Of course he feels his gut reaction first. The hand where the stone sits clenches almost reflexively, and he hesitates.

There are practical reasons bolstering the foolish that make him want to immediately say yes. Yes because the plan was always to go to confront the brain as a united front. Yes because there will be Baneites waiting for him to reappear back at the Fortress, if they are not converging in this location this very minute, and they will mean to kill him.

But the most important was the foolish: because he had said it himself before. If the Dark Urge were to come to him and ask him to go with him, he would. In a heartbeat.

"I'm not going anywhere else --"

It is only then as they are emerging onto the street that he's noticing broken Steel Watchmen.

It is barely peeking over the tops of buildings from here, but if he strained he could probably see a plume of smoke billowing from the docks. The initial reaction is a mixture of confusion and outrage. Of course it is.

But he wouldn't have been in control of the watch anymore at this point, if any remained. But it would have been easier to take some of this shift if some of his firepower still remained. Firepower that could at this point be easily turned against him. How much damage? And will it be enough?

He's feeling too many conflicting things at once right now, and they're exposed.