A Rose and a Hard Place (Izzy)

Red X didn't have much of a reason to be out on the streets anymore. Red X already had something like the 99th percentile of all the Xenothium that had been found; a goal that the thief had been hard at work on for the past few years. The only one that needed the Xenothium should have it, as far as they were concerned.

But no, protecting Xenothium claims wasn't the reason Red X was out here this night. The reason that Red X had gone on the endeavor was...boredom. DOMA was ruining everything. Weaver was being more careful, and because of DOMA the Titans were hesitant to come out and play at all either. With that, Red X turned to a source of entertainment one might say was...dangerous.

At least, that was how it started.

Red X decided to hijack another criminal's job. It was about the only thing left to do in the boring town. And what better punching bag than Doctor Light? He was a douche bag in plenty of ways without being a criminal, but he wasn't even too good at what he did. Red X tracked him down while he was stealing from some high society home. As Red X crept in to get the goods, however...there were signs of a struggle. Some ripped clothing on the floor. And Doctor Light, over a woman.

Red X straightened, exhaling. It alerted Doctor Light, who looked over in the thief's direction. With his attention off of her, the woman screamed for help, scrambling away from him. Before Doctor Light could blind the thief, the Red X closed the distance.

Red X was in the front lawn now, with blood on the suit's gloves. A broken mess in front of them; what was left of Doctor Light. He'd likely be eating through a tube for quite a while after this. Red X couldn't get the upsetting images out. But soon, broke free of the obligation to to subject Doctor Light to torture. DOMA response times were getting better with the new management, and after Red X took the fight to street level, there were sure to be people who called. Red X never liked leaving empty handed.

Rose had been in town for maybe a few hours, tops. She had no clue where she was, everything was huge and intimidating, and she wasn't managing it well. She was trying to follow the coordinates on her communicator, but frankly? If anyone was watching her little dot, it was going in a figure 8, and had been for the last 30 minutes. That's when she heard the screaming. She quickly ran around the corner and grappled her way to the window, seeing the sight that lay before her as she hid by the window. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Red X work.

Effective, that one. She thought to herself, gritting her teeth as she watched the woman cowering in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably. X tossed Light out the window next to hers, and Rose narrowed her eyes. Good. She heard the sickening crack as X landed on the good doctor's chest, likely breaking several ribs as he continued to lay into him.

She slid down the incline that made up the initial roof she sat on, landing silently on the grass behind X, waiting until he stood up to leave. "You have good form. Style needs work, but I assume that's based strictly on circumstance." She walked over and put a foot on Light's chest, staring at the thief. "You lack conviction though." Even from where they stood, Red X could see the bloodshot look in Rose's eyes. A combination of a lack of sleep, a deep hatred, and mental illness. "Always remember to finish the job." With a swift movement, she drew her pistol from her belt as Doctor Light raised his hand, likely trying to blind the pair. There was a deafening bang that rang out through the small community. Dogs began barking around them, and the good doctor's brains decorated the lawn.

Red X turned to see that someone had shown up already, watching the girl as she complimented their fighting style, but said that it needed improvement. "A secret admirer? I don't really do this kind of thing. When Red X realized what she was doing, the thief would twitch as if reaching for something, but X was too slow. Doctor Light was dead. It took a moment to process, the thief's teeth clenching momentarily, but eventually, X relaxed. There was an ocean of sound around them now, and Red X wasn't sure that sirens would be heard in a preferable time now.

"I'd be mad, but this isn't my kind of work. I just wanted an easy job. I don't kill anyone. Just steal enough to look out for number one." The thief glanced to Doctor Light's corpse. "But this guy...that's unforgivable. I guess what I'm trying to say is while I didn't want him to die, it's better that he did." Red X looked right back to her. She seemed out of sorts. It was a good thing that tools existed for crazy.

"So you're new in town. Where are you from?"

Rose blinked and her vision cleared. She stood there staring at the corpse she stood on for a solid few seconds before slowly removing her foot. "Shit...that's the Slade talking." She holstered her gun and glanced back up at Red X, smiling shakily. She was clearly exhausted, and evidently wasn't anywhere close to right in the head.

