~ The Court Of Owls ~
"I thought this would relax you." Samantha tisked at Talon's attentiveness to his father's old pocket watch.
"What can I say? I'm a born worrier."
"Then I guess I'll have to relax you all over again." She attempted to start another round, but Talon refused. He pulled away, walked to the window. Samantha followed him. "Now, now. You know better than to disobey the Grandmaster," she teased.
"We're not wearing masks now, Samantha."
"People like us are always wearing masks."
"What if the Court doesn't go along with our plan?"
"It's a brilliant idea. We have the perfect weapon to destroy the Batman."
"And me?"
"You'll have your wish. You'll sit beside me on the Court. My partner. My love."
"But I'm not one of you. I'm just a nobody from the streets."
"My father recruited you, trained you. I've known you since we were children, and I know there's greatness in you."
"Maybe you do, but the rest of them..." Talon trailed as he was guided back to the bed.
"Vanavers have controlled the Court for generations. Our word is law."
"Since when do you believe in the law?"
"Only one law, my love. My law." She kissed him, ending the conversation.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"The sewers again, sir?" Alfred asked over the coms.
Guided by a small flashlight, the disguised billionaire walk straight through the liquid filth. "Seems I'm always up to my neck in sewage one way or another. But this particular section has been shut down since the 1800s. Took some work to get in here, believe me."
"But what about Master Damian?"
"He's a pawn in the Court's game. This is only gonna end when I take them down. Hang on. I've got something." The visor in his cowl locked onto the wall. "Signal is strongest right behind here."
"Sir?
He felt around, found a switch. The wall moved, revealing more behind it.
"I've located a long corridor that leads closer to the signal's source." He walked forward, but Alfred wasn't getting a clear read.
"Your transmission is breaking up."
"There's a faint aroma in the air. Moldy, sweet. Wait. I found-" but Alfred could no longer hear him.
Though unheard, the faithful butler wished, "Best of luck, sir."
He entered a luxurious room. A familiar room. Bruce Wayne had been here before, but not Batman. The transmitter worked perfectly.
Again, he looked up to find rows of white, blank owl masks staring at him.
"Welcome, Batman, to the Court of Owls." The creep calling himself Grandmaster stepped forward. "We've been expecting you."
"You were watching me in the tunnels," he concluded.
"In the tunnels, on the streets. We have eyes across Gotham, observing and recording your every move."
"As I suspected."
"And did you also suspect-" Wait. Something wasn't right, "-that those ancient sewers have been flooded with an odorless psychotropic gas-" Everything was getting blurry- "that enters through the pores of the skin-" The voice talking to him echoed- "gnaws at the roots of the mind-" The masked people became monsters- "turning the psyche back in on itself, twisting and winding until it resembles nothing so much as a labyrinth?"
The ground he stood on cracked, fell apart right under his feet.
When he came too, and owl dove at him.
"Beware the Court of Owls
"That watches all the time
"Gazing from the shadows
"Behind cement and lime
"They see you at your hearth
"They see you in your bed."
"Is this supposed to frighten me? You think you're the first ones to drug me; to invade my mind? I'll find my way through this." He continued on. "And I'll bring this whole damn Court crashing down around your-" he gasped, stopping mid- sentence.
He knew this alleyway.
No.
He knew that shadowy figure.
No.
"That movie was great," Young Bruce cheered.
No.
The family stopped, huddled together for comfort.
"Take what you want, but don't hurt my family. Please."
The figure removed his hat, revealing another Batman.
No!
The gun fired, echoing in the small space. And another shot.
"No!" he screamed.
Young Bruce turned around, face sullen. "Do you understand now?" the small boy asked. "When you put on that mask, you became as much of a demon as the men you claim to oppose. You became one with the very forces that killed your parents. And worse, you spawned the greatest monster Gotham City has ever seen."
Around the red eyed Batman, everyone Bruce ever loved lay dead. Pools of blood surrounded most of the bodies, while others didn't even have time to bleed before death.
The red eyed Batman removed his hood. A grown man with cold green eyes revealed himself.
"Damian?"
"Who will grow in rage and hatred, tear the heart out of Gotham, then leave a trail of terrible destruction across the world."
Bruce stepped back as the gun was aimed at him. "Damian, no." Bruce grunted and groaned in pain as he was shot. He stopped backing away; stopped hiding. He faced the pain, making his way to his son. He enveloped the man into a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Damian, forgive me." He pulled back, now revealing his son as he is: ten and young.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"He's coming through, thank heavens," Bruce heard Alfred as he woke up.
Damn. His head was pounding.
"Good thing I found him not far from where his last transmission ended." Dick. Nightwing. Nightwing was here?
Finally, his heavy eyes opened.
"How long have I been-?" he wondered.
"Seven hours."
He struggled to sit up, ignoring the straitjacket he'd somehow gained. He must have been hurting himself or Dick and Alfred in his drugged state. No time to feel bad though. " Unh. Damian. If those animals get their hands on him-"
"I've been out there, Bruce. There's no sign of him."
But after what he just saw, Bruce wouldn't give up. Not on Damian. Not his son. "I'll help you."
