metalogs | [OPEN/CLOSED] We've gotta hooold on~ To what we've got~

Entry tags:

[OPEN/CLOSED] We've gotta hooold on~ To what we've got~

Who: Jason Todd

robintohood and you! And special closed prompts with Jason Todd (

reneger), Sleeper (

solo_sleeper), Bucky Barnes (

deadthenred), and Tim Drake (

overlyprecocious).
What: Various antics Jason’s gotten into. Some are more legal than others and might be related to pod people.
When: Second half of April
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: PG13-level violence in the closed prompts. Will add more warnings if needed.

Descendant:

[It’s early evening and the Descendant Bar and Lounge is open as usual. However, compared to most nights, this night and this entire month has been kind of quiet. There aren’t as many customers and the ones who do show up sometimes leave early. Jason knows it’s because of the alien worms but business still needs to continue somehow.

He’s still doing what he can whenever he’s working as the bar’s owner. He’s attending to customers (especially the VIP ones), serving drinks and food, checking on the reading room, and sometimes has to step in as part of security to throw out a rowdy customer. Sometimes, he’s literally throwing them out. It’s good exercise.

Coincidentally, songs like “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Livin’ On A Prayer,” and brave attempts at “Bohemian Rhapsody” can sometimes be heard from the second floor’s stage]

This shit better not be prophetic.

[Regardless of what Jason’s doing, come talk to him. He could probably use the break]

Warehouse raid (Closed to the other Jason Todd, Bucky Barnes, and Sleeper):

[Ever since his other self told him he successfully robbed the D’Amicos, Jason sought out more of their bases with his gang. After all, it’s not often he gets a chance to further weaken a mob that was still recovering. After many nights and a lot of hard work, Jason soon enough found the perfect base to rob. He’s even going to have backup for tonight.

It’s nearly midnight and Jason’s at the edge of Central City, perched on the rooftop of an old brick building and fully dressed in his Red Hood gear. He has a plan and he trusts the rest of the party enough to not screw up the raid.

But as Jason stares at the warehouse a block away from him, he can’t help but frown under his helmet]

Another Productive Night (Closed to Young Justice!Tim Drake):

[It's another Central City evening and Jason's deep in his gang's territory as the Red Hood once again.

There are three motorcycles parked outside of an auto repair shop and the building’s lights are still on. Suddenly, there’s a loud commotion as Jason drags out a man and then slams him against the wall. He then pins his victim by having his forearm pressed hard against the man’s neck]

You were warned, Benny.

[As Benny struggles to breathe, two more men come out of the building. Both are in motorcycle helmets with the visors down to cover their faces and wearing gloves. One man has hands as large as a gorilla’s. Neither of these two men seem disturbed as they watch Jason begin to pistol whip Benny across the face]

Wildcard:

((OOC: Got something else in mind? Hit me up! I always welcome new CRs as well. My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Jason had been struggling to fall back asleep when he gets a call from one of his goons. As soon as Jason answers it, the goon launches into a terrified and frantic plea that they need help. Someone's shown up to start a lot of trouble at a bar in Backbreakers territory. They're all pretty beaten up. It's not until the goon describes the one-man army that Jason's annoyed mood intensifies into real anger.

Jason thought he and his alternative universe self had a deal. He got to keep the hood and the territory while the other him can cause trouble elsewhere. Just keep each other out of the way. Plain and simple. Then Jason heard from Robin about how the teenager and his other self were right in his territory. And now there was this shit. It hasn't even been two months and it seems the older Jason intends to turn their truce into swiss cheese.

Well fuck that.

It takes less than 30 minutes for Jason to get ready, gather some available goons, and have them all meet at the bar. Loud rumblings from motorcycle engines announce the group's arrival. Then Jason kicks open the door. Ah yes. There's the bastard with his face and looking as smug as ever]

Got bored?

