Chapter Text
“How did it end up like this?”
Damian let the question hang in his mind as he sat against the sidewall seat, eyes drifting across the jet’s cabin. Up front, Batman handled the controls, flying them through the gray night sky. Black Lightning sat beside him. Behind them, Donna Troy was out cold, arms folded, head tilted back.
Across from Damian, King Shark sprawled over two seats, snoring loud enough to rattle a panel or two. Anyone else might’ve laughed at the scene.
Katana was asleep as well.
And then there was Ravager.
Her head rested on Damian’s shoulder. She was close enough that he couldn’t ignore the snoring coming from her. Normally, he would’ve shoved her off without a second thought. But after the last few months? After everything they’d gone through?
He just didn’t have it in him to be an ass tonight.
Everyone in this cabin… this was what remained of Team Alpha, huh? Damian shifted slightly. If Alpha was down to this handful, that meant Bravo and Tango were all that remained. Three teams. Three scattered groups clinging to whatever they had left.
So much for the resistance, he thought bitterly.
Even now, a small part of him still hoped there were others out there, teams that hadn’t made contact yet; fighters still holding out somewhere. But he knew better. Most of the resistance was gone.
Before he could sink any further into the thought, the cabin lurched violently. Everyone jolted awake, hands going for weapons, shoulders tensing for a fight.
Black Lightning twisted in his seat and raised a hand.
“Easy, easy, just turbulence. We’re close to the checkpoint.”
A ripple of exhausted groans passed through the cabin as the tension bled out. Ravager, now fully awake, rubbed her eyes and leaned forward with a sigh.
“Damn,” she muttered, not really talking to anyone. “Can’t even get a couple hours of sleep.”
Damian sat up a little straighter, rolling the stiffness out of his shoulders. All he could think about was the base they were heading toward, hoping it had hot water. Or even running water. At this point, he’d take anything. He just wanted a shower.
Ravager looked over at him, studying his face.
“Guess you stayed awake this whole time, huh?”
Damian didn’t answer. Too wrapped up in his thoughts.
She frowned.
“Robin.”
That snapped him out of it. He turned toward her.
“What?”
Before she could repeat herself, Batman’s voice cut through.
“Two minutes out.”
Damian’s eyes drifted to the cockpit.
His brother sat at the controls. Even from where Damian sat, he could see the tension in Dick’s shoulders. Years had passed, but Damian still wasn’t used to seeing Dick wear the suit. How he’d grown into a version of their father, how he carried the entire mission in his hands as if no one else could.
Maybe no one else could.
Outside, the sky shifted from dull gray to a thick, fog-blue haze. Far below, faint searchlights blinked through the mist, sweeping arcs that never once rose toward the jet.
Donna stretched, cracking her neck.
“Any word from the outpost?”
Black Lightning shook his head. “Last ping was six hours ago. Nothing since.”
That didn’t sit well with anyone.
Damian felt it, the collective dread settling over the team. They’d all felt this before. They knew what comms going dark usually meant.
King Shark stretched his arms with a lazy grunt.
“Maybe they’re dead.”
Ravager shot him a glare.
“Love the optimism.”
He shrugged, unfazed.
The jet dipped lower as the clouds thinned, revealing the checkpoint carved into the side of a mountain. The base itself sat in the rock like a dark block, with a wide open platform extending out toward a sheer drop.
Black Lightning narrowed his eyes.
“Landing gear down.”
The jet touched down on the cliffside platform with a soft jolt. The engines cycled into a low hum as the back ramp hissed open, letting in a rush of cold mountain air.
Damian stood up, hand instinctively brushing the hilt at his side. As everyone got up and began leaving the jet.
Through the fog, figures emerged from the mouth of the mountain base, shifting shapes at first, then clearer forms as they got closer.
Team Bravo.
Relief hit the group like a wave. Katana clasped Vixen’s forearm in greeting. King Shark and Clayface exchanged a massive handshake. Donna and Wonder Girl hugged tight.
Damian and Ravager hung back near the ramp. Batman and Black Lightning were still inside the jet.
As team bravo began guiding them toward the base, a familiar figure caught Damian’s eye.
