The Broken Bird

Epilouge: How it all began

Laughter.

Cold, heartless, insane laughter.

These were the only things accompanying Jason Todd, the second Robin, as he was laying on cool stone floor of the warehouse, which had been dampened by his own blood, sweat, and tears, as the psychopathic clown by the name of, The Joker, relentlessly abused him.

Jason hadn't always been in this situation however, he grew up a simple street child, abandoned and unloved by his the majority of his family, as he attempted to keep himself fed on the desolate city streets of Gotham the home of the Bat. Cold, and alone, he spent many a day gaining whatever form of money he could get his grubby little paws upon; whether it be through stealing, swindling, or scheming, he knew how to, and what to do in just about any scenario, but one that he was never prepared for was him.

The Bat.

As the crowbar viciously pounds upon him again with a crack, as he is abruptly drawn out his thoughts, before feeling two slender, gloved hands heave him over the familiar purple shoulder, as he is escorted over to the other side of the lace that Jason had learned to despise so much, hearing a jolly tune come from 'him'. The Joker.

"H-he'll find me... a-and when he does, your done for." Jason said with a whisper, as he felt a sickening smile place itself upon the man's pale face, as the husky kid is thrown into poor wooden chair, zip ties placed on his arms, and legs to restrain him, but that didn't matter, as Jason had already had those limbs brutally broken by the clown prince of crime, and the dreaded crowbar. "You know? I was gonna go easy on ya kiddo! But after that comment, I'm gonna have to up my game..." he said, as his tone skipped through emotions, all clearly plastered on for the degenerate's own sick sense of humour, as he began to reach into a nearby crate, fumbling around within it, before pulling out a thin strip of metal, adorned with sharp edges protruding from it.

Barbed wire.

As the clown monologues to himself inwardly, Jason once again slipped back into his own thoughts, trying to pry himself from reality. As the small thief darts into a shady alleyway, he hears the policeman which he stole the wallet of, shout at him, as he sprints away. "Get back here, you little shit!" The officer screamed, as he prepared himself to chase the young boy, before realising that he had gotten away. As the young child thought himself safe, he opened up the officer's wallet, finding about two hundred dollars inside of the brown leather compartment; believing he had finally gotten a streak of luck, he harshly threw the wallet into a nearby trash can, before looking over his shoulder, making sure the money made its way into his pocket, and as he looked back up, there 'he' was.

The Bat.

"Hey kiddo!" The Clown yelled. "Earth to bird brain! You still with me?" He asked sarcastically. As Jason looked down at himself, he realised that he was now covered in barbed wire, constraining him to the chair, as he attempted to wiggle free from its coarse embrace, but to no avail, as he only caused more pain for himself. "We don't talk much now do we?" The psychopath said inwardly, rubbing his chin as he contemplated his actions. "Hmmm... but what 'to' talk about. Ah, I know!" He said excitedly, as he began to fumble around in his blood stained jacket, before pulling out a small photo, looking at it with fire in his eyes. "How's about we talk about Batsy's new birdy?" He said, with an evil grin stuck on his face. "No... he wouldn't..." Jason said to himself, thinking over what the maniac said, before being shown the picture by said maniac, his swollen eyes widening in shock. 'B-but why?' Jason thought to himself as he stared at the cold floor, as his body began to tremble slightly.

Jason looked up in shock, fear running through him briefly, as he saw the caped figure standing over him. "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you." As the darkened vigilante spoke, his voice was incredibly grizzly, to extend of which it seemed to be fake; nevertheless, it damn sure stuck fear into the young Jason, as he looked on at him, unsure if what he was seeing was real, before rage began to boil through him. 'I won't let anyone take this opportunity from me! Not even you!' He thought to himself, as his blood began to boil, as he pulled out his pocket knife, and raised his arm for a big swing, and as he brought it down, his felt a sharp pain in his wrist as the Batman's gauntlet wrapped around his frail arm, lifting him off of the ground. "I'm only going to ask this once, so better answer me honestly. Are you hungry?"

As the now former Robin snapped himself back to reality, he realised that his torturer was stood by the exit, looking back at him briefly, flashing his sinister grin once more. "Now be in bed by nine, and make sure to finish whatever homework you have left." He said in sickly sweet voice, as he reached for the latch. "Oh! I almost forgot! If the B-man swings by, tell him I said: 'Hello'...." those were the only words he spoke to the frail boy as he left the door locking shut behind him. Jason sat there for a moment, still stunned by the photograph that the Joker had shown him, before rage began to run through his system once more, as he screamed out in a pain filled rage, as warm tears began to stream from his blackened eyes. "Why?" He says to himself as he desperately tried to find anyway of escape from this putrid hell, as he fought against the barbed wire, which only caused far more pain than good.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"What is tha-" Jason asked himself, as he looked over to his left, only to see something that he had wanted over the past year of unadulterated torture, and bloodshed. Death. Death in the form of a plastic charge, with a thirty second timer on it. Jason simply let out a pained chuckle, coughing up blood onto his lap, as he closed his eyes. "You're gonna be glad that I don't make it out of here, Bruce, otherwise you'd be dead." He said aloud as the electronic timer beeped away, but Jason no longer cared, as he slouched in his chair, he looked upward toward the ceiling, waiting for his inevitable demise.

'Thank you. Thank you, Bruce. For everything...' He thought in his dying moments, as the C-4 charge exploded, destroying the already broken down warehouse, with a large explosion, decimating the surrounding area.