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schizoauthoressTitle: Come Night, Come Night I Reign - Beware, For I Am There Behind You (Part Three)
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: R
Spoilers: Countdown to Final Crisis 13
Warnings: For this chapter, wacky plot-driving phlebotinum ass-pull. Overall: character death, graphic death, disturbing concepts and imagery.
Word Count: 1181
Summary: What happened to the one that got left behind?
Note: Okay, so this is shorter than I thought it would be, but since it's about the same length as Part One, I don't feel too bad about the length, or lack thereof.
Click here for Part One.
Click here for Part Two.
Come Night, Come Night I Reign
Beware, For I Am There Behind You
"You gonna give him a kiss, or just go through his pockets?" the Joker mocked, howling with laughter. Laughter that had haunted Jason's nightmares for years, now directed at Bruce... a Bruce who had done what Jason's own mentor didn't have the courage to do... a Bruce who had avenged the death of his second Robin. Rage filled Jason.
Without a word, he whirled on the laughing clown and hammered a fist into his white, mirth-contorted face. The Joker grunted, his head coming down hard on concrete. The rage inside Jason gave him strength -- he found himself hefting a large chunk of rubble without any strain, and heaved it right at the Joker's face. There was a sick crunch as the clown's skull was crushed flat. But there was no more laughter.
Jason heard the snap of a cape and half-turned toward the sound, only to be knocked to his knees by the force of his attacker slamming into him. Before he could fight back, a broad black-gloved hand was cupped over his mouth -- he felt the jagged edge of a broken gas-capsule against his cheek, and then he was breathing in the sleep gas and knew nothing more for a time.
****
"Didn't I send you off with the others?" Nix Uotan wondered aloud, looking down at the sleeping form of Red Robin. He knelt down, touching the human gently. 'No... this one has the frequency of New Earth! An impostor has taken his place!'
Jason groaned.
Nix Uotan shook the man awake; he blocked the punch that Jason threw and hauled him into a sitting position. "Come now, Challenger, I'm trying to help you."
"Unh -- wha..?" Jason shook his head, trying to clear it. "Was attacked... Donna and Kyle... are they all right?"
"I sent them to Apokolips, as requested," the Monitor looked away, "but I fear I also sent along your attacker."
"You did what?!" Jason exclaimed. He shoved himself away from the Monitor, glaring all the while. "How could you be so stupid?"
"Your costume conceals your identity very well... as Batman intended." Nix Uotan pointed out. "The impostor was wearing the same costume."
"Oh, no..." Jason briefly closed his eyes to stop the world from spinning around him. He mumbled to himself, "Why couldn't they tell he wasn't me? What am I going to do?"
"I am going to try sending you home." Nix Uotan said.
The Monitor of Earth-51 lifted a hand, which lit up with the familiar energies used to open paths between universes. "My energies have been depleted by sending the others to Apokolips, but I can create a talisman for you... if I cannot send you to New Earth, you need only find magic users of that world..." The light solidified into a pinkish-gold hexagonal crystal that flashed once and settled into Nix Uotan's palm. "This device will convert their power into the type that can open the ways between worlds."
"Wait... I need to..." Red Robin lurched to his feet, but regained his steadiness in a moment. He went to Batman's side, unhooking the utility belt from around the dead hero's waist. He switched the belt he wore with Batman's.
Nix Uotan followed the human and said impatiently. "This is no time for sentimentality --"
"I might end up on Apokolips instead of home. You didn't sound sure on that point, Monitor. How else are they going to tell the difference between us?" Jason asked angrily. "For all I know, for all we both know, the Red Robin you sent along to Apokolips is an exact duplicate of me."
Nix Uotan did not reply; he merely held out his hand. After a moment of hesitation, Jason held out his own gloved hand -- the crystal was surprisingly heavy when the Monitor tipped it into his palm.
"So how does this work?" Jason asked.
"Think of home," the Monitor commanded. "The crystal will resonate with the wavelength of the one who holds it and respond to your thoughts."
He directed more energy toward Jason -- this time, the crystal in Jason's hand began to draw the energy into itself, making the light form spiral streams before it vanished into the crystal's core. It grew heavier in his hand, and as the portal opened up before him, Jason reflexively closed a tight fist over the crystal.
