Chapter Text
Every other time, there’s a flicker. Like a channel being changed on the TV or a signal briefly going out and then coming back, so fast you almost miss it. A ripple to the world that gives it a dreamlike quality, but only for a moment. Blink and you might miss it.
Whether there was a flicker the first time, Jason isn’t sure. It’s so subtle, so easy to miss and he wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind to catalogue oddities around him in the world; not when Timothy Fucking Drake was finally within his grasp.
The idiotic Replacement, born with a silver spoon in his fucking mouth was wearing the Robin suit; HIS death shroud. And that couldn’t be allowed to continue. Sure, Bruce Wayne would get his comeuppance eventually, but the best way to start was to prove how insane it was to let this, this, pretender parade around in a costume that had killed Jason. Especially when he put it on not even 6 months after Jason had drawn his last breath. And to let a Bristol boy wear those colors? Insult to injury.
He was going to make the Birdie pay, the Bat pay, the whole world pay back tenfold for every wrong he was entitled to.
But he was getting ahead of himself. It was time to chase down the Replacement and make him squeal.
The stage was set and Jason had been planning this for months. Before he even set a single plan in motion, he checked if his old credentials still worked in Titans Tower. Then, he made sure to keep Bruce on his toes, never knowing where he would strike next, but he made it very clear that the Replacement was the target. Now all he had to do was spook the Bat enough to get him to send the Birdie away to the Tower and then he would be ready to attack.
He geared up very carefully, placing his Berettas in their holsters, adding various knives to the arsenal and making sure to have a bag packed with all manner of small explosive devices and smoke pellets. Finally he grabbed his red helmet off its stand, checked all the functions and got ready to go to the Tower.
Sneaking into the Tower, it was almost laughably easy to take down each team member. He quietly worked his way through the halls, incapacitating each one one by one and locking them in their rooms until all that was left was the Pretender, ready and waiting for him. He killed the lights and stood silently in the dark, waiting for his chance to take the asshole down.
Tim Drake was creeping along the hallway, staff extended and looking around for Jason. He looked nervous and hesitant, perfectly on edge and just scared enough to make things interesting. Show Time.
Jason let the eyes of the helmet light up right when he knew the Replacement was looking at him. The two glowing eyes in the darkness should be the only thing he could see and sure enough, he paused and faced the eyes with his Bo staff at the ready.
“Hello there Replacement. Fancy seeing you here.” Jason drawled, the voice modulator making his voice deeper and more menacing.
“Red Hood! I’m surprised to see you on the West Coast, I thought Crime Alley was your port of call. I guess you’re all done there? Looking for a new place to set up operations?” The Replacement asked, shifting his weight on his feet and adjusting his hands along the Bo staff.
“No, Gotham is in my blood, if you can call blood the thing that keeps me alive. No, I’m just here to knock a little Birdie down a few pegs, piss off a Bat, and make sure everyone remembers my name.” Jason said, drawing his knife and preparing to start attacking.
“Whoa hey now, no need to do anything rash! I’m sure we can talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you.” The Replacement said quickly.
Jason started stalking forward towards the Pretender slowly, enjoying the way he mirrored him and backed up step by step.
“What’s the matter Replacement? Is your emergency signal not working? Oh too bad the big bad Daddy Bats isn’t going to be able to come by and save you.” The eyes of the domino mask widened in shock. “Did I mention that? Oh, that’s so mean of me, how could I forget to tell you? We’re all alone here until I say we’re done.” Jason finished.
The Replacement’s eyes were darting around, probably desperately looking for a way out of this situation. But there would be no way out of this, not until the idiot admitted he was wrong and backed out of the hero game once and for all.
Step after slow step Jason advanced and the Replacement backed up, until one of the Robin boots hit a wall and there was nowhere left for the Bird to fly off to.
"Aw, are you cornered? That’s too bad.” Jason said, malice on his tongue.
And he lunged at Tim, aiming to nick an arm. The Pretender spun out of the way, staff flying to knock the knife away from his flesh.
“So the Bird can fight after all. Let’s see how this goes.” Jason said, pleased that this wouldn’t be over too fast.
The Replacement whirled his staff, trying to clip Jason’s feet out from under him and Jason jumped over the staff easily. While he was committed to the follow-through of the staff swing, Jason lunged towards his arm, once again hoping to impair it. With a soft cry, Jason got his win and first blood staining his knife. He could feel a rush of green within him at the sight of red as the pit responded to his anger and excitement, feeding them and heightening all his emotions.
The Replacement whipped the staff back around, trying for another attack and another and another. But with each attack Jason outclassed, outmaneuvered, and wounded the wannabe hero. Finally, his grip too weak on the staff to prevent it, Jason grabbed the Bo right out of Tim’s hands and the Birdie collapsed to the floor, breathing hard and with blood starting to form a pool around him.
“Now Replacement, I’ve never been the biggest fan of staffs, but I know how to use one. Should we see how well I was taught? I’m sure you’d love a lesson.” Jason said as he spun the staff in a circle.
The Replacement glared up at him, spitting blood out on the floor in front of him from an earlier hit to the face.
“Alright then, I’ll take that as a yes! Lesson one,” Jason swung the staff and cracked Tim in the side of the head, “Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Hood, I really don’t!” The Replacement said, holding a hand to his head.
“Aw, we’ll see about that. Lesson two,” another crack of the staff, “Just because you’re from Bristol doesn’t make you better than anyone else. Being incredibly rich doesn’t mean jack shit.”
The eyes of the domino mask widened, most likely in panic at the talk of Bristol.
“Oh right I almost forgot lesson three,” three hits of the staff to drive the point home, “Timothy Jackson Drake, you should have stuck to your own lane and stayed out of everyone else’s business.”
Jason reached forward and ripped the mask off Tim’s face watching in satisfaction as Tim recoiled back and a red mark started to immediately appear where the mask had been. The Replacement looked horrified, any blood he might have had drained from his face with the revelation that Jason knew his name.
“See, there aren’t very many rules, so you should be able to follow this, right?” Jason finished as he proceeded to beat the crap out of Tim.
At last, the Replacement slumped on the ground in unconsciousness. Laughing softly to himself, Jason cleaned off his knives in the sink, left behind the Bo covered in its owner's blood and made his way to the exit. He arrived back in Gotham, made some dinner for himself and went to bed dreaming of how the Bat would react to this latest test.
Only when Jason opened his eyes, he watched the world flicker slightly and found himself standing on the threshold of Titans Tower, watch counting down the amount of time the communications blackout would last.