"Yeah, just like that. I've got the equipment if you've got the will to learn. Won't be easy, and it will make you sore for a bit. We're also gonna do some fitness training, since I need to know where you're at physically." he says.

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The mention of 'won't be easy' only made her jaw tighten. If sheer determination counted, she could do anything he threw at her.

"Let's do it. Show me."

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"All right." he says, drawing another gas-powered grapnel gun from inside his utility belt. He'll pass it over and start explaining how it works.

Once she's got it, he'll pick a destination and show her to how to fire it, then swing over. When he's landed, he'll signal her to give it a try.

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Zoe didn't spare a second of thought for the aim. She felt the rightness of it. That was how it was, how she knew it was good.

Her shot with the grapnel gun landed precisely twelve inches from Red Robin's. She readied herself and swung over in her best imitation of his swing. By the time she clumsily landed, she was cursing vividly under her breath.

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Okay, she did better than he thought she would.

"That was good for a first try. You just need to keep your body a little less stiff so that you can compensate for changes in speed. You'll get better." he assures her.

Then he attempts to sweep her legs out from under her and knock her down.

"Combat test, unarmed, go."

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She wasn't expecting the move and fell for it, right on her ass. Jaw clenched again, she was on her feet and swinging a fist. She was getting the point that this wasn't going to be like avoiding the pimps trying to add her to their stable, though her determination wasn't any different. Zoe wouldn't be cowed or beaten.

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Red Robin easily ducks the punch by slipping backward out of reach. He keeps his eyes on Zoey, watching her body language, posture and expression.

"You're quick on your feet and you've got the will to fight. That's a good start. Now stop trying to hit me and hit me!" Red Robin says, going for a kick to the chest.

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She knew most people didn't fight well when they were angry; she'd taken advantage of that often enough in the past. She was recognizing that she was one of them and hated not having the upper hand.

"Stop dancing out of the way and I will!" She went to duck and come under his leg to upset his balance.

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She slips inside his defense and chides himself mentally for getting cocky.

However, as she does so, he flips backward again to give himself some distance between them and draws his pulls out his bo staff, snapping it to full-length in one motion.

He then lunges in thrusting the staff at Zoey's midsection.

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Zoe flinched back. Her reflexes are good, but he's....not being fair!

She retreated to put space between them, resisting the urge to go for the guns. Instead, she shifted into reverse to grab the staff and keep it engaged in something other than poking at her.

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When she grabs the staff, he doesn't bother pulling back. He simply lets her take it, then tries to kick her in the chest again.

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Surprised by her possession of the staff, she clumsily tried to block his kick with it. It felt unnatural and she didn't like it. His foot connected and she went down.

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The impromptu lesson ends.

"All right, get up. We've got work to do, though not nearly as much as I thought. You're good, Zoe, but you need to be better before you can really effect the change you want around here.

And you're going to need to do it from two directions. You'll need a mask." he says.

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She glared up at him, not that it had much effect in the dark. "I can get better. Who are you under yours?"

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"A concerned citizen who wants to do the right thing." he says, reaching out to help her up.

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Zoe almost didn't let him. She didn't trust anybody in a mask who wouldn't show their face and own up to their own actions, and he wanted her to wear one! Next thing he'd say was that she needed a codename.

She let him help her up. "When does target practice start? I'm good at that."

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Red Robin reaches into the bandoleers at his chest and withdraws several bird shaped discs.

"Now." he says, handing them over to her.

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She took them, holding one in each hand, testing the weight and size. "Do they do anything that I need to be aware of?"

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"They're modified shuriken. I have some that explode or produce knockout gas, too. But usually, they're great for disarming gun-wielding gang-bangers." Red Robin says.

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"Am I throwing them at you?" Her expression said she would love to try it.

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"Not quite." he says, suppressing a grin. He points at a building across the way.

"There. Make them stick." he says.

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This was one area in which she had every confidence in herself. She didn't have to put on a front, didn't have to talk a good game. She could hit a target, any target, with any projectile, every time.

One in each hand. She took an extra moment to aim, she would show him, he would see that she knew what she was doing,, and let them fly, one after the other.

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Again she manages to surprise him with her prowess. When the discs impact in the wall, Red Robin nods in approval.

"Well, we're going to need to get you some gear, a mask and a name for the streets. Once we do that, we can start the rest of your training in earnest.

Do you have a job?" he asks her.

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"No, I don't." Between Michelle nagging at her to go to college, claiming there was money for it, and Zoe's absolute conviction that she needed to be here for the Triangle, working as a fry cook wasn't all that appealing. She didn't sell her body or drugs.

The closest thing she had to a job was the volunteer work she did at the youth center trying to stay afloat. It was where she kept tabs on the troublemakers and heard things she later used in breaking up small time deal.s.

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Red Robin nods. Tim Drake needed an assistant anyway, so he'd have to talk to her about that.

"What do you do in the time you're not out that isn't sleeping?" he asks.

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