[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]

[Accelerator purses his lips. That choice of words is a little ironic, though he doesn't mention the fact that he's technically one of those, too. He also very well can't say I'm tagging along because I'm worried you're going to get yourself seriously hurt or killed.]

I already told you, I've got nothing better to do.

[robintohood]

[Jason stares at Accelerator, considering. Jason’s not just angry about the situation]

This isn’t some field trip. I can’t have you in danger while I’m doing this.

[levelshift]

[Accelerator stares back, hard.]

Do you seriously think I'm the kind of person who would treat this as a field trip?

[robintohood]

[Jason hates to admit it but Accelerator has a point there]

No but it’s still better that I go at this solo.

[levelshift]

I don't fucking agree with you.

[No point in talking around that point. It does make him consider something, too.]

Have you been looking for him the whole time you've been here?

[It's not like he keeps tabs on people he knows, so he assumes that's how it's been and that this isn't some recent change.]

[robintohood]

Yeah. He was active last year but none of us have spotted him this year.

[There’s no use hiding any of that. It’s easy to find out through old news reports. Plus, it was better that Accelerator was made aware of the Joker than not]

[levelshift]

[Well, that isn't good. It'd be easy to lay low for a year in a city like Central.]

There isn't a good way to confirm he's gone or dead?

[robintohood]

No. The bastard was always good at hiding when he wants to.

[Which is part of what’s so infuriating about this whole endeavor]

[levelshift]

[.... Sadly, manipulating vectors isn't exactly useful for hunting a person down. Maybe if one of the Sisters was here she could speedrun hacking into a bunch of security systems and communication networks. That would be helpful.

Accelerator frowns faintly.]

What's your next move, then?

[robintohood]

Keep searching. It’s a big city with plenty of rats’ nests he could be hiding at.

[Jason looks out at the view before them. So much of Central City reminds of Gotham in unpleasant ways]

[levelshift]

It's going to take you a while to narrow things down when you're working with an entire fucking city.

[And if the bastard is gone, then Jason is going to be stuck in a never-ending loop.]

[robintohood]

Better than just sitting around and waiting for him to cause more mayhem.

[levelshift]

I guess not.

[He frowns.]

You must have some kind of plan, right?

[robintohood]

‘Course I do.

[Find him and then kill him. Simple as that]

[levelshift]

.........

[Accelerator is silent, staring at Jason, waiting for him to expound upon that.]

[robintohood]

[Jason would prefer to leave it to Accelerator’s imagination. He doesn’t want any arguments about him being stupid or reckless for trying this. He takes out his grapple gun and aims for the next rooftop to swing towards]

[levelshift]

[Welp.

He gives a little sigh before hitting his switch on his choker again, and jumping over to that roof. This time he makes sure to keep any residual shockwaves to a minimum, like he normally does.]

[robintohood]

[He lands on the rooftop with comfortable ease before looking back at Accelerator]

You can’t do this all night you know.

[levelshift]

[As soon as he lands he switches modes, trying to save seconds on his battery.]

I know.

[But that isn't going to stop him from following Jason right now.]

[robintohood]

[Jason wants to continue his work alone but Accelerator is stubborn and he doesn’t want the teenager to burn out his stamina because of him]

Then why?

[levelshift]

[The very obvious answer to that - I'm worried about you - gets stuck in Accelerator's throat and all he can do is click his tongue.]

Stop asking.

[robintohood]

[He’s starting to pick up that Accelerator is worried for him but it’s an uncomfortable conversation to have for someone who has self-loathing issues]

I can take care of myself. I spent years training for shit like this and he’s dangerous. It’s better I go at this alone.

[levelshift]

.....

[Accelerator patiently waits for Jason to finish. This is indeed an uncomfortable conversation, one he would rather not have.]

Have you gotten that out of your system?

[robintohood]

[Annoyed]

Got what out?

[levelshift]

[He knows Jason isn't going to like this.]

The need to argue with me on this. You're not going to convince me to leave.