What will cause Damian to search for a new Hero identity?
Reverse Robin + Parallel AU PART 3
Part 1, Part 2
The relationship between Tim and Damian may be interconnected but the plot can be read as a standalone.
See, for Dick to become Nightwing, he had some nasty fight with Bruce and pursued his own identity.
But for Damian, his fights with Bruce doesn't lead to parting with such unbearable terms taking account as Bruce is his real dad.
So, I made Tim become that reason.
It started when Joker just made his debut into the criminal society a couple of weeks ago. Bruce brushed off Joker as a small time criminal and went to New York on a WE business trip. However, he did warned Batboy and Signal to not interact with Joker by no further means.( Yes Signal is already an established hero in this AU)
Batboy disobeyed that command. He had had a fight with Bruce when his father benched him from patrol due to his recklessness, and decided to prove to Batman that he can handle a criminal in his own way.
So, he set out on the night Bruce left, to capture Joker.
-
Tim, after figuring out who Batman and Batboy was, his hobby took a drastic turn.
"Dad," Tim said on the phone, "You know the apartment you guys bought but never lived, can I have that?"
Tim scratched the table and tapped the pen around, "No, no, not for partying. Just because it's in the city, better food and transportation."
Then his face lights up, "Thanks Dad! Yeah, you're the best!" And hung up the phone with a grin.
That night Tim move into his new apartment and got ready to set out to take "night" photography.
Tim took shots of some sketchy people, some bats and rats on the street. He got bored, Batboy hasn't show up yet and it was already past midnight. Tim yawned and just about to go back when he heard thick kevar blowing in the wind.
And Lo and Behold, it was Batboy. Tim paused and frowned, why is Batboy going to the container terminal?
So he followed.
When he got to the gate, the guards were already took down by Batboy, Tim started to feel uneased and was about to back out when he heard a bone chilling laughter.
The Joker
And another chilled run down his spine when he realised Damian ran that direction.
He took out his phone and contemplate whether to call the police or Batman. Just then he saw a shadow stepping out of a container and quickly hide.
A blond woman step out carrying an huge mallet and wearing a two tone bodysuit.
Harley Quinn, he realised. This is bad. Then another shadow step out, green hair and purple suit with a widen and creepy smile was Joker.
"Goodness, I didn't think we would catch Batboy so soon! He ran into our trap like a mouse to cheese!"
"I know honeybun, that's why you are a genius!"
Tim waited until they walk away and disappeared from the sight and ran to the container they came out.
He froze as soon as he saw Batboy hanging on a target ring his limps bound spread out. He look so out of it.
Tim hurriedly ran over and check if Damian was truly unconscious by giving some pat on the cheek. When it didn't work, Tim tried to untied his shackles but they were locked tight. Cussing at the situation, Tim took out his cell to call for help. Damian woke up to see a blurry figure that was not definitely Joker. The figure is so small that he suspiciously looked like the annoying next door brat.
"Tim.. what are you doing here?" then his head snap to the entrance and screamed, "Tim! Run!"
But Tim didn't even got to turn when a hand strangle his neck from behind and choked him.
"Oh! Harley dear, would you look at that? Another willing hostage to lure Batsy!"Joker gleed from behind.
Tim struggle hard but is seem hopeless when his foot doesn't touch the ground and his airway is blocked. Damian, himself, also struggle to break free of his bound but it's useless.
Tim swallowed back the bile that rise up his throat due to Joker's pungent breath and bit down on his assailant's arm. That make Joker threw him against the hard container wall.
Tim groaned and clutched his side painfully, he looked up in fear when a shadow fell on him.
Joker has just joined the criminal society for 2 weeks and has already got 20 victims. He took hostages but he never let them live till the end. Tim has already play out what would happen to him, but he has a hard time convincing himself not to show fear.
Joker squatted down with his creepy smile and tattered hand grasped Tim's chin and stared down at him in the eyes.
Blue fear-filled-dilated-pupils met crazy green ones.
Joker shouted with glee, "Harley! Look at these blues! It looks just like yours!"
"Really, Sugarbear?" Harley Quinn ran to when Joker held down Tim and looked. "Wow! you are right, Sugarbun!"
Damian shouted and screamed from behind them but no one paid attention to him.
