Batman: Jason Todd (Part One)

Part One:

Sheila Haywood stood tied against a beam. A brilliant mind, she was constantly searching for some way out of the death trap of a warehouse.

Her eyes darted downward to the floor where she spotted her long lost son Jason Todd. Only minutes ago she had found out his secret identity as Robin. Jason lay on the floor barely conscious. His mask had been torn off and his face bruised and swollen. His costume was in tatters, torn along several different places. His body was bruised and bloody. By the looks of it he had broken at last three bones. Haywood worried that he might drown in his own blood.

Suddenly, Jason began to stir. Slowly but surely he made his way towards his Mother. He said no words, simply grunting as he pushed himself forward. Haywood could see him grimacing; the torment in his face from every aching movement. Carefully, he untied her from the flagpole. Sheila wrapped her arm around her son and started limping towards the door. “Its okay, Jason.” She told him, “We’re going to make it.” She cast an apprehensive glance over to the bomb. They had time to spare. Joker had rigged it to blow within two hours. Must have thought Jason was dead. He must have wanted me to feel every second before my death. Sheila thought to herself.

Finally they made their way towards the door. Sheila tried to move the handle only to find it wouldn’t budge. “The door!” she said, worried. “It’s locked. JOKER LOCKED US IN HERE!”

“Don’t worry,” Jason stammered. “I’m on it.”

With painful gestures he pulled explosives from his belt. Ignoring his pain he plastered them onto the door. “Step…back.” He told his Mother.

With the press of a button the hinges swung off the door and the two limped away from the warehouse.

*** *** ***

Batman cursed himself for leaving Jason alone. He knew better than that. Finally the truck screeched to a halt in front of the warehouse. Even from afar he could see Joker’s hideous grin. Batman noted a trail of blood as he ran to the warehouse. “No…” Batman whispered.

His cape flowed behind him as he picked up speed.

Joker stood in the doorway with a cane in his hand. His smile widened and he gripped his cane. Batman tackled Joker to the ground with a furious rage. “WHERE IS HE? WHERE’S ROBIN?” he cried.

Joker let out a hideous laugh. “You see Bats,” he answered through his giggles. “He’s dead. He died a slow agonizing death at the hands of a crowbar!” Joker let out a maniacal laugh.

Batman’s fist balled into a fist and he swung it at Joker. Blood stained Joker’s lips.

“He crawled out of here with his poor Mommy to die somewhere else.” Joker grinned hideously. He heaved a mighty blow striking Batman across the head. Batman toppled to the ground with a thud. Joker pushed a button on the end of his cane, extending a blade. Batman rolled across the ground and swung his leg into Joker’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Joker keeled over only to meet Batman’s fist as he swung it upward. Joker fell backwards onto a table. He glanced over to the bomb to find less than a minute left.

“WAIT!” Joker cried out, now begging for mercy. “THIS PLACE IS GOING TO BLOW! WE CAN’T STAY HERE!”

Batman swung two more jabs across Joker’s jaw. “YOU’RE STAYING!” Batman gritted through his teeth. The seconds ticked by like years and Batman’s fists wrapped around Joker’s throat. “One last time…ONE FINAL BATTLE!”

*** *** ***

Jason cast a glance back toward the warehouse. “Are we safe…?” he slurred.

“We’re safe.” Sheila said, gently stroking his arm. We’re safe.

In a fiery boom a bomb went off in the distance. Smoke billowed into the skies. Jason’s eyes widened in shock. With a sudden burst of strength he tore himself from his Mother’s grasp. “NO! BRUCE! NO!”

Sheila grabbed him. “What is it, honey? What’s wrong?”

Jason swelled up with tears. “Bruce Wayne is dead….BATMAN IS DEAD!”

@batkevin74 and @4donkeyjohnson will like this....my first ACTUAL FAN FIC in while.

@primepower53: That's very cool! Well done, looking forward to seeing what happens next with Jason. I like where and what you've done so far, let's see chapter 2. Good job

@TheCannon said:

thanks!

@batkevin74 said:

@primepower53: That's very cool! Well done, looking forward to seeing what happens next with Jason. I like where and what you've done so far, let's see chapter 2. Good job

Glad you like it!

@primepower53: Now speaking of ancient history...well modern history, when will we see the next bit?

@batkevin74: Not for a while I'm afraid. I'm working on a long short story/small novel at the moment.

@primepower53: Boo to the delay for the next chapter, hooray for your novel!

Ahem!

@4donkeyjohnson: see my post in the Aquaman fic.

Jason Todd as Batman, noice! Grim'n'grity Batman is in da house! BOOM!!!

@tomdickharry1984 said:

Jason Todd as Batman, noice! Grim'n'grity Batman is in da house! BOOM!!!

thanks!

@primepower53: Ancient history, but dude, you should do more of this...if you're ever "in town" again

@primepower53: This was good, but the Joker's dialogue was a little OOC. Usually the Joker doesn't seem to care about his self preservation and would actually encourage batman to kill him. He'd also be a little less direct when telling Batman of Jason's death, even if he was gloating he would be more likely to bury the truth in a joke to mock the harshness of the situation.

