Happy new year... according to astrologists😅
Damien only raised an eyebrow, hands folding in front of his face. "As expected of Gotham's elites. Never expect the norm from those players." His voice was calm, but his mind whirred behind his eyes.
He pushed his chair back and stood, his presence shifting from civilian to commander. "It will be dangerous to allow you two to operate alone as you have. You'll follow me back to the bunker."
Minutes later, he re-entered the dining room clad once again in his full uniform, armor gleaming beneath the dim suite lights.
Damien stood before them clad in armor unlike anything they had seen before. The suit still carried the iconic silhouette of a bat-family design, but this time it bore the influence of something older, something sharper, something touched by more than science. In case it wasn't made any clearer, that influence would be magic.
Layered shoulder plating curved outward like the armor of a samurai, each plate etched with faint runes that glowed when the light hit them. Thigh guards hung snugly, polished gold trimmed in crimson. A loincloth of reinforced mesh draped from beneath his pelvis, embroidered with symbols that hummed with an otherworldly pulse. His elbows bristled with sharpened guards, the signature bat-spikes glinting with a cruel sheen. Over his head, a hood draped shadow across his eyes, making his gaze look almost inhuman. Other than that, the rest of his uniform was as dark as night.
And his boots — upgraded, heavier, built to absorb shock and channel momentum — slammed against the floor with the weight of thunder.
This wasn't Wayne Tech alone. This was something more. Even aside from the magic, it was a collaboration Wayne Enterprise wouldn't have.
"Shit…" Beast Boy muttered without meaning to, his ears twitching. He could feel the power emanating from the armor, a heavy hum that prickled his skin. Even with all the supernatural boosts he had gained, he found himself instinctively more alert, like prey sensing a predator.
'Just when I thought I could now easily overpower these nimble Bat guys, Robin had to level up, too. When the hell does it stop?' Garfield thought sourly.
Terra, on the other hand, couldn't hide her awe. Her eyes ran up and down the suit, marvelling at the details, at the subtle glow along its seams. "Wow… didn't peg you for someone who liked glowing things, Robin. You trying to be a walking flashlight now? I thought you were about stealth?"
Damien shot her an annoyed look. "Don't use that word. And the person we are up against… stealth is useless."
"What word?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"Peg. Especially after what just happened." His voice was sharp, cutting, as if the very name was salt in a wound. He turned from them, pulling a stick of chalk from his belt.
They watched in silence as he crouched by the wall, dragging deliberate lines across the stone.
"Really?" Terra folded her arms. "Chalk on a wall? The Bat-family must have fallen so far that you're resorting to elementary school magic now? Things must be really dire."
Damien scoffed, never breaking his stroke. "All your questions will be answered in the bunker. And yes… Things ARE dire." He completed a curve, connecting it with a precise flick.
"…I can use magic. A bit."
Beast Boy's eyes lit up instantly. "No way. No freaking way. You can do magic now?!" He jumped to his feet, practically bouncing. "Dude, that's sick!"
Damien stood, dusting chalk off his fingers. His hood shadowed his face as he turned. "Garfield, you can turn into any biological lifeform on Earth, assume their characteristics and abilities instantly, at will, and whenever you choose."
"Yeah," Garfield said with a shrug as if it was common knowledge. "And?"
Damien pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself. "He doesn't even realise does he?"
"You don't understand what that means, do you?" Damien said, finally, glaring at him.
'He doesn't even know what the League of Assassins would do to get someone like you on their side? With the right training, you'd be untouchable.' Damien thought to himself, almost shuddering at the horrors Beast Boy could do with that kind of training.
Beast Boy blinked. "Okay? What are you trying to say?"
"On top of that, you've been granted supernatural powers," Damien pressed. "You can fly. You have super speed. Super strength. Do you realize what that combination means?"
Garfield grinned. "It means I'm awesome. C'mon, man, you're just jealous I can be a T-Rex and Superman at the same time."
Terra snorted. "He's not wrong."
Damien turned slowly to her. "You're not helping."
"Garfield, do you know the average mass of a blue whale?" Damien asked but wasn't expecting any answer of substance from Garfield.
"Big. Like… super big." Beast Boy surmised… in his own way, not that he was wrong.
"Here we go." Terra sighed.
