Assassins and Robins (

[Charlie Drake]

Standing on a rooftop, Charlie brought up the holographic computer interface of his right glove, and grinned slightly as it was now fully operational. It had crashed for a small period of time, but it was now working properly again. And so, he would be able to hack into a buildings computer network faster, and steal any data or replicate any data he would need. This was why he had first made the holographic computer for his nightly patrols, and as an easy way to access security mainframes. Shutting down the interface, Charlie took a deep breathe. He was taking in the night time air. It was brisk and cold, but it was also perfect right now.

Running to the edge of the building, his hand pressed the micro-circuits contained in the Red Robin symbol on his jacket, and his wings popped out. Diving off of the edge, Robin Hood glided down the buildings. The Red Robin symbol was put there in honour of his father. It was the only part of the mantle he had taken, because he was still terrified to take on the Red Robin mantle. He was afraid that the anger within him....the Dark Passenger he had, would cause him to kill. And he wanted to work past this anger and rage before he took on his fathers former mantle. Landing on another rooftop, the young hero hit the micro circuited emblem again, and the wings retracted.

Looking around, Robin Hood pulled out his bow, and with a simple shake, the bow turned into its full form. Loading it with an arrow, he cracked his neck and looked around again. He had done this because he felt on edge. Like he was about to be attacked. There was that sort of feel in the air, that you might get attacked at any moment now.

[Claude LeBeau]

It was Claude's bread and butter. Overtly wealthy crime boss had his slice of pie, a hero started making moves in the criminals stomping ground and this criminal wanted the hero taught a lesson. They didn't want the hero killed because...killing a hero always stirs up the community. A warning beat down would suffice.

So Gambit The Terminator was called in, the worlds top Assassin. The target? A member of the Bat-family. Of course in Gotham it just about always was. It was a big family, a very big and nosy family. Robin Hood to be precise. Claude checked his files, consulted his data on the kid, did his preparations and went out. Knowledge was Claude's primary weapon, his automatic rifles, grenades and promethium katana's and staffs were secondary.

From a quiet corner he watched his prey. Bow out and arrow prepared. He was tense and on edge, that was good. The Terminator could use that. He emerged from the shadows, adorned in his stealthsuit under the jacket he had taken to wearing. Same one he wore when he performed a similar job on Red Hood. Its kevlar inner-lining was handy. He dropped from a high ledge and landed on the same piece of roof as Robin Hood. "Robin Hood." he announced his presence, the blowing of the wind kicked up the tail of his jacket and the suit distorted his voice ever so slightly, adding a digital twang to his Cajun accent.

His swords were visible at his hips and there was a pistol like weapon under each arm, strapped to his chest. His belt contained an number of smaller devices and grenades but it was impossible to tell how many in the dark, with his jacket concealing. Nevermind how many weapons were held under his jacket. He hadn't revealed his enhanced strength in any real way to the world, nobody knew he could carry far more weaponry then before and maintain light on his feet movements. "You should be careful, no? This can be a dangerous part o'town. Never know what bad men who run into in the shadows...or maybe you have an accident with those arrows. Take somebodies eye out." A roof top show down. It was like something out of a comic book.

[Charlie Drake]

Keeping his arrow strung tightly on his bowstring, Charlie gulped as he looked around. There was a good chance it was an assassin that he felt might attack him. He'd been stopping a crime lords crimes, and taking out his lackeys, taking them to the prisons. But he wasn't entirely sure. His gut and senses were telling him that whoever it was that was here, would be a hard hitter. And he wasn't sure if he'd be able to take them down, whoever they were.

Apart from the bow in his hand, the arrow strung to the bow and the thirty four other arrows in his quiver, Charlie had quite a few weapons with him. He had several common paraphernalia in his utility belt, such as his Red Robin throwing discs, gas pellets, several other portable weapons. But the biggest weapons, apart from his bow and arrows, were the Escrima sticks holstered to his quiver on each side of it, and his extendible Bo-Staff. Even if he lost his weapons, hope wouldn't be lost. He'd still have his martial arts knowledge to fall back on.