[As his goons quickly scramble to fetch their injured comrades, Jason glares at his other self. If the older Jason wants a fight, then fine. He's getting one]

( jason doesn't rely on a voice modulator, but he does intentionally change the tone of his voice. goes somewhere between batman's gravely voice and jason's smarmy tone. it wouldn't differentiate them significantly if someone was paying close attention, but who would bother here?

red hood steps through the front door while jason's finishing up cleaning the dirt out from under his fingernails, and he--tips his head back to look to him, brow raising behind the domino mask. he'll never get used to seeing his own mask facing him, his own stolen identity worn by someone else who is and isn't him. jason doesn't like it, he's never liked it. but he's never liked looking in a mirror either, so is that really surprising? )

Heard there was some group called Backbreakers lurking 'round these parts. Figured I'd make 'em the Brokebackers. ( he's. snorting at his own joke, pulling himself up to his feet as lackeys help lackeys escape from the mess jason has made. none of them are injured too badly, and he doesn't care enough to stop them from leaving. ) Surprised they're all so tactless, if we're bein' honest. You'd think with as many of 'em as they were, they would've landed at least one good hit.

( he grins, wide and feral. this isn't play-fighting jason todd, this is looking for trouble jason. )

Think you can do any better, Hood?

[On the way to the bar, Jason had told his goons that once he fights the intruder, don't interfere. He wants the fight between just the two of them. Besides, he's likely the only one in the gang who could land a hit.

So as his goons clear out, Jason doesn't bother to talk. Instead, he lunges at older Jason with his combat knife and aims to stab him in the torso. He knows he's younger, smaller, and less experienced than the other Jason but he doesn't care. He needs to show that he won't be pushed around so easily. He's not some two-bit punk who isn't smart enough to handle things on his own]

( cute.

it's not a bad move. it's a debilitating one, which jason's quite pleased with. it'd be stupid, to come at him with anything less. they're not known for being gentle, both ruthless, strong, and neither them feel the need to hold back in a fight. not like the rest of the bats.

a knife goes for his gut, and jason doesn't bother trying to dodge it. having his gear replaced with starktech leaves jason's midsection and most his meaty bits pretty well protected. the knife slides against fabric, but doesn't cut. the impact's still felt, but no blood is spilled. and jason's cackling, turning the knife he has in his hand around to try and shove the hilt against junior's throat. he doesn't move for distance. barely moves to defend himself further: junior's hit is likely going to bruise, he has plenty of spaces where the armored bits of fabric meets the squishier fabric at his joints for easier movement, his neck's not covered, and jason's feeling particularly self destructive. he won't let lackeys get a hit in, but junior's another story. )

[Younger Jason feels his knife make contact with older Jason's armor. Wherever that equipment came from, it's definitely high quality. Younger Jason charged at him hard enough to leave a bruise at least.

But it's older Jason's cackling that further sets younger Jason on edge. Something about the action while in the middle of a very serious fight is reminding him too much of a different man's cackling. They're sounds that have haunted him for years now. They're part of why he almost never gets a good night's sleep. Hell, just hours ago he had yet another nightmare of the monster. And now, someone who looks and sounds like him is unhinged and cackling too. It feels so fucking wrong. It feels like an abomination that needs to be permanently silenced.

Younger Jason grunts and betrays a choked sound when his other self's knife hilt hits his throat. It's not enough to stop him though. While older Jason aims high, younger Jason aims lower and attempts to stab near a hip joint]

( it breaks through a sliver of fabric, enough to leave him bleeding but not enough for any serious damage. but the hit takes him down regardless; there's that stupid bone spur, the one that has him losing his balance every time someone hits it that he'd never have noticed, never have bothered with if timmy didn't whack him in it. people don't usually aim for the hips.

he hates that junior does. does he know? or was it just a nice coincidence? it doesn't matter. he grunts, knee buckling under him as he shifts his weight to his other side, throwing himself dangerously off balance. it doesn't matter. he's pulling out another knife with his other hand, aiming this one straight for junior's shoulder joint.

yells at him the whole time, voice cracking and anger bleeding through it. )

You're worthless, you know that? A piece of garbage. None of the bullshit you're doing here'll matter.

