Chapter 26: Road Trip Special Class

Selina watched as Jason and Damian ran out into the night.

She was now alone with the clown, who resignedly sat down on the floor. Of course, he quickly got bored and as if it was the most normal thing in the world, he finally started to talk:

"Since we have to wait the next ten minutes anyway my dear, could you do an old friend a favor? I'm bleeding out like a pig, unfortunately, and would prefer a more glorious death than bleeding to death miserably."

Selina briefly weighed whether this could be a trap, however, it did not appear to be:

"Do you have a first aid kit?"

Joker nodded his head toward an old tin locker on a cracked wall at the side of the great hall.

The cat got the small box from the rusty cabinet and then squatted with it in front of the clown's shoulder. With a quick wave of her claws, she cut the cloth open generously and Joker acknowledged this with acted sadness:

"What a pity. I always liked this shirt a lot."

Carefully, Selina removed the blood from around the gaping wound and then asked:

"Do you want it stitched up right away or just a pressure bandage? Suturing will be painful since I don't have any anesthetic."

Joker gave her a slightly pained smile:

"Well, seeing your angry eyes like that, I'll go with suturing. You may torture me all you want, my dear."

The cat put the needle in place and Joker took the first stitch with a slight hiss. Finally, to make the time a little more interesting, he started talking again:

"So...you and Batsy all Lovely Dovley. How did that happen? I always thought you weren't much of a steady relationship kind of girl. Sure you guys used to play banana in the clam, but I'm not aware that you were ever really serious."

Cat just raised a brow and looked at Joker skeptically for a moment:

"Charming paraphrase. However, the answer to that is pretty simple. I've always loved him, and I just think about how I want my future to be. Jumping around on rooftops at night in costume is not something you can do for the rest of your life. Sure, it's fun, but I'm kind of starting to want my permanent place in life."

The clown wrinkled his nose in disgust:

"And there you are going to sit on the porch with Batsy wrinkled as raisins someday and watch your ugly grandbabies eat dirt? Wuäch...it's disgusting! I took you for a woman with more class."

Joker hissed again as the cat drove the needle through his skin more roughly than necessary and said back:

"We can't keep up our game forever. At some point, we all have to admit that to ourselves."

Joker merely grumbled in the room, but then glanced at Selina's burned skin:

"Too bad your beautiful back got all burned up. And all because you wanted to protect our little Robbie. I'm assuming backless is out as of today? Must be pretty painful."

"It's bearable. And beauty is a fleeting thing anyway. Better my back than his face."

"But it definitely would have been more interesting and not as sadly as...Ow!"

The cat poked through Joker's maltreated flesh again and purred:

"Watch your mouth or that needle might sink a little deeper."

However, the green-haired clown only acknowledged this with an annoyed:

"I definitely liked you better when we worked together. Oh, how we laughed. Penguin, Towface, Ivy, Riddler...Those were really amusing times, but I never saw you laugh. Strange, isn't it? Didn't you have fun with us?"

The cat didn't look up as she answered:

"I laugh when I win. And let's face it, we never won. He was always one step ahead of us, so we kept losing."

A green brow lifted in wonder:

"But aren't you winning right now?"

Selina paused for a moment, thinking about the situation, but then said:

"What´s a win for me is up to my point of view, and right now I just patch up an old friend."

The corners of the clown's mouth went down a bit at this answer:

"And I assume Batman is such a win to you?"

Indeed, a slight smirk now crept onto the cat's face:

"Correct."

Annoyed, Joker jerked his head in another direction and grumbled to himself. Selina just decided to change the subject:

"Did you actually finally ask Penguin why he even uses an umbrella? How does someone even bring penguins and umbrellas together? Since you guys used to be such good friends, you should know the answer, don´t you?"

Now curious again, the clown gave her his attention:

"Now that you mention it, that's true. But isn't it more because penguins wear jackets? And in those old black and white movies used to have men in jackets always danced with umbrellas, didn't they?"

"Umbrellas? Weren't they more like walking sticks?"

"Oh, what do I know. What makes you think me and Penguin were good friends anyway?"

"Weren't you?"

"No, no, no, you've got it wrong. Me and Harvey were good friends and Harvey was good friends with Penguin. The pointy nose was always way too stiff for me. I like more the people with edges and Harvey just offered both. Did Edward ever actually tell you his theory about me?"

Without making a face, the cat just kept on sewing:

"That you're not actually crazy, but just pretending? He told everyone about it. You're only trying to be crazy because madness sets you free. Actually, you understand everything. You suffer from who you once were and who you are now."

Slightly, Joker leaned his head askew:

"And what do you think about that?"

"I...I guess I never took him seriously anyway. Those weird sideburns were a real crime and he was always under the mistaken impression that they looked good."

Joker had to laugh:

"That's true, but he never wanted to take fashion tips from me either. And I´m a true artist. But Batsy never really recognized our art or appreciated it. Except with you. He always gave his attention to you."

Cat gave him a smile with a quick: "I'm prettier than you." but the clown only rolled his eyes:

"Pff, Are you really?"

But then she turned her attention back to the wound:

"You just don't know him like I do. You've built your obsessions around him, but never really got to know him. I did."

However, the clown did not share this opinion:

"Please darling. He created me. I am the chaos to his order. I killed his Robin. I killed thousands for him. Only I gave him a meaning. I hurt him. I know him."

Joker's face was adorned with a devilish grin as he continued:

"He is me and I am him."

Selina wasn't fazed by this and just continued to calmly stitch:

"Funny, unlike him, you're not really my type."

The clown's grin faded and instead his face just took on an annoyed expression:

"Pah, you didn't get it."

There was a brief pause before Joker resumed as usual:

"Say, when you're done, can you do me another favor and get me a knife or something? Now that you're serious about Batsy, I'm afraid I'm forced to stab you."

Selina didn't even falter when he said this and just replied unimpressed:

"Sorry Tiger, but you've already received one favor from me. You already played that card."

Supposedly disappointed, the clown sighed and leaned more against the pillar he was sitting on:

"Too bad, actually. But with that, I'm afraid you're now part of my hit list. I can't let you make him happy. He mustn't be. Our game is too deep for you to be allowed to destroy it. We're all a broken product of this hypocritical society. Especially me and Batman. And a happy Batman is no Batman. Surely you understand that I have to save Batman don't you?"

Cat's brows drew together slightly as she looked up at him:

"And surely you understand that I will save the man I love."

Her eyes met green, which radiated a slight wistfulness:

"Well, I guess we are enemies now my dear."

Selina looked at him for a moment before finishing her last stab and answering a little sadly:

"Looks like it."

Suddenly something vibrated in her pocket, causing the cat to pull out a small cell phone. It was Bruce's. Seemed important. She was about to turn back to the clown when a heavy kick threw the cat backwards and the next moment loud explosions filled the old hall. Shocked, she looked at the Joker, who just grinned and slowly pulled his hands, which were actually tied, out from behind his back:

"You know darling, when you've been in this business as long as I have, you learn a thing or two about some things over the years. Something as banal as handcuffs haven't been able to hold me down since a long time."

The metal cuff clanked to the floor and as the clown stood up, Selina could clearly see a triggered detonator in his left hand as the explosive chain reaction continued to run its course. The cat was already about to jump towards him, but a falling steel bar placed itself crashingly between them, so that she could not get to him.

Joker briefly straightened his shirt before continuing:

"It's a shame actually, that you get to watch this little fireworks show now and not Batsy himself. But in general this night was quite unexpected. You have to upset your plans sometimes."

Selina looked around, but there was no way she could reach the clown. Then, when she looked back into Joker's face, it gave the cat pause. No mean, cynical, or grotesque grin was there. It was a sincere smile that the woman had never seen before on that pale skin. In addition, like a playful child, his hands stretched out to say farewell and together with all the blood it painted a surreal picture:

"It was fun Selina. I'm curious to see which one of us will win in the end. And thanks for the stitches. Goodbye!" *1

The heavy steel beams of the old warehouse began to leave their position under the roof, so Selina's view of Joker was quickly blocked by them as they fell to the ground

Annoyed, she hissed a quick "Crap!" before trying to get outside to safety as quickly as possible. With a dive, the cat barely escaped the collapsing hall and looked back at a large flaming pile of rubble only moments later.

