Issue 14:
Outsider in Perpetuity
Many years ago Jason Todd became the second Robin after Dick Grayson retired the alias to become a super hero of his own, Nightwing. Jason was everything Dick wasn't: impulsive, angry, stubborn, and rebellious. Bruce did his best to train the young boy until Joker took it all away. He trapped Jason in a building with a bomb and unfortunately Bruce couldn't make it in time to save him. Tragically Jason died leaving Bruce bereft at his failure to protect him.
Years passed and eventually Bruce accepted Tim Drake as the third Robin while Jason rested in the ground. Due to seemingly unrelated events Jason rose from the grave to wander without memory or purpose until he was recognized by Talia Al-Ghul, a lover of Bruce's and mother of Damian. Immersing him in a Lazarus Pit she restored his health and memory only for Jason to be struck by the madness that accompanied the healing. When Jason discovered another Robin replaced him he grew infuriated with Bruce.
He went on to train beyond what he learned under Bruce with the League of Assassins and others. With only the thought of revenge he attacked the loved ones in the Bat family only to learn Bruce hadn't forgotten and considered Jason's death his ultimate failure. In his pride Jason refused to return to the status quo choosing instead to kill the supervillains he warred against putting him at odds with Bruce once again.
Bruce's own brand of stubbornness refuted Jason's actions and the two never recovered their relationship they once cherished. Despite their difference of opinion Jason aided the Bat family under his new alias Red Hood and struck fear into the hearts of his enemies in a way Bruce and the rest never could.
They called him everything from misguided to tragic to monstrous but in reality he was simply a man who put his foot down and made a stand. Like everyone in Gotham his choices were his own in the end and he catered no fantasies or redemption or nobility. In Jason's mind he considered himself a dead man who walked a road of damnation for the wellbeing of those for which he cared.
"I took Harley away from him," Damian Wayne explained as he sat at the massive computer inside the Batcave, "Slade is running infiltration with a tech expert. We've got specialists regulating the weaponry at the warehouse to turn everything possible nonlethal.
Penguin is running the underground collecting intel with a team. I sent Calendar Man to neutralize the fence they put around Gotham whatever that actually is." Files on the Watchtower scrolled across the screen as Damian explained the current situation to his predecessor.
"And of course I'm babysitting your old buddy by night," Damian finished.
"That alone is a mistake," Jason responded over his shoulder, "You don't know what he's capable of."
"Really? Because I have his entire file memorized. I know exactly what he can do."
"Stop."
"I can't! It's too late to back out now-" Damian began until Jason cut him off.
"No, the file, stop. You passed it," Jason pushed him aside and leaned down scrolling back through the computer files. After a few clicks he found the one they were searching. Impressed Damian gave a slow whistle as they read the specifications on the monitor.
"So this is the one. You sure it's still there? How do you know they didn't incinerate it or something?" Damian asked.
"It's there," Jason answered, "I'm not sure they could trash it if they wanted to. You could do anything you wanted with that thing."
"Can you get it?"
"Please," Jason scoffed.
"Huh," Damian huffed eyeing the machine with a twinkle in his eye. Suspiciously Jason glared at the young man.
"Don't get any ideas. This is the absolute last resort in case of catastrophe…and even then I don't know. It's beyond dangerous."
"I know I act like I know what I'm doing but…I feel like I don't have anything figured out. We know next to nothing about SECURE and the small amount of info trickling in doesn't add up to much." The frustration in his voice was clearly evident to Jason. Aimlessly the well-built antihero wandered the platforms contained within the cave. The uneven walls ran shiny and wet with condensation and multiple darkened paths branched off in different directions from the main chamber.
Somewhere father away from the light he heard featherless wings echoing in the undisturbed darkness. Running his hand over the fender of the Batmobile Jason remembered countless days cloistered in the dark washing and waxing the powerful machine. He saw the giant copper penny glinting off the spotlights. He scowled at the enormous playing card bearing the face of the jester.
