The Curious Case of Jason Todd

I

Jason was enjoying a quiet night in his apartment. That meant making dinner instead of ordering take out, skipping patrol, and attempting to finish The Tale of Genji in Japanese. He did become somewhat distracted by the glaring light show that spontaneously occurred across the harbor at the Gotham shipyard. It was really lighting up his living room. Since he lived so close to the area anyways, he decided to do Batman a favor and take care of the florescent problem. Then maybe the rest of Gotham could sleep peacefully in their beds for once and he could finish his book.

The Red Hood was surprised to find the Demon Spawn dressed as Robin playing keep away as some older man with a short white beard and wearing a dark blue cloak shot beams of light at him. The ex-Boy Wonder had absolutely no idea what was going on, and contrary to popular belief, he could indeed think before acting. It just wasn't as much fun. So instead he sat down on one of the shipping containers to watch the show. He could really use some popcorn.

"Come now little bird-boy! Don't you want to know what my magic can do?" The older man taunted. Okay ... no wonder those light beams were so colorful, they're magic spells. Duh!

Robin was taking cover behind a shipping container. On one end of it the metal was melting and there were blast burns across the side facing the Wizard-man. The man continued to taunt Robin until the little twerp tossed a handful of flash grenades over the container. Wizard-man cursed and covered his eyes, which was when Robin attacked. He leapt over the container and drilled his opponent with a foot to the head. The man hit the ground but shot out his hand and directed a beam of green light towards Robin. Plants erupted from beneath the concrete and snaked up Robin's legs and body to encase the kid in a plant body bind.

"Looks like I have you now Boy Wonder!" Red Hood shook his head. Villains may pop up like weeds in Gotham, but they're never very witty and always use the same lines.

"Now ... what should I do with you? I'm thinking about turning you into a little pet. How about a frog? A bird? Maybe a cat?" Oh, Selina would like that! "No, see, you'd still be alive. I could kill you with an electrocution spell ... but where would be the fun in that?" Red Hood felt that it was probably time to intervene. Jumping down silently from his perch high above, he stalked towards the pair by keeping in the shadows.

"Ah ha! I have the perfect death for you! No mess and no body for Batman! How old are you? Wait! Don't answer that. I'm guessing ... twelve?" The old man was sweating and breathing heavily. He was probably running out of juice and was feeling the physical effects.

Robin scowled and squirmed some more within the plants. "Release me you Neanderthal! I don't have time to deal with this!"

The man's eyes narrowed. With his thin mouth, hooked nose, and deep-set eyes, the man had every look of a predatory caveman. "Impudent brat! I'm going to say fourteen just to be on the safe side. I'm going to turn you back fourteen years so that you've never been born!"

The man raised his arms straight at Robin and began to chant in ... was that Gaelic? Red Hood slipped throwing stars into both hands and burst out of the shadows, hurling them straight at the plants entangling Robin. Instead of slicing clean through, the throwing stars were buried deep in the plants like they were reinforced Poison Ivy plants. Robin twisted his head to stare as Red Hood tossed more throwing stars, this time at the wizard. The man screamed in the middle of his chant and just barely ducked to save his head. Red Hood released the clutch in the glove on his right hand which allowed a short sword to slide out past his knuckles. He swiped his arm at Robin's right side and gritted his teeth at the resistance from the plants. They were certainly reinforced with something to cause such resistance to his sword. He still managed to cut most of the plants away from Robin's right arm so the kid could grab his own weapons.

"No!" Wizard-man screamed, "I will not have you ruin my hard work!" he viciously gestured at the still immobile Robin and released a stream of yellow light.

Red Hood didn't even have time to think about what to do. He instinctively threw himself in front of Robin, taking the blast of light directly in the chest. The force from the blast tossed the young man right into Robin and they both rolled to the ground as the plants lost their grip and slithered back under the pavement. Robin groaned and sat up, brushing quickly decaying vines off his ankles. The Red Hood sat up beside him and rubbed his chest.

"Man that was tingly! It feels like ants are crawling all over me."

Robin growled, "It was completely unnecessary for you to intervene. I had the situation under control."

"Mmhmm," Red Hood hummed doubtfully. He got to his feet and strode over to the unconscious wizard lying face-down on the dirty pavement. "I think this one's all out of juice. Since this is your mission and everything how about you deal with this," he tapped the wizards head with his steel-toed boots.

"I never asked for your interference Red Hood!"

"I'll keep that in mind next time some lunatic is threatening to turn you into a fetus and do everyone a favor. See ya Spawn! I'm outta here!"

Red Hood turned and hopped on to the nearest shipping container before releasing his grappling line. He hurried across the shipyard to reach his motorcycle. Revving the engine, his tires squealed as he pulled out of the shipyard onto the main road. His chest was starting to feel a bit numb and that was kind of concerning. Only a few minutes later he arrived back at his apartment on the other side of the harbor.

Pulling off his helmet and jacket, Jason tiredly put them back in their places. He pulled off his Kevlar shirt and the black undershirt before looking in the mirror. Everything looked the same but it felt weird; he couldn't feel his fingers poking at his stomach.

Right now though, his major concern was getting some sleep. That bed looked awfully comfortable and just what Dr. Jason ordered. He slipped off his boots and his pants and slid right under the covers, for once not caring about putting everything back in its place.

He just wanted to sleep...