Aint That a Kick in the Head (Private)

[Pete Todd]

Pete was in town for Easter and he was feeling like a million bucks. The streets of Gotham were his old stomping ground before he left for San Francisco to join the Titans. It just felt so right to be back here. Currently, our hero was skulking around in some old rail yard on the edge of town. Pete had received some information that some scumbag liked to sell cocaine to minors around these parts at about this time. Pete planned on kicking his ass. The Red Hood took a seat in one of the empty box cars after looking around for a little while.

The city of darkness hadn't changed much. It was still the same old rotten town, but it was Pete's home. He would have never imagined missing it so much; but Christ, was it weird seeing his family again. Mom had finally come to grips with Pete fighting crime and the two buried that hatchet before he left. She still gives him crap for it, but in a mostly jovial kind of way. Gary, Pete's stepdad, was still kind of an asshole but they managed to get along like how they used to do; by avoiding each other at all costs. The thing that was really wierd was his half-sister Anna. She now apparently hated Pete. The little girl refused to talk to him the whole time Pete was home. Anna and Pete were never really close, but this was just weird.

All in all, Pete was very uncomfortable being back in his old four room house with his family, but outside those walls the city seemed to welcome him home. Pete felt it. It was about dusk and fog was rolling in from the docks. Pete had made himself quite comfortable sitting on the inside of the boxcar. He removed the hood but his face was still covered by a red domino mask. As Pete's legs dangled off the side of the train car, he stared into the white eyes of the red helmet. For a moment The Red Hood lost himself in his thoughts, and forgot all about that coke dealer he was supposed to be chasing.

[Claude LeBeau]

Gambit The Terminator was back to work. He had received a contract to put a boy in his place. It would appear he was re-visiting some old stomping grounds and someone didn't like it. Killing a hero was generally a bad idea, if they were a part of a significant team. "Heroes" had a way of rallying together and taking down bad guys when one of their own had been forced to pay the ultimate price. So instead it was best to beat the tar out of a hero and hope they learned the lesson.

This is what brought Gambit The Terminator to this run down hellhole of a town, following his target while the stealth systems of his suit kept him rather hard to notice. It helped that it was night time. He barely needed the stealth systems but when you've got it why not use it?

Regardless, the first thing to do when dealing with an individual of this type was to made them tired, push them to fatigue. For that purpose Gambit had brought with him a grenade launcher. Everybody knew people like Batgirl and Red Hood were agile enough to dive from a grenade, but make them dive from enough grenades and suddenly they sweat away the ability to resist.

His HUD display had Red Hood locked in and with a precise read out of the boy's distance Claude was able to aim it just right, all the computers practically took the effort out. So from his building perch Claude fired an incendiary grenade towards the Young Titan that was Red Hood.

[Pete Todd]

The grenade hit before Pete could even flinch and suddenly the boxcar was engulfed in flames. Red Hood hopped out and quickly placed his helmet back on. Pete was under attack. He broke out into a full out sprint as the grenades kept coming. He was ducking and weaving between the train cars but grenades were going off all around him and he couldn't get away. One struck just a little to close and the blast sent Pete flying into an old diesel engine.

His body made a sickening thud as it slumped to the ground. There was fire everywhere and Pete had the wind knocked out of him. Hood crawled to his feet and leaned up against the train, clutching his chest. The grenades seemed to have stopped. Pete was completely dumbstruck as to what just happened.

[Claude LeBeau]

Gambit watched as Red Hood moved to avoid the explosive and firey barrage. It certainly wasn't an ideal situation to find yourself in. With his opening assault complete Claude rose from his crouched position and stepped forward to drop from his vantage point. He loved a dramatic exit, but a dramatic entrance was good too. He tossed away the grenade launched (it was empty anyway) before drawing an assault rifle that had been on his back, holding it in one arm and pointing it skyward as he made his way towards Red Hood. His duster jacket, which was lined with kevlar on its inside and featured armour shoulders flicked lightly in the wind and provided quite the silhouette was he walked through the fire towards his bounty.

His face was concealed behind the mask of his stealthsuit, not that he was making any real effort for stealth right now. "Someone with a lot of money wants you taught a lesson boy." The rifle descended until it was pointing at his opponent. "Now run." the warning gave Pete a split second before Claude put enough pressure on the trigger to start firing and didn't stop until he had unloaded the clip.

[Pete Todd]

Pete stared behind the hood at the menacing figure emerging from flames. "Scan him." Pete whispered. The Hood took a snapshot of the figure once he got close enough to recognize. As Gambit explained his motives the computer in his helmet ran the image through the Titans database for records on who this might be. Hood sneered. He wasn't running anywhere.