Eventually his eyes settled on a glass case preserving his Robin costume. Patched up and cleaned Jason knew once it was tattered and stained with his blood, the ruin of a lost child soldier. In his mind he realized he was still dead to Bruce at least. His Robin, his Jason never returned from that grave and it hurt like no bullet, burn, or cut ever had before. However nothing was ever truly lost in this place.
This mausoleum served as a remembrance of every victory and loss in the war neatly identified and catalogued in the quiet solitude. Jason knew Bruce couldn't let go. His parents, lovers, friends, and enemies all held a place here safe from scrutiny or drastic growth. The past piled up like mounds of bat guano and grew like stalagmites towards the matching ceiling. What cut him deeper was everyone's reaction to the status quo.
Don't change, don't stop. Life is easier knowing you'll always be there to make everything right. That is what he imagined the world would say. Those selfish people who took, who used without care because Batman was infallible, but Jason knew a secret. Despite the legend, the intelligence, the willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice again and again, Bruce Wayne at the bottom of everything remained a man and not a god.
If Jason knew anything about people he knew they were fallible. In a world where Batman could fail to save his partner and friend truly anything was possible. In a reality where the good fight raged on forever Jason Todd stood tall as a man who believed in endings. Jason knew another secret told to him by Dick when Jason struggled in the role of Robin.
Maybe Dick meant to help him hash out his frustrations with the repetitiveness of the job or maybe he meant to help Jason relate to their surrogate father. Either way he knew now and felt it was time to bring Damian into the fold. Approaching the computer again Jason thought about the best way to explain things to the teenager.
"What's up man? You hungry? We can order in," Damian offered turning towards him.
"We need to talk first. You ever hear of a guy named Kiteman?"
"Chuck? Old white haired guy with weepy eyes? Yeah I met him for a second at the meeting."
"A long time ago when I was fresh on the beat still wearing pieces of Dick's old costume we tracked him down robbing a bank. I remember watching him and his small crew through the skylight. I was so ready to drop in and crack some skulls. Before we sprung Bruce linked in to the computer here, really high tech stuff back then, and pulled his file. We realized his daughter was a talented cello player at some prestigious music school in Gotham and the school year was coming up."
"So he was robbing the bank to pay her tuition?" Damian beat him to the punch.
"Yeah."
"So what'd you do?"
"What do you think? We kicked the shit out of every last one of them and threw him in Arkham…but a little while later that girl received an anonymous scholarship to continue her schooling," Jason explained.
"And she grew up to found the String Quartet Killers?" Damian joked.
"No smartass. My point is sometimes people do really stupid stuff for the right reasons, like you. We should always make an attempt to factor those intentions."
"And then kick the shit out of them?" Damian quipped and this time Jason laughed.
"Sure. Computer: clearance 227BG5R theta," Jason called out the security code. A beep sounded and a lock unlatched somewhere in the machine then a drawer popped out near their feet. Reaching down Jason removed a box from the hidden drawer in the console.
"Hey I never knew that was there," Damian objected and Jason smiled at the small amount of kid left in him.
"Nobody does at least that's what your father thinks. Dick and I worked out the clearance codes to everything when we were young," Jason looked around the cave briefly, "although I get the feeling there are still a few surprises left in here that even we don't know. Truth is he probably knows every secret we think we have."
"So what is it?" Damian prodded. Gently Jason removed the lid setting it aside. He reached in and slowly removed an older model handgun. Immediately Damian identified it as a .22 snub-nosed revolver.
"Is that the one?" Damian asked and Jason knew exactly what he meant.
"That killed your grandparents? No," he responded handing it over. Expertly Damian pointed it at the ground and flipped open the cylinder to check if it was loaded. It wasn't.
"I don't get it. Then what? It hasn't been used or maintained in a long time. No oil or anything." Damian commented. The teen found it strange. There wasn't a weapon in the cave that wasn't constantly cleaned and kept ready. Alfred even worked on the antiques and stuff cycled out of regular use. Frowning Jason let him feel the weight of it now conflicted on how to proceed.
