Ch 10

[Will Pov]

Will dropped Damian off on the couch, and then went to grab Barbara a snack, something to drink, and her medication. He planned on dealing with all this quickly, so he could go practice the technique in order to temper his body so that he could get stronger much faster. That way when his brother decided to come after him, he'd be ready. He wasn't about to let him destroy all of his new friends like he did his old ones. He resolved in his heart to kill him should he ever get the chance.

He grabbed a silver tray and some soup for Barb, as well as a large glass of water, and carefully put her pills in a plastic cup. He put it all together on the tray, the nice silverware gleaming back at him. His hands were a little shaky, his muscles were torn from the training, and it hurt. He figured he could make it long enough to get it to her though. He was seriously feeling it in his legs from that last movement technique he used on Damian.

He figured he shouldn't have done that so carelessly it's really hard on his body, just like the spirit crushing strike. He limped up the stairs, and walked down to the room Barbara was in. He heard laughter inside, it sounded like two women. He opened up the door and saw a strange but beautiful blonde woman he'd never seen before.

"She looked a little country. She definitely wasn't around here." he thought to himself. 

She turned around, and her eyes went wide when she saw him. She thought he was handsome and saw the litany of scars covering his body and the tattoo he had on his chest. She wondered what happened for him to have so many all over his body.

"So, uh Barbara who is this?" she asked nervously, as she looked over at Barb.

"I'm the maid, who the fuck are you." Will said, staring directly at her.

The blonde girl frowned, and Barbara laughed.

The blonde girl looked like she wanted to say something, but Will just ignored her and set the tray on the nightstand. He picked up the pills and made Barbara take them, then he did the same thing with the water he did the night before. He made her finish the cup, then gently placed the tray on her legs and handed her a spoon so she could eat.

"Kara, this is Will he just recently got taken in by Bruce. You know how much he likes strays." Barbara said looking in Karas's direction.

Will snorted, "One, I'm not a stray, and two, I can introduce myself Barbara. Let me know if you need me to feed you Barbara."

Barbara's face flushed red when he said that.

He wiped his hands on his running shorts, then reached out with a shaky hand in Kara's direction.

"Hi Kara, it's a pleasure to meet you." Will said with a sly smile.

Kara smiled brightly and reached out to shake his hand, "It's very nice to meet you Will.

When their hands touched Will felt a seriously strong sense of danger, it was different from his brother or the demon from the dream. It was very strange he thought, but this time he focused on the coldness in his heart and pushed through whatever he was feeling. The smile on his face faded, his eyes narrowed and he coldly said, "What manner of monster are you?"

Kara quickly let go and seemed flustered, "M-monster im not a monster, I don't know what you mean."

He narrowed his eyes when she said that. He couldn't feel her lying but he knew something was up. "Oh really, you're telling me you couldn't punch a hole through me right this very second." he said calmly, his voice radiating intense coldness.

"Who are you really? I will not let you hurt Barbara." He said coldly

Barbara's face was red, "W-will it's not like that I promise, ugh I can't believe I forgot about your freaky handshake ability."

Karas seemed upset, "It really isn't like that I promise."

"Then who are you?" he said calmly

"Jesus, I'm SUPERGIRL!" she screamed

When she said that, Will instantly felt uncomfortable, as if he had committed a mortal sin. Then he felt bad. This was literally Supergirl in the flesh right in front of him.

Will scratched his head and looked down, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh, uh sorry, your power just freaked me out a bit. I'm actually a big fan of yours. I hope you can forgive me." He said, letting out a bright smile. However, in his heart, he still felt the coldness of his demonic energy. Horrific images roared through his mind, he wanted to fight, to kill, to devour her soul. He could feel it, he wanted to corrupt her, his eyes narrowed like a wolf ready to pounce on its prey. However, he kept a bright smile on his face.

Kara looked at him, and her gaze softened. She wasn't flustered anymore. "It's okay, I get it."

Will was not feeling right. Something about her was driving him crazy. He needed to get out, his body was screaming at him to defile her in some way, and he didn't know why. He was disgusted with himself at the moment.

"Look um I'll leave you to it guys I apologize for interrupting your girl time. I'll be on my way." Will said, trying to seem as carefree as possible.

He knew he needed to get out of there before he did something he regretted, and he knew if he did something it would end up with him losing. Will walked out and into his room. He shut the door behind him and fell to the floor in a cold sweat.

