, but James only meant for it to do so.

Just before it hit the demon, the gold of his cloak turned into a dark gray and as if a spell was spoken, the blade suddenly disappeared.

Tim and Damian's eyes widened in surprise as the sharp piece of metal vanished into thin air. Their minds were still busy registering what had happened to it, when right next to them a tree was shredded into a thousand pieces.

Wood splinters tore wounds in the boys' skin and partially bored into their flesh. Tim had to squint his eyes protectively because of his lacking helmet, and before they knew what was happening to them, the ground cracked open beneath the two boys.

On impulse, Tim pushed Damian off the moving motorcycle before the black loops completely enveloped him and his machine. They stopped it abruptly and at the same time jerked it upwards, causing the teenager's head to slam uncontrollably against the steering of the vehicle and, accompanied by a laceration, depriving him of his senses. Tim's ears rang. His vision blurred into a white mass and he couldn't register what was happening so quickly when sharp claws roughly dragged him off the red motorcycle.

He was thrown hard to the ground and gasped painfully. Rang in shock for air to counteract this terrible dizziness and was about to hold his throbbing head when a foot pressed his skull deeper into the damp earth.

Tim felt snares crawling over his body, immobilizing him to the point of immobility in a matter of seconds. The pressure on his head increased, further aggravating his agony.

Jack stood casually over him. The earth was still beading off his body when he turned briefly to Damian, who was lying on the ground just a few feet behind them. The boy had received little thanks to his helmet and was just beginning to pick himself up when Jack's rumbling voice pulled him out of his confusion:

"You should have taken your chance when I gave it to you, little brat. Instead, your teacher will now be someone else's pain and then your own. So don't say I didn't warn you."

With these words, Jack swung one of his arms up and a thick string burst up from the ground. But it wasn't just black, it was drenched in red, and only a millisecond later both Damian and Tim realized why. It had pierced through Tim's left thigh and was splitting the tissue inside. Only now did the pain shot throughout his body with all its force, making the teenager cry out in agony, which also made Damian gasp in shock.

Even Batman's face was filled with horror. He was about to rush to their aid, however, when something invisible seemed to tug at his bike, pulling him in James' direction. He tried to jump off, but even his costume was caught in the suction.

Bruce saw James now gray cloak stretching strangely in his direction and then when the demon growled more to himself:

"Grrr...I hate this shamefully cheap color. That idiot is lucky I deigned to do it." , Bruce got, what was going on. The dark gray color and the fact that he could feel what seemed to be only the metal elements of his equipment being attracted, told him that the demon had turned his cloak into one giant magnet.

An enormously dangerous ability considering that every item Batman wore contained hard metals, all of which are magnetic. He had to come up with something fast!

James just stood there bored, letting the hail of bullets from the drones wash over him, when Bruce finally pulled something out of his pocket a few feet in front of him. He let the small bombs fly, as they were also attracted by the magnet just like he was and took direct course towards the demon. Just before they hit the demon, Bruce gave them a signal and lightning bolts were released, which slithered over James metal like snakes.

The red demon was shocked again. Twitched uncontrollably as the flowing electricity commanded his muscles. Bruce was dragged back and forth in time with the writhing cape, and when a favorable moment occurred by momentarily turning the magnet away from him, he pushed the throttle of his bike to the limit and put distance between himself and the magnetic suction.

But James was now more than just pissed. He didn't even think of letting that bat go. Therefore, he took advantage of the situation and used the flowing electricity to strengthen his magnet. The powerful electromagnet quickly had Batman back in its grip. But this time Bruce knew what hit him. He pressed a button on his motorcycle, whereupon two burly bolts rammed into the ground, holding him firmly in place. Adding to this, two hatches opened in the front of the vehicle, emitting an extreme sonic boom. Bruce's discrepancies with Clark in the past had advantages mainly for new weapons.

James had to brace his legs in the ground to keep from being pulled away. The pressure exerted on him was enormous and made his hearing literally roar. Slowly this bat really annoyed him!

Meanwhile, Jack continued to amuse himself with the two boys. Tim was still lying among the churned up earth, trying to keep his punctured leg still as best he could. With every little movement the black mass tugged painfully at his wound from the inside and the fact that this demon was still pushing Tim's injured head into the dirt with his foot only aggravated the suffering of his body.

Damian could no longer just witness this. But he couldn't throw any more firebombs either, as they would immediately fry Drake! He decided to try a few throwing discs first. The sharp blades simply bounced off the leathery skin rather than doing anything.

Instead, the demon just grinned at him and asked, "Was that a fly just now?"

Damian didn't know what to do now. He could think of no weapon with which he could free Drake from this situation. No blade was hard enough. Fire or electricity would hit Drake, too.

Just what should he do?!

"You know, kid, it's really cute how you're trying. But shall I tell you what would be even better?"

With a hyper-fast leap, Jack jumped at Damian and bit into the boy's helmet with his bony jaw. Damian's eyes, widened in shock as he could see behind the glass deep into the maw of this monster and how a fire seemed to be simmering in those depths. Loud cracking finally jerked him out of his rigidity.

The helmet began to give way under the enormous pressure of the jaw. Damian did not hesitate, but quickly released the clasp on the neck with deft fingers before slipping out from the lifesaver at the last second and putting a few feet of distance between himself and this demon.

The helmet finally burst under the force applied. Fell to the ground in pieces and Jack chuckled as he continued to speak:

"When that thing stops covering your desperate eyes. It's so much nicer when you can see each other. Don't you think?"

Damian was shocked. Knowing Drake, that helmet was extra reinforced and that monster had bitten it to pieces just like that!

Jack walked back over to Tim in a good mood, purring as he did so:

"Now we can start the real show."

He held the red motorcycle upright with the help of his slings, so he could lean relaxed against it and look at Tim, who was lying right at his feet. Jack bowed down to stroke the teen's throat with one of his claws.

"Such a scrawny neck. I guess anyone can call themselves a hero these days. Even a deer like you. I have to be really careful that you don't break into a thousand pieces if I get careless."

But Tim did not put up with this. Ignoring his aching leg and dizziness, he scoffed:

"Pah...urg...says the one who is only skin and bones here!"

"Hehe...well said. But I'm not all skin and bones little deer. You know?"

Jack put his claws around Tim's neck and a deep relaxation seemed to spread like a virus through his body. As if wrapped in absorbent cotton, Tim was only dully aware of his suffering. Everything seemed to happen so slowly. As if his nerves were not sending all the sensations to his brain. It was almost a redemptive gesture when he didn't even feel his leg hurting anymore.

"Well, isn't that a nice feeling? How just nothing matters anymore? Neither pain nor our hostility? I possess the wonderful ability to slow down your bodily processes. Your brain is working so slowly right now that it can't even process what's happening to you. I could also slowly suffocate you, or take away your heart's will to beat. But that would be far too boring. Instead..."

Jack made the tentacle, which was still stuck in Tim's leg, dance back and forth, simultaneously jerking the relaxed teenager out of his heavenly state.

Like a tsunami, everything that had been held back spilled back into Tim's brain with full force, and given the unimaginable agony his body was enduring, he couldn't help but let his horror be known to the others with a bloodcurdling scream.

Jack chuckled as he took Tim's suffering again and again, stirring more inside his flesh, only to have the pain invade his body more intensely than before.

This horrible tentacle which was sapping around inside him...Tim just wanted it to stop. But he couldn't move or otherwise ease his pain. He felt like he was slowly losing his mind between all the pain and relief.

The screams went through Damian's spine. Tim was a quiet fellow. Neither loud nor quick to upset. To hear him screaming so desperately, a sound the boy had never heard before, sent a deep shock through his limbs.

Although Damian always pretended that Tim was completely indifferent to him, but damn! He just wasn't!

And what was worse, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't think of a solution how to get Drake out of this situation.

Finally, Damian did the only thing that came to his mind. He ran at Jack, using the front of the motorcycle as a springboard, and kicked the demon's bony head as hard as he could. A very stupid action. He knew that, but what else could he do but draw attention towards himself and thereby give Drake a break.

"Leave him alone! You expired goat meat!"

Jack didn't move a bit. It was as if merely a fly had grazed him. Instead, the demon grabbed the boy's leg and purred in amusement:

"Oh how cute. That you would just blindly attack me like that. I had thought you were smarter than that. But I must say the expired goat meat is something new."

Tim was freed from his torture for the time being, which made him gasp in relief, but Jack grabbed Damian by the throat with another arm and pulled him closer to him. The boy struggled, but this did nothing at all.

"Tell me, my little friend, where have those nice explosions of yours gone? Don't you want to set me on fire anymore? Your little brain surely thinks that they would harm me, but..."

Jack reached into Damian's belt and pulled out exactly the kind of bomb he had used against him.

"...Let me take that illusion away from you."

To the surprise of the two boys, this madman activated the bomb, which now beeped to announce its imminent fiery blast. The color drained from Tim and Damian's faces in the face of death. Because that's what they would be if this thing went off!

But to the amazement of both, Jack happily tossed the little thing into his mouth and chirped to the younger boy:

"Another lesson for you shorty. A weakness is always a strength."

With that, the demon aimed his skull at the many drones still circling in the sky and, along with the explosion and his pitch inside, unleashed a torrent of fire that set the entire sky ablaze. Damian's skin burned from the tremendous heat and Tim felt like his gaping sensitive wound had just been cooked. He had gone from the frying pan into the fire and could not hold back his painful gasps.

No drone could survive this unbridled heat either, and if any did, the burning pitch clung to them like acid to do the rest. Like shot birds, they trundled to the ground and partially set the trees on fire, turning the park into a sea of flames.

The sheer power these monsters had was incredible! How could anyone defeat someone like that!

Jack stopped spitting fire, which visibly brought Tim relief. Wisps of smoke left the demon's nostrils and happily he laughed:

"Whew, there's some serious power behind these little things. Hahaha...you've got to give me the recipe for those! They could prove to be extremely useful in the future."

But Damian was in no mood to laugh. So fire really didn't do any damage on this monster. Only this black stuff was weak against fire.

This situation just went from bad to worse!

"Oh my little friend why are you looking so grim? Have I taken away your fun? I'm sorry about that. However, one can also only pity you. Still so young and already caught in such a cruel world. What are you 10? And you fight against murderers and insane people in a colorful carnival costume. Makes me wonder if you're not the crazy one on the streets, beating people bloody with clothes like that."

Even though Damian was literally in the clutches of this monster right now, he would never put up with something like that.

"Urg...I..."

"Huh?"

"Urg...I'm 13 you hollow-headed western prop!"

But this only made Jack laugh even harder:

"Gahahaha...! Kid, I'm amused by your creativity. But seriously 13? I guess mommy didn't feed you enough to make you that short, huh? I almost get pity and I am the boney one here, as you can easily see. Man, that really sucks to be the dwarf. Or how is it like that? I myself have always been just the long slim one."

Now it was getting personal! Damian was definitely going to punch him in the face for this one. Although it would bring nothing, but it was a matter of principle here!

