Marauder

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, 23:05.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Gotham Heights.

Moving through the corridors of the theatre building, Rose pulled her baseball cap further down, covering her face slightly as she walked by a couple of guards too deep in their conversation to notice her. Even then, Rose knew that despite being smaller than them by a good margin, nothing would attract their attention more than how young she looked. As a result, despite the suspicious nature of her actions, which went unnoticed, she lowered her head and looked to the side for good measure.

It worked and Rose continued unimpeded down the corridor, temporarily adjusting the strap of the duffel bag she was carrying before reaching the security centre. Grabbing hold of the door handle, Rose took one cursory look up and down the corridor for any guards before pulling out a pistol and fixing a silencer on the end.

Pushing open the door and stepping inside, Rose shut the door behind her with one foot while seamlessly raising her gun and firing at the backs of the guards sitting in front of the security monitors, blood splattering the screens as they dropped dead. Though she was displeased to note that she missed one, hitting him in the neck, but not at the right angle for it to be an instant kill shot.

Frowning heavily, Rose moved over, firing another bullet into his head, ignoring the one, bloodied raised hand he rose in an attempt to gain her mercy.

With the guards finished, Rose placed her pistol down on the desk, dumping her bag on the floor before inserting a USB into the side of one of the computers. A screen popped up moments later, Rose clicked on activate with one hand as the other pulled down the zipper of her blue technician's uniform revealing a black outfit with a full-body chain mail suit underneath.

Quickly a window opened up and she pressed activate. Reaching up to her ear with one hand, Rose pulled down the zipper of her blue technician's uniform with the other hand revealing a black outfit with a full-body chain mail suit underneath.

"I'm in." She said before reaching around to pull up her half-black and orange mask which left her mouth exposed.

Kneeling down, Rose unzipped her bag revealing two broadswords.

-X-

Wednesday 2nd December 2009, 23:10.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Gotham Heights.

"I've got movement." Batgirl moved forward to look at the live image Robin had zoomed in on to reveal a well-built man in all-black tactical gear with orange shoulder pads, greaves, a belt and other pieces of armour. But the most standout part of the man's uniform was the half-black and orange mask with the right eye entirely covered over.

"Deathstroke. Looks like Bruce was right." Barbara muttered as Robin tried to search through the rest of the cameras for any sign of Deathstroke working with others. It was rare for Deathstroke to partner up with someone else, but the last thing they needed was to be blindsided by Deathstroke's partner if he had one.

However, he only got through a couple before all the monitors when blank as the cameras were shut down.

As bad as it was, it at least told them that Deathstroke wasn't working alone.

"Dammit, I've been shut out!" Robin cursed as he typed into the holographic keyboard to regain control, only to be rebuffed. "They must have inputted a virus into the system, I can't get in at all."

"Bruce isn't responding either," Barbara responded and Robin gritted his teeth as they realised they were effectively cornered.

Looking to the roof where they knew Deathstroke to be, the two knew exactly what they had to do and neither liked it. However, with a nod, the two jumped off the roof, using a grappling gun to pull them towards the roof of the theatre. Moving quickly and quietly, the two heroes came to a stop to see Deathstroke looking down through the skylight and onto the auction below.

"I'm disappointed, Batman only sent his two sidekicks," Deathstroke spoke making them both tense as they realised they had been caught. "Do you think you can stop me?" He questioned as he turned to face the two.

Stepping out from behind their cover, both in elevated positions, Deathstroke positioned between them both, the two shifting into a fight stance. Both knew that this would be a difficult fight that would more than likely result in their defeat, but they didn't have a choice, especially when they couldn't contact Batman.

The two remained silent and Deathstroke chuckled lowly. "Well, are you going to going to continue hesitating or are you going to fight?" Despite his words, both Robin and Batgirl had the feeling he wasn't talking to them.

That's when Robin heard the sound of light footsteps.

If he was anyone else it would have gone unnoticed however, Robin was trained to pick up on these sounds and so was Batgirl, who noticed the figure first. "Robin!" A quick shout of his name was all the warning Robin needed, he spun around and flung a handful of Batarangs at their new opponent.

Only for the figure to casually lean his head to one side avoiding them easily.

He didn't even break his stride.

