Sleep is for the weak [Penumbra/OPEN]

[Aly]

The tower rose ahead of them, and Batgirl smiled, even though she knew that Penumbra behind her could not see it. "Some people take their friends home to meet their parents. I'm not one of those people. I take friends home to the team." She was taking the back roads now, slipping through various wide alleys and little side streets. She wouldn't take just anybody to the secret entrance of the Tower, which he should know. "You've heard of our main team, but some of our newcomers tend to hang around the tower, though maybe not so many this late at night. If you're up for it, we can go to the Training Room an have a little spar. Unless you're afraid I might hurt you too bad." Her laugh carried in the rushing wind that assailed their faces as she sped through the streets.

He hadn't told her where to drop him off, but she didn't think he'd exactly object to meeting the Titans. Even if he had to wait a few hours until at least sunrise to see any of them. She was one of the VERY few that operated mostly at night. Even fewer went out alone as much as she did. Maybe it was because she wasn't part of the original core team. Now, she was part of them, but still wouldn't feel like she belonged. It was like she was outside looking in sometimes. They all had their inside jokes that Batgirl would never truly understand. Finally, they were at the entrance. It looked like a garage door to an old building, but when Batgirl punched in the code on a screen on the bike in front of her, the door opened to reveal a long dark tunnel that ran quite a far distance downwards, as well as under and past the wall opposite. "I might warn you about Robin, though. He might not be as welcoming as the others. Something to do with me bringing them in, I guess. The last person I tried to get into the team, he forbade it. Not like I didn't help her out anyways. This time, I'm not letting him have that chance." She accelerated down the tunnel, lights flickering on ahead as they went.

They reached the garage quickly, meaning that they had gone under the mass of water separating the island from the rest of Jump. She pulled the Batcycle up between the R-cycle and the T-car, coming to a stop and shutting off the engine. It was very quiet as she got off and waited for Penumbra to do the same. Once he was off of the seat, she lifted it and extracted her bag, which still held her laptop. "Hold on, first things first." She set the bag down on the T-car and dug through it, finally pulling out a small, yellow, circular object and tossing it to him. "I officially invite you, Penumbra, to be a member of the Teen Titans." Smiling, she leaned back against the white and blue car. Now that her voice would be recorded in the security system, Robin would not really be able to argue with her much. Not that he ever really got that far when he tried, anyways. "Later, I can sync that to your cell. At least that way it has a 'vibration' option. It's not really good when you're trying to sneak up on someone to have that thing chiming in your belt."

[Deleted]

Penumbra watched the buildings go by with an alacrity that he'd only been exposed to a couple of times before. “I thought you took your BOYFRIEND or GIRLFRIEND home to meet the parents, not your friends. Friends you keep far away from your parents to keep them them from embarrassing you.” Perhaps his understanding was wrong, but that's how he always thought he should treat friends and his parents. Honestly considering what his family was capable of the thought of having his friends forever horrified, mentally corrupted, or otherwise maimed was frightening. Batgirl's challenge made Penumbra squeeze her a little harder as he replied, “HEY! I'm not afraid of sparring with you. You may be pretty muscular but I'm no toothpick, pencil necked wannabe in a Halloween costume. I'll fight you and you better not go easy on me!” If he were on the ground he'd cross his arms but squeezing her to show disapproval would have to do.

“Robin is the least of my concerns. He may be a quick thinker but he doesn't have any powers. Besides even if he were to bar me from the team I wouldn't stop jumping off rooftops at night. I would probably be even more motivated as long as I didn't get myself killed.” pausing for a moment he watched the lights fly by before adding, “I won't get myself killed, I promise.” It was true he wouldn't stop running around at night. In fact he preferred the thought of it instead of working with a team. There is such thing as overkill when you're taking down petty criminals. Teamwork was important when taking down super criminals though. Even the adult heroes had their Justice League so it only made sense. Penumbra honestly planned on this being a side venture where his regular patrols would continue, alone at night.

As the motorcycle pulled into a stop Penumbra jumped backwards off the bike. Waiting patiently while Batgirl dug through her bag, Penumbra had a feeling he knew what was going to happen. Snatching the communicator from the air he instantly started looking it over and decided that he would take it apart later, “I thank you for the invitation and accept the offer. Let's just not have people figuring out our secret identities while I'm here.” Penumbra winked and put the communicator in one of the pockets on his belt, “Do you think you can help me make an application for the phone that replaces the communicator entirely? I concede to your greater programming abilities and have in fact had my cellphone go off while watching a group of thugs. That was amusing...” It really hadn't been, it was actually terrifying to be invisible so people only to be startled, show up, get lunged at, and then explain to your mother why you were home late. Shuddering at the thought of what his family would say about tonight he walked towards what appeared to be a door, elevator, or other means of exit and smirked eerily behind his mask, “Weren't you going to give me a beating or did you come to your senses?”