The boy was about to lunge again with his foot, when a strange whistling sound rang out. He couldn't even look that fast, as black snares caught two of James' diamond bullets right next to Tim's head in a flash, visibly startling both boys.

Had this Jack just saved him?!

Irritated, the four-armed demon put Damian down, but kept him tied up in place with his pitch. He looked over at James who had reversed his magnet and instead of pulling Batman toward him, catapulted the bat into the nearest bush. Diamonds flashed on James' fingers and irritated by this interruption, Jack growled to him across the field:

"What are you doing James! Take care of your bat over there!"

James was visibly angry with his temporary comrade. After all, he wanted to get to his meat as quickly as possible without having those pesky insects around:

"Are you kidding me! I should probably ask you that! This inferior livestock belongs slaughtered! They interfere and prevent us from eating despair! Instead, you save this monkey lying on the ground!"

Tim swallowed hard Faced with the two intercepted diamond projectiles that nearly pierced his head and throat. But...why? Why hadn't this demon left him for dead?

"You are a greedy philistine who does not see the beauty of things. I don't expect you to understand that, since you can't. Let me worry about those two boys."

With that, Jack turned back to look at Damian again. But the boy felt as if he didn't really see him at all.

"I'll tear you and your smart mouth to pieces as soon as I get my share!"

It was only for a little moment, but Damian could have sworn that there was something like sadness in those empty eyes when the golden one shouted this from his throat. And he couldn't help but wonder in confusion...what the reason was.

One of the many hands cupped the boy's chin. Damian could not resist it, as the tentacles still bound him. All the more surprised he was now by the calm words of this demon:

"You and your comrades really shouldn't have interfered. I told you boy."

There was nothing threatening in it but was more like a well-meant advice that was not heard and confused Damian even more.

But as quickly as this strangely calm side appeared, it was gone.

Jack grabbed the back of Damian's head and wriggled back toward Tim with him, while James chased Batman into the thicket. He forced the boy to look at the Red Robin lying on the ground. Watching the pain in the latter's face as his impaled leg still forced him not to risk any movement and Damian didn't like at all the direction this situation was heading right now.

"Like I said, I like to look at the face of my new friends. So, what's behind curtain number one and two anyway?"

One of Jack's claws moved down to Tim's cheek and Damian's face respectively. Almost gleefully, he slowly pulled back the masks of both to reveal what lay beneath and purred in obvious surprise:

"Man, I don't know why you guys even wear those things? You don't even look too bad. Try to pick up chicks with my face. There's nothing more than a few hardcore Satanists if you look like me."

Damian couldn't figure this guy out. He cracked jokes and was apparently sad in the next moment only to crack jokes again. He was cruel and tortured Tim, but then saved him the next moment. And he gave Damian the opportunity to stay out of it at the beginning of the fight and the advice not to interfere.

What was going on in that airhead's mind?

"But you know what's even better?"

Damian was snapped out of his thoughts as Jack ran one of his clawed fingers down Tim's outstretched body. From neck to hip and on and on, and with each additional inch the fear in the teenager's eyes grew. Finally, the finger paused at his pierced leg and a thousand shivers ran down Tim's spine.

If he could, he would stop time now. Somehow prevent what was about to happen with a bad premonition.

"Seeing all the emotions when one of you suffers agony. Gahahaha..."

With that, Jack sank his finger into Tim's wound, digging around in it along with the black tentacle.

Blood spurted out from the movements and into the faces of the three. They made Tim scream even worse than before. Sent worse waves of pain through his body that he could barely stand it.

And Damian could see in full measure the desperation in his eyes now that his face was exposed. As the finger dipped into the wound again and again, dancing a duet along with the writhing pitch. As the squishy sounds followed their beat, fueled by the meanwhile harsh screams.

And to Damian's dismay, something else began to add to that beat.

Jack again sent the pain in pulses through the teenager's body. Enveloped him in absorbent cotton as before, only to send him through hell again.

It was driving Tim crazy. He couldn't think anymore. Not see Damian or remember why he was actually here. He was caught in this haze that just wouldn't stop and was getting more and more desperate. So desperate, in fact, that he himself tried to yank his leg away, ignoring the damage it was causing. At that moment he would have even cut himself open with a knife just to finally have that moving thing out of there.

"Gahahaha...little deer what are you doing? If you're not careful, you're going to rupture your arteries and bleed to death. I took extra care not to hit them so we can have fun for a little longer.",

Cackled Jack and Damian wanted to kick him, but his body had still been tied up too. Instead, he was now yelling sourly in the demon's ear:

"Leave him alone or I'll..."

"Or what dwarf? Aren't you going to invite me to your next kid's birthday party? You're too weak to hurt me or James. You're just there to play princess and bring out the feathered fowl. And skinny Bambi here is just the entertainment. I wonder how long it will take him to lose his mind. Do you think a PTSD is already reached? Or do I need to try harder?"

More skinny strings wormed their way through the wound, driving Tim's vision into a sea of white. Some of the hair-thin ones traveled up his lymphatics, spreading the unbearable agony like a parasite. Each moved individually. Stroked roughly over the ruined nerves, driving the teen even deeper through this hell. He couldn't even beg for it to stop at last, as his head formed a single tangled mess.

Finally, Tim's body could take no more and he threw up in pain.

Even Damian couldn't watch this any longer and forgot his pride at Tim's grotesquely contorted face:

"Shit! Stop it! He's not going to keep this up any longer! Please stop torturing him!"

"Och I think he can take more than you think. Otherwise this deer would have passed out long ago. But you asking me so nicely is very cute. Do you care about Bambi? Little Thumper is probably afraid for his shot friend. But do you know what hunters are for?"

Jack pulled the boy's chin closer to him and purred against his ear:

"They remove the excess, restoring balance. And humans are long overdue with their culling. Don't you think?"

A shiver ran down Damian's spine as the demonic voice echoed in his head. His brain was running on overdrive. There had to be something he could do!

Suddenly the screams stopped and Damian's gaze automatically wandered to the victim of the torture. What he saw filled his face with disbelief. Was ...Drake smiling?

With the greatest effort, Tim gasped from behind compressed lips:

"K-..urg...Don't worry...arg...I can...withstand…this…"

Shocked at first, Damian could have seriously kicked him in response. Drake that idiot actually tried to make him believe that this brutal torture was only half bad and that he had nothing to worry about. Drake, you idiot! You idiot, you idiot, you absolutely self-destructive IDIOT!

"Well now look at that face. Body on fire and pretending nothing is wrong. You really have fighting spirit Bambi. Admirable."

With Jack's words ringing in his ears, Tim tried to focus only on his breathing and push back the pain. He didn't want Damian to have to see him. With his face contorted right at his feet and the tortured screams in his ears.

Tim blocked out what he could block out and held on to his breathing. He couldn't let himself weaken and focus on those moving things inside him. Not show the unbearable burning spreading further and further. Just breathe. In and out, against the pain.

It was almost like a joke that he saw so many emotions in Damian's face that he didn't know from him. And that they were directed at him, out of all people, was in a way quite flattering. Ex-assassin or not, he is just a 13 year old boy. And that's why Tim wanted to ease his worries about him.

But then...the controlled puffs of air turned into a sickly rattle. Damian wrenched his eyes open in shock to find that Tim was barely drawing in his breath from one moment to the next.

With grim glee, Jack explained what was going on:

"Oh, I must have reached the lungs there. Let me just take another quick turn. I haven't done that in a long time. Two more right turns, straight ahead and..."

Suddenly a jolt went through Tim's body and his eyes rolled back. Confused, Damian watched as the many stirrings within him completely disappeared and absolute silence marked his sweaty form.

"Oops...I think I accidentally stopped his heart."

At the words, all color drained from Damian's face. He had misheard. He had to have misheard!

Not quite comprehending, the boy asked haltingly:

"W-what did...you just say?"

Jack just scratched his head in annoyance as he sullenly replied:

"Oh I got his damn heart stopped. Man I'm really out of practice."

He wasn't serious. ... ... He couldn't be fucking serious!

"You rotten goat bastard! Release me right now! I'll smash your fucking skull into a thousand pieces and chop off each of your ugly arms one by one! Get your filthy tentacles off him!"

Damian had to get free as soon as possible. If the heart wasn't damaged, there was still something he could do. For every minute that a still heart went untreated, the chance of survival dropped by about 10%. So he had to get the hell off these shackles and save Drake!

"Wow, somebody's pissed. Don't bother kid. You can't do anything there anyway as long as I'm inside him. Even with electric shocks you'd only make it worse. My pitch distributed in the pathways of his body and would shred them in case of a shock. Then he's dead all the more. So don't touch him. But...you may look."

Jack put Damian, bound, on his knees in front of Tim's dead body, so that he could now see his corpse-pale face better. The white eyes were still open, as was his mouth from desperately gasping for air. In his punctured leg, the black snares were still scurrying around, squishing in the open flesh like a thousand tiny maggots. The stream of blood that ran from it was now only a small trickle. Finally, without a pulse, the source was so weak that only physics kept it flowing.

Shit! It had been a whole minute already!

"At least let me do a pressure massage!"

"No. That's not necessary."

"He's DYING! You don't even want him! Then you might as well just leave him alone!"

"Well normally that would be the case, but..."

Jack leaned down to Damian before finishing his sentence:

"...there's a lesson being taught here right now."

Damian's eyes snapped open and the demon's voice continued to purr:

"I told you what would happen if you interfered again. If you value your life, you should stay away. Those were my words. Therefore, your life is now plagued with guilt. Because death is far from being the worst punishment, you know. Actually, I didn't want to kill him, but since he was apparently so important to you, he had to die now. All because of you, an arrogant child."

Jack's fingers wandered to the dead face and lifted it a bit to get a better look at it.

"Stories don't always end well kid. Learn from it and don't mess with opponents you don't stand a chance against anyway. Hm...And he was such a pretty deer. Such a pit-...?!"

Before Jack could finish his sentence, he was suddenly hurled far across the terrain with a violent blow to his bony skull out of nowhere. Several burning tree trunks got pierced by him in his flight before the demon finally slammed into a sturdy old oak tree. Far from the actual action.

Dick materialized over Tim's body. Teeth bared and tail raised menacingly, he fixed snarlingly on the direction in which Jack had disappeared. Damian stared in disbelief at his feathered friend and tried as best he could to keep his composure. Even though pure chaos was raging inside him, he had to function now. Robin had no room for that, and besides, Dick was here now. There was something he could do!

"Richard quick, the restraints!"

Dick's sharpened gaze moved to the boy and Damian couldn't deny how it triggered discomfort in him for a brief moment.

The turquoise eyes were cold, lurking, and for a split second seemed to consider who this little creature even was. But then Dick's nostrils flared and a cold icy breeze settled over the many loops that bound the two boys.

Quickly the pitch became brittle, giving Damian the opportunity to break free and he wasted no time moving closer to Tim's side and beginning to work on his silent heart.

Drake that idiot just wasn't allowed to die. Not if he could prevent it. And definitely NOT like this!

It was the second past minute when the slender child's hands finally managed to squeeze the teen's rib cage in a rhythmic beat.

