4730/Red X: The Penultimate Deception

Red X: The Penultimate Deception
Date of Scene:	23 June 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Robin (Wayne), Stardust
Tinyplot:	Red X

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Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The plans were set in motion, Red X had prepared the stadium for this test, and he was admittedly excited for the encounter to begin. The stadium had long since been disused. Only having been used for major concerts and the like until recently, when the stadium had been deemed too old and costworthy to upkeep. This had marked the structure for demolition, and thanks to Batman's allowing Damian to use the stadium for his training exercise, he was free to cause whatever damage to the stadium was needed.

  It was night, and the light pollution from the city had seeped into the open air stadium. It seemed relatively quiet for now.

Stardust has posed:
At the appointed time, Breath's glider drifts high on the thermals over Gotham city. The figure beneath, in Breath's distinctive white and blue outfit, scans the ground below, bringing the glider in for a low circling swoop over the stadium. She wheels and banks the glider, the lazy circles getting tighter and lower. Eventually the glide path lines up and she slips in over the stadium roof, just a little too high to make a landing. The glider gains speed suddenly as if caught by a stray gust, and as it crosses the center, she lets go. The glider continues over the top of the stadium, while the rider drops feet-first, groundwards. She lands gently, with barely a bend of her knees, despite the height

That's certainly not Breath's move.

Nor is she Breath's height.

Nor is she even Breath.

The blue and white of Breath's uniform shimmers and transforms into the very faintly luminous whites and grays of Stardust's as she strides across the field towards the mound. "Boo. Hi there!" She calls out to the stands. "I thought I'd take Breath's place. Stole her spare glider. Those things are tricky to steer. Lucky I can fly, huh? Aaanyway, you said how you were just itching for a fight. So I thought... why wait around? You know this will be way more interesting that fighting Breathmints." She gives an exaggerated shrug and a wide grin.

Stardust comes to a halt close to second base, turning this way and that to try to spot Red X. "Come out, come out, wherever you are! Or I'll huff, and I'll puff, and blow your stadium down. No wait, that's not me. Hey! Let's fight. Come on, it'll be fun."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     After the ersatz Breath made herself known, a song starts to play over the stadium's still working sound system. The twinkling sounds of a synthesizer for mere seconds before the singer speaks: 'Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends! We're so glad you could attend: Come inside! Come inside!' It was Emmerson, Lake, & Palmer's Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part 2.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxzxe3bcM1A )

  Red X pumps down from behind the home plate mezzanine, making his way out of the grandstands. He doesn't say anything, but he also doesn't seem poised to attack at the moment as he walks and stops at Home Plate. The song makes it's end as he starts to talk. "I had a feeling you'd be screwing with my plans soon. I just didn't think you had the balls to do it before Robin had found his little pet."

Stardust has posed:
"Ah! We're back to music." Stardust grins wide. "You know that really had me puzzled for a while. The Elvis thing, the Sting thing. I mean you ever actually listened to those lyrics? Same theme. You had me looking for meaning in that way too long." She gives a short laugh. She seems to be in a good mood.

Stardusts eyes drift downwards as Red X walks forwards, looking at his footwear for a few moments before snapping back up again. Brick had put an idea in her head. Where those shoes built up? Could they be boosting the wearer by a few inches? "Quick anatomy lesson, X-face. No balls. Don't need them, thanks. Goliath will be fine. Funny that. You don't mind stabbing Titans, but you're very careful about not causing too much trouble to anyone else. Some social conscience you have there."

Stardust tenses a moment, then gives a little hop on the spot. First sign of nerves, maybe? Or just more Stardust oddness? "Anyway, of course I was gonna screw with your plans. Honestly, it would be dumb not to. What kind of idiot lets their opponent dictate the terms of a fight? I mean, apart from the rest of my team mates, of course, but hey." Another shrug and grin. "You know, there's still one thing I'm curious about. Got time for a quick question before we do the fighty thing?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Red X's shoes have about three inches worth of sole, but it could possibly have more than that built into the shoe itself, unseen from those who'd look.

  "That's because there was a meaning behind the lyrics, just as that one did." He responds, cracking his neck from side to side before the red glowing lenses go back to their resting place. "I'm a bad guy, not a monster." He retorts, shrugging after her last question. "Might as well."

