i was born to hold my hands up (open)

[reneger]

Who: jason todd reneger & whoever
What: downfall event prompts ; post-event happenings
When: late july - august
Where: excelsior, central city, nyc
Content Warnings: body horror, child death, child abuse, general violence, drug overdose, suicidal idealization, etcetc



prompts in the comments because.... i can.

Comments

see me bare my teeth ( open; deaged ) 8/12-8/15

[reneger]

( considering the amount of caped vigilantes running around central city - one more can't be that big of a deal, right? even if that new one is the size of an average ten year old boy wearing a cape that covers more of him than anything else does? and is running around in pixie boots? clearly that's an entirely normal occurrence, isn't it? it doesn't really matter how he got here, just that he's--here, grapple gun shooting out from one building to another as robin launches himself across the skyline, stopping whenever he sees some shady stuff going on below him to intervene. otherwise? he tries to--mostly--stay out of sight of others running loose. mostly, given there is nothing even mildly subtle about the bright colors he's jumping around in.

don't mind him. he's just your average every day sidekick, getting into usual sidekick shenanigans. no need to get in his way or tell him to stop, he's fine. he's got this. )

[robintohood]

[There is nothing shady with an employer making sure his employees are meeting his standards. Though maybe pistol whipping a goon across the face in front of a dive bar might be a bit questionable but the Red Hood's got standards in other ways]

Been skimming off the top, huh?

[Yup. Just business as usual]

[reneger]

( red hood's got standards for his underlings, and robin's plenty familiar with those. he's seen two-face and his goons, has fought beside batman against several of gotham's crime lords--and seeing someone get pistol whipped in front of a dive bar isn't anything new.

doesn't mean he's going to let it go any though. skimming off the top may be the goon's fault, but that doesn't mean they have to get the crud beaten out of them like that. he stops on top of the divebar, leans over just enough to peek at them over the ledge, and--waits for mister hood to turn his back. just enough so robin can jump off over the ledge, using his grapple gun to help keep him from falling straight down, and swings down to throw his feet out at that hood, intent on kicking the mobster straight over onto the pavement. )

[robintohood]

[The very familiar sounds of a grapple gun getting shot immediately gets Jason's attention. He spins around just in time for a blur of yellow, green, and red to kick him to the ground. The terrified goon flees the scene afterwards.

Furious, Jason then jumps back up and whips out a handful shuriken. For a moment he thinks about chewing out one of the Robins for interfering despite them knowing full well they're not supposed to be in his territory. Jason then realizes to his shock just which Robin is trying to pick a fight]

Fuck.

[Having a doppelganger was bad enough. Now he was directly looking at his childhood. He's still armed with his shuriken but now he's much less reluctant to fight]

[reneger]

( hood guy goes down, and jason's landing on his feet just a few feet behind him, knees to help catch the impact before he's quickly twisting around and--

stopping. the guy's got a handful of shuriken, and jason's got a couple batarangs in his utility belt that he hasn't reached for yet. keeps fingers curled into loose fists instead, bridge of his nose scrunching up enough it also wrinkles the domino mask over it. )

Why don't you pick on someone your own size, huh?

( get it. because robin definitely isn't the same size as hood guy, but he's clearly more competent than whatever rookie hood guy was bullying. )

I'll even give you a free hit.

( it's a distraction. give the goons enough time to flee out of hood guy's range, then jason can go and track them down, too. just because they don't deserve to get their faces beat in doesn't mean they don't deserve to go to jail. )

[robintohood]

[God he hates this already. The colorful costume. The gear. The bravado despite being smaller than most kids his age. It hurts watching while knowing full well he'll never be as happy as he was when he was Robin. They're all reminders of what he's lost.

Jason calmly puts away his shuriken and keeps his hands visible]

I'm not fighting a kid.

[reneger]

( he doesn't like how hood guy has his face covered. it makes it harder to gauge what he's thinking, since he can't see what's going on under the hood. body language is helpful, but it's only telling half a story and jason's sure he's missing something here. the guy pulled out his toys just fine when he knew it was someone small taking a swing at him. there wasn't any hesitation until they slowed down, and now he's being careful. choreographing putting the shuriken away, keeping his hands where jason can see them. it's suspicious, and not in a way he likes any.

fighting is easy. understanding someone's intentions when they opt not to fight is a whole other ballgame. jason doesn't move any closer though; he lowers his hands down, folds fingers together behind his back. he doesn't have anything between his fingers, but the utility belt's pouch is right there below his palms, flashbangs within reach if he feels the need to grab onto them. just in case. )

Uh huh. But you've got no problem takin' it out on someone weaker than you.