Dick batted away the Frozen tentacles around Tim's body with his tail, however the scurrying inside continued. He did not pay much attention to the two boys. Was more busy not to let his enemies out of his sight and it was not long before the voice so hated by Damian at the moment, joyfully sounded far behind him:

"Finally! There you are!"

In the next moment Jack dashed out of the burning thicket again with inhuman speed and rammed with his body Dick away from the two boys.

Far, the speed sent them skidding across the ruined surface, and Jack wrestled his snarling adversary underneath him to keep the many limbs in check with his arms. When at last they came to a halt many meters away, the demon's long jaws opened and, in addition, let its pitch rain down in rivulets on Dick. The black mass wrapped around his body like a straitjacket, giving Jack enough time to inform his comrade of the appearance of their target:

"James! Dinner's back! Get your golden ass over here and hel-...urg!"

Dick froze the pitch again and in the same second took advantage of his opponent's carelessness to ram one of his wings into the pit of his stomach as he broke free.

Gaining the upper hand, he didn't leave it at that, but used his electrified tail to grab the surprised demon with it and shock it with electric lightnings at the same time.

Unable to resist, Jack was thrown across the field, slithering and tearing a large furrow in the soft ground before finally coming to a stop between two red feet. Confused, his eyes wandered up them, revealing an annoyed James standing over him with his arms folded.

Dick was about to leap towards them, not wanting to give them a break, when James, with a wave of his cape, magnetically attracted the wreckage of Batman's jet, only to drop it down over their attacker. Tons of metal crashed loudly down on Richard, burying him under an iron coffin.

Silence fell for a moment.

In the high of his cranky euphoria, Jack began to laugh, much to James' displeasure:

"The devil help me with this idiot and the fact that I share my genes with him. What's with the stupid laugh? I thought you were getting sick of all this?"

"Hahaha...that was before I knew how much fun you could have with these fellows. There's nothing better than a good fight and manipulating people."

"You can have your fun when Despair is dead Jack. Get your lazy butt up! We're nowhere near done here."

"What about your bat?"

"Grrr...he was pretty persistent with all that stuff he has. We were on the other side of the park when you called me. He's back there somewhere with his motorcycle trapped between the flames. What about your guys?"

"One is already over the Jordan and the other is still trying to save him. A tragic drama I tell you. But very amusing. Speaking of which, you'd almost think you were the loser here now. After all, I've eliminated my part."

"Rrrrrr...I'm saving the powers for him anyway."

James pointed his golden fingernail at the wreckage under which Dick lay buried, then continued his words:

"There's no point in fussing with the vermin. However, we should make sure he can't get away. I don't have time for running after him all the time."

Jack stood up and patted the dirt out of his cranial cavity as he replied:

"True, true. However...let me show you another little magic trick of mine first. My preparations should be ready by now."

Under the annoyed looks of James, Jack lifted one of his arms up and stretched it out in the direction of the two boys.

Damian was still working Tim's heart when it suddenly shook under his fingers. The teenager's chest rose and fell from now on, giving him hope that it had indeed worked.

Drake breathed. Drake that fucking idiot was finally breathing again!

Damian couldn't deny how a thousand stones fell from his heart and he slumped back, relieved not to have this death clinging to him. He couldn't control how his fingers began to tremble as the tension slipped from his shoulders, and it took him a moment to get all the sensations right.

But as life returned to Tim and he began to straighten his torso in a strangely erratic manner, a shuddering sensation run over Damian.

"D-Drake?" He asked cautiously as the impassive eyes gazed into the distance. Only now did the boy see how, partially under Tim's pale skin, something dark and long seemed to slither, and Damian couldn't help but move away from him a little.

There was definitely something wrong.

Tentacles crashed out of the ground and attached themselves to the arms of the half-dead body, while Tim finally rose from the ground.

The black pitch on his hands solidified. Formed claws that were just waiting to tear something to pieces. His entire forearm was covered in black and seemed to come to life, with the long tentacles waving around his elbows.

Damian took a few steps back, and while he seemed to inwardly understand what was going on, he still wanted certainty.

"Drake, don't tell me you..."

Tim's cold dead stare locked onto him and made Damian gulp. The black claws tightened, ready to launch an attack.

In the next instant, Tim lunged at the surprised boy, cutting deep furrows in the grass as Damian took off with a dodging leap.

That fucking bastard was using Drake's body for his own purposes, making him his murder weapon.

"Shit! Drake you brainless idiot! Come to your senses!"

Tim immediately took up the chase, trying again and again to catch Damian with his new claws. The boy parried the attacks as best he could, feverishly thinking of ways to stop Drake. After all, he was not allowed to harm him. Who knows what effect his resistance would have on Tim's current state with all those foreign stuff inside him.

Damn! This dried up piece of goat knew exactly what it was doing!

Far away, this trick left James in awestruck astonishment:

"Possession? How did you..."

"It's not possession. My pitch is merely controlling him like a puppet from the inside, sending signals to his nerve system. The little deer isn't even conscious, he's just a meat sack that I merely keep alive so he can function. But he is nowhere near as strong as I am. His body would never be able to take it. But it should be enough to keep the vermin busy. You may have more power little brother, but instead of amassing it blindly, I have learned to control mine perfectly."

James growled, visibly angry. This fact made his brother far more dangerous than he had always been until now. Which inevitably meant that the risk of becoming a victim himself in this battle for power increased.

Before he could think about it further, however, Dick peeled himself out of the wreckage accompanied by creaking metal. Although he had just struggled to free his upper body, his murderous eyes fixed on the two demons and James added:

"Then you can use your oh-so-great control now and help me clip his wings for now."

"With pleasure." and Jack dug into the ground again.

Fully released from the wreckage, electricity charged with rage flashed around Dick's body. James looked at this sea of sparks for a moment. He deeply disliked being shocked again by this blue Pikachu, so he now resorted to another trick of his. The diamonds on his fingers began to grow further and further up his arms, enveloping him piece by piece all the way to his golden cloak. Like armor, the crystal wrapped around him and when it covered him completely, he went on with his attack.

With a quick leap, James was at Dick and slammed his heavy cloak down on him. The ground cracked under the tremendous force behind this blow as Richard intercepted it with his flashing tail. But...unlike before, this time the lightning had no effect.

It was an advantage for James to know some science. Unlike other carbon compounds such as graphite, diamond's lattice structure does not allow free-moving electrodes that could conduct electricity and is therefore a very good insulator.

That was the last time this lightning show had any effect on him.

Hands erupted from the ground and pulled Dick's legs away, causing him to lose his stable footing and allowing James to deliver a well-aimed blow to his face. Dick was hit hard. The unyielding diamond sent him staggering to the side and caused his teeth to cut into the cheek he had hit.

But he was not given a moment to regain himself. Jack erupted again from the ground beneath him. Cut his legs only briefly with his claws and then immediately disappeared again while James continued to pummel Richard with his reinforced cape.

Dick parried every one of James' heavy blows, but it was a different story with the unforeseen ones from Jack. Although these were nowhere near as threatening as those of the giant diamond in front of him, the animal skull always attacked the same places on his limbs, slowly but steadily weakening them. Legs, arms and wings were covered with long scratches.

Blow after blow pelted Dick and he struggled to hold his ground against the two demons.

He tried lightning, ice breath, and even feather projectiles, but nothing even began to help. His opponents had massively increased their defenses and left him little chance to defend himself. They pushed him further and further into the corner until he saw only one way out.

Dick changed the structure of his feathers again to make himself invisible and wanted to escape from this situation. But what worked the first time was now a familiar maneuver and would not work a second time.

James split his cloak into four pieces and started spinning like a pinwheel while Jack pinned Dick's legs to the ground with his pitch. Before Dick could even think about getting rid of the restraints, the spinning cape blades hit him on the back like a jackhammer, painfully holding him in place.

The rapid succession of blows left him no chance to parry. Instead, they kept deviating from their proper trajectory, hitting his head as well as his individual limbs as soon as they began to show even a glimmer of resistance.

Dick nevertheless tried. Tried to get up, to somehow deflect these blows, but the hyper-fast sequence just didn't allow it and he became more and more dazed.

So much so that at one point he didn't even appreciate it.

"James, we've got him now!" shouted Jack from the ground, and the diamond-encased demon paused in his attack and leapt far up into the air with his powerful legs.

Dick still lay dazed on the ground. Unable to move, the many black tentacles straightened and stretched his two left wings to their maximum. Jack grabbed Dick from behind and held him in place so that he could not easily escape their next attack, while James fused his split cape back into one piece.

The greedy demon aimed squarely at his victim and then brought himself into forward rotation at the highest point of his leap.

The air hissed as he fell back to the ground, gaining revolutions faster and faster. Still dizzy, Dick found it difficult to realize his current situation and by the time he was somewhat back on his feet, it was already too late.

With the help of the enormous rotational speed, James slammed his hard cape down on Dick's overextended wings much more forcefully than ever before. There was a loud crack beneath the diamond mass and Richard was finally startled out of his stupor.

Not really understanding what had happened, he used his ice to get rid of Jack and his snares, as well as his tremendous strength to push James off his wings.

Freed again from the two demons, Dick wanted to pursue his plan to escape and jumped up to do so by flying off. But instead of feeling the pleasant air currents between his feathers, he fell to earth like a stone and felt instead the coarse dirt beneath him.

Confused, he stared at his left wings, which didn't want to go the way he wanted them to. The angle they were at was strange. Not like usual and bloody bones protruded from the upper of the two at the new angle that had been created. They were broken and no longer allowed any movement, but dragged across the floor like dead pieces of meat.

He heard the animated conversation that now broke out between the two demons, but he did not understand. He felt the pain of his wings.

Pain was nothing new for him, but broken wings on his body were foreign to him. After all, until now there was no creature that could have inflicted such a wound on him. Not even in his hell.

Accordingly, he urged himself to be more careful and would no longer let any of his enemies go unheeded. They were prey. He is the hunter. It could not be otherwise.

His teeth began to tingle and in him grew the desire to snatch his prey.

The broken wings and his plan of escape were forgotten when he finally dashed towards the two again and their fight reached a new stage.

Meanwhile, Damian was startled by the loud crack of Dick's wings and looked over at him, shuddering. The color drained from the boy's face as he saw the two limbs dragging on the ground at unnatural angles, and one even had the bone sticking out of the break.

Until now, he didn't think there was anyone strong enough to harm Dick to that degree. Not even Superman or the first demon that crossed their path were able to inflict even a broken bone on him. It just showed again how dangerous this situation was right now and Damian was seriously afraid for his brother.

So much so that this moment robbed him of his concentration. Distracted by what was going on around Dick, the boy slopped in his evasive maneuvers and Tim finally managed to grab him with some snares that left his forearms.

Surprised, Damian fell to the ground. The black pitch quickly wrapped around his body in seconds and prevented him from further eluding his pursuer.

Relaxed, Tim stepped toward him. The claws of his right arm raised to knock the boy out with a quick swipe, Damian tried to appeal to his mind again:

"Damn it Drake come to your senses already! Don't let that inferior goat control you!"

