chapter 5
Did Jason know that it was a bad idea to go out on patrol as his alter ego Red Hood, because A, it wasn't his city and B, the police and this 'Avengers' where looking for him? Yes. Did he do it anyway because of the simple reason that he was bored? Double yes. Would he regret his decision later on? Probably.
Yes, despite the many reasons against it, Jason was now standing on top of a six-store-high apartment complex. The sun only just went down and the air was still warm. When he shifted his weight from on leg to the other, he could hear the gravel underneath him. Normally he would have gone on his usual patrol rout, or he would have been on a stakeout, observing a new gang. But this wasn't Gotham. This was New York. There was no such thing as a patrol rout or the knowledge of criminal hotspots. So he did the one thing that came to his mind: wait. He would just wait until he heard or saw anything that was worth his time. Unfortunately, Big Apple seemed to be a lot calmer in the night then Gotham. It was quiet, peaceful. Well at least as peaceful as a city with over 8 million inhabitants could be.
The young anti-hero already wanted to give up and go back to his current 'apartment', when he suddenly saw a red figure, swinging from roof to roof. Jason couldn't tell how old the person was, because just like him, he wore a mask. Against every bit of rationality that was left in him, he decided to follow the stranger. Undetected of course.
He took out his grappling hook and leaped across the streets. In order to make sure the stranger didn't notice him, he stuck to the shadows, and used the grappling gun as sparingly as possible, just like the big, bad Bat had taught him.
By taking a closer look, he noticed that the figure didn't seem to have a grappling gun like he did. It looked like the cables shot right out of his wrist and just stick to the walls. He also let them stick there, without interest in receiving them back. Did this guy just have a never-ending stock of this things?
After a couple more minutes of playing cat and mouse, the stranger swung into an alleyway. Hood creeped to the ledge of the building he was currently standing on and looked down into the alley. Underneath him he saw four crooks, two with baseball bats, one with a knife and one who appeared to be unarmed, all of them surrounded a maybe 13-year-old boy.
"Give us your bag and your money and we wouldn't hurt you, boy!", the one with the knife said. He got even closer to the boy and pointed his weapon at the kids face.
Normally that would have been Jason’s cue to jump into action and shoot these assholes, but right now he wanted to watch what the stranger from before would do. Don't worry, if the situation got out of control he had always the chance to make a big entrance and save every ones skin (as usual...).
"How about you guys leave the kid alone and go home?", the masked kid asked.
The thugs turned towards the new voice, when they saw him, they started to laugh.
"Who will make us? You?", the one with the knife said. He was big, not just tall, but big. Broad shoulders, a neck like a bull, and his hands were big enough to squash a head in one hand. He jumped forward and tried to slash his opponent, but he just jumped out of the way and shot one of his sticky cables to the crooks chest, to trap him on the wall to his right.
When Jason took a closer look, he realized that it wasn't really a cable, but more a web of some sort, shot from a small device from the wrist. All in all the guy reminded him of Black Spider, with the difference that this guy didn't seem like he was part of the League of Shadows. His movements were way to sloppy for this, he wouldn’t have lasted a day with the League.
Next the two idiots with bats charged at the Spider-Boy, positioned on both sides of him, making it harder to defend himself from the swings. The unarmed guy was still standing in the back, holding the scared kid by the collar of his jacked, making sure he didn't escape.
The Spider was still avoiding blows, throwing some punches here and blocking some of his opponents there, until one of the thugs hit his side. It wasn't a critical hit, but it was enough to make him stumble back and getting the air nocked out of him. The other man used his chance and swung his bat at his head, bringing the masked kid down to one knee. Before the second man could finish him, the kid managed to shoot one of his nets at him and effectively trapped him on the opposite wall from the very first one.
The next blow came only seconds later, paired with an angry roar from the thug. The younger one ducked and rolled out of the way, ultimately jumping behind the crook and disarmed him, or so he thought.
The man pulled out a switchblade from the back pocket of his trousers, aiming for the stomach of the kid. The masked one wasn't prepared for the second weapon and got hit. Dark, red blood splashed from the wound, staining his suit. With one hand he reached for the wound, applying pressure, with the other he used the carelessness of his opponent and stuck him to the wall just like his two friends before. The young hero slumped onto the ground, unable to stand any longer because of the pain and the dizziness that slowly took over.
The child in the back let out a scared yelp, when the man that was holding him took out a handgun and aimed it at the other kid.
"So, this is how it ends, Spider-Brat. Bleeding out in a random alley, feels strange doesn't it? How your blood slowly seeps out of you, how you start to loose consciousness, how your vision starts to get blurry... ", The bleeding kid tried to stand up but failed, grunting in pain, "How about I help you out? I grant you a quick death, a bullet between the eyes, how about that, pal?"
He raised his gun, finger on the trigger, ready to end his life. The masked hero closed his eyes, readying himself for his end, when suddenly a gunshot was heard, but he didn't feel the pain.
"How about you bastard leave this kids alone? The other option is a bullet in the knees. When that doesn't work, one for the head. It's your decision my friend"
With that said, Red Hood made his big entrance, jumping down from the building and landing between the bleeding hero and the bastard with the gun.
Said bastard pulled up his weapon again, aiming for Hoods chest. Luckily Hood was faster and made his promise real. Two bullets, one for each knee of the idiot. He sunk down screaming in pain. The younger kid used his chance and sprinted out of the alley, leaving Hood, four unconscious men and a just barely conscious kid with a bad stab wound. Jason cuffed the guy he just shot, before he turned his attention to the kid. His breaths were raspy and weak. The vigilante took a moment to decide what to do.
Should he bring him to a hospital? Probably not a bad idea, but he didn't know where the next one was.
Jason thought for a little longer until he decided; he picked the boy up, making sure not to touch the wound, and stared walking back to his safe house. Hopefully the few medical supplies back at his place were good enough to help the kid...