I really wanna write a fic in the future canonverse where Jean is granted a few weeks of leave from the Survey Corps. And after spending time with his mother, he goes off to track down the Corp's former Commander, with the hopes of asking Erwin to train him into a better soldier.
Erwin would agree, and soon, all of his lines would turn into: "You think THAT'S tough, boy? Try it with ONE ARM!"
A/n: I don't think I can ever get enough of Erwin as Bruce Wayne and Jean as Jason Todd, even though this particular AU will always make me die inside.
While it makes more sense if you do know, you could read this without knowing basic Batman history. But if you do know, then...... have fun.
Rating is K and the word count is +600
On one hand, Erwin never thought he would start depending on coffee so much in his life. But on the other hand, he also knew that a job like his required staying up into the latest hours of the night. So mere minutes after the sun had set over Gotham city, Erwin found himself in the process of drinking down the last few gulps of his dark roast brew. He always liked his coffee strong, and always tended to drink it black. He didn’t drink it for the taste anyway.
By now, the mug was cold, as Erwin toggled himself in between suiting up and caffeinating his body for the night of patrol ahead of him. The only thing left for Erwin to put on was his cowl, which hung off the back of his neck as he stood in front of the cave’s computer.
When Erwin put his now empty mug down, Hannes walked over and picked it up automatically, like any proper butler would.
“Thank you, Hannes,” Erwin stated politely, his employee giving him a smiling nod after wards. Looking out into the supposedly empty cave, Erwin called out: “If you can’t suit up quickly at home, then I’m concerned on how you’ll be able to do so in the field!”
No reply came, but Erwin knew that he and Hannes weren’t entirely alone.
Hannes piled his master’s dishes onto a tray, “Perhaps he’s primping. Remember when Levi first put the costume on? He spent half an hour looking at himself in the bathroom mirror.”
“Good point,” Erwin agreed. “50 bucks says Levi spent a full hour staring at himself when he got that Nightwing costume you sent him.” He and his employee shared a hearty chuckle before Erwin called out again, “Jean! Are you ready yet?”
“HA!”
In an instant, a red, yellow and green blur jumped down from above, landing right between Erwin and Hannes. The butler was startled, dropping his tray the second the new boy wonder had surprised him, but in a contrast, the Dark Knight only remained amused.
Jean grinned more widely than he had during the last 6 months, “Ha! Got you, Hannes!” He looked up the Erwin, “And I got you too, Old Man!”
“You would’ve,” Erwin claimed, smiling down at his ward. “But I think I recall seeing a boy in a yellow cape shuffle across the catwalks 5 minutes ago.”
Jean was unconvinced, “Nope, I got you.”
Rolling his eyes, Erwin chuckled, “There’s a slight chance.” He stopped his words to take a look at his new sidekick. With a few modifications, the mantel of Robin had been taken up perfectly.
Jean fit the red and green torso piece well, but unlike Levi, he favoured green pants instead of those pixie shorts the first boy wonder pranced over Gotham with all those years ago. In fact, if Erwin recalled, one of the first things Jean had asked to Levi when they first met was an inquiry about why he neglected to wear pants in his own career as Robin.
The boy looked so happy to don the cape, as if it were the greatest dream come true for him.
“Tell me, how does it feel?” Erwin asked.
A gleam in Jean’s hazel eyes showed underneath his domino mask, “This… feels… AWESOME!” He threw punches in the air, launched a few kicks upwards, and flipped backwards like it was the easiest thing in the world, “Check me out! I’m Robin! The Boy Wonder! Does this look terrific or does this look terrific?!"
“Glad you like it, Jean,” Erwin smiled, reaching back on his costume to finally pull his hood up and onto his head.
Ecstatic, Jean ran ahead before his mentor took a single step and sprinted towards the batmobile, “Come on, Old Man! We’ve got bad guys to catch and criminals to stop!” He leaped up once he was close, landing on the roof of the car with an acrobat's grace, “This is the best day of my life.”
Lately, I have grown extremely attached to the idea of Jean being Jason Todd, but if Jean's Jason Todd, then you know what ultimately happens to him, right?
And I have made Kenny Ackerman a less insane version of the Joker, which means that... you know.
If you know what's going to happen and want to still read this, then good luck. Have fun if you can, and enjoy! Maybe.
Please don't hate me.
Oh, and the word count to this is 1795 and the rating is T.
Erwin was used to this set up; his hands on the collar of a punk, his strength pushing them against a wall as harshly as possible, and hia voice escalated into a growl more terrifying than a tiger's.
But on this occasion, Erwin had never grasped a collar more tightly, pushed someone against a wall more harshly, or growled more frighteningly in his entire career as The Dark Knight.
