The Filmgmr
Red Hood Volume 9 #93
5 PJL
——————————————————————————————————
Waking up hours later, Jason found the large computer monitor near his bed ablaze with static. Scarlet sat on the edge of the bed, cleaning her sniper rifle before noticing he had woken up and saying,
“Mornin’ sleeping beauty.” Jason sat up and immediately asked,
“What happened to the computer…and wait…where’s Roy?” Roy’s bag, quiver, and bow all sat on the ground in front of his bed, but there was no sign of him.
“We’re not sure…it turned on in the middle of the night and we thought we saw someone looking at us through it but…nah. And Roy’ll be back in a sec, just went to pick something up.” As if on queue, Roy opened the door upstairs and made his way through the shop above. Reaching the basement, Jason couldn’t help to smirk through his growing anxiety: Roy was wearing his old red and black spandex. Noticing Jason’s surprised expression, Roy quickly said,
“Scarlet and I got to talking last night and I realized I probably can’t and shouldn’t go out in anything else. I mean, I would prefer a new suit…this one’s a bit tight…but oh well,” Jason nodded while grabbing for the package to make sure it was still in his jacket. Sure enough it was, causing him to breath a short sigh of relief as Roy continued, “So…you were about to elaborate earlier?” Jason looked from Roy to Scarlet, who understood the meaning and explained to the former that,
“Roy wanted to know more about me. Ya know, before all of this. You could probably…I mean, you SHOULD probably be able to recite this by heart but I’ll say it for now I guess…” Scarlet set down her rifle and began to tell her story, “Basically I came to Gotham to start a new life with my dad…something like…five years ago? Wow, it’s been a while…anyway, we came to Gotham so he could get a better job with the help of my Uncle Lev. That a-hole. Lev worked for Professor Pyg, a serial killer who would do all sorts of nasty stuff to his ‘patients’. Good old Uncle Lev sold us out to Pyg to pay for his rent for the month. Pyg got my dad…he was unrecognizable by the time the freak was through with him. He put my dad and I in the same room overnight before Lev was coming for his payment…that was not a fun night. Dad was…he…um…”
“Pyg made him into a dollotron,” Jason said, “Felt no pain, but also felt no emotion. Couldn’t talk outside of grunts and moans…it was horrible.” Roy’s eyebrows were raised high during the whole story, prompting him to say,
“I’m sorry…that must’ve been terrible.”
“It got better,” Scarlet said with a solemn nod, uncharacteristic of her eternally happy persona, “‘Cause the next morning, as I was being wheeled out to the operating table, I heard something. Gunshots. All around me. Pyg was getting nervous, so he quickly began strapping me to the table as my Uncle Lev attempted to bar the doors. But it was no use…” Scarlet’s smile was slowly returning as she looked to Jason, who’d moved to the couch nearby, “…the Red Hood broke the door down and slammed my jackass uncle against the wall. Pyg tried to throw whatever knives he had around him at him but he dodged every one. In fact, he managed to dodge one perfectly so that it impaled Lev to the wall. Sure, for a second I felt bad…but I just kept remembering what he’d allowed my father to become. Red Hood took out Pyg in mere seconds. The fat bastard wouldn’tve been able to hold his own in any kind of fight, I was just glad I got a front row seat to his death. I remember the gunshot that killed him. Broke his stupid porcelain mask in half and went straight through his eye…taking everything on the inside out too. Then, the Red Hood saved me,” Again, Scarlet looked to Jason, who blushed slightly while nervously holding the package inside his jacket, “He told me about how my uncle had apparently done some dealings with some guy named the Joker…and he needed to be killed as part of some greater plan that would stop the madman forever. He told me about how Pyg was nothing compared to the Joker, and in that moment I realized that with no family left and men like Pyg still on the loose I needed to take action in some way. He was reluctant at first, but after I repeatedly told him about my time hunting with my dad and proficiency with a sniper rifle he let me join his crusade. We…um…had to take care of my dad first…” Jason finally stood up and walked over to her, putting an arm around her as she finished, “…but then things got really good for a while. We recruited some new guys, took down one of Gotham’s kingpins of crime, and somewhere along the way I fell for that chivalrous murderer who saved me from being a weird doll thing.” Roy nodded, sitting down on his bed as he said,
“That’s amazing. I’m jealous…mostly because your story involves you keeping both arms at the end, but anyway, wanna hear mine? Wanna hear the secrets of protecting Star City with the good old Emerald Archer?” Jason and Scarlet nodded, and Roy nearly began to speak before suddenly the monitor’s static stopped. All three heads turned to the screen to see a face looking back at them. Scarlet and Roy both looked confused, but Jason smiled and stepped forward, saying,
“Hello Alfred.” The aging butler smiled back, saying,
“It seems your roster has expanded Master Todd, very good, as we’re going to need as many helping hands as we can recruit.” Confused, Jason asked,
“Helping hands…what do you mean? Has something happened…?” Sighing, Alfred said,
“It would be best if…he explained. One moment sir.” He stepped away from the camera as Jason turned to Scarlet, seeing her smiling uncontrollably,
“Are we gonna meet Batman?” She asked, excitedly.
“I think you are…” Jason said as he noticed Roy had stood up and joined the two of them in front of the monitor. For a moment, the screen became a hybrid of the shot of the Batcave and static before finally the Batman stood at the camera. Jason nodded at him, saying, “Thank you. Thank you so much Br-”
“You can thank me later,” Batman said quickly. Jason noticed that he looked slightly more flustered than their last encounter, even when the two had believed Robin and Alfred to be dead, “Jason…we need to talk.”
