It's fact. Damian didn't consider it demeaning until Dick made him reconsider a lot of things. But it's still what he is, so Kyle keeping on pushing...
... well.
The boy actually shudders a little at those words, mouth turning down a little.
And what if I do?
Instead, he lets them float in silence (a little tense, a little angry) for a while.
"Once, while Father was... missing. The Alien had brought in his body, verified that it was genetically him, after the battle. And Grayson wanted him back. Wanted not to have to be Batman anymore. So he took the body to a Lazarus Pit in England. I told him not to, well, I had told him, before I'd had to leave, go get my spine replaced. But just as I was returning, he went and did it anyway."
Damian was on a wheelchair, with a neck cast, when the crazed thing, smelling of rot, had arrived at the Wayne Tower penthouse. It hadn't mattered.
"It turned out the body wasn't Father's, it was a clone that had already been killed, at the battle. A flawed clone - bun one who'd had a transfer of Father's memories. His thoughts. It... we fought. It's the one that confirmed that Father had run a DNA analysis on me, though that was hardly surprising. And it said... that Mother had created me and sent me over to tear apart all that Father has worked and fought for. That is... what the person who is best fitted to gauge Mother's intentions and abilities thinks I am. Probably why he did not consent to making me Robin."
Which - he's allowing him to remain Robin, now, both here and back home. And, yet.
"And I can't say it is not the truth."
He takes a deep breath, which works out strangely choppily, so he takes another, forcing himself to be smoother.
"But I won't help her, even if that is the intention, my actual purpose. I am Robin, and I won't let that go unless somebody makes me. It is only that I am also the - the rest, too. I can't stop it. I'm..."
Words. How do they work. "It is good that you see what I act on, because it means I'm not failing at it. But - you also see the rest." Or you should. "Don't turn a blind eye on it. Don't let me catch you by surprise if something does go wrong."
CW: Damian Wayne's horrid past aspects. Resurrection, cloning, deaths...
... well.
The boy actually shudders a little at those words, mouth turning down a little.
And what if I do?
Instead, he lets them float in silence (a little tense, a little angry) for a while.
"Once, while Father was... missing. The Alien had brought in his body, verified that it was genetically him, after the battle. And Grayson wanted him back. Wanted not to have to be Batman anymore. So he took the body to a Lazarus Pit in England. I told him not to, well, I had told him, before I'd had to leave, go get my spine replaced. But just as I was returning, he went and did it anyway."
Damian was on a wheelchair, with a neck cast, when the crazed thing, smelling of rot, had arrived at the Wayne Tower penthouse. It hadn't mattered.
"It turned out the body wasn't Father's, it was a clone that had already been killed, at the battle. A flawed clone - bun one who'd had a transfer of Father's memories. His thoughts. It... we fought. It's the one that confirmed that Father had run a DNA analysis on me, though that was hardly surprising. And it said... that Mother had created me and sent me over to tear apart all that Father has worked and fought for. That is... what the person who is best fitted to gauge Mother's intentions and abilities thinks I am. Probably why he did not consent to making me Robin."
Which - he's allowing him to remain Robin, now, both here and back home. And, yet.
"And I can't say it is not the truth."
He takes a deep breath, which works out strangely choppily, so he takes another, forcing himself to be smoother.
"But I won't help her, even if that is the intention, my actual purpose. I am Robin, and I won't let that go unless somebody makes me. It is only that I am also the - the rest, too. I can't stop it. I'm..."
Words. How do they work. "It is good that you see what I act on, because it means I'm not failing at it. But - you also see the rest." Or you should. "Don't turn a blind eye on it. Don't let me catch you by surprise if something does go wrong."