(General P.O.V)

Deadman had deleted Robin's mind successfully.

What he never accounted for, was Batman's paranoia.

The images Robin had captured with his face mask had piqued the interest of his mentor.

The files had automatically been uploaded to the Batcomputer.

From there, it had been a simple matter for Batman to access them, see Ra's Al Ghul walking out of the Lazarus Pit, spot Cheshire who had gone missing with the Scarlet Devil along with Shiva.

The fact that Robin had not reported in about his findings, especially Shiva's presence, told the Green Knight that something was off.

He immediately abandoned the rest of the League to finish up with the rescue and made his way towards Infinity Island.

******

"This doesn't make sense."

Robin said, his hand swiping at the feed displayed on his holographic wrist computer.

"What doesn't?"

Aqualad enquired from his seat.

In response, Robin linked the wrist device to the Jet's console. A projected screen flickered above the controls, wide enough for everyone to see.

"A satellite feed?"

Red Arrow asked.

Before them was a black and white video footage that showed Infinity Island from above.

"Batman always has Satellites keeping watch over areas of interest such as this."

He tapped a few keys on his wrist.

"See what happens when I rewind the feed."

Robin dragged the video to 30 minutes earlier.

Before their eyes, an enormous storm came out of nowhere, hiding the Island away from sight.

Then when the clouds parted once more, they were treated to the sight of a gaping whirlpool.

"Okay...that wasn't there when we arrived."

Kid Flash pointed out.

"It wasn't. And then this happened..."

He speed the footage up and with a massive explosion of light, the Island was back.

"Wait. Could you hit pause?"

Artemis requested.

The footage froze.

"What is that?"

She asked, pointing towards the few blobs on the surface of the island.

"Zooming in."

Robin spoke up.

The footage grew blurry but they could all make out a huge black form that was in the shape of a crab.

"I can't zoom in any further."

Robin told them.

"I have a feeling we missed something."

Aqualad spoke up.

"You think we should go back?"

Kid Flash suggested to the rest of his teammates. All of them shared a look.

Suddenly, the jet buckled as something fast streaked past it, causing a pressure wave to destabilize the craft.

"What was that!?"

Artemis shouted in alarm as Robin quickly deactivated the auto pilot to regain the controls.

"I don't know. The only thing I saw was..."

Kid Flash begun only for Robin to cut him off.

"A green trail of light."

Boy Wonder spoke up, jaw clenched as he knew who that had been.

"Strap in."

He turned the craft around. A steely resolve on his face.

"We're going back."

(Davian's P.O.V)

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I can't move.

I can feel my body.

My face, my hands, fingers and toes...its all there. But I can't move.

"It's funny you know..."

A voice.

No. That can't be. He's dead. I saw it.

I couldn't crane my head up to get a good look, so instead I settled for the monumental task of opening my eyelids.

Green.

I was inside something hard and the only thing I could see was an emerald glow that took over everything in my vision.

It was hard to focus but I could make out a blurry figure floating just outside what was my container.

The figure was familiar. I couldn't make out any features at all but the height and the size...

Reaching out into my Reikaku told me I wasn't wrong.

I was seeing Nick.

"When we were little, I was the loud, obnoxious one. I could make friends out of anyone. You on the other hand Davian, were a loner, an introvert. Yet...you now have people willing to kill for you. You have...friends."

He stopped, floating closer.

I could almost make out the soft smile.

Was I in a dream? Was this what it was?

I couldn't move anything and I was stuck inside a crystal prison. Pretty out there so it could only be a dream, right?

The last thing I remembered was... killing Savage, allowing Bronze Tiger to move on and...

There was a light tapping on the crystal I was contained within. My entire body seemed to vibrate at the action.

"You're not listening."

Nick huffed.

'Because you're dead. I saw it with my own eyes...you can't be here.'

My mind refused to acknowledge it.

"And I'm sure death to you is permanent right?"

He mused with a chuckle.

"Did you forget you cheated it?"

He was right. But no goddamnit! This couldn't be him.

He couldn't be in this fucked up world. He was supposed to get the happy ending. That was one of the only things that kept me going.

'You... you really are him, aren't you?'

I thought, projecting my thoughts out.

"Who else would remember your obsession with miss Trina, the owner of that little flower shop on..."

'Fifth street.'

I completed his statement.

All the guilt I'd be carrying surged up to the forefront of my mind.

'How can you not hate me?'

I demanded.

"You died because I thought I could leave everything behind. Because I tried to be someone I'm not.'

For the first time, the figure was silent.

"You have nothing to feel guilty about. And no, we're not doing that whole shoulda, woulda, coulda bullshit. I told you, life is not about looking back. It's about moving forward."

It really was him.

