Disclaimer: I do not own any DC Characters including Batman, Superman or anyone else. They all belong to their respected authors. As for Haley Brown, He's my original Character.

Hoody Boy: Elseworld Stories
The Adventures of Haley Brown
Arc Three, Part One: Voices

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Evan City, Illinois: Haley Brown's Home Town, 2 Weeks Prior.
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A Phone rang on and on in the darkened house. The echoes bounced off the walls. A Woman wrapped in a towel, her long brown hair was popping out of the makeshift towel-turban around her head. She picked up the phone and brought the receiver to ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello Tiffany."

"Ah Thomas, calling to beg on your knees again?" She said coldly.

"No Tiffany..." He sobbed a bit, "I just got a letter in the mail from your bother in Gotham. He said that Haley died."

"I know." She said looking not even slightly aghast that her son was killed.

"You sound like you don't care!" He shouted, loud enough for her to draw the phone away from her ear, "He was our son!"

"And he's dead. All we can do is mourn, and you can't mourn forever." She answered.

"You cold bitch!" He shouted, "Why are you like this huh! What sparked this!"

"Well, after your own son shoots you for stating the truth, you tell me." She answered.

"Forget that alright! He was your son, you loved him as much as I did!"

"Up to the point I had him killed." She said, "I wanted him to suffer as much I did."

"What the hell're you talking about Tiff?" He said confused.

"You heard me you sniveling pile of worm shit. I had him killed, I hired a mercenary and he kindly did his job. I paid him good, especially after finishing off Haley." She hissed.

"You BITCH, You whore!" He shouted.

Tiffany looked over at the illuminated clock hanging on the wall, the minute hand was over the 7, making it 9:07.

"Strong words, if you'd had this sort of backbone, maybe Haley would've a twinge smarter." She answered.

"Go screw yourself you whore! You killed our son over a god damn vendetta! You killed him! You killed him you WHORE!"

There was a clatter over on the other end and a scream. A crack of a gun went off and cry of pain. She heard the pleas of her Ex-Husband begging her hired Mercenary to have mercy. She heard the swish of the blade and gurgling throaty yell of pain and thud. The phone crackled.

"Who is this I wonder?" He asked.

"Ah Slade, perfect timing." She said smiling now.

"M'Lady, I'm amazed at this coincidence."

"Mmm, I bet. I see you did your job then? And are expecting final payment?"

"Yes Ma'am. I need to say Brown Recluse, you pay handsomely for this, but I must ask why you didn't do this yourself?"

She smiled, "Because, You owed me a Favor, I scratched your back, you scratched mine. Now we're even, no more debt between us."

"Ah yes, I recall. Still as cruel as ever." Slade complimented.

"And you're still as punctual as a living breathing Grim Reaper." She replied, "Come on over, we'll have a spot of tea."

"Give me an hour or so, I have to make this look more... untidy." Slade answered and hung up the phone.

Haley's Mother, Tiffany, or better known as the reformed Villain, Brown Recluse hung up the phone and smiled. Before she was captured, interrogated and reformed, she, Tiffany Gordon, was one of the foremost female Villains in the world. She'd killed men, a lot of them, money, fame, or for personal enjoyment. It wasn't till Batman, in all his infamy decided to capture her and send her into a personal hell she thought she'd never come out of. Not until Thomas Brown, a brilliant if somewhat delusional scientist came and found her working for low pay at a Bar in Amsterdam.

The two had hit it off and even she, a dangerous Ex-Villain, found a strange attraction to him. They were lovers and they wedded in late July. Haley was born a year later, off by two weeks from the doctors call. He was born and she already knew Haley. He was strong, he never cried, he learned swiftly of how to express wants and needs. She felt a connection to him, someone like this could go extremely far in the world. But, they could never bring him along when they traveled. They left him to Mitch, one of Thomas' friends. When she'd found out that both, he Husband's friend and a doctor had been killed and Haley surviving the aftermath, she knew Haley, with all his strength would do something.

She never expected that he'd turn into something like that. A Vigilante, Batman. A low life, a piece of scum. She was going to show him things, things she knew. His untapped abilities bestowed to him from her. Her prowess, her agility, her brains and her resourcefulness. The one thing that Thomas did give him was luck; blind, stupid, simple luck. He was lucky, lucky about everything, like luck ruled him more then fate or destiny. His destiny was to follow in her footsteps, with all that power, he could've had the world on a whim. But luck, luck had changed his path, changed everything. Loss was what stopped him, it kept him honest. And he took a step farther, becoming that vigilante, using that Hoody the doctor had given him to make himself more then just a mortal person. Forget that he was on par with every meta human in the world, forget training, all he needed was a damn piece of clothing.

By then, She'd known what Haley was doing. All the moonlighting vigilante work. She could peer into his mind when he slept, and she could see every recollection. He needed to be stopped, he needed to be twisted. And he'd forced her hand. She tapped into the mind of his girlfriend, Sara. She was easy, so easy. She had her stab Haley, almost kill him, almost. She should've had him killed, to save her from what had happened later, but she expected Haley to become some twisted, rage filled being of destruction. He did, but after he was done, he reverted back to his normalcy. He became nice again, even with all the misery, pain and anguish he'd given, he was able to put on a smiling face.