With that, the mission had failed. She knew from their years of working together that the clown always kept a loophole open, so that he still had a way out at the last second and his cat and mouse game could continue. She should have known better. Before the cat could get around this mountain of flames to look for Joker, he would be long gone. So there was no point in chasing after him now.

Slightly annoyed, the cat stood up and hissed once painfully. The pike jump had not been a good idea. An otherwise normal reaction, which she performed almost daily, now left her burned back on fire. Quickly searching for relief, she found another small warehouse not far from her, in front of it´s gates a filled rusty rain barrel was just waiting to give her relief.

Without further ado, the distance was closed and Selina's slender fingers wandered into the cool water, to stop the burning on her back a moment later.

Now a bit more relaxed, she propped herself against the edges of the metal barrel and took a deep breath. Even though the water might be polluted, she simply needed this soothing of her burned skin now.

Suddenly, she heard a growl from the small warehouse where she was standing. In fact, she now also noticed a strange sweetish smell, which seemed to come from the same hall. Curious, Selina went to the old rusty sliding door and as soon as the cat pushed it aside, a beastly stench hit her, so that she covered her contorted face with her arm to counteract this horrible smell.

The initial growl now became a warning bark.

When the cat saw what was in here, she was speechless. She no longer recognized the actions of her former colleague. Joker had changed. And not for the better.

Loudly the sirens of the city began to sound as Jason and Damian ran agitatedly through the broken streets. Again and again they saw Dick in the sky with this strange guy without sense or reason ramming their claws into each other's flesh and spinning violently through the air.

Buildings were destroyed, during their fierce battle. Fires were caused, because of lightning and fire attacks. Loudly the sirens sang all the citizens awake and in vain the two Robins tried to reach the blindly fighting roosters.

It was almost impossible to keep up with their tremendous pace, so Jason, already panting, finally said:

"Damn it kid, it's no use! We'll never catch up with them. Let's get the fucking car first and then chase after them. The street where it´s parked, isn't far from us anyway."

Damian weighed the options for a moment, but could only agree. There was no point in rushing like a tortoise after a hare. They had to move the fight out of the city as quickly as possible, or the situation would get worse.

So Damian nodded briefly at Jason, and he pointed with a quick: "I know where we need to go. This way!" to follow him into the next side alley.

Joker gasped with exertion, while his bloodied hand rested on a tree in the middle of the city. He was quite dizzy from all the blood loss and the beatings his birdie was kindly giving him. It had become a truly interesting night and if he could, he would have drawn it out even further. But then Arkham would have been the consequence once again. Joker knew when the party had to end.

So the tired clown wandered injured through the small alleys of the currently chaotic city, on the way to his emergency hiding place. He was just taking his next step when, right next to him, a covered booth was smashed into pieces out of nowhere. It was almost as if something had crushed it from above and before he could ponder further how such a thing could happen, a body materialized under all the debris.

"Where are you?!" someone growled from the sky.

Astonished, Joker looked up, where this strange red fatty seemed to be standing in mid air, looking searchingly among the houses. Finally, he flew on to search somewhere else.

Joker grimaced in disgust. He didn't like this buff guy. He didn't seem to care much in which way he won. For the fun-loving clown, winning was never the goal. The way to reach it was his only incentive. He had no use for people who made it easy for themselves.

Joker looked at the many feathers that appeared, peeking out from under the splintered wood and torn tarpaulin.

Curious, the clown ventured closer to get a better look and stopped about 2 meters in front of the destroyed booth.

Small bluish flashes twitched around the slightly shimmering feathers. They seemed to glow and dim a little like a pulse again and again in the same beat. A fascinating sight, Joker thought.

Suddenly, the many broken pieces of the booth moved and the buried body rose from under the rubble, sending various shards of glass falling to the ground. Seemed to have been a stand for selling various vessels.

Huge wings first peeled free of wood, glass, as well as plastic, before the feathered body struggled completely free and left the destroyed stand behind.

The clown watched as the slightly dazed figure shook its limbs to remove the last remnants of debris, and in the process, something warm splashed into Joker's face. As he ran his fingers over it, he quickly realized that it was blood.

His opponent had apparently suffered some injuries in the fight, but it was not what the clown was particularly interested in.

For the first time in this exciting night, he could really see the face of this fascinating creature and Joker whooped in amazement. A wide grin spread on his face:

"Well, well, what have we here?"

Following his fascination further, he stepped a little closer to make absolutely sure that his green eyes weren't playing a trick on him just now.

But bare teeth quickly flashed at the clown, and warning growls forced the Joker to stand still, whose eyes glittered like Christmas.

"I was already wondering why little Robbie was talking about trying to capture Nightwing. But you standing in front of me now explains that fact, of course."

Joker crouched down in front of the feathered one to get an even better look at him:

"Look at you. I actually thought you were dead and you're doing better than ever. Hohoho... Oh Dickieboy, the night just keeps getting better and better."

Joker had known it for a long time. Dickieboy, broken Jason, Timmy, little Dami, even Babara and of course Bruce. Their game had been going on for so long that only a complete moron wouldn't have figured it out at some point. Admittedly, Joker wasn't the brightest light at the chandelier, compared to Mr. Freese or Poison Ivy, who were quick to invent new technologies for their own purposes, but he was smart enough to easily put the many clues together.

A knife in Batman's leg the day before and a limping Bruce Wayne on TV at the next night's gala. Just to name one example. You really didn't need a doctorate for that. However, these identities were of no importance to Joker. For him, they were completely different people and therefore uninteresting.

Dick's attention was not on the grinning clown for long, as the rumbling voice of his opponent still sounded in the distance. So his eyes quickly wandered into the sky and, distracted as he was, he pushed a small glass jar with his bird foot, clacking towards Joker.

Joker looked at the clean cylinder for a moment before he had an idea. Grinning, the clown took it in his pale fingers:

"You know, Dickieboy, we've known each other for so long. Surely you can tell me your little new beauty secret, can't you? After all, I'm someone to whom looks are pretty important. I have to offer Papa-Batsy something new too."

Dick wasn't listening to him at all. His gaze was only on the night sky and so he didn't notice how the clown carefully collected a loose feather dripping with blood from his nearby tail and put it into the jar that had survived the crash.

Only a moment later, powerful wings flapped up and down, knocking Joker back and causing Dick to disappear back into the sky, seeking battle again with the other demon.

The clown hissed painfully as his shoulder was taken care of, but far from pain-free. However, he quickly fell into a hearty laugh and held the small jar with the bloody feather in front of his face.

He lay on the cold city floor and laughed in fascination. He could only laugh. He had just seen the factor that would probably bring a lot of momentum back into his cat and mouse game, provided he found out the secret. But he already knew exactly what he would do with it. Grinning darkly, he chuckled with glee:

"I know someone who'll be very interested in this."

"She can't be serious. She really can't be serious, kid!"

Damian and Jason had found Selina's borrowed car and were faced with a special model that Damian in particular knew very well.

A certain blue and silver Maserati 3500 GT stared innocently at the two Robins and Jason got the creeps just looking at it:

"We can't outrun the Justice League in an emergency with that old cucumber! And where is the turkey supposed to sit anyway?! The back seat is so small, there's not even enough room for me!"

Damian could only agree. Dick's car was apparently the only one that didn't have a tracking device installed, but it was probably the most useless one at the time. In terms of acceleration, speed and maneuverability, it was simply the worst of those resting in his father's garage. If it really came to a chase, they were, to put it bluntly, screwed.

