Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tim walked down the steps of his apartment building, observant eyes cataloging everything around him.

A chime of bells signaled THEIR presence, and he sighed, slipping a few bills from someone’s neatly pressed suit pocket, and his other hand then dropping it into a man’s upturned hat. An inconvenience for the more well-off, and a little blessing for the one not doing as well.

‘Is that enough for you?’

Snickers invaded his mind, but he’d long grown used to them. «How boringly chaste.» 

‘Is that what you’re calling it?’

«Why not make someone a millionaire? Pull someone into poverty? Turn all the streetlights green so they all run into each other!»

He checked his watch as he listened to the Aeon’s voice, ‘Wasn’t it because of those acts all the time that made you bored of them?’

The young adult was up early enough that he wouldn’t be late to anything if he took his time on the way there.

«An Aeon is ever-changing, my dear Fool, but it doesn’t mean who Aha was before is gone. It’s not that Aha doesn’t like them,»

‘..But that too much of a good thing makes it bland, right?’

«Yes. Definitely. Absolutely!!!»

Tim frowned, tugging his hood up when a blast of cold air hit him. To be fair, Gotham was always freezing more or less, no matter the season. He however was someone easily susceptible to heat, so he was never a fan of too many layers, especially the moment he enters a decently-ventilated building. 

‘I’m not even going to ask what you’re referencing.’

«It doesn’t really matter though, when you’ll be beating people up at night. That thrill… Are you sure you don’t want to wear your mask?»

‘..You know why I don’t want to.’

«But you’d like to!» Aha responded in a sing-songy voice. It sounded neither masculine nor feminine, more a strange mixmash of various voices in different tones. Of sorrow, of joy, of pain— Unsettling. Human minds couldn’t often even begin to process the existence of an Aeon. Seeing THEIR bodies burn their eyes out. Hearing THEIR voice… The only ones who could truly withstand the form of one would be pathstriders, and even then did not grant immunity. Emanators were close, but even those could get burned in the sun. It was less intense when THEY appeared in the unconscious mind, however. 

He himself had a closer connection to the Aeon than he’d like, and was why he could hear THEM while wide awake. (It’d still affect him if Aha had yelled, though.)

Tim scowled, ‘It’s all because you turned your gaze on Joker.’

«As someone who lives for the last final laugh, how could Aha not? Not to mention that it was him that drew Aha’s gaze to you .»

«Do you remember?»

The Drake twisted himself away from flashes of— Green, l augh ter p AIN sh o ck iT b URNED        ahaha…..ha… do you remember, junior? —- your job is to make papa proud! —- bang. it was…  — - what will your Elation feel like? —-

(Junior had curled up, crouching down low to the ground while trembling violently, laughter feeling like it was scraping the insides of his throat until he coughed out blood– a heavy yet gentle hand on his back tried to soothe him but he hardly paid any mind when his whole body was wracked with pain that everything felt the same… andhesworeheheardabellbutpapatoldhimhewasdelusional!thatwasagoodthingbutthatitwasntrealandheneededtotellwhatwasrealandwhatwasntorhecouldnevergetthejokesrightifhewasmistakenandthatshardlyanyfunright? Itwas only when he hyperventilated enough to black out that he dropped.)

He jerked his head roughly to the side, feeling widely disoriented, aware in the back of his mind that people were walking around him now, but largely uncaring. 

‘I hate you.’

«You were a lovely first performance.»

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. We’re all just fictional characters, written for people’s amusement.’

«One of the greatest actors on Aha’s path, I wonder which part of you is not a mask.»

‘You really act like intrusive thoughts.’

«Isn’t doing things that first come to mind without regard to consequences that bring the most elation?»

‘If that didn’t apply to you wanting me to commit murder.’

Tim screamed as a bullet pierced through his thigh, legs immediately hitting the ground despite his attempts to get up.

“Stand up.” That rough voice, but robotic sounding enough to mask the man’s voice. “Pathetic, and this is my replacement?”

Dazed eyes took a moment to focus, staring at the gun aimed straight at him, and oh .

His shoulders started shaking. ..Or well, shaking even more. 

“What? Are you scared just from that? Not gonna fight back?”

«Tell Aha, he who claims to follow IX’s ideology, will you accept THEIR power? To make the whole world out to be a joke, and laugh in its face?»

‘No,’ he thought, unable to think of a life where he found joy in suffering.

It took him a moment to realize the little sounds he’d been making were giggles . It stuttered as his breathing was making this weird sound that probably wasn’t any good, before he looked up at that vividly red mask, and burst out laughing despite the pain.

The other jerked away, “The fuck is wrong with you?”

“Jason!” He crowed, a grin on his face. “If you hated me so much, you could’ve just said so! We could’ve exchanged masks, although I don’t think there’s an adult-sized Robin mask yet..” The urge to throw up was growing ever present.

