(Davian's P.O.V)

'Man oh man, was I fired up.'

Shunpo!

I blasted off towards the Gargoyle, Batman jerking back as I appeared infront of him in instant.

My hand wrapped around his throat, slamming him onto the wall of the Cathedral. Breath left his chest in a sudden exhale and I heard a loud 'No!' from below.

I leaned my head out of the wall of a battarang. The projectile dug into the stone and let out a brief discharge of electric energy.

"Raven?"

I called out.

"Got it!"

My Partner shouted back.

Batman's fist impacted my face. I didn't move an inch, instead the Dark Knight groaned as he cracked his fingers on my nose.

"See I know what you're gonna..."

He landed a neck chop to my neck, before following it up with a knee to my solar plexus. The latter was designed to make me lose the breath in my lungs. It was a brutal attack that would see someone in agony.

None of those hits did a thing except piss me off.

See, I'd learned my lesson. A thick layer of Reiryoku suffused my flesh. It was a secondary function of my crude Reinforcement. Meant to copy Hierro, a hollow skill that made their skin and flesh tough and resistant to damage.

I called it crude because it was wasteful. It was also meant for only combat situations, so if a sniper wanted to put me down, I had nothing to rely on except my own enhanced durability that I wasn't sure would block high caliber bullets.

I was still working on leaving it on full time. Control was still the issue I faced.

But for this? It was more than enough. For all his strategies and countermeasures, it was easy to forget that the Bat was just a human.

I tightened my fingers around his neck, cutting off the blood flow but easing up before he could pass out.

"Here's a little tidbit about the streets Bats, to hurt someone you need to be willing to take the hits yourself."

I whispered.

Letting go, I backhanded him across the face. His head whipped to the side along with blood dripping down his tone lip, some of it splashing on the stone walls of the building. My fist then landed on his belly and he coughed out in pain, falling to his knees.

"That's for keeping me hostage for no fucking reason, you lunatic."

Something fast cut through my Reikaku and I grabbed it out of the air. An arrow. It exploded, releasing a green gas right infront of my face. Batman already had a gas mask on as the gas disappeared into the air, revealing a purple clothe over my nose and mouth. I had used Chesha Neko to create a mask by combining threads into a clothe that filtered out the gas for me.

I jerked my head to stare at Artemis, narrowing my eyes with an unspoken message.

'Stay out of this.'

Artemis hands shook...then she lowered the bow, looking away in shame.

The brief reprieve was enough for Batman to reach for something in his utility belt. Strings ran up his body, binding it. I raised a leg and kicked his chest, pushing his back to connect with the wall again.

"Stop it my boy. I believe he's had enough."

A man dressed in a tux and a top hat said, appearing in the air beside us.

I turned to face him, waving a finger and stringing Batman up with the threads connected to the Cathedral. The dark knight let out another moan of pain, the threads tightening around his limbs and neck.

"Do you even know what he did?"

I asked the man who could only be Zatara.

"I don't."

He shook his head.

"But beating him up when he's not fighting back is dishonorable."

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He was quick to admonish.

Bitter laughter escaped me.

"Where were you when I was defenseless against him? When I couldn't fight back?"

I snapped a finger and with an audible snap, Batman's left hand broke at the elbow.

To his credit the Dark Knight let out a guttural growl, clenching his jaw and staring up at me in an expression I couldn't quite read.

"Batman!"

Robin yelled from the bubble shiled holding him afloat, courtesy of Raven.

"Enough!"

Zatara stated, power rolling off him in waves.

"I'm not afraid of you."

I told him.

My threads combined to form a purple sword, Chesha Neko.

Zatara and I shared a look. Then a sigh escaped him and he backed away slightly.

"Look kid, I understand that you're angry, vindictive. But this is not the way to do things." His eyes landed on Batman who hadn't spoken up from the start.

"Batman will face his crimes the right way and get the punishment he so rightfully deserves."

He sighed in something akin to shame.

"Sometimes we are forced into situations that force us to act like..."

"Spare me the lecture, Magician."

I brutally cut him off, turning my attention to the Dark Knight. I knelt before him. The strings lifted his head so that his eyes were staring at me.

"Look at me. I am a product of your Paranoia Batman. You were my hero. Until you showed me that I wasn't wrong to look out for myself. Until you betrayed the expectations heaped up on your legend. You see, a friend of mine used to worship you. Called you the greatest superhero to exist because you were willing to walk in the dark and resist the temptations."

"You...you are responsible for the death of...14 people."

He ground out and I pulled back slightly. My hand tightened on the handle of Chesha Neko.