[Silv]

Before Penumbra could reach the door it opened. Robin strode through, looking momentarily startled to see someone who wasn't Batgirl. The Boy Wonder stopped abruptly in his tracks and a smile quickly covered up the scowl that had been on his face seconds earlier when he'd first appeared in the doorway. It was obvious that he had initially come down here to see Batgirl. For what purpose, however, would have to be put on hold. 

"Hello," the young leader greeted, studying the newcomer. He took a few steps forward and reached a hand towards Penumbra in greeting. "I'm Robin," the Boy Wonder was being friendly this time. But then, Penumbra hadn't tackled him to the ground, confused him with another Robin, and proved to be a security threat all in the same evening. Leniency was his tendency. "I'm guessing you're a new recruit Batgirl picked up?" his masked gaze slid over to his long-time friend curiously before squaring back to Penumbra.

When he'd walked in the new kid had been mentioning something about Batgirl giving him a beating. That probably meant she was going to get a good idea of his abilities through a series of tests like they usually did with the new recruits. Good. He shot her a smile, something she wouldn't be getting once he found out where she'd been, and turned his attention then to the both of them.

"If you're going to test his skills, I'll join you," the young leader said. He liked to know the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates. It helped him pick out strategy.

[Aly]

Batgirl laughed when he said he wasn't afraid of Robin. “I imagine you've never seen him actually fight. I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. He's pretty deadly with his bo-staff, powers or not.” She faintly heard the elevator wake up, but she figured it would probably just stop at one of the levels with the rooms. “If anyone does figure them out, I'm coming for you first, and it won't be to warn you.” She smiled as he caught the communicator and inspected it. “Yes, I can help you with that. I've already got something similar on my phone, but it goes to both anyways.” She shrugged and bent one knee, resting her foot on the side of the T-car. Cyborg would probably kill her if he found out about that as well. Either that or die from shock.

She was wrong about the elevator stopping before hitting the garage, and was even more surprised to see Robin emerge from it. Speak of the devil, and he shall arrive. Her smile flitted from one teen vigilante to the other. Robin wasn't going nuts, astonishingly. “Yeah... well, I couldn't have him running around by himself, stealing all of our glory. Figured this would be the best way to keep tabs on him.” She winked at Penumbra, thinking about telling Robin how he happened to guess her secret identity because of their little run-in at the library. But that would probably lead her to telling him why she was at the library in the first place, and where he had seen her afterward. Not something she wanted to talk about, especially not at the moment.

She turned back to Penumbra, eyebrows raised. “You know I have more friends in here than you do, right? If you do get close to beating me, I'm sure Robin will step in and set things right.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked back at Robin. “He says he's not afraid of you, though. I might have to stop before I beat you too bad so that you can really see how deadly the walking traffic light is.” Since she was in a pretty good mood, she sent Dick a wink as well. She just hoped that Penumbra wouldn't let their little side-mission slip. “Come on boys, let's get started. You don't want the rest of the team to wake up and watch you get beat up by a girl.”

[Deleted]

Penumbra just smiled behind his mask. Not a confident smile but one of understanding and amusement. These heroes had been doing their job for a while and knew what they were doing. Cautiously he extended his hand towards Robin's and shook it while preparing to get thrown into the wall, “I'm Penumbra, I guess you could say she picked me up...in a way.” He wasn't sure if jumping onto her bike while getting shot at counted as getting picked up, but it was safe to say discussing what happened that night was off limits unless Batgirl mentioned it. Their library escapades also would reveal his identity if Robin looked deep enough. All he needed to do was interrogate a frightened librarian. Barbara, Batgirl, would hopefully keep her secret if she expected Alphy to do the same. Breaking from the handshake Penumbra crossed his arms and listened to the pair, tilting his head at her comments about losing and winning. They were confident, but at the same time Penumbra felt that there was always room to err on the side of caution. Whether or not they were already analyazing him as an unknown element, Penumbra would try to show them nothing.

