Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Shockingly enough, I actually have updated twice in one month, something I haven't done since, what, January? Anyway, here's what's happening. Ivan's showcase will be posted later as it has spoilers about the ending of this story. Kaldur's also holds some spoilers and will be posted somewhere during the next arc to avoid revealing something that hasn't happen in the main story yet. So after this showcase will be one on Echo, Jake's long-lost girlfriend who is still in the race of bein his possible future wife. I will speak more about AR and showcases after this special update but for now here is the AuDC showcase for the one, the only, Jason Todd. This takes place during his unseen training trip in the NW Arc. Enjoy.

AuDC Productions Showcase: Jason Todd

Shattering Personas

He eyed himself in the mirror and scowled at his reflection.

He fucking hated himself. Not because he was one of those suicidal teens who were overly self-conscious about their looks or sexuality or grades or any of that shit. No. He wasn't like them at all. He hated himself because they made him hate himself.

He was Robin. He was the partner of the motherfucking Batman and yet he, Dick Grayson, had to ruin that feeling!

Who does that shit, really?

Dick made him feel inferior. Dick made everyone see the difference between the first and second Robin. Dick this, Dick that, Dick, Dick, fucking Dick! That was all Jason heard during his training and he was now sick and tired of it.

And what made Dick so special anyway? Because his parents died doing a stupid stunt without a safety net? Because he witnessed the death like Bruce did? Or was it because Dick was the only ass-kisser on the planet to wear that ridiculous outfit and say the cheesiest lines ever. Seriously, was there a need to say "Holy ice cubes Batman!" every time they fought Mr. Freeze?

But Dick was the prodigal son and he, Jason, was just the spare. It was a bullshit concept, but a true one nonetheless. Worst of all, no one outright said that they believed it but they showed it. Barbara showed it whenever her eyes sparkled when she took a trip down memory lane about Dick. Alfred showed it by pointing out how Dick would sneak out some nights but more than made up for it in his schoolwork. And Bruce… Bruce has called Jason Dick seven times already. Seven fucking times!

But there was another one.

Oh yeah, it didn't stop there.

Then there was Red X…

Oh how Jason wanted to use the suit. It had the ability to teleport. It had weapons to counter an entire battalion of meta-humans. And best of all, it looked cool- way better than the Robin costume. But of course, with Red X came walking in, not Dick's shadow, but the most famous Red X of them all- Jake fucking Cross.

Now Jason understood that it took time for people to get used to him being Robin, Bruce especially, but he had no idea why people confused him with Jake. Jake was a giant douche bag who challenged the Titans and YJL for no apparent reason. He was the same cunt-muffin who aided in the murder of Selena Gonzalez. He robbed people of priceless things and sold it back for twice that price.

Jake Wilson or Cross or whatever his last name was, was a giant asshole. Jason was nothing like that. And yet…

Whenever Jason put on the damn suit, M'gann always gave him this depressed look as if she pitied Jason. Bruce refused to even do one sparring sessions with Jason so long as he wore that suit as well. And then that colorful little bitch Artemis had the audacity to say that Jason was not good enough to wear that suit and no one disagreed!

Well… To be fair, no one actually verbally agreed with her but no one outright called her out for it either. All because she was in love with Jake Cross…!

Jason grunted at another thought. Just why the hell did people even praise the evil bastard anyway? He was Red X right- and the worst one at that! Sure, he didn't necessarily kill anyone and there were a few times when he did save others but still. He was Red X. He was the guy that made Red X a worst criminal than Dick ever did! And yet, if you asked Artemis, she'd paint the picture of Superman's boy-scout equivalent!

Oh, and their skills! How many times did Jason hear how he would never measure up at being either of them? Too many. Too many Robin doubters. Too many Red X haters. Too many people believed that Dick Grayson was the Boy Wonder for a reason and that Jake Cross was the greatest escape artists since Carmen Sandiego and that no one would ever surpass them.

Too many people believed that Dick Grayson was Robin and that Jake Cross took Red X to the grave with him.

And Jason hated every single one of them because a part of him believed them. Which is why Jason hated himself. He became Robin. He became Red X. He failed to surpass them both and now they had the last laugh…

Well, Dick did since Jake has been dead for years now…

To hell with them! No, scratch that. Jason should be thanking them! Because of them, he stood here a new person made from both of them. Like Red X, Jason was only truly loyal to himself, despite what his teachers' may think. Jason, like Jake, also believed in vengeance above justice and anything below the level of "personal" was not to be taken but so seriously. And from Dick, Jason would go through great lengths to stop those like Deathstroke. He also wanted to control a team like Dick did so that the little problems would not take up much of Jason's time.

But what to call himself? Well, to be fair, he should take the names of his two predecessors and make something better.

Red Robin? No. That shit would never fly. Heh, a dead Grayson joke…

Robin X? Now that was worse than the first one

Reaching behind him, Jason pulled the red hood to his jacket over his head, a shadow casting over his face. A small smirk came on his dirty face before he punched the mirror, shattering his reflection and his former self as he did so. Feeling better about himself, he asked one question before departing from the destroyed mirror.

"Guess who's under the Red Hood?"

Author's Notes: Small but quite necessary only because of his "birth" and how Tim Drake will become Robin during the Outsiders Arc. When it happens, you'll see what I mean. In the meantime, a lot of stuff is happening right now. Firstly, I've been doing an outline for a new OC that will be a DC character but I don't want to put him in the YJ timeline at all. And because a PM reminded me of how few Cheshire/OC stories are out there, I was thinking about making that the pairing and not like Jake where he has Jade and Artemis and Raven and etc. Though to be fair, Jake having multiple affairs is more comically (as in canon comic standards) realistic than just one girl. Jade has two kids by two different guys. Superman has had multiple lovers. And Batman... Yeah, let's not count that. Anyway, back to Arkham Rising. I want to thank all of you for over a hundred reviews and we're not even halfway done with the story. The support on the showcases are really great too so thanks for just reading and reviewing and liking and you know. Being great. For the Outsiders Arc only I'm thinking about doing a "Did You Know" fact at the end of each chapter that will tie in the original DC or Marvel characters and their AR counterparts. I think this will not only be a fun trivial thing but also show how some characters are really close to some form of canon (like Dick was Dick from TT not YJ) and how some characters like Jake Cross (who technically would be Grant in comics) and Kassidy Flores (a mixture of Catalina Flores and Kass Sage) came about. Also, I wanted to drop a little spoiler for any of you who actually read things bulky walls of text but the mother of the Joker's son will be seen in this arc. There will also be a chapter (Deadpool's super-cool-awesome but not kill-your-neighbor-for-playing-crappy-music awesome!) that every word in Italics will be a part of a sentence that reveals just who mothers the Joker's son. Again, thank you all so very much and as always, if you have any questions, thoughts, comments, on this story, another story, or creating your own story, leave a nice review or PM and I will get back as soon as possible. Till next time.