Stardust has posed:
"Yeah, but not about you being an ex-member. The lyrics fit in well with my theory at the time. That threw me for a while." Stardust gives her arms a shake and does a few stretches, as if she was warming up for a tennis match. "Seriously though, do bad guys actually ever claim to be bad guys? I mean there must be a few really crazy ones, but I feel like bad guys ought to be claiming they're just misunderstood, you know? Anyway. That first thing you sent. Remember that? About how I was gifted with an enormous responsibility. Were you just mouthing off whatever came into your head, or do you really think like that? Just think about what you said a sec. How can a responsibility be a gift? Responsibilities are burdens, not gifts."

"Oh no mate. Not this again." The voice is not Stardust's. It's male, and speaks with a strong Australian accent. It seems to come from nowhere, a whisper on the wind. "The silly Sheila goes on and on about this. She was mad as a cut snake 'bout it for a while, but I thought she'd dropped it. Oh and thanks, Kiddo. You may be a little twerp but you got her off her behind with this little stunt. She ain't hearing this, by the by."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The responsibility monologue was about to get a retort before some aussie had cut in. Red X looks to Colette before he looks around him. He wasn't sure what was going on with this other voice. "Who are you?" He asks, keeping calm, it seems whoever this was, they worked with Colette.

Stardust has posed:
"Ah settle down ya little dunnie rat. I'm just here to watch," the voice reassures. "James ' Digger' Ash, late of Special Operations Australia and quite a few other things mate. Now resident in that silly galah's head. Don't worry, I ain't spoiling your game. It's been quite educational for her."

Stardust raises an eyebrow, waiting for an answer. She opens and closes her fists, continuing her warm-up, and seems completely unaware of the second dialogue.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "One man's trash is another man's treasure. Where one group lazes around and eats pizza, lounging around in much less clothing that would be acceptable in any situation. The other group gets out, does something, foils plans for someone trying to do bad against the public." Meaning of course that Red X sees it as something that shouldn't be taken lightly. Meanwhile, Damian talks to Digger, without the use of his modulator and microphone. "So, you figured it out. Seems that no one else has. Or at least enough that they are saying anyhting. I gather you understand why I'm doing this then."

Stardust has posed:
Stardust takes a few deep, slow breath. "Bull. I mean yeah, about the lazing about thing. But that doesn't answer my question. But here's the thing. I don't owe anybody a damn thing. I never asked for these powers. I mean sure, flying is fun and it's great never to worry about being mugged. But having to do what other people don't have to, just because one day someone dumped powers on you? Never having the excuse that there was nothing you could have done anyway, to stop feeling guilty about every bad thing that happens in the world?"

With one last roll of her shoulders, Stardust drops into a combat stance. It's not an easy read. She's admitted before she's had far less training than most of the Titans, so something very conventional and basic martial arts might be expected, but this is nothing familiar. Her leading leg is bent slightly in, and her off-shoulder too far back. It looks like she has her center of gravity a little off. "You think that's some kind of a... gift? That I need to prove I /deserve/ it? Fuck you." She gestures with her fingers: bring it on.

"Oh sure mate, I understand. Forcing them out of their cosy little lives, giving them something that looks like a genuine threat to deal with. Wake up call. Kick up the arse. Boy do they need it." The voice falls silent for a beat. "I guess that's what you tell yerself, anyway. I mean fair do, that's half true. But then there's also you being cheesed off at these lazy galahs being given what you had to bust a gut for yer whole short life and wanting to prove to yourself that you are better than them. D'you understand that bit, kiddo?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "If you don't want to step to the plate, then don't. But as well, don't come to the plate when it's convenient for you. Life is full of half-assed people giving half-assed attempts and getting half-assed results. The world is complacent in mediocrity. No more. " Red X offers to Colette, sounding quite enthused in his words.

