metalogs | ( closed ) twisted steel beneath my knees

( because this is jason, he expects that swing and so when it comes, he catches it. glove tightening around the other's hand. eyes narrowed, the light shines between them. you know. so they can see each other in this cave. )

Why did you follow me through?

( the question comes a bit harsher than he means it to, but. this is bruce. who was in a mood prior to landing himself in this... darkness. )

Now we're both stuck here.

( it's jason, so of course he goes for the hit. and when bruce catches his fist, he - keeps up the pressure. doesn't back down any, even if he's scowling right into bruce's face. )

No. You don't get to give me shit for coming in after you. I get to give you shit for being an idiot and disappearing on us like that.

( us, as in all of them, not just jason. )

If I really wanted to disappear on all of you, I have ways of doing that.

( he didn't remove any trackers, after all.

regardless, he drops jason's fist down and shoots him a look telling him not to try it before he turns some, shining the light around the cave they're hunkered down in for the moment. )

Did Kyle come through with you?

( he saw the green, after all. )

( he thinks about trying it. it'd be so easy, to lift a fist and shove it into bruce's face. maybe he'll block again, but jason has another fist that he could use just as easily. and two legs. a couple knees he could shove right into bruce's sternum.

but he doesn't.

there's the green lantern ring on jason's middle finger, one he's pointedly not looking at because he's busy right now. )

I know that. You were being careless, you fucking idiot.

I'm guessing no, then.

( he says, shining the light around as a means to get their bearings of the cave. )

Which means he knows you're here, what with having a ring and all.

Jesus christ.

( he's mad. mad that bruce was an idiot, mad he came in here after him like a bigger idiot. madder still that the thing back there tricked him well enough it almost got a good bite of him. pissed, at bruce just talking around him like he always does.

who gives a shit if hitting each other is a bad idea. they're in here, apparently stuck, and jason's livid.

so he drops the backpack onto the ground behind him. raises a fist to swing it straight for bruce again. )

( he anticipates it. naturally. so the second he hears the backpack drop, he turns. thoroughly annoyed.

the swing comes and bruce holds up the baton to block it — twirls it. effortlessly. and jabs it towards jason's midsection. a means to knock him back. bruce slanted some as he does. )

You just can't leave me alone, can you?

( the gun is easier to reach for. it's right there on his thigh, a quick and easy block he could then turn into shoving the grip straight into the side of bruce's face. but he goes for a dagger instead, which wastes precious seconds he could have used to return the hit. instead, the side of his kris presses against the baton when it goes for his midsection.

and jason, being jason, twists around to try and shove the hilt of that into bruce's face. )

Who else was I supposed to send in after you, huh?

How about no one?

( it's said as he blocks the hilt with the end of his flashlight, swinging jason's arm away from him with a swipe of the baton in his other hand. giving them a bit of distance, bruce eyes jason there in the darkness of the cave, the bright glow of his flashlight being all they have in terms of light here. )

Throwing yourself in after me was stupid. Or were you planning on ditching Dick and Kyle again?

Edited 2024-01-24 22:33 (UTC)

I haven't ditched anyone.

( the accusation of planning to, though, just pisses him off even more. he's got his dagger in hand, the other one emptied. there's dozens of weapons strapped to him, hidden in his clothing, that he could reach for and use. dozens of ways he can slam into bruce without a weapon at all and fuck him up. this isn't his bruce, he's still young, and jason knows most of his bruce's moves by now. it'd be so goddamn easy. he shouldn't go for it.

he does anyway.

his arm twitches, the barest hint of movement as he adjusts his arm to pull the few throwing knives loose from their hidden pocket in his jacket sleeve - before jason's raising it, flinging several knives straight for bruce. they're aimed at his armor, not anywhere with skin he's concerned with damaging. it's dark, but unlike some idiot who doesn't have any lenses on his cowl, jason has his - and infrared built in. he has to reach up, fingers sliding across the side of the domino mask to flick it on, but he covers the movement by ducking down moments after to throw himself straight for bruce himself. )

( his cape swishes as he twists — arm up to block the flurry of knives thrown at him. one lodges itself between the armor and he grunts right as jason throws himself at him. falling back, he hits the ground. hard. taking jason with him. a strangled noise leaving him as he does. the flashlight rolls away and offers them only a sliver of light. )

Don't make me hurt you.

