Jason was chasing a pedophile ring. His target was the leader of the ring. However, someone beat him to it. All Jason found was the massacre.

There was a mark on the wall. It was a circle with another spiral circle inside.

Jason knew this symbol. It was the symbol of the greatest assassin of all time: Viperion. She was considered the greatest warrior, just like Lady Shiva. Even though she was young, between 20 and 30 years old. It was only three years ago that this Viperion appeared.

There were even rumors that she had beaten all the best assassins in single combat (and that included Slade Wilson). Of course, these were just rumors. However, rumors were always based on some truth, no matter how small.

This assassin was special. She only eliminated criminals. Viperion had a reputation for never missing a target, and she would chase her prey until it was gone.

Jason knew that Bruce had already confronted her. Viperion had appeared in Gotham to eliminate the Joker. Not only had she succeeded, but she had also seriously injured Bruce. Since then, he had made it very clear that if any of them came across her, they should retreat and call for backup.

The young man wasn't afraid of this Viperion, on the contrary, he had immense respect for her. On the contrary, he had a great deal of respect for her. In any case, Jason had respect for all those who managed to make Bruce go crazy.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a voice.

"Ssssssss. Isn't that the great Red Hood? "

Jason was ready to shoot, but before he could, the figure behind him managed to disarm him and throw him to the ground. The young man found himself in front of a person dressed in a bluish-green snake-patterned outfit, which didn't leave much room for imagination. She had a hood that was black with yellow lines on each side, giving the impression that they were snake eyes. Her face was masked, but he could make out two yellow eyes staring at him.

She held out a hand to him. Jason looked at the hand that was held out to him, then took it to get up. Viperion handed him his weapon, which he took back.

"I like you, I resssssspect what you do. Ssssssso, we're going to pretend you didn't ssssssee anythhhhhhing. Deal?"

"Deal."

She smiled at him, walked past him and jumped out the window of the room, disappearing into the night. Jason had no desire to fight her. Why should he? Jason left as well, as if nothing had happened. Now he could boast that he had met Viperion and was still alive to tell the tale.

He met her for the second time on his way to Paris. He was tracking down a mime organization that wanted to take over the real arms trade in the city of love. He had managed to eliminate a good part of the group but was once again outmatched by Viperion. Once again, she looked at him, ignored him and left.

The third time, Jason was in Russia. He was on the trail of a criminal organization that had brought a devastating new form of drug to market. This time, while surveying the building he was going to infiltrate, he came across Viperion again.

"You again?"

"What can I say? I hear I'm a pain in the ass."

She looked at him for a moment, then came and sat down next to him.

Jason had already figured it out before (and it was still offensive), but Viperion wasn't afraid of him at all. He even had the feeling that she was completely underestimating him. Jason was curious to know if all these rumors were true. Was this little woman by his side really capable of beating someone of Shiva's caliber? Still, she had managed to give Bruce a serious wound, and had poisoned him. Bruce had never fully recovered from their encounter.

After almost an hour of total silence, Jason saw the members of the organization arrive. It was time to act. He straightened up, then glanced at the woman at his side. She looked like she wasn't ready to move. Jason chose to ignore her and went off to deal with the criminals.

Viperion never came.

When Jason finished his work and was about to leave, he found that Viperion was still in the same place. He saw her waving at him and left.

Weird.

The fourth time Jason ran into Viperion was just after Bruce had beaten him up for shooting the Penguin, and it had been broadcast live on television. Viperion was the one who saved him. She told him something that left him confused when he woke up.

"Don't worry about Batman, he'sssss not going to lift a finger againsssssst you for a long, long time."

Jason had no idea why Viperion had saved him. She had treated him and cared for him with great kindness. He recovered from his injuries quickly. Curiosity spoke louder and one day Jason ended up asking the young woman why she had saved him.

"Sssssimply because I have ressssspect for you. You do what few people are capable of. In a way we bottttth have the ssssssame philosophy."

"Hmm... And what do you think my philosophy is?"

