One Day Before
Nightwing didn't knock.
He never did when it came to Damian.
He simply leaned against the doorframe of Damian's room in Wayne Manor, arms crossed, weight shifted casually onto one hip, expression caught somewhere between amused older brother and appointed babysitter.
"Well," Dick Grayson said, breaking the silence, "you've officially scared Bruce enough that he's decided you need a change of scenery."
Damian didn't look up from the duffel bag on his bed. He was folding clothes with military precision—black, gray, reinforced fabrics, a few civilian shirts he barely wore, combat gloves, spare masks. Everything had a place.
"I saved lives," Damian replied flatly.
"You crashed a Bat-jet into a possessed supervillain," Dick countered. "On live satellite feeds."
"I calculated the blast radius."
"You were the blast radius."
Damian finally paused, glancing up with narrowed eyes. "The demon would have escaped otherwise."
Dick sighed. "I'm not arguing that it worked. I'm telling you why Bruce is currently one stressed heartbeat away from locking you in the Cave with Alfred as your warden."
Damian scoffed quietly and returned to packing.
Dick pushed off the doorway and stepped inside. "So. New orders."
"I am aware," Damian said. "Teen Titans Tower."
"Yup." Dick smiled, but there was something earnest underneath it. "You need to learn teamwork. Real teamwork. Not 'I calculated this alone and everyone else just needs to keep up.'"
Damian zipped one compartment shut harder than necessary.
"I work best alone."
"Yeah," Dick said gently, "so did Bruce. For a long time. Didn't exactly turn out great."
That made Damian pause.
Not visibly. Not fully.
But enough.
Dick continued, softer now. "This isn't a punishment. Not really. It's… training. Different kind."
Damian exhaled through his nose. "You are assigned to supervise me."
"Babysit," Dick corrected with a grin. "Bruce's word, not mine."
Damian grimaced. "I do not require—"
"—you absolutely do," Dick interrupted, still smiling. "And hey. I'm already the leader of the Titans. My girlfriend's there. It works out."
Damian muttered something under his breath in Arabic that Dick chose not to translate.
Packing for Titans Tower
When Dick left to give Damian space, the room settled into a quiet hum—the kind that came from Wayne Manor itself, old stone and hidden systems breathing around him.
Damian sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, hands resting on his knees.
His thoughts drifted back to Washington.
To the demon.
To the way it had felt familiar.
Not in recognition.
In inevitability.
He had known what to do before anyone else reacted. Had known the sequence of events before they happened. The timing. The cost.
That unsettled him more than the demon itself.
Damian reached for another piece of gear when—
SYSTEM UPDATE
The world did not freeze.
There was no dramatic flash of light.
The voice came quietly, directly into his consciousness, like a whisper that had always been there and had only just decided to speak again.
System Notice:
Apologies, Host.
Damian stiffened.
System Status Update:
System entered hibernation mode following Hextech Staff magic–technology separation event.
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"Hibernation?" he whispered.
Reason:
High-level magical insulation required.
System temporarily suppressed to prevent detection or corruption.
His heartbeat quickened—not fear, but irritation.
"You did not inform me."
Acknowledged.
Host awareness was deprioritized to maintain system integrity.
Damian clenched his fist.
He replayed the past days in his mind—the absence of prompts, the silence, the lack of new directives. He had been so focused on upgrading the Sandevistan integration, on keeping pace with threats, that he hadn't noticed.
That bothered him more than he liked.
However, the system continued,
Host has unknowingly completed a hidden mission during hibernation.
Damian stilled completely.
"…What mission?"
Hidden Mission:
Exorcise a demonic entity through high-impact sacrificial maneuver.
His mind snapped back to the Bat-jet.
The calculations.
The moment he committed.
The split second where he knew this was the only path that ended with civilians alive.
Mission Condition Met:
Weather Wizard demon forcibly expelled via controlled collision.
Damian's jaw tightened.
"So it counted."
Confirmed.
There was a pause.
Then—
Mission Reward Granted.
The air in front of him distorted, like heat shimmer.
A shape emerged—not physically, but conceptually—before vanishing again.
Reward:
Demon-Slasher Katana
Origin: Black Clover — Yami Sukehiro
Damian's breath caught.
Weapon Properties (System-Modified):
– Anti-Demonic Structure
– Permanently destroys lower demons
– Capable of injuring higher demonic entities
– Compatible with DC metaphysics
– Does not interfere with Devil Fruit abilities
– Appears mundane to non-authorized observers
Damian's thoughts raced.
A weapon like that wasn't just useful.
It was necessary.
Storage:
Weapon has been secured in Host's personal dimension.
Damian exhaled slowly.
"…Trigon," he murmured.
The name sat heavy in his chest.
Note:
System will resume full operations gradually.
No external entities detected system activity.
Good.
No one could know.
Not Batman.
Not the League.
Not the Titans.
Not gods.
Not demons.
Only him.
Damian stood and zipped the final pocket of his bag.
"Understood," he said quietly.
The system did not respond.
But for the first time in days—
He felt prepared.
Departure
Nightwing returned an hour later, helmet under his arm.
"Ready, Robin?"
Damian slung the duffel over his shoulder. "I am."
Dick studied him for a second longer than usual.
Something about Damian felt… sharper. More focused. Like a blade that had just been honed when no one was watching.
"Alright," Dick said. "Titans Tower it is."
As they headed toward the Batcave, Damian glanced back once at his room.
At the life he was leaving—temporarily.
At the future he knew was coming.
A future with demons.
With gods.
With choices that would burn worlds.
And now—
With a sword that could cut through destiny itself.
Damian Wayne said nothing.
But inside, his mind was already several steps ahead.
The Titans would teach him teamwork.
The system had given him a weapon.
And Trigon—
Trigon would bleed.
Soon.