Joker turned Tim's head side to side, "He also looks just like me when I was still a wee boy!" Joker laughed with a crazy idea, "Harley Darling, you always wanted a son that looks just like me and you, right?"
Tim and Damian froze at where Joker was going.
Harley celebrated with a high scream, "You mean we can keep him Sugarbun!?"
"No! Let him go!" But no one paid attention to Damian's petrified shouts.
"Take him home, Harley," Joker said as he knock out Tim and Harley Quinn carried the boy out.
Damian struggled hard that his wrists and ankles were bleeding and his voice hoarse. He glared with hatred when Joker approached. This time with a frown.
"You are too noise, save your energy for screaming when Batsy come." and inject something into Damian that knocked him out.
When Alfred woke up and found there is no Damian or Batboy's suit, he called Bruce and Signal right away.
Bruce tried to catch a flight to come back right away. Signal and Batgirl start scouting Gotham for any sighting of Batboy.
Damian was alert when he heard the container being opened, he left eye barely seeing a yellow blur and ringing echoing in his ears.
"...im.." he murmured out.
Signal mouth moved like he asking something. "Tim! The Joker got Tim!!" he yelled out with a coarse voice and blacked out.
Damian woke up to the white ceiling and Alfred. The old butler looked like he gained a few more wrinkle overnight. Damian caused him to worry, "I'm sorry..."
Alfred shook his head, "All it's matter is that you are fine."
Damian winced in pain as he try to sit up, "Tim, have they found him?" Damian became hopeless as he saw Alfred's expression.
"It's all my fault!" a tear drop from his face in anger and guilt. "Fuck!" Alfred didn't even try to correct him.
"All we can do is pray that the Joker show mercy." Alfred laid Damian back down, "Batman will find him, rest." and left Damian after drawing the privacy curtain.
The next time Damian woke up, he heard his father and Alfred talking.
"Have you found the boy?"
"No, The Joker is a new criminal with very few sighting."
Alfred sighed, "Damian is blaming himself."
"He should be." Damian stiffen and bit back a whimper.
"If he just listen to stay away from Joker, Tim wouldn't have-!"
"Master Bruce! That is enough!"
Both of the voice stopped. Then sound of heavy footsteps walked away.
"Where are you going, Bruce?"
"Finding Tim. Every second is a ticking time bomb."
-
Damian put on his suit after Bruce left.
Alfred stopped him, "Where do you think you are going?"
Damian grimed as he felt the heavy body armor tighten on his tender ribs. "Finding Tim. He's right, no victim of Joker ever live through the first five hour with him. I do not have time to rest."
Damian looked back at Alfred, the old man wasn't even going to stop him.
When Damian entered the search scene and comm, Batman didn't say anything so he continued searching.
On the second day, they found a clue that Tim was alive. But it didn't give them joy when they found out Tim was only alive due to the fact that Batman was invested in this game Joker has created.
On the Third day, Signal found Tim. The Joker laughed all the way back Arkham Asylum and it haunted Damian every time he heard Tim laughed the same way.
The night they found Tim, Damian was quiet. He got out of his suit. He should probably visit Tim but he was scared how Tim would react to him, after all, he was the reason Tim got to that capture in the hand of Joker.
Nonetheless, he went.
"Hello,Miss." Damian greeted the hospital receptionist. "Which room is Tim Drake hospitalized in?"
The nurse gave him a once over to assess him ,"Are you his family?"
"A friend," Damian answered with a dry tongue.
"I'm sorry, due to the situation, we only allow close relative to visit."
"Oh," Damian didn't even have the fight in him anymore. Maybe this was the universe's sign to not visit Tim.
"Damian?" He turned around to find Jack Drake, Tim's father.
"Mr.Drake, how is Tim?" Jack looked tired and troubled, Damian doesn't blame him, who want their child to go through something like that.
"Tim is ...well," he paused, "Why don't you go see him yourself?" He smiled at Damian tiredly, "He might like to see you."
Damian doubt it, but he didn't say.
When they went up, Janet Drake just came out from room. For once the cold and powerful woman look just human, hair disheveled and the eyes holding back her tears.
"Jack," she paused when she saw Damian was there. "Oh, Damian, did you come to visit Tim?"
Damian didn't dare speak so he nodded.
Janet tried to give a smile, "That's great! Maybe, Tim will cheer up when he sees you! You should get him to eat something. He hasn't eaten anything."
