The Last Bat

SAME NIGHT. THE DOCKS.

Detective Bullhorn, Twitch, Athena, and Shroud all burst from their carriages and and started rushing towards the docks

"Secure the perimeter! Gather any and all witnesses around the area!" Bullhorn barked orders at the other officers. Athena used her magic to hold two short battle axes made of gold while Night Shroud used her wing to hold out her sword.

They all had entire squads of cops following them and a dozen more officers scouring the area

"We got bodies!"

"Some over here!"

"Set up some damn tape, this entire area is a crime scene!" Bullhorn ordered, they soon saw one container slightly opened with three bodies outside of it. Athena and Night Shroud walked up towards the container, readying their weapons just in case. Bullhorn, Twitch, and a couple other officers moved behind them to back them up. Athena and Night Shroud nodded to each other and opened the container expecting to catch the Vigilante, but what they found was far worse. They all stared in horror at the terrible conditions the mares inside were trapped in, not to mention the state they were all in. The mares all cowered in fear as Athena and Night Shroud quickly put away their weapons

"It's okay, we're not here to harm you." Athena said, her voice comforting the mares as they slowly began to make their way out of the container

"We need medical help, now!" Night Shroud shouted, helping the mares out of the container. Bullhorn called in medical units as he and the officers helped the mares.

Soon ambulances and paramedics were attending to the mares while Bullhorn, Twitch, Athena and Night Shroud were examining some of the dead bodies

"He's precise. All these shots were quick, clean, and look at their expressions, they were clearly out by surprise." Night Shroud said before taking a look at the three stallions that were killed in front of the container "And these three were taken down by an expert. Quick but brutal."

"Doesn't change the fact that he's still a monster." Athena said "Have any of the mares spoken yet?"

"Not yet, they're all in shock." Twitch said

"Those bastards, who could do such a thing to a pony?" Bullhorn asked out loud as the conditions the mares were in made him sick to his stomach

"Take them all down to the hospitals and have some guards keep an eye on them. Whenever one is ready to talk be on it." Athena ordered "We'll need to increase our patrols on the ground and get patrols in the air."

"I'll radio the chief and tell him to get on it." Bullhorn said walking off to the wagon, Twitch following after him. Night Shroud stepped up to her comrade as the two looked up into the night sky

"This creature is more dangerous than we anticipated." Night Shroud said

"Not anything we haven't seen before." Athena stated

"Still doesn't change the fact that whoever we're dealing with isn't some mindless serial killer. He's skilled, dangerously skilled, and isn't afraid of holding back."

"No pony is unstoppable. We'll take him down."

"If you say so..." The two walked off to examine the rest of the crime scene, but one thought kept repeating in their minds. What is this creature and can they beat him?

Red Hood was on a building looking over the building of Luz's home/family bakery. Wanting to make sure that her and her family were safe and didn't have any unwelcomed customers. He then noticed that Luz was on the fire escape holding a plate with some bread and a glass of milk, looking around.

"H-Hello... I-I brought food for... For what you did for me..." Luz called out, gently setting the plate down. She stayed there for ten minutes before dropping her head and crawling back in through the window of her room. Luz trotted over to her table and took a pen in her mouth and started writing in her notebook. After a couple of minutes she glanced back outside at the plate only to immediately run out to see the plate was empty and the glass of milk was gone. A huge smile grew on Luz's face as she looked around, hoping to see Red Hood. Not seeing any signs of him Luz went back inside, although she kept spinning around hoping to catch Red Hood once again, but after twenty minutes of "Aha!" But seeing nothing Luz gave up and went back to her homework, that is until she heard the sounds of glass clanging against the plate that she ran out and saw the empty glass sitting on the empty plate. She squealed with joy and grabbed the dishes as she looked up

"I hope you liked it!" Luz called out before coming back inside. Red Hood hung on the edge of a windowsill looking down, chuckling as he saw Luz's happy expression. Red Hood then saw some lights in the distance and narrowed his eyes, seeing four pegasus guards flying over head with lights flashing down acting as searchlights. Red Hood quickly scaled down the building and ran into an alleyway, opening up a manhole and jumping down, hearing the water flowing by him as he ran

"You're drawing more attention, at this rate they'll have the whole city looking for you." Batman pointed out

"I suggest lying low for the time being, let the heat die down a bit." Red Robin suggested

"And what? Let the criminals get comfortable? Maybe I should give them all a basket and a note that says I'm going on vacation." Jason snapped at Red Robin as he ran further into the sewers "They can send however many they want after me, these scumbags aren't going to get away."

Jason continued to run through the sewers until he eventually came back to his hideout, marking out his now deceased target as he went over the notes. They'll be scared, but he needs to do more. Show them that no matter where they hide or how many men they have guarding them, they will always be within reach of the Red Hood.

HOSPITAL. NEXT DAY.

Detective Bullhorn and Twitch were standing outside of the general hospital where the mares from the shipping container were being treated at, as much as they wanted to give the mares time to recover they needed more Intel. Walking inside the two detectives moved up to the front desk and showed their badges, asking about the mares

"Most of them are still in no condition to answer any questions, but one of them seemed to be stable enough. Just please, be patient with her." The nurse told the two as she led them up to the mare's room.