( is huffed through gritted teeth, bruce bringing a hand up to jason's neck in an attempt to push him back. push him away. push him off. )

( good. he should be down on the ground, nothing more than a bright spot on jason's infrared as he drops down hard on top of bruce. a hand comes up for his neck, but he doesn't give two shits about it.

he presses a hand down against bruce's chest, kris sitting against his palm pointed off to the side, just below his collarbone. holds it there, while the other raises into a fist aimed straight for bruce's nose. one he doesn't throw, not yet. )

Do it. Hurt me, if that's how you wanna play it. Wouldn't be the first time someone in a cowl fucked me over.

Edited 2024-01-24 23:15 (UTC)

( he's seconds away from tasering jason, hand there on his neck. but when the sudden sound of skittering fills the cave, bruce immediately turns his head in the direction of the sound. )

We've got company.

( and from the crevices of the cave crawl a number of black, twisted, spider-like creatures. eyes dark and beady, fixated on the two of them, with fangs dripping something white and slick, droplets leaving burn marks on the ground. ouch, basically.

without waiting to pounce, backs are arched and webs are shot. right at bruce and jason there on the ground. )

( bruce is seconds away from doing something, and jason's just waiting for it. waiting for bruce to prove he's just as much of an asshat as his bruce, waiting for the excuse to be pissed at himself for jumping into this with him when he could have just stayed and waited for bruce to figure it out for himself.

spiders interrupt that plan. jason still has his fist raised, balled up tight like he's just waiting for an excuse to hit. curses under his breath instead, and reaches down into his belt. )

I hate you sometimes, you know that?

( it's growled low, but without moving off of bruce jason's throwing a handful of flashbangs out towards the spiders. his lenses adjust to the lightning change quickly, which he's using to his advantage as he pulls out a lighter and a very small spray bottle of lighter fluid. gets back up onto his feet so he's not hovering over bruce anymore when he flicks the lighter on with full intention of burning the hell out of whatever wasn't frightened away by the noise and light. )

( when movement from jason happens, bruce rolls away, getting to his feet just as jason blasts the hoard of spiders with the lighter and fluid. the sounds they make are almost ear piercing and bruce covers an ear with one hand, the other gripping tight to the baton.

for all intents and purposes, it seems jason's taken care of the ones that had been more head on. turns out there's more. coming from a couple more sides and bruce swings the baton near jason when he catches one trying to drop down onto him. the skittering seems to slowly fill the cave, and bruce ducks and swings at various ones that jump at them. knocking them back with the baton. )

We need to get out of here!

( a smarter man would have pulled in someone with superpowers to be ready in case shit went down like this. jason also realizes - he did, he has them here, and someone overpowered would only be able to handle as much shit as they could see. eventually, diana would run out of stamina. kyle would need a break. jason and bruce are perfectly capable of handling damn near anything this place throws at them. including thousands of tiny skittering creatures out to - melt them? eat them? fuck if he knows.

bruce goes in with his baton, and jason takes it as his cue to duck back and grab onto the backpack he'd dropped. swings it over a shoulder, and then grabs hold of a gun to start shooting at the ones that get too close. figures this isn't the time for rubber bullets, he doubts the bullets'll take out that many of them, either, and he's only got so much ammo on him. ammo he'd rather waste here than sacrifice a few knives. ducks down again in between shots to grab onto his kris again, because he's not leaving that behind, thanks. )

Scram! ( hands reaching out to nab bruce by his stupid cape between shots to shove him out towards the cave opening, because - ) I can keep 'em from following but I need you out.

( the tug on his cape has him nearly swing at jason. a kneejerk reaction to an action done to him, but he catches himself. refrains. eyes the other and the weapons he's wielding. he hesitates for only a fraction of a second before he's running for the cave opening, ducking down to swipe his flashlight up off the ground as he does.

going back out isn't something he wanted — he hasn't even explored the entirety of... wherever it is they are. but they can't stay in there. not when they're not even entirely sure just what they're dealing with. but there's another spot. it's just a bit further. if he can keep track of how many steps he's taking once they're out. )

( they're low on time and options, but jason - well, he's resourceful. bruce listens and rushes out, which is what he'd been waiting for. he follows after, palm dragging along the wall of one side of the cave and then the other, leaving behind small circular objects in his wake. as soon as they're clear of the entrance, he holds up a small pen-shaped item, thumb pressing on the red trigger on top of it. )

Thank Dickie.

