Other Side of the Tracks

@ semi-charming
Damian slowly tread over the crime scene. Looking at every small detailed trying to figure out anything about the robber. He wasn't quite sure why his dad wasn't here since they worked in a pair. But with Batman not being here that left more time for him to have some fun. There has been a string of burglaries and so far the suspect had been able to dodge him, Nightwing, and Batman. Damian was impressed thus far because of this. Knowing whoever it was would make a fitting entry into his rouge gallery. His continued to examine the crime scene and noticed one thing, none of the doors leading outside were locked and none of the glass had an impact pattern suggesting that they had attempted to leave yet. "If you want to be able to breath without the aid of a tube I suggest you come out and face me." Damian called out.

@ Prince Vegeta

Kida had to hand it to this guy - he had gotten to the crime scene fast, way before the cops, who somehow still hadn't shown up. It was honestly Kida's fault that she had tripped the alarm - she'd blame it on getting too cocky but it was difficult not to, since things had been going so smoothly as of late. Her luck had been bound to end at one point or another and it looked as though that time had come.

She had pressed herself against a corner up in the rafters, hoping that she would be able to wait it out but that did not seem likely. Although this guy's fashion sense was questionable (Seriously, what was with that costume get-up? Not that Kida was one to talk, since she herself was costumed up), his investigative skills were clearly thorough. Kida wasn't quite sure what it was that clued him in, but somehow he had realized that she hadn't left the place yet. When he made his vague threat, Kida actually almost laughed - did he really think that she would give herself up that easily? And then she thought about it again. All of the exits were close enough to this guy that she wouldn't exactly be able to leave without a fight so what was the point of staying hidden? With her drawstring bag (still very full of the jewelry she had swiped) slung over her shoulder, Kida swung herself down from the rafters in a swift motion and landed on the floor in a crouched position behind the guy, before she stood up straight.

"Quite the detective, aren't you?" she said, tilting her head to the side to examine this vigilante stranger, "You know, I was really hoping that you would just give up and leave. We don't need to make things difficult and I can just be on my way."

Damian looked at her and uttered a 'tt '. She was cocky, Damian liked that a little bit. He smiled and looked at her. "I have to admit that you have a nice technique. Nothing beyond Busch league but nice. The cops had a hard time with you but the term Gotham's finest only goes so far." Damian told her with a smirk. He pulled a Robinarang out and kept it in the palm of his hand. "By the way the world's greatest detective trained me. So to me this outing was nothing more than a simple training exercise." he told her as he smiled at her. He had a rather condescending smile and most villains tended to get nervous at this point. Since the beat down he was about to unleash if needed would be quite frightful. If she tried to throw the whip he would deflect it with his tool and go in for the grapple. "So do you want to surrender now or get your ass kicked first?" Damian asked as he cracked his knuckles.

He talked a lot, that was for sure. And he was so sure of himself. Not that Kida was much different, but she liked to think that she didn't brag quite so much. She raised one eyebrow in curiosity (although because she wore a mask, he couldn't exactly see her expression), mentally weighing her options. Obviously she wasn't going to surrender because what good would that do her? Land her in juvenile detention or jail? If he wasn't going to let her be on her merry way, there was no way Kida was going down without a fight. She noticed that he held some kind of boomarang in his hand - following his lead, she took out her whip and held it in her hand, poised and ready for battle but she wouldn't strike first. Kida had taken a couple of pages out of the original Catwoman's book, with the whip and the claws, but for awhile she'd been training with other weapons to try to find something that felt like it fit her better. After all, she didn't want to just be a straight-up copycat (no pun intended).

"How about I don't surrender? That doesn't sound very fun to me," Kida pursed her lips in thought, realizing all of a sudden why he looked familiar. He was part of Batman's vigilante team, she was pretty sure which led to the question of where the Bat himself had run off to. Kida couldn't say she wasn't happy about it being a one-on-one fight, however - this was she actually stood a chance of getting out of there. "I mean, I'm not hurting anyone," Kida went on, starting to slowly circle her opponent, "Don't you have better things to do? People to save? We don't need to waste time with a fight." Talking her way out of situations was always option number one, but that didn't mean she didn't love a good fight.

@ semi-charming
Damian smirked at her as he spit at her feet. "Meh, I guess I could beat up that robber on main street. But you piqued my interest." he told her as he tried to think where he had heard her voice before. "I don't think you understand though. I've been doing this since I was one. How long you been doing this? Couple months at most?" he asked her as his other hand snaked a smoke bomb out of his belt. "Besides, aren't you hurting the owners of this business?" he asked as he dropped the smoke bomb.

Damian launched himself forward and tackled her to the ground. Wrapping his arms around her neck and forcing her into a headlock. "Give up kitten, spend some time in the big house, then come back and let me know when you've grown up a little more." he told her.

[Sorry for the wait! I just finished a very hectic finals week.]

