At the side of the room, stood three figures as they watched the duo with curiosity.

"She seems like a good girl," Bruce commented with a smile.

"Yeah, but now I'm the odd one here. Dick's got Barbara and Damian's got Eleanor. Geez, where did my lady hunting days go?" Tim groaned, crossing his arms across his chest. Bruce only shook his head. Tim sighed and turned to his side where his adoptive sister, Cassandra, stood in all silence. "Cassandra, do you want to dance?" the mute girl look at her sibling and nodded. The two headed together to the middle, leaving Bruce to over watch all of his children. All of them were on the dance floor.

Except for Jason.

But he had promised not to think about Jason and his demise. He shut his eyes and heard someone sweep in beside him.

"It is quite remarkable, isn't it?" Alfred commented. Bruce could only nod in agreement.

"They're growing up, Alfred. Even Damian is changing, which I didn't think possible," Alfred nodded in agreement. The night was going splendid, better than could've been hoped for. But that quickly changed.

A loud explosion erupted at the other side of the mansion, and then the lights went out. Screams erupted from the pit of darkness, and the entire Bat Family went to work. All but Damian, who had been grabbed by Eleanor and pulled back. She had grabbed at his chest and buried her head into his chest.

"Don't you dare leave me," she said lowly that shocked the young Wayne. He quickly pulled her into his arms and kept her secure. It wasn't that Eleanor was afraid of the dark, but rather she feared for what might come. If this was Wilson and slash or the Court who had suddenly decided to attack, regardless of what she had been told previous, then she would much rather have Damian by her side where she could watch him, and if need be, try and protect him.

She wasn't going to let anything happen to her friend.

But it wasn't them. This was someone else, someone she had never seen before. Well, not personally anyway.

"Here's a riddle for you: I make you weak at the worst of all times. I keep you safe, I keep you fine. I make your hands sweat, and your heart grows cold, I visit the weak, but seldom the bold. What am I?" a voice boomed, and suddenly the lights turned back on. "Your fears!" announced the strange man with his green outfit, a big question mark on his chest.

"The Riddler," Damian spat lowly, his voice silenced by everyone's screams as they escaped from the room. Eleanor's grip eased. This man sounded like a joke. It was then that the Bat Family, or partially, decided to make an appearance. Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin, Batgirl and Black Bat. It was quite intimidating to be in the presence of so many. Suddenly, a loud boom sounded as the doors to the hall forcedly shut. Everyone pounded at them, whilst the Riddler waved his finger at them.

"Tsk, tsk. Can't have my subjects escape, now can I?" he retorted.

"What is it you want this time, Riddler?" Batman questioned, his voice is menacing. Eleanor felt Damian squeeze her tighter, causing her to look up at him in surprise. His eyes were fixed on the Riddler, his guard up for anything.

"Well, it's really obvious, ain't it? There's an entire room with all of my financial supporters!" he said, his voice revealing his crazed mind state.

"Along with five people who are overqualified to take you down," Batgirl said, scoffing in annoyance. Eleanor didn't know her identity but hoped she would soon. The Riddler laughed loudly at this.

"You honestly think I'd be stupid enough to come alone?" in that moment, all of the windows to the room broke as men swung in, their bodies carrying heavy weapons and their faces hidden by green masks with question marks on them. The Bat Family seemed completely surprised at this, as did all the screaming people. "Like 'em? Picked them at Arkham. You'd be surprised at the interesting people I've met," he said, shaking his head in thought. "But anyway, attack!" bullets immediately began to blaze through the room as bodies dropped in response. Damian grabbed Eleanor around the waist and dove underneath the table for cover.

"Riddler isn't the type to do this sort of thing," Damian said, annoyed, before abandoning her to go assist with the fight. Eleanor peaked to see the gunmen get taken out, but so did the guests. A few of them got shot, and their injuries were severe. Eleanor saw a man stalk towards the table she hid beneath, and in response, she quickly swept across the floor to underneath another table. She quickly made her way to the farthest table away from the man, at a temporary safe cover. She peeked out from underneath the table and saw the intense fight that was happening. Eleanor was momentarily shocked to see Damian's natural fighting skills, but quickly remembered he was Robin. She scanned the room and soon her eyes settled on the glass case, still intact.

The staff was glowing, the light pulsing in a sort of anguish. Eleanor's mind sunk into a darkened pit as the strange feeling overcame her once more. Her back started to hurt intensely, but it could be ignored. The feeling that pushed her to just run up and grab the staff for whatever purpose, was too intense. Why would she do that?

But she found an opening and quickly used the shadows to her advantage to get behind the platform. She mentally thanked Wilson and his intense training. A gunman was thrown by whoever onto the platform, evidentially against the glass case. It smashed, and the staff went flying in behind the platform. It landed in front of her, causing her eyes to go wide. All sounds of the fight and the screaming became silent as she stared at the mystical staff. She debated against touching it, but the pain in her back spoke otherwise. She made a grabbing at the staff.

Immediately touching it, she knew something was wrong. The pain in her back increased tenfold and she had to bite her tongue to not scream out in pain. She gripped the staff tight with both hands, her knuckles becoming white in response. The glow of the gemstones grew bright but eventually dulled as if coming to terms with what had happened.

