Note: Battle-royale and a few other things. I do not own Batman, Robin, Red Hood, the Teen Titans, or any affiliated characters thereof.
Academic Peer Review
Chapter 2
Ordinarilly, when a group of super-powered individuals charges at a person, and those individuals look like they're considering murder, the person they're gunning for generally gives up. There is a small percentage of the criminal and super-criminal population for which this does not hold true.
Jason Todd was a man who could be counted as among that percentage. And he proved it.
He whipped out a pistol and fired a burst of rounds at Beast Boy before the kid could even shift form. The rounds took him in the stomach and, as Jason had assumed, Beast Boy wasn't wearing anything particularly bullet-proof. He dropped like a rock to the floor, clutching his gut.
Jason ran to intercept Raven, punching her in the midsection, digging his finger underneath her ribs, aiming for her liver. He pulled back to avoid the vomit that shot from her mouth, before knocking her out with a haymaker.
Cyborg fired at him. He rolled underneath the energy beam, and tossed a small, disc-shaped device at him. The device quickly sent thousands of volts of electricity raging through and across Cyborg's body, overloading him, short-circuiting him. Jason slid the metal pipe out of the arm of his jacket and smashed off a portion of the robotic half of Cyborg's face.
Starfire prepared to send a wide, large blast of energy at him. He tossed his coat in front of her, then simply lept over it, letting the blast engulf Robin, who'd been sneaking up behind him and obscured from her view by the tossed coat. Jason planted both his feet firmly in Starfire's face, knocking her out.
Jason stopped, and looked around.
"Less than a minute to take you all down. So, so disappointing. You kids need to shape up. Your boss especially. In fact, I've got just the plan."
When the Titans came to, they found a slip of paper on the table in the main room.
"Find me at the place where all go to find salvation." Robin said, reading the slip.
"So, where do we go to find him?" Beast Boy asked.
"I've got an idea." Robin replied.
Jason sat at the bench, his head bowed. He heard the doors behind him open.
He smirked.
"How many of these have you checked in the last hour?"
"Doesn't matter, Todd. I never took you for the religious type." Robin said.
"Why? Because of how I deal with criminals? I may not attend Sunday services out of respect for those who I'd shame with my presence, but just because I kill people doesn't mean I'm not religious. In fact, I can guarantee I'm religious because of that fact. Plus, there's something about being killed then brought back to life that tends to foster faith in a person."
"I can't wait to hear the logic behind this." Cyborg said.
"You ever looked over prison records, kiddies? You know how many criminals in a single prison turn to one religion or another during their stint, and remain devoted followers when they get out? Enough that if I gave you the figures, you'd think I was lying. But, you see, I know it's not religion they're seeking. They're looking for redemption. Forgiveness. Answers."
"So what are you looking for?" Raven asked.
"I'm not looking for anything, Raven. Other than the potential aid of Providence when I go hunting down scum. I found what I was looking for a long time ago. Now, I just keep it up to make sure I know how to explain myself when my time comes."
"You really think you'll even have the chance to?" Robin asked.
"I'd like to think all of us have the chance to explain our actions, save a few. I know what I do, each night. I break the first divine law we ever got as a species, according to some faiths. Every night, I break it. But I do it because some laws must be broken for the sake of the greater good. For some people, the only fair punishment is death. That's what I do. I've realized that. And I can sleep soundly at night, which is more than most people can say."
"We don't care what you tell yourself to go to sleep at night, Todd. We're here to bring you in." Robin said.
"I assumed as much. Give me a minute, and we can go."
"Go? Go where?"
"Outside, of course. We should at least respect the place, and not beat each other senseless in here, don't you think?"
"I can't fault that. Come on. Let's wait outside." Robin said.
The Titans filed out.
Two minutes later, Jason walked out.
And was greeted by the Titans surrounded by a small army of cops.
"Well. I've been bamboozled." He said.
"You certainly have. You coming quietly, or are you gonna be in a hospital for a few months getting bullets pulled out? Robin called.
"Alright. I've putting my hands up. I'll come quietly." Jason said.
He walked down the steps towards the line of cops and the Titans.
When he reached them, he twitched his wrist.
A tiny glass vial fell out of his glove.
It smashed against the ground, and a cloud of gas billowed forth.
When it cleared, Jason was back on the steps, with an unconscious Starfire in his arms, a gun pointed at her head.
"This whole little, I don't know, exercise, has had one reason. It's a lesson. For you, junior."
"What are you talking about?" Robin yelled.
"Simple. You're good. You've got potential. And the fact that you ran out on the old man shows that you haven't been completely molded into his dogmatic way of thinking. I just need to test how far you're willing to go."
"What makes you think you'll get the chance?"
"The fact that you can't stop me, Timmy."
"The hell I can't!" He ran at Jason, who shot him in the knee.
Jason slid a large rectangular tube with a strap from his duffel bag, and strapped the tube to Starfire. He touched a button on the tube, and a weather balloon on a long line shot out and quickly rose high into the air.
"Sorry to run, but I've got some things to take care of. Be seeing you."
There was a roar of plane engines, and suddenly Jason was yanked into the sky by a blackbird.
To Be Continued in The Test.
In case clarification is needed: Jason was waiting in a church. He escaped using the Skyhook method of recovery, a la Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight. He owned the Titans because he's basically Batman with no self-imposed operational constraints and no utility belt. Keep an eye out for The Test to see how this is ultimately resolved.