Welcome to Gaia! ::

Quiet and cold, the same as every night in this hellish city. Nothing had changed at the core, the wharves were proof of that.. Despite the 'good' that has occurred within the center of Gotham, the filth still remained, congregating in places like this. Normally, a tip to the local GCPD would have sufficed, but there had been a slim chance that the Black Mask would have been present himself . . So, that had stirred the Red Robin from his lair, the Red Bird burning through the darkened streets as he flew headlong to confirm the validity of the information. Tonight, Sionis would pay for what he had done long ago.

Leaving the motorcycle parked several blocks away, and taking to the rooftops, the crimson chested vigilante was moving silently across the rain swept buildings. Despite the muggy darkness that these animals hid in, the infa-red lenses built into his cowl lit them up like the sun was out. Recognizing Sionis' men, the plan of attack was devised, and then commenced. Dropping upon one, before moving on, the Red Robin began to disable and down one of the Black Mask's men after another, subconsciously growing more and more brutal with each assault. First, it was simply joint locks, now, he was snapping limbs prior to knocking them out. He had only two left to go. . The Belgian gun runner, and Roman's own Mr. Hertz. Scowling as he closed the distance, the cowled youth stopped near them as he listened to them speak. . The deal was for enough firepower to fund a militia. . Filing the information away for further study, the young man was angered that the Black Mask himself hadn't been there. Lunging from the shadows, the Belgian took a shot to the face from his staff, before wheeling around, grabbing the Sionis Enforcer.

"Think long and hard before lying to me, Hertz. . Sionis,is he here?" Glaring, the white eyes of the cowl narrowed in barely constrained hatred for the Black Mask. Nothing, the enforcer was more than likely believing that he was still like Batman, unwilling to do what needed to be done. . True, he was still like Bruce in many aspects, but when it came to Roman Sionis, and what he had done. . .There was little that the Red Robin wouldn't do. Slamming Delgado into the nearest van, the vigilante began to pummel him, breaking ribs, repeatedly slamming the enforcer's head into the metal surface.
"Talk, where is the Black Mask!?"

The young man remained still as the thug spilled out the information to Bruce. . Before succumbing to his injuries. The Batman turned slowly, glowering down at him, and once upon a time, that look could have shaken him, but that was years ago, when Tim was still a boy. Now, he was Bruce's equal, and he feared nothing. The white eyes of the Red Robin merely narrowed, his lips curling up into a sardonic sneer as he spoke. 'His city'? Bruce must have forgotten the last time they had met, when Tim almost allowed Captain Boomerang to die by Fries' hand.

"You're overestimating yourself. You turned the city over to Nightwing and his 'pet', remember? This, is, and has been my city, since he left for Bludhaven, since you were gone, and there was no one else to protect it." To protect her. . Tim glowered, his gaze moving to the unconscious enforcer. His eyes were near slits, hatred burning behind the white lenses. Delgado had been one of the few that Sionis would have allowed to hurt Stephanie. . And Tim would have shattered all of his bones, but he knew that the Batman would try to stop him. . .

"It was a mistake bringing you back. I thought things would have changed, gotten better. . But you're just like them, Nightwing, Oracle, Blackbat. Outdated and backwards." Tim had never forgiven his former father figure for vanishing when he needed him most, then siding with Damian after it all. Turning from him, the Red Robin headed for the nearest alleyway to make his exit. " I'm done here. . Stay out of my way."

Returning to the Red Bird, Tim stood beside it, before realizing that his gauntleted hands were shaking from anger, disappointment and pent up desires to merely explode towards Bruce. Turning around, the black fist slammed into the wall behind him, the brick he struck cracking down the middle. Why had he been there? Didn't he have anywhere else to be tonight? Scowling, the Red Robin slipped astride his motorcycle, before it activated, then shot out into the night once more. Delgado had cracked, revealing information about Black Mask. . .Tim was done living in a world where that monster was permitted to eat solid food. Tonight, Roman Sionis was going to pay. .

It hadn't been long, but deep within Roman Sionis' home, the crime lord was gasping for air, trying to summon his thugs to handle the cowled man who was strangling him. The broken gasps, gurgles, choking as the iron grip was crushing his throat. "Don't bother, Sionis. There's no one left to help you. " The Red Robin scowled down at the masked man, before throwing him across the room, watching him crash through the wall. Black Mask struggled to get to his feet, soon noticing the unconscious, broken bodies of his men. Reaching down to grab one of their weapons, before the caped man lunged through the hole, before snapping Sionis' arm. Blow after crushing blow, an unending barrage of strikes drove the mobster back, after heavy handed strikes cracked the black mask, exposing a shattered face. "You have lived long enough. Tonight, you die."

The crushing grab, the raspy snarl. . Bruce. Flipping through the air as he was thrown, the Red Robin slammed into a bookcase, slumping against it, before catching his wind. Rising, the black cloak enshrouding him like a wraith, the cowled eyes narrowed, his lips curled in a sneer. "I thought I told you to stay out of my way." Holding his ground, Tim's hands twitched to reach for his weapons, but he remained unarmed. Bruce wasn't his enemy, never had been, simply, the Batman had become a cumbersome ally. Their view had changed, and Tim was losing faith in the only father he had left.

"He's still alive, isn't he? " The question, the words felt like some bitter bile he had to spit out, and he glared at the crime-lord, his white eyes nearly slits. Sionis. . Still alive, and he wasn't even sure if he could kill the man, despite all he hatred he bore for him.

"We're better than every one of the monsters, murderers, rapists and animals you lock away. The ones that the court deem too insane to stand trial. The ones who break out, and hurt more." The cloak slipped around his body, the Red Robin glaring at his former mentor. His fingers rested on the bandoliers, readying to arm himself if Bruce made a move. No, Bruce wouldn't. . "Back after Jason's death. . You began to fall. You lost your way, too. Don't forget that I helped you back then. . " The younger vigilante cast a pair of pellets down: one flashbang, the other a smoke bomb. Running at his teacher, his father, his friend, the red clad teen tackled Bruce, pushing him out the nearby window. "I'm sorry, Bruce. . But, I'm not your fault. . " As they fell from the window, Tim turned around, flinging a bird into the mansion window, closing his eyes and falling through the air, as the throwing bird crashed into the space near Sionis, before the symtex within turned the room into a fireball. The explosion ripped through the night, but Tim felt no peace as he fell, instead allowing himself to plummet through the air

The crushing end, the sudden acceleration from impacting the concrete never came. Instead, the sound of the the grapnel firing, the tugging from Bruce's iron grip. Tim didn't bother to resist as he was handcuffed, staring at the fiery explosion. Sionis, his guards. . All on his hands. He was no better than Jason, but for Stephanie? He would put even the Red Hood to shame in body count. But, as Bruce left him, the Red Robin undid the cuffs with little effort, before starting to leave. But, the Batman returned, and he wasn't alone. The broken wooden mask, the burnt, white suit. Sionis. Bruce must have brought him back, and he was still alive. So, the entire building was filled with corpses, Tim had become a murderer, broken his oath to Bruce and his family, and he still didn't kill the one man he had been striving for. "Bruce. What I did, there's no walking away from it, I killed them, to get to him. Let me finish it, and I'll go to prison. "