But it was the only thing they had right now and accordingly Damian responded:

"Stop crying Todd and just get behind the wheel. You know the streets of this town better than I do. We don't have another vehicle right now."

Finally, Jason grumbled in exasperation:

"With you on my heels, nothing ever works."

With squealing tires, they set off again to get on Dick's heels and Jason quickly realized that the old car was surprisingly easy to drive. But he didn't think about it any further.

Thanks to the car, it didn't take them long to catch up with the fight. Screeching and hissing, Dick and the red demon were still fighting their way between the skyscrapers of the increasingly damaged city. But what was more on Jason's mind right now was the fact that both demons were closing the distance between themselves and Nayeli's orphanage.

They had to hurry to get them out of the city, but the question was how?

To Damian's surprise, Jason suddenly turned into a small side street and simply stopped to get out. Much to the boy's displeasure:

"The hell Todd! What are you doing?!"

Jason, however, was undeterred and headed for a brick wall of the house. Unabashedly, he kicked the brick facade hard with his steel caps, causing the rock to give way and reveal a small cavity behind it.

Serenely, the Outlaw answered Damian while throwing a loaded machine gun at him:

"If we have to get the attention of these airheads, we're going to need better equipment."

He loaded the rest of his stored weapons into the trunk and placed something that looked like a bazooka in the back seat before continuing the drive.

Damian was still rolling his eyes. This gun freak must have had his little arsenals hidden everywhere.

It wasn't long before they had caught up with Dick again. What they saw next sent a violent shiver down their spines.

Both had blood pouring from many wounds and Dick just had a firm grip on the other demon's arm with his claws. Without even hesitating, the feathered one's tail feathers hardened into a sharp blade and not a second later, the gripped body part was separated from the rest with one swift cut.

The red demon cried out painfully, while Dick put some distance between them. Like a wild animal, he rammed his teeth into the fresh meat he had just won and, caught in his animalistic frenzy, devoured it tearingly.

"You inferior creature dare to...!" the now one-armed demon screamed out as he held his gaping wound, his face flushed with rage.

Dick only continued to peel the raw flesh from the bone while his slitted eyes fixed the fat teenager.

It took less than two seconds for the red devil to dash at his blue-skinned opponent again. Only this time the latter took aim at one of Dick's wings, grabbed it with his remaining arm and hurled the feathered one powerfully into the nearest house.

In the process, the unrecognizable remains of the red arm landed on the engine hood of Dick's car and blood liberally splattered the old windshield.

Slightly disgusted, Jason commented:

"Nice, Lardo! The good meatless bacon. Doesn't Dick know not to leave anything on his plate?" and activated the wiper water with the windshield wipers as a matter of course.

Damian just looked at him uncomprehendingly:

"Todd, they really etched every brain cell out of you."

The Outlaw only waved off:

"Yeah yeah, hold the wheel." he let go of the wheel to reach behind him.

Damian didn't have time to even waste a thought on that, because he had to grab the wheel to prevent them from crashing into the next wall.

"Todd, what the...?!"

Jason pulled out his bazooka from the back seat and put it on his shoulder:

"Just hold the car still while I smoke this fat sausage. This lady here should be able to handle him."

He aimed at the red demon and pulled back the trigger at an opportune moment.

The bulled, modified by Jason himself, flew towards the unsuspecting devil, splitting into many smaller projectiles just before it hit, which then enveloped him together in a huge explosion.

Even though the distance between Damian and the enormous wall of fire was a good 60 meters, the heat generated was almost impossible to withstand. He could only be amazed by the destruction with which this weapon worked.

In addition, the Outlaw now threw the bazooka back on the back seat, grabbed the machine gun that lay at Damian side and sat on the edge of the driver's door of the convertible, so that he could better aim.

A hail of bullets pelted between the flames to get the attention of their enemy.

And indeed it seemed to work. Because of the resulting smoke, Dick had meanwhile made himself invisible again to briefly escape his adversary, and from the smoke of the explosion, the red Demon jumped out searching.

He hastily looked around for the feathered one, but he was long gone, so that the devil angrily rumbled in a hail of bullets:

"You maggots! Because of you this coward ran away again!"

Now he sped toward the two humans more than pissed.

Damian in affect jerked the steering wheel to himself with one hand and held Jason's jacket with the other, so that he would not fall from the door and the attack of the enraged demon would not hit them, but the old asphalt of the street.

As a result, they turned into a side street, the angry devil now close on their heels.

Jason took the wheel again and threw his MG at Damian with a short:

"You shoot him a new smile in his ugly face and I'll see that we somehow survive with this junk of a car. Ammo is in the back seat. And make sure you don't fall off when I'm driving!"

While the boy knew that all that gunfire couldn't penetrate that armored red skin anyway, as long as that fat guy would follow them, they could move the fight out of the city.

And even though Damian wasn't actually the biggest fan of firearms, since from his point of view they didn't have the same honorable value as melee weapons, he could still handle them skillfully.

Bullet after bullet bounced off the furious enemy.

Damian had trouble keeping the weapon straight, as Jason had to constantly rake them to avoid being hit by blows or fireballs.

But it quickly became clear, with a car that had poor acceleration, it was impossible to escape quickly in sharp turns.

Therefore, it was not surprising that this red demon grabbed the rear of the car with its remaining arm and put a quick end to their escape.

The tires spun quickly as the rear of the blue and silver vehicle already left the ground.

Even though the demon was now standing directly in front of them, and the force of Damian's projectiles hit harder than ever, the bullet simply bounced off like water drops off pane glass:

"Todd, your weapons are useless!"

The Outlaw didn't let that faze him, however:

"You're just holding a child's toy in your hand. The real weapons are only available for children over 1.50m."

Damian only growled sourly, "...Todd!"

Jason, however, could only laugh and pulled out of his pants pocket his next trump card.

It was a roundish object, which the Outlaw now casually threw behind him, directly into the distorted face of their hunter.

Even before it touched the red skin, a small bang released viscous green-yellow slime from within, which caked the entire upper part of the demon. In surprise, the latter then let go of the car to free himself from this annoying mass with his remaining hand.

The chase could continue, but not without Jason turning around once more, pulling out his pistol, and with a well-aimed shot putting the strange substance on fire.

The demon flared up behind them, while the two disappeared behind the next wall.

Damian angrily threw the MG on the back seat:

"This thing is no good at all! Give me one of the others!"

But the Outlaw only waved it off again:

"Even the bazooka couldn't leave a scratch, and it's got enough force to take apart two tanks in one hit. I'd rather save my good stuff for something else."

Briefly, he pointed his thumb behind him before continuing:

"Besides, the Sausage is following us anyway, so you'd better hang on."

Sharply, the Outlaw steered in to avoid another attack and Damian had nearly been thrown out.

A building next to the road was hit, causing rocks and dust to momentarily obscure their view, and as if that hadn't been close enough, they hit something in all this chaos, bringing their ride to an abrupt end.

It was only thanks to Jason's daring drift maneuver that speed was reduced beforehand and none of them took serious damage from the hard impact.

However, the abrupt stop shook them properly and neither of them immediately realized what they had driven into.

"End of the ride." growled menacingly the deep voice of the still burning demon directly in front of them. With sheer inhuman speed, the demon had darted in front of the car using the cover of the dust and stopped it with his massive body.

Between blazing flames the distorted red grimace of the demon peered out and it was almost as if they were facing the devil himself. Its nails scraped squeakily across the hood, its high-pitched tone ringing painfully in their ears.

"Annoying vermin like you should be eliminated immediately. You have deprived me of my main meal! I think someone should pay for that."

Jason shook himself out of his confusion. Out of a spontaneous reaction, he put the car in reverse, trying to gain distance again. But the car didn't move even an inch. The sharp fingernails of the red demon, held it in place and Jason just cursed to the car:

"Son of a bitch come on!"

But even the hardest stomp on the gas pedal did nothing.