Damian only nodded when Janet opened the door to where Tim is.
Tim didn't even try to look who come in when Damian entered.
"Tim," Damian started and stopped when he saw the younger boy stiffen.
When the younger boy turned around, Damian eyes immediately draw to the left cheek that was cover in bandages and Tim's eyes became cold and dark. Damian flinched.
"Damian," a raspy voice called him out. Damian jerked up and try to meet Tim's eyes but Tim has already turned away.
"Leave." It was the only word Tim spoke then he burst into painful fits of laughters. Jack and Janet rushed in as well as the nurse. Damian saw them wrestling a fourteen year old down the bed to inject him with drugs while Tim have a full-blown episode.
Damian rushed out the hospital to throw up his breakfast.
This is all his fault. Tim hates him now.
After three days, Damian heard from Bruce that Tim was discharged from the hospital. Although Tim was just a wall away, Damian didn't have the gut to face him so he didn't go to see the young boy.
That night Damian couldn't sleep. He had an intense feeling in his gut, that something is going to happen.
A loud siren snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked through the window to see the police cars heading to the Drake manor. Damian immediately went down the cave to see his father already gearing up.
Damian also rushed to put on his suit, "What happened?"
"Tim is missing."
"Kidnapping? Joker is still in Arkham."
"No, he run away." Batman got into the batmobile, "Are you coming?"
"No, I'll take the bike. We'll need to spread out to cover more ground."
Batman just got into his car and drove off. Damian got on his the bike. The whole way he was praying that Tim would be safe.
Damian calmed himself down, Where would Tim go?
And his gut tells him the car graveyard. So, he drove breaking every traffic law and swivel around every car.
He drove in and saw Tim in front of a small fire dropping papers into the fire. He got off his bike and approached the boy to see that the paper in his hand were actually pictures.
When Tim hear the boy's footstep approaching, he paused his action. Damian became alarm when he saw blood on the ground.
"Tim!"
He saw Tim turn around with a severe degree of burn on his left cheek. The cheek where Joker carved a J into his skin.
"Damian." Tim said instead of calling him Batboy. Damian didn't care how Tim knew but he tore off his mask.
No one spoke for a couple of minutes.
"Damian, I'm going to leave." Tim said and continue to burn off the photos.
"Okay," Damian could only say. Then he noticed that the photos Tim burning was actually of Batman and Batboy.
"How.."
"Does it matter?"
The silent was pregnant.
"Damian," Tim started again.
"I hate Batboy and Batman."
"Okay,"
"So I'm leaving."
"Okay..."
Tim looked up to him with the last picture in his hand.
"I don't want to see you. It makes me angry." Tim said with voice void of emotions.
"I understand." It was the only thing appropriate to say in this situation.
Tim dropped the last picture into the burnt out fire, not caring anymore.
"Let me take you home. "
"Call someone else. The thought of you make me want to laugh. I find that disgusting"
"Okay, I'll call the police. Is that okay?"
"Yeah," Tim said, no longer looking at him.
The police came to escort Tim back.
The next day, the front page of the paper was 'THE DRAKE HEIR, AFTER DISFIGURED, MOVING AWAY FROM GOTHAM DUE TO JOKER.'
That night Cardinal was born.
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How is it so far? I might need to make a name for this series. I want to write so many Aus of them! Do you guys like present tense or past tense in narrative writing? I prefer past tense, more at home with that.
I make Tim less forgiving because I don't think a fourteen year old cannot be that forgiving. Also he was with Joker for 3 whole days so he has only himself and his thoughts.
Do not argue that they are immune to Joker. Because in this Au Joker was just a criminal that started and not many people have been exposed to him yet. Tim's case was the first exposure for the heroes. So no antidote is made for the joker gas yet,okay?
Also, I made Signal already an established hero because , he's like a part robin but also not? and he join with affiliation to the robin last so it only make sense if he is already a hero before Damian. I had to age him up tho, cause I don't want a teenager Duke running around Gotham with trauma,lol.
I plan to explore Duke in this Au too. But I had not read any of his comics so I'll be writing him with what I see and hear.
Good work to me! I managed to write so much!
Edit :Stupid me forgot the important part of this chapter😅 introduction Damian's new hero mantle