And then, he heard a voice. A cajun voice which also had a sort of digital, mechanical twinge to it. Pivoting, Charlie saw who his attacker and opponent would be. An assassin he had researched extensively before now, not in preparation of a confrontation, just to learn more about the assassin. Gambit the Terminator. He'd learned as much as he could on this assassin. Trained by Deathstroke, skilled in both unarmed and armed combat. The only way to describe Gambit right now, was to call him a “walking armoury.” Keeping his bow and arrow trained on his opponent, Charlie said “Gambit the Terminator.”

If Gambit had done his research, and every indication was pointing to the obvious answer that he had, then he'd know about Robin Hood's accelerated healing process. The Cajun went into a speech about how this was a dangerous part of town. Chuckling at the end of Gambits speech, Robin Hood said “Oh, and you're the man who's going to cause my accident are you? Only someone without skill in archery would take out someones eyeballs. Now, we're in Gotham. You're an assassin, I'm a hero. We both know how this works.” And with the speed and reactions of someone who had been doing this for years, Charlie took aim for Gambits left shoulder, and fired his arrow.

[Claude LeBeau]

"Does my reputation proceed me mon ami?" replied the Assassin with a faint smile behind his mask. "Me? Cause an accident. No, never." The arrow came at Gambit, his suits HUD tracked it and his Logic Co-Processor implant gave him the chance to intercept. His armoured hand grabbed the arrow and with a squeeze of his hand he snapped it. The arrow dropped harmlessly to the floor.

"The hero shoots the assassin, what can an assassin do but defend himself?" It was a quick burst of movement, Gambit The Terminator exploded towards his opponent and pulled a katana from one hip and a semi-automatic pistol from under an arm. The promethium sword was spun in a lethal dervish, the light of the moon and a hundred lights from the streets below bouncing from the blade. While the sword aimed to turn the boy's external layers of skin into ribbons Claude was preparing to line up his gun, neutralize the boy's movement. The Bat family had a reputation as bullet dodgers, Claude was interested to find out if they could perform that feat at point blank while trying to handle an full-on attack from Gambit The Terminator. The sword kept up its attack until Claude made a subtle feint and finally pulled the trigger, aiming to put a round in his opponents foot.

[Charlie Drake]

At Gambits question, the hero decided to reply with some friendliness in his tone. But under the friendliness would be a tone of aggressiveness and rivalry. “Oui Oui mon ami. You're reputation is quite prestigious. Almost to the point of Deahtstrokes. Almost only counts in horse shoes though.” A laugh that gave off an air of arrogance and joviality followed his snarky comment. “Right. You don't cause accidents. You just happen to send people into them.” His grin faded a bit when Gambit grabbed his arrow and broke it. This fight would be harder than he had initially anticipated.

“Oh don't act like you are defenceless. You're a walking armoury. Then again, we both are.” And then, in the space of time it took for Robin Hood to blink. Gambit was now upon him with a katana slashing towards him. Not even considering the possibility of drawing his Bo-Staff, Charlies bow was used to parray and block the katanas movements. And then, a bullet was fired. If Robin Hood didn't have such exceptional reflexes, he would not have been able to perform this manoeuvre. Cartwheeling to the side, Robin Hood shoulder rolled away from Gambit, and cracked his neck. This guy's reflexes would be good enough to dodge a single arrow. So, he needed to fire two arrows at once. Something he could do easily due to years of practice. Loading two arrows, Charlie fired both of them at Claude. One was going for his shoulder, another was going for the assassins knee. Loading another arrow, Charlie fired one more arrow, aiming for Gambits gut. If he had wanted, he could have fired nineteen of his arrows within a minute but it wouldn't have been smart.

[Claude LeBeau]

The kid managed to avoid the gunshot but Gambit expected that, it would have been too easy if he popped a cap' in his foot. Good money didn't come easy. The boy had made a mistake trying to parry Gambit's sword with his bow, it was going to wind up cut in half. Nevermind if the Cajun decided to make use of his increased strength. Could pull that one out as a surprise.

Robin Hood brought up his bow and fired quickly, a pair of arrows striking Claude a not a moment later another. The arrows hit him but ultimately fell to the floor harmlessly. His armour was solid, nevermind the added defense of his jacket. "If that bruises, I ain't gonna be amused mon ami." he replied before leaping in to strike with his sword again, aiming to inflict some nasty flesh wounds on the chest. While one sword was engaging Gambit placed away his gun and drew his second sword, with an increased rate of attack he aimed to force his opponent to play defense.

