The sun has not yet set when the ghost of Jason Todd rises from his grave on Halloween. It takes him a long, panicked moment to realize who and what he is. He can't quite create a corporeal form around the frozen core in his center, and his memories start as vague impressions of terror, pain, and disappointment. But as he struggles to put the fragments together, he knows only one thing with all his being: he must seek out those who wronged him and make them pay for what they did.
First he tries to haunt the Joker in his cell in Arkham. This turns out to be a bust. The man is so far gone that a few lights flickering and doors slamming does nothing but make him chuckle and flick his nose a few times. Indescribably disappointing. Apparently if someone isn't frightened, he can do little more than float a few coins around and maybe drop them on people's heads. Still, Jason's stubborn ghost persists for a few bit longer before he gives up, wishing he could figure out how to affect the man more.
It takes time to build up terror. Time that he doesn't want to waste on his murderer right now. Perhaps later.
He drifts down streets of children going door-to-door. He watches them fill buckets with candy that will rot their teeth. Candy that he never had as a kid, and always coveted. Dang privileged kids don't know that two streets over, there are kids like him, kids who know that no one will spend money on candy for them. Kids who will scrounge the sidewalks for squished chocolate bars and broken lollipops. He knows it's pathetic, but he trips a rich kid in a Batman costume, causing him to spill some candy near a vacant apartment where a hungry street kid sleeps under some newspapers.
Eventually the trick-or-treaters make their way home for their bedtimes. Jason meanders around the city for awhile, then finds himself floating into a strange apartment. He wonders what drew his spirit here. He's never been here before, has he? He looks around at the pictures on the walls, and is startled to see a framed image of Jason Todd, young and alive, next to none other than the first Robin, the smirking Dick Grayson. He scowls at the image, still not quite sure how he feels about his predecessor. He hears voices and floats through the wall into the dark living room. It's lit only by the TV playing "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." On the couch, asleep, is the apartment's sole resident. He must have been out crime-fighting recently, because he looks pretty rough. A big bruise on one cheek, some scrapes along his forehead, and a bandage on his neck.
Jason drifts closer, watching the guy sleep for a bit. But then he yawns. Booorring. Kinda hard to haunt someone who isn't even awake to enjoy it.
That's when he finally finds himself drawn to the house of the man who should have been able to save him.
This should be more interesting, he thinks, furiously plotting how he can best harm the man he once called Bruce. But first he has to find him.
He's not in bed, not in the den or the library. He could still be out patrolling, but Jason has a nagging feeling that isn't the case. Then he hears footsteps in the main hall, and he drifts there quickly to see who it is.
Instead of Bruce Wayne, however, he finds a boy, a little younger than himself. Curious, he follows the boy as he makes his way through the dark house in the direction of the kitchen. Did Bruce have houseguests tonight? It seemed unlikely…
The kitchen is lit by the warm light over the stove, and nothing more. A man sits at the oak table in the breakfast nook with two cups of steaming tea prepared before him. He looks up when the boy enters. Alfred. But Jason doesn't have time to analyze the bit of warmth he suddenly feels in the core of his being, because the butler's next words chill him to ice again.
"Master Tim, welcome home."
HOME? Jason zips in front of the boy's face to get a better look at this kid who acts as if he belongs, when he clearly does not. This is wrong, so very wrong.
"It's actually relatively quiet out there tonight," Tim says. "Bruce is just wrapping up some loose ends downstairs."
No. The kid's words imply that he knows about the Batcave, about patrolling… that he's even been out there, fighting alongside the big Bat. Jason can hardly believe what he's hearing. He's been replaced with a new Robin.
Jason's fury bursts forth in a powerful wave of spectral energy, and multiple things happen simultaneously. The single bulb above the stove explodes. The windows all fly open at once. A howling wind sweeps through the large room, dotted with dead leaves carried in from the gardens. Alfred leaps to his feet as the hot liquid in his mug rises in little bubbles toward the ceiling. Jason screams across multiple planes of existence in that reckless wind, and both the butler and the boy cover their ears at the eerie sound.
But then Jason stops just as abruptly as he started. The tea splashes back to the table, the wind cuts off and lets the dead leaves flutter to the previously spotless wood floor. He feels a tug, and he knows that if he follows it, he will find the one man responsible for all of this wrongness.
Batman.
He takes the same route to the cave as he did when he was still alive, even though he could just as easily drift through the floor and stone strata if he wanted. He breezes through the old clock, down, down, into the darkness of the cave.
And there he is. Bruce sits at the Batcomputer, cowl down but still wearing the suit, oblivious to his invisible stalker.
Jason's gaze is caught by a new addition to the cave that was never there during his time as Robin. A glass display case, lit from within. Despite his desire to attack Bruce with everything he has, he lets himself drift over to the case.
It's his own uniform, preserved like some sick twisted idol from an ancient civilization. Jason slips through the glass until he occupies the same space as the uniform, as if he's wearing the bright colors again. Jason remembers the last time he wore this for real, and he seethes at the hypocrisy of putting this uniform up for display, when Batman had not even been there in his last moments alive. It was wrong wrong wrong!