“Looks like I better get this over with.” He mumbled as he followed Batgirl to the elevator and waited to be taken to meet his fate. The Tower was big, but few people ever enter it. Penumbra didn't know what to expect in their training facility. Perhaps there would be drones, dummies, arenas, shooting ranges, and an Olympic size swimming pool with fish for a certain Aqualad. For the rest of the journey Penumbra would try to remain silent like the unforgiving night. Any other questions would be facing the mask, Penumbra, instead of Alphy (who trusted Barbara and felt at ease around someone with the same intellect as he). His hat tipped low, blocking his eyes from sight as he waited.

[Silv]

Penumbra acceded to Batgirl's story. Robin would have to ask for more details later, but for right now he was content to join the others in the elevator and punch in the floor that held the danger room. The Boy Wonder didn't seem particularly at ease in the small space, but he smiled and made a soft snorting noise when Babs told him that Penumbra had already informed her that the kid wasn't afraid of him. Good. Robin didn't want to be feared like Batman. He wanted to be respected, sure, but not feared.

Batgirl's banter made him feel more at ease in the elevator. His posture became less rigid and he turned his masked gaze towards Penumbra again. "What sort of fighting experience do you have?" this was important information he got from all the new recruits. "I need to know what level you are on so we can set up a training regimen for you. If you have any metahuman abilities that can be used defensively or offensively then we'll need to know about those as well."

Knowing what people could do wasn't personal. It was business. To stay alive you had to know how to keep your team alive. "This is a team," Robin explained, "we function as a unit," his masked gaze narrowed on Batgirl for a moment, this was obviously a point that required discussing. His attention then went back to Penumbra. "I don't need to know who you are under the mask. Or what you've been through. But, to keep everyone safe, I need to know what you can do." this was obviously a speech Robin had made so many times it bordered on rehearsed, but then, that was what happened when you picked up stray heroes off the streets.

The elevator door opened with a ding revealing a hallway that led to a pair of thick, sliding doors with seals in triplicate. It was an old room, built to solve a long-fixed problem, that had been turned into a simulator. Robin led the way down the hallway, opening the doors easily as he went, until they opened into a gigantic white room that seemed almost awkwardly stark. There was a set of windows near the top where the control room overlooked the simulation area.

"Try not to cripple him, Babs," Robin warned the redhead with a grin as he gestured for them to go inside.

[Elenaphant]

No one had to wake him up, Cyborg was already up and going through a check-list. He maintained this tower, and while he wasn't alone in the process, he always felt better when he'd check up on something himself. He still hadn't gotten over his security paranoia, even now that they were fortified on every possible front. It had become an obsession for him, thinking of new ways someone could break in or something could go wrong, and spend his time thinking up the solutions. Thankfully it wasn't one of those sleepless nights. His focus was just on making sure everything was up and running.

The Danger Room could get particularly wonky. Starfire had complained there was something off about the simulated A.I--nothing life threatening thankfully, but it kept repeating moves over and over. He was against bringing newbies into this room in general, just on the off-chance something wasn't calibrated right and the difficulty shot up to something only they, the ones on top of the pecking order, could survive. It could, wait for it, be dangerous.

It was as though he had a feeling it would be in use sooner than later. Just as he had found the bug and squashed it, the doors opened and in walked two old faces and a new guy. He listened in to what Robin was saying, and got clued in that it wasn't their intrepid leader who had picked the dude in the hat up. Normally, they'd find out if someone had metahuman ability before getting a communicator. That also explained why 'Babs' (what a dork) was probably sparring against him.

"If she does, he can get a free bionic arm out of it as our consolation," Cyborg's voice echoed from the speakers, filling the room. He stood at the window, grinning down at them. "Hey Robin, get up here before I start shooting lasers at your butt."

[Aly]

Batgirl followed the boys into the elevator and kind of tuned out Robin's customary welcome speech. Good, he wasn't flipping out... yet. As long as Penumbra kept his mouth shut. It seemed like he had already put the mask back on after the brief time she had spent alone with him. Always with these guys, it was all business. She couldn't say too much because she was the same way most of the time. She could have stepped in and told Robin about just about landing a batarang in Penumbra's face earlier, but that would have led to more questions she didn't want to answer at the moment. For now, she would just lean back against the wall of the elevator and let the boys talk it all out.

They were at their floor quickly, and she followed the two down the hallway and into the Danger Room. She really thought it was a bit much for its name, but who was she to say anything? Cyborg had probably named it, and she didn't want to get on that guy's bad side. Something about the sonic cannon attached to his arm, or something similar.

