Chapter Text
Jason Todd awoke floating in a void. He tried blinking, although there was no change.
"Jason Todd."
Laughter bouncing off the walls, the echos seeming getting louder.
"You have died."
The scraping of metal against concrete burned his ears.
"Your death was not forseen, yet it has happened. There is no changing that now."
The pain, the fire, the constant ringing in his ears. The smoke that choked him until he couldn't hold out any longer.
"You were only 15-years-old."
He was Robin, the Boy Wonder, and Robin gave him magic.
"You were too young. Your death was too brutal."
Until a clown stripped that away.
The Voice appeared in the darkness, taking the all-white figure of what could've been man or woman. The Figure had no discernible features for they seemed to be always shifting, yet blank at the same time.
"I shall give you another chance, Jason Todd," the voice echoed off of the Figure, yet the Figure made no movements to signify that it was the one who spoke, "You shall remember everything from your past life, as a mercy, although some of your knowledge will serve you no purpose in your new world."
The Figure outstretched a hand that seemed to squeeze around Jason's temple. Even if Jason wanted to protest, he couldn't figure out how to make his mouth move to make the sound.
-
Jason first realised he was elsewhere when he heard singing. It's omnipresence wasn't like the Figure who gave him this opportunity, but it seemed to echo through him, reverberate off the dark, comfortable walls that surrounded him. It reminded him of his mom; the one who had taken care of him. When he was younger, before she got addicted, before Willis grew angry and drunk, she would sing to him.
This singing was different. Catherine would use her voice, singing lullabies to lull a younger Jason to sleep or to calm him down as she put a band-aid on his knees.
This singing wasn't a lullaby. It was a melody. She didn't speak any words, but Jason knew she didn't need to. He understood her. He was safe.
He didn't start questioning his predicament until what might've been months had passed. He heard shounting. Angry, loud shouting that reminded him of Willis. Dick. Bruce. Shouting he wish the woman would sing away.
The shouting became normal, then it stopped.
-
Being born was not a fun. Months of being in a forever hug, only to be pushed out and evicted into the arms of his mother.
He was born on August 16th in Musutafu, Japan. His mother named him Jason Todd.
When she was around 6 months pregnant, she left her husband in America and started an new life in Japan. She moved in with her grandmother, raising Jason there, away from where his father could be a threat.
-
Bakugou had small sparkler fireworks poping from his hands, a large grin plastered on his face. The class awed with amazement, congratulating him on his flashy quirk.
"You're so lucky!" Midoriya exclaimed as another one of Jason's classmates agreed. The teachers sung their own praises.
Bakugou was never exactly nice to Midoriya, using him as a stepping stone and calling him names, but his behavior got worse after his Quirk manifested. He changed. He always thought himself superior to Midoriya, but his Quirk made him act like he owned the world. He was cocky.
Jason stood up for Midoriya plenty of times, helping him off his feet and telling Bakugou off. Despite Jason's warnings and Bakugou's obvious attempts to push Midoriya away, the boy kept trailing after Bakugou.
"Your Quirk is amazing, Kacchan!" Midoriya exclaimed to Bakugou as the three of them walked through the forest in search of bugs, "When I get mine, I hope it's just as cool!"
"Whatever, Deku. No matter what power you end up with, you'll never be able to beat me," Bakugou looked over his shoulder. So sure of himself. How Jason wanted to knock him off his high horse.
"Well, no matter what power you have, if the bad guy outsmarts you, you're a gonner, Kacchan." Jason found himself saying.
"Shut up, Todd. You don't know what you're talking about," Bakugoi scoffed, swinging his net like a baton, "Maybe when you get your Quirks, both of you will understand." he marched ahead.
As more and more of their classmates recived their quirks, Midoriya and Jason were left in the dust. It didn't take long for kindergarteners to be kindergartners and gossip about their "predicament" in-front of them. Jason did his best to tell his friend that he was just a late-bloomer, and that he shouldn't listen to their classmates.
Then Midoriya went to the doctor. He was told that he would never receive a Quirk due to missing the extra third-joint requirement in his pinky toe.
Jason's own mother wanted to bring him to the doctor to have a similar check-up to Midoriya's, but Jason refused.
"Do you think I can still be a hero without a Quirk, Jaychan?" Midoriya managed to choke out through his tears.
"Think about it," Jason wiped his friend's tears away, think of the hopelessness he felt when fighting side-by-side with superpowered heros durring his time as Robin, "Heroes protect people. Sometimes their Quirk doesn't help in every situation. Even then, would a Pro-Hero stop protecting people?"
Midoria sniffed, wiping his nose, "No?"
"Exactly. You may not have the 'right' power to help, Izuku, but you should never stop trying to help others, no matter how hopeless."
Jason felt himself smile as his friend wiped away the last of his tears with a determined smirk, "You're right." Izuku nodded