Red Hood.
Jason spotted him instantly and headed straight over.
“Damian,” he said, voice low with something between disbelief and relief.
Before Damian could answer, Jason pulled him into a hug.
Damian froze for half a heartbeat, then returned it, gripping the back of Jason’s jacket.
“Jason,” he exhaled, strained, but real.
He didn’t let go right away.
Jason finally pulled back, hands resting on Damian’s shoulders as he looked him over.
“You look like hell,” Jason said.
“So do you,” Damian shot back, though there was no bite in it.
Jason huffed a laugh, but the sound cut off when gravel shifted behind them. Both brothers turned to see Batman and Black Lightning approaching.
Jason’s smile dimmed a notch.
Black Lightning was the first to speak, reaching out a hand. Jason accepted it immediately.
“Good to see Bravo’s still standing,” he said. “Had us worried for a second.”
Jason let out a short breath.
“Yeah. Couldn’t get much of a signal out here, so we hoped the coordinates we sent were enough. Looks like they were.”
Black Lightning nodded. “Guess they were.”
He glanced at Batman, then back at Jason.
“I’ll let you two catch up.”
With that, he walked off to join the rest of the resistance.
Rose, still beside Damian, looked over at him.
“I’m starving. Gonna see if they’ve got food. You coming?”
Damian looked past her toward where his brothers were talking.
“Uh… you go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”
Rose shrugged and headed off toward the base.
Damian stepped closer just in time to catch Jason’s voice.
“Dick… we lost Tango.”
Dick’s fist tightened.
“Captain Marvel was on that team,” Dick said, voice rough, nearly gravelly. “Are you sure?”
Even now, it unsettled Damian how much Dick sounded like their father when his voice dropped like that.
Jason nodded once.
“Yeah. We found what was left of the site. No survivors.”
Damian stood there in silence for a moment.
“Are there more inside?” Dick asked.
“Yeah,” Jason said. “A few more.”
Dick took that in with a slow nod.
“Set up a meeting two hours from now. I want everyone there.”
“Got it.”
Without another word, Dick turned and headed toward the entrance of the base.
Jason finally looked back at Damian and gave him a light nudge.
“Come on.” He said with a small smile.
Damian didn’t answer. He just followed Jason into the base.
Damian stood in front of an altar in silence.
Rows of photos lined the board, faces of the fallen, lit by flickering candles and burnt-down incense. He studied each picture as if memorizing them all over again.
Atom. Blue Beetle. Harley Quinn. Booster Gold. Supergirl, Captain Marvel.
Multiple Green Lanterns.
Wonder Woman.
Superman.
Batman.
And so many more.
Every person who had given everything to protect the world.
And for what?
So the last scraps of humanity could hide, praying not to be found?
Damian’s hands balled into fists. His jaw tightened.
Why was he still here?
He wasn’t half the hero anyone on that altar had been.
So why was he still here?
His thoughts twisted tighter, until a finger tapped lightly at his shoulder.
He turned.
Rose stood beside him, helmet off, holding out a piece of bread.
“It’s all they had,” she said. “Well… that and some kind of porridge. I didn’t risk it. Bread seemed safer.”
She let out a small laugh, but Damian didn’t even manage a smile. Rose noticed immediately. Her eyes drifted to the altar.
Without a word, she picked up two sticks of incense, lit them, and handed one to him.
Damian took it.
They knelt together, setting candles beneath a few of the photos. Rose placed hers under an old Titans group picture—Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Terra, Cyborg, Kid Flash, all smiling.
Damian lit a candle beneath a photo of his family—Alfred, Duke, Steph, Cassandra, Barbara, Tim… and Bruce.
“Thanks…” was all he managed.
Rose didn’t say anything back.
Silence hung between them until footsteps echoed into the room.
Kyle Rayner—Earth’s last Green Lantern—appeared in the doorway, his voice carrying across the quiet space.
“Meeting’s starting. Batman wants everyone in the briefing room.”
Rose stood to her feet first and offered Damian a hand. He took it without hesitation, brushing a smear of ash from his gloves before giving the altar one final glance.
Then they followed Lantern down the dim corridor.
