Back In Red

Only a minute has passed since the three criminals were assassinated, but Batman is already on the assassin's tail. He operates his Batwing and rockets into the down district of the city while tracking the assailant. As Batman operates his jet, Red Hood leaps from rooftop to rooftop. He hops off a roof and lands in a convertible. He kickstarts the car and quickly swerves into busy traffic.

"Where is he?" asked Jordan.

"He's swerving through traffic on his way down King Avenue. How long will you be able to get here?" said Bruce.

"A couple minutes," said Jordan.

"Not fast enough," said Bruce.

Red Hood enters a tight tunnel and Bruce follows him by making the wings of the Batwing less wide. He then presses a button and shoots a harpoon at the roof of the convertible. Red Hood presses a button and releases the roof. Red Hood then turns off the street and crashes through a gate. He crashes into a chemical plant and dips from the vehicle.

"So, he crashed into Ace Chemicals. Why though?" said Bruce.

Bruce maneuvers the Batwing over the chemical plant and deploys. He crashes through the window and lands on a platform. He looks around but doesn't see the assassin. He only sees memories.

"I remember the day as clearly as ever. I created the monster that has terrorized this city for years. I created the monster that hurt me and my friends. Only if he wasn't so clumsy," said Bruce.

"It's hard to forget that day huh? I wouldn't forget. This is the site of your first great failure, but not your last," said Red Hood.

Bruce looks up and sees Red Hood sitting on a platform above him. Red Hood aims his gun and shoots the crashed convertible, blowing it up. Batman uses his cape to block the acid and grapples towards Red Hood seconds after. Before he can reach the hooded assassin, the car flies into the platform and nearly hits him. The bat is forced to grapple to the ceiling and escape the chemical plant before he ceases to exist. He lands on the ground and the T-car cruises in a couple seconds later.

"Where is he?" asked Jordan.

"Gone," said Bruce.

"What happened in there?" asked Jordan.

"Not much. He talked like he knew things, blew up the chemical plant, and escaped," said Bruce.

"He's why I'm here. He was killing many criminals in Jump City. I followed his breadcrumbs and he led me here," said Jordan.

"What does he want?" asked Bruce.

"He wants to be like us, but he has a radical way of doing things," said Jordan.

"He must be inspired by the old Red Hood gang that terrorized this town years ago, but he doesn't commit crimes. He purges the people who do them," said Bruce.

"Peak irony," said Jordan.

"He wanted me to see something. He wants to show us something, but we need to find out," said Bruce.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Jordan.

"He knows how the Joker was created, so we should go see what the clown is up to," said Bruce.

"Really? I don't think that is such a good idea. The last time I met that monster, he was almost sent to a place where he deserved to rot in," said Jordan.

"That was nearly three years ago. You can handle him," said Bruce.

"We can hope in my car. We'll be there in minutes," said Jordan.

"No," said Bruce.

"Huh? What's wrong with my car?" asked Jordan.

"Mine's better," said Bruce.

"This is no time to compete over who has the best car," said Jordan.

"I'm not trying to compete with you. I'm just stating a fact," said Bruce.

"Whatever, Bruce," said Jordan.

The Batmobile screeches to a halt in front of the chemical plant and Bruce hops in.

"Hop in. We have a meeting with a clown," said Bruce.

Ten minutes pass. Batman and Jordan walk towards the cell of the madman. A guard opens the door and the two vigilantes enter the cell. The clown immediately looks up and starts to laugh.

"Well, is it not my favorite flying rodent? Have you been working out," said the Joker.

"I didn't come here to joke around with you, Joker. I'm not in the mood," said Bruce.

"Who's the new guy? Don't tell me that you already have a new sidekick. I thought that you would know to not allow kids to be sidekicks anymore," said the Joker.

"Shut it, clown, before you get a little more brain damage," said Jordan.

"I don't think we have ever talked," said the Joker.

"We haven't talked with our mouths, but a crowbar was very useful," said Jordan.

"Wait. Are you that Barbatos kid?" said the Joker.

"In the flesh," said Jordan.

"Wow! You have surely grown up. How have you been?" said the Joker.

"Great. I would feel even better if you were dead," said Jordan.

"Maybe you will get the chance," said the Joker.

"What do you know about this guy?" asked Bruce.

Bruce pulls out a picture of the assassin and slides towards the clown. The clown takes a long look at the picture and seems dissatisfied.

"I don't know who this guy is, but he has a terrible fashion sense. When I wore the Red Hood outfit, I had a little style. This guy just doesn't get it," said the Joker.

"How do you not know who this guy is? You know every shady thing that goes down in this town," said Jordan.

"Honestly, I don't know who this guy is, but he seems to be more effective than some kid. A future replacement for the Nightwing guy. It's so sad that he croaked so early. I didn't get to have so much fun with him," said the Joker.

"Watch your mouth, clown. I won't go easy on a serial killer like you," said Jordan.

"If I was associated with this guy, I would have made sure that at least one of you could make the connection to me. I love the attention," said the Joker.

"He's right," said Bruce.

"I know, but if you do somehow get associated with this guy, we will put you in another body cast," said Jordan.

"But, you won't kill me. You guys never will," said the Joker.

"Bet on it," said Jordan.

