Author's Notes:

Hey guys! If you're new, welcome! Read on and (hopefully) enjoy the story! If you're a returning reader, then welcome to Robin Residuum V2...or something. Basically, I wrote a couple of short chapters and then left this story to rot. Now, however, long later, I'm picking it back up. Before I got started on the new content, I went back and revised the old stuff first. So if you've already read the original two chapters, then you've technically already read the first chapter of this new version, but I'd like to think this new version is of a at least a little higher quality than the original. So if you want to skip forward a bit, go ahead, freedom to the people, HOO-RAH. However, I would personally recommend that everyone, new or old, start from the beginning though. I think I got everything the way I want it, but if I come back to edit something I forgot a day after posting this don't be surprised. Regardless, enjoy the story!

It started out as a normal night out on the town.

The sound of gunfire echoed off of the warehouse walls. What few lights that remained intact hung from the ceiling, swaying back and forth. Shadows covered every corner.

Normal for people like me. People like us.

More gunfire. Their aim was wild, amateur. One didn't have to be a master of acrobatics and evasive maneuvers to avoid getting filled with lead from these mooks.

Well, as close to normal as things could get between us these days.

Why, though? These were career criminals and at least somewhat skilled gunmen. While even under the best circumstances these 'men' would never have been able to hit their current targets, one word could sum up why their chances had quickly fallen from 'highly unlikely to 'when hell freezes over.'

I knew why, though. I could feel it whenever he stared at me, through me, when he thought I couldn't tell. It was all because of one word.

Fear.

"Where the hell are they!?" The thug to the left shouted as his head whipped violently back and forth. His line of sight passed right over me, having no clue that one of his hunters was only ten feet away from him and covered in darkness.

Eight feet now.

Four feet. His eyes widened. It was too late, though.

One foot. Impact.

Part of a shriek was able to escape him, accompanied by the sound of his nose shattering, before the yell was cut off due to him losing consciousness. As his body hit the ground, I turned towards the remaining two thugs who had just finished lining up their shots at me. They had me dead to rights, out in the light, with no time to dodge. It was over. I suspected something along those lines went through their heads as they squeezed their triggers. There was only one thing they forgot. A single, vital thing that those who look for trouble in Gotham must always remember.

Never forget about the goddamn Batman.

Before they even realized what was happening, they had joined their friend on the cold floor of the warehouse.

That was the last of them. Now only we two remained, those currently dead to the world notwithstanding. For a moment or two, we just stood there watching each other. His gaze came and went from my view, his body melting in and out of the shadows underneath the swaying bulb above. Back, forth, back, forth. Slower and slower, until finally...it was still. There he stood, bathed in the light. My friend, Bruce.

The light flickered, and then it dimmed. The shadows crawled towards him, wrapping him in the dark. My judge. Batman.

"Robin," he finally said. So much emotion was packed into a single word. My name. The name he gave me, the one that was passed down to me. He used to say it to me with so much pride. Sometimes I'd swear I could hear hints of joy there, too. Not anymore. Never again, I suspected.

"What was it this time? Did I not break his nose softly enough?" I sneered, a mocking tone entering my voice. Who cares if his nose was broken? He and his buddies robbed a business three blocks down the street. They brought guns. It was already armed robbery, and if we hadn't shown up, it could've easily turned to murder.

"It's not just about the face you shattered when we both know you could've taken him out without doing so," he started, the anger I was expecting to hear in voice absent. His tone was flat. He didn't sound angry. He just sounded tired. "Or the man from the docks last night whose leg you didn't need to break. It's a pattern." He paused for a moment, let out a small sigh, and then his gaze sharpened once again. "Nothing that you've done, on its own, has been wrong or undeserved. But when it's all put together, the rage and the hate and the violence, I feel like every day I'm watching you inch closer and closer to a line you should never cross. I know, because it's a path I walked down once. One I barely escaped, before it was too late."

"So what!" I cut in, my voice raised close to a shout. "Maybe it's a line that needs to be crossed sometimes! Have you ever considered that!" By the end of the sentence, the 'close' had been dropped entirely.

