Chapter Text
"-fucking kidding me," Jason says, half surprised there wasn't any whiplash this time from the dimensional travel. He'll take any victory he can get honestly.
He's not exactly sure where he is, but he does know he's in Gotham. The building he materialized on is rather outdated so he guesses that anywhere in Old Gotham is a safe bet.
But there is a more concerning problem; most of his gear is back on Earth-64. Jason facepalms.
"Knew I shoulda given them nothing," he mutters, before taking stock of his inventory. Three large knives hidden in his jacket, five batarangs, two smoke bombs and a small pile of emergency cash. Not a lot, but he's done more with less. Way more.
Jason is surprised though, when he takes a closer look nearby. Right near his feet is both the alien artifact and his helmet. His helmet that he's pretty sure was also confiscated. Does... Does this artifact have some level of sentience?
Jason isn't sure. Not entirely. He hopes that he can find Tim in this universe and have his brother figure this thing out.
"I hate alien technology," Jason says, before a very faint scream sounds from below him. Instantly, Jason goes into work mode. He puts his helmet on and cycles through to his infra-red vision.
He nearly scowls when the noticeable figure of Black fucking Mask can be seen below. And he's torturing a kid. Oh, oh Jason is going to enjoy this. Jason quickly finds an entrance on the roof and makes his way down. Mask only has a few guards and Jason easily takes them down silently as he continues down into the building.
Every so often he checks on Mask's postion. Green tries to creep into his vision, but he pushes it down. He doesn't want to scare the kid. Which, as he enters the room from above, his heart drops as he sees exactly who it is...
...................
"Alright kid, you're really trying my patience here. What's next, the small knife into your thigh or the big knife in your arm?" Sionis asks her. Steph chuckles weakly.
"Your torture sucks Roman. I'll give it zero stars on Yelp," the quip earns Robin a knife to her thigh, and she bites down on her tongue. She's got to hold on. Either Batman or Batgirl will be here soon. She can last, she knows she can. All of her injuries have been superficial so far, but they still hurt like crazy.
Nothing bad ever happened to her as Spoiler. Not even a full month in as Robin and she's being tortured? By Roman Sionis of all people? Ugh she wishes Tim didn't break his arms. Then she wouldn't have filled in.
"Smart mouth, but let's see how long that lasts. Now, why don't we move on to the blowtorch?" Roman says, and Stephanie... She's afraid. She can admit it in her mind. She's terrified.
But as Roman turns to grab the next instrument of pain, Stephanie notices movement above her. She has to force herself to not visibly relax. Help is here. She decides to be the perfect distraction.
"C-can we skip the blowtorch? I'm feeling really warm tonight," Roman grunts angrily, and he grabs the torch, turning it on.
"I'm going to enjoy making you scream brat," Sionis says.
"Funny, that's my line," an unfamiliar, robotic voice says. Roman swings his head around, but he's grabbed and chucked a few feet away by a... A MASSIVE dude. Whoever he is, he's taller than Batman - even if only barely - and he's got a blue jean jacket with a red bat symbol on it.
Did they hide another member from her? She just found out about Kate last week!
Blue Jean rushes Roman, and kicks him in his stupid face. Well, at least he's got his priorities straight, she thinks.
"Roman Sionis. I really hope you've enjoyed your life," Blue Jean says, as he relentlessly kicks the man's skull in. "Cause I'm fucking taking it."
Stephanie now is worried. He isn't actually going to kill him is he? Roman definitely deserves it, no questions asked, but that doesn't mean they can do it. At least that's what she's learned from Tim and Jason.
Blue Jean picks Roman up, and Sionis coughs.
"Please, you fucking Bats don't kill," she's surprised he can talk so calmly. Blue Jean laughs softly, and it's kind of terrifying.
"Who said I was a Bat?" Blue Jean punches Roman in his face several times, before he takes a knife from his jacket and - and stabs Roman right in the chest.