The sky suddenly turned bloody red on the horizon. "Go!" the Monitor shouted, and Jason leaped into the portal. It closed just in time. Nix Uotan felt his brethren leaving the doomed universe. But he will stay. He must stay.
To monitor the end.
****
Jason got a glimpse of the Bleed before he threw an arm over his eyes -- he was falling -- the crystal grew hot in his hand, not burning, but throbbing almost like a heartbeat -- he was still falling --
'Home,' he thought, 'I want to go home...'
Moments or hours or eons later, he realized that the heat of the crystal had lessened, and lowered his arm. It no longer felt as though he were falling; it felt as though he were floating. A force-field, a bubble of light, had formed around him. All around him, outside the golden light that protected him, were the flickering images of infinite worlds.
A blonde girl smiled sunnily and plunged a wooden stake into the chest of a monstrous creature, which exploded into dust -- cops opened fire on a man in black leather, who carried a coffin easily on one shoulder, and a minigun braced against one hip; bullets pinged off headstones as he turned, revealing an emotionless, bloodied face with eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses --
'Oh crap,' Jason watched the images with wide, fearful eyes, 'something went wrong! I've been thrown outside the fifty-two...'
-- three men in coveralls shot high-tech looking guns at strange floating monsters which were held still by the streams of blue and yellow energy emanating from the guns; a blond, bespectacled man slung a rectangular device to the floor below the floating monsters -- a man in a red-and-blue spider costume grappled with a labcoat-wearing lizard-monster in the sewers --
Jason opened his fist, glaring at the crystal that glowed there. Perhaps shouting at an inanimate object wasn't productive, but he saw no way it could be counterproductive either, since the thing was inanimate. "You were supposed to take me home, dammit! Gotham City! Bruce Wayne! Batman!"
The crystal abruptly went dark.
"Oh, crap."
All around him, the images of the other worlds vanished, leaving nothing but blackness.
And Jason started to fall again.
****
He hit hard stone, back-first. Though it hurt -- driving the breath from his lungs and sending pain all through his body -- it was also a relief. Jason rolled over onto his stomach and lifted his head.
He was on a roof, part of a skyline that was familiar... and yet all wrong.
"Earth-19," he groaned, and rested his forehead back on his forearms. 'This is going to take longer than I'd hoped.'
**To Be Continued**
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: R
Spoilers: Countdown to Final Crisis 13
Warnings: For this chapter, wacky plot-driving phlebotinum ass-pull. Overall: character death, graphic death, disturbing concepts and imagery.
Word Count: 1181
Summary: What happened to the one that got left behind?
Note: Okay, so this is shorter than I thought it would be, but since it's about the same length as Part One, I don't feel too bad about the length, or lack thereof.
Click here for Part One.
Click here for Part Two.
Come Night, Come Night I Reign
Beware, For I Am There Behind You
"You gonna give him a kiss, or just go through his pockets?" the Joker mocked, howling with laughter. Laughter that had haunted Jason's nightmares for years, now directed at Bruce... a Bruce who had done what Jason's own mentor didn't have the courage to do... a Bruce who had avenged the death of his second Robin. Rage filled Jason.
Without a word, he whirled on the laughing clown and hammered a fist into his white, mirth-contorted face. The Joker grunted, his head coming down hard on concrete. The rage inside Jason gave him strength -- he found himself hefting a large chunk of rubble without any strain, and heaved it right at the Joker's face. There was a sick crunch as the clown's skull was crushed flat. But there was no more laughter.
Jason heard the snap of a cape and half-turned toward the sound, only to be knocked to his knees by the force of his attacker slamming into him. Before he could fight back, a broad black-gloved hand was cupped over his mouth -- he felt the jagged edge of a broken gas-capsule against his cheek, and then he was breathing in the sleep gas and knew nothing more for a time.
****
"Didn't I send you off with the others?" Nix Uotan wondered aloud, looking down at the sleeping form of Red Robin. He knelt down, touching the human gently. 'No... this one has the frequency of New Earth! An impostor has taken his place!'
Jason groaned.
Nix Uotan shook the man awake; he blocked the punch that Jason threw and hauled him into a sitting position. "Come now, Challenger, I'm trying to help you."
"Unh -- wha..?" Jason shook his head, trying to clear it. "Was attacked... Donna and Kyle... are they all right?"
"I sent them to Apokolips, as requested," the Monitor looked away, "but I fear I also sent along your attacker."
