Bruce sat at the table for breakfast.
It was early morning in Gotham City and as usual, he waited for the next Wayne child to make his appearance and eat with him. One by one, they all came in at their designated times. Clockwork. Dick then Damian, on to Tim, and finally, Jason.
Reading through the newspaper like he has been since forever, he rose a brow at the next heading. Dick caught sight of the look, as always, attentive of others around him. "What is it? What's so interesting about the news today?" Damian also joined in on the conversation. "Father, I don't see why you need the papers. That is what the television is for, is it not?" Jason shot the youngest a look. "Because only you'd watch a boring news channel on a tv instead of normal kid things." Tim snickered quietly to himself before throwing in his own retort. "Like what? Cartoons? Kids shows? Emotional superhero movies like 'The Avengers'? Boring."
Dick gasped dramatically before pointing at Tim. "How dare you insult such great movies!" Bruce sighed and brought all eyes on him again. "I just find it odd. Renegade's been inactive for about a month already? He suddenly dropped off the radar, but for what reason?"
Jason subtly side-eyed Damian in question becaude it was the truth and reporters finally noticed the topic and question.
Where did the rising villain Renegade go?
Tim hummed and perked up. "Maybe he's plotting some sinister plan to totally annihilate all heroes!" They all burst out into fits of laughter at the comment. Dick rolled his eyes. "If I were Renegade, I'd just, I don't know, be a classic villain and torment one person for the rest of my life." Jason piped in with a grin at Bruce. "Like the Joker?"
The eldest nodded. "Exactly like the Joker. If not iconic, then super flashy. I'd like mess around with everyone and everything." Jason agreed, "Yeah, I can see that with you. A prankster villain." Nods went all around and Tim returned to his thinking out loud. "But seriously, I think we should all be careful. I'll send a notice to both leagues later as a precaution. We still don't know much about the guy. He's still dangerous until we gather more intel."
Damian also nodded, slowly, thinking to himself as well, then he smiled and looked up at everyone sitting around the table. "For pretending to be civilians, you're all doing a lousy job at keeping your hero identities a secret." Dick grimaced before lightly facepalming and shaking his head after. "You're right. We really suck at this. Think of it as light conversating from a family of detectives?"
"That works."
It was a Saturday morning at Wayne Manor.
Everything was normal and right. The family had the choice of mingling with the other members or visiting friends.
Damian had chosen to hanging out with a friend later during the day. He and Jon would meet up at a city in Metropolis. "Speaking of heroing. Father, I would like to ask a favour? May I use the zetatubes just once to get to Metropolis? Kent and I will have dinner together."
Bruce gave it some thought and after a long minute of deadly cold staring from his son he was forced to give into the terrifying and pressuring look. Dick hugged Damian from behind after Bruce left the room. "Looks like our little brother's going on a date~." The other two joined in on the kissy noises and lovey faces. "Yeah, whatever, whatever. We're just celebrating the day we first met, alright? Nothing more than that."
"An anniversary! Even better!"
Oh, but it was something special to both of them. And while Damian hated himself for what he was going to do later that night, it had to be done.
He was anxious for when the time came.
He was. A horrible individual.
Horrible.
Actually, anxiety was all he could feel the entire rest of the day. The first hour was spent of him making sure his bedroom was sorted as it usually was, pencils and drawing pad on his desk, half-finished sketch on an open page, bed nice and tidy, designated old sword collectables under his bed in cases.
Damian stood at the center of his familiar bedroom. The room that he had owned for thirteen years. A safe haven that nobody could take away because it was simply just his.
Jason.
He had to go to Jason, tell Jason the plan, tell him everything that was about to happen and to have his back in everything he was going to do because it was all just drastic and absurd. Thinking about later that night made Damian queasy to the bones.
Reluctantly, Damian left the room to end up in front of the large door directly across from him. Three light taps of the knuckles and anyone would have known it was Damian on the spot. Jason, standing on the other side of the door wondered if he should bother opening it or not. Why was he getting such a bad feeling just now? Like he was going to hear news he didn't exactly want to know?
