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Trapped in a warehouse full of mirrors.
Tim is actually trapped in a warehouse full of mirrors.
Well...at least he isn’t alone...
Tim can in fact, see the other Bats stumbling along behind him, slow. Injured. They’d all taken at least one hit.
All of them, except Cass. But then, Cass is currently supporting Steph, who probably has a concussion. So she isn’t any help either.
There’s heavy breathing echoing around them, loud in the cavernous space, with Jason’s being louder than the others. Nobody had expected to find Joker here. They should have, but they didn’t. They didn’t even know that Joker had escaped.
No. They’d flown in unprepared and gotten caught in a trap for their trouble. Bruised and broken by various traps – literal traps – hidden around the room as they tried to find the source of maniacal laughter.
Jason had pretty much shut down as soon as his mind processed Joker and warehouse in the same place, with him caught in the middle and unable to escape. He’s currently being dragged along by Dick.
Dick, who had tried frantically to escape. Not for himself. But for Jason. And instead, ended up with a variety of injuries, both big and small.
Bruce had gone still at the onset of loud laughter, echoing through the rooms and bouncing off of walls, distorted enough that Tim thinks it might be playing through a speaker. Or, it could just be distorted by the bouncing, making it harder to find. Then, he’d launched into action, trying to find a way out and failing, earning various injuries as he tried the doors and windows.
Cass hadn’t fallen for the trap, had kept Tim and Steph as far from harms way as possible as Tim tried to call Barbara, the comm having gone silent the moment they stepped through the door.
But Tim’s earpiece had sparked and sizzled and fried in his ear, like the time with the Unternet, leaving him with burns, ear pain and minor hearing loss as Tim attempts to dig the bits of melted plastic and still-warm metal out of his ear.
Steph just hadn’t listened, reacting as soon as Damian had taken a hit from the traps. Because no matter how much the two fight, they don’t want each other dead. Tim thinks. Damian had taken a hit from a boxing glove on a piece of machinery, knocking him down and leaving him wheezing with what Tim expects are some broken ribs.
And Steph had taken a hit to the head trying to get him out of harms way.
Now, they’re stumbling through the dark, twisted figures reflecting in their peripheries, making them jump because was that their twisted reflection? Or the Joker? Tim sometimes doesn’t even know. Because of course Joker would choose a storage warehouse for fun mirrors as his hideout and place to set a trap.
That’s just like him.
But the mirrors also make it hard to escape. Taking a dark, narrow, already twisted path and making it even harder to navigate, with reflections of Joker, themselves and the exit taunting them as they go.
Not to mention the laughter, getting progressively less distorted and getting closer and closer the longer they take.
Tim knows the Joker is chasing them. Taunting them.
He just. He can’t figure the way out. He’d lost track of where they’d gone and what paths they’d taken. And Joker followed no rules like “Left hand wall leads out”.
They were trapped.
“Little birdies! Oh and you too, Batsy!” the Joker calls, impossibly close. Jason goes lax, like he’d realized there was no way out. And Batman’s fists clench tightly, ready for a fight.
“Do you trust me?” Tim asks suddenly, surprising even himself as he speaks.
He seems to have surprised his family as well, even Jason blinking at him in confusion as he stares at them all, taking in the injuries and the way that they’re standing.
They won’t make it out of a fight right now. Especially not with Joker.
“Do you trust me?” Tim asks again, meeting each white covered gaze in turn as the laughter nears.
Dick blinks and Tim can see him swallowing. Bruce doesn’t seem to be understanding his question. Tim isn’t even sure Steph can hear him. But Cass meets his eyes readily, nodding her agreement.
Tim takes a breath, holding out a hand to Cass and clenching his grip down on her fingers when she offers hers in turn “Grab on to everyone and do not let go” Tim tells her, eyes fixated on black cloth, but Tim knows his sister.
She will do her best.
Then, Tim pushes forward, feeling more than seeing Cass gather up everyone in the family as he moves toward the least warped mirror that he can see.
“Please let this work” Tim murmurs, reaching a hand toward the looking glass.
Reaching
Reaching
And not stopping when his fingers pass through the glass with no resistance whatsoever.
Instead, Tim leans into the nothingness. The fall that he knows is on the other side of the pale reflection at their backs.
Tim vanishes into the glass without a sound and drags his family down with him.
