EX CHAO NOVUS ORDO

by Carycomic

Translation: "Out of Chaos, a New Order".

Synopsis: this is the way I would've reintroduced the present-day Red Hood II to the DC Universe (without the hypertime bubble-bashing of Superboy Prime).

Characters and concepts: if you recognize them, I don't own or profit from them.

Chapter 1.

Greetings! I am called the Phantom Stranger.

In the universe that existed before the First Crisis, Jason Todd- -the second Robin- -had been murdered by the Joker. But, not so, in this reality! In this one, the one altered by Zatanna the "Goddess", I rescued Jason Todd, micro-seconds before the explosion of a time bomb planted by the Joker. I then brought him to the Himalayan land of Nanda Parbat to recuperate. For I sensed he was to play a vital role in the very near-future of this world.

That role began five years ago, when Bruce Wayne was spinally injured in a "car crash". Or, at least, that is how the mind-controlled inhabitants of this world remember it. For, in their minds, Bruce Wayne was a paraplegic recluse before the coming of the Goddess. Since then, however, in gratitude for having been healed by her, he has been the high priest of her temple in Gotham City. Yet that Bruce Wayne is merely a double! One of a series of phyto-genetic clones created by a Zatanna-worshiping Pamela Isley to hide the fact that the real Bruce Wayne is no more. That he virtually ceased to exist once he, as the Bat-Genie, granted his mistress that fateful wish.

"What wish?" I hear you ask. More on that, shortly.

Suffice it to say that Jason Todd is now the Dark Knight of Gotham City. He is also the founder of the Outsiders. A resistance movement composed of the psychically immune. That is; those who were unaffected by the reality shift... and who therefore remember how things should truly be.

Unfortunately, most such individuals have been rounded up by the Zatanna-worshiping police and committed to Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Hence, the Batman's periodic raids on Arkham! Arranging escapes for the psychically immune with the help of the same person I now seek the aid of… Catwoman.

That is why the three of us agree to meet at the now-abandoned movie theater where the first Batman was truly born.

"Hello, Stranger," she says with a grin. "It's so nice to finally meet you. Jay's told me so much about you, I feel like I already know you as well as he does!"

I do not even pretend to smile.

"Your trademark flippancy is wasted on me, Catwoman. I have more pressing need of your expertise."

"To do what?" she tersely asks, arms defiantly akimbo.

"The current state of the world can be blamed on one thing. A misguided wish, made by Zatanna the Magician, using the fabled Lamp of Larko."

"Larko?!"

"An ancient Bahdnisian wizard," Jason Todd explains. "I read about him in the library at Nanda Parbat during my convalescence. According to legend, he could imbue ordinary mortals with the power, and built-in obedience, of a djinn! Using an oil lamp made from the Atlantean metal alloy called orichalcum."

"That is no more a legend than Atlantis, herself," I reply. "More important, however, is the fact that I know where the lamp is stored! But I cannot steal it personally, because it is protected by mystical wards that would instantly detect any teleportational arrival of magical origin. Hence, my need of you, Catwoman."

She grins, once more. Okay! I'll bite. Where's the lamp stored?"

"Zatanna's palace. Formerly better known... as the White House."

Suddenly, we all hear a sound like rushing wind. Followed by the even more explosive sound of crashing timbers and masonry! After which, a familiar red-blue-and-gold figure emerges from the ensuing cloud of dust.

Catwoman gasps. "It's the Secretary of Defense!"

"I have heard enough!" exclaims the erstwhile Superman. "In the Name of the Goddess, you are all under arrest. For conspiracy to commit treason!"

tbc