It was fairly large, but just about everything about the Tower seemed larger in the inside than the outside. Batgirl crossed the room and picked up some of the haphazardly discarded weapons, placing them aside. She figured she'd be nice and leave all weapons out of this since she expected him not to go all invisible on her. When Robin jested about her not crippling, she smiled back. “I'll try not to, but I won't give any promises.” Tossing the last thing aside, she looked to Penumbra. “So what'll it be? Dark alleyway, top of a building, the beach? We could always stick with this stark white room, but that seems a bit boring. I'm sure Cyborg can whip up just about any scene you can think of, except for maybe the surface of some alien planets. Tamaran, yes, but not very many others.”

[Deleted]

“I've picked up a little bit here and a little bit there.” was the only reply from Penumbra, “As for powers, nothing special...” He glanced at Barbara, praying to God she'd keep his powers secret, “I can make myself invisible in a way.” Penumbra pulled out a smoke pellet and handed it to Robin as the elevator arrived to the floor. Robin's comment made him smirk as he thought, “She won't bird boy, she won't.”

Then again, Cyborg's offer of getting a consolation prize of becoming the six million dollar man would come in handy just in case. Penumbra glanced up at Cyborg and wondered silently, “Will my powers work on him?” It was a valid question since Cyborg was part machine. Machines could easily see through his power since they've got no mind of their own, but Cyborg did have a mind. It would be a gamble if he ever needed to be invisible around him, Penumbra made a mental note and then continued to advance towards Batgirl, stopping a distance away.

There are many places where crime lurks. It is an old, ancient theme that presents itself throughout known history. Where there is civilization, whereever there is prosperity, wherever there are people crime will develop. It wasn't easy thinking of a playing field. He could have chosen something familiar, or something radical. Feudal Japan was an interesting time full of grime, gore, and marvelous castles. The trenches of the First World War had some glory to it, but there was always the glamor of the 1930s in Gotham and the lights of 1950s Star City. It would be interesting to fight on the Moon, but there would be gravitational effects that he wasn't prepared for. Penumbra could also allow Cyborg to indulge himself... but then it hit him. There was some place synonymous with crime itself. He snapped his fingers and said, “Gotham City, Crime Alley.”

Penumbra hadn't been there, only heard of the place. This innocence also left him in the dark about the tragedy that took away the parents of Bruce Wayne. This was his attempt at giving Batgirl the advantage.

[Silv]

The answers the other teen was giving him avoided the subject at best. Robin began to trust the other boy less and less as he spent more time around him. He shot Batgirl a curious look. Maybe the kid had impressed her, and maybe he didn't know how to handle being around someone with as much street cred as Robin. Still, something about this ruffled his feathers. It didn't feel like modesty, or innocence.

When Cyborg threatened to shoot him in the butt Robin shot a grin up at the viewing station and vanished out the door leaving Batgirl and Penumbra alone in the Danger Room. He took the half-flight of stairs two at a time until he emerged into what appeared to be a control room out of a sci-fi movie come to life. "Hey, Cy," he greeted his second-in-command with a grin, moving to take a place near him so that he could help monitor the controls.

Then he heard Penumbra request that Batgirl and him spar in crime alley.

It felt like a punch to the gut, and it made him wonder who this kid really was. Only people from Gotham knew about Crime Alley. And only members of the family knew that it meant anything to the Bat. This could have easily been some sort of attempt to play with Bab's mind. It was certainly messing with Robin's. After his evasive answers in the elevator Robin was beginning to think there might be something off about him. Something that meant bad news for the team.

Robin's scowl was severe as he glared down at the new guy. He checked to make sure the microphone was off, that Babs and Penumbra couldn't hear, before turning to Cyborg. "I don't like this," he said, though, it was pretty obvious from just looking at the young leader. He didn't think them sparring in Crime Alley was a good idea, but that was Cyborg's call as he was the master of tech.

[Elenaphant]

Cyborg saluted with the flick of his fingers, and turned his attention back to Penumbra's verdict on location. They had a lot of simulated scenes to try and accommodate every different possible environmental factor they could find themselves in. They even had outspace, and yes, Tamaran being the only 'actual' planet due to Starfire's input. In other cases they designed their own planets to deal with weightless, or weight-heavy environments. That, and the occasional hostile climate that wouldn't support most life so they'd be screwed if they landed without proper space gear... yeah, their simulations got intense, but then so did the scenarios they actually found themselves in.

