A/N: The first chapter of this fic will describe what led up to Jason, Harley, and Roy to be running from the police at the end of Batman: Arkham Rebirth... and what happened after.
About a month had passed since Bruce and Selina left Gotham together. During that time, I went back to hunting down Black Mask. I figured taking down one of the biggest gun runners in the city was a good way to start cleaning up the crime in this city. Harley had been tagging along since Selina asked me to keep her company. We ended up moving into Selina's old apartment together so that we could have a place to stay. It was a lot better than paying the Broker's outrageous rates for one of his run-down dumps. Roy also stayed behind instead of going back to NYC with Tim. Said he felt like Harley and I understood him better than the Titans ever did. I was going through evidence when I heard my police scanner crackle to life.
"All units! Commissioner Cash and the SWAT team have a lead on Black Mask and are preparing to make a move. Any additional units near Port Adams rendezvous for back-up," the operator said.
"Roy! Harley!" I called out as I ran into the living room. They were in the middle of a game of Slap Jack, "Get dressed! We've got a lead on Black Mask."
"Dammit! I was just about to win!" Roy said as he went to his room.
"Red, the cops have been houndin' us evah since we started takin' down criminals," Harley stood up, "Is it worth possibly gettin' arrested just to be a good guy?"
"Yes. It very much is, Harley," I responded
"Okay!" she skipped off. I couldn't help but laugh.
A few minutes later, Roy and Harley were standing before me in their costumes. I cocked my pistols, Roy grabbed his arrows, and Harley gave her baseball bat a few test swings. We made our way down the fire escape, and into the garage where we had taken one of Harley's Humvees to use as our own personal transport vehicle since the three of us couldn't fit on my bike.
"Alright, the word is the Commish and SWAT have located Black Mask at Port Adams. We get there before the cops show up, take down Sionis and get out," I said, turning the ignition.
"But you said the cops were already moving. How are we gonna beat them there?" Roy asked.
"I have a plan," I patched into the Police comms, "This is Unit-357, reporting on the Black Mask lead. Do you copy, control?"
"Five by five, 357. Report," the operator responded.
"I just arrived at Port Adams. Black Mask and his men just left the area. Heading eastbound toward Dixon Dock West. In pursuit,"
"Copy that, 357. Maintain pursuit, I'll reroute the task force for back-up,"
"Copy. Maintaining pursuit," I cut communications.
"Well, that was easy," Harley kicked her feet up on the dash.
"It always is," I said.
Considering that Selina's apartment was in Drescher, Port Adams was a short drive toward the Southern tip of Founder's Island. I turned a corner and saw the police convoy heading northward toward Bleake Island. I slammed the gas pedal all the way to the floor mat. We only had about fifteen or twenty minutes before the police figured out what was really going on. Harley was practically hanging out of the window, laughing maniacally, as we sped down the streets of Gotham. I slammed on the breaks at the entrance to Port Adams.
"We're here," I said, turning off the engine.
"Let's go crack some skulls!" Harley hit her hand with her bat a couple of times.
"Glad you're on our side, Harles," Roy said, knocking an arrow.
We made our way into the shipping yard. I took Harley by the waist and grappled up to a stack of shipping containers; Roy followed us up. There were a number of cars parked around the yard while a number of Black Mask's men were unloading crates from containers and depositing them into the backs of trucks. Using the voice-amplifier in my visor, I listened in on one of their conversations.
"Hurry it up! Boss wants us outta here in ten! GCPD will be here any minute!" one of them shouted.
"We're goin' as fast as we can. I don't see you doin' any heavy liftin'!" another responded.
"I'm not paid to do labor, I get paid to make sure you idiots don't mess anything up,"
I turned off the amplifier and whispered to Harley and Roy, "Black Mask must not be here. I think they're delivering these crates to him. Roy plant a tracker on one of those trucks."
"On it," he leveled his bow and fired off a tracking arrow. During the flight, the tip of the arrow broke off and attached to the side of the truck just as it started to pull away.
"Now can we go beat them up?" Harley pouted.
"Yes, Harley. Now we can go beat them up," I chuckled.
"Say no more!" she jumped down into the middle of a group, "Heya, boys,"
Roy and I jumped down behind them, "Got a present for your boss," Roy said.
"Get 'em!" the thug from earlier commanded.
One of the men charged at me, and I tripped him over my foot, smacking the back of his head with the butt of my pistol as he fell down. Roy kicked another one in the stomach, smacking his bow down on the base of the thug's neck. One of them tried to grab Harley, but she smashed her bat into his knee cap. The thug fell to the ground, gripping his now shattered knee. I approached the one who had been giving orders earlier.