( another minute or so to give the goon time to run, and jason'll switch gears and run after them. )

[robintohood]

That was just business.

[Jason's trying to keep his voice calm while internally, he's quickly trying to formulate his next steps. He knows the kid's going to go deeper into his territory if he lets him go now. He has to keep his attention]

You're a long way from Gotham, kiddo.

[There. Establishing he's got some kind of information should have him stick around. Hopefully]

[reneger]

( just business. he's heard that plenty of times before, hasn't he.

jason's not moving. walking out of this wasn't going to be easy anyway, was it. hood guy is a bigger fish than he can fry all on his own. the careful way he moves is plenty to tell that. he went from downright brutal to--what, trying to pull jason in? that's how it feels. hands out where he can see them, weapons put away, voice carefully holding syllables and dropping them calmly, like he's trying to . . . think, isn't it. he leaves information--gotham doesn't exist here, he might not be that familiar with all the tech this place has, but he's not that far behind the times either. it's an intentional drop, an intentional grab for jason's attention.

he could ignore it, he could play into it, or he could do the smart thing and turn around to leave it behind right here because clearly this is being dropped for a something he hasn't figured out yet. instead, jason does none of those things: his mouth twists down into a frown, fingers reaching into his utility belt for a flashbang but he doesn't pull it out yet. )

What are you after?

( this guy's being clever, he's not stupid enough to play ignorant. )

[robintohood]

[It's easy for Jason to read his kid self's thought process and body language as he stares down at him. The kid's rightfully wary of him and is trying to do his own assessment]

Not much. Don't suppose you met Big Bird or anyone else from the flock here yet?

[Jason knows he can't leave this Robin alone but he's certainly not willing to babysit him either. He's already uncomfortable enough with Old Jay when he's his proper age]

[reneger]

( his brows pinch tight; evident enough he's not even sure what hood guy is talking about, let alone who. jason's still newish to the robin game; he met nightwing once, got handed the old uniform in a nice box before he took off again, but they aren't--close. he doesn't know him well enough yet, and big bird doesn't hit as something he would have called dick. not yet. )

Don't try and throw me off. What're you after, or is this all just a-- ( diversion tactic of it's own. that makes sense, doesn't it? he's probably got tech in there, maybe he's calling for others to come here, too, or someone to chase after the thug jason'd let go. his head turns in the direction the guy'd run off in, knees bent, ready to take off. )

[robintohood]

He's nothing. I'm not gonna go after him.

[For now]

Look, this shit is weird to explain and it's better that we got another person involved here. How about I just contact Nightwing? You can even watch me do it.

[Jason knows Dick probably has his hands full already but there really isn't anyone else Jason can trust to handle this delicately]

[reneger]

( that name gets his attention. his nose scrunches up, but he's not letting his guard down any. fingers grip on tighter to the flashbang, but jason's eyes are refocused on hood guy under the mask. not towards where the thug had run off. hood guy has his attention, for now. )

Nightwing, huh? You just gonna get your phone and ring him up, just like that? ( he snorts, because he really doubts whoever this is has richard grayson's number. ) Why not just call Batman?

[levelshift]

[Even though Chaos Gate has been MIA Accelerator has been showing up to work every day. There isn't really any reason not to, he still has an incredibly amount of debt to pay off and besides, who would look after all her cats if he ditched?

Not that he cares or anything. Anyways.

While most of his work was typically catsitting, there were aspects of it that were a touch more villainous. Tonight is a good example of that, where he's received information from the Society about some bank armoured truck route transporting a large amount of money. It's a pretty easy job, interrupt the transport, steal the money, drop it off at Society's headquarters. It'll be ten minutes, tops.

So off he goes, to the end of a deserted street that's on the truck's route. Having never bothered with any kind of alter ego or secret identity bullshit, the most he's bothered to do is wear a black hoodie with the hood pulled up so his hair isn't quite as obvious. It doesn't help so much with the silver arm cuff of his crutch still around his right forearm, but whatever. He's leaning up against a building boredly, and when he sees the truck turn the corner he hits the switch on his choker and takes a casual jump -

- Landing right on top of the cab. There's barely even a thump, and in the next second he's grabbing hold of the truck's vectors to suddenly veer it straight into a streetlight. The tires squeal at the forced change in direction, and the entire thing plows into the light with a loud crash as he manipulates more vectors to weaken the structure of the truck.

