An unknown virus has plagued earth and has wiped out half of the human population, the other half are slowly dwindling each and everyday. Batman and others are trying to find a cure but time is running out. Having lost his whole family again Batman seals Jason Todd in a cryopod as his blood is the only thing that can help find a cure, but there is not many time left
"I'm sorry, son. Live... For us."
Those were the last words Batman spoke to Jason before he was frozen. Now, after five hundred thousand of years later Jason is thawed out and finds himself in a strange new land and everyone and everything he knew is gone. Jason then swears to find the cause of the virus and do what Bruce wanted. Live. But how can a dead man out of time do that?
Warning! This story will contain self-harm, thoughts of suicide, substance abuse, depression, and other triggering events.
Earth. The home of some of the most powerful beings in the universe is dying. A mysterious virus has plagued Earth and as soon as it came nearly half of the entire population died, even heroes weren't immune to the virus as the Justice League numbers were dwindling. The smartest beings on earth, Heroes and Villains, put away their differences and worked together to find a cure. Batman was in the Batcave typing away at the batcomputer and was on screen with Lex Luthor, Mr. Terrific, and the Flash.
"Have you made any breakthrough?" Lex Luthor asked Batman as he wore a highly advanced hazmat suit to help keep away the virus as best as possible, but even then it didn't help as all of them had strange spores on their bodies and their skin looked pale like a vampire.
"The virus seems to somehow mutant and adapt to whatever host it comes in contact with, leaving no chance for the body to fight back in any way. However, his blood seems different. I can't explain it but somehow it can fight it off, almost as if it is adapting to the virus and killing it off before it could spread." Batman explained
"So, my blood could be used as an antidote, or at least a vaccine?" Red Hood, aka Jason Todd, said. He didn't wear a hazmat suit as for some reason he didn't show any signs of the virus and seemed to be immune to it somehow. Jason Todd agreed to let them have and experiment with his blood to help save the world, although, he wished the others were still here in hopes of saving them too.
A couple of weeks after the virus struck Dick, Tim, Barbara, and even Damian passed away. Alfred, Batman, and Red Hood all were heartbroken over the loss of their families all over again but had to push on, for them.
"What about you, Mr. Freeze?" Flash asked Mr. Freeze before going into a coughing fit, blood spilling out
"My technology can slow down the virus but for it to truly stop it the host needs to be completely frozen. I'm not sure how long it will take for the virus to die off, or even if it can die off." Freeze said as he shared some notes of his using inmates from Arkham who were infected as test subjects.
"Flash?"
"We've been experimenting with Jason's blood as well as mine over at Star Labs, I was hoping that with my speed I could burn off the virus but unfortunately it didn't work, We tried heating up Jason's blood and we were able to make a breakthrough. His blood quickened up the pace of killing off the virus, so if we can find out just how it works we could make a-" Flash then erupted into a bloody coughing fit as blood flew from his mouth and he fell back
"Barry? Barry!" Batman cursed under his breath as Flash's screen went black.
"Well, that was unfortunate." Lex said as he coughed
"Just do what you can. All of you." Batman ended the call and coughed, blood spraying in his hand.
"You gotta take it easy, Bruce. You, of all people, gotta beat this thing." Red Hood said as he handed Batman a cup of tea.
"I'm fine, Jason. Go and check on Alfred." Batman said as he drank his tea, still coughing a few times. Red Hood frowned at the state Bruce was in, he kept praying to whatever God that would listen to keep Bruce alive. Red Hood left the Batcave and headed up some stairs as he entered a room. Inside lying down on the bed was Alfred, who was currently hooked up to multiple machines to keep him alive. Red Hood took off his helmet to show his black and white hair, white skin, and dark blue eyes. Red Hood walked over to Alfred and held his hand
"Master... Todd... Good to see you... My boy." Alfred said weakly, Jason smiled sadly and held his hand
"Hey Alfred. You're looking good." Jason said as he tried to deny what was happening to Alfred
"Haha... Thank you... Master Todd. How is... Bruce doing?"
"He's... Fine. Just stressing out a little, but we're getting close to a cure, I know it. Soon you'll be up and making sure I don't miss dinner. And make sure Bruce doesn't work himself too much." Jason grabbed a wet cloth and wrung it out before patting the wet cloth over Alfred's head. Alfred coughed and some blood dripped down his lips. Jason quickly wiped it off and held back his tears.
"Stay strong, Alfred. You're gonna outlive us all, gramps."
"Jason.... We both... Know I... Won't-"
"No! Just... Just no, ok? You're gonna be fine. Once you're up we can make dinner. I know pizza is secretly your favorite, and we can make cookies like we used to do." Jason said but Alfred placed a hand on his head and smiled.
"Jason..." Alfred said softly, A few tears dripped down Jason's cheeks as he rested his head against Alfred's chest.
"Not you... Not you too... We need you, Alfred. You kept this family together." Jason said as he cried softly, not wanting to lose his family all over again.
"I... Am so... Proud of... You... And Bruce..." Alfred said softly and smiled weakly "Get... Master Bruce... It's... Almost time." Jason went wide-eyed and wiped away his tears, nodding as he stood up and headed down to the Batcave.
Jason walked up to Batman and placed his hand on his shoulder
"Bruce... It's Alfred..." Batman gripped the armrests of his chair as he heard this. Taking a deep breath Batman stood up and the two headed back upstairs to see Alfred. The two knelt at his sides and held his hands, Alfred smiled at the two lightly
"I... Love you... Both. So so... Much."
"We love you too, Alfred. You... You're the heart of our family." Batman choked a bit as he took off his cowl "I... I... Thank you... For everything..." A few tears escaped his eyes as the monitor soon went to a long beep. Jason and Bruce looked down to see Alfred with his eyes closed and a small smile on his face. Jason and Bruce both hugged each other and tried to comfort each other over the loss of their beloved family.
Bruce and Jason stood over the grave of Alfred as he was buried with the rest of the family, both of them placing a rose on his grave just like the others. The two had their heads bowed down as they took a moment of silence for the loss of their family.
"I'm sorry... I let you all down. You all trusted me and I failed you all. But... I won't fail you, too." Bruce looked over at Jason and wrapped an arm around him as Jason tried his best to stop crying
"Come on, old man. We... We still gotta find a cure." Jason said as he walked off back inside. Bruce followed behind him as the two headed down to the Batcave. Bruce took another sample of Jason's blood and looked at Jason.
"Come." Bruce stood up and headed over to the Batcomputer and typed something in, suddenly in the center of the room a large pod came up. Jason walked over to it and examined it
"The hell? Isn't this one of Mr. Freeze's cryopods? Why do you-" Jason was cut off as he was pushed inside and Bruce shut the pod. Jason banged against the glass and shouted "Bruce?! What the Hell are you doing?! Bruce!"
"There is no time." Bruce said as he started coughing and fell to his knees, blood spewing from his mouth "I'm sorry, son. Live... For us." Bruce said as he stood up and walked back to the batcomputer and typed a few buttons
"No no no! Bruce! Don't do this! Bruce! D-" Jason was then frozen solid inside the cryopod. Bruce dropped back in his seat and panted.
"You... Have to... Live..." Bruce then made a quick recording of his last few moments, leaving behind a message for Jason. Bruce took one deep breath... And he was gone.
UNKNOWN TIME
A beeping could be heard inside the darkened batcave and suddenly an automatic voice spoke
Malfunction detected! Opening Cryopod!
The cryopod was then thawed and opened. Jason gasped as he fell down to his knees on the floor, panting heavily as he looked around. It was dark but Jason could see a flashing button on the batcomputer, Slowly getting up, and trying to remember how to walk, he made his way over and pressed the button as the screen lit up, but barely. He wiped away the dust on the screen and gasped as he looked over to his side to see the skeletal remains of Bruce in his Batman suit
"Jason." Bruce's voice rang out on the screen "I know... You're furious with me, and I don't blame you. But... I did it because... You needed... To live. I know... You still have that rage and darkness inside you... But I know... You can... Be the best... Of us. I... Love you... Son..." The recording ended and Jason knelt in front of Bruce's body, letting out a few tears as he cried.
After crying for a couple of minutes Jason put Bruce's suit away in the glass chamber along with the other's suits. Jason then put on his gear and helmet. He lifted Bruce's skeleton and headed up. When he came upstairs he was shocked to see that the manor was in ruins, the walls and ceilings were broken down and collapsed which made it hard to move around, everything was covered in debris, rubble, dust, and other crap.
"What the hell happened here?" Jason asked out loud as he was able to finally make his way outside to the back. Wayne Manor looked over Gotham City, and what Jason saw shook him to his very core. He saw Gotham City in complete and utter ruins, buildings were collapsed, large craters littered the streets, and everything was just... Destroyed. "What... What the hell?.... What the FUCK HAPPENED?!" He shouted, just how much time has passed?! Jason shook his head as he needed to take care of Bruce first.
Jason looked down at the makeshift grave he made for Bruce, burying him alongside the others. Jason used his knife to cut away at the vines and thorns that grew on the tombstones and cleaned them off of dirt. Jason then bowed his head
"I... I'm sorry, everyone. After everything I've done. All the pain and suffering I have given others... I shouldn't be alive. You all... Were the best of this world. I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry." Jason said softly. Clearing his throat Jason made his way back inside the ruins of Wayne Manor, Luckily the Batcave was still intact, unfortunately, the manor couldn't be said as well. Jason wiped off the dust from the glass chambers of the suits and opened them, taking out the weapons. Nightwing's Batons, Red Robin's bo-staff, Robin's katana, and Batgirl's tonfas. He saw a framed photo of him and the others, they all were wearing their suits but without the masks, and they were all smiling at the camera. Jason took out the photo and folded it up as he put it in his pocket. Jason then sat down at the batcomputer and just... Sat there. Wondering what the hell happened and what he should do.
"Hmm... There still seems to be some power left." Jason started typing away and looking at any information he could find to figure out what happened. He saw some news videos about the virus and the death toll, and he saw looters and rioters going nuts all over the world, but nothing as to what happened next. Jason cursed under his breath and sighed heavily. Slamming his fists down on the computer he stood up and walked over to the Batmobile, Taking one last look at the Batcave he sighed and got inside the Batmobile
"Thank God you always keep this thing full, Bruce." Jason muttered as the Batmobile roared to life and he sped out of the batcave, leaving Wayne Manor behind Jason raced through the ruins of Gotham and just drove off. He didn't know where he would go, or if there was anyone left. He just drove.
"So, do you have a plan?" A voice called out to Jason as he slammed on the breaks and looked around
"W-Who said that?" Jason asked, looking around he then saw Grayson in the passenger seat "Grayson?"
"Yeah, more or less." Nightwing said
"Great. Now I've gone insane."
"More than usual anyway." Robin said in the backseat, Jason turned back and saw the rest in the Batmobile
"You all are really...."
"Dead? You tell me, you saw us get buried." Red Robin said
"So what? You all here to haunt me?" Jason scoffed, Of all things to happen he had to lose his mind too.
"Not exactly." Batgirl said
"But we could." Robin smirked
"No, we're not here to haunt you. My best guess is that your mind is just trying to find some type of closure or some way to keep you from breaking." Batman explained
"So, I'm just talking to myself? Perfect." Jason said as he started driving again.
"Well, sort of. I mean, we're responding back." Batgirl said.
"But you're all figments of my broken, fucked up, and damaged mind." Jason said as he gripped the steering wheel and hit the gas, speeding up down the road. Jason gritted his teeth as he was heading straight for a building
"Jay, what the hell are you doing?" Red Robin asked as Jason kept speeding
"You need to stop, now!"
"Jason, don't do it!"
"You can't give up!"
Those words fell on deaf ears as Jason kept driving, getting closer and closer to crashing into the building
"GrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jason screamed in rage and heartbreak as he quickly swerved right to avoid crashing, he then slammed his fists against the steering wheel
"How?! HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE?! WHY AM I THE ONE THAT LIVED?! I NEVER SHOULD BE ALIVE IN THE FIRST DAMN PLACE!!!" Jason shouted as he took off his helmet and tossed it aside. Jason gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he punched the steering wheel. The others had disappeared and Jason was left alone, again. Jason didn't know what to do, hell, he wasn't even sure if anyone was left alive anymore. He looked down at his hands and rubbed his face, sighing heavily as he started driving once more. He avoided the craters and debris that were shattered all over, memories came flooding into Jason's mind. He drove passed a diner where he and the others would come to after seeing the movies. Jason would always get the double-stacked cheeseburger with fries and a large chocolate shake, he chuckled coldly as he remembered Barbara warning him that he would get fat eating all that junk.
Jason drove passed a park that was leveled and destroyed like the rest. He would come here as a kid with his parents, sitting on the swings as his dad would push him while his mom would be on the swing next to him. He could hear their laugh echo through his mind. As he drove he then stopped in front of the GCPD, or at least what's left of it. Jason stepped out and looked at the destroyed building, while half of the entire building was torn down it was still standing, somewhat
"No matter what kind of Hell this city goes through it always stands strong. Guess you guys really do have that shit at heart." Jason said, taking a small moment of silence for all the true good, and lawful cops that worked here. Gordon being the best there is in the GCPD. Jason made his way inside and looked around, seeing desks flipped over, some debris, and saw some skeletons around the place. Jason saw some bullet holes around the place
"Hmm. From the looks of it, some rioters figured there was no point in following the law and decided to go nuts." Jason said as he started making his way to the armory where they kept good toys. Batman helped with making the doors to it damn near impossible to break in without the granted access, luckily he had that access. Jason opened a door, or more like it just fell down, that led down to the armory. Walking down the steps Jason looked at the steel doors and looked at the keypad, wiping off the dust he typed in the code. The door then opened and Jason saw the weapons inside.
"If this was way before now, I would be scared of what you planned to do with these things." Red Robin said as he eyed the weapons
"I'm still concerned about what you have planned." Robin said as he leaned against the wall. Jason grabbed a duffle bag and started loading up on some weapons. The first was a black AK-103 with a handgrip and holographic sight. Next was a British L96A1 sniper rifle. An MP5 with a flashlight and red dot sight was next. Lastly was a Remington V3 Tactical shotgun. Jason stuffed a few other weapons and gear and then started stuffing another duffle bag with ammo for his new weapons. Jason then left the armory and sealed it shut
"Still amazed that this thing even works. One hundred percent working forever, Batman guaranteed." Jason chuckled as he walked out and headed back into the Batmobile, setting the bags down in the back Jason got in the driver seat. He looked down at his phone, Tim was able to make their phones run forever without charge, how he did it Jason didn't know nor bothered to figure out
"Guess that's on me." Jason said to himself as he went to his playlist and started listening to music.
Jason drove off, he didn't know where he was going, if there even was somewhere to go, anything to see, or even anyone to find. He didn't know if he could truly live in this world, or what was left of it. He had nothing else to lose. Nothing to gain. Just a dead man out of time. Nothing but the music and the sound of the engine running was heard as Jason drove off. Leaving his home for good.
I was standing on top of a hill looking around for any source of water or food or any signs of civilization. I have been traveling for three days now, only stopping at night to save fuel in the Batmobile, but all I can find is fucking sand!
"God fucking DAMN IT!" I screamed as I kicked some sand, I groaned as I leaned against the hood of the Batmobile.
"Sooo, are you just gonna throw a tantrum or are you gonna have an actual plan, Todd?" Damian asked while sitting on the hood of the Batmobile
"Will you shut the hell up, you little shit? Just gotta find some bearing of civilization. Maybe a road or or or hell, a fucking shack!" I said, soon groaning as my stomach growled, I haven't eaten anything since waking up from that pod and it is starting to take its toll on my body. I turned and took another look around and in the corner of my eye, I saw a flash. I turned and saw the same flash once more, I reached into the Batmobile pulled out my sniper rifle, and used the scope to get a closer look, I could make the outline of... A building! Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a town of some kind.
"Find something?" Batgirl asked
"Hopefully a town." I said as I put away my sniper rifle and got in the Batmobile, driving off towards the town.
"Remember to try and keep a low profile, there's no telling how people will react." Nightwing told me.
"Or if there even is anyone here." Robin said
"Yeah yeah, low, whatever." I said as I sped up and I saw the town in sight. I then stopped just outside of town and got out "Activate defense protocol."
"Defense Protocol Activated."
I nodded and walked into town. And what I saw shocked me beyond belief. I saw people, but they weren't... Human. They were animal-like people. I saw a giant walking fish-looking guy, a walking talking bird lady, a fat talking dog, and other strange people all walking and talking
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Red Robin asked out loud as he looked around.
"That this town is filled with walking talking animals? I'm seeing, but I ain't believing." I said as I walked on, drawing some attention to myself. Guest even in God knows how long my Red helmet and armor will always be the center of attention, especially now with the other weapons strapped on me. I soon found myself in some sort of market as dozens of merchants tried selling me all sorts of knickknacks, goods, valuables, and is that a horn?
"Unicorn horns! Get your unicorn horns, here!" A merchant was shouting to lure some customers.
"Unicorns? Really?" Robin scoffed
"Obviously a scam." I shook my head and kept on walking. As I walked I saw some drunks walking out of what I can assume is a bar, they stumbled and laughed their asses off. I walked by them and "accidentally" bumped into them
"Oh, my apologies." I said as I put some small pouches in my jacket. Guy needed a quick buck. I walked into the bar and immediately everyone stopped and looked at me. I stepped inside, and my boots thumping on the wooden floors was the only sound that could be heard as I made my way to the bar and sat down. Taking out one of the pouches I stole and set it down
"Get me as much booze and food as this can get me." I said, the bartender, a large bull, Minotaur I think it was called, stood there for a few seconds before pouring me a shot glass.
"Get this guy some grub." The Bartender told his workers in the back. I lifted my helmet a bit and drank my shot, it tasted sweet. Like it was just spiked apple juice at best
"Come on, get me something stronger." I told the bartender as he gave me another drink. I downed it in one go "Do all you fucking have is juice? Get me something that will have me pass out in the middle of the street in my own vomit!" I demanded. The bartender scoffed and slammed down a large bottle of some type of blue liquid
"Dragon's breath. Now drink and shut up." He said as I grabbed the bottle and popped it open. Taking a swing of it. It was a lot better than the shit they were giving me before.
"Oh great, now you're getting drunk. Why am I not surprised." Robin mocked as he sat down next to me.
"Shut it, you little shit." I said
"The fuck you say?" A small rodent thing asked while looking at me from a table
"Not you!" I shouted at him as I took another swing of my drink
"Jason, you need to keep low. Don't draw too much attention to yourself." Batgirl told me as she looked around
"Blah blah blah." I said as my food came, The bartender set down some fried chicken and... Bugs? Ah, fuck it. I haven't eaten in days and I ain't picky. I started eating my food and enjoying the feeling of having something in my stomach again.
"What's next? Go to the nearest bar and get even more drunk?"
"I said shut the hell up, you little snot-nosed bastard."
"You got a problem, buddy?" The rodent guy from earlier asked as he stood on the bar and walked over to me along with two other bigger idiots.
"This doesn't look good." Red Robin said
"No shit, Sherlock. The fuck does it look like to you?" I asked him
"You got two choices. Either hand over everything you got and live or we can kill you and take everything off your corpse." The rodent said as he pulled out a knife. The two goons behind me also pulled out their own knives as well. The other patrons in the bar all started getting up and grabbing anything they could use as a weapon. I looked at the rodent with drink in hand
"Don't do it."
"Calm down, Jay-bird."
"There is no need for this."
"I give him five seconds."
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" The rodent cackled. I didn't say anything as I then slammed the bottle over his head and pushed back against the bar and into the two goons behind me. Knocking them back as I then jumped over them and pulled out Nightwing's batons. The two goons then lunged at me but I used the batons to block their knives and then pushed them back against the counter, I then electrocuted both of them and they dropped to the floor twitching.
"Freak!" A large bird man threw a chair at me but I caught it and threw it back at him.
"Alright, that's it!" The bartender wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up "Your ass is getting thrown out!" I rammed the back of my head in his face over and over until he let go, I then turned around and whacked the baton across his face, dropping him. I was then tackled by a large dog guy, dropping my batons I was now getting punched in the face.
"Very impressive, Todd. Bravo. Bravo indeed." Robin said sarcastically while slowly clapping
"Fuck! You! Mother! Fucker!" I moved my head to the side to avoid a devastating punch and then grabbed his arm, pushing him off me I jumped to my feet and then roundhouse a kicked another dog in the face. Knocking him into a table. Another small rodent held out two knives and started twirling them in his hands, pulling off some great skill with them that could only be achieved through countless hours of training. I quickly kicked him and sent him flying out a window
"Ugly rat." I scoffed, the rest of the bar patrons charged at me and I took out Red Robin's bo-staff and started using it to keep many of them at bay with my new long reach on them. I rammed the tip at one guy's throat and pushed him down and then jumped over him and brought down the bo-staff on another guy's head. I brought the bo-staff back to hit a man in the gut and then smacked another one across the jaw. I then twirled it around to knock out a group of them that surrounded me.
"Is that all you got?" I scoffed as I looked around to see all of them lying on the floor groaning in pain. I put Red's bo-staff away and picked up Nightwing's batons as I grabbed another bottle of Dragon's breath and chugged it down. Walking out of the bar I stumbled a little bit but was still fine. But before I could get far I turned and drew one of my pistols and aimed at a... Cat man? It was an anthropomorphic cat man with dirty blonde fur, blue... Hair. And wore a dirty red jacket.
"Whoa whoa, easy there, buddy. Didn't mean to sneak up on ya." The cat man said.
"You didn't. I saw you at the far end of the bar watching the entire time. So tell me what the hell is it you want or just walk away." I told the cat as he gently nudged my pistol away from his face.
"No need for such hostility, my good sir. I saw what happened in there and I do not want to get on the wrong side of you. Capper's the name. Charming's mine game." The cat, now named Capper, introduced himself. I eyed him carefully and looked for body language.
"Red Hood." I told him, refusing to give my real name. This guy had the looks, charm, and charisma of a con man. He seemed to rely on his words and quick feet rather than muscle. I could take him down easily.
"You can definitely handle yourself, that much I can tell, but you won't get very far if everyone in town is wanting your head." Capper said as he came to my side and put a hand on my shoulder. I was a head taller than him and looked down at him, he chuckled nervously and let go before clearing his throat "However, I can make sure you are able to navigate your way around here without the trouble of finding, well, trouble. At least, not too much."
"Trouble and I have a special thing going on, we'll find a way to each other sooner or later." I said as I started to walk away but Capper appeared in front of me, he seemed pretty quick.
"That may be. But maybe I can introduce you to Lady Fortune. I need someone with your... Expertise to help me with something." Capper confessed. And there it is.
"Sorry, buddy, but I don't kill for money." I said as I shoved him away
"Kill? Oh no no no no! You got it all wrong! I just need someone who can... Be persuasive to others and have the perfect look of it." Capper told me while giving me a look over.
"You want me to scare someone, or at the very least beat someone. So what is it? Debt collection? Breaking and entering? Fixed fight?" I questioned him "Or do you owe someone something?" I saw Capper flinch a bit, gotcha.
"Well, now that you mention it, I do owe some... Money to an acquaintance of mine, and this does include a... Fight. But I'm sure an individual such as yourself can handle himself, and if you win-"
"When I win."
"When you win you'll get a hefty amount of bits for your time. So, what do you say?" Capper held out his paw to me.
"... Show me. Oh, and if you do try to stab me in the back, I'll skin you alive." I warned him, he gulped and chuckled before leading me off somewhere. The others weren't so very keen on this guy, well, except Nightwing.
"I like this guy, he seems nice." Nightwing said
"You're an idiot and your opinion matters to me as much as my love for others." I said
"A lot?"
"Non-existent." Capper turned back to me with a strange look in his eyes "Take me to whoever I need to beat the shit out of and don't ask any questions." I told him. He nodded and turned back as we walked down some steps in an alleyway. Using my helmet I was able to see dozens and dozens of people, or animal people, inside. Capper knocked on the door and a small window opened
"Password." The man behind the door said
"The Nighthawk soars tonight." Capper said. Soon the door opened and we walked inside. I could already hear the chants and cheers and groans inside as the crowd watched two fighters beat each other. Capper led me down and up towards a board of some kind, which seemed to be where they place bets with all the names and amount of cash they're betting.
"I'd like to sign up my friend here. Twenty thousand says he wins five fights and wins all of them." Capper said, I turned and grabbed him by his tail and yanked him towards me
"That wasn't part of the deal."
"H-Hey now! You'll be fine! Don't tell me you aren't strong enough to handle a few guys in a fight?" Capper smirked at me, but I could see the fear in his eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him and let go of his tail.
"After this, you get supplies, food, water, and a map of this entire place." I told him. Capper nodded and the man behind the counter was taking bets
"Name?" The man asked
"Red Hood." I told him
"Oookay. No weapons or armor." The man said "You can put your stuff in the lockers." Capper started leading me to the lockers. Once there I started taking off my jacket and gear.
"I remember everything here. Anything turns up missing, I'm killing you and everyone else here." I warned Capper as I was now only wearing my red helmet, gloves, and skin-tight shirt and pants. I was barefoot. I started walking out and heard the crowd cheer as I made my way into the ring that was surrounded by a steel cage. I stepped into the ring, I could see dry blood on the ground and even some fresh blood dripping down from the cage
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to another fabulous night of blood and glory! Today we have a new challenger with us, and he has agreed to challenge five, I say FIVE, opponents and win all of them! Can he survive or will we have to dump his body in the back?" The announcer said as the crowd both cheered and booed me.
