Escape From Gotham City
The trek out of hell takes longer than one might expect. All those twists and turns, and the natives aren't exactly reliable for directions. Shiva, Dragon, and Tim Drake have hauled themselves out of the infernal realms, though, with no further interference from Neron. Then back through Gotham Below - finally emerging from a dark alleyway in the
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It gives him just a little bit more information about where Tally is.
Tim calculates.
The flash bang goes high into the air. It will go off roughly were the sniper's sights should be sweeping and behind Dragon and Shiva, shielding their eyes from the effect. The two should have a few seconds where the immediate opponents are blind.
In the meantime, Robin crashes through the window and into the building. It's an abandoned structure, much like many of the older buildings in this neighborhood. He's up instantly, running at full tilt to the roof.
Heart pounding he begins calculating how much time it will take him to leap from the roof and grapple swing to the next building. There will be a few seconds where he will be exposed to the sniper's sights. Part of this will be luck, the rest is up to the tactical choices he makes as he maneuvers from one place of cover to the next. If he's lucky, the flashbang will be caught by the sniper scope and dazzle his opponent for those precious seconds.
Grapple line out, Robin bursts out onto the roof and runs HARD for the ledge.
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He knows Robin's moved by now as he rubs his eyes.
"Alright you little shit." Tally Man pulls out a pair of infrared goggles, doubling as protection in case of another flash. He sees a red blur swinging to the next building.
"Gotcha." He aims just ahead of Robin's trajectory, and fires.
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Like calculating when his window of exposure runs out and the Tally Man reacquires his target.
Robin lets go of the line in mid swing and drops suddenly. He can feel the bullet whiz over his head by an inch.
Grabbing the edges of his cape, the memory cloth it's made of stiffens and assumes the rigid shape of gliding wings. It's enough to let him make a fast declining glide to the side of the bakery and out of Tally's arc of fire.
Another grappling line lets him swing laterally to and around the building corner, reaching momentary cover.
Have to be fast.
Pulling in the grappling line, Robin adjusts the gas pressure in the launcher and fires the line again. The line hooks the ledge of the building and he lets the automated recoil pull him right up. Using the momentum of the ascent to carry him up above the level of the ledge, Robin throws a brace of Batarangs in Tally's predicted position the moment he comes into view. Rather than landing or catching the edge of the ledge, he let himself fall back out of sight and quickly moves to change his current position along the side of the building.
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"Alright you, kid." Tally Man casts the sniper rifle aside and picks up a pair of 10 mm machine guns. "Sniper rifle would have been quick and painless, too bad for you."
He hears a noise, a something hitting a window, darts to the ledge and fires downward.
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He was a little worried Tally would keep his cool and not give up his position.
Now he's been drawn out.
Hiding between the wings of a chipped and fractured Gargoyle (an old favorite from patrols in this neighborhood), Robin springs from the side and brings his fighting staff down across the side of Tally's head.
He doesn't stop there.
Darkseid is involved in this, so who knows what has been done to Tally..or Gotham for that matter. Robin can't afford to let up.
So as he comes down after the blow to Tally's head, his foot slams into the side of the man's knee with all his weight. He then falls into a roll to stay in tight with his opponent but out of his immediate firing arc.
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My brothers and sisters received various gifts upon accepting Anti-Life, but me..I've been blessed with the peak of human fitness."
He smiles a crooked smile.
"Time to pay the Tally Man."
He charges at Robin with incredible, but still human, speed, looking to connect with a right cross-gut-shot combination.
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When he is stronger, be softer
When he is agry, be centered
No forced strikes; no reckless strikes.
A punch is never wasted.
Punch when you can; do not punch when you cannot.
Trained by the very best in the world, Robin is very familiar with fighting those who are faster and stronger than he. No amount of alien augmentation can take the place of skill and experience.
There is no purpose in matching strength against strength or speed against speed here. Only fools fight on their opponent's terms.
Tally's momentum is turned against him and his incredible strength is leveraged to Robin's advantage. The sniper's very strengths are turned into weaknesses as his smaller and more lithe opponent dances around him, exploiting the slightest of openings and the briefest moments of poor balance.
The fighting staff is used to it's fullest as an extension of Robin's arms, telescoping his blows with an unexpected reach and sweeping Tally Man's legs out from under him. The sniper's infrared visor gets knocked off kilter, impairing Tally's vision until it is cast aside.
The best comes for last however when Robin slaps a concussive micro-charge (normally used to blow out walls) to the sniper's mid-back and rolls away while hitting the detonator. Tally isn't baseline human anymore. 'Bane tactics' are called for here.
"Sorry Tally, but it's your turn to pay the bill."
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"Anti-Life justifies..my..hate."
With that final retort, the Tally Man collapses on his face.
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Habit has Tim going for his communicator to check in, but then he remembers that Shiva and Dragon don't carry comm links.
...but Batman does.
Batman.
Bruce.
....OMG
It suddenly dawns on him that he has no idea how long he;s been gone.
Tim opens his comm channel.
"Batman, this is Robin. Are you receiving me? Oracle? Anybody?"
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