LOOTING DC #36. The Scion Part 3
The Orphan tilted her head - just slightly. A flick of the wrist, a loosened stance. Body language for: "You done?"
Damian didn't answer.
He lunged.
No blind rage this time. A sharp sidestep, double feint, and a spinning sweep aimed to trap her weight mid-pivot. Deceptively fast.
It almost worked.
She slid over the sweep, balanced on one leg, and used his own motion to ride the opening. In a blink, she slipped behind him - one hand twisting his wrist, the other guiding his momentum straight to the ground.
Thud.
His back hit the dirt. Her knee pinned his arm. Not a muscle wasted.
Her head dipped, eyes narrowed.
"You're always hot-headed when we fight."
"That's why you could never beat me."
She didn't linger - glanced up instead, locking eyes with those watching.
"That's why you can't beat him."
Damian growled, twisting against her grip. Still fiery. Still stubborn.
She let him.
But only a little.
"Good technique back there."
"Add a little calm to it, and you'll be unstoppable."
Bzzz...
"Add a lot of calm, and you'll be inevitable."
Bzzz...
Jake's Spider-Sense tingled like an itch he couldn't scratch. He'd been watching her - the shadow girl. Every shift in posture, every subtle motion. Small. Deliberate. Loud to his Spider-sense. It was body language.
And he was starting to get fluent.
Just enough to catch that last one.
"Inevitable?" Jake muttered, brow raised. "I sincerely doubt that ingrate can become inevitable."
Damian twitched - just a muscle. But she pressed harder, and the motion died. The air cooled. His breathing steadied. That rage… shrank, condensed into something tighter. Focused.
Jake's smirk faded.
Damian was calming now. His aura... Definitely dangerous.
Jake exhaled through his nose - almost a chuckle.
Maybe she wasn't wrong. Maybe there was something in him.
Didn't change a thing.
Jake was still going to sacrifice him.
Jab.
Huh?
Jake turned. Artemis had her fingers pressed into his ribs.
"You've got that look again," she muttered, glaring. "Stop thinking like that. No more fighting."
"But he is The Scion," Jake said, gesturing toward Damian. "Heir to the Demon's Head - meant to be sacrificed for his blood. To bring balance. For Lian."
Artemis froze mid-slap at the sound of her niece's name.
"In my Verse, the Scion's a big deal," Jake added. "I'll have to sacrifice him for the greater good."
Of course... he'd made it all up.
The Web never mentioned a sacrifice. Or the Scion. But with what the JLD said, it made sense. Blood from Ra's bloodline had weight in the matter. And Damian? He was convenient.
So he filled in the blanks. Shaped his own prophecy from Spiderverse lore.
Damian was the Scion.
The "Queen" on the Web's throne? Had to be the Bride.
And the Other... Jake refused to say that name. But it lingered. Waiting for him to accept who he believed The Other was.
Tt.
Damian rose, tense but silent. The Orphan was already moving - calm, confident strides cutting across the space between her and Jake.
She stopped.
"You going to be a problem?"
Her expression said everything.
"Depends," Jake stepped forward. "Will you stand in my way?"
Damian cut in before she could answer.
"Sacrifice, huh? Your ignorance disgusts me."
Jake smirked. He'd struck a nerve.
"You might be strong," Damian sneered, "but this is Gotham. Even Superman doesn't matter here. Let alone a bug."
He stepped in close, eye to eye.
"I'll make sure you crawl back up whatever web you came from."
The Orphan moved to intercept - but Damian was quicker this time. He twisted her wrist, tried to flip her with her own momentum.
She flowed with it instead, spun off, and landed low in a crouch a few paces back. No harm done.
Jake stared at Damian.
Damian stared back.
"You're calm now," Jake noted, oddly interested. "Wanna settle this now?"
He waited - for Artemis to stop him, say something, yell maybe.
Nothing.
The wind brushed his mask. He looked around.
??
No Artemis.
??
No Roy.
??
No Lian.
Gone. Where?
His pulse quickened, but not from fear. Just certainty. A gut pull. He had a hunch.
He looked back at Damian - still wanted to knock that pride off his face. But priorities...
"On second thought," Jake said, turning, "let's conclude this fifty-nine days from now."
He stepped onto the ledge.
"If I win - you become the Scion. No choice."
He leapt.
