“How?”
“Long story.” Marcel rolled his eyes and held his hand out to Mullo, sliding them into his pocket.
You ready Mullo?
Yup!
Showtime.
Marcel pulled back the curtains and groaned. “Why me.” Red Hood, Nightwing, and Red Robin were all outside his window. “There only needs to be one of you.” He snarked as he pulled the window open.
Red Hood snorted. “Baby Bat, you are lucky you were let out of any of our sight.”
“Grab your… whatever it is and then meet us on the roof. We’re gonna carry you to the Cave and you're gonna explain everything there. Understood?” Nightwing ordered him.
Marcel glared at him. “Stop parenting me.”
“Sorry,” Nightwing deflated a little. “It’s just… weird knowing you have your own mask.”
“It’s a long story.” Marcel shrugged. “I’ll tell you what I can at the Cave. Meet you on the roof?”
Nightwing nodded and the three left the window, heading for the roof.
“Hey- Dad!” Marcel yelped as his father pulled him into his arms.
“What were you thinking?”
Marcel looked away nervously. “Well, it was either that or be Scarecrow little test subject.”
“I’m sorry, that fucker targeted you?”
“Said I ‘reminded him of somebody’.”
Batman froze. “So I have many questions,” Robin said.
“I will spill all of them in exchange for some information.”
“What?”
“What are Robin stars and where can I find one?”
Nightwing made a face. “Oh, those things? Uh, I think Red Robin has some. Why?”
“Als and Nino got in a fight over whether or not it would be safe for Als to go around hunting for one of those things.”
Red Robin pulled one out of his belt. “Please keep her from doing so.”
Marcel laughed. “Sure. Now let’s address the bigger things.” He leaned against a chair. “I love you guys, and with time I think we can be fully open with each other, but I’m just not ready for that. I know there are gonna be some things you don’t share with me because you don’t feel ready for it. Ok?”
“Of course.”
“Sure.”
“I promise we won’t attempt to investigate, but if we find out on accident that ok, right?” Batman looked at him hopefully.
“If we go that route, then all things are covered. Including anything we may have found out in the past?”
“Yes.”
Marcel smirked. “Everything?”
“Yes?”
“So if I knew your identities you wouldn’t be mad?”
Tim snorted as he pulled off his cowl. “I would be shocked if you hadn’t figured it out.”
“How long?” Jason asked. “‘Cause we had a betting pool on this, Mini B.”
“I took a DNA test two years ago. I knew the whole time.”
“WHAT?!”
Marcel started laughing hard. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU KNEW THE WHOLE TIME?!” Dick yelled.
“Do you have any idea how fucking hard it was to pretend not to know you?!”
“I know that’s why I did it!”
Tim turned to Steph. “Did you know?!”
“Yeah, he told me he knew a few days ago.”
“That’s when we started dating.” Marcel smiled. “To be honest, it was set up perfectly. You two froze and then you just went ‘I am your father’. How was I not supposed to fuck around with you?”
“I swear child.” Jason groaned.
“Hey! We agreed those things were pardoned!” Marcel argued. “So what do you want to know?”
“Did Damian know?”
“Yeah, we’ve been hanging out with each other for the past few days.”
“What are you exactly?” Tim asked.
Marcel paused. “Uhhh, not a Meta, not an alien, I don’t think demigod fits because both of my parents are mortal, but I work with a god?”
“I’m lost.”
“Same.”
“Which god do you ‘work with’?”
“That’s classified for now.”
Bruce sighed. “Ok. Are you safe at home?”
“What?”
“We looked into adopting you- which is how we found out you were B’s bio kid. And then we found out about… how involved child services is in your home.”
“Oh boy. Long story short, Paris has an emotional terrorist-”
“As in he uses your emotions against you or he’s emotional while he’s being a terrorist?”
“The first one. It’s hard to explain how and why without telling you too much.” Marcel sighed. “So most of Paris has been Akumatzied- longer story -so there’s very few people left who weren’t. I’m the youngest who hasn’t yet. And HawkMoth is very convinced that if he manges to get me then I will be the most dangerous Akuma yet.”
“So if I’m getting this right- you are being targeted?”
“Yeah. Everyone kinda just treats me like I’m made of glass now.” Marcel shrugged. “But no, my parents are pretty ok- a little distracted, but they aren’t like hitting me or starving me.”
Bruce paused. “How do you feel about them?”
“Why?”
Tim sighed. “Because he requested our lawyers go for full custody.”
“WHAT?!”
Notes:
So the arcs:
Marcel Regrets His Life Choices: 1-6
Marcel Fucks Around With His Family: 7-16
Batfam Suffers Because of Bruce's Actions: Roughly 17-25
Lila Trys To Be Talia: Roughly 26-30
New Uncles and Aunties: Roughly 31- 45
Evil Guy Shows Himself: Roughly 46- 50
Red Beetle Shares With Batdad: Roughly 51- 62
Paris Recovery: Roughly 63 - 73
Marcel and Co Figure Out Custody: Roughly 74- 80
Evil Guys Come Back: Roughly 81- 85
You Can't Mention Her Without Her Showing Up: Roughly 86- 90
Marcel Reflects On How This All Happened In Six Months: Roughly 91-96
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The Bug, Son of the Bat
FanfictionMarcel Dupain-Cheng doesn't want to Gotham for a number of reasons. His identity could be compromised. Lila could get them killed with her lies. But most importantly? His dad lives there. A dad who has no idea about his existence. Civilian or hero.
Chapter 16
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