“You–” Jason reached a hand up to his face, only to be met with the helmet. “It’s not– He needs to realize that there can be no more dead Robins!”

“Are you gonna kill me then?”

“The fuck happened to you being scared!?” He waved his gun around, before groaning. “Fucking nevermind, I swear every Robin’s unhinged as hell or some shit.”

“Whatever. You look pathetic enough that you’ll be sure to gain some pity points. If this doesn’t get you fired and him to stop taking in child soldiers, then fucking I don’t know! I guess I didn’t really know him at all–”

..Was Tim really going to be subjected to hearing him be all ‘woe is me’ until he died? Actually—

The moment he turned back, Jason was already gone, and he heard the tell-tale light footsteps of Dick. Oh finally.

It was always when the show dragged on for far longer than it was meant to that it got so utterly boring.

Tim absentmindedly stared at whatever assignment he was meant to do for online school, before turning around on his swivel chair. His gaze landed on a floating opera-like mask that only covered the top half, that was a deep red, parts of it stained black as if it had taken a brief dip into black paint, but not taken out fast enough to get all of the darkness off of it once it got a taste. 

There were variations of shades of gold and silver paint that started from underneath the eye (reaching above it too, but far thinner) and spread to the side to look like feathers, and were the thing that stood out most about it, to also be the thing that someone would notice first.

He was sure that if it had a mouth, it would’ve shifted to smile at him. Or perhaps, it would’ve already been smiling. He’d heard that the mask sometimes meant what emotion you were meant to portray, and that to stray was… ..Or perhaps that was a special circumstance. It wasn’t like there was much he could do about it when the farthest humanity has accomplished here was traveling to the moon.

Space travel seemed so surreal.

The younger frowned at it. “..Aha, why does it seem to be that.. You’re the only Aeon to have appeared here?”

Aha laughed at him. «It would be fun to see how chaotic it’d get when so many people suddenly gain powers.. Especially to see how your government would take it. It fills Aha with so much Elation to imagine! But Aha doesn’t have to imagine, do THEY? Aha can do it right now! Bring every other Aeon’s gaze—»

Tim had the uncomfortable knowledge of ‘it wouldn’t be good’. To start with how they’d have to immediately get to setting down laws and restrictions which could get very strict while they’re trying to figure out capabilities. There was also human experimentation to worry about. ..And not to mention if the people doing wrong got basically power-ups, then he could imagine a lot of the caped community struggling a lot more, maybe even with small-time crooks.

So he tried to change THEIR mind, “But then you wouldn’t have a world to shape into your own little play, would you? A.. toy box, filled with endless possibilities. With no one to interrupt your playtime because it’s all… yours.”

The mask shook up and down, as if its wearer was laughing. «You know Aha so well! It’s quite funny how you can shift your view to match those you see as ‘wrong’.»

Tim huffed, “You realize that criminal investigators have to match how criminals think, right? Relate to them, maybe downplay it, or act like a buddy. Like ‘oh, yeah I totally get you, sometimes you can’t help but just’ or something like that. Having to act like an asshole even if you absolutely hate it because it could cause the criminal to slip up and admit something.”

«So you act like a friend to coax information out of them, only to drop them once you get what you want. I really don’t think there’s a difference between those who protect the law, and those who break it, except that one side has more power and trust, which means they can abuse that power easily.»

“..I won’t lie and say that there aren’t people who do that, but..”

«But? Tell Aha what excuse you’ll make. What makes it so different?»

He made a face, “Would you even understand if I tried?”

«Maybe, maybe not. There are some things that Aha just won’t get about you humans, and there are some things that you humans won’t get about Aha.»

“Right. ..Anyway.. Remind me, how does someone become a pathstrider?”

«Curious? Someone becomes a pathstrider when their belief or ‘will’ align with that of another path. Paths generally follow certain Aeons, for one belief or another. Those who are given permission by an Aeon to follow THEIR path are called Emanators, which aren’t as common as you’d think, but not as rare either. Aha once made THEIR Emanator a worm, in fact!»

Tim frowned, “Right.. Then, let me ask. You once called me someone who.. Claims ? To follow IX’s. ..Can I ask who that is?”

«Boo-ring. It wouldn’t hurt, Aha supposes. IX is of Nihility. THEY who believe that nothing matters, and thus utterly worthless.»

“Wouldn’t that mean that I’d fit it better? ..Probably better than someone who finds joy in everything, even horrors..”

«Aha thinks that Elation and Nihility are not that far apart. Aha once saw the meaningless of the world. How everything was fabricated and were all lies. Do you know what THEY did? THEY laughed, because to laugh is to be able to "eliminate pain, dilute sorrow, resist nihilism, and heal wounds." ..The Express always has such wondrous descriptions of all.»

