Damian POV: Sunday, February 18th, 2024
"Drake if you don't give me back my katana, I will burn all the coffee in Gotham." I say, emotion void in my words.
"Oh, come on Baby Bird! Don't be like that, it's just a stupid sword." Drake says nearly falling over from exhaustion.
I huff in annoyance, "It's not a 'stupid sword'. It is a Honjo Masamune, one of the most prized swords in Japanese history. You would know this had you not dropped out of school, imbecile." I take a step towards Drake, only for him to fall over.
"Master Tim, might I suggest you go to sleep before patrol tonight?" Alfred says from behind me.
Drake makes some strange noises while lying on the floor of the hallway. I roll my eyes, grab my katana, and walk away from the idiot and into the living room. Which is where I find Grayson playing with Mar'i on the floor. Mar'i was Grayson and Koriand'r's daughter. She was the second person that was tolerable in this house. She is only four years old.
"Hey Little D! Can you watch Mar'i for a second? Bruce asked me to check his e-mails while Tim finally got some rest." Grayson gets up from the floor and smiles at me. That's one of his faults, he's too friendly. Well, he is on the outside, but sometimes on his 'bad days' you'll get a glimpse of what is underneath all that happiness.
"Yes, Grayson, I can watch Mar'i." I start to walk towards the couch when his arm darts out to stop me. I look down at it, then back up at him and raise a brow.
"Maybe leave the sword. I don't want Mar'i to get hurt." He gives a concerned awkward smile that makes him appear constipated.
"Well, I'm not going to harm her. I know how to control my katana better than you know how to control your escrima sticks." I walk forward, forcing his arm out of the way and sit down on the floor next to Mar'i. Dick sighs and leaves the room, muttering about how much of a 'spoiled brat' I am.
"Unca D! What are you holding?" The little girl comes up to me, curiosity seeping from every pore. I move her to the side in order to place the katana on the floor in front of me.
"This is a Honjo Masamune katana." I run my hands along the blade and point to the tip of the blade, "This is the kissaki or the point. This is the hamon, the edge pattern. The ito, which is the hilt wrap." I continue to point out the parts of the katana with Mar'i listening intently for nearly an hour, whenever I am interrupted by Todd running into the manor like the maniac he is.
Mar'i jumps up and nearly steps on the tip of the blade, before I quickly move it away. She runs to Todd and jumps into his arms, giggling maniacally, "Unca Jay! Unca D was showing me parts of the Hujo Masaman!" She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him.
"Honjo Masamune, Mar'i. Not...that." I correct her politely; she is a child after all. She has an excuse for being unintelligent.
"Oh, was demon spawn boring you with his personality?" Todd grins at Mar'i then faces me with a smirk, "I think I know the perfect solution to fix him." He looks back at Mar'i and whispers something in her ear. She squeals in excitement before curling up into a ball. Todd chucks her at me, and I catch her easily. Shifting slightly from her impact.
"These idiotic acts of yours are beginning to bore me, Todd." I gently place a giggling Mar'i on the floor before I reach into my hoodies pocket and grab three batarang's and chuck them at him, all three landing in one spot on his head leaving a small scratch that begins to bleed. He wipes the blood off before giving a murderous smirk and walking away.
Huh, that's a first. He would normally be trying to kill me. I didn't throw them hard enough to cause too much damage, but he should have been angered enough to attack me, like he usually does. Feeling slightly confused, I walk over to grab my katana.
"Mar'i, I must get ready for patrol. Grayson and Pennyworth are in Father's study if you wish to join them. I shall see you tomorrow." I walk away katana in hand, towards my room upstairs.
0000
Thirty minutes later everyone meets up in the Bat-cave. By everyone I mean, myself, Grayson as Nightwing, Todd as Red Hood, Drake as Red Robin, Cain as Orphan, Brown as Spoiler, Thomas as Signal, Gordon as Oracle, Father as Batman, and Pennyworth as Pennyworth. Nightwing and Father were over by the Boom-Tube discussing Koriand'r. Orphan is communicating to Spoiler and Signal via ASL. Pennyworth is standing and observing like I am. Oracle and Red Robin were at the Bat-computer whispering about some e-mail from Paris.
