Name: Jason Todd
Physical age: 10
Mental Age 21
Jason looked around the golden tunnel as he, Weiss, Oscar, and Ruby. He was going to kill Salem for taking his Daughter from him. He was going to torture her for what she'd done to Weiss.
He saw Oscar and Ruby wink out of existence and held onto Weiss with all the strength he could muster.
They began being pulled apart, and they grabbed hands.
"Don't let go!" Weiss shouted.
"I won't!" He shouted back.
They held on even though it physically hurt to stay together. They thought they were going to be able to stay together, but they were ripped apart and thrown away from each other.
"WEISSS!" He shouted.
"JASONNNN!" Weiss shouted.
"I SWEAR THAT I'LL FIND YOU! NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES! I'LL FIND YOU!"
Before either of them could answer they were gone. Weiss stuck in a cold room in Atlas after waking up from a horrible nightmare, and Jason coming to his senses in a Mansion in Vale.
Jason jolted out of bed, falling to the floor. Looking around he recognized this room. It was his room from when he was ten, before Cliff showed him how to make his Mindscape, or Shadow Realm. He looked around and was shocked.
He had things that he needed to do. Creating an army of shadow clones, he sent them about their specific jobs. He needed to find Loki, rescue Coral, Check on his Friend's, find Ruby and Oscar, go check on Weiss, set up a meeting with Dr. Thompkins, keep an eye on General Ironwood, kill Jacques, start fixing up Vale, set Todd Enterprises and Todd Tech into motion...
"Master Jason?" Cliff asked. "Are you All right?"
"No Cliff, no I am not. I need you to set up an appointment with Dr. Thompkins as soon as possible."
"Are you sure?" Cliff asked, hopeful. "You have rejected my attempts in the past."
"I'm a little fucked up Cliff. Please set the appointment."
"Of course, Master Jason." Cliff Left to make the appointment.
Jason's shadow clone found Loki and he took control of that clone, leaving a clone in his place.
Loki was mourning the loss of Shiera when she felt Jason's presence. Getting up she looked at him, but he was different. He looked more put together, more... sane. "Jay?"
"Enough mourning Loki. Shiera wouldn't want us to waste away like this. Come on. There's another girl who's in trouble of dying if we don't do something."
"What?" Loki asked, confused. "Jason, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we need to move before another girl dies. I'm not strong enough to save her myself. I need your help."
It looked like Jason, sounded like Jason, but wasn't acting like Jason. "Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm still Jason, but I've realized that I need help. I can't be strong all the time. I broke and this is the result."
"Where's this girl?" Loki asked.
"This way." Jason grabbed her hand, and they ran to a building that didn't look like much. Jason pulled out twin Katana and kicked open the door.
Running inside he looked around and saw Mahogany. "HEY ASSHOLE!" He shouted.
Mahogany looked at him and activated his Semblance.
Loki ran in and saw Jason fall. "WHAT DID YOU DO!" She shouted, glowing black.
The room was filled with screams as Loki and Mahogany were screaming as Loki saw Mahogany's worst fear. His creations rising up and killing him.
"You see the people YOU tortured as creations!" She roared. "YOU TORTURED THEM!"
Jason looked at the girl on the floor, cradling her mother's head in her lap. She was crying, but she watched Loki, and felt something. She felt something for Loki.
Loki grabbed Mahogany and slammed him into the wall.
Mahogany looked at Coral. "Protect me." He gasped.
"Fuck That!" Loki shouted. "She doesn't have to do ANYTHING you tell her to do!"
Coral felt something wake up inside her soul.
Mahogany grabbed Loki and activated his Semblance causing her to pass out.
"NOO!" Coral shouted, cutting up with her claws, cutting into his back.
Mahogany backhanded Coral only for Jason to jump in front of her and take the hit for her.
Coral sliced up, gutting Mahogany.
Mahogany grabbed his stomach, trying to keep his insides inside his body. "No!" He yelled. "You can't kill me! You're alive because of me."
"I never wanted to be born!" Coral snapped before kicking Mahogany down into the cellar before Jason slammed the door closed, locking it.
"Grab Your Mother, I'll grab Loki. Let's get the fuck out of here."
"I'm staying." Coral said.
"What?" Jason asked.
"I'm staying. I was created here. I'll die here. I don't want to live. I've done things that I can't ever be forgiven for, just kill me and let me atone that way."
"What if I told you that there are kids outside that you could help? Orphans you could protect. That's how you could make amends. Protect the children."
"After what I've done? Do you think that I deserve a second chance at life after what I've done?"
"You Aren't the only one who's had a bad past. Loki has, I have, my best friend has. Loki was a drug mule for years. She didn't have any control over that. I am Red, the Red, from the streets. I think that you deserve a second chance."
"Really?" Coral asked.
"Yes. What Mahogany made you do, that wasn't you. You want to use your skills to help people. You don't want to kill or harm another person. Use your skills for what you want to do."
"I want to bury my mother."
"I can help you with that."
"I want to destroy this place."
"Done."
"I want to help people."
"Great. I can help you with that."
"You said something about Orphans?"
"I am currently scouring the city for Orphans. I'm going to put together orphanages that will actually help them get adopted. Those who don't, I'll train to be Hunters or get them the training they want so they can get into Beacon or get jobs or just survive. It sucks living on the streets. I'm going to clean up Vale so no other child has to ever live on the streets."
"You're like five." Coral said, shocked. "Why is a five year old doing all this?"
"I'm ten." Jason explained. "I don't want people to go through the same thing I did."
Coral thought about that. "How can I make sure no one goes through what I've gone through?"
"Well, you can't die." Jason explained. "You need to live. You can't make sure no one else goes through what you went through if you're dead."
Coral nodded. "I want to give my mother a proper burial."
"I can arrange for that."