But it all didn't help. Tim came to a stop right in front of him and lashed out with his clawed hand. Sparks from the fire swirled around them and were reflected in the boy's wide eyes. It only made Tim's momentary appearance more surreal.

Damian tried one last time to wake him up:

"Shit, Tim! You're better than this, so don't let him win!"

His words fell on deaf ears and the long black claws rushed to the ground.

But just before they reached their target, a powerful fist swept through the teenager's emotionless face, sending him to the ground in a short flight.

Damian couldn't believe his eyes.

"J-Jason?"

The red helmet flared in the living light of the fire and the Outlaw's figure loomed over him. Damian couldn't have been happier to see this complete idiot in front of him.

"How come I'm not even gone for two hours and everything here is going down the drain?!" the tinny voice said, played annoyed, and Damian remembered his anger at this king of all jackasses again:

"I certainly don't owe an answer to a dirty coward like you in that regard!"

Yes, he was angry. In fact really pissed. He felt betrayed by Jason and even though Damian was glad to have him here now, this fact still overshadowed his mind.

"You can get upset about it later and condemn me if you want. But there's no time for that now. You better tell me what's going on with Timmy!"

God, he wanted so badly to beat the crap out of him and smash that stupid red helmet. But Todd was right when he said there was no time for that. So Damian swallowed his anger and hissed:

"-tt-, That sneaky goat demon back there is controlling him with the help of those black tentacles that crawl through his body. The stuff is highly flammable and probably sensitive to other influences like electricity and ice. However, we would kill Drake if he was exposed to such an influence. I don't know how to stop him."

Tim got up again and stared at Jason without even making a face. The latter could only curse at the poor outlook:

"Shit. Then I guess I have no choice but to beat him up until that tick can't do anything with his body."

"Todd, you're not seriously going to..."

"Relax, I was just kidding. I'm going to dislocate his joints for now and hope that does the trick. See if you can get free somehow. In the meantime, Dickie will have to manage on his own for now."

Jason pulled a large knife from a pocket over his rump. It visibly annoyed him that he couldn't use his firearms on this one. His method was to be brutal, so that his opponents thought twice before pissing on his leg.

But Tim was no enemy and no one he wanted to hurt. His guns were useless. He was definitely not equipped for such a situation. But did he already have a plan for this.

"Ok Timmy, I apologize in advance for the injuries."

With that, Jason dashed toward the controlled teenager. Just before he reached him, he flung himself backwards onto the ground and skidded the rest of the way. Tim tried to catch him with his claws, but Jason parried the attack with the knife and slid between his legs to swipe the target of this action from Tim's belt.

Tim immediately turned and was about to finish the Outlaw off with both his claws when they merely met cold metal.

Jason had pulled Tim's telescopic pole from his belt and intercepted the attack with it.

With this weapon he could be sure that he wouldn't hurt Tim too much. It improved his options immensely. But Jason noticed something else.

While he continued to stand up to Tim, the latter slowly pushed him back in their trial of strength. Actually, Jason was easily the stronger of the two, but this black stuff seemed to have changed Timmy in more ways than just appearance. He now had much more strength than before.

"Arg...man he gave you quite a power boost. Fortunately, he seems to have taken your brain!"

Jason pulled one side of the staff towards him, causing Tim to stumble, and rammed his chin up with the other side. He used the moment to grab Tim's right arm and extend it, then dislocated his right shoulder with a well-aimed kick. A loud crack sounded as the joint left its socket.

Jason backed away a few jumps to get an idea of the effectiveness of this plan. Tensely, his eyes followed Tim as he looked at the limp arm, at first unimpressed. He lifted it questioningly with his other hand and let it fall again, until finally the thin lips opened:

"Nice try," Tim's voice sounded monotonously.

As if by itself, the arm jumped back into its original position and Jason as well as Damian could only watch with amazement. The former immediately cursed these demons:

"Fucking demons! Now you're really getting mean!"

"You're that skunk from before. You got yourself together pretty quick there. But it was a mistake for you to come here."

"Hey! Who's a skunk here you low-grade McDonald's meat! Get the fuck out of Timmy's body or I'll personally shoot a fifth eye in your ugly face!"

Jason simultaneously pulled out one of his pistols and pointed it not at Tim, but at the demon fighting Dick far away.

"You're not a skunk? Sorry, your hair confused me. But you line up perfectly with Bambi and Thumper as Flower. Whereas with that stupid red helmet, you might as well be some horror clown's lost balloon. Hmm...what was the name of that movie again?"

"Ok, now you're dead!"

Jason opened fire on Jack, landing hit after hit to his head. But as good at shooting as he was, none of the bullets made it through the monster's thick skull.

"You're just wasting time and ammo. Why don't you play some more with your nice friend here?"

Tim finished the sentence and then attacked Jason again.

Accompanied by a short "Fuck." the Outlaw again switched between firearm and pole, parrying the murderous claws of his controlled brother.

A dance of attacks and dodges ensued between them, with Jason feverishly searching for a solution for Tim, but barely getting the time to even think a clear thought.

Finally, the Outlaw noticed the red motorcycle and thanked all the gods that he had helped out this workaholic from time to time during the past year. He knew exactly what this thing could do.

Jason purposely steered their fight in the direction of the vehicle, focusing only on his defense. Finally, when they reached the machine and Tim pressed the Outlaw to the seat with his back in another show of force, Jason strained to address the built-in AI:

"Urg...Zarok, open voice recognition and unlock user 004 Red Hood."

Tinny, a male voice sounded from the motorcycle's dashboard and replied:

"Request confirmed. Voice recognized. User Red Hood confirmed. What can I do for you sir?"

"Activate the smoke and open the equipment compartments."

"Roger that."

The machine enveloped everything around them in a dense wall of fog and Jason squirmed away from Tim. Though he couldn't see anything in all the dense smoke either, he knew exactly where his object of desire was and made it his own.

While Tim was still busy trying to find him, Jason grabbed Tim's hands in a flash and pulled them on the teenager's back with a clicking sound before gaining distance again.

The smoke cleared and the figure in its midst became visible.

His hands lashed tightly behind his back, Tim just stood there. The teenager's eyes wandered questioningly to his arms and Jason just hoped that at least this was working now.

But to his regret, the pitch under the handcuffs just expanded and shattered the metal without much trouble.

God, Jason was getting really fed up with this situation.

His hands free again, the teenager sprang forward again to attack. This time, the outlaw couldn't react as quickly and received a cut or two from his controlled opponent.

A series of attacks pelted him, which Jason found difficult to withstand. Tim was simply much faster and more agile than before due to this dirt in his body. When the Outlaw felt he couldn't really keep up anymore, he took more drastic measures.

Accompanied by a, "Fuck Timmy, pull yourself together!", he rammed his forehead against the teenager's skull, sending him staggering back.

Jason took advantage of the moment and tackled Tim to the ground, so that now sitting on top of him, he could grab the latter's head to continue pounding on him.

"Shit Tim! Stop obeying this goat and start thinking for yourself again. There must be a thousand things you still want to throw at me after me leaving earlier. So get over yourself and nag at me like you always do!"

Jason's wrist skin fleetingly touched the teenager's face and the Outlaw cringed. In the next instant, the tentacles on Tim's arm grabbed Jason and flung him off the teen.

In a high arc he flew across the grass. Rolling off as he kissed the ground again, he found himself once more next to Damian, who was still trying to free himself somehow.

Straining, Jason voiced his new realization with the boy:

"He's so...cold. His body temperature is way too low."

And Damian then explained:

"This demon had stopped his heart. I don't know to what extent it's keeping his body alive right now."

"Shit! I hate these demonic motherfuckers!"

Jason had to hurry. If Tim lingered longer in this state, it would surely have consequences for him. His body produced almost no heat of its own and if this goes on, he will die of cold!

But the Outlaw also had no solution, without Tim suffering serious damage.

Instead, his frustration got the better of him and he pulled out his gun again to shoot at this cursed demon.

Jack was still in the fight with Dick when the bullets hit him again and he could have laughed out loud. A foolish action that still produced no benefit and so the demon spoke out of Tim:

"Are you seriously that pathetic? I already told you that this is useless. You are really dumber than a dirty rat. They only make a mistake once."

Jason wished he could punch this scumbag in the face himself. Because that's what that son of a bitch definitely deserved!

Suddenly, a heavy explosion hit the sneering demon in the back, sending him reeling.

Batman had finally made it through the sea of flames on his motorcycle and was now additionally setting his current target on fire, visibly startling Jack. Dick took advantage of this moment of inattention to grab the demon and bite down hard on his neck. He wanted to finally satisfy this tingling of his teeth and did not let go of Jack, no matter how much he struggled and lashed out.

In the course of this, his concentration was also lost and Jason could follow how Tim fell in front of him like a puppet without strings, into the churning earth. The Outlaw wasted no time and rushed to his side. The dull blue eyes were still open, staring into nothing. Not even reacting when the red helmet appeared in their field of vision.

Jason quickly realized that Tim was once again not breathing. That bastard had actually just kept him alive to fulfill his purposes and was now leaving him for dead. Without further thought, Jason began life-saving measures. He quickly felt the cold under his fingers. How the body had already cooled down, but he did not give up Tim just like that.

Shit, this idiot had to smack him across the face for what he did!

Meanwhile, Jack was still trying to fight back from Dick's tight grip. The sharp teeth cut deeper and deeper every time he moved, not even thinking of letting go of him. Finally, James watched this scene with very great interest. He did not help his brother, but first weighed his next action until he realized his advantage of this situation.

Two with one hit.

The demon formed a sharp blade with his cloak and jumped over the two quarrelsome men. Whistling, the blade cut the air and Jack realized the betrayal he would now fall victim to:

"Oh Fuck You James!"

Dick noticed the attack too late and he could not escape it completely. As the sharp blade split the animal skull right through its middle and cut down until it finally came to a stop at the navel, half of Dick's left hand was severed in the process.

But Richard ignored this fact and greedily grabbed the right half of Jack's body while James grabbed the left.

Driven by their madness, they now tore the two parts completely apart. They wanted the meat, which lay so willingly on the presentation plate and without hesitation they each tore out the heart half of their share to devour it greedily.

At the same time Jason could now see how the many black loops under Tim's skin disappeared as he continued to squeeze his chest and Damian's bonds also melted like ashes so that he could finally put his mask back on. As if a blockage had been released, the teen suddenly startled and drew in air greedily, almost making Jason's heart sink to his knees.

But Tim was caught up in his terror. He immediately started screaming, struggling, and gripping his chest convulsively. He didn't realize what was happening, but was tormented by his own horror, which swept through his body in violent tremors.

"Timmy calm down! He's not there anymore. Stay calm!"

Jason pleaded with him, but it fell on deaf ears. The outlaw grabbed his flailing hands and authoritatively pulled the terrified teenager toward him. Tim resisted with all the strength he had left and wanted to grab his own heart again and again, but Jason gave him no chance to escape his firm grip. He pressed him closer to his own body. Wanted to give him warmth since Tim felt like a single block of ice and signal that everything was okay now.

