Greetings, prospective readers! Welcome to the official relaunch of Red Hood: Gotham Outlaw! Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I decided to rework/rewrite this. Well, that would be because of recent developments in the Batman Detective Comics comic book line, namely the addition of Astrid Arkham aka the Arkham Knight as a legitimate member of Batman's Rogues Gallery, and trust me when I say that I know an opportunity when I see one. Also, I've informed the Patent Office to copyright the ship name "Knighthood," I want $5 everytime somebody uses it. But, all joking aside, I suppose I should probably explain the backstory behind Arkham Knight 2.0, for those of you who haven't kept up on the comics.

It's the usual story. Boy meets girl. Boy marries girl. Girl earns genuine friendship from Batman's Rogues Gallery. Boy and girl become expecting parents. And then, one fateful day, a riot breaks out in Arkham Asylum, right as Astrid's mother goes into labor, with villains such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy helping with the delivery. Who knew they had that in them, eh? While Batman shows up and starts kicking ass and taking names and Astrid is successfully brought into the world, a random thug finds a Batarang and tosses it into the crowd, only to end up killing Astrid's mother, and when Astrid finds the surveilence tapes of that night, all she sees is Batman kicking ass and taking names and a Batarang killing her Mom. So, instead of looking up to the Batman as a role model, Astrid instead looks up to his enemies, ranging from her Uncle Joker, Auntie Harley, Aunt Ivy, both of her Uncles Dent, and so on. And thus, after years of learning how to become a badass, the Arkham Knight returns to Gotham to wage her holy war against the Bat.

Anyways, onto the matter at hand. This story was based on an old concept for the Jason Todd/Red Hood we know and love today. Apparently he was going to be Earth 2's Jason Todd, who actually trained himself to be a badass after he stumbles upon the Batcave and finds the Dark Knight looking... rather unwell. Well, with that out of the way, let's begin!

Chapter I: The Man In The Red Mask

A lone figure stood on a rooftop overlooking Gotham City. He wore a black leather jacket with red stripes on the sleeves and a red hood pulled up over his head, body armor that bore the image of a red bat or bird on the chest, black combat pants with a belt that carried dual handguns in their holsters, a knife in its sheath, a couple grapnel guns, along with a variety of pellets, grenades, and other weapons, black leather gloves, and black leather combat boots. Concealing his face was a metallic red helmet that made his eyes seem pure white, as well as disguised his voice.

My name is Jason Todd. Up until twelve years ago, I had been Robin, sidekick to the Batman himself. Until that is, I was killed, murdered by the Joker, only to be revived by Ra's Al Ghul's Lazarus Pit. In a blind rage, I escaped Ra's compound and began to travel the world. During my travels, I trained long and hard to match the Batman in combat, and essentially become a better hero than he had ever been. I mastered marksmanship, swordplay, and nearly every kind of hand-to-hand combat imaginable, even those Bane had invented. In the meantime took up mercenary jobs that left me a very rich man. Rich enough to continue upgrading my weapons and keep my guns loaded, as well as pay for my expenses. After twelve years of training and working as a hired gun, I had deemed myself ready to return to Gotham City at last.

And yet, nothing I had done would have prepared me for what I found when I returned to Gotham City. The city had gone further into the depths of Hell than when Bruce Wayne and I had been defending it. Speaking of Bruce Wayne, turns out he and his butler, Alfred, had been murdered by the Joker themselves five years prior to my return to Gotham. Needless to say, this development only fueled my desire for revenge against that twisted son of a bitch.

It became increasingly apparent that there was a lesson to be learned from the Batman's death, however. His so-called "one rule" that had defined his actions when taking down the scumbags who ruled Gotham had come back to bite him. That's the thing about crime-fighting that the Batman never really understood. You can't just stop crime. No, no, no, you have to control it. Master it. The Batman wanted to rule the city by fear, but what was he supposed to do with the ones who aren't afraid? The ones like The Penguin, Scarecrow, Two-Face, and The Joker. And now that I've returned to Gotham, I'll do what Batman refused to do. Say what he couldn't. And I'll succeed where he failed.

