//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: The Red Hood // by MorpheustheDream //------------------------------// ~~JT~~ "Rainbow! Rainbow, stay with me alright? Help's on the way." I tell her, but I can tell she's fallen unconscious. I used the binoculars installed in my helmet to see the large man running away from the scene of the crime. From the way he's built, and how he looks, he must be Tirek. Well then, looks like I won't have to look too hard for him. He's literally out in the open. But first, gotta make sure the ambulance and the authorities are on their way. I then turn off the binoculars and look at the emergency vehicles location, and see that they're less than a few blocks away from our location. Good. Now that I know Rainbow will be in safe hands, I can go confront Tirek and save her sister Scootaloo. I stand up from my crouched position and look down the street as I see Tirek pushing anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path out of the way. I then pull out a grappling hook and shoot it up to a nearby roof to get on top of it. As I climb onto the roof, I look down and see the ambulance and police arrive. I smile underneath my mask, knowing that she'll survive the blow to her head. I also notice that an officer looks up and see's me up on the roof. I salute him and start running to the other side of the roof, chasing after Tirek. The officer, who would happen to be Captain Shining Armour, tells his partner to stay put and help out. Right afterward, he runs down the street parallel to the buildings I'm running on. I can see him following me every time I jump off one roof and land on the next one. He must think I'm a suspect. Well then, I guess it won't hurt for him to follow and see what'll happen. Though I'm more than sure Bruce would be quite upset with me allowing him to follow. Anyways, I was about to jump onto another roof when I saw Tirek turn the corner and run into the park. I look behind me and see that Officer Armour see's it as well, and turns to chase after Tirek into the park. I chuckle a bit, knowing that this guy was well over his head. I then hook onto the edge of the roof and slide down the side of it until I'm touching the ground. I remove the hook and proceed to run into the park. By the time I arrive at the scene, as I look down at the gathering from on top of a tree, Tirek was holding onto Scootaloo tightly. The girl was crying her heart out, begging for the man to let her go. It didn't help when Tirek yelled at the girl to shut up. I could visibly see the recoil from the sudden yelling in her face, and it made her sob even more. Oh yeah. This bastard is definitely gonna get beaten down. "Bat! I know you're watching me! So come on out before the girl gets it!" I heard him yell out. If he even touched her in the wrong way, I'd be breaking all of his fingers. As I was about to drop down from the tree I was in, I saw Officer Armour pull out his Glock 22 and aimed it at Tirek. I had a debate as to interfere or not, but decided against it. Nothing wrong with a little more information. The worst possible outcome from this is that he is a damn metahuman. "Put the girl down, and put your hands in the air now!" The officer aimed his gun directly at Tirek, and what kinda unnerved me the most was how he grinned at the Officer like this happened every day. Scootaloo saw the officer and begged for him to help her out, not wanting to be in the mans' grasp anymore. "Please help me! I don't wanna be here anymore!" The pure panic in her voice, I just couldn't stand by anymore. And when I was jumping down, I saw the Officer about to pull the trigger until he heard me drop down from the tree. Everyone around looked at me, not expecting to see me at all. "Who the fuck are you? You're not the Bat." Tirek asked out loud, and I pulled out my handgun and aimed it at Tirek. "Of course I'm not Batman. He's busy in Gotham. Though I'm surprised you don't recognize me. But if you want me to help refresh those memories of yours, then I'd be glad to help out. Amongst the FBI, CIA, NSA, Homeland Security, KGB, Mossad, Interpol, and the Justice League, I'm known as the Red Hood. That ring any bells now?" I could then see it click in his head. And when it did, the fear slowly crept onto his face, but he managed to keep it hidden from everyone else. But when you're taught by the Bat, the League of Assassins, etc., you pick up on those kinds of things. "Well then, I won't be needing the human shield anymore," he then practically threw Scootaloo at me, and I jumped up to catch her. The impact had me rolling as I had her clutched against my body as we rolled a few feet. When we stopped, I stood up and let Scootaloo go as she then ran over to Officer Armour. "Captain Armour. I suggest you get her to her older sister or her parents. She'll need to be with someone familiar after what just happened." He put his gun away, and held the girl close to him as he nodded his head in response. "What about you? Are you sure you can handle him?" I snorted a bit as I was slightly offended at the thought of me being unable to take down a Bane wannabe. "I'm more than capable. Just be sure to come back with a few more officers and a squad car. And an ambulance just in case." He looked surprised as he asked me "Why would we need an ambulance?" I shook my head and turned it towards him. "Because I have a thing against criminals who deal with children like her. Doesn't matter what they're doing. If it involves children, then I usually beat said criminal to an inch of their life at times. That's why I say you may need an ambulance. Now go. Things are going to get ugly." Right as I said that, I barely managed to duck underneath Tirek's right hook. "GO!" I yelled at Officer Armour, as he grabbed Scootaloo and ran back to where the other emergency officials