you hear i'm declaring war; open-ish

[copsormasks]

WHO: Jason Todd (Titans), Bruce Wayne (The Batman), Jason Todd (WFA), Chrissy (Stranger Things) and others
WHEN: January, right after his canon update to post-death
WHERE: The Tower, Nova City, will update as needed
WHAT: Jason experiences his death and has Feelings about it.
NOTES\WARNINGS: DEFINITE mentions of violence and death, paranoia, fighting, etc.


Cause I Hit What I Aim For (Bruce Wayne, The Batman)
[Jason is busy scrambling eggs for him and Bruce in the kitchen when it happens. In one moment, he's stirring the eggs, hand on the handle of the pan and in the next, Jason disappears. Right out of Etraya's window of existence. The pan clatters to the floor, eggs spill onto the tile, but there's no sign of Jason. Another beat passes and then Jason is suddenly standing back at the stove-top, looking pale, his eyes distant before they roll back in his head and he collapses down into the mess of eggs. His head barely misses the edge of the counter as he goes down.

He stares blankly up at the ceiling, completely unaware of anything around him as the memories of the crowbar, that twisted face, play beneath the surface.]



Cause I Might End the Game For You (Jason Todd, WFA)

[Rest is what's been prescribed for Jason after he emerged from his apparent death at the hands of the Joker, but he can't stay helpless in a bed just waiting for the Joker to show up in Etraya. So he takes his new bike and runs, deeper into Nova City. He glances up to see a familiar face and his anger suddenly stokes white hot in his chest as he begins a pursuit.]

Hey! Asshole!

[He'll carry out this chase as long as needed to get up high enough to fight the older Jason. Why didn't they warn him?]



Could Laugh It Off and Keep Running (Chrissy, Stranger Things)

[The first moment he can escape Bruce, Jason runs. He takes to his bike and speeds across town to one person he knows he can trust, who has been there for him every step of the way. He nearly crashes as his disorientation continues to cloud his mind. He climbs the stairs two, then three at a time. He doesn't knock so much as bang on the door. He's determined to get in, to hide, to find comfort where he can.]

Chrissy!

[He's probably disturbing her neighbors but he doesn't fucking care. When she does open the door, he's pale, shaking, and sweating.]

Comments

[batsymbol]

( he's fiddling with his earpiece there in the penthouse, glancing up every now and then to whatever happens to be playing on the television when he hears the sudden clang in the kitchen, followed by a heavy thud to the floor. without so much as a second thought, he's darting from the armchair he's in — abandons the earpiece and the movie still going, and throws himself into the kitchen there where he finds a mess of eggs on the floor... and jason, too. )

Jason!

( there at his side in the blink of an eye practically, he drops to his knees and gently touches at the boy's shoulder. he sees how pale he is — the way he stares ahead and bruce just clutches tight to his shoulder then, hair falling around his face, expression beyond worried. )

Jason, hey. What happened?

[copsormasks]

[The memories play and Jason stares up at nothing. Even as Bruce approaches, there's no response, just continued panting as his eyes seem to clear and scars appear on his face. Horrible, long marks claw across the right side of his face and then he's awake. He startles at someone so close to him and holds up his hands in defense.]

[batsymbol]

( the moment his hands go up, he pulls his own back, giving him the space he needs but never leaving his side there. he stares — confused and concerned. eyes him amidst the mess of egg across the floor and he... doesn't know what's happened. doesn't know what he needs. )

Jason. It's me.

( voice firm but in a way that means to bring his awareness back to where they are. here, in the kitchen. )

It's me.

[copsormasks]

[It takes a moment before Jason seems to recognize Bruce. His brows furrow and then a soft gasp escapes him.]

Bruce.

[His lips move in nonsensical motions again, but no sound comes out at first. He curls half onto his side and the scars are more obvious. Someone beat him. Savagely. The marks resemble those of the crowbar the other Bruce used on him several months ago.]

The Joker. [It comes out as a horrified whisper as emotion begins to flood back into him. He's dead. The Joker killed him.] He.

[He has to try and think as he looks back up at Bruce.]

He hit me. He hit me until I--

[Until it all went dark, until he couldn't breathe any more.

Until he died.]

[batsymbol]

( when jason curls onto his side like he does, he stares in disbelief at what he sees. scars. scars that run across his skin that he knows weren't there before. the fall to the floor, the clattering of the pan... neither could be the culprit of such angry scars running across him and yet... he wears them. fresh. as though they had just happened.

his mind races — tries quickly to piece together possibilities and what could have happened when jason finally starts talking and... all it takes is that one, single word.

joker.

a name he's only known for a year now. a name he doesn't truly know the extent of how much it will haunt him over the years as it has his counterparts. a name that infuriates him while simultaneously making his blood run cold. because what jason says after that name... )

What do you mean? When? He's not— he's not here in Etraya, Jason.

( he's just... not. )

[copsormasks]

I don't I was just home. In my Gotham. [Words are falling out of him as he panics. He starts to sit up, take in where he is. It's... the Tower, he thinks. His home when no one else wanted him.]

My Bruce left. [He hangs his head.] He went to London and I--

[Went after the Joker.

Died.]

Fuck, Bruce. I don't know.

[batsymbol]

( back to his gotham.

this isn't unusual — he knows it's happened as it's happened both to damian and to himself. he knows how jarring it can be. how it can feel like nothing more than a blip in time here in etraya, yet back home, it can be days, weeks, months... even years. it had been hours for him. years in reverse for damian, in a way.

but jason left. went back to his gotham and joker... the bruce wayne he knows...

reaching out, he gently touches jaosn's shoulder, intending for it to be an anchor of sorts for him. he... he's been told about this before. about what happens to jason. damian had told him and he'd been angry at him for telling him but he... he didn't think this would happen to this jason here. )

You're here. You're here, Jason.