[The problem with rage is that it's hard to control and can easily make someone metaphorically blind. Older Jason's attack succeeds and there's a loud grunt of pain as younger Jason bleeds from the shoulder.

At the older man's comments though, Jason snarls and aims for a stab at the man's shoulder. It's only fair, right? They're so infuriating similar already. Might as well bleed out in similar ways too]

I haven't lost my way. I haven't given up. I haven't forgotten why I fight. Fucking family? The same damn family who never avenged you? The same damn family who still think it's okay to leave monsters walking around?

Edited 2023-04-28 03:02 (UTC)

( jason lets go of his own knife the moment it sinks down into junior's shoulder. he's not going for the kill here, he knows better than to pull it out and let it bleed all over with nothing to help slow the blood flow. then junior's knife digs into his shoulder, and he hisses between teeth. it hurts, but it's not terrible.

something in him shifts at that moment, too. the let junior get a hit in jason disappears, and he stops leaving himself so open. stops giving him places to aim for. he's watching for further attacks, prepared to block them with the suit's shields, or his own collection of toys. but it's the toys he reaches for in the absence of the knife he'd lost. jason's hand goes back to grab onto one of his guns, hooking his finger in the trigger guard to pull it loose from it's holster with his good hand. flips it around so he can aim the back of the pistol straight for the back of the hood. he wants to break it. wants to see his face. there's no one else here. it'll be fine. )

You're growing attached to them. You keep 'em around--them and your group of kids you just can't help but take in. You know why? You're alone and you hate it! But it doesn't matter. They'll all fuck off an' leave you in the end. Every last one of 'em. The ones that don't--you'll be responsible for fucking them over. Killing 'em. You hurt everyone you touch.

Edited 2023-04-28 04:25 (UTC)

[Jason freezes and leaves his own knife in older Jason's shoulder. Despite the physical injuries, it keeps being the man's words that throw off his guard. Maybe it's because it's essentially hearing his own voice that makes it worse. Almost like the deeply buried inner voice in his mind has become so much louder. Almost like the thoughts that have crossed his mind feel more real with them being physically said now.

He hates his other self so much]

I don't need anyone. If I have to spend the rest of my goddamn life fighting and being the bad guy just to stop the real monsters then so fucking be it. I'm making something useful out of this piece of shit life.

Ha. ( it's a barked out, half-laugh. he doesn't mean it. none of this is funny, none of it is fun and jason's--halfway to crying and yelling at the same time. they don't need to get into it. he takes a lul of fists and knives being thrown to pull the knife out of his shoulder. he doesn't want junior to bleed out, but he needs full range of motion. the knife gets dropped off to the side, before he's twisting the gun around once more to hold onto the handle so he can--go back to shoving it straight into that hood. whether the intention here is to give junior a concussion or break him loose from it isn't quite clear given how hard he's going, but it's fine.

they'll figure it out eventually. )

[The helmet protects Jason from the worst of the hit but the force is still enough to have him knocked back.

He doesn't understand why this is happening but he's too angry to care right now. He just wants the older man to shut the hell up already.

Still trying to recover and not looking at him, he reaches for his gun]

Seems like someone's rusty with their old toys.

You wish.

( it takes a flick of his wrist, an easy adjustment, before he's got the barrel of the gun pressed right to the hood. he's not paying attention to the hood's hands. he should be, jason's not an idiot, he knows how to defend himself. he's just--veering from caring to not caring to wanting to get hurt to wanting to hurt. it doesn't matter. he's busy.

the gun's angled up so it won't damage junior too badly; he wants to break the hood, he's not aiming to kill him. it might nick the side of his head a little if he doesn't stop jason from pulling the trigger first, but that's his problem.

because jason's curling his finger around the trigger--and if junior doesn't stop him, shooting him right in the side of his stupid head. )

[With the barrel of older Jason's gun right there at his head, younger Jason has no qualms about using his gun now.