  The conversation with Digger only gets deeper. "You seem to have deduced it all then..." He responds, a bit deeply sad at his emotions been given words. "They have the potential to be great, maybe better than our mentors." He comments, before stepping up closer to Colette. He looks to her, getting into his own stance, well practiced it seems. Red X attempts to start off with a couple of tornado kicks, attempting to knock Colette off kilter.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust leans back quickly, the first kick whistling past her face without making contact, but she doesn't read Red X's momentum right and is surprised by the second kick. With her slightly off-centered stance, the contact should have been more effective than it was. She slips backwards, but keeps her angle. It's seems like she's not as off-balance as she looks, and there's something that just rings wrong about her movement in the eyes of an experienced martial artist. She holds her stance for a fraction, grinning, then lunges forwards with two quick punches. Again, there's something worryingly off, her momentum not quite making sense. The air whistles with the passage of her fists; there's a lot of power behind the punches. Red X has faced worse -- Raijin punches considerably harder, for example, but there's enough power to make a clean hit very dangerous. However, odd as her technique is, a punch is still a punch and to an experienced fighter, they are both easy dodges.

"You think I have a choice? To not 'step up to the plate'?" Stardust gives a quick shake of her head. "I wish. It's the 'gift' bit I disagree with, not the 'responsibility' bit."

"Potential and five dollars buys you a five dollar shake," is Digger's reply. "She's done better than I feared at first, but odds are she'll be a waste of my time. Wouldn't have picked her if I had a choice. You're an interesting one, mind. Some of us think it's a shame you weren't compatible. Your training as a starting point with my power? Now that could have been something special. Or, a ruddy disaster. 'Coz I figure you could go either way. Fair dos to the Shiela, she's got a good heart at least."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The reaction of Colette from Damian's kick garners a careful look from Red X. A brief moment for recalculation, someone who defies physics in this way was not what he was anticipating.

  "Everyone has a choice. But again, one man's trash is another man's treasure." He responds, dodging both punches with a backwards lunge. Responding to the punches with a pair of fast paced punch combos, easy to dodge as well, seems he isn't bringing out the swords on his back...

Stardust has posed:
First a couple of backward jerks, then a shoulder twist, then some skating, sliding footwork with very rapid direction changes. Stardust dodges the combos like an ultra-defensive boxer, a surprising choice for someone with such a solid punch. And with the footwork, there's a revelation, now that Red X is looking for it. There's too little friction with her footwork.

A snatched glace is enough to confirm it; Stardust's feet are not quite touching the ground. That little hop earlier wasn't nerves, it was a take-off. She's flying, very low to the ground, close enough that she can use her feet as a brake or rudder to speed to redirect her momentum into a tight turn. That raises some interesting questions. All conventional martial arts derive from the single truth that the body in motion is subject to gravity. What happens when that rule is thrown out of the window? She may be a rookie, but she may also be an extremely unpredictable rookie.

Meanwhile, Digger keeps up his monologue. "You though. You're what I'd call a pivot, a hinge of destiny. It's funny really. Part of you resents the people around you for having powers when you have to rely on skill, but most of them are far less likely to change the world than you are. For good or for ill. Go on mate, belt her one. I'll make sure she feels it."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Red X makes a quick note of what has gone on, the very low flying. When Colette makes her dodges, Red X pulls out a grapple, modified with a wide claw, designed to grab onto a body, shooting it towards Colette, if it makes contact, Red X will be reeled towards her at a high rate of speed.

  "You're precognitive? How do you know what I will do in life?" He asks, only cutting in once Digger has finished.

Stardust has posed:
"Wouldn't exactly call it precognition," Digger replies. "I'm just very, very experienced. After a few millennia you start to recognize the signs. Of course I have the advantage of knowing your background."

Stardust's approach remains surprisingly defensive. Some of the changes she'd been making to Damian's danger room programs start to make sense. The fatigue counter - this must be what she'd be training for. "Treasure or trash," she repeats to Red X. "Missing the point. Treasure can still be treasure if it comes at a price. But gifts don't come at a price. Otherwise they're not gifts. I was never asked if I wanted to pay."

Her defensive game may be surprisingly good, but there are some obvious flaws in Stardust's game plan. She's ceding ground much too easily. She's surely not nearly fit enough to outlast Damain when it comes to fatigue. Most of all, the holographic ninjas aren't very good at learning and adjusting. After a while, they have few surprises. They never fire grapples. She freezes for a fatal moment, allowing the claw to hit her.

