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Today was a weird day for Tim
Understatement of the year.
It was one of those rare occasions in which the manor was filled with people, everyone, and he means everyone was there, and not because a big case had them all teaming up to stop the world ending, some Arkham breakout or some alien invasion with the JL. No, this was one of a life occasion for everyone to be there
Pure and raw coincidence
First, he knew that Damian, Duke, Alfred and Bruce lived there so it wasn't out of the ordinary to bump into one of them when he came through the doors, what surprised him was finding all of them at the same time, without any Batman business interrupting. Bruce was only mildly busy with some WE projects but only reviews in his study, not exactly hard labor so Tim chose to say hi later . Tim stumbled into Duke, odd because he should be doing the morning patrol, so he asked him why was he there early
Apparently, the GPCD was testing a new Wayne enterprises equipment (long distance tasers which Tim saw the schematics of) and were out and about testing it, not exactly something any criminal would want to stumble upon, so the streets were oddly quiet and Duke got to come early and decided play something on his laptop in the library.. Damian was angry and bored as ever due to not having any Batman and Robin business ongoing but he hasn't gone out on his own…yet, which was also odd, he was just secluded and as far away from Duke as he could in the library, drawing and scowling (like, ya know. His fabric set expression apparently). Alfred is the only normal of the bunch, although Tim hasn't seen him yet, Alfred is always home so he will find him or be found by him at any moment.
His very brief talk with Duke also informed Tim that Dick just happened to come to the manor in the early morning, looking for something that might've helped with a Titans case (Dick wouldn't tell what according to what Duke heard, probably because it was a desperate attempt of a lead) but as soon as he arrived he got a call letting him know that it has been solved and he wasn't really needed anymore. No one really questioned him as to why he didn't drive back to Bludhaven since he immediately crashed on a couch. Must have been a hell of a case to have Dick so worked up, or maybe he just overworked himself with a bunch of cases.
Like the hypocrite he is.
Anyways. Tim thought that was odd enough when he arrived, but the surprises didn't end there because just when he was going to his old room he catched a glimpse of Steph and Cass, they were both lying on Cass bed, surrounded by chinese snacks if he were to guess by the labels, something in the background behind the half closed bedroom door could be heard, something like voices so they were definitely having a movie marathon again. No one expected them to be anywhere near Gotham until next month at least, last he checked Cass had been following a lead up to Hong Kong when Steph decided to tag along, that was almost 3 months ago. With the latest report being a month ago.
Now that did tickle something in Tim. Because what do you mean it just so happens that everyone had their cases solved? early? and decided to come here??
Odd.
Tim opted to not bother them to say hi just yet, they must be tired. And he really didn't want to be dragged to a show or movie or whatever marathon Steph had going on. Goal: his old bedroom
But because nothing is ever easy, when Tim was almost reaching for his doorknob a door in the end of the hall opened abruptly, wrecking the strange but welcomed peace in the whole manor
That can only mean one thing
Freaking Jason, oh my god.
Tim feels like this is a deya vu, this is weird as fuck.
¨I'm fine! Tis but a scratch! I just need something to eat and I'll be on my way out¨ Jason exclaimed as he tried to peel off some bandages from his left thigh.
¨ I'll remind you, master Jason, that it was you who chose to come here to be treated. So it might be wise to let me do exactly that¨
Ooh, Alfred wasn't messing around. His eyebrow was raised in the ¨omg you child, stop your tantrum¨ way. A look almost only reserved for Bruce when he would insist that broken ribs or a dislocated shoulder would not be an inconvenience for patrol. Tim is absolutely sure that his life would come to an end if he were to point that out to Jason though.
¨The hell you are staring at, pretender?¨
Ah, right. He's standing right outside his bedroom door in the middle of the hall, staring.
¨You, obviously. What did you get into this time?¨
…
¨And did you really quote Monty Python? omg, nerd.¨
Of course Tim also knew Monty Python but Jason didn't need to know that he watched it by himself, he could lie and say that it was for a riddler case or something, that seemed in brand with Nygma, yeah.
And yes, he's very aware of also being a hypocrite but hey, Dick set the example first.
Before Jason could reply, Alfred interfered with an annoyed tone
¨Master Jason has been shot. Again.¨
And with only a glare, Jason surrendered in his attempt of escaping, allowing Alfred to fuss over his injury. The whole ruckus didn't go unnoticed though, with Steph and Cass popping their heads out of their room to look like the noisy bats they all are.
¨It's already out! didnt even go through it¨ Jason argued again because he is incapable of shutting the fuck up.