Once the bullets started flying Hood jumped out of the way and threw a handful of smoke pellets on the ground. He dropped to the ground as Claude sprayed through the mist with bullets. By the time the clip had been emptied, Pete had crawled underneath the diesel engine. He was now safely on the other side where he silently climbed to the top of the train. Hood leaped off the engine, knife drawn. He pounced on Claude. "I'm not running from some two-bit, cowboy lookin Deadshot knock off!" Pete spat. Just then, The Hood made a similar noise a toaster makes once its done its job. A computerized voice spoke inside Pete's helmet.

"Facial Recognition Complete for... Gambit The Terminator."

Pete's jaw dropped. This was THE Gambit the Terminator. Hooooooooly shit. Maybe running would have been a good idea.

[Claude LeBeau]

Red Hood escaped under the cover of smoke but revealed himself soon enough as he jumped down onto Claude from a high point, with a knife in hand. Whatever opportunity the boy had passed, he should have struck when he had the chance. Claude on the other hand didn't waste the chance when an opponent didn't strike. The black and red clad assassin swung up his assault rifle, aiming to strike Red Hood right into the head with the butt of his gun.

The rifle was dropped soon after, another weapon to be discarded. "Well, if you want to bring knives to a gunfight." at either hip he was wearing a katana and now he drew both. The promethium blades had a wicked glow about them as the light from the fire bounced from the shining metal. "Don't worry mon ami, the ladies love a man with a few." His legs exploded into movement as he charged Red Hood and brought his weapons to attack. Flesh wounds only, of course.

[Pete Todd]

The attack on Claude was never finished. Pete was struck mid-jump by the butt of Claude's gun. He fell on his ass but quickly got to his feet. The Hood protected Pete's head from any serious injuries but damn, that hurt. His jaw felt like it had been dislocated. Pete got into a defensive stance when Claude charged him. Hood grimaced at his puny knife. Pete made a mental note to invest in some meatier weaponry.

As the strikes started coming Pete managed to block most of them using his gauntlets. Between some missed attacks of his own Pete was getting cut up pretty badly. One wound on the side of his torso he could feel was particularly bad because he felt it bleeding through his Kevlar undershirt. Somewhere in the exchange of blows Hood managed to land a pretty strong right hook to what he thought was the neck. This caused Claude to slip up for just a moment and Pete was able to plant his knife into Gambit's shoulder. Pete wasn't sure if he had pierced the skin because he didn't know how thick Claude's armor was, but the knife was predominantly in there.

In his moment of triumph Pete left himself open to a more serious attack. One katana was stabbed into Pete's stomach very briefly. The pain was intense. Despite himself, Hood's knees buckled and he fell to a clump on the ground. He clutched his wound. Pete was bleeding everywhere. Mentally, he screamed at himself to get back up. He felt like a new boxer going up against Mike Tyson, and he didn't think he could last another round. Pete couldn't help but chuckle, it's how he dealt with pain. If Claude tried to get near him, Hood would attempt to grab his ankles and electrocute him with the shock gauntlets.

"You're pissing me off." He seethed between faint bits of laughter.

[Claude LeBeau]

Red Hood tried to stab Gambit and while the blade sure enough went into the suit, it was just superficial damage. "Nice try mon ami, but this suit be stab-proof." He smiled under his mask before reaching up with one hand and pulling out the blade. His eyes focused on it and charged it, once it was ready to go he just tossed it into the air and let is explode harmlessly. The suit was already fixing the damage.

With slow steps he closed the distance between Red Hoodand himself. The boy reached for his ankles but Claude raised his leg up at the last moment to avoid it. "You telegraph your moves, you think a little brat like the Red Hood is going to get the drop on Gambit The Terminator? I'm the best there is." It was at this point that the Cajun Assassin brought his foot down, aiming to slam down on Red Hood's elbow with sufficient force as to break the bone. A much easier feet to perform since his strength upgrade. He brought up his good arm which still had a firm hold on one of his promethium katana's. A moment later it came down with the intention to cut through Hood's costume at the chest, leave a number of criss-cross cuts all over his chest.

[Pete Todd]

Pete watched in terror as his knife exploded. Gambit could blow things up by just looking at them? Pete was dumbfounded. He didn't stand a chance against this guy! After his shoulder was smashed in hood cried out in a mixture of laughter and agony. "Fuck, dude! Can't we just be friends?" Pete cried. His good arm was feeling around for something to protect himself with.

He had no plan. Hood had never been this outmatched before. For a second he thought about what would happen if he actually died here. He quickly wished he hadn't. Death was something that actually scared Pete. As the blade started to fall on him Pete had no way to protect himself. He clenched his abdomen and took the blows, grimacing each time the blade ripped across his skin. The kevlar helped, if only a little. Pete reached for his grappling gun and fired it behind his head at a lamp-post about fifty yards away.

The grappling hook latched on to the post and Pete was pulled across the ground. It was uncomfortable but Pete needed to get away from Claude. Hood was losing blood and he didn't feel to hot. Along the way, Pete dropped smoke bombs to help him escape. This fight was over and Pete needed to get out of there.

