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i'm sorry but what if you're a villain looking to steal their stuff?? :(
what if you kidnap me and use me as bait to lure them out??
can we meet somewhere safer??

Sure. Someplace more public. Got something in mind?

what about that building to the left of the diadem hotel??

Sure. What time?

would around 2 be ok??

Works for me

( two in the afternoon, and jason's not in the building specified, but he is perched on the rooftop wearing a jacket another dick grayson had given him, as well as the pictured mask.

because clearly this is the best spot to meet someone, and if someone doesn't jump at him from behind he'll be sorely disappointed. only a novice wouldn't check the rooftops first.

and just in case: he's got his favorite serrated knife in hand. all of his guns fell victim to multiverse portal problems, but a knife'd work well as a projectile if he really needed it. )

[Meanwhile, Jason had showed up in the area early to scout out possible traps. It's a bold move to be out as Red Hood in broad daylight but if this is the Joker or some other villain, Jason's not taking his chances.

From another rooftop Jason spots... the Red Hood cosplayer? No. It looks too good and Jason's well aware that the Confluence has a way of pulling in multiple versions of a person into one spot. Which means this might be his turn now. Fuck.

Jason pulls out one of his handguns and shoots near the other Red Hood once to see how he'll respond]

( he isn't sure what to expect, really. there have been two other instances that jason has met another jason. both were younger, but they were as different as night as day. the first, still wearing the robin moniker despite him being just a few years younger than him. still full of snark and dark edges but with with a core still full of hope. the other, broken enough that even if he had tried to come across as stronger, better, all any of them had to do was look at him to see how hard he'd tried to tape back the pieces of broken glass that held him together.

but despite their differences, despite the numerous bitchfights that had broken out--none of them had tried to kill or mutilate the other right after meeting. jason, for practical reasons: if he killed himself it'd definitely look bad to everyone else and they were a smaller group. and, there's no real benefit in it.

so when he hears the bullet hit the rooftop, he doesn't even flinch. waits a few moments with the knife twirling between his fingertips before he even bothers looking over to where it left a small dent.

then tips his chin up higher, to look towards the building it had come from. his hood is different upon closer inspection: it's not one he put together back home but one as close appearing as he could get when using tools from a high-tech but near post-apocalyptic place. it has a nice shiny voice modulator, lenses fitted with some useful extra bits of tech. but that's for later show and tell.

for now? he raises his voice just enough that it carries, the voice modulator turned off because it's fucking useless here. )

You missed.

[The voice is identical. The outfit is similar. Hell, there's even a knife that he himself would use. But Jason immediately spots differences, namely the red bat symbol on the chest. That has him further suspect who this Red Hood is. Or it's someone's sick idea of a joke to get under his skin again.

Jason jumps and parkours onto the next rooftop to join him and further assess. He's still keeping distance though. He doesn't like what this could mean for his own work]

Wasn't trying.

[Normally, there's a growl and an edge to his voice whenever he's the Red Hood but there's not much use of that this time. Still, it's clear from tone he's not pleased by this arrival]

We're gonna need to compare notes if you're what I think you are.

I know.

( only an idiot would wear a mask like that with aim that bad. as jason the second approaches, he pulls himself up to his feet. there's no tension in his frame; his shoulders are slouched, arms loose even if his fingers do circle around the hilt of the blade so he's got a grip on it. nothing reads i'm vaguely concerned about your ability to pummel me into the floor because there's no need to lean into intimidation versus himself. no need to pull himself up and make himself look as big as he can.

but he does incline his head, looking past jason to the buildings behind him. )

Who'd you bring along with you? Drake?

( it's not damian. could be dick, but if it was jason doubts he'd stay far enough away to be hard to spot. )

[Jason sees the ease in his other self's body language but he's still not ready to relax yet. His mind is still occupied by what he'll need to change now that there's possibly a second Red Hood. He knows that he'll have to at least warn his gang that there's an "imposter" around]

No.

[Tim volunteered to go and is keeping distance. Jason never asked. He also didn't stop him either so technically Jason's not lying]

Never I thought I'd see myself get leashed. What the hell happened?

[He's barely containing his disgust]

Edited 2023-03-02 17:06 (UTC)

Leashed is an unnecessarily strong word.

( there's the i wanted to be part of the family again thing but admitting to that out loud to anyone--including himself--sounds like a shit idea. most the time, he can barely admit that to himself. and it's not what the bat is for now. he hasn't worn it in--well, since the last time he saw bruce and it was ripped off of his chest. now? it's a sign for i'm not psychotic and i probably won't shoot damian or paint the walls with drake's blood after pummeling him.

be a real shame if he gave off the wrong impression, after all.

fingers of his free hand hook under his hood to find the catch, and jason pulls it off. there's the mask under the hood, because being overly dramatic is fun. and aside from jason and someone who is most likely tim he doesn't see anyone else close enough to make out his face. )

What's your plan? Run me through it. Are you leaning more, "I need to figure out how much this guy is going to fuck up all my progress that I've worked so hard on" or "After I get a decent read on him I'm going to beat his face into the tarmac so he knows I'm the lead here"?

