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He hears it before he sees it. Actually, he feels it before he sees it.
The feeling of darkness sweeping over his skin, cloudy and clinging and heavy, like the Mist but also nothing like it at the same time. It drags him down, pooling at his feet and trying to pull him into the ground. It's the feeling of the Underworld, of its monsters at its heart, its essence. The feeling of magic sparking in the air, tendrils of purple arcing through the air and connecting to his heartstrings, tugging desperately.
"Pennyworth?"
"Yes, Master Damian, hold on - "
"Damian!" Static crackles through the air, the sound of Blackstone's voice muffles. "I swear - let me in! They're right on me, I - "
"What is happening?" Damian demands, eyes shifting to Alfred, standing by the gate controls, then to his father and Drake. "Why are you not opening the gate?" Painful yelps from the comm, and he adds, "You turned on the electrocution feature?"
"That's what it was?" Blackstone gasps, slightly strangled and hysterical. "I've - felt worse."
"You know her?" Drake demands. "She just tried to climb over the gate, then disable it."
"I've got a whole horde here, Damian, you might want to let me through right now - "
"She knows your name?" Drake screeches.
"Obviously, she said it twice - "
"You know what, fuck it. I am not dying because a stupid gate didn't let me in - "
"Blackstone, don't you dare - " he runs for the tablet, ducking under his father's arm and snatching the remote from Drake, the footage showing empty space where Blackstone should be, right outside the gate. There's a pressure on his heart, tightening and the feeling of being squeezed and stretched and pulled never getting old. He swears. "Blackstone, you better be alive or I am siccing Markowitz on you, wake up - "
Several seconds of silence, then a breathless laugh. "Yeah, right. Cecil wouldn't dare. Will, maybe."
"Solace definitely would," Damian agrees.
"So, I'm kinda stuck in a net? If you could come and get it off me?"
He huffs, sending a glare to his family and cursing.
"You want some soap for your mouth?"
"I will leave you there," he threatens.
"Nah. Will would get mad at you, and then Nico would get mad at you."
"Shut up," he hisses, walking out the door and tossing the tablet to Drake. They exchange strange looks with each other, running to catch up.
"So, are we going to get any answers?" Drake says.
Damian scowls.
True to Blackstone's word, she's pinned down underneath a net, thick ropes criss-crossing. Her face is pale and her eyes are closed, but she's still breathing, which is better than the alternative. Damian cuts away the weights and throws it off her. "What have we said about teleporting?" he chides.
"Mm, sorry, don't remember." Purple hair chopped short, tank top, and a checkered shawl-like cloth draped over her arms, she could look normal. The only thing off about her is the golden dust she shakes from her hair and the twin daggers in her hands that disappear into sheathes. She accepts a hand up as the gate opens, letting Duke Thomas in.
"So, I just saw like, six really big dogs run past me?" he asks, scratching his head. "Is that. Something we do now?"
"Dam, I thought I got more than four," Blackstone grumbles, dusting gold off her shoulders and picking up her fallen backpack, also purple. "Or at least, your gate did."
"Electrocution is not a reliable method for monster-killing unless you're a child of Zeus. You know that."
"Yeah, but it felt strong enough." Blackstone shrugs and offers them a lopsided troublemaker smile. "Lou Ellen Blackstone."
Thomas looks between them, then points at her. "Did B get another one?"
"Nah, I'm from Damian's side." She nudges him, and he nudges back, which turns into her catching him in a headlock and ruffling his hair with her knuckles. "I guess you can consider me a cousin."
"Cousin?" Drake and Thomas simultaneously splutter. Damian succeeds in getting his head back, shoving Lou Ellen away and scowling.
"Yes. Why are you here?"
Her easy smile fades, turning solemn. "Got a call. From a satyr, Nate. He found two demigods. Powerful. They were masked by Gotham, but then a monster caught scent, and well, you know how it spreads."
"How powerful?" Damian asks sharply.
Her expression darkens. Damian doesn't groan, but he does kick the ground and mutter more curses. "Which one?"
"No idea. I was hoping you could track them."
"Sometimes I wonder why we even make oaths on the Styx," Damian mutters, whistling sharply. Goliath lands on the grounds, making Duke fall to the ground. Damian climbs on, offering a hand to Lou Ellen. "I'll be back in time for dinner," he says to his father, and then they're in the sky of Gotham.
"We're going after him, aren't we?" Tim says resignedly. Bruce nods.