"Our first challenger is a pony, but don't let his size fool you! He is quick as lightning and strikes just as fast! Give it up for Flash Step!" A... Pony? He had yellow skin, a yellow mane in a mohawk, and a crazy look in his red eyes as he walked up to the cage and started cheering for himself, pumping himself up and the crowd. He turned to face me, damn he was small. He reached about just my stomach at best.
"I'm gonna use your helmet to eat cereal out of it!" Flash Step taunted as he circled me. I just stood there no batting an eye at his taunt. Suddenly he lunged at me from behind but I quickly roundhouse kicked him, he flew to the other side of the cage and slammed hard against it. The crowd went silent as they saw just how quickly Flash Step was taken down. Until it erupted in cheers and groans.
"Well, that was certainly uneventful." Nightwing said as he poked at Flash Step.
"They did say he was quick. Not something you wanna be known for for some things." Batgirl giggled.
"Pathetic." Robin said.
"Unbelievable! One hit! All it took was one hit! I saw it but I can't believe it!" Two guys then carried Flash Step out and the announcer announced the next challenger "Hopefully this one will put up a bit of a fight! One of our best heavy hitters! Iron Will!" I turned and saw a large Minotaur make his way to the cage
"Iron Will is gonna bring the hurt on ya, little man! You're gonna be wishing you were never born to never face me in your life!" Iron Will said while flexing.
"Aim for the kidneys and back legs." Batman told me
"Shut up, old man." I said while cracking my knuckles
"Old man?! Bring it on!" Iron Will then charged at me and reeled his massive fist back, I ducked under his swing and hit him in his kidney, Iron Will gasped in shock and pain. Taking this opportunity I then swung my fist and hit him in his jaw. A tooth flew out his mouth and some blood splattered the floor. I grabbed Iron Will by his horns and slammed my knee into his face over and over and over again. Iron Will grabbed me lifted me up and ran towards the wall, but I quickly used my feet to bounce off the wall and slam his head into the ground. I then stomped on his head over and over again until he was left in a puddle of his own blood. The crowd cheered once more as Iron Will was dragged out.
"Did you have to go so far?" Batman asked while standing over Iron Will's blood.
"Don't give me none of that bullshit!" I shouted, The crowd mistook it for me boasting about myself in the fight
"Oh ho! Looks like our challenger isn't satisfied! Maybe this one will change his mind! Show him what you're made of, boys! Give it up for the twins! Crash and Thrash!" Soon two large dog men came into the cage. One was fat but I could tell right away that it was muscle instead of just flabby fat, the other was a little smaller by a head and had a more athletic lean build.
"Let me guess. You're the small cocky fast one and you're the big tough stupid one." I said while pointing at them.
"You take that back or I'll kill you!" The big guy demanded
"Alright, alright, you're not tough."
"That's better!"
"How long do you think until he figures it out?" Red Robin asked
"Give it a minute." I told him
"Hey!" The big guy finally figured it out
"Don't let him get to ya, Crash. Let's teach this guy a lesson." The other dog, I'm assuming is Thrash, said as he then dashed towards me and closed the distance in just a few seconds. He was pretty fast. He bared his fangs and tried taking a bite out of my neck, I quickly stepped back to avoid his bites until I felt my back hit the cage.
"Watch out!" Batgirl warned me as Thrash snapped his jaw at me. I grabbed his mouth and held it open to avoid having my throat ripped out. I saw Crash charging at me with his fists balled together and raised up high. I let go of Thrash's mouth and quickly ducked, rolling away just as Crash slammed his fists down on Thrash.
"Ow! Fucking, watch it!" Thrash shouted as he held his head while groaning on the ground. I saw my chance and ran up behind Crash and kicked him behind his knee, making him buckle over. I then caught him in a chokehold as Crash started running around to try and get me off.
"Get! Off! Me!" Crash shouted as he slammed me back against the cage, I groaned in pain but held out and tightened my hold around him.
"Just fucking go down!" I said as I felt him slow down and get sluggish with his movement until he finally dropped to the floor. I let him go and rolled off him
"Thrash! I'll kill you!" Crash cried as he tackled me and punched me in the face, I gritted my teeth and kicked him off me. I jumped to my feet and ran towards him. I then jumped up and axe-kicked him, Crash tried blocking it with his arm but I could hear something crack "AAGH!" He cried out in pain. I then grabbed him and wrapped my hand around his throat, I lifted up high and slammed him down on the ground.
"Let's see you get up after this!" I got on top of him and started punching him across his face. Blood and teethes flew as I punched him
"Jason, that's enough!"
"It's over!"
"You won! Get off him!" I heard them speak and finally stopped. I looked down and saw that Thrash's face was beaten to a bloody pulp and was covered in bruises. I stood up and panted as the two brothers were taken away from the ring.
"Amazing! Even when up against two he still beat them! Incredible! Outstanding! So bloody good! Hahaha! It's the final round! It's against the champion this time! Place your final bets now! Give a warm welcome to our champion! The skull crusher! The King of Fighters! Bane!" My eyes widened in shock as I heard this, It couldn't be, right? I looked over as I saw "Bane" make his way towards the arena. He was a large griffin with black and white feathers, what really caught my attention was that he was fucking HUGE and that he had a mask that was an exact replica of Bane's mask.
"No way... I-It can't be possible...." Nightwing said as all of us stared at him. "Bane" then roared so loud that me and many of the crowd had to cover our ears.
"I'm gonna use your bones as a toothpick!" Bane taunted as he stepped into the ring. I balled my fists as I wasted no time in charging at him. He charged at me as well, I slid under him to hit him from behind but he grabbed me and slammed me down into the ground. He didn't stop there as Bane lifted me up and held me in a bear hug, I cried out in pain as I could feel my body getting crushed.
"Gah! Fuuuck!" I groaned. I heard Bane laugh as my pain. I gritted my teeth and started headbutting him in his face, it took a few hits until he finally let me go. I balled my fists and threw quick jabs at his stomach but they barely even fazed him. Bane swung at me but I quickly ducked and sidestepped away from him.
"Hold still!" Bane kept swinging at me but I kept my distance from him and threw quick punches whenever I could. He may be bigger and stronger, but no matter how strong he gets the damage will accumulate over time. I aimed for his sides, liver, and his face with each hit. It took a bit of time but I could see that the damage was taking its toll on his body, he got slower and was losing energy. Bane then roared as he charged at me but I quickly rolled out of the way, Bane crashed through the cage and fell down, Bane tried getting up but his claws were caught between the cages. I got on top of him and started beating him
"Jason, you need to get information. This body isn't normal, even if he is a Griffin!" Batman told me but I didn't listen. I just kept hitting him and hitting him and hitting him. I had to make sure he stayed down. That he doesn't get up. That he doesn't hurt anyone else! That he can't bring any more harm! To end him! To finish him!
"Jason! Stop it, that's enough!"
"Stop it! Jason, get off him!"
"You're gonna kill him!"
Their words were just muffled as I kept hitting him. Yelling and bashing his head in. I didn't stop until God knows how long, I panted heavily and looked down. His head... Was practically mush at this point. My hands were covered in blood and shaking. I looked up and saw the crowd was both horrified and amazed, but I couldn't hear anything except for a ringing in my ear. I stumbled out of the arena and back into the locker room, quickly putting on my armor and gear. I groaned and punched the locker, putting a dent in it.
"W-Well, that was, um, something." Capper chuckled nervously as he came into the locker room "B-But we won the prize money, thanks to you."
"Get me a map, food, and water." I told him. Capper gulped and nodded
"J-Just one second!" Capper said as he ran out to get me what I ordered him. I sat down and looked down at my hands, they were covered in blood. I sighed and looked over to see a bucket of water, getting up I started to wash my hands, after a few minutes I was able to wash some of it off, but they were still soaked in blood. I clenched my fists and kicked the bucket away.
After some time of waiting Capper came back with a backpack.
"Everything you need. A-And some bits as a token of my thanks." Capper said while setting down the backpack. I stood up and grabbed the backpack and left without saying a word. I headed out of the underground fight club and made my way back to the Batmobile. I saw some thugs trying to steal it but the second they touched it they were electrocuted and sent flying back. I chuckled and hopped into the Batmobile, after setting down my backpack in the back I started driving off. I couldn't help but think back to that Griffin, There was no way he could be that big normally, he had to have taken something. And I fear that I'm right about what it is. Damn it! I shouldn't have killed him. I groaned and kept driving as if things couldn't get any more complicated.
Jason drove through the sandy desert after leaving that town two days ago, he had looked at the map Capper stored in his backpack and saw this the whole world, or at least this side of the world, has changed completely. The whole landform has changed drastically and he saw places he once knew was gone and changed. He saw that the town he was in belonged in a area called "The Badlands" fitting name considering the state that place was in, but where Gotham was it wasn't on the map, meaning that it was most likely unexplored. Jason started thinking about other places of his old world like Metropolis, Themyscira, Atlantis, as well as other heroes and magical beings such as the Green Lanterns, Doctor Fate, Dead Man, and others. Jason groaned as he kept getting more questions than answers and started regretting leaving the Batcave, he probably could have learned more if he dug deeper. Jason stopped the car and got out, looking around he saw something off in the distance, it seemed to be... Tracks? Train tracks!
"And where's there's tracks."
"There's civilization. Check that map again, see if you can find another town." Batman told Jason
"Maybe one with more... Likeable people." Tim suggested. Jason took out the map and used it to see where the tracks lead. If this map is correct if he follows the tracks north he will eventually enter a town called Appaloosa.
"Appaloosa? Oh God." Damian groaned at the name
"I can tell already I am going to hate this world." Jason sighed as he headed back in the Batmobile
"Try to stay out of sight, we aren't sure how they will react to you. If they are anything like the last town you might have another fight on your hand." Batman told Jason
"I'll handle it."
"Like how you handled that Griffon?" Jason and Batman both glared at each other, the tension so thick you would need a longsword to cut it. Jason hit the gas and sped off, following the tracks.
It took about half a day for Jason to be able to see Appaloosa in the distance, he kept driving but soon stopped and stepped out, he was still a few miles off so he shouldn't be seen. Jason stepped out of the Batmobile and took out his sniper rifle, using the scope to get a layout of the town. Seemed like a town in a Wild West movie, a bank, a sheriff building, a saloon, and... He wasn't sure, but it looked like a strip club? Jason shook his head and was about to put away his rifle until an explosion went off. Looking through the scope he saw... No way!
"Is that...?!" Jason wasted no time and got inside the Batmobile and sped off towards the town.
MINUTES EARLIER. NO POV.
In the town of Appaloosa a young stallion stepped out of a saloon, the stallion was an earth pony with a yellow coat, an orange mane with two different shades of orange, a same color tail, he wore a brown vest and a cowboy hat and he also had an apple on both sides of his flank, his cutiemark.
"Howdy Braeburn!" A mare called out to the stallion, the now named Braeburn tipped his hat at the mare as he started trotting around the town. In the town it wasn't just ponies, but also buffalos as well, as the two tribes lived amongst each other in harmony.
"I'll never forget what my cousin and her friends did for us, makes me glad to know that we were able to put away our differences and come together." Braeburn smiled in thought as he kept making his way around his hometown, it wasn't until he saw something shine in the distance. Braeburn squinted his eyes to try and get a better look at what the thing was.
"What in the hay is that?" He asked out loud, however, before he could question any further a blast came hurling towards a building and it exploded. Ponies screamed in terror as more bolts of yellow energy flew by and started destroying more buildings
"Everypony! Get inside! Barricade yourself!" The Sheriff shouted as he helped a mare up from the ground after a blast had knocked her down. A young buffalo mare ran over to Braeburn
"My tribe will try and halt the attackers, get everypony inside!" She said
"No way, Strongheart! This is my home, and I ain't gonna let some no-good vermin get away with attacking us." Braeburn ran over and grabbed a shovel as he prepared to fight. Suddenly the attackers stepped into town, there was two of them and they weren't like anything Braeburn, or anypony, have ever seen. They big, really big, and stood on two legs. They had red glowing eyes and their "skin" were red and sliver, they also carried strange looking staffs. But what really stood out about them was that they looked... Broken. One of them was missing an arm, and the other was missing an eye. Also they looked like their skin were falling off and wires could be seen.
"Emotions detected. Emotions detected." Their voices were deep and cold, like a howling blizzard. They aimed their staffs and fired beams of energy, the beam blasted a buffalo square in the face and... He was killed on impact.
"Warriors! To me!" Chief Thunderhooves gathered his fellow warrior buffaloes all lined up and stomped their hooves, making the ground shake "Charge!" The buffaloes then charged and stampeded towards the invaders.
"Emotions detected. Exterminating." The invaders aimed their staffs and open fired, blasting away at the buffaloes. Many of the warriors met their end from the blast. Thunderhooves gasped in shock as he watched his fellow brothers fall at the hands of these invaders. He growled in anger and charged straight at the one with a missing eye, Thunderhooves clashed against the invader and tossed him away... At least, that was the idea. Thunderhooves was able to drive the invader back, but it was able to find its footing and stand its ground. The invader looked down at Thunderhooves and brought down its fist down on his head, cracking the ground beneath them from the force. Thunderhooves groaned in pain as his head was ringing from the punch, he looked up and found himself staring down at the glowing barrel of the invaders staff
"Exterminate emotions." The invader said. Thunderhooves closed his eyes and waited for the end. A blast was heard but Thunderhooves was still alive. He opened his eyes and saw Braeburn
"Stay away from him, you giant trashcan!" Braeburn shouted as he then threw a lasso at the invader's staff to try and pull it away, it worked somewhat but the invader had a strong grip, the invader yanked its arm back and sent Braeburn flying at towards the invader. The invader then smacked Braeburn with its staff and kicked Thunderhooves away. Braeburn groaned and tried getting up but gasped when he looked up to see the hulking invader staring down at him. Braeburn's eyes widened in fear as he was at deaths doorstep
"I'm sorry... Cousin..." Braeburn shut his eyes as he awaited the end.
CRASH!
Braeburn opened his eyes and saw a black chariot crash into the invader.
"What the buck was that?!" Braeburn shouted as he watched the black chariot crash the invader through a building. The black chariot pulled out and suddenly a strange being wearing a red helmet, brown jacket, and strange looking armor with a red bat symbol on their chest stepped out. It carried a weird black stick thing in its hands.
Red Hood cocked his gun and aimed at the other Man-Hunter, pulling the trigger he started shooting, the Man-Hunter stepped back as the bullets hit them, normally bullets had no effect on them, but they bullets were hitting the weak points in its body.
"Come on, you aon of a bitch! You hunt emotions? Then face unyielding rage!" Red Hood shouted as he then threw two explosive batarangs at the Man-Hunter, exploding on impact. Red Hood ran forward and took out Nightwing's batons and leaped forward, the Man-Hunter fired his staff but Red Hood was able to turn his body just in time to dodge, Red Hood then stuck his batons into the Man-Hunter's missing arm socket and electrocuted it. Red Hood knew that wouldn't be enough so he took out another batarang and jammed it into its left eye, Red Hood then flipped on top of the Man-Hunter and jammed his other baton into its now broken left eye.
"Shocking, isn't it!" Nightwing joked
"Not now, Dick!" Red Hood shouted as he electrocuted the Man-Hunter. Sparks flew and the Man-Hunter started shaking
"Error. Error. Error." The Man-Hunter shook violently and Red Hood saw this as he cue to jump off. Rolling back to his feet Red Hood watched as the Man-Hunter exploded, catching the staff Red Hood turned back and got blasted in his chest, sending him flying back into a building as the other Man-Hunter had gotten back up
"Exterminate emotion." The Man-Hunter marched towards Red Hood. Red Hood groaned in pain, luckily his armor held up but damn did it hurt.
"Fuck..." Red Hood groaned and looked up to see the Man-Hunter standing over him, the Man-Hunter then raised its boot and stomped it down on Red Hood's chest, he groaned out in pain and glared at the Man-Hunter "You lousy talking trashcan!" Before the Man-Hunter could stomp on Red Hood again, Braeburn and Strongheart tied up the Man-Hunter with a lasso
"Pull!" Braeburn shouted, some other ponies came to help as they pulled at the rope. The Man-Hunter took a few steps back but turned around, before Man-Hunter could blast them Red Hood tackled him and lifted him up
"Oh no you don't! Your fight is with me, you motherfucker!" Red Hood then ran and threw Man-Hunter into a building, Red Hood grabbed the destroyed Man-Hunter's staff and ran towards him, blasting him with the staff. Red Hood getting closer while bombing the Man-Hunter with blast after blast. Red Hood then stopped when all that was left was the head of the Man-Hunter
"Exterminate Emotions. Exter... Minate... Emo... Tions..." The Man-Hunter finally shut down. Red Hood picked up its head and examined it.
"W... Who... What are you?" Braeburn asked while taking a few cautious steps towards Red Hood. Red Hood glanced over at Braeburn and looked down at him.
"Holy cow! He's bigger than Celestia!" Braeburn thought to himself as he gulped.
"Get everyone who was hurt medical attention." Red Hood said as he headed outside the building.
"Hey, you can't just leave! You gotta at least help them rebuild." Nightwing told Red Hood.
"No, I don't. I got rid of the Man-Hunters, my work here is done."
"These people... Ponies, they need help. You can't just walk away." Batgirl argued.
"You're right. I'll drive away."
"Don't bother. He'll just go back to being that selfish jerk he always was." Robin scoffed. Red Hood growled at Robin and groaned
"Tch, go to Hell." Red Hood opened the Batmobile and tossed in the staffs and head of the Man-Hunter, closing it he walked back over to the populace, all of them staring at him with a look of hope, fear, and curiosity. Red Hood looked down at the pony from earlier, Braeburn, and walked towards him. Braeburn froze as he saw Red Hood walk up to him, having to reel his head back a bit to really look at him
"Sweet Celestia, he is HUGE!" Braeburn thought to himself.
"You hurt?"
"Ah! U-Um... C-Come again?"
"Are you hurt, dumbass? You need to see a doctor or what?"
"Oh! N-No, I-I'm fine. T-Thank you for saving my town! We would've been goners if you haven't shown up." Braeburn smiled nervously at the GIANT standing over him. Red Hood looked around at the destroyed buildings and saw the ponies helping their wounded
"Get me some tools, you tend to your wounded." Red Hood told him. Braeburn blinked in confusion and what shocked to hear this
"What? N-No, you've done more than enough-"
"Shut up and get me the tools." Red Hood ordered him. Braeburn nodded and scurried off, after a bit he came back with a large box with tools "Ah'm Braeburn, by the way."
"Didn't ask." Red Hood grabbed the tool box and started walking towards one of the destroyed buildings.
Hours Later. Night Time. No POV
Red Hood sighed as he leaned back against the Batmobile, having spent the rest of the day helping repair the town. Braeburn, even some others, tried talking with him but Red Hood ignored them, despite the insistent nagging from Nightwing and the others about how he should "talk with the locals." Red Hood heard his stomach growl and he groaned
"Hungry?" Braeburn came up next to him holding an apple pie and a cup of cider, setting them down next to Red Hood. Red Hood looked away and crossed his arms
"No." Just as Red Hood said this his stomach growled once more. Braeburn chuckled a bit and sat down. Gently nudging the food and drink a bit closer to Red Hood. Red groaned and grabbed the pie, lifting his helmet a bit as he took a bite... And then started scarfing the whole thing in a few seconds.
"... It's good..." Red Hood grumbled as he took a sip from the cider "Apple juice?"
"Apple Cider. Figured you could use a stiff one."
".... This can barely be counted as spike punch. Still good though." Red Hood drank his cider.
"Really? I've seen a few stallions get knocked down from a few drinks." Braeburn laughed as he looked at Red Hood, seeing his mouth he knew that Red was like nothing he ever seen before "What... What are you? Sorry asking, but Ah ain't never seen anything like you before."
"An incredibly sexy, badass, dead man?" Red Hood grinned. Braeburn looked at him and turned a little red as he chuckled.
"No, Ah mean... You stand like a Diamond dog, have no fur, don't really have a snout, and wear strange armor." Braeburn eyed Red Hood up and down as he listed all these, he also noticed that Red Hood was incredibly well-built, able to see his toned legs and arms. He could see them bulging and tensing up when watched Red Hood battle the Man-Hunter, it looked like he could crush watermelons between his thighs and crack coconuts with his hands. Braeburn gulped and looked away.
"Keep guessing, cowboy." Red Hood grinned as he finished his cider "How's your people?"
"My what?"
"Your people? The townfolk. Whatever the fuck."
"O-Oh, well... We lost a some good ponies and good buffaloes, but... We'll pull through. And thank you for helping out with rebuilding. You could've left after saving us, so thank you again. From all of us." Braeburn smiled warmly at Red Hood.
"Good." Red Hood then stood up and got in the Batmobile "Thanks for the food. It was... Well, it wasn't too bad."
"Aw shucks, don't mention it." Braeburn then closed his eyes and used his hat to cover his face as Red Hood sped off, leaving a trail of dust behind him as he drove. Braeburn looked off in the distance as Red Hood drove away. He couldn't stop thinking about him and his heroics. Having never seen anypony as strong, brave, or as strange as him before.
"Ah better send a letter." Braeburn ran off to his house and quickly grabbed a piece of paper, a quilt, and some ink.
Dear Applejack,
Ah hope this letter finds you well, recently our home has been attacked by these strange things and we lost some good ponies and most of our town was nearly destroyed, but by Celestia we were saved. A strange being wearing a red bat on his chest rescued us, he fought off the attackers with strange weapons and great skill, he even saved Thunderhooves and me from death! After he defeated the attackers he even stayed behind to help rebuild our town, Ah fear to think of what would've happened had he not shown up, but thank Celestia he did. Ah never gotten his name, but Ah will surely never forget him. Say hi to the others on the farm for me.
Love, Braeburn.
Braeburn slid the letter into an envelope and headed to the post office, which was somehow nor destroyed during the attack. Strange, oh well. Braeburn looked off into the nightsky and smiled
"Thank you." He whispered as he will be forever grateful for his savior.
JASON'S POV
How the hell did those Man-Hunters even get there? There was no way that they could've been wandering around the world this whole time, right? I groaned and shook my head as I glanced down at the head of the Man-Hunter
"It might be possible that it was deactivated long before the virus hit and had just recently been turn on. Although why it took so long is the question." Batman inquired as he stared down at the head
"You don't think someone turned it on, right?" Batgirl asked
"I don't think so, at least, I hope not." Nightwing said "Don't want to even imagine how many people these things could've killed if you hadn't shown up."
"On the bright side I got some new toys." I smirked as I was always happy to have more firepower with me
"Of course you would be happy with the laser staff." Robin chuckled
"They're not here. They're gone! Get that through your head!" I thought to myself as I later pulled over and stopped the Batmobile, sighing softly I took off my helmet and leaned back in the seat. Closing my eyes to try and get some sleep.
Darkness. That was all I could see. But... I-I could hear something. It sounded like... No. No no no! Not this! Anything but this!
"What do we have here?" A voice called out as a bag was removed from my head, I stared up in shock to see... Him! That sick twisted smile, that pale face, and that haunting blood smile "Wakey wakey~"
"MMMPH! MMF! MPFH!" I tried to scream bur my voice was muffled as I looked over and saw... My own mother. I cried out to her to help me, to save me, but she just turned away to smoke.
"Aww, I just love family reunions. Let's go and take you to go see dear old papa."
SMACK! WHACK! WHACK!
I cried and groaned in agonizing pain as I was beaten to a bloody pulp by Joker's crowbar.
CRACK!
"Hahahaha! I think I heard a pop, let's see if you can make that sound again!" Joker laughed as he bashed me over and over again with the crowbar
"You are nothing."
I cried out in pain as Joker then smacked me across the face with his crowbar, coughing as blood tickled down my mouth. He removed the gag and shoved the crowbar in my mouth, tasting the cold steel and my own blood.
"You really thought you were worthy of being the new boy wonder? Ha! More like boy blunder." Joker then kicked my chin and made me bite down on the crowbar, my teethes cracking and flying out my mouth from the impact.
"Worthless."
"Alright, I think that's enough. Oh! But one more thing." Joker leaned down and smiled madly at me while staring into mg bloodshot eyes "Tell the big man I said... Hello." Joker then laughed as he then walked over to my mother... And whacked her over the head. I watched as she hit the ground and groaned in pain, I glanced over and saw-
"NO!"
I jolted up and screamed as I woke up in a cold sweat and was shaking, my breathing was fast and rasp, my throat felt dry and I felt so cold.
"Stop it... Stop..." I gripped my arms to try and stop myself from shaking "Stop it, damn it!" I shouted as I pulled out my knife, pulling at my sleeve I silted my wrists, groaning in pain with each quick but painful cut. I shut my eyes gritted my teethes until I finally stopped shaking. Looking down at my wrists I saw that I had cut myself five times, blood oozing out from the cuts and dripped down my arm. Normal people would be wincing or crying out in pain... But it felt... Calm. It helped with... That. It was the only way I can find peace. I sighed and took out a first aid kit and started to wrap up my wrists.
SOMEWHERE ELSE
Far off in a world just outside this one a pony was seen rubbing her head. The pony in question was definitely an anomaly, the pony was a mare but vastly different. She had a long, flowing mane and tail that looked like a beautiful night sky lit up by stars, a dark blue coat, dark blue eyes, and silver armaments on her hooves and around her neck. She also had a crescent moon on her flanks as her cutie mark. Princess Luna panted and groaned as she stood up, she's the princess of the night and protector of the dream realm, traveling between dreams of her ponies to help with nightmares and other possible threats, but she found one that was simply... Horrifying as it was strange. Luna had tried to help but she was thrown out, meaning that the dreamer had awaken.