It moved. She was sure of it. The pain on her back was moving. It traveled up her spine to the base of her neck, before splitting in half. Then it traveled down her arms, and this she could see. It was as if the black spot was alive under her skin, moving across her body and leaving no trail. Almost like a parasite under her skin, but she knew it wasn't true. It traveled to her hands and down her fingertips, and that's when it stopped. She stopped clenching the staff and placed it down, carefully examining her hands. The fingertips were pitch black, as were her hand, but faded out as it came to the base of her palm. It was as if she accidentally touched a black soul, and now her hands would forever be uncleaned.

But the pain ceased, and now she could think clearly. She stared down at her hands before back at the staff. She couldn't leave it, there was no way. Not after what had happened. She grabbed the staff, did an overall check of the room before bolting out of the broken window. In that moment, she was very glad that she had been given a tour of the manor, for now, she could easily maneuver her way out. As she ran out she checked for security cameras but was happy to discover that the Riddler had already sort out that problem. She jumped the fence and headed for the nearest manhole.

As she neared the Court base, she truly began to feel the panic of the situation. What was happening to her? What was the darkness and why did it settle in her hands? Was it trying to escape? She stopped and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She examined the staff, and how it was the exact same colour of her hands. Although, darkness is darkness.

She knew that at this time, no one would be at the base. Except maybe Wilson, and that's what she was counting on. She headed to the dojo and peeked in to see the large man hitting a punching bag. His posture held irritation, as did his expression. He quickly felt the stare on him and turned to see his student.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned with a frown before realizing her panting. "What happened?" it was then that she stepped in, revealing the staff and her black hands.

"I-I... I don't know," sensing her terror, he quickly set the girl down and took the staff from her. He placed it far away from her possible.

"Now, can you tell me what happened?" she took a deep breath before nodding in affirmation.

As far as Damian could tell, only a single person had lost their lives while much more were injured. They had taken down each of the enemies, and the authorities had arrived to do the official arresting. As he was pulled away, the Riddler laughed maniacally before quickly having the last word. Or rather, a riddle.

"Riddle me this: My first is in ocean but never in sea, my second in wasp but never in bee. My third is in glider and also in flight, my whole is a creature that comes out at night. What am I?" were the last words that he spoke before leaving. By then, not many were paying attention to the mad man's words. Damian frowned at this but quickly remembered Eleanor. He searched the room, but nothing came of the sort. As a last resort, he texted her.

I'm fine. I managed to escape, came the reply. He sighed a breath of relief before heading back to the Batcave where his father had decided to review news reports on Arkham's recent activity. His brother and sister were seated at the back of the cave, Tim being treated medically by Alfred after he got bested by glass shards. Cassandra seemed as stoic as ever. Damian gave the brief news clippings one look before turning to the older Wayne, his black suit still sticking to his body but his mask removed.

"It is highly improbable for such a numeral amount of inmates to escape from Arkham, especially such simpletons as they are," the younger Wayne said with a deep scowl, his arms folded against his strict posture.

"I was just thinking the same thing. There must've been an outside source," Bruce said with a suspicious look, one nowhere near contempt. Damian pondered over this for a hesitant few seconds.

"I doubt that mad man's riddle would be of any help," he examined to himself.

"Wouldn't hurt to look," Bruce quickly checked the cameras, only to discover most of the outside one were destroyed. However, one of his hidden cameras at the entrance managed to catch his dialogue at the time of the arrest, although softly.

My first is in ocean but never in sea, my second in wasp but never in bee. My third is in glider and also in flight, my whole is a creature that comes out at night. What am I?

"O, C, N... W, A, S, P... I, L... Could it be?" Bruce muttered to himself, Damian's expression nothing short of confusion. Although he was good in recognizing patterns, he was never one for riddles. Of course, given the time he could most certainly solve anything thrown at him. How then did the Bat solve it so quickly? Bruce must've realized his son's, although mostly hidden, ridiculous expression. "Over years of dealing with the Riddler, I have learned that most of his riddles are meant literally. In this case, the riddle explains the characters needed to make up the word that is the answer," he explained, swiftly standing up from his place at the Batcave's computer, his deep dark cape swishing at the movement.

"And what would the dunce have been rambling about?" Bruce was trotting away, but stopped and regarded his son for a second with an unknown expression in his eyes.

"An owl," and with that revelation, he left to see how Tim's stitching was coming. Damian, however, debated to himself the coincidence between his cat catching an owl in broad daylight, and the Riddler deciding his last words after a petty attempt-theft to be about an owl.

But he knew such things couldn't be possible. The entire Court had been massacred. And yet, here after a year, new references began appearing out of the blue. It evoked a strange reaction within Damian, one he could closely resemble to fear, and yet... his logical side told him that even if there were survivors or imitators, who would ever want to create another group when its predecessor has suffered such unfortunate states? It was like creating a new ship and calling it Titanic Two. Just the legacy was enough to put fear into the hearts of men. No one would dare create a second Court of Owls.

"Father, I think we should interrogate the Riddler," he announced suddenly, Bruce looking up from across the room. From the look in his eyes, Damian could tell that plans were already being made.