Redbreast vs. Nightsinger

Daleville, Connecticut

11:49 P.M. EDT

Robin watched as the Nightingale's scowl faded into a look of surprise. She had probably been expecting someone else, if she had a clue as to what to anticipate at all.

Though she did not let her emotions stay on display for long. Quicker than he had expected Nightingale regained her composure. He could tell that she would take more convincing to give her identity to him willingly.

"No," she intoned at him with an indifferent expression on her concealed face.

"Why?" Robin asked. He knew there had to be reasons behind her desire to keep her identity unknown, but he had not expected her to deny him this information. Robin would keep this information to himself - that was a given - but why she did not trust him was beyond his reasoning. He had hoped that the Nightingale would tell him immediately upon revealing himself from the shadows. That would have been probable of an amateur, but apparently the Nightingale was a little more like a real heroine than he'd first thought.

"Because having a secret identity ensures that I'll have privacy from people like you," she answered. "Besides you keep your identity a secret in order to protect those you love, probably because they don't have powers or skills to protect themselves from your enemies. So if I told you who I was, you would only be a liability to their safety."

He frowned slightly to himself. There was … logic in her answer and plenty of it. Now, Robin knew that it was useless to try to talk the information out of her. Nightingale had already clamed up and was being as coy as a cat.

He remembered her fight with Scourge. She was talented. Not as talented as him though, but her fighting abilities would be enough to keep her alive for years to come. The fight with Scourge had been quite informing and had given him enough information to narrow down the list of people in Daleville she could be. But he needed to know more if he was going to uncover her identity and he knew how to get it. Either by talking, which wasn't an option anymore, or by testing her physical prowess.

Nightingale waited tensely for the Boy Wonder to reply, and with every passing second she became more wary of him. She knew well the feeling of a cornered animal thanks to Scourge, and recognized it instantly.

Under normal circumstances she would have considered more keenly the idea of revealing her identity to Robin, but these were no longer normal circumstances. Something evil and deadly was abroad in Daleville and she would bet her whip that the Boy Wonder knew a lot more about it than she did.

She had only seen two options. Tell him who she was and be told to stay out of it and never fight crime again. Or hold onto her only bargaining chip, play any card she got hold of correctly, and work her tail feathers off to come out on top. Given what was happening, she chose to keep hold of that tidbit of information.

Gale wanted to know what was happening in Daleville, her home, and she was determined to stop it, or die trying.

The cornered animal feeling never left her gut as she eyed Robin cautiously, looking of any weaknesses among his many strengths. Nightingale had a notion that things were going south and she was not thrilled by that idea at all.

While, yes, it would be something far more interesting than telling Amanda that she fought Scourge again, fighting the protégé of the Batman was not on her bucket list. Just meeting him would be enough to impress her best friend, but fighting him would be another matter entirely.

But, if Robin were to throw the first punch, Gale would be obliged to throw the second and find an escape route as quickly as possible.

From what she knew of superheroes, Nightingale was out matched on every front. He probably had an arsenal hidden within his utility belt, while Gale's weapon only paled in comparison to his. She only had three bolas, a whip which was no longer on her person and therefore not much help if she couldn't get hold of it, and … well that was it if she didn't count her bracers.

It was a given that he had the advantage on the physical plane as well. Robin was trained by the Batman for crying out loud, a hero who could probably out match a ninja.

Though she still stood a chance, if she was careful. If the Nightingale could out fox the Boy Wonder as she had done to Scourge, she still stood a chance at victory or at the very least a tie.

She waited for him to make the first move with a restless patience. And he did, for suddenly she heard rather than she saw a shuriken flying through the air.

She reacted swiftly by side stepping out of the projectile's path, Gale was glad she hadn't waited for a split second for if she had the weapon would have hit her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the shuriken had imbed itself into the wall, but that was a mistake she shouldn't have made. The shuriken had been a distraction.

The Boy Wonder took full advantage of her moment's lapse of focus by throwing a strong punch aimed for her torso, which she narrowly managed to block it.

"Ungh!" she groaned as she felt a wave of pain charge up to her shoulder. Nightingale felt blood ooze more rapidly from her wound.

Damn it, his glove's reinforced with something, she surmised quickly, but not quick enough.

Robin moved faster than she was ever capable of. Before she could even begin to think of her first move, Nightingale's back was on hard asphalt for the second time that night. Her instincts guided her as she rolled out of reach of any of Robin's attempts to pin her and was on her feet again in seconds.

Well, that narrows off one fighting style that I shouldn't use, she mentally noted. Close combat was not an option in this match, at least for her.

The Nightingale was quick. Quick and smart. She had gotten to her feet before he had the chance to pin her down.

He had every possible advantage in this fight. He out matched the Nightingale on every level, but if he didn't act fast, she could find a way to win.

In her fight with Scourge, he had observed that even the slightest lapse of concentration or mistiming on her opponent's part could spell victory for Nightingale and give her the opening she needed.

