Rather Be On Top

chapter ten

After the first week everyone had been there, training finally became more frequent.

They'd found some training soldiers to possess powers which led Damian to creating three separate training groups. There was one led by Terra and Icicle for the people who possessed powers that manipulated an element or object. The other group was led by Rose and Shimmer  who had enhanced abilities but no superpowers. Everyone else, Jason, Jade, and himself, they taught the non powered soldiers.

People truly were a wonder.

If you drilled them hard enough and nurtured them at the same time, they grew to love and adore you, follow you and become the most loyal servants from the most corrupt souls. Although he supposed that made sense. He'd made it clear there was an established hierarchy. It went from Damian to leaders of a group, then members of Cataclysm, after came the faction leaders, who were all heroes. After them, he announced there would be two more faction leaders under them.

People wanted those roles. They strived to be at the very top of the pyramid Damian proudly controlled and watched over.

His grandfather and mother checked in once a week to oversee the training and give him tips. Talia was surprised at first when she saw the appearance of a few familiar faces, mainly being Dick and Raven. Dick because the eldest himself had met Talia in person when Damian was much younger and had no recollection of his female parent. Raven because Damian had introduced her as the daughter of Trigon years ago as a girlfriend.

Now that Raven was here, he didn't know who his cover was anymore for a girlfriend. Terra or Raven. But it didn't feel like it mattered as much as it should have because with everything going on around them, finding an appropriate pretend girlfriend was at the bottom of his list.

However, the one time last week where his mother entered his bedroom one morning just to find he and Raven pressed closely together on the same bed made her squeal with delight and rush out to tell his grandfather. Raven simply covered her head with a pillow and resumed her sleep.

His mother had spread it all around the base so everyone believed they were an item, much to Tim's dismay and surprise.

Courtesy of her powers and father, Raven was blessed with not having to train with the rest of the heroes and recruits. She wasn't even really there for a reason, just there to observe and make sure he didn't get into a fight with her Titan leader.

Nobody would be good dead.

He'd restricted technology access from both his former brothers because they were both very skilled with hacking, more than he was, and he couldn't allow them the opportunity to steal secrets of the League of Assassins. He kept his information on paper and in his head, unlike his mother and grandfather, so his information was safer and secured.

Over the first week, he was able to become tolerable of the heroes that surrounded him and learned almost every recruit's name in the process. It was proven a fact that bosses who learned the names of their colleagues and employees were more likeable. Damian made sure to never lose a single follower. He has yet to see that happen.

Of course, on the free nights the heroes had, he'd catch them leave base to go patrol their respective cities and join up with their mentors or some other hero friends.

Overall, people had freedom here as long as they followed his rules and listened to their superiors. The more they did, the more privelages they received. Many had quit their jobs during the day to dedicate their entire selves to being an assassin or soldier. They hoped to work through the ranks and achieve the glory they knew they could never have during the day in their regular office jobs or careers. Here with Cataclysm, they all had an individual purpose and Damian made sure of that.