“What the fuck?!” Jason yells, finally waking up as they all enter a freefall, falling down. Down. Down.
Tim can’t help but feel relief when he continues cursing, doing his best to avoid the various objects littered around the tunnel they’re in.
In fact, just as Jason lets out a particularly vulgar curse in what Tim thinks is Dutch, a piano goes flying by his head and they’re all forced to move sideways to avoid it, drawing closer to the edges of the tunnel before starting to take action.
Tim sees Dick flatten his body, building up as much resistance to falling as he can before he twists and tries to land on a dresser. Not a bad plan. If this were anywhere else.
Dick’s foot makes contact with the dresser and starts falling with him, Tim stepping in to tackle Dick away from the heavy object before it swirls around and heads back the way it came.
“Tim?” Dick asks softly, Tim only hearing it because there is no logic to this place.
Never has been.
Tim is spared from answering when the end of the tunnel comes into view, checkered black and white floor at the bottom as the cavern flares around them.
Tim immediately moves to shoot his grapple into the ceiling, slowing his and Dick’s fall as everyone moves to do the same around them.
It works. They all land softly on the ground, only jarring existing injuries.
That is, until gravity flips and suddenly the floor is the ceiling.
Tim makes contact with the floor much less gracefully this time “Forgot about that” Tim says weakly, pushing himself up as he evaluates his injuries. Nothing but some bruising. Pushing himself up, Tim takes in the room and the table in the middle of it.
There are doors surrounding the room. But the hole they fell from is gone.
Tim doesn’t bother with the doors, simply moving towards the table and picking up the tiny key.
“They’re all locked” Tim says, seeing his family try the doors around them.
Jason’s the first to turn around and face him “Okay. Thanks for getting us away from the Joker. But. What the fuck?” he demands, waving his arms around, gesturing to the situation as a whole as he questions.
“Wonderland” Tim answers him, lifting a vial off the table and seeing that there’s still enough for the whole family. As long as every person only takes one sip.
Tim places the key on the ground by his feet and uncorks the bottle.
“Tim” Bruce starts, sounding alarmed.
“There’s only enough for all of us if we ration” Tim says evenly, lifting the vial to his lips and taking a shallow swallow. It’s bitter. Like lemon juice distilled to a thousand as it travels down his throat.
Dick lunges at him, eyes wide and desperate before Tim delicately places the vial back on the table, stature shrinking further and further until it’s just him in a pile of Red Robin gear. The only clothing left on his body being the Red Robin underlayer.
Dick sounds like he’s being strangled as Tim climbs out of the pile of fabric. Tim just raises an eyebrow at him and lifts the key on the floor, heading toward the tiny door everyone had noticed but had discounted as well.
“There’s enough” Cass says, before Tim can hear the rusting of clothing once again, Cass joining him soon to help lift the now much larger key into the keyhole.
As they work to insert the key and then turn it, the other members of the family join them. All almost the same size as Tim.
Depending on how much of the liquid they drank.
“I” Dick pants as he shoves his shoulder into the key, finally getting it to turn “Have so many questions” he finishes as the door opens, leaving them freefalling once again as the door opens to nothing but open air on the other side.
They all scream on the way down, but none of them try to stop themselves, presumably having learned their lesson to follow Tim’s lead here.
Soon, leaves brush by their bodies, slowing their fall as the leaves bend and bend to set them down on the forest floor gently.
But they can’t afford to linger.
Tim takes a deep breath, lifting his fingers to his mouth to let out a sharp whistle.
The whistle echoes in the forest, loud and clear. Traveling much farther than it should.
It doesn’t take long for that to attract attention, of course.
Tim hears the bounding, heavy footsteps, first. Then, a deep, dark howl cuts through the silence, Dick tugging at his arm and trying to draw him back as the Bandersnatch leaps into the clearing, tongue lolling out and head moving from side to side. Searching.
“Hey!” Tim yells, ignoring Damian’s hiss of “Drake, if you get us eaten...”
Instead, the Bandersnatch lowers its head to look at Tim, who doesn’t even reach his snout.
The first breath almost knocks him completely off his feet as the Bandersnatch’s breathing puffs past him like a gust of a hurricane.
Dick redoubles his efforts to pull Tim down and under the log the rest of the family are using as a shelter, even Bruce breathing slowly as he realises his vulnerability.