The briefing room looked like it had been made out of necessity rather than intention. A repurposed storage chamber with cracked concrete walls, mismatched chairs lined up in uneven rows, old monitors stacked on metal shelves, and cables running across the ceiling. A portable heater buzzed in the corner, doing almost nothing against the cold.
What remained of the resistance gathered inside. Damian spotted faces he hadn’t seen since his arrival—Artemis, Batwoman, Black Manta, Mr. Freeze. But what caught him off guard was Zatanna, quietly speaking with Batman near the front.
Seventeen.
Damian counted them again, but the number didn’t change. Only seventeen people left standing.
As they entered, Batman’s focus shifted to the group forming around him.
“Is this everyone?” He asked.
Lantern nodded once.
Batman stepped toward the center of the room, the dim overhead light catching the edges of his cowl. Conversations died instantly.
“We’ve lost four teams in the past five months,” Batman said, voice steady but carrying the weight of every name behind that number. “Braniac’s forces have overtaken nearly every inch of this world. My best estimate is that we have about one week until they locate this base. And as of now… we have nowhere left to fall back to.”
A ripple of uneasy murmurs spread through the room, but Batman continued before they could gain momentum.
“Three years ago, with help from the Light, Braniac eliminated most of the Justice League and seized control of the planet. We prepared for threats. We built contingencies. But no one predicted the scale he brought. The League planned for disasters. Not extinction.”
He tapped the side of his gauntlet.
A soft whir.
Then the hologram bloomed into the air.
Footage flickered—Braniac’s ships hovering over major cities, energy pulses descending. Entire blocks erupting into fire. News broadcasts dissolving into static as Braniac’s drones tore through streets. Heroes, some Damian recognized; some he didn’t, struggling against waves of metallic soldiers, overwhelmed in seconds. Civilians being shoved into containment transports. Camps filled with frightened families, guarded by cold mechanical enforcers.
This wasn’t a war. It was a purge.
Damian couldn’t help but wonder at what moment did they start fighting a losing battle?
Batman ended the projection. The room dimmed again, leaving only the strained faces of the survivors.
“We’ve been hiding. Running. Retreating.”
Batman’s voice dropped.
“That ends now.”
A few heads lifted at that. Artemis straightened in her chair. Even Mr. Freeze’s posture shifted.
Zatanna stepped forward beside Batman, fingers laced behind her back, expression conflicted. “We’ve… been discussing alternatives. Options we haven’t dared to consider before, mostly because we’ve been running out of other ideas.” She drew in a breath and glanced at Batman, who gave a small nod.
“We want to change the past.”
The room exploded in murmurs.
Shock. Disbelief. A few people swore under their breath.
Damian felt his stomach drop. Change the past? These people have clearly lost it.
Batwoman stood abruptly. “Time travel? Are you serious?” She gestured around at the cracked walls and flickering lights. “Look at us. We’re in a half-collapsed bunker. Most of our tech is running on scraps. And not to be dramatic, but most of the geniuses who could pull something like that off are dead.” She motioned toward the ceiling. “And in case anyone forgot, we’re in a bunker.”
Her voice echoed. No one argued.
Zatanna didn’t flinch. “I know how it sounds. Believe me, I do. But we’re not talking about inventing time travel—we’re talking about using something that already exists.”
That was enough to quiet the murmurs again.
Zatanna took the moment, stepping forward. “I’ve been working on a spell, one that could send a single person far enough into the past to prepare for Brainiac’s arrival. But I’ve never used it. It’s unstable. And the power it requires…” She exhaled. “It would strip me of what little magic I have left.”
A few people exchanged uneasy looks.
Damian did too, because the implication was obvious.
“Who are you sending back?” Donna asked.
Black Lightning stepped up. “I nominate Batman.”
This time the murmurs didn’t stay murmurs as voices rose into a full argument.
Protests fired from every direction.
“You can’t risk him—”
“He’s the only one who’d know what to do—”
“He’s the reason anyone’s still alive—”
It took Red Hood stepping forward, to shut the room up.
