Red Hood City

By Nezz

This is Blüdhaven.

Gotham's ugly step sister.

Crueler, dirtier, and so deep in its own hell you can smell the iron and sulfur. Worst of all,

It doesn't have a masked vigilante.

No Batman, no dark knight, nobody out there to balance out the scales.

Until now.

…

My name is Jason Todd, and I am theRed Hood.

Every costume that's rolled through this town's already left. Nightwing, Robin, some other guys I can't name off the top of my head. They've moved on to better things.

Not a big deal. Despite how hard they tried, they barely put a dent in this blood crusted city.

Sometimes heroes have the unfortunate "lesser evil" kind of situation. Well, Blüdhaven is about to experience its lesser good.

The new vigilante in town isn't above maiming or using more…heavy handed means. The guys I go after? They don't come out whole most of the time.

My targets get one chance. I send them a little greeting gift in a red hood draped over their head while they sleep. Send the message that no matter who they are, where they are, or however much minion fodder they have, I can still get to them. Easily.

After I serve them their citation, they get 24 hours to make things square. Distribute their assets to their victims and turn themselves over to the authorities. I'll be honest. My heart does a little skip every time the chumps don't take the message seriously.

When I'm done with this town, the crime lords will be begging to have any other vigilante handing their asses to them. Look on and despair scumbags. You've traded one good for a lesser one.

I can tell.

This is going to be fun already…

I gotta admit, after running with the Outlaws for so long, I miss working the cities.

Every gig with Roy and Kori was either offworld, alien, or some no holds bar firefight in the middle of nowhere. Not that I mind, but cities are a different beast.

You can't go right for the jugular most times. People like to think it's simple; I definitely used to. Find the big bad boss, walk up to his front door, and knock it down.

No. Major metropolis cities require more subtlety and finesse. Like plugging a knife in the right spot between the rib cages. Kill one boss, another rises to take their place, or more importantly, someone more capable. Have to learn the consequences of your actions and see the effect. Do it wrong and the cops are on your ass, or even worse— other heroes.

There are annoying consequences to everything. The trick is to working it so the consequences are below my give-a-s*** meter.

Surgical precision is needed.

It requires some prep….

…

Then you go for the jugular.

Scouted the city for a few weeks since I got here. Didn't even put the costume on once. Just surveying the land.

Found something interesting when I got here.

Blüdhaven actually did have a vigilante, if you want to call him that.

He goes by the name: Blüd Knight.

(I wonder how many red and blood related themes and puns am I gonna hear?)

Dresses in a Kevlar suit, short red cape, military grade night vision goggles, and packs two Uzi submachine gunes. He looks like a character from one of those over the top action movies.

Seems to be well liked by the community in general. Saw him in action a few times. Amateur. Lots of spray and pray shooting. Messy and loud.

Quick, tangent. There are six major crime syndicates vying for control over Blüdhaven, all at the same time. Yeah, SIX. It's Christmas.

Anyway, Blüd Knight's been boosting his public image by fighting five of them. Very openly, I might add.

The cops are ineffective, so the good innocent residents of the place look to him for help.

Remember when I said he fights five of them? Maybe you're asking about the one syndicate he doesn't butt heads with.

And there's the hook.

He works for them.

Had to watch him for a while to make sure. Don't want to put a bullet in an actual good guy.

…..Cause I don't do that anymore, right?

Sometimes I forget.

Anyway.

It's not a bad way to go about it. Masquerading as a hero and using it as cover to take out the competition. The masses and the cops support you, no one ever really checks if you loot your dead, lot of resources at your disposal. Oh. And of course, there's the little ego boost you get.

Blüdhaven's knight in ironic armor.

But like I said before, you can't just go and cut off the first head you see. Cause and effect.

Killing the city's sole hero can backlash a little too hard. I'm trying to make Bludhaven my hunting grounds, after all. Wouldn't do to get chased out after just one kill.

Have to find a way to do this just right.

Negate the consequences, but still send the message that the Red Hood is here. Can't kill him anonymously. That's the thing about masked aliases. People don't really know who you are, which makes you replaceable by someone else.

