Chapter 6:Enters Red Hood 

Hell's Kitchen, New York 

Volume 1: Origin 

Yellowed flickering lights above caused shadows to dance around the warehouse. Masked up in the Red Hood, sleek black non-reflective armored suit allowed him to blend into the area uncontested. 

The unaware goon patrolling the section of the spacious warehouse was snatched bodily into Cole's hiding spot. The goon struggled aimlessly, his muffled screams silenced with ease as the assailant's grip increased. Hardened hands gripped his throat and mouth. His vision became spotty as the oxygen deprivation and adrenaline pumping in his veins sped up as he slumped to the ground soundlessly.

Cole darted down the path between crates and slammed into another goon man with bone breaking force. He rolled across the now downed man's body and slammed dropped another to shock and slow to respond. He  angled the corner and hit the third goon, the goon's eyes enlarged in apprehension, his mouth opening wide before he clamped down, feeling the cold press of the weapon stabbing into his abdomen. 

"I will only ask once." His voice is low and distorted by the tech of the  armored red and black helmet. "How many are you inside the warehouse?" He jerked his head backward. "Minus the three in this sector." 

He felt the man swallow hard as he unclenched the vice-like grip on his throat, causing the man to suck in the air greedily. He stabbed the [High Powered Taser] into the man's abdomen, warningly causing him to wince in pain. 

He fumbled his words, clearly frightened. "It's me and six more in this sector. I think the boss and the others are in the office toward the middle.

The goon continued. "You don't know who you're messing with here, buddy. The big boss's right-hand man is here. The Tarantula gang, don't be a hero; look, I'll put in a good word for you. What do you think?" 

Cole slugged the man in the kidney and slammed him against the wall before headbutting him, crushing his nose and knocking his head back into the wall before pressing down on the silent [High Powered Taser] trigger. 

Recruit me? The goon angered him. He felt the vestiges of Jeremy stir, bolstering his rage. He wouldn't work with these weak scum. He would destroy their operation and get closer to his great enemy, The Hand. 

Cole spied around, his hand still actively pressing down on the trigger. York boy had loads of anger to dispense on the world for the wrongs he faced; his other Persona, Jason Todd, was also angered. His rage fueled the cruelty in him to a boiling point. He knew it but didn't care, and it was exhilarating. The hand goon thrummed as the current of electricity coursed through his body. The goon slumped, and he placed the now smoking man securely out of sight of any potential passerby.

System message: Goon incapacitated. Rewards: +Neutral Alignment. $100. 

System message: Goon incapacitated. Rewards: +Neutral alignment. $100. 

System message: Goon Critical. Rewards: +Villain alignment. $500. 

He stopped in his tracks. Is this a thing? He could see how this could be addictive. But he also was thankful for the added incentive. He felt slightly odd about the critical part. He felt like another more lethal option would reward more money. He smiled underneath his helmet. 

He didn't see a reason to kill their hired help. He doubted the last man would have a good time waking up and seeing a hospital visit in his future. He would if the situation counted for it. He had little to no qualms about murder, undoubtedly Jason Todd's persona side effects. As he swiftly passed between shipping containers

He leaped between two containers and quickly pulled himself up before two men walked underneath his hiding spot. 

"What was the big Spanish guy's name, again? El pueblo something, something." He joked 

"Ha. El Uno," he said smugly. "He's a Brazilian man, Portuguese or whatever. Did you hear about what he did to Rickshaw?" 

"Thomas wouldn't shut up about it. He told El Uno he could probably scale the border wall. And something about he's going to turn snitch and call I.C.E." The two laughed together. 

"What an idiot. I'm glad he got his arms broken, though. He's been swinging his cock around since his brother Tombstone started warring with the old crime families, thinking he's bulletproof and strong like his freak of a brother." 

"Thomas was excited, at least. Now that Rickshaw is out of the picture, he will rise in the ranks. The boss can't deal with the Tarantula gang and the four families simultaneously." 

"It's bound to happen. Nepotism, right." He chuckled. 

I didn't know Tombstone was active, and he had a brother too. He briefly thought about Luke Cage, Daredevil, and other street-level heroes that were active or starting. That explains a few things I've been reading about online.

He trailed the man above as he listened to the information. 'Loose lips sink ships' came to his mind unbiddenly. He fell from above, not allowing them the chance of resistance.

System message: Goon incapacitated. Rewards: +Neutral alignment. $100. 

System message: Goon incapacitated. Rewards: +Neutral alignment. $100. 

He assumed this was showing up because he was undertaking a mission. His battle with The Hand has only been going on for a week, but it awarded him his handy Taser.

Cole examined the men's weapons before an idea struck him. Could he store other items in his inventory? He could recall that being a staple in other system fiction he had read. He was rewarded with the guns vanishing from sight and showing on his slotted item. 'Now, I'm wondering if there is a limit cap to the items I can shelve in the inventory.' 

Alongside the item was an option to sell to the Shop. Early on, the function had unlocked when he received the money from the family's generated mission. 

He sold the submachine gun without a thought. This will undoubtedly change things. I can sell all their ill-gotten gains as loot to the Shop. Standard weaponry wasn't comparable to what he saw in the Shop. 

System message: 2x Model 995 PRO (9mm) +$3350. 

He continued his dispatching of the remaining goons. His money situation decreased as each body slumped over, defeated. It was a worry of his the last few days. He was fortunate he was still unknown; they weren't prepared for him.

Cole stood before the office on the second floor and took peaks inside the room. He looked at the girl that generated the mission and her sibling huddled together with a man with a powerful assault rifle standing over them. The Father, who he learned was some biological scientist that escaped to America with the help of The Hand, was pleading with the man in a business suit. The man only regarded him silently, his long hair and designer shades giving him a threatening air about him. The Second man held a suitcase and remained quiet, but the third man was huge, unnaturally huge, and argued about payment.

He felt he knew the two men by their appearance, yet he couldn't place them. Cole knew many things about Marvel, but it wasn't like he possessed an innate Wikipedia. 

His thinking about Wikipedia caused a light bulb reaction in his mind. El Uno. Tarantula Gang. Carlos LaMuerto. The Black Tarantula. Shit. He grew worried. He couldn't contend with that man. He was brutal, efficient, and, most of all, had actual power. Tarantula is a man that could go toe-to-toe with Spider-Man. The timeline is quite different. He was almost positive that Peter Parker wasn't even remotely in the region capable of handling Black Tarantula. 

Fortunately, the crime boss himself wasn't there. El Uno posed a moderate threat, but the man was a simple, empowered brute, an effective one but a brute at the end of the day. The man with the shades eluded him, but he wasn't a fool to take him lightly. 

He quickly placed plastic explosives around the door. He used enough to blow the door and to startle everyone. He summoned his guns and pressed his back against the wall. 

'One Mississippi,' he said internally, counting the time before the charge blew. 'Two Mississippi." The man with the shades backhanded the scientist across the face causing the older man to fall into a heap and the girl to scream and move toward her Father before the butt of the automatic rifle was smashed into her gut, causing her to wretch on the floor. 'Three Mississippi,' I braced against the wall. 

As if planned, The glass inside the room exploded in a glass shower as a man with a red suit rolled into the room, his staff flaring with skill and finesse. The man with the shades lunged forward with the grace of an Olympian as he battled the man as glass shattered around them both. 

The door exploded into a shower of wood chips and fire, causing the already disarrayed room to pause as I poured into the room, my dual semi-automatic pistol locking on the bigger man lunging toward Daredevil. 

We met eyes briefly; a hardened glare landed on me and then my guns, but it was understood. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But we would handle our differences later