"When Bruce first put on the costume before any of us things got fuzzy…a little confused," Jason slowly started watching him intently. Damian's face remained open and expectant. Even his advanced mind couldn't make the jump to where Jason was leading him, not yet.
"Damian, people think Bruce put on the suit and became perfect. No, it's more than that. They believe Batman is inherently perfect. They think he can't make mistakes. I'm here to tell you those people don't know Batman. When he started it was just a costume like any other, a mask to hide the scared, hurt person underneath it. Not until later did the real legend begin.
People nowadays use the word vigilante without having a clue what it really means. Hell Batman's more of a cop than anyone in this city who puts on a badge except maybe Jim but back then things weren't as clear. He just wanted to avenge his parents and he didn't care how. What you're holding in your hand is the real secret origin of Batman, the one he doesn't want you to know," Jason paused and watched him. In a dreamlike haze Damian pointed the gun into the emptiness and stared down the barrel like he had never seen a pistol before in his life.
"He-he killed?" Damian stuttered innocently, "I don't…"
"For a short time until Dick came along and forced him to reevaluate some things. The no gun rule was created along with the impenetrable moral code as you know it today. These things developed along with his persona and skills. The minor and new members of the JL and even some citizens refer to him as Batgod.
He allows that because it makes his job easier. Take it from me; he doesn't like it when people ask questions." Jason took the gun and put it back in the box.
"Does the Justice League know?" Damian asked.
"The core members do. Kal, Diana, Ollie, Hal, and Barry but no one discusses it. In their eyes he's made up for those mistakes more than a million times over. That's not who Batman is to them or anyone."
"So somehow that makes it okay for you to kill people?" Damian contested bitterly.
"You don't understand any of it!" Jason became furious, "It has nothing to do with me! If I prayed I would pray you never know the things I've done! You think they made you a killer? They dipped your toes in the fucking ocean, you arrogant punk. What I'm trying to explain isn't about killing people. It's about the things you think you know about a person.
After so much time with someone the way you see them becomes the reality of who they are at least from your perspective, but don't pretend you know everything about them. Even after so many years they can still surprise you. There are things you can't measure in this world because their weight is too large. No scale in the world can hold it."
"Like what?"
"Time, hate, love, selfishness, hope, you put those things up against justice, duty, honor, and responsibility. In that moment of balancing everyone swings one way or another and everything else is words," Jason stated.
"So what does it all mean then?"
"Nothing? Everything? I guess what I'm trying to say is expect the unexpected. This whole thing feels different than… We don't know what shape your father will be in when we pull him out. I could be really bad," Jason warned. Damian looked up at him with tears forming in his eyes.
"I just want him back," the boy admitted. To his surprise Jason reached out and hugged him.
"I do too, bud."
Nearly 240,000 miles from the planet Earth the grey, rocky moon orbited the world always displaying its good side. In a flat valley the Justice League stronghold called the Watchtower sat alone showing no signs of life as the shuttle approached trailing a cloud of dust behind it. No structure in the world could rival its architecture, a mix of many different cultures and alien designs.
As large as the multidomed structure was it continued to expand added onto with the growth of new members constantly joining the League. Skimming over the ground in the reduced gravity the shuttle reached the entry port of the primary hanger docking noiselessly in the empty chamber. Not a single ship remained in the base. Silently Red Hood and Killer Moth exited the shuttle with combat boots clicking lightly against the smooth metal landing pad.
On the approach Jason privately input the docking codes that allowed them to land without being blown out of the airless, black sky by the Watchtower's air defenses. Since they assumed the base lay empty they also assumed security could be deactivated and reactivated with the clearance Damian pulled from the Batcave's computer systems.
Killer Moth dramatically spread his mechanical wings and gracefully rose into the high vaulted ceilings of the hangar bay. His name was Drury Walker an older villain of the Caped Crusader. Drury knew nearly everyone in the underworld community and had a rap sheet that stretched farther than Plastic Man. Damian insisted Jason take an extra pair of hands with him on the mission and selected Drury since he couldn't pose any serious threat.
