Well it's been a while. Holidays are always crazy. We're finally getting to the good parts of the story! I'll be taking a greater amount of storytelling liberties from here on out. Small adjustments to make things flow better. We'll I've already taken quite a few, but these will be more noticeable deviations from the cannon story.

Most of the base for this chapter comes from the animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood. Though it is interwoven with my own adaption of another plot line altogether.

Once again: I don't own anything.

Timothy Drake was enjoying his life. He was doing great in school, he had an amazing girlfriend and the world was just generally in his favor. Not to mention that he was apprentice to the world's greatest detective and crime fighter, the Batman.

The newest Robin took a much more serious approach than his predecessors, delving into every study and training imaginable to perfect the craft of costumed crime-fighting. His fighting prowess grew to considerable levels, to the point where even the mighty Ra's al Ghul commented on his ability. While at the same time, Batman would admit that Tim might one day surpass him as the world's greatest detective.

And his skills were being tested more now than ever. A mysterious crime lord was strong-arming his competition in Gotham, murdering lieutenants of drug empires and anyone else that stood in his way. He moved like a shadow, never appearing longer than necessary to deliver threats and instructions. But more than that, his name was hauntingly familiar: The Red Hood.

The Joker was currently locked up, and this wasn't his style anyway. Not enough drama and showmanship. Someone was using his former alias to conglomerate all the major crime in Gotham city. An understandably ambitious endeavor.

But through all the work, Tim never stopped being a teenager. Which Spoiler helped with significantly. She was a great friend, if a bit infuriating and stubborn at times. The duo was inseparable by any force except their own. Bouts of jealousy and doubt would drive them apart with some regularity. Other people came and went from their lives but none mattered more than each other. It just seemed that the two young crimefighters were destined for each other, despite every circumstance pulling them apart.

Undoubtedly something was destined to come along and decimate Tim's happy life. This particular tragedy took the form of the Obeah Man kidnapping Jack and Janet Drake. The voodoo cultist planned to sacrifice the pair after holding them for ransom from their multi-million-dollar company. Unaware of exactly whom he was involving in the incident, Obeah Man thought his plan would go flawlessly.

When Batman and Robin rushed to intervene, the Drakes had already been poisoned with an extremely deadly toxin. Obeah Man was thwarted but his scheme led to the death of Janet and left Jack in a coma. And thus, Tim had lost both of his parents to a criminal. It seemed to be a common factor among those in the family. Naturally, Bruce Wayne would take the boy in for as long as necessary.

Scared that Tim would become fueled by rage over his loss, Batman would closely monitor the young hero. However, the loss of his family only motivated Tim to further his pursuit of becoming the best crime fighter. He trained harder and studied longer than anyone else. The work consumed him, cutting off his time and energy spent elsewhere. And those close to him noticed the change.

Having just awoken from his coma, Jack Drake was beginning to adjust to his life with severe paralysis. Then he would discover that his son was secretly endangering his life and acting with no regard for his own wellbeing. There was no way Jack was going to allow his son to continue this dangerous lifestyle, especially after the tragedy their family had just endured.

Tim would argue that he was doing good work for a worthy cause, but Jack Drake would not hear any of it. Forced to resign his position as Robin, Tim would become restless without the work. And he constantly worried about the family he had found with the Bat. What could happen to any of them, had in fact already happened to some of them. The thoughts would torment him endlessly. Especially with the Red Hood still amassing power in Gotham.

With Tim's absence, Stephanie had a brilliant idea. The ambitious blonde created her own costume and surprised the Bat by jumping headfirst into the role of Robin. Annoyed and more than a bit disgruntled, Batman accepted her into the role but with great caution. As Spoiler, Stephanie had been something of a free agent. Working alongside the Dynamic Duo and other heroes but never integrating herself too deeply.

As Robin, the girl was headstrong and impulsive. The role of Robin was supposed to be a partner to the Bat, a trusted ally who knew exactly what had to be done. The two heroes could act as one entity, totally in sync both in and out of battle. Stephanie, on the other hand, demonstrated no regard for authority, only wanting to prove herself to be just as good as Tim. The two were going through one of their normal spats.

Discharged from the role after disobeying direct orders on multiple occasions, Stephanie was extremely upset. Desperate to prove her worth to the Bat, she would find and enact a master plan designed to bring down all the major crime networks in Gotham. Batman had been working on the plan for years but was reluctant to enact it due to the constantly shifting nature of the underworld and the explicitly deadly consequences it could have.

Instead of ending the reign of major criminal organizations, Stephanie's actions incited them into a war that ravaged Gotham. Mobs and gangs took to the streets in force, enraged at each other for claiming dominion over certain areas or business ventures. Most of these rivalries had been inflamed by Stephanie's meddling, intending to cause the entire criminal underworld to burn itself out.

Every Gotham vigilante was called in to quell the violence as best as possible. Batgirl, Spoiler, Nightwing and the Birds of Prey would patrol the city under Oracle's supervision. Even the morally questionable Catwoman stood alongside the heroes to protect the innocent. This was not the first or last time the thief would side with the Bats when it really mattered.

Just when it seemed that the city would be lost to violence, a meeting was called between all the major head of crime left in the city. Each of them had agreed to meet in order to end the conflict and divide up the city instead of destroying it. Unknown to them, a shadowy figure had hidden himself in their meeting room. In fact, he had been the one to orchestrate this meeting.

The Red Hood quickly dispatched every person in the room, creating the largest power vacuum Gotham had ever seen. Hood's plan had been to assume control of each faction, bringing every aspect of the criminal world into one unified operation. Batman obviously had something to say about this new overlord.

