Training. Training was the answer to everything. You needed to get better at something? Train. You needed to have a break from everything? Train. You needed to get your mind off things? Train. And Essence did train. She trained since she was a child, and was nearly perfect at every Technik the All-Cast taught her. But nearly perfect wasn't enough.
And that was the reason why she now stood in a yard, surrounded with ten of the All-Castes best warriors. The task was simple: Defeat everyone in a time of 30 seconds. 10 feet above her, an elderly woman shouted: "Begin!" Under normal circumstances, Essence would have waited for one of her opponents to make the first move, but given her little time, she could only go in the offensive. She lunged at one of the warriors. She was fast enough to knock him out before another one closed in on her. She caught his arm easily and twisted it in an angle that made it unusable for the next few weeks. But before any of her opponents could use the opening, she gave them, she had already defeated another one. Then with one hand she drew the blood-blade and summoned the souls within it. Careful not to kill any of the warriors she made a complicated spinning flip and unleashed the power held within the cursed sword. Seven red dragon spirits rushed out of the blade and to her opponents. Six of them connected, knocking the victims out cold, but one of the warriors disappeared in a pile of smoke and reappeared before her. Essence had to little time to react and got caught between one of his hands. Her opponent began to choke her and she slowly began to see black dots, before she remembered a training session years ago:
"In the end, it does only matter who wins. Honour, my ass. If you want to survive you gotta fight dirty sometimes." Jason said. "That's rich coming from someone like you." Essence responded with a smile. "Well princess, if you can defeat the Untitled by kicking them in the balls, that is exactly what I will do." They both shared a laugh, before continuing the training.
Essence remembered all of this in a flash and knew what to do instantly. With one leg she kicked her opponent in his comfort zone so hard, that she could hear the air escape his mouth. The man dropped on one knee, grunting in pain.
"Enough!" Ducra's voice could be heard over the entire yard. "27 seconds. Well done. While the technic was highly uncivilized, it served her purpose. You may rest now, daughter." Essence wasn't really tired but decided that a little break couldn't hurt. She put the blood-blade away and began her walk.
1 mile away, in a tiny little room, Ducra prepared herself. Looking in the future was painful and exhausting. She had trained years before she mastered it. But now, in her old age, she sometimes struggled with it. As the fog slowly appeared and her vision became blurry, she whispered: "Show me the future."
The first thing she realized was that she was in a tiny room. But there, at the fireplace he kneaded, reading letters. He looked like he was in a good condition. His black hair cowered his face. Ducra walked over to him. She looked over his shoulder and tried to read the letter, but could only make out the name at the bottom: Willis Todd.
Then the fog appeared again. The next thing she saw shocked her: Jason kneaded in the rain, his Red Hood attire on, next to an empty coffin. He screamed out of his lung: "I DON'T CARE." She could hear a quiet voice from somewhere: "I don't know who or what you were expecting to find, son … But it looks like it ripped your heart out."
As she felt the fog drifting her to the next scenario, she still tried to proceed what she just had witnessed. But what she just saw was nothing compared to what she saw next: Jason was completely broken; his helmet was shattered and someone had ripped off the symbol on his chest. From behind her, she could hear a deep voice. "No more jokes, no more Red Hood."
But before Ducra could who had done this to Jason she felt a pain in her side. Ducra slowly began to slip out of the dream and the last thing she heard was a woman saying: "The mask has changed, but the man is still the same."
It was night when Dick heard someone knocking. As he got up to open his door, he wondered who it could be. He didn't get visited very often. Granted his entire family lived in Gotham, so it was somewhat understandable. That was why his jaw nearly dropped when he saw Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, and, behind all of them, Barbara Gordon in her wheelchair before him. "I guess it has something to do with Jason?" "You could say that," Tim answered. "Can we come in?"
Dick nodded before he stepped to the side to let his visitors in. As soon as they entered, they made their way to his living room. Damian got down on a chair while Tim and Stephanie shared the couch. Tim immediately came to the point: "We want to figure out who E is. Jason obviously doesn't want us to know who she is, so we need to figure this out ourselves." Suddenly Dick realized something. "So, this is why you didn't bring Cass with you?" This time Steph answered: "Yes. We all know she's bestie with Jason and she would only tell us to stop invading his private life."