"What was thou creature?" Luna asked out loud as she pondered about what that was, and hoping to see them again to help.
I've been traveling for another day, after that... That trip down memory lane I refused to sleep, not like I wasn't use to it. Being Robin fucked my sleeping for life. I had looked on the map and the next town was this place called Ponyville.
"My God, did you make this world?" I asked Nightwing as he laughed his ass off while reading the names
"Even for me this is in bad taste." Batgril groaned as she rubbed her face as Nightwing kept listing off the names of different places. I rolled my eyes and kept driving, I wanted to avoid having to deal with people again so I will just stay out of sight.
"Try to find a library, you can use it to learn more about this world. Try to understand what happened and how much things have truly changed." Batman suggested
"Yeah, no, I'm not doing that. Just gonna get some supplies, restock on food and water, and then get the hell out." I said while eating an apple.
"So that's it? You're just gonna become a nomad? A wanderer?"
"You say that like that's a bad thing. Besides, this world, this place, humanity is gone... Maybe it's..."
"What? Time for humanity to end?" Robin asked "you can't give up."
"Just shut it, you little devil." I said while punching him in the face, but all I did was hit the air. They were gone. I sighed and stared back at the road, wincing a bit as the cuts on my wrist stung a bit, groaning as I powered through the pain and kept driving. I couldn't drive into town, so I would need to hide the Batmobile, luckily there was a large and dense forest nearby, the Everfree Forest. I drove on and soon neared the forest, I kept driving until I was sure I was deep enough to stay hidden. I hopped out and and grabbed my weapons, not taking any of my firearms except for my pistols, didn't want to go in defenseless.
"Don't die! Again!" Robin shouted from inside the Batmobile as I walked away, giving him the finger. It was still day so I will wait for tonight, but I really needed to stretch my legs. I walked off into the forest to try and get a layout of the place, maybe even get some game for lunch. I knelt down and found some tracks, seemed to be a deer is nearby
"Fresh, can't be that far." I said softly as I quietly followed the tracks, after a bit of tracking I could hear a river and smirked. I kept going and hid behind some bushes, seeing a deer drinking from the river. I was about to take out my sword until I saw something else beside the Deer singing, it was a pony. A pegasus to be exact, she had yellow fur, light pink hair and tail, and had butterflies tattooed on her ass. Her voice sounded feminine.
"Does everyone have have a fucking butt tattoo?"
"Why you looking at her butt?" Red Robin laughed while poking my head. I smacked his hand away and groaned, I could probably still get the deer though.
"Don't even think about it." Batman glared at me. I grumbled and crossed my arms
"You can't tell me what to do, old man." I hid in the bushes and watch the deer and pegasus, the pegasus had... She had a beautiful voice. I-I couldn't put my finger on it, but it just felt so... Warm. Like a warm blanket was draped over me. I closed my eyes and got lost in her voice, it wasn't until I heard the pegasus scream that I snapped out of the trance and saw a pack of wolves... Made of sticks? I... I don't wanna question it, too big of a headache for that. Right now she needed help, I saw one of the stick wolf thing lunged at her and jumped out of the bushes. Drawing my sword and slicing the wolf in half. It broke into twigs as I glared at the rest of the pack, they growled in anger at the death of one of their members and started circling me.
"Look out!" I heard the pegasus shout, I turn around and blocked the wolf I thought I killed lunge at me, using my sword to block the wolf and threw him towards another wolf.
"Next time I'm gonna make sure you stay dead!" I shouted as two of then ran towards me, I used my sword to slice off one of their heads but the other lunged at me from my side, I reached out and grabbed it by the throat and crushed it. Two more lunged at me while I was distracted. I stabbed one straight through the chest but the other bite down hard on my forearm, I groaned in pain and quickly threw it off me, they may be made out of sticks, but they sure as hell have the same bite strength as real wolves, luckily my jacket was still strong enough to hold off their bite. Thank God I had Lucius make me some upgrades to my gear all those years ago.
"Okay, clearly this won't be enough, try this on for size!" I sheathed my sword and then summoned the All-Blades in my hands. A pair of mythical flaming blades appeared in my hands "Didn't honestly think that could work." I smirked, twirling the All-Blades in my hands I leaped forward, slashing at two of the wolves, their bodies bursting into flames as they finally stayed dead.
"I don't fear death. Death FEARS ME!" I shouted as I started hacking and slashing the rest of the wolves, grinning as I watched them get slashed into pieces and burn into nothing.
"AAAAAAH!" I turned and went wide eyed, I was so busy that I didn't realize that one had circled behind me and was walking towards the pegasus. In my eyes I could see Barbara lying on her back with a gun shot in her stomach, bleeding out. My mom lying in the bathtub after she overdosed. Alfred lying on his deathbed. And the rest of my family dying and I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING!
"NOT AGAIN!" I screamed as I rushed forward and got between the wolf and pegasus just before it lunged at her, it bit down near my neck, a small gap in my armor and jacket and drew blood "AARGH!" I stabbed it straight through the chest and ripped it apart. I panted and then dropped to one knee as I gripped the bite wound "That's gonna hurt in the morning." I groaned as I slowly stood back up
"You're hurt!" The pegasus ran up to me and examined my wound "Oh dear, follow me! I have a first aid kit in my-" Before she could finish I made a mad dash and ran off "Wait! Come back!" I glanced back and saw her flying after me. Crap! I ran deeper into the woods, using my sword to cut down branches to try and stop her but it barely slowed her down. I cursed under my breath and climbed up a tree
"Come back!" I saw her fly up into the tree but I had hidden in the thick leaves of another tree. I remained hidden and perfectly still as I watched her search frantically to find me. I could hear her whimpers and concerns as she flew off to look for me. I sighed softly and jumped down from the tree, wincing as blood gushed down from the wond.
"Gotta seal the wound." I ran and made my way back to the Batmobile, hopping inside I removed my helmet and took out a bullet, opening it I poured the gunpowder on my wounds and fired up the engines of the Batmobile, holding my knife up to the flames. Once it was heated I brought the burning knife to my wounds "Gah! Grr! Aaagh!" I groaned in pain as it felt like I was being hugged by the sun, but I had to bare through it in order to close the wounds. Once that was done I wrapped it up with some bandages, leaning back against the Batmobile I took a deep breath.
"Think she'll be okay?" Nightwing asked while sitting next to me.
"Don't know, don't care." I sighed as I leaned back against the Batmobile, the wounds stung and burned like hell, but it was nothing I haven't been through.
"You have to make sure she's safe, she tried to help you after you got bitten." Batgirl reminded me
"I don't care."
"Those things came back even after you sliced them with Damian's sword, if she runs into more of them she's a goner!" Red Robin exclaimed
"She has wings, she can fly."
"And what if she runs into something that can fly, who knows what else is in this place!" Robin said, I clenched my fists and groaned
"Shut up, already! I don't give a shit what happens to that fucking horse with wings!" I snapped at them "She can fucking die for all I care! She is not MY problem! It is no longer MY job to do this bullshit!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" A blood curling scream rang out as I whipped my head around, seeing birds fly off in the distance.
"Think you can ignore-"
"FUCK YOU!" I shouted back at them as my body moved on its own towards the direction of the scream. I kept running and could hear and feel the ground shake as I grew closer. When I finally reached the yellow horse I looked up and was shaken my very core
"Holy shit, WHY THE FUCK IS KING GHIDORAH DOING HERE?!" I shouted as I stared up at the giant fucking Kaiju standing before me, I then heard screaming again and saw the yellow horse stuck in some vines. I pulled out one of my pistols and started shooting at one of the heads of this King Ghidorah knockoff to distract it. Using my free hand I threw two batarangs to cut the vines and free the yellow horse.
"Go, now!"
"But!-"
"GET OUT OF HERE NOW OR ELSE I'M GONNA BE THE ONE TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" I shouted as I took out my grappling hook to swing through the trees, avoiding getting crushed to death as the monster focused its attention on me "That's right, eyes on me, scaly!" I jumped off a tree just before it got crushed under the foot of the monster
"RRROOOOOOOOAAAAR'" The monster let out an earth shaking roar as I saw its three heads rearing down and opening its maw to try and swallow me. I ran through the trees, using my sword to slice through the vines and vegetation to avoid getting trapped, the trees helped but they were still gaining on me. I climbed up a tree and waited until one of its head got close enough, once it did I jumped off the tree and landed on top of its long snout.
"Anyone ever tell you you have bad breath?" I asked while shooting it in the eyes. It roared out in pain and tried shaking me off, I used my knife to stab its snout and stayed on "Aw, what's wrong? Something in your eyes?" I laughed but soon screamed as my knife came loose and I was thrown off. Quickly pulling out my grappling hook I fired and hooked on to the other head of the monster, soaring through the air I jumped on top of its head and stabbed it in the left eye with an explosive batarang, I soon jumped off just as the batarang exploded. I smirked as it howled in pain, I turned back and went wide eyed as I saw a tail coming at me. The tail smacked me and sent me hurdling towards the ground. I crashed down and smashed through three trees. I groaned and tried standing up but I couldn't, hell, I could barely move. I felt a few things clearly broken, like my ribs, my left leg, and my right shoulder. I glanced back and saw the last undamaged head of the monster getting close with its mouth opening.
"Ah, shit. Hope you get indigestion, you son of a bitch." I sighed as I closed my eyes and just gave up, letting myself get eaten. I felt its gross slimy tongue around me and swallowed me whole.
"Get up."
This is it. Why did I even come?
"Get up."
I don't need to save people. That time is over. There is no need for heroes.
"Get up!"
There is no need for me! There never fucking was! I shouldn't be here!
"GET UP!"
"RAAAGH!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I summoned the All-Blades in one hand and stabbed at the monsters throat, sliding and coming to a halt "Grr! I! Fucking! Hate! You!" I shouted as I planted my foot against the walls of the monster's throat and jumped up, throwing multiple explosive batarangs. Falling down I smirked as they went off, blowing a massive hole inside the monster's throat. I gripped on the All-Blade as the monster came crashing down. I crawled out of the new hole in its throat and groaned, I could hear the monster taking its last breath as it slowly died. I chuckled softly as I used the sword as a crunch to hell me stand, I was covered in green blood, drool, and slime. I groaned in pain as my body was still badly injured. I started to walk away, slowly but surely, through the swamp.
"Gotta... Make it... Back to... The... Ah, fuck." I winced as I fell down, the pain was too much and I felt my eyelids growing heavy. I was barely conscious but I could swear I saw something walking towards me, it wore a brown cloak but I could see yellow eyes under the hood. It spoke but it was muffled, I closed my eyes and soon lost consciousness.
NO POV.
The Yellow horse from before was running through the Everfree forest and was accompanied by five others. Two Unicorns, two earth ponies, a pegasus, and a small dragon. One unicorn had a light purple coat and a dark purple mane with a streak of a light shade of purple. Twilight Sparkle. The other unicorn had a white coat and a dark purple mane curled beautifully. Rarity. One earth pony had a light orange coat, blonde mane in a ponytail, and a cowboy hat. Applejack. The other had a pink coat and puffy pink mane. Pinkie Pie. The other pegasus had a light blue coat and rainbow mane. Rainbow Dash. The small dragon had light purple scales, green spikes along his head and back, and a light yellow belly. Spike.
"Fluttershy, what's wrong? Who's hurt?" Twilight asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy had ran into town and calling all of her friends, telling them that somepony was in danger but she didn't give any more than that.
"I'll explain later, but right now he's being attacked by a Hydra!" Fluttershy told them
"A Hydra?!" All of them shrieked in shock and fear, but soon had a fierce determination in their eyes as they quicken the pace. They soon arrived at the swamp, ready to battle the Hydra, only to find the now dead corpse of said Hydra. Rarity and Pinkie Pie both gagged but Rarity was the only one who vomited. Applejack reeled back from the smell while Rainbow Dash had her jaw drop to the ground, Spike and Twilight both stepped back in shock.
"F-Flutters? You sure it was the Hydra that wasn't... In danger?" Rainbow Dash asked as she stared at the dead Hydra
"Looked more like the Hydra was the one we needed ta save." Applejack grimaced at the horrible and gut wrenching sight.
"I-I don't understand! He was here!" Fluttershy frantically started looking around for the one that saved her.
"Maybe he was eaten?" Spike thought out loud
"Spike!" Twilight scolded the young drake as Spike nervously scratched the back of his neck and apologized.
"What... What exactly was it that, dear?" Rarity asked, wondering what kind of creature Fluttershy was talking about as she looked away and pinched her nose to try to avoid losing her lunch again.
"I-I was next to Emily, one of the deers I take care of, by the lake when suddenly I was attacked by a pack of Timberwolves!" Her friends gasped in shock hearing this as Fluttershy continued "But then he came! It was a tall creature, easily taller than Princess Celestia, and stood on two legs. He wore a red helmet, a brown jacket, and wore a red bat symbol on its chest."
"A red bat?" Pinkie Pie titled her head as she tried to imagine the creature in a thought bubble. She thought of a tall pony with red face paint and had a bat pained red taped to his chest.
"It fought off the Timberwolves, and he used magic!" Fluttershy exclaimed
"Magic? What kind?" Twilight asked as her interest peaked even more than before.
"He summoned two swords of fire out of thin air. They were able to defeat the Timberwolves in one slice! One Timberwolf nearly pounced on me, but he jumped in to save me. He got bitten badly, I tried to help him but he ran off. I searched for him but got stuck in some vines in the swamp and nearly got eaten by the hydra! That's when he came back and saved me again. He told me to run and fought the Hydra." Fluttershy finished explaining what had happened
"Thank Goodness you're alright, darling."
"I wouldn't be if it wasn't for him, oh I hope he's alright." Fluttershy looked down as she hoped he was safe, remembering the bite he had taken and the possible more injuries he sustained from fighting the Hydra
"Did he use these?" Rainbow pointed at the two batarangs sticking out from a tree.
"Yes, he used those to help cut me down from the vines." Fluttershy said. Twilight used her magic to pull out the batarangs to examine them
"Hmm... Razor sharp. Lightweight. Clearly used for throwing. Made out of... Steel. Interesting." Twilight said as she smiled "I'm glad your safe, Fluttershy, and from what you told us whoever this pony, or creature, is is clearly good. But we should try to find him, no one could fight a Hydra and come out unscathed." They all nodded in agreement
"Any ideas on where he might be?" Spike asked
"Hmm.. What about Zecora? Maybe she's seen him?" Applejack suggested
"That seems like a good place to start, we should also send a letter to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, this could be a whole new species of creatures! The biggest discovery in all of Equestrian science!" Twilight squealed with joy at the thought of new knowledge they could gain
"Boring! I wanna know how this thing fights!" Rainbow punched her hooves together.
"We can talk about that later, now let's get going!" Applejack told them as they ran off to Zecora's place.
Jason groaned as he began to stir awake and slowly open his eyes, seeing a ceiling above him. He tried sitting up but winced as he laid back down, he looked down at himself to see that he was covered in bandages and his arm and leg was in a makeshift cast.
"Wha... What the hell?" Jason asked out loud as he rubbed his face, his eyes widening in shock as he just now realized that he was only in his underwear and his helmet was gone. Jason nearly started to freak out until he heard a door open. His eyes shot towards the door and he saw a peculiar sight. He saw a Zebra holding a tray in her mouth. The Zebra in question had a gray color coat instead of the usual white but still had the black stripes, and had golden rings around her neck and big gold hoop ear rings. Jason stared at the Zebra and moved back, grunting in pain but powering through it.
"Who the hell are you?" Jason demanded to know, the Zebra walked over and set the tray down. Jason looked down to see a bowl of, what he assumed, is soup and a cup of tea. Jason eyed it cautiously and glared at the Zebra
"You need not be weary, eat to replenish your energy." The Zebra said, from her voice she was female. Jason eyed her once more carefully, she didn't seem to be lying, but Jason didn't trust her. Instead he gently pushed the tray away "Do not be so dreary, it would be best to not be stubborn like a cannery." She said as he pushed the tray back towards Jason. When she saw him still refuse to eat she rolled her eyes and took a sip from the soup, showing him that she didn't tamper with it. Jason narrowed his eyes but finally caved in and took a sip from the soup.
"Never have I met a being such as you, and you seem to never seen one like me, too." She said as she recognize the look of shock he had on his face when she stepped in. Jason stared at her, refusing to speak until he felt like he really needed to. He pointed down at his bandages and looked at her "Fighting the Hydra left you near dead, so I brought you to keep you from such dread. Your body was badly broken, and your wounds reopened. You are lucky your head wasn't spilt open." She said, Jason reached back to his head and felt some stitches, he must've cut his head or something when he crashed through those trees.
"My clothes." Jason finally spoke, not wanting to be left in such a state in a strangers house.
"You are still to weak, rest for now, but I am glad you can speak." She said "I am Zecora." She introduced herself. Jason raised an eyebrow at the strange name but shook his head
"My clothes." He asked one more time, getting a bit impatient from Zecora's cryptic bullshit and her annoying rhyming. Zecora sighed and walked out, soon coming back with a bag. She walked over and dropped it down next to the bed, Zecora used her mouth to open the bag and Jason could see his armor and weapons. He tried to reach down for them but groaned in pain.
"As I said, now rest on the bed." Zecora told him. A knock was heard on the door and Jason went wide eyed
"Don't tell anyone I'm here." Jason told her "I don't want anyone knowing I'm here."
"But why?"
"I just don't! Don't tell anyone." Jason said, he didn't want to be found, he just wanted to... Vanish. Disappear. Zecora looked at him then back towards the knocking, taking a deep breath she nodded and headed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. When she left Jason forced himself up, the pain was intense as it felt like his body was on fire. He fought through the pain and got dressed, putting on his weapons and helmet. Jason looked around and saw a window, he limped towards it and opened the curtains, crawling out through the window he began to run towards the forest, well, more like limp really fast. Using his sword as a crunch to keep him up Jason used his helmet to help try to find the Batmobile, not wanting to loose it and have far less protection. He trekked through the forest for about two hours and finally found the Batmobile.
"Home sweet home." Jason said as he limped towards the Batmobile, he climbed inside and groaned as he held his side, his body aching all over and was begging for rest. Jason panted slightly as he leaned back against the seat, he wanted to rest but he knew he couldn't stay here, at least in this spot. He would need to make some distance between him and Zecora. Jason fired up the Batmobile and started driving until he reached some ruins of what appeared to be a castle.
"The fuck is a castle doing out here?" Jason asked out loud, thinking it would be perfect to rest Jason turned off the Batmobile and soon passed out in the Batmobile.
Jason opened his eyes and groaned, he opened the Batmobile and hopped out, he winced as his injuries still haven't fully healed. He reached back into bag and pulled put some food, eating it as he slid down against the Batmobile. Jason set his helmet down and took out his phone, he started to play some music. He listened to the music play and looked up at the sky, he closed his eyes and started to sing.
Jason sang as he thought about his family. Remembering how after each patrol if none of them got hurt Alfred would bake sweets and desserts for them, he remembered when they all would fight for the last cookie and it ended the same way. With Alfred showing them that he was the true head of the manor. Jason could almost hear their laughs when Alfred would eat the last cookie. Jason felt something on his face and reached up to touch it, he looked down and
"Wet...?" A tear fell and landed in the palm of his hand, Jason quickly wiped away the tears swelling in his eyes and groaned. Jason stood up and started to make his way towards the ruined castle, still using his sword to help him walk. Jason used his x-ray vision in his helmet to scan around to avoid any possible life and death fight. Jason looked on and saw ripped tapestries and destroyed antics, he saw one tapestry that showed two mares, both with horns and wings. One was white with long flowing pink hair and tail, the other was dark blue and had long flowing light blue mane. They were circling the moon and sun like Yin & Yang, Jason titled his head and assumed they must've been some sort of deity or a legend in this world. Jason walked off and wandered down a long corridor lit up by torches on the walls, using his helmet he could see the mechanics around him.
"Secret doors, traps, hidden entrances, how original." Jason rolled his eyes "Then again, I can't talk. The manor had traps all over the yards, defence protocols in the cave." He chuckled at the memory when he thought the Dinosaur ate intruders when he first started off as Robin. He walked up to a torch and pulled it, suddenly the wall turned and Jason found himself standing on a long spiral of stairs, he rolled his eyes and started heading up. Soon reaching the top he found what seemed to be a large room with a queen sized bed, bean bag chairs, bookshelves packed with books, a table with paper and pencils, and a few lamps that illuminated the room. The place was clean, very clean. Someone must've live here, or at the very least stop by here every now and then. Jason walked over to the books and searched around until he found a book that read "History Of Equestria"
"Equestria?" Jason pulled out the book and sat down on one of the bean bag chairs, opening the book he started reading.
SOME TIME EARLIER. ZECORA'S PLACE.
Back before Jason had escaped from Zecora's place Twilight Sparkle and her friends knocked on Zecora's door
"Zecora? It's us, are you home?" Twilight asked, waiting a bit until the door opened
"Hello, Twilight. So good to see you all in today's light." Zecora welcomed them and let them inside.
"Good to see you too, Zecora, but we wanted to ask you something." Twilight said
"Have you seen a creature that stands on two legs, a red bat on their chest, and a red head?" Fluttershy asked while describing the creature. Zecora tensed up and glanced back at the room Red Hood was resting in for a spilt second before recomposing herself.
"I have not seen such a creature before, but it certainly does not sound like a bore." Zecora said, Applejack narrowed her eyes at Zecora and looked over at the door Zecora glanced at.
"Zecora, I consider you a friend to all of us, so I want to believe you have a good reason for lying." Applejack said, the others gasping in shock that Zecora would lie. Zecora's eyes looked around and she rubbed her front hooves together as she sighed
"I-I... I have seen him, and he definitely hits the gym." Zecora muttered the last part to herself as she remembered just how well-toned and chiseled his body was. His abs were so firm and hard that you could grind cheese on them, his thighs looked like they could crush watermelons between them and his biceps were the size of cannonballs and were as strong as stone. His body was like a temple. A hot, chiseled, stone hard temple! But she was also shocked and horrified when she saw his scars, he was practically covered in them. From cuts to stab wounds and a few burns, what shocked her most was the autopsy scar on his chest, he shouldn't even be alive!
"Where is he? Is he alright? Was he hurt?" Fluttershy bombarded Zecora with question after question.
"He was close to death but I nursed him back to health, so save your breath." Zecora assured Fluttershy, it worked as Fluttershy had noticeable eased up as she let out a sigh of relief.
"Where is he?" Twilight asked
"He is in here, but beware. He told me to not let anyone know he is in there." Zecora said as she opened the door but found it empty. Zecora gasped as she searched for him and then looked out the window, seeing one footprint on the ground.
"His injuries have not yet healed! We must find him or else he will be in the grasp of death!" Zecora said as they all nodded and rushed out to search for him.
After hours of searching they all met back at Zecora's house, failing to find Red Hood.
"Does he even want to br found?" Spike asked
"What do you mean?" Rainbow questioned
"I mean, the guy was badly injured like Zecora said, but if he was willing to risk his own health just to get away, then does he really want to be found? Sounds more like he wants to hide." Spike explained.
"But why?" Fluttershy asked
"I don't know, maybe he just wants to be alone?"
"Nopony should ever be alone! I hereby promise that I WILL THROW HIM THE BIGGEST PARTY EVER!" Pinkie Pie declared while bouncing up and down like a ball.
"We can search tomorrow, darlings. I rather not be out in the Everfree Forest at night." Rarity said while pointing at the setting sun in the distance.
"Then we'll continue tomorrow, thanks again, Zecora." Twilight thanked the Zebra as they then headed back home.
As they were heading back home a small filly was seen galloping towards them. The filly had yellow fur, red color mane and tail and had a big dark pink bow in her mane. This is Applebloom, Applejack's little sister.
"Applejack! Applejack!" Applebloom cried out as she ran towards her older sister.
"Whoa, nelly! Applebloom, what in tarnishin' is going on?" Applejack asked a clearly riled up Applebloom
"We just got a letter from Braeburn! Appaloosa was attacked!" Applebloom told them.
"WHAT?!" Applejack and her friends all shrieked in utter disbelief.
"Come on!" Applebloom said as she ran off, the Mane 6 and Spike all followed the young filly back to Sweet Apple Acres. They raced inside the Apples home and saw two more ponies inside. Both of them were earth ponies, one had red fur, some freckles on his face, and dirty blonde hair and a green apple on his flanks, Big Macintosh. The other was an elderly mare with light green fur, gray hair tied in a bun, and an apple pie on her flanks, Granny Smith.
"Granny! Is what Applebloom said true? Is Braeburn okay?"
"He says his fine, read for yourself." Granny Smith handed AJ the letter and she read it out loud to her friends, all of them breathing a sigh of relief as they were glad that Braeburn was safe. But what shocked them the most was when they read that it was Red Hood that helped save him and Appaloosa.
"Whoa! This guys sounds like a real life superhero!" Spike exclaimed while rereading the note
"He saved Appaloosa, our cousin, and Fluttershy, Ah say he really is a hero." Applejack smiled as she was glad to know that the mysterious stranger truly was a hero for all the good he has done.
"You met him, sis?" Applebloom asked
"Not personally, but Fluttershy has after he saved her life, twice!" Applejack smiled at Fluttershy.
"Anypony saving other ponies is a good one in my book." Granny Smith said
"Eeyup."
"Ah'm just glad that he's safe, thank Celestia that red feller was there when they needed him." Applejack smiled.
"We should send a letter to the Princesses, they should know about what we learned so far." Twilight suggested.
"We can try and search for him tomorrow, right now I really wanna go to sleep." Rainbow Dash yawned. The friends all said their goodbyes and parted for the night.