"All the time," he responded with a frown, "every day. But if I ever crossed that line, I know I'd never come back. I know I'd never be able to stop. Could you?" He asked, sounding scolding, but also curious as to what my answer would be. I turned around and faced the wall behind me, doing anything to avoid his eyes.

"Maybe. Maybe I could. Maybe it's not an if. Maybe I've already crossed it," I responded, my loud tone barely a whisper by the end. But he heard me. He heard. We both stood there in silence. A few moments that felt like forever. I closed my eyes, and images flashed by in my mind.

A man, a human piece of garbage.

A girl, innocent, who he defiled.

He told her it would never stop. That he was untouchable.

I'm not, the girl likely thought to herself.

I'm in her room. It's too late. She's gone, and what's left hangs.

I saw red.

I found him easily. He thought he was untouchable. He was wrong. No one was, not when I was around.

He ran. I chased.

I threw a batarang. He ducked. It impaled the wall where his head had been seconds before.

He climbed. I climbed.

He reached the roof, with me only seconds behind him.

He reached the edge, looking around frantically for an exit. He didn't find one.

He turned to face me. I was right in front of him.

I simply reached out my hands, and pushed.

He screamed.

Thud.

He stopped screaming.

I stood there for a while, motionless.

I heard the sound of footsteps from behind me. Bruce.

What happened, he had asked.

I guess he slipped, I responded.

"He didn't slip, did he Jason?" Bruce stated more than asked, bringing me back to the present. I let out a shaky breath.

"No," I responded. I still faced away from him, as looking at him right now would be impossible. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the look on his face. Another moment passed. Bruce slowly took a step forward.

"Jaso-"

A huge explosion rocked the warehouse, nearly knocking us both over. All the windows shattered, and my eardrums were almost right there with them. We both steadied ourselves and made our way to what used to be the warehouse's windows. All traces of the emotions that had been on display moments ago were gone, or at least pushed down. We were no longer Bruce and Jason for the moment, but Batman and Robin.

Our eyes focused on what seemed to be the source of the explosion, a huge purplish pink vortex that was spinning at an increasingly fast rate. As it sped up, it started pulling chunks of nearby buildings into itself, and it was only getting stronger.

"What do we do, Batman?" I asked, wondering if there was anything we could do. Besides trying to evacuate as many people as possible while trying to figure out exactly what this thing was. As much as he hated even the thought of it, we might actually need to call in the cavalry on this one. Then again, what was big blue gonna do to this thing? Punch it?

"I'm sending out an evacuation notice to every cell phone, TV, and computer in the city. It'll advise them on where to go to reach a minimum safe distance," he answered. Leaping out of a broken window, he activated something on his wrist mounted computer. I was right on his heels.

Despite the situation, I snorted at his response while we ran towards the gaping hole in the sky. "What counts as a 'minimum safe distance' from this?"

"I'll be updating the exact distance as the vortex develops," he said, ignoring my amusement. "I've also sent a message to Lucius about the situation. He's going to deploy some of our drones to analyze this thing. He'll try and find out what it is and how to shut it down quickly. Until then, we get out as many people as we can."

I gave him a sidelong glance. "And if we can't figure out how to stop it?"

He was silent for a moment, before finally saying, "Then I'll consider other options." Apparently considering this conversation over, he activated his grapnel gun and flew to the top of the nearest building. I sighed, activating my own grapnel and muttering, "Which is Bat-Speak for, 'swallow my pride and call the league.'" My grapnel went off, and I flew towards the rooftops after him.

We spent the next fifteen minutes or so narrowly pulling civilians out of the vortex's pull, while it grew in size and increased in speed. More and more of the city was destroyed as the hole pulled in entire buildings, roads, and cars. Anything and everything in its path. Batman kept sending out alerts to the public to get farther away as the thing's size grew. Gordon was mobilizing the GCPD to help with the evacuation, and Nightwing and Batgirl were currently on their way. Judging by the heated conversation Batman had just finished on his communicator, so was the League. Hopefully, the backup would be enough to get everyone to safety, as me and Batman were having trouble managing rescue duty by ourselves. Who knew if we could keep it up as this thing got bigger. We also still had heard nothing definitive about the vortex from Lucius. Things weren't looking good.

As I swung to the ground, I set the man I had been carrying down as gently as I could. Which basically meant I tried my best not to throw him. I only sort of succeeded.