He explodes the entire case outwards, sending shards of glass into all corners of the cave. He remains floating in the center of the destruction as the rising ectoenergy emanating from him causes the utility lights to buzz and flicker. The Batcomputer sparks violently and the screens turn to static. An alarm sounds, indicating that the emergency protocols are kicking in, automatically locking down the cave so that nothing living can enter or exit.
Bruce immediately whirls around, cowl once again in place. He quickly assesses the room, and Jason knows he will see the pattern of glass falling away from the epicenter. Sure enough, Batman's blank white gaze comes to rest on the fluttering Robin suit where Jason still hovers. Jason smirks at the hint of horror on Batman's face. No ordinary criminal could ever hope to pick up on that tensing of his jaw, the way his lips press together. But Robin knows, and gloats at his victim's fear. Now he can do some real harm.
Jason flies straight at Batman's head, dragging the Robin suit with him. He screams so intensely that several stray bats fall from the upper shadows, dead.
Batman is struck by the icy blast of energy as Jason ghosts right through his body, claws out. The Robin suit wraps around Batman's face, temporarily blinding him.
Jason cackles with glee as Batman stumbles forward, gasping as he clutches at the flyaway suit. He's done it! Finally Batman will know the pain and fear of dying alone and unwanted in the dark…
The lights go out one by one as Jason glares icy energy at them. Soon the only light that remains is directly above Batman. Jason howls with bitter laughter. Now NOW NOW!
He swoops up, feeling the surge of raw power as Bruce's fear grows. He raises up every loose piece of metal in the cave: every surgical tool, every screwdriver and hammer and wrench, every knife and batarang, and gathers them up around him, all pointing straight at Bruce's heart. The weapons gleam in the crackling green energy that sparks from his core. He musters the last of his strength and prepares to release it all…
Suddenly an even stronger force stops him. He howls and strains against the new presence, furious that something would dare interfere. Somehow he was not the only spirit who haunted this dreary place.
"Show yourself!" he screams into the crackling air.
Two shimmering lights appear right in front of his face, sending him reeling backwards.
A soft female voice echoes around him, as if from a very great distance. "You will not harm him tonight, spirit."
Even in the midst of his frustration and anger at being denied his prey, Jason is also curious. He hasn't encountered any other ghosts this powerful.
Another gentle voice, but male, adds, "This home is under our protection tonight. You have no power here."
"But he needs to suffer!" Jason howls. "He let a monster kill me, then moved on as if nothing was wrong. He deserves every bit of pain I can give!"
The two golden lights expand into more corporeal forms, and Jason can make out a man and a woman, standing on either side of Batman, who does not seem to see them.
"You're," Jason stutters, shocked as he realizes what he is seeing. "You're his parents!"
The woman cocks her head to the side. "You must be Jason Todd. That would make you our grandson, wouldn't it?"
"No," Jason says immediately. "I'm nobody's son."
The man drifts closer, his warm glow brushing against Jason's chilly presence. "Let go of this anger," he says. "You mean more to him than you accept. Look!"
Jason peers back at Bruce and something flickers deep inside his frozen core.
Bruce is kneeling on the cold floor, his arms wrapping around the discarded Robin suit. His fear has gone, replaced by an intense sadness that Jason has never witnessed before. Not from him, the stoic and silent Batman. He looks so alone, so broken, so tired.
Jason knows exactly what that feels like.
His anger fades to a dull throb, and he slowly lowers the floating objects to the ground. Perhaps he will one day kill Batman. But not tonight. Not in this way.
To his surprise, he suddenly finds himself wrapped in warmth as Bruce's two glowing protectors put their arms around him.
"What are you doing?" He tries to drift away, but he can't phase through their unexpected embrace. "Let go of me!"
"No, young Jason," the man says. "You need to rest now. Let us take you there."
But Jason lingers a moment. He watches as Alfred and the replacement Robin finally break through the emergency security system and enter the cave. Bruce stands, still holding the old Robin suit, and goes to speak with them.
Jason should be furious at the way the replacement grabs Bruce's arm, supporting him physically and emotionally where Jason once stood. He should kill them all for betraying him. He should fight these crazy glowing spirits off and finish the job he set out to do. This is not how he wanted this Halloween to end. But he finally gives in, knowing he has lost. "Fine. Let's go."
The spirits of Thomas and Martha Wayne whisk him up, out of the cave, through the manor, into the night sky. They fly with him in tow down to the private graveyard under the weathered oak trees. Jason sees his final resting place near the memorial stones for Bruce's parents. The three of them halt right above the grave, somberly regarding the dead flowers covered with frost.
"Rest now," Martha says, and they release him, but the warmth lingers, sending a drowzy feeling through his core. "We'll watch over the Manor tonight, and then return once the night is over."
Yes. Resting is a good idea. He lets out a long sigh and falls back as the earth swallows him again. He may have been bested by more powerful spirits tonight, but he knows in his deepest being that he'll find a way to return eventually and do what he needs to do. For now, however, he can wait.