Chapter 52

Marinette's P.O.V:

I had just changed and was walking down to the gym with Damian for training.

"Today is a one on one day with Bruce for me." I informed as we walked. "What do you think we will be doing?"

"He usually tries to improve on something he thinks you need to work on. It's always different for everyone." Damian shrugged.

"Yeah, I could have guessed that. I just wonder what he sees in me that needs some improvement. I've never had someone to flat out teach me the ropes before and I know I'm not perfect by any means. I still haven't even been able to beat Dick yet."

"Grayson has been working with my father for a very long time." He nodded. "Even with all the training I had before hand, he still bested me when I first arrived."

"Training before hand?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

The two of us just reached the gym as I asked this. "I'll tell you about it later. It's almost time to start."

"Okay." I smiled at him. "I'll hold you to that." I kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey, guys!" Dick waved at us from the trapeze.

"Hey, Dick. What're you doing?" I waved back.

"I just got done stretching so I thought I would hit the trapeze while I wait for everyone."

"Looks like fun." I spoke as we began to stretch.

"Maybe our next training session it could be you and me and I could teach you some things on here." Dick spoke as he was swinging.

"Sounds like a deal." I said.

"That means I better have a one on one next." Damian grinned at me while he was warming up as well.

"You got it." I winked at him.

Slowly, everyone else started to make their way into the training room with Bruce entering last.

"Before we all get started, I just got word from Barbara that Arkham is still being monitored and nothing has changed. Collusion still seems to be going on between the inmates inside."

Dick was climbing down when he said this. "Something fishy is definitely going on B." He said as he reached the group.

"Hopefully we can prevent whatever they are planning." Tim agreed. "The last thing we all need is for all of them to break out."

"Yes." Bruce nodded. "Well let's get to training for today. Everyone should be working on their specialized exercises after your spars today, got it? We don't need any slackers."

Everyone nodded and began to split off into groups. I looked to Bruce as I waited for his instructions.

"Come with me." Bruce began to walk off into a corner of the room.

"Okay." I followed. "What are we doing today?"

"I've started to realize a major weakness of yours and I want to help you overcome this." He stops by the wall of weapons and leans down to open a small cabinet filled with towels and other cloths and pulls out what looks to be a blindfold. "You are very observant but you rely too much on you sight." He hands me the blindfold. "Your other senses are just as important as your sight."

I look at it for a moment before nodding. "You're right. Any time I have ever been in the dark I had to rely on Chat Noir to guide me. He was the one to always pull me out of danger because he can see clearly in the dark."

"I've had to learn to make my way around in the darkness. Using your four remaining senses and not just wondering around in the dark can be the difference between life and death. Learning to use all five senses harmoniously and not letting one take over might even help you win with Dick." Bruce smiled at me. "Now make your way to the mat and put on the blindfold."

"Okay." I nodded as I took a deep breath. Slowly, I made my way to the mat and put on the blindfold. I didn't like this feeling. This was a very well-made blindfold and all I could see was black.

"You ready?"

I jumped at the sound of Bruce's voice. I hadn't realized how close he got. "You scared me." I held a hand to my heart to steady myself.

"Then you need to try to listen and not focus on the darkness."

"Okay." I nodded. All I could hear was the boys on the other side of the room sparing.

"Now, are you ready?" He asked again, this time speaking from the other side of me.

"What am I doing exactly?" I managed to not jump at the change of direction.

"You will be sparing with me, obviously."

"O-okay." I nodded. "I think I'm ready."

"Then get into a fighting stance." He was now directly in front of me from what I could hear.

"Right." I changed my stance to bring my feet apart and put my arms up to protect my face. "I'm ready."

I felt like I was standing there listening to someone far to the left of me sparing for almost a minute before something unexpected happened. Bruce swiftly swept my legs out from underneath me and I just managed to put my arms out to break my fall.

"You aren't paying attention." Bruce spoke as I got back to my feet.

"I was. But all I could hear was someone sparing over there." I pointed at what seemed to be Jason and Dick, although I wasn't for sure.

"Then you are being distracted by the unimportant things. You are sparring with me, not them." I started to notice that he was walking around me as he spoke. "Use your senses to find me and not them."

"Okay." I nodded as I got back into my stance. "Let's try this again."

I tried to zone out the sound of the sparing and listen to the area closest to me. It was very hard but I could hear a feint footstep to the left of me and I would turn to face it, only for the area around me to fall silent again. It only took a few seconds before there was a blow to the side of my head. It wasn't Bruce's full force, but it was enough to make me stumble back a bit. I steadied myself to try again.