"WHERE IS HE? WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"
The punk in Erwin's grasp was shaking in fear, he was looking down and refusing to look the Bat in the eye. "I-I-I dunno what you're talking about, man."
Erwin had no tolerance for lying and re-slammed the punk against the wall so hard, that both the surface and a few bones were cracked, "DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME. WHERE IS HE?"
"AHHHH!" the punk whimpered. "WAIT! WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? KENNY OR THE BIRD?"
"BOTH OF THEM," demanded Erwin violently.
The punk probably pissed his pants, but in moments, he answered. "Kenny, uh... he's uptown. Crime Alley. In that old warehouse by Tatum street." He gulped, sweat dripping from his face, "And uh... he's got the bird with him."
The realization hit Erwin like a brick. Without another word said, Erwin let the punk out of his grasp and fled and area as fast as he could. He ran to the street where his Batcycle stood, and hopping on it, Erwin had never revved up the engine and rode down the street faster in his life.
--00--
Blood had stained the Robin costume before, many times, actually. Jean had gotten his suit bloodied up on plenty of occasions, but tonight, the blood that stained the fibres of his costume wasn't just near the arm, or near the leg; but everywhere.
Jean could only feel his costume bloodying up, however, as his vision was currently going blurry. Enough blows to the head could do that to a kid.
"Nyahhh!" Jean exclaimed as the iron pipe hit his face. The next thing he heard in the abandoned warehouse was the clattering of his tooth hitting the concrete floor.
"My bad, kid," came a vicious voice. "Didn't mean to harm those pearly whites of yours."
Jean wanted to reply like he always did, honestly and snarkily, but the only sound he made came out as: "Nnnnnngggg....."
Kenny Ackerman knelt down towards Jean's bloodied form, "Hey, Boy Blunder, if you wanna say something to me, you better speak up. You may have a collapsed lung. But then again, my hearing's been pretty messed up lately."
It took all of Jean's strength to roll onto his back. Looking up with his blurry vision, Jean could see the faint image of Kenny Ackerman standing above him. A sweetly sadistic smile was on the murderer's face, and a manic look laid in a pair of eyes that were so happily attached to the sight of a beaten boy.
Since Jean could barely speak, he allowed his actions to convey his message, as actions always spoke louder than words. He spat in Kenny's face.
Kenny flinched as the spit hit his chin. In retaliation, Kenny hit Jean in the face with the pipe once more.
"Your manners are shit, kid. The first boy blunder was at least polite," Kenny grumbled bitterly, wiping the bit of spit off his face. "Didn't Batman teach you a few manners or two?"
Almost instantly, Kenny stepped on Jean's back, the boy wonder's groans intensifying once the murderer set more weight on his foot.
Suddenly, the sadistic smile Kenny Ackerman was known for took his face again, "But if he didn't, then maybe I should give you a lesson or two."
And he swung the pipe once more.
--00--
Erwin raced throughout the city streets, avoiding traffic as fast as he could as he approached crime alley.
Throughout his years of crime fighter, Erwin had grown to realize that Kenny Ackerman was one of the most violent criminals he had ever come across. Ruthless, cunning, powerful, merciless; all the makings of the perfect murderer.
There had been scuffles between Kenny and Erwin over the years, some only ending with Kenny being bloodied and thrown into prison, and others ending with Erwin having to be taken home by his sidekick for Hannes to patch up.
Erwin knew what Kenny was capable of. Such a man had filled graveyards, mutilated hundreds, and crippled many. But something else Erwin was aware of was what Kenny wanted.
There had been a few occasions where Kenny would give Jean a certain look, all before expressing a powerful desire to 'carve that bird.'
Erwin could only hope that tonight, Kenny's desire wouldn't come true.
--00--
Tossing the pipe aside, Kenny yawned in an exaggerated matter. "All righty, Bird-Boy, tonight's been fun, wouldn't you say?"
A ringing was heard in Jean's head, as an excruciating aching feeling pulsed throughout his entire body. Looking ahead to where Kenny was, he could see the murderer putting on his hat and cloak, preparing himself to leave the building.
"Hm, speechless, I see," Kenny observed with a slight chuckle. "Don't worry, kid, if I had to experience what you did, I'd be at a loss of words as well."
Jean had no choice but to be silent.
Shrugging his shoulders, Kenny opened the door to the warehouse, "Well, see you later, buddy. Maybe we should do this again one day. Bring a camera if you can, we could make a few memories outta it." He stepped forwards once, but stopped in the doorway for a mere moment.
Turning around, Kenny felt the need to say just one more statement to a boy who had already gone through enough for the night. "By the way, if you ever see the Bat again, tell him I said hey."
And with that said, Kenny slammed the door shut.