"I'll go with you then."
"Great. Let's go." Jason picked up Loki and left the building.
Coral followed, carrying her mother.
Once outside Jason used his shadow to pull on the support structures of the building, causing it to collapse. "Let's go." He said.
"Where are we Going?"
"Somewhere Safe." Jason Said, leading them back to Todd Manor.
Coral stared up at the massive manor with her mouth touching the ground. She had never seen a house this big before.
"You will have a room to yourself, and free run of the manor. I do have an armory in the basement, along with a sparring area. Feel free to use them to your hearts content. Of course, if you only want to use your claws that's fine. I have no problem with anyone based on whether they are human or Faunus, but if they hurt another innocent..." Jason went silent and jumped to another shadow clone.
"As I was saying..." the Shadow Clone continued. "...So Long As you don't hurt another innocent person, we're good."
"What was That?" Coral asked.
"Oh. I have a Semblance that allows me to create shadow clones, and then use them to be anywhere and everywhere. I'm currently helping a pair of twins whose mother just got stabbed."
"Oh fuck! Are they okay? Is the mother, okay?"
"Yes. I've activated her Aura and she's healing. I've also hunted down the bastard who stabbed her."
"Oh, thank you. I was worried that they would be made orphans."
"Not on my watch."
"Good." Coral looked at her mother's corpse, that she had killed, that Mahogany had made her kill.
"Let's put her to rest." Jason said, motioning out back.
Coral followed him and they laid her mother to rest.
"If it would help..." Jason began. "...I can name an orphanage after her? It's not much, but her name could mean something."
"I think she would have liked that. With how much she loved me, she must have loved children, and must have been forced to work for him."
Jason knew the truth, this was better.
Meanwhile
Jason had switched places with a shadow clone and looked inside the apartment. A woman with black hair and dull blue eyes looked up at him. "Please..." she gasped out. "...take my children."
"That is a job for their mother." Jason said, placing a hand on her head. "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice. Out of suffering the strongest souls emerge. Truly massive characters are seared with scars."
The woman's Aura glowed, and her injury began healing.
A man in a hoodie was dropped next to Jason and he glared at the man. "Ya know. If you had stolen something, or mugged someone, or murdered an old person; I think I could have overlooked that, I still would have broken your legs, but I could have overlooked it, but you didn't do any of those things!" He snapped, kicking the man into a wall. "You almost turned these children into Orphan's, and that! That is something I cannot forgive you!" He spun around, kicking the man in the mouth, dislocating his jaw.
"Stop it!" The Woman Said. "STOP!"
Jason looked at the Woman.
"I know that this anger most likely comes from the fact that your parents were taken from you, but we can't get better as a society if you kill him for nearly killing me. We need compassion and love to grow as a society."
"Ahm horry!" The man shouted, bowing to the woman. "Ahm horry!"
"It's okay." The woman said, touching the man's face and glowing pink while her eyes glowed the most brilliant blue Jason had ever seen.
The man's jaw reset, and he was healed.
"I'm sorry." The woman said to Jason. I don't think that my Semblance can heal the trauma you've been forced to endure."
"Don't worry about it." Jason scuffed the floor. "I have a session with my therapist in about an hour."
The woman looked startled as Jason disappeared into his shadow when something else was brought to his attention.
Jason appeared in Weiss's room. Weiss was an adorable kid. Was he allowed to say that? They were married, right? They had a kid together. Time travel was weird. Speaking of kid. He missed Frost. He'd only known her for two minutes, but now he wanted to murder someone.
"Jason?" Weiss asked in an adorable, fuck it. He was going to call Weiss adorable, fuck the rules, voice that held some of her old charm but was still very much childish.
"Hey Weiss." He replied.
Weiss ran to him, and they embraced. Married partners, reduced to bodies too young to comfort each other any other way.
"I know how you're going to take down Jacques, I heard, and I'll support you. I'm going to take my business by the horns and build it into an empire. I'm going to expand into Atlas, so you'll have support close by."
"Thank you." She said. "What Else Are you going to be up to?"
"Well, I have an appointment with Dr. Thompkins in an hour or so. I got together with Loki to save Coral. Now I'm going to start cleaning up Vale. Everything we've talked about. Helping the kids on the streets, opening Orphanages that actually help them instead of fucking them over for a prophet. You're probably going to hear things about what I'm doing."
"Jason. I know you. I know what you're going to do. So, do what you do best."
"Help people by killing the ones responsible for making their lives miserable?"
"Help people."
"Oh, yeah. That."
"Jason." Weiss said. "In order for us to end up together, we have to play the system. We can't show any interest in each other in public. At least not until we've been married for at least a year. We can be as interested in each other as much as we want in private, but in public it can't be anything but apathy and disinterest. Meaning that you have to treat me the way that you did before Halloween, our first year at Beacon."
"Do I have to?" Jason groaned. He hated his younger self. It was so dramatic.
"Do you want to end up together?" Weiss asked.
"Yes, but why can't we elope or something?"
"We're ten."
"Damn it!"
"So, do you agree to act like a total ass when you see me in public?"
"I don't want to, but yes."
"Good. Now, let's..."
The door opened and Jason dropped into his shadow, leaving Weiss alone. He needed to get back to Vale and start working on stuff.
Coral was sitting next to her mom's grave when Loki came out.
"Who are you?" Loki asked.
"I'm Coral. Jason said I could stay here until I figure out what to do."
Loki sat down next to Shira's grave and put her face in her arms.
The two sat in companionable silence, quietly mourning the loss of their respective loved ones.
"What was Shira like?" Coral asked After a while.
"She had this smile that would light up the world No matter the time of day." Loki said before her voice cracked. "She still had Light in her, after everything that she'd been through." Loki sobbed. "She still had Light."
