Birds of Feather

“Wait, what?”

“So… it’s a dude?”

“For real?”

“Since when is the mirror transphobic?”

“It wasn’t before…”

After some pause Tim tsked in the manner some socialists did. Or Damian. It was bad, because explaining later why TDW was here? But it looked like there was nothing he could do, not with all those people around, who all presumably had magic. Too many and he wasn’t prepared enough. “It’s Timothy Drake-Wayne, mirror,” he said, proud of his name. “Hmm, the shape of your soul… is tarnished and unknown to me” (Tarnished, you say…) . . . (sounds about right) There was no reaction to his name. Not at all, only a few words on how it sounded weird and that’s all, which was… There were billboards about him in rural areas of China. WE didn’t even have branches there! After he got the position his face was everywhere! His name was heard all over the world. And no one reacted? And calling it weird? Neither his name or surnames were that rare or weird to be considered weird. Then what on Earth.? “I sense no spark of magic from this one. The color, the shape… There is no place for such abomination here,” the Mirror said with its emotionless voice. (Was it the Pit? Or my doings during that year?) Part of Tim was not surprised to hear such a description of his soul. Maybe this was another sign that him becoming the Gun Batman is inevitable. Him and the team tried to change it once. And yet the Titans met those corrupted versions again. Or that time when he and Cass faced a mind behind those assassins’ games? Who wanted Tim to be with it? Or Ra’s? Everyone was so adamant about it, trying to make him join. And even this Mirror… Or maybe it’s a ruse. Or the Mirror hated magicless people? He needed to focus on his next actions. So he readied up. Crowley was surprised, saying that there were no mistakes in students for 100 years. 100 years… Was this school established this long ago? Or was it even older and it was literally 100 years since the last mishap? Well that would be a really timely coincidence. While the Headmage was thinking, Grim broke away from his grip. Which did not please the man. The cat was yelling how he was better suited for this than some magicless ‘gal’. How naïve. He even decided to show off his power as proof. One of the students, a boy with red hair, immediately told everyone to get down. Quick reaction. Everything was drowning in blue fire again. Some people were panicking, some were arguing and the Headmage showed how useless he was, not doing anything. Meanwhile Tim was studying the pattern of Grim’s movements. He had an electric birdarang ready on his hand, and as soon as he saw the opening, he threw it at the cat. It wouldn’t be too much, just enough to paralyze his muscles. It’s interesting how electricity affects muscles. There were funny experiments with dead frogs a long time ago, making them move with electricity. And here it was used to stop the cat for a while. Enough so some of the people here would finally act. Or Tim would deal himself, yeah… He wasn’t sure how to fully restrain him. But as soon as the cat fell, that student with quick reaction proved to be capable yet again. “Off with your head!” he exclaimed, trapping the cat in a cartoonish looking collar. (Again with the Alice in Wonderland theme?) He really was getting tired of all those themes. The Mad Hatter was enough for him already. Apparently this collar blocked Grim’s magic. That’s a dangerous power this guy got. That could be useful… How did that slimy glasses guy call him? Riddle? (Riddle me this, Riddle me that…) Tim definitely made a note of him. And the glasses guy, Azul (?) sounded like an authority-pleaser. Tim got into action earlier than that student. Riddle also mentioned a rule of the Queen of Hearts… Azul called Riddle’s power a signature spell and something about obtaining it… That sounded so familiar to Tim. “You must do something about it! This is your familiar!” Crowley started blaming him. And Tim decided it’s time to explode. The way Janet would berate some fools during the board meetings. The way Damian would insult some people on Galas when they made unsavory comments about his skin color. “I told you it isn’t my cat!” started Tim, loudly and fiery, so everyone and everything could hear him, captivated by his voice. Crowley tried to say he didn’t know, but Tim was not having it. “You didn’t know?! Oh, you insolent babbling fool,” said Tim with a demonstratively condescending tone, and immediately turned into harpy again. “I tried to tell you again and again and again that I’m no student here, and this furball is not mine. But what could I expect from a man in a furry suit, who uses his BDSM-Whip-of-Love-toy in front of the kids?” some students laughed at it and started pointing at Crowley. “Who is so in love with himself