"If you must know, New York City." She started to make her way across the lawn. "Just got out of the basement a few months ago, actually." She scratched her cheek as she thought. OK, so she killed a criminal. So what? He was committing a very serious crime when it happened, that's okay, right? She slowly looked back up at X and thought over what was told to her.

"...You sound like someone I know." She said finally, her hand flexing near her belt as she spoke.

Slade? Well, she did look a lot like the guy, if Red X was being perfectly honest to themselves. They would have to slap themselves later. The thief kept trained eyes on her from behind the mask, as she said that she was from new York, and that she...had been in a basement? Jesus, this was becoming a darker night by the second. She then said that Red X sounded like someone she knew.

"Could say the same about you," Red X countered, stance loose. "But you're right. Robin made a nice suit. And then left it around collecting dust. So I stole it. Thought stealing his voice would be a good reminder to not leave things like it lying around." Red X shrugged dramatically. "Then again, I'm sure it's hard to focus on people like me with those DOMA cucks running around."

Rose stopped her pacing and slowly looked up at X. "You stole from Robin?" She looked quizzical. Curious. She tilted her head, looking like she was maybe impressed? "But...I'm sure he'd like that back." She said simply, drawing her katanas. Getting in good with the Titans after all this crap? That would be really nice.

She clenched her fists around the hilt of her blades, and started to move forward, ready to swing. But she saw something that made her eye twitch. "You fucking coward." As the blade passed through X's body, she turned and used her momentum. Sweeping a now reappearing X's legs out from under him. She pointed the sword at X's mask and growled. "You've not earned his armor. Return it, and I'll let you live."

Red X saw the swing coming from a mile away, and would use the teleport function of the suit to briefly phase through the attack. Timing it perfectly, Red X would bring their fist to her neck while she was still...

Huh.

Red X was swept to the floor suddenly after reappearing. Well that was weird. She must have had some pretty nifty combat reflexes. Red X took it like a champ, experiencing some humbling as the thief hit the ground on their back. There was a sword in their face now. Red X looked from the tip of the blade up to Rose, raising a brow.

"I haven't earned it?" Red X struck a pose, lounging on the spot while keeping eyes on her. "Sure sweetie, you break into Titans Tower without them knowing. He didn't even know I had the suit until I showed him." And then, two heat blasts aimed right at her chest. Far from deadly even at this range, but sure to make her back up at the least while Red X jumped to their feet from the prone position.

Rose felt the impact hit her in the chest, skidding backward. Evidently she'd have trouble dodging those from this range. She felt her armor over her chest heat, burning her flesh, but her healing factor would quickly cover it up. "A thief with no honor earns nothing." She said simply, brandishing her blades and running forward, attempting to slash from all sides at his person, ready to block and counter attack if he tried his vanishing act again. "And you will never be able to stop me from getting it back. Not if you continue to fight like a coward." She sounded pretty sure of that.

Red X scoffed at her from inside the suit, and two X blades would form at the wrists. As she closed in, Red X would begin skillfully parrying and dodging her swipes, meeting every last one of them with little issue before kicking for her abdomen to get some space between them. If the maneuver proved successful, Red X would fire an electric X at her arcing through the air. If not, X would continue deftly dealing with her blows.

DOMA was going to be here soon. Maybe they could handle her while the thief escaped.

"Honor? You don't know what that word even means. The honorable thing to do would be to let the kid take it back with his own two hands. You're just using the idea of honor to pander to your self-righteousness."

Red X would feint, before flipping back and firing an adhesive X at her to attempt to trap her in a vat of red glue.

Rose was getting more and more frustrated as the fight continued on. Red X was blocking everything. People specifically weren't supposed to be able to do this. That's exactly why she was made into what she was, so why was he able to block her?! She felt the kick make contact with her chest, and she fell backward again. It must be the exhaustion setting in. That had to be it.

She rubber her brow and the electrified X hit her in the chest, pumping a few thousand volts through her body. She seized up for a moment before her healing factor started to kick in, rapidly. She stood up straight again, narrowing her eye. Someone looking would probably be able to see smoke coming out of her nostrils soon at this rate.