Coral waited. She didn't know what to do in a situation like this. What could she do? She reached over and pulled her hand through Loki's hair like her mom had done from time to time when she became overwhelmed.
Loki broke down and sobbed. She buried her face in Coral's stomach while she cried.
Coral was completely out of her depth here, she had no idea what to do. Then she remembered her mother holding her when she would cry... when she could still cry, and she wrapped her arms around Loki.
She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but eventually Jason walked into the backyard.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi." Coral said, holding an unconscious Loki who had cried herself to sleep.
"I don't think I've ever seen Loki look so peaceful." Jason lied. In truth he'd seen Loki look more peaceful, but he was in the past, not the future.
"What have you been up to?" Coral asked.
"I've been busy, but I've left most of what needs to be done to my Shadow Clones. I just spent an hour with my Therapist."
"What's a Therapist?" Coral asked.
"Someone who I go and talk to, and they help me figure out why I'm fucked up. I could ask her if she's taking new people on if you want to talk to her?"
"No. Thank you, but no."
"The offer is open indefinitely. I'll even ask Loki if she wants me to ask Dr. Thompkins to set aside some time for her."
"Okay. How did things go with your therapist?"
One hour earlier.
Jason was sitting in the waiting room of Dr. Thompkins office. He didn't have to wait long before the door opened and an older woman with silver hair and hazel eyes walked out.
"Jason." She said.
Jason stood up, walked over to the woman and nodded.
The woman smiled and they walked into her office.
Jason saw a couch against one wall, a chair against another wall with a desk, a cabinet and some assorted plants throughout the office.
"Please, sit." Dr. Thompkins Said.
Jason sat on the couch and Dr. Thompkins sat in the chair.
"Hello Jason, I'm Dr. Thompkins. How are you?"
"I'm a little fucked up." Jason said.
"I'm sorry, it can feel that way sometimes, but I'm here to help. Now, normally I would bring your parent or guardian into the office for the first session to go over some things, but seeing as Clifford has set up the appointment, and told me what's going on, and you are perhaps the most famous child in all of Vale, I know what I need to know, but I want to hear what you have to say."
"Okay." Jason said, before just word vomiting what had happened to him from when he was six to ten... he'd told the story so many times that it was practically memorized.
Dr. Thompkins sat and listened, nodding, and making the occasional comment when she felt that she needed to.
When Jason finished, she looked at him. "I'm sorry." She said. "I know that seems like an empty platitude, but I truly am sorry that you went through that. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have, could you come back next week, and we could maybe take this a little at a time until we can go through it all and perhaps help you understand this so you can deal with it? I'm afraid that if this isn't treated it will have negative consequences for you and others in the future."
Jason thought about the first time he'd met Weiss. "Yes. I'll do whatever it takes to deal with my past."
"Thank you. I'll send both you and Clifford a reminder."
"Thank you, Dr. Thompkins." Jason said as he shook her hand and left her office.
Leslie Thompkins looked at the notes she'd been keeping and knew that Jason hadn't told her everything, but that was to be expected. After what he'd been through, she expected him to keep some of the worst things to himself. What she needed to do was create a safe space that he could tell her about so she could help him. She cleared her mind and went to collect her next patient.
"So yeah. I'm going back." Jason explained.
"You are?"
"Yeah. I need to. In order to get over my past and become better than who I was."
"Okay."
"I'll let them know to expect you, and if you want to go then you can go. You don't have to, you aren't being forced to go."
"Okay. Thank you."
"You're Welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go talk to a certain thief and his partner about joining my team."
"Okay. Good luck."
"I don't need luck, they will." Jason said as he disappeared into his shadow.
Coral watched in confusion as Jason disappeared after such a cryptic message. She shrugged and went back to combing her hand through Loki's hair.
Roman Torchwick was a man used to getting his own way, even if he had to steal it to get it, so when the punk kid had challenged him to a thief off he thought that he'd had it in the bag... but then the kid had to go and steal his hat and cane right out from under him and steal Neo's Parasol right out from under her, but the worst part was, he had done it so expertly that Roman had been able to balance perfectly in a leaning position that he should have fallen over from.
"Pleasure doing business with you." The brat said as he left.
Roman and Neo watched him before the kid turned around.
"Well come on." The kid nodded to follow him. "I need my new master thief and master assassin to make my plans work."
"You needed a thief and assassin?" Roman asked.
"Yeah." The kid said.
"Then why didn't you just hire us!?"
"I wanted to see how I Compared to the Roman Torchwick."
"Oh." Roman was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand someone knew him in a way that wasn't just a criminal. He had a fan. On the other hand, he had lost to said fan. Everything had gone perfectly. The kid had challenged him, he accepted the challenge and stollen a ton, and when he said a ton, he meant a ton. He'd hidden it in a warehouse and when they had met, he let the kid show his haul first.
The kid had opened up his shadow and a ton of loot had fallen out. Then Roman had opened the warehouse to show that it was empty. The kid had stolen HIS haul. Then the kid handed him his hat, cane, and Neo's Parasol. The kid had stolen them right off their person! Right out of their hands! Roman had been balancing on his cane! How had the kid done that!?
"The first thing I want you to do." The kid explained. "I want you to figure out if anyone is hurting kids, using kids, Human trafficking, Faunus trafficking, people, Human, Faunus, I don't care, if anyone is getting hurt then I want to know about it, and we are going to stop it."
"Right. We'll look into it... boss."
"Excellent. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got other places to be."
Roman watched as Jason disappeared into shadow.
He appeared outside the orphanage and walked in. As soon as he walked in his senses caught everything that was wrong. He sent his shadow clones to find abandoned buildings and walked past the front desk, up the stairs, and into the first room only to stop dead in his tracks...
The children were wearing smocks, dirty smocks.
