View Full Version : Fiction A What-If Story #5 (read only)
The Joker had just escaped. The damage was done. Two people were here among the wreckage: Batman.. and Robin. Bruce Wayne, and Jason Todd.
And one of them was dead.
Jason looked down at his mentor, his adopted father. They had been captured by the Joker and stripped of their tools and resources. Both had been Chloroformed, but Jason had recovered faster. He wiggled free from his bonds and turned to free Bruce, but Batman had told him to run.
"Batmobile. Here. Now." Jason said into the miniature mic built into his lapel. They had to get out of here. Jason had to protect the identity of Batman. The explosion had made a mess of his body, but Bruce could still be identified. Jason wrapped the body up in a large s#### of cloth. When the Batmobile arrived, he pulled with all his strength to get Bruce into the passenger seat. Jason climbed in.
"You are not a licensed driver, Jason Todd. I cannot allow.." the car's computer began. Jason pounded on the wheel. "JUST TAKE US HOME!" he screamed. The canopy sealed and the vehicle sped toward the Batcave.
It had been torture for Alfred and Jason to keep up the show. Yes, Bruce had had a horrible mishap while skiing. Yes, his body had been lost over the side of a huge mountain in the alps. The cover was perfect, Bruce kept year-round reservations at a lodge there and hired a lookalike to pose as him from time to time.
When the investigation was over and the will was read, Bruce had left the mansion and half of his fortune to Jason, most of it in a trust. The other half had been secured for #### Grayson, who had not been seen nor heard from in several months.
Then the bat-signal appeared in the sky.
"You called?" Batman said from the darkness, crouching near the edge of the building.
Gordon turned to face his 'friend'. "Poison Ivy and Killer Croc escaped from Arkham a little over an hour ago. They haven't shown themselves yet, but knowing those two.."
Batman nodded and turned. He fired a bat-grapple and left the building.
Jason Todd had never been more scared in his life.
Maybe Ivy could hide out, but Croc was unable to control his violent tendencies for long. Jason Todd/Batman looked out over the city. His own mother had betrayed him to Joker, his own carelessness and stupidity. He would never again make a mistake like that. No more risks, he told himself. Play it safe.
There was an explosion from somewhere below. Jason used a Bat-grapple to swing down to surface level. He could feel the heat the closer he got, and he could smell the combustive chemicals. The place where the bars were bolted to the wall of a jewelry store had been blown, the scorched cage was now on the ground below the window, which had been smashed in. A fire had started where sparks and flame had fallen into a refuse basket.
Jason/Batman dove into the store through the window, the glass crunching beneath his boots as he landed. Three men were clearing out the display cases.
"Drop the jewels and surrender." Jason said, making his voice sound as deep as possible. The criminals stopped.
"Hey, he's awful short to be Batman." one of them announced. The others nodded in agreement. "He's a fake..kill him!"
Jason was back out the way he came amidst a hail of gunfire. He pulled a pair of smoke bombs and tossed them into the store. The criminals started coughing and ran for the door. The back door. They got away with the jewels. Jason left the scene as police sirens got nearer.
When he got back to the Batmobile, he climbed in, dejected and angry at himself. "Take me home." he told the car, which of course complied.
"Master Jason." Alfred said as 'Batman' left the Batmobile. With those two words, Alfred said alot. Jason had been around the man long enough to know that the butler was surprised and unhappy with Jason's actions, with him taking up the mantle of the bat.
"Don't say it, Jarvis. Just don't. There has to be a Batman. His presence may have attracted all the freaks out there, but his absence now would allow them to run free and tear this city apart."
Jason walked past the butler, the man who'd loved Bruce like a son, and stripped the costume off. Wearily he climbed the stairs to the mansion and went to bed.
The next night, Batman hit the scene again. This time, Jason had subtle lifts and extra thickness on the sole of the boots. He still wasn't as tall as Bruce, but he was much more convincing.
Joker was back in town. As soon as he'd heard that Batman was still alive, he came to investigate. He did so by taking a dinner party hostage. Jason responded immediately as Batman.
"Come on now, eat your soup! It's good for you!" Joker demanded with glee. The regular dinner had been replaced with his own concoctions. The fat guy who'd eaten immediately was dead, but he had a permanent smile.
Jason entered through a window in an unused portion of the house. Now was his chance to avenge his mentor. He first entered the kitchen, attacking and rendering the two 'chefs' unconscious. His reconnaissance had shown that there were four thugs remaining in the room with Joker. He couldn't bust in, he'd put the guests at mortal risk. Instead he pulled on a chef's white coat and puffy hat, and started coughing.
"They'd better not be ruining dessert." Joker's voice had an underlying tone of anger. He motioned to the two thugs nearest the kitchen. They entered the next room.
Two big KLANGs.
The far door to the kitchen opened slightly, and the people heard several small spheres bounce into the room. "I'll bet I know who's come to crash my party!" Joker exclaimed, pulling a gas mask out of his bag of tricks. As a result, he was the only one not rendered unconscious when the nostril-choking knockout gas spread throughout the room and hung like a cloud of fog.
Jason kicked open the near door and burst into the dining room a few feet from Joker. "Party pooper!" the madman cried, pulling a fish from his bag. He squeezed it, and a thin stream of fluid struck Batman's chest. The fluid, hydrochloric acid, began to burn through the padding.
Jason tackled the Joker out the window behind the fiend.
The next thing Jason knew, the Joker was kicking him repeatedly in the ribs. "How dare you accost me, you cur! Take that, and that!" he said, continuing his assault of the young man. Then he stopped.