The man experienced no delusions of being a bug instead Drury used the costume so authorities would send him Arkham instead of Blackgate as he found it a more pleasant place for incarceration.
"This is Grey Man to Mothership. Do you read?" Jason said into his comm rolling his eyes. Damian loved coming up with code names.
"Mothership copies," the calm, collected voice of Calculator rolled through the open channel originating from a safe, comfortable control room on solid earth, "Status update?"
"We're approaching the access doors now," Jason answered as Drury landed behind him. Tossing him the shackles on his belt Jason turned to the scanner on the side of the door. Drury slipped the cuffs on as Damian initiated the scan.
"Designate?" an automated female voice asked as a light field passed over them.
"Red Hood. Killer Moth apprehended bound for containment," Jason responded and the door slid open.
"So how come they sent me with you?" Drury asked as they travelled around the long central hub, "Aren't I a security risk or something?" You know, taking a villain into the home base?"
"Since you're not one of the genius level intellects we've been working with Robin didn't feel it was a serious risk. Calculator's software on the other hand gave us a lot of concern," Jason stated. Drury stopped for a moment to mull over his answer.
"You saying I'm dumb?" he demanded but Jason kept walking.
"Well let's see," he replied, "You saw a guy dressed up as bat going after criminals so you dressed up like a moth, something that serves as prey for a bat."
"It was a personal choice," Drury defended quietly as he rushed to catch up with his captor. Passing the living quarters they moved into the arboretum and hydroponic forest, a giant greenhouse used to manufacture oxygen while disposing of the scrubbed carbon dioxide. They followed the path skirting the edge of the dangerous looking forest that extended away from the central core.
The mass of mismatched trees and plants stretched farther than their sight could reach. A few paths branched off into the shady canopy from the main trail. It was a forest unlike any found on Earth. Alien trees and shrubs dotted the area in shapes and formations that defied nature. Fuzzy seed pods and weightless spores floated directionless in the breeze generated by the ventilation systems.
Leaves resembling hands or greasy tentacles waved to them as they passed. A fern next to the tree line sang a high, pleasant note only to be joined by a chorus of deep bass notes from a patch of pyramid shaped mushrooms. Next to the clump a shrub glinted in the light reflecting off metal branches that carried leaves as sharp as razors. Towards the end a cluster of crystalline evergreen trees pulsed from purple to orange to blue.
"I've never seen anything like it," Drury maintained as he trudged behind Jason.
"Yeah, I always wanted to come up here and spend a few days scouting it out."
"My uncle's got a place in Colorado reminds me of this, well not exactly," he clarified. Passing through airlocks the pair reached the deep water tanks in the next vast room. The giant tanks reached all the way to the ceiling separated from the viewing area by liquid crystal portals, the same substance used like glass in the viewports.
Divided into cubes that interchanged places throughout the day the tank contained many different alien species of aquatic creatures. Many looked like the stuff of feverish nightmares and only a few swam in liquid that resembled water.
"Hey check this guy out," Drury said tapping on the crystal. In the massive cube before him a grey, long limbed octopus floated in front of him. He seemed to dance on the current while his arms made strange shapes.
"That's great. Let's hurry up," Jason urged but Drury didn't move.
"It almost looks like…Yeah! He's signing!"
"What are you talking about?" he asked. Drury stuck his hands out towards Jason.
"It's sign language with his arms. Get these cuffs off me so I can talk to him," Drury insisted so Jason obliged impatiently.
"How do you know sign language?" Jason asked.
"My sister's deaf. Give me a minute…He says his name is Topo and he's friends with Waterboy? Who's that? He's warning us about…booze and singing at all hours or something," Drury claimed excitedly.
"Can we move on now?" Jason asked but Drury ignored him. The octopus Topo signed faster and with more emphasis.
"Hey!" Drury reacted, "He called me an idiot! Now he says 'the man in the belly lost his brain' whatever that means." Topo shook his head angrily before swimming away from them.
"You by the octopus!" a gravelly voice slurred through the intercom system, "Who are you? What are you doing in here?" Both men froze and Jason noticed the cameras trained on them.