Accelerator, not being a complete monster, leans down to look through the broken windshield to make sure the guards are unconscious and not dead.]

Shit, you two are working late. You deserve a nap.

[That was completely unnecessary and they're out cold so it's not like they'll even hear him, but he's saying that out loud anyways.]

[reneger]

( he hears the crash before he sees it. immediately turns towards the sound of screeching tires and loud honking, and robin's rushing over. he jumps from one roof to the next, leaps over with his grapple holding onto the closest telephone pole before he's releasing it and--lands down on top of the truck itself, soft shoes barely making a sound at the impact which is awfully convenient because he's--rolling forward after, using the motion to help absorb the fall it self. he goes over onto his hands, body moving towards the cab until he's up on his feet and--lurching forward towards accelerator himself.

nobody's robbing a truck on his watch. )

Hey!! ( there's still some distance between them, but jason's leaping forward to close that gap. raises a fist up towards accelerator aimed straight for his shoulder. the guy's small, young obviously, but being young's no excuse for robbing a truck blind. )

[levelshift]

[You know what's a huge downer? Being in the middle of a simple crime and having some hero show up.

Accelerator doesn't notice he's alone until he hears that shout. Normally, he wouldn't even bother caring - anyone dumb enough to attack him deserves getting a limb broken or their internal organs exploded - but that voice sounds oddly young....?

He glances over and holy shit, with a stunned expression he practically throws himself to the side to avoid what is clearly a child from coming into contact with him. It means he stumbles, having to catch himself via vectors to avoid eating shit on the street.]

Do you want to lose that fucking arm, you damn brat?!

[Hanging out with Leo and Donnie is paying off, he should really thank them.]

[reneger]

( his hit doesn't land, because the guy just flips himself away like a weirdo, but he's not complaining. instead, he's pulling himself up straight and plants his feet against the ground in front of the cab of the truck--between the thief and the driver. there's a very slight incline of his head, just enough so he can look over to the driver out of the corner of his eyes. watching for signs of life.

but he's not turning away from the person who somehow managed to stop a truck like that, and from the looks of it, he did it by himself? that's no good. jason's here without back up, and as reckless as the jump in to try and take him down was, he needs to be careful. )

You shouldn't take stuff that ain't yours.

[levelshift]

[Thankfully the occupants of the truck are still breathing and there's no blood. They're just extremely out of it, thanks to Accelerator manipulating the vectors of the vehicle to reduce the strength of the armour reinforcement.]

You should be in bed. What are you, ten?

[Now that there's a bit more distance between them he relaxes a bit, less concerned about breaking one of the kid's limbs. What the hell is some baby doing out this late, though? Does he have adult reinforcements coming in? He looks like he's dressed like a hero or a sidekick or whatever, so why's he alo -

- Wait. That stupid outfit looks familiar. Why does it look familiar? Accelerator frowns at that, and then it hits him.

Oh.

Oh goddamnit. He knows where he's seen that outfit before. He remembers the dream. This isn't good.

Accelerator sighs heavily, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets. Starting to walk around to the back of the truck, he keeps an eye on the kid in case he tries another punch.]

Go home, brat.

[reneger]

( he walks around the truck, casually, as if jason hadn't just leaped down to stop him.

which makes sense; the more jason watches him, the more jason's sure that he has power that jason himself shouldn't be facing alone. robin has talent, he knows damn well he's capable of taking down crooks and thugs - but metahumans can be something else entirely. there's no fear in his body language; even when jason is afraid, he covers it in rage and indignation. with running his mouth and snarking those around him. with the quips that have become synonyms with robin since robin the first had been wearing the suit.

there's no back up this time. he hadn't come around with batman, and alfred isn't here. jason doesn't know where catwoman or superman could be, if they'd even be close enough around to offer a hand. so he doesn't let fear slow him down. instead, he's jumping back up on top of the cab of the truck, letting his feet take him quickly over the top of it so he can leap back down just in front of the back of the truck. )

So you can rob 'em? I don't think so.

