Birdcage
Author's Note: The idea for this story is based off of Tim Drake's new redesigned look for Arkham City. The developers said they had developed Robin with the idea of a cage fighter in mind (something he might do to stay on his toes), so I decided to play off this idea and actually put him in a cage fight before he gets called away to Arkham City because of Alfred and his desire to help Batman. Enjoy.
It was a ritual he had done ever since he had became Robin, but for a different purpose. He had never told Bruce about this before-even though his mentor made a living out of fighting criminals, he knew not even Batman would approve of fighting criminals for money. He suspected Alfred knew-it wasn't uncommon for the butler to look at Tim intently if he had been in a particularly vicious fight before he returned to the Batcave and was favoring one of his sides more than the other.
He knew that this screamed against everything he fought against the moment he put on his costume and went out into the night. But at the same time, he wasn't a kid anymore, and he was fighting criminals that wouldn't hesitate to leave him dead in an alley if he wasn't on his toes. After all, he knew what happened to Jason Todd, and he knew that was part of the reason he now had a bullet shield as part of his standard equipment. The idea of losing one of his "sons" again was a prospect that terrified the Dark Knight more than anything else.
And Tim was not determined to repeat that experience. Ever since he had entered the cage matches, he had been training even more intensely than ever before. As a result, he built so much muscle mass that Alfred had to redesign both his Robin and Red Robin costumes due to the increase in weight. Shaving his head was a necessity if he was going to be in the cages- it wasn't uncommon for the dirtier fighters to grab their opponent by the head and slam them headfirst into the metal bars.
Although he usually wore a hooded cape as part of his outfit, it was a bad idea just like long hair. So he changed into his new redesigned costume, one piece at a time. After he applied his gloves, he reached for his mask, and for a brief moment, he considered heading home. But he shrugged and put it on anyway, before heading to the arena.
The jeers he got weren't uncommon, and as always he blocked them out. After all, he'd meet most of the name-callers out on the streets during his patrols anyway. He walked down the aisles, his head held high, punching a gloved fist into an open palm.
"We're gonna make you bleed, Robin!"
"Ain't it past your bedtime, Boy Wonder?"
"Your bed buddy Batman can't get you out of this one!"
He scoffed and stepped into the ring. Most of the thugs he was fighting against were already in there, and judging from their expressions, they were mostly Penguin's crew (pretty much to be expected, since he was in the VIP room of the Iceberg Lounge). Some of them were Joker and Two-Face's thugs as well. It didn't matter to Penguin, since every two-bit criminal lined up to fight Tim during the nights he competed. He also knew that was the only reason that no action was taken to him outside the ring, although the prospect of Batman showing up in the Iceberg Lounge on a weekly basis might have something to do in convincing Cobblepot.
And as expected, the bird-man was in the top row, smoking his disgusting cigars and surrounded by beautiful women. How typical of a man with a Napoleon complex.
"Ladies and gentleman!" the criminal yelled in his accent that was a mix of Brooklyn and Cockney dialect, "Featuring the main attraction, put your hands together for the Robin!"
The jeers grew to a raucous level, and not five seconds after Penguin said those words was a chair launched at the Boy Wonder's face. He caught it with ease and immediately hurled it back in the direction it came, a shout of a pain and a loud cracking of wood occurring soon after. He smirked slightly. After all, years of taking on criminals both in and out the ring had tipped him off to dirty tricks.
Drawing his bo-staff and extending the ends outwards, Tim launched into action. He blocked one of the sloppy haymakers from a Penguin thug, slamming the end of the staff into his gut, then roundhouse kicking him on the side of the head. An entire group of Joker thugs came at him in a mad rush. Their blows were instantly countered with several precise staff strikes, with a kick delivered to the one foolish enough to be closest to him.
A Two-Face thug threw a straight left at his face and instantly regretted when a staff met his hand, crying out in pain as the bones in his hand shattered. Several Penguin thugs drew knives and charged the Boy Wonder, forcing him to dodge to avoid being sliced into. One of them slashed across the right side of his face, and he cried out silently as blood was drawn.
The Penguin thug cackled with glee and rushed in. "Your mother won't even recognize ya when we're done!" he cackled, only to cry out in pain when Tim activated the snap-flash he had placed on his back, a sound like a bird-call going off and stunning several of the thugs with a searing bright light . A crafty Joker thug tried to throw a fire extinguisher at his unprotected back, only to have it thrown back in his face and explode upon impact, covering him in white foam as he clutched his bleeding face. The remaining thugs grabbed blades and chair legs to try and finish the Boy Wonder, only to have their legs swept out from under them with the swing of a Bo-staff.
Tim was surveying the group of the thugs, planning his next course of action, when he was knocked off his feet and slammed into the cage wall by shoulder tackles from two Titan enhanced thugs, coughing blood from the hard impact as he landed on his hands and knees. The thugs roared and beat their chests, towering over the Boy Wonder and frothing from their mouths.
"Ooh, looks like the Boy Wonder had a rib or two broken from that!" Penguin cackled, as the mostly criminal audience laughed along with him. Tim glared at him, and wiped the blood from his mouth as he rose to his feet to take on the two mutated behemoths.
One of the Titans charged at him, and he managed to vault out of the way, detonating the explosive gel he placed on the thug's back. The thug roared in pain and staggered while his partner threw one of the unconscious combatants at him, which he also managed to avoid.
Tim swept his staff and hit the two mutations in the neck with his full strength, stunning them both. He rushed in, delivering a series of bone-cracking blows with his staff and several kicks, flipping into the air and bringing his staff down onto both of their heads, putting them out of commission. He landed onto his feet wearily, panting from the exertion.
He barely acknowledged Penguin's threats and mocking taunts as he left the ring, nor did he acknowledge the crowds. He walked into the locker area and collected his belongings out of storage, which he had put under several security measures to keep the seedy patrons from running amok with them.
Tapping his communicator, he exhaled deep and shrugged some of the weariness he felt from his shoulders, waiting patiently for Alfred to come onto the line.