He tracked Hood after the criminal had, of all things, broken the Joker out of Arkham Asylum. Most of the city was still in chaos, so the Bat went to face them alone. Confronting Red Hood for the first time, Batman was prepared to fight the notorious assassin for control of the city. Instead, the Bat was meet by a ghost.

Removing his helmet, Jason Todd stood proudly in an abandoned apartment. He wore a brown leather jacket over an advanced body armor and dual pistol holsters. But perhaps the most significant piece of his attire was the green domino mask that eerily resembled the one he had worn as Robin.

Batman was shocked to see his old partner alive again, more so to see him acting as the Red Hood. The crimefighter retained his composure, ready for anything to happen. He wasn't sure exactly what Jason wanted or how he had come back from the dead. At this point, anything was possible.

Todd recounted the story of how shortly after his death, Talia al Ghul had exhumed his body. Using the incredible properties of the Lazarus pit, she had revived him, hoping to use him as a pawn to get to Batman. And though his mind was broken for a time, eventually Jason was well enough to understand that the Joker was still alive. This enraged him, but Talia convinced the former Robin to stay and train with the League of Shadows. Only with time and preparation could the Bat truly pay for his offenses.

He had grown significantly through the years, taller and stronger. But with those years also came skills, he was perhaps a match for even Batman. But he was more than willing to kill to accomplish whatever goals he had. Somehow, this former Robin had become the most dangerous adversary the Bat had ever faced.

Jason fumed at his former mentor; for letting him die, for not taking vengeance on his killer, for not doing what was necessary to save the city. He believed that simply containing criminals was a futile effort. Eradicating the problem was a much more effective solution. And by taking over the crime in Gotham, the Red Hood could regulate exactly what happened and reduce violence in the city.

It would have worked if not for Spoiler interfering by causing the major criminal networks to go into complete upheaval. Now there wasn't enough structure left to take over. All of that work was wasted because a stupid kid couldn't follow orders.

Well at least Jason could do one thing he had come back for. The Joker was tied to a chair in the apartment, a gun to the back of his head. The former Boy Wonder, in a blind rage, gave Batman a choice: kill him, or allow him to kill the Joker. The Dark Knight, however, took a third option, quickly disarming Jason with a well-placed batarang.

Not about to let himself be captured, The Red Hood had prepared a contingency of explosives inside the building to collapse the floor. The blast was shocking, sending every man in a different direction. In the rubble of the half-destroyed building, Batman found a laughing psychopath but not his former friend.

The Joker was returned to Arkham Asylum but the Red Hood had already slipped past everyone and made his quick exit. During this time, the fight to save Gotham was reaching its climax. The family was out in force, but none could have prepared for the sudden death of Stephanie Brown. She fell while attempting to quell the conflict that she had started. Tim took the news hard, he should have been there to save her! Instead he had been sitting at home watching the world burn.

Everyone was deeply affected by the events that had just unfolded. The shock of learning that Jason had returned from the dead was compounded by the loss of Stephanie. Knowing that the Bat had failed on two accounts was a glaring point of dissention between the family. Some still had faith in the Dark Knight of Gotham but others began to question his methods. Jason was their brother; his death had been a tragedy but now his rejection of them was even more painful.

Nightwing and Oracle would attempt to track down the Red Hood, but never got close enough to talk to him. Evidently the League of Shadows had trained him to hide very well. The Birds of Prey and Cassandra would mourn for Stephanie alongside Tim. She had been a sister to many of them. To Cassandra, Stephanie had been her best friend and only connection to the real world. The current Batgirl had developed some basic speech since beginning training with the Bats, but it had really been the spunky blonde vigilante who made talking worthwhile. Learning to live without her would be a challenge unto itself.

The long road to recovery would continue for Gotham as well. Most of the crime was now street level, petty thugs and small drug operations. But the underworld would return, it was inevitable. There was just too much unclaimed operating space in the city for ambitious criminals to pass up. This was a literal dream come true for big time crime organizations; a city in chaos with no real competition and minimal law enforcement, plenty of muscle for hire and a huge market on illegal activities.

There was the small issue of the Bats roaming the city, though only two would remain after the crisis was averted. Batman and Batgirl would continue to actively operate within the city, Oracle and the Birds of Prey assisting them when necessary. Nightwing had returned to his own city, though leaving this time on good terms with Batman. The two having finally put aside their differences and long standing feud.

Catwoman also became something of a partner to the Bat. The woman named Selena Kyle had gone straight some time ago. Hung up her costume and whip to live a normal life. Well…mostly. Certain opportunities aroused her interest a bit too much to ignore. This usually led to an encounter with Batman who had an undeniable attraction to the femme fatale. The two had developed a certain repertoire over the years that looked suspiciously like a relationship.

If the Cat didn't do anything too mischievous, Batman would gladly accept her help keeping the city safe. For now, everything was relatively quiet, the underworld still putting itself back together. A process that the Bats would attempt to stop at every opportunity. There was work to be done. The mission never ends.

Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit all over the place. There are a lot of people to keep track of at this point. Everyone deserves a bit of recognition. The story should even out over the next chapter.

I decided to edit out Black Mask because it would just take more time to explain his operation. If you want to go watch the whole story then Under the Red Hood is great, I highly recommend it.

Only a few stories left to tell. I've gotten some good ideas for one-shots so expect a few in the future. Next up is the story of the fifth Robin and a mysterious Batwoman.