Chapter 7

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Draw your eyes to the center ring! We have a very special presentation in store for you!"

The night of Jason's first fight in the ring, Helena was there in the stands keeping a close eye on him to make sure that all went well. And in the event that all hell broke loose for whatever reason Huntress would be ready to fight her way out.

"In this corner, long-time member of our prestigious cage fights, and electrically charged powerhouse, the bruiser from Russia, I give you ELECTROCUTIONER!"

At this Electrocutioner entered the ring, decked out in his usual bulky, black and red body-armor with a black bandanna over his face. Over his heavily armored hands he wore his trademark "shock gauntlets" from which he had gotten his name and fanfare. Huntress for her part had run into the man once before, and knew that for all his swagger he was little more than the standard "dumb muscle" kind of supervillain that Killer Croc and Clayface also came from. But at least those two actually had some credibility. Electrocutioner stayed in Roulette's ring for a reason.

"And in this corner, a newcomer. That's right ladies and gentlemen, we've got a fresh new face in the ring today, or rather a bandaged face. You may not know him now, or perhaps you've heard whispers here and there. But once this is over you'll all know his name. I give you HUSH!"

As everyone around her roared in approval Helena stayed deathly silent, keeping her gaze fixed squarely on Jason as he entered the ring disguised as Hush. She'd made sure he wasn't carrying any weapons beforehand so he wouldn't just put a bullet in his opponent's head. Granted Jason knew how to maintain a cover, but Helena wanted to make sure.

"I kill you bandaged man" Electrocutioner snarled to Jason before charging up his shock gauntlets. "Then I'm a-jump-start your heart...then I kill you again!" As he said this Electrocutioner puffed up his chest and charged up his gauntlets in full to the roar of the crowd. Jason for his part was not the least bit fazed and shook his head in disapproval as Electrocutioner cracked his neck and puffed up his chest again in a vain effort to intimidate Jason.

Next thing Jason knew though his opponent was charging towards him like an enraged rhinoceros. Jason dived to the side to avoid him as he slammed into the wall of the cage with the full force of his body, leaving a depression in it and also causing electricity to course through the entire cage on the account of his gauntlets. One stray bolt came a little to close for comfort as far as Jason was concerned.

Spinning around to face Electrocutioner as he recovered Jason quickly deduced that trying to match his larger opponent's strength would be a fool's errand. As he came at him again, Jason side-stepped to avoid Electrocutioner's lunging punch, with him then ducking under another. Jason then rocketed upwards and slammed his fist into the bottom of Electrocutioner's jaw, sending out a resounding cracking sound and causing the larger man's teeth to rattle in his mouth. Jason then ran up Electrocutioner's body and did a back-flip off of him, as he did kicking Electrocutioner back again. As his massive and heavily armored body hit the floor of the ring hard the crowd burst into a deafening applause. Jason meanwhile kept his eyes fixed squarely on his opponent, all the while ignoring the bedlam around him and in particular Roulette's commentary.

"Well folks I have to say this really is an unprecedented occurrence. Electrocutioner downed in mere moments by a newbie! Is he just out of his game today, or is our newest face for real? We'll just have to keep watching to find out!"

By this point Electrocutioner's pride was clearly as wounded as his jaw, and again he charged at Jason with an incredible amount of speed and force. Remembering with bitterness what had happened when he'd taken on Killer Croc, Jason again dodged out of the way of the charge and continued to roll, duck, and weave out of the way of all of Electrocutioner's follow-up attacks. He knew that with that bulky armor of his it was no doubt taking Electrocutioner quite a bit of energy to strike with as much speed and force as he did, especially after Jason had already knocked the wind out of him. His entire face was sweating and he was panting heavily.

Jason smiled. If he could apply just a bit more pressure he'd have Electrocutioner down and out without breaking a sweat.

Another electrically charged punch was sent his way and again Jason side-stepped to avoid it. Electrocutioner snarled in frustration as Jason again avoided his attacks.

"Fight back!" Electrocutioner roared. "FIGHT BACK!"

"All right" Jason said as he ducked under another of Electrocutioner's punches. "...but only because you asked"

And then Jason jumped into the air and kicked Electrocutioner in the face as hard as he could. The man's sweating scarred face contorted with the force of the blow as spit, blood, and even some teeth all went flying out of his mouth, lips flapping helplessly the whole time. Electrocutioner's body hit the floor with a resounding thud that was swiftly drowned out by the deafening roar of the crowd.

"Well I don't think any of us expected this! Hush wins his first fight in the ring and does so with style! I don't know about any of you but I think we've just found one of our newest stars here! Only time will tell how long he can stay in the big leagues!"

-X-

After the clamor had died down Jason had gone into Roulette's office with Helena at his side.

