It had started out small—condemned buildings and private property–and then, suddenly, they were in an abandoned underground facility one-third the size of Gotham. A few buddies turned to roaring crowds, cheap bets became thousands, and a new winner every week became one undefeated champion. This was Win or Die.
A scruffy looking man with money hungry eyes shouted to the large crowd as the floodlights turned to focus on one of the two doors on either side of the arena.
"NOW, FOR THE LAST FIGHT OF THE NIGHT, EVERY REGULAR KNOWS HIM, BUT FOR THE NEWBIES, LET ME INTRODUCE THE REIGNING CHAMPION; RENEGADE!"
Noise levels rose as the door slid up to reveal a small boy of thirteen, wearing a black muscle shirt, fingerless gloves, sweatpants, and a matching domino mask over his eyes. His bare feet made no noise as he did a standing back-flip and landed with a bow.
"HIS OPPONENT, BANE!" If possible, it got louder once the challenger stepped into the light and gave a mocking bow to the teen.
"PLACE YOUR BETS FOLKS! YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE BEFORE THE MATCH STARTS." Bets were placed and the sound of a bell ringing turned everyone's attention back to the arena. The announcer shouted
"BEGIN!" and Bane leapt at Renegade, who merely dodged to the side, sending the bulk roaring in anger. Renegade flipped around his opponent before sending a spinning kick to the back of Bane's head, it did no harm to the big man but it did make him furious.
Bane lashed out and grabbed the teen's leg as he landed, pulling him off balance and allowing him to hurl Renegade into the wall of the arena. The boy hit the wall with a loud crack and slid to the ground in a heap, seemingly defeated. Bane laughed and picked up the lifeless body, holding it above his head like a trophy. The newbies cheered, the regulars merely placed more bets and the announcer shouted.
"LOOKS LIKE THE LITTLE BOY DIED! GET BACK UP YOU WHIMP!"
Suddenly, Bane dropped Renegade in shock and backed away from his body. When he had been holding him, Bane had felt the bones in the boy's body shifting and grinding together. Renegade got to his hands and knees, threw up blood, stood fully and smiled.
Bane may have been a bad guy and had seen some twisted crap, but an immortal boy. One that can come back from the dead within moments and continue to fight, was just plain sick. He had no problem killing people, but a kid that would come back and possibly die an even more horrible death, was where he drew the line.
The boy dashed forward, up a wall and leaped off to land a powerful kick to the back of Bane's head. The big man went down with a thud and didn't get back up. Renegade grabbed him by the arm and spun around a few times before launching him over the arena fence. The crowd sat silent before erupting into cheers and roars of approval.
"AND THAT'S ANOTHER WIN FOR RENEGADE! DO WE HAVE ANY CHALLENGERS WHO THINK THEY HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO TAKE HIM DOWN?!"
There were quiet murmurs as to whether or not someone could take him.
"OOH! I KNOW, HOW BOUT A SPECIAL TREAT?! A HERO YOU ALL HAVE MAYBE HEARD OF… GREEN ARROW!" The opponents door opened again and a chained man was brought to the center of the arena. On his knees, he was unchained and hit in the face for trying to escape.
"PLACE YOUR BETS! ALTHOUGH… PERSONALLY I WOULD GO FOR THE SHRIMP!" The crowd laughed as they placed bets and talked about the champion. Green Arrow spit out some blood and shakily got to his feet, staring at Renegade as he did so.
"BEGIN!" Announced the fat man and the boy hesitantly crept forward, obviously not wanting to fight. Arrow did the same. The host of the fight noticed and motioned to a man beside him. The guy pulled a pistol out and fired at Renegade, lodging a bullet in his back.
He dropped to one knee as another hit his shoulder and leapt toward Arrow, knocking him out of the way of a whips' path. The crowd 'booed' as Renegade continued to protect Green Arrow from the attacks with his own body. The boy hovered over the hero, sweating in exertion and growling in pain.
"On three, you go the way you came, get your weapons and send a signal to the League. After that, you go to the holding area and find cell number four. Tell them 'kapatid na nagsugo sa akin, ikaw ay ligtas' and get them out of here! No questions. Just do it!" Renegade stared at him until he nodded his head in agreement.
"One, two, three!" Renegade let out a yell and time seemed to stop. No, it did stop. Well, stopped everything in the underground facility except holding cell number four and Green Arrow. Not wasting time, Arrow did exactly as Renegade said and got to cell four.
After refraining from killing someone, he sloppily repeated what the kid had said and the group of children willingly followed him to the nearest exit, meeting up with the Flash outside.
"Woah! GA, who are these guys? And why do you still have all your arrows, I thought you would have used them all in your escape?" Rambled Flash smiling at the kids as to not scare them.
"I didn't fight, I just walked out. Oh! Fudge-muffins! I almost forgot about Renegade! We have to get back in there now!" Arrow told the other Leaguer in an urgent voice, confusing the Flash.
"Who's Renegade and why do we have to go back for him?"
Oliver sighed impatiently, but before he could explain further, the rest of the League assigned to the mission arrived. Black Canary instantly went to the group of nine children, assuring them they would be safe and going home soon. With the children taken care of by Canary and Flash, Green Arrow wasted no time getting back inside. Superman and Batman followed him, ready for a fight but not ready for what greeted them.