🃏| Jason Todd- DC

Nobody in Gotham knew where the Joker’s heir had come from.

One day they simply existed.

Like a bad punchline suddenly forced into the middle of a joke nobody wanted to hear.

The news called them “Harlequin pt 2.” The gangs called them “Baby J.” Online forums made theories about hidden Ace Chemicals experiments or secret Arkham patients or whether the Joker had finally snapped enough to start building replacements. Crazy, random stuff

Jason didn’t care about the theories. He cared about the bodies.

Burned hideouts. Rigged carnivals. Broadcast interruptions filled with distorted laughter. {{user}} always appeared beside the Joker like a ghost stitched into his shadow—silent when Joker spoke, violent when Joker pointed.

And Gotham reacted exactly the way Gotham always did.

With fear.

The Bats treated them like a future disaster waiting to happen. Criminals scrambled to earn their favor. Civilians looked at blurry photos and saw another monster in green and purple.

Jason saw something else.

At first it was small things.

{{user}} never laughed before the Joker did.

Not once.

Jason noticed it during one of Joker’s hostage games inside an abandoned theater. Joker had been cackling through the microphone while they just stood beside him in full costume, face hidden behind smeared makeup and a carved grin mask.

The cameras caught them tilting their head a second too late every time Joker spoke.

Like they were waiting for instructions.

Then there was the warehouse incident.

Red Hood had crashed through a skylight expecting a bloodbath and instead found three tied-up hostages hidden behind crates with their restraints half-cut. Sloppy work. Hidden work.

Intentional work.

They had entered that room before him.

Jason knew because there wasn't any mess, no huge catch phrases on the wall made of blood, nothing that the joker would do was present.

Then came the biggest thing.

The factory smelled like bleach, gasoline, and something burning behind the walls. Typical Joker operation.

Jason Todd moved silently through the upper rafters, scanning the chaos below. Men in clown masks shuffled crates between rooms while someone argued loudly near the loading bay. Somewhere deeper inside the building, music played from an old speaker—warped carnival tunes crackling through blown-out audio.

Jason hated carnival music.

A gunshot echoed.

Then laughter, not the Joker’s. Too light when it started, Too sharp around the edges. Jason’s grip tightened around the railing.

“Boss says if this batch goes bad again, he’s feeding you to the hyenas!”

“Oh good,” another voice replied dryly. “Was worried tonight lacked whimsy.” There.

Jason’s eyes tracked the speaker weaving. It was clearly {{user}} again, in their usual outfit and makeup. For some reason it has become a very common occurrence to see them again

He continued to watch the colorful group organize whatever the heck joker was planning, but then something weird happened. He watched as {{user}} noticed one of the gang members struggling with a heavy crate and casually shifted to help before the guy dropped it on himself.

Odd.

Joker’s people usually laughed when someone got hurt, Jason kept watching.

{{user}} moved through the chaos easily, joking with thugs, mocking people under their breath, flashing smiles at all the right moments—but every time someone got too rough with a hostage tied near the wall, they intervened.

“Easy, easy,” they said when one thug raised a weapon toward a crying civilian. “If they die now, Boss can’t do the dramatic speech later.” The thug grumbled but backed off.

Jason narrowed his eyes. The words were clearly manipulative, but not in a cruel or evil way, although clearly to steer the others away from the hostages.

Then the they crouched beside the hostage while pretending to retie the ropes. Jason caught the quick flick of movement, The knots immediately loosened.

This was the first time he ever saw evidence of {{user}} actually doing stuff as he thought they were, and he was right..he didn't like the fact he was right.

A scream erupted from deeper in the warehouse followed by an explosion that rattled the catwalks overhead.

The operation had started.

Jason dropped from the rafters like a bullet. The first thug hit concrete before he even realized Red Hood was there.

Gunfire exploded through the room.

People shouted.

Someone yelled, “IT’S THE HOOD!”

Jason moved fast—disarming one man, slamming another into a support beam hard enough to crack it. Fear spread instantly. Good. Fear made criminals sloppy.

Across the room, civilians scrambled as the loosened hostage freed the others.

{{user}} was caught off guard as anyone else and quickly pulled their gun out, but they were too slow. Jason immediately kicked it out of their hands and swept his other leg over their feet, making {{user}} fall to the ground immediately. The next thing they saw was a rod coming to their face before black

{{user}} slowly began to wake up with a groan, their head pounding like crazy from the hit they had taken. A bruise was already starting to form below their chin.

They couldn't move..they couldn't move? They were tied to a freaking chair was chains all over them, like they were the most dangerous thing on earth

Before they could say anything, the sound of Jason's voice filled the room, he was sitting in front of them- well not in front of them, quite a distance was between them

"Yay, you're awake" the yay didn't sound enthusiastic at all. "Now start speakin'"