Gotham City though, they had courtesy of Rob and Babs. It had its fun, sure, but they didn't use it often because he figured Robin wanted to avoid that place and its memories. He had a feeling it was Batgirl that had put them in, but who knew? He wasn't sure how his leader stood with that place anymore. There were moments when Cyborg had been about ready to tell them to just go back, and that was usually when they pulled off stunts like going off for Slade on their own. They being Robin, of course, though he had no idea that he was right the first time.

He could almost hear the shift in Robin's breathing, and glanced over to the side to see him scowling like no tomorrow. When he cut the mic, he knew what Rob was going to say before he said it. "Just Crime Alley, or is there something else you want to tell me about the guy?" he asked with that kind of serious, let's get down to business look the two often shared with Cyborg being co-captain. He was the one who'd support Robin or take over if he was down for the count; if anyone needed to hear bad news it was him. Still, until given more information Cy wanted to give this guy a benefit of a doubt. Mayb Robin protested because Gotham always struck an old nerve with him.

The big man gave him a small look to tell him to wait, as he turned the microphone back on and his voice filled the speakers again. "Either you're playing to the lady's advantage or you want to play on home turf. That's a pretty bold request, but I'll bite." That was Cyborg's decision. He felt like this Pen-umbrella guy would reveal himself more in combat if they catered to his request. Or maybe not, but he could change the scene at any time. It wasn't like Robin couldn't handle the controls either if he felt that strongly about his feeling.

The white walled room started to shift and expand, becoming wider and longer as the walls seemingly disintegrated into the ever-growing space. It didn't take long for it to become the ghetto of Gotham, where dark, decaying architecture was surrounded by trash both in the kind of people that lurked and the stuff they left behind. There were no people however, not this time. It was just Batgirl and Penumbra standing there in the middle of an empty street at night. Even the control room had faded from view, disappearing into the scenery. "Have fun," he said, before cutting the speakers and mic for awhile as if they were really gone.

That gave Robin and Cyborg all the privacy they needed to observe and discuss. Against the window mini screens popped up showing different angles of the screen where cameras were zooming in. Cyborg could control them, so he kept one hand to the control in case he wanted to focus in on something. He took the moment before anything happened to mumble an apology, but it was done now. Let's see how it'd go. "So you were saying?"

[Aly]

Batgirl was cracking her knuckles, mentally preparing herself for this. Usually she didn't have so much time, she just rushed into a fight. However, she froze when Penumbra said Crime Alley. Yes, he had deduced the fact that she was from Gotham already. Did that mean he knew more than that? Great. Now he was going to have Robin suspicious, fantastic. But Crime Alley? She regretted now more than ever the day that she had basically uploaded the whole of Gotham into their computer files.

This one, as it materialized around her, even included some faint chalk outlines of two bodies, one male and one female, one draped over the others back. She stared at the outlines for a moment too long before looking back up at her adversary. Whether this was his attempt to make her feel at ease on her home front or put her off-balance with information that he should not be privy to, it didn't matter now. She had promised him a fight, and that was what he was going to get. She had planned on going easy at first, but now she couldn't.

All thoughts of Bruce's darkest day aside, she lowered herself into her fighting stance while her brain worked quickly. She already knew that he could go invisible, but she hadn't seen him fight yet. The fact that he wasn't worried about fighting her in the least kind of put Batgirl on edge. Usually people were lying when they said that they weren't worried about it, or at least faltered in the charade before the fight. She had a feeling that Penumbra wouldn't be like most new recruits. He knew what he was doing. She took one last deep breath before throwing her fist across her body and straight at the inside of Penubra's shoulder.

[Deleted]

It was obvious to Penumbra that he'd made a huge mistake. By choosing someplace he'd only heard of and never seen solely for the fact its name was associated with crime and the two fighters were supposed to fight crime, he'd managed irk Batgirl instead of giving her the advantage of a home playing field. To make matters worse, Penumbra noted that her eyes hovered over the chalk outlines on the ground for just a second. In that second he realized that those outlines were once a couple, and that was something to really mourn. Whoever they were, they could have easily been someone close to Batgirl whether they were friends, family, or perhaps her PARENTS. He would not ask about it, but he would remember to look up why it was important. In the moment before the fight began Penumbra gave a classic fist in hand salute associated with some martial arts and then waited as Batgirl landed her first punch.

