I'm your boogie man [completed]

[ebony_mask]

Who: Roman Sionis/Black Mask, Carrie Kelley/Robin, and eventually Naruto
When: 15 December; sometime after dark
Where: An alley in Sector 1
Summary: Robin discovers Black Mask showing a homeless man what happens to people who follow him.
Warnings: Language, violence. It's Black Mask, people.

Comments

[girlyboywonder]

There'd never been a surer way to get her attention than gunfire. Even in a city like this, where nighttime dangers didn't usually use guns, old habits died hard. But Robin was hoping, as she hit the edge of the roof to peer down into the alley it bordered, that it'd be a shot fired in self-defense. Against a monster. That was the kind of fight she was really starting to like -- dropping down to lend a hand to someone struggling to hold off one of those nighttime terrors? That was the kind of adventure she'd signed up for when she pulled on the cape.

But she didn't see any monsters, and she definitely didn't see any terrified, gun-wielding victim. Just a guy in need of a trip to the emergency room (or morgue? she hoped not -- she suspected so) and the kind of guy the boss would've had no qualms taking down. Shadows prevented getting too good a look, but she didn't need one. The situation was clear enough.

Out came the slingshot; the pouch was loaded with shot and flying in half a second -- non-explosive ammo to start, and only aimed at the hand with the gun. There was still a chance it could've been self-defense after all, monsters or no.

[ebony_mask]

"Son of a bitch!"

The handgun clattered to the pavement as Roman's gloved hand was struck by a hard, painful object. His head jerked up in the direction from which the missile had come. Outlined by the glow of the Port were the head and shoulders of someone. Someone watching him. Someone small. He scowled; goddamn hood rats poking their noses where they don't belong.

"I'm gonna give you the chance to scram, kid. Get the hell out of here and pretend you didn't see anything, and you get to go home to mommy and daddy, safe and sound."

[girlyboywonder]

The voice was familiar. Someone she'd spoken to over the NVs? Maybe just someone she'd electronically followed? She knew it, either way. And so her eyes narrowed, because that was definitely not to response of someone who'd just shot in self-defense.

The slingshot wasn't going anywhere, and the next pellet was aimed to be fired face-wards instead. And, speaking of face... the suspicion turned into a squint simply to see better through the dark. There was something about the guy's face...

"Gee, real polite. Only I figure you got about four seconds to beat it." Whoever he was, the most important part of the scene was the victim. Was the guy dead? Just hurt?

[ebony_mask]

The next missile struck him in the chin, spurring him to action. He quickly picked up the handgun and aimed it at his assailant's head. Were his eyes deceiving him, or was that a...cape?

"The Darkness ain't a time for children to be playing dress-up, little girl. Lord only knows the horrible things that could happen out here. Just ask Mr. Sleepy right here--" the limp body rolled with his kick, revealing a bullet wound to the forehead "--who's to say this alley won't have two chilly corpses by morning? Now scram."

[girlyboywonder]

Right. Definitely not self-defense. And while she was at it, the guy taking the nap was definitely past helping. Which meant there was really just the one option. Take this guy down. She ducked back out of sight over the edge of the roof, willing that neat little Core-given power to lighten her step and make her silent. It obeyed sometimes, sometimes it didn't. Tonight seemed to be lucky.

It wasn't a permanent retreat, though -- definitely not. She was moving at a run for the far edge of the roof, aiming for some distance and a hopefully surprising new angle. The voice still wasn't one she could place, so she doubted the guy was much more than a gun-toting murderer. They cropped up in Gotham often enough; she knew how to handle them.

But for now? Let the guy think she'd run off.

[ebony_mask]

He watched the roof for a moment after the figure disappeared. Little girls in capes. Now that was a trip down memory lane. A sick smile spread on his face as he thought about his caped little girl. Same snotty, self-righteous attitude too. Was there something about dark cities drowning in their own filth that encouraged brats to put on costumes? Goddamn punks.

He lowered the gun and put it in his pocket, shoving his hand in after it as he stepped over the body, strolling casually toward the end of the alley. The little encounter had taken all but a few minutes; there was still plenty of time for recruitment.

[girlyboywonder]

She didn't let him get much past the mouth of the alley. It'd be better to take care of this before anyone else could notice, after all. And she wasn't going to go easy with the metal pellets anymore, either. A quick leap behind his back took her to the opposite roof from the one she'd been crouching on a second ago, and she let loose a few rounds of explosive pellets from her perch on the edge of it. Two for his back, one for the back of his head. Enough to knock him down, if she'd aimed it right, but she'd have to get a little closer to take him down.

And it was about then, with the guy framed in the brighter light from the street, that she finally placed that half-glimpsed face. Mask? The name would certainly imply it, at least.

[ebony_mask]

The small explosions along his back jolted him and he stumbled into a wall. Had that misguided little girl come back? Was she actually throwing firecrackers at him? His head whipped around, scanning the roof ledges. Sure enough, there she was, cape and--

She was a Robin.

Now that changed the stakes. Was she the vigilante stalking him? If she wasn't, she would be now. What were the odds that Daddy Bats was close behind? He had been assured there were no capes in the city, and yet here one was. He didn't want any wrenches in his plans this early in the game. Hell, he didn't need them at all ever, but they were to be expected. But not now, not before he'd even set up shop. Better to deal with this little speed bump before things got out of hand.

In an instant, he'd pulled the gun from his pocket and fired in her direction.