"This is Red Hood. I'm transferring a prisoner here, Killer Moth," Jason finally responded.
"Bullshit, he ain't even in handcuffs. I'm activating security," the voice claimed and an alarm sounded through the cavernous halls. Jason sprinted off through the aquarium room with Drury following closely.
"Mothership, we've got a problem," he called into his comm, "There's somebody left in her and they're putting the dogs on us."
"Copy that, Grey Man. There should be a connecting hallway to the Power Annex through the next airlock," Calculator responded immediately, "Patch me in and I can shut any defenses down." Swiftly they crossed the airlock only to hear a high pitch whirring coming from ahead of them. It sounded like a mosquito hovering in the ear canal.
"Oh come on, Ray!" Jason exclaimed as they cut down the hall Calculator mentioned. He was referring to Ray Palmer better known as the Atom who specialized in everything miniature. The security system activated by the mysterious man was a swarm of nanobots programmed to contain and neutralize a subject using paralytic compounds generated by the tiny machines based on the specific DNA of the target. However to get that DNA the swarm needed to sample the subject first.
"Are we gonna die?" Drury asked as they reached the Power Annex through an open bay door. Down the hall they saw the approaching dark cloud of buzzing micro machines.
"It won't kill us but that doesn't mean it won't hurt like hell," Jason warned pulling the faces from electrical panels, "Hold them off!" So Drury picked up a piece of piping someone left when abandoning a repair job and swung it desperately in front of him. As the metal pipe breached the swarm they latched on to it and it disintegrated in front of his eyes. The swarm grew as the robots replicated more clones from the raw material.
"Stop giving them ammo!" Jason screamed over the mechanic sopranos closing in on them. Jason practiced this hardware hack with Damian many times but never with a time limit or under duress. Once he found the right cluster of wires he pulled it so hard towards him the bundle clips snapped and spilled wires over the console.
"Dammit! Just another second!" Jason called as Drury backed up next to him. Weaponless Drury final used his head and unfurled his wings. Relentlessly they beat the air in front of him pushing the swarm back as Jason fumbled over the spill of wires. Slowly his feet left the ground as his wings provided a modicum of lift.
He found unfortunately the swarm now pushed towards them again with renewed force and his draft only ebbed the rush. They both felt stray bots slipping through here and there tearing small cuts through their suits and skins. At the last moment before they were overrun Drury shot forward quickly with one last desperate push directly through the swarm. Instantly some of them latched onto his metal wings and began to tear them apart viciously as he flew through them. The rest ripped at his face and body like thorns on a raspberry bush.
Although his gambit sent him crashing down the hallway as his wings lost cohesion Drury effectively split the swarm in two. There seemed to be a moment the collective programmed mind paused to calculate which target to close on first. Luckily at that moment Jason discovered the correct wire and jammed the hopper into place around it. The hopper's sharp prongs bit into the wire and sent Calculator's software into the Watchtower's main hard drive.
The malware essentially hijacked the entire system in a matter of seconds and Calculator wasted no time seizing control. In this few second span the nanobot swarm zeroed in on Jason mercilessly shredding him with a thousand tiny whiplashes at once. Screaming Jason fell to his knees and realized each machine currently processed his own person poisonous neurotoxin. Soon he wouldn't feel a thing and then he didn't.
"It's over," Calculator declared through the comm and Jason opened his eyes to see the swarm now buzzing harmlessly down the hall. Drury rolled over groaning like an old man getting out of a recliner. Bleeding from everywhere Jason took a moment to clear the horrendous pain screaming in his head. Then he walked over and helped Drury off the floor.
"Give me a clear path to the Mother Womb," he demanded. The Mother Womb served as the control nexus to the entire base and the most likely place to find their mysterious attacker. Storming through the door Jason saw the massive viewport overlooking a perfectly clear version of the planet Earth above the moon's horizon and a long array of holographic monitors.