¨But it did graze a major artery, which could have been fatal¨
¨But it wasn't¨
Alfred just regarded him with a pointed look, emanating a ¨really?¨and deeming the rest of the conversation unnecessary
¨Go to the rest room, ill bring new bandages.¨ He turned around to go back to the just exited room ¨And i would advise you master Jason that when I go down you are there, since you bled all over the covers that I must clean. It's the least you could do, hrm?¨ . Alfred turned around and left, leaving Jason standing in the hall, daring him in silence to disobey
Guilt tripping at its finest, Alfred is truly the best of them.
¨You got your ass scooooolded!!¨ Steph screamed and Jason looked like he was contemplating murder
Right, yes. full house. Tim´s mission. The doorknob was already warm because of how long Tim had been just holding it, he chose to ignore the conversation in the hall in favor of doing what he came to do.
Of course, it also just so happened that Tim's cases were also solved. But not because of luck because everyone knows that Tim has no luck, ever. They had been solved because he worked to solve them! like the good vigilante he is.
What he didn't think beforehand was that if he solved all his cases, he had nothing else going on currently, and boredom is more of a threat than any Gotham rogue can be. Tim would rather have to deal with condiment King than just being in his penthouse with nothing to do, nothing that poked at his brain with the right amount of pressure and amusement. Tim tried everything, there was nothing for Young Justice, none of his teammates needed help with their current cases and none of them were as free from everything as Tim found himself to be.
It was hell, it got him to the point of binge watching weird and obscure video essays about everything and nothing (now Tim had the knowledge of the whole lolcow iceberg in his brain, utterly useless information he will never forget now). Tim watched them all while multitasking and finishing all his games too.
He even found the 900 freaking kolog seeds in Zelda Breath of the wild, while learning why Chris Chan was the worst lolcow ever.
Tim is not proud of this, this is a new low.
But he's got nothing else, so it is what it is. Now why is Tim here? Well, not all of his games were in his penthouse, and he knew it because he checked his game list (yes, shut up) and noticed that his Crash Team Racing game was missing. Just reading the name reminded him of just how much he liked the game.
The last time he had so much free time on his hands was because he was benched as Robin, courtesy of Bane throwing him like a rag doll against a brick wall which had him recovering for months! but the first one was the absolute worst because he couldn't even help with coms because Bruce grounded him (he might have defied Bruce when he told him to stay behind with the whole Bane thing). He didn't even get his laptop to entertain himself.
And then, like a gift from the gods themselves.
Crash Racing came to his life.
Now this is a lore drop but yeah, Tim liked Crash Bandicoot. He loved the game when he was a child because of how damn difficult it was to complete, with all the gems and relics and whatever. And he also liked Mario Kart because Dick used to play with him.
So a mix of both?? it was glorious.
Tim had the habit of becoming obsessed, if you haven't noticed. So for his whole recovery he played it, completed the main story, got all the stars from playing all the cups in all the difficulties and played all of the different modes. But he didn't get to buy all the characters, skins and stuff because Scarecrow and Joker teamed up and planted bombs all over Gotham, bombs with both fear toxin and Joker laugh gas, and then the alien invasion, and then more and more and more cases.
So there it laid, his game… unfinished.
As soon as Tim remembered that little bit of information he got this itch to finish it, he just had to get all of the stuff as soon as possible because this little vacation wouldn't last forever either and he could just not wait.
And, well.
Isn't that just another incredibly odd coincidence that got him in the Manor too?
Were they cursed? Is this about to turn into a game where some wild magician or chaos lord is going to make them all play unless they want the world to explode or something?
Might be, but until then Tim had a single goal: get his game, go back home, finish it. He was so dead set on this he even brought his Nintendo with him, planning to just order an Uber to take him and play as soon as he got in the car.
And no, Tim is not accepting critiques to his coping mechanism of obsessiveness, thanks.
Rummaging through whatever is left of him in this old room he finds everything but his game, the search becomes frantic. He left the room a mess when he moved out so it doesn't matter if he throws more stuff around.
¨Uhh… no we wanna know?¨
Dammit, he has an audience
¨I dont think youd be interested¨
And of course that's the wrong thing to say because now all three of them are interested (why is Jason still there is beyond him)
¨What, did you forget your porn stash of something?¨
Tim only bothers to turn around and look at Jason with disgust for a second before resuming his search. It's not under his bed, maybe in his walk in closet, he's got a few boxes stored there.
¨Ew!! Why is that your first guess? experience?¨ Steph shoves Jason, not with any real force as they follow Tim
¨Leaveeee¨ Tim huffs, annoyed while he searches but is stopped when Cass just appears in front of him
¨We can help, it will be faster¨
That's one good argument but having to explain to them why this search is so important balances it out by far.