"Todd. I hope you are aware I can see the shadow of your feet from where I stand. Do not try and play coy with me. I must speak with you. I would like advice."
Sure that wasn't entirely true but he needed an excuse just in case somebody was listening in on him as he spoke so openly in the hallway of everyone's bedrooms. Dick and Tim were no doubt in their own bedrooms doing whatever they pleased, videogames or working on cases, eating or taking on the phone. Nonetheless, while the walls were thick, the doors were thin and allowed sound to pass right through them.
Anyone could have been listening.
Finally, Jason opened the door and allowed Damian to strut right past him and into his territory. Jason shut the door with a sigh and turned to find the younger boy on the ledge of his bed.
Nervous wasn't a good look on Damian, that was for sure. The whole reason why was because the looks they ever only saw on Damian for thirteen years was angry and serious. Confidence, boldness, and calculated risks shone from the youngest Robin.
"8:27. Have the Metropolis news channel on by this time and when you're alone, open this letter at 8:27 tonight. Alone. I am being serious. If any of the other members of this family were to know the truth, my plans will all crumble and I will have you to blame for the rest of eternity. I will see you around. Good day."
Like that, he was gone as soon as he came.
This left Jason staring at the perfectly folded letter in his hand, the thin piece of paper allowing some of the cursive strokes to be seen with the bright light of the room. "8:27 it is."
After Damian finished his little errands for the day, he left the manor with nothing but the few throwing knives and pair of daggers under his civilian attire.
The crowds were kind to him as always and he'd pass by some school friends with a smile and wave while he made up an excuse to be elsewhere.
In reality, elsewhere was in Metropolis, hours earlier than he needed to be for his and Jon's first meeting anniversary.
His reason for being in Metropolis was entirely different. He and Jon were to meet up around two in the afternoon later on so Damian had around three hours to spare.
In a private room, he and two others stood.
Luthor presented the body next to him making Damian hum in satisfaction. "And you've coded him to match every stand of DNA in my body? This is an exact replica of myself?" Luthor took a seat on the bed of the private room they were in. It was the least obvious place for villains to discuss in broad daylight. The love motel they were at specifically was ran by a villain family too so they were covered for cameras watching.
Standing before him was a clone.
Of Damian.
They both wore the same outfit and had their hair done in the same way. Luthor placed two magnets on both sides of Damian's head, just right behind the ears. Once they were placed on, Damian shivered at the sudden tingling sensation running up and down his spine. "This transmitter connects your mind to your clone's. It is a mental connection that is purely one-sided. You may command it to do whatever you want. You must be in a range of a hundred feet at all times, however. Once you kill him, take off the transmitters and pocket them. You mustn't fail such a grand plan of yours, Mr. Wayne."
"Al Ghul. I won't be a Wayne for much longer."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems as if you're excited to fake your death?"
Damian stripped out of his current outfit to reveal his Renegade uniform then shoved his civilian attire down to the bottom of a trash bin. "Thank you for your assisstance. I owe you a favour in the future." Luthor watched Damian slip through the vents while his clone strolled out of the room with a smile. "I'll hold you to that, young prince."
The plan was officially in motion.
Every year since they've met, both super sons made it a goal to celebrate the little things like first villain taken down together, first time they've snuck into a bar, first undercover mission gone wrong. They both had many days of the year marked for celebratory reasons and they always added more when they felt like it, giving them an excuse to see each other more often.
Damian's smile dropped at the thought that he couldn't spend time with his boyfriend anymore as he scaled the walls of the darkest alleyways in broad daylight. Tailing his clone was difficult because the range didn't give him much time to find backway opening or ladders or any way to get to the next alley. If this were a task at night, no doubts, Damian would be soaring aceoss rooftops as silent as he could be.
That is why the plan ended at night time.