Across each monitor were popups proclaiming "Trouble Alert" overlapping each other. This was the first time any of them truly understood the scope of what they were facing. Jason could see the entire world covered in need. SECURE wrapped a hand around the entire planet and squeezed. Jason felt genuinely scared and naturally small. He wondered if this didn't go beyond the machinations of flesh and blood people. Silhouetted against the bright lights of the monitors he saw the potbellied figure of a pacing man. The man sang passionately to himself.
As I went home on Wednesday night as drunk as drunk could be,
I saw a pipe up on the chair where my old pipe should be.
So I called my wife and I said to her, "Will you kindly tell to me,
Who owns the pipe up on the chair where my old pipe should be?"
"Ah you're drunk, you're drunk you silly old fool, still you cannot see.
That's a lovely tin whistle that me mother sent to me."
It's many a day I've travelled a hundred miles or more
But tobacco in a tin whistle sure I never saw before.
The voice rang clear but off tune throughout the room. The man looked frightfully shocked when he saw Jason and Drury by the door so much that his protruding belly shook as he jumped back. He wore a luchadore style mask and a stained orange shirt that read Six Pack though his real name was Sidney Speck, a "hero" with a serious drinking problem.
"What d'ya want?" Sid asked with a hiccup flopping into the chair, "Can't you see I'm busy saving the world?"
"Saving it for what? Alcohol poisoning?" Jason asked trudging through the collection of rattling cans and bottles strewn over the floor. Fast food wrappers mixed with the empties and the whole room stunk with a sour odor.
"Ugh I think he's been pissing in here," Drury commented covering his mouth, "It reeks."
"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you find uh bathroom in this damn place," Sid replied.
"I ought to beat the hell out of you, Sid," Jason threatened, "Why'd you turn on the drones?"
"Yer working with them, pretty boy, the ones who wiped out all uh heroes."
"They weren't the ones who did it. What happened up here?" Jason asked as Sid picked up a half bottle of whiskey.
"Well I was on a short sabbatical-" Sid began but Jason cut him off quickly.
"A bender…"
"A sabbatical," he repeated, "in a quiet little spot back in one of the cargo holds and I started to feel a little weird. I ignored it for some time until it got too much and I felt like I jus' had to go home back to Gotham. Finally I packed up my stuff and headed for the teleporter room but no one was around anywhere.
I searched this place up and down but they all had just walked out without a word. Now me, I couldn't work the teleporter so I was too scared to try to beam back. Figured I'd wind up on Mars or someplace. Luckily after messing with the bulk transporter I figured how to bring supplies up to me."
"Supplies," Drury emphasized as he chuckled and kicked the cans at his feet.
"Can ya send me back, Hood?" Sid begged pathetically.
"Yeah I guess. We need to make a stop first though," Jason said before turning toward the door.
"All things considered this place is actually pretty beautiful," Drury commented while taking in the complete worldview above them. As if on cue Sid vomited on his boots.
Sometime later the three of them reached the trophy room and the vault door of the armory beyond it. Already Calculator remotely unlocked and opened it. Between the two storage areas they noted countless wonders and oddities on display. The League's collection included the Gamma Gong, Traumiel's Ashes, a prototype Amazo head, the statue of Triumph, and a group of neutralized Key Men. Wandering through the aisles on stands and see through cases Jason saw Brain Storm's thinking cap, the Worlogog, an Implicate Field, and a small flock of Piranha Penguins along with many other artifacts and weapons he couldn't identify.
"Over here!" he finally called to Drury as Sid remained propped up against the door frame snoring. Eventually Drury crossed the room to find Jason standing in front of a generator sized metal device. Two shiny prongs rose up from each end but nothing about it seemed particularly dangerous.
"So this is what we came for, huh?" Drury asked, "What is it?"
"It's one of the most dangerous weapons in the universe," Jason explained, "They call it the Miracle Machine." After slapping a transporter beacon on it they proceeded to the teleporter room and sent it back to the Batcave. Instead of the bar he requested Sid rematerialized in GCPD's drunk tank while Jason and Drury returned to the warehouse. They debriefed Damian quickly and Drury prepared to leave while the other two conversed.