[girlyboywonder]

Gun -- gun. She'd dived to the side and back to the relative safety of a duck behind the roof's edge, but she was just an instant too slow. The bullet grazed her upper arm, but she didn't make a sound. Better he think he missed altogether. From there, a quick roll brought her to farther down the length of the roof, and then she was popping up again with the slingshot ready. His hand, again. If she could get him to drop the gun, she'd have a shot at this.

[ebony_mask]

His aim was off, but no matter. She could dance around all she wanted, he didn't give a tinker's damn; she was only delaying the inevitable. All he needed was to wound her badly enough to incapacitate her, and then the real fun would begin. He had ever so many questions for her. He'd had to pass up such a promising opportunity with little Miss Brown, but this one looked ripe for the pickin'.

"Y'know, girlie, even your poorly trained predecessor put up more of a fight than you. Least she engaged me in some rigorous hand-to-hand combat; none of this shooting from the shadows bullshit. Or has the Batfreak finally given up and realized training cannon fodder isn't worth the effort?"

He readjusted and shot at her again.

[girlyboywonder]

Mid-fight or not, she had to perk at the word "predecessor". She'd take any information she could get on the first Robins, Jason and D-- wait. She? Robin at least had the good sense to wait until she was ducked behind that half wall for her confused pause. Was this guy crazy? Has Jason been a whole lot more feminine than she'd imagined?

Or, came a quiet little suggestion, seeing as he wasn't in any of the boss's files, there was always the chance that he came from a different home than the one she knew...

No time to think about that. She was rolling forward again, hearing bullets bite into the concrete behind her. Fragments of it stung the back of her legs through the winter-time pants, but there was no time to think about that either. She chanced popping up for another round of explosive pellets down at him, but her rush to duck back again made them more poorly-aimed than the first volleys. But as long as she stayed to the roof, she told herself, she'd be fine. He couldn't get to her up here.

[ebony_mask]

He gave a dark chuckle as she disappeared from sight. Always toys with the costumed freaks, never any honest, face-to-face, get-the-hands-dirty fighting. Of course, children fighting grown, hardened criminals hand-to-hand wasn't fair, but hey, it's not like he forced them down that career path.

"Come out, come out where ever you are, little girl..."

The fire escape caught his eye. It would afford him a better vantage point. He skirted around a volley of exploding pellets and began to climb.

"I gotta ask, kiddo: has the big guy finally gone off his nut? I mean, after what happened to the last chippy who wore that costume, he's got to be insane to let another one put it on. That's pretty sick, and believe me, I know sick."

[girlyboywonder]

Man this guy talked a lot. Was there some rule somewhere that said villains always had to ramble mid-fight? The next time she sprang up to fire off her shots, her eyes widened to find him on the fire escape. No. No, the roof was supposed to be her guaranteed shield. A safety net.

Robin took a chance to dart a few glances around for escape routes rather than bombard him with more shots -- and caught sight of a higher building, two away. There. It'd provide better cover until she thought of something else. With one last furtive glance at Black Mask, she flung herself back into the space over the alley to cross between the buildings. Just a second of exposure, then she'd be back to refuge afforded by the angle of the roof. And if she moved fast enough, she'd even make it to that higher building before he finished his climb.

[ebony_mask]

The look of surprise on Robin's face made him chuckle once more. Like a goddamn building was going to make him give up. Didn't Batman give his minions dossiers on known crims? The man had clearly gone off the deep end.

"Ah, there we are. Hide and seek's over, girlie. It's time for a new game."

As she leaped between the buildings, he let go of the ladder and aimed the Glock at her unshielded body.

"Tag. You're It."

[girlyboywonder]

She heard the shot before anything else, and for the first instant was sure it'd missed her. But pain had a way of making itself known. She'd managed to lighten her body for the jump, so the impact of the bullet punching into her lower thigh managed to interrupt her trajectory. Damn. Damn. She was falling short, she was falling--

She scrambled for the grappling gun, but it wasn't fast enough. Her last instinct was to lighten herself even more with that new power of hers, and she felt it work just before she slammed into the top of a dumpster and bounced to the ground. All without a sound. No screams, no uufs of the breath leaving her lungs. But all the quiet in the world wasn't going to help much now.

No. This wasn't how it was supposed to go -- Batman'd fire her for screwing it up so bad -- how had things gotten so ugly so fast? She scrambled to shelter on the far side of the dumpster that'd not-so-gently caught her, managing at least to put that between herself and any bullets. And -- and her slingshot. She still had that. Her ammo. Her grappling gun, where -- there. Halfway across the alley. It'd fallen when she'd struggled to get it out in time. Robin bit her lip, staring at the thing and wondering if she could get to it on a leg that she wasn't sure would work like it was supposed to.

...And if she caught the same fate as Jason out of this, she had to admit to herself, she deserved it. Sloppy. Too sloppy.

[ebony_mask]

He let out a satisfied snicker as her body thudded to the ground. When would Batman ever learn that sending poorly trained children after him was a recipe for disaster? Still, as much as the little girl had failed, she sure was putting on a stoic facade. She didn't even scream. It was slightly disappointing.

"That looked like it really hurt, sweetheart. But you're quite the trooper, aren't you?"

He slid down the ladder, wasting no time in kicking the grappling gun out of the alley and into the street somewhere before turning on Robin, the hollows of his skull exaggerated in the poor lighting. Just a little hands-on interaction and she'd be out cold, easy enough to drag back to the basement of his safehouse.

"This little game of cat and mouse has been fun, don't get me wrong, but I think we're ready to take our relationship to the next level. Get to know each other more intimately, have some thrills, become great friends, all that good stuff."

He flipped the gun around and raised it, ready to bring the butt down on her head, leering at her.

"I'm gonna make you scream, little girl."