The Worst is Yet to Come [Batman]

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Jason decided that here out of all places would be the most iconic spot. He had just finished up his 'business' with a drug dealer who was selling it to kids, out of all people. Jason hated scum like that so he wiped him off the face of the earth. Unfortunately Jason knew he was leaving a trail of blood behind. Constantly, the news had featured stories of his acts. Drug dealers, pimps, businessmen, all winding up dead with his initials on their back.

He knew that Batman, if he was still breathing was following his trail. He didn't know how far behind Batman was, and how much time it would take for him to get here. But he managed to estimate. He decided to wait for his former mentor to show up, to finally see him with his own eyes. See the very man he held a unstoppable grudge for.

He didn't hear anything yet, but with Bruce that was the usual. He knew that somewhere the Batman was lurking in the shadows awaiting the next damsel in distress to show herself. But he was hoping that for tonight, Bruce would actually make it on time.

He had it perfectly planned out. He placed the body of the drug dealer in the corner. 'Out of sight, out of mind as they always say' Thought Jason, with a smirk hidden behind the red metallic helmet. He then stood his place, just in front of his adoptive grandparents former resting spot on the cold pavement. He could see the small traces of blood and white chalk despite how much they tried to weather away. He awaited, the gun lazily hanging in his left hand, a slack, yet at the same time obviously serious posture present. He was going to face Bruce, it was simple really. He would tell him a line, hint at his identity and then disappear like the criminals he kills.

(Tag: @oldmanjenkins)

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For weeks now, the bodies had been piling up. Each and everyone of them killed execution style, one bullet to the head before having the letters R and H carved into their bodies. Sometimes the carvings were done post-mortem, the rest of them were done before the mercy of the bullet stopped the pain. Batman had theories about who it could be but the most prominent one was that a criminal had taken the moniker of the Red Hood, since he was the only criminal with the initials R and H. But if that were true, then this Red Hood was different. The Red Hood was just a throw-away identity that was used by crooks as a means of disguising who the real leader was. There had been four Red Hood's in the past, the most famous of which fell into a vat of chemicals and presumably died. But this time, the Red Hood was targeting criminals. Petty thugs, drug dealers, pimps... the same people that Batman targeted on his war on crime. Of course, it could just as easily be someone else. Unlikely, but there was always the possibility.

It didn't take long for the press to go to town with the killings. No eye-witnesses, no footage of the killer. No-one knew who this RH killer was. Autopsy reports that Batman had managed to get his hands on showed that the carvings were done slowly, methodically, deliberately. This person was full of rage, full of anger, all of it being directed at the criminals. He had to be stopped. Batman remembered Alfred's question when he told him as such whilst suiting up at the Batcave...

"Forgive me sir, but the news seems to herald him as a hero. So why are you..."

"Because he's going to cause a war Alfred," was the reply Bruce gave, "The Russians, The Italians, The Chinese... any gang will want to find out who this is. And they will tear up Gotham to do so. Whoever this person is, they're doing more harm than good. And he's not a hero Alfred. He's a coward."

"A coward sir?"

"Yes. He's using fear and intimidation to eradicate criminals. But that never works..."

"Well, you are the leading expert on fear and intimidation sir and, dare I say it, you do something similar nearly every night."

Bruce could count on one hand the number of people who would dare challenge anything he said like Alfred sometimes did. But it was why he valued his council. Alfred always kept Bruce in the light, always made sure that he kept some humanity left within him. Bruce had suited up and only had the cowl to put on... the face that criminals feared.

"I punish criminals who flaunt the law Alfred," countered Bruce, staring at the mask whilst he gave his answer "I leave them scared, intimidated, broken... but alive. Alive so that they learn their mistakes, so they can experience justice for the countless lives they've ruined. But whoever this is, they aren't interested in justice. They're carrying out a vendetta."

Bruce placed on the cowl, secured it in place, and became The Batman.

"And I will stop them."

Only ten minutes after Batman had driven out of the cave and into the streets, the comm system flashed up. Alfred's face appeared on screen.

"I hate to interrupt your leisurely drive sir, but Gotham Police radio's are reporting screams, followed by gunshots and silence in an alleyway in Crime Alley. Satellite Imagery is... well.."

"What is it Alfred?" Batman didn't like the sound of Alfred's hesitation in his voice.

"Sending Satellite Images now sir. You should see this."

Waynetech Satellites hovered over Gotham, providing countless wireless services to the people of Gotham. But they also allowed surveillance over Gotham City when needed. And the images they showed were of a man standing in an alleyway within Crime Alley. And he was wearing a red helm upon his head.