"You can't ssssstop crime. We can, however, control it. You can try to deal wittttttth the criminalsssss by giving them fear, but what about the onessssss who aren't afraid? Sssssssomeone hassss to do what the heroessss can't, you have to take them out."

Jason says nothing. He indeed had in the past this kind of feeling. Now he wasn't really sure he had the same mentality. However, after what Bruce had just done to him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to believe Batman's policy.

Jason stayed with Viperion even after he recovered. He had lost his two best friends, Artemis and Bizarro, in one night. He felt terribly alone. Jason began to wonder if he was better off dead. He really wished he had never come back to life.

After a few months of accompanying Viperion, no longer as Red Hood, but as "Aspic", he understood what the young woman meant by "Batman isn't going to lay a finger on you for a long, long time". Since he had been with Viperion, he hadn't tried to contact any of Batman's allies again, nor did he try to find out what they were doing. Then he came across a piece of information: Batmsan was wanted for the murder of Red Hood.

Someone had filmed Batman beating up Red Hood and ripping off the bat symbol on his chest. Batman is then seen walking away, leaving Red Hood's lifeless body behind, without a backward glance. Then, apparently, Red Hood's body was found some time later in the same place by police officers.

This video went viral.

Jason had mixed feelings. First, he was relieved that no one was looking for him, at least he didn't have to worry about being chased. On the other hand, he didn't like the idea of pretending to be dead. Although the idea of everyone believing Bruce was his killer was... satisfying, he had to admit it.

"How did you do it?"

"It'ssssss my power."

"Power? You're a meta-human?"

"No."

Viperion then showed him that her uniform was actually due to a magical jewel. This jewel gave her the power to go back in time. Without the uniform, she was a beautiful young woman with black hair and blue eyes. Viperion's real name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"This video you're seeing actually happened before I went back in time."

"...Batman... killed me?"

"Yes."

"So, the body..."

"It's your body, but in a reality where Batman killed you. I erased that reality by going back in time. However, to save you and keep you safe, I got your body back before I went back in time. The rest is just a trick. I have an assassin friend who can create illusions. I was able to save you before Batman killed you, my friend made him think he had neutralized you. Then I put the body I had retrieved in your place. When Batman contacted the police to come and arrest you, they instead found a dead Red Hood."

"..."

"I have a whole team working with me, I'm not alone. The truth is, I've had my eye on you for a while. I was thinking about recruiting you. I'm glad I was there to help you."

She walked over to him and stroked his cheek.

" About your past self, the body disappeared after a month. It was preserved because I had used magic. You have a choice, Jason; you can go back to Batman if you want to and pretend that you have revived again. You can stay with me and join my Team; you can leave and change your life... It's up to you. "

Jason chooses to stay with Viperion. He met Marinette's Team. It was composed of Rena Rouge (aka Alya Cesaire), Pegasus (aka Max Kanté) and Mayura (aka Nathalie Sancoeur). All of them had lost their loved ones because of criminals. And unfortunately, none of them could receive the justice they deserved. The justice system had ignored them, because those who had attacked them were rich and influential people, so the "justice" closed its eyes.

Jason became Cat Noir.

Time passed.

Jason eventually developed feelings for Marinette. And the feelings were mutual. They ended up dating.

Several years passed.

Marinette and Jason were expecting their first child. Marinette was in her 6th month of pregnancy. They decided to take a break for a while, at least until the baby was old enough to go to school. They had decided to move to Martinique. It was a beautiful island with year-round sunshine.

Everything was going well for them, until a voice interrupted their peace.

"Jason...?"

Marinette and Jason turned around. They found themselves in front of the last person they would have expected to meet on this island.

Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne.

The young man looked at Jason with bulging eyes, then his gaze turned to Marinette. He stared at her, then at her belly, then looked up to look Jason in the eye.

Although they didn't show it, Jason and Marinette were in a panic. Jason put everything on the line.

"I'm sorry, sir, but... Do we know each other?"

Tim frowned.

They were in trouble.