To tame a Demon (english)

Chapter 8: When steel breaks

"Are you sure they flew this way?" 

Superboy had taken the direction Damian had given him barely 30 seconds ago. However, he wasn't sure how the elder boy knew which way they had to fly. Right now for him every single one of those seconds seemed way too long and he was more than just tense. Robin, on the other hand, sat quietly on his back, his legs tightly locked around the younger boy's torso so he could once again tap around on his minicomputer.

"It is the right direction. If you don't believe me, then use your ears and eyes already! You'll put us both in danger if you're so unfocused."

Reminded that he still had those abilities, Jon now turned his head wildly back and forth to try to use his senses to find his father. He just had to make sure that nothing had happened to him. Even if the boy didn't know what he was going to do, if that shouldn't be the case. Gosh, what would his mother say?

Suddenly, a blow to the back of Superboy's head interrupted his building panic. Surprised, Jon looked over his shoulder at this demon-bat: "What?"

Damian had punched him in the head and was now looking angrily at his partner before speaking up angrily:

"I told you to focus and not mess up even more! If your mind isn't focused, neither is your body. Because in case you haven't noticed, you're not even flying very controlled anymore!"

In fact, Jon also noticed now that he was swaying in the air and Damian had to hold onto his shoulder with one hand in the process. Only more rattled by this, he frantically replied to Robin:

"How am I supposed to stay focused when Dad's in trouble?!"

Without warning, two hands placed themselves on Jon's eyes

"Hey! Get your hands-."

"SILENCE! Now stop thinking and just keep flying. You're useless to me if you can't manage to stay calm. So breathe in and out slowly and then try to concentrate only on your ears. Tell me what you hear."

Superboy tried to follow the request, but he could not filter any specific sounds. Everything within a 50 km radius was pounding on him like water through a broken dam.

"It's not working! Now get your hands off before we hit something!"

Jon tried to shake Damian's limbs from his eyes, but he remained stubborn:

"You didn't breathe!" 

Briefly the boy sighed before calmly continuing: 

"Ok, New lesson for you. You are currently not Jonathan Kent, a normal 10-year-old boy who is afraid for his father, but Superboy. Accordingly, you are a hero and a hero must keep and radiate calm in any situation and not show weakness , so innocent people wont get frighten. As soon as you crumble, they'll also crumble, panic and lose hope. You hold lives in your hand. So think of me as a terrified citizen who needs to be taken to a bunker with sounds of battle in it. Now breathe in and out slowly, and tell me what you hear below us first."

Jon thoughtfully filled his lungs with the fresh night air, only to release it again after a short moment.

He was not Jon, but Superboy.

Again the boy tried to filter all these chaotic sounds and describe them to Damian:

"I...um...I hear an owl and several insects below us. And something trudging through the forest. Maybe a deer?"

A slight smile spread across Damian's face:

"Very good. Now expand the radius and tell me where the bunker with the battle sounds is."