Opening the door the two detectives saw the mare lying in bed, she had a long blonde mane and tail, peach colored fur, dark green eyes, and had a ballerina shoes with a ribbon wrapped around them for a cutiemark.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" Twitch called out, being mindful to not be too loud. The mare slowly gazed over at the two and spoke

"Y-Y-Yes?" Her voice was dry and shaky, her lips looked pale and almost blue.

"I'm detective Twitch, this is my partner Bullhorn. I know that you have been through so much, but would you mind answering a few questions?" Twitch asked

"I... I-I don't... Mind..." She said

"Thank you, ma'am. Do you remember your name?"

"M-M-My name... My name is... L-Lily..."

"Miss Lily, can you tell how what happened to you?" Twitch pulled out a notepad and pen

"I-I... I-I was at a party i-in Prance... M-My friends took me there for vacation. I-I remember talking to this... S-Stallion and we had a few drinks together. He put something in my drink because I-I started feeling funny, my friends must've thought I-I was going with him because they didn't s-stop me... T-Then... H-He..." Tears started streaming down Lily's face as she remembered that horrible night

"You can stop here if you-"

"No!" Lily cut Bullhorn off "I-I... I don't want to be afraid anymore... H-He... He and some others... They used me... They used me for days or weeks... They kept putting this thing in me to keep me from moving. N-Next thing I know I was being forced i-inside a carriage and then into that container with other mares." Lily told them

"These ponies, do you remember what they look like?" Bullhorn asked

"I-I... I only remember... Him. He had orange fur, black mane and tail, he wore pants so I-I couldn't see his cutiemark." Lily explained

"I see, did he give you a name?" Twitch asked

"H-He said his name was F-Fire Hoof." Lily told them

"Could be an alias, but this is helpful. Thank you, Lily. I promise you that we will find him and bring him to Justice." Bullhorn promised Lily, she smiled weakly at him and closed her eyes. Twitch and Bullhorn left to allow Lily to rest.

The two walked down the hall and prepared to leave when Bullhorn suddenly got a call from the chief.

//Bullhorn, Twitch, head down to the Lux Star Hotel. We got a body.// Bullhorn and Twitch were both stunned to hear such news so quickly but were determined to find more information.

//Copy that, sir. On our way.// Bullhorn and Twitch immediately ran to their carriage and trotted off towards the hotel.

Detective Bullhorn and Twitch arrived at the hotel and headed inside the lobby, already seeing other units of officers questioning everypony inside.

"I didn't expect him to strike this fast." Twitch said as he followed Bullhorn to the elevator.

"We need to catch this freak before things get out of hooves." Bullhorn said. "If ponies start thinking he's some sort of local folk hero then it might lead to a whole flux of "vigilantes" and who knows how many ponies will get hurt." The two hopped off the elevator and walked down the hall into the room that had yellow tape and forensic. What they saw made their blood run cold.

"Is that..." Twitch walked up to the dead victim and examined him. Twitch nearly vomited as they saw the corpse. His chest cut open with his guts spewing out and his heart shoved into his own mouth.

"Sick, twisted fucker." Bullhorn said as he walked over to one of the forensic scientist on the scene. "How long was he like this?"

"A few hours, room service came by and when his security team went to ask if she can clean they found him like this." The mare said as she snapped a photo.

"Sweet Celestia. This was our lead." Bullhorn said as he rubbed his neck.

"We have patrols scouring the city, he couldn't have gone far, sir." An officer said.

"You think he'd be close to here? He was at the damn harbor, this is how he must've known!" Bullhorn shouted in a fit of rage, stomping his hoof out of frustration.

Twitch stepped back and walked over to his partner. "Sir, we'll catch him."

"Before or after he turns this city into a warzone?" Bullhorn scoffed as he looked out the window. Narrowing his eyes as he tried to mentally prepare himself for what's to come.

NIGHT. NO POV.

Red Hood found himself looking over the building Estrella lives in, making sure to keep an eye out that the gangs don't try to retaliate or attack her home. He saw her on her desk writing away in a notebook while wearing headphones.

"Kinda impressive that they have that level of technology." Nightwing said.

"I wonder if they're smarter than humans were or if magic gave them a higher advantage." Tim pondered.

"I'm wondering when the fuck you all are going to leave me alone?" Jason snapped at them, looking up and slowly backing away into the shadows as he saw pegasus flying overhead, they didn't seem to be guards as they flew around and moved clouds around, forming dark, gray clouds. Narrowing his eyes Jason watched as the Pegasus kicked the clouds a bit and soon rain started falling, heavy rain at that.

"Fascinating." Tim said as he chuckled. "The power of weather in the palm of your hand. Or in their case, hoof."

"Nerd." Jason said as he looked back down, seeing Estrella struggling with her homework. Jason looked around to make sure the coast was clear before rushing over. Landing on the wall he reached down and placed a finger on the glass.

Estrella was tapping he pencil on the desk as she tried to solve this math problem when she heard something. She sat up and looked around her room, trying to find what was making that noise, then she turned towards the window and saw something. She stepped forward and saw a number.