He began rapidly absorbing the warm energy of the heavens through the diamond tattoo on his forehead and converting it into the cold demonic energy. His muscles began to be nourished and heal much stronger. It was a slow and painful process, but after a few hours, he had all had infused a slight amount of demonic energy in every part of his body. It exists everywhere now. Once the pain subsided, he began refilling his stores of demonic energy for future use. When he stood up, popping sounds echoed out, he checked the time, it was late in the afternoon. Despite not sleeping the night before and training relentlessly, he felt refreshed, as if he could take on a thousand men.

The coldness in his heart from earlier had receded, and he wondered just what the hell happened earlier with Kara. Why did he suddenly start thinking of that, it's never happened before. It has got to be the tattoo he thought to himself, it's trying to corrupt him like it did his brother. Well, he wouldn't let it happen, he needed to get stronger quickly so he could face the demon within him. He felt his fighting intent soar, he would be better than Deathstroke, better than his brother, and better than his father. He would not let himself become a disgusting beast like his brother.

He thought of the moment he saw his brother rip his mother's head off with his bare hands, and he felt a surge of killing intent. His mother was the only one who ever gave two shits about him, she was the sweetest woman he ever met, how could he do that to her. He remembered the expression on her face when she died, the resigned acceptance as if she knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

His fingernails bit into his hands, and blood poured out as he thought about what happened. If he ever ran into his brother, he would kill him or die trying. His eyes were wet, and red, but he knew he had to get stronger. He had to protect everyone he cared about, he's been alone for so long he didn't want to lose what he had now. He thought about Barbara and swore to himself he wouldn't disappoint her again, he wouldn't let anything happen again.

He took off the gold crucifix his mother gave him, it was starting to hurt wearing it, so he placed it on the dresser by his bed. He hated the fact he had to take it off and hated his father even more for putting whatever it was in him that made him take it off. Suddenly his body felt better than ever before, he felt like he could breathe for the first time in his life. What the actual fuck he thought as he quickly changed into a black hoodie and dark red sweatpants. He sighed and walked out of the room. He walked by Barbara's room to check on her, he poked his head in and saw her and Supergirl still chatting.

"Hey Barb, you good? Did you eat the soup I brought you?" Will asked with a concerned look on his face.

Barbara rolled her eyes, "Yes Will, I ate the soup."

He looked over at Kara and asked, "Did she eat the soup?"

Kara laughed, "Yes she ate the soup."

Will narrowed his eyes, and went in to check on it, the bowl was empty this time.

"Okay I believe you." Then he walked up and gave Barbara a huge hug and simply said, "Goodnight Barbara, I've got some personal things to take care of tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow morning. Please try not to injure yourself more than you already are."

"Jeez alright mom." Barbara replied with a smile.

"Kara again I'm so sorry for earlier, I hope you don't hold it against me." Will said sincerely.

"It's okay really." she said

"Hopefully we can work together sometime in the future and get to know each other better." Will said

Kara blushed, "Uum sure we can do that anytime."

"It's a date then." Will winked and exited the room.

Kara was left sitting there, her face was bright red, and Barbara just scoffed and rolled her eyes at Will's antics.

As soon as Will closed the door to her room, he quickly exited the manor and dissapeared into the night.

Will flitted through the streets of Gotham at the speed of a moving car, he seemed like a red blur. Eventually, he found what he wanted. The building from the Gala, a 50-foot drop. He figured that would do the trick, so he threw his hoodie up to hide his face and broke into the building. It was easy for him to kick in the service door on the side.

When he got in, he was surprised, the alarm didn't go off. He came ready to disarm it, maybe it was damaged or something. He checked to see if maybe it was silent, and no it was totally fine. What a weird building he thought to himself as he quickly flew up the stairs, in order to get to the rooftop. Maybe people were still in the building he thought, as he rounded the corner to the 25th floor. Soon, he quickly made it to the very top, the floor to the rooftop garden and quickly walked outside. He breathed in the cool night air, it was beautiful up here.

The feng shui was on point up here, it looked like a true Japanese botanical garden with Sakura trees and everything. There was a pond with koi fish and benches where you could just sit and view the scenery. This had to be hands down one of the most beautiful places in Gotham, he thought to himself. It was amazing, he knew he'd be back here soon. It was empty, and he wondered why, it was simply majestic. He felt at peace up here and noticed the energy of the heavens was much stronger up here. Too bad he'd be a stain on the side of the road when he was using the technique. He laughed at that thought, it would be so much more beneficial, to do it up here he thought to himself. He pulled out a cigarette, walked over to the edge, and looked down, enjoying the view of the busy streets of Gotham from the night.

"Man, that's high" He said to himself, as he walked over to the other edge. The side where if he jumped nobody would see him fall.

"Fuck I'm really gonna do this, huh." he said calmly.

