- Summary: Tim Drake meets his predecessor...
- Location: Midtown, Gotham - Warehouse Rooftops
- Participants: Red Hood and Robin
- Rating: PG-13 for violence
Oh, tonight was a wonderful night in Gotham. Crime is down, though you wouldn't know it seeing the streets. However, kids are getting fewer drugs in certain areas of town, and dealers are being a bit more... intelligent... about their business. No just brazen dealing to horrify kids. However, the warehouse district has become a place for a bit more in regards to messages and meetings, including the meetings of dealers who may or may not like the new regime.
And for this evening, the Red Hood is standing rather motionless on a rooftop, looking down through the skylight at some dealers below. A bunch of drug running punks who like to deal to 8-year olds with extra money. True scum of the earth, but he hasn't done anything yet. No, the Red Hood is motionless on that rooftop, his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he waits, almost as if expecting someone else, either inside the building or outside to arrive.
For the last few days Robin has been following lead after lead, both in the physical and digital arenas, on a drug ring trying to hit it big in Gotham. With Batman and the others more or less busy with a larger threat to the city. The Teen Wonder has taken it upon himself to stop the dealers and suppliers in their tracks. Having heard news of the dealers through the many informants Batman has throughout the city, Robin goes into action.
Traveling by motorcycle then by rooftop he runs the different scenarios of attack through his head as he gets closer to his destination. He knows that dealers, many of them that is, come as heavily armed as a small army, the forward approach is definitely out. Meaning the only way is gorilla tactics, picking one goon off at a time. Sure it's slow, but it gets the job done. As soon as stealth is decided his feet touch down on the gravel covered roof and he goes into quiet mode.
It's a sign of Bad Luck that Robin's investigation on his own is about to run him straight into one of the 'bigger' issues in Gotham. "Andddd Showtime...." The 'silent' tracker lands on the corner of the roof. Oh yes, Robin could easily see the Red Hood, but that's perhaps part of his intention this evening. The visit downstairs seems to go fine, or at least, all the visitors, the whole circle seems to have sat to discuss their 'plan' and the general goings on in Gotham... primarily the drug trade. But just to be sure, the Red Hood crouches down at the skylight, and begins to open up the skylight, as if listening in. Perhaps he's not a bad guy, or perhaps this is all part of a larger plan. For now though, and to Robin's benefit, the shadowy figure in the middle of the roof either hasn't noticed the stealthy crime fighter...or is not caring that he's present.
Robin does indeed see the man. Which causes the teen to grow curious. More so when he takes up the same position he would himself, if he were intent on getting more intelligence on any other activities the dealers had in mind. So instead of a confrontation with the figure, Robin chooses to remain hidden and observe until he's needed to intervene.
And after a moment of sitting there and listening, the individual shrugs. "Yeah. I've heard enough." And that's when he reaches into his coat and withdraws...something small. It rather looks like a stick, however, it's obviously something electronic and small, held tightly in that gloved hand as he stands and starts to walk towards the edge of the building. "Just in case I'm not crazy, if there's anyone up here.... You might want to leave the roof. Now."
The blue eyes behind the high-tech mask widen as the warning is given. (How did he..?) he wonders before he realizes whats about to happen, and it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. They may be drug peddlers, but they don't deserve to die. That's not the way Bruce taught him to serve Justice. "No!" Robin cries out in horror as he starts to run towards the Red Hood-ed figure as fast as he can. "You cant!" he adds as crosses the rooftop hoping t catch the man before he does what Robin thinks he's about to do.
"Aww. A boy wonder. Really?" The red hood looks... well... almost disappointed at the revelation, but not surprised. The hood is already at the edge, and he shrugs his shoulders. ".....Tell you what, Catch....." And in that moment, the Hood leaps across the rooftop towards the next, spinning his torso in flight and hurling the item straight at Robin. It's not an explosive...it's a detonator, but not a switch one anywhere on the device. Apparently....it's a Dead Man's switch, as the sound of an explosion from within the building rips up, and the skylights blow out from the force of whatever went inside, not enough to damage the building's foundations and bring it down...but no way anyone inside survived.