"You did what?!" Jason exclaimed. He shoved himself away from the Monitor, glaring all the while. "How could you be so stupid?"
"Your costume conceals your identity very well... as Batman intended." Nix Uotan pointed out. "The impostor was wearing the same costume."
"Oh, no..." Jason briefly closed his eyes to stop the world from spinning around him. He mumbled to himself, "Why couldn't they tell he wasn't me? What am I going to do?"
"I am going to try sending you home." Nix Uotan said.
The Monitor of Earth-51 lifted a hand, which lit up with the familiar energies used to open paths between universes. "My energies have been depleted by sending the others to Apokolips, but I can create a talisman for you... if I cannot send you to New Earth, you need only find magic users of that world..." The light solidified into a pinkish-gold hexagonal crystal that flashed once and settled into Nix Uotan's palm. "This device will convert their power into the type that can open the ways between worlds."
"Wait... I need to..." Red Robin lurched to his feet, but regained his steadiness in a moment. He went to Batman's side, unhooking the utility belt from around the dead hero's waist. He switched the belt he wore with Batman's.
Nix Uotan followed the human and said impatiently. "This is no time for sentimentality --"
"I might end up on Apokolips instead of home. You didn't sound sure on that point, Monitor. How else are they going to tell the difference between us?" Jason asked angrily. "For all I know, for all we both know, the Red Robin you sent along to Apokolips is an exact duplicate of me."
Nix Uotan did not reply; he merely held out his hand. After a moment of hesitation, Jason held out his own gloved hand -- the crystal was surprisingly heavy when the Monitor tipped it into his palm.
"So how does this work?" Jason asked.
"Think of home," the Monitor commanded. "The crystal will resonate with the wavelength of the one who holds it and respond to your thoughts."
He directed more energy toward Jason -- this time, the crystal in Jason's hand began to draw the energy into itself, making the light form spiral streams before it vanished into the crystal's core. It grew heavier in his hand, and as the portal opened up before him, Jason reflexively closed a tight fist over the crystal.
The sky suddenly turned bloody red on the horizon. "Go!" the Monitor shouted, and Jason leaped into the portal. It closed just in time. Nix Uotan felt his brethren leaving the doomed universe. But he will stay. He must stay.
To monitor the end.
****
Jason got a glimpse of the Bleed before he threw an arm over his eyes -- he was falling -- the crystal grew hot in his hand, not burning, but throbbing almost like a heartbeat -- he was still falling --
'Home,' he thought, 'I want to go home...'
Moments or hours or eons later, he realized that the heat of the crystal had lessened, and lowered his arm. It no longer felt as though he were falling; it felt as though he were floating. A force-field, a bubble of light, had formed around him. All around him, outside the golden light that protected him, were the flickering images of infinite worlds.
A blonde girl smiled sunnily and plunged a wooden stake into the chest of a monstrous creature, which exploded into dust -- cops opened fire on a man in black leather, who carried a coffin easily on one shoulder, and a minigun braced against one hip; bullets pinged off headstones as he turned, revealing an emotionless, bloodied face with eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses --
'Oh crap,' Jason watched the images with wide, fearful eyes, 'something went wrong! I've been thrown outside the fifty-two...'
-- three men in coveralls shot high-tech looking guns at strange floating monsters which were held still by the streams of blue and yellow energy emanating from the guns; a blond, bespectacled man slung a rectangular device to the floor below the floating monsters -- a man in a red-and-blue spider costume grappled with a labcoat-wearing lizard-monster in the sewers --
Jason opened his fist, glaring at the crystal that glowed there. Perhaps shouting at an inanimate object wasn't productive, but he saw no way it could be counterproductive either, since the thing was inanimate. "You were supposed to take me home, dammit! Gotham City! Bruce Wayne! Batman!"
The crystal abruptly went dark.
"Oh, crap."
All around him, the images of the other worlds vanished, leaving nothing but blackness.
And Jason started to fall again.
****
He hit hard stone, back-first. Though it hurt -- driving the breath from his lungs and sending pain all through his body -- it was also a relief. Jason rolled over onto his stomach and lifted his head.
He was on a roof, part of a skyline that was familiar... and yet all wrong.
"Earth-19," he groaned, and rested his forehead back on his forearms. 'This is going to take longer than I'd hoped.'
**To Be Continued**