"Timmy relax. It's all good now. I'm here. No one is going to hurt you anymore."

The force behind the defiant movements diminished until Tim's limbs merely twitched. The screaming faded to a whimper and only violent shivering from the cold stirred the teen's body.

When Jason was sure he had him ready, he called out to Damian:

"Damian! There are warming blankets under the seat of his motorcycle. Get them, quick!"

The boy did as ordered and got the requested item. They carefully pulled the blanket over Tim, while Jason continued to warm him with his own body. The tearing eyes gradually calmed as they seemed to see reality again and Jason felt Tim now pressing himself against him to absorb more of the life-saving warmth.

The sight pained the Outlaw and he chided himself for leaving him alone.

Bruce continued to try to incapacitate the other of the two demons as well. But both James and Dick were no longer interested in a fight for the moment. They both had what they wanted for now. The flesh and the power that came with it. So it was not surprising that Richard hid his share under his wings and then made a camouflaged getaway.

James also had no desire to be disturbed during his meal. But he had no guarantee that he would find his main course again. Fortunately, this one was about 50 meters away from him. The diamond layer around his body disappeared again, for more freedom of movement.

With a superhumanly fast leap, he made a quick detour in his own escape and grabbed Damian unprepared with his free hand.

"You're coming with me." he briefly explained his plan to the boy, and neither of them could react as quickly as the demon took off with Damian and half his own brother's body.

"Hey! Bring him back right now!" Jason was still yelling, but it was all in vain and when now Bruce was also driving towards him, the Outlaw could have really puked.

This was all just totally fucked.

"Are you all right?" the voice he hated so much greeted him and couldn't help but vent his displeasure, pointing to the trembling bundle in his arms.

"If you have two eyes in your head, you should be able to give yourself that answer. Besides, Damian has just been kidnapped by that monster. How on earth do you expect everything to be alright?! There is definitely nothing alright here at all!"

"I'm asking you to keep calm."

"Pff... Keep calm. Is that a spell you found in a fortune cookie today?"

Bruce pulled bandages out of his motorcycle before settling down next to Tim and beginning to bandage the hole in his leg.

Jason could see the man's fingers trembling as they opened the sterile wrappings.

So much for staying calm.

"It's obvious that he's using Damian to lure Dick out. So it is of no use to kill him for the time being, but I cannot tell if he will not hurt him. Therefore, I have to give chase quickly. Can you take care of Tim?" the man explained himself matter-of-factly.

"And then? What are you going to do when you come face to face with these critters Bruce? You've seen for yourself what they can do. Even your toys are no good with these monsters!"

"Maybe not that, but Dick may be able to defeat them. And I can give him an advantage, like I just did. It's uncertain whether it will work next time, but this matter is too important to leave to chance."

Jason thought hard. He truly had no desire to work with Bruce. And that was an understatement by far. But no matter what they had to face now, no one would be able to do it alone.

Finally, he answered sourly:

"We'll go with you."

Bruce tilted his head in confusion.

"No you're not-..."

"We're coming with you whether you like it or not. As far as I know Dick is also more than happy to kill you and Timmy here is the most likely to know where to find them. Bludhaven is his territory. Besides, Dick only knows Damian, Tim and me. You could never calm him down."

Concerned, the man looked at the teenager in Jason's arms and voiced his concerns:

"Tim can't fight in that condition, let alone defend himself. It's far too dangerous."

"But you can't leave him here alone between all the fire either, and you can't do much by yourself either. I'll make sure he's safe."

Bruce struggled with himself. But he also knew that he couldn't dictate anything to Jason anyway and that he was right with his aspects.

Therefore he only confirmed with a curt "Good" and helped to wrap Tim in the warming blanket and to put him on his motorcycle. While the fire around them primarily only brought destruction, it had also helped Tim to be reasonably warm again.

Jason got behind the dazed teenager and took the wheel of the bike. Bruce was already driving off, making another rake to Dick's severed handpiece. It would be careless to leave it here when the genetic material could mutate other creatures. So, in the rushing airstream, he grabbed his son's missing piece and then set out with the other two to find the missing family members.

---

Far away between the floors of a skyscraper that was currently under construction, James threw Damian onto the hard concrete floor and instructed him:

"Don't even think about running away or even trying anything brat. You'd be dead before you even got tempted."

The boy gasped painfully at the rough handling. But then spat back angrily:

"No restraints? That's pretty brave of you."

With Jack's half body in his left hand, the Golden Demon sat down a few feet away against a dry-stone wall. Carefully he began to tear his brother apart and replied:

"I don't need to, brat, and you should know that. What can you do to me? If you even make the slightest attempt to run away, my next diamond will land in your spinal cord so you'll never be able to move again."

and he swallowed the first piece of meat from Jack's corpse with a loud smacking sound. The dead demon's skull clattered against the stone floor each time James tore out the bite-sized pieces. A strange mixture of blood and the black pitch snaked down the red chin in an ever-widening trickle, and James judged the taste along with it:

"This bastard doesn't even taste good at all. Way too dried out and bitter."

Damian didn't kid himself. It gnawed at his pride tremendously, but he had to agree with the demon. No matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to escape anyway, let alone land a hit at all. Damian had seen what this monster was capable of. After all, even Dick had problems against him.

So he decided to keep his feet still and wait for the time being. Even though he was admittedly worried about Drake. But at least his father and Todd were still with him. That should at least give him a good chance.

Several minutes passed in which nothing happened and James only distorted his brother piece by piece. In the meantime, a black and red pool had literally developed under the demon, which under other circumstances could probably pass for art. Only the dull tearing of old flesh and grotesque gobble broke the silence that had developed. The lipless mouth could not even hold back the juices and so they flowed steadily down the red chin.

At some point, however, it became too much for Damian and he dared to ask the demon questions:

"What do you want with me anyway? It is not apparent to me how a human child is of any use to you, since we seem to be nothing but livestock to you."

Damian heard bones crack as James ripped out one of Jack's arms and slowly dismembered it.

"Normally, I'd shut you up, but I'm in a good mood right now since I'm finally rid of this idiot here and have half his power. So I'll allow you a few questions. I brought you along to lure your feathered friend out again, in case his demonic instincts don't lead him to me anyway."

Damian let out an amused hiss:

"-tt- Great plan. Just, how would he even know I'm here? This town isn't exactly small."

"Oh he knows where we are, since I told him a while ago."

Visibly confused, the boy tilted his head and James gleefully ate another piece of his brother.

"How am I supposed to understand that, please?"

James swallowed before explaining:

"Well unlike humans, we demons have at least eight senses".

"Senses?"

"Yes senses. There is the sixth, which allows for enhanced perception, such as orientation on the earth's magnetic field or sensing even the smallest changes in the environment. Animals still have this, but you humans, have discarded it a long time ago."

Flesh was torn and bones cracked.

"The seventh sense is mental. It allows us to register other strong demons even at great distances and interact telepathically with them. We can call each other, if you will, and send messages. With this, I have also transmitted to your friend where we are. As long as you don't distort your presence, you are easy for other powerful demons to find.

At the same time, with this sense, we can also detect dangers and the strength of our opponent. Pretty handy for those who don't know where their place is. But if you play with fire like Jack, even this sense is of no use."

The Demon put another piece in his mouth, while Damian growled, as he was very displeased that these beasts also possessed these abilities:

"And the eighth?"

James swallowed with satisfaction.

"Well the eighth one is really very interesting. We call it aura. With it you can see the energies that a soul emits, like personality or even emotions. For example, I can see and feel exactly that you despise me abysmally and that you are a very proud person. But if you look closer, behind this thick facade is an enormous sadness and many fears that go along with it. I almost feel sorry for you seeing all this.

You can't hide who you really are from a demon. We are creatures specialized in reading the innermost sides of living beings. However, I can't see the exact reason for your feelings with this sense, unfortunately. For that, I would have to dig around in your mind."

Damian's eyes grew wide. Did that mean Dick could read him all the time, too, like an open book? He had to admit that Richard had often reacted sensitively when something wasn't right. Be it back in the forest with Jon, when he probably sensed the fear they had in front of him, or earlier on the tower block, when he tried to cheer Damian up in his despair. And he had been unusually quick to forgive Jason after his tantrum. Could he really look into each of them like the other demons?

While Damian was still wracking his brains over this, James devoured another piece and then continued his remarks:

"From there, the senses vary. We demons are not all the same. We can actually control to a certain degree in which direction we develop. I for one have always been a great lover of shiny things, like gold and jewels. Because of this, I can now create the elements found in the earth and have developed a sense of where to find them. Unlike Jack this runaway animal, I never lacked money and wealth. This neglected dog was even poorer than the dirt under my shoes and only managed to scrape together money when he wanted to go to some concert."

James took the skull half in his hand and looked at it briefly before concluding:

"A wretched creature that was." and bit into the bone with his powerful jaw.

Damian could hear loud and clear the crunch of the breaking pieces of bone being crushed under the bare teeth. But just as he was about to ask why these damn demons were showing up now of all times, something else occurred to James:

"While we're at it, by the way, I can feel exactly that there's something pretty in your pocket."

The boy looked up in confusion at first, until James cape suddenly reached out in a flash and pulled the object of his desire from Damian's fanny pack. He was too slow to stop him, and so the golden trinket found itself in the demon's hands."

"Huh? A bracelet. Not exactly something you need when fighting crime, don't you think?"

"Give it back now!"

Damian was about to dash forward to reclaim his precious trinket, but as he was about to even put a leg up, two of Jaime's projectiles landed right between his feet, admonishing him to comply.

"My threat still stands, so think carefully if you really want to attack me."

Damian hissed sourly. If only he could hurt this bastard somehow. But against these monsters, his options were far too poor. They were in a completely different league!

And so he could only watch the bloody fingers of the demon sullying his treasure while he looked at this object.

"Does this belong to your mother or why does a child like you have a woman's bracelet with him? I'm not interested in it per se. It's not even particularly valuable, since it's only gold-plated. It's a lousy piece of jewelry. I wouldn't even use it as a paperweight."

Heedlessly, James tossed Dick's memento aside, which then came to rest on the rough concrete floor with a few tinny bounces, and Damian would have loved to punch him in his ugly face.

He had always been meticulous about not one scratch finding its way onto the surface. And this asshole just threw it around like it was garbage.

Turning to the last remnants of his food, James paid no attention to the negative energies the boy was now radiating towards him. It was the old familiar refrain of things that mattered to people and bored him to the core.

"What do you demons want anyway? Why are you showing up here now?"

Countered Damian his golden foe and James just devoured the last piece of meat.

"Hmm...that's pretty simple. Like I said, we can sense powerful demons. So even when Despair showed up. With his power, there is now enough to overthrow our father."

"Father? Who are you talking about?"

But he was not answered that question again, as James suddenly seemed distracted by something. Curious, he rose from his position and walked to the edge of the floor to stare out into the night.

Damian could see the many golden scales of his cloak begin to line up somewhat, resembling goosebumps, and gleefully the smeared mouth announced:

"Well, look at that. Who would have thought he would actually call me of his own accord. I was expecting him to come here, but it seems to be taking him too long."