As he sees the item tossed at him he starts to skid to a stop, but he soon figures out what the device was when he feels the pressure from the explosion hit his back. And as if it were a natural thing to do in this situation Robin, reaches for his grapple and leaps off the building. For that short instant he's airborne his eyes are scanning the area for the hooded man. (I've gotta catch this guy!) he thinks to himself as the pop of the air compressed grappling hook is fired. In mere seconds he can feel the hook bite, which causes him to start to swing. All the while he searches for the mad man.
He's not all that hard to find, the red helm'd man standing on the nearby rooftop and waiting, his arms crossed over his chest as he waits for Robin to show up, watching him swing down and away. The Red Hood just lets out a laugh. "God these guys are so predictable." He's not apparently armed just yet, but he's waiting...and ready.
Robin spies the man and shifts his body towards the building. With the upswing comes the grapple release, followed by the controlled drop with cape assisted landing. As soon as his feet hit the roof Robin comes up into a defensive stance his collapsible Bo staff in hand and ready for a fight. "I don't know who you are pal. But you just killed a half a dozen men in cold blood." Robin states as he looks at the Hood.
"That's debatable." The voice behind the mask is almost -amused-. "Oh, not that I killed them. But it's debatable they were men. Or that it was in cold blood. They knew the consequences of their actions." The hood doesn't seem to be in an aggressive stance, any kind of fighting one at all, but he's relaxing now a bit. One hand moves down to his leg as he draws up a very wicked looking knife from its sheath at his side. "Now......are you going to play this by the book? That whole bullshit about 'I can't let you escape...'?"
By the book. Yes. That's how it has to be. But when the Hood says what Robin is virtually thinking, it causes Teen Wonder to pause and raise a brow. "That's right, you aren't going anywhere." he again states as his brow lowers into a frown. He's armed. Strikes have to be quick and precise. He's stands quiet, watching, as he runs the motions through his head. "Now drop the knife and let's do this the easy way."
"Wow. So much by the book. Yeah....I guess you're right." And the man starts to act as if he's kneeling, to put the knife on the ground. His unarmed hand shifts a bit. "I mean...it's not like anyone can -beat- Robin......" And that's when the voice becomes a bit dangerous... darker, as he spins suddenly, his 'unarmed' hand flashing and launching a bunch of small hand held spike weapons straight for Robin. "How -stupid- are you? Really?" And he doesn't even wait to move, rushing forward to close the distance as he spins the blade slowly in his hand, readying it for a defensive move. "Let me ask this....Do you even -know- what happened to the Robin before you?"
Things seem to just slow down what things get heated. And this situation is no different as soon as the smaller blades are thrown; Robin lifts his cape, with his free hand, into a blocking motion. (What the Hell!?) The Hood's speed is what catches Robin off guard. He's only seen Bruce and Dick move that fast. (How? Who?) The questions rush his mind. Then come the questions. Fast, just as fast as this guy. He tries not to answer, but he can't help feel the need to reply. "He died!" Robin screams as he spins, his cape spinning, as comes overhead with his staff towards the Hood.
"And you don't think that's a -little- stupid?" And the staff makes a sound of crashing with metal as the Bo-staff is caught by the blade, supported by the man's fore arm to block the attack. "I mean...really? You're wearing a dead kid's costume. That's just -asking- to be offed." And in that same moment, the free hand comes up in an attempted uppercut, trying to catch the other man off guard. It's not arrogance, these questions, it's a skill. A fight strategy. Making his opponent doubt and slow down to think about the questions, or at least listen. "Do you even know -how- he died? Let me guess what you know... 'He was a -good- soldier.'"
The Hood's questions flood Robin's head. He knows what happened to Jason, at least how Bruce, Alfred and Dick told him. Robin quickly clears his head, the questioning would have really slowed him. But he was able read the oncoming of uppercut in the Hoods body language. A simple to read when you're expecting it. But it's the Hood's last comment that Robin doesn't expect. In fact it causes Robin's stomach to drop, his eyes to go wide again and leaving the teen open for a strike. With the only words that can come to his lips. "Jason?"