Twilight and Spike made their way back home, their home being a literal tree, giving tree house a whole new meaning. The tree was actually a library, the Golden Oak, but it doubled as their home.
"Spike, take a letter." Twilight said as Spike grabbed a scroll and a quill
Dear Princess Celestia
Today me and my friends have discovered some slightly troubling and interesting news. Appaloosa was recently attacked by strange beings, but thankfully the town was saved by a being with a red bat on his chest. The same being also saved Fluttershy twice today by a pack of Timberwolves and a Hydra! When Fluttershy brought us to where she last saw him we found the body of the Hydra, dead, in the swamps. We aren't sure what the creature is but it is clearly powerful, Fluttershy even said that he used magic. Zecora found the creature and treated his wounds, but it had left before we could talk to him. We don't know where or what he is, but we do know this. He is a good pony.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
Spike finished writing the letter and used his magic breath to send the letter to Princess Celestia.
CANTERLOT
Canterlot. The capital of Equestria and the home of Princess Celestia and, the recently reformed, Princess Luna. On a balcony on the highest peak of the castle stood the two rulers. Celestia is what is known as an Alicorn, she has the wings of a pegasus and tbe horn of a unicorn and a strong connection with nature like earth ponies. She had white fur, long, flowing rainbow colored mane, and a sun on her flanks. Celestia, ruler of the sun. Next to her is Princess Luna, ruler of the night. Celestia had just finished setting the sun and was about to let her sister raise the sun when suddenly she gotten the letter sent from Twilight.
"A letter from Twilight this late?" Celestia questioned but then opened the letter, reading it she gasped and her eyes widened in shock
"Tia? What 'tis it?" Luna asked her sister
"Appaloosa was attacked, and Fluttershy was nearly killed, but a strange being with a red bat on their chest saved them. Not only that, but they have managed to kill a Hydra single-handedly!" Celestia exclaimed, still having a hard time believing it. She had fought a Hydra once before and they were anything but pushovers.
"Appaloosa attacked AND Fluttershy twas in danger twice? What was tis creature?" Luna asked
"I don't know, but whatever it is is clearly skilled and powerful, thankfully from what they said he has a good heart." Celestia smiled, Luna however was a bit more cautious. While she was grateful that the creature helped save her subjects, it was still troubling to know that such a creature was roaming around freely and they had no idea what its true intentions were. Celestia always was one to care too much, which can be both good and bad in many ways, but Luna was a master at finding out ones hidden natures.
"Yes, sister, we hope to one day meet said creature." Luna said, wanting to see for herself if this creature truly is good or not.
"Perhaps one day. But for now it is time for you to raise the moon. Goodnight, Lulu." Celestia nuzzled her sister's cheek and bid her farewell for the night
"Rest well, Tia." Luna smiled as she used her magic to raise the moon.
UNKNOWN LOCATION.
Sitting inside a room sat a mysterious figure in a cloak staring at a portrait illuminated by candles. Suddenly another figure approached from behind and whispered something into the cloaked figure's ear. The figured turned around, its face was shrouded in darkness, but a malice grin could be seen.
Jason spent most of the night reading on the history of this world and what he learned was.... He's fucked. This planet is now named Equis, the country he's in is called Equestria, and humanity is officially gone, now ponies are at the top of the food chain and they can use magic. There are three types of ponies, Pegasus that can fly and control the weather by moving the clouds and crap. Earth ponies have a more deeper connection with nature and are stronger than most. Unicorns have horns and can control and manipulate the magic around them to perform all sorts of spells.
"Probably not as skilled as Zatana or Constantine." Jason muttered to himself. Then there were the two rulers of this land, Princess Celestia, ruler of the sun, and Princess Luna, ruler of the moon. How the fuck are they able to control two celestial bodies he will never know and it made him wonder how the fuck the solar system get so screwed. Princess Luna got jealous over her sister due to the ponies loving the day more than the night.
"The day is overrated." Jason scoffed. So one day Luna transformed into a mare of nightmares called Nightmare Moon, sounded like a emo kids username. Nightmare Moon tried to bring eternal night to Equestria until Celestia banished her to the moon. Whoa, that's actually pretty hardcore. Jason skimmed through some other crap like these things called The Pillars, Elements of Harmony, and other pointless crap that didn't help him
"Knowledge is power. You should't skip through any of this." Batgirl said while leaning over his shoulder
"None of that is gonna help me, what I need to know is what else changed about this place and also a way on cash." He said, thinking about becoming a mercenary, or just rob assholes, maybe both.
"You could try the town nearby, bet they have a library you could check out a few books from. These books seem to be bit... Outdated." Red Robin suggested while looking at some of the ripped up and dusty books.
"That's not a bad idea. It could help with rebuilding your image, maybe be the good guy?" Nightwing nudged my shoulder, but Jason couldn't feel anything.
"Fuck no, good guys is your stick. Let me wallow in my awesomeness."
"I think you mean your misery and self-loathing."
"Fuck you." Jason threw the back at the wall and leaned back in the beanbag. Alone. Just like always. He didn't wanna sleep, and he needed more information. Jason stood up and stretched as he then headed out of the room and out the ruined castle, he decided to not take the Batmobile as it would draw too much noise and attention so he just ran through the forest, his injuries have healed somewhat so he wasn't limping everywhere thankfully. Jason was able to free run through the forest and trees, the night sky will help in masking his presence so he doesn't need to worry about anyone catching him.
After some time Jason made his way to outside the forest and he could see a cottage nearby, not what he was looking for so he ran past it and followed a road until I reached a town. Jason ran towards a building and stuck to the shadows and rooftops, now this made him feel somewhat calm, running across rooftops, hiding in the shadows, reminded him of... Home. Jason groaned and shook his head to clear away such thoughts as he kept running, soon he saw a massive tree and saw a sign
"Golden Oaks Library." He read, chuckling to himself as it really was a tree house. Jason climbed down from the building and made his way over to the library, circling around the place until he saw a window and climbed up, pushing it he discovered it was unlock, the pony inside probably didn't think anyone would break in. Then again, who would break into a library?
"You do realize what you're doing, right?" Nightwing chuckled from the window. Jason gave him the finger and climbed inside, using his helmet to see inside the dark Jason saw a bed and saw three living "people" inside. One was an owl perched on a little perch, next was... Is that a fucking dragon?
"I don't know who that is or who owns them but I want it." Robin said while looking at the small purple and green dragon snoring in a small bed.
"Zip it, you little runt." Jason whispered to Robin, only to smack myself for asking that. They were gone. They're not here anymore. On another bigger bed Jason saw a unicorn with purple coat, dark purple mane with a pink streak, snoring softly in blissful sleep. Jason quietly made his way down and started searching through the books, looking for ones on wildlife, plants, economy, and one on the different tribes anatomy. Jason was about to leave until he saw one book that caught his eye.
"Humanity." Jason muttered the title as he grabbed it and decided to take it with him. Jason turned to walk up the stairs when he suddenly heard a voice
"Twilight?" Jason went wide eyed as he quickly climbed up the bookcase and hid on the ceiling. Jason looked down and saw the small dragon holding a candle as he scanned the room. Jason held his breath and watched as the small dragon rubbed his eyes and headed back upstairs after blowing out the candle. Once he was fully asleep in his bed Jason made his way out back through the window and closed it. That was close, but he still got it. The books and the skills. Jason started running across the rooftops as he was heading back to the forest, but stopped when he heard voices below. He couched down on a roof and peeked over to see two small ponies walking and talking. One was a colt with a brown coat, dark orange mane and tail with a propeller hat on. The other was a filly with an orange coat, wings, and purple mane and tail. Jason watched and assumed they must be kids, he didn't know why they were walking alone in the middle of the night, but he figured it would be best to watch them as he didn't want anything happening to them.
"I can't believe we spent the whole day, and almost all night, at the arcade." The orange filly laughed while brown seemed a bit more nervous
"My mom is gonna kill me! It's WAY past my bedtime, Scootaloo!" The brown one said while rubbing his face with his forehoof
"Don't worry, Button Mash, we'll sneak in, go to bed, and your mom will be none the wiser." The now named Scootaloo reassured Button Mash. The colt sighed heavily but smiled as they two playfully bumped into each other. Jason smiled softly, they seemed to be alright. He was about to leave until he heard a few bottles rattling in a nearby alleyway. Jason looked and saw three earth pony stallions walk out from the alleyway
"H-hey, what are yyyyou two doing out here by yourselves?" One stallion asked, Jason didn't even need to smell their breathes to tell that they were drunk.
"Y-you sssshould come with us. We'll keep you two little ones safe." Another stallion said, stepping closer towards the two. Button Mash and Scootaloo both took a step back and had a look of fear on their faces
"N-No thank you. W-We're fine." Button Mash said as he and Scootaloo kept backing away, but the stallions just kept getting closer. Suddenly one of the stallions grabbed Button Mash and held him down
"Hehehe, I like this one." The Stallion said, chuckling to himself as Button Mash squirmed under him
"Button!" Scootaloo went to tackle the stallion but was then slammed and held down by another stallion. The stallions all cackled as they had perverted grins on their faces.
"I'm gonna have fun with you, little filly~" The stallion was about the mount Scootaloo when suddenly something wrapped around his head and he was dragged into the dark alleyway
"What the buck is-AAAAGH!" The stallion cried out but was silenced as quickly as it happened. The other two stallions both stopped and looked on to where their companion was dragged.
"Sleazy? Sleazy!" One of the stallion called out, they heard boots stomping and looked on to see.... A monster. It stood over six feet tall, had a red head with white eyes, and a red bat on its chest. The two stallions both backed away in fear but the one that pinned down Button was brave enough, or more acutely stupid enough, to step forward
"What the buck are you, eh? Some some sssome sort of ugly diamond dog playing dress up?" The Stallion walked up to the creature and threw a punch, but the creature grabbed his forehoof and crushed it "AAAAA-" His screams were cut short as the creature slammed him against the wall and started beating his face over and over and over again. Blood and teethes were seen flying as the creature then lifted up the Stallion high over his head and then brought his back down on his knee.
CRACK
A loud and sickening crack was heard as the stallion fell limp and was tossed to the ground like discarded trash. The creature turned around and saw the last stallion shaking and whimpering while backing away before turning and running away. The creature used a strange device and fired a rope rope that wrapped around the stallion's hind hooves and pulled him back
"No no! No! Please no!" The creature lifted up the stallion and bashed his head against the wall, breaking his snout and then kneed the back of the stallion's head into the wall. The creature turned around and looked down at the two children, both holding each other while backing away. The creature lifted a hand and the children flinched
"Hey hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Are you both okay? You're not hurt anywhere?" The creature asked while kneeling down, still having to look down at them. Button Mash and Scootaloo both held each other and were shaking in fear. Suddenly the creature started to remove its head, revealing to actually be a helmet and the two saw the creatures face. It was.... Strange, to put it kindly. His face was a little flat, he had a small bump on his face, his mouth was... Weird looking, and he had no fur at all. His had black hair and blue eyes.
"See? I'm not that scary." The creature chuckled softly, trying his best to calm the children. Button and Scootaloo both calmed down a little
"T-thank you..." Button Mash thanked their hero
"No problem, kid. You two have a place to go?"
"Y-Yeah. M-my house is just down the road." Button Mash pointed
"Alright. Good. I'll walk you there, make sure nothing happens to you two." The creature then put his helmet back on and stood up.
"You sure we can trust him?" Scootaloo whispered
"He saved our lives, so, yeah." Button told her as the two started walking again. It was a rather somewhat awkward, yet comforting silence. Button and Scootaloo couldn't get over the fact of what happened, they nearly got... And they were saved by... They didn't know what it is, but he saved them! And he honestly looked awesome! He looked like a superhero by his armor from the comics the two read from time to time. The two were still shaken up over what happened, shivering at the thought of what would have happened if he didn't show up, would they even still be alive? Would they be kidnapped and be kept as their pets? The creature looked at them and cleared his throat
"Try not to think about what would have happened if I wasn't here, it won't help. Just... Be thankful that you're safe now. That's really all you can do." The creature told them. It may not have been the most comforting advice, but it was... Real. And with it the two did find comfort it. The two soon reached Button's house
"This is... It?" Button Mash and Scootaloo both turned to see the creature was gone. Vanished without a sound or a trace. Button and Scootaloo both looked at each other with stunned and confused expressions on their faces, how did he just disappear like that?
Jason was back over at the alleyway looking over the knocked out stallions, wondering what to do with them
"You could leave them here and let the proper authorities handle them." Batman suggested
"Yeah..."
"You could deliver them TO the proper authorities." Nightwing added
"Uh-huh..."
"You're... You're not gonna do that, are you." Batgirl asked. Jason said nothing as he smirked under his helmet.
ONE HOUR LATER.
Jason was cleaning his knife of blood while sitting back in that old castle he stumbled upon, he had "dispose" of the stallions the best way he knew how and chuckled.
"Can't blame me, can you?" Jason asked the others, but found no one. Because there isn't anyone here! He took off his helmet and groaned, rubbing his eyes he shook his head and started reading, he had to take his mind off everything and focus on the here and now. He opened up the book and started reading, the first one he learned about would be the pegasus.
NEXT MORNING. NO POV. PONYVILLE
Within the Golden Oaks Library Twilight Sparkle was seen looking around at the numerous bookshelves in her library with a curious look on her face
"Uh, Twilight? What are you doing?" Spike, the small young dragon and Twilight's number one assistant, asked as he was sweeping
"Some books are missing." Twilight said
"What? You sure it's not just somepony checked them out or forgot to return them? This is still a public library after all."
"Nope, I checked the logs and nopony have checked out those books." Twilight said while eyeing the bookshelves once more
"You sure you didn't just misplace them after sleep reading last night?" Spike asked while rolling his eyes
"Sleep reading? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked while turning to face Spike
"Yeah, last night I heard something and woke up to check what it was. I assumed you were sleep reading." Spike told her
"I wasn't sleep reading. Was I?"
"You have done it before, like when you were researching everything about Nightmare Moon."
"That's... Look, I know what I'm seeing and I'm telling some of my books are missing." Twilight said while stomping her hooves, a small little blush spread across her cheeks from embarrassment. Spike sighed and continued sweeping. Suddenly the door knocked and Spike walked over to open it. Outside he saw Applejack, Button Mash, Scootaloo, and two other fillies. One was a unicorn and she had a white coat, pink and light purple mane and tail. Sweetie Belle. The other was an earth pony with big red mane and tail with a yellow coat and a big pink bow in her mane. Apple Bloom
"Hey guys, what brings you all here?" Spike asked
"Is Twilight here? We need to talk." Applejack said, Spike let them inside and Twilight turned to see her friend and the fillies and colt
"Applejack! Good to see you, but what brings you by?"
"You're gonna wanna hear this." Applejack looked down at Scootaloo and Button Mash as they shouted and talked over one another about what happened, they talked so fast that it was difficult to understand the two
"Hold on! One at a time, please!" Twilight told them
"We saw an alien!" Scootaloo and Button Mash both shouted
"He was big!"
"With a red head!"
"Only it wasn't his head, it was a helmet!"
"Yeah! He had a black mane, no fur, and had a red bat on his chest!"
"Wait, a red bat on his chest? Did he say anything? Did you see where he went? Wait, how did you see him?"
"Well... Last night, me and Scootaloo stayed up a bit too late last night at the arcade so we were heading back to my house, then... Then three stallions came up to us... And t-they..." Button Mash shivered in fear at the memory of that night "Then the alien came and saved us! He was awesome! Like a super awesome ninja of the shadows!" Button Mash and Scootaloo pretended to battle each other just like the alien did the night before.
"He saved your lives, too?" Spike beamed with excitement "This guy really is a superhero!"
"He is! He even walked us home to make sure we were safe, but when we turned to thank him he vanished!" Button Mask exclaimed
"So he saved you both and vanished, did he say anything? What he was? Who his is? Anything?"
"Not really, we don't know what he is, only his face." Scootaloo said
"Well, the important thing is you're both safe. Can you show us where you met him?" Twilight asked them. The two nodded and ran out of library, leading the others back to the alleyway.
"It was here!" Scootaloo said, Twilight looked around but didn't anything that would stand out too much, until she saw blood stains on the wall.
"D-Did he do that?" Twilight asked, shocked to see such a thing
"Y-Yeah, he was protecting us." Button Mash answered
"Or was he just beating the fella?" Applejack muttered to herself.
"The stallions don't appear to be here, but this is too much for it to just be an accident." Twilight then turned to the filly and colt "Thank you both for showing us this. It helped a ton. Applejack, we should a letter to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they should know about this." Applejack nodded and took the fillies and colt away back to her farm. Twilight and Spike went back and sent a letter to Celestia, informing her on the latest of news they learned about the strange creature.
"What are you?" Twilight questioned out loud as Spike sent the letter away.
WITH JASON
Achoo
Jason sneezed and rubbed his nose, he put down the book and learned a good deal of what he would deal with in this world. Unicorns would be essentially tricky to face as their magic can be used as both a form of attack and defense, but he was sure he could handle them. Pegasus could fly and, depending on their own skills, could reach tremendous speed, not to mention them controlling weather is definitely interesting he will handle them as long as he can get them on the ground or force them to fly low. Earth Ponies seemed to be the more physically strongest of them all, but he fought stronger. Jason had also learned about the place he was in, the Everfree forest, and read legends and rumors about the place. From what he read this forest has some sort of unnatural phenomenon surrounding it, the weather and plants all grow and form on their own, the vegetation has some forms of magical natures to them, and it is a hive for dangerous creature to flourish. But something peaked his interest the most, in legend it is said that a fairy of nature created the Everfree in order to protect a loved one, giving up her powers and life in a flower which grew and expanded, becoming the Everfree of today.
"Fairy..." Jason hummed in thought as he had a sinking suspicion about what caused this place to grow but shook his head "It can't be... Could it." He stood up and looked out the window, looking over the Everfree as he narrowed his eyes.
I have been living in this old castle for two days now gathering more information about the people, or more accurately called ponies, of this world. From what I can tell they don't seem that very different from people. They all got jobs, homes, families, form of governments, law enforcement, etcetera. At night I would go into town and patrol the streets, there wasn't as much crime like back in Gotham, but I did stop a few break-ins, thefts, and a few muggings. The people, or ponies I guess they're called here, started to form a legend about me. The Red Bat of the Everfree, who soars in the night searching for criminals to feast upon.
"You gonna pull off the catchphrase?" Nightwing asked me while resting his hands in my head as I sat down on the bed.
"I can't say it without laughing my ass off." I laughed as I looked over at Batman being all grumpy "Oh please, don't give me that look! That line is dumb and edgy as Hell!" I mocked him
"It's meant to strike fear into the hearts of criminals." Batman grumbled.
"Breaking their bones and threaten their lives works better." I said while twirling my pistol in one hand. I yawned as I rubbed my eyes, having not slept a wink these past few days and it was starting to show.
"You need rest, you're pushing yourself too hard." Batgirl placed her hand on my shoulder, turning back I was greeted with... Nothing. I rubbed my eyes and tossed a pillow at the wall. I groaned and stood up, putting on my helmet as I stood up and walked around the castle, reading the book on humanity I stole from the library a few nights ago.
"Humanity. Though little evidence to the claim, it is theorized that long ago, Equines were not the dominate species. Instead, it was bipedal ape like creatures known as Humans. They are hypothesized to be intelligent enough to use tools for weapons and even build. It is unknown what happened to humanity, if they truly did exist, but some wonder. What were they like?" I stopped reading and stopped. I felt so... Out of place. Lost. I kept walking again but he had no real destination in mind, just wandering the halls. placing my hands along the walls I looked up and saw...
"Master Todd, care to join us for dinner?" I saw Alfred wearing his black suit while holding a tray of a freshly cooked turkey.
"Hope you saved room for us." I turned and saw Barbara walking by, a bir of a stumble in her step "Still getting use to walking again." She said as I smiled softly at her. Wearing blue and yellow sweatpants and a purple hoodie with her hair tied into a ponytail.
"We all knew that you wouldn't stay out of the fight forever." I said, looking down to see myself wearing a red sleeveless hoodie and black jeans. I walked towards the dinning room and saw the others. Dick wore a blue shirt, a black jacket, and dark blue jeans. Damian wore a dark green hoodie and cargo shorts. Tim wore a button up light red shirt and blue jeans. Bruce wore a black turtleneck shirt and black pants. I watched them as they ate, their bright smiles, the playful banter, and the delicious aroma of the food Alfred prepared. I stood just at the doorway of the dinning room and smiled at them, I took a step forward... And they were all gone. I stood inside the ruins of what appeared to be this castle's dinning hall. I grabbed the chair and practically fell into the seat, putting my helmet down as I rubbed my forehead
"They aren't here! Get it through your FUCKING head!" I thought to myself, rubbing my eyes as I stood up and put my helmet back on. I didn't want to sleep because that would just make shit worse. I figured taking a walk around the forest would help so I headed for the exit.
When I opened the doors I looked up and saw.... What the fuck?
"What the fuck?" I saw a... Pink cloud? No, pink clouds. They were everywhere. It soon started raining and... It's raining chocolate milk?
".... Okay, sleep it is." I said as I turned back and headed back to the bedroom, I REALLY need sleep right about now. I plopped down on the bed and closed my eyes, hopefully I will stop hallucinating when I wake up.
NO POV.
In the town of Ponyville it was... Chaos. That is about the only way to describe it. The ground looked like someone knitted a blanket, in the sky there were pink cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk. If that wasn't strange enough there was a stampede of bunnies with giraffe legs, flying pigs, and... Buffalos doing ballet. As for this reason Twilight Sparkle and her friends all journeyed towards Canterlot, the capital of Equestria and home of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The six ponies and Spike all made their way towards the castle where they found Princess Celestia waiting for them.
"We came as fast as we could! Does this have anything to do with the weather and the animals? And why my magic isn't working?" Twilight questioned as she wanted until Princess Celestia put up her hoof to silence her.
"Come with me, I need to show you all something." Celestia said as she proceeded to guide the Mane six and Spike down a hallway with decorated windows "I've called you all here for a matter of grave importance." Twilight and the others looked at the windows and saw that each one seemed to tell a story. One in which Celestia and her sister ruled together to Luna's betrayal and later Nightmare Moon's return and the return of Luna. But one stood out.
"It seems an old foe of mine has returned, one whom I thought I defeated a long time ago. His name... Is Discord." Celestia said while pointing at a window that showed a strange creature that looked to be multiple animals all mashed together. He had the head and body of a pony, horns of a dragon, wings of a pegasus, tail of a dragon, left leg of a goat and the right leg of a griffon, and the hands of a lion and dragon. "Discord is the mischievous embodiment of disharmony and chaos. Before my sister and I stood up to him, Discord ruled over Equestria in a era of unrest and turmoil. We saw how miserable and chaotic life was for Earth Ponies, Pegasus, and Unicorns alike. His mind was twisted and cruel yet he was smarter and clever than he appears, even with the elements of Harmony my sister and I were barely able to stop him and turn him into stone." Celestia retold the tale of the defeat of Discord to her little ponies.
"Alright, Princess!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"But now that Luna and I are no longer connected to the elements the spell has been broken." Celestia explained.
"No longer connected?" Twilight asked as Celestia led them all to a set of large doors
"This is Canterlot tower, where the elements are kept inside after you all retrieved them. I need you to use the elements once more and stop Discord, or we may forever live in chaos." Twilight and her friends all looked back at one another, all of them looking at each other with some form of doubt.
"I-I don't understand, but why us?" Twilight asked
"When you used the Elements to redeem my sister the elements bound to you because of your friendship. So now it is you, all of you, who must once again use the magic of your friendship to save Equestria." Celestia declared after he speech. Twilight and her friends looked at each other as a fire ignited in their eyes
"Princess Celestia -"
"Wait!" Pinkie Pie butted in "Cotton Candy clouds, chocolate milk rain, and giant popcorn? Couldn't we just get use to it?" She suggested. Her friends stared at her with a deadpan expression on their faces as she chuckled nervously.
"Don't worry, Princess Celestia, we'd be honored to use the elements again." Twilight said. Celestia nodded and used her horn to unlock the door, the door lit up and soon started to open. After opening the door Celestia used her magic to pull out a box and opened it to reveal the Elements of Harmony... At least, she would reveal them if they were there. All of them gasped in shock and horror as their only defense against Discord was gone.
"... Welp! If you need me I'll be drinking chocolate milk rain outside." Pinkie Pie said while hopping away until Applejack dragged her back.
"That chamber is only unlocked by a powerful spell that only I can use. How could this have happened?" Celestia paced back and forth, until a voice rang out
"How indeed." A voice said, shocking the ponies and drake as they searched for the source of the mysterious voice.
"Discord! Show yourself!" Celestia demanded. A dark chuckle was heard throughout the palace as Discord spoke once more
"Dear Princess, how long has it been? Oh, how I missed you and all the adorable little ponies." Discord was seen to be on the glass as he moved his little figure of himself through the windows "Oh? And who are these little ponies? The bearer of the elements?" He chuckled.
"Enough! What have you done with the elements of Harmony?"
"Oh, I just borrowed them for a little game I wish for us to play, surely you still like games, yes?" Discord grinned at them. His eyes landing on Spike as he smirked and appeared in his little glass figure in front of Spike "Boo." Spike yelped in fear and pulled out the batarang he found back in the swamp. Discord stared at the batarang and gasped as he stepped back, he soon groaned in pain while holding his head as strange images flashed in his mind and disoriented voices rang out in his ears.
"Vengeance...."
"None can... Fate...."
"Long as I live.... Justice... Ends here!"
"This is your punishment!"