"Well Hush I must say I'm impressed. Your mopping the floor with Electrocutioner back there's got the crowd begging for more. I do hope you'll satisfy them. I'll certainly make it worth your while"

"Hush" nodded. "Yes. A steady and reliable source of money will serve me well for my future plans. I'll give these people what they want as long as you give me a piece of it"

"Of course. Ten percent. That's what everyone here gets"

"I'm gonna need more than that. Twenty percent"

Roulette chuckled. "Not on your life. I like you Hush but not that much"

"Fifteen percent and we've got a deal"

"Fifteen eh?" Roulette seemed to consider this for a moment before at last nodding. "Alright fine. I'll do it just this once. But you'd better not disappoint me"

"I won't"

-X-

"So how long do I have to keep this up?" Jason asked as he and Helena left the ring together.

"Long as it takes to get something we can use" Helena replied bluntly. "Which may be a while"

"Well I'm not sure how long I want to be entertainment for scum"

"Look at it this way: you get to beat supervillains up for a while. What's not to like about that?"

"Point taken but still. I'm Red Hood, not Hush. This charade can't last for too long"

"If all goes well, you'll be out of there by the end of the month. Maybe even the end of the week"

-X-

What followed over the next few days was a test of strength and fighting prowess not unlike what Jason had endured during certain parts of his training with the League of Assassins. One by one new costumed faces stepped into the ring to challenge him and one by one they were bested by him. Everyone from losers like Shatterfist and Catman to more credible threats like KGBeast. And with every person Jason took down disguised as Hush his reputation and fame in the ring grew. Jason of course didn't care and truth be told was downright disgusted to become such a spectacle in something criminal, but he was willing to make the sacrifice.

As it stood he and Helena got all manner of information on the ring and also how Roulette funded her operations. The stage was set for an "anonymous tip" to lead the GCPD to the underground fighting circuit, with the additional information Jason and Helena had acquired without Roulette noticing only serving as the nails in the coffin. There was enough to bury Roulette and her associates for a very long time indeed.

But there was still one last fight to be had before the die could be cast.

"Any idea who it might be?" Jason asked as he and Helena looked over all of the evidence they had gathered against Roulette one last time to make sure it was all there.

"As in who you'll have to fight?" Helena shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe Sportsmaster"

"That would be a problem" Jason pointed out.

"It'd either be him or someone just as bad. You getting cold feet?"

"At the thought of fighting someone I can't beat without blowing my cover? Yeah I'm just a little bit concerned"

"You? Concerned?" Helena feigned shock. "I don't think my heart can take it"

"Easy for you to laugh. You're not going up against the guy who once went three rounds with Bruce"

"Bruce beat him though didn't he?"

"He did, but not easily. And he was one of my trainers. He'll know me"

"Not if you don't use what he taught you"

"If I don't I'd have to use Shiva's, which like I said, he'd also recognize. What I've got besides that may not be enough"

"Well it shouldn't matter either way right? I mean this is the last fight you'll have to be in. Who cares if you win or lose?"

"Besides all those people watching?" Jason said with a cocky grin. "Well for one thing I happen to care whether or not I get my ass kicked"

"You'll do fine Jason. I'm sure of it. You beat me twice without breaking a sweat. You can handle a guy in a hockey mask who fights with sports equipment"

"That's what I thought when I first met him. It took a while for my ribs to heal afterwards"

-X-

"It's one hell of a matchup tonight folks as we pit two of our biggest and best in the ring against each-other! Hush, the unexpected success story, and Sportsmaster, reigning champ of the ring! Which one of them will walk away the winner? Place your bets now!"

Jason silently lamented the revelation that he would indeed be fighting Sportsmaster. Truth be told he wasn't sure if maybe he should just go all out, as after all this would be his last fight regardless of whether he won or lost. Might as well end on a high note.

Sportsmaster was already waiting for him when he entered the ring. He was taller than Jason and had a physique to match Bruce's. He dressed in black cargo pants and gray blue body armor over his torso. One of his arms was covered in additional armor and over his face he wore an intimidating steel gray mask styled to resemble an old-school goalie mask. True to his name he carried a duffel bag filled with various "sports" items that were plenty dangerous as weapons, but as this was a brawl he had tossed the weapons to the side. Jason took that as a good sign, as Sportsmaster's one major weakness was he relied on weapons a little too much. Without them Jason might have a chance.

Sportsmaster stared Jason down from behind his mask as the crowd grew all the more wild as the highly anticipated fight came closer and closer to occurring.

"I gotta say Hush I never expected to see you here. Or to kick so much ass"

"That's what everyone's said" Jason retorted in his "Hush" voice. "And here I thought you could come up with a more original response. Guess not. Disappointing as always"

Unfortunately Jason's taunt did not have the desired effect, as Sportsmaster merely laughed it off. "Ha! I like you mummy. I'll try to not make this hurt too much. Lucky you I left my weapons behind"

And then with this simple response Sportsmaster came at Jason with such speed and power that the younger man was barely able to react in time. Throwing up his arms instinctively he managed to block the first strike and follow it up with an upward double punch before then being pummeled hard and fast by Sportsmaster, each throw of his fists striking with enough force to knock the wind out of Jason and cause him to stagger as already he felt himself become short of breath and his stomach area cry out in agony from so much force slamming into it over and over. His arms too felt as if their bones were breaking from barely withstanding so many punches to them.