¨It's nothing important, I've got it. You can go back to… whatever you were doing¨ He keeps opening boxes, finding old clothes and some stuff from his school days
¨If its not important why would you drive all the way here to search for it?¨
¨I didnt drive¨ Tim answered without thinking and it was enough to really get them curious
Damn nosy bats and birds, damn Bruce for infecting them all.
¨Okay so let me get this straight, Pretender. This thing that is so not important got you to 1. get out of your bird nest in the morning and 2. not even bother to drive yourself?, either you fess up or we will keep guessing until you fold¨
Jason had a very impressive talent of annoying the shit out of Tim, and Cass was still in front of him just staring with her big black eyes, like a cat that wants to play while simultaneously reading him like an open book.
¨Alright first guess, you forgot your rogue ranking list and you just need to update it because someone wronged you again and deserves to be at the bottom!¨
And of course there was also Steph, who knew way more than Tim would like her knowing because she was his weird ex/best friend who loved annoying him almost as much as Jason did but with the upper hand that Tim couldn't really get angry at her,because 1: she knew him, she knew how he thought and how he schemed and just how many stupid lists he had, and 2: As much as she annoyed him, she did it with no real malice so it just made Tim feel all warm and mushy and other sappy stuff (because she knew him so well she even knew how to get to get him to do whatever she wanted) and 3: unless they were both on a case, Tim could not deny her anything
That's why she keeps hanging around even if they broke up years ago, Tim can't win against her because he doesn't want her to leave. Fuck.
Don't get him wrong though, he is no longer in love with Steph, not romantically. But she never really stopped being his best friend so he cares… a lot. More than he is willing to admit but, and sorry for repeating this so much, SHE KNOWS HIM.
¨You have a rogue ranking? holy shit¨
Tim pressed the bridge of his nose in defeat, signing loudly
¨It's a game okay? just a game i want to play and thats all.¨
They stayed silent for 30 seconds exactly
¨God, you are so fucking lame¨
¨Why are you looking for a game so… thoroughly?¨
¨We can still help¨
He couldn't deny Steph, he can't deny Cass. This battle is long lost, he would wave a little white flag if he could.
¨Fine, help if you want or dont, I dont care anymore¨ He threw his hands in the air, totally defeated
¨Alright Timbo, which game is it?¨ At least Steph seemed amused, Jason tried to feign nonchalance about it but his ass is just as nosy as everyone here, that's why he didn't leave yet.
¨… Crash Team Racing¨
Steph faltered in her walk, pausing to look at him
¨Really Tim… again?¨
Can´t Tim get away with anything anymore??
¨Of fucking curse you remember¨
¨This sounds juicy, spill Blondie¨
Tim chose to ignore them again as Steph retold his little fight with Bane all those years ago and how that got Tim to ¨spirrall¨ with the game. Cass got right to the mission and helped him search without uttering a word.
¨And then he spent all day and all night playing that freaking game, like. We got Mario kart!! he was going insane, I told Bruce he might wanna watch him in case he became a rogue with a kart racing theme going or something¨
Steph finished the story with her arms crossed and snickering at the memory, all while Jason was losing his shit like the ape he is.
¨Its not here, maybe downstairs¨ Cass interrupted
Wait a second…
¨Who got into my room? it should not be downstairs¨ Tim narrowed his eyes at Steph
¨God alright alright, I might have come here before…and Dick-¨
¨And Dami¨
¨How helpful Cass..¨
Why the hell would Damian be in his room?? God he should've checked for bugs or traps if that damn brat was here
¨Stop thinking so loudly Timmers, he didn't do anything, I watched him. He said he would borrow your games to surpass all your scores or something¨ Steph shrugged, like it was nothing
¨..if he deleted my Hollow Knight game from the family Nintendo, I'm killing him.¨
______________________
This was supposed to be a quick trip, go inside, hope to not stumble into anyone, get his damn game and go back to his penthouse to order takeout and play games all day like a rat! But noooo, life just hated him and now he got Jason, Steph and Cass following him downstairs to question Damian because his suffering is amusing to them.
And Cass wants to help, she is blameless, she's the only one who doesn't relish in Tim's bad luck.
They find him exactly where he was last time he saw him, in the far end of the library, and of course as soon as they passed Duke he got curious, and now Jason was filling him in in Tim's quest, but Tim payed no mind, he got an interrogation to make
¨Where are my games brat, I'll deck you if you have thrown them out¨
Well he didn't say friendly interrogation.