It was clear that all of his conversation was just a ploy to distract Kida before the attack. Something about him was oddly familiar, aside from the fact that he was Batman's sidekick and everyone had seen the two vigilantes leaping around Gotham. No, it was something else. Maybe his voice, though she couldn't figure out if she was just imagining things or not.

He wasn't wrong when he guessed that it had only been a couple of months since she had taken up the mantle of Catwoman. Sure, she'd trained in self-defense and some hand-to-hand combat during her childhood, which had come in handy occasionally when muggers had tried to test her. But squaring off against another person trained in combat? That was a different story entirely.

Kida was knocked forward but managed to catch herself before hitting the ground, just as the guy put her in a headlock. Normally her reflexes were much quicker, but she had never encountered a smoke bomb in a fight before, and so her senses were all quite disoriented. For a brief flickering moment, she wondered if it would just be better to give up - but then his condescending tone changed her mind. There was no way she was going to admit defeat to someone who was so smug and cocky. She had too much pride - not to mention she was stubborn as hell.

She threw back her head in one swift motion to headbutt him in the face, aiming for him to loosen the grip around her neck so that she could slip out of the hold and roll away from her opponent. The smoke bomb was still in effect, which gave Kida cover to hide. However, it also made it impossible for her to find the exit and make her getaway.

@ semi-charming
Damian felt her head smash back into his face. His grip loosened just enough so that she could get out. The entire time all he could think was that she seemed really familiar somehow. Being pushed back he pressed a button to activate the thermal sensors on his mask.

Damian dropped a handful more smoke bombs. He could see and fight in the dark. Something told him she couldn't. He saw a heat signature behind a display case. He crept up silently and sat right in front of her. Once the smoke began to clear he smiled at her and said, "boo".

Damian launched himself at her. Grabbing her and smashing her into the nearest wall. "I asked you to do this nicely didn't I?" he asked as his arm rested against her throat. 'But no, you had to make this difficult." he told her.

Kida's plan worked as she hoped it would, though she still found herself lost in the room of smoke, trying to feel around for a wall and crawl her way towards an exit. Just as the smoke had begun to clear somewhat, it suddenly reappeared almost instantaneously - her opponent must have dropped more smoke bombs and she silently cursed him for it. That would make it even more challenging to get out of the building.

As Kida felt around, her hands pressed against some sort of rectangular obstacle - she was close enough to see that it was a display case, which she rested against for a moment. At least it was some kind of cover, even if it didn't offer a way to escape.

The smoke cleared enough for Kida to see the glowing green exit sign - unfortunately, as she turned her head to look in front of her, she was almost immediately attacked. The back of her head hit the wall rather harshly, and her vision blackened for a mere second. When he pushed his arm against her throat just enough to make breathing somewhat difficult, Kida chuckled at the situation, though her laugh came out as more of a wheeze as she struggled to breathe. "What can I say?" she grinned at him, "I like making things difficult. More fun that way." Despite the beatings that often went with them, fights always were kind of fun for Kida.

In a swift motion, Kida kicked up her leg to hit him in the stomach with her knee a few times to knock him away from her. Her main goal was to get to the exit with her spoils still in hand, so once she was free of his grip, she sprinted toward the glowing green sign that spelled her way to freedom.

@ semi-charming
Damian was like a cat. He would find something to play with and then let it get away for a few steps. Then once it thought it was free pounce on it, drag it back, and then let it go again until it died all mangled up in his claws. He couldn't kill anymore but he loved playing around with his prey.

He let Catwoman rush towards the exit as he rushed outside and shot up to one of the rooftop. He followed her along and watched her run off. Maybe back to her hideout. But Damian wanted to play some more.

He swung down and as she was passing next to a window and tackled her through it. "Come on little kitten. Sure you don't want to give up?" he asked her as he look down at her.

Kida was fast - running and acrobatics were two things that she was naturally gifted at, not to mention that her stamina allowed her to continue running for miles at a time. On top of that, being chased by some vigilante with delusions of heroics had a knack for encouraging Kida to run like hell. Still, once she was out of the jewelry store and dodging through alleyways and other buildings, something told her that she wasn't going to get away so easily. He was likely just a moment behind her. For this reason, Kida didn't head directly toward her home, desperate to lose him before letting her guard down completely.

She felt a force tackle her through a window, her back hitting the ground with significant force. This guy just did not know when to let things go. Okay, so she stole a couple things, but it's not like they would really be missed. Kida was basically a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor - the 'poor' in this case being herself.

Up until this point in the fight, Kida had left her cat claws retracted, but it was clear that she wouldn't be able to escape if she continued playing nice. She brought her claws out and slashed at Robin, simultaneously kicking both of her legs up to throw him off of her. "I'm not one to give up," she told him as she rolled away and got to her feet, "And don't call me kitten."