Sneering, the demon at first just grinned superiorly at him, but then the five red fingers clawed deeper into the blue-silver metal and the Outlaw watched as the demon started to walk around the car´s hood, straight towards Damian.

But the boy was still too dazed to react by himself. His previous head injuries were now taking their toll and even Jason had now a hard time staying calm.

Saliva was already dripping down from the doubled chin as the greedy yellow eyes hungrily fixed on the defenseless boy. Jason still wanted to pull Damian away, but the vehicle's seat belt held him in place.

Jason quickly released the safety catch on the seat and pulled the little boy to him at the last moment, so that his arm just barely escaped the sharp snapping teeth. In addition, he pulled out one of his two pistols and shot into the grinning face of this fat demon.

But as expected, this didn't even seem to scratch him and if he would go for harder guns at this close distance, it would be equal to a suicide attempt.

In a fit of approaching desperation, the Outlaw grabbed the handle of the door and quickly pulled it towards him to open it. But it was locked and accordingly did not move. Jason must have accidentally pressed down the pin for the latch a few minutes ago when he sat on the door for better aim.

So now he tried to unlock the delicate pin with his clumsy gloved fingers. However, this turned out to be an impossible hurdle.

Really, nothing ever worked at all!

Closer and closer the demon approached them, and Jason pulled Damian even closer to him, as his leg was the next thing eyed by the greedy eyes.

He thought about their options. One could simply step over the door, but then the problem arose that he would have to take his foot off the gas, giving this bastard the opportunity to simply grab them with his again free hand, as well as his superhuman speed.

A precarious situation in which the Outlaw ran out of ideas.

Fortunately, he didn't need any more ideas. Just when Jason thought that this blubber was going to sink his teeth into one of them, the Demon's yellow eyes widened in surprise and not even a second later something pulled him away from the vehicle and the One-armed crashed into a street lantern.

Jason didn't realize exactly what had just happened, because the moment the car was freed from its restraint, it sped back at full throttle along the path they had previously traveled. Thanks to the Outlaw's quick reaction that the car didn't drive straight through the curve and cash into a house, but braked in time and only slightly hit the facade.

Jason saw Dick and that other demon resume their fight and finally disappear into the sky. The turkey might as well have shown up a few moments earlier!

But instead of thinking about it, he turned his attention back to Damian, who just lay motionless on his lap. Gently but firmly, Jason patted the smaller boy's cheek:

"Kid! Hey kid! Oh shit! Don't make an exit on me now! I have no desire to chase after that turkey alone, while you take the role of the sleeping princess! Damn it Damian, open your eyes now or I swear I'll tell Tim what you actually think about him!"

Indeed, the boy's lids now twitched and only a moment later his eyes opened in confusion, "Ja...son?"

The Outlaw was speechless at first, but then he began to grin broadly and had to laugh a little:

"Oh, does it really take a good knock on your head before you start calling someone by their first name? You're really weird kid."

It took Damian a moment before he slowly realized whose lap his head was on. Shocked, the green eyes opened and filled with fear, the smaller man asked only one question:

"Todd, please don't tell me you had to kiss me."

Jason was surprised at first by this question, but quickly realized its potential. He played this card with glee:

"Sorry kid, but you stopped breathing for a second. Mouth to mouth was inevitable then."

The Outlaw watched as the already white-painted face went even paler and Damian seemed on the verge of puking. It was that moment when Jason couldn't hold on any longer. Out loud he laughed:

"Hahaha...Oh man, you don't seriously think I would have done something like that! You should see your face!...Haha."

Enraged, Damian sat up quickly and winced painfully. Straining, he held his throbbing head as he hissed:

"Fuck you Todd! I hope you die from your stupid seal laugh!"

Only with difficulty could Jason hold back his amusement, and when he could manage it to some extent, he replied:

"God I wish I had taken a picture of your face. That was just too glorious. How am I supposed to give someone mouth-to-mouth with my helmet on anyway? That's really sad by your standards. Haha...But seriously, are you okay?"

Though Damian's vision was still slightly blurry and his headache wasn't subsiding either, he just waved it off sourly:

"Yeah yeah, let's just keep driving...dirty street dog."

Even though Jason never liked that description, what Damian also knew, considering his mean prank, the Outlaw let him get away with it. Besides, it gave him an idea:

"Let me know as soon as it gets worse, ok? By the way, how about you stop calling me Todd and just call me Jason or Jay? Unlike you, I'm not particularly proud of my last name since it reminds me of my looser dad and in return, I'll call you Damian from now on and not kid or brat. So, what do you think?"

He saw the brain cells working in Damian's aching head before the boy finally growled curtly:

"Alright...Jason."

Wow, he must have hit his head harder than first thought if the agreed so easily.

"Then I hope you'll make use of it from now on."

Satisfied, Jason pulled a small pack of wet wipes out of the driver's door, which was actually intended for the dashboards. But given the circumstances, he simply used it for something else:

"Here, you're creeping me out, and by the looks of you, you're scaring even the bats away."

Damian grabbed the package energetically and added, still annoyed:

"Haha, very funny."

Jason was about to drive on again when, looking at the car´s hood, something caught his eye. He shared his amazement with Damian:

"Wait a minute...didn't we hit the blubber with this car?"

"Congratulations To...Jason. You just portrayed the obvious."

"Don't start complaining again, just look at the hood. There's nothing broken, even though it's such an old model."

Now that he said it, Damian noticed it too. Apart from the damage caused by the sharp fingernails, this car had not been scratched. Normally, at least the front part of these old cars should have been dented, but there was nothing to be seen here. But for him, that was a minor matter right now anyway:

"Let the car be a car and just drive off. We have more important things to do!"

They just left it at that.

Jason and Damian continued to drive around for quite some time, looking for Dick and his adversary. However, they just couldn't find them again. There had been no crashing, no flashing, and no new fire for quite some time. Instead, only the wailing sirens of the fire department and alarms of the city.

Impatiently, Damian looked at his watch. Their time had just run out and the Justice League would arrive any moment. That is, if they had not already arrived. Because of the lack of battle sounds, he was beginning to fear that his father might have been faster, and that Dick was already back in some small cage.

Should this really be the case, everything he had achieved so far had been for nothing!

And Todd's constant asking if he saw anything on his radar yet, didn't help much:

"Fuck, where is that idiot! Still got nothing on your radar?"

Damian didn't hold back from revealing his annoyance:

"It is and remains the same answer as 30 seconds ago. No. Just focus on the road and let me worry about this!"

"I swear I'll chain that turkey up as soon as I get my hands on him! If I run across Batman because of him, I'll make a feather pinata out of him and hang him in the orphanage!"

Damian just rolled his eyes. Todd really had some issues.

Suddenly, a jolt went through the car and they both looked at each other in wonder.

"What was that?" asked Jason, but Damian was as perplexed as the Outlaw.

The answer finally manifested itself on the long rear of the vehicle in the form of a body with blood soled bluish feathers, which Jason immediately responded with:

"Shit Dick, where have you been?!"

Damian immediately noticed the poor condition Dick was in. He was bleeding everywhere, had wounds all over his body, and was breathing heavily. But despite all this, the tip of his tail was still wagging joyfully back and forth.

Immediately, the little guy instructed his driver:

"Jason, pull over immediately!" because Damian was afraid that Dick might fall off the car at any moment. But to his chagrin, the Outlaw didn't react but just kept driving and even picked up speed, which visibly annoyed the boy:

"Damn it Jason what...?!"

"Why don't you just look back, Mr. I know everything better! We've got company!" the Outlaw abruptly interrupted him and he followed the instruction. And he did not like what he saw.

A certain red lightning bolt shot toward them and without them being able to react accordingly, he was at the driver's door in a flash:

"Hey Hood! Wow, that's a big bird you've got there. Do you mind stopping the car? It's an order from the big boss."

Flash was one of the people Jason couldn't stand at all. An extreme chatterbox who was just annoying with his unnecessary fidgeting. Only Buster could top that on his 'list of people Red Hood would never work with'. So it was no surprise that instead of a proper greeting or even a look, the speedster only got a middle finger with the words:

"Fuck off you sad Ferrari knock-off!".