“Lightning,” Jason said, turning to him with an exhausted look, “I get the logic. I do. But look around. Everyone in this room is alive because of him.” He jabbed a thumb toward Batman. “If this spell works, we’re still here. We still have a resistance. We cannot afford to lose our leader.”
Batman finally stepped toward the center. “Red Hood’s right. My mission is here, with this world… this isn’t a mission I’m meant to take.”
Another wave of whispers rolled through the room as Batman turned to Zatanna.
“How far back can you send someone?”
Zatanna wobbled her hand. “Five years. Give or take. It’s the most I can manage.”
“That’s more than enough,” Batman said.
He scanned the room slowly. Damian recognized that look.
“Unfortunately,” Batman continued, “our options are limited. Most of you weren’t close enough to the vigilante network for this to work. Others weren’t even heroes yet five years ago.”
A cold weight dropped into Damian’s stomach.
Oh no.
He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t—
“Which is why,” Batman said, voice firm and fully decided, “I nominate Robin to be sent into the past.”
Damian felt the world tilt.
Good thing he hadn’t eaten—because everything inside him lurched violently at the words leaving Batman's mouth.
“What the hell is wrong with you!?”
Red Hood’s voice echoed off the concrete walls. The meeting had dissolved the second Batman made his announcement; people filing out stunned. But Jason wasn’t done. Not even close.
While the others cleared the room, he closed the distance in furious steps and grabbed Batman by the collar, dragging him back toward the wall.
Damian moved instantly, hands on Jason’s arm, trying to pull him back.
“Jason stop. Calm down.”
Jason didn’t budge an inch.
“No. Absolutely not.” His voice cracked with fury. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting you dump that kind of weight on him!”
Batman didn’t lift a hand to push Jason away. Instead, he reached up for his own cowl.
He pulled it off, revealing his face beneath.
“Jason…”
“Don’t you dare ‘Jason’ me, Grayson,” Jason snapped, pressing him harder into the wall. Jason's hand shook. “You can’t do this to him.”
“We don’t have any other choice,” Dick said bluntly. “He’s the only one with access to the people who can actually stop this before it starts.”
Jason shook his head violently. “Then send me.”
Dick held his stare for a long, heavy second before exhaling through his nose.
“You didn’t even have your memories back then,” he said quietly. “Everyone thought you were dead.”
Jason’s grip faltered. He let go of Dick’s collar with a frustrated shove, stepping back as he scoffed under his breath.
Dick straightened, but his eyes stayed locked on Jason’s.
“Jason… Damian has a real chance here. A chance none of us ever got. He’d have two years to stop the Light before they ever build momentum. That’s enough time so that when Brainiac arrives, the League isn’t blindsided and helpless.”
“I can do this.”
Damian’s voice cut through the tension. Both of his brothers turned toward him, Jason with wide, horrified eyes, Dick with something far heavier.
Jason shook his head immediately. “No. Damian, no.”
But Dick stepped closer, his expression shifting into something painfully serious.
“Damian… this isn’t like in the movies,” he said. “There isn’t one event you can undo and magically erase the future. A lot of things will have to change. You’ll have to make choices—hard ones. Some of them might go against everything you thought you knew.”
He placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder.
“You’re not a kid anymore, so I need you to listen to me. I’m sorry it has to be you. I’m sorry we’re putting this weight on your shoulders. But if you go… you’ll carry an extreme burden. Nothing about this will be easy.” Dick held Damian’s gaze. “I need to know that you’re ready for this and for everything that comes after. No matter what.”
Damian held Dick’s stare. He felt Jason’s eyes on him too—anger, fear, protectiveness all tangled together.
For a moment, Damian couldn’t breathe.
Then he swallowed hard.
“…I’m ready.”
Dick didn’t look relieved. If anything, he looked older.
“Alright,” he said quietly. “I’ll go tell Zatanna to start preparing the spell.”
He gave Damian’s shoulder one last squeeze before turning and walking out, cape brushing the floor behind him.
Jason stayed a moment longer. He looked at Damian, not with anger, but hurt. He opened his mouth as if to speak… then closed it again and walked out without another word.
Damian exhaled and dragged a glove through his hair.
Footsteps behind him broke the moment.
