GOTHAM: BEYOND EVIL || Damienette

17 - The Aftermath

The next morning was tense.

You could feel it in the air; the smell of nervousness, itching to burst out of all the Waynes in the Manor. Barbara had come in early this morning, whispering a hurried 'Hi' before marching into Bruce's study.

Bruce himself had stayed home today, apparently stating that his head hurt after falling off the bed this morning. The executives at the company assumed he had a bad hangover, something his playboy self would usually do.

But I knew better.

What I didn't know, was whether Bruce stayed back because he hurt himself after patrol, or stayed back to investigate after yesterday. Tim had gone to Wayne Enterprises in his stead, accompanied by Damian, who ditched school.

Breakfast was over in a second.

Dick and Jason stated that they were going out to eat, presumably for morning patrol, while Damian and Tim and eaten early. Bruce decided to eat in his study while Barbara didn't even bother coming out.

Selena was the only one at the table, offering us a apologetic smile and a nonsense excuse. The walk to my room after breakfast was silent. Somehow, my room had become headquarters of operations.

As the door shut behind us, you could hear exhales of relief from most of the gang. "Can you feel it? The bad atmosphere?" Adrien asks, innocently. The group stayed silent, going through the events of last night silently.

"See, you've got to admit. Last night was fun." Luka let out, gaining a silent hum from Kagami. "But I can't help but feel a little guilty for it." he voiced out the thoughts of everyone in the room.

"I get him." Kagami speaks up. "I enjoyed every bit of seeing the panic on their faces yesterday, but Mari, just imagine how scared they must be." she says softly. "I know, I know. I'm sorry guys, this is all my fault." I say.

I sit down on my bed, hands on my face. Nino gingerly pulls them off my face. "Come on Mari, we all know it isn't your fault. We edged you on." he says. "B-but I'm the leader here. I'm supposed to-"

"You're not supposed to do anything, Mari. If anything, it's all of our fault." Adrien says. I smile at all of them gratefully, but it wasn't enough. "We all know how hard it is to keep our identities secret. We should've thought twice." I say, sadly.

"Its alright. What's done is done."

"Now, lets talk about how amused Tim looked yesterday."

"Oh god, the poor boy looked-"

Hear that?

That was the sound of our sympathy fading away.

.......

Hours passed as we had fun.

Adrien and Nino stole game controllers from Tim and Dick's room, connecting it to the console in my room and ultimately playing Mario Kart, in which first-time player Adrien was handing Nino's ass on a platter.

"How could you be so good, Adrien?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm just good at it."

"Tell me the truth. You played this in secret didn't you?"

"I didn't have the time to?"

"You did! At night!"

"You know Nino, usually, people sleep at night."

Chloe, Kagami, Alya and I were busy gossiping, while Luka was silently strumming his guitar like the loner he was. My phone beeped with a message. I look at it, my mood instantly brightening.