So the Justice League had found them after all. What a load of crap!

Flash visibly didn't seem to like this answer, judging from the deep corners of his mouth that now adorned his face:

"You know how dangerous this thing is, right? We can still end this whole thing peacefu..."

"Yeah yeah McQueen, talk to the bullet." the Outlaw interrupted him boredly and at the same time pulled out one of his pistols to shoot at the Speedster.

Flash was faster than the bullets anyway, which Jason knew. But sometimes guns were just a great way to express your opinion.

Briefly, the burdock fell back a bit due to the evasive maneuvers, but it didn't take even three seconds before he was glued to the driver's door again:

"This is the last warning Hood! Several members of the Justice League are here. You can't escape anyway."

Playfully thinking, Jason now turned to his passenger:

"Hah I don't know. What do you say Robin?"

Without hesitation, the boy spat:

"Get lost Flash!" and Jason unabashedly continued:

"There, you have it. Get lost Ginger!" before firing bullets at the Speedster again.

Of course, the latter again deftly dodged, but when a certain feathered tail then interfered at a much faster pace, even the Flash almost hadn't been fast enough. Though he managed to avoid the dangerous strike for his chest by a limbo move, it caused the Speedster to stumble and fall back.

As the car continued diving off, Flash eventually had to stop to regain his balance. At the same time, he took the opportunity to send a short message:

"Flash to Watchtower, the targets refuse to cooperate. I am continuing the pursuit."

Batman wasn't exaggerating about this thing being extremely dangerous. There were only a handful of people who could keep up with the Flash´s speed, and they usually didn't have claws!

The Speedster chased after them to keep an eye on the dangerous trio. The first thing that greeted him now on the rear of the car from afar were the bare teeth of this monster.

But now that he saw it like this, it seemed to him somehow a little different from Batman's description. According to him, this thing was a bird-like creature capable of killing even Superman. If he was honest, he had switched off his interest from that point, but still expected something with a beak or something. All the more, he was surprised about the human face which fixed him now. It was smarter to keep a safe distance for now.

At the other end, Jason just looked annoyed in his rearview mirror:

"Damn, we have to get rid of him somehow, or he'll keep gossiping our position to Batman. We're about to come out at the harbor. Can we dump him there?"

Damian was about to come up with something for this circumstance, but a stroke of luck was faster.

First Dick began to snort because something had gotten caught in his nose, which then turned into a violent sneeze as a natural body reaction, and according to his latest physical changes, the street in front of Flash became a single skating rink.

Full of satisfaction Jason could just follow the winter scene from Bambi in his rearview mirror. How the legs slithered back and forth in a vain search for grip, but ultimately achieved nothing. As graceful as an elephant, the red flash disappeared straight through a window into the next best fashion store and was never seen again.

"Hahaha...There goes that sucker! Even though Dick is more mutant than human now, that´s really handy sometimes!" Jason said amused, but Damian could only. He didn't like that mutant fact and while Todd was still laughing heartily about it, the shorter one saw Someone standing in front of them on the street:

"Jason Watch out!"

As the Outlaw saw the person too, he hit the brakes violently with an "Oh shit!" so Dick had to claw at the metal to keep himself from being shaken off.

The tires squealed as they skidded across the asphalt, but the braking distance was too lagging for them not to crash into that someone. However, that just turned out to be the least of their worries.

In front of them was none other than Superman, hovering just above the road with his arms crossed.

Just before the car crashed into the Man of Steel, he simply held up a hand in front of him, intercepting the vehicle as gently as possible so that it stopped in front of him. On the left, the harbor and just behind it the open sea. On the right, various stores.

Dead end.

Perplexed, Jason and Damian could only stare at the tall man before Richard screeched angrily behind them and their eyes looked backwards over their shoulders.

A golden lasso tied several of the winged man's limbs tightly to his torso, leaving only one arm as well as a wing still free and massively limiting his mobility.

Damn, Wonder Woman must have used this brief moment of distraction by Superman to tie Dick up!

Richard put up a massive fight, but against this indestructible rope coupled with the Amazon's strength, he simply could not prevail in his weakened state.

Jason and Damian ducked under the partially hardened feathers and flapping wing to avoid damage from them.

In front of them Superman, behind them Wonder Woman and Dick already trapped. They were really screwed!

"Diana he's too dangerous on the car. Pull him away from it!" shouted Clark, holding the vehicle in place so they couldn't just drive away and to drag Richard away from it.

Even though Dick clawed tightly into the metal with his remaining claws, he just couldn't hold his position and ended up being yanked onto the asphalt after all.

Damian was still yelling: "Leave him alone!" but of course that was simply ignored.

Jason meanwhile pressed all the buttons he could find. His weapons were useless right now, the gas pedal wouldn't do anything either. The only thing he was holding on to now was the fact that it was Dick's car. And Dick was a tinkerer. He just had to have something built in here!

"Shit, come on! I know you liked to tinker with vehicles, so where are the fucking gadgets on this thing Dick!"

But Jason could try as much as he wanted, nothing was happening.

Suddenly, the Outlaw heard loud jets in the distance and as he looked up, he spotted the lights of Batman's jet directly over the calm sea. Now it was really getting worse.

Slowly he began to believe that their trip had apparently come to an end. Bruce was the last person he wanted to run into. After all, Jason already had one foot in prison. Who says that the destruction of large parts of a city did not bring him there finally? True, it wasn't himself, but in a way he was complicit.

"Fuck, we have to get out of here!" he shouted at Damian and as if Fortuna had heard him the next moment a Divine providence occurred.

Dick managed to free another wing, which made him much more defensible. He tried to fly away upwards with the help of his two free wings, but the result was that he could not defy Diana's power and landed directly between Jason and Damian on the center console.

Roughly, the feathered body pressed the two robins against the doors of the vehicle and abruptly drove the air out of their lungs.

However, this caused Dick's free hand to briefly come to rest on the old steering wheel, and then as Superman lifted the heavy feathered body out of the car by it´s leg to prevent worse, a small beeping voice sounded from the car's speakers:

"Fingerprint detected. Get out of here is being executed. Please hold!"

The two Robins couldn't even react before they were pinned to the seats by a special cruciform belt, and not a second later the car began to transform dramatically fast into something very reminiscent of the Batmobile in terms of appearance.

Jet´s were rushing hot, the car became longer, flatter, got a roof and blue-silver became a simple black without any symbols, which was not usually the case for such vehicles.

Clark and Diana watched the unexpected spectacle in amazement and disbelief. A mistake, as it turned out.

For when this strange machine made its 'from zero to one hundred in two seconds' exit with a loud whoosh of thrusters, the two of them, as well as Dick, were thrown back by the enormous pressure and Wonder Woman lost her grip on her lasso.

Superman couldn't hold Richard any longer either, and each of them collided hard with the ground in a different direction. Dick quickly regained his composure and used this small moment of surprise to slip off the lasso and started his own escape.

Superman clicked on his communicator in his ear as he was about to fly after him:

"Batman, me and Wonder Woman take on Dick. You and Aquaman take care of the other two!"

"Are you sure about this? I don't want to explain this to Lois if something happens."

Clark just waved it off:

"Don't worry, I already know his methods. I'll be careful."

With that, the Kryptonian dashed after Richard along with the Amazon.

At the same time, Jason and Damian were having the ride of their lives. Although they were driving along the harbor at at least 200 mph, this vehicle kept accelerating and accelerating, beyond their control. What only made the whole thing worse was this strange digital face that popped up in front of them the next second as a bluish hologram above the dashboard, purring joyfully:

" Hey ho!

（＾∀＾)

Excuse me for a moment. Since I have not been used for a while, I have to install some updates.

(╯▽╰)

That's why the autopilot will take over now, but I'll be right back. See you in a bit."

