Synopsis
| - In the Acres of All, Jason Todd is confused by the behaviour of his once-friends, following his request to have his mind wiped of all of his negative memories. Roy and Kori would like S'aru to undo that act, despite the fact that, aside from his confusion, Jason feels good, without the hurtful memories weighing on him.
Roy complains that while Jason wanted his negative memories of the Joker to be erased, he hadn't asked for a blank slate - a blank slate that made him forget his friends. Calmly, S'aru explains that memories are not separate from one another. They exist like a mesh, bleeding into one another. In order to erase everything connected to the darkness in Jason's life, he had to erase everything. He suggests that, perhaps if they could feel what Jason felt, they'd understand why he made this decision.
S'aru fills both of their heads with images and memories from Jason's life, until Roy cries out for him to stop. He explains that while Jason went through negative things, so did they. That is why they work well as a team and friends - because they are stronger than their bad memories together, and their connection is stronger than anything involving the Joker. S'aru is unsure of that, looking in on Roy's own life, to the moment where he and Jason first met.
Roy was being beaten up by a gang of thugs, unable to defend himself properly in his drunkenness. He was saved by an enthusiastic Robin, who returned his bow and arrows to him, and explaining that Batman had told him that he and Roy had been good friends before he fell off the wagon. Robin offered his friendship, though Roy wasn't eager to accept it just yet. As the vision ends, S'aru explains that this was not the end of Robin's night. Later, he would learn that his mother was still alive, get on a plane to find her, and find the Joker waiting for him on the other side. It had taken years before Roy tried to reach out to Jason, he had never learned that the events that lead to Jason's death had taken place on the same night they met.
Furthermore, after leaving the All-Caste, Jason had been filled with so much rage still, that he joined a gang of assassins in the name of justice, and learned that they were not as interested in justice as they were in plundering and ravaging. Roy had never known how far his friend had fallen before he started to find his way again.
Starfire complains that Jason's past would not haunt him so, if he didn't let it. Mockingly, S'aru points out that she is one of the worst offenders of allowing her past to haunt her. She has merely been pretending to have a weak memory, despite having a much stronger memory than any human's. It has always been a ruse to keep people from getting close to her. She fears that one painful memory could destroy her, so she pretends that she barely has a memory. Reaching into her mind, S'aru makes her remember one of her darker memories; one where she attempted to kill Nightwing. Rather than experience any more of that memory, she lashes out, and attacks S'aru.
From his hiding place, Jason jumps up to call an end to all of this fighting over him. Turning to Roy, he complains that if he was the friend he claims to be, he would respect the decision he made to wipe his memory. Roy responds that as Jason's friend, he needs him to understand that the old Jason would not have wanted to lose all of his memories. Sighing, Jason places his hands on Roy's shoulders, and begs him to let him start over.
Rather than do as his amnesic friend asks, Roy pierces Jason's neck with a tranquilizing arrow, and promises to fix this. Then, he aims his bow at S'aru, and demands that he reverse the mind-wipe. S'aru responds that the only one who can ask to have those memories back is Jason - who has just collapsed on the floor. Tiring of being the target of their ire, S'aru decides that it's time to kick them all out of the Acres of All.
With a snap of his fingers, Kori, Roy, and Jason are left out in the freezing winds of the Himalayas, wondering what to do next. Roy had only planned as far as getting Jason back. The mind-wipe came as a complete surprise. Now, their friend can't even remember who they are, and it turns out that Kori has been lying to him the whole time. She had told him she would forget him if he left, and so he had stayed. Even so, he would never have left, because he wants to be on a team with his two best friends. He questions Kori about the vision they both saw of her fighting with Nightwing, but she won't tell him anything about it. This comes as no surprise, but it helps to reinforce his feelings of doom. Everything he cares about seems to be falling apart.
From a higher, snowy peak, Essence learns from Ducra and S'aru that they had manipulated her into goading Roy and Kori to find Jason, when they otherwise might not have. Angrily she warns that because of the events they set in motion, Roy, Kori, and Jason will all die, and she intends to do all she can to prevent that.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, Green Arrow learns that there is a bounty of five hundred million dollars each on the heads of Roy, Kori, and Jason. To his annoyance, it will be up to him to save them.
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