Tim shifted to sit cross-legged. “I guess that makes sense. But I’d say it’s better to have everything in moderation, even good things.”

The mask tilted, «That’s why you interest Aha so. Aha has only ever had fanatic followers, or those who so utterly detested Aha’s presence, but to instead be accepting of it instead of annoyed, yet not blindly follow nor use to hide away from everything, even the self.. It’s brilliant.»

“It’s hard to believe that I’m the first one like that you’ve encountered.”

«Perhaps it’s more that you’re the first that captured Aha’s attention by such elation, only to not partake in it as often as expected despite the high.»

He’d never liked reminders of that , “..Right.”

The teen could only be grateful for his since gained reflexes as suddenly the mask became a projectile, flinging itself at him, and he immediately dropped to the ground (haha, stop, drop and roll–) , wincing at the collision, and stayed crouched low while turning his attention incredulously to the attempt at harm.

“What was that for!?” He aggressively whispered, all too aware that there was a chance the thud was heard. 

«Aha was bored! All you’ve been doing is sitting around all day, why don’t you go do something?»

That was when his attention turned to the now destroyed laptop. “..You couldn’t have told me in some less destructive way?”

«No.»

Tim was rummaging through his things, shoving whatever he needed into an inconspicuous bag. They just– didn’t believe him!

He growled, pushing something a little too hard. (Not like it mattered, anything fragile generally wasn’t that important. After one too many murder attempts breaking his laptop, it was pretty well protected from harm anyways.)

Whatever! He didn’t need their help anyways! They don’t trust his judgment? Well he won’t trust them to watch his back! He’ll drag Bruce back with his own two hands and show them what was what!

(And if he was wrong? It didn’t matter if he was wrong, he was going to search. ..Because surely he wouldn’t be lost that easily– ..But Aha told him that sometimes a ‘character’s suffering, their death was because that writer particularly hated that character, and… He hated it. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if it was something he could do something about.)

«Take up your mask, and show them what they should really be laughing at, Emanator.»

( — Aha wants to see what you’d do with an Emanator’s level of power. — You could manipulate the world as you see fit, with its limits, of course, yet you don’t make use of it at all. — ..I don’t need it. — And when you will, you’ll use it accordingly, is Aha right? —)

He stared hesitantly, stalling by memorizing the shape of it in his head, only to clench his fist at the memory of Damian in—

His hand reached out, picking it up, tracing over its material (even if he thought he recognized it, he was likely mistaken) , with familiarity even if he’d been too intimidated to truly touch it that often before this. Placing it on his face felt like home and he felt.. different, in a way he couldn’t describe. No, better?

More steady, perhaps. Say, on the stage, a reassurance to stay in character. He wondered what it possibly meant for him.

«Tell Aha, dear Fool, be reborn and shed your former name– Tell THEM what name will you take on for as long as you wear the mask?»

A.. new name? He couldn’t help but startle, before recalling that Robin was taken by someone else, so he couldn’t.. And who used their real name on the stage anyway? Why not have some fun with it?

“..Rouge.”

«Rouge?»

“I..” It wasn’t like Tim had ever not refused the Aeon despite the other’s ability to probably destroy him in the blink of an eye, so. “..I have no intention of forever being in my role, so I have no need for a new name . I’ll still.. Use Tim. And I have other aliases as well, like Alvin… Instead, what the mask grants me is. .anonymity. Rouge means red. Jason has red too, but Jason's red was.. The Joker’s. ..Mine is.. A little more mine. If that makes sense?”

«Aha has no complaints. Now go, show this Aeon what you can do with nothing holding you back.»

Rouge nodded, giving one last glance towards Tim’s now messy room, and spared it no mind to even bother trying to clean anything. Not when he could be doing so much more with his time. Not when for all he knew, he could have a time limit.

Tim groaned, stretching as he walked down to the Batcave. He didn’t live here anymore but meetings were still held here. Often, and it wasn’t like he could skip. (Well he could, but that meant one of them would hunt him down to talk to him about why and became more of a hassle then if he could just leave everyone to focus on everyone as a whole instead of just him.)

It was unusually loud, however.

“Drake.” Damian’s voice alerted everyone to his arrival, although there seemed to be something tense about it.

“What’s up now, demon brat?” He questioned nonchalantly, stepping forward to–      see his mask ?

“Why do you have this?”

“Did you break into my apartment?!” That was a partial worry, but not so as important as–

‘Aha. Why didn’t you warn me?’

«Aha would’ve, but if you’d kept it on you at all times this never would’ve happened, and you’d have been even more powerful! Win win, is it not?»