Damian looked at him with his characteristic frown, taking his headphones out and looking up at him from here he laid on the floor
¨Your game collection was as much of a challenge as you are so I deemed it beneath me and left it with the rest in the game room. Go fetch your things and leave¨
¨I saw you lose like, 50 times with Hollow Knight Dami, don't lie¨ Duke was also involved at this point, and of course he also found this entertaining enough to poke at it
¨TT. Why would it matter anyway, aren't you too old to play games, Drake?¨
¨You are never old enough for games Dami!¨ A voice behind them spoke
God, Dick. Fucking boy wonder the first.
Just end him now, really.
¨ What's this about games im hearing about?¨
¨Oh my god, you pests- not you Cass- Why are you all here?!¨ Tim was gonna lose it, really.
What followed was a bunch of incoherent chatter of all of them relaying why they were here but Tim already knew or just didn't care. He just wants to play his stupid game and finish it.
The opportunity arose when everyone decided to fill Dick and Damian into this whole mess too, and Tim took the advantage of them being distracted enough to go to the game room for his treasure. If his calculations were right he had 2 minutes before they all followed him here to mock him, he had to get out and disappear before that.
He got there and crouched down to fiddle with the drawers, looking into the neatly organized pile of games until finally, there it was. He didn't waste a single second, taking it out and attempting to get out from the window until he heard light footsteps
Purposeful light steps, like they wanted him to notice.
¨Cass, I thought you were the good one. How could youuu?¨ He might have whined, just a little
¨Stay¨ She said with a little smile, holding the micro sd card of the actual game in her hands and showing it to him.
The room filled with the rest of the animals he called brothers (and Steph) shortly
¨Why would you even play that thing! we got Mario kart!¨
¨ That's what I said!¨
Tim can't win against them. He signs and smiles juuuust a little, after all it had been a while since he last saw Cass and Steph.
¨Fine, but we are playing¨ he signed in silence to Cass, to which she smiled and returned the card to him
Tim got to set up his own nintendo, at least he will get to play and win coins to buy everything he needed to complete the game
¨What are you doing now?¨
¨We are playing, Tim stays¨ Cass informed them
It seemed that it was the end of it, the journey ended, the mission was done and now everyone gets back to whatever they were doing.
That's what Tim hoped for
¨I don't know why I even bothered with seeing the end of this pathetic display, not that is surprising for Drake to entertain himself with childish easy games¨ Damian said with poison in his voice while he strode towards the exit of the room
And that's what broke it, Tim finally snapped because you can make fun of him, you can call him and his games childish
But you cannot call Crash Bandicoot games easy.
¨I bet you cant win a single race against me¨
Everyone stopped, and Damian turned with a glare so intense it would've scared a normal civilian into backing off, too bad Tim is used to that particular glare.
¨Your game is beneath me, I wont waste my time on useless activities¨
¨You said you played my games and they were easy, shouldn't be a bother since you are soo good at them right?¨ Tim felt like he was poking a wolf
Or more like a rescued, reactive puppy. Damian's sounds of frustration could be annoying yips.
¨I know what you are doing Drake, I wont fall for it¨
¨Aww its alright Dami, is soo scary for little children to try news things¨ He was stepping on the puppy's tail now. Damian hated being treated like a child
Dick was a watching Damian, expecting him to jump at Tim at any moment now, but also hoping he wouldn't, they had been working on it
¨Im not a scared!!¨
That's right where Tim wanted him, he smiled smugly and offered the other remote to play, the blue one just to be petty (he gets to keep Robin's color remote)
¨Prove it¨
Damian looked at the remote, then at Tim. Seething with rage but also assessing the situation.
¨One race¨
¨A whole cup race¨ Tim pushed just to see how far he could
Damian growled with annoyance and snatched the remote from Tim's hand as violently as he could
¨Fine, I will destroy you in your stupid game and then you'll leave and waste your time and oxygen somewhere else!¨
Everyone was intrigued again, and got to sit on the couch of the floor to watch the match unfold, some were even placing bets
¨Do you mind Cass?¨ Tim asked
Cass just nodded, got out to bring the forgotten chinese snacks for everyone and settled between Tim and Steph to watch the game.
¨You do know how to play, or do I have to teach you?¨
¨I know how to play Drake, get on with it¨
Tim didn't put the CPU players in easy mode just to be petty, and they quickly went to choose a character. Damian chose Crash and the default kart to get this over as quickly as possible. Tim choose Ripper Roo and his kart was already personalized
¨Why are all the characters so ugly…¨ Steph muttered beside him ¨They are all like… mutants¨
¨Hm, you'd be surprised of how lore accurate that is¨
¨Omg shut upp¨
¨Get this over with Drake!¨
Tim even let him pick the cup, knowing that Damian wouldn´t choose the easier ones and they began with the first race.
