Gotham – 6:37 AM
The orphanage always smelled like warm toast and hope just past its expiration date.
Damian Crowe stood in front of the mirror in the cracked bathroom of St. Alessa's Home for Gifted Youths, a gray hoodie clinging to his chiseled frame. He flexed a bicep absently, watching the twitch in his triceps spark again.
"Third time this morning," he muttered.
A flicker. A jolt. His muscles seized and released in a split-second burst of power that nearly cracked the sink's porcelain. He gritted his teeth and pulled on his hoodie, covering the faint veins of lightning that pulsed beneath the surface of his skin.
He needed to be careful. If Coach saw that during practice, it'd be another round of drug tests and questions. He calmly steeled his resolve as he walked out of the shared bathroom.
"Sup, Tweak" he said, high-fiving an energetic little kid as he stepped into the hallway.
Downstairs, Sister Miriam, the owner of the orphanage, was pouring coffee into cracked mugs. She offered him a tired smile.
"Mr. Record-Breaker," she teased. "You know, a man from the Olympic Committee called again."
"Tell 'em I'm still seventeen," Damian said, snatching a protein bar from the counter. "And still broke."
She chuckled. "What about the Thompsons? They're very interested in adopting you and Nova."
He paused. "We're not looking for parents."
"You keep saying that," she said with a smirk. "Like you're waiting on someone. Are there some parents out there I should know about?"
He didn't answer as he looked back and rolled his eyes. Just peeled open the bar and walked out toward his favorite sister's room.
Nova Crowe's Room (Orphanage) – Simultaneously
Nova stared at her computer tower.
It was off. Fully powered down. She hadn't touched it since last night.
And yet the fans were spinning. The lights inside blinked. A glowing line of code traced across the screen like a heartbeat monitor.
"...It's happening again," she whispered.
As she stepped closer, the room's overhead light flickered, then popped. Her phone buzzed uncontrollably in her pocket. Outside, the orphanage's security camera spun three times and died.
Nova stood perfectly still. Hyperventilating as she began to panic at the chaos around her. The technology continued to buzz and flash as she silently tried to regain her composure. Eventually, it worked as she breathed out a sigh of relief.
The side-effects of the new meds were getting worse. They were supposed to "increase focus and decrease anxiety." Instead, every screen near her had started acting like it was trying to talk to her.
And she was starting to understand what they were saying.
"Oh no, I'm really going crazy aren't I?" she said to herself before facepalming as the act of speaking to herself only reinforced every thought she was having.
KNOCK
CLICK
Nova slowly looked toward the doorway to her left as she heard a knock and a click signaling the opening of the door.
"Hey, Dame" she said before he even fully entered her line of sight. She knew at this time of morning, there'd be no one else coming into her room.
"Hannin', sis" she heard in response as Damian's tall figure stepped fully into her room before slowly closing the door behind himself.
"Nothing much, still dealing with these side effects, how about you?" she said, almost like she was desperate for someone to be sharing her misery.
"Same thing, almost broke the sink this morning by accident. Thank God it didn't, Sister Miriam woulda made me clean every inch of this orphanage." he said with a small chuckle, only proving to further increase the tension in Nova's heart.
"How are you just so chill about all this? I almost had a panic attack with all the chaos around me from these side effects. I mean I stood up and every piece of technology in my room started going crazy like they were in heat." she said in exasperation at the relaxed attitude her knuckle-headed brother seemed to be carrying.
"I mean, ain' like I don't care, just don't care enough to really care. Y'know?" he said while jumping on Nova's twin size bed.
"Get your shoes off my bed, Damian!" she yelled from the mirror as she quickly fixed her top before grabbing her bag off the floor. "C'mon we have to catch the bus." she quickly threw over her shoulder before rushing out of her room after glancing at the time.
Damian quickly hopped up at her raised voice before rushing out behind her.
"Where's your bag?" Nova asked as she glanced at her brother out of the side of her eye.