The Hood doesn't respond to the question, but he does laugh. "Aww. Cute. What...his name?" The Red Hood smirks, spinning from the uppercut and bringing his knife wielding hand in straight for the Robin's chest, however...the blade isn't first, it's the pommel coming in to strike Robin's solar plexus. An attack meant to literally take the wind from his sails, just as the 'question' worked to exactly what he wanted out of Robin's reaction. "Here, and I thought you were at least smart enough to be Robin. How can I be Jason, if the Joker killed him?"
Robin doubles over as the wind is knocked out of him, causing his bow staff to drop from his grasp. The body armor of his costume can only protect him from so much, a hit like he just took was not something it was prepped for. As he gasps for air, his head lifts and he looks up to the visage of the Red Hood. He cant answer him. He cant breathe.
And the Red Hood looks down over the teen hero for a few moments before he begins to move. "Anywho...." That hand without the knife in it reaches down and picks up the dropped Bo-staff, resheathing his dagger for a moment to spin the weapon. "Do you know what the sound is when a crowbar breaks a human's skull?" The Red Hood stops near Robin's head now, spinning the weapon rather quickly. "I've heard it sounds like a Pumpkin being crushed by some teenage prankster? You know that sound? You seem about the right age!" And as his words get louder, the staff comes up over his head, and smashes into the roof right next to Robin's head, enough to send dirt and perhaps particles from the roof of the building into his face, before the Red Hood drops the Staff, and redraws his knife.
"Come on. Get up, Kid. This is the part of your story where -you- try to stop me....and I beat the hell out of you." The Hood steps away, moving far enough to give Robin enough time to recover.
The pain is agonizing, he can feel it through out his body, but he knows he has to work through it. "You can try, but I think I'll disappoint you." As Robin attempts to stand up he takes a few deep breaths and a trick from the Hood's book. As he comes up he throws a hand full of razor sharp bat-a-rangs at the Hood, but they are aimed at the Red Hood's legs. Mostly to slow him down and give Robin a chance to figure his next move.
Not that he was expecting exactly that, but something, and the Hood moves fast, jumping to the side and spinning himself up. The batarangs hit the somewhat baggy pants, and clack into the wall behind. "Nice. Good. You know you can't win fair, so try to fight dirty! Isn't that a rule? 'Win at any cost'?" The Hood lands from his jump, spinning down and throwing something small....contact explosives at the roof, near Robin as he comes up to his feet.
The Hood is still moving though, attempting to get in closer to Robin now as he keeps moving and ready to avoid attacks...and more importantly, he keeps talking. Questioning.
The explosives cause Robin to hop back, making it hard to keep track of the Hood. (He's good. Too good. I cant seem to keep my focus. Damn it! Focus Tim!) Taking another deep breath Robin starts to look around as he tries to find his opponent again. "So what are you? Some kind of sick-o Robin fanboy?" Robin asks as he looks at the Hood again. If he isn't Jason let's see if he likes what I have to offer. "I mean come on. You've got to wonder, the last Robin must have been a total loser to be killed by the Joker. I took the nut on a few times myself and I'm still here."
"Exactly." The Hood moves, still moving and staying active before he darts in, bringing the fight back to close range. "And no. I'm nobody special. Just someone smart enough to know how to stop a criminal. Permanently." And he's still fast, coming in and launching a series of punches for Robin's face and chest, keeping them coming quickly. "Actually, it merely proves one thing. Robin is expendable. Let me guess.... 'You have a great skill....’" the punch series accentuating the comments. "Add in something about helping Gotham. Yet, you are dressed like a gaudy show girl dancer in those colors.... makes you -want- to go and get shot. Combat 101. Distraction...which by the way..." Here comes a knee straight for his chin as the Hood moves in to stay close. "Tag."