__________________________________________
Damian ended in last place and Tim, unsurprisingly won first. It did not go well. Duke and Steph announced loudly that they had won the bet while the rest paid, all of them chattering about the game and how far behind Damian was from Tim. Dick was trying to meddle just enough to keep everyone from fighting, as always.
Thanks to Robin training for instilling quick reflexes in Tim early in life or he would've been smacked with a flying remote to the head, he managed to grab it just in time.
¨You cheat!! you kept using a boost! you hacked this thing!!¨ Damian was exploding with rage
¨I did not hack it! That's how you play! You have to use the drifting mechanic! I thought you said you knew how to play¨ Tim allowed himself to smile and relish in this victory
Was it childish? yeah, but the look on Damian's face was so worth it, he's never living this down.
¨You knew the shortcuts!!¨ Damian tried again
¨You said my games were easy, thought you actually played them before enough to know¨ Tim feign a gasp ¨dont tell me you gave up Damian¨
¨Tim¨ Dick warned him
Alright he might be getting too cocky on this,stop poking the reactive puppy.
¨I demand a rematch!¨
Tim decided to be good and give him an actual chance before Damian died young from an aneurysm
¨We still have 3 races left for the cup, at least let me… remind you how to use the drifting¨
Damian allowed him to remind him of the controls (teach him really, but he would get a punch to the face had he chose those words with him).
¨You gotta use the buttons up here, either L or R. You keep on pressing one until that bar in the corner fills, when it does you press the other button to get a boost. You get a max of 3 at every attempt of drifting¨
¨Jesus, what's the need of making it so complicateedd¨ Steph had endless criticism apparently
¨I beat all of your asses in mario kart, cant be that complicated once you learn the fucking controls¨ Jason kept his nonchalance act
¨Wanna be next? After I beat Dami?¨ Tim was feeling rather suicidal today
Jason snorted when Damian threw the tv remote at Tim, Cass caught it this time and looked disapprovingly at Damian
¨Im not like the brat, I don't need to prove anything to you¨
¨Hm, humor me then¨
¨Shut it Pretender, Im not playing your fucking game¨
¨Geez, who knew. Lazarus pit not only gives you skunk hair, it also deletes your capacity of humor¨
¨OOOHHH¨ Steph and Duke both said in unison, looking and pointing at Jason, and at least they were on his side.
¨Im gonna break you like a twig¨
¨And that's just so much more effort instead of playing a game¨ Tim smiled at him with all the innocence he could muster
Tim should never be allowed in a zoo, he would poke all the dangerous animals
Jason let out a very Bruce-like sign of annoyance while looking at his bandages, probably figuring that he was staying for a while so might as well not be bored out of his mind.
¨God you are so annoying, fine. But I get one try for the controls first since I never played that shit before…unlike someone¨
¨REMATCH!¨ Damian shouted instantly, already impatient for the next race
They annoyed Tim endlessly when he only wanted his game and to leave, he's not going easy on them
_____________________________________
Damian might have popped a vein when their race cup ended, he got a bit better and ended up in 5th in the end but didn't make the podium. Tim won first of course. Damian demanded another rematch but Tim told him he would have to wait for his turn, so now he was sulking at the end of the couch but he wasn't leaving.
Jason got the hang of it quicker than anticipated, just enough for Tim to have to actually try but not enough to surpass him, he got 3rd though, and mocked Damian that he at least got to the podium and of course that prompted Damian to also challenge Jason later on. But the main focus of everyone was now beating Tim at least in one race.
Duke asked politely if he could play next, Tim had to try harder than Jason, Duke managed to surpass him more than once, but didn't win any race in first place because he kept forgetting to drift in the pronounced curves, causing him to fall over or crash to the wall. He was a good sport about it though.
¨Man, you are impossible. Just how many hours did you put into this game?¨ Duke's expression was between mocking and slightly concerned
¨I don't know, 240? I dont even have all the karts and stuff¨
Tim looked just in time to catch Steph's eye light up with the realization, because again, no matter how many times Tim has to reiterate, she knows him.
¨Oh my god thats why you wanted it isnt it?, you obsessive sicko¨
¨What's this about?¨ asked Dick, who was busy munching on the chinese sweets Cass brought for him
¨So we all know Tim is an obsessive freak right?¨
¨Right.¨ said everyone
Tim is going to demolish them in all the races, no mercy.