"Oh sh*t, good catch." he said as he darted up the stairs at almost impossible speeds to grab his duffel bag out of his room before flying back down the stairs and out the front door behind Nova just five seconds later.
"As fast as usual" Nova distractedly commented from the side as she fiddled with the advanced watch without any brand labels on her wrist. She had built her own smart watch since Sister Miriam couldn't buy her an Apple Watch.
Gotham Heights – 2:35 PM
The towering gothic spires of Gotham Heights cast long shadows in the afternoon light, which was more dull. The gates creaked open as students filtered in, clad in their blazers and pressed uniforms, sneakers and oxfords clicking over polished stone paths.
Whispers always followed Damian and Nova.
"That's him—the kid who benched 400 and ran a 40-yard dash in 4.1."
"Damn bro, we know. No need to point 'em out like a circus attraction."
"Yeah dude, you're seriously glazing."
"And her—Nova. She hacked STAR Labs' public system as a joke and walked away with a scholarship."
"Oh God, not you too."
"Shut up, this is different. He just lugs metal around and runs fast. She's so slay with her smarts."
Nova walked beside her brother, adjusting the dark-rimmed glasses she didn't really need but she loved wearing for some odd reason. Her uniform blazer was half-unbuttoned and her skirt tailored with subtle circuitry trim. She moved like someone who was both observing and calculating the movement of every camera, sensor, and light in the school.
Damian, in contrast, walked like he owned the place. A duffel slung over one shoulder, earbuds half in. His sleeves rolled up, exposing the bare hint of runes scarred lightly beneath the surface of his skin. No one saw them unless they looked close. Most didn't dare.
"You get another twitch?" Nova asked quietly as they approached the lockers.
"Yeah. On the way here. My calves locked up and then I nearly shot through the windshield," he said. "Almost trucked a mailman."
Nova smirked. "These meds are either fixing our brains or awakening our inner demons, no way we're miserable enough to attack a mailman."
"Ha, Could be both," Damian muttered, and opened his locker—then flinched.
The moment he touched the metal, a surge shot up his arm. His eyes flashed gold for a fraction of a second. His breath caught. For that heartbeat, the world slowed down. He could hear birds flap wings mid-air. He could see the dust motes freeze.
And then it snapped back to normal.
"You okay?" Nova asked, noticing his hesitation.
He nodded too quickly. "Yeah. Yeah, just... locker shock."
They both knew it wasn't.
"Just try your best to keep it under control for today, we'll talk to the doctor later and see if it's safe to just stop taking the meds. I'd rather not be able to focus because of my brain than feeling like I can speak to technology." Nova said as the bell rang.
"You sure you can't just pull some of your tech magician, junkie magic?" Damian said in exhaustion at constantly having to control and contain the ticks he was having.
"No, I can't, I already tried. Trust me. See ya' later, gotta head to Robotics." she assured Damian as she waved over her shoulder before walking off.
"A'ight, ima f*ck wit ya sis." Damian said, carefully closing his locker before heading off to the gym.
Gotham Heights – Gym – 5:04 PM
In the gym of Gotham Heights hints of hardwood mixed with the droplets of sweat and spittle floating through the air and wafting up from the floor. The fragrance created was an intricate combination of hardship and teenage youth.
"Damian, get back on defense! Hustle! What's the matter with ya?" a voice yelled from the sidelines of the gym.
Damian could be seen struggling running up and down the court which was unusual due to his repeated display of enhanced stamina and endurance since he was a child. He'd once played a full basketball game without coming out of the game at all due to it being a championship game.
Damian, unknown to the average onlooker, wasn't struggling with stamina or conditioning, he was struggling trying to contain the muscle twitches that were threatening to burst out of him at all times. He had almost literally run through a teammate twice at this point. The mental and physical strain was starting to weigh on him, but he kept his cool.
"My fault, Coach!" he yelled back as his mark went up for an easy layup off of the fast break.