[copsormasks]

Fuck.

[Jason reaches up to cover his face when he feels the scar tissue. His fingers shake as they cross the uneven skin and the panic starts anew. His mind fills with the sound of his bones breaking, of his skull fracturing under each swing. He can't take it. He can't take this. He remembers how he tried to crawl away, only to have his ribs shattered.]

Fuck!

[batsymbol]

( this can't be what he thinks... this can't be what had happened to another jason. he keeps telling himself it can't be even with the way jason suddenly reacts — with the outburst and the way he holds himself. he's at a loss — stunned and concerned in ways he's never really felt before, but he reaches out to grip jason's shoulders. to try and be that anchor for him in this moment he can feel him slipping away from. )

Hey. It's ok. Listen to me.

( fingers curl into the boy's shoulders and he tries his best to maneuver himself there to be his focal point. )

I got you. I got you, Jason.

[bubblegumheart]

[By this point, Jason's been over often enough that Chrissy's started to take it for granted that it's just going to be a daily thing. What she's not expecting is for him to show up shouting and banging on her door, which is enough to immediately put her on edge. (And likely annoy her neighbors, but whatever.)

She abandons her book and rushes to answer the door- and frowns at what she sees.]

Jason? What happened?

[He doesn't look good, and her first thought is that he might be ill. She presses the back of her hand to his forehead, but it's hard to tell if he's running a fever or if something else is happening, so she drops her hand and carefully nudges him into the room so she can shut the door.]

[copsormasks]

[Marled skin crawls across the right side of Jason's face, in bolts of scars from the attack. He doesn't have a lot of patience and as soon as she lets him in, he sinks to his knees just past the door. He can't let her get hurt, he needs to be strong, but he feels so far from strong that his body sags to one side.]

I think I went back home. Home home.

[His breathing is increasing in pace. He's about to have a panic attack if he doesn't start calming down.]

I think I died.

[bubblegumheart]

[The smart thing to do here would be to back off and give him some space. What she does instead is sit down beside him and tuck herself into his side as much as she can manage, in an attempt to keep him from slumping over any further.

She'd like to tell him that he'd just had a nightmare or something, that what he's saying shouldn't even be possible, but it's hard to argue with the scars on his face that hadn't been there the last time she'd seen him.]

Oh, Jason. I'm so sorry. We're just gonna sit here for a minute and take some deep breaths. Can you do that for me?

[copsormasks]

I can't. [Jason can, he's done this exercise with Leslie, but he feels entirely overwhelmed by everything that's happened in the twenty-four hours masked as a blink of time here.] Chrissy. I don't fucking know what to do.

[bubblegumheart]

You can.

[It makes her heart ache, seeing him like this and not knowing how to help. The only thing she really can do is make sure he knows that she's here, and that she's not going anywhere.] It's okay. I'm here if you want to talk about it- and I'm here if you don't.

[copsormasks]

I was beat to death. In the same time it took Bruce to blink.

[There's no safety here. No true safety. His hiccuping breaths have him leaning further into Chrissy, seeking even the smallest shred of safety.]

[bubblegumheart]

I'm not going to try to convince you that it's okay, and I can't really imagine how you must be feeling right now.

[Maybe not what he wants to hear, but she feels like trying to convince him that everything is fine when he's clearly just been through something horrible would be a mistake.]

But you're safe now. [As safe as any of them can be here, at least. She turns a little, sliding an arm around him.] And you're allowed to feel however you feel about it.

[copsormasks]

'm sorry. [Jason carefully curls one arm around her as he buries his face in her shoulder. He starts to openly sob, not unlike a few other times he came to visit. This is very different and he wants to make sure he does feel safe after everything that just happened to him.]

[leastdramatic]

[Jason's on his own motorcycle and dressed in his Red Hood suit when he sees in his rearview mirror his younger self going after him. The driving is aggressive. His younger self is probably angry again.

It's a split second decision but Jason decides to keep driving. He won't attempt to shake off the teenager yet but he wants to see if the chase will help burn off some of that energy]

[copsormasks]

[When the older version of him doesn't slow, Jason's anger ignites. He kicks the bike into a higher gear and presses himself closer to the bike. He doesn't have a helmet and his dark hair whips around as he starts to gain on the older Jason. The Jason who didn't fucking warn him about his death, who probably didn't even care.

Or so the younger one thinks.]

[leastdramatic]

[The way his younger self recklessly speeds up more without wearing a helmet tells Jason enough. He starts to slow down his bike, hopefully to avoid a crash]

[copsormasks]

[Jason uses the extra speed to first catch up. There are scars on his face, surprisingly deep for how recent they are. He doesn't care if he gets into any accident, not when he's already died once.]

You fucking piece of shit. Were you just gonna keep it secret the whole time?!

[Never mind that the bikes are still so loud beneath them and this is not a conversation for a public place.]

[leastdramatic]

[Jason sees the scars and that also tells him plenty enough already. He can read lips as well. He pulls over to park his bike]

[copsormasks]

Hey!

[Despite the bike being a very near and dear Christmas present, he lets it drop as soon as he comes to a stop.]

Are you listening to me!

[leastdramatic]

[Jason gets off of his motorcycle once he parks it. He also takes off his helmet]

Loud and clear. Was it Joker?

[Unlike his younger self, the older Jason's tone isn't angry. But it is grim]

[copsormasks]

Yeah, it was the fucking-- [Jason is trying to be so tough, but he can't say his name out loud.]

Why didn't you fucking tell me!