Sighted (Izzy)

Red X had been working with Weaver for quite a while now, developing the nitrous needed for this upcoming big race that Weaver had been so worried about. And of course, on the side, had been using the lab on her premises to try and develop a synthetic Xenothium compound. So needless to say, everything had been going pretty smoothly up until the point that Red X realized that though the race was drawing nearer and nearer, Red X still did not have a vehicle for the event.

Red X had the X Cycle when Ding Dong Daddy had offered to give away a lot of Robin's personal possessions, but it had been destroyed during the race, and Red X actually had to rely on Robin's help to get out of there alive. Something that the thief had never been exactly proud of.

Since then, there had simply been no need for the X Cycle. Red X usually set up dead drops for the Xenothium and other items that were to be stolen to simply hide them and come back for them later when there was much less heat on their tail. But now that the race was coming up, Red X would again need a vehicle like it. And vehicles like that cost a pretty penny, especially if they were to compete with other racers.

Normally, Red X wouldn't have been able to find a bike like this so close to Jump. After all, the government couldn't send every shipment they chartered to Jump City. But there were some other local criminals looking to compete in the race, and one of them had been able to secure a government project for a bike on a shipment to the city. Red X didn't slouch when it came to paying for information. And always made sure to have reliable sources.

It would have some minor obstacles to the bike, and most worrisome of all, Red X was sure that teleporting the bike wouldn't be at all possible. But if a clean getaway could be made, then Red X would aim for that. The thief could probably repair whatever damage came to the bike between now and then.

Red X got into the shipping container pretty easily. A quick scan showed the bike inside with plenty of space, and so Red X flickered and appeared inside it. But to their dismay, an alarm had been activated as soon as a foot touched the floor of the container. Wait- did they seriously ship it in the same exact container? Well this was an amateur mistake. With DOMA in town the response time would be a lot faster, but Red X should be able to beat that. The thief quickly got to work, using some fuel in the container to gas it up before starting it, and throwing an X portal onto the doors.

Batgirl had been wandering the streets for a while, gathering her bearings as best she could, when her cell phone started ringing. She cursed quietly under her breath and looked at the phone. Oh this was going to be such a fun conversation. She kicked the kickstand of her batcycle down, and shot a grapple line up to a crane, sitting down when she reached the top. She picked up the phone and lifted it to her ear and took a deep breath. "Heyyyy, Alfred. How's the house?" She tried her best to sound natural, but Barbara had never been the liar of the family.

"Quite alright, Ms. Gordon. However, I'm sure you're aware that is not what this phone call is about..." Yep, there's the tone of voice. The tone of voice that screamed "you didn't come home yet, even though you said you would, so I checked your suit's tracker." Oh dear oh dear. "So perhaps you'd like to explain what exactly you're doing on the other side of the country?"

Barbara closed her eyes and silently cursed her luck, laughing nervously. "Well, ya know, I heard the boy wonder was down here in Jump and figured, hey, why not go pay him a visit? I thought it might be nice to mend the gap, ya know?" Based on the silence on the other end of the line, Alfred wasn't buying that excuse.

"...I mean look, at least it's part of the reason I'm here. Did you really think you'd get even that much from Batman?" She crossed her arms and she heard the weary British butler sigh.

"Ms. Gordon, while your statement is correct, I must insist that you not judge your own honesty and performance based on Master Bruce. I fear that is far too much of a curve for me to grade on with you children."

Barbara sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, getting nice and comfy so she could sit through the absolute chewing out she was about to receive. And then she heard a motorcycle engine rev. From the middle of the shipyard. That's never a good thing. "...Alfred, I swear I'm not cutting you off. I have to go. Baddies. I promise I'll call you back once I've found Robin. That way you can scream at him too." She tapped at her phone and ended the call, securing her line to the crane and lowering herself back down to her bike, just in time to see some guy in black and red rocket out of the crates. Way too fast for a casual Sunday night drive.

She revved her engine up and shot after him, ramping onto a shipping container and landing in a very non-stealthy way. "Well, either that's not yours or you're speeding. Either way, gonna have to ask you to pull over..." She blanked on a name as she dropped down into the gap between the shipping containers, right next to the thief. "I'm sorry, don't have a profile built for you yet. Black Skeleton? White Skull? Throw me a bone here."

This was looking a lot easier than Red X ever thought it would be. So, of course, at that point, something had to go wrong like it always did. Why can't I ever catch a break? When Red X turned to greet their new stalker, there was a moment in time that seemed to freeze entirely. Luckily for Red X, on the surface, it didn't last long. And with the mask covering any facial details the Batgirl could see, it would be hard to detect exactly how caught off guard they were.

Is that...

