Hello internet!

Cursing warning! (It's from Jason Todd's POV, what'd you expect?)

Enjoy!

Jason probably could've stood there all night contemplating everything he'd just learned and heard, wallowing in the emotions that seemed so foreign in this life after seeing his brother for the first time and realizing said brother wasn't actually against him (very nearly with him at that), pondering the recent and impending events, and considering his options and the magnitude of what the gun in his hand meant. He could've stood there for hours trying to sort it all out, trying to figure out his next move or regret his last moves, trying to organize that barrage of conflicting emotions and information screaming at him, trying to quell the rush of adrenaline that seemed to come for no reason now a days and make him act rashly (well, more than usual), and trying to understand what the hell was going on in this new world he woke up to and in his brain.

He could've, but he decided to brush it all aside for now and break the damn skylight.

He'd catch up with Dick later.

The glass made a pleasant shattering sound that fell like rain with Red Hood in the middle of it. The landing was nothing, as Jason mentally flashed back to the days when Dick spent hours and hours and hours drilling into his brothers how to survive a fall from as high up as a forty story building without a grappling hook. Even in this second life, those lessons were instinct now so that a measly thirty feet didn't even break his stride.

He straightened up and glanced about at the criminals looking surprise/amusement at his arrival. He doubted even they'd heard about his reputation just yet, or that he'd taken Batman out seeing as that only happened twelve hours ago. Rumors took time to infiltrate the layers of Arkam Asylum- where guards were forbidden to talk to residents simply for fear of themselves going insane or swayed/fooled by the insane. Which, if the prison's reputation was anything to go by, was a pretty high possibility.

Hood did a quick scan, though he already knew who was in here this week.

Poison Ivy was in the middle of gently coaxing a potted plant (which really shouldn't have been growing in the lightless cell) to grow some colorful flowers, and was the only one not wary of the intruder. Of course, she used her "womanly wiles" to get her way with men both criminal and hero alike, and simply the concept the new arrival was a guy had her at ease. She smiled a crimson grin at him, fluttering her lashes and the plants around her bristled.

He ignored her.

He'd lost the ability to see the beauty in a woman, oh say, 'bout a year ago. Something about reliving your death and going insane made that less-than-important.

Bane was glaring warningly at him, as if daring him to approach the glass and confront him.

Red was forever annoyed by that guy and almost always took the opportunity to take up that unspoken challenged and try and beat the heck out of the bulky moron, but he had other things on his mind than messing with Bane right then.

The Scarecrow—sans mask and gas so he wasn't terribly frightening right then, simply looking like a giddy young guy watching him with wide, curiously sadistic eyes— hummed at him in a thoughtful way, wondering what he was doing.

Two Face must've been having a bad day, because he didn't even look up from where he was staring transfixed on the wall, absent mindedly flipping a coin on one hand. Jason briefly considered killing that bastard too, remembering sharply what he did to Dick all those years ago, but decided against it. It wasn't in his plans at the moment, and that kill was rightfully Dick's. Perhaps one day, they'd see would see closer to eye-to-eye if they'd bond over that. Maybe one day Dick would understand killing his own torturer could actually be fun if he didn't let those dumb-ass morals he'd caught from Bruce get in the way all the time.

He shelved that one for the moment.

"What do we have here?" Penguin asked curiously, grinning a pointy-tooth grin as he pressed his nose up against the glass at the curiosity before them.

"House call." Red Hood deadpanned, not glancing over to him but staring transfixed at the cell in front of him.

Joker grinned at him.

"Ooooo, are you a doctor?" He laughed sharply. "Come to play house?" He giggled, his blank eyes widening unnaturally. "You couldn't get Batman to kill me, and I'm sure we've met before… did we double at the prom? Oh! I know! You're one of Harley's playthings, right? No, no, wait! You really are a doctor!"

"No, I came to kill you." Hood said just as calmly as before. Everyone but Joker leaned back in wariness at that declaration.

"You're gonna have to let him out for that, which I do not recommend. Raving lunatic when allowed any leeway at all." Penguin sniffed, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, he wants to play and no one wants to play since Harley escaped so boo you party pooper!" Joker hollered at him, never losing his grin. "I get to see this impersonator twice in a night, am I lucky or what?"

"Please kill him…" Bane grunted, banging his head against the glass in frustration. "I can't take anymore…" He groaned.

"If you're serious hun, you should hurry. Batman won't be too happy someone broke in here…" Ivy purred. "By the way… what's your name?" She batted her lashes again, and this time Jason spared her an eye-roll.

"Red Hood." He said shortly. "And Batman's currently in the hospital. You're right about him disagreeing with me."

They stared at him in stunned silence.

"Bull shit." Bane growled, but his apparent disbelief and shock taking away from the aggressive tone.

"That is not possible." Ivy said in a daze. "Batman…"

"Batman trained me. You'd think he'd make sure I didn't surpass him." Hood chuckled coldly, walking casually up to the glass in front of Joker. "It didn't turn out well for him."

"W-wait, h-he…?" Penguin freaked.

Hood pulled a crowbar from where it was strapped on his back and launched it at the glass in front of him. It imbedded deep in the wall, spider webbing it with cracks, but did not break. Everyone could see the deep blood stains and the rust on the faded steel.

"Recognize that?" Hood sneered at the clown who had tilted his head in curiosity at the weapon breaking through his cell.

Suddenly the clown jumped as if he'd been electrocuted and started laughing hysterically until tears started streaming down his white cheeks. He howled and laughed while the other villains stared at him in confusion and wariness (what else is new?) and a slight tremor of fear.

Red Hood was not amused.

"Shut up you sick son of a bitch," He growled, gripping the steel pole and ripping it free from the glass as if it were a knife from butter, and shards of glass fell and shattered to the floor which he paid no heed to.