Once his body had been dragged to the post, Pete holstered his grappling gun and painfully pulled himself to his feet. Hood walked quickly through the smoke with his body low to the ground and his hurt arm hanging limply to his side. The hood allowed him to see through the smoke and Pete assumed Claude had something similar, but smoke made for better protection than no smoke. All Pete had to do now was reach the edge of the rail yard where he could hopefully grapple away and find some safety.

[Claude LeBeau]

The kid escaped for the moment, but this encounter would end when Gambit The Terminator saw fit, not when he did. The HUD in Claude's mask tracked the boy and Gambit moved, breaking into a run he slid his katana's back into their resting place and pulled out a grappling hook.

He was on his opponents heels. Following him, constantly keeping him in view. He had a broken shoulder, his chest was sliced to shit and exposed to the cold of Gotham at night. Not to mention the plethora of wounds and bruises he received during the fight itself. It was easy to keep the boy in his sights. But Claude was having so much fun! "Where you runnin' mon ami? Red Hood flee now? Ol'Gambit thought Black Barda was the biggest pussy in the Young Titans." That Black Barda bitch was fucking huge. "You don't wanna avenge your little friend? Green Arrow's little girl. You remember how I left her? Walkin' straight into your Tower, stabbed her with the same sword I sliced you up with. She was a coward in the end. Cryin' about not wanting to die. Well she's dead now." Claude had been sent to kill a Politican's son, Cassie Queen had been in the Young Titan's tower protecting the boy. She failed. Claude killed them both.

"But you run away. Maybe instead I pay a visit to Gotham PD, shoot Gary Ryan straight in the head, no? Then I go back to Madison Todd. Ol'Gambit hear's she real good on her back." There was a lot you could find out once you infiltrated the Batcave. When you know who Bruce Wayne & his daughter truly were you could....connect the dots, on the rest. SHIELD Intel confirmed the rest. The Terminator pulled out a gun, a semi-automatic pistol. His HUD took aim at the back of Pete's knee and then Claude fired.

[Pete Todd]

"I need backup! This is the Red Hood and I need backup!"

[/color] Pete whispered harshly into his headset. Hopefully some nearby hero would come help him. Hood hoped to god it wasn't a bat.

Hood continued to hobble as Gambit's voice echoed through the smoke. Pete couldn't help but chuckle at his comment about Barda. No matter what kind of situation, Hood was always a sucker for a good joke. The comment about Archer put an end to that quickly. He hadn't known her that well but she was still a Titan. Pete trudged on until he heard Gambit mention Gary Ryan. The boy froze in his tracks. Behind his hood, Pete's eyes widened as Gambit casually joked about his mom.

How?

That was all Pete could think before a bullet struck him in the kneecap. Hood yelled in pain and slumped to the ground once again. He hurt all over and the fresh hole in his knee burned like hell, but Pete was mentally numb. This guy knew his secret identity. That was it. Pete's whole superhero career was just blown wide open. The comment he made about his mom was more of a bullet than the one currently lodged in his leg. A white hot anger was taking hold of him. Pete wanted to rip this guy apart, but he couldn't. All he could do was sit there and wait for backup. Like a bitch.

"I'm not gonna monologue to much but I promise you dropping those names was a mistake. I'm gonna hurt you for that. Not now, but later." Pete seethed behind the hood. He wasn't that loud but he knew Gambit was listening from somewhere.[/blockquote]

[Bee Shepherd]

"I need backup! This is the Red Hood and I need backup!"

Bee knew that there was some bad blood between Red Hood and the Batfamily. Well, maybe not so much bad blood- that wasn't really the right term. Antagonism? Anger? Jealousy? She wasn't sure what exactly it was, but to her, Pete was a teammate and part of her family. She would do anything to help her family, including take on a deranged assassin- and it seemed that was what she was going to be doing tonight.

There had been a fire in an apartment complex, and Robin had been using her super speed to help get everyone out. But the second her radio had transmitted the message, she dashed out of now-evacuated building and was across Gotham in only a few seconds. Backup? What would suddenly make Red Hood call for backup- in Gotham, of all places, when the people who were most likely to respond were in the Batfamily? It must have been bad- and with that thought, she came upon him, laying on the ground and yelling in pain, bruised and bloodied and- oh god, was he kneecapped? But there was someone standing near him- a quick check in her computer screen hidden in her mask confirmed it was Gambit the Terminator. Assassin.

"No!" Bee screamed, never stopping in her run. A few milliseconds later, faster than anyone without the speed force or other similar super speed could possibly hope to react, her fist connected with Claude's face. Even though she had no super strength, the speed she was going at should have been more than enough to knock him flat to the ground and hopefully out cold. She didn't wait to see, though, and instead zipped back over so she was kneeling next to Red Hood and scanning him for any further injuries.
"Oh no..." she muttered, frowning and narrowing her eyes. How dare he attack her teammates!