He looked down, took another drag from his cigarette then flicked it off the building into the street below. Then, he took a deep breath, exhaled and jumped. As he fell it seemed like time was going in slow motion, he laughed maniacally as he was falling. Then suddenly, he hit the ground hard. The ground cracked and his body bounced from the impact. He felt his muscles tearing, and bones breaking. All he could hear was a ringing sound in his ears. Blood flew everywhere, as his body was destroyed. When he hit the ground again, he felt another round of intense pain. Bones were poking through his skin, as he screamed in pain. "FUUUCKKKK THAT HURT HOLY FUCKING FUCK."

His body was in intense pain as he laid there in the alleyway, blood pooling around him. He felt himself start to lose consciousness but forced himself to stay awake through the pain. He lie there in a pool of his own blood, unable to move. The black diamond tattoo appeared on his forehead once again and he began absorbing more energy than he ever had before. It quickly converted into the cold demonic energy and began drilling itself into his damaged muscles and bones. He experienced intense pain, but compared to what happened when the demon touched his forehead, this was nothing. Compared to the times his father tortured him as a child, this was nothing. The pain intensified and he let out a loud scream but stayed determined. He felt his bones ripping back through his skin as snapping into place.

He had to stay awake, he had one shot to get stronger and he would do everything he could to make it happen. He felt so much pain, as if someone was setting every cell on fire. His wounds closed as the tyrannical energy ripped through his skin, muscles and bones. He felt as if he was undergoing a baptism, one of pain. He threw up a ton of black blood on the street, nearly choking on it on the way out. He recognized the stench from the other day. He felt his body getting stronger.

[Barbara Pov]

Meanwhile, back at the manor, Kara and Barbara were still chatting in her room.

"Oh my gosh, Barb, who was that guy, he was so handsome." Kara said giggling a bit.

Barbara rolled her eyes, "He's the new guy on team bat, he doesn't even have a hero name or costume yet."

"Well, who cares about that, look at how sweet and caring he was. He feeds you, brings you your medicine, what's not to like about him. Also, did you see his body when he first came in here, I wonder what happened to it for him to be so scarred up. Its not like burns or anything, they look like battle scars." Kara said

"I dunno, I guess you will have to ask him." Barbara said

"You think he'd tell me." She said happily

Barbara just snorted, "Probably not."

"What do you think he went to go do?" Kara said, completely ignoring Barbara's comment.

"I'm not sure, with him it could be anything." Barbara said exasperated

Tim poked his head in the door.

"Sorry I'm late Barb, I had a busy day today, oh, and hey what's going on Kara." Tim said, smiling as he entered the room.

"Hey Tim, it's great to see you again. We were just discussing your new friend Will." She said smiling dreamily

Tim looked over at Barbara, "What's wrong with her?"

Barbara snorted, "She has a crush."

Tim laughed, "Riiiight, what's really going on."

Kara's face flushed red and Barbara said, "No really."

"Speaking of, I'm worried about him, he's not right in the head Barbara." Tim said

Kara and Barbara frowned when he said that, "What do you mean?" Kara asked

"I found him in here the other night, he had fallen asleep waiting on you to wake up and he was screaming on the floor. I asked him about it, and he just brushed me off. Then Bruce told me he caught him in the Batcave breaking his legs with a hundred lbs barbells with a dead look in his eyes. He asked me to keep an eye on him." Tim said seriously

"What do you mean he broke his legs." Barbara said seriously

"Well, I dunno, I think it freaked Bruce out a bit, which I've rarely seen. He told me he just said that his bones grew back weird and he had to re-break them. Bruce said he could tell he was lying to him though, even though he's trained to lie nobody ever gets anything past Bruce." Tim said

"But he seemed so handsome and sweet when I met him." Kara said looking upset

"Well, I can't speak for why he was breaking his legs, but he might have mentioned something to me about why he might have been screaming." she said seriously

Tim looked up, "You think it's got something to do with Deathstroke?"

"No, well maybe partially, I think it might have something to do with his father and brother. He said they tortured him, the scars on his body are horrible Tim. He said, there's nobody on this planet he fears more than his older brother. He wouldn't tell me anymore than that." She said sadly

"I don't care what he's gone through, I like him." Kara said defiantly

Tim laughed, "There must not be many men in Smallville huh."

Kara just rolled her eyes and Barbara snorted.

"Anyways, speaking of, where's he at? he's usually reading or something around this time." Tim asked

Kara smiled, "Oh he said he had to go out and take care of something."

The smile on Tim's face dropped, "Barbara what the hell, he's not supposed to leave the manor!"