Discord groaned and then growled at Spike
"Where did you find that?!" Discord demanded an answer as Spike held up the batarang. Discord took a deep breath and chuckled "No matter, you all will loose this game."
"Enough games, Discord! You will never win and rule over Equestria!" Celestia lit up her horn as she prepared to fight
"I do not wish to rule this land, no no... I want to plant the seeds of chaos." Discord grinned as he snapped his fingers and changed the windows to show all the things he has done during his time "Besides, what can you do without your little fancy jewelry, little pony?"
"Hey! Nopony insults the princess!" Rainbow Dash sped towards Discord but only crashed into the window, which felt like hitting a brick wall.
"Ah, you must be Rainbow Dash. A very skilled speedster and bearer of the element of loyalty. I expected... No, I didn't expect much from you." Discord mocked.
"I can't believe we're wasting our time talking to a tacky window." Rarity scoffed
"Miss Rarity, bearer of the element of generosity. Charmed. I'd tip my hat, if I had one." Discord laughed.
"So you know who we are, big deal."
"Oh, I know a lot more than that, Miss Applejack, believe me."
"You seem to know all of your strengths and who we are." Twilight chimed in as she was impressed, and slightly afraid, that he knew so much.
"Yes I do, Twilight Sparkle. And I know your element is the most powerful and most elusive of them all. Magic. Though, I have seen more powerful beings than you." Discord said as he laughed before groaning while holding his head. Shaking himself to regain his composure he smirked at them all "Fluttershy is kindness, and Pinkie Pie is my personal favorite, laughter." Pinkie Pie snorted and giggled a bit. Twilight scolding her energetic friend for laughing.
"Enough stalling, Discord! Where have you hidden the elements of Harmony?" Celestia demanded
"How boring, back in my day things weren't so dull." Discord appeared back on his glass window "But fine, I'll tell you, but only in my own way. To retrieve your missing elements just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the elements back where you began." Discord explained before leaving.
"Can we go home now?" Fluttershy asked while shaking in fear
"What do you reckon' he meant, twist and turns and where we began?" Applejack asked while trying to figure out the meaning. Twilight hummed in thought and walked over to the window. She then gasped as she realized what it meant
"Twists and turns! I bet Discord his the elements in the castle's labyrinth!"
"Good luck, my little ponies. The fare of Equestria rests in your hooves." Celestia said while having a look of hope in her eyes.
Twilight and her friends rushed out of the castle and out towards the entrance of the labyrinth
"W-We have to go in t-there?" Fluttershy trembled at the thought of getting lost in the labyrinth and the possibility that she could get lost.
"Pfft, no way. Discord forgot we got wings." Rainbow flapped her wings and sped upwards towards the sky "I'll just do a quick fly by overhead and we'll have those elements in no-" Rainbow was cut short as her wings had suddenly vanished and she fell back down to Equestria, she screamed as she looked to see her wings gone. She wasn't the only one, not only did Fluttershy also loose her wings, but Twilight and Rarity lost their horns. The ponies screamed in terror at loosing an essential body part of theirs when suddenly they heard laughter
"Bwahahaha! Hahaha! Oh my word, Your reactions were priceless!" Discord appeared while holding his gut from laughing so much.
"Give us our wings and horns back!" Twilight stomped her hooves in frustration.
"You'll get them back in good time, I simply took them to ensure there is no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game, no flying and no magic."
"The "first" rule?" Rainbow Dash asked, not liking where this is going.
"The second rule is that everypony must play or the game is over, and I win." Discord laughed gleefully "Good luck, everypony!" Discord then disappeared in a ball of light.
"Uh... Is it too late to turn back and go home?" Spike asked sheepishly, laughing nervously as the others looked at him "... Thought so.' he sighed
"Come on, girls! We got nothing to fear!" Twilight encouraged her friends
"Twilight's right! As long as we're together, there ain't nothing we can't overcome." Rainbow cheered as they all took one step forward together into the Labyrinth. But just as they did so large hedges grew forth from the ground, separating the group as they were now forced to venture through the labyrinth alone.
Applejack galloped through the labyrinth trying to reach the center as soon as possible, but stopped when she came upon three... Apples? The apples in question suddenly started rolling away and Applejack gave chase. Applejack chased the runaway apples and reached... Her family's farm?
"What in tarnation is going on here?' an apple fell down on her head and soon all the apples started falling, but what's weirder is that they all rolled around her in three piles. Red, yellow, and green apple piles. They came together and formed some sort of strange creature of apples.
"W-What are you?"
"We are the keepers of the grove of truth. You may ask us."
"One question."
"Future, past, or present."
"But be warned."
"For the truth."
"May not always be pleasant."
"Alright, ah don't trust this place worth a hill of beans. But ah got a real bad feeling about this feller, Discord. What's gonna happen to me and ma friends after this mission?" Applejack asked the three talking apple piles. They led Applejack to a lake and spoke
"To find the answer you seek."
Go ahead. Take a peek." Applejack looked down into the water and soon something appeared. In the water Applejack saw her and her friends arguing with each other and storming off, ending their friendship.
"No! No no! A... Ah loose my friends?" Applejack gasped as she couldn't imagine such a fate happening to them, refusing to believe the truth. Just up above out of sight Discord could be seen holding puppet strings, chuckling to himself as he manipulated the events happening
"A true warrior doesn't aim for the head or the body. They go for the heart." Discord thought to himself as he watched with amusement at the events that transpired before him.
"No! This can't be true!" Applejack cried
"Well all the truth does."
"Is make your heart ache."
"Sometimes a lie is easier to take." Discord's voice could be heard as Applejack fell into a trance, her colors soon disappearing as she became more grey in color.
"Applejack!" Suddenly Twilight's voice rang out as she trotted over to her friend "I thought I heard voices over here. Who were you talking to?"
"Nopony! Nopony at all!" Applejack quickly answered while darting her to avoid eye contact.
"Come on, we best be going. Come on!" Applejack quickly trotted off, still avoiding eye contact. As she walked off Twilight looked stunned and confused for a moment
"Did Applejack just... No! That's crazy." Twilight brushed off the idea of Applejack, THE Element of Honesty, lying right to her face. Twilight trotted off and followed her friend, unaware of Discord hovering high above them, chuckling to himself
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Discord said as he watched the ponies below.
On another part of the Labyrinth Pinkie Pie was bouncing around as she traveled on her own, completely free of any worry and not showing even the slightest hint of fear. As she bounced Pinkie turned a corner and saw what looks to be a party, with dozens and dozens of balloons with smiling faces plastered all around, tables filled with yummy sweet treats, party hats, and other party decorations.
"Ooh! A party! Yippie!" Pinkie Pie jumped towards the table filled with snacks and happily dined in, swallowing up all the sweet treats in one gulp. Pinkie Pie then started to explore the "party" until she tripped and fell into a pile of mud, covering her body in dirt and mud. Soon laughter rang out, but not the fun good time kind, no, this was... Worse.
"Hey! What gives?" Pinkie Pie asked as she looked around to see all the balloons surrounding her and laughing.
"What's wrong, Pinkie? I thought you, of all pony, would love a good laugh." Discord made himself known
"This is different. They're laughing at me, not with me." Pinkie Pie retorted as she wiped some mud off her face
"But your friends always laughed at you. You are nothing more than a walking joke to them. A tool for their own amusement." The smiling balloons soon changed to the harsh laughing faces of Pinkie's "friends"
Surrounding her as they laughed at Pinkie. Tears formed in Pinkie's eyes as she begged her "friends" to stop laughing at her. Discord moved closer and once again used his powers to drain Pinkie of her element. Discord laughed as he then vanished once more before Twilight and her friends came to find Pinkie Pie.
Just like with Applejack Pinkie Pie acted strangely as well, she changed from her usual happy, upbeat, playful nature to a mare who is cruel and harsh. Pushing past Twilight and Applejack
"Does... Pinkie seem different to you?" Twilight asked Applejack as she looked at Pinkie Pie storming off
"Nope! Nothing different at all!" Applejack's eyes shifted all over, avoiding eye contact. Applejack then marched on with Pinkie Pie, leaving a bewildered Twilight to follow behind.
In another part of the maze Rarity trotted down one of the paths until she crashed face first against a large stone wall. She groaned and shook her head, but a loud gasp escaped her lips as she gazed upon the stone wall. Wedged deep inside she saw three diamonds inside the stone, then Discord appeared inside the diamonds
"Congratulations, Miss Rarity. You found the only thing in Equestria that can rival my own beauty." Discord joked as the light shines even brighter, hypnotizing Rarity as she too fell into a trance. A massive smile on her face as she then, in a massively shocking show of strength, punched the rockwall and carved out the massive diamond that was inside with only her bare-hooves!
"Phew! It took forever, but you finally did it, Rarity! You got yourself this hunk of a diamond all to yourself." Rarity admired the shiny new diamond as she then lifted it up on her back, straining herself to hold it up. Suddenly the rockwall crumbled and Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were standing there.
"Rarity! We finally... Uh... What are you doing?" Twilight and her friends all stared at Rarity as she was lifting a massive boulder on her back
"Stay back! This is my diamond! I found him so he's mine!"
"Why are you carrying a boulder?"
"Boulder? This big, beautiful, dazzling, hunk of rock is a diamond! Keep you grumy hooves off it he's mine!" Rarity shouted at them while walking off, at least tried to the massive "diamond " on her back was weighing her down quite a lot. Twilight watched as her friends walked off, seeing them after stranger and stranger by the minute. Worry swept inside her as she began to doubt that they could pull through. Twilight hesitantly trotted forward following her friends as they continued to venture through the labyrinth.
Fluttershy hesitantly traveled through the labyrinth with one eye open, well, half open anyway. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down until she felt a leaf gently touch her flank
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Fluttershy screamed in terror as she then bolted faster than a train, hurling into the hedge and getting stuck. Fluttershy whimpered and tried to get out, after a bit of effort she was able to pull herself free and landed at a... Fountain. No, not a fountain. Fluttershy stumbled upon what looks like the most beautiful garden in all of Equestria, there were rows and rows of elegant flowers, small herds of animals of all kinds frolicking about
"Oh my!" Fluttershy gasped as she walked over to the fountain, smelling the sweet aroma of the flowers. Some of the animals gathered around her as Fluttershy giggled sweetly "Hello, you sweet animals." She petted a bear cub that nuzzled against her hoof
"Oh, Fluttershy, it seems that you've been left behind by your friends." The small cub said in a familiar voice
"Oh no, my friends are out there looking for a way to end all this. They would never leave me behind." Fluttershy assured him as she had full trust and faith in her friends. The animals all stared at each other as they weren't expecting that kind of answer
"Well it must be so upsetting to know how weak and useless they all think you are." A deer said while nuzzling her face
"Oh not at all, I know I'm weak and useless and it makes me appreciate my friends so much more knowing they think that but still stand by me and help me strive to be the best I can be." Fluttershy had a smile on her face as she looked at the animals, knowing full well what was happening. The animals all stammered and stuttered as they tried to come up with some way to get her to crack until they all just gave up and revealed their true form to be Discord
"AAAGH! Enough of this! It's time for you to be cruel! Arrivederci!" Discord grumbled angrily as he used his powers to force Fluttershy to become a cruel and mean pony
"She's as stubborn as... As... Grr!" Discord held his head as a sudden pain coursed through his mind and a... A "memory" flashed in his mind.
A tall, towering figure shrouded in black with glowing white eyes stood and harsh, powerful blows struck "Discord" over and over again. The shadowy figure spoke but it was disoriented and scrambled, only able to make out a few words
"I... Stop you!"
"This... Now!"
"My family.... Forever...."
"I.... The... Am...!"
Discord growled and roared in pain as he gripped his head, panting heavily as sweat ran down his forehead. He growled in anger as he thought back to the small drake and what he had in his claws. Discord was about to head out to find Spike but he calmed himself
"No! No no, calm down. A calm and steady hand can make five moves in one go." Discord said to himself as he looked down at the labyrinth and saw Rainbow Dash running around, a smirk growing on his face. He flew over and headed towards the blue speedster and enacted his plan on how to deal with her.
Rainbow Dash sped through the labyrinth trying to find her element as fast as possible, turning a corner she came across a... Cloud flying by with rainbow lightning bolts. Rainbow Dash smirked as she knew only one pony, or whatever Discord is, could be behind this
"I got you now, element!" Rainbow Dash ran off to follow the cloud but when she turned another corner she found Discord resting on a hammock made of clouds. Discord yawned while stretching himself out like a rubber band and removed his shades to smile at Dash
"I can see why you like these clouds so much, very plush and comfy."
"Alright, put 'em up! Come on, let's go!"
"Relax, I'm just here to give you a message."
"I got a message for you, too! A flank whopping!"
"Silence!" Discord demanded, his eyes narrowing down at her as Rainbow's blood ran cold, a shiver ran up her spine as she felt an overwhelming sense... Of fear. Discord cleared his throat and spoke in the form of a riddle
"A weighing choice is yours to make. The right selection or a big mistake. If a wrong choice you choose the foundation of home will crumble without you." Discord then snapped his fingers and the cloud Rainbow Dash was chasing earlier appeared, it spun like a top and rainbow thunderbolts rang out as Dash suddenly saw her home, Cloudsdale, crumbling down to ruins.
"Cloudsdale... No! Noooo!" Rainbow Dash cried out in terror and heartache as she watched her home turn to ruins. The cloud vanished and was replaced with a wrapped up present
"In this box contains your wings. You can take them and leave the game or you can continue wandering aimlessly around this maze. The choice is yours, miss Dash." Discord smirked as he then left the cyan speedster to make her "choice" as he went off to find a certain little dragon.
Spike marched on through the labyrinth while holding the batarang in his claws, a look of worry and fear on his face as he tried to calm himself.
"Alright Spike, you got this. Twilight and the others are counting on you and you can't let them down." Spike took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, able to calm himself down. Then he heard something rustling from the large bush walls and panicked, aiming the batarang at it.
"Boo." Discord appeared behind him and Spike screamed in terror while jumping back to gain some distance.
"Stay away from me!" Spike held up the batarang at Discord, seeing the weapon in the dragons claws Discord groaned while holding his head as images flashed through his mind. Spike saw this as a chance to charge at Discord, however Discord grabbed him and lifted him up to eye level, glaring at him
"You think that just because you have this you have a chance? You are nothing more than a child! An incompetent one at that!" Discord threw Spike down and towered over him, his eyes staring into Spike's soul "You are nothing more than a nuisance, and a waste of my time. You aren't even worth using my powers on." Discord then disappeared, leaving a terrified, dejected Spike alone. The small dragon looked down at his claws and punched the ground, cursing himself for being such a coward.
Back with Twilight and her friends they continued trotting through the labyrinth, but this time Twilight was the one who was carrying the "diamond" in her back. Panting and straining herself as she lugged the massive boulder around. As she did Twilight would continue to have faith that her friends wouldn't let her down.
"Must... find Rainbow Dash... As a team we're unstoppable..." Twilight panted
"Well, looky there. Rainbow Dash is flying away! She's abandoning us!" Twilight instantly assumed Applejack was lying until she and the others looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying off. The walls of the labyrinth began to crumble and Discord appeared before then laughing mockingly
"Well well well, looks like some pony broke the no flying no magic rule." Discord snapped his fingers and gave the mares their horns and wings back "Game over, my little ponies! You didn't find your precious, whittle elwents of Harmony." Discord taunted
"Looks like we're in for a big 'ol storm of chaos!" Discord opened an umbrella in reverse as pink thunder rang out, chocolate rain pouring down as he laughed. His laugh echoing even louder than the thunder
"Why are you laughing?!" Pinkie Pie shouted while getting up in Discord's face
"You ponies are just a riot!" Discord wiped away a tear
"Well quit it, you better think before you laugh at the Pink.... Ie Pie!"
"Oh really? Ha ha ha!" Fluttershy mockingly laughed at Pinkie
"Quit it!"
"Ha ha ha!"
"I said quit it!" The two ponies then tackled each other and started fighting, Applejack and Rarity were also seen fighting as Applejack told a lie about Twilight telling them to spilt the diamond six ways.
"Girls! Girls! Why are you all acting like this?" Twilight tried to get them to calm down but it was all in vain. Discord taunted her feeble attempts to try and reason with her "friends" while eating popcorn
"You didn't play fair!"
"Fair? You think life is "fair", little pony? I saw weakness, separated you all, and took you down one by one. I'm the element of chaos and disorder, remember? You little ponies all remind me of... Some others, many centuries ago." He said "Art of War, Twilight Sparkle. Art of War." He laughed
"But... But you took down the labyrinth before we could even find the elements!" Twilight tried to argue, hearing this made Discord erupt in a fit of laughter
"You thought the elements were in the labyrinth? Hahaha!" He snapped his fingers and used his magic to bring him and Twilight back to when he gave them the riddle, after the riddle was done being told Discord smirked "I never said they were in the labyrinth."
"But... But..." Twilight was dumbfounded as she thought she had understood the riddle
"Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle. I must admit, I thought you were smarter than this. Your intellect reminded me of that of a detective, but I see now that that me simply being nostalgic. But hey, maybe the Magic of frwendship will help you." Discord mocked, he turned and glanced over at Spike who was now hiding behind Twilight
"Pathetic." He said before disappearing. Spike looked down in shame as he could barely do anything, and the fact that he was so worthless that Discord didn't even use any magic on him at all.
"What... Do we do now?" Spike asked while looking up at Twilight, hoping she had some ideas to what to do next.
"Back where you began. Back where you began." Twilight muttered to herself as she tried to figure out the true meaning of the riddle, but the constant bickering of her friends kept breaking her concentration "Ugh! I just wanna go home!... Wait... Home... Home! That's it!" Twilight picked up Spike in her magic and placed him on her back.
Twilight and her friends made their way back to Ponyville, the trip was short as Discord began he rule over Equestria, reshaping the land as he saw fit. The clouds were made of cotton candy, the rain became chocolate milk, and Ponyville was in terrible shape! Buildings were upside down, the ground looked as if it was made out of quilts, and the flowers had faces and were singing terribly.
"Come on, girls! I have a book back in my library that I just know will give us a clue to where the elements are!" Twilight trotted along with Spike on her back, until the two were trampled by a herd of... Bunnies. Bunnies with giraffe legs.
"Good job, Angel! Mama's so proud!" Fluttershy praised her let bunny after it had trampled over Twilight and Spike. The two groaned in pain and slowly pulled themselves back up
"We gotta end this soon, I don't even wanna know what else Discord did!" Spike said while dusting himself off. Suddenly the sun just... Went down and the moon came up, covering the land in darkness.
"Oh wow, I can see so much clearer now." Applejack said before slipping and sliding on the ground, the ground suddenly being covered in soap as Applejack slipped through her friends, causing them to fall "Uh... Ah meant to do that." Twilight tried to walk but also eventually slipped, then the sun rose once more and they could see that Discord had changed the land even more.
Discord then came expertly sliding through the soapy ground, a smirk on his face as he watched the mane six and Spike look so defeated.
"Beautiful, isn't it. These are some improvements I made, but I have so much planned for the world. It's time that you all had one true leader." Discord coldly chuckled
"Don't count on it! We will stop you!" Twilight said before falling on her flank. Then she looked over and saw Pinkie Pie sliding through the soap like an ice skater
"This may look like fun, but it's not!" Pinkie said while twirling.
"Just picture it, the chaos capital of the world!" Discord held Twilight up to look over the chaotic Ponyville, but it suddenly changed to night so it was difficult to see
"Can't see anything, too dark." Discord dropped her and giggled as he then vanished, leaving a worried Twilight alone with her friends, doubt taking in. But she had to stay strong, even if her friends didn't believe they could win.
They made their way through Ponyville and reached Twilight's library
Okay, we're here. Please please please just go in!" Twilight pleaded
"I absolutely refuse." Applejack lied as she walked inside
"Fine." Fluttershy said before stomping on a beautiful shrub while laughing
"I hate libraries!" Pinkie Pie marched inside. All that was left is Rarity, who was trying to push the "diamond" inside.
"Will you please just go in already!" Twilight begged
"Oh no, I know what you're up to! The second I turn my back you'll have your little minion Spike take away!" Rarity shouted while defending "Tom"
"Tom? Really?"
"And who are you calling a minion?" Spike asked while crossing his arms. Twilight groaned as she had enough and decided to just carry the boulder inside, however the two were noticing that each of the ponies were becoming more and more colorless.
As they headed inside Twilight and Spike ignored, or at least tried to, their friends and their sudden change in their behavior. Although they did have to also ignore the giant hole in the wall since Twilight had to blast it open to get "Tom" inside
"So, any ideas?" Spike asked as Twilight trotted over to a bookshelf
"Just gotta find the reference book to the Elements of Harmony before somepony does something she regrets!" Twilight shot a glare at her friends
"The Elements of Harmony? But, don't we need Rainbow Dash here with us?" Spike asked as he wasn't so sure about this plan, or even if this was A plan
"We just need to find it, Spike. Now help me find it."
"I actually know where it is, you forget I'm the one that restock the shelves." Spike ran up a ladder and picked out the book Twilight needed, but a scroll was thrown at him and he lost his grip on the book, causing it to fall. Fluttershy caught it and mocked Spike
"Fluttershy! You better give me that book!" Twilight demanded it with a stomp of her hooves
"Keep away!" Fluttershy shouted while tossing the book at Applejack
"Give it back!" Twilight ran towards Applejack as the cowpony balanced the book on her nose
"I ain't got no book." Applejack then tossed it to Pinkie Pie who bounced it off her flank and back towards Fluttershy, but before the pegasus could catch it Spike tackled her. The book fell to the floor and Twilight rushed to grab it, but Rarity used her magic to swipe it from under her and ran off with it
"Do you even know what you took?!" Twilight yelled in anger
"No! But if you want it then I want it!" Rarity argued as Twilight ran after her, but Fluttershy carried Rarity away causing Twilight to crash into the boulder
"Ugh! Where the hay is she?!" Twilight yelled in absolute frustration
"Beats me." Applejack said
"Fine!" Twilight then tackled Applejack and started beating the pony, punching her in the face. Their scuffle soon ended up dragging the rest of the ponies in a full on brawl, luckily Twilight was able to get away with the book in hooves and Twilight helped with protecting Twilight to give her time to read it. But when Twilight opened the book she gasped in shock as she saw the Elements of Harmony inside the book
"The Elements! They were right here all along! Girls, we did it! And we did it together! Now we can use the Elements and save Equestria!" Twilight cheered triumphantly, however her friends didn't share the same enthusiasm. All of them not caring for the Elements or Equestria one bit.
"I can't believe it, my friends... Are complete jerks! Ugh! Whatever!" Twilight decided to just put on each of their necklaces on them and her crown
"There! Done! Let's go!" Twilight started marching out until Spike spoke up
"Wait! Aren't we forgetting somepony?"
"Nope! Got everypony here. The liar. The grump. The hoarder. And the brute." Twilight listed off
"But what about Rainbow Dash?" Spike asked
"Hm, right. Congratulations, you're the new Rainbow Dash." Twilight then placed Rainbow's necklace on Spike, ignoring his protest as she dragged him and her friends out to confront Discord, fortunately Discord was already outside waiting for them
"Bravo, Miss Sparkle. Bravo. I must admit, I am... Somewhat intrigued you were able to figure out my riddle, and gained the Elements of Harmony. How terrifying." Discord said mockingly.
"Discord! I finally solved your dumb riddle and it's time to put you away!"
"Yes, yes, I know when to accept defeat. A wise man knows when he is defeated. So go ahead, fire away. You may fire when ready." Discord put on a pair of red sunglasses and created a target right on his chest. Discord watched as they all, including the reluctant Spike, all banded together. A powerful gust of wind blew by as Twilight's crown shined with a powerful day of light. Then, they all started to levitate in the air and their necklaces shined bright as an aura surrounded each of them. Discord went wide eyed as he feared that they would actually be able to use the Elements, however that fear quickly washed away as the bright light died out and they all fell to the ground.
"W-What? Impossible! Why isn't this working?" Twilight asked while looking around, seeing all of her friends easily giving up and tossing away the necklaces. Discord laughed mockingly while slow clapping
"Hahaha! Excellent, Miss Sparkle! What a wonderful show of effort, however you missed one very important fact." Discord smirked as a confused and defeated Twilight looked up at him "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first then seek to win." He told her
"B-But I don't understand... How could this all happen...?" Tears swelled up in the corners of Twilight's eyes
"You think I would just go out and act out my vision without a plan? I studied you all with my magic, gaining knowledge on you all and the elements. Your strengths, weaknesses, and planned for each of your downfall in one fell swoop. You see, Miss Sparkle, you failed because you lack any braincells in that empty head of yours. You can never defeat me." Discord laughed as he then vanished. One by one all of Twilight's friends left her behind, abandoning each other in their time of need
"Fine! Leave! I don't need any of you! With friends like you who needs... Who needs enemies..." Soon, Twilight became gray just like her friends as a single tear ran down her cheek.
Deep in the Everfree Forest Red Hood was standing outside the ruined castle looking off into the distance. His shotgun in hand as he loaded a shell in it and got into the Batmobile, reviving up the engines as he then sped off towards Ponyville.
Discord did it! He finally did it! He had defeated the Princessss and the only other ponies who even had a chance at stopping him, to celebrate he made himself a throne along with a little fancy crown and scepter
"Hahahah! Oh, what fun! Hahahahaha! Who can stop me now!" Discord tempted fate, and fate didn't like that one bit. A loud, thundering roar was heard as Discord snapped his head towards the direction of the sound, it sounded familiar, like he heard it somewhere before. Long ago. But... But that's impossible. Suddenly a large, black figure jumped off a building that was sticking out from the ground came flying towards Discord. It was large, metallic, had four wheels and... And...