And she was given one last option, one final thing. Steadily, after Haley left for that accursed Gotham City, her and Thomas had become more and more angry towards each other. She'd been the one to start this, she was trying to turn Haley, and she'd have to play her trump card. In October, they filed for divorce. She used her untapped sum of cash she'd compiled through her exploits as Brown Recluse and got herself a very good Lawyer. Thomas being a nitwit, thought he'd nip the case in the bud and walk away with most of his earnings. She'd never have it and destroyed their defense with bad evidence and worse tampered with the Lawyers mind, just to be safe. Then came the hearing. Her heart lifted as she saw Haley, but when those... freaks came with him and sat down, she knew there was a problem. Her bother was also there, James, what a idealist.

She forced the Judge's mind, making the hearing one sided. She ordered for Haley to come live with her, but he refused. The Bailiff came forward, and the raggy and drunken brown haired twenty something year-old pulled the gun. He seemed a lot sharper then he appeared. Haley, bless him was stead fast and stubborn, but for all the wrong reasons. Holding it in, she said the truth, all of it. All of it, but Haley chose to ignore her, and he did what she'd never expected. She felt the bullet pummel her to the ground, the pain and everything. And she hated Haley, she loathed him. All her feelings for a protege, a ward were forgotten as soon as that burning hunk of lead buried itself in her.

She was to wage war, to destroy Haley. She wanted to get rid of the embarrassment. Haley had to go. She started scheming right after she got back to her house. And now, the fruits of her labor were plucked. Sure, she expected Slade to be more then a match for Haley, but she never expected Haley to actually hit Slade. The arm shot was amazing. He'd gotten better, if that were possible. He'd become more deadly and efficient. But she'd learned why, his new girlfriend, Alice. She was the daughter of Poison Ivy, her child of the earth. She could not risk any exposure to who would do this and she had to take Ivy after Alice. She was being kept in a windowless room with only a sink and one light to keep her alive. Any more and she'd be able to free herself.

One Slade had reported Haley was dead and she'd seen the picture of his bloody corpse lying on the bridge, she felt a tingle of pain in her heart but she quickly brushed it away. She had done exactly what was necessary. Haley was dead, along with all of his friends, or at least most of them. She didn't know about the white hair one, but James and Ivy's daughter were alive. She ordered Slade to finish the job which proved more difficult since his Injury in the shoulder. He didn't finish his job but she was happy, the main person, her son, the vigilante was dead and that was good enough. No one knew who'd killed Haley other then Batman probably, but no one would go after Slade, it was a death wish.

She giggled a little bit and went to the fridge and removed a Dion Perinon (FYI: I do not know how to spell that guy's name, I saw it on a restaurant I visit a bunch. Its a really fine champagne.) Popping the cork, she poured herself a glass and downed it.

"Here's to you my son... may you look down and see my reasoning..." She answered.

"I have... you psychopathic bitch..." Came a whisper.

"Haley!" She said whipping around, scanning the room, no one.

"I hope you know... Mom." Haley said, ending the sentence with a hint of anger in mom, "That you're crimes will not go unpunished. Your deeds, will not be forgotten, the Universe has a way of unfolding on its own."

"Where are you!" She shouted.

"I'm everywhere... and nowhere." He answered, "I'm dead, walking a different plane of existence. But I'm alive, and I'll get you. Death and Me have an appointment, scheduled within close chronology of each other."

"What do you mean?" She said setting the glass down.

"It means... that I'll be the death of you..." The voice faded.

She looked around, "Haley!" She cried out, "Oh god! Oh God! OH GOD!"

Haley stood in a never ending darkness. The earth itself rotated in front of him. He was a ghost, a thing bound to exist in this reality, he could haunt things, possess things. The Devil had offered him a spot in hell, he kindly turned it down and gave the Devil himself some grief by shooting one of the demons by his side. His gun, the Vesper, was with him in the afterlife. Alice, James, Uncle Jim, had all given him something. Alice had given him her love, a powerful reason to exist if any at all. James had given him his Vesper, the weapon he'd use to strike down upon those who'd killed him, and Uncle Jim had given him the escape. He'd given him the way of getting out of this.

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Gotham City, Two Weeks and 3 Days later
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James rolled over in bed, his brown hair messy and standing up from static electricity. In his dream, he was in a Bar, downing beer after beer. He was angry, and in his dream, he was justified in his anger.

"Hello James..."

James turned around and shook his head, "Christ, I shouldn't half drunk dat flamin' hey-zeus."

"Yeah, you look a tad smashed, but its your dream, you can be as drunk as you want, I just wouldn't mind if you'd sober up so I might talk with you."

James held up his index finger to incur for just a minute and cracked his neck. He spit off to the side and shook his head.

"Alright... how'd you get in my head?" James asked.

"Nevermind this..." Haley answered looking at him, "I want you to teach me how to shoot."

"What do you mean teach you how to shoot?" James answered.