Practice ended without much improvement from Damian as a hard whistle crashed down on the ear drums of all players on the court. The coach, by the name of Coach E, ended things off with a huddle before breaking and sending everyone off to the locker room.
"Not you, Damian. We needa' talk for a second." He quickly added in as everyone began to wander off.
"Wassup, Coach?" Dame asked with a sigh, already knowing what would be the outcome of this conversation.
"What's up wit ya, son? You don't seem like you're on the ball today, and I'm not just talking about basketball. Three of your teachers emailed me about you not seeming focused on anything today and they were worried about you." Coach E said in concern as he studied the freakishly athletic specimen in front of him.
"Yeah, my fault Coach, just been dealing with something that's weighing me down. I'll be ready to go for the game." he said dismissively, trying to get out of the gym and away from the school out of fear of losing control. His grip and control over his body loosening even as he spoke with his coach.
"Okay, that's all I needed to hear. And you know I'm here for all of you if you need to talk about anything, right? Don't let anything weigh you down when you can ask for help to carry the weight, brotha." Coach E said as he pat Dame's shoulder, a little taken back by the density and hardness of his muscles as he spoke.
"Thanks, Coach. See ya' at practice tomorrow." Dame said with a smile before walking away.
"Alright, be safe now boy. See ya' tomorrow."
30 Minutes Later
"Ughhh, never thought I'd thank God for school buses, especially not the late ones, but I'm doing it today. Today drained me." Nova said across from Damian on the bus as she dramatically laid back in the seat.
"Man, who you tellin'? I felt like I was gone smash everything around me into smithereens every second of the day. This gotta stop. Also, why don't you just take your lil' turbo scooter to school anymore?" Dame replied absentmindedly thinking about his day, before snapping back in.
"Ever since the side effects started I've been so scared of technology going unstable on me that I haven't gotten on it." she said looking down.
Damian stared at her silently before sighing and mirroring her action looking down at the ground.
"Yeah, we already got enough to deal with outside of all this and now this on top of it. I don't know who writing fate, but they must be out they rabbit a*s mind if they think we deserve this." he said with a chuckle trying to lift the mood before going back off into thought.
"Y'know, today my coach said some that's been sitting on my mind since. He said 'Don't let anything weigh you down when you can ask for help to carry the weight'. Just made me really wonder, what life'd be like if we ain' have to worry about all the stuff we have to worry about. If our parents were here. If we had support. If somebody would just come and support us and hold that weight for once." he finished as the bus stopped in front of the orphanage.
"I guess reality is never really ideal though, huh?" Nova said staring at the orphanage.
They both glanced at each other and made eye contact before grabbing their bags and vacating the bus. They both were lackadaisical as they made their way to the orphanage before Damian noticed something out of the corner of his eye. As he turned his eyes only got wider and wider.
"IS THAT A CULLINAN!?" he yelled in surprise.
"Wha-" as Nova was beginning to turn and look in the direction he was looking, she heard the click of the front door to the orphanage opening before her breath hitched in her lungs as she made eye contact with the woman radiating an aura of royalty standing in the doorway with Sister Miriam.
"Nova! Damian! You're finally home. This is Rhea Crowe, she's here to offer you guys an adoption opportunity." the sister said beaming with a jubilant excitement, happy for the siblings she'd watched struggle for the last 10 years.
However, her smile turned into a furrowed look of confusion as she stared at the two frozen siblings staring at Rhea.
'Are they just that excited?' she silently thought before giving a knowing smirk. 'Awww, how cute.'
Little did she know, they were experiencing lives from a different plane of existence. An estate so large it put some college campuses to shame, so exquisite even the Wayne's probably couldn't match it. A family with power to change the world with just their words. A father, a mother. So many things, so many memories, so many promises, so many orders, so many directives.
"I'm assuming you remember?" Rhea said with a small smirk as she stared at the two family members in front of her. She paused and met their eyes waiting on a response. And in three seconds, she received one that made her smirk stretch into a warm smile.
"Mom?" both Damian and Nova said at the same time.