He turned and saw Rose lingering in the doorway.
“How much did you hear?” he asked.
Rose shifted her weight, eyes dropping for a split second before she forced them back up.
“Enough,” she said. “Kinda jealous they didn’t ask me to go.” She said. Her voice tried for sarcasm… but didn’t quite stick.
Damian tried to laugh, but it came out more breath than sound.
Rose stepped closer.
“Five years is a lot,” she said, her tone gentling in a way that made Damian finally look up at her. “Shame, too. You just hit a growth spurt.”
Before he could roll his eyes, she reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead. He couldn’t stop the small, reluctant smile that tugged at his mouth.
Rose huffed a quiet breath—something between relief and fondness.
“There he is,” she murmured. “Thought you’d forgotten how to smile.”
Damian let the smile fade, though not completely. “It’s not exactly a situation worth laughing about.”
“No,” Rose agreed softly. “It’s not.”
Damian’s gaze drifted off to some fixed point on the floor. “Where were you five years ago?”
Rose blew out a breath. “Uh… sixteen, pissed off at the world, with a glowing neon sign over my head that said, “‘this gal has extreme daddy issues.’”
Her voice dropped.
“I’ll find you,” Damian said.
Rose blinked. “The point of sending you back is to stop the end of the world, not hunt down some girl you think is cool.”
“I can’t save the world without my team.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Were you even with the Titans then?”
Damian scratched the back of his neck. “…Not exactly. I wasn’t in anyone’s good graces at that point. But I’ll figure that out when I get there. I’ll find them.”
Rose folded her arms. “And Terra?”
“And Terra,” Damian confirmed.
“And Jason?”
“And Jason.”
He stood a little straighter. “I’ll find everyone. I promise.”
He reached out, hesitant, and took her hand.
“I promise,” he repeated, quieter this time.
Rose looked down at their hands for a long moment, as if she was fighting the urge to say something too honest.
“…You better,” she muttered.
But she didn’t pull her hand away.
A couple of hours later, Damian and Rose were on one of the bunks, a deck of cards between them. Rose threw her hand down.
“Goldfish! I win again.”
Damian stared at the cards. “…I thought we were playing spades. And it’s go fish.”
Rose waved him off, already scooping the cards together with zero shame.
Before she could reshuffle, footsteps approached.
Artemis and Batwoman stopped in front of them, both looking far too serious for card games.
“Robin,” Batwoman said, voice clipped. “It’s time.”
Damian and Rose exchanged a glance before standing. Artemis and Batwoman turned, gesturing for them to follow.
As they walked, Rose reached up and unclasped something from around her neck. She held it out to Damian.
He blinked. “What—?”
Rose leaned close, her voice barely above a whisper. “So you don’t forget to find me.”
Damian looked down at the necklace, a gold pendant with a small, golden feather hanging from it.
He swallowed, nodded once, and slipped the necklace on. The pendant settled against his chest.
They reached a set of reinforced doors. When they slid open, a spill of pale blue light washed over the hallway.
Inside, Zatanna sat at the front of a massive circle etched into the floor. Runes carved directly into the concrete glowed faintly. Candles were placed at careful intervals around the sigils.
As Damian stepped forward, he caught sight of a spellbook hovering in front of her, pages flipping on their own. Zatanna’s palms were pressed together, eyes closed in concentration. When she finally looked up and saw him, her expression softened just for a moment.
“You’re just on time,” Zatanna said gently. “The spell is ready.”
Damian looked around the room, taking in who was actually there. Artemis and Batwoman were gone, leaving only Rose, Dick, and Jason standing there.
Dick walked towards him. His cowl held loosely in one hand. Jason looked like he was caught between punching a wall and falling apart.
Dick stopped in front of him. For a moment he just stared down at the cowl in his hand. Then he pulled Damian into a tight hug, leaving no space between them.
It startled Damian more than anything. Dick hadn’t hugged him like that in… he didn’t even know how long. He forgot how’d they felt.
“I’m sorry you had to live like this…” Dick’s voice cracked halfway through, and he swallowed hard, but didn’t let go. Damian didn’t call him out on it. He just nodded against his shoulder.