He just had to survive a few hours of getting used to controlling such a realistically made clone of himself. It was all thanks to the members of Cadmus that his plan was in motion. It had taken two whole weeks before they even accepted such a troublesome task and another week of testing his body. The final week was a resting period and overlooking the final process.
It was the reason why Renegade hadn't been seen for about an entire month but it would be worth it because Renegade would make an appearance again tonight.
Damian was going to kill his clone.
In front of everyone because unlike Gotham, Metropolis citizens liked to wander around during even the darkest part times of night because of the evershining moonlight, the promised safety, and the little villains that Superman or Superboy could easily take care of.
When the time finally came where Jon and Damian would meet up, Damian was thankful for the little break and sat behind a dumpster and waited for Jon to show.
"Damian!"
The clone looked up ahead to find his best friend running up to him from across the street so Damian forced a smile onto his clone who also gave a small wave at the super. "Kent, you finally show up. It feels as if I've been waiting for entire hours." It wasn't a lie.
He wanted to have fun with Jon.
It wasn't the same as watching his best friend and his own clone from twenty-four feet away.
Damian couldn't help but groan.
This was supposed to be a day full of fun but while watching what was happening, he'd remind himself every few minutes that being a villain meant he couldn't have nicer things like this. Friends and a family of heroes, not even a superhero team anymore. He'd have villains to watch his back and act as his friends, and he'd have villains to be his mentors and his family.
Some things he just couldn't have.
Some things he didn't even deserve.
A part of him was slowly disappearing, he knew it was but that did not stop him from putting a halt to such a bizarre plan. He had to go through with this. It couldn't be any other night either.
This night was the night Damian Wayne was going to die and nobody would be able to stop him.
Not even Jon.
More hours passed by and Damian was both getting more excited and more nervous the closer the desigated time came. He watched both Jon and his clone finally exit the arcade they've been playing in for the past hour and a half. This meant they were on time for dinner down the block at a popular burger place.
Fifteen seconds.
"Oh, Jon, I think I left my phone inside the arcade. I'm going to go back for it okay?"
Nine seconds.
"Yeah, sure thing, will you wait or go ahead?"
Four seconds.
"I'll wait here. Go on. I'm super ready for some-."
Damian shot a dart at his clone from where he was perched on a rooftop in the alley beside where his clone stood. His clone pulled out the dart and stared at it before looking at Jon. There were gasps from the people passing by and even a crowd began to form. Some even began taking videos as they backed away or got closer to his clone. Jon ran forward the same way Damian ran to his clone with a sword out.
Dressed as Renegade and killing his own clone assured people who suspected Renegade's identity that Damian Wayne was not under the mask because Damian Wayne was about to die.
Damian forced his clone to pull out a blade and hold it up to defend himself from an incoming attack by a sword.
More people gasped in surprise.
To Damian's surprise, Jon flew forward and joined the fight, using his strength to grab Damian's poisoned clone and push him to the side as he fought Damian himself, fought Renegade, the villain.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. Jon revealing his identity to all of Metropolis and possibly the whole country was definitely not part of his spectacular evil scheme. But part of Damian was prepared for this so when he pulled out a small dagger made of kyryptonite and stabbed it into Jon's shoulder, he executed the action without regrets.
Jon stumbled backwards and onto the ground as he struggled to pull it out. With a wicked smile, he pounced toward the crowd and gripped the hilt of his sword as he swung the blade horizontally to cut off his clone's head.
People screamed and many ran, but the one's who were left were frozen in shock.
"D-Damian-."
Jon had tears spilling from his eyes.
Renegade stood where he was in front of everyone, the blood of his clone dripping off the tip of his sword. "Here's a fun announcement to the people of this nation. These heroes had to die for a reason. Here is a secret about Damian Wayne, biological son of Bruce Wayne." He smiled toward a camera, the smile the only thing to see of his hooded face. "Damian Wayne was the fourth Robin. And this boy here?" He let his boot collide with Jon's chest. "I'm sure you saw his little flying act, right? This here is Jonathon Kent, Superboy, the son of Clark Kent. Your favourite hero, Superman. I'm sure you've all been dying to know the identities of your beloved Metropolis heroes. Well, I've given them to you. Your welcome." He gave a bow to the cameras before sheathing his sword and getting off of Jon.