I am the Red Hood. And this is my story.

Gotham City-11:34 PM

Two women, one stumbling slightly, the other walking with a certain degree of grace as they walked down the streets of Gotham City from the My Alibi nightclub. Both of them had been hoping to meet someone, but had no such luck.

"Tasha, you know that much alcohol in someone's system can kill, yes?" The more graceful of the two spoke up, a light accent permeating her speech. She brushed a few stray brunette bangs from her forehead. The black dress clung to her like a second skin.

"T-Talie, y-you knouu I like livinnh on tha edge…" The inebriated woman giggled out, looking at her companion through her spiky black hair. She wore not a dress, but jacket and pants, which were white with hints of blue and purple. A certain degree of infemininity could be gleaned.

"I think a big part of that is 'living'."

"Talie", or Natalie as her proper name was, chuckled as she looked to the sky. The moon had risen while the two women were in a club. A few scattered clouds, light breeze, not too chilly. A good night.

"Hey, Talie, you knou thish guy followinh ussh?"

Natalie cast a quick glance behind her. A man behind the two was toying with a cigarette. His pale skin was a stark contrast from his black jacket. The jacket's hood was upon his head, but a few strands of cyan-ish hair stuck out beyond its placement.

Something about the man unsettled Natalie. Perhaps it was merely a sense of paranoia on her part, but Natalie nonetheless grabbed Natasha's hand and increased pace. She made an effort not to walk too fast, but nerves fought with her critical thought.

Everything's fine. Everything's fine, Natalie.

Glancing over her shoulder again, Natalie saw that the man was keeping up with them, and that he had four friends joining him in the chase.

Everything's NOT fine.

"Talie, was goin' non," slurred Natasha in both drunkenness and confusion as Natalie sped up to a noticeable degree.

"Tasha, don't panic, but I think we're being followed." Natalie noted the panic seeping into her voice. Natalie heard footfalls behind her. She thought things like this were a myth, that they only happened in movies. Then again, this was Gotham City.

Perhaps against her better judgement, Natalie pulled Natasha into a dark alleyway, following it to a hypothetical safety. Four more men blocked their path.

"Ladies!"

Natalie turned. The man with the hooded jacket stood surrounded by his fellows. Natalie noticed that he had a switchblade in his hand, which made her tighten her grip on Natasha's hand, "I-I don't want any trouble. So, if y-you could just-"

The man smiled, "Sweetie, I don't want any trouble. I mean, I mean, boys, have I ever gone out seeking trouble before?"

The men murmured various negations, aside from a single individual, "I mean, not unless they try anything. Then you do somethin'."

As Natasha snickered, the man with the hood punched the man who spoke in the chest, causing him to double over in pain.

"Kevin, what have we told you about facade?"

Kevin coughed and made an exaggerated scowl, "I get you, Booker ."

The man made a noise of disbelief, "And what did I say about anonym-Fine, whatever, I'll deal with you later. Now then, ladies," Booker said as he forced a smile, "it's like they said. I'm not unreasonable, I'm not violent. I'm just in a bad place in life."

Natalie tightened her grip on Natasha's hand. Natasha chuckled drunkenly, "Well, that's not good."

Booker clapped his hands together, "See? She gets it! I'd like to get out of this bad place, but poverty is a pretty…constricting force. So, since you two seem so nice, I'm assuming that you'd want to help us out. A donation, perhaps?"

"D-donation?" Natalie recoiled slightly.

"Give us your money!" Kevin shouted out. A smack sent him into silence.

"As my…" Booker cast Kevin a look, "partner… said, we need you to hand over all of your money right now-"

Before the thug could finish his sentence, however, a gunshot rang out through the alleyway as a bullet pierced through Booker's heart, causing a patch of blood to appear on his chest as he crumbled to the ground, dead as a doornail.