that he just must listen to his voice every second, not allowing others to say a word!” some agreeing murmurs were heard. “It’s no surprise that students here don’t respect you in the slightest. And you are the Headmage? Appointed by the chairman nonetheless? Makes me really question the education system here. The best college? I’m surprised, with the Headmage like this. It’s definitely the students feat alone and not someone’s, who is supposed to nourish them,” Tim finished. The last bit was more to gain more sympathy from students, rather than dig Crowley’s grave more. Though, two birds with one stone? huh. Tim decided to be a bit easier on the man, he already looked pathetic to go full on drakon on him. The Headmage was silent, it was hard to know what exactly he was thinking with his face being covered by a mask. After a few moments of silence it was evident that he wasn’t going to do anything. Tun still had all the attention on himself, so he decided to act instead. He turned to Riddle, who obviously held some power, judging by the way he was regarded by others and by the authority in his voice. It was best to speak to him. “I think you should proceed with what you were doing before our arrival,” Tim said, his tone a bit softer. “Seems like the headmage still can’t properly do his duties,” he then scoffed. Riddle looked at him for a moment, there were some unreadable emotions on his face, before quickly turning to the group of people, saying to go after him. Few other groups did the same. Tim noted all the names of… Houses (?) Was it like schools in Britain? Alfred talked about it. Riddle and Crowley do have a British accent. Hm. Azul took liberty to throw Grim away from campus. The Chamber was now bare of people, only Tim, Crowley and the Mirror remained. The birdman was yet to move, still as a statue. Meanwhile Tim was trying to locate his birdarang, but to no avail. Someone must’ve taken it. Tim hoped it would electrocute them too for taking something obviously dangerous. “It’s time for me to go home, don’t you think so?” Tim tried. Maybe it was actually that easy to get away. It raised some questions though. Crowley was most likely completely brainwashed by that cult, the chairman who appointed him though… A person he would look into definitely. Tim used a flat, bland tone, with no emotions, with nothing. No poise, no bark, nothing from before. It definitely gave Crowley a whiplash, as he finally spoke. “Ah, yes… What an unfortunate turn of events. The Dark Mirror will see safely home. Just step into the gate and visualize your home,” Crowley said in a weirdly calm tone, like nothing happened prior. Was he… was he that brainwashed? Like, as soon as the situation was over, he went into a default state. Reminded him of those agents in Avatar, who were brainwashed to keep a façade that there was no war outside of the city. Tim started thinking about the Nest. Yeah, he lived above it, that Theater he remodeled, but that apartment never truly felt like home. His base, however? He spent so much time on it, putting his soul into it. His friends also brought something there. Babs kept sending hardware. Cass left some ballet equipment. There was a fridge with a high in calories food for Bart. Spare shirts for Kon (he loses them way too often). Speakers in random places if Cass needed something to be read for her, or if Lonnie wanted to talk. Jason left some of his jackets there… Jason… It was still complicated between them. Tim still hated him, and he probably won’t stop. He wasn’t sure if he would ever call him brother. But they were a family nonetheless, that’s why Tim broke him out of jail back then. They did work together, however. Tim helped Helena a lot, but she was not enough, so they decided to bring Jason after all. He was still on a trial period. Both Tim and Jason though, that Helena should be Batman, so it united them. Jason, because he hated B. And Tim thought it was long ago time for Bruce to retire, and Helena was the best for the role. Always was. Maybe he was biased. Well, not maybe, he was. With that, they started working together from time to time, jokingly calling themselves team Red. Roy was offended, seeing how the Outlaws could also count as team Red. So they decided to rename as Team Rocket, with Tim being James, and Jason being Jessie. This whole Pokemon talk and team name shenanigans improved their relationship better than weeks of collaboration previously. The Dark Mirror did nothing, Tim was still where he was standing. “Ugh… Let’s try again!” coughed Crowley. “O, the Dark Mirror, return this soul–” “There is no such place,” the Mirror cut the Headmage. (huh?) Now this was bad. Was he caught by the higher ups and now they didn’t want him to leave? Ugh, and here he hoped. But obviously, Tim can’t have anything