"Black Mask. Where is he?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Pfft. I ain't tellin' you nothin', Bat wannabe!" he spat.
I pointed my pistol at his foot and fired a round; he screamed in pain, "Let's try that again. Where. Is. Black. Mask?"
"You might as well just kill me, Red Hood. 'Cause if I tell you, I'm as good as dead anyway,"
I cracked the butt of my gun into the side of his head, "Tie him up, and let's go."
"GCPD! Hands in the air!" I turned around to see a GCPD officer leveling his gun at me, "Arsenal, Red Hood, and Harley Quinn, you are under arrest for multiple accounts of assault, battery, and obstruction of justice!"
"Sorry, Officer," I grabbed a smoke pellet off of my belt, "But we've still got work to do."
"You have the right to remain sil—" he was cut off by a cloud of smoke surrounding us.
"Follow me!" I said as I jumped into one of Black Masks SUVs.
Harley and Roy followed after me, "Red, how are we gettin' outta here? Cash's pigs have the entrance blocked."
I looked around for an escape option. I noticed a crane near the entrance gate with a ramp attached to it, "Roy, fire a couple of arrows at the ropes on that crane."
He nodded as he popped through the sun-roof, "Here goes nothing."
He shot off two arrows that cut the four ropes perfectly. The ramp slammed down to the ground, propped up on a stack of containers. I punched the gas and we soared over the entrance of Port Adams and right over the GCPD. Upon landing, they fired a few rounds into the back of the SUV as I slammed the gas pedal harder and sped off with a squeal of the tires. A group of police cars came toward us at full speed causing me to have to make a sharp right onto Penitence Bridge.
The GCPD was still chasing us, so I leaned out the window and shot out their tires causing them to lose control. The officers dove out as the car swerved clear off the bridge.
"Uh... Jay," Harley pointed ahead of us where police had set up a roadblock near the center of the bridge.
"Hold on!" I said as I sped toward the line of cop cars.
"Dude! You're crazy!" Roy said as he gripped the side of me and Harley's seats with white knuckles.
I pressed the pedal harder and lowered my head as we smashed right through the weak point in the barricade. Shards of glass and metal rained down on the bridge. I looked behind me to see a few more police cars in the distance. Zig-zagging down a few streets, I pulled the SUV into a nearby alley. I jumped out, Harley and Roy close behind me, as I threw a grenade under the vehicle. We ducked around a corner as the car went up in flames from the explosion.
"Quick! To the auto shop," I said as I ran toward Kingston.
"Woo-hoo!" Harley yelled as she ran beside me, "That was fun! I'll never get tired of this!"
"Good thing we've got plenty more where that came from," Roy caught up to us.
After a few minutes of running, we arrived at the old auto shop the Broker sold to Harley. I opened the door to Finger's Fixers as Harley and Arsenal rushed into the old repair garage. I could hear the police sirens closing in on us as I shut the door and turned on some lights. Roy peeled off his mask and went over to the fridge.
"Another successful escape, and more sleazy mob goons behind bars," he produced three cans of beer, tossing one to Harley and me, "This calls for a celebration."
"Roy, everything calls for a celebration with you," I let out a laugh as I took off my visor.
"You'd think the police would be glad we're on their side," Harley pouted, "I'm tryin' really hard at this whole good-guy thing."
"Don't worry, Harles. You're a good guy in our eyes," Roy pulled us closer to him.
"Aww! Thanks, Roy!"
"So, what do we do now?" he asked.
"We keep going. We keep wiping the scum off of the streets of Gotham," I replied.
"Even with the police on our tails?" Harley asked.
"Such is the life of an outlaw,"
"The Outlaws… has a nice ring to it, you know?" Roy smiled.
"To the Outlaws!" Harley raised her can in the air.
"To the Outlaws," Roy and I clinked our cans against Harley's.
She pulled out a knife from her boot, "You guys wanna see me shotgun this whole can? I always had the fastest time in college."
Roy and I exchanged glances before pulling out knives of our own.
"Wanna race?" he asked.
"If you want to lose," I said, puncturing the bottom of my can with the blade. Harley and Roy followed suit.
"Ready…" Harley said.
"Set…" Roy continued.
"Go!" I shouted as I popped the tab on my can. The three of us chugged as fast as we could, but before we finished, Harley threw her can to the ground, wiping at her lips.
"I win!" she squealed.
"Damn, what else can you do with a mouth like that?" Roy asked as he finished his beer.
"Are you comin' on to me Arrow-boy?" Harley asked rather angrily.