"I-Impossible...." Discord said as the figure suddenly rammed into him, crashing Discord through multiple buildings before stopping. Sending Discord flying back and crashed through a fountain. Discord groaned and winced in pain as he looked up. His eyes widened with a look of terror and absolute shock as he gazed upon the vehicle that crashed into him.
"No.... No no! You...!" Discord groaned in pain as images flashed through his head once more, but due to the vehicle before him the images were now more clear. In Discord's mins he was.... He wasn't what he is now, no... He was a man, a human man. And he faced one of his most challenging foes. A man cloaked in darkness like the night, with soul piercing white eyes, pointy ears, and a Black Bat on his chest "Batman...!" Discord growled in anger. The Batmobile revved up its engine, as if taunting Discord. Discord growled as he climbed up to his feet and used his magic to bring up rocks from the ground and twist them into drills, hurling them towards the Batmobile as it sped backwards and started dodging the stone drills
"How! Are! You! Alive?!" Discord screamed in pure rage as he flew high into the air and started lifting the buildings around him, throwing them at the Batmobile but once again it expertly dodged the incoming houses. Suddenly four rockets fired from the Batmobile and were flying towards Discord, with quick thinking Discord moved a house in front of him to take the blast of the rockets but it was far stronger than he anticipated. The last sent Discord flying back as a large piece of debris crashed against him, he quickly destroyed it and turned to see the Batmobile speeding off
"Oh no you-" Discord froze as he suddenly heard a noise from behind, in just a split Discord raised his hands as a flash and a loud bang roared out. Discord used his magic to turn most of the buckshot pellets into marshmallows, but a few made it through and hit his left shoulder and right arm.
"Gah!" Discord yelled in pain as he suddenly launched whoever shot him back with a powerful gust of wind. Discord groaned in pain as he looked at his wounds.
"A gunshot? But... But how?! Batman never used guns!" Discord thought to himself as he then used his magic to try and dig out the pellets from his body, he winced in pain as he tried to seal the wounds by burning the wounds to close it up. Discord turned to face his opponent, but he went wide eyed as he saw who he was truly facing. He saw a human male by the body wearing a red helmet, brown leather jacket, advanced looking armor, holding a shotgun. Discord narrowed his eyes and suddenly, like a slap to the face, he gasped in realization at who this being is.
"Red... Hood?"
"How the fuck you know who I am?" Red Hood asked while aiming his shotgun "On second thought, shut up and die." He started firing but Discord used his magic to create a large cloud that made the pellets just absorb into it. Red Hood groaned in annoyance but soon started running when Discord launched the pellets back down at him. Red Hood ran and rolled out of the way as he was suddenly lifted up in the air by a piece of earth, parts of the ground started to lift high up in the air as Discord fired bolts of magic at him. Red Hood ran and jumped from flying rock to the next, avoiding the bolts as they blasted each rock to bits. Red Hood jumped off a rock just before it was blasted and used his grappling hook to fly through the air, he then threw smoke pellets at Discord to blind him. Using his helmet to connect with the Batmobile Red Hood used it to drive off while he hide behind one of the floating stones by hanging on behind it.
Discord cleared away the smoke and looked around, hearing the Batmobile drive off
"No you don't!" Discord shouted while using his magic to make the ground turn to ice, but the Batmobile had plenty of tricks to counter any situation. The tires changed to be able to drive on slippery terrain as it continued to drive off, Discord growled in anger as he threw the large chunks of rock at it. Red Hood used the inferred mode in his helmet to take aim with his pistol, lining up his shot he fired. Nailing Discord in his horn and shooting it off. Discord roared in anger and turned around, hurling the rock Red Hood was on towards the ground. Red Hood quickly jumped off and slid down the roof of a floating building and rolled safely on the ground
"RES HOOD!!!!!" Discord screamed in pure rage as his eyes turned red, he used his magic to summon a storm, the wind blew with such force that some trees were pulled out from their roots, Red Hood nearly flew off as well had he not gripped a building.
"Fucking magic." Red Hood cursed, looking around he tried to figure out a plan, using his remote control in his helmet he was able to bring the Batmobile around. Red Hood then let go and took off flying, the Batmobile jumped off another building and caught Red Hood in the driver's seat as Jason then took off. The Batmobile was too heavy plus the wheels helped it to avoid flying off "Okay you damn Frankenstein pet reject, follow the Bat!" Red Hood said as he took off.
"Oh no you don't! Get back here!" Discord took off after him as he fired bolts of lightning at the Batmobile, Red Hood used his expert driving skills to avoid the bolts and turned around driving backwards. Red Hood smirked as he then stopped and took off behind Discord, making the embodiment of chaos crash into a windmill because he wasn't paying attention. Red Hood laughed as he drove off while Discord blew apart the windmill
"Alright then. Try this on for size!" Discord stopped the storm and created a giant monster made from the buildings around them, it stood about 7 stories tall and roared in rage.
"Shit, that might be a problem." Red Hood said as he turned the car around and drove towards the giant beast. The monster launched multiple pieces of debris at Red Hood but he dodged every one of them, getting closer the monster tried crushing the car under its foot but Red Hood fired a rocket at it, blowing up its leg. The monster roared in pain as Red Hood fired two hooks at the monster's head, gripping it at the face. Red Hood then slammed on the gas and fired the boosters, taking off like the Flash on a treadmill as he brought the monster crashing down to the ground, breaking apart on impact.
"That all you got, you freak!" Red Hood shouted while giving Discord the finger. Discord balled his fists in rage and clapped his hands as a ball of light appeared, suddenly a group of civilians were seen all huddled together, many of them... Were children. Red Hood gasped in shock as Discord appeared behind them, brandishing a sword
"Come out and face me!" Discord challenged "Or else!" He said while swinging his sword, narrowly missing a pony by cutting off a piece of her mane. Red Hood glared at Discord and revved up the engine
"What do you think you're doing? You have to go!" Nightwing told Red Hood
"They're in the way." Red Hood hissed
"So that's it, huh? Everything I taught you, everything you've done, it no longer matters now? It that it is?" Batman asked while staring at Red Hood. Red Hood groaned and turned off the car, stepping out
"This has nothing to do then them! Your fight is with me, coward!" Red Hood shouted, Discord glared at him and snapped his fingers. Suddenly the Batmobile disappeared and Red Hood glared heavily at him
"You are perhaps the only human I have seen in thousands of years." Discord said ".... Jason Todd." Red Hood gasped in shock at to how Discord knew who he was, who he TRULY is.
"How... Hod did-"
"I've lived for hundreds of thousands of years even before all this and I will continue to do so for the next thousands year and more. I will not be forgotten. I will NEVER be JUST a memory! I will be the leader that this world needs!" Discord said, his words it sounded... Familiar. Red Hood looked at the sword and saw that it was a Khopesh, a very well designed one at that.
"Oh yeah? And what makes you think these fuckers want you as their leader?" Red Hood asked, wanting to learn more about who this individual is.
"Humanity was prideful and belligerent. They needed a strong hand to guide them but they refused, thinking that "heroes" would protect them, but when the world was in chaos they did nothing. This world has survived a global extinction and I refuse to let that happen again. I intend to have a world where the strong and useful live and prosper. Besides, in chaos they will follow whoever can provide food, shelter, and purpose." Discord explained as he glared at Red Hood, hearing this confirmed something to the vigilante.
"Wow, such a great speech. Did you come up with that yourself.... Savage?" Red Hood asked, seeing his eyes widened confirmed his suspicions. Discord laughed softly as he smiled
"I shouldn't expect any less from one of the sons of the world's greatest detectives." The now revealed Savage said, snapping his fingers he made the ponies disappear
"What did you do to them?!"
"Calm yourself, boy. They're safe. Probably." Savage smirked while admiring his Khopesh "Why fight against each other? You're a human, you will be a valuable addition to my new world. Join me, you can have all you wish for. Power, title, status, even women should you so please." Savage offered him while extending his hand. Red Hood look at his hand and thought back to his offer, he could live the highlife, do whatever he wanted, and live without a care in the world. He walked towards him, shaking his hand
"How about you take that offer and shove it up your ass, you fucking freak show." Red Hood said before taking out his knife and slashing at left cheek
"Gah!" Savage yelled in pain as he slashed at Red Hood, narrowly missing his neck as Red Hood leaned back, kicking Savage as he jumped and flipped back. Red Hood then took out his pistols and started firing at Savage, but he used his magic to create a pink bubble, the bullets stopping inside the bubble. Savage smirked as he then sent the bullets flying back at Red Hood as he tried to dodge the rounds by rolling and flipping away, however he got nicked in the thigh. He groaned as he glared at Savage
"Alright, you wanna play? Let's fucking play!" Red Hood then summoned two blades made of fire in his hands.
"The.... The All-Blades? You're worthy?"
"Aw, what's the matter? Scared?" Red Hood taunted before charging at Savage, jumping and bringing down both of his blades down on him. Savage imbued his Khopesh with his magic as he then blocked the All-Blades. Their blades clashed and a massive wave of pressure blew dust and earth away around them, Hood gritted his teeth as he moved back and ducked, swinging his blades at Savage's legs but he quickly flew up and swung at Hood's head. Red flipped one blade in a reverse grip and blocked it and pushed Savage back with a kick to his stomach. Savage skidded back and held up his hand, soon hundreds of apples rolled towards him and formed multiple monsters of apples
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Red groaned as he took out his pistols and fired, but the monsters just opened up a large hole and let the bullets fly right through them. Hood holstered his pistols and threw explosive batarangs at them, blowing them to chunks as bits of apples rained down "That all you-SHIT!" Savage wrapped his tail around Red's leg and started slamming him over and over again on the ground before throwing him through a window of a building. Red groaned in pain as he looked up at the ceiling
"What am I doing? This has nothing to do with me, I can just leave. I have the skills to get away without him knowing." Jason thought to himself as he laid there. He felt so tired, so very, very tired.
"Come on, Jay! Get up! You can't give up now, if Savage wins he'll take over the world!" Nightwing tried to get through to Jason
"And? The world is gone already."
"But these people-"
"They're not people." Jason hissed
"So that's your reason? You're just gonna leave them in the hands of someone like Savage? Women, children?" Batman stared down at Jason as he groaned. Before he could respond Savage turned the building into cookies and Jason dug out of the giant pile of cookies. He stared up at Savage and narrowly dodged a spear that nearly pierced him. Red Hood quickly fired at him but Savage used a cotton candy cloud to stick all the bullets to it.
"This is an age of magic, my boy. Your little tricks won't save you!" Savage then summoned another Khopesh in his hand and flew down towards Red Hood. Using the All-Blades to block his strikes the two engage in another deadly dance. Fire and steel dancing around one another, Savage lifted the ground they stood on and floated up high in the sky, their blades locked together and Red Hood pushed Savage off, however he merely flew up and summoned multiple mirrors around Red Hood.
"Let's see how long you can last." Savage then fell back into a mirror and just vanished. Red Hood looked around as he waited for Savage to appear, suddenly a blade nearly took his head off as Savage appeared above him. Red Hood turned and swung his blades at Savage but he vanished in another mirror. Turning Red Hood counter another swing from Savage but was swiped off his leg by his tail, Red quickly jumped to his feet but was knocked back by another swing from Savage. He skidded back and stopped just an inch away from the ledge, Savage then used his magic to create clones of himself as they all started flying out of the mirrors with rapid speed. Trying his best Red Hood was slowly being overwhelmed by the relentlessly barrage of attacks
"Give up, boy! My speed! My power! My magic! Compared to you, I am a GOD OF THIS NEW WORLD!" Savage charged at Red Hood and brought down both blades down at him, but Red Hood blocked it with his swords
"What's a God...." Red Hood dispersed the blades and turned his body to avoid the blades "To a non-believer!" He then summoned the All Blades once more and went to strike. Savage's eyes widened in shock as he used his magic to push Red back, but not before having both of his horns sliced off
"AAAAAAAH!" Letting out a roar of pain as his stumps burned and fizzled with heat. Red Hood was falling down back towards the earth until he landed on a cloud. He groaned as it was the cotton candy one
"Great, now I'm gonna be sticky." He said as he hopped off and landed on a roof. Looking back up he watched as Savage glared daggers at him from above. Letting out a dark chuckle Red Hood flipped him off
"Pull out every trick you got, I'm still gonna fucking kick your ass!" Red Hood shouted. Savage let out a roar as the weather changed drastically and he fired bolts of lightning down at him. Red Hood flipped and jumped out of the way, making sure to run through buildings to try and avoid his line of sight all while Savage broke apart the buildings to find him.
"Get back here, you insufferable Bat!" Savage used his powers to break apart a house Red Hood was hiding in, but found nothing "Where are you?!" Right as he said this a shot rang out and hit Savage right in his side. Screaming in pain Savage held his bleeding side as he turned back just in time to put up a shield to defend himself from a storm of bullets.
"What the hell is it gonna take to bring your ass down!" Red Hood ran once more before a large explosion sent him flying and rolling on the ground, Savage flying high while holding some dynamite with a smirk on his face.
"Discord!" A voice yelled out as Discord turned around and saw...
"No!" Discord growled as he looked down to see Twilight Sparkle and her friends, all of them now having broken free from his magic
"You were wrong, Discord! No matter what obstacles are in our way, no matter what challenges we face, our-"
"SILENCE!" Discord roared as chunks of the earth rose up, Twilight and the girls and Spike all screamed at the sudden act of magic, holding on to avoid falling off as Discord's magic was fully unleashed, the earth cracking as thunder crashed in the sky and the sun and moon rapidly shifted in the sky "I have had enough of you all! Human! Ponies! All of you!" His Khopeshs then cackled with black lightning as he dashed towards them, Twilight quickly used her magic to from a barrier to protect her friends. Discord raised his blades high and brought it down, shattering Twilight's barrier in one swing, with a wicked smirk Discord aimed to decapite Twilight until a pair of blades stopped him. Red Hood stood over Twilight as he pushed Discord back
"Your fight is with me, Savage!" Red Hood charged at him as their blades clashed once more, flame and lightning flashed around them when their blades crossed. Circling the other as they were locked in another duel. Twilight and her friends all gasped in shock as they watched the fight, completely in awe as they watched Red Hood duel with one of the most powerful magical entities in Equestria. And was winning!
"Why do you resist so much! It's not like there is any Batman here to tell you anything! No more reason for you to fight for his crusade!" Savage swung one of his Khopesh at Red's head while the other went for his feet, but Red Hood used one blade to block the attack on his head and raised his leg up and stomped down on the other blade, holding it in place
"Because I REALLY wanna kick your ass!" Suddenly Red Hood reeled his free arm back and a strange green aura surrounded his fist, emitting a strange power around it as he punched Savage right in his chest, making a dent in it as bones could be heard breaking from the force of the punch. Savage coughed up blood as he was then sent flying and crashing down on the earth below. He coughed up more blood as he was then blinded by a powerful beam of light. Savage watched in horror as Twilight and her friends used the elements to unleash their magic. Wth the last bit of his magic in the short amount of time he had Savage raised his hand and fired a bolt of black lightning at Spike, Red Hood saw this and time just slowed down. Seeing the small drake stood frozen with fear as the bolt was heading straight towards him. Without even knowing what was going on Red Hood's legs were moving on their own as they ran towards the small dragon. A thousand thoughts ran through his head, each one repeating the same question
"Save him! Save him! Save him!"
Red Hood leaped forward and pushed the dragon out of the way as he took the full force of the blast right in his chest. The bolt launching him off the rock and straight through a bell tower and into a building. Red then lost consciousness after his body hit the ground.
A massive beam of rainbow and lights flew towards Discord as it surrounded the embodiment of chaos, Discord screaming in rage and defeat as his body was then turned to stone. A bright light then exploded as everything was soon turned back to normal. The ground was fixed, the sky was clear, the animals returning to normal, and the sun and moon were no longer changing rapidly. Twilight and her friends all then floated back down as they all saw Discord completely encased in stone.
"Yeehaw!" Applejack cheered as they all celebrated, Twilight ran over to Spike and immediately tackled him, bringing him in for a hug
"Spike! I'm so glad you're okay! Are you hurt!" Twilight asked as she saw Discord nearly hit him with the bolt were it not for... Twilight gasped as she gently put Spike down and started running, the others following after her as they all rushed towards the building they saw him crash into. All of them running in and gasping in shock as they saw the unmoving body of Red Hood. But strangely there was a green aura around him that quickly disappeared as fast as it appeared. Unsure to explain what it was, it was clear wat they needed to do
"We need to get him to a doctor!" Twilight said with great worry in her voice as they carried Red Hood away. Unaware of what new challenges face them now.
It has been about four days since the Discord incident and things have slowly began to go back to normal. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sent emergency aid to Ponyville to help with the wounded and rebuild the town, but when they had gotten word of the strange new creature that had a hand in the defeat of Discord the two sisters sent a squad of four of their elite guards to "watch over" him while he recovers. The Red Hood was taken to a hospital due to his injuries he received from the battle. Twilight and her friends were all stunned to see an actual, living human being in their midst, all of them believing humans to be nothing more than a myth to scare fillies and colts. Yet here one is being treated by doctors and nurses to stabilize him. None of them were experts in human anatomy, but there is one pony who has that sort of knowledge. Lyra Heartstrings. A unicorn mare with a mint green coat, mint green and white mane, and a heartstring for a cutie mark. She is the number one expert in her field, which isn't saying much as many didn't believe in humans, but when she heard about a real human here she freaked out. In a good way. Even bragging about it in everyone's faces as she did a little victory dance.
She helped the doctors with the human's anatomy as they treated Red Hood, having two broken ribs, broken left arm, traumatic head injury, and internal bleeding. If this didn't kill him they were shocked when they had to remove his armor, seeing his body littered we with scars and wounds of all kinds, by all accounts he shouldn't even be alive. Yet he just refused to die. They were able to stabilize him but had to keep him under watch, Princess Luna even had two of her elite night guard members watch over him, and cuff his wrists to the bed for his "safety", but really if was for theirs.
"I still don't understand, Princess Luna, is this really necessary?" Twilight asked Princess Luna as she, both royal Sisters, her friends, and Lyra all stood around Red Hood's unconscious body.
"Tis is, young Twilight. If what the reports and what thou have told us this creature is not one to be unweary of. To not only defeat a hydra singlehandedly, but also go up against Discord is a true testament of his skill. And proves how dangerous he can be."
"But he saved my cousin and his home town, and saved Fluttershy, and help save all of Equestria. If that feller wakes up to us treating him like some monster he may not react so kindly." Applejack warned as she looked down at Red Hood, seeing a few tubes hooked up to him and covered in bandages.
"We understand that this may not be the best course of action, but please trust us. We will make sure he is given the best of care here and our guards will do nothing to provoke him in anyway." Celestia assured her subjects
"Then at least remove the cuffs." Fluttershy said before hiding behind her mane "I-I mean... I-If you don't mind, that is..." Still the same old Fluttershy.
"Miss Heartstring, you have the most knowledge on humans than any of us. What can you tell us about them?" Celestia asked, Lyra was currently drooling at the feeling of Red Hood's hand on her face as she squealed with joy. Quietly repeating"I knew it" to herself. Celestia cleared her throat as it pulled Lyra out from her trance as she blushed a little and gently put Red Hood's hand down
"R-Right. Uh, Humans were believed to be vastly intelligent, able to use tools, form language, and even structures." Lyra explained "But they were also known to be... Well... N-Not the friendliest bunch, sometimes..."
"Please elaborate." Celestia said
"Well... There are some evidence of... Weapons. And even scriptures detailing wars waged amongst humans."
"It is for this reason we are taking such precautions. We do not wish harm upon him, but we must be sure he isn't a danger to others." Celestia told them to try and get them to understand, the ponies all looked at each other and, hesitantly, all agreed with the Princesses
"We trust you, Princess." They all then left the hospital room but Celestia, Luna, and the guards stationed there stayed
"Can you see into his mind?" Celestia asked her sister
"Yes, I gotten a glimpse of his mind before once, but it happened too quickly that thy wasn't able to see much." Luna explained "I can try, but what I felt from it... It was...." Luna shivered as she could practically feel the darkness crawling all over her, the sounds of that maddening, deafening laughter. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow, suddenly the room, the whole world became nothing but a black void until Luna appeared in a strange new realm of existence. There were multiple orbs floating around in some sort of stary void, inside the orbs were the dreams of ponies all across Equestria. This is the dream realm, Luna's world.
"Where are thou?" Luna flew through the void searching for the creature's dream. Suddenly she felt the hair on her coat stand up, her blood ran cold, and she felt an intense feeling of darkness and... Fear. Luna turned around and saw that all the other orbs were gone. Except one. The orb was shrouded in darkness with a faint white hue around it.
"What evil is this?" Luna shuddered as he slowly walked towards the orb, she used her magic to enter the dream and used her magic to enter it. Luna now found herself standing in some fort of long corridor, the floors were cracked and the walls had seen better days. The lights above her flickered but were still functional, as she walked Luna began to notice something, every so often she would feel a presence behind her and each time she turned to face it it would narrowly escaped her line of sight. After a few more times of this Luna has had enough as her wings flared up and her eyes glowed
"REVEAL THY SELF!" She shouted in her Canterlot Voice, her horn emitting a blinding flash of light
"Get out."
"THOU DARE COMMAND ME! THY AM PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!" Luna fired a bolt of magic, but suddenly it just disappeared as the darkness took hold. There Luna could make out the figure of a dark shadowy being with glowing white eyes
"Get.... OOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTT!" The creature roared and tackled Luna, digging its claws into her as it roared at her, Luna then screamed as she was forced out of the dream realm and back into the real world
"Gah!" She fell to her knees and was covered in sweat, panting heavily
"Princess!" The guards rushed to her side and helped her up. Luna opened her eyes and stared at the Red Hood's body
"Never let your eyes leave his side." Luna ordered them
"Yes, Princess!" The guards saluted as Luna left the room
"How did they do it? No pony tis able to kick Ms out of thy dream like this." Luna made one last glance at the human before leaving.
JASON'S POV.
"Fucking bitch." I thought to myself as I heard them leave. If she really was able to dig into my mind I would've killed her
"Would you?" Oh great. I could practically feel Batman and the others staring at me with their judgmental gaze. If I could I'd flip them all off, but right now I needed to plan my escape. I was able to hear everything they said without giving off the fact that I was conscious the whole time.
"When is the next shipment of supplies coming?" I heard one of the guards ask
"Around 3 AM, so two more hours."
"Do you believe it?"
"Believe what?"
"That this... Human, I guess, really went hoof-to-hoof against Discord by himself?"
"No way, look at him. He probably just showed up at the end to fight."
"But did you hear the reports? The guy used magic and even killed a hydra!"
"Will you stop believing everything you hear!" I heard them bicker to one another as I opened my eyes just a bit to look at the clock that was across my bed. Waiting for my chance to strike. In the corner I saw my clothes and armor, but from what I heard they took my weapons somewhere else.
"Bide your time, Jason." I told myself as I waited.
Peeking my eyes open I saw that it was 2:47. I need to move fast. I quietly wrapped my hands around the frame my hands were cuffed to and then used my strength to rip it off.
"What the-" I wasted no time as I bashed one guard over the head and kicked the other guard back against the wall. The other two then lunged at me but I quickly jumped off the bed and used the bedframes as weapons. Using them to deflect their spears, they were fast and we're clearly skilled, but Damian was far stronger than them. I deflected one spear and dashed forward, bringing my knee up to his jaw and sending him flying back and crashing into the wall, knocked out. The last guard flew towards me and threw her spear at my head, I quickly ducked but raised my arms up, using the thrown spear to cut through my cuffs. I heard her hiss in anger before flapping her wings and flying at me with a sword in her mouth. I then kicked her in her jaw and broke a few of her fangs as the kick forced her to bite down he'd on the handle of her sword. She flew up and crashed in the ceiling before falling hard on the floor. I ripped off the now broken cuffs off my wrists and shook my head
"Elite guards my ass." I said as I grabbed my armor from the corner and put it on.
"You just made the situation far more worse. You could've used this opportunity to not only gain more information, but to also gain the possible trust of the rulers of this new world." Batman scolded me before I snapped at him
"Oh crap the bullshit. They would've locked me away and treated me like some damn experiment or some attraction in a museum." I put on my helmet and used it to locate my weapons. I found them down in some office along with a group of these ponies. Most of them appear to be scientist though. It'll be tricky, but maybe I could sneak in. I then remembered the Batmobile, using my helmet I tried to see if maybe Savage just teleported it away or something.
"Oh?" My helmet was still getting a connection to the Batmobile, it was up north. I reached into my jacket and pulled out the map I had gotten and looked at it, judging from the distance of the connection and the map it's in... Manehattan.
"Ah, shit. This isn't good." I groaned
"Hey, at least you still have the Batmobile." Batgirl tried to look at the brighter side of things.
"Still doesn't make this any less aggravating." I sighed heavily as I tried to think of a plan, I looked back up at the clock and saw that I didn't have a lot of time to waste. I used my helmet to look outside, many doctors and nurses were around but they were busy with patients, I searched around the room and saw an air vent. Stacking the bodies of the guards I used them to give me a boost as I ripped the vent open
"Gonna be snug, but hopefully I can do it." I took a deep breath and crawled inside, it was a little tight but manageable, looking down with my helmet I saw that the ponies didn't seem to notice anything as they were far more focused on the patients. Thank God.