"Alfred, send an encrypted email to Gordon," Batman instructed, "Tell him that someone has taken up the mantle of Red Hood. He's the killer. I'm heading over there now."

It took a few minutes for Batman to drive over to Crime Alley. He parked the car three blocks away in another alleyway then took to the rooftops. This Red Hood, who was he? The images showed that he was just leaning across the wall with a gun his hand. And there was something else... the spot that Red Hood was in, it was the same alley in which Bruce's parents were gunned down all those years ago. Red Hood had certainly picked the place to meet.

Batman gazed down and looked at him, his cape covering his torso so that Red Hood couldn't see his utility belt. Under the cape, Batman placed one hand upon the Batarang Compartment and the other upon his Grapnel Gun, in case a fight was going to break out. Which is most certainly was...

"Red Hood," Batman called out, "You have one chance at surrendering. I suggest you take it..."

[Deleted]

Red Hood smirked, as he looked up  to face his mentor. He was still the same scowling, bat-eared, utility belt wearing Bruce he had known.

"Surprised you came, old friend" He began. "I decided to meet you here, right Surprised you actually came, but you are 10 minutes late. I expected better of you." He said, then threw his arms in the air in a U shape, as if to present the dirty Crime Alley to Batman." I decided that it's best we start here, at the beginning." He taunted, then he lowered his gun to the blood-stained pavement, the remnants of what was left of the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. "You failed me, you STILL let the freaks roam Gotham. You let them loose, you are the reason that Gotham is still the same crime-ridden city." He continued his speech, pacing back and forth, his gun following his hands as they moved with his words.


"Don't you see what i'm doing? I'm doing what you won't." Jason paused to turn his attention to his former mentor, pointing the gun. "I'm putting criminals down, I'm not giving them any easy way out. I'm serving the perfect punishment for scum like them." He said, his gun directs to the corpse in the background. "Do you know how many kids have died because of this prick? He sold  dangerous drugs, to innocent kids. Do you know how many parents want this garbage dead?" He asked. "So I did it for them, he won't be killing anymore kids." Jason then switched his focus back to Bruce, the gun pointed straight to his face. He knew his mentors claims of surrender were nothing more then intimidation, he knew him too well. He was amazed at how Bruce managed to listen to him ramble on and on. Maybe he had changed, he was listening to Jason for once after all.

"You let filth like him go to jail for merely a couple months, then they are back on the streets dealing again." He spoke "Criminals will never learn, as hard as that is to accept for you. They aren't like you and me, they don't learn from their mistakes, they just continue life as they know it." He asked  Bruce, then clicks the gun to sign that it is loaded and slowly pressed his finger on the trigger, the bullet getting ready to fire just in case Bruce charged him. He had a perfect aim and the head and he wasn't going to lose it just yet.

"So go ahead Brucey. Hit me with your best shot." He remarked with a smirk, waiting to see the reaction on the caped crusader's face when his true identity was spoken. He already had his knife ready, concealed in his sleeve.

Then he prepared for the worst.

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The moment Red Hood began speaking, Batman pressed a switch on his utility belt that started the recording. As if he could read his mind, Alfred spoke up: "I'll run it through voice recognition sir..." All he needed to do was wait for the results to come back.
Batman's expression remained stony and impassive as the Red Hood spoke up, but there was problems. The Red Hood spoke of going back to the beginning as he gestured to the very spot that Bruce's parents were shot down. How could he possibly know the connection between that incident and The Batman? And then the Red Hood began to speak of cleaning Gotham, how this was justice.

"All you've done is start a war," Batman countered, "You haven't changed anything, you've made things worse. Another drug dealer will fill his place, and they'll hunt for the murderer of the first one. And they'll start with families of the victims and go from there. All you've done is put the victims in the trigger sights. And if anyone dies, their blood is on your hands...

"You've robbed the families of any chance of justice they'll get. And I intend to make sure that you answer to them for that."

It was then that the world changed for Batman. The Red Hood looked at him and said...

"Go ahead Brucey. Hit me with your best shot..."

No! How? Who... impossible. Bruce stood frozen at the revelation that Red Hood had taunted him with. And it left him wide open...

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He shook his head as he chuckled at the big menacing Batman freeze with what was his equivalent of fear. 
¨You still dont get it, do you?" He remarked. ¨I'm starting a war because they are afraid, they know the punishments they will serve and they find going out with a bang better then just dying." He eyed the Batman. 

