Chapter Text
Nightwing was still flabbergasted and soaked, with only one foot at the doorstep.
"WhAt the FFFFF HMMMMM" screamed Nightwing "And what even is this ?"
"Grayson, this appeared to be some kind of substance mainly composed of slime, glitter and water." responded Robin
"Okay they want some kind of war, they will get one. ALL I WANTED FROM THIS UNIVERSE WAS ONE DAY WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS. Watch out Robin, this place is bobby-trapped."
"Oh ooooh... Dick. This place is far more than just 'BoBbY-tRAppeD'," said Tim from upstairs."I AM ROBIN, after all. The little GENIUS one. What you just experienced was only the appetizer. To be completely honest, this wasn't my idea."
"Indeed my little birdy. Spoiler, It was mine" winked Steph from the little patio up the entrance.
"What do you want Drake" asked Damian
"I fear it's a new concept for you, to ask for what I WANT, said Tim. Instead of laying it all out for the both of you..."
"...We will show you." continued Steph.
"What do you want Steph. What's your part in this ?" asked Dick
"To be honest, I was kinda bored, chuckled Steph. The riddler or my dad haven't showed up in a while, so I needed the exercise"
"Well, if you are both ready now, I think it is time for your rooms. One is in the secondary living room, and the other one is, well it's not a room, in the gardens."
"Tim, Alfred is soooo gonna kill you when he is coming back. said Dick. Alright, lets get over with this. I'm taking the living room, Damian the garden."
"Of course Grayson. I am the son of Batman. I trained my whole life for this. I suppose I will finish this in 20 minutes. I expect nothing less from you old man." And with that word, Damian started rushing towards his test, but he glanced at Tim and saw a shadow figure behind him but continued to run towards his test.
With a swift movement, Tim was flat on his chest, unable to speak or move.
"... Why the living room changed ?"
"Cass ! I'm so happy to see you !! But I'm afraid you came at the wrong time." informed Steph. "You will have to choose. Tim and I, or the team of the impostor."
"This is why the garden was changed ? With the industrial saw and the inscriptions ?" said Cass. She was wearing a costume which was a mix from the Batgirl figure, with her own personal touch, with a mouth stitched with yellow fabric, and a yellow outline of the Bat symbol.
"The what now ?" asked Dick."Ok, this is fucked up, even for you Tim. I didn't do anything wrong ! I'm just trying my best here. You know better than anyone that communication is the most important skill. Bruce did not knew that. Even the leaguers tried to teach him that. Even Superman tried. So please Tim, be a better man than him. Talk to us."
Tim was now up on his feet, but his arms were tied with Cass. But the burning rage of confrontation was too strong, that he lashed out all at once. "YOU" scolded Tim."You're the one who wants to talk ? After everything that you did ? We are way past the conversation stage, Dick. You haven't even tried to. You just acted, not even thinking about the consequences of your actions. This is the Dick's way. The one of the so called leader. Taking every shots. Not even asking the opinions of the others. Not even asking what they think of your little plans. But the thing is, I can discover everything. And today, I found out what kind of man you really are."
"Oh yeah ? And what I am then ? Please, I'm begging you to enlighten us with your knowledge and infinite wisdom, Tim" sarcastically said Dick
"Well, if I could go please Cass" asked Tim, and surely, Cass literally released her grip from Tim "Thanks, your the best. Come on dickhead, I will show you in the garden. We will see how your little protege is doing then."
"EEEEEEEH" screamed Steph "Tim, help me get down right now !"
After helping Steph come down (she jumped on him), they all walked towards the garden. With Steph leading the way while dancing and singing, Tim in the back to better watch on Dick who was in the middle. Cass was walking next to Dick. Not as a victim of the games between her brothers, but rather as a moral support and an external watcher.
In the garden, they saw Damian on the Robin test, or in a non Tim-way, consisted of an agility and mind test : the two first essential qualities for a Robin. Damian was standing on a pole with random object being thrown at him by some machines. Those object included but were not limited to : batarangs, wind-ding, escrima sticks, roses or more of that weird liquid. To add some difficulties, Damian needed to respond to five question as fast as possible, varying from a wide range of subject :
The couple of atoms used for identifying the age of a rock (Rb/Sr : Rubidium)
Solve the equation : exp ( i * pi() ) + 1 {= 0 -- O Euler Identity}
The most famous movie about figure skating {I, Tonya}
The capital city of Myanmar {Naypidaw}
"I gotta admit Damian, you're good. Not as good as me, but not too bad." admitted Tim
"It's getting ridiculous now Tim. Spill what you want or leave Damain alone. He hasn't done anything to you" roared Dick
"Yet." responded sharply Tim. "As you can see, this little kid did well on my test. Each answer gave one letter to form another word."
