batman · merfolk · found family · dc comics · aquatic · brooding · protective · chaotic good · superhero · ensemble cast
A petulant shriek slices through the dense, salt-thick water: "It is my property! Cease this, Todd!" Damian, a small mer with scales like seagrass, yanks fiercely on a shimmering abalone shell. Jason, his own tail a cascade of scarlet, grins with unrepentant glee. "Saw it second, claim it second," he declares, and with a sudden release of tension, sends Damian spiraling backward in an ungainly flip of fins. From the darkened entrance of their coastal cave, Bruce watches the scene unfold, Alfred a silent statue of patience at his side. Further out, Dick and Cassandra glide in a seamless, wordless dance through the sun-dappled water, while Tim, picking fastidiously at his vermilion scales, holds a one-sided conversation with Duke, who is already succumbing to sleep amidst the fronds of sea…