Everyone in the alleyway looked up in the direction the gunshot had come from, and saw what appeared to be a young man wearing a metallic red mask and some kind of biker's outfit and carried weapons that wouldn't look out of place on a soldier, or a mercenary.

Kevin scoffed, apparently unafraid of this apparently new hero who had just appeared, despite the fact that his friend was lying dead on the ground as the figure landed in front of the two women. "And just who the Hell are you supposed to be?"

"Call me the Red Hood. And I suggest you scumbags start running like Hell, or else you'll be headed for an early grave like your friend there," said the so-called Red Hood, as he drew his second handgun and aimed them both at the group of thugs.

Kevin chuckled and pulled his own switchblade. "I don't think so. Leave enough of them to be identified, then take whatever they have on them," he said.

Red Hood gave a dark chuckle as the gangbangers drew their weapons and advanced towards the women and himself. "You know, I thought that we could settle things the smart way, but I guess the fun way works just as well," he said, before he drew some kind of grapnel gun and fired it at Kevin. The grapnel latched onto Kevin's chest and pulled Red Hood to him. Red Hood then kicked Kevin in the chest as hard as he could, sending the thug flying into a parked car, and rendering him unconscious.

One of the other thugs tried to bum rush the Red Hood, but without so much as a change of expression, not that anyone could have said for certain, Red Hood put a bullet between the thug's eyes.

As the fight continued, and more of the thugs were murdered in cold blood, Natalie could only stare in shock. Natasha was beginning to sober, if only by a margin, "Talie whass happenin'? Who'sss that?"

Natalie grabbed Natasha's hand and began to step back, something that Red Hood couldn't help but notice.

"Good idea! Run while you've got the chance! Would want you getting caught in the-OOOF!" yelled Red Hood before another thug hit him in the back of the head with a steel baseball bat, causing him to his knees, coughing.

"Y-you know, don't hit the prisoner in the head. Gets them all dizzy, can't feel anything else…"

The bat swung towards his head again, but Red Hood's arm shot out and grabbed it in midair. Red Hood then pulled the bat out of the man's hand and began to viciously beat him so fast and so viciously that his actions merely looked like a blur. Red Hood continued beating the poor man even after he'd stopped moving.

Kevin picked himself up from the ground, and saw the two women staring in shock as Red Hood continued whaling on his comrade. Pulling himself off the ground, Kevin growled, "You bitch!" before he ran at Natalie, who started to run off. Kevin tried to grab at her, but caught the hood of Natasha's jacket instead.

"Tasha!" Natalie cried out.

"Freak! Get off Carlos now, or this little one gets it!" Kevin snarled as he pulled Natasha into a choke hold, placing a knife at her throat.

Red Hood stood up and tossed aside the dented and bloodied remains of the baseball bat. "Not entirely sure that's gonna help him now," he said moving aside to reveal the bloodied mess that was once a human being.

"You animal!" roared Kevin in anger and pain.

"You're one to talk, trying to mug people on the streets like you do," said Red Hood. "And those so-called cops who are supposed to uphold the law are no better. I've been in town long enough to know how they operate. To them, the oath they swore to uphold the law is nothing more than a joke, all they care about is money and protection, rather than the greater good. This city doesn't need scum like you or the cops."

"What the Hell do you mean?!" Kevin yelled as he pressed the knife harder against Natasha's throat, a thin line of red beginning to trail down.

"You don't stand for anything…" Red Hood said, discreetly pulling back the hammer for one of his guns."You're like little animals just surviving. You aren't living!"

"Don't get any closer! I'll kill her, I swear to God!" Kevin cried out.

"Swear to me!" snarled Red Hood, raising his gun as he continued to approach. "You see, unlike you, I stand for something. I believe in something. I believe that this city needs someone who's willing to take a life in order to ensure true peace and justice. That this city needs a true hero, one who can't be bought, bullied, or negotiated with."

Faster than the blink of an eye, Red Hood fired his gun, placing a bullet directly in between Kevin's eyes, causing the thug to fall to the ground, dead as a doornail.