(◕ヮ◕)

With that, the weird artificial intelligence said it´s goodbyes right away and Jason got to his panicked:

"Wait, wait, wait! What the hell is going on here?!" unfortunately no answer.

Damian, meanwhile, was plagued by an entirely different concern:

"Oh God...Jason! The road ends up ahead!"

Indeed, their current path ended with a barrier, a steep ledge, and just beyond it, the wide sea. And the car made no move to slow down.

In their panic, Jason tried to take the wheel again, but no matter how hard he yanked the steering wheel, or pressed the pedals, nothing responded.

"Oh...Shit, shit ,shit!"

Accompanied by the shocked exclamations of Damian and Jason, the car finally broke through the barrier and over the edge, straight into the dark waters of the sea.

Although the windows withstood the sudden pressure, the vehicle sank quickly. It didn't exactly help to calm their minds. Rather, the opposite was the case. But when a tinny: "Aqua-Mode activated" sound, this machine rebuilt itself again and continued its escape underwater at a fast pace. They could only watch the whole thing in disbelief.

But there was no time to take a short breath.

They hadn't even reached 500 meters in the ocean before a tentacle slapped briefly against the windshield. And another, and another. Jason and Damian could see more and more sea creatures gathering in front of them, howling and trying to grab the infernal vehicle.

But before they knew it, the 'car' started risky evasive maneuvers, which tossed around the Robins in particular really hard.

Corkscrewing movements between the many tentacles of giant squids, quick turns to avoid ravenous great white sharks and finally all the maneuvers against which an untrained stomach would have had no chance.

Then, when Aquaman appeared in front of them, the vehicle made a quick swerve towards the water's surface and jumped far out of the sea due to its high speed.

"Air-Mode activated" sounded again the monotonous computer voice and again the vehicle rebuilt itself, only this time into some kind of Car-jet.

Hard the powerful jet engine pushed Jason and Damian into the seats, while the strange airplane flew almost vertically up into the sparse clouds.

Because of the extreme G-forces pulling on them, Damian found it difficult to speak.

"How...do you stop...this thing!" came miserably from the boy.

But the Outlaw was just as perplexed:

"How am...I supposed to...know?! I...can't...even...get...my...hands...on...the...urg...wheel!"

At about a mile altitude, the jet abruptly stopped its climb and finally flew halfway parallel to the earth, allowing the two Robins to catch their breath to some extent.

"Quick, help me find the button to turn off the autopilot!" instructed Jason Damian stressed and hectically wandered their fingers over everything that could trigger the end of this hell trip. But they found nothing.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Outlaw noticed a small radar on which a small glowing dot was rapidly approaching them. Jason knew for sure that was Batman...and what would now follow again.

"Aaarrgg Fuck." he groaned annoyed, before their roller coaster ride continued in vertical spirals downward, whereby even helmet and mask made a departure.

And Batman right behind them.

The maneuver brought them to the city's banking district, whose tall skyscrapers were its defining image. Of course, the ride continued sportily in loops between the skyscrapers.

The jets roared loudly as they had to brake sharply again and again in order to fly through the narrow niches between the buildings properly and once more speed up only a second later. But of course, this was not enough to outrun the bat.

Instead, Batman now used the gadgets of his jet and fired two small fighter missiles at them at an opportune moment. They were not dangerous projectiles, of course. They would merely attach a small device to the vehicle, causing slight damage to the system with electromagnetic pulses and forcing them to land. But this plan was not as simple as it sounded.

Shortly before the missiles could fulfill their purpose, decoys were released from the rear of the flying car, which threw a spanner in the works. So instead of Batman´s actual target, the expensive technology crashed in a public fountain and a small park tree, which could now say goodbye to it´s life because of a caused fire.

Such a thing was probably called a total miss.

Their chase moved away from the tall buildings to the clear night sky above smaller settlements, where Batman pulled out his next gadget.

Plan B was the built-in grappling rakes of his jet.

He followed the two up into the dense clouds, where the lack of visibility was clearly noticeable. While he was temporarily unable to aim, that didn't mean he didn't take advantage of the brief moments when he could.

They were just breaking through the end of a wall of clouds when Batman fired again. As before, the direction was perfect, but this time another problem crept in. It was about 8 meters before the two grappling rakes could bore into the tail of the Car-jet, when out of nowhere from the cloud below them Dick appeared and just behind him Superman.

The result...one rake wrapped around Dick's left foot, the other hit the Kryptonian in the head with a loud 'klong' and the real target flew away happily.

Since it wasn't an Interon that Batman used for his grappling rakes, it had been easy for Dick to cut it off with his hardened tail feathers and then make off with an invisible feather cloak.

Bruce slapped his own hand over his face. This stupid coincidence got to be a joke! What were the chances that Dick and Clark would show up right now? The latter, by the way, after a moment confusion, just gave him a quick look that meant something like, "You're serious?!", before looking for the winged one among the clouds.

Bruce simply attached himself to the heels of the other jet again and put this disgrace aside.

The pursuit found its next stage over a busy highway. Batman pulled everything his plane got to catch up with Damian and Jason, and it wasn't much longer before he finally had them. It was maybe three car lengths from the nose tip of his jet, to their rear. At that distance, they would not be able to escape his next gadget.

But luck was truly not with him today, thwarting his plans this time in the form of a highway tunnel.

The Car-jet two was heading just over the entrance of the long highway tunnel when the vehicle executed a backflip in a wide arc and ended up flying into the tunnel that way. Batman didn't register this maneuver until it was too late and therefore didn't pull up his machine in time, so he couldn't do the same clean somersault, but had to hit an extra round, increasing the distance to his personal rebels.

And that's exactly what Dick's vehicle took advantage of.

Because when they already arrived at the end of the 3km tunnel, Batman was just at halfway through. The modified car pulled up right at the exit, flew over a noise barrier, breaking visual contact with their pursuer, and then when they were over a small residential area, the thrusters reversed with varying intensity.

The result was a rapid oblique slide to the ground, or rather crash, as Jason and Damian would describe and which brought horror to their faces. Crashing, the front and rear tires of the passenger side first hit hard before all four wheels drifted sideways across the narrow settlement road, causing the car to spin several times and finally come to a perfect stop under a streetlight.

"Incognito mode activated."

Quickly the vehicle rebuilt itself into an inconspicuous red station wagon, like the ones you could find on any street, and when Batman finally shot over them with his jet and didn't seem to have noticed this little trick, it was clear that they had lost him.

The brief silence after this rather special ride lasted maybe five seconds, and then some artificial intelligence popped up again:

"So…updates are done. We're there, guys. Your pursuer has been successfully cast off and is heading west. But I'd still wait a minute or two to make sure."

"I hope you had a nice ride!" the little digital face winked at them in conclusion.

Jason and Damian were speechless. Neither of them knew exactly what had just happened.

"Is there anything else I can do for you guys?"

(◕ω◕)

the little computer beeped, looking expectantly at the befuddled Robins.

Only haltingly did Jason ask:

"What...the hell...is this thing?"

And before either of them could say anything else, the happy digital face answered Jason's question:

"If you'll allow me to introduce myself, I'm Dick's Intelligent Navigation Assistant. You can just call me Dina, though.

(◕ヮ◕)

I was developed by Timothy Jackson Drake to help run this Nightbird-Zero. A prototype to test new technologies for the Nightbird series mission models. *2

(●ˇ∀ˇ●)

According to my facial recognition, you are Jason Peter Todd and Damian Wayne. So according to my security settings entitled to use this vehicle to the fullest extent. I hope we have a lot of fun together!"

(≧▽≦)

Damian and Jason just silently weighed in their thoughts. What was more disturbing? The fact that this believed junk car was a freaking hell of a machine, or this artificial intelligence that clearly combined the worst personality ideas of Tim and Dick.

A question that probably wouldn't find an answer until the end of time.

But another thing burned much more in Damian's head:

"Damn it, we have to go back and get Grayson!"