No. I've got to make it public to some extent.

Took some reading hours, but I found my move.

Left her a small calling card in her pocket when I bumped into her this afternoon. Now all I have to do is wait on the rooftop of the police station.

Old habits from days running with Bruce. Always good practice to have some sort of dialogue with the police force. Even if the messages traded are "stay the hell out of my way, and I'll stay the hell out of yours".

The roof door opens and she steps outside.

Lara Keyes.

Detective, tested top percentage on her shooting test, practices Muay Thai and Brazilian jujitsu, volunteers at the homeless shelter, donates frequently to the local orphanage, brass tacks tough with a heart of gold. And maybe most importantly, she used to work for Jim Gordon.

The cop holds up my red batarang labeled "Rooftop".

"Dramatic, just like the other guy. I know you're out there!" she calls.

"I'm nothing like him."

"Geez! Seriously, with the whole morphing out of the shadows thing too? I almost put a bullet in you."

"Better shots have tried."

"Yeah, well I'm not here to banter. What is this?"

"Sounds like you've had some experience with the Batman yourself. What do you think?"

She looks down at the red bat emblem for a while. "...You're one of his people…The one who kills."

"Yeah. The one who kills. Usually I go by 'Red Hood' though."

"Hm."

"Dissatisfied with the killing part? Going to arrest me?"

She gives me a skeptical look.

"What are you doing in Bludhaven?"

"Could ask you the same thing. What made you leave Gotham?"

"Done your research, I see. I went to work with Gotham PD, but I was born in Bludhaven. This is my home. Moved back to change it for the better."

"And that happens by letting someone like Blüd Knight have free rein in your city?"

Keyes stiffens up a little.

"I'm not stupid. I know he works for Rufus and the Vamp Syndicate…I've tried to put together a taskforce to go after him, but they've got higher ups in their pockets. I can't even find out which ones they are either…! Just denial of requests from nowhere."

"Tale as old as crime."

She tightens her fist. The detective's real sore about this.

Good.

"Then how 'bout you work with me? I've had my eye on Blüd Knight for a while now. Taking him out would make a good debut, I think."

"…You going to kill him?"

"Maybe. If he doesn't make amends. Could use a detective's help to soften the aftermath."

Keyes shakes her head.

"No go, Red Hood. There's no way I'm helping you commit vigilante murder."

"And if I drop him off in front of police station in a neat little bow, can you promise me the Vamp Syndicate won't just pull some strings and get him out?"

"…"

"Didn't think so."

"You want to make a good first impression? Bring him in alive and I'll do everything in my power to see him prosecuted. I'll stake my job on it!"

"You'll be staking more than your job."

"The day I signed up to be a cop in Bludhaven, I wrote out a last will."

"He's better off dead. I can tell his type."

"And I know yours. Batpeople don't kill. You're different, I get it, but I also know you're trying to do better."

"Now, who's done their research?"

"Former Gotham PD. You learn to keep tabs on all the Bats after meeting him. I've read the reports about you. You're not a psychopathic killer."

Keyes looks at me with expectation. It's the same look I get from Barb, Drake, and Grayson time to time.

"Bring him in alive, Red Hood. I know you can. Then you've got a friend on the force and not another blue trying to put you down. Be better than the kill."

*Sigh* Well, not like she's wrong. I have been trying to do better. Is it okay to be optimistic?

"Fine, Keyes. In the interest of making new friends, we'll do it your way the first time round."

"…Thank you."

"Just don't screw up the prosecution, or make me say 'I told you so'. Anything short of a full arrest, and he gets the Red Hood treatment."

"I've been thinking about how to put a case against him since he first showed up. I can handle it. Just get me Blüd Knight alive."

…

"Red Hood?"

Keyes looks around.

"Aaaand I've just been talking to myself for the last bit, haven't I? Damn disappearing trick."

This is awkward. Wonder if I should tell her I'm still here, but just moved outside her vision. That whole vanishing mysteriously in mid conversation was never my style.

Heh.

Time to get to work…

Release Schedule

New entry once a week or less.