"I want you to teach me how you shoot to be more specifically. I want to be able to hit a fly off the back end of a pigs ass at 500 Yards with a piece of shit Smith and Wesson."

"You're not talking about shooting, you're talking about Marksmanship. Uncanny Marksmanship. It took me hundreds of years and a lot of work to get that good Haley. You think you can just learn it now?" James answered.

"No... I'm going to master it." Haley said looking at him, "Just show me how."

James looked at him in the eye, the seriousness, it was Haley. That was the look of a plan. He knew Haley, he was deadly, stubborn and ballsy. But when Haley had a plan, he was unbelievable. Every detail worked out, every idea thought of, all angles covered. James knew he'd give Haley what he needed, he was his friend, and he'd help his friend regardless of situation.

"Alright. Give me a sec, I gotta change the surrounding a little bit." James answered.

The pub shifted, the sun rose over them and the sky was filled in with blue and the ground rolled across them, it was flat, for miles and miles. Fence posts popped out and the wood raced around them. A Farm popped up from out of no where.

"Alright. This'll be where I show you." James answered.

"Looks like a farm out in Smallville... don't go there, I don't suggest it." Haley smiled.

"Eh, right now, that's unimportant." James remarked, "Now draw your gun. And shoot that fly on that pigs ass." Pointing all the way down on the other side.

The figure was tiny. Haley squinted and still didn't see anything. James shook his head, and pulled out one of his hand cannons and took aim lazily. He fired. Time seemed to stop and nothing moved, nothing, not even the bullet. James calming stepped away from the bullet and walked to Haley who was looking around.

"I want you to follow me and this bullet right here and I'll explain everything that went through my mind as I pulled that trigger." James answered.

Haley walked over and he saw the bullet start moving, roughly at a walking pace. James went to the other side of it.

"Now, I never had someone teach me this kind of thing, and I'm sure you've no clue how to really fire a gun." James said walking with the bullet.

"Yeah." Haley answered.

"The first thing that went through my head..." James answered looking at him, "I felt for the shot, the timing has to be perfect. And only the person who is firing can feel it. It tells your mind that it is the perfect shot. It says to the mind, "This one shot, is all that is required of us, it will be accurate, it will not miss.". And you must trust this, if you trust it, you will hit it." James answered.

The bullet kept moving towards the figure which was growing more and more into the looks of a pig.

"The second thing that went through my head, was self assurance." James tapped his temple, "I never doubt myself when I pull the trigger. I never contemplate my action. I reflect on them, I never plan them. I never predict anything, I never guess. I'm either sure, or I'm not. When I fire a bullet, I'm sure I will hit. It's after my shot that I will look back at my action."

The bullet was still moving right towards the pig and now Haley could see something on it ass. He shook his head.

"The last thing, is the most important thing." James answered pointing toward the pig, "The knowledge of my surroundings. You can listen to those pukes tell you of wind speed, and leading the target and all that shit but they're simply trying to make excuses for their inaccuracies. Wind, Rain, Snow, Explosions, whatever the hell you're having to put up with, does not effect your shot, it does not effect your shot." James repeated, "It is you that effects your shot. If you let these things influence you, it will influence your shot. Environment and conditions make no difference."

The walked up to the pig with the bullet inches away from the dot, Haley guessed as a fly. James snapped his finger and instantly the bullet rushed past and hit the ground. The fly exploded and the pig took off squealing helplessly.

"If you follow those three rules, you'll hit. And believe me, any shot you take, even if banked off a wall, or a mirror or a window, it will hit. You can take out two guys with one shot. It is not easy, it is extremely hard, but if you do it once, it gets easier and easier. Till finally..."

Haley felt a rush and he watched in the moment prior. James drawing his gun lazily and firing.

"You get to where the gun is simply an extension of yourself and you feel the shot every time." James answered.

Haley looked at him, "I want to try, before I go." He said clutching his Vesper and looking at it.

James snapped his finger and the two were standing outside again in the pasture. He gestured for Haley to take his shot.

Haley took aim at the speck 500 yards or so away. He felt his hand, the Vesper in his fingers and he relaxed. He felt the feeling coming up his arm. It wasn't the feeling of exhaustion, it was tingly and warm. It went to his fingers and his heart skipped a beat.

He pulled the trigger and watched, as if in slow motion as the bullet raced toward the speck. James patted him on the back as the pig took off.

"Congrats Haley." He said looking at him.

"Holy shit..." Haley whimpered, "How in the... it..."

James shook his head, "Haley, remember that feeling. But I want to get up now. You know, go back to the real world, this dream was great and seeing you has personally made me happy but I have to go."

"I understand. Just do me a favor. Don't tell anyone about this, I mean no one." Haley answered, James nodded and closed his eyes.

James woke up with a inhale and shook his head. Amy looked at him from the door way.

"Morning sleepy head." She answered.

"Agh, what time is it?"

"9 in the morning." Amy answered.

"Least the bastard was punctual." James muttered scratching the back of his head.

"Who?" She asked.

"No one..." James smiled, "Just a good dream."