After a bit I was able to reach another vent that was close to my destination, taking a quick peek inside I saw that it was one of the kids I saved a few nights ago, the kid with the orange mane. I opened the vent and jumped down, doing my best to keep quiet until I heard him shift in his bed
"Hm... M-Mommy?" I heard he say, taking another look I saw that the kid had some bandages wrapped around his head
"You okay, kid?" I asked him, seeing him jump as I raised my hands up "Easy, kid. Didn't mean to scare you."
"What are you doing? I thought the plan was to sneak out quietly?" Robin asked
"Y-you're the one. The one who saved me and Scootaloo!" The kid perked up with a bright smile
"Yeah, it's me. But what happened to you?" I asked, ignoring Robin's question as I walked over to kneel beside his bed
"O-Oh, um... When Discord attacked some of the changes he made... H-He destroyed my home and... I fell from the window, my mom was able to catch me, but I still hit my head real bad." The kid explained to me, I closed my eyes and exhaled as I cursed under my breath, blaming myself for this. Maybe if I had been here sooner I would've been able to prevent the kid from getting hurt. Damnit!
"B-But Scootaloo told me that you saved us! You were fighting Discord and bucking his ugly butt." The kid said with a glint in his eyes, throwing little punches to get his point across, I chuckled a little and raised my hands
"Whoa, take it easy, kiddo. You're gonna hurt somebody if you aren't careful with those things." I smiled softly as I heard the kid laugh at my little joke
"But A-Are you okay? I-I heard you were hurt... Really bad..."
"Meh, I'm okay. Look at me, I'm standing right in front of you, aren't I?" I chuckled "I'm okay, kid. You worry about getting better and rest up."
"Where are you going?"
"I... I got some stuff I need to do, I'm just here to gather up my things and head out." I told him, gently patting his arm- err, hoof? I guess, I don't know.
"Y-you're leaving Ponyville?" Oh great, now he's sad
"Aww, you have a fan?" Nightwing squealed with joy
"Yeah, but no being sad, okay? I just... Uh... Well... O-Other people may need help too, just like you and your friend did that night. And even here a few days ago. I gotta go and make sure that people- I mean ponies are safe." A lie. I didn't care about them... I just needed my ride back. But a comforting lie is better than the harsh truth. At least the kid seemed to brighten up a bit hearing this
"Well... Thank you, for saving all of us." The kid then hugged my arm, I froze at this as I didn't really know how to react so I just let him
"You always were nice with kids, Jason." Batgirl said as she touched my shoulder. I slowly pulled away from the kid as I stood up
"You be good, kid." I told him "Oh... And don't make too much noise." I said, seeing him zip his lips I nodded at him, taking a peek outside with My helmet I saw that my gear was just down the hall. Everyone else were in rooms with patients but I had to move fast. I ran out the door and down the hall, quickly opening the door and shutting it. I turned around and took a quick look at the office before seeing my gear on a table.
"They must've been trying to study them." Red Robin inquired as he looked down at my weapons.
"Surprised they didn't shoot themselves." I said as I started strapping my weapons back on. Once everything was in place I saw a window leading outside, opening it I could hear the horn of a train.
"Shit, gotta move!" I said to myself before jumping out of the window, rolling on the ground and making a mad dash towards the train station, remembering the location when I first came here. It was still nighttime but I saw multiple ponies at work still rebuilding so I had to cut through alleyways and over buildings. I heard the train horn blaring again and could see it beginning to drive off. Jumping down a building I ran towards the tracks. Watching the train gaining speed
"Come on, come on!" I pushed my body to keep running, aching all over but still able to run as the train kept getting faster. Just as the last car was about to slip away I jumped and grabbed onto the railing, pulling myself up and getting onboard. I panted slightly as I sighed, getting up to my feet I used my helmet to look at the train, the one I was on was mostly used for transporting supplies but there were also a few passengers onboard too. Most of the supplier were gone for Ponyville and right now it was just used for simple storage. I walked inside and sat down in the corner behind some crates. Cracking one of them open I saw some large jugs of Ciders.
"Come to papa." I said as I removed my helmet and started drinking. I wasn't sure what awaited me next, but I have to keep moving forward. Nothing much for me to do anyways.
ONE WEEK LATER. MANEHATTAN. NO POV.
It was late in the evening, the sun was just beginning to set as a earth pony stallion wearing a gray suit, yellow coat, broan mane and tail, accompanied by two more stallions, a unicorn and pegasus, in black suits and sunglasses were getting out of a wagon. They appeared to be at some sort of dock as they walked down the pier, many fisher-ponies and docker workers were hard at work as the stallions walked towards a warehouse at the far end.
"This the place?" The stallion in the gray suit asked
"Yes, sir. This is where they told us to meet." One of the stallions in black suit told him.
"Let's get this over with, time is money." They made their way towards the warehouse and walked inside. The warehouse was empty save for a few crates and the place was illuminated by just a few hanging lights on the ceiling. Inside there were about 20 other ponies inside. Ten were in suits similar to the stallions that walked in while the other half were wearing streets clothing of blue or black color.
"Bout time you show your face!" One unicorn stallion said, wearing a blue bandana on his face and a black unbuttoned shirt on.
"I'll show up when I want to. So, what the Tartarus did you call this meeting for?" The suited stallion asked
"I called? The buck you talking about, you called this shit!" The thug stallion shouted
"You didn't call this fucking bullshit?" One suited stallion asked
"You fuckers... Oh, hold up. Y'all fucking plan this shit!" The thugs began taking out knives and automated wooden handheld crossbows while the ponies in suits pulled out metallic automatic crossbows. All of them arguing back and forth as blood was about to spill
"You wanna bucking play with me, bitch!"
"HEY!" An unknown voice called out, everypony turned to see who it was that spoke as a large, mysterious figure stepped out from the shadows. It wore a red Helmet, body armor, a jacket, and a red bat on its chest
"I'll play with you." The unknown figure said with a hint of venom in its voice as it suddenly pulled out two weapons, it pulled the trigger and flash of lights rang out as the creature let out a horrifying roar.
A few hours later the entire warehouse was a crime scene as multiple law enforcement officers and guards were searching the area. Inside about twenty-three bodies were all found dead. Many were bundled up together while a few were scattered about. One of the detectives was searching for evidence, one of the things they found around was some sort of metal casing. Dozens of them, maybe even more all over.
"What do we got this time?" An officer asked, from his rank he was a Sergeant
"Multiple dead suspects, all of them armed. From the looks of their clothing they were both part of different gangs. The Street Kidz and the Triad." One of the forensics explained
"So, it was a gang war?" The officer asked
"It would've been if they shot each other, but that wasn't the case. We found crossbow bolts around the place but not a single one of them hit any of the gang members. But all of them were filled with holes from an unknown weapon. These are our only evidence." The forensic held up a bag filled with the metal casings. Just then news reporters came rushing to the scene as many officers and guards tried to hold them back, camera flashes going off as many reporters began trying to question the officers. The Sergeant groaned and went over to handle them
"Ponies, please! This is a crime scene!" The Sergeant tried to get them to leave
"What can you tell us about the crime?" One reporter asked
"Was it gang related?"
"We are looking into it now, but we need you all to leave immediately!"
"Was it the work of the creature stalking the night?"
"For the last time! There is no creature! There is no monster!" The Sergeant was growing furious as the reporters kept asking questions. Unaware that the creature was looking down at them frome above a rooftop before disappearing into the night.
The sounds of a bell ringing from an opening door rang out as a small young filly, no older than thirteen, stepped out from her family's bakery. She had a tan fur coat, long braided brown hair, and dark green eyes, she wore a frog themed satchel on her back.
"I'm not a little filly anymore, stop treating me like one, mama!" The young filly whined to her mother.
"Listen to me, Estrella, go get the flour and come back home quickly, it's not safe out there at night." Another voice, the filly's mother, told her daughter.
"Ugh!" Estrella groaned as she stormed away, walking down the streets of Manehattan, seeing a few ponies out and about. Estrella decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway but soon regretted her decision as she stumbled across some of the local gangsters in her neighborhood beating on someone. She lowered head and looked away as she tried to walk by faster to avoid them, but fate had other ideas
"Hey, Estrella! Where you going?" One of the thugs asked her while walking towards
"Uh... N-No where..." Estrella said softly while avoiding their gaze
"No where is right, Mija." One of the other thugs said as one of them wrapped a hoof around her shoulders and ushered her closer
"How's your family's business? Still good?" He asked as they walked towards the pony they were beating, a young mare who wore fishnet stockings and a short red dress, she had one red lipstick and long eyelashes, but she was covered in bruises and had a black eye, tears streaming down her face. Estrella felt her heart sink and fear wash over her as she saw this poor mare in such a condition
"I-It's good..." Estrella muttered
"Good, but it'll be better if you convince your family to pay us for protection. There's a lot of bad ponies out there." One thug laughed
"I-I really gotta go, I need to buy flour before they close." Estrella tried to get away until one thug snatched her satchel away
"Gonna be hard without any money, chica." They played keep away with her money before shoving her away, running off as a large wagon pulled up and they hopped in, riding away. Estrella groaned and huffed in frustration before rushing over the mare
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Estrella asked, the mare coughed a bit and sniffled
"I-I'm fine... N-Not the first time, sweetie." The mare gave Estrella a small smile to try and comfort her "I-I'll be fine, you gotta get home. It's not safe here." She tried to warn her. Estrella looked down at the mare with a look of worry
"... You try and get yourself somewhere safe, I hear there's a shelter not too far from here for... U-Um..."
"A prostitute? I've been called worse, kid." The mare said as she tried to stand up "B-But I think I'll sit here for a bit. You get home." She said, Estrella thought about going back home but she didn't want to leave without her money, she took a deep breath and stood up, running off to where the wagon went off to. She ran down the streets and cut through the alleyways, climbing over a wall before looking through a wooden gate and saw the same wagon from before. She stacked some empty crates and used it to climb up over the gate and hopped down on the other side, just as she did so she turned and gasped as she saw the same thug that took her money collapsed right in front of her.
"No! N-No no, Please-" She as the other thugs from before run out from a dark corner only to be dragged back by someone. Or something. Estrella hid behind some trash cans to avoid being spotted.
Over with some more thugs they were loading up the wagon with stuff before one of them ordered three more to check out what was happening. The three thugs set down their crates and walked down the alleyway, a few lights turned on as the street lights were coming on now due to the time. As the thugs walked down the alleyway one of them was suddenly taken away in another alley connecting this one. Only to then be thrown and crashed into a power box, short-circuiting the lights
"The buck was that?!" One thug shouted while picking up a pipe, suddenly a black and red figure appeared behind him and snapped his neck. The last thug screamed in terror before rushing the figure, only to be backhanded across the face and had his head stomped on
"This! Isn't! Your! City! Anymore!" The figure shouted with each heavy stomp on the head. The yelling caught the attention of the thug still loading things up as he dropped the crate he was carrying and whistled loudly, signaling four more thugs that appeared on the rooftops. They fired down steel arrow bolts down to try and kill the Vigilante, Red Hood. Red Hood saw this and quickly rolled off to the side before jumping off a crate, turning around it seemed like time slowed down as the Red Hood whipped around his AK and took aim, pulling the trigger as the bullets flew out, hitting the thugs as their lifeless bodies crashed down to earth. Red Hood got up and glared over at the thugs at the wagon and was about to rush at him until the sound of a bottle rolling over spooked him, turning around with his gun aimed at Estrella
"Ah!" Estrella screamed and fell back, trying to crawl away but was frozen with fear. Red Hood started at her with wide eyes as he almost did the unspeakable.
"Die, asshole!" The thug threw three sticks of dynamite taped together and the landed near Estrella. The fuse was lit and the fuse was short, not having very much time. Red Hood was about to go after the thug until the little filly cried out
"Mama!" Estrella shielded herself as best she could and awaited her fate
KA-BOOM!
The dynamite detonated and caused a massive crater to form, Red Hood could be seen being sent flying back, his armor protecting him. He groaned in pain as he slowly stood up... And Estrella was seen to have been in his arms. Red Hood gently sat her down as she didn't have a scratch on her. Estrella slowly opened her eyes to see she was still alive, looking up to see Red Hood clutching his side as he panted heavily
"Y... You saved me... Why?" Estrella asked, Red Hood turned down to look at her and Estrella yelped in fear seeing his gaze
".... Old habits die hard, I guess...." Was all Red Hood said as he turned to walk away, picking up his AK to leave
"You're a hero!... Y-You know that?" Estrella called out
".... Not anymore, kid. Go home, it's not safe out here." Red Hood tossed Estrella back her satchel that she had stolen from the thugs and gasped
"Thank... You?" She looked up to see he had vanished.
Estrella panted as she was carrying a bag of flours in one hoof while running back home, she opened the door to her home
"Estrella! Where have you been, you have any idea how late it is?" Her mother could be heard shouting at her but it was all because she was worried
"I'm so sorry, mama! But you will not believe what happened!" Estrella began to retell the tale of what had happened to her mother as she shut the door, over on a rooftop across from her home stood the Red Hood. Looking down at her. He had followed Estrella to make sure nothing happened to her until she got home
"You're still a hero." Batman said as he stood next to Red Hood "You can fight and deny it all you want but you still care for the innocent. You are still a hero."
"I was never a fucking hero, Batman. So zip it." Red Hood said harshly before using his grappling hook to swing across from building to building
"You need rest, hell, you need to eat."
"Fuck off."
"If you don't get any rest then you're just gonna drop dead."
"I said fuck off." Red Hood growled as he landed on a rooftop, he looked down and watched as a family was walking down the street before turning into an alleyway, the son playing and acting as if he was fighting against some bad guys. Then Red saw a man step out from the shadows and aim a small handheld, or in their case hoofheld, crossbow
"Scream and you all die. Satchels, empty them, now!" The muggers demanded as the family cowered in fear, the father slowly removing his satchel to hand it to the mugger, but before the muggers could grab it Red Hood grabbed him with his grappling hook and hoisted him up in the air, the muggers screamed in terror before he was silenced by having his head bashed against the roof. Red Hood looked down and the family gasped as they could see his white eyes staring down at them
"T-Thank you..." The father said, Red Hood said nothing as he then left, leaving the bloodied mugger on the roof as he patrolled the city. Stopping a few muggers and thieves until the sun started to rise, racing back to his current residence at the moment. An old building that seemed to have been an office at one point in time but was abandoned. Climbing in through an open window Jason dropped inside and walked towards the Batmobile that was parked in the center of what looked to be an old lobby. The building itself wasn't all too big, about two stories tall and big as a warehouse, but it was decent enough to stay at. Jason climbed inside the Batmobile and opened a bag containing some fruits. Grabbing a banana he peeled it and started eating
"There's an ape joke here somewhere." Jason muttered to himself
"Well, you are a human, the last human, eating a banana." Tim stated
"Smartass." Jason groaned as he yawned, taking another bite of his banana. This was Jason's routine so far. During the day he usually just eats, work out, and looks over information on the criminals of the city from the newspaper and some files he steals from the police station. Since they didn't have computers everything was on paper, which made things a little more difficult but not impossible. Currently Jason was looking over a certain family, the Lit Fuse family.
"Lit Fuse senior. Owner of the Fuse foundation. Multiple construction sites under their name, considerable donations to numerous charities, elected pony of the year four times in a row. But has been accused of a few business scandals and forcing other businesses out. Although the cases were dropped due to lack of evidence. And witnesses." Jason read the file of Lit Fuse Senior, a stallion with a red fur coat and black mane and tail.
"Hot Lit Fuse, wife of Lit Fuse Senior, she was the owner of a small shipping company until her marriage which grew her business to travel overseas." A photo showing an older mare with long blonde mane and tail, light orange coat, and wore heavy makeup to hide any wrinkles on her face. Next was a photo that showed the two sons "Short Lit Fuse, 21, eldest son of the Lit Fuse company. Goes to Manehattan university, top of his class, honor student, Corporal of the JROTC, and volunteers at the soup kitchen. Was caught in a rape scandal of multiple mares and young fillies, but charges were dropped due to lack of evidence." The photo showed a young stallion with a dark red coat and blonde mane and tail wearing a military uniform.
"Lit Fuse Junior, 16, youngest son of the Lit Fuse company. Goes to Markland High School, known to be a troublemaker at his school for numerous pranks, fights, and disruptive behavior. Was arrested for the death of a fellow student but charges were dropped due to lack of evidence." Jason looked at the photo of a young stallion with an orange coat and blonde and black mane and tail. Jason put the files away as he held up his helmet to make a holographic blueprint of the Lit Fuse company building, blueprints he stole and copied by following one of the maintenance workers of the building.
"You're gonna kill them." Jason sighed as he glanced over his shoulder and looked at Batman. The silence was deafening as they glared at one another. It wasn't until Nightwing broke the silence
"You can find real, concrete evidence. Have them be prosecuted and be put on trial."
"For what? So that they kill even more witnesses? Pay off the judge or threaten the jury so they can walk?" Jason argued
"So you plan on just murdering every single person who breaks the law? Have you forgotten what father has taught you?"
"Says the little shit who murdered people the second he came out of the damn tube he grew up in." Jason snapped at Damian as the two glared at one another "Don't act all high and mighty, that includes all of you! Our code, our rules, all of it means nothing anymore! Gotham is gone! Humanity is gone! Our home is gone! But the scum of this earth? The murderers, rapists, pedophiles, sex traffickers, they're all still here! Beating them up and locking them away won't do any one any good! I'm doing what you're all too scared and too weak to do! I'm putting real fear into their hearts! Showing them that someone will punish them! Will end them!" Jason shouted as he glared at them all. Silence filled the room as Batman placed a hand on Jason's shoulder
"Just because we're gone doesn't mean you have to lose your humanity."
".... I already lost it." Jason said, looking back only to find himself alone, as always. Jason would spend the rest of the day looking over his files and planning as he waited for nightfall to come.
NEXT DAY. NO POV.
It was the afternoon and all over the city was in a buzz after the events that transpired last night
"Extra! Extra! Shootout in alleyway! Ganger members being hunted? Read all about it!" A young colt shouted while handing out news papers. A pony, a stallion earth pony with light brown fur, five'o'clock shadow facial hair, and a slick black mane combed back wearing a trench coat paid for one of the papers and proceeded to read it
"Another day another Goddamn massacre. This guy been here for what, a week, and already he's been taking down nearly every big name player in the damn game and we haven't gotten so much as a clear picture of him." The pony said as he turned to another stallion, a unicorn with green fur, blonde mane in a buzz cut, and wore a white button up shirt
"They say that he's the spirit of all the ponies that have been killed, their vengeance taken physical form." The unicorn said
"These murders aren't fucking fairy tales or bullshit folklore. A real thing is killing all these ponies, Twitch, not some spooky ghost ponies made up."
"But you have to admit, Bullhorn, the way this pony-"
"Or whatever the hell he is."
"Is unlike anything we've dealt with before." Twitch, the unicorn, said as the two ponies was walking down the street as they made their way towards the scene of last night's shootout. Seeing officers all blocking citizens and reports away. Bullhorn and Twitch both showed their badges and moved through the yellow tape as they walked over to one of the forensics at the scene
"What do we go?" Bullhorn asked
"Same as all the others. Mysterious metal casings with black powder, known gangmembers, all dead. From he looks of things they were ambushed, some even fell from the rooftops filled with exit wounds on their bodies." The forensics explained
"What about this? Did a bomb go off?" Bullhorn asked while looking at the small crater in the alleyway, seeing blood and ash on the walls
"Yes, sir. Dynamite, but something we found interesting was the skid marks from the blast. Seemed that whoever it was must've been blown back from the explosion."
"So they must be injured." Twitch hypothesize
"That's right, we even found what appear to be hoofprints."
"Hoofprints?" Bullhorn asked "Was it one of the scumbags here?"
"From what we gathered no, they're too small to belongs to any of these ponies and from our reports on this vigilante they don't belong to him. They appear to belong to a filly."
"A filly? What would a filly be doing here?" Twitch asked out loud
"Well, some gang members try to recruit young colts and fillies into their gangs, but here's the interesting part." The forensics used his magic to light up some of the blast radius and started to play what appeared here with their current knowledge, Showing a small filly "The explosion went off here, if the filly was here then we would've had a more gruesome scene here. But that's not rh case, instead it seemed that something, or somepony, shielded the filly from the blast, causing the skidmarks." The magic showed a play-by-play image of how things may have gone down
"So we have a live witness who was face to face with this thing?" Bullhorn smirked "We may have finally caught a break in this damn case. Someone send a letter to the Princesses. Tell them that we may have gotten a lead on this. In the meantime Twitch go and try to find any other witnesses, see if they saw any pony that saw the filly or the creature."
"Yes, sir." Twitch said as he and some other officers all went off to question any pony they could find. Bullhorn looked around at the scene as he reached into his coat and pulled out a small box of cigarettes, taking one out and a match, swiping it across his chin as the match lit up and then used it to light his cigarette
Detective Bullhorn and his partner Twitch were currently in their office looking at a board with all of the evidence and information they currently have on the Red Hood. From what they've gathered so far there is one solid conclusion.
This is a monster.
Multiple bodies were covered in holes from his strange weapons, bodies strung up like display with brutal but precise cuts showing that he knew exactly what he was doing, bodies burned to a crisp, and many more beaten to death by blunt force. Not to mention that this monster can easily take down dozens and dozens of ponies all by themselves. Bullhorn groaned as he rubbed his temple and unwrapped a sandwich and started eating.
"Any leads on that witness?" Bullhorn asked Twitch who was looking through files on the criminals that the Red Hood had killed
"Not yet, sir, but I may have a lead." Twitch told him
"What the Tartarus are you waiting for? A medal? Spit it out!"
"The area we found the last scene was near a bakery."
"Oh Celestia, we're looking for a murderer, not bucking cakes!"
"This specific bakery was known to reject the offer of the local gangs for protection. And I heard that the daughter was approached by this gang numerous times. She may be our lead." Twitch explained to his partner
"Let's hope so, get your stuff. We're heading out." Bullhorn said as he walked over to his desk and grabbed his weapon, a hoofheld crossbow with metal arrows that had at least fifteen bolts. He tucked it in the holster in his trench coat as he and Twitch left the office to follow up on this possible lead.
Twitch and Bullhorn both stepped out of their carriage and looked up at the bakery
"You sure this is it, Twitch?"
"Yes, sir. This is it." The two detectives walked up to the door and walked inside, a bell rung when they entered, and a voice called out
"Hola, welcome to Sweet Treat. Let me know if there's anything we can help you with." Estrella was working at the counter. The two detectives walked up and flashed their badges
"Hello there, little mare. I'm Detective Bullhorn and this is my partner, detective Twitch. Are your parents here?" Bullhorn asked
"No, young one. We merely just need to ask some questions. No one is in trouble." Twitch gave Estrella a small smile to show her that nothing was wrong. Estrella looked between the two detectives and was nervous but after a few seconds of thinking she agreed to their request
"Mama! Can you come up to the front!" Estrella called out to her mother in the back, a few moments later Estrella's mother walked out. She had tannish colored fur, a black mane held up in a ponytail, and a muffin wearing a chef's hat for a cutiemark.
"Que, mi... H-Hello?" Estrella's mother looked over at the two detectives "Is something wrong?"
"No, ma'am. We simply need to ask a few questions. I'm Detective Bullhorn and this is my partner detective Twitch."
"I-I see, my name is Luz. What kind of question do you want to ask?" Luz asked as she was a little nervous about this situation
"Is it true that you deny the offer for protection from any of the local gangs and families?" Twitch asked while pulling out a notepad and pen
"Yes, my family can take care of ourselves and don't plan on working with criminals." Luz said firmly
"Has anypony approached you or any of your family members? We have reports of gangs trying to recruit young colts and fillies." Bullhorn asked
"No! I make sure my children stay away from them." Twitch noticed Estrella had tensed up at the question and looked away nervously
"Are you sure, ma'am?" Twitch asked although he was looking at Estrella when he asked this. When Estrella looked at Twitch her eyes immediately darted away. Luz looked over to where Twitch was looking and her face turned into concern when she saw the look on her daughter's face
"Estrella? What happened? Did those gangsters approach you? Did they hurt you?" Luz questioned
"... W-When I went out to buy the flower, I... I ran into the Poni de la Muertos. They... They stole my money and I followed them to get it back, then I-I saw him..." Estrella confessed
"Saw who?" Twitch asked, wanting to hear a full confirmation
"The Red Bat." Estrella said "H-He saved me. There was a bomb and I-I thought I was going to die, but he saved me! He took the force of the blast and shielded me with his body." Estrella explained
"You weren't hurt, were you?" Bullhorn asked
"No, B-But he was. He had a limp when he left. But he's a hero!" Estrella said, staring at the two detectives. Twitch wrote it all down and nodded
"Thank you, young filly. You were a big help to us." Twitch smiled at Estrella and turned to walk away, Bullhorn stared at his partner with confusion as he followed him outside
"The buck was that? That's it?"
"We got what we need."
"Oh please, enlighten me."
"We know that this is now not just a pony looking to muscle out the competition. It's a vigilante with a crude sense of Justice."
"Which means we can form a list of high-profile criminals that he may target next. Huh, guess you are pretty smart, Twitch." Bullhorn joked
"Thank you, sir," Twitch said as the two went off to their carriage and drove off.
//Detective Bullhorn, do you copy?// Bullhorn then got a call over the radio and answered
//Yes, chief.//
//Where the hay are you two?//
//Sorry, sir, we were following up on a lead about the uh... Stranger.//
//And? Did you find anything?//
//Yes, sir, we did. Turns out that he's not some new crime lord, but instead a vigilante.// Bullhorn told him, a few curse words were over the radio before hearing the chief speak up again
//Come back to the station, the Princesses have sent some of her elite soldiers here to help with this. Over and out.// Bullhorn looked over at Twitch as the two nodded and made their way back to the station.