"Oh come on. Speeding hasn't been a crime in forever. And you're doing it too!" Red X mocked in Robin's voice. If she were the real deal that might be a point of irritation, but that was the fun thing about redheads.

... Nah. Can't be.

"Besides, that's not yours either. I've seen the real Batgirl on that bike. And believe me, the view is-" Red X looked back towards her rear, pausing for a bit longer than intended. "...huh. Exactly the same." Another pause. "Oh fuck."

Luckily for the silence, munitions started hitting the ground around them at high speeds as cartel members with automatic weapons opened fire on them. "Look! A distraction!" And then Red X would suddenly brake, drifting around a corner in the shipping containers and then putting the pedal to the nonexistent floor, taking off.

Batgirl raised an eyebrow when the thief spoke of the 'original' Batgirl. "Oh don't worry, I'm one of a kind. Pretty impossible to forget, actually!" She was starting to get into a crouching position on her bike to try and leap across, but stopped to roll her eyes. "Oh great, the objectification has started. Dope. Glad you're having fun dude."

She raised her hands from her bike, only to hear gunshots begin raining down. Her hands shot back onto the handlebars as X took a sharp turn. One too sharp for Batgirl. Well, in theory. She pulled out her Batrope and launched it into a nearby shipping container, using it to turn sharply enough to make the turn and launch herself forward, now slightly ahead of Red X.

"And if you're so interested in the view, here!" She reeled back and threw a kick into the front of the stolen vehicle, trying to knock the thief off balance. "And while you're at it, how about a name I can put on your cell?"

Red X gave her a look when she said that she was one of a kind and unforgettable. Yeah. Tell me about it. Red X saw her get launched ahead of the bike that had been stolen, causing a cursing under their breath. "Well, I am having fun. Or trying to." Red X did seem to look at the new view she gave the thief, before seeing the kick coming and swaying on the bike as she delivered it. "Whoa! If you want my name in your cell, there are much nicer ways to ask for it. Listen close." The thief continued talking to her in Robin's voice, now more appreciative of the artistic choice to use it than ever, as if they had stolen it from Robin in reality.

Red X suddenly braked, letting her shoot ahead, and slid to a stop, throwing a few constrictive restraints across the shipping containers making the path for them. They would contract and pull the shipping containers toppling over and together to block her off ahead. Red X knew she'd find a way around or try to beat them out, and so went and got a head start, driving in the opposite direction.

Batgirl cussed under her breath as the thief faded into her rear view. When she saw the two crates crashing together, she hit her brakes hard, swerving and once again using her Batrope to force her bike to follow her. It rode up against the wall, and she tapped a button on the grip, causing the tires to gain enought traction as to drive along the shipping container's sheer side. She rocketed her way back toward Red X, ramping off the container and using her grappling hook to swing with her bike from one of the cranes that littered the ship yard. From here, she'd easily be able to follow X no matter what direction he went.

She dropped down onto a container, glaring down at the thief. "So what's your story, Clayface's long lost love child? Stealing identities while you look for daddy? Because I'm seriously starting to think that none of this is yours." She shot her grappling hook into the wheel of the motorcycle X rode, trying to snap it taut and ruin the forward momentum on the bike.

Red X was also doing a fair amount of cussing, inside the thief's mind and outside of it, when Barbara came dropping back in so quickly. What, did she get picked up by Superman on her way back there? Red X revved the bike and started to pick up more speed as she antagonized from above. "Oh my goodness gracious! It's almost like I'm a thief or something!" Red X kept an eye on her. She grappled the rear wheel and started tugging on it with the line. Fuck Batman's lines. Red X briefly took both hands from the handlebars, throwing two electric Xs at the bike to hopefully kill its battery, and put that hand back on the steering. Then Red X would form a wrist-mounted blade on the other hand and slice at the cable. It was sharp enough to cut Robin's staff, maybe it would be enough.

"Hate to cut and run Bats, but I've got a race to win. And I'm not going to lose here."

Barbara saw the X's coming her way, and frankly she had no idea what they were. The last ones had launched out and become adhesives. She couldn't risk losing her bike, that would mean losing the perp. She leaned back and her bike slid under the incoming X's, kicking herself back up to ride correctly once she had passed them.

Of course, that lead to another issue, like the upcoming turn. She grabbed the line tight, planning to ride it like she'd been during this chase. Then the unthinkable happened, and the thief cut the line. It snapped and retracted, and Barbara was in disbelief. She turned to her right to see where she was skidding. Right off the dock. "Shit!" She kicked the bike along the dock to ensure it wouldn't fall in the bay, and she went skidding across the pavement into the drink.

It was a nasty looking crash, and she didn't emerge for a few moments. Her lenses had closed over her eyes just before the crash, and she stared in shock at the cable on her Batrope, with Bruce's words echoing in her mind. "And how many knives do you know of that can cut my lines?"