Red Hood Volume 9 #93
5 PJL
——————————————————————————————————
Waking up hours later, Jason found the large computer monitor near his bed ablaze with static. Scarlet sat on the edge of the bed, cleaning her sniper rifle before noticing he had woken up and saying,
“Mornin’ sleeping beauty.” Jason sat up and immediately asked,
“What happened to the computer…and wait…where’s Roy?” Roy’s bag, quiver, and bow all sat on the ground in front of his bed, but there was no sign of him.
“We’re not sure…it turned on in the middle of the night and we thought we saw someone looking at us through it but…nah. And Roy’ll be back in a sec, just went to pick something up.” As if on queue, Roy opened the door upstairs and made his way through the shop above. Reaching the basement, Jason couldn’t help to smirk through his growing anxiety: Roy was wearing his old red and black spandex. Noticing Jason’s surprised expression, Roy quickly said,
“Scarlet and I got to talking last night and I realized I probably can’t and shouldn’t go out in anything else. I mean, I would prefer a new suit…this one’s a bit tight…but oh well,” Jason nodded while grabbing for the package to make sure it was still in his jacket. Sure enough it was, causing him to breath a short sigh of relief as Roy continued, “So…you were about to elaborate earlier?” Jason looked from Roy to Scarlet, who understood the meaning and explained to the former that,
“Roy wanted to know more about me. Ya know, before all of this. You could probably…I mean, you SHOULD probably be able to recite this by heart but I’ll say it for now I guess…” Scarlet set down her rifle and began to tell her story, “Basically I came to Gotham to start a new life with my dad…something like…five years ago? Wow, it’s been a while…anyway, we came to Gotham so he could get a better job with the help of my Uncle Lev. That a-hole. Lev worked for Professor Pyg, a serial killer who would do all sorts of nasty stuff to his ‘patients’. Good old Uncle Lev sold us out to Pyg to pay for his rent for the month. Pyg got my dad…he was unrecognizable by the time the freak was through with him. He put my dad and I in the same room overnight before Lev was coming for his payment…that was not a fun night. Dad was…he…um…”
“Pyg made him into a dollotron,” Jason said, “Felt no pain, but also felt no emotion. Couldn’t talk outside of grunts and moans…it was horrible.” Roy’s eyebrows were raised high during the whole story, prompting him to say,
“I’m sorry…that must’ve been terrible.”
“It got better,” Scarlet said with a solemn nod, uncharacteristic of her eternally happy persona, “‘Cause the next morning, as I was being wheeled out to the operating table, I heard something. Gunshots. All around me. Pyg was getting nervous, so he quickly began strapping me to the table as my Uncle Lev attempted to bar the doors. But it was no use…” Scarlet’s smile was slowly returning as she looked to Jason, who’d moved to the couch nearby, “…the Red Hood broke the door down and slammed my jackass uncle against the wall. Pyg tried to throw whatever knives he had around him at him but he dodged every one. In fact, he managed to dodge one perfectly so that it impaled Lev to the wall. Sure, for a second I felt bad…but I just kept remembering what he’d allowed my father to become. Red Hood took out Pyg in mere seconds. The fat bastard wouldn’tve been able to hold his own in any kind of fight, I was just glad I got a front row seat to his death. I remember the gunshot that killed him. Broke his stupid porcelain mask in half and went straight through his eye…taking everything on the inside out too. Then, the Red Hood saved me,” Again, Scarlet looked to Jason, who blushed slightly while nervously holding the package inside his jacket, “He told me about how my uncle had apparently done some dealings with some guy named the Joker…and he needed to be killed as part of some greater plan that would stop the madman forever. He told me about how Pyg was nothing compared to the Joker, and in that moment I realized that with no family left and men like Pyg still on the loose I needed to take action in some way. He was reluctant at first, but after I repeatedly told him about my time hunting with my dad and proficiency with a sniper rifle he let me join his crusade. We…um…had to take care of my dad first…” Jason finally stood up and walked over to her, putting an arm around her as she finished, “…but then things got really good for a while. We recruited some new guys, took down one of Gotham’s kingpins of crime, and somewhere along the way I fell for that chivalrous murderer who saved me from being a weird doll thing.” Roy nodded, sitting down on his bed as he said,
“That’s amazing. I’m jealous…mostly because your story involves you keeping both arms at the end, but anyway, wanna hear mine? Wanna hear the secrets of protecting Star City with the good old Emerald Archer?” Jason and Scarlet nodded, and Roy nearly began to speak before suddenly the monitor’s static stopped. All three heads turned to the screen to see a face looking back at them. Scarlet and Roy both looked confused, but Jason smiled and stepped forward, saying,
“Hello Alfred.” The aging butler smiled back, saying,
“It seems your roster has expanded Master Todd, very good, as we’re going to need as many helping hands as we can recruit.” Confused, Jason asked,
“Helping hands…what do you mean? Has something happened…?” Sighing, Alfred said,
“It would be best if…he explained. One moment sir.” He stepped away from the camera as Jason turned to Scarlet, seeing her smiling uncontrollably,
“Are we gonna meet Batman?” She asked, excitedly.
“I think you are…” Jason said as he noticed Roy had stood up and joined the two of them in front of the monitor. For a moment, the screen became a hybrid of the shot of the Batcave and static before finally the Batman stood at the camera. Jason nodded at him, saying, “Thank you. Thank you so much Br-”
“You can thank me later,” Batman said quickly. Jason noticed that he looked slightly more flustered than their last encounter, even when the two had believed Robin and Alfred to be dead, “Jason…we need to talk.”