The smell was nearly unbearable. How could they live like this?
Two of the children were carrying a bucket to each bed and emptying bedpans into a bucket.
He tapped his foot and got a view of the entire house. The furnace of Rage burning in his stomach roared to life, urging him up the stairs to a door.
Kicking the door open he saw children in shackles; some hanging from the ceiling with dislocated shoulders and torn, bruised flesh. Some had broken limbs while others had cuts and bruises.
Using his shadows to rip the chains out of the walls and lower the children to the floor he pulled Loki and Coral through his shadow.
Loki and Coral were ready to fight when they were pulled out of the cemetery and into a room, but calmed as soon as they saw the children, heard their cries, and smelled the deplorable conditions.
"WHAT'S GOING ON!" An angry bitter woman shrieked.
"I'm closing you down!" Jason shouted, before running the woman through with a Katana and sliced up, cutting her in half from her waist through her head.
Loki and Coral looked from Jason to the body and to each other.
"Hey." Jason Said. "How would you both feel running an orphanage?"
"Done!" Both women shouted in unison.
"Great. Let's start by getting these children to a healer's. I'm going to destroy this place and move them to a new place."
"Sounds good." Coral said. "But, how are we going to get them to the healers?"
Jason stepped into his shadow and out of a shadow in the hospital. "Healer Brown?" He asked when he saw the familiar, if younger, face.
"Not Healer." The transitioning man said. "Intern Brown. I Finish My residency in two years and then I'll be Healer Brown. Have we met?" He asked the child who he had never met."
"I'm sorry. You must have looked like someone I recognized."
"Oh. Are you hurt? Do you need help?"
"No, but the children at the orphanage. They are hurt."
"Children at the Orphanage? Vale has an orphanage?"
Jason's rage came back, and he grabbed Healer Brown and dragged him into a shadow and into the room with the children.
Healer Brown held his nose and tried not to breathe in the smell of rot and filth. "We need to get these children back to the hospital." He said.
"Thank you!" Jason said, grabbing Healer Brown and pulling him back to the hospital.
"Healer Rus!" Healer Brown said. "We need to get children here from the Orphanage!"
"There is no Orphanage in Vale!" Healer Rus shouted. "Get back to your rounds!"
Jason grabbed Healer Rus and pulled him into his shadow to see what he was talking about.
"Brothers Above!" Healer Rus Said, running into a Shadow and into the hospital. "Anyone who is not currently helping a patient, get your asses over here! We have children!"
A dozen hospital staff ran over and got ready to help.
Jason cut a portal to Loki and Coral and the Hospital staff ran through to see the conditions the children were forced to live in.
The hospital became a bustle of activity as empty rooms were filled, and when the rooms were filled the hallways were filled with gurneys and make shift beds for the astounding number of children who were forced to live that way.
Jason took a head count of the children and jumped to another clone who had been fighting off a group of humans attacking some kids, when he saw how many children had been crammed inside that building.
His foot connected with one of the humans neck with enough force to break it. Using that attacker as a springboard he spun into another one and brought his elbow down on their neck, breaking their collar bone before he grabbed them and spun them around, throwing them into the final attacker. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!" He roared, letting out an Alpha Pulse to make sure he scared them off.
"You okay?" A Voice asked.
"No." Jason said. "No, I am not okay."
"What's wrong?" The voice asked.
"Seventy-five." Jason said. "Seventy-five children. Locked in that place."
"What place?"
"The Orphanage."
"Oh, yeah. That place. I ran away first chance I Got. It was better to die on the streets than in that place."
"That's changing." Jason said. "I'm changing Remnant for the better."
"Good one, and I'm the richest man on Remnant."
"Cool. The name is Jason Todd."
"Jason? Todd?" The kid asked.
"Yeah."
"The richest kid in all of Vale?"
"Yeah."
"My names Jaq." The kid said. "It's short for Jacquelin."
"Hello Jaq. If you want, the Orphanage is no longer run by that bitch. I'm tearing it down and building three know ones. It will be run by my sister and her friend."
"Three Orphanages run by two people?"
"Three, and anyone willing to help them."
"Who's the third person?"
"Me."
"You? Won't you be busy?"
"Yeah, but someone has to do it." Jason looked at the other kids. "They yours?" Jason nodded at the kids.
"They're with me." Jaq said.
"Do you have a place to sleep? Food?"
"We have a place to sleep, and we'll make do."
"Come on. I'll make sure you get fed."
"No offense, but we don't know you, so we don't trust you. Even if you're who you say you are."
"Understandable." Jason said. "If you need anything, just find Todd Manor or Todd Import/Export. They'll get in touch with me."
"Yeah, sure, thanks."
Jason knew that Jaq didn't trust him, so she wouldn't go to the manor or the company, so he'd give her a Shadow Clone. If she needed his help he'd be there. "Could I at least unlock your Aura?" He asked.
"I don't suppose it would hurt." Jaq said.
Jason Held his hands over Jaq's head and shoulder. "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice. Out of suffering the strongest souls emerge. Truly massive characters are seared with scars."
Jaq glowed a pale green as her Aura unlocked. "Whoa." She said as She straightened, standing to her full height. She was no longer in pain. No more bruised ribs, no more sore knees or shoulders. No more back pain. Aura was no Joke.
Jason watched as Jaq looked at her body as if she was no longer in pain. She was taller than him, and looked older now, more mature. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm better than okay. I haven't felt this good in a while."
"What did you have to do to survive?" He asked knowingly.
"I did what I had to do to survive, and what I needed to do to keep them alive." She pointed at the kids.
Jason felt rage in his stomach. Just like himself and Shira, Jaq had been forced to do things to survive. It was the curse of the streets. He wanted to demand that she tell him who had used her, but that wasn't the way of the streets. He broke those rules every time he told anyone what had happened. Fuck the rules. He was Red. The rules didn't apply to him. "Who hurt you?" He asked.