@ semi-charming
The cat claw managed to scratch Damian across the face. Drawing a sliver of blood from the attack. Damian smirked as she brought out the cat claws. Things were starting to get interesting now. He pulled out one of his robin rangs in an attempt to have something to deflect the cat claws. "-tt-, Just because you have claws doesn't mean you're any better than a kitten." he snarked at her.

Damian had fought these types before. She wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last cat based criminal that he would have to fight. Even if for some reason she seemed really familiar somehow.

He had been playing around but now it was time to get serious. Damian dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of blows, kicks, and combos that his hand movements became a blur. "Keep up Kitten.' he told her

Kida couldn't help but smirk when her claws managed to draw a bit of blood, though something told her that it was just going to intensify the fighting. Her predictions proved to be correct because in a moment, Robin had flown at her with what seemed like no intention of holding back. Kida fought back just as fiercely, matching every punch and kick with a block or kick of her own. He was fast, though, and Kida had a difficult time keeping up with his every move. One of his punches knocked her back rather roughly but she managed to keep her balance, and she took a few steps back in order to put a bit of distance between them. "Are we going to do this all day?" Kida tilted her head to the side, one eyebrow raised in irritation.

@ semi-charming
Damian smirked as he readied for another barrage of attacks. "What else are we supposed to do? Fuck on the couch?" he asked as he swung his fist at her. "Trying to pretend like this is going to end in anything other than your arrest is futile." Damian had to admit she was keeping up but she was also getting tired. If he could keep the heat up than she was screwed.

"Ha, you wish," Kida replied, returning his smirk, "Like hell I'm going to give up." She was finally getting into the swing of things and matching his speed even if she couldn't quite match his power. Her reflexes were sharp and she was good at dodging and blocking - hitting back with force wasn't exactly her strong point, so she needed to keep up her stamina to outlast him. He had to get tired at some point, right? He had mentioned before that he was trained by the 'world's greatest detective' - Kida guessed that he had been trained in fighting for most - if not all - of his life, as well. That definitely gave him the upper hand, but Kida wasn't about to let him know that.

@ semi-charming
Damian was becoming bored by this. After a few more blows he started commenting on her fighting style. "Keep the wrist locked when you punch. You'll just hurt yourself if you don't." he told her as he launched a kick at her. Damian heard something odd. There was a whistling sound as he turned to see an RPG heading his way. It hit the side of the building. Damian was smacked against a wall and fell to the ground in a daze.

[My internet completely stopped working while I was in Japan, so I'm super sorry for the wait. I'm back home now, though, so I've got reliable internet access now.]

The constant back and forth was starting to not only tire Kida out, but also irritate her. She just wanted to be done with it already - the night had already gone so far from her plan thanks to Robin and she needed to get out of there. No doubt the police would come back at some point and she definitely wouldn't be able to take Robin and a squad of cops. Her eye twitched a little when he started giving her pointers on how to fight. "I know how to fight, thanks," she snapped, but took his advice anyway. She found that it actually gave her more control of her punches...but she wasn't about to admit that to the enemy.

Suddenly the side of the building exploded and Kida was flung backward. Luckily her head didn't hit anything, but she noticed that Robin had fallen to the ground a fair distance away from her. It looked as though lucky was truly on Kida's side tonight - she had no idea where the explosive had come from, but at the moment she didn't care. It was her chance to escape. Without a glance backward, she picked herself up off the ground and slipped out the back door of the building, determined to head as far away as she could get before Robin recovered.

@ wizard howl
Damian woke up a few seconds later but those few seconds were all Catwoman needed to get out. Right now that wasn't what he was focused on. Who the hell was firing RPG's at him?

He ducked behind the couch for a moment. It wouldn't offer really any protection but it was something. Damian noticed that the assailants had left already and the cops were showing up. He was going to have to deal with this first and catwoman second.

After an hour with few clues Damian decided to call it a night for patrol. He headed in and showered. Catwoman continued to stay on his mind as he washed his scarred and battered body. If he kept this up he'd have more scars than his dad already did in two years.

After his shower he went to his room and finally slept. Knowing school was going to suck tomorrow.

All that Kida could think was What dumb luck. At the time of the attack, she hadn't given a second thought as to who might be firing RPG's at her or Robin; now that she was safely away, however, her mind began to wander. Was somebody looking out for her? Or were they simply targeting Robin and she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or perhaps someone was out to get her? Whoever it was, Kida silently thanked them because if it hadn't been for their attack, she would have left the jewelry store in handcuffs.

Her body had gone on autopilot to get herself home, leaping from rooftop to rooftop without really paying attention. She had taken the same route enough times to know it like the back of her hand. Before she knew it, she had reached her little apartment - one that she had shared with an older roommate at some point, but they had long left and Kida had had to be sneaky about continuing to live there on her own (since she was still a minor in high school and all that). It wasn't until she knew she was safe in her home that she began to feel all of the blows that Robin had dealt. It would definitely leave some bruises. After a long shower, Kida crawled into bed and fell asleep almost immediately, dreading the next day at school.