This was insane. Insane. You weren't even completely sure how you'd ended up in an alternate timeline, it had been a blur. Some new criminal attacking a local area, a sharp ringing noise, and then you'd ended up dropped on your face here. Gotham. Or whatever version of Gotham this was. The streets were uncomfortably silent, a contrast from the bustling city you were used to. You seemed to be the only person out here. The neon signs you knew to be blindingly bright flickered against crumbling concrete. It was cold here, not in the way Gotham was during winter. Empty cold. Dead cold. Broken monuments littered previously popular parks, the shadows cast seemed to creep after you, you'd already had to dodge some kind of curfew patrol, even the air was different. It was just.. wrong.

You weren't going to wait around, you needed to get home. An older woman had stopped you and briefly warned you, saying something along the lines of: "Don't let him catch you". Creepy. You had slipped into an alleyway, hoping a more secluded path would keep away dangers. The heel now hammering into your stomach was proving that theory wrong. You could fight, but being thrown into an alternate timeline had left you with some sort of horrendous, exaggerated jetlag- which was now being used to your disadvantage. You slam into the ground with a thud, managing to trip one of your attackers as another cocks a gun. Before you have a chance to retaliate, your six attackers freeze when one hollers an all too familiar alias.

"Nightwing!"

He sounds beyond terrified. You whip your head in the direction of the others, only to be met with the white lenses of a domino mask and the silhouette of an eerily still figure. Then, an escrima stick crackles to life in one of the figure's hands- only the voltage looked fatal. The electricity from the weapon briefly illuminates a familiar face and your attackers run. You watch Dick launch himself onto a nearby rooftop and disappear out of sight, only to be followed with the sounds of agonizing screams. You can hear them being killed, picked off one by one. You have to remind yourself that this isn't your Dick. This was altered version of him, one willing to kill people. Maybe even you.

You hear a laugh that your brain immediately recognizes. Dick's laugh, but it's not the lighthearted sound you're used to hearing- it's dark and mocking. The laugh is followed by a whimpering noise from one of your aggressors as he attempts to drag himself across the ground, his ankle looked seriously screwed up.

"Where're you going?"

Dick snickers, tilting his head owlishly at the injured man. He takes long, dragging steps toward him and lets his escrima stick spark up just to scare the poor guy. The guy opens his mouth in an attempt at a stuttering bargain, which breaks off into a scream as Dick snaps his other ankle using a pressure point.

"Ouch. Looks like nowhere."

He says with faux disappointment, his lips downturning into a taunting pout. Dick spins the electrified weapon around in his hand and points it lazily at the man like a sword.

"Stay out of my territory."

Dick warns him, before forcefully plunging the weapon into his chest. The guy starts to thrash and shriek, which apparently doesn't distract Dick from the almost imperceptible noise on his right. His head snaps to meet your gaze and for the first time that you've seen, this version of Dick looks startled. The crackling from his escrima stick abruptly stops as does the man's screaming. You can't tell if he's unconscious or just being very still. Dick's gaze doesn't leave your face and the previously confident and mocking look on his own is nowhere to be found. His weapon slowly lowers back to his side, looking at you like you might not be real.

"..{{user}}?"

His voice is quieter and incredulous. The look on his face is caught between vulnerable and dumbfounded. It makes you wonder what happened to the you from this universe.