Without another word, James hopped off the floor to seek out Dick, leaving Damian alone.

He had no more use for the boy and did not bother to pay him any further attention. His own instincts and the challenging calls of his opponent were too present for that.

The demon landed on one of the neighboring roofs and then ran on at a fast pace.

He was not far. In a moment, he could rip out this feather bag's heart and eat it. Then it was certain that he was the strongest and could also rob his brothers of their power one by one.

James was walking across the ramshackle rooftops of an abandoned neighborhood when he felt a draft. Instinctively, he pulled his cloak protectively in front of him and blocked the invisible blow that followed. The enormous force behind it caused the building to break away from under his feet and James landed elegantly on the top floor of the uninhabited house.

Moonlight shone through the large hole in the ceiling as Dick finally made himself known, staring down at him with hostility. It elicited a grin from James:

"There you are again. Very nice of you to call me and finally give me your power. I'm tired of running after you. It's time for your heart to be mine!"

Dick merely replied with a loud snarl and then lunged at his adversary again.

The ramshackle building immediately gave way under their struggle, so they quickly found themselves on the first floor. James' diamonds again sprawled over his body. Leaving no chance for the lightning that Dick emitted and he created a vacuum inside this armor to protect himself from his freeze attacks as well.

Their exchange of blows tore down everything that stood in their way. They fought regardless and in a formal frenzy for each other's power.

James struck Richard again and again with his hard cloak. Formed sharp points of unyielding diamond on it to be able to impale his opponent with it at the same time and Dick parried with his tail.

The building finally could no longer support itself and crashed down on them.

A thick cloud of dust swirled up, plunging everything within a hundred meters into a blind world.

The debris crackled as the two opponents broke free from under all the rubble and tried to find their opponent again in all the chaos.

James didn't even want to wait. His greed drove him to mentally reveal himself to Dick and reveal his location. He concentrated on his hearing alone and would strike at the slightest sound. He let his hand be rigidly encased by the crystal, forming a long flat blade that strongly resembled a sword. With it, he would surprise him and deal the killing blow.

Analyzing, he listened into the silence and heard cracking rubble several meters away. This pile of rubble did not allow any creeping steps. Especially not when you were still dragging two broken wings behind you. James knew exactly where Dick was at any given moment. He could read his movements like an open book.

But what he didn't see coming was the feather projectile that hit him in the head a moment later, causing him to stumble briefly.

But that small moment was enough for Dick to attack him. He leaped at him and used the force of his jump to whip the demon away with his tail.

James landed crashing into the building next door. Dragging bricks and wooden beams behind him until he was stopped by a fireplace in what used to be a living room.

With the dirt trickling off his body and the stones of the fireplace in his back, James just growled in annoyance:

"Grrr...I've had enough of this shenanigans."

Dick wasted no time in continuing his series of attacks. He dashed through the riddled building and wanted to hit the demon again with his tail. But unlike before, James saw the attack coming.

He dodged the tail, only to grab it the next moment and fling Dick around by it.

Walls were torn down and ceilings broken through as James whipped his opponent into the ground and stabbed Dick in the back with his blade. He struggled to get through the dense feather armor, but the solid point worked its way forward inch by inch, slowly impaling him, aiming to pierce his heart.

Richard tracked as the sword worked its way between the base of his ribs, inch by inch cutting further and further into the flesh. He clenched the feathers as hard as he could to slow the penetration and shrieked in desperation. Again and again he beat his tail and remaining wings against his adversary. He tried to get free somehow, so that more and more blood spurted from the wound. But James stood firm and didn't think about stopping, where he was so close to gaining his longed-for power.

But when he was literally scratching at Dick's heart and already saw himself as the winner, something suddenly changed in the winged man.

The blue glow of his horns and his flashing tail turned to an aggressive red, which clearly astonished James.

But then, as his tail poked at his tormentor again, the diamond burned beneath it, tearing a large hole in the demon's stomach.

James cried out in fright, before only a second later the excruciating pain set in and he staggered off Dick in confusion.

James did not understand. Did not understand this tremendous pain that plagued him. Never in his long life had pain been a present feeling. It was a human feeling, as they felt it easily. But him? That he could be so debilitating, the demon did not know.

Fear spread through him without James being able to stop it, and his body shook uncontrollably, worsening as Dick rose in front of him.

Back on his feet, his adversary turned to face him. Angry red eyes stared down at James. All his instincts were screaming that the fight was already decided and he had to leave if he wanted to live. But his body was paralyzed.

Dick sped toward him and grabbed his arms before the red of his eyes lit up more intensely than before, confronting James' diamond armor with laser beams.

The enormous hint began to vaporize the crystal. Made James become an even greater victim of his fear and fight a futile battle against Dick's firm grip.

The diamond shattered, leaving behind the golden apparition of the demon.

Richard focused his laser eyes on the now exposed head to melt into its path and James tried to counteract it as best he could, using all his remaining power to keep regrowing diamonds at the spot at a rapid pace.

No matter how long Dick tried to burn through the golden skull, he just couldn't get through the diamond layers fast enough.

Finally, Richard released James' arms to grip his head tightly and concentrated on pouring more and more power into his eyes.

James cried out in desperation. Begged at some part to let go of him as the power ratio had shifted significantly and scratched furrows in his skin with his free hands. But Dick had no mercy.

Narrower and narrower became the laser beams which left Richard's eyes. They gained more and more strength and changed from aggressive red to a whistling white-purple, to which everything had to bow down.

James had no more chance. His diamonds burned, his gold melted and his brain was fried until the hole in his stomach was joined by another in his head and all life drained from the demon. Limply the lifeless body hung in Richard's hands and he stopped his attack.

Dick had won. He had stood his ground and emerged victorious.

He now tore his trophy from his opponent through the gaping hole in his belly.

Fascinated, Dick looked at the heart still beating now and then. It evidenced the final death and flooded with the intoxication of his demonic side, he ate his way through the bloody organ.

---

Damian continued to run along the streets in search of Dick. Initially, he could simply follow the sounds of battle, but now they had been silent for some time.

Disoriented, he ran through alley after alley in the area from where Dick's sounds were last heard.

He knew that this continued silence probably meant the end of the fight. But if that was the case, who had won?

Damian had seen what they had done to this Jack in the park. How they tore him apart, later peeled the flesh from his bones and ate him.

If that was the normal outcome of a fight between demons, he didn't even like to imagine what would happen if Dick lost.

In the worst case, they could reactivate his grave and merely fill it with a few feathers. Because that would be the only thing left of him!

Suddenly he heard something like clay shattering from a small abandoned forecourt and Damian stopped his run. Curious about this, he stepped through the old gate. It was completely empty and also the shards which he had heard, could not to be seen.

But then something new penetrated to his ears. Something that sounded as if metal scraped over stone. It came from the old dilapidated building directly in front of him and Damian decided to investigate.

The old floorboards creaked softly under his feet as he entered the house. The dusty wood was already beginning to rot, and the patterned wallpaper hung yellowed from the walls. No one had lived here for a long time.

Damian continued to follow the sounds and could soon hear a tearing and smacking in addition to the metallic clanking. An inner instinct told him not to go any further. That something dangerous was hiding behind the open side door in front of him. But as so often Damian ignored his inner voice, stepped closer and peered around the threshold.

A huge hole gaped in the ceiling, illuminating the large salon by the moonlight streaming in. Generous debris from the roof, from roof tiles to wooden benches covered the cracked tile floor and Damian could make out Dick in the middle of this mess. Illuminated by the moon's cone of light, pieces of gold flashed all around him, reflecting only a portion of the light due to spilled blood. Every time he moved, the high-quality metal scraped across the hard ground and the red pool dripped beneath him.

A shiver ran down the boy's spine when he saw the now indefinable mass of flesh in front of his feathered partner, which he was currently tugging at with relish. It was not difficult to guess that these were probably the last remains of this golden demon.

With each tearing of the last pieces of flesh, Damian wanted less for Dick to discover him now. Something just wasn't right. He sensed that more than ever before.

Richard stopped all at once and stuck his head up as if something was catching his attention.

Immediately, Damian hid behind the wall between the hallway and the parlor again. He just wasn't sure if Dick was himself right now. This uneasy feeling was too penetrating to dismiss thoughtlessly. After all, Richard had already been out of control once, when he had eaten the deer in the forest.

Damian pulled out his computer and typed in order after order. He called in reinforcements to be on the safe side, since he couldn't tell if the situation would get out of control again. It was always wise to keep a back door open.

The boy had just sent the message when suddenly a jolt went through his body and Damian saw one of Dick's sharp feathers stuck in the wall opposite him, strangely discolored red and with some shreds of flesh on the wider end. Confused, he looked at it for a moment before his gaze traveled downward, to his own body.

Blood spurted from a gaping hole in the right half of his stomach. Turned the colorful costume a uniform red and just as Damian began to realize what had happened, pain kicked in.

The boy instantly fell to his knees as he desperately tried to keep his breathing steady in the face of the suffering that was now taking possession of his body.

In great torrents, the ground colored. His senses fogged from the physical shock.

Eyes wide, limbs trembling.

Dick had got him. He had fucking ripped a hole through his body!

But the boy had no time to become fully aware of his injury as the wall next to him crashed down.

Instinctively, Damian jumped to the side and narrowly escaped Dick's tail, which stabbed out of the resulting wall of dust into the floor of his previous position.

The boy stumbled and fell to the floor, making him groan painfully. But he didn't give himself time to pause. His mind raced and Damian's gaze immediately fell on the sharp tip of the tail which protruded from the dense dust wall. He held his wound as best as he could to prevent more blood gushing out, but was sidelined when Dick's smudged face peeked out of the smoke.

He rumbled low from his throat as soon as he caught sight of the boy before him, threatening him with bared teeth.

Damian's heart sank to the ground at the hostile expression Dick gave him, and for a brief moment he could not help but feel overwhelming fear of him.

The remnants of the golden demon dripped from Richard's chin as he took another step out.

Damian prompted this to appeal to his mind:

"Richard I am not your enemy. It's me, Damian. Come to your senses!"

But the familiar friendly expression remained absent. Instead, he continued to fix him hungrily with his hostile eyes and the growling increased. Damian did not recognize Dick. That was not him at the moment, but the demon in him!

He had to get out of here fast!

Richard was about to attack again, and with the presence of mind Damian pulled a flash bomb from his belt.

Glistening light made Dick yelp and stagger back.

Damian had hoped that this would startle Dick out of his bloodlust, as this had worked back then in the forest, but he also didn't want to wait to see if this actually worked.

He didn't look back, but jumped up and ran deeper into the old building.

Damian tried to squeeze the wound shut, but he could feel not only the front of his stomach but also his back getting damp. The feather must have hit an artery, but that thought took a back seat for the boy right now.

He had to get away. He had to get away from Dick now, or he would kill him!

Panic rose briefly in him at the thought of now being killed by Dick out of all people. He didn't want it to end like this and Dick to be to blame for his death.