"Ooh! And Hush gets off to a bad start, with Sportsmaster rapidly pummeling him into submission!"

Managing to catch his breath only briefly, Jason threw out one punch that connected before Sportsmaster began pummeling him again, his training keeping him from falling for the obvious blows that so many of Jason's other opponents in the ring were downed by and also being able to move fast enough to strike before Jason could respond in time.

Jason knew how his old teacher fought. For him it was just another game to be played and won, and Sportsmaster always, always played to win.

Finally though Jason trapped one of Sportsmaster's arms and with his free hand grabbed Sportsmaster's other fist. What followed was an intense grapple, with Sportsmaster and Jason each putting all of their strength into their arms in a desperate attempt to finally outmuscle the other.

Jason could feel his arm be pushed almost to the breaking point. He sweated as it felt like his arm was being split open by the strain. Snarling like a wounded predator before it lashed out, Jason gave everything he had to moving Sportsmaster's arm out of the way before finally breaking the lock and delivering an uppercut to Sportsmaster's face. This was followed up with several more punches to Sportsmaster's body before he headbutted Jason away and entered into a boxing stance. Replying in kind Jason held up his arms and used what Sportsmaster had taught him against him.

Sportsmaster's eyes widened in surprise behind his mask as he recognized his own fighting style being used against him, a brief moment of distraction that Jason seized on to punch him as hard as he could across the side of his face repeatedly, which hurt Jason's knuckles from striking steel so hard but also clearly staggered Sportsmaster.

And also make him angry.

Next thing Jason knew he felt himself being pummeled again as Sportsmaster went with him even more force and fury than before, hitting some so hard that even the older man was beginning to feel pain in his hands from hitting so hard so many times. His mind kicking into survival mode Jason rolled with the punches long enough to regain his footing and start dodging the attacks, retaliating with blows of his own. By this point Jason's hands were stinging with pain constantly and his body felt bruised all over. But he didn't stop. Not when he knew Sportsmaster was feeling exactly the same way.

Their intense physical exchange continued for a while longer before at last fell to their knees as the combined injuries at last took their toll. As they panted for breath desperately many in the crowed booed at the lack of a clear victor, but the two combatants ignored them. Sportsmaster managed a weak smile behind his mask.

"Well it looks like the student's finally managed to equal the master, right 'Hush'?"

Cursing Sportsmaster's deducing his identity, Jason said through gritted teeth: "Yeah, looks that way. You gonna blow the whistle on me?"

"Aw come on where's the fun in that? Nah, I'll keep quiet. I don't know why you're pretending to be Hush or cage-fighting but I could probably guess. And honestly I don't care either way. How about we finish this?"

"If you think you can manage it"

And the next thing Jason knew he was lying flat on his back to the roar of the crowd.

"And the winner, still the undefeated champion of the ring: Sportsmaster!"

"…ow"

But the celebration was short-lived as the doors were kicked down and a small army of heavily armed and armored GCPD officers flooded into the ring. Everyone screamed and fled as the GCPD officers entered, with the frontmost officer stepping forward: "Show's over everyone. This underground circuit's just been shut down forever" then turning to his men: "Arrest every last costumed face you see"

The GCPD officers nodded and begin moving forward, the amount of firepower they carried prompting most of the other supervillains to scatter rather than risk being filled with holes resisting arrest. Jason and Sportsmaster for their part were sitting ducks in the cage, which the GCPD officers swiftly surrounded. Seeing that the only way to open it would be from Roulette's booth, the GCPD officers went there next, managing to grab Roulette before she could make a getaway.

"Open it" the head officer ordered

The other officers did as instructed and the walls of the cage were raised, allowing the officers to crowd Sportsmaster and Jason, the latter of whom dropped well over half-a-dozen smoke pellets to send up a thick cloud of smoke. Staying low to the ground as some of the officers fired into it, Jason took out his grappling hook gun and fired it into the higher stands. By the time the GCPD realized what was happening they were too late to gun him down. Other officers tried to intercept them but Jason was able to take them down relatively easily. Throwing more smoke bombs at them, Jason bought himself enough time to make his escape as he and Helena had been planning it for when the time came. The others though were not so quick on their feet, and several of the supervillains were captured by the GCPD, especially as more and more armed and armored men flooded into the building.

"See you around Sportsmaster" Jason thought as he made his getaway. "Can't say I'll be sorry to see you go to jail"

-X-

Jason met Helena later that night in a location they had agreed on. No sooner did they see each-other did Helena ask Jason how he was holding up following his fight with Sportsmaster and subsequent escape.

"Well I can't say I'm doing great but I'll live. And we buried those lowlifes, so that's a nice consolation"

Helena smiled. "See? There are other ways besides putting bullets in people"

"Not as effective though. If we'd killed them we'd know they'd never hurt anyone else ever again"

Helena frowned. "And here I thought you were actually learning something"

Jason smiled. "Not a chance. This was fun as a one time thing but it'll take more than this to convince me I'm wrong. See ya around"

And with this parting exchange Jason turned heel and ran off into the night, leaving Helena alone.