Robin didn't have a chance to make a move to put distance between them, the gap having been closed in an instant catching Robin off-guard at the speed this new opponent possessed. As a result, he only just managed to parry the first straight jab, the right came even closer, and the wind produced making Robin reflexively close his right eye, creating a blindspot.

All the while, his back leg began to rise up.

It was a seamless and fluid combination that would end in a right roundhouse kick to the head, a knockout blow and so, Robin had no choice but to raise his guard. Except, the figure took advantage of the blindspot he had created, ducking down into it and disappearing from view, leaving Robin well aware of the situation he was in.

He had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

The perfect feint.

He either ignored the kick and tried to block the inevitable uppercut to the ribs that he knew could come quite easily, potentially breaking a few ribs. Or, he focused on the kick that was coming around with enough speed and force to knockout him out in a single blow, leaving Batgirl alone to face both him and Deathstroke.

He could not ignore it either.

So, Robin moved his hands as quickly as he could, trying not to block either, but instead, mitigate the force behind them. Except, they were both feints, the kick stopping mid-movement, foot instead being an overexaggerated step that brought the figure within his guard and spun. Robin's eyes widened he was barely able to make a slight jump backwards before the spinning back kick struck him full-on in the chest, knocking the wind from him.

Gasping, Robin slammed onto the ground, rolling to his feet only for the figure to be on him once more, a roundhouse kick slamming into the hastily raised guard. It broke apart instantly, Robin once again picked him off his feet, arms in the air, throbbing with the pain of that single kick, the ground that rushed to meet him only making that pain worse.

Though to Robin, the time had been far too long, for Batgirl it had been no more than a handful of seconds, she had already leapt off her perch to give Robin her aid. Yet she had only just landed by the time the roundhouse kick struck and rushed after them, studying her opponent carefully as he turned, noticing her presence.

He was tall and well-built much like Deathstroke except a little leaner, the outfits they wore were also similar with one key difference, the orange and black of there had been switched to opposite sides. 'Does Deathstroke have an apprentice?' She questioned but shoved it to one side as she rushed forward and jumped into the air to land a kick to his face, only for their opponent to easily block it with his forearm.

While midair, she came around in a second, her other foot landing on the ground and twisting, coming round with great speed for a spinning hook kick to the temple. Yet, her opponent simply leaned his head back slightly, her second strike missing him by a hair's breadth while catching her heel strike in his open palm.

He didn't even flinch, the smacking sound it caused was resounding.

Instead, he pushed her way, Barbara stumbling in an attempt to regain her balance.

She was completely exposed.

Except her opponent never capitalised upon this and remained standing there calmly, watching her recover as Robin also got to his knees. Both were confused as to why he didn't use the countless openings he had to hit her with a more devastating and possibly end her right there and then. He could have taken her out and turned his full attention to Robin and from the short exchange earlier, it was clear to see whoever he was, he was better than Robin by a large margin.

All that would remain then was Batman.

"Marauder." Deathstroke's calm voice cut through the tense atmosphere with ease as the three fighters turned to look at the infamous bounty hunter. "Hesitate again, and I will kill you."

There was silence once more as the now-named Marauder stared at his mentor before giving a nod of his head, a noticeable intake of air came from him, Marauder centring himself. Then he reached behind him, pulling a small black cylinder object the size of his forearm from his back, it rapidly extending to the length of a staff that he held loosely in one hand.

In response, Robin pulled out a staff of his own, while palming a few Batarangs behind his back, Batgirl filing both hands with Batarangs ready to provide some ranged support. A quick glance at one another was all the communication they needed to understand what the plan was and also the only signal they needed to get started.

With a shout to draw Marauder's attention to him, Robin burst forth as he swung his staff in a showy and unnecessary fashion in order to attract attention further. It worked as the Marauder turned to look at him, his stance shifting ever so slightly in preparation to meet his charge, all the while Batgirl threw the Batarangs in her hand at Marauder's back.

As if predicting this, Marauder simultaneously spun around to perform a spinning back kick that forced Robin to manoeuvre his staff in front of his body to block, but also swung his staff around and knocked the Bararangs away. It was a move that very few would be capable of doing, yet he made it look effortless.

Grunting, Robin landed on the ground, that single kick having enough force to once again knock him into the air and looked at Marauder to see him engaged in a close-quarters fight with Batgirl. A fight that he was winning as he landed another blow to Batgirl's stomach, the staff moving in a blur and making an echoing noise that made him wince. His form was fast and powerful, lashing out with powerful and controlled swings and thrusts of his spear that Batgirl was forced to avoid, having learned the hard way about how painful it was to block those strikes.