OOC:

FIGHT DATA

Batgirl threw the first punch and Penumbra tries to block Batgirl’s punch is: 58 Penumbra failed to block: 48 Batgirl deals damage: 35 Penumbra absorbs: 60 BG throws right punch to Penumbra’s abdomen: 46 Penumbra tries to block again but is too slow: 43 Batgirl deals damage:49 Penumbra absorbs: 40 He takes 9 damage bringing him to 29 HP BG kicks his legs -squat, SWOOP- 62 PENUMBRA FAILS TO BLOCK AGAIN 40 Batgirl deals damage: 50 Penumbra absorbs: 46 He takes 4 damage bringing him to 25 HP Batgirl feels sorry for Penumbra~ helps him up “Come on, you’re not even trying.” Penumbra takes advantage of Batgirl’s kindness and uses her own hand and momentum to try and throw her: 37 Batgirl blocks/counterattacks:  flips over his head when he pulls her arm, and she uses /that/ momentum to flip him over her head 53 pulls - 35 Penumbra pulls again: 42 and tries to put HER into the throw: 43 Batgirl uses free arm to hit Penumbra’s, breaking hold: 54 BG swings around and punches full to his chest: 48 Penumbra fails to block, AGAIN: 38 BG deals damage:  56 Penumbra absorbs all but one damage:  55 Penumbra takes 1 damage, down to 24 HP, Batgirl still at 44 “Still think you’re gonna beat me?” -laughs- Penumbra doesn’t answer, and instead takes that time to steal the initiative, he attempts to deal her a nasty left hook: = 47 Batgirl blocks with high right: = 50 BG swings left, hitting Penumbra below the shoulder: = 59 ] = 59 PENUMBRA FAILS AGAIN: = 38 BG deals no damage 26<39 Penumbra attempts to knee her below the ribcage: = 33 Batgirl blocks with leg: = 65 Goes from block into kicking his knee: = 38 PENUMBRA FAILS AGAIN: 33 Batgirl deals Damage: 72 Penumbra absorbs = 41 Penumbra's HP = -7 And now Penumbra is out of the fight with a dislocated kneecap facing the wrong direction. Aly and Joe agree on no torn cartilage and just the kneecap is out of place. Set and heal within two weeks.

/OOC

Honestly the result wasn't that surprising. Penumbra has trained but had only limited practical experience actually sparring with someone so when he found himself on the ground he was enthralled. Thankfully there was no snapping sound as she landed the hit so he had hope that nothing was broken. As he sat on the ground jolts of pain shot up from his leg like lightning and every attempt he made at standing up met with him landing firmly back on the ground. While the pain was debilitating, as each attempt to move elicited a yelp or ragged breath, the only thought that went through his mind was, “Note to self: add knee pads.” Eventually instead of trying to force himself to keep fighting he sighed and rolled his pants leg up, revealing all the toned muscle from his escapades, until he could see the kneecap off to one side where it shouldn't have been. Looking up at Batgirl he smiled behind clenched teeth, “You win.” He was smiling not because of the pain, but because he had gotten a taste of the real thing and tried to hold his own. It could have been worse of course, he could have been permanently crippled, but all in all today had been exciting.

All he needed to do now was wait for the inevitable trip to an infirmary to get patched up. Despite the fact it'd be safer to use a stretcher he half expected Batgirl to pick him up and run there. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that she could.

[Aly]

The fighting started out with a lot of hitting to Penumbra's chest, but she had quickly realized that he wore a breastplate. Smart of him, but that limited movement. Her legs were probably a large part to her assets, so why not give him a taste of that? Dropping to the ground in a spin before Penumbra could strike her, she swung her leg just above the floor, catching him off-guard and sending him to the ground. Okay, maybe she was taking it a little hard on him. It was probably just the appearance of Crime Alley that had set her on the edge, though.

Trying to laugh it off, she extended her hand to help Penumbra up. “Come on, you're not even trying!” She laughed as he grabbed her hand and she pulled him to his feet. He hadn't landed a blow yet, but she realized she shouldn't have let her guard down. He was up in a flash, and pulling on her arm. Turning it into her advantage, Batgirl used that force to fling her up and over him. It turned into a tugging match quickly, but she broke it off with a quick swipe to his arm. Back to punching his chest once more, she was hurting her hand more than it seemed that she was causing Penumbra any pain at all.