Robin's own sense of distraction didn't work. As the attacks come, Robin does his best to block half the blows that the Hood throws at him. He's even started to block the chatter out the best he can. Which is helping. But when the knee to the chin comes up it sends the Teen Wonder to falling back and onto the rooftop. (He's too fast. Have to get up.) As he rolls from his back he starts to get to his feet. His jaw huts and this will keep him from tossing back any kind of banter.
"Now let's say.....just hypothetically that someone you may actually care about...." And the Hood doesn't give him that chance to get up and get back to defense, darting in close to keep the attacks coming. "A father, perhaps.... Let's say you and your 'brilliant' toughness keeps you alive...for them." Every insulting sentence is coming as a punch and a vicious attack to try and keep this Robin down. "And let's say -they- sold your life out, hypothetically...who would want to live after that?" And that's when the boot comes straight up for Robin's head.
With each hit comes the sound of pain. A grunt mixed whine full of hurt. However he refuses to cry. Amazingly after each hit the young hero takes he attempts to get back up. It isn't until the boot lands on his head does it keep him down. The hit is enough to force the teen wonder onto his back. He stares into the sky his sight blurring and his ears ringing. But even then he still tries to get up. Toughness? Perhaps. Sheer determination to overcome? Definitely. Asking for more? Undoubtedly.
"...Wow. You're either -very- brave... or -very- stupid." The Hood chuckles at his comment. "I actually somewhat respect that." The knife is sheathed, whether or not Tim can tell is regardless. "Somewhat. You were still stupid enough to try and stop me. I'm starting to see why Bruce hired you." Wait, he said Bruce. Apparently, the Hood is pretty confident Robin is going down. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you...but I guarantee you'll hate yourself in the morning..." The Hood moves in closer, making a move to grab Robin's head, and deliver a punch, nowhere near as forceful as those to the body to the young man's face.
It's just another punch, but it makes everything ring again and he just felt a tooth pop. Now for Tim, not just Robin he's got to push himself. Even now he is doing a battle damage assessment of his own body. (Eye is swelling closed. One maybe two broken ribs. I can defiantly feel my ear bleeding. Shoulder feels dislocated. Lost another tooth. What ever you do... Don t give the bastard the pleasure.) With what little strength he has left he reaches up and takes hold of the Hood's jacket tightly. Through blurred vision he stares at the other man. "I.. know.. you.. Jason.. I.. gon.. tell.. Batmn..." it hurts to talk but it had to be said. He starting to feel the black come on, but he does his best to fight it.
"Go ahead. He already knows. Makes me wonder why he didn't tell you." And the next attack from the Hood isn't a punch, or a kick, or any sort of expert martial artist attack. It's a push. A simple push against his forehead to push Robin off his jacket. "Now. I could kill you....but you aren't a bad guy. You just tried to stop me." The Hood reaches into his jacket and begins withdrawing things, something...he doesn't know if Robin can see, and really doesn't care. But they are high end field medic packs, which Jason begins to use to stop the bleeding, keeping cuts together. He doesn't remove the kid's costume, even leaving the mask on when he puts a bandage over the swelling eye. Once he's done, the Hood picks up the kid and tosses him over his shoulder. "Time to dump you at home." If Robin is still half awake, he'd probably realize he just got put into a car...and there’s a drive...somewhere.
It's a long drive out of Gotham, and once the car stops, the boy is taken out of the car. He's put into a bag, and Tim might even hear Jason's voice. "You'll live. Maybe you'll even be stronger for it. But I really don't feel like babysitting you. Things are coming too fast; you'll be fine where you are..." Before the bag is tied closed, Jason reaches in and rips a part of Tim's costume off, the 'R' symbol.
Over a fence. Through some brushes. It’s a long way on foot with a heavy bag but eventually, Robin is dropped to the ground and put somewhere safe, somewhere he won't be found by someone who is just wandering around. There's a few phone calls made.... and one more stop off, at a graveyard... and Jason Todd is on to the next part of his plan.