5 Months Later: Everyone Is Watching Damian
Five months passed.
Five months of missions.
Five months of silent evaluation.
Five months of Damian studying every hero he encountered—
their emotions, their reactions under pressure, their fears, their self-control.
Five months of quietly searching for someone responsible enough
to wield a world-breaking fruit no one else even knew existed.
But the world had noticed him.
And not in a good way.
The Light Grows Suspicious
The Light had been monitoring the Justice League for years.
But this?
This disturbed them.
Vandal Savage — observing the latest footage
"Five months… and still he continues this pattern."
Screens displayed Damian in various missions:
Watching Black Canary calm a panicked civilian
Evaluating Superboy's rage control
Studying Aqualad's diplomatic decisions
Reviewing Wonder Woman's moral judgment
Even analyzing Martian Manhunter's empathy
Nothing destructive.
Nothing violent.
But far too calculated.
Queen Bee
"He interrogates them without interrogating them.
It is… unnerving."
Lex Luthor
"Even more unnerving is that Batman has not stopped it.
Which means Bruce trusts whatever Damian is doing.
That is dangerous."
Ocean Master
"What is he searching for?"
Savage
"Not power.
Not weapons.
He is searching for someone."
That statement made everyone in the room go still.
Lex
"A weaponized search for a person…?
A successor?
A host?
A vessel?"
R'as al Ghul's voice (via encrypted projection)
"My grandson is preparing for something.
He would not act without reason."
The room grew cold.
They all remembered the pillar of fire that nearly killed Doomsday.
None of them wanted to face something like that again.
Savage
"He is no longer a child.
He is gathering intelligence with precision even the Shadows rarely show."
Klarion
"He's creepy.
He stares at heroes like he's choosing which one to EAT!"
Luthor
"We need another agent in the League.
Someone to watch him."
And so they sent one.
A second spy.
Better trained.
Better hidden.
Specifically assigned to track Damian Wayne.
But… they didn't know the truth:
The system's suppression made the Gura Gura no Mi undetectable.
Its presence, energy signature, and metaphysical weight were invisible.
Not even mystics could sense it.
Which meant:
The Light was watching Damian—
but not the thing he was protecting.
Even the League of Assassins Begins to Worry
R'as al Ghul was not a man easily concerned.
But he watched Damian from afar, through satellite feeds and assassins stationed in cities where he patrolled.
What he saw did not match the grandson he raised.
Damian was:
quieter
more controlled
more analytical
and far more burdened
Lady Shiva
"Your grandson is studying heroes as if planning a future battle."
R'as
"No…
He is planning for a threat."
A threat they did not know about.
Shiva
"Does he prepare to betray them?"
R'as almost smiled.
R'as
"No.
If Damian wished to betray the Justice League, the first clue would be a pile of bodies.
He seeks something else."
He leaned closer to the screen.
Watching Damian speak with Wonder Woman, silently cataloging her leadership traits.
R'as
"…he prepares for judgment.
His own."
Even the League of Assassins couldn't find what he was hiding.
Because nothing in their databases explained Damian's strange behavior.
Nothing.
Batman Begins His Own Investigation
Of course he did.
Five months of Damian behaving like a detective on a secret case was enough.
Batman began following him.
Not in combat — Damian always saw that coming.
But in the background:
Reviewing Zeta-tube logs
Checking Damian's mission reports
Studying his questions
Reading psychological patterns
Tracking who Damian watched most
What worried Bruce wasn't what Damian was doing.
It was that Damian was doing it alone.
One night in the Cave, Batman opened a sealed file:
CASE 804: DAMIAN'S UNKNOWN PROJECT
Inside:
footage of Damian interviewing heroes
timestamps from all missions
transcripts from his question patterns
and a whiteboard with variables Batman didn't understand.
Alfred entered quietly.
Alfred
"Master Bruce… still concerned?"
Batman
"It's not fear.
It's preparation.
Damian is preparing for something."
Alfred
"And you do not know what."
Batman didn't answer.
Because that was the answer.
Bruce wasn't angry.
He was afraid.
Afraid that whatever Damian was preparing for—
Bruce might not be able to help.
Meanwhile… Damian Continues His Mission
System notifications flickered silently in Damian's mind as he trained in the gravity chamber.
[ SYSTEM NOTICE ]
DEVIL FRUIT ENERGY SIGNATURE: 0% DETECTABLE
NO ENTITY (MAGICAL, COSMIC, OR TECHNOLOGICAL) CAN SENSE THE FRUIT.
Damian exhaled.
Good.
The world was watching him too closely now.
Every move he made was under a microscope.
The Light.
The Assassins.
The League.
His father.
The Titans.
Even cosmic beings.
But no one knew the truth.
No one knew what he carried.
No one knew the question he was trying to answer:
"Who can I trust with the power to break the world?"
Damian tightened his grip on his blade.
He still didn't have the answer.
But he was getting closer.