entranceway | one; audio {with bitter words, that's how the boy talks.}

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one; audio {with bitter words, that's how the boy talks.}

[Jason woke up inside the mansion, gave it all a cursory look-through, and promptly noped the hell on out of there. Ain’t nobody got time for this Wonderland theme park bullshit - especially not the Red Hood.

Of the available options, the forest seemed like the best way out, so that’s where Jason is now, trampling through the brush, snapping twigs underfoot as he mutters his complaints into the comm device:]

This would be going a lot easier if there had been any vehicles worth taking …

[The sounds of movement stop, and Jason sighs loudly. He is Officially Lost, and he wasn’t in the best mood to begin with, so he’s understandably a little tense in addressing whoever might be listening.]

All right, this is officially stupid, and I don’t have time for stupid. Got much bigger fish to fry, so I’ll get right to the point. Whose head do I have to stuff in a duffel bag to get a map of the way out of here? Tick tock, losers, answer fast – Daddy doesn’t like being kept waiting.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What're you gonna do, tie me up and torture me until I give you a different answer?

Not really her style. She's just going to pester the hell out of you.

[Dryly:] Thanks, Shaun. [If Jason listens closely he may hear the sound of an elbow colliding with someone's ribs.

Why are there so many people here who think torture is a remotely reliable way to get answers?]

I'm very good at pestering the hell out of people.

I've dealt with worse than being pestered.

And yet, you just told my brother it sounded like torture.

The choice is yours. Do you want to learn what I'll figure out if I go digging? Cause I bet it'll be a lot more than a simple name.

I mean, I already know a whole lot more than you want me to. You're pretty obvious.

Hmm, I wonder what could be worse to deal with than being tortured?

[Something like getting beaten almost to death with a crowbar, perhaps? Then actually killed in an explosion, then brought back to find out your death didn't matter to the people who were the most important to you?]

Listen, even if you had some kind of back channel to law enforcement databases from here, you wouldn't find anything on me. I'd bet my fingerprints on it. [Thanks, Bruce, for erasing all that years ago.] And there's no way you have anything on me from just talking to me once.

[Please show him the receipts.]

[She must have been very good this year. Santa brought her a dipshit to fuck with.]

You chose the name "John Doe" as your fake name. If you really wanted to go generic, you would have went with John Smith. If you really wanted to not get caught you would have picked something common, but not so obviously common. James Griffin or something. But no. You went with something obvious. So you're making a statement.

My guess? You've died, or came very close to that. Probably as a teenager. You blame your former friends and loved ones for it, and you don't want them to know you're back, not until you're ready. You're violent, probably planning some sort of revenge, and from a world of superheroes and villains.

[It's impossible to miss the satisfaction in her tone as she adds:]

That's from just talking to you once. Would you like me to tell you what five minutes of research have turned up?

[Well ... OK, Jason probably deserved that, he did ask for it. Still, it's a little unnerving; Jason's used to being something of a nonentity, even in his hometown. Someone he's just met in whatever weird kidnapping dimension this is shouldn't be able to guess all of that with such accuracy.]

Cute theory. What's your source?

You are, Mr. Todd. [Yep, she's just gonna drop the name in now. She got that too, didn't she mention?] You're not half as subtle as you think you are.

[Damn it. She must've seen or heard that kid - Robin - Bruce's son, running his mouth.]

Subtle's not really my style. Figured that much was obvious - you know, heads in a duffel bag, explosions, all that. Pretty big clue for a smarty-pants like you to miss.

[OK, fine. She's got his name. It's irritating, but it's not like it really matters. Especially not here.]

So you got my name - big deal. What're you gonna do with it? Write some kinda exposé on me? Like I said - even if you had access to official files, that identity's been dead for years, and it was wiped from the system long before that. And I'm sure as hell not giving any interviews.

Edited 2017-12-19 20:12 (UTC)

First of all, have you really not learned that taunting journalists is a bad idea? You're slower than I thought, and that's saying something.

[Does he really think she couldn't find out everything she wants to know with or without his help? Come on.]

Second of all, no. There's no point. Anyone can read your entire life's story in the library if they want.

What can I say, I like to defy people's expectations of me.

[That second point's a lot more troublesome, however.]

What do you mean, "anyone can read your entire life's story"? Is someone here keeping files on us or what?

Coming short is sort of defying expectations.

[But not really worth bragging about in her opinion.]

Not exactly. You're just fictional in some worlds, including mine. There are comic books.

[Now, see, Jason's read comic books, and the idea that he himself happens to be a character in such a thing sounds like absolute bullshit.]

You really expect me to just believe that? Prove it.