Edited 2023-03-02 17:30 (UTC)

[Removing the helmet doesn't exactly ease the tension Jason has but it eliminates a few possibilities at least. To seemingly be on equal ground, Jason removes his own helmet and reveals his own domino mask. It's a simple black one and the very same one he wore when he confronted Bruce and the Joker that night]

Depends on which one will give me the best results. The clown's here too. Or was that post for him too?

I was looking for you.

( he'd seen red hood on the network. knew if he saw his own shit seemingly found in random alleys, his first instinct would be to double check his inventory. then figure out who was trying to draw him out with a replica. he could have gone with using matches malone to pull in whoever knew bruce's old moniker--it would have been effective, but it likely would have drawn in others first, jason lingering in the background to investigate what everyone else was chasing down.

but he can worry about figuring out where and when everyone else is from after he's done settling this.

if the joker had shown his face, it would have been a nice bonus. he's already broken the no killing rule he'd sworn to as far as bruce is concerned, so what's one more? )

'll save you a few steps: I'm just as excited about this as you are. Try an' fight me and you'll regret it. You wouldn't be the first I've done this dance with. I don't want your shit.

( his index and middle finger remains hooked into the hood, keeping it in hand but just barely. he's ready to drop it if this turns sideways. )

But if you piss me off, there's no one who's gonna know where to hit you better than me. Tell Red to come say hi, it's been a while since I've seen him. Is it 'Red'? Or did he hit his very brief but hilarious bad boy phase yet?

Don't know who Red is.

[But he can make a few guesses]

In my world there wasn't a whole damn flock when I came back to Gotham. Imagine my surprise when I got here and found out the old man didn't learn.

[He's in a foul mood but not going to fight his other self for now. The other Jason is right. He would know best how to take him down. Jason also hasn't missed how this other Jason is bigger and older than him. Presumably he's got more experience too]

( ah. that answers some questions he wasn't intending on asking but wanted answers to regardless. )

D said you were younger, but it looks like I'd overestimated you anyway.

( jason could go back and count when he'd gotten each scar, but from this distance there's not much to make out. and he knows this one has had plenty of time to adjust to a new space with--the potential for this happening. gauging his reactions doesn't give him a clear answer either. this gets him closer. )

Your little bird. The one that came with you to make sure this wasn't a trap.

[ The little bird in question is a few rooftops over, with a sightline thanks to the higher roof.

He knows that Jason knows that they all know he’s here - body language, lip reading, the fact that he’s eavesdropping through Jason’s comm (or, you know, this week’s batch of bugs if he’s being honest), so Tim stops crouching in the shadows and messes with something in his gauntlet to break into the pre-existing Jason’s ear. Really showing his cards, but Jason let him set up the security in the gym and the bar. This isn’t a surprise.

If the new arrival has similar tech to that of Tim’s world, he might get it too. ]

You know, the appropriate terminology for a group of male robins is technically a blush.

[Jason's not surprised that Tim's on the comm. This is one of those times when he actually appreciates it]

Haven't really talked to D much. He hasn't really made himself available so far unlike the others. The family dinner back in December didn't help.

And as Robin so helpfully just chimed in, a blush. Not a flock.

( cute. there's a pause when he hears tim's voice coming from his commlink, before he's gripping onto the hood tighter to raise it up to his face. not to put it on, just so when he speaks, it's closer to the actual mic.

the relaxed posture shifts into something a little lazier, a slow grin spreading across his lips that leaks into his voice, )

Breaking into my shit, Red? You're going to make me blush.

Gently borrowing. I’m not angling to be this world’s Oracle, so don’t count on me eavesdropping if you didn’t ask me to.

[ A grappling line connects with the elevator shaft housing, and Robin swings over. He’s fairly confident that they’re not going to cut the line. When he drops down to roof, he’s a good thirty feet away when he waves, in a uniform almost like his latest Red Robin suit, but with more black and a singular R on his chest. In order to kill time when he looks over the other Red Hood. ]

Red’s on sabbatical.

[Jason looks back at Tim and wonders if this is the Jason Tim actually knows. Are they from the same universe?]

You were using "Red" as a moniker before?

[Not the most intimidating but neither is Robin or Red Hood]

( feels good to be proven right at least. that's definitely tim, even if the uniform is not quite what he's used to, it's not that off. likely an upgrade, which is concerning because it means tim may be further down the timeline than him.

and last jason remembers he was getting himself into so much shit he's not sure if he'll ever manage to dig himself out of it.

but the lazy grin doesn't dissipate, even if he stands himself up straight. braces for tim going off on him, hopes it doesn't turn out that badly. jason does raise his own hand for a wave, too. )

Red Robin.

[The comms crackle again, when maybe nobody was expecting them to.]

Well, I'm blue. Little D is leans toward yellow. If we're going with a theme, that means you two sharing the last primary color.

[Oh goddamnit. Jason is reconsidering being on the same comm as the rest of the BatFamily]

Very funny. We got enough red as it is here.

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