"Bruce, you might want to come read this." Oracle says, her voice filled with wariness. Everyone walks over to the Bat-computer as she pulls up the e-mail her and Red Robin must have been speaking about.
Everyone intently reads the e-mail in silence. If Oracle thought Father needed to see it, it was clearly important.
Subject: A cry for help
Dear Batfamily,
I hope this message reaches you swiftly, as the situation in Paris has escalated beyond control. It is with a heavy heart and a sense of urgency that I reach out to you for assistance in controlling a formidable adversary.
Hoaxer, once known as Cerise Bianca, has emerged as a formidable threat to the safety and stability of our city. Using her stolen powers she has plunged Paris into chaos, Hoaxing people who show any type of negative emotion.
The consequences of her actions have been devastating leading to scenes of pain and death that I cannot bear to witness any longer. As Ladybug, my partner, Chat Noir and I have faced many challenges, but Hoaxers manipulation of emotions and reality present a danger unlike anything we faced with Monarch.
I recognize the gravity of this situation and acknowledge that defeating Hoaxer will require a united front. Your expertise and experience in combating villains would be invaluable in our efforts to restore peace and order to Paris.
Time is of the essence, and every moment that passes brings further suffering to our city. I implore you join forces with Chat Noir and I, to stand together against this darkness and to bring an end to Hoaxer's reign of terror.
I await your response with hope and determination, knowing that together, we can overcome the most daunting of challenges.
With sincere gratitude,
Ladybug
I scoff at the ridiculousness of this 'cry for help'. There were no heroes in Paris, nor was there a villain. There especially wasn't multiple, or previous ones.
"I know what you're thinking Damian, and I thought the exact same thing until I found this." Oracle says before switching from the e-mail to a screen titled 'Ladyblog'.
There were videos and images of a girl who wore a ladybug costume and a boy in a black cat costume. Guess their names match them perfectly.
"I started researching them as soon as I got the e-mail earlier. The girl who runs this blog, Alya Cesaire, has been running it for the past two years, she's reported every attack from the very beginning." Oracle says scrolling through all the images and articles.
"Stop. Scroll back up." Oracle does as Father says, "That video, it's the most recent." She clicks on the video and turns up the sound.
The video opens with a girl in an orange flannel, with orange and brown ombre hair, tan skin, and thick black glasses. The recording device, more than likely a phone, is held close to her face.
"Hey guys! At the moment Ladybug and Chat Noir are fighting Quiet Place. Weird name am I right? Well, his power is even worse! He can hear any noise, and if he hears you, well, let me just show you the aftermath." The girl moves the phone towards a street behind her, she seemed to be hiding in an alley behind a trash can. The street behind her was crimson red, no pavement in sight. Human body parts could be seen here and there.
Behind me someone was gagging, probably Red Robin. Orphan was breathing heavily, Spoiler was repeating 'oh my gosh', Signal walked to the other side of the cave, and Oracle couldn't even look at the screen anymore.
The girl moved the phone to face her once again, "Yeah, yikes. Don't worry though Lady-" She was cut off by a quick slashing sound. The video cut off, leaving a blank screen in its wake. Everyone, except Pennyworth, Father, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
"How come we never knew about this?" Spoiler asks her voice shaking slightly.
"Yeah, Bruce, want to explain why nobody ever heard of the heroes and villains in Paris?" Red Hood forced out, the words seeping with venom.
Father sucked in a breath before answering, "I don't know, Jason. I have never heard of any heroes or of any crime in Paris, let alone that." He gestures to the screen.
"We have to help them." I say, stopping the silence that had fallen over us.
I may be a trained assassin with over a hundred kills under my belt at the age of ten, but I didn't want to be him anymore. Whenever I came to live with my father six years ago, I made a promise not to kill anybody anymore. While he had taken away something I had come to enjoy, he guided me in the right direction. These people didn't deserve to suffer, not like the people that I made suffer. They needed help, and I wanted to willingly offer it.
"I'll go to Paris. Even if it's on my own." Everyone looked at me, mouths agape. Yeah, yeah, I never did anything just for the sake of good. They probably thought I had gone mental.
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Just a picture of the Batfamily (Damian is still the baby of the family buttttttt he's 16 in this fanfic)