@dngn4774: @batkevin74: He'll be back; sooner, or later.

"I'm not going to survive this night," Joker said, "Or should I say knight." He spat the word like a curse. There was nobody around in the hotel room, or at least, nobody alive. A smile was stained on the cleaning woman's face, her eyes staring sightlessly. The three dead men on and around the single bedroom were his own. Joker's eyes flicked up to the sucker in the cape. "You like it the joke? I made it up myself."

The sucker in the cape said nothing.

Joker licked his lips, his finger tracing the outline of the batsignal on the desk near the door. He could run away, but Joker was banking the sucker in the cape would shoot him dead before he could make a right turn. The buffoon had even left the window he came in through open. He could toss the sucker in the cape out a window, but if he made a move forward he'd be dead to. So he stayed there, content to draw his little batsignal.

"I've seen this coming for a while, you know," Joker said, his voice brimming with a strange mix of curiosity and mirth. "First it was old Harv, then Ivy, even--" The Joker faltered momentarily, "Harley. I'm all that's left. You even killed Cobblepot before you killed me." He cocked his head to one side. "Why is that?"

"You weren't important enough," the sucker in the cape said.

"Not important enough," Joker echoed, "Not important enough? I'M THE JOKER! I'M BETTER THAN ALL THE OTHER HACKS OUT THERE!" He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "You know, you may have the affinity for black like the old batsy--you may wear those horns, but beneath that cowl . . . you're not batsy.

The sucker in the cape stiffened.

Joker drew a paper clip from the desk drawer and sat down. He scratched at the wood but move himself so that the sucker in the cape couldn't see what he was carving. "Do you know why I've killed all these years?" There was only a slight hint of malice in Joker's voice.

The sucker in the cape said nothing.

"I like it," Joker purred, "I get off on it. It's my crack. My addiction." He did not look up from his scratching. "I like to see that final look of horror on their faces. Of all people, they had to die." He laughed as his memories swirled. Such wonderful memories they were, too. "I like to see them pray to a god they've never prayed to their entire life. They don't understand like the person you're pretending to be did. He understood--he knew what our relationship was like. Everything was a game, and he got that. I kill. He defends. Wash, rinse repeat. He knew the pointlessness of life and that's why we danced our little dance. We did it to show the world that nothing mattered. No matter how many times he tried to kill me I'd do it again. You know, we were always destined to kill each other."

Joker looked up, "Now, you've buried bullets in the brains of my three henchmen. Do you know why I hired them? I hired them because I knew you would come here and kill them. I knew they were going to die. How does that make you feel?"

The sucker in the cape curled his fingers and reached for something beneath it.

"I noticed that pocket inside your cape. Tell me--what do you keep in it?"

The sucker in the cape stepped forward, at the same time pulling a crowbar from his pocket. "Vengeance."

The sucker in the cape's shadow loomed over him. "Well, you've certainly got batsy's taste for theatrics, I'll give you that. Wait! You're the Todd boy, aren't you?"

The sucker in the cape said nothing. He only swung the crowbar. Joker fell from the seat. He said nothing. He received his punishment. The whole way through he could only think of one thing: the joke is over.

As he lay there, gurgling, he heard the sucker in the cape's voice. "It's done, Sheila. Now to take care of that new vigilante. That Tim Drake kid? Yeah," a flapping of the sucker's cape told Joker he turned around. "One sec." He addressed Joker. "Still alive, are you?"

The beating continued. The Joke was over.

And the sucker in the cape delivered the punchline.

@awesam@dngn4774@batkevin74@tomdickharry1984@4donkeyjohnson@thecannon I finally updated it, per batkevin's request.

Please compare the OP to the next chapter. Tell me if you see improvements.

@primepower53: Definitely some improvement. The Joker's dialogue is sharper and you can feel Todd's rage as he patronizes the sucker in the cape. You didn't need to be so repetitive with how you addressed Batman. Jason can also be called the Batman, the new Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, etc. Also, you don't have to spell out every detail of the story for your audience, in fact a certain amount of mystery could leave the readers wanting more. Here's an example where you do this:

"It's done, Sheila. Now to take care of that new vigilante. That Tim Drake kid? Yeah,"

You could've left that a mystery for the next chapter. Besides these two things I think this chapter turned out really well.

@dngn4774: Thanks.

I agree with you on most respects except the sucker in the cape part of it. This was told from third person limited point of view--namely the Joker's. I felt that in a situation like this, Joker would refuse to accept anyone else as the real Batman, thus, the sucker in the cape.

@primepower53: Still it could be mixed up a little more. The Imposter, Batfake, Birdbrain could've all been mixed in without forcing the Joker to acknowledge Jason's inheritance.

I agree. Maybe one sucker in the cape, but the repeating of it really doesn't work. Big Bird, faker, shadow etc

It's good, though I wonder what it would've been like if you'd done this a year ago, as the tone between the two chapters is quite different.

Fair enough

It is. My writing has become inherently dark.