( the trigger goes down, and the cave? well, a few of the spiders might get out of it, but not many - a significant amount of rubble blocks the entrance. )

( an arm goes up, cape draped over it, a shield of sorts against the dust that comes from the rubble falling. the sounds they make are nearly piercing as they few who manage to make it out scurry away, but the sounds that boom around them from... whatever might make such a sound... are a little more foreboding.

bruce grips tight to the baton he holds, cape still up, when suddenly, from the shadows— )

And here I was getting worried you wouldn't come.

( with those chilling words, an eerie laugh echoes throughout the shadows. one that, regardless of whatever gotham one finds themselves from, is incredibly difficult to miss.

slowly, he draws his arm down, eyes sharp in the way they scan the shadows they stand within and with a slow pivot towards the darkness behind him, that's when he sees him. when he sees the joker. it's not him. he can't be here. it's something parading around as him, much as that thing had done with his own face and nearly taken a bite out of jason. it's not really him. even though the joker — some version of him — had been here. he can't... be in this place with them. it's a trick.

these are the things that quickly cycle through his thoughts as he stares to "the joker" standing there a little ways from them. scarred. dressed in arkham asylum orange and white. cuffs around his wrists. he doesn't seem to move, aside from the gentle swaying he makes. but his eyes are on them and he opens his mouth then, a soft gasp of surprise. )

You made a friend... or maybe a son. ( the way his mouth slowly twists into a cheshire cat grin. ) A son that's got ambition. Maybe a little too much. Always walking in daddy's shadow. Even here.

( that's when "the joker" finally looks to jason — finally acknowledges him and bites his cracked bottom lip before he laughs that laugh of his again. quiet and stifled almost. as if it's a secret that shouldn't be said out loud. when "the joker's" focus shifts back to bruce, he smiles. )

But you'll always be my favorite masked avenger. Everyone else just... doesn't measure up.

( a slow glance to jason and an even slower smile to him — for him. just for him. )

( he knows that laugh.

knows it too well. has heard it echo through the walls of arkham during his brief stay, remembers hearing it as the crowbar slammed into him over and over again. remembers it while he and tim were getting fucked over together. remembers it too from the recording of tim getting tortured while their bruce, who had been here did fuck all to prevent it from happening again.

knows his face, too. his voice. the shit smile that spreads across his lips that makes jason want to vomit, especially with the words that are coming out of his mouth. always walking in daddy's shadow - the fuck he is. jason was here first, had gone in after bruce because someone had to, he's not robin anymore, he doesn't follow bruce's shit rules except for when he does like - now. now he is. not for bruce, never for bruce, but -

he could open his mouth, throw words straight into joker's face. knows they've made too much noise, they're attracting outsiders, he doubts this is anything more than just another mirage meant to fuck with them.

does none of that and instead raises his gun, lips pressed into a tight line, and fires off every goddamn bullet in its magazine in quick succession: four going straight for his head, the remaining three straight for his heart. keeps pressing on the trigger even after he knows it's emptied. )

( maybe he should have seen it coming. should have known jason would do what he does, but. when the gun is raised, bruce reacts a second too late. )

Don’t —!

( the rounds are fired before bruce can even take a step towards jason and he watches as “the joker” takes the four bullets he’s given, laughing as he does. the sound he makes when his body hits the shadowy ground is a loud thud and he lays there with a permanent smile — a shit eating grin — on his face.

bruce stands there. speechless. he feels he should react. that he should tell jason how he let his words get to him. how he’d been goaded into shooting him down like he had and how it doesn’t magically make the words disappear. that it doesn’t erase the years of trauma he’s been through because of him. because of the joker. that this was what he wanted and jason gave him it without a second thought.

he turns to say something when he catches sight of “the joker” there behind jason. still wearing that same grin on his bloodied lips. )

Jason!

( behind him, “the joker” laughs, crowbar raised high, almost shining in the dark. )

Swing batter batter batter!