"What do you mean he's not supposed to leave?" Barbara said

"Shit, it happened while you were unconscious. I guess you wouldn't know." Tim said pinching the bridge of his nose. He pulled out the Gps tracker and chuckled.

"Bruce had me put a tracker in his drink, he swallowed it." Tim said

Kara looked uncomfortable, "That sounds really invasive."

"Well he's like super dangerous Kara and before us he was working for Penguin, and before that it was Deathstroke." Tim said seriously.

"So he's a bit of a bad boy huh?" Kara said

He looked and saw he was at the building where they had the Gala.

"What the hell, he's at the building from the Gala." Tim said

"Why's he there?" Barbara asked

"I dunno, but I'm going to find out." Tim said

"I'm coming too!" Kara said

"Yeah, that works, fly me over there." Tim said

They both separated, and went to change into their superhero outfits.

[Will Pov]

Will was spasming in a pool of his own blood, the pain was getting to be too much. He felt himself losing consciousness, he bit his tongue to keep himself awake. Blood poured down his throat, he felt sick. Every breath was painful. He vomited blood once again, this time it came out smooth. He rolled over onto his stomach, and pulled himself out of the pool of blood, over to the side of the building. Then he blacked out.

[Kara Pov]

Tim and Kara quickly flew to the building where the Gala was held, and landed on the rooftop garden.

"Wow it's super nice up here, where's Will at though." Kara said

"He should be up here, I don't know?" Tim said

Kara smelled the air, "It reeks of blood." She said seriously

Tim frowned, "where's it coming from?" He asked

She pointed in the direction Will jumped off the edge. "That way." She said

"Jeez this is so convenient with you, I wish Batman would let you work with us sometimes." Tim said

Kara smiled, "Me too, Barbara is kind of my best friend. Nobody else really knows the real me back in Smallville." She said

They both walked over to the edge and looked down, Tim couldn't really make out anything, but Kara gasped and immediately flew down. Leaving Tim on the rooftop alone. "Gee thanks for that Supergirl."

Supergirl reached the bottom in an instant, and saw Will lying there unconscious. Covered from head to toe in blood. She X-rayed him, and saw that his bones were broken, his lungs punctured, his internal organs were damaged, and judging from the amount of blood everywhere, he'd lost quite a bit of blood. It was disgusting, the coppery smell filled the air mixed with something else that made Kara want to gag. She was on the verge of tears, she had never seen anything like this before. She hadn't been on Earth long, maybe a year or so. She was grateful Kal-El found her. She gently picked Will up and flew to the top of the building.

"What the actual fuck." Tim said when he saw her soaked in blood carrying Will.

"Um, what should I do?" She asked

Then cracking sounds rang out as the diamond tattoo on Will's head reappeared. She x-rayed him again and saw the ribs that had stabbed into his lungs had ripped straight through them and snapped back into place. Will began gurgling louder as he breathed, and blood began pouring out of his mouth. Shortly after, the gurgling stopped.

"What the fuck is going on? He's healing quickly. Also, what's with the face tat?" She asked

"I'm not sure. I've never seen it before." Tim said

[Will Pov]

Meanwhile, in the realm of the spirit, Will was floating in front of the demonic presence once again.

"Look at you, you fucking weakling, you couldn't even withstand that level of pain brough on by the technique. What do you think will happen to you when you complete the reforging and begin the rebirth phase of the technique." The demon stared at Will who was once again floating in front of the throne with a resigned look on his face.

"Why is it that I'm back here already, and yet before I was completely unable to come here?" Will asked.

The demon laughed the sound pierced into him, "Because you are so fucking weak, I had to finally step in. If you don't get your pain tolerance up, you will die when crossing over to the next phase. When the Rebirth occurs if you pass out, you will die. So, stop fucking this up for us. Go out and hurt yourself better, today you only managed to hit 10% completion. Pathetic, you do this too slow, come let me out so I can take over already." The demon said.

Will snorted and calmly said, "That's not going to happen."

The demon let out a sinister smile, "Oh really?" Then he pointed his finger in Will's direction.

Suddenly Will felt more pain than last time. He was overcome with a pressure so strong he couldn't breathe. His cells were on fire, he felt like he was burning alive. When he managed to take a breath it felt like the air was toxic, as if it were eroding the inside of his lungs. He felt his bones creaking under the pressure.

"Have you forgotten every lesson from your father!" The Demon Screamed

Will could no longer talk or think, he was barely staying conscious under the pressure it was the worst pain he's ever felt.

"This is barely 10% of what you will feel during the rebirth, and you are already tapping out. Pathetic." The Demon screamed.