"Run, get the hell out of here!" I yelled at him over the wind generated by the vortex. Thankfully, he didn't need to be told twice, as he immediately sprinted away. Good, another one down. After taking a second to catch my breath, I started to head back to the danger zone. That's when I felt my feet leave the ground. Shit.

I reached for something to hold on to, but the hole had already consumed everything that would've been within reach. Grabbing my grapnel, I fired it wildly at the remains of a nearby convenience store. Somehow it took a hold of something. I held on with all my strength, trying desperately to make the grapnel reel me in towards the building. It didn't work. It couldn't pull my weight against the force of the vortex. I knew that, but I still kept trying. It refused to work. Feeling my grip loosen on the grapnel, I realized that this was it. No one was close enough to help me. Even if they were, I was too far into the vortex to pull out. I was moments from death. My grip slipped a bit more. I couldn't even reach my Communicator. I couldn't say goodbye. I couldn't apologize for everything I messed up. There was so much I needed to say, but-

My grip failed, and I fell into the sky. I turned to look towards my doom, just in time for my vision to be swallowed by the center of the vortex. I felt my consciousness fading.

I'm sorry, Bruce.

. . .

The first two thoughts that entered my mind once I regained consciousness went like this. The first thing I registered was the feeling of falling, my body gaining speed, and the rush of wind all around me. The second thought was a very surprised, 'I've regained consciousness?' My eyes shot open, and I took in everything around me as quickly as I could. It was pitch black out, likely around midnight. Everything around was covered by the glow of the moon. I was facing downwards, and the first thing to come into view other than the large forest nearby was an enormous castle. The main castle itself was huge, colored white with black accents, and the castle grounds themselves were even larger. The centerpiece of the whole thing was a massive tower in the center of it all, its height drawing everything around it. I twisted my body around to look upwards, so I could see the vortex above me. Though it might've been more accurate to say I saw what was left of it. It had shrunk by a massive amount since I had last seen it when I got sucked in, and it was still shrinking. The solid pinkish hole in the sky from before had become more wispy and slowed its spinning considerably. After just two more seconds had passed, it was gone, vanishing entirely. With more rapidly approaching things to worry about, I did a quick visual scan of the horizon. I found a sprawling cityscape stretching out from the castle into the distance. I could also see an ocean peaking out at the end of the skyline.

Momentarily satisfied with what I found, I turned to face the more immediate problem. The ground. Or more specifically, the castle that was getting closer and closer to colliding with my face. I reached out to grip my cape with both hands and triggered my gloves to send an electric shock through it. This kind of shock isn't strong enough, or designed at all, to be used in combat. Lucius designed it to send a current through my cape, which is made from a memory cloth material, to make it stiffen and take a more solid form. Which made it a perfect on-command glider. As my cape took on its alternate form and my fall slowed, I aimed my descent for the only thing I'd be able to reach. The castle. Hopefully, whoever lives there won't get too mad at descending late night visitors.

My fall went as planned for about three whole seconds, which had to have been a record for me today. The short but even descent abruptly became shaky and threatened to turn into an impromptu barrel roll. While doing my best to maintain balance in the air, I risked a glance backwards towards my cape to see if I could find what the issue was. It wasn't exactly hard to spot. The entire thing was riddled with growing holes, and I was losing altitude fast. The monochrome castle walls were becoming more detailed by the second, so I had to do something fast. I obviously wasn't going to make it to the courtyard looking area like I had planned, so it was improv time. With a hard jerk to the right on the cape, I turned mid-air in one swift ninety-degree turn. The change in trajectory threw me straight into, and through, a huge ass window. Consider me defenestrated.

"Fucking hell!" I shouted, as glass pierced my skin. I fell fast into some kind of foyer, and I hit the floor hard. The crash was fast and sloppy. I was too disoriented from the impact and distracted by the window shards stabbing into my skin to execute a proper roll. My crash landing also pushed the glass shards further into my skin, which hurt like hell. I tumbled for a bit before sliding to a stop on the other side of the large room. Groaning at the shitty situation, I dragged myself up while pulling tiny shards out of my skin. My skin was covered in cuts and I was sore as hell, but otherwise no worse for wear. Now propped up on my elbows and still pulling out glass, my gaze wandered around the new place I found myself in. As I thought, I seemed to be some kind of fancy foyer. Considering this place looked straight out of a Disney film, it wasn't out of place. While looking around I noticed something that actually was out of place. A corkboard. In a fancy castle's foyer. Naturally, I moved closer to investigate.