"Let's go. He won't tell us anything, but our Red Hood will," said Batman.

"Where is he?" asked Jordan.

"Sionis Industries. He must be going after Black Mask," said Batman.

"How did you place a tracker on him?" asked Jordan.

"I didn't. The satellite caught him," said Batman.

"When did you get a satellite?" asked Jordan.

"You have missed a lot," said Batman.

"Awwww. The two vigilantes have reunited. So cute," said the Joker.

"Shut it, clown," said Jordan.

Thirty minutes pass. A helicopter slowly descends and lands on a helipad across the street from the Sionis Industries building. The two pilots look out the window and see masked guards standing and waiting for them.

"We can only be on the ground for six minutes. Hurry up and hop in," said the pilot.

Only one of the guards walks towards the helicopter and enters it. The rest just stand there like mannequins.

"What are they doing? They're just standing there like they don't have six minutes to get in here," said the co-pilot.

"We have more than that. I'm commandeering this aircraft. Get out," said Red Hood.

The two pilots turn around and see the antihero with two pistols aimed at their heads. They quickly get out of their seats and hop out of the chopper. Red Hood takes a seat in the pilot's seat and starts to rise into the sky until the helicopter is hit by a large harpoon-like gadget and shuts down.

"I thought you guys would never show. Boy, was I wrong," said Red Hood.

"There's nowhere to go, Red Hood. Come out of the chopper and let's just have a chat," said Jordan.

"I would rather dance. Let's dance," said Red Hood.

Red Hood maneuvers the throttle of the helicopter and manages to drop it off the ledge.

"Will this thing hold?" asked Jordan.

"No," said Bruce.

"Catch the chopper. I'll hold it steady," said Jordan.

"Do you have the strength to do that?" asked Bruce.

"I hope so," said Jordan.

Bruce runs off the ledge and dives after the helicopter. He pulls out a grappling hook and a harpoon shooter. He shoots the harpoon into the helicopter and shoots the grappling hook into the air. The hook reaches the rooftop and Jordan grabs it. He then pulls out his grappling hook and grapples to the water tower to help support the weight of the helicopter.

"This hurts less on tv," groaned Jordan.

The Dark Knight and the Phoenix use their combined strength to keep the helicopter lifted until they let go of it once the civilians evacuate a few seconds later.

"We did it. Great," said Jordan.

"There's no time to relax. We have to get him," said Bruce.

"Not everyone's in peak human condition," complained Jordan.

"Shut up and follow me," said Bruce.

"Fine," groaned Jordan.

Jordan hops off the rooftop and grapples onto the rooftop that Batman has grappled onto. On a building a couple blocks away, Red Hood looks at his two former allies. Even though it can't be seen, a smile appears on his face.

"Well, they did a little better than I thought they would. I guess I should run. It seems like a good night to do such a thing," said Red Hood.

Red Hood starts to run as the two heroes grapple to the building that he is on. He hops off the building and crash lands through some scaffolding. The heroes do the same as they follow him. Batman tries to throw a Batarang at him, but he ducks into a curtain and breaks through a wooden wall. He grabs a propane tank and hops out of the window. He then throws the propane tank into the air and blows it up with one bullet in the face of the Dark Knight, but he is barely affected by it.

"They just don't make Propane tanks like they used to," said Jordan.

Batman doesn't respond and just hops through the window with his former sidekick following. They land on some beams and quickly jump and maneuver through the beams as they run after their target. After around twenty seconds, they start to run across rooftops again. They continue to run until the hooded antihero hops off the building and fires a few bullets at them. They duck behind cover to avoid being shot.

"He's good," said Jordan.

"Yes. He is putting on a show, but not for long," said Batman.

"He's right there. We can hop on the blimp and get to that rooftop," said Jordan.

"That's what I was thinking," said Batman.

"Great minds think alike," said Jordan.

The two vigilantes hop onto the blimp and then hop onto the rooftop. They continue to run after the antihero until Batman tries to tie up the menace's legs midair, but he surprisingly cuts the rope.

"He's amazing," said Jordan.

"He has nowhere to go but the metro station. Let's move," said Batman.

Red Hood busts through the glass roof and enters the metro station. The vigilante duo does the same, but they don't find him anywhere. It looks like their prey has escaped.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Jordan.

"Where is he?" asked Batman.

"We have bigger problems to deal with right now," said Jordan.

"Huh?" asked Batman.

"Get down!" exclaimed Jordan.

Jordan hops onto Batman as bombs explode all around the metro station. Using this as the perfect cover to escape, Red Hood hops onto his bike and takes one more look back at his friends.

"You're still in shape, Bruce," said Red Hood.

The Red Hood revs his engine and zooms off the rails before he is hit by the eight o'clock train.

"Whoever that guy is, he's good. Too good to just be a regular person who just wants to purge all criminals," said Batman.

"Let's get back to the cave. We need to talk," said Jordan.

"Why can't we talk here? What needs to be said in private?" asked Batman.

"I strongly believe that the new Red Hood is Jason," said Jordan.

"Impossible. He may be skilled, but there's no way that Jason is alive. He's been dead for years," said Bruce.

"Just trust me alright. I'll fully explain my theory in the Batcave. This is a family matter," said Jordan.