Drug Runner
A black haired twelve year old boy stood in front of China Docks with a 'package' hidden in a side bag. Young Jason Todd had been taken in by the local street gangs, the leader of whom chose him to 'deliver the goods'. So here he was, nervous, but unafraid, looking around nervously and waiting for the Dealer.
"So, you're the little runt that's got the goods?" came a voice from behind him. A man in a hoodie with a buzz cut and a scar beneath his eye stepped out of the shadows and Jason clutched the bag tightly. This was not the man he was to deliver to.
"Who are you?" Jason asked boldly, eyes narrowing. The man laughed and approached him, pulling out a knife.
"None of your business, punk. Just give me the goods, and I wont rip you open like your friend over there," the man sneered, nodding toward the dead man in the shadows. Jason squinted and realized then, that that was the man he was supposed to deliver to. For the first time in his young life, he felt a pang of fear; he could die here.
"Fuck off, this isn't for you," Jason snapped, standing his ground. The man laughed in amusement and approached him.
"You're a brave little fuck. Brave, and stupid. Give me the god damn drugs, or I'll gut your sorry little ass," the man snarled.
"Fuck you!" Jason shouted, running past the man. The thug grabbed the strap of the bag and brought the knife toward Jason, but he slipped his arm out of the strap and avoided being sliced. The man growled and lunged at him, but Jason retaliated with a classic; he kicked the man in the balls. The man cursed in pain and doubled over and Jason ran from the scene, forgetting completely about the drugs.
When he returned to the safe house, the gang boss, Marcus, glared at him.
"Did you get the job done?" He snapped. Jason shook his head.
"The guy was dead. Some druggie killed him. I barely got away," he replied, catching his breath. Marcus growled angrily.
"Did you get the damn drugs at least?!" He growled, taking a threatening step forward. Jason flinched but shook his head, earning a slap in the face.
"Get the fuck out of my sight you worthless little piece of shit." When the hand collided with his face, the first thing that filled Jason was anger; he could have been killed, and this dirt bag only cared about his drugs?! He wanted to lash out, to strike back, but he was surrounded by men and could easily be killed.
"Aw, I think the little punk is gonna cry!" one of the men taunted. They all pointed and laughed and Jason stormed out of the building.
The Red Hood glared down at China Docks, sitting on top of a building across the way. A huge drug shipment was set to come in tonight for Black Mask, and The Red Hood and his men were determined to see that it didn't get through. He saw several of Black Mask's men gathering around a shipping crate, ready to pry it open.
"Time to move! Engage!" he called over the comm link. Suddenly, his men jumped out from the shadows, armed to the teeth and surrounded Black Mask's men.
"Orders sir?" one of them asked.
"Execute," he replied. With the sound of gun fire, all of Black Mask's men had been gunned down. Red Hood grinned widely as, right on time, Batman made an appearance.
"Withdraw. Let Batman take over. We're not prepared to engage him just yet," The Red Hood instructed.
"Yes sir," his men replied as they quickly scattered back into the shadows from whence they came. They weren't ready, but he was. The second half of tonight's mission was his alone; letting Batman know that he was now in charge of Gotham.
"Robin," Batman muttered, turning to the boy behind him, who couldn't have been any older than sixteen and said "contact the GCPD. I'm going to investigate further." Robin gave a curt nod and set about doing as he was told. Batman moved slowly around the dead bodies littering the docks to the shipping crate loaded with drugs. His eyes narrowed, finding that fact...curious. Why kill Black Mask's men, but leave the drugs behind? There was a small fortune here.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Batman," came a voice. Batman turned around, hardly surprised, knowing the man was there.
"Not surprised to see me, are you?"
"Hardly. Your Arkham Knights have been causing quite a stir on Gotham recently. Judging from the gear, I guess you must be the Red Hood." Hood gave a mock bow.
"You are correct." The two of them stared each other down in silence for several long moments until Robin came up beside Batman.
"It's done, the GCPD is on their way. Is that the Red Hood?" Robin asked, silently wondering why they weren't engaging him. But this man was new, and Batman didn't know anything about him. Yet.
"Waiting for me to make the first move, huh? Classic. And predictable. But I'm not here for a fight. Not tonight," the Red Hood said smoothly.
"Then why are you here? For the drugs?" Batman asked. Red Hood snorted and pulled out a lighter, lighting it and tossing it into the crate, letting the drugs burn.
"I could care less. I'm here to warn you; Gotham is mine now. Stay out of my way," he said in a low, threatening tone, drawing a single handgun. But neither Batman nor Robin moved a muscle.
"What do you mean, yours?" Batman asked, eyes narrowing.
"I mean exactly that. You have failed time, after time to save Gotham. Well, I aim to fix what you can't, to mend the things you've broken, and save Gotham from itself. So stand out of my way, and let someone with a spine handle the crime fighting from now on, got it?" He snarled. He glanced over toward Robin and then laughed out loud.