Dick finally pulled back, hands still on Damian’s arms. “I love you, little brother. Never forget that.”
“I won’t,” Damian said quietly.
He turned to Jason, only for Jason to grab him, pulling him straight into another hug before Damian could fully face him. Jason didn’t say anything, just held on. That alone said more than any fight or lecture ever could.
Damian was the first to speak. His voice was steadier than he felt.
“When you come back… I’ll be there for you. I promise.”
Jason’s grip tightened. Damian heard the soft, shaky breath Jason let out against his shoulder, almost a sniffle, though Jason would rather die than admit it.
“Whatever happens,” Jason muttered, voice rough, “just know I’m proud of you. Always have been.”
Damian shut his eyes. His throat tightened. And yeah, his eyes were sweaty. That’s what he was going with.
Zatanna lifted her hand. “Damian,” she said gently, “step into the circle.”
The sigils carved into the stone floor glowed faint violet, threads of light weaving between them. Damian swallowed once, glanced back at the three people who mattered most in this ruined world, then stepped forward.
His boots crossed the edge of the circle, and the temperature shifted immediately.
Zatanna raised both hands, magic gathering at her fingertips in pale blue sparks.
“This will feel… strange,” she warned. “Time magic usually involves a lot more preparation.”
“…Wait, what?” Damian asked, just a tad bit concerned.
Zatanna waved him off. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll be fine. Probably.” She squinted at him. “Remind me, how old are you right now?”
“Twenty?” Damian said, confused by the sudden question.
“Ah. So you’ll be fifteen when you land.” She nodded. “Your body’s going to snap back to what it looked like at that age. And there’s no telling the exact moment you’ll appear, so… hopefully not in the middle of a fight. Heh.” She let out a chuckle.
No one laughed.
Zatanna coughed, clearing her throat. “Right. Sorry. Okay, so this should take a couple minutes to cast.”
“A couple?” Dick asked, sounding absolutely done with everything.
“Ehh… twenty or so. Give or take.” Zatanna shrugged.
Dick and Jason exchanged a deadpan look.
Zatanna waved a hand at them like shooing away pigeons. “Alright, alright, just let me focus. This needs to go right.”
Outside the base, Green Lantern, Black Lightning, and Mr. Freeze stood watch at the cliffside entrance. Lantern and Lightning murmured quietly about patrol routes while Freeze kept his gaze fixed on the fog-choked darkness ahead.
Freeze narrowed his eyes. Something… off. A vibration more than a sound.
Then he heard it, distant, low, almost too soft to register.
A horn.
His spine locked.
He stepped forward, straining to catch it again. Nothing but wind.
“Gentlemen…” Freeze said without looking back.
Lantern and Lightning stopped talking, glancing toward him. Freeze didn’t move, staring into the horizon.
And then it came again, low, drawn out, resonating through the stone beneath their feet.
A horn. Closer this time.
Lantern and Lightning were beside him in seconds, eyes scanning the fog.
No one wanted to say it. They all knew.
A faint purple glow flickered within the mist—then another. And another. The fog lit up with a sickening pulse, revealing the silhouettes of skull-shaped ships drifting toward them, tentacles hanging beneath.
The horns sounded again, louder, unmistakable.
“…They found us,” Freeze whispered, horror tightening his voice.
Green Lantern’s ring flared bright, coating his entire body in emerald light as he stepped forward.
“Both of you inside. Warn the others. Now!”
Freeze didn’t hesitate. He spun and sprinted back toward the base.
“What are you gonna do!?” Black Lightning shouted as he backed up toward the entrance.
Lantern didn’t look back. He hovered off the ground.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he called out. “I’m buying you time. Go!”
Lightning cursed under his breath, then bolted inside as Lantern shot into the sky—straight toward the incoming armada.
Zatanna’s chanting deepened, her voice vibrating through the walls as the runes flared white-blue beneath Damian’s boots. No one dared breathe too loudly, let alone speak; every person in the room knew how fragile this moment was. One misstep, and the spell could tear itself apart.
Which was exactly why the sudden, violent pounding on the steel door sent everyone’s hearts into their throats.