But the Bandersnatch just whines and bumps a nose into Tim’s chest, moving to pick him up.
“Yeah. It’s me” Tim says, smiling as the family watch, stunned.
“But I was hoping you’d give me a lift? Me and my family, we need to get to the queen” Tim tells him, falling off the snout and earning a soft “Whoof” as the Bandersnatch lays down.
Cass is the first to follow Tim’s example, stepping out of the shadows and earning a confused whine before the Bandersnatch sniffs at her and gives her another approving “Whoof”.
“Like big dog” Cass says, smiling at Damian and the others. As they one by one draw out of the shadows and into the creature’s line of sight
“Very, very large dog” Damian says, reaching out with an ungloved hand to pet the Bandersnatch’s fur softly.
Then, they all yell in surprise as the Bandersnatch stoops and scoops them all up, only his neck, with his snout.
Tim clings for dear life, already knowing what happens next and the family soon follow suit as the Bandersnatch takes off at impossible speeds, racing through the forest in a way that makes Steph retch.
Concussions and Bandersnatch rides do not mix, apparently.
Not that it stops the ride, of course.
No, instead, the Bandersnatch bounds over the river and keeps going, keeping speed until a white castle comes into view, familiar and safe.
The Bandersnatch stops at the gate and whines loudly at the people there, all watching in one part fascination and another part terror.
That is, until the Queen steps forward with a smile, white dress shining as she moves.
“What is it?” she asks, moving to pet the creature’s head before she sees Tim and the others clinging to his fur.
“Hi” Tim says, smiling as he struggles to his feet, trying to steady himself from the Bandersnatch’s breathing and fur.
“Timothy? Is that you?” she asks immediately, eyes wide as she scoops him into a hand, picking him up to eye level.
Then, she gives him a stern glare, asking “Again?”, referring to his small self and Tim gives her a shy smile in return.
“Not alone this time” Tim says, gesturing to his family, still clinging to bits of fur, trying to stifle their injuries.
The queen squints before her eyes light up with glee “Guests!” she yells, twirling around with Tim still clasped in her hand.
“Oh we must prepare a feast! Only the best for friends of Timothy” she proclaims, smiling down at his family.
Tim clears his throat and looks down at her feat, referencing his size.
She smiles again “But of course, we shall return you to your proper sizes first” she agrees, picking each of his family members up as they all stare at Tim in shock and confusion.
“And clothing” Tim reminds, sighing.
“And clothing” the queen agrees.
She places Tim and his family down on a table while she murmurs, seeking ingredients and throwing them all into a pot.
“You don’t want to know” Tim says when Jason opens his mouth to ask what she’s making.
They’re all silent after that. But Tim can feel them staring at him, waiting for an explanation.
Bruce is just about to ask when the queen intervenes, placing a bowl and several very tiny cups down in front of him.
This time, none of them hesitate to drink.
And they’re quickly returned to their normal sizes. Not that the clothing resizes with them. Of course not. Life could never go Tim’s way.
“Clothes?” Tim asks immediately, heading in the direction the Queen points at with a giggle, his family following in his footsteps.
“Clothes first. Questions second” Tim says, drawing his set, that he still remembers from last time, from a hook and leaving the others to gather clothing for themselves.
“Yeah. Of course we know what’s going on” Jason says bitterly, Tim only just hearing him from the other side of the wooden room dividers.
He quickly changes from his ruined and tattered underlayer to the clothes he had last time, a set of normal clothing, with armor parts layered over it in strategic locations.
“It’s not like we fell through a mirror and all that shit” Jason continues.
Tim sighs “Look. This is Wonderland. Best I can guess, it’s an alternate universe. It can be accessed by native inhabitants, who sometimes cross over to our world for whatever reason.
However, once you’ve been here once, it’s easy to access it again. Just go through a mirror” Tim explains, still drawing ties and laces, trying to dress and lamenting the fact that Wonderland doesn’t have velcro or zippers.
“I’ve been here once or twice as a child and ended up here once when I was still looking for Bruce” Tim continues, finally fastening the last bit of lacing and pulling back the room dividers, seeing his family standing there in respectable clothes, all already dressed.
Jason chokes, taking in the sight of Tim, dressed in armor that is obviously fitted for him, shining silver instead of matte black like they’re used to.
“They thought my name was Alice at first”