"Hey Hood, that was a good job out there. We work pretty well together. I'm going to tell everybody you're not so bad after all," Drury claimed cheerfully.
"Drury, do you know what I do?" Jason asked looking towards the door and unholstering a handgun, "I kill people exactly like you. See you and all the rest are only good to me as long as you're useful but the second you're not I promise you I will put you down like the rabid dogs you are.
I'm not your friend or your partner and I don't want to be. I'm the guy who decided not to put a bullet in your head today. One way or another every last one of you is going to die by my hands. That's what you can tell them." Frozen in the doorway Drury stared at him until finally turning away to leave. Unamused Jason looked at Damian who wore a sly smile at the conference table.
"You know under all that scary crap you're just a big softie, aren't you?" Damian teased.
"I knew hugging you was a mistake," Jason retorted, "What's next?"
"What did you do last Thursday night?"
"I don't know. Patrolled? Waited on a mission?"
"Did you have a good time?" Damian continued.
"I guess. Who cares? What's it matter?" Jason answered in frustration. Damian shook his head.
"It doesn't, never mind. So Friday morning we get an encrypted file from Mad Hatter. Calculator broke it and we found a list of SECURE agents and locations on their operations in Gotham," Damian explained sliding him a file. Greedily Jason snatched up the folder pouring over the list.
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" he demanded but the teenager shrugged in response.
"Intel agents needed to confirm it first and establish whatever monitoring we can. We finally got word earlier today that it's gold. That crazy little guy came through big."
"And?" Jason asked. This time he knew exactly what his surrogate brother would say next.
"And now we need to knock out their eyes and ears. There are certain things I can't do. I could ask any of them and they would but…somehow it doesn't seem right. Plus I don't trust them to keep collateral damage down. I need someone who is collected, emotionless."
"Stop," Jason insisted, "what you're asking goes beyond anything we've done so far. You father, damn Damian, I don't even know what he'd say. He'd be beyond ashamed at who you're turning into."
"You're right. It was a mistake. I'll figure out another way somehow," Damian responded coldly turning his back.
"That night after the meeting when we stayed up late structuring this travesty…the only thing I asked of you?"
"It's yours, Jason. If everything else goes belly up I swear you'll get what you want," Damian promised.
"Give me the list," he said.
So Jason murdered, a lot. Weeks passed tracking and eliminating the names on Hatter's list. Housewives, street kids, government officials and anyone related to SECURE received check marks next to their names. No witnesses or mistakes marred his highly professional assassinations. A child's birthday clown and stinking rich CEO fell identically under his .45s but killing grew as tiresome as any job. It wasn't nearly as flashy as entertainment media made it out to be.
Late one evening Jason descended into the subway system off 8th Avenue carrying a load of plastic bags. He wore a sharp two button suit and felt free without the body armor though to a certain extent somewhat naked. The takeout bags contained half the menu from a high end restaurant called Bastion Fromage a few blocks west.
Silently Jason sat against the wall of the station as people loaded on and off the train. Next to him an unkempt homeless man watched carefully as the well-dressed man began eating eggrolls out of a carton.
"Boy those smell good," the bum said. Without a word Jason extended the carton and the old man took one giving thanks.
"A man dressed like you has a table to go home and eat at which means you sat next to me for a reason," the old man said thoughtfully chewing his eggroll, "Now every afternoon I dig through the dumpster of this restaurant because they got great food that them rich businessmen and their mistresses never finish. So you been watching me. That means you want something." Jason removed a small order of sautéed shrimp and scallops over angel hair pasta extending the dirty man a fork.
"There's only one thing I know about worth a meal this good. That must make you the bad guys like they said. Is this poison?" he asked honestly concerned. In response Jason picked a shrimp from the mound and tossed it in his mouth.
"Fair enough," the old man conceded and dug into the dish. Jason handed him an imported beer wrapped in a brown paper bag. As the man spoke Jason set each container before him revealing a mouthwatering feast.
"They came to me on a weekday. Now you should know I'm just a regular guy. I'm not working undercover. I'm just a hobo. Anyway guy comes up and asks if I want to make some money. He says all I gotta do is report to this lady at the shelter once a week. Tell her what I hear, anything I see in the subway that looks suspicious.
