A Renegade Knight

CHAPTER IV

It was a freezing cold night, Jason noted as he jumped across the roof tops. Bludhaven was similar to Gotham in its structure and the familiar surroundings were comforting to the Red Hood as he moved through the dark, and yet Jason couldn't relax. His shoulder was aching, the muscles tense from the injury and a disrupted sleep and his head hurt. He had been forced to part with his red helmet for the night, the dents and scratches proving too difficult to fix in the limited time Jason had before he begun the trek to the Haven. And to make things worse, Jason was jumping at shadows. A quick internet search before leaving had left him no closer to uncovering the identity of Renegade. No newspaper articles had mentioned the name, no superheroes were talking. It seemed that until last night, the guy didn't exist. Or if he did, he existed as someone else. In Jason's books, that was never a good sign.

Jumping across a small alley, Jason finally paused to catch his breath. He had been patrolling Bludhaven for the last three hours and still, Nightwing hadn't appeared. The overgrown bird was clearly laying low.

With a sigh, Jason ran a hand through his dark hair. He was glad it was once again back to its normal dark colour. Dying it red had been fun, especially when Jason had spread doubts through Dick's mind, suggesting their joint former mentor had practiced child abuse by making him dye it, but it was difficult to manage and in the end, not worth Jason's time.

Finding a corner with a good view, Jason crouched down and looked over the city, contemplating his next move. If Dick wasn't available, he would need to contact someone else. Renegade was a danger and needed to be taken down in the only way Jason knew how. Pulling his gun from its holster, Jason found himself automatically checking the weapon, insuring the barrel was clear and the safety was on.

Then he sat back to wait. Sitting near one of the main criminal centres of the city was Red Hoods last option. If Nightwing was going to respond to anything in the area tonight, Jason would find him.

Sitting back, Jason prepared himself to wait. Above him, thunder rolled across the sky. Jason glanced up. Beside him, a metal pipe pinged as a drop of water hit it. Another drop followed, and another. Before long, Jason was soaked, the heavy rain creating a thick curtain of water. Jason groaned. He was going to kill Nightwing if the hero didn't appear soon.

The sky lit up suddenly, a fork of lightning cutting through the clouds. In its light, Jason studied his surroundings. He was perched in a mess of metal pipes and television satellites. Decided it wasn't the best place to be during a lightning storm, Jason rose to his feet and turned. Another bolt of lightning lit up the night. Jason froze, the sudden light revealing a moving figure across the alley from him.

Ducking back down, Jason strained his eyes as he studied the figure in the gloom, the city once again fell into darkness after the brief flash of light. The figure was struggling backwards, as if he had been hit, a long piece of cloth dangling from his shoulders ("A cape?" Jason asked himself). Even in the rain, Jason could hear the splash as another figure landed on the roof across from him. This figure was taller than the first, shrouded in the darkness.

Jason watched as the two figures engaged in combat, both demonstrating impressive hand to hand skills. However, the first figure was slowing, taking hits from his attacker. Another bolt of lightning lit up the fight, showing the red and black of the two figures. Jason blinked. He knew those costumes. Hell, one of them was his own damn costume!

Red Robin was fighting Renegade. The teen was working hard, trying to escape his attacker but the Renegade was too good. Even as Jason watched, the villain kicked out, the kick connecting with Tim Drakes head, knocking the teen to the ground. Jason couldn't help it. He winced. Although the cowl of the Red Robin costume was reinforced and Drake had an unusually thick head, the kick still would have hurt. And clearly it did. Tim crumpled, landing in a puddle.