"I had no control over my powers when they first manifested. You condemned me without knowing the full story. A hero is supposed to save people. The only reason I haven't fully gone down the route of a villain...Bruce..."

He sucked in a shocked breath at the fact that I had used his real identity. I smiled, continuing.

"Is because I don't need a man dressed in a Bat costume to tell me who I am."

I straightened up.

"I am Davian Mabuz, a Soul Reaper. Wielder of Chesha Neko. And as long as there's breath in me, my blade will never rust or be tainted by pretentious ideals. The worst part about all this...is that you lost your biggest fan."

I let him go. The strings unravelled into energy and I turned away.

Zatara gazed me with a complicated look on his face.

"He's all yours."

I smiled, dropping from the perch towards the ground. My descent slowed down while in mid air, I was working towards creating a flight skill.

I had noticed that any Reiryoku, I expended out could be recovered by using my strings. It wasn't a full skill yet, but Strings covered my body in a thin fabric of interconnected threads that I could manipulate to help me glide.

I touched down on the floor and established eye contact with Raven. She smiled sadly.

"You want to get out of here?"

I looked up at the Gargoyle and saw Zatara help Batman up.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Truth be told, I wanted to make him feel the same humiliation I did. The same sense of betrayal. Breaking his hand did not feel enough.

However I was aware of how close to the edge of the darkness, I walked. Nick's face flashed through my mind. My hair fell over my eyes as I turned my head down, walking towards Raven and passing her by.

"Yeah...let's go."

She undid the bubble shield and I heard Robin land on the ground.

"You monster! He welcomed you to his home!"

The boy cried out.

I looked at him sideways.

"Ask your father what he did. Then we'll see who the monster is."

Darkness pooled under our feet. Then before we could leave, something stopped us. A portal of swirling yellow appeared before us and Zatara walked out along with Batman, stopping below the steps to the staircase.

"Wait."

The magician held up his hands.

"I mean you both no harm. We just...we need your help."

Raven and I shared a confused look.

"Why would I help you?"

Was he right in the head? After everything?

Batman crazily enough, stepped forward, holding onto his arm.

"I can't say that I was not wrong. I was. And I apologize for..."

"What is this?"

I cut in.

"Don't you know how hard it is to only leave you with a broken hand? Why push your luck? Why!"

The shamelessness!

Raven grabbed my arm and I closed my eyes, stomping down on my anger.

"Don't. Test. Me. Batman. I will break you if you push me hard enough."

I managed to bite out.

We had saved the kids. There was nothing else for us to do here.

"Let's hear them out. At least for Zatara's sake...we owe him."

Raven said. She had told me what had happened after the Doctor Fate attack.

"Fine."

I agreed, crossing my hands over my chest. For Zatara's sake.

"What do you want?"

Zatara didn't seem put off by the hostility. He reached into his chest and pulled out a medallion.

"In here lies the soul of one Jim Gordon. We managed to recover his body but are unable to return his soul back into the vessel. We were hoping you would help out."

Then everything clicked. I'd been wondering where Jim had ran off to. I'd even thought of going to check his house to ensure he didn't turn into a hollow. However...

"Old Gordo jumped ship. Smart. Disloyal but smart."

Cheshire Cat snorted from my inner world.

"He'll get what's coming to him soon."

I answered.

Loyalty was everything. I guess that wasn't the same for everyone. He could have told us what he was planning...instead he left us in the dark. That to me was disloyalty.

"I don't understand how that's his problem."

Raven responded.

"She's right."

I backed her.

"The Justice League has plenty of resources and capable magicians who can take care of your little problem. I'll even recommend someone. Get Kent to do it... he's doctor Fate after all, if anyone can take care of it, it's him."

An uncomfortable silence fell between us. Batman stiffened as if hit by a lightning bolt. I could see the frown on Zatara's face.

Then he said something that made Raven mad. Truly mad.

"You don't know?"

Zatara asked in shock.

"Kent is...gone. He's dead. Has been for a month. His funeral was 3 weeks ago. I'm sorry."

He added sadly.

"What?"

My companion staggered back, shaking her head with an horrified look on his face. Then...her eyes glowed black.

She turned towards Batman.

"You..."

The word was said in such...hate and Vitriol.

It was clear we weren't dealing with the Raven we knew. Batman had known about Kent's death and despite Raven living in the manor at that time, he hadn't seen it fit to inform her.

And now she was mad.

Scratch that, she was furious. The tight control she had on her emotions snapped and with it, all hell broke loose.