Upon closer inspection, it was in fact a corkboard. What was even weirder about it was what was on it. Flyers asking for sparring matches, extra credit opportunities, a reminder about an upcoming break from classes, almost like…

"...Like this is a school of something," I said to no one, thinking aloud.

"I like to think that Beacon does constitute a school, believe it or not," A voice from behind me answered.

I was already on edge, in unfamiliar territory, and fresh off of falling out of the sky from a portal and then through a window. So I just reacted, drawing a batarang and throwing it towards the voice while I turned to face the mysterious newcomer. As the white-haired man came into view, the first thing I saw was him bringing up his cane and deflecting the projectile with immense speed and precision. So immense that there was almost no way he was completely human, or even human at all.

"Great," I muttered under my breath, "on top of everything else, I get to fight a meta too." After a moment passed, he gave me an amiable smile that I almost bought.

"There's no need for violence, young man," he said. "You seem to be confused, and you're obviously hurt. You're here by accident, aren't you?"

Wow, got it in one chief, I thought to myself. I then said as much, due to being both stressed and Jason Todd. He seemed to think that it was funny too, as his next smile looked much more real. He then spoke again, with a more relaxed tone.

"Now, considering that you have accidentally made your way through a window into one of the most secure educational facilities on the planet, I'm assuming there's a very fascinating story to go along with who you are, yes?" The strange man asked, gesturing for me to follow as he turned and walked towards the exit. I don't know what it was about him specifically, but I found myself not protesting and following shortly after him. Which many would probably have said is out of character for me. As we made our way out of the foyer looking room and into a long dark hallway, I realized I hadn't answered his only question so far.

"Yeah, there is. A pretty wild one, but not so crazy when compared to the rest of my life," I belatedly answered as we turned a corner.

"Normally I'd hold some skepticism at hearing that kind of statement from a teenager, but I get the strangest feeling you're being completely honest to me," He responded with a sort of wry grin. "Not something I'm very familiar with."

"What, teenagers being honest with you? Or people in general?" I snarked as we approached an elevator at the end of the hall. That had better be an office you're taking me to for a chat, old man, I thought. Because if that thing descends into a dungeon, I'll whoop your ass. Well, maybe on a good day. In my condition, I'd probably just die. Then again, when has an extreme likelihood of dying ever stopped me from attempting anything? We ended up stopped in front of an elevator. The mystery man pressed the call button and turned to me.

"Sadly, young man, the answer to your question is very much all of the above," the stranger answered with an expression somewhere between a smirk and a grimace. Heh, the teacher's got jokes. At least I assumed that's what he was. This place was obviously a school of some kind, so he had to be faculty. If I had to guess specifically, this guy seemed high up in the system. Maybe a dean or something like it.

The elevator arrived within seconds and in a few more we were riding up in it. Thankfully, not down. The ride was ridiculously smooth. Too smooth. And fast, too. This was definitely some kind of high caliber express elevator. Not exactly standard fare for a school, but neither was this man. Maybe this is some kind of secret school for metas? I didn't have enough time to ponder it, as our arrival at the top floor cut off my train of thought. I followed him out of the lift and took in the room. Gears were everywhere, and there was a clock themed window? No, we're on the top floor of what has to be the castle's tower I saw from the air. The window is ticking. They literally built his office into a clock tower. Not my style, but that's still badass. He moved behind his desk and took a seat, motioning for me to do the same. As I sat opposite him in his clock office, at the top of a possible meta school, injured and in my fucked up suit, I felt slightly out of place.

"So," he started, "let us get down to the heart of the matter. What has brought you to my school and through one of my windows?" He asked, not too serious or angry sounding, just curious. And did he say my school? The way he said it, it sounded less like 'my school' as in he's the dean and more 'my school' as in he had the thing built himself. Then again, I'm pretty injured and exhausted. I could easily be reaching. Regardless, I might as well get this weird conversation started.

