entranceway | 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

[RECORDSCRATCH.WAV]

What the hell's that supposed to mean? You're a fan?

[You can't honestly be saying you're a fan of him.]

Sure. Since I was a kid. Black sheep of the family, still fighting the good fight, but not sticking with Daddy's methods anymore? How could I resist?

OK, first of all, with all the crap people are giving me about the whole "daddy" thing earlier, I really don't need to hear it in this context.

[Also? Bruce is an extremely sore point for Jason at this particular moment - he hasn't yet sorted through his feelings about how everything with Bruce went down just before he was whisked away to Wonderland. Or, you know, pushed those pesky feelings aside and not dealt with them. Whichever the case may be.]

And second ... are you seriously going on about this comic book nonsense too?

[Because that's what Georgia told him, and it frankly sounds like a lot of bullshit, even if it does sort of explain things.]

You started it, dude, not me. You don't want the gross daddy implications, maybe don't make the gross daddy jokes.

[Repression is a time-honored tradition, and Shaun would not dare to judge him for it. His coping mechanisms are way worse.]

Well, yeah, since of the two of us, I'm the one that read the comics. She wasn't all that interested when we were kids, and even less interested now, if you can believe it.

No accounting for taste.

I can believe it.

[Georgia seems like a real uptight and unfun stick in the mud, but Jason's already taking enough heat from her over the whole fake name thing, so it's not like he's jumping at the chance to say so.]

So if I'm from a comic book, what's my best story?

Well, Under the Hood is kind of the classic origin, and a pretty good story, for all that it's a forty year old run. It still gets rereleased pretty regularly.

As for best? I don't know, there've been a lot. I read a ton when I was a kid. My favorites usually involved you giving some kind of a giant middle finger to Batman.

[Does Shaun also have Parent Issues? Naaaah.]

... Yeah, that sounds like me, all right.

[Parent issues, yes, but It's Complicated. As angry as Jason is with Bruce, he doesn't hate him entirely - it would simplify everything if he did. And when has Jason's life ever been simple?]

You wouldn't happen to have any of these comics around here, would ya?

...As it happens, yeah, we do. My sister's been supplying someone from a comic world who can't get the stories himself, so we have a bunch. I'm guessing you're interested?

Yeah, I would be. I'd love to say that it's not that I don't trust you ... but if you know me like you say you do, I'm pretty sure you know that'd be a lie.

I don't know if I'd say I know you, but I've read about you, or someone just like you. [Having met and interacted with Cissie and Tim is enough to prove to him that it's not all how it seems in the comic books.] You can stop by our office any time--After the End Times. Ask for either Shaun or George, and one of us will help you out.

I'll see what I can do.

[After he gets aggressively first aided by the Superkids.]

Y'got a sign hung out somewhere for this office?

Ninth Floor. The sign actually says After the End Times: Shattered Mirror. Catch you later, man.

Not if I run real fast.

[Jason ... no.]