Jaq looked at him as if he'd said something foul. "Excuse you?" She asked.
"You heard me. Who hurt you."
"I don't have to tell you that!"
Jason crossed into Jaq's guard and glared into her eyes. "I am Jason Todd, formerly known as Red. Tell me who hurt you so that they never hurt anyone else again. Anyone who is hurt by them after this point is on you. Their blood is on your hands, and I will treat you as a part of their pain and suffering. I don't have to tell you what happens to people who piss me off. You've seen what happens."
Jaq felt fear, a fear that she hadn't felt in three years since she'd run away from the orphanage, since the first night she'd done what she needed to in order to survive. The first time she'd missed her time of the month thinking she might have gotten pregnant. She wanted them to pay for everything that had been done to her. Everything she'd been forced to do so the others in her group didn't have to do them. She wanted them to pay, but by the rules. Did she break the rules?
"Fuck the Damn Rules!" Jason demanded. "Think about the others who are going through what you had to! The ones who aren't given the choice!"
Jaq looked at Jason and with tears in her eyes, told him.
Jason walked out of an alley, dragging a body alongside him. He threw the body at the wall and glared at him. He remembered this piece of shit. He was there that night.
"P-p-please." He begged. "No more. No more, please." He laid his head against the wall, pitifully.
Jason was so livid that he couldn't speak. The words wouldn't come out. His rage had overtaken all possible thought. He slammed his fist into the wall next to his head. "Don't!" He bit out. "Don't you DARE beg for mercy after what you did to her!" He whispered. "You don't deserve mercy! Not after what you did to her! She wasn't even nine years old DAMN IT!" He yelled, tears streaming down his face. "She wasn't even nine." He sobbed.
"Who?" The man asked, confused.
Jason's last strand of control snapped, and he broke the man's neck before falling to the ground and causing his Semblance to rage with his emotions, going out of control and scouring the city for any and all crimes being committed.
For the minor crimes like shoplifting or mugging he scared the shit out of the criminals by dropping them into his shadow and letting them fall before dropping them back out onto the ground.
For the more serious crimes... Vale experienced a drop in criminal activity, leaving only the major players who weren't afraid of the shadows because they felt their money and reputation could protect them. They didn't know how wrong they were or how much they were going to regret it.
One week later
Jaq followed Jason. She'd noticed how quiet the streets had been lately and knew he was involved. She found him and followed him to a compound of one of the most notorious criminal organizations in Vale, one that not even the police would mess with because of how powerful they were.
He walked into the compound where he walked into the middle. He walked straight to the entrance and disappeared into a shadow.
Jaq watched from the outside of the compound. What was Jason doing?
The doors to the building burst open and grown adults ran out into the yard where weapons shot out of shadows, skewering them as they ran.
Jaq covered her mouth to keep the scream from coming out of her throat. The adults were impaled by weapons, blood covered the ground. Looking back in she almost lost control of her bodies functions. Jason was stalking out of the building, seething, enraged. He walked towards the group and began killing them until he stopped at one person.
Kneeling down, Jason glared at the man. He was the one in charge.
"Why are you doing This?" The man gasped.
"You used my sister as a drug mule until she wasn't of use anymore, then you killed her and threw her out with the trash."
"It wasn't personal." The man wheezed. "It was just business."
"It was Personal To me!" Jason snapped. "She survived and suffers from nightmares and trauma!"
"It would have been better if she'd died." The man coughed up blood.
Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun that he put a lightning Dust Crystal into it. "Your favorite method of killing is with lightning Dust, right? Then you can take comfort in knowing that you will die the same way." He aimed the gun at the man and pulled the trigger.
Jaq watched in horror as Jason pulled the trigger and the sky opened and lightning struck the man. It was over in seconds, and when Jaq's sight came back, she saw a crater where the lightning had struck. Not even the bones of the man were left. She watched as Jason finished off all but one.
"Please." The person Said. "Please! Leave me..."
Jason kicked them in the face and pulled out a knife. "You were the healer who put that shit in them!"
"Yes, but..."
Jason cut their stomach open and reached inside, pulling something out and tying it around the knife before throwing it into the stone with enough strength to stick it into the stone. "Crawl outside." He hissed.
The healer looked at Jason in horror. "N-no. P-please."
"CRAWL!" Jason roared at the healer.
The healer pulled themself towards the gate and made it three feet before they passed out from the pain. They would be dead before they woke up.
Jason stalked outside the gate and headed to the hospital, not seeming to notice Jaq.
Jaq looked inside the compound at the carnage. She almost lost the contents of her stomach, how had a child been able to do all this? Turning around, she followed Jason back to wherever he was heading.
Jason realized that Jaq was following him but was in no mood to talk or explain himself. He'd done what needed to be done, he'd done what the police couldn't.
He walked to the hospital and walked inside before finding a shadow and began pulling people from the compound into the hospital, at least two dozen, before walking to the receptionist with the people. "These people need help." He said.
The receptionist looked up to see a group of people wearing hospital gowns and looking anywhere from dazed to stoned out of their mind to in a great deal of pain. "Um, okay. I'll just need them to fill out some paperwork before we can admit them."
"Whatever." Jason said. "Foot the bill to the Todd Import/Export Company. I'll take care of it." He said before walking into the hospital to check on the kids from the orphanage.
"EXCUSE ME!" The receptionist yelled, cutting him off before seeing how much blood he was caked in. "Where did that blood come from?"
Jason disappeared into his shadow and came out clean and in a new outfit. "What blood?" He asked, pushing past the nurse into the hospital.
The receptionist grabbed his shoulder. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"To Check on the orphans I brought it last week." He said, very calmly, despite not feeling calm at all.