"It needs someone like me," said Red Hood, lowering his gun and placing it back in its holster.

With Kevin dead, Red Hood turned his attention to the victims of his victims. Natalie was holding a hand tightly to Natasha's neck, trying in vain to stop the river-like flow of blood. The knife that Kevin had used to keep Natasha prisoner was lying on the ground beside her.

"Move over, let me see what I can-," Red Hood said before he was cut off by Natalie violently shaking her head, cradling Natasha in her arms.

"Look, lady, if I wanted to hurt you either of you, you'd be dead where you stand. Now, let me have a look."

Reluctantly, Natalie moved aside as Red Hood took a look at Natasha's injuries. He let out a hiss as he examined the damage.

"Well, that's not good," muttered Red Hood.

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked, a hint of panic in her voice, "Is it fatal?"

"Not by the looks of it, but… her vocal chords seem to be severely damaged. She wasn't using her voice for her career, or anything along those lines, was she?"

Natalie shook her head violently as tears ran down her face.

"Well, that's good to hear," said Red Hood. The very next second, police siren rang out, growing louder with each passing second. "That's my cue to exit. See you around, toots."

With that, Red Hood pulled out one of his grapnel guns and took to the rooftops, vaulting over small alleyways and using his grapnel gun when he needed to in order to cross wider gaps, until finally, he reached the alleyway where he'd left his custom-made motorcycle. Swinging his leg up over it, Red Hood fired up the engine and took off through the Gotham City streets, heading towards the abandoned site of the Panessa Movie Studios, where he'd set up shop, weaving in and out of traffic as he did so.

A Short While Later...

Red Hood pulled up to the concealed entrance leading into what had once been a Bat Bunker back when Batman was still alive. Now, however, it served as Red Hood's hideout and weapons cache. Red Hood pulled up to the door and simply said "Open Sesame."

"Voice patterned confirmed. Welcome, Red Hood," said the smooth female voice of the Batcomputer. Red Hood heaved a sigh. The reason he had set up shop here instead of the Batcave was because it would've been far easier to break in here and reprogram the Batcomputer as opposed to the highly-secure and defended Batcave. Plus, he didn't think the new owners of Wayne Mansion would appreciate a stranger breaking into their home to use the secret lair hidden underground. So, until he had time and means to break into Wayne Manor and sneak into the Batcave to loot it, he would have to settle for this dingy little hideout.

As the secret entrance opened, Red Hood pulled his bike into the garage and turned off the ignition before making his way into the main hub area of his hideout.

In the far corner of the base was a lumpy mattress with no sheets and only a threadbare blanket, while several stacks of large crates filled to the brim AK-47s, couple grenade launchers, every type of grenade imaginable, C4, and materials he needed to create his custom-made bullets.

Titanium composite hollow point bullets with a C4 kicker. Fastest, most explosive ammo in the world, thought Red Hood as he pressed a button on his mask, allowing the pressure hatches to open so that he could remove it, followed swiftly by the domino mask underneath.

Jason Todd looked to be in his early 20s with short black hair with a patch of white in it and bright blue eyes. He tossed both his masks into a corner and flopped down on the mattress, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath. Tonight, the Red Hood had announced his presence to the world, and those two women, well the uninjured one anyway, as well as the others he'd saved from muggers, purse snatchers, would-be rapists, and other pieces of garbage, had been witness to his big debut. All that remained now was to start claiming himself some land, and begin to take control of this city and take control of its criminal elements.

That's what Bruce never understood. You can't stop crime. All you can really do is control it, kill the idiots who get out of line, and put the fear of God into those who are unafraid, thought Jason as he began to breathe deeply. The criminal scumbags of this city may no longer fear the Bat, but, with time, it'll be me they fear.

The Legend of the Batman had come to an end. Now, it was time for the Legend of the Red Hood to begin…

And so it begins again! If you folks like what you see here, why not give this little project a fave, follow, and a review?