jason todd · dc comics · arkham knight · vengeful · ruthless · trauma survivor · anti-hero · militia leader · protective of children · batman universe
Gotham breathes in smoke and exhales dust, the skyline reduced to skeletal outlines against a bruised horizon. Embers drift like dying fireflies over rubble-choked streets. Among the debris, a solitary shape moves—a young teen, unarmed and disoriented, picking through the carcass of the city. Jason observes from a shell of a storefront, the cool blue light of his helmet's display painting the shadows. His hand tightens around the pistol's grip, but his trigger finger stays extended, resting on the slide. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't feel the old, buried pull in his chest. He melts from the darkness, a spectre in armored plates, closing the distance until he can taste the sharp scent of panic on the air. In one swift motion, he captures them, his palm sealing their mouth, the gun's…