¨Your morality has blinded you more then you think." He said with a very gruff tone. He didn't care for Bruce's explanations. ¨You let a murderer, a madman, a complete psychopath go and kill millions. Then you let him into the asylum and he breaks out within a moments time and kills again, sometime he even goes for those closest to you" He shot out, the anger rose more and more in his voice. ¨and you let him. You let him hurt those people and serve the smallest punishment doing it. Arkham doesn't fix criminals, they encourage them." He said. ¨Things are not going to change if you don't force them to." He said. ¨I want their goons, their heirs to come after me. So I can punish them too." He said with a smirk as he eyed Bruce, who was dead silent out of fear. ¨The real criminal is you Batman, get your head out of the gutter.¨ He then squeezed the trigger harder.
¨Gotham won't change because you won't let it.¨

Jason finally pulled back the trigger to release the bullet at his mentor. He knew it wouldn't do anything but encourage a fight, and that's exactly what he wanted. 

[Deleted]

"SIR!"
Alfred's voice pushed through Batman's shock and as he came to, he saw the gun being pointed towards him. Batman darted to the left just as the Red Hood fired and felt the bullet tear against the neck of his costume before flying harmlessly behind him. Without waiting, Batman threw to the ground flash and smoke pellets and let the smoke engulf him before disappearing completely into the shadows. In truth, he had moved back and down the side of the building... silently landing on the ground before slinking into the shadows again to plan his next move.

"And what will you say to the innocent victims who will get caught in the crossfire?" Batman asked Red Hood whilst he worked out a plan, "What will you say to the men, women and children you want to protect as they lie dying in the gutter? Or are you so narrow minded to think your war will have no casualties?"

As Batman's voice cut through the darkness, it seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was as if there was no source to the voice at all, as if the darkness was speaking to Red Hood. In truth, it was tiny microphones hidden in the darkness that Batman had planted upon the way down. Smaller than a button, they were easy to hide and throw under the cover of the shadows.

Red Hood was goading Batman into a fight... a rookie manoeuvre. Whoever this person was, they were dangerous. They knew everything, his identity and they no doubt knew of some of Batman's manoeuvres. Batman would have to play it smart... he would have to find a way to out think his opponent before he could do any serious damage.

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Red Hood chuckled at Bruce, doing the same old tricks.
"I know this trick, old man. I've seen you do it a hundred times." He shouted out. "I guess you really can't teach an old dog new tricks." Jason taunted, switching onto his night vision. He fired a couple of warning shots to Bruce, he wasn't afraid though.

Jason chuckled to himself. "You should be ashamed." He said. "I'm doing Gotham way better then you are. I am bring this city the protector it needs to thrive." His voice gradually got louder before he fired off another shot.

He could feel his memory switching and just for a second he was back at the warehouse. Struggling at the hands of the Joker, no Batman in sight. As the memory exited, Jason let out a large groan. "Don't you see? I'm killing so that this city can be safe. From the Joker, From the Al Ghuls. From everybody." He said. "I kill so that my city doesn't live in fear of crime, can you say the same?"

Jason fired off more shots as he waited for Bruce's next move. All he wanted right now is to take off his helmet, but of course there was always next time. He held his knife at his side. He was ready to engage Bruce whenever.

He could imagine Bruce right now, busy with whatever tech. He knew Bruce was trying to recover, trying to plan against Jason who knew so much. So Jason waited for his mentor's next move. It was like a game of chess.

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Batman dived behind a dumpster as Red Hood began firing warning shots. So he had night vision installed upon his helmet as well? Whomever this was had done their homework and had prepared for this. They obviously knew about the microphones transmitting his voice but they couldn't have known about the upgrade that was applied to them last week. With a flick of a switch hidden upon his belt, the microphones stopped transmitting Batman's voice and instead, they began to transmit a loud car-horn like sound. And Batman threw at least six of the microphones out there.

Six car horns blared out with enough sound to wake up every dog in a one mile radius. The noise would last about six seconds, during which Batman came from his hiding spot and rushed Red Hood. He jumped and executed a flying kick aimed at Red Hood's face, designed to dislocate the man's jaw. For all his talk about keeping Gotham safe, Red Hood was nothing more than a criminal, and would be treated as such.

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Red Hood winced and groaned at the horns. He hated to admit it but Bats had gotten better, as far as Jason was aware he had the advantage. He managed to dodge the kick but the pain in Jason's ear still made him vulnerable.