From behind his mask Claude watched his opponent, reading his movements and waiting for his tell tail signs, waiting for a suitably telegraphed move that he could intercept with a cheeky kick.

[Charlie Drake]

Jesus, I forgot this guy has swords made of promethium! It sliced my bow in half, even though this thing was reinforced. Means I'll have to hurl my arrows by hand. Hurling the broken pieces of his bow to the ground, Robin Hood was nearly slashed by Gambits sword. Performing a back flip to escape the attacks from Gambit, as he had now drawn a second sword, he was thankful he had at least managed to get off a few shots with his bow before it had been sliced and diced. He was lucky to have a few spare ones at his armoury.

Landing near the edge of the building, Charlie knew he had only a few options. Pulling out two Red Robin throwing discs, Charlie hurled them towards the assassin. Diving to the side, he quickly extracted two smoke pellets and hurled them at the ground, releasing a smoke screen into the air. “Okay. You're good, I'll give you that. But I fear very few men mon ami. And you're not one of them. Deathstroke would be one, and so would the immortal known as Ra's Al Ghul. But you? Ha! If you are really a terminator, fight me unarmed.”

Pulling out a bola, the young vigilante twirled it around a few times, picking up speed. And then, he hurled it in the direction of Gambit. “Prove you're a true threat to a Bat or Robin, and fight me, unarmed. Hand to hand combat. If you're not afraid.” Cracking his neck and knuckles, Charlie got ready in case he needed to fight using his hand to hand skills.

[Claude LeBeau]

Robin Hood jumped away to avoid the swords, black and red eyes watched from behind his mask as his opponent jumped and dived. Both had healing factors, but Claude's more reserved combat style was going to produce fatigue toxins at a much slower rate. Not to mention his opponent didn't know Gambit The Terminator had a healing factor.

The throwing discs struck Gambit, one in each shoulder and earned a grunt of disapproval at the sting. "You dim boy? What you think a Terminator is?" Gambit didn't know where this morons pulled these little speeches from. They all thought he had to prove something to them, individually. Gambit had broken into the Young Titan Tower and murdered Cassie Queen A.K.A. Archer, he infiltrated the Batcave and kicked the fuck out of Madeline Wayne A.K.A. Batgirl, slapped seven shades of shit out of Red Hood A.K.A. Pete Todd. Not to mention he was aware of all of their secret identities.

"Me? A thread to you? You appear to be confused mon ami." Gambit drove his swords into the floor, leaving them standing upright before raising a hand to catch the incoming bolas. "You are no threat to me" The Terminator didn't usually indulge his opponents, but this arrogant little prick deserved a thrashing that would leave him no room to hide behind excuses.

The Cajun Assassin rushed him and exploded into action with a flurry of attacks, quick punches aimed for the side of the chest, knee strikes towards to the hip, elbows to the face. He knew how Robin Hood fought, he was up close and prepared to parry and counter. Robin Hood displayed peak human reflexes, Claude had superhuman reflexes and thought speed, the little brat had peak human strength, Gambit could lift five tons and every bit of that strength was going into his striking power, he displayed peak human agility? Gambit had superhuman agility.

He was putting this punk in his place.

[Charlie Drake]

Charlie knew that he could go for at least several hours before he was truly encumbered by the fatigue toxins building within his blood stream. And against a seasoned fighter and assassin such as Gambit the Terminator, he would need to use all of his slightly enhanced tributes, training and conditioning. But even that might not save him from this assassin.

Grinning slightly when he heard Gambit grunt from being hit by his throwing discs, Robin Hood knew if he could at least subdue Gambit and escape he'd have a bit of a reprieve. Cracking his neck, he responded with venom in his voice towards his enemy. “I know what a terminator is. You murder Archer! Subdued Batgirl, and brutally beat Red Hood! BUT YOU WON'T DO THAT TO ME!” The Dark Passenger within him, the more murderous and inhumane side, was beginning to gain control. Not even caring about the consequences, Robin Hood grabbed four more Red Robin throwing discs, and hurled them towards Gambit. His temper was beginning to take over, clouding his judgement. It was one major reason he hadn't taken on the mantle of Red Robin. This anger....It was too much like Jason. He needed to work past the anger and conform it to a good nature.