He quickly pulls it out and shoots the other man twice in the chest]

( that hurts. it doesn't break through the suit, but he still takes the impact of bullets slamming into his chest. it's enough to knock him off balance, enough he's stumbling back a step before dropping to his knees, arm wrapped over his chest. there's a moment when he considers the advantages of having new tech that junior doesn't know about: he count fake being three seconds from bleeding out, could fake bullets digging into his skin, wrap his arms around his chest before collapsing face first on the ground in a bid to get junior thrown off guard.

but this isn't a fight he feels he has to win, either. jason skips right over faking it and takes in a shuddering breath, wrapping his weaker arm, the one with the hole in his shoulder, around his chest. throws junior another shit-eating grin. )

That almost turned out real bad for you.

Knew you could take it. Otherwise you would've been a lot stupider than I thought picking a fight with me.

[His own shoulder wound is bleeding and hurting but he still has his gun aimed at older Jason]

Nice toys. Found some new people to use? Worked out decently last time when you had my job.

( his own gun is down at his side, finger on the trigger but it's pointed down. he can't raise it quick enough to get a shot off without junior getting one in first. jason pulls in another breath, and it hurts. his ribs are definitely fucked.

but he isn't finished yet. he's got his own gun up still, even if he's hunching over a little to try and mitigate the pain. )

Jealous?

( the smart thing to do would be to find a distraction. something to keep his attention for a moment, something to give jason time to fire off a shot without getting shot at in return. but he doesn't. he shifts the angle of his gun just enough and fires off a shot for the fucking hood. he'll get it off, one way or another. )

[Jason fires off one more shot at older Jason's torso at almost the same time. However, it's not enough to stop the bullet that smashes into his helmet and cracks it open. The helmet protected him from the worst of it but now it's falling to the floor in pieces. With the helmet gone now, Jason's face revealed with a black domino mask on.

Jason feels like someone's punched him hard in the head. His ears are ringing. He's stunned enough to unwittingly drop his gun and stumble back against a table, leaning on it to try to stay standing]

( it's sheer spite that keeps him on his feet. he can feel his ribs protesting every time he sucks in a breath, the blood loss is starting to get to him, head cottony as he curls in on himself with a loud shout when the next bullet rams into him and breaks through the jacket. jason's hobbling as he walks; his hip hurts, his chest hurts, and it only takes a few steps forward before he's turning his head to the side to spit out the blood from when he'd bitten through his cheek to try and keep himself quiet.

another step forward, until he's close enough to press right up against junior. he drops his own gun down after making sure the safety's on, and reaches a hand out to grab onto his hair, fingers fisting into it. )

Maybe I should've stayed dead. ( it bites, words laced with anger and pain and frustration. he doesn't give junior time to process it, because that'd just give him time to retaliate. instead, jason's slamming his head forward into junior's. what's a concussion between doubles? )

[Jason's head was already swimming before older Jason headbutted him. Now it's much worse. Blinded by more pain, he stumbles backwards and smashes onto the table. On the floor surrounded by splinters and smashed furniture, he grits his teeth hard and his hands have balled into tight fists as he tries not scream in pain. The adrenaline he had been running on is giving way to pain from his injuries. His shoulder's bleeding. His head is throbbing.

And then there was what older Jason said. It's another thing he wishes they didn't have in common. It's something he tries so hard to hide]

Fuck you. Maybe it would've been better. Maybe then the nightmares could finally stop.

[Working under the assumption that this is going to be a pretty terrible day for at least one of the Jasons, Tim has been quietly trying to track both Jasons all day. It's not as easy to find the Jason who isn't currently operating as the Red Hood, particularly since Tim's only met him in person once and he's partially moved out of Central City. It's not really until the Red Hood finds him that he has a real lock on them in the form of hacked security footage.

It's not good. He can only kind of tell what they're saying to each other - it's difficult to lip-read the older Jason from the footage and impossible through the Red Hood's helmet - but once guns are out, he makes the executive decision that he can't just sit this out and hope they tired each other out. He sends a quick SOS to his older self under the assumption that if he was trying to keep an eye on the situation, so was Rook, and takes off, quietly hoping that his hesitation to get directly involved doesn't cause him to show up to find that one of them's managed to kill the other.