"But if you win…"
Thwip!
"…you decide."
And he was gone - swinging into the night without waiting for an answer or confirmation. He was banking on Damien's pride.
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She'd followed him - half-worried, half-glad, completely uncertain.
Roy had taken Lian while everyone was distracted. She hadn't noticed until the Spider said her name.
He was Lian's father. That much she knew. Whether that was a good or bad thing? Still unclear. She could only hope.
She paused - something in the pattern shifted. Compost disturbed by movement. Garbage scattered with haste.
He was still on foot.
Good. That meant she could still catch up before he disappeared completely.
She rose to move-
And heard the swoosh overhead. The Spider was swinging toward her.
"Hey - where's Lian?" he called out mid-swing.
So. He'd finally noticed. And from the sound of it... he actually cared.
Either he was a guardian angel - or he had an angle. With him, it could go either way.
"They're not far," she said. "We can still catch up."
"Then hop on," he said, firing a web - not to wrap her, just toward her.
She blinked.
Wait. He hadn't grabbed her. He'd aimed near her. Was he... asking for consent?
Thwip - yank.
Too late.
She was airborne, caught mid-thought. Pulled straight into his arms.
Second time this had happened. The first time, she'd wanted to stab him.
Now?
Now she felt warm. Too warm. Despite the wind biting through the night air, her skin felt like it was heating from the inside.
…Shit.
He could read body language now. She'd just remembered that.
Her stomach flipped. She glanced at him - at the faint grin in his mask.
She cringed inward. Then punched his chest. Lightly.
"Ow," he said anyway.
"Don't say a word," she snapped - just as she tightened her grip for the next swerve.
And the follow-up curve.
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"He couldn't have gotten that far," she pointed out after a few minutes of swinging.
"You're right," Jake said. "But I'm not taking us to him."
"What?" she asked, feigning surprise.
"Don't act like you didn't know," he chuckled.
He dipped low between rooftops, then shot upward again, keeping the momentum.
"You're a skilled tracker," he added. "You'd have figured out my angle by now."
"Besides - what would we even do? Rip Lian out of his hands? He's her father. Even I'm not heartless enough to do that twice."
"Still worries me," she muttered. "What if he takes her back to the League?"
"I doubt it," Jake replied, calm and certain. "And I've got a pretty good idea where he's going."
"Where...?" she asked - gulping, though she wasn't sure if it was from fear or just the cold wind in her throat.
"I found Oolong, didn't I?" he said. "Back then, it was through files. Now? I've got an upgrade."
Silence followed. Jake understood why.
"Don't worry," he said softly. "Just let it play out. All's well that ends well, right?"
They swung higher. She looked out at the brooding city - eyes distant, unreadable.
"Where are you taking me, then?" she asked.
Jake smiled.
Mischievously.
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"You don't have to worry about me," Damian grunted, eyes fixed on the cold night.
He was talking to her - Orphan.
She stepped in slowly, placed a hand on his shoulder, and tapped twice.
Translation: "I know."
Silence settled between them.
"I still don't get why you're here," he said. "You're the Orphan. I doubt even Grandpa could order you to babysit me."
She breathed - calmly, but just off enough for him to notice.
Then she let go of his shoulder.
"Cas..." she started, but didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
Damian read her body like always.
Translation: "Please refer to me using my name: Cassandra Cain."
His eyes widened. He looked at her properly now. She'd buried that name a long time ago. He knew why.
She raised her hands, then let them fall.
Translation: "I'm not here because Ra's sent me."
"Then why?" he asked.
"I need to get you out of Gotham."
She said nothing more.
That alone told him everything.
If his grandfather was involved, and she wanted him out of Gotham - it wasn't just about him.
It was about the city.
His gaze hardened. "I just agreed to a fight in fifty-nine days that might turn me into a sacrifice - all because I don't want to see a mere bug crawling around Gotham."
He turned slightly, jaw set. "What makes you think I'd leave Gotham to burn on my watch?"
Cassandra inhaled sharply. Just once. Then, the rarest thing - she smiled, slightly.
Stubborn as ever. That would only make things harder.
Ra's words echoed in her mind:
"Or burn what keeps him."
She let out a slow breath, then signed:
"Then I'll help you with your mission."
"Until the last minute."
She knew Damian would see through that right away.
That was the point.
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