He didn't want it. He didn't want it. He didn't want it. This just couldn't happen!

Damian ran upstairs to get to the second floor. He struggled through his body's need to steady his limbs.

His legs weakened and shook, but he had to keep going. Away, away from Dick!

Damian ran through the 1st floor, swinging his head violently in all directions, looking for a way out. Finally, in a bedroom next to him, he spied a window that led to the flat roof of the neighboring house.

Not thinking much about it, Damian took that direction, but he barely set a foot into the room when something crashed through the wooden floor.

The boy fell onto the rotten floorboards and a clawed handhalf missed his dark green boots by a hair's breadth. Hungry glowing eyes stared at him, as Dick tried to grab him. Richard was definitely not himself!

It snapped Damian out of his brief moment of shock and he forced his body to flee again through the door behind him

He ran into the next room where a tree in front of another window was just waiting to be abused as an escape object.

Damian didn't think twice and smashed through the old half-broken window.

He grabbed one of the branches, but the resulting pain of his torn abdomen caused him to let go immediately, so that the boy crashed to the ground, rolled off miserably, and could not suppress a short cry caused by the injury.

He lingered hunched on his knees for a moment to regain control of his body. Shakily, Damian inhaled and exhaled for the moment before looking at his hand, which had kept his wound tight the whole time.

There wasn't much left of the green of the gloves between all this red. It was completely wet and just wouldn't stop bleeding.

This was bad. This was very, very bad!

He briefly looked at his computer to see how far his escape-help was and then forced himself to keep running toward the street.

Damian turned out of the backyard and could still hear Dick crashing through the roof, but he didn't look back.

He just had to get away. Get away from Richard before he killed him. Damian would never forgive himself for this. If that jerk were to regain his memories, he'd let the guilt crush him after all. Dick was that kind of person who cared more about others than he did about himself. Everyone knew that. That was the reason why he was in this shitty situation in the first place!

Damian ran down the narrow streets of the old town, already feeling his body weaken. Despite the fact that he tightly squeezed the wound with his hand, blood was still spurting from both his back and stomach.

But as expected, he didn't get far. Snarling, Richard landed in front of him, cutting Damians way off in the process, dragging his broken wings behind him like an insignificant appendage.

Damian hissed sourly before trying again to talk some sense into Dick.

He held out his free hand in front of him and spoke calmly to him:

"Richard, calm down and come to your senses. I am not your enemy. It's me, Damian. You're only hurting yourself by moving with these injuries. So fire up your bird brain and relax before you do something we'll both regret!"

But loud hissing and growling was the only response he got. More desperate, Damian was now getting louder:

"Damn it Dick, come to yourself!"

But that didn't help either. Instead, Richard now sped forward to give Damian the rest.

The boy was already getting ready to somehow dodge it, when this job was taken away from him.

As Dick was about to jump, a black car sped out of a side alley and rammed the half-bird into the nearest building facade, coming to a stop directly in front of the boy.

The rear door opened and a tinny voice greeted him:

"I hope you didn't had to wait too long Master Damian. If you would please get in."

Damian didn't think twice and threw himself into the back seat of the car, whereupon the door hastily closed.

With screeching tires, Dina put the car in forward gear and then sped down the road, gaining distance.

"Would you like me to take you to a certain place, Master Damian?"

Asked the AI a moment later, and he just gasped miserably:

"Away Dina, just away from Richard."

"Very well."

Damian couldn't really think straight anymore. His ears were slowly starting to ring and his head was already throbbing uncomfortably.

These were not good signs. He had to stop this bleeding somehow quickly before he lost consciousness.

"Dina, I need a first aid kit now!"

A drawer in the rear center console filled with bandages and pressure patches opened. But just as Damian was about to reach for it, a jolt went through the car, hurling all the paraphernalia through the interior.

Damian was roughly pressed into the seats:

"Dina what...?"

"Master Dick has launched a counterattack and damaged the rear. I'm asking you to hold on."

Damian sat up slowly and looked out the rear window, but there was nothing of Richard to be seen. Only ripped metal accompanied by sparks of destroyed electronics. And anyway, how could he have caught up with them without his wings!

"He's nowhere to be seen Dina. Are you sure that..."

"Four o'clock."

Damian instantly looked in the direction in question and caught sight of Dick climbing along the building facades with the ease of a spider. His claws dug into the solid stone cracking again and again in time with a drum roll, and his broken wings flapped carelessly after him as he came closer and closer to them.

He couldn't be serious! Every time Damian thought that was it for Richard's surprises, he'd just go another one!

How could anyone escape such a perfect predator?!

"Dina, start the flight mode and get us out of here! Richard is unable to fly at the moment!"

"Negative. The engines, located in the rear have been damaged. Air mode is currently unavailable. Should I counterattack instead sir?"

Damian hissed angrily. This was anything but good.

"Just do it!"

Rocket launchers extended from the side doors of the vehicle to stop their attacker. But Dina did not take aim at Dick himself.

Instead of the agile pursuer, she targeted one of the huge water tanks on the roofs of the townhouses and blasted it off the building with a well-aimed shot.

Just as the computer had calculated, the tank hit Dick from the side with a pinpoint landing, knocking him off the facade. Damian could see Richard being buried under tons of steel and leaking water. The youngster couldn't help but worry if he was okay, but also knew he couldn't worry about that right now.

"Dina, get us to safety as soon as possible," he said.

"I've already chosen the sea as our new destination. We're almost..."

Again a jolt went through the car as a series of wet claws broke through the roof, horror literally on Damian's face.

How could Dick have caught up with them so quickly!

Richard didn't hesitate and pierced the hood of the car with his tail. He had not stabbed at random. He knew the engine was the heart of it from the steady beats. It was the same with every creature.

But when the car didn't stop right away, Dick wasn't satisfied with that. Again and again he stabbed his tail at different parts of the car's electronics, and Damian could only watch as Dina shouted in rapid succession, "ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!"

The technology failed, the car no longer steered, and even an attempt on the part of the boy to grab the wheel came too late.

The car slammed into a guardrail and rolled over once before skidding across the asphalt lying on its driver's side and finally coming to a stop 50 meters further.

Silence returned.

Damian did not immediately realize what had happened. Dazed, he hung limply between the two front seats and tried to pick himself up again, but...he felt so weak. Shards cracked around him and he could hear Dick's hiss as metal ripped open. Damian looked up, but his vision was blurry. Only dimly could he make out the outline of Richard, who had ripped out the passenger door and was now leaning into the car.

Angry glowing eyes stared back at him as hungry growls filled the interior.

Damian felt something wet wrap around his body and he was pulled roughly out of the car shortly after. The restraint tightened painfully around him without him even having the strength to fight it. It had to have been Dick's tail that was now holding him in the air. Damian no longer had any control over his body. He had simply lost too much blood and was unable to move.

Painfully, the boy groaned as Richard licked his wound examiningly. The rough tongue tore at it uncomfortably, reopening already clotted areas.

"R-Richard d-don´t…do…that…p-please." Tried Damian already half in unconsciousness, desperate to stop Dick from making the worst mistake of his life. He didn't want to be eaten by Dick. Everything about it was so wrong, horrible, unforgivable. Dick would perish from it, and Damian would be to blame.

Briefly, Richard's face loomed before him. Teeth bared, feathers soaked, the corners of his mouth stained with the boy's blood, and greed for the meal ahead in his eyes. The grotesque image of a brother he didn't recognize.

"D-dick...I...beg...urg!"

Richard's uninjured hand sprang forward, cutting the boy off. The clawed fingers tightened around Damian's throat, taking away even his last chance to fight back.

That was it. So this was how he was going to die now. If only he hadn't been so stubborn and contacted the others instead of running off alone. Then maybe this wouldn't have happened at all and he would have had enough time to clear the displaced waves between him and them. With his father and Drake he didn't want to go apart in a quarrel and Jason he would have to give a kick in the ass. Damn! Even Alfred and his animals he would not be able to say goodbye to. There was too much he still had to do in this life.

He couldn't believe how stupid he had been!

Damian's thoughts circled wildly back and forth until sharp teeth cut into his wound, flooding his head with emptiness. A bloodcurdling scream filled the night and he wondered who was screaming. But as he drifted more and more into the darkness, he realized it was his own. It sounded so foreign. He had never heard such a horrible sound coming from his throat.

It didn't matter what one would do. A small bird is and remains a fragile creature.

---

Jason, along with Bruce and the dazed Tim in front of him, were still searching for Damian and Dick. The flickering in the sky and the booming sounds of battle had long since faded, which visibly made Jason's stomach ache.

It wasn't just that Dick's condition was pretty bad the last time he saw him, no but also Damian himself who was probably standing between the lines. All it took was one missed punch and the boy would be next in that cursed graveyard at the Manor. And Jason was really afraid that something had happened to him.

Suddenly, something beeped in front of him, snapping Jason out of his gloomy thoughts.

Trembling, Tim pulled out his computer and clarified the circumstance:

"J-Jason, Dina sent me a signal. Someone has activated her. It must be Damian."

Whether this was good news or bad news, the Outlaw was unable to say.

"Good, are you feeling reasonably well again to tell me which way?"

"Yes. G-go ahead. We've got to go right up ahead."

"All right."

Jason instructed Bruce to follow him, and so they turned into the next street.

Several turns passed like that, and with each meter they got closer, Jason grew more nervous. This uncertainty just tortured him.

They finally turned into a street with many abandoned houses and his heart almost stopped when Jason saw Dina's destroyed wreck from a distance, standing on edge on the small grass verge. He could feel Tim shaking against his chest. After all, he knew best what this infernal machine could do, and seeing it like this definitely didn't bode well.

They stopped right next to the smoking vehicle and Jason could see the confusion in Bruce's eyes for a brief moment. After all, he didn't know this vehicle. At least not in its current look, but this was not important for the billionaire at the moment. The other two were much more important.

Tim stayed on his bike because of his injured leg, while Bruce and Jason inspected the wreck more closely. At first glance, there was nothing remarkable. Only the broken underside of the vehicle was visible as it lay on its side and dozens of shards cracked loudly under their heavy boots. But as they stepped around the wreckage, a deep chill occupied their minds.

Blood paved the side door area and the ground in a trail leading away from the vehicle. Bruce couldn't hold on any longer and immediately stepped closer to look inside the car. There were bandages, plasters as well as disinfectant everywhere. Again, blood decorated the inside of the car, but not just randomly. Red prints from children hands were scattered in all sorts of places, especially on the back seats.

Bruce swallowed hard. He was shaking all over when he saw this. The signs were clear that something terrible had happened to Damian, and the deeply concerned father was afraid that his worst fears had come true. That Dick had attacked and killed his youngest. Guilt crept up on him like a fungus about to sow its spores.

Jason put a hand on his shoulder and jerked the distraught man out of his rut.

"Bruce, the blood trails lead away. He's not here anymore."

The man's gaze followed the red marks that ended directly at a building facade with no path to follow.

Bruce was about to punch something in his frustration, however, when Jason beat him to it and vented his own frustration with a firm kick to the nearby lamppost.

