One and Done

It Started With a Little Red

     "So I'm going to cut to the chase. You are going to die."

     Red Robin blinked his eyes open, squinting and groaning in the darkness. His eyes landed on a silhouette.

     "All of you Birds and Bats are going to die. I'm going to make a rainbow that goes down in history."

Red would've tilted his head if he wasn't laying on the ground and his skull didn't feel like a two hundred pound boulder. He managed to raise a brow.

"The rainbow... starts with a little red. There's Red Robin or Red Hood but I said little and you're smaller than him. He does only have the hood that's red but I'm not talking uniforms. I'm talking liters."

It was a man by his voice, Tim could tell that much, but when the clicking of heels approached him he didn't know what to expect. His head seemed to clear when the hot pink shoes stopped inches before his nose. Suddenly he felt every little rope that tied his wrists behind his back, his ankles together, and his mouth shut. He didn't have his gloves, utility belt, boots, wings, anything that could've held a weapon or helped. He'd been patted down and stripped, even the cowl had been removed and replaced with a shitty domino mask.

His uniform was tattered and a little worse for wear but he felt... fine. Maybe a little headache from a hit to the head that got him here but nothing more. He kept staring at the shoes.

"So you don't like my style, got it." The man huffed, turning, planting his foot by Red Robin's chest, and kicking him in the ribs. There was a definite crack and the blow left Tim breathless.

"Asshole. You probably think I'm some psycho dude in heels. Just because I have a penis doesn't make me a man. It's behavior. Just like being adopted by Bruce Wayne doesn't make you his son. It's the way you act towards each other. When he risks his life to save you, to save his son, then he is your father. When you risk your life trying to get to him, your dad, that's when you're his son. I bet you'll be begging him to appear and save you tonight. I heard all the birds silently plea that Bats'll get here. And he doesn't always make it.

"Well... The only thing I can go off of is stereotypes for dressing, which is just rude. I'm expressing myself and how I feel. If I want to put on a damn pair of heels, I will. I do not need to be a woman to do so, just like I do not have to be a man to wear pants, or suits. Close-minded prick."

Tim wanted to argue that he hadn't even gotten a say in the matter but the gag restricted his words just as much as the battle to regain airflow from the kick did. That, and he wasn't too worried about... their gender, more about what the hell they were going to do.

"Somedays I feel like hot pink heels and other days I feel like dresses and somedays I feel like a classy suit. Who are you to judge?" Another thunk from them planting their heeled foot and a second swift kick was delivered. Tim wheezed, air pushed from his lungs.

"Now you're really going to die. Real bloody death. I need Red. Many shades of Red." They cackled and walked back so their heels were in front of Tim's nose.

"I painted a place different shades of red. You will be my final shade. I'll cut you open so you bleed real easy and then I'll drop you into my Red Room. Couple stories should do the trick. Why don't we head there now? Brucie doesn't know you're gone yet, you were only out a half hour. He hasn't even checked on you yet.

"I disabled your tracker thing for now, I'll turn it back on when you're dead so he can find you. I don't like disrespecting the dead so I'll let them bury you properly. And I haven't turned off your comm because I love the sound of their voices. So oblivious. They don't even know you're hurt. Don't worry, I messed with it and turned off any possible tracking features in everything. The suit, gadgets, comms. You guys really need better tech. Like, uncrushable tech."

Tim wiggled his body, trying to get a glimpse of the person standing in front of him because maybe I'll survive the fall or get out of here and be able to warn everyone.

"Ah ah ah. I'm wearing your cowl so you can't see my face even if you wanted to." They growled, pushing Tim onto his back with their foot and the stepping on his chest with the shiny heel. They leaned down, indeed wearing the cowl as their face came close enough for Tim to see.

"Hm." They hummed, pulling a dagger, Tim's 'I've run out of options' dagger, and began cutting the chest of the uniform off. "Try not to scream, Rosey, the gag's there to shut you up."

Rose? Like, a red rose?

Tim's thought process was interrupted by agony, the... person twirled the blade in their hand once and then plunged it into Tim's chest. He could feel blood pool on his body.

"Oh it's such a lovely shade of crimson! Who knew you'd truly be the perfect candidate." The heeled stranger teased, dragging the knife down Tim's chest. They lifted it, yanking it from his skin and digging it back in the same place they'd started, curving out and back into the first line and then down diagonally. Tim screamed into the gag as Pink Heels ripped the blade away again and stuck it into an entirely new spot, dragging it horizontally three times and then adding a new, vertical line to connect the three. Another keen of pain from the red vigilante as they pulled the dagger free and thrust it back in again, yet another new spot. They made a straight line down and then dragged the blade out in a curve, ending at the bottom of the straight line.

Heels set the front of the uniform back on Tim's chest then scooped him up, keeping most of the blood where it was. Already, it had soaked through. Tim's vision was swimming and he felt nauseous with every shift of the heeled person's weight as they walked up a flight of stairs.

"Shame on me! I should've brought you up here to cut you open so I didn't drip your precious red on the way up." They cooed, throwing the door open to the roof and walking out. The breeze tousled Tim's sweat-damp hair and his cape worn by the crazy person carrying him. The heeled person stumbled slightly, titling Tim and losing a bit of the puddle that had gathered at his waist where the blood could be kept, the dips in his body leading it to collect there.

Pink Heels scowled, tsking. "I'm so messy! I should've helped you plug your flow with a tampon. And I'm wearing white! Goodness, I should know the rules by now, never wear white on your period." They cackled and slowly pushed up to stand on the edge of the building. They pulled back the front fabric of Tim's uniform to reveal the word written on his chest, dropping the cloth first.

"You're my first, Little Red. Just watch me from up there. You'll see the prettiest rainbow you've ever seen. Orange will follow you, and then yellow and green and blue and purple and violet. Maybe even pink and black and white." They smiled below Tim's cowl, Tim's vision was really blurry and everything was muffled.

"Say goodnight, Red! The sunset is here and the moon is rising, it's one last shade of red before nightfall. The end of our first, and last, day together."

They stood Tim up on the ledge, holding him up by his cupped face in their hands. Red slowly made its way down his torso, dropping down his legs.

"I always feel like I drag out goodbyes because my projects are truly beautiful and I hate to see them go. Even if they're finally being finished and hung up like the artwork they are." With that, red lipstick was smudged on his face with a kiss, sloppy and quick, and he was pushed backwards off the tall building.

Below awaited many different shades of red, from paint and blood alike. Tim closed his eyes, not wanting to watch the brick of the buildings fly past his eyes as he fell. One last sickening crack and faded cackling from stories upon stories above, and black surrounded him.