She slowly swam back to the surface, only to hear the rushing of footfalls coming toward her, calling out in Chinese. "The rodent is in the bay! Find it and kill it!" She bit her lip and slowly made her way to the underside of the dock, getting ready to employ some good old Bat Stealth to get herself out of this. Although without her line, she'd need to make a plan...

Success. It was a rather whelming term. But Red X had gotten it, as Barbara was let loose from the stolen bike...and into the drink of Jump's coast. Red X watched it all happen from the mirrors, before looking ahead. Readily convincing themselves that they were alright. It was Batgirl after all, right? She could definitely survive something like that.

Then Red X saw the Chinese coming up to the dock with their automatic weapons.

She can handle that too. Don't be stupid. You don't play hero. Don't you remember? Freshly steeled and reinforced by the mantra that the thief had thus far committed to with a somewhat acceptable margin of error, Red X sped off.

The Chinese were closing in on Barbara, starting to fire into the water where she had submerged. Red X suddenly flickered into existence behind them and started to make short work of them, using a varying styles of Muay Thai and Wing Chun to incapacitate them while throwing adhesive Xs at the ones that couldn't be reached in time. Red X spun and jumped, kicking a closing man in the face before firing a palm blast at a last one pointing a gun at the thief. After ensuring they all were staying down for the count, Red X turned to the waters, looking into them. And played it cool.

"Bats? You're alright, aren't you? If you're just playing hide and seek I'm gonna take your bike." It was just an attempt to get her out of hiding more than anything...or rather, to confirm that she was hiding and not drowning.

If she doesn't come out...:

Barbara heard the bullets before she saw them. 'Shit.' She narrowly avoided the first few. Thankfully it seemed the Chinese mobsters were shooting blindly. 'If I could just get to the docks...' She thought to herself, swimming as fast as she could without making it obvious where she was. She reached them as the bullets died down. [color=#cc0099]'OK, they're waiting for me. I just have to stay on the underside of the wood, clinging to it as she started to rise up, panting heavily after her oxygen deprivation. Then she heard Red X calling out, taunting her. 'Go ahead, it's got a tracker on it. Lead me to you. Be my guest.'

She smirked to herself and slowly crept up the dock, only to hear the thief dive into the bay himself. "...What the fuck?" She crawled the rest of the way out and vomited up some salt water, laying collapsed on the pavement and waiting for X to emerge and explain themselves.

"Why the hell are you still here...?" She asked quietly, visibly tired now. This was her first night really going all out wearing the cowl. And frankly, she wasn't used to it anymore.

It only took a few minutes for Red X to figure out what had happened, and Red X cleared all thoughts away to regain whatever composure was possible. You idiot. She was waiting for the perps to stop firing. She's under the docks. No way she could have drifted that far if she were drowning. Red X straightened out and reached for the belt. You've gotten too soft. She's probably making off with your bike.

So Red X did the smart thing and teleported back to the dock area from where the jump was taken, finding her sprawled out on the ground. She asked why Red X had remained. And probably why the thief had jumped in after her, X imagined. There was a moment of silence as the thief peered at her. Finally, Robin answered her. "I might be a thief, but I'm no murderer. I couldn't just leave you like that." It was a good cover. Red X turned and began heading towards the bike that was stolen. There were sirens in the distance. "You should get on out of here. DOMA's probably on their way. They're not as forgiving as the cops used to be."

She stared in confusion at Red X as he reappeared, slowly getting to her feed and wringing out her cape. "...Fine. I'll accept that for now." She watched Red X get back on the bike, and started to lift her own back up. "Dad would kill me if he saw me letting you go. So would Batman." She sighed and yanked her bike off its side. "Although considering her, that'd be pretty damn hypocritical of him."

She sat down on her bike and shot past X as they got ready on their own. She considered dropping a tracker on it, but honestly? It wouldn't be worth it. X would probably see it anyway. She stopped at the edge of the alleyway and sighed. "For the record, I don't approve of you using my friend's stuff. Especially not his voice. Grow the fuck up." And with that she sped off into the city.

Red X couldn't help but have a little bit of a chuckle at her expense when she said that she would accept what Red X told her for the moment. But aside from that, Red X didn't give her any other reaction to what she was saying until she said that she didn't appreciate the use of Robin's tech and voice. "Well, the voice is more of a personal touch. And I've been modding this suit so much it's practically mine now," Robin's voice replied defiantly. "I have my own reasons."

And with that, the two would go their separate ways. Red X couldn't believe that she had come to Jump City. That was going to make things significantly more complicated. But...it was good to know that she was doing well. No matter what that might mean for the future.