However, she has a surprise of her own. As the grapple accelerates Red X towards her, she bursts forwards at speed, accelerating towards him on a collision course.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Red X flies towards Stardust, holding both feet in front of him, aiming for what looks like a dropkick, though there doesn't seem to be a drop.

  "Very well, Digger." He says, keeping his eye on the prize. He draws his sword, with one hand, pointing it slightly off from any major organs, instead opting to aim to wing Colette.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust raises an arm, fist forwards. There's no attempt to punch; she's content to use their combined momentum for force. Rather than attempting to dodge the point of the sword conventionally, which would force her to lose the chance of a strike, she pivots around her fist. Her feet rise up from the ground and swing behind her, until she is parallel to the ground, making the target area small. She rotates along the axis of her body to try to slide under the blade without having to move her fist, and at the same time bends her other arm close to her body, ready to block the blade and drive the point away - or swing a punch, should the opportunity arise.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian gives a bit of a smile behind that mask of his. He was happy at all of this, Colette was proving to be quite the combatant, relative to the others at least.

  As she pivots around her fist, he aims the sword down, opting to use his feet to springboard Colette off of him as they collide.

Stardust has posed:
Stardust's eyes are too focused on the sword point as she trusts her resilience to shrug off any impact. As she rolls, she misses the shift in Damian's stance as he prepares to spring. The impact is powerful and jarring, one foot hitting her shoulder, the other skimming off her face, but he's braced for it and springs away cleaning.

  The two combatants separate after the collision, and Stardust frowns. She backs away a little from Damian, keeping a few extra feet between them. A clear look of surprise is etched on her features. She raises her hand to her mouth, then pulls it away, looking at it. A trickle of blood runs down from her lips. Her eyes narrow, and she corrects her stance, coming down into a semi crouch, leaving one foot trailing, toe point digging into the ground. She's breathing a little heavier now and she takes a few moments to gather her breath before the grin returns and she repeats the 'come at me' gesture.

"Ha! She's getting smarter," Digger says gleefully. "She knows I was messing with her. Very nice move kiddo, but she can normally take a kick like that without blinking. Don't go for power, go for speed, and don't stab. The sword will break before she does. Slash, you'll wear her down."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian's eyes underneath the mask grow wider, he had thoguht she wasn't going to bleed that easily. Thought Digger's edicts for speed over power have him smiling even more. A flick of the hand reveals three pherical smoke pellets, and fast enough, they are tossed, one to the left, one to the right, and one where Colette is standing.

  The smoke coverage he at least hoped would be dense enough to cover his ingress onto Colette as he swiped his sword, three times, fast and light, but to normal objects, the sword would cut with ease. "She's one of the better ones on the team, you know. Not that it says much for the others."

Stardust has posed:
Stardust does own some light enhancement goggles which would at least help with the smoke, but she's not wearing them today. She starts moving away from the first pellet, but when the second bursts, she freezes and crouches low, making her target area small.

At the last moment, Stardust makes her move. She heads the one direction Red X cannot place a smoke pellet: straight up. As Damian ploughs through the cloud, she burst up out of it and into clear air. Her timing isn't perfect - she's too slow to avoid the first swipe, but clear of the second and third. She performs a slow backflip in the air, coming down again a little behind the cloud and resumes her stance, waiting for Red X to come out of the smoke, or the smoke to clear. There's ragged tear visible down the right leg of her suit, but the fabric is reknitting itself already. It's hard to see if any damage was done, but she's not visibly favoring the leg.

"Better than I feared, worse than I hoped," is Digger's reply. "The raw material isn't hopeless, but she lacks drive. You can't make a hero without a lot of drive. As for the others, there's potential on the team, but so raw. No focus. That's probably the second biggest flaw in your exercise. None of them are ready to cope without leadership, and none of them are natural leaders."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Red X had awaited for the smoke to clear. Standing and facing Stardust as she was outside of the cloud. When the smoke clears, Red X takes another ready stance, ready for whatever may be thrown at him by Stardust. "Yes, I would agree. And the first?" He asks the phantom Aussie.