Nightingale was on her feet and waiting for him to make his move instead of attacking him. Her feet were shoulder width apart with her fists at her waist. This stance was familiar to Robin, very familiar. He knew was called the Horse Stance. The Nightingale must have studied kick boxing, how else could she know this stance?

Good, this was the sort of information was exactly what he had been looking for.

Now all he had to do was engage her further in the fight to find out more about her abilities.

Nightingale was thankful for the slight respite Robin granted her, despite that he was using the time to analyze her next move and abilities. But that was a two way street.

She carefully eyed where his hands were. Much to her delight they were nowhere near his belt, indicating that he probably wouldn't be using another gadget. Though it also made her a little more wary, for if Robin were to use another gadget she may not see it coming.

She needed to think of something and quick.

Okay, so close combat's out of the picture, at least on my part, then what? she asked herself silently, trying to discern her opponent's tactics from what little information she knew.

Without her whip, Gale figured that she had little to no chances of winning against the Boy Wonder. Her whip was her trump card; her bolas stood a chance of slowing him down but she was certain it would not be enough to turn the outcome of this fight in her favor.

Somehow, she had to get her weapon, the only problem: Robin. He would undoubtedly attempt to keep her from getting it.

Just like their previous scuffle, the Boy Wonder struck first, swift and without warning. But unlike last time, she was ready. She was ready for him, so she easily deflected his attack.

Something about it, though, bothered her. Robin's attack was too simple this time and less quick. The way she deflected it was nearly the exact way she was taught to when she learned kick boxing. Fluidly, she blocked another kick and punch almost as if she were practicing in the Daleville dojo.

A secret smile appeared on her lips. Nightingale realized he was testing her. Robin was going easy in order to figure out what she knew.

Alright, if that's how you want to play, then let's play, she thought. It was her turn to test her adversary.

Nightingale's attack had to be swift and aggressive; undoubtedly he would realize what she was attempting by the first punch.

The Nightingale reacted faster than he had predicted and she began to act on his advances. Robin noted that she switched to and fro between many different styles and blended them seamlessly together as if they were one style, not many from very different cultures. She was gifted in that sense, but despite her talent, Nightingale relied heavily upon evading and unexpected blows rather than her fighting abilities.

Robin found that the harder he push her, the harder Nightingale pushed back. She was the underdog in this fight, but she would not give up, that was evident from her fighting, she was giving it her all.

He threw a punch at her abdomen, but she blocked him with her forearm. It was only then that he noticed a crude piece of metalwork acting as armor. The metal would surely hurt the wearer more than the attacker, but Robin found that had not been the point of the block at little too late.

The Nightingale took advantage of the opening that Robin had foolishly left and struck at his chest. But instead of fist striking him, he felt an attack slightly more painful. The Nightingale knew her styles well, for instead of a simple punch she'd bent her fingers at the knuckles and kept her hands as straight as she could in a form called the Leopard Strike. Also she alternated between the Leopard Strike and striking with her palm in a form not unlike a Tiger Strike. She definitely knew her kick boxing.

Her rain of blows forced him back as he took every hit and this seemed to her intention all along.

Pain surged and coursed through every muscle, every vain of her body. Gale didn't know how much more of this she could take, but she had to end this one way or another. She was desperate to stop and escape.

Her endurance and energy had waned during her round with Scourge, and was on the verge of becoming obliterated with every passing second of her scrimmage with bird brain.

She needed to get some space between her and her adversary. This she accomplished by a rapid rain of strikes. Only one things was needed to complete this - an accurate front kick.

Gale was surprised that she was able to send the Boy Wonder stumbling backwards with her kick, but she did not dwell on her wonderment too long or else risk losing her advantage.

Years of gymnastics had trained her muscles to accomplish her evasive maneuver even under much stress and pain. She back flipped, but her feet never touched the pavement for she used her hands to propel her back towards her whip.

He recovered from her attack quicker than she ever was able to from an attack similar to the one she had preformed.

A smirk reserved only for victories and successful grades on impossible tests appeared on Nightingale's face. Robin seemed both flustered and slightly distracted. His emotions were getting the better of him or there was another cause yet unknown to her for his wavering attention. An annoying quip would do nicely to topple his emotions in her favor, and she knew just the one.

"Hey, Ding-Bat, you're not doing too well tonight, maybe they should start call you Boy Blunder instead."

Yes, it worked. Instantly upon hearing her challenge, Robin charged at her like an angry bull. Within two seconds, Gale had reminded herself to remain cool headed and was racing at the Boy Wonder full steam ahead with her whip trailing in her wake, ready to win the fight.

Just was they were about to meet, Gale was encompassed in a smoke screen, blind to everything about her. Nightingale stopped in her tracks, unable to see. She knew that there was no other option but to wait for Robin to strike first, but he never did.

She snapped her whip back and forth, trying to clear the smoke as she covered her mouth with the back of her left hand. Thankfully, the smoke didn't take long to disperse, so her coughing fit was short lived, but Robin was nowhere in sight.

"What is it with these people and smoke?"