"You need to sign in, and your parent or guardian needs to sign in. You may be the richest person in Vale, but you still have to follow the rules."
Jason grit his teeth, but signed in, created a shadow clone of Cliff to sign him in, and walked into the hospital to check on the kids while the receptionist processed the people he'd brought in.
Jaq snuck into the hospital, following Jason to see what was going on. She followed him to the pediatrics ward and saw it filled to capacity with children.
Jason created dozens of shadow clones and went to each child to check on them simultaneously.
"So," Jason Said from beside Jaq. "Did you find out what you were looking for?" He asked.
"Not Really." She said. "You're violent As hell, but you have a cause."
"And what cause do I have?"
"You want the streets to be clean. You want criminals to fear you. You want people to feel safe in your city, but you want people to know that if they cross a line, then you will be the last person they see."
"Anything else?" Jason asked.
"Yeah. Behind all of the rage and violence, you are hurting, and you care."
"Really?"
"You're Not That difficult to read."
"Good. You can join my cause."
"What?" Jaq asked, confused.
"You can join my cause to make Vale free. You'll be my eyes on the ground."
"And if I don't want to be your eyes on the ground?"
"Okay." Jason said. "See you around."
"What? Just like That?"
"Yeah. I'm not going to force you to do something you don't want to do. If you don't want to help me, then you don't have to."
"No, no. I do. I want to help, I just wanted to see how you reacted to rejection."
"And? How did I stack up?"
"Better than I thought you would. I'm used to people not reacting well."
"Not anymore." Jason said. "From now on, you'll have me on your side. If you need anything, I don't care what it is, tell me, and I'll get you whatever you need."
"And if I wanted you?"
"You can't have me, my heart and soul belong to someone else."
"Really?"
"Yes, and I will stay faithful, no matter how violent I have to become."
"Wow. That's some dedication."
"Yes, yes, it is."
"What if I wanted Lien or someone's head or if I wanted to beat the shit out of someone?"
"How much lien? Who's head? Who do you want to beat the shit out of?"
"One million lien, the head of the lady over the orphanage, and I want to kick the shit out of officer Grant and Chip."
"Done, the Orphanage Lady is already dead, and I don't touch police."
"WHAT!?" Jaq demanded. "Why the fuck don't you mess with the cops!? They are the worst! They give drugs to kids! They kill kids on the streets because they can! They are vile and evil and, and, do you know what they did?"
Jason looked at Jaq in horror. "What happened?" He asked.
"For being a guy who's supposed to know everything about Vale you don't know jack shit!"
"Then tell me so I can change it."
Jaq looked at him. She didn't want to trust him, but she knew that she could. So, she told him.
That night
Officer Grant and officer Chip were walking the streets. They had a new batch, this batch was the most deadly. It would purge more of the vermin off the streets.
"How many do you think we'll get tonight?" Chip asked.
"I'm aiming for at least ten." Grant said.
"Ten broken bones, coming up." A voice from the shadows said before grabbing Grant and pulling him into the shadows, filling the alley with wails and screams of agony.
Officer Chip drew his weapon, a 9 mm Dust Glock. Pulling out a flashlight he shined it into the darkness of the alleyway. He didn't see anything, not even Grant's body. "Grant?"
"Grant's not home right now..." a voice said next to his ear.
Chip spun around and saw nothing.
"...Leave a message after the beating."
Chip was kicked into a wall and suplexed into the ground before something grabbed his leg and threw him into a pole.
"People like you disgust me." The voice said. "You use your power and authority to line your pockets when you should be protecting those you swore to protect and serve. If you were a street thug, I'd just end you where you stand, but seeing as killing you would make you both martyrs, I'll make sure you get the Justice you deserve."
Chip passed out, not sure if or when he would wake up.
Lisa Lavender was sleeping when she felt a draft. Waking up she looked around to see nothing, but she felt like she was being watched.
Something was placed on her nightstand with a click.
"Air this tomorrow. It will show a level of corruption in this kingdom that no one expected." A voice said, startling her.
"Who are you?"
"A concerned citizen, cleaning up the streets of Remnant, one kingdom at a time."
Lisa picked up the thing on her nightstand and saw a scroll. "What's on This?" She asked.
"Watch it now, watch it tomorrow, I don't care. All I want is a safe place for my family to love and grow and they can't do that with the corruption strangling our streets."
"What are you doing about it?"
"This kingdom is filled with disease and plague. I'm the guy taking a scalpel to it."
With that, there was a breeze and the voices owner was gone.
Lisa looked at the scroll and turned it on and dropped it when she heard what was said. She needed to air this right away.
The next morning.
Jason woke up the next morning and turned on the viewing screen to see Lisa Lavender on air.
"Breaking News!" Lisa Said. "Corruption is running rampant in the Kingdom of Vale. Updates as we get them."
There was a clip from the video he'd taken Last night. He had work to do.
"Master Jason." Cliff Said. "There is a young woman here to see you. She says her name is Jaq."
"I'm on my way out. I'll talk to her." Jason dropped into his shadow for a second and came out dressed and bathed. He'd cleaned himself up and dressed in black boots, charcoal grey tactical pants, a grey shirt, and a red zip up hoodie. He walked to the Foyer where he found Jaq.
"So, what do we do?" Jaq asked.
"What do you mean?"
"What's our first task?"
"First, you need a weapon, second, we need to go search the city for buildings that we can use for Orphanages for at least one hundred and fifty children, but up to two hundred."
"Holy shit!? Seriously?"
"That's not everything I need to do. I need to take the bastards from last night to the police."
"YOU DIDN'T KILL THEM!" Jaq demanded.
"No. As much As I wanted to, it was the wrong call. They'll be more useful alive in prison than dead in an alley."
"HOW!"
