Chapter 108

The entire team is gathered in the living room of their temporary apartment.

Robin was in front of everyone by the TV, and the others were sitting on the couch, except for Dio.

Dio was sitting on the floor against the wall behind the couch.

It's been an hour since the attack, and the sun is shining on them.

They are having a meeting and briefing for Batman, who is standing next to the couch and listening carefully to what his protégé has discovered.

"His name was Jonathan Gunnarson, known as Johnny the Gun."

Robin started without his shirt, his chest wrapped in a bandage covering his treated wound.

On the TV next to him was a home surveillance video showing the exact moment Jonathan walked through a wall and into their apartment like a ghost.

"He was a small-time crime lord here in Gotham and involved in drug trafficking and collecting protection fees from businesses on a small street."

"That doesn't matter!"

Roy interrupted.

"What matters is how he managed to find us."

Roy continued.

Roy was right to be worried. Robin picked this apartment out of many empty Wayne homes in the city, but the vampire found them in just a few hours.

"Maybe Starfire's boss betrayed us."

The statement made everyone fall silent.

"Emily wouldn't do that!"

Koriand'r shouted and stood up from the couch next to Raven.

When Wally saw that Koriand'r was mad at him, he raised his hands as a surrender sign.

"I felt Emily's feelings during our conversation; she feels nothing but disgust for Mary's actions."

Ravena's empathy is undoubtedly very useful in moments like this.

"I agree; I don't think we've been betrayed since Emily never knew where we were going to stay, and Koriand'r didn't inform anyone, did you?"

Kaldur asked her, and she nodded in denial before sitting down.

"He didn't know who we were; he simply followed the scent of our blood."

Dio informed them. It's the first thing he said since the incident.

"How do you know that?"

Robin asked.

Dio drew his sword from his back and placed it before his body.

A white energy emanates from its pommel under his command.

There is no one who can see the souls, but Dio has the ability to make them visible with a thought.

"What is this?"

Raven remained silent as Wally and the others stood up from the couch.

"His soul."

Dio replied.

Then, the floating white energy sphere in front of him took on an almost transparent form of the blond man who had attacked them earlier.

"I didn't know you could do that."

Robin said, a little startled.

Those without any connection to the mystical realm find dealing with souls uncomfortable.

Dio had been living in this world for a long time, but he still wasn't used to it.

"His soul was sucked into the sword after... anyway, I didn't know it could do that."

Dio responded.

Dio never heard of calling the soul from the sword, which made it visible to people who aren't mystics, or shaping it into the form it had in life.

Dio had never done this before or read about how it could be done.

Dio felt like he had a lot of control over the sword now that it had the vampire's soul in it.

This soul can roam anywhere in the city with just a thought.

That's the most damage that a person can do to a soul because an archangel or other cosmic entity can destroy a soul.

"It's not complete."

Raven spoke for the first time while not looking at him.

"As an undead, his soul can never be complete."

Dio agreed with her as he knew what she was saying from having experienced soul control.

"Any more information?"

Batman didn't seem to care about this event, or perhaps he chose to proceed out of mercy.

Dio appreciated it either way.

Dio returned the soul to his sword. He didn't want to make them more uncomfortable.

"According to his memories, Mary turned Jonathan Gunnarson a few months ago. He also became a member of the Blood Red Moon Cult, and his orders were to establish a base here in the city. So, Jonathan was about to turn several powerful members living in this part of the city. But before he could proceed with this plan, he caught the scent of our blood, and his instincts took over."

Seeing the memories of ghosts became easy after his training in the underworld, so seeing the memory of a slightly damaged soul wasn't a problem either.

"Are there other vampires in Gotham?"

Batman asked next.

"Many, but most of them are not under Mary's control; only those in Jonathan's gang who he turned are—ten in total."

"We have to attack them before they lose control and start attacking."

Roy spoke and wanted to start a fight since his leader almost killed him.

"No, we need to gather more information first."

Robin opposed.

"Roy is right,"

Dio stopped them.

Dio's statements silenced everyone, especially Roy because everyone knew his bad relationship with Roy.

"Mary turned and trained Jonathan, so he had self-control and some special abilities. But his strength is the only thing keeping his subordinates in check. When they realize their leader won't return, that control will disappear.

Dio explained it to everyone.

Jonathan could not only pass through walls but also transform into mist—two abilities all vampires have.

However, it takes a few years of practice to achieve this. It was only due to Mary's instructions that he accessed these abilities so early.

"I'll handle this,"

Batman concluded while walking to the apartment's balcony.

"And we just stay here doing nothing?"

Wally asked.

"Rest."

Batman replied while jumping out of the apartment.

After a few moments of silence, Robin ordered, "You heard him, everyone. Try to get some sleep."

"As if that were possible!"

Roy shouted.

"Stay calm, Roy. Batman is right; we are too exhausted to be physically and mentally useful."

Kaldur's calm voice always helped.

Dio was not in the mood for conversation based on the looks they were giving him right now.

So, he got up and teleported to the balcony, where he did it again while looking at the roof of the building.

There's no better place for Dio to be alone than on a rooftop, and since this one's door is closed, he can chill out without anyone else coming up.

Dio knew they'd leave him alone for a while. After all, it's not easy to take someone's life.

"Hmmmm!"

That familiar feeling of something squeezing his chest and the strong desire to lie on the ground and let the pain take over—it happens every time he knows he did something wrong.

Dio sat down on the floor and put himself in the lotus position. He thought that some meditation would help him clear his mind of all this.

He knew very well that Jonathan Gunnarson was a criminal and a suspect in various crimes.

Dio has access to all his memories and has seen all his crimes.

A life was still lost.

Dio was not in a video game or a movie where the action hero kills hundreds of enemies as easily as pressing a button.

This is reality.

Jonathan Gunnarson was a being who lived for thirty years; a being died from the earth by his blade.

There are people who will miss him even though he was a criminal.

Jonathan's cousin is the only living relative he hasn't told about his criminal life.

She is a good person who works in a library to pay for college.

She is now by herself in the world because of him.

"Damn it!"

Dio said it in a low voice.

"Your emotions are not improving."

Dio opened his eyes and saw Raven floating outside the building.

"Sorry for that."

Due to her powers, Dio's pain must have been quite hard for someone who always has to stay in control.

"Everything's fine. I know exactly what you're feeling right now.

Raven said this without lifting her face, which was covered by her hood.

"You saw his memories, didn't you? He wasn't a good man."

Raven tried to cheer him up.

"I saw his memories to try to find an excuse for what I did to be acceptable, but it didn't work."

"Well."

"Well!?"

Dio asked, a little angry.

"If you had accepted taking a life so easily, that would have surely been much worse, wouldn't it?"

She's right.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't help much with how I feel now."

"No one can help you find your own peace of mind; others can only try to guide you."

Ravena began to approach him.

"I already feel your emotions calmer; is meditation helping?"

"No, talking to you is."

She stopped.

"So, let's continue like this."

Raven decided, then came closer and took the same position as him while sitting in front of him.

"It's going to get worse, isn't it?"

That's another question Dio knows the answer to instantly.

"There's no way to capture vampires or cure them, so all the fights from now on can be to the death."

Raven replied firmly.

From what Dio knows, the government does not run any supernatural prisons.

...

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