He smashes through a window on his way in, both because it's the quickest entrance in and because he wants loud and flashy for once. He wasn't able to keep an eye on the feed the entire trip here, and if they're still going at each other, he wants them to know someone else is here. (If that means guns pointed at him, he's ready - at least they'd have a target other than each other.)]

( he hears the window, and it grabs his attention immediately. tim had already texted him earlier, asking why the fuck he was inside red hood's territory. jason assumes this is him arriving, him coming to make them knock it off. they've had their fight, jason's said his piece, he's--not satisfied, he thought it'd help but it's done nothing for him. but he's done. knows better than to keep it up with another robin arriving; they're both too beat up to fight off someone else at this point.

there's a low grunt when he takes a step away, and then another. his shoulders are tense, he's--managing to keep himself up but not well. there's blood dripping down his shoulder, over his chest, slowly dripping down onto the floor beneath him as he tries to put some distance between them. he's tired, angry, still feels like he needs something else to hit. but more than that, jason's just--done, done with everything. )

[Jason's still on the floor when Robin arrives. He groans and opens his eyes just enough to see the younger Tim. Fuck. Great. Another shit encounter between him and his newest brother. As if this day couldn't get worse.

He groans as he tries to sit back up. His ears are still ringing, he can barely see straight, and his head is pounding]

We should've stayed dead.

[It's spiteful and Tim's already here but Jason doesn't care. He feels raw and wants the last word against his other self. And maybe this'll be the last time in a while that he'll verbalize something he usually doesn't acknowledge]

[If something goes snap in his brain while he takes in the situation, hears Jason's words, the reminder that this situation is so much more broken than he can fix just by stopping the fight, he doesn't acknowledge it. He's been in unfixable situations before. Just because there's more broken pieces than you can hold together in your hands doesn't mean you give up. You work at what you can. You triage.

Robin has emergency first aid in his belt, like all of them should. There's some heavily-compacted pressure bandages in one pocket, and he hands one roll off to the Jason who's still standing, once he's close enough. He kneels next to the other Jason, the one still on the floor. Neither of them look good, but him still being down is not great.]

Take your mask off.

[He saw the hit he took to the head - he wants to have a look at that Jason's pupils.]

[ After again checking on family locations (because he tries to keep an active tracker on everyone, although they make it annoyingly difficult, Tim realizes that he’s breathtakingly close.

(He had diverted his patrol when he realized the older Jason was in the other’s territory. On this particular anniversary, Jason even breathing differently calls for attention, just to make sure he’s okay.)

So Rook arrives almost on the heels of Robin. Absorbs the tableau. Neither of them look great, but the most concerning is the knife in Jason’s shoulder. ]

Robin. Pull the knife out and make sure there’s no fibers in the wound. I’ll take it from there.

[ He turns to the older Hood, making an effort to keep his tone to working and not snippy. ]

What’s wrong with you? Physically. I’m not asking why.

[ So now we’re literally beating ourselves up on bad dates, are we? ]

Edited 2023-05-01 00:53 (UTC)

( doesn't answer. there's no need. jason already told hood how he feels, and he doesn't feel like rehashing it in front of the hoad of robins that's arrived to tell them to knock it off. rook has already seen him at his messiest, this shouldn't be surpising. robin's still just a brat, and he doesn't need anymore than he's already gotten.

bandages are pressed into his hand and he raises his uninjured arm up to press them against his bleeding shoulder. hisses at the pressure, but it's not as if he wasn't expecting it to sting. jason's still taking slow steps away from the aftermath of their stupid fight. )

Got stabbed. Got shot. 'm fine. ( if he can get far enough away to take a breath, he can call someone else for back up. someone without the background knowledge of why he's--like this.

but he does (helpfully) start naming off junior's injuries while he keeps walking, )

Knife's through his subclavian artery. Probably. Left eardrum might need attention. Likely concuss-- ( nose wrinkling as his own equilibrium starts getting thrown off; he stumbles to the side, catches himself by taking his hand off of his shoulder and resting it against the bar. )

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