"If they wind up dead in an alley then I turn into a cop killer. They become martyrs, they aren't Bandits who Everyone agrees are more or less just vermin. However, if I have evidence of them being dirty cops who sell poison to children, how are they going to get away with it?"
Jaq understood, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
"Let's go." Jason Said, leading Jaq around town to look at different places.
They were just walking past an alley when Jason heard a dog whine and whimper. He followed the sound and found the dog he'd summoned to kill Jacques in the past timeline. He knelt down, stretched out his hand and spoke: "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice. Out of suffering the strongest souls emerge. Truly massive characters are seared with scars."
The dog glowed dusty brown and was healed but was hungry. Jason reached into his shadow and pulled out jerky, giving the dog as much as it could handle.
The dog looked up at Jason and barked happily.
"Do you have an owner?" Jason asked.
The dog shook its head.
"Do you have a name?"
The dog shook its head again.
"Do you want to come with me?"
The dog barked in the affirmative.
"You need a name. Let's see, Ruby's dog is named Zwei, so how about I name you... Drei?" He asked.
Drei barked happily.
"Okay. Come one Drei." He said, leading them out of the alley and into the streets of Vale.
Jaq looked at the third house they'd stopped by and didn't know what to think. It was big, but that wasn't everything Jason was looking for.
Jason looked at the house and sent a clone inside. It was three floors and a basement. The second and third floor had a six bedrooms each, and the bedrooms were decently sized. He could easily make Beacon style dorms out of them.
The first floor had a large kitchen with a large pantry, two bedrooms on either side of the kitchen.
There were three bathrooms on the second and third floors and one bathroom on the first floor. Those were necessary to keep.
The basement was in desperate need of a makeover and fumigation.
There wasn't an attic, but there was a rooftop area where they could hold parties or plant gardens or whatever they needed.
"Okay." Jason Said. "This is one of the places." He took out his Scroll and sent a picture of the house to Cliff, Loki, and Coral before sending them the address. They would check it out when they could.
He moved on and after hours of searching found two more houses like the other. The only difference was that one was a four story house without a basement or attic, but a massive backyard considering they lived in Vale, and the other was a five story house with a basement, attic, rooftop garden, and a decently sized enclosed backyard.
The four story house had a total of twenty bedrooms in it with a decently sized kitchen and big pantry while the five story house had 26 bedrooms a smaller kitchen, but a massive pantry.
He sent pictures and the address to Loki, Coral, and Cliff.
"Okay. Now that that's done, let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"I have some cops I need to pay a visit." He said.
Jaq and Drei followed him towards a building where the Officer Grant and Chip were chained to a wall, their injuries from the day before were gone tanks to their Aura.
"Congratulations gentlemen." Jason said from the shadows. "Today is the day that you are let go." He undid their shackles and let them go.
"Why did you do that!?" Jaq demanded.
"You'll see." Jason motioned her to follow him.
She did and they made their way to the police station where Grant and Chip were being arrested.
"No! You don't understand!" Chip said. "We were attacked! He broke our bones!"
"Shut up!" An officer said. "Thanks to you two! Our jobs just got a whole lot harder! People won't trust us to do our jobs if they think we're going to poison them or give them drugs!"
"We did it for the kingdom!" Grant yelled.
"Shut the hell up!" Another officer said. "You both make me sick! You're a disgrace to the Badge!"
"Get them out of my sight." The police commissioner, a short man with a stocky build, a full head of hair, and a thick mustache ,said.
"You don't understand!" Chip shouted. "The Shadows! Stay away from the shadows!"
Jason turned to look at Jaq. "I know they aren't dead, and it won't mean much, but it's better this way."
"Chief Cobalt!" Lisa Lavender said. "Do you have a comment about officers Grant and Chip who were just led away?"
"Unfortunately, sometimes people become police officers because of the power it gives them over others."
"What will the Vale police department do now to make sure this doesn't happen again?"
"While it's impossible to stop everyone who wants to become a police officer for the power it gives them, we will do what we can to make it more difficult for those who want to become officers for that reason."
"How?"
"We don't want to give anyone the chance to learn about what we have planned so they can get around it, so the Vale police department has no comment at this time."
Jason smelled a familiar smell, and without turning around said: "Hello Ozpin."
"Mr. Todd. It's good to see that you are no longer slaughtering indiscriminately."
"Oh, I am. If they hadn't been police, I would have killed them and thrown them with the rest."
"The rest?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes, the rest. They are somewhere that, without stupid luck or a Semblance that grants the ability to get there, you can't get there."
"What about the smell of death?"
"It's hidden so well that if I didn't know where it was then not even, I wouldn't be able to smell it."
"In Vale?"
"Technically."
"Where are they?"
"As if I would tell you." Jason said.
"No, I suppose you wouldn't. Might I request that you not kill as much?"
"Depends on who it is. I've killed the ones who hurt Shira, the ones who hurt Loki, and I plan on hunting down and killing the Jokers, Watts, Cinder, Hazel, Tyrian, Adam, and anyone else who gets in my way."
"I see."
"You Two know each other?" Jaq asked, confused.
"Yes," Jason Said. "This is Professor Ozpin. Headmaster of Beacon Academy."
"Yes, I run Beacon Academy. I've talked to Jason about Becoming a Huntsman when he gets older."
"I said yes, but my goals have not changed. I'm still becoming a Huntsman to hunt the scum of Remnant."
"Your Definition of Scum is drastically different than their definition of Scum. To them, you're the scum for keeping them from doing what they want."
"And what do they want to do Ozpin?" Jason asked harshly. "They want to hurt people for their own amusement, satisfaction, or profit. That is why I will end them."
"Why not work WITH the law rather than against it?"
"I'll compromise with you. Anyone who is not on my shit list I'll work with the law to bring down, but anyone on my shit list is fair game."