The two detectives arrived at the station and walked into the chief's office. At the desk with the name Chief Hardcase sat a large, muscular stallion with black fur, a gray flattop, a black goatee with bits of gray hair, and light green eyes. In the room stood two ponies. A unicorn and a batpony, both taller than any normal pony. The unicorn was a mare with a lean yet toned physique, white fur, a blonde mane that was cut short and a tail, bright yellow eyes, and wore golden armor with dark yellow outlines on it with a symbol of the sun on her breastplate, her cutiemark was a sword behind a shield.
The batpony was a mare as well, she had dark gray fur, pointy furry ears, a dark blue mane and tail, and a pair of bat-like wings. She wore dark blue armor with a dark purple outline and a symbol of the moon on her breastplate. She had two daggers in the form of an X for a cutiemark.
"Gentleponies, let me introduce you two to Athena and Night Shroud. Both of Celestia and Luna's elite soldiers and hoofpicked by the two to help us." Hardcase said
"Nice to meet you two, I'm Detective Bullhorn. This is my partner, Twitch." Bullhorn and Twitch both shook hooves with the two mares.
"Pleasure to meet you, Detectives. Chief Hardcase told us that you two are the ones on track of hunting this vigilante?" Athena asked
"That's right, follow me. We'll show you everything we got." Bullhorn said as he led the two mares out of the chief's office and toward their own office. Athena and Night Shroud look over at the bulletin board the two had set up
"So what exactly are we dealing with?" Night Shroud asked
"A monster with a dark sense of Justice." Twitch said as he walked over to the board and pointed at the photos, showing all the current victims. At least, all the ones they can find
"Multiple victims were found littered with small holes all over their bodies or in the heart and head. The suspect isn't some messy amateur neither, able to take out entire rooms or buildings covered head to toe with armed gangsters and kill every single one. He also mutilates some victims that have a dark criminal past." Twitch explained
"What kind of past?" Athena asked
"Rapist, pedophiles, serial killers, pony traffickers, and any other crime that involves kids. If somepony like that is out there then the suspect makes it... Personal." Bullhorn said, taking out a folder and handed it to Night Shroud, opening it the two mares looked down to see said criminals after being visited by the suspect. Their bodies were mutilated beyond recognition, heads and body parts torn off, stomachs cut open and guts spewing out, heads bashed in with heavy blunt force trauma, corpses burnt to a crisp, and countless other displays of violence
"Whoever this monster is, they're clearly merciless." Night Shroud said, putting the folder away
"Did you discover anything else?" Athena asked while looking over the board
"He was recently involved with a shootout last night involving the Poni de la muertos where he killed at least a dozen or so and saved a young filly." Twitch briefed them
"He saved a filly?" Night Shroud asked with a puzzled look
"That's right, we questioned her but couldn't answer every answer due to her mother being there. But now that have confirmation that he is a vigilante, a violent one, we can work on how to catch him." Twitch said
"And how would we do that?" Athena asked
"Bait." Bullhorn said, Night Shroud looked at the files and the photos before turning to face the Detectives
"You plan on using a big worm to lure the vigilante in, aren't you?"
"Correct, although the only problem is we don't know which one he's going after first." Bullhorn groaned as he sat down at his desk and opened a bag, eating a hay-burger and some hay-fries.
"There may be one..." Twitch said as he walked over to a filing cabinet and opened one of the drawers, skimming through the files inside he pulled out a folder and handed it over to the two mares
"The Fuse family." Night Shroud and Athena looked over the files on the family
"They were caught up in numerous scandals and court cases, but all were dropped due to lack of evidence. They got the best PR team in Equestria by how they're able to sway public opinion on their side, but if there is any bait that the vigilante would bite it's them." Twitch said. The two mares looked at the Detectives and nodded
"Let's get to work, colts."
NIGHT TIME. JASON POV
I sat on the edge of a skyscraper while looking down at the city, the clouds moved in, or I guess the pegasus pushed in the clouds and made it rain heavily tonight. I don't think I'll ever get used to the fact that they can just casually control the weather whenever they please.
"You have to admit it's simply fascinating. The ability to completely control the weather was rare even for metahumans and the way these pegasus do it is intriguing." Tim couldn't help but be amazed by this phenomenon
"Nerd." I snickered while ignoring Tim glaring at me "Go geek out somewhere else, I'm a bit busy tailing this asshole." I said while looking through the scope of my sniper rifle, my target was a stallion with orange fur, black hair and tail, who was currently at some sort of house warming party in a penthouse. The reason I was following this moron is because he's in bed with the Fuse family, he handles a couple of protection rackets for the Fuse family as well as a few moving caravans for them. I watched as he talked and flirted with some of the other party guests before he started to leave, watching as he left the room. I looked down at the exit of the building and watched him step outside, hailing a cab and heading off
"Finally." I sighed as I slung my sniper over my shoulder and fell off the building, free falling down before taking out my grappling and using it to swing from building to building, tailing after the cab and staying high above to avoid being seen. After tailing him for about half an hour I saw him step out in front of some hotel, must be where he's staying at.
"Any ideas on how to find what room he's staying in?" Batgirl asked
"He's on the top floor, the Fuse family doesn't go cheap for those close to them." I told her as I waited for him to step inside. Once he walked into the hotel I made my move, moving up to the side of the building and clung to the wall near a window at the top floor. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small device and placed it on the glass, it quietly cut open a hole inside and I took out the now cut glass and reached inside, unlocking the window and stepping inside. I used my helmet to scan the room, there were guards stationed outside in the hallway near the room and my target was taking a shower. I smirked as I then hid up on the ceiling of his bedroom and waited for him to come out.
I heard the bathroom door open and watched as he stepped out, drying his head with the towel as he yawned. Right before he climbed into bed I jumped down and grabbed him, one hand over his mouth while holding my knife up to his throat. He screamed into my hand as I pressed the knife closer
"I'm going to ask you some questions and if you lie to me they'll have to clean up your blood all over this room." I whispered into his ear, I heard him whimper and nodded his head in cooperation "I'm going to move my hand, scream and I'll tear your throat out." I then slowly removed my hand to allow him to speak
"W-What do you want?"
"The Fuse family, you close with them, aren't you?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about? I just do business with them, nothing more." I rolled my eyes and covered his mouth again as I then stabbed him in his left hoof, his screams muffled by my hand as I dug the blade deeper inside
"Let's try this again. What do you know about the Fuse family?" I demanded as I slowly moved my hand
"T-They have a shipment coming into the docks tonight! Green container with a black star logo on the side!" He whispered
"What's inside?"
"I-I don't-MMMF!" I twisted the blade inside his hood and slowly carved up his foreleg
"Don't lie to me, you son of a bitch."
"O- okay! Okay! Mares from Prance! And a few drug mules!"
"What else?" I glared at him
"There's going to be an auction in one of the warehouses at the docks. They're going to bid on the mares!" My eyes widened at this as I narrowed my eyes at him "T-That's all I know! I swear to Celestia!"
"... Do me one favor."
"A-Anything! I swear it!"
"When I kill you, say hi to the devil for me." I said as I held his mouth shut and started to repeatedly stab him over and over again, craving his chest and then tearing out his heart, shoving it into his mouth and then leaving his bloodied corpse on the floor.
I felt the eyes of the others all on me, disappointed and ashamed... I couldn't care less. A monster is gone. That's all that matters. I left through the window and started to make my way to the docks
"I hope they enjoy my gift." I said as I used my grappling hook to swing through the city, heading towards the docks.
Reaching the docks I hid above some shipping containers while keeping an eye out, seeing a large cargo ship coming into port. Able to see armed guards stationed on the ship and around the docks.
"They definitely aren't your typical security guards." Nightwing stated
"You'll have to take them down before that ship comes in." Batgirl said "It doesn't matter if you save those girls if those guards are still around to catch you." I looked back at the incoming ship and down at the guards around the dock. They're already spread out so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle, I ran across the shipping containers and jumped down, slamming my feet on the head of a guard, killing him instantly as I reached down and took his weapon
"Heh, automatic crossbow? You would've loved this, buddy." I said as I used it to silently take down the guards. I hid behind a corner and overheard two guards talking on an earpiece
"The cargo is coming in, tell the other to get here now."
"Yes sir, we're on our way." I heard them drawing near my corner and once they were close I jumped out and shot them both in the head with an arrow. Picking up one of their ear pieces I used my helmet to perfectly mimic one of the guard's voice
"We heard something moving nearby, we're going to investigate."
"Hurry it up and make sure it won't become a problem."
"Copy that." I dropped the ear piece and made my way towards the ship, seeing a crane lift some of the containers off the ship and saw the one with the Black Star. Jackpot. I waited until it dropped and watched as three guards went over to examine it, I could hear them laughing and what they said made me feel sick to my stomach
"They don't mind if we have a bit of fun with them first, right?"
"Heh, just hurry it up."
"I'll take her, I always did love the young ones~" I growled in anger as I jumped down from a container and landed behind one of the guards, grabbing his neck and snapping it in one quick motion. I then tackled the other one against the container and shoved the crossbow into his mouth, shooting bolt after bolt after bolt down his mouth. The other guards shot at me so I used the now dead guard as a meat shield while marching towards the last guard. Once I got close enough I grabbed him by the throat and started squeezing. Glaring into his eyes as I watched the light slowly leave his fearful eyes. He tried kicking and punching me but it was useless as he drew his last breath, and with that I snapped his neck to make sure he never gets up again. I walked back over to the container and saw the mares
"Oh my God..." Nightwing gasped in horror. Inside the container was covered in filth, there was pissed and shit all over, the mares had lashes on their backs, they looked dangerously malnourished as I could see their ribs, and there were even three dead mares inside. They all cried and begged to be let free, some even coward to the back out of fear. I slowly removed my helmet and knelt down
"I-I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm here to help. I promise." They all kept cowering in fear as I tried to think of something, that was when I heard a gasp from behind, I turned around and saw two guards, two royal guards, behind me aiming their spears at me.
"Freeze! Don't move!" One shouted as me "Light the flare, quickly!" He ordered his partner, a unicorn, as his horn lit up and fired up a flare with his magic.
"This place will be swarming with guards." Batman pointed out. I stood up and put my helmet back on, ignoring the orders shouted by the guards.
"That's the idea." I said as I immediately rushed at the two guards, grabbing one of their spears and yanking it from his hooves before using it to disarm the other guard. Once they were both unarmed I kicked one in the chin and smacked the butt of the spear at the other's hoof, bringing them down and quickly using their handcuffs to cuff them both to each other
"Make sure those girls get the proper treatment." I told the guards as I heard the sirens blaring in the distance. Seeing this as my cue to leave I looked back at the mares inside and nodded at them "You'll be safe... They won't hurt you anymore. I'm going to make sure of it." I promised them as I used my grappling hook to quickly leave the area.
Detective Bullhorn, Twitch, Athena, and Shroud all burst from their carriages and and started rushing towards the docks
"Secure the perimeter! Gather any and all witnesses around the area!" Bullhorn barked orders at the other officers. Athena used her magic to hold two short battle axes made of gold while Night Shroud used her wing to hold out her sword.
They all had entire squads of cops following them and a dozen more officers scouring the area
"We got bodies!"
"Some over here!"
"Set up some damn tape, this entire area is a crime scene!" Bullhorn ordered, they soon saw one container slightly opened with three bodies outside of it. Athena and Night Shroud walked up towards the container, readying their weapons just in case. Bullhorn, Twitch, and a couple other officers moved behind them to back them up. Athena and Night Shroud nodded to each other and opened the container expecting to catch the Vigilante, but what they found was far worse. They all stared in horror at the terrible conditions the mares inside were trapped in, not to mention the state they were all in. The mares all cowered in fear as Athena and Night Shroud quickly put away their weapons
"It's okay, we're not here to harm you." Athena said, her voice comforting the mares as they slowly began to make their way out of the container
"We need medical help, now!" Night Shroud shouted, helping the mares out of the container. Bullhorn called in medical units as he and the officers helped the mares.
Soon ambulances and paramedics were attending to the mares while Bullhorn, Twitch, Athena and Night Shroud were examining some of the dead bodies
"He's precise. All these shots were quick, clean, and look at their expressions, they were clearly out by surprise." Night Shroud said before taking a look at the three stallions that were killed in front of the container "And these three were taken down by an expert. Quick but brutal."
"Doesn't change the fact that he's still a monster." Athena said "Have any of the mares spoken yet?"
"Not yet, they're all in shock." Twitch said
"Those bastards, who could do such a thing to a pony?" Bullhorn asked out loud as the conditions the mares were in made him sick to his stomach
"Take them all down to the hospitals and have some guards keep an eye on them. Whenever one is ready to talk be on it." Athena ordered "We'll need to increase our patrols on the ground and get patrols in the air."
"I'll radio the chief and tell him to get on it." Bullhorn said walking off to the wagon, Twitch following after him. Night Shroud stepped up to her comrade as the two looked up into the night sky
"This creature is more dangerous than we anticipated." Night Shroud said
"Not anything we haven't seen before." Athena stated
"Still doesn't change the fact that whoever we're dealing with isn't some mindless serial killer. He's skilled, dangerously skilled, and isn't afraid of holding back."
"No pony is unstoppable. We'll take him down."
"If you say so..." The two walked off to examine the rest of the crime scene, but one thought kept repeating in their minds. What is this creature and can they beat him?
Red Hood was on a building looking over the building of Luz's home/family bakery. Wanting to make sure that her and her family were safe and didn't have any unwelcomed customers. He then noticed that Luz was on the fire escape holding a plate with some bread and a glass of milk, looking around.
"H-Hello... I-I brought food for... For what you did for me..." Luz called out, gently setting the plate down. She stayed there for ten minutes before dropping her head and crawling back in through the window of her room. Luz trotted over to her table and took a pen in her mouth and started writing in her notebook. After a couple of minutes she glanced back outside at the plate only to immediately run out to see the plate was empty and the glass of milk was gone. A huge smile grew on Luz's face as she looked around, hoping to see Red Hood. Not seeing any signs of him Luz went back inside, although she kept spinning around hoping to catch Red Hood once again, but after twenty minutes of "Aha!" But seeing nothing Luz gave up and went back to her homework, that is until she heard the sounds of glass clanging against the plate that she ran out and saw the empty glass sitting on the empty plate. She squealed with joy and grabbed the dishes as she looked up
"I hope you liked it!" Luz called out before coming back inside. Red Hood hung on the edge of a windowsill looking down, chuckling as he saw Luz's happy expression. Red Hood then saw some lights in the distance and narrowed his eyes, seeing four pegasus guards flying over head with lights flashing down acting as searchlights. Red Hood quickly scaled down the building and ran into an alleyway, opening up a manhole and jumping down, hearing the water flowing by him as he ran
"You're drawing more attention, at this rate they'll have the whole city looking for you." Batman pointed out
"I suggest lying low for the time being, let the heat die down a bit." Red Robin suggested
"And what? Let the criminals get comfortable? Maybe I should give them all a basket and a note that says I'm going on vacation." Jason snapped at Red Robin as he ran further into the sewers "They can send however many they want after me, these scumbags aren't going to get away."
Jason continued to run through the sewers until he eventually came back to his hideout, marking out his now deceased target as he went over the notes. They'll be scared, but he needs to do more. Show them that no matter where they hide or how many men they have guarding them, they will always be within reach of the Red Hood.
HOSPITAL. NEXT DAY.
Detective Bullhorn and Twitch were standing outside of the general hospital where the mares from the shipping container were being treated at, as much as they wanted to give the mares time to recover they needed more Intel. Walking inside the two detectives moved up to the front desk and showed their badges, asking about the mares
"Most of them are still in no condition to answer any questions, but one of them seemed to be stable enough. Just please, be patient with her." The nurse told the two as she led them up to the mare's room.
Opening the door the two detectives saw the mare lying in bed, she had a long blonde mane and tail, peach colored fur, dark green eyes, and had a ballerina shoes with a ribbon wrapped around them for a cutiemark.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Twitch called out, being mindful to not be too loud. The mare slowly gazed over at the two and spoke
"Y-Y-Yes?" Her voice was dry and shaky, her lips looked pale and almost blue.
"I'm detective Twitch, this is my partner Bullhorn. I know that you have been through so much, but would you mind answering a few questions?" Twitch asked
"I... I-I don't... Mind..." She said
"Thank you, ma'am. Do you remember your name?"
"M-M-My name... My name is... L-Lily..."
"Miss Lily, can you tell how what happened to you?" Twitch pulled out a notepad and pen
"I-I... I-I was at a party i-in Prance... M-My friends took me there for vacation. I-I remember talking to this... S-Stallion and we had a few drinks together. He put something in my drink because I-I started feeling funny, my friends must've thought I-I was going with him because they didn't s-stop me... T-Then... H-He..." Tears started streaming down Lily's face as she remembered that horrible night
"You can stop here if you-"
"No!" Lily cut Bullhorn off "I-I... I don't want to be afraid anymore... H-He... He and some others... They used me... They used me for days or weeks... They kept putting this thing in me to keep me from moving. N-Next thing I know I was being forced i-inside a carriage and then into that container with other mares." Lily told them
"These ponies, do you remember what they look like?" Bullhorn asked
"I-I... I only remember... Him. He had orange fur, black mane and tail, he wore pants so I-I couldn't see his cutiemark." Lily explained
"I see, did he give you a name?" Twitch asked
"H-He said his name was F-Fire Hoof." Lily told them
"Could be an alias, but this is helpful. Thank you, Lily. I promise you that we will find him and bring him to Justice." Bullhorn promised Lily, she smiled weakly at him and closed her eyes. Twitch and Bullhorn left to allow Lily to rest.
The two walked down the hall and prepared to leave when Bullhorn suddenly got a call from the chief.
//Bullhorn, Twitch, head down to the Lux Star Hotel. We got a body.// Bullhorn and Twitch were both stunned to hear such news so quickly but were determined to find more information.
//Copy that, sir. On our way.// Bullhorn and Twitch immediately ran to their carriage and trotted off towards the hotel.
Detective Bullhorn and Twitch arrived at the hotel and headed inside the lobby, already seeing other units of officers questioning everypony inside.
"I didn't expect him to strike this fast." Twitch said as he followed Bullhorn to the elevator.
"We need to catch this freak before things get out of hooves." Bullhorn said. "If ponies start thinking he's some sort of local folk hero then it might lead to a whole flux of "vigilantes" and who knows how many ponies will get hurt." The two hopped off the elevator and walked down the hall into the room that had yellow tape and forensic. What they saw made their blood run cold.
"Is that..." Twitch walked up to the dead victim and examined him. Twitch nearly vomited as they saw the corpse. His chest cut open with his guts spewing out and his heart shoved into his own mouth.
"Sick, twisted fucker." Bullhorn said as he walked over to one of the forensic scientist on the scene. "How long was he like this?"
"A few hours, room service came by and when his security team went to ask if she can clean they found him like this." The mare said as she snapped a photo.
"Sweet Celestia. This was our lead." Bullhorn said as he rubbed his neck.
"We have patrols scouring the city, he couldn't have gone far, sir." An officer said.
"You think he'd be close to here? He was at the damn harbor, this is how he must've known!" Bullhorn shouted in a fit of rage, stomping his hoof out of frustration.
Twitch stepped back and walked over to his partner. "Sir, we'll catch him."
"Before or after he turns this city into a warzone?" Bullhorn scoffed as he looked out the window. Narrowing his eyes as he tried to mentally prepare himself for what's to come.
NIGHT. NO POV.
Red Hood found himself looking over the building Estrella lives in, making sure to keep an eye out that the gangs don't try to retaliate or attack her home. He saw her on her desk writing away in a notebook while wearing headphones.
"Kinda impressive that they have that level of technology." Nightwing said.
"I wonder if they're smarter than humans were or if magic gave them a higher advantage." Tim pondered.
"I'm wondering when the fuck you all are going to leave me alone?" Jason snapped at them, looking up and slowly backing away into the shadows as he saw pegasus flying overhead, they didn't seem to be guards as they flew around and moved clouds around, forming dark, gray clouds. Narrowing his eyes Jason watched as the Pegasus kicked the clouds a bit and soon rain started falling, heavy rain at that.
"Fascinating." Tim said as he chuckled. "The power of weather in the palm of your hand. Or in their case, hoof."
"Nerd." Jason said as he looked back down, seeing Estrella struggling with her homework. Jason looked around to make sure the coast was clear before rushing over. Landing on the wall he reached down and placed a finger on the glass.
Estrella was tapping he pencil on the desk as she tried to solve this math problem when she heard something. She sat up and looked around her room, trying to find what was making that noise, then she turned towards the window and saw something. She stepped forward and saw a number.
24.
Estrella titled her head and looked back at her homework, her eyes widening as she immediately wrote down the answer. Estrella rushed over to the window to check outside, she could just barely make out the silhouette of Red Hood. Estrella opened the window a bit and poked her head outside.
"Thank you!" She shouted, Red Hood glancing back and raising his hand before immediately running away.
Jason ran as he saw patrols of pegasus overhead with lights shining down, he needed to get out fast. Jumping off a roof and falling down Jason quickly used his grappling hook to slow his descent, landing in an alleyway. Crouching behind some trash cans Jason watched overhead as a light shines down, searching below. Luckily Jason hid himself well as a few seconds later the lights left. Waiting a few more moments Jason went to leave until he heard voices coming into the alleyway. Four ponies. Three stallions, one mare by their voices. Jason couldn't see our from his hiding spot but he could still hear them.
"The buck is with all the damn added level of security in this damn city? A pony can't make an honest bit these days." One stallion grumbled while kicking a can.
"You know why, that fucking psycho that's been running around. Killing everypony with so much as a tail hair in the game." Another stallion stated, the sounds of a match lighting up could be heard.
"Oh, not this again. You seriously believe that rumor? It's just a fucking nightmare story made up by the police." The third stallion angrily said. "There is no "Monster" lurking in the shadows. Don't be a pussy."
"Bullshit! You've seen the bodies! You know how many of our colts that freak have put down? How many operations he stopped by killing everypony? Not to mention how they all died, all those weird metallic casings found at nearly every scene he was at!" The stallions argued back and forth until the mare spoke up, seemingly to be the one in charge.
"Will you idiots shut up! We aren't trying to draw attention, damnit!" The mare sighed before talking again. "The boss already got a plan in mind. We can't do any of the major operations we had before, so we're sticking with smuggling and using dead drops. Only a select few know every other dread drop location. So none of you idiots better go running your mouth off about this to anypony." The mare warned them as she walked down the alley "We head to the drop site, find the marked location, and we find the product. Once done we put the bits in the spot and another pony will grab it. It's not much at first, but we got drops all over the city. The boss made sure to keep a plan for everything."
"Still, what if that freak-"
"Who do you fear more. Some made up monster under the bed or the boss?" The mare asked, suddenly a chill ran up their spines as a laugh echoed throughout the alleyway. All of them looking around and huddled together back to back.
"That's a good question!"
The mare looked around as her eyes landed on the trash nearby, narrowing her eyes she saw something that made her blood run cold.
"Let's find out the answer." Red Hood lunged out from the trash and grabbed the face of one of the stallions, slamming him into the ground headfirst. Red Hood then backhanded the stallion next to him and sent him flying into the dumpster, his face making a dent against the dumpster as he dropped. The last stallion tried making a break for it but Red Hood quickly fired his grappling hook and it entangled around his back hooves, tripping him. The mare took out a switchblade and lunged at Red Hood, but he effortlessly grabbed the blade and with his hand he snapped it off. The mare fell and slowly backed away out of fear, but couldn't get up. Frozen in terror. The stallion tried to free himself but Red Hood quickly stood over him, taking out Nightwing's batons he started beating the stallion, over and over and over again. The stallion pleaded for his life, but his cries fell on deaf ears as he could do nothing but lie there and accept his slow death.
Red Hood eyes were unfazed even through his helmet, holding no emotion behind them as he continued to beat the stallion, blood flying like the paint on a brush, staining the ground and the walls. It wasn't until the mare accidentally knocked out an empty bottle did red Hood stop, looking down to see the caves in mess of what was once a head on the ground. His hands and the batons covered in blood as it slowly dripped. Red Hood then slowly turned around and walked towards the mare, the poor mare whimpering and sweating profusely.
"Tell me where the rest of those drops are." Red Hood demanded. Blood dripping down his batons.
"I-I can't... H-He'll kill me..." The mare whimpered, suddenly she was slammed up against the wall. A hand gripping her throat and slowly crushing her windpipe. The mare gasped for air and tried hitting his hand to break free, but his grip just tightened even more.
"What do you think I will do to you if you don't?" Red Hood slammed her harder against the wall as she gasped for air "Start talking now before I lose my patient." She gasped for air and gritted her teeth, but she eventually caved in and told him everything. Dead Drops, who was coming, what they were selling, how much bits would be there, everything she had in her head.
"If you're lying to me."
"I-I'm not! I-I s-swear on my mother's grave!" The mare gasped as tears streamed down her face. Red Hood narrowed his eyes and pulled her close.
"Do me a favor." Red Hood said, his voice was so cold that it could give ice frost bite.
"A-A-anything!"
"When you get to Hell, say hi to all your buddies for me." Red Hood then raised his baton and brought it down on her head.
NEXT MORNING. NO POV
Bullhorn, Twitch, Athena, and Night Shroud all stood at the center of the crime scene. Four victims. Two with their head bashed in so much that they were unrecognizable, and two of them with their necks snapped and jaws nearly torn off that the muscle in their mouths could be seen hanging by threads. But one thing they all had in common was this.
A Bat shaped symbol on their backs. A warning. A threat.
