It's Wayne-Ing Men

[Gaunt]

Characters: Skit and Robin
Setting: A WayneTech subsidiary lab in Jump's Industrial Sector
Previous Threads:
Plot Summary: Skit has a job tonight; stealing a new experimental piece of WayneTech. Robin doesn't like this plan.

[Gaunt]

This place was secure. For a human, it would have been virtually impossible to break in unnoticed. Not without a crack support team at your back, hacking the cameras and whatnot. Any human trying to go in solo would probably be busted in some harebrained scheme to cover security cameras with polaroids. Skit, on the other hand, had natural advantages. Cameras had to sweep side to side to get a proper view, and this time of night there were enough shadows for him to hide in. Any time a camera looked away he could move into a shadow, fade from sight, and wait for it to sweep past him again before moving on. It was almost too easy.

The ratboy made his way into the computer lab, going through it for what he'd been sent for. Some decryption thing, supposedly able to crack any computer. His client was willing to pay good money for it. And there it was, sitting on a work bench. The prototype didn't look like much, just a box with a USB cable attached, no bigger than the palm of his hand. Skit picked it up and zipped it into the pocket of his hoodie. It was about then he started to hear rushing footsteps. There was a silent alarm? He must have missed a motion detector on his way in. The ratboy rushed over to the window, thanking whoever was out there for fire safety regulations. This high up, there had to be a fire escape of some kind, especially in labs where things could go awry.

He was out the window and down the fire escape before the guards could burst into the lab. One of the advantages of his training, he could climb down almost as fast as he could run. From up there, he looked like just some short person in a hoodie, unless they were eagle-eyed enough to spot his tail in the dark. Skit made a break for it, slipping through the gap he'd cut in the fence and making a run for the winding alleys of the industrial district. He could lose them in there. He just hoped they didn't have any capes on call, they could be a real nuisance. So far he'd been lucky to avoid them.

[Silv]

A dark shadow flitted in the space between two warehouse roofs as the Boy Wonder jumped between them. He'd already been in the area, following a lead, when the alert made his communicator go off. Wayne Enterprises. The dark haired teenager scowled down at the screen, detailing the burglary. Someone, not him this time, had stolen a prototype from the lab. His first instinct was Slade. The man had acted recently, murdering a number of people at a Veteran's Day event, and this sort of a thing fit his MO way more than that. Well, what the teen knew of his MO. After all, the mastermind had forced the city's golden boy to steal something from there once.

Robin had wasted no time in heading across the warehouses towards the burgled building that towered in the distance with it's brand new WAYNE sign, but he'd switched course the moment he spotted the short hooded figure that matched the culprit's description already out on the APB. The criminal must not have expected anyone to be prowling this area, which meant that the Titan would have the element of surprise. Just the way he liked it.

The Titan leader followed from above, leaping over alleyways with ninjalike precision, as he followed after the thief. Ariel reconnaissance, like the bird codename implied. He simply watched for the first thirty or so odd feet into the industrial compound. Then, he struck. Robin pulled a birdarang from his belt, launching the weapon at Skit, before the Teenage Thunderbolt jumped down from the rooftop to attack with a powerful kick. "Drop whatever you took and surrender," the Boy Wonder advised, masked eyes narrowing as he landed on the ground in front of the rat boy.

Tag: Gaunt

[Gaunt]

Skit heard the Birdarang well before he turned around. The rat dropped low, letting the weapon whoosh over his head. He turned to face his attacker just in time to roll with the kick, avoiding the main force but taking a hit to the shoulder. He grimaced, stepping back into a defensive posture. He'd seen this guy in the news. Robin, head of the Titans. He dressed like the color wheel threw up, but he was apparently a good martial artist. He'd have to be careful, his knives were still stowed.

"You always attack joggers, or just the ones who don't look like you?" It was a long shot, but maybe he could try to defuse the situation, or at least harangue his way out of it. He looked decidedly less human than the crowd Robin usually rolled with, maybe he could get the Boy Wonder on the defensive and convince him his target was elsewhere.

He could feel the device in his pocket, thankfully unharmed. He wasn't sure how sturdy the thing was. It wasn't a production model, so there was a chance it was more fragile. If it did come to a fight, he'd need to make sure he didn't take a hit there. He wasn't going to get paid for smashed merchandise. Skit adjusted his stance, making sure that side was better guarded. If he couldn't talk his way out of this, he'd rather take a few hits himself than lose out on this payday.

[Silv]

The Titan leader smirked at the attempt to diffuse the situation, his masked eyes sweeping over the criminal in front of him. It didn't take a detective to realize he was talking to a giant rat person. He did, however, notice the way the ratman shifted to protect one side as if it was injured. Judging by the way he'd been moving earlier, though, he had no injuries. And Robin hadn't hit his hip. Curious.

"Just the ones jogging away from crime scenes with stolen technology," the Boy Wonder shot back, not taking the bait. If the guy didn't want to fight, he shouldn't have dropped into a fighting stance. Robin lunged forward, throwing a distracting punch upwards towards the rat's face before deflecting at the last second to instead swing a kick at the side Skit was guarding.