Yet Jason put a harsh damper on it:

"Oh no forget it! Face it Damian, that's it. What are you even going to do when we go back? Tickle Superman with some bombs? Besides, your body finally needs a break."

Of course, the boy saw it all differently:

"I don't need a break Todd! Now let's turn around and..."

"FOR...GET...IT! Have you even looked in the mirror? You're a mess Damian and as for all the blows your head took today, it's not to be trifled with either! Enough! And if you don't see it that way, I won't hold back on punching your lights out so you'll finally shut up!"

Jason leaned back more in the seat and rubbed his nose root in exasperation:

"All my stuff...burned for nothing. I'm not in the mood for your complains anymore."

Damian was about to protest again when a piping voice cut in:

"If I might interfere for a moment, Master Dick is on my roof."

(￣▽￣)

Simultaneously, the two squabblers turned to the computer with an incredulous:

"Wait what?!" and in the next moment a by now very familiar tail tip slapped against the windshield.

Damian immediately jumped out of the car and sure enough, he spotted Dick on Dina's roof, looking happily toward him. The boy swayed briefly in relief.

Jason did the same and couldn't believe it:

"How the hell did he do that now?! Even Batman couldn't catch us and that one just plops up on the roof like he never left!"

He threw his arms in the air in stress:

"Oh I just don't question anything here anymore. You two are going to give me an early heart attack."

"Can zombies even get that?" retorted Damian and the Outlaw could only roll his eyes.

"Haha, very funny. Get off the car turkey!"

Jason didn't want to waste any more time and got Richard off the roof before instructing the computer:

"Hey Dina, do you happen to be able to change into something that Dick can fit in too? But it has to be inconspicuous."

"Sure!"

(◕ヮ◕)*:･ﾟ✧

the voice answered him joyfully and in the next moment the vehicle transformed into an ordinary minibus, in which even their feathered problem child would find a place.

Not even the Batmobile could do that!

"Well, I'm done. Please get in!"

(^▽^)

While Damian was loading Dick into the back of the car, Jason was already getting behind the wheel and complimenting:

"Man, I'm really starting to like this car!"

"Aww thank you!"

(˃ᗜ˂)

"But you're still annoying."

('･ω･')

At first flattered, the computer's mood now abruptly changed and then threw at the Outlaw's head:

"The way I see your record, your character traits aren't the best either. That's quite a few charges you've got there. Threatening a poor old lady three weeks ago because she hit your motorcycle with her bag? You don't do that kind of thing to elders Jason."

(눈_눈)

"Hey. Keep your computer nose out of my business!"

Damian now sat down in his seat as well and commented:

"Wow, even the robots dislike you."

"Oh shut up and just drive us to Bludhaven Dina. Inconspicuously."

"No Problemo!"

(^▽^)

Damian immediately got alert when he heard that city name:

"Wait, what do you want in Bludhaven? Surely not to go to Drake?!"

And Jason sighed in annoyance. Here we go again:

"I just lost my house and I can't think of a better solution right now. Besides, Tim is the best option for Dick. You've had a week to solve the problem. Instead, it's gotten worse. So I'm deciding now that we're going to Timmy's place. And before you get all gremlin again, think harder about our situation. We're tired as hell, we have no place to stay, and Tim is the best option to find a solution to Dick's mutation."

The car was already leaving when Damian made his protest after all:

"He's going to rat us out!"

"He won't. I can guarantee you that, and now this topic is closed with that, because either way, we're going there now. Whether you like it or not."

Damian hissed angrily: "Fuck you Todd!"

"Yeah, you too brat." the Outlaw replied disinterestedly, then asked:

"Hey Rattle-carriage, you got a first aid kit around here somewhere?"

The little computer folded up the unused steering wheel and turned it into the dashboard, so that in its place was now an extended countertop with all sorts of medical stuff:

"Help yourself... ... ... Evolution-Brake."

(￣︿￣)

"Man, how did Tim even program that bitch?"

Shaking his head at that, Jason picked up a pair of fabric scissors and was about to grab Damian's t-shit when the boy bucked back petulantly:

"What are you doing Todd?!"

Slowly the patience of the Outlaw reached its end. Determiningly he explained:

"Look, kid. I'm really tired of your opinion by now. You're just bitching and so close to blow your lights out with my stun bullets. The clown got you good a couple of times and I just want to get a picture of your wounds and take care of what I can take care of, because you can´t do that alone. So hold still."

With that he just grabbed the boy's red t-shirt and started to cut it open.

With each successive cut, more and larger bruises were revealed, covering the small child's body extensively, especially above the ribs. Yet Jason did maintain his face free from any emotion. With a stubborn head like Damian's, any emotional reaction adds more oil to the crackling fire.

But when he arrived at the branded J just above Damian's collarbone, the Outlaw did pause. It was simply his memories that now made Jason's gaze a little sad, as he used to see that mark on his own face every day. Joker had put up an extra set of mirrors in the room where he was holding him so that he could watch himself blossom, as the clown put it. Jason still regretted not killing that sadistic prick.

"What are you looking at Todd?!"

Damian's sour voice interrupted the dark train of thoughts. Jason simply replied:

"I think this is going to leave a very recognizable scar. If it had been treated instantly, the scarring might have ended up paler."

But the boy seemed rather less interested in that:

"If something like scars bothered me, I wouldn't aspire to be Batman. Besides, it doesn't limit my body's functionality."

"Maybe not that, but your freedom. No one can see this mark, or your identity is in danger. But I think you know that yourself. Since Dick is already asleep, we'll leave him alone for now. I've seen that his wounds already stopped bleeding. So that can wait for now."

Jason bandaged the burn so that no one would have to see it and then tended to the injuries on his head before putting the medical paraphernalia away again.

Finally, Jason took off his beloved leather jacket and tossed it uncharitably over to Damian´s lap with the words:

"Put this on and rest until we get to Bludhaven."

Damian looked at the warm piece of cloth for a moment, perplexed, but then wordlessly put it on and turned away from Jason toward the window.

He was still not satisfied that they were on their way to Drake and therefore only looked angrily out into the night. But this state did not last long.

In fact, now that Damian was slowly coming to rest, he just realized how tired he had been in the first place. The boy mentally reviewed the day. From all the people who were important to Jason, to Joker and finally their quick escape. However, one event in particular outweighed all others for Damian and without thinking about it further, he ended up saying:

"You said earlier that you´ve never been a part of the family.

That's not true.

There are still many photos of you in Pennyworth's and father's room and when father looks at them, he often smiles.

You were always a part of us Jason."

Jason subconsciously clenched his hands into fists and just continued to stare at the artificially lit street.

Without even showing an emotion, he calmly replied:

"I know that. You don´t have to tell me. Just get some sleep."

"Are you serious Dick?! You're going to make him your Robin?!"

Damian was sitting at the big Batcomputer, reading through the many files of Gotham's criminals, when behind him, Grayson and Drake were arguing heatedly. A week had passed since his father's death, and this bumbling circus clown had seriously taken up the mantle of Batman. After all, he had been wise enough to take Damian as the new Robin. This loser wouldn't be able to do anything without him anyway! And accordingly, Drake, the incompetent, was now quite upset:

"He is Al Gul's grandson and a member of the League of Assassins! As soon as you turn around, he'll ram his sword into your back!"

Lovely idea as Damian thought, but unfortunately it would not help the current situation. Since Father didn't take out his enemies right away, there was all kinds of work to be done in Gotham and even thought he was very well trained, it would be difficult to handle everything on his own.

"Tim, you're not my sidekick, you're my ally on the same level. I told you before that Batman needed a Robin. But unlike Bruce, I don't need someone to hold back my demons."

Though Grayson was whispering now, Damian's keen ears could still follow their conversation:

"It's more the other way around this time. If Damian stays close to me, at least I know he won't go out trying to kill people uncontrollably. He desperately needs a task and structure. And even though he's done bad things to you and is generally a high risk, he's still Bruce's son and is my responsibility. And for Bruce's sake, I will take care of the boy. He needs this more urgently."

