All I can remember were those horrible laughs, and that blood chilling smile. Every now and then I have nightmares of him beating me relentlessly with a crowbar as he giggled with joy, and can almost feel the fire of the explosion setting my flesh a blaze. Its funny how Bruce can save everyone except those who matter. Or did I matter? I couldn't have if I died that way, but it feels good to be back. It feels damn good.

I've been living in Harbor City for about half a month now looking for a drug dealer who gave me the slip during my time in Miami, Florida. I finally received some info on a trade-off that is going down by the docks tonight. At first I really didn't trust the informant as she seemed to be another base head who would say or do anything to get her next fix. Lucky for her it checked out and I found the man I was looking for, Tony Hugo. He had been running drug deals all over the United States and had even hit a couple of spots in Cuba. Tonight, he finally slipped up.

"Alright listen up," Tony said as he was on the dock with his men, "A small shipment of coke is going to be here any minute. They make any funny moves, light'em up. Joe and Micky, I won't you on look out. If you see the cops, sound off."

I watched them from a distance. A heavy mist was sliding in from the water which helped conceal my presence. Even then, I still hid behind a broken down white truck. They had automatic weapons and one guy even had a rocket launcher. If I was going to take them out, I had to be careful. Then I saw Tony signal his men. I move myself silently to the back end of the truck and saw a dim light flashing. Their shipment had arrive. I took a remote controlled bomb and placed it under the truck, and then moved swiftly to another hiding spot behind three rusted barrels and waited for my opportunity. Tony and a couple of his men sat there guns down and began to unload the boat full of cocaine. Tony open a suitcase and handed it to a guy. I then set the bomb off.

"Boom!" it roared, sending the trucking soaring into the air with an explosion of fire.

"What the fuck!" yelled Tony in shock.

I took out one of my pistols and shot the man Tony had given the suitcase of money to. This caused the other men on the boat to open fire on Tony and his men. The two groups then unleashed led upon each other, with blood spilling everywhere. This is when I made my move. I whipped out both my pistols and began firing on everyone in sight as I close the distance between myself and them. One guy turned around and as he was about to fire on me, I put one right between his eyes. My right gun ran out of bullets, so I dropped it and took out my dagger. I got in close to one guy and slit his throat. His blood splattered all over me.

"Who the hell is that guy!" yelled one of them, making the others aware of my assault.

My left gun finally ran out of bullets so I dropped it as well. Most of the men were already dead, so I was prepare to take the rest out by the numbers. One guys was firing at me, so I swayed from side to side and got in close. I jammed my dagger in his gut and took his gun, creating a gaping gash across his forehead with the but of his own weapon. It was an automatic rifle. I set it to burst and laid waste to the rest as of them without hesitation. The clip soon emptied, but everyone was dead. I then heard a moaning sound. It was Tony. He was shot, but still alive. I dropped the rifle and walked over with my dagger. I had a better look at him and saw that he was wearing a white tux, that was now stained with blood.

"Please," he begged as he saw me, "You can't do this!"

"You want mercy?" I asked.

"Yes, please," he pleaded.

I kneel down and grabbed him by his hair and said "Then you should have went to Gotham," and then rammed my dagger under his chin with the tip coming out the top of his head. His eyes rolled backwards and he twitched for a bit, but then he stopped moving. I took it out of his head and wiped the blood off on his nice looking white suit. I knew the cops would be coming soon, so I began snatching up some artillery, making sure not to take to much because it would be strange for there to be gunshot wounds and no guns. I slung about three rifles and a rocket launcher onto my back. I could heard the sirens in the distance. As I was about to take off, I heard a strange shift in the water. I whipped my head around only to see the boat slowly drifting backwards, and then took off on foot. I left over a dozen men in a scene of blood and bullets, but as far as they knew, it was just another drug deal gone wrong.

I stealthily retreated back to a run down, sixth floor apartment were I had been staying. It wasn't perfect, but it came cheap. It was basically a living/bedroom with a kitchen and small bathroom. I placed the weapons I snagged inside the closet, along with my jacket, helmet, and bulletproof vest. I went into the kitchen and cracked open a cold beer out of the fridge, celebrating a job well done. I went to go lie down on my floor mattress, and that is when I saw him standing by the window with his back against the wall.

"What do you want Roy?" I asked and then took a sip of my beer.

"To see how you've been," he replied, "And judging by the looks of this place, not too well."

"That didn't answer my question," I said, knowing he was talking out of his ass.

"OK. You never gave an explanation for why you left me and Star stranded in Siberia," he said.

"Didn't know you needed one," I responded without a care as I took another sip of my beverage.

"I don't. Starfire does. She asks about you," he told me.

"Don't care," I said.

"So you found out."

"Found out what?"

"That we slept together. She said you two weren't together, so I figured it was cool. If I had known you cared about her that much, I wouldn't have done it and we could still be a team," he spilled wholeheartedly.

"I don't care about you, or anyone else for that matter, fucking Starfire. She does what she whats just, as I do. And what I want to do is work alone," I informed him.

"That is bullshit Jason," he said, striking a nerve.

"Don't call me by that name! We've been over this. There is only Red Hood!" I yelled as I punch a hole into the wall. Arsenal, his code name, stood unphased by my actions. Hearing my name caused a rush of unwanted emotions to surge through me. I calmed myself as I pulled my fist out of the wall. "You won't understand until you've been were I've been," I told him.

"Your right, but don't forget were I've been," he said holding up his bionic arm. This action suddenly made me remember why I brought us together. Our past left a hole inside the three of us that only we could see and except. Yet my demons run deeper than theirs, and although they refuse to admit it, I was becoming a casualty to the team. Arsenal took his bow and arrow in hand, aimed it outside of the window, and shot a zip line. Before he left he looked back and said, "If by some chance you change your mind, you know were to find me," and leaped out of the window.

NEXT CHAPTER: Outlaws' End