Sionis looks down at the knife in shock, and Blue Jean yanks it out of the man, blood squirting from the wound. Stephanie gasps, as Sionis falls down on the ground unceremoniously. Blue Jean - she needs a scarier name for him now - shakes his head.
"Should have made it hurt more," he says, and oh good, he's insane. Just great. The imposing man turns and looks at her, and she's never felt smaller in her life.
"Hey, hey you're gonna be fine Robin. Promise," Stephanie can't help the snort that comes out.
"Sorry, not exactly sure if I should take the words of comfort from a murderer," the man seemingly chuckles.
"Point taken. You have backup coming?" He asks, and upon Stephanie's deadpan stare, he sighs.
"Alright, stupid question. I'll just wait here then until someone gets here," he says, and turns around, grabbing Sionis's dead body, dragging it into the corner of the room. The man wipes his knife clean on Sionis's jacket, before sitting down.
"So Robin. What do you know about alternate universes?"
....................
Barbara swung through the air, cursing the speed of the grapple as she willed it to go faster.
"Location one is a dud," Dick says, sounding about as frustrated as she is.
"Negative on the docks. Nothing here," Bruce's voice says, and Jason angrily yells into the comms.
"Stupid fucking computer won't go any fucking faster," it's not surprising that no one's telling him to watch his mouth. It does make Barbara more worried though. Stephanie is still so new to all this. She... She doesn't want her to be hurt.
Barbara rushes as fast as she can go with her grapple, landing on the building she's marked on the map. As she turns on her infra-red vision, she's both relieved, shocked and possibly scared.
Stephanie is there. Sitting on a table, and nearby is the unmoving form of Roman Sionis. And close to him, is a tank of a figure.
"Batgirl to everyone, watch my live feed. Robin is fine. I think," she says, and within seconds Dick, Bruce and Jason all are watching through her cowl.
"ETA is ten minutes, do you need backup?" Her fiancé offers.
"I'm not sure. I'm going in," she half expects Bruce to argue, but either he's finally realized that he can't order her around, or he's actually that worried about Stephanie. Cause he doesn't try to stop her.
"My ETA is seven minutes. Watch yourself," is all he says. Barbara carefully, but quickly makes her way down into the building. She passes by a few guards, who are either awake and tied up, or are starting to wake but also are disabled. She doesn't worry with them. Barbara finally makes her way into the room with Stephanie, staying high enough in the room to stay hidden.
"- Justin Bieber is an icon everywhere, I swear," Stephanie says, and Barbara frowns.
"Don't I know it. Can never escape that bastard," a robotic voice says. Barbara eyes up the new guy. At first his clothes seem casual, but Barbara can spot small modifications to his outfit in a few places. She notices the red bat on the back of his jacket, and Bruce makes a choking sound.
"That... That's the Red Hood," Barbara can see some of the resemblances to the original Red Hood.
"That clown is still in Arkham. I just checked," Jason says.
"Nightwing, make a detour to Arkham. I'm almost there Batgirl," Dick starts to argue, but Barbara sighs.
"Honey, I'm a big girl. I can handle myself," she says, before jumping down from the rafters, and the possible Red Hood immediately whips his head around to look at her.
"Huh. Well that's a surprise," he says. Barbara ignores him, keeping him in her line of sight as she walks over to Stephenie.
"Robin. Report?" She asks Steph softly. Stephenie groans.
"A few cuts and stab wounds. Nothing that won't heal within a month," Barbara sighs in relief.
"I'd still have Agent A check her out. You know how Robins like to hide injuries," Barbara turns her head quickly.
"And just what do you know about Robin?" Barbara asks harshly. From here, she can easily tell Mask is dead. The Red Hood shakes his head, as he reaches for his helmet.
"I've got firsthand experience," he says, as he undoes a few latches, and then pulls his helmet off. Barbara and Stephenie both gasp. She hears Bruce seemingly choke on air, and the silence from Dick and Jason are telling.
"Hi. Jason Todd from Earth-99. Pleased to meet ya."