Chapter 67

"Terry..." Don muttered as he couldn't believe the sight in front of him. His friend, Terry, the strongest person he knows, is in a coma.

"Sometimes I forget that he's still just human." Carrie added. The feats that Terry has shown them were sometimes too impossible for a normal human to do. That's how much Terry has worked so hard to attain his level of strength.

"I can't blame him. The opponent he faced this time was just too much to fight head on. It's already amazing that he's still alive after what he went through." Cedric said.

These three, along with Maxine Gibson who couldn't be present at this time, were the ones Terry trusts enough to have brought them in the batcave.

"My mother went too far..." A teenager suddenly joined in the conversation. "It would have been more merciful if she had just killed him and not leave him in this pitiful state."

"And who are you again?" annoyed, Don asked.

"Damian Wayne. I'm his brother related by blood. My mother was the one who did this to him."

"You say that casually like it's not your problem." Carrie said in irritation.

"Because it isn't." Damian shrugged. "It's between my brother and my mother."

"You little shit..." Just when Don was about to burst,

-You're all here. Good.

The hologram of Commissioner Barbara Gordon appeared before them.

-You three probably already know why you're here...

"..." The three of them had troubled expressions.

- As you all know, the recent rise in the crime rate in Gotham was cause by Talia attracting them. There'll be rumors about Batman not being here at the moment. It will attract more criminals to come into the city. That's why we need you three to step up in place of him.

"So... just like before?" Cedric made a wry smile.

- Yes.

Barbara smiled back at him.

- Grab your gears. The city needs you three.

They nodded and instantly turned around to get what they need from the batcave.

Barbara furrowed her eyes because she saw Damian also headed towards the weapons room.

"!" Damian widened his eyes because Barbara's hologram suddenly appeared in front of him.

- That doesn't include you.

"I can help. I'm probably more qualified to help than these three."

The three overheard it and just gave glance over their shoulder but decided to not pay it any mind.

- No. We don't even know if we can trust you.

"I came here of my own volition! I'm not on some secret mission for my mother!" He argued.

- ...

Barbara stared at him.

- Okay... I'll ask you a question first. What do you think of what happened in the triads' hideout? What exactly did your mother do wrong?

"... That she attracted those criminals to come here?"

- That's a given, but no.

"That she... gravely injured Terry?" Damian cluelessly replied.

Barbara gave a condescending smile.

- You see. Until you don't see what went wrong, and why Terry, Batman, was so angry at her, you won't be able to help. If we let you, you might think you were helping but you'll only make it worse.

"Why can't you just tell me what it was?!" Damian complained.

A normal person would immediately say that Talia killing the triads was wrong even though they were criminals. Even if they meant it or not, it's important that that sense is embedded into them. Even with that sense would make a person hesitate even if they do want to kill someone because they think they deserve it.

The problem was, Damian grew up in an environment where killing was normal. That was taught to him and ingrained in his way of thinking. It's not something you can change by just explaining it to him.

- Go to school and make some friends just as Terry said. Maybe you'll find the answer there.

"Going to that wretched place won't help me with anything!"

- You'd be surprised.

She gave a wry smile.

- The education system might be flawed, but you'll be surprised what you can learn if you go there with an open mind and with a willingness to learn something.

----

"It's been so long since I've seen this thing..." Don said, reminiscing about their past as vigilantes as he held a pair of gloves. It can function as a taser and can release a knockout gas. Paired with his nunchucks, he can be a formidable foe.

"Yeah..." Carrie said as she gazed at the robin suit inside the glass case.

"Aren't you going to try it on?" Cedric asked while holding a suit with a hood on it. Because he's the most physically gifted among the them except for Terry, he didn't need much of the gadgets. Even his size and deep voice was enough for intimidation. He didn't wear a mask too because it looked silly for him to wear one, but the shadow that his hood makes is enough to cover the upper portion of his face.

"I can't anymore, I... have been through so much that I feel like I won't give the pure and innocent aura of Robin anymore..." Carrie said.

As a detective, she has seen the darker side of people and has even killed herself.

"I'll just go with the outsiders standard uniform." She said in a smile.

The outsiders uniform were either, Navy Blue, Gray, or Black. It was a protective suit that comes along with a mask.

----

"This is stupid..." Damian kept complaining at the back seat of the car. He uses a car service to go to school. A black bentley.

"Maybe I should have a waited a few more years before I came here. Then, they won't be able to put me through this hell of boredom."

Screeech.

The car stopped in front of the school and Damian immediately got off.

Walking towards the entrance of the school, because he was immersing himself too much in his thoughts, he didn't notice some of the students looking at him weirdly and whispering about him.

He just went inside and headed straight towards his classroom.

When he reached his classroom, some of his classmates were already inside including Nate Murtaugh.

Seeing his target, he smirked and headed straight to his seat which was next to Nate's.

"Hey..." Damian greeted him.

"Don't talk to me." Nate immediately replied.

Damian's eyebrow twitched but he kept a friendly smile on.

"I know you don't want to have friends, but you can at least have a casual conversation with me." Damian insisted.

Nate just glanced at him before he put on his earphones and fiddled with his tablet.

"Tsk." Damian, giving up temporarily, rested his back on his chair and crossed his arms.

Just then, the group of boys who were picking on Nate came inside the classroom.

They were laughing as they headed in the classroom and started laughing more when they saw Nate. Nate's face isn't bruised up anymore but he still has a bandaid covering a cut on his forehead.

"You look like a mess, Murtaugh." One of them teased.

Nate just ignored them and raised the volume of his earphones more.

They sniggered as they sat down.

The one sitting behind him wasn't content and decided to draw his face near him and removed one of Nate's earphones. "If you don't want to be fucked up again you better not let us see you after school." He whispered before putting the earphone back.

Damian saw this and couldn't help but laugh.

Unamused, one of the boys confronted him about it. "What are you laughing about?"

"Huh? Me?" Still smiling, Damian sarcastically asked. "I was just laughing how he tried to intimidate Nate but politely put back his earpiece."

"Look at this guy..." The boy that was sitting behind Nate pointed at Damian as he sniggered. "Maybe you think because you're rich, we can't touch you, huh?" He scowled at him

"Being wealthy has nothing to do with it." Damian replied with a devilish grin.

"Hah." The boy that seemed to be the leader of the group scoffed. "You're just a bastard son of Bruce Wayne."

"Bastard..." Still smiling, but Damian was visibly unamused by his statement. "Even if you all are legitimiate sons, you look more like bastards than me."

"So you admit that you are an illegitimate son of THE Bruce Wayne." The boy smiled contently. "The rumors were true."

Damian widened his eyes. He was led on by this kid he considered a nobody and got personal information from him.

The reason why everybody was looking at Damian in a weird way that morning was because of a rumor that he's the son of the late Bruce Wayne. The fact that he got off of a luxurious car ealier just added more evidence to it.

"Good morning, class." Their teacher for first period suddenly came in and they all diverted their attention to the front.

But before the leader of the bullies sat properly in his seat, he whispered to Damian, "We're not finished... Wayne."

Damian, who was astonished, started re-evaluating these people who he thought were simpletons.