Will crashed into the sea of bodies under the throne. He lie there spasming with the dead.

Why me, why am I so useless, he thought. As tears fell down his face for the first time since he was a boy.

The demon laughed at his suffering, "Are you actually crying, hahahaha, you have the power to become one of the most powerful beings in the universe and yet you cry about it. At the last level you can become an exalted Demonlord on the level of the great Trigon, and yet you cry about it. Though you are so far from that I'm not sure you'll live long enough to make it. Hahahahaha." The demon increased the pressure and pain.

"You should just let loose, you know it's much easier that way. Or free me, that works too." He said

Will's mind was blank; he had never experienced pain like this before. Not even when his father tortured him was it this bad. Something within him was beginning to unravel, he no longer cared if he lived or died, he just wanted the pain to end.

"I'll help you out this one time and one time only if you fuck it up in the future. Hehehe well a true demon lives on the edge of a knife anyways." The demon said

Tears poured down Will's face, he didn't know how long he'd been here, but it seemed like days had passed in the spirit world.

All he heard was the Demons goading etching into his soul, "Look at you, you like that redheaded bitch right? You have a demon's charm, a supernatural attraction, and you can't even bag the fucking whore."

Shut up Shut UP SHUT UP he screamed in his head.

"You are so weak, can't protect anyone you love."

"Can't finish school."

"Can't even wear the pretty little necklace your mother gave you."

Something within him was unraveling under the demon's influence, he didn't know how much longer he could keep his sanity.

Supergirl flew with Tim in one hand, and a screaming spasming Will in the other

"Supergirl what's happening?" Red Robin asked

"I dunno Tim somethings going on."

They quickly appeared in the air above the manor. Then Will woke up, his eyes were bright red.

"PTff Me Dwnnn." He mumbled out as he vomited a ton of black blood onto the grass below.

Kara gently placed him on the lawn, and Will vomited for a full 5 minutes.

"Ugh, that was super gross guys." Will said

When he stood up popping sounds rang out, he was healed. The demon must have continued to keep the technique active while he was unconscious.

He stood up and looked up into the night sky and breathed out a cloud of black gas, it looked almost like locusts to him. His body was brimming with energy, he punched out, and a loud boom echoed out. "20% complete," he said.

Will let out a demonic grin and began laughing maniacally, he thought he sounded a bit like the demon from his dreams. He continued laughing, as tears streamed down his face.

"Good, goooooodddd." He said in a sinister voice

Then a voice cut through his reverie, he turned around painting a striking visage he looked evil, his bright red eyes honed in on Tim and Supergirl.

"Will what the fuck were you out there doing, you know you aren't supposed to leave the manor." Tim said

"Uh training, what the hell did you think I was doing?" Will asked confused

"Will what the fuck kind of training are you doing." Tim asked looking even more confused than will

"Yeah, what he said." Kara said also looking concerned

"Well it was too slow breaking my bones in the Batcave, so I decided to jump off the top of that building. I think I might have bitten off a bit more than I could chew though. Luckily it all worked out I guess." Will said calmly

"Will that's not training, that's just hurting yourself. What could possibly possess you to do something so stupid." Tim said

Will snorted, "Well it wouldn't work for you or her you know."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked

"Well I already disappointed Bruce, I didn't want to let that happen again. I'm not going to let Tim or Barbara get hurt because of my carelessness. In order for me to get stronger, I have to destroy my body and infuse it with energy that's filtered through the diamond tattoo on my forehead. I don't suppose either of you would be willing to hurt me to do something like that." Will said calmly

They both looked down and said, "Uh no, definitely not." at the same time.

"Yeah its just what I have to do to get stronger and protect the people I care about. Its only a matter of time before my older brother finds me. When he does, I need to be ready or he will slaughter everyone I care about. He's too powerful, too evil, I couldn't even scratch him how I am now. Ever since that day the filth spewed from my body, and my powers began awakening, I have hope to defeat him now. I will do whatever it takes, to not repeat the past with him again." Will said with a determined look in his eyes.

"Anyways guys thanks for the lift, but i'm gonna go clean up now." He said as his eyes faded back to their usual brown color.

"Will, you don't have to do that, we can figure out some way to beat him without you having to go through hell to do it." Tim said with a concerned look on his face

Will stopped for a moment, "I'm not sure we can." he looked back at Kara she looked beautiful in her supergirl outfit. "Well maybe, also Kara you look very pretty in your supergirl outfit." He said smiling

Kara just blushed, "Uh Thanks, Will."

Tim rolled his eyes at Will's antics, he wanted to say something, but Will had already disappeared into the manor.