Joker launched himself up to the glass, pressing his face up against it with wide, happy eyes and a vindictive smile.

"Boy Blunder! It's you! Oh we had such fun last time... though you didn't have quite as much fun that time did you?" He giggled.

"Oh yeah, beating me to death with a crow bar was such fun," Hood growled twirling the crow bar in a business-like manner. "Right up until you killed me, sure it was fun… in fact, I'm here to return the favor." He swung the bar and it hit the glass with a thundering crack, but still refused to shatter. Hood didn't seem surprised at that, more just getting his frustration out.

"Well, he obviously didn't kill you- you're still here!" Penguin snarked, unable to keep the know-it-all side of himself quiet.

"I was dead for four months until Ra al Guhl brought me back out of pity. He hired you, didn't he?" Hood demanded of the Joker. "Didn't mean for you to kill me you twisted bastard, and I got to get my brain ripped out and rearranged in the afterlife all to come back and finish you…"

Joker tilted his head to the side as all the other villains backed far away from their cell entrances in fear at the news.

This guy had died.

And come back.

To kill the Joker.

AND was a Bat to top it all off, who'd just beaten BATMAN- hospitalized him even.

Oh, this was SO bad.

"You were really a Robin?" Ivy breathed, unable to picture the sweet little boy—both the first and second, and now third one—as this full-grown, aggressive, violent villain…/hero?

"Unfortunately." Hood grunted. "Fat lot of good it did me. To the grave and back in the name of one raving madman and my so called father never even considered killing the man responsible. Call it fate, now I get to do it my way." He laughed darkly, upholstering one of his guns and open fired at the glass, which cracked dangerously but still did not break.

Joker still didn't seem afraid, and was still laughing hysterically as he watched the glass persist. It only made Red Hood angrier and angrier.

Of course the psychopath wouldn't fear death- he lived for death and probably never felt any of the pain he ever received thanks to the maddening happy delusions he lived in. He would never stop laughing, never suffer like Jason had. There was no way to get revenge, killing him or not, no way to make him pay with the same pain, because he could never feel it.

Except…

Jason thought himself as a sort of "gun expert" recently, and he recognized the gun Dick gave him was… different, in a way he sort of found familiar. It was like a dream he'd long ago forgotten but came back like an echo when he'd caught the black metal weapon. Just holding it, he could hear the argument Dick had once had with Bruce, years and years ago when they didn't know or care that Jason could hear them, about making a weapon that would make Joker sane. Bruce had forbidden it—calling it as cruel as what Joker himself did—but Jason knew by the glint in Dick's ice blue eyes that he wouldn't forget that notion. It was like the plans for the weapon had already been made and perfected in the genius mind that was Richard Grayson, and simply waiting for a moment to take life in the form of a tangible, gun-metal killer…

Taking revenge once Jason was dead… isn't that what he'd wanted of his father? Dick already had the plans, the idea and the means, and then the anger and the right reason to use it…

He hadn't talked to Bruce since. Bruce would no doubt be angry if he did create this weapon, much less use it. It all made sense.

"You know, my brother didn't try to stop me tonight." He said thoughtfully, more to himself than anything, but the Joker stopped laughing long enough to listen.

"Thought I better off dead too, huh?" Joker agreed in mock sympathy. "And is this the first boy blunder we're talking about? Haven't seen him in ages… do you think he'd want to come play too?"

"No, he doesn't want me to kill you, and yes, he was the first Robin. For some reason he did something to you that force him to leave Gotham…" Red supplied, and Joker tilted his head to the side.

"Riveting stuff, really, but shouldn't you be trying to kill me?" He laughed.

"Moron." Bane grumbled under his breath.

"No, that's what I'm saying…" Jason said as patiently as he ever could. "He met me here tonight because he doesn't want me to kill you… and I think I get that you messed up mother fucker could never fear death… so…" Moment of truth: he holstered his own gun and slipped Dick's out from behind his back.

For the first time, Joker stopped dead mid-laugh, still grinning, but staring at the gun perfectly still.

Thank you gypsy boy. Jason thought with a surge of pleasure. He wanted Joker afraid, and apparently this gun was the only thing that would work. Not even crowbars or death…just this.

And this could be repeated.

Many times in fact.

Oh, thank you, thank you Dickie bird.

"What is that?" Scarecrow demanded as the villains all clambered to see what had the Joker acting so strange.

"No, it can't be…" Ivy gasped, recognizing the weapon. She must have been around the first time, Jason mused… good, she could spread the word that Joker wasn't as untouchable as he portrayed. He DID have a weakness…!

"What!? What's going on!?" Penguin screeched in annoyance.

"Something my brother invented, just for this monster." Hood said, the pleased, sadistic edge in his tone clearly evident. "Don't ask me what's in it because I'm no scientist, but it's a sort of magic bullet…" He guessed, and by Ivy's frightened look he realized he was dead on.

"It makes things not funny." Ivy said quietly, and they all stared at the Joker in amazement. Jason dimly noted his suspicions were correct, but it was overshadowed by his glee that this gun would actually make the Joker stop laughing!

"Let's see how happy you are to see that crow bar after a round or two in your gut…" Jason said casually aloud, fighting back his sadistic joy. Everyone was completely shocked when the Joker didn't make a sound, his pale white hands actually trembling against the glass now… even if his grin didn't fade just yet.

He was afraid. THE Joker was AFRAID. Not of death, but of being serious.

How clever.

Jason started to cackle wildly, and the other villains almost wished for Joker to start laughing gain, just to drown out the insane laugh of the young man before them.

His laugh, not quite as insane as Joker's, but forever more violent, and forever more terrifying.