The two of them were Idiots after all. Damian really couldn't care less about them, and especially Saint Grayson, with his distorted view of the world, was no longer completely sane in his head!

Damian needed no one!

"It was my task Dick! You take everything away from me!" it came in an aghast from the computer genius of the family.

"Tim it's time for you to make your own decisions. I can't teach you anything anymore and you should think about what you want to do eventually or rather who you want to be."

Dick amicably put a hand on Tim's shoulder and calmly advised him:

"Don't get dependent but find your own path."

But Drake, of course, disagreed. Offended, he shook off his hand and left the Batcave with a "This is bullshit." which Grayson acknowledged with a visibly concerned look.

Damian was just fine with the whole thing. Nobody needed that loser anyway. *3

"Damian...Damian, we're there."

Gently, Jason shook the sleeping boy out of his reverie, causing him to blink in slight confusion for a brief moment.

The artificial light of many skyscrapers beamed at him and he found himself still in Dick's car. However, this time instead of on a street, in a parking alley. Damian looked around in wonder. He knew this neighborhood pretty well. Dick had lived right upstairs in the building across the street, and when Jason added:

"Timmy lives in the circus clown's old apartment," the boy screwed up his face. He had known that Drake lived somewhere in Bludhaven, but not that he lived there out of all places.

Damian did not like this circumstance very much. After all, it was Dick's apartment.

At the sight of the many floors, they had to overcome, Jason smacked his forehead with his hand:

"Great, now how are we going to get Dickie up there? It's not like we can just drag him through the lobby. Damn it! I didn't think about that at all."

As if that had been a cue, the aforementioned man immediately peeked out from between the seats and looked curiously through the windshield.

Damian, however, quickly thought of a solution to this problem:

"If he makes himself invisible, that's no problem. He did it on command earlier. So the shortcut for that command should be there now."

"That's pretty risky. If he becomes visible again before then, he'll be noticed immediately and we'll have to find another place to stay. Aside from the fact that we need Timmy's Brain for Dick's sake."

Damian still hissed irritably, but he had to swallow this bitter pill now. The priority was Dick's recovery, even if Drake's help scratched hard on his pride. He added:

"It's the only way."

They both pulled their masks back over their faces and got out of the car. Damian turned to Dick and gestured to him to make himself invisible. It took a short moment in which his counterpart only looked questioningly. But then the penny dropped, and Richard began to dissolve under his adaptable feathers.

Jason and Damian looked up the many stories from the parking lot and the Outlaw considered:

"Front entrance or back entrance? Front entrance is faster, but it is also more conspicuous. So I would suggest the back entrance. Can you use your computer to bypass the cameras?"

Damian drew his brows together thoughtfully:

"Unless Drake has tampered with security, that shouldn´t be a problem."

Damian immediately hacked into the system, but his fears came true. Tim had made massive improvements to the system. But that wasn´t really a surprise. After all, his identity depended on it.

The boy hissed angrily: "Drake has taken various security measures. It would take too long to bypass them."

Redhood groaned in annoyance:

"Why can't something just once go the way I want it to go! Knowing that overprotective half-robot, no one can get into his place without an invitation. Believe me, I've already tried that. Fuck, how do we get up there now?"

Suddenly Jason felt a strange pressure around his feet. A bad premonition spread through his mind and before he could even protest, his soles were already leaving the paved parking lot floor.

50m above:

Exuberantly, Tim yawned and stretched at his desk as he just finished his latest report. It eased the weight on his shoulders immensely as the string of assignments finally seemed to have a short break. He was so tired. No wonder, though, if one had spent the last three days without sleep because of various crap. But what else could he do? Bludhaven is not as bad as Gotham in terms of crime, but this degree was so little that the difference was hardly noticeable. And therefore, enormously difficult to cover on one's own.

How had Dick always managed to do that?

Tim's gaze wandered to the large windows, which showed the nocturnal goings-on of Bludhaven.

Again and again, as soon as he had nothing to do, these walls simply reminded him of the time with him. Of their hilarious conversations, their occasional joint tinkering with new equipment and the open ear he always found here.

Tim just missed Dick...a lot.

He had so much to thank him for and had found a beloved brother in him. And overnight, he was gone...forever.

The technician stood up, took his coffee from the table and wandered more half awake than anything else, to the large window facade to indulge more in that soothing sight. How the cars and buildings defied the dark night and people wandered the streets laughing on their way to the next party.

It was beautiful and agonizing in equal measure to live in Dick's old apartment. The happy memories filled every corner and triggered a sweet ache in Tim. Sure it hurt, but he felt like this was the best way to deal with it. Besides, it didn't seem right to him to just give up Dick's apartment like that.

Bruce had first thought of selling the apartment and putting Dick's things in his room at the Manor. But since Tim volunteered to take over Dick's duties anyway, he wanted to keep his stuff here as well.

They would just gather dust in the Manor anyway and might as well stay where they always were to help Tim think from time to time. Because he liked to sit down among all the simple things that Dick had valued so much.

Tim came from the upper class. His family had always been wealthy and his possessions plentiful. Therefore, he did not really own things that seemed to him to be of great importance.

He enjoyed more looking at the simple but important things of others. And Dick owned many such simple things.

Be it boxes full of newspaper articles of the Harley Circus and the Flying Graysons, various photos of him with people who were important to Dick, or everyday objects, such as a small Robin doll that always diligently watched over the entire main room from its place on the top shelf.

It was these small treasures that always helped Tim to find peace in this restless city.

Giving himself more to the moment, the black-haired man took a relaxing sip of his half-empty coffee.

What would he do without this caffeinated stuff? In any case, not work as long at a stretch as he was doing right now.

Stressed, he rubbed his tired eyes, whose dark circles were already piling up and persistent headaches throbbed hard against his skull.

Now that he was done, Tim only realized how much fatigue was tugging at his body.

Twenty-four hours and judgment suffers. Eyes red and burning. Reaction time lengthens by half, movements become erratic, lack of concentration, mild irritability.

48 hours and the body begins to fight back. Lack of coordination as well as throbbing headache. Judgment? Not a chance. Freezing is normal. Nausea, loss of balance.

72 hours and the brain reduces its performance. Possible manifestations: Hallucinations, extreme stress. Metabolism derails. Now it becomes really dangerous.

Tim mentally chided himself. Although his body had already become accustomed to these circumstances by now, so that the symptoms were milder for him, even a scant 72 hours was a tough patch and just plain stupid. Instead of listening to the warnings, he kept pushing it to the top of the mountain.

He was cold, he felt shaky, and there was no longer any question of clever thought processes.

Just the last few sips of coffee and then off to bed, enjoying the wonderful fact of not having to do anything anymore. Just sleeping carefree and think of nothing more.

If there was not...

a certain red helmeted outsider who had just been pulled up by something into Tim's field of vision and was now dangling slightly unnerved in front of his window.

And as He caught sight of Tim, the deep voice echoed dully through the thick glass joyful:

"Yo, Timbo!"

Thought memo from Tim to himself:

72 hours was definitely too much. He had arrived at the hallucinations.

Even his coffee was running out of his mouth.

Notes:

*1 I took some parts of the conversation between Joker und Selina from the Comic Batman (2016) #49

*2 Dick needed once a car for a mission, even thought he likes bikes more. It needed to be like the Batmobil but inconspicuous. So he

build one himself, which could change color and stuff and named it Nightbird. Sadly it was destroyed, but he still used Batmobil-like

cars afterwards. So I think there is some sort of Nightbird series.

(btw he always builds his gatejets and vehicles himself)

*3 That´s what happend in the comics, except that the Comic Dick...well...acted like a total Dick and was pretty mean to Tim.(* ￣︿￣)

I just couldn´t do that to our poor little Timmy and changed that a bit. 〒▽〒.