When Gambit drove his swords into the ground so they would be standing up, and claimed that he was a threat to Robin Hood, the young vigilante and hero just stayed silent. And then the pain began. The quickness and agility that Gambit was displaying took Charlie by surprise, and meant his reaction speed was now slower. All of the attacks connected, and the worse one was the strike that connected with his hip. Roaring in pain, he was hurled back, and he landed on his side, gasping in pain. He had taken several strikes, and that one to the hip had bruised it pretty badly. Getting to his feet, Charlie pulled out his Bo-Staff and extended it. Twirling it, the young man rushed forward and begin a flurry of attacks. These attacks were short, concise and saved energy. The whistling sound the staff made was also mean to distract.

[Claude LeBeau]

The dominating blows from Gambit put his opponent down, he could hear him gasping and he obviously heard the roar of pain. While he was down Gambit just started to pace around, like a predator stalking its prey. There was something taunting about it. Like he could just pounce and strike but instead he stepped back to allow his prey to gather himself up before pouncing again.

Robin Hood came back up swinging, pulling out a telescopic bo-staff and swinging like a man possessed. One blow caught Claude across the jaw, another at his upper arm on his left side, his knee on the right side and catching him in the stomach at the end. When it was all said and done Gambit caught his footing and rose to his full height once more after being knocked around. From under his mask he could be heard cracking his jaw. "No mon ami....I won't...." with a movement so fast if one blinked they'd miss it Gambit swung up one fist and backhanded the bo-staff from Robin Hoods grip before grabbing him roughly by the shoulder. Another hand took him by the belt and Claude hoisted him into the air. "I will break you." with a literally back breaking force Gambit shot up one knee and cast Robin Hood's back down upon it before unceremoniously dropping him to the floor.

The Cajun Assassin walked away from the downed boy, stepping over to his swords before pulling them free and taking a moment to wipe each clean before sheathing them properly. Once his weapons were back he walked back over to Robin Hood and leaned down slightly. "I want you to understand something Robin. It took me forty five seconds after putting away my weapons. The only reason you are alive is because I was hired to beat you, not to kill you. Do you know what that means? It means I was holding back. Hang up your costume, meet a nice girl and raise kids in the suburbs. Because if I ever see you again, you will be terminated." With that Gambit made his departure, walking away into the mist of a cold Gotham night and vanishing into the shadows.

Contract Complete.

[Charlie Drake]

Out of all the pain he was feeling right now, the worst one was the injury to his hip. It was either bruised or fractured. He wasn't sure which, but he knew it wasn't broken because he had been able to get up. But the anger was still welling up within him. The pain was like a fire to an inferno. An inferno that, if not kept in check, would rage out of control.

Robin Hoods vicious attack with the Bo-Staff had been quite successful. He had managed to land several hits on Gambit, causing him to stumble slightly. A vicious grin came to his face. His Dark Passenger had been slightly sated with this vicious attack. But it was never fully sated, even with vicious attacks and outbursts. What it desired, and what Charlie desired deep down, was to commit a murder. But he would never do that. He'd never allow himself to fall that far. But as his thoughts were about to continue, Charlie was grabbed by the shoulder and the belt. He was going to try and break out of this grip, when he was lifted up above Gambit and then brought down. Right onto the Terminators knee. Roaring in agonizing pain, the young vigilante felt something. Well, something he couldn't feel now. Gambit had broken his back! Caused him to lose feeling in his legs! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! This thought reverberated around his mind in horror.

He was on the floor now, dropped like a sack of potatoes. Looking up at Gambit, he listened closely. His anger was beginning to grow again, but it was also numbed by the intense pain and feeling of numbness he felt. He'd lost the use of his legs. “You don't understand me then Gambit. Yeah, you were hired to beat me. But in this day and age.....rehabilitation will give me my legs back. Next time we meet, if we meet, I'll be trained, recovered and stronger. Stronger in body and soul. Being a Robin or a Bat is soemthing that we do no matter what.” As Gambit left, tears spilled over Robin Hoods eyes. He was in the same situation Bruce Wayne had been in years ago. Before he lost it completely, Charlie activated his earbud and said in a voice full of agony "Someone, help me. I'm on the building facing the Ace Chemicals processing plant. Please, someone. Help me."