"Well, isn't that adorable! What's that, the third Robin now? Take my advice kid; run. Head for the hill and don't look back," he said darkly, glaring at Batman. Batman's eyes narrowed as Hood continued "this man will get you killed. You're nothing but a pawn to him, expendable. He doesn't care about you. He didn't care about his last Robin, and I'd wager he didn't give a flying fuck about the first. He uses people until they no longer serve their purpose."
Robin took a threatening step forward, growling at the man as he drew a batarang from his utility belt.
"What would you know about it? You're just a thug!" The Red Hood chuckled in amusement.
"More than you know, kid," he muttered.
Try as he might to control his anger, something about the man's words struck a chord in him. Batman quickly threw several batarangs at the man, but he drew another pistol and fired several rounds, hitting and deflecting them all, then retreating, by grappling up to the building behind him. Batman gave chase, following suit with Robin behind him.
The Red Hood raced across the roof tops, jumping from building to building, sliding down a shingled roof and down to a fire escape below, crashing through a window of an abandoned building, leaping down through a hole in the floor, crashing through another window from the second floor and down onto a motorcycle below, racing off into the night.
Batman and Robin followed his path, but as soon as he hopped onto the motorcycle, they knew he'd be lost; he could go where the batmobile could not.
"What now, Batman?" Robin asked. Batman was silent as he watched the trail of where the man went.
"For now, we return to the cave and follow up on the leads we've collected so far," he replied, typing a few commands into his gauntlet and summoning the batmobile. He and Robin hopped into the car and sped off, but no sooner had they begun the trip home, that Oracle contacted them.
"Batman, it's Oracle."
"Go ahead," Batman replied.
"I just got a report in, but The Arkham Knight's are attacking the Cape Carmine Lighthouse. Black Mask has apparently been using it as a safe house and has well over a million dollars worth of drugs and equipment there. It's looking like it might be a bloodbath."
"On it Oracle, Batman out. Batman turned the car and headed for the clock tower that Oracle used as a base and stopped the car outside, popping open the droor.
"Wait here with Oracle, Robin."
"But-"
"That's an order!" he snapped. His expression softened as Robin hopped out of the car.
"It's too dangerous," he said simply, racing off toward Cape Carmine.
Jason pulled off the helmet as he slipped into his safe house in Uptown Gotham. It was a decent enough apartment, bought and paid for with the money he'd gained from the kickbacks he got from the gangs. Whatever he didn't need, went to Gotham's homeless, specifically the children.
He peeled of his gear and flopped down onto the couch, heaving a sigh. Things were going smoothly so far,going according to plan. There were three major players in Gotham; Black Mask, Penguin, and Mario Falcone. Going after Black Mask was part of his revenge plan.
Going after Penguin would cut off Batman from a valuable source of Underworld information, and going after Mario Falcone was to get the Falcone stranglehold off of Gotham once and for all. For decades now, the Falcone Crime Family had their filthy hands all over Gotham's justice system, strangle it, using it to keep operating using fear and intimidation, and in some cases, violence and murder.
The Arkham Knights were here to change that and since Batman's way had failed to work, then they were going to use force, lethal force if necessary. In five years, one fact had been made clear to Jason; people don't change, not really. Once a criminal, always a criminal and the only people capable of change, were children if they were given a chance. But if you grew up with the wrong parents, if you were raised in the wrong neighborhood, if you were denied that chance, then you turned into an amoral monster like most of Gotham's thugs.
Many of Gotham's children had no choice but to turn to crime, to the thugs more than willing to use them for their own ends, in order to survive. Jason's anger boiled every time he saw a child dealing drugs, every time he saw a teenagers selling their bodies just to survive, just to make ends meet.
Because he'd lived hat life, and he'd been saved by that life, by someone he foolishly believed cared about him. But when it came down to it, when he had been captured and killed, his murderer was let go, sent back to Arkham to break out and repeat the cycle again. And his anger only rose when he saw that Batman had a new Robin. At first, he was pissed that he'd been replaced, like he never mattered. But then, he became furious, because another child was being used, treated like a solider and would likely be heartlessly discarded.
Batman-no Bruce Wayne-had to pay. Him and the Joker. And when he was finished with them, Gotham's corrupt core would be next on his shit list. Under his rule, he could keep the peace. By getting his hands dirty, controlling Gotham's crime, other people wouldn't have to. So yeah, part of him was being selfish, using all of thius a s justification for revenge, though he personally saw it as Justice, but he was willing to sacrifice his own needs and wants to see that no innocent would ever again suffer.
And to that end, his men were under strict orders; you catch any thug using and abusing a child in any way, shape or form, you kill it.