Ozpin sighed. He knew that getting Jason to comprise was like pulling teeth without Aura or a Novocain. So, he didn't have many options. "I will agree to that compromise."
"Great. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a meeting with Chief Cobalt." He said, walking away, wrapping the shadows around himself to make himself appear older. "Oh, and Ozpin." He said through a Voice Modulator. "Weiss and I will be talking with you and Oscar about what happened in Atlas." He said before walking up to the police station and showing a Hunters License that Ozpin wasn't quite sure how he'd obtained it but wasn't surprised.
"What did he mean?" Jaq asked Ozpin.
"A mistake." Ozpin frowned. "A mistake that cost him his happiness."
Jason walked into the police station and flashed his Hunters License. "I'd like to talk with Chief Cobalt or Commissioner Cordon."
"I'm sorry sir, but with the recent incident they are busy."
"Tell them that I have answers they are looking for."
The receptionist looked up at Jason and gasped as she moved away as if cornered by a wild animal. She moved over to the Chiefs office and knocked. "I'm sorry Chief Cobalt, but there's a Huntsman here to talk to you. He says that he has answers."
Chief Cobalt jumped out of his seat and ran to the front. He froze when he saw Jason. "Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Red Haywood, My Huntsman titles are Red Hood, Crimson Crusader, and Shadow Stalker."
"Shadow Stalker!?" Chief Cobalt demanded. "My men were ranting to stay away from the shadows!"
"Yes. That would have been me. I recorded them, and gave that recording to Lisa Lavender, I disabled them the best way I knew how, and I detained them until giving them to you."
"They should have been handled in MY house! Not through vigilante Justice!"
"I'm a Hunter! Therefore, I outrank you. I'm not asking for a reward or recognition, just letting you know that I am willing to help you with the criminals roaming the streets. I'll bring in the ones I can, but I can't make everyone turn themselves in. Some will fight to the death. I can't change that. This is me offering my help. I'll do my job, you do yours."
"Your job us to hunt the creatures of Grimm! Not hunt criminals."
"That's where you're wrong. I'm supposed to stop the creatures of Grimm, which means I have to keep the people safe and happy. If I take out the criminals, then people will be safe and happy. Take the bone I'm throwing you, and I'll leave."
Chief Cobalt wanted to grind earth Dust with his teeth.
"I'm also hunting these criminals for other kingdoms." He tossed a file folder onto the table. "Three of them are wanted here in Vale."
Chief Cobalt looked through the file. "Who are These People?"
"Murderers, torturers, terrorists. They are to be killed in sight. Especially this one. She is to be killed on sight from max distance, and you only get one shot. If you miss, you're dead."
Chief Cobalt looked at the picture of a woman with pale skin, murderous orange eyes, and shoulder length black hair. "Who is She?"
"She is implicated in the murder and torture of at least one woman, the slaughter of at least one village, and the terrorism of at least that same village. Her Semblance allows her to control Glass or Dust, maybe even Dust infused Glass. You can't detain her, you have to kill her on sight because her clothes are infused with said glass, of all I know it costs her skin. You aren't safe. Her traveling companions make it even worse because one is named Mercury Black, assassin for hire, and the other is Emerald Sustrai. Mercury's Semblance allows him to blend into his surroundings to the point that he could be in the same room, and you wouldn't know it until he killed you. His weapons are Prosthetic legs that hide guns in the feet, but he's also got martial arts under his belt. Emerald has twin Kama/Revolvers, and her Semblance makes one single person see why she wants them to see. Useless in a crowd, but amazing if there's only one opponent. She made a girl use her Semblance to mutilate another girl she was on friendly terms with. The girl died, and the other girl was ostracized because of it."
"Brothers above!" Chief Cobalt exclaimed.
"Did nothing to help her! I'm going to make sure she can't do the same thing to someone else."
"How?"
"My teams have already moved in and are hiding in plain sight. For all you know your receptionist is one of them."
"What!"
"Don't worry. She's not, but that's how good they are at hiding. You don't even know they are there."
Chief Cobalt stared.
"I need to take my leave. Remember what I said." Jason said as he left the office before disappearing into his shadow, leaving Chief Cobalt in shock.
Ozpin and Jaq were waiting outside when Jason appeared out of Jaq's shadow.
"How did it go?" Ozpin asked.
"Good. I gave them suspects that they can hunt giving me the time to do what I need to do while they are chasing their tails."
"And what are you going to do?"
"My best." Jason said. "Let's go." He nodded at Jaq.
Jaq waved at Ozpin and left.
Ozpin watched as they left and hoped that Jason wouldn't tarnish his soul to keep their past from becoming their future.
"So?" Jaq asked. "What are we going to do now?"
"How badly do you want to protect your kids?"
"I would kill for my kids."
"Great. Your training starts now." Jason said as he dropped them into his shadow.
One hour later they stepped out of a shadow and Jaq was forever changed. She had gone through training that would make her a threat to anyone who wasn't trained like Jason. "How long were we gone?" She asked Jason.
"I'm not sure." Jason said, looking at his Scroll to see that only an hour had passed. "It's been an hour."
"We spent over two months in your Shadow Realm!" Jaq shouted. "How has it only been an hour!?"
"I'm not sure, but you should be strong enough to protect your kids now. At least from people who aren't Hunters."
"What if I wanted to be strong enough to take on Hunters?"
"You'd need more training, and a weapon."
"Let's see. If one hour was more than two months, then 24 hours would be more than 48 months. That's... that's a very long time. Could I get stronger in that time period?"
"Yes."
"Then when can I train for a whole day?"
"We'll start your training tomorrow." Jason said.
"Great. Hunters beware."
Jason could see a fire in her eyes, and his respect for her grew. She would be a dangerous threat when they were done.