"Oh! Uh- n- no! I wouldn't dream of it, Harley!"
"Good!" her smiled returned, "So what's next, Red?"
"Get some rest. We'll go after Black Mask tomorrow," I replied.
I woke up later than I had anticipated. I got out of bed, threw on some clothes, and headed into the kitchen. Harley was already there with a plate of eggs and a mug of coffee. I poured myself a mug and put some bread in the toaster, taking a seat across from Harley. She took a bite of her food and took out one of her headphones.
"Mornin', Red. Roy said to meet him at the auto shop when we're ready," she took a sip of coffee.
"No time like the present," I said, downing my entire mug of coffee and grabbing my toast as I walked to my room to get dressed.
"But I haven't finished my breakfast..." she pouted.
"Eat it on the way,"
A few minutes later, Harley and I took the fire escape down to where we had stashed a couple of getaway cars in a parking garage next door. I opened the passenger door for her and she ducked in as I made my way to the driver's side. Morning rush-hour in Gotham. It's like Hell. We had to cross Penitence Bridge again to get onto Miagani Island, where the auto shop was located in Kingston. Traffic was at a stand-still in front of the bridge. I honked the horn of our car a couple of times.
"I think they heard you, Red," Harley said as I continued to honk.
"If they heard, they'd have moved by now," I peeked out of the window to see a wreck at the entrance of the bridge, "Well, that explains a lot. Hold on, I've got an idea."
I drove the car down a few non-descript streets, cutting through Otisburg toward Salvation Bridge. Traffic was less dense in this area of the island as most people use the Gotham City Monorail which leads to Grand Avenue in order to get to work. I decided to take the long way around, sticking to the southern edge of the island, to get to Kingston.
After a short ride in silence, we arrived at Finger's Fixers. Harley and I made our way into the building and saw Roy's bike was already parked inside. We made our way to the manager's office, which had sort of been converted into our headquarters. Roy was there, poring through files.
"I take it you found something?" I said as I sidled up to Roy.
"That tracker I placed on Black Mask's truck? Logs say that after leaving Port Adams, the truck made its way to Dixon Dock East which leads..."
"To Arkham City," Harley and I finished his sentence for him.
"Exactly," Roy ran a hand down his face.
"You tellin' me I gotta go back to that hell-hole?" Harley crossed her arms, "I- I don't know if I can do it, guys..."
"We'll be right there with you, Harley," I squeezed her shoulder.
"No... you don't understand, Jay. You weren't imprisoned there. You didn't see Protocol 10... You didn't lose someone you thought loved you..." tears began welling in her eyes.
"Harley, it's okay," I pulled her into a hug and sobbed against me, "You're strong. I know you can do this."
She composed herself and pulled back, looking me in the eyes, "O- Okay... I'll go. Just... I don't wanna step foot in that Steel Mill."
"About that..." Roy began.
"DAMMIT!" Harley threw a chair against the wall.
I slid my visor over my face and pulled my hood up over my head, "Alright, Outlaws. Let's go get Black Mask."
Roy put on his domino mask, twisting his hat around backward and slinging his quiver over his shoulder. Harley straightened up her clothes and rested her baseball bat over her shoulder. I cocked my guns, holstering them as the three of us filed out of the manager's office toward the car in the repair bay. After we all settled into our seats, I brought the car to life and raced northward with a squealing of the tires and a cloud of smoke.
We arrived at Dixon Dock East a few minutes later. We jumped out of the car and sprinted right to the docks. I spotted a man loading live bait into a bucket sitting on a small speedboat. We ran up to him, and I tossed him onto the dock while Arsenal cranked the boat.
"Hey!" he shouted.
"Sorry!" I sat down and turned to him, "We'll bring it back!"
"Damn you kids!" he continued to shout and curse as we sped away.
"He's not gettin' this boat back, is he?" Harley asked.
"Probably not," I shrugged. "Roy, how fast can you get us to AC?"
"At the rate this thing is traveling? Twenty minutes... half an hour?" he opened the throttle all the way.
"Just get us there in one piece," I leaned back in my seat.
One long and bumpy boat ride later, we docked the boat at the North Gotham Docks at the edge of the now decommissioned Arkham City. We made our way up to street level. All was clear, along Amusement mile at the very least. I cautiously led the other two through the streets toward Sionis's old Steel Mill. Thinking back to the last time I was here, I should have just killed Black Mask when I had the chance, but Selina distracted me. My stomach dropped as I recalled how badly I beat her when we last met here, not to mention the fact that I blindsided her while she walked down this very road. I heard voices up ahead and stopped Harley and Roy. I grappled up to a roof above us, carrying Harley with me while Roy came up on his own. I listened in on the conversation up ahead.
