[Closed] Happy Deathday

[robintohood]

Who: Jason Todd robintohood and whoever has CR with him
What: Jason dealing with his deathday anniversary
When: December 20th to 21st
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: PG-13 level violence and mentions of self-harm and suicide ideation

[The closer it gets to December 21st, the less present Jason Todd the civilian is. It's harder to catch him at the Descendant during this month because he hasn't been there as often as he usually is. He's not spotted as often at other places either his favorite libraries or any bookstores. Meanwhile, there's an increase in Red Hood appearances.

At first, the crime lord is seemingly burying himself with his work and trying to regain what his gang lost last month. Plenty of fights with other gangs, muscling in on territory, dodging bullets from mobsters. The beatings he dishes out on goons seem to have intensified. But as December 21st creeps closer, even most of that work gradually gets less attention from him.

The beatings continue though with a change in what information Jason wants out of his victims.

In place of most of his crime lord work are solo recon missions. Lots of decrepit properties are checked. Unused fairgrounds, warehouses, and even empty properties that used to be toy stores get searched. Jason's always on the lookout for reports of gruesome crimes involving things like deadly laughing gas, frozen smiles, and clowns too. Jason knows the Joker loves gimmicks.

For all of Jason's vigilance though, there's not even a chuckle or any other hint of the mass murderer. The quietness feeds into how unsettled Jason feels. He’s expecting something to happen. That's how the Joker works sometimes. He’s a sick freak who likes to put his own twist on special occasions.

So Jason keeps searching around Central City. That's what he tells himself what he's doing. He has so much rage, fear, and other negative feelings he doesn't want to contemplate. Once he finally kills the Joker he’ll finally feel at peace.

It’s either December 20th or it's December 21st when one might spot the Red Hood in Central City.

He could be zooming all over the streets on his motorcycle. He could be curbstomping and bludgeoning someone with a tire iron outside of a dive. He might be lurking on a dark rooftop overlooking the city, or staking out a waterfront warehouse.

Whatever the case is, he’s clearly in an extremely foul mood]

((OOC: My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))

Comments

[levelshift]

[The cold weather hasn't deterred Accelerator from drinking his canned coffee. Sure, he wishes America sold hot coffee in cans, but the cold brew is better than nothing.

School is out for winter break so he doesn't need to worry about getting up in the morning, which is why he's out doing a coffee run despite the late hour. Getting mugged or harassed also isn't an issue, since the battery for his choker is charged. He isn't the least bit concerned, despite the neighbourhood not being the safest.

He hears what's sounding like some kind of altercation in front of the dive bar before he comes around the corner. Not that surprising to him, and he's planning on just walking by and not getting involved because it's probably two drunks scuffling.

He comes around the corner, and stops when he sees a familiar helmet.]

....

[That's Jason's helmet. That's Jason. From the build he's guessing it's the younger one, and he's beating the shit out of someone with a tire iron, right there on the street.

Of course, Accelerator is no stranger to violence. He knows it intimately. For him, violence has always been easier than peace. In addition to that, working for the Society and living in Central means it's something pervasive and unescapable in his life.

But this is a little different. Jason has become something of a parental figure to him, different from the vast majority of adults he's encountered. There are only a few he would consider under that umbrella, and....

And there's really only one of them he's seen this level of violence from in person.

He knows Yoshikawa shot and killed Amai Ao, but he never witnessed it and in general she isn't a violent person. Yomikawa had straightforwardly told him she would never raise a weapon against a child, so even though she's volunteer law enforcement he's never seen her be violent. He knows the older Jason is completely capable of violence but he's never seen it firsthand, only the end result.

That leaves Kihara Amata, the scientist who developed his ability. The guy that he modeled his personality and sense of style after. The piece of shit who nearly beat him to death twice, the first time in the street on a night like this.

Jason is nowhere near as bad as Kihara, the two aren't even comparable. But Kihara is the person who comes to mind as Accelerator stops on the sidewalk, watching and unsure if he should interfere like he did with the prior fight Jason was involved in.]

