A Tale Of Clowns

Chapter 10- Red Hood, Friend Or Foe?

Hood sped up his bike avoiding the bullets that were fired his way, he found Harley standing next to the remains of the Funhouse, "Get on!" He yelled, Harley jumped on the bike and Hood started to ride to the entrance, Batman and Batgirl still hot on his trail in the batmobile, Hood pressed a button on his pocket and they all heard the sound of the rollercoaster exploding, while Batman and Batgirl looked behind to see what happened, Hood and Harley managed to get out of the park before it was reduced to rubble but unfortunately, so did the Bats. "How the fuck do we lose them?" Harley yelled looking back at the pursuing vehicle "I don't know! That fucking car is bulletproof and the they just avoid the bomb I throw at them!" Harley looked back at the approaching Bats thinking of a way to lose them when it clicked, She pulled out her last sticky bomb, pressed the button and threw it right at the car's hood. "SPEED UP!" Harley yelled, Hood accelerated again as Batman and Batgirl jumped out of the car, it ended up exploding sending batmobile parts flying in all directions, Hood who had looked behind right when the Batmobile had blown up couldn't help but mutter "Beautiful...wait they got out right?" His question was met with a batrang right to the helmet, "Yep."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harley happily hopped over to Ivy's door as Hood unlocked his own door, "So what are you gonna do now?" Harley asked as she knocked and waited for Ivy to open the door, "Vigilante stuff." And with that he started to walk in but Harley quickly said "Will you be free on Sunday I wanna go somewhere and I wanna take you with me!" She said Hood's eyes narrowed behind his helmet "Where?" "It's a surprise" Harley said winking.
"I'll think about it."

Hood went back to patrolling through park row once he'd rested for a bit in his apartment, He was on the lookout for any Bats or Birds that may come his way especially after his previous two run ins with them. It was....strange seeing Bruce so up close again, it was ironic how during his first encounter with Bruce he hit him in the gut with a tire iron and ended up getting kidnapped and when he first met Bruce after coming back, he fought Bruce again and kidnapped him. Like father like son as they say. After checking up on Max in his apartment he started to patrol around his old neighbourhood and the place he used to stay in while he was homeless, they brought back memories good and bad alike. There were times when his dad Willis wasn't drunk, he'd take him to the park, show him how to fix cars, even taught him how to pickpocket, then there was his mom, taking him to the library on her good days, or the theatre! Those were always the best days. On the bad days, his mom would be passed out on the floor or couch and he'd have to drag her back to her room because his father was gone on some low paying job or unconscious in some park after drinking far too much. Or when his Dad was home drunk which always led to fights between his parents which would almost always be physical. Sometimes Jason tried to stop them, He didn't remember who hit him first but they'd always apologize and make empty promises to improve. They never did.

Jason pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he continued his patrol, he stumbled upon a few kids rummaging through a dumpster, He hopped down making sure to make some noise to alert them of his presence. They jumped in surprise and turned around to see him, they huddled behind the oldest kid who looked like they were fourteen, "Hey hey, don't worry I'm not going to hurt you." The kids took a step back "L-leave us alone!" The oldest kid said trying to put on a brave front but it was clear that they were terrified. The child was only five feet tall, they had tanned skin, light brown eyes and black hair which were matted but still short. "Kid seriously you're safe, here." Hood took out a roll of cash from one of his pockets and threw it over to the kids. "Go buy some clothes and food with that, do you all got a place to stay?" The smaller kids gathered around the teenager examining the money, "Why should we trust you? The bats or the cops have never cared about us!" One of the smaller kids said who looked like she was seven. "I'm not one of the Bats, or the birds. Say what, I'll find some shelter for you stay in, some food while you all stay here and not freeze to death. Sound good?" The kids huddled back up, they couldn't trust a stranger, especially the one who had become famous for cutting off eight heads but what other choice did they have? It was either this or freeze to death in the unforgiving Gotham winter.