Chương 71: It's all coming together
A/N: Sorry for the long absence, but life waits for no one. I really tried to update but it just wouldn't work. Some of you will understand.
But this chapter should be all the more juicy.
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(3rd Person POV)
Damien was running. He manages to climb up the building using his reflexes and dexterity, which he had trained all his life under his grandfather. He shoots his grappling gun and swings on another roof. Despite looking like he is focused, his pulse is already through the roof. His heart is beating at the speed of a flying jet and his breathing is uneven. There is a word for his current state ... Fear. That's right, the boy wonder, the grandson of Ra's al Ghul is scared. The reason for this is rather simple, he has made his first contact with Scarecrow and tasted his first dose of Fear gas.
"Where are you going? Come back here" the muffled voice of the Scarecrow is heard as he suddenly appears in front of him.
"RAAH!"
Damien screams and attacks the villain using his instincts and well-developed martial arts. He kicks and punches the villain with everything he has. He unsheaths his Katana and slashes towards Scarecrow. The villain takes out a scythe and parries the strikes though. With unnatural accuracy and strength, Scarecrow swings and twirls his scythe around, attacking Damien with it and cutting him all over his body.
"You will die ... boy. You stand no chance at all!!"
*Swish Swoosh*
"Who are you?! Who do you think you are?!?"
"Haa ... haa ... I am Damien al Ghul ... grandson of the great ... Ra's al Ghul ... haa haa ... and I will kill you."
More and more the attacks pressure the Boy Wonder and then finally knock his weapon away. Damien's eyes widen as time seems to slow down. He sees his entire life flashing before his eyes as the blade of the scythe suddenly approaches and ...
*SCHHLLICK*
... impales him through the thorax.
"Baackkk..."
Blood runs down Damien's mouth as he stares at the scythe's blade in shock and surprise. Never did they think this could happen.
"Tell me boy ... what do you fear? Huh?"
Damien's body falls to the ground and his vision turns blurry. In the last moments, he sees a dark figure in the shape of a bat in front of him. And then ... his vision turns dark.
##############
"*GASP* ... what ... what was that?" Damien looks around and sees the position he is in. He seems to be in his 'Morty' suit or whatever it is that Batman called it. He touches his chest and thinks about what just happened. How did he get here? Was all of that a dream? Is this a test?
He walks forward and looks around. He can tell that he is in an old theatre in Gotham. He knows about it because it is in a crime-infested area of Gotham. He can tell that something is wrong though and his senses sharpen. He is very alert and looks for the comms he got from the girl. He can't stand her, she is so arrogant and thinks that she's better than him. But he knows that he's better, he's the blood son after all.
He walks through the empty theatre and then suddenly stops. There in front of him, on stage sits a man with a sack on his head and his head slumped downward. He looks around, trying to find traps or the presence of someone else who lured him here. He walks around the man a few times and then finally approaches after not finding anything. His eyes dart around and then finally, he pulls the sack off the man's head.
"What the..."
As the man's head is revealed it shows a twisted face with a very wide smile that seems to rip his face apart. The man's skin is white, his lips red, and he has green hair. If Damien had been alert before, he would have been on ultra-high alert right now. Only one psychopath does this and that is-
"pom pom ... is this working? ~Ah, here we gooooo. Greetings little sidekick, I welcome all baby birds to our stage. This is the stage of the Joker and-"
"Mista' J, what about me?" a female voice suddenly interrupts the Joker.
"Harley! How many times have I told you not to interrupt me when I am giving my speech?! It breaks the immersion I built up if you do that!"
"Sowwy mista J~ hihihi."
"*Cough* where were we ... ah, right. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH welcome little birdie to my play house. Today we are playing a simple game, you and me. So have fun~"
"..."
"Mista J?"
"What is it, Harley?"
"I don't think you told him about the rules..."
"... huh ... I guess you're right. We can't have that. As I was saying ... or was I saying it already?"
"Not yet, Mista J."
"Hmm ... should we start over? This is why we rehearse this stuff."
"Should I knock him out?"
"Nah, the moment's ruined. Anyway, little birdie we will play the game: Hold that breath. So hold it~"
*TSSSSSSS*
From the vents, gas starts to enter which has a typical green colour. Damien realises that it is the Joker Venom and starts to make a run for it. But as he reaches the doors, he finds them locked. Instinctively he reaches to his utility belt and looks for the Anti-venom ... but finds it missing. He starts to panic, that is impossible. He always makes sure to refill his belt before he leaves, so what is going on?
He runs around the room and looks for openings, doors, thin walls or windows. Anything that could give him a way out. He checks one wall and realises that it might open if he uses his explosives on it. Acting quickly, he does just that and takes out the small balls of explosives Batman created.
As he throws them, a sudden pain assaults him.
*BANG*
*CRACK*
"Ugh!"
Harley Quinn appears with a large hammer in her hands which she used to smash his arm. Jokingly she wiggles her midsection and shakes her head.
"No no no~ no cheatin' here. Mista J has prepared this nice trap fo' you."
"RAGH!"
Damien jumps into action. He kicks Harley and takes out his katana. He has to use his remaining arm, as his other was broken just now. One lapse in judgment and attention has cost him so much. But he is the grandson of Ra' al Ghul, so he doesn't need two arms to fight a lunatic like Harley Quinn. He kicked her arm and dodged her own attack, by moving under it. He turns around and then slashes at her neck. His Katana grazes Harley, but her enhancement done by none other than Poison Ivy allows her to move out of the way in time.
