I'll be good

In The Midst Of The Chaos

Batman was careful not to mortally wound anyone as he fought his way through the chaos. He made it to the GCPD building on the far side of Gotham, watching as the armored officers struggled to keep the unaffected citizens at bay.

Batman swung to the rooftop, landing expertly on the bat-signal behind the commissioner. Jim jumped at the thud behind him, whirling his head around only to see nothing but the light coming from the Bat-signal.

"Commissioner."

A deep, almost growl-like voice came from behind him, startling him once more. He turned again, facing the owner of the voice. Batman.

He swallowed thickly before adjusting his glasses, "Batman," Jim greeted before continuing. "Have you any idea what's going on? The sky turned black and all of a sudden everyone starts attacking each other!"

"I'm working on it, Jim."

"Work fast."

Jim hurriedly left the rooftop leaving Bruce alone.

He wasn't entirely sure what was happening, this off-world invasion was not what he was expecting. It was strange and unusual. He looked up at the sky, his gaze focused on the burning sun. It was scorching outside, more so than the usual summer in Gotham. It was as if the air itself was gone and only the heat was left in its place.

There was something about the way everything looked, the smoky, black sky with a hint of orange mixed within, the blazing red sun beginning to bleed darker shades of the color every few minutes. It was as though they were experiencing hell; the only thing missing would be the devil himself.

***

Damian watched from his perched position on the building as the disarray on the ground began to die down a little. All four boys managed to subdue the hostile citizens quickly without severe casualties to anyone. They managed to outrun their attackers and find shelter on the roof of an abandoned building.

Damian didn't quite understand why only certain people were immune to whatever was happening whilst everyone else seemed to be infected; they were all exposed to the sun, which is what he guessed was causing everyone to act like wild beasts.

He looked up to the sun, shielding his eyes from the intense glare emitting from it.

The sun didn't look like the sun anymore. In fact, it didn't look like anything anymore, just a swirling, crimson vortex.

"What's happening?" Damian whispered to himself, not realizing that Dick was stood behind him, following the boy's gaze towards the sun.

His hand instinctively went to the younger boy's shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts.

"You did good down there, kiddo!" Dick announced, smiling at Damian. Though Damian knew it was forced; Dick was just as confused as he was, perhaps even scared.

Damian had been taught his whole life to never show fear, even if on the off chance he would feel it. But Damian had never felt afraid before; he was never given the chance to. But now he was certain, that this strange flicker of emotion welling up inside of him was fear. Fear of the unknown, fear that he wouldn't make it out alive.

Damian glanced up towards Dick, watching him carefully as he surveyed the city. Dick was trying his best to stay composed, trying to be the hero with no fear, but underneath the mask, he was just an ordinary person and he knew it.

Jason and Tim joined the other two on the ledge; they knew they would have to go back down there at some point. For now, the chaos had settled but there were still those who needed saving and the infected to be cured. But the boys had no clue what exactly was causing this outbreak nor what to do to stop it.