Wasn't until later I put it together. When Batman went missing I knew things were going to be bad. Worst of all is I helped 'em make it that way. Now that I'm with them I see them everywhere and not just watching like me. Some of them are watching me! It's like a chain with no end. For all I know they could be watching us now but screw them. At least I'll die with a full belly.
Even now I wish I could quit but the money is…it helps me get by but it don't mean I don't regret it. I'd hate to see what this world becomes. Beyond that I'm sorry to say I don't know much like who's in charge or where to find them. Sorry buddy," the old bum apologized gulping at his beer. Jason stood, patted him on the shoulder and took the next train.
In front of the small house in the suburbs Jason checked his notes one last time. This listing only gave an address and the name Sunnyside Corporation. He knocked waiting patiently in the afternoon sun although it began to grow hot. Slowly the door opened revealing a middle aged man in a wheelchair.
"Can I help you?" he asked politely.
"Yes, I'm here with Sunnyside Corporation," Jason floated and waited.
"Oh yes, you're looking for Tim. Come on in," the man invited pushing the screen door open, "I'm Jack, Tim's dad." Jack called down to his son who came up the basement stairs two at a time. Before Jason had a chance to register what was happening he stood face to face with Tim Drake, the third boy to take the mantle of Robin.
"Jason," Tim stated looking as stunned as Jason felt, "Dad, this is Jason. He works with me at Sunnyside." They shook and Tim led Jason down to his research room in the basement.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jason demanded as soon as they were out of earshot of Jack.
"Trying to live a normal life and take care of my dad," Tim explained. He was beginning college soon and almost as tall as Jason only thinner. Jason felt unnerved at how much he resembled Dick Grayson.
"No, on the list, the list I have of SECURE agents all over Gotham," Jason specified. Immediately Tim cast his eyes to the floor. He sat slowly at his collection of monitors inviting Jason the other chair.
"It was the company. I just started working there before classes started and I noticed things were off. After a month of digging I figured it out, SECURE I mean. I worked out their plan or most of it and then they took Bruce. That's when I knew it was real so I went to them," Tim stated and Jason shook his head.
"Did they hurt you? Threaten your dad?" Jason guessed.
"No, it's hard to explain."
"Try." Jason demanded.
"They know everyone and everything that happened, things they could never know. They know who we are and who the criminals are. More than that they know what's going to happen. Everything they told me occurred exactly as they said."
"That's because they're causing it all! Come on, Tim. You're smarter than this," Jason insisted but this time it was Tim's turn to shake his head.
"You're the one who doesn't understand," Tim challenged, "This isn't some evil mastermind pulling everyone's strings behind the curtain. This is our chance to change it and do something else. Otherwise it will go on forever."
"What will?"
"Us, them, everything," Tim began to get agitated emphasizing his words with his hands, "They don't want it to stop!"
"Slow down. Who doesn't want it to stop?"
"The people? Gotham? You need to read this," Tim instructed leaving his seat for Jason. Reluctantly he sat at the computer while Tim opened a file.
"This is as concise as I could make it. There's no war Jason, just the predetermined consequences of what we did here. SECURE is just the collector of the debt previously agreed upon," Tim spouted breathlessly. So Jason read, a lot. For hours he ran through Tim's files until he understood more about SECURE than he ever could have hoped.
Horror like he never imagined would come to Gotham with him at the center. The landscape of Gotham would be forever altered after the conclusion, and there was an even worse truth in there Jason intentionally skipped, a truth too monstrous to even consider. Day turned into night while Jason read the end of everything he had ever known. He didn't stop for water or a bathroom break.
When he eventually reached the end he'd cycle back to the beginning again. After countless views he could no longer deny the brutal reality laid out before him. When he felt fully convinced of the truth to the reckoning to come he went over it two more times and was finished. The next time Tim came down to check on him he sat facing him with his back to the computer.
"How can I help?" Jason asked sincerely.