"You know what?" She started to walk forward, running her blades together like someone would two knives before carving a turkey. "You're right." She saw the adhesive coming from a good mile away, sliding under it to try and catch X off guard from underneath, pulling the pin on a flash grenade as she did. She kept it on her belt though, hopefully keeping Red X blissfully unaware. From there she flipped up and attempted to kick his jaw with a backflip before diving back in with her blades, attempting to time one of her strikes with the explosion of her flash grenade.

With her healing factor? Rose would be affected for maybe a few seconds. Red X? She'd have to see. Who knows what this suit could actually do?

She scooped under the adhesive X. "Dammit, I really wanted to say something about a sticky situ-" Red X stepped back quickly, but not fast enough to avoid a kick square to the face, sending the thief backwards. X quickly got back on guard, deflecting one or two more swings before- they were both blasted back by some sort of device at her hip. It sounded like a flashbang.

NANI?

What was she, some sort of kamikaze? Why did Red X always have this kind of luck with women? Red X got up quickly, struggling to keep their balance, and holding their arms up defensively in a position. Three seconds. That's all that was needed. Their ears were ringing, and they had no vision, so they did the next best thing. After three seconds, they teleported behind Rose and into the building to regain their senses, keeping low.

Rose's attacks did not relent as the flashbang went off. Her ears rang for a split second before returning. Her sight returning to her a moment later. "You won't shake me without killing yourself." She growled, going in for one more swing, and suddenly X vanished.

She blinked and sensed...something. A subconscious force, telling her where X was hiding, preparing to counterattack. She turned on a dime and came sprinting at the house, kicking through the window and drawing her firearm, firing a few shots at Red X. "I said you're not escaping me!" She screamed, coming back at him. This time her technique was extremely different, not dissimilar to Robin's fighting style, and therefore X's. It was like she'd picked it up in a few seconds of fighting.

Red X heard the window break, and looked up to see a gun aiming right at their person. They quickly rolled as she wildly fired, and formed a few dozen shuriken, flinging the volley at her. It was like she was getting stronger as she got angrier, but maybe that rage could be taken advantage of. "Oh no honey, don't do that," Red X said as she squared up in the fighting style X had been using. "That's a recipe for an ass-whooping."

Red X would trade blows with her as she used the style they shared with Robin, if anything it made it easier for them. At least with this it was something Red X had seen before. Still though, in her hands, it made it more difficult at the same time. Getting a brief moment to breathe, Red X switched up styles suddenly, and would feint a kick at her, before whipping it back and using it to put a stronger punch into her face. "Can we just go back to the part where we agreed on keeping a rapist off of the streets?"

DOMA was drawing closer. X could feel it. If the attack had been successful, X made another X blade at the wrist and would punch for hers, trying to pin her wrist to the wall. Not by stabbing it or anything, but by using the prongs to keep it there. And would get quick to work fighting her to make sure she couldn't focus on taking it out so they could pin more to the wall.

Rose growled as X taunted her. "Is it too much to ask that you just shut up and fight?!" She felt a massive haymaker connect with her jaw, dislocating it, but it quickly snapped right back into place on its own.

Her eye went wide as she got another flash in her mind. "Why. Does. This. Keep. Happening?!" She half muttered to herself, giving X an opening to pin her wrist to the wall. She knew it was coming though, and as X punched forward, Rose's entire body sprang up, locking around X's outstretched arm and flipping him onto the stairs. She roughly ripped the prongs keeping her trapped, using her velocity from the flip to wrench herself free, and attempting to unload a massive punch of her own directly into that stupid skull mask.

Well, that was a thing. Red X watched as she miraculously made a maneuver to slam them onto the stairs, and use the momentum to break free and punch them in the face. There was a grunt of pain, before the mask snapped to look right back to her. "Want me to take this seriously? Kay."

Red X threw a punch directly for her throat, but that was just a lead. The punch would keep flying, but the real move was just to touch her thigh. A touch a woman might not be too comfortable with...or any woman, considering it was to tase her entire body and make it seize up so that she couldn't hit them. If successful Red X would suddenly lunge and flip her onto the stairs while taking hold of her neck, applying pressure to her carotid and tasing her to ensure that she would be going to sleep. It'd only take about ten seconds.