Stardust has posed:
As the smoke clears and Red X becomes visible within, Stardust's mouth curls up into a grin. She gives a little nod of her head, and takes a couple of steps forwards, closing some of the distance but not quite coming into range. "So nice of you to give me a breather," she says. "For someone who claims to be the bad guy, you're really quite considerate." The grin drops into a frown. "I spotted that after Vorpal. Didn't have the courage of my convictions though. The EMP thing. Didn't believe it. Should have been more sure of myself. But it made sense not to take the gamble. I just wish I could convince myself Rainman needed to take the chance. That was a gamble too."

"I'm pretty sure you haven't correctly anticipated your team's reaction. They're kids, not machines. Big picture, small picture. Your upbringing was all about big picture stuff. Fate o' the world, all that hoo-ha. Theirs was all about small picture stuff. Don't expect them to react the way you would. The aftermath of all this will be interesting."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Red X sprints towards Colette, choking up on his sword and swiping fast three more times. "You speak as though you know me. So who am I?" He yells out to Colette.

  The words of Digger loom over his head, though Damian never really learned anything different. The ends justify the means, which is why he did what he did.

Stardust has posed:
"You've been speaking as though you knew us from the start," counters Stardust with a smirk. "Why should I disagree? Obviously we're /old/ friends." She closes in too, fast.

This time, Stardust's approach is completely different - for once, very aggressive. There are no dodges, instead she holds her lead arm out to block, take the sword strikes on her forarm. By the time the third blow lands, she's in close, right under Red X's guard, leaving him little room to swing the sword. She follows in with a knee block, aimed at his right thigh, and two jabs with her fist all speed rather than power, both aimed at his left shoulder, just about where the bullet wound is healing.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The punches to the wound make Damian wince, the adrenaline flowing through his body. He jumps at Colette, unleashing a flurry of punches, before he performs some back handsprings, putting more space between himself and Colette.

Stardust has posed:
The speed of Red X's strikes give Stardust a real problem - this is where her inexperience shows. She's using that same arm to block as much as dodge now, but still a few blows get past her guard. She just doesn't have the instinct of a really experienced fighter, can't read the momentum of his movements quickly enough to keep up.

Stardust's game plan was a real wild card, but her mysteries are beginning to be exposed. With time, an experienced fighter can adjust for the unexpected, and the logic of Stardust's unbalanced fighting style is beginning to become visible. The truth of Digger's advice is starting to become clear, too. It's an odd thing that the strength of the blows she takes doesn't seem to make a lot of difference to the discomfort she feels, but repetition takes a toll. Her left arm, which has taken the majority of the hits, isn't cooperating. Muscle fatigue is setting in. Breathing heavily, she gives the arm a shake as she steps back, trying to get her circulation going. How much longer could she keep this up?

Stardust has certainly been a surprise package in all this, but experience, conditioning and pure skill does tell. There's simply no question who has more of all three. It's hard to see where a win could come from for her now - she really needed to have been more aggressive from the start, pressing her strength advantage before she slowed down. On the other hand, it's no less clear yet how to cause her any real harm. She raises the back of her hand to her lip, dabbing away a little more blood. A colorful bruise is blooming across one side of her mouth, but it's the only obvious sign of any physical damage.

"Is it that time already?" Digger's voice seems fainter now. "Ah well, it's been interesting, kid. Let's do this again some time. Not a word to anyone, even her. But if you need to talk to someone who isn't family and isn't as inexperienced as your friends, I'm around. Take it easy, kiddo."

Stardust glances quickly around before lowering into her crouch again. She does not close the distance, but circles Red X, eyes locked on his. "I got a copy of Moon Moon's holo-ninja code to train with," she says. "They're very close combat focused. Very fast, but a bit dumb. Less tactical than the mountain-top ninjas. Neither are quite like the real thing though. You're crazy fast." She comes to a halt, glances around as if checking her position, then straightens up from her crouch. "This is why I kept telling people was dumb to fight you one-on-one, on your terms. But then... I /am/ screwing with your plans, remember? " She raises one hand. In it is a small metal tube she'd pulled out while circling. She depresses the side of it, and a flare shoots skywards, bursting into a magnesium-bright starfish of fire above the stadium. Beneath the canopy of light, she tilts her head, eyes fixed on Damian's. Smirking wryly, Stardust adds just one more comment.

"<TT>."