"I could kill you now, but I'd rather watch you grieve for your boyfriend instead."
"You monster! I'm going to kill you!"
Damian threw an orb at him.
It stuck itself to Jon's clothes, his belt made of metal. The orb would stick to anything metalic. This orb was filled completely with kryptonite. "I am a monster. Would you like to be my archenemy, Superboy? I've been needing one. You look to be my age. So why not? What do you say? Would you love finding revenge? To avenge your pathetic soulmate's killer?"
Jon sunk lower to the ground as he tried to claw the orb off of his body, groaning and thrashing at the growing pain, biting back a scream.
"I'll kill you no matter what it takes!"
"That's right, you will. But good luck coming after me with everyone swarming you and your father. Superman and Superboy. . . I wish you luck. I mean, after all, I just released the identities of about two superhero families. I look forward to our battles in the future, Superboy."
And when Damian turned away, he couldn't help when his eyes began to tear up.
It was such an awful goodbye.
One Jon didn't deserve.
None of his little acting was supposed to be part of the plan. Nobody's identities were supposed to be revealed because that wasn't what he wanted. By revealing that Damian Wayne was a Robin, he'd practically given away the fact that his father was Batman and his brothers were the Robin's before him. Not only that but he gave away the Kent's identities because it was the only way to make his story believable.
No regrets.
Damian repeated these words over and over again as he ran across the rooftops and swung from building to building in Metropolis just to get to safety, out of the cameras and gazes from anyone and everyone.
He landed on the rooftop of LexCorp where the owner of the building stood with hands behind his back.
"What a bold choice, I must say, even for an al Ghul. You should have seen the news channels. Renegade is the new focus. Well, not only that but we all got to watch a live beheading of Damian Wayne. I wonder how your family will react."
"They'll be coming for me for the rest of my life. I'll have to train to be stronger. Better. I'll surpass all of them. Things did not go as planned."
"I can see that. I also see Superman in the distance flying towards the scene so I suggest you scurry on to whoever you're living with now."
"Yes. I am. Thank you."
Damian pointed his grappling hook one direction and shot it as he jumped off the building.
Now he had to get to his new home.
In Gotham City, everyone was in a riot. It was absolute chaos on the streets and in homes, in the police department.
But most of all, it was silent in Wayne Manor. Because nobody knew how to react to the sudden death on the screen. Alfred had began calling up as many authoritive figures as possible to confirm if what they just witnessed was true. And Bruce was already standing and ran outside to grab a motorcycle and speed off into the city. He found himself at the police station quickly. News reporters also swarmed him as he attempted to get past and talk to anyone, talk to Gordon or the police. Find out anything on his son's death. A death he didn't believe was real. Because Damian couldn't be dead. His only blood son could not be dead.
There was just no way it was possible.
Dick was sobbing on the ground of the living room and hunched over while he puked.
Tim turned off the tv and immediately went to Dick as they both struggled through their emotions.
And Jason?
Jason didn't know how to react because what he just saw was so real. He ran up the stairs and barged into his room to open the letter Damian gave him.
Burn this letter after it is read.
I am still alive, Todd so please do not treat this death as if it were real. I have just killed a clone if you are confused. I have done this in order to live a life as Renegade and nobody else.
It was the only way.
Meet me tonight in Star City.
"That fucking brat! You made me feel things for a moment. Shit. Fuck you too. I'm going to kill you later tonight."
Jason quickly dressed up as Red Hood and was off to the Batcave to beam to Star City.
He was going to get an explanation.
Damian was more than ready to give one.
---
Now this is where things take a turn.
I bid you adieu, my readers.
Sayonara~