"Hey! No cutting!" the female clown yells and tries to catch the young boy off guard. But the adrenaline pumping through the boy's veins is pushing him beyond his limits. He dashes forward and hits her knees, throwing her off balance. Then he stabs his Katana into her thigh, committing a grave crime. He jumps into the air and then kicks Harley into the side of her face, knocking her out for good.
"Haa ... haa ..."
*Clap clap clap*
"Truly impressive. What a wonderful show, Hahahahahaha. But it seems that you have quite a high tolerance for poisons. That's cheating! So allow me to help you," the Joker says.
Two knives appear in his hands and he runs towards the boy. The poison is doing its job, but he is trying to hold on. With a maniacal smile on his face, the Joker slashes his two knives towards him and forces him to dodge, using his full strength. He uses the same tactic as he did with Harley and pierces the Joker with his Katana. However, the Joker only laughs.
"HAHAHAAHAHAHAHA"
*Swish swish*
He slashes his knives at Damien and cuts his side, injuring him.
"Ugh..."
"What's wrong? Feeling ... funny? Hahaha."
The knife Joker uses is coated with more of the Joker venom and has sped up the process. Slowly the boy starts to feel the poison take effect and he begins to chuckle.
"Haha ... hahaha ... hahahahaahahaha ... HAHAHAHAHA"
"That's it! Isn't it funny? HAHAHAHAHAHA"
As he falls to the ground, Damien sees something. A silhouette of a bat waiting and observing him from the dark. Just before Damien dies of suffocation, he hears something.
A dark and deep voice reaches his ears.
"What is your name?"
##############
"*GASP* ... what ... what was that? What is going on? Again?"
"What are you doing?" the deep and eerie voice of the Batman reaches him as he looks around. He finds that he is in the Batgarage and Batman is on the Batcomputer typing away about something. He touches his side and finds none of the injuries he acquired before ... or he thought he acquired. Something is going on and he has to find out what it is.
"What is going- ... on ..." Damien says, but stops as he sees a big mirror on the wall.
He is certain that the mirror wasn't there before. He would remember, he had trained his mind from when he was 4 years old.
"Hm?" a low growl is all he hears from Batman.
"What's with that mirror?" the boy asks.
"Ignore the mirror and concentrate on what's important."
"And what would that be?"
"You need to answer the question."
"What question."
"..."
Batman doesn't answer. Damien is confused and looks at the mirror. He walks towards it and looks at himself. His reflection looks just like him. But as he is about to move away, something strange happens.
"What are you looking at, huh? Who are you?"
The reflection starts to move on its own, and it talks to him.
"Huh?"
"What, cat got your tongue? What a pathetic excuse for a Morty are you? Look at you, all that muscle but doesn't know how to form a coherent sentence... tsk tsk tsk pathetic."
"What are you?"
"I'm what you could be, you numbnuts."
"This is another test. He's testing me. The two before and now this one ... I am being tested. What's with that question anyway?"
"What question?"
"My name. This is the third time I have been asked what my name is."
"And what is it?"
"My name is Damian al Ghul. Grandson of Ra's al Ghul and son of Bruce Wa-"
*BANG*
A fist lands in his face and punches him to the ground. Damien is confused and looks at his reflection which ... has stepped out of the mirror and punched him just now.
"What the-"
"That's right you little entitled bitch. I'm about to teach you your place. So come at me."
And the beating starts.
##############
"*GASP* ... what ... what was that? Fuck! Again? What is this? Why are you doin-"
*BOOM*
A large fist impacts his face and shoots his head to the side. He is disoriented and shakes his head. Just now does he realise that he is bound to a chair. His feet and arms are bound to the chair and his mask of his costume is gone. His nose is broken and he is bleeding.
He raises his head and looks at the person standing in front of him. There he sees a woman dressed in combat attire and armed to the teeth with weapons.
"Lady Shiva," he says.
"Good, you know me. That makes this easier," she says and takes a long knife from the table.
Without a warning, she stabs the knife into his knee.
"AAARRRGHGHH"
Lady Shiva doesn't say anything and just wipes her hand with a cloth. She waits for his adrenaline to settle.
"If ... you want me to talk ... you won't succeed. I won't tell you ... who Batman is ..."
"Oh, you think this is about Batman? No boy, this is about you. I only want one thing from you ... tell me ... who are you? What is your name?"
"..."
"... Again? Ugh, what is it wi-"
Lady Shiva doesn't like his answer and takes out another knife and stabs him in the stomach.
"AAARRRHHH"
Blood runs down his mouth and he feels his perception slip.
"I have a lot more knives here and not enough time to care whether you die or not. So you tell me or you die. So ... you will either tell me your name ... or I will kill you."
"..."
"My name ... is Damie-"
*Slash*
##############
##############
In the Batgarage, Batman and Sebas are looking at the large screen of the Batcomputer. In front of them lies Damien who has a helmet on his head and a cable going to the computer.
"Are you sure this is necessary, Master Bruce?" Sebas asks.
"It speeds up the process. Do you think I played around with DNA for fun?"
"..."
"Don't answer that. It is not necessary per se, but useful nonetheless. The most efficient way for me to train my Morty."
"What exactly is this ... Project: Morty? A slave?"
"Not ... directly. There are many uses for it. The possibilities are endless."
"So you are making this young man go through all those death experiences, just to break his will and have him become a free worker for you? Is that what you are telling me?"
"Isn't it genius?"
"..."
Sebas slaps his own forehead ...
*Slap*
... and then walks out of the Batgarage.
Batman continues watching the screen of what his Morty sees right now.
Again and again and again, the boy undergoes death and the question. Deathstroke was right in one thing, Thalia al Ghul would not recognise her son again after he was finished with Batman's training.
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I hope you liked it.
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