I tried to call on to my Reiryoku, to break through the crystal and see him more clearly when he stopped me.

"Don't."

'Why not?'

I questioned.

Nick sighed, sitting cross legged in mid air.

"It's good to see you again Davian. Good to talk to you for the last time before I truly move on."

'Wait. Last time? Move on? I don't understand.'

What was he talking about?

"I made a deal with someone." He placed his palm flat on the crystal.

"A piece of me would stay inside you. Help you when you started your new life. The nature of your Fullbring is strange because I influenced that particular ability."

I had no reply, so I listened.

"It's not to heal, or create force fields. Your Fullbring merely helps your soul adapt to harm. That adaptation is then interpreted into a skill to regenerate your body from harm, or create a protective membrane around you to block attacks."

I was not that surprised. That particular ability had always been a bit... unconventional in the way it manifested.

"To understand the true nature of that ability, you would need to cut yourself off from your body. Temper you soul through harsh conditions. Only then can you truly master your Fullbring."

He explained.

'Is this why I'm in this crystal. Is my soul adapting to something? What happened after I killed Savage?'

I questioned, linking things together from his explanation.

"Very perceptive idiot. And here I thought you had stopped using your brain."

He complimented, using an insult we usually called each other.

"But just because you figured out what happened doesn't make your actions any less dumb."

He added, using his finger to clean his ear.

'Hey!'

I protested but lacked any heat.

"Chase was right, you're still so reckless Davian."

He shook his head. He knew Chase?

"Only you would have thought it was a good idea to absorb an entire dimension of power into yourself. Not to mention one that is the anti-thesis of your own abilities."

Oh.

Oh yeah...I guess I did try that...

Another light tapping on the crystal pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Both physical and spiritual energies clashed, resulting in something bad."

His tone was deadly serious.

'What happened? How bad is it?'

I asked, my heart heavy with trepidation.

"Your soul and body fell out of sync and the only thing keeping you stable is this crystal formation created by Fullbring."

"You're lucky I was around to provide the Reiryoku needed to power up the sheath. With your body in such an unstable situation, you couldn't access your own Reiryoku."

He paused.

"You could have died Davian. This time permanently. The clash of energies would have torn your soul into small pieces and scattered them across the universe in an instant. Earth would have been gone in that same instant."

I couldn't say anything to that.

I was dumbfounded and shocked.

I could have turned into a bomb?

"Luckily for you, I was here to help out."

Nick told me with a smile.

"The crystal should gradually help you balance out your Reiryoku and Tairyoku."

'Tairyoku?'

I asked.

"If Spiritual Power stands for Reiryoku, then I figured Tairyoku would stand for Physical Power."

He shrugged.

"I anticipate its going to be fun to see how you figure out that particular ability. Control over flesh, man that is one broken ability."

'So I did it? I gained access to Life Force?'

Finally, a bright side to my recklessness. Eat your heart out Chase!

Nick snorted.

"Hold your horses. Just because you have access to Tairyoku doesn't mean shit. Your body is out of synch with itself. All that control you were proud of? Gone."

He dropped a mega bombshell.

My heart fell.

'No...no then that means my Bankai...'

"Poof. Gone. You will have to get your control back to where it was to even think of moving on to higher Kido, let alone access Bankai."

It felt as if I'd bitten into a sour lemon.

'How long?'

"The Crystal will dissolve after your soul is no longer at risk of blowing up."

He then continued before I could speak,

"To gain access to Bankai? Months of hard training. And I mean pushing not just your body to the breaking point but even your soul. The kind of grueling torture that Goku would shudder at. Do that every single day and I assure you will..."

Bam!

A dull thunk sounded out and Nick's figure stiffened. His face grew slack as he looked down at his chest. Something was glowing there.

"Oh hell...Davian." He looked up in a state of shock.

"I think someone just attac.."

Then his form blew apart into motes of green light.

My brain was slow to catch up on what had happened.

Something was ringing inside my head.

One minute I was happy to see my best friend again, then the next he was gone.

In his position, a tall figure floating in midair appeared. The eyes...

Bruce Wayne. Batman.

His costume had undergone changes, he seemed to glow almost too brightly in my Reikaku.

'What...what did you do?...'

I asked, blood rushing to my head.

It was so hard to breathe now.

"Scarlet Devil, stand down and..."

'What. Did. You. Just. Dooo!!!!??'

I raged, the crystal formation groaned as crack appeared, running from the top to the bottom.

Energy started wafting out through the crack.

Batman cautiously fell back.

I was mad. I was furious. And the object of my anger was only a few inches away.

But I couldn't do shit.

If I tried to leave the crystal, billions would die, including me.

Fuck.

FUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKK!!!