"Hey! You're not Batbrain!" he said suddenly.
Jason started to get up.
"I've kicked Batman enough to know the feel of my boots on his ribs. You're.. you're the Boy Blunder!"
The 'boy blunder' caught Joker off-guard with a punch between the legs. Joker smiled, knocking on that area with his knuckles, resorting in a dull whap.
"Do you really think I'd come out here and do what I do without protecting the family jewels? Boy, you ARE a stupid kid!" with that, he kicked him upside the head. The unconscious Robin was beneath him, whether in a batman costume or not.
Jason Todd could not bring himself to eat. He had failed again, this time seriously. The Joker could have killed him on a whim. He began to haunt Wayne Manor like a ghost, afraid to go out, too ashamed to do nothing. Grim self-judgement his only company.
Then the Gotham Civic Center exploded.
Jason forced himself to respond to the scene. Firefly was still there, flanked by Riddler and Two-Face.
"We know you're watching, Batman. What's next? The police building? The Courthouse? We're runnin' you out of town!"
The voice was that of Harvey Dent, the twisted Two-Face.
Jason cowered on the rooftop opposite the villains. He didn't dare go down there, they'd tear him apart. Why in the world had Bruce chosen to train him as the new Robin?
Maybe because Bruce had seen something in him that Jason had yet to see in himself.
Three objects went over the edge of the building. When they crashed to the ground at the villains' feet, they exploded. Riddler and the others were stupefied for a few moments. Jason took that time to get down to their level.
The first one out was Riddler. He'd always had a glass jaw. A knockout gas batarang collided with the ground at Dent's feet, putting him to sleep. Jason then began throwing a flurry of punches and kicks at Firefly, hurting the man even through his protective body armor.
Ivy and Croc showed up.
Jason finally sent Firefly down when Killer Croc grabbed him and tossed him into a wall.
"Now there's a good boy, Croc. Step on his head." Ivy said, walking into the midst of the fallen villains. "Get up, you pitiful slobs."
Jason rolled out of the way just as Croc's foot came down on the pavement. He was in pain from hitting the wall then the ground, on top of which was the kicks he had taken from the Joker. He barely avoided another stomp, then managed to reach his feet.
Vines burst up from the grass in front of the burning civic center. The police were keeping everyone back, even the firefighters, until 'Batman' had the situation under control. Unfortunately, this was not the Dark Knight.
Jason fought to break free of the vines that constricted around him, aware that Killer Croc was heading in his direction. He managed to free a mini-acetylene torch from his utility belt and started burning through the vines. They recoiled from the torch.
It wasn't quick enough. Croc backhanded him in the head, and Jason went reeling. Half-conscious, he was sure that he was dead.
From the ground, Jason half-saw a dark form drop into the midst of the villains. A batarang exploded in Croc's face, which then launched constrictive metal bands that surrounded the man-monster.
The wet, warm feel of blood was on his face. His vision was foggy. Still Jason fought unconsciousness as the dark form continued beating down the villains. When he was done he waved the police in. Jason passed out.
Three days later
Jason Todd opened his eyes. In his room stood a tall, dark-haired man. Jason sat up, but as he did he felt slightly dizzy.
"Take it easy, kid. You're still hurt." the man said.
"D.ick? Oh my God.." Jason struggled to speak clearly.
D.ick Grayson walked to Jason's bedside. "You could have been killed, kid. What were you thinking, going out there as him?"
"The legacy has to live on. Bruce is gone, but Batman must survive. You know it."
"Nobody can be him, Jason."
"You could. I know that you and he weren't getting along. I know that you weren't happy that he took me on, but you've got to do it. Nightwing can't be that icon, and Robin sure can't. Be Batman, D.ick."
Richard Grayson walked to the window and looked out over the grounds. Everything he had done in the past few years was to distance him from this. The Titans, the change to Nightwing...
But the kid was right.
Two weeks later, the bat-signal lit up the night sky. Gordon didn't have to wait long. Batman and Robin landed on the rooftop and approached Gotham's top cop.
"It's the Joker. He's got hostages at Channel 8 and demands his own sitcom." Gordon said.
"We'll take care of it." Batman replied.
THE END!
there it is, tell me what you think. :)
CyberVenom
07/14/2003, 17:40
Very awesome! The ending was a tad bit predictable, but still a good read none the less!
Keep up the good work, m'man!
freakazoid_x
07/15/2003, 11:43
I know I promised to not read this until 4 was finished. However I thought this story was pretty good, with the exception of one thing.
Jason Todd lived.
A lot of fans voted to see that little brat die, he needed to be dead.
However good story, just an unlikable whiny hero. You captured the spirit of Jason Todd pretty well though.
Another quality read Masada. I enjoyed seeing things on the flip side. Would have been nice to see a little more story at the end there, maybe that first taking down of Joker with the new dynamic duo. The ending just seemed to come up too quick and lacked a feeling of resolution. Other than that, I think it was very nicely done.
The purpose of the ending like that shows a new beginning. We are left to imagine what will happen, but we know D.ick has been trained to be the best by the best. :)
Jackygobang
07/19/2003, 00:29
Well, actually, Jason was killed because a hardcore fanboy rigged up an auto dialer. He only lost by 70-ish votes.
:)
just keeping these on page 1 for new readers..
freakazoid_x
12/11/2003, 12:08
I am taking it upon myself to give all of Masadas old stories a fresh bump as a tribute to the currently away due to illness Masada. We miss you, get well soon.
I'm still hanging on edge for the continuation of what-if 12
These haven't been up on the front page in months, so...
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