"Next time you want to use that alibi," Robin suggested, "try to pick an area where people actually jog." The industrial sector was so not one of those places.

Tag: Gaunt

[Gaunt]

Well, it had been worth a shot. It didn't work out, but that was no reason to give up the game entirely. Anything he said to the Boy Wonder could potentially be used against him later, if he managed to get away. He'd have to think this over and act carefully. Robin, on the other hand, was acting a lot more impulsively. The young hero immediately went on the attack. Skit slipped the punch, stepping back to try to get out of range. Unfortunately, that also put him in better kicking range. He blocked the roundhouse with both arms, taking a step back to catch his balance after. The human was good, as good as his reputation.

"If you break my phone you're buying me a new one." he snarled. As excuses went, it wasn't bad. Gave him an excuse for protecting his pocket, was about the right size, didn't give the hero an admission of guilt to take to the police. Anything he could show them would be circumstantial. The rat settled into a defensive stance, watching Robin. He was good, but he seemed to like flashy. That could be used against him. "You can probably afford it. How much spandex and gadgets do you go through every year?" He was convinced that any superhero without powers had to be obscenely rich. How do you get that much training and gadgetry while still making rent?

Skit shifted forward, keeping his guard up. He kept his weight back as he moved in slowly and carefully. The motion from the waist up was almost imperceptible when he struck. Skit kicked out with his lead leg, barely lifting it off the ground as he aimed for the Boy Wonder's shin. He would have preferred the ankle, but he was pretty sure the boots protected him there. Better to go for a surer, weaker shot than hurt himself on a gamble.

[Silv]

The Teenage Thunderbolt's masked eyes narrowed in suspicion as he landed back a safe distance from his adversary. He didn't entirely believe the phone story, but he also had no real reason not to. It wasn't as if the report had specified exactly which Wayne-tech prototype had been stolen. Still, the idea of people stealing from Bruce in his wards own city had the Boy Wonder on edge.

"None of your business," he snapped at the question of whether he could afford it or not. Could Robin? Technically, no. His guardian certainly could, though, and he really needed to stop thinking about Batman before he accidentally unleashed all his pent up anger on Skit.

"You still have the option to surrender," Robin reminded the rat man, his arms still up in a guard position though he made no move to attack farther while offering a peaceful solution. "All you have to do is give back whatever you stole and go quietly into police custody." It was the only way to guarantee whatever Skit was protecting would remain undamaged. Besides, refusal to do so would make it all the more obvious the rat had stolen something.

Tag:  Gaunt

[Gaunt]

The rat smirked. That money comment had struck a nerve. Apparently he was right about the Boy Wonder being rich, though apparently it was a sore spot. Probably didn't like when people pointed out how most of his abilities were basically bought. It was kind of weird how the gadget heroes tended to be like that. Natural-born freaks like Skit admitted that they were born with their powers, why did people born with money power act like they earned it more?

Skit was still defensive, not wanting to admit any wrongdoing. At least he could have deniability, even if it was implausible deniability. "I can't give back what I stole if I haven't stolen anything." His eyes darted around, scanning the alleyway. There had to be a shadowy pathway around here, somewhere he could vanish and stay hidden until he safely got away.

"I'd press charges for assault if you didn't hide your face." He cocked his head, a cocky grin on his face. Maybe he could bait the Boy Wonder into doing something stupid. "That why you wear the mask? So you can beat up freaks like me for kicks, and we can't do anything about it? Probably would go through that fortune of yours pretty fast if we could sue you." Skit kept his guard up. He didn't want to go for his knives unless he had to.

[Silv]

Skit apparently didn't know when to stop probing a raw nerve. "Time's up," the Boy Wonder growled in a way that barely concealed his annoyance. "You're free to press charges," he offered. It happened all the time. The Titans were sued for property damage on a weekly basis. Most of the time, however, the charges were dropped by a sympathetic judge or a well chosen jury. It helped that they were Jump City's beloved super teens and that Bruce's people kept an eye on them. "It won't get anywhere. Mask or not."

He was confident enough, and angry enough, to attack then. The Boy Wonder charged forward, rushing the rat man with an obvious punch to the gut that turned out to be a feint. He redirected his blow unexpectedly towards Skit's jaw.

Tag: Gaunt

[Gaunt]

The ratboy smirked. This was exactly what he wanted. He wanted the Titan angry, reckless, more concerned with lashing out than fighting smart. Robin was a trained martial artist, sure, but so was he. The more he made him forget his better judgement, the better. He was about to make a snarky comeback about the court system being rigged when Robin charged. Talk later, fight now.

He blocked the first big punch easily enough. At first, Skit thought his plan had worked perfectly. That swing was sloppy, angry. He almost didn't see the more focused jab coming behind it. He head-slipped the punch, feeling the rush of air past his cheek as the strike narrowly missed. A close call, but now he knew where both of Robin's hands were. It was an advantage, if he could capitalize fast enough. Skit turned his head, his big, sharp teeth trying to bite at Robin's arm while it was still close. That could be a diversion while his foot shot out, kicking at the young hero's gut.