And then, as Charlie sent out his message, the pain and anger took over. An agonized, wolf like roar left his lips. All he could do was roar. He was a broken Bird....He was just broken.

[Bee Shepherd]

"Someone, help me. I'm on the building facing the Ace Chemicals processing plant. Please, someone. Help me."

Robin was on the opposite side of town from the Ace Chemical plant, dealing with a heist at a bank. It was quite a precarious situation- the robber had a bomb strapped to a civilian and was threatening to blow it up when her earbud activated. It was over the Batfamily's frequency- only a few members had access to it, and she recognized the voice immediately. It was Charlie.

Robin froze in the middle of what she was doing (which was typing at the computer in her glove, analyzing the type of bomb), and the world seemed to freeze for a moment, his last "Help me" echoing in her ears. "No..." she said softly. Something was seriously wrong- she had never heard him sound like that... ever. "I'll be right there." she responded into her communicator, but she then realized her couldn't hear her- he was screaming into his earbud, an agonizing roar that brought tears to her eyes. She had to help him! She needed to zip off right away and help right now! She was getting ready to do so before she remembered the bomb in the bank.

She frowned, muttering a word that her mother would wash her mouth out with soap had she heard her say, then stood upright. She took a few steps away from the police car where she had been taking cover. She ignored the police officer's confused muttering while taking a few more steps back. She bent her her knees a bit, and then rested her hands on the ground in front of her. She had one shot at this- she didn't have time to wait around on this bomber, she had to end this fast! She stayed in that position for just a moment, taking a deep breath to steady herself before pushing herself forward as fast as she could go. She went through the thick glass doors- shattering them and sending broken glass everywhere. An instant later the man was on the ground, knocked out cold, and the woman who had been strapped to the bomb was free.

Robin passed the detonator to the bomb that she had confiscated from the man to a member of the bomb squad, thanked them for their hard work before quickly zipping across town to get to the chemical plant.

It had been two, maybe three minutes since she had first gotten the message when she arrived at the chemical plant. Entirely too long, in her opinion- someone in her family needed help! She didn't even bother with a bat-grapple, instead choosing to run fast enough that she could run up the side of the building. "Robin Hood!" she cried out, zipping over and kneeling down next to him. She tapped the side of her mask, and the X-ray filter flashed on. She felt the bile rise in her throat when she saw his back- broken.

"Oh no..." she breathed softly, her voice full of horror. What had happened? Who could have done this?

[Charlie Drake]

The roar that Robin Hood had unleashed had been primal in nature, working in tandem with anger and frustration. His anger was directed towards Gambit, but more so towards himself. He was so angry with himself, that he had been unable to fight evenly with Gambit, and that he was so unworthy of his own mantle. The trauma and anger of this event would scar him, because this event had brought something to the front. It had brought him to his lowest point. Where all of his anger, all of the fear and frustration bubbled to the surface.

How could Charlie take on his fathers mantle, the mantle of Red Robin, when he couldn't even handle his own mantle. When an assassin could cripple him with little effort. Even if Gambit was exceptionally skilled, the young Drake should have been able to hold his own and prevent his back form being broken. Slamming his fists into the building, his roar dwindled to a single groan. After the groan, all there was left to do was stay in the position he was in, and try to ignore this pain. But it wasn't easy. The simple fact that his back was broken was causing him intense pain. Not even his healing factor could help him now. All it was good for at this very moment was healing cuts, bruises burns and cuts. Apart from that he wasn't invincible or a very fast healer.

Hearing Bee's voice, the broken vigilante felt slightly more reassured. He'd have an ally coming soon. This did little to help him cope though. While he was more reassured, his ability to cope had not improved with this reassurance. Moving his arms, he felt more reassured that his back had not been totally broke or broken in a place where he would be unable to move from the neck down. He could move his arms, which would help him to an extent. But he'd be incapable of full mobility for weeks.

Minutes passed, and the agony was just increasing in intensity. He needed medical assistance soon, otherwise the spinal damage would be even more serious than it already was. But then, he saw Robin. “Robin....Good to see you. Think you can carry me?” Looking at her, he didn't smile or grimace. He just tried to hide his pain.