24.

Estrella titled her head and looked back at her homework, her eyes widening as she immediately wrote down the answer. Estrella rushed over to the window to check outside, she could just barely make out the silhouette of Red Hood. Estrella opened the window a bit and poked her head outside.

"Thank you!" She shouted, Red Hood glancing back and raising his hand before immediately running away.

Jason ran as he saw patrols of pegasus overhead with lights shining down, he needed to get out fast. Jumping off a roof and falling down Jason quickly used his grappling hook to slow his descent, landing in an alleyway. Crouching behind some trash cans Jason watched overhead as a light shines down, searching below. Luckily Jason hid himself well as a few seconds later the lights left. Waiting a few more moments Jason went to leave until he heard voices coming into the alleyway. Four ponies. Three stallions, one mare by their voices. Jason couldn't see our from his hiding spot but he could still hear them.

"The buck is with all the damn added level of security in this damn city? A pony can't make an honest bit these days." One stallion grumbled while kicking a can.

"You know why, that fucking psycho that's been running around. Killing everypony with so much as a tail hair in the game." Another stallion stated, the sounds of a match lighting up could be heard.

"Oh, not this again. You seriously believe that rumor? It's just a fucking nightmare story made up by the police." The third stallion angrily said. "There is no "Monster" lurking in the shadows. Don't be a pussy."

"Bullshit! You've seen the bodies! You know how many of our colts that freak have put down? How many operations he stopped by killing everypony? Not to mention how they all died, all those weird metallic casings found at nearly every scene he was at!" The stallions argued back and forth until the mare spoke up, seemingly to be the one in charge.

"Will you idiots shut up! We aren't trying to draw attention, damnit!" The mare sighed before talking again. "The boss already got a plan in mind. We can't do any of the major operations we had before, so we're sticking with smuggling and using dead drops. Only a select few know every other dread drop location. So none of you idiots better go running your mouth off about this to anypony." The mare warned them as she walked down the alley "We head to the drop site, find the marked location, and we find the product. Once done we put the bits in the spot and another pony will grab it. It's not much at first, but we got drops all over the city. The boss made sure to keep a plan for everything."

"Still, what if that freak-"

"Who do you fear more. Some made up monster under the bed or the boss?" The mare asked, suddenly a chill ran up their spines as a laugh echoed throughout the alleyway. All of them looking around and huddled together back to back.

"That's a good question!"

The mare looked around as her eyes landed on the trash nearby, narrowing her eyes she saw something that made her blood run cold.

"Let's find out the answer." Red Hood lunged out from the trash and grabbed the face of one of the stallions, slamming him into the ground headfirst. Red Hood then backhanded the stallion next to him and sent him flying into the dumpster, his face making a dent against the dumpster as he dropped. The last stallion tried making a break for it but Red Hood quickly fired his grappling hook and it entangled around his back hooves, tripping him. The mare took out a switchblade and lunged at Red Hood, but he effortlessly grabbed the blade and with his hand he snapped it off. The mare fell and slowly backed away out of fear, but couldn't get up. Frozen in terror. The stallion tried to free himself but Red Hood quickly stood over him, taking out Nightwing's batons he started beating the stallion, over and over and over again. The stallion pleaded for his life, but his cries fell on deaf ears as he could do nothing but lie there and accept his slow death.

Red Hood eyes were unfazed even through his helmet, holding no emotion behind them as he continued to beat the stallion, blood flying like the paint on a brush, staining the ground and the walls. It wasn't until the mare accidentally knocked out an empty bottle did red Hood stop, looking down to see the caves in mess of what was once a head on the ground. His hands and the batons covered in blood as it slowly dripped. Red Hood then slowly turned around and walked towards the mare, the poor mare whimpering and sweating profusely.

"Tell me where the rest of those drops are." Red Hood demanded. Blood dripping down his batons.

"I-I can't... H-He'll kill me..." The mare whimpered, suddenly she was slammed up against the wall. A hand gripping her throat and slowly crushing her windpipe. The mare gasped for air and tried hitting his hand to break free, but his grip just tightened even more.

"What do you think I will do to you if you don't?" Red Hood slammed her harder against the wall as she gasped for air "Start talking now before I lose my patient." She gasped for air and gritted her teeth, but she eventually caved in and told him everything. Dead Drops, who was coming, what they were selling, how much bits would be there, everything she had in her head.

"If you're lying to me."

"I-I'm not! I-I s-swear on my mother's grave!" The mare gasped as tears streamed down her face. Red Hood narrowed his eyes and pulled her close.

"Do me a favor." Red Hood said, his voice was so cold that it could give ice frost bite.

"A-A-anything!"

"When you get to Hell, say hi to all your buddies for me." Red Hood then raised his baton and brought it down on her head.

NEXT MORNING. NO POV

Bullhorn, Twitch, Athena, and Night Shroud all stood at the center of the crime scene. Four victims. Two with their head bashed in so much that they were unrecognizable, and two of them with their necks snapped and jaws nearly torn off that the muscle in their mouths could be seen hanging by threads. But one thing they all had in common was this.

A Bat shaped symbol on their backs. A warning. A threat.

A message.