We listened in as the Black Mask went over the details of an arms delivery, a potent mix of RPGs, automatic rifles, and explosives. As the crime boss over all Gotham, he was almost as notorious and feared as Batman, at least in the States anyway. Without a word Bruce and Dick pulled up their cowls and headed to the batmobile. Something on the line, though, stopped me. Straining to hear, I just barely made out that raspy but vibrant voice smirking "Sounds good to me." I instinctively sent my mind out across the radio frequency, and sure enough, there was another radio connected.
"We've got company," I warned Bruce, slipping into the tank. "I just made him out cutting in on our frequency."
Startled, Bruce looked at me like I was crazy and floored towards the drop-off point, another high-rise rooftop. "You wanna fill me in on how the Red Hood got our frequency?"
"A lot's happened since you left. He probably just ended up on the same frequency we did. I rotate it, remember?" Bruce stared daggers at Dick, who stared back for a full minute before shrugging and falling silent.
As we approached the warehouse chopper blades whirred to land, "Okay, so should- Okay then..." The roof opened and Bruce grappled out, quickly followed by us. I shrugged at Dick; new for me, too. Prepping the "sparkler," as Jason had dubbed the short range EMP grenade launcher, Dick waited for us to attach thick cables to hold the copter down as we burst onto the roof. Startled, I saw the Red Hood already taking off with the shipment, leaving behind a mass of surprisingly breathing guards. Firing a direct hit to the copter's side, Dick motioned for me to check on the scum - such an odd word, that; criminals look nothing like algae.
"You wanna dance? Then let's dance!" the Hood swung down on the throttle, hurtling the copter and weapons into a free-fall.
"That gonna hold?"
"Nope," Bruce swept off the side of the building, disappearing from sight as Dick stood annoyed for a moment.
"So should I- do you want me-" glaring after Bruce, Dick pulled a sturdy staple gun out of his suit, making me snicker. Even the hardiest gadgets had ridiculous beginnings. I knocked some Latino guy in the head with his rifle when he started to wake up, "Hey! We're supposed to have informants, remember?"
I raised an eyebrow, senses suddenly sharpening as the rope drew taught, starting to tear off the brackets, "You grab him; I've got this." I pounced on the line, continuing Dick's work while adding more mass, managing to stop the cable just above cars. Of course, slapping down a couple dozens bricks on the cable didn't hurt, either. Scanning the area, I just barely caught a flash of black and blue rounding another ledge. Shaking my head, I leaped down, twisting my right ankle oddly in landing before cutting off those nerves and pursuing the cowled trio, "What is it with these guys and ledges! It's like crime movies and car chases, for Thor's sake!"
Catching up to Dick, I nearly fell into the street as they leaped across the distance. Dick mentally chuckled, only driving me back to gain the momentum. Rolling to lessen the impact, I came even with the duo, "About time you showed up!"
Glaring at Dick, I kept running, knowing he would pay for that comment later. Dancing across beams of a new construction, my foot kept falling at odd angles to the cold, metal beams, throwing me off-balance a bit. I'll have Alfred look at it when we get back, I thought. Dick frowned, stealing a glance at my foot before nearly tripping himself.
"Eyes ahead, you two!" Bruce growled. We snapped back to attention, finally starting to gain on the near-silent Red Hood as we followed him through shattered glass and an office. Grabbing an oxygen tank, he crashed through a window moments before we would have reached it and threw the tank back up, igniting the life giving and taking gas. Flinching, I grabbed Bruce and threw us behind a couple reinforced desks as the flames passed harmlessly by.
"Anyone else notice how convenient this all is?" I shouted over the roar. The flames died enough to let us pass, and we leaped back into the chase. "Why do you-"
"ENOUGH questions!" Bruce growled, flipping on his targeting system. I dropped back slightly so he had the room to throw the batarang lasso, looping around the Red Hood's ankle just as he leaped towards a ledge below near the central train station. Smirking, I pulled even with Bruce on the thin ledge, only to jump in my skin as the Hood sliced through the rope with a curved, serrated knife.
"What? He's real good," Dick and I watched, stunned, as the Red Hood landed with a soft thump on his intended ledge before jumping through the glass ceiling of the station. Landing where he had just been, Dick stressed, "Okay, he's really good."
"Nothing we haven't seen before," Bruce jumped after him, our trio rolling again to lessen the impact. Looking around briefly, the Red Hood was nowhere- wait... I heard the ticking moments before Bruce and tried to get a closer look at the bomb, but he swept us away, towards the track. The explosion threw them down but caught something on me, hurtling me to the other side of the tracks. right next to the Red Hood.
Startled we sized each other up for a moment, "Hi, JT."
"I think we both know what that stands for," he whispered, smirking. Looking up, he called out above the crescendo of an approaching train, "You haven't lost your touch, Br-" and his words were lost by the train and his motorcycle revving into action. Bruce managed to pull Dick onto the platform moments before the cars blocked my vision of them. Looking over my shoulder briefly, I sped after the motorcycle, watching, waiting for patterns to emerge that would contradict what we had seen and heard. "Come on, it can't be him," I muttered under my breath.
Tapping into speed stinger abilities, I managed to just barely keep pace with the Hood, kicking up dust and bits of concrete and gravel as I chased him down 32nd then 60th then L street before I finally heard Bruce yell into my earpiece, "HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING? Get back here. NOW!" Reluctantly, I dropped back to a normal jog then walk before realizing that it was now just before dawn, my sense of time betrayed by the city lights and sprawl. Frustrated and somewhat tired, I walked into an alley to change into a night fury, winging back to the cave.