"Were you around while the boss was locked up here?" one of the guards asked.
"Nah. I was still on the mainland. Luckily, Black Mask was able to escape this place when he did," the other responded.
"Yeah, what that Hugo Strange dude did was effed up. I heard they were out here for weeks pickin' up bodies,"
"And it turns out, that Ra's al Ghul guy was actually the one in charge,"
"You mean that dude that lived for like six hundred years? Damn..."
"Yeah, everyone says that big ass tower over there exploded. The Bat and Ra's fell out of it, but Ra's offed himself before they hit the ground. But get this: they never found a body,"
"Chill out, man! You're freakin' me out..."
I jumped down in front of the two thugs, "I don't suppose you guys will make this easy for me and just tell me where Black Mask is, will you?"
"The boss has had about enough of you, Red Hood," one of them raised their gun to me.
"The feeling's mutual," I pushed the barrel of his gun away and punched him in the face. His head slammed against the steel gate and he fell unconscious, and I threw his gun at his partner, knocking him out.
"Damn, Jaybird," Roy sauntered up behind me, "Fast and furious."
"Jaybird? God, I hope that nickname doesn't stick," I said as I pushed open the gate into the Steel Mill.
"If Roy gets to call you Jaybird, I'm going back to calling you Red Riding Hood!" Harley skipped ahead of us.
"See what you did, man?" I sighed.
Roy shrugged as he jogged after Harley. I chuckled and followed after them.
One may ask, "Why didn't you just kill those guys, Jay?" Well, the truth is, I'd been refraining from using lethal force over the course of this month. I decided to try to let the law handle the criminals I so graciously helped them capture. The thing is, while I was helping Selina, she made me realize that I didn't have to kill every criminal I came across. Harley and Roy said they wouldn't judge me if it came to that again, and I the same for them. That being said, I was prepared to resort to a more permanent end to Black Mask if it came to it.
We silently made our way through the Steel Mill in search of Black Mask, taking out guards whenever we came across them. Harley relayed to us that our best bet would be to head to the loading bay as Sionis was most likely holed up in the manager's office. We reached the loading bay only to find that it was empty. Black Mask was standing above us in the threshold of his office.
"This is a trap," I said, immediately scanning our surroundings.
"How studious of you, Red Hood," Black Mask made a show of slowly clapping his hands, "Our little game of Cat and Mouse ends tonight, boy."
"You're damn right, Roman," I grabbed my guns, "The question is: will you walk out of it alive?"
Sionis threw back his head in laughter, "How droll. Stand down, Hood, or I'll force you too."
"Force this!" I fired off a barrage of rounds at him. He slammed the doors of the manager's office shut before they could reach him, however.
Just then, the doors all around the loading bay opened as waves of Black Mask's men flooded into the room.
They rushed us all at once, and I put away my guns, pulling out the crowbar I had stashed on my back. I ducked under a thug's punch, smashing my crowbar into the side of his knee. He fell to the ground as his leg folded in on itself. Another one rushed up behind me, pinning my arms behind my back. I brought my head forward and slammed it back with as much strength as I could muster. The thug's nose made a CRUNCH sound as my head made contact. He let me go and brought his hands up to his nose as blood poured out. I reared back with my crowbar and swung it across his jaw. He fell to the ground in a heap. I made my way back over to Roy and Harley who were holding their own against Roman's lackeys. Roy shot a thug in the face with a foam filled arrow. The thick pink foam coated his face and as he ripped it away, Roy delivered a spin kick to the side of his head. Harley kicked a goon in the groin and brought her bat down on top of his head as he doubled over in pain. She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face and flashed me a smile. We continued to fight our way through Black Mask's men until the floor was littered with their unconscious bodies.
"Who finds these guys?" Roy asked as he punched the final guy in the jaw.
"There's an app," Harley replied, swatting dirt off of her clothes.
"You're kidding..."
"Nope,"
"Roman!" I shouted, "We're coming for you next! Would you do the honors, Arsenal?"
"With pleasure..." he smirked as he knocked an explosive arrow.
He fired the arrow at the doors to the manager's office. It exploded on contact causing splinters of wood to rain down into the loading bay. The three of us grappled up to find Black Mask and a few more guys leveling their guns at us.
"Not another step, Red Hood," Roman snarled.
"Surrender now, Roman, and you'll make it out of this alive," I balled my fists, cracking my knuckles.
"It's over Black Mask," Roy aimed his bow at Sionis.
