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The sound of keys clacking is the only thing in the silence.
Dick carefully steps into the building, eyes scanning the area the way he was taught. A little further in front was the soft glow of a computer, lighting up black hair and green gloves typing away.
The floor is sticky and he can't see what colour it is. The ceiling of the warehouse stretches tall. The air seems to hold its breath, cracking with tension. Waiting.
As he gets closer, he sees it.
Damian's gloves are stained red. On his face is a splatter of blood. He doesn't seem to notice, still typing, and there are bodies scattered around him in a semicircle. It's almost elegant, the way they're killed, a single slit to the throat and left to fall to the floor. His katana lies on the table, covered with scarlet.
When Dick looks at the ground, it's soaked with red. His shoes are coated in it, and he has to swallow bile.
"Damian?"
***
He ignores the first call, focusing on wiping all trace of the base. He taps one more time, unplugs the flash drive, and then types the last command to lower the cages.
"Damian."
This time, he turns. Grayson looks - surprised, horrified, disgusted, and there's a tinge of fear mixed into there, too. Good. Damian smiles, showing points.
"Grayson," he greets, the sounds of clanking chains making the other jump back in surprise. His eyes track movement to the rafters - the whites of Batman's lenses glowing. "What occasion is there for you to grace me with your presence?"
"Damian," Grayson whispers, disbelieving. "What did you do?"
Damian shrugs, wiping the blood from his blade with a cloth. "I took care of a problem. You can come down, now. I can't say your shoes will stay clean, but there are some spots."
He drops down, grapple hook lowering him to the ground safely. His shoes stay clean. Grayson's does not.
"Robin," Batman growls, and there it is.
"Batman," Damian returns, and with another stroke of the key, there's a clicking sound as the locks unlatch. "I would say it's nice to see you, but then I'd be lying."
"We don't kill."
"You don't kill," corrects Damian, removing his gloves and tutting at the bloodstains. Troublesome to get out. Who can he bribe... "We are not the same, Father."
"I made my rules clear."
His eyes flash grey for a second, stormy and sharp and angry. "And I have made my feelings perfectly clear as well." Arms spread wide to the scene. "I was content to play your game, Father. Putting people away just so they can break out and start all over again." He tuts. "Not a very effective way, is it? I was willing to follow, for my mother, but I have my own set of rules." Another sharp grin.
"Once they hurt my family, they go to Punishment."
"Your family - what - " Grayson, stuttering and refusing to look at the bodies. None of them have the same drive to not kill like Batman, but he doesn't particularly like Death. Which is a shame. Thanatos is delightful.
The metal doors creak open, rusted.
"Hi," the teenager inside says, smiling that too sharp grin. "I'm his brother."
Damian rolls his eyes, lips quirking up affectionately. In the four other cages, four other people exit.
Demigods are odd. They are half-mortal, half-god, but that also means their physiology is messed up. Mortal bodies simply aren't meant to hold so much power inside them - the same way they aren't meant to taste ambrosia and nectar. If demigods don't die from monsters first, they would die from burning up inside out because of their powers.
Being demigods, they have some protection - they're faster, stronger, less easy to kill, but they're still mortal. Being overloaded with power in a body that isn't meant to has the same effect as too much ambrosia.
Big Three children are worse. They are more powerful, and consequently, more susceptible to burning up. If they don't use their powers in regular intervals, they will transform in the most destructive way possible to their parent's domain.
Children of Poseidon are always more likely to burn up from not using their powers rather than overuse. As proved by di Angelo, demigods can also overuse their powers, thus also making them burn out. Because Poseidon's children got a boost from water, which was all around them, they were almost always healthy with a surplus of energy. Percy had multiple times coming close to changing because he hadn't used his powers. The only time he truly changed into the sea took long to get him back to human form, and only because Annabeth and Sally were there. Water related disasters were usually caused by children of Poseidon not using their powers enough. Percy was rippling, in fact, water pooling and his skin turning blue. An unfortunate side effect.
Children of Hades, on the other hand, usually burnt out from using their powers too much. Death was their natural state, and it embraced them - it didn't matter if they overused it, the Underworld was their domain. Case in point, see: The Second Giantronomy, when di Angelo nearly dissolved into shadow. Children of Hades, when overusing or underusing their powers, tended to turn into shadows - tendrils of smoke were making tiny cracks into the ground below di Angelo, billowing out - whereas Children of Pluto had something similar to children of Zeus. She was turning paler, translucent, like a ghost, shimmering despite there being no light.
Children of Zeus are fifty-fifty, likely to die from both. Thalia's had situations with both, and though Jason had good control over his, he almost burnt himself out from overusing on his first night. They look like wind spirits close to changing, floating slightly over the ground, and hair going crazy as wind swirls.
Percy sighs, watching his arm ripple. "Chiron's not gonna be happy about that." Water mixes with shadows mixes with blood. They spare a glance to the bodies, a smile to Damian, and not one look to the Bats.
"Nope," Jason agrees, and the smell of ozone catches in the air. He frowns at the bodies. "Kinda messy, don't you think?"
"I saved you," Damian points out.
"Could've saved ourselves."
"Mhm," Damian answers dryly. "Knock yourselves out."
Percy and Hazel brighten. "Thanks!"
"Damian - " Batman starts again, and this time, the demigods look at him.
"Bruce Wayne," Thalia says, full use of Zeus' dramatic flair. If she really wants to cut ties with him, she will have to stop acting so dramatically. Her voice lowers, the wind picks up and kicks dust into a mini tornado. She looks at Damian again, and her eyes go soft. Ugh. "Has he been treating you well?"
Damian considers, tilting his head. "Adequately," he allows, because Father has. He could stand to lighten his rules, but the food is plenty and there are no limits on training. Other than the asinine 'family days'.
The wind lessens, her eyes returning to normal lightning blue rather than the white that they were just now. Lightning crackles, her form growing smokier. "Okay, good," she says cheerfully, then turns towards the wall and lets loose the biggest lightning bolt that she can muster.
Father takes a step back, and another when water starts pouring, until the blood is staining the water.
"I suggest you leave," Damian says coolly. "And don't look for me. If you even try."
He stays there, as wind blasts again, and Father and Grayson book it out of there. Damian stands in the middle of it, as they let loose their powers, and then lets himself be swept away by the current. To home.