Spinning his staff almost lazily, Marauder knocked aside the desperately thrown Batarangs that Batgirl threw in order to distract him. She used this opportunity to get close, knowing that his staff's effectiveness would be dramatically decreased once she closed the distance, only for her to be caught off guard.

Quicker than she had expected, Marauder went with the momentum of his swing and twirled it around his back and swung it around towards her. Eyes wide as she saw the end of the staff closing in on her face, Batgirl just barely managed to stop her charge in time, the staff coming within inches of hitting her face and jumping back in order to put some distance between them.

What she had just seen was a level of skill that she didn't want to imagine how long had taken to master. 'This guy, who is he?' She questioned, watching as Marauder turned his attention away from her.

This was because Robin had already come up once more from behind him and swung his staff at his temple, providing Batgirl some much-needed time to regain her bearings. Again, Marauder raised one hand up blocking the strike with his forearm, only to stumble back when Robin hit him with the butt end, a momentary opening.

Yet when Robin attempted to follow through with another strike, Marauder simply caught the staff and pulled the younger hero into his knee.

Gasping, spittle burst from Robins's mouth as the wind was knocked out of him.

However, that was when Batgirl appeared, stopping Marauder from continuing his attack and lashed out with a number of kicks and punches. Each was masterfully blocked or dodged with agile footwork and then the Marauder responded and like it had been constantly, it was effective and dangerous almost taking her out.

Parrying one punch to the side with a twirl of his staff, Marauder followed up with an upwards swipe that Batgirl avoided barely. She used this to her advantage and while leaning back to avoid the strike, dropped low and went to sweep Marauder off his feet.

Jumping over the sweep, Marauder leapt into the air only to see Robin jumping towards him with a flying sidekick. With no real way to move and avoid the strike, Marauder instead caught Robins's shin in one hand. The forward momentum did send both Robin and Marauder to the ground, but it effectively stopped Robin from attacking while also causing Batgirl to hesitate in fear of hitting her own teammate.

Something Marauder used in order to put some distance between the three of them.

Standing there, Marauder reached down and unhooked a handful of throwing knives from his front, these fitted with little holes at the end of the handle, perfect for a finger to fit through. This action caused Batgirl and Robin to tense up and after a few seconds of staring down each other, eventually, the three charged forward under some unspoken signal.

Nearing the two at a much quicker pace, Marauder threw the throwing knives at them both, forcing Batgirl to flip to one side, while Robin slid underneath them and him, appearing behind Marauder once he came to a stop.

Spinning round quickly, Marauder swung his staff around and Robin barely managed to raise his staff up in time to block. Only for the force to knock him backwards, yet with the resistance provided by Robins' staff, Marauder used this as a springboard, shifting his footing and spinning around once more, staff heading directly for Batgirl who came from behind, she raised her arms to block stumbling away.

At the same time, he lashed out with a kick to Robin's gut, Marauder focused his attention on Batgirl and came at her with a flurry of quick swipes and fast thrusts. Each one forced Batgirl to dodge only just, getting to the point where she was constantly off-balance due to how unrelenting he was being.

However, his assault was stopped when Robin once again appeared.

Jumping over the sweep to his legs, Marauder spun in the air and landed a spinning hook kick to Batgirl's temple knocking her to the ground where she rolled to a stop. As he landed on the ground, Marauder burst forwards quickly and parried Robin's staff to one side and as soon as it struck the ground, pinned it there with one foot. With his spare hand, Marauder unhooked a knife from his side, larger and thicker in size and swiped at Robin leaving a shallow cut on his abdomen.

Hissing in pain, Robin stumbled back thanking Batgirl profusely when she threw a handful of Batarangs at Marauder who just knocked them to one side with a casual swing of his staff. "Thanks." He said shortly as that was all he could say before Marauder was upon them once more.

Robin raised his staff up to his left to block the downward swing from Marauder only for his knees to buckle under the force of the strike. Batgirl went to give him some aid only for a roundhouse kick to slam into her hastily raised guard that knocked her back. With the same leg, Marauder lashed out with a sidekick into Robin's side knocking him backwards.

Going with the strike, Marauder came at Robin once more.