The next few moments were filled with breaths heavier than the weight of the world. Inhaling and exhaling became a difficult task for Jean. But he needed to get some oxygen inside his system, as Jean knew that the task and goal he set in his mind could potentially be the thing that could save his life.
Once enough of his strength was regained, Jean used all of his might to get himself up, moving himself onto his feet slowly, but surely. Upright, each step Jean took vibrated waves of pain throughout his entire body. If his memory served, Kenny had smashed Jean's utility belt with the initial pipe strike, but had left it discarded in the corner.
Sure, there was a chance that his communicator was completely busted, but there was also the chance that it wasn't. There was the chance that the radio could still work, and the chance that Jean would be able to communicate with Erwin.
When he limped himself over, Jean collapsed and landed beside the smashed belt. But reaching over, he took the broken communicator in his hands and pressed the button. The antennae was completely destroyed, meaning that the chances of getting a signal would be hopeless.
But Jean dedicated the last few ounces of his strength to pushing the button as hard as possible.
"Batman? Batman? Are you there? Please, telll me..."
Pain stung in his side, halting his speech for a moment.
"...where are you?"
An excruciating sensation ached in his body, causing Jean to drop the communicator and clutch his side, groaning loudly.
His groans echoed throughout the warehouse, however, the second he did, Jean suddenly became aware that his groans were not the only thing audible in the warehouse.
Tick... tick... tick... tick... tick...
Jean didn't even need to look over to know what it was. He was a smart boy, but also a realistic one. What ever kind of timed explosive Kenny left in the room, there would be no chance of Jean surviving it.
There wasn't a point in waiting for Erwin to come, he couldn't make it. Not at all.
Jean gave up on any hope as each tick heard marked the last seconds in his life. Now, it was just a matter of time.
Tick... tick... tick... tick... tick...
--00--
The tires of Erwin's bike screeched as he halted it to a stop, leaping off of the vehicle with excellent height and landing on the ground harshly. The warehouse was across a fenced construction zone, meaning that Erwin had to dismount his bike to climb over a fence and get in.
All he had to do was dash across the area, and he would be at Jean's location.
But in an instant, Erwin's worst fear happened. The building exploded, blasting debris everywhere and causing Erwin to be pushed back. He landed on the ground as the blast followed through.
For a moment, he was in shock; whether it be from the blast, or because of Erwin's fear.
When he regained himself and looked up, the explosion released a large cloud of smoke in the sky, setting most flammable materials in the area ablaze.
"No... NO!"
Rushing forward, Erwin ran across the broken debris of the building, looking around for anything he could recognize. The rubble and remains were piled everywhere, it would take ages to inspect it all properly.
But a small scrap of yellow fabric hidden under a pile of debris finally alerted Erwin to what he was looking for.
Sucking in an agonized breath, Erwin ran forward to the pile and knelt down to push the rubble out of the way. He dug so desperately, so fiercely, but so hopelessly.
He moved the plethora of wood, stone, and metal until the removal of one certain post finally showed Erwin what he was looking for. And the initial sight caused him to freeze.
His worst fear had come true, and it was right there in front of him; lying on the ground, bruised, bleeding, broken, and dead.
A single word was muttered from his lips, "No..."
Jean Kirschtein laid on the ground, eyes shut, never to open again, and the ghost of his last agonized expression remaining on his face.
Erwin felt for a pulse, even though he knew Jean was gone.
Not a single beat was felt.
Breathing heavily, Erwin leaned over the corpse of the boy wonder, picking him up in his arms and standing up straight. He looked down at Jean's eyes, it was almost like he was sleeping, and lord knew how much Erwin wished that Jean was in fact in a slumber.
But wishes never came true, especially in Erwin's world.
"Jean..." came Erwin's exceedingly agonized voice. "Jean..."
No reply came.
The only thing heard ever since that explosion was the police sirens being heard, and the tears being shed by the Dark Knight.
A/n: I've been jamming a DC Comics AU where Jean is Jason Todd and Erwin is Bruce Wayne for a while. If you're a nerd like me, then you'll know what kind of relationship this gives the two of them.
Also, to clear things up. My DC Comics AU for SNK is basically this. Erwin is Batman, Eren is Nightwing, Jean is Red Hood, Armin is Robin, and Mikasa is Batgirl.
The word count for this is 1084 and the rating is K+.
Enjoy and tell me what you think!
If Erwin looked back on his years of crime fighting, he would judge every single sidekick and protege he had with perception.
Eren had passion. Erwin could see it in every flip he performed, every kick he made, and every judgement he thought up. Eren simply had drive, that drive to become the Boy Wonder was what impressed Erwin the most, and it was possibly the reason Erwin let him be Robin in the first place. Even after Eren left his side, Erwin still noticed the passion in his old protege, even with the Nightwing symbol on his chest.