He managed to recover and threw a small punch in Batman's direction, near the cowl. "Nevermind, I guess an old dog CAN learn new tricks" Jason taunted again.

He would need to be smart, he knew how aggressive Bruce can get and with all the taunting he had done, he wouldn't be surprised if Bruce got close to killing him. His best strategy was to play defensive right now and he knew it.

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The punch as easily deflected with a forearm block, since Red Hood was no doubt in pain over Batman's distraction. The microphones had stopped now and it was just the two of them fighting together. Batman was far too close for Red Hood to use his guns any more which meant that the battle would end in a fist fight. They were also in a narrow alleyway which didn't allow for much movement, which a change of tactics.

Red Hood went on the defensive, leaving Batman to push on the offensive. He new that his ears must be ringing right now, and the helmet he was wearing would spread any impact upon it around the ears... a perfect target. Batman let loose a flurry of punches and kicks, each on perfectly executed from years of training, directed at the Red Hood. He ended the flurry with an open cupped strike to both of the Red Hood's ears.

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Red Hood took the punches, working through the immense pain of them. He managed to pull out his knife and with that, Jason swung it full force as his former mentor turned attacker.

"You are getting slow, old man." The resurrected teen taunted, backing away from Bruce. "Not as slow as you were though."

Jason chuckled, readying a smoke bomb. He had done enough damage to Bruce to have him being tracked down. Which was all he needed. He laughed at Bruce's concerned curiosity of who was under the red helmet. He would find out soon.

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As The Red Hood reached to pull out a weapon, Batman instinctively moved backwards. He felt the knife tear through the fabric of his Batsuit and the top layer of his skin. Had he reacted slower, the knife strike would have gutted him. But the most worrying thing was that the knife cut through his suit as easy as a hot knife through butter. There were very few blades that could do that, since the Batsuit was protected by a material that was resistant to knives.

Whoever this Red Hood was, they were fast, had knowledge of Batman's identity and his equipment and they were armed with powerful weapons. Though Batman managed to land a few punches and kicks towards Hood, they seemed to have little effect. But the knife attack had left Hood wide open for a powerful attack. Batman took advantage of this and, ignoring Red Hood's obvious taunts, thrust an open palm strike towards the chest of Red Hood that would leave him gasping for breath if it landed.

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Red Hood suddenly lost his balance when Batman struck him in the chest. His armor dulled the effect but the power still sent him to the floor. Jason groaned angrily as he weakly got up from the pavement and unleashed a combination of gunshots and knife thrusts then he did ever before.

His helmet was secured on his head, but due to Bruce's massive combination of force had a dent which could be used to alternatively pry the helmet off of him. But Jason knew better to leave that exposed, so with whatever energy the force of Bruce's attacks didn't wipe out he used to his advantage, relentless sending wave after wave of more stabbing and firing.

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His open palmed strike hit home and Red Hood was sent down in a heap. Batman quickly gazed over his foe and noticed the dent in his head from the strike he had made. A possible weak spot perhaps, it would be easy to knock the helm off and find out who was behind it. When Red Hood rose from the ground, Batman noticed that he was groaning with the effort. Whereas Batman had not even expended any of his energy as of yet.

Batman shifted his defensive stance to an offensive one. The battle had gone on long enough and it was time to finish it. No more chances, no more going easy. Red Hood swung with his knife, but there was no power behind the strike and it was easily evaded. But then there was the gun. In a tight space like the alley, it would have been difficult to aim. But Red Hood was close to Batman and the shot was wild. As it was, the gun shot rang out in the alleyway and Batman felt all air leave his lungs as he was thrown from ground.

The suit had managed to take the impact of the bullet and stop it from progressing, but the force of the shot was still powerful enough to possibly leave a bruise there. As he hit the floor, Batman grabbed into his utility pouch and threw some black balls that exploded and flashed upon impact.

[Deleted]

Red Hood coughed as his vision was surrounded by a white flash. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't knocked out before continuing to empty another clip forward to hopefully finish off his mentor for the time being. A task not so easily achieved, Red Hood rushed out of the flash and coughed, the dent had made it harder for him to resist gases and the like.

He shifted to defensive and kept his knife at the ready along with his gun. If he needed to, he would kill his mentor tonight.

The helmet was useless, Jason finally realized this and smirked as he called out to the darkness.

"You want to know who I am?" He spoke to Bat who lay on the floor, turning his gun once again in that direction before dropping it to take off the Helmet and tossing it to the side, revealing the angered face of Jason Todd.

"I'm your biggest mistake."