good. Another part of him, an even more pessimistic one, had another thought. This palace was too out of place. Was it another planet? Or a parallel world again? He heard Crowley asking to go after him and decided to follow, preparing for the worst. For what worst? He didn’t know. The Headmage’s office was… It was a fucking joke. An empty room with a table and a chair in the center. There were purple curtains with stars and crescents like those you stick on the ceiling as a child (not like Tim did it). There were floating portraits of Disney villains. Well, the Disney art-style, from the movies. But all in all, it looked like what a child would imagine. Was this for real? That’s not even funny anymore! Was he under some new gas? “I must confess, this night is full of unexpected events,” started Crowley. (Don’t even get started…). “So, please, tell me, where exactly are you from?” “Gotham. USA.” shortly said Tim. No sign of recognition. “Hmmm… I’m afraid I’m not familiar with such a place…” “You sure? The Crime Capital? The City with the highest crime rate? You couldn’t possibly not know about it… Unless…” started Tim, baiting Crowley. The man looked concerned. Well, Gotham wasn’t the city with the highest crime rate, but it was a cursed, most violent city. No matter what they did, it would not improve anything, only keep things afloat. A small percentage of their actions in Gotham would completely change any other city. It changed other cities. But no matter what they did, it didn’t help. And they had Joker and a good amount of violent Rogues, a League of their own. Yeah, there were organizations worse than them. But they didn’t torment one particular city regularly. Gotham was an epicenter. Yeah, number wise the crime rate was lower. But damage and casualty wise? Much worse. Their city was cursed, and they all knew it. “The Crime Capital? No, we do not have such a city. How mysterious… The only explanation I can think of is… Another planet? Or perhaps another dimension? You have similar thoughts, don’t you?” “Can’t say I’m unfamiliar with interdimensional hopping… I take it, you don’t know the name of this world?” all poise gone, only tired Tim who wants to go home left. “Ah, no. And you’re familiar with such matters?” Crowley sounded intrigued. “Comes with a territory,” shrugged Tim. “But let’s start with another planet theory. Are you familiar with the term ‘Lantern Corps’?” asked Tim and received a negative answer. “Alright. I’m gonna be short. The outer space is divided by sectors. Each sector is patrolled by Lanterns, think like a space police. I’m familiar with some through my adopted father… Technically I can build a device to contact them… And then contact Hal or someone else… Or maybe try other planets… Who am I in good relationships? Or better, which are close and not gonna kill me on sight? No, better go with Lanterns… At least we fought alongside… Hmmm…” Tim got caught into his thoughts and started talking to himself. Honestly, Crowley had a very unremarkable presence. “But if I’m in a different dimension… I think I can build something? I’ve seen enough schematics… Or… They have magic… Zatanna or Raven? Or, god, even Constantine… Gh, I need more data!” slightly cursed Tim. He was beyond tired, probably on a few days without sleep, he was hungry, the wig was getting uncomfortable… He started slipping. “What a predicament we have…” said Crowley thoughtfully. Tim almost flinched, he really forgot about the man. “I don’t think you have any documents on you to reference… Miss? Mister? Erm.” Crowley asked awkwardly. “Mister, but I go by any pronounce. I’m in disguise, I was on a surveillance mission before you abducted me,” Tim was getting grumpy. He took off his wig and a cap, letting his hair fall on his face. God he was sweaty. “And no. I only have my disguise and that’s it.” “I see… And the object you threw at… at that racoon?” “Only had one,” Tim casually lied. “Couldn’t find it afterwards so someone is gonna have a shocking surprise,” he chuckled. “Ahh, technically I can’t allow someone without a spark of magic to remain here… But as an educator I loath to leave someone without money or a way to contact their guardian… Truly, my kindness is boundless!” Nope, no, not happening. He needed Crowley on his hook, not to BE on Crowley’s hook! “No thanks. I’m emancipated and I can manage myself just fine,” and he wasn’t lying. He was not this desperate. He wasn’t going to allow another man to manipulate him. To get Tim to be dependent on him. But Crowley wasn’t listening to him. Again. He was talking about some old abandoned building (then why was it still on campus?). Well, Tim could use it to spend the night, but he is getting away after getting rest. He needed a way to contact home, but it looked like it was most likely not possible soon…