Mikasa had power. She was a nearly mute girl when she met the Bat-Clan. She couldn't speak, couldn't read, but lord know she could fight. When the city fell and Mikasa Ackerman stumbled upon the ruins, on the run from a life she wished would stay in the past, Erwin saw the power she held behind that serenity. She could read a person through a single twitch, predict their next move, and could battle like a true warrior. He knew that not allowing her to wear Batgirl's cowl would be a vital mistake, and Erwin was proud to have her by his side.
Armin had intelligence. He lacked Mikasa's ability to flip a man twice her size, or Eren sheer passion to do anything, but lord knew that Armin Arlert was one of the brightest boys of his age. Had he not been that smart, he would've never deduced Erwin's secret. He would've ended up like the average 15 year old boy, chasing girls at the mall and melting his brain cells on his Playstation. But he didn't, he ended up as the third holder of the title of Robin. He ended up as a Robin with a perfect balance of body and mind, able fight back with both his thoughts and his punches.
And then there was Jean. Looking back on the one fateful night, where a little punk kid named Jean Kirschtein chose the damn Batmobile to rob tires from, Erwin could never remember thinking that Jean had passion, power, or intelligent. But he wasn't going to deny that Jean couldn't have those traits at all, as he was determined, strong, and rather clever.
But Erwin never saw those traits in Jean at first. Jean was a boy living on the streets of Crime Alley when Erwin met him, a boy willing to steal, a boy who liked to smoke, and a boy with a temper.
Erwin knew it wasn't fair to Jean, he never wanted to think so lowly of someone he considered his family.
But no matter what, as much as Erwin denied it, he knew it was the truth.
Eren had passion, Mikasa had power, Armin had intelligence, but Jean...
All Jean had was rage.
Rage so strong that it never left the veins of the boy as he grew up. Sure, Jean grew out of his recklessness and impulsive nature, but with every punch placed on a criminals skull, every kicked aimed at a punk's face, Jean would always attack like an animal.
Rage flowed through him when he faced off with Eren, who managed to escape the roof top before Jean could carve him completely. Rage controlled him completely when he beat Armin into a pulp, causing the third Boy Wonder to spend weeks healing under the watchful care of Hannes. Rage was what made him fight with Mikasa. But somehow, Erwin couldn't help notice that Mikasa refused to fight him, even after Jean had pursued her over the Gotham Skyline.
Perhaps she could read through his anger, or simply refused to fight someone who wasn't in their right mind.
Every time Erwin watched his old protege from afar, Jean would fight in a frenzy. He would do much worse than what the crooks would deserve, always breaking arms and bloodying noses. Perhaps on purpose, or perhaps not.
Erwin knew exactly why Jean was angry, even after all these years. After everything that ever happened to Batman's second protege, Erwin understood Jean's pain.
He understood Jean's feeling of abandonment, he understood that Jean was under the impression that Erwin didn't give a damn about him, he knew Jean wanted Erwin to avenge his death, and he knew that Jean believed that Erwin let him die.
But even as he understood, he knew that what Jean wanted couldn't be reasoned that easily. There was no choice, he still had to fight. He had to fight Jean Kirschtein, atop of a building, in the darkness of night, as the rain poured down on the Gotham Skyline.
Erwin kept his cowl on, concealing himself while Jean opted to remove the red hood on his head that became his namesake, a domino mask being the protector of his true identity.
His eyes were still the same; they could either be bright, hazel, calculating, arrogant, cocky, or angry.
And tonight, the only thing that seemed to flow through Jean's system was his hatred.
Jean was out for Erwin tonight, knife in his hands, loaded guns in his holsters, and jacket filled to the brim with hidden goodies and toys for him to deploy at will.
But Erwin wasn't out for Jean, he could never hurt him. He had yelled at his protege in the past, for things like messing up plans, breaking the bones of innocents, and much much more. But his punishments would never progress into violence.
The fact was, Erwin couldn't bring himself to harm him. Jean may have been an angry arrogant punk in his past, and perhaps his present, but Jean was still Jean.
Jean was still that boy who spent half an hour after putting on his Robin suit for the first time looking at himself in the mirror.
Jean was still that boy who was so determined to become Robin that he pushed himself through 6-months of intense training for the job.
Jean was still that boy who could eat chilli dogs by the handful and still ask for more.
And Jean was still that boy that Erwin searched for, the boy Erwin fought for, and the boy that Erwin had failed to save.
Tonight, as the rain fell from the sky and the thunder behind the clouds boomed like a gunshot, Erwin knew what he had to do.
Jean pulled out his knife, raising it up, the anger in his hazel eyes intensifying, "Fight me, Old Man. Fight me."