"Yeah, you're comin' with us," Harley slowly beat her bat in her hand, "Dead or alive."
Before he could react, I drew both of my pistols and shot the guns out of each of their hands. Roy fired an arrow loaded with a net at the three guards. Black Mask growled as he produced a grenade from his coat. He pulled the pin and tossed the explosive near our feet as he dove out of the window.
"Harley!" I tackled Harley and covered her with my body as the grenade blew up. My armor was able to absorb most of the damage, but I was still thrown into the wall.
I heard a muffled shout as my vision started to fade back in. Harley was crouched over me, gripping me by my jacket collar.
"Jason! Jason, get up! Please..." Harley was on the verge of tears.
"Wha—," I sat up suddenly, "Black Mask! Did he get away?"
"Roy's going after him," Harley pulled me into a hug, "You— You saved me, Jay..."
"No sweat," I groaned as I got to my feet. I walked to the window to see Black Mask boarding a speed boat. Roy was racing after him on foot before jumping onto a jet ski.
I took Harley's hand and jumped out of the window, using my grapple gun to swing us to safety onto the street. We jumped into a boat, and I cranked the throttle to follow Black Mask. We caught up to Roy a couple of minutes later.
"Glad to see you're not dead, Jaybird," Roy smiled.
"When we get home, I'm kicking your ass," I laughed; cut short by the sound of a gunshot.
Up ahead, Black Mask was leveling his pistol at us as he raced forward on his boat.
"Harley, take the wheel!" I said as I stood up, "Get me close!"
"On it!" she said as she opened up the throttle all the way. Within a few seconds, our boat neck and neck with Roman's. He leveled his gun at me, but before he could shoot, I leaped over to his boat and tackled him to the ground, delivering a few punches to his face.
"Jason! Look out!" I heard Roy call out. I looked over my shoulder to see that the boat was heading right for a rock that was barely breaching the surface of the water.
I couldn't get to the steering wheel in time to avoid it. The boat was launched into the air; me and Black Mask with it. As we were thrown under the water, the boat's propeller sliced into my arm. I swam away in time to keep it from severing my arm as the water turned red all around me. I searched around the murky water for Black Mask and saw his unconscious body sinking deeper into the ocean. I swam down as fast as I could, grabbing him by his collar and bringing him back toward the surface. When we breached the surface of the water, I took in a large breath of air. Harley helped me pull Black Mask onto the boat we stole as I climbed in.
"Jason, your arm," she examined the wound.
"I'll be fine. Let's just get Black Mask back to the islands," I panted as I sat down on the floor of the boat.
A few minutes later, we arrived back at Dixon Dock East. The GCPD was already there as we docked the boat. As I dragged Black Mask onto the deck, Commissioner Cash approached.
"I don't suppose you'll just turn yourselves in, will you?" he asked as he cuffed Black Mask.
"Not a chance, Commissioner. It'd be in your best interest to just let us go, keep a few of your guys here from getting hurt," I replied.
"Did you just threaten a GCPD officer, Hood?" he grabbed my wrist.
"Not a threat, Cash," I broke free of his grasp and walked toward our car, Roy and Harley close behind, "A promise."
He and the other officers watched as the three of us piled into the car and drove away. I took us to the apartment. We scaled the fire escape up to our living room. I took off my jacket as I sat on the couch, Harley sitting next to me with first aid kit in hand.
"Another victory for— Ah! Mother— for the Outlaws," I said as she stitched closed my wound.
"Thank you. For savin' my life," Harley said as she finished closing me up.
"What kind of friend would I be if I let you blow up?" I let out a weak laugh.
"Even though Cash let us walk away, I think we should split up. Lay low for a while," Roy said as he leaned against the wall, "GCPD's gonna be hounding us harder now that Black Mask is dealt with."
"Where will you go, Roy?" I grunted as I sat up straighter.
"Got some... family business to deal with in NYC,"
"What about you, Jason?" Harley asked.
"I don't know... but whatever I do, I'm leaving the country,"
"I'll lay low here, in Gotham. See what I can find out in the criminal underworld,"
"You guys have my contact info. Call if you need anything," Roy headed for the window.
"Same to you," I said as he climbed out. I got up and put my jacket on, being careful not to rip open my stitches.
"Jason," Harley walked up to me, "Don't be a stranger."
"I'll keep in touch," I pulled her into a hug.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new Red Hood and the Outlaws fic. I have some ideas about where I want this story to go, so it should be fun to write. The next chapter will take place sometime in the near future from this point. As for an upload schedule, I want to try to shoot for a new chapter every other Saturday, but I don't know how well that will work out. Hope to see you all in the next one!