¨I just thought he was obsessed with the game again since hes obviously has nothing going on, like last time, but Tim has this weird thing that he cant play.. anything without completing it to the fullest¨
¨Holy crap Tim, you completed Hollow Knight then?! to the 112%?!¨ Duke looked bewildered at the realization
Tim smiled a little sheepishly, was he proud of his game accomplishments? yeah, was he proud of the obsessive behaviour that came with it? Not so much..-
¨God Timberly, you are sick. Are you seriously going to play this fuck ass game until you have everything?¨
¨..yeah?¨
Damian groaned
¨What a waste of time, I thought you were better than this Drake¨
¨Only winners get to criticize me¨
¨TT.¨
¨Alright, I'll bite, im next¨
______________________________________
Steph ended in last place like Damian because she was too impatient with the drift and kept failing, or kept forgetting to use it. Jason took a very brief break to get new bandages at Alfred's insistence, but returned as soon as possible to keep watching. Cass finally had her promised turn after her, she was surprisingly good at it but she kept being left behind because she got hit by every power up from the CPU players, she ended at 4th and Tim stayed unbeaten. The goal now was to surpass him and/or win 1st in at least one race to be granted the power to criticize him, as stated before.
There was only one opponent next.
Dick, self proclaimed king of videogames, number one on Mario kart and Mario party (because of sheer luck in Tim's opinion). But he was playing hard to get
¨ I'm not playing guys, I'm more of a Mario guy anyways and like Steph said. I don't like the characters-¨
¨Come on Dick! just use whatever character like we all did! Tim has to go down!!¨ Duke pleaded, he really thought Dick might have a chance at it
¨Richard, avenge me!!¨
¨Oh come on Dick, I know you want to end Timmer's tyranny as much as I do¨
¨Dick you are the only one left! it's your dutyyy!!¨
None of their arguments was gonna work and Tim knew it
But Tim knew what could get to Dick, what could get him to play against him. And well, Dick wasn't his usual victim of endless mockery because he really looked up to him, since he was a child. Of course they banter every once in a while, they are brothers, but it's not in the same ¨lets-see-how-much-i-can-bother-you-until-one-of-us-punches-the-other¨ way he did with the others.
But Dick was no Cass either, he didn't get that much respect out of him, and well…
Tim was actually having fun, he didn't want this to end, not yet. Besides, Dick needed a bit of a slap to his leader's ego. Tim smiled
He was poking the mightiest of them all now, it was definitely a gamble.
Time to wake the actual, angry Robin.
¨Its alright Dick¨ Tim began, smiling innocently like before ¨This must be too modern for you anyways¨
And God that was almost instant, everyone quiet down, Steph and Duke had their mouths open in shock, not even an ¨ooohh¨ was heard.
¨What did you say?¨ Dick kept the smile, but Tim could see the cracks
¨Well you know, Mario kart is ancient and you always played it. This game is a remaster, the mechanics are complicated and well. Its just too much, its alright, no sweat¨
Dick looked at him knowingly, trying to not fall for it and choosing to tease him back to deflect
¨ I'll remind you I'm the king of videogames here, Timbo. You don't want me to ruin your record, do ya?¨
¨Ooohhh!¨ Steph and Duke finally found their voices again
Tim snorted and laughed a bit
¨What games, snake? Tennis for two?¨
¨OOHH!!!!!¨ Jason was now in it too
Dicks smile faltered for a second and that's how Tim knew he did it, there's his hero, the first Robin
¨Give me the remote you little shit, and don't come at me crying when I beat you¨
Oh the expression on everyone was delightful, even Jason was surprised with how Tim was able to get on Dicks nerves too. The bets followed quickly too, even Damian was participating (betting for Dick´s win of course). Only Steph and Cass betted on Tim
Dick insisted that Tim put the CPU mode in hard too, the angry and proud Robin shining through the cracks, Tim let him and even choose the hardest cup race to make it as challenging as he could.
Dick didn't bother with choosing a character of his liking, sticking with Crash as the rest have done by default, Tim chose Ripper Roo, as always.
He's just so maniacally charming okay? sue him.
And so it began, Tim's gotta give it to Dick, he got the hang of the drifting quickly enough since his crown as videogame King was challenged. He surpassed Tim in the first lap of the first race, ending in everyone shouting loudly and cheering him up while Steph took the place of race manager, telling him to take it seriously because she didn't want to lose her money.
It was tough, Dick stayed on first until the very end of the second lap when Tim shot not one but 3 missiles at him, surpassing him and winning the race with Dick on second. But it was enough of a close call that it had Tim in the ¨concentrated gamer stance¨ (if you know you know).
¨Sweating Red? Im only getting warmed up¨ Dick teased, determination filling his eyes
¨I might have underestimated you, but you are still eating my dust, Dickwing, your generation is over, just like vine!¨ Tim teased back.