[robintohood]

[Jason’s not looking to kill two-bit goons tonight but he’s not feeling sorry about beating the hell out of anyone either. Not his fault if someone decided to be stupid and tried to be a smartass to him.

He swings the tire iron one more time before yanking the goon by the collar and snarling at him]

Where?!

[The goon whimpers and manages to blubbers out that he swears he haven’t seen the clown since last year and he was too creeped out by him to work for him.

Jason growls and punches the man in the face before dropping him to the sidewalk]

[levelshift]

[He watches the scene, silently, and when he takes a step closer he hears that one word spat out by the goon. Clown.

It starts to click. He remembers the older Jason's memories, the warehouse and being beaten to near-death with a crowbar by a... clown. He doesn't have the full story here, but he's got enough pieces that he's approaching. Not to try and stop the very one-sided fight, but to get Jason's attention.]

... Oi.

[robintohood]

[A new surge of indignation rises up in Jason. He's in no mood for interruptions when he answers in a snappish tone]

What?

[levelshift]

[That isn't a tone he's used to hearing from Jason. To his credit, though, he keeps his reaction minimal, stopping a few feet away and keeping his expression measured.]

If that fucker hasn't told you anything after taking a tire iron to the skull a dozen times, then I'm reasonably sure he's just clueless.

[robintohood]

[Jason kicks the goon one more time before letting him flee. Jason walks in the other direction, seemingly towards Accelerator but actually ready to walk past him]

Anything else?

[levelshift]

....

[He's quiet. This is a far cry from how Jason usually treats him, so he's still processing the best way to navigate this situation.

In the end he turns to follow after him, even though it's pretty obvious Jason doesn't want him to stick around.]

Are you looking for the bastard that killed you? Is he here?

[robintohood]

[Jason pauses. Right. Accelerator would know enough about his past to get the picture]

Possibly. Been searching for any signs of him.

[levelshift]

[He frowns, looking up at Jason.]

Have you found much?

[He's guessing the answer is 'no.']

[robintohood]

Not yet.

[Like hell he's giving up anytime soon]

[levelshift]

[Yeah, sounds about right.]

Then what're you going to do next?

[robintohood]

[Briskly as he resumes walking]

Keep searching.

[levelshift]

... Okay.

[Sorry Jason, you've got one scrawny esper following you like a little duckling. Accelerator is going to do his best to keep up, despite having the crutch and being a hell of a lot shorter.]

[robintohood]

[Jason looks back at Accelerator]

What is it now?

[levelshift]

Nothing. [He shrugs.] I'm coming with you.

[robintohood]

[Under his helmet Jason frowns]

Why?

[levelshift]

Why the hell not?

[You know, just ignore the fact that doing so will likely mean watching Jason attack more people. It's fine.]

I've got nothing better to do.

[robintohood]

Tch. This ain't a team-up job, kiddo.

[He knows if he's with someone, eventually they're going to try and stop him]

[levelshift]

[He scowls, less at being called kiddo and more that he's being told to buzz off.]

I don't fucking care. I'm not going back to my apartment.

[robintohood]

And I'm not interested in watching someone else's back while I'm doing this.

[God, why does he know so many stubborn people?]

[levelshift]

You don't need to. I'm capable of taking care of myself.

[He doesn't have his gun but that's fine.]

[robintohood]

[Annoyed]

Have you even done this kind of thing before?

[levelshift]

Sure have.

[Whether Jason means hunting someone or interrogating someone doesn't matter, because he's luckily done both before.]

[robintohood]

The bastard is dangerous and it's better you don't get involved.

[Jason keeps walking]

[levelshift]

It's fucking hilarious you're saying that to the #1 Level 5.

[Not that he likes pulling his title out, but since Jason already knows it he might as well use it to his advantage.]

I'm not a normal person. There isn't a lot that's dangerous to me.