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[sub][ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4954752]Prev[/url] ]  [color=#9fc5e8]“[b]FEAT OF CLAY[/b], Part VI”[/color]  [ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4965106]Next[/url] ][/sub][/center][COLOR=steelblue][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]B L Ü D H A V E N[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=goldenrod]1013 Parkthorne Avenue[/color][/sup][/INDENT]
[color=silver]Fifty years, he’d been living this double life.  You would think that in all that time, he’d have been a natural at all the sleight of hand and subterfuge.  Instead, Dick was a stumbling fool as he tried to get the semi-conscious automaton from out of the car and into the brownstone apartment.

At least he’d laid the foundation for the rumor mill to support the inevitability of someone seeing Dick and the child-like doll going in and out of the apartment, but if anyone saw the robot now they’d be likely to think that he was drunk or high.  Or some combination of the two.

Fumbling with the door with one hand and trying to corral the drunken robot with the other, Dick finally managed to get Toyboy -- that is, [i]Jason[/i] -- onto the couch in the living room.  Like a rag doll, the boy just slumped forward as though a puppet that had all of its strings cut.  Stooping low, Dick was able to prevent the child-like machine from spilling out onto the floor, instead steadying him into a seated position on the sofa.

Glancing up at the loft, Dick thought about the advice that Sarah had given him. [i]Put him to bed. In the morning, he should be functional again[/i].

He’d made a makeshift room for [s]Toyboy[/s] [b]Jason[/b] there, but Dick had enough trouble wrestling the robot through the apartment.  Getting him up into the loft was a feat more than Dick was prepared to undertake.  At least, not now.

Right now, Dick was definitely feeling the notion of going to bed. 

Taking another look at the lifelike robot -- vacant eyed stare peering out a thousand yards into nowhere -- Dick merely gave a shrug before making his way toward the back of the apartment where the master bedroom was located...[/color][/indent]

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[indent][color=silver]August 24, 2019.  The last day of peace and quiet at 1013 Parkthorne Place.

[indent][i][b]Ooh woo[/b], I'm a rebel just for kicks, now
I been feeling it since 1966 now
Might've had your fill, but you feel it still[/i][/indent]
A pair of boy’s briefs swung back and forth, as the underwear clad hero danced to the lyrical stylings of Portugal, the man.  The music reverberated off the walls of the inner sanctum of the Blüdhaven vigilante known as Nightwing, the aptly named [b]Man-Cave[/b].

Standing in the doorway, Dick was confused about a great many things.  He’d left [s]Toyboy[/s] [i]Jason[/i] to get dressed for what was essentially a training day.  A routine patrol through Blüdhaven in order to assess how the robot was holding up with the upgrades that S.T.A.R. Labs had installed.  Instead, Dick returned to find that Jason had gotten onto the refurbished Batcomputer and tabbed out a series of YouTube videos.  One, the music video for [i]Feel It Still[/i], which was currently rocking the casbah.  Then there was a video game playthrough.  

Was that Fortnight?

[color=#9fc5e8]“So...”[/color] Dick began.  He was going to say, [i]So, you were getting dressed..?[/i] but he was cut off when a small robot suddenly turned and [b]slam-hugged[/b] him. The force of the doll’s pounce not only winded him, it almost put Dick on his ass.

Instead, the man steadied himself and rested a hand on top of [s]Toyboy[/s] [i]Jason[/i]’s head. [color=#9fc5e8]“You were getting dressed?”[/color] Dick remarked finally, catching his breath.

[color=#ffd700]“Can’t,”[/color] the boy remarked, turning his head up toward Dick as he added, [color=#ffd700]“Not done hugging yet.”[/color]

He’d been like this ever since Dick had broken the news about the name.  About the identity.  Dick felt like it wasn’t much.  If anything, it was only borrowed time.  When Dick retired, in about two years, Jason Todd would need to disappear as well.  Otherwise, people were apt to take notice of things that Jason couldn’t do, such as grow up. 

Even still, the robot formerly known as Toyboy acted as though Dick had transformed water into wine and lead into gold at the same time. [color=#9fc5e8]“All right. Hugs later,”[/color] Dick said, prying himself of Jason’s spindly arms.  Picking up the dark red leggings, Dick tossed the pants over the dolls head.  [color=#9fc5e8]“For now, less Jason. More Robin.”[/color]

While [i]Jason[/i] tugged on the pair of trousers, Dick bent down to pick up the red and black tunic.  As the child-like doll straightened back up, he put his arms up over his head so that Dick could pull the tunic down over the boy’s head.  While Jason fastened Dick’s old utility belt around his waist, the man picked up the short cape, fastening it to the Mandarin-style color.

Hopping back on one foot, Jason wrestled with tugging on a boot. [color=#ffd700]“So you think this Clayface is back from the dead?”[/color] the boy-bot chirped, as he reached down to pick up the other shoe.

Collapsing into the chair that rested before the massive assortment of screens, Dick gave a grunt. [color=#9fc5e8]“It’s only a hunch, but it feels right,”[/color] the former Boy Wonder opined flatly.  [color=#9fc5e8]“Hagen was an actor, so I wouldn’t put it past him to have faked his own death in the water, but it doesn’t add up.  Where’s he been hiding for the last twenty odd years? And why come out now just to knock over pawn shops and jewelry stores?”[/color]

Tugging on his last boot, the spry doll hopped to his feet. Dick reached over, picking up the domino mask and then leaning forward. [color=#ffd700]“Can I see the chemical analysis?”[/color] the robot asked, as Dick applied the mask to the child-like face.

Turning back toward the computer, Dick took a moment to access Bruce’s old files on Hagan.  Finally, a chemical strand and associated notes populated across the screen.

[color=#ffd700]“Matthew Hagan’s altered organic composition was soluble,”[/color] Jason noted aloud, scanning over the notes in less than a second.  Turning his head toward Dick, the doll asked, [color=#ffd700]“And you said that he fell into the ocean?”[/color]

[color=#9fc5e8]“That’s my story anyway,”[/color] Dick stated, propping his elbows against the desk top as he explained, [color=#9fc5e8]“I think Bruce was convinced that I threw Hagen in there.”[/color]

The nuance seemed lost on the pragmatic machine. [color=#ffd700]“Either way, his survivability in an ocean environment seems improbable,”[/color] the robot noted simply.

[color=#9fc5e8]“Well, you’ll just have to get out there and disprove my theory,” [/color]Dick remarked, turning back toward the costumed Toy Wonder.

With a firm nod, the child-like doll suddenly took off in a sprint around the inside of the Man-Cave. [color=#ffd700]“[i]Na na na na na na na...[/i] [b]Robin[/b]! [i]Away![/i]”[/color] the boy-bot sang, hopping and skipping as he bounded toward the door, sounding for all the world like a stampede of elephants contained in the form of a child.

Slouching back in his chair, Dick felt the energy start to sap from out of his body as the prospect of peace and quiet in the apartment settled an appealing vision in his imagination.

Then the stampede came back in his direction. Throwing himself into the chair, [s]Toyboy[/s] [i]Jason[/i] again slam-hugged the former Boy Wonder. 

[color=#ffd700]“Last hug,”[/color] the doll promised, before pouncing off into the night.[/color][/INDENT]