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Damian can't remember the last time he felt so awkwardly placed within a room.
It feels nice not to be the center of attention for once whenever he walked into a venue, but the son of Bruce Wayne being outshone by a brat half his size all over his childish infatuations over talking teddy bears and moving toy soldiers was surreal.
Damian crossed his arms and sighed. Hiro might have been doing too much in the wrong place since they arrived in Paris a week ago. It should have been a simple release and catch, Blackfire allegedly had ties to an unfriendly face or two in the Red Lantern corp, which was a cause of concern for the Earth's Green Lanterns, including Guy Garderner. And when Hal and John are busy patrolling a few solar systems away, they send Batman, and when Batman isn't in the mood to prevent messy space affairs from happening, he sends Robin.
Ever since Dick decided to move into the Titan tower to lead the team as Nightwing, the blood son felt like he was getting the short end of the stick. Sometimes, he wished his father would leave the space conspiracies to the aliens in Metropolis.
Between running around for the Teen Titans and answering calls on behalf of his father for the Justice League, Damian felt like he needed to close his eyes, but he was too stressed to relax. Swinging around his grandfather's katana felt great at times, but the pent-up anger was beginning to slip up to the surface. He already blew the mission when he failed to catch Blackfire the first time around. The lack of rest was making him sloopy.
One little slip up, and Barbara was insistent that she would fly over to France, most likely to babysit him. When Damian strongly declined, Hiro popped up instead. And if there was anyone who needed parental supervision, it was the 14 year old 'genius' and his toy machines.
"Not sleeping much these days, huh?" Hiro chimed to Damian's annoyance.
"At least I'm not dying to be the center of attention."
"It's not my fault that I'm so cute," Hiro pouted. "The only compliments I've gotten so far today don't have anything to do with my masterpieces."
"That's the point," Damian muttered before grabbing a glass of apple juice off one of the waiter's trays and taking a sip. "We aren't looking for the next Da Vinci of toy creation. We are here for work."
The younger teen put on fake tears.
"And I might have found her anyway. She quit, and the crowd gathered around me before she could even give me a reason why. I even went through the pain of creating a life-sized model for her, but I think she wasn't really happy with its size."
While Damian downed the rest of the juice, he raised his eyebrows. Hiro never stops talking about his inventions, but hearing talk about other people was definitely a cause of concern.
"Her entry was certainly strange enough to be alien-like. I'm pretty sure that is what you are looking for, right?"
Damian turned his head to the doll in question and exhaled. The red and black color scheme could only mean that the model belonged to Marinette. Perhaps it was connected to her Ladybug person, a familiar of sorts. It certainly didn't resemble any lifeforms he had encountered. It was even a larger reason for concern. Could his enemies be gathering in Paris for a conspiracy like his father feared. The worst that could happen would be Marinette's powers of unknown origin being used in the name of evil.
Judging from her character, she wasn't the type to collaborate with criminals, but her eager stubbornness would eventually cause a few troubles in his investigation. She seemed competent enough to deserve a chance to work with him. However, it's her partner who was a bigger cause for concern in his book.
Chat Noir's location became impossible to track down from the very day he stepped foot in Paris, almost like he ran away, and for that very reason, he could not be trusted. Why run if you got nothing to hide and to leave his understudy clueless was somewhat despicable. When she opens her eyes, will she view him in the same light as he does?
If she decides to take his side, their little alliance is as good as over, so it's within his best interests to stick as close to the teenage girl as possible. He could learn how Marinette operated in the process, even better if he could find a way to neutralize her magical powers before she became an overpowering force.
"Don't worry about the girl, Hiro. Things are already going to plan," he said as he looked into his empty glass.
"It's almost scary how well you believe it's going," the boy sighed. "Then again, Kent said you would be like this." Hiro noted before skipping off to the desserts section of the snack table.
If he can get a hold of Chat Noir or Blackfire, he could blow the cap off this whole thing and he was willing to do almost anything to get him out of Paris and in the comfort of his father's solitude in Gotham City.
Damian clenched his fist. Superboy could be disapproving of his methods all he wants, but he wasn't going soft for a clumsy teenage girl. Using people was a part of life. It's what his mother taught him best.
He wasn't planning to be swayed, and he wasn't going to.