were at. I kept ducking and leaning away from Tirek's strikes, looking for an opening. And when I saw one just as he threw another right hook, I took it. I grabbed his arm and held it up as I started to wail into him. Two punches to his stomach, a kick to his left leg, then a roundhouse kick to his face. He stumbled back a bit and wiped a bit of blood off of his mouth. "Not bad. Though you're gonna need a lot more to take me out." He then put on what I guess would be his signature grin, and rushed at me. The sudden speed he gained caught me off guard, and he capitalized on that opportunity. He grabbed the side of my head and slammed his fist into my gut several times before I managed to wrap my legs around his arm and flip him onto the ground. I stood back up while holding my stomach in slight pain. Tirek stood back up and wiped some dirt off of his shoulders, and he got into the basic stance of a back-street brawler. Basic stance for criminals like him, with plenty of holes in his defense. I then let go of my stomach, and pulled out two 50 caliber pistols, and held them by the barrel as electricity flowed through the bottom of the weapons. "Let's get serious now, shall we?" I ask him, to which he smirks and charges straight at me. I roll out of the way as he barrels by me, but stops immediately and backhands me hard, knocking me onto my back. I kick-flip back onto my feet and start attacking him again. He manages to block most of my strikes, while a few slipped by and struck his face and body. The volts of electricity continuously hitting his face and body were leaving several bruises and scarring. You would honestly think that he would've been down by now, but he just keeps on going. As I was about to hit him in the face one more time, he grabbed both of my wrists and started to squeeze them hard, forcing me to drop my weapons. I tried to pull myself away, but he had an iron grip on my wrists, and I could feel a few bones about to break with the pressure he was applying onto my wrists. Well then, if I can't escape his grasp, I'll use it to my advantage. I plant a foot onto his knee, and jump up and knee his face over and over again. When I feel his grip start to loosen, I wrap my legs around his neck, and bend backward and flip him over me and onto his back. He started to groan in slight pain but started to get back up again. But I was up before him, and I immediately got on top of him as I started to beat his face in. Every punch brought up blood. Every punch contained a small bit of my anger. Every. Single. Punch. By the time I had finished and the authorities had arrived, his face had almost been caved in. His eyes almost swollen shut, several teeth missing, and his nose severely broken. I stood up, and holstered my pistols after I grabbed them. I stood off to the side, watching as they put Tirek onto the stretcher and hauled him off to the hospital to treat his injuries before he would be sent to prison. I also noticed that there were a few civilians watching, and had their phones out and pointed right at me. Must've recorded everything that happened. When I looked in their direction, I waved a little, smirking underneath the helmet. A truck was then passing by, and that was when I disappeared onto the roof. But no one noticed me go up there, and by the time the truck had fully passed, I was no longer where they all saw me. 'Looks like I'm going to be a celebrity in this town. Bruce is gonna have a hay day about this. And with me being a new celebrity for the city, it means I'll now have the Justice League over my head now, checking up on me, along with the rest of the world's governments and security agencies. Just my fucking luck.' ~~SS~~ 8:00 pm. Finally back at my pitiful excuse for a home. An abandoned warehouse that provides some heat during the nighttime. I stay away from this place as long as I can because it reminds me of the situation I'm in. I always love jumping at the opportunity of staying the night at one of my friend's homes, because I actually have a roof over my head, instead of one where it can quite possibly collapse on top of me during my sleep. As I was about to enter, a man with a red helmet was in front of me suddenly. "You live here don't you?" He asked me out of nowhere. I jumped back in shock, thinking about running away when he held his hands up. "Easy there. I'm not gonna hurt you." "W-Who are you?" I asked him, to which he replied, "Red Hood. And I can help you move away from this place and into a better home if you'd like." I stared at him as if he just said he could give me the world. "You mean it?" He chuckled and nodded his head. "Yep. Now tell me, do you know Jason Todd?" I nodded my head silently, and he continued to speak. "Good. I just wanted to tell you that if you wanna live somewhere nice, and not in a hazardous location, then come to this address. Tell him I sent you, and that you wanna live with him. He'd be more than welcome to let you live with him." I was honestly about to burst into to tears. "W-Why? Why are you doing this for me?" He then wrapped his arms around me, and held me close as tears of joy fell down my face. "It's because I can relate to what you're going through." I looked at him as I pulled my head back, and asked, "What do you mean?" He sighed a bit, which made me regret asking in the first place. "Abandonment. I can tell by looking into your eyes that you were betrayed by someone you thought you could trust, and they abandoned you or tossed you aside. Trust me, I know what it's like." He nods his head and kept me close to his body until I calmed down enough to speak clearly. "I-I think I'll take up your offer. Would you help me out before I head on over please?" He laughed lightly and messed around with my hair, ruining its natural looks. "Sure thing. Now come on, don't want you being out too late."