[levelshift]

[Jason - whichever Jason this is, it doesn't really matter right this second - is a stubborn little brat, isn't he? He should really have a better sense of self-preservation or better, fucking adult supervision. Surely his normal self knows a couple of adults around here who could be looking after him right now. Accelerator hates that he's having to deal with this, and he's telling himself it's because he wanted this to be an easy crime and Jason is making things the exact opposite of that.

(His anger also might have something to do with the fact that a little kid who has already been through a lot feels responsible enough to try and stop a monster like himself, which is completely fucked up, but he's trying to ignore that train of thought.)

Once he reaches the back of the truck and watches Jason jump down, once more in his way, he clicks his tongue.]

If you want to feel useful, go check on the driver. He should still be alive.

[He starts walking towards him, still intending on opening up that truck.]

[reneger]

( accelerator's walking towards him, which means jason has two options: get out of the way or fight back.

and he's no quitter. his chin juts up, hands folding behind his back so he can reach for the pocket on his utility belt. he's running low on tools, but running low doesn't mean he's out. he's got plenty to back himself up if this turns south. but he's hoping it doesn't, because this guy--feels like he knows what he's doing, what he's up against, and jason has no idea what he's getting into. it's not a good mix. )

The driver's still breathing. ( he could see his chest moving, when he was watching him out of the corner of his eye while facing off against accelerator before. ) You should walk away, before the cops get here.

( not that jason called them, but he's betting someone did. )

1/2

[levelshift]

[Goddamnit, he's given him a few outs already, and he refuses to take any of them. Alright then, he's just going to have to get dramatic. Hopefully it'll be enough to scare Jason off - or at least make him cautious enough to back off. Seeing Jason's hands behind his back he has no clue what he's planning, but as long as it isn't any magic crap that he might reflect weirdly he should be fine.

He sighs heavily, tired, like all of this is beneath him, and pauses there in the street. Reaching up to grasp the side of his head, he cracks his neck.]

What a pain in the ass. I guess you've just got a death wish, then.

2/2

[levelshift]

[Then he drops his hand, curling his fingers into a claw shape, not even bothering with any kind of proper fighting stance. He doesn't need it.

And he starts chuckling. It's a strained, cracked kind of noise that doesn't sound quite like a laugh, but something more pained. As he does he smiles, too.

Well, his lips turn upwards. It looks more like a slash across his face than a smile any sane kind of person has.]

Ha ha ha, I'm happy to oblige you~!!

[And he launches himself at Jason, far faster than a normal human has any right to be, with a loud crunch as the asphalt under his feet splits under the overwhelming force.]

[reneger]

( it's between one breath and the next, isn't it? when the kid suddenly goes from annoyed to downright monstrous. jason clocks it as it happens, eyes widening just a fraction behind his mask when fingers curl into claws. he's seen smiles like that before, and they're never, ever good news.

accelerator runs for him, but jason doesn't stay still. he bends his knees, takes out one of the smoke pellets from his utility belt, and waits until accelerator's close enough it's almost dangerous before he's throwing one onto the ground, breaking it open against pavement, and rolling forward onto his hands in a flip to get himself very quickly out of the way. it takes two rolls for him to get his weight back up onto his feet, and when he stands back up straight--he's got a batarang in his hand, one that's quickly getting thrown back in accelerator's direction.

but his expression - shifted the moment accelerator's had. went from determined to something almost sad. accelerator can't be much older than him; no kid should know how to twist their face like that. none of them should have had to go through the kind of fucked up childhood that would've caused it. if he'd been downright malicious, jason could have shrugged it off as him being a sociopath or something, but this isn't that. he'd tried to get jason to leave before coming after him, when all it did was delay his goal. )

[levelshift]

[A smoke bomb, huh? While he still needs to breathe, one of those things is easy enough to handle. Accelerator comes to an abrupt stop once he enters the cloud of smoke, and a gigantic blast of wind kicks up, surrounding him and blowing away the smoke. By the time it's gone he hasn't even turned around and that batarang is hitting him - when it does he grabs its vectors and twists them, rather than leaving it to his reflection. Instead of it being flung direction back at Jason he sends it diagonally downwards, rocketing towards the ground and embedding itself in the street.]

Way too slow, brat!!

[That's when he turns, sending another blast of wind from underneath Jason's feet to knock him into the air. Not enough to injure him, since despite all the posturing Accelerator is specifically looking to avoid that, just enough to move him out of the way and super conveniently toward some shop window's awning. That leaves him free to get to the truck's back doors and rip them off like they're made of tissue paper.]