As Robin and Aaron away from the door where there was more space, Cyborg muttered to
BeastBoy, "I don't like this. With one punch I could knock this guy out."
"Yeah, but then he couldn't tell us anything", quipped BeastBoy.
Robin took up an on guard stance, and nodded to his opponent to indicate he was ready. Aaron's
reply was to leap forward and attack, driving robin back towards a wall. Robin, surprised at the
onslaught, parried blows wildly for a moment before regaining his balance and jumping
backwards to gain some space. Aaron pause and said, "I find it hard to believe that you're that
slow, and still alive."
Robin grinned and replied, "Then start believing."
The two combatants attacked each other with wild abandon, each seeking an opening. Aaron
swung his staff low, trying to knock Robin off his feet; robin blocked and reversed the motion,
swinging for Aaron's head. Aaron let the blow glance off his arm, and drove his staff into
Robin's midriff, following up by throwing a sidewinder punch aimed at Robin's temple. Robin
managed to avoid being hit, and retaliated by elbowing Aaron in the face. Aaron twisted away,
and Robin launched a kick at his unprotected back.
Aaron dodged low, so he was almost flat on the floor while sweeping out with his foot,
attempting to trip Robin. Robin narrowly avoided the kick by leaping upward, but his momentum
still carried him forwards. Aaron twisted around, raising his staff just in time to push Robin
away. Robin sailed over Aaron's head, landing heavily on his back. Both fighters scrambled to
their feet, an edged back momentarily, panting to regain their breath.
Robin recovered first, and swung a wide strike at Aaron, hoping to stay outside his
opponent's attack radius. Aaron dodged by back flipping, and continued to back-flip until
launched himself upward onto a balance beam. Holding his staff in one hand, he jumped and
grabbed onto a climbing bar mounted onto the wall. He climbed upward using a combination of
flips and other acrobatic maneuvers, until he perched on a wooden pole just below the ceiling.
Robin considered following the same path, but instead drew his grappling hook and launched it
skyward, and then drew himself up to the same level as Aaron.
Robin balanced easily on the wooden pole that extended outward from the wall, and said, "You
shouldn't waste so much energy climbing." He figured the fight was as good as won, with his
opponent backed against a wall, thirty feet above the ground.
Aaron's eyes narrowed to slits as he replied, "You should be more careful were you
follow." Aaron swung his staff, aiming just in front of his own feet, smashing right through the
pole.
Robin plummeted downward, crashing shoulder first into the mats below. He lay there in
pain for just a second, before throwing himself sideways. Aaron's heel slammed into the mats
inches behind Robin's head. Robin backed away, numbness spreading through his left shoulder.
He flicked three birdarangs at Aaron in quick succession, hoping to buy himself some time.
Aaron, dodged the first one, but grabbed some small disc-shaped weights off a nearby
rack, and tossing them like frisbees. The birdarangs and the weights met with a resounding
'clang' and ricocheted off of each other. Aaron grabbed another, much larger weight from the
rack, and heaved it at Robin. Robin dodged the weight and jumped behind an exercise machine
to gain cover from the projectiles. He stepped out from behind the machine just long enough to
toss a smoke grenade at Aaron. The grenade landed right at Aaron's feet, and exploded,
surrounding him with tear gas.
As soon as Aaron realized what was happening, him shut his eyes and held his breath,
avoiding most of the harmful effects. With his eyes and lungs burning, he leapt upward,
stepping off the bar on a barbell set. Aaron flew through the air, clearing the cloud of tear gas,
and instinctively slashing downward with his staff.
Robin got his own staff up in time to block, but the power behind Aaron's strike was so
strong it snapped Robin's staff in two.
Robin tossed away the pieces, and drew his own metal bo-staff. He attacked quickly,
while Aaron was still trying to see through eyes that were blurry from the tear gas. Aaron parried
the blows weakly, until Robin punched him on the chin, and then snapped his hand back,
knocking the staff from Aaron's hands. Robin brought his staff in for a cross-body strike as
Aaron charged forward wildly. The hit barely slowed Aaron down as he body slammed Robin,
knocking him down. As Robin fell he punched upward, catching Aaron in the stomach, flipping
him over his head. Aaron landing behind Robin and snatched up the pieces of the broken staff,
one in each hand.
Realizing his foe was no longer even partially blind; Robin tried to stay at a distance,
swinging from far away with his staff. Aaron crossed the broken pieces over his head, catching
Robin's staff in an X and flicking it away. Diving in close he pummeled Robin's torso with
blows from the shortened pieces of wood. He snapped one arm straight, catching Robin in the
eye with a clenched fist. Robin stumbled back, dropping to one knee. Aaron came after him,
hoping to end the fight. Robin suddenly leapt up, kicking with all his strength. He caught Aaron
high in the chest, and now it was Aaron's turn to stumble. He flew backwards trying to regain
his footing until a weight machine stopped him short. Aaron crashed into the machine, a sharp
end of one the bars slamming into the middle of his back.
Aaron crashed to the floor, facedown. His back felt as if a spear had been driven into it.
Using only his arms, Aaron pushed himself onto his back, just in time to see the end of Robin's
staff come whistling towards his face.
Robin pulled the final blow, his pole stopping just above Aaron's nose. The entire gym
was silent as the combatants eyed each other warily. Seeing that Robin had won, Cyborg and
Beast Boy came running over, shouting their congratulations. Cyborg patted Robin on the back
and Beast Boy gave him the thumbs-up sign. Robin reached down to offer Aaron a hand up, but
Aaron scorned the help, and pulled himself to his feet using the exercise machine for support. He
and Robin eyed each other warily for a long moment before Aaron spoke, "Alright, I'll answer
your questions."