¨You take that back!¨
¨Make me!¨
The second race began and Tim got a bit nervous and fumbled the boost in the beginning of the race, earning himself a bunch of screaming from Steph and a loud and annoying laugh from Jason. It didnt help that Dick learned the shortcuts of this particular track since it was a repeated one from another cup they already played, fuck.
Tim tried with all his might, managing to surpass him in the third lap but a fucking bomb got him in the last second.
And Dick won, his reign of terror faltered. The resistance gained force and Tim finished 2nd
¨WOOO, DICK WON, HE WON!!¨
¨Take that Blondie!! I can almost smell my money!¨
¨Of course Richard won! Hes avenging me!¨
Dick didn't say anything, just turned and looked at Tim smugly, all Robin and no Nightwing.
Tim huffed a little but smiled competitively
¨You might've won the battle but the war isn't over yet¨
The third race had everyone in high spirits, shouting at every hit from a power up, every fall from the track and every time Tim surpassed Dick or Dick surpassed Tim, it was chaos.
They were both fighting for first place, no one really staying there for long, as they approached the goal line in the last lap. Tim could almost taste his victory!
Until the fucking Dingodile CPU got them BOTH with a bomb, made them fall, and won first place. The other CPUs also got ahead of them, leaving Dick in second to last and Tim in last. But none of them got points, and since each won 1st and 2nd once.
They were in a tie.
Everyone just lost their minds at it, all shouts erupted from the game room.
Only Tim and Dick stayed sitting out of sheer shock and those last seconds of the race, mouths hanging. The rest got up instantly as Dingodile crossed the line, with Damian making a war cry of ¨AHHHHH¨ of pure frustration and anger since he thought Dick was the imminent winner. He was as shocked as they were themselves but actually verbalizing it.
Duke and Jason were hanging on each other and continuing relating what just happened and verifying that the other saw.
¨DID YOU SEE THAT?! HOLY-!!¨¨
¨THAT FUCKER, HOLY CRAP?!¨
Cass stood up when she saw everyone do so, but only clapped a little at the feat of Dingodille proving to be a worthy opponent.
Steph stood up and grabbed her own hair in distresses and kept chanting ¨what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuuuuck. Timmy oh. my. god. you HAVE to win¨
Just as she uttered those words, Tim and Dick looked at each other
And grinned. This is it.
Tim's hands were sweating as he saw the lights go from red to yellow to green. Overcome with a sense of impending doom, if Dick won he would never, EVER, live it down. His life as a gamer would be ruined, he would be a mere peasant, with the other peasants throwing rotten tomatoes at him for the sin of being cocky and trying to defy the chosen King.
Dick surpassed him, drifting perfectly on the sharp curb Tim fumbled, he's on 4th. Steph is almost taking out her wallet when Dick gets hit by a red bottle spell, getting him on 3rd and tim getting closer to him. The goal isn't even first place, just to beat the other by a single place would suffice, it was personal. It was a matter of life or death.
Tim gets to the item box a second after Dick, hoping to get a better item than him and win, they are rounding the end of the second lap. Dick gets a bomb, using his 1 second advantage and throwing it behind
Hitting Tim.
Tim gets a boost, using it as soon as he can while drifting, with a total of 4 boosts that gets him to pass Dick, just barely. They are at half the map now, on 4th and 3rd. Another item box.
Tim gets it first. He gets a bomb box
Dick gets 3 missils
¨It's so over¨, Tim thinks. Almost contemplating giving up, blocking the first missile with the bomb box out of reflex. Now he 's itemless.
He keeps going, surpassing the 2nd player with a drift just in time that the next missile tracks that player and not Tim. Dick gets to 3rd.
One last missile, Dick has one chance at winning and the finishing line is around a not so sharp curve, and easy one.
Dick begins to drift perfectly, until he misses the bar filling up, he pressed it too soon and surprised at the error falters and presses the button that launches his last missile a bit earlier than planned.
Tim drifts perfectly, practice drilled to his very core. He won this race a hundred times, he's about to make it. He can be faster than the missile for a little longer and win.
But Dick had one last trick left, activating the action box, which uses the mechanic of that particular map and burns Tim, and his kart does a little lap as he gets the hit, but isn't slowed that much. A small set back, not as strong as an item and with a missile still behind and it hits
Nothing?
The minor map burn… it cancelled out the missile because of the lap animation.
Dick fumbled his win
And Tim won. In 2nd.