Finally he seemed to gain some sense and swung his left fist at her, but Batgirl quickly blocks and counters, striking him below the shoulder. Just as Penumbra brings his knee up to hit her, Batgirl blocks it by kicking high and bringing her leg down, forcing his leg down as well. With that momentum, she brought her other leg swinging across, colliding with his knee. However, something seemed wrong with her kick, something that moved that shouldn't have.

Penumbra's cry of pain stopped her immediately, and she crouched beside him as he fell to the ground. “Oh my god, oh my god.” This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be nice to the new recruits! Maybe she had overestimated Penumbra, thinking that he had more strength along with his brains. Apparently not, though. “Robin, Cyborg!” It was hard to refrain from touching his knee, knowing that he was in a lot of pain. “I am sooo sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen!” Instead of having her hands just hover there, she supported Penumbra's shoulder with one and herself with the other. “Bring a stretcher! I can't tell if the leg is broken or not, but the knee is definitely messed up. Most likely dislocated.” Her face held in a grimace, she surveyed the damage. It was obvious that it hurt. A lot. If they didn't get back with that stretcher soon, she was going to pick him up herself. That probably would hurt the knee even more though, so she hoped they would hurry. Of course this was going to give Batgirl even more reason to avoid Crime Alley. This time a harm done by her own hands.

[Silv]

Robin frowned, watching as the white room outside melted into a familiar area of Gotham that held heartache for his mentor. His masked gaze fell back on his second in command as the older boy fielded the start of a conversation about the new kid below. It was totally gossiping…just…more manly.

Cyborg: So you were saying?
Robin frowns down at the fight
Robin: I don't know where Babs picked this guy up, but I'm not so sure about him.
Robin: On the way up here I was asking him about his skills, general Titan information, and he avoided every single question.
Cyborg: Sounds shifty. Not a good way to make friends like that.
Robin: Exactly.
Robin: I get not wanting to reveal your identity, but I didn't ask about that.
Robin: And then this Crime Alley request...it's just...it doesn't sit well.
Cyborg: Well, we should talk to 'Babs' about where she got him
Cyborg: Think he might be from Gotham? That's what I gathered.
Robin nods
Robin: That's what I'm thinking too.
Cyborg: Pfft--the guy can't block.
Robin: Is he even trying?
Cyborg hears Batgirl ask the same question
Robin shakes his head
Cyborg sees him try to use her kindness to his advantage and fail
Cyborg: Oldest trick in the book, but our girl knows better.
Robin: Trained by the best.
Robin: If he's actually displaying the best he can do down there...then maybe that's the reason for the elusiveness.
Cyborg: Is he though? They're just sparring. What are his known abilities and skills?
Cyborg: Terra wasn't a master combatant either.
Robin: He told me he can make himself "invisible in a way" whatever that is supposed to mean.
Robin: No. She wasn't.
Robin: But she didn't try to play off like she was.
Cyborg: I wanna see what he meant by that, but he's not doing anything other than straight up martial whatever
Robin: I can't even tell what form he's trying to pull off there.
Robin smirks
Robin: But I don't think he'll try his powers in this fight.
Cyborg: So we can see he needs improvement in combat.
Cyborg: But if you got a bad feeling, we gotta find out a little more than that.
Cyborg: And no offence, but I'm nervous about you Gotham types
Cyborg: They tend to have issues with teamwork
Robin: And people from Jump City have issues letting go of the past.
Robin: But we need more information on this guy. That's certain.
Cyborg gives him a rougeish grin
Cyborg: Okay, okay. How bout we end this guy's suffering and call the fight quiiiii---oh snap.
Cyborg: I think he's down.
Cyborg zooms in, and hears Batgirl's panicking
Robin: Do you think he's hu- we have to get down there. Now.
Cyborg: Let's go.


The Boy Wonder took the lead, practically flying down the stairs as he took them in long strides four at a time. He exploded into the danger room, stopping a few feet away from Penumbra and Babs who was telling them to get a stretcher. Luckily the Danger Room was equipped to handle danger. He went for the panel that hid the fire extinguisher, defibrillator, and the stretcher, along with other necessary safety items. The wiry boy pulled the stretcher off it's hook and flattened it out, wheeling it towards Cyborg.

"What part of don't cripple him translated to take out his kneecap Babs?" Robin asked as he let Cyborg take the lead with the injured boy. They'd have to see the extent of the damage in the infirmary. And then they'd have to have a chat with Babs while the new kid recuperated.