"You're of no help to anyone in your current state, sir.
You need to rest."
"No." He tried to get up, but Dick and Alfred easily held him down while his arms were useless. "Don't you understand? I have to find him. He's my son. My son."
Now Dick and Alfred had no clue what Bruce's drugged mind made him see (okay, they did have clues, but the yelling got confusing and hard to bear after a while), but they knew whatever he saw wasn't good. Whatever he saw involved Damian.
And now Bruce was more determined than ever to find his son.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
In the same room his father had been in nearly seven hours before, Robin stood beside Talon before the Court of Owls.
"Talon, introduce your protege," the Grandmaster ordered.
"It is an honor to present this boy to the Court," Talon obeyed, gesturing to the boy. "I've seen first-hand that he has greatness within him and a grand destiny ahead."
"Perhaps that is so. But we must be certain of his loyalty."
Robin stepped forward and swore, "You have my word."
"We are the Court of Owls and we require more than words. Your mask."
He had known this moment was coming. Still, he didn't move. He hadn't really decided yet.
"Robin?" Talon prodded when he hesitated.
"So much for your loyalty. Toss the brat back in the gutter where you found him."
"Wait. Robin, we discussed this."
Hesitant, Robin removed his mask.
"The boy," the Grandmaster recognized. "Bruce Wayne's ward."
"How do you-?" Robin began, confused.
"That means Wayne is Batman," Samantha, under the mask of the Grandmaster, concluded.
Damian's eyes widened. "No. No, you're wrong. He-"
Talon stepped back as bars shot out of the ground. More shot overhead, blocking off the top. Damian was trapped. He yanked desperately at the bars.
"This changes everything. Imagine how deeply we can hurt the Batman. Break his heart and his will by killing this boy."
"No. He's supposed to take my place in the ritual. He's-"
Damian put the pieces together. "You lied to me. Batman was right. You were just using me to-"
"Shut up. Shut up!"
"I swear to you, we'll find a replacement. Now, kill him!" the Grandmaster roared.
"Yes, Grandmaster."
A few of the bars lowered, and Damian wasn't going to take this lying down. He charged towards Talon, who kneed him in the gut and tossed him back into the cage.
"Do it!"
Talon opened his hand, metal claws pointing out. He raised his hand, ready to strike.
But when Damian looked at him, he saw himself as a boy. And he couldn't do it. He couldn't kill himself.
He turned and jumped, throwing knives into the hearts of some of the Court members behind the Grandmaster. He landed in front of the Grandmaster as the Court members started to run, screaming in panic.
"Run."
The Grandmaster ran. As he ran, Talon killed more Court members, sparing none.
The Grandmaster locked herself in a room, but Talon forced his way in.
"What have you done?"
Talon threw his mask to the ground. "I'm not one of you. Never have been, never will be. That boy and me, we crawled out of the same gutter."
"Talon, my darling, forget them." Talon removed the blank, Court mask, and Samantha's voice returned to normal. "The two of us can-"
"The two of us?" He leaned in for a kiss. Samantha relaxed, believing she was safe.
She sucked in a pained breath when she felt Talon's metal claws dig into her.
He pulled his hand back, revealing the blood covered claw.
"Oh, my sweet Samantha. Be honest. You would have done the same to me."
Samantha fell.
Meanwhile, Robin had put back on his mask and reached desperately for his utility belt, which fell off during the short fight with Talon.
"I've just sacrificed a world for you, Robin. Now what will you sacrifice for me?"
"You're insane."
"I won't ask you to betray him any further. But Bruce Wayne is a complication." He reached through the bars and grabbed the boy's arms, ignoring Robin's struggles. "He has to be dealt with." He yanked Robin into the bars, rendering him useless for the time being.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
When Robin woke up, he was in a capsule, the same ones past Talons were preserved in.
As the container began to fill with a green liquid, he pounded his fist against the glass. He didn't know what that junk was, but he knew it wasn't good.
"You'll be safe here till I'm done," Talon assured, not that it made him feel any better.
"You think you can stop him alone?"
"Who says I'm alone?"
He walked over to the control panel, releasing the once dead Talons.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Red security grid up and active?" Nightwing asked as the talons drew near, setting off the alerts.
"Unless someone shut it down and didn't bother to tell us," Bruce jabbed, eyeing Alfred.
"Most unkind, sir."
"I don't know if it's Bruce Wayne or Batman the Court's come for. But either way, they're about to get a welcome they'll never forget." He pulled on his cowl.
Less than a minute later, the talons burst through the window, the glass shattering on impact. Nightwing and Batman covered their heads as more broke through the skylight. Before the rain of glass ended though, they were ready for action. Nightwing pulled out his escrima sticks, while the ever confident Batman raised his arms.
The army of talons surrounded them, and Nightwing questioned, "What the hell are these things?"
"I'm not sure if they're actually alive, but I've seen first-hand that they can be destroyed."
More talons joined them, and the first group charged at the old dynamic duo.
They split up, taking out as many as they could. Eventually, the fight brought them back together, and they fought together, maneuvering around the other like the old times. They both enjoyed the natural flow they had at reading the other. They enjoyed the smoothness their partnership brought.