Tim sighed, ‘That’s not how it works. What if I was kidnapped or something? I can’t exactly fight back as a civilian.’

«So then don’t be one.»

His gaze turned back to the questioning stares of the so-called Batfamily. There’d always been a sort of disconnect between them, struck even farther by an awareness he was given, and sometimes he couldn’t help but think ‘you’re not real’ towards them, even if he was just as fake as them.

“Listen. Why do you have this? Why do you have a mask?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because of what our night jobs are?” He deadpanned.

“Tim, this is serious . These masks.. The Joker has one too. We need to know where you got yours from.”

‘Aha, this is your fault. Can’t you know the future or something as an Aeon?’

«Can THEY?»

‘..Why did I even ask? This is probably amusing to you.’

To be fair– It was a horrible thing that the Joker had a mask, which definitely made him stronger, but.. It felt like hanging around Aha for so long made him less caring about what could’ve happened because of it, less caring of hanging around someone who wouldn’t hesitate to murder someone’s loved one in front of them to see how they’d react. 

(Maybe he was always like this, only helping others because he thought he had to.)

Really, maybe it was because Aha was the closest person to him. After all, as a being that could hear everything he was thinking… ..Yeah, probably.

“It’s just.. Something given for being recognized for.. Having a quality? It’s.. Well. I don’t know. For people who bring THEM amusement, I guess?”

“Them? As in multiple?”

“Just one.”

“Why do you still keep it then? If whoever they are found joy in the Joker , then I doubt you’d want to be any bit connected to that. It could’ve been a bad experience that gave that person enjoyment anyways.”

Tim grimaced. Yeah. Like being tortured by– Actually why were they saying his name so much? Was it to try to really get the impact in there as if he hadn’t known?

“Not like I could.” Also it was probably his coping mechanism when everything was too much. Just put the mask on and everything doesn’t feel as real. Was it healthy? Fuck no. Did he care? Not really.

“Why not?”

“Well–”

The mask suddenly shot up into the air, hovering tauntingly before Tim snatched it. “Don’t do that,” he scolded.

«Got you.»

“What?”

“..You.. talk to the mask?”

“Is it alive?”

“Uh..”

Tim.. honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Aha wanted this to happen all along.

“I–”

«Think fast.»

That was when he saw it launch towards him– And, no, crouching onto the ground did not save him because no duh the mask can follow him (unfortunate). “You fu–”

Light fingers pressed against the mask, eyes opening back up to frown at it. “How annoying.”

“..Tim, you should take the mask off.”

«Heh. “No one cared who I was, until I put on the mask.”»

“Not like there’s any point in hiding it,” His voice was a low drawl, meant to act slow and tease his opponents–

«Edge, perhaps?»

He huffed, “Call me Rouge.”

It wasn’t that he was ‘different’ from Tim, but perhaps an act. Or maybe Tim was the act and he was the reality. Who knew? It was doing things that Tim usually didn’t allow himself to do.

“Rouge.. As in.. The Rouge that’d been ruining Grandfather’s operations?”

Rouge tilted his head. That time was.. complicated. Truthfully, he didn’t recall whether he was Tim or Rouge there, or if he was Tim but with the mask on or the other way around. It was a complicated mess that he didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole, and one of the only times he had to actually pull out The Elation’s power because otherwise he would hardly stand a chance. 

Maybe it was a test, then, to see if he was strong enough to survive.

“When Bruce went missing, yes.”

A collective wince.

“ Was the mask good then? Or was it bad? Did it depend on the person? How’d it even work..?”

“When did you first get the mask anyway?”

He dipped his head, “A long time ago.” Rouge could remember times where Tim was oh-so close to putting the mask on, only to pull it away because he couldn’t commit to it, way before he’d been truly given a name. When Tim first got it, though? Would that have meant when he first began to exist? Or did he only begin to exist for some other reason? Who was to say he even existed at all?

«This turned out to be a lot more boring than Aha thought it would be. Can you cause trouble somewhere else, dear Fool? Something to pass the time since the writers clearly haven’t put much effort into this.»

Rouge took a moment to stare at the group, before disappearing. Did he magic his way out? Did he merely hide away with nothing special? Who knows.

He was different from Tim Drake in that he was meant to be someone else. While actors of course shared their appearance and voice with a character, it didn’t mean they were the same person. Just ‘acting’. Lies. Pretend. Imagination. And perhaps Rouge came from Tim’s imagination, but in the end, anything could be the answer.

There was no doubt that the other Bats were probably having some secret meeting without Tim, to plan on what to do about him and the mask. Maybe he should be cautious, but in the end, fools always found fun even in surprises. Even bad ones. 

The most Tim would feel about it would be annoyance, but he was hardly as moral or caring as he tried to be. Too many experiences shaped him otherwise.