"One hundred and fifty metric tons. You can become that in an instant. You can shift between something that size and a hummingbird in less than a second. Do you realise what kind of energy that is?" Damien said with gusto and a will to educate the green lad before him.
"Tons of ice cream energy energy?" Beast Boy eyes brightened with excitement.
"I'd pay to see him lather himself with ice cream and... eat it." Terra said with a sultry laugh.
"That's not—God, listen. That's mass-energy conversion on a level Einstein would have had nightmares about. If you weaponised that properly, you could destroy a city block just by existing." Damien tried to explain why Beast Boy shouldn't be taking his powers too lightly. It was mind-boggling and because of the way he is naturally underestimated as the shapeshifter in the group, he is their hidden ace! An ace against Raven!!
"Do you just go about reading words and numbers? So you're saying I'm a nuke?" Beast Boy said in a tone one would use when they are worried about their friend.
"Maybe if he spent half as much time talking to Raven, maybe none of this would have happened. But a green Nuke has a nice ring to it. Hey BB, I'll let you nuke inside me." Terra said, clearly flirting with her partner shamelessly in front of Damien.
"Not in front of him again, Tee." Beast Boy said under his breath.
"I'm saying you're a problem. And now with your new powers? Flight, super speed? You're a walking paradox. Your body shouldn't even be able to handle it." Damien sighed to himself and wondered why he even brought this up in the first place. His mind took him to times when his father and Alfred would be arguing the absurdity of the superpowered heroes and villains. For someone who was proud of being without powers, he sure talked a great deal about them and analysed them greatly, like he was their biggest fan!
"Maybe I'm just built different." Beast Boy said with a smile.
"He really is. Trust me." Terra winked at Garfield, making him blush.
"Think! If the League of Assassins had you, they would refine your powers to the point you'd be unstoppable." Damien said as he pointed to his head with both index fingers and gritted his teeth while squatting.
"Unstoppable? Like Batman when he broods too much?" Beast Boy said in a poor imitation of Batman's voice, causing Terra to giggle, but Damien, who remained stoic.
"He's got you there." Terra teased, watching new veins grow on Robin's forehead.
"Oh, for Pete's sake—Scientifically, you break rules we barely understand. Now you're breaking more. Why do I even care? Look who I am talking to, I may as well watch paint dry!" Damien pinched the bridge of his nose and turned his attention to the wall.
"So I'm OP. It's always a treat to see you mad Robin, hahaha. But why complain?" Beast Boy chuckled to himself, although he was a bit hurt inside from Damien's remark.
"Because you're still an idiot, Garfield." Terra said, for once, not being on Garfield's side as she watched Damien at work.
The chalk circle on the wall glowed, its lines burning bright as Damien whispered words in backwards Latin. The syllables twisted strangely in the air, heavy with borrowed weight. The chalk hissed, then ignited, crumbling to ash as the wall itself warped inward.
A portal yawned open, glowing, humming with restrained power.
"Woah…" Beast Boy grinned. "Cool crib, yo."
They stepped through, and the light swallowed them.
The space was vast, steel and stone fused with magic to those sensitive to the arcane, humming with power from both arcane glyphs and cutting-edge servers.
"You bring green boy and skinny girl," a voice cut through, smooth and cold brewed with a thick Russian accent. Red Star glided into view, arms folded. His crimson aura shimmered faintly around him. "I doubt they'll do much."
Beast Boy smirked, eyes flashing. "Funny. I've been itching to test my powers. Wanna help me out?"
Red Star smirked back, tension snapping instantly between them.
Terra stepped in, grabbing Garfield's hand. "Great, as much as I like a dick-measuring contest like the next meathead, can we not do that before introductions. Can we not?"
The bunker stirred, members filing in. Boots echoed, whispers filled the chamber.
Then a voice, sharp as a blade: "Apparently, there's still hope for your generation."
All heads turned upward.
Lex Luthor floated into view, trenchcoat swaying behind him, boots polished to obsidian. His eyes burned with calm arrogance, his outfit laced with faint magical augmentations.
The room fell silent.
"An introduction," Lex said smoothly, "is in order."
I had fun with this chapter, I wish the creator of the youtube channel, UndeadHumor could read this, I enjoy his videos, especially the one about electro.
And was I missed? Did anyone even bother to ask or check in on why I hadn't posted in a while? C'mon people.
You know the drill, read more than 140 chapters on patreon.com/futamommy