( and he swings the crowbar for jason. )

( he doesn't regret it. not one bit. joker's body hits the floor and all jason can think is thank fuck. doesn't believe for a moment he's dead despite all the bullets jason's put into him, but he is down. bruce is yelling at him, telling him to not do it, but he doesn't give two shits. joker fucked over tim, joker fucked over babs, duke, jason, and so many others. putting him down is the least he can do.

except in the space of time jason takes to walk a few steps forward to look at the body, yet another joker pops up behind him. eyes widen, and he - he sees it before it's too late, has time to dodge, but there's that goddamn crowbar and jason's flinching instead. it's only a moment, hardly time at all, but it's long enough for joker to get his hit in. metal slams against the side of jason's skull and all he hears is a high-pitched whine as he goes down, hard. )

( there's a sliver of hope as he dashes for him, fleeting as it is, that jason might be able to deflect. that he might be able to react as he'd been trying to with their exposure therapy they'd done together, but.

he doesn't make it in time.

jason takes the crowbar to the side of his head — hears the way it cracks within the darkness — and drops to the ground with an equally hard thud. there's a sound that's caught between a growl and a sharp cry of pain as bruce throws himself into "the shadow joker" and slams the baton he wields into his stomach, knocking him off and away, laughter spilling from his cracked lips as he does.

dropping down next to jason, bruce is reaching out for him — touching his shoulder, eyes wide with fear and concern and he just barely gets jason's name out of him when he's smacked over the head with that same crowbar. the darkness buzzes around him as he drops down onto his side, the cowl providing a layer of protection but not enough to prove completely resistant.

bruce staggers — sound strangled there on his lips as he blinks through the darkness. the ringing in his head is enough to make him pass out and he almost wants to. but he catches the sight of "the shadow joker" there grinning like a mad clown to him over jason's body there on the ground, swinging that crowbar back and forth, as if he intends to start wailing on him with it and bruce struggles to reach out for his fallen baton.

two seconds pass before his eyes fall back onto jason and he's grunting as he reaches inside his utility belt — pulls out a shot of something unmistakably green and jams it into an opening hidden within his suit on his leg. eyes nearly roll back into his head as the serum pumps through his veins almost instantly and then he's up. angry. running right into "the shadow joker" and taking the brunt of the hit from the crowbar to his arm before he's kicking him down. before he's suddenly on him. beating him. over and over and over again. )

( he's out.

knocked out cold before he even has a chance to retaliate. there's blood pooling under him on the ground from where the crowbar managed to break through skin - this is why he has a goddamn hood. a hood meant to keep his brains from getting bashed out of his skull. what a stupid, stupid move, getting rid of it. jason doesn't know how long it's been since the moment he hit the ground and the moment he manages to open his eyes; it could be minutes or hours, but the ringing in his head hasn't subsided at all. blood drips from the side of his head onto his temple, over the domino mask as he gets his palms down against the ground under him. watches blood drip down into the puddle he's already got beneath him. or tries to watch anyway, but it's hard to concentrate when everything's spinning around him.

he hears the impact of fists against flesh. thinks for a moment it must be him getting his ass beat before realizing that - no, he's managing to sit up just fine, nothing's on him, he can't feel it. his head aches, and trying to get himself up is proving futile when he can't tell which way is up and which way is down. there's blood in his mouth, he can taste it, and when he parts his lips to try and find words it's dripping down to form its own puddle under his head.

fuck.

it's not his first concussion, won't be his last. he needs to get up. )

( bruce completely forgets that he's in any sort of pain. with the altered adrenaline shot running through his veins, he's riding a high that he finds difficult to come down from. especially when he's pummeling the shadow joker into the ground like he is. as if beating him into the very shadows themselves will suffocate that insidious laughter the clown throws at him with every punch he takes.

he reaches for the crowbar — intends to swing it down and crack the shadow joker's face with it, when he sees jason move then out of the corner of his eye in doing so, and while the high still courses through him, it's enough to pull him away from the scarred clown there beneath him.

around them, there's sounds. bellows coming from directions that are almost difficult to pinpoint. he stalks his way to jason, scoops up the bag he'd brought with him, as well as the emptied gun, and he grabs jason's arm as he kneels down. intending to throw him over his shoulder. )

Stay with me.

( the words are considerably more low than bruce usually uses. his heart pounding, pupils blown. resisting the anger that he can feel screaming at him from the inside. he wants to go back and keep punching the shadow joker. but he needs to get jason out of here. or at least, away from this spot in particular. )

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