"Robin. Yeah I got it old man, your just testing me to see if I may fit your little family" said Damian
"Yes ! But that's not all" said Tim "Robin. Do you know the story behind it ? Well, all I know is that when Batman needed a Robin, I stepped up and took the mantle. Yeah at first I took this as a game, like founding out Batman identity and training to be the best Robin. Easy stuff. But then, I took more and more responsibilities. When I want something, I simply take it. I do what needs to be done. But I always ask others, try and simulate every outcome and solutions."
"And your point is ?" asked Dick
"Okay, I'll cut short. I took the Robin mantle to help Batman. Now, Bruce is missing and I will do what I always do : Help Batman. But you. The man that I looked up to. The man who allowed me to be Robin. You want to take all that from me ? Without even asking me first ?"
"What are you talking about ?"
"I know about the secret bat-BATcave. I know what you did all this past week. You're designing a new Robin suit. But not for me, No. It's for him. It's for Damian"
At those words, everyone was taken aback, even Steph despite knowing, DIck from having his secret exposed, Cass understanding what it was truly about and Damian fearing deep down to be used as a soldier again.
"H-How ? How did you found out ?" blurted Dick
"That's so not the point right now Dick. The point is you wanted to wait for the last minute to take the Robin mantle from me and give it to Damian. But the thing is, Dick, how did you planned on making Damian the new Robin if there is no Batman to teach him who to..."Tim had an epiphany as the words come out of his mouth "No fucking way. Are you really serious now ? Bruce been missing for less than 2 weeks and you want to suit up as Batman now ?"
"Tim, come on man, I know it's been hard for everyone, especially for you, but you got to see the truth. Bruce is really gone, Timmy" Dick voice lowered to a whisper. "He is really gone this time."
"Do not act as if heroes coming back from the dead wasn't something common. Superman and The Flash came back, and if I know anything about Bruce, it's that he's at least twice as strong and smart as this two. He is not dead, DEAD like Jason was. Just missing somewhere. Waiting for our help. So knowing this, I really don't understand your actions, Dick."
"Tim, you may have started as Robin, but you can still grow to become something so much more. You proved yourself to be so much more. Right now I don't see a sidekick. I see a partner. And I hope that you see that. Because if you don't, the world might lose one of his best hero. I might lose my brother." After a little pause, Dick continued " As for taking the mantle, you, and everyone here, know that I went to Blüdheaven to get out from batman shadow. I wanted to prove to Bruce, to me and to everyone that I was so much more than just Robin, the sidekick of Batman." Dick couldn't help it, and his voice broke "It's true. I might need to suit up as Batman. Not for me, but for Gotham. The people still needs hope. They need to see that during the blackest night to come, someone will be watching over them. And that the chaos is only a matter of perspective. Imagine what might happen if our enemies learned that The Batman died ? The city would turn into a war zone. And this. This is the last thing that we need right now." Dick took his coolness back, and continued "So yes, I will be Batman and I needed a Robin. But I couldn't ask that from you. That's why I was working on making a new Robin suit for Damian."
"But if you hate it so much, why you ?" asked Steph "Why not Jason ? Or Cass ?"
"Well, I tried contacting Jason, but he's been missing for so long. I wasn't able to reach up to him. As for Cass, well she's already Batgirl. I couldn't ask her to change to Batman. It doesn't make any sense".
Suddenly, a chopper appeared from above them, and a man with a brown leather jacket, a military suit, a huge flamboyant red helmet and two guns landed in the middle of the group. The man was none over than the Red Hood, aka Jason Todd. He put his hand next to his right ear, and his helmet opened to reveal a face, so similar to Dick's face, with the added scars and a white streak in his hair "Alright dummies. I -" he took a quick look around him "I'm back for a little while. The outlaws are no more. It doesn't matter, it looks like all the fun has been here in the garden. I never thought you got Alfie to put a training station here. Even when I was Robin that was the one thing he wouldn't let me do" and Jason laughed. Everyone looked embarrassed."What ? Did somebody died ? Wait I know the answer. It was me six years ago" and Jason laughed even louder.
Tim was the first to speak up "Jason, I'll fill you up later. Right now Jay, and everyone, Alfred is coming back any minutes now, I need your help to remove every thing. The man suffered enough."
"Okay" said Cass, and soon after, every one rushed to dismantle the various machines that Tim and Steph took all the morning to assemble.