Following the League's coup, Marinette al Ghul and her twin brother, Damian, are left on the doorstep of their father- Bruce Wayne, otherwise known as Batman.
Or, the story of Marinette- the granddaughter of the Demon's Head, ex-assassin, Starling...
A/N: tried something a little different for this one. The music doesn't start at the beginning of the chapter, so I embedded it in the middle right before where it should begin for impact.
Also, Happy Halloween, and I apologize in advance.
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Talia arrives to take the twins back, with an aged-up clone of Damian at her beck and call. It is a testament to how much Marinette really means to her mother that there is no clone of her.
Damian and Marinette refuse. They are done with the League's ways. They don't want to kill (not that Marinette ever did) and prefer their father's methods. Their family stands by them, willing to fight if necessary.
It is full-out war.
Even when faced with assassins now trying to kill them (Marinette was disposable since she wasn't a suitable heir, Damian was now disposable since Talia could make clones of him to be the heir instead. Why keep them alive when they've betrayed their purpose?), Starling finds herself using the non-lethal moves her family has taught her as she ducks and rolls and slashes with her fans, then switching to her katanas for a longer range.
More and more assassins are falling. Starling engages her mother in combat, and Black Bat joins in, which brings a tiny sliver of fear to Talia's eyes. Cassandra Cain was groomed from birth to be the perfect assassin, and was unbeatable for even the top League members. She knows this, and she is rightfully scared. Good.
"Marinette. You are a disappointment." Talia hisses as they fight. Once, in a time where Talia was the only one who believed in Marinette, in her own twisted way, those words would have hurt more than an injury ever could. Now, she is far beyond seeking her mother's praise.
Starling's eyes flare green for a moment. "You assume that I wish to be valued by the League, Talia. I would prefer to be a disappointment to you. It would mean that I am some semblance of a good person."
They are pushing the assassins back, they are winning, and then Robin's shriek of pain pierces the air.
Starling turns in time to see the Heretic, Damian's adult clone, pull his blade out of her brother's chest with a sickening grin. Robin is dead before he hits the ground, and she lets out a furious scream in tandem with her father and family before the Lazarus Pit takes over.
She launches herself at Heretic, picking up her twin's fallen katana on the way and battling the clone with all the brutality of someone on the verge of madness. Everything is tinted that sickly shade of green, and she takes a satisfaction in every hit she lands on the Heretic's body, until-
Shink.
Heretic's head falls to the ground, severed from its body, which slumps to the floor a moment later.