That made sense. Cass was very protective when it came to Jason. "Ok, I'm all ears," Dick said. "Well, first Bruce already put a tracker on him. I hacked the tracker so that it also shows us his position. I propose we wait until he goes somewhere out of Gotham and then follows him." Dick nodded but then asked: "But don't we have any other clues?" "And this is where phase 2 starts. We need to look over Jason's body if he still has the genetic material of her. Even if they are years old, there is always something." "And how are we supposed to get these samples, Drake? I doubt that he will agree to just give them to you."
"Not necessary." Everyone turned around to Barbara. "I think I should have enough samples saved in the computer of the clocktower. If this isn't enough, we can still ask him if he can give us some because of medical reasons. I think I even can call up this information's from here." "You're the best Babs," Dick said. "I know."
After 10 minutes Barbara had successfully downloaded the data. As everyone closed in to look at the results, Barbara smiled. "I see some genetic material from everyone of us, some of Roy, Kori, Bizarro, and Artemis. But there are some samples that are deeper than others, which means they are older. And these samples are deep enough to fit. From what I can tell, the woman we are searching for has white her and tan skin. But I already checked these with any samples in the possession of the government, and sadly there are none like these."
"Ok, but that's a start. White hair… maybe Rose? It would make sense considering she is Deathstroke's daughter." "Good idea, but no. I have samples from Rose, and they are not compatible. "Maybe Roy knows something, you know he is like Jason's best friend," Dick said.
Suddenly, Tim's phone blinked, and as he looked at the screen he grinned. "I think I know where to start looking." Bruce just used Brother Eye to recall any information regarding Soul weapons. He left one page open and if I understood it right, we need to go to the Himalayas."
Everyone looked at him before Damian said: "We can't all go there. Father would be suspicious if I just left, the same for Drake and Gordon can't obviously go there, which just leaves you and Brown." "Well Steph," Dick said, "We better start packing."
"Hey little one, is she sleeping?" Jason nodded. It had taken him some time to put Iosefka to bed, but now she was lying peacefully on her mattress. The repairs of the entrance lobby were longer than expected. In the end, he, Cassandra, and Artemis shared a drink and when Jason got up to check on Bizarro and Iosefka, he was greeted with one of the most adorable sights he'd ever seen. The Superman-Clone carefully had put her on the carped and tried to read a story. When Jason told him that he could get a break he said goodbye to 'Little-Her', his new nickname for Iosefka.
"You'll be a good father. I can see it in your eyes." "Thanks, Ar. It means much to me." They stood a minute in awkward silence before the old owner of the Wayward Home, Faye Gunn, stepped to him. "Jason, my boy, I need you to come with me." Jason raised an eyebrow but didn't ask questions.
As he walked through the floors, Faye said: "I need to confess something to you. It's about your father." Jason stiffened up. His father was a wound spot or him. "What about him?" Faye seemed nervous, but then answered: I… I need to give you something." With that, she opened the door to her office. As Jason walked in, he could feel the dusty air on his Skin. Faye got over to her desk and picked up a small packet. "I think I should have given you this sooner." With that, she gave him the packet and walked through the door. Jason looked at the bundle.
He made his way to the fireplace. He kneaded down and opened the package. A letter fell in front of him. Without giving it a second thought, he opened it.
Dear Jason,
If you read this, I'm either dead or with you again. I know I did many things wrong. I was a bad dad and I should have known better. So where do I start? Oh yeah, right, the day you were born. I swear it was the happiest moment of my godforsaken life. When your Mom gave birth to you, I promised, that one day, you'll be a goddamn prince of Gotham. Well, we saw how that turned out. I and your mother didn't make it any easier for you. I know I should have been there for you. I am currently writing this out of prison. They gave me this one chance. I let them try experiments on me. Its either death or you. I hope, maybe you can forgive me one day.
Love you,
Dad
Jason's eyes filled with tears. He stood still form minutes before he made a decision. No. He wouldn't chase after his dad. He had his chance. As he looked at a picture of him, Roy and Kori on the other side of the room he got the confidence to get up. He already had a family, and nothing would change that.