Zatanna didn’t react—too far gone in the spell, eyes blazing like twin lanterns.
Dick spun toward the noise. “Who the hell—”
The door burst open before he could finish.
Black Lightning stumbled in, chest heaving.
“They’ve found us!!” he shouted.
The room froze.
Damian’s stomach dropped as faces around him shifted to fear.
Dick yanked his cowl back on. “Lightning, get the jet prepped NOW. Rose, with me!”
He turned to Jason. “You stay here. Make sure she finishes the spell, no matter what.”
Jason didn’t argue. He just put himself between Zatanna and the door, guns out.
Rose hesitated for half a second, just long enough for Damian to meet her eyes.
Damian lifted his chin.
“Go,” he mouthed.
Rose swallowed hard and gave him one last look, a look that said everything she didn’t have time to say, before she turned and sprinted after Dick.
The alarms began screaming through the base, the lights flickering as the walls shook from impact somewhere above.
And Damian… stuck inside the glowing circle, forbidden to take a single step out…
could only watch.
Zatanna didn’t stop.
She couldn’t stop.
Her voice climbed in intensity. Her hands moved in arcs, carving symbols into the air that burned bright before dissolving into smoke.
The runes around Damian pulsed harder, faster.
Jason flinched at every distant explosion but stayed rooted in place. Guns aimed at the door, shoulders squared. If anything made it past the others, it would reach him first.
Zatanna’s chanting shifted pitch abruptly, deepening into something ancient. Damian felt the sound inside his bones.
The circle beneath him flared brighter.
The cracks in the ceiling rained dust.
The alarms wailed.
And Zatanna’s voice only grew stronger.
“Emit… ot… emit… nruter!”
Her words twisted backward and forward, syllables folding in on themselves.
The walls trembled again—this time violently enough that Jason grabbed onto the side of a desk to keep his balance.
“Come on, Z,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “Come on, come on—”
Zatanna lifted both arms high, magic surging upward in a column of blue-white light that struck the ceiling and split into tendrils, wrapping around Damian like a cocoon.
Damian’s breath hitched.
The air felt thick, pressing down on him and pulling at him all at once.
Zatanna’s eyes snapped open, glowing white.
“EMIT NRUTER!”
The circle erupted in light.
And Damian felt the world begin to tear away from him.
Zatanna’s voice boomed through the light, distant, and close all at once:
“Damian Wayne… return to your rightful world!”
The floor vanished.
Damian didn’t even have time to gasp before the ground was simply gone beneath him.
And then...
Nothing.
There was no clean transition.
No gentle drifting through space.
No slow descent.
Damian was being hurled from nowhere to nowhere, violently tossed by forces he couldn’t see or fight. Colors whipped past him; streaks, lines, fragments of things he couldn’t process. And for a heartbeat, it was like he was staring straight through the universe itself.
In any other circumstance, he might’ve actually admired the beauty of it.
But he was too busy being flung across… moments.
Moments that didn’t make sense.
A burning rooftop.
A cave.
A man’s silhouette—familiar enough to twist something in his chest—
Then the world spun again, harder.
He clenched his jaw, refusing to scream even as the pressure in his skull built, like time itself was trying to split him open from the inside.
And then—everything went black.
He was… he was…
What was he doing again?
What happened to him?
He blinked; he thought he blinked. His eyes were open, but all he saw was black. A weight pressed against the side of his face. Oh, he was lying on his arm.
And he was staring at—
A desk?
Damian pushed himself up, his heartbeat still out of rhythm from whatever he’d just been through.
And then he noticed.
He was in a classroom.
Students sat in front of him, focused on a teacher who stood at the chalkboard, holding a book as she wrote with the other.
Damian blinked hard.
Was he dreaming?
It had to be. Everything felt hazy, like he’d woken up inside someone else’s memory. But the longer he sat there, the more that explanation slid through his fingers.
It felt real.
Did Zatanna’s spell work? Damian wondered.
“Hey, can I borrow a pencil?” a kid beside him whispered.
Damian stiffened.
Oh god.
The spell worked.
And that realization alone was enough to make his stomach twist like he was about to be sick.