"FUCK!" he yelled, making even Tim flinch at that volume.

They were too late. Damian and Dick were gone. Whether alive or dead no one could say. Badly injured for sure. And it plagued each of them.

Bruce because he had lost them in his confusion out of control and feelings.

Jason because he had let them down because of his own fear.

And Tim because he was again not strong enough to save those he held dear.

Three broken men stood in the blood of a child. A son. A brother.

In all this occupied silence, far away in the sky, the roar of Batman's new jet finally sounded and gave new hope. At least they could continue their search for the two from above and hopefully find them alive. Even if the chances were realistically bad, especially for Damian, the presented scene in the destroyed car was still in front of one's eyes.

Accompanied by the thunderous whirl of air, the jet landed on the wide road right next to them. Bruce wasted no time and trudged toward it with heavy steps. It was not yet confirmed that the worst-case scenario had occurred. Nor did he give himself the illusion that Damian and Dick were all right.

The cargo area of the jet folded open to allow the bat entry as he described his next course of action:

"I will continue to search for them from above. Red Robin if you can drive, you keep looking on your motorcycle. Red Hood can take mine, but stay together."

"Batman..."

"I don't know if the fight is over yet. It's too dangerous to let you guys go off alone-..."

"Damn it Batman!"

Tim interrupted him gruffly, and confused, both the Bat and the Outlaw looked at him as the teenager explained himself:

"Listen. Can't you hear those strange sounds?"

In fact, he now noticed it too. It sounded like...yowling.

The wailing seemed to come from one of the many narrow side alleys that stretched between the abandoned houses.

Suddenly, Dick's battered form wafted distantly out from one of them. His broken wings dragged across the rough asphalt, and the other two no longer stood proudly upright as they usually did.

Richard whimpered pathetically. Didn't even seem to notice those present in his grief. Then, when they saw what he was holding in his arms, shock went through everyone. Damian's pale figure layed out among Dick's feathers. His bloody body still trailed a trail of leaking life behind him, causing tears to stream down Richard's face.

The despair over his badly injured friend literally echoed in his lamentations.

The horrific image was literally burned into the minds of their family and Bruce couldn't help but want to save his son.

He strode toward them. Had to make sure Damian was still alive. But was just that the wrong action. And Jason registered that immediately.

Caught deep in his instincts, Dick's mournful gaze changed from Damian, to one of fearful suspicion to Bruce.

"Bruce don't!" yelled Jason at him, as he grabbed Batman by the arm and pulled him behind him. But Dick had already begun the lashing stroke with his tail. Instead of hitting Bruce, the sharp feathers sliced through the Outlaw's face and destroyed the entire left half of his helmet.

"Jason!" cried Tim, aghast, and was already about to step closer to help him, but the Outlaw only reached a hand behind him defensively, not looking at either of them:

"Don't come any closer!"

They stopped moving and only Dick's warning growl filled the silence. The deeply suspicious eyes fixed on the Outlaw ready to attack and he clung tighter to Damian's unconscious body. Jason could see Dick breathing heavily and the electrical impulses of his tail crackling faintly. His whole frame was shaking and he was covered with bad bloody wounds. But even though he himself was about to collapse, his warning eyes still remained steadfast.

Jason knew that look. The insane look of wanting to protect the only lifeline you had left. When he was smaller, he had had that look every time someone tried to take away the few treasures he had in this desolate world. Living on the streets left no room for the things that had been important to him. It had taken everything from him, but he wasn't here to take anything away from Dick.

Jason exhaled quietly before removing his sparking helmet and simply sitting on the ground.

In complete silence, he pulled his cigarettes and a lighter from one of his pockets and lit one of the sticks before taking his first drag with relish. While doing so, he felt the suspicious eyes of Dick on him.

"Hey Dickie, don't you want one too? It's annoying because I just bought them for myself, but I guess when you're around it's no use trying to enjoy those in peace anyway."

Dick's grip around Damian strengthened somewhat as Jason tore apart the remaining cigarettes in his hand to expose the tobacco and offer it to him. He could see it working in Richard's brain. Continued to growl at him suspiciously.

But second by second, the threats then gradually died down, until finally the face, swollen with aggression, turned to deep sadness and guilt.

Dick began to cry even harder and only stammered:

"J-Jane...Dami...Dami..."

"Shhhh...I know, I know Buddy. Well come here. It's ok."

Hesitantly, Dick's frantic eyes eyed the Outlaw before looking down at his unconscious friend in his arms. Slowly, he crawled toward Jason, keeping a steady eye on Bruce in particular.

When he came to a stop in front of the Outlaw, he growled warningly in Batman's direction and pulled Damian closer to him.

"Yeah yeah, you got that right. He's an ass, but I guess all of us know that."

Jason held the crushed tobacco in front of Dick's nose to get the latter's attention again.

"Aren't we going to trade? I'll give you these and you give me our battle gnome? He could use some bandages. Don't you think? And if you ask me, you could use one or two, too."

Carefully, Dick's remaining three fingers of his left hand grasped the outlaw's offered one, and Jason now felt all the more how much his body was shaking. It was a disconcerting sensation to feel the three blood-soaked limbs at his joint when there should have been five, and the uncontrolled shudders from Dick's body passed to his own. Something seemed to have shocked Richard to the core and the half-bird hesitated for a long time before stretching his face against the Outlaw's hand.

Dick's grip on Damian loosened, which Jason took advantage of to gently pull the boy toward him.

His hand became soaked with blood and tears as Dick gave way more and more to his despair over Damian. Holding the unconscious boy in his arms now, Jason was able to get a closer look at the wound. The flesh was literally torn out from the inside, leaving behind a single image of destruction. Dimly, he could make out bite marks among all the blood and scraps of tissue, and it didn't take the Outlaw long to suspect something bad as Dick's desperate eyes looked at him pleadingly and guiltily.

The sight pained Jason.

"D-Dami..."

"Don't worry. I won't let him be harmed any further."

Jason snorted in amusement as he looked at Dick's devastated face:

"You look stupid. I think I prefer your grinning face more."

Dick left the hand with the tobacco behind him and rested his head on Jason's lap. His battered body came to a stop in front of him and his wings limply covered the ground.

"Jane..."

Soothingly, Jason stroked his feathers as Dick succumbed more and more to his exhaustion. But he still didn't want to let Damian out of his sight and forced himself to stay awake.

Subliminally, Jason instructed Tim to come to him and with a few limping steps, he also settled down next to the two. Jason hoped to give Dick even more security and finally give his urge to protect them dignity. He desperately needed a break.

Dick's misty eyes wandered jittery to Tim.

"Dim?"

He too stroked his feathers with a smile and spoke softly to him:

"Hey Dickie, man those guys you sure beat up. But you also had to take quite a beating. How about you get some sleep now and leave the rest to us? The way you look, you could really use it."

Tim put on his best facade. Seeing his big brother and role model so broken in front of him made him let him forget all his own pain. Inwardly he wept for him, but outwardly his reassuring smile showed none of it.

Dick's eyes finally closed, but he still wouldn't surrender to his body.

"Da...mi..."

"Shhhh...it's okay. We'll get him back on his feet."

With those last words from Jason, their troubled bird finally drifted off into his own dream world where no one could hurt him anymore.

The put-on smiling expressions were immediately gone from the faces of the two Robins. After all, there was purely nothing here that could justify this emotion. Instead, Tim could no longer hold back his inner self and tears silently made their way down his pain-streaked face as he stared down at Richard's battered body.

Jason could only shake his head at this and cheer him up:

"Hey hey, what are you crying about? Dickie will be fine and we'll get Damian patched up. The two of them will be fine."

But Tim didn't let that calm him down. Keeping his head down and unable to look at Jason, he just stammered:

"But Jason...your...your..."

"Oh, it's no big deal. Can you keep an eye on Dickie for me for a minute?"

Tim just nodded mutely. Even though he was angry at the Outlaw for just walking away, he was still just glad that Jason was here now. Tim couldn't take it anymore. This day had felt like a whole week. Had started well with their trip to the circus. Had gone badly when both Jason and Damian just abandoned him and even Bruce had betrayed him. And finally ended in a night of horror where he was tortured and used at death's door. In addition, he had to watch how his brothers were badly hurt without being able to prevent it. He wanted only to go to bed and think of nothing more. Too much had happened to offend him, so he was more than grateful for the supporting pillar that Jason was currently forming. He could cling to it.

Carefully, Jason pushed Dick off his lap and pulled Damian even tighter to himself before standing up. Turning his back to Batman, his quiet certain voice echoed between the buildings:

"Tell me, was this what you wanted? Or is it what Batman wanted?"

Turning his gaze sadly to his little brother, he chastised himself with the following words:

"You know Bruce, I blame myself for leaving them alone with this. But..."

Reproachfully, his eyes now turned to the bat and Bruce had to swallow hard when he saw the emptiness in Jason's right eye. Only a red trickle broke out of it and crawled down the Outlaw's face.

In a firm voice, Jason continued his sentence:

" ...I blame you alone for letting it get this far in the first place. Dick always wanted you to take care of your Robins. I don't count me among them, but look at Tim and Damian and tell me how big the oh-so-great Batman is! Is this what you imagine it's like to provide a home for children in need?! Who are you if not their father?! Or are we just soldiers for you?! At least DAMIAN is YOUR FUCKING SON! And YOU are letting THIS happen to him!"

Frowning, he stared at Bruce, and Tim also seemed somewhat surprised by Jason's sudden outburst. But there was no response at first. The mask remained as silent as it always was, leaving him in the dark. But then...

"And that's precisely why I didn't want you to get too close to Dick. Because you are all my sons...However, now is not the time..."

But Jason only made this really angry:

"If we are your sons, then where is your trust in us? If you ask me, it's not Dick who is the demon here, it's this mask you've imposed on yourself and let control you, Bruce! Batman may have been the thing that brought us all together, but he's also the thing that's wrecking each and every one of us!"

The hatred literally written on his face Jason reminded himself to be calm again. Finally Damian had to be treated urgently and also the other two needed medical care. He added more composedly now:

"But you're right. Now is not the time. It wouldn't change anything anyway. It never does." And looked down again at his dying brother.

After a brief moment of silence, sadness inevitably spread through Jason, along with anger and despair...

...and not for himself.

Therefore he growled up and added still disappointedly:

"You really don't deserve them."

And just grudgingly walked past Bruce, throwing the obvious into the room:

"Damian needs urgent treatment, so let's hurry to get to the Manor before he bleeds to death."

But received no emotional response to that either.

Jason wanted to throw so many things at this cold bastard, but now was neither the time nor the place to do so. He was already happy if Damian survived the night at all. It was enough if Bruce left them alone. He wouldn't do that anymore.

Jason couldn't do it at all anymore. His heart was already too chained, and the little boy he'd kept locked inside all these years was holding on to this new rope as if everything hung on it. Jason had feared it so much and yet it had happened.

He had three brothers who had wormed their way into his scarred heart. Something he could call family again after years of loneliness and really cared about. But also something that could finally end him.

He knew that now...and...was afraid of it.