Steph immediately shouted, nothing untenable just a scream of relief and shock and insanity. Damian shouted at Dick ¨HE WAS RIGHT THERE, RIGHT THERE!!¨ Jason and Duke are hanging on each other yet again but this time both saying ¨THE CROOOOWN!!!!!¨ Over and over, like the peasants they are now. While Cass, the head of the king's council put a little haw flake she took from the snacks on his head, giving him his rightful crown. And Titus (who somehow managed to get into the room unnoticed) began to howl with them. The whole zoo went insane, including Tim who just shouted ¨HOLY SHIT DICK, I WAS PISSING MYSELF¨ And Dick laughing his ass off at it.
¨WHAT IS GOING ON HERE¨
Wow, even Bruce was screaming!!
.. crap!
_______________________________________________________________
¨And well, I challenged Dick¨. Tim smiled at Bruce
¨You mean you bullied me until I cracked, you gremlin!¨ Dick was smiling too
¨Oh cry about it, you loooseerrr¨ And they bantered as always, not real hard feelings at it. A sense of good sportsmanship because they are mature, yes.
Bruce signed deeply and slowly and Tim waited for the reprimand at the volume of their contest.
And finally, Bruce smiled and looked at Tim
¨Jesus Tim, again?¨
______________________________________________
Dinner in Wayne manor with so many of them would've been a bit of a nightmare to imagine, but Tim was sure that everyone was glad that it carried on in the opposite way. They kept repeating the best parts of the ¨King election race¨, filling Alfred and Bruce in the feats of their Odyssey and even making a visual recreation of the scene with their hands and the salt shaker.
The food is good as always, and no one fights. Bruce smiles
In the very end though, the resistance regroups. Planning on how to behead the King and turn the kingdom into a democracy.
¨I'll be back Timbit!! You'll see!¨ Dick told him while he squished him with a bit more force before saying goodbye and going to Blud. Followed by a small slap at the back of his head as Jason passes through, going for his bike. ¨You and Dick focus on each other, I´ll lead a fucking mutiny and defeat ya both¨ acting nonchalant as always, like this was but a side quest he might bother with.
But Tim saw the smile grin on his face, they all had fun.
It's late and Tim decides to sleep there, being King is exhausting. The next day Alfred convinces him to stay for lunch and as Tim goes to his room, he catches Damian with the game, practicing.
Well, guess the game isn't leaving the Manor anytime soon.
Tim goes home after lunch. It takes a week for Tim to be back, this time because of an actual case (thank God) but once he did what he needed to. Duke approached him
¨Hey Tim, got time for a quick Crash race?¨
Tim won of course, but also taught Duke some of his tricks because he complained that Damian always won now. He felt so proud when later on Damian found them and immediately challenged Tim, to which he replied ¨Only if you beat Duke first¨.
Everyone played when they had the chance, and of course, the kingdom lost its King soon enough, democracy won and Duke became president.
Bested by his own pupil. In the last seconds of being beheaded, Tim felt proud.
Although Duke's presidency did not last long, it was a turbulent government once everyone practiced enough. And Tim thought that the novelty might have worn off now. They bought all the characters with team effort and were halfway to owning all the karts, but it didn't stop.
Crash went from being criticized to being loved. Steph and Cass sometimes asked about the history of certain characters, Damian must have looked it up because he now knew something more about it than surface level stuff.
And the rest learned just by being near the rest.
Tim had a feeling Jason already knew but delivered his nonchalant act too good that he missed that the first time.
Now they all had favorite characters though, Crash became another CPU because the main character in any game of racing is never the most interesting choice. Tim relied on good old Ripper Roo (now with the mad scientist skin!), Dick still claimed that Mario was superior so he took a liking to one of the only characters that isn't a Crash Bandicoot character: Spyro.
Jason chose either Pinstripe, because he had a gun no doubt, or Dingodile because of his performance in the original King´s crown contest, as it was referred to as now.
Duke chose Neo Cortex because he thought he was hilarious, he liked him so much he even got to play other Crash games (pupils, they grow so fast). Cass chose either of the animal ones, Pura (tigress), Polar (bear) Penta (penguin) or the baby T-rex
Yes, Crash´s gallery of characters is weird, that's the charm of it.
Steph chose Yaya Panda because the voice lines annoyed Jason, and if not she chose Coco
Demian also chooses the animals but he chooses Nash more, for a reason Tim can't understand yet but seems fitting.
They got Bruce to play once, he chose Crunch because he seemed strong and wasn't evil by default.
Tim never got to finish the game himself but that was perfectly fine because now everyone liked Crash and he got to play with them more than once.
Weirdly enough, that cup race win was the luckiest thing that's happened to Tim.
Not that he would tell them, Crash is about skill, not luck.
Maybe.