"Like I said before, mostly standard fare for me," I explained, lying through my teeth. I definitely did not frequently encounter crazy portals. While I've had my fair share of crazy, most of it has been rooted in human insanity. "I was with Batman in Gotham, obviously, and this crazy vortex interrupted our nightly patrol…" I trailed off, noting that the man grew more confused with each word out of my mouth. Okay, that was new. People the world over usually knew the names 'Batman' and 'Gotham.' To see a man, a meta, who was surely well versed in the worlds going ons not react to me was concerning. Wait a minute. Does that mean he watched me, apparently just a random kid in a weird costume from his perspective, crash through his school's window at midnight and just shrugged it off? Then he invited me up to his office to talk about it? I thought he only trusted I wasn't an insane person and/or criminal because he knew I was Robin! What was this guy's deal?

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" I spoke my mind, hoping that I was wrong. Because I was getting a bad feeling about this whole situation. I'd heard enough of Dick's crazy Teen Titans stories to know how weird unknown vortexes could be. As in, they could potentially be portals to anywhere in all of time and space. Maybe I was jumping the gun a bit, but what if I ended up in the future? What if Bruce and everyone I knew was dead, and I was stuck? Okay Jason, calm down. Don't let your concern show. Just get some answers.

Re-focusing on the man in front of me, I saw him looking at me funny. Like he found the thought of me expecting him to know me was funny. Probably because he just thought I was being a full-of-myself teenager or something, and not because I was actually known all over. Yeah, this guy definitely didn't know me.

"I can't say that I do, young man. But before we go any further, I believe introductions are in order. We seemed to have rushed past them earlier," he pointed out. I guess we have been 'young man' and 'mystery man' for a bit too long at this point. In my defense, though, I thought he already knew who I was. What's his excuse?

"Yeah, sorry. I thought you already knew me, so I didn't really think about it. I guess I'm just used to people introducing themselves to me," I said before fact checking my brain and realizing how pretentious that sounded. God, what happened to the kid who grew up on the roughest streets of Gotham? It's been, what, four years since Bruce picked me up?

"It's no bother, young man, as I did the exact same thing. You, too, seem to have no clue who I am, or where you are," he said, growing more serious. "The name Beacon did not ring any bells?" He asked. Beacon? That's what he said this place was called earlier, didn't he? Damn, is this place famous too? I think my worry was starting to show on my face.

"No, it didn't," I said. This was looking bad. I put on my 'work face.' Others would call it my 'bat-face'. "Assume I don't know things I should and introduce yourself and this place." I could tell he was catching on, seeing that there was something strange about all of this. He nodded and continued.

"Very well. I am Professor Ozpin. I am this school's, Beacon Academy's, Headmaster," He explained. Okay, so far that was about what I expected. "Beacon Academy is an advanced training school for upcoming Huntsmen and Huntresses." Annnd, he lost me.

"Sorry, 'Huntsmen and Huntresses?' What do they hunt, exactly?" I asked, trying not to jump to any potentially grim conclusions. If Ozpin was confused before, he was trying to not let his shock show now.

"You...do not know what a Huntsman is? Or what it is that they hunt?" He asked me slowly, as if he couldn't comprehend the thought. That's it, alarm bells were going off, something was very wrong here! I found it very likely with everything put together that either this guy was crazy, or I'm somewhere/when that I shouldn't be. Part of me knew I should play this cool and keep my cards close to my chest, but I was finally panicking. I needed to know where I was (or wasn't) for sure.

"Where are we in the world right now?" I abruptly changed the subject, needing answers yesterday.

"The city of Vale," he responded, concern replacing his shock.

"Where is Vale?" I pressed.

"The city of Vale is the capital of the Kingdom of Vale," He responded. "Have you never-"

"What...what planet are we on?" I cut him off. We sat there in silence for a moment, Ozpin examining me, probably trying to see if I was serious. Then he spoke.

"The Kingdom of Vale is located on the planet of Remnant," he finally said. Shit.

"Not Earth? Has this ever been Earth?" I demanded, a fervor running through me.

"No." He said simply, swinging a verbal wrecking ball through what remained of my composure. "You are on what has always been the world of Remnant."

Fuck.